Doll.
An artificial being with a self, created by the now-lost ancient technology.
Historically, the empire employed such beings as protectors to safeguard humanity, keeping their existence a strict secret from the outside world.
Although fragnts of their presence could be found in various myths and legends, only a few humans ever truly knew that these beings were actually dolls.
‘And you, upon first seeing , imdiately recognized my true nature, which is known only to a select few within humanity.’
However, Phobia, the commander of the beastn, detected her true nature by scent alone, instantly discerning it.
For even a beastman with an acute sense of sll, distinguishing soone created to mimic humans in all aspects by scent alone was no easy task.
Yet, being able to make such a distinction ant he must have encountered a similar being or at least a trace of one in the past.
‘You…’
And as far as she knew, there were two main categories of those who were aware of the dolls’ existence.
One was the legitimate heirs of the Orion Empire.
‘Were you, perhaps, a priest of Friga?’
The other was those who held high positions within the Order that had supported the Empire for generations.
‘…Since you already seem aware of the secrets of the beastn, there’s no point in hiding it any longer.’
With such a confident question, he confessed his identity after a brief hesitation.
‘Yes, as you said… I was once the leader of the Order’s paladins. As a result of seeking power to protect the Order, I have fallen into this state.’
‘That’s impossible. Are you saying the Order led the experints to apply the witches’ research to humans?!’
It was an absurd notion.
No matter how much catastrophe had befallen this world and humanity was in peril, the idea that the Order, of all groups, conducted experints on its own priests was unthinkable.
Furthermore, the fact that the beastn were branded as enemies of humanity implied that the Order tried to erase the traces of their ‘failed experints’ by labeling them as such.
‘It is a thing of the past. Now, there are no traces left of the connection between our tribe and the Order.’
‘There can’t be no connection. How could they do such things in the na of serving God…? Moreover, trying to expel and cover it up without revealing it to the outside is a clear betrayal, isn’t it?’
For her, this truth was inevitably a great shock.
A priest must always maintain purity and nobility, and to uphold such beliefs with absolute conviction, she had chosen to genuinely serve even an illusory being. 𐍂
To that end, she had allowed her deeds for humanity to be written as myths.
Even if she served as nothing more than a vessel, she had accepted the position of god if it ant people could find solace in her.
‘You, as humanity’s guardian, may find it hard to overlook, but this is a settled matter.’
But faith depended on mystery and the unknown to survive.
Even knowing that the being before him was a guardian, the paladin, who did not realize she was the original form of God, coldly ignored her cries.
‘The Order, in its quest to obtain power to protect humanity, tampered with the witches’ research that they had preserved…’
His words, separate from the main topic, were extrely calm.
‘It began rely as an effort to prevent such things from happening in future generations, but as the situation grew increasingly dire, it led us to experint with many things.’
Despite having reason to harbor anger and hatred toward humanity for abandoning them, he simply showed an intention to accept everything and adapt to the present.
That would be the sa for the other first-generation beasts as well.
‘If the path we have taken through such experints leads to abandoning our humanity, then accepting it is also sothing that those who serve God must bear.’
Thus, they would never claim they were once human.
Even if they had lost their human appearance and were reviled by humanity as corrupted beings in order to protect that secret until the grave, maintaining that silence was necessary to avoid succumbing to the madness inherent in their nature—proof of their remaining humanity.
‘…Then why have you co to oppose humanity now?’
Why did they not live in hiding and, instead, increase their numbers and beco another enemy of humanity?
Phobia responded to that question with a calm deanor.
‘Even for us who have fallen into beasts, the emotion of love exists.’
Love.
They, who had beco beasts, understood better than anyone that it wasn’t an emotion exclusive to humans.
‘We have relied on each other and ford bonds to survive in this harsh world. The emotions ford from that are even stronger than when we fought catastrophes while serving God.’
Even though they were born with the strength of beasts, the hardships they faced, not being perfected beings like heroes, were beyond words.
The bonds ford to survive such hardships and the importance of their fruits could only be more cherished, having abandoned everything.
‘And our children, born from that… They grew up feeding on the hatred we unknowingly harbored.’
Yes, even if they kept the truth a secret, the fact that humanity had abandoned them could not be denied.
No matter how much they endured, if it wasn’t perfect, dissatisfaction would inevitably be expressed externally, and children who learned that dissatisfaction would eventually awaken hatred towards humanity.
That was the beginning of the ‘Anti-Human Alliance,’ a catastrophe created by humanity itself.
‘…If our descendants chose to fight humanity, shouldn’t we who decided to live for them also support them?’
A deviation intended to resist this harsh world, a secret born of faith, and the love that blossod from it…
The first generation, who had resolved to beco monsters for humanity’s sake, ultimately had no choice but to beco their enemies to retain their humanity.
To protect what they had in the present, they would even trample and burn their holand with their own hands.
‘Isn’t there any way… to stop this?’
