episode_0020

*

In the room draped with dense darkness, Kunat’s eyes, gleaming quietly, were fixed on the sleeping Priest.

Father Theodore.

Kunat slowly murmured the man’s name, pressing his thick, furry cat paw against his neck.

His flesh was swollen, crushed in the shape of the man’s handprints.

Kunat muttered quietly.

“You summoned me, trapped me in this body, and yet you treat me so roughly.”

Even though Kunat was a Devil, this Priest had no hesitation or reservation when it came to using violence.

He was certainly a Priest, but his nature was closer to evil than good.

But even with such an evil nature, not even the most daring of Devils could bring themselves to corrupt him easily.

“Honestly, any other Devil would have run away already. I can see why Devils run away to the lowest level of Hell at the mere mention of your name.”

As Kunat said, any other Devil would have already fled upon learning that the human who summoned them was Father Theodore.

That’s how famous this Priest was.

Of course, Father Theodore wasn’t a popular hero among the common people.

Adventurers who left behind numerous tales and rumors, or knights with countless achievements, were more famous heroes to the common folk.

However, Father Theodore’s reputation was far more widespread within exactly two groups: Priests and Devils.

There wasn’t a Priest who hadn’t heard of his exploits, nor a Devil who hadn’t heard of his infamy.

“A violent one like him is rare even among Devils…”

Kunat stroked his neck once more, muttering to himself.

If he were a normal cat, he would already be dead, and even as a person, he would have been strangled a long time ago.

The violence Kunat endured daily was tantamount to torture and murder.

Just because it was laced with Holy Power didn’t make the violence appear holy.

However, Kunat endured the Priest’s Holy Power-infused violence and remained in this Monastery.

There were two main reasons for this. One was that Kunat was inherently inclined to enjoy pain.

The other was that he was a Devil with an exceptional talent for concocting sinister plans and making them come to fruition.

Kunat had a clear plan and purpose.

And Father Theodore was absolutely necessary for that plan.

“When I said I wanted to build a friendship with you, I wasn’t joking, Billy.”

Kunat muttered as he quietly swayed his tail.

He pretended to target the Nuns, but Kunat’s true target from the beginning was Father Theodore.

To coax Theodore into taking his side.

That was the most ideal vision of the grand scheme Kunat had in mind for the future.

However, Father Theodore’s hostility towards Devils was greater than he had imagined.

From the moment they first met, Kunat guessed that the Priest wouldn’t easily fall for his words.

From the outset, the Priest only trusted about half of what Kunat said.

One of the reasons he was venturing out to a more distant region this time was undoubtedly to confirm with his own eyes the claim that most of humanity had perished, unable to believe it.

“He knows Devils don’t play with numbers, so is he simply distrustful of anything a Devil says?”

Kunat chuckled.

“Wise, Priest.”

In fact, unless they directly descended or seized a body, most of the ways Devils encouraged people to commit evil were through brainwashing and persuasion.

Brainwashing may sound grand, but it’s nothing special.

By repeatedly providing only biased parts of limited information and coaxing them with pleasant words, it can be easily applied.

Humans who are confused in extreme situations can be brainwashed even more easily.

However, even though he was trapped on an Island with no access to information and faced monsters right before his eyes, causing utter confusion, Father Theodore didn’t easily fall for Kunat’s words.

His hostility towards Devils was so deeply rooted that it stood like a pillar in the middle of his ideology.

It was rare to find such a staunch one even among Priests.

“It’s all because of you.”

He was keen, violent, and fearsome.

It was only because there were girls he had to protect now that he was somewhat tempered.

That was why Kunat decided to use the girls.

In fact, he didn’t show much hostility towards Lucia, who had given her body to a Devil.

However, the essence of Lucia’s soul was already close to that of a Devil.

It wasn’t that a Devil had possessed Lucia’s body, but rather that her soul was being tainted into a Devil.

Father Theodore was clearly aware of that fact as well.

“It’s all because of you that they’re falling into the clutches of Devils.”

If they all became beings belonging to Hell, could Father Theodore show a hostile attitude towards them?

No, he wouldn’t.

Kunat was certain.

That was why he decided to corrupt the Nuns.

The fact that they were all at an age where they instinctively desired the touch of a man, and that they felt more than a certain level of affection for the Priest, was something he could sense from the scent that spread in the air the moment he was summoned.

Affection, trust, love-hate, or even lust.

Moreover, they didn’t have deep faith, so they were easy prey for a skilled Devil.

“What lovely children, don’t you think?”

Kunat’s goal from the beginning was Father Theodore.

And the Nuns were simply buckets of water to extinguish Father Theodore’s hostility.

“If you had been a little kinder to Devils… they wouldn’t have been targeted.”

Kunat looked at the sleeping Priest with a mocking gaze.

Beat him as much as you want, torment him as much as you want.

He would be rewarded with the sight of them despairing as they gradually turned into residents of Hell.

