Ch.33. Let’s Curse Each Other

“Gasp, huh…!”

Having desperately fled from the monastery they had attacked, they were now catching their breath.

Their expressions, as they exhaled rough breaths, still showed traces of terror that hadn’t yet faded.

The image was vivid—their comrade beside them reduced to a lump of meat.

If they hadn’t escaped, they too would have died experiencing the same horrific pain.

Death.

‘Dear God.’

Finally, unable to bear it any longer, one of the priests moved his trembling jaw and spoke.

“I-it’s divine punishment. We provoked a devotee beloved by that evil god…”

“Shut your mouth, Rikan. How dare you try to glorify the name of another god?”

“B-but…!”

Senior Priest Christoph was trying to maintain control over them somehow, even in this desperate situation.

Everything had been going smoothly.

One day, the highest-ranking Constellation disappeared, and what remained were just foolish devotees who had lost trust in each other.

This was an opportunity.

A chance to restore the lost prestige of his religion.

That’s why he had schemed from the beginning to gradually erode their power.

He secretly made contact with other religious groups of Constellations who had been displeased with their existence, and built up his forces.

As days passed, his confidence grew, and his actions became more aggressive.

He stripped away the name of the Constellation they served and burned temples that could remind people of their existence.

And the next target was…

Lisia.

The woman, a being who had received the love of the Constellation.

If he could eliminate her, his faction would gain even greater standing.

Eliminating a woman who couldn’t even handle Divine Power should have been too easy.

It should have been too easy.

“You shall witness.”

Until they saw a beast returned from the brink of death, once again wrapped in Divine Power.

‘This can’t be.’

But why, suddenly?

The forgotten divine rank had returned. It began using Divine Power.

What followed that simple phenomenon was a horrific massacre.

“W-we must escape.”

“We need to return quickly and form a new plan…”

“Enough.”

Christoph, priest of the Black Sun, mediated their fear consciously and spoke in a monotone voice.

“Have you forgotten who is with us because of your fear?”

“…!”

They were representatives of God.

They were supposed to spread the will of the Constellation and be its most honorable servants and confidants.

And…

‘Divine punishment will soon fall.’

This attack was, in a way, just a pretext.

Even if successful, it would be a blow, but even if it failed…

Their Constellation would never stand idle against the outrage of rogues who killed beloved devotees.

“This will have its due consequences.”

“Ah…!”

“Our Incarnation will be furious. They will never escape divine punishment.”

“Ohhh…!”

At those words, a ray of hope seeped into their despairing eyes.

And they would surely meet a miserable end.

‘O Incarnation.’

Christoph prayed with conviction.

For divine punishment to fall upon those filthy mongrels, to set justice right.

Their battle had only just begun.

#

“…Huh?”

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ notices your presence.»

Along with this unexpected name, messages continued to appear as if they had been waiting.

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ is angry at you!»

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ threatens your safety!»

“…What is this now?”

Of course I know who it is.

It was one of the Constellations that had persistently harassed me when I was a player.

In the game, the player’s role is that of a Constellation, a ‘god.’

And the ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun,’ another god, was naturally my target of restraint and hostility.

“What is it?”

Of course, there are friendly Constellations too, but who would willingly share their food bowl?

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ demands just compensation from you.»

“Ohh.”

It’s been a while since I’ve received such pure hostility, and it makes my heart race.

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ claims that you killed devotees dear to him, so you must pay the price.»

But that’s beside the point.

“I don’t want to.”

«….?»

The message window goes quiet, and I can feel its confusion at my straightforward response.

“What are you going to do if I don’t pay?”

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ threatens to place a great curse on your religious order if you don’t pay the price.»

“Ah, a curse.”

The curse system.

It’s one of the few means of restraint that one Constellation can directly inflict on another.

Suddenly, memories of the exchanges between the Incarnation of the Black Sun and me come to mind.

We had quite a lot of back-and-forth through this system.

The bad feelings that accumulated then have matured nicely, now entering the stage of love-hate.

“Ah, this familiar feeling.”

I smiled slightly at the surging tide of emotions.

He had launched large-scale holy wars against my religious order, creating several impromptu events.

Thanks to that, there were times I had to wake up and check my phone even while sleeping.

“Thank you.”

I expressed sincere gratitude to the Incarnation of the Black Sun, who had reminded me of a purpose in life I had forgotten.

I was grateful.

For continuing to try to harass me like before.

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ is confused by your gratitude.»

It means I can keep harassing him like I used to, right?

He’s the one who came wagging his tail at me first.

“Hehe.”

Suddenly remembering those times makes my affection for him grow abundantly.

How should I show my love?

Being harassed before is one thing.

But just now, didn’t he openly try to gang up on our Lisia?

“Curse, yes. Curses are good.”

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ detects dissonance.»

After getting beaten so badly in the game, you’ve come back without dying to cause trouble again.

I don’t forgive troublemakers.

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ shouts that you must pay the price right now, refusing to back down!»

