I’m Going to Destroy this Country

“What? His faith was perfectly fine?”

At the Red mansion.

The head of the Red family, Leon Sephet, and the deputy head of the Red family, Neon Sephet, were seated across from each other.

Neon looked at the heretic inquisitor with wide-open eyes, as if surprised.

“Are you really saying Isaac Eshua’s faith was perfectly fine?”

“Yes… More than being perfectly fine, the Goddess of Judgment shed tears of blood.”

“…!”

If it’s tears of blood, doesn’t that mean the highest level of faith?

‘It’s the sublime state that hints at the potential to become the greatest of the current era.’

In fact, there was a real reason why the head of the Red family targeted Isaac’s faith this time.

Why, you ask?

‘Because of the directive from the God of Criminal Justice.’

During the Red Pentagon, didn’t Isaac smash the statue of the ‘God of Criminal Justice’? The Red couldn’t stop him at the time and had to take responsibility for it.

As a result, they were forcibly deprived of one of the blessings bestowed upon the Red family as punishment.

It was a relatively minor blessing, but it still left a bitter taste. Feeling wronged, they separately reported who the culprit was that destroyed the statue.

Then, a written response came down from the God:

-Bring that child to me.

At first glance, it sounds like they will be punished, but the Red family actually disliked it.

Why, you ask?

-I shall bestow a blessing upon him.

A blessing!

Of course, they know it means ‘reformation’.

That’s just how it is – the Red faith is about repentance. As always, they whip first, then offer a carrot.

‘Probably because he’s a child.’

Of course, the Red doesn’t see children as just lovable like the naive Blue, but rather as incomplete beings.

However, children were easier to reform, and that itself became the power of the Red God.

In fact, it’s a method often used by the Red when scouting from other faiths as well.

But!

Isn’t Isaac Eshua from the Blue family?

And yet a blessing?

‘Not even a single blessing is worth giving.’

No, originally the God of Judgment was a high-ranking supreme God.

‘Do they really think we would send a person from the Blue to our supreme God? It’s wasteful.’

Even people of the Red family’s direct lineage can only have connections with Gods.

So the Red originally planned to test Isaac’s faith and deem him a target for execution, not reformation.

‘Tears of blood, you say.’

“Doesn’t this mean we certified that brat as the highest candidate for sainthood?”

That’s why the deputy head Neon, looking at Naiser standing before him as if he had committed a crime, spat out angrily.

“And on top of that, you even suggested a re-examination?! Do you want to be utterly disgraced by the priests of the Red?”

“That’s…”

“Shut up. You were supposed to become the head instead of the eldest and second sons you devoured, but you can’t even handle this trivial matter properly! Don’t you know you only live to become the Pope?”

Naiser tightly closed his eyes.

Especially Neon, who was already plagued by problems within the family.

Territorial disputes, businesses, issues with vassal families, places borrowing the name of their faith, and requests flooding in endlessly from all over the continent.

Just to coordinate all these things and maintain the highest state, it was barely manageable, and now the Blue was acting so smug?

“You need to become not just a Saint, but the Pope, for the Red to even discuss the unification of the world!”

“That’s enough.”

At the words of the head Leon, Neon closed his mouth.

“Ah, this is troublesome. The badge that could confirm faith has also disappeared.”

Leon never believed in the judgment of the statue to begin with. There were only a few people in history who could make it shed tears of blood.

Even if that wasn’t the case, at the very least, such a thing could never come from that person. It would have been tainted in some way, no matter what.

If only they still had the badge they had lent him, Naiser could have sent him to the slave labor camps with the authority of a Cardinal. But to completely destroy it like that.

‘He has a bad temper.’

Anyway, because of that Blue family head, they couldn’t even confirm the faith remaining on the badge. While the Blue family head’s actions were concerning, there was no proof.

Leon continued speaking.

“In any case, this incident is just for entertainment. There are other ways.”

“!”

“And at the Offering Ritual too. As the messengers of God descend, if there’s any problem with the child, it will be immediately exposed. So just stay still until then.”

It was basically a warning for ‘you should just shut up now’, and Naiser could only grit his teeth.

‘No. I saw it clearly.’

It was just for a moment, but the statue definitely opened its eyes!

