Holy War (2)
The Black Sun Church needed a powerful weapon to fulfill their ambitions—one that was organic, obedient, and utterly ferocious. Knowing full well their deeds were far from righteous, they hid it away meticulously, creating their own private hell in the process.
A pitch-black basement, victims gasping for life without end, and the stench of blood. They conducted unspeakable experiments that must never see the light of day, then cloaked their ugliness in piety.
The woman's unending hatred stemmed from that place.
Foul beast, today you shall be reborn under the name of the Black Sun.
How utterly laughable. It was their atrocities that had reduced her from human to beast, yet they hesitated not a moment to condemn her as such.
The woman lost all her memories and sense of self, reborn as a vampire of the Black Sun. After that, her recollections were of rotting flesh, blood, and the pure ecstasy that cleansed her mind. Madness, pain, and more blood, blood, and blood again.
Thirst. Someone, please quench this thirst. It hurts, ah.
There, a half-formed monster of a woman lingered. She had achieved the immortality all desired and wielded immense power—but it was endless madness.
Without someone's intervention, her life would have been as precarious as a toy in a child's hands.
...Pardon? That monster...? B-but, Lord God.
On the day Belladys found salvation, a red-haired woman and her god were there.
A vast plain stretched out, and a knight order clad in holy armament marched forward. Their eyes burned with unyielding resolve to sweep away the enemy.
They would show true justice to the ignorant fools who dared harm their Lord God.
Reason paralyzed by rage, they hesitated no longer. They would retrieve Him, even if it meant defying the world—even traversing beyond hell itself.
-Our Lord God is with us, and so is His prophet.
The faithful servants of the Father God pressed on. Their destination: the Black Sun Church's headquarters. The decision was final. Nothing could stop them now.
And at their center stood one who loved the Lord God more than any other and hated the Black Sun Church beyond measure.
Are you there?
Belladys Rozeria. The monster created by the Black Sun Church—a vampire. And now, the protagonist of this holy war, the most devoted servant of the Father God.
My love, my life, my everything.
Belladys's life had begun with His salvation, so it was only right that it be spent for Him until the very end.
We'll meet again soon.
Anything standing between her and His love would be swept away.
Her personal revenge was merely a bonus tacked onto her devotion to Him.
Her moonlit-pale skin gleamed even under the harsh sunlight, thanks to the Father God's blessing that overcame her kind's weakness. Her black hair was a rare hue, her signature trait. And those blood-red eyes holding crimson depths.
A beautiful woman, perfectly vampiric in form, wore a faint smile in anticipation of the coming massacre.
They had done what must never be done. She had tried to live forgetting personal grudges. Proving her love for Him came first.
But if they took Him from her? Then the story changed entirely.
Lady Belladys.
A priest approached her where she waited with her massive weapon.
Yes?
They're coming into view.
Beyond the endless horizon, remnants of the Black Sun revealed themselves. Hideous, repulsive symbols that stirred primal revulsion upon sight.
Belladys stepped down from the magic-engineered carriage, shielding her eyes from the blinding sun as she committed their faces to memory.
Behind her stood hundreds, thousands of soldiers—all holy warriors, her army, gathered to spread the Lord God's will.
Everyone.
Belladys spoke without waiting for a reply.
What do you see in 'those things'?
Incarnations of evil that should not exist in this world!
Demons! We must cast them into hell!
Angry voices erupted here and there. Belladys smiled faintly at their answers.
Yes, exactly. They're scoundrels who hid our Father God from us—worse than trash, utter filth.
Crimson Reaper
Mana surged from the ground in response to Belladys's will.
A grotesquely alien power slithered up her body like a serpent, broadcasting its presence around her. It was a cursed force born from her blood.
Today, they'll pay dearly for it.
May they regret and despair.
A surprise attack without declaration of war. Strike straight at the Black Sun headquarters, exploiting their chaos for maximum damage. It was Belladys's brutally merciless plan—the script for today's slaughter.
