When the second wave of moonlight once again covered the world, and the sunlight returned to the eyes of everyone present, the knights stared blankly at the sky, unable to stop trembling.
That terrifying power felt like it was going to completely shatter the world of the spirit, making one feel utterly hopeless.
Knight Commander Mark, who had been leading the knights and watching from the side, sat on his horse and slapped himself hard across the face.
Suddenly, he snapped awake.
He stared dumbfounded at Viktor, who stood with his back toward him.
In his heart, it felt like a ten-meter-tall building had collapsed with a crash, boundless shock.
Right now, he was extremely fortunate that when he received the Delin family's arrest order, he didn't act recklessly and send people to capture Viktor.
Otherwise, they would surely never have returned.
Mark felt a lingering fear, Viktor absolutely wasn't someone knights like them could ever oppose.
Even if all the knights of the Northern Frontier were mobilized, they might not even touch the edge of that terrifying mage's coat.
In this moment, he even had an absurd thought.
'Since mages are this strong…'
'If I switch professions now, is it still too late?'
Viktor's coat fluttered slightly.
His gaze fell on the [Believer] that was barely clinging to life.
Moonlight was a special magic Viktor had learned from Aurelian.
Different from the six natural schools of magic, Moonlight had no levels. Its power was entirely determined by the user's soul strength and mana.
And Viktor's mana…
Probably only a Calamity could tank two uses of a skill like this.
What's more, the Jashu before him was, at most, a not-very-high-level believer of the goddess.
This type of belief-born void creature didn't even count as a proper boss-tier unit.
But it still wasn't dead.
To be precise, Viktor had left it a breath.
The writhing monster strained its voice, shouting at Viktor, "Grr!"
"Kill... me..."
The chaotic sound had become extremely weak. Viktor slowly walked to the side of the black mass of flesh.
Its enormous black body filled the entire Delin estate, its height comparable even to the Silver Bulwark.
Viktor's expression didn't change as he raised his head to look at the grotesque flesh.
Looking at the giant mouths scattered all over its body, mixed with flowing green slime.
Deep inside those mouths, several branched tentacles were still twitching slowly.
Under the blazing light, they were being scorched, making them thrash even more crazily.
"You believers of the Goddess of Justice, are your brains all as bad as yours?"
As soon as these words fell, the black flesh suddenly swelled, as if infuriated.
The giant mouth was ripped apart by countless tentacles squeezing through at once. Black blood seeped from its surface and surged violently toward Viktor.
Gwen tightened her grip on her long sword, her feet gradually shifting into position.
She was already prepared, if Viktor fell into danger, she would join the battle at the very first moment.
But Viktor, facing the violent attack, still remained calm and unhurried.
A green glow instantly lit up behind him. Countless thick vines burst out from the ground, entangling the black tentacles and locking them in a stalemate.
Immediately after, red patterns lit up sharply across the back of his coat, and a massive molten-lava giant hand grew out, lifting upward.
It spread the giant hand open and swung it fiercely toward the part of the flesh mass that could be considered its "face."
BOOM!
Instantly, the surrounding storm trembled violently. The overwhelming force overturned everything around them.
Even the Silver Bulwark creaked and groaned as the storm scraped against it.
The slap landed, and the black mass of flesh fell into dead silence.
"Honestly."
"If I don't slap your face, you won't know how to behave?"
The power behind this slap not only made it quiet.
It also made everyone present calm down.
At this moment, everyone was watching Viktor.
Watching him stand amidst the ruins of the Delin estate, facing that colossal terrifying monstrosity.
They seemed to have gotten used to the shock Viktor kept bringing them.
Now, there was only one question in their hearts, 'What exactly was this monster?'
'Why did this creature suddenly appear after Viktor killed Jashu?'
But soon, Viktor gave them their answer.
Endless magic rose from Viktor's body out of thin air. Carrying that magic power, countless runes began being etched onto the flesh mass.
Vaguely, bright magic circles started appearing one after another across the monster's body.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
Magic circles of strange colors appeared continuously from the flesh.
The mass of flesh seemed to be struck again and again by some external force, writhing violently.
Finally, something like a stone bulged repeatedly within the black flesh, and in the end, accompanied by green mucus, it was spat out forcefully from the giant mouth.
"That's...!"
The eyes of all the knights widened instantly. They stared in disbelief at what the creature had spat out.
A thin body covered in many wrinkles.
"That's... Teacher Angus!"
Mark's pupils tightened instantly. His heart felt like it was being crushed, and dizziness washed over him.
It was his teacher's corpse.
At this moment, it was presented before his eyes in such a way.
All the knights woke up at once.
Angus was lying limply on the ground, his chest long since still.
Kefra's eyes flew open, staring blankly at her dead father, falling into numb shock.
That great Northern Frontier Grand Knight... had died like this, in his own home.
In this moment, everyone realized, Angus's death was not an accident, but that he had been swallowed into the monster's stomach.
But why had Jashu known Angus was dead?
Could it be…
Most of the knights understood the answer, but none dared think further.
Viktor stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down at Angus's slime-covered corpse, his eyes showing not a ripple.
"He deserved to die."
The truth was already laid bare. Angus's corpse was the best evidence of Viktor's innocence.
Viktor glanced sideways at the believer and let out a cold snort.
To make the goddess they worshipped descend upon the world once more, the fanatically obsessive believers would stop at nothing.
