episode_0120

*

The feel was undeniable.

The firm support of the front foot, the powerful kick of the back foot, the properly rotated waist.

The sensation clearly transmitted through the swung fist confirmed that the jawbone was shattered and twisted.

Sola’s small body fell, headfirst, to the ground.

“Eek!”

“Father!”

Lucia and Anna screamed as they saw Sola fall.

They didn’t seem to grasp what was happening.

Well, green flames had erupted in the dining hall, freezing their bodies, and in the midst of that, I had punched Sola.

It all happened so suddenly, in an instant.

It was no wonder their minds couldn’t keep up with the situation.

But for me, it wasn’t an unfamiliar situation.

Rather, you could say it was very familiar to me.

Demons.

In the first place, when something beyond human common sense happens, it’s usually their doing.

“Ugh, you, damn shi…”

Sola.

No, the demon possessing her body mumbled incoherently, rattling its broken jaw.

The way it rose like a puppet on strings was incredibly eerie.

Thud, thud,

Her jawbone, grotesquely dangling out of place, made bizarre noises as it returned to its position, and soon it began to speak in a strange voice.

“To attack this child-like body without a moment’s hesitation, this crazy Priest…”

“It’s not Sola.”

“Even so, would a normal human swing with such force that could have broken her neck? You’re out of your mind.”

“Why are you making such a fuss when you were fine even after being hit with the Monastery’s wooden beams?”

Sola’s expression hardened eerily.

It seemed to recall the day it led the demons to invade the Monastery.

The battle where I wielded the huge cross-shaped wooden beams, tearing apart countless demons.

Although the Monastery became uninhabitable, all those demons were horribly mangled and driven back to Hell.

The Demon King opened its mouth in a growling tone, baring its teeth.

“Aren’t you… thinking about the consequences?”

“… What?”

“Aren’t you going to try to save Sola? Are you just going to give up on her like this?”

“Sola’s soul went to Hell… That’s what you said.”

“Ha, so? Since she went to Hell, you’re going to destroy this body along with me, who’s inhabiting it?”

“…”

The Demon King twisted its lips in a wide sneer.

Ridicule, no… It was a sneer close to contempt.

“It’s all your fault, you impudent Priest.”

“…”

“You knew that Sola was hearing my whispers, didn’t you?”

“…”

“Sola told you directly, didn’t she? She certainly asked for help too? That’s why you even had prayer time with her.”

That’s right.

She said she could hear a demon whispering, that she could hear a voice ridiculing her.

Sola had definitely told me that.

So, after every dinner, I used to practice controlling that voice with Sola through Mass and prayer.

“But recently, you haven’t been paying much attention to Sola, have you? Why was that?”

“…”

Honestly, there had been many incidents recently.

Paolo tried to do something terrible to Anna, and the next day, he suddenly disappeared.

Besides, there were the two nuns…

“… Dammit.”

Yes, my corruption is the biggest reason.

My situation and my inner self were so chaotic that I couldn’t bring myself to care about Sola.

The demon continued its taunts, as if trying to turn me inside out, pointing out exactly that part.

“Ah, right. You were busy fooling around, doing lewd things with the other nuns. Isn’t that so?”

“…”

I clenched my fist.

The way it was mocking my sin directly with Sola’s face was more shocking to me than I had expected.

I clenched my fists so hard that my fingernails dug into my palms.

My trembling fists were oozing divine power along with drops of blood.

Even with this much divine power, I couldn’t save Sola.

Because I was careless, because I was corrupted.

Because I didn’t care about her.

I couldn’t save Sola.

“Hahahahaha!”

The demon wearing Sola’s skin let out a wicked laugh, twisting its lips.

Then it began to wag its wicked tongue of mockery again.

“Ah, poor Sola. She was just waiting for the Priest to save her, but the Priest became aware of sex and ignored her.”

“…”

“Our good Sola hesitated to talk to the Priest because she seemed busy.”

“…”

“On the day you were screwing the second nun, she ended up being taken over by the demon.”

I heard a quiet gasp from the side.

