Aimoer felt her soul had drifted far beyond the clouds.
All that remained was a mere shell named Aimoer, walking slowly toward the altar like a walking corpse.
Oh no, no amount of public relations could fix this now.
Aimoer raised her eyes tremblingly, and as she stepped closer, the burning sensation of Holy Light grew stronger.
To the audience below, her trembling looked like a devout and fervent believer finally receiving the Goddess’s gaze.
What was merely subconscious fear actually added to Aimoer’s impression points.
Now, she finally stood before the Pope.
The burning Holy Light pierced every inch of her skin, as if she were tied to an execution rack for heretics, watching herself slowly vanish in the flames.
Aimoer gritted her teeth, forcing an elegant smile, and made the sign of the cross with trembling hands.
“May the Holy Light shine upon all.”
She forced those words out from between her teeth.
The dazzling Holy Light blurred her vision.
All she wanted now was to receive the token and get out as soon as possible.
‘So hot, so hot, so hot, so hot…’
‘I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die, I’m going to die…’
‘If I die at the graduation ceremony, in a way, I’d probably be written into history as a legend.’
Aimoer clenched her hands to force herself to stay awake.
A few tears of pain squeezed from the corners of her eyes.
To her, it was agony, but in others’ eyes, it coincidentally became a symbol of piety.
The Pope unhurriedly placed the Pure White Cross around her neck and blessed her with a loving smile.
Aimoer still forced a smile, waiting for the Pope to chant the lengthy prayer.
Each holy syllable felt like an invisible magic, striking her heart and leaving her dizzy.
When the chanting finally ended, Aimoer felt as if pardoned.
After performing the ceremony, she quickly descended the stage, said something to the host, and hurriedly left for the restroom.
“Wah wah wah…”
As soon as she closed the restroom door, Aimoer collapsed limply onto the floor.
Her originally fair skin had turned a terrifying cherry-red, and her entire body felt like it was being flayed, with excruciating pain.
She hugged her legs and cried softly.
Blood seeped through her white nun’s habit, staining it with brilliant flower-like patterns.
If this had been six years ago, she would have died.
Aimoer watched the bleeding wounds on her palms gradually scab and heal.
Over these six years, every ray of Holy Light that had shone on her had finally transformed into a Holy Shield protecting its master, allowing her to develop a strong resistance and barely survive that hellish situation.
Aurora’s face surfaced in her mind.
Intense resentment overflowed from her.
She hugged herself, gritted her teeth, and every syllable she uttered carried indescribable venom.
“I hate this, I hate this, I hate this!”
“Why, why, why? Why does this have to happen to me?”
When Aimoer thought of her previous life’s glory and compared it to this life’s desperate struggle, she became even more grief-stricken.
She locked herself in the restroom and cried softly.
After a few minutes, she looked up with red eyes, rubbed her face fiercely, then tremblingly pulled a candy from her pocket and ate it.
The sweet taste suppressed some of her sorrow.
Aimoer stood up and used Holy Light to thoroughly clean her body and clothes.
‘Not hot at all, not painful at all.’
She told herself this, then washed her face and forced a confident smile.
In her previous life, Aimoer had done the same.
Whenever she lost control of her emotions, she would lock herself somewhere, think of unhappy things to have a good cry, and once she’d cried enough, she’d have a candy and quickly calm down again.
Before leaving, Aimoer examined the Pure White Cross on her chest.
She reached out and carefully touched it.
It was warm—not the burning heat that scorched her, but the kind of warmth that could serve as a hand warmer in winter.
It seemed like a good thing, in every sense.
Aimoer clasped the cross between her palms.
The texture was nice.
It seemed this was the only gift Holy Light had given her.
“El, are you okay?”
Back at the venue, the grade announcements were already half over.
After awarding the top ten, the Pope had gone to a corner to sit and rest.
Holy Light emanating from that distance was less of a threat to Aimoer than the big warm hazard beside her, who looked concerned and might hug her at any moment.
“I’m fine, just need to pee.”
Aimoer moved aside, keeping some distance from her.
She had planned to rest with her eyes closed until the ceremony ended, but Sentili’s voice kept going in her ear.
“By the way, El, I heard you’re going to Nethercleansing City after graduation too?”
“Yeah, I’m planning to.”
“I see. Um, actually… I’m going to Nethercleansing City too.”
Aimoer opened her eyes and turned to look at Sentili.
Sentili was fidgeting with her fingers, a hint of expectation in her eyes as she looked at Aimoer.
Aimoer was startled for a moment, then quickly understood.
This little girl apparently didn’t know that the church had already arranged for them to travel together.
Although she couldn’t touch Sentili’s body at all, that didn’t stop Aimoer from being mischievous in other ways.
So she smirked and pretended to be ignorant, offering blessings.
“Oh, that’s great. Congratulations.”
“Huh? Thanks. Waa… no… that’s not it.”
“Not it? Oh—”
Aimoer drew out the word, pressing a finger to her lips as if in surprise.
“You want me to come with you?”
“Huh? Not really… waa… no no, it’s… a little.”
Hearing Aimoer directly state what was on her mind, Sentili became flustered and incoherent, finally nodding with a slight blush.
“Hmm… what should I do?”
Aimoer put on a troubled expression and finally sighed.
“Sigh, I really can’t help it. Since that’s the case, why don’t you beg me? Maybe I’ll agree.”
She blinked and folded her arms, ready to watch a good show.
Sentili panicked.
She looked around.
Although whispering a few words during the graduation ceremony was fine, suddenly being told to do this left her hesitating.
She pursed her lips, her eyes darting around, then finally looked up with a pleading expression.
“Please… please.”
Her voice was very low, and her movements were discreet.
As soon as she said it, she changed her expression and stood still as if nothing had happened.
This made Aimoer’s lips curl up unconsciously.
“Fine, if it had been anyone else, I might have refused. But since you said that, I’ll go with you.”
Aimoer put on an “I can’t help you” expression.
Seeing Sentili’s eyes suddenly light up, she momentarily felt the urge to pat her.
‘Better not. I’ll end up screaming from the heat again.’
Aimoer gave a regretful look, then stood still, waiting for the graduation ceremony to proceed.
After the graduation ceremony, the next stop was Nethercleansing City.
She hoped nothing would go wrong.
Aimoer recalled the terrifying Nya’s Illusion from a few days ago, and for some reason, a sense of foreboding arose in her heart.