Chapter 166
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: The Supreme Love of the Gods
"Kair-nim..."
Armis called my name.
She gazed at me with quiet eyes, transparent beyond any worldly purity.
'The kids got lucky.'
I'd planned to teach them the fear of life today, down to their bones, but Armis had stepped in front of me with the heart of an angel.
"Heh heh. Thank the gods you serve. Tell them you're truly grateful they spared you a visit from me today."
I withdrew my mana, a sinister smile curling my lips.
With Armis, the mistress of the temple, stepping forward, I could no longer express my rage.
Armis was a woman more than worthy of my respect.
"Thank you, Kair-nim."
Armis bowed her head in gratitude toward me, who had reined in my anger for her sake.
In response to the greeting of a woman pure as spring blossoms, I bowed my head as well.
"Ah, Armis apprentice priestess! Do you dare act like this without the High Priest's permission? As a mere apprentice priestess, staining Lord Neruan's holy name, leaving the temple without a priest's approval, and causing discord that will anger the gods!"
'Son of a bitch!'
This is why you have to crush them thoroughly when you step on them.
I'd only half-scared this priest of Neruan, who couldn't grasp his own situation, and now he was pointing and spewing abuse at Armis.
"This inadequate servant offers apologies to the High Priest serving Lord Neruan and to all the priests gathered here. Please forgive me with your boundless mercy."
Armis, angelic in her kindness, showed no end to it.
Not just to the priest hurling abuse at her, but to all the priests, she bowed her head like a sinner.
'Ah, damn it!'
Seeing the woman I loved bow her head, sparks flew from my eyes.
How dare these scum accept her apology?
They should be repenting their own sins of exploiting the gods for greed and kneeling, yet they stood tall receiving Armis's bow.
The cowed expressions they'd shown me moments ago were already turning arrogant.
From my polite demeanor toward Armis, they seemed to sense I wouldn't act rashly in her presence.
"Armis apprentice priestess. I am Amorrent, priest of the Goddess of Fate, Para'an. In the church, I serve as the head of the Heresy Inquisition."
Amorrent, the priest of Para'an who had lifted his head, called out to Armis in a stern voice, announcing his presence.
"If you have words for me, speak them, Priest Amorrent."
Rather than calling himself a humble servant, Amorrent used the authoritative term "priest," putting himself above.
Avoiding my gaze, he opened his mouth to Armis.
"I've heard that Armis apprentice priestess has received Lord Neruan's grace and possesses remarkable holy power."
Amorrent emphasized "apprentice priestess" deliberately.
"However, I do not believe that great holy power guarantees faithful devotion to the god or its lasting endurance. Historically, there have been cases where untrained apprentice priestesses or believers without formal church qualifications received divine grace and performed miracles, but it never lasted. They abused the grace, defiling the god's name, and ended up as slaves to evil spirits, living wretched lives—plenty of them."
Amorrent continued in a lecturing tone, his intent clear.
I stared incredulously at his mouth.
"That is why the church was established, doctrines and rules created, and High Priests—called the gods' most faithful servants—and various priests educate and oversee apprentice priestesses and believers to prevent abuse of divine grace. Surely even you, Armis apprentice priestess, know this much."
Armis listened silently to Amorrent's words.
She attended with deep, inscrutable eyes.
"Do not sin further. Do not abuse Lord Neruan's grace without the High Priest's or other priests' consent. Return to the church. Receive more education and guidance from priests of great virtue and faith. Do so, and I will clear the suspicions of heresy judgment hanging over Neruman and Lord Kair. I promise in the name of the Goddess of Fate, Para'an."
His words sounded reasonable, but they were utter nonsense spilling from Amorrent's mouth.
"Do so. How dare a mere apprentice priestess defy the High Priest and high-ranking priests? This is a matter of basic qualification as a priest serving Lord Neruan."
"If Armis apprentice priestess repents her sins now and returns to the church, as Priest Amorrent says, we will remove the heresy suspicions over Neruman and Lord Kair."
"Ahem. If she repents and returns... I will petition the High Priest to forgive Armis apprentice priestess's sins."
Beating drums and gongs, putting on a show among themselves.
'Bastards talking shit.'
Rage surged to my throat.
I wanted to smack their faces and yank out every last tooth.
From what I could see, their holy power was a pittance, yet they strutted around just because they wore the priest badge.
Scum like them could never match Armis's holy power in ten lifetimes, yet they tried to judge her by the church's outdated laws and standards.
"I will engrave the words of all you priests deep in my heart."
'Huh?'
Armis humbly declared she would take the priests' babble to heart.
Unease washed over me.
If Armis returned to the church in this moment to clear my false charges, my life wouldn't be worth living.
Conversely, the pigs smiled contentedly as Armis bowed, saying she would engrave their words.
"However, I cannot leave this place."
Armis's clear voice quietly filled the temple.
"W-what do you mean? Were the words you just said you'd engrave a mockery of us!"
"Hmph! As expected."
"Armis apprentice priestess!"
The pig priests bellowed in rage at Armis's small but resolute voice.
"I have no words to say to you priests and the High Priest serving Lord Neruan, even if I had ten mouths. Yet I cannot leave this place."
Armis repeated firmly, her voice full of regret.
"If I leave, the many people of Neruman who have relied solely on me will grieve. I have already vowed to them—those who trust this inadequate servant and rely on Lord Neruan—to devote all I have. For me to abandon the people would be no different from parents forsaking their young children for a distant road."
