The Heretic Saintess, The Forbidden Nun (8)
“Foolish child. Why are you being so stubborn?”
“Ah, no. Even if you say that, I can’t… I just can’t!”
“I can’t understand it. All the other children obeyed me, didn’t they? Why are you the only one refusing like this?”
“Ah… Even if you say that, no.”
The old man, who had been gently admonishing the girl in a kindly tone, hardened his expression at her repeated refusals.
“Even if you refuse, the future is set in stone. Why can’t you understand that? I’ve told you countless times that there’s a world of difference between accepting it willingly now and being forced into it later.”
“…Your words are wrong.”
“What?”
“I… I won’t end up like that. Just because the other children obeyed you doesn’t mean I have to.”
“Hah.”
The old man let out a sigh of admiration before murmuring in a chilling tone.
“Even that ‘Libea’ child you worried so much about and cherished has decided to obey me, you say?”
“What? Libea? No way! That can’t be!”
“Can’t be? You’ll understand when you see it for yourself, and then you’ll believe.”
“What on earth did you say to her? What did you do!”
“That child hasn’t fully accepted my words yet. It might change depending on what you do.”
“No way… No way…!”
“The time left isn’t much. Saintess.”
The old man’s face suddenly blackened and melted away. The girl screamed.
“The grand plan will soon come to fruition. With you as its cornerstone, Saintess.”
“Hah, hah, haa…”
The woman sat up, gasping for breath. Her body was slick with cold, clammy sweat.
“Why… why do I keep having these dreams?”
She had her suspicions. She’d been kidnapped by terror worshippers, called by the absurd title of saintess, and she knew she was a key piece in whatever scheme they were plotting.
So as the day of their plan drew nearer, these increasingly vivid and frequent nightmares had to be connected to the terror somehow.
What did I ever do to deserve this?
She was just an ordinary nun trying to follow Raella’s path and keep her faith.
Was it punishment for sneaking bread behind her parents’ backs as a child? For slipping out of the dorms during training to play? Or maybe for sending Libea ahead after a missionary service because she had “business” to attend to?
“Ah, Libea!”
Among the sisters from her own order and others who’d been captured, her closest friend and colleague Libea was missing.
It was infuriating to watch the others fall to corruption helplessly, but she’d harshly scolded herself for feeling relieved that she and Libea were absent from that fate.
She was anxious. Why had those nightmares started after that creepy masked man visited?
Had Libea been captured too? Had she already fallen?
No, that couldn’t be. She was more devout than me. No way.
And would she truly betray her faith in Raella? What would become of her?
“Raella… please tell me…”
The woman prayed fervently. But the goddess gave no answer.
She held no resentment. She just kept praying. Hoping her faith wasn’t in vain, confirming it hadn’t strayed.
Bestia—the woman the heretics called saintess—clutched her sweat-slick rosary tight, murmuring words no one else could hear.
Unaware that part of the rosary had turned black.
“This is weird.”
“What is, sir?”
“We’ve gone pretty deep, but there’s nothing.”
It had been over an hour since passing the sixth room. They weren’t slacking on vigilance, but even at their brisk pace, there was literally nothing. No terror birds, no signs of their activity, no Raella order dispatch, not even other orders.
“I said we were probably in the lead. But over an hour in, and not a single other order has reached here? Doesn’t that seem off?”
“Yes. Especially Justitia’s crusader captain—he’s an exceptionally skilled warrior. I doubt his crusaders haven’t broken through yet.”
“Lady Sestia is right. As much as I hate to say it, Master is a monster.”
They already knew the area was vast, so that wasn’t the issue. But the sheer emptiness was unnerving. They were clearly heading toward the central zone’s heart, yet it felt emptier than the outskirts.
“Boss. Could the central zone be a separate space, like a dungeon?”
“Nah, nothing like that. You felt it too, right at the entrance. No such feeling since we got here.”
Kaya’s hypothesis was plausible, but unlikely. They’d have gotten a message if they’d passed a dungeon entrance.
That made it even more troubling. No clues at all.
“Sestia, any guesses?”
“…”
“Sestia?”
“Ah, yes?”
“What’re you thinking about?”
