Chapter 198: Choice (1)
The surroundings were quiet. The appearance of Serikarad Square was quite strange.
Some torches were still faintly burning, and there were marble slabs. However, most of the platforms that were directly hit by my magic were broken and shattered.
Due to the spell with an immense amount of power, some of the phenomena that were overlaid on the sanctuary were peeled off, revealing its original form.
A devout and sacred appearance, an appearance destroyed by magic, and an appearance submerged in water and then revealed as time passed.
It was a sight that looked as if the past and present were half-mixed.
“Hope is truly cruel, isn’t it?”
In that strange background, I muttered to the Holy Knight who was half-kneeling and sitting down.
The fight was over.
The massive spell that had just fallen mercilessly severed the chains of the ancient times, and Laothir seemed to have no strength left to continue the battle.
“……”
There was no answer.
Stained blood and faintly flickering light.
Like the landscape of the half-destroyed sanctuary, it showed that his power was almost exhausted.
I could easily notice it. The fact that the life of the guy tied here is on the same track as the sanctuary.
If I just reach out in this state.
I could close the last, fifth sanctuary.
“……”
I closed the orb where demonic energy was flowing out. Even though I had consumed a considerable amount of power, there was still enough power left, but now that the battle was over, it would only bring unnecessary pain.
“The feeling of being left alone behind the sentence is always dirty.”
Slowly uttered words. The noble Paladin slowly raised his head.
He was already unable to carry out the battle any further. Even the simple act of lifting his dropped head seemed quite difficult.
“……That’s right.”
Relatively indifferent words were uttered. There was no resentment for defeat, nor anger towards the archenemy that he could not overcome in the end.
But I could read the hesitation hidden behind the calm words.
“……Actually.”
A slight hesitation. The Paladin continued speaking slowly.
“Those who have the most blood on their hands are the ones who call out God’s name the loudest.”
They were not words spoken lightly. It might have been a thought he had from the beginning, but perhaps it was a word that came from the anguish and reflection of the long years he had to spend here.
Now that it has come to an end. It was also a word that resonated with me a little.
“If those who claim to be believers forsake God’s will, how can they be called believers?”
“Well.”
I opened my mouth to the Paladin who was looking at me while struggling to raise his head.
“The actions of the false hypocrites who pretend to be saviors cannot be called God’s will.”
It was a word that was nothing more than blasphemy to a member of the Order that serves the Archangel, but the guy bowed his head without raising any particular objection.
“Do you know the meaning of my surname?”
I asked the Paladin. Without waiting for an answer, I continued speaking while looking up at the half-broken sky.
The surname that a little boy named Astrid, who barely survived in a small village, gave himself was a word that was not very noble.
Elliger.
A word meaning choice in an ancient language that is now forgotten.
“Elliger.”
As if he knew, I nodded while listening to the words that were uttered like a whisper.
Clang. At the same time, a crude-looking longsword was slowly drawn from my waist.
Now that the battle is over. Now, instead of the demonic energy that has all disappeared, the light slowly seeps out. I muttered while looking at the Paladin in front of me.
“One thing is for sure.”
A firm tone. I spoke while fixing my gaze on him.
“There is always a choice. Always, to everyone.”
“……Is that so.”
A short answer. The Paladin’s head, which had been lowered for a while, was slowly raised again.
“I’ll show you.”
Sweep. The guy, who was barely maintaining his posture without collapsing while kneeling on one knee, raised his hand with difficulty.
At the same time, a slight halo of light began to spread.
“……”
I did not stop him from doing so.
The battle is over, and he cannot change this result. But of course, it was because I knew too well what kind of emotions he was acting with now.
As the flames of the brazier, which had not yet been extinguished, maintaining the sacred white flame, flickered and went out.
Whoosh.
The past appearance was overlaid on the square of an unclear time period.
🔹🔹🔹
Serikarad Square was still noisy.
The entrance to the square was narrow, and it was not an easy task for tens of thousands of people to all get out.
However, the beings who caused a huge commotion here currently were those who did not care about such trivial facts at all.
“Hmm.”
The messed up execution stand. Fragments of the hard and solid slabs that seemed to last forever despite the passage of time were scattered around, broken and unsightly.
Where the gazes of the two Great Demons met.
A giant figure of light was slowly descending from the sky.
「How dare you step foot here.」
A voice with a strange resonance flowed from the light. The resonance containing enormous divinity had the momentum to make everyone who serves the doctrine kneel down involuntarily.
However, what came back to those stern words was a light laugh.
Chuckle. The pale-looking man, Pachiencia of Patience, who burst into laughter that could even be considered frivolous, looked up at the halo of light with an exaggerated gesture and said.
“Why don’t you stop that pathetic role-playing, Nishidius?”
“……Insolent bastard.”
Slide. The halo of light slowly gathered, forming the shape of an angel. The four pairs of wings on his back, symbolizing the Archangel, slowly flapped.
The Archangel of Sloth, Nishidius, who looked at the Great Demon who was not greatly injured even after two pillars of light with hateful eyes, slowly opened his mouth.
“I don’t even want to ask why you filthy things have set foot here.”
