Ch.109Misconception

It was a day like any other.

I don’t know what others might have thought, but at least Christine believed so.

As the expression “believed” suggests, that was true until just a moment ago.

Which also meant that it was no longer the case now.

“……”

Her yellow-tinged eyes stared at the heretic who had interrupted her prayer with a gaze filled with intense hatred.

Despite being glared at with murderous intent by a nun who had already torn apart more than dozens of humans with her bare hands as if they were mere pieces of paper, the target of that hatred and killing intent merely accepted it impassively.

Christine was in a moderately deep forest.

A stronghold of heretics who believed in strange gods rather than the true God, and pagans who bowed to idols and recited blasphemous prayers.

Christine was in the midst of prayer, hands clasped before her ample bosom, her entire body drenched in blood.

Around her lay scattered chunks of meat in various positions that could hardly be called human even as a courtesy.

The chapel that the pagans had built with some semblance of form had been completely destroyed and reduced to miserable ruins, and the idols they had erected were shattered into pieces rolling on the ground.

The heretics who had been preparing offerings for their god repented their sins with their own tears and offered themselves to the true God.

It was fortunate that her God possessed a merciful character. He was one who could embrace even such pagans with infinite love if they repented their sins.

It was truly something to be grateful for.

Not far from the chapel, a kind of hill had formed in the grass, made up of hundreds of carelessly piled human arms and legs.

The human blood thoroughly soaked into the soil beneath clearly showed how long those limbs had been left abandoned.

The chunks of meat left at moderate room temperature should have begun to decay with a sweet smell as they usually would, but Christine’s boundless divine power never allowed such a thing to happen.

These were offerings to be presented to her God. Christine would never let offerings meant for God decay.

Normally, it would be impossible to prevent the decay of rotting meat at room temperature and maintain its freshness with divine power.

Divine power was a force that purified the wicked and heretical, not one that prevented the decay of dead organisms.

Perhaps if that rotten meat had turned into undead, then it could be purified.

However, the origin of the divine power flowing from Christine was based on her faith. If she wished, she could even change its very essence.

As long as Christine firmly believed that the offerings she presented must never decay, the torn and ripped pieces of flesh would absolutely never rot.

Her faith and belief were powers that could twist even the laws and principles of the world.

Despite being forcibly torn from the torso hours ago, the cross-sections of bone and muscle maintained a deep crimson color as if freshly ripped.

The only objects that explained the passage of time were the blood clots that had thoroughly soaked the surrounding grass and trees before partially drying up here and there.

The torso, missing both arms and both legs, rolled on the ground with a hole in the neck area and a burst-open back.

The sight of the body with arms, legs, and even the spine removed, leaving only a lump of flesh, was almost pitiful.

Naturally, the spine and head that should have been attached to the body were neatly arranged in a row in another corner.

All were the results of Christine’s classification according to their purpose.

“You beast with black blood, you dare to blaspheme my God.”

However, Christine now had no mind to spare for her handiwork.

All her attention was focused solely on the black-blooded demon before her eyes.

On this mere beast, so hated by her God that He had ordered all of them killed, which dared to speak human language and blaspheme against God.

Her delicate hands were no longer clasped before her ample bosom in prayer. Nor were they gently pressing against that bosom.

They were simply clenched tightly, trembling with nowhere to direct her hatred.

“Hmm… I guess I’ve really become too weak? It’s a bit much that black-blooded demons are falling to the likes of religious zealots.”

Not far from Christine stood a humanoid black-blooded demon.

Strangely, its appearance was closer to human than the black-blooded demon Serena had faced.

The pupils that had been barely visible were now large enough to faintly make out their outline.

The tongue long enough to reach the forehead when fully extended and the teeth protruding like saw blades remained the same, but the mouth that had been split to the ears had now shrunk to just slightly larger than that of an ordinary human.

Its height, which had been so tall that even the relatively tall Serena had to look up at it, had become small enough that Christine, who could not even be described as tall by any stretch, only had to raise her head slightly to meet its eyes.

The skin that had been like armor also seemed to have become more pliable, like animal hide, and indeed it had.

However, its hardness had not diminished at all. If anything, it could be said to have become even harder.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. My power will fully return soon enough.”

But the most bizarre thing was something else.

Despite clearly having the appearance of a monster, it opened its mouth and spoke. Moreover, its manner of speech was extremely feminine.

Although its speech pattern was largely feminine, the voice itself was grotesque, like metal being scraped. It was a voice that sent chills down the spine of anyone who heard it.

The voice was incredibly grotesque, yet the speech pattern was normal.

The discrepancy created a considerable sense of dissonance, but for Christine, who had lost her senses to anger, it was just as well.

That thing had insulted her God. That was the only fact that mattered to her now.

Even if her God were to call Christine a whore with nothing but obscene fat, she would gladly affirm what her God had said.