At that moment, as Kunat quietly gleamed his eyes and sneered,

a presence was felt near the window.

It seemed someone had come to peep at the Priest.

Lucia and Anna?

No, there was only one set of footsteps.

“…Priest. He must be asleep.”

Moist, chestnut-colored eyes peeked inside through a slightly opened window.

It was Anna.

That made sense.

Kunat nodded to himself, thinking.

Lucia, who would be spending several days with the Priest on the Mainland starting tomorrow, would have plenty of time together, so she was probably relaxed.

However, Anna and Sola wouldn’t be able to see the Priest for the next few days.

And for Anna, who was starved for the touch of a man, now was probably the last chance to satisfy her desires before the Priest left.

“It’ll be quick work indeed, hee hee,”

Kunat smiled faintly as he looked at the window.

At that moment, he felt a light flare from the Priest’s body.

“…!”

Kunat recoiled in instinctive disgust, staring at the Priest.

What he had just felt,

it was definitely Holy Power.

“Anna,”

Kunat was so surprised that he shut his mouth.

Anna also flinched in surprise, freezing with her eyes fixed on the window.

What is it.

Since when.

Since when, exactly?

“What will I do, feeling so sorry towards Sola?”

Father Theodore’s murky eyes met the eyes outside the window squarely.

*

Was it because I argued with Kunat before going to bed?

I had a very strange dream.

No, scratch that expression.

The Goddess herself came to visit me in my dream.

The Goddess of Mercy.

The God that the Order I belonged to believed in had come to me in my dream, but the sight was somehow bizarre.

The depiction of God in the various documents and illustrations of our religion was of a woman with a benevolent appearance and beautiful wings instead of human arms,

but the Goddess in my dream was chained all over her body, her two beautiful wings mercilessly torn off, gushing out hot blood.

Unable to move even a step, I averted my eyes from God with a bewildered expression.

Even mixing words with it felt sinful, so I couldn’t dare ask who had done such a terrible thing.

“Raise your head.”

That being said.

The voice of God was sweet.

It was a unique voice that one couldn’t think of as a human voice, yet it was a beautiful voice that warmly caressed people’s hearts.

I slowly raised my head in accordance with its words.

At the same time, my body naturally lowered slowly, and I knelt before it.

The face that I finally faced had a smile that was so benevolent.

Even though it looked so painful, it only had a warm smile on its face as if taking away all my pain, quietly looking down at me.

At the same time as glorious elation and gratefulness enveloped my whole body, anger and displeasure towards someone who had dared to commit such a terrible act against the Goddess swirled beneath my skin.

“Don’t worry.”

“…”

“Because I’m with you.”

As the Goddess said that, darkness began to descend darkly upon the world.

The God gradually disappeared into the darkness, and I tried to stand up to try to grab it.

However, for some reason, my legs didn’t move.

No, rather, my body was slowly leaning backwards.

I felt as if an irresistible heavy force was pressing down on my body.

I desperately followed the Goddess’s form with my eyes, but eventually its form completely disappeared into the darkness, and I too was left lying on the floor abandoned in the darkness.

The voice still wouldn’t come out.

At that moment,

once again, a benevolent voice echoed throughout the world.

“Open your eyes.”

At that word, I slowly opened my eyes.

The world was swallowed by darkness, and I was lying down.

Ha, of course.

It was still the middle of the night, and I was lying on the bed.

I slowly rolled my eyes.

What kind of dream was that just now?

Could the Goddess really have come down to see me?

Why was the Goddess in such a terrible state?

At that moment when my mind was complicated by unknown questions,

my pupils suddenly stopped in one place.

The window was open.

And, beyond that, I saw one eye staring at me.

It was an eye I knew.

“Anna.”

As I called her name, her eyes began to tremble violently.

I knew it, I hadn’t seen it wrong.

Then… all the times the window had been opened…

I murmured quietly.

“What will I do, feeling so sorry towards Sola?”

I slowly raised my body.

Anna was still looking at me with trembling eyes.

Even as I slowly approached her, Anna didn’t move, as if she had been nailed to the window.

Finally, when I reached the window, she slowly took her face away from it.

I threw open the slightly opened window.

“Ah, aah… Father.”

“…”

“This… well…”

Anna stammered in a trembling voice, then tried to step back slowly, but fell on her bottom.

Thanks to her skirt being slightly raised, her legs were revealed in the moonlight.

An unidentified liquid flowing from the inside of her thigh was wetting her legs.

“Anna, what in the world is this…”

“Ah…”

Anna noticed that my gaze was lingering on her legs.

I naturally assumed that she would hurriedly lower her skirt in surprise.

However, Anna did not do so.

Rather, Anna clenched her skirt in her fist, thanks to which the skirt was pulled up a little more.

Slowly, her smooth skin revealed itself to the world.

Anna shivered for a moment as she remained sitting outside the window.

“…Anna?”

Anna closed her eyes tightly, then slowly began to spread her legs to the sides.

“…!”

She wasn’t wearing underwear.