episode_0050

The Three Hypocrites

“Ugh… I can’t see anything…”

As the light from Aria’s staff and the glowing stone Zeke was holding vanished, Alten, whose vision was now completely dark, began to rummage through his pockets. He quickly grabbed a fire-starting stone and a light-source stone, put them together to create a glowing stone, and dropped it on the ground. Gradually, his surroundings began to become visible.

“Phew… This glowing stone Zeke gave me… It’s really useful… Ah! Rubdon….!!”

“It seems you’ve received something quite useful from a human, Alten!!”

“!!”

As light became visible, Alten searched for Rubdon, and at that moment, Rubdon swung his sword at Alten from behind. Alten barely managed to swing his greatsword, blocking Rubdon’s surprise attack, and behind him, he saw Veronica confronting Iras, who had drawn her bow.

“Veronica!! Do you need help!!”

“I’m fine, Captain! You should be careful too, Captain!”

“Understood!!!… Elder Rubdon… I thought our physical abilities would be superior since the Elders have never participated in combat…”

“I am also a veteran who has experienced all kinds of hardships, Alten. I, too, once held the position of Captain, just like you. You shouldn’t underestimate us too much.”

“What…? Underestimate…? Are *you* really one to talk, you who sacrificed all your kin to survive, Rubdon!!”

“Shut up!! No matter how hard we try, we elves cannot defeat the Alraunes!!”

As if hit where it hurt, Rubdon suddenly began to get agitated. Then he started pushing Alten back more and more, and feeling himself being pushed back, Alten gritted his teeth and countered Rubdon.

‘His strength… it’s no joke…! If I make a single mistake, I might be the one to get defeated… If Rubdon is this strong, then Elder Iras, whom Veronica is fighting, must be too…!!’

Realizing that Rubdon was stronger than he thought, Alten glanced at Veronica. He saw Veronica also struggling, realizing that Elder Iras was strong. At that moment.

“You don’t have time to worry about your subordinate right now, Captain Alten!!”

“Ugh…!! If you possessed such strength, it would have been better to unite with all the elves and fight a fierce battle against the Alraunes…. Then everyone could have at least faced an honorable death…!!”

“Shut up, Alten!! An honorable death? Don’t you understand that’s a dog’s death?! Surviving is the most important thing…”

“Don’t you know that dying, eaten by the Alraunes without knowing anything, is an even more hideous dog’s death?! What are you even spouting, you who can’t even love your own kin!!”

Alten grew furious at Rubdon’s sophistry and began to push him back further and further. Meanwhile, Veronica was greatly flustered upon seeing Iras’s bow, which couldn’t be cut by her spear blade.

“What?! Why won’t it break?!”

“This bow is also made from strong wood. By the way, to think you were human… Just remembering that I taught you spear arts makes me want to vomit…”

“What?! Even if I were an elf, you tried to sacrifice our kin to the Alraunes!! All elves will regret having been taught by you!!”

“That doesn’t matter. All that matters is for humans to die!!”

“What…?”

“If elves need to be sacrificed to exterminate humans, isn’t that honorable enough? Erasing the dirtiest and most hideous humans from this world is the truest act!”

“Shut up!! And you silenced the Great Elder when he realized humans had apologized?!”

“That’s not how it should be… Humans are creatures that cannot be trusted at all. Who knows if their apologies aren’t lies? How can we trust beings who have always deceived us with lies and enslaved us?!”

Suddenly, Iras swung her bow, batting away the spear, which greatly flustered Veronica. However, without giving Veronica a moment to be flustered, Iras pulled an arrow from her quiver and aimed it at Veronica. Veronica swung her spear, deflecting the arrow Iras shot, and immediately rushed towards Iras.

“That’s just your personal distrust and anger towards humans!! Don’t think all elves feel that way!!”

“Shut up! Do you know how much suffering the ancient elves endured because of humans!?”

“If that suffering is enough for you to still sacrifice your kin out of personal hatred, then I don’t even want to know!!”

As Veronica swung her spear, Iras dodged it by moving to the side and then aimed her bow at Veronica again. While Veronica clashed with Iras, Alten continued to dodge Rubdon’s sword. But he couldn’t counterattack.

‘I can’t see an opening. As expected, he’s rich in combat experience, probably due to his age… Even a slight graze could be fatal to me…!’

