Chapter 44
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 44
Chapter Title: Death to the Fake Archbishop - 4
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Eyes.
...
My... eyes?
"Yes?"
I blankly echoed him. Luca pinched my eyelids open with his thumb and index finger, then tapped the flipped-back lid with his middle finger.
"Yeah. Eyes."
"Why... why of all things..."
"You and Bobby have similar builds. If there was a volunteer, it wouldn't matter..."
He looked up, and I followed his gaze to the priests surrounding us. They trembled violently, averting their eyes, not saying a word.
"Doesn't look like there is. What's your name?"
"Yes?"
"Vanessa. Do you know this guy's name?"
Unable to answer, I stayed silent as Luca called out to the woman stacking chairs by the door. She turned toward us and chuckled dryly.
"Yes? Ah... hahaha. Yeah, I know him. Name's Creighton, I think. The bastard who raped young boys. Remember Jake? This pig's the one who killed his brother."
Her tone was light, but it carried unmistakable hostility. Luca nodded slowly, staring at my eyes.
"Not as many as Bobby, but plenty of sins for you too, Creighton. How about treating this as a chance to dig them out yourself? Might hurt less that way."
The fingers holding my eyelids tightened gradually. Cold air brushed my eyeball, the stinging growing unbearable. It felt like my eye was rotting away bit by bit. I couldn't see it, but it was probably bright red and bloodshot by now.
Suddenly, a realization flashed through my mind. Right, damn it. The mob outside might not know my eye color, but Luca probably did. Keeping his attention on my eyes like this was dangerous.
Even if he didn't, he'd surely remember my voice. If I kept refusing, the conversation would drag on, and eventually, he'd realize I was Bobby. If that happened, I'd end up just like that pig bastard...
...
Yeah. I had to give up what I had to give up. With things this far gone, I couldn't preserve everything intact.
Truth be told, compared to my life, one eyeball was... something I could sacrifice. And now that I knew the method, I could just take one from another priest or follower later.
"A... alright! I'll do it. I will."
I finally nodded, and Luca withdrew his hand. Feeling the cold, gritty texture of my eyeball beneath my eyelid, I let out a sigh of relief.
No, this wasn't the time for relief.
"Need a knife?"
Luca's low voice echoed. His innocent question even carried a hint of kindness.
"Well..."
"I'll pull it out. I'm the expert here..."
As I hesitated to respond, one of the priests stepped forward. But Luca indifferently shook his head.
"No. I said I'd give you a chance to dig out your own sins. Now that it's come to this, you should do it yourself. Right, Creighton?"
He stared straight at me. I wanted to argue, but exposing my voice further wouldn't help. Silently, I just nodded.
And slowly, I raised my finger.
My blunt nail caught the edge of my iris, and my eye kept trying to close involuntarily. It was the first time my own hand felt this terrifying. I had to gouge out my own eyeball with it.
I looked up at Luca. He watched me with an impassive expression. He still hadn't realized I was Bobby.
If he did catch on, I'd end up collapsed on the floor, screaming like that pig.
Yeah. This was a minor sacrifice.
To survive, I had no choice.
I chanted that to myself. Then, taking a deep breath, I recited the prayer in a trembling voice.
"Wanderer in the bloodied darkness. I... bestow upon you... the miracle of enlightenment."
"Goddess. Permit your foolish son to perform a miracle. Daring to borrow your... your name to bestow mercy, forgive this."
"To prove your will illuminates the world, I perform this miracle. By your will, to this sick and pitiful child... this eye... I... off... offer..."
⟨ Prayer of the Ennesic Miracle ⟩
The prayer I hadn't recited once in decades of church life kept slipping off my tongue. It felt like it wasn't my place to say it, my tongue rebelling against the words.
I deliberately chanted it very slowly. Even though it wouldn't change the future awaiting me.
My hand was drenched in sweat by now. I still couldn't believe this was real.
But I had to do it now.
"Ugh... uuu..."
My thick finger inched toward my small eye. For some reason, my fingers looked especially grotesque and huge today.
"Huu... huu..."
Just one moment. Just get through this instant, and somehow it'd be okay. The mob outside would scatter soon, and Luca would leave with that fake Bobby. Then I just had to wait for Leo.
I repeated that to myself over and over as my eyelid peeled open and my finger wedged into the gap. In a situation like this, hope was what kept me conscious.
But the instant my finger touched the fragile surface of my eye, it all became meaningless.
"Kyaaaaaaa!"
Forgetting I had to stay quiet, I shrieked at the top of my lungs. I'd tried to avoid my nail, but its edge still scraped the upper part of my eyeball, sticky fluid oozing out in streams.
"Haa... auuuu! Aaaaa!"
But I couldn't stop. If I couldn't quit, better to end it fast. Even as my gripped eyeball sloshed like it might burst, and every nerve connected to it sizzled, sending creepy snaps through my brain, I didn't stop.
"Krgh..."
Then came an unfamiliar woman's mocking laughter. It grated on my ears. Yeah, hilarious. Some fat pig struggling to gouge out his own eye. But I had to survive like this.
Because in the end, I'd win. The final victor would be me!
"Aaaaaaaa!"
I kept pulling at my eyeball. The nerves still connected to it vividly projected the last scene: sweaty fingers, reddening vision, a thick veil of blood. Primal fear screamed at me to stop like a maniac. But I had to. Almost there. Just a little more... just a little more...!
"Uu... uu...!"
