System's POV

"Hey, have you heard the news?"

"About the Grand Temple of the Goddess Valoria?"

"Yes, that one."

"I heard it was razed to the ground. But isn't that mere rumor?"

"Not at all. A merchant friend of mine passed by the temple on his way, and he said only a giant crater was left of it."

"It's not just that. He also said the crusaders had all died. On top of that, the heads of the entire council, including the Pope's, are all hanging on the pikes erected along the path to the temple."

"Are you serious?!"

"If you don't believe me, you can ask those who've journeyed to the temple. They will tell you the same thing I told you just now."

A tense atmosphere veiled the tavern, much worse than the past few days.

The Demon Army had razed countless villages, towns, and cities as they headed south.

Sometime along their rampage, they even declared they would prioritize targeting the places that worshiped the Goddess Valoria.

The envoys of the Demon Army had even gone as far as to visit the capital cities of each kingdom, declaring they would annihilate all life in the places where the Church of the Goddess stood.

They would not accept the surrender of their people and would kill them without mercy. Unless they turned their backs on the Goddess, they had no other path but death.

Most towns and cities had given in, taking matters into their own hands. They forcibly expelled the Priests and Sisters of the Church of Valoria and burned every church and temple, hoping it would be enough to appease the demons who'd been rampaging across human lands for weeks.

Their life might not be completely guaranteed, but as long as they had no church of the Goddess Valoria left, the Demons would at least allow them to surrender instead of annihilating even the last of them.

"Hey, you said the Grand Temple was destroyed, right? Is the one responsible for it the Angel of Death?"

"Maybe. I can't think of anyone who hates the Goddess more than him."

"Is he really someone who once served the Goddess but rebelled after they had a falling out?"

"I don't know. Even the Demons don't hate the Goddess as much as he does. They only declared they will raze cities that have these churches to avoid offending him."

There were even rumors that the Angel of Death easily defeated the reigning Demon Lord and forced the latter to become his subordinate. Ever since then, the Demon Army apparently switched its priorities to targeting places that still worshiped the Goddess Valoria.

———

In the place where the Grand Temple of Valoria once stood…

The Saintess, Medea, looked at the giant crater with tears streaming down her face.

She had been raised in the Grand Temple and was treated as a treasure by the priests and sisters who served the Goddess.

Now, there was no one. And she knew… they were either dead or had run far away to Goddess knew where.

These survivors hid their identities, fearing that the populace would persecute them or, worse, execute them just to avoid getting targeted by the Demon Army.

In the distance, Medea saw something stir, and an explosion that sent rocks and dirt flying in every direction caught her attention.

More of these violent explosions took place, as if someone was rampaging across the giant crater bereft of anything but charred soil.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

A familiar scream filled with pain and anger reached her ears.

Steeling herself, Medea used a spell to glide down from the mountain, where she was standing.

The people were afraid of the Demon Army, and all hope seemed to be lost.

If there was anything she could do to put a stop to this madness, she was willing to sacrifice herself for the greater good.

As long as the Angel of Death would calm down, she would give everything, including her body and soul.

But just as she neared the crater, she felt someone flying alongside her.

It was none other than one of the Valkyries who served Thirteen and went by the name Mist.

"Sorry, but this is as far as you can go, Saintess," Mist said before grabbing hold of Medea's body, pulling her away from the crater.

"Let me go!" Medea struggled. "I want to talk to him!"

"If you want to talk to him, you have to wait," Mist replied. "Thirteen is currently going berserk and will kill anyone in sight.

"Just wait until he regains his senses before you approach him. Even we, his subordinates, wouldn't be spared from his attacks if we got too close in his current state."

After hearing the Valkyrie's explanation, the Saintess stopped struggling and allowed herself to be taken to safety.

"Has he gone crazy?" Medea asked as soon as her feet touched the ground.

"In a way, yes," Mist answered before glancing in the direction where another powerful explosion erupted. "His anger, sadness, and desperation are eating him from the inside out, and he'd regularly lose his sanity a few hours each day.

"It was still manageable a week ago, but things turned for the worse. The destruction of the Grand Temple is the result of his berserk state. Whenever he was like that, he would actively destroy anything that had a connection with the Goddess Valoria.

"In other words, you, my dear Saintess, would die a very pitiful death if he ever came across you in his current state."

Medea glanced in the direction of the young man who had been given the title of the Angel of Death by both demons and humans alike.

A few hours later, Thirteen's rampage finally stopped.

He lay within the crater, panting for breath, as his emergency Safe Mode finally took over his senses.

The damage in his Soul Core was advancing with each passing day, unable to tolerate the emotions of anger, sadness, desperation, and other negative emotions compressed in his very soul. He'd long surpassed his limit and was simply running on his willpower.

Thirteen was currently a human, not a machine, so he could no longer unemotionally and logically handle these emotions.

He had experienced these things in the past, and he used to automatically fix them by deleting these "viruses" that had invaded his Soul Core.

But it was too late now. These feelings had already gained a deep foothold in his heart, and Kate's death had been spurring him to take revenge.

Since the Hero and the Queen were now dead, Thirteen directed his anger to the Goddess Valoria.

Yes.

Thirteen's recent actions were his own version of God Slaying.

Gods were born from the power of Faith, and they would also die once this Faith disappeared completely.

By targeting the Church of the Goddess and its believers, Thirteen was slowly tying a noose around the neck of the Goddess Valoria, who would die once all of her believers had turned their backs on her.

Normally, this feat was nearly impossible to achieve.

But given the current situation of the world, the chances of Thirteen succeeding were pretty high.

Even now, the human kingdoms were doing a purge in fear of the Angel of Death's retribution.

After the main headquarters of their religion had been destroyed, the followers of the Goddess fled for their lives.

Except for one person.

The Saintess whom the Goddess had chosen herself.

"Master, do you recognize me?" Mist asked anxiously. "You're not going to bite me like last time, right?"

"Mist, am I the one responsible for this carnage?" Thirteen asked without bothering to stand up.

"Yes, Master," Mist replied. "You obliterated this place during your berserk state."

"I see." Thirteen then propped himself up from the ground.

He didn't feel guilty about the destruction of the Grand Temple.

He just wished he had been sane when he had done it. That way, he could at least enjoy the process of destroying the Main Headquarters of the Goddess with his own hands.

"Master, you have a visitor," Mist said before pointing at Medea, who was standing a good distance away from them.

Thirteen gave the Saintess a side-long glance before flying away.

Clearly, he didn't want to talk to her.

Mist glanced in Medea's direction before shaking her head.

A moment later, he followed behind her Master, who was about to rejoin the Demon Army.

Medea bit her lip before summoning a Pegasus, helping her follow Thirteen so she could have a word with him.

The Valkyries watched the young lady, who was using the same steed they once rode to battle.

Thirteen didn't chase her away, so she followed him until she saw the Demon Army razing the capital city of the Corvuz Kingdom, which was a staunch supporter of the Church of the Goddess.

Black smoke could be seen even from a distance away, and Medea could only watch in horror as the Demon Army massacred everyone that they came across.

She was certain that before this day was over, another Kingdom would be erased from the face of the world, just like what had happened in the Kingdom of Valoria a few weeks ago.