“You’re good at dodging, Captain Alten. But can you really stop me and the Alraunes by just doing that?”

“An opportunity will come eventually…. Such an opportunity won’t come to you, who so arbitrarily judged there was no hope, you hideous old Elder!!”

“Give up, Captain Alten!! We cannot defeat the Alraunes! If this massive World Tree awakens, we won’t be able to survive in this world! Even if that weren’t the case, the Mother of Alraunes is a powerful being!!”

“So you’re telling us to just die without doing anything, without knowing anything…? Not a chance!!”

Alten, having dodged Rubdon’s sword, swiftly kicked Rubdon’s leg. Kicked in the leg, Rubdon began to lose his balance and fall, and Alten raised his greatsword high.

“Die, Rubdon!!”

“Not bad, Captain Alten. But I’m the one who taught you that!!”

“!”

Just as Rubdon was losing his balance and falling, he put one hand on the ground and kicked up his leg, striking Alten’s hand. Alten almost dropped his greatsword when his hand was kicked by Rubdon, but he tightened his grip with his unkicked right hand, not letting go of the sword. At that moment, feeling Rubdon’s sword coming towards him, he hurriedly spun his body. However, he couldn’t completely dodge it. Rubdon’s sword grazed Alten’s left shoulder, and blood began to flow.

“Ugh…”

“You’re good at dodging. But is that all you can do?”

“Perhaps so… But!!”

Alten swung his greatsword, trying to endure the pain from his left shoulder. As Rubdon blocked Alten’s greatsword with his own, Alten gritted his teeth and began to push Rubdon back.

“Zeke and Aria are different…! With them, things we couldn’t do can be made possible…!!”

“Are you really going to bet on humans like them?!”

“I’ve already come to know that possibility well while accompanying them…! But you wouldn’t know, since you didn’t even care in the first place!!”

“Stop spouting nonsense!!”

While Alten continued to push Rubdon back, Veronica kept dodging the arrows Iras shot at her. However, she couldn’t dodge or parry all of them, as clear traces of arrows grazing her arms and legs remained.

“Ugh…”

“It seems a human’s limits are indeed here, huh? You don’t have the eyes to help you shoot accurately, do you? What can humans, with worse eyesight than elves, possibly do?”

“You keep blabbering ‘human, human, elf, elf’… What are you spouting, you who got scared and entrusted everything to the Alraunes!! You, who were utterly terrified of humans and begged the Alraunes to deal with them!!”

“What did you say…?! You… you… I’ll kill you!!”

While Veronica continued to provoke Iras, Alten was pushed back by Rubdon and fell to the ground. Then Rubdon raised his sword at Alten and shouted.

“A difference in strength, like between you and me, exists in this world. We can never defeat the Alraunes! Why can’t you understand our desire to survive!! Give up!! There is no light for you!!”

“Light…? You want light that badly!! Then I’ll give it to you!!”

As Alten tilted his head to the side, the glowing stone behind him came into Rubdon’s sight. At that moment, the powerful light emitted from the glowing stone blinded Rubdon, making him close his eyes. As Rubdon reeled from the blinding light, the light from the glowing stone reflected off Rubdon’s sword. And the reflected light extended to Iras’s eyes, who had been overwhelming Veronica, and Iras, too, closed her eyes, blinded by the light.

“What…?! Ugh!!”

“Aaah!! What kind of light is this, all of a sudden!!”

“Hraaaah!!”

“Haaaah!!”

With a shout, Alten pierced Rubdon’s abdomen with his greatsword, and Veronica, too, with a shout, pierced Iras’s abdomen with her spear. Rubdon opened his eyes, clearly realizing he had lost, and began to let out a hollow laugh.

“Hah hah…. So this is the end of a traitor, is it… Am I receiving this divine punishment for looking down on my younger opponents…”

“Right now… the Saintess and Zeke, who went to deal with the Mother of Alraunes, are strong beings… The Saintess is stronger than us elves, and Zeke possesses a nobler heart than us…!! There’s no reason for us to lose!!”

“Is that so… But if the World Tree revives, we will all face our demise, Alten…. By then, you might regret not having sided with the Alraunes like us… *gasp*… You might regret it…”

“There will be no such regret. I would choose an honorable death over shameful survival….”

“Hahahaha… You foolish fellow….. The important thing is… to survive and inform future generations of this….”

“Don’t worry and just go to hell. We will live. More than you could imagine.”

