67
Chapter 67
Karon checked the condition of the spring he was submerged in once again.
The Star-containing Vessel.
The Hand of Grace.
The Seal of Radiance.
Holy relics, each and every one of them etched into history.
Even within the dark red blood, they did not lose their light and shone brilliantly.
Added to that were bones and flesh.
After replenishing it with the main ingredients of the Holy Grail from the warehouse, the Spring of Miracles reached a state comparable to its former glory.......
No, perhaps it was emitting an even more powerful energy than before.
It was to be expected, in a way.
It was no exaggeration to say that all of the Holy See's combat power was gathered here.
...With this, all preparations were complete.
Every usable card had been gathered. It was impossible to prepare any more cards beyond this.
The only thing left now was... the final battle.
"C-Cardinal. Excuse my presumption, but. Are you sure this will be okay?"
The subordinate asked.
It was a natural thing to ask, in a way.
This was literally a gamble. A gamble with everything on the line.
But there was no other choice.
There were no other options left.
Win everything, or lose everything and fall to ruin.
This fight had already entered such a phase.
"I'm not doubting you. But given the situation, wouldn't it be better to wait for the others to arrive and ensure we're fully prepared...."
The subordinate mumbled as he said that, but what that guy really wanted to say was obvious.
He was asking.
If it would really be okay, if we could really win.
If perhaps we might end up throwing all of this away.
However, Karon laid down without hesitation and submerged his entire body in the spring.
Asking if we would lose.
Where in the world would there be such a foolish question?
No one goes into war thinking they will be defeated.
Therefore.......
We win.
We will win, no matter what it takes.
Firming up that resolve, Karon closed his eyes.
A sense of omnipotence overflowed through his entire body.
Karon firmly clasped his hands together and offered a prayer.
It was finally time to invade the real Black Fang Leader's mind.
*****
A consciousness that had only been floating endlessly.
The scenery before his eyes changed hundreds, thousands of times.
After such an endless amount of time had passed....
'......Did I succeed?'
Karon was able to reach the Mental World.
...No, could this even be called arriving?
This place was far too desolate.
If this was truly a person's Mental World, it should normally be more colorful. Yet this place was empty to an eerie degree.
What he felt was....
Affection.
Even though it was surely protected by formidable Divine Power, it was a deep affection that still managed to faintly reach his mind.
A mad, pure love meant for only one person.
Karon could instinctively tell.
That something had definitely gone wrong.
[Hmm.......]
It was around that time that a voice rang out.
A chilling voice brushed past his ears, even though there was no way he should be hearing someone else's voice in the Mental World.
Karon turned his head to confirm the source of the sound.
And.......
[I didn't expect things to turn out like this.]
He locked eyes with it.
A monster formed of dark shadows.
The Black Wolf, smiling ominously as if it found something amusing.
[That bastard Ciel said it was the price for arbitrarily going on a rampage last time, and asked me to protect the Leader once when things got dangerous.]
The Wolf slowly approaches him.
[Things are flowing quite peculiarly compared to what I expected.]
Along with that, the ominous black shadow clung to Karon as well. Looking as if it would devour him at any moment.
[The favor intended to protect that Leader guy ended up protecting his enemy instead.]
The Wolf continued to spout such incomprehensible nonsense.
"Do not come any closer!"
However, such words couldn't possibly reach Karon's ears.
Because Karon already knew.
The true identity of that wolf.
The incident from 11 years ago that he had heard from the Pope.
The Beast Demon King, who was supposed to have been betrayed by the Emperor at the very last moment, was now right before his eyes.
Karon's mind raced.
Whether he could win against that wolf in this situation,
Whether he could defeat that wolf and escape from here safely.
The odds were, at best, fifty-fifty.
Even taking into account the high possibility that the bastard had weakened from his prime, the odds were still fifty-fifty.
Besides, even if he did win, it was a problem.
He couldn't afford to hold back when fighting seriously against an opponent like that.
Even if he used all his strength to win here, what good would it be if he couldn't actually deal with the Leader of Black Fang?
......No matter how much he thought about it, no solution came to mind.
In this situation, he couldn't see a way to escape safely and achieve his goal.
It was at that moment, as Karon faced off against the wolf with a cold sweat running down his back.
I will give you a chance to choose.
"......What?"
