Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint - Chapter 544



The Nun’s Secret Preference

Damn it. I shouldn’t have fallen for the lie that I was almost there.

I’ve only just realized why they tell that lie about being almost there. Even I, feeling that faint hope, ended up pushing myself without realizing it. However, the monastery was farther away than it appeared in the returnee’s vision, and I collapsed midway, exhausted in both spirit and body.

From the returnee’s perspective, it wasn’t exactly a lie. A returnee traversing the world perceives visible places as being close.

Ah, I must never be deceived again.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Baa…! You all, stop that wolf! Don’t let the wolf bite me!”

Remm shouted as she hid in her own fur. The children, seeing Remm’s frightened state, were in a flurry. In the midst of this, a beast-boy with ears and a tail jumped up and stepped forward to protect Remm.

“The apostle of the lamb will be protected by us!”

Inspired by him, the children began to stand up one by one, ready to defend Remm.

“Don’t bully the fluffy one!”

“The apostle of the lamb is our friend!”

“Woof? Friend!”

But Aji was a dog that loved humans even more than sheep. Seeing the children, he spun around in circles, wagging his tail.

“Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!”

“Uh? We’re happy to meet you too!”

“Let’s play! Let’s play!”

“Play? What shall we do?”

“Herding sheep!”

“Baa…!”

Remm fled, crying pitifully, avoiding Aji. The sheep quietly watched their king running away, chewing on the grass. The lamb king protected his people through holy sacrifice.

“Beware of guests who bring good news. If a guest comes with a good person, treat them with utmost hospitality. These were the words spoken by the first saint when welcoming guests from the east.”

And while Aji was playing with the children, the returnee and I faced a more formidable opponent.

The nun’s habit is originally black. However, her habit was so dark it seemed to serve darkness rather than light. Moreover, she covered her face with a black veil, ensuring not a single ray of light could touch her.

—

“You who have come with the king of dogs must surely be good guests. Welcome, stranger. I am Yegcheria, the divine servant responsible for this monastery.”

She blasphemed against the divine. Though she was a nun more devout and pure than anyone, she forsook the chance to join the divine and drank the blood of the progenitor. Becoming a vampire who neither dies nor ages, she cast herself from the brightest stained glass to the darkest depths of the catacombs.

“Elder, Sister Yegcheria.”

“Yes. I serve the progenitor and have been granted fragments of that power. Thanks to this, I convey the will of the divine eternally, without faltering.”

She insulted the progenitor. Though she became an elder under the progenitor’s dominion, she did not abandon her faith in the divine. No, she rather displayed it even more openly, as if to say that faith does not fade even under the progenitor’s control.

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“Do you seek the nun, or do you seek the elder? I am both, and I shall treat you as you desire.”

The Holy Office overlooked her for one reason alone.

Because she was the only being capable of continuing the faith of the divine in a land filled with sin.

The progenitor Tirkanjakka spared her for one reason alone.

Because it would be a blasphemy against the divine.

Of course, the true reason she lived, despite blaspheming both god and devil, was that she was powerful enough that neither could easily kill her.

The fallen nun, Sister Yegcheria.

A blasphemer who insulted both god and devil.

More devout than anyone, yet more treacherous than anyone, the gray nun.

The regressor spoke to her.

“I have come seeking the nun.”

At that moment, the aura emanating from Yegcheria softened. With her hands neatly clasped like a strict nun, Yegcheria spoke from beneath her veil.

“How delightful, my brother and sister. The divine has guided you here to bless you. What do you pray for?”

“I want to wear the Great White Cloak of Rakion.”

“That is impossible.”

Yegcheria spoke sternly and decisively.

“The Great White Cloak of Rakion is a proclamation passed down through the monasteries of the world. It is a sign on earth that the divine gazes upon directly. No matter how urgent the news, it cannot be used for personal matters. If the traveler were to fill the cloak with their diary, it would become the Black and White Cloak of Rakion. It remains pure white because it is unwritten, and thus can hold something more precious that may come someday. Regrettably, I cannot grant this.”

“It is not a personal matter. It concerns the new saint.”

“A new saint?”

“Yes.”

