Chapter 113. Holy War (2)
Chapter 113. Holy War (2)
4
The Heretic Questioner.
A holder of an epithet. A so-called first-generation hunter who had been active since the Tower first rose. A blond psychopath who, when countless humans surged in from every nation, from regions where no nation had been founded, from regions where nations had collapsed, had resolutely hunted down the radicals and stabilized the Tower.
"I interpret Constellations as divinities from other worlds!"
Now, the specialist of the Great Religious War—who had placed every religion on Earth under the administration of the 'Pantheon'—beamed brightly.
"A divinity, simply put, is a law! For example, if we speak of laws that exist in our world, Earth, there are the laws of physics! These laws of physics are like a Windows operating system installed by default everywhere, so there is nothing particularly special about them! And so there is nothing particularly special about our world either!"
Huh.
"But we have nukes and guns, don't we?"
"As I said, the laws of physics are a foundation installed by default everywhere! Therefore, those two are things that can emerge in any world as long as technology develops sufficiently!"
However, the Heretic Questioner added, in places where things like magic or miracles were commonplace, purely physics-based technological development was difficult, so those two could develop very late. But in any case, he said, that did not mean nukes and guns could not be invented in other worlds.
'Come to think of it, there was an Apocalypse that ended in nuclear war. And the Space Iron Knight Chronicles, which became our 23rd floor, was sci-fi too....'
So—Earth was the weakest of all worlds—
Before the Tower rose, neither magic nor skills had been commonplace, so it was understandable, but still, hearing that our home, the blue star Earth, was weak felt strange. Was this love for one's hometown? No, should it be called love for one's home star?
"However, as you said, it is true that guns and nukes are sufficiently powerful weapons! If you pour those two out, you can wipe out the apostles of most Constellations!"
"I see."
Raviel tapped the corner of her lips with the tip of her fan.
"So since the laws of physics are a foundation installed by default, physical force is also fundamentally universal."
"A precise understanding! It is only natural that one who has no physical substance cannot exert physical force in any way. And if one has physical substance, then it is also a just result that physical attacks work on them! Though the question of efficiency remains—whether they receive that physical force in full or receive it reduced!"
The Sword Emperor, who had been floating about, let out a small exclamation.
-Huh, that guy's sharp.
'Does that sound right to you too, Sword Emperor?'
-Yeah. That's why Constellation Killer could smash Sparkle's head with aura, and why I only trained the sword but never lost anywhere. And that, what was it—the one who rules the Black Dragon Guild could also roast Agwi with a beam. Physical force is a damn powerful law.
[Sparkle nods glumly.]
-You could say a Constellation's rank is determined by how deeply they must adhere to these laws of physics, or how far they can deviate from them.
I wondered what that meant, but just then the Heretic Questioner explained it.
"This part I just mentioned—'receiving physical force reduced'—is unexpectedly important! Because it means that while they follow the laws of physics, they are not perfectly bound by them! And as for how that is possible...."
"...It is because Constellations each possess their own laws, and their apostles likewise oppose the laws of physics with those laws of their own."
"Ohh! Once again, a brilliant understanding! As expected of the Death King's lord husband!"
"It is only natural."
My lord husband spoke lovely words. With that alone, I could be certain that Raviel was lighting up this small tactical meeting.
-Zombie, let's focus? This is the moment that decides whether this world is destroyed or not?
[Sparkle leaps up and smacks the back of the Hero's neck.]
Whoa.
These pitiful fellows who know nothing of love.
-Ah, cut the bullshit, zombie.
[Sparkle glares at the Hero with eyes like a rotten fish.]
'Sparkle, you don't have eyes.'
[Sparkle says to look at the gem attached as decoration on its scabbard.]
Following those words, I looked at the decoration on Sparkle's scabbard, and the gem's color had turned somewhat hazy.
Hm.
'Understood, I'll restrain myself.'
-And focus.
'Yes.'
1. Constellations each possess their own laws.
2. Their apostles also follow those laws.
"For example, what kind of laws do they have?"
"Hm! For example, let's see. There is a Constellation called Babit."
The Heretic Questioner added that Babit was also known as the 'God of Love.'
"This Constellation [interprets everything in the world as romance]. In a world ruled by Babit, power and wealth are meaningless! A person's strength is determined by how much romance power they possess."
"Romance power? What is that?"
"Hm! Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times."
The Heretic Questioner formed a hand seal with both hands.
"Divine Art, Spirit of Emotion (情神)."
Flash!
Light spread from the Heretic Questioner's hands. Not just white light, but a reddish... slightly pink? Anyway, a mist like thick perfume began to rise in wisps.
"Aha, I have temporarily descended the Star Domain (星域) of the god Babit upon this place! Try taking any action you wish, Death King!"
