Just Where Do You Think You're Going

"The war is over. We're leaving, Karia."

Golden hair and golden eyes.

A towering man draped in resplendent platinum imperial regalia—the very emblem of royalty—descended upon this land wreathed in golden divinity.

The greatest sword of the Empire.

The Duke of Yellow Embers, Roverian Chen Imperium.

His divinity-laden golden eyes flicked toward Nord, who lay crumpled on the ground.

"Grrrrrgh..."

The holy sword had struck him square in the chest, and Nord's face was twisted like a demon's.

"So you were the one behind the schism."

"You... son of a..."

"How does it feel, breathing the world's air again after three hundred years? A little ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠refreshing, isn't it?"

He said it with perfect nonchalance, and Nord spat a mouthful of blackened blood at Roverian.

Needless to say, the blood never reached him.

"You... insolent..."

"Such a foul mouth."

At the slightest movement of Roverian's hand, four more holy swords flew in beyond the one already piercing his chest, impaling Nord's limbs.

As Nord's scream tore through the air, Roverian placed a hand atop his head.

"Rest assured. You will not die."

"......"

"The Empire has decided to end the war. You are free now."

"Whose... whose decision..."

"Why, the Empire's, of course."

Now rest.

The golden divinity flared, and the utterly neutralized Nord collapsed.

Roverian lifted his gaze from Nord and turned it toward me—

KWAAAANG!!!

—or would have, had he not blocked the strike mid-swing, his hand ringing with a long, metallic viiiiing─

"A Celestial."

"...Lily Elbrit."

The Duke of Yellow Embers. A wielder of 'divinity.'

I'd crossed paths with him once at the Snowy Mountain, and I had suspected it ever since.

'This is no mere inheritance.'

It wasn't a legacy left behind by a Celestial, nor was he another race capable of handling divinity.

Like demonic energy, divinity was a power that was fundamentally impossible to wield.

Countless races had tried to harness its overwhelming power and performance, and every one of them had met annihilation.

Which left only one possibility.

"...And here I thought there was no way you'd be the real thing."

"Couldn't the same be said of you?"

"Not me. I'm human."

Another roar split the air as I caught the returning hammer and swung it full force at Roverian.

Kagagak...! The hammer was stopped dead by the golden divinity.

His golden eyes flashed, and five holy swords rose into the air behind him.

"Stand down. As of this moment, the Empire is ending its war."

"Well, that's convenient. I was getting tired of it myself."

However.

"The person I have business with has changed, that's all."

The moment the golden barrier shielding Roverian shattered completely, my hammer—saturated with pure white divinity—came for him.

KWAAAANG!!! A single devastating blow slammed into Roverian.

For the briefest instant, he staggered off balance—

Pububuk!

—but he had been waiting for that opening all along. A holy sword that had been circling behind me punched straight through my body.

My opponent was a Celestial.

His temperament seemed a little different from the arrogant Celestials I once knew, but his power, his bearing, the very composition of his soul—there was no mistaking it. A Celestial, through and through.

Not something with Celestial blood mixed in, but a true Celestial.

'His soul has only bloomed to the level of a lower Celestial... yet his power and dignity are something else entirely.'

Despite being a lower Celestial, the Duke of Yellow Embers was somehow radiating power on the level of a mid-tier Celestial or above.

As things stood, only the Crown of Succession could bring him down.

'The Crown of Succession.'

Paaaah! Wings of light unfurled, and a broken ring descended onto my head.

My current maximum was 15%.

Duration, a little over forty seconds.

'Twice might be pushing it.'

Once this crown shattered, I might collapse.

After all, this ability—which dredged up the power of the past—accumulated catastrophic damage on both body and soul.

But.

Paaaaah...!

'This much is nothing.'

Back then, I had always been the last one standing.

My hammer, now wielding overwhelming power unlike anything before, was a hair's breadth from caving in Roverian's skull when—

"The Empire... no, 'I' have decided to protect humanity."

KUUUUNG!!!

The hammer grazed past him.

Puhwaak! A mere graze—yet the crushing force of the blow made the Duke's right arm burst ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠apart.

Even with his arm blown off, he regarded it without a flicker of expression, then turned to look at me as I radiated pure white divinity.

I wonder what my face looked like right now.

I couldn't check for myself, but I imagine it was quite the sight.

'Because I just heard that nonsense.'

"Wh... what did you just say...?"

"Let me say it again. I, a 'Celestial,' have decided to protect 'humans.' That is all."

".......""

"Someone like you should understand exactly what that means."

Who is protecting whom from what?

Only a hollow laugh would come.

I should have beaten the man who'd just spouted that nonsense to death on the spot, but my trembling hands wouldn't let me.

KUUNG!

I lowered the hammer.

'...Maybe people can change. There was even a detestable "person" like you who did, once.'

I used to believe that.

