Silence, understanding, and shock.
If it were just the higher-ups, one could have thought that the Seongsin had protected them and brushed it off. Conversely, if only the lower ones were like that, one could say they lacked the power to the extent of killing an outsider, and it could be rationalized that way.
But three people, evenly matched.
The realization that someone fled from sacrifice after witnessing the god’s tremendous power ignited the hearts of the Seongsin Church members present.
If it were just the highest one acting that way, they might have hesitated, crushed by power.
But now, there stood both the highest person and those below them.
Seeing the two together naturally turns resentment towards the lower one aimed at the higher one.
“How could you properly pray when you were just trying to save yourself!”
As the most radical of the bunch lost patience, the priest glanced around at the others, confirming the coward. And in unison, they condemned the unchanging one. However, the person being condemned had no idea what everyone was talking about.
Because unless one has extraordinarily short hair, it’s hard to realize their hair has turned purple.
Thus, the timing for rebuttal was delayed.
They faced tremendous accusations and were branded as the worst of humanity.
The once holy place of divine miracles quickly became defiled.
The sanctity that erased the Evil God was now plunged again into the dirt by humanity’s selfish desires, damaging the Seongsin Church’s image that was supposed to rise again.
Understanding the situation, the Seongsin priest tried to put things in order, but it was already too late.
Everyone saw it.
If only Ansellus Kingdom had been present, one could have returned and made any excuse to declare it a heresy.
But noblemen and royalty from other countries were present.
And they watched the show from the best seats in the house.
Originally, the Seongsin Church members present had experienced everything there was to life. But the reason they reacted like children was simple.
Because no matter what they did from now on, based on the Seongsin Church’s standards, they could no longer go to the afterlife they believed in.
In other words, their future became unhappy due to their faith. Especially considering the era, belief was everything for them. Imagining a society without faith was almost impossible.
It wasn’t a society where nothing happened just because one didn’t believe in God.
In a situation that was simply unbearable as a believer, there was someone who fled alone. The one lacking the most mental fortitude burst first.
Pointing fingers at the one below them, they condemned them.
And that fury spread like a plague.
The priest who protested that they had prayed properly, and the priest who couldn’t believe those words.
Instantly, it turned into a lowly fight.
And everyone witnessed that spectacle.
What could one think?
It was the lowly appearance of those who denied their national father.
It’s too easy to say the people are bad; there were too many gaps embedded in their hearts.
Is the Seongsin truly a great god?
Questions began to dig into their hearts. Many might need time to think about it, but someone presented another answer. Anyone with thought remembered someone who had answered that.
The outsider.
What had they said?
The freedom to believe in God.
Or the freedom not to believe in God.
Doubt and desire rooted deep, starting to sprout like seeds.
It wasn’t large enough yet to impact society. Only a few intellectuals vaguely felt that something would change in the future.
Meanwhile, Hyungkesuni covered her ears.
As the execution came to an end, a man returned home to find out what was happening at their house. Hyungkesuni cursed him like a bothersome bug.
Clunk.
The skull attached to her staff snapped open and then closed again, and it felt like a person’s head flew off, as if bitten by teeth. The woman beside screamed, tearing at the sound.
This could be a hassle if people arrived.
Clunk.
The skull’s jaw opened and then snapped shut again. The woman’s head also fell off.
Hyungkesuni looked out the window again.
The tedious show had ended.
At first, it was entertaining, but the outsider showed no reaction, so it soon became dull. Later, wondering if they really died, she watched with anxiety, but they indeed died.
That part was satisfactory.
Whether they really died or returned to where they came from, she couldn’t tell…
But if they were alive, it would be better not to return to this world, and imagining that while twisting her writing made her chuckle.
Seeing those from the Seongsin Church remaining at the execution site acting like fools brought her great amusement, but it was time to leave Ansellus Kingdom.
Because someone screamed just now, meaning someone would come soon. In other words, she had to get away before being caught.
Moreover, something felt oddly uncomfortable now. On a day like this, it would be best to swiftly back away, she thought.
Above all, it was unpleasant that the outsider mentioned her name at the end.
After all, a bad guy had died, so she wasn’t overly worried about her name being mentioned, but being naturally cowardly, whenever something uneasy happened, she immediately retreated.
Thus, she had managed to survive while other witches were killed.
Originally, being a woman skilled in various magic and knowledge turned into being the one who uses evil curses, allowing her to survive for a long time.
