Chapter 335
Chapter 335
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Can One Who Has Seen the End of the World Plant an Apple Tree? (40)
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“Laaaturaaaah!”
Swoooosh!
Thud-!
Just as the approaching holy knight fleet began to slow, a massive hunk of iron leaped from the prow of the lead ship.
Boom!
Crack!
The iron mass soared quite a distance before landing right in front of me, smashing through the deck in its landing pose and dropping to one knee.
“You who have been touched by the hand of Radianceeeee!!!”
Yeah. This was exactly the kind of guy he was.
“...Professor, Sir Gregorius?”
“You must not honor the likes of me with such lofty words! You are the light that serves His will, while I am but a mere tool of His—elevating your speech to me would defy the divine order of Ro-Haram (oh, praise be unto Him), plunging this unworthy tool into the abyss of guilt—”
“Oh, come on, I get it, I get it! I said I get it!”
The bearded holy knight was banging his forehead on the deck hard enough to punch a hole through it, tears streaming down his face. If I didn’t cut him off, he looked ready to hang himself. Even the brainwashed zealots under black magic weren’t this extreme.
“Latura, Ro-Haram.”
“Latura, Ro-Haram. Thank you for coming so quickly.”
“You who are closer to the light than any other—your steps are naturally swifter than ours. We failed to serve you properly, forcing you to toil alone in this wasteland once more. I have no words, even if I had a hundred mouths.”
Swoooosh—
Thud.
While I exchanged greetings with Gregorius, the holy knights’ ships pulled alongside ours, and a horde of ironclad figures clambered aboard. Gregorius, still kneeling, straightened up, planted the tip of his weapon on the ground, and knelt again.
Clank, clank-clank!
“The tools of Radiance, led by Gregorius Garnier of the Radiant Holy Knights, now join the light of Radiance.”
The holy knights followed suit, one by one, planting their weapons before them and kneeling. And approaching me with equal reverence—though not quite as formal—was another sacred group.
“Huff, huff! My introduction... is a bit... late... huff!”
A corpulent priest nearly rivaling Nullak in girth, wiping sweat—no, oil—from his brow under the scorching desert sun with a handkerchief nonstop, trailed by his own contingent of holy knights.
“I am Dolpar, priest of the Goddess of Bounty, Tenebria.”
“The Church of Bounty... has come to aid us?”
“We sensed divinity nearby—not far from our main temple—so we came to investigate.”
“That’s quite a force for an investigation.”
“Ahem! Well... the Radiant folk have been prowling every corner of Teldrat so fiercely... We couldn’t just stand by and watch another order’s holy knights act so recklessly—er, zealously. So we’ve been traveling with them.”
Ah, Teldrat. Right, this breadbasket nation full of granaries was home to the Church of Bounty’s headquarters.
No wonder their numbers exceeded even the Radiant Holy Knights who’d raced here at risk of their lives. Gregorius must have stirred up quite the storm in Teldrat. Foreign holy knights rampaging through noble estates and royal demesnes shouting “Saint!”—no fellow man of the cloth could ignore that.
And once the Bounty Holy Knights trailing the Radiant ones witnessed the miracle I’d summoned—“Let there be light”—they broke down weeping and followed the Radiants into the desert.
Something big was clearly afoot.
“We suspected trouble upon witnessing a miracle-tier divine spell. But that... surely isn’t a dragon?”
“The third spawn of the evil god, Palkatus, deceived the desert’s leader with sorcery and spawned it. And below it... one of the two ancient divine beasts of the desert, long thought mere legend.”
“...They say the Saint of Radiance always stands at the vanguard where heretics gather. The rumors weren’t exaggerated, it seems.”
The priest, steadfast as his bulk suggested, merely let a glint flicker in his eyes before continuing.
“The Ears of Tenebria, the Holy Knights of Bounty, shall join the Saint in purging these heretics.”
“...You’ll need resolve to return to the goddess’s embrace.”
“Ho ho ho ho. Such an un-priestly warning. Every cleric in these turbulent times vows as much in morning prayer. Enriching the desert is the Church of Bounty’s long-cherished dream. If that truly is one of the ancient divine beasts... it’d make a fine offering for a grand funeral rite for my fallen Ears, enough to sate my overflowing zeal and venture into the sands alone.”
No talking them out of it. The resolute priests of Bounty and Radiance ordered their ships’ crews to unfurl sails, secure the rudders, and evacuate in lifeboats.
“Walk your path. The path lit brighter than any other. We are content to linger in the shadow of that radiant light.”
“...Latura.”
“Latura. Ro-Haram.”
The Professor offered praise instead of protest.
Passing the Dry Oasis, the holy knights’ ships— with no intention of return—surged toward the mutant legion.
The moon rising with its sea. The gold dragon coiled around it.
And around the risen moon, a vast oasis of sea and countless mutants.
[Every time this happens, I can’t help but notice.]
‘What.’
[You, shell. In these massive battles, your emotions swing like a rollercoaster. Like bipolar disorder or something.]
‘...Makes you seasick, huh.’
[From in here... a bit?]
I could see why Hyde felt that way. Life-or-death combat was a split-second mental marathon that wrung the brain dry. To keep that brain firing sharp, staying as close to “fun” as possible was best.
Drowning in depression made limbs go limp like sinking into a damp bog, so you had to force a hype-up regardless.
