SRS 229

“Hey, I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

Suhyeok whispered as he pulled Yohan back. To his eyes, the Saintess appeared somewhat grotesque rather than holy. She was clad in white from head to toe, yet it looked as though a shadow was cast upon her.

Suhyeok’s tension transmitted to him. Yohan, now equally on edge, squinted as he gazed at the figure presumed to be the Saintess.

It felt uncanny.

Precisely because he could not see, he was certain.

The Saintess before him was devoid of holiness.

“…Are you the Saintess?”

“Yes. I am the Saintess.”

“Are you truly a Saintess who serves the God of Benevolence?”

“…Yes.”

“Truly?”

“…What is your intention?”

The Saintess briefly frowned, displeased by the repeated questioning.

“Hey, Yohan…”

Suhyeok tried to restrain Yohan, whose persistence showed no signs of ending. He was unsettled by the strange atmosphere that had descended the moment the Saintess appeared.

Yet Yohan summoned his divine power.

Flash!

A brilliant light enveloped him. His already fair skin turned deathly pale.

“I ask you again. Are you a Saintess?”

The priests finally couldn’t hold back at the question he posed in that state.

“Hey, you!”

“We’ve listened long enough. How dare you speak to the Saintess like that!”

They exuded a menacing, murderous aura. Even in this volatile situation, where a battle could erupt at any moment, Yohan was entirely focused on the Saintess.

“Answer me.”

“You!”

“Are you a genuine Saintess?”

“Saintess! You need not answer him!”

“We shall drag that insolent fellow away!”

“Tsk…! You! Won’t you get lost?”

A commotion erupted around the standoff between Yohan and the Saintess. As the priests assumed a combat stance, Suhyeok unsheathed his sword and stepped in front of Yohan. Sei asserted her presence as well by issuing a threatening sound from her throat.

Meanwhile, Yohan– who had been fixated solely on the Saintess – laughed as he faced her; she did not so much as part her lips to speak, let alone answer.

“…It is not that you will not answer. It is that you cannot.”

“…….”

“Isn’t that right?”

The power of a benevolent god inherently possesses the power to repel evil. Thus, Yohan, as a High Priest, had been granted at least one authority capable of opposing evil.

It was a power that took effect whenever a being associated with a demon unauthorized copy appeared before him. It functioned without the need for possession, descent, or even prayer.

The Sincere Inquiry.

When Yohan channeled his divine power with the intention to use this authority and posed a question, humans who had contracted with a demon found themselves unable to lie.

While a true demon might have been a different matter, Yohan’s power as a High Priest inevitably overwhelmed those who had merely entered into a contract. The very same authority that had once exposed Cheplen’s corruption now shone forth once more before the Saintess.

Yohan let out a soft, mournful sigh as he realized the image of another person seemed to overlap with that of the Saintess.

“…Woman who serves Benevolence. How have you been corrupted?”

He spoke the words with a sorrowful tone. The Saintess’s serene aura shifted drastically. The change in the air was palpable against the skin.

Suddenly, a chilly wind blew through the surroundings, cold enough to send a shiver down one’s spine.

“It is not corruption.”

“…What do you mean?”

“It is not corruption, but evolution.”

“…Pardon?”

What kind of sophistry was this?

Yohan’s eyelids twitched slightly. He felt the conversation taking a bizarre turn.

“…….”

What was this?

…Hadn’t it been far too quiet around here for a while now?

The priests, who had been clamoring noisily just moments ago, had suddenly fallen silent. He could no longer hear the voice of Suhyeok, who had been confronting them, nor could he properly sense Sei’s presence.

Feeling something amiss, Yohan looked around. He could see various figures; people were there, they were definitely there. Yet, for some reason, they were motionless, like statues. Seeing everyone– friend and foe alike –frozen in that state, Yohan rubbed his eyes. He wondered if his eyesight was failing, making things appear strange.

Drip, plop.

He heard the sound of something falling onto the deathly silent ground.

He flinched.

Goosebumps rose across Yohan’s skin.

Startled, he turned his gaze toward the Saintess, only to see her holding something and stabbing it into her own throat.

She had suddenly committed self harm.

Even through his blurred vision, he could see something red flowing down; Yohan’s eyes widened in shock.

“What are you doing?!”

He rushed toward her in alarm, but the Saintess– who was driving the object into her throat without [visit our site]a single groan –stepped back just as he advanced. Tears of blood trickled from her eyes.

“Ah….”

A mournful cry rang out, heavy with sorrow. The Saintess spat out a mouthful of blood and tilted her head back to gaze at the sky.

“Please, show your wrath, God of Benevolence. Rage against the calamity that has claimed my life and this land. Let your wrath overflow the seas and willingly submerge the earth. In the end, all life shall yearn for your benevolence.”

“…….”

“Oh, God….”

Thwack!

The Saintess’s own weapon pierced her throat.

Splat!

Blood geysered, and her slender body fell to the side.

“No!”

Yohan, who had been overwhelmed by the prayer radiating from the Saintess, finally felt his body move again and rushed to catch her. He hurriedly poured his divine power into a healing spell, but it was to no avail. No matter how much divine power he wrung from himself, it could not mend even a single wound.

Yohan held his breath as he watched the blood that refused to stop flowing.

A wound that divine power could not heal meant only one thing.

“…Damn it.”

