David immediately stopped moving when he heard footsteps behind him.
He'd always thought this was just a dream influenced by some mysterious being. Never imagined other people would appear here.
Now that he thought about it, he realized things weren't that simple.
With a thought, gray fog wrapped around his body, forming a hazy barrier just like that curtain obscuring the throne, making it impossible to see what was behind.
Only the huge deep red arm was exposed outside, radiating a terrifying aura.
The Hand of Divine Corpse seemed to have no cooldown time limit in this space, and David was very wary of the newcomer, ready to smash them flat with one punch at any moment.
But that confused old man walking out of the gray fog made him freeze.
The guy's appearance was also obscured by gray fog. The god of this space seemed very concerned about privacy, but this didn't stop David from judging the guy's confusion from his movements.
He seemed to have been pulled into this "dream" just as inexplicably as David himself.
After leaving the fog, the old man saw that starry sky and the throne covered by the curtain. He also seemed overwhelmed by the god's terrifying aura. His whole body trembling, he prostrated on the ground, muttering:
"The... the Shattered God... Ah, I, finally received your summons, finally got to see you, great Shattered God..."
David heard the term from his mouth. "Shattered God? Does that refer to those two beings on the thrones?"
Behind the curtain, the twin sisters also heard the old man's words. The difference was, their vision wasn't obstructed at all. They could clearly see what that old guy looked like.
He wore black robes with a strange pattern printed on the chest—two half-masks inverted and joined together.
For some reason, the moment Zoe saw this pattern, she knew the guy's identity.
He was a heretic, a heretic from the "Shattered Church."
The Shattered Church, this organization classified as a "cult" by the Church of Light, actually had a very long history. Their existence seemed even older than the Goliath Empire.
Legend said the predecessor of the Shattered Church was actually the only faith on this continent.
But the Church of Light would never admit this. Shortly after the Goliath Empire was founded, the Church started working to eliminate these heretics and launched yet another "holy war" in the far north.
After that, the Shattered Church disappeared into the darkness.
But recently there were rumors that in the raging war in the southwest, the Shattered Church had appeared again.
These things—two maids who only ever stayed at home and at most went to the Church of Light plaza to buy supplies—naturally had no mind to understand.
But the new "knowledge" in their heads told them many secrets that others didn't know.
Including about the Shattered Twin Gods worshipped by the Shattered Church...
The twins looked at each other, their hearts surging with shock.
The old man's appearance made young master David calm down, but they couldn't calm down at all, because they seemed to have discovered an extremely absurd fact.
They were now sitting on the thrones of the Shattered Temple, taking the place of the Shattered Twin Gods—they were playing the role of the Shattered Church's gods!
"My lord! You finally answered our humble prayers. I, Efnathis, priest of the Shattered Church, am willing to offer you everything..."
The black-robed old man looked excited, tears streaming down as he prostrated on the ground and kowtowed several times toward the throne, then shouted again:
"You summoned me—do you want your faithful believer's soul to return to your throne? My lord, I'm willing! Please take my aged soul!"
You're willing?
You're willing but we're not. What would they want your soul for!?
The twins' minds were a complete mess. They didn't know how to respond to that old guy, much less dare make any sound, afraid their trembling voices would give them away.
That was a heretic!
If the furious young master was already scary enough, add a crazy heretic whose faith had been desecrated...
The twins didn't dare imagine what kind of treatment they'd receive.
...
No response came from the throne. The god seemed not to hear his humble shouts.
The old man wiped tears from the corners of his eyes, not at all minding being ignored—that was the great Shattered God. Just having the honor to enter the Shattered Temple was already an enormous privilege. How could he dare expect the god to respond to him?
Right then, Efnathis who'd slightly raised his head suddenly noticed someone else standing on the side of the high platform in front of him.
He'd been too excited when he first saw the throne and actually overlooked someone else's presence...
He looked toward the figure, his gaze suddenly freezing.
"This... this is, the god's arm!?"
Efnathis immediately saw that huge deep red arm. Right now it was pressing down toward him.
...
David had been quietly watching this heretic old man who called himself Efnathis having his "moment" over there. Out of faith in the Sun Goddess and his identity as an Order hunter, he instinctively wanted to smash him flat directly.
But the old man's reaction when seeing his arm made him hold back.
This guy seemed to recognize the Hand of Divine Corpse!
In an instant, countless thoughts and possibilities flashed through his mind. David quickly reached a delightful conclusion—he seemed to have finally found clues related to the arms!
He directly grabbed the old man's clothes with the arm and lifted him from the ground, asking in a low, hoarse voice: "You've seen my arm before?"
Efnathis swallowed, trembling as he said: "You... you, you mean, your arm?"
Playing dumb?
David raised an eyebrow and responded directly with action. The Hand of Divine Corpse suddenly swelled a size larger with the infusion of power. Two fingers pinched Efnathis's head like holding a peanut...
"No no no! Sir, don't kill me! Seen it! I've seen your arm!! Divine envoy sir!!!"
Efnathis was so scared his legs started shaking. Looked like he was about to piss himself...
Divine envoy?
A wonderful misunderstanding...
David's lips curved up as he released him. "Speak. Where is my arm?"
"Sir, sir, your arm is under our protection. The believers treat it as the most sacred relic..."
"Good. I need it."
Hearing the cold, hazy command from the red hand's owner, Efnathis fearfully stepped back two steps. "Of, of course... You can retrieve your arm anytime, divine envoy sir..."
He secretly glanced up toward the throne and found the lofty Shattered Twin Gods didn't seem to show any reaction. This made him even more convinced that this being with the god's arm was the god's apostle.
Efnathis bowed, lowering his head to David, saying nervously: "But we can't bring the arm in here. Only souls can enter the great Shattered Temple..."
So they entered this dream by having their souls extracted... Shattered Temple?
David turned to glance at the temple's high platform. He was actually a bit panicked too. Deceiving the god's believers right in front of the god—did that count as blasphemy?
Strangely, those two gods on the thrones still looked lazy, seemingly not caring at all about what he was doing.
As for the Hand of Divine Corpse, he was very certain this wasn't the Shattered God's actual arm. Otherwise the god couldn't possibly let him use it randomly.
In that case...
"I need it." David coldly repeated. "Tell me where it is. I'll retrieve it myself."
This scared Efnathis into breaking out in cold sweat.
"Re, retrieve it yourself?"
Didn't that mean the god's messenger was walking among mortals...