The Church is one of the two major human powers in the mystical side of the Nasuverse. Its influence centers on the Western European circle and spreads across the globe.
Outwardly, their main goal is to preach God's love and provide relief for the poor and sick. However, on its inner side, there exists a secret organization established to fulfill specific objectives. Unlike the ordinary Church, this is a large armed organization founded for the purpose of "hunting heretics."
They do not recognize any heretics other than demons, and they absolutely reject any existence that contradicts their dogma. Using mystical techniques to pollute God, killing humans, disturbing the world, and distorting the laws that govern the world—the Truth of God.
All of these are heretics, existences that ought to be extinguished. However, the power of heretics is immense. The fangs of vampires and the bullets of magecraft can easily destroy the human body. Therefore, the Church possesses powerful "trump cards" such as Agents, the Knights, and the Eighth Sacrament.
Although they claim a laissez-faire approach toward heretics, their actual focus is on hunting, which aligns with the divine doctrine interpreted by the ordinary Church.
After a final struggle where blood flowed like rivers, they finally established a superficially harmonious relationship with the Mage's Association in modern times. Furthermore, if the Mage's Association is a mixed family of colleagues whose absolute goal is only "reaching The Root," the Church is a collective of brethren who share the same ideology.
Bound by the unique tie of "faith," they are incredibly united and have no part in the infighting and mutual distrust common in the Mage's Association. This is their "strength as an organization."
Although they might criticize each other due to differences in doctrinal interpretation, that is merely a rational discussion aimed at seeking "betterment."
The "Agents" who eliminate heretics are the Church's exclusive executioners, pure combatants tasked with denouncing vampires, demonic beasts, and Magicians—all "heretics not included in the Church's doctrine."
They personally serve as "Inquisitors" who carry out executions.
These people are the elite of the Church, possessing extraordinary ability, and are granted the right to "Sacred Scripture"-level weapons. Outsiders are mixed among them, and their work is not merely exorcising demons but completely destroying them, sending them straight to their doom.
While there is no doubt about the loyalty and devotion of the Agents to the Church and God, they are undeniably abnormal existences whose personalities deviate from common worldly values and morals.
Although the Church's actions and methods in the original work were highly unpopular, one point cannot be denied: the contribution the Church has made to humanity over thousands of years by fighting Dead Apostles and inhuman entities. Although they once considered Maguss to be heretics to be exterminated in the Middle Ages, in the current era, ordinary Maguss are not within their scope of business.
Their current main target is... Dead Apostles?
Thinking of the word Dead Apostle, it was as if a lock opened in Rin's mind. Al, Al... omitting the 'Little' character, there truly was an existence among the Dead Apostles whose name contained the character "Qi"... The hybrid of a True Ancestor and a Dead Apostle, the Vampire Princess of the Dead Apostle side, the Black Princess who is the counterpart to Princess Arcueid, the Ruler of Blood and Contracts, the Elder Princess of the Blood-sucking Race, Daughter of gaia, the Ninth Ancestor among the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors: Altrouge Brunestud!
This thought instantly exploded in Rin's mind like a Category 12 thunderclap, shocking him half to death! He remembered thinking when he first arrived that as long as the person wasn't an Ancestor of the Dead Apostles-level figure, he would be fine... Holy cow, is this world reading his mind!
In the original work, Black Princess, Altrouge, was an existence that could be a loli or an older sister. She usually appeared in the form of a 13-year-old young girl, and would transform into a mature older sister form when fighting or necessary. The appearance before him should be Altrouge's young girl state.
However, this pink loli, who was suspected to be the Black Princess, seemed to be in poor condition. At the very least, Rin couldn't sense any threat of power disparity from her; she appeared to be in a weakened state.
The young girl, sensing the change in Rin's gaze, sighed faintly and said, "It seems you've guessed something."
"Ah, I did guess something. The Elder Princess of the Dead Apostles?" Rin said gravely.
"To be able to guess that, you must be very clever. That's right, I am Altrouge." The Princess-Hime, having admitted her identity, looked at Rin with serious vigilance. "But it seems you haven't told the truth either. I never thought I'd see a Newborn Dragonborn in this era."
"Dragonborn?" Rin was stunned and asked doubtfully, "Are you talking about me?"
"Am I talking to that bunch of trash behind you?" For some reason, Altrouge, whose identity had been revealed, seemed quite unhappy and started speaking venomously.
As the Black Princess finished speaking, the team of Agents seen in the mirror had already arrived. "Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, swoosh..." Over a dozen figures wearing pitch-black priestly robes and holding Exorcism Black Keys surrounded Rin and Altrouge. The rigid-faced middle-aged male Agent leading them seemed to be the commander. Frowning, he looked at Rin and Altrouge standing together and said, "I didn't expect the Dead Apostle's Black Princess to have a guardian."
"It seems I've been inexplicably implicated by you..."
"Then go explain it to them."
"I'm in no mood to explain my identity to a bunch of religious fanatics; Maguss are heretics in their eyes too. Aren't you an Ancestor of the Dead Apostles? Hurry up and kill them instantly."
"If I could use my power, do you think they would dare surround me like this? Besides, why do you keep calling yourself a human Magus when you are clearly Dragonborn?"
"Dragonborn? I don't understand what you're talking about... Huh? I recently merged with a vial of Phantasmal Species blood. Could that blood have been Dragon Blood?"
"It seems so. An acquired, self-modified Dragonborn. I didn't expect you to be able to withstand the shock and burden of Dragon Blood."
"Now doesn't seem like the time to talk about that... By the way, aren't you the Black Vampire Princess? Why do you have blonde hair?"
"Does being the Black Vampire Princess mean I have to be completely black? Then why don't you criticize my foolish sister, who is called the White Vampire Princess, for not having white hair? How shallow humans are. This princess only has black hair in her prime."
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