Chapter 9: The Flame, Our Only God

The day when light swallowed everything that existed.

The moment Erin, clad in the armor of light, saw the universe.

A universe that existed before the concept of a universe was even established.

Erin doesn’t know its exact name, but it was undeniably the universe.

The universe. Universe.

In the holy scriptures, it’s not merely simple letters being inscribed.

They are the words of God— not of a false god, but of the true and only God, a story that truly happened.

The expression that mere creations can barely reach— the Truth.

What is being written anew isn’t truly new.

It is merely perceived as new because it has not been reached.

It is fundamentally the same as the universe existing, even though Erin doesn’t know of it.

The Truth of the one true God, “Igogodon,” filled Erin’s mind, who was to become a saintess.

Had it been an ordinary person, they would have been overwhelmed by the Truth pouring into their mind.

They would have been crushed, their mind destroyed by incomprehensible logic, turning into a madwoman who babbled words no one could understand.

They would have ended up like one of those few in the apocalypse, endlessly muttering.

The universe. The universe exists.

There is a “God” in the universe. Igogodon. Igogodon. The name of God is Igogodon…

No one would understand, and even the one reciting it wouldn’t understand, endlessly repeating it, becoming a mere ornament in a vision of apocalypse.

But Erin is different.

The woman cherished by “Igogodon” had to be different.

She can accept the Truth.

Her vessel is able to contain Igogodon.

Thus, Igogodon fills Erin’s insides with his “Truth.”

“It’s coming inside…!”

The vessel to spread His will— the vessel of a saintess overflowing with His essence—

‘He pushes it in. ‘

‘He pushes it in.’

‘He pushes it in.’

And throughout it all, Erin—

“The Truth of Lord Igogodon…”

The Truth of the one and only being.

“Everything of Lord Igogodon is within me—”

The thoughts of one who wants to devote everything.

“My God… My one true God, who truly exists for everyone…!”

In her mind, In her heart, In her stomach, completely, overwhelmingly full.

So full it feels like she will burst.

Ah, Lord Igogodon. My Lord Igogodon…

This is what it was.

You meant this when you said to remember that I am a woman… Everything, everything was meant for this.

Because… feeling something like this… I can’t help but be aware of the fact that I’m a woman, even if I don’t want to acknowledge it…

And because she has accepted Igogodon with her entire being— she can’t help but hear it now.

The voice of the one true God, Igogodon, the one who has never changed.

***

“Erin.”

‘Ah… Lord Igogodon…!’

Hearing the direct voice of God for the first time, Erin shivers just from hearing it—

She brushes her hands over her body, touching the echo of him, filling every inch of the female form she was born into.

Just by hearing his voice, she feels that she might be undone. Surely. Surely, it could happen.

This voice… If I listen any longer, I won’t be able to return to who I was.

Even so, she longs to hear it. The voice of God… She wants it to fill her completely.

Lord Igogodon.

The one who saved me.

The one who uses me as a vessel of the saintess and fills me with his essence…

His voice reverberates in her ear, as if he is pressing close to her, whispering…

So deep and rich, soft yet powerful, resonating in her eardrums.

“Erin, your chuchuchan is big.”

‘Ugh.’

It is a divine possession.

Now connected with the presence of God, Erin, merely hearing his voice, so effortlessly bears the Truth of Igogodon.

“Uhn…”

And before everyone’s eyes, the blinding light fades.

The scene revealed once again shows everything changed, except for Lumina and Erin, who are sitting where they had collapsed.

The same plaza of the same capital, the same cathedral.

The guards scattered around and a woman who appears to be a high priestess.

As she regains her senses… Erin realizes something is clutched in her hand.

It is the holy scriptures.

The most sacred book in the world, inscribed with God’s words, which Erin always carried with her.

‘I can’t lose this… I have to hold on to it.’

Even if she had lost her senses, dropping the holy scriptures would be unacceptable.

As Erin secures it, the people who had collapsed begin to regain consciousness one by one.

“Ugh… What was that light…”

“You…!”

“How did this…!”

“Ugh… my head…”

Lumina, too, seems to be regaining her senses as she slowly rises.

‘What was I doing?’

‘I was dealing with that insane woman who claimed to hear the voice of God, pushing me aside as a saintess candidate.’

‘Ah, right. The holy scriptures…’

Yes.

