117
Chapter 117
I stood there blankly, recalling what had just happened.
A strange atmosphere.
The girl drawing closer and closer.
The breath I could feel.
And in the end....
...Anyway, too much had happened.
So much that it was hard to process with a sane mind.
"Is something wrong?"
Ciel asks me.
An expression as nonchalant as ever. I thought she would be flustered after committing such an act, but...
She is as impassive as usual.
It was quite a contrast to my face, which was undoubtedly flushed bright red.
"...It's nothing."
There was no way it was nothing. But with her being so calm, it would only be awkward if I were the only one making a fuss.
First of all, this place was the Demonic Realm.
Besides, bringing up this kind of topic when the job wasn't even completely finished was ill-timed.
I had no choice but to answer that way.
Well, having been subjected to such an act, putting on a nonchalant expression was too much for me.
...Was it my imagination?
Looking at my flushed face, I think Ciel playfully smiled for a brief moment.
I surely must have seen it wrong, but....
For some reason, an indescribable conviction washed over me that this originally unfathomable child would become even harder to deal with in the future.
While I was clutching my throbbing forehead like that, Ciel lightly walked over and touched the Barrier.
With just that, the massive Barrier melted away and returned to Ciel's shadow once again.
And....
The remaining issues began to surface.
It felt like an hour had passed, but the believers of the Holy See were still torturing the Prince with crazed eyes.
Whether he realized he would meet the same fate if he stayed still, or simply sustained a fatal injury during the battle, there lay the corpse of a Sword Master from the Empire.
However, I pushed those thoughts aside and moved my feet.
Karl, one of the strongest men even in the Empire.
The Archmage and First Prince, who was the most likely candidate for the next Emperor.
Matters concerning them were certainly important, but they couldn't compare to the woman right in front of me.
That was only natural.
The Hero's Right-hand Man.
This woman before my eyes was the human who would have journeyed by his side, knowing more about what happened ten years ago than anyone else.
I checked Aria's condition.
She was so badly mangled that it was harder to find an uninjured spot.
...But she was still breathing.
It was truly astonishing. The power had grown incomparably stronger than when facing Balzac.
To think she had taken that blow with her bare body and was still not dead.
But... there was probably no way to bring her back.
Sure enough.
I tried to treat her with the faint Divine Power that remained, but the aura surrounding her rejected any interference from Divine Power.
On the very brink of death.
A power that forcibly fixed that state and manipulated her mind, turning her into a puppet.
It was allowing no interference whatsoever.
'So in the end, obtaining information about what happened 10 years ago has failed again this time.'
I was having those thoughts when...
...our eyes met.
She, in her devastated state, was looking at me.
However, she didn't say anything.
She simply gazed at me in silence with blue eyes filled with mixed emotions, pulling something from her embrace and handing it to me.
"Ian, this is...."
An ominous aura poured out.
Ciel, who was beside me, sent me a warning, but...
I nodded to signal I was fine and accepted the object she had pulled from her embrace.
A broken blade.
One half of the Holy Sword, still stained black.
The moment it touched my hand, it spewed out a terrible Curse as if it would devour me at any moment. But Curses never worked on me to begin with.
"What's the reason you're giving this to me?"
I asked her that. But she still only looked at me without any answer.
But... it didn't really matter.
Because I felt like I would know even without being told.
I set down the blade and placed my hand on the ground.
Simultaneously, a formation was constructed.
With Ciel's assistance added, the Spell Formula was completed in an instant.
The answer to why this world had become like this, to what exactly had happened.
That guy's emotions, and memories too.
They would all be contained in that, so there was no reason to hesitate.
I immediately activated the Spell Formula.
...It was time to face the truth.
*****
What is the right choice?
That question had constantly tormented 'me.'
I saw children being exploited. I saw children being driven to death. That was why I wanted to save them.
This was surely a good deed.
But it was not the right choice.
The power and authority of the Hero.
