Chapter 530: I Pardon Your Sins (2) |
The furious voice that filled my head made me flinch, but I didn’t bother reacting because I thought that Benigoa would stop Lauren or whatever if she were to do something drastic.
She wouldn’t dare to kill me because the continent’s fate would be set in stone. After all, I was the final hope of the Sacred Democratic Country, and I was its beacon of light as well. In addition, Kim Hyun-Sung and the heroes of the continent would abandon her, and they could also become hostile toward the heavens.
I could see that Kim Hyun-Sung was wary of the gods because he was staring warily at the blinding light. More importantly, the gods needed holy power, so killing me would basically be killing themselves as well.
They were thinking of recruiting me as well.
Benigoa and the competent gods were worried about the possibility that I would go to hell and join hands with Belial. The higher being that Benigoa had mentioned also said that they wanted me, so how could Lauren—a goddess who is weaker than Benigoa—possibly harm me? Unless she was crazy, she wouldn’t dare to touch me.
[You bastard! You mere human with a disgusting soul! How dare you mock a goddess?! Aren’t you afraid of our divine punishment?!]
A burst of light engulfed me, and my ears started ringing. I also retreated back into my shell when her voice penetrated my ears.
I glanced at Kim Hyun-Sung, and I saw him touching his sword while biting his lips.
I was stupefied at the sight. I was sure that he would pull out his sword and destroy the statue if something drastic were to happen.
I was more bothered about making the Vatican an enemy than Lauren.
The light was too strong for me to cast anything, and it was doubtful if the goddess would even accept me in my current form, so I had to prevent making enemies. Of course, this didn’t mean that I would do what Lauren wanted me to do. I would never yield; my opponents were the ones who had to yield to me.
I bit my lips while Lauren continued spouting nonsense, which made the light intensify and push me back. It seemed that she was enjoying it.
[I’ll send you to hell! You dirty…]
‘Alright, fine… Let’s go to hell.’
[Huh?]
‘Fine! I’ll go to hell if you want. I’m seriously sick and tired, so I’ll go to hell.’
[Uhh…]
‘I don’t need your forgiveness. I’ll just go to hell. Belial! Where are you? Belial!’
[Uh… Huh?]
‘All right, let’s go all out, and I have nothing more to say to you. You’re on your own. I heard that directly harming continental beings is prohibited for you, so I don’t know why you’re acting this way. Do you have enough holy power to recover if you receive a penalty? You must be trying to go bankrupt again, but you know better than anyone what will happen if you stop receiving my support, right?’
[Lee Ki-Young, that’s not what Lauren meant… She meant something else…]
‘It’s the same thing for you, Benigoa. You keep calling me your lovely follower, but you didn’t do anything while I was being bullied. I sacrificed myself to save the continent, and I came here to repent for the sins I committed, and now, you won’t forgive me? It seems that your doctrine about how your followers will be forgiven if they repent was a bunch of bullshit.’
[...]
‘Do you really think that I will be willing to go up there if you scare me like this? My sins haven’t been forgiven just yet, so what will you do if someone nitpicks about that? So what if I have a disgusting soul; does that mean I’m beyond redemption? You’re too narrow-minded. In that case, it’s probably better to become a demon. It’ll make things a lot better for you, Lauren.’
[You’re… still!]
‘You mustn’t forget who made it possible for you and I to talk like this. I saved the continent, and you’re talking about how I’m mocking a goddess. Think carefully about who will lose more if you become my enemy. From the restoration of the Federation to the sanctuary—no, I’ll just abandon the sanctuary.’
[Do you really think that my followers will just stand by and do nothing?!]
‘What are you going to do? Are you going to perform a miracle? Go ahead and try. Let’s see who’ll win. You have a bad reputation among the people, so let’s see who will have an easier time moving the people. Give me a month, and I’ll make sure that everyone will treat you as the traitor who sold out the Federation to the demons, Lauren. Look forward to it.’
[No one will believe you, you idiotic bastard!]
‘Are you sure about that? It seems that you trust your believers a bit too much.’
[My lovely Lee Ki-Young! I think you’re too worked up… Let’s calm down a bit… If what you want is forgiveness, I can forgive you as many times as you want. Y-Yeah, to be honest, you don’t really have to ask for forgiveness. After all, you only did those for our sake. That’s what Lauren is trying to say here… She was just surprised because you’re asking forgiveness when you don’t need to be forgiven.]
‘Forget it, Benigoa. I’ll just go to hell.’
[Lee Ki-Young, Lee Ki-Young!]
[Stop being so pathetic, unni! That cockroach is being cocky because you’re acting like this. It’s about time we punish him.]
[Be quiet, Lauren! I want you to—]
[How long are you planning on getting dragged along by this disgusting human?! This is all for you! I’m simply addressing the elephant here!]
[Laureeeeeeeeeen!]
There was a loud explosion.
