Sacred and Great
The gray-frozen screen and the boss. The moment the pause lifted, the gray washed away and the world, awash in brilliant color, began to move again.
The boss was still bound in chains, unable to move — so he quickly activated a new skill on Kenis.
Mark of the Burning Agent!
Temporarily grants the character Holy and Fire attribute attacks. Attack power increases dramatically. Agility increases greatly.
☆ Paladin Exclusive Skill
There was already a skill that gave a fire-attribute buff — Feeble Flame — so why buy a new one?
Because his paycheck had come in?
That was part of it. But he was also a little curious about a class-exclusive skill. Skills only certain classes could use tended to look cool, or capture the flavor of that class — and that had piqued his interest.
— Fwoosh!
"Oh..."
As expected of a Paladin exclusive. It didn't disappoint. Gorgeous burning wings unfurled from her back, and a blazing halo appeared above her head.
She looked every bit the flaming angel. The skill lived up to the name.
A massive blaze also roared to life along the Greatsword of the Faithful in Kenis's hands. He thought it every time he saw it — the visual effects on this game were absurdly spectacular.
Burning wings, a halo of fire, a searing blade — and that brilliant red hair. Together, Kenis looked like a fire angel descended from the heavens.
"Insanely flashy."
— "Hyaaah!"
Kenis raised the greatsword and struck first. The boss's health bar plummeted. And then... its regeneration stopped.
As expected — Teacher Hercules's lesson about burning regenerating monsters had been right on the money.
What followed was a one-sided Kenis one-woman show.
The other adventurers stood around gawking, barely able to get a hit in. Not that it mattered much — Kenis was essentially the only one who could deal real damage to the boss.
"...Feels a little weird just hanging out in the back."
— "Atone for your sins—!"
Kenis kept driving the boss back, carving away its health. Without that monstrous regeneration, the boss was nothing more than a high-quality punching bag.
Before long, only a sliver of the boss's health remained.
Kenis beat her wings and leapt high into the air. The greatsword raised high above her head came crashing down, splitting the boss clean in two—
The boss's health bar went completely black. Charred black as coal, the boss collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
"Whoa — Kenis took it down all by herself."
He wiped the sweat from his clenched fist onto his knee. Whether it was the exclusive skill or pure Kenis, the boss raid had ended as her personal showcase.
The Stage 3 clear message floated up on the screen.
He tapped the screen without thinking, and a new message window appeared.
You can use a set amount of Faith (550) to obtain additional rewards.
Obtain additional rewards? Y / N
"...Additional rewards?"
He'd never received stage clear rewards while progressing through Beast Subjugation up to Stage 3... and now it was offering extra rewards?
His eyes skimmed the message and paused briefly on the Faith (550) part.
Reflexively, he tallied the Faith he had on hand. Ninety from Civitas, thirty from Montegras...
"Plenty to spare."
More than enough. If he could spend surplus Faith and get extra rewards, there was no reason not to.
He selected Yes and waited a moment.
◈ New Region Bonus Stats Acquired!
"New region?"
Was that about Stage 4 opening up? Bonus stats for Stage 4?
He returned to the temple screen, and a fanfare rang out as another message window popped up.
Beast Subjugation Stage 3 Cleared!
A new region has been unlocked!
Oh, a new region?
The World Exploration icon blinked, practically begging to be tapped. His finger moved on its own.
A familiar landscape appeared. Forest and grass, a mist-shrouded lake — a woodland thick with nature and wilderness.
Then the camera gradually pulled back, and the forest shrank. The lake shrank, dwindling to the size of a puddle, until an entire section of the map lit up and sparkled.
"...I'm supposed to tap it?"
He tapped — and a raucous fanfare blasted through his earphones.
"Park, are you playing a game right now?"
"Huh? Ah — no, sir."
"Then what are you still sitting there for? I told you to get ready for the field visit. Did you grab all the documents?"
"Ah, yes! Everything's ready."
"Then let's go. Grab the car keys."
"Y-yes, sir!"
Under the department head's surprise assault, he broke into a cold sweat and flipped his phone face-down. He frantically checked the time. What time was it even?
"One-thirty?"
Crazy — when did that happen? He was pretty sure he'd started around eleven or twelve. Fortunately, it seemed the boss hadn't actually seen him gaming.
He hurriedly pocketed his phone and got ready to leave.
Scrambling for the documents and car keys, he rushed out of the office. The department head was already waiting up ahead.
"Hurry up. We're late."
"Yes, sir."
"Watch carefully how this job gets done. You'll be handling it alone eventually."
"Ah — yes. Understood."
He drove in a daze, thinking.
...Ah. I was supposed to check the newly unlocked land.
The divine flame that had descended upon Kenis faded, and the fiend that had nearly grown into a nightmare of pure horror lay fallen.
Holy fire still crackled and popped, consuming the fiend's body and filling the air with the smell of roasting meat.
The nightmare burned away to nothing, and the hero, her duty fulfilled, had fallen into sleep. But not everything was over yet.
"Lucy, Lucy...? Lucy, where are you!"
"Jackie—! Jackie, it's all over—! Come out now..."
Cries filled the streets. Every one of them belonged to the families of patients who had turned into fiends. The demon that had sown the curse had been beheaded, but the scars it left ran deep.
A wound so vast that time itself would never fully close it.
In a single night, countless people had lost those they loved. Streets had been destroyed. So many had died.
And... the patients who had become fiends had dissolved into bloody pulp and vanished.
"Your Majesty..."
