Into the Streets of Golgotha
"Huu..."
Crossing the threshold of the Twining main house.
The strongest of the Southern Cross.
Maclellan caught his breath.
He had left his Saint, Orangepekoe, at the Knights' quarters.
Maclellan had come here alone today.
Because if he was alone, whether it was an assassination or a conspiracy, he could just smash through it head-on.
The mansion was quiet.
There were twelve maids he encountered while walking down the hallway. From the gait of many of them, he could sense they were well-trained. Some of them seemed like they would act as combatants in an emergency. It was a deployment befitting the best Saint family of the Southern Cross.
The drawing room he entered, following the maid's guidance, was filled with the scent of roses.
The scent was thick enough to be suffocating.
Maclellan only wet his lips with the tea the maid poured, as a matter of courtesy.
About half an hour passed. The door opened.
"Oh my. To what do I owe the pleasure of the Southern Cross's strongest visiting this humble place?"
Assam Twining.
Ivory hair and amber eyes. It was a beauty that looked like her daughter Earl Grey's face painted over with maturity. Her voice was gentle and sweet, like a rose in full bloom.
Despite her gentle appearance, Maclellan was not swayed. Because he knew this woman's nature better than anyone.
A woman who had reached the pinnacle of the Southern Cross with nothing but political power, even without her own Apostle. The spokesperson for the twisted Southern Cross system that grinds up countless Saints. A monster who stood by trampling on the bond between the Apostle and Saint ordained by God.
The vixen of the Southern Cross. The master of Twining.
Of course, he didn't say those words out loud.
"I greet the mistress of Twining."
After a ritualistic bow, Maclellan went straight to the point.
"I have something to tell you."
Some might criticize him for being rude, but conversations with this woman had to be short and precise. Because words stretched out beyond what one could take responsibility for would all become grounds for being held accountable later.
"Traces of political deals between Kyungdanryeon Apostles and high-ranking Southern Cross officials have been discovered, with the intention of harming a child of the Twining family."
At Maclellan's words, Assam put on an expression as if she were hearing it for the very first time.
"Oh my. Who in this Southern Cross would commit such treason?"
Maclellan sneered.
'If they pulled off something of that scale, one has to assume all the Southern Cross noble families agreed to it. Pretending not to know...'
Maclellan hid his inner thoughts and said what he had to say.
"There is someone in this land who intends to murder your daughter."
"Oh dear. It's so unfortunate to hear such news. I wonder where the bad person who wants to kill our kind Earl Grey is."
Watching Assam's restrained and stable emotional line, Maclellan was shocked inside.
Does it make sense to have an expression like a neighbor's kid fell off their bike when someone is trying to kill your own daughter? As someone from a commoner background, Maclellan simply could not understand the physiology of these nobles.
The teacup was placed on the saucer with a clatter.
Suddenly, Maclellan remembered.
'Wait, I never said that the child whose life is in danger is Earl Grey.'
'Out of dozens of children, she singled out Earl Grey...'
'Isn't it a bit unnatural to call it a coincidence? Could it be... is this a provocation? As if to say, even if you know, what can you change?'
But again, he didn't say that out loud.
Because to survive long in politics, it's better to keep your tongue heavy.
"Yes. The pattern in which Earl Grey-nim was targeted in previous Kyungdanryeon attacks was always unnatural. This time, there are even circumstances of delaying the DPM receipt and leaking operational details."
For a moment, Assam's pupils dilated.
"Oh my. That is an outright act of treason."
Assam did not wipe away her smile.
"And Lord Maclellan, you are suspecting me."
'Damn, did I get played?'
"...I have no intention of insulting Assam-nim, the pillar of the Southern Cross."
"I didn't do that."
It was an extremely definitive denial.
"I just think it wouldn't matter if she died, but I have no intention of killing her. If Timor falls, the mainland is taken by Kyungdanryeon, and the Southern Cross disappears, our Twining political base disappears with it. Why would I be crazy enough to do such a thing?"
Hearing her words, Maclellan was convinced. No matter how much Assam hated Earl Grey, there was no reason to take the risk to eliminate her.
"Then, is there anyone you suspect?"
"Well? That child Earl Grey is such a fool that she has many enemies. You can tell just by looking at how she wastes Divine Power recklessly. She is poor at political calculations. Every Saint family would welcome her death, not mourn it."
At her nonchalant attitude, Maclellan became anxious instead.
"Isn't she your daughter?"
"I have dozens of children I've given birth to, Maclellan. Even more if you count the adopted ones. Do you think I can give affection to every single one of them?"
Maclellan suppressed his rage.
Although it was he who gave the order to send her to the jaws of death. Even so, he had to say this.
"...Do you know what your daughter is doing right now?"
"I do. Charging head-on at Golgotha while having received the DPM... and that too at a Golgotha that has finished its defensive preparations."
Facing head-on a being created to suppress power that cannot be handled.
"It is a suicide act. It is no different from a tank charging in front of an anti-tank unit that has finished building its positions."
If he had known that Golgotha had finished its defensive preparations, he would have gone to East Timor himself or excluded Earl Grey from the operation.
No matter how talented an Apostle Raven is, he is ultimately a rookie. There was no chance of winning from the start.
"Right. I think so too. Unless they are reading every single move of Golgotha, victory would be impossible."
"Saint Earl Grey and Apostle Raven can be useful assets to the Southern Cross. If we lose them here—"
"Then that's the end of it."