The overwhelming disparity in power backed it up. The Father God's forces now possessed the strength to erase a religion from the world.
They hadn't shown it only because of His will to avoid needless bloodshed.
But from today, the world would face their wrath.
'Just wait a little longer, my love.'
Belladys pictured that ecstatic moment in her mind and took a step forward.
...!
An enemy zealot's face twisted in horror. They scrambled to respond, but it was already too late—the moment they entered her domain, all was lost.
Look upon me.
Belladys prepared her massive weapon with mana, offering that life to her god.
The image of death manifested. Blood-red mana pulsed like a living thing, forging an overwhelming, gigantic reaper form.
The green-grass plain instantly drowned in dark crimson shadow. One of Belladys's signature attacks, striking a vast area in an instant.
Now, a single swing of her held weapon, and her mana would do the rest.
...?
Until the darkened field lit up again with unidentified radiance.
...What is that?
Enemy trickery!
Everyone! Form up the defensive line!
Dispel
A gentle cascade of light poured down like a mother's embrace.
It felt like magic meant to quell rage. Belladys refused to be swayed by such tricks and pressed her attack.
-Crunch!
The ground shattered beneath, creating a hair-trigger crisis.
However.
Belladys's reaper, poised to ravage the area, lost form in an instant and vanished.
...
Belladys stared in considerable shock.
My skill.
To interfere with another's mana required equal or superior power. To nullify her skill with such overwhelming dominance...
The Black Sun's preparations had exceeded Belladys's expectations.
But if one move failed, prepare the next. As the hateful vampire moved to cast another skill—
Belladys.
A man appeared before her.
No, Vera.
The pet name she had heard countless times slipped from his lips.
.....?
In that instant, time seemed to stop for Belladys—every action froze.
Possession. Consume some Faith Value to interact directly with a devotee. A legal, fanservice feature made for game players.
Of course, that didn't mean it unlocked full-on adult routes. We were gentlemen, after all—looking forward only to refined encounters.
'Gonna try this for real, huh.'
The system allowed it, but applying it to reality? That changed everything. How many reality checks would it take to adapt fully to this world?
I shoved the sudden wave of regret aside.
When I first set foot in this unfamiliar world, I felt a cool wind and fierce gusts battering my body.
...Gusts?
-Whoosh!!
Fuck.
I snapped to my senses mid freefall toward the ground. I'd never felt gravity's terror like this before.
The Possession I knew was a peaceful fan-meet with devotees. Why was I a human meteor hurtling to my doom?
Mercy pleeease...!
Wind choked my mouth, garbling my words. Limbs flailing wildly. Some unknown white sackcloth flapped around me.
Black specks dotted the distant ground—probably that situation from the map.
I couldn't splat in front of my devotees like some noob death.
So, I frantically manipulated the system for a fix.
And—
'Avatar of the Black Sun' is sniffling...
-Fwoosh!!
I quickly activated a skill and entrusted my body to the massive presence sprouting from my back.
Whoa...!
Wings, like those of an angel. Holy wings with softly glowing feathers emerged on either side, steadying my plummeting form.
With slowed descent and stable vision, I finally surveyed properly.
Oh man.
My holy knights—or so I assumed—were massed on the ground below. Marching with chest-thumping grandeur, ready to erase the Black Sun from existence.
If I didn't intervene, they'd steamroll clean through. It was my church's holy war, after all.
The battle was inevitably one-sided. By game lore, my church's combat power was top-tier now.
I ignored the message fretting over her church's potential wipeout.
Finally, I spotted who I'd been seeking.
...Wow.
There she was. A woman with long black hair, doll-like features.
Beautiful. Stupidly so.
'It's me, your Father God.'
The one she'd sought so desperately was here. All this chaos for me.
Her love weighed heavy.
To the dazed Belladys staring blankly, I called out first.
Belladys.
No, too distant.
Vera.
Her eyes sparked with life at my gentle tone.
Who the hell are you playing at?
Pardon?
Guess I got it wrong.