Ch.87Chapter 87. A Requiem for This Blasphemer!!!

Frigga, the guardian deity of the Empire, and the lesser gods beneath her.

Most people only know this much about the religions that exist in this world, and I too only vaguely understood through occasional news that religious orders other than Frigga’s hold no power in the Empire.

In such times, the religious order that Jaseong belongs to is showing overwhelming growth to the point where a cardinal personally filed a complaint, and this is because the being they claim to be a saint in their order is receiving fervent support from the common people.

“He-hello everyone…”

And finally, the time has come to confirm whether placing a demon on the position of saint is the right answer.

Just as prayer time arrived, Jaseong took me to the prayer room and showed me the girl standing before the believers.

The only thing different from before was the small and still seemingly fragile young succubus, wearing nothing but a nun’s habit.

“I-I am Yu-Yuinoi, the s-saint of the Meter Order. Please take care of…”

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!”

The shouts that erupted upon facing the girl could only be called cheers, not jeers.

The believers, who should be pure, were genuinely revering the girl as a succubus, as if she weren’t considered an enemy of humanity.

“Lady Yuiiii! Lady Yui has finally shown herself to uuuuus!”

“Lady Yui is looking at uuuus!”

“Saint! Saaaaint!!”

The heat and commotion unfolding at the scene, and the continuous shouting that felt like madness.

Just hearing the sounds made my skin tingle, and it even felt similar to an idol concert filled with passionate fans.

Despite the common sense that prayer typically involves quietly browsing through the Bible.

“Um, everyone. It’s prayer time, so please be qui…”

“Saint! You are our hope! You are the light and salt of this world!”

“If there are countless believers following you in this world, I am one of them, and if there is only one believer, that would be me!”

“Saint Yui! You are our god and the reincarnation of Meter!”

Well… I guess.

Saints are sometimes treated as incarnations or earthly manifestations of gods.

Considering that both idols and gods are objects of worship, I suppose this isn’t entirely strange.

Though it’s still odd to feel that way toward a demon, no matter how young.

“Woooah! I love you, Lady Yui!”

“…Love?”

Just as that question arose, a questioning voice suddenly burst out.

At that point, the madness enveloping the scene suddenly subsided, and soon all the believers began to focus their attention on one particular believer.

“Did you just mutter the word ‘love’ while looking at our Saint?!”

“To harbor such ugly thoughts toward our small and delicate Saint!”

“You blasphemous bastard!!”

Believers striking the problematic believer with the Bibles in their hands.

Amidst all kinds of curses and the sound of flesh being hit as blood flowed, I turned to Jaseong, who was calmly folding his arms, and asked a question.

“Is that allowed?”

“It’s fine, legally speaking, law books and Bibles aren’t recognized as weapons.”

That’s not what I was asking about.

“Saint! We’ve caught a pedophile who dared to look at you with impure eyes!”

But regardless of my bewilderment, they were focused only on what they wanted to do.

Soon, the believers who had beaten the believer to a pulp made him kneel and began shouting toward the demon girl who was revered as a saint.

“Saint! Please tell us directly how to punish this disgusting and filthy fellow!!!”

“Pu-punishment? I don’t know about such…”

“We’re sorry, Saint!!”

The believer quickly bowed his head before the trembling saint.

The force was so strong that his skin tore and blood flowed, but nevertheless, the man was bursting into sorrowful tears as if sincerely repenting his sins.

“Despite being a believer who serves you, I occasionally had delusions of wanting to stroke your cheeks and pat your head! Please give me the appropriate punishment for daring to touch your sacred body, even if only in imagination!”

“Wh-what? That much is okay…”

“Oh! What a solemn apology!”

“But even so, you cannot deny the impurity in your heart! Prove your repentance by receiving punishment!”

“No, how can a heart that has been tainted even once be purified with just one act of repentance?!”

“Then it’s training! Discipline him harshly so he can withstand the fires of hell when he falls there!”

The believers were taking control of the situation according to their own will, ignoring what was being said.

As the young succubus was at a loss watching this, the believers brought a heavy jar and placed it in front of the beaten sinner.

“Before Meter, who protects abundance and family, and the Saint who has become her incarnation, I ask! What is your name?!”

“I am Asei, a believer of the Meter Order!”

“Good, Asei! Are you ready to taste the fires of hell?!”

The believers took out what was in the jar as they heard the resounding answer.

The pickled vegetables dripping with bright red liquid were what would be called “kimchi” in the world I used to live in.

“Gaaah! Is this the spicy taste of the Hell Fire Peninsula?!”

“Endure it!! The hell where blasphemers go is filled with even more pain than this!!!”

“If you’re going to fall into hell anyway, train yourself to withstand its heat! So that you can show an even worse hell to the blasphemous ones there!!”

The sinner who began to writhe after eating the kimchi, and the clergy who spared no encouragement and scolding toward him.

As I stared blankly at the scene, Jaseong, who had been standing beside me with folded arms, spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s one of the specialties provided by our order. I hear the Hell Fire flavor is quite popular among practitioners in many ways.”

“Ah, yes.”

So they’re also sharing food with the poor using the culinary experience from our food travels.

But where did they get the cabbage used in kimchi?

Did they raid barbarian gardens again to make kimchi?

“With this, we’ve succeeded in purifying another impure person!”

“This is possible because our Saint is with us!”

“Oh, Saint Yui, today too you spare no effort in rooting out filthy beings!”

“No, I, I didn’t do anything…”

“Fear not, everyone! Our Saint is with us in our holy war!!!”

The young succubus seemed unable to adapt even after two years had passed, not knowing what to do.

But as if such reactions didn’t matter at all, hundreds of believers gathered in the assembly hall were shouting slogans in unison.

