Surviving without God

Despite the darkness enveloping Audrey House, Dominic’s sharp eyesight allowed him to notice Teacher Raymond entering the dining hall. The time had come. Dominic immediately left the room.

“Brother? Where are you going?”

“I’ll be back soon, I’ll bring something to eat!”

Although lights-out had already passed, most of the children were gathered in his room — the one where the oldest children lived. Dominic had persuaded the duty caretaker to let them play together a little longer. The boy had long since and naturally built connections with nearly all the mentors. No priest could remain indifferent to a gifted child chosen to become the Hierarch of Light. That was precisely why his request, though unnecessary, had been granted.

“Come back soon!”

Leaving the children’s voices behind, Dominic paused for a moment at the threshold and looked back. For an instant, an emotion beyond words flickered across the young man’s face.

From today onward, their fates would change forever. And with all his heart, he prayed only that those changes would lead in the right direction.

Tap-tap—

Dominic crossed the corridor with quick steps. The moonlight filtering through the windows was dim.

The moon had almost disappeared. At the end of that murky stream of light, the figure of the teacher on duty in the residential wing came into view. It seemed she had been making her rounds.

Because she had failed to attend the welcome banquet, anxiety and suppressed displeasure were written plainly across her face. In the hierarchy, she was the most junior, and her senior colleagues had forced her to take the shift against her will. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“...Dominic? What are you doing here?”

“......”

“Ha-a, you promised you’d play quietly in the room. If the other teachers... or the director find out, there’ll be trouble!”

Morgana Krapel. A priestess of the Cult of Protection who taught the children sacred spells. The children feared her because of her strict and hysterical temperament, but she had always been kind to Dominic.

“Teacher.”

“Hm?”

“Please forgive me.”

Morgana was a high-ranking priestess whose abilities were great enough to earn her an assignment to Audrey House. The moment Dominic suddenly closed the distance, she instantly sensed that something was wrong and threw up a hand.

Woooooong—!

Powerful holy power swirled like a vortex. Enormous chains of light materialized, trying to bind Dominic. But in that same instant...

Craaack—!

Scarlet lightning flared in Dominic’s hand. The chains instantly lost their strength, as though eaten away by corrosion. Lowering himself, Dominic evaded the attack aimed at his throat.

“......”

Despite successfully deflecting the attack, Dominic’s face remained grim. Even as the most junior among the priests of Audrey House, Morgana possessed formidable strength. And now the young man was old enough to understand: in order to accumulate such power, she had surely committed many evil deeds.

...A sinner. A terrible sinner.

“You little—!”

Before she could finish, Dominic launched himself forward. His straight punch drove directly into the area of Morgana’s heart.

Bang—!

That was the end of it. The unimaginable combat training he had undergone to become the Hierarch of Light, combined with a body that had already surpassed human limits, produced a devastating effect. The priestess’s fragile body could not withstand such synergy.

“Khah!..”

Morgana, whose insides had been turned to mush, vomited black blood and instantly breathed her last. An expression of absolute disbelief froze on her face. Up until the very end, she had been convinced Dominic was still completely under the effects of the Cleansing.

Thump-thump—

Thump-thump—

As Dominic was about to hide the body, he reflexively looked around. A heavy vibration rolled through the corridor, like someone’s footsteps.

But soon he realized it was not an external sound at all, but the pounding of his own heart. He could not possibly be tired from something like this, and yet his heart was hammering harder than it ever had in his life. Even harder than several years ago, when he had run madly through the mountains while fleeing the Society of Holy Flame.

“...I killed a person.”

The sensation in his fingertips would not disappear. His body was trembling even though it was not cold.

But Dominic clenched his teeth and lifted his head, forcing his thoughts to shift.

Audrey House. He remembered everything the teachers, and Morgana herself, had done within these walls.

How they took innocent children and brainwashed them. How they judged them according to their own whims and trampled those who failed to meet their standards — physically and mentally alike. He remembered Yuria, who had only recently been groaning on the altar, covered in pus.

“You are destined to become a hero.”

That was what Teacher Raymond had said.

