Heretic
Heretic
There is an illustration!
"Ow... why did you hit me...?"
I muttered while rubbing my cheek.
"Something feels bad now. You should have touched it appropriately,"
Aris, whose tone of voice had completely changed because of that just now—or perhaps it was my image that had been completely ruined...
But realistically, with artificial skin, artificial muscles, and even the 'Chyo' powerful non-Newtonian material responsible for the tactile sensation of fat, not touching this would be strange. How am I supposed to resist?
"But Aris,"
"...Yes, Angel-nim,"
Still, Aris answered well. It seemed her fundamental nature itself was kind. Was it because she was a being created with that 'Divine Power' as a base?
"How was your personality made?"
I asked what I was most curious about. Isn't that obvious? It's only natural, right? A being that just appeared... no, you could even say was just born, possessing a self and having a personality—if you're not curious about that, then that in itself is strange.
"Hmm..."
Aris pondered for a moment.
"I think I understand what you mean."
She then seemed to realize something and continued speaking.
"It seems the experience accumulated since the time of 'that one' came along when this body was formed."
As she said this, she pointed at what had been the broken armor. Honestly, it was now so shattered into pieces that calling it armor was almost embarrassing. It was more accurate to call it a lump of metal. This raised one question.
"If you mean since the time of that one, does that mean this space existed even before I came here?"
A question that naturally followed from her answer just now.
"Yes, that one is armor that was used by ◆◆■■◆■-nim during the time Cathedral Arcaday was ■◆■■, that is, when the Cathedral existed at ■■■◆■."
The truly important content was inaudible. It was twisted back and forth and censored with noise like a 'beeep~', just like when words are censored on broadcast TV or YouTube videos.
Aris, who looked surprised by what she herself had said, covered her mouth.
"Ah,"
With a short exclamation, Aris's golden eyes suddenly emitted real light. No, the atmosphere felt unlike Aris.
[Access denied due to insufficient authority.]
And then Aris's eyes lost their light again.
"Aww..."
She then placed a hand on her head, looking slightly pained.
"They said so from above."
She continued flatly with a slightly sad expression.
'Pat pat,'
I patted Aris's head.
"What is this action? There is no need to wipe it now, as I am not armor."
Aris looked at me with a bewildered expression.
"When your head hurts, patting it like this seems to make you feel better and your head hurt less,"
I said, offering a slight smile. Actually, images from my childhood of my parents and their actions at that time surfaced simultaneously, bringing a wave of revulsion, but I forcibly ignored it and continued patting her head while smiling.
"Ddyuddya ddyuddya,"
The Ddyuddya tugged at the hem of my clothes and pointed at their own heads.
"You want head pats too? Okay, okay,"
'Pat pat'
I used my remaining hand to pat the two Ddyuddya alternately. Their happy expressions made them seem like they really enjoyed being patted.
After patting them for a while, I had something to do now.
"Hey, Aris?"
"Yes?"
"Is there a difference in work efficiency between when you were the old golem and now?"
We have to keep working.
"A base performance vastly superior to a standard Cathedral management golem, and"
She raised her arm as if to show off her muscles.
"While not on the level of a Mid-level Angel, I can use Divine Power beyond that of a Lower Angel."
She emitted light from her palm with Divine Power. Honestly, she probably had better Divine Power control than I did, who had just tried using it.
"And regarding charging, the amount of Divine Power the Jusin bestowed when making me into this body was so immense that, barring special circumstances, I likely won't need to charge for the next 400 centuries."
Really...? In that case...
"You're saying I can run you indefinitely?"
An uncontrollable smile appeared on my face.
"Huh?"
Aris seemed to sense that something was fucked up, but it was already too late. I picked up the tablet and assigned all remaining tasks, including Aris and the Ddyuddya.
She flinched slightly as if receiving the command.
"Understood..."
She said and left the room with the Ddyuddya.
"Now this is auto-farming,"
I thought as I was about to relax for a bit when,
'Beeeeep—Beeeeep—Beeeeep—'
Suddenly, the tablet started emitting a tremendous alarm sound.
"Ghkheuk?!"
I was zoning out and drooling when the sudden alarm startled me, almost making me fall out of the chair.
"What... what is it?!"
I immediately checked the tablet. Right in the center of the screen was a huge black exclamation mark on a red triangular background. And written below that mark: Heretic (Heretic),
I clicked the screen immediately. The exclamation mark that had covered most of the screen moved to the end of the hallway outside the room. Is that good? No, 'Heretic'—this doesn't feel good from the start. And the fact that it issues a warning with such a large exclamation mark likely means there's a high possibility it could harm us.
Fortunately, the Ddyuddya and Aris seemed to be working inside the room.
"This... I'll have to go check it out myself,"
The place that had felt scary since I first arrived here—the hallway, and moreover, the end of the hallway.
I hesitated in front of the door for a moment. Then,
"I had to go there eventually anyway!"
I muttered self-hypnosis and opened the door.
And with one step, I left the room. This was the first time I had stepped outside since arriving here. Despite being inside a building, a sensation of cool wind blowing could be felt.
Perhaps because I had the Ddyuddya diligently light candles in the hallway, half of the hallway was clearly visible. The Gothic-designed walls, illuminated by candlelight, carried a sense of something sacred. Each flat wooden piece attached to the wall showed signs of devoted craftsmanship.
And I looked toward the end of the hallway.
The area without candles was simply darkness.
No, not just darkness.
