The Order of the Saints was situated at the highest point of Silent Hill. Built in a Gothic style, it was adorned with magnificent wall carvings and ornate decorations. Its sharp, towering spires pierced the clouds, as if intended to deliver their reverence for God directly to the heavens.
The residents who had been missing from the town seemed to have gathered here. Everyone wore a uniform consisting of a double-breasted white shirt, black trousers, and leather shoes, topped with a black hooded cloak. Holding white candles in their palms, they stood outside the doors in a quiet, orderly fashion.
Eventually, the heavy church doors slowly swung outward.
Without a word, they filed inside, clutching their white candles, and took their seats on the wooden pews. Everything proceeded as if it had been rehearsed countless times.
Dressed in the same attire, Que Tang walked at the very back. The moment she stepped into the church, the doors slammed shut behind her. Following the lead of those before her, she took a seat in an empty spot in the final row.
The entire cathedral was illuminated by the flickering candlelight. In the interplay of dim yellow light and deep shadows, the atmosphere felt eerie and surreal.
On the stage stood a female cultist who appeared to be the high-ranking leader of the Order. Above her hung an ancient, suspended metal candelabra, crowded with dozens of burning white candles.
And behind her... Que Tang’s pupils shrank. There lay an unconscious girl. Her petite body was bound to a wooden cross on a raised platform in mid-air, looking like a miniature crucifixion.
"Today, we shall let God judge this impure child," the woman on the stage declared in a low, resonant voice. "To see whether she is guilty or innocent."
A low, rumbling murmur of agreement rose from the congregation.
Que Tang frowned, her eyes scanning the interior of the church. Behind the girl on the cross—who looked exactly like Mianmian—stood a genuine divine statue, though Que Tang couldn't tell which deity it represented. Near her seat, she spotted a small staircase leading to the second floor.
She glanced left and right, and once she was sure no one was paying attention, she quietly slipped toward the stairs. Little Mushroom followed behind her, leisurely nibbling on a dried fish cracker. As soon as she reached the second floor, she saw a male cultist with his hood down, standing with his back to the stairs, guarding the area with a solemn expression. Without hesitation, she used her iron rod to knock him unconscious. She then pulled up her own hood to impersonate the guard.
Standing on the second floor, she realized there was a wooden box beside the man. It was secured with a combination lock and had only a small ventilation hole.
Que Tang knelt, took out her flashlight, and shone it through the hole. She saw a pair of eyes.
"Mama~"
Que Tang, initially startled, snapped back to her senses at the soft, sweet voice. "Mianmian?" She immediately moved to smash the box with her iron rod, but realized the noise would alert the people below. She reluctantly lowered the rod and stared at the combination lock instead.
A three-digit code... She suddenly remembered the hospital room number and figured it was worth a shot.
3, 3, 2.
The lock clicked open instantly. Carefully avoiding any noise, she opened the box to reveal a little girl dressed in a black dress, black shoes, and white socks. She had long, straight, deep-purple hair, and her eyes were brimming with tears as she looked up at Que Tang with a wronged expression.
"Mianmian," Que Tang whispered.
"Mama~" The little girl cried as she lunged into Que Tang’s arms. At the same time, she cast a glance behind Que Tang.
Que Tang held her, comforting her for a long while until the child stopped crying. "Be good, Mianmian. I’m taking you out of here."
"Now, let us invite Hilda to the stage," the female moderator below suddenly announced.
Que Tang looked back in disbelief. Hilda, dressed in the same cultist attire, stood on the stage with an expressionless face.
"My daughter was once a good, sensible child. But she must be the reincarnation of a demon, for she has been stained with the mark of impurity."
*Is this Hilda the same person I met in town?* Que Tang wondered, filled with confusion as she watched the woman heartlessly betray her own daughter.
"The Hilda in town is just Aiti’s imagination, meow~" Little Mushroom licked its paw and began grooming its fur. "The real Hilda didn't actually care much for Aiti, because Aiti made her life after the divorce much harder. Meow."
"I see..." Que Tang couldn't bring herself to say anything disparaging, even though Hilda had clearly failed as a mother.
She picked up the little girl, wrapping her inside the oversized cloak, and acted as if nothing were wrong as she descended from the second floor and turned right into the space beneath the stairs. She had scouted ahead and knew that the cultists who opened the church doors used this small side door. Gently pushing the wooden door open, she stepped into a side passage. She opened her cloak, allowing the little girl to poke her head out.
The girl stared at Que Tang with large, dark, innocent eyes.
Que Tang sighed softly, her gaze turning tender as she reached out to fondly rub the girl's head. Then, she spoke the name that caused the little girl’s expression to darken instantly. "Aiti."
*Time Remaining: 1:20:18.*
"Go home, quickly." Ignoring the resentment swelling in Aiti’s eyes, Que Tang tried to set her down, but Aiti clung to her tightly, refusing to let go.
"What about you?" At this moment, Aiti looked exactly like she did in the news photos—gloomy and detached.
"I still have to save Mianmian..." Que Tang forced a smile. Thinking of the unconscious Mianmian still tied to the wood, she struggled to keep her composure. "Aiti. You need to go home."
