8. Hero Elsez Rohen
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By the time the sun was setting three days later, Elsez and her party arrived in the Holy Kingdom via the Principality’s portal.
Since Ruisen Village was located in a rather remote part of the Principality, it had taken time to reach the capital where the portal was situated.
“The Saintess is waiting for you.”
Greeting Elsez and her party upon their arrival in the Holy Kingdom was a Holy Knight in Dike’s service.
Sending a personal knight right to the portal’s entrance was a clear sign of respect for their guests.
Elsez and her companions boarded the prepared carriage and headed to the temple.
After stepping out of the carriage, Elsez entrusted Noel to the temple priest and then stood in front of the temple.
As she gazed up at the grand temple building with tense eyes, she recalled her conversation with Rashiel.
Just before stepping through the portal to the Holy Kingdom, he had tried to dissuade her.
‘The person who placed the silencing spell on you might be someone else, and the Saintess may not know your true identity yet. There’s no need to take unnecessary risks.’
‘No, Dike still doesn’t seem to know who I really am. If she had realized I was a Demon God, she wouldn’t have sent me to a place where dimensional rifts frequently appear.’
From the Saintess’s perspective—someone with a divine mission to oppose the Demon God—the stronger a Demon God became, the greater the disadvantage she faced. If she had known Elsez’s identity, she would have tried to stop her instead.
Rashiel felt somewhat uneasy about it all, but since Elsez’s reasoning wasn’t entirely wrong, he reluctantly went along with her decision.
‘I’m the one who chose to come, but still… I can’t help feeling nervous.’
Whether the other side knew her true identity or not, the fact remained that she had willingly walked into the heart of enemy territory.
‘Of course, I have no hostility toward them, but in the framework of this world’s setting, I am their enemy…’
Elsez took a deep breath and stepped into the temple with her four companions.
Inside the temple, at the center of the vast sanctuary, stood a woman clad in a pure white priest’s robe.
She looked exactly as she had six years ago, on the day they first met.
Upon spotting her, Elsez’s brows furrowed slightly.
‘Dike.’
According to legend, when the gods created Dike, they gathered all the goodness of the world to shape her.
A beauty that outshone anything in existence—unchanging, eternal.
A strength that would not yield to anything in this world.
The most powerful and beautiful being in this world, created by the gods themselves.
So perfect that she seemed almost unnatural.
That was the Saintess, Dike.
As Elsez, still inwardly tense, walked toward Dike—
The back of Rashiel’s hand brushed against hers.
Elsez thought it was just an accidental touch while walking, but then his fingers gently curled around her index finger.
“……?”
Feeling the coolness of his skin wrapping around her finger, Elsez looked up—only to meet his red eyes, which had already been watching her for some time.
His gaze was telling her:
Don’t be nervous.
Elsez stared at him blankly for a moment before a faint smile crept onto her lips.
‘Well… at least I have an ally.’
And not just any ally—he was the Tower Master, the greatest authority on magic.
With her tension eased, Elsez stepped forward toward Dike.
Her party bowed their heads in unison to show respect.
Dike’s face brightened with a radiant smile as she met Elsez’s eyes.
It was a beauty so overwhelming that rejecting it didn’t even seem like an option.
“You must have had a long journey, Lady Elsez.”
‘Yes, thanks to everything that happened, it turned out to be quite the long journey…’
Elsez shivered slightly, recalling the phantom pain from the wound inflicted by Henry on the ship. But outwardly, she maintained a composed smile and responded with polite words.
“It is an honor to meet you, Your Holiness.”
“I apologize for putting you through an unexpected trial. I was worried, even as I anticipated the outcome… But you exceeded expectations to the point that my concerns were unnecessary.”
As if reading her inner thoughts, Dike brought up what had happened in Ruisen Village.
“As expected, the Cardinal’s judgment was not mistaken.”
She gave a soft smile as she glanced toward Astaire, then spoke again, her expression tinged with sorrow.
“With the world in danger as it is now, we are in dire need of people with strength like yours, Lady Elsez.”
“……”
“Meeting you under such circumstances is bittersweet… but at the same time, I cannot deny that I feel reassured.”
Dike carefully took Elsez’s hands in hers.