The strength of my companions. Using them, I closed down every inhumane Mana Stone Mine across the nation.
Because nothing was more important than people, I had them wear proper Protective Gear and continue operating the Mining Sites.
And the consequences were terrible.
Without sacrificing humans as consumables and instead legally mining Mana Stones using all sorts of Protective Gear, the costs involved increased astronomically.
But the demand for it remained unchanged.
As the price of a resource already deeply ingrained in daily life exploded by tens of thousands of times, countless people were pushed into Hell.
More people died than those I had saved.
I wanted to save people, but instead, even more people died by my hand.
A capable Mage with connections to the higher-ups.
With the help of my companions, I somehow managed to restore the situation to the way it was.
But that question clung to me endlessly.
The position of the Hero forced me to make choices.
I killed a young boy.
Because I had discovered that the boy would become the Vessel of Slaughter.
Dominance and the Beast were already overwhelming enough.
If Slaughter were to be born as well, there would be no measures left to stop him. That was why I had no choice but to kill him.
The boy's younger sister condemned me as a murderer.
I even killed that young girl, who was crying while clinging to her Oppa's corpse.
A contract with a Demon.
Although she didn't intend it, it was because she had tried to help a Demon's Incarnation.
I eliminated the seed of the Demon King and executed the traitor of humanity who tried to contract with a Demon.
By killing two people, I saved the countless people who would have died because of those two.
To avoid repeating the same mistake as before.
Because I didn't want to act hypocritically and push even more people into Hell.
They say human lives cannot be weighed, but the lives of two people and tens of thousands are never equal. Therefore, this was the right decision.
I made the right choice for a good cause.
But even so.
Nausea welled up.
The blood on my hands was so repulsive that I scrubbed them until my flesh peeled off, yet it would not wash away.
All that came out were words of resentment.
Why did I have to do such things?
Why did it have to be me making these choices?
The Holy Sword only grew more tainted.
The oath I once made.
The oath that even though I was still lacking and would surely fail at times, I would never give up regardless.
It felt like I could no longer keep it.
It felt as if my heart would crumble at any moment.
But I did not have the freedom to give up.
If I stop, everyone dies. If I give up, everyone will die.
Therefore, I have no choice.
With that mindset, I forced my failing body to stand time and time again, fighting without rest.
......Until that day came.
The Mage called me and told me something.
He said he had found a way to solve all these problems.
And then he showed me.
A golden chalice.
The Holy Grail, said to replicate divine miracles.
He said with it, sealing the Beast and Dominance would be possible. He said with just this power, there would be no need to continue these wretched acts.
"But. Everything comes with a price."
And then the Mage spoke.
He said this was merely a lowly object created for experimentation. To create something powerful enough to work even on the Demon King, appropriate materials were necessary.
In other words....
Tens of thousands needed to be sacrificed.
To create the Holy Grail, humans needed to be used as the primary ingredient.
If the me from when I first set out on this journey had heard that story, I would have cursed at the Mage. I would have berated him repeatedly, asking if he was out of his mind.
But the current me couldn't say a word.
'At this rate, victims will keep piling up anyway. So maybe this is the choice that leads to fewer sacrifices.'
I rationalized it to myself like that.
But my true feelings probably weren't that.
The duty was far too heavy.
I didn't want to make any more painful choices where either option brought only suffering.
I wanted to run away.
The Holy Sword completely lost its light.
I had ultimately betrayed the oath I once made.
But instead, my heart felt clear.
I didn't want to think about anything anymore.
I didn't want to continue this disgusting routine of killing people to save people.
That was why I opened my mouth.
"Yeah, I'll leave it to you."
This would solve everything.
Convinced that I wouldn't have to suffer anymore.
And....
The Mage's sword pierced through my heart.
Black hair becomes dyed in a brilliant golden hue.
Deep blue eyes gazed at me.
The Mage, having transformed into an old man, smiled as he looked at me.
...The Emperor of the Empire stood before my eyes.