Chapter 87: A Requiem To This Blasphemous Man!!! |
The Guardian God of the empire, Friga, and the lesser gods under her.
Most people only knew that much about the religions in this world, and I, too, only vaguely understood, from occasional news, that denominations other than Friga’s were powerless in the empire.
In such a climate, the order Ja-seong belonged to showed overwhelming growth, to the point of being directly accused by the Archbishop. This was because the being they claimed to be a saint was receiving fervent support from the people.
“Hello, everyone…”
And finally, the time came to confirm whether placing a succubus in such a saintly position was the right decision.
At the time of prayer, Ja-seong took me to the prayer room and showed me the girl standing before the congregation.
The only difference from before was that she loosely wore a nun’s habit, but she was still a small and frail-looking young succubus.
“I’m Yui… the, uh… Saint of the Meter Order. Please, everyone…”
“Woooooooooooooooow!!!”
The devout worshippers, as if venerating a girl believed to be humanity’s enemy as a succubus.
“Yui’s name! Yui has finally revealed herself!”
“Yui is watching over us!”
“A saint! A saint!!!”
The scene was a mix of fervor, chaos, and even madness, with continuous shouts.
Just hearing the sound was enough to make one’s skin tingle, reminiscent of an idol concert filled with zealous fans.
Despite the common understanding that prayer was usually a quiet affair, with only the Bible being perused.
“Um, everyone. I-it’s time for prayer, so please quiet down…”
“Saint! You are our hope! You are the light and salt of this world!”
“If there are countless followers of you in this world, then I am one of them, and if there is only one follower, then it is me!”
“Saint Yui! You are our God and the reincarnation of Lady Meter!”
Well… okay.
Saints were often regarded as avatars or incarnations of a god.
Considering idols were also seen as gods or idols, it wasn’t entirely strange.
However, no matter how young, feeling that way towards a succubus was still odd.
“Wooooow! We love you, Yui!”
“…Love?”
That question arose amidst the sudden burst of a doubtful voice.
From that point on, the madness enveloping the scene suddenly subsided, and soon, all the worshippers began to focus their attention on one devotee.
“Did you just babble about love upon seeing the Saint?!”
“To harbor such vile thoughts towards our small and delicate Saint!”
“This blasphemous bastard!!”
The devotees struck the problematic believer with the Bible in their hands.
Amidst various curses and the sounds of beating, with blood flowing, I calmly turned to Ja-seong, who had his arms crossed, and asked.
“Is it really okay to do that?”
“It’s fine. Legally, textbooks and the Bible aren’t considered weapons.”
That wasn’t what I was talking about, though.
“Holy Maiden! I’ve caught a pedophile who dared to look at you with impure eyes!”
Regardless of my dumbfounded state, they were focused solely on what they wanted to do.
Soon, the devotees who had bloodied another made him kneel and started shouting at the demon girl revered as a Holy Maiden.
“Saintly Lady! Please tell us directly with your mouth how this disgusting and filthy guy should be punished!!!!”
“P-punishment? I don’t know anything about…”
“I’m sorry, Holy Maiden!!”
A follower hastily bows his head in front of the trembling Holy Maiden.
The force was so intense that his skin tore and bled, yet the man burst into sorrowful tears, genuinely repenting of his sins.
“I dared to fantasize, even as your follower, about stroking your cheek and head! Please punish me for even thinking of touching the Holy Maiden’s sacred body!”
“H-huh? That’s not too ba–”
“Oh! What a sincere apology this is!”
“But even so, the impurity in your heart cannot be denied! Prove your repentance by accepting punishment!”
“No, how can a once tainted heart be purified with just one act of repentance?!”
“Then it’s penance! Govern him strictly so he can withstand the fires of hell when he falls into it!”
The devotees ignored her words and led the situation according to their own will.
While the young succubus was at a loss, watching them, the devotees faced the bloodied sinner, and began to place a heavy jar in front of her.
“I ask before the Holy Maiden, the incarnation of Lady Meter, protector of abundance and family! What is your name!?”
“I am Asey, a follower of the Meter Order!”
“Good, Asey! Are you ready to taste the fire of hell!?”
The followers, hearing his loud answer, started taking out what was in the jar.
The pickled vegetables dripping with bright red liquid were known as ‘kimchi’ in the world I lived in.
“Argh! Is this the spicy taste of the hellfire peninsula!?”
“Endure it!! The hell that the irreverent ones go to is filled with even greater pain than this!!!”
“If you’re going to fall into hell anyway, train to withstand its heat! Even if it’s to show the irreverent ones, there is a worse hell!!”
The sinner began writhing after eating the kimchi, while the clergy spared no encouragement or rebukes towards him.
As he blankly stared at the scene, Ja-seong, who was standing beside me with his arms crossed, said in a calm voice.
“It’s one of the specialties provided by our order. The hellfire flavor is popular among practitioners in many ways, you know?”
“Ah, yes.”
It seemed he was using our experience from our gourmet adventures to distribute food in the slums.
But where did they get the cabbage used for the kimchi?
Did they again plunder the barbarian tribe’s garden for the kimchi?
“We’ve successfully purified another unclean one with this!”
“This too is possible because the Holy Maiden is with us!”
“Oh, Holy Maiden Yui, today as well, you spare no effort in rooting out the unclean!”
“No, I-I didn’t do anything….”
“Don’t be afraid, everyone! The Holy Maiden is with us in our holy war!!!”
Even after two years, the young succubus still seemed unable to adapt, not knowing what to do.
