I Reincarnated into a Game Filled with Mods – Chapter 61

Chapter 61

The sun shone through the intricate golden stained glass. Everywhere the brilliant sunlight touched was dyed the same color. It was the sacred color of God.

In the golden-hued room, a woman with bright blonde hair like the shining sun and green eyes stood on the highest step, looking down with a faint smile.

At the end of that gaze was a woman with bright blonde hair and green eyes. As their eyes met, a bright smile returned. The hair and eye color of the two women were exactly the same.

However, their appearance was not identical.

The woman looking down from the stairs had blonde hair that seemed to grow abundantly enough to cover her entire body, but the woman looking up from below had short hair that came down to her collarbone.

The woman looking down from the stairs had the appearance of a benevolent symbol of motherhood, but the woman looking up from below had a very innocent and playful appearance.

The only things that were the same were the color of their hair and eyes.

“What did you call me for, Your Holiness?”

The woman on the stairs was the Pope, and the woman below was the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor looked up the stairs with a bright smile, as usual.

“The time for purification has come, Inquisitor.”

“Oh my. Has it already been that long? I think I received a report not long ago that they seemed to have found traces of the devil, so they would investigate further.”

The Inquisitor’s eyes widened. It was a truly unexpected expression. The Pope slowly nodded her head in affirmation.

The words “time for purification” had a fixed meaning.

Traces of the devil have been found. Therefore, whatever means are used and whatever sacrifices are made, beings related to the devil must be dealt with.

In other words, it was the beginning of a holy war.

“I understand. How many Battle Nuns should I mobilize?”

“As the Inquisitor wishes.”

“Then I’ll take them all. Is that alright?”

“Yes. You may do so.”

As soon as the Pope’s permission was granted, the Inquisitor hummed a tune, lightly bowed her head in courtesy, and picked up the weapon she had placed beside her.

It was a mace with a weight much larger than her own head. Wicked-looking protrusions sprouted from the weight of the mace. It was a weapon that sent chills down one’s spine just by looking at it.

The Inquisitor lightly picked up the mace, which was almost twice the size of her head, and slung it over one shoulder as if it were a bag.

“There is one more thing to ask of you, Inquisitor.”

“Yes? What is it this time?”

The woman, who was about to step back with the mace slung over her right shoulder, stopped.

“A revelation has come down that the man you spoke of at that time can also be found on this expedition.”

“Wow! Really?”

Her grassy green eyes sparkled. It was filled with the same curiosity as a child who had found a favorite toy.

“Yes. That is correct.”

In response, another pair of green eyes smiled.

“Where can we find him? Is it in the village where we’re going now?”

“I do not know that. However…”

The Pope clasped her hands in front of her chest.

“God will guide you.”

The small village on the outskirts of the empire was enjoying a peaceful daily life in its own way.

The occasional monsters that rolled in were only at a level where the residents could join forces and repel them without casualties, and even though a few outsiders visited from time to time, all they did was take care of their lodging and meals and leave immediately.

As long as they paid their taxes to the empire, an ordinary and peaceful daily life would be maintained without any problems. The villagers thought that such a daily life would continue.

That is, until a horde of monsters, whose numbers could not be counted, suddenly rushed in.

“Aaack! Help me!”

“Let’s go together!”

The peaceful village instantly turned into chaos.

Fires erupted everywhere in the village, as if someone had lit the first spark, and the screams of people being eaten alive by monsters filled the air. The smell of blood stung the nose.

James, who had become a refugee, desperately running to save his own life without even having time to collect his belongings, was also one of the ordinary residents who had been living peacefully in this village.

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

James ran and ran.

Even when he heard the pleas for help around him, and the sorrowful cries as they watched the disaster that had befallen the village, he ignored them all and ran desperately to protect himself.

It was a situation where it was difficult enough to preserve his own life. There was no time to worry about others.

The entire village was a pit of fire and monsters. James spotted a monster eating a human in the main street ahead, and hurriedly looked around before dashing into the alley right next to him.

As soon as he did, he froze without even screaming.

Inside the alley, there was a man whose insides were being eaten by a wolf-like monster, his limbs thrashing about. It seemed like he was still alive, but it was futile.

Whether there were more victims besides this man, the alley was covered in red blood. Realizing this, James thanked himself for not screaming. Thanks to that, the monster hadn’t noticed him.

If he just turned around and left like this, it would be fine. James slowly backed away, praying inwardly that the monster wouldn’t look up. His legs were shaking so badly that his speed was ridiculously slow.

Just a little more. Just a few more stepsㅡ

ㅡCrack.

As soon as James’s foot stepped on and broke a scorched wooden plank, he froze, sensing that things had gone wrong.

The monster, which had been burying its nose in the corpse of the man whose life had just ended and eating his insides, raised its head. A growl could be heard from its snout.

Thud, his legs gave out. His whole body trembled like an aspen leaf. It was only a few more steps. If he had gone just a little further, he could have gotten out of here.

