Chap 116-Take Off

 

Clang-

With the sound of cold iron unlocking, the rusty iron door opened with an unpleasant screech.

Darkness that obscured vision, and the damp smell of mold that pierced the lungs.

If it had been the Serena of old, she wouldn’t have gone near such a terrible place…

The corners of her red lips slowly twisted upwards.

It seemed like the perfect place for trash like Yeon Bennet, so she was very pleased.

“Throw her in.”

Thud-

At Serena’s command, the subordinates roughly threw the unconscious Yeon Bennet onto the floor.

Whether it was the impact of being hit by the objects, or whether she had fallen asleep from exhaustion after the long escort.

Her body was limp and motionless.

Soon, the iron door closed again, and the dull sound of the latch echoed in the darkness.

Serena turned away as if she didn’t want to see the dirty sight any longer.

Leaving behind the damp smell and darkness, she climbed the stairs, and a completely different world unfolded with dazzling sunlight.

A plaza paved with white marble, spires shining golden in the dawn light.

It was the majesty of Elrasion, the heart of the Holy Theocracy.

One of the Inspection Department members approached her, cautiously looked around, and asked in a low voice.

“Um… Director.”

He hesitated for a moment, then carefully voiced his question.

“Why did you come here instead of going to the border area where the penal unit is stationed?”

His question was quite valid.

Even if Elrasion’s location was close to the front line that the Holy Theocracy was responsible for, it was still a good three days away by carriage.

Therefore, bringing Yeon Bennet, who had been sentenced to ‘penal unit service,’ to the capital was a rather unusual measure.

Serena pondered for a moment how much of the truth she should tell him.

Then she opened her mouth briefly.

“Yeon… won’t be going to the penal unit.”

“Yes…?”

The member doubted his ears for a moment.

“Just know that much.”

Serena said coldly, cutting him off.

She turned away as if she had no intention of explaining further, and moved towards the huge white temple that revealed its majesty before her eyes.

The remaining member could only stare at her retreating figure with a bewildered expression.

Life imprisonment in the penal unit.

It was merely a smokescreen to deceive the public.

Hell, the penal unit, where even the survival rate within a year was less than 1 percent.

The prisoners dragged there were, in effect, nothing more than meat shields thrown into the most dangerous places on the battlefield.

Therefore, the term life imprisonment there was virtually the same as a death sentence.

It might be less painful than being tortured to death with magic, but death was certain anyway.

But the higher-ups of Terra had no intention of sending Yeon there.

And at the center of that plan were the Rapellasia family and the Holy Theocracy.

‘It seems they’re thinking of researching Yeon’s resistance to Contamination…’

Well, it didn’t matter.

The Rapellasia family was infamous for its bio-experiments.

If Yeon Bennet tasted even more terrible pain there, Serena would welcome it.

However, one thing that bothered her was…

The Saintess Candidate, Lina.

She had insisted on reforming Yeon herself, and had stubbornly asked the Pope to entrust Yeon’s fate to her.

What was even more incomprehensible was the fact that the Pope had actually granted that absurd request.

Having obtained permission in that way, Lina immediately came to her and made a strange contract.

‘Please… torture Yeon Bennet as terribly and cruelly as possible every day.’

She wondered why she was making such a request, but there was no reason not to, so she readily accepted.

Lost in thought, Serena had already arrived in front of the office located at the top of the temple.

Knock knock-

Serena knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

A clear and benevolent voice flowed from inside the door.

When she opened the door, dazzling sunlight poured in.

And in the middle of that light, a girl was standing.

Pink hair that sparkled like cherry blossoms, receiving the sunlight pouring in through the window.

‘What, what is it…?’

Serena paused at the moment, feeling a sense of incongruity.

Certainly, the last time she had met her, her condition had been very bad.

Dead, empty eyes, dry skin, and dark circles under her eyes.

Frankly speaking, she had been a little worried.

But the girl before her now was…

“You’ve finally arrived!”

The benevolent smile of her that she had seen so often through articles.

It was the Saintess Candidate, Lina.

“Perhaps… are you very tired, Lady Serena?”

“If you’re okay with it… I’d like you to start right away…”

No.

Rather than a benevolent appearance…

Eyes glistening with sticky desire.

It was a slightly… dangerous appearance.

