Chapter 31

“It’s a miracle you’re still alive. If this keeps up, you’ll gradually weaken and close your eyes before reaching adulthood.”

“N-no way… Isn’t there a cure? A cure?”

“There isn’t. It’s not a disease to begin with.”

031

You Will Know (Part 2)

Anne’s flail had torn apart not just the man’s clothes but also his body. After regenerating, he stood there completely naked.

Yet, looking at him, one couldn’t feel shame or sexual desire. He was just a statue, eerily human-like. Indistinguishable to the naked eye, even if his texture resembled human skin.

“He cannot eat, excrete, or sleep.”

Anne’s clear voice further stirred the already confused mind.

“He cannot reproduce, conceive, grow, or age.”

It was true. The man’s groin was flat, with no anus, nipples to nurse a child, or even a navel as evidence of a severed umbilical cord.

Indistinguishable from a human, yet lacking something crucial to humanity.

Even if one couldn’t define exactly what it was, the sight of his plain, featureless body evoked both familiarity and disgust simultaneously.

“Since he’s not alive, he cannot be killed. The best we can do is crush and smash him until he can no longer regenerate.”

That’s why he’s a heretic.

A being that lives by a different standard, deviating from the natural order of Ailim.

Now it made sense why Anne’s weapon of choice was a flail. As she flicked her wrist, the chain coiled, and the separated iron ball reattached itself.

“Laube was torn apart and devoured by her own subjects, stripped of her blood and flesh, and no one stood up for her. In the end, she was remade from the dirt at the very bottom.”

Anne’s muttering didn’t even register. The sight was too shocking—a human breaking and reforming like a clay statue.

The sight of something transcendent toying with life instilled extreme fear and disgust in mortal eyes.

“Surprised?”

Even after being brutally smashed moments ago, the man’s voice remained calm, as if he felt no pain.

His deep, growling voice carried an eerie persuasiveness as it echoed in my ears.

“…Yes.”

“Heh, no need to be surprised. Soon, you’ll be just like me—”

“Heretics.”

*Crunch.*

“Don’t have the right to speak, did I not say?”

The man’s sneering face shattered again. It wasn’t a pleasant sight, but I certainly didn’t wish for it to explode.

Anne, who had thrown the flail, didn’t bother retrieving it. The unrealistically bloodless corpse lay beneath it, the flail still gleaming. Somehow, the broken pieces seemed to move more sluggishly.

Having delayed the heretic’s regeneration, Anne turned to me.

“Of course, that one is an extreme case among heretics. Probably just one step away from the final stage.”

“Th-there’s a ‘next’ stage too?”

“Yes.”

Her voice was eerily calm for someone who had just shattered a human skull. Her familiarity with violence, even wielding destruction with her own hands, was unsettling.

“The final stage of heresy is when both body and mind are taken over by Laube. The body becomes a grotesque mix of human, beast, and insect, and the mind loses all reverence and praise for Ailim, becoming an embodiment of endless blasphemy.”

Stunned into silence by the grim tale, Anne walked lightly between the bars, a stiff smile on her face.

“Louis, do you know why the reformation of heretics involves confronting other heretics?”

“…I don’t know.”

“To show you what that end looks like.”

Her low, cool, yet sweet voice seeped into my ears. To my bewildered mind, her whispers felt like the murmurs of a devil.

“Laube’s voice always tempts in the same way. It emerges from the hearts of the desperate, promising to grant your wishes if you listen to her.”

“Funny, isn’t it? Without giving power to that voice, it’s just a powerless illusion, an echo that can’t change the world. But the more you surrender to the darkness within…”

“You might gain power and knowledge, as promised. But the end is the same. Even with the ability to fulfill your wishes, you’ll forget what you wished for, becoming a pitiful, ugly being.”

Anne reached through the bars to retrieve her flail. As the starlight emanating from its head faded, the man’s features began to regenerate rapidly, as if time had accelerated.

He was a handsome man, even by male standards. Though his vicious nature and cruel expression ruined it all.

“This heretic’s human name was Joseph von Etrages.”

