#167

I covered my mouth, but I was a beat too late.

Vomit leaked through the gaps between my fingers.

‘Fuck.’

Why do humans vomit when their SAN value drops?

Isn’t this actually a disadvantage for survival?

It’s not like emptying your guts significantly increases your mobility.

Why….

“Fabio, are you alright? Do you need something to wipe with?”

“…Yeah.”

My first thought was that I wanted to wash my hands.

Only then could I rub my eyes.

Perhaps due to the irritation, tears welled up, blurring my vision.

‘But did I give that guy a handkerchief or something?’

Surely he’s not planning to take off his clothes to give them to me.

The moment I was about to ask, Callister grabbed my hand firmly with his bare hand.

“Uh…?”

“Stay still.”

“Wait….”

“Ta-da. All clean!”

‘…….’

How should I put this?

I had definitely experienced something, but I lacked the words to describe it.

Hundreds of wriggling things between my fingers….

‘…Let’s not think too deeply about it.’

Right, it felt similar to putting my hand into a silicone foot brush.

A silicone brush.

I just had my hand tickled by a silicone brush.

“Ah, I forgot about the stuff on your mouth.”

I hurriedly scrubbed my mouth with my sleeve.

“I’m good! You don’t have to wipe it. I just did it myself.”

“I could have made you much cleaner….”

‘Fuck.’

Stop making that disappointed face.

You’re not a pigeon waiting next to a drunkard….

‘To define oneself as human, shouldn’t one at least exclude vomit from the list of consumable energy sources?’

Regardless, thanks to Callister’s eccentricity, my mind was completely bleached.

For a moment, the thought ‘Is all of this my fault?’ crossed my mind, making my stomach churn.

‘But thinking about it again, my share of negligence in this situation seems to converge to zero.’

What does it have to do with me that that bastard Nyapoleon abandoned human decency?

Isn’t he the type of guy who would have done this even without my strategy guide?

The consumption of humans for Unit production is a characteristic of Mother God’s Divine Power.

It means that even if I had never started the Conclude, Nyapoleon would have possessed someone here and created those horrific creatures.

‘It would have happened even if I weren’t here….’

“Fabio, you don’t look well.”

“…I’m fine.”

Fuck.

This is all because my mental strength is too low.

If it were only in the triple digits, far from vomiting, I would have been poking through the bird’s guts, analyzing what kind of creatures were combined.

Just then, the dining hall door creaked open.

“Athanas! Ouch!”

The moment I crossed the white line, I felt a zing, as if static electricity had sparked.

‘…Was that a barrier that blocked my entry too?’

While I stood there momentarily bewildered, Athanas ran toward me.

“Fabio, are you alright?”

‘Cold.’

As if he had washed his hands in ice water, the hand touching my cheek was freezing.

‘…The bloodstains on his face are gone too.’

It seemed he had washed up after dealing with the mother goose.

Athanas’s cheeks were red, as if they were about to burst from the cold.

“Athanas, were you hurt?”

“Thanks to your advice, I handled it easily.”

“The people inside….”

“They are all safe. I’ve confirmed they are breathing, so you can rest easy.”

‘Thank goodness.’

Because Casimir didn’t die….

I thought they might have stopped breathing even if they hadn’t reached the stage of biological data extraction.

‘…Now what?’

“How many are there in total?”

“Seven were taken out of the stomach, and nearly sixty people are simply unconscious.”

‘So nearly 70 people.’

There were more people than I expected.

I quickly abandoned the plan to move all the unconscious people to the Apostle’s Hall.

“…That barrier. Would it help if it wrapped around the entire dining hall?”

“It is a very weak barrier; it likely wouldn’t stop anything other than insects.”

‘Then it would actually be counterproductive.’

What if a certain area on the minimap turned pitch black?

It would be no different from advertising that something was happening there.

‘…If it’s that guy, he’ll definitely come to check it out.’

Witopia is absolutely not an ‘efficient’ strategy.

Since Witopia’s Doctrine states that one must be eaten entirely to obtain a complete body in the afterlife, it takes an absolute amount of time to eat and digest the dead.

Therefore, even when attempting Annihilation, one must first consider if there is enough space in the stomach.

Is there anything more unfair than not being able to go to heaven because a god was too full to finish you?

However, if one creates too many ‘stomachs’ in advance, it becomes very difficult to hide those starving things from the eyes of Order.

‘In conclusion, creating the mother goose and baby goose at this point was purely for aggro.’

I don’t know who he’s trying to attract with that aggro, though.

‘…Let’s not try to understand a madman.’

Regardless, we can’t keep guarding this place.

There’s no guarantee that the ‘contamination’ will be resolved if we wait.

Above all, even if we held this position, Nyapoleon would simply create other feeding grounds to collect biological data and grow stronger.

‘Should I just move the few who were eaten, including Casimir, to the Apostle’s Hall?’

Units with low stats are likely to be piled up rather than eaten, as the time taken to digest them is a waste.

Probably.

‘…Isn’t there a stronger barrier?’

Then, something suddenly occurred to me.

The Astrolabe.

A Sacred Relic of Order, filled with the Archbishop’s divine power, allowing anyone to perform a ‘Sanctuary Declaration.’

“Athanas, can you use this?”

When I handed over the star clock, Athanas’s eyes widened slightly.

“…It is possible. But do you intend to declare this place a sanctuary?”

I fell into thought for a moment.

Is it right to use my only consumable item now?

