Chapter 120
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 120
Chapter Title: Pursuit
Thanks to Linian instantly and completely dispelling the curse, fortunately, most people inside the Agusta Shelter had survived unscathed.
After Solaris spewed those black flames and the curse reactivated, the people still trapped inside had ultimately perished—including some members of the Goddess's Sword unit and citizens who hadn't managed to escape in time.
We gathered the bodies of the fallen and buried them together in one place, giving the grieving survivors enough time to hold proper funerals.
Once the situation had settled somewhat, the reactions from the Goddess's Sword unit members and the citizens exploded in fervor.
Everyone had witnessed it all while fleeing: Linian taking on a partial draconic form, the massive black dragon emerging from the portal, that black dragon referring to the woman with snow-white hair and eyes as Goddess Lunia, the dark curse amplifying to slaughter people, and us battling the culprits behind it.
Because of that, even though my face matched the wanted posters perfectly, not a single person cursed me as a terrorist anymore.
On the contrary...
"H-Holy Warrior! You're the real Holy Warrior!"
"I saw it with my own eyes! That person wielded the light—I swear it!"
The citizens swarmed me, grabbing my hands with eyes full of awe.
Linian received similar praise, and the glory-hungry dragon basked in it shamelessly, her nose held high to the heavens.
But the one who received an even more ecstatic welcome, putting both of us to shame, was...
"G-G-Goddess...? Are you really the Goddess...?"
"The Pure White Goddess... Is it truly Goddess Lunia?"
"That black dragon just called her the Goddess..."
Naturally, it was Luna—the creator of this world.
We'd insisted her identity as Goddess Lunia remain an absolute secret, and Luna had agreed.
But Solaris had openly declared it in front of everyone, rendering any further secrecy pointless.
Luna glanced at me uncertainly, at a loss for what to do. Denying it now wouldn't convince anyone to just shrug it off with an "Oh, I see."
Besides, the whole reason for hiding her identity was to keep the Underground Vermin from tracking her down. But since they'd already set their plans in motion regardless of whether they had her or not, it didn't matter anymore.
I gave a quiet nod, and Luna took a shallow breath before addressing the thousands—no, tens of thousands—gathered before her.
"Not anymore. Right now, I am nothing more than a powerless, frail human, weaker than any one of you here. I am no longer a goddess."
A massive wave of gasps erupted from the crowd.
Not anymore. In other words, she had truly been the goddess before.
Devout believers wept uncontrollably on the spot upon facing their creator goddess, while Celine and the Goddess's Sword unit knelt in unison to pay their respects.
Of course, some skeptical voices rose too.
"Impersonating the Goddess? Are you out of your mind?! That giant black dragon might've just been spouting nonsense to sow confusion!"
"How are we supposed to believe you're the Goddess?!"
Luna turned to the doubters and casually named them—names no one had ever told her.
Even after losing her divinity, she could still see people and know their names, even the traits of their distant ancestors, as if my eye's ability were a passive skill attached to her.
When Luna recited their names and described ancestors they'd never even mentioned, the skeptics dropped to their knees, sobbing as they welcomed their now-mortal goddess.
In the end, we'd failed to capture Solaris, the Underground Vermin leader, or those two lackeys Bastol and Dantalion. We hadn't prevented all the casualties here either. But it wasn't a total loss.
"To think the Goddess herself and her apostle were here, yet this man was falsely branded a terrorist... Something's seriously wrong here!"
"When we get back home, I'll tell everyone I know!"
"Gathering everyone here was part of the conspiracy...? So then, Holy Warrior—no, Lord Brayden—were you doing relief work just to lure us into a trap?"
"What if he's on the same side as those guys from earlier? Then what about us...?"
At the very least, the tens of thousands of citizens here—and even the Goddess's Sword unit—had witnessed the truth firsthand.
Rumors spread by just a hundred-plus priests from Leven Dale had already whispered doubts that I might not be a terrorist. Now, with this many eyewitnesses, there was no stopping the word from spreading.
