The young man in front of me had the appearance of the legendary saint Saul himself, and he was undoubtedly using the power of the Holy Spirit.

　So, from my eyes, it seemed like there was a real saint there.
　The same was true for the other adventurers, all of whom seemed to be confused and hesitant at Arte's words.

　Arte continued in a voice that was well pitched.

The saints of the imperial church don't mix with demons or eat the hearts of demons. After all, if they were saints, they wouldn't be in these ruins.''

　Arte's words were reasonably convincing.
　Indeed, it was ridiculous that a saint who should have died a long time ago was working as a guardian of the ruins deep underground.

　But Saul replied with a cool face.

''I am here because I am on a mission. I'm sealing off what must not be brought back to this world.'

　It's probably the same one that Saul is protecting, the one that destroyed the ancient kingdom.
　He was the most valuable person in the ruins, and the one Creon and Arte were after.

I'm not going to do you any harm if you say you're going to turn back from here. Although I cannot guarantee your safety on the way back.

　Saul said with a gentle smile on his face.
　But Arte ignored Saul's words as if he hadn't heard them and raised his voice.

''Ladies and gentlemen. Don't be fooled by what this demon says. It is clear from the encyclical of His Holiness Hestia, Patriarch of our Imperial Church, that this guy is an impostor!

　As he said this, Arte took out a sheet of paper. It was trimmed in silver ink and, indeed, bore the Patriarch's gold seal.

　It stated that if anyone in the necropolis spoke Saul's name, he was not a true saint.

　Even though its prestige has continued to wane in recent decades, the imperial state religion is still followed by the majority of the imperial subjects with varying degrees of fervor.
　When it comes to the words of the highest-ranking clergyman of that state religion, it has considerable authority.

　We won't have to hesitate to attack the young man in front of us because of his faith, at least not anymore.

　But I'm sure the Patriarch has never been to these ruins, and even the information about these ruins should only have been left in the records for a little while.
　So how can the Patriarch be sure that the person deep inside the ruins is not Saint Saul?

　When I pointed this out to him, Artae chuckled.

'Are you going to doubt the words of His Holiness, Patriarch?　Do you think such an awe-inspiring thing would be allowed to happen to a mere senior magical swordsman?

'I don't know how he embraced the Church, but His Holiness himself could change his mind if he were here.

''That's just what the seniors say. .........come on, people. You will be punished by us for imposters who would cheat on the name of a saint!

　There still seemed to be some hesitation on the part of many of the adventurers.
　At that moment, Creon interrupted from the side.

''If we turn back here, what happens to all the adventurers who have been sacrificed so far?''

　Many an adventurer's face was filled with gasps.
　They had sacrificed far too much to get this far.

　Mages who were severely injured and unable to regain their strength, swordsmen who lost their lives.
　There are quite a few of those people.

''Their sacrifices should not be in vain.

　Almost at the same time as Creon said it, Arte raised his staff high in the air.

''That which emerges from the gates of the dusk, be swifter than the flames of this world. .....Burn it all up!

　There was no time to stop it.
　Along with Arte's spell, a glowing blue magic circle unfolded, and a red lotus flame was released from within it.
　The flames hit Saul.

''Yes!''

　Arte was mumbling softly.
　He should have taken a direct hit, even if it was a surprise blow, and from Arte's point of view, he might have thought that he had been wounded quite badly.
　But when Saul emerged from the smoke, his clothes weren't burned, his hair didn't have a single scorch mark on it, and he hadn't suffered any wounds at all.

　Arte clicked his tongue, while Saul smiled curiously at us.

''Silly me. I guess they thought that if they had the right number of people, they could overcome the power of the gods. But ... that's a mistake.''

　When Saul took a swing of his crystal sword, a dazzling light arose that made it impossible to keep your eyes open, and it formed a single bundle that attacked us.

　Of course, the first person to be targeted was me, who was at the front of the line, talking to Saul.