Sweep. The Archangel continued, looking at a corpse that was relatively intact on one side of the broken execution stand. A sign that he didn’t want to talk any more.
“Get out of here and back to hell.”
“That’s a problem.”
Amadrid of Purity flicked her long, white finger at the Archangel’s words.
“That guy.”
She whispered, pointing to the corpse of a Black Mage lying where the Archangel’s gaze had just been directed.
“There’s something we all need to receive.”
Rumble─
As if responding to the Great Demon’s words, a new voice echoed through the halo of light that spread from the sky once again.
「According to the Law of Stigma, we will take his soul. Even thousands of years of suffering under the flames of purification would not be enough.」
“Don’t talk nonsense, Parmellion. The contract we made with him takes precedence over the stigma you unilaterally stamped.”
「……Modestia.」
The Archangel frowned at the appearance of another Great Demon, holding a mace in one hand, emerging from the thick shadows beneath the broken fragments.
Growl.
The energies of the beings with supreme power, appearing one after another, collided, creating deep waves.
Those who had not yet escaped the square all lost consciousness and collapsed, and the space was twisting and bending, unable to withstand the power of both sides.
The beginning was greed, or perhaps interest.
It was true that the soul of that great Black Mage held immense value, but it did not mean enough for the transcendent beings to risk everything.
However, now that they had all appeared on the ground and started a confrontation, each side was in a position where they could not easily back down.
But in a situation where their pride was already at stake, retreating and backing down was out of the question.
As both sides gradually raised their energy, the sky began to flash. At first, little by little. But as time passed, more and more.
Finally, to the point where both sides raised their heads and looked up.
“……!”
The confrontation between the Archangels and the Great Demons.
But none of them anticipated this situation.
Rumble─
Above the heavens where the Archangels reside. The flickering of beautiful stars illuminated the clouds.
“That’s……”
Modestia of Humility, who seemed as if she would swing her mace at any moment, also looked up with a hardened face.
Beyond the sky and clouds. The sight of thousands, tens of thousands of stars floating in a cluster.
A spectacle of overwhelming majesty.
It felt as if we were getting a glimpse of the background that makes up the world.
The most primal and mysterious sight.
It was like God’s wrath. Or perhaps it was just the result of distorted causality and space, inevitably occurring due to the transcendent beings violating their respective restrictions and forcibly engaging in a power struggle.
However, the supreme beings who were in a tense confrontation here could instinctively feel it.
Whatever its true identity, it was conveying a warning to them, who were trying to violate the restrictions and laws of the earth.
A situation where something might happen if they used even a little more power.
The supreme beings could no longer move easily.
A slight looseness came to the confrontation that had been tense as if it were about to explode at any moment. And a serious voice came through that gap.
“How about making a bet?”
The Great Demon who had been watching the situation from the darkness and revealed himself after feeling the overwhelming wave of power. The Great Demon of Kindness, Pudicitia, who took the appearance of an old man with gray hair, spoke to everyone.
“……A bet?”
An unpleasant question. But everyone immediately understood the meaning contained in the old man’s words.
“Us? Over just that one thing? Ha.”
The Archangel of Sloth, Nishidius, let out a hollow laugh as if it was absurd.
Some of the Great Demons also had unpleasant faces. But everyone hardened their expressions at the words that followed, as if agreeing.
「Then let’s raise the stakes a bit.」
The Archangel of Envy, Azriel, who once again revealed himself amidst the halo of light filling the clouds, spoke as if amused.
「If that human’s soul is too light for everyone to be involved, we can just raise the stakes.」
“……What are you talking about?”
The Great Demon of Industriousness, Industria, who had first appeared from the audience, asked while brushing off the dust on his antique clothes.
Then, the answer came back.
「All of humanity.」
A momentary silence. Then the Archangel’s words continued.
「Wouldn’t this make things a little more interesting?」
It was a short statement without any further explanation, but everyone who heard it immediately understood.
A bet with all of humanity at stake. A huge gamble decided by the choices made by humans themselves, with minimal intervention.
“……Hmm.”
The Great Demon’s heavy groan flowed like fog.
The fact that no one objected by flaring up meant that both sides thought they had a chance of winning.
In a way, it was also the cleanest method. It avoided mutual destruction or a clash that might incur God’s wrath. And to make a bet from the standpoint that the human race is closer to their respective values.
“……Not bad.”
Starting with the Great Demon of Industriousness, Industria, the Great Demons nodded one by one.
Some of them seemed not very pleased, but they still didn’t seem to think they would lose.
Because they were convinced that human nature lies in evil.
The choice that humans will make. If intervention is minimized, they would be able to win without difficulty.
“Good.”
「We agree as well.」
The words of the Archangels and the Great Demons intertwined.
Out-of-specification beings.
The promises made by such beings, by themselves, hold immense power.
The words of the Archangels and the Great Demons were tied together and settled in the back of the world.
Whoosh. At the same time, the tensely confronting power slowly disappeared.
Now that the huge bet had begun, there was no reason to stay on the ground, wasting any more power.
「Ah, before that.」
The Archangel of Envy, Azriel, looked at the messy square and turned his gaze to one side. There, a Paladin was lying in a miserable state, holding onto the Holy Sword until the end, with his tongue gone.
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