"No." Aiti buried her face in Que Tang’s chest, her arms locked around her neck. "No one wants me. I have no home to go back to."
"But I can't take you with me, Aiti," Que Tang tried to reason with her. "You’ll be safer at home than here. No one will ever be able to punish you in the name of God again."
"No... if you don't go save her now, they’re going to light the fire. Are you sure you want to waste time here with me?" Aiti whispered the upcoming plot directly into her ear.
In that moment, a flurry of thoughts flashed through Que Tang's mind: *#It's not my fault I'm so popular with little girls#, #Little girls these days are so dark, what will they be like when they grow up?#, #Mama, little girls are scary, what happened to the cute and moe ones?#*
Que Tang gritted her teeth and finally compromised. She took the rope she had found at Aiti’s house from her inventory, tied the girl to her back, and covered her again with the cloak.
*Time Remaining: 00:50:27.*
She climbed the stairs back to the second floor. Suddenly, someone walked up to her and handed her a lit wooden torch.
"You're lucky. Priestess Sephi said only the purest believer can accept the task of the Trial by Fire." The person’s voice was tinged with envy.
Que Tang said nothing. She kept her head down as she took the flaming torch, and in the same motion, knocked the man unconscious with a single punch. She rounded the corner and moved quickly toward the walkway connecting the second floor to the platform, holding the torch high.
*Time Remaining: 00:39:43.*
"Now, let us light the holy fire and let God judge her!" As the female cultist finished her speech, the crowd below erupted into a frenzy.
Amidst the wave of almost pathological cheering, Que Tang stepped onto the walkway and slowly approached the cross where Mianmian was bound.
"Light it!" the priestess commanded.
But in the next moment, everyone below looked up in confusion at their silent companion on the second floor.
"Karl, what are you doing? I said light it!" Realizing something was wrong, the priestess barked the order again, her voice tense. "Karl!"
*Time Remaining: 00:28:26.*
"I'm sorry, but I'm not Karl." Accompanied by a clear, feminine voice, Que Tang threw off the cloak, revealing her face and the girl strapped to her.
"A de—a demon... This is a demon trying to stop us!" The priestess recoiled in terror. "Quickly! Go up there and seize her! Let the judgment continue, or God will send down punishment! There is little time left!"
Countless figures in black cloaks immediately rushed up the stairs from both sides toward the platform.
Que Tang quickly untied Mianmian, shed her cloak, and set Aiti down to stay with her. She hoisted the heavy cross—which was taller than she was—and swung it, knocking back the first wave of attackers. A group of men in black tumbled down to the first floor.
At the same time, she pulled out the dinner knife she had swiped from Aiti’s dining table. In a desperate, last-ditch effort, she hurled it at the iron chain holding the massive candelabra.
*Clang—!*
The knife struck the chain with a crisp metallic ring. A second later, the chandelier plummeted to the first floor, smashing the altar to pieces.
The priestess stared in shock at the ruined church and let out a pained, piercing shriek. "Ahhh—!"
*Time Remaining: 00:17:00.*
A strange, searing heat began to emanate from the church floor. Que Tang, still fending off the endless stream of cultists, stole a glance downward. A bizarre black hole had appeared in the center of the room.
*There couldn't actually be such a thing as a demon, right?*
In the next instant, all the black-cloaked figures stopped their movements. As if performing a mass sacrifice, they all began leaping into the black hole.
Watching the figures being sucked into the eerie void one by one, Que Tang sensed that the power of the black hole was growing stronger.
Sensing the danger, Que Tang turned back and scooped up Mianmian. "Aiti, help me carry the rod! Quick, come with me!" She grabbed Aiti and hurried back the way they came, down to the small side door. Just as she was about to open the wooden door to the outside, a sharp pain exploded at the back of her head. She fell backward, unable to control her body.
"Ugh..." Before she blacked out, the last thing Que Tang saw was Aiti holding the iron rod she had just handed her.
"Tangtang, you can rest easy now." A look of joy appeared on Aiti’s gloomy, melancholic face.
*Time Remaining: 00:00:30.*
"Game cleared," the monotone voice announced in her earpiece. But Que Tang could no longer hear it.
"Meow~ Soul core obtained. Phase two fusion initiated." Little Mushroom sat in front of Aiti, looking up at her.
Aiti knelt and patted the cat's head. Then she walked over to Mianmian, who was still slumped in Que Tang’s arms, and leaned down to kiss her. Her body began to turn transparent, but Aiti maintained the gesture until she vanished completely.
"Phase two fusion complete."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 圣徒会 | The Order of the Saints | The religious cult in the story. |
| 瑟菲牧师 | Priestess Sephi | A high-ranking leader of the cult. |
| 卡尔 | Karl | The name of the cultist Que Tang impersonates. |
| 灵魂核心 | Soul Core | A key item or objective in the game. |
| 融合 | Fusion | The process of Aiti and Mianmian merging. |
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Transmigrated as the Mary Sue: The Villainess's Revenge System | Chapter 53 | The Final Judgment | Novela.app | Novela.app