In truth, for the past several years Dominic had been sunk in deep despair. How much longer could he hold out? Would the time soon come when he too would become just as vile as they were, shouting the name of their god and, as their sharpest blade, harming the innocent?

That fear had always been closer than his own breath. But now everything had changed.

Standing on the blood-soaked floor, Dominic felt it clearly: before him was opening a path he could choose for himself, rather than an imposed mission.

The freedom to choose good. The chance to live by listening to his own heart. If moments of choice like these were gathered together... perhaps someday he really could become a “hero,” though even now it was terrifying to dream of such a thing.

“...I don’t have time to stand still.”

Making the best choice in the worst situation. That was the only path available to Dominic right now. He instantly suppressed his emotions and regained his cold rationality. His body moved on its own.

He quickly hid Morgana’s body and dispelled the “concealment power” he had spread around the area. There was not much of that power, borrowed from that One-Eyed God. A long and dangerous night lay ahead, and he needed to conserve his energy.

“The next step...”

Dominic looked out the window. Noise was coming from the direction of the dining hall, where the banquet was being held. Shouts, the sounds of furniture breaking, and brief screams. Teacher Raymond was acting according to plan.

A direct clash with the staff. More precisely — a distraction.

“Zenon...”

Dominic knew that the two-year-old infant was there. His heart tightened painfully. Even so, he decided to trust Raymond. He had to trust him. He wanted to believe.

“Forward.”

Dominic broke into a run once more. The noise in the dining hall would not die down so easily. The children in the residential wing would soon realize that something was happening in the orphanage. But this time he did not use concealment power.

His gaze was fixed elsewhere. On the path leading to the orphanage basement. To the sanctuary of the seven... no, the Seven Evil Gods.

That was where he needed to be right now.

Craaack—!

Dominic kicked off the floor. The young man accelerated, and where he passed, only phantom sparks of scarlet lightning remained.

***

Gunther made his decision the instant he drew breath.

The situation was critical. Dozens of high-ranking priests and paladins. And Sister Audrey, whose strength he estimated to be at least at the 5th hierarchy. In a one-against-many battle, there was no point in scattering Karma bit by bit — it would not turn the tide. He had to hand over all 1500 points to a single sinister god.

“Seize him. If necessary — kill him, I don’t care.”

Sister Audrey’s cold voice sliced through the silence.

“I will take full responsibility.”

Before the echo of her words had even faded, she moved.

Whoosh!

The flame that appeared at her fingertips swelled to a terrifying size in the blink of an eye. Ferocious, violent heat. Gunther understood at once.

“She’s from the Society of Holy Flame.”

That flame was a weakened version of the Flame of Eternal Torment cultivation technique. If Gunther had still been in his former body, he would have used the same cultivation technique and taken the blow head-on. But Raymond’s current shell required a different approach.

“What I need to do right now...”

Choose the sinister god that would give the best synergy with Raymond’s body.

[“Accountant of the Apocalypse” glitters with its eyes]

[“Merciless Judge” holds out its hand]

[“Vanguard of the Dark Night” charges forward]

Gunther made his choice.

Hoo—

In an instant, Gunther’s enormous silhouette vanished like a candle being snuffed out. A wave of bewildered cries swept through the hall.

“What?!”

“Where did he go?”

This was not ordinary evasion. His very aura had evaporated. A complete erasure of presence, leaving not even a shadow behind.

And then...

Whoosh—

Like a ghost, his presence was reborn, tearing through space directly behind Sister Audrey’s back. The moment they saw Gunther’s raised fist, the teachers shouted in unison, sounding the alarm.

The priest’s robe swelled, ready to burst. Beneath the taut fabric, muscles rolled in bulging knots. The force that rose from his feet passed through his spine and concentrated in his shoulder, arm, and fist.

Craaack!

With the sound of air tearing apart, Raymond’s fist drove straight toward Sister Audrey.

— !!!!

Sister Audrey’s face twisted for the first time. Panic. However, the reflexes hammered into her by years of experience forced her aged body to move.

A seal. An instant defensive spell. Several layers of light barriers rose between his enormous fist and the old woman’s wrinkled face.

Bang!

The first blow. The barrier shuddered.

The second. Cracks spread.

