405. Daybreak (2)
405. Daybreak (2)
- 1 -
A space where a dazzling white light spread out infinitely.
Broadly speaking, it belonged to the outer planes, but it was a transcendent world far closer to this realm than any of the countless other outer planes.
The Celestial Realm.
There, 'she' was receiving an angel's gratitude.
"Thank you. My Lord."
It was Temion who spoke in a reverent voice, kneeling with his head bowed.
An angel who had gone by the name 'Theodore' as a human.
In his mortal life, he was the great-grandfather of the current Central Archbishop, Anselm.
『Is it not fate? If the grandchild of my retainer were to be cast into the Demon Realm like this, I too would feel some displeasure.』
In the woman's hand rested a single soul stained a murky pink hue.
A soul gradually being 'purified' to white.
It was the soul of Anselm, who had been devoured and killed by Behemoth on the surface.
She gently caressed Anselm's soul, filtering out, one by one, the darkness that had seeped into it.
As painstakingly as polishing a pearl.
'I ought to do at least this much.'
The direct cause of death was something else, but it was she herself who had induced this situation.
She had at least this much 'loyalty.'
- Truly, truly thank you...
She, who had been staring down at the back of his head, now turned her gaze.
『How noisy.』
She leaned her upper body forward and looked down below.
It was a rare occurrence.
For her daily routine was to lie half-reclined upon her throne.
What she was watching was the 'surface world.'
There, the most tumultuous event in the last two hundred years was unfolding.
『It seems the trouble I stirred up was worth it.』
Anselm, the great-grandson of the Pope from two generations ago.
Like his great-grandfather Theodore, he had possessed the potential to overcome desire and rise higher.
He had merely been trampled mercilessly under the schemes of Astaroth, the eastern candidate for the Demon King's succession.
Even so, he had his uses.
Just like his grandfather now serving at her side, he had provided a fine opportunity to elevate her status by one more level.
『... It is unsettling.』
She gazed at the central region of the continent that had recently slipped from her 'field of vision.'
At first, she thought it was merely demon cult fanatics expanding their influence, as always.
For the sight of black dots appearing one by one and occasionally multiplying was a common occurrence.
Usually, those dots would fail to expand beyond a certain range and wither away.
『Tch.』
But this time was different.
While she had slept and woken a few times, that range had expanded explosively.
Before she could even properly grasp its meaning, it had stained the center of the continent black.
『Daring... to defile my garden.』
Her quiet fury shook the entire Celestial Realm.
Even for her, the space ruled by the Archdukes of the Demon Realm could not be observed.
Though she had recently planted a certain 'eye' within it, even so, she could not see its center.
Still, she had not paid it much mind. For they were nothing but weeds barely clinging to a corner of her garden.
But for weeds to occupy the very center of her garden and block her view of humanity, such a thing had rarely happened.
A situation that recalled events from several hundred years ago, before the Demon King had severed his interest in the surface.
Displeasure was inevitable.
『If time had simply flowed on, it would naturally have become my world.』
How much effort had she put into creating the proper environment?
She had reduced the influence of the outer planes.
By killing the beasts with their foul stench and forms, or by compromising with 'them.'
She had even killed off the Demon King's successor.
That foolish one who had dared to cultivate faith in the Demon King within her garden.
'Even in my own estimation, it was a job well done.'
While the Demon King had briefly turned his eyes from the continent to sate his curiosity about the outer planes, she had dispatched heroes and instigated some of the Dungeon Lords.
It had been a splendid scheme.
For she had succeeded in crushing the seed of the next 'Absolute One.'
As a result.
The heroes of that time had become the mightiest warriors of her world to this day.
She had also been able to drive her 'will' into each of the Demon Realms.
'Daring to raise a successor in my garden.'
It had been a foolish act.
And yet, it seemed that foolish act was occurring once again.
'It cannot be tolerated.'