"Saint-nim!"
"Everything is ultimately their own choice."
Assam took a sip of the cold tea.
"The Apostle who decided to ride the Logos with a sickly body. And the Saint who chose to be with such a person."
"...You."
"Watch your tongue."
Thorns stood up in her rose-like voice. And soon, she hid those thorns again.
"And quite unfortunately, those kinds of seeds don't die easily."
"What did you say?"
"The human called Apostle Raven is special. It's frustrating, but I have to admit it. Unlike that idiot who only has strong Divine Power, that child has a strange detachment and phenomenal willpower."
Her amber eyes wavered.
"As if, he came from outside this world."
"That boy..."
"If you, Lord Maclellan, want those children to become stronger, why don't you watch over them?"
Assam Twining cast her gaze out the window. Toward the other side of the sky. In the direction where the pitch-black Logos must be advancing by now.
"To see how far they will soar."
From Nova Crux to East Timor, 1000km.
It was a 3-minute distance for the Logos, which was racing at Mach 20.
A speed that no human projectile, excluding hypersonic missiles, had ever reached.
A realm that only an Advent, having erased air resistance with a Sanctuary Field, could barely reach by squeezing its output to the limit.
Here, everything in the world becomes an afterimage, losing its shape and passing by while being crushed. The cockpit was silent. All that could be heard inside were the instrument sounds and the breathing of myself and Earl Grey.
And between me and Earl Grey, the Logos...
...was scratching somewhere in my nerves. I hadn't even done anything that puts a burden on the nerves like Flicker yet, but it felt like it would bite if it saw even a gap, so I couldn't let my guard down.
My only shield was Earl Grey's miracle.
Her Divine Power was strongly pushing back the Logos that was constricting me.
"...Evan. If you think it's too much, tell me right away."
Sweat was beaded on Earl Grey's forehead, perhaps because she was overexerting herself to maintain the miracle.
"You should be the one saying that, Earl Grey-nim."
As if her heart was being conveyed.
The warmth entering my chest became a little warmer.
Earl Grey clenched her fists tightly.
Then.
Something flashed on the other side of the horizon. It was the fire from Golgotha Baekdu, which had captured us first by utilizing its superior radar.
"Evan!"
When Earl Grey shouted, I was already entering an evasive maneuver. Gravity acceleration pressed down on my whole body.
Even though Earl Grey clasped her hands together to cast the miracle of physical enhancement more strongly, and the Logos's gravity reduction system was running at maximum, it was difficult for me to breathe.
There was at least one fortunate thing.
Because the evasion itself was sufficient with a normal Quick Thrust, there was no sign of the nerve damage rate jumping up all at once. However, I couldn't be relieved. If I continued this maneuver, my body would be physically crushed before my nerves burned out.
[Enemy identification. Golgotha, Baekdu.]
Golgotha Baekdu was caught on the Logos's radar. However, it was not yet visible to the naked eye. Perhaps feeling a sense of crisis from the continuous evasion, their bombardment became increasingly intense. I swallowed my saliva at the baptism of fire pouring down, filling that sky.
Would I have to push myself a bit to pierce through that?
"Earl Grey-nim! Watch your breathing! I'm going into full-scale evasive maneuvers!"
I step on the Quick Thrust repeatedly.
My body, pressed by the pressure of Mach 20, was thrown to the left and right.
And
As the distance narrowed, slowly.
The density of the barrage gradually increases.
Now Baekdu was visible.
And then
Something exploded next to me.
Platinum-colored afterglow scattered.
A shockwave swept past the fuselage.
"Evan! That was...!"
"It grazed us. No problem."
It grazed the Sanctuary Field. I had narrowly avoided it this time, but it would become difficult to evade any further.
[Warning: This unit has entered Golgotha's guaranteed-hit zone.]
Guaranteed-hit zone, huh.
I swallowed. It was the distance where Golgotha's advanced fire control system showed its true value, a zone marked by a single red circle in the game. No matter how skilled one was, it was physically impossible to keep dodging inside this, while shackled with the DPM.
So, as planned.
"DPM release."
The booster pillars connected to the back fell off one by one.
The Logos slid forward on inertia alone. Stepping on the Quick Thrust repeatedly with the lightened fuselage, I leisurely pierced through the gaps in the pouring barrage.
And.
Thud.
The Logos's two feet stepped onto the deck of Golgotha Baekdu.
The impact of the landing traveled up the legs and into the cockpit.
[Afterglow Particle transfer complete. Sanctuary Field output restoration started.]
The length of Golgotha Baekdu is 1 km.
Rather than a fortress, it was a floating city. What I had just glossed over when I saw it on the screen was truly a spectacle when seen in reality.
"You really pulled it off..."
Earl Grey muttered with a dumbfounded expression.
Instead of answering, I smiled at her.
Then.
The turrets all over the deck turned toward us in unison, and the hatches of the missile silos began to open one by one. Countless driving sounds overlapped and echoed from beyond the armor plate under my feet.
[Targeting Alert]
[Targeting Alert Targeting Alert]
[Targeting Alert Targeting Alert Targeting Alert]
The warning windows multiplied as if to cover my entire field of vision. As the count exceeded three digits, the Logos gave up on displaying them altogether.
Looking back at Earl Grey, who was gasping for breath, pressured by those warnings, I said.
"Now, let's take care of that guy and head back home!"