Chapter 70
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Holy Kingdom (14)
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'...Yujin.'
She gazed at Yujin's back as he stood alone atop this chilling world. This world was none other than Yujin's inner realm.
It was a place far too horrific for any one person to harbor, brimming with the grudges of the dead. It was certainly a sight enough to inspire fear of Yujin...
But she felt no such emotion.
Instead, she felt gratitude.
'Saved again.'
Saved.
Saved again.
...
This was the third time now, wasn't it?
The first was during the hunt when the Fenrir appeared.
The second was when the Northern Grand Duke tried to secretly drug her.
And the third...
Was today.
'If I'd been kidnapped just like that, what would have happened to me?'
She didn't even want to imagine it.
But if she forced herself to, perhaps she would have ended up subjected to horrific experiments like the ones she'd seen in that underground lab. The cultists had been after a high-ranking cleric full of holy power as a test subject, after all.
Or maybe she would have been passed around and violated by those lecherous cultists who had leered down at her.
It might sound brazen, but her beauty was certainly among the top in the Empire—no, the entire continent. So it wasn't impossible that the cultists, unable to contain their lust, would have ravaged her like beasts.
'...Horrible.'
Just imagining it made nausea rise in her throat.
She felt like she might vomit.
An illusion swept over her, as if bugs were crawling all over her body. But looking at Yujin's back reassured her that nothing like that would happen.
Thump—
For a moment, her heart pounded.
Why was it pounding?
Relief at surviving?
'...Yujin?'
Thump—
Thump—
'...Ah.'
None of that was it. It was Yujin.
Could it be that she was developing feelings for him now, of all times?
'...Me, for Yujin?'
...
No way.
It couldn't be.
She was nothing but a troublesome woman who had inflicted deep wounds on him. To develop feelings for him now?
'...Pathetic.'
Her face twisted with self-loathing.
How could she even think of doing that now? If that was the case, she never should have broken off the engagement.
She shouldn't have turned her back on him.
She shouldn't have immaturely held him back.
'Stop, please stop.'
She wished this pounding would just cease.
But against her wishes, her heart continued to thump pleasantly. Heat rose to her face, and her mind filled with thoughts of him.
Ironically, this pleasant pounding felt utterly repulsive.
It was an emotion a sinner like her had no right to feel.
...
It was a taboo.
The situation was over.
Shing—
He sheathed his sword and approached Lust, whose head had been severed. Beside her lay Greed's corpse, unrecognizable in form.
Wriggle—
As he drew near, her headless body writhed as if searching for its missing head.
He roughly stomped on Lust's body.
Squish...
Soon, Lust's body went limp and crumbled into dust, just like Jane or Greed had done before his eyes, vanishing elsewhere.
"...?"
He instinctively looked to where Lust's head should have been rolling on the ground.
Their eyes met for a moment.
He realized it immediately. Unlike Greed, Lust wasn't fully dead.
How she had survived didn't matter.
Whether the one he'd just fought was a clone, or her regeneration had kept her going until now.
What truly mattered was that Lust was still faintly alive, and if she managed to escape like this, she might recover her body.
'...!'
He quickly drew his sword again.
But,
Kwach—!
Before he could, a wolf's jaws erupted from the ground and devoured Lust's head even faster.
The wolf chewed a few times before bursting with a 'pop—'.
Amid a puff of white smoke, Yuseol appeared, black blood staining her mouth.
"Hehe."
"......"
Yuseol let out a small burp, then blushed as if embarrassed. She fidgeted with her hands and turned her head slightly.
"D-don't look, Master. It's embarrassing..."
"...?"
Wait, more importantly, what did she just eat?
...Lust?
...
No way...
'...For real?'
Eating something like that could cause serious problems.
Her sudden impulsive act gave him a headache.
Yujin lightly scolded Yuseol right there. He told her not to just gobble up random things—what if something bad happened?
And what she'd eaten wasn't some junk food; it was Lust's head, on the level of radioactive waste.
It was only right to scold her for eating it recklessly when who knew what consequences it might bring. If anything happened to Yuseol...
...
He hoped nothing would.
Please.
"...Haa."
Anyway, she seemed fine for now... but he'd have to take her to a mage later to check. Even if she looked okay, you never knew.
"Hic... Sorry, Master..."
