Ch.475The Terror of Forced Labor

– BOOM!

The thunderous explosion reverberated through the air.

Piles of snow on rooftops trembled and cascaded toward the ground.

It was the sound announcing the failure of my attack.

If I had cut through human flesh, it wouldn’t have made such a noise.

Durandal, carrying the Karma of a Hero, extended forward. That blade, sharper and stronger than any weapon, was now trembling, blocked by a golden barrier that prevented it from advancing further.

A barrier. Well, predictable.

If buying time was the goal, blocking me with a barrier would be more effective than attacking me directly.

Since the Light of Judgment didn’t work on me, other attacks wouldn’t make much difference either.

It was an unsurprising and perfectly reasonable decision.

…Of course, it was impossible not to be shocked by the scene unfolding before my eyes.

—-

“What the… hell…!”

I stared in disbelief at Wilhelm who had deployed the barrier blocking my sword.

The fact that my slash was blocked wasn’t particularly shocking. With the power of a holy relic, it was possible.

If it didn’t break with one strike, I just needed to keep attacking until it did.

What shocked me wasn’t this damn barrier.

– Whoosh!

Flames.

Intense flames with searing heat were engulfing Archbishop Wilhelm’s entire body.

I thought it might be some ability similar to my Karma flames… but it didn’t seem so.

Through the archbishop’s burning holy robes turning to ash, I could clearly see his skin boiling and burning.

Like a sinner tied to a stake.

There was no doubt.

Archbishop Wilhelm, who was blocking me while emitting unexpectedly powerful holy light, was burning to death in flames he himself had summoned!

“What is that fire…?”

“Grrgh…! The Sacred Scale of Balance… A holy relic of our church that grants holy light equal to the sacrifice offered… I have offered my own body and soul as payment… Even you won’t break through easily.”

Wilhelm, his face contorted in agony as his entire body burned, managed to answer my question.

So he’s burning his own life to stop me.

Exactly what a fanatic would think of.

“…Well, it does look sturdy.”

I glanced at the barrier touching my blade’s tip and at the paladins retreating in the distance, then sheathed Durandal back in its scabbard.

I could probably break it if I went all out, but I didn’t want to exert that much effort.

I had achieved my goal of driving them out of Arad, so now I needed to conserve my strength and recover as much energy as possible until Astraea’s main force arrived.

“Kuheuuugh…! Grgh, gruaaagh…!”

Seeing that I had no intention of fighting further, Wilhelm also collapsed with a thud, groaning through clenched teeth.

By the looks of it, he won’t last a few minutes.

For sacrificing his life, the efficiency is pretty terrible.

I sat down on some building debris nearby, took out a cigarette from my pocket, and watched Wilhelm’s final moments.

A most fitting death for someone who had burned so many others.

“Graaaaaaagh!”

Burns well.

“Phew…. I didn’t expect you’d care enough about your subordinates to choose burning to death. Why didn’t you show that kind of mercy to the citizens? Then none of this would have happened.”

“That was… impossible…!”

…He’s still answering.

His brain must be cooking by now. This man is quite stubborn.

“Those who seek sin and chaos… must be purified by fire…!”

“Like yourself?”

When I mockingly smiled at his words, surprisingly, Wilhelm nodded.

“That’s… right. Despite the enormous sacrifice… keuuugh…! Due to my inadequacy, I failed to realize justice… so I too am a sinner…!”

So that’s why he set himself on fire.

These fanatics. All of them are insane.

“You talk about justice. After killing so many people.”

Among those he burned, there were surely some who had committed crimes or were evil people.

This protest itself was Valkers’ scheme, after all.

However, that didn’t justify what he did.

It was like burning down a thatched house with its residents to kill a few bedbugs—how could that be justice?

At least not to me.

“I don’t know what kind of justice Astraea wants… but isn’t protecting people more just than burning them?”

“……”

There was no answer.

Beyond the brilliantly shining wall of holy light, looking at the blackened corpse, I tossed away my cigarette butt and stood up.

It seemed he had his own beliefs… but that wasn’t my concern.

A man who deserved to die had died. That was the extent of my sentiment.

I had no intention of sympathizing with a fanatic’s faith.

From the beginning, I couldn’t understand their devotion at all.

Faith is for those who cannot live without clinging to it.

A warrior should walk forward believing in themselves, not in gods.

