Ch.27Saintess Eirene (7)

# Saintess Eirene (7)

Smack!

Esmeralda’s counterattack.

Though she struck as if delivering a finishing blow, Eirene wouldn’t fall from something like this, of course.

She too was a member of the hero’s party.

Someone who had overcome countless trials wouldn’t be knocked down by a single punch.

‘Come on, show me. Your worries, your contradictions. The reason why you had to suffer, to agonize, to break down…!’

Eirene was unusually careless. If she truly intended to turn her into a sacred relic, she should have made sure she wouldn’t wake up.

Even if that wasn’t the case, she should have taken at least minimal measures to prevent her from moving.

But she didn’t.

She merely placed her in a prison she could escape from anytime and didn’t even post guards to watch it.

And even her subordinates were asking to stop Eirene. Wasn’t it obvious?

Eirene’s brainwashing deceived even herself. It made her do things she didn’t want to do by claiming they were necessary.

She needed to go mad, and she willingly chose madness.

But that shouldn’t be the case.

Even if she deceived the world, she shouldn’t deceive herself.

Especially when it was so precarious that others could see it.

“Haaap!”

The battle continued.

Esmeralda wanted to save even Eirene, who claimed she would sacrifice herself to create a sacred relic.

Because that was the path she believed in. The path she had chosen to walk.

The Eirene she had known until now might have such thoughts but wasn’t someone who would hastily draw conclusions.

Esmeralda might not believe in Eirene, but she believed in herself.

So she believed in herself who thought Eirene wouldn’t do such a thing.

With such resolute determination, Esmeralda stepped toward Eirene, who was flying back after being hit in the face.

And at that moment.

Smack!

“Huh?”

Eirene’s morning star flew toward Esmeralda’s face.

True to the weapon’s name, stars appeared in Esmeralda’s head.

A bold counterattack. A force that suggested there had never been any hesitation.

Of course, someone who had decided to sacrifice herself to create a sacred relic might not hesitate to attack.

‘This bitch hit my face?’

The wound wasn’t too severe. After all, it was a blow from a priestess.

Of course, the fact that the means was a morning star covered in spikes couldn’t be overlooked. Esmeralda, who barely avoided a fatal wound by moving her body, thought.

‘How dare she?’

No, the opposite. Her mind went blank the moment she was hit in the face.

So she forgot why she was fighting, and even forgot that she had punched Eirene in the face first.

When your head rings, rational thought tends to fly out the window.

Esmeralda’s next attack was fueled purely by emotion.

“Kuk!”

Esmeralda’s bold fist struck Eirene’s waist this time.

Abandoning her composure and forgetting her cause, she expressed only her anger with the thought, ‘Did this crazy bitch just hit my face?’

Her intentions were good, but Esmeralda was still an inexperienced hero. Being swept away by emotions was inevitable.

‘Sigh, losing your composure over something so trivial, how predictable.’

But Eirene was the opposite.

Having lived as a nun, she could maintain her composure even in such dramatic situations.

Yes, she was composed.

Calmly, as her waist bent and she flew back, she firmly grabbed Esmeralda’s hair.

“Kyak?!”

Esmeralda’s mind went even blanker at Eirene’s counterattack, which once again offended her feminine pride.

The situation had already evolved from one where the opponent was someone to persuade and save, to one where she was a mortal enemy who needed to be taught a lesson.

If your hair is grabbed, justice dictates grabbing the other’s hair in return.

Esmeralda acted based on extremely common-sense thinking.

Therefore…

“Huh?”

Esmeralda’s arm, reaching for Eirene’s white hair, was caught by handcuffs that appeared in mid-air.

Yes, Eirene was composed. Because she was composed, she had provoked Esmeralda.

Brainwashing, suggestion, intimidation, instigation.

Abilities that move, guide, and deceive people’s hearts.

Eirene knew Esmeralda’s personality. She knew she would try to save even someone like herself.

Because she was a hero. Because she was righteous enough to prevent Eirene from making hasty conclusions.

