127 – In Destruction (3)

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Among those who ran out in surprise at the loud explosion, there were several who weren’t even wearing armor.

There were also guys who came out of the tent with their pants pulled up, wondering what they were doing.

They looked like a rabble, neither standing in line nor taking a stance.

Even in the midst of all this, everyone comes out with a black sword.

The swords they held in their hands were clearly swords that had been officially adopted within the cult, but they had turned their backs on training and cultivation, and had been reduced to swords of murderers who only sought plunder and pleasure.

Alice frowned and dove into the abdomen of the unarmored, stupid man.

The right fist, which seemed to have been thrust into his entire upper right body, dug into his abdomen with such force that both of the man’s legs lifted slightly into the air.

For a moment, his body seemed to linger in the air, but soon his body flew to the other side of the campsite, rolled around a few times, and landed.

The sword the man had dropped hung in the air for a moment, and Alice caught it as it fell, pulling back her fist.

It was a ceremonial sword of the Goddess Church that I had used several times, so I could tell just by holding the handle.

“The weather is bad.”

Alice frowned again, annoyed.

A sword that has not been sharpened, so its edge is worn out, and it has begun to rust and wear out because it has not been cleaned of blood and fat.

It seemed in itself a perfect metaphor and symbol for the current state of the Catholic Church.

Alice pressed her lips tightly shut, feeling complicated.

Alice’s religious beliefs were not particularly strong, despite her position within the Church of the Goddess. However, she had learned and believed in the standards of goodness established and spread by the Church of the Goddess since childhood, so it was inevitable that an inexplicable sadness and confusion would slowly well up from the depths of her heart.

Alice released her wrist, turning the hand holding the sword once.

And only then did these corrupt priests seem to realize the identity of the woman who had appeared before them.

“Wait a minute… It’s Alice.”

“What? Are you talking about that Alice?”

“Oh, I guess that’s right?”

“Where have you been and why are you here now?”

Alice took a stance, waving the tip of her sword in the air as if she didn’t want to hear their muttering.

The wrist holding the sword moved flexibly, drawing a beautiful trajectory in the air.

These corrupt priests, who seemed to have finally realized the situation, began to lick their lips with pale faces.

A few of them, who had barely gathered their courage, started shouting at Alice.

“What are you doing all of a sudden!”

“Are you trying to avenge the Pope? Or are you trying to punish us now? What right do you have to do that!”

“You’re in cahoots with that disgusting Pope! You’re covering up the fact that the Demon King is alive!”

“Where have you been until now! Did you come here to spread your legs for the Demon King?”

Alice said shortly.

“Everyone, shut up.”

And then he immediately shut his mouth.

It was so dirty and disgusting that I didn’t want to talk to him anymore.

The priests, who had been squirming with their filthy lips and emitting a foul odor from their bellies polluted by corruption, raised their pig-like voices and screamed despite Alice’s concise yet clear warning.

“The Demon King’s lackey, we were fooled by you all this time and believed the ridiculous lies of that whore who called herself a goddess. You apologize with your life!”

The priest’s shouts ceased with the sound of phlegm boiling.

Alice’s sword blade, which had come closer before he knew it, had dug halfway into his neck and was stuck there.

“Ugh, ugh!”

“If you manage the sword like this, it’s only natural that you won’t be able to cut off even one head.”

Alice just let go of the sword’s handle.

The priest, who had fallen with a sword stuck in his neck, lay sprawled on the floor, writhing in pain and slowly dying.

Alice stopped him by stepping on his squirming belly, then pulled another sword from his waistband.

“This guy is the same. The management is a mess. If things continue like this, I might not be able to get a proper weapon.”

Alice muttered, examining the fly nervously.

But unfortunately, there was no other place to get weapons right now.

Better weapons might be available in other cities, but Eric said the whole country was in chaos, so it was hard to have high hopes.

Besides, if I wasted time carelessly, I couldn’t even guarantee that I would be able to return to Ash on time.

Alice said with a sigh.

“Put down all weapons.”

“…what?”

“Put your swords on the ground so I can see you guys better.”

The priests instead shouted, holding their swords tightly with both hands.

“Captain! Where is the captain?”

“Are you still sleeping when this chaos has broken out?”

