Chapter 15: Chapter 15: Purehearted

The half-angel-half-demoness collapsed. Her white feathery wings flopped on the ground, tainted by the black blood oozing from her chest. Though lifeless, her satisfied eyes never left Sintecia's body, taunting her even in death. Her shiny irises softly glowed as the residue divine power coursed through her body, flickering with child-like innocence.

Despite the grotesque scene, Sintecia merely shook her head, saddened yet impressed by the frenzied stubbornness. She forsook her life instead of becoming an angel, like how Sintecia would if she were to fall. Kneeling, Sintecia lightly brushed her hands across the soft feathers, feeling the unborn future disappearing.

"In your death, why do you have to look so beautiful?" she mumbled, shifting her gaze to the hollowed chest, where a glowing Soul Gem resided. Carefully, she took it and admired the intricate patterns in it. Each line represented the struggles and desires in life, crystallized into one last legacy.

By consuming the Soul Gem, Sintecia would gain the power of the demoness, but she would also gain her memory, her knowledge, her emotions, her desires, and her sense of self. Too risky right now. She gently placed it inside a glass vial then turned to her followers, who slowly got up and cleared their mind.

"Your Grace, we're sorry."

"That demoness is strong and resourceful. Take it as a lesson."

"Thank you for your teaching, Your Grace."

"Don't be sentimental now. The mission isn’t over."

Sintecia wrapped her hair and put on her hood, concealing her face once more. Her lustrous irises dimmed as she assumed the same tranquil, fragile air. A golden staff manifested on her hand, exuding radiance, which blew away weariness and granted vitality. Her followers silently accepted her help and followed behind her, always on a guard, traumatized by the demoness.

"Tread with caution. I can still feel the sinister aura inside the cave. It was much more potent than I imagined." Sintecia frowned.

Though dark and abandoned, the inside of the cave was clean, the ceiling not too low, the soil not too firm, and the airflow not too stale. With an occasional bush of fluorescent plants and flowers, Sintecia and her followers slowly traversed the damp cave, looking into the long hallway-like tunnel, wandering what entity awaited at the end of the path.

Walking through the empty dirt corridor, Sintecia fixated her attention on the aura, her emotions mixed with curiosity and apprehension. The cold air which blew past her and caressed her cloak was a small tide of the great ocean, which existed beyond the horizon, through which her small existence could never see. In front of her was an endless power.

Suddenly the gush of wind violently blew, taking off her outer cloak, pulling it into the darkness. She held her hand against her face, narrowing her eyes, feeling the chill seeping under her fair, snowy skin. The coldness froze her staff and disintegrated it into snowflakes.

"Everyone, hide behind me," Sintecia shouted before she flicked her hand in front of her, generating a vortex of light, which expanded and consumed the winds.

As her premonition shrieked, she abruptly turned around. In her followers' place, a wall of translucent ice towered over her, reflecting her determined yet feeble expression. Before she could cast another spell, the magical vortex collapsed into dust, and the snow overwhelmed her figure.

Unable to move, she could only watch her fate. The storm heightened its symphony, but its coldness and intensity fell soft on her skin. The winds coursed through the cracks and tunnels, ringing their lullaby. Gently, the snowflakes swirled around her and painted her vision with reflective whiteness.

An instant later, Sintecia found herself climbing up from a pile of cloud-like white wool. Her surrounding changed from the cave into a vast plane of the pale sky and soft ground. Isolated in this strange realm, she couldn't feel any presence, including her connection with the Seven Goddess.

She chanted her spell, but no holy light nor magical power came out of her body. The magic inside her body became stagnant, unresponsive to her calling. Having no other choice, she aimlessly walked in a straight line, hoping to find something other than the flat world shrouded by a faint, stale air.

As she stepped through the barren plain, her mind started to wander. It was a trial from the Goddesses, the game of the devil. Perseverance would yield the result. She must survive to warn the Church of this wicked power.

She walked until her thin clothes became damped with her sweat and stuck to her figure, until her thirst blurred her vision, until her hunger clutched her stomach, and until her exhaustion numbed her legs. As her eyes and body and mind focused only on the forward direction, she gradually lost track of time and space, losing even the sense of self, wandering towards nothing, for nothing.

When the sky turned pitch black, Sintecia collapsed, her face planting into the ground. Despite her will, the fatigue had her. She struggled to feel her body and found herself at the foot of a black tree, so black its silhouette pulled in her gaze like the abyss. On its trunks, multiple raindrop-shaped fruits hung peacefully, their volume indicating the richness in juice and flesh.

Faster than she could think, Sintecia reached for the fruit and pulled it, but before she could ravish it, a flash of memory triggered a repulsion. She immediately swung the fruit away, terrified of what she almost did.

In the second viewing, the pure black tree's silhouette resembled a seductive lady, a succubus. It was Lilith's Tear, the mythical Tree of Corruption. Anyone who consumed the Corrupted Tear would become tainted, slowly transforming into the Corrupted Race.

