The first fact that must be laid out is, Bert's trial is not fair.
They only focused on eradicating 'Evil' under the specious pretext of 'In the name of God', but no one knows how many people were dragged to the judgment stand unjustly in that process.
Of course, it wasn't like this from the beginning.
The corruption of every group starts from wrong decisions.
This corruption of Bert started from the Conclave.
To be precise, from the Conclave's de facto leader—a guy named Yuren.
The guy is, so to speak, the final boss.
To be exact, he was a character hastily introduced to finish the serialization of
'I didn't know that guy would target me.'
To think I face a crisis because of a character I wrote in my novel.
But as he was created hastily, he was a guy full of holes.
His personal martial power wasn't that outstanding either, and he was a guy who climbed up to Cardinal and seized control of the Conclave relying on his trait.
That trait is, precisely—Incitement.
The guy's Aura mesmerizes people's minds.
It could be called a trait truly fitting for a cult leader.
As much as it is a fraudulent trait, the flaw is that it usually takes a tremendous amount of time.
Furthermore, if a gap occurs for a certain period, the effect of incitement also wears off.
However, combined with Bert's closed nature, it came to exert tremendous power only within Bert.
That doesn't mean it unconditionally takes a long time.
If he limits the output and pours all his Divine Power in, it is possible to incite about one person properly in a short period.
The guy seized control of the Conclave with that method and killed the 'Holy Emperor'.
Currently, it is known to the continent only that the Holy Emperor went into hiding, but in reality, the Pope incited by Yuren took his own life.
The question of why the existence called Holy Emperor has such weak mental power is because it is a setting created by the hand of an author with terrible writing skills.
Regrettably, that author is me.
But because of that, I can raise my wariness against the guy and prepare countermeasures.
Then who is the person who will be the biggest danger here?
The person who comes to mind first is—
Conference Head Alan.
If the guy sets his mind to it, he could incite Conference Head Alan to overturn public opinion as well as plant hostility towards me.
Conference Head Alan is one of the strongest in the worldview.
Naturally, he is the number one person I don't want to make an enemy of.
Right now, he is a reliable ally for some reason, but he could become an enemy in an instant due to Yuren's manipulation.
I must prevent that at least.
And, naturally, there is a way.
***
-Conference Head, can you hear me?
'Huh?'
Alan looked around at the familiar voice heard out of nowhere.
However, there is no one.
-Conference Head, it's me, Lucas.
'Lucas?'
Alan put down the thesis he was reading and looked around.
No, there is no one around, but Lucas's voice.
Is this an auditory hallucination?
Did reading the thesis so much bring me to the level where I can have imaginary conversations with the author?
-There is no time to explain, so please listen carefully.
For the trial that will take place soon, please visit a place other than the court, Conference Head.
No, what kind of sound is this?
I followed because I didn't know what harm those Holy Empire bastards might do to Professor Lucas, but telling me not to attend the trial now.
'Have I gone senile... Getting old is sorrowful, sorrowful...'
-At the construction site of a place called Atan Tower you saw yesterday, there is a person who must be saved no matter what.
However, Lucas's voice felt too urgent and desperate to dismiss as senility.
It was to the extent that a certain resonance giving a tremor to the soul was felt.
'Is it not a hallucination?'
-Please believe me.
The only person I can trust right now is you, Conference Head.
-Please save an old man named Heinz at the site of Atan Tower, I beg you.
The resonance felt from Lucas's voice unsettled Alan's mind.
Something keeps bothering him to simply call it a hallucination.
Especially the name 'Heinz'.
If it's Heinz, isn't he the world's greatest scholar and Glasco's Chancellor?
It could be a person with the same name, but somehow it feels uncomfortable.
'Going is not difficult, but...'
The problem was Lucas who would stand alone in the trial.
Since no one knows what kind of false charge the Holy Empire bastards might frame him with...
But this is a request from his favorite.
A situation awkward to refuse, yet also awkward to accept.
-If you grant my request, I will grant one request of yours on my honor, Conference Head.
An offer he couldn't refuse unfolded.
'Is that true? Is it really true?'
There is no answer returning.
But Alan's eyes had already rolled back.
***
'Oww, what a waste.'
I wonder if my desperation reached him.
I asked Conference Head Alan with a feeling of truly shedding tears of blood.
Being able to convey my intention to Conference Head Alan, who is isolated from me, is thanks to the 'Whisper' function, one of the Gold Shop's services.
It can be used in situations isolated from each other like this, but the problem is the cost.
Fitting for a damn game, it consumes Gold, and the cost is 1,000 Gold at a time.
There is even a limit of 10 times a day attached.
Damn Gold-omnipotent system.
But with this, I was able to separate Alan from Yuren and simultaneously rescue Heinz.
There are many troops there, but if it's Conference Head Alan, he should be more than enough to clean them up.
Now I am the problem.
I have to escape the danger called trial without the ally called Alan.
Actually, this is really easy.
Because the mechanism of the Holy Empire shares a common thread with that of demons.
Survival of the fittest.
Power is authority, so to speak.
Power in the Holy Empire is Divine Power.
In other words, I just have to make people shut up with tremendous Divine Power.
