Fallen Chronicles

"Mr. Renji, I must commend your courage and strength to be able to cross through hordes of Tainted Corpses to come here."

"I know that you, in your current state, have probably exhausted both your body and mind, nearing the point of collapse! My goodness, you even lost a companion!"

The priest, upon noticing the absence of Eileen, put on a show of grief, his face expressing immense sympathy, his voice deepening with sorrow.

Because it was evident that the young man's companion had undoubtedly died on the way here, fallen victim to the clutches of the Tainted Corpses, becoming a corpse in the gutter.

As a priest of the church, Gralon excelled at offering prayers for people.

He enjoyed the feeling of being superior, and he relished the process of "comforting" devout people.

"Please allow me to offer you my sincerest apologies and respect for your unwavering determination to carry on your companion's will, even after losing her."

"I know you must have many questions now, like who I am, why I am here, and how I know your name."

As he spoke, the priest's smile became more pronounced, his expression starting to twist into madness.

Because Gralon couldn't wait to reveal the truth to Renji, to see the despair and terror on the young man's face, the frustration that came after betrayal, that was what excited him the most.

"Don't worry, as a reward for reaching here, I will tell you everything, such as my name, Gralon Andu, the leader of the Blackhole Church, soon to become a figure remembered not just in the Holy Kingdom, but the entire world! And this is all thanks to you, Mr. Renji, and..."

The priest deliberately paused, dragging out the climax of his revelation, "Thanks to the Light Bringer beside you, who led you here!"

"Hahahaha, yes, the seemingly delicate and frail nun beside you, your constant companion in battle, is actually our church's strongest warrior, a battle nun who directly obeys the 'Goddess Suthia', the esteemed and noble Light Bringer!"

After his laughter, Gralon eagerly looked at Renji, expecting the shock and horror, the desperation and rage that would come from betrayal.

Renji: "Thank you, hoodwinking man."

"Hoodwinking man?"

The priest was dumbfounded, and at this point, he finally realized that something was amiss.

On the other side, Renji turned the tables and began to explain to Gralon:

"Yes, I'm really grateful to Priest Gralon for telling me all this. Otherwise, I would have been in the dark forever"

"Also, Mr. Gralon, I actually think you might be better suited for a different profession than a priest."

"What!?!"

"Hmm, I think the role of a clown would suit you far better than a priest. No, it's as if it was tailor-made for you."

Renji offered this sincere suggestion.

Unfortunately, Gralon, the priest on the other side, became agitated. He might not have understood the meaning of 'hoodwinking man,' but he certainly grasped the implication of being called a clown.

"You!! Oh... I see, you must not believe and are using this way to escape, right? Then let me shatter your last illusion!"

"Lady Light Bringer, Lady Maria, there's no need to pretend anymore, nor to sully your noble self by associating with these lowly fools. You—"

"Can take action now!"

The noisy underground altar finally fell into silence.

To be precise...

It was deathly silent.

In this suffocating silence, Gralon was the first to lose his patience.

"Lady Maria?" Gralon looked at the nun beside the young man with confusion.

Unfortunately, the nun's gaze had never once shifted in his direction.

The one Gralon saw as the Light Bringer finally spoke. But it wasn't in response to him; instead, she addressed the young man beside her.

"Lord Renji, may I take action now?"

The nun's eyes glimmered with a ferocious bloodlust, and the veins in her palms twitched uncontrollably, a symbol of anger pushed to its limits.

Had it not been for Renji holding her hand, she might have lashed out the first time Gralon mocked Renji.

But as Gralon became more presumptuous and arrogant, using such derogatory terms as "lowly" and "foolish" against Renji, even Renji couldn't hold the nun back anymore.

In truth, Renji actually wanted to keep the priest around a bit longer, to buy himself more time to think of a strategy. But who would have thought... this guy was a master at digging his own grave, as if he was afraid of living one more second.

"Sigh, go ahead" With a sigh, Renji repeated the priest's words.

But this time, after the words fell, it wasn't silence that followed.

Um...

To be precise, before the words could even fully fall, the nun beside Renji had already vanished.

In less than half a second.

First, a flash of blood.

Immediately after, screams rang out.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!"

The nun, wielding a massive scythe, had chopped off both of the priest's arms, and a torrent of blood gushed from the severed limbs. The intense pain 'nearly' made Gralon faint.

Why use "nearly"? Because in the next blink of an eye, a holy light shimmered from the nun's other hand, and a healing spell was cast on Gralon, rapidly sealing up his gushing wounds, preventing him from dying instantly. It also forced him back to consciousness after nearly fainting and prepared him for the next...

"Wait a moment, Lady Ma... Ahhh!"

