Chapter 10

“This energy…”

Father Dominic, who was reading a book in his room, sensed a familiar energy.

This thick and unpleasant energy.

It was an energy he could never forget.

Father Dominic ran toward the place where the festival was being held.

“Father Dominic!”

Ailiya, perhaps sensing something, rushed out of her room in a hurry.

“I feel an evil energy… What on earth happened?”

“Beelzebub has appeared nearby.”

“Th-that’s impossible. There’s a barrier stone, so how could the Great Demon enter the Maze City? And moreover, a part of Beelzebub’s body is hidden deep within the Temple of Alpheron. Even if he were in his complete form, he couldn’t break through the barrier stone… It’s impossible for a weakened Beelzebub to appear here.”

At the center of the Maze City, there is a barrier stone that creates the barrier surrounding the city.

As long as the barrier exists, demons cannot enter the Maze City.

But how could Beelzebub, weakened, enter? It was definitely his energy.

The energy of the Great Demon who had taken countless lives 20 years ago.

There was no way to confuse it.

Father Dominic’s mind became confused.

“My disciple~ You’ve gotten so old?”

Amid the confusion in his head, Father Dominic reacted to a familiar voice.

In front of him was someone who should not be there.

His teacher, the Saintess of Alpheron.

And the person who had passed away when he was 12.

“How… how is this possible…”

How could he ever forget? Her emerald eyes, slightly upturned eyelids, snow-white hair.

Saintess Elzebator.

She looked just as she had 30 years ago in his memories.

But the atmosphere was completely different.

Her light-hearted personality seemed the same…

But everything else had changed.

It is said that the beauty of one’s clothing reflects the beauty of their heart.

In his memories, his teacher always wore the saintly robe that wrapped her entire body.

The design was complex, so it might have been a little disheveled at times, but he had never once seen her saintly robe in disarray.

It was a sign of how devout a servant she was to the gods.

But now… it was a revealing outfit that only covered the important parts.

She wore a witch’s pointed hat, and in one hand, she held a broomstick.

His teacher loved to play pranks.

Could she have prepared this surprise to tease him for 30 years?

Really, what a helpless teacher.

Helpless… His eyes caught a glimpse of her thighs.

“Oh my. Dominic, are you looking at your teacher with lecherous eyes? My disciple has grown up now~”

The witch’s tattoo glowed faintly on her thigh.

This couldn’t be happening.

There was no way someone as benevolent as his teacher could fall.

A saintess like her could never become the filthy demoness of evil.

“Who… are you really…”

Dominic gritted his teeth.

How dare this thing insult his teacher.

“My disciple. You haven’t already forgotten this teacher’s face, have you? If so, I would be so sad.”

The thing that had taken his teacher’s form pretended to cry.

“Or… can you not accept the reality that this teacher has fallen?”

“Don’t insult her! She would never be like that!”

He laughed.

It was a lonely laugh.

“Dominic, humans are like two sides of a coin. When I was a saintess, I only showed you one side of the coin. You thought that was the whole picture, but you never saw the other side, where ugly desires are boiling inside.”

Elzebator smiled with an ecstatic expression.

“When I threw off my saintly robe, I realized how lazy I was, how gluttonous I was, how greedy I was, how envious I was, how proud I was, how lascivious I was, and how much anger I had in my heart.”

Elzebator whispered softly.

“My dear disciple, I know how much you’ve worked to dispel the darkness of this Maze City. I know, because I was the same. But look at the results. Have you seen the fruits of your labor? Has anyone acknowledged your sacrifice? Have the powerholders in the temple changed? Has this Maze City moved in a better direction?”

Dominic hesitated to answer.

Had he seen the fruits of his efforts? No.

If anything, it would have been a blessing if things hadn’t gotten worse.

Who acknowledged his sacrifices? He had only been mocked.

“Have the powerholders in the temple changed?

It was the same as it was 30 years ago.

Has the Maze City moved in a better direction?

Rather, it was rolling down the path of destruction.

Dominic couldn’t answer his teacher’s question.

