Crossroads (3)
Crossroads (3)
The barrier stretched across the boundary between the Holy See Headquarters and the outside world.
Shelling burst against it in rapid succession. The ground shook, and the Sacred Barrier resonated as if it might collapse at any moment.
But it was still solid. It would not fall quickly. The light held steady, still shining pure white.
How much effort had gone into ensuring it would not fall, from within or without, for this very day? It was not so weak as to crumble in a single moment.
Dwayne stood atop the tower erected within the Holy See, looking down at the trembling earth.
Ra's flames blazed. Mixed within them were numerous magics of resistance. So Ashval Haltz had turned against him as well.
The assembled forces were considerable. This was not a movement that could be made overnight.
...So they had known.
Out there, there had been only one enemy worth keeping an eye on.
Divine Judge Dimona.
Among their enemies, she was the only one who would pull something like this.
"......"
Dwayne's eyes met those of the woman far in the distance. She raised her hand and drew it slowly across her throat.
A warning sent to him. Telling him to wait there, was it?
"...You really are capable."
To have figured out part of the plan and even prepared for it. She was a clever woman indeed. If possible, he would have liked to have her in his grasp.
But in the end, what she had uncovered seemed to be only superficial information. Arpina was still in his hands, and the most crucial part of the plan was still in motion.
The signal from Filamon had included information that an interloper was mixed in. But the city of Filamon was nothing more than a decoy.
The real one was the Demon of Love, Amar. Only she could bring his purpose to fruition.
"You look like you're enjoying yourself, Dwayne."
"...Apostle Fabian."
A paladin order renowned even within the church.
The commander of the 'Traces of Ash' grinned.
One of the few remaining Apostles of the Sun God Church, personally chosen by Ra.
Fabian, leaning against his spear and biting into an apple, asked.
"So? How does it feel to have the moment you've longed for right before your eyes?"
"......."
Dwayne did not answer. The man before him could not be trusted. They had merely shared a boat for a while because their paths happened to align.
He had received help, but he still could not tell what that man's ulterior motives were.
"Apostle Fabian... what is it that you want?"
"Answering a question with a question. How dull. Me? Nothing. I just... enjoy a good brawl, that's all."
Fabian tossed aside the half-eaten apple with a flick.
"Look. Isn't it fun? Priests who squabbled but never actually fought are now fighting each other."
"I fail to see what's fun about it."
"Come on, Dwayne. Let's be frank, shall we? Peace lasted too long, and you wanted to break it too. You started all this because you couldn't bear to watch the church slowly walking the path of ruin. Isn't that right?"
True.
But that was not all of it.
"...Without a firm pillar, the church will simply be swept away. I intend to become that pillar. Strong enough to defy even the Empire's commands."
"Seems it left you with quite the trauma."
"Apostle Fabian. Then allow me to ask in return. What is it that you want? What exactly lies at the end of all this, that you would help me?"
All the information had come from Fabian. That was why he had been able to prepare.
The Holy Art to forcibly control Ra's followers. The existence of the Demon of Love, Amar. The secret preparation of forces that could be used at any time.
Without him, he could never have formed the plan in the first place. Because of him, all of this had been possible.
Which was why he was all the more curious.
Why exactly was he helping him?
"I told you. I like chaos."
"......"
"You just do what you want to do. Go wild. Whether you pin the blame on Arpina or slaughter every last one of those Dimona people out there, I couldn't care less."
Fabian chuckled.
"Isn't doing whatever you want what matters? Like everyone else, I'm just being honest about my desires. Chaos. Confusion. And everything that will unfold because of it."
"...That's hardly befitting speech for an Apostle."
"Befitting an Apostle... I just happened to stumble into it, that's all."
"That's blasphemy."
"I have someone more important to me than any god. What she wants is the path I follow."
Fabian propped his foot against the tower's window ledge.
"Well then, Dwayne. I'll be watching from the very top. Do show me, won't you? Whether you were worth the investment I've made in you."
"You needn't worry about that. The worst sinner to be born in Tantalos will soon be in my hands."
"That remains to be seen."
"...Pardon?"
"You know, no matter how omniscient and omnipotent a being may be, they can't predict everything. For example... hmm..."
Fabian flung himself into the air.
"Like someone who's survived by breaking through your expectations."
Dwayne's eyes tracked Fabian's vanishing figure.
An existence he hadn't anticipated?
There was only one who fit that description.
"...Inquisitor Zahard."
But did he possess the strength to encompass this entire plan?
No. Of that, at least, he could be certain.
The demon rampaging in Tantalos would devour everything, and several cities in the Empire's north would simply be wiped away.
And that was not the end. Beyond that lay the situation he desired.
The power to do everything according to his will.
By now, Paladin Order Commander Pablos was surely on his way to the Punishment Office. There was little time left.
The preparations were perfect. He had tested his ability to control the monster time and again, and once he climbed atop it, he would surely stand shoulder to shoulder with the Empire.
He would never again have to hold his breath, chewing over his own powerlessness.
He would not repeat the mistakes of the past, and he would be able to walk the path he wished to take.
"...Power."
Yes.
He had come this far with his eyes fixed on that alone.
Dwayne turned around. Bishop Brody, trembling and watching his reaction, cried out desperately.
"Y-Your Excellency! I-I heard what was said! How could you do such a thing in Tantalos?! Th-then what becomes of the First Punishment Office?! My son... what becomes of my son Beverick?!"
"Calm yourself, Bishop Brody."
