Angel's Form
Angel's Form
The gathering had assembled in a broad cavity resembling an ancient Greek forum — an agora.
At its center, ringed by circular stands, towered a colossal angel statue.
Two pairs of white wings and an angel's halo... the beautiful form of an angel.
And beneath it, eyes closed, clutching a thick book tightly, stood a woman who looked exactly like the statue.
'Oh.'
She was a woman whose appearance was striking enough to seize my gaze.
Her skin was as flawless and white as milk.
Her chest was a little lacking, but her face was so overwhelming it more than compensated.
She was easily among the very top tier of women I'd seen so far.
She matched Jeong Yeon-ji, which meant she belonged to a truly exceptional category.
And above all, her pitiful, sorrowful aura appealed directly to my aesthetic sense.
I wanted to covet her.
Those base desires began simmering in my chest.
The tears that would spill from that innocent face.
The secret holy water hidden beneath that pure white skin.
I wanted to claim all of it and defile it as my own.
It would surely be sweet.
Yes, it would be nothing short of rapturous.
"Hey, tone down the leering."
As if reading my mind, Ha Hui-ryeong chided me from the side.
We were wearing masks, so how the hell had she noticed?
Seriously, her intuition is just too damn good.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I wasn't looking."
"Bullshit. Your head's been locked on her this whole time. Who are you trying to fool with that sorry act?"
...Tch.
I had no choice but to subtly avert my gaze.
In the silence, everyone around us wore reverent expressions.
Like us, people dressed in white robes and masks clasped their hands neatly and bowed their heads as if in prayer.
Seeing this, Ha Hui-ryeong, Kim Ha-yoon, and I quickly followed suit.
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down, so blending in required this unpleasant but necessary ritual.
That was when it happened.
"Dear brothers and sisters, thank you so much for gathering here again today."
The only one not wearing a mask — the silver-haired woman — opened her tightly shut eyes and parted her peach-colored lips.
Her voice was beautiful.
A lovely tone that rang clearly in the ears even though she wasn't speaking loudly.
Both her aura and her appearance seemed to perfectly embody the classic fantasy archetype of a saintess.
"It is time for Reflection and Repentance. Yes, the time you have all so eagerly awaited and longed for."
Having said that, the silver-haired woman snapped her fingers.
In that instant, her shadow rippled.
A dark-black foreign substance, utterly out of place against the pure-white backdrop.
It soon began to take on a distinct form.
—Grrrrrrrk....
—Gwaaaaargh!
Zombies.
Zombies whose movements were restrained by iron chains.
"Whose sins you forgive, they shall be forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they shall be retained."
She opened the book, read a passage, paused briefly, and then continued.
"Even if it is a villain who has committed a mortal sin that no one could forgive, there is no exception. Yes, even if one has lost reason and fallen into monstrosity, lusting after family and craving the flesh of neighbors — everyone deserves a chance at salvation."
She approached the zombies without hesitation, even as they bared their yellowed, drool-slicked teeth.
"Forgiveness and reflection. Whenever you sin, repent for the sins you have committed."
Hand met hand.
And astonishingly, the rampaging zombies stopped dead in their tracks.
"Even if you sin again, do not despair, but repent anew."
And then.
"And so, let there be light."
A bright light flowed out.
A radiance so brilliant it filled the entire plaza erupted from her.
Moments later, the white glow subsided, and what remained were people.
Healthy color had returned to their skin, and intelligence now dwelled in their eyes.
Yes.
She had healed the corpses that had lost their reason.
Restored them to how they should naturally be.
"Ahh, Saintess-nim...."
"Faith. This faith shall be eternal."
"We shall follow. Without doubt, without hesitation, we shall go forth."
All around, people sang her praises with tearful voices.
It was blind to the point of madness, but having witnessed this spectacle, we too were left stunned.
"Today's Time for Reflection and Repentance will conclude here. Everyone, please return to your assigned duties."
The woman they called the Saintess punctuated the commotion with those words.
One by one, people began to trickle out of the plaza.
Amidst it all, I remained seated, motionless.
Still unable to shake off the shock, I simply stared blankly at the spot where the miracle had occurred.
'She turned a zombie... back into a human?'
Was that even possible?
At a point where decomposition had already progressed significantly, she hadn't just healed them without a single wound — she had restored them exactly to their living appearance.
It was fundamentally absurd.
Jeong Yeon-ji's trait, Original Regression, could revert someone bitten by a zombie back to normal.
But due to its three-hour time limit, it was only a half-complete regression at best.
And even that couldn't be used recklessly because of its massive energy consumption.
What the silver-haired woman had just shown, however, overturned all common sense.
For one, there seemed to be no time limit, and it could be applied to multiple people, not just one.
She'd performed the incredible feat of curing three at once.
Perhaps even more was possible.
'Is this a higher-grade version of Ha Hui-ryeong's ability?'
I don't know.
There was simply too little information.
All I could do for now was speculate wildly.
"Hey, let's get moving. How long are you going to space out?"
"Ah... yeah. Let's go."
I was just about to get up at Ha Hui-ryeong's urging.
That was when someone suddenly approached us.
"Do you have a moment?"
It was the silver-haired woman.
