“There are many beings who have been worshiped as gods in this world.”

As the soldiers and I stared blankly.

The cardinal continued in a reverent voice.

“But among them, not one saved humanity from this ruin.”

“......”

“I do not intend to deny every existing faith. Most of them are likely nothing more than falsehoods... but some may have been beings akin to apostles chosen by that god. Even so, fundamentally, they too must have been mere mortals.”

Then.

The cardinal gently raised his hand, touching something invisible before his eyes.

“This power. The only existence that appeared to save us, faced with this ruin!”

And.

It was easy to guess what he was touching.

“The System... the System alone! Is the one and only true god.”

The status window.

What they had taken as the object of their faith was not an existing religion.

It was the System itself.

'The System, huh.'

I could understand the origin of that word well enough.

System.

Literally, a system.

“...Ah. I see.”

However.

The soldiers and I did not look all that flustered after hearing that.

Because.

'It wasn’t as if people like this didn’t exist.'

In fact.

In terms of sheer number, they were fairly common.

I recalled a scene I had seen in Chuncheon not long ago.

[The Lord always warned us! To cast away greed and keep far from sin! Yet we humans refused to listen. Behold, the prophecies written in scripture now cover this land without a single exception! The Lord, disappointed in us, has passed judgment!]

Chuncheon, as Legion territory.

Had become relatively abundant after I distributed my combat rations.

Yet even in Chuncheon, there were still people preaching the apocalypse.

[When I warned you for years, you mocked me as a madman. And this is the result! You who ignored the warnings made this world!]

Calling them apocalyptic preachers was a bit ambiguous.

Since the apocalypse had already come.

They were people who took an apocalyptic premise that had already been fulfilled and filled in only the cause with their own logic.

It was unfortunate.

But among them, there were quite a few who had originally been devout believers.

After experiencing an event so enormous it could collapse their faith.

The ruin of this world.

They could not endure that faith crumbling, so they tried to accept the ruin from a religious perspective.

In most cases.

They claimed the end had come because humanity had sinned.

Because of that, almost no one listened to such useless nagging.

[But there is still hope.]

Some among them.

Preached the slightest bit of hope.

[This ruin is the test the Lord has given us! And.]

The basis for that was...

[Our awakening is the proof of the Lord’s final love for us!]

The existence of the System.

The power of awakening that originated from it.

[Even now, we must repent our wrongs and use that power in the proper place. Yet the Legion abuses that power for its own authority. Everyone, unite! We must drive them out and create that god’s world...]

In this ruined world, the only power supporting humanity.

Many people claimed the source of that power was the love of a transcendent being.

There were so many people like that.

That by now, the System had become a power sent by one of the gods we knew.

Yahweh, Buddha, Brahma, Ahura Mazda, Tengri, Waheguru... or any number of others.

And.

“That is why we resolved to follow that god’s command.”

That.

Was the same for them.

“...You seem to be quite a large force.”

“That god commanded us to wage a faction war. We merely obeyed.”

“You had quite a lot of occupied territory too.”

“That god commanded us to wage occupation wars. We merely did that as well.”

As I spoke with the cardinal.

I thought to myself.

'I was wondering how a force of this size could exist.'

Our unit was hardly one to talk.

But I had wondered whether there could really be another force that large besides us.

Now I felt as though I understood part of the reason.

'Is this one of religion’s strengths?'

The monks of Myoyang Temple were a representative example.

The hopeless situation they had been in after the ruin.

The reason the monks of Myoyang Temple had been able to hold on without breaking there.

Martial arts had not been the whole reason.

'It was because the monks’ will did not break until the very end.'

Religious conviction.

Even in a bleak situation where an ordinary person would have fallen into despair.

Those with conviction never gave up.

Rather, conviction was a power that made it possible to do things others could not out of fear.

“The reason your awakened seem so high-level is also...”

Just as our unit had not avoided highly dangerous battlefields.

And had survived them, allowing us to build great strength.

“We simply worked diligently to receive that god’s love. That god grants love befitting those who overcome hardship and adversity!”

They too.

Must have used that faith as a foundation, making dangerous choices others would not have made and growing stronger through them.

An organization united by religious conviction.

Just like the camaraderie my unit members possessed.

That conviction must have increased the group’s unity.

And.

“That is why we respect those who receive that god’s love. The more love one receives, the more hardships and adversities one has overcome. And having survived them, it means that person has proven worthy of being loved by that god...”

The woman named Lee Haein stepped forward.

Standing beside the cardinal, she spoke.

“That is why we have followed the cardinal’s guidance until now.”

The old man who served as the guild master of that Church.

Cardinal Jeong Suhwan’s level was tremendous.

If he had not been in a situation where separate conditions were required to enter level 40.

