AN: I know she's the Pope, Shes's my Pope, She's your Pope, She's our Pope, praise be, but I wanted a unique title

Chapter 21

Neia awoke with an optimistic premonition for the day ahead, things seemed just a little brighter than usual today and it was a refreshing feeling. She made it a ritual to always gather herself early to make a quick prayer before she set out for her day, this not only reinvigorated her drive but also filled her with boundless excitement about spreading the word of the one true god of this world, and today was no different.

Stretching her muscles into some use she took sometime to freshen up and found herself reminiscing on all that had occurred, it was somewhat funny to her at times, her life had changed drastically, turned almost upside down after the resolution of the war, a lot had happened, and the majority of it was just plain stressful.

Where she was just some normal squire a few years ago, albeit one with a particular set of skills, now she was at the centre of the largest religious revolution in the history of the Holy Kingdom, if not the world and was in charge of overseeing the growth of a God's influence, something she took extremely seriously, Neia had witnessed first hand what it was to be powerful, to be absolute, what it was to be a god. These facts had forever stamped themselves into her being, they had changed her and she was bent on changing the world, letting them all see what the truth was, what justice was and despite some setbacks, everything was going extremely well.

After making her bed she decided to leave the morning meal for after she got to her office, she had a few notable assignments to handle, with Bertrand reporting somethings he marked as urgent and she was not in the business of being late. Her dressing was faster than normal but she still knew better than to skip out on properly looking over her attire to ensure she fit the part of the mighty warrior and most importantly former squire of the Sorcerer King, and when she was satisfied she readied herself to leave.

After winning the war with the Demon Emperor Jaldabaoth,

'Well his Majesty won really'

The Holy Kingdom and Neia had become extremely busy, when the Sorcerer King left, he had entrusted the rebuilding of the Holy Kingdom to her, and while it was true his words were more than likely metaphorical words for the work to come. Neia had taken them to heart and worked extremely hard to ensure that the reconstruction of her nation was proceeding accordingly, but she would also ensure it would have one added feature, the worship of their saviour, the God of Justice, Ainz Ooal Gown.

The majority of the work was going smoothly, roads were all but rebuilt thanks to various efforts by local builders and the dwarf experts the Sorcerer King had brought on. Food was all but being handled now that the undead rental market was established and farmers could more easily grow and harvest, and the past few had been fruitful with yields that were helping them get back on their own two feet, this effort was immense and she was more than grateful to all the people who had taken to the task.

There was no shortage of volunteers to be gathered and be put to work, and while some of the more pressing tasks they had handled very early on such as rebuilding the various fallen and destroyed administrative and important buildings within the capitol and the like. It was the harder task of orienting the now colossal working machine towards important goals that proved difficult for her. She had received overwhelming support from the common people, many of whom had nothing of note and found themselves given purpose and reason in helping her, many also turned towards the path of justice after having attended her sermons to hear more of their saviour.

The nobility, however, was a different story entirely and at large had not and still was not being as generous or as open to her handling of these tasks. Part of this was the help she was getting from the current Holy King, Caspond was always very open to almost anything that she brought before him, they had a relatively close working relationship and she could tell it was something which displeased a lot of the nobles at court, many of them were southerners who had come up when the war was over, they along with most of the south apparently did not like how much the new Holy King was supporting Neia's new religion. While most of them accepted the official reason, which was that Neia acted as a mediator for the aide which the Sorcerer King was providing their nation, some thought he was a supporter and worshipper himself, and so there were some rather unsavoury rumours about them both.

The other part was the fact that someone of note was gaining prestige over them, many of the common people looked to Neia and her followers as the true leaders within these hard times, and they sought them out for various matters before considering the nobles. Something which Neia knew hurt their pride quite a bit, but those who had suffered tended to stay together, and this was not made easy by the migration of southern workers and the southern commoners who took the tenets of the strange new religion as a major threat.

Neia had once awoken to find that the building they were using to house and loan out the undead had been vandalized, someone writing "House of Evil" along the side, in blood no less, funny enough because the materials used to construct the building was mainly from the Sorcerous Kingdom and was enchanted, cleaning the words had been comically easy. Bertrand had suggested they station some guards outside of the complex considering people were now willing to come close and he feared something more would come from the situation and thus a form of guard had been created out of a dedicated group of her followers.

Overall the North had a myriad of these distribution centres now, they were made exclusively for the rental of the undead his Majesty provided, and Neia's overall role was to supervise and lead this operation, as well as the self proclaimed task of spreading the influence and reach of the God of Justice as far and as wide as possible, both things were working out very well for her,... well they were now, in the beginning things had been extremely complicated and with the changes mandated by Caspondearly on things only got worse for a good amount of time before they got better.

