The Approaching Darkness (6)
Sein and Eiron flinched. They both sensed a deeply familiar aura—slimy yet sacred. Divine demonic power.
Thoughts of the Death Truth Church flashed through their minds, dragging up memories from before the regression. Divine demonic power. It was the alien force used by the Death Truth Church, power granted by the Fiend Raphael. The heretical group consisted of three archbishops who served the Fiend, a saint capable of manifesting the Fiend itself, and ordinary followers. Even the rank-and-file believers could wield faint traces of that power.
False faith breeds false results. Everything is empty. Everything is meaningless. Therefore the world itself is meaningless and must be destroyed. A world that trains humans through joy and pain deserves nothing but annihilation. Only a world of absolute restraint and control is truth and salvation. All humans will walk the path of salvation through death.
The Death Truth Church believed that killing every human being was the way to save humanity. They thought only humans were worthy of salvation and granted that salvation through death. They crossed time and space, driving the human race alone to extinction. Other species didn’t concern them. But if any creature interfered with their salvation, they would crucify it alive so it could never receive the salvation of death.
The ones who opposed them and protected the world with the Goddess’s power were the Apostles. Yet in the previous world, every Apostle had died helplessly, torn apart by the Fiend Raphael’s authority. In response, the Goddess sacrificed most of her divinity to grant three Apostles the power of regression.
Through their regressions the Apostles began to weaken the Death Truth Church’s influence. In turn, the Fiend summoned the saint from the pre-regression world to confront them. That summoned saint was treated with the same respect as the saint of the current era and called the Seeker.
As the number of regressions increased, so did the Death Truth Church’s strength. They had now gone through ninety-nine regressions, meeting the Seeker ninety-nine times, dying and committing suicide in an endless cycle. But after countless loops they had finally found the one who could kill both the Seeker and the Fiend.
His name was Ian. The boy chosen as the final hero.
The Apostles’ role was to watch over the hero in secret, guiding him along the right path. Yet something had gone terribly wrong. They were sensing divine demonic power already? Did that mean the Seeker had been born? And before Ian had even become the hero?
It was far too early. Ian wasn’t ready yet. Had the enemy noticed the singularity named Ian and descended ahead of schedule? No… that couldn’t be.
Sein turned to Eiron, voice trembling.
“Eiron… this…”
“I know, Sein. This disgusting aura… I’d recognize it anywhere.”
“It’s definitely the Death Truth Church…”
“But this is the first time they’ve ever interfered directly with the Academy.”
“In all one hundred regressions, nothing like this has ever happened!”
“Dangerdangerdangerdanger—”
“Sein! Snap out of it!”
Eiron grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to focus.
“…! Haa… haa… I’m sorry…”
“We haven’t even been chosen as Apostles yet…”
“The Goddess only selects us when we turn twenty…”
“…The timing is too late. By then Ian will have already graduated from the Academy.”
“For now… we can only watch.”
“…I know. But I’m so scared. This is my last chance…”
“This is the timeline where Ian’s potential is greatest. We must succeed no matter what…”
“Light is the only order and discipline. Please watch over us.”
When Eiron recited the Goddess’s prayer, Sein’s breathing gradually steadied.
“First… let’s focus on regaining the strength we had before the regression.”
“Yeah…”
While Sein and Eiron were sensing the divine demonic power, the Seeker had begun observing Ian from the shadows.
“Hmm. So the boy the god has marked as my rival is that youngster?”
“He’s certainly strong, but… I wouldn’t call him a true rival yet.”
“It’s troublesome not knowing who the real adversary is.”
The Seeker watched Ian for a moment, then turned his gaze to the other students.
“I’ll look into it later. For now, the regressors must die first.”
“They’re definitely somewhere in this Academy.”
The Seeker smiled as he looked at the students.
“I want to offer these talented children as sacrifices as soon as possible…”
“O Raphael, your faithful servant shall present you with quality offerings.”
“I will guide you all to the path of salvation without delay.”
“Just wait a little longer, you brilliant fragments of light!”
The Seeker melted into darkness and vanished.
While the Seeker, Eiron, and Sein were all thinking of one another, Ian was undergoing special training under Raphael.
Move faster. Move so that even your afterimages look real!
“Haa… haa…”
Ian. The person you fought today was the hero who slew the Demon King.
“…? ”
Ian spoke while sparring with Raphael in her manifested human form.
“Haa… what… what do you mean, Master?”
“That scumbag is the hero…?”
Baden does have a bit of a scumbag vibe, I’ll give you that.
But that’s not what’s important.