It was possible he might have reached an even higher level.

As they said, he must have overcome all sorts of tremendous hardship and adversity.

“We all believed there was no one more loved by that god than the cardinal.”

However.

Their gazes did not turn toward the cardinal.

“Until we met you, that is.”

They looked at me.

With reverent expressions, they clasped both hands together and lowered their heads.

***

A group of priests.

Looking at me while reverently clasping their hands together.

“When I saw you in Seoul, I doubted my own eyes.”

“......”

“The love that god had bestowed upon you was beyond description... to the point it was difficult to believe there existed someone who received that much love. And yet...”

And.

Lee Haein finally even shed tears as she spoke.

“The current you... ahhh...”

With her at the head.

The cardinal, and even the priests.

Closed their eyes and bowed their heads as if worshiping.

“To think you now receive even more love than you did then...”

I had guessed the reason for that for quite a while.

[Lv.49 War Chef]

A level so high even that cardinal could not compare.

“And such a person as you spoke to us first.”

Because of that.

They had been waiting for me ever since that first meeting.

“You said that if we built up our strength, someday you would come to us...”

Trusting the words I had spoken, that I would visit them when the time came.

They had built up their strength.

So they could be of help to me when I someday came.

“...That was also why we became hostile to the Legion.”

Then.

She made an apologetic expression.

“Even though Sergeant Shin Youngjun had promised to come to us, only soldiers of the Legion came to us instead, demanding our strength rather than you yourself... We could not help suspecting that something had gone wrong.”

“...I see.”

“We apologize once again for causing trouble because of our misunderstanding.”

Together with her.

All the priests lowered their heads.

“...Hmm.”

“Now that I hear it, I can kind of see why they misunderstood...”

At their words.

The soldiers wore dazed expressions.

“There is a slight distortion in their faith, but... if it is only this much, perhaps with a little teaching, they could be guided onto the proper path...”

Even Jeong Sua, who had disliked them.

Had lost all the hostility she had shown just moments before, and was merely muttering something to herself.

“Now that the misunderstanding has been cleared, we will lift all hostile action against the Legion as soon as we return.”

“Really?”

“Yes. You have fulfilled our request to show us Sergeant Shin Youngjun, so of course. From now on, discussions regarding full cooperation between the Church and the Legion can...”

In any case.

Sergeant Lee Minjae had begun to look relieved at the fact they were acting friendly.

Since it seemed the matter could be resolved without major damage if things went well.

I could understand that expression on Minjae’s face, but...

“The System, huh.”

In the middle of all that.

There was only one person whose expression had not relaxed.

“You people... worship the System?”

“Yes. As we said.”

While everyone else looked relieved.

I spoke with a somewhat complicated expression.

“That...”

If we could move past this amicably.

That would be best, but...

“How do you know it’s something worth worshiping?”

“...Pardon?”

From ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) my standpoint.

It was not something I could simply leave unaddressed.

***

“How do you know it’s something worth worshiping?”

“...Pardon?”

At the words I had let slip without thinking.

The eyes of those who had been smiling widened.

And.

Boom!

“What blasphemous words are those!”

The old man who had been bowing with a reverent expression.

Cardinal Jeong Suhwan struck the floor and shouted.

'Ah, damn.'

At that sight.

I could not help flinching inwardly.

When Jeong Sua had negative thoughts about them.

I had been the one to warn her not to say them to their faces, even if she thought them.

And yet I had gone and made that exact mistake myself.

“Even if you receive that god’s greatest love, that does not mean you are allowed to doubt that god!”

“How can the person who must have received more help from that god than anyone else say something so blasphemous...”

The words had left my mouth lightly.

But their impact did not seem small at all.

The priests began stirring in agitation.

“Everyone, please calm yourselves!”

Then.

Someone stepped in front of them.

“Calm yourselves. He has not finished speaking yet, has he? He merely said one thing.”

“But...”

“I will speak with him. Just as with the matter of fighting the Legion, we must not allow a misunderstanding to make this larger than it is.”

Lee Haein.

The very woman who had shed tears of emotion after seeing my level.

“Then, Sergeant Shin Youngjun...”

After calming the others to some extent.

She looked at me with a serious expression and spoke.

“Could you explain exactly what you meant by those words?”

At that.

I thought for a moment.

“I didn’t mean to insult you. But.”

I could say it had been nothing.

I could brush it off as if it meant nothing and move on.

I had a feeling they would let it pass if I did, but...

[Blind faith leads to misjudgment... so you would do well to keep questioning.]

At the same time.

“I have some doubts... about whether the System is something worthy of faith.”

A strange instinct told me.

That I should not simply let it pass here.

And that instinct moved my mouth.