Asta’s face stiffened at my words.
I blinked my pink eyes and looked at Asta.
“I’ve been thinking for a while, but you’re really strange. Speaking like an adult who knows everything with the face of an innocent child…”
Asta chewed on her lip as if she was creeped out.
I spoke without agitation, “Even if you are a Saint, you wouldn’t get away with this.”
“Are you in a position to worry about me?”
Asta glared at me in disbelief. She was twirling something in her hand.
It was my pendant.
“T-That’s….”
“You stole God Prache’s belongings.”
Prache’s?
I was confused.
“God is angry with you. He personally asked me to put you to sleep. Now tell me.. Why should I fear the Emperor when God has my back?”
“God wants…?”
“Prache is a very different God from what mortals like you think. That’s why I can kill you and still be safe.”
“!”
‘I didn’t know the pendant belonged to Prache and the pendant itself kept coming back to me.’
It was unfair. As a God, how can he be unaware of the circumstances? Why does he want to kill me?
‘Maybe it’s because they are sealing stones.’
It was Prache who had sealed Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly, so that he could control their power.
‘If they are released from the sealing stone, Prache won’t be able to use their powers.’
Indeed, during the explosion in the underground temple, the seal weakened. So, it was natural to be sensitive to the disappearance of the sealing stones.
‘In the end, it all comes to selfishness.’
How could an entity who revived a wicked woman like Asta be good?
No wonder that he wanted to kill me just because I had the sealing stones. Upon realizing this, a chill ran through my whole body.
Asta, who sneered at my misery, caressed the wall behind her.
The wall had defensive magic engraved on it. It was a spell that blocked physical attacks and even noise from the outside.
“Where do you think this is? A prison? Basement?”
“…….”
“Curious? I’ll let you know.”
Asta pushed the wall. The wall crumbled down. It wasn’t a typical wall made of brick, but a partition with a defensive spell.
As the things that blocked my vision and senses disappeared, a tidal wave of shouting washed over me, accompanied by piercingly bright sunlight.
And an unbelievable scene unfolded…
“Bring the witch to justice!”
“Avenge our children!”
Countless people were shouting with malice. I stared blankly at the wave of angry people.
“This is… Caliverse Square.
The largest, most populous square in the capital.
In the middle of it, on a dais erected like an execution platform, I was trapped in the ‘Casket of Judgement’’.
The outpouring of hatred was too much for me to bear, and I collapsed. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears with my hands.
Thunk!
I opened my eyes to see a smiling Asta.
“Are you scared?”
She had set the stage and put me up for a public execution.
Without waiting for my answer, she turned around and faced the frenzied crowd with open arms and shouted, “In the name of Prache, I will judge the witch for killing children and insulting a Saint by using black magic on the Blessing Day!”
Asta stretched out her hand and pointed at me.
“If this girl is a witch, then the Casket of Judgement will punish her through divine power!”
The Casket of Judgement – Years ago, Asta had interpreted its use. It resembled a transparent coffin and instructions were engraved in the language of Gods.
‘The coffin was a tool for executing sinners who have been forsaken by Gods. When activated, it fills the coffin with a powerful divine force that destroys the heart of the sinner. But the innocent will be blessed instead.’
Even the merchant who was suspected as a witch had to enter the casket to prove his innocence.
I heard it only as a story, but the merchant’s end was said to be extremely gruesome.
The merchant, who had been so confident when he entered the casket, struggled to escape as the divinity began to fill him. He punched, kicked, and beat his head against the wall until it bled.
But in the end, the merchant dies in this bloodied coffin.
Witches are vulnerable to divine power because they are not blessed by God Prache.
‘So if I were a witch, I would die too.’
But I’m not a witch. I don’t even have Divine Poisoning.
‘How did Asta kill the merchant? What was she going to do with me?’
Those questions were answered as soon as Asta pressed a bulging button to activate the casket.
Liquid poured from a hole in the bottom of the casket. It was so cold that my body shrank as soon as it touched my bare feet.
‘But this…’
I dipped my finger into the liquid, which was quickly up to my ankle, tasted it, and was horrified.
‘It’s water!’
It didn’t have an ounce of divinity. She was pouring plain water.
‘If I can’t get out, I’ll drown!’
I pounded desperately on the transparent walls.
“Help me! This is not divinity! Water! It’s being filled with water!”
But my desperate cries were drowned out by the shouts of the madmen.
Asta laughed at my pleas. Her smiling face told me it was useless.
I tried to use magic, but the holy relic neutralised my mana.
It was at that moment of despair, two semi-transparent windows appeared beyond the casket.