I watched your fight from here. Ian, you’re using the Changing Blade completely wrong.
You barely managed to win against the hero using an attribute he’d never seen before, but what if your enemy already knows about you?
“Haaaa… so I should use even stronger attacks?”
A vein bulged on Raphael’s forehead as she launched into a passionate lecture.
Wrong!
The Changing Blade is a sword art that grants attributes to chakra, but its true essence is infinite variation!
Didn’t you feel something off while using it, Ian?
“…I did feel like I was trapped inside a frame.”
Oh? You’ve already reached that level of awareness?
The reason you felt that way is because you’re using the Changing Blade incorrectly.
The Changing Blade should be able to strike sharply like a gentle breeze, stand firm like solid earth, or rage like fierce flames.
You focused so much on the attributes that your swordplay itself became the worst possible version—monotonous and predictable.
“…I’m sorry.”
Yes, you should be sorry. That’s why I manifested today—so you can pour everything you have into me!
I’ll correct every mistake on the spot!
Ian looked at Raphael with shining eyes, deeply moved.
“Master…!”
“Your disciple Ian will work even harder!”
That’s the spirit!
After two full hours of sparring, the clock was already approaching nine.
“…! Master, the initiation ceremony is at nine tonight!”
Time flies when you’re having fun.
Still, you’ve improved a lot compared to earlier, Ian.
I’ll watch your initiation from here.
“Yes!”
The moment the clock struck nine, Professor Tallen appeared.
“Hmm? Student Ian?”
“Yes? Professor Tallen?”
“You’ve grown stronger in just a single day?”
“…!”
“You really do seem to possess incredible potential. Excellent!”
“Then let us begin the initiation ceremony.”
Ian and Professor Tallen stood before the angel statue.
“O merciful angel. Today a young one has taken up sword and spear to protect the world.”
“Please bestow your blessing upon him and shield him from the temptations of evil.”
“So that he may slay evil, stand vigilant, and devote his entire being to the world…”
“Ian. The boy named Ian will become a demon hunter and hunt the evil of this world.”
“Ian. Do you swear to offer your body and soul, never falling to evil, and hunt without ceasing?”
“I, Ian, swear to offer this one body, never falling to evil, and become a demon hunter who hunts evil!”
Professor Tallen watched Ian declare his oath with such vigor and smiled warmly.
“Then drink the holy water and be reborn!”
Tallen handed Ian the holy water.
“Drink the holy water and be reborn!”
The moment Ian swallowed it, a hallucination overtook him.
Ian found himself floating in a space filled with holy light and sacred water. Soon, a voice that was gentle yet majestic rang out.
Hero who walks beneath heavenly protection.
You have a duty to protect this world.
Please defeat the Fiend $%^&.
I am sorry to place such a burden on you. But you are the last hope.
@#$%^&*$%^&
“Haa… haa…”
“…! Ian! What did you see?!”
Professor Tallen grabbed Ian’s shoulders, trying to calm him. Ian recounted the vision with a dazed expression.
“A very gentle yet majestic voice called me a hero and told me to defeat the Fiend.”
Still confused, Ian asked, “What does that even mean? The Fiend?”
At those words, Professor Tallen’s face hardened.
“…What did you just say? The Fiend…?”
He gripped Ian tighter.
“Ian. Are you certain what you saw was real? There must not be a single lie in your words!”
“Ugh… Professor, please calm down. What I saw was undoubtedly real…!”
“And what exactly is that vision you see after drinking the holy water?”
The professor took a deep breath and spoke with grave seriousness.
“By drinking the holy water during the initiation, demon hunters are allowed a glimpse of the catastrophe that will befall the world.”
“It is a fate granted only to demon hunters.”
“Lately the lesser demons and demon race have been running wild, claiming that the Fiend is descending.”
“We demon hunters dismissed their words at first, but we can no longer ignore them.”
“Ian, you need to grow even stronger.”
“The future I saw was the end of the world. That is why I came to this place where heroes gather—to prevent that apocalypse.”
“Ian. Join me. Let us become demon hunters who go beyond hunting demons and prevent the end of the world itself!”
Seeing the professor’s deadly serious expression, Ian made his decision.
“I will offer this one body to save the world!”
The meeting between Hero Ian and Demon Hunter Tallen has been established.
The probability of the world’s destruction has decreased from 100% to 95%.
A 5% possibility of a saved world has been created.
The light of hope and dawn begins to open its eyes.
A higher-dimensional being has detected the change on the scales of causality.
The Fiend #$% is attempting interference.
Difficulty has been revised from Extreme to World Destruction.
Please guide the hero well.