413. Sunrise (5)
413. Sunrise (5)
- 1 -
Kwakwakwang —— !!
The volcano erupted.
At the edge of the Heavenly Realm. Without any warning whatsoever.
The reason was singular: the master's 'rage'.
The fury unleashed by the master of this world was simply that kind of force.
Regardless of its intensity, it instantly influenced the entire world.
When that fury reached its peak, it was beyond words.
Kurrrrung...!!
「The volcano...!」
Ominous tremors shook the atmosphere filled with sacred light, and the stars that had been floating even in the eternal daylight hid their light as if terrified.
The chorus of the angels singing the lord's eternal glory naturally fell silent.
「The Lord is enraged! Suppress it!」
「We must not let it reach the garden!」
As the ash and flames covering the sky encroached upon the sacred domain, countless angels flew up in a frenzy and began to suppress them.
The angels scattered water and blew wind to cool and solidify the lava.
Even amidst that scene of utter chaos, the handmaiden guarding the throne fretted over her master, her voice laced with anxiety.
「O Lord...! Please, calm your heart. Wrath is not good for your divine body...」
『Huu...』
As the angelic handmaiden's desperate voice echoed forth, 'she' barely managed to control her emotions.
'This won't do, no...'
To trouble her retainers needlessly over emotional agitation.
It was not a virtue befitting the one who was master.
Yet even as she suppressed her rage, the aftershocks left all around did not easily subside.
Her fury had become an aftershock, shaking the world.
「Are you well...?」
She gave a slow nod toward the cautiously inquiring handmaiden, then once more directed her gaze to her garden — the surface.
She saw the figure of a small woman with black hair and violet eyes.
That being still unsettled her heart uncomfortably, but it was far better than before.
'Spitting image. The appearance, the power... and the soul.'
That thing was a soul not of this world.
A soul from another world, clad in an elaborate shell crafted by demonic power.
'Is it meant to hide from me? Or perhaps...'
'She' let out a scoff.
Whatever the reason, once it had caught her eye, it could not deceive her.
Because this world was her world, her garden.
'No wonder I thought it was too invisible.'
The moment she awoke from her long slumber, she discovered a strange phenomenon on the surface.
The very center of her garden had seemingly vanished, as if eaten away by a worm.
At first, she simply knew it as always — that one of the Demon King's retainers had consumed her garden.
She assumed a worm living at the garden's edge had reached out to the center without knowing its place.
So, she had dismissed it as trivial.
She hadn't even bothered to examine it closely.
'But that wasn't it.'
The worm that had nested in the middle of her garden came from a much farther 'outside'.
Newly perceiving that fact, bloodshot veins appeared in 'her' eyes, and the aftershocks shaking the world grew even more violent.
Kudeudeuk!
Dust rose from her white grip.
The force carrying her rage was something even the throne crafted by her own authority could not withstand.
『Naiya, Toltrep...』
'She' muttered that name in a voice thick with loathing.
Naiya Toltrep. Or Athena Lyprot.
The one bearing names meaning 'Shelter of Night', or the 'Fruit of Struggle'.
A goddess's name: the main deity of another world, not this one, holding strength greater than hers, and possessing a lineage of equal rank and connected essence to her in the divine hierarchy.
And, it was the name of her irreconcilable nemesis.
One who looked exactly like that Naiya, even clad in a demon's shell, had dared set foot in her garden.
'What fate do you share.'
What relationship did that woman have with Naiya?
She could not help but be drawn to it.
Ujik!
Of course, that was never positive interest.
It was merely a weighing of scales: a pest to be crushed immediately, or a chess piece to be played with for a while and then discarded.
To figure that out, she needed to grant more power to the retainers who had now descended to the surface.
Hwaaak —
As she raised her long, white hand, an intensely brilliant light gathered above her fingers as if condensing the universe.
「My lord. Do you intend to send down further reinforcements?」
The handmaiden asked with a puzzled look.
Sending more archangels in this situation meant an 'all-out war' with the Demon World.
『No. It is fine.』
'She' shook her head.
Although in her heart she wished to immediately send down the archangels and all six seraphs to trample that worm, she too declined an unprepared war.
'It must be certain... that the Demon King knows the true nature of that being.'
Just as she had instantly recognized the foreign substance entering her garden, the Demon King down below in the darkness would be the same.
If that were the case, it meant the Demon King had sent that being up to the surface knowing everything.
In this situation, 'pretending not to know' would serve as the most powerful weapon for her.
Therefore, for now, merely reinforcing the angels who had already descended was sufficient.
So that in the worst-case scenario, they could preserve their strength and return safely.
'It's regrettable that the specially cultivated flower garden will be ruined, but...'
Still, it was fine.
Because that demon didn't seem likely to kill the 'gardeners' without question or answer.
Hooook — !
The trivial 'blessing' sent down from her fingertips imbued the angels on the surface.
Then 'she' turned her gaze.
This time, where her eyes landed were the two beings touched simultaneously by both her hand and the Demon King's.
'Come to think of it, it has been long since they were summoned.'
Those beasts were all lifeforms brought in by paying a price directly to a deity from another plane.
Hunting dogs that she and the Demon King had used to great effect for cleaning the surface and expanding their influence.
Pitifully, they had been confined for a thousand years, so now that they were thus released, she intended to let them frolic freely across the world if at all possible.
But, their origin was the issue.
Though each was from a different world, their homelands were closer to 'Naiya's world' than to this one.
The closer the distance between worlds, the higher the affinity between the beings belonging to them.
