Volume 2, Chapter 9 – Watch Me Poison You All to Death

Holy Communion, also known as the Sacrament of Communion.

In Stella’s understanding, an orthodox Holy Communion usually required nothing more than simple unleavened bread and red wine.

Everyone would sit together on long wooden benches, break the bread, raise their cups, and listen to the old abbess’s kindly holy words, sharing one another’s hardships and peace amid the crisp sounds of breaking bread and prayer.

Certain long-cherished wishes and original sins would thereby become connected to faith, and the believers would finally find solace.

And the Lionheart Society banquet Stella had envisioned should have looked exactly like that.

A long table, unleavened bread, wine. That was enough.

After all, it was only Holy Communion. Stella was not expecting anything particularly delicious. Forget chicken legs and fine wine, at the very least, it ought to be something humans could eat, right?

But could someone please tell her.

‘What the hell had Dorothy prepared?!’

“…”

Stella lifted the enormous silver platter in front of her and stared at the chopped purple chunks of meat piled on top.

She had no idea what exactly was slowly wriggling there, but her instincts could not have been clearer. If she ate the meat on this plate, she would immediately go meet the Lord.

The fine wine beside it was even more outrageous. Inside the goblet was a dark red slurry resembling congealed blood, with tiny specks of ghostly light floating across the surface as it bubbled away.

“Dorothy, what… are these?”

Stella covered her face with an expression of utter despair.

“Reporting to you, President! To celebrate the Lionheart Society’s first activity, I specially consulted ancient texts and recreated a heroic recipe!”

“This main course is called Gift of the Mutant. It uses freshly sliced tongues of albino vampiresses, drizzled with a secret sauce boiled from the venom glands of flying lion monsters, then finished with precious albino giant centipede protein powder to enhance the flavor. It’s a perfect combination of deadly poison and high protein that only the strongest warriors can digest!”

Dorothy pointed at the goblet beside it.

“This is a specially blended Night of Green Grass. Its base is highly concentrated fork-tailed dragon spinal fluid, mixed with the juices of European yam and longleaf plantain, before an entire mandrake root is added for fermentation. Its pungent flavor is enough to burn through the esophagus of an ordinary demon.”

“It took me quite a lot of effort to steal the recipe from Professor Katerina.”

“President, are you satisfied with it?”

Reαԁ оn КαtReаԁіոɡСafe

Stella sank into a long silence, as though language itself had been buried somewhere in a distant darkness.

‘Satisfied?’

She clearly remembered telling Dorothy to prepare flatbread and wine, didn’t she?

‘This is Holy Communion?’

‘Holy Communion is not supposed to be like this!’

Thousands of years of tradition in the Holy See were not meant to let believers commit mass suicide at the dinner table!

She refused to accept this!

She would rather die than accept this!

“President, let us officially begin.”

As Vice President, Patolize stood up and began introducing the occasion to the other eleven members present.

“According to the notice from Propaganda Officer Dorothy, this banquet was specially arranged by our President for the Lionheart Society’s first activity. These delicacies are all the finest ingredients the Abyss has to offer, and every bite contains supreme magical power.”

“I hope everyone will appreciate President Stella’s good intentions.”

After saying that, she turned toward Stella, expectation gleaming in her eyes.

“Please, President. Following the order where the strong are honored above all, you should enjoy the first bite. Once you’ve finished, we can move on to the main purpose of this gathering.”

Everyone’s gaze focused on her in unison.

Stella broke out in a cold sweat.

She genuinely did not dare touch even a single bite.

Who could have known that the Holy Communion she had asked Dorothy to prepare would end up like this?

She felt that if she ate even one bite, she would immediately return to the Lord’s embrace, and then, because she had recklessly eaten some Abyssal specialty, the Inquisitor might even posthumously award her the title of the year’s stupidest Saintess to die in the line of duty.

‘Eating this would kill me, right…?’

‘It definitely would, right?!’

Reaⅾ оո КαtRеaⅾiոɡСafe

‘Absolutely, absolutely could not eat it!’

But under the eyes of so many people, as the President who was supposed to make the demon race great again, if she did not even dare eat a single bite, wouldn’t her cover be blown on the spot?

