Why Wilhelm Is the Strongest
In an instant, Raiga's expression transformed completely.
It was an answer he had never expected.
Who was he, after all?
The Sword of the Empire.
Raiga was a man who had always believed himself without equal under heaven. In all his life, he had never once been compared to anyone. There had never been any need — he had always been overwhelming.
And yet.
…Even so.
His face hardening, Raiga asked again in a heavy voice.
"Wilhelm is stronger than I am?"
"Yes."
……It was the same this time as well.
In the way Isabella nodded, there was not a single trace of hesitation. Absolute conviction. A gesture that bordered on faith itself.
But Raiga still could not understand.
The difference between himself — a hunter of Fragments — and Wilhelm, who had fallen to one, was clear.
Hah.
More than anything, this was the heart of the Empire. A place where the officers of the Death God Religion and the entirety of the Eight Houses Knights were gathered!
Isabella's statement was a matter of grave consequence — one that shattered the pride of Knight Commander Raiga. And Isabella was an apprentice knight of the Eight Houses Knights. For an apprentice to say such a thing was no different from drawing a blade on her own commander.
"On what grounds do you think that?"
There would have to be a reason solid enough for everyone present to accept. If she had spoken from mere feeling, from rough guesswork, the price would fall entirely on Isabella's neck.
Under Raiga's gaze, Isabella's pupils trembled faintly.
……Of course they did.
Isabella had never met Wilhelm. But she regarded me as something like Wilhelm's successor. She had probably stepped forward for my sake — to preserve my face.
And yet the words that followed from Isabella were nothing I had anticipated.
"Wilhelm killed the Demon King."
"The Demon King is alive. The Great Expedition failed, and the invasion continues."
"He simply failed to deal with a 'Fragment.' He fell because he lacked the relevant knowledge and a 'Blessing.' It has nothing to do with the strength or weakness of his martial power."
"Even if he did kill the Demon King, that cannot serve as grounds that he is stronger than I am."
Still arrogant. Raiga was certain he, too, could kill the Demon King.
But Isabella was looking at the Great Expedition from an entirely different perspective. And that perspective left me puzzled as well.
How do Knight Commander Raiga and Isabella know about what happened back then?
That Wilhelm had killed the Demon King — and that he had then fallen to a Fragment — only Serengeti had witnessed. Serengeti would never have spread that fact, so the only ones who should know were myself, Serengeti, and the Demon King.
……No. There's more.
Then, suddenly, I recalled that there might not have been only three who knew.
The one who sent Serengeti away alive!
Ah.
Yes — there was someone who had placed the immobilized Serengeti, her lower body severed, onto a horse and sent her back to her domain. Someone who, in a situation where death was certain, had spared her and sent her home.
But I had no idea who that could have been. Only Serengeti and I had crossed the eight hells and reached the Demon King's castle. Two hundred thousand soldiers and five hundred knights had all died. Even every demon and every Lord of Hell had been slain, so only the three of us should have remained there.
If one insisted on counting, there was also the Goddess Fina — but she had burned her own body to save Wilhelm's star and me.
We three were not all there was……
Who, then?
Why had he remained hidden, and why had he gone out of his way to save only Serengeti? He had honed his stealth to such an extreme that neither the Demon King nor Wilhelm had noticed him — and still he had risked everything to keep Serengeti alive.
It could not have been simple pity. He must have had a reason to send her back. And that reason was probably……
To make sure Serengeti and I would meet.
If he had wanted me to hear the full truth of the incident — the situation of facing the Demon King — directly from her? Without Serengeti, I would never have known that Wilhelm had truly killed the Demon King, that he had only fallen to a "Fragment," or even that the Goddess Fina had been annihilated.
Which meant this was someone who knew I was a "Gamer," and who was certain that if Wilhelm died, I would start over again as a "Player."
My head throbbed. I could not get a grip on it at all.
Someone else was out there, beyond everyone's sight. Who could it be? Who on earth……
"The reason the Goddess Fina threw her own body into the fray. If Wilhelm had been absorbed by the Demon King in a complete state, a new 'Ruin' would have been born. The Goddess Fina knew that if that happened, no one would be able to stop it. Because he is the strongest man on earth."
In the moment just before Wilhelm's body was offered up to the Demon King, the Goddess Fina had traded her own flesh to snatch away Wilhelm's life and scatter his star across the continent. She had known that if Wilhelm were absorbed as he was, there would be no future.
An act the Goddess of the Sky, Fina, had undertaken ready to be annihilated. That act itself was proof that Wilhelm was the strongest.
"Isabella. I never authorized that statement, but……"
Raiga's expression grew even graver. He clearly knew everything related to the matter as well.
Then —
"Hold on. The Goddess Fina threw her body? Are you saying she was annihilated?"
The Golden Mask asked in a grave tone. The Death God Religion despised the goddesses. If the Goddess Fina had been annihilated, they ought to have been delighted — and yet his voice trembled faintly.
Only then did Knight Commander Raiga nod.
"The agenda I intended to raise at this meeting concerns precisely that. The annihilation of the Goddess Fina, and how we respond afterward."
He admitted it cleanly.
"……!!!"
"……What did you just say?"
"But the Goddess Sect has said nothing……!"
The Goddess Fina. Her perfect, absolute death.
