Pocket Dimension.
At that moment, a grey-robed man hid under vines enveloped bush and was panting heavily. He appeared to be around 40 to 50 years old, had multi-colored eyes, brown hair, and a rough-looking face. His grey robe was torn in many places, and he was severely injured. Not only that, but his left hand was nowhere to be seen.
While Charles and his elite knights were moving closer towards the Royal City, the battle between Cardinal Smith and Melody had reached its conclusion.
As for Irzoch? She realized that she was weaker than the Light Church Cardinal and had chosen to assist Melody during the battle.
'Damn it! That demon girl! She is far more dangerous than I thought!' Cardinal Smith cursed inwardly and soon looked up at the cloudless blue sky through the tree branch gap. A trace of panic and anxiousness appeared on his face.
It had been more than 40 hours since Cardinal Smith got transported to this strange pocket dimension. Alas, he still hadn't found a way to escape from this strange place. Moreover, he got cornered earlier and almost died at the hands of a catkin. If not for his quick thinking, he would've sliced into smithereens by a strange druidic spell called 'Wheel of Nature.' In truth, Melody was a lot weaker when Cardinal first confronted her. He even had an opportunity to kill her, but a mysterious power appeared out of nowhere and protected her. Whenever he thought of that strange power, he shivered uncontrollably.
He strangely felt familiarity when he recognized that mysterious power.
'It's the power of Divine, but it also appears strange.' Unlike the masses, Cardinal Smith knew more about the outer world and even heard that some powerful Gods were living in many planes.
But when he encountered such being in a random pocket dimension, he couldn't help but get fearful of this new power.
'Is this being supporting the Flame Demon?' A strange sense of fear appeared in his heart.
Was it a fear of the unknown? He doesn't know. But he does know that mysterious power was not something that belonged to this world and was pretty dangerous to the Light Church.
In truth, he witnessed a miracle in this place!
'That demon girl's spells and physical strength rose exponentially. She has grown to the level of an Awaken in two days! It's beyond common sense.'
Cardinal Smith had advantages during the first battle as he destroyed her spells and overwhelmed her completely. Alas, she got help from the mysterious identity and escaped with the Demon Sorcerer.
But, something extraordinary happened during the second battle, and she stood against him for the first time. Then, Cardinal started to face difficulties during the other fights. Sometimes, he would retreat to rest, but Melody and Irzoch did the opposite. They would change shifts and chase after him like madden dogs all the time.
'I lost!' As he thought of the earlier battle, he couldn't help but smile wryly.
'At least, I still have a way to conceal my presence from those two. As long as I manage to escape from this pocket dimension, I'll be able to turn the tables and escape from that Flame Demon's grasp.' He now clearly understood how dangerous that Flame Demon was!
'I've to warn His Holiness and kill this Demon before he becomes a powerful monster.' Unlike him, the Pope of Light Church was far stronger and could even battle tens of Awakens at a time! He was more like a trump card of this Faith Realm, and only the Awakens knew about this secret.
Even the Royal Kings got kept in the dark.
Shaking his head, Cardinal Smith took a deep breath and started to ponder about his current situation.
Just when he thought that he was in a safer place, a familiar cold voice resounded in his ears.
"It seems you managed to survive this ordeal, Mr. Cardinal." At that moment, a blonde-haired man suddenly appeared in front of him and startled him greatly.
Cardinal Smith identified him instantly and was about to stand up and cast a light spell, but suddenly froze.
At that moment, he honestly forgot about how to cast his Light Magic spell!
Meanwhile, Charles waved his hand and cast [Curse of the Overlord] spell on him. Unlike the last time when he tried to cast this spell, no foreign force appeared in Smith's 'Dark Space' and interfered with his spell.
In truth, he thought of using this spell to manipulate one's thoughts and change Smith's ideology. He knew that as long as he let Cardinal Smith walk out of this pocket dimension, there was a high chance that he would once again acquire his Domain Creation ability and even get access to casting divine spells.
If Cardinal Smith did that, Charles knew that the [Curse of the Overlord] spell would disappear from his Dark Space.
He didn't want that to happen. Although he could kill him here, it wasn't necessary at this moment.
As Charles successfully cast the curse spell on Cardinal Smith, he gestured him to stand up and activated the [Aura of Dominance] skill. Then, he conjured a ball of blue fire and tossed it towards him. His severed arm started to grow in a few seconds and appeared as good as new. Not only that but the severe wound all over his also got healed in a matter of seconds.
Meanwhile, Cardinal shifted his attention towards his body, checked his newly grown hand, and soon got astounded.
"Amazing! So, this is the magic of the outer world, huh. It's completely different from Sorcerers' magic spells." He spoke in a shocked tone. Although the Nature Magic also had some similar effects, this was the first time he had seen that a ball of fire doing the healing job.
Soon, Cardinal Smith snapped out of the shock and tried to back away warily but fell due to fatigue. At that moment, he felt that the person in front of him looked different than before!
'Is it due to the enslavement spell?' A look of alarm appeared on his face.
But a second later, something within his mind manipulated that thought and changed into a different one!
'Wait... I feel like the burden on my shoulder had been lifted all of a sudden. Also, I'm feeling comfortable.' While he was in deep thoughts, Charles showed a solemn look on his face and spoke.
"Don't be afraid, noble warrior. I've no interest in you or your world." He paused for a moment as he took a step forward, used his invisible strings to help him stand up, and added.
"I'm searching for a way to get out of this plane. Do you know if there is a way?"
"S-Searching for a way to get out?" Cardinal Smith got confused by his words and asked in surprise.
Just as Charles was about to explain the detail, the surrounding trees suddenly moved their branches and made way for the greenish sunlight to fall on them.
Melody and Irzoch descended from the sky a second later and soon landed 10 meters away from Charles. But as they saw him, both stopped for a second and then bowed their heads in unison.
"Your Highness!"
On the other hand, Charles responded with a smile and spoke.
"You've done a good job. Go back now."
While speaking, he linked his mind with the Will of the pocket dimension and ordered it to send them out. A moment later, both of them turned illusionary and disappeared from there!
Meanwhile, Charles shifted his attention towards Cardinal Smith and explained his situation. He even mentioned how he got schemed by the previous World's Will and ended up in this Faith Realm.