"Hm...."
I looked around awkwardly. Late at night. The Heretic Questioner, myself, and Raviel—the three of us were in the ducal residence. We were holding a strategy meeting in preparation for the invasion that would come in ten days.
"...Aside from the pink mist, nothing seems particularly different?"
"Excuse me for a moment!"
That was when it happened. The Heretic Questioner hooked my ankle and tripped me. "Huh?" I staggered and my body tilted, and "Hm," of all things, I grabbed Raviel's forearm. "Huhh?" The two of us fell to the floor.
"Ohh."
Raviel stared down at me. I had ended up in a position of being pinned beneath Raviel. It had happened in an instant.
"Gong-ja, such displays of affection before the eyes of others are embarrassing."
"Uh, uh...."
I was flustered.
"N-no! No! It's not like that, Raviel! I was just about to fall...!"
"Ahaha."
The Heretic Questioner giggled.
"A composition often seen in romance stories!"
"Heretic Questioner, this is...?"
"Within the sanctuary of the god Babit, all actions lead to romance! Even if you fall, you do not simply fall—you pull in a nearby person. Hm, for example, if the Death King were wearing a dress shirt and drinking water, there is a 95% chance he would spill the water and the flesh beneath his shirt would show through! And it is inevitable that those around him would feel their hearts flutter upon seeing it!"
Good lord. What was that? That's cosmic horror.
"A sanctuary, in short, reinterprets the world and brainwashes people. The Great Library where we were just now is the same! The Librarian interprets the world as [a collection of stories], and there we are forced into the role of [characters in a story]."
Flash.
When the Heretic Questioner formed the hand seal again, the pink dance of light spread across the floor vanished. I blushed and escaped from beneath Raviel.
The Heretic Questioner spoke with a beaming smile.
"Defeating those who possess their own laws using the laws available to us. I define this as a holy war (聖戰) and a war of stars (星戰)!"
A holy war (聖戰) and a war of stars (星戰).
"Hm, then how should we respond in the holy war that will take place in ten days?"
"We must know exactly which Constellations we are facing! As you may infer from what I have said so far, the countermeasures differ depending on the laws held by the Constellation in question!"
"Indeed. Knowing information about the enemy before a war is of the utmost importance."
The Heretic Questioner nodded at Raviel's words, spoken with the tip of her fan against her lips.
"Yes! So I shall ask—exactly which Constellations' apostles are the ones attacking in ten days?"
Hm.
"If I tell you which Constellations they are, can you find out?"
"If I only know their true names, it is 100% possible! Because I can look them up through my skill, [Pantheon Codex (萬神典)]!"
At those words, I recalled information about the young man before me... no, since he was currently possessing the body of Golden Thread Plum, the young woman... anyway, about this person.
'It was around when we fought Agwi on the 13th floor.'
Back when I was spamming my prophet act, the Black Dragon Master had said that the Heretic Questioner, though it was skill-based, was also well-versed in the religions of other worlds.
Good.
"Modifiers... I mean, can you infer a true name from a Constellation's epithet?"
"If they are a famous existence, it is possible!"
Then that settles it.
"[Ox that Harvests Ruins], [Warhorse of the Eternal Plains], [Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness]."
"Hm."
The Heretic Questioner rested his chin on his hand.
"[Ox that Harvests Ruins] is Mutia. The domains it chiefly governs are [destruction] and [re-creation]. Simple, but powerful."
Destruction and re-creation.
"Roughly, how does it fight?"
"Well. It can exert physical force very powerfully and according to its own will! Through this, it can press down and crush a wide area, or conversely disassemble the physical bonding structure of a specific existence... Ah, and through such disassembly and reassembly, it could also create golems. It is very rare, but there are cases where it exerts that power over time as well! Since time is also a physical thing!"
So Lady Golden Thread Plum's 'second-playthrough heroine' trait was indeed from using Mutia's power.
An apostle of an outside Constellation had already been in this world.
'Was that why the Shut-In Librarian chose this world as an Apocalypse?'
To put it in the Shut-In Librarian's terms, was it that because this was not a story of their own making but a story an outside Constellation had already laid hands on, they too had gained room to 'intervene'?
Or was it simply, as Raviel had said, because there had been no Constellation in this world?
'Somehow, the former seems closer to the Shut-In Librarian's disposition than the latter.'
While I was thinking that, the Heretic Questioner continued speaking.
"[Warhorse of the Eternal Plains] is an epithet of Mahos. The domains it chiefly governs are [duels] and [war]. This too is a simple but powerful force!"
Duels and war.
"Does it make it impossible to refuse a challenge to a duel, or something like that?"
