Protagonist! Please Stay Away from Me!
Chapter 93: Turning the Temple into a Slaughterhouse

Chapter 93: Turning the Temple into a Slaughterhouse

Third POV—

Over time, humans had become greedy. They had become bottomless pit of hunger.

Hunger for money, power, and lust. They wanted everything to satisfy their hunger.

Was their devotion real?

Yes, their devotion was real. It was like a situation of a spoiled kid. Parents who spoiled their kids, indulged their every desire, would find their kids’ character unhealthy. Similarly, their devotion corrupted with respect to time. It was there but its application was no longer for good. Perhaps it was from the very beginning. Maybe the humans were corrupted from the start but they never showed it. They kept it hidden.

But did it mean that they were no longer hiding their greed?

No, it was as if they had ignored it.

Did the gods know about it?

Yes, they knew about it. But they never did anything about it. Like a ’blind’ parent, they ignored everything.

The reason? It was never known. Why did gods ’pamper’ humans that much?

Erica was sitting on her bed, pondering about her life’s trajectory. Being the high priestess, she knew everything about her temple’s devotees. Yet, she turned a blind eye.

Klurench held her hand and caressed it lovingly. "What are you thinking? My love, this face of yours is cute even when you are just frowning."

Erica smiled lightly. "Stop flattering me. Trust me, it won’t get you anywhere."

Shaking his head, he said, "It will. I mean, it helped in getting you, right? Five years. It took me five years to have them accept our relationship. Can’t you see how good my flattery is? You were impressed by it. Like a roaring, yet peaceful lion, my flattery rules everywhere. Even my lion conquered you, didn’t it?"

"Stop it. Can you answer me one thing? I need you to be honest."

Klurench raised his eyebrows at her words. He said sincerely, "I will never lie to you. Unless, it’s to keep you safe."

Erica looked into his eyes. She wanted to clear all the troubles of her heart. "Why do gods fulfil every wish of human beings?"

Klurench ran a hand over his golden locks. He answered, "I... can’t answer that. It’s not that I don’t want to answer your question," he hesitated for a moment, "Erica, it’s for your safety. Don’t ask me this question again. Please..."

It was for the first time Klurench had said these types of words to her. He had a hit of begging in his tone. Eyes which had always been clear like a spring, were now full of apology.

Is he afraid? If so, then from whom?

Erica sighed, "Okay, I understand." If he didn’t want to answer this question, then she would never force her.

Relief was evident in Klurench’s eyes. He smiled, "We are going to get married. So, smile! Don’t ever worry about these things, my love. You just need to be happy. And that’s it! I will handle all the troubles. Tell me, did you like my painting?"

Erica smiled and walked out of the bed. From the drawer, she took out a painting and went back to her bed.

Sitting beside Klurench, she asked, "I always like your paintings. It refreshes my eyes."

He smirked, "That? I know. My paintings are a feast to the eyes. Colours dance jovially in my paintings. Every stroke of my brush creates a memory, and every part of my drawing brings out a new life. Fusion of emotions are seen in my drawings. Now that I think, I am a genius, ain’t I?"

Erica slammed her hand on her face. How could her lover be so narcissistic? "Are you a narcissist? Because I think so."

Klurench gasped in shock. "How come you doubt my greatness?" he smirked, "I think you need some punishment~"

"W-wait! N-not now!!"

◆◇◆◇◆

"High Priestess! What should we do?!!"

Erica tried to pacify the chaotic situation. She didn’t know what was happening. A week ago, Klurench told her that some problems had transpired in the ’God’s Virezo.’ The only thing he had told her was everything would be alright after some days. But apparently, he lied to her. She knew that he didn’t want to worry her, yet he was a fool to hide that from her.

In this past week, Erica had heard some rumours that the deities were angry with them.

Some said that they were angry because of humans’ greediness. Some said the gods wanted to sacrifice the human race. And the rest said it was because humans wanted to no longer worship the deities.