“I will have a small hope for that in the afterlife…. Try to live…”

With those last words, Rubdon’s eyes closed completely, and Alten pulled the greatsword from Rubdon’s abdomen. And Iras, too, knowing she had lost, spoke to Veronica.

“Heh heh… Humans are still strong, after all… I truly let my guard down….”

“You. You must know that elves also want to live, just like you? But you try to cover that up with an ‘honorable death’ as you please?”

“Haa… yes…. Only now, in this state, do I realize how crazy I was… Come to think of it… I knew that you, whom I spent time with, were completely different from the humans I had seen… It was simply my excessive greed that twisted my thoughts…”

“Do you have any last words for the elves?”

“No…. Honestly, what more could foolish traitors like us say…. Still…. In the end, my perception of humans might have changed, if only a little, because of you….”

As Iras also breathed her last there, Veronica pulled her spear out of Iras’s abdomen, just as Alten had done. Then she turned her head to Alten and spoke.

“Perhaps they, too, just wanted to live in the end. Iras said she betrayed us because of her revenge and resentment towards humans… But perhaps she really just wanted to survive?”

“Perhaps so. Their biggest mistake was trusting their enemies instead of their own kin. Let’s go help Zeke and the Saintess now, Veronica.”

“Understo— Uh… Captain. I have a question.”

“Hm?”

When Veronica suddenly called out to him, Alten, who was about to go to Zeke and Aria, stopped in his tracks and looked at Veronica. Then Veronica bowed her head and asked Alten.

“I’m human, but am I still an elven soldier?”

“You’ve already spent a lot of time as a soldier, so you are an elven soldier. Don’t worry about such things. Because I say so.”

“…! Yes!”

Hearing Alten’s words, Veronica, with a joyful expression, ran with Alten towards the Mother of Alraunes. Meanwhile, Aria began to approach Flora, batting away Flora’s vines with her staff.

“Oh ho… To bat away my vines so easily. I certainly understand why my daughters were defeated.”

“Oh? Your daughters? Your daughters are out there, turned into lumps of meat… Don’t worry! I’ll turn you into one too.”

“You talk too much. Then how about this?”

Purple vines emerged from Flora and swung directly at Aria. Aria tried to bat away the vines with her staff. But strangely, the purple vines didn’t budge even with Aria’s strength; instead, they began to push Aria back.

“Oh? What’s this?”

“It seems that’s your limit, after all?”

“Limit, you say…. Shall we see if that’s truly the case? Oh, Omniscient and Omnipotent One in the heavens. Your follower, who obeys you, wishes to borrow power, so please lend your strength to me. With your power, I shall punish the sinner.”

As Aria began to recite her prayer, a powerful light began to radiate from her staff. Then Aria grew strong enough to overpower the purple vines, and as her vines were pushed back, Flora became greatly flustered.

“Wha… What is this?!”

“You’re not the only one with such a secret weapon, you know? Now… are you ready to return to your daughters’ embrace?”

“…. You are truly arrogant.”

“What did you say?”

“Since I’ve lost something, I’ll make you lose something too.”

“What?…!!!!”

Seeing Flora’s smile, Aria suddenly felt a chill down her spine, and hurriedly spun around. Then Aria saw countless vines surrounding her.

“Damn it…”

“Z-Zeke-nim!! Ugh…!!”

“Not so fast!!”

The moment Aria stretched out her hand to unfurl her barrier, Flora wrapped vines around Aria’s arm, preventing her from unfurling it. Aria’s face began to turn pale, and Flora began to mock her.

“So that human is precious to you, Saintess!! If you quietly become nourishment for the World Tree, I will let that human live! Choose now! That human! Or will you aim for my life!!”

“Ah… Aah… Z-Zeke-nim…. Release Zeke-nim….”

“Don’t underestimate me, you damned plant bastard!!!”

“Hmm…? Wha… What is that?!”

“Zeke-nim…?”

As I plunged Trahan into the ground, black-tinged purple energy spread around me like electricity. Then it began to turn all of Flora’s vines into dust, and as the vines began to turn to dust, Flora felt extreme pain and was horrified.

“A-Aaahhhhh!! Th-That’s… demon energy!! How can a mere human…!!”

“That’s my friend’s power, you damned plant bastard!!”

“What?!”

