Volume 1, Chapter 69 – Please Bear Witness to Me, Saintess

The world inhabited by demons lay within the Abyss.

After their first struggle ended in failure, they abandoned the land beneath the sunlight. From then on, war, conquest, decline, collapse, and endless night formed the cycle of the Abyss. This was what Stella had read in History of Demons: The First War of Divine Punishment.

There was no day, only night. The starry sky and blood moon were nothing more than magic cast by Archdemons to make this place resemble the sky outside. As a result, traditional calendars and methods of timekeeping no longer applied.

She had said she would wait for a dark and windy night, but in truth, that was completely unnecessary in the Demon Realm beneath eternal night.

In other words, every moment was a dark and windy night perfect for murder.

Generally speaking, Stella determined the time by looking at the enormous skeletal pendulum clock in the center of the campus.

Demons divided time differently from ordinary clocks. Twenty-four hours had been divided anew into seven Watches.

The family crests of the Seven Electors served as the markings, repeating endlessly in a cycle.

Valentine, symbolizing awakening and blood.

Faust, wisdom and cursecraft.

Mammon, greed and trade.

Samael, wrath and conquest.

Asmodeus, lust and revelry.

Bathory, discipline and punishment.

And Belphegor, sloth and eternal sleep.

Stella had once heard that besides dividing up the daily routine, the different Watches also granted demons different enhancements to their power.

It was currently the Fifth Watch of Asmodeus.

To be honest, Stella was not particularly willing to return to the common room during the Fifth Watch.

The Fifth Watch was characterized by social pleasure and corruption. In other words, it was the free period for banquets and socializing, the time when everyone was most intoxicated by luxury and drowning in desire, with hormones practically overflowing everywhere.

What would a group of succubi be doing during this period?

There was no need to even think about it.

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The next period, the Sixth Watch ruled by Bathory, belonged to curfew and assassination. It was both the time when the Succubus Disciplinary Committee and Prefects conducted their strictest patrols and the peak period for every manner of conspiracy, illegal infiltration, murder, and robbery throughout the Demon Realm. Anyone still wandering around outside at that hour was either up to no good or out to steal something.

It was also the best time for her to act.

After all…

The privilege she had previously enjoyed of ignoring the school rules had regrettably been revoked by the Principal.

If she got caught now, there would be no misunderstanding involved. She would be caught red-handed.

Stella thought it over.

For this operation, she planned to bring Remedios along, just like when they had entered the restricted book area.

After all, Remedios was clearly more experienced than she was at sneaking around and doing shady things. Judging from Remedios’ skill in dark cursecraft, her strength should not be lacking either. Besides, she had promised to help whenever Stella needed it.

Although Lainia, being a fellow member of the clergy who would never betray her, was more trustworthy and would allow Stella to use Holy Light without restraint, the current Lainia still belonged in the category of someone with a promising future.

She needed more time.

In any case, bringing Remedios was still better than charging into the forbidden forest alone.

Now that her target had been decided, Stella no longer hesitated and headed toward the dormitory district of the House of Terror and Slaughter.

When she passed the arena, Stella subconsciously glanced over.

During the Fifth Watch ruled by Asmodeus, the place that was normally filled with violence and duels was exceptionally deserted.

Normal demons were all busy with indescribable activities right now instead of spilling blood.

But it was not completely empty.

Lainia was still there.

A former novice nun of the Holy See, her human slave on the surface, and a dependable colleague in her work.

Beneath the radiance of the blood moon, Stella saw her sprawled in the middle of the arena like a dead dog. She had clearly just finished an intense session of special training that could practically be called self-harm.

Stella stopped and stood in the shadows.

She could not help but sincerely marvel.

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‘Amazing, Lainia.’

‘So this is the willpower of a battle nun?’

She was actually working a hundred times harder than Stella had imagined.