The third. The light shattered into tiny fragments.

Gunther’s fist did not stop. Without giving her even a second to breathe, he continued the onslaught.

“...An unbelievable body.”

Gunther inwardly marveled. Pure physical perfection. And when the authority of a powerful god was layered over it, the resulting might far exceeded all expectations.

Ding!

System messages poured in next — the price for 1500 Karma.

[Ha, absolutely splendid. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen faces like that on the lackeys of those bastards.]

The satisfied voice of “Vanguard of the Dark Night.”

[Displaying brief skill descriptions]

[Activating Stigma: Oath of Night]

— Strength/Agility/Endurance +15%

— Absolute evasion chance increased.

[Obtained epic-rank skill: “Step in the Shadows”]

[Obtained legendary-rank skill: “Art of the War God’s Dance”]

Black patterns spread beneath his skin like lightning, tuning bone and muscle. The outline of a snarling maw, half-emerging from darkness, ran across Raymond’s entire back.

Lesser deity. Official. Higher deity.

The rank of a Stigma depended on the rank of the deity. Vanguard of the Dark Night belonged to the rank of Sanchjasin gods. Moreover, it was a martial deity, perfectly compatible with Raymond. The power of the body in which that force had been imprinted was simply overwhelming.

“If only this weren’t a sinister god...”

A fleeting regret passed through him that he could not perform full Descension and blow Audrey House to pieces. But it did not matter. The first objective had already been achieved.

Bang-bang-bang!

When Gunther’s fist shot forward again, Sister Audrey involuntarily retreated, frantically forming a new seal. The natural ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) reaction of someone who had felt her life threatened. In the process of that... the child named Zenon, whom she had been holding in her other hand, was flung to the floor. She had considered him a being of no value from the beginning. There was not the slightest hesitation in throwing him aside.

— !

However, in the very moment the little body flew into the air, Gunther was already moving.

Extending a hand, he caught Zenon in a single motion. The child settled securely into his arms.

Tap—

At the same time, Gunther retreated several steps and yanked the tablecloth off the table. Dishes, wineglasses, and food crashed to the floor, shattering to pieces. Gunther roughly tore the cloth apart, fashioned something like a sling out of it, and tightly fastened the child to his back.

“Kh...”

Seeing his reflection in the window glass, Gunther could not hold back a laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.

“Good... everything is going according to plan.”

Yes. The entire process up to this point had remained within Gunther’s calculations.

...But Gunther was human too. In a plan built on limited time and incomplete information, flaws would always remain. That was an area of inevitability, no matter how thorough the preparation.

[Seren Mayra gazes upon you]

Ding!

○○●●●

The veil that the One-Eyed King had maintained with difficulty was torn away. When a new divine principle awakened within his servant Raymond, continuing the deception became impossible.

The entity that had originally possessed Raymond’s soul and flesh. The presence of the disease goddess, Seren Mayra, was felt. The rotten, vile gaze of that heap of pus finally descended upon Gunther and Raymond.

Shrrk—

At that same moment, Raymond’s body began to break down. His skin darkened in places, mottled with decay, while red rashes and pustules erupted across it. Tumors beneath the flesh pulsed, swelling and shrinking.

Heat. Suffocating fire scorched his lungs. His vision blurred, and the outlines of the world began to swim.

Clear exultation spread across the faces of the priests and nuns watching this. However...

“Ha...”

Even under these unbearable conditions, Gunther smiled. It was a faint smile, but unmistakable.

“Smart kid.”

From far away... yet perfectly clearly, sounds and vibrations reached him. A tremendous shudder rising from underground. It was the sound of Dominic destroying Audrey House’s power source with the skill “Deicide.” Now almost all the conditions for the children’s escape had been fulfilled.

At this point, he needed to do only one thing: prevent these teachers from rushing after the children. Hold out until the children were led outside!

“Even Yuria endured this pain.”

Gunther raised his fists again. Despite the decay and fever, his gaze still shone with resolve.

.

.

.

“We’re being attacked by heretics, kids. Let’s step outside for a little while.”

“Ye... yes. We’ll do as brother says. The teachers told us to do the same.”

And the children began to move.