Chapter 100: Heretics Must Die

The Blue Apostle, Paynel El Pache.

Shortened to Paynel. He has now been dragged into my body.

‘The performance of the soul chain is insane.’

Direct interference with souls. This was truly an absurdly overpowered skill.

‘To think I could extract the opponent’s soul.’

I had simply intended to insert Helena’s soul into the Apostle’s body.

Somehow, I ended up doing the outrageous act of extracting the Apostle’s soul and replacing it with Helena.

‘If this isn’t just a coincidence. If this is the proper way to use the soul chain..!’

It becomes possible to insert the soul of an excellent adventurer captured in the labyrinth into the body of a criminal slave purchased in Labyrinth City.

‘If I can only procure criminals who have committed murder or other serious crimes…’

I could steal their bodies and transfer them to the souls of dead adventurers.

The good thing about this is that the limit on the number of souls I can hold disappears.

‘Right now, I can hold 8 souls in my body. But if I completely steal the body…’

If I extract the soul and insert a soul I possess in its place, I don’t need to keep it in the vessel that is me.

Possessing someone else’s body with someone else’s soul had clear limitations since it wasn’t finding a complete vessel for them. But if I just find them a vessel outright…

‘I just need to roughly discard the extracted souls in the labyrinth.’

Abandoning the souls of evil people in the labyrinth and transferring their bodies to the souls of good adventurers.

Isn’t this a kind of labyrinth welfare project?

-W-wait!!! You trash!! What are you going to do with me!!!!

Paynel, who had been dragged into me, seemed to grasp my thoughts and started screaming and throwing a fit.

I tightened the soul chain around him, inflicting pain. So much that he couldn’t even scream.

‘Shut up quietly, you rotten heretic bastard. I’ll think about what to do with you slowly.’

While torturing Paynel with the soul chain, I spoke to Helena.

“Halsi. How is it?”

Since Helena’s existence must not be discovered by the Saint, we decided to call her Halsi in front of the Saint.

I need to be careful not to accidentally call her Helena.

“My head is spinning. So this is what it feels like to enter someone else’s body. I’ve learned something new.”

Helena looked dizzy. But other than that, she didn’t seem to have any other abnormal symptoms.

“Porter, is this really alright?”

“Yes. There’s no problem at all. Look. Isn’t she fine?”

Other than being dizzy, there really was no problem.

“With this, we’ve achieved our primary objective.”

“Has the Apostle really become our ally?”

“Yes. To be precise, the Apostle’s soul has been removed, and an adventurer I recruited with my ability has entered the Apostle’s body.”

“What an extremely heretical method.”

Sasaro alternately looked at me and Helena in the Apostle’s body.

As he said, it is quite a heretical method. But what can we do? To catch monsters, one must become a monster.

“Let’s start by clearing away all the corpses here and luring in the heretics.”

“Should we gather them in one place?”

“Yes. That would be good.”

The companions began dragging the corpses in front of the altar.

I sat down and continued torturing the captured Paynel.

Souls were really easy to torture. To the point where I could understand why demons like to capture and play with human souls.

‘How is it? Painful? Speak quickly.’

-Kyaaaaa!!!!

I continued the torture, attaching and detaching the limbs of the screaming soul.

But the guy stubbornly kept his mouth shut. Does he intend to never reveal the effective ways to supply heretic sacrifices?

“Wait, Sion. Stop.”

As I was contemplating how to torment Paynel, Helena approached.

“There seems to be no need to torment him. Entering this guy’s body, I was able to read some general information.”

“You mean…”

“Yes, I’ve figured out how to supply heretic sacrifices.”

“Oh..!”

“But we’ll definitely be discovered. They’ll be suspicious if we just consume sacrifices without summoning anything. Also, since the heretics we put in the spatial pocket can’t be resurrected by them, we’ll definitely be found out.”

“Then we need to kill as many heretics as possible as quickly as we can.”

“That’s right. I’ve thought of a suitable excuse for that too.”

Helena suggested using this giant summoning incident.

We’ll lie that we’ve discovered a way to control demons from the 7th floor beyond the 6th, and as a result of the first attempt failing, the summoned giant went out of control.

“Then we’ll convince them that we’ll definitely succeed this time. Saying we’ll summon something easier to handle than the giant.”

The broad outline of the plan was to say the first attempt failed, but the second will definitely succeed, then receive a large supply of heretics.

She said the heretics who witnessed the giant’s power would sacrifice up to thousands if they could control a demon that came from the same floor as the giant.

They’ll think they can resurrect them anyway.

“If possible…”

“We might be able to wipe out over 80 percent of the heretics in one go.”

“Wow…”

It means we can line up over 80 percent of the heretics and behead them.

And if we put the dead on the altar as if they’re being offered, while I sweep them into my spatial pocket on the side…

‘It’s perfect.’

We found the fastest, easiest, and simplest way to deal with the heretics.

Make heretics offer heretics as sacrifices, putting on a heretic beheading show.

“Saint!”

“Do you have a plan?”

“Yes. An excellent plan. Everyone, please gather around. From now on, we’re going to prepare a heretic beheading show for the heretics.”

The plan was quickly accepted, and Rosie and Raphael were given executioner’s axes.

Sasaro, Paramel, and the Saint decided to act as guards for me and Helena in case of any unexpected situations.

