Ch.149The World After Defeat – 4

Christine’s faith was in a boy.

Believing in a god who would descend to earth to save her, and offering infinite faith to that god. Belief in god was essentially Christine’s faith and salvation.

However, regardless of such firm belief, the boy was merely a human with regenerative abilities, not a god.

Although his essence gradually expanded into something different due to Christine’s fanatical belief deifying him, the boy’s fundamental nature remained human.

Moreover, the current boy did not believe in god, nor did he bestow any divine power upon Christine. The relationship between Christine and the boy was simply one where one side offered unilateral faith.

Then, what if.

If there had been a being to whom the boy offered his faith.

How would Christine perceive that being?

Christine barely regained consciousness a full day later.

Moving her hand that could barely muster any strength, she somehow managed to gather her sprawled body and fix the disheveled hem of her nun’s habit, forcibly bringing her trembling legs together.

Divine power that Christine could hardly bear was still leaking from behind the flung-open wooden door.

Christine wanted to cry. Having witnessed such an overwhelming amount of divine power before her eyes, it was difficult to compose her emotions.

She didn’t have the courage to proceed beyond the door. The best she could do was bury her head to the ground, pressing her body flat against the floor while desperately clinging to consciousness.

One wrong move, and she might faint again.

“Ah, aaaaah…”

They say humans become unable to speak properly when experiencing unbearable shock, their throats constricting. This described Christine’s current state perfectly.

Right before her eyes was a holy relic left by her god—a concentration of divine power that defied comparison with her own. Christine couldn’t bring herself to approach it.

She could only kneel before its strength, bow her head to its divinity, shield her eyes from its radiance, and shed tears at its holiness.

Christine spent another full day lying flat on the ground with her head buried. Only then could she barely, just barely, lift her head.

Sunlight was shining in the middle of the wooden room.

Whether this sunlight truly penetrated the surrounding brick walls or was made to appear as sunlight through some divine power didn’t matter.

Only how it appeared to Christine’s eyes was important.

“This is… what God left behind…”

At the center where the sunlight shone was an altar. It was a rectangular altar carved from a massive piece of marble, adorned with various patterns.

The holy relic was positioned at the exact center of this altar. A holy relic placed at the center of an altar in the middle of a room at the heart of the magic tower—it was the perfect repository.

Christine approached the altar on her knees. Her movements were extremely cautious, fearing she might somehow defile the holy relic.

Though she had collected all items left behind by the boy, she had never seen a holy relic exuding such overwhelming divine power. Her body wouldn’t stop trembling.

Only when the distance between them narrowed to within arm’s reach did Christine realize what the object on the altar actually was.

The holy relic was a bandage.

A bandage with dried bloodstains and soot marks in places, as if it had been used to wrap something. That was the identity of the holy relic. It appeared quite long.

Christine was certain the moment she saw it. Without doubt, this bandage was the holy relic her god had commanded her to find. This wasn’t something she understood intellectually but realized in her heart.

With her arms trembling uncontrollably, she forcibly reached out and carefully cradled the bandage from the altar with both hands. The moment her fingers made contact with the bandage, pure divine power shot through her spine.

She felt it.

The immense faith her god had held. The belief her god had possessed.

All of it.

“Hic… huu… sniff…”

Tears burst forth involuntarily due to the fragments of faith transmitted from the bandage—faith that her god had once held. Warm liquid streamed down her cheeks.

Christine had no way of knowing why the holy relic left by her god took the form of a bandage.

She could only convince herself that there must be a reason.

Tears soon turned to ecstasy. From the moment she grasped the holy relic, divine power surged through Christine’s entire body. Her whole body burned hot, and she struggled to contain the overflowing power.

The boy had been a human who, simply by existing, supplied Christine with divine power capable of disrupting laws and creating worlds.

Then, what would happen when Christine received a holy relic that was evidence of the boy’s faith required no explanation.

“Hnnngh…”

Eventually, Christine collapsed on the spot, unable to endure the divine power flowing through her body. Her exhaled breath was filled with moist warmth.

Even when she rubbed her thighs as instinct dictated, her heated body wouldn’t easily cool down. Rather, the action seemed to make her burn even hotter.

Just as Christine was about to slip her hand between her legs, unable to bear the heat any longer.

“The, the holy relic…”

The bandage cradled in her arms began to move on its own. Startled, Christine tried to grab it, but soon realizing its intention, she obediently knelt down.

The bandage wrapped around Christine’s eyes. It was an incredibly gentle and warm touch.

