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A temple sanctuary, in general, consisted of a large hall with rows of seats and desks for the faithful. At the back, there was a pulpit, and in the farthest rear, there were symbols such as stained glass and statues, representing the divine presence. The basic structure of this village’s temple was the same.

However, there was a little secret behind the statue of the male god, sitting on a snake, in the back of the sanctuary. There was a handle on the floor that, when opened, revealed a staircase leading underground. This wasn’t something they were trying to hide, as it had been disclosed during investigations by the Papal authorities. Nevertheless, there was a sense that it wasn’t meant to be shown to outsiders, and they had designed it to be concealed if necessary.

The descent down the stairs was made of magically shaped stone. Once they reached the small chamber at the bottom, it was connected to a natural cave.

“Having a place like this beneath the temple… No, that’s not it. They built the temple here because of the cave. It’s common to create a sacred place modeled after myths, but…”

Ivar frowned, illuminating the entrance of the cave. The entrance was decorated with so much gold that it gleamed, reflecting the light so brightly that it was blinding.

—A long cave adorned with golden decorations… I guess it’s reminiscent of the path to paradise described in the myth.

The elaborate decorations, if you squinted enough, somewhat resembled the jaws of a serpent. Beyond that, there was a long, single path that descended further, like the inside of a snake’s belly.

“Hapshal is a snake god, as you can see in the statue. Snakes, with their continuous shedding of skin, symbolize the eternal concept of death and rebirth. Simultaneously… snakes are associated with the earth.”
“Yeah, they spend most of their time crawling on the ground and living in holes.”
“And there’s a belief that the non-hell afterlife is an underground world. If ‘paradise’ is located underground, then a cave shaped like a snake’s body could indeed serve as a fitting path.”

The cave coiled gently downward like a snake, and from where Lucella was standing, she couldn’t see its end. At the bottom of this path, there was a small chapel (paradise) where the priests received revelations and the villagers offered prayers on special occasions.

“Is this place the entrance to ‘paradise’?”
“It’s worth investigating, I suppose.”
“True. But I doubt villagers who come here are really going to the actual ‘paradise.’ If there’s something here…”

As Lucella and Ivar gazed into the cave, something unexpected happened.

“Huh?”

Lucella felt dizzy, as if the core of her head was swaying, and she couldn’t tell if she was standing or falling. In the midst of this, she felt herself being drawn into the cave.

No, it wasn’t that Lucella was being sucked in; rather, everything around her seemed to be bending and flowing toward the cave. A thunderous wind roared in her ears.

Deeper and deeper into the cave, Lucella was propelled, as if she were leaping from the top of Mount Kuguse, covering an impossible and terrifying distance at incredible speed.

Then, her sense of the ground returned beneath her feet.

She found herself in an extraordinary place where everything could be seen distinctly despite the total darkness. She sensed that she was underground… although there were neither walls nor a visible ceiling; it was so distant that nothing could be seen except the soft ground beneath her feet.

The ground was soft, covered with an abundance of bright red flowers that resembled snake tongues.

And the air was filled with an overpowering stench.

Stench… was that really it? The answer was no. Lucella had been misinterpreting it as a foul odor, but it was something different—an intense sense of disgust that made her nauseous.

“…This can’t be real. Seriously, this kind of thing is way too forced.”

Ivar, standing nearby, had his hand inside his suit, ready for anything. He had been swallowed up by this place just like Lucella.

In this infinite underground space filled with strange flowers, there was something massive.

A serpent larger than a dragon with twisted limbs.

Plop.

Squelch, plop, squelch.

The giant serpent had its back coiled, and it was kneading something with its huge hands as if playing with mud. It was a mass of flesh that still retained some human features, mostly in the form of children, their faces contorted in agony, as if their flesh had merged and fused into one. Horrifyingly, these fleshy masses were still alive, shedding blood and tears from their individual faces and vomiting blood while letting out voiceless screams.

“I think there were… 11 kidnapped children,” Ivar muttered.

The flesh masses being kneaded by the giant serpent were approximately that size, and they were roughly sculpted into the shape of a snake, one much like the serpent doing the kneading, albeit much smaller and newer.

Yes, the giant serpent had no scales; it was composed entirely of flesh and blood. Some of the flesh was beginning to rot, while some remained fresh. Most of it was a haphazard amalgamation of torn flesh, but there were exceptions that maintained their original shapes.

The flesh of an elderly man, still wearing his robes, was on the giant serpent’s right shoulder.

The giant serpent paused and turned around.

“Ooh… Oooh. Oooooooo……”

In the hollow eye sockets of the massive head, constructed from various pieces of flesh, the serpent’s dual eyes shone a deep, reddish-black. When its mouth opened, it released a putrid breath that cut through the profusion of flowers.

A voice like distant thunder, like the wind rushing through a valley, a manifestation of great power beyond human comprehension. Even if it were an evil force, it would have inspired awe in ordinary people, making them fall to their knees.

“S-Such…splendid…flesh…….. It is…wonderful that…you would… willingly jump… into my jaws…”

The giant serpent, Hapshal, raised its scythe-like head and looked down at Lucella, letting out a voice of admiration. Rotted flesh peeled away from its lower jaw and fell with a soft plop.

“The god of the ugliness of age… desiring a new fleshly shell to persist on the land, I see.”
“If I have…your flesh……my divine power…shall grow boundlessly… Bringing about… eternity… for I… persisting in all land……”

Just like a snake shedding its old skin to create a new one, it sought to discard its old body to form a new one. To achieve this, it desired children as sacrifices…

This was the “most special and unique ritual.”

From the beginning, it was a divine nature that relied on the strong as sustenance to maintain itself. But what if, as the core of the new body, it used a child with supernatural powers? Furthermore, if that child bore the name of a dragon, it would obtain power that was tied to this world, exceeding even the gods themselves.

That was the reason it had summoned Golden Helmet here.

Its aim, from the very beginning, was just one person.

In the corner of her mind, Lucella continued to analyze, but at this point, all of it didn’t matter to her. She wasn’t even thinking about the children she needed to save. All she felt was an intense, fiery rage and disgust.

“To judge criminals is the duty of the authorities.
To judge heretics is the task of the inquisitors.”

Lucella’s words were spoken as if they were compelled by an irresistible force.

“Vanquishers of fallen gods do dragons be.”