Chapter 217
Chapter 217
Chapter 217
Luciella (1)
"Your Majesty, what matter has caused you to neglect even state affairs?"
Sonya's voice rose in front of the elegant yet modest mansion.
This was the villa that the Emperor of the Morian Empire, Rausa Wilhelm von Morian, favored whenever he took his rest.
"You've come, Sonya."
"Drinking from broad daylight... this is not befitting of Your Majesty."
Sonya frowned as she looked at the Emperor enjoying camping in light clothing.
"All the ministers, great and small, are worried about Your Majesty."
The Emperor answered indifferently while tilting his wine glass.
"What of it? The more I play around, the greater your authority will become..."
"Please stop spouting such nonsense, Your Majesty."
Sonya sighed and sat across from Emperor Rausa.
"How insolent."
"Didn't you agree not to concern ourselves with such things, at least in this place?"
In truth, there was no reason for Sonya and the Emperor to be so close.
It would be strange indeed if the representative of divine authority, Sonya, and the representative of imperial authority, the Emperor, got along well.
"Hmph, if it weren't for the promise I made with Rael while he was alive, I would have thrown you out."
"...Please don't treat someone else's husband as if he were dead when he's perfectly alive. Isn't he Your Majesty's half-brother, after all?"
Rael Yugran von Morian.
The bastard son of the previous Emperor and the name of the current Emperor Rausa's half-brother, who was more than 15 years younger.
Though it was true that his health wasn't good, so he was recuperating in the countryside with good water and beautiful scenery rather than in the capital.
But the important thing wasn't this...
The reason Sonya had come here was entirely due to the Emperor's derailment.
Sonya poured wine into her own glass and said,
"Were you greatly shocked?"
"Before being an Emperor... I'm also human, Sonya Bluephil."
"Well, I too pondered quite a bit before accepting it."
SIP!
Sonya, who had taken a sip of the red liquid, let out a bitter smile.
"That earthly power and glory mean nothing to those beings in the heavens."
"......"
The Continental Nations Conference.
This conference, centered on the Morian Empire with most nations participating, had brought about 150 years of peace unprecedented in continental history and eliminated war from the continent entirely.
"Legendary dragons, angels, and Demon Kings suddenly appeared out of nowhere and completely reorganized the order of this world. The things our ancestors worked so hard for, shedding blood to achieve, were accomplished so futilely and simply."
The Emperor spun his wine glass around with a dejected expression.
"In such a situation, what need is there for an Emperor's role?"
"......"
Sonya fell silent with a slightly serious expression.
Right now, the Emperor was in a kind of 'sage time' - that is, he was experiencing burnout.
'What should I say to him?'
The Emperor losing motivation and abandoning state affairs was definitely not a good thing.
Of course, the current system of the Morian Empire wouldn't stop functioning just because Emperor Rausa let go of the reins.
But usually, the beginning of a nation's downfall starts with such small matters.
Sonya began to think about how she could change the Emperor's mind.
"Haha, what amusing rambling."
"...!"
A single phrase heard from a place where no presence could be felt at all.
Before the Imperial Guards who had been guarding the vicinity like an iron wall could even react, the red-haired young man was already walking into the villa.
It was the being called Alba Caesar... no, Demon King Baal.
"...How did you get here?"
Sonya was genuinely flustered.
Shouldn't Baal be fighting fiercely with Rudian's party in outer space right about now?
"Don't tell me... betrayal?"
"Ah, don't worry about that. I'm currently pushed back to the rear, you see."
Baal, who had waved his hand at Sonya's words, was already sitting between them, gripping a teacup.
"Overwhelming power and influence that easily turns this world upside down.... If that were an enemy, I'd risk my life to resist, but ironically, when it's an ally... Hahaha."
Sonya looked at Baal with a strange expression.
Though his tone seemed to mock the Emperor, Sonya barely managed to notice that there was an emotion of self-mockery mixed within it.
"Did you come to ridicule me?"
At the Emperor's words, Baal smiled broadly and answered,
"Half of that, yes."
"...Half?"
"If you continue to show such behavior, it won't be half but sincere."
"......"
The Emperor, too, seemed to sense something and made the same strange expression as Sonya.
'Com...fort?'
Though it was truly unbelievable, Baal was now 'comforting' Emperor Rausa.
"What do you mean by being pushed back to the rear?"
"Exactly what I said. The operation changed, so I was assigned to guard this place."
A Demon King as the guardian of the continent...
It was hardly believable.
"Still, since I've been given a job, handling it perfectly is my creed. You can rest assured that no alien scum will show themselves on the surface."
"......"
Though he spoke casually as if in passing, there was also something reassuring about his words.
"Well, in the current situation, the problem isn't aliens though."
"What do you mean?"
"With the board set up like this, that bastard wouldn't do nothing. He's the type who puts on airs about being a god of light while plotting more schemes behind the scenes than I do..."
"Hey, explain it more clearly..."
Just as Sonya was about to protest, Baal cut her off.
"Do you know why I came here, leaving the main base of the Kingdom of Rohans behind?"
"......"
"Because I sensed that a great twist of fate would soon occur here."
"...What?"
"Of course, you're not the ones causing it. It means a possibility that shouldn't exist in this world anymore is about to appear."
STEP! STEP!
As soon as those words ended, the sound of other footsteps tickled Sonya's ears.
"...Who is it?"
Sonya pressed her forehead as if she had a headache.
Even setting aside Baal, the blonde young man who had suddenly appeared before them had somehow subdued all the Imperial Guards protecting the vicinity and found this place without her noticing.
"It's been a long time, Duchess Sonya."
