Ch.70Sacrifice of Repentance

As Kane and Heroni saw the light vanish from Christine’s eyes, they felt only one emotion.

Terror.

Despite being A-rank adventurers who had faced countless monsters and humans, they had never seen eyes that evoked such primal fear.

A hiccup escaped from Heroni. The fact that she was a veteran adventurer who had weathered countless battles did nothing to help her overcome this terror.

Kane recalled a time when he had faced a giant wolf-type monster.

That situation had been extremely dangerous too, with the entire party at risk of death. But it hadn’t felt like this—like there was absolutely no way to survive.

Back then, it had been more like “this is dangerous” or “we might actually die if we’re not careful.” But it was the kind of crisis that, though difficult, could be overcome with his party members.

And as evidenced by the fact that their party was still active, Kane’s party had not only overcome that crisis splendidly but had also slaughtered the monster, collected the spoils, and gained overwhelming fame in the process.

But now was different.

It felt as if someone was whispering in their ears that no matter how much Kane and Heroni struggled, death was certain, so they might as well commit suicide before suffering any further.

Turn your back and flee—death. Stand and fight—death. Throw down your weapons and beg for mercy—still death.

They couldn’t even begin to imagine what action they should take.

They almost wished they were back to desperately fighting the hundreds of monsters that had surrounded them moments ago.

Back then, they had been strategizing ways to survive. Now, even the very act of thinking about survival seemed futile.

They had no confidence.

No confidence in surviving.

“Uh… ah…”

Clumsy expressions of emotion sputtered from Kane’s mouth, mostly punctuated by fear. Christine looked at him and thought:

Indeed, these inferior beings are only worthy of being sacrifices.

Christine began to step forward. With each step she took, Kane, Heroni, and the monsters surrounding Christine let out silent screams.

The surroundings were now filled with worm-like monsters. The black waves covering the ground writhed ceaselessly.

The nearby forest was completely black. Rocks, trees, and even slightly overgrown grass were covered with monsters, their sharp teeth bared.

However, they dared not think of pouncing on Christine. No, they didn’t even think of approaching her.

Whether because the branch they were clinging to broke, or they were pushed by others, or there was no more space to occupy—for whatever reason, any monster that came even slightly closer to Christine met the same fate.

Monsters clinging to thin branches, watching for an opportunity, fell to the ground as the branches broke and immediately turned to ash while flailing desperately.

Monsters that were pushed and bounced toward Christine immediately burrowed desperately into the ground as if burned by something.

Monsters that had created small hills by climbing over each other lost their balance and toppled toward Christine, immediately bursting into flames from the faint holy power that filled the surroundings.

The area around Christine was nothing short of sacred ground. A sanctuary where existence was permitted only by her god.

Her bright yellow eyes surveyed the miserably devoured corpses.

A corpse with only a little meat remaining, blood soaked into the soil, and a staff that would have been used to assist with magic.

A roughly two-thirds devoured human corpse that still somewhat retained a human shape, with a lone sword placed beside it.

Both were unsuitable as offerings to her god.

Christine turned her gaze. In the distance, she saw a man and woman frozen in place by terrible fear.

As Christine’s eyes swept over the woman, they filled with darkness. It was that woman. The female adventurer with long black straight hair tied at the nape of her neck.

The blasphemous human who dared to converse with her god. The blasphemous human who dared to show her filthy teeth before her god. The blasphemous human who dared to spew her cracked voice before her god.

And the heretic who dared to stand beside her god.

“It was you.”

Heroni, now the target of that deadly hostility, could bear it no longer and collapsed to the ground. Kane felt nauseous just standing nearby.

The distance between Heroni and Christine shortened by one step.

“I asked if it was you who dared to stand beside my god with your sinful body.”

Heroni couldn’t say anything. She couldn’t. It took all her strength just to keep from fainting.

The “sanctuary” expanded further. The black worms fell into panic, writhing and desperately crawling away. Any unfortunate individuals that failed to escape in time immediately burst into purifying flames.

Kane and Heroni were no different. Their breath caught, and their brains gasped for oxygen. Their minds began to panic.

They could actually breathe, but their terror-stricken brains refused to make rational judgments.

Christine clasped her hands in front of her chest. She interlaced her fingers and wore a sinister smile.

“However, my god possesses infinite mercy. Even heretics like you will surely be offered salvation by His own hand.”

In that moment, Kane let out a scream.

“AAAAARGH!”

“To show gratitude for that infinite mercy that embraces even heretics, what must we do?”

Kane screamed in agony, flailing his arms and rolling on the ground. Heroni, barely holding onto her senses through the panic, looked to the side.

His skin was burning.

There was clearly nothing visible on Kane’s body. Yet his skin was shriveling, leaving red and black marks as if on fire.

His hair fell out in clumps. His skin had now melted to the point where its original color was hard to find, and pale white bones occasionally showed through the burning muscles.

“Burn your body and offer yourself—that is the way.”

The screams gradually subsided. Only faint moans of “ugh, ugh” could be heard occasionally.

Kane’s appearance was utterly miserable. His skin had completely burned away, leaving only muscle tissue visible, and his joints hung precariously as if about to break.

His body, reduced to muscle and bone, trembled weakly. His right hand was raised feebly as if making a final struggle, but it soon gave up.

Thud. His hand fell. Christine’s gaze remained fixed on Heroni.

“That one has now received salvation. By burning his body with holy power, he has offered himself to my god. The Lord will surely have forgiven his sins.”

Boom! As soon as those words ended, the ground shook. The shadows cast over Heroni and Christine disappeared, and sunlight shone on them again.

The massive monster that had swallowed the carriage and risen into the air had landed back on the ground. Dust swirled around them.

Christine didn’t even glance at the monster. Her bright yellow pupils, filled with deep hatred, remained fixed only on Heroni.

The black, worm-like monster opened its mouth into four parts and roared. Shhhh—air was sucked in between its densely packed teeth.

“However, there is a heretic here whose sins cannot be forgiven simply by burning their body.”

The monster began to crawl toward Christine, twisting its body.

Though not particularly fast, the distance closed quickly due to the monster’s enormous size.

The four-part mouth indiscriminately swallowed soil and air, increasing its speed. It seemed capable of easily devouring any number of humans.

“I too must repent for this. For failing to stop the heretic who approached my god, for failing to stop the heretic who blinded my god, for failing to stop the heretic who tempted my god.”

Hundreds of teeth, each as long as a spear blade, lunged at Christine alone. The flesh between them writhed grotesquely.

The four-part mouth closed.

“Because that sin is extremely grave.”

The mouth couldn’t close.

More precisely, it couldn’t close completely. The mouth, which had tried to close with the momentum to chew and swallow everything in front of it, couldn’t penetrate Christine’s body and remained in a strange, half-open position.

Shattered teeth fell to the ground.

The upper two parts had tried to dig into Christine’s head and shoulders, while the lower two parts had aimed for her feet and calves, but instead, the monster’s teeth had been crushed.

Christine remained motionless, hands still clasped in front of her chest, staring at Heroni.

A moment later, the monster retreated, flapping its massive body. The sound of air being sucked in continuously came from its mouth.

Every time the monster’s body writhed, the ground shook with it. The soil was deeply gouged, and surrounding trees snapped like reeds.

Blood stained the tips of the teeth that had broken against Christine’s body.

Black blood.