『Indeed, it absolutely cannot be tolerated.』
A situation where the sword of the surface must be raised once more.
To do so, the sword that had rusted in the intervening time had to be properly tempered.
『Commendable things.』
Fortunately, her sword was shaking off its rust of its own accord.
If that was the case, she merely needed to make sure that sword knew exactly who its master was.
The complete removal of the remaining rust went without saying.
『Take strength, my retainer.』
She raised her hand and clapped lightly.
Then, another beam of light descended toward the surface.
Toward Morr'is, the Archangel of Twilight.
『Fufu.』
Watching that sight, the 'Goddess' laughed softly.
Her standing would soar once more.
High into the heavens. And beyond this world, until it reached another world.
- 2 -
- Kuooooooo —— !!!
Behemoth's monstrous roar shook heaven and earth.
It was a sound that made even me, who rarely felt discomfort from ordinary stimuli, furrow my brow.
"A monster is a monster indeed."
At my muttering, Esther and Evangeline, who were beside me, nodded simultaneously.
Kwang!! Kwadeudeudeuk!
The two lord-class monsters' hit-and-run attacks: Shue pushed them back, and Saya whittled them down.
The damage was largely negligible.
Part of it was because Shue and Saya could not exert their full power due to the proximity of the city, but the bigger reason was that Behemoth was rampaging in earnest, releasing its mana.
Kwakwang — !!
When the mountain-sized bull, clad in dark blue armor, unleashed a kick that shook the earth's axis, the aftermath turned everything upside down.
Overwhelming destructive power that instantly created five or six massive craters on the ground.
But Saya and Shue were never caught.
『You mayflies!!!』
At last, the creature emerged onto the plains, murderous intent surging to the very top of its head.
I opened my mouth.
"Eve."
"Yes."
There was no precise command.
But she had already grasped my intention.
Ssssss——!
Manifested mana blazed up over her longsword.
Mana rising intensely with a sound like sand being swept away.
Then, at that moment, as the mana condensed upon the sword crossed its critical threshold.
「Absolute Scales.」
The world halted.
——— !!!
A light that burst forth soundlessly connected the sky and the surface in a pure white straight line.
As if on the first day of creation, when light parted the darkness.
Kwajik — !!
Unfortunate trees and a bridge caught between Behemoth and Evangeline were shattered and scattered.
『Kh-hek!!』
Along with a bizarre, grotesque scream, Behemoth shut its eyes and twisted its body.
Kwakwakwakwakwang —— !!!
A slash struck true over those closed eyes.
A slash of light that struck its massive frame vertically, from the legs all the way up to the head.
The result was different from the time with Paimon.
- Kuoaaaaa!!!!
『It hurts!!!!』
An intense will erupted along with the monstrous roar.
At the same time, Behemoth's hoof scraped against the ground.
It was a deeply familiar motion, except for the fact that its frame was excessively huge.
"Master. Please step back."
"Be careful."
As soon as I moved aside, Evangeline's sword brimmed with light once more.
This time, it was a light where black and white intersected.
A radiance that seemed to symbolize the absoluteness of the Scales.
『I'll kill you!!!!』
Finally, the creature fully escaped the city's domain.
Kwang!!!
Thick hind legs supporting its body from the sides, and two long forelegs used like hands.
A height reaching forty meters.
Behemoth's advance, which could only be described as the charge of a literal 'mountain.'
An overwhelming force that seemed as if it would sweep away everything before it.
Evangeline's small body, not even two meters tall, looked as if it would be sent flying like a scrap of paper at any moment.
Kung —— !
But the result was the complete opposite.
Neither Evangeline nor Behemoth was sent flying.
Kwajik, kwajijik!!
In one hand, Evangeline held her longsword, now transformed into a greatsword brimming with black-and-white mana.
Its size was enormous, but compared to Behemoth's bulk, it was smaller than a toothpick.