Suddenly surrounded by light, the scriptures I held close flew away.

Realizing this, Lumina glanced around herself… then suddenly had a fundamental question.

Why did I have the holy scriptures with me?

I… never carried something like that around, did I?

“Lady Saint!”

At that moment, Lumina heard the voices of the guards.

Lady Saint?

Of course, I’m recognized as the person closest to sainthood by His Holiness, but from my position as a novice, isn’t being called a saint still problematic?

***

Simultaneously, she noticed that the guard’s voice was growing distant.

‘Huh…?’

Looking up toward where Erin stood—

Lumina saw that the guards, who had just been protecting her, were not surrounding Erin, but rather, supporting her.

No, to be precise, they didn’t seem to know what to do.

As if even touching that holy body felt like a sin.

‘What… is this…?’

While Lumina stood there in shock, her eyes wide, Erin also naturally sensed the change.

However, unlike Lumina, who was bewildered by what was happening, Erin had an inkling as to why this was so.

‘Why these people were calling her a saint.’

‘And… why she now always seemed to carry these holy scriptures.’

‘Lord Igogodon… You answered my prayer…

‘Once again, you have not abandoned me.’

The request for the strength to overcome trials.

Though it was an audacious plea, I was sure the merciful Lord Igogodon would grant it.

Because Lord Igogodon adores me. And my body…’

With a silent sigh of relief, Erin subtly brushed her hand over her priestess robe, feeling the comforting weight of her ample bosom, hidden within the stretched fabric.

-Erin, chuchuchan so big.

Even now, when she closed her eyes, the first voice of her Lord still tickled her insides.

Having conceived his truth within her, she could sense it so naturally.

His gaze. The clinging affection He had toward her.

The fact that he was… watching over her.

Thus, she conveyed her feelings.

‘Everything… Lord Igogodon, all of it belongs to you. I am your saint, Erin, and yours alone…’

“Saint Erin…! Are you all right?”

The high priestess, who had just been rebuking her, rushed to Erin’s side with concern.

Erin slowly nodded.

“I am all right.”

“It’s truly fortunate that you are unharmed. If anything had happened to you, Lady Saint, it would have been a terrible tragedy…!”

“W-wait a moment!”

From a distance, Lumina, who had been watching in horror, shouted urgently.

“A saint? That woman blasphemes God. She doesn’t even know the true name of the Lord and utters deceptive words in his name.”

“W-what?!”

“You crazy wench!”

“Eek…!”

Lumina could do nothing but retreat.

One of the guards, with a fierce glare, pointed his spear at her, filled with murderous intent.

“What nonsense are you spouting about the Saint? Have you lost your senses?!”

“What trickery are you up to?!”

“Don’t think that cheap magic can fool us, witch!”

“W-wait… What is this, what’s going on…?!”

***

At that moment, an elderly man with a distressed look rushed out of the cathedral.

For some reason, Erin knew who he was at a glance.

His Holiness, the Pope.

He was Pope Agnus III of this continent.

“Lady Saint! Are you unharmed?!”

It seemed he had rushed out of his duties, startled by the recent blinding light.

“I am fine.”

After checking Erin’s condition, Pope Agnus III let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh… It’s truly, truly fortunate. It seems the Lord has protected you, Lady Saint. How wonderful…”

He closed his eyes and offered a prayer to the one true God he had served all his life.

And then—

From Lumina’s perspective, watching this scene, he said something incomprehensible.

“May the Lord’s pure truth be with Lady Erin.”

“The Lord’s… pure truth, not his blessing…? What does that even mean??”

When these kinds of events happened, His Holiness usually prayed for the Lord’s blessing, not some incomprehensible term like “pure truth.”

At that moment, Lumina’s gaze fell upon a nameplate she had seen countless times in this place, carved in expensive obsidian.

[In Honor of Our One True God, Igogodon]

‘What…?’

Th-there…

‘Has that inscription… always been there…?’

In that moment, a mysterious, chilling fear gripped Lumina…

And she heard someone whispering in her ear.

There was no one around her, yet the voice lingered in her ear.

An unsettling “voice,” impossible to describe in human language, seemed to pronounce an unknown sentence as if delivering a judgment.

It was a phrase that the unchosen one, Lumina, would never understand, even if given a hundred years.

“Ten thousand blessings, hooray.”

Thus ended her era.