A Regressor's Bucket List Chapter 214 : The Saintess (5)

‘…So it really was her. I should have stopped the execution no matter what.’

I had wondered if she was the Saintess, just as Louis had said.

From my perspective, having already experienced the end of the Upper Plane once, it was an undeniable fact that this was the apocalypse the ssiah had spoken of.

After all, when I experienced the events of the apocalypse, the person who most closely resembled the figure sent by the ssiah was the Saintess.

Other than her, there was no one else who could be said to bear a resemblance to the ssiah.

In the first place, in the long history of the Order, the Saintess was the only one who, as a re priest, had gained recognition on par with the Pope solely through her own abilities.

The Saintess was the most legendary figure, and the only human to have ever approached the ssiah's level.

However.

Even with the Saintess's exceptional traits, that alone wasn't enough to explain certain things if she was truly the one sent by the ssiah.

How should I put it?

It felt like there was a logical gap.

‘…However, none but I and the one sent by my will shall attain Resurrection. The myriad stars of the sky are not eternal; they are but the glimr of a fleeting day, destined to fade.’

If the Saintess was truly the one sent by the ssiah's will, she should have led the War against Demons to victory.

But contrary to the ssiah's prophecy, she perished on the execution ground.

Given that her end pre-regression was labeled as ‘blaspher’ or ‘self-proclaid Resurrector,’ it was a stretch to blindly claim she was the ‘reincarnation of the ssiah.’

Neither conclusion was clear.

There were unexplained parts to the theory that she was the ssiah’s reincarnation.

But to say she wasn’t, there was no one else who could even hold a candle to her.

Thus, the conclusion I reached after much deliberation was a bit ambiguous:

She was indeed the one sent by the ssiah, but she was not the ‘complete savior’.

“Saintess, your mories aren't complete, are they?”

“……”

“So there are parts that are too ambiguous for you to be certain yourself.”

When I questioned the Saintess again, who offered no clear answer, her lips parted as she replied in a slightly hushed voice.

“…That is not for you, a re human, to judge.”

“……”

“It is a matter that only the ssiah can judge.”

Pfft—

It was a reaction I had sowhat expected.

She herself must have known best that my words were not wrong.

…For her to react this way despite that…

ant that the probability of my thoughts being correct was high.

After all, this reaction was tantamount to saying that she had volunteered for the execution to confirm for herself that she was the ssiah.

In other words, it ant she didn't know her own true identity.

Sure enough.

After composing her thoughts, the Saintess murmured softly.

“…Whether I am His reincarnation or not is not sothing that can be known through re words. Only through death can I prove the sanctity of Resurrection…”

And I didn't listen to the end of her words.

“There's no need to try. You will die.”

“……!”

Because there was no need to listen.

Even without seeing it again, I already knew her end at the execution.

“It's not that I think you aren't the one sent by the ssiah, and I know that the Authority of Purification is derived from the Authority of Resurrection. However, if you go to the execution as planned.”

“……”

“You won't be resurrected, Saintess.”

The Saintess's pupils trembled.

But it seed she couldn't imdiately accept it, as she gaped and tried to form a rebuttal.

“…There have been many prophets in the history of the Order, but the ssiah’s prophecies are not a domain that can be trespassed upon by so paltry foresight ability…”

And I once again cut her off and revealed my identity.

“It's not foresight, it's experience.”

Shrug—

“Because I'm soone who saw it myself.”

“……”

“How this world gets ruined.”

* * *

At first, the Saintess reacted with disbelief, but she soon had no choice but to accept my story.

The reason was simple.

“Three years after the Saintess's execution, defeat in the Northern Subjugation War to recover the Constellations' domains and retrieve the stigmata.”

“……”

“The Order, having failed to reclaim the northern domain, commits more forces than necessary to the southern subjugation war, but that too ends in defeat, falling for Isaac Einstein's sche. From this point on, the power gap widened rapidly.”

“……”

“Five years after the Saintess's execution, the Eastern Murim Empire and four of the Demon King's Army's corps annihilate each other.”

“……”

“Ten years after the Saintess's execution, the Order's Headquarters falls. The Order's Allied Forces are disbanded.”

“……”

“After the disbandnt of the Order's Allied Forces, a Suicide Squad is ford with the Darkest Dungeon as its base camp, waging guerrilla warfare, but the Demon King assassination mission prepared as a decisive blow also…”

“……”

“Fails.”

“……”

“And so, twenty years after the Saintess's execution, all factions belonging to the Order Territory are annihilated.”

Shrug—

“Need more?”

I had recited the series of events that would unfold after her death.

I would have had nothing to say if she had insisted on not believing , but it seed the Saintess had realized my story was more than just an empty bluff.