“Touch her and die! Roll call in hell!”

“Your voices are too soft! Louder!!!”

“Purge them! Let all pedophiles in this world hear our requiem!!!”

A fierce roar that could shake the entire space.

Faced with this scene of madness created by faith and hatred toward pedophiles, the young demon eventually broke down in tears.

“Waaaaaah! I don’t want this weird stuff anymore!!! Yasmo Deus! Please save meee!!”

The girl’s tears that should never flow during sacred prayer time, and the believers shouting madness before her.

Facing this scene, Jaseong gave me a thumbs up as if feeling satisfied and said:

“How about it, little brother! Just as I thought, many believers with devout faith have gathered, right?”

“Ah yes, if madness can be classified as faith, then you’re not wrong.”

Is this also a struggle to adapt to a world gone mad?

I’m confused, so confused.

****

Anyway, the fate of that young succubus and the fanatical order is Jaseong’s business.

I followed Jaseong to the ritual chamber located in the basement of the cathedral to break my curse.

“If it’s a curse placed by a minion of the Lord of Corpses, shouldn’t we help too…?”

“No, he’s endured well until now, so with just a little help, we can remove it right away. I can handle it alone, so you all can step back.”

“Yes, if you insist.”

The believers withdrew one by one after paying their respects.

Afterward, following Jaseong’s guidance, I lay down on the altar, and he took out a Bible and began preparing what was needed for the removal.

“Hyoseong, you know almost nothing about the god I serve, right?”

“Well yes… I don’t know anything about religions except for Frigga.”

“Well, even though we’ve started to make a name for ourselves, it hasn’t been long. We still have a long way to go.”

Jaseong focused on reading the Bible in his hands, tracing the contents with his eyes.

Though he has a boisterous and reckless personality, in this moment of reading the Bible, he was remarkably solemn and composed.

“To summarize… There was once a kingdom as wealthy as the Empire, and the Meter Order I serve was the state religion until that country was destroyed by a plague.”

“So it’s the state religion of a fallen kingdom?”

“Yes, even back then it was just a modest wish for good harvests and peace in homes, but people who didn’t forget those teachings even after the country that supported the order collapsed continued to maintain that faith even after entering the Empire.”

Unlike Frigga, the Empire’s state religion, it has no ambition or power to stand above all gods, but it has still maintained its lineage until now…

In a sense, perhaps it has been maintained because the “sentiments familiar to ordinary citizens” like harvests and family have not been forgotten in people’s hearts.

Rather, in this collapsing world, there might be more people who long for such modest things than for nobility or honor.

“And in this world, when one’s belief reaches heaven in some way, it can create light from that heart. Like this.”

As soon as he finished praying, a faint light arose from his hand—holy power.

It’s a panacea that cures all diseases and wounds except baldness, and serves as an indicator of one’s nobility.

Just by facing the warmth felt from that light, I could understand.

Even if what he’s doing might be considered eccentric, it’s the result of following what he believed was right.

“Woo Hyoseong, are you ready to have the curse removed?”

With such holy power in his hands, he soon prepared to extend his light-filled hand toward me lying on the altar.

“Brother, can you really remove the curse?”

“What’s so grand about removing a curse? It’s just a battle of whether the curse is stronger or my holy power is stronger, and I’ll push through with fighting spirit.”

It was truly a reassuring statement.

I had never seen anyone with stronger fighting spirit than this person in my life.

“Alright then, no need to waste time, let’s go right away!! Tighten your abs!!”

Although I was anxious, I had enough trust in him that it was hard to give up.

Just as I decided to accept it and concentrated strength in my lower abdomen, something suddenly crawled up my spine and began whispering in my ear.

‘Giving up my curse. Are you serious?’

Gorgon Zola.

The moment that “replicated self” he left behind prepared to manipulate me as before.

‘For humans, it’s not easy to continuously exert will. But if you borrow my power, you can consistently receive the driving force to satisfy your hunger.’

I can’t deny that because of this curse, I was able to achieve explosive growth over the past three months.

After all, as a human, no matter how desperate your purpose is, it’s inevitable that your mind will waver and you’ll become complacent and lazy.

A curse that consistently corrects such potentially weakening resolve might be necessary for my progress.

‘…Sorry, but I’ll handle my own growth.’

But there’s no such thing as kindness without a price in this world, and this guy is just trying to use me for his own benefit.

Now that I’ve become aware, I couldn’t let someone with such obvious intentions have his way.

Especially since I’m not the only one being manipulated by his power.

‘Hahaha! That’s right, you’ve maintained your consciousness this far. With your level of mental strength, you could probably do well even without my curse.’

As I resisted the whispers with such conviction, Jaseong’s hand, having completed preparations, began to approach me.

Filling that hand with holy power to completely shake off these whispers from me.

‘But it seems the child with you has different thoughts.’

At that moment, I felt a change occurring from within my body.

I quickly opened my eyes wide and attempted to suppress the force trying to burst from my body.

“Brother! Get away!”

But by then, a violent wave of mana was already occurring in my body.

As Jaseong’s body was pushed back and collided with the wall with a bang, I held my breath and stared at the being that had emerged from my body while pushing him away.

-Why?

The faintly heard voice was one I had heard in dreams.

But there was no longer any of the previous awkwardness in it.

-Why are you trying to remove the curse?

As if Gorgon Zola’s curse was accelerating the mental growth of that child, in addition to my abilities.

“…Pailoi.”

-Daddy needs to become stronger than he is now.

But growth is not always a good thing.

-Otherwise, you won’t be able to kill Mommy with your own hands.

The whisper that came along with the power surging from the spear was enough to make me realize that.