Chapter 91: The End of Holiness – 3

Chapter 91: The End of Holiness – 3

The battle was precarious.

Naturally, it was because I was so shaken.

Neither the barrier, nor support, nor anything was working properly.

I was simply attacking that girl, trapped in a quagmire of endless doubt, unable to trust anything.

At some point, my vision swayed violently, and my head felt numb.

I couldn’t immediately grasp what was happening, as if I had instinctively covered my own ears.

…After a brief moment, my numb head returned to normal, and my vision cleared, only then did I realize that the Inquisitor Commander had attacked me.

Even the girl, who was fighting the Inquisitor Commander, was looking on with a ‘what the hell is going on’ expression.

Thanks to that, all the questions about the church in my mind vanished, if only for a moment.

I had to exert all my efforts to understand this incomprehensible situation.

“I… Inquisitor Commander-nim?”

“Tsk! What are you still doing? Hurry up and assist!”

“N-no. But why me…?”

My voice trembled.

The Inquisitor Commander-nim I had known until now was someone who, no matter what, would never attack me unless I completely abandoned the church and became a heretic.

In the first place, wasn’t it ridiculous for the Commander of the inquisitors, chosen by the church to guard me, to attack me?

“It seems the Saintess-nim’s foolishness and confusion have reached their peak, and she is losing her consciousness to the heretic… This is merely a measure against that.”

“…Losing my consciousness to a heretic? Me?”

“That’s right. Haven’t you become like that damn heretic?”

…Like a heretic? Me?

I still believe that following ‘His’ will, believing in mercy, and spreading it across the continent is the meaning and mission of my existence.

But… like a heretic? Me?

I couldn’t understand. From the Inquisitor Commander-nim, no, from what the Inquisitor Commander called a heretic, to everything else.

It wasn’t just me who found this scene incomprehensible; the girl fighting the Inquisitor Commander also didn’t intervene in our conversation.

No, she didn’t even make any move to attack the Inquisitor Commander.

Suddenly, the Inquisitor Commander’s figure came into view again.

He was exerting almost his full power, pushing the girl back on his own.

It was only because his divine power was restricted by the magic circle, but in the park, which had virtually become flat ground, he would soon be the victor.

In the first place, he was one of the figures always mentioned when discussing the strongest in the church, so it was amazing that a girl like that had held out this long.

Next, the girl’s figure caught my eye.

A girl who knew an oddly great deal about the church, or more precisely, the dark side of the church that I didn’t know.

However, her condition was by no means good.

…Her face was covered in small scratches, her hands and arms were already singed and scraped, and her legs were visibly trembling from fatigue, but……

Despite that, the subtly glowing greatsword, still radiating its presence, showed that the girl intended to fight without retreating or compromising.

“…That’s enough, isn’t it? Why are you attacking a perfectly fine ally and causing a ruckus?”

“Shut up. I’m getting sick of hearing what comes out of that mouth.”

…Was it because I was looking at the girl?

When the girl opened her mouth, I half-unconsciously asked her a question.

It was a question that would put an end to the doubts I had been harboring in my heart.

“…Is it true, everything you said?”

“Saintess-nim!!”

The Inquisitor Commander yelled as if having a seizure, but he couldn’t do anything else.

Because the girl’s answer came before that.

“I’ll leave that to the Saintess-nim’s judgment. The Saintess-nim is also… one of the church’s dirtiest truths.”

Boom!

The next moment, a loud roar echoed.

The Inquisitor Commander, who had instantly flown, collided with the girl.

It was a blow that had greatly enhanced his body with divine power, and if it had been an ordinary person, they would have been crushed without even reacting.

However, the girl was not.

The Inquisitor Commander’s attack was, once again, blocked by the girl’s greatsword.

It wasn’t even a typical defensive stance.

It was a defensive technique with the intention of deflecting the enemy’s attack, not blocking it.

If done half-heartedly, it would have been worse than not doing it at all.

But, once again, the Inquisitor Commander’s attack was blocked by the girl’s silver greatsword.

“Alright, want to play a little longer? Give our poor Saintess-nim a little more time to think.”

“…Fine. I’ll have to tear you to shreds first.”

“Didn’t His Holiness the Pope explicitly say not to kill her?”

“His Holiness the Pope is not so petty as to be enraged by a mere ‘mistake’ that happens in the field.”

And as their conversation, which seemed to herald the resumption of hostilities, ended,

The familiar sound of breaking glass was heard.

…The girl’s silver greatsword was also, by then, emitting a cool, cold aura.

And, as expected, the next moment, mist rose to hinder the Inquisitor Commander’s approach and movement.

…Only this time, it was a little, no, quite a bit larger.

***

The girl’s mist covered the entire park.

It barely didn’t reach where I was… but it was still impossible to see anything properly.

…Once the sight of the battlefield disappeared, all that remained were the words the girl had spoken.

If what the girl said was true, then I was a Saintess who had never been chosen by God, but merely created by the church for its own purposes.

“At this point, what’s important… isn’t something like that, is it?”

No matter how the battle in that mist was unfolding, it was obvious that the target I designated for support magic would win.

My mind, and all the experiences ingrained in my body, were screaming that I should, of course, support the Inquisitor Commander.

