NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 61
The villagers’ eyes were filled with questions, growing stronger by the moment. They had no idea how Stella’s claim of proving purity would unfold.
“I will obey the order, Inquisitor.”
With a bow, Iris lowered the flail and shield she held in her hands. Thud, the head of the flail plunged into the ground, and the shield fell over with a clatter.
A few timid souls flinched at the sound, and some even whimpered. The atmosphere created by the nuns surrounding them was so deadly that tension soared to the extreme.
“Ugh!”
Suddenly, someone grabbed James by the back of his neck. He felt his breath choke as he momentarily floated in the air, soaring above, only to crash to the ground seconds later.
Right in front of him stood the battle nun called Iris. Upon sensing her holy form, James instinctively tried to back away, only to bump into another battle nun’s thigh, causing him to hiccup.
Her emotionless green eyes were fixed on him. James was left trembling and curled up, wondering what he was supposed to do.
A hand clad in black latex gloves rested on his chest cover.
James stared blankly in shock. Iris was slowly lifting her chest cover, right in front of the gaze of everyone.
Seeing a nun suddenly exposing her bare chest in the middle of the village mixed surprise and desire in James’s eyes.
Regardless, Iris’s hand was busy at work. She cautiously untangled the complicated strings and lifted her breasts with her arm, accentuating their curvature even more.
Just a little more, and the pinkish tip at the end would be visible. James’s eyes widened involuntarily, but Iris’s hand suddenly froze as if it had caught on something.
‘Why is she stopping—’
—Crack!
His thoughts were cut short as a massive flail came crashing down on James’s head, entirely shattering his skull without leaving a trace.
The flail, having crushed his head, didn’t stop there; it plunged into his body, turning it into mush. Blood and flesh from a single human being splattered everywhere.
From what had just been a human hunk of meat, various foreign substances oozed out.
“Ahhhhh!”
“What?! What’s happening?!”
“Why is this happening to us…!”
Those who witnessed James’s horrific slaughter screamed in panic. Some tried to flee, but were completely stopped by the surrounding battle nuns.
“This one was not pure.”
The culprit was Stella.
Wielding a flail much larger than her head, Stella had impaled one person without a hint of remorse, shouldering her weapon with a bright smile as she declared it.
“Next.”
Hoo hoo hoo~ Hoo hoo~
Sitting on the village well, Stella hummed a tune, lightly swinging her legs back and forth. Despite the acrid stench filling the air, she seemed completely unfazed.
Next to her rested the flail, caked in blood and chunks of human flesh, leaning against the well wall. One could only imagine how many lives she had taken; the flail’s handle was stained red.
A little further away lay the brutally mutilated remains of a human. It was so disfigured that it was impossible to discern if it had been a man or a woman, as it was horrifically slaughtered.
“Gg… u…”
The more terrible truth was that, in such a state, this poor creature was still clinging to life. With all its teeth missing and lips severed, a faint ugh of moaning escaped its mouth.
Seeing this, Stella muttered sadly.
“Why are modern devil worshippers so lacking in tenacity? In the past, most would curse until their last breath even through torture, making it quite enjoyable… but these days, they cry like babies after just skinning them…”
Her tone was filled with nostalgia and gloom, yet the content was terrifying. Stella genuinely seemed to mourn her own words.
“Inquisitor Stella!”
“Oh, you finally came.”
A firm voice echoed from afar. It was Iris. Stella jumped down from the well.
Despite her outfit being incapable of hiding her form, no secret areas were exposed at all. It was as though some divine protection were surrounding her.
“Did you find it?”
“Yes, Inquisitor. Here it is.”
Iris presented a bundle of parchment she held in her hand.
Stella wiped her expression clean, as if she hadn’t just mourned, and began to hum a tune again as she smiled, unfurling the parchment to examine it piece by piece.
Before she had even read halfway through the first page, she made a sentence.
“It’s Behemoth. Quite a bold one. Where did you find the trace of Behemoth?”
“So, it means the people of this village were unable to prove their purity?”
“Yes, exactly. They were destined to be sacrificed to the demon.”
Stella hadn’t indiscriminately killed innocent people for no reason. Beneath this village lay a secret place where the devil worshippers had been conducting their dark rituals.
This preparation had been going on for several years, and as the devil worshippers’ efforts came to fruition, the souls of all the villagers fell into bondage to the demon without a single exception.
