Inside an elven city, life was going about its usual pace.

Merchants shouted for their goods, elves walked around in pairs while holding hands, some gathered together to discuss nature and gossip, and the occasional beastman would moan and bitch about how girly the elves were while claiming to be 'ultra-stronger' than them.

Overall, life was pretty decent inside the city. Tall walls ensured good protection from monsters, and even demon or beastmen warbands wouldn't dare think about daring to attack such a well-fortified place.

In one of the large shops at the center of the city, a large number of humans, all stripped naked, were being displayed like everyday goods.

"Come buy some human slaves! Top-quality humans, we have a human for everything you need! Best deals of the seasons, only now!" A teenage elf shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to attract customers. There was the occasional elf who would stop by to take a look at some human, but it was often more of a curiosity thing than a desire to buy them.

The teenage elf sighed. In the city, human slaves weren't really all that useful. At best, there would be the occasional noble who would buy a batch of them and use them for pleasure, whether carnal or sadistic. However, those nobles were rare, and most disdained such activities.

With a defeated expression, he took out his whip and quickly got the humans back into the building, putting them in their appropriate cages. He'd have to feed them tonight, he grumbled. Maintaining slaves was quite expensive, unfortunately, especially good ones.

"How'd today go, Yumi?" A beautiful girl elf asked as she sat at the counter of the store, leaning forward in a very suggestive pose.

The teenager swallowed. "Uh... It went ok, I guess. There was a beastman who wanted to buy one of the more expensive females to use to cool down his heat. Apparently, that's a thing." The teenager laughed awkwardly, but the girl didn't mind as she too stifled a giggle.

"Mmh..." She said. "You know, I've heard there's been a recent rise in human migration. It's been getting pretty hard to capture good specimen lately."

The teenager's hormones instantly cooled down. He liked the cute girl who worked with him under his uncle, but he liked his job a lot more.

"Yeah, uncle's been pretty pissed off lately. Apparently, there's been a number of slavers going missing along with their cargo. Uncle says it's the demons getting jealous that we get a lot of business through human trafficking, and they've been interfering."

The girl's eyes furrowed in confusion. "But I thought the three great races were allied?"

The boy looked at her weirdly for a second before his hormones kicked in and he instantly answered, "Well, yeah, we are, but only on the surface. Apparently, there's a lot of conflict over interests happening as of late."

The girl smiled sadly. "You know a lot about this, don't you?"

The boy smiled shyly. "Uncle says a good slaver should always know their politics. It makes life easier, you know?"

Slowly, the girl got up from her seat and walked towards the boy, affection in her eyes. As she drew closer, the teenager's breath hitched, and as their mouths got closer...

Screams and explosions tore through the air, loud war cries stunning the both of them as they jumped apart.

The next instant, a large, half-naked human wielding two large axes smashed through the door. His eyes gleamed with madness as, with a single glance, he saw what the shop was about. Human slavery.

"Filthy elven scum, die!" He roared, the panicking elves backtracked, trying to get away.

"W-why is a human free!? Where's your master?" The girl asked, voice hitching in fear.

The man took some steps forward. "My master!? My only master is the glorious lord, the lady of the bright sky, bringer of hope and vengeance. You filthy elven scum will be exterminated soon!" The man laughed in madness as he toyed with the two lovesick teenagers.

"Gregor, shut up for a second, will you?" Another man said as he too entered the shop. He was much smaller than Gregor, and his tattoos were those of a priest.

With a glance, he could see all the chained humans and the horrible state they were in. "Seems like the intelligence was accurate. Once we burn down this city and plant the evidence, it's very likely war will start. The Lord will be pleased."

The teenage boy elf finally found his courage, and in a shaky voice, asked: "W-who are you people? Where's the city guard?"

Gregor laughed loudly. "Those flimsy little wimps? The Holy Warriors did a quick work of them. And soon, you too will join them. Rasmus, are you ready yet?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't kill them, they look like they'd be worth quite a bit. I'll take care of our brethren." He murmured as his tattoos glowed with golden light.

