Saintess? Not Anymore! I'd Rather be a Destroyer-Chapter 345 - 282: But it’s my money

"As the Sacred and Saintess of our church, it’s your duty to contribute to our finances. We’ve struggled to keep this place running while you’ve been hoarding millions for yourself," Kairo said with a heavy sigh, her sharp gaze fixed on Aurianna.

"You... but it’s my money," Aurianna grumbled, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Please, for the sake of the church." Dielle extended his hand, expecting her to hand it over.

"Never!" Aurianna hissed, pulling back as if they had just asked her to sever a limb.

"Aurianna..." Jade started, his tone cautious.

"You are not to butt into this, Jade," she snapped, throwing him a glare.

Before she could react further, radiant chains of light wrapped around her body, tightening against her limbs. Her eyes widened in shock. The people being ushered into the portals hesitated, eager to stay and watch the spectacle, but they were forced to move on.

"What?! Chains of light?!" Aurianna gasped, struggling against the bindings.

A chuckle echoed through the air, and from a flicker of golden energy, Gixo appeared in his miniature form, arms crossed and a smug grin plastered across his face.

"How dare you do this to me, Gixo?" Aurianna growled coldly, her eyes burning with betrayal.

Gixo only smirked, nodding to himself. ’This is payback for all the hurtful things she’s said to me.’

With a dramatic snap of his fingers, two space rings materialized in his tiny hands. He tossed them to Dielle and Kairo, then snapped again. Instantly, shimmering magic coins began raining down from the air.

"Noooo! My money!!!" Aurianna wailed in sheer agony, thrashing wildly as if each falling coin physically wounded her. She yanked at the glowing chains, but they refused to budge.

The flood of wealth continued until the entire podium was buried under a dazzling mountain of crystal magic coins. Gasps of astonishment filled the air as no one dared to touch the treasure, all eyes locked onto Aurianna with disbelief.

"That’s exactly 500,000 magic coins!" Gixo declared triumphantly, puffing out his tiny chest.

"T-That much...?" Dielle stammered, his voice nearly a whisper as he stared at the endless sea of wealth before them. "This... this can keep our church afloat for thousands of years!"

Kairo’s fingers twitched as she resisted the urge to dive into the pile, while Aurianna could only glare murderously at Gixo, her teeth clenched.

"You. Will. Pay for this," she seethed, her rage barely contained.

Gixo, still smug, floated back, humming. "Nah I don’t think so."

"She’s quite a selfish child," Vatium chuckled as he strolled up to the scene, his amused gaze settling on Aurianna.

Aurianna gritted her teeth, veins popping on her forehead as she shot a furious glare at Gixo. "How dare you do this, Gixo? Do you know I can punish you?" she threatened, her voice laced with unrestrained fury.

Gixo, completely unfazed, tilted his head with a cocky smirk. "Oh? But I just figured something out." He floated closer, his golden eyes gleaming mischievously. "As long as what I do is for your sake and aligns with your ideals with all my heart, I won’t be affected by any sort of punishment, right, Aurianna?" 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Aurianna’s scowl deepened, but her fingers twitched slightly. ’Wait...’ She swallowed hard, her confidence wavering.

’I didn’t even know that...’ she thought nervously.

[He’s right, actually,] the System confirmed in a monotone voice.

Aurianna gasped, her eyes widening. "What?!"

Jade chuckled darkly as he appeared beside her, his presence looming. "If what Gixo said is true, then Aurianna, I should drag you back to the church to complete all those mountains of paperwork you abandoned." With a flick of his wrist, the glowing chains tightened, lifting her slightly off the ground. "Because of your selfishness, we’re far behind. You can’t just dump everything on me and run off to play school with a bunch of kids in another country."

Aurianna’s face contorted in outrage as she flailed against the chains. "Damn you bastards! Have you no respect for your master?!" Her voice wobbled with frustration, and for a brief moment, their hearts wavered at the sight of her teary eyes.

But then, remembering her usual antics, they all steeled themselves.

"Who respects a stingy master, anyway?" Avriel scoffed, flipping her hair dismissively.

Jugi clamped a hand over his mouth, barely holding back laughter, while Hadina—usually one of Aurianna’s more sympathetic supporters—sighed in exasperation.

"I demand you let me go!" Aurianna shrieked, thrashing harder. "This was my moment to look cool! My moment to shine! And you had to ruin it with all this finances talk! Weren’t you guys doing well enough selling our new products?"

A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she noticed several people lingering near the portal, whispering amongst themselves, clearly entertained by the drama unfolding before them.

Her face turned red with both fury and embarrassment. "What are you all staring at?! Keep moving!" she barked.

The onlookers jolted in fear and immediately scrambled toward the portal, their curiosity no longer worth Aurianna’s wrath.

"You really don’t understand the mess you’ve caused, Aurianna," Jugi sighed, rubbing his temples. "We need proper finances to pay members their allowances. That’s what keeps them motivated to work."

Aurianna huffed, crossing her arms. "It’s still my money!"

"And besides, you’d never be able to spend all of that, even if you tried." Vatium stated.

Jugi let out a low chuckle. "That true. She just wants to be greedy."

"So? it’s still my money!" Aurianna cut in, puffing out her cheeks in defiance.

Boara, who had been silently observing, exhaled sharply, her patience clearly wearing thin. "What a stubborn child." Her cold gaze flicked to Jade. "Drag her away and make sure she completes whatever work she’s been neglecting. We can’t afford to cultivate a lazy nor selfish master."

"Gladly," Jade replied, smirking. Before Aurianna could protest, a spell wrapped around her lips, sealing them shut. She let out a muffled scream, but Jade only chuckled as he effortlessly lifted her and stepped through the portal.

Once the last of the people had entered, the leaders of Vatium’s organization did a final sweep to ensure no one was left behind before shutting the portals completely.