Not to mention that she was about to announce the dissolution of the Lionheart Society.

‘What should I do?’

Stella’s gaze swept over the silver platter again, then over the goblets of blood wine.

‘Holy Communion… eating together… sharing…’

‘Wait.’

‘Since it was called Holy Communion…’

Who said the officiant had to eat it herself?

‘During the rite, the officiant’s duty is… distribution!’

As long as she stuffed all these deadly things into the mouths of these succubi, wouldn’t that mean she did not have to eat any of it herself?

Stella suddenly understood everything.

She might as well perform the entire Holy Communion rite properly!

As long as she did not have to eat this stuff that could send someone straight to the afterlife, she would do anything!

She was a Saintess. Conducting religious rites was exactly what she was good at!

Although a Saintess’ prayers, just like holy scripture, possessed actual power and blessings, who cared?

‘Fine, then. I would just treat this as a rather unconventional form of end-of-life care for these lost lam… mm, demons.’

‘Eat.’

‘Eat yourselves to death!’

Clack.

Stella put down the fork in her hand.

Rеаⅾ оո KαtRеaⅾіnɡCаfe

Under everyone’s gaze, she slowly rose to her feet. Resolution and compassion appeared upon her fair face, while her long silver hair rippled with ring after ring of holy radiance beneath the candlelight. The glow reflected against her crimson lips as her robe billowed around her, seeming to support her as though she were slowly descending from the air.

Stella raised her head slightly toward the pitch-black ceiling.

“May this wondrous grace descend upon this barren land.”

“All flesh and blood shall stand in solemnity. For judgment… no, for grace has arrived.”

She extended her hand and lightly swept it over the wriggling chunks of meat.

“Since this is a banquet that belongs to everyone, there should be no selfishness.”

Stella spoke very, very softly, her voice cool and clear.

She picked up the silver platter and slowly walked toward Patolize, who was seated on her left.

Patolize froze and instinctively tried to avoid her.

“President, how about you just skip me? What I normally eat is already more than enough…”

“Receive it,” Stella said, parting her crimson lips. “Unless a seed falls into the earth and dies, it remains only one. But if it dies, it bears many seeds.”

Stella gave her no opportunity to resist. Wearing a compassionate expression, she forcibly stuffed the Abyssal specialty that could poison a cow to death straight into Patolize’s mouth.

“Take and eat,” Stella softly recited the prayer. “This is my body, given up for you.”

Under Stella’s gaze, overflowing with both loving kindness and oppression, tears gathered at the corners of Patolize’s eyes as her throat moved with great difficulty.

“This cup is the new covenant established in blood.”

“Whoever drinks from this cup abides in me, and I in them. Pain shall no longer be pain, but a stairway leading toward truth.”

Immediately afterward, Stella lifted the goblet of viscous blood wine and poured it into Patolize’s mouth without hesitation.

“Drink this.”

“This is my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

Then Stella casually pressed Patolize’s lips shut when she tried to open her mouth, even thoughtfully stroking her throat a little, like she was feeding medicine to a disobedient puppy.

Gulp.

Rеαԁ oո ΚаtRеаdіոɡСαfе

The deadly Abyssal specialty and blood wine finally slid down her esophagus.

Boom—!

Violent Abyssal magical power instantly exploded inside Patolize’s body. Her complexion changed from red to purple, then from purple to white, before finally freezing into an unprecedentedly twisted expression.

‘Good.’

‘Next one.’

Stella turned around, her compassionate eyes slowly locking onto the next victim… Dorothy, who was seated beside her.

“Dorothy Wesley.”

“Those who believe shall receive love. Those who love shall receive life.”

Stella walked up to the culprit behind all this and speared the largest piece of purple meat with her fork.

“Since these delicacies were so carefully prepared by you,” Stella said with a kindly smile, “then surely you’ve also prepared yourself to sacrifice your life for me, haven’t you?”

“Come on~ Open wide.”

‘Eat up. All of you, eat more.’

‘Eat my share too. Don’t leave me so much as a single crumb!’

‘This is my love as your President!’

‘Watch me poison every last one of you to death!’

Translator Note

Am I a sinner for laughing over this Holy Communion?! HAHAHAHAH TVT