Chapter 80: Praise the Black Saint (7)

After spewing nonsense to distract the clergy, I ran toward Miss Rubia’s mansion, cradling the unconscious Lucy.

And then, someone utterly unexpected appeared before me.

To my surprise, I found myself face-to-face with the leader of the Black Fangs.

To be more precise…

[I know your secrets.]

A video of the Black Fang leader was playing in front of me.

As I walked through a deserted passage to avoid drawing attention, a sudden black distortion appeared in the air. The moment I touched it, the video started to play.

Naturally, confusion spread across my face. That technique—it’s definitely something I would use.

There was hardly a better way to disseminate information than this.

[But I have not spoken of it. This is your chance—a final opportunity to confess all your sins and beg for forgiveness.]

But, of course, the person in the video wasn’t me. The method was identical, but I had never created a video like that.

[Yet you threw that chance away.]

And then, without giving a second chance, various scenes flashed across the screen with those words.

My jaw dropped open.

Anything else would have been stranger.

[This is the truth you’ve kept hidden. Unspeakable atrocities committed in the name of God.]

Manufacturing holy power by grinding up children.

In secret, colluding with demons and conducting all sorts of experiments.

Even I, who had some inkling of the corruption within the Holy Church, couldn’t help but be shocked.

There are degrees of wickedness, after all.

And this... far surpassed those boundaries.

Before I could fully process the horror, the so-called Black Fang leader in the video spoke again, this time delivering a proclamation.

[This is what was happening inside the Great Cathedral. And this is why I passed judgment upon them.]

He claimed that he had judged the Holy Church.

That he had rightfully punished those who dared commit such profane acts in the name of God.

And if anyone dared defile the name of God again...

[I will gladly deliver judgment upon them as well.]

They, too, would meet the same fate.

With those final words, the video ended.

But even after the video stopped playing, I stood there for a long time.

I understood the video’s contents.

I grasped what had been happening there.

A part of me could even accept that it made sense if the creators of ‘Blood and Bone’ —who had an eerie penchant for tormenting orphans—were responsible for such atrocities.

But there was one thing I simply couldn’t wrap my head around.

‘Who the hell are these bastards?’

The most immediate hypothesis was that those people were the “real” Black Fangs.

Up until the video ended, I honestly thought the person in front of me was the real leader of the Black Fangs.

The shadowy figure who, without even a single mention in any spoiler posts, was shaking the empire to its core.

I was briefly thrilled, thinking I’d finally caught a lead on those bastards.

‘But this doesn’t make any sense.’

Considering the timing of when this video was filmed, the conclusion was obvious.

This video couldn’t have been made before the massacre at the Great Cathedral by Lucy.

Internal documents.

Research logs.

And countless other materials.

The amount of evidence was far too vast to have been gathered through secret infiltration alone.

Unless they had used some kind of hypnosis app to get the cooperation of the Great Cathedral during filming, how in the world did they find and capture all of that on video?

‘And if the video was shot after Lucy slaughtered the people in the Great Cathedral...’

That would mean the video was filmed and distributed in the time between when I left the cathedral and now—no more than two hours at most.

And likely, there are still clergymen at that place.

Things were already unfolding strangely. Even though the priests I encountered earlier had shown me some unusual behavior, their power was undeniable.

Judging from the strength I felt, they were at least archbishop level.

There were even a few who seemed to be around the rank of cardinal.

If they combined their strength, they would easily surpass the Imperial Knights’ commander and could even challenge the emperor’s personal guards.

And yet, there they were, gathered together.

Would it make sense for the leader of the Black Fangs to just awkwardly walk in and say, ‘Excuse me, let me just film here for a bit. Please bear with me!’

A fight would have broken out.

I can’t say who would have won, but there certainly wouldn’t have been enough time to leisurely film that video.

So, this proves that the real Black Fang leader isn’t the culprit here.

‘...Wait a second.’

As I pieced things together, one thought suddenly came to mind.

If that’s the case, then there’s only one possible explanation.

Those priests I encountered earlier.

No one else could have filmed that video.

But... why?

What could they possibly gain by spreading such a video?

The only one who benefits from this video is the Black Fangs.

If this video spreads throughout the empire, the number of Black Fang supporters will increase in real time.

