I’m Going to Destroy this Country

“!”

It was truly a fleeting moment.

The statue of the goddess, whose eyes were closed, opened her eyes sharply. As if she had found the demon, and as if she was about to punish the insolent heretic.

At the sight of her opening her eyes, Isaac, who was leaving the altar, flinched rarely.

‘Shit, no…’

He was really stuck, unable to get out.

If it turned into an interrogation of heresy, be it a Saint, the Pope, or a priest, it would lead straight to execution!

At that sight, Naiser’s eyes also widened.

That was proof of zero faith, meaning heresy!

Without realizing it, Naiser tried to summon his weapon. However, that thought didn’t last long.

‘Huh?’

It was too momentary, and the statue closed its eyes again as soon as Isaac fell off the altar.

‘…!’

The tears had also disappeared. As if everything he had seen was just an illusion.

However, Naiser gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Hey! You guys! I just saw…”

He was about to say ‘Did you see it?’, but everyone present was in the middle of discussing how to handle this situation.

“Hey! You guys!”

“Young master? Why are you acting like that?”

“Didn’t you guys see it just now? That!”

“Ah, that? I saw it clearly.”

“Right! If you saw it, then immediately…”

“When we came here because the young master said it was a heresy, the stone statue of judgment shed holy tears of blood.”

“How are you going to resolve this?”

“…It just proves how great the Blue people are.”

This is ridiculous! Am I the only one who saw it?

‘The timing was really…’

Naiser shouted in frustration.

“No, that’s not it! The statue opened its eyes just now! Not tears of blood, but its eyes!”

“Huh? It’s not like a ghost possessed you. Why would the result suddenly change in the middle?”

“You gave Blue people a boost, and now you’re going to attack the enemy too…”

Argh! These brats don’t believe me!

With anger flaring up, Naiser glared fiercely at Isaac. If he just put him back on the altar one more time, the result would come out.

Naiser was desperate.

“Hey! Kid! Check it one more time! I definitely saw it!”

At Naiser’s intense gaze, Isaac laughed derisively.

“Why? Trying to do some deadly manipulation?”

To be honest, Isaac had also undergone the ten-year sentence. Although it was just a fleeting moment, Isaac also saw the goddess statue open her eyes.

However, it seems like he was the only one who saw it.

[It turned out to be beneficial.]

Right. Thanks to putting him on the trial stand, he would be able to stand up to the Red from now on.

And none of them could have predicted such a special situation.

How could they even think of it? A skeleton came into the prison, and not only was the skeleton’s faith detected, but the result also changed in the middle?

And Isaac wasn’t one to not take advantage of the luck that had come his way.

“What re-examination? You already saw it, didn’t you? You saw the tears of blood, didn’t you! Why? Are you jealous because you can’t reach that level?”

“No, I definitely saw it!”

Naiser gritted his teeth.

That guy was definitely a heretic. He should drag him and force a re-examination, even by force!

Naiser tried to grab Isaac, who was trying to run away. The opponent was at best a child. And this was the Red’s territory.

Could that puny thing use force here?

“Don’t let him escape!”

“Young master?”

At Naiser’s fierce voice, the heresy inquisitors tilted their heads in confusion.

The crazed Naiser tried to forcefully grab Isaac’s collar.

“This brat, where are you trying to run…”

However, at that moment.

Thump!

“!”

Someone firmly grabbed Naiser’s arm.

Not only Isaac, but everyone present was utterly shocked.

“Grandpa!”

The one grabbing Naiser’s arm was none other than the head of Blue House, Elai. He probably couldn’t just watch his grandson getting hurt.

Naiser, whose arm was grabbed, froze to a degree incomparable to before.

“I came here expecting this.”

His voice was stern.

However, Lilai, who followed behind, simply let out a sigh. He had expected this to happen…

‘…No, you didn’t know.’

You got angry because the Red Cardinal gave your grandson candy, so you went to ‘buy candy’ too.

Lilai looked at the doll held in the left hand of the Blue head, who was carrying his baggage. It was the ‘Skeleton King’s Execution Edition – Diamond Version’ that Isaac would like.

Anyway, he had come to buy the doll, but the Blue knight secretly following Isaac hurriedly informed him.

-Master, it’s an emergency! Young master Isaac is currently in the prison, and the Red third son and regular heresy inquisitors are heading there.

Regular heresy inquisitors…!

Them moving meant they were going to interrogate someone.

Moreover, if the Red’s third son, who hasn’t yet inherited the Red family business, is accompanying them, the target is highly likely to be Isaac.

