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Sophia’s sword swung lightly, but the change ignited by Karl’s sword technique was anything but light.

To describe it, it was like a kaleidoscope of transformations. The countless combinations and sequences of possibilities that bloomed endlessly in response to the intrusion of an opponent’s strike were like a massive bouquet of flowers blooming in real-time, a spectacle of wonder.

Now, just one step away from breaking through the wall to glimpse a new realm. Yet, despite the whispers of intuition in his ear, the swordsman, lost and unable to take that final step, could only weave together the changes with sheer force, reaching the pinnacle of what could be achieved in that situation.

Certainly, it was an answer worthy of respect from any swordsman…

‘But it can never be called the right answer or a solution.’

A good answer doesn’t always have to be the right one or a solution.

While countering the grand changes of Karl’s sword technique with a single, light thrust, Sophia’s lips suddenly parted.

And from her lips flowed a single aphorism, a single truth. A song describing how the Tao manifests and operates in the world.

Her calm voice began to pierce through the gap and Karl’s firmly spread sword technique, embedding itself like a wedge into his soul.

{What is extremely straight appears bent,}

From a single sword strike, countless variations and transformations bloomed like flowers. Karl’s sword technique was the pinnacle of refinement. The myriad sword forms and techniques, constantly changing and evolving, had the power to engulf and crush the opponent within their flow.

{What is extremely clever appears clumsy.}

Yet, Sophia, facing him, showed no grand transformations, consistently responding with utmost simplicity.

The composition seemed as if Karl’s sword technique would swallow her at any moment. Yet, despite that, the seemingly infinite changes failed to reveal their true form, remaining sealed before they could fully bloom.

‘Ugh, what the…!!!’

Defend, and she defends. Attack, and she counters. Attempt to bind, and she severs the sensation and timing of that binding.

Sophia, as if taking a stroll, casually pierced and cut through all of it. The tightly woven sword technique was effortlessly unraveled by her simple, uncomplicated movements, allowing her sword to move freely. Karl felt as if he were drowning in deep water, unable to break free.

{Ah! Those skilled in debate must appear inarticulate,}

How long did he endure, forcibly piecing together the fragments of his crumbling technique? Suddenly, Karl felt a strange sensation.

As if his own sword technique was being drawn somewhere, guided by an unseen force. What he once thrust deeply now struck short, and what he once struck short now pierced deeply.

{And the extremely wise must appear foolish.}

After chasing the flow in a daze, Karl finally realized.

‘No, I’m not being drawn. I’m advancing on a path that feels more natural to me!’

Every form of slashing and thrusting disintegrated in place, breaking norms and mutating. Observing his own sword technique, now resembling Sophia’s, Karl suddenly felt an overwhelming surge of enlightenment.

+++++

The activities of the Aarhus Restoration Team were proceeding smoothly. Teams of 3 to 5 members, deployed across various districts, organically united, sometimes forming squads of 8 to 15, and at other times, attack groups of over 30.

The union of these teams was based on the principle of free association and dissolution among multiple parties who shared common issues.

Moreover, once united, the decision-making authority within squads or attack groups strictly followed mutual understanding and agreement. Once a mission was decided, each team leader had to fully cooperate in its execution. If unforeseen circumstances forced a deviation from the plan, immediate communication with the cooperating team was mandatory.

Such a loose structure would be unmanageable in a normal military organization, but for the Aarhus Restoration Team, there was no better system.

A temporary organization of no more than a hundred individuals, composed of previously unrelated free citizens. Imposing a rigid military hierarchy on such a group was inherently unreasonable.

This loose yet organic organizational structure, however, brought unexpected advantages to the Aarhus Restoration Team.

Small organizations are typically agile in handling minor, detailed tasks but often fall short in situations requiring greater force. Large organizations, while capable of handling significant tasks with systematic organizational strength, often lose the ability to respond flexibly to subtle changes.

In contrast, the Aarhus Restoration Team, forced into this organizational form by circumstances, could flexibly handle small-scale tasks at the team or squad level and systematically address larger-scale tasks at the attack group level.

