Chapter 25. A Silver Mirror

A white light spread across the battlefield, engulfing the undead in blue flames. The ghouls that had been climbing the walls fell as the ogre zombies attacking the gates crumbled.

"It's the Saintess! The Saintess has arrived!"

"Yeeaah!"

Reinvigorated by the Saintess’ arrival, the soldiers cheered as they pushed the burning ghouls off the walls. She had single-handedly turned the tide of battle!

Polman, the old knight, let out a sigh of relief. Encouraging the soldiers on the way, he started moving toward the Saintess. Noticing her start to sway, he broke into a run.

"Saintess!" the old knight exclaimed as he caught her.

"I’m okay, sir," she said softly with a faint smile.

"But still..."

"You know this is how it always is."

Even though she became the Saintess due to her ability to channel far more divine power than anyone else, wielding enough power to obliterate thousands of ghouls still took a great toll on her.

"That’s why I always tell you to be careful!" the old knight scolded.

"

Haha.

Things looked dire," she replied.

"If you collapse, everything will fall apart," he said bitterly.

He hated his weakness. A child should never have to carry everyone’s hopes and dreams, but they had no other choice. Without her, they would have been wiped out as the rest of the continent fell to ruin.

"How did the battle go?" the Saintess asked with her usual bright smile.

"We won," the old knight softly answered, “and it’s all thanks to you.”

***

With the war won and restoration work in full swing, time passed so quickly that the scenes Kim Do-Joon witnessed sped by like a fast-forwarded video.

They look cheerful.

While the soldiers repaired the fallen walls and occasionally paused to eat the snacks that the women brought them, the laughter of playing children echoed across the temple grounds. Periodically, they all gathered to pray to Laoha, led by the temple priests.

The Saintess, wearing a white robe that matched her white hair, also mingled with the temple residents.

"Saintess, look! I made an amapola necklace for you!" a little girl said, offering the flower necklace in her tiny hands.

"Thank you, Leila," the Saintess replied, patting the girl's head.

If she were on Earth... she'd probably just be starting college.

By this world's standards, the Saintess had been an adult for several years. However, by his standards, she was still a child.[1] Nevertheless, she had still called forth enough divine power to repel thousands of undead.

***

For a while, the temple enjoyed peaceful days within the walls.

"Um, Saintess, please take this..." A young knight wearing a breastplate engraved with a sun emblem offered her a paper bag.

"What is this?" she asked as she took it from the blushing knight.

"It’s some fruit. My father told me to give it to you."

"Oh, thank you," the Saintess said, smiling as always.

While everyone in the village loved her, the young knight's love for her was different. Unfortunately for the knight, she cared for everyone equally.

Ah, youth...

The peaceful scenes made Kim Do-Joon feel at ease too. Watching the young knight reminded him of his own youth, full of regrets but also full of irreplaceable memories.

Oh, So-Eun...

Kim Do-Joon recalled the day his daughter was born. As always, it brought a smile to his face.

"Well, I'll be going now," the Saintess said, clutching the paper bag.

"Oh, right! Sorry for holding you up," said the young knight.

"It's fine," she replied as she headed back to the temple.

Kim Do-Joon's perspective naturally followed her, moving beyond his control. He knew what this meant.

For a time, daily life continued peacefully, so much so that it was hard to believe a war had ever occurred. However, everything changed on the day the first snow came.

***

"

Argh!

Retreat! Retreat to the temple! We'll form a new defensive line there!"

This battle was even harsher than the one before. Not only was a much larger force pressuring them from all directions, but the weather was not on their side either. The winter snow froze the hands and feet of the living while the inherently cold undead remained unaffected.

In the end, they lost the gates and surrounding lands, forcing them to retreat and make their last stand inside the temple.

"Sir Polman! They're coming!"

"Hold them off! If they break through, it's over! Do whatever it takes to stop them!"

The men’s rough shouts echoed. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, they fought fiercely.

Behind them, more fervent than anyone, the Saintess purified the undead and healed her allies.

Thwack!

"

Aaah!

"

Despite the soldiers’ best efforts, an arrow pierced the Saintess’ right eye and began to emit an ominous black energy.

"The Saintess has fallen!"

"Saintess!"

Soldiers caught her as she collapsed, but the wound was fatal. Their faces twisted in despair.

Looking up at the sky, the Saintess saw the curtain of light that she had cast fading.

"

Ah

..."

Her remaining eye trembled. Clinging to consciousness, she reached out instinctively, feeling as if the vanishing light was the divine turning its back on them.

"Saintess!"

"No!"

However, she could not reach it.

***

As if all memories had shut off, everything turned dark. When Kim Do-Joon's vision returned, considerable time had passed.

They are all dead...

Now ruined, the temple looked eerily similar to the labyrinth he knew so well. Amid the pile of corpses, something stirred.

A woman with an arrow in her right eye crawled to her feet. She then stared blankly at the ceiling for a bit before her trembling gaze took in her surroundings.

"

Ah

..."

All she could see were the faces of her companions, with whom she had shared laughter and tears. No matter where she looked, corpses of those she knew awaited her. To the orphaned Saintess, they were her family.

"Sue!"

The Saintess had found Sue, her closest friend who had always attended to her like a sister. Now, her desiccated corpse was lying in a dried-up fountain with a half-bitten neck.

Tears flowed uncontrollably as she clutched Sue, whose once comforting hands were now cold and lifeless.

The Saintess’ lips quivered. She instinctively invoked the name of God, praying that painful memories would not burden Sue and that she would reach the side of God.

Just then, blue flames engulfed the Saintess.

"

Aaaagh

!"