And as expected, that prediction was correct.

The eyebrows of Elai, the head of the Blue family, who was firmly holding Naiser’s arm, twitched rarely.

“I’ll have to have a serious talk with the Red.”

His expression looked like he was about to break Naiser’s arm or even scratch his face at any moment, so Lilai stopped him from the side.

“Father. If you hit the heir, the situation will escalate. It’s not the proper conduct for an adult either. For now, let’s take Isaac and leave, and then formally protest to the Red…”

At that moment, perhaps due to Lilai’s words, Isaac approached him and tugged at Lilai’s clothes.

“Uncle…”

“Yes? Isaac, why are you doing that? Are you hurt somewhere?”

Isaac deliberately pretended to sob and pointed at Naiser.

“He hit Isaac. Sob.”

…

Lilai’s eyes turned crazy as he grabbed Naiser’s collar.

* * *

“Uncle, stop! Stop!”

Shuri and the Red priests held onto Lilai’s arms and legs.

The crazed Lilai had already slapped Naiser dozens of times.

It seemed like the conclusion after holding back from using violence as much as possible, but could the slaps from an 8th rank paladin be considered ordinary…?

The evidence was that Naiser was lying on the ground, clutching his forehead. If Lilai hadn’t held back his holy power, there would have been a hole in his forehead.

The heresy inquisitors also tried to pull Lilai away.

“Lilai! Aren’t you an 8th rank paladin!”

“Not just one slap! You struck our future head of the Red family’s forehead several times!”

“Oh really! Since when did you guys care about the heir? Get lost! This is about my nephew!”

Around then, Shuri held the back of his neck. Despite the chaos, the one who caused this situation was eating candy while watching!

“What a nice view.”

“Isaac! This is all your fault! Stop your uncle!”

“Why me?”

Why? Why?

At Isaac’s mischievously smiling face, Shuri’s blood pressure rose.

‘Argh! Who would have thought that he would have come to see the Fourteen Demons first!’

In fact, Shuri was attending a lecture with other trainees at the Papacy about the execution of the Sixth Demon.

They learned about how the execution would proceed and how dangerous the Fourteen Demons were. Well, the conclusion was that ‘if you face the Fourteen Demons alone, you die unconditionally,’ but still.

And then!

-Isaac went to see that demon alone!

-He’s also undergoing a heresy interrogation!

What the hell is this about!

Not only the apprentices but also the senior priests giving the lecture were flabbergasted.

-Has the Red Cardinal gone mad? Making a child face the Fourteen Demons!

-Even adults can’t overcome the demonic energy and get sick or die!

Thinking that Isaac might die, he hurried to him.

But the situation looked like this.

“You little brat! How did you come up with this! Are you so crazy that you want to die? And even if we participate in the execution ceremony, we are just watching! The one carrying out the execution is a professional Иlack executioner! Do you know how dangerous the Skeleton King’s subordinates are…!”

However, Isaac covered his ears.

‘What execution? I’m going to help that Sixth Demon escape, you fools.’

They did give him a tool to unlock his handcuffs, but that was just the first step.

The most time-consuming part was yet to come – the ‘Pope’s Leash’ around his neck. Once he removes that, his subordinate’s handcuffs will already be unlocked, allowing him to easily escape.

So he needed to position himself as close as possible during the execution ceremony…

“But a heresy interrogation?! Are you about to be executed now?!”

Why does this idiot naturally assume he’s being executed?

Shuri, who got smacked by the dangling shackles, stood his ground arrogantly.

“There’s no way your faith is normal!”

At those words, the prison guard priest who had befriended Isaac coughed awkwardly.

“Those are quite rude words. Young master Eshua passed brilliantly!”

“What?”

“Ah, I’ve never seen tears like that before.”

Those words made Shuri, Lilai, and even Elai, flinch.

…Tears?

“What is that supposed to…”

Isaac immediately pointed at Naiser.

“He summoned the scary goddess statue.”

“What?!”

Realizing what he meant, Lilai grabbed Naiser’s collar again.

“This guy just casually brought out the Fate Judgement Altar for Isaac?”

“The scary red tears surprised me.”

“You idiot! Isaac was scared by the blood!”

“Uncle, uncle!”

Shuri tried to restrain him, but that wasn’t the important part.

‘Tears?!’

Even Shuri knew about that Fate Judgement Altar. Moreover, blood tears…?

But then, at that moment:

“I came because there were reports of a disturbance from the prisoners. Who is this?”

“!!”

