On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

Liao Ji: "Thank you, Menggu people."

"The Drummer?"

The priest was bewildered. At this point, he finally realized that something was amiss.

Meanwhile, Liao Ji, on the other hand, began to kindly explain to Gelong:

"Yes, thanks to Father Gron for telling me all this, otherwise I would have been kept in the dark my whole life."

"Also, Mr. Gron, I actually think you are more suited to another profession than a priest."

"What!?"

"Hmm, I think the profession of clown is definitely more suitable for you than priest, no, it's practically tailor-made for you."

Liao Ji offered sincere advice.

Unfortunately, the person on the other side got anxious first. Father Gron couldn't understand the Mongolian drummer, but he understood the clown's meaning.

"You! You!! Oh. I know, you must not believe me, and you're trying to escape this way, right? Then I'll shatter your last shred of illusion!"

"Your Excellency, Lady Maria, you no longer need to pretend, much less use your noble body to touch those lowly, ignorant people."

"Let's get started!"

The noisy underground altar has finally returned to silence.

To be precise

It should be deathly silent.

In this suffocating silence and stillness, the priest was the first to break down.

"Lady Maria?" Groon looked at the nun who stood motionless beside the young man with a puzzled and confused expression.

Unfortunately, the nun never once looked in his direction.

The Lightbringer, as seen by the priest, spoke.

However, instead of replying to him, she turned to the young man beside her.

"Lord Liao Ji, may I begin?"

A few savage, bloodthirsty glints appeared in the nun's eyes, and the veins on her palms throbbed incessantly—a sign that her anger had been suppressed to the extreme.

If Liao Ji hadn't been holding her hand, the nun might have already stormed out the moment the priest first mocked Liao Ji.

However, later on, when Gron went too far and became so arrogant that he used harsh words like "despicable" and "foolish people" to describe Liao Ji, even Liao Ji couldn't stop the nun.

Actually, Liao Ji really wanted to keep the priest a little longer, to give himself more time to think about a solution later. But who would have thought that this guy's suicidal tendencies were unparalleled, as if he was afraid of living even a second longer.

"Sigh, let's get started." Liao Ji sighed and repeated the priest's words.

This time, however, there was no deathly silence after the words were spoken.

Uh

To be precise, before he could even finish speaking, the nun next to Liao Ji had already disappeared.

In less than half a second.

First, a flash of blood appeared.

Immediately following was a scream.

"Aaaaaah!"

The nun, wielding a massive scythe, severed the priest's two arms. Large amounts of blood gushed from the severed limbs, and the intense pain nearly caused Groon to faint.

Why use "almost"? Because in the blink of an eye, holy light flashed from the nun's other hand, and a healing spell was cast on Gronn, rapidly healing his gushing wounds, preventing immediate death, and forcibly reviving his unconscious consciousness to prepare him for the next...

"Wait a minute, Ma. Ahhhhhh!"

After his two arms disappeared, the priest's lower body also vanished completely, but he was not dead and was even fully conscious, because the nun's next Healing spell landed precisely on him, "saving" him again.

Having lost all four limbs and reduced to a human stump, the priest could only watch helplessly as his Lord of Light approached, finally bringing the blade of his scythe to his mouth.

That foul mouth of mine dares to disrespect Lord Ash.

The scythe tore along the priest's mouth, finally splitting his head in two. To put it bluntly, he was truly dead; to put it more optimistically, he was really dead.

At least Healing Salvation can't "save" him.

Having done all this, Maristia knew she couldn't keep up the act any longer. She turned around and gazed at the young man opposite her.

"Lord Ash, when did you discover me?"

"Well, it was probably last night when we were sleeping on the sofa. I have a natural phobia of the opposite sex, and in the Holy Kingdom, the only person who can help me overcome this physical fear and fall asleep peacefully is you, Styutia, right?"

Was it really that time?

It's all my fault for being too impatient.

After sighing inwardly, Styutia did not stop there, but continued to ask Liao Ji in a soft voice.

“Lord Ash, may I ask Miss Irene, I can’t sense any trace of faith from her, but I clearly remember that Lord Ash once told Tia that you are Tia’s most loyal and devout believer, and that you would never befriend someone who does not believe in Tia.”

"So... are all of these your doing?"

"Are you kidding me?"

After Sciuttia finished speaking, Liao Ji glanced at the still-warm corpse of Father Groon not far away, now broken into pieces, and quickly replied:

"Indeed, Irene no longer believes in the goddess, and even hates her, but that doesn't mean she used to be like that. On the contrary, her mother, Nolan, was a nun, and Irene was influenced and taught by her mother from a young age, and she also believed in the goddess, until an accident happened."

