< 14 : Apostle, Euthenia Hyroste (4) >
It had been two hours since the girl of unknown origin entered the village.
And Peter, who had been watching her, had his eyes filled with horror.
Two hours.
It was not enough time for a single person to destroy a whole village.
Yet the girl who came to the village alone made it possible.
The reason was simple.
She was a monster who had transcended the category of human.
“Ah, ah…”
Blood.
The thick smell of blood tickled Peter’s nose.
He covered his mouth with his hand as the smell of blood pierced his nose.
He felt a headache from the screams that reached his ears.
The village that Peter saw was the opposite of what it had been before, full of peace.
Thud. Splash.
Thin raindrops began to wet the ground filled with screams.
But there was no sign of the human screams fading away.
Too many lives had been lost in this place.
“It looks like it’s almost over. You don’t have to worry too much.”
The girl said with a casual look as she looked at Peter.
The thick book that she was holding was wide open, caught by the shadows.
The people who ran away to survive were also dragged back to the center of the village by the shadows’ hands.
The village that Peter saw was hell.
Hell on earth.
A place where no one was allowed to survive, a place that should not exist.
“Why, why are you doing this…?”
Peter, who had been looking around, asked with a trembling voice.
The line between life and death was decided in an instant.
It was just a difference in answer.
Peter agreed with the girl’s words without knowing anything, and the rest refused without accepting them.
And hell unfolded.
It was all incomprehensible to Peter.
The girl coming to the village, and the village becoming like this, everything.
The girl answered with a smile that looked purer than anyone else in the world when she heard Peter’s question.
“Because the great one wishes for it.”
“What…?”
“To take back what one has created with one’s own hands. What’s wrong with that process?”
To take back what one has created with one’s own hands.
It was a crazy idea that would make anyone lose their mind.
She treated people’s lives lightly for such a reason alone.
Peter could not understand that.
The god he thought of was not such a being.
He did not even want to believe that such a being was the god who created him.
Peter pointed at the girl in front of him with his finger and shouted.
“Cr, crazy…! You’re crazy!”
“Do you think so?”
“…”
“But if it’s for him alone, maybe it’s not so bad to be crazy.”
Clack. Clack.
The girl’s footsteps headed toward the center of the village.
There were all kinds of words and pictures made by the shadows’ hands decorating there.
He could not read them.
He could not even understand them.
Yet it seemed certain that the girl in front of him was trying to do something.
Something insane that no sane human would ever attempt.
“——.”
The girl stood in front of the altar made of pictures and raised her hand.
Crash!
The pages of the thick book turned, and red letters rose above the opened page.
The girl gently touched the bookshelf with her fingertips and took a breath.
Hoo.
A soft breath and a sweet voice.
What came out of the girl’s mouth was a ritual spell for a transcendent being.
“——Life. Build a staircase.”
A beautiful voice echoed like reciting a poem.
But its content was the opposite of that.
It disregarded the value of life that looked up at the sky, and forced a meaningless death for the sake of a great being.
Yet it only praised the god who judged them endlessly.
“——One way leads to glory.”
“——One way leads to death.”
The girl’s footsteps circled around the altar of death where no glory could be seen.
Every time she took a step forward, the piled up lives were wrapped in holy light.
The girl in front of him was a being beyond human.
And what she prayed for was a being who was even more distant than that, sitting in a faraway place.
Peter felt coldness in his body as he looked at the altar made by the girl.
“——Revere. Adore. Sacrifice.”
He shivered.
His flesh felt cold from watching the ritual.
But he could not take his eyes off from the altar full of malice.
A short but meaningful prayer was about to end.
The girl returned to her original place to finish it.
And the last prayer flowed out of her mouth.
“——Sing the hymn of life.”
The moment the ritual ended with the girl’s prayer.
Peter saw a huge eye in the sky covered with dark clouds.
The eye of something incomprehensible and unfathomable.
The giant eye looked at Peter, and the girl in front of him, and finally at the altar where the offerings were placed.
And then a strong light flashed.
When the light that had taken over Peter’s sight faded away, there was nothing left in the middle of the altar.
