“Hoo...... wow......”
Fuck.
“Ow......”
My legs were trembling.
“Wow.”
This was the first time my body was trembling not because of cramps or exhaustion, but because I lacked divine power.
“Guh......”
The Sun bastard, who had been completely extinguished by the bloody water, lay sprawled on the ground and reached his hand toward me.
“You...... bastard. You are no believer of that bitch Aria......!”
I wanted to say, Do you have any idea how devout I am?
But no voice came out.
“Ahem!”
I held on to my legs, which felt like they might collapse, and cleared my throat.
“......Answer only what I ask. Then I will not kill you.”
I pointed the mace at the bastard lying on the ground.
[Eh? Why! How boring!]
The evil god puffed out her cheeks and glared at me in displeasure.
“......Is that true?”
“Of course. Our Order is not that strict.”
There was even an old Order maxim that said, “If you regret your sins and repent, God will forgive you.”
“Speak. Why did the Sun join hands with War?”
War aside, the Sun should have been on bad terms even with other evil god cults.
‘Because they are bastards who believe their god is the sun.’
A mad god that believes the shining sun in the sky is not a mere star, but his own incarnation.
“We made...... a contract with War.”
“What contract?”
“In exchange for offering children with innately high divine power as sacrifices.”
The bastard let out a brief breath, then answered again.
“They said they would control the monsters of the forest for us.”
What?
“Details.”
“The children of the monster forest...... fear the sun.”
Don’t tell me.
“They’re going to use those things to start a war?”
They had lost their minds completely.
“Hoo...... Then the remaining children?”
“I do not know.”
“Really?”
“That should be enough.”
“Yeah. But do you know what you did wrong?”
If you desire repentance, first know your sin.
“......”
Naturally, the Apostle of the Sun bastard gave no answer and merely looked at me as though mocking me.
“If trying to kill a heretic is a sin, then I suppose it is one. Puhaha!”
Good. So he had no intention of repenting.
“Ah, I was joking. I truly regret it. I repent. Sincerely.”
[Apostle! Just kill him! Kill him!]
“Right......”
And repent. Repentance without remorse is false, and tears that hide sin are hypocrisy.
“Are you truly repenting?”
“Of course.”
“Right. Then living kindly.”
Face that sin in full, and receive the punishment it deserves.
“You can do that in your next life?”
That is the atonement for those who have committed evil.
“......! What did you say!”
“In your next life, make sure you live as a good person, all right?”
Only then will salvation finally begin.
CRACK!
I slammed the mace straight into the bastard’s head.
[Puhaha!]
The bastard burst into laughter.
[That is right! I wondered why you were suddenly trying to spare him! Puhaha!]
Her voice did not properly enter my ears.
‘I lack divine power.’
I wanted to collapse at any moment.
“......”
But I was not allowed that time.
Step, step.
Only then did I release the divine power I had cast in the corner of the room.
“Kids.”
But there was no time for that.
“Mis......ter.”
Good. As long as the children were not hurt, that was enough.
I reached out to them.
“Thank...... you.”
But those words made my hand stop.
‘Thank you?’
Even after seeing me covered in blood.
Even after seeing yourselves already wounded enough.
Even after seeing me arrive too late and let Lina die.
Even after living a hard life, abandoned by God.
And yet, you thanked me.
“......”
My outstretched hand did not move any farther.
I clenched it tightly and drew it back.
“......I’m sorry.”
I moved the divine power in my hand.
“It is better if you do not remember this.”
This was not something children should see.
“Mis......ter?”
I moved the tiny scraps of divine power that remained.
[Apostle? If you use that, you will faint. Apostle?]
I could endure a little divine power deficiency with willpower.
“Why......? I’m...... sleepy......”
Golden light filled the room.
“I’m sorry.”
Now, forget this memory.
That would be better.
“Still, kids.”
I promise one thing.
“The bastard who did that to Lina.”
I will not send him to the Lord’s side anytime soon......
“The people who made you suffer.”
The atonement for that sin.
“I’ll beat them until they wish they were dead.”
Even death would not be enough.
“Cough......!”
Blood flowed from my mouth.
‘I used too much divine power.’
That was only natural, since I had drawn even on the divine power that circulated inside my body.
‘I can’t even speak.’
It was hard to move even a single finger properly.
“Karix!!!”
At that moment, Garon’s voice echoed in my ears.
‘He came......?’
What is this?
Why is he so perfectly fine?
Strange. I was sure I told him to follow me. And the Apostle of the Sun had entered long after I came in.
Then that bastard did not come down?
‘You...... fucking......’
I clearly told you to follow me, fuck.
“Karix! Come to your senses!!!”
Garon was shaking me.
“......You.”
My voice barely leaked out.
It was a word I managed to force out through my fading consciousness.
“You useless piece of shit......”
“What?”
“......The...... monster...... forest......”
That was my last memory.
***
“You useless piece of shit.”
“......”
This pissed me off.
“What the hell were you doing that you didn’t even know the entire town had been brainwashed, huh?”
Truly well done.
[But he did not know either......]
Why did you know nothing?
“But...... by principle, even if people show abnormal behavior, we cannot simply search......”
“Fuck. Are those damn principles important? Or are the people important?”
“The people......”
“You know that, and you still did this?”
Unbelievable.
“And why didn’t you follow me? I clearly told you to follow when I went underground.”
“Evacuating the people above was something that had to be done......!”
“That’s true. But damn it. I was going underground, damn it. How dare a bastard who hasn’t even put in enough time.”
I have rolled around here for eight years, you brat.
When you just became an apprentice, I took my first exam. You know that?
“Argh, seriously. You are still the captain of the Fifth Holy Knight Order, so I can’t even hit you.”