“Uncle! Miss!”
I banged on the transparent barrier. A text quickly appeared above the windows..
[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ is shouting at you to use the greater ‘∇◎◆ power’ stored in your heart! ]
The passphrase was interrupted by the casket, and the middle letters were not quite visible.
“I already tried magic, but it didn’t work!”
[ ‘Miss Butterfly’ says the power you’ll use isn’t magic, it’s ∇◎◆. ]
“What is that? I can’t read it!”
[ Follow your instincts. You should be able to feel the power already inside you. Control the ∇◎◆ power inside you]
“What are you doing?” Asta glared at me sharply.
She looked at the pendant as if realising something, then pulled a small dagger from her pocket. The dagger was scribbled with the language of Gods.
Asta stabbed the pendant with it.
“!”
Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Asta sneered coldly.
“Prache gave me in case something happens. I hoped not to break it unless necessary, but there’s no choice.”
Meanwhile, the water rose to my chest.
But even when I drew on my mana, I couldn’t feel the ‘great power’ in my heart.
I thought it was over for me.
“Hanelope!”
I heard a voice calling out to me from somewhere.
I quickly found the voice’s owner. Strangely, within the chaotic square that resembled a battlefield, Dad’s voice echoed distinctly.
Grandfather was by Dad’s side. Knights were helping clear a path for the two to run through the crowd.
Then someone from the crowd shouted, “Stop them!”
The crazed crowd started attacking them. My father and grandfather, trapped in the chaos, struggled to get to me, but it was no use.
“Asta!”
Grandfather’s furious shout rang through the air.
“Damn it! How did they get here so fast?”
Asta looked at the coffin.
“They don’t know how to open the coffin anyway, and it will soon be full of water, so there’s no point in delaying.”
“Saint, please take cover!”
The priests shouted from under the dais.
“Why should I? The witch will soon be dead.”
“The Emperor and the Prince are not in their right minds right now, and they might harm the Saint right here. But if the witch dies, the Emperor won’t have a choice. So, please avoid just for now until then.”
Asta looked at dad and grandfather in the crowd. They had crossed half-way through the crowd.
“It can’t be helped.”
With the help of the priests, Asta disappeared.
I was left languishing in the casket with water up to my chin. I could see my father’s face contort with despair as he watched me flounder.
‘Please, please! I can’t die like this!’
Not in front of dad!
‘I don’t want to add to his hurt, please!’
Gasping for breath, I raised my head again.
At that moment, familiar characters on the ceiling caught my eye.
!! Abnormal operation – Press button to remove external intrusion. !!
A code that seemed to indicate the operating status of the coffin. Next to it, a red circle was flashing.
‘Is that what I’m supposed to press?’
But even if I jumped, I couldn’t reach it.
I was too short.
‘If I can survive, I promise I’ll grow taller, go to bed early, and drink a lot of milk! Please, someone, help me!’
Desperately shouting, I jumped again.
Just then, the translucent window crackled and reappeared.
[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ is asking you to use ‘power’ that only you can respond to as a surviving member of Koch’s, who rejected the deceitful blessing ] [ Our bunny can do it. ◇◎■○@%$!#… ]
The panel kept flickering and soon disappeared. Uncle Rabbit had used the last of his strength to send me a message.
I kept pondering on his words, the Koch clan survived by rejecting the deceptive blessing.
‘The deceived blessing… blessing… Yes! Did he mean the blessing that Prache bestowed upon humans, and that the Koch’s clan, my mum’s ancestors, rejected!’
Rejecting the Blessing causes a human to die prematurely.
For the human body cannot withstand the divine, the powerful force that is poison to humans.
‘..And the Kochs have a genetic disease that causes their hearts to collapse.’
But what if it’s not actually a genetic disease?
What if, because they rejected the blessings of Prache, the divinity accumulated like poison and destroyed their hearts?
‘But I have strengthened my heart with the cure for the hereditary disease, so I won’t die if I don’t receive the blessing, even if I am poisoned by the accumulation of divinity in my body.’
Then I was now divinely poisoned in a different sense.
‘In other words, I’ve accumulated divine power, divinity, inside me!
‘That power’ to which only I, as a member of the ‘Koch clan’, could respond, because I had rejected the deceptive ‘blessings’ of Prache.
It was divinity.
Miss Butterfly had said, if I could control that power as in divine power, it wouldn’t hurt me!
At the moment of my epiphany, a white light emanated from my fingertips as I stretched toward the ceiling, and with that divine light, I pressed down on the red circle.
The letters of the password changed.
!! Beginning normalisation of operations !!
Asta’s face stiffened at my words.
