Chapter 692: Not the Legion

“System.”

Within the massive underground sanctuary where a fierce battle raged,

there was a figure walking straight through the center of it all.

‘That woman.’

‘The Church’s......!’

The Legion soldiers could not help but feel alarmed when they noticed the woman walking among them.

Most of the believers had lowered their heads in despair after learning the true nature of that System.

Whether they had decided to abandon their faith or failed to do so, it was the same either way.

After all, there was no one capable of remaining composed while witnessing this scene.

That was why the Legion soldiers had paid almost no attention to the believers gradually arriving here.

But suddenly—

one of those believers began walking directly through their ranks.

‘Enemy, or ally.’

If she was a believer who had abandoned her faith, she could become their ally.

If she had not, then she was an enemy.

The problem was that there was no way to judge that from appearances alone.

And while the Legion soldiers hesitated,

she continued advancing deeper and deeper into the center of the violent battlefield.

The battle had already escalated far too much.

Perhaps if they had succeeded in stopping her from the rear, it would have been different.

But now that she had already reached a point where the System stood directly before her, there was no spare force available to divert toward stopping her.

The Legion soldiers merely—

hoped that she was on their side.

However.

“Thank you.”

The moment those words left her mouth,

the Legion soldiers could not help but become bewildered.

—......Ahh.

The System heard her voice.

That gigantic black flesh smiled.

—My first daughter.

According to the Church’s doctrine, the leader of the Church was always the highest-level awakened.

Because to the System, the closer the being carrying the strongest “fragment” remained to its side, the easier it was to claim that power.

That was why the Church’s leadership changed far more often than people realized.

Before that Cardinal became the leader, there had even been periods where several awakened individuals rotated through the role one after another.

However.

Even while those nominal leaders continuously changed,

there had always been one individual who maintained the greatest influence within the Church.

—You truly are my first child.

The one who first discovered that existence.

The one who first spread faith in it and its doctrine throughout the world.

The first believer, the first missionary, the first pastor.

The founder of the Church.

“Priest Lee Haein......?”

Even while the Church’s leaders continued changing,

she, whose faith remained firmer than anyone else’s, had always stood at the very center of the Church.

Even after her level had been surpassed by other awakened individuals, her position had always remained equal to—or above—the leaders themselves.

Her symbolic significance was so overwhelming that even the Cardinal who had led the Church the longest had been forced to watch her carefully.

And.

“Thank you for the hope you showed us.”

She walked forward with both hands clasped together and her head lowered.

Deep gratitude and submission.

That appearance, like someone praying to a great god, entered countless eyes.

And then.

‘......It’s returning.’

The System could feel it.

The being who had been the origin and focal point of this faith.

The moment she began praying—

‘The faith is returning.’

Even the faiths that had departed

began slowly returning to it once more.

“I still remember it as vividly as if it happened yesterday. When I had fallen into despair in this world...... when I wandered searching for salvation that never came. When I wished to abandon life itself because I believed that salvation did not exist...... that was when I heard your voice.”

At those words,

Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok, who was commanding the Legion soldiers, thought:

‘Should we cut off Private Lee Minjae’s magic?’

One of the most important figures within the Church.

Depending on her actions, it was possible that the believers who had abandoned faith in that System would completely rally around it once more.

And if that happened, the Legion would have no chance of victory.

“Because of the hope you showed us, we who were drowning in despair were able to see another tomorrow. Because you helped us, we were able to survive within this destruction until now.”

In reality, the System’s power was steadily growing stronger.

Perhaps even now they needed to cancel Private Lee Minjae’s magic, block the other believers from seeing this, and eliminate her.

“Because of the illusion you showed us...... many brothers survived.”

However.

Lieutenant General Kim Hyeon-seok, who was watching her, decided not to issue that order.

“And now.”

The reason was simple.

The moment she released her clasped hands and raised her head—

“We wish to leave your embrace.”

—......What?

Because he saw the look in her eyes.

***

“We wish to leave your embrace.”

Watching her walk toward the System,

I thought:

“Thank you for guiding us until now.”

When fighting that System,

I had been consumed by anger toward it.

