Crossroads (2)
Crossroads (2)
The First Punishment Office was emptied out. Leaving only a skeleton crew behind, everyone headed for Filamon.
A great many horses moved. Even counting all the guards who had set out to save the city of Filamon, their number came to only about four hundred.
Too few. Far too few.
The Punishment Office had never been a military organization in the first place. It was a prison holding thousands of inmates.
And in the first place, the city of Filamon was being attacked at this point in time?
By whom?
"Director Veronica!"
I brought my horse up beside her. Veronica glanced back at me as if annoyed.
"I told you to remain at the Punishment Office!"
"How could I not come along?!"
I urged my horse forward urgently. To be honest, I had intended to just stay at the Punishment Office.
But a thought had suddenly surfaced.
The timing overlapped subtly. The fact that I was here, and at the same time, the Filamon incident that had suddenly erupted.
There was something. At the very least, something was connected.
It was clearly related to Archbishop Dwayne. That bastard was definitely behind this, so I had to confirm it with my own two eyes!
Could it be... that he had secretly attacked the city of Filamon to pin the blame on Arpina?
The city of Filamon was a special city within the Empire where the Church of Ra's autonomy was recognized... so if its people were massacred en masse, was he planning to hold Arpina responsible?
But that was too... far too much of a gamble...?
A thought suddenly flickered through my mind. The image of the Demon of Love, Amar, rose in my heart.
"......"
But I soon folded that thought away neatly. No one in the world knew about her. Her eventual eruption was nothing more than stress she could no longer endure exploding five years later.
A time bomb, and a demon who craved love.
Because she had kept her mouth firmly shut the whole time, no one knew her inner circumstances. Hadn't it been said that even if you brought along the 'Sage of Water,' famous in-game for his intelligence, he wouldn't know either?
But if the target was Amar... if that were the case...
"...Ah, fuck!"
I couldn't tell what the enemy was aiming for. First, I just needed to confirm the truth in Filamon.
Anyway, Amar's stress level wasn't at its limit yet. With five years still remaining, she was a long way from erupting.
Even if someone tried to use Amar, she was in a state where she couldn't be used at all.
So... I'd confirm Filamon first!
"I'll go on ahead!"
"What?! Don't break formation! You fool! It's dangerous!"
"I'm the most dangerous one here, you know?!"
"What are you talking about!!"
I drew up my Holy Arts. The target was the horse.
I poured the blessing in with all my strength.
[Using Blessing (A).]
The horse snorted roughly. The Sacred Power that burst forth spread out like wings.
"What in the—?!"
Veronica was startled.
An immense amount of Sacred Power swallowed the horse. Its mane was wreathed in flames, and power surged into its extending legs.
The ground was dug up. The flying mane was dyed red.
Veronica stammered.
"Th-this is insane?! You little bastard! You're no ordinary inquisitor!"
"What in the... such immense Sacred Power..."
"Close to Director Veronica's...!"
"M-maybe even beyond it..."
I ignored the exclamations bursting out like screams. I leaned down and whispered into the horse's ear.
"Let's go."
With the horse's rough snort, space compressed.
CRASH!
In an instant, the distance opened up. Wind surged in with tremendous force.
Dust rose thickly. Snow mixed in and streamed past. I steadied my posture. It was a distance that would normally require half a day.
But for me, that was no constraint.
"Run!"
"Pffh-h-h-h-hng!"
The snow that brushed past melted. Even the frozen wind grew warm.
Ra's warhorse.
Flames seeped into the eyes of the horse that had inherited the blessing. Its rough hooves trampled everything.
It was nearly two hours before the city of Filamon began to come into view.
I stopped the horse atop a hill and looked down at the city. Green flames bursting forth, and red flames resisting them, occupied the city.
Human screams. Metal ringing out, and the sound of Holy Arts filling the gaps.
Filamon was burning. Fire was spreading to buildings and toppling them.
