[rumble…]

The power the High Priest of Pride had condensed pressed down heavily on the sanctum of Death.

That blow could have shredded not only the high priest’s Robe but even his body engraved with Stigmata.

Yet just before that force erased its target, the altar wrung out demonic energy as a final spasm.

But the Demon God of Death had already intervened too deeply; there was a limit to how much strength could be handed over, and thanks to the Spirit-being’s divinity, the demonic energy of this land had calmed—so a price had to be paid.

The sanctum began collapsing from the edges.

Its façade weathered as if exposed to wind and rain for ages, and the heavy reek of death dissipated into the air.