NOVPUB
Chapter 41: Chapter 41: He Is the Dauntless Sacrifice
Ashu stared coldly at Kidopriest.
That damned creature had finally reached the end of his life.
"Ashu!!"
Kidopriest, his arm still pinned to the door, roared in fury. Pain tore through him, but he couldn’t hold it in—how dare this lowly peasant repeatedly reject his preaching? How had this peasant won the Witch’s favor? How had he driven me to this point?
He’d been born into a higher station, had studied theology far longer and more diligently than this upstart farmer. How was it fair that all his years of effort counted for less than one newcomer’s fluke? Why had the Divine Mother Goddess singled out this insolent boy who dared disrespect her?
All the resentment Kidopriest had repressed burst out in that moment, even as he faced certain death.
"Why? Ashu! Why would they be willing to sacrifice themselves for you?!" Kidopriest demanded, bewilderment and rage twisting his voice.
Before revealing Cidi Deacon’s location, he’d run through every scenario in his mind. Perhaps Ashu would expose the Deacon and have the Demon Huntress Nun kill him; perhaps he’d interrogate the Deacon for the Bishop’s hiding place—though the Deacon wouldn’t know; perhaps he’d even bribe him into false testimony—though any cultist’s accusation against a Holy Cultivator Guild priest was laughable...
He’d planned for every outcome when he disclosed the Deacon’s hiding place, using it to probe Ashu’s intentions. But he could never have imagined these Cidi devotees would willingly offer themselves as sacrifices to Cidi—for Ashu—fishing the young nun’s soul from the River Styx in the process.
A dozen or so people weren’t nearly enough to complete the ritual—and their self-sacrifice could have been easily interrupted by external attack. Yet those aged cultists...what were they? When had the Cidi church ever recruited impotent devotees? And where had that astonishing power come from?
At Kidopriest’s outcry, Ashu sneered.
"Do you even deserve to know?"
Enraged, Kidopriest drove his pinned arm against the arrow, tearing it free in spite of the agonizing pain. Blood spurted as he swung his wounded arm and lunged at Ashu.
"I’m going to tear that mouth of yours apart!" he snarled.
Before he could close the distance, a long, booted leg lashed out, driving into his abdomen. Kidopriest flew back like a broken shrimp, slamming into the cathedral wall.
"Cough—cough cough—"
The kick and the impact left him badly wounded; blood gushed from his mouth. He tried to look at Ashu—but a figure stood between them: the Demon Huntress Nun, Vivita Taan.
Her grey eyes were cold and merciless as she spoke:
"You should kneel and repent, then accept your sentence. Otherwise, your soul will endure endless torment after death."
Kidopriest’s eyes went dim.
He knew there was no way he could break through the Demon Huntress Nun’s defenses—her combat prowess utterly outclassed his.
"Damn it...cough..." Kidopriest propped himself against the wall with his uninjured arm, spitting blood as he cursed, "A ’Luminous Saint,’ huh? Let the Divine Mother Goddess see just how much Evil Power courses through your body!"
The moment the words left his lips, the blood pooling at Kidopriest’s feet—guided by his Magical Essence—coalesced into a hidden ritual circle. As soon as it formed, a shockwave burst forth, tearing a streak of dark red energy from his body and hurling it toward Ashu.
The Demon Huntress Nun moved to intercept—but the Evil Power simply passed through her.
Buzz—
The dark energy didn’t harm Ashu physically; instead, he felt his bond with the evil god Cidi deepen. It was as if a fragile kite string connecting him to Cidi had been replaced by a thick hemp rope. With that strengthened bond, far more Evil Power was available to him.
In Ashu’s mind, he even heard Cidi’s mocking laughter—and a forbidden Cidi-exclusive spell flashed before his eyes: [Outburst of Lust: Upon physical contact with the target, instantly cast to bring them to the peak of lustful ecstasy.]
"Holy shit..."
No wonder Cidi reigned over Lust and Passion—this spell was the very embodiment of sinful beauty.
Ashu heard Kidopriest’s triumphant shout echo behind him: "Ashu! Ha ha ha, now you’re a heretic too! I’ll see you in Hell!"
Kidopriest’s maniacal laughter rang out. His plan had succeeded: he had transferred the sum total of his lifelong Cidi devotion into Ashu, making the Luminous Saint a vessel for massive Evil Power—an utter desecration.