Her skin burned, and her blood boiled. She rolled on the ground in agony, sharp stones and metal shards tearing into her flesh. However, that pain was nothing compared to the flames. She had never felt this agony before.

When the flames finally died and the pain subsided, she realized, to her horror, that she had become one of the very beings that she had fought against.

She was the Saintess, chosen to carry out the divine will and bestow its grace upon the people. What meaning did that title hold now, though? Everyone was already dead.

"Sue..." the Saintess muttered.

Thud—

She collapsed, gazing blankly at the sky. Snow continued to fall, covering the ruins in a cruelly beautiful layer of ice flowers.

...

The Saintess sat like that for days, her gaze fixed on the sky while the translucent Kim Do-Joon watched her with a stern expression. There was nothing he could do. She could neither hear nor see him.

Then, one day, a spark returned to her eyes.

"I... I have to bury them."

Gaining determination from her newfound purpose, she dug two wooden sticks out of the ruins and wrapped them in cloth to make a stretcher. Struggling, she placed Sue's body on it.

"Oh..."

She realized then that there was no one left to help her carry the corpse. Alone, she moved the other corpses to the crematorium within the temple one after another.

According to the teachings of Laoha, the god of the Sun and Life, the dead were to be cremated and their ashes buried. The soul could only reach their god's solar palace if the heavy body was burned away.

Hence, she cremated each of the bodies with utmost care. She then collected the ashes in urns and wrote inscriptions on small wooden plaques.

Seeing the finished urns and markers, she clasped her hands together. The thought of what she had to do next made her tremble and tear up.

"Don't be afraid! You've done this so many times before. Just do it like always!" she muttered and gritted her teeth. She was the only one who could send their souls to the solar palace now.

The Saintess’ cracked lips parted as she began the ritual. Like before, blue flames enveloped and burned her again. The pain interrupted her prayers repeatedly, but she didn’t let it stop her. She recited the prayers over and over, hoping their souls would ascend to the heavens and not wander the mortal realm.

"

Aaaah!

It hurts... It hurts so much...!”

After finishing one prayer, the Saintess collapsed, weeping. She curled up on the ground. She was already trembling, yet hundreds of bodies still awaited behind her.

The memories continued endlessly. At some point, the light in her remaining eye began to fade. Burn scars now completely covered her, and the once radiant hair that reflected sunlight had long since burned away. Eventually, she became a mere mechanical entity, moving through its routine.

***

Kim Do-Joon found himself back in the chapel. Something unsettled within him began to calm down as he watched her. He exhaled softly.

Meanwhile, having finished its prayer, the ghoul lifted a bell from the altar. From an ordinary bell, it was now a ritual tool for performing rites.

[???? ??? ???]

The item was made of stone, bone, and twigs, crafted through prayer. After cremating the temple's inhabitants, her second task was to create these ritual tools.

Though its name was marked as ???, Kim Do-Joon could tell that it was supposed to amplify divine power.

She’s probably doing this to ask for help.

This was her desperate plea for her god to release her from further suffering. However, despite creating dozens of these tools, her prayers never reached the heavens. Each tool was too feeble on its own.

...

A system window appeared before him.

[The effect of the Corroded Cape of Faith can be copied and pasted onto ???.]

[Item effects available for copy-pasting:]

1. Unrepairable

If he imprinted the unrepairable option on her, that would put an end to all of this. She would no longer be able to regenerate from the divine flames that her own prayers created, which meant her next prayer would kill her.

However, Kim Do-Joon put the cape away. Instead, he approached the altar and began searching around it.

The ghoul’s eyes widened as it watched Kim Do-Joon pullout all the ritual tools stored there, including two made of bone and stone. Despite their grotesque appearance, they radiated a warm energy inside.

[The effect of the ???? ? ?? can be copied and pasted onto ???.]

[Item effects available for copy-pasting:]

1. ????????

Again, only question marks appeared. Perhaps they were not official items, or there was some other reason for the broken display that was reminiscent of a corrupted computer file. Kim Do-Joon was not sure. He would likely figure it out eventually, but now was not the time.

Besides, that was not the important part.

[The item effect has been successfully copied and pasted.]

[The ???? ? ?? has been destroyed.]

The ritual tool in his hand crumbled.

“

Kaak? Kaaak!

”

The normally indifferent ghoul lunged at him in rage. After all, it had to go through immense pain and suffering to craft the tool that he had just destroyed, even consuming Raygium to enhance its divine power.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

However, before the ghoul could reach him, Kim Do-Joon calmly placed the remaining tool in front of it.

“

Kaa

?”

The ghoul hesitated, immediately sensing the increased divine power within the tool. Leaving it bewildered, Kim Do-Joon continued to consolidate the remaining tools. It had made some of them itself, while others were ancient relics that seemed intact.

Kim Do-Joon destroyed them all indiscriminately. Each time, the remaining items grew stronger.

The Saintess’ prayers were being transferred from one tool to the next.

“...”

As if realizing that, the ghoul quieted down and simply watched Kim Do-Joon. Finally, after destroying dozens of tools, only one remained:a silver mirror blackened by time.

It had been the Saintess’ most cherished possession when she was still human. The once pitch-black mirror now shimmered with a radiant light in Kim Do-Joon’s hand.

The ghoul reached out to Kim Do-Joon. Even the energy emanating from the mirror set the Saintess’ hand ablaze with blue flames. However, the Saintess paid it no heed. She grasped the mirror and clasped her hands together in prayer once more, hoping that her voice would reach the heavens this time.

Moments later, the chapel was flooded with an explosive burst of sunlight.

1. This can be viewed as a cultural difference to some people. Most Asian countries still look at 18-year-olds as kids even though they're already adults according to the law. ☜