READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 8
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The priests of the White Church stride onto the stage.
In their hands, they now wear the Gloves of Demise, symbolizing the demon hunters of the White Church.
Igniting their Divine Power, the priests surround Erpa.
“Please remove your left mask.”
Their polite voice held an unnervingly sinister tone.
“I, I… I’m not.”
Erpa said, tears streaming down her face.
“I’m not an Abomination.”
“We will decide that by looking at your left face. Please do not resist. The moment you do, the entire White Church will consider you an enemy.”
“Please! Don’t do this! Tower Master!”
Despite Erpa’s desperate cries, Tower Master Jurgen appeared to have no choice.
“Everyone! Please…”
Erpa cried out in agony, looking at everyone, but among the gathered wizards and witches, very few showed expressions of sympathy.
Most of them wore mocking faces instead.
It dawned on Erpa at last.
It wasn’t just Tydel who was envious and jealous of her in the Mage Tower.
“Do not resist.”
The priests of the church approached her.
Slowly, their hands reached toward her face.
The moment their hands rested on her mask…
“No!!”
She thrashed about, pushing the priests away with telekinesis.
The priests stumbled back from her intense magic.
“I’m not an Abomination! I won’t take off this mask! I refuse to succumb to these unjust accusations!”
But such defiance wouldn’t change her predetermined fate.
“Subdue her!”
The Gloves of Demise filled with Divine Power.
In an instant, Erpa’s body was bound by the circle of Divine Power.
She tried to break free.
Grabbing her wand, she attempted to resist the magic that was tightening around her.
But her wand slipped from her hand and fell far behind.
It was all due to Tower Master Jurgen swinging his wand to disarm her.
“M-Master of the Tower.”
“Given the situation, I have no choice. Erpa, if you truly aren’t an Abomination, there’s no need for resistance. Just let them take off your mask.”
“N-No! Please don’t take it off!”
Erpa screamed desperately.
“I’m not an Abomination! You can misunderstand me!”
“We’ll see once we take it off.”
The priests of the White Church approached her.
The one who appeared to be their leader placed his hand on her silver mask.
As white light shimmered on the Gloves of Demise, the close magic binding her was forcibly dispelled.
“No! No!”
Erpa screamed in desperation.
But nothing changed.
Her mask was removed.
And before the entire world.
Before everyone gathered for the academic conference, her hidden left face was revealed.
“W-What!”
“Ugh!!”
“Oh my!”
Cries of horror.
Gasps of breath.
A chilling silence.
And then…
Snickers erupted all at once.
“Look! Look, everyone! I told you! This girl was hiding a hideous secret!”
Tydel cast an illusion spell, amplifying Erpa’s left face so even those in the back could see her well.
The sight of multiple spider-like eyes crawling over her left face was grotesquely nauseating enough to make many vomit, and some started to flee.
Tydel laughed at the scene.
She looked unbelievably happy.
Of course, she would be.
It was the moment her gamble paid off spectacularly.
“What do the priests of the White Church think? Do you believe this is simply a rare disease? Or do you think it truly is an Abomination that brings calamity?”
In response to Tydel’s question, the priests of the White Church focused on strengthening the binding magic around Erpa instead of answering.
“It’s definitely an Abomination. This isn’t a rare disease at all. It matches the historical records perfectly. A walking massacre with dozens of eyes. It’s clearly the visage of a harbinger of doom.”
At the priest’s words, Tower Master Jurgen squeezed his eyes shut.
“What will happen to Erpa…”
“She will be escorted to the church headquarters for disposal. We need to eliminate her before she brings a predicted calamity.”
“I see.”
Jurgen said nothing more and turned away.
“This matter has already been decided by vote. The Mage Tower will support the judgment of the White Church.”
Jurgen walked away.
Watching him go, Erpa crumbled.
“Please! Tower Master! I’m not! I’m not a harbinger of doom! I can fix this appearance! I’m still researching! If I get more research done, I’m sure I can fix this look!”
Erpa pleaded.
“Please! Everyone! Just give me one more chance! I can fix it! I’m not a being that brings calamity! You know me! I’m just an ordinary person! I-I’m just! Just!…
“Well. Are you really just an ordinary person?”
Tydel smirked as she stepped onto the stage.
“Should we really call someone with such a hideous appearance a person? On top of that, you have four arms. I mocked you as a spider, but… I never imagined you’d be this much like one.”
The multiple eyes on her left and the single eye on the right were filled with despair.
Tydel looked down at Erpa with an unbearably happy smile.
“How horrendously ugly, Erpa. Disgustingly ugly. Who would ever consider you a person?”
“Let’s stop this. There’s no good in provoking a harbinger of doom.”
At the priests’ words, Tydel shrugged and stepped back.
Erpa hung her head, looking utterly defeated.