But as if such reactions were of no concern, hundreds of devotees gathered in the meeting hall and shouted slogans in unison.
“Touch and face death! Roll call in hell!”
“Your voice is small! Louder, louder!”
“Purge! Let all the pedophiles of this world hear our message!!!!”
A cry so fierce it seemed to carry the space away.
The young demon, confronted with the scene of madness born from faith and hatred towards pedophiles, soon became dizzy and started crying.
“Eeeh! I hate this weirdness now!!! Lord Yasmo! Please save me!!”
Tears of a girl that should never be shed during sacred prayer time, and the devotees shouting madness in front of her.
Ja-seong, encountering this scene, seemed pleased and gave me a thumbs-up, saying,
“How about it, little brother! Just as I told you, a lot of devout believers have gathered, haven’t they?”
“Ah yes, if we categorize madness as faith, it wouldn’t be wrong to say so.”
Was this also a struggle to adapt to a world gone mad?
It was chaotic—so chaotic.
Anyway, the fate of that young succubus and the madness-ridden order was something for Ja-seong to handle.
I followed Ja-seong to the ritual site located in the basement of the cathedral to break my curse.
“If the curse was cast by a minion of the Corpse Lord, perhaps we should help you with it…”
“No, he’s endured well so far, so a little help should be enough to remove it. I can handle it alone, so you all can step back.”
“Yes, if you say so.”
The believers started to step back one by one, bowing.
After lying down on the altar following Ja-seong’s guidance, he began preparations for the ritual, taking out a Bible.
“Hyo-sung, you hardly know anything about the God I serve, do you?”
“Yes, well… I hardly know any religion other than Friga.”
“Well, it hasn’t been long since I started making a name for myself. It means I still have a long way to go.”
Ja-seong focused on following the content of the Bible he held in his hands.
Though he was boisterous and unrestrained, in this moment of reading the Bible, he was very serious and weighty.
“To put it briefly… a kingdom once rivaled the empire in wealth, and it was guided by the Meter Order as its national faith before a plague led to its downfall. This is the Order that I proudly serve.”
“It’s the national religion of a destroyed kingdom?”
“Yes, back then, it was all about simple wishes for good harvests and family peace. Even after the supporting nation fell, people who didn’t forget the teachings maintained their faith even after coming to the empire.”
Unlike the Friga Order, the state religion of the empire, it didn’t have the ambition or strength to stand above all gods, but it still maintained its lineage…
In some sense, it might have been sustained because the ‘familiar emotions of harvest and family’ to the common people had not been forgotten in their hearts.
In this decaying world, there were likely more people who craved such simplicity than nobility or honor.
“And in this world, when one’s faith reaches the heavens, it can shape their heart into light, like this.”
The faint light emanating from his hands immediately after the prayer was divine power.
It was a panacea that healed all ailments and wounds, except baldness, and a measure of the person’s purity.
Just facing the warmth of that light made it clear.
Even though what he did might seem eccentric, it was also a result of following what he believed was right.
“Woo Hyo-sung, are you ready to break the curse?”
With such holy power in his hands, he was ready to extend his light-filled hand towards me, lying on the altar.
“Brother, can you really break the curse?”
“What’s there in exorcism? It’s just a fight over whether the curse is stronger or my divine power. I’ll just push through with spirit.”
Such reassuring words.
I’d never seen anyone with more spirit than this person.
“Alright, there’s no time to waste. Let’s go!! Tense your stomach!!”
Of course, it was unsettling, but the trust I had in him made it hard to give up.
As I decided to accept it and started concentrating on tensing my lower abdomen, suddenly, something crawling up my spine began whispering in my ear.
“Giving up my curse. Are you serious?”
Gorgon Zola.
The ‘replicated self’ left by that guy, ready to wield me as before.
“It’s not easy for humans to constantly exert will. But if you borrow my power, you can continuously receive the driving force to satisfy your hunger.”
It was undeniable that the curse had contributed to my explosive growth over the past three months, just as it said.
It was inevitable that people, no matter how earnest their purpose, would lose focus and become complacent and lazy.
This curse, which consistently rectified such a potentially weakening heart, might be necessary for my diligence.
“…Sorry, but my growth is my own responsibility.”
However, there was no such thing as a favor without a cost in this world, and this guy was also just trying to use me for his own purposes.
Now that I’ve become aware, I couldn’t let someone with such clear intentions have their way.
Especially since it wasn’t just me who was being swayed by this guy’s power.
“Hahaha! Yes, you’ve maintained consciousness so far. With your willpower, you’ll surely do well even without my curse.”
With that assurance, as I resisted the whispers, Ja-seong’s hand, ready after the preparations, began to reach towards me.
Filling his hand with divine power to completely rid me of these whispers.
“But it seems the child who’s with you has different thoughts.”
The moment I felt a change starting in my body along with his words…
I quickly opened my eyes wide, attempting to suppress the force trying to burst out of my body.
“Brother! Get away!”
But by then, violent mana waves were already emanating from my body.
Pushed by that force, Ja-seong’s body collided with the wall with a bang! I pushed that body away, holding my breath as I stared at the being that emerged from me.
-Why?
The faintly heard voice was something I’d heard in dreams.
But there was none of the clumsiness it had before.
-Why are you trying to break the curse?
As if, in addition to my ability, Gorgon Zola’s curse accelerated the child’s mental growth.
“…Pheloi.”
-Daddy, you need to become stronger than you are now.
But growth was not always a good thing.
-Otherwise, you won’t be able to kill Mom with your own hands.
The power surging from within and the accompanying whispers were enough to make me realize that.