After losing both his arms, the lower half of the priest's body also disappeared, but he hadn't died yet, and his consciousness remained exceptionally clear. This was because the nun's next precise holy healing spell landed on him, bringing him back from the brink of death once again.

Now limbless, reduced to a torso, the priest could only watch helplessly as Light Bringer approached him, her scythe's blade aimed at his mouth.

'This mouth that had dared to disrespect My Lord'

The scythe sliced through Galron's mouth, splitting his head in two. In one sense, he was truly dead; there was no coming back from this, not even with a healing spell.

Having completed all of this, Maria, or 'Suthia' knew that the act couldn't go on any longer. She turned back and gazed at the young man across from her.

"Lord Ashen, when did you... discover me?"

"Well, it was probably last night when we were sleeping on the couch. I have a natural phobia of the opposite sex, and the only person that can help me overcome this physiological fear and sleep peacefully within 'Holy Kingdom' is... probably only you… Suthia…"

"So, it was then,"

'It's all because I couldn't control my impatience...'

Suthia sighed internally but didn't end the conversation there. Instead, she continued to ask Renji in a soft voice.

"Lord Ashen, then what about Miss Eileen? I couldn't sense any trace of faith in her. But I remember, Lord Ashen, you once told me that you were my most loyal and devout follower. You said you would never befriend someone who didn't believe in me."

"So... was all of this"

"A lie to me?"

Renji, after hearing Suthia's words, glanced at the still-warm remains of Gralon, now reduced to pieces, and quickly replied:

"Yes, it's true that Eileen no longer believes in the Goddess, and she even dislikes her now. But that doesn't mean she was always like this. On the contrary, her mother, Nolan, was a church nun, and Eileen grew up under her mother's influence and teachings. She used to believe in the Goddess until a tragic accident."

"In that accident, Eileen lost her father, and her mother Nolan, who was a nun, didn't receive any protection from the church. Instead, the church turned its back on them, stripping them of everything. It was after this incident that Eileen stopped believing in the Goddess."

"I've been with Eileen all this time, and I've helped her for many reasons. One of them is to prove to her that the corruption in the Blackhole is separate from the Goddess herself. I believe that Thia is simply too tired and hasn't noticed what's happening here. So, it's my duty and responsibility as Thia's most loyal fan to help her regain her believer , to let that little girl know that the Goddess won't abandon them, and to let all the suffering people of Blackhole know..."

"That the holy light from Suthia might be late, but it will never disappear!"

"After all…"

"She is the one who even made the renowned, unparalleled Emperor of Ashen fall helplessly in love with her, captivated by her kindness and gentleness. My first love…"

"Am I right, Thia?"

The nun's response was simple, and actions spoke louder than words. With tear-filled eyes, Suthia pounced into the young man's arms, continuously burying her head against him, as if trying to merge her entire being with him.

"It's been a long time Thia, and I'm sorry, I'm late." Renji gently brushed the disheveled hair of the nun in his arms, his hands wrapped around her body, and he murmured softly in her ear.

And it seemed like this was the last straw that broke the camel's back. The sobbing cry echoed in the underground altar, and Suthia clung tightly to Renji's chest, her tears soaking his clothes.

"My Lord... Sniff... Thia, Thia is so tired. Thia... Sniff... Thia is really tired. Why did you... Why did you leave me? Thia has been so scared all alone for these five hundred years. Thia was afraid she'll never see you again. Thia was afraid she didn't do well enough, and you gave up on her."

"So, Thia learned from 'Them' and even established a nation. Thia thought it was your test, Thia didn't want to lose to 'Them.' But Thia really doesn't understand, really doesn't know. Thia messed up. Thia is sorry, so sorry. It's all Thia's fault."

Seeing Suthia in his arms, crying her heart out, Renji finally felt the familiar feeling return. This was the Suthia he knew, the little nun he liked the most.

Renji lifted Suthia's fair chin with his hand, raising the face of the nun who was crying her heart out against his chest, directly facing him. Renji's other hand wiped away the tears on Suthia's face.

"It's alright now, everything is fine. I'm here, aren't I? I promise you, from now on, we will never be apart again. I will never... leave you all again."

This heartfelt statement from Renji made Suthia's whole body stiffen.

Because

"Not leave... 'you all?' YOU ALL?"

"You... all?"

"You! All!?"

The weakness of her tear stains and the sound of her sobs quickly disappeared from Suthia's face.

In their place, red light started flickering from the depths of her eyes, and a sinister red mist, which couldn't be contained any longer, began to seep out from within her.

Suthia left Renji's embrace.

Chains and shackles formed of Miasma materialized in her hands.

Suthia stared at the young man in front of her, the person she loved most in her heart. In her heart, Renji was everything, he was her entire world, and she couldn't endure another journey in a dark and lightless world.

So,

"Lord Ashen,"

"[You all]. Thia can't accept that."