As Rasmus focused on the captured slaved, Gregor turned back to the teenagers, casually stopping the boy from trying to stab him with a flimsy knife. "Brat, you're lucky I ain't one of the more hardcore elf haters, or I'd have ripped your balls out for that."

With a smile unbecoming of the situation, he backhanded the boy on the back of the neck, dropping him into sudden unconsciousness. The girl's eyes were wide as she tried to find an escape.

She sprinted for one of the windows, but with a shout, Gregor jumped over to her. "Don't even try that, elven scum."

He delivered a punch on her stomach that sent her slamming into one of the counters, and then quickly backhanded her on the neck as well. He gathered the two elves up, holding them like sacks of potatoes as he turned back to Rasmus, who was talking softly with one of the slaves.

He waited for 5 minutes as Remus gave directions to the slaves, who looked as though they had finally found the light of salvation. As the ex-slaves ran out of the shop, heading towards the other priests, Remus turned back to Gregor.

Gregor looked like a mix of nostalgia, pain, and remembrance. "You know, I used to be just like them. I still remember when you suddenly came, murdering the disgusting elf that called himself my master. I swear, I thought the heavens were falling on me that day."

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Remus smiled slightly before commenting, "You know, with your strength, you could probably apply for a soldier rank in the Holy Warriors."

Gregor laughed slightly as he left the shop with Remus. "I know, but I'd rather climb the regular ranks for now. When I'm confident enough, I'll apply. I heard that the training they get in the Holy Warriors is extremely harsh..."

Situations like the one Gregor and Remus took part in were happening all across the city. Half an hour earlier, under the cover of their priest's spells, a thousand soldiers, headed by a dozen Holy Warriors, infiltrated the city and quickly murdered the watchmen, before bringing death through the entire city.

Gregor and Remus could actually be considered to be the most tolerant and relaxed soldiers. Most soldiers were incredibly brutal in their treatment of the elves, and very few had the chance to be enslaved. Most were brutally sacrificed, their entrails ripped out from their intestines and force-fed to themselves. Some of the female warriors took particular enjoyment in castrating every male elf they found before stuffing their penis up their anus, then murdering them.

Such brutal treatment was not only ignored by the Holy Warriors, who could be considered as the officers of the operation, but it was also actually encouraged. After all, elven slaves held little value beyond carnal pleasure. Their frail bodies made them unsuitable for hard labor, and the few mages who had a magic talent were unlikely to be captured. 

By the end of the third hour, the entire city was in ruins. Several soldiers had blocked the gates and walls, ensuring no elf could escape. It was a complete massacre, and it left the higher-ups very satisfied.

As the common soldiers retreated, the Holy Warriors, who'd limited their intervention to ensuring a successful infiltration, quickly got to work in planting fake evidence. Demon corpses were thrown about, and several sacrificial symbols unique to demons were drawn. An hour later, with all the evidence planted, they too left, carrying with them as much loot as possible while high-tailing it back to Jade City.

Inside another dimension, a screen showed everything to a certain Goddess.

"Perfect operation. Nobody escaped, the evidence is perfect, the soldiers behaved themselves very well, and the loot is very good. I'm expecting a lot of promotions for those involved." Sacred Light commented. 8 priests sat on the ground in front of her throne, staring at the large screen of light that appeared before the lot of them.

"Yes, Lord." An old man with a long beard said, his eyes gleaming with happiness. His own son had been included in the operation, so he was naturally ecstatic for it to have gone so well.

The church had been structured much like the civilian government, yet it was also very different. Every member in front of Sacred Light was considered as the cream at the top of the Sacred Church, all of them holding a lot of influence. Naturally, they were also the most devout followers of Sacred Light and the strongest priests available. Some even dabbled into the Sacred Path.

Each of them had been hand-picked by Sacred Light herself, therefore, their authority was unquestionable, and their power was not any lower than the members of the Grand Council. Furthermore, if they found evidence, or even just suspicion, pointing towards something that could displease their Lord, their executive power would become so absolute that nobody could obstruct them. It was for this reason that they held a collective title, the Bishops.

Of course, there was an exception. There were three people with a standing even higher than theirs: the Three Champions of the Sacred Goddess.

