In a humble orphanage, a blonde girl with golden eyes was chatting with another, seemingly unremarkable girl.
"Anasthasia, do you think we'll ever live a good life?"
"Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I just saw some happy families at the market and thought about the jobs we've been assigned. I just wish everyone could be that happy..."
In this orphanage, children who were not adopted by a certain age were forced to work in various pces, and it was never an easy task.
"Yverantheia, with your looks, you shouldn't have to worry about not being adopted, right? Though, it doesn't mean the people are always good... As for me, I don't even know where my sister is..."
"That's true... If I get adopted, I'll find a way to take you with me! Then we look for your sister together!"
"Alright, it's a promise."
The two girls hooked their piogether.
A few days ter, a group of people dressed in luxurious white robes arrived at the orphanage.
"Where is the girl named 'Yverantheia'?"
"Here, this way," the headmaster replied, wringing his hands as he led them to Yverantheia.
"Are you 'Yverantheia'? We are from the Holy Light Church. We have e to bestow upon you the title of 'Saintess.'"
"...?"
"Everyone, prepare to return to the main temple for the ceremony!"
"...Wait! If that's the case, I bring Anasthasia with me?"
"...Is she the future saintess's panion? ...Very well."
Thus, Yverantheia suddenly became the saintess of the Holy Light Church, and Anasthasia became her personal maid.
"Praise the goddess."
Yverantheia k before the statue of the Holy Light Church's deity, the Goddess of Light, Illuminatia.
After carefully reading the Holy Light Church's scriptures, Yverantheia developed a deep i in the Goddess of Light. Her thoughts and aspirations aligned with the church's teags, and this curiosity gradually turned into faith.
"Saintess, it's almost time."
"Mm."
After daily prayers, Yverantheia would throw herself intorous training tthen her abilities and help more people.
Amidst all this, she never fot her promise to Anasthasia, tinuously searg for clues about Anasthasia's sister.
"…Oof!"
"Careful! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, I just spaced out for a moment."
"…You should rest! You haven't slept for three days!"
"…This is nothing. For the people, for you, I will keep going."
"But you o take care of yourself! If you keep going like this, you'll colpse one day! Listen to me, now…"
'…It's all in the past…'
To help her dear friend find her family, to make people happy, and to bee a worthy saintess, Yverantheia sacrificed a lot and received little iurn. She lost even more.
'Friends, the church, faith… everything I believed in has betrayed me… I won't five… I will make you all feel my pain!!'
Disappoi, sadness, anger, hatred… all these inteions surged withiheia's heart. The once kind a girl had vanished.
Meanwhile, something immaterial deep within the girl's soul shattered and disappeared.
Yverantheia's eyes flew open, and though her eyelids were still heavy, her gaze was filled with fury and hatred. The force of her willpower overcame the physical burden on her body.
‘I… I’m still alive…’
Despite waking in a state of extreme anger, Yverantheia was bewildered by her current dition. Giveent of her blood loss, she should have died long ago from exsanguination.
‘The blood on my clothes… it’s dried… the wound… it’s not bleeding anymore!?’
There’s a signifit differeween wound healing and the cessation of bleeding. Yverantheia was experieng the tter, which was still unreasonable uhe circumstances.
Tap, tap.
A strange noise came from Yverantheia’s right side. Turning toward the source, she saeculiar creature ging tht shoulder, specifically to her severed arm.
It had a deep crimsoerior, with a horn-like protrusion on top and about teacle-like appendages, simir to those of an octopus but without suckers, making them smooth all over.
What astonished Yverantheia was that she hadn't felt this strange creature ging to her at first.
‘Wait… the wound doesn’t hurt as much?’
Yverantheia tried to remove the strange creature. Initially, it resisted slightly, but it sooached itself.
She ied her right shoulder. Uher areas, new skin had grown there, eliminating the risk of iion.
“Could it be… you?”
“Pupu.”
The strange creature made an equally strange sound, as if responding to Yverantheia’s question.
“A creature I’ve never seen before. What are you?”
“Pupu.”
‘Is that… an answer?’
Yverantheia uzzled, but regardless, it seemed her life had been saved by this strange creature.
“I’ll thank you for now, or else I wouldn’t have the ce for revenge.”
“Pupu!”
As Yverantheia nodded in thanks to the strange creature, she noticed a neckce.
“This… it’s broken…”
The neckce was used by the Holy Light Church to denote rank. As a saintess, a position equal to the pope, Yverantheia’s neckce had a pentagram within a de.
As to why such a high-ranking saintess had fallen to this state, Yverantheia realized now that the so-called ‘saintess’ was merely a tool.
“Whatever, broken is broken. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Having decided to abandon her faith and seek revenge against the Holy Light Church, the broken neckly reinforced her resolve. She tucked it into her pouch.
“…So, what’s …”
To exact her revenge on the Holy Light Church, Yverantheia needed power. Currently, she was just a ‘healer’ with no offensive abilities.
“This must be the Abyss, right? There should be plenty of monsters, but their strength is a …”
While Yverantheia was pting, a small creature passed in front of her.
“This is… a Unihorn Rabbit? They’re here too?”
The Unihorn Rabbit was one of the weakest monsters. With Yverantheia’s third-level strength, she could defeat it barehanded without using magic.
“I’ll start by honing my close bat skills. I’ll have to relearn magiyway.”
Up to now, Yverantheia had only studied faith-based magiable to use it anymore, she o start over with other types of magic.
vely, Yverantheia was also hungry and urgently o replenish her energy to heal her injuries.
So, she ran towards the Unihorn Rabbit.
