Chapter 267: The Eucharist (2)
The body of a saint is called the "Eucharist," which is often used to mean 'white bread and white wine'.
Thus, the priests of Lun would eat a meal of white bread and white wine once a weekend.
It was a tradition derived from the myth that, long ago, the prophet Lun made white bread from his own flesh and white wine from his own blood, which he shared with his followers.
And those who followed the doctrines of the Lun religion, either by copying them or adapting them with clever twists and turns, had broadly similar cultures.
For example, the 'New World Church', 'Om Church' and 'Manson Church' which are rapidly growing in power throughout the empire.
They copied and used Rune's old doctrines almost exactly, but added their own unique interpretations to the empty parts of the doctrines, and eventually creating a whole new religion.
And the highest-ranking priests, including 'Elmani', 'Om', and 'Charles', the heads of these large-scale heresies and pseudo-religions, were now gathered in one place.
It was in front of a temple of the New Testament in Quovadis, on the outskirts of the Imperial City, with few people.
A large group of people gathered together and began to talk.
"Greetings, Priest, it's been a while. Are you looking much better?"
"Well, I've gotten a bit of a boost this time around when a merchant guild donated their entire fortune to me."
"Kya. You're very resourceful. How did you get the donation?"
"Is there anything special? The guild leader's daughter there had been sick for several years, and I tricked her into saying I would treat her, so I took it all out. If you're in pain, all it takes is a few narcotic painkillers."
"Hahaha~ that's awesome. I've been worried that I've been losing weight and this is going to make me look like I don't have any."
"Isn't it because you brought in a new young concubine this time?"
"Hehehehe~ That's right. She already had a husband, but I managed to seduce her with indoctrination and make her fall head over heels for me."
"Well done. To put it bluntly, wouldn't you be a true god if they sacrificed not only all his wealth but also their body and soul for you?"
"That's right, otherwise salvation is out of the question~"
Although cults and heresy priests differed in the reasoning and principles of their religions, they had one thing in common.
It was to gain weight by taking the backbone of those who were tired and struggling.
At that time.
The crowd parted to the left and right, and three figures walked out from different directions.
They were Elmani, Om, and Charles, the leaders of the cults.
Elmani, aged but still with a greedy gleam in both eyes, spoke.
" ..., by the way. The fact that the New Testament of the Quovadis sent an invitation to dinner means that they finally recognize our 'New World Church' as an official branch, right?"
Then 'Om', a man so fat that he almost looked like a ball, said.
"That's right. The Eucharist is the sharing of the blood and flesh of a saint. Calling us here probably means that they want to form a formal alliance with our church."
The skinny, wide-eyed 'Charles' nodded in agreement.
"Yes. That's why we're meeting in secret today, to keep the Old Testament in check. When they learned that we had been providing funds to the Old Testament for a long time, they also wanted to get something out of it."
The leaders of the heresies and cults gathered here all call themselves the Pope,
They've all traveled here for their own reasons, having received invitations to a dinner that Quovadis had secretly delivered some time ago in the name of the New Testament.
Having already established strong ties with the Old Testament, they are now looking to align themselves with the New Testament.
"Since the Old and New Testaments are currently at odds within the Quovadis, if we fund them both, we'll be able to survive no matter who wins."
"That's right, a clever rabbit digs multiple burrows, and no matter who wins in the end, we'll just have to enjoy the reflex profits. Perhaps it would be better for us if the two sides were at odds for all eternity, with no winner or loser."
"To do that, we must keep our gathering here today a secret from the outside world. I'm sure you've all kept your secrets well, haven't you?"
All the influential cults and heresies from across the Empire were here.
The leaders of each religion had brought only a core group of trusted officials.
"How fortunate is it that the New Testament bastards have finally come to their senses and reached out to us?"
"They know they can't win against the Old Testament without our funding."
"Hahaha~ the New Testament bastards. Always pretending to be virtuous and clean."
They came secretly, in the middle of the night, and rushed into the temple to see who would see them.
...No, they were about to enter.
Quack!
If it weren't for the heavy drinking that came out of nowhere.
Bruk, buk, buk, buk, buk!
Debris from collapsed structures and trees fell on the wagons and people.
Screams began to erupt from everywhere.
"What, what!"
The heretics and cults circled around, panicking as they looked at the collapsed earth and debris.
And then, through the dense dust, they hear the sound of footsteps.
Tap, tap, tap, tap.
Black tights, killer heels over thirty centimeters high.
Ms. Uroboros.
She had appeared out of nowhere!
"Hohoho~ what is this? What kind of trash is this?"
She glanced at the priests and shrugged once.
"I heard that Night Hound had appeared, so I came here, and all I found was a bunch of stinky trash?"
The priests shouted in outrage.
"You insolent criminal bitch! what are you doing, kill her!"
