Chapter 45

This is the creed of your faith that comes from the ones who extinguish evil; etch it into your bodies and remember.

One. You exist to extinguish evil. If there is even the smallest evil around you, forgive it never.

Two. You are the ones who walk through the darkness for the sake of light. Though your bodies may be in the darkness, your souls must shine.

Three. If you suspect someone, interrogate them and probe them to the end. Truly, the followers of the Evil God and devils are wicked and deceitful, hiding themselves.

Four. Even if you mistakenly spill the blood of the innocent, never hesitate. Spilling the blood of one innocent is more beneficial to the world than letting ten wicked ones live.

Five. My chosen one is simple and plain. One who has endured and overcome a fierce, painful curse for a long time is beloved by me, and I shall bestow my holy mark upon them. When you see my chosen one, you must be loyal and obedient.

Six. Those with many eyes on their bodies are bearers of calamity; execute them on sight. Once again, I tell you not to fear spilling the blood of the innocent.

Seven. Those whose spirits have been consumed by darkness are the most revolting of all. Remember your hatred for them, never forgetting it.

You must offer the blood and entrails of the wicked to me as tribute. I shall joyfully consume them, for I am one who takes pleasure in extinguishing evil.

-The Holy scripture of the White Church. The full text of the 7 Commandments from [Codex Proelium].

The Chosen One of the Evil God couldn’t believe it.

The Piece of the Evil God had shattered.

Still, no one knows why it shattered.

It escaped the Princess Iomenes’ body and tried to embed itself into the body of the Saint of Healing… before vanishing.

In that moment, it vomited up all the souls and spirits it had just consumed but hadn’t yet digested.

As shocking as the disappearance of the piece was, there was something even more concerning: the current location of the Chosen One.

The Chosen One, who had been standing close to the Saint of Healing, had no idea the piece would shatter just five minutes after its creation.

So right now…

“O Savior! Eleos!”

“Eleos!”

The Chosen One heard the people’s cries from just a short distance away from the Saint.

Cold sweat poured out involuntarily.

The Chosen One had expended a great deal of divine energy to break all the defense mechanisms in the annex, using the miracle of Concealment.

The miracle of Concealment had become extremely weak.

The moment the nearby priests, wizards, and knights discovered the Chosen One, it would all be over.

Careful not to be noticed by the shouting crowd, the Chosen One began to slowly back away.

“Ka-a-a-aack!”

At that moment, Princess Iomenes, who had been cradled in the Emperor’s arms, suddenly turned her gaze toward the Chosen One and let out a sharp, growling scream.

“You! You! Bad! Bad! I don’t like you!”

Although her soul seemed to have returned to its original state after the piece shattered, the Princess’ speech remained awkward due to the sixteen years of solitary torture she endured.

But her speech was the only awkward thing.

Her eyes burned with an unprecedented ferocity.

The Chosen One, seeing her gaze, felt a sinking sensation in their chest.

Though she had endured a powerful curse for a long time, it was her indomitable will to survive, combined with a miracle, that had occasionally allowed her to overcome it.

And the soul of such an individual develops a natural resistance to all existing demons, hellish dark magic, and the Evil God’s miracles and curses.

The figure before her, Iomenes, had withstood an unprecedentedly potent curse for 19 years before ultimately reviving.

There was probably no one in human history with such a strong resistance to curses, dark magic, and the Evil God’s miracles.

Naturally, someone with such strong resistance could easily see through the Chosen One’s Concealment miracle.

‘What terrible luck!!’

The Chosen One broke out in cold sweat.

But the Chosen One desperately maintained their composure.

Because Iomenes’ speech and expressions were still clumsy after years of enduring torture, people wouldn’t take her words seriously.

There was still a chance to smoothly deflect the situation.

“Princess, why are you saying that?”

Bewildered eyes.

A startled face.

An expression of not understanding the situation.

Maid Emily, who had been working in the palace for eleven years, put on a perfect performance and replied that way.

***

When the Piece of the Evil God shattered, and Princess Iomenes began to fall from mid-air, she was caught and brought safely back to the ground.

Treating the wounds on her body and healing the wings that had grown from her were all good actions until…

As people cried out my name, calling me ‘Eleos,’ and streamed tears, I finally understood my situation in full.

My shortcut to skipping hell had disappeared.

Was the Piece of the Evil God not supposed to be something incredible?!!

Why on earth is it breaking?!

Why are you doing this to me, seriously?

Even if my abilities are ugly and base, I’ve only used them for good causes!

I made the Church members prosperous and healed the people in the slums for free. What…?

I’ve never used my abilities with evil intentions even once!

So why the trip to hell!? WHY!

Despair.

Frustration.

Sadness.

Tears flowed nonstop.

My crying only made people call out my name, ‘Eleos,’ even more enthusiastically.

Are they mocking me?

Thinking I’d be able to go back to Korea, I’ve done a lot of questionable things—now how am I supposed to clean this up?

Besides, doesn’t it just not make sense? Just a moment ago, extremely concentrated black curses were focusing on me, but my soul didn’t shatter?

Even with all the heavy, positive emotions around me, how could my soul possibly remain intact after all that darkness?

Finding elixirs when I dug underground in abandoned factories—does that make sense?

Am I supposed to believe I’m really the Saint?

Forget it.

I just want to be alone.

As I closed my eyes and quietly sobbed, I suddenly heard Iomenes’ harsh voice.

She was waving her finger at a maid in her mid-30s who looked quite dignified.

“You! You’re bad!! Bad!!”

Iomenes growled, yelled, and flailed her limbs.

The emperor quickly intervened, blocking her.

“It seems there are still aftereffects.”