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ claims that you should hand over some of your faith points!»

“Sure, sure.”

Seems like he’s forgotten my personality.

Seeing him babbling away because I’m calmly taking it makes me think that.

With the mindset of a corporate chairman taking off his watch, I calmly manipulated the system window.

While fights between devotees are grand brawls with blood and flesh flying everywhere, when it escalates to fights between Constellations…

Surprisingly, the scale degrades to a very childish level.

From here on, it’s not simple physical ability that matters, but the priority is placed on the level of ‘class.’

And such class is, of course, determined by the amount of faith points possessed.

«Faith Points Possessed: 547,500,000»

Nearly 550 million faith points had accumulated without being properly digested.

“Hehehehe.”

I wonder if this bastard knows.

The scale of faith points accumulated due to my absence.

No, if he knew, he wouldn’t have even thought of such antics in the first place.

He would probably be cowering somewhere, trembling.

My fault is great, indeed. It’s proof that I haven’t properly played the role of the resident bully.

No, if I had known it was real, I would have logged in diligently every day. What could I do when real life was busy?

‘Now this has become my real life.’

With a bewildered feeling, I looked at the still flashing messages from the ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun.’

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ says he will place a curse on your religious order right now.»

“This one really has no sense of awareness.”

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ is angry!»

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ is very angry!»

“Okay.”

Order received.

I decided to start using my faith points in earnest.

«Do you want to use your faith points to place a curse on the ‘Black Sun’ religious order?»

Strike first, win first.

“Yeah.”

Then the messages paused for a moment.

Whether he reacted or not, the process had already begun.

«Curse successful! Some devotees of the ‘Black Sun’ religious order suffer a significant decrease in abilities.»

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ is very angry!»

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ casts a ‘curse’ on your religious order.»

-Ding!

«Due to the difference in rank between Constellations, the curse of the ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ fails.»

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ is greatly confused.»

“My friend.”

Even though I can’t see him, I can imagine how confused that Constellation must be right now.

If he had spent faith points to expand his religious forces, it might be different, but right now, I have money to spare.

“I think you didn’t understand what I said.”

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ suggests we talk for a moment.»

“Only I can place curses here.”

I continued to place curses, leaving the confused Incarnation behind.

«Curse successful! Some forces of the religious order are transferred to an unknown space.»

«Curse successful! Some devotees of the religious order mutate into ‘non-human’ races.»

«Curse successful! The gender of some devotees of the religious order is forcibly changed to ‘female’!»

“Oh.”

Even the rare TS curse.

Today is a very lucky day.

While the Constellation makes the decision to place a curse, the result of the curse placed through the system cannot be determined by anyone.

It means it does cause damage, but randomly.

Just kill all the polar bears today.

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ screams for you to stop.»

“Stop what? This is just the beginning.”

Curses placed on a religious order are directly linked to the faith of its devotees.

If a Constellation can’t even protect its devotees from individual curses, will its reputation remain the same as before?

Trust once lost cannot be regained. That’s the cold reality.

Today, I was determined to turn a young Constellation into an adult.

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ earnestly begs you to stop.»

After returning after a long time and confidently threatening me, now you’re pretending to be nice?

Absolutely not.

I had no intention of showing mercy.

“No, go back. I have no intention of showing mercy.”

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ shouts that everyone will die at this rate.»

“Die? What will die? It’s just you who will be annihilated.”

Devotees can leave the religious order and find another religion.

In this relationship, it’s ultimately the Constellation that’s at a disadvantage.

When all faith points are depleted, the Constellation’s reason for existence disappears.

It means death.

“You won’t die right away. But just wait. One year, I’ll watch for one year. I’ll dry you up and kill you within that time.”

«The ‘Incarnation of the Black Sun’ trembles and is filled with terror.»

I was bored anyway, so this is perfect.

Let’s have some fun today.

#

That day, Christoph, who had returned to the headquarters of the religious order, saw hell.

“W-what is this?”

An otherworldly scene.

Figures that looked like they had crawled out of a dungeon were rampaging wildly, and what was even more bizarre was…

Those monsters were wearing the same priestly robes as himself.

As if priests who had been praying to God until just moments ago had been cursed.

At that moment, a chilling hypothesis crossed Christoph’s mind.

A curse.

“It’s God’s curse! We’ve been cursed! We need atonement!”

Someone screams in agony from afar.

“C-Christoph, Father. What is this…?”

-Hic.

At the disturbing sound of someone swallowing their breath, Priest Christoph’s gaze turned behind him.

There stood a devotee who had been desperately fleeing with him until just moments ago.

His flat chest had swollen like luscious fruit, and…

His masculine face had transformed into that of an attractive woman.

“You, you.”

“Father Christoph. Something’s wrong with my body. My body—”

Priest Christoph’s eyes turned to the sky, feeling a stirring desire at the sobbing figure.

“Dear God.”

Please save me from this hell.

But the answer that came back was mercilessly absent.