Ch.8Light Greetings

Charlotte began silently counting in her mind as she stared at the rotting, decaying flesh that had been in human form just moments ago.

1 second.

The blonde ponytailed female knight and the black-haired nun stood frozen in shock, unable to make proper judgments about the situation unfolding before their eyes.

It was understandable. In the span of a few breaths, a robust adult male had completely melted away. The liquefied flesh seeped into the red carpet with a squelching sound.

2 seconds.

The flesh, which had melted into reddish and blackish hues, suddenly began to find its place again.

Fingers appeared, then wrists, and between the not-yet-fully-restored skin, glimpses of spine and internal organs could be seen. Soon, an outline that could be called human took shape.

The fingers, which were the first to restore their form, twitched, announcing their owner’s survival to the surroundings.

The liquid that had seeped into the red carpet, originating from a human, completely evaporated and flowed back into its original body.

3 seconds.

The decayed flesh completely regained human form. Even the clothes that had melted along with the flesh returned to their original state, and the red carpet remained clean.

The corners of Charlotte’s eyes softened slightly as she observed that bewildered face. That expression, right after recovering from being torn to shreds, never ceased to fascinate her.

“Ugh.”

A small groan escaped my lips.

What the hell just happened to me? Before I could even realize my body was decaying, it had already corroded and disappeared.

Even when I had to swim through lava to enter a dragon’s nest, I don’t think my body melted this quickly.

Especially that feeling of my calves crumbling under their own weight the moment they touched the ground—it was truly beyond imagination.

It was similar to that feeling when you think there’s one more step on a staircase, but the one you just stepped on was actually the last, and your body suddenly sinks.

As I steadied my staggering body with Serena and Christine supporting me on either side, Charlotte addressed me in a much gentler voice.

“It’s a newly developed magic. Did you like it?”

“Like it or not, what the hell was that? My body turned to mush—was it some kind of acid-based magic?”

“You may call it Bio Plague. It was originally developed for executing prisoners. But the corrosion speed was too fast, so its use for executions has been temporarily suspended.”

“Because it causes less pain?”

“Correct.”

Charlotte grinned. If you removed the context of the conversation, it was a smile that could instantly captivate any man.

Except the backstory is that she created a magic that kills people too quickly, so she abandoned it because she wanted them to die more painfully.

“So, what are your impressions?”

“Of what?”

“Your impressions of experiencing Bio Plague firsthand. I cannot ask those who have already died for their opinions. The dead do not speak. One must consider the possibility that they experienced extreme pain in that brief moment.”

I didn’t even have time to feel pain before my body was completely destroyed.

No matter how desensitized to pain I might be from my numerous suicides, if a body melts at that speed, even an ordinary person would die instantly before feeling anything.

She must know this, so why is she asking such a question? As I conveyed this with my eyes, Charlotte burst into laughter.

“Your emotions are so transparent on your face. I was just asking; you need not answer.”

Charlotte, showing a bright smile, looked very much like the 17-year-old girl her appearance suggested.

Like a girl who enjoys playing pranks and cries or laughs at small gifts or jokes, there was a glimpse of untainted purity in one aspect of her smile.

That’s because her actual age is nearly 150 years.

Who would think that this woman before us has been the supreme ruler of the kingdom for over 100 years, having ascended to the throne at the age of 14?

Moreover, the king even bears the ominous title of “Blood Queen.”

But it was true.

Her teenage-like appearance was achieved by forcibly reversing aging through magic, and nobles always watch her carefully, living in fear that the next purge might fall upon them.

With over a hundred noble families exterminated to the third generation by Charlotte and severe oppression of the nobility, one wrong word could result in the immediate beheading of a family head.

Not a figurative stripping of titles, but literally having one’s head physically severed. The title “Blood Queen” wasn’t given for nothing.

Rebellion? They can’t even dream of it. Even if all the magicians on the continent were gathered, they couldn’t defeat Charlotte alone.

And without magicians, the outcome of a reckless rebellion is obvious. The list of noble families exterminated to the third generation would simply grow longer, and their territories would be transferred to someone else.

Although Charlotte doesn’t govern the country well due to her extreme paranoia, she compensates for her lack of governing ability with her magic, so no major problems have arisen so far.

If a region suffers from famine due to misguided policies and adversities, she simply uses magic to overturn the land, making it fertile, and creates various relief supplies until the famine is resolved.

Of course, if anyone is caught lying during this process, they’ll personally experience why she’s called the Blood Queen. There have been quite a few territories that were massacred after being caught trying to obtain relief supplies with clumsy lies.

“Well, do you have anything to say?”

Charlotte had somehow returned to her usual dignified self.

