The Maze of Heaven (5)
When they arrived at North Stala Wood, Ruina was in an exceptionally good mood. She couldn't quite say why. It wasn't as though Ruina being cheerful was anything new. She was the sort of person who could find happiness in a single cup of mead. So her humming or dancing was simply part of everyday life. Even so, that day felt different from the usual.
“Leon.”
“What is it?”
“This fake Holy Grail. Toltpier must have made it, right?”
“It came from Toltpier’s dungeon, so the odds are high.”
“I wonder why he made it.”
It was only natural to wonder about the purpose of something obtained after so much hardship. The Holy Grail’s purpose. After a moment of thought, Leon answered.
“It must have been necessary for something important.”
“Something that absolutely required the Holy Grail… The only thing that comes to mind is something on the scale of the Great Invasion.”
“Then why ask about it now?”
The Holy Grail was meant for nothing more than returning it to the Holy Kingdom. That was why Ruina had never paid it much attention until now. So why the sudden interest?
“Well…”
“Well?”
“They went to the trouble of making a fake one. I can’t help wondering what kind of incredible magic was used.”
Magic again. Leon shook his head. Ruina’s love for magic really did surface without regard for time or place. She put her pipe in her mouth. Once it was lit, she exhaled smoke toward the ceiling and spoke.
“It’s nice to finally get some rest.”
“Ruina! Resting always sparks my inspiration! I feel like I’m about to come up with a brilliant money-making scheme!”
“Chris never runs out of energy, does she?”
The usual conversation. The usual atmosphere. The usual companions. Everything was the same as always. Until that moment.
“Another disappearance?”
Leon frowned at the words drifting over from the next table. Disappearances? At that ominous word, he turned his gaze.
“They say the eldest of the Rick family went into the forest and vanished.”
“Are there still people going into the forest? I told them to keep a tight watch.”
Forest. Disappearance. The moment those two words came together, a single organization surfaced in Leon’s mind. The Sect of Samsara. If it was them, kidnapping people wouldn’t be strange at all.
The core doctrine of the Sect of Samsara was simple. “This world is fake, so to create the real world, we must establish new laws.” To impose those new laws, the cult had committed countless atrocities, but kidnapping was, from their perspective, little more than a casual greeting.
Leon focused on the conversation at the neighboring table.
“Monsters?”
“If it were monsters, there’d be traces left behind.”
“Has the investigator been dispatched yet?”
“They came and left a few days ago. They probably won’t be back.”
It seemed this wasn’t the first time abductions had occurred. Leon sank into thought for a moment. And then—
Thud.
Someone sat down beside them. Leon examined the sudden uninvited guest. The rest of the party stared at the intruder in the same way. Paying no mind to the looks directed at him, the man spoke to Leon.
“My name is Bais.”
“What is your business?”
When Leon asked cautiously, Bais smiled and opened his mouth.
“I suppose I’ve interrupted rather abruptly. I was simply delighted to meet a fellow brother in an unexpected place.”
Brother. There was only one kind of person who would call Leon that. A pure white light gathered at Bais’s fingertip. At the sight of that immaculate divine power, Leon lowered his guard and spoke.
“I am Leon. Are you also searching for the Holy Grail?”
“No. I’ve been wandering the world for some time on a different mission.”
“A different mission?”
“It’s obvious. Hunting down the Sect of Samsara.”
The Genesis Sect had even established its own nation. Naturally, it had many duties, but there was one matter it cared about above all others: preventing the Sect of Samsara from running rampant. Of course, if you asked Ruina, she would say, “The Holy Kingdom is more focused on business than that,” but at least Leon believed otherwise.
That aside. The fact that Bais, who had been tasked with pursuing the Sect of Samsara, was staying in this village meant…
“The disappearances are the work of the Sect of Samsara.”
“You see correctly. And I have something to say regarding that.”
“A request for cooperation?”
“Exactly. This time, the enemy is too much for me to handle alone, and there isn’t enough time to wait for reinforcements.”
Leon had honed his sword to establish justice in this land. Day and night, summer and winter, without exception. For someone like him, the chance to eradicate the Sect of Samsara was something he would naturally accept with joy. Normally, that is. Leon glanced sideways at Ruina. Right now, he had companions. Acting on his own would be difficult.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, Ruina exhaled a long stream of smoke. Then she spoke.
“If it’s only for a short while, I don’t see why we can’t help.”
“Thank you.”
“I don’t particularly like the Sect of Samsara either. They keep destroying my magic generators. It’s overreach.”
“Ruina, no one has ever claimed to be your magic generator.”
If Ruina, who acted as the leader of the group, gave her permission, the others had nothing to say.
“Jerry, Leon, and I will help Bais. Muran and Noa, please stay at the inn.”
“Got it.”
“…Understood.”
Ruina, who could freely wield her unique magic even at the third circle. Jerry, who had recently reached the fifth circle. And Leon, who had awakened his divine power. Bais’s own strength was unknown, but with this lineup, they could crush most enemies. Bais explained the current situation to Leon.
“The Sect of Samsara members here are conducting a large-scale ritual in secret underground.”
“A ritual?”
“It seems they’re offering living sacrifices.”
“……”
Living sacrifices. A scene from the past flashed through Leon’s mind. The sight of his parents screaming atop the pyre tore through his chest, and Leon steadied his breath as it threatened to quicken.
