Chapter 204: The Descent of the Evil God (2)
I didn’t need to wonder who the owner of the voice was.
There was only one being who could walk around with such leisure in the temple of Harmony that had been occupied by the cult.
The goddess of Harmony.
She had descended into the body of the saintess who served her and was watching us.
I pulled Eutenia, who was floating in the air, into my arms and greeted the goddess of Harmony, who had cut off the rope and came out.
-“I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“What a nice way of speaking. You’re quite different from usual.”
The smartphone with the power of the divine was only for the being in front of me.
It wasn’t strange that she could use it freely.
She had revealed herself to me through a temporary divine manifestation.
The goddess of Harmony, who appeared by cutting through the darkness, smiled at me and Eutenia.
Of course, there was no way that a physical restraint could have a lasting effect on a god.
-“It depends on who I’m dealing with.”
“That makes me a little sad.”
I suppressed my inner feelings as I looked at the goddess of Harmony who appeared in front of me.
She was here according to my calculations.
I had performed the ritual in this place from the beginning for that purpose.
The important thing was from now on.
The descent was just the first step for the future plan.
“How do you like your new body? I helped you out a bit.”
-“It’s not bad, considering.”
“Couldn’t you praise me a little more? The child you cherish must have worked hard too.”
As I responded appropriately to the conversation that came from the being in front of me, I began to feel the gap between my body and mind.
The body that was here now was created to share and control the senses.
Somewhere in my consciousness, there must have been my original body that was facing Estasia.
Thanks to the fragment of truth that I gained by becoming a god, I had some clues.
I followed those clues and moved on, holding Eutenia’s head tightly in my arms.
-“You did well. Eutenia.”
“Yes…”
I continued to move my consciousness busily to find a point somewhere.
Estelle had two divine statuses and was active freely in two worlds.
I didn’t think it would be impossible for me to do the same.
In an instant, I found the root of my consciousness that was splitting apart in my thoughts.
A huge stem of information and ideas was connected to something.
“I’ll say it again, but I’d appreciate it if you paid a little attention to the eyes in front of you.”
I understood what the heteromorphic passage meant without difficulty.
It was a line that connected this body and my soul.
I climbed up along that stem and connected my thoughts to my body on Earth.
The deliberately divided thoughts reached beyond the end of my flesh and touched my original flesh.
Zzzz—.
My shaky vision split and now two senses coexisted in my head.
-“Master…?”
“O great one…”
Eutenia. And Estasia.
The two of them, standing in different worlds, appeared in my sight at the same time.
It was quite confusing to process the sensations from two perspectives at once.
Nevertheless, thanks to the many growths I had experienced so far, it didn’t take long for me to adapt to the split vision.
I calmed down my divided consciousness and spoke to Eutenia.
-“It’s thanks to you and the apostles that I’m here now. And among them, the one who suffered the most was, of course, my first apostle.”
“…”
-“I will reward those who participated in this great event accordingly.”
The second preparation for the plan was completed.
Now it was time to move on to the next step.
Many conditions had to be met at the same time for the goal I was aiming for.
If I thought about the contract I made with that woman, the heroes would be coming here by now.
I had to use that fact to somehow move the goddess of Harmony.
“You might not have time to spend so leisurely like that.”
Just then, the goddess of Harmony looked at me and uttered a sigh.
It seemed that the heroes were coming here as planned.
I pretended not to know anything and asked her why.
-“What do you mean?”
“There are many people in this world who are afraid of our god. They seem to be coming here.”
That was natural.
It was right to come when he was weakest if he wanted to stop a god who had descended on Earth.
Besides, if they were given a chance themselves, there would be no reason not to come.
-“This is a bit troublesome. I’m not used to moving this body yet.”
“Then——.”
The goddess of Harmony, who heard my words, made a playful face.
It was a familiar face that I had faced once.
To be exact, it was the face that Estelle showed when she played with people.
“Should I protect our god?”
She said as if she was doing me a favor by protecting me.
At the moment when I was about to agree to her offer.
Eutenia, who was in my arms, raised her head and spoke.
“I’ll, I’ll protect the great one…!”
-“This is not your place to step in.”
I was grateful, but this was not the time for Eutenia to step in.
The whole story so far was a trap to catch a god.
I drove a wedge into the conversation and spoke to the goddess of Harmony.
-“Just this once, I’ll owe you a favor.”
Whirl.
As if to show her excited mood, the parasol in her hand spun in the air.
***
A battlefield where screams and shouts were rampant.
There, the divine weapon Ascalon slammed into the ground.
Kwaang!
With a loud explosion, the cultists were split in half.
The hero Gilford, who cut through the cultists with one stroke, ran forward while bleeding.
“Gilford Proud…”
The saintess of abundance, Serena Ederunt.
She saw the cultists being pushed back by the hero in front of her.
Every time Ascalon swung, the cultists screamed, and every time it hit the ground, cracks spread around.
Gilford’s appearance, leading the front line and opening the way, was worthy of being called a hero.
