Chapter 182
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: Christine in Crisis
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Christine shouted at Douglas, who had grabbed her wrist and was running blindly.
“Le-let go of me! What are you doing?!”
“It’s dangerous! Hurry, this way!”
Christine’s mind went blank for a moment at Douglas’s urgent cry.
‘He wasn’t trying to betray me?’
When a quiet person suddenly acted out of character, it was natural to get suspicious.
She had thought Douglas was colluding with some organization to betray her, but she was wrong.
‘He was actually trying to save me.’
She could tell just from how he was pulling her away from the approaching group.
“Hurry and follow me! We’ll get caught at this rate!”
“O-okay.”
Christine summoned every ounce of strength she had left and fled, led by Douglas’s hand.
She ran forward without even glancing back.
She wanted to ask what was going on, but there was no time.
She was too busy putting as much distance as possible between her and the mysterious group.
Had it been about ten minutes?
Douglas finally came to a stop.
“Phew, we should be far enough now. They won’t be able to follow us here.”
“Hah, haa.”
Christine, too out of breath to reply, could only lean on her knees and gasp for air.
At least now she had some breathing room to look around.
‘Where are we?’
The spot where they caught their breath was some unknown forest.
She had run so frantically that she couldn’t even tell which direction they’d come from.
“I used area scan, and it looks like we’ve shaken them for sure. Good thing, Chrissy.”
“Douglas. You know who those people are, don’t you?”
Douglas nodded after a brief silence.
“Yes. They’re with the Despair Church.”
“Despair Church?”
“It’s a cult born from the ideology of dragging the world into despair. A new American religious group with strong negative views of the world, boasting over 200 player members. Their leader is a summoner nicknamed John Delgado.”
Christine’s mouth fell open as she listened to the explanation.
“H-how do you know all this in such detail?”
“Well...”
Douglas hemmed and hawed before confessing as if in absolution.
“They approached me to join them.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes. Do you remember a new recruit named Berber from a few months ago?”
“Berber? Of course, I know him well. I even greeted him today.”
“He’s a high-ranking executive in the Despair Church, at the cardinal level. He infiltrated us from the start as a spy to monitor you, Chrissy.”
“Whaaat?”
Christine couldn’t help but be shocked by the unknown fact.
‘B-Berber... was a Despair Church spy?’
She had never even heard of the Despair Church, let alone known there was a spy in their midst.
A flicker of wariness appeared in Christine’s eyes.
Could she trust the paladin in front of her?
He had been approached by the Despair Church, after all.
Noticing the change in her gaze, Douglas smiled reassuringly.
“Don’t worry. They offered me to betray you and join them, but I only pretended to accept. It was to find out who was targeting the Saintess.”
“Oh... So they’re after me? Why?”
“I’m just a low-level member, so I couldn’t find out the reason yet. What’s clear is that they picked today to kill you, Chrissy. You can see that from how they mobilized 200 followers.”
“Th-then all those people are here to kill me...”
“It’s probably more about wiping out your followers than you personally. They’re likely fighting tooth and nail right now, as we speak.”
Those words snapped Christine back to reality.
“W-we have to go back.”
“Huh?”
“My comrades are in danger. If I intervene, I can save them.”
“No way. It’s too dangerous. The enemy outnumbers us two to one.”
“But...!”
“If you stepped in, we might turn the tide. But do you think they don’t know that?”
“......”
“The enemies aren’t idiots. The moment they spot you, they’ll target you first. Stepping out now is way too risky.”
“I have domination authority. So somehow...”
“Domination doesn’t work on higher-level opponents, does it? And you can only use it ten times. How do you plan to handle 200 people?”
“......”
“The best way for you to survive is to wait here safely and watch the situation. Why do you think I dragged only you out? If we went back, it’d just play into their hands.”
“Haa...”
Everything he said made perfect sense, so Christine couldn’t stubbornly insist anymore.
‘Why are they after me? What did I do wrong...?’
Overwhelmed by complicated emotions, Christine clutched her head and sank to the ground.
