Irene Decided to Die - Chapter 143
Forces began to gather toward the capital.
“We also need to keep an eye on the west during all of this.”
“Leave that to me.”
Aura stepped forward and said.
“I will monitor the western king.”
“Then I will move with the Saintess.”
Guy replied with a gentle smile. With the addition of Burt, the northern king, it felt as if no one could stand against them.
“By the way, have you found the source of the rumors?”
Allen responded to the question.
“Yes, unfortunately, the source is the temple. It seems the lower priests have been spreading the rumors whenever they go out. Since they repeated the same story while offering aid, the people naturally came to believe it.”
“That would make High Priest Roxon the root of all this, then,” Guy remarked calmly.
Grein, once again, showed a look of regret, but that was all. There was nothing more she could do to intervene, nor could she defend Roxon any longer.
“So, we should head to the temple first.”
Unlike other royal palaces surrounded by defensive walls, the central palace had none.
They believed the goddess’s protection kept them safe, and the lack of walls made it easier for visitors to come and go freely.
The temple was the same. Aside from a low stone fence, there was nothing to block the area around it.
From a strategic standpoint, the place was vulnerable.
“I can’t understand what High Priest Roxon is thinking.”
“Neither can I,” Aura agreed with Guy.
The central area was exposed to external attacks, so why would Roxon choose to stir up such trouble? Only someone who had lost their mind would attempt something like this.
Once the strategy meeting concluded, Aura departed for the west to prevent any possible alliance with Sage.
Meanwhile, Guy, Burt, and Allen gathered their main forces and headed toward the temple.
Upon stepping into the central area, they immediately sensed that things were different from before. Most of the citizens had locked their doors and were hiding inside their homes.
This made their journey to the temple relatively easy.
Roxon stood just outside the temple, with a group of priests and the remaining paladins gathered behind him.
Allen was the first to step forward.
“Everyone, come to your senses. Do you realize what you are doing?”
One of the priests responded,
“We know! How could we not?”
“Then why are you doing this?”
“We have no choice. This Saintess is a false one.”
“And who told you that?”
As Allen’s expression grew more stern, Roxon stepped forward.
“I told them.”
“High Priest Roxon.”
“For a while, I could no longer hear the goddess’s voice. But that was not strange. It was because that goddess was a false entity. Of course, her voice couldn’t reach me.”
“Get a grip on yourself!”
“I am perfectly sane!”
Roxon exclaimed, spreading his arms wide.
“The true goddess has restored my mind! I am now acting according to her will.”
His eyes were bloodshot, and no matter how one looked at him, he didn’t seem in his right mind. The others standing behind him appeared equally unhinged.
“Goddess…”
Grein made the sign of the cross and called upon the goddess. Irene, watching her silently, turned her head at Burt’s question.
“What do you think?”
“Roxon truly believes everything he’s saying is the truth.”
She no longer wanted to address him by his title of High Priest.
“It seems something has indeed deceived him.”
“So, are you going to handle this lightly?”
“No. If I do, I’ll only be putting my position in danger.”
Irene remembered the goddess who had once comforted her. She still harbored resentment, but the goddess had also been her savior.
She didn’t deserve this kind of treatment.
Irene slowly began to summon her divine power. First, she would return everyone to their senses, and then she would decide what to do with them.
With a flash of white light, her divine power manifested and enveloped Roxon.
Allen, seeing the situation, also made the sign of the cross and added his own divine power to Irene’s. The other priests and paladins standing behind him did the same.
“Gah! Aaaargh!”
Roxon twisted in agony, drawing the sign of the cross over his chest, seemingly trying to summon his own divine power.
Guy and Burt’s knights tensed, watching the scene closely, but nothing happened.
Irene’s divine power continued to suppress him, and Roxon convulsed, trembling violently. And it wasn’t just him—those priests who had followed him also began thrashing wildly as Roxon’s seizures worsened.
“Goddess, O Goddess!”
