"This attack will be different," I began, trying to be as quick as possible with my expnation. "We're not going to be luring, attacking, or disrupting the chain of command," I paused, almost for dramatic effect before letting the cat out of the bag, "We're here for the treasure!"

  National Cathedrals like these usually housed resources and secrets beyond compare. I could overlook it if it was a smaller nation, but this was the Empire, the rgest nation in the world! It's sure to house all sorts of relics! I was absolutely eted at the thought. If I didn't watch myself, I'd probably break into a song or start dancing on the spot, so I quickly assigned different sections to small groups of soldiers, using the map that our allies so generously provided us.

  The party and I would be heading toward the inner sanctum, where the single biggest obstacle to our success rested: a Bishop. I remembered my telepathic communication with Isis yesterday and what she told me about him,

  "He's old, but don't underestimate that Bishop. If your magic defense is not up to par, a single spell from him would be fatal, so ensure you pit a Mage or someone with high magic defense against him."

  "What about their Goddess? Do I have to worry about her?" I asked.

  "N-no, she doesn't reside there," She said in a strange tone of voice. I couldn't see her face, but it was almost like she had mixed feelings about this Imperial Goddess. Hmm, it'd be safe to assume that she actually exists, I thought to myself before ending the telepathic communication. Now, we just had to worry about that Bishop and acting as quickly as possible.

  Lucia would be the ideal choice, but I was worried about her, as I'd heard the old man had climbed his way up to level 96. Would she be able to handle it? I wondered. In some ways, Mages were both the best and worst csses to fight against other Mages, best because magic generally ignored physical defenses and worst because high-level Mages like him usually had good magic defense. I'm sure by now her magic stat is high enough, but what about her magic defense? I needed to know her stats, so I asked her once again, and it looked like this:

  LuciaLV 80HP605Mag698Dex579Spd582Luck 367P-DEF284M-DEF673Status-----CompatibilityDaphneI-incredible. She was on the road to maxing out her Mag and M-DEF stats, as 750 was the ceiling for all stats except HP, which capped at 1500.

  "W-what's wrong? Why're you looking at me like that?" She asked with a slightly worried look on her face. Lucia, you monster! Who knew what she could truly achieve with all that raw destructive power?

  "You see, we're going to encounter a high-level Bishop, and—"

  "I want to fight him!" She suddenly insisted, cutting me off mid-sentence.

  "I mean, it's good that you're enthusiastic about it, but this guy... is not your average Bishop," I tried to expin, but she could be weirdly stubborn sometimes. Hopping around all my arguments, she insisted on a 1v1 despite the potential danger she would face.

  "Trust me," She said, her eyes pleading, so I budged.

  "Okay, we'll come to your support! as soon as we're done," I decred with a tone of finality. "I'll trust you to hold him off for some time, but we'll fight him together after that."

  "Okay. Sounds good to me," She finally agreed, and the operation began in earnest soon after that. Phildina led us inside the Cathedral, where the tent returned to its original size. As we had done before, we came out ready for battle but found the bodies of the guards sprawled out on the floor.

  "A-are they dead?" A soldier in the Company asked.

  "Yes, I took care of them," Phildina answered with a smile. EXP thief! She didn't even leave any for us... As we split up, I couldn't help but wonder how high her level and stats were. But that can wait, I thought to myself as I ran through the vast Cathedral, inching ever closer to the inner sanctum, where we would part ways with Lucia.

  "Lucia, do you have some potions on you?"

  "Yes, Daphne," She answered.

  "What about Holy Water?"

  "Yes,"

  "Antidotes?"

  "Why would a Bishop use poison?" She asked, fbbergasted at the thought.

  "Sorry, I got a little carried away there," I answered honestly.

  "Look, I'll be fine. You guys won't even have to come back to help me. I'll defeat him all by myself," Her determined look as she said that was truly one of a kind. She had her game face on and everything, but I didn't want her to overestimate her capabilities. I didn't want to lose her, so I peppered her with questions until we got to the inner sanctum.

  It was simply awe-inducing, but the old man who knelt before the high altar at the center of the room was even more impressive. He was dressed in ostentatious, religious garments, like a pope in my previous world, but the symbols on his robe were different and more mysterious. He seemed to be deep in prayer, not even acknowledging our presence for a good while until he finished.

  "W-what is this?" Kimmel voiced a sentiment that swept through the party at that moment. We could all feel it, an oppressive atmosphere hung over the room as he turned to look at us

  "You dare profane the Sanctuary?" He was soft-spoken, but his deep brown eyes were piercing, and his words carried a strange weightiness to them.

  "Don't worry, guys. I'll be fine," Her confident smile as she said did nothing to ease my worries. Don't set off your own red fg! I wanted to shout, but the party dragged me out of the room before I could. I was deeply concerned about the situation, but Kimmel ran up to me and expined,

  "If she says she'll be fine, she'll be fine." Um, I don't think that's how it works... "That's the kind of person she is," He continued.

