Chapter 94
Chapter 94
Episode 94
Even though the flames of the sacred fire had completely swallowed Gigantes, it did not give up.
Despite its fall being halted by the force of the flames, the beast reached its hand out toward me.
“Remarkable.”
It was truly remarkable tenacity.
Gigantes's obsession with defeating me was one thing, but the incomprehensible charisma of the [King of the Underworld], who could tame such a monster, was almost frightening.
The Minions were, at their core, monsters that had lived for hundreds of years.
Therefore, they must have known what a great loss it was to perish like this. But they did not give up. They were just like their master.
They would not admit defeat, even if it meant struggling disgracefully until the very end.
In the first place, that must have been why they were able to become the [King of the Underworld]'s retainers…
“I… I found… I found it!”
“What?”
While reaching for me, the Gigantes spoke in a voice filled with elation.
What had it found? For a moment, a chill ran down my spine at its words.
Was I missing something?
“Lord Thanatos… I found…”
“I don’t know what it is, but…”
Did you think I would just let that happen?
I focused the sacred fire, which had been spreading in all directions, toward the sky where the Gigantes was.
The beast’s body was engulfed in flames, slowly turning to ash and disintegrating.
“As I thought…”
[Prometheus] truly possessed a power worthy of being called a transcendental magic.
There was something I could only understand by wielding that power myself.
“You were holding back on us.”
Transcendental magic was not something that could be used with talent alone. It could be called a magic into which a person's life had been melted.
In that case, could Prudence Loa have been worse at wielding this magic than I was?
No, that was impossible.
Prudence Loa had not even shown the true potential of [Prometheus].
He had merely emanated heat from his position and had not moved.
But now I knew.
This flame was a magic that transformed the body itself into fire.
Because of that, one could obtain physical abilities far more overwhelming than using [Physical Ability Enhancement] magic.
As I was now, I could exhibit physical abilities equivalent to the SSR-grade even without Arietta’s help.
“Then, for now…”
One step.
The moment I moved, my body had already arrived at its destination.
“Wh-What?!”
“Ah, my apologies. I’m not used to it yet.”
I had suddenly appeared in the middle of the [Shields of Light]’s formation.
Fortunately, the [Shields of Light] were only surprised and did not show any hostility toward me.
More than that, what was this? Had I passed through that wall? Like an uncatchable flame?
Fortunately, it seemed the [Shields of Light] I had passed through were unharmed.
There were no burns either. It seemed that because this magic used [Challenger of the Divine] as its fuel, allies were not harmed by the heat.
Although I was still not sure what the criteria for being an "ally" was…
If there was no problem, then it was fine.
“Oz…”
“Ah… Arietta.”
At that moment, Arietta, who had been sitting down, stood up and began to stagger toward me.
She had her eyes open, which was rare, but rather than being unfocused, she looked dazed, as if intoxicated by something.
Moreover, her face was red. She must have overexerted herself considerably.
She had said she had overcome a life-or-death crisis by overexerting herself in the last battle with the [King of the Underworld]. This time, it would have been more, not less.
“I’m so glad…”
“Were you worried?”
“Yes, I was… worried.”
Arietta’s tone was unusually familiar.
She must have been so exhausted that it was difficult for her to even gauge the distance between us.
I had no intention of keeping my distance from her anymore either, but…
“I was waiting, my prince.”
“…”
Wasn't this a little too close?
I heard the title ‘prince’ often, but hearing it from her mouth made me feel twice as embarrassed as usual.
“Arietta?”
After saying that, Arietta swayed toward me and began to bury her face in me and lean on me.
It seemed she was in a very bad state…
I lifted Arietta, who was leaning on me, and held her in my arms, just as I had during the final exams.
“Hehe… Being like this, I feel just like a princess.”
“Well, I am… ahem, ahem. Since I’m a prince, I suppose it’s fine for you to be a princess.”
Just as Arietta was to me, I answered her with a familiar tone.
She looked dazed, as if she had broken down in various ways. Perhaps she was overlapping the present with the past?
The fact that she had her normally closed eyes open might also be for that reason.
The significantly closer distance and Arietta’s almost childlike behavior felt unfamiliar, but it wasn't bad.
“Oz…”
As I held Arietta in my arms as if supporting her, she snuggled into my embrace and began to mutter.
“I’m okay now.”
Although anyone could see she was not in an okay state, Arietta’s voice felt more lighthearted than ever before.
“Waiting isn’t hard anymore.”
“…”
“Because now I know that you are rushing toward me at full speed.”
Arietta’s eyes, which had been looking up at me, grew more and more dazed.
She was losing consciousness.
Well, of course. She had struggled to protect the people scattered throughout the Papal States from the Clutches.
It was no surprise that she was staggering.
I wanted to let her savor this moment from the past, at least for a while, but…
“So, it’s okay for you to go and do what you have to do now.”
“I see…”
She was a much stronger person than I had thought.
With those words, Arietta began to breathe evenly in my arms. She had fainted.
“Then wait just a little longer.”
[Corrosion Rate: 50%]
“I’ll be back soon.”
I caressed her head with the flames of the sacred fire. Just basking in the light would heal her wounds, but I wanted to give her even more light.
The sacred fire did not pour its heat onto allies, but it should have been able to make her warm in the chill of this dawn.
It was time to move.
I could have just left Arietta with the [Shields of Light>] but…
I didn't want to entrust her to a bunch of guys.
“Olivia Blue.”
“…While that blatant personnel selection could be considered an insult to them, I understand for now.”
Was I surprisingly easy to read from my expression?
I thought I had hidden it well, but she saw right through it again. How embarrassing…
“What are you planning to do from now on?”
“I have to go do what I have to do.”
