Chapter 192: Allemier (2)
Humanity has always revered someone transcendent.
They prayed to the gods for what they could not achieve with their own power, and longed for the gods’ help for what they could not reach with their own hands.
Faith was the pillar that supported people.
It was also the last line of defense that strengthened the weak human heart.
Most people cried out the names of the gods in desperate moments, and sought the help of miracles.
“……”
Then what are the gods?
What does the world call and cry out as gods?
Why do humans fear what they call evil gods, and worship what they call good gods?
What criteria determine the line of right reason, and label what is on the opposite side as evil?
“■■……”
It was not an easy story to conclude.
Countless people had their own faiths, and countless faiths claimed their own truths.
I did not know what could be called the most valuable belief.
I could not even properly know who was allowed to tie the knot.
But there was something clearly left that I could understand with my shallow insight.
“Ma… ster……”
There are people somewhere in the world who cry out my name.
There are those who try to move forward even if they break and fall into the abyss.
Many people live day by day relying on their faith in me.
I do not know if I have the right to bear such faith.
Yet only by repaying their faith, I was given———.
“Master!”
Thud.
I woke up from the thoughts that weighed on my mind at Estasia’s voice.
I gasped for breath and looked around, only to see the darkened sky reflected in the window.
The scenery outside the divine realm was false, but the concept of time was not much different from the outside.
“……Estasia. How much time has passed?”
I moved my parched throat and opened my mouth toward Estasia.
A weak voice flowed from my cracked throat.
When I asked Estasia about the current time, she pointed at the window with her hand and said.
“Three days have passed.”
“Already three days?”
I rubbed my head that felt like it was going to break and recalled what had happened so far.
As the power of [Device: Smartphone] was released by one level due to causality adjustment, I was able to access <Karma’s Heavenly Voice> for a moment.
And I was swept away by the waves of information and thoughts in there for a while.
I managed to find a clue in the end, but the time I felt was not that long.
The time gap was bigger than I thought.
“Yes.”
“Pluto… Then what happened to Pluto?”
The last situation I faced came back to my mind.
Pluto in my memory was clearly fighting against the angels who approached the ground.
If nearly three days had passed since then, the battle must have reached some conclusion.
I had to check Pluto’s condition right away.
I quickly found my smartphone and looked at Pluto’s appearance on the screen.
– “……”
Pluto on the smartphone screen was dozing off.
He leaned on a black dragon as a pillow, and there were many feathers flying around him.
Around Pluto, there were also believers who were repairing the collapsed buildings of the cult.
It seemed that he somehow defended against the angels’ attack.
His body was covered with thick blood, showing the intensity of the battle.
“Master closed his eyes and fought with the black dragon for a long time.”
“What happened to the angels?”
“They all retreated as if something went wrong.”
“……That’s a relief.”
Pluto’s own power was formidable, and the sudden appearance of Naias also helped him to some extent.
I was relieved that the cult’s believers did not suffer a complete annihilation.
I sighed with relief and looked at Pluto soaked in blood.
He seemed to be in a deep sleep, as if he was exhausted from the battle.
“I guess it’s hard to send him to battle right now.”
It was a fight with an overwhelming difference in numbers.
If it wasn’t Pluto who stayed here, but another apostle, I couldn’t be sure if he could have done this much.
He had fought too hard, so he needed some time to recover here.
For a while, it was safe to say that Pluto was out of power.
The battle in the holy land was entirely up to the other apostles.
“And I got a message from Aronia.”
As I watched Pluto sleeping soundly, Estasia blinked her halo and said.
It was a message about the information gathering that I had asked Aronia earlier.
I put down the smartphone in my hand and turned my eyes to Estasia.
Pluto’s fight to protect the cult was important, but the information collected by Aronia was also very important.
“What did he say?”
“He found some information about the Temple of Harmony.”
The fight here was entirely up to me, just like the fight in the holy land was up to the other apostles.
I had no one else to rely on like a god.
* * * * * *
“……How terrible.”
The second apostle of the cult, Evan Allemier, opened his mouth as he watched the knights rising from their seats.
He had paralyzed them several times with his lightning, but he failed to completely cut off their breaths because of the interference of Revelz, the knight commander.
The black sword, Revelz Ederunt.
He was as strong as his reputation that he had heard since Evan was a knight.
He had the skill that matched his nickname, the Sword of Crossbridge.
“——O Goddess, guide me on the right path.”
More troublesome than Revelz’s attack was Revelz’s holy power that healed the knights who fell by Evan’s attack.
The knights who were exposed to Astraphe’s lightning were incapacitated, but they soon returned to the front line after receiving treatment from Revelz.
And if there was even one intact knight left, he would immediately heal other knights.
He had to sweep away the enemies at once if possible.
“Do you believe in the path that the goddess guides you?”
Clang.
Evan held his magic sword that his master had bestowed upon him and asked.
Beyond his magic sword that flashed with black lightning, he saw Revelz’s face with an unpleasant expression.
Revelz seemed to dislike Evan’s question and retorted with an angry voice.
“……What do you know, you traitor of humanity and servant of the evil god.”
“Well. The path that the goddess guided me to is here.”
