Chapter 12: I Am Light

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The priests looked so calm and relaxed when we entered the church, and the paladins were so bored they were looking at the sky with little to no thoughts in their heads. Once they received a message from their gods about what I did, it seemed they panicked. Their entire little world shattered, and it came alongside the very screams of the gods themselves, whom I hurt quite a lot. More than I imagined my little mischief would cause.

I could see the same messages they could. Somehow, when I consumed that pill containing fragments of the system itself, my connection with it was heightened. I could easily spy on the system status of others and even the windows they could see.

[The Tower God {Brilliant Mother of Light} is furious and screaming in agony!]

[The Tower God {Lord of Deep Darkness} is groaning in utter fury!]

[Using their authority as the gods of the first floor, they quickly ask all members of the church to eliminate [Player: Katherine] at all costs!]

[A bounty has been set for her head! The bounty will increase over time as more Gods add their resources.]

[Current Bounty]: [100.000.000 Credits] [Divine Weapon Choice Ticket (SSS Grade)] x1 [Divine Armor Choice Ticket (SSS Grade)] x1 [Divine Accessory Choice Ticket (SSS Grade)] x1 [The Favor, Blessings, and the possibility of becoming the Avatar of both the {Brilliant Mother of Light} and {Lord of Deep Darkness} at the same time.]

It appears these Gods are quite eager for my head. How amusing this is. I've never had this much fun since my earlier years as a Mortal Cultivator, where I had to plan the assassination of many bandits and slowly take them down while hiding. It was a slow yet very satisfying process. And bandits often had many stashed treasures, so it was always nice to steal all the things they stole beforehand.

"Kill her! You must pill her this very instant! She's a sinner! Someone who dared to hurt our goddess and our god!" The pope stepped in from a room behind the chamber where people could change classes. He looked fat and was wearing white and golden robes, with a crown made of gold decorated with jewels. "Paladins! Priests! Surround her! Eliminate her now!"

As swiftly as he said such words, a dozen Paladins, whose Levels were between Level 150 and Level 230, surrounded me. The priests were between Level 150 and 180, and the Pope was Level 300; despite looking like a lazy old geezer, he had leveled up a lot.

"Katherine! What happened?!" My mother cried.

"Big sis?!" My sister cried.

"Oh, are you related to her? Kill them too; you might as well!" Laughed the pope as the Paladins rushed towards them.

CLASH!

However, their weapons only hit a semi-transparent barrier of rainbow light. Photon essence gathered within my fingertips as I pointed them against the Paladins that were trying to break the barrier protecting my family.

"Those who dare hurt my family deserve no mercy. {Photon Spear}"

Spears of golden, blinding light pierced the heads of three Paladins in a second. They were unable to react at all; their entire heads were blowing up into pieces. Their brains and guts splattered on the church's floor as their lifeless bodies took a few seconds to fall onto the floor, as if incapable of believing they died so easily.

"W-Wha…? D-Don't let her kill you! Quickly! Attack her as I seal her! {Chains of Sanctification}!"

The pope gasped, his eyes widening as he was unable to believe what he was seeing. A second later, countless golden chains attempted to pierce through my barrier and catch me, trying to seal me. I amused them as I deactivated my barrier to show them how strong I was.

"Hahaha! I got you, you sinful woman! Now prepare yourself to-"

"Cute chains."

I touched them with my hands, imbuing them with Immortal Essence in large quantities without even using Photon Essence. The Immortal Essence flowed into the Level 300 Pope's body through his connection with the magic chains, overcharging his body with a powerful energy he couldn't control or assimilate.

"Uuuaaaggghh!"

"POPE!"

The priest and the paladins panicked, attacking me with magic and sword techniques, yet my body and dress were unscathed no matter how many attacks reached me.

"Your pope is nothing but a walking bag of grease; look as he explodes like the balloon he is."

I flicked my fingers, and the Pope's entire body started to swell until he became twice as large, with blood and light coming from his eyes and mouth, until his skin started to be torn apart. His body ultimately exploded into a mass of flesh, blood, grease, innards, and broken bones.

BOOOM!

"Y-You monster…!"

The priests started stepping back as they hid behind the paladins, who were also trembling in horror. However, they were not giving up. Their rage and frustration knew no bounds. Their eyes were flaring with the intent to avenge their fallen ones.

"You think we'll let you touch us?!"

"Get off me!"

I heard my mother and my sister fighting. My mother used her spear techniques and her metal martial arts to pummel down a Level 180 Paladin with ease. And then she broke his mandibles with a powerful punch, using her fists, enchanted with her Metallic Skin martial arts.

BAAM!

"Katherine's not alone here! If you're trying to kill her, you're going to pass through us, fuckers! If you mess with my daughter, you mess with her mother too!"

Ruby used her newfound strength, and black flames covered the bodies of the priests. Their light was unable to dispel the flames, burning them to a crisp as they agonized. Incredible. I didn't expect the two of them to be so merciless. Perhaps my mother, but my sister?! I guess in this world, you can't survive if you're innocent anymore.

"How are they so strong?! That woman is only Level 100, and that girl is only Level 23!"

"It doesn't matter; keep them in check!"

"The pope's dead, but we are still not done yet! I'll use it! I don't care anymore, you sinful monster!"

One of the priests, probably second in command, started sweating nervously. He suddenly grabbed a golden relic from his hands, activating it in a hurry as he spoke with disbelief. A wave of pure divine golden light surged from the entire surroundings, reaching the skies like a golden pillar.