“No, I’ll think about it a bit more.”

A Sanctuary Declaration is meant to be used in a defensive situation.

Since I need to move around and gather information right now, I’ll save it.

Athanas and I agreed to move only the people who had been ‘eaten’ to the Apostle’s Hall.

Instead, we decided to set up barricades at every entrance to the dining hall.

“Those things have no sight or hearing, so even this will make it difficult for them to intrude.”

“I hope so.”

Since the three of us had to move seven people, I expected at least two round trips, but thanks to Athanas finding a large tablecloth, we could move them all at once.

It looked a bit like a hero from a classic JRPG dragging a comrade’s coffin along….

‘…I still can’t see Casimir’s face.’

As we carried the people into the Apostle’s Hall building, Athanas unexpectedly spoke weakly.

“May I rest for a moment?”

“What? I’m weaker than you, and Fabio is even weaker than me, yet neither of us is saying a word. What are you talking about? With that kind of mindset, can you really protect me and Fabio?”

“Callister. Shut up.”

“…My apologies, Fabio. Being close to a contaminated holy body is not easy.”

‘Oh.’

Athanas’s complexion was pale.

I should have considered the possibility that the mental defense Sacred Relic wasn’t perfect….

“Fabio, what do you think? In a situation like this, aren’t I more reliable?”

“…Then you, who are perfectly fine, go move the people by yourself.”

“How could you! Then, while I’m moving them, couldn’t you stay by my side? I’m lonely alone.”

“No. Do it alone.”

“Then please promise me one thing. If you don’t, I won’t move a single step from here.”

“What.”

“Promise me that you will not make Athanas your Vassal.”

‘What the hell.’

“…Why would I make Athanas a Vassal?”

“Really? You’ve promised me that you won’t share any bodily fluids with Athanas!”

‘Bodily fluids?’

Does the contract hold if you feed them something other than blood?

Like saliva?

‘…If someone gave me something they spat on and told me to swallow it, my desire to convert would vanish instantly.’

Well, if it’s an ancient ritual that has already disappeared, I have a rough idea.

In ancient times, the only way to create ‘sugar’ refined enough for ethanol fermentation was to mix saliva with carbohydrates.

That’s why they chewed grains or honey and spat them out to brew alcohol.

Sharing alcohol made through such an unclean method must have been an important ritual.

‘Surely the act of rubbing lips with a god isn’t a religious ritual.’

“Fine. I promise. Now go to work.”

“Yes! Fabio, I’ll be back!”

After sending Callister away, I checked Athanas’s complexion again.

In that short time, Athanas had fallen fast asleep.

‘I’m worried.’

He’ll have to keep encountering ‘contaminated holy bodies’ while moving around.

In this state, he might collapse halfway.

It would be great if I could share ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme’ like a Blessing.

‘…There is one way.’

Cutting off a part of my body to make a talisman.

Though not as effective as direct ingestion, it should have some effect.

‘I’m starting to miss my severed arm.’

I should have gotten it back somehow.

As I fiddled with the boundary of my left arm, Callister came running back breathlessly.

“Did you call? Is there something you need me for?”

“No….”

I opened my mouth but trailed off.

I noticed that Athanas’s left pinky finger was missing.

“…Actually, I did call you.”

The moment I tried to touch the reliquary, I locked eyes with Athanas, who had suddenly opened his eyes.

An awkward silence flowed for a moment.

“Athanas? You’re awake?”

“…What is going on?”

“I was trying to sneak this in while you were asleep, but I got caught.”

‘Is there really some kind of theft prevention alarm?’

I get caught the moment I touch it.

Athanas looked at his left hand and frowned slightly.

“This is….”

“I told Callister to use the Blessing of Healing.”

He said that while it wasn’t permanent, it would be fine for a few hours.

If the pinky finger is missing when gripping a sword, swordsmanship skill will decrease by at least 10%.

Since Athanas is fundamentally ambidextrous.

“…What is that in your hand?”

‘How should I describe this?’

A gift? A talisman?

A freshly cut, warm pinky finger?

Instead of explaining, I handed it over for him to see, and Athanas’s face froze instantly.

“I thought it would be helpful….”

“…….”

Athanas glared at me with a gaze that was terrifyingly cold.

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

‘Why is he pissed?’

I thought that if they were residents of the Dark Realm, their Affinity would increase significantly upon receiving a part of one’s body….

‘Is it because I’m an existence outside of Order?’

I hurriedly made excuses.

“Athanas, uh, this isn’t something that deviates from Order. Of course, the Blessing bestowed upon me doesn’t belong to Order. Nor do I. But Loclem allows the use of an Evil God’s remains for the sake of maintaining Order, right? Think of it as something like that and please hold onto it for a while.”

“…….”

“I’ll dispose of it myself once the job is done.”

“Right now….”

“And! That’s not what’s important right now. Athanas, while you were asleep, I remembered something very important!”

I looked out the window, wondering if an hour had passed yet, and realized the identity of the dissonance I had been feeling all along.

Since Casimir ran out, I hadn’t heard the bell once.

‘The Bell ringer who should be ringing the bell must also be in a state of ‘contamination’.’

The bell of the bell tower is the most important Sacred Relic in the Capital Church.

Because any place where the ‘sound of the bell’ is heard is land watched over by the God of Order and Judgment.

‘The Athanas from “Die Heretic!” rang that bell after countless hardships.’

I continued, my heart fluttering slightly.

“I’ve decided how to use the Astrolabe.”