She would have even tried to make those words true by approaching God on her knees, completely naked like the prostitutes mixed among the pagans she had killed countless times, spreading her legs and acting coquettishly.

But it was entirely different when others insulted her.

Because Christine had been personally chosen by her God.

Her God had personally selected her, personally bestowed grace upon her, and personally promised salvation, vowing to guide her to their private heaven when her earthly mission was complete.

Therefore, insulting Christine was no different from insulting the God who had chosen her.

It was truly an act deserving of divine punishment.

“And… I just don’t like you for some reason.”

The black-blooded demon growled. As it growled, the surroundings gradually began to rot. The air took on a toxic quality, and the soil melted away.

Christine responded in kind. Divine power smoldering up purified all heresy it touched and spread in all directions.

“That god you’re talking about, I feel like it might be someone I know. I just have that feeling. If this feeling is true, I will never give you a clean death. I’ll tear you apart, heal you, tear you apart again, heal you again, until your mind is shattered into pieces, and then throw you to the demons as a toilet for their sexual urges, so be prepared.”

Christine silently lowered her waist slightly. There were no more words to exchange with such a heretic. She bent her knees to lower her posture a bit, then sprang forward, leaving deep cracks in the ground.

Because she had not acted in time, her God had been insulted. This was a terrible sin. She had to kill that thing as quickly as possible and offer prayers of repentance.

Divine power, a mixture of white and yellow, surged on Christine’s back, forming a pair of wings. The wings spread magnificently from side to side. A few feathers made of divine power fluttered down.

Her entire body was covered in divine power. The path the nun passed through was immediately purified and oxidized into a handful of ash.

The black-blooded demon watched this without avoiding or retreating. It simply calmly observed the charging Christine.

However, the time it could do so was very short.

This was Christine charging with rage in her eyes. Though not as fast as Charlotte or Serena when they deliberately used physical enhancement, she could easily surpass the perception speed of ordinary demons.

Soon, Christine’s fist struck the left side of the black-blooded demon’s face. The demon, taking the punch head-on, flew off and rolled on the ground.

Yes, it flew off and rolled on the ground.

Seeing this, Christine hesitated momentarily with a puzzled expression.

Its head had not exploded.

The yellow eyes looked down at her right hand that had just punched the monster’s face. Her right hand, covered in divine power, trembling with overflowing anger that she could not contain.

She had clearly struck with enough force to burst its head in one blow, yet all the heretic did was fly backward.

Christine’s strength could make the ground ripple like water and uproot the bedrock that formed the earth.

Yet despite striking with all her might enhanced by divine power, the creature had merely been sent flying.

She couldn’t understand it.

“Ah… I see now.”

While Christine froze momentarily at the unexpected outcome, the black-blooded demon that had been slammed into the ground got up.

The impact had not been without effect; the right side of its face where the punch had landed was completely sunken, and the skin was slowly burning away due to the residual divine power.

“You’re not an ordinary religious zealot, are you?”

However, the wound reversed itself with a single gesture from the black-blooded demon. Even the divine power that had been burning its skin disappeared completely.

Seeing this, tears streamed down Christine’s face. They were tears filled with emotion of sorrow.

“Oh, my God. Was my faith lacking? Was my devotion insufficient? Why do you present such a trial to your lamb?”

“I see, that explains it. No matter how weak I’ve become, these shouldn’t be the kind of opponents who die so easily. It wasn’t that I became weaker, but that you, religious zealot, are different from the ordinary ones. This is absurd. What is this? I thought I had destroyed all significant threats. Have I been secluded for too long? I recently released black blood but failed because of some magic-using woman. At that time, I couldn’t even form my shape and ran out of power, so that’s understandable. The first one I created this time was also a failure, getting cut up by some sword-wielding woman.”

“I am sorry, I beg for forgiveness. Please, please may God calm His anger. I, Christine, if my God wishes, would many times—”

A bizarre dialogue continued. No, calling what was unfolding a dialogue would be a great disrespect to the word.

It could not be called a dialogue when both sides were not listening to each other at all and merely spouting their own words.

Christine was busy seeking forgiveness from her God with tears streaming down her face, while the black-blooded demon was busy muttering something.

As her prayer of repentance seeking forgiveness from her God continued, the wings of divine power that had surged from Christine’s back blazed even more intensely.

If they had been just slightly larger than her body before, now they had grown much longer than Christine’s height.

The divine power bursting from the wings grew even stronger. Yellow-tinged white flames began to cover and purify all surrounding objects.

“You’re definitely not an ordinary religious zealot. But why? Looking at you makes me feel extremely bad. It’s strange. Really strange. It’s different from when I see other religious zealots. Why? Why? Hm? What’s the reason? Is it because you’re overwhelmingly stronger than other religious zealots? No. I’ll win anyway. Why on earth—”

The black-blooded demon’s words abruptly stopped there.

The nearby ground melted, pushing away even Christine’s divine power.

“You, who is this god of yours?”