Ch.65Tale of the Past: Christine Hildegard – 1

A saint generally referred to a woman who wielded the strongest divine power in a particular religion. Sometimes, even surpassing the highest authority like the pope.

Even in religions with few followers, the moment a saint was chosen, the divine power of each individual would increase explosively. In some religions with considerable influence, it was said that merely looking at a saint could blind one with divine radiance.

The selection methods for saints varied.

The most common way was through divine revelation to the highest priest or pope of the religion, but sometimes, the duty of sainthood would be unexpectedly revealed to an ordinary woman.

In the latter case, it was nothing short of a meteoric rise.

Records showed that a farmer’s daughter could be selected as a saint, and though its authenticity was uncertain, there were even accounts of a prostitute from a red-light district being chosen as a saint.

Despite countless priests’ efforts, the conditions for such divine revelations were never fully understood, but that’s how it was.

The position of saint was not determined by human will but rested entirely in the hands of the divine.

Then, what fate would await a baby chosen by the divine from birth? Could the church possibly raise such a child normally?

The answer was obvious.

Christine Hildegard. This was the name given to Christine by her parents before she met true salvation and abandoned her surname.

Her parents, neither wealthy nor impoverished, were devout believers of the Holy Church.

The Holy Church, also known as the Holy Order, had been steadily growing in size since its great achievement of repelling the black-blooded demons.

The number of believers had increased explosively, and the pope at its center enjoyed almost godlike power.

Tens of thousands would weep at a single sermon from the pope, and hundreds would tremble at a priest’s blessing. Even lower priests could purify ordinary demons as easily as breathing.

Every adventurer party strived to recruit priests from the Holy Church, and naturally, the number of believers among adventurers increased.

It was said that buffs and blessings were more effective for those who believed in the religion’s deity.

This wasn’t entirely true, but it wasn’t completely false either.

As more people believed in the deity, the priests’ divine power increased, and adventurers who experienced this enhanced divine power mistakenly believed they would receive greater effects by following that religion.

Though the process differed, the result was the same.

However, as an organization grows, so do the interests that come with it. It was only natural that those in high positions who tasted these fruits would seek more power.

The emergence of black-blooded demons greatly expanded the Holy Order’s influence, but it also marked the beginning of the Holy Order’s corruption.

The girl named Christine Hildegard was born during this time.

The midwife who assisted with the delivery immediately realized that this baby possessed an extraordinary aura as soon as Christine appeared in the world.

Though the birth took place at night, the area around the baby was as bright as the sun, and her mother’s bleeding had already stopped.

Moreover, despite just emerging from the womb, Christine’s entire body was spotlessly clean. It was nothing short of a miracle.

Christine’s deeply devout parents shed genuine tears upon seeing their baby. Their hearts had realized what destiny their child carried.

Christine’s mother walked out of bed on her own just 30 minutes after giving birth.

The attending priest was initially confused when he saw a couple approaching the church on their knees, but soon he was so surprised that he forgot all decorum and ran inside to call the high priest.

“My goodness.”

The high priest, who had been practically dragged out by the hand, uttered just one word upon seeing Christine, then instinctively knelt and wept, bestowing all the blessings he could upon her.

However, the baby absorbed these blessings and immediately returned them to those around her—even more powerfully. Christine’s parents fainted on the spot witnessing this miracle.

Had the high priest not quickly moved to catch her, Christine would have suffered the catastrophe of falling to the ground.

This news quickly reached the ears of the Holy Church’s pope.

After hearing about the miracle performed by the newborn baby, the pope personally visited Christine’s parents and bestowed blessings upon them, trembling with emotion.

Then he said he would take the baby. She was clearly destined to become a saint, so the Holy Church would teach her directly.

No parents in the world would refuse the offer of their daughter becoming a saint in the religion they believed in. Christine’s parents accepted the proposal without further consideration.

It was the moment a saint of the Holy Church was born in the world.

Moved to the Holy Church’s main cathedral under the pope’s escort, Christine received every kind of protection and treatment imaginable.

This was only natural. She was a saint who could use blessings more powerful than a high priest from the moment of her birth. The Holy Church would never miss such an opportunity.