But… a lingering uneasiness in a corner of my heart kept fueling my hesitation.

Does the church truly care about spreading God’s will? Was I merely a tool for propaganda?

Even now, the memory of that day is vivid.

The day my guards initiated an action and then asked me for permission.

…That they were targeting this girl even then. That they were going to such lengths just to deal with an individual who could barely put up a proper fight.

Writing a small note on the very last page, pretending that a minor incident occurred and permission was granted afterwards, was the most resistance I could offer.

…At this point, I was developing a human fondness for the girl fighting over there.

If I had already felt a fondness for her when I first saw her at the shop, it was even stronger now.

Perhaps, the girl was targeted not for any other reason, but because she knew too much about the dark side of the church.

Ultimately, to me, that girl was just a pitiful person who had inquisitors from the church suddenly invade, and even had it happen twice.

My experience and mind denied all the dark aspects of the church, but I concluded that at least not all of them could be false.

There were suspicious aspects of the church, such as vague memories and the existence of the archbishops.

Even if I didn’t believe it immediately, it wouldn’t be too late to investigate thoroughly and find out for myself.

“…The church always said to protect the wronged, the powerless, and the pitiful in the face of great power, you know. It’s truly laughable.”

However, that didn’t mean I could support the girl fighting the Inquisitor Commander right now.

…No, to be honest, it was because I still wasn’t entirely sure who was right.

I felt frustrated and pathetic with myself, but that was the reality.

I believed some of the girl’s words, but not enough to support her.

Therefore… my choice, in the end, was to stand by.

It was a truly pathetic conclusion, but there was nothing I could do.

…My body simply wouldn’t move to support the one whom the Inquisitor Commander and the church called a ‘heretic’.

Things that had been learned since childhood, things considered obvious in the church.

…Those things were holding me back.

……Until the very next moment, that was the case.

“…Have your thoughts still not properly cleared up, Saintess-nim?”

“……Inquisitor Commander-nim.”

“Haa… You know there’s no time. Please provide support quickly.”

However he broke through, the Inquisitor Commander was in front of me, having pierced through that cold, icy mist.

…He looked quite exhausted too, but compared to the girl, who looked like she could collapse at any moment, his condition was so good it was almost embarrassing to compare.

Suddenly, images of the girl kept coming to mind.

At the same time, I felt that, even if only a little… there was a desire in my heart for the girl not to be defeated.

Was it because of that, that instead of remaining silent or lying, I stated the conclusion of my thoughts?

“…No. I will merely observe.”

“…Saintess-nim?”

“In the first place, my job was just to create the barrier. It wasn’t entirely my own will to call that girl a heretic either.”

“Then, are you saying you’re defending the heretic now?”

“That’s not it either. I will simply faithfully maintain the barrier and observe.”

It was my first experience speaking my own thoughts.

It was a conclusion I had reached, not based on the church’s duties and will, but truly by thinking about what kind of place the church was.

…And perhaps because of that, I had thought, even if only slightly, that the Inquisitor Commander would agree with my thoughts.

……It was a huge misconception, though.

“Haa… How useless…”

“Excuse me?”

“Tsk. I was saying that because of your foolishness, as soon as I return to the church, we’ll have to kill you and appoint a new Saintess.”

“W-what do you mean…?”

“A Saintess who is supposed to move for the church’s propaganda and for the church, in this state. There have been similar cases, but you are the worst in history.”

Cold, emotionless, exactly the tone the Inquisitor Commander usually used when dealing with helpless heretics before him.

…Except for the girl, who was not helpless and rather provoked him, but anyway.

Now, he… saw me as nothing more or less than a heretic to be killed.

And as proof…

Thwack!

The Inquisitor Commander’s foot struck my body.

Caught off guard, I tumbled miserably to the ground.

Regaining my senses and looking up, I saw the Inquisitor Commander merely staring at me.

“……Ha, haha. So, what that girl said was true?”

“At least the fact that you were never chosen by God, but created solely by the church and for the church, is true.”

“……”

“Alright, then I’ll give you a choice. Since you are still a Saintess, will you die honorably here now and be declared a martyr during the extermination of heretics later,

Or will you return to the church and die after being denounced as an unprecedented villainess and heretic?”

Either way, the meaning that I was to die didn’t change.

…The Inquisitor Commander’s eyes were emotionless.

……It was a coldness that made it hard to believe he was the one who had considered me his charge and struggled to protect me.

“Oh, and I’d like you to know that this is a private consideration for you, who is still a Saintess.”

“……”

“If you don’t have an answer, I’ll do what’s convenient for me.”

And with that, the Inquisitor Commander’s flail came flying towards me with the sound of cutting through the wind.

…Resistance? I could, but everything felt meaningless.

I had already expended a lot of energy maintaining the barrier, and my divine power was on the verge of depletion.

Even physically, I was being pushed back by the Inquisitor Commander.

‘A charge dying at the hands of their guard, how ironic.’

So, I felt everything and waited for the Inquisitor Commander’s flail.

Time felt long.

At the same time, perhaps because I was facing death, my thoughts about the church were completely sorted out.

“Any last words?”

“You are the ones… who defile ‘His’ name, nothing but heretics.”

…Next in my sight was the Inquisitor Commander’s flail, aimed precisely at my head.