"In this accident, Irene lost her father, and Nolan, as a nun, did not receive the protection of the church. Instead, the church took advantage of her misfortune and deprived the mother and daughter of everything. It was only after this that Irene stopped believing in the goddess."

"The reason I've always kept Irene with me and helped her so much is actually to prove to her that the filth and ugliness only lie within the corrupt church in the Black Hole, and have nothing to do with the goddess herself. I believe that Styutia must have been too tired to notice this place. In that case, as Styutia's most loyal fan, I feel it's my duty and responsibility to help Styutia win back her followers, to let that little girl know that the goddess won't abandon them, and to let all the suffering people of the Black Hole know."

"The holy light from Sthija may be late, but it will never be absent!"

"after all."

"She was the first love who even made that famous and unparalleled Ash Emperor fall head over heels in love with her because of her gentleness and kindness!"

"Am I right, Tia?"

The nun's answer was simple; actions speak louder than words. With red-rimmed eyes, Styutia threw herself into the young man's arms, burying her head in his chest as if she wanted to meld her whole body with Liao Ji.

"Long time no see, Tia, and I'm sorry I'm late." Liao Ji brushed aside the nun's messy hair in his arms, wrapped his arms around her body, and whispered in her ear.

This seemed to be the last straw that broke the camel's back. The sound of sobbing echoed in the underground altar. The nun's hands gripped Liao Ji's clothes tightly, and his tears soaked his clothes.

"Lord Ash... Waaaa... Tia is so tired... Waaaa... Tia is so tired. Why... Why did you abandon me? I've been so scared all these past five hundred years alone. I'm afraid I'll never see you again. I'm afraid I haven't done enough, that's why you've given up on me."

"So Tia followed 'their' example and established a country. Tia thought this was your test. Tia didn't want to lose to 'them.' Tia didn't want to be left behind by you! But... but Tia really didn't understand. Tia messed up. Tia is sorry. I've let you down. Waaah. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It's all Tia's fault."

Looking at Styutia, who was crying her eyes out in his arms, Liao Ji finally regained that familiar feeling. This was the Styutia he knew, the little nun he loved most.

Liao Ji used his hand to lift Styutia's fair chin, raising the face of the nun who was crying against his chest to face him. Liao Ji used his other hand to wipe away the tears on Styutia's face.

"It's alright, it's alright now. I'm here now, aren't I? I promise you, we will never be separated again, and I will never abandon you again."

These heartfelt words from Liao Ji made St. Siuthya freeze.

because

I won't abandon you again. You?

you?

you!?

The weak tear stains and silent sobs began to disappear rapidly from Styutia's face in that instant.

Instead, a red light flickered from the depths of her eyes, and an eerie red mist began to emanate from the nun's body, unable to be suppressed any longer.

Styutia left Liao Ji's embrace.

Shackles and chains formed from turbidity appeared in the nun's hands.

Styutia gazed at the young man opposite her, the one she loved dearly. In her heart, Liao Ji was everything, Liao Ji was her whole world, and she could no longer bear to see that dark and gloomy world again.

So

"Lord Ashes"

“You guys won’t do that.”

--------

The author is being sarcastic; it's not next Friday, it's tomorrow. It will be available for purchase this Friday.

I'll quickly write a brief post about the product launch in a bit (sad).

Author's Note on the Launch of Chapter 54

A swear word!

You'd be better off writing a few more chapters with that effort!

Tomorrow, Friday, November 11th, it will be available for purchase. I hope you will support it. I guarantee at least 11 views per day.

That's it!!

(PS: You really picked an auspicious day, didn't you?)

(P.S.: After the book is published, joining the group will cost 1 fan point. Today is the last day to join the group unconditionally. The author usually posts some short side stories in the group that are synchronized with the main story. They are like supplements to the plot and are very heartwarming and loving, and can easily bring tears to your eyes. Don't worry if you don't want to join the group. The side stories are just supplements and do not affect the main story. Reading them or not will not affect your reading experience!)

Chapter 55 Doing it for Others

Liao Ji: "."

The young man glanced at the chains and handcuffs in the nun's hands, his throat moved slightly, and he took a half step back without making a sound.

The worst-case scenario he had imagined did indeed happen.

"Tia, we can sit down and talk things out. Can you put those things away?" Liao Ji was still trying to salvage the situation.

Unfortunately, this time Styutia did not obey his orders.