Hearing Anne’s explanation, my mind went blank from a different kind of shock.

Of course, a country bumpkin like me wouldn’t remember the name of a noble. Yet, the name Etrages lingered in my mind because…

“Before entering the reformatory, he was the crown prince of the Empire.”

It was the name of the most powerful family ruling the largest nation on the continent.

To a commoner like me, it was a name as lofty as the sun. Seeing such a high-ranking figure reduced to this state, imprisoned and subjected to harsher punishments than me, felt surreal.

I could have denied Anne’s words, but I didn’t. I had no reason to doubt her, and Joseph—there was no mistaking the regal air about him.

Even in this state.

“Earthly power is meaningless before divine authority. Nothing can protect a heretic from the word of God.”

The calm recitation of facts felt like a warning. Though spoken elegantly, it was no different from a thug threatening to crush you if you didn’t submit, showing you the fate of your neighbor.

Even with abilities like super-regeneration and the unmatched power of a crown prince.

Only one truth remained. Joseph was locked in a basement, beaten with a flail, and no one came to save him.

Of course, I had neither. Anne was treating me kindly now, but if she started treating me like the other heretics…

The hatred and anger on Joseph’s twisted face were hollow, devoid of substance. Only malice remained, stripped of despair. A painfully familiar expression.

Seeing him, I couldn’t help but recall the thought I had when I first met him.

‘Will I end up like that too?’

Anne, who had been studying my face intently, soon smiled in satisfaction and stepped back.

“You seem to understand well enough. Now, don’t forget that… and let’s talk.”

‘Reformation’ was a brutal process. Ruthless violence highlighted the immortality of the subject, solidifying that even earthly power couldn’t save a heretic.

It laid bare how far a being who abandoned Ailim could fall. Not just physically, but also in a personality-crushing dissection. Yet, the man’s face remained unchanged.

As if he had grown accustomed to this.

“That woman, is she the childhood friend you mentioned?”

I thought he might remain silent in defiance, but while I was sorting through my tangled thoughts, Joseph spoke first.

Caught off guard, I froze. When I didn’t respond, he took it as reluctance and shrugged.

“Must be. Otherwise, the ‘White Calamity’ wouldn’t be so kind…”

*Crash!*

Seeing it for the third time didn’t make it any less shocking. As I flinched, Anne retrieved her flail and warned lightly.

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“…Noted.”

This strike wasn’t as brutal as the previous ones. Still, with nearly half his head caved in, Joseph’s calm demeanor was as inhuman as Anne’s.

Ah, he wasn’t human.

…Then, is Anne human?

“Heh. You’re pitiful too. Destined to become a piece of meat for the one you love.”

“No, I’m not a heretic…”

“Still denying it? You should start accepting reality.”

Even as a crown prince, Joseph’s essence didn’t change. A heinous murderer and a heretic who strayed from the right path. The aura of power faded quickly, and I glared at him, even as I felt overwhelmed.

Though I followed Anne’s every bizarre command without protest, it didn’t mean I was convinced by her logic. It was just that refusing would invite even greater violence.

“No.”

Perhaps it was a blessing that I had grown numb to pain. I glared at him and bit into my own wrist.

Self-harm I couldn’t have done before. The metallic taste of blood flooded my mouth, and when I pulled away, blood gushed. I growled, showing him the bite mark.

“I’m human. I’m not a monster like you.”

My body, unlike Joseph’s, was unmistakably made of flesh and blood. Seeing the vivid symbol of life, Joseph stiffened, then hardened his expression as he watched the wound heal.

“…If you insist so much, I won’t shatter that belief.”

Silence again. Anne, momentarily stunned by my outburst, returned to her spot. Since she showed no intention of ending this uncomfortable confrontation, I brought up the question that had been rising since her explanation.

“You were the crown prince of the Empire, right?”

“I was.”

“Then you lacked nothing. There was nothing you couldn’t achieve.”

My emotions, once flaring, calmed as I spoke. I asked the question to this inhuman monster, who still looked and acted like a human.

“Why did you become a heretic?”