The Holy Priestess stepped out of the Dungeon, returning to the Western Continent.
As long as she was inside the Dungeon, it was as if she had been in an entirely different domain. It was only after leaving the dungeon that she felt she had truly returned home.
"Hmm?" It took her a few seconds to sense that something was amiss. She looked at her hands, trying to gather the holy essence within them.
"Something isn't right." Although the difference felt insignificant, she could tell that she was weaker.
The Holy Essence within her body had grown weaker. Normally, a person wouldn't even notice such a minor drop, but her senses were very sensitive towards it. .
If her holy essence source was like a large pond of water, then it felt as if someone was taking out a bucket's worth with each passing second.
A frown appeared on her face. She didn't understand why it was happening. Was some city in the Western Continent destroyed in her absence, which reduced the number of her believers?
She immediately tried to contact the bishops that were left at the main branch. Unfortunately, there was no response.
She started having a bad feeling about it. She raised her hand and opened the void.
"We are returning," she told the Cardinals as she entered the void.
Another spatial opening appeared in the middle of the Holy Church. The Holy Priestess stepped out of the void, her expressions turning darker.
As soon as she appeared here, she was greeted with a heavy scent of blood. It was the blood of her own people, that had painted the walls red.
Right after her, the Cardinals also arrived through the same portal. As soon as they arrived, they froze in place, seeing the surroundings.
"What in the world happened here?" One of the Cardinals subconsciously asked, his voice breaking the absolute silence.
The Holy Priestess stepped out of the hall, following the blood stains. Along the way, she saw many corpses that were littered all around.
"Look, it's the Priestess!"
The Holy Priestess was observing the scene, trying to make sense of the situation when a person noticed her.
His loud voice attracted the attention of the others as well. Suddenly, almost everyone was looking at the Holy Priestess.
Even those who used to be the most ardend followers of the Holy Priestess were looking at her with a complicated gaze.
"So she had been inside the Holy Church all this time?"
"In that case, why didn't she stop the Necromancer?"
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"Why did she watch people die?"
"Could it be that she was scared of that Necromancer and hid in some corner, waiting for him to leave?"
Normally, the people wouldn't have dared to say such things in front of the Holy Priestess. However, now that emotions were running high, many people failed to control their actions or think about the consequences.
"I always thought that the Holy Priestess was the strongest. But it seems that I was wrong. While she was hiding from the Necromancer, our Emperor was fighting to protect us! I feel ashamed about being a believer previously!"
"If it wasn't for His Majesty, how many of us would have died? The entire city would have been destroyed. We owe our lives to his Majesty."
The Holy Priestess could hear many things from the commoners. Her expressions kept getting uglier with each passing second.
She didn't grow weaker because her believers had been killed. Instead, it was because they had lost their faith in her.
Through their words, she also managed to gain a rough understanding of the situation. The attacker was killed by the Holy Emperor. However, it didn't make sense.
"So that's how it is. Well played, Holy Emperor..." She mumbled under her breath, realizing everything.