Volume 1, Chapter 24 – Then I’ll Be the One to— Punish You

By chance, she looked up and saw nothing but a pitch-black ceiling.

People looked upward precisely to escape the reality before their eyes.

Just like Stella was doing now.

‘…This is going to be the death of me. Are succubus professors all such hands-on types?’

Standing among the line of succubi, Stella couldn’t help thinking that.

She had thought Vice Principal Mara was already difficult enough to deal with, but compared to the practical nature of Professor Katerina’s class, even Mental Seduction Studies seemed insignificant.

Stella’s violet eyes followed the same target as all the other succubi, and she let out a faint sigh.

A living, breathing human girl.

Now she genuinely had no idea what to do.

Her head hurt just thinking about it.

Professor Katerina stood beside the display platform and hooked a finger beneath the nun’s chin.

“Every one of you, look carefully.” Katerina said coldly. “Although she is only an apprentice nun, she is by no means defenseless.”

Her fingernail jabbed the holy emblem on the nun’s chest.

Hum.

A dim golden film of light flashed for an instant and knocked her hand away.

“This is a holy blessing. It may have been bestowed upon her through a chanted prayer by a Saintess of the Holy See or someone else holding a similar position,” Katerina sneered. “As long as the blessing remains within her body, it means she has not truly fallen.”

Professor Katerina raised one finger.

“Whoever is first to extinguish the blessing within her and strip her of her God’s protection will receive the highest score in this course. Of course, besides that, I will also give our top student a special reward.”

The classroom instantly stirred.

The succubi who had complained about getting dirty now had completely different looks in their eyes. To a succubus, there was nothing more tempting than personally staining something pure white black, especially when course credit was being offered on top of it.

Stella watched helplessly as Remedios took out a scalpel. She closed her notebook and lightly ran the tip of her tongue over the corner of her lips.

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“A holy blessing… For the sake of breaking my sister’s curse, even though she’s only an apprentice nun, she’ll still be enough as a Saintess substitute to gather some data.”

The corner of Stella’s eye twitched almost imperceptibly.

‘…My friend, could you please not say something that terrifying to the Saintess standing right beside you?’

Not far away, Cheryl also looked eager to give it a try.

“How interesting, how interesting. She’ll be just right as an appetizer before my duel with Stella.” She murmured to herself.

‘You too, could you please stop obsessing over some duel!?’

‘When have I ever agreed to a duel!?’

“I want to try too!”

“Making a nun fall? I’ve only ever seen that kind of plot in novels.”

It wasn’t just the two of them. The surrounding succubi were also rubbing their hands together in anticipation. Some pulled out whips, while others began quietly chanting curses of pain.

Stella stood rooted to the spot, her hands and feet ice-cold.

Succubi were terrifying.

‘Could I… come up with some excuse to leave?’

As long as she closed her eyes and walked out, she wouldn’t see anything, wouldn’t hear anything.

Skip class. Skip class.

Stella did not seem to be the only one frightened by the scene.

The girl on the display platform also closed her eyes and tremblingly murmured a prayer. The film of light protecting her flickered between bright and dim.

“Lord… save me…”

Then Stella heard the girl praying.

She already knew that prayer by heart.

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“No…”

Stella bit her lower lip.

She could avert her eyes. She could cover her ears. But she could not turn a deaf ear to a plea for help directed toward the very same Lord she worshipped.

After all…

She was a Saintess.

Her deeply rooted faith would not be severed merely because she now wore the appearance of a succubus, just as the desires rooted deep within people’s souls continued endlessly without ever dying.

If she forgot that, then she truly would be no different from a succubus.

‘But what am I supposed to do?’

Stella looked at the reality she had wanted to avoid and genuinely had no idea how to handle it.

She could tell that the girl’s holy blessing was far too weak. It probably couldn’t even withstand a single finger from Professor Katerina, much less the surrounding pack of elite succubus students eyeing her like ravenous wolves…

‘Wait.’

‘Holy blessing?’

Stella’s gaze froze on the faint golden halo surrounding the girl.

What was the professor’s objective?

It was to extinguish the blessing within the girl first and make her lose her god’s protection. As long as that result was achieved, it would count as successfully making her fall, right?

A flash of inspiration split through Stella’s chaotic thoughts like lightning.

She suddenly remembered the first page of the Primordial Doctrine back in the dormitory, the book she had dismissed as useless.

♥════════♥

♡ Holy Art: Holy Radiance Extraction

♡ Effect: Forcibly strips and absorbs the divine energy within a lower-ranking target, converting it into the caster’s own magical power or reserves.

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♥════════♥

Stella’s thoughts instantly cleared.

If it were another succubus, then to extinguish divine energy, she really would have no choice but to torment and corrupt the nun until her heart collapsed.

But Stella was different!

She was a Saintess, a higher-ranked wielder of Holy Power, a member of the clergy chosen by the Lord to command Holy Light.

As long as she used this spell, even with silent chanting, it would be more than enough to directly drain the Holy Light from within the nun…

To everyone else, it would look like the Holy Light had been extinguished. To the professor, it would look like the corruption had succeeded. And to the nun herself, she would only temporarily lose her power without suffering any physical torture or truly betraying her faith.

As for Stella, all she needed to do was put on a little act, and she could deceive everyone completely.

She would act as a succubus who was decisive and cold, abstinent and vicious, petty enough to remember every slight, devoid of compassion for the weak, relentlessly goal-oriented, and utterly unfathomable…

Stella narrowed her eyes slightly.

Her decision was made.

‘Lord, please forgive me for this blasphemous performance.’

‘And please… protect this child.’

“Then, the first student…” Professor Katerina was just about to call a name according to student number.

“Enough of these boring tricks. Don’t embarrass yourselves.”

Stella stood up.

Ignoring the astonished gazes around her, she walked straight out from her seat.

“Stella Darkfallen?” Professor Katerina narrowed her eyes with interest. “According to student number order, it isn’t your turn yet.”

“Order is a rule meant for mediocrities to obey.” Stella raised her chin slightly and swept her gaze across the entire room with almost undisguised contempt. “With all due respect, Professor. I don’t believe the practical instruction for Human Interrogation Studies should be conducted like this.”

“You seem to have… some brilliant insight?” Katerina’s tone revealed no emotion.

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“Is so-called teaching supposed to mean letting a group of ignorant students fool around? Each person goes up, touches her a few times, casts a couple of low-level curses, and aside from satisfying their pitiful sadistic urges, gains absolutely nothing.”

Stella strolled into the center of the aisle, her violet eyes filled with undisguised contempt.

“True teaching should have the most perfect candidate perform a demonstration and establish a benchmark, instead of letting mediocre people waste time making mistakes.”

Stella stopped and dipped into a slight curtsy.

It was flawless aristocratic etiquette.

“And I would be more than happy to become that benchmark and demonstrate for everyone present what a true… genius looks like.”

“You also said you would give the top student a special reward. I like special things.”

“I’ve seen plenty of arrogant freshmen, but you’re the first who has dared to tell me how to run my own class.” Professor Katerina narrowed her eyes. “Our… genius.”

Stella walked up to the nun and gently placed both hands on her head.

An evil smile appeared on her lips.

Their gazes met for less than an instant.

“Then I’ll be the one to… punish you.”

Stella whispered in an icy tone that only the nun could hear.

Translator Note

How arrogant, miss tsundere xD

And damn so she is not screwed again… ><