400. Soul Night (1)
400. Soul Night (1)
- 1 -
At some point, Anselm realized he was standing in a stark, absolute white space.
An infinite white void, without end or boundary.
It stretched beneath his feet, above his head, and extended in every direction his eyes could reach.
Only pure whiteness existed there.
Almost without thinking, he first examined his own body.
For some reason, he felt it was imperative.
"...I'm fine."
His limbs were all attached where they should be, his eyes and ears working properly.
His heart was calm, and he wasn't breaking into a cold sweat.
Everything was normal.
But, why was it?
A strange sense of dissonance bloomed in a corner of his mind.
'...Why?'
There was no way he could be this whole and healthy.
That ominous intuition kept him from moving recklessly.
It made him examine himself first, before taking in his strange surroundings.
Because of that, he was slow to notice the 'gaze' looking down at him.
— My little lamb.
Startled by the sudden call, Anselm snapped his head up.
The sky in front of him, the dead center of the stark white space.
There, an 'even whiter light' resided.
Against a background of blinding, pure white — a light even more pure.
It was a light that entered his eyes with strange clarity.
"Lord...?"
He knew instantly.
It was the 'Goddess.' The one who had guided him to this place... had guided him?
'Where is this?'
His head ached as if it would shatter.
He couldn't recall anything he had been doing moments before.
— Come hither.
But soon, it was all right.
The moment the warm voice of the Goddess seeped into his soul, all the questions and the headache that had ravaged his mind vanished, as if purified.
Anselm, as if bewitched, walked slowly toward the light.
The more the light shone strongly upon him, the warmer his body became and the more infinitely at peace his heart felt.
A coziness as if cradled in a mother's arms. He felt his eyes might slide shut at any moment.
'I mustn't.'
The Goddess was right before him.
He couldn't afford to miss a single word she spoke. Because he was a cleric.
— It is fine for you to close your eyes. My words will easily pass through a mere veil of sleep.
"Ahh..."
As he desperately tried to keep his eyes open, he felt the 'Goddess's' warm touch upon his cheek.
It was the most tranquil and gentle sensation in the world.
— You have done well. Thanks to you, my radiance shall shine upon this world once more.
The moment he heard those words, Anselm shuddered with a thrill.
The Lord had acknowledged his labor.
He had done something for the Goddess.
A pleasure stronger than anything else in the world swept through his entire body.
Even though he couldn't recall what he had done, that too must be a part of God's grand design.
"No, no... What I have done is nothing."
— Heh heh. No. You have truly done a great thing. So, tell me.
The softly whispering voice seeped into his ear.
The Goddess had told him to rest comfortably, but Anselm kept struggling to open his eyes.
He wanted to capture the Goddess's form shimmering in the light, even a little more of that holy radiance, in his sight.
Even if both of his eyes went blind.
But then, he let it go.
— Your wish.
Because taking those words into his ears, etching them into his heart, mattered more.
"My wish is..."
At first, he had tried to say he had no wish. For devotion to the Lord was a cleric's only joy.
But the moment he tried to open his mouth, a face filled his mind.
Philia Elskopf.
The detestable ruler of the accursed coalition.
His loathed nemesis, and the founder of the Sun Cult.
'The enemy of the Lord.' The heretic.
And then, the faces of countless kings also surfaced.
Those who had betrayed him and turned their backs to those adversaries.
"Philia Elskopf...! And all the kings of the continent...!"
As his pent-up grudge erupted like a volcano, Anselm's eyes were stained a complete blood-red.
"All of them...!"
Eyes in which the sclera was a strange mix of pink and black, and the pupils were crimson.
His teeth grew out like a beast's, and the 'lump' sprouting from his head had now clearly become a horn, pushing out more fiercely.
Blood streamed from every hole in his face.
His body was no longer human.
"Punishment upon them...! Death! And...!"
Anselm, forgetting his duty as a cleric, stained with murderous intent and frenzy, spat out his own desires.
"I wish for the destruction of all that they possess! O Lord!!"
Before him, the 'light' smiled.
— Yes.
Even as its stark white body was stained blood-red.
— Your wish, I shall grant it exactly as it is.
"...Huh?"
Craaack!!
A massive rift tore open in the pure white space before Anselm's eyes.
What seeped through that gap was...
