THE HOLY CHURCH

BANG!

"What now?!" Ivan screamed with exasperation as not even a minute had gone by and something else happened. He turned around right in time to catch the explosion that occurred at the main chapel. Flames erupted and engulfed the building, likely not a single soul survived the aftermath. If Ivan remembered correctly Tio might've been in charge of that but there's a good chance Ari and Claire aided her.

"I suppose that's a rap." Things had been settled up here quicker than Ivan thought. In fact, the only thing he had to do was destroy Noint as every other adversary was pitifully weak. Though he felt such a turnout was beneficial, at first he came solely for the ancient magic and to maybe rescue someone he respected but that search for copper and ended up finding gold.

He turned towards Noint's body before storing it in his ring. Now that she was dead, and technically her body was artificially created, it was possible to store her within the spatial storage. The mechanical heart was already a great find for him, it'd be foolish to not take the opportunity to examine the body is housed.

A bit apathetic for a soul he pitied but there was no point in holding back for a soul that tried to kill him. His actions caught the eyes of Yue, who nodded in return before rushing over to the chapel to see what had gone down. Ivan followed suit after reloading his gauntlets with another dozen rounds of needles.

"Pheeeeew~!" Ivan whistled softly while admiring the damage done to the church. None of its previous regals remained as everything was singed black. Not to mention the limbs and heads that littered the area, either on fire or in ridiculous places because of the explosion. Ivan wanted to see if he could find Ishtar's body in hopes of finding some loot but as of now, it seemed nearly impossible.

It was likely that as a contingency Tio demolished his body to atoms just to ensure that there were no other tricks up his sleeves.

"With this, there's one less enemy for us to deal with." Though the Holy Church was likely being controlled by another force, as was suggested with Noint, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he and his group managed to send the largest religious group in the world into extinction. Sure there were subsidiaries out there spread far and wide but without the guidance of the capital, they'd be no different than chickens without heads.

All that remained was the Heiligh Kingdom, the Hoelscher Empire, and the remnants of the Demons. The demons were a competitor still even after the elimination of Freid as the completely anonymous Demon Lord existed. Freid was the only of his kind with ancient magic so it was likely Freid didn't usurp the throne out of loyalty, if not then it was best to assume the king was powerful enough to subdue an ancient magic-user.

Such a situation would be alarming but not completely out of the equation. But keeping all of that out of his mind right now, Ivan approached Tio.

"Good work, Tio~! As expected of the dragon I trust~!" Tio blushed bashfully at the praise before clearing her throat, it was unfit of her to completely take credit for what had been a cooperative effort. So with that, she pointed toward Aiko, who was busy throwing up what she had for lunch in a dark corner of the church ruins.

"While your praise does excite me, master. I must admit that it was not I alone that managed to accomplish such a feat. If not for you sensei then it would have taken much longer to demolish the chapel hidden within the barrier."

Each word only added to Aiko's distress. Seeing that he wasn't going to get an explanation from her, Ivan turned back to Tio. She smiled wryly before going into a somewhat detailed summary of what occurred in the past few minutes.

A story that only got an 'as expected of a teacher' from Ivan.

To sum it up, Aiko noticed that Tio's breath wasn't enough to shatter the barrier as it was. So using her ferment skill she filled the air with flammable gas by turning some organic material into methane, from there Tio used wind magic to keep the gas contained within the church. For the barrier to remain activated at all times it needed to let gas and air through, or else everyone within would suffocate in due time.

And so the barrier let the methane enter with zero resistance, and Tio took that opportunity too—

"And that's when I let out a strong flame breath, igniting the gas and eliciting a massive explosion." Ivan would pat Aiko on the back if not for the fact that this whole event may have caused her even more emotional damage. But that also meant he didn't exactly know what to do to calm her emotional response to her first killing, what she had done in the eyes of their world was unforgivable.

While Tio would've been able to kill those priests herself with enough time, responsibility bared on Aiko for filling the chapel with flammable gas. No matter how they changed the situation, in her own eyes she was a killer. Inevitably this would weigh down on her the more time passed, likely, she'd even insist that she wasn't befitting of being a teacher.