“My understanding is limited, and my sight is dim, so I cannot recognize the saint. Would you show me a revelation for the foolish me?”

I wonder if lifting the veil would allow me to see better, she thought to herself, repeating the useless notion. The regressor nodded and called to Aji.

“Aji. Show me your halo of light.”

“Huh?”

“The white ring that floats above your head.”

—

The ring of Seong-gwang is the most certain proof of being a saint. If she were a nun, she would be able to judge its authenticity at a glance.

But Aji, who was playing with the children, tilted her head and then jumped to tackle Rem. The king of sheep, with tears welling in his eyes, fled from Aji.

Though the beast rarely did as it pleased, the returner had grown accustomed to it by now.

“Huz, show Aji the ring on her head. That way, Yegcheria will open the Great White Wall for us.”

“Why do you always make me do the annoying stuff?”

“You’re the one who handles Aji well. Just do it.”

‘Let’s leave the persuasion of people to Huz. Yegcheria has gone mad in a good way, but she’s still a crazy person. Huz would be better than me. We’re both similar anyway.’

Similar? Does that mean I’m crazy? Should I be grateful for being called mad in a good way, or should I be angry?

Still, I’m thankful. I was curious about that person too.

“I can show it, but there’s really no need to insist on that, right? We just need to borrow the Great White Wall.”

“That’s true. But what will you do? Nuns are stubborn.”

That’s right. Nuns are those who serve the will of God. They are priestesses armed with strict rules, wielding divine power.

At least, that’s what a typical nun would be.

The fallen nun, Sister Yegcheria. She is a blasphemer of gray. Though she stands so neatly now, she is a being that stands on the side of chaos, mocking both good and evil.

She is of my kind.

“Hello. I am the king of humans. This person is a hero trying to save the world. We are trying to save the world from the king of sins.”

“What? Can you reveal that?”

It’s not a great secret anyway. And if I contact the Holy Office, they’ll find out regardless.

“Last week, I defeated the king of wolves alongside the king of dogs and learned the secrets of the world, but to confirm that, I need a response from the Holy Office. And the only way to contact them south of the Enger Plains is through the Great White Wall at the Blood Monastery. So I came here. Please connect me with the Holy Office.”

I briefly laid out everything that had happened recently to Yegcheria. Sister Yegcheria is an elder who has lived for hundreds of years. She wouldn’t blink at ordinary matters, but the information I shared was enough to leave even her struggling to keep up.

“That’s quite a sudden story. There are many parts that lack explanation.”

Yegcheria replied mechanically.

“And it’s too vague. It’s hard to believe, and even if it were true, I cannot grasp your intentions. How am I supposed to trust you?”

“Don’t trust me. What kind of person were you to trust?”

If she were someone who needed faith, she wouldn’t have accepted the blood of a vampire while being a nun.

Though she treats me strictly like an ordinary nun now, her essence is close to mine. A gray that leans nowhere. Therefore, neither pure white nor pitch black can find their way to her monastery.

“I believe my proposal would have piqued your interest. And you wouldn’t easily give up your curiosity over mere rules.”

“That’s not something you should say to a mere nun.”

Of course not. What nun would respond to words that disregard rules? But.

“You’re not just any nun, are you?”

Yegcheria smiled beneath her veil.

At that moment, the monastery stirred. It writhed as if alive, lunging at us like a bolt of lightning, and soon swallowed us whole.

It happened in an instant. We, who had been standing in the sunlit fields, found ourselves standing in the dimly lit chapel.

Sunlight filtered through the red stained glass. The crimson hue was surely a fragment of sunlight transmitted from some distant celestial realm, yet it felt chilling and ominous. Simultaneously, the dominance of blood filled the space, palpable throughout the monastery.

The Monastery of Blood was the domain of the vampire Yegcheria. Within it, she was a nun, an abbess, and a goddess. The monastery bore the epithet “Blood” for that very reason.

“Surely, you speak sincerely when you say you wish to save the world?”

Yegcheria’s blood magic was anything but ordinary. While typical blood magic fell short of other Elders, in certain aspects, it touched upon the mystical.