"...It's fine."
He felt Sena and the Captain of the First Holy Knight Order watching the scene curiously from behind.
Finally, he let out a small sigh, gently pulled Yuseol into a hug, and stroked her head.
He could feel her sad trembling gradually subside.
"Hehe..."
"...Go inside for now."
"Okay, Master."
As she entered the shadow, Sena and the Holy Knight Captain approached.
"That wolf just now—no, that girl—who is..."
"Something like that."
The Holy Knight Captain shut his mouth. He had the tact not to pry further when his lifesaver Yujin clearly didn't want to explain.
"Let's head out and rendezvous with His Holiness the Pope first."
"I-is His Holiness alright?"
The Holy Knight Captain flinched at Lua's name. He seemed to know something about Lua's condition.
Of course, he probably didn't know yet that Lua had recovered and been fully freed after absorbing the Knight of Dominion.
"Yeah. He's perfectly fine, so hurry and meet up with His Holiness to sort things out."
"......! Yes!"
Yujin's group rendezvoused with Lua.
The Captain of the First Holy Knight Order knelt before Lua.
"Your Holiness! Are you safe?!"
"...It's the Captain."
"Yes! We nearly died facing two of the Seven Deadly Sins Seats, but fortunately, Duke Banus intervened at the perfect moment and saved our lives!"
"That's fortunate."
Lua expressed his gratitude to Yujin.
Yujin nodded roughly.
Such thanks could wait until later.
"Your Holiness. More importantly, is the situation under control?"
"Indeed, Duke Banus."
Cardinal Heinkel answered in Lua's place.
"Thanks to Your Holiness intervening in time, all the Holy Knights who had been divided and fighting each other regained their senses. Afterward, we eliminated all the heretics and the cultists who dared set foot in this holy place."
"All of them... What about Cardinal Rozan, then?"
"We haven't captured the heretic Rozan yet, O Chosen One."
Lua shook his head and pressed close to Yujin's side. All eyes turned to them for a moment, but everyone soon dismissed it as nothing significant.
"We can't pinpoint her location?"
Had she escaped? If so, things might get a bit messy.
Even rotten, she was still a cardinal.
If she escaped and became a full cultist, it would be a huge blow to the Holy Kingdom's face. The rebellion had already happened and couldn't be undone, but they needed to handle the aftermath well to avoid being scorned internationally.
Fortunately, Lua shook his head firmly.
"Not at all. We've confirmed the heretic Rozan is currently in the slums."
"The slums?"
...Why there? If she was fleeing, she should have gotten out of the holy city as fast as possible.
"We don't know the details either, O Chosen One. But the location in the slums... seems to be where the heretic Rozan lost her child."
"...I see."
...
Soon after, Lua and Yujin led a large force swiftly toward the slums.
She sensed the Pope who had crushed the rebellion, Cardinal Heinkel, and the Empire's duke arriving outside.
To kill her, the one who had incited the rebellion.
Aah—
The end was near.
"...So this is my final moment."
Rozan raised the dagger in her hand. Her sad reflection stared back from the blade. How foolish a face it was.
She then gripped the dagger toward her abdomen.
"...They call this seppuku in the East, don't they?"
She never imagined she'd end up doing it herself. And in this very place where her child had died.
...Perhaps it was a meaningful death in its own way.
"Human life truly is unpredictable."
Pure love that had burned brightly, sudden tragedy, twisted faith, a lonely end.
The young, devout cleric Rozan once was could never have imagined herself like this.
"The loser's excuses drag on."
Now, it was time to vanish into the annals of history.
This lonely, ugly death of hers would become fierce enmity toward the corrupt ones and Pandemonium, uniting humanity.
Even if the process had differed, the result was unfolding as she had wished.
"...Thinking of it that way, it's not a bad end."
With a faint smile, she finally thrust the dagger into her abdomen.
Stab—!
"Ugh......"
Pain overwhelmed her.
Regret came too late.
But it was impossible to turn back now.
Biting her lip, she endured the pained groan and slowly sliced open her own belly.
.
.
.
.
A short while later, Lua, Yujin, and the Holy Knights burst into Rozan's location.
And what they witnessed was Rozan collapsed on the floor, her belly slit open by her own hand.
Thus, Cardinal Rozan's brief rebellion officially came to an end.