At the Suho Estate, Suna stumbled out of the pharmacy in a loose-fitting outfit.
After soaking in her family’s high-grade healing potion, her legs were mostly numb, but she could walk again.
And the first thing she did was check on the priest girl.
“Little Truth, I came to have a girly chat with you— y’know, about hidden ruins around Deya City or whatever, guh-heh-heh…”
But after asking around the passing servants, Suna found out Truth wasn’t anywhere in the estate.
Even her father didn’t know— until they saw Butler Norton returning in a carriage.
“Uncle Nor,” Suna called out immediately under the night sky.
“Where’s Truth?”
Butler Norton hesitated for a few seconds. Only after Earl Suho nodded behind her did he reply honestly:
“I took her to the Shelter of the Goddess of Life.”
“…What?”
Suna froze. Only those who blasphemed the gods were sent to the Shelter, weren’t they?
“Why would you send her there?! A priestess who can use healing spells— how could she possibly be blaspheming the goddess? Don’t you know a priest’s power comes from the goddess? And the one who runs the shelter, that divine guide, he’s not a good person!”
Back at school, she’d heard rumors about that divine guide named Kral— how he often accused people of heresy to extort money, and even harassed petite girls…
Wait a minute. Isn’t Truth kind of… petite?
Suna rushed toward the stables and pulled out the fastest horse in the estate. Behind her, her father Suho called out:
“My daughter, I understand how you feel, but your Uncle Nor is sure that priest is a heretic who worships a false god. That strange priest’s robe and her rare hair color are proof enough. I’m sure you noticed too.”
“I don’t understand why you brought her home in the first place. Our family has enemies watching our every move. If they catch wind that we’re harboring a heretic, it’s over for all of us.
So for the sake of the family, handing her over to Divine Guide Kral was the best decision.”
But even as he said that, Suna didn’t slow down. Seeing her anxious expression, Earl Suho added:
“Besides, Divine Guide Kral is a Tier 3 priest blessed by the goddess herself. He would never stoop to base conduct. Those rumors are all baseless. If your friend truly isn’t a heretic, I’m sure he’ll release her unharmed.”
Suna mounted her horse and replied coldly:
“Father seems so sure that Truth is a heretic. But what if I told you she’s actually from 500 years ago? What if, 500 years ago, the goddess wasn’t even called the Goddess of Life yet? What if all her followers back then wore robes just like hers?
If it weren’t for her and a certain mysterious senior, I wouldn’t have made it back today. And I have seen with my own eyes what kind of person Divine Guide Kral really is!”
With that, she gave the horse a firm slap.
The powerful steed bolted toward Deya City at full speed.
Suna was certain— Truth couldn’t be a heretic. After all, only those who worshiped the Goddess of Life could use healing magic!
From 500 years ago? Suho didn’t believe it for a second, but he sighed and turned back.
“Norton, if that priest girl turns out to be clean, go bring her back. Otherwise, my daughter’s going to sulk for weeks.”
“Understood,” Norton replied.
Though deep down, he thought grimly:
In that case… she’d better be a heretic. Because there’s no way anyone comes out of Kral’s hands unscathed…
Faster— faster! I can’t let anything bad happen to Truth.
She saved my life in the Mist out of pure kindness, and yet… my father handed her over to a monster.
Before long, still dressed in casual clothes, Suna arrived outside the Shelter of the Goddess. Under the moonlight, it was eerily quiet.
She swallowed hard when she saw the words engraved above the entrance: “The Goddess of Life shall guide those lost in the dark.”
Pushing open the door, she whispered, “May the goddess watch over me…”
Inside the shelter, not a soul stirred. But Suna immediately spotted a half-open wooden door in the corner.
So Reg had been telling the truth.
That divine guide Kral really had built a private prison beneath the shelter.
Maybe those missing scholars from the city were locked up in there too…
Right— there was something she had nearly forgotten! Only as she crept to the heavy wooden door did it hit her:
How the hell am I supposed to deal with a Tier 3 divine guide?! He was one of the strongest combatants in Deya City. She’d just reached Tier 1 last month!
“Oh no oh no oh no— I can’t believe I’m only realizing this now. What am I supposed to do?!”
Panicked, Suna bit her finger and paced nervously outside the door.
Just then, a blood-reeking wind burst out from within, slamming into her with such pressure that she had to clutch a nearby bench to stay upright.
As the wind died down, the wooden door suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang.
That smell— blood?!
Suna’s legs gave out beneath her. No… no way… don’t tell me Truth’s already been…
“Boom!”
A deafening crash rang out. The heavy wooden door blew apart, a mangled figure flying across the chapel and landing in the center.
Suna screamed and dove behind the pews, covering her head in fear.
“Cough… cough cough…”
The figure that had been hurled from the dungeon lay sprawled on the ground, hacking up mouthfuls of black blood.
He was covered head to toe in blood, his legs mangled and rotting.
Within seconds of hitting the floor, he began to claw desperately toward the shelter’s front door, as if trying to escape some unspeakable horror.