A tall, slender man appeared in the prison lobby. It was Leon Sephet, the Red Cardinal, with his subordinates.

As soon as the Red family head appeared, the Blue family head Elai’s eyes shot open.

“Well, well, you bastard, you’re here.”

Facing him like he had been waiting, Ilai’s eyes flickered savagely like an alpha wolf.

Honestly, even if he wasn’t grabbing his collar, it looked like he was already grabbing him by the hair.

“All these bastards had to do was show the Sixth Demon. Why bother with this ridiculous faith examination?”

Despite Elai’s menacing aura, the Red Cardinal just smiled slyly, not backing down at all.

“Why are you so upset? It’s suspicious enough that he was going to meet the Skeleton King’s subordinate, let alone that the request came from the Blue. We can be strict with the Blue. A faith examination is necessary…”

“You needed the Fate Judgement Altar for that? Are you looking to pick a fight now?”

“Ah… did you even summon the statue?”

The Red head glanced at Naiser, who averted his gaze slightly.

But that was only for a moment, as he then let out a hearty laugh.

“Well, my apologies for that. I’ll be more careful to prevent similar incidents from happening again…”

“And you think saying ‘sorry’ will fix it?”

“Pardon?”

“The statue shed ‘blood tears’, didn’t it? You simply apologize after messing with an innocent person? Does that thick skull of yours deserve to remain attached?”

Well, it would be nice if he used elegant rhetoric befitting a Cardinal.

At the obvious threat demanding an apology along with proper compensation, the Red Cardinal furrowed his brow slightly.

But then again, it was true that continuing this argument would only put his side at a disadvantage.

“Yes. I’ll provide appropriate compensation to the Blue.”

He was infuriated. It seemed only the Blue benefited from this, so his anger was understandable. But what infuriated him even more was the expression on the Blue family head’s face.

The head of the Blue family seemed extremely pleased. He wasn’t showing it, but the corners of his mouth were twitching upwards. If left unchecked, his shoulders might ascend to the heavens.

Well, that was understandable too.

For his mere 10-year-old grandson to shed ‘blood tears’!

This would go down in history.

Of course his grandson would look adorable.

Especially when he had been worried about Isaac’s faith lately.

‘I was so worried about his lack of faith.’

Elai’s gaze toward Isaac changed slightly. Well, after all, no matter what, blood relatives tend to look adorable by default.

Perhaps displeased by that conceited demeanor, the Red Cardinal extended his hand.

“Alright then, return the badge you borrowed.”

Without a word, as if he intended to do so anyway, Elai approached Isaac, who was eating candy.

Then, he lifted Isaac up as if he were catching a cat, and then nimbly snatched the badge hidden inside Isaac’s clothes.

“Hmph. As if I’d let that badge stay with Isaac.”

“It was also a faith examination, don’t misunderstand. The boy has had quite a bit of noise around him. Verifying if he’s qualified as a Saint is important, isn’t it?”

Elai understood the meaning behind those words.

In the past, a lowly demon had pretended to be a Saint and tried to kill the real one. The Saint’s qualification verification was that crucial and had to be done carefully.

But in this case, the statue had even shed blood tears – the highest symbol of faith.

“No matter how you look at it, it’ll just be lovely, pure blood-red tears, you fool.”

Just as Elai tried to hand over the badge, he froze.

“…”

Um, so…

The rose on the card was… pitch… black???

The hell is this? Elai’s face stiffened ever so slightly, not showing it. As he made no move to hand over the badge, those around him tilted their heads in confusion.

“…Your Excellency?”

Even the Red Cardinal extended his hand impatiently, as if telling him to just hand it over.

“Well, we’re busy people too. Hand it over quick…”

Snap!!!

“…?!”

The Red Cardinal’s eyes went wide, as if doubting his own eyes.

…Huh?

What just happened before his eyes?

However, with blinding speed, the Blue family head crashed the badge in half, then pummeled it relentlessly with his fists.

No, as if smashing wasn’t enough – he slammed the shredded badge onto the floor and stomped on it with his feet. He seemed strangely urgent, or perhaps that was just an illusion.

Stomp stomp stomp!

The rose on the badge, which had been stained black, was now completely shredded, the color draining away.

As if the faith examination had never happened at all.

And the precious badge given by the Pope himself to this one and only Red Cardinal… In other words, that precious badge was smashed… Smashed?!

“Your Excellency?!”

Having finally destroyed the evidence, the head of the Blue family spun around defiantly, spitting on the floor.

“I’ve got nothing to give you, you idiot.”

…What?!