"Yes! Or it can broadly scatter battle frenzy that makes people unafraid of death, or grant wisdom in tactics and strategy! Ah, conversely, it is also possible to 'forbid war itself' and forcibly create a peace zone! Though this is also a very rare case!"
"One who governs war also governs peace... That sounds strange."
At my muttering, Raviel smiled slightly.
"What is strange about it? Peace is nothing more than the name for [a state in which war has ceased]. Therefore, one who can enforce war can naturally also enforce peace."
"Once again, a precise understanding!"
The Heretic Questioner beamed.
"I do not know the true name of [Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness]! It seems to be a Constellation that is not yet that famous!"
Unknown identity, then.
'Not being famous means being weak, so that part is an advantage, right?'
While I was lost in thought, Sparkle trembled.
[Sparkle demands that I ask whether he also knows about the 'Goddess of Protection.']
'Sparkle... you were the one telling me to focus on the meeting....'
[Sparkle advises that this is a matter of great importance!]
'What's gotten into you....'
[Sparkle declares that this is solely to judge whether the Heretic Questioner's information on Constellations is accurate, and that there is absolutely no personal motive!]
Hm.
"Um... this is a bit of a different topic, but do you happen to know about the [Goddess of Protection]?"
"Oho."
The Heretic Questioner smiled.
"[Goddess of Protection] is an epithet of Hwiya! The domains she chiefly governs are, as the name suggests, [protection], and also [immortality]! She is a considerably powerful divinity, but my skill, the Pantheon Codex, indicates that she has currently lost her power due to some incident."
[Sparkle sparkles, saying that this person is genuine and can be trusted!]
"Gong-ja, why is that sword suddenly acting like that? It is dazzling."
"One moment. I'll wrap it up...."
[Sparkle screams, begging me to stop.]
Anyway, with the accuracy of the Heretic Questioner's information thus confirmed (to me alone) by the former Constellation Sparkle, Raviel rested her chin on the tip of her fan.
"This is troublesome... One enemy of each different type. Three enemies in total."
"Depending on the apostle, which Authorities of the divinity and how much of them can be borrowed also varies, so it will become even more complicated!"
"Nevertheless, we can grasp the general tendencies. Thank you for sharing the information."
"Aha, saving this world is ultimately a benefit to our Tower as well! Helping is only efficient!"
"Is that so."
"Yes! And my other skill, [Divine Art], allows me to borrow almost any power of a divinity whose true name I know! If we add your strengths to that, a path will surely reveal itself!"
Our strengths.
Raviel and I looked at each other quietly. Then we spoke at the same time.
"It's love."
"It is love."
There are plenty of people better at fighting than us, and there are surely people smarter than us, but one thing—we can be certain that we love more deeply than anyone.
"...Huh?"
The Heretic Questioner tilted his head.
"How strange, Death King. Seeing the two of you being lovey-dovey makes the area near my heart ache and tingle. I have never felt this sensation before—what could it be?"
"It's a myocardial infarction."
"I also hear that my immersion rate has risen! How should I interpret this?"
"No... first, please be careful about that immersion rate business."
If Golden Thread Plum devoured the Heretic Questioner before the holy war, it would truly be neither fish nor fowl.
Since I had already told her, Raviel also knew this well. She spoke.
"The 'love' I just mentioned has another meaning besides the ordinary one."
"What meaning is that?"
"I'm sorry, but that cannot be shared. Let us call it a sort of secret weapon."
"Hmmm, but I cannot factor it into the tactics...."
"It's fine. Rather, let us discuss basic tactics and strategy. As a power-holder of this world, I can deploy a fair amount of guard forces wherever I wish at the wedding venue. For example, borrowing a special task force from His Majesty the Emperor...."
"Oho, and roughly what is the combat power of that special task force...."
And so Raviel and the Heretic Questioner continued their conversation, seated facing each other.
'This will work.'
Seeing those who had once been rivals in love—though one of them had, of course, been replaced on the inside—resolve so amicably to fight together going forward stirred in me an inexplicable optimism.
'This will definitely work!'
As I was steeling myself with that conviction, the guardian spirit poured cold water on me.
-Gong-ja. Get a grip. Three apostles attacking is no small matter.
'Roughly how much of a crisis is it?'
-Think of it as about one and a half Agwis from the 12th floor attacking.
What kind of novel unit of measurement was that?
'Agwi was a Constellation. What's attacking now are apostles. Surely apostles are weaker than Constellations?'
-She was a lowest-grade Constellation. By your Tower ranks, she'd be about a D-rank Constellation?
'The Agwi from the 12th floor?'
-The Agwi from the 12th floor.
The guardian spirit, who had answered curtly, picked at his ear.