Then the soldiers, armed with spears and shields, charged at Miss Uroboros.
But.
Shiriririk- Kirik-
The whip coiled like a snake, slicing through the arms, legs, and bodies of the soldiers like sliced zucchini.
A terrifying aura flew out in a purple and black trajectory.
Sssiiag! Kwak-kwak!
The whip, which sprouted thorns like a rose vine, caused a faint earthquake every time it struck the hard rock floor.
The faces of the heretics and cultists paled as the heavily armored paladins were nearly crushed to death.
"No, no way! What kind of monster!"
"Ha! What is the Imperial Guard doing!"
"Help me, I'm not supposed to die in a place like this!"
Elmani, Om, and Charles tried to run away, but it was impossible.
Miss Uroboros had already dropped down in front of them.
She asked in a laughing tone.
"What are you guys? Are you the Pope?"
They all nodded.
"I am the Pope of the New World Church! Do you think you can do this to me and not be punished?"
"I am the Pope of the Om Church. I have hundreds of thousands of followers who would grieve if I were to have an accident."
"I am the god of the Manson Church. Those who seek to harm me will be harmed."
Elmani, Om, and Charles spoke in stern tones.
Then.
Siiag! Siiag! Pow!
Miss Ouroboros snapped her whip in the air.
Soon, several of the trees that had been uprooted and fell down changed their appearance due to the aura, taking on the shape of trees with numerous branches extending out.
"...?"
Elmani, Om, and Charles scratched their heads.
And then. Miss Uroboros said with a pious smile.
"If you are the Pope or God, show me the proof. Then I'll let you live."
At the same time.
Whirriik-.
Miss Ouroboros's whip swept across the front of Charles's body.
"What?"
Charles, who stood dumbfounded, was quickly dragged to the giant tree in front of him.
And then.
Puff-puff-puff!
Miss Uroboros's thrown dagger from her belt pierced through both his shoulders and thighs, nailing him to the tree.
"Aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!?"
Charles frantically screamed, but his body was already nailed firmly to the tree.
Miss Ouroboros smirked.
"Now, I'll put a laurel wreath on you."
A whip studded with poisonous thorns wrapped around Charles' head, which was fluttering furiously from side to side.
"Ugh! Aaahhhhhhh!"
Charles struggled violently, blood spurting out from all over his body, and then he went limp.
He died of shock due to excessive bleeding.
Next to him, Elmani and Om were lying naked and urinating.
Miss Uroboros smiled brightly.
"Yes, contestant number one. You have failed to resurrect! Contestant number two is next."
Miss Uroboros walked over to the shivering Om.
And then.
Poof! Thud!
She lifted the heel of her high heel and stamped on his toe, shattering it into a pieces.
"Khaahhh! Ahhhhh! Kahak!?"
Om struggled, but Miss Uroboros' kicking didn't stop.
She started with his toes, then his insteps, ankles, shins, knees, and thighs....
Soon, Om's lower body was completely crushed into a rag.
Miss Uroboros smiled and said.
"The next challenge is 'fixing a cripple'! Come on, stand up on your own two legs. Then I will save your life."
But Om couldn't get up.
Only.
"God, help me! I'm not a god! I'm not a priest! I'm just a cult! No, I'm a heretic, a heretic!"
Om just begs for his life, vomiting out the truth, maybe for the first time in his life.
"No, no, no! The Pope is dying...."
"How could our savior show himself like that to a mere mob...."
"Man, this is a scam, he can piss and shit, he has no divine power whatsoever!"
The priests and followers, who had been submitting to the authority of their leaders, screamed in disbelief.
Meanwhile, Elmani, the leader of the largest cult, glared at Miss Uroboros with a determined expression.
"I, I am not afraid of you! I will never give in, because I am the second coming of God to this world!"
"Oh, really?"
Miss Uroboros covered her mouth with her hand and laughed.
Then she turned to Elmani, intrigued.
"If you're really a god, wouldn't it be okay for you to touch the holy water?"
"What? Of course...."
But Elmani could not answer.
Because before he could open his mouth, Miss Uroboros took out a bottle from her arms and splashed the liquid contained on Elmani's face.
"Here. Holy water."
Miss Uroboros smiled.
At the same time, Elmani's face began to make a terrifying sound.
Wassshrkrkk-
Flesh melts, blisters boil. The horrible smell of burning flesh began to assault the nose.
"Aaaaaaah!"
Elmani struggled, covering his face with both hands.
However, the holy water had already melted the flesh and created countless holes in the bones, as well as burned everything inside them.
"What, I accidentally poured hydrochloric acid instead of holy water?"
Miss Uroboros rolled her eyes and slap herself in the head.
The faces of the other cult leaders turned white as they saw Elmani dying in terrible pain.
"I, I'm not the second coming of Lun!"
"Help me, I just like people to support me...!"