Through Cecilia’s memories, I discovered the source of the energy demons use. It wasn’t that only demons possessed their own energy, but that demons created black-tinged purple energy using their own energy. And through the experience in Cecilia’s memories, I realized how to create that energy, and now I am using it. This is my secret weapon, you damned plant bastard!

“Aria!! Now’s the time!!”

“Ah… Z-Zeke-nim…. You’re amazing as always…!!”

“Don’t say things like that right now!! We’re striking at the same time!!”

“Ah… Yes!”

“Th-This… such an unexpected variable….!!”

I rushed towards Flora, holding Trahan upright, and Aria also rushed towards Flora, holding her staff upright. Flora then furiously pulled out vines and swung them at us, but they all began to turn to dust from Aria’s light and my black energy, which moved like electricity.

“Uwaaaaaah!! It was almost complete!! After ages, the time had finally come…”

“Did you think you’d succeed by being a hypocrite!!!”

Aria and I plunged Trahan and her staff into Flora’s abdomen, sensing her failure. Then, as we pulled our respective weapons from her abdomen, Flora vomited blood and collapsed on the spot.

“Phew… Aria, I was really worried ab— *Gasp*?!”

“Huuuhhh… Wahhhhhh… Zeke-niiim… I’m so sorryyyyy… I guess I’m just a burdeeen to you, Zeke-nimmm…”

Perhaps because she almost failed to protect me just now, Aria began to cry uncontrollably. “We wouldn’t have gotten this far without you!!” The moment I was patting Aria’s back to comfort her, as she cried uncontrollably, Alten and Veronica hastily rushed into the room.

“Zeke! Saintess! Are you saf— Hm?”

“Wha… What?! Zeke, what’s that purple energy moving around your body?”

“Oh? This… It’s complicated to explain….”

“I cannot end it here…!!”

We were greatly startled by the sudden voice. Then we turned our heads to Flora, the owner of the voice. “What?!” She was still alive?! But… Flora was crawling somewhere. And at the end of it… a seed?

“Since it has come to this…. I’ll sacrifice all the Alraunes and elves inside here…!!”

Hearing Flora’s words, I realized what Flora was going to do, and urgently shouted to Aria.

“!!! A-Aria!! We need to find an escape route!!”

“Uh… this is the trunk section here… We can just break through this wall and go…”

“Q-Quickly, break through it! Please!!”

“Ah…! Yes~ Hehehe…”

Aria giggled cheerfully and struck the wall hard with her glowing staff. Then a hole was pierced through the wall with surprising ease, and Alten and Veronica, who saw it, were greatly astonished. But there’s no time to be astonished right now!!

“Let’s go down now! Quickly!!”

“Wha… What’s going on, Zeke!!”

“If we don’t, we’ll get caught up in it too! Hurry!!!”

Alten and Veronica harbored doubts at my urgency, but they followed my words and went outside. Then I also grabbed Aria’s hand and slipped out. Fortunately, climbing onto a nearby tree outside, we gazed at the World Tree in horror.

“Th-That… What in the world is that, Zeke… What in the world are—”

“Flora, that damned woman…. She sacrificed her own kin inside there…!!”

“What?! Then…. that’s indeed…”

“Yawn~”

At the enormous sound, we immediately understood. Flora and the Alraunes had fulfilled the remaining energy required for the World Tree’s revival. As a result, starting from the World Tree’s trunk, the upper part gradually began to transform into a human torso, and a colossal Alraune with long blue hair appeared before us, yawning.

“That’s what the old man told us about… The Primordial Alraune World Tree….”

“Uwaaaaah!!! I’m finally back!!! Now… shall I devour the world again!!!”

**Postscript for Chapter 50**

Ah… Aah… Is this really working? O: Yep. So, is this audible to everyone over there? O: Yep. Instead of just “yep,” why don’t you try it? O: Are you crazy? Just get on with it. Ugh, for Pete’s sake… Wait, did it start already?! O: Yes. Damn it. Ahem… Hello everyone! This is Photon, the author serializing *Black Saintess*! Wow… *Black Saintess* has already reached its 50th chapter! Time flies by so fast… When I opened my eyes, so much had already happened to Zeke…. It’s all thanks to you readers that I’ve been able to serialize *Black Saintess*. Thank you!