The problem is the fact that I don't have Divine Power.
Someone might argue asking if I have Evil Crushing Energy, but my Aura's characteristic 'Evil Crushing' is a completely different concept from Divine Power.
Divine Power is literally manifesting God's energy in this world, and Evil Crushing Energy is energy that exterminates demons.
Just because there are commonalities doesn't mean they are the same.
Rather, I'd be lucky not to be persecuted as a heretic.
In other words, there is nothing I can show them with Evil Crushing Energy.
It absolutely must be Divine Power.
In that sense, Teaching and Learning Grow Together seems to be a truly fraudulent skill indeed.
***
"What? Conference Head Alan said he wouldn't attend the trial?"
"That is correct, Lord Yuren."
Hearing the report from his subordinate priest, Yuren smiled inwardly.
He intended to prevent Alan from observing the trial from the start, but for him to reveal the intention not to observe himself.
"What happened to the test results?"
"I came in a hurry thinking I should inform you of the test results anyway."
The subordinate priest whispered into Yuren's ear lest anyone hear.
Hearing his report, the corners of Yuren's mouth were gradually going up.
Everything is flowing according to the situation he desires.
'The world... is helping me.'
It felt as if fate was helping the process of him becoming a god.
The process of clearing away Lucas, who seemed likely to be the biggest obstacle, seems to flow quite smoothly.
It was satisfactory.
However, there is a fact Yuren is overlooking.
Alan, who was originally friendly to the Holy Empire, came to the Holy Empire to defend Lucas.
However, Yuren was currently intoxicated with the feeling of victory and was in a situation where he couldn't think of such things.
For the meticulous him, the gap shown for a moment became a huge blunder.
***
The heart of Bert, Bertro Cathedral.
It is Bert's royal castle, the meeting place of the Conclave, and can be called the most core architecture of Bert where the Inquisition is held.
Like Saintro Cathedral, the building itself is a Holy Relic and bears Divine Power.
Today, my trial is held here.
Called a trial, but effectively something close to a sentence.
But today I have to overturn that sentence.
Following the priests' guidance, I sat in the seat in front of the judge's bench.
"Cardinal Yuren, the Chief Judge, is entering. Everyone please rise from your seats."
Yuren is exactly the Chief Judge of this Holy Trial.
It means all judgments depend on that bastard.
But that bastard's goal is merely to fill the energy of 'Atan Tower'.
So no matter what defense, a not-guilty verdict has never been issued until now.
"Case Number HO2369815-34. We will begin the Holy Trial for Lucas von Kraus."
The trial is basically a public trial.
Well, it's a show to demonstrate its own fairness, but in reality, since this entire Bert has been incited by Yuren, it doesn't matter whether it's public or private.
"I will state the facts of the charge first. The defendant, Lucas von Kraus, has deceived the entire continent with the false mask of Hero of the Eastern Front."
...That is true.
It felt bad to be treated as a defendant from the start, but I didn't want to argue, so I remained silent obediently.
Yuren continued speaking.
"...In the
Rattle-!
"Defendant, sit quietly!"
At the nonsensical words, I sprang up.
Priests rushed out quickly and restrained me.
How can the concentration of Demonic Energy in the blood exceed 90%?
Effectively, it is no different from declaring me a demon.
No, even a demon wouldn't exceed 70%.
All of this is a script created by that Yuren.
"Therefore, this court judges Lucas von Kraus as a demon, and sentences the maximum legal penalty..."
"You should stop around there."
If the judgment falls like that, it's just the end.
I hurriedly cut off his words.
"This is a sacred trial. The defendant cannot make any counterargument regarding this charge."
"Laughable."
The whole situation was just funny.
"Do I look like a demon? Me, called the Hero of the Eastern Front, a demon."
Teaching and Learning Grow Together.
Karin Seitra- Divine Power Manifestation.
Whoooosh-!
White Aura containing holiness began to wrap around my body.
The Divine Power of Saintess Karin, who has the strongest Divine Power in the worldview, was reenacted in me intact.
But this is not enough.
'Use SB-IV.'
Crunch-
As I activated the SB-IV I had stuck between my teeth, Divine Power blazed even more fiercely.
"Watch clearly with your eyes. Does this make me... look like a demon."
***
In front of the storm of mighty Divine Power, people were astonished.
This level of Divine Power is something even Saintess Karin cannot emit.
As if God himself had manifested, distant Divine Power was wrapping around Bertro Cathedral.
It is unbelievable that it is Divine Power manifested by a single person.
'It makes no sense... I never heard or saw that Lucas uses Divine Power...'
Due to the Divine Power manifested from Lucas's body, Yuren's plan was going awry.
It cannot be left like this.
He must use any means to reverse this situation.
Fortunately, such a means exists for Yuren.
The trait that allowed him to reign as the de facto King of Bert until now....
***
Massive Divine Power began to soar from the bastard's execution rod.
What that Divine Power intends is clear.
'He is trying to incite me.'
The moment that energy encroaches on me, I will be incited by the bastard just like that.
I will believe everything the bastard says, and I will come to think of it as the truth.
The situation barely overturned with Divine Power might not just return to its original place but worsen.
If that happens, I am finished.
However—
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