There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 158

The high priest, interpreting her expression, said brightly,

“Don’t be too nervous. You won’t have to face the Evil God alone. We have the Grand Temple, too.”

He pointed out the window with his index finger.

“See that tower over there?”

In the very center of the Grand Temple, a beautifully sculpted stone tower stood tall.

“The Tower of Salvation.”

The tower where priests had been gradually storing their divine power since ancient times.

“Now, a vast amount of divine power has gathered. Enough to resist even if the Evil God invades.”

*If that’s the case,* wouldn’t there be a way to help Le Guin with that tower?

Philomel was about to ask that question when…

*Buzz.* Philomel’s communication stone, which she had put in her pocket, vibrated and flashed.

Philomel tried to ignore the call because of the situation. But the caller was Le Guin.

She quickly answered the call.

“Le Guin!”

Ever since Le Guin entered the Evil God’s base, communication with him had been cut off.

“What happened? Are you safe? Did you defeat the Evil God?”

A hurried voice reached Philomel’s ear as she poured out questions.

-Phil, are you at the Grand Temple right now?

“Y-yes.”

-Run away! This wasn’t it! He must be at the Grand Temple right now!

Before Philomel could properly understand what he meant, it happened.

*Bang!*

At that moment, an explosion that seemed to deafen her and a shock wave swept through Philomel.

Philomel ducked down to prepare for additional impact, and after a moment, she raised her body.

“What on earth…….”

Beyond the window, where the glass was shattered, the outside scenery came into view.

The Tower of Salvation had exploded.

“The Tower of Salvation……!”

The high priest’s face was filled with bewilderment and despair.

The tower, once the pride of the Grand Temple, was destroyed without a trace. The surrounding area was severely damaged due to the debris from the tower flying everywhere from the explosion.

“Help me!”

Someone grabbed a person buried under the rubble and shouted.

The disaster was not limited to that. Something black descended from the sky to where the tower had been. And the moment it touched the ground, a huge stem instantly grew high into the sky.

‘Stem.’

It wasn’t a perfect expression, but there was no other way to describe that dark red object.

The high priest muttered.

“What could that be……?”

Her mind snapped back. There was no time to stand by and watch.

“It’s the Evil God!”

Le Guin had told her.

“That must be Eris’s trick! We need to get the Sword of Balvard as soon as possible!”

Why hadn’t she suspected it?

The Evil God had invaded Philomel’s mind.

‘He was physically close to me, too!’

Amidst the confusion, one thing was clear.

The Grand Temple was in crisis. Philomel supported the high priest, who had twisted his leg, and arrived at the vault where the Sword of Balvard was enshrined.

*Whoosh!*

When the high priest unleashed his divine power, the vault door opened.

“This is the Sword of Balvard.”

Philomel looked closely at the sword she received.

‘Old and shabby.’

Overall, it was worn out, and the hilt was made only of leather without any decoration.

When she pulled the sword out of its sheath, the blade was full of nicks.

‘Maybe it’s natural.’

Balvard was a legendary figure, and if it was an item he used, the sword would naturally be very old. Perhaps it could be preserved in this condition only because it was a sacred object.

Fortunately, it was a dagger, so Philomel could hold it without difficulty.

“Huh?”

Upon closer inspection, the sword’s blade was shimmering faintly.

The high priest, who noticed this, said.

“It has recognized you as its owner. They say that sword has a knack for recognizing a good heart.”

It was a bit embarrassing to hear that.

Philomel took the sword.

“Let’s go outside now!”

On the way to the first floor, she was able to hear the detailed contents of the prophecy that the high priest had received some time ago.

“The prophecy was that if you pierce the Evil God’s heart with that sword, peace will come to the world!”

Piercing the heart with the sword.

Unlike the Book of God, it was straightforward, which was good.

As they got closer to the first floor, they encountered another group.

“High Priest! You were here!”

“Something terrible has happened!”

They were priests who were looking for the high priest. The high priest replied.

“I saw it too. The Tower of Salvation was destroyed, and a strange object appeared.”

“That’s not all!”

Philomel read the emotions on their faces.

“Monsters!”

“Countless monsters are coming out of that plant-like thing!”

It was extreme fear.

* * *

“Aaaaaaack!”

“Priest, save me!”

“Why are there monsters in the Grand Temple!”

It was utter chaos.

Philomel couldn’t help but freeze at the sight unfolding outside.

*Screech!* Blackened monsters mercilessly slaughtered people.

