The Paramere Subjugation Battle (5)
The Paramere Subjugation Battle (5)
The Holy Art she had been researching exploded. Dimona was caught in the sudden blast.
"Judge?!"
"Stay back!"
The shockwave surged. Dust lashed her whole body. Only after her body was torn in several places did Dimona cough.
Her clothes were in tatters. Blood trickled from the cuts across her body.
Every Holy Art paladins learned was standardized. Each one was a single success, produced only after hundreds or thousands of failures.
Creating a new Holy Art was tantamount to encroaching on Cardinal Arpina's domain. Even with reduced side effects, it was not something that could be produced on the spot.
If Sacred Power backflowed or the formula tangled, it exploded instantly. There were even people who had died in explosions while trying to create Holy Arts.
But Dimona did not stop. She wiped the blood flowing from her split cheek.
I can still do this.
Just a little more...!
"...Divine Judge Dimona."
Estelle whispered expressionlessly.
"Rest if you're tired. I can manage alone."
"If I don't do it, the pace slows down."
"......"
"Zahard definitely took a lot of food with him. But I don't know how long he can hold out with that. It's already been four months. He's in there enduring alone."
Sacred Power flickered in Dimona's hand again.
"He's someone who can do anything on his own. So if he still can't get out... that means he can't manage it alone. If I don't help him at a time like that, who will?"
"...Divine Judge Dimona, what do you think of Zahard?"
"He's a subordinate I cherish. A child I trust."
"It's not just that, is it?"
"......"
Zahard.
Inquisitor Zahard.
Dimona silently moved her hands. She stacked the formula and constructed another Holy Art. This time, a little differently. With a different structure than before.
"...Zahard."
Flames flickered in her hand.
"He handled things I thought I could never do as if they were nothing. I'd never seen anything like it, never even imagined it."
"......"
"And he saved my subordinates. At such a young age. Does that make any sense?"
"......"
"He raised the standing of the persecuted Fifth Inquisition Office and united the inquisitors who had been torn apart."
"......"
"...And... and, you know."
Dimona snapped her head up. Her voice quickened.
"More than anything... he was the first person to ever buy me a drink...! Do you know what that means?! And it was a famous liquor worth millions! I repay what I receive! That is who I am—Divine Judge Dimona!"
"All excuses."
"Wh-wh-wh-what did you say?! No, it's not?!"
"Let's finish what we were doing."
Apostle Estelle let out a sigh. She lightly wove a Holy Art with a complex formula.
The base was purification. Structured to devour souls that had been torn to shreds.
It couldn't exert its effect forever, but she had drastically reduced the activation time and increased its power. In about a month, the Holy Art's form would be fully constructed.
...But.
"...There are a lot of rivals."
Rosemary, whom she had seen earlier, had also been training excessively while waiting. It didn't look like her purpose was pure.
Estelle was quick on the uptake. She could glance at a woman's heart and read it.
"Isabella."
Isabella, who had been standing guard beside her, came running over.
"You called?"
"Looks like you're going to have a hard time. Hang in there."
"...Pardon?"
. . .
Ashval Haltz pressed and rubbed his brow.
Outside was noisy. It was fortunate that the mercenaries who had gathered numbered only five hundred—any more and they wouldn't have been able to feed them at all.
Had it been almost half a year since they arrived?
Time moved fast. So fast he couldn't keep up. The soldiers grew anxious day by day as they watched the rotten outer wall grow enormous, and in the hotter weather they stripped off their clothes and gasped for air.
Supplies were not infinite. But there was a reason they continued distributing food to the uninvited guests.
"...A weapon, is it."
The one called Apostle Estelle and the one called Divine Judge Dimona were putting their heads together and researching something.
Holy Arts. Also called blessings, wasn't it?
Every time they experimented, the rotten masses of flesh writhed violently. Some even vanished.
If that could be completed... his own army would not simply die like dogs, but could fight against the army of the Rotten.
Ashval was deliberately putting them in his debt. So that they, too, would cooperate with him.