Hyungkesuni left the fallen man and woman at the door and stepped outside.
But when she went outside, there was a child trembling on the ground. Judging by appearances, they seemed to be the child’s parents, recently killed by Hyungkesuni.
“Who, who are you?”
“Me? Hyungkesuni.”
Hyungkesuni stated her name. But that was also a death sentence for the child. Knowing that leaving traces at such times could be troublesome, she raised her staff.
And stabbed the child’s chest.
Hyungkesuni knew from experience that when something sharp lodges in a person’s lung, they couldn’t even scream.
The sharp bone tore into the child’s chest, digging inward. But oddly, the blood didn’t flow to the ground. Instead, it flowed up the staff along the bones.
As the child’s breath ceased, Hyungkesuni felt she had filled the grudge required for cursing, satisfying her, and then simply turned away and left.
A dark night.
Two headless corpses. And one stabbed child.
But.
The child had not died.
Originally, they should have been dead. The injuries were too harsh for the child to still be alive.
So how despairing was it to witness one’s parents being killed right before their eyes?
How horrific was it to helplessly watch the perpetrator stab themselves?
Light plummeted to the ground.
Very, very deep.
Falling beyond the abyss where Evil Monsters dwelt, deeper still.
The light that landed on the solid surface known as the ground, which nothing was supposed to surpass, encountered something.
That something handed itself to her.
The outsider tainted the light black, bestowing blessings.
The outsider’s blessing remade the body.
The hole in the chest vanished, and instead of blood, a foreign substance began to flow through the veins. Too young to resent and kill someone, but sufficient to remember an enemy.
The skin turned blue, the hair turned purple. The whites of the eyes turned black, and the irises turned fluorescent.
Causality began to slowly turn again.
On the day of the special incident.
The child remembered their sworn enemy.
And the Sorceress of Joy obtained an enemy that ought not to exist.
*
Wow, Hyungkesuni is amazing.
How does she make enemies so well?
I saw the memories gained from the light that fell below the surface.
A family lived happily—no, as they lived in the capital city of a kingdom, they were well-off. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a witch appeared and killed them.
On the day the light of the Seongsin melted me, I was killed by Hyungkesuni after being caught watching it from someone else’s house.
I knew from Yasle’s memories that she wasn’t a good person from the start, but I never expected it to be to this extent.
The girl.
A girl named Dakota remembered Hyungkesuni’s name. I don’t know how the child will grow, but if luck is on her side, she might steal Hyungkesuni’s warmth.
Holding personal expectations, I surveyed the first world.
First, after I died.
Although the Seongsin Church showed such foolishness, surprisingly, nothing much changed. It seems that they merely pieced together amazing words as a makeshift response, and it had no real effect.
Still, the fortunate part is that they did not go kill anyone blessed by me from the Seongsin Church.
Of course, I know the reason why.
A total of 20 Seongsin priests.
They killed 3 who hadn’t received blessings on the way back. Yes. Surprisingly, they did that. When you listen to their conversations, they say they’re going to hell anyway, so they might as well save their own lives right now.
And strikingly, it was Martin who presented a new path.
Believing in another god.
And that god is none other than me.
Ew.
To be honest, I don’t want to be called a god. So I used to refrain from calling myself a god, but I ended up being accepted that way.
And surprisingly, the priests and paladins accepted it readily.
Listening to their words, there had been a folk belief that there exists a god who avenges the despairing, which had persisted all along.
I thought it would disappear as it transformed into Future Hope Church or remade into Mirikan Church, but it was deeply rooted.
So deep that those who were exploited could barely survive legally in the city.
Yet the fact that it was the god’s blessing moved their hearts. There was also resignation that they were bound to fall to hell.
Thus, to survive, they killed the three who had not received blessings. At that time, the priest did cast a curse, but since it wasn’t actually cursed, everyone ignored it.
And when they returned to the Seongsin Church headquarters, they explained their affairs with some embellishment.
The Evil God died in exchange for the conversion of the survivors. And the survivors converted willingly. While they themselves became like this, they still believe in the Seongsin.
It’s fine to excommunicate us. But please forgive those who remain.
Wherever you look, it’s a model of excellent believers. The headquarters found their purplish hair suspicious. Thus, instead of excommunicating them, they accepted it.
Three, you say?
The journey back was quite perilous.
It wasn’t uncommon to encounter thieves and die.
Little by little, the Seongsin Church began to warp.
