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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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My first instinct was to run.
Grab the Pope and escape. If that failed, buy time, wait for reinforcements.
He was their Pope, after all. They wouldn’t abandon him. I’d secured promises of swift aid from the knights and priests before coming here.
Buying time… I could manage that. No matter who I was facing.
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“I asked you a question.”
“Hmm? Didn’t you refuse to talk?”
He smirked, his lips curling condescendingly. I threw a dagger at his face.
I expected the black aura to intercept it, but it didn’t.
Instead, he caught the blade between his jagged teeth.
He spat the dagger out contemptuously, then flicked a finger towards me.
A tendril of black energy erupted from the ground, piercing my leg just below the knee.
Pain shot through me, and I gasped, dropping the Pope, collapsing to the ground.
The only sound was the rhythmic click-clack of his shoes as he approached.
“Now, this is a more suitable posture for conversation, wouldn’t you say?”
“Who… are you?”
“Haha, still defiant, even in this situation! Admirable!”
“This is the third time I’ve asked.”
“Just someone who knows you.”
I glared at him, channeling my killing intent, but he just smiled wider.
I wracked my brain, trying to figure out how to make him talk, when his voice echoed in my mind.
[Well, the contents of this conversation are rather confidential. Your thoughts are transmitted directly to me, so don’t worry about speaking aloud.]
He must be concerned about the Pope, unconscious beside me. He could wake up at any moment.
Fine. At least we were talking.
‘Who the fuck are you, you bastard?’
My mental voice was laced with venom.
He chuckled, unfazed by my hostility.
[Haha, I am Greed, of the Lunar Church.]
‘…Lunar Church?’
[Yes, followers of our one true Goddess—]
‘I don’t care about that. How do you know about… that?’
He seemed slightly annoyed that I’d dismissed his Goddess, but I didn’t care. I needed answers.
He’d mentioned my life. He’d asked how many times it had been. As if he knew about my reincarnation.
No one knew. I’d never told anyone. They wouldn’t believe me anyway.
So, how did he know?
There was only one possibility.
‘Did the church tell you?’
[Not directly. It was more of a… myth, passed down through generations.]
A god, or someone close to one, had revealed my secret. Someone directly involved in my reincarnation, like Solra.
‘…A myth?’
[Yes, a prophecy foretelling the arrival of Luna’s vessel—]
‘What?!’
My mental shout must have been deafening. He flinched, covering his ears, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
[Why are you yelling?!]
‘The god you serve… is Luna?’
[Yes, that’s correct.]
Everything clicked into place. Why he knew about me, why he called me the “Owner of the Divine Body.”
Luna wanted to use my body to manifest in this world. That’s why she’d orchestrated my reincarnation.
And before being sealed, she’d created a following, a cult, to ensure they’d recognize me when I finally arrived, to facilitate her resurrection.
The “Divine Body” wasn’t just a metaphor. It meant Her body.
‘…Did your precious Goddess tell you about me?’
[Hmm? How did you—]
His words trailed off. I already knew the answer.
I threw another dagger at his face. But this one was different.
Napalm. A mixture of aluminum soap and gasoline. Highly flammable, highly volatile. The blade was coated in it.
He caught it effortlessly, just like before, but that was exactly what I wanted.
I threw another dagger, not at his face, but at the napalm-coated dagger he held.
I hoped for an explosion, even a small spark, but he caught the second dagger, too, his fingers closing around the blade just inches from the first.
He shook his head slowly, as if chiding a foolish child.
“Whatever you’re planning, it won’t work—”
“It already has.”
“…?”
I clenched my fist, activating the trigger.
A faint red glow emanated from the handle of the second dagger, a tiny magic circle inscribed there activating.
A small spark erupted.
Basic magic, the first spell every mage learned.
Fireball.
My mana control was exceptional. That meant my magic control was exceptional. Redirecting a falling fireball was child’s play.
The fireball, initially aimed away from the dagger, suddenly veered towards the napalm-coated blade in his hand.
“…!”
“Just die already.”
A massive explosion engulfed him, the fireball igniting the napalm, consuming him in a raging inferno.
A guttural scream, inhuman, echoed through the void, the sound of flesh melting, vocal cords dissolving.
His black robe disintegrated instantly, his pale skin bubbling and sliding off his bones like molten wax.
But something felt wrong.
He was burning, yet he didn’t fall.
And the other two, Hercal and Antonio, remained motionless, watching impassively. Wouldn’t they react? Wouldn’t they try to help him?
Unless…
My eyes widened in disbelief.
A crimson skeleton emerged from the flames, walking towards me.
Its flesh had burned away, leaving only blackened bones wreathed in fire, dripping a foul-smelling liquid.
Yet, it continued to advance, its empty sockets fixed on me.
I tried to retreat, but the pain in my leg flared, the black tendril still embedded within it.
I tried to sever my leg, to escape, but it was too late.
His bony hand clamped around my throat, lifting me into the air.
His hand wasn’t hot.
He’d moved too fast, catching me off guard. I hadn’t even had time to resist.
I looked down, and the flames engulfing his body vanished. The dripping liquid stopped. The melted flesh reformed.
He looked exactly as he had before the explosion.
“H… cough… How…?”
“Hmm, how to explain… I simply… desire it.”
“…?”
“I desire a new life, new organs, new skin. I desire the flames that consumed me.”
He spoke casually, as if regenerating from immolation was the most natural thing in the world.
The pain, the fire—he’d simply absorbed it, desired it, made it part of himself.
It was inhuman.
“You… are you… human?”
“Of course! I am unequivocally human!”
“Cough… ugh…”
He released his grip, dropping me, and the black energy caught me, reforming into ropes, binding my limbs, tightening around my neck.
Greed approached slowly, observing me with detached curiosity.
“Hmm… you don’t look particularly special… Why would the Goddess choose this man…?”
“Don’t know… cough… you… bastard…”
“Such vulgar language. And so impolite.”
He finished his musings, and a sharp pain lanced through my abdomen.
Something cold and sharp pierced my flesh.
I looked down and saw a black tendril extending from his body, connected to my stomach.
It pulsed, injecting something into me.
“Well, the Goddess’s vessel must be purified.”
“Ah… Aaaaagh!!”
“Ah, don’t worry. It will simply consume all the impurities within you.”
Something was inside me. Multiple somethings.
My skin writhed, undulating, like something alien was moving beneath it.
And with each movement, agony ripped through me, as if giant ants were chewing on my nerves.
Pain. It was a familiar companion, yet never truly welcome.
I screamed, a raw, terrified sound.
I wanted to cut off my limbs, to escape this torment, but the black ropes held me fast.
Helpless, I could only endure, when something appeared before my eyes.
≪ ??? has invaded the user’s body. ≫
≪ User lacks knowledge of ???. ≫
≪ Analysis of ??? is impossible. ≫
≪ The “Sun” is expending karmic energy. ≫
≪ Temporarily providing user with information about ???. ≫
≪ Analyzing… ≫
≪ Analysis complete. 1 solution found. ≫
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