A few knights followed behind him to assist him.
Because there were fewer cultists guarding the bridge than expected, it seemed that they would soon arrive at the temple of Harmony.
“——Ascalon!”
But Serena’s heart was not comfortable watching Gilford’s figure.
She was a saintess who had to support the divine weapon Ascalon and the hero of abundance with all her might.
And the evil god who descended on Earth was much stronger than any enemy they had faced so far.
In other words, she had to unleash the power of Ascalon to its limit.
The problem was how to unleash the full power of Ascalon.
‘Will I have to die now?’
There was only one way to draw out the hidden power of Ascalon.
The death of Serena, the saintess of abundance.
Ascalon would be completely liberated by that.
Just like the old saintesses who had met their death by the side of the great hero long ago.
That was the only way to reverse this unfavorable situation.
‘I’ve known it for a long time… but it still doesn’t make me feel any better.’
I knew it from the beginning.
That someday this moment might come.
That this fight was nothing like the stories I had seen in the myths.
Even so, I chose not to run away.
If it was the destiny given to the saintess of abundance, someone had to play that role.
“——Ascalon!”
“——O goddess, guide us!”
‘My father must still be fighting.’
But I couldn’t help but think of the face of Knight Commander Revelz, who would be sad when I died.
He wished that I wouldn’t become a saintess, and that I wouldn’t lose my life like this.
How many parents in the world would wish for their own child to die?
Yet Revelz had to send me to the battlefield.
He was the knight commander of the holy land, and I was a saintess belonging to the temple of abundance.
The two of us had a mission that we had to accomplish.
“——Ascalon…!”
Kwaang!
The holy light that stretched out sharply tore apart the cultists completely.
Serena woke up from her trance at the loud noise that shook her ears.
Before she knew it, most of the cultists who had blocked the bridge had fallen.
The way to the temple of Harmony was opened.
Gilford, who had defeated the enemies in front of him, gasped and said.
“Haa, ha… The way is… all clear…”
“This is really the end.”
“…Yes.”
Gilford said that and walked on the bridge filled with blood and smoke.
The suicide squad members who followed Gilford also followed him and Serena with torches in their hands.
Thud. Thud.
The footsteps of the suicide squad members who bravely moved forward echoed on the bridge.
They crossed the sea of corpses and blood and soon reached the door of the temple.
When Gilford and the knights stood in front of the temple door, the knights who followed Gilford grabbed the door and said.
“We’ll open the door.”
Nod.
Gilford nodded and they immediately opened the door.
Serena looked nervously at the temple door that began to open.
It was the moment when they would face their long-awaited enemy directly.
Creak. Thud.
The temple door opened with a creepy sound.
And at the same time, someone’s voice rang in Serena’s ears.
“You’re finally here.”
Serena moved her eyes to where the familiar yet unfamiliar voice came from.
There was a girl who was covered in black from head to toe.
She looked somewhat like Laiteria, the saintess of Harmony, but her hair color and atmosphere were completely opposite to Laiteria’s.
Behind her were two more people.
“…”
One was Eutenia Hyrost, the first apostle.
She was an apostle who had defeated Lian Crost, who had been her escort long ago.
And the other was a boy who had an overwhelming presence that no one in this place could match.
Serena was sure that he was probably the evil god who had descended on Earth.
Otherwise, there was no way a human could have such an aura.
“Who are you?”
Clang.
Gilford, who held Ascalon firmly, asked the girl who spoke to them.
Gilford’s eyes were filled with a dreadful glint as he glared at her.
But she answered Gilford with a playful voice.
“Well. Who am I?”
“…Laiteria.”
When she heard her voice again, Serena was sure who she was.
Laiteria, the saintess of Harmony.
It was her voice that she had heard several times before.
But Laiteria wasn’t moving by her own will now.
Of course not, because Laiteria she knew was a blind person who couldn’t even see properly in front of her eyes.
“Too bad. Close but wrong.”
“…Are you the evil god?”
This time Gilford stepped forward in front of Serena and asked her.
But she shook her head and denied Gilford’s words.
“The evil god you’re looking for is right next to me.”
“No way…”
“You don’t have to worry. You’ll know who he is.”
Following her gaze towards the unidentified boy, Gilford’s fierce eyes turned to him in the corner.
The boy held Eutenia, the apostle, in his arms.
The fact that the boy who held the apostle was the evil god was confirmed.
Instead of denying her words, the boy who was named as the evil god spoke to her with an indifferent expression.
-“You haven’t forgotten the promise we made earlier, have you?”
“Of course not. It’s a promise with our god, after all.”
She took a step forward.
She smiled brightly and raised her hand slowly and opened her mouth.
Her hand stretched out in the air and flowed gently like a conductor.
The voice that came out of her mouth spread beautifully like a short song.
“Sanctuary Declaration—— Harmonia Saint.”
As soon as the amazing voice uttered a word.
A bright light and hymns filled the air.