"...You know me?"
At Sonya's counter-question, the blonde young man smiled faintly.
"You're Gray's mother, aren't you? And you're also someone I've been indebted to many times."
"...I don't know you. How about we start with introductions?"
The young man holding a sword radiating extraordinary holiness bowed his head much more politely than expected.
"My name is Abel. I came here to kill that Demon King sitting with you."
"...!"
The sight of him unhesitatingly pointing out the red-haired young man, who merely looked somewhat handsome on the surface, as a Demon King.
That alone was enough for Sonya to realize that this young man belonged to the hidden side of the world.
"So it's you, the core of the plan Berus established."
Baal slowly rose from his seat.
Then he met Abel's gaze at the same height.
Abel pointed Grandia at Baal and said,
"...You should have definitely died by my hand before. As that person said, this world is indeed strange."
"Hahaha, that I died... You truly believe that with those eyes."
"......"
"I suppose leaving the lower-tier alien gods to the other guys would be sufficient."
The next moment, Baal's eyes flickered.
"...Did you think I'd say that?"
SWISH!
As soon as Baal finished speaking, four Demon Kings appeared around Abel alongside Baal.
Agares, Vasago, Gamigin, and Iblis appeared.
Though Abel was immediately outnumbered, his expression remained calm.
"As expected... you haven't changed at all."
Baal slowly rose into the air and said,
"I'm not the type who enjoys direct confrontation like the other Seven Seats."
At the sight of him gradually building up his momentum, Sonya and the Emperor's faces began to turn pale.
Certainly, from Baal's perspective, there was no reason to show consideration for them.
It was none other than Abel who protected Sonya and the Emperor.
"You're still the type who only uses your head and gets punched in the face from the front."
Abel, who had put a protective barrier around the two people, drew upon his Genesis Qi and deployed his mounted combat technique.
"I'll kill you once again, Baal."
***
Just as Baal and Abel were about to clash on the surface.
In space, the main battlefield, the greatest battle since the First Heaven-Demon Great War was taking place.
-Creatures that are less than insects when taken one by one.... No matter how much you use the Seven-Colored World, do you think mere humans can do anything to me!
"Yeah, we think so?"
Rudian answered while blocking the torrent of Krakar's power pouring from the front.
"On the contrary, you're the one who underestimates the potential of the Seven-Colored World too much."
After all, it's an object that holds the title 'World.'
While the other companions concentrated on drawing up the power of resonance.
Rudian drew out the power of Diablo and Adi to the maximum while holding back Krakar.
-This leech-like bastard!
Naturally, for Krakar, it would be common sense to defeat them individually before the resonance of that Seven-Colored World was achieved, but...
-Kahahaha! It's been a long time since I could taste the divinity of an alien god!
-This bastard, Diablo!
Diablo, using his power in earnest for the first time in a while, completely nullified all the powers that Krakar was emitting, such as time stop and spatial distortion.
While Rudian bought time like this.
Elvin and Maria, Rebecca and Evangeline worked together to slowly begin drawing up the power of their Seven-Colored World.
'The feeling of firing a wave of power without detailed control... was that what he said?'
Unlike the other four, Elvin, who was handling the Yellow World for the first time, carefully drew up his power and synchronized with the waves of power resonating from other directions.
And as those waves of power harmonized with each other.
The power of the Creator God who created the world began to pour toward Rudian and Luciella like a bursting dam.
"Ah, ahhh...!"
Is this what it feels like for soul and body to evolve to a higher dimension?
Luciella's entire body trembled involuntarily at the supreme pleasure penetrating her entire being and the omnipotent feeling that she could do anything.
'With this power... I can do anything. I won't have to let go helplessly like before, unable to do anything.'
Her gaze turned toward Rudian, who was desperately holding back Krakar.
'And I can obtain anything I want... as much as I want...'
Her gaze toward Rudian gradually became somewhat hazy.
'Obtain... I could...'
FLINCH!
Luciella realized that her heart and personality were gradually being twisted.
It was a desire that she would normally suppress with just a bit of self-control, but now, filled with confidence that she could do anything, it was too difficult to suppress it as usual.
No, she wasn't even having the thought of controlling her desires in the first place.
'No, that's not right!'
-I believe it's possible.
The trust and faith that Rudian had sent to her.
If she were swept away by momentary desire and abandoned that trust, how could she lift her face as a daughter of Delphione!
'I'll control it. Even if I can't control it, I'll die before being swept away by this power.'
At that moment, the words her always cheerful teacher had said came to mind.
-The Flame of the Soul is literally a power that burns one's own soul as fuel.
The teachings of Yugria, who had now crossed the river of the underworld, awakened her mind.
-Naturally, this power comes with a great price, unlike ordinary magic. But there's only one way to use this power without limits.
-What is it?
-Pure... extremely pure natural energy. If there's natural energy even purer than the so-called elemental power of the spirit realm, this power can surpass divine power, which is the pinnacle of all systems.
FLARE!
-But such power no longer exists in this world. Unless the power of the Seven-Colored World, which has become legend in this era, comes together...
FLICKER!
-It's unlikely, but let's try one training exercise in preparation for that time! That guy called Rudian might, perhaps, for you...
-......
Luciella's memory stopped here.
To continue that memory, the sight of Rudian blocking that huge and hideous creature looked too precarious.
The power emitted by the resonance of the Seven-Colored World began to transform from the 'Flame of the Soul' to the 'Flame of Origin' under Luciella's guidance.
Feeling her own flame burning near her heart like this, Luciella mouthed words toward Rudian.
"I'll be right there."