The priests began to lift her magically, starting to carry her away.
Some snickered, some felt pity, and some appeared delighted.
Erpa was dragged away, her face resembling that of a soul crushed by despair.
Chaos filled the conference hall.
And the one to quell that chaos was Tower Master Jurgen.
“The Regular Academic Conference will be postponed until tomorrow due to circumstances at the Mars branch Mage Tower. I apologize for the delay caused by this unexpected incident.”
In a troubled voice, Jurgen announced the postponement of the 213th Academic Conference.
Numerous wizards and witches filed out of the conference hall, now a disaster zone.
“She really hasn’t had any luck since last year.”
“Who would have thought she was hiding such a ghastly appearance.”
“Isn’t she literally a spider?”
The murmurings were largely filled with laughter.
Overwhelming talent always breeds envy and jealousy, and when buried within a crowd, people forget what they’ve done, diluting their guilt.
Moreover, there are plenty of oddballs and eccentrics among the wizards and witches.
Among those eccentrics, some were too youthful and impulsive to consider the consequences of their actions.
Even though the priests of the White Church clearly warned not to provoke the harbinger of doom.
“Should we spread the word?”
“I’m curious about what people will shout at that spider lady.”
A few witches and wizards planned to do something reckless out of sheer amusement.
What’s the motive for such a plan?
There was jealousy towards Erpa, but even more so, they had no idea just how powerful she truly was.
Erpa rarely showed herself unless it was a significant event like presenting a paper.
She was a notorious recluse.
Therefore, no one, not even Tower Master Jurgen, who brought her here, truly knew the magnitude of her magical power.
That’s why the witches and wizards had no clue what they were about to unleash.
They were merely fools wanting to see the unfortunate girl get insulted.
“I bet if we shoot off fireworks while she’s being escorted, everyone will gather to watch!”
“Let’s do it! Let’s do it!”
That’s how a couple of young wizards and witches began discreetly following the priests escorting Erpa.
“Focus. We must ensure the harbinger of doom doesn’t break the magic and escape.”
The four priests were entirely focused on maintaining the magic binding Erpa, oblivious to the young witches and wizards casting inhibition spells on them.
As the priests wrapped Erpa tightly in cloth to prevent her from being exposed and began escorting her through the back door of the Mage Tower, the moment they stepped into the street…
“Now!”
Fireworks shot up into the sky.
“Remove the cloth!”
The cloth hiding the hideously ugly left side of Erpa’s face was torn away.
With the fireworks drawing everyone’s gaze, Erpa’s left face was exposed to the world at the perfect moment.
“Oh my!!”
“W-What on earth is that?!!”
“Ughhh!”
Seeing the reactions of the crowd, the priests frantically searched for something to cover Erpa but the cloth had already been blown away by the magic of the wizards.
“What the hell!!”
They couldn’t provoke the harbinger of doom.
“Step back!! Step back!! Don’t stare! I command you all to disperse! This is no joke! Everyone back!!”
The priests began shouting, but how could those who witnessed such a rare spectacle just walk away?
“What kind of hideous face is that?”
“It’s a spider! It’s a spider!!”
“I’m gonna puke. Everything I ate for dinner last night is coming back up!”
“So disgusting!!”
Someone hurled filth towards her.
With a splat, the filth hit Erpa’s face.
The priests shouted even louder.
“It’s dangerous!! Step back!! Step back!!”
It would have been nice to blow them away using magic, but they were desperately focused on maintaining the binding magic on Erpa.
The priests couldn’t fend off the throng of people.
“Support!! Tell the nearby priests of the White Church to send in knights and other priests! Hurry!!”
And while they were completely helpless,
“I actually feel sick!”
Covered in filth and mud, Erpa’s mental state was shattering to pieces.
“Saint!”
While I was healing the impoverished, a knight who went to check for the witch I mentioned among the dark magicians came rushing in.
Oh! Looks like they found her!! So she was really a dark magician?
“You found her…….”
“The witch you mentioned is getting pelted with filth and curses in the street!”
“………What?”
Say I heard it wrong.
Tell me I misunderstood.
Is that bomb waiting to explode truly in the street right now?
“She has four arms! A horrific witch with multiple eyes on half her face is being escorted by the priests of the White Church! I just witnessed citizens throwing filth and mocking her!”
“Where? Where did you see this?”
“Over there! In the alley of Third Street! ….Saint! It’s dangerous for you to go alone!”
Before he could finish his words, I was already running.
What the hell.
Shit!
We’re done for! We’re so done for!!
She was in the capital? That witch?
Did she get discovered because she’s a dark magician?!!
For the love of all that’s holy! I’m coming! I’m coming now!
I’ll heal her, just please!!
For Christ’s sake, don’t go berserk before I get there!
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