Reenactment of the Fall (3)
“Y-you mean we have to face an Evil God?”
As Tarosk’s explanation came to an end, Adelia’s expression froze solid.
Her hands trembled uncontrollably.
Her face instantly drained of color, and her eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
She looked like someone who had just received the most horrific news in the world.
“Not an Evil God worshipper, nor one of the Five Nightmares, nor even an Apostle…”
Adelia choked out the words, her voice tight with emotion.
“…But the actual body of the Evil God itself?”
A brief, suffocating silence fell over the room.
The air inside the treasury grew even heavier, pressing down on them.
“Does such a trial even make sense?”
“……”
“……”
Adelia was not the only one reacting with grim despair.
Selena Serbichi paled and pressed a hand to her mouth, while Biyolf gripped his staff tightly, his brow furrowing into deep wrinkles.
The Koshat siblings exchanged bewildered, anxious glances.
And for good reason—of all the trials they had ever heard of, none had ever sounded this hopeless.
“Even if the trial of an Evil God is designed to kill the challenger, this is simply too much.”
To fight a god.
How was that any different from a death sentence?
Hearing Adelia’s protest, Tarosk replied in a low, resonant voice.
“……”
Rumble—
Tarosk turned his head toward the sealed door.
Ever since the two Sword Masters had entered the trial, the ominous energy seeping from beyond the door had been growing steadily stronger.
It felt as though something massive and terrible was slowly waking from its slumber.
“That’s…”
Adelia’s lips trembled.
Indeed.
What could they change by questioning Gaon’s choice now? The die was cast.
Even if his decision seemed reckless, there was no turning back.
“……”
Adelia clenched her fists tightly.
She had always held absolute faith in Gaon.
She had never doubted him, even in the most impossible situations, believing that whatever decision he made was bound to be right.
But…
No matter how great a seeker Gaon was, and no matter how many miracles he had performed up until now.
His opponent this time was a god.
A calamity so absolute that even the greatest beings of the past had no choice but to flee.
Because of that, she couldn't stop the anxiety from creeping into her heart.
The reality that Gaon and Pean had plunged into that horrific nightmare was finally sinking in.
“But…”
Right then, a calm, cautious voice broke the heavy silence.
“We don't necessarily have to kill the Evil God, do we?”
“…?”
“…?”
Everyone turned their heads.
It was Targon, the Wintershield mage with wavy pink hair and purple eyes.
While everyone else was consumed by worry, he alone remained remarkably composed.
Emperor Tarosk nodded slowly.
“…!”
“Ah!”
Hope flared in Adelia’s eyes.
They didn't have to fight the god head-on?
If that was the case…
“Then there is a good chance Sir Gaon will return alive.”
Relief washed over Adelia’s voice, and the others began to look visibly comforted as well.
A direct confrontation with an Evil God was impossible, but surviving? Given Gaon’s absurd strength, survival seemed well within the realm of possibility.
The despair that had filled the treasury began to lift, the heavy silence slowly giving way to hope.
“……”
However, there was one exception.
Strawberry Latte.
As he silently stared at the sealed door, his purple eyes held an entirely different emotion.
It wasn't relief, nor was it comfort.
It was solemnity.
And absolute certainty.
“We are going to kill the Evil God.”
The moment I spoke, Pean replied in a flat, decisive voice.
“That is impossible.”
There was not a shred of hesitation in his tone.
“Many have attempted god-slaying throughout history, but not a single one has succeeded.”
“……”
“Moreover, standing against an entity that even the Pantheon abandoned is suicide.”
He spoke with deep conviction.
Having briefly experienced the twilight of antiquity, Pean knew all too well how absolute and terrifying a god truly was.
Rumble!
Right on cue, the thunderous sound of another building collapsing echoed from the distance. It was the sound of the Rashutku Empire’s glorious legacy turning to ash, piece by piece.
I glanced at the destruction, then turned back to Pean.
“Then why did you follow me into this trial?”
Pean froze.
I pressed on.
“You are an ancient being yourself. You must have guessed what this trial was from the conversation with Emperor Tarosk.”
“……”
“If you knew it was an insurmountable trial, you could have just refused my request from the start.”
Pean fell silent.
For a long moment, the only sounds filling the quiet space between us were the distant screams of the people and the thunderous collapse of the empire’s monuments.
The acrid stench of charred blood and burning flesh assaulted my nose.
“That is because…”
Pean finally spoke, his voice heavy.
“Does not the Sword Master's mark bind us? If you die, I will not survive either.”