At the end of the hallway, brightly shining black eyes. Yes, truly black eyes were shining brightly. Does it make sense for black to shine? No, it doesn't make sense. There must be a lifeform with relatively brighter black eyes, making them appear to shine.
...
There's something.
Something emanating an unknown energy.
'Click—click—'
The sound of shoes echoed. It was getting closer.
Pushing my fear aside a bit, I also walked toward the unknown energy.
'Thump thump'
The footsteps, which should have been 'thud thud,' for some reason felt like 'thump thump.'
Click click, thump thump. It got closer and closer. And it stopped right at the boundary between the lit and unlit areas. A woman at the midpoint between youth and adulthood came into view.
Long ashen hair with a yellow gradient, wearing a black crown of thorns on her head, deep gray eyes that seemed to suck you in, a pretty face that, if she were an entertainer, could guarantee steady appearances on broadcasts even if she wasn't good at anything else. However, on her face, on her cheek, was a thick, large scar. Following the gaze down, her neck also bore a deep scar, as if something had cut it.
Her clothes: a clerical collar (Roman collar) that should have been white was black, and she wore a long white robe that originally had buttons concealed by the outer fabric. A black stole draped around her neck bore a depiction of a broken cross. Around her waist was a belt made of something like a black rope. ...It quite emphasized her slender waist.
'I must be on guard.' My body was screaming that.
'Ssssh—'
She slowly raised both hands, the fabric brushing against them and making a sound.
'Gasp'
Naturally, I could only react that way. I had no choice, as I was already on high alert.
I kept watching her hands. Nails that seemed painted yellow—no, gold. Soon, her hands slowly rose and clasped together around her chest. As if in prayer.
"Hello. Are you perhaps the... hmm... angel managing this cathedral?"
A slightly husky yet still youthful voice emerged from her small mouth. It was a polite greeting, but a hint of hostility could be felt somewhere.
"Yes, I am managing this cathedral. How did you get in here?"
My voice trembled slightly, but I succeeded in speaking without faltering.
"No, just... we were destroying evidence that gods existed, evidence that there was a prison,"
She began saying something incomprehensible and suddenly smiled.
"I felt like something was repairing what we destroyed, you see,"
Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not.
"...Who are you?"
I took one step—no, half a step—back and asked for her name.
"I am the '186th Patriarch of the Liberation Church' 『Ransol de Borja VI』."
...A religion I've heard of. ...The religion that left me alone, a cult, a heresy, the religion 'Liberation Church' that didn't even appear on the internet. I don't know exactly what they do, but...
I felt intense hostility.
I hid my hands behind my back and quickly gathered Divine Power in them. And then,
"Oh my,"
'Kwaaang—!'
I immediately fired a Divine Power beam. A golden ray of light struck her, and dark dust rose up simultaneously. She probably noticed just now, but whatever. The way I felt it, there were no living beings on Earth at least that could take that hit and remain unharmed. My instincts were telling me this power was that strong.
"Cough cough, what a rude angel you are,"
However, the bitch who called herself the Patriarch of the Liberation Church waved her hands to clear the dust and walked out unharmed from within it.
'Dangerous.' 'That's not human.' I quickly intuited. I spread my wings to quickly create distance...
"If you're rude, you need to be educated,"
Like this, my wing was grabbed...
'Bang!'
I was thrown just like that, making a loud noise as I crashed into the wall.
"Keuheuk!"
The sound of all the air in my lungs being expelled at once from the great impact.
"Aren't you a brat?"
'Click, click,'
The sound of shoes with a bit more force behind them.
This is not an opponent I can win against. Absolutely not.
Creeping fear crawled up my skin. My body was stiffened, immobilized by terror.
I clasped my hands together. I didn't want to use it, I didn't want to do it, but with my life on the line now, I had to.
I filled my head with thoughts. I wish this heretic couldn't attack me, would disappear, would die for me. I started filling my mind with such thoughts. And soon, a golden radiance began to swirl in my hands.
"Domine noster, quaeso audi preces meas et concede mihi miraculum ad nos protegendos ab haeresi quae ante nos est.(Our Jusin, I beseech you to hear my prayers and grant me a miracle to protect us from the heretic before us.)"
"Ugh... a miracle? With an ordinary miracle, you probably can't do anything to me..."
As golden Divine Power burst forth from within my hands, the heretic turned her head as if the light was dazzling.
"...A Holy Relic? It seems you are of a higher rank than I thought."
This heretic, calling something that elementary school kids might carry around a Holy Relic.
"Holy Relic...? What are you talking about? How can this thing be a Holy Relic? Something like this clearly won't work..."
My voice trembled. My body trembled.
I trembled violently and hooked my finger through the ring. My other hand gripped the keyring.
"What a pity. I should have killed you here,"
I pulled the ring.
'Beeeeep—'
A loud sound resonated. And a golden portal-like thing appeared above and below the head of the bitch who called herself the Patriarch of the heretics.
[Attempting banishment.]
[Target resists.]
[Attempting banishment.]
[Target resists.]
[Attempting banishment.]
"Then... see you next time. Grown-up baby angel,"
[Banishment successful.]
The portal-like things above and below moved simultaneously from top and bottom, meeting, and the heretic disappeared upon contact.
'Beeeep—...'
As the strength left my hand, the alarm sound from the device ceased.
Like my hands, the strength left my legs,
And like my legs, the strength left my waist,
And I fainted just like that.