An existence that impersonated the original master of this world and even desecrated its corpse.

That was why I had wanted to punish it with my own hands.

“But all life must one day break free from its shell.”

Now that I thought about it,

that had been a slightly mistaken judgment.

“Your lies kept us alive until now...... but we no longer need those lies.”

Those who possessed powerful faith in the System.

To abandon that faith and instead oppose the very existence they had worshiped.

That required extraordinary courage.

“Since I was the one who introduced that existence to the Church and spread its name, I will take responsibility for it and declare this.”

That was why.

I had never expected such a thing from them.

That was why I intended to deal with that bastard using only my own power and the Legion’s strength.

However.

“We...... the Church! Reject you.”

They—

were trying to show something I had never even dared expect.

“All brothers and sisters of the Church!”

She turned and shouted behind her.

At first glance, it looked as though she were shouting into empty air.

But at the end of her gaze stood a single mage.

“We were once so weak that we could not survive without depending on that thing. Ahh, shamefully enough, that was true!”

The greatest mage belonging to the Legion.

[Wizard of Electromagnetic Waves]

The individual transmitting everything seen and heard in this place as radio waves to every human in the surrounding region.

“But that is no longer the case.”

Lee Haein, Private Lee Minjae......

No.

“Look at that Legion. Though they are humans just like us, they are fighting against the System we worshiped! I ask all of you—does the Church lack anything compared to the Legion? Do you truly believe we cannot accomplish what they can accomplish?”

She shouted toward the believers beyond him.

“We no longer need that existence’s help. We no longer need to be deceived by those lies. Therefore.......”

And.

The moment her cry began—

“Rise!”

KUUUUUUUNG.......

“Fight against that false god who deceived us!”

The massive flesh battling the Legion soldiers.

That flesh began getting pushed back beneath the Legion’s attacks.

And in that moment.

Every Legion soldier continuing the desperate battle simultaneously had the same thought.

‘It weakened!’

That overwhelmingly powerful existence.

The System’s strength was visibly weakening.

There could only be one reason.

That woman standing there.

Her words were moving the hearts of those believers.

‘Even if she’s an important figure within the Church.......’

‘To this extent?’

Of course.

No matter how influential she was,

under normal circumstances it would never have produced such an immediate reaction.

[Charismatic Combat Rations Infused with the Care of a Heroic Chef]

But that only applied—

‘Under normal circumstances.’

She already occupied an important position within the Church to begin with.

The believers’ attention and consciousness had naturally focused upon her words.

And her voice carried the power infused into it through my cooking.

[Five Loaves and Two Fish]

[Force-Feeding]

[Attentive Combat Rations Infused with the Care of a Heroic Chef]

Meanwhile,

within the bodies of the other believers, the dishes making her voice resonate more deeply had already permeated them.

—......Combat rations.

Even the remnants of faith that still remained.

Even the faiths that could not abandon that bastard despite learning its true nature.

At the words of the founder of the Church, they began leaving that creature’s body.

—How dare combat rations.......

Now that things had reached this point,

there was only one option left for that System.

—How dare a thankless insect use combat rations......!

FWOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

The enraged System.

That gigantic mass of flesh charged toward Lee Haein.

Though much faith had already departed,

it still was not too late.

If it killed that woman now and persuaded the believers once again—

if it proved through its power that not even the Legion could harm it—

then it could gather faith once more.

This crisis was merely temporary.

It would once again continue its journey toward becoming a great existence.

“Many of you are likely lacking confidence. There are probably those who believe it is impossible through our own strength alone.......”

But at that moment.

Rather than trying to avoid the vicious attack,

Lee Haein instead stretched her hand toward it and said:

“Then watch closely.”

And then.

What burst forth from her hand—

FWUAAAAAAASH!!!

Was a gigantic chunk of flesh.

The very same lump of flesh controlled by that System.

***

KWAAANG!

The flesh erupting from Lee Haein’s hand.

It resisted the flesh unleashed by the System.

—......That is.

Its appearance, the aura flowing from it, its very essence.

Everything about the two masses of flesh was identical.

The only difference was size.

Compared to the attack unleashed by that gigantic System,

the thing erupting from Lee Haein’s hand was nothing more than a pitifully tiny tendril.

