Chapter 683 – 683. Disaster Prologue (4)
The main school of the Temple of Vesta, where Eunhyeon and Eleanor ran at full speed, was very busy with an unusually cluttered atmosphere.
“Hurry! Hurry!”
In the sight of all the priests and paladins running around busily, there was no sign of a temple that valued order and discipline.
It is the same as implying that the current situation is as urgent as that.
“How did you get here?”
While many people were busy running around the temple with their respective roles, a priest found Eunhyeon and Eleanor arriving near the entrance and greeted them.
“Sorry, but this is a state of emergency. Visit later…”
How urgent the situation was, the priest did not even recognize Eleanor.
“This is high priest Eleanor Armitas. I’m here to find out what anomalies are currently happening in the city and ask if there’s anything I can do to help. Can I meet Agnies-sama?”
When I politely introduced myself, the priest lowered his head in amazement.
“Sir, excuse me! I didn’t even know you were the next saintess… !”
The priest, who still had a youthful impression of her, heard the news of Eleanor’s visit to the main school, but he did not recognize her right away because he had never actually seen her face.
Perhaps he was aware that he had committed the greatest disrespect he could commit, and the young priest knelt down on the floor and was ready to commit a mortal sin.
“Please wake up. This is not the case now.”
Eleanor smiled bitterly and forgave the young priest.
“That, yes…”
The young priest hurriedly got up, but he still couldn’t meet his gaze, an expression full of regret and embarrassment that he hadn’t recognized Eleanor.
“I will guide you.”
However, he guided Eunhyeon and Eleanor in order to fulfill his role faithfully without forgetting his role.
Before long, the priest who guided the two to the meeting room located at the innermost part of the main school of the temple opened the door.
“Archbishop. Next lady. I brought Eleanor Armitas.”
“Ask me to come in.”
Following the words of the priest who bowed his head while beckoning the room, Eunhyeon and Eleanor bowed their heads slightly and entered the room.
“… I’m here?”
“Okay. What happened?”
Eun-hyeon immediately asked Agies what the situation was, but she and the other priests all put on sad faces and shut her mouth.
How can I explain the situation in which the barrier, which had not been broken even once for decades, no, since the introduction of the divine defense barrier using barrier stones, was broken in vain.
It was the right expression to say that the word was broken, but in fact it was lifted, but no one mentioned that fact.
It means that someone who knows how to handle divine power, that is, someone inside the temple intentionally canceled the defense barrier protecting Erenium.
As a believer of the goddess Vesta, disabling Erenium’s defense barrier on her own is a serious crime just like endangering all the citizens of Erenium.
“… Did you know that the barrier suddenly broke due to an abnormal phenomenon?”
“I felt it right away. And…”
“That’s right. It has risen to the point of deep morale.”
Eunhyeon felt it too and immediately gave an order to Erin.
Perhaps this is the reason why priests and paladins are busy walking around the temple outside this conference room.
Where the main school, the center of all the temples dedicated to the goddess Vesta, was so proudly attacked by the undead.
This was a disgraceful event in and of itself that was as disgraceful as, perhaps even more than, the defense barriers being lifted in the Temple of Vesta.
Agnes and the other priests and paladins were making sad expressions that well expressed how urgent the current situation was.
Moreover, since the undead were rising all over the city and threatening the citizens, the temple moved busily as if fire were falling on its feet.
“For now, Erin continues to move on my side as well.”
“… Thank you for your consideration.”
Contrary to the fact that he didn’t like the current situation and put on a sad face, his thanks to Eunhyeon were sincere.
Even if priests and paladins were urgently mobilized from the moment they realized that the current barrier was broken and the undead began to appear in the city, it would take a considerable amount of time to arrive at the scene.
In addition, the size of the city of Erenium was too large to cover all the undead that appeared in various places, not just one place.
If it was Erin, she was a disciple raised by Eunhyeon himself, and she was a reliable supporter in the current situation, knowing that she had combat power comparable to that of a veteran paladin.
Even if she ran through the scene first, it would be tough for her to quickly dispose of all the undead, but even if she just reduced an incident that could have resulted in 100 victims to 50, that would be greatly appreciated.
“Archbishop! The soldier who was standing guard at the guard post on the side of the broken barrier has returned to the temple!”
Finally, the news Agnes and the other priests had been waiting for came.
“Come on in!”
“Yes!”
The priest who brought the news immediately brought the soldier into the meeting room.
Agnes immediately winked at the other priests and prepared a seat for Eunhyeon and Eleanor.
Eleanor was well qualified to be in this meeting room, but even Eun-hyun, who was only an outsider even though she was her husband, was unusual for her to attend a main church meeting.
That was possible because the current Saint Agnes and the next Saint Eleanor guaranteed his identity.
In addition, perhaps because of the fact that Erin, who is currently active outside and running around putting the rescue of citizens and soldiers first, is also Eun-hyeon’s wife, his joining was accepted more easily than expected.
This is how I heard it.
He was a soldier who was on guard duty at the guard post guarding the barrier stone.
As usual, while carrying out a peaceful duty that was no different from usual, a high-ranking priest who was in charge of managing the barrier stone came to the guard post late in the morning.
