Eternal Saṃsāra: The Wanderer of Worlds [211] Such A Hard Thing to Accept

[211] Such A Hard Thing to Accept

Chapter 211: Such A Hard Thing to Accept

—

Seraphina was always a kind girl. So used to say her na was too grand for a rat living in the slums, but I never thought the sa. Like I believed, she grew into a brilliant star just as I did.

We first t when we were just kids. She was a little girl dying of hunger, as was I. I stole a piece of bread, and this girl jumped to take it away from . In the end, we ended up sharing the bread.

We lived like rats in the corrupted back alleys of the Imperial Capital, Eldrathor. However, before we realized it, we were always sticking together. Against the odds, Seraphina and I persisted.

So said we might be siblings, as she was nad Seraphina and I Seriphoth. However, our Goddess later confird that we didn't have any blood connection. But I guess just having such similar nas made a sibling-like bond between us in those hard tis. As soone ntally older, I had decided to take care of her.

I did just that until the day she was taken away by a passing pastor. He said there were imprints of the divine in her, and wanted to take her to the temple. Knowing that she would lead a much better life in the temple than in the slums, how could I stop her?

"Ser, you need to wait for here! Once I rise in the ranks, I'll co and pick you up!" — was what she said before she'd vanish for years.

I didn't see her after all. I thought she had moved on, now that she had a better life. She was just a kid so I didn't even hold anything against her, I was happy for her.

Instead, I encountered that fateful incident of saving the Princess. I beca a Knight, my life took a turn for the better.

I could have visited her then. As a slum kid, I wasn't allowed to visit the temple she was in. I didn't like such class differences in religion, however, it wasn't the Goddess' fault, the humans had made those rules. Anyway, as a Knight, I was allowed to visit the temple, I could have gone and t her if I wanted.

However, it had been a few years since we last saw each other. Since she never contacted before, I was pretty sure she had forgotten . She was a kid, after all. Thinking it would be embarrassing if she didn't recognize , I decided to never visit her.

Later I realized that if I had chosen to visit her back then, she wouldn't have suffered the things she did.

Maybe she wouldn't have died.

****

[Third Person Point of View]

When she first joined the temple, Seraphina was already at a disadvantage. While the temple would often take orphans, that's from the orphanages that were associated with the temple. Rarely were rats from the sewer taken in. Especially in the temple of Eldrathor, which was quite prestigious.

So she was bullied in ways that didn't suit the ways of a church. Given that the ones who bullied her were not much older than her, it made sense. Kids kids often acted up.

She was forced to do chores that weren't her, until her hands would bleed, and her knees would hurt. The adults turned a blind eye to it, thinking it was the kids' way of welcoming her. Or maybe they thought it was a challenge from the Goddess?

For a short mont, Seraphina thought the sa.

Until the other nun kids killed the pet cat that had accompanied her from the slums. It was as old as she was, and therefore quite old and dirty. Those kids found it unappealing, too dirty to be kept in the church. So they killed it.

Seraphina hadn't cursed the Goddess like that before. When her cat died, kneeling before its grave, crying under the rain, she shouted such obscene nas to the goddess that would have even the devil pass out. Yet the Goddess didn't punish her.

At that point she was sure.

This religion was a hoax.

How could people who would kill an innocent cat for looking dirty be people of God?

Seraphina grabbed two kitchen knives and murdered those children. The entire Church, all of its branches united, were outraged by this. They tied her to a stake and burnt fire underneath.

Yet, the fire refused to burn her.

The Divine Goddess refused to punish her.

[My child,] for the first ti in a long ti, the Goddess had sent her voice directly to the mortal world. The church thrumd with divinity. [Your kitten is in my arms at this mont. He speaks of you well, and wishes you'll live a long ti.]

This happened in the church and all who saw it knew the girl in front of them wasn't ordinary. With a heart so pure that the Goddess would reveal her voice, she must be… a Saintess Candidate!

The punishnt was called off. Of course, it was, the Goddess refused to punish her, so how could the church go against it? They let her go, and she continued living her days. This ti she lived much better than before, since nobody bullied her.

anwhile, nobody knew of one secret. While they had stopped hearing the Goddess's voice, the girl was still hearing it. In her head, the Goddess talked. Even Galaxara herself was surprised that Seraphina could maintain a ntal connection with her at all tis, without clasping her hands, without praying.

"You hag, can you shut up for a mont?! I'm trying to sleep!"

[....]

Her days were going quite well.

Until disaster struck once more.

One of the girls who she had killed was a child from a noble family. While most of those girls were orphans, one of them was from a Baron Family. Her uncle was also a priest.

Since the incident when the Goddess spoke happened in the church, although the story traveled outside, not everyone believed it. One of them was the Baroness, the mother of the dead girl. She was enraged at Seraphina and wanted her dead. With the help of her brother, Seraphina was taken outside.

To Seraphina, it was presented as an offer. "Hey, didn't you have a friend nad Seriphoth? He actually beca a Knight recently, he's in the royal castle. Would you like to visit him?"

She had obviously accepted. She was excited to et an old friend, who she had been unable to contact all this ti due to the bullying. All the letters she sent were torn apart.

So she followed the priest who offered to take her out. Little did she know, he was the brother of the Baroness, and handed her over to slave traders hired by the woman. She was chained and taken away from the Thyranais Empire.

Due to an odd collar, her divine powers stopped flowing in her veins. She couldn't communicate with the Goddess, she couldn't ask for help. She was taken to the Aularian Empire, an Empire built by the Black Mage King. Everyone with power in that place was a practitioner of black magic, it was a dark country.

She was sold in the slave market, bought by a gross Marquis Black Mage who wanted to test divine power mixing with dark magic.

That's where she died.

After years, Seraphina died during an experint. Yet, the ssed up mage continued experinting on her dead body.

When even her bones began to lt, her body too damaged to be used for research, he threw her into the trash. Trash Collector Spells teleported her, along with the rest of the garbage, to a mountain of trash in so remote corner of the world.

That's where she rose.

Her broken body stood back up, her eyes red, her skin pale, and her heart not beating any further.

"Ugh…"

The collar around her neck was broken due to the fall. Life sohow returned to her, although not perfectly. Her heart didn't beat, her blood didn't run, and yet she could think.

Yet, divine power flowed through her veins.

The experints had benefited her in ways that the bastard Marquis didn't realize.

"...What in Hell's na?"

"What, who are you?" Seraphina snapped at the angel flying before her. The Angel of Death had been waiting to collect her soul, yet her soul never left her body.

[Ozriel,] the Goddess' voice commanded. [Let her be, she's a special child.]

"...Sure," the angel of death rubbed the back of her head and left, leaving Seraphina to rub the back of her head.

"What am I supposed to do now?" she asked out loud, as if not bothered by the years of torture at all.

[...A new Hero has been chosen. I think you'll love to et him.] Upon the Goddess' advice, the Zombie Saintess began to search for the Hero.

Only upon eting him did she discover that the so-called Hero was her childhood friend bastard who never tried to look for her.

[Image Here]

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