Saint's Death (Part 3)
Saint's Death (Part 3)
Hilda had never chosen anything for herself since the day she was born.
Abandoned by her parents, she grew up in the Heavenly God Religion's orphanage.
Having grown up in the Heavenly God Religion's orphanage, she had no choice but to walk the path of faith.
Though she had no particular belief in the Heavenly God, she possessed talent more suited to being a Saintess than anyone else.
People told her she must become the Saintess, and though Hilda never answered, she became the Saintess anyway.
She had never once been proud of becoming the Saintess.
Hilda had the ability to see through people's hearts.
People's hearts were mostly ugly.
Rather than feeling gratitude for having their illnesses and wounds healed, their desire to immediately touch the Saintess's soft skin was greater.
Many were filled with twisted desires to defile the noble Saintess's body.
Hilda herself wasn't a clean enough person to deserve the position of Saintess either.
She didn't want to lay her hands on the dirty bodies of poor people who couldn't even wash properly.
She didn't even want to look at patients with rotting skin because they disgusted her.
Hilda had always hated humans, and she included even herself among those humans.
She didn't want to follow the Heavenly God Religion's insistence that all life must be protected equally.
She wanted to cast off this false appearance of a Saintess.
《I must fulfill my duties as the Saintess until the day death comes for me.》
Yet from the moment she became the Saintess, she was trapped by an inexplicable sense of responsibility and couldn't escape.
For some reason, she couldn't stray from the path of faith, and had to play the role of Saintess every day while suppressing her own emotions.
Forcing herself to act in a way that didn't suit her felt like slowly gnawing away at her soul day by day.
Eventually, as her soul became tattered and worn, to the point where she was forgetting who her true self was...
She received another mission from the Heavenly God.
To meet a miserable death when attacked by the Demonkin, so that future Heroes would witness it and strengthen their resolve.
Hilda was simply overjoyed at finally being able to escape this false life.
Even if the Demonkin trampled and defiled the Saintess's pride and toyed with her, thinking this was her final mission made it bearable.
And so the prophesied moment of death arrived——
——Yet for some reason, Hilda ended up surviving.
* * *
After driving off the invading Demonkin, Pazurion's forces began preparing for a counterattack.
Meanwhile, the Saintess was having a private meeting with a mercenary in her room.
It was a mage named Melanie who had saved her when she was nearly killed by a succubus in the temple.
The Saintess hadn't thanked her, and even now had no intention of doing so.
"......You knew. That I was supposed to die there."
"......I don't know what you're talking about. Unlike you, Saintess-nim, I don't have the talent to hear the Heavenly God's words."
At Melanie's feigned ignorance, the Saintess gritted her teeth.
"Fine. Then I'll speak unilaterally. Dying as miserably as possible in that place was my final mission as the Saintess."
"......"
"I had to make those who would become Heroes strengthen their resolve through my death. They will take the Sacred Artifact and subjugate the Demon God Acedia."
This matched what Melanie remembered.
Originally, Lili, who chose a cleric class, was supposed to inherit the Saintess's will here and take the Sacred Artifact in her place.
"I believe that Hero is you. Saving me was an act that went against the Heavenly God's will."
"......It's strange that saving a person's life would go against the Heavenly God's will."
"Because through that sacrifice, more people could be saved."
"No matter how I think about it, the Saintess-nim surviving would save more people."
"Ha......!"
Hilda could feel it.
This woman clearly knew everything.
Whether she was chosen by the Heavenly God or something else, that much was certain.
Yet she chose to save the Saintess.
And now she was talking with disgusting pretense of knowing nothing, which made anger surge within her.
"Let's cut to the chase. You knew that I wanted to die."
"......"
Hilda didn't miss the slight tremble in Melanie's golden eyes.
"You knew I wanted to die! You knew that death would be my true salvation!"
"......Eht."
"And yet you saved me! Because of your personal desire not to see me die!"
"I know how difficult your life has been, Saintess-nim. But to let you suffer such a humiliating death..."
"I didn't care! Stop pretending not to know! If you truly cared about me, you should have let me die there! You clearly knew how suffocated I felt by the fact that I had to keep living!"
"Eht......!"
Finally, Melanie's expression crumbled under the Saintess's resentful scream.
She lowered her head to hide her dark expression and stood up from her seat.
"I didn't expect to be blamed with incomprehensible nonsense after going through the trouble of saving someone. You must be busy too, Saintess-nim, so I'll take my leave..."
"Where do you think......!"
The Saintess grabbed Melanie's arm and pushed her against the wall.
This time, seemingly truly displeased, Melanie narrowed her eyes and warned.
"Let go of me."
"......You, you too...... were one of the Chosen Ones by a god."
"......Eh?"