The first step to making Gwen approach the Goddess of Justice was to make her uphold absolute justice in her heart.
To completely extinguish her humanity, those unstable "human" factors.
Absolute justice must not possess even the slightest human desires or morals.
No favoritism toward anyone, no leaning toward any side, acting solely for pure justice.
The believers had been plotting against Gwen long ago.
From the very beginning, from the moment Gwen was born, from the moment her "Heart of Justice" first showed its edge, she had already been dragged into their trap.
The entire plan was for Gwen to slay her own family, erasing the final shred of human conscience.
'Heh.'
'What a laughable plan.'
With disdain in his eyes, Viktor said calmly, "Didn't you always wanting Gwen to kill you?"
"Fine, I'll grant you that wish."
As he finished speaking, Viktor no longer spared the flesh mass a glance.
He simply turned and walked toward the grass-covered earth.
The countless knights sheathed their swords on their own, making a clear path for him.
Afterward, their gazes all turned toward Gwen.
As if making a decision, Gwen walked to that evil creature.
She slowly raised the silver sword in her hand.
Under the sunlight, the silver sword looked dazzling and pure. A golden holy power gradually wrapped around Gwen's blade.
Like the Goddess of Justice appearing behind her, taking on a spiritual form, and gripping the sword with her.
Gwen's eyes were extremely firm. She felt some heaviness on her shoulders, yet her heart was incomparably calm.
[Atlas's Holy Sword]
Finally, as the holy light descended, the blade swung down in Gwen's hand.
A golden giant wave surged forth, swallowing the black flesh mass entirely.
BOOM!
Whoosh!
Feeling danger approaching, the believer's giant mouths and tentacles trembled frantically, trying to resist the sacred attack.
But now, it had nothing left to fight back with.
The blade that symbolized justice fell fiercely. The black body slowly broke into fragments within the golden wave, its consciousness fading.
In the end, it turned into drifting dust, dispersing under the light.
The extreme faith of the Goddess of Justice, had finally died beneath the blade that represented justice.
What bitter irony.
The black fragments turned into swirling snow, rising from the ground toward the sky, slowly scattering.
Sunlight pierced through the clouds, passing through the fragments, and slowly fell upon Gwen.
On her silver armor, it looked as if a golden cloak had draped over her, holy and pure.
She looked at the ruined estate beneath the sky, lonely and sorrowful.
Gwen sheathed her sword, lowered her head, and closed her eyes, placing one hand over her chest.
Countless knights mirrored her action in simultaneous silent mourning.
Under the ruins of this green land, it felt as if a new justice was beginning to grow again.
———
After some time, public opinion in the Northern Frontier underwent earth-shaking change.
The Viktor who could stop a crying child in the middle of the night had now been cleared of suspicion and become the hero in the hearts of the people.
Meanwhile, Jashu became the sinner who rebelled against Angus's rule and personally killed his own father.
It was Viktor, together with Gwen, who ultimately executed Jashu.
Although the knights present had seen what truly happened that day, not a single person revealed the truth.
What the knights witnessed that day had been so shocking, it would remain unforgettable for life.
With Angus and Jashu dead, the position of head of the Delin family became vacant.
Kefra, as the eldest daughter, was not involved in the internal disputes of the knight family.
Thus, by direct order of Emperor Aubrey in the capital, Gwen inherited the position of family head, taking Angus's earl title.
But Gwen did not inherit Angus's duty of guarding the North.
She no longer wanted to stay in this place filled with painful memories.
She wanted to return to the capital and continue upholding her small piece of justice.
The Northern Frontier fell into leaderless chaos, so Kefra chose to remain and temporarily manage the region's order.
And she received a mission. She needed to personally investigate information about a demon incident occurring in the far northern lands.
———
At this moment, sunlight streamed into the Clavenna family mansion.
Liya was in her bedroom, in front of the mirror, trying on several outfits.
She seemed to be in a very good mood, humming a tune and spinning around in the mirror.
Liya tried on outfit after outfit, but couldn't find one she was satisfied with.
An elf sat on the bed, playing idly with a dagger.
"Miss Liya, you look very happy?"
"Hmm? Do I?"
Liya replied casually, picking up two outfits and comparing them in distress.
"Which one should I wear?"
She turned around, holding the clothes up and asking the elf, "Leon, help me look, which one suits me better?"
"You look beautiful in any outfit, Miss Liya."
Hearing Leon's flattering, Liya only felt even more distressed.
"Miss Liya, do you have something going on?"
Seeing Liya so conflicted, Leon put the dagger away, so it wouldn't cut any of Liya's many clothes.
"Viktor is coming back from the Northern Frontier. I have to rush back to the capital before he gets back."
Liya continued humming as she turned around to choose again.
After all, decision-making disorder was indeed something that caused great suffering.
After a while, Leon's gaze suddenly sharpened.
She pressed her fingers to her ear, as if listening to some report.
"Mm, okay, I understand."
She nodded lightly and lowered her hand.
Near Leon's ear, one could see a small, blue-glowing transmission crystal.
A small magical device used for long-distance communication.
Very convenient.
Liya turned around, noticing Leon's reaction, and sighed, "So? Judging from your expression, I probably can't go back, right?"
"...Yes. I'm very sorry, Miss Liya…"
Leon lowered her head slightly as she reported, "The 'children' captured a slave trader. His identity seems somewhat special."
"They need you to come personally and interrogate him."