At the time when Isaac decided to secretly head to Lichtheim, the situation was unfolding far more extremely than he had anticipated.

“The Emperor Waltzemer is hereby excommunicated.”

The atmosphere in the Holy See of Lichtheim, also known as the ‘Holy Council,’ froze the moment the Pope of the Codex of Light, Horma Kmuel—he who bore the eyes of light and was known as the Saint of Dawn—solemnly declared the sentence.

Originally, the Holy Council chamber contained a massive triangular table with seats for countless bishops, cardinals, and the Pope. However, only four people occupied the chamber now: the Pope, two cardinals, and the scribe responsible for recording the proceedings.

With no one responding, Horma turned to look at the scribe who was taking notes. But before the scribe could jot down the fact into the record, Cardinal Juan urgently spoke.

“Your Holiness, please forgive me, but I must remind you that the Emperor Waltzemer is an indispensable talent for the grand endeavor of the Millennium Kingdom.”

“And are you suggesting we should just stand by and watch the Emperor manipulate the holy office of the Cardinal to his liking?”

Horma pointed with heavy eyes to the empty seat at the table.

The Holy Council, which decided the most critical matters of the Church, should never be vacant. Camille should have occupied that seat, but after becoming a monster, even mentioning his name was forbidden.

And now, the most likely candidate to occupy that seat was Bishop Katyn, the Emperor’s staunch supporter and nominee.

Juan didn’t particularly like Katyn any more than the Pope did.

That stubborn old woman who couldn’t be swayed by money always looked at Juan with disgust. But compared to the nonsense that Pope Horma was spouting, Juan felt he could tolerate Katyn.

“Is there any rule that Bishop Katyn, the Emperor’s nominee, must occupy that seat, Your Holiness? Our recommended candidate is also an excellent person. A priest who is more than worthy of this position.”

Another cardinal, Rohen Otter, spoke calmly. Unlike Juan, Rohen was a dignified priest with a thin frame and scholarly demeanor. Yet, Horma glared at him with a disdainful look, not much different from the one he directed at Juan.

“Do you take me for a fool, Cardinal Rohen? The candidate you’re recommending is lacking in every aspect compared to Bishop Katyn, except for being another lackey of the Watcher’s Council. In what aspect do you think this candidate compares to Bishop Katyn’s character, learning, faith, respect, and virtues to recommend such a person?”

The Pope had been using the Watcher’s Council, including the wandering priest Horhel, as his right-hand tool. It was because they were useful. However, he was still uneasy about them behaving like a small order within the Church.

Rohen didn’t say that if Bishop Katyn were so respected, she should simply be appointed as a cardinal. It would solve nothing, as Bishop Katyn also disliked the Watcher’s Council.

Instead of getting angry at the Pope’s childish tantrum, he sighed.

“Then is it wise to excommunicate the Emperor, who is marching with a hundred thousand Imperial troops? If he is excommunicated, the Emperor will not be bound by faith and will march with his soldiers.”

“We have the Holy Grail Knights! Just kill them all!”

Rohen muttered as he looked at Horma.

“Are you a child?”

Juan hurriedly spoke in shock.

“Your inner thoughts slipped out, Cardinal Rohen.”

“I apologize for my mistake, Cardinal Juan. I’m sorry for my disrespectful words, Your Holiness. Let me rephrase. Are you a child, Your Holiness? Most of the Holy Grail Knights are currently stationed at the border of the Black Empire due to the Dawn Army. If we clash with the Imperial Army now, it would mean giving up on the Dawn Army.”

Juan spoke cautiously while observing Pope Horma’s twisted expression.

“That’s correct, Your Holiness. Although no mere Emperor can stand against the authority of Heaven, even if we burn the Emperor with brilliant light, nothing will remain but ashes. Other nobles might fear they will meet the same fate and renounce their faith.”

Horma knew this.

It was merely an expression of his anger. However, he was irritated by the cardinals’ constant rebuttals, knowing this.

Rohen and the Watcher’s Council were elites who kept their own company even within the Order, and Juan was an opportunist suspected of colluding with the Emperor. If the balance of power shifted toward the Emperor, Juan would be the first to switch sides.

Then Juan cautiously spoke.

