Chapter 378
Chapter 378
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 378
Chapter Title: Judgment
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Pope Zitapan wiped the cold sweat beading on his forehead.
The Hero didn't seem particularly sensitive about this incident and appeared satisfied with his swift response. At that realization, Zitapan let out a quiet sigh of relief inwardly.
'Truly fortunate.'
He caught his breath. Nursing that thought, Zitapan shot a glance at Lania seated across from him. She stared at the ceiling for a moment with a sly smile playing on her lips, then set her teacup down on the table with a sharp clink.
"Zitapan, how's the Church been doing lately?"
"If you're asking how things are..."
Zitapan pondered for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Most factions within the Church follow my lead, but some haven't been fully integrated yet. They're the ones who swore loyalty to the former Pope..."
Zitapan hesitated before finishing his sentence.
"They weren't present that day when the Hero punished the Church."
It was those same people who had recently tried to make contact with the Saintess Natida. He was applying steady pressure to drive them out, but their roots ran deep.
"I see?"
Lania rubbed her chin with a hum, tilting her head slightly. Her ash-gray hair cascaded softly along her collarbone.
"Want me to bury them for you?"
Her tone was light, her gesture casual.
But the intent behind her words was anything but. She might have said it offhandedly, but Zitapan felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"No, no need. It's something I can handle on my own, so there's no reason for you to intervene personally..."
"Intervene? Saying it like that makes me feel like some kind of god."
"...That was a slip of the tongue. I'll be more careful."
Zitapan hurriedly added the words.
He often thought of Lania as something divine, and it had led to his careless remark. Lania let out a amused chuckle, and Zitapan bowed his head slightly, sweating coldly.
'I want to get out of here.'
It felt like walking a tightrope.
Wishing to return to the main cathedral quickly, Zitapan cautiously spoke up.
"I appreciate you making time for me despite how busy you must be, Hero. I'll ensure nothing unsavory happens again."
"Oh? Sure."
"Then..."
I'll be heading back to the Church now...
Zitapan started to rise from his seat as he spoke. Lania tilted her head at him.
"Huh? Leaving already?"
Zitapan flinched.
"Why not stay a bit longer? You must be tired from the long journey."
Caught in an awkward half-standing position, Zitapan glanced at Lania. Her expression was innocently sincere. She genuinely meant for him to rest. But this was the demon realm, a battlefield. And above all, Lania was here.
'A place where I absolutely can't relax?'
Zitapan racked his brains, sweating profusely.
A master of social navigation, Zitapan sought a way to extricate himself gracefully—flattering the other party all the while—before speaking.
"No, you should head to your frontline soon as well, Hero. Your time is worth more than gold; it pains me to even think of taking any of it."
He thought it was a solid excuse, even if he did say so himself.
As Zitapan inwardly pumped his fist, shouting 'This'll work!'...
"The frontline? Why bother? This works just fine."
"Pardon?"
"Huh?"
Lania blinked.
Then she muttered something like, Oh, you wouldn't know, flashing a grin. She slowly rose from her seat.
"Zitapan?"
"Y-yes..."
"Follow me. I'll show you something fun."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Following Lania, Zitapan arrived at the top of the fortress tower—a place reachable by climbing just a few steps from the audience chamber where they'd been talking.
"See that, Zitapan?"
Perched on the railing, Lania pointed toward the horizon. Zitapan narrowed his eyes and looked where she indicated.
"Yes, I see it."
Hills large and small dotted the demon realm's terrain.
Beyond them stretched a vast battlefield—the frontline single-handedly managed by Lania van Trias. Among the knights, it was known as the ash-gray lands.
"That's the frontline I'm in charge of."
Lania turned to Zitapan with a smile.
"And my range reaches all the way here."
...My range reaches all the way here?
What did that mean? As Zitapan tilted his head in confusion, Lania let out a short sigh.
"Perfect timing."
She pointed to the battlefield.
A tiny speck, but even Zitapan could make out the procession of magical beasts approaching. He whirled toward Lania in alarm.
"Sh-shouldn't you head there quickly?"
"They come several times a day. No need to make a fuss."
She merely shrugged nonchalantly. With a chuckle, she added,
"Besides, I told you—this works too."
She extended her right arm forward.
Her pale, slender finger pointed beyond the horizon. Zitapan saw something tick-tick leap from her outstretched index finger.
It was a circuit. A line.
A line stretching to the distant horizon.
Lania swung her finger lightly—whoosh. Zitapan had no idea what the gesture signified, but...
"...Huh?"
He soon found out.
Zitapan witnessed it: the mana in the area roiling. Dark clouds churning high above the distant battlefield.
Then—flash.
The clouds flashed, and a bolt of light strong enough to reach even this far whipped across the land. As the flash faded, a delayed roar shook his eardrums. Listening to the thunderclap, Zitapan looked ahead.
His eyes widened.
The distant battlefield.
A blue flash plunged into what appeared only as a speck. Even from afar, the light was vividly clear.
Boom!
A colossal pillar crashing down with a deafening roar.
Branches of light like tree roots.
The blue flash tore through the sky and slammed into the ground, incinerating everything it touched. When the beam laden with immense heat met the earth, all in its path turned to ash.
The process repeated endlessly.
Before the afterimage of one flash could fade, another overlaid it. After countless repetitions, the horizon seemed dyed blue.
Boom!
Clouds spat lightning, followed by a belated thunderclap. Blue bolts bridging heaven and earth ravaged the ground. From afar, it resembled a natural disaster—or from a religious viewpoint, divine judgment.
'What is this...'
Heaven's judgment upon the wicked below. True heavenly punishment. A man-made miracle woven solely from spells and formulas, devoid of any holy power... Yet beholding its overwhelming might, Zitapan could only sense the divine.
