Abigail lost her parents and older brother when she was young.
The cause wasn’t an accident like a car crash or an explosion from a gas leak. If it had been, the unresolved grief in her heart wouldn’t have been so painful.
The disaster that shattered Abigail’s happy days with her family took the form of a human.
Bang!
On that day, when everyone gathered in the backyard to enjoy a barbecue, the sound of a loud gunshot echoed, and her father collapsed, blood pouring from his forehead. He fell while knocking over the grill, and the fire spread to the ground.
The assailant who suddenly approached and shot the gun was someone she knew.
It was the neighborhood uncle, someone she frequently crossed paths with.
They weren’t particularly close, but they exchanged pleasantries occasionally, and he’d bring over food when he made too much.
That’s why.
At first, she couldn’t comprehend the situation.
Bang!
Another shot.
This time, her mother, screaming, clutched her chest and fell helplessly.
It was then that her brother wrapped his arms around Abigail and shouted.
“Run!”
Unfortunately, after seeing her parents collapse, Abigail was too shocked to escape. Her legs wouldn’t respond, and she couldn’t move at all.
Maybe it was to protect his trembling little sister.
Her brother, who played football in high school, mustered his strength and threw Abigail into the neighboring yard.
After crashing into the overgrown grass, she rolled several times.
The merciless gunfire echoed again.
Bang, bang, bang!
The fence blocked her view of what happened to her brother.
Also, due to the shock of being thrown so far, her head was pounding, and Abigail lost consciousness.
Days later, she woke up in an unfamiliar place. It was a hospital.
“…Are you okay?”
A kind neighbor lady, sitting beside her as a caregiver, held Abigail’s hand tightly, wiping her flowing tears with a handkerchief.
That scene brought an overwhelming sense of despair, consuming her mind.
Her parents, followed by her brother, were gone.
Realizing this, the young Abigail wept while holding the lady’s hand.
“Waaah…”
Why?
Why would the neighborhood uncle, someone they’d casually gotten along with, do such a thing? What wrong had their family done?
She learned the motive behind the crime through news reports over the next few days.
– The shooter testified, “I couldn’t stand it because my life is hard, but their family seemed too happy.”
The motive wasn’t vengeance or money.
It was simply that he couldn’t tolerate Abigail and her family, who lived bright and cheerful lives, in contrast to his own.
“…….”
How could that be?
If someone else seems happy, wouldn’t it suffice to strive for that same happiness? Why think about killing them brutally?
At a young age, she couldn’t understand that mindset.
But now, it was different. She understood what the problem was.
Evil.
The root cause that turned the neighborhood uncle into a brutal murderer was the malicious heart that blossomed from inferiority and jealousy within him.
It was only after growing up and becoming an adult that she realized how many people in the world cannot suppress their own desires and anger.
Her parents and brother were killed by a despicable human who couldn’t even control his own emotions.
‘…It’s unfair.’
Why did her innocent family have to bear the wrath of a person possessed by evil thoughts?
In truth, it wasn’t just the neighborhood uncle who was bad.
The notion of venting one’s inner rage on people unrelated to oneself occurs frequently in America.
If the scope of the issue is widened to the entire world, then the number of innocent victims would undoubtedly increase.
It’s absurd.
Unacceptable.
Why must innocent beings perish because of the rotten minds of others? Doesn’t that contradict the teachings of various religions that say, “You should live righteously”?
This doesn’t make sense.
The world is operating in a fundamentally unjust way.
In an ideal society, all evildoers should be isolated, and virtuous citizens should be able to live joyously and freely. Even if it takes force to do so.
‘Everything must be fixed.’
I will become someone who leads America and make the world operate correctly.
Abigail nurtured grand dreams and worked harder than anyone day by day. She entered university and immersed herself in studies.
But.
Instead of hope growing, despair piled on. The reality was brutally chilling.
‘…What can I change by myself?’
No matter how high she rose, even if she became president.
It was impossible to cleanse the world alone. That was the uncomfortable truth she had long desperately avoided.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t achieve her dreams as an individual.
While thinking this way and living helplessly day by day, one day.
Abigail found herself embodying a character she created in a TRPG called [The Era of Apocalypse] while having fun with her university friends.
‘What is this…?’
Waking up to find she had suddenly become a Cat Beastperson monk, she was initially confused but then began to envision a bright future once she grasped the situation.
What if she could grow stronger here and return to her original world?
She would be able to achieve her dreams. She had the strength for it.
Honestly, it was too grand a dream to nurture during a time when she was barely managing to survive, but after living for so many years, her confidence overflowed.
‘I can do it.’
After a long struggle, Abigail brought down all the evils in the world based on [The Era of Apocalypse].
She snatched the power of an Evil God trying to plunge the world into endless nightmares with her sharp tongue.
The leader of the demons, aiming to bring pain to humanity, was defeated through her meticulous strategies.
No Evil God or demon could stand in her way.
So she firmly believed that her plan to leave only innocent beings on Earth would succeed.
At least, until the pope stepped in to interfere.
“Sister Cat, I, too, have a suggestion to make.”
The pope, Eluke, surveyed his followers with an arrogant smile and continued.
“Now surrender. I will at least show you some mercy, as per the will of our Goddess.”
“…….”
To dare embrace evildoers.
Clenching her fists tightly, Abigail stared at Eluke.