And it wasn't just about clearing my name as a terrorist. It was me wielding the goddess's light, Celine being alive, the blue dragon Liniaras—the goddess's first creation—fighting alongside us, and Goddess Lunia herself being here.
Any one of those facts alone could upend the world.
Normally, we'd want these rumors to spread far and wide to disrupt Brayden's relief efforts and keep citizens glued to their homes...
"It's not certain yet. But I promise you this: We'll stop the conspiracy those men just tried to unleash. Before the Agusta Shelter, several other evacuation sites were completely wiped out by those bastards, disguised as mystery plagues or mass disappearances. That won't happen again.
If you wish, return to your hometowns. You'll be closer to the front lines, sure, but it's still better than huddling together in one spot and getting massacred."
I shot Celine a pleading look for backup, and she nodded before rallying the Goddess's Sword unit.
"All members of the Goddess's Sword, listen up! You will stay here, assist the citizens' return home, and protect their hometowns from the war's spillover. We'll handle the enemies you just saw."
"Yes?! But if we all leave, we'll be seriously short-handed..."
"I realized it fighting them earlier. They're too strong. Fighting them isn't like a normal war. Numbers won't make a difference. So do what you do best. I'll do what I do best."
The Goddess's Sword unit grudgingly accepted her words, grumbling worriedly about Celine before saluting and following orders.
"Understood. Starting now, we'll devote everything to ensuring the citizens' safe return, per the vice captain's command."
"No more dying. Once everything's over, we'll recover the fallen from today and give them proper funerals."
"Yes, ma'am!"
As the Goddess's Sword unit organized the shelter's occupants into groups by hometown for protection, my companions and I discussed our next move.
The obvious topic: the whereabouts of Solaris, Bastol, and Dantalion, who had vanished.
"Right before Solaris retreated, he said he was heading to the Imperial Capital. Something about making the emperor fulfill his promise?"
"No way the emperor's an Underground Vermin too, right?"
"No... None of the Underground Vermin at that grand cathedral were the emperor. But that Bastol guy's been the imperial court mage for ages, hasn't he? So they're probably connected like the Ebony Shadow Mercenaries—some contract or alliance. Think about it: the imperial army's been moving way too conveniently for the Underground Vermin."
"That's because that Bastol guy was the court mage, like you said..."
I shook my head at Elfin's words.
"Even so, moving armies requires the emperor's approval. But look at how the imperial forces have been acting lately—deploying swiftly to the exact spots the Underground Vermin want, fanning the flames like it's all pre-planned. Just look at Carrot Duchy last time or the current clash with Pratea Kingdom."
Ravi and Lenis's faces darkened; their own nations had been directly involved.
"At minimum, the emperor's one of two things: a brainless idiot who moves troops willy-nilly without grasping his army's weight at a court mage's whim, or he's actually in league with the Underground Vermin."
As Lenis spoke, I packed my gear and stood.
"His past actions never struck me as stupid or incompetent. I'm about seventy percent sure it's the latter. Either way, we have to stop those guys, so let's hurry back to the Imperial Capital. Solaris looked pretty badly injured; if push comes to shove, he might sacrifice the entire capital's population—over ten million—to heal up."
"Ten million people as sacrifices...?"
Ravi shuddered at the horrific prospect.
It would dwarf every disaster so far by dozens of times over.
I unfurled a massive rainbow bridge leading to the Imperial Capital and stepped onto it.
The citizens, seeing a physical rainbow—the same one said to have appeared when the goddess descended—burst into tears and wails. The Goddess's Sword unit members who'd already ridden it here shouted in awe and bowed in worship.
"It'll take time to reach the capital, so let's move fast. Even departing now, it'll be hours. And..."
I glanced at Lunarin, the translucent spirit drifting beside Linian and Luna, and said,
"I've got a lot of questions for you too, so we can talk slowly on the way."