Hahahahahaha —— !!
A dark crimson light that seemed as if it would drown everything in blood.
Ruuuumble...!!
An ashen darkness that felt as if it would cover the entire world in desolate silence.
And with that, Anselm was hurled back into reality.
- 2 -
Anselm blinked.
The comfortable space vanished, and reality returned.
All that surrounded him were corpses and ruins.
"Thank you, cleric."
What gripped his chin was not the gentle touch of the Goddess.
It was a hideous, sharp 'forepaw' with long nails that pricked his cheek.
A red-haired woman whispered to him.
"Thanks to you, we can stride out into the world again."
She lifted the hand that held Anselm's chin, just as it was.
"Guh, gah...!"
His body floated up lightly.
Suspended in midair, it dangled and swayed.
'Ah...'
Only then was he able to recall.
The arms and legs that had been cleanly torn from his shoulders and below his pelvis.
The intense sense of dissonance he had felt in the 'white space' was precisely because of that.
A wretched state, like a butchered animal.
And the ones who had taken his limbs were these very beings right before his eyes.
"S-save... me...."
Even so, he wanted to live.
Somehow, he had to live.
Things like arms and legs — his standing as a cleric could restore them many times over.
If only he could survive.
But the two beings had already lost interest in him.
"Bes. I've eaten my fill. Aren't you hungry?"
The red-haired woman asked in a languid voice.
"Yeah... very, very hungry..."
As the ash-haired girl nodded in reply, Tia held Anselm's body out before her.
"This might make a decent appetizer."
"No, you can't...!"
Anselm's struggles were no different from those of a large bug.
A faint smile spread across the ash-grey girl's lips.
Those movements, like the flailing of a dying wild beast, were somehow amusing.
But in the end, the fact that 'it' was food didn't change.
"Thank you for the meal...."
At that moment, the last thing Anselm felt was—
A hole leading to hell.
The smell of rotting meat.
The stench of stomach acid.
And from deep within that place, echoing out...
Gurgle gurgle ——
The sound of something, wriggling.
Gulp.
A 'gigantic gullet' opening as if to swallow everything.
Crunch. Chomp! Crunch munch!
The girl called 'Bes,' pressing her smooth belly lightly over her old dress, looked up at the red woman called 'Tia.'
"What are we going to do now...?"
"What do you mean, what."
Tia raised her head and looked beyond the ruined sanctuary at the vast world outside.
"We go eat to our hearts' content. We've been starving for a thousand years, after all."
At those words, Bes pouted her lips.
"...Tia eats a lot too. If we stay together, I won't get much...."
"Well, that's true. So how about we split up for a bit?"
At Tia's touch as she stroked her head, a satisfied smile finally bloomed on Bes's face.
She nodded vigorously.
"Okay... I'll eat my fill and then we'll meet again...."
Watching that adorable sight, Tia smiled until her eyes crinkled.
This girl who had become her eternal partner was truly, so very precious to her.
This form, and her true form.
"All right. Don't get hurt, and let's meet again."
"Yeah."
The two beings exchanged their promise.
And, right after that.
KWAKWANG——!!
The castle wall that had guarded the seal for a thousand years was mercilessly trampled under a gigantic hoof.
A massive, heavy foot clad in obsidian armor, sharp claws, and a powerful leg bristling with dragon scales crushed it.
The full-scale 'feast' had begun.
- 3 -
With only a few hours left until the New Year, a general mobilization order fell upon the entire Holy Kingdom.
Fortunately, the attendance rate was high.
This was because most of the clergy had gathered around the capital for the New Year's Eve prayer vigil.
Even if that weren't the case, there was no cleric who would refuse a mobilization order issued in the name of the Holy Pope.
"Total 263 members of the Sacred Fire Order, 7 absent! Present: 256! All assembled!"
"Holy Knights!! Form ranks here!!"
"Hymn Priests! Prepare to tend to the wounded!"
Excluding those whose hometowns were too far and had already departed, all the holy knights and priests gathered in one place.
The number had not significantly decreased, even when compared to before the 'Central Continent Coalition Heretic Designation.'
Although it was said that Anselm's faction had been purged, there were many low-ranking holy knights and priests among them who had merely moved on 'God's orders' without knowing the reason.