In an instant, the ominous energy swirling around him vanished. The black shadow that had been ready to tear him apart at any second disappeared without a trace.
The wolf asked him a question with absolute composure.
I will step aside, so decide whether you want to turn back or press forward.
He said he wouldn't block the path leading to the Leader of Black Fang. Rather, he would willingly open it.
So, he told him to choose: give up on everything and return from whence he came, or enter the Leader's Mental World.
It was an absolutely absurd situation.
As Karon stared at the wolf with suspicious eyes, the creature even swore on its own name.
'The possibility of that being a lie is.......'
Such a thought crossed his mind because of the sheer absurdity of the proposal, but the likelihood of that was still quite low.
Setting aside the fact that an oath sworn on one's own name could never be broken, even by the highest of beings...
Demons were exactly that kind of ilk to begin with.
He could understand their underlying motives.
They acted without distinguishing between good and evil, all for the sake of satisfying their own pleasures.
For now, there was not a single ounce of falsehood in that proposal.
And so, after pondering it for a long time... Karon finally spoke.
He would press forward.
Because originally, he had no other options left besides this.
Keep in mind that this was your choice.
His tone of voice sounded as if it was mocking him.
The wolf smiled ominously and opened the path.
The black wavering soon transformed into a white door.
Karon looked at the wolf with eyes full of suspicion, but the wolf guaranteed it.
He said that it was indeed the path heading toward the Leader of Black Fang's mind.
Now that it had come to this, there was no reason to hesitate.
Because one should never take a demon's words at face value.
He said he would step aside, but he never said he wouldn't attack, so the possibility of a surprise attack from behind couldn't be ruled out.
That was why Karon quickly threw the door open.
While desperately ignoring the ominous laughter of the wolf echoing from behind.
*****
His field of vision changed once again.
What unfolded before him this time was... a room full of noise.
A bizarre space in a different direction than before.
But precisely because of that, Karon could be certain.
That this was indeed the Mental World of the Leader of Black Fang.
It was exactly the same as that terrible guy's.
A Mental World where information that could be interfered with was mixed with information that, for some reason, couldn't be read no matter how hard he tried.
It was nothing short of proof that the master of this world was a being from a Higher Dimension.
As Karon looked around like that....
He soon noticed something strange.
The Barrier that was surely supposed to be protecting him suddenly lost its form.
The brilliant sparkle soon turned into shadows and melted away.
'This is.......'
Only then did Karon realize what had just happened.
It was him.
It was the scheme orchestrated by that wolf.
...That guy had never intended to attack Karon directly from the start.
He simply disrupted Karon's mind, taking advantage of the opening to scramble the Spell Formula that made up the Barrier.
The Divine Power that had been enveloping him had now lost its direction and was scattering everywhere.
......I was tricked.
I fell for it completely.
The bastard interfered with the Spell Formula, broke the Barrier, and then deceived him with an illusion.
He manipulated him from behind into making a foolish choice, and even mocked him by claiming it was his own decision.
Naturally, his teeth began to chatter in anger.
But.......
Karon quickly grasped onto his sanity.
This was no time to be angry.
It was dangerous.
Wandering around in the Mental World of such a big shot without any defensive measures was akin to suicide.
Therefore... he had to flee.
If he considered the future of the Holy See, it would be right to fight the Leader of Black Fang to the bitter end here.
But that wasn't Karon's problem.
Even Karon, who had taken the lives of others without a second thought, knew the value of his own life.
There was nothing in this world more precious than his own life.
That was why, the very moment Karon tried to quickly escape through the entrance...
"Uh......?"
Such a dumbfounded voice slipped out of Karon's mouth.
It was to be expected, in a way.
The exit that should have been right behind him was continuing to drift further away.
No matter how much he approached, the distance to the exit never closed.
No matter how much he ran, it only kept getting farther away.
...No, it wasn't just moving away.
'Am I... being dragged away?'
Karon turned his head toward whatever was swallowing him up.
And.......
He locked eyes with it.
With what should never be looked at directly.
His reason paralyzed. His head spun. His thoughts scattered.
Something utterly unapproachable was directing its gaze at Karon.
Everything was unclear.
With the mere mind of a mortal, he couldn't comprehend the existence right before his eyes.
However, if there was one thing he could be certain of,
"Ah......."
...It was that he had ended up laying his hands on an opponent he absolutely should never have touched.