The Saintess's Destiny

Aperria slowly opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the most familiar figure.

It was a large block of transparent red crystal, within which was sealed a "sister" who looked exactly like her, constantly being burned.

"Am I still alive?" Aperria asked.

"You are alive," Aperlia replied. "Two girls brought you back."

Aperria sat up groggily, looked at her unharmed body, and breathed a sigh of relief. She then said to the "sister" in the crystal, "I almost destroyed this body. Do you want it back?"

Aperlia in the crystal shook her head, "Little sister, it's not time yet."

Aperria then said, "Sister, I met the Lord. He has truly descended."

Aperlia hesitated slightly, "The Lord... what is He like?"

Aperria's face blushed, "Very handsome, very warm, and smelled wonderful. It made me want to pounce on Him, to do anything for Him, anything."

Aperlia couldn't help but frown, "He's a man?"

Aperria nodded, "He descended in human form."

Aperlia pursed her lips and was silent for a long time before saying, "The old you wouldn't say such things. Do you think your feelings for the 'Lord' are normal?"

Aperria immediately retorted, "Of course... Sister, what do you mean?"

Aperlia sighed, "Let's just forget I said anything..."

Actually, Aperlia didn't believe it at first, that the "Creator God" mentioned by the Shadowfolk was their Lord.

But after seeing her "little sister" in a state that seemed like she had been charmed, Aperlia dismissed her doubts.

The Creator God had truly descended.

Before her sister Aperria woke up, she had met the Saintess of another Creator God, a Beast-Ear Race girl named Aer. In her memory, they were colleagues in the Salvation Army 800 years ago.

The Saintess does not age.

However, to become a Saintess of a God, one needs the most sincere and purest faith.

And this power comes at a price.

Once one becomes a Saintess of a God, they become the God's representative on Earth.

They can bear the God's power, but they can never disobey their God.

When facing the God they believe in, they become like her sister, a puppet that has lost its reason.

In the era when the Gods were not yet fully corrupted, Aperlia had seen the Saintesses of other Gods and knew what kind of destiny a Saintess would bear.

It was only after making sufficient resolve that she chose, in her moment of despair, to dedicate everything to the Creator God to guide the Salvation Army forward.

However, after enduring the burning for so many years, Aperlia couldn't help but wonder who the corruption in this world originated from. Was the Creator God, who had never shown himself, corrupted from the beginning, or was He actually the culprit behind everything?

What should she do?

Aperlia closed her eyes and began to imagine in her mind—if the Creator God was the culprit behind everything, and if she had the chance to give up her identity as a Saintess, would she do it?

No...

Since she chose to become the Creator God's Saintess in her most desperate moment, she would take responsibility for her choice, even if it meant the destruction of the world.

Aperlia opened her eyes and looked at her sister again.

"I want to meet the Lord too. Can you help me, little sister?"

Emerging from the sacred ground in the village, Aperria looked at the village where she had lived since childhood, suddenly feeling like a lifetime had passed.

Her last memory before falling unconscious was of a Divine Bird in the sky that obscured the Sun's radiance.

But when she opened her eyes again, she was back by her sister's side... It must have been the Lord's protection that allowed her to survive.

Aperria once again marveled at the Lord's greatness in her heart.

"Saintess, over here, over here!" Two female Elf Chosen Ones waved their hands and hopped over.

The two girls who brought her back to the village must have been them... Aperria removed her knight's helmet, tucked it under her arm, and confirmed with the two Elves:

"Two, did you rescue me in my time of need?"

One of the female elves nodded vigorously:

"Mhm, mhm, mhm, it was so hard for us. We were only level eleven and we brought you through the Misty Forest. The road was full of monsters at levels forty to fifty, and there were quite a few lurking bad guys. We stopped them all."

"Then, according to the Lord's command, I should express my gratitude to you." Aperria took off her knight's gloves and extended her hand to the two female elves, "Allow me to offer you Experience Points as a reward."

Aperria had accumulated about 120,000 Experience Points by leveling up players.

She had originally intended to save these Experience Points and give them back to the Lord through touch the next time she met Him.

But the Lord had instructed that if a Chosen One actively did good deeds, she must reward them with Experience Points.

So, without hesitation, she allocated 50,000 Experience Points to each of them.

The faces of the two elves changed from initial anticipation to undisguised disappointment.

They had spent four days in the game and fought for a day and a night in reality for this NPC, even ignoring the damage to their skin from staying up late.

Is that it?

"I'm sorry, this is all the Experience Points I have. However, if you two don't mind, I can ask the village blacksmith to craft a custom set of equipment for you. I hope you won't refuse," Aperria said.

"Really!"

"No, no need for custom. Just give us a set of Gold Rank equipment. Don't worry if we can wear it or not."

"Yeah, yeah, listen to her!"

Smiles returned to the faces of the two female players.

After confirming the reward, Aperria led the two female players to the village blacksmith shop.

The Geothermal Furnace of Crystal Seal Village allowed the village to inherit its fire-related techniques.

Even if Aperria didn't know the skill level of other places, she still believed that the village's blacksmith and cooks were the best in this world.

I really wish I could bring the Lord here to see it.

"Clang, clang, clang, clang!"

Inside the blacksmith shop, a somewhat familiar, strange-haired man was sitting at the blacksmith's station, hammering away at a glowing piece of Tekkai.

The village's best blacksmith stood behind him, looking disappointed, and berated him, "You, that's not how you forge iron! I've taught you several times, are you a stubborn pig's head!"

The Oddity with the weird hairstyle, who was being scolded, bristled, "Shut up, you old hag!"

"So useless!" Seeing Aperria arrive, the village's best blacksmith immediately rushed forward and hugged her. "Aperria, I'm glad you're okay."

"How have things been lately?" Aperria broke free from the blacksmith's embrace.

"I've taken in a few apprentices. The Chosen Ones you brought back are truly geniuses; they learn everything as soon as they're taught," the blacksmith said, nodding towards the strange-haired man. "Of course, this stubborn pig's head is an exception."