"Taking too long."
"...Huh?"
Luca's cold voice snapped me back to reason. For a brief moment, I forgot the pain and looked up.
The next instant, Luca seized the hand that was pulling out my eyeball and yanked both my eye and wrist free.
"Uwaaaaaaaa!"
"Ah, oops."
Pain exploded from an unexpected spot, my brain going white-hot as every nerve in my body screamed. My wrist had torn free unstably, veins and nerves still dangling connected. Luca pondered for a moment, then slowly tugged them. Each time a strand between my body and wrist snapped, I wept and thrashed wildly.
"My mistake. I was just trying to help."
"Uu! Fuck! Fuuuuck!"
For the first time since joining the church, vulgar curses spilled out. His casual tone, like it was a minor slip-up, ignited pure hatred.
"But compared to your sins, this is a small price. I'll pray the Goddess forgives you."
For a moment, it felt like I'd heard that tone in a similar situation before. But I quickly shoved the thought away. Anyway, it was over now. Luca would waste the remaining time tormenting that fake pig.
"Huu... uuuu...!"
Yet the pain lingered. From my socket, my wrist, and all connected areas, hot blood boiled with a nauseating metallic stench. If only I could faint. But that damn Ennesic Goddess's blessing wouldn't even let me do that.
Fuck. Useless goddess bitch. Worthless at the crucial moments.
"Ugh... uu..."
"I... I'll handle the rest. Just need to insert it now..."
Thankfully, a sharp one stepped up. Not total trash after all. Slightly relieved, I lowered my head and caught my reflection in the thick pool of blood on the floor.
...
Pig.
A pig being slaughtered.
That was the phrase that came to mind.
But it wasn't me, and I'd soon regain my original form. So I erased the image from my head and replaced it with a sneer. Enjoy it while you can, Luca. My time was coming soon.
"Uh... huh?"
Then the guy who'd volunteered to continue the "surgery" in my place sounded panicked. What now? I slowly raised my head.
And witnessed my crushed eyeball in his hand.
"What."
"It... the eye... just burst on its own..."
"What... the fuck?"
I snarled the curse without thinking. Realizing my mistake, I hurriedly glanced at Luca, but he was looking elsewhere.
"Damn, what a nasty bastard."
A sneering voice came from the direction he faced. There was the woman who'd arrived with Luca earlier. She'd discarded her fake leg and was using her spear as a crutch. Now she squatted in front of me and tapped my cheek.
"Looks like the prayer didn't go through. Weird. For such a noble act, the Goddess rejects it? You must be exceptionally vile."
Her scarred hand patted my plump cheek, sending ripples through the flesh. I stared blankly at her single eye.
"What're you staring at, you eyeball freak? Oh, right, I'm a freak too. But even freaks have ranks, got it?"
"These things happen sometimes, Vanessa?"
"Yeah. Never happened to me, though. I've killed plenty of people too. Guess from the Goddess's view, this guy's even worse."
Her grinning smile felt genuine, but the unblinking hatred in her eyes was unmistakable. Unable to meet that gaze, I looked away, only for Luca's words to fall next.
"No helping it. Gotta pull the other one."
"Yes...?"
Forgetting to hide my eyes and voice, I stared at him blankly. Luca approached again, lowering his head. He gripped my hair hard with one hand.
"Don't worry. I'll pull this one. Just memorize that chant or whatever."
"Huh? Th... Aaaaa!"
He unhesitatingly raised his hand toward my eye. Not just the eyeball—he gripped the surrounding bone and tried to rip out the whole socket. The moment his fingers touched, bones crunched with a sickening crack, and I screamed desperately.
"N... no! No! I'll do it! Me!"
"Any reason I should let you?"
"Well, none really. I'm a hack specialist; I know the drill. Just chant the spell and pull."
The bitch interjected snarkily from the side again. I dropped to my knees, clutching Luca's hand and begging pathetically.
"No! Please! Please let me do it! I don't want to dirty your hands with this filthy sinner's blood. Let me, Luca!"
The final plea burst out before I could even feel the humiliation. Luca tilted his head at my words, then spoke slowly.
"You want to do it yourself that badly?"
"Yes. Please let me pull it..."
"You want to gouge out your own eye that much?"
"Yes. Yes, Luca. Please... please let me..."
His fingers still hovered before my eye, so I begged and begged. Back in the party days, I'd deliberately used no honorifics with Luca. I'd called the much-younger Sera "Miss Sera," and even Eli—who was useless baggage before her truth came out—"Miss Eli," every time. But not Luca. Just a country bumpkin. Someone I could ignore.
But...
...
Now wasn't the time to care about that.
"Fine."
Luca nodded and withdrew his hand. Then he added one more thing.
"I'll allow it."
"Yes..."
My head drooped automatically. A sigh of relief escaped. In that instant, feelings of hatred and rage faded away.
Pathetically, I felt grateful.
"Goddamn it..."
Another curse slipped out. But I comforted myself again. Just get through this one more time. Just this... just this one, and it'd be okay.
...
Just this one. I'd make it through, right?
Suddenly, it sounded like a woman's shrill laughter echoed. That bitch again? I turned, but she stared back with a cold, hardened expression. Hallucination? But the laughter rang in my ears again.
...Krgh... ahaha...
Freak.
Freak.
Freak.
The voice wouldn't stop. It echoed relentlessly in my ears.
As if hinting that the suffering I would endure was only just beginning.