Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

Mary looked up, her expression immediately becoming radiant.

“Come on, Mr. Saito.”

The man named Saito gripped the knife tightly, his knuckles turning white, his hands trembling uncontrollably, and cold sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Murder...I...I can't do it..."

"This is your chance to prove yourself to God."

“Divine punishment!”

The children surrounding the hospital bed led the way, repeating the words "divine punishment" that Mary had spoken of.

"But...I..."

“Cut open her chest, take out her heart, and it will all be over. From now on, you are a full member of the church.”

“Divine punishment! Divine punishment!”

"I......"

“Debt collector, I’ll help you with this,” Mary whispered in his ear.

Mary's words reassured Saito, and he made up his mind, raising his knife.

Xiangzi's eyes reflected the glint of a knife in the sunlight, and his face was pale.

She seemed to see the familiar of money piercing her iris with a spear, she seemed to see Yushina's scythe about to strike, and she seemed to see a white car in the bank with a long knife to her neck.

“Divine punishment! Divine punishment! Divine punishment!”

"I--"

Saito closed his eyes, finally dropped the knife, and squatted down, holding his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry! I can't do it! I'm not worthy to be a believer in God!"

He knelt on the ground, covered his face with his hands, and wept bitterly.

Mary looked down at him and sighed.

“Mr. Saito, there’s no need to worry.” She knelt down beside Saito and gently comforted him, “You will have the opportunity to prove your loyalty to God… As for divine punishment, leave it to us.”

"Leave it to me! Leave it to me!"

The one who spoke was the child named Xiaohui, who had a fanatical smile on her face as she picked up the small knife that Saito had thrown on the ground.

"Leave it to me, Sister Mary!"

Mary patted her head.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you."

Xiangzi watched helplessly as Xiaohui climbed onto the hospital bed, knelt on his lower abdomen, and raised a small knife.

“Divine punishment! Divine punishment! Divine punishment!”

“Divine punishment! Divine punishment! Divine punishment!”

“Divine punishment! Divine punishment! Divine punishment!”

The blade was clearly hanging overhead, but Xiangzi, looking at this absurd group of people, even forgot his fear.

The bright light almost blinded Xiangzi.

Xiao Hui, with a smile on her face that Xiangzi couldn't understand, forcefully stabbed downwards!

Bang-!

The explosive sound cut off the believers' cries.

A door that had been kicked open flew several meters away, across the entire aisle of the chapel, and straight towards Xiao Hui, who was kneeling on Xiangzi's back.

Mary raised her hand and smashed the door panel away. The heavy wooden door made a loud rumbling sound and dented the wall.

The ceremony was interrupted, and everyone looked towards the door, their eyes filled with ferocity and madness, especially Xiao Hui, who was almost hit by the door.

—"Hey everyone, good morning~"

A flippant voice broke the silence.

Miao Meng lowered her long legs, greeted the believers who were all looking at her, and when she caught sight of Xiangzi, she winked at her.

"Moshi moshi, we've come for worship. Excuse me, is the pretty, big-breasted, scumbag cult/pyramid scheme scammer nun here...?"

Miaomeng said with a smile.

No one paid attention to her.

Although the believers wore expressions of resentment, wishing they could tear Miaomeng apart and devour her alive, not one of them dared to stand up and vent their anger verbally.

Miao Meng glanced around at the believers and burst out laughing. She couldn't control herself and her laughter grew louder and louder.

She pointed at the worshippers, then at Mary, and burst into laughter.

"Ha! I thought you were some kind of cult leader planning some kind of big sacrifice, but it turns out you're just a complete fraud. I overestimated you!"

A hashtag appeared clearly on Mary's forehead, but it only lasted for a moment before her expression returned to calm.

“I’m being sincere, how can you call me a liar?” Mary asked.

"What more needs to be said about a scammer?"

Miaomeng gave her the middle finger with a look of disdain and hurled vulgar words without any restraint.

"I even put you with that old woman with pigtails who works at the bar before, you bitch."

“In addition to destroying churches, you also speak disrespectfully to God.”

A chilling aura crept up from her feet, eventually reaching Mary's face. In front of her followers, she transformed into a magical girl, demonstrating her "miracle" to them.

“I am an apostle of God. This is the power God has given me. Now, I will use this power to punish all those who insult God.”

A greatsword, as long as himself, appeared out of thin air in his hand, its tip pointing towards the doorway, directly at the figure slowly emerging from behind Miaomeng. The temperature in his voice dropped to freezing point.

"Hailin, won't you say a few words? I'd like to introduce you to everyone; you're a benefactor of the church."

Hey.

Hey.

Hailing, wearing a white coat, with her left hand on the scabbard and her wooden clogs making a clattering sound, walked forward from the light outside the church.

The last bit of pity for Mary in his eyes vanished.

She thought Mary might have some hidden reason, or that she was being coerced into doing something she didn't want to do, but even if she did, she couldn't forgive her for doing such a thing.

"Mari Ono, stop your tricks, I've had enough."

"Play? Do you think everyone likes cosplay as much as you do? I've never played it." Mary tilted her head slightly and curled the corners of her mouth. "What a pity, Hailing, my friend."

