Eden (4)
While Yohan was confronting Cult, Lobelia was methodically tearing through Eden's vast ranks before moving to secure the child.
Crash!
Lobelia snapped the limbs of an Eden paladin and hurled him behind her. Because the child possessed the Prophet's Eyes, merely knocking the cultists unconscious was not enough.
The child remained entirely motionless, yet her mere presence was more than sufficient to dictate the battlefield.
Within a thirty-meter radius around the child, no one suffered harm.
That absolute sanctuary extended not only to Eden's paladins and priests, but even to Lobelia herself.
"Phew..."
That was precisely why she had to break their arms and legs to neutralize them, then throw them out of range. Shattering them one by one, then heaving their crippled bodies beyond that thirty-meter perimeter—it had become an exhausting routine.
By the time she had cleared every last Eden zealot from within the boundary, Ariel cautiously poked her head into the sacred domain.
"Are you alright, Your Highness?"
"A bit worn out, that is all."
Ariel had taken charge of handling the cultists Lobelia flung outward. Lobelia had no desire to see them scramble back to the front lines, nor did she wish to slaughter anyone in front of the child. Thus, she had taken it upon herself to subdue and toss each enemy single-handedly, leaving Ariel with the mop-up duties. Ariel had dutifully bound every single zealot thrown her way using telekinesis.
"Your Highness, what do you plan to do with that child?"
"I wonder..." Lobelia murmured, her eyes resting on the child standing in the dead center of the clearing.
There was no malice in the girl. She simply stood in place, mending wounds and offering unconditional protection, doing nothing else whatsoever. She existed as a living effigy.
"Leaving her like that is dangerous."
Though Ariel had only just managed to inspect the child's condition, the fissures radiating from her eyes told the whole story.
"I have pondered the matter, but no gentle alternative comes to mind."
"Surely you don't mean..."
"I have no choice but to gouge out her eyes."
Without such drastic measures, saving the girl's life seemed impossible. With a heavy heart, Lobelia stepped toward her. Even as Lobelia reached out toward those glowing orbs, the girl only stared back blankly.
That hollow gaze felt like an unvoiced question, asking Lobelia whether she truly believed this world was just.
Lobelia could offer no answer. Whether the world was righteous was not for her to decide. As one human being to another, she simply reached out to save a dying child.
Yet in that very breath...
Crack!
The Prophet's Eye fractured down the middle, and the child's knees began to buckle. Startled by the sudden turn of events, Lobelia caught the collapsing girl in her arms.
"What in the world...?"
The divine authority had vanished entirely from the unconscious child's gaze. Her eyes had already returned to their natural color, and the ominous cracks eating away at her flesh were steadily receding into smooth skin.
"Could it be...?"
Lobelia whipped her head around toward Ariel. "Ariel, contact Stan at once! We must determine what is transpiring out there!"
"Understood!"
"And... Ariel. Protect the child for now."
"...Pardon?"
"It seems we are not the only ones who realize how dire the situation has become."
Now that the morning twilight had vanished and the heavy predawn gloom had settled once more, Lobelia glared into the shadows lurking just beyond the clearing.
"To think that you of all people would mobilize."
Among the Imperial Knights, these were the executioners who moved solely on the Emperor's direct command. Clad in jet-black armor, they traversed the deepest abyss of the realm.
"What brings the Guillotine Knights all the way out here?"
"We have come by order of His Imperial Majesty to sever the necks of sinners."
The Guillotine Knights.
Their only purpose was execution. In other words, they were beings whose sole directive was the complete extermination of every enemy.
"Are these all the remnants of Eden, Princess Lobelia?"
"They are."
"And the child?"
"She is under our custody."
"...Is she an Eden zealot?"
"If I say that she is, what do you intend to do?"
A chill crept down Lobelia's spine. No matter how ruthless an executioner might be, none dared harm royalty. Yet these specters answered to Abraham alone. If they chose to break through Lobelia by force, she could not hope to halt them.
"Huuuh..."
A sound like suppressed bloodlust hissed through the dark.
Lobelia's tension peaked as she stepped squarely in front of Ariel. A lukewarm breeze swept past. Something about that unpleasant draft made the fine hairs on Lobelia's neck stand on end.
"Understood. In that case... I shall obey Your Highness's command."
The figure melting into the shadows vanished without a sound.
Lobelia wiped away a bead of cold sweat with the back of her hand and glanced behind her. Ariel stood pale-faced, shielding the child with her entire body. Fortunately, the little girl was unharmed.
However...
"The world is vast indeed."
Just past Ariel's shoulder, every single Eden cultist Lobelia had incapacitated lay decapitated in the grass. The executioner had reaped every last life in an absolute silence that spanned scarcely a heartbeat.
"And there are five such monsters in service...?"
Lobelia clicked her tongue, her senses completely numbed by the horror.
The situation the Oracle faced was far more precarious.
Deprived of all support, fighting alone against the horde, she had been driven into a desperate corner—unlike Lobelia's front. What brought an end to her harrowing struggle, however, was neither side's hidden trump card.
Thud!
A single intruder stepped between them, terminating the battlefield in an instant.
A black knight encased head to toe in obsidian plate.
A commander of the Guillotine Knights had broken through the fray, effortlessly bringing down the Prophet's surrogate.
"That appeared quite troublesome, Lady Oracle."
"...Sir Ranius."
Commander of the Guillotine Knights and Emperor Abraham's right hand.