I blinked my pink eyes and looked at Asta.
“I’ve been thinking for a while, but you’re really strange. Speaking like an adult who knows everything with the face of an innocent child…”
Asta chewed on her lip as if she was creeped out.
I spoke without agitation, “Even if you are a Saint, you wouldn’t get away with this.”
“Are you in a position to worry about me?”
Asta glared at me in disbelief. She was twirling something in her hand.
It was my pendant.
“T-That’s….”
“You stole God Prache’s belongings.”
Prache’s?
I was confused.
“God is angry with you. He personally asked me to put you to sleep. Now tell me.. Why should I fear the Emperor when God has my back?”
“God wants…?”
“Prache is a very different God from what mortals like you think. That’s why I can kill you and still be safe.”
“!”
‘I didn’t know the pendant belonged to Prache and the pendant itself kept coming back to me.’
It was unfair. As a God, how can he be unaware of the circumstances? Why does he want to kill me?
‘Maybe it’s because they are sealing stones.’
It was Prache who had sealed Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly, so that he could control their power.
‘If they are released from the sealing stone, Prache won’t be able to use their powers.’
Indeed, during the explosion in the underground temple, the seal weakened. So, it was natural to be sensitive to the disappearance of the sealing stones.
‘In the end, it all comes to selfishness.’
How could an entity who revived a wicked woman like Asta be good?
No wonder that he wanted to kill me just because I had the sealing stones. Upon realizing this, a chill ran through my whole body.
Asta, who sneered at my misery, caressed the wall behind her.
The wall had defensive magic engraved on it. It was a spell that blocked physical attacks and even noise from the outside.
“Where do you think this is? A prison? Basement?”
“…….”
“Curious? I’ll let you know.”
Asta pushed the wall. The wall crumbled down. It wasn’t a typical wall made of brick, but a partition with a defensive spell.
As the things that blocked my vision and senses disappeared, a tidal wave of shouting washed over me, accompanied by piercingly bright sunlight.
And an unbelievable scene unfolded…
“Bring the witch to justice!”
“Avenge our children!”
Countless people were shouting with malice. I stared blankly at the wave of angry people.
“This is… Caliverse Square.
The largest, most populous square in the capital.
In the middle of it, on a dais erected like an execution platform, I was trapped in the ‘Casket of Judgement’’.
The outpouring of hatred was too much for me to bear, and I collapsed. I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears with my hands.
Thunk!
I opened my eyes to see a smiling Asta.
“Are you scared?”
She had set the stage and put me up for a public execution.
Without waiting for my answer, she turned around and faced the frenzied crowd with open arms and shouted, “In the name of Prache, I will judge the witch for killing children and insulting a Saint by using black magic on the Blessing Day!”
Asta stretched out her hand and pointed at me.
“If this girl is a witch, then the Casket of Judgement will punish her through divine power!”
The Casket of Judgement – Years ago, Asta had interpreted its use. It resembled a transparent coffin and instructions were engraved in the language of Gods.
‘The coffin was a tool for executing sinners who have been forsaken by Gods. When activated, it fills the coffin with a powerful divine force that destroys the heart of the sinner. But the innocent will be blessed instead.’
Even the merchant who was suspected as a witch had to enter the casket to prove his innocence.
I heard it only as a story, but the merchant’s end was said to be extremely gruesome.
The merchant, who had been so confident when he entered the casket, struggled to escape as the divinity began to fill him. He punched, kicked, and beat his head against the wall until it bled.
But in the end, the merchant dies in this bloodied coffin.
Witches are vulnerable to divine power because they are not blessed by God Prache.
‘So if I were a witch, I would die too.’
But I’m not a witch. I don’t even have Divine Poisoning.
‘How did Asta kill the merchant? What was she going to do with me?’
Those questions were answered as soon as Asta pressed a bulging button to activate the casket.
Liquid poured from a hole in the bottom of the casket. It was so cold that my body shrank as soon as it touched my bare feet.
‘But this…’
I dipped my finger into the liquid, which was quickly up to my ankle, tasted it, and was horrified.
‘It’s water!’
It didn’t have an ounce of divinity. She was pouring plain water.
‘If I can’t get out, I’ll drown!’
I pounded desperately on the transparent walls.
“Help me! This is not divinity! Water! It’s being filled with water!”
But my desperate cries were drowned out by the shouts of the madmen.
Asta laughed at my pleas. Her smiling face told me it was useless.
I tried to use magic, but the holy relic neutralised my mana.
It was at that moment of despair, two semi-transparent windows appeared beyond the casket.
“Uncle! Miss!”