Conversely, it could be seen as a half-baked community lacking the systematic systems and robust organizational strength required of a large organization.

Yet, the Aarhus Restoration Team was smoothly restoring the city.

First, they cleared the streets of monsters, then purified the streets tainted by demonic miasma. Using sprayers filled with elixirs diluted in water, they sprayed the diluted elixir around, gradually restoring the streets, once pulsating with veins, tendons, blisters, pus, and mold, to their original state of wood, stone, and brick.

After normalizing the streets, they had to inspect the buildings. To eliminate any remaining monsters and search for survivors still clinging to life.

Truth be told, this task was started with little expectation of success. The city had been tainted by demonic miasma for quite some time.

Humans are creatures that need to eat and drink to survive. But the demonic miasma directly threatened that very need.

Given the state of the streets and buildings, it was impossible for food and water to remain intact.

Among those on the exploration teams, there was only a faint hope, less than one in ten, of finding survivors. No one truly believed they would find any.

This expectation was pleasantly betrayed less than three days after the restoration team began their activities.

“Hey, we found survivors here!”

While searching through the restored buildings after purifying a street, they unexpectedly succeeded in rescuing survivors.

Moreover, such discoveries were not limited to just one or two cases.

“The team deployed in F District has found survivors!”

“Survivor families have also been found in J District!”

Surprisingly, there were far more survivors in Aarhus than initially expected, each isolated and clinging to life.

This was astonishing. How could ordinary humans protect themselves from the demonic miasma? And what did they eat and drink while hiding in isolation? The questions were endless.

These questions were answered when the rescued survivors revealed their food supplies.

“Surprisingly, they remained intact despite the surrounding area being twisted by demonic miasma.”

“Of course.”

Sophia nodded as if it were obvious when the search teams submitted the evidence.

“This is consecrated unleavened bread and wine.”

As Sophia said, the food and drink submitted by the search teams were none other than unleavened bread and young wine consecrated at Aarhus Cathedral.

Unleavened bread, made from coarse grains without yeast, and young wine, freshly brewed and still tart. These two foods, enhanced with salt consecrated by the Light Power, were staples always stocked by church and monastic organizations for rituals.

Thus, some churches baked more unleavened bread than needed for the poor, and wine aged over a year or two was often distributed or sold cheaply to the needy.

“But really, how does this work?”

Sophia smiled wryly at the irony. Brantley, catching the context, couldn’t hide his admiration.

“It seems the miracles of those who met their end in the church also manifested in the bread and wine they consecrated. To varying degrees, of course.”

“Hmm, indeed. Such cases are rare in church history, so it’s hard to say for sure.”

The demonic ritual of human sacrifice, intended to break the spirits of the clergy through terror, despair, and extreme pain, was thwarted by their unyielding faith and trust in the divine spark within them.

Thus, Aarhus Cathedral protected its territory from the demonic plot to seize the entire city, and this was reported to Ravenna’s headquarters as a ‘miracle,’ with the martyrs to be beatified.

But the miracle didn’t stop at the cathedral’s territory; it also affected the bread and wine shared with the poor.

Thanks to this, the poor who received bread and wine from the church could survive within the safe space formed by the sanctified bread and wine, even as the city was tainted by demonic miasma and monsters roamed the streets.

If this fact became known, it would undoubtedly stir the headquarters. Those beatified this time might soon be canonized as saints.

“In other words, those who couldn’t hold on and died were ‘not poor enough’ to survive.”

“It’s both amusing and sad.”

Brantley, now understanding Sophia’s wry smile, also wore a bittersweet expression.

Regardless, the health of the rescued survivors was surprisingly good for having been isolated. Sophia attributed this to the bread and wine.

‘Wine is also consumed by sailors to prevent scurvy. And the salt used in consecrating the bread would have prevented salt deficiency.’

In any case, it was fortunate. Not just for the survivors’ good health, but also for conserving precious medical resources. Depending on the survivors’ conditions, additional medical personnel might have been needed.

