Ch.111Chapter 111. Armchair Chosen One (3)

Chapter 111. Basement Chosen (3)

Our group headed toward the collapsed building.

Half of us were driven by a small hope that there might be survivors, and half by curiosity about what could have caused the collapse.

“…Is this a religious facility? A cathedral perhaps?”

Noah looked around curiously. It was literally a building resembling a church. With a winged woman depicted on the slightly cracked glass window, it was probably a goddess church cathedral.

Could people hiding in the church have been attacked?

This place is quite far from where Basement Chosen mentioned. It’s probably not the cathedral where she and other believers would be.

Hmm. Something seems strange. Was this cathedral attacked too?

Is it a coincidence that cathedrals in different regions were attacked? …Could demons be specifically targeting churches?

“There are no living beings nearby.”

Lakye confirmed with perked ears. Let’s check it out anyway.

– Let’s go inside.

With Lakye taking the lead, we entered the cathedral.

It was filled with broken glass shards, shattered objects, and decaying human corpses. Flies, insects, and maggots crawled over them. A horrific scene.

“The, the smell is a bit… ugh.”

Noah held his nose and gagged. He seemed used to seeing corpses as he didn’t turn away.

At times like this, I think losing my sense of smell isn’t entirely bad. I can no longer smell delicious food, but I can’t eat anyway since I don’t have a mouth.

I’m reminded of when I manifested as true Malak. Back then, every deep breath brought in all sorts of smells.

“These are followers of the goddess religion.”

Lakye dispassionately examined their bodies.

– This wasn’t demons’ doing.

They wouldn’t leave corpses behind. Actually, they might not even need to kill people.

They wouldn’t throw away opportunities to create worshippers who could offer sacrifices.

“There are stab wounds. It might have been a conflict between civilized factions.”

– …

The concept of “raiders” suddenly came to mind. Common in apocalypse genres, they’re people who kill other survivors, enslave them, and take their supplies.

If this were an ordinary zombie apocalypse world or one destroyed by nuclear war, there might be many raiders. But this is a demon apocalypse world.

It’s a world where living people are already scarce due to demon massacres and brainwashing. Raiders can only exist if there are many survivor groups, large and small.

I don’t see why they would need to kill or attack each other.

…Though according to the user ‘TrustedMonkeyMan,’ that’s not entirely true. That user is probably still having a standoff with the family who claimed the cave first.

“Wow…”

Paya was looking at the mural painted on the ceiling. She seems really fascinated. Is this her first time seeing a mural painted by civilized people?

Well, it must also be her first time entering a cathedral. From her perspective, it would be a blasphemous place.

Let me take a look too.

It’s a painting of a young female knight with silver or white hair, riding a winged unicorn and confronting another being. The opponent is a knight wearing ash-gray armor.

It was more sophisticated than the crude murals drawn by barbarians. The colors were also used well, making it quite colorful.

Looking at the chest areas of their armor, each had a different emblem. Does this represent some kind of religious war?

“Oh…!”

Noah, who had been peering at something, frowned when he saw the mural.

– What’s wrong?

“Ah, it’s nothing. It just looks like a mural I’ve seen somewhere.”

You’ve seen a mural like this before? Where exactly?

“Actually, I’m not sure. It just feels familiar somehow. Like I’ve seen it before…”

Noah couldn’t answer clearly when I asked. What’s this about? It’s very suspicious.

I asked Paya and Lakye too, but they both said they’d never seen it before.

While that makes sense for these two barbarians, Noah has been with the tribal federation since falling into this world. He shouldn’t have visited a goddess church cathedral.

…Could it be?

I took a picture of the mural and sent it to Hanna in a private message.

[NotACatfish: What’s this now]

She replies immediately. Must be her free time.

[NotACatfish: Huh?]

[NotACatfish: This picture looks familiar?]

She’s reacting just like Noah.

[NotACatfish: Where did you take this picture?]

[Cathedral]

[Do you remember where you’ve seen it?]

The reply came after a few minutes.