Whether it decided that a fresh human was better than a corpse, or simply to hunt a living human, the monster began to walk slowly towards James, crushing the corpse under its feet.

James struggled and tried to back away. But with his legs weak and his arms unable to move properly due to fear, there was no way he could create any distance.

“Hieeeek! Hiiiiiieeeeek!”

The monster prepared to pounce on the human who was screaming strangely. Seeing the monster open its jaws wide and leap, James squeezed his eyes shut.

ㅡClang!

“…?”

Clang? It was a sound that shouldn’t have been heard. James cautiously opened his eyes. There was something large right in front of him. It was a shield. A shield so enormous that it could cover the entire body of an adult man.

Someone stepped out, pushing James aside. It was a woman holding a mace in one hand and a shield larger than her body in the other. Long blonde hair down to her waist, green eyes.

Her attire looked very holy.

She had more bare skin than covered, with garter belts on her thighs and a wide cloth barely covering her genitals between her legs.

Strange characters, embroidered in gold, were written all over the cloth covering her genitals. Characters he had never seen before.

Not only were her sides and thighs open, barely connected under her armpits, but even her chest didn’t seem to be properly covered.

The only things covering her breasts were two triangular pieces of cloth coming down from her shoulders. Even those seemed like they would reveal her breasts if the wind blew or she moved her body vigorously.

That holy attire, in which God’s blessings could be felt fully. James had heard of women dressed like this.

Battle Nuns of the Raphaella Holy Kingdom.

Moreover, they were Battle Nuns directly under the Inquisitor.

Despite having been on the verge of death just moments ago, James unconsciously bowed his head as soon as he saw the nun. The clothes he saw were overflowing with such a holy aura.

Of course, the notoriety of the Inquisitor and her Battle Nuns was widespread for various reasons, but…

The Battle Nun didn’t even glance at James and provoked the monster by banging her shield with her mace. The monster roared ferociously and lunged at the nun.

ㅡThwack!

The one-sided death sentence, which was hardly even a battle, was carried out in a very short moment. The monster’s snout, which had been rushing in as if to devour everything it touched, didn’t even reach the nun’s neck.

Because its head was crushed by the mace before that.

The Battle Nun, who had smashed the monster’s head without a care, emotionlessly raised her arm and struck it twice more. The corpse quickly turned into mush. Blood dripped from the mace that had finished its task.

James’s pants got wet as he watched the gruesome scene. A hiccup escaped his lips. The Battle Nun, who had cleanly finished the confirmation kill, straightened her waist.

Her green eyes turned to James, who was sprawled on the ground. As her gaze touched him, he felt as if he had come to his senses.

“Thank you for saving meㅡ Gah?!”

Before James could even finish his thank you, the Battle Nun, with an expressionless face, hung her mace on her waist and dragged James out of the alley by the back of his neck.

It was a movement devoid of any mercy, as if she were handling an animal.

But James didn’t dare to resist or complain, and he didn’t make a sound as he entrusted his body to her rough grip. Resistance? Complaint? Was such a thing even conceivable?

How far had he been dragged like that? James, who had been thrown to the ground, let out an unsightly groan. He spat out the dirt that had gotten into his mouth and looked around.

There were familiar faces around him. They were the villagers who had survived this chaos.

All of them had bewildered expressions. It was clear that they didn’t know why they were gathered here, or what they were supposed to do.

“Is that the last one?”

A clear voice echoed.

It was such a clear and beautiful voice that the people who had been looking at each other with bewildered expressions all turned their heads towards the source of the voice at the same time.

“Yes, Inquisitor Stella.”

“Good. Let’s get ready.”

But the atmosphere was strange. The Battle Nuns were surrounding the survivors in a circle. Not just one or two, but everyone gathered here.

As soon as the watertight encirclement was complete, the woman called Inquisitor Stella stepped forward. Like all the other Battle Nuns gathered here, she was a woman with blonde hair and green eyes.

“Now, everyone. You are the lucky ones who survived the monster attack. The rest are either dead or eaten, one or the other. You may have lost all your possessions, but isn’t it enough that you survived?”

Clap, Stella clapped her hands. Her breasts bounced from side to side in response. Her attire was even more revealing than the Battle Nuns. The exposure level was enormous.

It was a holy garment, the very essence of holiness, worthy of being worn by the Inquisitor. It seemed as if the demons would be purified and disappear just by looking at those clothes.

Perhaps because of her attire, her impression was also very innocent and kind. Her tone was gentle, and a playful smile hovered on her lips.

She was completely different from the Battle Nuns, who seemed like golems because they showed no emotion.

“I would like to go back as well, but before that, you need to have your purity verified. Your purity, as in whether your eyes have been clouded by those things. Oh, don’t worry too much. It’ll be over soon.”

Purity? The survivors tilted their heads. James was the same. Purity? What did they have to prove?

“Iris.”

“Yes, Inquisitor.”

The Battle Nun called Iris, who had dragged James here, stood demurely beside Stella.

“Proceed.”