I wasn’t sure what had happened, but it sounded like Benigoa decided to beat her up.
There was radio silence afterward, so it was clear that we got disconnected. I had no idea what was going on, but I could deduce it. It seemed that our incompetent Benigoa was more competent than Lauren. Benigoa definitely got worried that I would go to hell and become her enemy, so she immediately moved to stop Lauren from speaking.
I didn’t really mean everything I said earlier, but I could do them. It would be kind of difficult, but I had a high chance of turning Lauren into a corrupted demonic goddess. The Federation’s religion had fallen, and they had lost their foundation.
Lauren no longer had any temples, so she would have to expend more holy power to perform a miracle or do something on the continent. Considering the amount of holy power Lauren had on hand, performing a miracle was close to impossible for her.
The expenditure would be even higher if Benigoa Patch 2.0 was finally applied to the continent. Many of her believers had been calling out her name while crying, but she didn’t respond, so who would still believe in her?
I was convinced that I could turn her into a corrupted traitor with just a few words. It was easy to create rumors, but erasing them required dozens of proofs and documents. To make matters worse, she couldn’t provide those things because she lacked holy power.
The only thing that she could do was emit a bit of light and give some quests to adventurers. In other words, there was no way she could defeat me if we were to go down that route.
Meanwhile, Benigoa seemed to have finally learned how to act like a goddess.
‘I raised her pretty well. Seriously...’
I wasn’t sure if it was because we had been working together for quite a while now, but she had become quick-witted. I could tell that she had changed because she was trying to stop Lauren from worsening the situation.
It was like watching a naive new hire adapting to the company.
Soon, I heard Benigoa’s voice once again, and I became certain that she had acclimatized to her surroundings.
[Unni, sniff!]
[Stop crying, and I’m not your unni. Apologize to the lovely Lee Ki-Young right now.]
[Sniff!]
‘That’s right.’
[Aren’t you going to apologize?]
[Unniii…]
[I’m sorry, Lee Ki-Young… I’m sure you were surprised. She’s a bit naive, so I’d appreciate it if you could find it in your heart to forgive her. I’ll do whatever I can to give you what you want. Now, hurry up and apologize.]
[I-I’m sorry. I made a big mistake. Sniff…! Please forgive me.]
[Feeling better, Lee Ki-Young?]
‘...’
[Can’t you forgive her for me? We’ve been doing fine until now. I’m sure you don’t want things to go downhill from here, and we might end up working together down the road, so let’s not force each other’s cards.]
‘Yeah… that’s true. I honestly don’t want to do it, but I’ll accept the apology for you, Benigoa. Anyway, she has to forgive me for my sins. That’s fair, don’t you think? As I’ve mentioned before, Lauren must forgive me herself.’
[Lauren still lacks a lot of holy power… and I don’t have the luxury to have a retainer. It won’t be directly from her, but I think I can make the shape using light. Will that work?]
‘It’s fine as long as I can see you or Lauren. Please do it quickly once you’re ready since the others are waiting.’
[I’ll do it right now! It’s your request, after all! I don’t know about the others, but it’s only right for me to forgive your sins immediately. Yeah, that’s r-right. But…]
‘You don’t have to worry about the situation afterward. I’ll make sure that you’ll earn it back.’
[I knew it… I’m always thankful—]
‘It’s fine. I’m not doing this just for myself. It’s for the entire continent. So for the continent, you must also work with Bel—’
[L-Let’s hurry up and start!]
It seemed that Benigoa didn’t really want me to mention Belial because she quickly changed the subject and started the play. The bright light that filled the sanctuary vanished abruptly.
Father Basel and the holy knights’ expressions turned grim.
Kim Hyun-Sung and the guild members bit their lips.
It was clear that they thought that something had gone wrong, but they started to relax when the light returned and filled the sanctuary once more. The light even turned into Benigoa. Of course, her figure was less vivid than her perfect form during her fierce battle against Belial, but she still gave off a mysterious air.
The holy knights and the others were definitely touched by the sight because their voices filled the sanctuary.
“Goddess Benigoa…”
Father Basel even shed tears of joy.
“Even Goddess Lauren…”
The holy knights were surprised to see Lauren—the Federation’s guardian deity.
I made sure to look fragile in front of the goddesses.
Benigoa and Lauren sprinkled a kaleidoscope of lights and spoke.
[I forgive your sins.]
[Sniff! I forgive your sins.]
The light enveloped me, and I immediately activated Job Change to change my job.
I could feel my physique changing to accommodate holy power.
‘Seriously, who will still criticize me?’
It was true that I had committed sins, but the goddesses had forgiven me, so I felt like all of my sins had been washed away. I could finally understand why many religions emphasized repentance.
There was nothing more satisfying than being forgiven by one’s god.
[I forgive Lee Ki-Young.]
I felt like both my body and soul were overflowing with light.