[NotACatfish: …No]

[NotACatfish: I definitely know it, I’ve definitely seen it, but I can’t quite place it]

Am I the only one who doesn’t know because I’m possessing Roa?

It’s strange that only those possessed by paladins have this reaction. Did the goddess forcibly insert this mural into the minds of the possessed?

What’s so special about this mural?

Finding it suspicious, I transferred my consciousness to Totem 1 and asked Harry, the tribal federation’s top intellectual.

When I roughly described the mural, he understood. Ah, before speaking, I mentioned that my memories from before descending were incomplete.

He might think it strange that even a god wouldn’t know this.

“You’ve seen the mural of the hero.”

– The hero.

Wait, there was such a being? Suddenly feels like a traditional fantasy.

“One who is said to have crossed from another dimension at the call of Goddess Ishtania to save the world.

As a figure from the mythical era, I don’t know the details. Perhaps high-ranking members of the goddess religion would know. Like the pope.”

Isn’t that just a paladin? Why is only that woman called a hero?

I’ve wondered before: ‘How do the inhabitants of this world understand paladins?’ I asked both civilized people and barbarians without discrimination.

Various answers came up, but to summarize:

1. Beings chosen by Goddess Ishtania. They can use the goddess’s power, making them a great threat to demons.

2. They lack basic common sense because they’ve spent a long time in the goddess’s dimension learning only how to handle divine power.

3. Beings who suffer from schizophrenia in exchange for superhuman strength. They occasionally say strange words or exhibit unusual behavior.

That’s roughly what they knew. No one knew that paladins came from another dimension.

So it’s even more strange. There’s a hero with the title “one who came from another dimension,” yet no one thought of paladins as otherworlders.

Did the goddess use some strange power to hinder recognition? Well, she can even cause dimensional travel, so nothing would be surprising.

– Who is the one confronting her?

“The Demon King, an avatar of the evil god Shamishur. Like the hero, he’s a figure from the mythical era. I heard he tried to conquer the world leading forces that worship the evil god, the Demon King’s army, but was killed by the hero. All of this is only known through records.”

Evil god Shamishur. So there are other gods besides the goddess and Roas. Or rather, there were.

Harry said that Shamishur lost his influence on the earth after losing his avatar, the Demon King. He might have been banished by the goddess.

“It wasn’t just necromancers or demons who tried to bring about the end. Only the demons succeeded, though.”

It’s just an ordinary hero and demon king story, so why is it in the memories of paladins?

This keeps getting weirder. I probed further.

“Ahem.”

Harry, sitting in his chair, started talking about something I hadn’t even asked.

Ah, I shouldn’t have asked. I brought this disaster upon myself.

“There’s a theory that the goddess is an invader from another world, and Shamishur was actually the guardian deity of the original humans, specifically the civilized people. This hypothesis was proposed by those who persistently investigated why the goddess was once called the ‘Playful God.’

History is written by the victors, so it might not be such a foolish delusion.”

So he says.

That part was interesting, but the story that followed seemed pointless, so I cut it off and returned to Totem 3.

The old man sure can talk.

“Malak sir, I’ve found strange creatures.”

Lakye dragged in two corpses. They looked like a mix between human and reptile… yes, like reptilians.

Since the corpses didn’t disappear, they weren’t demons, but what were they? Infected beings wouldn’t have the intelligence to wear human clothes.

They’re definitely not worshippers who underwent mutations. These creatures’ blood is red.

Could they be barbarians who received blessings from other Roas and changed their appearance, like Ashana or Black Coral tribe members?

That’s strange too. If they were barbarians, they would have taken their comrades’ bodies with them, if only because of their customs regarding the afterlife.

Was the situation that urgent?

Anyway, it seems clear that these unidentified creatures attacked the cathedral.

“Toughie has recovered a lot. Shall we depart?”

– Let’s do that.

The mural familiar to paladins, the hero and demon king, evil god Shamishur, lizard people.

I don’t have time to worry about this now. Rescuing Basement Chosen, the pope, and the believers takes priority.

So I left the cathedral with many unanswered questions.

It’s been a while since my head felt this complicated.