The thread of blood connected. A red strand, spiraling like a double helix, coiled around my right arm. The thread, linked to the blood, neither pulled nor constricted, extended its crimson tendrils to read the subtle tremors of my blood.

“Confess. Your truth.”

Blood magic, the sacrament of confession.

A power that achieved miracles in the confessional through blood. The fallen nun Yegcheria performed sacraments with blood. As long as this red tendril was in contact, I could not confess a lie. For Yegcheria would instantly read the slightest quiver of my blood.

If I were to weave a grand deception that even I could be fooled by, perhaps it would be different, but there was no need for that now. I extended my arm and boldly confessed.

“Yes. I genuinely intend to save the world. Because that is the way to save not only the world but myself as well.”

It is the truth. Therefore, it is genuine. The confessor, having confirmed the truth of my words, seemed to dissolve into the air.

Having verified that my words were true, Yegcheria walked toward one wall of the chapel.

“I have one question. Do you truly intend to do good? Even the most wicked and violent of villains, do you believe that the good they perform is noble in itself, simply by virtue of the act?”

Yegcheria tore away her veil. At that moment, one side of the wall was ripped apart like a sheet of paper.

What emerged from the dark wall was a massive white wall that radiated a soft light even in the darkness. Its irregular shape suggested it might have been torn from a siege weapon, yet the wall itself was smooth and white like paper.

Before it, Yegcheria tossed aside her veil with an air of annoyance. Revealing her bare face, she leaned against the Great White Wall of Lakhion and asked me.

“Do you believe that even a filthy beast, a lowly vampire, or a brutal murderer should have their good deeds respected for what they are? If a murderer who has killed thousands saves a child, do you think there is any problem with that child revering their savior?”

The fallen nun, Sister Yegcheria. A twisted nun who performs sacrifice and service in the name of the vampire. A demon that drinks human blood yet cares for and heals the lost orphans of the world.

Her very existence is heretical, a blasphemer daring to test the divine with her own notions of good and evil. While hypocrisy is good and wickedness is evil, she tests and shakes the very foundation of faith, standing on the opposite side of order.

The enemy of order is not evil but chaos. If order is judgment, then chaos is the being that tightropes along that boundary.

In that sense, Yegcheria is both a faithful servant of the divine and the most dangerous ideological criminal.

“What do you think about treating sin as sin and a person as a person?”

Well, it’s not an incorrect statement. There’s a saying that we should hate the sin but not the sinner. Humans can do anything, and even villains can perform good deeds.

But I cannot say that. Because that is not my truth. The confessor is not yet finished. If I try to wriggle out of the situation with a half-baked lie, I will fall out of favor with that ideological terrorist.

“Good? Evil? Sin? Virtue? What are those? A beast like me has no interest in things I cannot consume.”

So I answered honestly. To satisfy Yegcheria.

As I expected, Yegcheria rejoiced fiercely. A bit too vulgar for a nun, perhaps.

“Cough, cough. Hehe. Good. Good. Virtue, vice, sin, virtue. It’s merely a name we’ve given to the actions of beasts! Ahaha! How delightful it is to hear that a savage beast chooses to act in accordance with good! What contradictions and questions will this pose for those holy maidens! I am so, so excited!”

‘…Ugh. No matter how positively insane this may seem, it’s still madness. I have a feeling that things are going to spiral out of control.’

It’s too late for regrets, Regressor.

Yegcheria spread her arms wide, as if overwhelmed with emotion. At that moment, the grand piano in the chapel began to play on its own, filling the air with majestic music.

Instruments conducting with blood, and the hymns they play. What a terrible blasphemy this is. One can feel the will to uproot the very wrath of the Divine Palace.

“Wonderful! I, Yegcheria, shall accept your prayers! Even if the cowardly nuns hold their breath and cover their ears, turning a blind eye to the taboo, I will boldly recite the questions you present! Hear, see, feel! The truth will come to you like the sunlight from the heavens, ensuring you cannot turn away!”

With a powerful shout, Yegcheria instantly stained the Great White Wall of Rakion red.

At that moment, the same change occurred on every Great White Wall of Rakion across the globe.