Chapter 588: The Saintess’ Commands (II)

The crowd immediately quieted down.

Rose slowly raised one hand, just as the Cardinal had done countless times before whenever he gave her blessing to the people of Sorex. The simple movement was so familiar that many of them instinctively lowered their heads and closed their eyes.

Some even brought their hands together in prayer.

Rose looked up at the Holy Temple behind her. Her eyes moved across the tall pillars, the sacred carvings, and the statues that had stood there for generations.

Not long after, she began to speak. "May every temple built in the name of the Gods fall."

Several people immediately opened their eyes and they looked at each other in confusion.

Rose continued before anyone could speak. "May every statue carrying their faces be broken. May every altar where their names have been praised be destroyed. May every sacred artifact created in their honor be crushed, burned, or buried until nothing remains."

The smiles on the people’s faces slowly disappeared. "Saintess?"

Rose ignored them. "May every book that praises them be burned. May every painting showing their faces be torn apart. May every symbol carrying their names be removed from the walls, the streets, and the homes of this kingdom."

Her voice remained soft. It almost sounded like a real blessing.

Rose lowered her gaze toward the people kneeling before her. "You asked me to pray for Sorex, so this is my prayer."

The courtyard had become completely silent.

"I pray that one day, no child born in this kingdom will recognize their faces."

Rose’s smile slowly disappeared, and suddenly, she began speaking quickly as if she were giving them a curse instead of a blessing. "I pray that no one will remember where their temples once stood. I pray that their names will disappear from your prayers, your books, and your history."

The people around Rose began to glare at her, their faces slowly filling with anger. To them, Rose had just insulted the Gods they had worshiped their entire lives.

Some were already thinking about capturing her and throwing her into the dungeon for what she had said.

"If the Cardinal were here, he would definitely punish you for saying such horrible things!"

"That Lycan really did ruin our Saintess!"

"She’s not our Saintess anymore!"

Rose barely reacted to any of their words. Their angry voices filled the courtyard, but she listened as though none of it mattered.

She simply took one step down the stairs and looked over the crowd, then she raised her voice. "I command you to destroy every temple belonging to these Gods!"

"Break their statues. Burn their paintings. Tear apart their holy books. Destroy their sacred artifacts and remove every symbol that proves they were ever worshiped here."

Her power spread through the crowd with every word. "Search every temple, every shrine, every home, and every building. If you find something carrying the name, face, or symbol of one of those Gods, destroy it."

The fear and confusion slowly disappeared from thousands of faces. At last, their eyes became empty.

"Do not stop until there is nothing left."

Primrose felt a chill run through her soul as she realized that Rose was not simply trying to destroy the temples.

She wanted to erase them.

She wanted to remove every sign that those Gods had ever been loved, worshiped, or even remembered by the people of Sorex.

Rose slowly lowered her hand. Then, with the same gentle voice she had once used to bless countless believers, she gave them her final command. "May the Gods receive the same mercy they gave me."

A small smile returned to her lips. "None at all."

For a moment, no one moved. Then the first sound of stone breaking echoed through the holy grounds.

Primrose turned toward the noise and saw several believers rushing toward one of the statues near the entrance.

They grabbed anything they could find and began striking the stone again and again. The same people who had prayed before that statue only moments ago were now trying to tear it down with their own hands.

Soon, the entire courtyard fell into chaos because people rushed in every direction to carry out Rose’s command.

Some entered the Holy Temple and began pulling sacred paintings from the walls, while others dragged books from the prayer rooms and threw them into piles outside.

Priests opened locked rooms that had been forbidden to ordinary believers for generations and carried out sacred artifacts that had once been treated as priceless treasures.

They were thrown onto the ground, crushed beneath people’s feet, or tossed into growing fires.

Rose watched in silence as a large statue was pulled from its place. It fell down the temple steps and shattered when it struck the ground.

On the other side, Primrose found that sight more frightening than Rose’s earlier smile.

There was no excitement in her eyes. There was no joy from finally getting revenge on the Gods she hated.

It was almost as if nothing could make her feel anything anymore.

Not long after, Primrose heard another voice inside her head.

[The statue! What am I doing?! That’s the statue of the Goddess I’ve worshiped since I was a child!]

A woman was crying as she struck the statue with a piece of wood.

Her body continued obeying Rose even as her mind screamed at her to stop.

[Please, someone stop me!]

Another voice quickly joined hers. [Gods, forgive me! Please forgive me! I can’t control my body!]

[Why can’t I stop?!]

Primrose could hear more and more voices filling her head. They prayed, begged, and cried for help, but their bodies continued carrying out Rose’s command.

As if destroying everything connected to the Gods was not enough, Rose’s eyes eventually moved toward the people who had once attended private confessions with her.

Rose stared at them for several seconds before speaking. "Kill them," she ordered. "Make it painful."

The people around them immediately turned. In an instant, countless believers rushed toward those unfortunate people.

Primrose remembered how differently they had once spoken about their private meetings with the Saintess. Some had proudly told their families and friends that they were lucky because they had been given the chance to speak with Rose personally.

Others had treated it like a great honor, something that proved the Gods had given them a special chance to confess their sins and receive guidance from the Saintess herself.

Now, that so-called blessing had marked them for death.

"No!"

"Saintess, please!"

Several of them tried to run, but the crowd quickly surrounded them. Some were dragged back before they could take more than a few steps, while others dropped to their knees and desperately begged Rose for mercy.

Screams soon mixed with the sounds of breaking statues and burning wood. Primrose did not want to watch, but there was nowhere for her to go.

She remained trapped inside Rose’s memory, forced to hear every terrified thought as the people who had once considered themselves fortunate for meeting the Saintess now desperately wished they had never entered that private room.

Some still begged Rose.

Others called upon the Gods.

Yet Rose did not take back her command.

She simply stood there with Edmond held close to her chest, listening to their prayers.

For years, Rose had been the one who told them that the Gods were merciful.

Now, she wanted to see whether those Gods would prove her right.