Sintecia looked at the sky before she closed her eyes and prayed, mumbling to her goddesses, who would never hear her plead for help, for an answer, for a correct decision. Death, or darkness?

"Dear Goddesses, please lend me your strength." Her voice drifted across the empty landscape with only the demonic tree listening.

Knowing she would never get an answer, she turned inward for help. Her gaze looked down, staring at the shadow cast by Lilith's Tear. Inside it, a bright light flickered, revealing a lady donning a long white cloak, holding a holy staff. Her eyes glittered with the holy power, completely devoted to the Goddesses.

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"Sintecia, you must not let the abyss take you," the Holy Maiden said. "It is better to let go than to regret. Even if you fail, the other will rise to the occasion."

The vision muddled. Another figure emerged, spreading her beautiful pair of wings, one black and bat-like, the other white and feathery. The demoness smiled at Sintecia and reached out her slender hand, grabbing her chin and seizing her hopeless expression.

"Didn't I tell you that we're so alike?" she said, laughing until her voice filled the endless plain, until her image merged back into the shadow, turning the atmosphere serene.

Sintecia fell silent. The world fell silent. Lilith's Tear bent forwards, waiting eagerly for the answer.

"My faith is with the Goddesses," Sintecia said and raised her head skywards, staring into the infinite void. "My soul will remain pure, from now until forever."

With her last bit of strength, Sintecia grabbed the fallen Corrupted Tear and stared at it. Her hands trembling, she slowly pulled it closer, inspecting the flawless translucent texture. Her mind, which rejected its existence, revolted. A phantom pain pricked her palm, but she held the fruit tight and then bit into it.

The forbidden sweet poured into her mouth. She forcefully bit her tongue and swallowed the fruit, which mentally turned bitter and disgusting like the rotten meat from a human corpse. The sluggish movement of her throat choked her lungs, but she persisted and ate more, feeling even more exhausted than before, yet she knew it must be done.

Her stomach cramped, her chest tightened, her throat closed. The gag reflex almost made her vomit. She held her mouth. Her dried saliva flooding her tongue, mixed with it the pieces of the fruit. Despite the acidic burn in her throat, she still forced them back, hitting her chest to forcefully breathe.

After she finished the first one, she immediately took out the bottle of Soul Gem, holding it until it cut her skin, opening a wound where her blood, now slightly black, seeped out. The corruption had begun.

The Corruption Power surged as she felt an invisible pair of hands gripping her heart. The sinful desire rose, making her damp body even hotter, heating her blood, melting her resolve. Sweating, her chest felt tighter but more comfortable as if a shackle had been broken, freeing her from the worldly constraint.

"For this faith, everything is possible!" she shouted and stabbed the Soul Gem onto her heart. It embedded itself into her body, absorbing her power and turning it into more crystalized lines. Using it, she ate the fruits and dispelled the Corruption Power, though she also lost her power.

As she collapsed to the ground, she saw a pile of blood on her body. Its bright red colour delighted her. She had won the gamble. The heat inside her body gradually subsided, turning into a warm breeze that, when interacting with her damp garment, coaxed her to sleep. Her consciousness, free from the Corruption Power, drifted into a slumber.

It was a dreamless sleep. Sintecia woke up in the same place, full of energy. The thirst and hunger and exhaustion had left her. Despite losing most of her power, she felt stronger than ever, fresher than ever. A rebirth she wasn't expecting.

The pain in her chest had disappeared, so she looked down. Her human skin had become a thin layer of membrane, filled with translucent yellowish slime. Inside her was a Soul Gem and a core of the typical Smile Girl.

Confused, she touched the membrane. The expected human hands turned slimy, and when they touched, a tingling sensation rushed through her body. She pulled her hand away, though the sparkling pleasure lingered inside her. Despite having the same silhouette, she felt her body more sensitive and glamorous.

She should feel sickened, but her mind had become sick.

Unable to draw out genuine emotions, Sintecia screamed her heart out, hoping to find damnation through her artificial pain. The teaching of the Goddesses never left her, and neither her devotion to the Church. Still, she completely accepted her new identity, despite how her mind remained pure.

As she wished to destroy herself, her mind instinctively commanded her body to channel the corrupted holy power and generated countless spears of light. They swirled around her and created a small star. At its peak, it imploded then scattered out the spears, obliterate everything in the surrounding.

Her yellowish slime body boiled and moved in sync with her command. Despite the destruction outside, she remained unharmed, knowing she must not die, for her choice had pushed her to the path of no return.

As her inner self had crumbled, she sought comfort from her faith. Despite being a Monster Girl, she bent down to her knees, submerging under her own body of liquid, and prayed to the Seven Goddess.

"My Goddesses, please grant me strength to overcome this trial. Please let me into your embrace and cleanse my body." Her determined voice echoed inside the great empty plain, endlessly repeating her vow until the sky turned white.

As she watched the sky, she noticed countless great rifts on them. They were moving, pulsating. They were alive. Her prayer stopped when an insane idea came to her. She shivered as a chilliness caught onto her body and onto her soul.

It was not a vast white sky. It was a gigantic eyeball.

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