What was my task?
Was it to annihilate the hordes of the dead roaming outside?
Or perhaps burning everything that was trying to cross over from beyond the gate of the [Underworld] wouldn't be so bad.
But no. My task had been decided from the beginning.
“I’m going to close the gate.”
I was going to destroy the sacred remains of Thanatos, the primordial angel and [King of the Underworld].
That was the objective assigned to me from the very moment this war began.
One step.
I took another step forward.
With just that, my body burned along the path like a lit fuse on a trail of oil.
Embers were left in my wake, and the buildings I brushed past were shattered.
A straight line to the end of my line of sight. Everything that had existed in between was shattered in an instant.
“Prince Oz?! Please do not destroy the Papal States any further!”
“Ah, I’m still not used to this, so moving is still difficult. My apologies.”
Should I have not healed that one?
Look at her nagging me the moment she feels better.
If it had been Arietta, she would have forgiven the destruction of one or two Papal States buildings.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The battle between the [Death King ] and the [Pope] was also reaching its final stages.
“Haa… haa…”
The amount of resources she possessed, the topographical advantage.
Despite having all of that, Lucia was struggling.
From the beginning, when she had an overwhelming advantage, to this very moment. Throughout it all, she had not been able to overwhelm Thanatos.
Moreover, as time passed, the advantages she had also faded, and now it was difficult for her to even withstand Thanatos’s sword.
“Hmm…”
“You’re not concentrating at all. You seem to be worried about something?”
The reason Lucia had been able to hold on until now was that Thanatos’s attention had been elsewhere.
He could have killed Lucia and retrieved the key at any time, but he was deliberately taking his time.
A situation where it seemed as if Thanatos, not Lucia, was the one stalling for time.
“It is not worry.”
“Then?”
“Anticipation!”
With his answer, Thanatos caught Lucia’s hammer as it flew toward him and threw it aside.
“Kuh!”
Lucia exhaled sharply from the recoil of the force she had applied and the shock of being slammed to the ground.
“I praise you for not using the power of the keys against me. You cleverly noticed that angels would not be able to use their full power before me.”
“…If you are the primordial angel, I wouldn't know how the angels, who value hierarchy, would react.”
“A logical judgment. However…”
Lucia Domine rolled her body to dodge Thanatos’s sword as it fell toward her head.
But somehow, a faint wound was engraved on her cheek.
“Your judgment in not bringing out the angels, who could have been your trump card even when pushed this far, is praiseworthy.”
“That is a compliment I am not happy to receive at all.”
Simultaneously with her answer, Lucia’s divine power and Thanatos’s Demonic Energy clashed.
Although Lucia might have had the upper hand when it came to divine power until now, their powers had now reached an equilibrium.
And the fact that their powers were at an equilibrium meant that even the surrounding environment was no longer on her side.
Because divine power was fundamentally advantageous against demonic energy.
“Shall we return to our conversation?”
“Ugh?!”
Thanatos, who had broken through the storm created by the clash of divine power and demonic energy as if it were nothing, said as he plunged his sword into Lucia’s shoulder.
“You are certainly excellent, but unfortunately, you were not enough to capture my interest.”
“I didn't want to capture it in the first place!”
Lucia grabbed the sword embedded in her shoulder with her hand and swung her hammer with her remaining hand to attack Thanatos.
“And now… I don’t think there’s a need to wait any longer.”
“What…?”
Thanatos lightly dodged Lucia’s attack and retreated a great distance.
Even though he could have clearly pursued her, he did not.
And Lucia was finally able to realize what Thanatos had been waiting for.
“Is this divine power? No, it's different.”
There was a warmth.
No, rather than warmth, it could be described as a gentle heat.
Lucia felt the blue heat that had begun to flow between her and Thanatos's battlefield.
A power similar to divine power, but clearly different. It was not an imitation or a copy, but a completely separate power.
She had never heard of such a power existing. Unless it was the power of the keys, if there was something that could produce such power, it would be…
“At this very moment, my suspicion has turned into certainty!”
“…”
Thanatos rejoiced.
At his bizarre appearance, Lucia unknowingly flinched and stepped back.
“My business here is done, Lucia Domine.”
“Where do you think you’re going? The key is still with me, isn’t it?”
“There is no longer a need to covet it. It will eventually gather before me naturally someday.”
“What does that…”
“You will find out soon enough.”
With those words, Thanatos turned his back on Lucia and left.
Lucia could not bring herself to stop him. There was that much of a power difference between them.
“Haa…”
Lucia leaned against a wall and sat down as soon as Thanatos had left.
Honestly, it had been dangerous.
The power difference between them was much greater than she had expected, and it was impossible to grasp her opponent’s intentions.
Despite having overwhelming power, her opponent had prepared several traps and pitfalls.
She thought his objective was obviously the keys, but even that was only a part of it. In the end, no one had realized Thanatos's true purpose.
“If he had only been aiming for the keys, it would have been easy to understand…”
Lucia blankly stared in the direction Thanatos had left.
That direction was the altar where the sacred remains were.
Lucia had no confidence she could stop him from moving.
Therefore, she could only pray that Thanatos and Oz would not encounter each other and be sacrificed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
I moved, transformed into a fuse-like flame, and shattered everything around me.
Everything in a straight line was either destroyed or melted down, clearing a direct path to my destination.
In truth, it was because I was not yet used to controlling [Prometheus].
I might get an earful later, but…
But had I not already wasted a lot of time? It couldn’t be helped.
“Ugh?!”
At the altar, which I had reached in the shortest possible time I could move.
“Thanatos…”
“You’ve arrived earlier than expected, successor of Ein.”
The King of Death was already sitting on his own corpse.