“……”
“Furthermore, on the night the divine trial ended, I swore to stand by you against 'that' enemy, even if it was too much for you to handle alone.”
An unreadable emotion flickered in Pean’s voice.
“Most of all,” he added quietly, “I wanted to see with my own eyes what kind of miracle you would perform in this absurd situation, Gaon.”
I knew it.
Pean wasn't actually opposing my plan.
He was just offering a realistic warning about how reckless "god-slaying" truly was.
“Amusing.”
“…?”
“Unfortunately, your wish will never come true.”
Pean’s brow furrowed.
“What do you mean by…”
“You are blind. How do you expect to see a miracle with your own eyes?”
“…Ah.”
Pean was momentarily speechless. He touched the bandages covering his eyes, then let out a sudden chuckle.
“Ahaha! It was just a figure of speech. Gaon, I did not know someone as serious as you could crack jokes.”
“…?”
What is he talking about?
I joke all the time. I just don't do it in front of you to keep up my character.
“Follow me,” I ordered flatly, turning around.
Pean looked slightly bewildered.
Even now, the Evil God was tearing the empire apart just beyond the walls, yet I was heading deeper inside the palace. It was only natural for him to be confused.
“Why are we going back inside? Wouldn't it be faster to just jump down from here?”
“……”
Yeah, no.
A superhuman like you might land gracefully from a ten-story height.
But if I try that, a Gaon pancake (100% organic Gaon) will be neatly spread across the streets of Rashutku.
And more importantly…
“There is something we must do before we face the Evil God.”
“Something we must do first?”
“Since we have traveled back to the past, shouldn't we make the most of it?”
“…?”
“I always thought the imperial palace had a beautiful aquarium.”
Pean stopped in his tracks and stared at me.
He looked exactly like someone staring at a complete lunatic.
Getting that kind of look from a thousand-year-old elf felt rather strange.
“An aquarium? That joke was not very good, Gaon.”
“I am serious.”
“…Is this part of the joke too?”
“I am serious.”
“I see. Since it failed, you are trying to push through with sheer confidence. You certainly have a knack for humor. I will give you 82 points.”
“I am telling you, I am serious…”
Because a hidden piece is sleeping there.
Fortunately, Pean followed me without further complaint.
Though he acted like he couldn't understand my actions, he clearly trusted that I had a deeper motive.
Murmur, murmur—
As we walked down the palace corridors, we ran into panicked courtiers and officials rushing in every direction.
Watching them scramble in the face of impending doom, I confirmed one crucial fact: no one suspected us.
“Sir Gaon! Sir Pean! We shall head out to the battlefield first!”
“May the blessing of the gods be with you both!”
In fact, several knights even bowed and greeted us respectfully despite their haste.
“Strange,” Pean muttered quietly.
“We are clearly outsiders. Why does everyone treat us as part of the empire?”
“It is the nature of the trial,” I explained, keeping my eyes forward.
“It naturally integrates challengers into the era.”
As we hurried down the corridor, a familiar voice echoed from ahead.
“Brother!”
It was the voice of Emperor Tarosk.
“Take the people and the courtiers and flee immediately! There is no time to lose!”
“B-but what about you, brother…?”
“I will hold them back! Run as far as you can in the meantime! Go, now!”
In a corner of the corridor, the two brothers were having a desperate conversation.
Tarosk, clad in his massive armor, looked identical to his spiritual remnant.
And beside him stood a normal-sized human man.
The younger of the twin emperors.
Aurelius Tarosk.
“But brother…!”
“Aurelius! There is no time!”
After exchanging a few more words, Tarosk gripped his massive greatsword and led his knights toward the battlefield.
Left behind, the younger brother hesitated for a moment before biting his lip and turning to flee.
“Ah!”
Just then, he spotted Pean and me at the end of the corridor, and his eyes widened.
“Sir Gaon! Sir Pean!”
Sir.
As the title suggested, we were regarded as figures of high status whom even the emperor could not easily dismiss.
Since the trial linked to reality, it seemed we had been assigned the status of ancient "seekers" of the empire.
In a trial, one had to make good use of every minor detail like this.
‘Anyway.’
I spoke to the rushing Aurelius.
“Lead us to the aquarium, Aurelius.”
“…?”
“We need you. That place cannot be opened without the blood of the imperial family.”
Aurelius froze in his tracks.
It was the exact same reaction Pean had shown.
The sheer confusion of why anyone would look for an aquarium in the middle of a national crisis was written all over his face.
I added in a firm, authoritative voice.
“The only way to slay the otherworldly deity lies dormant within that place.”