‘One, two, three, four…….’

Philomel stopped counting the number of monsters. It was not a single digit, even roughly estimated. If there were this many just in her sight, there must be hundreds of monsters rampaging throughout the Grand Temple.

‘And if what that priest said earlier is true, they keep increasing……!’

A desperate scream was heard in the distance.

“Priest!”

“Come behind me! Quickly!”

The priests fought the monsters with divine power, but it was not enough. There were too many ordinary people as well as monsters.

Most of them had come to see the Hero Selection Ceremony. Today, the Grand Temple was packed with people. The smell of blood flowing from their bodies stung Philomel’s nose.

“Ugh……!”

Philomel barely suppressed the rising nausea.

People, so many people, were dying. It was too surreal a scene. Her hand, tightly gripping the toy hammer, trembled uncontrollably.

Philomel unconsciously fumbled for the communication stone in her pocket.

‘Le Guin……!’

The communication had been cut off a long time ago. Right when the Tower of Salvation exploded.

It wasn’t just the problem with the communication stone that Philomel had. A priest who had been holding the communication stone since earlier announced.

“High Priest! We can’t contact the outside! Something seems to be blocking the communication!”

“What about internal communication?”

“It comes and goes erratically. And even when the communication is connected, there is too much static.”

“Try to get in touch as soon as possible. We need to evacuate people out of the Grand Temple!”

“Th-that is…….”

The young priest replied almost sobbing.

“I just got in touch with those near the main gate, and they say there are especially more monsters there.”

“What about the other gates?”

“I haven’t checked all of them, but the situation seems similar everywhere.”

The high priest was silent.

A sudden appearance of a swarm of monsters.

Isolation from the outside.

So many people to protect. The situation was the worst.

Time passed. It hadn’t been many minutes, but it was a suffocating time.

The howling of the monsters targeting them sounded particularly loud.

“Krrr.”

Currently, some priests were blocking the monsters’ approach by using divine power, but they couldn’t block the howling.

After a while, the high priest’s decision was finally made.

“Gather the people in the Sacred Object Storage. Let’s hold out here as long as we can.”

He continued.

“Even if communication with the outside is cut off, judging from this situation, reinforcements will come.”

Someone raised their hand.

“Shall we light the beacon? We hardly use it these days, but the materials are always available on the beacon tower.”

Others gradually began to speak up.

“What about carrier pigeons?”

“But there are flying monsters in the sky, so I don’t know if the pigeons will arrive safely…….”

“We’ll only know if we try.”

Those who had been flustered until just now regained their composure under the high priest’s guidance.

“H-High Priest.”

Then, a priest said.

“Is gathering people in one place really a good idea?”

As people paid attention, she presented her argument.

“First of all, it’s difficult to gather so many people in one place, and if people gather, monsters will also gather.”

“So?”

“With the Tower of Salvation destroyed, we don’t have the firepower to wipe them out all at once.”

At that point, the priests glanced at where the Tower of Salvation had been and sighed.

“So, I think it would be better to take them out one by one.”

“……Unfortunately, that’s not the situation we’re in right now.”

The high priest, who had been silently listening to the priest’s opinion, pointed to the ‘stem.’

“Look at the ground below.”

Philomel and the others soon noticed the change.

The ground had turned dark red. The same ominous color as the ‘stem.’ Everyone except the high priest had been so focused on the monsters that they were only now recognizing the change in the ground.

What shocked them even more was something else.

“The flowers and grass……!”

The vegetation on the dark red ground was all withered. To make matters worse…….

“Wait! Doesn’t that dark red color seem to be spreading?”

The question raised by a priest was correct. Upon closer inspection, the dark red ground was slowly expanding to the surrounding area.

The high priest revealed the identity of this strange phenomenon.

“The land has been contaminated by the power of the Evil God. It steals the power to give birth to life and turns it into a barren land.”

People swallowed hard.

“Evil God……. The story I heard a few days ago was true.”

Originally, the existence of Eris was a truth allowed only to some of the priests. Most of the priests seemed to have learned about it only after the high priest received the prophecy.

“If you step on that ground, humans will also lose their lives like plants. It may seem fine for now, but you will lose your vitality.”

“Then, the reason why the High Priest told us to gather people in one place is…….”

“Because the range that we can purify with our power is limited.”

In other words, the priests had to purify the land and fight the monsters. Those things that were still crawling out of the gaps in the stem endlessly.