‘If it comes to this, I have no choice.’

Naiser’s eyes flashed.

“Father. Has the participant list for the Offering Ritual been finalized?”

“Yes. The list is mostly of the Blue team members, and Isaac Eshua is also included. You also came in first place in the previous Black Pentagon competition, right? I’ll add your name to the list as well…”

“No. Please enter me as Isaac’s attendant.”

…What?

The deputy head Neon looked at him as if he had said something crazy, but Naiser was resolute.

“Those included in the list are assigned attendants for the ceremony, aren’t they? Please enter me as Isaac’s attendant!”

Of course, a harsh rebuke followed.

“Naiser! Have you lost your mind? Why would someone like you take such a lowly and dishonorable position!”

It’s not like being an attendant at the Offering Ritual holds any authority or glory. It’s just a ceremony, but in reality, attendants have to do the most menial tasks like bathing, dressing, and doing the dirtiest chores for their masters – practically the same as a maid.

“Do you not know it’s a lowly position that only commoners take? For the heir of a Ducal family to do such menial work, it will only invite ridicule!”

Despite Neon’s raised voice, Naiser didn’t back down.

‘If there’s no evidence, then I have no choice but to obtain it directly.’

In other words, he planned to stick close to Isaac 24 hours a day, monitor him, and lure him into a trap to create evidence – even if he had to fabricate it.

However.

“That’s not possible.”

“Father!”

At the stern words of the family head Leon, Naiser protested as if wronged.

“Is it because being an attendant is a dishonorable position? I can handle that role well…”

“No. It’s because someone has already taken that position.”

…Huh?

“Kina has taken that position.”

Naiser nodded in understanding.

“Ah right. Kina Berit went as Isaac’s attendant…”

Naiser froze.

…Huh? Wait, what?

* * *

At the Blue mansion in the capital.

A strange atmosphere was flowing through the Blue residence. It was all because of the family head.

‘Why is he acting like this?’

It’s fine that father is holed up in his study, but the problem is the expression on his face while holed up. The killing intent is gushing out of the study room. It’s even freezing over the dew in the study!

Eventually, the sighing sons had no choice but to step forward.

“Father, why are you acting like this? What happened that made you so irritated for the past few days after seeing Isaac?”

“Why does he like yours but not mine?”

…Huh?

…What was that?

Lilai froze, but soon opened his mouth wide after seeing what the family head Elai was looking at.

What the family head was glaring at was none other than the ‘Skeleton King’s Execution Edition – Diamond’ doll.

It was the doll bought for Isaac, under the pretext of being candy. Seeing this, Lilai seemed to immediately catch on to the reason, turning deathly pale.

‘Isaac! Don’t tell me he didn’t accept his grandfather’s gift!’

In fact, Lilai had also bought the doll together with the family head. But Isaac had accepted that one??

As expected, seeing Lilai, Elai seemed very displeased and pounded the desk with a staccato rhythm.

“Why does he accept the ‘jewel’ you bought, but not the Skeleton King’s Execution Edition I bought for him? This one is much more expensive and better.”

Perhaps he doesn’t realize the problem with that Skeleton King doll?

But Lilai, who couldn’t have known that, tightly closed his eyes.

“Father, I’m sorry.”

He didn’t know why he had to apologize, but he apologized anyway.

“For that matter, I will talk to Isaac and…”

“No, that’s not the important thing. Isaac is black.”

…Huh?

What exactly was ‘black’…?

Belatedly understanding the meaning, the faces of Lilai and the second son Benjamin froze.

“Don’t tell me you’re referring to the badge from the Red Cardinal that you destroyed, Father? Are you saying Isaac’s faith was black in color?”

“Yes. The rose has turned pitch black.”

“But the statue shed tears of blood, didn’t it…!”

It clearly meant the test was flawed, but for some reason, the family head’s mood only seemed to worsen.

“Even so, I had his faith tested again afterwards. To confirm more surely, I stole a faith assessment device from the Red’s treasury.”

Benjamin, the second son and manager of the Eshua capital residence, felt his pupils shake.

…Stole… You stole it? The Blue stole?

Unlike his dazed brother, Lilai hurriedly asked.

