Volume 2, Chapter 10 – Poisoning Scene

Stella obviously had no intention of letting Dorothy, the chief culprit, off easily.

If the Holy Communion she had fed Patolize counted as one serving, then her Propaganda Officer received a full three times as much affection.

“Come on, open wide, aah~” Stella smiled with incomparable gentleness, yet the silver fork in her hand moved so fast that it practically left afterimages.

“This is your reward for writing those flyers.”

“Mmph—gulp!”

“This is your reward for coming up with those slogans.”

“Ugh… cough, gulp!”

“And this is your reward for arranging such a perfect banquet for me!”

“T-This… is… a trial…”

“Only… only by enduring this kind of pain… can I… follow… guerk!!”

It was only after Dorothy rolled her eyes and swallowed the final mouthful of blood wine, staring lifelessly up at the ceiling and occasionally kicking one leg, already completely unconscious, that Stella finally let her off and immediately moved on to her next target.

Vice President Patolize, Propaganda Officer Dorothy, Logistics Officer Ophelia, the taciturn Beatrice…

Stella was like a merciless feeding machine, bestowing her favor upon everyone equally and treating them with perfect fairness.

She tirelessly moved around the long table, making sure every member could feel the weighty love of their President.

When the final member rolled her eyes and swallowed the last mouthful of blood wine, Stella looked at the completely empty silver platter and finally let out a long sigh of relief.

‘Done. What a perfect Holy Communion.’

Not only had she avoided eating a single bite herself, she had even managed to dispose of every last bit of hazardous waste.

Stella returned to the head seat at the long table, propped her cheek on one hand, and surveyed the wreckage before her.

Twelve people, all present and accounted for, sprawled across the floor in every direction.

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‘Although the process had been slightly brutal, everyone looked… mm… very peaceful?’

Stella watched calmly, even leisurely picking up a napkin to wipe the stains from her fingers.

That was it?

These were the so-called elites of the Lionheart Society?

One meal had wiped them all out.

‘Hehe. Too easy.’

Stella felt pleasantly refreshed from head to toe. For the first time, she had tasted what it was like to take revenge on someone.

It was like a fragrant, full-bodied wine. The moment you swallowed it, the burning heat made you cry out in satisfaction, but once you savored the aftertaste, it was incomparably bitter, almost as though you had been poisoned.

‘No, no.’

‘How could I be such an evil Saintess?’

Stella shook her head and finally came back to her senses. She lowered the hand supporting her cheek, sat up straight, and suddenly felt that what she had just done was truly blasphemous. She hurriedly made the sign of the cross over her chest.

No matter how she looked at it, turning a sacred ritual commemorating salvation and sacrifice into an execution ground where Abyssal poison was forcibly poured down people’s throats was just… completely outrageous.

The Holy Communion, where unleavened bread was broken and a shared cup raised, had been forcibly twisted into something else entirely.

Highly poisonous Abyss Dragon meat stood in for the Holy Body, the ominous Scarlet Primogenitor stood in for the Holy Blood, all the demons went forth together, had the Holy Communion forced down their throats, and then physically ascended to heaven.

…No matter how she thought about it, this was far too heretical.

If those old fossils in the Holy See found out about this, then not only had Stella von Einzbern become the leader of a heretical organization, she had even used Holy Communion to feed demons. There probably wouldn’t even be any need for a trial. They could just carry her straight to the stake and burn her to death.

Blasphemy.

This was truly far too blasphemous.

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“I have sinned, I have sinned…”

Stella clasped her hands together and began muttering to herself.

“Lord, please forgive me. All of this was a necessary sacrifice for my undercover mission.”

“After all, if I don’t enter hell, who will… Besides, they prepared the ingredients themselves. I only committed such sinful acts because the circumstances forced my hand.”

‘Mm, exactly.’

She had only committed those sinful acts because the circumstances forced her hand.

‘But…’

‘That really felt amazing.’

Having finished hypnotizing herself, Stella guiltily opened her eyes and examined the disaster before her again.

One look was all it took for cold sweat to instantly pour out.

She had gotten so carried away feeding them just now that she had only been focused on enjoying herself. Now that she had calmed down and taken another look…

These succubi couldn’t actually be dying, could they?

“…Hey?”

Stella stood up, walked over to Dorothy, and gently nudged the girl’s calf with the tip of her foot.

No response. Only the occasional twitch of the girl’s fingertips and the white foam leaking from the corner of her mouth proved that her Propaganda Officer still retained the faintest signs of life.

Then she looked at the others. Every single face was a mixture of blue and purple, with veins bulging beneath their skin. They were clearly undergoing the baptism of Abyssal poison.

Stella froze.

‘Wait, wasn’t the whole point of coming here to disband the club?’

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Everyone was supposed to eat and drink, then part on good terms, and she would announce that the Lionheart Society was hereby dissolved.

But now… every last one of them was down. Who was she supposed to announce it to?

The air?

Or the floor full of “corpses”?

‘This is bad, bad, something had really gone wrong. Someone is going to die… Oh, no, that wasn’t right. Some demons were going to die!’

They might be demons, and they might be demons who had wanted to poison her to death, but if twelve corpses suddenly appeared inside the school, she would be completely finished.

What was she supposed to do now?

Stella grabbed her head with both hands and squatted down on the floor.

The twelve of them were lying there far too neatly. So neatly that they looked like a mass martyrdom following some ascension ritual. She couldn’t even come up with a decent excuse.

Maybe she should just burn them all?

Creak.

The door to the Lionheart Society was pushed open from outside.

Stella was instantly startled. Before she could even raise her head, a cold female voice rang out first.

“Stella Darkfallen!”

“Is that head on your neck purely decorative?”

Black robes billowed like storm clouds as Professor Katerina, or rather, the newly appointed Vice Principal, stepped into the clubroom with a gloomy expression.

“I distinctly remember knocking you on the head seven times before class ended to hint that you were to come to my office during the Seventh Watch. I waited for an entire half Watch. Even a slime should’ve managed to crawl there by now, yet you’re here…”

Katerina’s voice abruptly stopped.

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She stood in the doorway, the entire speech she had prepared to scold Stella with forcibly lodged in her throat.

Katerina blinked.

She was dumbfounded.

What was she looking at?

A long table covered in a complete mess of cups and plates, scraps of food giving off an eerie purple haze, and empty wineglasses still bubbling with poisonous fumes.

And…

Twelve students sprawled across the floor in every direction.

Finally, her gaze landed on the sole survivor.

It landed on the silver-haired girl squatting in the middle of the pile of bodies, clutching her head with both hands and wearing an expression that plainly said she was finished.

Katerina fell silent.

She slowly exhaled several times, the corner of her eye twitching uncontrollably.

“…My dear Stella Darkfallen.” Katerina slowly began. “Could you please explain to me what exactly is going on here?”

Translator Note

Oof. The evil Saintess is screwed xD