Chapter 240
Chapter 240
Chapter 240
Heaven's Fall (5)
"Two days. No matter what, you must join us in two days."
The time Siniel gave to Rudian's group was just two days.
Heaven's Fall itself was essentially a surprise coup where time was of the essence, so in fact, even two days was quite generous.
"So? What are you going to do now? Are you going to retrieve the equipment first like you said earlier?"
At Gray's words, Rudian shook his head.
"No, there's a place we need to stop by before that."
"...Huh?"
"Before the equipment... we're going to find allies who will cooperate with us in the current situation."
"Allies?"
"Yes, allies. I hope we're not too late..."
Rudian's group that came up to the heavenly realm numbered seven in total.
It was a much larger group composition than the original Abel party, but in the current situation, the more fighting power, the better.
And Rudian was planning to put in the legwork to obtain that fighting power.
'We'll be the ones fighting the final battle with Abel's group, but these are people who will help in the war against the gods before that.'
In fact, by the time the original story had progressed to Chapter 4, the term 'Abel party' had long since become virtually meaningless.
The story that had been progressing with five people - Abel, Gray, Rebecca, Crux, and Evangeline - shrank to three when Rebecca and Crux died in Chapter 3.
Naturally, those three alone weren't balanced enough to fight the mythical war that would decorate the grand finale, so the original author added two new characters in Chapter 4 to correct the skewed power balance.
'The ancient imprisoned triplet gods: Castor, Pollux, and Alena.'
Their joining was so late that it was quite ambiguous to call them the protagonist party, but still, their power became tremendously helpful to Abel in Chapter 4.
"Well, even so, there's no way saying 'Hey, you become our ally!' out of nowhere would work... It would be proper manners to offer a bribe or something."
"A bribe?"
"In the current situation, we need to give them what they want most."
Rudian didn't intend to make them full party members.
But he thought that at least some sincerity was needed to build a trusting relationship.
But most importantly...
'If Abel's group beat us to it, everything would be ruined...'
***
"...For humans to come to the heavenly realm is quite rare."
But fortunately, Abel's group hadn't come to find the triplets.
'Unlike Abel, who seemed to be at Chapter 3 level, Gray likely had memories of Chapter 4...'
If he had made the first move and persuaded the triplets, things would have become quite difficult going forward, but fortunately that wasn't the case.
The place where the three triplets were sealed, located in a corner of the heavenly realm.
It was a place where gods sealed since the very genesis existed, but the pass Michael had given them had authority to penetrate even that seal.
...Looking at it this way, even the gods of the Pantheon really had no answers.
"You can't call them pure humans. They possess the Seven-Colored World after all."
Alena, the youngest of the triplet gods and the only goddess among them, rubbed her eyes slightly.
"...Have my eyes gone wrong from being imprisoned for so long?"
It was quite a cute reaction for a supreme god, and she seemed quite shocked as she looked around at Rudian and his companions.
"Green, black, purple, yellow, red? This is crazy, everyone except blue and white is gathered here?"
"...Alena, maintain some dignity as a god."
"No, brothers! Something that would only appear in the twilight of the gods has actually happened, isn't it surprising?"
"...That twilight of the gods is correct, Alena. So please shut that mouth of yours."
Castor, the eldest who silenced Alena, slowly approached Rudian.
'Those muscles are no joke...'
Just as described in the novel, Castor had the build and appearance that would immediately bring to mind those muscular Greek gods from old comics.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Castor."
"I'm Rudian. These are my companions."
"Hmm... Actually, I'm in no position to blame Alena either. I never imagined there would be someone who could penetrate the seal, let alone a human with the Seven-Colored World."
Castor looked around at the group with an expression full of emotion.
"The Demon God, Outer God, and even the Death King have joined the final procession. Green and yellow were powers originally permitted to the middle realm, but these three were completely powers from other realms."
"Yes, actually the demon realm case is a bit ambiguous... but anyway, you could say that."
"I see... Human Rudian, first to enter this place since genesis, what do you wish from us who were imprisoned by Berus?"
Rudian took a slight deep breath here.
Even if they seemed favorable on the surface, if he rashly asked them to fight together, he would definitely get rejected.
That's what happened in the original story too.
"Don't you want revenge against Berus?"
At those words, not only Castor but also Pollux and Alena's expressions changed.
"No, too much time has passed for revenge. Anyway, at the point where you appeared with the Seven-Colored World, the world is heading toward a new genesis."
"Are you saying you want to rest now?"
"...Yes."
There was a slight pause before the last answer.
Rudian saw that as Castor's final hesitation.
"Look at this."
Rudian drew the holy sword Grandia from his waist and showed it.
"...Medaiel's sword."
"Yes, Medaiel entrusted this sword to me."
"...So, what's your point?"
Even though he said that, Castor's eyes were shaking mercilessly.
Rudian smiled subtly and held Grandia out to Castor.
"I will give this sword to you."
"...What!"
