“So it seems that’s why you called me so hastily when I was talking with the Grand Princess.”

He was afraid she was going to gossip. Veronica said nothing, then smiled softly.

“Cardinal. I know my place. I know I won’t be able to overcome it, and I know how to keep quiet.”

But now she has broken the tacit rule. She risked everything she had and decided to use the words.

“I thought maybe I could be of some help to Cardinal Andrea.”

“The saint?”

The cardinal responded with a painted smile.

The indifferent question was covered with ignorance that she was not even aware of. As if wondering how far she would go beyond the topic.

“Is Valentine not the devil?”

“As expected, you crossed the line.”

The cardinal shook his head.

“That’s right. The power passed down from generation to generation in Valentine is not the devil’s. It’s none other than God’s malice.”

Andrea did not deny it. Rather, he readily admitted it.

Veronica looked carefully into the cardinal’s eyes. He seemed to have made up his mind on something.

‘I’m going to kill you.’

I’m going to kill you anyway, so I’ll just let you know.

If she didn’t say something useful here, Veronica was literally dead.

Andrea continued.

“Even though it was part of God, malice should never exist. It was a disaster that we could not know when, where, how, or how it would destroy our humanity.”

He added, “How can you call that God?”.

“It’s like the devil.”

Veronica read the clues hidden in those words.

“In the first place, in this world, neither angels nor demons exist?”

There was only God’s good faith and the opposing power that Valentine possessed, God’s evil.

Angel representing goodness.

Devil representing evil.

There was no such thing in the first place.

Everything was God.

‘Everything was God.’

Saving humans and destroying humans. All of them were just the jokes of an absolute being called God.

God was not only good. God also harbored malice.

If this fact became known to the public, it would cause a huge uproar.

“However, if God is one being, why is it divided into good and evil?”

“That’s enough.”

Andrea raised his arm to stop her curiosity. It was because he decided that further conversation was a waste of time.

“The saint’s final journey will be escorted by Priest Nicolas.”

It was when the cardinal went to call a man.

“Anyway, it must be that our God is not completely one now.”

He can’t believe she has more to say until this moment? Rather than begging for her life, she was only talking about what she had to say.

He raised his eyebrows.

It wasn’t the usual gutsiness. Veronica’s eyes were shining so much that it exceeded interest and made him even slightly wary.

“After all, the God we serve is a half god.”

“Saint Veronica!”

“They say that the divine power we are borrowing from God is half the divine power.”

“…I have nothing more to say.”

The cardinal, who had hardened his eyes and his expression, waved the bell without hesitation. Then, the paladins who were waiting outside moved in unison and caught Veronica.

“Take her away.”

“Valentine, aren’t they annoying?”

“Ho.”

Well, there was no way they weren’t annoying.

If he could have killed them, he would have already killed them countless times.

But even after searching all over the world, Valentine was the only vessel that could harbor ‘God’s malice’. That is why the Holy Father was also patient.

“Leave it to me.”

So shameless.

“Only to the saint?”

“Because I’m just a saint, isn’t it worth giving me a chance to try it once?”

When the cardinal was stunned and unable to issue any orders, she placed her hand on her chest and smiled brightly.

“Because it was worth losing.”

It was an eerie smile that was completely different from what Veronica had been seen with in the outside world.

“I escaped!”

“I’m alive! I’m alive! I thought I was going to die now!”

The slaves embraced each other and ran.

To escape safely from the monsters where even the slightest hope was not seen. There were no other words to express other than the word ‘miracle’.

“We are no longer slaves!”

It was the moment that they shared the joy of escaping the slave trade safely. They were busy praising Lloyd throughout the voyage.

“Great man. Did you see him pick up a monster and throw it at the wall?”

“The walls also collapsed altogether.”

“It wasn’t human power.”

Then a boy interrupted the conversation. It was Ted’s son, Leo.

“I saw him in a book!”

“Book?”

“Yes! The hero, Nua, born between god and human.”

Leo said with a twinkle in his eyes.

“When the monster was trying to eat me and Mom, he showed up like Nua and saved me!”

The child remembered the hero in the book when Lloyd appeared and defeated the monsters with his sword.

“Ah, you’re talking about the hero Nua myth.”

A man patted Leo’s head and chuckled.

The myth related to Nua was very famous not only in Garcia, but also in the Fineta Empire. It was widely read as a children’s story book.

“Yes, that’s right. Defeat monsters and beasts, too… just like in the myth!”

“He’s our hero.”

The slaves nodded, remembering Lloyd’s wondrous power that appeared out of nowhere and saved them. Even if they praised him as a hero a hundred times, it was not enough.

The harsh tone that initially surprised them was now beginning to appear as one of the hero’s human aspects.

“Hmm, a rather human hero is better than an impeccable one.”

Then another slave intervened.

“The hero is a hero too, but do you all remember that song?”

It was when they were drowning in a sea of fear and despair. At that moment, a girl’s song gave them courage and shed a light of hope.

Like a miracle.

“Of course.”

The slaves still could not completely shake off the emotions and lingering feelings they felt when they heard the song.

“Is she on that ship right now?”

They could not hide their excitement while fixing their eyes on the passenger ship in front.

“I thought I was dull-eared, but I didn’t know I would be so moved to hear a song.”

“I cried. My heart just overflowed.”

And they shared their special experiences.

‘I’ll have to stay calm here…….’

Ted wanted to intervene, his mouth was itching. But he struggled to keep his mouth shut, and he avoided their gazes. Because he didn’t know how far he could go.

Because he knew that Aria wanted to hide her identity.

“By the way, can you be sure it was really a human song?”

“What? If not a person, then what?”

“What if, maybe it was an angel?”

What, angel?

Hearing that, the slave thought whether the answer was sane or not. But when he thought about it, it seemed right.

“It makes sense.”

He muttered, stroking his chin.

“Come to think of it, all of a sudden, the waves just hit.”

“The wind blows.”

“I thought when the song reached its climax and the sun was rising over the horizon.”

No matter how it was Aria, she had no talent to make the sun rise. The sun had only risen in the morning when it was bright and it was time to rise.

However, the slaves who had already been blinded could not make rational decisions.

“She must be an angel!”

The slaves gave meaning to everything and began to praise Aria.

“Come to think of it, I’ve seen similar stories like this in the temple.”

The story of an angel who received a revelation from God and freed slaves.

“The salvation of heroes and angels.”

It was when everyone was talking excitedly that this must have been heaven’s help.

“It sounds funny.”

A slave who had been silent the whole time intervened.

‘Is there anyone like that?’

Some of the slaves tilted their heads, but then passed them on in vain.

There were hundreds of people. It was also the first time they met each other after being brought into slavery. No one noticed that a stranger was present.

“It’s naive to call a hero for defeating monsters.”

The man said sarcastically.

His name was Vibrio.

“What?”

“And how do you know if a singing voice is a call from God? Do you remember the sea and singing?”

Sea and singing.

They reflexively recalled a legend and frowned at once.

Seducing sailors passing by with a beautiful song, wrecking the ship and killing it…….

“Are you saying that the song was a song by the monster Siren?”

“Yes!”

Vibrio exclaimed that it was exactly that and pointed at the person who spoke that word.

“Everyone loses their minds when they almost get eaten by a monster? Do you know where they are taking us yet we are talking about salvation?”

“What if we’re all possessed by the monster now?”

At that moment, a chilling silence hung over the deck.

Because they had never even thought of it that way.