A toothless tiger—it was the perfect term to describe the Holy Empire. The Holy Empire had an enormous territory comparable to that of the Roman Empire, and its influence could be found in all kingdoms. However, they started to walk the path of decline more than 100 years ago. There were many such reasons for their decline, but it all started with the appearance of evil lands and mana stones. The evil lands weren’t explained in the scriptures, and as such, the Pope and the clergy at the time had labeled the evil lands as ‘entrances of hell’ and insisted on their eradication and closure. No one could deny the authority of the Pope, the representative of God himself, so numerous knights, mercenaries, and priests entered evil lands to fight against monsters, and just as many people died inside the evil lands.

It was to the point where there had been tens of thousands of casualties in just one year.

The Holy War!

The endless war began under the leadership of the Holy Empire, and it continued for more than a year, and once it was discovered that the cursed stone—the mana stone—could be purified and turned into refined mana stones, many things changed. It became known that eternal life, which could never be achieved even through strong faith, could be within reach through the consumption of the cursed stones.

When taken, the refined mana stones recovered one’s energy and healed their wounds. There was even a case where a...