But his laughter was cut short. Vivita yanked the silver arrow free from the door, then hurled it back through Kidopriest’s left cheek and out his right, pinning his teeth to the wood.
"Aaah!!!" Kidopriest howled in agony. Even the slightest movement of his mouth shredded fresh pain.
Vivita looked down at him, eyes as cold as steel. "I spared you earlier only so you’d live long enough to face execution. But you’re getting noisy."
"Hmph..."
"And besides," she continued, "the Divine Mother Goddess has already certified that Ashu’s dabbling in Evil Power was strictly mission-related. He is the dauntless sacrifice—I spared him for a reason. You, however, are merely a petty fraud who stole Holy Light."
"Wha—"
Kidopriest shattered completely—body and spirit alike. Throughout history, the Twelve Demon-Hunting Nuns were the epitome of cold, relentless, selfless courage, yet this damned woman had just defended Ashu!
He had no recourse. Rage tore him apart from within, and mortally wounded as he was, Kidopriest drew his last breath. He died against the cathedral wall, his eyes never closing in rest.
Throughout the entire ordeal, Bishop Midaldas never once emerged to defend Kidopriest. Only after the dust settled and the townsfolk gathered did he finally step out of the cathedral, putting on a show of piety as he knelt before Kido’s body.
"May your soul find rest, free from the torment of demonic temptation and no longer lost to darkness."
No sooner had Midaldas finished than the crowd began jeering.
"Fuck that—Kido was a cultist after all!"
"Rapist! Rapist! Rapist!"
"Goddamn Kido—how could he do something like that? Doesn’t the Divine Mother Goddess punish evil? Why has Kido gone unpunished for so long?"
"Lies! All lies! This church is a sham!"
Amid the torrent of curses, Bishop Midaldas remained unmoved—eyes unblinking, heart unshaken. Kido was dead, his inconvenient tail of secrets severed forever. Now they would heap every blame onto him and move on. The Holy Cultivator Guild’s Riven branch needed only a quiet handling of the affair; once this storm passed, they would resume their dominion over the region.
At that moment, Ashu stepped forward and stood beside Midaldas.
"Bishop," he said, "do you possess a Memory Extraction spell? I wish to see how Kido balanced Cidi’s Evil Power with the Divine Mother Goddess’s grace—and how he deceived the sacred ear."
Midaldas lifted neither head nor expression—being shorter than Ashu, he did not even look up. Calmly, he replied, "Kido fell into heresy. But without permission, we may not probe another’s memories—that is not sanctioned by the Divine Mother Goddess."
Bishop Midaldas cast himself above reproach, but Ashu clearly sensed that the man at his side was himself a Cidi parishioner.
"And what am I to do?" Ashu pressed. Now the public knew that in his final moments, Kido had transferred his Evil Power into Ashu. And Ashu, hitherto certified by the Divine Mother Goddess as a Luminous Saint—wasn’t his radiance now tainted?
"It’s simple, Your Grace," Midaldas responded. "I can see you do not crave hollow honors. As long as you do not pursue such vanities, no one will mind your stain. You may continue to enjoy the Mother Goddess’s protection—but you must restrain yourself going forward and gradually purge the Evil Power from your body."
"Hm. I do not chase empty fame—but I do seek true renown."
With those words, Midaldas fell into a long silence. He finally understood Ashu’s meaning: a warning that he would be next. Even if Kidopriest’s threat had been neutralized, Ashu did not intend to stop there.
"Chasing fame and fortune is not doctrine of the Holy Cultivator Guild," Midaldas warned back. "If you pursue it, be mindful of your blemish. History records Luminous Saints who have fallen midway."
He was warning Ashu that if he pressed him, Midaldas would employ whatever means necessary to strip Ashu of his Luminous Saint title—or worse, his life.
"Then that’s a pity," Ashu said. "I must continue to immerse myself in this matter—perhaps retrieve Kidopriest’s soul and learn the truth from him."
He cast his gaze toward the steps before the cathedral, where the hallucinatory corpses of sacrificed Cidi devotees still lay.
Midaldas finally dared to look up at Ashu. If Ashu could topple Kidopriest in this manner, he could just as easily unseat Midaldas from his bishopric—unless Midaldas moved first to capture Kido’s soul, wiping it from the River Styx. In that case, Ashu’s countless summonings would all be in vain.