Of course, although I was chewing him out like this.
In truth, it was not particularly Garon’s fault in the first place.
‘Garon is on the weaker side even within the Fifth Holy Knight Order.’
His martial force was weak, but he was capable in various ways, so he served as captain of the Fifth Holy Knight Order.
So it was true that controlling the people outside was better than coming down and becoming deadweight, but......
Even taking that into account......
‘It annoys me.’
He sent other holy knights into the sewers while he evacuated citizens up above?
“Answer me.”
“So......”
“So?”
“So you lunatic! If that is how it is, then I have something to say too!”
“Something to say? To me, when I brought back the children, cracked an apostle’s head, and collapsed bleeding all over?”
“Urgh......!”
No matter how much he had to say, he could not help but shrink before me.
“Hoo...... Fine. Let’s leave it at that.”
Chewing him out was not what mattered right now.
“How far have you searched the forest?”
“It is so vast that we have only scouted the entrance area.”
What a fine display of work.
“By the way, why did you tell us to search there?”
“The bishop.”
The main bastard who made this town like this.
“He is in the forest.”
“Haa...... One mountain after another.”
The mountain was one I had climbed.
“And he is most likely an apostle of War.”
The ones I dealt with earlier were only a believer called deputy bishop and the Apostle of the Sun.
‘Still, will I be able to fight freely this time?’
Thinking that, it seemed better than dealing with that Sun bastard.
“Take care of the monsters yourselves, all right?”
“What do you take us for?”
“Useless trash who stayed above while I fought.”
“There were children from our Order in the sewers too! Even the elites of our Order!”
And what good did that do? They all got swept away by the Apostle of the Sun.
“It looks like I have to go.”
I had to be able to trust these bastards first.
“With that body?”
Garon pointed at my body and asked.
[My apostle truly does not know the meaning of danger, does he?]
Danger or whatever......
“War may have taken the children.”
“We will handle it.”
Bullshit.
“What am I supposed to trust about you?”
Weak, useless bastards.
“Then are you saying you will fight with that body?”
“It’s not impossible, is it?”
“You, with one broken arm, your body covered in burns, and lacking divine power to the point that you need rest?”
“Rest, my ass.”
Something like that would heal if I spat on it once.
Press—
“Ack! What are you doing!”
“I merely pressed the broken part.”
No, damn it!
“Of course it hurts if you press it!”
“You are trying to go even though it hurts.”
What an obvious thing to say.
[Apostle. You know that is foolish, yes?]
“Shut up. If you think about it, this is all because of you.”
“What?”
“Ah.”
I did not mean to say that to you.
“......It is true that it is my fault, but......”
“No, I wasn’t talking to you.”
“However, no matter how much you curse me, my words will not change.”
Garon looked at me with determined eyes.
“No, I told you, I wasn’t talking to......”
“I am a holy knight. Not one who borrows strength from the weak, but one who lends strength.”
No, I said I was not talking to you.
“And since we have also requested aid from the First Holy Knight Order, if we wait just a little......”
......
What?
“Wait?”
Was this bastard joking?
“What about the children?”
What about the children kidnapped by an apostle? What about the innocent children?
“They will be all right.”
All right, my ass.
“What if the children were taken to become feed for the monsters?”
“Then they would not have bothered taking them. They would have butchered them on the spot and taken them as meat.”
Butchering. That was what evil god worshipers were like.
Bastards who offered up fellow humans for their gods.
Bastards who saw humans as livestock for the sake of their purpose.
Thinking about it made me sick again.
“Move. I’m going.”
“You cannot go.”
“Argh!”
This insane, principles-obsessed bastard.
“Can you beat an apostle?”
No, right? You are only the Fifth Holy Knight Order.
“You people are weak.”
You cannot win. You are not a blade as sharp as me.
“Karix. Do you know what a holy knight is?”
“I don’t have time for nonsense, so......”
“One who protects.”
A holy knight was, by nature, not a sword for God, but a shield for people.
“Right now, you are someone who must be protected.”
The bastard’s words were unmistakably true. The wounds on my body were tormenting me.
“A holy knight protects citizens.”
That was the duty of one who had become a holy knight.
“Then who protects that holy knight?”
The answer to that was simple as well.
“His comrades do.”
......He really did talk annoyingly well.
“Know the priority. With that body, you can do nothing.”
Those damned priorities again.
“So wait. This is an order as captain of the Fifth Holy Knight Order.”
“......I understand.”
In other words.
“If I get healed, it is fine, right?”
“......That is not wrong.”
However, Rakar had no healing priest. Recovery-type miracles were rare, one way or another.
“Got it. Leave.”
“I am glad you seem to understand.”
After saying that, Garon grinned and left the room.
“......”
I looked into empty air.
No, by my standards, it was not empty air.
[What? What are you looking at?]
At the end of my gaze was the evil god.
“Heal me.”
At my words, the evil god looked at me and blinked three or four times.
[Are you talking to me?]
“Who else is here besides you?”
It was not that my hatred for her had weakened.
I was merely considering those fine priorities too.
[Apostle. What is this? You are suddenly making a request? Why did your attitude change?]
As if she truly did not understand, the bastard came down from the sky and stood on the floor.
[Could it be? Are you forgiving me?]
It was nothing like that.
Saving the children came before my feelings.
Just as Garon had said, I was one who protected.
So, if it was to protect them.
Something like an evil god.
‘I will use you.’
[Apostle?]
“You know a way to heal me, don’t you?”
No matter how ancient the era had been.
[Hmm? How did you know?]
A title like “Mother of All Things” would not have been earned for free.
“Tell me.”
To defeat the blasphemous, I had to become blasphemous myself.