Not even a trace that a person had existed there.
The sacrifice was over.
“Ah…”
An exclamation came out of Peter’s mouth involuntarily.
The other was a being of a different level from a mere human.
There was no point in resisting, and his fate was decided by just facing him.
It did not matter much whether he had seen the spectacle or not.
Anyone would feel awe at the sight of such a being.
Peter stared blankly at the altar where the villagers had disappeared, and the girl who had finished the ritual came to him with the book in her arms.
“How do you feel about seeing the eye of the great one?”
She still had a smile that looked innocent.
Peter clenched his fist as he faced the girl.
He realized that he was not sane anymore after watching the ritual.
He was soaked in fear.
He was trembling from facing a being that he was not even allowed to see, let alone glimpse its trace.
“What…”
“What?”
“You, you… what are you!”
Peter, who was sweating coldly, asked for her identity.
The girl’s eyes were filled with interest when she heard Peter’s question.
Tock. Tock.
She tapped the cover of the book she was holding and opened her mouth.
“Hmm, are you asking about this?”
“…Yes.”
A question about her identity.
The girl’s answer was simple.
“Apostle, Euthenia Hyroste.”
A hand of shadow stretched out from the darkness and stopped in front of Peter.
Thud.
The dark fingers pressed down on Peter’s forehead.
But the shadow’s touch did not completely crush Peter.
The hand that had played a cruel prank returned to Euthenia’s shadow.
“I am the first servant who serves the great one.”
*****
“What? Why are there so many coming in?”
The smartphone screen that showed Euthenia’s appearance.
I had been watching her conversation from the moment she entered the village until now.
Even when Euthenia started hunting characters, I thought she was just doing automatic hunting for me instead of me.
But I couldn’t help but be surprised when I saw the message that popped up right after the sacrifice ended.
I received a huge amount of karma from the sacrifice that Euthenia performed.
-[Apostle: Euthenia Hyroste] has performed a sacrifice for you.
-The offerings dedicated to you: 43
-The effect of <Karma’s Blessing: Sacrifice> is activated.
-Karma increased by 86 according to the number of sacrificed offerings.
The number of characters that Euthenia sacrificed for me was 43.
I heard the number of villagers from Peter, and it was also written in the system message, so there was no doubt.
But the amount of karma I gained was a whopping 86.
Even if I compared it to the karma I got when I hunted by myself, it was twice as much.
Hunting the same number of characters gave me twice as much karma.
It was an absurd rate that anyone could see.
“Does hunting by character give twice as much? Wow…”
I got twice as much experience as I moved when Euthenia sacrificed an offering.
It was either because of the effect attached to <Karma’s Blessing>, or because Euthenia was my apostle.
I don’t know yet.
But one thing for sure was that it was definitely more efficient than me hunting by myself.
If I keep collecting karma and increasing the number of apostles, the speed of leveling up will increase accordingly.
Maybe depending on the case, even characters who are not apostles can be sacrificed.
I was drawing a hopeful training plan in my head, and Euthenia looked at the sky and said after finishing the ritual.
-“I tried my best in my own way, but I don’t know if you liked it.”
Did you like the experience?
That was a foolish question.
Who wouldn’t be happy to get twice as much experience?
Euthenia was a precious partner for me right now.
I took out a baguette from my inventory and threw it to Euthenia.
“Good job. Euthenia. You’re the character I chose.”
It was only natural to reward her for sacrificing an offering.
The baguette I gave to Euthenia was an expression of gratitude.
Euthenia bowed her head and bit into the bread.
She still seemed to like bread well enough.
But I couldn’t end it with such a reward for a character who gave me 86 karma points.
I thought of stroking Euthenia’s head and brought my finger close to the screen.
Swoosh!
As my finger brushed over her head, a scream came out of the speech bubble from Euthenia.
-“Eek.”
Thud!
Euthenia fell to the ground after receiving my stroke.
Apparently, my touch hurt more than I thought.
I felt embarrassed watching her, so I quickly turned off my smartphone screen.
I felt like hiding somewhere for a while.
