Chapter 3: Let's Curse Each Other

“Huk, huuk…!”

Having desperately fled from the monastery they had raided, the fear still lingered on their faces as they gasped for breath.

The sight of their comrade turning into a lump of meat right next to them was vivid.

If they hadn't escaped, they too would have died, experiencing the same horrific pain.

Death.

‘Oh, God.’

Finally, one of the priests, unable to bear it any longer, spoke with a trembling jaw.

“I-It's divine punishment. We touched a Follower favored by that evil god…”

“Shut up, Lican. How dare you exalt the name of another god?”

“B-But…!”

Christoph, the senior Priest, tried to control them somehow, even in this desperate situation.

Everything had been going smoothly.

The highest-ranking Constellation had vanished one day, and all that remained…

…were foolish Followers who had lost trust in each other.

This was an opportunity.

A chance to regain the lost prestige of his Religious Order.

That's why he had planned from the beginning to gradually erode their power.

He secretly contacted other Religious Orders of other Constellations, who had always disliked their existence, and formed a faction.

As the days went by, his confidence grew, and his actions became more aggressive.

He usurped the name of the Constellation they served and burned down the temples that could remind them of its existence.

And so, the next target was…

Lisia.

The woman, the being loved by the Constellation.

If he could eliminate her, his faction could achieve even greater prestige.

Eliminating a woman who couldn't even handle Divine Power was supposed to be an incredibly easy task.

It had to be an incredibly easy task.

“You shall witness.”

…That is, until they saw a beast, returned from the brink of death, clad once again in Divine Power.

‘Unbelievable.’

But why, all of a sudden…

The forgotten Divine Status had returned. The Constellation had started using Divine Power.

What began after that simple phenomenon was a horrific massacre.

“W-We have to run.”

“We must return quickly and devise another strategy…”

“Stop.”

Christoph, the Black Sun’s Priest, consciously mediated their fear and spoke in a flat voice.

“Have you forgotten who is beside us because of your fear?”

“...!”

They were agents of God.

They had to spread the will of the Constellation and become its most honorable servants and confidants.

And…

‘Divine punishment will soon descend.’

This raid was a pretext.

Even if it succeeded, it would be a blow, but even if it failed…

There was no way his Constellation would stand idly by while thugs killed its beloved Followers.

“This will have its due consequences.”

“Ah…!”

“Our Incarnation will be enraged. They will never escape divine punishment.”

“Ooh…!”

At those words, a glimmer of hope permeated their despairing eyes.

And they would meet a deservedly miserable end.

‘Oh, Incarnation.’

Christoph prayed with conviction.

He prayed that the filthy mongrels would be punished, that justice would be served.

Their fight had only just begun.

***

“…Huh?”

[‘Black Sun’s Incarnation’ has become aware of your existence.]

Out of the blue, messages continued to chime, as if waiting for this moment, along with an unexpected name.

[‘Black Sun’s Incarnation’ is enraged at you!]

[‘Black Sun’s Incarnation’ threatens your well-being!]

“…What’s this now?”

Of course, I knew who it was.

It was one of the Constellations that persistently bothered me when I was a player.

The player's role in the Game is that of a Constellation, a ‘god.’

And the other god, the ‘Black Sun’s Incarnation,’ was naturally my rival and enemy.

“What is it?”

Of course, there are friendly Constellations, but who would willingly share their own bowl of rice?

[‘Black Sun’s Incarnation’ demands just retribution from you.]

“I don’t want to.”

`[....?]`

The message window went silent. I could feel the Incarnation’s confusion at my blatant response.

“What are you going to do if I don’t?”

[‘Black Sun’s Incarnation’ threatens to inflict a great Curse upon your Religious Order if you do not pay retribution.]

“Ah, a Curse.”

The Curse System.

One of the few means by which a Constellation can directly check another Constellation.

Suddenly, memories of the times I spent with the Black Sun’s Incarnation came flooding back.

We had so much tiki-taka through this system.

The bad blood that had accumulated then had ripened nicely, now entering the stage of love-hate.

“Ah, this familiar feeling.”

A faint smile crept onto my face at the surging tide of emotions.

They had waged a large-scale Holy War against my Religious Order, triggering several surprise events.

There were times I had to wake up in the middle of the night just to check my phone.

“Thank you.”

I expressed my sincere gratitude to the Black Sun’s Incarnation for reminding me of the meaning of life that I had forgotten.

I was grateful.

For continuing to bother me like they did in the beginning.

[‘Black Sun’s Incarnation’ is perplexed by your gratitude.]

It's okay to keep bothering me, isn't it? They started it.

“Hehehe.”

Suddenly remembering those times, my affection for them wells up.

How should I cherish this?

Being harassed before is one thing, but…

…didn't they just try to gang up on our Lisia?

“Curse, yeah. A curse sounds good.”

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ senses a discrepancy.]

Even after getting beaten up like that in the Game, you’re back causing trouble without dying.

Troublemakers won’t be forgiven.

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ unyielding, demands immediate tribute!]