“Someone go and wake him up!”

From what I could hear, it seemed like Ovid was either not there or still asleep.

Alice sighed and sat up again.

The posture is one where the knees are slightly bent, the waist is bent forward, and the arm holding the sword is crossed over the opposite shoulder.

Those who were knights immediately recognized the posture.

It was a stance ready to rush at the opponent and strike.

The pressure was crushing the priests’ entire bodies.

Soon, unable to withstand the pressure, someone raised a sword and ran towards Alice.

Alice leapt forward and snapped the waist of the man who had fearlessly approached her.

And Alice didn’t stop.

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A campsite filled with screams and terrified gasps.

Ironically, there was a dry sound of the sword being dropped on the dirt floor, but no sound of the sword clashing with another sword.

No one could stand against Alice.

This wasn’t necessarily just a matter of skill.

Of course, no matter how much they resisted and attacked, they could not defeat Alice, who was armed with divine power, but except for the few who attacked at first, they did not even dare to think of attacking Alice.

When Alice killed about three or four people, everyone realized.

Who she was.

How she gained fame among the common people.

How she brought those high-minded nobles into that horrible pigsty and chained them up like pigs.

Among the common people, she was called the Holy Virgin, politicians called her the symbol of the new cult of the Goddess, and the Pope called her his own Inquisitor, but among the priests and knights working in the cult of the Goddess, Alice had her own nicknames and derogatory names.

It came from the building she had built.

“slaughterer…”

One of the guys, whose legs gave out as he watched Alice dismembering people without hesitation like cutting up the bodies of animals, muttered this while urinating.

Alice scooped up a handful of the dirty blood from her face and swept it onto the floor, silently glaring at the man with her golden eyes.

The man cursed in a trembling voice, perhaps sensing his end.

“This… disgusting thing, I should have noticed it a long time ago… Well, if you were the kind of b*tch who would build a pig farm and do such horrible things… you should have known that you were a prostitute working for the Demon King!”

“…under,”

“What’s so funny? What have you done so well, you b*stard! You’ve led this world to destruction!”

“Do you really think I did that? Do you really think I, the Pope, ruined the world?”

The man nodded.

“What are you going to say? The Demon King was alive, and the Pope and the four of you were secretly covering it up. It was to buy time for the Demon King to gain power!”

“You crazy kid.”

“Are you going to deny it? You are the heretics. Not us!”

“Is that so?”

Alice snorted.

Then he stabbed the tip of the knife into the shin of the fallen man and said:

“If you’re so confident, why don’t you try demonstrating your divine powers?”

“Ghhh!”

“Go ahead, draw your sword, heal your wounds, cleanse that stinking armor, and stand up, you little punk.”

“Ugh,”

“You can’t? Does God not believe in your innocence?”

“We were deceived… by the Pope… by that false goddess, who took all our divine powers at such an exquisite time, because they deceived us from the beginning…”

“Don’t be ridiculous, the reason your divine power disappeared is because of your corruption.”

Alice drew her sword, scolded him briefly in a low voice, and glared at him.

And at the same time, the divine power overflowing before the man’s eyes was released in all directions.

A golden halo seemed to surround her.

Even without direct contact, just being nearby was enough to heal the man’s wounds and clean his dirty armor.

The man felt the pain in his leg diminishing.

“You maggot.”

And that was the last feeling the man had.

Alice instantly knocked the man’s neck down.

“This kid of all people has a body type that’s the most similar to Ash… Well, since I purified him, he shouldn’t smell, right?”

Alice said so and picked up the decapitated body of the man and placed it aside.

Then he slowly raised his head and looked around.

There were corpses everywhere, and the armor and swords of the goddess’s cult were scattered.

The sight, ironic as it was, was certainly far from sacred.

But Alice didn’t care.

I didn’t care at all about the future of the Goddess Church.

Her mind was solely focused on capturing the Demon King and making Ash happy afterwards.

Besides, she knew very well that her remaining life would end there anyway.

“Okay, then let’s see what you’ve been doing so far.”

Alice looked at the large tent located at the innermost part.

Although there was no sign of life, I could clearly feel an ominous presence emanating from inside the tent.

“Commander of the Knights of Ovid.”

Alice approached the tent, calling out her former boss’s name.

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