Ch.83Chapter 83. The Cruel Truth Revealed by the Snake

All hell broke loose, literally.

The enraged Arsil grabbed Casty by the collar and dragged him all the way to the Papal Office. The hero party and the Holy Knights followed in confusion, trying to stop her, but they couldn’t approach carelessly as she scattered holy power while advancing.

“Holy Maiden?”

“Holy Maiden! You’ve returned!”

“Ugh, it’s blinding!”

The Holy Nation’s gate had three passages inside.

The front led to the Papal Office and was where those who bought indulgences and had wealth to spare resided.

The left was the district for lower-class people who couldn’t afford indulgences, and the right was for those who barely managed to buy them.

Having always used only the front passage, Arsil had never seen the starving people, making today’s events a tremendous shock to her.

“Agreus!”

Arsil kicked open the door of the Papal Office and called out to the Pope, who was praying under the large goddess emblem hanging on the wall.

“Arsil, it’s been a long time. But could you please control your holy power? It’s not just blinding; it’s making my skin tingle.”

His long, navy blue hair rippled like waves.

Arsil threw Casty down in front of the Pope, who had greeted her warmly as if they had seen each other just yesterday.

“Lord Casty?”

“Last night and early this morning, he summarily executed people from the Holy Nation who came to steal food. Even the family and wife in that house!”

“Arsil, I gave that order. To eliminate the bandits.”

“They weren’t bandits! They were hungry citizens of the Holy Nation. They did attack me, but when I gave them food, they apologized on their own, and I accepted their repentance and blessed them. They were just going back with the food packages I gave them, but Lord Casty arbitrarily beheaded them all, claiming they had robbed the nation’s storehouse!”

“Ah, I see.”

The Pope sighed lightly and looked at Casty.

Under his gentle but stern gaze, Casty prostrated himself.

“I have nothing to say…”

“Lord Casty, I hereby order you to reflect on your actions for one week.”

“One week of reflection? Is that all?!”

The hero party arrived belatedly.

Since Arsil’s shouts had echoed so loudly, they could easily guess what conversation had taken place.

Facing the Holy Maiden’s fierce protest, Agreus spoke with serious intent.

“Those bandits were operating under the goddess’s emblem and had previously killed people.”

“What…?”

Arsil was speechless at this unexpected fact.

“They just said they were hungry… that their child didn’t even have the strength to cry…”

“Arsil, you have served as the Holy Maiden, as a symbol of hope, and as a hero to defeat the Demon King. But you’ve rarely seen how people who have committed crimes and are cornered make excuses, how they tell self-serving lies and rationalizations. Some priests who hear confessions in the repentance room even develop skepticism about whether claims of ‘I had no choice’ are true.”

“But I…”

“Of course, Lord Casty is guilty of acting independently without knowing that the Holy Maiden had reprimanded them and accepted their repentance, but the bandits’ looting and murders have been an ongoing issue.”

The bandits Arsil had seen didn’t have the faces of murderers.

She knew better than anyone what impression and attitude those who had crossed the line in the sewage alley had.

“…I’m sorry, Lord Casty.”

But Arsil believed the Pope.

The only person in the Holy Nation besides her who could use holy power, blessed by the goddess—he couldn’t be wrong.

Above all, he was the Pope who had personally taught her and always guided her.

“It’s alright. I should be the one apologizing for acting without proper investigation.”

“No, I should be…”

The sight of them repeatedly bowing to each other was almost comical.

And there was someone who had never tolerated such pathetic scenes since the original version of the Arrogant Saga.

“This is ridiculous.”

It was Hero Lucy.

“Bandits? I’ve never seen such timid bandits before. They had faces that feared confrontation with people. I may not know what faces look like when they’re lying in desperation, but I know very well what faces look like when they’re trembling from hunger.”

“Stop it, Lucy. Agreus already said they had a history.”

“I’m saying they didn’t look like they had a history. Why don’t you believe me but blindly believe the Pope?”

“Because…!”

“Ah, I get it!”

As Arsil took the Pope’s side, Lucy chuckled and rolled up both sleeves to her shoulders.

Her pale white arms were revealed, with even whiter stretch marks visible above her elbow joints.

Arsil and the hero party inhaled sharply, knowing what those stretch marks meant.

“Because you’re all in this together.”