O: Here’s the questionnaire. What? I didn’t receive any Q&A. O: These are questions collected from the kids in our neighborhood. If you’ve said all you want to say, then do this. …I’m not done yet. Ahem… Anyway, although I’ve experienced slumps and my health has deteriorated, I’m so glad to see that I persevered and reached Chapter 50…!! Well… there’s still a long way to go… but I’ll continue to work hard until the end! O: Are you done? …Alright. I’ll do it, won’t I?

1. Are Cecilia’s family members still alive? Unfortunately, they all died. The place where Cecilia wailed was the ruins of her destroyed home.

2. How does Zeke manage to sleep these days? He either faints or counts sheep to force himself to sleep. Zeke: Aaaaaaaah!!!

3. Is Zeke really impotent? …What kind of question is this? Zeke: What does ‘impotent’ mean? Well, it’s like this… (whispering) Zeke: What crazy talk is that?! No!!! (…. It seems to be referring to ‘impotent’ in the sense of being asexual… Well, if that’s the meaning, then it is true.)

4. Is the World Tree, which has lived for over 1,000 years, the oldest character? Hmm… that is true. However, from the perspective of readers of the main story… *Dimensions* Reader: Wow, that’s young. This kind of reaction comes out. Because in the main story, there are incredibly many characters who have lived for over 40 million years. Still, within *Black Saintess*, the World Tree is currently the oldest among the characters introduced.

5. Are all elves foolish? Due to their reclusive nature over long periods, their mental strength has become a bit weak, to the point where even small shocks can make them lose their minds. You could say they’re foolish… or you could say they’re not…

6. I sometimes see warnings about cruel depictions, but it doesn’t seem that cruel? Ah… there were definitely cruel depictions in the original version. However, as I serialized it on Novelpia, I tried to tone it down, and that’s why the descriptions have become less cruel.

7. Have there been any changes to the story while serializing on Novelpia? No. It is being serialized smoothly, exactly as the original story.

8. I’m curious what happens if you touch Trahan. An ordinary person would open their eyes in the afterlife.

9. What other races are expected to appear? This is a spoiler, so I won’t tell you. Instead, I will only say that many races will appear.

10. Why does *Black Saintess* have so many chapters? Ah… *Black Saintess* was originally created as a condensed version of *Dimensions*… but I also wanted to write stories about characters like Aria, so I wrote it. As a result, the number of chapters became greater than expected, and it became a story where most things likely to appear in *Dimensions* appear. For example, things like Alraune’s cannibalism, or stories about angels and demons. The story of angels and demons is especially important in other side stories and the main story, so it ended up being covered here as well. In other words! There will be many strange things happening later… and Zeke might stare in horror again… Aria will get angry again…. Well… whatever happens, it’s clear Aria will hit him with her staff…

11. Does Cecilia truly have a crush on Zeke? Yes. Even now, she’s experiencing significant internal conflict due to her fear of Aria and her pride as a succubus. Cecilia: Aaaaaaaah, meeeeeee!!!

12. What happens if someone seduces Zeke? They will end up like the Alraunes.

13. How tall is the World Tree? Hmm… it has a height of approximately 50 meters.

14. Can you tell me Aria’s physical information? Aria: Only Zeke-nim can know that~ …Can you put that staff away and tell me…? And your expression is scary, too? Zeke: (I don’t even want to know…)

15. What is Aria’s motif? Hmm… her motif is Photon and Arik, the protagonists of the main story. You can think of it as a mix of Arik, a female character who wears black clothing, and Photon, who uses light power despite having a different color. Their personalities are different, of course….

16. Will you torment Zeke a lot? I don’t want to… but I bet the readers also want to see Zeke suffer at Aria’s hands… Hehehehe. Zeke: I need to get out of here. How do you know that line?

That’s it! Now, let’s get back to the main topic… Serializing *Black Saintess* has been really tough. It’s not just about transferring what I’ve written; when I’m done writing, I collapse onto my bed. So, having run all the way to Chapter 50, I was planning to take a short hiatus to heal my physical and mental pain… O: Where do you think you’re going on hiatus, you rascal? But I need to live too!!! O: Be quiet. Can’t you see Aria’s eyes behind me, urging you to serialize? …Ugh… Fine, fine!! I’ll serialize, won’t I!!! O: If you hadn’t said that, everyone would have died at Aria’s…. Anyway, I won’t go on hiatus and will continue running!! I ask for your continued love and support once again, everyone!! – Thank you for your great interest in *Black Saintess*. – [Author Photon]