Stella had assumed that with Lainia’s mentality of being forced to work while unable to return home, she would have gone back to the dormitory to slack off long ago. She had never expected Lainia to have already developed such a profound understanding of the clergy’s sense of duty.

It was just…

“…trial… Master… cancer upon humanity… demon that must be defeated…”

The wind carried the girl’s unconscious murmurs over.

“Stella Darkfallen.”

Strange.

Why was she calling out Stella’s fake name for no reason?

‘Whatever.’

According to the description in The Asrita Scripture, after completing the most basic steps of body tempering, it would not be long before Lainia reached the first of the nineteen paths of ascetic training, Heart of Holy Light.

By wrapping the vessels around the heart in Holy Light to accelerate the blood supply, Lainia would be able to continue fighting even while deprived of oxygen and gravely injured.

If the very first step was already this arduous, Stella could not imagine what kind of brutal ascetic training the remaining eighteen paths, such as Mithril Holy Bones, Divine Grace Physique, Holy Blood’s Protection, Healing Divine Seal… would require.

It was getting frightening.

Just what level of monk was the Inquisitor’s personal copy of The Asrita Scripture intended for?

From the looks of things, perhaps only a member of the clergy with extraordinary willpower like Lainia could endure this kind of ascetic training.

Stella wondered what sort of mission could possibly have given Lainia such tremendous willpower.

Stella sighed in admiration.

‘Lainia, your future really is promising!’

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As usual, Stella cheerfully prepared to give the unconscious Lainia a dose of Holy Healing.

The moment Stella crouched down, her hand seemed to be pulled over as if by a magnet.

Lainia tightly grabbed it. Her body trembled faintly, filled with immense anticipation.

Stella very skillfully poured Holy Light into her.

Once she was done, Stella ignored Lainia, who had begun muttering to herself again. She slipped back into the darkness and casually continued toward the dormitory building of the House of Terror and Slaughter.

It was only a student dormitory.

How bad could it possibly be?

“So warm…”

Within her dream, Lainia caught hold of a ray of light as though grasping salvation.

She felt as though her soul had once again been purified. From some nameless island within her heart, the warmth of spring suddenly blew toward her. A fleeting caress swept chaotically across her in an instant before vanishing again, like a torn flower petal drifting through a gentle breeze.

Just one touch.

Like a saint longing to kiss a sacred bone, drawing near to something that must never be touched.

Touching it would bring fire down upon the fig tree and flames upon the city, yet she still wanted to touch it, as though suffering had finally found its ideal here, as though daylight had embraced the night here.

“…Ah… Saintess, is that you?”

Lainia’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she struggled to open her eyes.

There was no one around her.

It was as though she were alone in a silent sea.

So dark.

She blinked.

So dark.

“Just now… was that your blessing? You’ve been watching me all along… haven’t you?”

Reаԁ оո ΚаtRеаԁіոɡСаfе

“Please rest assured. That demon who profanes the Holy Light, Stella Darkfallen…”

“I will… defeat her with my own hands.”

The girl’s murmurs drifted upon the wind and settled deep within her heart.

“Please bear witness to me, Saintess.”

Translator Note

Ah… So the time used in this novel is unique…

“Twenty-four hours had been divided anew into seven Watches…”

Valentine Watch (First Watch)

Faust Watch (Second Watch)

Mammon Watch (Third Watch)

Samael Watch (Fourth Watch)

Asmodeus Watch (Fifth Watch)

Bathory Watch (Sixth Watch)

And Belphegor Watch (Seventh Watch)

If there are 24 hours a day, then I assume each Watch is about 3 hours and 26 minutes? Though… We don’t know yet whether Valentine First Watch is start from 00:00 AM or not…

And anyway, since previous chapters were all using the terms “hours” instead of Watches, then I assume the demons aren’t completely isolated. At least they still know the standard human time, so, it’s still normal for them to use the terms like “hours,” “minutes,” and “ seconds”.

What do you think?