“Perhaps appealing to the Lighthouse Keeper for a divine trial would be…”

“That won’t do.”

The authority of the angels carried absolute decision-making power.

The reason the Church wielded such overwhelming power was not only because they relied on the angels’ authority but also because the angels had rarely interfered in the Church’s affairs since the Treaty of Lichtheim.

Horma couldn’t involve an angel in such a critical matter. One word from the Lighthouse Keeper would end everything without room for reversal. Frankly, he was not confident he would win in a ‘fair trial.’

The cardinals also sensed the Pope’s true feelings but didn’t bother pointing them out.

Rohen, detecting Horma’s anger and feeling that they had sufficiently admonished him, offered some helpful advice.

“In that case, rather than making it irreparable by excommunicating the Emperor, let us reprimand him using someone still under our control.”

“Someone under our control?”

“The Emperor is trying to make Bishop Katyn a cardinal, isn’t he? We can strip Bishop Katyn of her candidacy. Demote her to a regular priest and order her to join the Dawn Army. It might be a difficult journey for a seventy-year-old, but it will be a glorious one.”

***

“Stripping Bishop Katyn of her position and demoting her to a regular priest?”

Emperor Waltzemer’s eyes widened as he read the papal decree. The Holy Grail Knight messenger tried to appear calm, but as the flames from the Emperor’s horns grew hot enough to shake the tent’s canopy, the messenger staggered backward.

“On top of that, ordering her to join the Dawn Army immediately? Bishop Katyn has already served as a veteran in the Dawn Army twice! Many among the bishops call her their mentor! Is this how the Church treats a saint?”

“Participation in the Dawn Army is a glorious trial and reward in itself…”

“Silence!”

Waltzemer swung his fist, attempting to strike the messenger. But he barely stopped, thanks to Dietrich’s urgent grip. The Holy Grail Knight stood straight, drenched in sweat, waiting to hear the Emperor’s answer.

Dietrich gestured to the knight.

“We have received the decree. You may leave.”

“I must deliver His Majesty’s response to His Holiness…”

“Tell him we heard.”

Though insufficient as an answer, the messenger left quietly, knowing one more word might leave him without a mouth to deliver the message to the Pope.

There was plenty to report just from the Emperor’s demeanor.

Waltzemer slammed his fist down on the table he almost used to strike the messenger. The table shattered into pieces, scattering in all directions.

“You handled that well, Your Majesty.”

“…”

Naturally, Dietrich didn’t have the strength to restrain Waltzemer’s might. The power that stopped the Emperor felt weaker than holding a puppy by the scruff of its neck.

The force that stopped Waltzemer’s fist was his own self-control.

“Where is Bishop Katyn?” he asked.

“She’s still in her tent. A separate messenger visited her as well.”

She would have received a different kind of “special” advice compared to what the Emperor had been given. Instructions not to act rashly. But the fact that messengers had been sent not only to Bishop Katyn but also to the Emperor was itself a warning message.

Under normal circumstances, such personnel matters within the Order wouldn’t require reporting to the Emperor.

The Pope had disgraced Katyn’s lifelong achievements as a means to rein in the Emperor.

“Ha.”

The Emperor stepped out of the tent, kicking the flap open with force.

The bright sunlight shone upon the white city, the Holy City of Lichtheim, sprawled before him.

The Imperial Army was arrayed in formation in front of it, ostensibly ‘defending’ the city. The soldiers still believed they were protecting the Holy City from an orc invasion.

Lichtheim was perched on a wide plain, rising abruptly without any nearby mountains. The city was shaped like a pyramid, ascending in height towards the center. This was the very place where Luadin the Lighthouse Keeper had first spread his teachings and missionary work after leaving the Holy Land and arriving on the continent, which was then teeming with ancient gods and barbarians. Countless people had come seeking his teachings, leading to the city’s current state.

Even after Luadin had died and become an Archangel, his corpse continued to burn at the center of Lichtheim. This eternal flame was now known as the “Sacred Fire,” flickering atop the tower at the city’s zenith.

Over time, that tower had risen higher and higher, symbolizing the authority of the Codex of Light. It had now become a tower so tall that it was almost impossible to look up at it without straining. Yet, the brightest and hottest part was only at the very top; everything beneath was shrouded in darkness, earning the derogatory nickname “blind man beneath the lamp.”