Since the birth of a saint depended entirely on the divine, many religions had gone decades without producing one.

Even the Holy Church, despite its brilliant status and enormous influence, had remarkably few instances of saints descending.

A saint was already rare enough, but her talent was so overwhelming that it made all previous priests seem like mere scraps in comparison.

So it was only natural that the Holy Church became obsessed with protecting Christine.

However, the pope had different intentions.

“If I can make the saint completely mine, I could rule the Holy Church forever. Dominating the entire continent would only be a matter of time.”

“But Your Holiness, what about that woman sitting on the royal throne? She won’t just stand by and watch us.”

“Fool. Would she dare touch us? Does she know how we might respond? Our Holy Church’s believers are spread throughout the continent. And they’re all ready to willingly sacrifice their lives at my word. Even that woman Gargantua wouldn’t dare meddle with us carelessly.”

The pope’s goal was simple: to completely subjugate the saint to himself. The suffering Christine would endure in the process was completely disregarded.

Christine’s abilities were unquestionably the most powerful of any saint in the history of all religions across the continent.

The pope believed that with such power, he could achieve rejuvenation and become the eternal ruler of the Holy Church. And beyond that, the ruler of the continent.

Of course, the reason Charlotte didn’t interfere with the Holy Church was not out of fear of its influence.

She was merely holding back because a certain boy at her side had asked her to let the Holy Church grow its power a bit more, saying he wanted to use it for suicide once.

Had it not been for that, the Holy Church would have had its leaders beheaded one by one long ago, but the pope had no way of knowing this.

He only made the ridiculous assumption that Charlotte feared the Holy Church’s influence.

“Inflict all the pain we can on that child. Completely destroy her mind and create a puppet solely for me.”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

“Do you understand? She must never have a sense of self. She must die when I say die, live when I say live, and follow my words without the slightest doubt.”

“Please don’t worry too much. I will certainly accomplish this.”

The members of the Holy Church did not see Christine as a human being. They treated her strictly as a tool to fulfill the pope’s desire to become ruler of the entire continent.

Christine began receiving education befitting her position as a saint at the age of four.

The priests and nuns of the Holy Church took meticulous care of Christine, but they never showed the emotion of love.

This was due to the pope’s orders. The pope wanted a tool, not a person, and for that, Christine’s emotions needed to be completely killed.

The abuse and torture disguised as education were the first steps toward this goal.

When teaching general knowledge, intimidating, enormous nuns administered severe physical punishment.

Not even the slightest mistake was tolerated. Being hit on the shins until the skin split open for getting a single sentence or word wrong was considered a light punishment.

However, when teaching knowledge about the Holy Church’s doctrines and the pope, they treated Christine very kindly.

Ordinary, gentle nuns served as teachers and never hit or scolded Christine. They would even smile and overlook minor mistakes, saying she could try again.

The purpose of this abuse disguised as education was to evoke positive feelings toward the Holy Church and the pope in Christine, not to teach her common sense and knowledge.

Therefore, regardless of learning efficiency, it was essentially successful as long as it evoked positive emotions.

This “education” continued for three years.

During that time, Christine was beaten relentlessly. The only time she could rest was twice a week, when studying about the Holy Church and the pope.

The pope used an even more cunning method here: whenever Christine spoke well of the Holy Church and the pope, the severity of punishment during other times was noticeably reduced.

Dramatically enough for Christine to notice.

Due to the human instinct to avoid pain, Christine had no choice but to desperately cram information about the Holy Church and the pope into her head.

It was unavoidable. That was the only way she could be beaten less. The actions a mere seven-year-old child could think of were extremely limited.

Thanks to these inhumane methods, hymns of the Holy Church always flowed from Christine’s lips, and she constantly chattered praises about the pope. It was a desperate struggle to survive.

Shortly after Christine turned eight, the Holy Church captured the nuns who had abused her and executed them before her eyes.

The pope assured Christine that he had rescued her and that she would no longer have to endure such treatment.

It was obvious what emotions an eight-year-old child, who had been desperately praising the Holy Church and the pope just to survive, would feel at such comfort.

