Freedom of interpretation was what vexed the Lords.

"Thanks to you, I'm beginning to see many things. Princess ..., could you please take a look at this first?"

When Everis heard about the escape from Terra Kaine, she took out a few sheets of old parchment (or something similar) and threw them on the desk in the operations room.

“When I heard the Princess's story, I remembered this, a report I had taken the liberty of copying from a spy who had infiltrated the Holy Kingdom of Diletta 50 years ago and submitted it to the Demon Army's Intelligence Department."

"Isn't that a terrible thing to say so casually?"

"You're a management texter..."

Somehow, it seemed to her that Everis may have created that document management system.

While helping to build the organization as a consultant, she may have planted a back door for herself to do whatever she wanted.

It would be a shame if she did the same thing to René.

Although there was not a hint of rebelliousness toward René or ulterior motive to "deceive and use" from Everis, René still vowed to be careful not to create any loopholes in the management system of the group.

"There used to be something developed by the Moon Eaters."

Pointing to an old report, Everis spoke in a somewhat reproachful tone.

René picked it up and ...

"I'm sorry, I can't read this."

"Oh, it's not a universal human language. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Here, use this."

Everis took out a pair of round glasses that had the look of a literary girl and handed them to René.

The report, which had been a list of unfamiliar characters, appeared to be readable to René when she tried them on.

"I'm amazed. I didn't even know there was such a thing. Can you read it, Tracy...?"

"I can read the common language of the demons, so I'm fine."

he two peeked at the report, and then they said in unison.

""≪Baptism Stigma≫…? ''''

＊ ＊ ＊

Fifty years ago, that was.

"Please stop, Master! Why are you using me as a test subject..."

"You are so noisy! An incompetent like you can't contribute to God's path unless you do this!"

The walls and ceiling of the room were all white to the point of making one feel sick.

The young Morgana was restrained on an operating table that looked like it was cut straight out of white stone.

It was in a room of the research facility of the Moon Eaters. It was a place where faithful servants of God devoted themselves day and night to researching technology to destroy the forces of the Evil God.

On the floor around the operating table where Morgana was restrained, a magic circle was drawn in intricate and detailed symbolic script. An old man in a white coat with glazed eyes was checking the lines for errors.

This man, Gavino, was Morgana's superior. His position within the Moon Eaters was that of a "preceptor" and he was in charge of a single research project. Gavino's research was the development of a new combat holy stigma.

≪Baptism Stigma≫.

It was to connect the consciousness of those who were inscribed with the stigmata to the Great God, and to copy the will of the Great God into their hearts.

However, the purpose of development was not to hear the voice of God itself. If that were the case, there would be no need to increase the number of priests in the temple, since there were already a number of shrine maidens and priests who could perform divine invocations.

However, if a person became a mirror reflecting the consciousness of God, that person would be the most faithful servant of God. Even if it was a demon tribe, a follower of the Evil God, it would be hard to defy God's will.

In short, the goal was forced indoctrination.

Magic to make even dragons and powerful demons into s*aves of faith by instilling the teachings of God into them, and to make them God's soldiers.

That was the concept of the ≪Baptism Stigma≫.

"Stop... please stop...!"

"Be quiet, it's almost over, it's almost over!"

Morgana's cries were heard in vain as the magic circle began to glow, illuminating the once-white room with a suspicious purple light.

Morgana had been subjected to the experiment of ≪Baptism Stigma≫ by Gavino, a preceptor she worked for.

As expected, the Moon Eaters knew that it was not a good idea to use ordinary citizens as test subjects. Although it was generally an acceptable practice, it was not good practice to be scolded by the court and to have the budget tightened.

Therefore, they experimented on sinners who were against the ways of God. Not only those on death row, but also those who were guilty of occupying the city (for some reason, only the poorest people who had no home were guilty of this crime) were often used as test subjects. This was all very fine and good.

However, sometimes insiders were used for experiments.

Sometimes the experiments were so minute that there was no danger to the lab rats, or they could not wait for the lab rats to be supplied.

... Or when they wanted to secretly dispose of a researcher who had found out that their boss was being dishonest.

"Aaahhhh!"

Morgana's figure disappeared into the light, and then.

And then, a tattoo-like crest was carved on Morgana's body.