‘Lee Haein was never originally a combat-type awakened.’

Despite possessing such an ability, the reason she had never revealed it before

was likely because its actual destructive power was far too weak to use against enemies.

But......

everything always depended on the opponent.

The gigantic power that looked ready to crush the flesh extending from Lee Haein’s hand in an instant.

The System’s flesh.

Ssssssk.......

For some reason,

began rapidly shrinking.

FWUAAAAAAASH.......

And conversely,

the flesh erupting from her hand steadily grew larger and larger.

Strangely enough.

The flesh expanding outward from her hand,

and the System’s flesh charging toward her,

continued changing in completely opposite directions.

The speed at which one grew and the other shrank......

was perfectly identical.

It was almost—

‘Like the smaller one was devouring the larger one and growing stronger.......’

Others might not have understood why.

But I could.

—Y.......

Because.

I had experienced °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° something similar before.

‘......Jeong Sua used my divine power regardless of my will.’

Lee Haein was the [Saintess of the System] who served the System and borrowed its power.

And among everyone in the Church, she possessed the greatest faith of all.

[Skill]

[Stigmata of the System]

[You borrow the power of the being you worship and make it your own.]

—Y...... you thieving bitch......!

More than anyone else in the Church,

she was the one capable of receiving the greatest blessing.

“A thief.”

At the System’s enraged voice,

Lee Haein answered with a bitter smile.

“If I am one, then I merely resemble the master I once served.”

Her skill was power guaranteed by the [System].

A power guaranteed so absolutely that even the very being lending that power could not resist it.

‘She is “borrowing” the System’s power.’

Borrowing the strength of the flesh attacking her.

Using it to enlarge her own flesh and resist it.

From the perspective of the one being forced to “lend” that power, it was utterly absurd.

But from the beginning, this [System] had never been power created by that System’s own will.

It was something created through the power of humanity, the species that possessed the greatest share of that flesh.

‘This is the result of trying to step halfway into it.’

Since that bastard had also become part of the System,

there was no way for it to resist that power.

Just as the holy relics it created exerted overwhelming influence against awakened individuals,

it could not escape Lee Haein’s skill either.

And.

‘The enemy weakens while your own side grows stronger.’

In battle against an enemy,

there was no more efficient structure than this.

“Look closely!”

Despite wielding identical power,

that mere human being—

“Witness the possibility we possess surpassing that existence!”

Lee Haein’s flesh

began pushing back the System’s flesh that had attacked her.

This was not merely possible because she had borrowed a great amount of the System’s power.

“All Legion soldiers!”

The sight of Lee Haein resisting the System.

A mere believer.

Stopping the attack of the god she had worshiped.

The divinity of the god they worshiped had been wounded.

And it had been proven that a being just like themselves could resist that overwhelming existence.

“The enemy is weakening!”

“Don’t lose momentum! Press the attack!”

The System.

The faith of those who wished to rely upon a being stronger than themselves began departing.

And.

What filled that empty place instead—

“......Priest Lee Haein.”

was confidence.

Confidence that they could accomplish this without relying on that existence.

“We.......”

“We will fight together as well.”

The believers who had collapsed in despair.

They wiped away their tears and rose to their feet.

“Brothers! Take up your weapons!”

The believers rose holding weapons.

Toward the being they once worshiped.

“That is the god we believed in!”

Toward the very god they once served—

the being they normally would have found so terrifying they could never dream of resisting—

they advanced.

And.

Watching that sight,

I thought:

“That false existence that deceived us is standing there!”

In the end.

The ones who discovered that thing sleeping deep beneath this land and nurtured its power were the Church.

At the same time,

the ones who believed in it, offered faith to it, and were betrayed by that faith were also the Church.

“The one we must take responsibility for and punish is standing there!”

And if that was the case, then the responsibility to clean up this mess—

and the right to punish it—

“Now is the time to break free from that existence!”

belonged not to us, but to them.

Yes.

From the very beginning.

The ones meant to punish that bastard were not me or the Legion—

“For the glory of the Church!”

“For the future of the great Church!!!”

It had to be the Church itself.