Chapter 5

Amy dressed her in the image of a sacred Saintess, but to her eyes, her younger self looked somewhat unfamiliar.

Her white hair, which had grown clouded after she lost her holy power, and her eyes, whose light had faded, were once more full of life.

After finishing her preparations and stepping out of the room, she stood at the end of the shadowed corridor.

Every moment now was the same as the memory of this day from her youth. Only her feelings were different.

Many people below were bowing their heads.

A past of more than ten years ago. This place too appeared like a scene from the past, as distant as the face she had once worn.

Because this was before a mere temple had even come to be called a Holy Kingdom.

There was only one God in this world, Gloria.

And the greatest temple serving the one and only God Gloria, the Temple of Melissa.

The Temple of Melissa was a sacred land that belonged to no nation, located between the Helen Kingdom and the Kingdom of Nicholas.

In the future that only she knew, it would become the place where the curtain of war rose.

At the temple, by era, they put forth a Saintess called the daughter of God Gloria.

The Saintess bestowed blessings upon many through sacred power, holy power. And when the Saintess exhausted all of her holy power, a revelation concerning the next Saintess would descend.

“Saintess, Lady Shallen Melissa, is entering.”

Her name was called. The past that had been flowing before her eyes cleared away, and now the present moment filled them.

When she took a step forward, the warm sunlight shone upon her face.

Tap, tap.

The murmuring sounds scattered, and only the sound of her footsteps remained, the sole sound echoing in that space.

She slowly walked toward the head of the temple who stood in place of the Pope.

Cardinal Pavivan.

Now that the Pope lay bedridden with a long illness, he was the true power holder of the Temple of Melissa.

Once the Pope’s closest confidant, he had gradually built up his influence.

The moment the Pope took to his sickbed, he refused to let anyone inside under the pretext that he himself was personally attending to the Pope.

In truth, it was likely to prevent anyone from pouring holy power into him.

The next Pope.

And the one who sought to turn the Temple of Melissa into a Holy Kingdom and become King under the title of Pope.

In the past, it seemed this very moment, walking toward Pavivan, had once felt moving and trembling.

He smiled with a face that showed not even a trace of guilt, even after leaving the former Saintesses to die such miserable deaths.

“I greet the Saintess. May God’s grace reach you.”

At his greeting, she lowered her head briefly in return.

“I greet you, Your Eminence. May the mercy of God Gloria descend.”

At her greeting, the expression of the head of the temple, who had been smiling benevolently, stiffened for an instant.

As if he had been waiting for the exchange between her and the head of the temple to end, a high-ranking priest carefully held something out to him.

His stiffened lips trembling as he forced the corners upward again, he placed upon her head the silver tiara that only the Saintess could wear.

“Congratulations on becoming the Saintess according to God’s will. Please, take good care of us.”

She merely raised her head and gave him a faint smile.

At her silent response, the head of the temple forced a benevolent smile once more and addressed those below.

“According to God’s will, a new Saintess of the Temple of Melissa has been born.”

When he finished speaking, she turned and offered her first words to those below who were bowing their heads.

“I am Saintess, Shallen Melissa. Please raise your heads, everyone.”

At her single remark, everyone simultaneously lifted their heads as if rehearsed and turned their gaze toward her.

In the very front row stood the cardinals, behind them the priests, and at the far rear the Holy Knights who protected this place.

Her eyes turned toward the former Saintess standing beside the cardinals.

Since there had been a gap of two years between the time that woman lost all her holy power and the time Shallen became the Saintess. Then that former Saintess must have lived in that hell for those long two years.

She was thin. She looked worn out. Even if she had eaten proper meals for only a few days, would the signs of such long starvation really disappear?

How foolish. It was so obvious. And yet she had failed to notice it. Her past self had been foolish too.

At that time, she had not realized, and had looked at her only with eyes of respect.

What was she thinking as she looked at her? Did she see her with pity? Or did she perhaps hold even the slightest hope?

She gave a brief silent bow toward the former Saintess. Because she decided, as she pleased, to believe the latter was what filled the woman’s heart.

The former Saintess answered only with the faintest smile.

Tearing her gaze away from her, she slowly swept her eyes over the many gathered there.

Among all these people, who was it that had made this hell? And who had permitted it?

She had intended to meet death according to fate, but now she would change it, this hell.

From this moment on, before all these people, she would speak falsehood in the name of the one and only being in this world, Gloria.

“Gloria has spoken. In place of Gloria, as the daughter of God, I deliver these words to all of you.”

Murmurs spread through the crowd. Until now, Gloria had never conveyed anything to a Saintess.

“The Temple of Melissa must always remain neutral in war, and forever be a temple that uprightly protects people in purity and integrity. Furthermore, you are to remember that the Temple of Melissa is only a place that serves God, and not a nation.”

Absurdly enough, her voice speaking falsehood as though it were the truth was more serious and confident than it had ever been.

Using her overflowing holy power, she created an invisible dome and enclosed them all within it.

To some, it would feel like protection, and to others, like confinement.

Was the God she believed in truly a merciful God? Was giving her several lives a reward?

But within that time, she had felt pain.

Because she had never been able to feel that her God was merciful, even if she spoke this falsehood beneath that name, her conscience was not pricked.

Because she believed she had received enough punishment.

Using her holy power, she raised her voice further. Her voice now would be one that rang inside their heads.

“You who desire God’s grace, you who thought I was a merciful God, listen well. Those who abandon their conscience and choose greed shall be punished. Mercy descends only upon the good. Remember that I am not a God who grants mercy to everyone. Now choose and walk. What stands upon the path you choose, you yourselves know better than anyone. Remember, that I am a God who is not fair.”

Withdrawing the invisible dome that had surrounded them, she spoke once more.

“I, Saintess Shallen Melissa, vow in accordance with Gloria’s words that I will give blessings to those worthy of mercy, and severe punishment to those who are not. I vow that I will not distribute my holy power equally to all. Then, I hope that you will be those who receive God’s mercy.”

After finishing her words, she smiled gently. Though she did not know whether it would truly feel gentle to those with guilty consciences.

Today, she had spoken falsehood in God’s name, and that falsehood was the sharp warning she gave to this place.