With an emotionless voice, the aging Black Knight crushed the surrogate's throat in his armored fist. Even as the cartilage gave way and the neck hung near the point of decapitation, the Prophet's stand-in thrashed wildly. Swords slashed and feet kicked out against the Black Knight, but the juggernaut did not budge an inch. His armor, fortified by a barrier of dense mana, was an impenetrable wall that even holy power could not breach.
Unable to regenerate with a crushed throat, the surrogate's thrashing slowly weakened until the body went limp.
"Hmm?"
Realizing his captive had perished, Ranius tossed the corpse to the dirt like a bag of refuse. "I hardly expected it to conclude so anticlimactically. It appears I arrived a moment too late."
The sign of the Prophet had vanished from the surrogate's eyes long before she hit the ground. Nothing remained in those lifeless sockets but sheer terror.
"Thank you for your assistance."
"Think nothing of it. Are we not comrades serving His Imperial Majesty together?"
"I... suppose we are."
The Oracle scratched her cheek awkwardly. Having served as the Emperor's seer for so long, she had a passing familiarity with Ranius. And the Ranius she remembered was little more than a maniac—a blood-starved, rabid beast wearing the guise of a courtly gentleman.
"In that case, you should return."
"Excuse me?"
"I said you ought to withdraw. We shall attend to the remainder of this business."
"W-Wait just a moment!"
"Yes, Lady Oracle? Is there an issue? Do you have something left to say?"
The Black Knight's tone was impeccably courteous. Yet the Oracle knew full well she could not simply unleash him here. He did not merely execute targets like the other Guillotine Knights; when he committed to battle, he pulverized the entire vicinity to ash, regardless of who stood within it.
Everyone would be in mortal peril. He cared nothing for imperial blood, and in truth, he would hardly care if the Emperor himself stood in the blast radius. The only entities he ever spared on a battlefield were those who managed to survive his onslaught.
Presently, no one in the vicinity could withstand his brutality except the Prophet. Letting an uncooperative calamity like him run loose would only usher in the worst possible outcome.
To halt him...
The Oracle stared at Ranius, who was blinking placidly back at her.
In the throes of combat, he became a blind mad dog, but in everyday life, he went out of his way to practice chivalry. It was his personal form of rehabilitation. Aware of his own madness, he forced himself to play the role of a proper human being. Therefore, the only time to sway him was right now, while his sanity remained intact.
"T-The path back is terribly frightening... Would you mind escorting me?"
"..."
Feigning frail helplessness, the Oracle clung to the Black Knight's arm. Self-disgust rose like bile to the back of her throat, yet only this desperate performance could preserve countless lives.
"It cannot be helped, then." Ranius gave an embarrassed nod. "Allow me to attend to you, my lady."
"...Yes."
Watching Ranius drop gracefully to one knee to offer courteous etiquette, the Oracle let out a quiet sigh of relief. And just like that, she successfully ushered the Black Knight away from the stage.
We had managed to smuggle Helena away. Now, only one hurdle remained.
"Emily."
The transplantation of the Artificial Heart.
"Yes, Yohan Oppa."
At my call, Emily descended along the ceiling and stone pillars, suspended from a mechanical spider rig. It was the very same apparatus she had operated when we rescued Koron Reckias. Right, I knew you would be here.
If anything, she was actually quite late. No matter how much I had dashed about, Emily—who had practically plastered tracking devices onto my person—had taken far too long to catch up. Or perhaps she had arrived even earlier than I thought. Regardless, having her present was a tremendous boon.
"What we discussed before. Can I leave it to you?"
"Yes. Leave it in my hands."
With that, all preparations were complete. Even as Yuna handed the unconscious Helena over to Emily, Cult remained standing in utter silence. Given how he had screamed earlier, I half-expected him to throw a violent tantrum to stop us, but he was unnervingly subdued.
"Ha..."
As time ran short and Emily immediately initiated the surgical procedure, Cult, who had watched the entire sequence in quiet stillness, let out a hollow chuckle.
"Do you truly believe that will change anything? Yohan, what do you think I have been doing all this time?"
"..."
"Even I... didn't want Helena to simply die like this."
"I know."
When I first entered the room, Cult was clutching Helena's hand. To dismiss that as mere lingering regret and guilt was far too foolish. The sacred radiance flooding the chamber was so brilliant it could be recognized from well beyond the doorway. Cult had been desperately trying to heal her. Clinging to lingering attachment, he had poured his own holy power into the very person whose heart he had ripped out.
"Do you know what holy power truly is? Surely a man like you doesn't believe it is merely healing and protection?"
"Indeed..."
"Holy power is Wholeness."
The authority to revert living beings and objects to their complete, ordained state. An ordinary believer could only manifest it across minute areas—such as mending superficial flesh wounds—but for a Prophet like Cult, far greater feats were possible. Even with the Prophet's Eye extracted, the inherent quality of the holy power he housed remained unchanged.
"That empty shell is Helena's 'complete' state once her duty as the Holy Relic repository reaches its end. That is how the child was designed. The more holy power I poured into her, the clearer that reality became."
"..."
Cult gave a self-deprecating sneer.
Well, it was understandable. He was a man capable of pulling the dying back from the brink of the grave, yet even his divine authority could not save Helena. Naturally, despair had taken root. And through that bitter outcome, I arrived at a single realization.
"Cult, despite acting otherwise, you placed absolute, blind faith in holy power."
The world is brimming with alternative means. Absolute truths do not exist. In truth, it is precisely when those absolute premises shatter... that human beings are granted the chance to grow.
Just as I had concocted remedies for Vargr's Curse and Transcendence Sickness—afflictions once deemed entirely incurable.