The Goddess Fina's body had first been discovered beneath Kramdel.
The Lord of the First Hell, Ahram the King of the Dead, had been resurrected through the Goddess Fina's eyes and had been able to wield even greater power. Without the Giant of Annihilation and the many Star Guardians, stopping Ahram's advance would not have been easy.
But aside from the White King, his main forces, and the Star Guardians, almost no one else knew of that fact.
The Goddess Sect never made any particular move either.
Had the Goddess Sect not known of Fina's death? Or had they known and pretended otherwise?
What was certain was that, thanks to that, even the Empire had been unaware of Fina's death. That the officers of the Death God Religion had not known either was proof that truly no one had known.
"…The Goddess Fina is dead. But the reason is not certain. That she did it to keep the Demon King from fully absorbing Wilhelm is purely Isabella's speculation. Probably."
In the place where the banquet had been held, Raiga and the seven knights took their seats together. Facing the officers of the Death God Religion — myself included — head-on, Raiga laid out his view.
"Probably — the Goddess Fina chose death of her own will. Only then would the Abyss and the 'Fragments of Ruin' begin to move."
She had died by her own choice. Raiga spoke with absolute certainty.
Of course, he was half right and half wrong. The decisive reason the Goddess Fina had sacrificed herself was so that I could become a "Player."
He doesn't seem to know that much.
He had a rough outline, but no depth. That two people could look at the same situation and reach opposite conclusions was evidence of how little related knowledge they possessed.
"She chose death herself? From whom did you hear such a story?"
The Golden Mask asked. I listened carefully as well. If I could learn only from whom he had heard it, I might be able to prepare.
But Raiga shook his head.
"I cannot say. However, it has become clear that Fina's death has created an opportunity for us as well."
"An opportunity?"
"Indeed. The Fragments of Ruin have a nature that drives them to merge into one. Now that they know Fina has been annihilated, the Demon King and the other Fragment-bearers will begin to struggle to absorb one another. The Four Calamities awakening one by one is part of the same pattern."
"Then what is the agenda?"
"King Friedrich. Let us throw our support behind him — a bearer of a Fragment of Ruin, and the Demon of Pride."
"Even more than we already have?"
"The Demon of Pride is preferable to the Demon King. At least one can speak with him, strike bargains, and he pursues nothing but pure 'amusement.'"
"If his power grows any further, he will become a threat to the Empire as well."
……What kind of nonsense were they spouting right now?
The newly crowned king of the Iron Kingdom. King Friedrich was a bearer of a Fragment of Ruin, and at the same time the Demon of Pride? And knowing that, the Empire was still joining hands with him!
Insane.
Were they out of their minds? It was a choice no one could make without being truly mad.
What kind of creatures were the Demons of the Seven Deadly Sins? And what of the demon-worshippers who followed them?
……Of course, I myself was the "Demon of Greed," but still.
"Do not worry. I hold 'Pride's' weakness in my hand."
Then Raiga drew something from his form and set it out for them to see.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The officers of the Death God Religion could only widen their eyes at the sight of it.
"That is……?"
"A heart?"
Knight Commander Raiga nodded.
"It is the Heart of Pride. Spoils I won from him in a wager. As long as this remains in my possession, Pride cannot turn his blade against the Empire."
"……Very well. If you are that confident, let us put it to a vote."
The Golden Mask accepted the agenda and looked around at the other officers.
"The motion is to throw our support behind the Demon of Pride, King Friedrich. If even one person opposes, this agenda will not proceed. Those who accept the motion, raise your hands."
Both sides' agendas could only proceed with unanimous consent. Presently the Golden Mask raised his hand. One by one, the other officers began to raise theirs as well.
Eleven in favor.
As if he had expected as much, the Golden Mask gave a satisfied nod.
And then —
"I oppose."
……I simply could not bring myself to support this.
Facing Sancha, the Demon of Jealousy, in the Tower of the War God had taught me well enough. Demons were not beings one could deal with. They were creatures who thoroughly corrupted their counterparts. Sancha alone had corrupted the War God Karas, twisted the Tower of the War God, and toyed with every challenger who entered it. He worked his schemes from the shadows so that no one could ever see them on the surface. Other demons would not be so very different.
"……"
At the same time, the atmosphere turned ice-cold.
The gazes of the Golden Mask and the other officers of the Death God Religion were sharp. Even Raiga and his knights were casting the same look at me — cold eyes that seemed to ask whether I had no sense at all, whether I knew my place.
I've thrown cold water on everything.
From the start, it seemed the conversation had already been settled in the direction of accepting each other's agendas whenever possible. This gathering was merely a formality to confirm it.
So this is what they call a predetermined answer.
The answer was already decided; all you had to do was respond. But not me. I had never been told any such thing — and even if I had, I would have had no reason to go along with it.
"You say you oppose?"
Perhaps for that reason, the Golden Mask asked again. A silent pressure: it was not too late; change your choice.
Certainly, going along smoothly might have been the wiser option. There was no need to deliberately make enemies of these people. A gathering of the Death God Religion's officers and the Eight Houses Knights — using them for greater gain would have been the shrewd move.
So, after sorting my thoughts, I spoke once more, clearly and deliberately.
"Regarding this agenda — I oppose."