Dispelling the remnants of the restraints that had been blown away in the aftermath of the technique, Morgana stood up unsteadily.

"... Oh? It succeeded!"

Gavino was surprised and delighted.

Although the experiment was conducted with the intention of killing half of the participants, if it was successful, that was a good thing. After all, this was the first successful ≪Baptism Stigma≫ engraving. Gavino's research would be greatly advanced by this.

"Yes, Preceptor-sama. I am very moved now. I have heard the voice of the Great One."

Morgana's face was radiant with joy.

Then she grabbed Gavino roughly by the collar and threw him onto the operating table.

"What...!?"

By the time Gavino panicked, it was too late.

Morgana tossed the spare restraints toward the operating table.

The folded belt-like thing spread automatically in mid-air, coiling and restraining Gavino like a snake strangling its prey. It was a magic item with that kind of function.

"Did you think I didn't know that you often go to br*thels... misappropriating research funds? You are going against the ways of God. I will have you engraved with the ≪Baptism Stigma≫, and you will truly become a faithful follower."

Morgana declared with a gentle smile filled with religious inspiration.

Gavino turned pale at this.

"Wait! Wait! I'm a preceptor! This is a big problem! Oh, the method I tried on you still has a low success rate of establishment! If it fails, death ... Ah, Ahhhhhhh!! Aaagh!!"

Morgana mercilessly activated the magic circle and Gavino disappeared into the light.

And.

"Oh!"

Gavino, whose life force had been sucked out by the crest and who had become like a mummy, was lying on the operating table.

“We've got valuable data. The apostate preceptor was able to help God. O' God. Thank you for showing me the right path."

Morgana gave deep thanks to the Great God who had spoken to her heart and guided her.

＊ ＊ ＊

Morgana's action was swift, and three people were experimented on in quick succession, including one who had been corrupt and another who had committed theft inside the Ruins of the Moon Eaters, and all died. All were people who had escaped pursuit because of their status or family prestige.

Morgana was immediately subjected to an internal disciplinary hearing.

In fact, Morgana's views were not that radical among the Moon Eaters Society.

Killing was rare, but prosecuting and punishing those who transgressed God's path was commonplace.

But Morgana had no political considerations.

Neither the rank and file nor the powerful aristocracy mattered to Morgana.

It was only natural that Morgana followed the God who spoke to her heart. The difference in status was just a trivial matter on earth decided by a small human race on their own. For the Great God, ... that was to say, it was of no interest to Morgana, who was listening to the voice of the Great God.

What was even worse was that Morgana's case led to the research and development of the ≪Baptism Stigma≫, which revealed the structural imperfection of the magic that copies the mind of God.

In the first place, in the divine descent and prophecy, God spun words according to the level of the human race so that they could understand them.

However, in the case of the ≪Baptism Stigma≫, which directly copied the mind of God, one would drink the "original essence" before it underwent such modification.

Even if it reflected a huge consciousness of a different rank from that of human beings, Morgana could only interpret it on the scale of human beings.

And Morgana possessesed no such thing as divine perspective. She only imperfectly imitated and emulated the thoughts of God using only the information she had and her own vision.

Morgana's actions were not the will of the Great God to be read and followed, but merely a spiteful, degraded copy.

One could imagine how unforgivable it would be for a fundamentalist clergyman to say... that it was like a scripture that had been drastically cut down to fewer pages, with his own interpretations added to fill in the gaps.

The development of the ≪Baptism Stigma≫ was discontinued due to the discovery of such characteristics. And Morgana, the test subject, was denied even the cause of "the will of the Great God" by the Moon Eaters, and was pursued for her radical behavior.

Morgana escaped.

Morgana had already turned into a faith machine that only fulfilled the will of the Great God that she had projected. She could not be stopped.

It was a female researcher, different from Morgana, who took the lead. She had been assaulted by a certain nobleman, but was freed when Morgana experimented on and killed her assailant.

Eventually, Morgana drifted to the kingdom of Noacurio.

What she sold was the technology of the incarnation of the Holy Beasts, which she had been involved in before the ≪Baptism Stigma≫.

