The Fallen Saintess Returns to Earth

When I slowly opened my eyes, the ground beneath my feet had vanished without a trace. In a space filled only with darkness, countless stars were embedded close together, pouring down their light.

It was like watching fireworks.

"...Where on earth am I?"

My voice scattered quietly into the void. The moment I glanced around, something caught at my feet. I lowered my head to see what it was.

Olivia lay collapsed, unconscious. Soot clung to her pale face, and her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths. She was still alive. Which would be the worst possible ending for her.

It would have been a problem if she'd died, so I suppose that's a relief.

Now, what was I supposed to do with this heavy thing?

I stood there for a long while, deliberating. Dragging her along was a nuisance. But I couldn't exactly leave her here either, and letting her die didn't sit well with me. Then I noticed something wriggling nearby.

Why hadn't I thought of that sooner?

At the flick of my finger, a single tentacle slid silently out from behind my back. It coiled around Olivia's waist and lifted her up with ease—so lightly I couldn't feel her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠weight at all.

"Girls, I'm leaving this to you. Got it?"

There was nowhere to step, yet my feet walked on something invisible. The stars drifted slowly backward. An enormous star brushed past me, and an ice-covered planet slid by far below.

First things first—I needed to get out of here.

I'd worry about everything else later.

But where was I even supposed to go?

At that moment, light bloomed beneath my feet.

It pointed the way, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as if telling me to go there.

Was someone showing me the path?

A slender line cut through the darkness and stretched out ahead. I had no idea where it led, but strangely, I didn't hesitate. Striding along, I followed the light.

"Olivia. If you could see this, what would your reaction be? I'm bored, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠let's guess. I'd bet anything you'd wet yourself, careless thing that you are."

I tossed the words carelessly at her, wrapped up in my tentacles. It wasn't as if talking to her would wake her, but the road ahead was fairly dull, so I made conversation without expecting an answer.

"Space is spread out beneath my feet. You might get angry and call it blasphemy, but I wonder if this Goddess of ours doesn't exist somewhere around here too. Mm, I think she does."

It was ironic. The betrayal I'd been shoved into the abyss for had, in the end, dragged me all the way out here. All they'd ever wanted was my death—and yet I'd survived to the very end and made it out of that world entirely.

I don't know how many rivers of stars I crossed. It was hard to tell whether time was even passing. Then my steps stopped on their own. I had finally found it.

It floated there before my eyes.

Clouds drifted slowly over a sphere blanketed in blue water and green. Unlike the other stars, it wasn't cold at all. An overwhelming wave of longing and sorrow rose within me. Why? Why was that?

Something surged up from deep in my chest.

Tears I'd thought would never flow again slid down my cheeks. So some human emotion still remained in me. It left me inexplicably conflicted.

"...It's been a while. I never thought I'd see it up close like this."

My voice trembled—enough to startle even me.

So this body could still make a sound like that.

A self-mocking smile tugged at my lips.

Coming from a horrific mass murderer, no less.

The hazy memories of the man flickered briefly into focus. The sky beyond the window of a gray city. People whose names and faces I could no longer recall. The fragments of a life overlapped with the blue sphere before me.

The place I had longed so desperately to return to was right in front of me. Time to go home, then. I'd had enough. Without a flicker of hesitation, I reached out my hand. My fingertips touched its surface.

There was no light, no sound. Together with Olivia, still clinging to my tentacle, I was sucked inside in an instant. I didn't even have time to resist. Space, the stars, the darkness—all collapsed into a single point, and the scenery changed.

And then I opened my eyes again. Slowly.

Thump, thump—my heart was pounding.

I wanted to believe this really was that place.

I was afraid to face the reality in front of me.

A damp chill prickled at my nose. The smell of earth and moss, of stagnant water. A hard floor pressed against my back. I was lying somewhere.

I sat up and immediately looked around.

It was a cave. Thick moss coated the walls, and water dripped from the ceiling. But something was off. For a natural cave, there were far too many traces of someone having lived here. Especially over there.

A cot with a blanket spread over it, and a worn wooden table.

On top of it sat a lantern, dishes, and various articles of clothing. As if someone had prepared a home for me in advance. Everything was a mystery.

I ran my fingertips across the table. Not a speck of dust. The dishes had been wiped spotless, and the lantern was filled with oil.

"Did they know I was coming?"

A chill ran down my spine. If all of this had been prepared for me, then something had summoned me here. But did that matter? Nothing would change no matter how long I fretted over it.

Olivia had been laid down in a corner. My tentacle had evidently carried her there, docile to the last. She was still unconscious, but I had no time to spare for her. My attention was caught elsewhere.

A transparent pane of glass was embedded in one wall of the cave. Moving closer to examine it, I realized it was a window—a modern glass window, utterly out of place against the mossy stone. And beyond it, I saw something familiar.

My heart raced wildly. This fluttering was the first I'd felt since becoming the Saintess. As if in a trance, I drifted toward the window.

I looked outside. My breath caught.

Rows of densely packed buildings, and cars of every color streaming along the roads. Black power lines sliced across the sky, and hazy smoke smudged the horizon in the distance. I remembered. Everything I'd forgotten.

