In the Holy Kingdom, there was a knight.

Not just any knight, but the greatest knight who had honed his skills and prepared for times of crisis.

Holy Knight Rednolt.

He was the Holy Knight of the Holy Empire Eiros, a man who, through sheer strength, had reached the pinnacle of power within the Holy Kingdom.

"…Something is strange."

He felt a sense of foreboding.

Today, he had a feeling that a great threat was about to descend upon the Holy Kingdom.

It was odd.

Surely the fallen Pope had been dealt with by the Goddess, so why was he experiencing this sense of dread?

Rednolt focused all his senses as he patrolled the Holy Kingdom. It was more of a light reconnaissance. He wandered through the Holy Kingdom, searching for anything that might be out of the ordinary.

There was no need to worry about external threats.

The walls that steadfastly protected the Holy Kingdom were strong enough to hold off even the Demon God for a time, should he attack.

So, he focused on the inside.

He roamed the Holy Kingdom, and soon, he found something strange.

"……."

They seemed like ordinary people.

Children laughing and playing in the square, merchants shouting as they sold their goods, worshippers praying and offering devotion to the Goddess.

Everything appeared normal.

It was just another day in the life of the Holy Kingdom.

But something was different.

While others might be fooled, Rednolt’s eyes could not be deceived. He was someone who had spent decades guarding the Holy Kingdom and maintaining its peace, even while holding the modest title of a Holy Knight.

"Lafia."

A girl with green hair and distinctive freckles.

She was running around the Holy Kingdom energetically. Normally, she was a shy girl who preferred praying to the Goddess over running around.

"Lion."

Warm brown hair and eyes.

He was a confident child who once shouted that he would become a hero and protect everyone.

Yet now, that child was stealing goods from a merchant in the marketplace and fleeing.

"Legion."

A devout priest, always wearing a serene smile, constantly carrying a pendant bearing the Goddess's image, proclaiming that everything was the will of the Goddess.

Now, he was ripping the chain of the pendant from his neck and throwing it to the ground before crushing it underfoot.

——Crack!

The pendant shattered.

From the broken figure of the Goddess, a black liquid dripped down.

"……."

Rednolt cautiously picked up the pendant.

He carefully examined the sticky black liquid that flowed from it.

As he scrutinized the liquid.

——Thump!

"……!!"

His heart plummeted.

A sinister voice whispered in his ear.

Betray, despise, resent, pierce, burn, trample, hate, curse, die, harm yourself, destroy, shatter, crush, kill, tear apart, strangle.

A horrific voice.

It was as if the screams of every soul on the brink of death had been gathered and combined into one sound.

Sinister, eerie, and alien.

The dreadful voice kept whispering to him.

"Silence!!"

——Boom!

Rednolt instantly ignited his aura, resisting the sinister voice.

The pendant he had tossed aside shattered into pieces, and black tears flowed from the broken image of the Goddess. It was as if the destroyed eyes of the Goddess were screaming at him.

Why did you throw me away?

I hate you, I curse you.

The terrifying voice of a curse echoed all around him.

"Be gone!! My Goddess would never speak to me with such a vile voice!"

But his resolve did not waver.

He drew upon the divine power he had learned as a Holy Knight and purged the sinister voice.

A pure white divine flame enveloped his body.

He wrapped the flames of divinity around his hands and swung them in every direction.

——Fwoosh!

The flames of purification flared up, and for a moment, the peaceful sky cracked.

——Crack!

The sound of something breaking.

As if the world itself was fracturing, the malevolent energy surrounding him completely dissipated.

"Huff, huff…."

It was a terrible sound.

As soon as the voice disappeared, Rednolt’s body wavered.

He drove his sword into the ground to steady himself and looked around.

"Ha, haha…."

Everyone was watching him.

Their eyes, filled with the black madness of malevolent energy, stared at the lone "heretic" with pure hatred.

It was a chilling sight.

The playing Lafia.

The fleeing Lion.

The hateful Legion.

The merchants, the townspeople, the worshippers, the priests, the children.

All of them.

Were staring at Rednolt.

"…I see."

He understood.

In this Holy Kingdom, there was no one left who was sane, except for him.

And the one behind all of this was undoubtedly the adversary of the Goddess.

He had heard it too.

Like a madness-induced chant, the voice that endlessly tried to brainwash, corrupt, and tempt him.

Could I break this madness?

He would only know if he tried.

The moment he realized this, he swung his sword.

The pure white flames of purification bloomed around him like flowers.

Legion, standing before him, tried to dodge at the last moment, but it was too late. The flames of purification instantly passed through him. But they did not cause his flesh to melt or burn in a gruesome manner.