Eirene had already decided to fall into the abyss, but she remained composed in such aspects.

Her actions might be wrong. She might prefer to be stopped.

Even with such thoughts, her mind devised the optimal method.

Holy Magic

Purification-type Wide-Area Spell

[White Light Burning Sand Wave]

Fwaaah!

Saintess Eirene’s holy magic capable of turning demons to dust.

Hot sand glowing with white light rushed like a wave toward the restrained Esmeralda.

A force where each grain of sand contained holy power that would literally grind an opponent to pieces if they were a demon.

Even if the opponent was human, such powerful force engulfing Esmeralda couldn’t leave her unharmed.

Unable to defend herself from this distance and caught in the [White Light Burning Sand Wave], the outcome was already determined.

Of course, that’s…

“Wow, that was really dangerous. Seriously, my mind went blank as if I’d been brainwashed.”

“It wasn’t quite brainwashing. You just got worked up and charged in without thinking, Hero.”

Only if the opponent wasn’t a hero.

If it had been someone of similar skill, she would have surely defeated them.

But Esmeralda grinned despite bleeding profusely.

“Thanks to that, I’ve regained my composure. Shall we continue?”

“Indeed. Now that I finally have the advantage, let’s get serious.”

Passion and composure.

The two charged at each other again, harboring opposite emotions.

***

Eirene wished for a miracle.

Even if it wasn’t bestowed upon her, she wished for it to exist in this world.

She had lived and acted meticulously at every moment.

Thus, she had committed sins in a manner unsuitable for a believer.

Without leaving loose ends, without worrying about consequences.

She acted that way, yet longed for someone to punish her.

She was disgusted by her own hypocrisy and tormented by having to hide her evil deeds.

Yes, if someone exposed her flaws despite her meticulous actions, wouldn’t that be a miracle? Wouldn’t that signify the return of the heavenly deity?

‘But that shouldn’t happen.’

Her exposure would mean the second downfall of the Heavenly Deity Church.

She had merely not betrayed the deity, yet she was walking a path similar to the previous pope.

She should never be exposed, yet she wished she would be.

If she died, the monasteries and orphanages supported by the Heavenly Deity Church would face destruction.

The world is harsh, people are indifferent to others, and the empire exploits and squeezes the commoners.

In such a situation, if even the Heavenly Deity Church abandoned the forsaken children, too many lives would perish.

So she had to be tainted by evil.

To save people, she had to intimidate and brainwash people.

Such a contradictory situation was the root cause of Eirene’s illness.

“Haha.”

For the church.

For the heavenly deity.

For the world.

For people who need care.

Yes, for two values that currently cannot coexist.

That was Eirene’s justice.

But now she had to abandon one. The power of the Heavenly Deity Church, which she had raised through all sorts of schemes and politics, had reached a level that couldn’t be surpassed. Beyond this, it would become merely a group of vested interests.

Such a final line was drawn.

That’s why she desperately needed a miracle. She missed the past when she could wholeheartedly follow the teachings of the deity.

“You know, Hero, I think I’ve come too far.”

But Lug wasn’t her miracle. He ultimately proved that miracles don’t exist.

A meeting that couldn’t even be called a coincidence.

Lug’s appearance, packaging it as a miracle, was so sorrowful, like representing the current world.

She realized it anew.

Indeed, there are no more miracles left in this world.

The arrival of a miracle would mean she receives divine punishment.

Her divine punishment would mean the collapse of the Heavenly Deity Church, which she had barely stabilized.

Yes, it was never possible in the first place.

Distracted by such delusions, she, in her foolishness, had come to a point of no return.

“See? In the end, miracles don’t exist.”

Eirene looked down at Esmeralda, who lay with a miserable expression.

Her wounds were already fatal, and no matter how hard she tried to recover, it was impossible to defeat the current Eirene.

If that were possible, it would truly be a miracle. But Esmeralda couldn’t produce such a miracle.

Miracles no longer existed in this world.