“Oh, sorry. I was examining the walls and pillars.”
“Walls and pillars? Nothing special there.”
“Yes. Nothing… until just now.”
“What?”
“Please… come here a moment?”
At Sestia’s slightly trembling gesture, they veered from the path. Plain pillars stood at intervals along the way, and she led them to one.
“Why here?”
“Just a second… Look here.”
“What’s the reason… Wait, isn’t this a trace of divinity?”
“Trace of divinity?”
“It’s a mark of divine power. Like a bloodstain.”
“No way heretics left this, so it’s yours, Lady Sestia?”
“Yes. I secretly fired it about 30 minutes ago.”
At her words, they all simultaneously spotted the chilling contradiction while staring blankly at the pillar.
“Wait— we’ve been going straight! No stops!”
“No devices, no heretics!”
“How is this possible? We didn’t feel like we were circling…”
Goosebumps prickled their arms—no exaggeration. They hadn’t imagined such a trick. In the Long Terror, where it was just straight paths? Was it even a trick? No signs at all?
“Maybe that’s why we haven’t met our order or others… this phenomenon?”
“Sestia, if you hadn’t marked it, we’d have kept looping cluelessly. Good catch.”
“As Hendrick says, it was suspicious. I didn’t want to cause needless tension, so I marked secretly. But since it’s real, I couldn’t skip it. Sorry for not saying sooner.”
“No. We should thank you. If anyone’s sorry, it’s me, the leader.”
Progress had been meaningless. Over an hour since the sixth room, but per Sestia, they’d looped every 30 minutes.
“Maybe they weren’t desperate knowing we couldn’t pass?”
“Could be a delay tactic. Assuming orders would break it eventually, using their deaths as fuel for the massive ritual array’s axes. Those bastards would.”
“I doubt it affects the heretics. Too impractical, even for defense.”
“Key figures for the plan might already be at the ‘core.’ They wouldn’t care about the rest—die delaying or lost here, same to them.”
I, Shae, and Kaya tossed out guesses. None hopeful.
“What matters now is breaking this. Without that, nothing else.”
“Indeed.”
It was hopeless. Without Sestia’s wit, they’d never have noticed. How to solve it?
With time and effort, maybe.
But time was the issue. Heretics wouldn’t wait. Kaya, Shae, Sestia racked their brains visibly, but no answers.
Even level 9 Sestia, with vast experience, was silent—this was new to her.
Pacing, leaning on pillars, sitting… changing positions, thinking hard, but no breakthroughs.
This is bad.
The mood sank; even combat would’ve been better. Other sisters falling, suffering, plan advancing—stuck here was massive stress.
When did mentality drop this much?
Post-combat, it wasn’t this bad. Checking logs, mentality drop messages piled up.
Chills again.
I didn’t notice at all.
Not from mindless walking in the dark monotony. Like missing the loop, they’d overlooked unmissable messages.
Couldn’t share with the team yet—frustrating, maddening.
“Ah.”
“Sister?”
Kaya, staring blankly at the divine trace, dumped something from her bag with a clatter. Necklaces from corrupted nuns.
“Kaya, why these suddenly…?”
“Shae, Sister Sestia. Please examine closely.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m still inexperienced, so I only sensed a subtle change. But you two, far superior, might discern more.”
“Wait! What change?”
“Yes, I didn’t feel any subtle change you did.”
“It’s just… changed. Not color or material, but definitely. Maybe because I was closest. Anyway, please check. Might be our breakthrough.”
Whatever, a variable in deadlock wasn’t bad. Shae and Sestia laid out blackened necklaces by acquisition order, infusing faint divine power. Kaya rechecked the spot.
Can’t sense divinity, nothing for me.
Kept quiet for their focus. To do something, lit the map with magic torch, plotting paths with/without loop to infer core.
One hour—or 30 minutes—line. Assuming six directions including us converge equally…
—Aaahhhh!!!
“What!”
“Boss!”
“Captain!”
A chilling scream echoed. I, Kaya, Shae jumped up, scanning. But Sestia stared at one necklace, murmuring blankly.
“Bes… tia…?”
—Aaahhhh!!!