“Child, there is only one thing left for you to learn. Can you grant this pope’s request?”

“Yes, yes… anything, please tell me anything.”

“Good child.”

The one thing the pope mentioned was prayer—kneeling on the ground, clasping hands before the chest, and seeking grace from the divine.

This education, too, was carried out with terrible cruelty.

Except for about four hours of sleep per day, Christine spent all her remaining time kneeling. During this time, she had to continuously recite prayers.

If she made even the slightest mistake in the prayer, a rod would immediately fly at her, and the same would happen if Christine couldn’t bear the pain and disrupted her posture.

But when this method proved inefficient, the pope devised an even more horrific approach.

He decided to place heavy objects on Christine’s thighs as she knelt. Naturally, the leg bones of the young Christine couldn’t withstand the weight.

As soon as stones weighing almost as much as her own body were placed on her, the child’s femur and tibia broke all too easily.

These were injuries severe enough to cripple an ordinary person, but the basic function of divine power through blessings was human body restoration.

The priests lavished healing blessings and recovery miracles, and the number of times Christine’s leg bones broke exceeded a hundred on just the first day.

No matter how much pain Christine endured, the pope never stopped. Amid this merciless abuse, the pope focused on his own deification.

That the pope’s words were absolutely right, and therefore we must follow him. That the pope was a being that lowly humans like us couldn’t even look up to.

“So, Christine. You must dedicate everything to His Holiness the Pope. Even your body, if His Holiness desires it.”

Though the nun said this, the pope had absolutely no intention of touching Christine’s body. There was a belief that a saint must strictly maintain her virginity.

It was believed that if virginity was lost, the power as a saint would be lost immediately.

Therefore, once chosen as a saint, it was the common belief among religious people of that era that virginity must be preserved to exert divine power.

Of course, the pope had no intention of testing the truth of this with his saint.

If by any chance it were true and Christine lost her divine power, the loss would be immeasurable. It was also questionable whether another child with Christine’s talent would ever appear again.

“Now follow me, Saint Christine.”

“…Yes, Your Holiness.”

This merciless education continued for ten years, until Christine turned 18.

Convinced that Christine’s self and mind had been almost destroyed through terrible torture and abuse, the pope ordered her to follow him from then on.

Christine, who could no longer even think of resisting, quietly obeyed the command. It was also from this time that the pope began to widely announce the birth of the Holy Church’s saint.

Christine followed the pope and freely displayed her overwhelming divine power, and the believers shed tears of joy and emotion seeing their saint.

It was also during this period that the Holy Church’s worship began to seriously distort. The pope realized that divine power from one devout believer was stronger than that from a hundred mediocre believers.

And, blinded by the enhancement of power, he made an extreme choice.

Human sacrifice.

“This is not human like us! How could these worthless creatures be human like us, who have been chosen by God and have the path to heaven opened? These are beasts! Heretics who believe in other gods and reject salvation!”

The pope, offering humans as sacrifices, argued to his believers that these were not people but heretics, and that their god would be pleased if all heretics were killed painfully.

Since the pope’s words were equivalent to God’s words, no one opposed. Before long, “heretics” from all over the continent began to be transported to the pope’s direct territory.

Under the pretext of purifying heretics, all kinds of terrible tortures were carried out in the pope’s territory.

Inside buildings specially soundproofed to prevent noise from leaking out, screams never ceased throughout the year.

Devout believers, including Saint Christine, witnessed the scenes of heretics atoning for their sins.

The pope also did not forget to additionally educate Christine from time to time. The fear and helplessness that filled Christine’s heart easily led to obedience.

The pope smiled with satisfaction as he confirmed Christine’s state.

The influence of the Holy Church, which had even produced a saint, soared limitlessly, and the pope at its apex naturally wielded absolute power.

It seemed that the day when the Holy Church would rule and govern the continent was not far off.

“…Someone dares to insult me?”

“Yes, Your Holiness.”

“Kill him. Make sure he dies slowly in maximum pain!”

“Well, about that…”

If only it hadn’t been for a certain boy who appeared out of nowhere.