Chapter 103

Wu Chang's earlier vision replayed the scene that had occurred at the count's estate that day.

After killing Eileen, the townspeople, their jealousy extinguished, sank into endless remorse and self-reproach.

At this moment, Ebert said something to the townspeople, successfully redirecting their rage toward Count Jemaine.

Ebert's argument was simply that everything had been orchestrated behind the scenes by Jemaine, and they had merely been manipulated.

Whether the argument was reasonable didn't matter; what mattered was that the townspeople were willing to believe it.

In matters of religion, what counts is psychological comfort—if some important figure tells you he has absolved you in the name of the Lord, then everything can be treated as if it never happened.

Otherwise, why did indulgences flourish for nearly a thousand years, and why do their various variants still thrive today, sustaining all sorts of environmental and human rights organizations? A suitable scapegoat was, for the townspeople, undoubtedly the best indulgence.

Under the resonance of inexplicable emotions, all accumulated feelings erupted.

People seized weapons, gathered together, broke through the count's estate—which they had never dared even look at in daily life—and dragged Jemaine before the crowd for execution.

Precisely because of this, Jemaine died beneath the statue before the seven inner worlds matured and the Proof of Original Sin was born, becoming the Apostle of Pride himself.

"Player has completed Main Quest Two: Investigate the Missing Count, Uncover the Truth."

"Since the player has collected all seven Proofs of Original Sin and successfully uncovered every truth, the player may exit the instance early and leave the Quiet Village."

Wu Chang did not hesitate a moment and immediately chose No.

Ha—after spending so long, finally reaching the harvest, you think I'm leaving? Not a chance!

The notification of completing Main Quest Two confirmed that the vision was not fabricated by the Apostle, but a real event that had once occurred.

Yet tracing back the information within the illusion, one figure inevitably reappeared.

Again, Ebert.

As the least noticeable figure on the island, how did he end up at every pivotal moment in the plot? Good thing I casually killed that old bastard—otherwise, who knows what other tricks he'd pull.

Just as he was pondering his next move, a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Mr. Sycos, what just happened?" Eileen asked, bewildered.

Having been resurrected, perhaps her soul had been damaged after the Original Sin was stripped away; she could sense that something had occurred, but could not determine what.

Wu Chang shrugged: "Just swatted a bug. Don't worry—what comes next is tonight's real focus."

He pointed to the roof and asked: "Can you see what's up there?"

Eileen shook her head.

"Then stay down here for now. Once I've settled her matter, you'll be freed."

Wu Chang picked up a stick and drew a circle on the ground.

"Outside will be dangerous soon. I've drawn this circle—it's stronger than a bronze wall. Those demons and monsters won't dare approach. But if you step out of it, you'll be killed. Remember, remember."

Without caring whether Eileen understood what had happened, he turned and walked toward the main house's roof.

He reached the roof and cautiously approached the massive faceless nun before him.

Earlier, he had deliberately lowered his willpower, allowing the murmured prayers to enter his mind—and those murmurs had delivered a hint.

"Hidden side quest triggered."

"Hidden side quest: Place all seven Proofs of Original Sin into the Artificial Holy Statue, complete the Fallen Holy Statue, summon the Artificial God, and witness immortality. No penalty for failure. Accept quest?"

Another hidden side quest.

Compared to the hidden side quest granted by the Perfect Achievement title, all prerequisites for completing the Artificial Holy Statue had already been fulfilled—only the insertion of the Proofs of Original Sin remained to complete the task and claim the reward.

It was practically a free reward.

If this had been at the start of the instance, he would have accepted without hesitation.

But now, having uncovered the truth, he hesitated.

Whatever. I'll take it one step at a time.

He shook his head and walked up to the faceless nun.

The faceless nun stood like a puppet awaiting orders, motionless, with no hint of aggression.

Or perhaps, since Wu Chang had inherited the identity of the Apostle of Pride, she automatically recognized him as allied.

As Wu Chang concentrated his inspiration, he saw within the giant nun's body a six-pointed star, with a hollow at each of the six points and one at the center—seven hollows, corresponding to the seven Proofs of Original Sin.

