Ch.178Chapter 178. The Angel’s Guidance

Those who wander in search of salvation dreaming of ideals is a common sight no matter where you go.

For such people, the vampires who ruled them from behind the scenes were also part of their misfortune, so they would have wanted to eliminate them quickly.

If they showed great value as the ultimate material for pursuing their ideals, they would certainly have wanted to seize that opportunity.

“How foolish, utterly foolish. A being who was merely lucky enough to be born special, trying to reach for the heavens just because a group of people came to depend on them…”

Whether it was intentional or went out of control, the result was this demonic realm we see now.

The man who had shared fragments of that process with me concluded his story with a final lament.

“Why did they think they would be exempt from being crushed by the harshness of this era? Why did they not realize that the desperate struggles of insignificant beings pushed by the era’s cruelty would eventually consume them…”

The moment I saw even such a being sobbing as they faced their end, I felt a deep darkness rising from within me, threatening to erode my consciousness.

Extraterrestrial beings, vessels of gods—all of it felt so distant to me.

Even if I were to face such truths, what could I do, and how would I even begin to know what I should do next…

“If you feel you cannot handle it, simply withdrawing is also an option.”

At that voice cutting through my confusion, I belatedly collected myself and looked back at Virgil Huntress.

Crunch, crunch. His body was beginning to be consumed by the rapid changes creeping up from below his neck.

Though even resistance seemed difficult for him now, a strained smile was still drawn on his lips as he looked up at me.

“There’s no need to try to understand everything. If you can’t understand, it’s perfectly fine to cover it up and run away. After all, both you and I are mere insignificant beings compared to cosmic entities… Isn’t it foolish to try to bear what cannot be borne, going against such fate?”

“What do you mean…”

“But young man… you didn’t come here just to leisurely listen to this old man’s stories. You’re not the type of person who lacks agency enough to thoughtlessly come to such a dangerous place just following a note left by the prophet girl.”

A resolute voice followed his cryptic words.

The straightforwardness in his gaze made me feel that his current words were coming from sincere truth without a hint of deception.

“Your presence here surely stems from your own will. Because you cannot ignore whatever urged you to come here…”

As I felt those words resonating in my heart, a “thud!” sound accompanied by a tremor shook the space.

While I raised my guard in response, Virgil’s gaze turned toward the ceiling, as if guessing the source.

“Well now. It seems someone is having quite a time up there.”

“…Do you know what’s up there?”

“An infinitely charming lady and pigs craving the most obscene perfection…”

His voice trailed off as his eyes grew increasingly heavy-lidded.

“…And probably a pitiful being who has come to resist the fate that has arrived on this land. You seem to have some idea about that as well.”

Yes, this was something I understood far better than the man before me.

And it was only at that moment that I realized.

One of the reasons I came here was because I was secretly hoping for a chance to meet Irie Haven again after following her prophecy.

“So, what will you do now?”

But I still hadn’t established any connection with that girl.

In such a situation, if danger awaited me should I proceed further, perhaps the best option would be to leave this place without taking on unnecessary risk.

“Will you leave this place? Or will you move forward despite the danger?”

Nevertheless, the person I had encountered by following her guidance was now, like her, offering me a choice.

Whether to turn away from a story I couldn’t handle and leave this place, following my rising sense of crisis.

Or to follow what was causing my inner conflict and step into the unknown, with no idea what awaited me ahead.

“What you do is your choice. Whatever you pursue afterward, whoever you do it for…”

He didn’t force either option on me.

Just like Irie Haven who had given me a mission.

“In this harsh world, the will to resist should never be entrusted to others.”

As if teaching me that the fate I was born into should not be fulfilled by someone else’s coercion.

But through my own will.

*****

-Rumble!

The continuous tremors of the ground.

When Francesca realized they had finally subsided, she pulled her body out from the flesh it was embedded in and took time to compose her tired body.

No, the expression “tired” wouldn’t be appropriate for a doll like herself.

Rather, her small body was overloaded, or parts were damaged…

-Crack.

Either way, she could vividly feel her joints moving more sluggishly.

In the silence that followed the intense battle, Francesca took time to secure her joints with thread and conserve the mana in her magic core.

‘…As expected, there are too many to face alone.’

Her power had limits, and ultimately, numerical advantage was decisive in battle.

Moreover, unlike the immortal monsters, her body had limitations even when moving after emergency treatment.

That’s why she needed to be very careful about where to exert her full power.

That’s why she had intended to save her limited strength for when she entered the imperial palace, to confront the witch or the real power controlling the imperial family.

‘But why am I here now?’

Is resolving the problems occurring in this land…

Is simply cutting up the immortal monsters she’s never faced before and burning their flesh the path to humanity’s salvation?

Is using the feeble strength remaining in this body to exterminate the monsters of this land truly something that can lead to humanity’s salvation?

‘…No, this isn’t about salvation.’

She knew. That even if she exterminated all the monsters in this land, it would only amount to removing one of the many dangers targeting humanity.

Despite knowing this, Francesca did not leave this place and wanted to move forward.

Because she couldn’t shake the thought that everything happening in this land might have originated from her.

‘Perhaps I am the cause.’

Yes, this wasn’t a journey of salvation but one of atonement to bear the responsibility she had shouldered.

If she bore some responsibility for all this, it might be something she should prioritize even above her mission.

If she hadn’t allowed myths to be written based on her existence, perhaps people who couldn’t find comfort and salvation through her wouldn’t have turned to the witch’s research.

Because they turned to that research, the Anti-Human Alliance, an enemy of humanity, was born, and from them, the calamity of monsters—a mix of Beastmen and vampires—emerged in this land.

