They say it feels like the sky is falling.

A phrase that’s quite commonly used. Naturally, Dominic had heard such things several times throughout his life.

And each time, he would internally frown in displeasure. The idea that the sky, overseen by the god of light, could come crashing down was nothing short of blasphemy in his eyes.

Of course, he understood that it was never meant with malice. He wasn’t so uptight that he would get angry or demand a correction over it.

But he still disliked the expression.

He was absolutely certain that he wouldn’t let such a blasphemous and exaggerated phrase reside in his mind.

And then… the Saint had passed away.

Only then did Dominic realize what it truly felt like to have the sky collapse.

It crumbled down.

The common sense he had taken for granted, the beliefs he had held dear, and every element of his life until then.

The Saint could not leave this world.

The Saint must not leave.

That obvious truth was denied.

The Saint had indeed left this world.

There was no hiding the noble soul of the Saint. The brilliant light was no longer felt.

He had truly fought against the impossible for everyone and accomplished the feat of thwarting the fall as a human, but in return, he had lost his life.

And while the Saint achieved miracles alone, Dominic did nothing.

How laughable it was. He, who claimed to be a follower, failed to be there when the Saint needed him most.

Merely spreading the faith of the Black Fangs in secret, leading a revolution, and preparing the groundwork so that the Saint could take over the kingdom—all while donning a hood and storming in to smash everyone’s heads—then putting the leash on those in power to effectively become the shadow of the republic, allowing the Saint to utilize him whenever needed; on top of that, using the holy relics of the order in the Empire for supreme divine magic, and still being unsatisfied enough to move to haphazardly borrow the relics from overseas.

All this, and he took pride in believing he was working hard for the Saint. Leaving the Saint all alone just to do menial tasks.

Such foolishness.

He claimed to be a wise person so as not to repeat the same mistakes, yet nothing had changed from back then.

He remained ignorant, foolish, and nothing more than a worthless human being.

He was a sinner deserving of punishment by death.

But… painfully enough.

Death was not granted to him.

The sky had collapsed; common sense crumbled, and he couldn’t trust anything in the world. He felt he had no right to live, yet he absolutely couldn’t choose death.

Had he not sworn to the Saint in the cathedral’s basement that he would never run away from the sins he had committed?

If one sins, one must take responsibility.

He had to work hard to resolve everything.

Thus, he toiled day and night, trying to do all he could.

Secretly supporting the growth of the Black Fangs.

Using his position as Pope to disguise himself as the anti-Black Fangs group on the surface, secretly executing the backsliders who were deceived by that.

Utilizing his connections with the Empire’s upper echelons to keep tabs on the Emperor’s condition and control any news regarding the Black Fangs from reaching his ears.

And on top of that, keeping the faith of the Black Fangs, which was wobbling due to their loss of belief, as solid as possible.

In these past three years, he had never once laid down on a bed. No, in fact, he hadn’t even slept properly. He disregarded side effects and suppressed his need for sleep.

It was a headache that felt like his head would explode.

In reality, he could hardly bear it, healing his boiling brain with divine power, so calling it an exploding headache wasn’t an overstatement.

But what tormented him wasn’t that pain. It was the guilt that his inadequacy had taken the Saint’s life.

That guilt bound him.

The theory of the Black Saint’s resurrection. Although there wasn’t a single mention of resurrection in the scriptures, he fabricated that ridiculous theory based on the holy texts for this reason.

He couldn’t live without believing that.

If he didn’t lie to himself that the Saint would someday return, he felt he might just give up on life, defeated by that guilt.

That’s why he kept lying…

But deep down, he knew.

The Saint had already departed.

No matter how much he believed, changing the three-day resurrection theory to a seven-day resurrection theory, or the one-year to a two-year, he knew the Saint would never return.

In the end, all of this was pointless.

No matter how hard he tried, it was merely futile struggling.

There was no meaning in life, no hope for the future.

Nothing could be found. Nothing at all. He was sure of that.

Then one day, the presence of the Saint’s soul was felt.

A presence more beautiful and noble than anything else in the world. It radiated the clear resonance of that perfect soul that he could never mistake.

And finally… after three long years…

He could see the Saint alive and moving.

A miracle. There was no way to describe it other than that.

In a situation like this, it was only natural that Dominic would be extremely excited. Losing his sanity would be completely understandable.

He dashed towards the Saint, his eyes glazed over with ecstasy.

His mind was already fuzzy due to the side effects of forcibly cutting down his sleep.

Forgive me for my neglect, where have you been all this time, let me report what’s happened during these three years.

Plans like that got swept away in the overwhelming excitement, completely erased from his mind.

This time, he would protect the Saint by charging in with the elite forces of the Holy Church that he had brought along.

For Dominic, it felt like he was living in a dream. The miracle that had arrived made tears of joy flow uncontrollably.

For him, it was truly a heartfelt moment.

…Unfortunately, the situation was rather different for the Saint.

*

The approaching army. The more he looked at it, the more fear surged within him.

It wasn’t a life-threatening feeling.

After all, what was approaching was the forces on the same side. Even if it were the imperial army in disguise, it wouldn’t be too difficult to take them down.

However, the fact remained that he felt threatened.

Not for his life, but for his chastity.

“Saint!!!”

Dominic cried out to me. His eyes seemed completely lost, and the corners of his mouth were disturbingly raised. And above all…

‘What on earth is that thing doing standing there?’

Not only was it making its presence known, but it seemed ready to wave its hand at me with a third leg. Also… there was a strange liquid I really didn’t want to identify.

My body trembled in fear.

I could confidently say this was far scarier than the time I faced the Emperor of the Empire.

My body started moving naturally.

Before I realized it, I was already running.

A situation where my emotions governed me, not reason.

Yet, this was far beyond what I could control.

Imagine that huge guy in the men’s bath, inexplicably looking at me with strange eyes. Just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine.

“Why are you running away!! Please don’t reject me!”

That creepy guy was screaming at me like that. And it was obvious just from glancing that there were well over a hundred of those creeps.

But how could I maintain my composure? I’m sure even Guan Yu would’ve screamed like a girl and bolted in this situation.

“Let me confirm that you’re alive! I have to touch you to see if you’re an illusion or not!!”

That dizzying conversation echoed.

I gasped and increased my speed.

Of course, I wasn’t out of my mind, so I knew I’d have to talk to those guys eventually.

‘But it doesn’t have to be right now.’

With a bit of time, they’d calm down a little.

Isn’t it easier to deal with tired zealots than overzealous ones?

‘All I have to do is run to Eden.’

Besides, I could lead them to a safe place. This would also help keep my survival under wraps.

It shouldn’t be too difficult.

I wasn’t so forgetful that I’d forget the path I just traversed. I still remember the secret passage the priest pointed out.

I’m sure if I turn right at this tree and keep going straight, then turn left at the oddly marked rock, I’ll hit the secret passage….

“…Found it.”

At this timing, if I could just ditch Siel, who looked far worse than those zealots in the front of the secret passage, that would be my victory.

…This is driving me crazy.