By the Emperor’s side, Duke Lyon approached.

“How do you see this, Dietrich, Delia?”

“Isn’t this what we expected?”

Delia Lyon folded her arms, remarking. She had anticipated that the Pope would not step down easily. In fact, this was one of the more defensive moves they had expected.

“I’m surprised he didn’t excommunicate me.”

“That would risk invoking a divine trial… It means the Pope is afraid too.”

The three of them exchanged knowing smiles.

This confirmed that the Pope dared not summon the angels haphazardly. There was no guarantee the angels would side with them. The Emperor’s sainthood had disrupted their certainty. Even the Watcher’s Council seemed uncertain.

The Emperor gazed at Lichtheim and spoke.

“The time has come.”

***

Since the Treaty of Lichtheim, heaven and earth had been divided. But they had not been separated enough.

Greedy and incompetent priests still falsely claimed divine authority, trying to interfere and shaking the Empire with their secret doctrines. While countless nations and monarchies fought tooth and nail for a handful of power on this earth, the Codex of Light sat idly above, merely watching them.

But now, things were different.

“The priests are too incompetent to uphold the will of the Codex of Light. While the angels mercifully shielded them from their incompetence, the Church has rotted from within. Now is the time to cut away the decayed parts.”

Although it was happening more suddenly than planned, the Emperor felt relieved after speaking those words.

Replacing the Pope before a war rather than during could minimize chaos. The unexpected opportunity had arisen thanks to the Holy Grail Knight’s actions and the sudden death of Cardinal Camille.

The Church was not as firmly in control as it believed.

Many Holy Grail Knights and priests who worshipped the Codex of Light felt no need to remain loyal to a corrupt upper echelon of the Order. In demoting the well-respected Bishop Katyn to a mere priest, the Holy Council had committed a significant blunder. Discontent was sure to erupt.

This opportunity could not be missed.

As the Emperor spoke, his close aides gathered around him. He slowly looked at each of them and declared:

“From now on, we will ‘escort’ Bishop Katyn to the Holy Council. The Imperial Army must do everything in its power to ensure that the election is fair and safe.”

This was the ‘official’ directive of the Imperial Army.

But what he said next was meant only for his closest confidants.

“Immediately following the cardinal election, we will proceed with the deposition of the corrupt Horma Kmuel. He is neither our Pope nor a worthy representative to illuminate the glory of the Codex of Light. We will remove the civilian Horma Kmuel from the Holy Council and expedite the process of electing a new Pope from the Church.”

Despite the shocking nature of the Emperor’s declaration, the reaction was the complete opposite of what had happened in the Holy Council.

All of Waltzemer’s confidants thumped their chests in affirmation.

Duke Dietrich Brant, Chairman of the Northern Alliance, Duke Delia Lyon, Representative of the House of Nobles, Commander of the Knights of Feltren, and Commander Ethelheart of the Imperial Guard all shared determined glances with Emperor Waltzemer.

In their eyes burned a fervent desire for a long-awaited moment.

Waltzemer rose from his seat, flames blazing from his horns.

“Let us go. It is time to bring the blind men hidden beneath the lamp into the light.”

The Emperor took up his spear, preparing to move. His confidants swiftly followed suit.

The Emperor paused momentarily, gazing towards the eastern sky as he thought of the one person who had helped bring them to this point.

Without him, he would never have thought to draw in the Kingdom of Elil and the World’s Forge.

Bishop Juan would never have become a cardinal, Cardinal Camille wouldn’t have died suddenly, and the secrets that undermined the Church’s authority wouldn’t have been discovered. Most importantly, the Emperor was able to envision reaching a level of accomplishment that he previously thought unattainable.

He showed that even the limits of what humanity could achieve were not beyond challenge.

Heaven for the gods, earth for humanity.

‘Yet here I am, unable to send even a single soldier to aid the Holy Grail Knight struggling in the east.’

The Empire’s eastern regions might already be ravaged, but all the Emperor could do was hope Isaac remained unharmed. If he moved to help Isaac now, it would only continue to hold them back.

The Emperor had to turn a blind eye to the small things.

Only when he had the Pope in his grasp could the Empire finally be unified in strength.

And that strength was something only he could wield.