Lee Do-hyeon and Reina faced each other.The truth they were about to uncover would become a test of the city's true freedom.
As the night deepened, they ventured further into the temple.At first, the shrine dedicated to the goddess Amalthia looked like any other sacred place—solemn and serene.But the deeper they went, the more unsettling the atmosphere became.
When they reached the central hall, what they saw shook them.
The devotees were adorned with exaggerated ornaments.Some women had piercings through their nipples, connected by chains, which were then fastened to statues or wall hooks.They moved with solemnity, as if performing a sacred rite.
A priestess gestured toward the scene with a gentle smile."This is the blessing of the goddess. The body must be free. We no longer live in the age of repression."
The Sword Demon Queen—no, Reina—frowned."Loving one's body is one thing. But putting on a spectacle under the gaze of others is something else."
Do-hyeon, surveying the temple, added,"If this were truly freedom, I'd respect it. But it feels more like coercion masquerading as culture."
The priestess tilted her head with a hint of disappointment."No one is forced here. We simply rejoice in the freedom granted to us by the goddess."
Do-hyeon said nothing more and continued deeper into the shrine.What he saw next was worse.
Ancient statues lined the walls, depicting grotesquely exaggerated male and female bodies.Murals with overt sexual symbolism were painted across the ceiling and pillars.This wasn't worship—it was desire twisted into devotion.
Suddenly, a murmur rippled through the crowd.
Do-hyeon and Reina turned instinctively.
A woman sat on the temple floor, surrounded by worshipers.Her face was pale with fear.The priestesses spoke to her in soft, coaxing tones."Accept the goddess's blessing. Free your body, your soul."
But she shook her head violently."No…! I don't want this!"
Reina clenched her teeth.Do-hyeon's hand gripped his sword.
"Freedom has no meaning without choice," he said coldly."When something is forced against one's will, it becomes oppression, not liberation."
Do-hyeon stepped forward, drawing every eye in the hall.
"Stop this. She said no."
The priestess looked up at him, still smiling."Stranger, you do not understand the goddess's will.She has not yet awakened to her truth.To gain true freedom, one must cast off the chains of the past."
Reina exhaled sharply."The freedom you speak of tramples the freedom of others.This isn't choice. It's indoctrination."
Do-hyeon didn't unsheathe his sword—but his gaze made clear he would, if necessary.
"This city chants about freedom," he said."But it seems to have forgotten what that truly means."
When they left the temple, the city's streets revealed something even more grotesque.
In the marketplace, sexual ornaments and paraphernalia were openly sold.Some men strutted around with bizarre contraptions affixed to their genitals, proclaiming proudly:"This is the goddess's blessing! My body is mine! Praise my freedom!"
Reina muttered under her breath."I've seen decadence in the Murim…But this? This isn't simple indulgence. This is systematic corruption."
One man approached Do-hyeon."Stranger, would you like to receive the blessing of the goddess?Here, anyone can be liberated."
Do-hyeon replied flatly,"Freedom that must be imposed isn't freedom at all."
The man tilted his head, intrigued, but didn't press further.
Behind them, a crowd of men and women jeered, using strange tools and performing rituals in broad daylight, right in the middle of the street.
Do-hyeon and Reina could take no more.This wasn't a cultural difference. It was a deeper problem.
"There's something here," Do-hyeon murmured."This city is not what it claims to be.It's bondage in the guise of freedom."
Reina gripped her sword."You're right. Something is deeply wrong."
They made up their minds.To uncover the truth buried deep within this city.To determine whether the goddess had fallen…or whether humans had simply twisted her image.
Night fell—and with it, a deeper sense of unease.
While resting at the inn, a commotion outside drew Do-hyeon to the window.There, he saw a horrifying scene:Male and female priests from the temple had surrounded a woman in the street.
"Accept the blessing of the goddess. Your body and soul will be set free," one said, softly—but with menace.
The woman resisted desperately.They tried to strip her, continuing their coercion.
Do-hyeon couldn't take it anymore.
Sword in hand, he burst into the street and swiftly incapacitated the priests, shielding the woman.
