The High Priest’s Shattered Reality

‘No.’

The blue-haired girl could not possibly be a member of the Sacred Temple.

The High Priest swiftly dismissed the notion within his mind.

Warriors of the Sacred Temple were all above Battle Lord Fourth Rank.

How could someone merely at Battle Lord Second Rank be among them?

Furthermore, if a Sacred Temple warrior were truly present, why would the Sacred Temple not have informed him?

Moreover, why would a dignified Sacred Temple warrior ever come to a desolate place like the Europa Continent?

Even if they did, wouldn’t they simply search for the target themselves?

Was it truly necessary for him to struggle with an outdated model here?

And knowing he served the Sacred Temple, why would a Sacred Temple warrior continue to oppose him?

Therefore, the blue-haired girl must have used insidious methods to deceive the jade’s judgment.

It had to be.

With this thought, the High Priest raised the Imperial Seal once more, connecting his divine sense to it.

This fan-shaped Imperial Seal was a “high-magic technology product,” housing an AI-powered management system within.

With his authority, he could now communicate with the system, instructing it to fix the flaw preventing it from suppressing Xie Haizhu.

However—

[Scan complete. This product has no issues.]

In the mental realm, accelerated a thousandfold compared to reality, the AI responded.

“How is that possible?” The High Priest refused to believe it. “Scan it again.”

[The current detection functions of this product are unable to identify further issues. If the user requires more, please contact a professional repair company for inspection.]

“There’s clearly a problem! How can you lie with a straight face!” The High Priest was thoroughly enraged.

His mental projection pointed at the blue-haired, crimson-eyed girl before him. “You wouldn’t dare tell me that my authority isn’t enough to suppress her, would you?” he demanded fiercely.

[That is precisely correct.]

“Huh?”

[Target possesses the highest level of authority.]

The High Priest was utterly bewildered, taking a long moment to regain his composure.

“What ‘highest level of authority’?”

[The highest human authority, certified by the Sacred Temple.]

“Nonsense! That’s an authority reserved for the Lord of the Sacred Temple! How could a mere Battle Lord Second Rank possess such power!”

[Target possesses the authority of the Lord of the Sacred Temple. Identity recorded as ‘Human Saintess’. Other information is restricted due to insufficient user authority and will not be displayed.]

The High Priest was on the verge of losing his mind.

He had thought his own fleeting idea that Xie Haizhu might be from the Sacred Temple was preposterous enough, yet this AI had delivered an even more outlandish response.

Had he not still depended on the Imperial Seal’s power, he would have smashed it to dust on the ground.

This was simply unthinkable.

Indeed, it had been fifteen years since he had returned to the Divine Dragon Continent, but the Lord of the Sacred Temple was a figure of immense power, a position only attainable by those above Battle Beast Eighth Rank.

Fine, even if Xie Haizhu was the illegitimate daughter of the Lord of the Sacred Temple and had inherited the position early.

Yet, the previous reasons still stood: how could the Sacred Temple allow its Saintess to remain here? If Xie Haizhu were truly the Saintess, a direct order for him to submit would suffice, wouldn’t it?

Alright, let’s assume Xie Haizhu had run away and, unluckily, suffered amnesia.

But she had been here for at least ten years. Would the Sacred Temple really abandon a figure of such supreme authority in a place like this?

Had the world changed too rapidly, or had he gone mad?

The High Priest preferred to believe the AI was malfunctioning.

“Switch to forced mode.”

[Switched. However, Host is warned not to use it on the target.]

“Why? Just because her authority is high?” The High Priest couldn’t help but sneer.

[The target possesses ‘Cold Moon Frostlight,’ ‘True Crimson Flame,’ ‘Abyssal Dominion,’ and ‘Wheel of Destiny.’ This product is unable to suppress the owners of these items.]

The High Priest paused, then burst into laughter.

“Don’t even think about tricking me!”

Those terms were undoubtedly names of sacred artifacts possessed only by the highest echelons of the Sacred Temple. Yet, he would not be so foolish as to trust a malfunctioning AI.

Moreover, the best way to verify was to test it himself.

As the accelerated thought process ended, he returned to reality. The High Priest immediately activated the Imperial Seal’s power.

Then, he wore an expression as if he had seen a ghost.

“No, it can’t be real. How could you possibly be the true Saintess…?”

He muttered incoherently, his eyes filled with confusion and doubt.

His body, meanwhile, became as rigid as if struck by petrification magic, unable to move even an inch.

“Are you done playing?”

Xie Haizhu truly knew nothing of a “Sacred Temple” nor had she ever heard of it. She was, however, aware of the Divine Dragon Continent, as the Demon Race had crossed the Everfrost Mountains from there.

As for anything else, she was oblivious.

This did not, however, prevent her from realizing that the High Priest was powerless against her.

While her original intention was to defeat a formidable enemy head-on, if she were to uphold such rigid principles against someone already flailing in chaos, refusing to “kick a dog when it’s down,” she would be nothing short of pedantic and foolish.

She was no soft-hearted Duke Xiang of Song.

