Chapter 494

[What is this…? A dream? No, it doesn’t seem like a dream…? Then is it some kind of sorcery showing me illusions?]

Suddenly waking up, Hersela muttered in a dazed voice.

Yeah, it’s understandable to be confused. Even I’d doubt my own eyes.

In front of the storm summoned by Cardinal Rübitz, I had fallen asleep from exhaustion and just woke up… only to see naked people spinning in the air, bathed in golden light.

Come to think of it, it was truly outrageous.

For a brief moment, they had taken control of my body, and they had hidden the fact that they had reached the level of a hero, only to reveal it so abruptly.

Back then, I was really panicked.

Moreover, I had used up all my Life Force Technique and passed out, which caused me a lot of trouble.

‘Looks like you’ve been sleeping soundly~. Judging by your grogginess, you’re still half-asleep. Unfortunately, this isn’t an illusion but reality. A very vivid reality.’

[This is reality…? No, then what exactly are you doing now? Where is this place?]

‘Well, maybe it’s hell?’

I exhaled cigarette smoke into the air and sharply pulled the reins to the side, making the carriage swerve.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Uwaaah!”

People hit by the side of the carriage flew away like a joke and slammed into the building walls.

[Hell? What nonsense… Wait, did you lose to some remaining sorcerer and suffer a humiliating defeat?… No, even if that were the case, it’s strange. Even if you were defeated, there’s no way you’d end up in hell, right?]

It was a light joke, but the unexpected answer came back.

Hmm. It’s natural for her to go to hell, but did she think I wouldn’t fall into hell?

‘…Just kidding. Rübitz’s head exploded and died long ago, and this is a completely different city. A lot has happened while you were sleeping soundly.’

Yeah… a lot really happened.

Like the protests in Arad, the Holy Mark, and Seilon.

…When am I going to explain all this?

[Among all those things, is there something like drug use involved…?]

Perhaps shocked by the sight of the carriage running non-stop and hitting five people at once, Hersela’s voice trembled like parents finding a fake arm-sized dildo in their daughter’s room.

She doesn’t seem to believe the scene before her eyes is reality…

Well, I’ll just explain it roughly.

‘How could that be? To put it simply, this is enemy territory, and the people flying around are residents brainwashed by the enemy. We’re currently rushing towards the enemy’s base, knocking aside anyone in our way. Does that make sense?’

It was a perfect summary.

Even I was impressed by it.

[Is that what you call an explanation? No, more importantly, what kind of people strip others naked in the middle of winter? Truly despicable.]

You’re right. Come to think of it, it’s winter now.

Do brainwashed people not feel the cold?

‘What’s the big deal? Isn’t this a familiar sight for you?’

Naked men and women, you’ve seen them countless times while leading warriors to plunder villages.

[Even if it’s familiar, it doesn’t make it any less despicable. Battles and slaughter are one thing, but did you think I’d approve of something like rape?]

Well, didn’t you used to say that the weak being trampled was just natural?

Well… even if she’s more beast than woman, she’s still a woman, so she might not have liked such scenes.

‘Ah, really? If you say so, then it must be so.’

I didn’t feel like pressing further.

Actually, it wasn’t the time for that.

“Enemy attack! That golden divine light! It’s the paladins of Astraea!”

“Aim for the ground! Tilt the carriage!”

As things escalated, the enemies also seemed to have noticed us, starting to pop out from alleys everywhere.

Cultists.

They were dressed in flashy outfits that didn’t suit them, likely stolen from the paladins’ armor, but their twisted faces were so ugly that one might suspect their mothers had failed at abortion.

There were five of them, three chanting incomprehensible spells as if they had learned some magic, and the other two drew longswords.

Are they insane? How do they plan to stop a charging carriage with just a sword? They’re not even masters.

“Nice to meet you, you bastards!”

I winked at Seilon and pulled out a dagger from my pocket, throwing it at the cultist at the very back.

– Thud!

The dagger, shot like lightning, pierced through the cultist’s groin.

There’s no way they could block my black iron dagger with steel armor. The iron plate covering his groin crumpled and tore away, shredding his legs.

“Gyaaaaah!”

The cultist let out a bizarre scream, his intestines spilling out from the gaping hole below.

There were still two magicians left among them, but that didn’t last long.

– Swoosh!

Two arrows flew from the city walls.

With a roar like a tank’s cannon, chunks of flesh scattered everywhere.

Milia’s greatbow arrows cleanly blew off the lower halves of the chanting cultists.

