I Am Your Blade, and the Shepherd Who Guides the Lambs
“Hk... hah.”
Hunter Kwak Ducheol clutched the gunshot wounds in both thighs and forced out a deep breath.
“How is it? Have you reflected on your sins yet?”
“Yes... I was wrong.”
At that loathsome voice chattering down at him, he groveled and bought himself time.
This crazy bitch... I don't know what trick she pulled, but I'm gonna beat the shit out of her.
But outwardly he kept up his servile act, all the while searching for another opening.
That woman possessed firepower that was simply unbelievable for someone who had only just awakened.
If he launched a careless sneak attack, he'd just take another bullet like before and end up writhing on the ground again.
“I... I was wrong. I'll apologize to the victims too.”
“Hm. Tucking your tail between your legs like this is pretty pathetic of you, but if you're genuinely that remorseful...”
As Kwak Ducheol begged with practiced acting skills, the woman began to show a hesitant expression as well.
She was the foolish type—ruthless toward the wicked, but quick to soften the moment someone groveled before her.
Heh.
Let's see if she stays standing even with her head blown off.
The instant her gun barrel dipped ever so slightly, Kwak Ducheol gripped the hand axe hidden behind his back.
“Phew. Fine. If you bow your head and apologize right now, I suppose I could forgive you just this once—”
“Die!”
WHOOSH!!!
Seizing the moment her wariness crumbled, he hurled the hand axe with all his might.
His powerful throwing skill was more than enough to carve through that she-devil's slender neck.
THUNK!
“KYAAAAAH!!!”
The moment the axe buried itself dead center in her neck, a female employee's scream ripped out from far away.
“I did it! Serves you right, you crazy bitch!”
He had no idea what her skills actually were, but they were undeniably dangerous.
Still, if the user was an idiot, even the most powerful skills were useless.
“Don't resent me too much. This is the world of hunters, after all.”
Kwak Ducheol soon rose laboriously from the ground, wearing a meaningful smile.
“...”
The woman with the axe blade buried in her neck still stood there, frozen in a daze.
Probably rigor mortis keeping her upright...
Not that a corpse mattered to him.
She was his either way, dead or alive.
If it came to it, he could always pay a necromancer to turn her into an undead.
“Kheheh. Whoever you are, I'll take very good care of—”
“What the hell did I just watch... Unbelievable.”
“Huh?”
But a voice he should never have heard came drifting through the air.
Sswook.
The huntress he was certain he'd killed pulled the axe out of her neck as if nothing had happened.
Naturally, without a single wound.
“Huh? Wait a second...”
“I gave you a chance.”
Tap. Tap.
The expressionless reaper walked toward him, slowly.
Her dazed look was gone entirely; those eerie crimson eyes now glowed ominously, staring into the very depths of his soul.
“And you are the one who spat on it.”
“W-wait!”
“Holy Fist.”
KWAAAAAANG!!!!!
And so, the judge's fist exploded against the sinner.
“This guy is hilarious.”
“Uuuurgh...”
The truth is, I'm a pretty soft-hearted person.
No matter how much a senior torments and abuses me, the moment they're nice to me once, I melt and grin like an idiot.
I'm the sucker who grudgingly gives in whenever a cocky junior comes begging with desperate eyes.
I was the same fool who trusted people even after being beaten down to that state.
“Whew...”
CLATTER!
I casually tossed Kwak Ducheol's thrown hand axe onto the ground and walked toward him slowly.
“Hi... hiiik!”
The emotion written across his face was...
Fear.
A man who had spent his whole life looking down on and trampling those weaker than him was now trembling, tears streaming, right in front of me.
“You know, living selfishly has always been hard for me.”
“Huh?”
“I lived like a sucker—no matter how much someone cursed me out or hit me, I'd forget it all after a while. You know why?”
“I... I don't know, ma'am.”
“Because I just hate fighting with people. I'd tell myself, we'll get along someday... they'll think of me kindly eventually...”
I looked down quietly at Kwak Ducheol sprawled on the ground and continued.
“But in moments like this, I'm actually grateful.”
“Gulp...”
“Pieces of trash who act so vile that I don't need to expect anything from them at all are actually better. That way I can beat them down without a shred of guilt.”
“S-spare...”
“SPARE this!”
WHAM!!!
Lest he blurt out any more useless begging, I smashed my fist into his face, wordplay included free of charge.
“Ugh... UAAAAAGH...”
The status window laughed as though it was thoroughly enjoying this, while Kwak Ducheol clutched his broken nose and began thrashing around.
“Stand up straight, Kwak Ducheol.”
“AAAAH!”
I seized him by the scruff of the neck and hoisted him clean off the ground, and then...
“It's my fist that judges you!”
WHAMWHAMWHAM!!!
I rained a frenzy of blows onto his suspended torso.
“ORAORAORAORAORAORA!!!!!”
Solar plexus, jaw, liver, and so on.
To purge the sinner of his sins, I delivered my punches with the utmost devotion and meticulous care.
Kwak Ducheol's armor had long since shattered to pieces.
I beat him until every bone in his body was crushed, his skull caved in, and he was nothing but a pulp of blood and meat.