Tears in her eyes, she cried,"I never followed their doctrine… but they tried to force me.This place isn't freedom—it's brainwashing, driving people into the pit of lust!"
The weight of it hit Do-hyeon hard.
He thought,"Freedom only has meaning when grounded in choice.Coerced freedom is nothing but corruption."
Reina whispered beside him,"This isn't a simple matter. The teachings of the temple have gone terribly astray."
They knew then—this could no longer be ignored.
Do-hyeon looked ahead, voice firm."We've reached a crossroads.If the goddess has fallen, we need to understand why.And if she has, we must set her right."
Reina nodded, gripping her sword."Even gods aren't beyond judgment.If she's been corrupted, she must be held accountable."
Their resolve marked not just a turning point for the city—but the beginning of a choice that could alter the fate of all Elysium.
*****
Chapter : Hidden Resistance and the Temple's Retaliation
After emerging from the depths of the temple, Lee Do-hyeon and Reina began seeking clues about the remnants of opposition still existing in the city.Not everyone who worshipped Amalthia would have blindly accepted the city's current culture.There had to be those who were wary of the extremes of so-called "freedom" and the corrupted rituals.
A small building located on the outskirts of the city—it looked like a typical market storage shed.But once inside, the atmosphere changed completely.The interior was quiet, the people alert and tense.Do-hyeon and Reina stood before them.
An elderly man stepped forward to greet them. He sighed as he spoke about the temple and the city.
"We were once followers of the goddess Amalthia.But something in the temple began to change.As indulgence spread under the guise of freedom, the doctrine became more and more twisted.We tried to stop it—but those who opposed were either cast out… or disappeared."
Reina narrowed her eyes."Disappeared?"
The old man nodded gravely.
"Those who resisted vanished within the temple.Some disappeared overnight.Others walked into the temple of their own will, 'to receive the blessing'… and never returned."
Do-hyeon asked quietly,"Was it the goddess herself who fell? Or was it the temple that became corrupted?"
The old man shook his head.
"That is the greatest mystery.The temple continues to proclaim new teachings, claiming they are blessings from the goddess.But the Amalthia we once knew was never this extreme.We believe the temple has twisted her will."
Do-hyeon and Reina's followers listened with conflicted expressions.Some still clung to faith in the temple's teachings.Others had already accepted its corruption.Their beliefs wavered.
One of them spoke up.
"Then… what should we do?If the temple has fallen, shouldn't we purify it?"
Another follower countered,
"But what if the goddess's will is still pure?Wouldn't opposing the temple be an act of blasphemy?"
Reina looked at them all.
"There's only one thing we can trust—truth.And to find that truth, we may have to descend into the very heart of the temple."
At that moment, a loud noise rang out from outside.
Someone burst through the door, shouting:
"The temple's forces are coming this way!"
The room froze instantly.Do-hyeon drew his sword, and Reina reached for hers.
"They've been watching us all along."
Heavy footsteps echoed from beyond the walls.Armed priests and soldiers of the temple were surrounding the building.
One of them stepped forward and declared:
"Outsiders, and those who deny the divine—your blasphemy has reached its limit.The goddess commands it: come to the temple now and receive her blessing."
Reina scoffed, unsheathing her sword.
"You call this a blessing? Dragging people away by force? How generous."
Do-hyeon spoke with calm steel in his voice.
"And if we refuse?"
The priest answered coldly,
"Then we will purify you… with sacred flame."
With a wave of his hand, fire engulfed the building's entrance.
In that instant, the temple's forces stormed in.
Do-hyeon and Reina launched into action.Do-hyeon faced the temple's paladins, his sword cleaving through their shining strikes.Reina swept through the field, intercepting the spells of temple magi with swift, decisive counters.
Arknan raised a magical barrier on one side, shielding the resistance.The rest of the followers took up weapons and joined the battle.
The temple's elite were no ordinary foes.Paladins imbued their swords with divine energy, landing devastating blows.Priests cast blessings that enhanced their warriors' strength.And from outside the building… something even stronger was approaching.
Do-hyeon clenched his jaw.
"We'll be surrounded at this rate. We need to break through!"
