irene was the mom of our group.
her personality contrasted sharply with grace, who was playful and took the lead in conversations, and katie, who had boyish interests like swords and knights and fought aggressively as a knight herself.
quiet in nature, gentle in action, and overflowing with consideration. like a true priestess, she devoted herself to supporting others from behind. a caring big sister who reliably supported party members in both daily life and battle. at best she was the ultimate support - at worst, her contributions often went unnoticed.
well, with one barrier cast from the rear, allies could wipe out enemies without taking damage.
"the demon lord''s army approaches silently and viciously. as if mocking humanity''s inevitable defeat."
"so i ask you all - do you desire a holy war? do you wish to join in this most united and righteous crusade to halt evil''s advance?"
but things were different now.
the swirling pillar of divine power resembled a spotlight on stage, and her golden hair billowing from her fallen nun''s hood made her look like a goddess incarnate.
some even bowed their heads slightly to irene standing on the earthen platform han se-ah had hastily created. though divine power differed from mana, it was still energy. in other words, 5★ level intangible force was swirling around, naturally overwhelming people bit by bit.
no, the gathering crowd wasn''t being overwhelmed - they were being inspired.
"will you, by your personal faith and conviction, support the goddess''s army, join the battle for justice, and gladly take up arms until the day evil is driven from this land?"
while mana could transform into various elements like incomprehensible math formulas to non-scholars and interfere with space like unstable dye, divine power bestowed by the goddess had very basic properties.
the divine power granted by the life goddess was pure life force itself.
whenever grace complained of shoulder pain from her chest, irene would massage with holy-infused hands. she''d give healing massages loaded with divine power, saying "mom''s hands are healing hands" - whether for hangovers, for me returning from tanking, or for han se-ah suffering mana exhaustion debuffs.
"what''s going on?"
"they say the demon army''s making their move."
"hmm. those arrogant imperial bastards, look where that got them."
"north? shit, that''s where dolchen''s party went."
but that alone wasn''t quite enough. though divine power''s mild buff effect excited people like an energy drink making hearts race, one nun singing of holy war was far too little.
a holy war meant total war by the temple and faithful, exterminating heretics without considering gains or losses. but the adventurers, mercenaries, and few imperial trainee commanders here were the type to carefully weigh every decision.
still, we''d definitely caught their attention. i wondered if we should put han se-ah up on that platform too, and whether charlotte''s ogres would arrive by then--
"hahaha! i, i knew this would happen!"
just then, someone shouted loudly and planted a long flagpole into the ground with a thud.
"what are you doing, olek?!"
"tents! tear up the tents to draw on!"
"if we don''t have dye, use blood! we have priests here!"
"damn, house ester can''t fall behind in this...!"
the first thing visible was knights in splendid armor squatting or kneeling in the dirt, tearing apart tents.
if no one had responded to irene''s speech it would be different, but the second son of margrave sibedev had thrown his entire knight order''s support behind the hero party. moreover, the imperial trainee commanders who''d climbed to the plains were all desperate for achievements.
what greater merit could there be than participating in a holy war alongside the hero party?
"seeking adventurer parties skilled in group combat!"
"house sapia will not forget your service!"
so when olek''s sudden organization caught the trainee commanders off guard, they started throwing gold at the watching mercenaries and adventurers.
they''d all hired similar numbers of mercenaries for testing purposes. and those peers with similar forces had been surrounded and wiped out by the demon army. forgetting their original purpose of maintaining troop quality and learning strategy, their minds were filled only with thoughts of spreading their family''s fame.
that''s the scene charlotte witnessed - people hastily making family banners, others trying to increase their forces, and adventurers and mercenaries seeking to raise their reputation all mixed together like a chaotic marketplace.
but more important was irene finally triggering a character quest.
"what should we do now? send someone to the temple for additional support?"
"probably should? we need to ask some people to... ah, shut up already! yes i got a quest window, but irene triggered it herself!"
-ja!ja! hail mama! hail mama! ja!ja! hail mama! hail mama!
-doyouwanttotalwardoyouwanttotalwardoyouwanttotalwardoyouwanttotalwardoyouwanttotalwar
-hey you c2 bastards, mom just triggered a character quest and that''s what you care about?
-the quest is asking if we want holy war let''s go
-mama demands it! holy war forever! holy war forever!
the cyber ghosts who went crazy at interesting events were no calmer than achievement-blinded trainee commanders. all sorts of ascii art and waving flag icons instantly flooded chat.
even though han se-ah''s earth-4 had vr games, its overall history hadn''t changed - no direct hakenkreuz[1] appeared, but the intent was clear from the red flags flooding chat.
so in-game there was 5★ ''saint candidate'' irene steeling herself again amid the chaotic marketplace, while outside were millions of raving cyber ghosts - a situation that perfectly embodied the word "pandemonium."
...ah, now internet news articles are copying posts from the forum.
[.1 raei: hakenkreuz: "the hakenkreuz is the german word for "hooked cross" or "twisted cross" and is the most well-known symbol of the nazi party" - google]