Chapter 119

Execution by Fire. The worst punishment.

The pain of being burned is the most intense suffering a living being can endure.

It wasn’t a matter of mental strength.

The moment you get burned, it’s something every living creature inherently understands.

– Ah, damn it, this hurts like hell.

It was indeed extremely painful.

And Darian threw himself into the flames.

“What, you crazy bastard!”

“Ugh…”

On the other side of the flames, the Bishop’s faction was paralyzed in terror, caught off guard by the spectacle.

Some shrieked as if they were seeing a demon.

While others trembled in fear.

– Isn’t there some sort of resistance for a so-called Hero?

ㄴ Yeah, I thought so too.

ㄴ Who would jump in like that otherwise? lol

ㄴ Looks like someone just realized.

The Gallery had faith that there was something more to him.

After all, he was a Hero.

Surely, he must possess something.

Head of the Gallery*: Crazy guy.

But, there was absolutely nothing.

The man dove into the fire with just his bare body.

– Damn, he burns well.

– Doesn’t seem like anything special, lol.

– Aaaah, my skin is boiling in real-time, damn it!

– Woah… that must hurt like hell…

– But why isn’t he screaming?

Soon, the Gallery realized that the hero was indeed nothing special as the panic ensued.

However, even as time passed and his flesh scorched, Darian didn’t even blink, let alone scream.

He walked steadily through the flames toward the Bishop’s faction.

“It doesn’t hurt.”

Then Darian spoke.

“I’ll prove my faith.”

In the midst of that bizarre sight, I muttered blankly.

“No way, that’s gotta hurt like a bitch.”

Darian was human.

He would die if he burned.

What he was doing now was no different from casting ‘Am I going to die? Am I really going to die?’.

“But at least he’s from the Gallery.”

I couldn’t just stand by while a life was extinguished.

I quickly rummaged through the system, recalling one of the notifications that had appeared when I designated him.

[Please choose the ability of the current ‘Head of the Gallery’.]

“Oh right, this popped up.”

The phrase that appeared when I designated the Head of the Gallery.

It was as if the system was telling me to pick a character skill tree from a game.

As I entered, a list of potential abilities unfolded.

[‘Darian’s Potential Abilities List.’]

1. Faith

You bloom faith through your belief in the Head of the Gallery.

All attacks transform into holy attributes and gain immunity to holy attacks.

2. Gallery Hero

Receive slightly more ability sharing.

Significantly enhances physical capabilities.

“Hmm, that’s ambiguous.”

The first two caught my eye.

The first one seemed interesting, but right now Darian was walking on fire.

It didn’t seem very helpful.

As for the second, it was vague as well.

It didn’t specify how much of a physical boost was involved.

3. Will (Not Recommended!)

If you have willpower, there’s nothing you can’t do.

“Will?”

There was one more ability.

The problem was that it came with the hardest-to-understand description.

I thought I’d be done identifying the speaker’s intent during language tests.

“Hmm.”

Thankfully, I was in the humanities.

By deducing from that short description, it could be seen as potentially the most OP ability.

If you have will, you could walk through fire and heal your wounds, right?

“Of course, I have no idea how strong this willpower needs to be…”

But considering walking into flames, it seemed to fit well.

Though I was bothered by that ‘not recommended’ part.

[Warning: Side effects may occur when this ability is awakened.]

[Are you sure you want to select this ability?]

I hesitated a moment at the warning text.

But having already made up my mind, I pressed number 3.

“Well, guess I’ll find out if I choose it.”

Unbeknownst to me why it was advised against.

*

[The ability of the Gallery’s head is awakened by the Head.]

[Ability – Will]

If you have willpower, there’s nothing you can’t do.

“Uh.”

As Darian walked through the flames, he checked the system notification and grinned broadly.

“Are you asking me to prove my faith?”

At first, I thought it was an ability with no effect.

But soon, an indescribable satisfaction surged through my entire body.

“!”

Muscles that had lost their function from burning began to regenerate.

It looked almost like a scene that defied time itself.

Every single cell of his, as if fearing the fire, rapidly renewed itself.

[If you have willpower, there’s nothing you can’t do.]

“Aah!”

Darian, overwhelmed with emotion, shed tears of joy as he completely crossed over the flames.

“…”

“Crazy…”

The expressions of the Heretics gathered beyond the flames turned to stone in shock.

It was as if they were gazing upon something that should not exist in this world, frozen in fear and courage enough to oppose it.

The spears that were aimed at him dropped, and the magicians fled into corners, huddled in terror.

Darian roamed through the flames as if they were his home, diligently searching for someone.

“Bishop!”

“!”

And at the far end, he spotted the last remaining bishops trying to escape down a side path.

“Ugh, damn, don’t come any closer, you monster!”

Living beings had predetermined destinies.

There were those born as Great Beings, like dragons, and there were the weak, who had to struggle for survival, like humans.

No matter how hard humans tried, they could not become dragons.

But Darian surpassed all that through his faith in the Head of the Gallery.

“Ugh…!”

The soldiers guarding the Bishop trembled as they parted to the sides.

The pitifully abandoned Bishop drew out a cross from his waist and thrust it before Darian.

“Get away, you demon!”

How could someone who dove into flames, smiling brightly, be called a Hero?

At that moment, a perfectly clean hand without even a scorch marks seized the cross.

“!”

After snatching the cross from the startled Bishop, something was placed in his hands.