No matter how she thought about it, she hadn’t done anything shady. Why?
She had never even contacted this Despair Church before.
‘The leader’s a summoner? There’s a job like that?’
She had never seen him on the rankings, probably because they were in different zones.
‘I don’t know the reason, but I now know there are enemies out to kill me.’
Everything was just as the prophet had said.
‘Which means the one who saves me from this crisis is...’
Christine stared at Douglas.
The paladin praised among their comrades as the Saintess’s knight.
He was the white knight on horseback from the prophecy who would save her.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
“N-no. I’m just grateful.”
She felt she could definitely trust him.
Hadn’t he been playing double agent, pretending to join the Despair Church even now?
Thanks to him, she had escaped danger.
“Thankful? Who else would protect you if not me? Heh heh.”
“Thank you again from the bottom of my heart. You saved my life.”
“It was nothing. By the way, is your wrist okay? I didn’t pull too hard, did I...?”
“You were just trying to get me out of there fast. It’s fine.”
“Still, let me take a look. It’d be a shame if such a pretty wrist got scarred.”
Douglas took Christine’s hand and examined her wrist, turning it this way and that.
As he fiddled with her hand, Christine’s brow furrowed slightly.
‘What’s he doing? In a situation like this?’
She sensed a strange atmosphere.
No, she could see he was steering it that way.
“That’s enough, right? I told you it’s fine.”
Unwilling to let the weird mood continue, Christine pulled her wrist away, cutting it off.
“......”
“......”
An awkward silence suddenly fell between them.
Christine had never been interested in men to begin with.
No matter how much he had saved her life, it wouldn’t spark romantic feelings.
“Thank you for saving me, Paladin.”
“Paladin...”
Douglas’s demeanor turned odd.
“Why are you suddenly calling me by my class instead of my nickname?”
“Huh? Well...”
“Are you drawing a line? Do you hate me that much? Even after I saved your life?”
“......”
“You hate the idea of us becoming lovers that much!”
Shouting, Douglas shoved Christine.
“Kyaa!”
The difference in strength was too great; she had no choice but to fall.
She couldn’t stop him from swiftly mounting her like a beast.
“Wh-what are you doing?!”
“What am I doing, you fucking bitch? Since it’s come to this, I’m done with this shitty acting.”
“What are you talking ab—.”
Slap-!
It was meant to snap her out of it, but the shock left Christine dazed.
“Hey, you fucking bitch. I betrayed the Despair Church and saved your life, and you’re still playing hard to get? Huh? You hate me that much? Huh?”
His speech had completely changed, and his once gentle expression had twisted into that of a vicious criminal.
He looked and sounded like a street thug, not the noble Saintess’s knight paladin.
“I’m asking you.”
Slap-!
“Oh? Not answering? Your pride’s hurt? Huh?”
The absurd situation was so ridiculous she couldn’t even cry.
She just glared at him with venomous eyes.
“Ha, so the bitch can make that face too?”
Sneering, Douglas showed eyes filled with lust.
“I like it even more. There’s flavor when you resist, right? Heh heh.”
“......What did you say?”
Instead of answering, Douglas used a skill.
Shraaalaak—
The paladin skill ‘Holy Restraint.’
Golden chains burst from thin air, binding Christine’s limbs.
She lay there, unable to move a muscle.
“Un-unbind me!”
“Not even begging, just ordering me around... Let’s see how long that flimsy pride lasts.”
Flashing a lecherous grin, Douglas buried his face in Christine’s bosom.
“Wh-why are you doing this?! Don’t! We’re family!”
“Heh heh, family?”
Douglas lifted his head with a mocking laugh.
“You’re joking, right? You don’t actually think those guys who follow you are family, do you?”
“......”
“They worship and suck up to you as the Saintess, so you’ve lost touch with reality. We’re just banded together for mutual benefit. Survival rates go up moving with a priest like you. Same for you—you’ve got runes that give exp for helping people, so you heal for free. Right?”