Wu Chang inserted the seven Proofs of Original Sin into the hollows in the traditional religious order of the seven sins.

The first was the Proof of Lust.

Wu Chang noted that the religious doctrine simply stated this order—it wasn't his personal preference.

As the Proof of Lust was inserted, the faceless nun's cold flesh gained a faint texture of living tissue, acquiring a touch of human vitality.

Her rough, root-like lower body transformed into smooth, long legs, plump and white as jade.

The only problem: the nun's original root system had numbered hundreds, even thousands.

White legs were beautiful, but suddenly seeing hundreds of them was no longer a matter of beauty—it was a SAN-loss issue.

Even Wu Chang, a hardened soul who'd seen his dorm roommate's secret stash and whose willpower neared 70 points, felt a little overwhelmed.

Just as he considered pulling out the Proof of Lust or pruning the legs down to just two, the faceless nun, ever considerate, reverted her legs back to roots, saving him considerable trouble.

With the completion of the Proof of Lust, a one-sixth golden halo appeared atop the faceless nun's head.

The halo's shape resembled the radiant aureole above angels' heads in mythology.

Wu Chang had a hunch: that thing was the Sacred Mark previously residing within Eileen.

He retrieved the Proof of Gluttony and inserted it into the faceless nun's body.

The nun's body shuddered; then her robe tore open at the back, revealing a pair of wings identical to those of the Golden Flying Fish.

Wu Chang: "..."

Wait—replacing an angel's wings with fish fins? Who the hell came up with this idea? Sure, both are wings and both enable flight, and I get that finding suitable wings might be difficult—but isn't this plan just a bit too haphazard?

This isn't just a low-tier knockoff—it's a knockoff of a knockoff.

Whatever. I'll just assume she ate too many Golden Flying Fish.

He glanced at the halo above the Faceless Nun's head, now one-third complete, and fed the Proof of Greed into the nun's body.

The nun's body surface began to emit a faint glow; the halo, already half-complete, showed a thin black mist on its surface.

As the fourth Proof of Sloth was fed into the nun's body.

The nun's taut body suddenly relaxed; the halo above her head was now two-thirds complete, and the halo as a whole had turned pale black.

The addition of the fifth Proof of Wrath and the sixth Proof of Envy made the Faceless Nun, aside from still having no face, look entirely indistinguishable from a human being overall.

In fact, if one observed carefully with Inspiration, one could sense from her blank face that she was angry, envious, greedy, and anticipating something.

The halo above the nun's head was now fully complete, different from the golden halos representing deities, or the red or white halos representing angels and saints.

The halo above her head at this moment was pure black.

The light was dim and restrained, as if bound by some constraint, unable to radiate outward for the time being.

Wu Chang took out the final Proof of Pride; as the greatest of the original sins, the Proof of Pride was unquestionably in the C-position.

Once it was placed into the center of the hexagram within the Faceless Nun's body, the artificial Fallen Idol would be completed, everything within the idol activated, and the descent of the artificial god accomplished.

He took a deep breath and slowly brought the Proof of Pride in his hand toward the Faceless Nun.

The Faceless Nun displayed immense longing; unable to maintain her reserve, she shifted forward slightly, actively leaning toward the Proof of Pride.

Just as the Proof of Pride was about to sink into the Faceless Nun's body, Wu Chang suddenly yanked his hand back, withdrawing the Proof of Pride.

Heh-heh, no～The Faceless Nun froze for a moment, then seemed to understand something; her originally blank face, in a fit of rage, actually coalesced into features.

A high, straight nose bridge, hawk-like sharp eyes, and a sharply angular face shape—that absolute pressure from her aura, once seen, would not be easily forgotten.

That was precisely the face belonging to Count Germain.

"Damned ant! How dare you toy with a god! I will make you…"

Before Count Germain could start ranting and throwing out vicious threats, Wu Chang's True Self had already transformed into a giant whale, one hand tearing off the jet-black halo from Count Germain's head, the other swinging a palm and slapping him hard across the face.

"I told you, if you dare let me see you at the Earl's Manor, you're guaranteed to get no good fruit to eat! I must rip your hood off, I must slap your face!"

"I, Saike Si, have always been a man of my word!"

(End of this chapter)