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“By now, Hilde must be stressed out dealing with Esiocles Emanuele, the clergy.”

Sophia recalled Hildegard carrying a cloak and robe to deliver to Esiocles Emanuele, who was in detention, and smacked her lips.

Considering the situation, it wasn’t a big deal. Someone had to do it, but Sophia, who knew Esiocles’ temperament well, wanted to avoid getting caught up in unnecessary stress. Thus, it was Hildegard who unknowingly took on the task.

Well, she felt a bit sorry for dumping it on her, but it couldn’t be helped. After all, it’s not like her own nose was on the line. The world is meant to be lived alone.

As she justified herself, Sophia felt a strange gaze and turned her eyes toward its source. The owner of the peculiar gaze was none other than Conra. With the eyes of a rabbit detective glaring at someone who stole a girl’s panties, Conra stared at Sophia. Sophia spoke.

“Your gaze is impure. Shall I make you leave quietly, or do you want trouble?”

“The one who knocked me out cold for just a little chatter is now giving me advice? Hmm, I can’t quite hear you.”

Conra’s words hit the mark, and Sophia furrowed her brows but couldn’t come up with a rebuttal. Unable to think of a sharp comeback, Sophia decided to handle the situation in the most straightforward way.

“Do you want to get knocked out again?”

*Hiccup!*

At Sophia’s icy voice, Conra involuntarily hiccuped. This was the limit. A warning bell rang in the boy’s mind. But as a man, he couldn’t just back down here. If he pushed further, he’d surely be subdued by Sophia’s flick, but there was a subtle strategy to navigate without crossing the line.

“By the way, Lady Wolfenstein, you sent her knowing full well, right?”

Though they hadn’t spoken much, Conra had a rough idea of Esiocles Emanuele’s temperament. And he knew Sophia was well aware of it too.

There must have been some interaction between them before. In that context, Sophia sending Hildegard alone as a guard could be seen as a kind of premeditated move. Conra’s rebelliousness, subtly hinting at this, was met with no rational counterargument from Sophia.

Punishment was immediate.

*Thud!*

Sophia’s delicate hand landed on Conra’s small head. Though delicate, her grip, capable of compressing iron, squeezed his skull like a vice, careful not to crush it like a tomato.

Of course, Conra’s trained skull was sturdy enough to withstand Sophia’s minor mistakes, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t excruciating. Though his head was safe, it didn’t stop the hellish pain from overwhelming him.

“Ahhh—!”

The brief but intense punishment was enough to knock the boy out cold. Tossing the limp Conra into a corner, Sophia took a moment to reflect on the recent battles.

Until now, fighting and destroying as she pleased had been enough, but a moment of carelessness had led to this dire situation. Looking back, there must have been more efficient and appropriate ways to handle the fights.

As she retraced her recent battles, Sophia had to admit she had become complacent.

Before regaining her past life’s power, she had been in the position of a challenger facing strong enemies who could kill her, so she prepared and strategized for almost every scenario. But as she gradually regained her past strength, her confidence grew, and she began to forget that hunger for survival.

When facing the dragon, she should have done this; when dealing with the witch, she should have prepared spells in advance for various situations; and in the dungeon, hadn’t she been careless and been flung away by the Bronze Giant?

‘I can’t face him like this.’

In her mind, the presence of the Great Demon, the true culprit behind the continent’s chaos, surfaced. The Domain Horizon, was it? The domains used by the ancient gods to create the world. To reach one, one must trace the flow of main strength backward and cross the conceptual horizon at its source.

He had willingly entered one of those domains for the Demon Clan’s secret hideaway. Sophia, having studied and learned the continent’s spells since her reincarnation, had heard about what happens when a spellcaster crosses the Domain Horizon and reaches a true domain.

It grants absolute dominance over the concepts and attributes of that domain.

Even if one doesn’t reach a true domain, merely crossing the Domain Horizon grants a spellcaster vast knowledge and main strength related to that category. The Great Demon’s projection of demonic instruments was likely possible because of this.

‘One thing is clear: he hasn’t reached a true domain yet. That’s the only hope, isn’t it?’

If he had truly reached it, he would wield god-like powers.

Of course, considering the continent’s current state from just one projection, he’s already a ridiculous threat. But at this level, he’s still manageable. From the moment he unleashed the demonic instruments, I could sense he had reached his limit.

Influencing reality from beyond the Domain Horizon is harder than it seems. If not for the subordinate contract connecting him to the witch, he wouldn’t have been able to gather information or influence reality.

And that wouldn’t have been a big problem.

Though the phenomena caused by the demonic instruments spreading across the continent were bizarre, I managed to erase most of them, didn’t I?

Erasing them and using the remnants to create the dragon, the remaining energy spreading like this is honestly a bit horrifying. But this isn’t because the Great Demon’s influence is strong; it’s because the nature of demonic energy is persistent and messy.

Still, Sophia couldn’t relax. His declaration of war likely meant he was confident in reaching a true domain. And even more, it hinted that he knew how to return from it to reality.

{Returning from beyond the Domain Horizon? Never heard of it. No, there’s no precedent for a flesh-and-blood being crossing that conceptual horizon. Even among our spirits, only the most special could barely cross it. How on earth…?}

Esras-Hermes muttered in disbelief, still unable to accept reality. But Sophia remained calm. If the situation revealed this truth, she had to accept it and devise a plan.

If he reaches a true domain, returns, and invades the human continent, could the current humans, and Sophia herself, stop him?

‘Not as we are now.’

Honestly, Sophia had been overwhelmed by the Great Demon once. Facing someone even stronger? It’s obvious she wouldn’t stand a chance. But Sophia saw a glimmer of hope.

‘It’s not possible now, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future.’

Though the full extent of a true domain spellcaster’s power is unknown, Sophia, in her past life as Lee Beom-seok, was a troublemaker who shook both the mortal and afterlife worlds.

Local gods, water spirits, angels, and spirits couldn’t refuse his demands. On sacred days, the Five Guardian Deities pursued him, and after his death, underworld officials tried to execute their duties but ended up beaten and charged with obstruction.

Though he ultimately chose reincarnation after failing to take the final step, he was confident he could surpass it in this life.

Though she hadn’t fully regained her past life’s power, Sophia believed it was only a matter of time.

‘But now, I need to recover it faster.’

Ultimately, it was a race against time. Would he reach a true domain and return first, or would Sophia regain her past strength and surpass the final barrier?

And becoming stronger alone wasn’t the right solution. Even if she became strong enough to defeat him, if human civilization and society were destroyed by demons, it would be a tactical victory but a strategic defeat.

‘We all need to grow stronger, and we need to build more preparations and strategies.’

Special training programs were needed. And to counter the enemy’s methods, even if it meant pouring resources, detection and counter-spells had to be prepared. More priests capable of wielding Light Power needed to be trained, and she was willing to pass on her Immovable King Wisdom Technique to some.

Those preparing for war must forge weapons and build fortresses. In the fight against the Demon Clan, humanity’s weapons are the Church Order, and the fortress is human civilization and social systems.

The Church Order must prepare for war proactively and decisively. The scattered and chaotic human power structures needed to be reorganized into something simpler, more refined, and stable. The loose threads, the shadows where light doesn’t reach—these had to be minimized.

To achieve this, the key was how to navigate this council. Sophia bit her lower lip with her front teeth and quietly steeled her resolve.

 

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