So without saying a word, Ivan walked up to her and pressed a palm to her head. White light enveloped the area before her incessant muttering grew quiet. This was just a suppressant, restoration magic used for keeping her worries away for the time being. Sooner or later they may pop up again, maybe when she's using the bathroom, or eating breakfast.

Though with her stats it'd likely only last a few days.

"Pheeew– Thank you, Paracelsus-san. It was unfit of me to act as such in this situation. I'm sorry for weighing you guys down." With a sad smile, Aiko thanked Ivan for calming her down. She didn't mention that she aided the group but instead apologized for what she didn't do. Ivan only stared at her for a second before directing his attention to another corner of the ruins.

A bald old man clad in white robes stood ethereally like a ghost, his feet floating above the rubble as he appeared slightly transparent. He stared at Ivan's group before gliding away to another section of the ruins. Ivan motioned for them to follow the guy using telepathy, he followed suit before lunging Aiko over his shoulder.

Her protests at first were loud but in due time she accepted that she'd just be in the way if she were left to her own devices. They only had to chase for a few minutes before the ghost came to a complete stop. He stood above a pile of rubble, not saying a word.

Within seconds he vanished, the rubble he stood on floating into the air before a hole opened up in the ground. The group looked at each other before stepping into the hole. A second later, they were standing in an unfamiliar room. It wasn't very big. The walls were painted black, and there was a magic circle in the center. Next to the circle was an old pedestal, and atop that pedestal was a book. It seemed they'd been teleported straight to the end of the labyrinth.

"What in the…" Ivan was baffled. 'Was eliminating the church a part of the trial?' He questioned himself. The circle was familiar in that it seemed just like every other magic circle that bestowed ancient magic in the other dungeons.

Everyone locked hands under his instruction, in case it was a teleportation trap then it'd be best if they were transported together. With a single step, they made contact with the circle. The familiar brain probing memory search happened, dealing quite a bit of damage to Aiko who was unfamiliar with the process.

"Spirit Magic…" As the name implies, it allows the interference of others' souls. Ivan was a hundred percent confident this was how Miledi transported her soul into that of a golem. He stared at the book before lightly skimming it, the situation didn't exactly allow enough time for a light reading session.

The forces of the Heiligh Kingdom were likely to ascend the mountain soon.

Laus Barn, the Liberator, and possessor of spirit magic. Apart from his life and legacy, there wasn't much in the book worth reading. At the very end, it explained the conditions needed to clear his labyrinth. First, you had to have cleared at least two labyrinths. Second, you needed to have disavowed the gods of this world. Third, you needed to have defeated someone under god's direct influence. Only then would Laus' ghost apparition appear and guide challengers to this room.

Coincidently Ivan and his group completed the prerequisites without even knowing. It was precisely the definition of killing two birds with one stone. Ivan took the book and the ring rewarded for completing the dungeon before turning around and heading back toward the door, noting that Aiko who had nearly thrown up on his shoulder had finally managed to recover.

"T-This magic… with it we may be able to return home…" Ivan mused at her words, for a second he forgot such a conclusion existed. With Ehit having been revealed as a heartless bastard who manipulates races for fun there was a good chance he wasn't going to aid the students in returning home.

Such an insight had created despair for Aiko who had lost all hope but now stood another hope. Ivan decided to go ahead and not crush her hope as the likelihood of the class being able to clear a single dungeon, no matter which one, was zero. Well… unless it was also the divine mountain, its trials were obviously directed at residents of the world who find it difficult to go against the church.

"That's true. Though let me warn you that there are still those who seek to prohibit you and your students from leaving. The Kingdom isn't foolish enough to relieve what they believe to be their last hope in defeating the demons, especially after they learn of the church's collapse."

Aiko nodded, it was precisely the reason she had at first planned a secret meeting for all her students to talk about the situation. To inform them that the people they were working for may not be what they seem. She stared at Ivan from atop his shoulder before resting a hand on his head.

"Paracelsus-san, I need your help!"

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