Unbelievable Sacred Flame!

Everyone in the temple went pale. The Pope, 12 Bishops, and 12 Elders gasped at Kaia's words and rose to their feet in shock. Thebes looked like he was about to explode. The battle that was sure to result in victory. How could they lose?

"That's tens of millions of soldiers we're talking about. Soldiers, knights, mages, and superior armaments, under the command of five Great Archmages. Even if we were to attack the entire combined armies of the East and all the citizens, we'd surely win, let alone attacking a small border city."

The army sent out this time was the strongest in the western nations. Even if the soldiers fought one-on-one, it would be enough to crush the enemy. The Skadi Kingdom was a small eastern country. It was only supported by that old man, Royal Preceptor, and the young princess who had yet to reach adulthood. The Allied Army of Light was like a killing machine. Who could stop the attack of the Allied Army of Light? Even if the mages of the Skadi Kingdom refused to accept their fate and risked their lives, they would not be able to withstand them. How could they fail?

Inside the church, the 12 Archbishops, 12 Grand Elders, and a high-and-mighty Pope stared sharply at Kaia. Their eyes were filled with disbelief, as if someone were telling them magic didn't exist in this world. There was a perpetual stillness on their faces. The Pope, the Archbishops, and the Elders, who were absolutely certain of everything, looked as if they'd been through a massive earthquake on this day.

This was something that hadn't happened in centuries. Kaia wished that it was a farce, a false message, or an illusion. She was baffled by that old man in Skadi! But the instant she brushed shoulders with death told her it was all true. They had truly failed.

Kaia dropped to her knees, and with her hands on the floor, she shut her eyes tightly and shouted, "Truly, truly, the Light Alliance has failed!"

The tense, panicked atmosphere in the Temple suddenly froze, and everyone's hearts went strangely quiet. Suddenly, Kaia felt a gust of wind. The next moment, the Pope's pale hands gripped her torn robe, and Kaia caught his breath.

"How did it fail? Did it encounter violent resistance? It doesn't matter. Caluxfa—"

The Pope waved his hand behind him, intending for the Archbishop to lead his men back to the borders of Skadi. This time, they would have to suppress and wipe out the east, one way or another. No matter what the cost! The Archbishops were still reeling, and so was Archbishop Caluxfa. There had never been a nation where one man could defy the Temple of Light. Never!

Kaia was shaking her head. With a pained expression, she shook her head, then nodded. In an instant, her expression was one of utter confusion. It was as if she'd suffered a devastating blow she'd never experienced before. Every member of the congregation in the Temple listened to what Kaia had to say next, and it hit them like the sound of a drumbeat pounding on their hearts.

"The Allied Army of Light—is gone.

All gone. I was the only one of the five Great Archmages to escape.

Adams used the last of his power to send me out of range of the magical attack to come back to deliver the message."

If the Archbishops had only been shocked to see Kaia flee in such a sorry state, now that they heard her words, they felt as if their souls had been dealt a violent blow. Ever since they were born, since they began to understand things, they'd known that the Temple of Light was an incredibly powerful existence and that no one could resist it. But now someone told them that someone had wiped out the supreme Temple. This was no less than the destruction of heaven and earth. For a moment, the Temple was silent. Not even the sound of breathing existed.

The Pope spoke up. "You mean—the Allied Army of Light was wiped out? By a small country like Skadi?"

The Pope actually froze. Kaia found it hard to breathe under the Pope's gaze.

She struggled to speak. "Yes, we—"

Without warning, Kaia was flung to the floor by the Pope, who turned into the wind again and was instantly back on his throne.

His eyes were cold as he looked at Kaia. "Tell me. Tell me, word for word, why tens of millions of you and five Great Archmages were rounded up and wiped out at the border of a small country."

Kaia scrambled to her feet and dropped to her knees. "We were going so well, and so was the compound spell. We were so close to breaching the border, but that Royal Preceptor of Skadi suddenly summoned a dimension spell.

Summoned a mage from another dimension. We don't know how, but that mage defended against our compound spell and protected the entire border from our large-scale spell."

"Impossible!"

Archbishop Caluxfa stepped forward. "No mage can defend the entire border against your combined great magic," he retorted incredulously.

No one in the entire border would survive such a powerful large-scale spell unless the Saint Mage personally descended. Archbishop Caluxfa shook his head at the thought.

"No, it can't be. Not even a Saint Mage can defend an entire city against a powerful compound spell."

At this moment, Thebes, the Archbishop of Oedipus, suddenly said, "Unless the Archmage descends—"

All the mages in the Temple suddenly stopped and looked at the Archbishop of Thebes.

Thebes shook his head violently. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible."

Pope Themis turned back to Kaia. "Continue."

Kaia said, "Then—then he cast another spell, and before we knew it, the golden holy flames were on everyone. No one could escape."

Pope—"

Kaia thought back to that scene now, her eyes still filled with endless fear. "That mage has a pure aura of light. He can also summon the Sacred Flame."

At this moment, the Archbishops in the Temple weren't just shocked. This was a Sacred Flame unique to the Temple of Light! The God of Light blessed the world and punished the guilty with holy flames. Holy flames—only the Temple of Light possessed them to punish the heretics. For the first time, the people of the Temple of Light suffered the burning of holy flames.

The problem was, it had to be the elements of light that drove the Sacred Flame. And the source of the elements of light came from the God of Light. How could the God of Light's power have descended on others? Has the God of Light abandoned us, or have we become heretics in his eyes?

There was another dead silence before the Pope spoke again. "May we have the head of the tribunal please."