The Silver Sanctuary

Tension hung heavy in the streets of Armosa, the Holy Kingdom’s capital.

Soldiers and clerics rushed about frantically while the citizens locked their doors.

The theft of Dawn Temple’s holy relic had placed Armosa under severe lockdown.

Pernok drew the curtains and leaned against the wall, watching the door.

Armin entered, wiping cold sweat from his brow.

“Phew, it’s brutal out there. I can’t remember the last time the capital was this tense.”

“It’s because of the holy relic.”

Armin nodded and closed the door.

“Everyone’s looking for the Silver priest. Of course, it doesn’t seem to be for good reasons.”

All eyes turned to him.

“I stopped by the Benevolence Temple. The rumors have already spread everywhere. It’s not just about the theft of Dawn Temple’s holy relic. A motion to investigate the Silver priest has been submitted to the Grand Temple.”

“Did Dawn Temple submit the motion directly?”

“That’s right. The Head Cleric of Dawn Temple personally wrote the investigation request.”

As expected, it seemed the head cleric knew nothing of what the Silver priest had done.

He had only guarded the holy relic at the center of the Eight-Direction Formation and never went anywhere near the laboratory.

Thanks to the Memorial magic showing him the laboratory’s appearance, it seemed chaos had erupted within Dawn Temple as well.

“The priest of the Benevolence Temple has also entered the Grand Temple.”

“Then how many priests have gathered in this capital?”

“Two from the order of the God of Light side and two from the order of the God of Benevolence side. Four in total.”

The Magi of S1 and S2 had gathered in the capital.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

“Since a majority of the priests have assembled, the high priest will personally attend the council.”

High Priest Arisha of the Holy Kingdom.

An S3 Magus alongside Duke Chris of the Rakis Empire. And the world’s only possessor of multiple Magus Arts.

“This might actually work in our favor.”

“…?”

“The High Priest doesn’t take sides. Not even for the Light Temple, despite being from there herself.”

“You know the High Priest well?”

“I saw her once from afar. She took good care of even record clerics like us. She’s incredibly young but so thoughtful. It was difficult to even meet her gaze.”

In the Holy Kingdom, the high priest becomes the next Pope.

The previous Pope had been an S2 Magus who worshipped Rake, the God of Dawn.

But as he aged and gradually weakened, he eventually declined, and the then-high priest who worshipped the God of Light became the current Pope.

And that wasn’t the only fortunate development.

The one who became high priest after her was also from the Light Temple.

Normally, a Pope and High Priest from the same temple in the same generation had never occurred.

“She was truly special.”

Yet no one opposed Arisha’s ascension to high priest.

Even the conservative priests all recognized her.

At that time, Arisha was fifteen years old.

“They say she was born with Magus Arts.”

“That’s right. There’s never been a case like hers. It wasn’t just that her power was exceptional—even from childhood, the way she wielded it was full of kindness.”

The pinnacle of innate talent.

But people called her a “miracle.”

A divine miracle that would rewrite the Holy Kingdom’s history.

Now twenty-five, Arisha was said to be destined to become the youngest Pope in history.

“But she’s not passive like previous high priests. Rather, she’s been pressing the Pope to open relations with the outside world.”

Long ago, the Holy Kingdom had established temples in other nations.

But when their doctrines spread rapidly and began influencing royal authority, the temples were swiftly demolished.

The Rakis Empire even went so far as to severely punish those who followed the Holy Kingdom’s teachings.

After suffering persecution, the Holy Kingdom stopped attempting to establish relations with other nations.

Most countries feared their national power and only sent goodwill envoys, avoiding deeper relationships.

They wanted to borrow military strength but rejected the doctrines.

Previous Popes had locked the gates against such intentions from other nations. They focused solely on concentrating their power within their own borders.

The resources from the vast plains made this possible.

Today, the Holy Kingdom—called the ruler of the west—had achieved a solid position simply by building its internal strength.

“The High Priest wants to establish temples outside again. The fact that foreigners have been able to freely enter and leave the Holy Kingdom in recent years is largely due to this belief.”

“Kind and open-minded. It’s quite an unusual combination.”

“Hahaha, it just means she’s progressive.”

“Do you think the Grand Temple’s council will move toward removing the Silver priest?”

“Probably. If they saw the laboratory and the Head Cleric himself stepped forward, I’d think it would go that way.”

“Then we need to strike before they find the Silver priest.”

“Right. They won’t let this ‘Boss’ person live.”

The incident from thirty years ago was being dredged up again.

Regardless of the Silver priest, the moment the Boss possessing the Origin of darkness was discovered, he would be executed on the spot.

“Have you confirmed the Silver priest’s location?”

“They haven’t seen him at any of the temples here.”

“Then he must be at the old temple.”

“Oh, and I searched through records from three hundred years ago in case there was other information. Everything related to the old Dawn Temple had been erased.”

“All records related to the temple?”

“Only the passages recording its location and place were removed. The priest was so sneaky about it—if I hadn’t opened the books, I would never have known.”

Pernok nodded and turned to Marco.

“Do you remember the temple’s location?”

“Of course I know it. But there won’t be a priest at the temple you’re talking about.”

“…?”

“The priest said so. No priest would allow believers into truly important places.”

Marco continued, dredging up memories.