“If it was from the treasury, it must be an item used for critical imperial matters, so the result should be reliable. What was the test result? Transparent color? Or a bit darker? Of course, since it was tears of blood, that result must have been good as well…”

“…It was black.”

“…Huh?”

“So black that there were no answers…”

At those words, everyone listening fell into a daze.

What the father was referring to was clearly a device that has you drink from a cup to determine your faith level by the color of the remaining liquid.

Normally, they have you drink black tea, and the liquid becomes a bit darker depending on your faith level.

But black?!

‘Is that even possible?’

Lilai couldn’t help but raise doubts.

“Then what about the tears of blood the statue supposedly shed? That couldn’t be wrong…”

“Didn’t Isaac meet Melissa not too long ago? It could be her influence.”

“Ah…”

The sons immediately understood.

If there was someone famous enough to make that statue shed tears of blood, it could only be their mother.

By then, they realized why their father’s expression was so grave.

“Now the problem isn’t exorcising an evil god. He might become an evil god himself.”

‘Kuhek…!’

Simultaneously, they became frantic.

“Isn’t this an emergency then? The top-ranking Pentagon participants will summon a god at the Offering Ritual where the execution ceremony is held!”

“The Red Cardinal will definitely be aiming for that too!”

If Isaac were to summon an evil god, that would be clear proof of his fall.

“No, I stopped that.”

“!”

The family head went to the Papal Council meeting and changed the rules for the Offering Ritual altogether.

-Then the next item is the event where the top rankers summon a god after the execution ceremony. Who would you recommend among them?

-I recommend Isaac Esh…

-No, this should be done by Kina, the future Pope. It has to be Kina, no exceptions. Kina is just too amazing. He will be a model for everyone. There’s no need to discuss this. It’s decided, Kina. End of story.

-…The Blue Cardinal?!

That’s how he barely avoided the crisis of Isaac’s faith being revealed to the world, but what?

Who could have expected the Black cardinal to come out with something like that!

-I find it bothersome, so the Black Pentagon will be evaluated based on the god the apprentices summon.

Ha…! Damn that Black family!

They arrogantly didn’t even attend the meeting, but they’re messing with other people’s plans? And they even left such an important matter in a note before leaving?!

‘I worked hard to prevent Isaac from summoning a god, and now they’re making it an evaluation task?’

Of course, as soon as the family head heard those words, he tried to kidnap Isaac back home. Wouldn’t that be better than having his identity exposed and executed?

But then!

That damned Black family offered a ridiculously good reward. And then Isaac’s eyes spun as he said-

-I’ll do it!

His grandson immediately declared he would do it.

Upon hearing those words, Lilai grabbed the back of his neck.

“…Isaac, does he not know about his own faith?”

“You should have warned us about the danger beforehand. Why didn’t you tell us about his faith?”

At that, Elai, knuckles cracking, flashed his eyes like a tiger.

“What if I told him and he actually became corrupted?”

“…”

“Anyway… Tell Shuri to take the position as Isaac’s attendant. Well, there probably won’t be any issues during the first part of the execution ceremony. The important part is the second. Don’t let him summon a god. You absolutely must keep his faith a secret from Isaac. This is no longer just an individual issue – it’s a matter of life and death for the entire Eshua family.”

Lilai, nodding, let out a deep sigh.

“Yes. Shuri will also recognize the gravity of the situation. I will make sure Isaac is kept completely in the dark about it.”

That’s how they secretly tried to prevent Isaac from summoning a god.

But then.

[After saving your real subordinate, do you plan to select God as well?]

‘Didn’t you see what the reward for the Black Pentagon was? I have to get first place no matter what.’

Yeah… But then.

‘What the fuck is this situation?’

On the day of the Offering Ritual.

The apprentices gathered at the execution grounds were stirring, looking somewhere.

It couldn’t be helped.

“Hey, didn’t you hear what I said?!”

“What did you say?”

The Pope’s grandson and… the heir of the Red family were fighting. With Isaac in the middle.

So…

“I’m the attendant for this guy!!”

“No? I am! You bastard! I already registered!”

“I finished the registration first!”

Each claiming to be Isaac’s attendant…

Shuri’s pupils dilated as he watched them.

‘God… What is this situation…?’

Meanwhile, Isaac, watching them, was debating whether to take out his rattle or not.