“Earlier, you said that even if you used the Hero’s corpse, you couldn’t create a sacred relic.”

In fact, when she heard those words, Eirene could tell they weren’t a lie.

She was skilled at seeing through people’s psychology. She could tell when someone wasn’t lying.

And in truth, she had suspected it from the beginning. She had predicted the impossibility.

Clinging to a single historical record and trying to recreate it was strange from the start.

‘Ah, I see. From that moment, I was already…’

Broken.

Running toward failure.

Pushing herself into the abyss to meet the worst ending that would sever the ties of evil deeds.

And now, having reached the conclusion, she was too afraid to move.

She had rushed headlong, but ended up stopping at the door like a fool.

That was the image of Eirene now, looking down at the fallen hero, unable to do anything.

The Heavenly Deity Church would no longer be able to recover its past authority, and ultimately, it wouldn’t be able to prevent the deaths of the weakest.

Yes, the weak die. That’s the way of the world. Eirene, who had tried to twist that somehow, had been trying to defy the world’s principles.

A foolish being who tried to recreate a non-existent miracle.

The limit of a mortal who dared to challenge the divine miracle.

“Ahaha…”

It’s still vivid in her mind.

The cold corpses of the monastery people who died of starvation, embracing each other like a family.

The end of that misfortune.

She had tried to ensure that no more such people would emerge, but it seems she’s reached her limit.

“Yes. That’s what ideals are, I suppose. They’re called ideals because they dream of miracles that can’t happen.”

Eirene used healing magic on the fallen Esmeralda.

Her holy power, which had been honed sharply for attack, softened and enveloped Esmeralda.

The battle with Esmeralda had been fierce, so Eirene was also severely injured.

If healing was needed, she should have healed herself too, but she didn’t care.

She no longer wanted to live. Even if she had shaken off the blindness before her eyes, she had come too far.

“Hero, thinking about it now, the journey with you was quite enjoyable.”

Creating a sacred relic from a hero. That was Eirene’s goal.

She approached with that goal, but abandoned it in the end.

Eirene had merely wasted time.

This is the result.

‘I…’

What was I trying to do?

Was I rushing to fail?

If creating a sacred relic using a hero was impossible from the start.

If everything she had done until now was meaningless.

If her evil deeds, good deeds, hesitations, and resolutions were all worthless.

Eirene couldn’t choose.

Having learned of the impossibility, she couldn’t proceed with the ritual using Esmeralda.

Her last remaining conscience.

And above all else.

“The world needs you more than someone like me.”

If miracles couldn’t be recreated, then this world needed hope. And she thought that it certainly wasn’t herself.

So Esmeralda shouldn’t be sacrificed. No, all life is like that. She shouldn’t have dared to sacrifice and differentiate.

She was just too foolish to realize it until now.

“Don’t forgive me, Hero.”

She poured all her remaining holy power into healing Esmeralda.

Almost excessively. Leaving not even a speck for herself.

Leaving no regrets.

“May you condemn evil and proclaim justice. May you not make the same foolish choices as I did.”

With such a prayer, Eirene staggered away. It’s over now.

If she headed to where the priests were, she might survive, but she didn’t want to.

She was too exhausted.

She wanted to let go of everything now.

Then, to a place where she could confess her sins. To the place where all past original sins began and ended.

Yes, the place that brought down the Heavenly Deity Church.

And created the current church.

To meet a miserable end in that terrible open space.

“…”

As she reached the place where the previous pope was said to have brought down the heavenly deity, Eirene discovered something.

“Why…”

She was shocked, as if discovering something impossible.

“Why are you here…”

In the middle of what should have been a desolate open space was a young man with a gentle smile, unlike his usual self.

Eyes with a blue tint, different from usual, looked at Eirene.

Like a scene from a fairy tale.

Like a Mary Sue who easily resolves everything.

Yes, innocently, purely.

Holding out a flower from the field to Eirene, he said,

“Would you like to talk with me for a moment, Saintess?”