If only that were completed, at least they would not be helplessly swept away by the monsters.
The barracks door shook. Ashval raised his head.
"Come in."
"Excuse me."
The barracks door opened. A girl walked in.
A woman without a single uninjured spot. The body that had supposedly been developing Holy Arts was covered in wounds, without exception.
"...Divine Judge Dimona. You've worked hard."
"It's nothing compared to Your Excellency's efforts."
She talks well. For someone who abandoned even her church and came running just to save one person.
"Sit."
Ashval lightly poured a glass of water.
"Thank you."
"An imperial decree came from the church. They warned that if you do not return immediately, they will remove you from your post. Good heavens. No matter how I look at it, I never dreamed you would bring half the organization with you without authorization."
"It's fine. I already prepared myself for at least that much."
"...As I understand it, the position of Divine Judge is quite high. You must wield considerable influence even within the church. It must have been difficult to climb to it."
Ashval glanced at her. Small. Frail.
But strong. Ashval had watched the person before him demonstrate her capabilities for months.
Power that most imperial knights couldn't even measure up to.
"...For someone like you, wasn't there no need to make this choice?"
"Isn't Your Excellency the same?"
The distance between them had narrowed over the months. Dimona spoke in a somewhat more relaxed tone.
"Your Excellency is also standing here for someone's sake."
"...True. But to put it another way, does that mean this Zahard is that important to you?"
"Of course."
"It must be love, then."
Her poker face crumbled.
"I-I-I-I-It's not?!"
"Enough. Good grief. I'm getting too old for this. This one and that one are all in the prime of youth... I feel like I'm being left behind alone."
"I-I-I-I said it's really not?!"
"A person shouldn't do things they'll regret. It'll keep dragging at your ankles. I'm the same. If I had refused to come here... and abandoned that person, I would have regretted it even in death."
Silence flowed. Ashval gently swirled his glass.
"Is the Holy Art finished?"
"...Yes."
"I thought so. There must be a reason you came to see me separately. Are you going into Paramer now?"
"We're engraving the newly created Holy Art onto weapons. All the inquisitors and paladins are working on it together... so it should be finished at least before this night ends."
"I see..."
So she means to march into certain death after all.
"...I wish you luck."
"Separate from that, I wanted to express my gratitude to Your Excellency. Thank you for supporting us for such a considerable period."
"I trust you will pay the price for the transaction."
"Of course. We plan to engrave the Holy Art onto all of the soldiers' weapons."
"A Holy Art that can be engraved on a large scale. I'd heard about it before, but... is that really possible?"
"If it were permanent, it would be impossible, but this disappears less than twelve hours after being engraved."
"What?"
Ashval braced his hands on the desk and stood.
"Then even if you engrave it, it's useless!"
"That's not true. Your Excellency."
Dimona sipped her water.
"The outer wall will collapse in less than a day. The circumstances point to it. It's something that will definitely happen."
"Wh-what?! Why didn't you tell us...!"
"What would change if I told you? Your Excellency. You know you can't leave this place even if that outer wall collapses."
"......"
"We only learned of it recently ourselves. Your Excellency. Please set aside your anger."
The timing of the Holy Art's completion and the timing of the monsters pouring out of Paramer had overlapped conveniently.
Ashval glared at Dimona.
"...Did you time this?"
"It merely overlapped by a hair. We almost ran out of time ourselves."
"If the outer wall collapses... those rotten monsters will pour out from inside."
"The imperial army stationed here will be swept away as well."
Dimona raised her hand. She emptied the glass cleanly.
"There is only one thing for Your Excellency Ashval to decide. Be swept away here, or advance together with us."
"Aren't both the same as dying?"
"It's staking everything on the faint possibility that we might survive. Your Excellency. You know we've been researching the rotten monsters, don't you?"
Ra's flame ignited in Dimona's raised hand. Ashval let out a sigh.
"I know, but..."