Sitting on the throne with her waist slightly bent, one leg crossed, and her chin resting on the armrest, she was a girl with two red eyes directed at me.

I hope she didn’t catch me thinking about her age.

“Yes, I do. Why did you suddenly summon me? And using teleportation magic at that.”

“For what reason? Because of the audacious knight commander beside you.”

At those words, Serena slightly averted her eyes from mine and turned her head to the side.

“I received a report that the First Knight Commander had suddenly disappeared. At first, I wondered what was happening. When I checked with location tracking magic, she was urgently heading somewhere, and what could make that knight commander move so hastily other than you? Moreover, when I sensed your soul in the direction the First Knight Commander was heading, it would be strange not to be certain. And just now, when I checked the location again, the First Knight Commander had stopped somewhere, and I sensed your soul beside her, so I assumed she had met you and summoned you here with a teleportation magic circle.”

Charlotte briefly glanced at Christine beside me. Christine received the gaze without flinching—a gaze that even high-ranking nobles couldn’t properly face.

“Well, I didn’t expect such an uninvited guest as a bonus.”

I know, right? I didn’t expect Christine either. I didn’t anticipate this situation either.

After wandering alone for years, how could I have thought I’d meet Serena, Christine, and Charlotte all in one day? It’s obvious what kind of mess will unfold when these three meet.

“You must be tired, so rest today. I’ll send you to a room I’ve had prepared in advance. It’s late, so it would be better to enjoy the banquet in the morning.”

“What? Wait, just me?”

“Of course. I said I would welcome only you in the name of Charlotte de Gargantua.”

“No, wait—”

Before I could finish speaking, the magic circle beneath my feet activated. Just as I said it’s obvious what kind of mess will unfold when these three meet, she’s leaving just the three of them?

This is insane.

“I didn’t expect you to be here as well.”

As soon as the teleportation ended, Charlotte, her expression hardened, spoke in a voice as frozen as her face.

Serena and Christine’s expressions were not much different. They had been conversing amicably until just now, but the woman before them had taken that place.

Their expressions couldn’t possibly be pleasant.

Especially Charlotte’s eyes looking at Christine were much colder.

Since there was no killing intent or hostility in the teleportation magic circle, Christine, who quickly noticed, didn’t activate mana nullification, so she was brought here as well.

The frivolous thought crossed Charlotte’s mind that next time, she might try infusing some killing intent into the magic circle.

“Would you please shut that filthy mouth of yours? I need to contemplate the words the Lord has spoken to me.”

“Oh? Are you picking a fight?”

“Yes, I am.”

“That’s a quick affirmation—”

“But, even if I am picking a fight, what can you do about it?”

Christine smiled a sinister smile. Seeing that smile, Charlotte’s body twitched slightly. The words just uttered were clearly provocative.

After staring at Christine with eyes full of killing intent for a moment, Charlotte trembled as if forcibly suppressing her anger and leaned back against the throne’s backrest.

It was as Christine said. No matter what Christine spouted, there was nothing Charlotte could do.

It was because of that damned mana nullification.

Whether it was a meteor striking from high orbit or a crustal collapse tearing the ground from deep below, the incantation itself wouldn’t activate as long as there was a possibility Christine might be involved.

And Charlotte, unable to use magic, was just an ordinary woman.

Just now, she had tried to swing a flame spear as soon as she heard the provocation. Charlotte’s clenched fist trembled with anger.

She really didn’t like that woman. If she could, she would just kill her. And in a very cruel way at that.

“You’re quite insolent. I will personally cut off your head someday.”

“Would that be possible?”

“We won’t know unless we try, will we?”

“In this world, there are things one can know without having to try.”

Had it been anyone but Christine who said those words, Charlotte would have nodded in agreement.

It was a belief befitting Charlotte, who strictly distinguishes between what is possible and what is impossible, and doesn’t even look at the impossible.

If there was one exception, it might be her research on immortality.

But this time, she didn’t want to agree. Affirming those words would be indirectly admitting defeat to Christine.

Rather than bending her pride, she’d rather break. Charlotte exhaled irritably.

“We’ll see about that.”

Christine didn’t respond. Instead, she took out a small skull from the pouch tied around her thigh and began to pray, holding it in both hands.

Seeing the small skull, Serena tilted her head. It seemed familiar. She sifted through her memories one by one.

Having seen human heads without flinching as the royal knight commander, it took her a while to trace her memories.

And she recalled one thing. What she had seen when her lord’s head had completely melted from acid magic.

Due to the skin sticking in various places and the rapid regeneration, she couldn’t examine it clearly, but the outline of the skull she had imprinted in her mind resembled that small skull.

“Is that skull modeled after our lord?”

