This world was home to a variety of races and peoples living alongside one another. That made it tremendously complicated, and their profound cultural differences had led to friction since ancient times.

People naturally tended to discriminate against or look unfavorably upon those who were different. It was only natural, then, for that friction to develop into conflicts both large and small.

Yet amid all those differences, there was one thing that could unite great numbers of people: the gods. In other words, religion.

Religion had wielded tremendous influence from the strife-ridden days of antiquity to the present. What was more, the gods' existence was indisputable in this world. The proof was divine power—a sacred force granted by the gods, an energy known as the purest form of mana.

Those who wielded divine power could draw upon far greater strength than other beings. Of course, it required genuine faith, but that was a condition well worth accepting.

Where'd all the gods go?

Apparently they used to descend into the world themselves. Where are they all now?

└Probably went home.

└What home lmaooo

└It was so long ago nobody knows. Even the elves and demons don't know.

└Didn't they just teach humanity magic and mana and call it a day?

└They must be somewhere. They're gods for a reason.

Of the many gods in existence, the most famous was Aris: the goddess of war and wisdom, and younger sister of Aragon, the god of magic.

Above them stood the chief god, their father, but his influence was less than Aris's. It was she who had protected humanity from the world's evils when they were weak.

That was why so many people worshipped Aris, and demons were no exception. As she was the goddess of war, they had no reason not to worship her.

Aris and the other gods had thus left an indelible mark on human history, and continued to do so even now. Eldorado, a nation founded to worship the gods, was one such example.

BANG!

"How did this happen?! I thought we had concealed it so thoroughly!"

A cantankerous-looking old man slammed his hand against the table as he shouted. His voice had weakened considerably with age, but that could not conceal the venom within it.

"Do you think we anticipated this? Calm yourself for now. The public is merely demanding an explanation. They have yet to believe it entirely."

The old man seated opposite him answered his outburst. His full beard suited him quite well, but his snakelike eyes exuded malice. His voice was every bit as venomous as that of the stubborn-looking old man.

"Cardinal Morgan is right. The public is still waiting for our response."

An old man with a distinctive mustache spoke, tugging gently at it. The way he held his head slightly raised could easily be taken as arrogant.

Different as they looked, they all had one thing in common: white clerical robes that radiated holiness. Yet the seemingly gilded patterns upon them appeared to reveal their greed.

"This is no time to fight among ourselves. The people are outside demanding an explanation as we speak. We must devise a solution."

The stern, solemn voice carried a subtle pressure. The old men turned toward it, toward the head of the table.

The man there was far more wrinkled than the others, but the keen light in his eyes rivaled any young man's. Though there was something sinister about that light, an unapproachable air surrounded him.

"If you have any good ideas, speak up," said Louis II, the reigning pope of the Holy Kingdom of Eldorado, quietly.

The old men cleared their throats at the pressure behind his instruction. The first to speak was the one who had slammed the table.

"First, we deny it categorically. The only evidence they have is what was posted on the forum, is it not?"

"Cardinal Howards is correct. Forum posts are notorious for their lack of credibility."

Eldorado had been in turmoil since morning. The Undying King bait that had started on the forum had spilled over into the real world.

The Undying King crisis had occurred a mere thirty years ago. Its scars remained deep. Those who had lost parents or children. Those who had lost their homes. Those who had lost parts of their bodies.

Those who had lost everything.

They had gathered to protest before the papal headquarters.

CRASH!!!

The meeting was being held in secret when a stained-glass window shattered, scattering fragments everywhere. The startled cardinals had barely flinched before furious shouts began pouring in from outside.

["Bring my son back! Bring my son back!"]

["And you call yourselves clergy?! You claim to believe in the gods?!"]

["If you have mouths, speak up!"]

The voices came through the broken window. In fact, this room was far from the entrance to the papal headquarters. They had even chosen a high floor for safety, yet a stone had reached them anyway. That was hardly surprising, considering there were former knights among the protesters outside.

"Wh-what are you doing?! Drag out whoever threw that stone!"

"W-we cannot identify who...!"

"Useless fools!!"

Scolding the paladin who had belatedly rushed over would accomplish nothing. That was how fiercely the people's anger burned.

Could a single forum post really lead to all this? One might wonder, but... this was a world with newspapers and a press. And the press was bound to snap up any sensational story, even if it was bait that had spread through the forum.

We put our faith in the gods, not you bastards!

If you have a conscience, Pope, step down!

Are you trying to disgrace Lady Aris?!

Above all, Eldorado's already poor reputation had played a part. Founded to worship the gods, it had originally enjoyed a virtuous image. Conveniently, this had been an era when Mephisto's demons ran rampant, allowing it to claim the mantle of justice.

But as time passed, the demons became obsessed with those trivial ball games, and the antagonism gradually faded. As it did, Eldorado's past atrocities began coming to light, little by little.

'How irritating.'

Louis II frowned and pressed his fingers repeatedly against the space between his brows. The other cardinals watched him closely, anxious to gauge his mood.

The reigning pope, Louis, wielded more power than anyone in Eldorado's history. One wrong word could cost them their heads. Being a cardinal would mean nothing.

