Chapter 88
Chapter 88
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 88
It was a clear error in judgment.
This wasn't just Asher's mistake it was an accident born from the entire church's blinded eyes.
Why hadn't they considered it?
In a place swarming with artificial witches like this, they should have anticipated the possibility of them working together.
If they had to make excuses, they could point to the historical fact that multiple witches had never existed at once, but that was just an excuse in the end.
Asher had to admit the mistake he and the church had made.
'My body...'
His head was ringing. His stomach churned.
But it didn't seem like anything else had been done to his body.
It was just the aftereffects of the poison.
Should he consider that fortunate?
Asher gritted his teeth and racked his brain for a way out of this situation.
But that was far from easy.
"Asher. Ahmaya. I've lived long enough to see right through your thoughts."
The witch facing him was different from any he'd encountered before.
Even different from the one he'd just assassinated.
The stench of heretic divinity wafting from her was like vomit-inducing rot from the start.
It was too thick, too deep.
Was she one of the top-tier powerhouses among them?
Tension filled him to the tips of his hair.
"I didn't expect the church to arrive so quickly. I thought I had more time."
She already seemed to know their identities.
Since when? Had she been the one who placed the white witch in the spy's position?
His mind grew chaotic.
But fortunatelyor perhaps notshe resolved that concern for him.
"Don't be surprised. I foresaw something like this happening someday, so I placed that child there. I didn't expect you'd come at me with a sword right away."
"...That's awfully kind of you."
"Heh heh, think nothing of it."
She didn't react emotionally even to his sarcasm.
It only made it clearer that she couldn't be handled like the other witches.
What now?
Diego must have noticed the disturbance here by now. He just had to hold out until then.
But how? By exchanging more words like this?
His mind raced.
But right then, words that halted Asher's thoughts entirely burst forth.
"So, how's Galae's curse treating you?"
"...!"
"How does it feel to have your mind crumbling? Is the sweet downfall thrilling? Oh, right, it hasn't fully broken you yet. That's why you walked in here on your own two feet."
"How do you..."
"Not hard to figure out. Just as your church shares information under that name, we know each other's news too. That child you killed on the archipelago was quite emotional. And yet she bore our god's curse. What do you think she did as she died? The conclusion comes easily if you think about it. Of course, there are other pieces of evidence, but they're not important, so let's skip them."
The witch smiled brightly after finishing.
Her seemingly kindly smile was eerily emotionless.
"The greatest curse among a witch's powers. I was curious. What form our god's legacy takes when it manifests."
The witch's hand touched Asher's cheek.
Asher stiffened his expression and held his breath.
The witch's eyes curved gently. The decadent woman, with dark circles under her eyes, exhaled laughter with every breath.
"You're struggling hard. A true saintess indeed. Blue eyes, sky-blue hair. You're the favorite. Is the curse being suppressed by your Parent God? How unfair. That child on the archipelago staked her soul on unleashing the curse."
The witch's thumb brushed Asher's lips.
Asher felt nausea, but the witch continued indifferently before pulling her hand away.
Then she stood up.
And as she dusted off her hands, she spoke.
"Well, we'll figure that out in time. More surprising, though. Even for the church, I didn't expect you'd find the previous dynasty's crown prince, who we thought was dead."
Snap!
The moment the witch snapped her fingers.
The surroundings lit up.
Asher's eyes widened as if they might tear.
'Gester!'
"Mmph! Mmmph!"
Gester was bound across from him.
He hadn't noticed before because no light had come in, but this was above ground.
Inside some ornate palace building, no less.
Gester, tied to the opposite pillar, had his mouth sealed with something black.
The witch snapped her fingers again, and the seal vanished.
"Untie this right now, you bitch!"
"If that worked, why would I have tied you up?"
"Grr...!"
"Calm down. Aren't we meeting again after so long?"
Asher couldn't comprehend her words.
After so long? Did Gester know her?
It made no sense.
Artificial witches were created just 1 or 2 years ago at most.
If they knew each other, it had to be at least 10 years ago, when Asher was still in this land.