"Ughhhhh! I just created a religion so I could commit adultery with married men and women!"
"Ughhhhh! I just made it a business so I could make some money!"
The shocked confessions of the religious leaders follow. And the believers were also shocked.
jjaeng-geulang- wajangchang- pogsag-
The sound of trust being broken and collapsing was heard everywhere.
* * *
"...Hmm. Things are going a little differently than planned, huh?"
On the roof of the New Testament Temple.
Vikir, in Night Hound mode, looked down on the scene of devastation below with Dolores.
Vikir's original plan had been to gather the leaders of the cults and heretics in one place and exterminate them.
In fact, it was originally Sinclair's plan as well.
In the past, Sinclair had been assigned the following mission in the second round of the University League.
Faithful Holy Family / Difficulty: [★★★☆]
The Empire is currently plagued by a growing number of heresies and cults.
From the perspective of the Quovadis Inquisition, suggest ways to combat these cults and raise the prestige of the Lun Crunch.
Sinclair's somewhat radical answer was this.
A plan that Sinclair would reveal to Dolores many years later.
Vikir already knew it from his pre-regression memories.
" ...Cults and heretics are like weeds, you can't get rid of them unless you pull them out by the roots, but since you can't deal with all the grass seeds that are spread all over the place, the only solution is to gather them in one place and set them on fire."
Of course, this doesn't include local folk beliefs, traditional religions of indigenous peoples, etc. that don't harm those around them.
It only targets the scumbags who prey on the minds of the poor and weary, who extort money from them, who do terrible things to their children, and who covet other people's husbands and wives.
Vikir sends his cub to steal the handwriting of Martin Luther, a New Testament Bishop.
Madame Young spewed out thread in the shape of the letters written on the documents in Luther's office, solidified it, and when she pulled it off, she was able to steal not only the contents of the documents but also the handwriting.
Meanwhile.
"Uh, isn't that a little too much?"
Dolores shivered slightly.
However, that is a plan that Dolores, the 'Saint of Steel', will carry out only a few decades later.
So Vikir answered without much emotion.
"Look what the dying cultists are spewing."
At that, Dolores' eyes widened.
Phew!
The blood spouted by dying people. The color of the blood was inky black.
Every single one of the high-ranking officers and devotees here had made a pact with the demon.
Whether they knew it or not.
'As expected, they're connected to the Sixth Corpse.'
Vikir thought as he looked at the people who were dying in the hands of Miss Uroboros.
To be honest, Vikir hadn't been sure she would show up here.
It was a fifty-fifty chance.
This made it clear that
1. She wanted to meet Night Hound
2. Uroboros has a hostile relationship with the demon's minions (reason unknown)
Wherever Night Hound had appeared in the past, she had always been followed by Miss Uroboros.
So Vikir planned to be her imitator this time.
'After all, cross-dressing and a certain amount of whipping are not that difficult.'
But things were accelerated when Miss Uroboros showed up for real.
Just in time.
"This way! I hear screams!"
"All hands on deck!"
"We'll get him this time!"
The sound of the Imperial Guard rushing in after receiving the report could be heard.
"Hohoho- Does this feel like I've been taken advantage of? I came here after receiving a report that night hound had appeared, but it was all in vain."
Miss Uroboros shook her head in disbelief.
"Night Hound... you mean to use me in this way? Hohohoho-you sneaky, charming thing, you just keep getting better and better, don't you?"
With that, Miss Uroboros turned on her heel and leapt into the air, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Nothing but dirt and darkness, swallowing everything up.
And taking advantage of that opportunity, Bikir quickly entered the scene and caught a still-living louse.
It was Om, the leader of the Om Church.
"...Uugghhh."
He had been horribly ovulated in the lower half by Miss Uroboros.
In his half-dazed state, Vikir had to rely on his Decarabia powers.
He was mesmerized by the red light emanating from the single eye in the center of the inverted pentagram and spit out everything he knew before he died.
"Ledgers... under the floor of a destroyed carriage... hidden in three layers... money lines... top secret documents...."
Just before Miss Uroboros left and the Imperial Guard arrived.
Vikir moved urgently.
"Quick, the ledger!"
Then Dolores, who had been searching the carriage first at Vikir's hand gesture, shouted just as urgently.
"Here! I found it! Under the carriage!"
Vikir and Dolores put the ledger in their arms and jumped into the dust.
'Now I've caught it past the tail and up to the body.'
Vikir thought.
'All that remains is the head. Nothing but real shadow.'
Vikir carrying Dolores, looked at the ledger while gliding through the air on Madame Cub's thread.
The answer Vikir sought.
A quick glance at the ledger revealed it.
A name that overwhelmingly dominates the list.
An entity that was the source of funds for the Old Testament faction and used as a money laundering network for heretics and cults.
And the place where the Sixth Corpse is currently hiding out.
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