126 – In Destruction (2)

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“Ha, that bookworm kid seduced warrior Sylvia? And to bed with her?”

Eric frowned and stuck out his tongue as if he had heard a terrible joke.

Indeed, it was something that even Alice herself would never have believed if she hadn’t seen it herself.

But surprisingly, this was an obvious fact, so Alice nodded and opened her mouth.

“That’s not wrong, but I don’t think you seduced her with your body. Maybe it’s because you have feelings for her?”

“That’s why it’s called a rice cake. Ha, Ash, I didn’t see that kid like that, but he’s more amazing than I thought.”

“I’ve definitely explained that part, but let’s not say it so blatantly.”

“why?”

“I feel a little awkward. I feel like I’m talking about my little brother’s s*x life.”

“What little brother, he was your fiancé.”

“…”

“Well, I guess that could be true since I’ve been watching it since I was little.”

Eric slowly crossed his arms and stopped talking.

Only after closing his mouth tightly and exhaling deeply through his nose did Eric begin to speak in a low voice.

“Well, Alice, there’s no way you would tell such a ridiculous lie. After all, the armor and weapons you need are for you, Sylvia, and Ash.”

“That’s correct.”

“It’s not like there’s no way to save it…”

Eric began to press his eyebrows together with his thumb and index finger.

Since the blacksmith and weapons shop had disappeared, it seemed that it was not an easy method to accomplish.

“This is not business, Eric. This is not the time to consider losses, profits, or anything like that. If there is a way, it must be done unconditionally.”

“Even if I’m a criminal punk, I’m not that retarded that I can’t figure out what’s going on right now. I know full well that this world could end.”

“okay…”

“There is a way, the problem is… the problem is that I absolutely cannot do it.”

“…is it a cost issue?”

“No, it’s a matter of life and death.”

Alice could guess the situation roughly from those words alone.

It was clear that a group of bandits or robbers who had grown powerful in this chaos had a monopoly on weapons.

It was a common occurrence whenever times of turmoil arrived.

Alice sighed and said.

“That’s how all popular uprisings are.”

“Is that something you should say?”

“What about me?”

“Thanks to you, the common people were able to live a little more freely, because you caught and defeated all the oppressive nobles.”

“Is it my fault?”

“Well, considering the amount of trouble those guys have caused, I can’t say that.”

“…”

Alice didn’t feel guilty at all.

The imprisonment of corrupt nobles was not particularly intended to uplift the commoners, and even if such an intention had been there, it was certainly not something Alice had desired or intended to do, such as blowing up even the Vatican.

Even if the common people rise up and go all the way, it usually ends with the overthrow of the system, and there is no way that a whole city will turn into a hellhole like this.

Even when criminal organizations take over a city, there is usually some balance and order.

It must have been the fear and madness brought about by the name of the Demon King that made the situation so worse.

“If a group of bandits is ruling the city by force, it would be better for your organization to take them out.”

“Our organization is essentially the starting point of this chaos. Naturally, it was thoroughly tamed as an example.”

“So you’re letting these thieves without a foundation eat up this city?”

“No, they have their own roots, they are overflowing with roots.”

The root of these thieves,

Alice quickly moved on, not having the slightest interest in the history of the criminal enterprise.

“What are the armament levels?”

“Ha, is now the time to be so picky?”

Eric grumbled a little, but Alice spoke to him as if urging him on.

“Normally, weapons won’t do. We’re going to hunt the Demon King. We need the best weapons, the best equipment.”

“Well, that’s true…”

Eric nodded.

“The best weapon… Well, of course there’s nothing like that, but the quality won’t be completely bad. As I said before, they have their own basics.”

“I won’t just give it to you.”

“You don’t know?”

Alice looked at her empty hands as she listened to Eric’s gruff voice.

In the end, it seemed inevitable that a clash would occur in order to obtain weapons and armor.

But now Alice was without weapons or armor.

All she has now is a hot body that recovers infinitely,

“A group of bandits made up of three or five untrained civilians is nothing more than a bunch of thieves.”

That means you can get it at your leisure.

“I don’t think so. They’re well-trained, almost like a paramilitary organization. Their actions are just plain fucking crazy.”

Eric continued, smiling and looking at Alice.

“I told you. They are the ones with the basics.”

Alice laughed in disbelief.

A criminal organization that even trains its subordinates professionally?

If there was such a thing in this city, he would have definitely known about it.

Alice would have caught it a long time ago, when the world was still sane.

Alice shrugged and said.

“What the hell are they doing?”

In response to that question, Eric slowly raised his hand.

Then he pointed at Alice with the tip of his finger and said:

“The priests of the Catholic Church who decapitated the Pope.”

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Alice walked confidently through the rubble of the collapsed building.

The streets where carriage wheels and people’s footsteps once passed were now covered in thick clouds of dust and ash.

They say there are a lot of bandits out there, but I haven’t encountered any yet.

It meant that even armed outlaws were reluctant to walk the streets.

However, the only dangers Alice encountered along the way so far were rusty nails at best.

The streets were literally as quiet as death.