Unbeknownst to them, of course.
Once a soul is bound, there’s no turning back, and the moment the ritual to summon the demon is conducted, they become living bombs.
The human flesh explodes, contaminating the surrounding land, while the remaining soul is dragged into hell, perpetually screaming until the demon ceases to exist.
“This recent monster attack must have also been a type of ritual. While they couldn’t summon a demon as great as Behemoth right away, they could sacrifice some to announce their presence to the demon.”
“What will you do about those who died before we arrived?”
“What can be done? They’re lost causes. Unless we kill Behemoth completely, there’s no way to save those whose souls have been consumed by the demon.”
That was the very reason Stella continued to kill the remaining survivors of the village. If they died by a weapon infused with divine power, their souls would be purified and would not return to the demon.
Dying without pain, both in the moment of death and after, was a million times better than being sacrificed.
The intention behind her exposing herself in front of the villagers was the same. Thanks to the consecrated attire, anything connected to the demon could never reveal itself.
Normally she could easily expose herself, but in front of impure beings, that was simply impossible.
And it meant that no one had seen Iris’s skin during the purity check. This signified that all of them had become souls slated to be sacrificed.
“Then, do you have somewhere to go now, Inquisitor?”
“I have to chase the remnants.”
Stella casually tossed the parchment away. It fell to the ground and spontaneously ignited in white flames, consuming itself. Flames of divine power.
Though she tried not to show it, Iris was in awe. To wield divine power with such ease! Battle nuns had to concentrate for a long time to summon divine flames.
“Gather all the battle nuns. We will move out now.”
“Where are we headed?”
“Hmm… The Pope has said that God will guide us…”
Stella pondered, tapping her cheek.
God will guide us. That phrase’s meaning was simple. It meant to go wherever Stella’s heart led her. No matter where she went, the goal would be achieved.
“Let’s just go wherever our feet take us!”
“Understood.”
It sounded rather irresponsible at first glance. However, knowing that divine revelation was absolute, Iris had no doubt.
Battle nuns held a position only those with a deep faith from the Raphael Holy Kingdom could achieve. To doubt God was utterly impossible for them.
“Are you leaving that waste behind?”
“Huh? Of course not!”
Stella grinned widely. Iris understood the meaning behind that smile. It was a promise to inflict pain until the very moment the life of the devil worshipper was extinguished.
“Well, I’ll finish my work, and Iris, you gather the battle nuns. We will leave as soon as I’m done.”
“Yes, Inquisitor.”
Iris bowed her head and departed to call the other nuns. Stella waved cheerfully, bidding her farewell, then turned to face the devil worshipper.
While her face still held a bright smile, the atmosphere was entirely different.
“Okay, it’s going to hurt a lot from now on. Can you hold on and not die halfway?”
The almost corpse-like human squirmed more intensely. It was unclear whether it truly understood Stella’s words, even with both ears completely severed.
Hoo hoo~
Stella hummed a tune as she began her torture. The final screams from the empty mouth of the devil worshipper became her music as she moved her hands busily.
Yes, it was a shame to return to the Holy Kingdom just yet. The more heretics captured, the more joy she could experience. Stella would never let such an opportunity slip away.
After all, in both the Holy Kingdom and the Empire, devil worshippers were not treated as humans, so whatever she did to them was perfectly acceptable.
What method should she use this time? Thoughts filled with delight sparked Stella’s movements even more.
“Is everyone gathered?”
“Yes! Inquisitor Stella!”
The battle nuns lined up in perfect order responded in unison, their voices ringing out. Stella slung the flail over one shoulder and slowly surveyed her subordinates.
A blessed flail and a shield imbued with divine power. And the sacred nun’s robe, while not as revealing as her own, was certainly quite high in exposure. It was a sight that radiated holiness.
Next to Stella lay the body of a devil worshipper, reduced to hundreds of pieces. This was the last segment of the human that had squirmed in agony before dying.
“We’re going to catch another devil worshipper now. One that the priests of the Holy Kingdom had to put their lives on the line to seal away and retrieve, a very wicked devil worshipper.”
Stella smiled brightly.
“There’s no need for mercy. There’s no need for restraint.”
A smile blossomed on her face, as if flowers were blooming.
“That heretic will come to realize what they’ve done.”