The chancellor's quiet call. Caesar stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing out the window in silence.
He looked like a man waiting for something. What was he waiting for? Or rather — for someone who had not yet come.
"Your Majesty."
The chancellor called a second time. Only then did Caesar answer.
"Speak."
"Is it not time we discuss countermeasures? Many have died and been wounded. In times like these, Your Majesty must show strength — and leadership."
— And as for the Crown Prince...
"..."
The chancellor barely swallowed the rest of the words. The fiends had been burned away by the hero's holy fire, but the patients who had become fiends would never return.
Now the dead had to be laid to rest, and the living had to prepare and go on living.
But the Emperor remained unmoved, staring out the window.
As a father himself, the chancellor understood Caesar's heart. The Crown Prince he had cherished so dearly was dead. But...
But Emperor Caesar could not afford this. In times of chaos, an emperor had to stand firm.
The Empire needed its emperor more desperately than ever.
"...Chancellor."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"Have you ever... believed in something?"
"I believe in and follow only Your Majesty."
"Heh. That wasn't quite the answer I was looking for..."
Caesar murmured softly, lifting his gaze to the sky beyond the window. The thick gray clouds covering the heavens seemed to mirror his own heart.
"I am believing and waiting, right now."
"For what, Your Majesty?"
"...A miracle."
A single word, spoken aloud.
"I am hoping for a miracle."
"Your Majesty, by miracle you mean..."
"What God promised me. What I received from God. And the salvation He promised us as light..."
Caesar remembered. The mission and the scepter he had received from God. The angel who had descended from the heavens to bestow a blessing. And the hero who had saved the Empire.
And once more, he yearned for God's mercy.
He prayed for the promised miracle.
"I am waiting for a miracle, right now."
With those words, Caesar turned back to the window. The cloud-veiled sky hung heavy and gray, as if rain might fall at any moment.
The chancellor let out a small, frustrated sigh.
"Your Majesty..."
Caesar, unmoved. His gaze fixed on the cloud-covered heavens.
"Now—"
Just as the chancellor, unable to hold back any longer, was about to press his counsel—
"The sky..."
A single shaft of light pierced through the clouds blanketing the heavens and descended to the earth. It was not sunlight.
A beam clearer, brighter, and warmer than any sunlight.
Light came down, embracing the cloud-shrouded ground below.
Then the pillar of light that had reached the earth began to grow.
The column of light swelled larger and larger. Growing without end, it finally took on the form of a colossal tree trunk.
Its outstretched branches were like the arms of a giant holding up the sky, and the trunk itself was like the axis of the world, lifting the heavens.
A vast tree that bore the weight of the world. It was as if myth itself had returned to life.
Caesar did not even notice the tears streaming from his eyes.
Behold that enormous tree of light!
Behold its magnificent form!
Merciful God had granted them a miracle. Truly the fruit of faith — and the heart of a parent.
"Th-that is..."
The great tree grown from light soon put forth dense foliage and became a lush, flourishing tree. Every single leaf was made of light, shining like the sun, and there was nothing about it that was not sacred.
Then the enormous leaves began to fall, drifting toward the earth.
Some toward the homes of the poor, some toward the homes of the wealthy.
To a farmer's house, a scholar's house, a noble's house. To a servant's house.
Those the leaves sought out had all lost something.
"Ah... G-God..."
They were people who had lost something nothing in the world could replace. Homes that had lost a piece of their world.
And the worlds they had lost returned as light.
As the glowing leaves drifted closer to the ground, they gradually transformed into shapes.
Arms grew. Legs grew. Some heads grew long hair, others short.
Little by little, they took on human form.
Some became infants. Some became strapping young men.
Some became the elderly. Some became young women.
These were all the ones who had been lost. Innocent people sacrificed to the fiends. Someone's children, someone's sons, someone's parents.
Those who had been claimed by a wretched fate.
Those who had returned from death.
The chancellor stared at the scene outside, unable to close his mouth. A colossal tree of light visible even from a thousand li away, falling leaves, and the return of the dead.
Was this the miracle the Emperor had been waiting for?
"Thank You... thank You. O God. Thank You for granting Your mercy once more..."
Caesar fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face as he prayed. He knew he had hoped for a shameless miracle.
He knew he had been like a child throwing a tantrum at a parent.
But God had embraced even that.
He had unfolded His will upon the earth for all to see, making His purpose visible to every eye.
The radiant tree stood for a long time. Until every last leaf had fallen and reached the ground.
And when all the leaves had fallen, the great tree slowly crumbled into particles of light and vanished — from root to trunk, bit by bit.
Caesar prayed for a long time. Until the tree of light was gone, and silence settled over everything.
— Pat-pat-pat-pat!
Light footsteps sounded beyond the door. Caesar's heart seemed to stop with a thud.
Familiar footsteps. The light, small running steps of a child.
— Tap-tap-tap!
Then a small knock rang out. The sound of a child rapping on a door.
Caesar's lips trembled as a smile spread across them. That familiar knock.
The door opened slowly. And as it did, familiar golden hair fluttered into view. Glossy curls that seemed to shine.
"Father!"
Caesar broke into a wide smile. He felt the tears flowing from his eyes, but he laughed all the same.
He swept the little world that had run into his arms into a fierce embrace. Small and fragile.
So light he was terrified he might break it if he held too tight. And so he wept.
Never again. Never again would he let go. Never again would he lose this.
This miracle that was you — he would never lose it.
Caesar held the small world in his arms and sobbed for a long, long time. And he smiled.