I banged on the transparent barrier. A text quickly appeared above the windows..
[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ is shouting at you to use the greater ‘∇◎◆ power’ stored in your heart! ]
The passphrase was interrupted by the casket, and the middle letters were not quite visible.
“I already tried magic, but it didn’t work!”
[ ‘Miss Butterfly’ says the power you’ll use isn’t magic, it’s ∇◎◆. ]
“What is that? I can’t read it!”
[ Follow your instincts. You should be able to feel the power already inside you. Control the ∇◎◆ power inside you]
“What are you doing?” Asta glared at me sharply.
She looked at the pendant as if realising something, then pulled a small dagger from her pocket. The dagger was scribbled with the language of Gods.
Asta stabbed the pendant with it.
“!”
Uncle Rabbit and Miss Butterfly disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Asta sneered coldly.
“Prache gave me in case something happens. I hoped not to break it unless necessary, but there’s no choice.”
Meanwhile, the water rose to my chest.
But even when I drew on my mana, I couldn’t feel the ‘great power’ in my heart.
I thought it was over for me.
“Hanelope!”
I heard a voice calling out to me from somewhere.
I quickly found the voice’s owner. Strangely, within the chaotic square that resembled a battlefield, Dad’s voice echoed distinctly.
Grandfather was by Dad’s side. Knights were helping clear a path for the two to run through the crowd.
Then someone from the crowd shouted, “Stop them!”
The crazed crowd started attacking them. My father and grandfather, trapped in the chaos, struggled to get to me, but it was no use.
“Asta!”
Grandfather’s furious shout rang through the air.
“Damn it! How did they get here so fast?”
Asta looked at the coffin.
“They don’t know how to open the coffin anyway, and it will soon be full of water, so there’s no point in delaying.”
“Saint, please take cover!”
The priests shouted from under the dais.
“Why should I? The witch will soon be dead.”
“The Emperor and the Prince are not in their right minds right now, and they might harm the Saint right here. But if the witch dies, the Emperor won’t have a choice. So, please avoid just for now until then.”
Asta looked at dad and grandfather in the crowd. They had crossed half-way through the crowd.
“It can’t be helped.”
With the help of the priests, Asta disappeared.
I was left languishing in the casket with water up to my chin. I could see my father’s face contort with despair as he watched me flounder.
‘Please, please! I can’t die like this!’
Not in front of dad!
‘I don’t want to add to his hurt, please!’
Gasping for breath, I raised my head again.
At that moment, familiar characters on the ceiling caught my eye.
!! Abnormal operation – Press button to remove external intrusion. !!
A code that seemed to indicate the operating status of the coffin. Next to it, a red circle was flashing.
‘Is that what I’m supposed to press?’
But even if I jumped, I couldn’t reach it.
I was too short.
‘If I can survive, I promise I’ll grow taller, go to bed early, and drink a lot of milk! Please, someone, help me!’
Desperately shouting, I jumped again.
Just then, the translucent window crackled and reappeared.
[ ‘Uncle Rabbit’ is asking you to use ‘power’ that only you can respond to as a surviving member of Koch’s, who rejected the deceitful blessing ] [ Our bunny can do it. ◇◎■○@%$!#… ]
The panel kept flickering and soon disappeared. Uncle Rabbit had used the last of his strength to send me a message.
I kept pondering on his words, the Koch clan survived by rejecting the deceptive blessing.
‘The deceived blessing… blessing… Yes! Did he mean the blessing that Prache bestowed upon humans, and that the Koch’s clan, my mum’s ancestors, rejected!’
Rejecting the Blessing causes a human to die prematurely.
For the human body cannot withstand the divine, the powerful force that is poison to humans.
‘..And the Kochs have a genetic disease that causes their hearts to collapse.’
But what if it’s not actually a genetic disease?
What if, because they rejected the blessings of Prache, the divinity accumulated like poison and destroyed their hearts?
‘But I have strengthened my heart with the cure for the hereditary disease, so I won’t die if I don’t receive the blessing, even if I am poisoned by the accumulation of divinity in my body.’
Then I was now divinely poisoned in a different sense.
‘In other words, I’ve accumulated divine power, divinity, inside me!
‘That power’ to which only I, as a member of the ‘Koch clan’, could respond, because I had rejected the deceptive ‘blessings’ of Prache.
It was divinity.
Miss Butterfly had said, if I could control that power as in divine power, it wouldn’t hurt me!
At the moment of my epiphany, a white light emanated from my fingertips as I stretched toward the ceiling, and with that divine light, I pressed down on the red circle.
The letters of the password changed.
!! Beginning normalisation of operations !!