Helen Judas, the strongest and also most favored champion of the Sacred Goddess. She was a rare sight within the Jade City, often undertaking the most dangerous of missions and the harshest of training amongst any follower. Her influence in church and state politics was limited, but that was only because she was often busy acting outside the Goddess' influence. If she did say something, though, that thing would be done, by hook or by crook.

The second champion, Hagrid Manstin, considered as the shadow of the church. He was the one who did all the dirty deeds that nobody else wanted to dirty their hands with, and thus, although knowledge of his existence was limited to only the elites of the elite, he was very much respected by them, especially because the Goddess was rumored to have personally created this man with her own hands.

The third champion, and also the youngest, was actually a half-blood named Mark Lutervinsk. With an elf father and human mother, he was proof that rape can happen to both genders. Currently, he was only 11 years old, but even now, his genius was undeniable, and the Sacred Goddess had personally deemed worthy of receiving her direct teachings, taking him as her disciple.

Since the Sacred Goddess had personally acted, every single half-blood hater could only nod in acceptance and smile. Actually, with the Sacred Goddess personally teaching a half-blood, it had set a huge example, and although discrimination against half-bloods had been frowned upon before, it was now completely forbidden. After all, the highest sort of crime possible for any Sacred follower was to offend their Lord.

"Well, with this, hopefully, we can further fan the flames between the elves, beastmen, and demons. If they fight amongst each other and weaken themselves, it will be much easier for us to swoop in and reap the highest reward for the lowest cost." Sacred Light laughed, her soft, bell-like voice echoing through the church.

The bishops exchanged excited glances. With no small amount of expectation, the old man from before, the current ruling Head Bishop, a title not unlike that of a pope, asked, "My Lord, has your divine realm finished building?"

Sacred Light glanced at the head bishop, eyes gleaming. "Unfortunately, not yet. However... I have finished gathering everything needed for its construction. That was also the reason I called you bunch up here." Her voice shifted from her usual soft and caring tone to the hard and commanding one that she adopted whenever the situation was serious.

Sensing this, the bishops all straightened up unconsciously. 

"For the following month, I will be closing all entrances to this realm. I plan on using this dimension as a foundation of the divine realm, and thus cannot allow any interruptions. I will leave behind several incarnations to manage things while my main body focuses on building the divine realm to acceptable standards. When I finish, I will be expecting the army to be ready, settlers to be prepared, the police to be at hand, and several war churches already pre-built and ready for deployment."

The bishops nodded solemnly. The war churches were, as the name implies, churches built for war. They were akin to small forts, able to be taken apart and rebuilt in less than a week by a capable enough workforce. Once the divine realm was established, they would be able to spread Sacred's influence just as well as regular churches, but they also doubled as very effective strongholds. Supplies and weaponry could be safely stored within them without fear, and within the church, even a simple soldier would have his or her strength shoot up by over a hundred times.

Effectively, once the war churches were deployed, it meant the area will be held with an iron grip, and if the enemy wished to take it back, they would have to pay an immense price for it. Actually, Sacred secretly hoped that the opponents would do just that, ram their heads against her churches and suffer heavy losses while within her influence. They'd probably learn quickly, but by that time, their losses would be massive.

With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the bishops. "Tell the Sacred Generals to start drafting up invasion plans. The war will be coming very soon."

As the bishops left, Sacred relaxed into her throne. She could almost taste all her preparations and plans coming together.

She was extremely proud of herself for having resisted the temptation of absorbing faith. Because of that, she had now discovered several flaws within the power of faith, namely the restrictive power it held. If she absorbed it without care, she would only bind herself down, becoming unable to advance.

No, the true use of faith was as a building material. With it, she could build a realm completely in tune with her power, and using the realm as a medium she could absorb the faith harmlessly, for the only thing it could restrict at that point was the realm itself, which was impossible. Hence, she'd finally be able to absorb faith freely, and her power would skyrocket as a result.

She looked forward to it. With a wave of her hand, every single teleportation rune in the temple shut down. Then, with another wave of her hand, terrifying waves of faith rushed forth from every corner of the temple. The entire separate realm trembled at the power of faith.

With a smirk, Sacred got to work.