It was Earth. The scenery I'd ached for only in dreams was spread out before my eyes. I'd finally ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠made it. My eyes kept burning hot, but I let them.

"...I'm back. I'm home!"

I stood there blankly for a long time.

One palm pressed against the glass, leaning my weight into it.

Over and over, until I'd worn it out. Again. And again...

Then, one by one, I began to notice the strange things.

My line of sight was unusually high. And the wall stretching down beneath the window itself was no ordinary wall. It was neither stone nor concrete.

Its surface was red, slick, and undulating, slicked with something mucilaginous. Bewildered, I leaned out the window and peered down.

Thousands of tentacles had tangled together into a massive tower rising high into the sky, and my perch was near its very top. Worse, the ground below was absolute chaos. This was bad.

Military vehicles had the area surrounded in layer upon layer.

People bustled about busily, and several black helicopters wheeled overhead. The sound of their propellers echoed faintly through the window.

Every gun barrel was aimed at the tower.

There were even plenty of people equipped with outlandish weapons. They carried swords and staves, just like in that other world. They looked like avatars straight out of a game.

"...What's with all this commotion? And is this really Earth?"

It was nothing like the Earth in my past life's memories.

Not the tentacle tower erupting from the ground, not the army surrounding it, not the citizens bearing arms. None of it matched what I knew. It was enough to make me wonder if I'd fallen onto some twisted Earth in another dimension entirely.

At the very least, one thing was clear: this was no situation for a joyful homecoming. Just then, a loudspeaker blared from outside the window. What urgent announcement could this be?

"Warning to the target inside the tower! Reveal yourself and surrender immediately! If you resist, we will open fire! This is a second warning. If you are a Returnee, come out of the tower at once! Humanity wants peace!"

Perhaps because I'd shed my human body, the murmur of the ground below reached me all the way up here. Let's hear what they have to say. I needed the information anyway.

"Something moved in the window at the top."

"It's a human figure. Looks like a woman..."

"Could it be a Returnee? We've had similar cases before."

"You can say that after seeing that monstrosity?"

"You never know. There might be a beauty in there."

The audio crackled. Then a gruff, resolute voice came through. The ones who had been joking and laughing moments ago fell silent.

"To all units: under no circumstances will anyone fire first without orders. You all saw what happened at the Busan Tower last time. Keep your eyes on that tower and report every second. Not one blink."

At those words, I couldn't help raising an eyebrow slightly.

An atmosphere laced with both tension and familiarity.

Somehow, it kept nagging at me.

I took a step back from the window.

Horns thrust up from my head, tentacles glowing deep red.

It was obvious what would happen if I went out looking like this.

The odds were high they'd mistake me for a monster and a fight would break out.

That was not the reaction I was hoping for.

I wanted to live as peacefully as possible, but things clearly wouldn't be smooth sailing. Above all, I hoped these children wrapped around my body wouldn't get hurt. They look fearsome, but they're this sweet.

I drew a breath. The instant I gave the command to the power coiled deep within me, the response was immediate. The tentacles extending from my back wound back into my body, melting away without a trace.

The black armor covering my shoulders scattered like ash. My overgrown nails shrank, and the dark aura at my fingertips faded. The world, which had burned red, quietly returned to its natural colors.

There was no mirror, but I could tell. I was an ordinary nun once more. The Empire's one and only Saintess who had served the Goddess. Violet.

"...Well, this is fairly convenient."

With this, I could safely conceal the demon's power. Draw it out only when needed, and play the human otherwise. Quite a handy talent for surviving in this twisted world. Not bad at all.

That didn't put my mind at ease, though.

The situation was still a complete mess.

I had no idea what I ought to tackle first.

Let's start by giving this place a careful look.

I was leisurely surveying my surroundings when it happened.

An unfamiliar voice echoed inside my head. I couldn't even begin to guess what it was. It wasn't a sound reaching my ears but something boring into my very bones, and all I could do was tremble. It was deeply unpleasant.

Guardian, was it? Such an ill-fitting title, it was almost laughable. I was, after all, someone who had lost everything worth protecting. In that case, perhaps this place was a prison the Goddess had cast me into.

Outside the window, the helicopter noise swelled again.

The loudspeaker shouted something, and the gun barrels of the encirclement shifted restlessly. Soldiers in gas masks crowded toward the entrance, while others shouldered equipment that looked like measuring instruments.

What could be happening down there?

But there was no one to ask. Not yet, anyway.

Would it be better to go down and find out for myself?

I was still turning it over when I sensed a presence.

Rustle. At the sound of fabric stirring, I slowly turned my head. It was Olivia, lying in the corner. Her eyelids were fluttering—she seemed to be regaining consciousness—and a groan slipped out between her cracked lips.

"Ugh... nngh... it... it hurts. I feel like I'm dying."

I walked toward her, my back to the window. The corners of my mouth curled up on their own. Olivia. My dear, lovely friend. So you're finally awake.

Olivia. Olivia. My friend.

A love so precious it curdles into hatred.

You're curious about what comes next too, aren't you?

Fufufu. You'll find out soon enough.

"Sleep well, Olivia?"

Figuring out how Earth worked could wait. Right now, I was far more curious about the expression on Olivia's face as she opened her eyes. Welcome to Earth, Olivia.