Anyway, even if she asked for more, having experienced it myself, there was no reason I couldn't share more details.

She too must have traveled all over the continent and observed countless types of people.

I figured she would be able to tell that I wasn't telling so absurd lie.

“I… see.”

Well.

For a reincarnator with mories of a past life to not believe a Regressor was hypocritical, to say the least.

Of course, it was a bit different since she didn't seem confident in her own reincarnation.

…Well, anyway.

“…I was about 10 years old.”

It might have sounded out of the blue, but the Saintess’s murmur was the answer to my earlier question: ‘When did you realize it?’

“There were no particular ons. I just knew the mont I woke up one morning. That I possessed His mories.”

“……”

“And what I had to do.”

Ten years old.

Since she beca a priest shortly after that, it ant she had lived a completely ordinary life before recalling the ssiah’s mories.

“…That's all. After that, I simply moved according to my mission.”

“This execution, too?”

“……”

Nod—

A beat later.

The Saintess nodded her head.

“It's no different. I have no certainty that I will be resurrected… but either way, I thought it was the path for the Order.”

If she resurrects, she will lead the Order anew as the ssiah’s reincarnation. If she fails, it ans she wasn’t the ssiah’s reincarnation, and she would be a false prophet standing in the Order’s way.

Thus, dying would be the right thing to do.

“…I roughly understand the logic.”

It wasn't exactly a wrong way of thinking.

Rather, it was a mont that revealed her noble character.

It was a conclusion reached by thinking only of the Order's future, to the point where her own death had no influence on the choice.

However, what I thought of as the Saintess's 'true identity' was not sothing that could be so clearly divided.

A fragnt of the ssiah.

An incomplete reincarnation.

She was a shard of sorts.

Whether that was done by the ssiah's intention or not, the reason for my speculation was simple.

She was a being capable of wielding the extraordinary power known as the ‘Authority of Purification’.

And there had long been many others who had received fragnts from the ssiah and wielded Authority before her.

The Constellations.

All those who wielded overwhelming influence in their respective guardian regions of the Order had received fragnts of power from the ssiah to attain their current divinity.

In that they did not possess that power from the beginning, they were closer to 'creations' than 'creators'.

Although they were called gods, they were by no ans self-existent beings.

Their roots were in the ssiah, and their Authority stemd from his power.

In any case, I had a feeling the Saintess's existence wasn't much different from theirs.

Not entirely the real thing, but not a fake, either.

And for …

“…Let’s get out of here.”

Even if she wasn't the complete version, she was more than enough.

If the ssiah could have returned completely, there would have been no need for soone like to regress.

Because that was impossible, the situation of the first tiline occurred.

I didn't know the series of truths related to that, nor did I particularly want to.

After all, my job was simply to twist the pre-regression War against Demons and bring about a better ending in this second tiline.

For that, I needed the Saintess, who, even if incomplete, was the one closest to the ssiah.

However.

“…You said I would die, correct?”

As is often the case in life.

Things didn't go as I wished.

“Isn't that proof that I am not the ssiah?”

“……”

“In the end, it's one of the two. Either the person sent by the ssiah, or a self-proclaid Resurrector who impersonated him.”

“……”

“Whether I am sincere or not is not that important. Among the people who died in heresy trials, there must have been so who truly thought they were the ssiah's reincarnation.”

She wasn't wrong.

But, her words weren't necessary either.

What is needed in an apocalypse on the verge of ruin is a sword, not a justification.

“You saw them too, didn't you, Saintess?”

“…Pardon?”

“The demons wearing crowns.”

“……”

The Vatican, where the Order's Headquarters is located.

I was talking about those who had made contracts with demons there.

Because the Saintess had the eyes to distinguish them.

“If you die, Saintess, what will you do about those people?”

“…Well. The ssiah must have had sothing in mind…”

Shake shake—

“That oh-so-great ssiah didn't show his face even once in my first tiline. And as a result, the Upper Plane ended up as a plaything in the hands of demons.”

“……”

“If you're going to the execution for the sake of religious righteousness, stop. There's no thought as foolish as that.”

Shrug—

“Because there's soone else who made you think that way.”

“……!”

The Saintess’s brow furrowed again.

She couldn’t understand what I was talking about.

“You might not be aware, but in this world, there’s a ticulous and terrifying bastard who can control people’s lives as he pleases.”

“……”

“He can even decide what they think. Those demonic puppets you saw in the Vatican? They’re all his marionettes, just another part of his sche.”

I hadn't intended to bring this up.

But it seed better to get it out of the way, even if it prolonged our conversation.

“It's called the Saintess Hunt Project.”

“……!”

“Have you ever heard of it?”