76
Chapter 76
Dominic stood paralyzed, utterly overwhelmed as he stared blankly at the man before him.
In truth, it would have been stranger if he hadn't been.
An aura so overwhelming it could be felt from a distance.
A boundless divine power. Sensing this, Dominic rationalized the situation.
An anomaly must have occurred during some sort of experiment. It was obvious that something had gone wrong with the Holy Relic, causing it to run amok.
That was most likely the reason they had lost contact with Cardinal Karon and the others at the Great Temple.
However, that assumption was wrong.
That energy wasn't the result of a rampaging Holy Relic or a side effect of a failed experiment.
It was simply the aura exuding from a single man.
That alone was astonishing enough, but what truly left him rattled wasn't just the sheer pressure.
'That is...'
The grand and beautiful Great Temple.
A sacred space where hymns praising the gods should have been ringing out.
Yet right now, only a horrifying, icy silence lingered within.
The metallic stench of blood hung heavy in the air.
Through the open doors, the blood-soaked interior of the Great Temple was visible.
It was a gruesome scene, drenched in so much blood and gore that its original form was completely unrecognizable.
Combined with the fact that no one had been able to reach Cardinal Karon since yesterday...
It was glaringly obvious what had transpired here.
'Did they really all die?'
A genius among geniuses.
Cardinal Karon, hailed as the human most beloved by the gods, along with the outstanding and devout clergy who supported him.
They were all dead.
And in an entirely one-sided manner, no less.
Most likely... by this man's hands.
White hair and blue eyes.
Dominic stared once more at the man, who was holding a blood-drenched girl in his arms for some unknown reason.
His legs were still trembling violently. If he let up even slightly, his knees would give out and he would crash to the floor.
The sheer gap in their strength was palpable.
The man hadn't even done anything. He was merely staring at them impassively.
Yet, that alone was enough to make his mind go blank.
This was even more terrifying precisely because Dominic was an exceptionally skilled individual himself.
It would have been slightly better if an ordinary priest stood here instead of a Cardinal of the Holy See.
Reading an opponent's aura and gauging their strength was a skill only achievable by those who had reached a certain level.
Clergy with lesser training probably wouldn't have felt anything from the man before him.
But Dominic was different.
The senses he had honed through rigorous training, the ability to keenly feel divine power—these very things tormented him further.
However... Dominic desperately clung to his sanity.
If his spirit were fragile enough to break from something like this, an orphan with no backing would never have risen to the position of Cardinal in the Holy See in the first place.
He shut down his senses as much as possible.
To avoid being overwhelmed by the power radiating from his opponent.
Just what kind of twisted aura was this?
Even now, after blocking his senses, he still hadn't completely escaped its influence...
Dominic somehow managed to open his mouth and question the entity before him.
"W-Who exactly are you?"
It was an incredibly bizarre question.
The man before him was clearly the perpetrator of a gruesome massacre. He was undoubtedly the one responsible for creating that horrific scene.
Yet, Dominic couldn't bring himself to question the man aggressively.
Because the aura emanating from the man before him was incredibly divine.
That was also the reason Dominic had been unable to process this situation from the start.
If the energy he felt from the man had been purely evil, there wouldn't have been any need to hesitate.
An insurmountable gap in power. Even if it was certain he would lose his life the moment a fight broke out.
He had sworn an oath to the God of Light. He had pledged to sacrifice his very body to carry out His will.
So he would simply sacrifice his body to subdue the demon.
But the being before him didn't seem like a demon. A demon could never exude such a sacred aura.
Deep blue eyes stared back at him. The man then opened his mouth and answered Dominic's question.
"Something like that... you probably know better than I do."
It was an even more bizarre answer than Dominic's question.
Words that seemed to answer a question with a question.
A strange remark implying that they already knew who he was.
But why?
A cold sweat ran down Dominic's back.
The reason was quite simple.
A single hypothesis had popped into his mind.
An absolutely absurd and preposterous hypothesis.
It was completely unrealistic.
Something like that could never actually happen.
Even as he denied it in his mind, the thought refused to fade away.
No, if anything, it only grew clearer.
That divine power.
That untouchable presence.
What they implied was glaringly obvious.
There was only one possibility that could explain all of this.
Dominic's face was painted with sheer terror. Yet, completely indifferent to his shock, 'He' continued to speak.
"I have always been watching over you."
He slowly walked toward Dominic.
"I have been watching your ugly deeds as well."
He said as he approached.
He stated that He had been watching all their foul behavior.
That He had witnessed the horrific sins they had committed with His own two eyes.
Only then did Dominic finally understand everything.
[What does the Holy See exist for, if not to fulfill the will of God?]
The corrupt reality of the Holy See.
The video showing the Holy See's obsession with increasing its own wealth rather than following the teachings of God.
Until now, Dominic had simply considered it to be the criticism of the Leader of Black Fang.
He had dismissed it as the thoughtless ramblings of the Leader of some strange, unidentified organization.
However... that had been a terribly mistaken assumption.
That was the voice of God.
Sinners who had sworn to dedicate their very bodies to carrying out the will of God, yet failed to uphold that vow.
It was a direct warning from God to the Holy See.
A brilliant radiance poured forth.
Pure white wings unfurled behind Him.
Two pairs of wings radiating a beautiful light.
Naturally, his mind began to grow hazy.
Faced with the overwhelming presence of the being right before his eyes, it felt as though he would lose consciousness at any second.
Revealing His true form to the world, He personally made a declaration.
"I have come to judge you."
That He had come to this place to make the sinners pay for their crimes.
That He had come to this place to punish the Apostates.
Tears streamed down Dominic's face as he simply bowed his head before Him.
He had no other choice.
Not only would excuses never work, but a sinner who had invoked God's name in vain had no right to offer one.
He could only feel endless regret.
For his own foolishness.
For his disgusting self, who had declared he would sacrifice his very body for God, only to fail to uphold that vow.
"You... have always been watching over us. You have truly been watching us. And yet we..."
Too many sins had been committed. Acts that should never have been carried out in God's name had been committed.
Yet all the while, they had whined inwardly.
Complaining that perhaps God had abandoned them. That no matter how much they prayed, no answer ever came.
But the answer had been there all along.
He had spoken.
Saying that they no longer enacted His will, and were nothing more than a gathering of Unbelievers.
It wasn't that God had failed to answer.
It was that they had ignored God's answer.
Corruption is unavoidable. We will search for a solution even now.
They had turned a blind eye with such excuses, completely dismissing His will.
Some had even gone so far as to insult Him, labeling Him an evil Heretic who was mocking the Holy See's authority with false claims.
That video.
The declaration contained within it had been the final mercy personally bestowed by God.
It was their final chance to let go of everything and repent for their sins, yet they had thrown it away with their own hands.
How could they call themselves Clergy after all that?
How could they possibly claim to be Clergy after committing such grave sins?
Dominic looked up at His figure once again.
He looked at the Black Saint.
In this situation, there was only one thing left for Dominic to say.
"We have committed an unforgivable sin. We have committed a crime that cannot be pardoned, nor should it ever be."
Those who were meant to carry out God's will had ignored His words. They were no longer Clergy.
They were nothing but Apostates, Heretics, and sinners.
Therefore, they had no right to beg for forgiveness.
"Whatever punishment You inflict, we will gladly accept it. Even if You command us to forfeit our lives, we will willingly comply."
Dominic fell to his knees before Him.
"Please, bestow the appropriate punishment upon the sinners who have defiled Your name."