[The Priests of the Church of Light and Darkness have Summoned the [Divine Angelic Spirit: Lv500 (SSS Rank)] to battle!]

[The [Divine Angelic Spirit] rapidly descends from the Domain of the Goddess of Brilliance and Light!]

FLASH!

A gigantic angelic entity descended from the clouds, rapidly rushing down. I was able to easily see it as there was a huge hole in the beam of light left behind in the church's ceiling. I suppose they were not going to care about the entire place getting destroyed.

"The sinful… shall perish!"

As the entity spoke, its hundreds-meter-tall body rapidly moved from the clouds down into the ground, shaking the entire city of Nexus. Panicked low-level players ran away from the church a while ago, but more of them started escaping once a Level 500 monster appeared.

"Hahahaha! You will die no matter what against such a powerful being! They're direct servants of our Goddess!" The priest laughed a second before I blew his head off with a single needle of Photon energy piercing his forehead.

SPLAT!

"So noisy…" I looked at the other priests and the paladins who were still aiming at my family. I waved my hands and released a wave of Photon Energy. "Know your place."

The wave swiftly pierced through their entire bodies, and their screams reverberated across the entire church as the wave destroyed the pillars and made them fall apart over their corpses. I made sure to leave not a single member alive. After the offense of not only declaring they were going to kill me but that they attempted to attack my mother and my sister, there is no place for forgiveness.

"I am a merciful venerable, but I know when to not give mercy to the wicked." I floated in midair as I looked into the skies, greeting the entity, whose countless eyes started charging hundreds of beams of light. "Are you truly planning to destroy the entire city, Goddess? You sure don't care about "sacrifices," isn't it? Well, let me show you something."

Hundreds of beams of holy light were immediately fired against me and the city. I could easily tell they were charged with the divine power of their goddess. I believed that the city was pretty and lively enough to deserve protection. I expanded my {Primordial Nine Heaven Protection} into a domain that encompassed the entire city, protecting it from a myriad of explosions of light.

I unsheathed my Yin and Yang sword after making sure my mother and my sister were outside the church's rubble. I was just slightly tired and still shocked about the events, but they were fine. For me, this was just an everyday squabble in Murim, but for these people, I suppose it is more surprising.

"Let's see, how do you want me to cut you up?"

"Die, sinner!"

The giant Divine Angelic Spirit spread out its titanic wings, releasing more beams of light against me. All while it concentrated its divine light into two gigantic swords of divine holy light. Then, it swiftly swung them against me, attempting to end me with these two strikes.

"There is no element that I know the most than light... It is the element that makes me who I am, and it is the element that accompanied me through my life as I grew stronger and eventually surpassed the Venerables themselves."

CRASH!

Both swords struck my body at the same time, but just as quickly as they hit me, they shattered into pieces, becoming particles of light and disappearing. My eyes shone with rainbow light as I directed my gaze toward the monstrous entity in front of me.

"Light can't possibly damage me," I explained while smiling calmly, the particles of light slowly becoming part of me, absorbed into my very physique. "Light is part of me. Light is my body. I am Light."

My body glowed brightly, and my entire being became a mass of pure Photon Essence. I pointed my sword towards the entity, as all its attacks were completely meaningless against me. I swung my sword once, a horizontal slash was unleashed, and darkness and light slashed the entity not once but twice, then thrice, then four times, five times, six times, seven, eight, ten, twenty, thirty, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times.

"{Yin and Yang Harmonious Blade Arts}: {Endless Cycle of Harmony}"

The entity couldn't keep up with the damage, pointlessly attempting to heal itself, only for its body to be divided into more pieces constantly. Eventually, it completely collapsed and exploded into countless fragments of light.

BOOOM!

I gathered all the fragments of light and then absorbed them, slowly concentrating them into a golden, brilliant pill using my Primordial Alchemy Arts. The pill glowed with delicious light. I couldn't contain myself, quickly eating it as well. My strength rose slightly—a fine amount of growth.

"Thank you for such a bountiful harvest, Goddess." I looked into the skies. "I am not in the mood now, but I will go visit you later."

As I descended towards the city, the people looked at me with awe. I noticed most of them were looking at me as a hero. I suppose the church didn't care about civilians dying, so when I slew a monster they summoned that would have destroyed half the city, they were naturally happy. Even if my own actions provoked this outcome, no civilian died.

Well, except for the church members, who were all slain in cold blood, but those weren't civilians; they were just pigs ready to be slaughtered. They were so desperate to die that they asked me to end their suffering at this point.

Those who are so weak yet dare oppose a being as strong as myself probably only desire death, so I gave it to them. I hope they can find peace in the afterlife, away from the wicked goddess.

"Big sis!" Ruby ran to my side, hugging me. "What the hell just happened?! Did you do something to make everyone want to kill you?"

"Are you alright, Katherine?" My mother looked into my eyes, examining my face.

"I am fine, mother; don't worry." I giggled. "And yes, Ruby. I did something bad—really bad. You see, my intention here is to free our world. And I will go against the gods of the tower to do so. This might only become commonplace as we climb the tower. I am sorry if it surprised you, but I can't promise you I won't do it again. Because I will. This might happen several times, dozens, if not hundreds of more times."

"Y-You're really crazy… I just want to take a break now. Let's get out of here…" My sister sighed.

"It's better if we don't attract a crowd; let's go." My mother nodded.

As we walked away hurriedly, I sensed the figures continuing to chase us.

[The Tower Gods have increased the bounty for your head by 100.000.000 Credits.]

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