“However… becoming a witch and harming innocent people is wrong! The witches have killed countless people so far. But how could someone who was a saintess…?”

Ailiya, who was standing behind Dominic, shouted.

“Hmm… that outfit… are you a candidate saintess? My cute junior. Do you know how many villages have disappeared due to vague prophecies without any clear evidence? Do you know how many people were acknowledged as witches by the temple but died without resisting during the trial?”

“Of course, there might be some innocent victims! But we do this to prevent greater harm, and surely the gods will forgive us…”

“Forgive?! How dare a sinner ask the gods for forgiveness? Forgiveness isn’t about a sinner asking for pardon from the gods! Forgiveness is when the victim graciously overlooks the sinner’s crime! Don’t pretend to be pure. You are no different from us. Just another sinner!”

Elzebator’s anger made Ailiya shrink back.

“Then… are the witches’ acts of terrorism forgivable?”

“I never asked for forgiveness. I carry my sins completely. I never try to wash off the blood on my hands. Unlike you, who think forgiveness means an exemption from your sins.”

Ailiya fidgeted with the bracelet on her left hand.

Elzebator took a deep breath and calmed her anger.

“I’m sorry, children. I sometimes have trouble controlling my anger, and I get carried away. You must have been startled. Please try to understand.”

“Master… You’ve changed so much…”

Dominic said with a bitter expression.

She was once the person he respected most.

No matter how much he grew, in his memories, he was still a boy, and she was a giant in comparison.

Even as he grew, she remained the revered elder that he could never catch up to.

But now, his master was much smaller than in his memories.

She was even shorter than him. Had she always been this small?

Though he had grown from a boy to a middle-aged man, she remained the same.

This reunion with his master was the worst.

It would have been better if he hadn’t known she was still alive until the day he died.

“Finally, you recognize me as your master? I am so happy. But… I haven’t changed much. I was just wearing the mask of a saint. Now I’ve thrown it off, revealing my true face. How refreshing it feels to take off the suffocating mask. The thicker the mask, the better the feeling when you take it off.
My disciple, you too wear a thick mask. Take it off, and show me what desires hide behind the other side of your coin.”

“Master… Did you do this? Did you allow Beelzebub to come into the Maze City? With your power, you could easily make a hole in the barrier and let him through.”

“You already know the answer, don’t you?”

Dominic’s mind flashed with memories of his comrades who had died at Beelzebub’s hands.

Every expression, every word they said as they died was still vivid in his memory, and the anger from that time once again surged within him.

“AAAH!”

A huge hammer of light swung down where Elzebator had been standing.

“Anger is good. Justice contains anger, and anger born of justice becomes a force for progress. So be angry, my disciple. Fight for the justice you believe in.”

Elzebator casually blocked the hammer with one hand.

“How dare… A witch discuss justice?”

The hammer turned back into light.

In Dominic’s hand, a sword made of light formed.

He rushed toward Elzebator, swinging the sword.

The sword was blocked by a barrier of light.

“Anger is fine, but you shouldn’t let it consume you in battle. You need to stay calm. It looks like you need more training.”

From behind Elzebator, a gate to hell opened. Horrifying tentacle-like limbs emerged from the gate and struck Dominic.

“Ugh…!”

Dominic was knocked away by the tentacle and crashed into a wall.

“Dominic, Priest…!”

Ailiya gestured, and birds made of light rushed toward Elzebator.

The tentacles lashed out at the birds, and they vanished as if they were nothing more than illusions.

Seeing their attacks so easily blocked, Ailiya was left speechless.

“It’s been nice catching up with my disciple, but I should go now. My goal has already been achieved.”

From Elzebator’s cloak, hairy insect-like legs emerged.

They resembled the front legs of a giant fly.

“Why is a part of Beelzebub’s body with you, Master?”

“Did you have trouble finding it?”

Dominic and Ailiya rushed toward Elzebator to reclaim Beelzebub’s body part, but Elzeator waved and opened the gate to hell, stepping through it.

By the time they reached the spot where Elzebator had been, the gate to hell had already closed, leaving no trace.

“Dammit…!”

Dominic slammed his fist against the ground in frustration.