"You wouldn't... not understand the meaning of this, would you?"
The holy sword Grandia.
It was Medaiel's holy sword and also Abel's symbol, but Grandia actually had one more hidden meaning.
-I will take whoever comes to me with this as my lifelong companion.
The reason Medaiel made such a vow was simple.
Since only Evangeline remained as the heroine by the time they reached Chapter 4, the author's special measure immediately elevated Medaiel to the position of sub-heroine.
In Chapter 4, Abel used this Grandia as bait to hook Castor, and thus got the triplets involved in the mythical war.
"Me, Medaiel...!"
To summarize in one sentence why that reaction occurred:
Castor had been in one-sided love with Medaiel for ten thousand years, making him the strongest pure romantic in the heavenly realm... no, in !
"Uh, uhhh!"
In the original, he hooked them by saying he'd give them Grandia if they helped, but Rudian had no intention of deceiving Castor like that.
Rudian whispered in Castor's ear.
"Why do you think Medaiel made such a vow on this sword?"
"Th, that's..."
"Like you who were trapped here by Berus, Medaiel was also effectively imprisoned in the Creator God's temple. How many times... has she come out of the temple for other matters in the past ten thousand years?"
Except for the heavenly realm main god meetings, she had never come out of the temple for any other business even once.
"......"
"Of course, taking this won't immediately win her heart. But wouldn't you be able to get much further ahead than others?"
"Wow..."
An exclamation flowed from behind.
That exclamation came from Castor's twin siblings Pollux and Alena, not from Rudian's group.
"That human... didn't he obtain the Seven-Colored World with his silver tongue?"
"...His skill at manipulating big brother is no ordinary thing, right?"
Rudian ignored the voices from behind and continued.
"Revenge and love - it's a chance to achieve both. It's practically the first and last opportunity. Even if emotions have weathered away over countless years, would you let this opportunity slip by, Castor?"
"......"
Slowly.
Very slowly, Castor's hand moved toward Grandia.
And the moment his fingertips lightly touched Grandia...!
"You're doing something quite cunning."
FLINCH!
A familiar but unwanted voice came from behind.
And the moment he heard that voice, Castor's hand, which had almost completely come over, quickly returned to its original position.
A woman who appeared in the hall, her body wrapped in brilliant pink radiance.
"It's been a while..."
Rudian sighed and bowed his head toward the uninvited guest.
"Lady Ruura."
***
One of the Seven Great Gods, Ruura of Love.
She had maintained a good relationship with the previous Rudian, and even now he thought they were on fairly good terms.
That was until she interfered with his work like this.
"Using Medaiel's sword to hook Castor... you're quite something, aren't you?"
"I'm not hooking him. Medaiel's vow is definitely embedded in this sword."
"Of course that would be true."
Ruura sighed slightly and turned her gaze to Castor.
"Even if you take something like that, all you'd get is Medaiel's body. No, it would actually backfire. I stake my name on that certainty."
"...!"
Castor's expression hardened.
This wasn't a matter of 'believing' or 'not believing.'
The one who spoke these words was one of the Seven Great Gods who governed the emotion called 'love.'
It was a statement from someone with authority in romance second only to the Creator God.
"Th, then...!"
Toward Castor, who was being dyed with despair, Ruura sighed and said:
"Castor, Medaiel has practically closed the door to her heart. The vow carved on that sword is just that girl's futile struggle wanting to stop Berus."
"......"
"But well... if you showed yourself blocking Berus in front of Medaiel without the help of that sword... there might be some hope."
"...!"
Castor's eyes widened greatly.
Rudian, who had been looking for an angle to intervene, also rounded his eyes at the unexpected assist.
"Is that really true?"
"Why would I lie in the field of romance? If I did such a thing, I could lose my divinity in severe cases."
Going against one's domain of governance meant an ending more painful than annihilation awaited from a god's perspective.
Having made his decision at those words, Castor turned his head to look at his twin siblings.
"...Sigh."
"Well, since it's the last time... let's play magnificently once."
Pollux and Alena sighed and approached Castor's side.
Thus, one day before Heaven's Fall, the triplet gods who had joined Abel's group in the original story joined the party.
***
While he was grateful for helping persuade Castor, that was that and this was this.
"...What are you doing?"
"Even when I help, you complain?"
Ruura pursed her lips toward Rudian and his companions who had surrounded her.
But from Rudian's perspective, he had no choice but to show such a reaction.
No matter how much she was a non-combat type god, his opponent was one of the Seven Great Gods.
And this was the heavenly realm where that power could be fully manifested.
Since they could face total annihilation if things went wrong, Rudian's nervous reaction was natural.
"Well, fine. I have no intention of dragging this out either... and your fate seems to be changing in quite interesting ways, so I'll keep it short."
"...Wait, what do you mean by what you added at the end?"
Before Rudian could protest, Ruura continued first.
"Garganta and I will betray the heavenly realm and stand on the angels' side."