Still, it was true that their numbers had diminished.
"Lord..."
Adriana couldn't help but feel anxious about that fact.
Rumble ———
Because right before her eyes, a massive tornado of mana connected the sky and the earth.
Still, she was better off than many others.
"How... how are we supposed to deal with that...!"
Clementine was clutching her own hair in despair.
"We need to secure a way out right now, Adriana. I will ensure an escape route for the people of the Holy Kingdom."
Lucia spoke calmly, but it was all too clear that her true intention was to ensure her own escape, at least.
'Haah...'
Adriana let out a deep sigh inwardly.
Though she didn't know about their combat prowess, saints and saintesses were considered among the foremost 'users of the most powerful holy arts.'
Yet the sight of these women made her doubt whether they could even function as a fighting force right now.
Even so, she couldn't pressure them or drag them along by force.
Because a panicked ally was more dangerous than an enemy.
"You're right, Lucia."
In the end, she forced a smile and spoke.
"Please take Clementine, lead the regular priests, and gather the soldiers. The people of the Holy Kingdom must be evacuated. Please visit as many villages as possible."
Lucia's selfishness was a relief, for once.
Because, for the sake of her own life, she would carry out the assigned task diligently.
"In return."
Adriana firmly gripped Lucia's shoulder and gave her a stern look as she issued her charge.
"You absolutely must visit every village. Starting with those closest to the Sanctuary."
"...I understand. I am a saintess too, after all."
It was an answer that wasn't very reassuring, but Adriana once again forced her lips upward.
"I'm counting on you, Lucia."
"W-wait a moment, Adriana. Then, what about you...?"
Could she even call that a question?
Suppressing the sigh that was about to burst out again through sheer will, Adriana turned around.
Toward the thick, dark, massive mana swirling like a tornado over the Sanctuary.
"I will lead everyone and climb up there."
She spoke while slowly loosening up her body.
Soon, she would have to begin a grueling ascent.
Because the teleport gate leading to the Sanctuary was already blocked.
"But it's dangerous...! Wouldn't it be better to evacuate everyone first and then figure out a way...!"
"We have to stop those things, Clementine. Otherwise, none of us will be able to escape the Holy Kingdom."
Answering Clementine appropriately, Adriana repeated words in her heart that she couldn't say to anyone.
'...I want to run away.'
She looked at the mountain before her.
Why must I risk my life and charge into that dangerous place?
She knew herself. She was a coward.
She hadn't stepped forward to block the arguments slandering Esther.
She had turned a blind eye to the corruption of the clergy.
She had ignored the absence of the Holy Pope.
Even so.
'I... I've done enough, haven't I?'
Since becoming a saintess, she had passed judgment on countless evildoers.
And she had probably saved even more people than that.
She hadn't done the insane thing of throwing herself into fire and swords like Esther, but still, she had done her share.
Haven't I done my part by now? Isn't it true that I have no duty to throw my life away before a calamity like this?
But.
"Your Excellency! Please give us your command!"
"Is His Holiness safe...?"
Those voices coming from behind caught her.
Voices full of trust and hope.
Although they were in the predicament of having to climb that high mountain, the faces of the holy knights and priests held firm tension, but not fear.
Because the one standing before them was a 'saintess.'
'I'm so scared...!'
With her head bowed, she clenched her teeth tightly.
With her hands pressed together to cover her face.
To suppress her legs, which wanted to turn and flee at any moment.
That was how it was.
She was a saintess. A damn saintess.
The one who led these clergy — one of only two spiritual pillars alongside the current Holy Pope.
Adriana raised her head again. Toward the Sanctuary.
And she raised her voice.
"...Let's go!"
The two gazes she still felt on her back.
A flustered gaze full of disbelief, and a cynical gaze watching someone soon to die.
But those gazes couldn't slow her steps in the slightest.
"Advance ——— !!"
"The Lord is watching!!"
"For the Holy War!!"
"For the Lord!!"
"Protect the Continent!!!"
Among the countless footsteps, one particularly loud cry rang out.
Following him, Adriana murmured quietly.
"...For the continent."
'For the people.'
And then.
KWAKWANG —— !!!
A massive explosion swept over the heads of the Holy Kingdom army that had begun its advance.
Devouring their resolute battle cries, their hopes, and their determination.