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ demands a portion of your Faith Level.]

“Yeah, yeah.”

Looks like you’ve forgotten my personality.

Seeing you babble on happily because I’m being quiet.

Like a CEO calmly taking off his watch, I calmly manipulated the System window.

Fights between Followers are huge brawls with blood and flesh flying everywhere, but when it escalates to a fight between Constellations…

Surprisingly, it degrades to a ridiculously childish level.

From here on, it's not about simple physical ability, but the 'Grade' of Divine Status takes top priority.

And that Grade, of course, is determined by your Faith Level.

[Current Faith Level: 547,500,000]

500 million in Faith Level, undigested, had accumulated as it was.

“Hehehehehe.”

I wonder if this bastard even knows.

The scale of the Faith Level accumulated while I was away.

No, if he knew, he wouldn't have even thought of this crap in the first place. He would have probably been cowering somewhere, trembling in fear.

My Sin is great, it is. It's proof that I haven't been doing my job as a proper bully.

No, wait. If I knew it was real, I would have logged in every day and done it diligently. What can I do about real life being busy?

‘Now this is real life.’

With a dazed feeling, I looked at the messages from the still-ranting ‘Black Sun's Incarnation.’

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ declares they will Curse your Religious Order immediately.]

“This guy really has no sense.”

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ is enraged!]

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ is extremely enraged!]

“Okay.”

Order received.

I decided to start using my Faith Level.

[Consume Faith Level to Curse the ‘Black Sun’ Religious Order?]

Preemptive strike wins.

“Yes.”

Then the messages stopped for a moment.

Whether it reacted or not, the process was already underway.

[Curse successful! The Abilities of some Followers of the ‘Black Sun’ Religious Order have significantly declined.]

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ is extremely enraged!]

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ casts ‘Curse’ on your Religious Order.]

-Ding!

[Due to the difference in Grade between the Constellations, ‘Black Sun's Incarnation’'s Curse fails.]

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ is greatly bewildered.]

“My friend.”

Even though I couldn't see it, I could tell. How bewildered that Constellation is right now.

If I had used my Faith Level for expanding the Religious Order’s influence, then maybe, but right now, I'm overflowing with it.

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ suggests, wait, let's talk this out.]

“Only I can cast Curses here.”

Leaving the bewildered Incarnation behind, I continued to cast Curses.

[Curse successful! A portion of the Religious Order's forces are transported to an unknown space.]

[Curse successful! Some Followers of the Religious Order are transformed into non-human species.]

[Curse successful! The gender of some Followers of the Religious Order is forcibly changed to ‘female’!]

“Oh.”

Even the precious, oh-so-precious TS Curse.

Today is a very lucky day.

The decision to cast a Curse is made by the Constellation, but no one can determine the outcome of a Curse cast through the System.

It does inflict damage, but randomly.

Kill all the Polar Bears today.

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ screams to stop.]

“Stop what? This is just the beginning.”

Curses cast on the Religious Order are directly linked to the Followers' faith.

If you can't even block Curses cast on individual Followers, will the Constellation's reputation remain the same?

Trust once lost cannot be regained. That's the cold, hard reality.

Today, I was determined to turn a childish Constellation into an adult.

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ earnestly begs to stop.]

You came at me with all those threats and confidence when I was away, and now you’re acting all nice?

Absolutely not.

I had no intention of showing mercy.

“No, go away. I’m not going to show mercy.”

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ shouts that they will all die at this rate.]

“Die? Who's dying? Only you'll be extinguished.”

If the Followers leave the Religious Order, they can just find another religion.

This means the Constellation is the one at a disadvantage in this relationship.

When the Faith Level drops to zero, the Constellation's reason for existence disappears.

In other words, death.

“You won't die right now. But just wait. One year, I'll give you one year. I’ll wither you away within that time.”

[‘Black Sun's Incarnation’ trembles and is terrified.]

I was bored anyway, so this is perfect.

Let's have some fun today.

#

That day, Christoph, returning to the Religious Order’s headquarters, saw hell.

“Wh, what is this.”

A pandemonium.

Figures resembling creatures crawled out of a dungeon were running rampant, and what was even more bizarre…

Those Monsters were wearing the same priestly robes as him.

As if the Priests who were praying to God just moments ago had been Cursed.

At that moment, a chilling thought crossed Christoph's mind.

Curse.

“God’s Curse! We’re Cursed! We need atonement!”

Someone screams in agony in the distance.

“P, Priest Christoph. What is this…?”

-Hic.

At the disturbing sound of a gasp, Priest Christoph’s gaze turned back.

There stood the Follower who had been desperately fleeing with him just moments ago.

Their flat chest swelled like ripe fruit.

The masculine face transformed into that of an attractive woman.

“Y, you.”

“Priest Christoph. My body is strange. My body is—”

Feeling a stirring desire at their tearful appearance, Priest Christoph’s eyes turned towards the heavens.

“Oh God.”

Please save me from this hell.

But the answer that returned was mercilessly absent.