Chapter 236
Chapter 236
Chapter 236
Heaven's Fall (1)
Grandia. The holy sword of Medaiel, the god of order, and a sword that stands as one of the twin peaks alongside Diablo among all swords in this world.
"Why would His Majesty give this to you..."
"That's exactly what I want to ask you."
The Emperor sighed as if he had a headache.
"Why the goddess entrusted this sword to you."
"...Goddess?"
Rudian had confirmed that Grandia was in Abel's hands when he encountered Abel in the spirit realm before.
But what came from the Emperor's mouth now was none other than the goddess.
"Medaiel... you mean?"
"Indeed."
Although he didn't even attach honorifics to the goddess' name, the Emperor sat back on his throne with a resigned expression.
"Last night, she appeared in my dream and asked me to deliver this to you. When I woke up from the dream, this sword was beside my pillow."
"Was there anything else she said?"
"...We had some personal conversation. Nothing particularly relevant to tell you..."
The Emperor conveyed Medaiel's words with a slightly melancholic expression.
"Soon, the Great Supreme God will perform a dangerous ritual. She said it must be stopped at all costs."
The Great Supreme God. There is only one being this name refers to.
"If we fail to stop it, all causality in this world will become entangled. She said something more terrible than the world's destruction would occur."
"......"
Rudian's eyes sank deeply.
The entanglement of causality. Yes, certainly that would be more dangerous than destruction in this world.
A destroyed world can simply be revived, but entangled causality can never be unraveled again.
'...I don't understand.'
Rudian's mind became increasingly complex.
Why would Berus commit such an act? Why a being who had already reached the pinnacle of everything would try to collapse the world he created.
The Emperor continued speaking to the silent Rudian.
"And she said there isn't much time. She asked you to quickly finish earthly matters and come to the heavenly realm."
"...She said this to Your Majesty rather than to the Pope of Medaiel's temple?"
It was certainly strange that Medaiel delivered her message through the Emperor rather than her first servant, the Pope.
"I am an Emperor, but I was also a Cardinal who received baptism at Medaiel's temple during my Crown Prince days. Ah, though it was an honorary position."
The Emperor raised his forearm to show Medaiel's sacred mark.
It wasn't a stigmata directly carved by god, but it was certainly proof that he had received baptism at Medaiel's temple.
"Medaiel said all channels of divine revelation were blocked. She said that I, being a high priest who had been distant from the temple for many years, was the only way."
"...!"
Those in charge of all passages between the heavenly realm and the middle realm are the highest-ranking gods under Berus' command.
Those who normally never interfere with heavenly affairs and only manage the connection between the heavenly realm and other worlds.
'It wasn't a particularly important setting in the original work, but... who knows now...'
If Medaiel had rebelled against Berus or was in a situation similar to confinement, this matter would make some sense.
'Even so, it would be foolish to trust it completely.'
After organizing his thoughts, Rudian nodded.
"I understand. If Medaiel is requesting help, I should respond as quickly as possible."
"......"
As Rudian, having secured Grandia, was about to leave the imperial audience chamber.
Suddenly, the Emperor asked him this question.
"Count."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Has the Supreme God... abandoned us?"
"......"
Was this the source of the fatigue and worry carved into the Emperor's expression?
Even if he didn't know exactly what the act of 'entangling causality' meant, the Emperor would have realized it was absolutely not beneficial to this world.
Rudian looked at Emperor Rausa's wrinkled face.
"You are the Emperor."
"Indeed."
"An Emperor does not depend on god. Even if god abandons the earth, the Emperor must always stand tall in his place and care for the people of the earth."
"...I see."
"Of course, I won't leave Your Majesty as the captain of a sinking ship."
Rudian lightly knelt on one knee and bowed to the Emperor.
"Always remain in your place. Then this world will always remain on the earth."
The Emperor, who had mulled over Rudian's words several times, nodded with a heavy expression.
"...I will certainly do so."
***
After the audience with the Emperor ended, Rudian accelerated his efforts to settle earthly matters.
"It's finished, Rudian!"
"...Ugh, hmm."
Rudian groaned as he looked at Rebecca's disheveled appearance.
Not a single limb was intact, and Rebecca had literally become a walking general hospital...
But her expression alone was shining with complete relief and satisfaction.
"Well, it seems things went well somehow."
"Yeah, it was quite an enjoyable fight!"
Behind Rebecca, five Demon Kings in even worse condition than her, could be seen.
Not a single one was properly conscious, all had lost limbs and suffered fatal damage to their demon cores.
...It was seriously questionable whether this could be considered being alive.
"...Rebecca pulled them all into pure strength battles and settled things. Yet she systematically destroyed them one by one in a very strategic manner."
"Hehehe..."
Seeing Elvin's slightly pale complexion from watching, one could imagine how fiercely they had fought.
"Haah... Utopia."
"Yesssss!"
As Rudian snapped his fingers, a fairy that looked like a young child suddenly popped out from somewhere.
"Utopia, reporting for duty!"