The hero, resting her temporary holy sword on the floor, sneered at the Pope.

“When I begged for my life, when I asked you to stop, no one listened.”

*Tsuaaaaaaaa-*

“Here, everyone listens to each other so well. It’s sickening.”

Black energy, resentment, began to envelop the Abyss.

“Tell me.”

Lucy’s smile deepened.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t destroy this Papal Office and the entire Holy Nation.”

“Luciana! You’re going too far!”

“Stay out of this, third party. I’ll save your share for wrecking the Elf Forest, so just wait.”

Naidrian tried to intervene but retreated without retorting under Lucy’s fierce threat.

Meanwhile, Agreus approached Lucy with a calm smile.

“Resentment… holy resentment has taken root in the sacred hero.”

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m referring to that black energy emanating from you. We call it resentment. A power that is neither demonic energy nor holy power. That is your driving force now.”

When the Pope, now very close, reached out toward the Abyss, Lucy instinctively backed away.

Except for Rin, no man could touch her.

“Seeing those scars breaks my heart. It was my fault for not understanding that your temperament was simply unrestrained.”

Speaking in riddles, the Pope bowed very slowly.

That only provoked Lucy’s anger more.

“Are you asking me to destroy the Holy Nation?”

“Of course not.”

Agreus smiled slyly.

“People are at fault, so why would you attack the Papal Office and the Holy Nation? This is the goddess’s sanctuary. Don’t you fear the goddess’s punishment?”

“Seeing what you’re doing to me now, it seems I could just do whatever I want and then bow to the goddess in apology afterward?”

“Indeed, I cannot appeal to your faith.”

Raising his bowed body, Agreus’s smile reappeared.

It was truly a serpentine smile.

“Then how about this?”

The serpent pointed at Rin.

“I believe the porter’s arm is still corrupted by the Demon King’s demonic energy.”

This time, everyone in the hero party except Rin bit their lips.

Even setting aside what happened to Lucy, that was an unforgivable mistake.

“If you annihilate this place, I cannot guarantee that Arsil will look kindly upon the porter’s arm.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Let’s say I’m weighing the pros and cons, shall we?”

It was a direct hit.

If nothing else, Rin’s arm had to be healed.

It had been quite some time since the Abyss had told the hero that if the Demon King’s demonic energy consumed Rin, the porter would become a demon.

He was enduring by absorbing the second holy sword Hrunoni and using its holy power, but having touched the Demon King’s condensed essence—the horn—with his bare hand, it was inevitable that the demonic energy would eventually take his life.

“I’ve been holding up well so far. Actually, there’s no pain. I think I’m fine as I am.”

Rin raised his hand to show he was alright, but the Pope, who had approached without notice, grabbed it.

Examining it carefully from the wrist down, the Pope soon discovered that the tips of the porter’s fingers, beneath the nails, were turning black.

“The corruption is starting to show.”

“…!”

At those words, Lucy and Tigria simultaneously came over to look at Rin’s fingertips that Agreus was showing.

Ravin didn’t move, but his eyes trembled severely as he looked at Rin.

“At this stage, the corrupted area should feel like it’s being pricked with needles.”

“No, I don’t feel anything…”

“Ah, that’s the problem with men.”

The Pope sighed deeply and brushed back his hair.

“They don’t acknowledge pain as pain. Always saying they’re fine, not even recognizing what pain is. Just like your heart.”

Startled by the last remark, Rin looked up at Agreus.

And Rin sensed a very familiar energy in the eyes of the Pope, who was smiling inexplicably.

It was very similar to the energy corrupting his arm.

But how does he know? This wasn’t in the game…

“You can fix it, right?”

Lucy asked the Pope in a sharp tone.

Though her demeanor was fierce, she couldn’t hide the severe trembling in her voice.

Worry and guilt about Rin were shaking her.

“I don’t know.”

The serpent smiled insidiously again.

“But it seems our Holy Nation is the only possible solution.”

Lucy,

Tigria,

and Ravin all felt that Rin’s back somehow looked smaller today.

Lucy tried to speak threateningly to Agreus while somehow swallowing her sobs.

“Fix it by any means necessary. I don’t care how much it costs or what’s needed. It’s my sin.”

The countdown that held Rin’s life in the balance had officially begun.