Sister, I Hit You Because There Was a Ghost Behind You - Chapter 41
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 41. True Judgment Descends Upon the Sacred Ground
“Silence!”
Werner roared like a beast and drew the power of the crimson barrier to its absolute limit. The entire Bell Tower shook violently as if struck by an earthquake, and precarious fracture sounds—the groans of imminent collapse—erupted from all directions.
Demian Lyart’s piercing words had struck directly at the ugly inferiority complex lurking beneath Werner’s surface, and he had completely lost his reason, spiraling into a rampage.
If left unchecked, not merely the Bell Tower but the entire Great Cathedral would collapse, resulting in catastrophic loss of life.
Demian Lyart gripped the holy sword firmly with both hands and shouted toward those behind him.
“Your Highness! Violetta! I will carve a path through the heart of that barrier! This is our moment!”
An overwhelming surge of holy power erupted from Demian Lyart’s body, transforming into a colossal pillar of light that pierced through the Bell Tower and soared into the pitch-black night sky.
“I am Demian Lyart, Knight Commander of the Holy Knights Order of the Empire! In the name of the Goddess, I pronounce judgment upon the fallen soul that has desecrated this sacred ground!”
Whoooosh—!
A condensed, ferocious blade of light erupted from the tip of the holy sword, striking down like lightning toward the apex of the crimson barrier.
Crack! A massive fissure suddenly split the arrogant barrier of rage that seemed unbreakable. Pure white holy power and blood-red demonic energy collided violently, sending blinding flashes of light scattering in all directions.
“Kairik! Throw me!”
“I was just about to, Violetta!”
Kairik von Herzen seized my waist with his enormous hands and, without hesitation or question, hurled me roughly through the air.
“Ahhhhh! I said throw me gently, you mindless beast!”
I soared through the air at breakneck speed, shouting, but my gaze remained fixated on the crimson mana stone clutched in Werner’s grip—the heart of the cursed bell.
I flew precisely through the tear in light that Demian Lyart had ripped open, pouring every ounce of my mana into the magic hammer until it reached its absolute limit.
The cool steel head blazed with brilliant blue light as if it would burst.
“No… my rage…!”
The moment my eyes met Werner’s horrified crimson gaze suspended in midair, I smiled with serene determination and brought the hammer down.
“Heresy judgment may not be my domain, but shattering this abominable presence? That’s my specialty!”
The weighty steel head of my hammer struck the heart of the crimson mana stone with absolute precision.
Boom—!
With a tremendous roar like a massive explosion, the crimson mana stone shattered into countless fragments. Simultaneously, the colossal form of the Rage Demon that had dwelt within the Bell Tower scattered into the air with a final, agonized shriek.
Whoooosh… The acrid crimson demonic energy purified in an instant, and a single translucent crystal gleamed in the air before falling with a soft clink.
As I rolled roughly across the marble floor, I nimbly extended my hand and caught the crystal mid-fall.
‘The core of the third calamity…’
The crystal in my palm appeared transparent on the surface, yet deep within it, a heavy and ominous presence still lurked.
One careless mistake in handling it would surely allow it to burrow into another’s fragile heart.
I made a mental note to thoroughly seal this dangerous object and deliver it to the Magic Tower, then tucked it deep into my garments.
As the crimson aura vanished completely, Werner collapsed to the ground with his eyes rolled back white.
With the demon that had greedily consumed his body now gone, nothing remained of the once-promising, noble Holy Knight—only a pitiful, lifeless husk.
Demian Lyart approached Werner’s side, breathing heavily. He gazed down at his fallen former comrade with a fleeting expression of sorrow, but soon firmly sheathed his holy sword.
“…Summon the Capital Guard and the Heresy Inquisitors at once. Have this man imprisoned in the Sacred Underground Prison immediately. Conduct a thorough investigation and ensure he pays a heavy price for defiling the sacred ground.”
Kairik von Herzen stood with his arms crossed, tilting his head and clicking his tongue.
“A demon springs forth in a place where the most holy should gather. Your temple is nothing but glittering façade with a cesspool underneath. Who’ll stab you in the back next time? The Pope?”
“…Shameful as it is, Your Highness’s painful observation leaves me without excuse.”
Demian Lyart exhaled a deep sigh, his face etched with exhaustion. He turned his gaze downward, regarding the ruins of the Bell Tower with heavy heart.
“The crisis has been contained, but the damage to the temple is severe. And more troubling—if Rasputin’s ‘most trusted place’ was here, it means our movements and psychological states have already been completely read by them.”
Before Demian Lyart’s cold analysis, we fell silent as though bound by an unspoken pact.
We had successfully averted the third catastrophe, yet two more calamities capable of obliterating the continent still lurked in the depths of darkness.
I brushed the dust from my clothes with sharp, deliberate motions to dispel the oppressive atmosphere that had settled over us, then opened my mouth.
“Sighing here won’t undo what’s already happened. We need to go down and manage the situation, then face this grim reality. The leadership will have much to explain when they awaken.”
Leaving the collapsed Bell Tower of the Grand Cathedral behind, we descended slowly along the Spiral Staircase of the Great Cathedral. Where the night’s storm of madness and slaughter had raged, only a chilling silence now lingered.
The corridor connecting the Bell Tower to the Main Hall was, quite literally, a battlefield.
The goddess statues that should have worn merciful smiles lay shattered across the floor, and the once-brilliant stained glass windows had been reduced to countless fragments, their colorful shards scattered across the carpet.