Through the gap between the pews, Suna instantly recognized him— the green embroidery on his robes marked him as a follower of the Goddess of Life, and that gaunt face…
“It’s Divine Guide Kral…?! What the hell happened to him?!”
Suna clapped a hand over her mouth and gasped.
That was a Tier 3 divine guide! In Deya City, even the most influential figures had to show him respect.
Even those stronger than him would tread lightly around someone of his status. And yet— someone had shattered his legs?
“No— no, please! Help me! Goddess, save me!”
Kral cried out, his blood-filled mouth missing several teeth.
His crushed legs dragged streaks of blood behind him as he crawled, inch by inch. Then— light footsteps echoed from the dungeon behind.
“How’s the praying going, Divine Guide? Did the merciful goddess answer your call?”
The voice was playful, taunting, familiar… yet also foreign.
It sounded like Truth—but there was none of the gentle warmth she had shown in the mist.
Suna cautiously turned her gaze toward the door.
And then, that familiar petite figure sauntered out with catlike grace— silver shoulder-length hair, bloodstained priest robes, and in her hand… a black-and-red blood-soaked blade that radiated malice.
It was… Truth?!
“Please! It was the butler, he—Arghhhh!”
Kral had barely crawled a meter when Truth slowly drove her blade into his right leg, pinning him in place.
Every movement he made sent jolts of unbearable pain through his body.
He couldn’t believe it. That in this tiny backwater city of Deya, a Greater Demon had appeared. Even the weakest of their kind were at Tier 7.
A Tier 7 demon could raze the entire city of Deya without effort. And right now, the only being strong enough to pose a threat was the goddess herself. But this demon…
Didn’t give a damn about gods.
“Awwww… Screaming like that and still no answer from your goddess?” Truth tilted her head, mocking. “Looks like She doesn’t like you very much. Or maybe…”
She grabbed Kral by the hair, forcing him to look up at the mural of the Goddess of Life painted on the chapel ceiling.
“Maybe She enjoys listening to the screams of a pathetic dog like you?”
“No, please! Great demon, I— I was wrong, I didn’t know! I didn’t mean to offend—”
THUD! Before he could finish begging, Truth slammed his head into the ground. Again. And again. And again.
“Pathetic! All you ever do! Is beg! For your life! Can’t you—be the least bit fun?!”
Ugh. Boring. From beginning to end, all he did was grovel. And even after all that, still no divine intervention?
It seemed the goddess didn’t care much for a little divine guide like him either. How dull.
“Guhhh… Please… spare… me…”
Kral had nothing left. If she were an ordinary human, he could have tried bribing her with gold, gems, anything.
But unfortunately, this was a demon. And all a demon wanted—was blood.
Finally, when he was barely clinging to life, Truth let go of him, utterly disappointed.
She had hoped to test herself against a Tier 12 deity someday… What a letdown.
Sure, she couldn’t defeat a Tier 12, but she could definitely run away if needed.
Besides, a few swipes from her claws earlier had been enough to make this worm confess everything: how the butler, Norton, had been trading favors with him, using his position for mutual gain.
But Truth had no interest in the petty dealings of weaklings.
Forget it. There was no fun in bullying trash like this. Might as well put him out of his misery.
“No… don’t!!”
Truth wrapped her fingers around the blood blade embedded in Kral’s body and gave it a gentle twist.
With a scream, his body was flung into the air. Blood sprayed across the mural of the Goddess of Life, and his body was bathed in moonlight pouring through the skylight.
Even as his consciousness faded, Kral’s heart remained filled with resentment. It wasn’t fair. None of it was fair. Why hadn’t any other divine guides run into a demon?
He had paid so much to claw his way up to the position of divine guide.
He’d only toyed with a dozen women.
He hadn’t even gotten revenge on those who used to look down on him.
It wasn’t fair—none of it was fair…
It was all that damn butler’s fault!
The next moment, Truth raised the blood blade beneath his falling body and— Splurt!
Right under the gaze of the Goddess’s image, the blade pierced straight through Kral’s chest. His blood was drained in an instant, sucked dry by the cursed weapon.
With a flick of Truth’s wrist, a withered, empty husk of a corpse hit the chapel floor.
Ahhh… this really suited her. Combat was the best. Truth let out a long, satisfied sigh, flashing a grin that revealed two adorably sharp canines.
Now then… it was time to deal with the little mouse who’d been hiding this whole time.
“Mmgh…”
Behind the pews, Suna was curled up and trembling violently.
The moment Truth had driven the blade into Kral, she had shut her eyes— but his screams, and Truth’s demonic words, had continued to echo in her ears.
She couldn’t— mustn’t— be discovered. If she was found now…
Boom!
The pew behind her exploded into splinters. A shadow fell over her.
And as she turned her head—she saw the same thing Kral had seen before his death.
Truth’s glowing, crimson eyes. Brimming with excitement, disdain…
And just a hint of curiosity.
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Tftc!