Dominic gathered everyone and revealed the truth.

What he had witnessed earlier.

The atrocities committed by Cardinal Caron and the priests of the Holy Church.

Yet, most people, even after hearing the story, could not bring themselves to believe it.

When you think about it, it’s only natural.

Even in evil, there are limits.

What Caron had done went far beyond what anyone could comprehend.

Moreover, Cardinal Caron had an excellent reputation.

Perhaps if Dominic had told his past self the same story, he wouldn’t have believed it either.

“Couldn’t there be some kind of mistake? No matter what, how could a person commit such terrible acts...?”

“He probably wasn’t afraid of divine punishment.”

That was Dominic’s reply to the Archbishop’s question.

Surely, Cardinal Caron wasn’t afraid of any kind of heavenly retribution.

No, perhaps he didn’t even believe in the existence of God.

If he did, there’s no way he could have committed such atrocities in the name of God.

“But… if that’s true, then what about the stigmata? There’s no way God would grant such a powerful stigmata to someone capable of those acts.”

A white-haired cardinal, an elderly man, posed the question.

It was a valid point.

If what Dominic said was true, and Cardinal Caron had committed such horrifying acts, it would indeed be strange for him to have received the stigmata, a symbol of God’s favor.

But Dominic thought he understood now.

The truth behind the stigmata.

Why someone who didn’t even worship God could wield such a powerful miracle.

“It’s likely… he transplanted someone else’s.”

“What in the world are you talking about? That can’t be possible…”

“Yes, of course, transplanting stigmata isn’t realistically possible. Even if you could move it, most of its power would be lost in the process.”

It was a sudden admission.

The elderly man looked puzzled for a moment… then his expression turned to shock.

His face went pale in an instant.

The reason was simple.

He was a key figure overseeing operations in the Republic.

If such a capable person hadn’t picked up on the hidden meaning behind Dominic’s words, that would’ve been more surprising.

“There must have been countless sacrifices.”

If stigmata are forcibly transplanted, most of their power is lost.

Moreover, since the stigmata often merge with the body’s magic circuits, trying to remove them forcibly almost always leads to death.

The Holy Church didn’t declare stigmata transplants impossible for no reason.

But… that monstrous man thought otherwise.

He believed it wasn’t a problem.

After all, the issue could simply be solved by using numbers.

Even if only one one-hundredth—or no, even one-thousandth—of the stigmata’s power could be transferred...

It would only take that many people to “use” and solve the issue.

Everyone’s face was filled with horror.

They were starting to realize.

Dominic’s words were not lies.

No, perhaps they had known all along, to some degree.

But they all wanted to deny it.

After all, no one wants to believe that such monstrous acts were carried out by those who swore to serve God.

Dominic understood that feeling.

But that didn’t mean he could allow them to escape from reality.

The Black Saint had spoken.

Face your sins.

Surely, those words were left behind for this very moment.

Dominic led them to the “Special Education Room” and showed them.

The events that took place here.

The horrifying, unspeakable truth.

Some could not bear the revolting sight and vomited, while others could do nothing but weep endlessly.

There were those who cursed the abhorrent acts in anger, their voices shaking with emotion.

But this was only the beginning.

The underground facilities.

The deeper they ventured, the more they uncovered about what had occurred here.

With every new discovery, their faces grew darker. And how could they not?

Innocent children were rounded up.

Tortured in all manner of ways, forced to praise God as they were harvested for their divine power.

The sacred energy, which should have been used to heal people and defeat evil, was instead processed into an object called the Holy Grail by the Emperor’s power.

The byproducts of this horrendous process?

The cursed souls of the children, filled with hatred toward the Holy Church.

Caron called them “waste” and bound them together, preventing them from passing on, leaving them trapped in this world.

Even after killing them so cruelly, he refused to let the children go, even in death.

According to the records, he even planned to later use their remains for further experiments.

Unthinkable atrocities, far beyond anything a human being should be capable of.

On top of that, there were research documents on demonization and experiments conducted on innocent civilians.

The more they uncovered, the more horrors came to light.

No wonder God was so enraged.

How could He remain silent while such terrible deeds were done in His name?

Dominic now felt he could finally understand, at least in part, what He had meant.

—You do not even know the most blasphemous sins you have committed.

And that is why punishment is impossible.

That message was surely referring to this.

“……”

After confronting the truth that waited in the depths beneath the Holy Church…

A cold silence settled among them.

There was nothing to be said. No excuses could be made.

Could ignorance absolve them of sin?

They knew the corruption within the Holy Church was severe, but they had no idea such horrors were being carried out?

That could never be an excuse for absolution.

If they had truly followed God’s teachings.

If they had genuinely tried to root out all corruption.

They could have realized much sooner that such atrocities were taking place.

This could have been prevented.

The fact that it wasn’t was entirely their fault.

Their irreverence in failing to heed the teachings of God led to these results.

—First, face the sins you have committed. When you do, the punishment I will bestow upon you will naturally become clear.

The Saint had certainly spoken these words.

Yet, no matter how long they waited, He did not appear.

He did not stand before them to instruct them on how to atone.

He did not deliver any punishment.

The realization of what that meant dawned on them, and despair filled their faces.

God had spoken.

There would be no ‘punishment’ for them.

No punishment could wash away their sins.

Such was the weight of their crimes.

Without punishment, there could be no redemption.

He had no intention of ever forgiving them.

Dominic looked around.

The faces of the people around him were all filled with the unbearable guilt and hopelessness of their sins.

They had been abandoned by God.

For committing sins that could never be undone, they had been forsaken.

For a priest, nothing could be more devastating.

So it was no surprise that they sat, lifeless, collapsed on the ground, faces blank with despair.

Even Dominic himself felt as though he might crumble at any moment.

His entire life.

Every aspect of his existence up until now was being denied, and he felt like he could lose his will to live at any second.

But…

That cannot happen.

It must not happen.

That, at least, he knew for certain.

And so, Dominic slapped both of his cheeks hard with his hands.

He had to pull himself together. He couldn’t allow himself to fall into despair now.

Dominic shouted at the people around him with a loud voice.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?!”

It was a sudden scolding.

Naturally, all eyes turned to him.

“I know it too. I know that God no longer wants us.”

No matter how much they regretted it, that fact would not change.

They were no longer fit to call themselves priests.

Yet, Dominic continued to speak.

“But that doesn’t mean you can just sit here in defeat.”

It was the simple truth.

Even if they were no longer priests, even if God no longer wanted them.

“We cannot turn our backs on our sins.”

They couldn’t pretend the sins they committed didn’t exist.

“As humans, we must at least take responsibility. We must take responsibility for the sins we’ve committed.”

It didn’t matter whether they were priests anymore or not.

This was the duty of any human being.

“…Don’t run away from your sins.”

Dominic spoke these words as he looked at them all.

And then…

The elderly white-haired cardinal was the first to rise.

He wanted to pretend he didn’t hear it, wanted to ignore it.

But he knew the words were true.

He had ignored what was right all this time.

And that was exactly why, now more than ever, they had to choose the right path.

Hearing this, the others fell deep into thought.

Each reflecting on their past, contemplating what choice they should make.

At this moment,

They all knew what decision had to be made.

It was inevitable.

They had faced their sins. They had felt the weight of them.

They knew how terrifying it was to confront those sins.

And because of that, they could not repeat the same mistake.

They could no longer turn away from what was right.

They rose to their feet.

Not as priests, but as sinners.

As mere foolish humans.

It was in that moment that the secret organization, the followers of the Black Fangs—

The ‘Order of Fools’ was born.

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