"Stop spouting arrogant nonsense! A mere apprentice priestess daring to act as Lord Neruan's mediator and lead the people? In my life, I've never heard such blasphemy!"
"Her soul already seems tainted with evil. How can a mere apprentice priestess harbor such delusions...?"
"We must investigate the source of her holy power."
The priests flew into a fury at Armis's words.
Drip.
Then I saw it.
Though she explained with pure sincerity, devoid of any ill intent, Armis's eyes welled with sad tears toward the priests who unhesitatingly called her soul arrogant and wicked.
Snap.
The thread of reason holding my restraint snapped.
"Heh heh heh..."
A cold smile crept across my lips.
Whiiiiiing.
The mana dormant in my manhole surged with my furious will, instantly dominating the space.
"Gasp!"
"..."
The mana, infused with my intent, had turned razor-sharp.
The priests let out short screams at the murderous mana and looked at me.
The moment their eyes met mine, they shuddered violently, plunging into terror.
"To dare... make tears flow from Armis's eyes. You've given up your lives today."
Step by step.
I slowly advanced toward the priests.
Stumble back.
Terrified, they retreated as I approached.
It seemed realization had finally dawned.
That though this was a temple, it stood in Neruman territory—my land.
"Ka... Kair-nim."
As I neared the priests, Armis's moist voice grabbed me again.
"Armis, do not stop me. Reason cannot reach these fools blind with greed, deaf to arrogance, ignorant of the gods' true will!"
I feared no temple.
Nor the Heresy Inquisition.
Even a god who stood by while watching Neruman was no god I could trust.
If true gods existed, they would surely see the sincere hearts of me and Neruman's people over the oily priests' prattle.
"Please don't. I do not wish for you to sin, Kair-nim. They too are children receiving the merciful god Neruan's attention and love. To shed blood in Lord Neruan's holy temple against such children—how grieved would Lord Neruan be? Kair-nim, quell your anger. Step back one foot, and all this will be nothing."
Amid such humiliation, Armis preached the unconditional love of the goddess of mercy, Neruan.
If Armis was not a saintess, who could bear that title?
"I, an inadequate servant of Lord Neruan, dare offer one word to you priests."
Armis, calming me, turned to the priests.
"I have not learned much, so I know little of the temple's teachings and rules. Thus, the points you priests have raised, I will carry in my heart until death, repenting and atoning."
Armis's refined voice resonated softly.
'Gah!'
The moment the dignified Armis said she would offer a word.
'Holy Spirit's Aura!'
The sacred divine halo that appears to priests when a god's will descends.
A transparent, holy radiance, distinct from mana, began at Armis's head and slowly spread in a circle over her entire body.
".....!!!"
The priests' eyes widened in shock at the Holy Spirit's Aura.
No matter how arrogant or desire-blinded, they would know.
That Lord Neruan had descended upon Armis's body, where the Holy Spirit's Aura swirled.
"Gods are called gods because all is clear to them. To foolish sheep chasing the shapes in their hearts, living in myriad vain thoughts a day, the gods say: Examine your heart's true form. The one who knows it truly knows the gods' will."
Armis defined the gods: called gods because all is clear to them.
"You priests, open your eyes. Do you not know what the gods who truly love you desire? The pitiful souls kneeling and praying before you to see the gods' form—they are your own reflections, and at once the gods' descent. Are not the people manifesting in countless forms to awaken us the true essence of the gods we must serve? Thus, this inadequate servant must remain here. Not for Lord Neruan residing in this grand temple, but for the god who manifested as suffering, ailing humans to lead me to enlightenment—I must stay. I must offer my utmost reverence to all gods appearing in the world, repenting that I cannot manifest as holily as They."
'Mmm...'
A truth about the gods even I hadn't fathomed.
My chest reverberated heavily.
The gods' sacred love and sacrifice, incarnating as humans to guide all to enlightenment.
Though I did not truly serve the gods, I felt I understood that love.
"I repent. Before you priests, this inadequate servant of the gods bows and offers sincere atonement."
Rustle.
With her words, Armis knelt before the priests, shedding hot tears.
Whooooosh.
Suddenly, a blinding radiance enveloped Armis, too dazzling to behold.
The Holy Spirit's Aura spread like mist, swirling throughout the temple.
"Oooh... Lord God..."
"Urk..."
"Forgive us inadequate ones."
Rumble.
One by one, the priests knelt.
They knelt before Armis, who wept tears of repentance toward them.
Hot tears now flowed from their eyes as well.
Holy Spirit Inspiration.
The supreme divine grace, unattainable without the god's presence.
Among those crying repentance, some might not even realize why they spoke such words or knelt.
A moment of absolute divine compulsion to repent.
"Sob sob sob..."
"We repent, we repent!"
"Ughhh..."
The priests soaked the floor with tears, wailing.
My chest ached poignantly.
Though not striking me like them, I felt the gods' love sufficiently.
'Truly magnificent!'
I turned to gaze at Lord Neruan's sacred vessel, presiding over it all.
The gods' sunlight policy melted in an instant the corrupt hearts of priests I couldn't subdue by force.
I could not help but revere it.
And give thanks.
For the waves of grace pouring fervently into Neruman through my beloved Armis.
'I'll repay it double.'
My promise to the god was this alone.
With interest added to what You gave, I would make Neruman a paradise breathing true divine love.
That must be the gods' utmost love for humanity, achieved through me.