"... Come to think of it, have any other countries issued statements?"

"Ah, yes! None so far."

"So far..."

As mentioned before, Eldorado had committed no small number of abuses. One of them was invoking the gods' names to pressure neighboring countries. Not even Alvenheim, the elven nation, was exempt.

Eldorado's will was the gods' will. Anyone who defied the gods' will became an enemy of the world. Naturally, it should have been the gods' will determining Eldorado's, but they had turned that relationship on its head.

Such was the tremendous power and authority of religion. And as always, stagnant water was bound to rot. The stench of that rot had grown stronger than the gods' will, until it could no longer be ignored.

"Well? Do you have a solution?"

"Pardon?"

"I asked whether you have a solution. If you intend to sit there in silence, leave."

The instant they left, their heads would roll. The cardinals could foresee their fate. How much had they endured to reach these positions? They could never give them up.

"A categorical denial would be difficult. If, by some chance, a survivor of the Vulcan Kingdom were to appear, matters would become even more complicated."

"We need only appeal to them that we had no choice. Is this not a question of which came first? Let us say the Undying King was already conducting experiments to turn his people into undead."

The cardinals racked their brains to escape the pope's wrath. Anyone who heard this meeting would have realized that the records Grylls had posted to the forum were true.

As the saying about stagnant water went, there was no trace of their once-noble faith. They were merely desperate to conceal their own wrongdoing.

"Excellent. Let us proceed with that."

"Once those angry people hear our side, they will surely repent."

"Incidentally, what will you do about that forum?"

The mustached cardinal's question instantly dampened the mood, just as they were about to laugh the incident off. After all, the current crisis had caught fire on the forum. No one knew what other bait might circulate there next.

"That is simple," Louis said, wearing a somewhat unsettling smile.

As the cardinals turned toward him, he offered his solution.

"We take this opportunity to declare the forum evil."

"The forum... Your Holiness?"

"Yes. We are blessed by the gods. Our will is the gods' will. Therefore, if we declare the forum evil, that means the gods declare it evil as well."

As noted before, they had it backward. Their desire to follow the gods' will had been corrupted long ago. But the hunger for power was not easily tamed.

"An excellent idea. We should use this opportunity to restrict the forum entirely. Ha ha ha."

"Nothing is more dangerous than an ignorant populace exposed to misinformation."

"Come to think of it, they post indecent things there too, do they not? What is the world coming to?"

They began condemning the forum as evil. Of course...

'I'll still use it, though.'

'I'll have to do it in secret.'

'It's fine as long as I don't get caught.'

Hypocrisy was their default setting. They were merely saying what sounded good on the surface.

After the meeting ended, a spokesman appeared before the people. In a situation like this, the pope should have addressed them himself. The mere fact that he sent a spokesman instead spoke volumes about his arrogance.

"Descendants of the gods, hear me! This incident arose entirely from a misunderstanding! The wicked ruler of the Vulcan Kingdom, the Undying King, had long been conducting necromantic experiments on his people...!"

Here are the facts.

The Undying King had been conducting evil experiments on his subjects.

The Holy Kingdom discovered this in advance and had no choice but to carry out the massacre.

Was it not far better to die as a human than as an undead?

All of this was the gods' will, and those who had experienced the incident were suffering from psychological aftereffects.

The explanation began to calm the crowd somewhat, though they certainly did not look convinced yet. At least they were offering an explanation. Apparently, they had enough gall for that much. Trust in the Holy Kingdom had already hit rock bottom; the people were merely checking whether it could sink any lower.

"Furthermore, His Holiness has declared the forum to be the true evil, and those who believe the misinformation upon it will face severe punishment...!"

"You XXX bastards!!"

"I knew it! You're saying that because you've got something to hide!!"

"The forum is what?! Are you so desperate to have your heads chopped off like the emperor of the Central Plains?!"

"Stop blaming the forum! We're sick to death of it!!!"

Who was it who had said that even rock bottom had a bottom of its own? Blaming the forum whenever anything went wrong was a routine they had been using for a long time.

Normally, people would have let it slide with a resigned, "There those bastards go again." But their anger had passed the breaking point. That would no longer work.

"Everyone! Breaking news! Kadir, the Mage King, has issued a statement!"

"What? The Mage King?"

"Wasn't he the previous Hero's dear friend?"

Someone delivered the news in the midst of the mounting chaos. The spokesman felt a sense of foreboding, but it was already too late.

"The previous Hero did not simply die along with the Undying King! He chose to die with him! Because of pressure and coercion from none other than the Holy Kingdom!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The previous Hero chose death? Are you saying he committed suicide?"

"Can you... even call that suicide? That's practically...!"

Kadir had added oil-soaked logs to the fire at precisely the right moment.

"Come out, Pope! Explain yourself in person!"

"Bring my son back!"

"Give me back my father!"

The flames showed no sign of dying down.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Forest of Four Seasons...

"Cough, cough! Ugh. Did I put in too much firewood?"

Grylls was adding wood to the fire to make breakfast.