The Saintess was someone who could sense the connection between gods and humans more sensitively than anyone else.
The moment she made physical contact with Melanie, she could tell that she was connected to some god.
Hilda let out a hollow laugh.
"Ha, haha! Knowing better than anyone how painful it is to be toyed with by a god, you saved me on a whim?"
"......But I still think being alive is better. No matter how terrible, nothing is better than death."
"Ah...... Your god seems to enjoy tormenting you miserably too? Even now, they're watching while savoring your anguish."
Melanie felt as if Hilda's gaze was directed somewhere far away rather than at her.
Luxuria seemed uncomfortable, as if she didn't like the Saintess's eyes.
[This wench, it feels like she's looking right at me. Not a particularly pleasant sensation.]
"Your god has been targeting me from the beginning? To use me as a means to torment you?"
[How unpleasant...... Is she really looking at me?]
Hilda closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then looked at Melanie with a much more relaxed smile than moments before.
"Melanie. I cannot forgive you. I want to watch you suffer for the rest of my life for saving me. Since life has been nothing but pain for me, I want you to experience the same."
"Ugh......!"
The Saintess began choking Melanie's neck with one hand.
Compared to people like Lili or Pia who trained their bodies, her grip strength was much weaker.
Melanie raised her hands, ready to break free if the situation became dangerous.
"So I will accept...... this grace bestowed by your god."
"What are you talking about......?"
[......Ha.]
The Lust Demon curved the corners of her mouth as if amused.
[Melanie. I decided to follow your lead this time. That's why I didn't do anything to that wench. But that wench wanting me of her own accord is a different story.]
'Wh-what are you talking about?'
"Aahn!♥"
Suddenly, the Saintess's face flushed red and she let out a vulgar moan.
Hilda released Melanie, wrapped both hands around her own crotch, staggered back.
Seeing that familiar sight, Melanie felt as if a lead weight had been attached to her heart.
'I, I told you to stop doing this!'
[I just told you, didn't I? That wench wanted it herself. What kind of god would refuse a follower who wants to follow them?]
'B-but the Saintess already follows the Heavenly God......!'
[Right. Normally, I couldn't do that to another god's Chosen One. That means the Saintess has already been abandoned.]
'What......?!'
[The Saintess's usefulness to the Heavenly God ended here. What happens to her afterward doesn't matter. That wench's mind is already crumbling, so it wasn't difficult to exert my power.]
"Ah, aah......! My body is so hot......! I can't take it anymore......!"
Unable to endure the heat radiating from her body, Hilda began tearing off her clothes.
Parts that wouldn't come off properly were even ripped apart.
Throb♥
"This is......! This is the <Sacred Sword> bestowed by the god...... to execute my revenge......!"
From the body of the Saintess that should be sacred and pure, something that looked terribly evil stood erect.
It appeared crude and lumpy as if made by haphazardly mashing together meat, covered with squirming blood vessels that made it feel grotesque.
As if matching the Saintess's mission to spread life more widely and make it more beneficial, it pulsed with tremendous vitality, throbbing insistently.
Overjoyed at being freed from what had restrained her, Hilda shed tears from both eyes as she aimed the <Sacred Sword> at Melanie.
"D-damm......it!"
Once again, right before her eyes, another person had been twisted by the goddess's amusement.
The Demon God's follower, who was no longer a Saintess, sent a sticky gaze toward Melanie.
The desire filled in those eyes was so vivid that Melanie felt a tingle in her nether regions.
"Aah...... How to use this, how much pain and despair this can bring you......! It's coming to my mind......!"
"D-don't come closer! I won't just stand still and take this!"
While grimacing from the heart-wrenching pain, Melanie prepared to use a spell at any moment.
Seeing her on guard, Hilda tilted her head.
"Are you...... rejecting me? You of all people?"
"Eht......!"
"You forced me to live knowing I didn't want to live anymore, but will you just ignore my feelings and pretend not to know?"
[That's right. You have the responsibility to face that wench's feelings head-on. It's no different from you being the one who made her like this.]
'Shut up, shut up......!'
While cursing at Luxuria, Melanie eventually lowered both her hands.
The goddess and the Saintess were precisely targeting her vulnerable spots.
Approaching the now defenseless Melanie, Hilda pressed the <Sacred Sword> against her lower abdomen.♥
"Ah♡"
Feeling her womb vibrate, Melanie unconsciously shuddered and let out a melting voice.
Melanie tried hard to act as if nothing happened, but Hilda had no intention of letting her pretend ignorance any longer.
"I just felt it...... your sacred womb getting excited knowing there's a male nearby......♥"
"N-noo......♡"
"Then now, I shall carry out my revenge......♥"
"D-don't♡ Stoppp......!"