Evan tilted his magic sword with a smile.
Crackle. Crackle.
The black light grew from his lightning magic sword in his hand.
The magic sword’s ability to amplify the power of lightning was not something to be taken lightly.
The power of the lightning that Evan shot with all his strength increased by half compared to before.
As he aimed his sword wrapped in lightning at the enemies in front of him, Revelz twitched his eyebrows and asked him.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Even if I prayed with everything I had, the reality I faced was all there was.”
“You arrogant bastard. It was your choice to abandon the right path.”
Revelz also held his black holy sword and took a stance, preparing to counter Evan’s lightning.
The sharp black holy sword absorbed the light under the darkness.
Evan thought that it was a weapon that did not suit the name of a holy sword.
Revelz’s black holy sword was a very different weapon from other holy swords.
“Even a light answer did not reach me when I condemned it.”
“It’s because your faith in the goddess was lacking. The goddess always gives a proper answer to those who have pure faith.”
He denied all the faith he had built up himself.
Evan’s eyes soaked in emptiness looked at Revelz’s holy sword.
Some people in the world are chosen directly by the goddess and live a glorious life as heroes.
On the other hand, some others are abandoned by the goddess and resist endless trials until they break and snap.
And the goddess of honor he believed in chose not Evan himself, but a farmer from a rural village.
“Are you saying that my faith was less than Peter’s?”
It was a ridiculous story no matter how he thought about it.
Peter, who was doubtful whether he had prayed properly, was more pure than the knight who had devoted everything to the goddess.
He did not want to resent Peter now.
Nor did he want to agree with the story that denied his past.
“The goddess knows everything.”
“……Yes. Hearing that from someone who reached the peak of knighthood, I feel like my mind is a little clearer.”
He was someone Evan admired once.
He was still guarding the gate of the holy land as he did in those days Evan admired.
The one who changed was Evan himself.
Evan was no longer a knight who blindly followed the goddess’s guidance.
Crackle.
As the condensed lightning emitted black light, Evan spoke to Revelz in front of him.
“Did I say that I broke because of my lack of faith?”
“It’s nothing but a fool’s step.”
“Then let me say it again.”
There was only one thing that Evan Allemier here had to do.
To cut off the admiration he had built up since childhood with his own hands.
Red sparks flew from Evan’s determined eyes.
Evan swung his magic sword with all his might with his eyes shining brightly.
“I am Evan Allemier, the second apostle.”
The black storm of lightning burst out and covered their sight.
Kwagwagwagwang!
The fierce storm of lightning stretched out toward Revelz and the knights.
Darkness covered the sky once, and then light tore through space.
Revelz also swung his sword to defend against the sharp trajectory that rushed toward him.
“——Light!”
Zap. Zzzzap.
Revelz’s holy sword began to refract space and moved to block Evan’s attack.
The black sword that flowed smoothly without unnecessary movements was sucked into the center of the storm in an instant.
As Revelz’s holy sword swung to collide with Evan’s magic sword.
Evan swiftly twisted his trajectory as he felt a powerful energy from the side.
“……!”
A little away from where their swords were about to clash.
There, a massive magic was gathering.
Light and heat. And the immense pressure from the compressed air.
It was a strike that could be fatal if he allowed it in an unprotected state.
‘I’ll be in trouble if I let this attack hit me.’
Evan swung his storm of lightning with his desperate hand at the unknown magic.
Crackle.
The lightning burst along the forced curve.
Evan’s magic sword moved to block the fire magic that flew toward him.
A blazing flame rose from where the magic appeared and covered the whole space with scorching heat.
“——Fire Storm.”
“Hus Allemier……!
Right after the voice of the magic chant and Revelz’s shout echoed.
The storm of lightning and the storm of fire collided in the air.
Evan’s body was pushed back as he twisted his center in the overlapping storm.
Kwaaaaang——!
Evan’s body lost its balance and bounced off the wall.
His sight shook in the air as he held his magic sword.
“Kugh……!”
It was a difficult situation to respond properly to the strike that came during the collision with Revelz.
Even Evan, who barely dodged the heat, could not ignore the force that pushed him away.
As he was pushed back by the shock wave, Evan pulled up his magic in his hand with a gauntlet.
He tried to stop his body before he got too far from the wall.
“——Astraphe!”
Crackle.
The wings of lightning spread out and offset most of the force that pushed Evan away.
Evan stabbed his magic sword into the ground to withstand the remaining force.
Kagagagak!
The ground where he stabbed his sword was scarred and Evan’s body stopped.
“Hah……”
He was able to stand still a little further from where he spread his wings.
A rough breath burst out of Evan’s mouth as he stabbed his sword into the ground.
The sudden magic that he did not detect was more powerful than he expected.
And there were only two people in Crossbridge who could do such a level of attack.
“I missed you. The second apostle, Evan Allemier.”
“You are……”
Hero. Or someone equivalent to that.
One of them was Arein Crost, an unrivaled genius.
And the other one was———.
“Let me introduce myself for the first time. The hero of knowledge, Hus Allemier.”
Evan Allemier’s only brother.
Hus Allemier.
He was standing in front of Evan with his magic.