She had walked over to us before I knew it and addressed us in her beautiful voice.
I was inwardly startled, but I feigned calm and answered in a flat voice.
"What is it, Saintess?"
"Ah, it's nothing much. I was hoping you could guide the new believers who joined the Order this time. They've just opened their eyes, so to speak, so they'll be very confused. I'd like to guide them myself, but... I have an urgent matter I must attend to immediately."
With a gentle face, the silver-haired woman asked us to guide the newcomers.
Behind her, I could see three men and women looking around with blank expressions.
This had gotten troublesome.
Guide them? We didn't know our way around here either.
But I couldn't just be brazen and honestly say, "Why should I?"
She was clearly high-ranking, and in a place where eyes were watching, any rude remark would likely end very badly for us.
"I'm sorry to trouble you when you're so busy, but could you possibly help?"
She asked with a genial smile, but it was safe to say we effectively had no right to refuse.
Given the situation, we couldn't say no.
"No, no. Of course it's no trouble. How could we ever refuse a request from the Saintess? We'll guide them."
As soon as I answered, Kim Ha-yoon and Ha Hui-ryeong sent me messages through the bulletin board.
Ladylike Maiden : Hey! Why did you just jump on that!? We don't know the way around here!
Yajeongkojeong : You think I did it because I wanted to? If we refuse here, it'll just make the whole atmosphere tense.
These were the people who blindly worshipped the Saintess.
Showing any hint of refusal to her words was an act that would invite suspicion.
khy23* : ...It's water under the bridge now. Let's just figure something out.
Ladylike Maiden : I'm just going to keep my mouth shut. I don't want to do something stupid and get marked as a mafia.
khy23* : Good thinking. Honestly, unnie, staying quiet is the best way to help.
Ladylike Maiden : ...I'll see you later.
khy23* : Opposed to violence.
Ugh, if you're going to chatter, do it in another room. Why are you spamming the chat here?
My vision was so clogged with notification windows I could barely see in front of me.
I struggled to maintain my composure and spoke.
"Just leave it to us."
"Yes. Then I trust you, brother."
The Saintess, who had approached without making a sound, then turned her back and disappeared.
Was it just my imagination that her eyes, just before she left, felt subtly meaningful?
It was probably just my imagination... right?
I swept a hand down my chest and let out an inward sigh of relief.
We'd managed to get through it somehow.
The problem was how to handle what came next.
"Now, please follow me this way."
Speaking in a gentle tone, I took the lead and just started walking in any direction.
If we kept going, we'd run into something eventually.
I could just slap together some half-baked explanation for anything.
...Probably.
*
It was quiet.
The inside of the camper van, unlike before, was steeped in a profound silence.
The reason was that the central trio had departed for the underground.
Even Jeong Ji-min, who usually livened up the atmosphere, was silently eating a can of food.
Was it because Angelica still felt awkward?
In the strange current of tension, Kang Ha-rin forced food down her throat with difficulty.
"Unnie. Can't I have just a little more?"
"Hold back. That man told us to ration it."
"But still..."
"No."
The twin younger sibling clung to her, whining in a low voice.
In the past, she might have reluctantly given in, but now she knew what was more important.
And so, she ignored the children's wheedling.
'I wonder if he's eaten.'
Her thoughts suddenly turned to him again.
The man who would grin teasingly while exploring her body with lewd touches.
Only a few hours had passed since he left, but she already missed that touch.
It had been like that ever since that day.
Whenever he wasn't around, her heart felt troubled for no reason.
Did the others feel the same way?
Kang Ha-rin glanced discreetly at Angelica and Jeong Ji-min.
The two were engaged in a silent staring contest.
She didn't know the reason.
It was just that those two had been hostile from their very first meeting.
No, to be precise, it was more like Jeong Ji-min was the one picking a fight, and Angelica was calmly responding.
From Kang Ha-rin's perspective, it was a power struggle where the winner was clearly visible.
Whether in physique or eloquence, Angelica was guaranteed to win.
And Jeong Ji-min probably knew that, which was why she was picking fights in that manner.
"Haaah...."
Her small sigh of frustration was brief.
—Vrrrroooom!
Somewhere, the rough sound of engines roared to life.
It was outside.
Not just one or two, but a continuous series of loud exhaust notes rang out.
"Wha-what is that? Are they targeting us?"
"That might be the case. Everyone, get ready."
Unlike the flustered Jeong Ji-min, Angelica answered calmly.
Getting up from her seat, she grabbed her outer coat and glanced out the window.
Kang Ha-rin also hurriedly followed her.
— Kyahahahaha!!! Ride, ride!
— It's war, war!!
— Yeehaw!!! We go, we go, we go!! We're coming!!!!
And there, she saw a horde of motorcycles speeding along while letting out insane howls.
The scale was larger than expected.
They didn't care at all, even though the noise would surely attract zombies.
"No, wait, over there is...."
Thankfully, the direction they were heading wasn't toward the camper van.
It was the subway entrance where the trio had descended.
Dozens of people mounted on motorcycles were racing madly toward that place.
"...Something tells me this is going to turn into a bad situation."
Angelica muttered.
Kang Ha-rin couldn't disagree.