…

A humid bathroom filled with a thick, suffocating mixture of herbs and potion scents.

Inside a steaming bathtub, the water was full of various herbs, turning it a murky green color.

A woman was soaking in it.

The face and shoulders revealed above the water were young and beautiful, appearing to be in her late 20s at most.

But one of her arms resting on the edge of the tub was like that of a different person, an old woman’s arm with deep wrinkles.

Next to her, a woman in a nun’s habit stood quietly, attending to her.

“That woman… is here now?”

A very sickly voice.

But within it was a suppressed anger.

“Yes, Saintess.”

“In the end, it seems she granted that child’s request.”

The Saintess smiled bitterly and lowered her head.

She raised her head again.

“I should meet that woman once, too.”

“Yes? But… Lina already…”

As the nun spoke cautiously, her powerless eyes flashed sharply at once.

“Since I’m going to die anyway, I’m no longer a Saintess, is that it?”

The nun panicked and quickly lowered her head.

“I, I’m sorry!”

“It’s okay. Just, get out.”

Originally, she would never have uttered such sharp words in order to gather faith in the Power of Benevolent.

But Aria didn’t feel like wearing the mask of a kind Saintess now that the end was near.

She sighed and submerged herself deeply into the green waves in the bathtub.

The nun bowed her head once more and quietly went outside.

Click-

“Haa…”

With the sound of the door closing, Saintess Aria let out a sorrowful sigh.

When she, an unknown nun, was first chosen as a Saintess, she was clearly happy.

It was as if she, who had grown up begging on the streets without parents, had become some great being.

But, it was such a foolish delusion.

9 years since becoming a Saintess.

Considering that most Saintesses’ lifespans are less than 10 years, now there was only about a year left.

The Power of Benevolent.

The great power that was supposed to save everyone on Terra from Contamination.

But most people didn’t know its true nature.

That the power of an 11-level conceptual god would eat away at one’s lifespan as a price the moment an unqualified person touched it.

Aria quietly looked at her arm revealed above the water.

An old woman’s arm with deep wrinkles that didn’t match her young 20s face.

That was the price of the divine power.

At first, when she learned that this power was eating away at her lifespan, she didn’t care.

Rather, she was prepared to sacrifice herself for the people.

That was when she still had illusions about her duties as a clergy, sacrificing for others, and things like that.

Cough-

With a cough, dark red blood stained the palm of her hand that had covered her mouth.

But…

What did she ultimately gain?

A diseased body, a life with little time left.

In addition, after Lina, that child, was appointed as a Saintess Candidate, she was treated almost like a dead person in the Holy Theocracy.

The knights who used to praise her every day now all praised Lina.

With the rhetoric of ‘the lucky Saintess who received God’s love’.

She wasn’t asking for anything big.

Just a word of thanks.

Just a word of saying she had worked hard would have been enough.

Aria shook her head.

‘That’s enough. Let’s not get any uglier.’

She was tired of wanting something from someone anymore.

Instead.

Yeon Bennet.

She could never forgive that woman.

The villain who arbitrarily disturbed Terra, which she had protected by devoting her entire life.

In the meantime, she had used her power to avoid paying for her crimes and had recklessly committed misdeeds.

Because she hated her so much, she was sincerely happy when she heard that Yeon Bennet had been arrested this time.

‘This time, she’ll pay for her sins.’

But…

Shockingly, the punishment given to her was not the death penalty.

She was dying for everyone like this.

Someone was shamelessly doing whatever they wanted, committing evil deeds, and wriggling out without paying for their sins.

She wanted to see the face of that shameless villain at least once.

…

‘What, what is it…? Surely, I must have misheard…’

Her mind went blank.

She had a feeling that something was seriously wrong.

“Yeon…? Perhaps, didn’t you hear what I said?”

I slowly raised my head.

Surely I should be in the penal unit by now, or sold to the Rapellasia family.

But what was standing before my eyes now was…

The pink-haired girl looking down at me kneeling, Lina.

Originally, I would have been happy to see her after a long time, but…

“I’ll say it again, and if you don’t listen this time either… I’m going to get angry.”

Coldly cast eyes.

She was no longer the Lina I knew.

Her gaze, filled with an unknown obsession, was piercing through me.

“Take it off.”

I must have been tortured for too long.

I must be hearing things.