Rarely one to curse, Yohan laid the Saintess down and grabbed the shoulders of Suhyeok, who was standing there in a daze, and shook him.

“Suhyeok! Im Suhyeok!”

“…….”

“Sei!”

He shook Sei as well, but neither of the dazed pair could snap out of their stupor. The other priests were in the same state.

Thump-thump-thump.

His heart raced with anxiety and a sense of impending crisis. Feeling cold sweat trickle down, Yohan clenched his fists tightly.

Was this the Saintess’s doing too?

Whatever she had done, she had bewitched them completely.

If only my eyes had been working properly, I would have realized it sooner…!

Because he was focused on what couldn’t be seen, he failed to notice the Saintess making another move.

“Suhyeok! Sei!”

Coo?

It was Shine– who had been on the verge of dozing off –that reacted to the urgent shout. The divine beast blinked in confusion and rubbed his eyes.

“Shine! Can you wake them up?”

Coo-coo!

Shine, previously dazed, heard Yohan’s voice a beat late and took flight.

Coo!

The divine beast flapped his wings vigorously, swatting Suhyeok and Sei on the head; a burst of holy light erupted, and focus returned to their eyes.

“Suhyeok!”

“Yohan? What just…”

“……”

Confused, the two looked at Yohan, then flinched when they spotted the Saintess on the ground. Suhyeok’s face stiffened, and he looked at Yohan with disbelief.

“Yohan. Don’t tell me you…”

“No! We don’t have time for this! Get on Shine’s back. Hurry!”

“Huh?”

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I said we’re out of time!”

Yohan shouted as he pushed them toward Shine.

“Hey! There are people under the lake!”

Sei struggled and pointed at the lake. Yohan gritted his teeth.

“We’re taking them with us, so move! We don’t have much time!”

“I mean, what exactly do you mean by ‘no time’…”

Sei couldn’t finish the sentence. No, to be precise, even though she had finished speaking, the sound simply couldn’t be heard.

Rumble–!

A deafening rumble, as if the sky was falling, had swallowed up every other sound.

Not long after, the turbulent sky cracked, and a beam of purple light– dark yet paradoxically brilliant –poured down from above.

“Urgh!”

“Ghk…!”

“Aaaargh!”

Yohan and his companions, who had just regained their senses coughed up blood in unison.

Coo…

Shine, pressed flat against the ground, let out a pained coo. Yohan barely managed to lift his head; his face was etched with despair as he gazed at the sky.

He could sense immense divine power. An overwhelming presence was descending upon this place.

It was a descent.

The God of Benevolence was answering the summons, an invitation bought with the sacrifice of the Saintess’s own body and the land itself.

Though, in a state that was far from normal.

Yohan stared at the descending deity.

Where had it all gone wrong?

What was the first thing to go awry?

What was happening to this continent…to this dimension?

The water deity had vanished, the city lay in ruins, demons had been summoned, and the Saintess had fallen.

Enraged by the Saintess’s corruption and death, a god was descending, and the spirits of nature were wailing. It was a spectacle that seemed to bring about the apocalypse of some ancient myth.

Faced with a barrage of catastrophes and lacking any prior information, Yohan felt powerless. Just as he was sinking into despair, overwhelmed by the scale of these simultaneous, escalating crises that were far beyond his ability to resolve alone…

Flap!

A paper bird flew in from somewhere and fluttered right before Yohan and his group. Upon rcognizing the spirit energy imbued within it, Suhyeok snatched the bird and unfolded it.

Without needing to read the text, a familiar voice rang out.

“This is an emergency order! Retreat immediately! This is an emergency order! Retreat immediately! An unmanageable number of Dimension Destroyers stolen content are currently gathering. After consulting with headquarters, we have designated this dimension as a temporary stronghold for the Dimension Destroyers and are executing a tactical retreat. All students must make their way to the mountain range where the Spirit of Sun rises!”

“…….”

The Spirit of Sound conveyed the message, perfectly capturing the urgency and emotion in Professor Shinbi’s voice.

“…Dimension Destroyers are gathering?”

“We’re already struggling to handle the ones here.”

The students’ faces turned pale. Yohan shook his head to clear his mind and scanned his surroundings, searching for the mountain range where the Spirit of Sun rose.

Fortunately, despite the dark, fractured sky, he could see an intense light rising above a distant mountain.

That must be the Spirit of Sun Professor Shinbi had mentioned.

At that very moment, the divine pressure that had been crushing down on Yohan and his group eased slightly.

…The god had turned their gaze away.

Whether Professor Shinbi had done something or not, the heavy, oppressive gaze that had felt like it was bearing down on Yohan had receded into the distance.

Yohan forced himself to stand.

“…Let’s head back for now.”

If Professor Shinbi had gone to the trouble of sending a messenger, it meant this situation was beyond the students’ ability to resolve. It was likely a crisis that even Professor Shinbi couldn’t handle alone. Bound by orders, he swallowed the blood rising in his throat and climbed onto Shine; Shine mustered the last of his strength to carry the students.

“Sei.”

Once Suhyeok had mounted, both Yohan and Suhyeok reached out their hands toward Sei at the same time.

But Sei did not take them.

She looked at their outstretched hands with a contemplative expression then glanced back at the lakeshore before slowly speaking.

“…I’m not going.”

“…What?”