Helena will act as the Apostle, and I will act as Helena’s loyal servant.

The role assignments were complete.

Now we just need to lure the heretics here.

“But one thing we need to be careful of… is the existence of the one called the Black Saint on the heretic side.”

“Is that the Black Saint who resurrects the heretics?”

“Yes. That’s the one.”

Just before executing the plan, Helena brought up the existence of the heretic saint.

Currently, the heretic leadership consists of three apostles, the Black Saint, and the Yeti tribe chief.

The ordinary believers follow the orders of the apostles, and the three apostles follow the orders of the Black Saint who performs the miracle of resurrection.

Also, the Yeti tribe chief in charge of taming demons is said to be the right-hand man of this Black Saint.

After hearing all this, the Saint asked Helena:

“Wait, what do you mean the Black Saint seems to be an outsider? What’s that about?”

“It’s exactly as I said. He seems to have entered through a transfer stone connected to somewhere outside.”

“Hmm. An outside existence. A priest from a religion other than the Goddess Church. He entered the labyrinth and is hiding among the heretics… using the power of resurrection? This story is getting quite serious. We must absolutely capture the Black Saint.”

“The Saint’s words are correct. The Elixir of Resurrection is a power that only the Goddess can bestow. For an unknown being to use such power…”

“If it were just a demon born in the labyrinth, that would be one thing. But for an being that came from outside to wield such tremendous power. It means they might be able to handle similar resurrection techniques outside the labyrinth…”

The Saint, Rosie, and even Paramel.

The most quick-witted people in the inquisitor party all voiced the danger.

“So this Black Saint or Black Priest or whatever. We can’t let that bastard escape, right?”

“That’s right, Raphael.”

“I’ll risk my life to catch him.”

“That’s very reassuring, Raphael.”

“Hahaha!”

Raphael, saying he’d risk his life to capture the Black Saint.

Maybe he really will have to risk his life.

This is someone who came directly to the 5th floor from outside Labyrinth City through a transfer stone.

The fact that he can move around the 5th floor without proper mana adaptation means he came from an unexplored land untouched by humanity.

We don’t know yet what powers he has or how dangerous he might be.

Of course, he’s probably weaker than the Saint, but still.

“Then let’s start executing the plan. It’s getting late.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, Saint.”

Helena, disguised as the Blue Apostle, grabbed a heretic and gave orders, and from then on, heretics began flooding into the summoning altar prepared in the flooded area.

“Finally! Finally, my chance!”

“Ah! With my life, to Arha’s side!!!!”

“The blessing of resurrection shines upon us!”

Heretics rushing in, excited to die first.

“Now then! Let’s begin the ascension ritual! Hati’s bell is watching over us! Pray!!!!”

“Ah! Oh God!!!”

BANG-!!!!

The executioner’s axes wielded by Rosie and Raphael came down on the heretics’ necks.

The severed heads fall into baskets. If we had a guillotine, we could kill the heretics faster and more easily.

‘They seem awfully happy.’

The severed heads of the heretics were smiling. As if they considered death a blessing.

Of course, there’s a reason why they’re acting like this.

‘Thorough brainwashing education.’

As a result of Helena acquiring information from the Blue Apostle Paynel.

The three apostles and the Black Saint constantly gaslighted their subordinate heretics that becoming a sacrifice was the highest offering.

They say that if you die in service, Arha, the god the heretics believe in, will give you high marks and lead you to paradise at the time of destruction or something.

Anyway, because of this belief, the heretics came to consider being sacrificed as the highest grace, and even now, fights were breaking out over who would be sacrificed first.

‘Idiots.’

Seeing them blindly calling out to their god, it was pathetic to the point of being laughable.

Then Paynel, watching the dying heretics, uttered a word.

-Don’t… don’t laugh at them.

‘Huh? What are you saying?’

-They… they had no other choice but this.

Paynel rambled on about how the heretics ended up here, why they committed such acts, why they came to worship Arha, the god of destruction.

Most of those people were poor, he said. They were the lowest class abandoned by society.

The gathering of such weak people gradually grew into heretic assemblies.

They banded together because they had nowhere else to go. And because they banded together, they resisted.

With no place to gain power, they began worshipping an evil god.

After gaining power, they had nothing else they could do.

Trapped in an unfortunate cycle, they were now being mocked for their lives as labyrinth demons.

The heretics themselves were a punishment and hell.

Paynel told me not to laugh at their deaths.

Yeah, they do have a pitiful past. But you know what? Does that cover all their sins?

I conveyed my thoughts to him.

‘No matter how unfortunate your circumstances were. It doesn’t erase the evil acts you committed. Weren’t you just an idiot who died while causing trouble for your own benefit? Did I look stupid enough to be swayed by your words? Where are you trying to get sympathy from?’

-….

‘Not everyone in unfortunate circumstances kills people, makes sacrifices, practices cannibalism, tortures, and commits terrorism like you bastards. The more I think about it, the angrier I get, you sons of bitches. Past history or whatever, why should I sympathize? Go to hell.’

It’s not once or twice that I almost died because of these bastards.

And you want me to empathize? What? Don’t laugh?

Come to think of it, even laughing seems justified. No, laughing is only natural.

‘Serves you right. You heretic bastards.’

Not even a shred of sympathy remained.

Heretics must die. I laughed at the dying bastards.