"As a result of our separate research, there is an entity inside Paramer that commands all of these rotten souls. Your Excellency. If we can bring down that one thing, the rotten souls will certainly lose their master and leave their bodies."
Ashval slumped back into his chair. He pressed his temples.
"Is that... true? That we can quell the situation in Paramer with our own hands?"
"Of course, the probability is remarkably low. One cannot defeat ten. How many soldiers do you think are inside Paramer?"
"...Millions..."
"Correct. Well, even if that's inflated, there are at least hundreds of thousands. Hundreds of thousands against a mere two thousand."
Even as a simple number, it was heavy. Even if one had steeled oneself for death, the impossible numerical difference seemed to crush both body and mind.
Death had already been accepted. But actually facing it was different.
Ashval felt his shoulders grow heavy. The time left for those who had remained here, looking only at his back, was running short.
"...You were."
Ashval sat as if collapsing into the chair.
"You were planning to use me from the start. Divine Judge Dimona."
"Use Your Excellency? We're simply exchanging what each of us wants. If you want to live, you must take up your sword and charge into Paramer. Break through the rotten army and assault the giant monster that appears to be their master."
It was madness. But even so, he couldn't help pricking up his ears.
"All or nothing, then."
A battle that challenged the impossible. They could only win by burning every remaining life against the rotten monsters.
Most would die. Even those who lived would not truly be alive.
Because a difference in numbers was not something that could be overcome by will alone.
But even so...
"You're telling me to charge toward death?"
"With the retired war hero Ashval Haltz at our side, the others will hold onto hope as well."
"You're telling me to burn a force of not even two thousand and advance into uncertainty?"
"To be precise, it's two thousand three hundred. The mercenaries will be included as well."
Die helplessly.
Or charge into Paramer clutching a threadlike hope.
Ashval wiped his face. The candle left alone on the desk flickered precariously.
"...The answer was already decided. Divine Judge Dimona. The reason you didn't ask for help from the moment you first arrived here was because you knew from the start that we would help you."
"From the moment I left the church, I decided to use everything I could. I thought about it constantly even as I walked here. Your Excellency, who cannot leave even knowing death is coming, and me, who must enter Paramer no matter what."
Dimona reached out. She placed her hand over Ashval's.
"Even if our goals differ, if the path we must walk is the same, couldn't we call each other comrades?"
In the flickering candlelight, she whispered.
"Your Excellency Ashval Haltz. I don't think you want to fall here either. If you fall, who will assist Her Highness the Third Imperial Princess?"
"......."
"Come with me. Enter the collapsing Paramer and become a hero. I'll hand over all the credit. Pierce through the impossible and burn Paramer to the ground."
Her whispering shadow swayed like a serpent.
"Show those rotten monsters that the Empire's lion has not yet aged. Your Excellency."
"...Are you sure you're not from the Serpent Church instead of the Church of Ra?"
"Oh my. That's a misunderstanding. I am Divine Judge Dimona."
A frightening woman.
Ashval Haltz quietly looked at her hand covering his own.
"...I thought you were a pack of madmen..."
"You thought so?"
"The leader is the maddest of all."
"I'll take that in a good way."
Ashval chuckled. His anger had subsided before he knew it.
When he thought about it, she had done nothing wrong. The outer wall was going to collapse eventually, and the garrison was going to be caught up in it no matter what.
There was no need to take his anger out on her.
Rather, he should be grateful.
She had thrown a lifeline into a fight with no chance of victory.
Challenging the impossible, was it.
Piercing through a threadlike hope and opening a path. Devoting oneself to stopping the disaster that would pour out of Paramer?
Ah.
A knight's heart burned hot enough to forget every other reason dragging at his ankles.
For a retired old veteran, was this not the most fitting battlefield of all?
"...Not bad. It's exactly right for my final battlefield."
Ashval rose. He strapped on the equipment he had set aside.
"What are the odds?"
"...Five percent?"
"Well now..."
Ashval Haltz took up his sword.
"Isn't this battlefield more than a retired knight deserves?"