“…A tuna can?”

Just as the Bishop muttered, lost in confusion.

– Swoosh!

The Bishop’s head was swiftly severed.

In the thick silence that followed, Darian retrieved the tuna can, raised it high, and shouted.

“Serve the new god!”

“!”

“The tuna can is His body, and the cola is His blood. The Cathedral will be reborn!”

The reformation of the Cathedral.

No, it was the moment of the birth of the Church of the Head.

*

The normalization of the Cathedral had taken place.

The previous power players were dead, and the decay was physically eradicated.

The remaining corruption of those still alive was thoroughly investigated, and the guillotine events showed no signs of stopping.

– Hahaha, Adrian has been normalized.

– Those corrupt bastards got what they deserved, lmao.

– A clean job is truly the work of the Dragon King.

In Adrian, accepting bribes was legal.

In a place where such opinions were even being spoken, Darian’s existence was a disruptive force of nature itself.

[Title: Update on the clergyman who tried to take bribes…jpg]

(Caption of doors shattering in half)

(Caption of a clergyman in shock, begging for his life)

I gave him a bribe of 1 million mana pills,

And he got enraged, asking if I was insulting him.

Seeing the reaction of someone who’d never been met with a refusal is genuinely amusing, lol.

[Recommended 7411] [Not Recommended 12]

– Wow, witnessing this in person, lol.

– Pay an entrance fee to watch, you know.

– Wow, Adrian is a counter, lol.

– But with that amount of money, one would be tempted, right?

ㄴ Really, what do they live on?

ㄴ (Tuna can meme)

ㄴ (Praise the tuna can! Gallery Hero meme)

ㄴ Lmao, all sorts of memes are sprouting up.

“Well, up to this point, it all seems good…”

Up to this point, anyone would see the perfect image of a Hero.

Not accepting bribes and exerting overwhelming power for cleaning up corruption.

I was feeling great even until he had announced that he intended to completely overhaul the Cathedral.

[Title: Announcement of Cathedral Reformation]

Author: Darian

Greetings, Gallery members.

I bring forth an important announcement regarding the Cathedral.

(Caption of a prayer hall centered on a new divine statue)

(Caption of Darian smashing the statue to pieces)

(Caption of a statue of the beautiful Head taking its place)

The god of this world is none other than the Head!

Don’t believe in strange gods.

Therefore, I will rename the Cathedral to the Church of the Head.

Before he even began to say something absurd about creating the Church of the Head in which I would be worshipped.

– Head of the Gallery*: Crazy guy.

ㄴ Lmao, summoning the Head is definitely a thing.

ㄴ Every time he does something worthy of worship, why does he say not to worship him?

ㄴ Shhh, never mention that.

The Cathedral had long been corrupted.

The once-degenerate religious organization was merely a festering corruption.

Cutting it out was good, but it would be no different from just growing another tumor on top of the rot.

“Who would like this?”

From the beginning, it was clear that it was a cult organization.

No one would defend the existing Cathedral or the Gallery.

– Orange Group) Finally!!!!!!!

ㄴ I believe in Orange!!!!!

ㄴ Thought that crazy guy was going to show up, lol.

ㄴ Patience wins, exemplified, lol.

– Church of the Head, damn it, lol.

– Actually, seems not too bad?

I support it.

– To be honest, I’d rather make offerings there looking at the beautiful Head statue than at the Cathedral, yeah.

“Eh.”

But surprisingly, many felt the same.

[Title: Why the Church of the Head Isn’t That Bad]

1. First of all, they don’t rip off the believers.

2. The highest-ranking individual is a Hero.

This guy despises bribes and all sorts of dirty dealings.

3. Donations are voluntary, and the uses of donations are transparent.

As a result, most of the donations go toward the creation of a beautiful Head statue with insane quality.

(A statue of the beautiful Head smiling while offering a tuna can)

Damn, Sister Head, I’m dying over here.

[Recommended 9999+] [Not Recommended 0]

– This is it, yeah.

Just don’t act all logical while being a tool that only does number 3, lol.

ㄴ Author) Lmao, busted!

– Head of the Gallery*) Damn it.

ㄴ Lmao, are you talking about yourself?

ㄴ This guy seems to be using more and more swear words as time goes by.

ㄴ Beautiful swearing? Actually, love it.

The worship of the Head began to transcend memes and take root in reality.

“This can’t do.”

But for me, it was unwelcome.

Above all, I preferred the Gallery’s Head over any cult god.

– Head of the Gallery*) Guys, please stop.

ㄴ (Stop! Elf Con)

ㄴ Is it possible?

ㄴ Nope, no way, go accept worship, lol.

ㄴ The person has already donated 100 mana pills, though.

But these were not the Gallery members who would listen to words.

After all, from the very start, their leader, Darian, jumped into the flames with no hesitation.

“I didn’t want to take it this far…”

It was nice that the Cathedral issue had been resolved, but I felt the need to cool down the excessively heating atmosphere.

The so-called carrot and stick approach.

[‘Head’s Marketplace’ will be temporarily closed.]

– Head of the Gallery*) [Stop it]

ㄴ ?

ㄴ Kyaaaah!

ㄴ Kehh, kehh…

ㄴ (Elf Con, choking)

Lately, there had been an increase in disruptions within the Gallery.

“Then it’s time to receive the reward, right?”

First, it was time to use the stick.