Elsez hesitated for a brief moment at the touch.
‘No way, are they noticing my power…?’
Elsez worried that Dike might sense the power of the Demon God, but fortunately, Dike seemed completely unaware.
“Please, lend us your strength for this world.”
Elsez swallowed a sigh of relief as she looked at Dike, who was still gazing at her with clear, unwavering eyes.
Then, forcing a smile, she nodded.
“Yes, of course. I will fight for this world.”
Meanwhile, Astaire, watching Elsez and Dike, had a stiff expression on his face.
Still holding Elsez’s hand, Dike spoke.
“In that sense, how about measuring your combat power?”
“Huh? Right now…?”
A flicker of surprise crossed Elsez’s face.
In the Holy Kingdom, there was a magical device that measured a person’s combat power.
It was unknown why such a device existed only in the Holy Kingdom, but in the game’s lore, it was said that Dike had implemented a complex magic, making it exclusive to the Holy Kingdom.
Normally, combat power measurements were conducted after one had fully recovered from fatigue, in their best condition. This was because combat power could vary slightly depending on one’s state.
Yet, despite knowing this, Dike was suggesting a combat power measurement right now.
“Since Lady Elsez has shown skills beyond expectations, I’m curious about your actual combat power.”
Dike urged Elsez on like a curious child.
After hesitating for a moment, Elsez sighed in resignation and stepped onto the combat power measuring device in the center of the chapel.
Astaire’s blue eyes wavered uneasily as he watched Elsez’s back.
‘If she measures her combat power, her identity will surely be exposed.’
If Elsez truly was the Demon God, two possibilities could be expected.
Either the device wouldn’t recognize her power at all, since it was composed of mana from another world-Or, it would display an abnormal number, far beyond that of an ordinary human.
‘…Either way, she’ll be suspected.’
As Astaire anxiously watched the blue magic circle form beneath Elsez’s feet, he moved before he even had time to think about what he was doing.
“Young Lady, wait—”
But he was already too late.
The completed magic circle released a burst of blue energy, enveloping Elsez’s body.
Moments later, as the blue glow faded, numbers appeared at her feet.
Astaire’s hands grew damp with sweat as he anxiously stared at the numbers.
The rapidly shifting digits began to settle one by one.
And finally, the number that appeared was—
「3549」
Astaire stared at the numbers in disbelief.
‘A normal value…?’
Before the final battle with Lezantia, the last recorded combat power of the five heroes had been around 9,000.
That was an exceptionally high number, and the combat power of average heroes ranged between 4,000 and 5,000.
‘No, this is actually lower than normal.’
Combat power was primarily measured based on offensive and destructive capability, so healers like Astaire tended to have lower combat power compared to similarly ranked heroes.
On the other hand, offensive specialists like Rashiel and Tezette had relatively high combat power.
But Elsez wasn’t a healer—she was a damage dealer.
While combat power was just a number and real battles involved countless variables, her score was still lower than expected.
‘But that power was definitely the power of the Demon God…’
Astaire gazed at Elsez with conflicted eyes.
Dike encouraged Elsez as she stepped down from the measuring device.
“As expected, Lady Elsez has limitless potential for future growth.”
“I didn’t sleep well last night. Maybe I haven’t fully recovered from my injuries yet.”
Watching from the side, Cassian subtly offered words of support while shooting a glare at Rashiel and Tezette, who had caused the disturbance at the inn.
Dike looked somewhat guilty and apologized.
“I’m sorry. It’s only natural that you’re still exhausted, and yet I pushed you out of curiosity.”
“It’s fine. It wasn’t difficult or anything. We can just measure it again later.”
“Alright. Once Lady Elsez has fully recovered, let’s all measure our combat power together. I’d like to see how the other heroes compare as well.”
Elsez smiled and nodded.
“There’s still a lot to discuss, but for today, let’s all go back and rest. We’ll have plenty of time to talk later.”
After bowing to Dike, Elsez and her group turned to leave.
As they walked away, Dike watched them with an unreadable expression.
Behind her, the combat power measuring device, which had been still, suddenly flickered.
And then—
A new number appeared at the front of the previous result.
「13549」
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