The timelines didn't match.
"You... you're the mastermind...!"
"Half right, half wrong. Ahmaya, I did reach out to create this situation, but Anton carried it out, driven by the sandstorm's greed."
Asher's lips trembled faintly.
As if unable to hold back her laughter, the witch shook her shoulders, let out an "Ah!", then turned back to Asher.
"Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself here."
She said.
"Tehira. Tehira Ushiope."
"...!"
"I'm Baern's queen mother."
The elegantly delivered words were utterly incomprehensible to Asher.
Whether it showed on his face, Tehira chuckled and added.
"Your church is always like that. So narrow-minded."
"Heret..."
"Heretics must all be killed. Heretics aren't humanthey're evil that must be exterminated on sight."
Tehira recited it like a song, then sneered.
"You slaughter us like beasts, then actually think we are beasts."
Her tone was now mocking, or perhaps pitying.
"I don't get why you never consider it. Don't you call them artificial witches yourselves? Artificial. Made by humans."
Tehira leaned in. Her eyes narrowed.
"Why don't you ever think there must be people who made them?"
Asher's heart sank with a thud.
Because some of the implications hit too close to home for him.
His mouth hung slack.
His mind replayed the information.
The mastermind behind the artificial witches. A 'real' witch who existed before them.
Ah, so that's why this witch wielded power unlike any he'd faced before.
But there was something that struck even deeper.
'Queen mother.'
The wife of Anton Ushiope, who usurped the throne.
A woman who'd been in Baern since then.
And she was a witch.
"Ah, life as queen was quite enjoyable..."
She was the one who toppled the Kuolin royal family and brought down the Lion Guard Trebiion.
"Aaaargh!!!"
Gester wailed. Blood tears streamed from his eyes.
Asher didn't know what to do. He was too flustered, reality felt unreal.
The ringing in his head intensified.
Nausea surged. It felt like his guts would spill out.
His head drooped low.
A spark that could burn his insides spread from his chest throughout his body.
His heart pounded madly. Blood rushed to his head.
His face twisted.
Blood trickled from his bitten, torn lips.
He lifted his head again, peering at Tehira through his disheveled hair.
She just smiled brightly.
"What's so infuriating? That you never imagined a non-artificial witch? That a mere heretic vermin rotted a nation from within for ten years without you knowing?"
He'd never felt emotions like this.
Pure malice, wanting to tear the thing before him to shreds but keep it alive in eternal agonyhe'd never felt it once in his life.
"The Parent God's favorite. Spoiled brat. What don't you like?"
You.
Your existence, witch before me.
It filled him with maddening resentment.
Grind. His teeth gnashed.
Killing intent surged like waves, enveloping Tehira's body.
Tehira laughed lowly.
"What do you think you can do?"
She snapped her fingers again.
Then,
Boom!
Kyaaah!!!
Explosions rocked everywhere, screams echoing.
Gester's lips trembled in panic.
"What..."
"We've been found out. What else? Time for cleanup."
The ground shook repeatedly.
The screams grew louder, closer.
"If you're waiting for backup, that's unfortunate. I've been quite thorough in securing this area."
Tehira's lips curled smugly.
"A little secret: the eleven spies I placed in this palace? All my handiwork. Artificial witches, every one."
Black energy gathered in Tehira's grasp, forming a long spear.
She gripped it and aimed at Asher's throat.
"No backup coming. That 1st Class Knight you trust is busy with the other witches. So I'll send you off cleanly. Nice meeting you. Time to di"
That was when it happened.
Craaaaaack!
Dazzling light blasted out, erasing half of Tehira's bodyand the building in its path.
It happened so fast that even Asher, witnessing it up close, registered it a beat late.
[...Ah?]
Tehira's voice came not from her throat, but something else.
Her half-remaining head oozed brains as it creakily turned.
Asher blankly stared where the light had come from.
"Oh ho, look at this cockroach-like thing."
Crunch, crunch. A golden-haired girl strode forward with a vicious grin, wielding a weapon larger than herself.
"Guess I have to mince you into bits before you'll die."
Halia was there.