“ORAAAAAT!!!”
“UUUOOOOOOOK?!!!!!”
CRASH!
With the finishing blow, Kwak Ducheol's broken body blasted clean through the concrete wall and lodged itself inside.
Then the belongings he'd been carrying rained down from above.
His hunter's license, credit cards, and so on.
“I'll be billing you for the repair receipt.”
I scooped up the fallen items without ceremony and turned my back on him without a trace of regret.
“Here, take this.”
“Hu... Hunter-nim?”
And with that, I handed the credit cards over to the dazed protesters.
“Th-this is! There's nearly a billion credits on here, isn't there?!”
“Is there? I didn't really need it anyway.”
“Are you truly certain you want to give this to us?”
The old man I'd pressed the cards into asked again, eyes wide and cautious—but my mind was already made up.
“This was money you all should have had in the first place.”
“Th... thank you... *sob*...”
All I needed was the license card. Money like this meant nothing to me.
If anything, it was better off going back to the victims.
“I cannot undo the pain of those who were hurt... but I hope this can be some small comfort.”
“...”
When I bowed my head quietly to them, the old man was left speechless for a long moment, and then...
THUD.
“O, Lord...”
“Wha—?! Hold on a second!”
They all suddenly dropped to their knees in unison and began praying to me.
The old man soon went on, gazing at me quietly with a reverent expression.
“No one ever acknowledged our suffering.”
“Uh...”
“No one ever fought for us.”
“...”
“No one ever shed tears for us.”
“N-no, that's not true. I'm a tough guy, so I don't cry...”
“Then what, may I ask, are the droplets running down your cheek right now?”
“...”
As if in a trance, I brought a hand to my face at the old man's question.
...It was damp.
Don't tell me it had rained.
“You are the first person who has ever empathized with someone's pain and wept for them.”
“Uh... like I said.”
““Thank you.””
They all bowed their heads to me at once and spoke.
FAAASH!!!
“Wha...?!”
At the same time, the sky cleared brilliantly, and dazzling sunlight bathed me.
“Ooooh!”
“It's the Saintess...! The Saintess has descended!”
“Huh.”
Strangely enough, that brilliant light shone down on me and the protesters alone.
“God, this is ridiculous...”
My head throbbed at the status window bragging in such a smug tone.
...Wouldn't anyone watching this think we're a cult?
DING!
Your number of followers has reached 10.
You may now found a religion.
Please choose a name for the religion and its patron deity.
And just as if it truly wanted me to become a saintess, the status window's messages kept shoving me forward.
“What do I even do about this...”
I had assumed "Saintess" was just my class name. I never expected to actually end up founding a real religion.
Well... I suppose I've got to do what's got to be done.
“How about the Sandstorm Faith, with our patron deity Hankarishark?”
“What the hell!”
Even though it was the product of my genuine, careful deliberation, the status window immediately started cursing me out.
What's wrong with the Goat King, master of the 600-deck Earthquake meta?
“That's a bit...”
Wait, the deity's name links to my name?
Can't I just use my original name?
“Guess I'm starting fresh with a pretty name, then.”
Following the status window's advice, I pondered what name to register on my new hunter's ID.
Plenty of awakened ones came from other countries, so getting a new ID issued wouldn't be difficult.
“How about... the Faith of Mercy, with our patron deity Era?”
At my tentative words, the status window deliberated for a long while before speaking.
Very well, my child.
I am Era, the deity who presides over mercy. I hereby bestow upon you the baptismal name Elia.
“Uh... thank you?”
You are my blade, and the shepherd who shall guide my lambs.
My first apostle, Saintess Elia. Let your light shine upon the world.
“Yes...”
She declared it with a solemnity utterly unlike her usual tone, and I found myself clasping my hands together naturally, listening to her words with reverence.
DING!
“Whoa.”
My eyes went wide at the explanations streaming down one after another.
...I've really just become an actual saintess, haven't I.
“Shall we get started on the tower climb, then.”
The entrance of the tower looming overhead.
Normally, entry was only possible with a hunter's license card.
But since the outcome of our little duel had let me transfer Kwak Ducheol's license into my own name, getting in was no trouble at all.
Hunter Name: Elia — Rank B
“What a strange feeling...”
I gazed idly at the card bearing my new identity and photo, then slowly headed forward.
Please select the tower's difficulty.
1. EASY
2. NORMAL
3. HARD
“Hmm.”
I deliberated briefly over the difficulty selection screen that appeared before my eyes.
I'd managed to beat Normal-rank, floor-30 Kwak Ducheol with the Sin-Cleansing buff, so... Hard should be doable, right?
DING!
1. Easy
2. Normal
3. Hard
4. Asceticism(New!)
“A-Asce... what?”
“Ah, got it.”
Since it had suddenly popped up on the selection screen, I'd wondered what it meant at first—but it turned out to be a word with religious significance.
“Then Asceticism difficulty it is.”
I selected the highest difficulty without hesitation, and the status window stayed silent, seemingly satisfied.
And then...
“Entering!”
FAAAAAASH!!!
The moment I stepped through the entrance, holy light poured down over me.
DING!
At the same time, countless hunters across the world began turning their eyes toward her.