The flames of purification.

They only burned away the evil engraved on his body.

"Ah…?"

Legion, the priest, stared blankly at his hands.

"W-what have I…?"

He seemed confused.

He clutched his head in agony, collapsing to the ground.

"Get a hold of yourself, priest."

"…Sir Rednolt, the Holy Knight?"

"Many have fallen under the influence of that vile voice. Join me in prayer."

"Y-yes…!"

Legion was bewildered.

But it was clear that he was devoted to the Goddess.

He was asking for help.

So, he had to comply.

Once again, white flames rose from Rednolt’s sword, and a bright light emanated from Legion’s clasped hands.

The flames surged.

"Huh?"

With each burst of light.

"What is happening?"

Those who had lost their minds began to return.

The madness that had filled their eyes had long since vanished.

Only then did Rednolt let out a sigh of relief.

Though he did not show it outwardly.

He was a knight who always had to stand at the forefront.

He couldn’t show any signs of weakness.

"Everyone is alright now, so I will go find the source of this evil."

"I’ll come with you…!"

"You cannot. The enemy seems to rely heavily on brainwashing, and having already fallen under their influence once, you would be at great risk, priest."

"……."

He stopped Legion from following.

As he prepared to pursue the source of all this, someone grabbed his hand.

"……?"

It was Legion.

He was trembling, clutching Rednolt’s hand tightly, his head bowed low.

Rednolt assumed it was out of shame. The shame of having been unable to resist the sinister voice, the guilt of having broken the pendant with the Goddess’s image, the self-reproach, and the remorse.

But just as he was about to offer words of comfort.

Ah, as the great one descends, let all creatures bow their heads, gouge out their eyes so they cannot gaze upon him, carve their flesh to create an idol in his image, tear their eardrums to offer as nourishment, break their own necks to become part of his greatness.

"……!!"

His eyes were gone.

From the holes where his eyes should have been, a black, shapeless liquid flowed endlessly.

His speech grew faster and more erratic, until even Rednolt, a trained Holy Knight, could no longer understand him.

Die, revere, worship, as the great one descends, this world will be engulfed in destruction and doom, dragging all into the abyss of hatred.

The grotesque chorus continued.

Now, the surrounding people—no, the monsters tormented by madness—were all slamming their heads into the ground as they chanted that horrifying litany.

Rednolt felt a sudden breathlessness.

He couldn’t hide his panic as he knocked Legion’s arm away.

——Splatter!

His arm, now turned into black liquid, fell to the ground with a wet thud.

But that didn’t stop anything.

The countless people, or rather the maddened creatures, continued their ceaseless chanting, slamming their heads into the ground as if trying to crush their own skulls.

There were at least tens of thousands of them.

As they all simultaneously smashed their heads into the ground, the earth trembled.

No.

It wasn’t just that.

——Rumble, rumble, rumble….

Buildings were collapsing.

At the same time, something was trying to emerge.

Something endlessly black.

Something terrifying, a monster from the depths of hell.

The world shook.

The more the monstrous entity began to emerge, the harder it was for Rednolt to breathe.

He could feel an enormous presence.

"Under… my feet…."

Even speaking was difficult.

He could sense it instinctively.

No, it was harder not to notice.

The massive presence beneath his feet.

It felt like he was a bug standing atop the gaping maw of a monstrous creature.

His hands and feet trembled.

The ground continued to quake, and the mad voices grew louder and louder.

However.

"Hnnngh!"

Rednolt drove his sword into his own ear.

——Crunch!

The blade pierced his ear, and bright red blood began to flow as it gleamed coldly.

The excruciating pain brought him back to his senses.

Gritting his teeth, Rednolt glared at the ground.

"Come, I am Rednolt, the Holy Knight of the Goddess. I will not be broken!!"

With those words, everything fell silent.

The trembling earth.

The deafening chants of the mad creatures smashing their heads into the ground.

All of it stopped.

Rednolt suddenly felt the sun being obscured by clouds.

But it wasn’t just any cloud.

He knew, there was no other explanation. Nothing else could cast such a vast shadow over the Holy Kingdom.

Rednolt felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the darkness covering the Holy Kingdom.

Cold sweat trickled down his face.

He couldn’t bring himself to turn around.

He didn’t want to see what lay behind him.

The presence that loomed behind him, the being that had cast the shadow over the entirety of the Holy Kingdom, which spanned hundreds of kilometers.

He didn’t want to see it.

But he had to.

Slowly, he turned his head.

And then.

"Oh."

He, too, became one with the madness and the Great One.