As I pushed open the grand wooden doors of the Main Hall and stepped outside, the breaking dawn began to slowly illuminate the Cathedral Square before the Grand Cathedral.
“This… it breaks my heart every time I see it.”
Demian Lyart muttered while washing his face with his hands. Thousands of people lay scattered across the square, snoring peacefully in oblivion.
The fanatics and priests who moments before had been wild-eyed and tearing at each other with murderous intent now lay intertwined, their bodies at rest in a grotesque yet oddly merciful peace.
“At least they’re alive. When they awaken, the memory of this shameful chaos will torment them terribly, but surely that’s better than losing their lives and falling into eternal damnation.”
At my matter-of-fact consolation, Demian Lyart gave a faint nod.
Then, from a corner of the square, someone stirred and rose unsteadily, coughing.
Ornate priestly robes embroidered with golden thread—though now covered in dust and torn from being trampled, the imposing figure was unmistakably Cardinal Johann, the second-in-command of the Grand Cathedral.
Fortunately, he had hidden his body just before the Rage Demon’s curse reached its peak, so he had only inhaled the fog of sloth very shallowly.
“Ugh… my head… What on earth has happened here…?”
Cardinal Johann groaned, clutching his splitting head.
His eyes widened in horror as he took in the sight of priests scattered around him and the devastated temple.
“Oh, great Goddess! What is this terrible sight! What vile curse has befallen this sacred sanctuary!”
At his anguished cry, I adjusted my glasses and approached with a cool gaze.
“Ah, how fortunate that you’ve awakened, Cardinal.”
Cardinal Johann turned at my voice, then noticed Demian Lyart standing behind me. He exhaled in relief and brightened.
“D-Demian! Commander! You’ve finally arrived! Did you suppress this terrifying riot? Ah, truly worthy of the Goddess’s Sword! Have you eliminated all the heretics!”
The Cardinal assumed all responsibility lay with outsiders and reached to grasp Demian Lyart’s hand, but Demian Lyart coldly withdrew his hand and stepped back.
His blue eyes held an unprecedented, icy fury.
“It was not I. The one who suppressed this dire situation and purified the Rage Demon is Violetta, Countess of the Eberhardt Family, standing here.”
“What? This young noblewoman, or rather, Countess… purified a demon?”
Naked disbelief and bewilderment flashed across the Cardinal’s face—a reaction befitting his archaic prejudice of treating young noble ladies as delicate hothouse flowers.
I stood firm, gripping my hammer against the ground, meeting the Cardinal’s gaze without wavering an inch.
“Cardinal. While the Goddess’s sanctuary was being so brutally desecrated and people were trying to kill one another, what exactly were the high priests doing?”
“H-How dare you speak such blasphemy in this sacred place! We were praying to the Goddess…!”
“Did prayer save them? Or did my hammer and Demian’s blood-stained sword save them?”
The Cardinal’s lips trembled before my unwavering facts. I mercilessly shattered his shallow authority and drove the point home.
“You need to understand the truth of this situation clearly. It wasn’t external heretics. Vice Commander Werner, second-in-command of the Holy Knights Order, fell to dark magic of his own accord and summoned the Rage Demon, nearly turning this square into a sea of blood. It means the very heart of the sanctuary, which should be most sacred, has already begun to rot from within.”
“Th-That can’t be! Vice Commander Werner fallen to darkness! You insolent girl, how dare you insult the sacred Cult…!”
The Cardinal pointed accusingly, his face flushed with rage, but as Kairik von Herzen stepped forward emanating a chilling killing intent, the Cardinal fell silent, intimidated. Demian Lyart also delivered a cold declaration toward the Cardinal.
“Everything Countess Violetta has said is absolute truth without a shred of falsehood. Werner is currently under my restraint and will be imprisoned in the Sacred Underground Prison. Cardinal, the Cult cannot escape responsibility.”
Before the perfect testimony and the devastated scene, Cardinal Johann’s legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.
I could almost hear the sound of the temple’s prestige crashing to the floor.
I stared down at the collapsed Cardinal with merciless eyes, my voice cutting through the air with unwavering resolve.
“Do not attempt to sweep this matter under the rug by hiding behind the Church’s honor. Report the truth in its entirety to His Majesty the Emperor, and provide the Grand Cathedral’s complete intelligence and the full military strength of the Holy Knights Order without reservation to prepare for the two remaining calamities. That is the just price the Grand Cathedral must pay for enabling the demon, and the true atonement before the Goddess.”
Faced with my piercing logic and the weight of my demands, Cardinal Johann could not even muster a rebuttal, his head bowing deeply in defeat.
The true face of the Church—stripped of its authority and ceremonial pretense—lay bare before us, and the real responsibility they had turned away from now pressed down upon them with crushing finality.
A surge of exhilaration washed over me, as though a suffocating weight had finally lifted from my chest.
As the crisis subsided, the morning sun poured brilliantly across the shattered ruins of the Grand Cathedral.
I drew in the cold morning air deeply, my gaze lifting toward the sky painted in crimson hues.
I had successfully thwarted the third calamity.
Yet two calamities still remained.
Somewhere beyond that clear sky, the vermin lurking in darkness would be scheming, waiting for their next opportunity to exploit the weaknesses of mankind.
“The vermin hiding in the darkness still remain.”
I adjusted my glasses, a cold smile playing at the corners of my lips.
“I will hunt down every last one of them and cast them into hellfire with my own hands.”
Before overwhelming physical power and an unwavering resolve that would never yield, no calamity could escape unscathed.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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