Do You Believe In God? (4)

The people of this world had received blessings from the Goddess.

Semirena, as a Saintess, could generate power similar to the Goddess’s blessing on her own, separate from it.

That was the power of a chosen Saintess.

She was the Goddess’s proxy, a fragment of the Goddess herself.

Even if blessings were cut off by a barrier, as long as she believed in the Goddess, that protection continued.

Thanks to that, we had avoided becoming undead as well.

“This is troubling. Truly troubling… but it cannot be helped. Let us employ the next method.”

Zoi swung his right hand.

Black shadows spread around him, and one by one, undead humans emerged from within.

We realized it instantly.

“—Those people… could they be from this village?”

“Correct. I used my authority beforehand and turned them into my servants.”

It all made sense.

The reason the villagers had vanished without resistance was because it had happened in an instant.

The village must have been suddenly enclosed by the barrier, and before they could even understand what was happening, they were turned undead.

The Skull Dragon had surely been summoned by him as well.

Most likely to create an opening to deploy the barrier…

“So we walked straight into his trap.”

Erika grimaced bitterly.

With the Goddess’s blessing severed, she could not use magic as she normally did.

The only way to escape this barrier was to defeat him, but the moment we were trapped, our fighting strength had been greatly reduced.

“How could you do such a thing? To toy with the souls of innocent people… such an act is unforgivable.”

Semirena, the Saintess, openly displayed her anger.

Zoi grinned and issued an order to the undead villagers.

“Then why not try saving them, Saintess?”

The villagers lumbered forward to attack.

Their movements were slow and easy to dodge, but they were the people of this village.

We hesitated to attack.

“A-are we really supposed to fight them?”

“They can still be saved. If my prayers reach them.”

They had only been turned undead by Zoi’s power.

They were not truly dead yet.

With the power of a Saintess, they could be saved.

That slim hope dulled our judgment.

“What should we do?”

“There’s no choice but to defeat Zoi himself.”

“Even if you say that…”

“Oh? If you attack me, these people will be sacrificed, you know?”

Zoi used the villagers as a living shield.

We could not attack recklessly.

On top of that, Erika could not use magic, and Arka hesitated to fight human opponents.

Even Semirena, in her current state, seemed unable to exert enough power to save them.

“Hesitate. Be driven back! Come now, my obedient servants. Teach them that there is no salvation from the Goddess.”

The undead villagers suddenly sped up.

They were being strengthened by Zoi’s magic.

Unable to fight back, we were surrounded by the undead villagers.

Semirena’s arm was seized.

“Now, let me bestow despair upon you.”

Zoi, the undead lich who commanded the dead.

His greatest weapon was not the creation and control of undead.

It was something that made him a natural enemy of those blessed by the Goddess.

His true specialty lay in mental interference magic that denied blessings and showed visions of despair.

“This place is…”

Touched by the undead, Semirena fell victim to Zoi’s mental interference.

In the pitch-black space she found herself in, she could sense no one but herself.

Then, in the next moment, hordes of the dead assaulted her.

“Uooo—”

“Sain-tess—”

“—! I will save you at once.”

Unfazed by the overflowing undead, she prayed as a Saintess.

Her prayers granted salvation to the dead and protection to the living.

To fulfill her duty as one chosen and loved by the Goddess.

That was her reason for living.

But—

“There is no Goddess.”

“There isn’t.”

“There isn’t!”

“That can’t be…”

Her prayers went unanswered.

This was the mental world created by Zoi.

There was no Goddess’s blessing here, and no salvation no matter how much she prayed.

The undead assaulted her.

“O Lord! Please, grant salvation!”

No matter how much she prayed or screamed, the Goddess did not respond.

The denial of the Goddess she believed in.

Zoi’s illusion slowly shattered her heart.

“No… stop…”

The armor that had protected her through unwavering faith was stripped away, revealing the heart of a fragile girl.

She acted as a Saintess and protected others.

Yet she herself was nothing more than a weak maiden seeking salvation.

Once she ceased being a Saintess and became a weak human, the Goddess’s power within her also began to lose its effectiveness.

And she was not the only one.

Erika and Arka, who likewise bore blessings, were also suffering under Zoi’s mental corruption.

Yes, they were—

“Ku ku ku. Once even the Saintess’s power is destroyed, the barrier will turn you into undead. The Demon King will surely be pleased.”

“Ah, excuse me for a moment.”

“Hm?”

As Zoi reveled in his assured victory, I pushed aside the undead guarding him and stepped forward.

With my fist clenched tight.

“Alright, take this!”

“Guh!”

I punched him away.

Zoi’s abilities were powerful, but his physical body was not that strong.

Just as the prior information had said.

“W-why can you move!?”

“Huh? Why? I just shook them off normally…”

I had broken out in a cold sweat when surrounded, but each undead individually was not that strong.

As I forcibly pushed them aside, the other undead seemed to freeze in place too.

Taking it as my chance, I ran straight for Zoi.

“Impossible! Anyone blessed by the Goddess should not be able to escape my mental corruption!”

“Ah… I see…”

So that was it.

When the undead touched them, Erika and the others had frozen in place.

They must have been suffering mental corruption from Zoi’s ability.

Since they were not being devoured, moving first to defeat Zoi had been the right call.

“N-no… could it be that you have not received the Goddess’s—”

“Do not say another word!”

“Gah!”

Before he could say anything unnecessary, I drew the cursed blade and severed Zoi’s head.

He must have realized it.

Yes, the reason his mental corruption had not worked on me was—

“I do not know anything about the Goddess’s blessing.”

Because I was a fake Hero who had never received the Goddess’s blessing to begin with.

My cursed blade was not power from this world either.

Zoi’s abilities, which were devastating precisely because of the Goddess’s blessing, did not work on me at all.

“Phew… we survived thanks to him letting his guard down.”

With that, one Demon King commander defeated!

I had really pulled my weight this time, hadn’t I?

As Zoi fell, the barrier began to fade.

The undead, however, remained as they were.

With Zoi dead, there were no commands to carry out, and they all stood frozen.

At the same time, the mental corruption must have ended, as Arka and the others collapsed where they stood.

“Oh no—gotta pull them off.”

I tore the undead off those piled on top of them.

My priority was Semirena.

To restore the undead, her power was indispensable.

But would she be all right?

I could not tell since it had not affected me, but the mental corruption might have weakened her…

For a Saintess whose power depended on faith, it could have been especially devastating.

“Semirena? Are you okay?”

“…Hero-sama?”

“Thank goodness.”

I had been afraid she might not wake up.

As I sighed in relief, Semirena grabbed my arm.

“Semirena?”

“You… saved me, didn’t you?”

“Huh? Ah, well, I guess? I defeated Zoi. It’s all right now.”

“Ah… ah…”

W-what was this?

Semirena was gazing at me with tears welling in her eyes…

“No matter how many times I called out, the Goddess did not answer me. It was painful… it hurt… and yet you saved someone like me.”

“Huh? No, Zoi’s ability is gone, so the blessing should be back now—”

“No. I understand now. Who the god I should believe in truly is.”

Semirena knelt and clasped her hands as if worshiping me.

A chill ran down my spine.

I had a very bad feeling about this…

“Thank you, my beloved Lord. From now on, I shall offer my prayers for you.”

“…What…?”

It seemed Saintess Semirena’s object of faith had shifted from the Goddess to me.

No…

Why?