Dwayne walked over. He placed a hand on Brody's shoulder.
"For the sake of one's purpose, there are times when sacrifices must be accepted."
"Y-you... from the very beginning, you..."
Brody trembled.
"Y-you never had any intention of... saving my son...?"
"Was it not you who dragged me into this pointless affair in the first place?"
"I... I gave you my loyalty, clearly..."
"I do appreciate loyalty, Bishop Brody. But my definition of a subordinate differs from yours."
A card that could be laid down.
A card that could be used.
A card that could be discarded at any time.
"Bishop Brody."
Dwayne patted the trembling shoulder.
"Rejoice. Your son's death will serve as the cornerstone that leads us to glory."
"Y-you... you're insane! What exactly are you trying to do?! Turning a quarter of the Empire's north into scorched earth... what exactly are you going to do?!"
"Is it not obvious?"
Dwayne walked past him.
"I am spreading the name of Ra far and wide."
Bishop Brody howled and charged. But the paladins moved immediately and slammed him to the floor.
Dwayne clicked his tongue briefly. How foolish.
Which was why he was lying there. If only he had received the green flame like the others, he would not have been troubled by such stupid worries.
"Shall we kill him?"
"Leave him be. He's a man of no consequence anyway. There are more important matters at hand."
The time for desperately crying out in powerlessness was over.
All that remained was the time to crush those who mocked Ra with force.
"What's the status on the Sacred Barrier around Arpina's office?"
"It's nearly dismantled!"
"...Good. Then shall we go and see her face?"
Six paladins who could be counted among the top ranks within the church, though not quite on par with the Day Priestesses.
Dwayne stepped into the crumbling Sacred Barrier.
"Let us go and usher in a new era, brothers."
. . .
"It was all a lie?!"
"Watch your right."
I split open the heads of the charging believers. I ripped out a spine and hurled it away.
Rosemary swung her axe savagely. She tore out the skull of a charging paladin, then confronted me as if demanding an explanation.
"Why, why did you lie to me too?!"
"Because it was a secret mission."
"You could have told me! D-do you know how worried I was?!"
"I know. How could I not?"
I wrapped around her as if embracing her. Spinning once, I stomped down on a believer approaching from behind her.
Bursting blood. Amid the scattering flesh, I gently caught her waist.
"You cried for me. I was itching to tell you too."
"U-ugh... y-you think I'll let it go that easily..."
"But you're not so prickly anymore, are you?"
"Shut up!"
Rosemary reached out. She grabbed the head of a believer baring his teeth behind me and slammed him into the ground.
Staining her dirtied hands with Sacred Flame, she growled.
"If you keep secrets from me again, you'll die by my hand!"
"Understood. Now, how about explaining the situation first?"
I pressed my back against hers. There were a lot of them. A damn lot.
"Whose doing is this?"
"That goddamn bastard Archbishop Dwayne!"
As expected. So it was him after all.
"So he killed all the witnesses and tried to pin the failure to defend the city on Arpina."
"The Judge said the same thing! But this unsettling flame..."
"It's corrupted divinity. Don't covet it."
"Who's coveting it?!"
Our feet landed at the same time. Sacred Flame blazed.
The flames swept outward and swallowed the corrupted ones.
I rampaged like an incarnation of destruction. I broke swords as if ruin itself were alive and breathing.
I snapped the necks of paladins.
Broke their swords and shattered their waists.
Extinguished the green fire and carved red light over it.
Bursting brilliance. Within the flames, we simultaneously turned our charging steps.
A move as if our breathing were perfectly synchronized. Amid crossing gazes, we thrust our weapons at the paladins charging at each of us.
[Using Darkness-Slamming Weight - Stomp (S).]
BOOM!!!
Amid the overlapping explosions, the entire area was blown away. In the deeply carved crater, I slung my greatsword over my shoulder.
"You've improved?"
"You monster... just how strong are you going to get..."
Rosemary, who had been barely keeping pace while gasping for breath, slumped. I fiddled with her cat ears.
"Don't you know? Once a teacher, always a teacher."
"U-ugh... someday I'll knock that arrogance down a peg..."
"Hey now. Don't get cocky."
"I'm older than you, you know?!"
While we bickered, more believers were swarming in again. Perhaps drawn by the violent noise.
The number of faces peeking out between the buildings was far greater than before.
But somehow...
"...This is fun, isn't it?"
This pounding. This fight.
Guilt-free pleasure against the corrupted!
My body trembled. I wanted to swing a little more.
Slaughtering with the stats I'd built up is the golden rule of RPGs!
"Let's go another round...!"
BOOM!!
An explosion burst from somewhere else. The believers glaring at me were ambushed in an instant.
Flames erupted. I let my greatsword hang limp. Just when I thought things were heating up...
"You didn't come alone?"
"You think I'd come alone like an idiot?!"
A heavy sword roared savagely and split a paladin's head. Something more than Sacred Flame clung to the falling blade.
A strangely shaped heavy sword. So he'd already reached Shape Transformation.
Well now. Come to think of it, they might be the strongest force within the church.
Radatok, drenched in blood, growled like a bear.
"I'll kill them all... heretics... never forgive..."
Our eyes met.
The growling man hurriedly came down.
"Brother?! Why are you here...?! Weren't you going to the Punishment Office...?"
Rosemary's eyes flashed. Her head turned with a grinding sound.
"You said... it was a secret mission? I didn't know... but how does Radatok know...?"
Ah.
I'm screwed.