Thus, no sooner had her words faded than she condensed a sword of ice, unleashing a chilling strike. It cleaved towards the High Priest… specifically, the Imperial Seal in his hand.

However, the High Priest’s divine artifact in hand far surpassed her own power. It seemed less like he was controlling the artifact and more like the artifact was controlling him.

It was manipulating him.

The outcome was remarkably smooth. With virtually no resistance from the High Priest, the Imperial Seal was struck from his grasp. It was then cleaved into fragments by the icy sword energy.

The Imperial Seal’s unexpected fragility surprised and somewhat disappointed Xie Haizhu. Though she held no interest in tools designed to forcefully restrict others’ freedom, researching it to create countermeasures or similar devices would have been a far better outcome.

She didn’t dwell on it for long. As the suppression on the others lifted, she turned to the stunned High Priest.

“Tell me,” she asked, “what is the situation like on your side now?”

Xie Haizhu had no intention of killing the High Priest. This wasn’t due to benevolence, but because she had long been searching for a way to inform people about the existence of the Demon Race.

The High Priest, having come from the Divine Dragon Continent—the Demon Race’s homeland—could undoubtedly help her solve this problem.

However, upon hearing her question, the High Priest’s face became even more clouded with confusion and astonishment.

“You don’t know… How could you not know?”

“Those beings… those enemies of humanity, what has become of them?” Xie Haizhu finally found a way to phrase her question that was both articulate and unambiguous enough to be understood.

“Are you referring to the Demon Race?”

The High Priest understood.

“Precisely.”

Xie Haizhu offered a faint smile.

Then, the High Priest vanished.

He had activated a teleportation artifact, leaving the area.

This was no mere escape. Xie Haizhu’s words had triggered a memory, reminding him of a possibility.

He recalled a conversation with his father from his childhood—

****

“Father, I don’t understand. Why exile people there?”

“That vast region, where magic is so sparse, what good is it for anything else? And beyond that, why go to such great lengths to seal off all four sides and the skies above that continent? What’s the meaning of this?”

“If it’s fear of the Demon Race converting them, wouldn’t it be better to simply annihilate them with soul-destroying weapons?”

“Acts that destroy souls harm the natural order. If possible, one should refrain from abusing such power.”

“Isn’t that a bit too pedantic?”

“Indeed, somewhat. But there is another reason, one you might not know.”

“What reason?”

“A thousand years ago, the Great Prophet foresaw the possibility of humanity’s defeat. To ensure the survival of humanity and to preserve a means of retaliation, it was decided that the Europa Continent would serve as a Noah’s Ark.”

“It was meant to safeguard the last embers of humanity from our Divine Dragon Continent.”

“That’s even more foolish. A millennium has passed, and humanity still holds the absolute upper hand. If even we were to fall, what could those backward descendants of criminals on the Europa Continent possibly do?”

“You are not wrong, but the Sacred Temple always prepares multiple ’ember plans.’ Even for a plan deemed from the outset as the least likely to occur and the least likely to succeed, the Sacred Temple diligently pursued it for a millennium.”

“Today, the barriers surrounding the Europa Continent are so robust that even if the Demon Race were to conquer the Holy Capital, they would be unable to breach them.”

“Isn’t that an excessive waste of resources?”

“You should be marveling at the Sacred Temple’s executive power and its determination to defeat the Demon Race. Even with the most improbable plans, they never waver.”

“Alright, alright, I know. It’s that phrase you always repeat: ‘As long as the Sacred Temple endures, humanity will never be defeated.’ Really, what does the Sacred Temple’s power have to do with me?”

Of course, as he grew older and his knowledge and experience expanded, the High Priest came to fully understand the immense power of the Sacred Temple.

Even though it was the Sacred Temple itself that had exiled him, he still wholeheartedly believed in the slogan: “As long as the Sacred Temple endures, humanity will never be defeated.”

Therefore—

‘That’s right, everything must be wrong. The Imperial Seal must be flawed. There’s no way the Divine Dragon Continent has any problems.’

‘After all, the Sacred Temple had contacted him.’

‘Even if he hadn’t seen the contact person’s appearance.’

‘Even if the Demon Race could gain memories and full battle strength after converting the dead.’

‘There couldn’t be any problems!’

He pulled out the ultra-long-distance teleportation device that the “Sacred Temple contact” had given him.

This device was originally meant to be used only when he found a space-time ability user, but he could no longer afford such considerations.

“Activate it! Send me back!”

After traversing a long spatial tunnel, the High Priest returned to the Divine Dragon Continent, the land he had yearned for.

According to the device’s positioning, he was near the Holy City—the supposed impregnable location of the Sacred Temple itself.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Watching the scene before him, he let out a hoarse, desperate shriek.

Then, his head separated from his body.

“Honestly, I thought he’d brought someone back with him. Instead, he just ran back alone. Such people are truly untrustworthy.”

“That’s why they perish.”

“Indeed.”

These were the last sounds the High Priest heard before his consciousness faded.

Not long after, the High Priest’s head reattached to his body. He staggered, rising to his feet like an infant just learning to walk.

Then—

“Welcome back to consciousness, new compatriot… Now, please tell us, what happened over there?”