An ancient high-tier incantation.
Named Judgment for embodying heaven's wrath.
A spell requiring multiple layered circuits prepared in advance and the aid of several high mages. Yet Lania invoked it repeatedly with a mere flick of her finger.
Lania van Trias had grown.
Ascending to superhuman heights, she could now handle spells more efficiently and in greater numbers simultaneously... And her first act had been to etch massive circuits across her frontline.
The original spells for Stock.
Spell-Engrave.
It was akin to building a mage tower.
Over time, Lania had fortified her assigned frontline into a personal mage tower and workshop.
Flash.
With thousands of circuits engraved, she controlled them all. Within her range, Lania could manifest stored spells instantly with a flick. A feat possible only from her superhuman perch.
"My signal reaches this far."
Lania said, snapping her fingers.
Flash—another swept the area. Before this futuristic spectacle, Zitapan was speechless.
'What... what is this?'
Mages were premium assets on the battlefield.
Zitapan knew how efficient they were against hordes. But this was on another level. Alien. Beyond human capability.
Suddenly, it dawned on him.
The power she'd shown at the main cathedral that day was but a fraction. At the same time, Zitapan felt profound terror. His teeth chattered as he glanced at Lania. Her face expressionless, she snapped her fingers.
Snap.
Boom—the sky turned azure.
Why show him this? Zitapan wondered. Not mere showboating. Power displays had purpose. So why?
'Could it be...'
After agonizing, Zitapan reached a conclusion. His face drained of color.
'This... this is a warning!' ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'Maybe I should've dismantled all the circuits before facing the Beast King.'
Lania thought as she snapped her fingers. When she'd confronted the Beast King, the frontline circuits had demanded most of her computational power to control. Without that, she might have caught it.
"Sigh..."
A futile what-if.
Even at full strength, she probably couldn't have. It was that tricky an opponent. Lania lowered her arm with a sigh. A scan of her life-detection circuits revealed no signs of life. Just ash everywhere.
"See that?"
Lania turned to Zitapan.
Her question carried the intent of Pretty awesome, right? But Zitapan interpreted it differently. His reaction wasn't what she'd expected.
"Hah, haaah..."
Gasping for breath.
Zitapan stared at her with terror-stricken eyes.
'...Why's he acting like that?'
Lania had hoped for awe like Wow, incredible! But...
"I'll... I'll do better."
Zitapan bowed deeply out of nowhere.
"I really will. I won't cause any trouble, nothing unseemly, and I'll give my all to the tasks you've entrusted. Truly."
He'd taken her display as a warning. In his mind, the scene translated thus:
I don't interfere in Church matters.
I overlook your failings.
Not out of trust, but because one gesture could erase you all if things go awry.
A show of force to implicitly convey caution and warning. Fear wasn't built on empty threats. It crystallized with violence and tangible results.
"I'll give it my all."
Zitapan's fear was complete.
Trembling, he repeated himself like a parrot. Lania blinked at him.
"Uh, huh?"
Of course, she'd never intended to instill fear. Intimidation? Warning? What for? He handled things fine on his own.
'I just wanted to brag a little.'
Look at this? Isn't it cool? See how big a deal I am? A casual whim, misinterpreted entirely.
"Y-yeah."
Do your best. Clueless, Lania patted his shoulder. Zitapan nodded furiously, teeth clacking.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ A crunch echoed through the forest.
The patrolling soldier blinked and followed the sound. Crunch, crunch—something was being chewed and swallowed. Yet he felt no tension.
Not because of his skill.
This was far from the frontlines, not even the demon realm proper. How strong could beasts in an ordinary forest be? He could handle most.
So he wandered thoughtlessly toward the noise.
Arriving, he saw: beast corpses strewn about. Chunks of flesh like bite marks spat out. Long trails of blood.
And.
A beast digging the ground to bury the corpses, erasing the hunt's traces. The soldier's eyes widened. His teeth snapped together with a clack.
"Hah, haaah..."
Towering at least twice his height.
A bizarre creature standing bipedally. Blood dripped from its gaping maw. Terror seized the soldier; he backed away. Then, spinning around—
"Ah..."
He saw.
The beast that should have been behind him now stood before. Without a sound, it had appeared instantly. Meeting its icy blue glare froze him solid.
"Hah, heuk, haaah..."
As the soldier gasped, the beast bent its knees to eye level. Then, slowly... very slowly, it opened its mouth.
Grrrk, grrrk.
Foamy gutturals.
The soldier squeezed his eyes shut, bracing to be devoured. But death never came. Instead, bewilderment arrived.
"Hu... man."
A voice rang in his ears.
Meaningful words.
"Hu... man. Ask."
The beast was speaking.
The soldier's eyes fluttered open, gaze shaking violently. The creature was questioning him.
"Pure white... place. Snow... piled place."
Where do I go for that?
Too stunned by the beast mimicking human speech to parse intent, the terrified soldier pointed north.
"......"
The beast silently stared in that direction. Then it straightened its knees. Looking down at the cowering human, it said,
"Thanks... express."
The beast walked away.
It spared the soldier. Legs giving out, he collapsed in place. Only after it vanished did he slowly rise.
He couldn't comprehend what had happened.
Only one thought filled him: report this fast. As he moved to do so, he glanced back.
Grrk, grrrk.
Numerous beasts were there.
Far more than such a forest should hold. They'd trailed their king at a distance and eyed the leavings. The best prey was always the king's; their scraps were these remnants.
The beasts thought:
That one's the king's scraps.
Starving, they lunged at the soldier. His screams mingled with crunching flesh for a while in the forest.