That’s what Hersella would say.

—-

Since the wall of holy light showed no signs of dissipating even after Wilhelm became Burning-helm, I turned away without regret and left the cathedral grounds.

I was slightly concerned about the holy relic he possessed…

But seeing that the staff had burned along with Wilhelm, it didn’t seem like something to worry about.

Even the scales attached to the end had half-melted; no matter how sacred, it didn’t look like it could function anymore in that state.

Even holy relics are just tools in the end. Naturally, they break when handled roughly.

Didn’t Grimnir’s relics also shatter when I smashed them?

I walked silently through the ruins, soothing my tired body with a freshly lit cigarette.

The streets, shattered as if hit by a barrage of catapults, had grown quiet again, with no human presence anywhere.

Astraea’s paladins, even while retreating, had carefully gathered their comrades buried under the debris before leaving.

By now, they must have opened Arad’s gates and escaped.

With this, I had achieved my primary goal of driving the Astraea church members out of Arad.

As a bonus, I discovered that their main miracle, the Light of Judgment, had little effect on me. It was an encouraging outcome.

All that remained was to rest sufficiently to recover my strength before facing their main force.

…Though that would be the most difficult part.

Pondering how to deal with Astraea’s Inquisitor who would arrive soon, I retraced my steps toward the city center.

The square, general store, blacksmith, clothing shop… even the inn. Though the shops clustered in the center were all empty, basic facilities remained.

Things like old, dirty beds, or bathing facilities that hadn’t been maintained for a week.

As soon as I found the bathing facilities, I removed the armor I was wearing and placed it next to my bag.

I had come here to wash myself in the first place.

Although I wasn’t injured, I was covered in the paladins’ blood, and the stench of blood was overwhelming with every breath.

Not just my body, but Rurik’s leather was also stained bright red.

Even though it had an automatic restoration function, it didn’t automatically clean itself.

I should wash the armor too.

I also took off my leather top and pants and placed them aside, and finally removed my sweat-soaked underwear and unwound the tattered chest bindings.

The slightly discolored white cloth emitted a strong smell of sweat and a strange peach scent.

…I should probably throw this away and get new ones.

I put down the underwear that only creepy collectors with unsavory hobbies would appreciate, then drew water from the tub and poured it over my head.

Ugh, it’s freezing cold.

My wet body shuddered at the ice-cold water that felt like it might stop my heart.

– Splash!

The murky bathwater flowed down my collarbone and chest, gradually washing away the blood-stained skin.

One rinse wasn’t nearly enough to remove the hardening blood clots; I had to repeat the process several times.

It took seven buckets of water before my swollen chest revealed its original color.

And then I saw it.

I couldn’t help but see it.

A clear golden scale mark engraved near my exposed cleavage.

…What the actual fuck is this?

—-

Like a deer frozen in headlights, when people are too shocked, their consciousness momentarily stops.

My mind returned a full forty seconds after witnessing this unbelievable, unwanted reality.

I stared blankly at the tattoo symbolizing Astraea engraved on the inside of my upper chest, then tightly closed my eyes.

This is a dream. Yes, definitely a dream. I haven’t actually woken up in the general store yet. That’s it. That must be it. No wonder the Light of Judgment didn’t hurt at all. It’s also strange how easily Wilhelm killed himself. Having such a nightmare, I must be very tired. Wait, could this be Menes’ doing? Yes! This must be another of Menes’ tricks. It makes no sense otherwise. That crazy god Menes, I’ll smash his statue every time I see one from now on.

I very carefully opened my eyelids, hoping to see the ceiling of the general store I had seen before falling asleep.

I saw my chest.

I closed and opened my eyes again.

I saw my chest again.

Again. Chest. Again. Chest. Again. Chest…

After blinking about fifty times and pinching my cheeks, arms, and chest…

I finally realized a new truth about this world.

The truth that Astraea must be an insane blind person.

…No, seriously, what the fuck is this?

A tattoo symbolizing Astraea—this is a Stigmata. Why do I have a Stigmata? Have you lost your mind, Astraea?

If you want to mark someone with a Stigmata, mark your own believers, why me?

I sat blankly on the bathroom floor, uttering blasphemous words that would make Wilhelm resurrect and come to kill me if he heard them.

But no matter what I said, the already engraved Stigmata wouldn’t disappear.