‘And because I might have to fight that person…’

Yet if she turned her back on all of this and walked away.

The person who had taken a place in her heart might appear as an enemy blocking her path.

-Crash!!

Francesca, breaking down the door leading to the deepest part of the papal palace to avoid such a future, moved her creaking body forward.

Her gaze, now filled with renewed determination, gradually turned forward, beginning to engrave everything that existed in the place she had arrived at.

The papal assembly hall. A place that could accommodate the most believers.

But unlike the places she had passed through so far, this place was remarkably tidy.

The marble floor, polished so clean it reflected light, despite being stained with a little blood.

The stained glass, beautiful in its myriad colors despite cracks from impacts.

And the statue of the goddess illuminated by sunlight through the mist, with a cluster of monsters seated before it…

“…What is this?”

Yes, it was a cluster.

Even among the monsters she had encountered so far, there were individuals who had joined together to increase their size, but the horror they created seemed incomparable to what was before her now.

Rather than bodies being woven together, it looked more like melted flesh had clumped and piled up…

Unlike the monsters where limbs and heads could still be distinguished, the only part that could be clearly identified in the being before her was what could be called a “mouth.”

-Uuugh, aaaugh…

A succession of mouths that repeatedly opened as they ate through and swam through the melted flesh.

What leaked from them was not even a hideous scream, but a wailing.

Or sobbing, lamentation, outcry…

After spewing out whatever could be defined as such, they repeatedly spewed out a dark red liquid from within.

‘Vampires…’

Francesca, horrified by the energy she felt from it, trembled and took a step back.

‘Is that the blood of a True Ancestor?’

Having encountered a True Ancestor before, she could immediately understand.

That what was before her originated from the True Ancestors, the real powers controlling humanity and the suspected masterminds behind everything.

That for some reason, these beings had merged together, repeatedly melting and continuously spewing out excretions that created monsters.

‘How… no, who?’

Beings with immortal vitality and formidable power.

Even hunters like herself couldn’t aim for complete extermination, as they were entities that hid cunningly and skillfully manipulated their targets.

How had such a deceptive race ended up in the middle of this collapsing sanctuary, reduced to something like a factory producing monsters?

Was such a thing even realistically possible?

“Have you come to pray?”

It was at that moment that the voice was heard.

Since the only sounds had been the screams of monsters, she immediately reacted to language comprehensible to humans.

What appeared where she turned her gaze was a pure white garment exuding authority. Attire that felt so pure it contrasted with the hideousness she had seen so far.

“Or have you come to receive holy water?”

Though her face was covered by a veil, the voice coming from beyond it revealed that “she was a woman entering old age.”

The attire, combined with her advanced age…

Even without having met her directly, anyone interested in the empire’s political situation would immediately recognize the identity of the person.

“Martina, Your Holiness?”

Pope Martina.

The current head of the Friga Order and a figure known to have as much authority as the emperor of the empire, at least among those belonging to the order.

And a spiritual pillar for the current humanity plunged into despair.

“Pope? Is that referring to me?”

But when her identity was mentioned, what she showed was a gesture of denial, shaking her head.

“What an absurd statement. How could you address a lowly servant like me with such a special title?”

“What do you mean…”

“Oh yes. Once, I considered myself a special being. I thought I was a chosen one, a savior leading the masses out of despair.”

In the midst of the incomprehensible situation, Martina finally knelt down.

With her head bowed in that state, she looked as if she was praying to the one she served.

“But now I know.”

In that state, she spoke. No, she wailed.

“In the end, I who knelt before the wicked crowd am neither a savior nor anything else, but merely a lamb that can only yearn for salvation. All I can do is follow heaven’s guidance and act as a proxy for that person…!”

“What are you saying? A proxy…”

“Angel! The guidance of the angel sent down by Lady Friga!!”

A powerful cry bursting from her aged throat.

Her voice, which exuded reverence, gradually began to be immersed in ecstasy.

“All of this is by the angel’s will… It was an oracle from that person. By following that person’s teachings, we were finally able to receive salvation. It was thanks to the protection of the angel that Lady Friga sent to this land that we were able to gather the parasites mocking these pitiful people and use them as the foundation for molding that person’s flesh!”

Yes, the Pope was insane.

And Francesca, sensing the power emanating from the excited woman, realized that she was the perpetrator of this hideous situation.

More precisely, not as the mastermind but as the “executor.”

“But driving them out is not enough. There are still too many things in this world that torment us… We must give those who wander in search of salvation a chance. A chance to prepare to receive fragments of the divine into their bodies.”

This meant that behind her was the true culprit of all this commotion, the real mastermind.

Unaware that Francesca had sensed this and was on high alert, Martina proudly pointed to the mashed flesh spilled on the floor.

“So… you too, who have come seeking salvation, should drink the holy water. For that is the only way for us, the offspring of that person, to resist the harshness of this world…!”

-Swish!

With a swing of her hand, sharp threads were shot out.

That merciless attack passed around Martina, beginning to sweep away the impure power felt nearby.

“Why.”

But that alone was not enough.

The opponent was a being that inherently lacked a specific form, almost like “an ethereal entity.”

“Why are you pretending to be an angel by the Pope’s side…?”

When she realized that such a being was the source of the Pope’s madness and expressed her hostility, the scattered power in the air began to change into the form of mist and gather together.

“My, how surprising~ I thought you were just a little girl to my taste, but you immediately noticed I was hiding~”

“I was thinking of watching a bit longer before going to that child… but it seems I can enjoy myself a bit more before going~?”

Far from a holy angel.

The incarnation of lust, wearing an infinitely wicked smile.