“Ah…”

Paradoxically, with her eyes covered, her surroundings became clearer. She wondered if her eyes were truly covered at all.

Along with this came a sense of comfort, as if being embraced by god.

The divine power that had been tormenting Christine’s body and adding strength at will had somehow calmed down. Her lower abdomen, which had been on the verge of thrashing from uncontrollable ecstasy, became peaceful.

It was a miracle.

A great miracle bestowed in response to Christine’s sincere belief and faith.

All her flowing tears were absorbed by the bandage. Frantically feeling around her eyes at the thought that her dirty tears might have soiled the holy relic, she found the cloth covering her eyes still dry.

Despite tears clearly flowing and the bandage absorbing them all, it remained dry—if this wasn’t a miracle, what was?

After offering a brief four-hour prayer, Christine left the room where the holy relic had been kept. Though her eyes were closed, there was no difference from having them open. It was remarkable.

She examined various parts of the magic tower while retracing her steps downward. The interior of the tower was still empty. This was quite unexpected.

Having just obtained the holy relic, she had wanted to slaughter all heretics who had entered this sacred shrine and offer them as sacrificial gifts to god in gratitude.

“Not entering this sacred shrine? Have those foolish heretics finally gained enlightenment? Have they come to believe that God’s possessions must never be defiled? Ah, my God, I thank you for your infinite grace.”

With the space-folding magic that had disguised the tower as an ordinary mansion now broken due to mana nullification, it was natural that the towering magic tower was fully exposed.

The defensive magic controlling entry had suffered the same fate as the space-folding magic due to mana nullification, and Christine had torn off the adamantium door.

Anyone wishing to enter the magic tower could have done so easily.

Yet there was no sign of human intrusion in the tower. Considering the fundamental human trait of curiosity, this was impossible.

Normally, Christine wouldn’t have cared about such things, but this magic tower was different. It was a shrine housing a holy relic, after all. She couldn’t help but be concerned.

Christine slowly stepped down to the lower floor. The scenery of the first floor showed little difference from when she first arrived.

Although she had burst into tears upon entering the tower, feeling the divine power emanating from the holy relic, she still remembered the scenery. The appearance of the first floor matched exactly with her memory.

Even with her senses tremendously amplified by the holy relic, she couldn’t find any trace of intrusion.

Regrettably, she would have to find sacrifices outside. Christine left the magic tower. It had been over two days since she entered.

“You were waiting outside.”

As soon as she exited the tower, she encountered knights in silver armor. The knights stood guard in front of the magic tower with swords at their waists, standing at attention.

At the front was a female knight with fiery red hair, and to her left and right were female knights with plain hair colors, spaced at intervals forming a kind of boundary line.

They were the royal knights.

Beyond the knights were crowds of people gazing at the magic tower with curious eyes. Seeing those filthy eyes looking at the shrine, she felt the urge to pluck them all out.

As Christine emerged from the magic tower with her eyes covered by a bandage stained with blood and soot, wearing a nun’s habit, someone pointed at her, naturally drawing everyone’s attention.

The red-haired female knight called out to calm the crowd and approached Christine.

It was Alesia.

“Excuse me. You came out from inside this tower, right? If you’re a nun, may I ask which religion you belong to? We’re a bit confused since this tower suddenly appeared.”

Christine let Alesia’s words go in one ear and out the other. From the moment she saw the crowd, her mind was filled only with thoughts of offering them as sacrifices.

Just as she was about to raise her fist and draw divine power, believing this would please her god, she heard someone whispering firmly in her ear.

—No, you must not.

Her body flinched. She turned her head and looked around, but there was no one who could have spoken to her. Everyone was just murmuring while looking at Christine.

—Such acts are not right.

“Wh-who…?”

Christine stammered without realizing it.

Her mind felt strange.

Despite it being a woman’s voice that she utterly despised, and despite it not being her god yet warning her with a resolute voice, strangely, she felt no negative emotions.

Rather, she felt as if she should follow what the voice said, just as she would obey her god.

—All humans deserve to be treated with compassion.

With those words, bright divine power leaked from Christine’s body, enveloping the surroundings.

The eyes of everyone touched by the divine power began to lose focus. Christine was bewildered. This was the first time she had used divine power in such a way.

For Christine, divine power was merely something to wrap around her body to draw greater strength, or to emit as flames of judgment and purification to burn heretics.

She had never even considered using divine power without harming someone.

As Christine stood dazed by this sensation she had never experienced before in her life, the voice, now gentler, whispered in her ear once more.

—You may go now.

Christine stepped forward as if entranced.

Without properly deciding where to go, simply following where the voice led her.