People will rally behind the justice the Black Fangs claim to have delivered.

The already popular Black Fang faith would explode in growth.

The Black Fang leader, with his absurdly good luck, would likely celebrate this turn of events.

Without lifting a finger, his enemies helped expand his power base and strengthen his support.

It’s the perfect example of someone who succeeds no matter what—they’re destined for it. This was a stroke of incredible luck for the Black Fangs.

But for the Holy Church, this was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Their grotesque atrocities.

Everyone who had any sense already knew the Holy Church was corrupt.

But this went far beyond anything anyone could have imagined.

They would collapse.

There was no way they could regain their former prestige.

In fact, I even doubted whether the organization could continue to exist at all.

They would have to abolish the heinous practice of indulgences, compensate the victims, and show signs of repentance.

They would need to do everything they could to rebuild trust.

But even then, it would be impossible to completely regain the people’s faith. That five-minute video had effectively shattered the Holy Church in half.

A perfect act of self-destruction.

I was baffled, wondering why they would do such a thing... until a single hypothesis formed in my mind.

‘Repentance.’

That would explain everything.

The Holy Church is vast.

And naturally, corruption runs rampant within it.

When people gather and an organization grows larger, corruption and complications are bound to arise.

And those issues are never easy to eradicate.

With interests intricately intertwined, no matter how high-ranking the leadership may be, they can’t always make decisions as they please.

But in this situation, it’s different.

Under the justification of restoring trust, they could completely overhaul the Holy Church.

Everything could be set right.

‘Though, the chances of failure are much higher.’

Perhaps they’ve already accepted that.

If they’re truly repenting for their sins, then they must have thought they couldn’t hide their crimes any longer.

That’s why they exposed the truth so boldly.

It was a shocking move.

But when I think about it, it might have been inevitable.

Those people must believe they’ve met God.

‘If a priest has encountered God and felt nothing, now that would be strange.’

It was only then that I fully understood the situation.

What can I say?

It was all too coincidental.

One coincidence piled upon another.

And then those coincidences intertwined, leading to this moment, almost as if the God of Light had orchestrated it all.

‘Well, not that such a thing is likely.’

The God of Light is more of a system than a deity—one that grants power based on the faith given to it.

Or perhaps, for some reason, it can bless humans, but it cannot punish them.

Back when the sequel to Blood and Bone hadn’t been released for years, and the entire community was groaning in agony, players scoured every last bit of game lore and came up with two main theories about the God of Light.

Either way, it seemed unlikely that this god had anything to do with these recent events.

‘…Come to think of it, which of those theories was correct?’

Curiosity crept up on me, but I quickly dismissed it from my mind.

This wasn’t a philosophy class.

There was no time to ponder the existence of a god.

Instead, I needed to figure out what was wrong with my body as quickly as possible.

And I had to make a decision about Lucy.

A faint voice echoed from somewhere.

It was so quiet I could barely make it out.

I looked around, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

But all I saw was Miss Rubia.

She was waving at me from the mansion’s front gate, far off in the distance.

I’d arrived at my destination without realizing it.

Seeing her there made me realize she must have stayed up all night, worried after I ran off.

I felt a mix of guilt and relief and quickly started toward her.

Well, I tried to run.

My wings responded to my will, moving on their own.

In an instant, I had flown right in front of Miss Rubia.

...And then I heard a babbling sound.

Obviously, there wasn’t a baby around, so it must have been coming from the lady in front of me.

She seemed to be in some sort of regressive state, pointing at me and babbling incoherently.

Though I couldn’t understand the babbling, I could tell what she wanted to ask.

It would’ve been stranger if I didn’t.

I hesitated for a long time.

Suddenly sprouting wings.

The blood-soaked girl I’d brought along.

Turning the Holy Church’s entire leadership into supporters of the Black Fangs and making them confess on video.

I had no idea how to explain any of that.

But if I delayed any longer, the lady in front of me would surely faint.

So, I opened my mouth and said whatever came to mind.

“...It just sort of happened.”

Of course, such an explanation wasn’t going to work.

And so, I ended up carrying two unconscious women back to the mansion that day.

...It had been quite a tumultuous day, to say the least.

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