The setbacks at times were minors, a few organizations would not trade with Neia's group or would purposefully hold out materials and things of the sort, simple matters which would be resolved when brought to the proper authorities. However the most major amongst these setbacks, was the backlash which came from Remedios' demotion and subsequent early retirement, something she and a few of those extremely loyal to her took to heart. In their rage they decided those who saw the Sorcerer King in a positive light were enemies of the Kingdom and acted to take vengeance on surrounding villages and settlements for months on end, in the end the violence was so severe that the Kingdom had no choice but to seek help and had hired the adventure team Blue Rose to come and aid in stopping her.

The events surrounding the 'Fallen Paladin's Rampage' as it came to be known had become legendary, Remedios was not a being who could be taken lightly, her strength alone made her dangerous and her reluctance to hand over the Holy Sword of the Kingdom only added to the trouble. Remedios had taken almost immediately to targeting explicitly the worshipers of his Majesty, and while there were several strong members of Neia's order, they were duly unprepared and many had died to Remedios' rage before any real resistance was had.

Once the Blue Roses arrived the killings were relieved somewhat and a concerted effort was made with the new captain of the Palladian Order, Gustav, to hunt down and bring Remedios to justice, a journey which had brought Neia, the Roses and Gustav closer through shared frustration, near death battles with a superhuman crazy woman, and several nights of heavy drinking. Everything had been going well until the southern nobles had made political blockades in court for funding the operation and the Roses were almost forced to leave, luckily Neia had requested some aid from her God and almost immediately the money seemed to pour back in.

The group's original mission had been extended sometime after they were given extra payment by the Sorcerer King to stay, find Remedios, and subsequently, do some extra work for him and Caspond after the ordeal.

All in all it had taken seven major battles, nine hard months, fourteen burnt villages and countless of lives brought to ruin to bring Remedios down, and even as she died, her body rendered almost unrecognizable, she still stayed cursing every one of them for worshipping the undead, the sight of this fallen hero burned itself into Neia's mind. She swore then to always remember the sunken look of evil present in that terrible woman's eyes, the death she wished to unleash upon the world and learn from it, Neia had become harder because of it, but that was required, tough times create tough leaders, and the aftermath of the event had her believing that the South had been supporting Remedios the whole time. Something she had suspected for quite some time but could not fully prove, regardless, all the dead that were left in her wake was a testament to the true evil evident in this world. Despite this they had won and in a cruel trick of fate she had been presented with an awkward situation when they had been receiving commemoration for their actions that she had been called to name her order and could not, it was this and council from the Sorcerer King that had finally given name to her and her followers.

The Sorcerer King had once called her his Promethean Knight, and the name stuck, and thus after days of deliberating they were officially branded the Prometheans, a group which would bring the fire of the true God to those who were left behind and abandoned by dead gods from old.

It stuck quickly and people seemed to love the idea that they were knights of the Sorcerer King, his influence had boomed after these events, partly because people recognized that Remedios was wrong in her hatred and her wrath had opened a lot of eyes and given Neia the platform she had needed to convince those who had been on the fence, as well as provide counter evidence to those who scorned her ideals.

When everything had been resolved, The Blue Roses had remained, their contract being extended again to help found and rebuild some villages in accordance with a request from Neia and her followers. It was also during this time that apparently news spread that the Re-Estize Kingdom had fallen into a bloody civil war, the King had been killed and some very strange figures were vying for the throne in place of the rightful prince, Zanec. The Roses had had a tough time being still when all this was going on in their home country but they resolved to complete their contract with the Holy Kingdom, and return to help.

Lucky for them by the time they had finished with their business in the North, not only had the Sorcerer King gone to help the Kingdom, but apparently things were looking up and very quickly Neia was getting reports of the growth Re-Estize was experiencing, something which only affirmed her belief that anywhere her god went, true peace would follow, so long as people at the top were willing and able to accept the wise counsel and teachings of a god. Neia was at times disheartened that her own work could not be so immediate, but she knew that when the time came, she would present this reformed nation to her god, as a testament of her devotion and admittance of her cleansing the sins they were guilty of for so long, the sin of being weak.

This snapped her back to the present, Neia had been walking at a casual pace along the streets remarking on the quality internally and surveying for what portions of the city they could focus on next. She would be leaving to survey some of the outer settlements to the East in a few days and needed to lay the groundwork for what she would try and implement first so the people there could continue unhindered, it was in this train of thought that a building came into view, a large one but it seemed off, and she knew why the building itself had been purpose-built to be extraordinarily simple.

It was a single story but very wide, taking up a good amount of the surrounding land, nothing about it was to be extremely remarkable and for very good reason, her god did not enjoy anything too flashy, and her people, in turn, understood that to be effective they had no need for extravagance, only strength and devotion, and thus this translated into every work which would be called theirs. The standard Promethean temple was dual purpose, in the back was a large open area with various types of training arenas present, these allowed for people to strengthen themselves in body and in spirit as penance for their sins.