“Clergy! Clerics, come here! Iomenes needs healing!”

However, Iomenes screamed, looking increasingly distressed.

“No!! Bad!! No!! Not this!”

Struggling against the emperor and empress’ arms trying to calm her, she continued to yell despite the emperor’s understanding demeanor.

“My daughter… I understand. You can blame us as much as you want. I’m sorry…”

The emperor embraced her.

The maid looked piteously at the princess, then turned her body. Iomenes waved her arms toward her.

“No!! No!! Don’t go! Bad!!”

Seeing Iomenes screaming in sheer frustration at the maid, something clicked in my mind.

‘Bad,’ ‘Don’t go.’

Additionally, there was blood on the maid’s clothing.

Had the maid been injured?

Possibly, given the commotion.

Judging by how Iomenes was reacting, the maid must have been seriously hurt.

“Hey, you there!”

I recalled the method for receiving forgiveness from a deity that had been passed down by Grandpa Yodel:

“Break free from wrongdoings, avoid repeating them, and accumulate good deeds.”

Since my shortcut had disappeared, my plan of escaping to Korea had failed. I had to resort to the more conventional way, albeit with a low success rate.

While I still had the ability to heal using game-like skills, I should try to accumulate some good karma.

I wouldn’t be able to use these abilities for long if I went into hiding.

If I did that, I’d have no way to avoid hell.

Thinking about it frustrated me all over again.

Why me?!

Why in the world do I have to go to hell?!

What have I done wrong?! WHY?!

Fuming inwardly, I began walking toward the maid. Maybe because I was so upset, my face must’ve revealed my anger.

The maid’s expression turned pale.

Ah.

Had I been glaring at her too harshly?

I needed to relax my expression and smile…

“You… blasphemous cur!!”

Suddenly, the maid charged forward.

Her hands flailed violently, blocking my vision with a black mist-like substance.

What? What’s happening?!

“Ka-a-a-ack!”

Almost simultaneously with my vision being obscured…

A brilliant pillar of light descended before me, accompanied by Iomenes’ shriek.

This wasn’t just any pillar of light—it was emblazoned with the White Church’s symbol.

This pillar of light was plummeting toward the maid who had charged forward.

I stepped back in shock and saw Iomenes, still cradled in the emperor’s arms, pointing her hand upward at the sky.

And on the back of her hand…

Wait a second.

Isn’t that the sigil of Dulaneir?

Why is the White Church’s symbol glowing on Iomenes’ hand?

“Aaah!! Argh!! You, you filthy…!”

The maid—er, the Evil God’s Chosen One—under the light pillar, was undergoing an alarming transformation.

Her appearance was shifting.

From a woman to a man.

From young to old.

Not just her appearance—her whole physique kept changing.

It was almost like a magical transformation show where one person completely transformed into someone else, and she was convulsing under the spotlight.

Eventually, the maid’s uniform couldn’t withstand the constant changes and tore off, revealing her naked body for everyone to see.

And everyone froze in horror—not because it was beautiful but because it was grotesque.

“Eyes! The eyes!”

“Goodness gracious! What is that thing?!”

The maid’s body was covered with hundreds of eyes, each blinking unnervingly.

It was a hundred times more disgusting than Erpa’s face before it healed.

Even someone like me, who likes weird stuff, couldn’t handle this level of grotesqueness.

The other maids and butlers in the palace screamed in terror and retreated, while the royal knights gathered around to protect the royal family.

The priests and holy knights all raised their swords, their miracles surrounding their bodies.

“Calamity bearer! It’s exactly as it’s recorded!”

“The one with a thousand faces!”

Amid the trembling voices, one of the White Church’s priests yelled.

“Emissary of the Evil God!”

“Hurry! Channel divine power into the pillar of light! Burn it alive!”

The members of the White Church immediately began channeling their divine power into the pillar of light descending from the heavens.

Unable to withstand the action, what had appeared as a maid…

No. The Chosen One of the Evil God started to burn.

“G-g-grgrgrg!!”

A painful scream escaped the Chosen One’s mouth. Finally, her body couldn’t hold on, and she melted into a puddle of blood without a single bone fragment remaining.

Before melting into blood, she pointed a nearly crushed, flesh-like hand at me, leaving behind a resentful message.

“Chosen of the Grace Whore!… If only you hadn’t… been here…”

And that was the end.

The pillar of light vanished, and the Chosen One was gone.

Me?

I just stood there, dumbfounded, witnessing the entire scene.

What the hell just happened?

“Dulaneir!”

“Destroyer of Evil!”

“One who has overcome the curse!”

“The Destroyer of Evil has sent us a Holy maiden!”

The priests and holy knights of the White Church all rushed to Iomenes and bowed their heads at her feet.

Meanwhile, Iomenes, without a care, broke free from the emperor’s arms and started running toward me.

“Saint!”

And at the same time, in the distance, Erpa was also running toward me.

Seeing her made me instantly feel sad.

The woman who loved me but, because of my tragic fate, I had to push away.

And I had kissed her, thinking I was going back to Korea!!

Now what do I do?!

I couldn’t laugh freely.

And I couldn’t cry either, so I stood there awkwardly as Erpa approached, with a forced smile.

Then…

“Alright!!”

Iomenes tackled me.

“Alright! Alright!”

Her face, filled with radiant happiness, pressed against mine and started rubbing it vigorously.

“The Saint of Healing and the Saint of Evil’s End have been granted to humanity!! Worship!!”

Priests and holy knights of the White Church surged forward and bowed before us.

Everyone looked on warmly at the scene.

Except for one person.

Erpa, who had stopped still upon seeing Iomenes in my arms.