“The place where only the priests of the old temple can enter is passed down orally, unknown to people from other temples. And the Silver priest called that place the sanctuary. The place where Boss is imprisoned isn’t the shell of a temple, but the Dawn Sanctuary.”

“Have you been inside?”

Marco and all the children nodded.

“They conduct Origin compatibility experiments at the temple, and at the sanctuary they research new Origins using compatible children. That’s why the temple is called the laboratory and the sanctuary is called the research center. I went in two or three times to participate in the research.”

“How far is it to the sanctuary?”

“The outskirts of Armosa. But will this be okay?”

“Is there another problem?”

“This is Armosa, the Holy Kingdom’s capital. If we make too much noise, won’t all the Magi gathered at the Grand Temple come rushing out?”

“So you’re not completely thick-headed after all.”

Pernok smirked.

“If we cause that much commotion, we’ll be trapped and killed in Armosa. So we strike quickly and withdraw.”

“The priest isn’t easy.”

“We just need to extract the Boss successfully. The priest doesn’t only have us as enemies.”

The Grand Temple was also sharpening their teeth.

“We’ll need to divide roles clearly.”

Pernok created a small mana sphere in his palm and handed it to Armin.

“What’s this?”

“Stay near the sanctuary, and if you spot anyone, crush it immediately. The signal will be transmitted to us instantly.”

“I had my suspicions, but are you a Double? How can an enhancement-type mage do something like this?”

“That’s not what’s important right now.”

Pernok smiled and distributed spheres to Marco and the children as well.

“You’ll deal with unnecessary obstacles in the sanctuary, and when the signal is transmitted, don’t hesitate—get out.”

“What are you saying? We’re going in all the way to where Boss is!”

“This is different from Dawn Temple. If the Magi of Armosa gather as you said, do you have an escape route?”

“Well…”

“If we make one wrong move, I’ll die too.”

The great army surrounding the capital.

The world’s finest Magi and the Magi of each temple.

If they were caught by the Silver priest and faced them, even Pernok couldn’t guarantee he’d survive intact.

“We can’t afford a single mistake. I can’t succeed at everything while also indulging your childish tantrums.”

Marco and the children nodded with heavy expressions.

“Tonight, while the Grand Temple’s council is in session. We strike the sanctuary immediately.”

Heavy tension filled the room.

Pernok refined his mana while Marco and the children devised formations using Origin.

As Armin monitored the streets, tracking the movements of soldiers and priests, darkness gradually fell.

Pernok and his group donned cleric robes and ventured into the night streets.

Every time they encountered soldiers, Armin made excuses, and after about three hours of walking, they arrived at a shabby building on the outskirts.

They opened the creaking door, entered the deserted building, and knocked on the floor.

Thunk, thunk.

At the returning sound, Marco nodded and carefully opened the floor.

Stairs leading underground appeared.

“Monitor the outside situation from inside the building.”

“Understood.”

Armin gripped the mana sphere and hid in the shadows.

Pernok’s group descended the stairs.

When they felt they’d gone quite deep, a space filled with broken pillars appeared.

“If someone from another temple comes, they’ll just see this and turn back.”

They moved past the shell of a temple.

Marco stopped before a wall with a thin groove carved into it.

“Insert the holy relic here, turn it twice to the left, then once to the right.”

Pernok inserted the blue sword into the groove and turned it in the direction Marco indicated.

Grrrrrind!

The wall beside them opened, revealing a path lit by torches.

“Phew, back in this shitty place again.”

Marco wiped the sweat streaming from his palms, clearly nervous.

The children swallowed nervously and bristled their Origins like thorns.

Pernok transformed the artifact into glove form and spoke.

“We’re going in.”

He retrieved the holy relic and entered. The door closed behind them.

* * *

In a space covered entirely in silver, there was a bound man.

‘Marco…?’

When he sensed the familiar Origin, the man opened his eyes.

The one-armed man reading a book outside the bars closed his tome.

“So they’ve come.”

The man had also sensed the intruders.

“What troublesome little brats. If they’d just followed my words obediently, a happy future would have awaited them. Why did they have to go and blow up the temple?”

The man shook his head—the Silver priest—and looked into the prison.

“If you’d cooperated with me properly, wouldn’t everything have proceeded smoothly? Klein.”

Klein smiled faintly.

“A priest who became the temple’s enemy. Your life is pretty pathetic too.”

“Shouldn’t I bestow embers upon these pitiful souls who don’t understand great power, so they can kindle flames? But the head cleric doesn’t understand Dawn’s ideals at all.”

The Silver priest clicked his tongue and stood up.

“They haven’t gained the rationality that Marco has yet, but it doesn’t matter. Even if it’s a bit early, I’ll have to awaken those pitiful, ignorant fools to Dawn’s teachings.”

He wrapped a long wooden box beside him in silver and levitated it next to himself.

Murderous intent flickered in Klein’s eyes.

“So you’ve finally laid hands on that as well.”

“If the High Priest comes, I’ll have to show her, won’t I?”

The Silver priest smiled and left the prison.

“The path Dawn must walk.”

* * *

It was the moment Pernok entered a fork in the path.

“To the left…”

Marco trailed off, looking back and forth between both corridors.

The children’s expressions hardened.

“That… son of a bitch…!”

Beyond the biting curse, something was emerging.

They all had the same build as the children, but where their facial features should have been, they were covered in silver.

“Origin.”

Pernok’s eyes narrowed as he confirmed the orb embedded in the center of each face.