The only way to cleanse oneself and be worthy of the salvation given to them by the God of Justice was to be strong, strong enough to protect themselves, their families, their nation, and most importantly their ideals. This meant that every day they were to practice, whether it be with sword, or axe, or bow, or even bare arms. They poured blood, sweat, and happy tears into becoming stronger than they were the day before, to be less sinful than they were the day before.

Oddly this translated well for many common people who had been more than just helpless when the demon invasion had come and the promise of strength through rigorous exercise strangely drew many people from various walks of life to her order, they came with open minds and eager bodies to be washed and be reborn anew. The rest of the building was even more plain, monotone brick with windows every now and then to allow light, inside was a space for prayer, a simple open hall for meetings and food where those less fortunate few and the homeless or strangers would be hosted nightly to eat and receive blessings and teachings from the knights present.

It was then that a sigil came into view, one which Neia was very proud of and a small smile came upon her face, it was a black descending flame breaking through gray clouds in the sky with a single hand reaching upwards towards it, the symbol of the Prometheans. As she drew near she heard the sounds of swords striking steel and laboured breathing, the sound of those dedicated few practising in the back.

The God of Justice had many followers and it was a fact they all had differing schedules and other obligations which ate away at their time, so to ensure everyone would have the proper amount of time to dedicate themselves to service and prayer, the training arena was open all day and all night. The Sorcerer King had provided them with the resources to ensure every temple within the major cities and settlements had ample structures with the spell [Continuous Light] built into them, it gave every corner light even in the darkest nights, and it was here Neia was greeted by a normal sight, several members were being instructed by a senior knight, they were working on proper bow string placement, as well towards one of the corners one of her attendants working tirelessly to improve his sword swings.

"Roburt, Hello"

The man stopped mid swing and looked in her direction, realizing who it was he hurriedly pick himself up and rushed to her location, bowing respectfully and causing those others in attendance to note her and also bow in place.

"Good Morning Saint" he said respectfully,

Neia blushed whenever people called her that, but it was something which was bestowed unto her when the Sorcerer King had officially recognized the Order of Promethean Knights, she had been granted the title of Saint, though she still did not fully know what it meant.

"You don't have to address me as such Roburt, Neia is fine"

"I would not disrespect our God such,"

Neia sighed giving up, Roburt was a very dedicated and focused man, he had lost a lot during the war, his mother and father were gone, his children had been unlikely enough to become food for the demihumans and demons during their capture, torn screaming to pieces before him, all this had broken him beyond repair for a very long time. When he had been rescued he was a nothing more than a shell and had contemplated suicide for a long while, it was on his way to do just that that he heard the sound of salvation when Neia was giving one of her sermons. This moment had changed him inside, even just a little and he could be found within the crowd each day after that when she went to preach when everything had ended, he had been one of the first to join her. Roburt had been a great help in everything which had occurred in the past few years, it was thus this and his personable nature which earned him the blue patch draping over his left shoulder. His rank was that of a Knight Commander, and he was one of three who oversaw most of the operations within this particular temple.

Neia had realized quickly that they would need to establish a structure within her religion in order to ensure it was operating properly, and this end, she her close advisors and with some help from Gustav had created an organizational chart, with herself as their Saint, Knight Commanders, Knights and those who just joined being devotees. In order to ensure the fairness and equality which her god demanded, everyone was still equal, this was nothing more than a system of seniority to ensure messages and schedules would be met.

Ultimately each member was responsible for themselves and their actions, and no abuse of any kind would be tolerated, each Knight Commander was selected by means of a vote by those knights present and the devotees would earn their status' as knights after a specific period of time, to ensure no one was mistreated. With the vast majority of worshipers being knights, they were charged with all taking care of and maintaining the temples, they would each rotate who cleaned and cooked and would scout those with gifts in healing to become temple healers, as well some would go on pilgrims to heal wayward travellers.

The Prometheans also had the strict policy of not charging for any services they performed, in honestly it was more because they did not need to. With the money they received as middlemen in the rental of the undead, which was more than generous on behalf of their god and support given to them by the Sorcerous Kingdom, they had plenty in the way of supplies and resources, something which had royally pissed off the traditional temples of the six gods. Along with this affluence, they were all taught in accordance with their religion to read, write, and basics in botany, medicine and other such skills, this built a very capable and effective force. The order was built to be self-sufficient at its core and It was not uncommon to have some of the more distant settlements to be made up entirely of Prometheans.

"Is there anything pressing for me today commander?"

Roburt straightened himself and delivered the daily report, on what sort of supplies they've gone through on the shifts, the number of sick healed, what they would need for later as well as any important messages they had received, once he was finished she thanked him, he bowed again and returned to his training.

Neia was happy when things didn't happen, because it meant there would be no surprises, and with her normal brief out of the way she made her way towards her office.