As the Aarhus Restoration Team worked, good news continued to arrive.

Shortly after arriving in Aarhus, Sophia reported the situation to the church headquarters in Ravenna and requested nearby church organizations to help normalize the situation.

Thanks to these prior negotiations, groups of clergy from nearby church and monastic organizations began entering Aarhus, gradually taking over duties.

This also meant the resumption of ‘worship,’ which had been halted due to the clergy’s heroic deaths.

“Thus, the Grand Master said, ‘Yesterday is already gone, and today’s actions build tomorrow, so do not waste today. You will deeply regret it later.’ So, how should we live ‘today’? Also, as the proverb says, ‘Those with ears, listen. Those who seek to do for themselves will reach a dead end, those who seek to benefit themselves will surely suffer unexpected losses, and those who seek to benefit others will ultimately harm others.’ Brothers and sisters, ponder this today, and it will help you discern.”

In the chapel where a priest from the Yuskille region of Celan Island was preaching, an unexpectedly large crowd had gathered for the service.

{When people are psychologically unstable and precarious, they naturally seek something to rely on. In our era, gods played that role, but in this world, it seems the Grand Master has taken that place.}

Spirit Lucas-Kukunis remarked, familiar with the scene. Spirit Drayg-Haegis snorted in response.

{Hmph, much better than those gods who did nothing for those who called their names. At least these people can learn to cultivate their own lives.}

Spirit Drayg-Haegis seemed to have many grievances against the gods of the past. After all, despite reaching the highest rank among dragonkin as a spellcaster, he was abandoned by his own kind due to his origins and appearance. His cold view of the dragon and giant gods of the time was hardly surprising.

Regardless, people began to immerse themselves more deeply in religious fervor, attaching significant meaning to the resumption of worship in the city.

‘Well, whatever. If it helps them find the strength to live today, that’s enough.’

After completing the worship service, Sophia left the chapel, leaving behind those still immersed in prayer or meditation.

In her past life as Lee Beom-seok and now as Sophia, she had realized that what mattered in the mysteries was not the existence of gods or truths.

Regardless of whether a creator god existed, setting the principles of the universe and weaving history from countless possibilities, the power of mysteries depended entirely on human understanding and mastery.

Thus, those who dealt with mysteries were ultimately ‘technicians,’ not ‘worshippers.’ This was why Kabbalah, a branch of Judaism, and Esoteric Buddhism, a branch of Buddhism, remained heretical and never orthodox.

This was true for Sophia’s past life as Lee Beom-seok and now as Sophia.

‘But is that really the case?’

The more she communed with the Holy Spirit and meditated on the Grand Master’s teachings, the more Sophia felt her way of thinking was subtly changing.

The Light Power was not something easily granted to those who approached it mechanically or technically. Let alone contracting with the Holy Spirit—such a thing was unthinkable.

As these thoughts intertwined, issues she had lightly dismissed began to surface.

“Lady Shazel, there you are! I’ve been looking for you.”

Startled by the voice calling her, Sophia snapped out of her reverie. With a faint regret of almost grasping something, she turned to see who had called her.

It was a monk from Iceland who had recently sought her out, now handling administrative duties at Aarhus Cathedral.

“A messenger has returned from headquarters. It seems they have answers to your inquiries.”

“Indeed. I’ll go at once.”

Hearing the news, Sophia immediately headed to the reception room next to her office. Following slightly behind, the monk asked what had been on his mind.

“But what did you inquire about at headquarters?”

“Nothing much.”

Sophia answered casually, as if it were truly nothing.

“This incident in Aarhus, I couldn’t help but wonder about the intent behind it. So, I requested some detection records from the Jutland Peninsula and Selim Island area. Specifically, records of demonic miasma occurrences.”

Quickening her pace towards headquarters but refraining from using spatial leaps, Sophia briefly explained the requested data.

Upon receiving the reply from the waiting messenger in the reception room, Sophia nodded as if she had expected it.

Thus, Sophia’s next destination, delayed by the city’s situation, was decided.

 

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