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Chapter 3
Pop! Finally, her arms, which had felt tightly bound, dropped, and the Saint’s back sank into the soft bed. Strangely, while her previous struggles had failed, this time she had fallen effortlessly.
“Guh… Ferdinando, you… ugh!”
Damn it, what the hell is he thinking?!
The Saint swung her fist at the face that had followed her down, aiming a second jab—but something stopped her hand.
‘What… why is it blue?’
As expected of a god’s eyes, Ferdinando’s were normally golden. But now they were sky-blue. And why was the long, seaweed-like hair she remembered so neatly cut short?
Something else felt off.
‘The corner of his lips… what is that? Could it be… is he smiling?!’
In the past 120,000 years, Ferdinando had never shown a smile. His face had been as stiff as rubber.
Seeing him grin like that made him feel like a completely different being. The Saint was so dumbfounded that she momentarily forgot to speak.
“I’ve brought her, Your Holiness.”
At that moment, Leno, who had brought paper and pen himself, introduced with a smile.
“Ah, I suppose my greetings are late. Allow me to introduce myself properly. I am Leno Crabsley, High Priest of Lucerne. And this gentleman is the Emperor of the Lucerne Empire.”
Emperor?
Wait… Emperor? That only exists in the human world, doesn’t it? And the Lucerne Empire?
Then this man isn’t Ferdinando? Just a human who looks like him?
Yet except for the eye color, hair length, and this unfamiliar expression, he was identical. His tone was slightly different, but the voice was exactly the same. What the hell was going on?
“You’ve just woken and must be disoriented. Saint, today by prophecy, you have manifested in the Garden of God Ferdinando. This is the first time a Great Saint has manifested in our Empire’s history, so all are filled with anticipation.”
Only now did the word Saint finally register in her ears. Saint? Prophecy? Ferdinando’s Garden?
Three words brought back what Ferdinando had said before she fell here:
‘I will give you one more chance. To regain your strength and come to kill me again.’
‘Ha… you crazy bastard.’
Spouting nonsense about “good deeds” or whatever, and now he wants me to live as a Saint in the human world?
She could tear out all her hair and go bald, and it wouldn’t be enough. After everything he put her through, did he really think she would meekly obey his god and live?
Leno, sensing blasphemy, bowed once more and asked,
“Saint, what is your name? How shall we address you?”
The Saint wanted to hurl a curse, but again, no words came. Only polite speech would come out. Damn it.
Enough. Now that she was alive, she would leave this place and find him again. And this time, she would rip his heart out and—
“Kuhhh!”
“Saint?!”
A sudden, sharp pain shot through her wrist, and she bent forward. Looking at her arm, she saw crimson veins branching like coral just below her wrist, pulsing urgently with a red glow.
This…?
She had seen this before. The omen of death Ferdinando had mentioned before throwing her away in light.
‘If you do good deeds in the human world, you will regain all your power after one year. But if you use it with malice—or do nothing—you will die in agony.’
‘Ha… this bastard is meticulous.’
Truly… she was losing her mind.
The Saint—or rather, the demon—had to make a quick decision.
Die painfully in the human world, or survive for a year, regain her strength, and go kill Ferdinando again.
Why he gave her a second chance remained a mystery, but it had to be true if he, an elder god, said it.
Sure, when her horns and wings were cut and she fell, she’d briefly considered giving up after millennia of this endless struggle, just to be free.
But the thought of this vile creature, who had wronged her in every imaginable way and thrown her here at will, fueled her anger.
And then there was that shameless face, which she had targeted countless times yet always met with the same calm expression.
He had probably given her another chance because he was certain she could not kill him.
Though his indifferent attitude suggested superiority, their powers were nearly equal. She had driven Ferdinando to the brink of death many times. She was the strongest demon, having earned her title purely through skill.
One year. Just survive one year…
The opportunity to kill him would come.
She looked at her wrist.
About ten centimeters below her palm, veins bulged like lightning, most of them turning dark red. The red glow leaking from them blinked like a threat: “Do you think you can survive here?”
“Ugh… huff…”
Pain pierced her wrist and heart as if stabbed by needles; her breath grew short. If all veins turned dark red, her body would completely shut down—meaning eternal death, total annihilation.
“Huhh…ugh.”
Her breathing grew ragged. Time was short. She had to choose.
“Saint? Are you alright?! Your wrist… there’s no wound, so why—”
Leno’s concerned voice made her realize only she could see the marks.
Someone called for a Saint to heal her, and she lifted her gaze to the Emperor.
“You seem like you have something to say.”
“….”
He wasn’t Ferdinando. Yet that face, so identical, made her blood boil.
He would mock her silently, thinking her foolish for enduring everything. He would lounge comfortably while she suffered, she was sure.
She refused to submit quietly.
Had she died cleanly, perhaps she would have accepted it—but she hadn’t endured all this just to die humiliatingly in front of humans.
She made her decision.
“…Good deeds, my ass.”
“What?”
To survive. To survive and execute the revenge she hadn’t finished!
“You can speak?!”
“I want to… do good deeds… right now… huff… immediately…”
Pride could be thrown to the dogs!
“Oh, God… even in such a state, she proclaims good deeds. Truly, the Saint sent by God has a heart as vast as the sea and is magnificent!”
Everyone watching her in awe praised the Saint—but internally, she gritted her teeth.
“Clean your feet and wait. I’ll repay every humiliation you caused me. You’ll regret keeping me alive, Ferdinando, you son of a—!”
“I came to see the Emperor, and a woman comes out?!”
A chubby man, shorter than Leno, brushed his scruffy beard while frowning.
He was a tribal chief from outside the Empire, flanked by two brothers who looked almost identical to him, staring skeptically at the Saint and Leno.
“Sending a pretty woman? Clearly, the Emperor is mocking us.”
“Well, she’s not bad for a trick.”
“Brother! Don’t fall for such cheap tricks! Using my wisdom, I’ve assessed the situation immediately. The Emperor is using a beauty scheme to manipulate us.”
Just as the Saint was panting, begging to do good deeds, an urgent message arrived. The Emperor, who had to attend morning affairs, had apparently delegated the temperamental foreigners to the Saint.
‘Civilizing these barbarians is truly a Great Saint’s duty—her first real good deed. Let’s see the Saint sent by God in action.’
The Emperor spoke thus but sent Leno and a guard as backup just in case.
“This is outrageous! This person is the Great Saint sent by God to the Empire—show proper respect!”
Leno slammed his staff on the floor, and a brief silence fell.
Exactly three seconds later:
“Bahahaha! Puhahaha!”
“Brother, did you hear? She’s the Great Saint sent by God! Hahaha!”
“Ha! If she were sent by God, would she just fall from the sky? Lucerne people’s beliefs are certainly questionable.”
“Listen well, priest. If that woman is a Great Saint, then I am a demon sent by the demon race. I rose from the earth yesterday. Understood?”
The three brothers laughed so hard the reception hall shook, making veins pop in Leno’s temples.
These men, arrogant since entering the palace, had disrespected the Emperor, God, and the Saint. How dare they.
Thud.
“Saint!”
But unfortunately, the Saint couldn’t demonstrate divine authority. Panting and exhausted like salted cabbage, she collapsed into Leno’s arms.
“Are you alright?!”
Though she appeared in serious condition, her obedient collapse amused the chief and his brothers, making her a laughingstock.