"Don’t worry, Seia. Remember, these are only rumours. Don’t let it affect your devotion! Your faith mustn’t be affected by all this!"

Suddenly, some people wearing golden-white uniform entered the temple. They were the gods’ special army soldiers.

Erica’s face turned pale. "W-why a-are you here? Did K-Klurench o-order you to come here? W-where is he?"

"I am afraid, he won’t come. His Divinity, God Klurench won’t come." said the leader, with a cold voice.

Erica’s eyes hardened. "Then why are you here?" she asked. Her heart was full of worry. Whatever the reason was, she feared that it was not good for her and the temple’s devotees.

The leader replied, "We are going to shut down this temple."

These words caused numerous people to erupt it in protest.

"Why? What is the reason? Did we do something to offend Klurench? You know my identity, right?" Erica asked in a serious voice.

The leader nodded, "We know your identity. We know everything."

"Then why?"

The leader unsheathed his sword. Everyone flinched in fear. Erica could no longer control her emotions.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"We have the order to close this temple. This means, we have to close everything... and everyone."

Erica’s face was full of horror. "You a-are g-going to kill us?! Why?" she gasped in fear.

"Yes, we are going to kill all of you. That’s the order. By doing this, we can close this temple permanently. You all have to die," he turned towards his army, "I order you all to kill each and every one of them."

"YOU CAN’T! THERE ARE CHILDREN! SICK PEOPLE! ELDERLY! WE HAVEN’T TREATED ANYONE! YOU CAN’T DO THIS! GODS WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!" Erica screamed her lungs out. She still believed that the gods would help them.

"Miss Erica. Gods have forsaken you. They no longer care whether you live or die. So, don’t expect anyone to help you," the leader sighed, "I believe it’s time to wrap this up. Kill them."

The soldiers launched their attack. Erica and other priests tried to fight back. They knew that they would lose but they wouldn’t go down without a fight.

But forget about putting a fight, they couldn’t even land a hit on a single soldier. It was a one-sided slaughter.

They killed children, men, women, elderly... anyone who stood in their way, without any single thought.

Erica fell down to her knees in despair. Her forehead was bleeding, and her body was full of wounds. She couldn’t believe that her temple was being destroyed. The place where she had devoted her entire life, was going to be destroyed. The soldiers were slaughtering people without any mercy. Her temple was covered with the innocents’ blood. Tears welled up in her eyes. She was powerless to do anything. It was as if her soul was thrown in the eternal inferno. Why did the gods abandon them? Why did they order them to kill those innocent people?

The leader looked at her with lusty look. Licking his lips, he walked towards her.

"Miss Erica, I never noticed... but you look gorgeous. If you let me play with you, perhaps I can lessen your pain. I will give you a swift death." The leader moved his gaze over Erica’s broken form.

"FUCK YOU! MONSTER! HOW DARE YOU!!" Erica took out a dagger and tried to stab him.

The leader simply caught her hand. Snatching the dagger, he slapped Erica. The brute force caused her to crash on the ground.

At that moment, the leader’s chest was pierced by a hand. His eyes widened in shock as he vomited the blood from his mouth.

Erica slowly sat up. Her ears were buzzing. As soon as she got her hearing back, she heard Klurench’s voice.

"How dare you see Erica with your disgusting eyes?" Klurench asked in low voice. His eyes were burning with anger. He plucked out the leader’s eyes.

The leader screamed in pain. Not finding it enough, Klurench pulled out his tongue from his mouth and threw it on the ground. Finally, he separated his head from his body.

The rest of the soldiers were quivering with fear.

Klurench looked at Erica and gave a reassuring smile to her. Then, he turned towards the rest of the soldiers. "Who asked you to come to my temple? Not only that but also, you made my temple filthy with your disgusting presence. For this insolence, pay with your lives." Before they had any chance to beg for their lives, they were killed by him.