Even the hot springs where I had once stayed had been caught up in it and reduced to ruins. There was no trace of people to be found.
And on top of that...
"...What is that?"
It flickered ominously. The green flames that burned the streets and stained the buildings.
Did something like that... exist?
It was a flame color as if mixed with poison. If it were such a distinctive color, I would surely have remembered seeing it...
I had never seen it. Nothing came to mind even from my countless game experiences.
"What the hell is going on?"
I dismounted. The panting horse had already burned through all its energy.
Since I had already closed the distance, I no longer needed it.
"Rest."
I wanted to rest too... but it couldn't be helped.
Clank.
[Executioner's Greatsword (A)]
"Kyaaaaaah!!!"
I threw myself toward the direction of the scream. A woman under attack and a child trembling violently.
The thug looming over them raised his sword. Green flames blazed up along the blade.
-That's...!
I heard Ra's voice. I moved.
Gripping the greatsword's hilt deeply. Surrendering my body to the blazing Sacred Flame...
And pierced straight through. The thug's body.
"Gah?!"
A scream burst out. Blood streamed down along the blade.
The feel of it was foul. But well, it didn't particularly bother me.
I had already cut down plenty of lumps of meat.
"Who are you?"
"Kk... ugh... kk-ugh..."
The flames ignited. Green fire blazed up over the black glove.
A strange light piercing through the thick cloth. Its shape closely resembled something I knew, so I pulled off the glove.
"...This is insane."
Ra's Sacred Mark. It was burning. It was screaming in the most wretched way.
"Ra. What does this mean?"
-He is one of the Fallen!
"One of the Fallen?"
-There is no doubt! This damnable—! To corrupt my flame...! Who on earth...!
I removed the mask. A face I had never seen. But as long as he bore the Sacred Mark, I could roughly tell whom he served.
Anyone who would carry out such atrocities in a group at this point in time had to be a high-ranking figure within the church. Fortunately, I had plenty of guesses. It was certainly connected to him.
"Are you one of Dwayne's underlings?"
There was no answer. The struggling man's body went limp. He was dead.
I flicked my sword. Leaving the flung-off corpse where it lay, I gave the frozen child a light shove.
"Go. Don't leave your mother's side."
"......."
The child couldn't move. They just stared wide-eyed and trembled. I let out a sigh and grabbed the kid by the scruff of the neck.
I carried the dangling kid over to the woman myself. Perhaps because she had seen someone killed right before her eyes, the woman trembled and hurried off without even thanking me.
Well, sure. That was only natural.
I glanced back over my shoulder.
It was a mess. A complete mess. A mess that reminded me of Paramer.
A burned building collapsed. Part of a wall crumbled, and people's screams echoed. There wasn't a single intact thing. The sound of sobbing swallowed the entire city.
"Please help... please help..."
A desperate cry. It was a child's voice. They couldn't have been more than ten. At the voice that hadn't even gone through puberty, I scowled hard.
"Tch. Fuck. This is crossing the line. Seriously."
I raised my head. I lowered the greatsword resting on my shoulder at an angle.
"...It doesn't really suit me, but."
Green flames burst out from all directions. Fallen paladins revealed themselves between the buildings. Strange fanatics circled around, watching for an opening as if they would lunge at any moment.
I rolled my shoulders with a crack. First, calming the situation down was the priority.
"Shall I play the hero for a bit?"
The greatsword scraped the ground. I casually extended my foot toward the charging paladins.
Flames erupted.
. . .
"That fucking—!"
Rosemary spat out a curse. Because she had been lying in ambush near the city of Filamon, she was a little late. And so there were lives she could have saved that she hadn't.
By the time she arrived, the situation was already a wreck. The number of paladins was greater than she had expected.
A hundred?
No, two hundred?
Counting only the paladins, it was a number that could be balanced against, though with difficulty. But damn it all, the paladins weren't everything.
Believers with green flames wreathed around their eyes.