For a time, she was an adventurer of sorts, but eventually she was taken under the wing of a certain lord, and eventually was recruited by the central military and rose to the position of special technical advisor. There, she was given the task of research and development not in the field of holy beasts, which was Morgana's original area of expertise, but in the handling of general summoned beasts that were adapted from holy beasts.

But Morgana was too difficult a piece to use. For her, the will of God that spoke to her was supreme. She was gradually shunned for her unrestrained behavior, which defied both money and power.

Finally, it was decided that she would be deployed to the front lines as if she were disposable. Morgana's most desired battlefield was against the undead.

If she defeated the "Rose Princess of Hellrage", all the best. Even if not, it would have been a proving ground against the "Rose Princess of Hellrage".

In any case, Morgana's technology had already been almost completely stolen. For Noacurio, Morgana would not be missed even if she died.

＊ ＊ ＊

"I didn't know that Morgana was the researcher who was almost punished for the ≪Baptism Stigma≫, but when I heard the Princess's story, it all made sense."

"So Morgana is not a messenger of God with special Divine Protections."

"If the Princess saw Morgana and saw that she didn't seem to have any particular power, I guess that's correct. However, the will of the Great Deity that she has implanted in her is definitely real. She can only give a general interpretation because she only has the perspective of a human being, but her actions are still the will of the Great God. That is why she will not stop and will never give up."

It was no longer a psycho horror, René thought, but the horror itself, the undead.

Morgana seemed to have an ego, but she had no personal feelings.

She had only become obedient to the will of God, her mind painted over by it.

It was the Great God who made her a puppet.

The one who brought René into this world.

The father and mother of the living human race. The Lord of Heaven who ruled over the gods.

The Great God whose name shall not be called...

Her heart throbbed in her chest.

The left side of her chest, where she had plunged the cursed red blade into herself to recover from the self-disorientation.

The wound had reached her soul and still left a murky aching pain.

Anger welled up in her heart again.

The Great God was so powerful that he had no idea that he had tricked little René. A beast. An insect? Or a stone by the side of the road? That was all he thought of René.

"Then those holy beasts are the technology of the Moon Eaters?"

Tracy asked cheerfully, raising his hand.

"I had an idea when I heard that Morgana was an outcast technician of the Moon Eaters, but it became clear when I examined the corpse. That incarnate holy beast is what theMoon Eaters use. Incarnate Holy Beasts based on the ... humans."

Tracy frowned.

"Humans? Why would they do that?"

“I'll start by saying that the biggest advantage of incarnated summoners in general is that ... they don't need a magician to maintain the summoning art. The disadvantage is that there is no magic supply from the magician, so it needs to be replenished by another means. There is a possibility that it can get out of the magician's control and do as it pleases. And it can't be moved in or out. If it is a summoning that borrows the body of a human being, the additional advantages are that it can take human shape and that it has human-like intelligence."

"Even so, the people who were used..."

"At the very least, they wouldn't be safe."

"Wow."

Tracy was in a state of shock, but René was not surprised.

Magical techniques to transform people into soldiers to fight against evil.

It was a good fit for the Great God.

"If you can manage the supply, the incarnate holy beasts can be handled by a non-magician like Morgana."

“But this Incarnate Holy Beast, according to the information I had obtained, was not supposed to be well controlled yet... My hypothesis was made by the Princess's injury. If she could somehow make the holy beast see it, it would follow Morgana without a second thought."

That.

The will of the Great God that René had seen.

Even if it was a degraded copy like a low-quality JPEG saved, there was no doubt that the original was the will of God. Above all, that terrible pressure. If it were a holy beast born from holy magic, it would break its knees and worship and serve Morgana as an apostle of God.

"So she makes effective use of the ≪Baptism Stigma≫ to make the incarnate holy beasts do what she says."

“Summoned beasts usually have a spiritual connection with the summoner. If the connection is to a non-magician Morgana, then the range of communication is probably limited."

"Everis."

The sound of a chair railing being crushed interrupted Everis's technical talk, which seemed to go on and on.

"I understand most of what you're saying. The question is whether or not there is a way to kill that thing in a gruesome way."

A wicked smile immediately appeared on Everis's face, as she was caught off guard.

"Fufu. If there is none, it's my job to make one. Thank you for bringing the corpse to me. This will make ... huhuhuhu, something interesting!"

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