Xiangzi, still tied to the hospital bed, suddenly had a bad feeling.

And this premonition came true almost immediately.

Mary shouted at a volume loud enough for everyone to hear, like a Shakespearean actor reciting a poem on stage, speaking in the most mournful tone:

"Hailin! My friend! My poor friend! Your mind has been devoured by demons! I only remembered your kindness to the church, but I never imagined you would lead demons to the church!"

The words have not yet fallen.

The walls, ceiling, and floor of the church sprouted entrances to the barrier of the Ave Maria.

The menacing anthill instantly enveloped the entire church.

"Brothers and sisters! Hide quickly! I will protect you from the devil!"

Terrified screams replaced the previous shouts, and soldier ants crawled out of the anthill, covering the church ceiling and completely blocking out the sunlight from the stained glass windows.

Suddenly, the church became dark and gloomy.

The overwhelming number of familiars surged in all directions, one of which broke away from the main force and fell from the ceiling toward Xiangzi, who was completely incapacitated.

at this time.

The glass behind Xiangzi shattered with a crash, and a huge black shadow enveloped Xiangzi's body.

"Xiao Xiang, I'm late, I'm sorry."

The Tale of Nirvana: Keeping to Your True Self: Chapter 97 Chaotic Battle

Large black wings covered Xiangzi, shielding her from the attacking familiar.

The familiar's jaws snapped shut on the wing, but in the next instant, the wing flung it against the wall, smashing it into a puddle of unidentified mixture. Even the blade of the one-handed sword was covered in the familiar's bodily fluids.

"Xiao Xiang, I'm late, I'm sorry."

Chu Hua had her back to Xiangzi, her head turned slightly to the side, her purple eyes gleaming in the shadows.

Xiangzi finally felt a little relieved.

"Thank you, Chuhua."

"You're welcome." Chu Hua blinked and said with a smile, "I like the feeling of being relied on by you, Xiao Xiang."

"..."

Xiangzi scratched his face, not daring to look her in the eye.

"You two are still being all lovey-dovey in this kind of environment, you have absolutely no sense of crisis, that's amazing!"

Miao Meng suddenly jumped to their side, filling in the gap that Chu Hua had left, forming a small defensive circle centered on Xiang Zi.

Hailing and Mary disappeared the moment the battle began. Xiangzi guessed that one of them had activated the "barrier" he had seen with the assembly administrator before.

Xiangzi glared at Miaomeng, then turned his gaze to the familiars scattered all over the ground.

"The situation is getting a bit out of control, Meow Dream, you've come at the right time."

"what?"

"Such a large number of soldier ants cannot survive completely outside the barrier. Right now, the witch is using the barrier to invade reality. As long as we kill the main body of Ave Maria, we can control most of the situation. At the very least, no more ants will emerge from these anthills."

Without hesitation, Xiangzi grabbed Miaomeng's shoulders and jumped onto her back.

Miao Meng felt a weight on her back and almost lost her balance. She didn't even need to look at Chu Hua's expression; her own face was already as green as a cucumber.

"Young Miss, surely it shouldn't be at a time when you suddenly unleash your beastly nature?!"

"Stop your bestiality! I saw the witch yesterday and know where she is." Xiangzi tightened his legs, wrapped his arms around Miaomeng's waist, rested his chin on Miaomeng's shoulder, and whispered, "Chuhua can handle this by herself. You and I will go in and kill the witch."

"Oh...you should have said so earlier."

Miao Meng breathed a sigh of relief, flicked her whip, hooked it onto an entrance, and flew into the air with Xiangzi on her back.

Suddenly, a huge familiar leaped up from the ground and flew toward the two people in mid-air.

when--!

Chu Hua folded her wings and landed back on the ground. Beside her was the corpse of a familiar whose upper body and abdomen were completely separated.

"Thank you so much, Hatsuko!"

Miaomeng's words of thanks grew fainter and fainter as the two disappeared into the cave, until they vanished completely.

"Xiao Xiang is really something."

Chu Hua sighed softly, looking somewhat resentfully in the direction where Xiangzi had disappeared.

Xiao Xiang always asks Miao Meng to do these things together, and she gets a little jealous.

A slight jealousy turned into a desire to vent, and Chu Hua turned her gaze to the familiars surrounding her.

They look completely different from ordinary soldier ants; they are more like witches about to be sacrificed to produce seeds of lamentation.

In the chaos just now, several believers were jumped on by familiars, who then devoured the brains of the fallen believers.

In the eyes of those believers, there were no swarms of ants. In their eyes, Chu Hua, who was slashing wildly at the air, was more like a demon. The sky turning dark and people around them falling down for no reason were all caused by these people.

The five familiars that had devoured the believers' brains quickly underwent a transformation.

Its body size increased, its six ant legs were replaced by plain white arms, its mandibles became even larger, a mask resembling the Virgin Mary grew in the middle of its compound eyes, and its abdomen also changed, but instead of the tender white flesh it had when it became the queen ant, it developed a metallic-colored carapace.

By eating people, they elevated themselves to a state close to transforming into witches.

However, this state will not last long. After another ten or twenty minutes, they will completely transform, grow seeds of lamentation, their abdomens will swell, and they will completely lose their ability to move.