As the battle raged on, the group had no choice but to fall back.Reina carved a path forward with her sword,while Do-hyeon and Arknan guarded the rear.
The old man groaned.
"We can't keep hiding. We must enter the temple itself.The answers we seek lie at its heart!"
Reina responded firmly,
"Good. Then from now on, it's our turn to strike."
Do-hyeon nodded.
"We enter the temple. And there—we find the truth."
With their resolve solidified, the true assault on the temple had begun.
**
Chapter : Guardians of the Temple – The Grotesque Agents of the Goddess
Lee Do-hyeon, Reina, Arknan, and their followers made their way deeper into the temple.With each step down the vast corridor, the air grew heavier.Sacred sigils etched along the walls appeared strangely distorted, as if seen through a warped lens.Holy markings engraved into the floor pulsed with an ominous crimson glow.
And then—they were blocked.
Standing in their way were the temple's highest priestess, Nieva, and the women who served under her—those who called themselves the true agents of the goddess Amalthia.
Nieva and her priestesses were clad in what could barely be called armor.Metallic ornaments and piercing-linked veils draped over their bodies in elegant, ceremonial fashion—but it became clear these were not mere adornments.
Each ornament began to shimmer with divine light.Then they moved—shifting, twisting, transforming.
One priestess's necklace elongated into a blade, gliding into her hand like a serpent.Another's silver belt unraveled into a whip, lashing through the air with a shriek.Bracelets and anklets unfurled into radiant circles, magic arrays that amplified sacred energy.
Do-hyeon instinctively raised his sword."…This isn't normal."
His instincts screamed:Something about their appearance was deeply… wrong.
Reina narrowed her eyes."This should've been the domain of saintesses.But why do they look more like succubi than servants of the divine?"
And she was right.
These weren't demons, nor creatures of the underworld.They bore the goddess's name on their lips.And yet—what emanated from them was not pure faith… but something warped. Twisted.
At their center stood Nieva, the temple's high priestess.Silver hair cascaded over her shoulders, her poise serene and graceful.But her eyes held no humanity—only a cold, unearthly brilliance.
She smiled softly, her voice almost a whisper.
"Outsiders.You refuse the blessing of the goddess…and now you defile this sacred ground?"
There was no anger in her tone—only quiet menace.
Arknan stepped forward, his voice steady.
"Nieva…Do you truly serve the will of the goddess?Or have you twisted it to serve your own?"
Nieva tilted her head with a gentle smile.
"I am her vessel.I follow only her will.Accept her blessing, and you too may be freed from the shackles of this world.You will know true freedom."
Do-hyeon's eyes darkened.
"You speak of freedom…but what you offer is submission—complete and absolute."
Nieva's smile didn't falter.
"Not submission. A choice.Accept the goddess's grace…or vanish as heretics."
With a flick of her fingers, the priestesses stepped forward in unison.
Their divine weapons shimmered with light, moving like extensions of their bodies.
One priestess activated a bracelet, conjuring a radiant spear in the air.Another cracked her silver whip, unleashing a shockwave that split the air.Nieva raised her hand—and from her palm burst a column of brilliant white light, pulsing with overwhelming power.
Do-hyeon reacted instantly, deflecting the radiant spear with a swift strike.Reina rolled beneath the incoming whip, rising with her blade drawn.
"This isn't how clerics fight," Reina muttered."They're wielding divine magic and martial skill alike… like warriors trained for war."
Do-hyeon nodded.
"These aren't priests.They're battle-forged zealots."
Then Nieva raised her hand again.The pressure in the room shifted—sacred energy exploded outward in waves.The air trembled.
"To offer sacrifice to the goddess," she whispered,"blood must be spilled."
Her voice was quiet—almost reverent—but chilling.
"Did you truly think you could defile this place and walk away unscathed?"
Do-hyeon gripped his sword tightly.
"So that's how it is."
Reina raised her weapon, her gaze sharp.
"Divine or not…You bleed like any other."
And thus, the battle began.
This was no mere clash of blades.It was a collision of faiths—twisted divinity versus defiant humanity.
And at the end of that clash…The truth of the goddess Amalthia would be laid bare.