...Especially with this scene before your eyes.
Ahead, the holy knights’ ships—crews evacuated—charged forward alone. Bounty and Radiant holy knights combined neared a thousand in their assault.
Opposite them, land-burrower maws erupted from the sand sea, spewing mutants, while aquatic mutants risen with seawater circled the moon.
I knew the holy knights’ prowess well, and the tough combat power of high-grade mutants class 3 and below all too intimately.
Great armies clashing. Elites versus elites.
Evenly matched.
And in such battles, “evenly matched” meant...
‘...A lot of them will die.’
Neither side wiping the other out would be surprising, and the victors would spend over a day just retrieving their comrades’ corpses before any victory cheers.
I knew that and called them anyway. Knew that invoking a commonplace holy miracle would draw them like moths to flame, lives spent like straw.
On a battlefield weighing lives like chits, the target Palkatus’s value outweighed theirs. The moment it bared its ambitions for the real world, I’d resolved to eliminate it before it grew further, by any means.
“Our beacon, the true light touched by His hand! The humble tools of Radiance come to behold you!”
“He has marked my place among those stars!”
“Tread upon me, tread upon your brothers’ corpses to reach your path!”
“Burn the heretics! Burn the heretics and clear the way!!!”
I used them.
『....Turn them all into meat for Mother.』
“Kieeeek!”
“Grrrrraaaah!”
Multiple class-2 combat mutants rivaling hero units. Class-3 and -4 swarming like waves from land-burrower maws. Beyond, aquatic mutants swam spheres of water, guarding the moon.
Driverless desert ships crashed into the mutant horde, holy knights wrapped in holy light hurled themselves between claws and fangs, chanting their god.
Splaaat—
Blood sprayed. Human and mutant, impossible to judge which was thicker, a viscous scent scattering. The wind swelling the sails carried the mingled reek of blood.
Swoooosh—
Riding that wind, the Professor’s eyes gleamed sharply from the circling ship overlooking the battlefield.
-Zing.
‘It’s here!’
Around the oasis from our entry hole and the moon above it. Encircling that round battlefield, two beings of qualitatively superior power stepped forth.
Named ones. Termakian and Nigmi. Close-combat type, aquatic special-ops type.
The goal wasn’t them—it was Palkatus’s attachment to them.
‘Unlike Palkatus, these two aren’t the sharpest. Impulsive too. Knock them off the field into peril, and Palkatus will have to move.’
To do that. To shatter its cool, I needed power to reduce those named mutants to scraps. Allies to engage them amid the chaos.
“Othman, Lakshasha, Notum, Yggdrasil.”
Chanting my companions’ names, emotions surged like waves once more. The chance someone might die at my call. Experience from dozens of prior brushes twisted my gut.
“...Let’s be straight with each other. Anyone who doesn’t want to die, now’s the time. I’ll talk to the Church, get you species-wide pensions.”
To escape the chill creeping up my spine, I raised my voice higher.
No one could mistake the dead-serious joke. The “please” stuck in the commander’s cold throat.
“Cut it out.”
“I mean it? I’ve got a speck of holy power left from earlier. Enough to ping the Church.”
Please.
“Quit yapping and clear the path. The holy knights are holding, but reaching those things means punching through one or two more walls of flesh.”
Please, someone, anyone, say you want to live and turn back.
“Yggdrasil? Isn’t that notebook something you need to take home?”
“You think an immortal like me left the forest to collect less than a year’s notes?”
“Notum?”
“Grroo. Fuck off.”
“Lakshasha?”
“If you’re thinking of leaving me behind again, next time I tie you to the bed?”
Please. Please don’t let these precious people turn into cold husks spilling blood and guts.
I knew it was disgustingly selfish, thinking this while throwing holy knights to the wolves.
Still, I prayed their names wouldn’t tip the battlefield’s scales.
‘Lord.’
Amid the saint’s guilt-ridden prayer, my companions’ voices stayed light.
‘Where’d Notum learn that?’ ‘Grroo. Crew taught me.’ ‘Oh dear, mind your manners before our royal bloods, yes?’ ‘Grrok. Busty desert lady. Sorry.’ ‘Ho ho ho ho. Behold nobles cursing up a storm!’
Jesting as they raised weapons, centering their power.
Maybe it was contagious atmosphere. Or veteran sailors ever teetering on death’s edge. Tense, twisted grins began spreading among the crew.
“Kee-yaak!”
“Kaaaaah—”
Crunch—
A mutant leaping meters onto the deck in an instant was crushed in the Professor’s grip.
“Kak, gak! Krk, keee, keeeee....”
Head pulped first, the mutant’s corpse withered to ash and crumbled.
“Looks like the fool moved it for us, everyone.”
“I’ll haunt you to collect on that before you die, so no worries.”
...Pfft.
“Watch your mouth.”
That signaled it—mutants the holy knights missed began leaping aboard like waves.
No turning back now. To send them all home alive, I had to lead the charge.
“Today, here. Let’s see this through, son.”
『Nothing more I could want. Father.』
The dragon’s maw yawned once more, and against the gathering heat, crimson-stained sea surged to the saint’s fingertips.
The moment two forces at their zenith unleashed.
Between the one-armed saint and the dragon ringed by exploding giant mutants, a straight path cleared.
Holy knights bounding over the dead as footing, their ships pressing through the gaps.
War.
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