Although he was a character of rare dignity and humanity, she couldn’t just let it go.
He had to be removed, for the sake of a future where the innocent would not suffer.
*
“I’ll also decline.”
Abigail resolutely shook her head.
Whether or not he cared, she ignored him and spread her sacred power among her followers. Enveloping her entire being.
Blessing, the trees that bask in sunlight.
It was a first-class blessing that increased her physical abilities related to combat and reduced the influence of otherworldly powers. Though a large amount of sacred power flowed out, its efficacy was so excellent that it was worth the cost.
“Now.”
The first to respond to my words was the White Tiger.
Having eaten considerable numbers of enemies, the baby tiger, with its body surprisingly enlarged, ran forward and swung its claws widely. Shadows flew like blades.
“How dare a Void Monster…”
Abigail scowled and spread her hands, raising dark stone pillars around her.
Bang!
The shadow blade, which hit the pillar, was instantly deflected.
Following that, other followers also launched their attacks simultaneously, but they all faltered. None could penetrate the defensive magic, all erased.
“Souls that deserve to fall into hell, dwell within me.”
Shortly thereafter, Abigail formed a circle with her hands and began to chant a spell.
“Oh, endless evil like the abyss, taint my heart.”
This is dangerous.
Instinctively sensing a crisis, I shouted urgently.
“…We must take her down now!”
The followers responded to my command and launched stronger techniques than before, but it was too late.
The spell was already being cast.
“With this, we say goodbye.”
With a twisted and contorted face, Abigail grinned.
“May you rest in peace.”
With those words, the small Cat Beastperson’s body rapidly grew larger.
Not only did it grow, but its appearance grotesquely transformed.
Her right and left hands became six tentacles.
Demonic wings sprouted from her back.
And her face had completely transformed into that of a cat.
Her horrifying appearance made me frown, and the overwhelming aura coursed through, causing cold sweat to run down my back.
-Grrrrr…
Could she no longer speak like a human?
The monster turned Abigail let out an incomprehensible, strange cry and opened its mouth wide. Crimson flames radiated forth.
It seemed poised to scorch the entire earth.
I urgently raised a gigantic barrier with sacred power.
Sacred Spell, Sunlight Fortress.
The crimson flames blocked by the pink wall could no longer approach us.
However, there was no way to stop the creature that had emitted the flames.
-Kreee!
The monster that flew over the wall wildly swung its tentacle arms.
A furious assault shattered nearby buildings and asphalt roads.
Everyone was superhuman, so they didn’t take the hits easily and dodged swiftly, but they couldn’t maintain it for long.
“Ugh!”
It seemed as if the tentacle with a mind of its own had struck Yao aside.
One by one, other followers crumbled too.
The frenzied onslaught came too swiftly to evade or defend against.
It was an opponent that seemed insurmountable for those gathered here. A foe that could not be defeated at superhuman levels.
“…….”
Eventually.
The gaze of the monster called Abigail fell on me.
Her eyes held no reason left, only instinct barely dangling at the edges. Yet they seemed far from ferocious.
In fact, hesitance flickered within them.
She wanted to kill me, but when the actual chance arrived, she hesitated.
Indeed, she was a hundred times better than trash like Haoran.
Thus.
I resolved to do what was necessary as a pope.
“Lady Abigail.”
I looked up at the gigantic body of the monster and forced a smile.
“I sincerely hope that peaceful sunlight shines upon your life.”
As if responding to my words, Abigail swung her right arm.
As the sleek tentacle drew near, time seemed to slow down all of a sudden.
No, that’s not it.
The actual speed might have remained the same.
It was just that my consciousness expanded and made the world seem relatively slower.
‘…Finally.’
Previously, I had prayed to the Black Sun for mercy, gaining a higher status as a demigod.
However, I had not become a complete demigod.
According to Kim Lee-yeon’s analysis, the reason I lacked the ‘jeong’ (essence), which corresponds to the body among the sacred spirits, was insufficient.
But could that truly be so?
To become a demigod, one must perfect their body? It might apply to warriors, but it didn’t suit me as a priest.
Then what was the ‘jeong’ that I needed to meet?
I had been unable to grasp it until now, but through my conversation with Abigail, I had an epiphany.
No matter how holy the purpose may be, if the goal isn’t just, it isn’t virtuous. Ultimately, it’s just a slightly altered evil deed.
And that applied to faith as well.
To walk the righteous path as a priest, I shouldn’t merely preach and follow the will of the Goddess with fervor.
There must be a reason for saving those who have strayed into evil.
The dangers of holding distorted beliefs.
The conditions for possessing noble faith.
I had to embody all those reflections.
It couldn’t just be superficial. I had to embrace it with sincerity. It was a truth that took an agonizingly long time to realize.
“Merciful Sun, your pope has finally reached the truth.”
Now, I could clearly understand why Kelaout had relentlessly tried to reform those who had strayed from the correct path.
Through Abigail’s destructive plan, I learned that distorted beliefs could lead to disaster.
“Even as a pope, I was exceedingly foolish. Please scold me.”
I prayed, yet a sharp rebuke didn’t come down.
– It’s too late, you know.
All I got in response was a light chuckle.
So, I smiled brightly and bantered back.
“Goddess, I ask of you.”
I didn’t specify what I was asking for. She would already know.
– Begin. I’m ready.
The time had come to settle things.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
