”Are you even doing anything, or simply using this chance to touch all over Zach’s body?” Victoria commented, feeling furious at what Ninia told her a while ago.
Victoria and Aria expected Ninia to snap at them, but instead, she ignored them and continued examining Zach.
In truth, Ninia wanted to touch all over Zach’s body, but currently, she could only touch him on the chest and stomach area as only his top was removed.
A few minutes later, Ninia’s gaze fell on the side of Zach’s nape that had the sigil representing a demon.
”…!” She stepped back in shock and ended up bumping into Victoria.
”What are you doing?!” Victoria yelled at Ninia.
Ninia pointed her finger at Zach’s neck and said while stuttering, “There is a sigil representing a demon on his neck.”
Of course, Victoria and Aria already knew about that, but it was Ninia’s first time seeing it.
She was also surprised when Zach unleashed the demons during the ten battles, and just like Zach’s other worshipers, she was scared of Zach. But her devotion towards Zach was so high that she never doubted him.
After meeting with Zach yesterday, Ninia walked around the capital and met Zach’s followers. She explained to them his necromancy powers and convinced them that Zach had nothing to do with the demon invasion, and he was their savior.
Some believed Ninia, but some were reluctant. Ninia understood their reasons, and she didn’t try to force them to join the religion.
However, she just saw a demon sigil on Zach’s body, and she couldn’t help, but think of the unspeakable things.
Blasphemy.
”What’s wrong?” Aria asked Ninia. “I thought you were better than us. Was your faith that shallow? Where did your devotion go? Where is your loyalty?”
”…”
”When you worship a god, you have to worship them without any doubts in your mind and heart. It’s okay if you don’t have a pure heart or mind, but don’t let it get corrupt…” Aria uttered in a low and calm voice, but with a distant smile on her face.
Talking about faith and devotion reminded Aria of the time when she ruled the world with Erza.
Aria’s words struck deep in Ninia’s heart. She felt disgusted after doubting her faith in Zach.
’How could I do something terrible? He is my lord. He gave me everything. He promised me that he would make me his prophet. He called me by my name. He saved everyone. He is so kind to everyone. Yet… I…’ Ninia clenched her fist and bit her lips with a painful expression on her face.
The physical pain wasn’t more painful for her than the sting she was feeling in her heart.
’I don’t deserve to be his first follower. If I doubt him, who will trust him?’ Ninia asked herself.
’I said to his mistresses that I could have protected him better than them, yet I failed to understand the true meaning behind the relationship. It’s not about protecting, it’s not about love and devotion, it’s about knowing and understanding each other.’
’I don’t have what they have in common. But… one day… I will…’
While Ninia’s faith might have wavered for a moment, her will to devote her soul and body to Zach hasn’t changed. And because her faith wavered, it was now stronger than before. But she was worried about what his followers might think when they got to know about that.
Now that Ninia’s mind was clear, and her heart was longing to help Zach, she tried her best to find out the reason behind Zach’s slumber.
A few more minutes later, Ninia turned to Aria and Victoria and said, “I think someone has marked him.”
Aria raised her brows with a curious look on her face and asked, “What type of mark is it?”
”I am not sure, but that’s the reason why Lord Zach isn’t waking up.”
”I did think of that possibility, but I never thought someone would actually be able to mark him…” Aria muttered.
”Wait, what are you two talking about? What is mark, and what the hell is going on?” Victoria asked with a confused and curious look on her face.
”Let me explain…” Aria turned to Victoria and said, “Marking is a phenomenon where someone puts a mark on you with a curse on it that affects the soul and puts the person in a slumber.”
”That sounds dangerous! How did someone manage to mark him?!” Victoria panicked. “Cerberus said he didn’t sense any presence.”
”Calm down. It’s not as bad as you think, otherwise, more symptoms should already be showing on his body.” Aria glanced at Zach’s body and said, “Most likely, it is just a normal mark.”
”So, how do we remove the mark from him?!”
”We have to find the person who marked him,” Ninia quipped.
”But how could someone mark him in the first place? He is strong. He is a God! How can someone—”
Aria interrupted Victoria and said, “It’s because of his soul powers.”
”Huh?”
”After becoming a god, he gained followers who worshiped him. But with kindness, naturally comes evil,” Aria stated.
”So are you saying that someone who doesn’t like Zach being a god did this to him?” Victoria asked to confirm.
”Indeed.” Aria nodded and continued, “And since it’s a spiritual curse, his stats have nothing to with it. His soul defense is still low, and that might be the reason why… this happened…”
Victoria pondered for a while and said, “So how are we going to find the person who marked Zach?”
”There is no way to find that. It’s not given that it was done by an NPC or a player. There might be some other beings in the game.”
”Uhh…”
”Just like how Zach isn’t a normal human, there could also be other players who are not humans, you know?”
Victoria shrugged her shoulders and said, “How is that helping us in this case?”
”I think I know a way to defeat the curse!” Ninia chimed in.
”Oh?”
While Aria, Victoria, and Ninia were trying to remove the curse, Zach was having a trip to his distant memory.
***
Total players in the game- 1,482,883
0 new players logged in.
7 players died.
====
Thanks, @Raphael_Flores, for the gift!