Yet Evangeline, holding that greatsword, matched Behemoth's strength head-on.
『Wh-what...!!』
Shue and Saya did not miss that opportunity.
「Wild Rampage」
「Nullifying Annihilation - Silent Deathblow of the Underworld」
Shue, her entire body engulfed in crimson light, and Saya, with black mist seeping through golden lightning, precisely burrowed their claws and sword into both of Behemoth's flanks.
Kwang —— !! Kwadeudeudeuk!!
A rending explosion and a grinding lightning strike.
- Kuoaaaaa——!!!
The blows were clearly effective.
Both of Behemoth's flanks were gouged deeply and massively.
But that was only for a moment.
『It hurts!! I said it hurts!!』
Along with its cry of pain, an immense mana surged up in an instant.
The flesh on its flanks knitted back together, and its armor regenerated, as if there had never been any wounds at all.
But the eerie, ominous light flickering in Behemoth's two eyes only grew deeper.
『I don't want to eat you! I'll tear you apart!! I'll smash you to pieces!!』
Kwang!! Kwang!!! Kwang!!!!!
The more it struck the ground, the more intense the deafening roar became.
"Hut?!"
The mana that burst from Behemoth's body sent the three of them flying back.
As had been seen before, it was mana of both tremendous quantity and a dreadfully dense concentration.
'I think I understand now. Why they were given the title of Archduke even within the Demon Realm.'
The spectacle of mana blazing from that colossal frame and engulfing all directions was, honestly—personal feelings aside—a sight of incredible beauty.
Any demon sensitive to mana would likely be utterly captivated by this scene.
『Die, all of you —— !!』』
Though that voice seemed to slightly ruin the mood—a voice so soft and piercing, like a child's, utterly mismatched with its gigantic frame.
That scream, like a wounded child wailing, was all the more chilling.
'Could it truly be a child?'
I tilted my head to the side.
A child that had lived for a thousand years.
A phrase that somehow brought to mind that disease which should not be mentioned lightly, but I felt it might not be merely a figurative meaning.
If that was the case.
"... Found it."
Its weakness would be singular. The corner of my lips curled upward.
- 3 -
Hylash Royal Castle.
Leviathan furrowed his brow.
Just moments ago, a new beam of light from the 'Celestial Realm' had descended toward the eastern sky.
He knew all too well what that meant.
'That swine of a woman, is she determined to devour absolutely everything?'
The continued intervention of the Goddess meant that she, who already possessed so much, was intent on swallowing everything.
Of course, it was true that Libertas's actions had satisfied the 'condition.'
Because she had been influencing a certain amount of territory, humans, and 'faith.'
But even so, the Goddess's current actions were not at a 'legitimate' level.
"Two Archangels... what a bother."
As Leviathan rose from his seat, Asmodeus asked.
"Are you going?"
"Well, did you think I wasn't?"
As Leviathan turned back with a narrowed brow, his eyes were filled to the brim with a menacing aura.
"Of course not. I also have to look after the 'child' who went there..."
Asmodeus smiled faintly, a ferocious intensity contained within that was nearly comparable to Leviathan's own.
"And since we've been living so quietly, it seems that old hag has completely forgotten what we are."
Then, she twisted that smile oddly.
"Wouldn't it be nice to remind her, after so long?"
"Hmph."
With a snort, Leviathan strode forward.
Peolleok — !
Immediately after, his coat spread open and nine pairs of appendages sprouted from his back.
They were 'fins,' black overall but tinged green at the tips, with a shape almost like wings.
As Leviathan unfolded them and rose into the air, Asmodeus revealed her nine alluring golden tails and followed alongside him.
"I told you to change that look a bit. It's unsightly."
"Shut up. You're not Henrietta, are you."
"Oh my, does Marquis Shalita really like it that much? Hard to believe."
"I have no reason to tell you more."
The next moment, the two Archdukes vanished from that spot.
Toward the eastern sky.