In response to Serena’s uncertain question, an answer came immediately.

“You have a surprisingly keen eye.”

“…Surprisingly?”

“I meant I thought you were just a brainless brute who only knew how to use force.”

No sooner had the provocative words appended to the answer ended than the blade of World Eater dug into Christine’s neck.

Christine didn’t react. Or perhaps she chose not to react. After all, World Eater’s blade couldn’t pierce her neck.

Feeling the blade against her neck, Christine’s lips curled into another sinister smile.

“I should correct what I just said. Indeed, my judgment that you’re just a brainless brute who only knows how to use force was correct.”

“Just because your mouth is open doesn’t mean you can babble as you please.”

“Don’t try to win with force when you can’t even hold a conversation.”

“What good is your sharp tongue when you’re only hated by our lord?”

Christine’s head turned sharply. A deep abyss, devoid of even a single ray of light, was staring at Serena.

The sinister smile on her lips vanished. It was as if a demon had descended. A killing intent that would make even seasoned knights turn tail and flee crept in.

“What did you just say?”

“I said, what good is your sharp tongue when you’re only hated by our lord?”

“Did you say I am hated?”

“Yes.”

Serena stood her ground. This level of killing intent was nothing. The worry of what would happen if her lord was disappointed or angry with her was hundreds of times more terrifying.

Could the useless woman sitting on the throne now withstand this killing intent head-on? Probably not. Serena inwardly mocked Charlotte.

While Serena had no definite means to defeat Christine, conversely, Christine had no means to defeat Serena either. After that, it was a battle of endurance.

Although the fight in the forest ended abruptly, Serena had long completed her analysis of Christine during that brief encounter.

Except for the lack of information about that holy power or whatever it was, there didn’t seem to be any factor that would cause Serena to lose.

“Do not test my faith.”

“Why do you talk about faith when our lord doesn’t trust you?”

“Are you insulting my God now?”

“I’m not insulting; I’m stating the truth.”

A quiet silence fell. Christine’s hands, clasped in front of her chest, trembled slightly.

“Did you not see our lord’s distorted expression when you said you had returned after killing a thousand people? How many times has our lord ordered you not to kill people, yet you didn’t listen? Why do you think our lord would like someone who doesn’t follow his words and indulges in massacres?”

Christine said nothing. The abyss in her eyes deepened even further.

“A thousand people… Are you still doing that ridiculous thing? I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even speak.”

Charlotte was well aware of Christine’s madness. Thanks to that madness, she had eradicated the Holy Church, which had been a thorn in her side.

In fact, Charlotte could have done it herself without entrusting it to Christine. No matter how many believers there were, religion was just religion. There was no reason to fear such people.

Yet, she didn’t dismantle the Holy Church simply because there was someone beside her who wanted to try suicide with holy power, saying she would stop her.

In the end, she grumbled later that she couldn’t achieve it.

The Holy Church collapsed on its own after tens of thousands of believers were massacred over several decades by Christine alone, all their corruption was exposed, and even the Pope’s head was taken.

Now, it barely maintained its existence scattered across the continent. They couldn’t even dream of having a Pope, and they had only recently managed to elect a new Saint.

At that time, Charlotte had heard about Christine’s sacrifices. After killing a thousand people and returning, she would attempt to sever the immortality of her god, and if she failed, she would go out to kill another thousand.

To think she was still doing that ridiculous thing.

“Was it just because of that?”

Christine’s reaction was unexpected. Serena had expected her to go mad with rage, but instead, her tone became even more calm.

The abyss reflected in her eyes had also disappeared. Taking advantage of Serena’s momentary hesitation at this unexpected reaction, Christine spread her arms wide towards the sky. Simultaneously, her head tilted far back.

“Ah, my God! My merciful God! Save me from the unbelievers and heretics! Please grant me greater faith!”

Christine’s head, which had been tilted far back, dropped down towards the floor as she finished speaking. And when she faced forward again, her eyes were filled with an even more terrible darkness than before.

“My God does not hate me.”

“Stop spouting nonsense! What you’ve done is—”

“I suppose heretics without even a speck of faith would think so.”

The corners of Christine’s mouth rose slightly, forming the same sinister smile as before.

“How can the act of offering sacrifices to God be defined as wrong by the standards of mere humans? No matter how many humans I kill or how many humans I offer as sacrifices, if God favors me, how can that be a sin? If God bestows grace upon me, how can I defy His will? When there is a God who allows a worthless woman like me to offer faith, how can I be abandoned by God? When the God I serve shows interest in me, when the God I serve likes me, when the God I serve gives me infinite love.”

Her hands were folded in front of her chest.

“…How can I possibly be hated by God?”