Those who had received no formal training lunged at them. Like wild dogs, they ignored pain and bit at the inquisitors.
Their weapons were pathetic. Rusted daggers or swords. Tools picked up from somewhere were all they had.
But what was truly terrifying was that even after being clearly cut in half, they crawled along the ground and kept attacking.
They were undoubtedly soldiers raised through special training. Pain didn't affect them, and they brandished their swords and rampaged until death.
One wasn't frightening. Ten weren't frightening either.
But their numbers exceeded several thousand. Considering that the population of the small city barely reached ten thousand, it was a completely insane number.
"How much had that lunatic archbishop bastard been stockpiling...?!"
Was this a force secretly hidden and raised within the Sun God Church? How on earth had he secretly raised enemies of this scale?
And what was this in the first place? This damnably filthy flame?!
Paladins burst through the dust and swung their swords.
Not just one.
...Three!
Rosemary hastily met them. Metal rang out, and the buildings they grazed shattered one after another.
Three of them danced dizzyingly at once. Each targeted a spot she couldn't defend simultaneously, driving Rosemary back with perfect coordination.
It felt as if one were three. Were they sharing a mind?!
Rosemary reversed her grip on her axe. She put strength into her retreating legs.
"That's enough out of you! You bastards!"
Sparks flew from the axe. A wolf leaped out of the empty air.
Teeth ground together with a crunch. The fangs sounded as if they would shatter. The leaping wolf coiled around the axe...
In an instant, the weight grew heavy.
Clunk.
Strain surged through her entire body. A sense of weight bore down on her whole frame. But Rosemary forced her breath in. She propped up her lacking physical ability with Sacred Power.
More.
She had to push a little further.
If she didn't... he would end up in that kind of situation again. So she absolutely couldn't let that happen.
I... I have to become stronger...!
I can't stop in a place like this!
The Sacred Flame burned past the weapon and even scorched her hands. Rosemary's eyes were dyed red.
Flames bursting forth. Divine energy descending.
The rising transformation devoured the weight that had settled over the axe.
Bigger.
Redder.
"I'll wreck you allllll!!!!"
With her shout, the earth split apart. The paladins were swept away by the surging flames.
BOOM!!!!!
Only after devouring three buildings did the axe settle. The wolf let out a whimper and returned to the empty air. Rosemary let out a sigh over the axe that had become light again.
She could do this. She could suppress them. But how many casualties would there be by then?
This was no time to be thinking. She had to move. She had to save as many as possible, even one more...!
"Hup?!"
Amid the sound of stones being crushed, Rosemary twisted her body. Five paladins who had burst through the dust were right in front of her.
Swords flashed, and the blazing green flames whispered.
Death.
Danger.
"This f...!"
She raised her axe hastily amid the curse she spat out, but she was slightly too late. The fiercely swung axe knocked away four swords, but she missed one.
A sword slipping through the gap. Green flames burst out violently.
Rosemary clenched her teeth. She braced for the coming pain.
But there was no pain.
Instead, the paladin's head was crushed by a greatsword.
BOOM!!!!!
Flames erupted. Part of a building collapsed, and the fallen paladin who had been attacking Rosemary was crushed whole.
A popped-out eyeball rolled across the ground. It was an impact that made even the paladins, who seemed to have lost their reason, flinch for a moment.
The eyeball rolling along stopped with a tap. Someone stomped down hard on it, and it burst with a pop.
The person who lifted their sticky boot rested a greatsword on their shoulder with a tap.
"...Rosemary."
A priest's robe mixed with white and black swayed. The symbol of Ra. He was tall. So very tall that she now had to crane her neck far up to look at him.
The back of the person she had gone to the door of several times since they had last met, but had never been able to bring herself to enter, only waiting outside.
The man who was supposed to be at the church headquarters stood before her.
"Why are you here?"
"......?"
Rosemary blinked. Without realizing it, she cursed inwardly.
No, what the fuck.
"Why are you here?!!!"