  "Lucia hardly ever makes promises she can't keep," Batti added. Hmm, so she generally keeps to her word? A wonderful quality, but that is that, and this is this!

  "Didn't you say she's our most powerful fighter? Have faith in her," Hertz chimed in as he ran past me. Hertz? You too?!

  "Ugh, fine! I'll trust that she'll win," I surrendered, but that was when my eyes happened to wander over to Matilda, who looked like she was out of it. It may be a different religion, but I guess this would still take a mental toll on her...

  "Daphne, if I may ask," Kimmel began. "Let's not destroy this pce when we're done." Oh, so he knew about the Magic Mines? "It'd hurt a lot of innocent worshippers." True, they were not involved in any way, shape, or form and just came to pray to their 'Goddess,' I thought to myself as we made our way to the treasury. Even now, we were encountering a lot of frightened worshippers, but we left them alone, as pointless sughter was not the reason we came here. More importantly, however, I had to confirm something.

  "Did Hertz tell you about the Magic Mines?" I asked Kimmel in a whisper.

  "Yes, I was leading the operation, remember?" He whispered back, and I felt like face-palming on the spot. My bird brain strikes again! "I figured you'd try to do something with them, and I was comfortable with the idea when it came to Forts, but..."

  "Don't worry. I won't use them here," I reassured him with a smile. I would've loved to pnt some here, but maintaining cohesion within the group, especially at such a trying time, was more important. We had been following Hertz's lead all this time until he stopped before a rge, iron door and started picking the lock with great expertise. Within a few moments, we heard a satisfying clicking sound, and he opened the door for all of us to enter. Ah, what extraordinary beauty! Just as I was about to enter paradise—

  BOOOOM A loud explosion rocked the Cathedral, almost knocking me down ft by the sheer force of the shockwave. I sobered up instantly and quickly ran into the room with the others in tow. Silver rings with strange symbols engraved upon them? Take! Jeweled neckces with ominous auras? Take! An old, dusty Tome on the verge of falling apart? Take! An unnaturally sharp-looking katana? Take! Or rather, I didn't, as Kathryn took it instead and wouldn't let anyone else touch it for some strange reason. We would sell some while keeping others depending on how useful they'd be, but that was beside the point... We have to help Lucia!

  Everyone, perhaps sharing in that sentiment, followed after me at full throttle as I ran to the inner sanctum. When we arrived, we found the two high-level Mages drawing complex magical formations in the air. If I had learned anything from Lucia's lessons and from watching her, that usually signified that they were about to cast high-level spells. The old Bishop's circle was almost blindingly bright, with symbols that were beyond my understanding while Lucia's was more... electrical. The lightning conjured up by our Sage danced atop her fingertips as she drew a grand circle, the likes of which I'd never seen before. Woah! The room itself was shaking at the tremendous magical energy they were drawing from their respective Tomes, which would eventually culminate into a powerful release.

  "Holy Spear!"

  "Lightning Arc!"

  The csh of the two powerful spells was too bright for me to truly witness what had gone down, but when the dust had settled...

  "Lucia!" The room itself had been blown away with the Bishop nowhere to be found while Lucia was standing tall... with a massive spear of light through her gut that vanished as she colpsed. Matilda snapped back to herself, and we both ran towards her. "Lucia, Lucia! Please, answer me!" I tried calling out to her while Matilda applied healing magic to her, but... no response.

  My dark thoughts bubbled up to the surface. They condemned me for letting her do this on her own, listening to my comrades, and trusting that she would come out of this in one piece. HA! Trust! What good ever came out of trust?! It really was as my uncle said. He was always right, after all, I thought with a smile slowly creeping up on my face, a strange feeling bubbling up from within me. I didn't know what I would do at that moment, and it scared me, but...

  "She's not dead," Matilda gave out the verdict, and I returned to my normal self. She saved me from something unknowable that day, and I was grateful.

  ***

  I couldn't believe my ears. In such a short time... Who are these heroes of the Kingdom? I wondered as I sat in my tent outside Luxoria as any other soldier.

  "M-my lord," The messenger, who was kneeling before me started his report. "T-t-the troops we sent after them all died in a-an explosion, and... among the b-b-bodies we found... was..."

  "Yes? Tell me what you found," I said, getting tired of his antics.

  "Y-y-yes, my lord! W-w-w-w-we found the body of f-former Corps Commander Fargus!" At this, I didn't even know what to say, and the messenger, probably interpreting my silence as anger apologized, saying, "I'm so s-s-sorry! I-it was the nobles! If they had handled the s-situation more effectively, we wouldn't have to..."

  "Silence!" I bellowed, watching him squeal like a rat while resisting my urge to sigh. I hate when they try to shift bme like this... "The fault is not yours or the noble's but mine. I was careless," I expined as he trembled all over, finally calming down at my st statement. "Besides, passing around the bme won't fix the situation."

  "M-my lord, you mean?"

  "Arrange for me another meeting with that man," I decred, and as he scampered out of the room to rey my orders, I vowed to myself, I will avenge you, Fargus, my teacher and friend.