Level 1 Strongest Sage ~

“….”

Ugh, my head hurts.

…Huh? What am I doing here, lying on the floor?

Eh, m-my body, I can’t move my body!!

I looked down at my body, and that’s when I discovered that my hands and legs were bound.

“W-why!?”

“So, you’re finally awake, huh.”

“—!?”

I almost jumped in fright when a voice called out from behind me.

That person was —

“Duke Ifel? W-what’s the meaning of this!?”

Duke Ifel, the person who governed the entire Holy City, strode towards me with his hands folded behind his back.

“Oh, you don’t understand the situation you are in, despite being bound like that?”

Duke Ifel’s appearance changed the moment those words spilled from his lips.

It was as if all the malice in the entire world was lumped together and forced into the shape of a human.

I knew this appearance very well.

“…Demon.”

“As expected of a Saintess, huh. I am Guzion, one of the demon subordinates of the Evil God-sama, and ranked 11 in our hierarchy.”

T-this was the worst.

There were innumerable demons existing in this world, but the top 77 were said to be working directly under the Evil God, and they were extremely powerful, with numerous warlock minions of their own.

If he was the 11th, then he must be very strong, owing to the fact that his status was pretty much high up.

What was a demon like him doing in front of me…

“— Eh, Y-Ysha!?”

A huge cross stood behind the demon, and Ysha — the one who was supposed to become my successor, or in other words, the next Saintess — was crucified on it.

That cross was very familiar to me. I saw that everyday so I couldn’t be mistaken.

Yes. It was the cross in the Great Shrine.

That meant we were still within the Great Shrine.

There was no ray of light spilling through the windows, so it must be around nighttime.

The Great Shrine was considered to be the Creator God’s seat of power in this world, so it was totally unbelievable that a demon managed to infiltrate this place.

But there was a more pressing matter than that —

“What did you do to Ysha!?”

I was worried about her.

She didn’t seem to be injured, but…

“She’s just sleeping, much like what you were doing just a few minutes ago. Well, she’s going to be the sacrifice to supplement the Holy Magic in a while.”

“She has to be sacrificed so I can become the Saintess, you know.”

“Lovelia! D-don’t tell me, you too!?”

Lovelia emerged from the shadows of the deepest part of the Great Shrine. She was Ysha’s contemporary candidate, and the daughter of Duke Ifel.

She had that background, and yet she was here.

Lovelia grinned broadly as she stared at Ysha while she hung on the cross.

This could only mean one thing.

She was in cahoots with the demon.

I also realized that Duke Ifel was not being possessed, but he IS the demon himself.

“The day will soon end in a few. Let us start the ritual that will make you the Saintess.”

“Yes, Father.”

Lovelia conjured a holy lance in one hand, and she sauntered towards Ysha.

“W-wait! Don’t lay a hand on her! Please sacrifice me instead —”

“That’s an impossible request. You still have to baptize my daughter, after all.”

The demon inched closer towards me.

He stretched his hand on my head —

“Good, it seems the barrier that was protecting you is gone now.”

The demon’s hand touched me.

No demon or warlock should be able to put a single finger on me. 

I didn’t know when it started, but the bracelet that I had on my right wrist sported a black pattern now, much like a crack, and it was growing and starting to stretch into my entire body,

Ah, so this must be the reason.

“I will extinguish the mana inside your body, but no need to fret, I will leave you enough so you can still perform the baptism for my daughter.”

The demon drawled all the details, probably waiting for my face to contort in anger and misery.

There’s no other path for me but to fall into despair.

If I didn’t have the power of Saintess, then I was just an empty shell, capable of doing nothing.

The dread of being so powerless filled me.

I was so vexed, so mortified, so frustrated that the tears started to spill from my eyes.

I was so incompetent. I couldn’t even save the Saintess candidate that had been doing her best everyday to train just so she could finally take over this saintess job from me.

“Thanks for your hard work this past 200 years. Your last job will be to baptize the daughter of a demon and make her the Saintess.”

“I will never do that, no matter how much you torture me!!”

“Ah, no need to fret. See, I can already touch you like this. Brainwashing you in your weakened state is just a piece of cake for me.”

“T-that’s…”

There was nothing I could do, it seemed.

“…Creator God-sama”

“Fuhahahahaha! You’re just wasting your time! It doesn’t matter even if this is the Creator God’s Shrine, he can never interfere directly with us!!”

The demon gleefully spat those words out, as if to crush all my hopes further. I didn’t want to concede, but he was right on this.

Creator God-sama would only send oracles to me as our way of communication, nothing more, nothing less. Not once did he manifest before me.

Even so, I had continued praying to the Creator God for 200 years, you know? That’s 200 years!

I had wanted to play like the other ordinary girls, eat delicious food, enjoy the beautiful sceneries, and be friends with a guy.

I endured all that.

I was the Saintess, after all.

Even relationships with a man was forbidden, and I complied with that, despite my desire to submit myself to that person. If only I had a choice, I would have chosen to be married for life to that guy.

So please, just before everything ended, please give me a miracle.

It’s okay no matter what happened to me.

Please, even if it’s only Ysha, please save her..

“Hah, so your last words are “Creator God-sama”… huh. How admirable, as expected of a Saintess. Alright, farewell to you.”

Something flowed from the demon’s hand, entering my head.

I was no longer myself  —

“— Argh!!!”

I am still me, I am still Seira.

Guzion had placed his hand on my head, but he was suddenly blown off by something.

It was a knight who blasted him away.

No, it wasn’t one ofthe holy knights protecting me.

I was absolutely sure about that.

That’s because this knight was burning in flames.