“under,”

Alice laughed bitterly.

During her time hunting down corrupt nobles, she had seen countless estates that were in disarray beyond imagination due to lack of management.

However, I couldn’t feel this kind of atmosphere anywhere.

There was no place where only quiet death hung in the air, even as citizens were dying indiscriminately and some cruel villain tormented the citizens in place of the neglected lord.

What do the wicked, who kill the innocent and plunder their burdens, and the corrupt, who have forgotten their fidelity to the point of beheading the Pope, fear?

“It really feels like… destruction.”

What they feared was not a threat, but despair.

The weak and innocent died, the wicked and selfish despaired, and the priests who had forgotten their faithfulness became the most powerful band of thieves.

Not a hell like a blazing hot battlefield, but a heavy hell that remains calm and silent forever.

Alice’s footsteps as she walked through the middle of it all clattered loudly with anger.

Alice, who was walking along the road, eventually discovered a campsite built in an empty lot at the edge of the city.

There were two soldiers standing guard near the entrance, who were said to be from the trained temple knights, but they just stood there, their heads bowed in a listless gesture, their swords buried in the ground and their bodies leaning on the hilts.

If you managed your weapons like that, you would be severely criticized, but no one seemed to criticize you for that behavior.

Well, what does it matter?

If it’s true that the Demon King has been resurrected, then everyone will die anyway.

That’s probably why no one stopped him.

Alice muttered as she walked confidently, not even thinking of hiding her body.

“This is… truly absurd, Captain.”

Alice remembered Eric’s words.

Enraged by her opposition to the Pope’s concealment of the devil’s resurrection, priests murdered her, decapitating her already dead body and humiliating her.

In an instant, the priests, who had forgotten all their faith and devotion, scattered and killed the citizens indiscriminately, looting endlessly.

It is said that there were even crazy men who raped people regardless of gender or age, as if to relieve their repressed s*xual desires.

And the one who gathered all the scattered priests and temple knights together and created the organization we have today was the former head of the Inquisition.

Ovid, the Inquisitor General, Alice’s former superior.

“…”

I don’t know.

Why did he do that?

Why did they embrace and gather together these apostates who run wild?

Was it to prevent confusion among the citizens, or was it because the desire for that insignificant position still remained even in this chaotic situation?

Although he was not the one who beheaded the Pope, Alice could not have been pleased with the fact that he was the head of the largest armed group within the Catholic Church that was responsible for protecting the Pope and was sharing the table with the evildoers who beheaded His Holiness the Pope.

“… No, it doesn’t matter.”

Alice muttered quietly and clenched her fists.

The mechanical heart began to beat with a thumping sound that was so regular it seemed strange.

“How should I know what you’re thinking or what’s going on?”

The only thing that matters is that they have weapons and equipment.

“These apostates,”

In fact, Alice had a considerable position within the Church of God, but ironically, she was not a particularly devout believer compared to her position.

The reason she turned to the goddess cult was because she had lost her hometown and had nowhere to go.

The only reason she volunteered for this horrific experiment of having a fucking mechanical heart implanted in her chest was because she had a seething desire for revenge.

But Alice found it pitifully amusing that those ‘faithful’ priests, who had usually looked down on her, so easily threw away their faith and efforts toward goodness just because destruction was approaching.

A golden divine power swirled and gushed out from between the fingers of his tightly clenched fist.

Divine power.

It was proof that the power of the goddess still remained on this land, that this world had not yet been destroyed.

Perhaps all of those fallen people were lost,

Alice let out a deep sigh and opened her eyes wide.

Even though it was still broad daylight, the golden light in her eyes radiated a vivid brilliance.

“Huh? What is that?”

“Oh, shit! It’s a woman, a woman!”

The two soldiers standing guard shouted like monkeys.

Alice grimaced in disgust and started to walk faster and faster until she was running.

“What? He’s coming?”

The guards sensed something strange and each raised a spear and sword.

Perhaps because of the two people’s loud noises, one by one, the guys started crawling out from inside the campsite.

Finally, one of the guards opened his eyes wide as if he recognized Alice.

“Wait a minute, no way!”

“Ahh! Holy place…”

Alice’s fist struck the guard holding the spear in the stomach.

The guard screamed as his armor buckled inward and began to cut into his flesh.

Alice’s fist was completely crushed by that one attack, but it didn’t matter.

When her fist returned, leaving behind a golden trail, she was already fully recovered.

The soldier with the sword screamed and cut Alice’s body with great slashes.

Alice’s body was split in two at an angle.

However, before the cut surface could fall, Alice’s body was already reattached.

Alice grabbed the bewildered soldier’s chin and then punched him in the forehead.

The soldier’s forehead was sunken as he was not wearing a helmet because it was hot.

Alice shouted, throwing the limp soldier aside.

“Alice Goldfield, the Papal Inquisitor of the Church of the Lady.”

For the Pope,

To save this world,

I will punish these wicked apostates.

“In the name of the goddess, I will purify everyone here.”

Alice confidently walked into the campsite, which was filled with her former coworkers milling about in confusion.

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