But nothing changed.

No—it must not change.

Celestials and demons were still garbage, plain and simple—unambiguous evils poisoning the world.

There wasn't a shred of them worth saving.

'It has to be that way.'

"...Heh."

Paeseok.

The Crown of Succession shattered.

Not even forty seconds had passed—I had crushed it with my own hands.

The memories came flooding in, and I felt like I could close my eyes at any moment.

If I closed them now, I would dream of 'him' again.

Maybe I'd sink into another of those 'long dreams,' just like before.

'...No.'

I had climbed my way out of that place.

Everything about him was over and done with, and I was living a new life now.

And then.

"......"

The chat was impossible to just scroll past.

"Bahahat! Kghk... kghk..."

Laughter burst out of me.

And I laughed for a good long while.

"...What's so funny?"

"You're funny. That's all. Me too, I guess..."

I let my eyelids—heavy under the flood of memories—sink toward the ground.

Shattered fragments of divinity lay scattered across it, glittering and dizzying like shards of glass.

'Let it all go.'

The Crown of Succession.

A medium for summoning the power of my 'past.'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I had used it in the mindscape on Kiki Island to call upon my power at its absolute peak, and afterward I'd decided to use it outside as well.

In my weakened state, I simply couldn't beat strong enemies like the Grand Demon Duke or the Duke of Yellow Embers otherwise.

But because the ability was inherently unstable, it dragged back not only the power of the past, but the raw, unfiltered 'emotions' of that time along with it.

That was probably why I'd thrown all restraint to the wind—saying and doing whatever I pleased without a care for the stream.

'A Penalty, huh... maybe it's not such a wrong word after all.'

The me of the past, drifting across battlefields for decades.

The me of now, streaming and forming easy, comfortable connections with thousands upon thousands of people.

The difference between the two was night and day.

Passsssss...

I burned the fragmented Crown of Succession away completely.

The ancient divinity vanished beyond that distant sky, and the emotions of the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠past scattered right along with it.

I feel... kind of cleansed.

"Ughghk...! I'm exhausted..."

I stretched my whole body and laughed once more.

"...So? What's your answer?"

"Ah... I kind of want to kill you."

"...I'm sorry, what?"

"Kidding."

"...That did not sound like a joke."

He was right. I had packed a generous helping of killing intent into it.

"Let me ask you one thing. Those humans outside the 'Empire'—are they not included in your protection?"

"The Empire does not turn away those who would become its subjects."

Those who would become subjects.

Arrogance, through and through.

'He really can't help his nature, can he.'

A strange sense of familiarity washed over me as I nodded.

"I don't want to drag this out any longer than I have to... and honestly, my goals are mostly accomplished. For now, I'll simply watch."

Catching the hammer once more, I rested it across my shoulder and glared at the Duke of Yellow Embers.

No words were needed. The message came through loud and clear.

'Step out of line, and you die.'

For now, I would let it slide.

But the moment he pulled anything strange, I would tear the entire Empire down to the foundations if that's what it took to kill him.

Even if it meant drawing on the power of the past all over again.

The Duke of Yellow Embers showed his displeasure at my silent pressure, but ultimately conceded.

As long as he was a true Celestial, he would understand.

'That in a head-on fight, he loses. Every single time.'

Sure, that was only true when the Crown of Succession came out—but if I kept rebuilding my strength from scratch, I'd reach that realm soon enough.

And beyond that realm, my prime.

And beyond my prime...

'...Can I actually get that far?'

It would take hundreds of genuine brushes with death just to reach that point.

Whether that was even possible, I honestly didn't know.

The Duke of Yellow Embers finished his preparations to depart and went to wave goodbye—only to catch sight of his own right arm.

The arm that had burst apart against me, now hollow and empty.

Scowling, he had Saintess Nea heal it, then rose high into the sky.

"Then I shall take my leave. Should you ever wish to join the Empire's side, my door is always—"

"Hold it. Just where do you think you're going?"

"?"

I am a human being. Lily Elbrit.

"If you're leaving, you pay what you owe first."

Debts are meant to be collected in full.

The Duke of Yellow Embers's brow furrowed sharply.

Go ahead. Get angry. What are you going to do about it?

Were you planning to kill me, perhaps?

"...What do you want?"

"First: a ban on the guilds occupying territory they seized during the war. Second: war reparations—that one goes without saying. Oh, and the Grand Demon Duke's experiments are permanently banned from here on out... and also..."

With every condition I added, the fury radiating from above grew thicker and thicker.

Even Nea, standing at his side, was livid enough to burst—'Th-th-this heretic has lost her mind...!'

"...And finally. Hmm. The Lonhadia duchy—and the castle? I'll be taking those."

"...What?"

"HERETIC!!"

Why?

I'd received two gifts already, but I never got the most important gift box, did I?

Naturally, I'm entitled to it.