Ch.176Sun

Christine realized she had been under a grave misunderstanding all along.

She had thought that merely extracting new concepts from past events and accepting divine power into her soul would be enough to defeat the heretic who had stolen her god.

By Christine’s standards—whose threshold for strength had risen tremendously—she had become incomparably powerful after accepting the divinity of the past.

She could tear through space with her bare hands and perform acts that could only be called miracles without breaking a sweat.

Christine’s power came from faith and belief; by accepting the power bestowed by her god, her divine force grew stronger, which naturally strengthened her faith and belief, creating a cycle where her power continuously increased.

Though the other two heretics who constantly opposed her seemed to have accomplished something—their auras had clearly changed—she had no doubt that she would ultimately emerge victorious.

However, Christine soon changed her mind.

It wasn’t that gaining this power meant she could win; rather, gaining this power merely allowed her to establish a barely equal fight.

“GRAAAAARGH!”

“GRRRRRR!”

Pushing aside the howls of demons coming from all directions, Christine drove her fist into the demon before her.

Or rather, “swung” might be a more appropriate description. The demon evaporated from the divine force surrounding her body before her fist could even make contact, leaving Christine’s hand to slice through empty air.

The aftermath of her punch, merely brushing through the air, melted dozens of demons rushing in from behind. Their remaining bodies, unable to overcome inertia, tangled with each other and tumbled across the ground.

Christine immediately halted her arm and raised her elbow, thrusting it into the stomach of a demon on the opposite side. The same thing happened again.

The demon targeted by her direct attack burned away before her elbow could touch its abdomen, and dozens more demons behind it helplessly crumpled, reverting to mere liquid.

The next attack followed immediately. Christine raised her foot to knee height and stomped down with all her might, making a thunderous sound.

Shockwaves burst out in all directions. The demons that had been packed tightly all around were pushed back and collapsed, temporarily creating silence around Christine.

Again, the demons directly hit by the shockwave didn’t survive. White flames tinged with yellow blazed in various places, continuing the purification.

The pair of wings on her back emitted a brilliant light. Thousands of demons fully bathed in that light perished without even being able to scream.

“KYAAAAAAAH!”

“KIEEEEEK!”

But no matter how many of their comrades died, the creatures refused to give up and kept charging forward. The space around Christine that had been emptied began filling with demons again.

Since she had unleashed her killing intent after hearing the heretic’s provocation, the number of demons Christine had slain already far exceeded one hundred thousand.

Dozens died with a single gesture, hundreds evaporated with one kick, and thousands of demons were purified and disappeared when divine explosions occurred—making one hundred thousand a conservative estimate at best.

At minimum, she must have killed at least this many.

Nevertheless, the number of demons filling the horizon to capacity showed no signs of decreasing; if anything, they seemed to be increasing.

‘Where is that heretic?’

Christine searched for Olivia while triggering a divine explosion toward the approaching demons, wiping out the entire area. She hadn’t come here to clean up these low-level demons.

The fact that even a single one of these black-blooded demons could drive a kingdom to near destruction meant little to Christine.

All that mattered was tearing apart the heretic who had dared to harm her god, by any means necessary.

“Are you trying to hinder me?”

A massive wolf-like demon lunged at her with its jaws wide open. Its mouth was enormous enough to swallow Christine whole and still have room to spare.

Whether because it was created solely to kill the woman before it or for some other reason, it showed no concern as its hide began to burn away from the divine force.

Christine grabbed the wolf’s muzzle as it approached within arm’s reach. The area where her hand touched melted away as if evaporating, naturally allowing Christine’s arm to slide into the creature’s head.

Next, she raised her foot and stomped on its lower jaw. The teeth instantly crumbled, and the entire lower jaw collapsed. A small shockwave burst forth, shattering everything in the surrounding area.

The protruding snout no longer retained its original form. The upper jaw had melted away at Christine’s touch, and the lower jaw had been shattered by her foot.

Even in this state, the black-blooded demon frantically tried to bite Christine, finally ceasing its movements and collapsing to the ground only after she swung her arm and completely annihilated the upper part of its head.

“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’re tired already?”

Christine’s body flinched at the mocking voice of the heretic that pierced her ears. Not because it had struck a nerve, but because hearing that voice filled her with unbearable rage.

Christine triggered another divine explosion to clear her surroundings and tried to locate the heretic, but the massive size of the demons made it difficult to secure a clear view.

So she decided to change her strategy.

If she couldn’t confirm her opponent’s location from the ground, she would simply rise to the sky.

“Though I walk through the dark valley of tribulation, I know that my God is by my side.”

As the prayer was recited, the pair of wings on her back glowed with a sacred light. Several black-blooded demons that had been charging mindlessly toward Christine melted away on the spot.

The demons whose bodies exceeded the size of buildings had a brief grace period before completely disappearing even when directly exposed to divine force, so they reached out or leaped up in attempts to grab Christine.

Of course, it was futile. They vanished from the world, engulfed in purifying flames before they could even touch Christine.

Having soared high into the sky, Christine brought both hands together before her chest and quietly offered a prayer to her god.

In an instant, the sky cleared.

Warm sunlight pierced through the gaps in the black mana. Sunlight had appeared in a world without a sun.

This was a world created by Olivia, so there was no reason for a sun to be hanging in the sky. The only thing that existed in this world’s sky was black mana.

But for Christine, who had soared into the void with wings spread wide and hands clasped in prayer before her chest, sunlight was undeniably shining down, penetrating through the black mana.

It could only be described as a miracle.

“Therefore, come forth and walk. For God exists by your side, and in His grace you shall find rest.”

The divine force enveloping Christine’s body grew even stronger. The sunlight that had pierced through the black mana gradually intensified.

The black-blooded demons trampled over each other, building towers with their bodies in desperate attempts to reach Christine, but the erupting divine force would not tolerate such behavior.

The range in which demons were purified and disappeared grew wider. At the center, Christine still had her eyes closed, continuing to offer prayers to her god.

“Your God rejoices in your faithfulness. You too shall joyfully approach God and bow your head before Him.”

Behind Christine, who continued her prayer, another pair of wings appeared.

The original pair and the newly formed pair, now totaling four wings, received sacred energy and spread wide to the left and right.

Now, from both Christine’s perspective and that of the black-blooded demons, the area being purified had expanded so much that they appeared as mere dots to each other.

“God knows all that you have done.”

A concentrated light source burst forth, dyeing everything in light. It was so intense that one might mistake it for the sun descending to earth.

The sky cleared completely.

“That is why I shall not fear.”

Christine, who had purified every place touched by divine force, unclasped her hands from prayer and opened her eyes. No longer could she hear the demons’ howls.

Though all the demons had melted away from the divine force, the heretic whom Christine hated most remained perfectly intact, looking at her with interested eyes.

Of course, that’s how it should be. That one had to be torn apart by Christine’s own hands.

“Hmm… I knew divine force and black mana were opposites, but I didn’t expect it to dissolve everything. It’s annoying to have to snap my fingers again.”

“Ah, my God. Have you answered the call of this humble lamb? Thank you. Thank you.”

If a celestial being were to descend to earth, it would surely take this form.

With a halo shining above her head and two pairs of wings fluttering behind her back as she prayed to a transcendent being, Christine looked nothing short of an angel.

Tears streamed down Christine’s cheeks. It was because she felt her god within the fragments of the immense divine force. A truly warm and reassuring sensation.

Watching Christine, Olivia’s face hardened coldly.

“Your God? You still haven’t come to your senses, have you?”