"Heal Rebecca. Just barely keep those demons alive."
"Yes sir!"
The fraudulent ability to restore the water god Dagon to his original state after taking a fatal blow.
Utopia's ability, which was closer to causality restoration than healing, completely cured Rebecca to her original state in less than a few seconds.
After treating Rebecca, Utopia turned her head again and placed her hands on the writhing Demon Kings.
"Ughhh!"
"Graaah!"
Perhaps because of Rudian's order to just barely keep them alive, the wounds the Demon Kings had sustained didn't heal even though Utopia's hands touched them.
However, seeing the cracked demon cores restored to their original state, they had certainly avoided fatal injuries.
"It's finished!"
"Well done."
Rudian patted Utopia's head.
"Hehehe!"
Utopia, who looked even more like a fairy because of her green hair, let out a pleased laugh at Rudian's touch.
Perhaps envious of that sight, Elli, who had been quietly standing nearby, carefully approached.
"Master, me too..."
"Oh no, Elysion! This is my time right now!"
"......"
Instantly, Elli and Utopia began glaring at each other.
SPARK!
"Wait, hold on."
What was that spark just now?
I'm not speaking metaphorically - there was actually something like lightning that flashed between Elli and Utopia!
"What did you two just do?"
"......"
"......"
When Rudian pressed them, both smiled brightly and played dumb as if nothing had happened.
'No, that's scary...'
Especially Elli, who was always expressionless, smiling and staying silent gave off a strangely eerie fear.
Just as the atmosphere was about to flow strangely, as if to clear the air, Adi brought a new report.
-Master, the other side's work is finished.
"Ah, really?"
-Unfortunately, three places refused the existing order and declared withdrawal from the alliance.
"...So, what happened?"
-As you instructed, we tried to persuade them up to three times, but... since they attacked first, we had no choice but...
"They're all dead, you mean."
-Yes, that's correct.
"Tsk."
Rudian clicked his tongue bitterly and shook his head.
At least fortunately, there were no secret societies connected to nations.
Rather, they had been actively cooperating with the newly established order.
They were the type that had been active in the shadows to prevent national destruction and promote prosperity.
Conversely, the ones filtered out this time were those who had been scheming for decades and centuries, aiming for continental hegemony, so their resistance to the order suddenly and forcibly established by overwhelming power would not have been trivial.
'Well, I did what I could. If they want to go to the end, I can't help it either.'
Once the demon affairs are finished, at least within the big framework, there would be nothing more for Rudian to resolve.
Once an ecosystem is established, everything after that can be left to the flow of history.
'If my companions return like this, I can go straight to the heavenly realm.'
Preparations for the rematch with Abel's group were also proceeding steadily.
'I'll definitely give them a proper blow.'
He got one hit in at the spirit realm, but if it comes to a rematch, Rudian was confident he could definitely defeat Abel.
As Rudian was burning with competitive spirit toward Abel, good news came from Adi.
-Master, the analysis of Grandia is complete.
'Oh, really?'
-As you said, Master, there are no particular tricks in the sword. Rather, all restrictions have been lifted, and the sword's potential has been raised to its maximum.
'...I still don't know what Medaiel's intention is, but if my thoughts are correct, there probably won't be any particular traps.'
-Do you have any leads, Master?
'As I said before, Grandia is a divine artifact connected to Medaiel through causality. And Medaiel is currently confined in the Creator God's temple.'
The Creator God's temple, one of the final destinations in the original work.
'There are two ways to get there. One is to break through the path to the temple through the secret passage that exists in the heavenly realm... and the other is to open a transport gate directly to the temple using this sword that is connected to Medaiel through causality.'
The method Rudian originally planned was the former.
Since Grandia had been quietly enshrined in the Creator God's temple before being bestowed upon Abel, it was an impossible item to obtain.
-Ah, and one more thing.
'What?'
-A few minutes ago, a message came from Archangel Uriel for you, Master.
'Uriel?'
-Heaven's Fall will begin soon... and she succeeded in winning over Scribe Metatron.
'Oho?'
The Scribe of Heaven, the absolute neutral Metatron.
During the original Chapter 4's progression, one of the strongest among the strong that Abel's group barely managed to persuade after tremendous hardship.
If ordinary 'angels' were a race created by Berus and the gods of heaven, Metatron was a special being directly created by the 'Creator God', only superficially similar to the heavenly race.
A figure practically equal to the Seven Great Gods, and one of those who held back the divine group 'The Nameless Mist' - the masterminds behind Chapter 4 who wanted the collapse of heaven.
'Well, even though they're called masterminds, as long as Berus is still alive, they're not that significant. Their membership itself isn't particularly threatening to the middle realm...'
The central story of Chapter 4 was the battle between angels and gods.
And the content centered on various situations connected through this, leading to catastrophe.
'Berus, Abel, Heaven's Fall, the Avatar of Destruction... They seem complexly intertwined, but ultimately converge to one place.'
Rudian looked up at the sky and thought.
Truly, the end of his own story was now approaching.