The guardian, sensing that such conflicts would soon lead to catastrophe, asked the beast with a human heart desperately.
‘Even now, if we reveal everything…’
‘Guardian of humanity, from your perspective, we too are beings that must be protected.’
But if a few words could change the situation, things wouldn’t have gotten this divided in the first place.
The paladin, who retained his faith despite becoming a beast, showed an unwillingness to prioritize anything over his faith.
‘But we have co too far to understand each other. No matter how much we resolve to carry the Order’s secrets to the grave, if it leads to this kind of price, then those who defiled themselves must bear that burden.’
Thus, he declared, their first target would be none other than their own holand.
The beastman, having turned his back on her, vowed to continue down the path he had always walked.
‘…If you truly care for humanity and see us as humans too, I hope you will not interfere in our fight.’
If she would truly see them as human and regard them as worthy of salvation, he urged her to act as a “bystander” and simply watch their struggle.
Yes, that was the full conversation she had with him six months ago.
In the six months since then, Francheska had been mindful of the ti when they would inevitably clash with humanity.
If the beastn were truly a disaster born of humanity’s most noble, then as humanity’s guardian, it was her duty to witness the outco of their misdeeds.
Even if their actions brought harm to humanity, if that was humanity’s chosen fate, then accepting that future was also sothing she, as their guardian, had to bear.
“But… this is not right.”
But what did she encounter upon entering this land?
It was the sight of priests, who sought to maintain nobility through serving God, falling into grotesque beings for so reason.
“This was not what I hoped for when I sent you away.”
Why had the corruption of the priests, which should have been limited to a few and kept a strict secret, spread throughout the sanctuary?
Beyond that, why were the remnants of witches’ forbidden research intertwined with parasitic beings infiltrating human society?
Unfortunately, Francheska, who had just set foot on this land, had no way of knowing.
There was only one thing she could guess.
None of this was natural—it was all the result of so malignant force, and it seed likely that transcendent beings currently swaying humanity were involved.
“Vampires…”
In her ti, these beings had never posed much of a threat.
If they had, for so reason, unleashed a widespread pandemic upon the people of this land, and if the beastn waiting to strike had been caught up in it…
“Are you the ones behind this?”
Whatever the case, now that things had co to this, she could no longer act as a re bystander.
If it were a fight between humanity and humanity, it would be sothing they must handle themselves, but if transcendent beings were involved, then everyone on this land deserved to be called victims.
If the only salvation allowed to such victims was peace, then she would have to provide that peace herself…
-Kiyaoaa! Aaaaagh!
One of those victims scread and charged at her as she entered the residence of the Pope, slaughtering grotesque creatures along the way.
This one was different from the monsters she had encountered on the streets.
A grotesque fusion of multiple beasts, hardened into massive form, charged at her.
Two heads, with jaws made up of countless smaller mouths, scread with a chilling resonance that echoed like a crowd.
-Shwik!
Francheska wrapped the creature’s extended hand in threads, dodging to the side and binding its leg.
The redirected force pulled the threads tightly, turning them into sharp, slicing blades.
The threads encircling the severed limbs erupted in a series of blue lightning explosions.
-Popopopong!
Leaving the grotesque being to burn without even a scream, she gathered her strength while staring at the shadows cast over the residence of the Pope.
What appeared before her were even more nacing and enormous grotesque beings blocking her path compared to those she had encountered before.
“…If you have found solace in , then it is also my duty to take responsibility for the outco that has co of it.”
The doll saw fragnts of their forr humanity in them, but she ultimately turned away, gathering her strength.
If their current state was the result of their sins, then bearing that outco together was also part of her duty.
“Francheska, the Hunting Doll.”
Yes, the only salvation allowed to them was peace.
With that realization, the guardian of humanity declared at this mont.
“From this mont on, I will begin the extermination of the transcendent beings.”
As a god who existed for their sake.
She would directly deliver salvation to the lost lambs seeking redemption.
And as they neared the sanctuary’s exit.
-Kiyaaa!!! Kyaoaaa!
The relentless screams still emanating from the residence of the Pope made the entire expedition team tense up repeatedly.
Of course, the sound was only coming from behind them.
All the grotesque beings up to the exit had been thoroughly chopped up and burned, so it was believed that there would be no problem leaving this place.
But…
“You all return to the Empire first.”
At this mont, before the exit, I decided to stay behind instead of leaving with the expedition team and prepared to turn my back on them.
I turned towards the direction where the endless screams were coming from.
“What? Hero, what are you…?”
“Don’t worry. I’m not staying here for no reason.”
After answering them, I quietly unfolded the note in my hand and took a mont to read its contents again.
[Read this when you’ve entered the sanctuary and are about to leave it.]
“…I have sothing to do here.”
At the mont we reached the sanctuary’s exit, as Airi had suggested, I felt it was finally ti to act according to its instructions.
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