“......You knew.”
“Of course. How else could you level up without a single attack skill? No one’s that stupid; we all figured it out. And you call that family? We’re not even blood-related.”
“But... we’ve survived rounds together. We’ve overcome hardships.”
“True. But people are colder than you think. Even after dancing with death, if there’s no gain, they’ll stab you in the back. Just like me.”
Grinning slyly, Douglas pressed his face into Christine’s nape.
She shuddered in revulsion, but he only enjoyed the reaction more.
“Sniff sniff, you smell good.”
“D-don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what? Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment? It was torture holding back beside you all this time.”
“......”
She never dreamed the holy paladin Douglas harbored such filthy thoughts.
Seeing him rake her body with lewd eyes, Christine’s face grew desperate.
She had tried domination earlier, but it didn’t work—probably due to his level.
“St-stop! Th-this won’t benefit either of us.”
“No benefit? Just wait a bit. I’ll show you paradise.”
“You think you’ll get away with this? You whisked me away, so the Despair Church won’t let you off!”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. After I rape you here, I’ll hand you over to them like I caught you late. No problem. Heh heh.”
“Y-you think that obvious lie will work? If I get caught by the Despair Church, I’ll spill everything I heard. So let me go now. We can pretend it never happened...”
Christine trailed off.
‘He’s not listening at all.’
His eyes were unfocused, fixated only on her body.
From the excited snorts, he didn’t seem in his right mind.
Despair washed over Christine’s face.
She had tried to persuade him somehow, but nothing would get through in this state.
She could feel instinct overriding reason.
“Heh heh heh... Yeah, yeah. Stay still. I’ll make it fun for you soon...”
That was when it happened.
Douglas’s head snapped to the side.
His presence detection radar had picked up a third party’s movement.
“Who’s there? Which bastard...”
Douglas stood to kill the intruder but fell silent.
His face stiffened, goosebumps rising on his back.
“Ah, ah...”
It was none other than the Despair Church’s leader standing before him.
“There you are, you rat bastard.”
The summoner John Delgado approached with terrifying eyes.
‘Shit, we’re totally fucked.’
Cursing inwardly, Douglas bowed and closed the distance.
He planned to snap the leader’s neck the moment he let his guard down.
“You’re here, Leader? Heh heh.”
“What are you doing here? I clearly ordered you to bring the Saintess.”
“Ah, well, you see...”
Douglas didn’t get a chance to reply.
Crack-!
An undead that had appeared behind him grabbed his head.
“No need to answer. Disobeying my orders means death.”
Crunch crunch—
Douglas’s neck twisted 360 degrees, and he slumped lifeless to the ground.
At the same time, the golden chains dissolved, freeing Christine, but she couldn’t move rashly.
Another skeleton-like undead had a blade to her throat.
‘Wh-what? It didn’t even trigger presence detection?’
As if reading her thoughts, John Delgado murmured.
“My familiars have no physical form. Presence detection doesn’t pick them up.”
“Y-you’re the summoner John Delgado...”
“That horny traitor must’ve spilled everything about me.”
John Delgado was a lean American.
A typical mage-class in robes with a staff.
He looked frail at a glance, but the aura of his summoned beasts was anything but ordinary.
‘Each summon feels as strong as a player.’
Hadn’t he just casually killed Douglas?
“Knowing my identity changes nothing. You’re dying by my hand now, Saintess Chrissy.”
“Wh-why me...”
“Ponder that slowly in heaven.”
Snap—
With a flick of his fingers as the command, the undead raised its blade.
‘Am I... dying like this? Just like the prophecy...?’
Christine’s vision went white for a moment, but it wasn’t an illusion.
Zzzap—!
A white and blue bolt of lightning struck the undead behind her, vaporizing it.
John Delgado scowled and turned toward the sudden death of his summon.
Christine lifted her head in the direction the current had come from.
And she saw.
Who the true white knight on horseback was—the one who would save her.
‘That man... could it be?’
A man wielding a massive scythe was walking toward them.