It was Anna’s voice, who was forced to kneel and listen to all this conversation, crushed by the authority of the Demon King.

“That… that day?”

The day she seduced me,

The day I finally had intercourse with her.

Sola was taken over by this demon and fell into Hell.

“Ah, no… Sola!”

Tears streamed down from Anna’s eyes, which were lowered and frozen.

The fact that Sola had faced death alone at the moment she was having her momentous first experience seemed to be a huge shock to her.

Moreover, since Sola was like a younger sister she took care of for Anna, the shock she received seemed to be significant.

Lucia, though not as much as Anna, was also speechless in shock.

The two were desperately trying to move their bodies somehow, but their bodies only trembled, unable to move as if tightly wrapped in thick knots.

“Anna, Lucia. Get out of here. You can’t handle that demon.”

“F, Father… B, but.”

I opened my mouth in a low voice.

“I’ll do something about it.”

“… Huh?”

“It’s something I have to resolve. It’s my fault, it’s my job.”

I closed my eyes and put my hand on Anna’s head.

“It’s my fault. It’s not your fault.”

“… F, Father.”

Anna’s expression crumbled.

She lowered her head and burst into tears.

Lucia staggered to my side and asked in a trembling voice.

“What… Wh… What are you going to do?”

“…”

What am I going to do?

What can I do?

What kind of person was I originally?

I was a Priest. An Exorcist Priest, at that.

“The thing I’m best at.”

I’m corrupted.

I may not be qualified as a Priest, nor qualified to call myself a Father.

I may have disappointed the Goddess.

Even if my sins were served by fighting demons in Hell forever, I may not be able to wash them all away.

No matter what I do.

Salvation may not come to the two nuns whose purity was tainted by my hands, and to Sola who fell into Hell.

“I pray to the Goddess.”

Before I was corrupted, before I fell into confusion, before I was blinded by lust,

And before this world perishes,

Like then.

May the sacredness that dwelled within me not be tainted by my corruption,

May I still be a Priest.

“May those who yearn for the Goddess’s grace hear your voice as soon as possible.”

I took out the rosary from my bosom and wrapped it around my hand.

Blood soaked the rosary beads, and thick divine power swirled over the rosary, dyed red with my blood.

It would be a ghastly sight from the demon’s perspective.

I squeezed through the broken wall and rushed straight towards the demon’s body.

The demon, lying on the dirt floor, looked up at me and sneered.

“It’s useless, it’s useless! I told you before, those whores’ souls have already fallen into the clutches of the demons!”

“Shut up.”

“Go ahead and send me to Hell, I’ll make Sola suffer eternal torment. I’ll stab and pierce her soul with the most disgusting and filthy pus-filled knives, making hundreds more assholes out of her!”

“I said shut up,”

I slammed the fist wrapped in the rosary into the demon’s mouth.

With the other hand, I grabbed its collar so it couldn’t escape.

The demon spat a stream of black blood, reeking of stench, into my face.

I swung my fist again.

A gruesome cracking sound echoed through the air.

“It’s too late! It’s too late! No matter how much you beat me, Sola won’t come back!”

I nodded.

“Yeah, and you’re too late too.”

“What is this nonsense now.”

I shoved my fingers into the demon’s mouth.

And I pushed divine power into its throat, saying.

“I’ll tell you why the demons were so terrified of me.”

“…!”

Within the Goddess Order, I had quite a reputation as an Exorcist Priest, but I wasn’t the best Exorcist Priest.

The fact that I fought demons directly, hitting and getting hit, was highly valued, but

There were Demon Hunters outside the Goddess Order who had better performance than me, and there were also many Priests who specialized in relatively traditional Exorcism Rituals, which were not violent.

But, what about the aspect of pain?

“I’ll make you feel the pain Sola is going to suffer.”

The reason why demons fear me.

It’s not because I’m strong.

It’s because I make them suffer.

Lilith said.

I seemed to be a good fit for the Heretic Inquisitor too.

That’s not wrong.

How could I have found so many heretics when I was active?

“You know what?”

I tortured demons.

And I did it very well.

“Do demons cry when they’re in pain too?”