The office she had been given was a lot for her to take in at first, it seemed out of place for someone like her to have anything like a formal office space and she had complained on more than one occasion but Bertrand and the others insisted that as the Saint of their order she required a place to work and meet with dignitaries of various other organizations she was always forced to leave the subject alone and accepted it as it was. Every time she came into it she gasped a bit, and honestly she was always put back a bit, all she needed was just a small space to look over mail and reports but instead, they had taken things too far just for her. The entire space was still relatively simple but it carried with it a majesty that spoke to her power in the organization. The room was sizable and had two large and comfortable couches situated at obtuse angles on either side of an ornate wooden table, all this was adjacent to her desk, a large low wooden desk crafted by the dwarves, it was a gift from them to her exclusively and it had some very interesting runes written into it which sometimes filled her with a strange strength whenever she was speaking with especially stubborn people. the chair behind it was made of a sturdy wood reinforced with metal, it was not anything expensive, she saw to that, but it was still very gilded regardless, and it gave her an air of authority as Bertrand liked to remind her,

"With the way the room focuses on you and the strength in your eyes, no one would dare think anything less of our Saint" he had said to her all smiles.

She had asked for a small selection of books be placed on the left-hand side, this was to mimic a room she had seen in her god's domain and she sometimes pretended she was sitting in his council and the thought of being close to that all mighty of beings made her heart skip more than just a few beats.

Neia took to her seat, took a deep breath, and unrolled a scroll which had been waiting for her on her desk, it was something of importance to her, and brought a happy smile to her face, It documented the number of devotees who had entered into the faith in the previous quarter.

'We are almost doubled from just a few months ago'

She was extremely happy to know that more and more people were taking notice of their message and were responding to it, and while in the beginning, she had some few tens of thousands in her fold, she now lay claim to almost one million believers spread throughout the North and all of them, seeing the light of truth, and seeking to repent for their sins. this number was even greater when she considered the members outside of the Holy Kingdom, it was rumoured to be in the high millions consisting of all manner of humanoids, demihumans and heteromorphs, but those official numbers she did not have.

A small knock at the door interrupted her thoughts and she quickly bade the person to enter, Neia felt safe within this space and but had also made efforts to strengthen herself. part of this was daily practice to extend the amount of mana she had in order to be able to heal herself multiple times should anything happen, the gifts she had received from the Sorcerer King had saved her many times over in her life and many thought her almost impossible to kill, a legend even developing that she had been granted immortality for being a devout follower of his Majesty,

The entity slowly made itself known, a gauntleted hand parting the door as a familiar face made its way into the light,

"Gustav," She said with a happy expression, standing up to bid him welcome before he broke her rhythm by speaking out loud.

"Presenting his Majesty, the Holy King Caspond Bessarez"

The revelation was surprising and Neia made way to move to kneel when the king entered before Gustav again spoke out,

"And his Majesty, The Sorcerer King, Ainz Ooal Gown!"

There was silence as those words left his lips, and Neia was mid-stride when her eyes dilated immediately,

her mind racing as she proceeded what was just said and she found that she had been taken by shock and could not move.

She was frozen

Unmoving as Caspond entered and quickly made way to allow for the next monarch to grace them with his presence, his steps were disciplined, and very respectful, he wore a small smile as if basking in pleasure at close to her god.

As Neia forcefully removed herself from examining Caspond, she felt the air shimmer and the light dim, from the shadow of her doorway a tall figure moved into partial view,

Its majestic gait was self-evident, fulfilling the requirement which only one being could meet,

Its posture was absolute in its confidence of self and the air of divinity surrounding, it's body only added to the awe which this moment birthed.

It was then that Neia's vision seemed to blur some as more and more detail came rushing into her brain,

she fought to keep herself from passing out as she noted the beautiful obsidian robes the being wore as if cut along from a single cloth.

No seam or evidence of any seamstress work could be seen, the robe was ever present, it simply was and at its centre divided to show a brilliant glowing orb.

This was an item which was created, in single purpose for this being alone, and only to exonerate further the glory in which it bathed the world.

The cloak of darkness and night shielded the world from his brilliance, reminding them all that they were not yet worthy of such a presence and the pure white bones exposed at its head and hands seemed to shine with the morning sun.

Its slight red hue giving the figure a golden halo, it's head, nuzzled tightly by the eternal dance between darkness and light made way for two powerful blazing flames.

Within which could be seen the very essence of life and nature of divinity and power, as if those flames were stars which could gaze beyond eternity itself,

and it was thus in her dumb-founded state,

without the capability to make proper words, with no mind for the recollection of decorum,

gawking aimlessly at the majesty which was before her,

that Neia in her childlike reverence broke down in tears and she stepped beyond the bounds which held her still and sought to touch the form of God.

"My God"