“How large is the scale?”
“At least a hundred people.”
“A hundred…”
So that was why he had asked for help. Bais tapped the table with his finger.
“More than anything, I’m concerned about what they’re trying to accomplish with such a large-scale ritual.”
“It won’t be anything ordinary.”
“If we leave them be, even greater damage will occur. We must stop them immediately.”
Leon agreed. A large-scale ritual involving the kidnapping of people. No matter how you interpreted it, the outcome wouldn’t be good.
“Let’s go right away.”
The Sect of Samsara’s base was underground in the forest. Descending into the depths through an entrance located in a cave, Leon cut down every priest of the Evil God who stood in his way.
Whoosh.
Flames raced forward. Red lines were drawn through the air, and the priests of the Evil God at their ends were engulfed in fire, rolling across the ground.
“Roaring Wheel.”
Grind, grind! A band of flames that pressed down on the atmosphere ground the priests of the Evil God to dust. Thanks to Ruina and Jerry’s efforts, Leon also swung his sword with all his might. Then—
Flash.
A pure white sword flew through the air. The sacred relics recreated by Bais’s divine power pierced through the priests of the Evil God. At the sight of that clean use of holy arts, Leon roughly gauged Bais’s skill. He was no ordinary priest. Perhaps on the level of a bishop?
Leon shook the blood from his sword and spoke.
“Which way?”
“Please follow me.”
Bais guided Leon, Ruina, and Jerry deeper into the underground base. Priests of the Evil God tried to block them along the way, but none of them were threatening. After all, the party had two high-ranking mages. It would have been stranger if this combination had been pushed back by anyone.
After cutting down dozens of priests, Leon finally arrived at a vast cavern. In the center of the cavern stood an altar, and Leon clenched his teeth. The surface of the altar was soaked in blood. Were they already too late? At that horrific sight, Leon gripped his sword until it creaked. And then—
“You’ve worked hard.”
At that quiet voice, he swung his sword with all his strength.
Grind! Swords clashed, and a grotesque sound echoed through the air. Leon let out a hollow laugh. It was because of the repulsive sensation pricking at his instincts. The divine power flowing from Bais touched the floor. Immediately after, the floor glowed. Pitch black. The color of darkness.
Leon couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He refused to believe it. The divine power of the Creator God was granted only to those who desperately believed in the Creator God. That was why Leon had trusted Bais the moment he used the Creator God’s divine power. But now Bais was using the power of the Evil God as if it were nothing, as though betraying that trust. How on earth had a priest of the Evil God obtained the Creator God’s divine power? How…?
Leon muttered blankly.
“Why?”
“I suppose you’re wondering why I can use both the Creator God’s divine power and the Reincarnation God’s divine power. The answer is simple.”
Bais raised a finger. At its tip was Ruina. Bais continued.
“Because the Creator God’s divine power is also rightfully mine.”
The moment those unbearably greedy words ended—
Crack.
The world split apart. No. It wasn’t the world that split. It was Ruina. As though reflected in a kaleidoscope, she fractured into countless pieces.
“A possessor of the Greed element in the Scales. It’s been a while since something this remarkable was born. Since you’re becoming a variable, I’ll have you exit here. It’s nothing much. I’m simply exiling you to dream eternally.”
The prepared divine power of Greed burst from the cavern floor and engulfed Ruina. Leon unleashed his divine power to its fullest and struck the holy art covering Ruina with his sword. However—
It wasn’t enough.
“It seems you wanted to dream as well, Leon. You weren’t the target of the holy art, so it’ll only be a light doze, but I hope you have a pleasant dream. Ah, I’ll be taking the Holy Grail as the Third Finger of Greed, Bais.”
With those mocking words, Leon was caught in the activated holy art. Then he jolted awake, as if something had stabbed his neck, returning to reality.
Only after experiencing all the preceding phenomena did Leon realize what holy art he had been subjected to. A holy art that exiled the target, body and all, to another world instead of reality—an eternal dream world. More precisely, a holy art that exiled the target to the world of Greed. If he hadn’t noticed, Leon would have wandered that other world forever until he died. This had been a trap designed from beginning to end. Since when? He didn’t know. In the end, there was only one thing he was certain of now.
One: Ruina was wandering the world of Greed.
And two: They were planning to do something with the Holy Grail.
Leon rose to his feet. First, he needed to grasp the situation more accurately.
*
“There’s no such thing as magic in this world. Are you going to keep spouting nonsense?”
It was a reasonable statement, but I wrote a note next to Yoo Han-sung’s name. Note: dismisses magic. Yoo Han-sung looked horrified.
“Wait. What were you just thinking?”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.”
A person could take notes, couldn’t they? Making such a fuss over something like that. Note: petty. Closing the notebook in my head, I stretched. The weather was nice. On a day like this, a picnic would be—
…….
I tilted my head at the strange sense of dissonance. What was this déjà vu? Had I seen it in a dream once?
“Hey. If you say you weren’t thinking anything, you’re definitely about to do something weird. Even now, thinking about how you made Tae-ho hyung cry last time gives me chills—”
I left the orphanage behind, ignoring Yoo Han-sung’s chattering. Ah. I really want to use magic.