-Well, whatever. Since it's you, I'm not worried. No—since it's 'you two,' I should say I'm not worried.
As he said that, the guardian spirit was glancing at Raviel.
Having spent a long time with me, he must have guessed what the 'secret weapon' Raviel mentioned was.
I felt the same. Therefore, I did not think we would be unable to overcome this invasion itself.
However.
-But zombie, you'd want to clear this with zero casualties and a no-loss play if possible, right?
'Yes, that's right.'
-Then you'll really have to think hard. Leave the tactical side to that sharp guy and your lord husband, and you should build up your personal combat skills a bit.
Having said that, the guardian spirit crossed his arms and looked down at me.
-Hm. Now that I think about it, your rank was D too, wasn't it? You're not planning to stay at that level forever, are you?
Of course not.
5
And ten days flew by like an arrow.
"It's finally the wedding day!"
In the Empire, weddings are held in the evening.
Marriage is the union of the sun and the moon. The evening sky, where the two celestial bodies mingle, was said to befit marriage. The clearer and redder the sunset, the better the wedding day—and today was such a day.
"You look so wonderful today, Duchess!"
Surrounded by attendants, I tasted a strange emotion.
No fewer than five attendants clung to me like beetles, styling me. They fussed endlessly—"How can you be so lovely!", "Her Grace the Duchess is truly fortunate!" My head was growing hazy.
"Um, I'm grateful and thankful for everything, but could you perhaps tone down the fussing...."
"No, absolutely not!"
The attendants responded firmly.
"At least for today, the Duchess must become the most splendid groom in this country! No matter how much frugality and humility are virtues, you must not be so today! Today, literally, beauty alone is the virtue!"
Ah, I had felt this once before....
It was exactly like when the Black Dragon Master and the giant guild masters made a fuss about taking my photo spread....
Of course, there were some differences from then.
"Congratulations on your wedding, Duchess."
An elderly gentleman with a splendidly grown beard entered the dressing room and greeted me. I was bewildered because I did not know who he was. Seeing my face, the old gentleman smiled wryly.
"I am the one who is the Duchess's adoptive father. I hold a small post in the imperial court and manage my household with it. I have heard much about the Duchess from the new Duchess of Ivansia."
"Ah...."
Good heavens. I had wondered who he was, and he was a father I was seeing for the first time in my life!
"I-it is my first time meeting you. Um. Well, that is...."
"Please feel free to call me Father. Do not worry. I know that the Duchess does not hold me in her heart as a father. I will never, under any circumstances, use the Duchess's prestige to curry favor and disturb the ducal house."
The old gentleman bowed very politely.
"I plan to retire from my post once this wedding is over. The Duchess's lord husband has shown me much consideration. Heh heh. I no longer need to worry about my old age."
"......."
A sigh escaped me. Just how much effort had Raviel put into this day?
For the first time in my life, I spoke this word aloud.
"...Father."
"Yes, you who shall become the moon of Ivansia."
"I have no connections in high society and am ignorant of politics, so I do not know the ways of the world. So I would like to ask—what have the people of the Empire been saying about this marriage?"
"To put it in a word, it is a series of unprecedented breaks from convention."
The old gentleman spoke with dignity.
"A marriage of the Ivansia Ducal House is on par with a state wedding. Preparing such an event within a tight month was, in itself, originally an extremely difficult task. Moreover, the broken engagement with His Highness the Crown Prince, the succession of the family, either way...."
At that moment, the old gentleman fell silent. The area outside the dressing room had suddenly grown noisy. The murmuring of the guests could be heard.
"...Either way, it would have been impossible had Duchess Silver Lily not persuaded His Majesty the Emperor."
The old gentleman stroked his beard and smiled gently.
"Duchess, your lord husband is truly a capable person. The very fact that she is loyal to His Majesty is a blessing without equal in the Empire. Although this bond of father and child was formed only for this one day... if I may offer one word."
At that very moment, the old gentleman narrowed his eyes.
At the same time, an aura so intense it nearly rivaled the Sword Saint's surged from the old man's body.
"Seeing that your lord husband also requested my 'other position' and the security arrangements at the venue, today's wedding does not seem likely to go entirely smoothly."
The Chief Attendant of the Imperial Court.
And concurrently the Commander of the Imperial Special Task Force—the moment he said that, the commotion outside the dressing room had already turned into screams.
-Zombie, get ready.
I looked out the window.
-They're here.
Just as the guardian spirit had said.
[The apostle of 'Ox that Harvests Ruins' manifests.]
[The apostle of 'Warhorse of the Eternal Plains' manifests.]
[The apostle of 'Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness' manifests.]
The sky, reddened by the mingling of two celestial bodies.
As that sunset crumbled, the awaited enemies revealed themselves.