He explained that he had suddenly been notified that the main school of the temple was going to perform an urgent inspection of the barrier stones, and that he had come to check the barrier stones in advance to make sure there were no abnormalities. I didn’t have any big doubts about it.
One strange thing was the notification of the emergency inspection.
“It’s an urgent inspection… We have never been notified of that.”
Some of the priests in the conference room said in bewilderment.
The schedule and orders for that urgent inspection were also orders from the upper echelons of the temple main school.
However, the upper echelons of the main school had never been notified of such a schedule.
“Ha, but we only thought it was true…”
It was probably a blatant lie spouted by the high priest in order to manipulate the barrier stone, but the soldiers guarding the post wouldn’t have dared to doubt the words of the high priest.
“Know. Keep talking.”
Agnes continued to report to the soldiers for now.
“So…”
The high-ranking priest was guided to manipulate the barrier stone without any warning, and the high-ranking priest was able to release the barrier without any hindrance.
“… Who is the higher priest?”
“That priest…”
The priest apologized and committed suicide by piercing his throat with a dagger.
The soldier trembled as he still couldn’t forget the expression on the face of the high-level priest who had repeatedly apologized before committing suicide.
And soon after, black energy slowly rose from the floor outside the gate, and the black knight gradually appeared in shape and leaped with terrifying leg strength and reached the city wall.
“A black knight?”
“Yes yes! It was a knight armed with black armor! And a very unpleasant black magic was overflowing from all around! It’s like…”
Wasn’t human
“… Death Knight.”
Anies, who immediately grasped the true identity, gritted his teeth and muttered.
The appearance of the Death Knight, who belongs to the upper world among the undead, clearly told us that this situation was becoming more and more serious as it went on.
The senior soldier who was on duty with him was pierced through the neck by the black knight’s blade, and at one point, she ran away screaming in terror, but a female adventurer who appeared like a comet saved her, the soldier said.
The female adventurer who held her rapier and delivered a powerful blow that pierced the Death Knight’s neck and exploded was a seductive woman with nine silver tails.
The soldier, who miraculously survived thanks to her help, hurriedly ran toward the temple main school, and now he spoke gibberish of everything he had seen, heard, and experienced.
“…”
All the people in the conference room who heard all the reports put on sad faces and thought about how to deal with this situation in their heads and started to take action.
“I will summon all priests and paladins in an emergency.”
“Okay.”
Agnes nodded at the words of the high-ranking priests and moved his gaze to Eunhyeon and Eleanor.
“It looks like you guys have helped me.”
Realizing that it was Erin who had saved a soldier after seeing everything, she thanked them both.
Eunhyeon’s decision to send Erin first helped the temple main school understand the situation.
“Can I help you?”
“… Can you please?”
The paladins and priests in the conference room reacted in surprise when they saw Agnes accepting Eunhyeon’s proposal without hesitation.
“Ah, Anies-sama!”
“This is a problem that the temple has to solve.”
Even if the current situation is an unprecedented situation that has never occurred since the city was protected with barrier stones, this is an internal problem.
Even though Eun-hyeon was the husband of Eleanor, her next saintess, she was reluctant to deal with it.
It is also politically disrespectful to ask for help from outsiders.
In a word, it was a matter of childish pride, but it was something that could not be ignored.
“For the sake of the face of our temple, are the lives of the citizens of this city any good?”
“…”
“What we have to protect is not the pride and face of the temple. It is the lives of citizens.”
Aside from the political face and interests to be taken care of, Agnes’s top priority was the lives that the temple should protect and take care of.
It is a matter of course that he needs the help of even one person.
“Is it impossible to ask for help in the form of a request?”
It was Albert who carefully raised his hand to present his opinion to convince the upper priests and paladins in the meeting room.
Originally, young apprentice priests who had not yet reached the age of majority did not have the right to attend this meeting, but they were able to attend it externally as Agies’ attendants.
In an instant, many people’s eyes were drawn to Alvern, but Alvern spoke his opinion without hesitation.
“The adventurers who noticed the situation by now must have started moving on their own.”
The undead, who broke through the city gates and invaded the city, are the dead who attack regardless of opponents, led by vitality.
Ordinary citizens as well as adventurers cannot be free from the attacks of these dead.
They also would have chosen to run away or fight for their own survival.
Erin, who is struggling by running naked to save people, also chose to fight, so she is closer to the latter.
“Hmm. So?”
Originally, the apprentice priest’s remarks would have been dismissed as nonsense that wouldn’t even go unnoticed in this situation, but when Archbishop Agnes took interest and asked, no one could object.
Rather, I even waited quietly for an answer to see what opinions he would come up with.
“I think it’s best to ask the adventurer’s guild right away and build a united front with the priests and paladins.”
The most important problem in the temple now was manpower.
In order to deal with the undead that have started to appear in every corner of this huge city, it is not easy to invest and maintain enough manpower to cover the entire city.
However, if adventurers form an alliance here, protecting the citizens becomes even easier.
In this way, there is a natural justification for seeking help from the adventurer Erin and Eunhyeon.
“It’s okay. Send a priest to the Adventurer’s Guild right away and ask for their cooperation.”
“All right!”
After hearing the decision, one of the priests immediately left the meeting room.
“Then let me ask you a favor. Remuneration… Is there anything you would like to have?”
“I’ll think about that later. Then…”
Eunhyun opened her inventory.
