Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Final Purity Test
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Stella's face, always blooming with a fresh smile in my memories, showed a completely different expression for the first time. Bewilderment had devoured her smile, and shock had swallowed her composure whole.
"This can't be... This can't be happening...? Why...?"
She seemed to have never even imagined the possibility that I wasn't a heretic. Her face twisted in extreme confusion as she endlessly repeated that this couldn't be real.
She looked on the verge of mental collapse. Her pupils darted wildly without rest. Her fingertips trembled, her legs wobbled, and her entire body expressed the shock she felt.
The battle nuns surrounding us were equally stunned.
The one called Iris, who had just performed a solo striptease in front of me, froze solid with an "Uh...?" expression, her bare chest and womanhood fully exposed.
The hands gripping my shoulders and arms also loosened, as if they could let go at any moment. The two behind me probably wore similar looks.
For now, I couldn't just openly stare at their intimate parts, so I quickly bowed my head. As far as I remembered, the heresy detection method didn't involve this kind of public exposure.
"Y-You! Why... why aren't you a heretic?"
I inwardly smirked, noticing that Stella's way of addressing me had shifted from "you" or "heretic" to "you" in a more respectful sense.
If she still saw me as a heretic, given her personality, she never would have used a friendly term like that.
"I've told you a hundred times I'm not involved with devil worship at all? Same for Lize, Erika, and Claudia. You just jumped to the wrong conclusion."
"That... that can't be... I can definitely smell the devil on you..."
"Didn't Erika tell you? I've been connected to devils before, but I've never done anything heretical. We've emphasized we're victims over and over—were you even listening?"
"Ugh... Fine, then we'll keep testing until you're proven a heretic! Everyone, come out! Verify this person's purity!"
Stella shuddered violently before glaring behind me and shouting. The battle nuns holding my arms released them with a flick and walked toward Stella.
Without support, my body swayed forward, about to collapse, when someone roughly grabbed me.
It was Stella. She'd snuck up behind me and clamped my face firmly between the handle of her mace and her forearm.
The battle nuns lined up in a row. Each stripped off their undergarments, holding them in their right hands while placing their left hands over their chest coverings. I instantly realized what they were planning.
They were all about to repeat what Iris had just done, but as a group.
"You're serious? You're going to strip naked right here? Don't you have any shame?"
"Quiet! This isn't just exposing our sacred garments—it's verifying your purity!"
"We already did that."
What was Iris's little show, then? A striptease for an exhibitionist?
"Ignore what that heretic says! Start now!"
Stella's voice boomed through the air. She was impossible to reason with. I rolled my eyes as far as I could, hoping Lize or Erika might help.
Lize and Erika stared blankly at the scene unfolding before them, mouths half-open in disbelief. No help from them like this.
The battle nun at the front thrust her lower abdomen toward my face. Like Iris, she began lifting her chest covering and lower garments to bare her skin.
Naturally, her clothes rolled up without a hitch.
From there, it was a repeat: shocked expressions staring down at pink nipples and exposed privates, followed by collapsing to the ground.
I was forced to watch as these stunning beauties with overwhelming beauty and voluptuous figures took turns performing their stripteases right in front of my face.
Of course, I didn't hate it entirely. Any man who did must be gay, have a same-sex preference, or like men—one of the three.
But with my head in such chaos, I couldn't openly enjoy it.
'Does this actually detect heresy? What's the point of all this?'
What meaning could there be in stripping off undergarments to bare breasts and privates, using it to judge if I'm a devil worshiper?
Regardless of my confusion, their so-called "purity verification" ended quickly.
It was just them approaching me, lifting clothes, recoiling in shock, and retreating—nothing time-consuming.
Every battle nun wore a face like the sky had fallen, and Stella was no different. They all looked like their faith had been shattered.
Well, their faith had been denied, in a way. If God or the Pope of the Sun branded me a heretic, and both were objects of their worship...
"How... how can this be...?"
Stella knelt on the ground, legs spread wide, butt planted firmly, staring at me in a daze. Was that a position only women could manage?
Finally free, I stood tall, meeting Stella's eyes triumphantly.
"See?"
Now I had no reason to cower. Heresy inquisitors of the Holy Kingdom condemn heretics by any means, but they're endlessly kind to the innocent.
With purity verified, it was as good as their god confirming I had no devil ties. They couldn't harm me now.
Doing so would betray their own god.
"..."
Stella hung her head. The battle nuns did the same. The shock must have been immense. As the situation settled, I moved to help Lize and Erika up.
"I can't accept this."
"Huh?"
Stella lifted her head, her green eyes locking onto mine. They burned with intense emotion. I tensed, gripping the bloodied sword hilt.
Was she about to charge recklessly?
"I'll verify it myself."
Thankfully, she didn't seem about to attack blindly, so I relaxed inwardly but stayed alert. What did she mean by verifying personally?
"I can't accept it. How can someone who broke a devil's seal and stole it not be a heretic?"
Stella strode forward and seized my right wrist with crushing force. It made me grimace. Compared to this, the battle nuns' grips were child's play.
She yanked my arm to her chest, lifted her covering with her other hand, and shoved it underneath. Hot warmth met my hidden hand.
"Grip it."
"What?"
"Didn't you hear? Or pretending not to? Grip it tight."
Grip what? The answer was obvious—no need to ask. The soft sensation already pressed against my palm. Obviously, she meant to knead it.
"Not content with public exposure, now you want me to grope your breasts too?"
"It's the final step in purity verification. What, scared you'll be proven a heretic?"
"..."
I tried wrenching my arm free, but it wouldn't budge. It felt like my wrist and palm had fused together.
She pulled harder. My palm sank fully into Stella's breast. Flesh squished softly between my fingers, slightly bulging out.
Not enough for her—she pressed my hand down harder with her other palm, burying it deeper. Spongy softness—instinctively, I clenched.
"...Ngh!"
A faint moan escaped Stella's lips. I barely clung to my fraying sanity hearing it. Any funny business here, and I'd be done for.
"What... is this...?"
As I desperately battled inner turmoil to stay rational, Stella met my eyes with a voice more shocked than before. Her emerald gaze trembled.
Her grip on my wrist tightened. Naturally, my hand sank deeper into her breast. Ignoring it, she spoke.
"Why... why do I feel holy power from you, someone with no faith in God at all...?"
Her shocking words snapped even the dazed battle nuns to attention, staring at me. More stunned than Lize and Erika had been.
'Oh, that. No wonder she freaked out.'
Unlike Stella and the nuns, I stayed calm. Her sudden grave tone had me on edge, but it was nothing major.
What she'd said was from a minor event in the game when players first meet a heresy inquisitor.
Players can pump stats freely, skipping faith for pure holy power like me, but Bren 4 world NPCs can't.
People of the Holy Kingdom believe deep faith naturally grants holy power. So, holy power without faith is bewildering.
Like seeing a smartphone work fine without a battery.
Fun fact: higher faith than holy power means train harder; higher holy power means loved by God.
No points in either, both 99, one 99—tons of variations for entertainment.
"Then you... perhaps..."
Stella muttered incoherently in a daze. As her lips parted toward me again, someone grabbed her hand.
"What are you doing right now?"
It was Lize.