The cultists, now missing their lower bodies, spun around spilling their guts, and the castrated cultist fell forward.

“Jack-! Hans!”

“Damn it…!”

With the three magicians incapacitated in an instant, the men with longswords turned around in shock-

– Crash!

They collided with the carriage that had reached them, bursting like water balloons.

Ordinary residents were protected with a barrier just before the collision, but there was no reason to extend such mercy to these bastards.

The Barrier of Divine Light was drenched in blood and chunks of flesh.

[What are these idiots? It’s embarrassing to even call them enemies.]

Hersela, who had been bewildered and unable to understand the situation just moments ago, seemed to calm down a bit upon seeing the corpses and blood, her voice now steady.

‘That’s how trash is.’

These guys are nothing more than cannon fodder. Outcasts to fill the numbers. Even if we brought Hersh here, she’d chop them all up in twenty seconds.

The real forces are probably holed up inside the cathedral.

—

“High-ranking paladin! It’s definitely a high-ranking paladin! Inform the superiors!”

“How did they withstand the barrier of silence?!”

As we got closer to the cathedral, more enemies started popping out. Like cockroaches crawling out of a dark pit, the cultists revealed themselves one by one.

I handed the reins over to Seilon and took out my bow, castrating all the armored bastards.

Occasionally, some tried to use city residents as human shields, but Milia’s arrows, shot from clever angles, precisely pierced their heads and exploded them.

“The city walls! There’s an archer hiding on the city walls! We need to take him out first!”

A few cultists broke away from the group and ran towards the city walls, hiding behind cover.

A stupid choice. With their level of skill, even if they reached there, they’d just end up as chunks of meat in Damien’s hands.

“Princess Ha-shal-leur! How much further to the cathedral?”

“Almost there! Prepare for battle! Lacey and Agnes, cast mental defenses!”

I shouted in response to Nigel’s question and placed the empty quiver in the corner of the driver’s seat.

My head was throbbing slightly, clearly indicating that the brainwashing’s power was getting stronger as we approached the cathedral.

Or… maybe it’s because some time has passed since we entered the city.

[…What is this unpleasant feeling? It’s similar to when we fought that witch… and my left chest feels strangely hot.]

‘That’s the brainwashing authority they’ve deployed. Earlier, I got caught in it and almost ended up spending my life bearing their children.’

If it weren’t for the Holy Mark, that’s exactly what would’ve happened.

My demon resistance isn’t strong enough to withstand such authority.

[What did you just say…? Brainwashing? Children?]

“Elpinel, your servant prays—”

“Menes, like the full moon rising in the night sky, grant us your unclouded grace—”

Just as Hersela was about to argue, Lacey and Agnes cast another mental protection miracle.

Two beams of divine light brightly illuminated the inside of the carriage and spread outward. The dizziness in my head cleared instantly, and the burning pain of the Holy Mark warning me subsided.

[What exactly have you been doing while I was asleep? If I sleep twice more, I might end up with a husband and children!]

‘……’

…Well, I did get something like a lover.

Though it’s more of a nominal lover, and in reality, it’s just a loyal subordinate who listens well.

[And what was that pain earlier? It felt like a burn… how should I put it, like being branded.]

‘Ah, that? It’s the Holy Mark. Look.’

I slightly pulled down the bandage on my chest, revealing the golden scales of the Holy Mark. Hersela must have seen it clearly too, since she shares my vision.

I wanted you to be as shocked as I was.

[……Huh?]

As I hoped, Hersela was utterly shocked upon seeing the Holy Mark.

[Wh-what is this? A Holy Mark? No. That, like the white-haired girl? On my body? Why?]

Just by her dumbfounded voice, I could tell how shocked she was.

Her tone was as panicked as when her childhood as the Heavenly Wolf’s avatar, the Heavenly Demon, was exposed.

‘The Goddess of Justice in the heavenly realm took pity on me and bestowed this Holy Mark. I’ve become the proxy of the goddess. Isn’t that surprising?’

[Justice? Goddess? Proxy…?]

Hersela parroted my words like a parrot.

Even amidst the chaos of blood and battle, her reaction was so amusing that I couldn’t help but laugh.

If she had a body, she’d probably be gaping like a goldfish, tilting her head in confusion.

[……I see. It must’ve been a dream after all. This lunatic becoming a saintess? Such a reality couldn’t exist unless the whole world has gone mad. What a ridiculous dream.]

In the end, Hersela chose to deny reality and close her eyes.

But once awakened, her mind wouldn’t fall asleep again.