That was why spirits — beings essentially born from otherworldly power imbuing the spirits of objects or organisms — could frolic freely in her garden.
『Your usefulness has ended.』
These beasts were exceedingly powerful.
Such beings could not be allowed to fall into the hands of that being, who might be an avatar of Naiya.
One was close to Libertas, making it difficult to interfere, but conveniently, the other was in a very visible place, was it not?
And there was a fitting excuse, too.
'It dared form a bond with a being fated to Naiya.'
That alone was reason enough to dispose of the beast.
It was only a matter of timing.
Right now, that ancient dragon would be drained of strength from fighting other strong foes; this was the most opportune moment to snap its leash efficiently.
It had been left idle for too long anyway.
Hunting dogs that had outlived their usefulness were meant to be boiled down.
'Perhaps, I might even gain something else from this.'
'She' raised her finger and pointed at a single point in the void.
Tstststs — !
Light began gathering toward her hand.
Light imbued with pure 'divine' power.
- 2 -
Kurrrrung...!
Sswaaaa ——
At that same moment, thick torrential rain and thunderstorms were rolling into the sky above the Holy Kingdom.
As if asserting the wrath of this world's master, the furious storm swept across the battlefield.
Yet such natural threats could have no effect whatsoever on the being that had just arrived on the battlefield.
『Tia!!』
An incredibly pure and sweet voice, unbefitting a massive body and imposing armor.
Even amidst the storm and thunder, her voice remained endlessly clear.
『Bes...?』
That familiar call. That familiar voice.
The movement of the ancient dragon swimming through the sky came to a halt.
The five pairs of red eyes wavered minutely.
The agitation was immense.
So much so that the frenzied mana enveloping her body momentarily weakened.
『Why are you here...?』
Tiamat could not understand.
Her companion of a thousand frozen years, sealed in the Holy Kingdom before her.
A partner of ages, who had endured through separate prisons and different seals, communing only through their spirits.
While she herself exacted vengeance upon the Holy Kingdom on behalf of them both, that one should have been out frolicking in the world.
Why was that one here, then?
Tiamat hid her questions within her fondness as she asked.
『Didn't we agree to meet after playing and feasting to your heart's content? Bes.』
『Yeah! But I have someone to introduce to Tia!』
Her partner's voice, despite the absurdity of the content, remained ever bright.
『An introduction...?』
This time, Tiamat truly lost her composure.
Who could Bes, who had no friends let alone acquaintances besides herself, possibly introduce to her?
Instantly, she felt an emotion blazing within her chest.
She was bewildered.
It was different from the anger and hatred she was so accustomed to feeling.
But she could soon identify it.
『Ha.』
Its name was 'jealousy'. An emotion she had never felt in her life.
Only then did the figure of one being enter Tiamat's eyes, brimming with such feeling.
The figure of a small human form riding atop Behemoth's back.
"I am pleased to meet you. Duke of Frenzy."
The moment that gentle voice spread out, the air of the entire area changed.
"Rita!!"
『Libertas...!』
Serica's cry filled with relief and affection, and Astaroth's voice boiling with fury and loathing burst out simultaneously.
At the center of all those gazes, the eyes on Tiamat's five heads all turned as one toward a single being.
『You are?』
Curiosity and wonder were contained in her gaze.
An ordinary person would not provoke such extreme reactions at once.
Whether those were friendly or hostile.
But this black-haired woman was different.
She had shaken the hearts of all, and was proactively manipulating them.
Curiosity was inevitable.
Receiving that gaze, Libertas curved her eyes amicably as usual and placed a hand over her chest.
"I am Libertas. I helped Behemoth..."
At that moment, Behemoth abruptly interjected.
『A friend who helped me!』
But that pure goodwill ended up producing the opposite effect.
『...A friend, you say.』
Sensing the cold sharpness lacing Tiamat's voice, Libertas wore a troubled smile.
'She's suspicious.'
She inwardly nodded.
It was an understandable attitude. Because Behemoth was so incredibly pure.
While purity wasn't synonymous with low intelligence, it was undeniable that it made her easy to deceive by cunning individuals.
Tiamat was currently thinking of her as a 'cunning being' trying to exploit Behemoth's purity to achieve her own aims.
And that was...
'Also true.'
Libertas hadn't helped Behemoth out of pure intentions alone.
In the first place, this was a being she had only just met, and who had nearly gravely destroyed her own territory.
Tiamat could not know all the circumstances, but she likely guessed the general situation.
But it was fine.
'I just need to prove it from now on.'
That the 'favor' shown to Behemoth, even if calculated, was never a lie.
And that standing with her was the best path for Tiamat as well.
'If only I can do that...'
She would gain two pursuers as collaborators.
No one on the surface would dare oppose her.
'In my name.'
She could establish a new order on a continent groaning under war, and forge the glory of another empire.
Harboring such ambition, Libertas was about to open her mouth toward Tiamat.
Just before she felt 'that divine light'.
Hwaak ——
'This is...!'
Libertas's expression turned icy cold in an instant.
Feeling the overwhelming 'something' that pressed down upon the entire world.
She had an intuition.
'She', the Goddess, was doing something.
『What is this... Bes...?』
『No...』
Libertas was the first to stare at the sky, and the two pursuers were startled in turn.
"...!"
Libertas, reaching out a hand toward the sky. The sounds of the world gradually grew distant.
Right at that moment.
—— !!!
The world was dyed white.
As if the morning sun were rising right before her very eyes.