Even as I spoke, I didn’t miss shooting the zombies. Seeing zombies shifting to magic bullets, I expressed condolences in my heart.
“And I hoped to see the damn puppet master behind this situation die in anger. Despite the chaotic surroundings, perhaps due to the will to survive, my vision was clearer than ever.”

“Haha. So, priests, what will you do?”

“…We’ll ask Sir Michael.”

“Yes. Feel free to.”

The priests, carrying crossbows with thin, muscleless arms, approached Michael, who was active in a corner.

Although the Pope already glared at Michael with a hateful expression, Michael didn’t flinch. He only asked if they could teach the priests the basics of using a crossbow, just as they had done for the maids.

“Even the maids managed it. How could I not do it?”

“That’s fortunate. Then, Your Holiness, you can handle the zombies just like Sir Michael does. Leave it to me.”

“Wait a moment!”

“Now, fellow priests, I’ll also teach you about crossbows, just like His Holiness and Sir Michael. Remember, zombies are not humans with lost souls but beings that have already died. Don’t burden yourself with guilt over killing them.”

“Oh, I see…”

“If you want to feel guilty, you should have left living people behind, or you should have had guilt when you ran away. Isn’t that right?”

Before Michael, who was committing rural murders, the priests became like mute birds. Despite the fact that they wanted to shoot the Pope and Michael, who were both annoying, with a crossbow, Michael patiently taught them how to use it.

“Aim for the forehead, preferably the head. Even if you’re not confident in accuracy, with the buff from the magician, you should be able to hit well enough.”

“…Understood.”

“Thank you, Sir Michael.”

The priests, thrown into a horrifying scene they had never faced before, still repeated vomiting and sobbing. However, as they raised their crossbows, a determination to fend off zombies, letting the holy power stick to them, was evident.

“These priests may not worry, but…”

On the other hand, the Pope, using the excuse that he was old and had joint pain, insisted he couldn’t carry a crossbow. Instead, he was making excuses, saying that in an emergency, he would use his holy power to paralyze them.

“Your Holiness, why aren’t you doing anything?”

“Lord Kitten. I’m not doing nothing. Among the holy power users here, don’t I possess the most holy power? To prepare for the hypothetical situation you mentioned, it’s better if I standby to paralyze them when needed.”

“He’s just making excuses. This old man is cunning.”

Zero cursed.

Without realizing it, the Pope shamelessly continued his excuses, saying that he thought it would be better to save his holy power to protect the saint by Ardell’s side, who was suffering.

“If you’re a faithful believer, you’d probably think the same as me.”
“Stupid, foolish bastard. You’re like a dog’s turd. Ardell, the god and administrator of this world, is missing. And now, the will of my possessed avatar, who receives the divine protection, is essentially the will of the god. You foolish human.”

“Fine. This guy seems to act and see things only as he wishes, so let him die as he wishes.”

“I’d rather have the zombies showing impromptu actions tear him apart!”

‘Michael might wish for that…’

While responding appropriately to Zero’s words, I gave a fake smile to the Pope.

“Ask Prince 2. Isn’t the will of the saint the will of the god?”

“Uh, uh?”

Aston, who heard my voice, reacted immediately, putting away his dagger.

“The Duke is right. Pope, if you’ve come this far, take up arms for the god. It’s the will of the god to clean up the zombies surrounding the path of light.”

“H-Haona…”

Actually, it was my will.

But Aston always thought deeply about what I wanted and put it into action. To him, I seemed no different from a god.

“Are you not capable enough, knowing the weight of responsibility? Disappointing. If I were to tell other regional lords about this when I return, it would be a great source of laughter.”

“…I will do it.”

The Pope, for whom reputation was as important as life, reluctantly picked up the crossbow.

Completely demoralized, the Pope and the priests were relieved that our party members were handling things well.

‘Red patterns haven’t appeared yet…’

But the awaited red patterns showed no sign.

If the culprit continued to observe us, there should have been a reaction.

While continuously firing magical bullets, I observed the reactions.

However, the zombies were piling up around us like a shallow hill.

They climbed up, stepping on corpses and wailing.

“Uuu… Aaaaaa…”

It was strange that they all rose and cried at once.

“Uu… Grreaaaah!”

Then it happened. Slowly, as if possessed, red patterns began to appear on the foreheads of the standing zombies.

‘It’s coming!’

“Grrrlurk!”

The zombies, who couldn’t approach the path of light, rushed towards us.

Like a swarm of fireflies rushing towards a flame.