Chapter: 76
77. Praise the Black Saint! (3)
Dominic stood there, utterly overwhelmed, staring blankly at the man before him.
Honestly, it would have been stranger if he weren’t frozen in shock.
The overwhelming energy was palpable even from a distance.
It felt like a divine power beyond reckoning. Dominic thought to himself…
This must be some sort of bizarre incident caused during an experiment. Something had clearly gone wrong with the holy relic, leading to a catastrophic overflow.
It was probably the reason why communication with the people in the temple, including Cardinal Karon, had been cut off since yesterday.
But that was just a misconception.
The power he sensed wasn’t from a relic gone rogue or a failed experiment.
It was simply the energy radiating from one individual.
Even that alone was enough to astonish him, but what truly bewildered him was something else entirely.
‘That scene…’
The grand and beautiful temple.
A sacred space where hymns to the gods should be echoing.
But right now, all that filled the air was a terrible, icy silence.
The stench of blood assaulted his senses.
Beyond the open door, the temple lay drenched in red.
It was so mangled with blood and flesh that its original form was all but unrecognizable.
Considering no one had been able to contact Cardinal Karon since yesterday, it was clear what had transpired here…
‘Could it be that they all died?’
The genius among geniuses.
Cardinal Karon, the most beloved of the gods. And the extraordinary, faithful members of the clergy who assisted him.
All of them were dead.
In a thoroughly one-sided manner.
Most likely… at the hands of that man.
With white hair and blue eyes.
For some reason, Dominic felt compelled to look again at the man holding a blood-stained girl in his arms.
His legs still trembled. If he let his guard down even for a second, he would probably crumble and collapse onto the floor.
The contrast in power was staggering.
The other person wasn’t doing anything. He was just looking at them nonchalantly.
Yet, that alone threatened to shatter his sanity.
This was all the more disorienting given Dominic’s exceptional skills.
If only an ordinary priest were here instead of a cardinal from the Holy Church, perhaps things would be slightly better.
Only those of a certain caliber could read the energy of their opponent and gauge their abilities.
Lower-ranked clergy would likely feel nothing at all from the man standing before them.
But Dominic was different.
His honed senses allowed him to keenly perceive the divine power, tormenting him even further.
But… he desperately held onto his sanity.
If he were the kind of person to fall apart over something like this, it would have been impossible for an orphan without any backing to rise to the rank of cardinal.
He restrained his senses as much as he could.
To avoid being overwhelmed by the force emanating from the man.
What sort of energy was this?
Even now, having blocked out most of his senses, he was still far from breaking free from its influence… but Dominic managed to force his mouth open and pose a question to the entity before him.
“W-who are you?”
It was an exceedingly bizarre question.
The man before him was undoubtedly the perpetrator of a horrific massacre. He was clearly the mastermind behind that gruesome scene.
Yet Dominic couldn’t ask that man aggressively.
The aura radiating from him was far too divine.
That was also why Dominic couldn’t quite grasp this strange situation.
If the energy he felt had been evil to the core, making it around him instantly kill him in a fight would not need much consideration.
He had sworn to the God of Light. He would devote his life to carrying out the divine will.
In that case, he would simply offer up his life and defeat the demon.
However, the being in front of him was not a demon. There was no way a demon could radiate such a sacred energy.
Those intense blue eyes gazed at him. The man then opened his mouth and replied to Dominic’s question.
“You should know better than I who I am.”
It was a response more bizarre than Dominic’s question.
A sort of answer that turned the question back on him.
It was a strange assertion that they already knew him.
But why was that?
A cold sweat ran down Dominic’s back.
The reason was crystal clear.
One hypothesis popped into his mind.
It was utterly ludicrous, beyond belief.
It seemed unrealistic. It was impossible for such a thing to actually happen.
No matter how much he denied it in his mind, it lingered.
No, it became even more solidified.
That divine power.
The atmosphere that was absolutely beyond comparison.
It left no doubt about its meaning.
There was only one possibility that could explain all of this.
Dominic’s face turned pale in shock. But irrespective of his feelings, ‘that person’ continued to speak.
“I have always been watching over you.”
That person slowly walked toward Dominic.
“I have witnessed your hideousness as well.”
And so, he proclaimed.
He had been observing their despicable actions all along, noting all their terrible sins with his own eyes.
It was then that Dominic finally grasped everything.
[What does a Holy Church that does not fulfill the divine will exist for?]
The corrupt nature of the Holy Church.
The behavior of the Holy Church, obsessed with accumulating wealth rather than following the teachings of the gods.
Until now, Dominic had thought that the revelations contained within the footage were mere criticisms from the leader of the Black Fangs.
He believed that the ramblings of the leader of a bizarre, unknown organization meant nothing.
But… that was ridiculous.
That was the voice of God.
A sinner who had sworn to devote himself to carry out the will of God, yet failed to keep that oath.
It was a divine warning directed right at the Holy Church.
Radiance burst forth.
Behind ‘that person,’ a pair of white wings unfurled.
Two pairs of wings that radiated a beautiful light.
Naturally, his mind reeled.
The presence before him was so overwhelming that it felt as though he might lose consciousness at any moment.
As ‘that person’ revealed his true form to the world, he proclaimed personally.
“I have come to judge you.”
He came to make the sinner pay for his sins. He had come to punish the apostates.
Dominic, tears streaming down his face, bowed deeply before ‘that person.’
There was no other choice.
There could be no excuses. Neither a sinner impersonating God nor anyone else had the right to offer a defense.
He could only feel infinite regret.
Regret for his foolishness.
For the fact that he had vowed to devote himself to God yet could not uphold it.
“You have… always been watching over us. You have been watching us. Yet we…”
They had committed far too many sins, deeds that should never have been done in the name of God.
And yet, he internally whined.
Perhaps God had abandoned them. Even if they prayed, they never received a response.
But the answer had long since come back.
‘That person’ had spoken.
You do not carry out my will; you are merely a group of unbelievers.
God did not fail to respond.
It was they who ignored God’s response.
Corruption was inevitable. They would seek a solution even now.
Disguising those words to completely dismiss God’s will.
Some even branded ‘that person’ as an evil heretic, insulting the Holy Church’s authority with baseless slanders.
That footage.
What contained it was the final mercy bestowed directly by God.
A final opportunity to lay down everything and repent for their sins.
And they had kicked it away with their own feet.
How could they call themselves clergy?
How could they possibly label themselves as such after committing these sins?
Dominic looked again at ‘that person’s’ form.
He gazed upon the ‘Black Saint.’
In this moment, there was only one thing Dominic had to say.
“We have committed sins that cannot be undone. We have committed sins that cannot be forgiven and certainly should not be pardoned.”
Those meant to carry out the will of God ignored the voice of God. They were no longer clergy.
They were merely apostates, heretics, sinners.
And thus, they had no qualification to seek forgiveness.
“Punish us however you see fit. Even if it means taking my life, I will gladly follow your command.”
Dominic knelt before ‘that person.’
“Please, deliver the just punishment to the sinner who has sullied your name.”
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