Tying Up Loose Ends (3)
Just as Pontima had said, there were no obvious traps bristling with thorns. But Nathan thought a trap might actually have been better. What lay beyond Santra's transfer gate was a chamber as grand as a king's audience hall. Gems, crowns, and even daggers crusted with dried blood—all manner of glittering objects lay heaped in careless piles.
"Caw—."
And in the middle of it all, a bird that resembled a crow tilted its head, observing Nathan.
"What the hell is that?"
Nathan's eyes twitched. It was pitch black from feathers to beak, yet the reason it was described as "resembling" a living thing was simple: ordinary crows did not scrape their heads against a five-meter-high ceiling. In sheer size, the creature looked capable of devouring any wyvern or sphinx that crossed its path.
Sakano's chimera. The Winter King's dragon. And now this monstrous bird that was probably Santra's pet. Did the Eleim of the Heavens have an incurable weakness for overgrown creatures? Or did they simply grow to match the twisted scale of their masters' personalities?
Nathan had never liked crows. It wasn't merely their habit of trailing after knight orders to feast on corpses. The creatures always deployed their eerie cunning to torment the innocent. They would, for example, drop walnuts stolen from farms directly onto Nathan's head to crack them open. If something that size grew bored, there was no telling what it might do. It seemed entirely possible it could drop an entire farm onto Nathan's skull.
Nathan shot a sidelong glance at Aspen, who wore a dazed expression. 'It feels like we should go see it,' you said. Are you certain about that?
"What kind of crow is the size of an elephant? Can a creature like this even exist in the world? Shouldn't everyone evacuate to the surface?"
"It looks more like an eagle to me."
At Pontima's somewhat vacant remark, Nathan scanned the creature from top to bottom once more. Now that he mentioned it, the comparison fit. Unusually, the shapes of its two eyes differed. The left eye resembled a black glass marble, like a crow's. The right eye, in stark contrast, was unmistakably that of an eagle. The piercing pupil within its red rim sent a chill down the spine. Its long neck and hooked beak radiated ferocity. The thick feathers, like a heavy coat, marked it as a high-altitude creature. The beard dangling beneath its chin vaguely recalled a bearded vulture.
But.
"Isn't an eagle even worse?"
Eagles were predators. Extremely aggressive ones. Then again, with a body that size, what did species matter? Every human would look like a single bite.
Nathan briefly imagined being pecked apart like a caterpillar. The thought filled him with rage.
"Pontima Peres, you son of a bitch! You said there were no traps, so come on in!"
For a mage, Pontima had trained himself with considerable harshness. Military command was not something one could simply claim through family name alone. But against a Lion Wing knight, it meant nothing. When Pontima hastily tried to push Nathan's arm away, he felt resistance like tree roots. The next instant, he was seized by the collar and left dangling like a rag.
"Uwaah—! Wait! Stop! Aspen! Do something about this bastard—!"
"You should have told us there was something like that! Damn it, you said it wouldn't eat us, but you're serving us up as monster feed!"
"Hearing it to my face is rather unpleasant."
Nathan froze. Pontima's neck bones, which had been whipping back and forth, creaked with relief.
Where is that coming from? All I see is the crow.
The crow, which had been glaring at Nathan with its left eye, shuffled sideways. Only then did Santra's form become visible.
She lay on the bed in a rigidly upright posture. As always, her face was hidden behind a veil. She did not stir at all, resembling a corpse covered by a shroud.
After a brief silence, Nathan sneered softly.
"No matter how badly wounded you are, you're awfully relaxed. Receiving guests while lying down."
"Nathan, it might be wise to watch your tongue."
Nathan glanced at Aspen, then shook his head with a dissatisfied expression.
"That's why I'm keeping my voice down."
To the Peres family she might be a temporary mistress, but to Nathan she was nothing more than a crazy bitch desperate to devour him. The kind who wouldn't even explain the reason for her abuse—a truly nasty psychopath. Had he not been concerned for the Peres family's safety, Nathan would have gladly thrown the woman into that abyss pit that day.
His discontented lips soon parted wide. The giant black bird easily scattered Nathan's thoughts. After peering at the reclining Santra, it pecked her head directly.
"Huh?"
Crunch.Thud.
The sheer weight of the beak caused blood to erupt as if the skull would burst from the lightest touch. The cracked gap in the bone opened horrifically. As if that were not enough, the black bird climbed onto the bed. It seized the woman's body with its talons.
The Grand Arena Owner, lifted high, was hurled onto the marble floor. Still clutched in its grip.
The bird stomped on the corpse as if venting its fury. Chunks of flesh bounced like walnut shells cracked against stone. The sight was gruesome.
In the incomprehensible situation, Pontima screamed, Aspen widened her eyes, and Nathan hurriedly felt at his side. He searched for the sword he had kept at his hip even while nursing Aspen. Drawing the longsword at once in response to the threat, Nathan nevertheless felt a strange sense of refreshment.
It was a fittingly ironic end for an arrogant ruler who treated others' lives so carelessly—killed while being used as an outlet for her uncontrollable pet.
But the moment the creature lost interest in the dead Santra, its target might shift to the remaining people—
"A mage's body is terribly inconvenient."
The giant bird panted. In Santra's voice.
Nathan nearly collapsed, legs buckling.
"Once anti-magic material embeds itself, you spend your days groaning and end up crippled. To be ruined by merely a few arrows—it's absurd."
Arrows were objects that ruined people when they struck. But Nathan did not retort.
He tried to calculate how many times he had been forced to be astonished over the past few weeks. And he thought, with desperate longing, that he wanted to go back.
There were far too many events here that he could not understand.
From the pulped remains of Santra's body, a strange gray light welled up. The black bird pecked at the magical energy as if hunting earthworms. Soon it seized the clumped power with its beak, yanked it free, and swallowed it with pumping motions.
"You wished to see me bleed and die. Half your wish has come true. Congratulations."
Even now, the crow-like pitch-black left eye remained fixed on Nathan.
"Still, thanks to you safely delivering the body, you've been a great help. The time required to create a new one will be greatly reduced. Though it will still take several years, at least."
If I'd known I'd hear that, I should have just dumped it by the roadside.
It was somehow more unsettling to hear thanks for saving her than to have the other party forget to say it at all.
Nathan, who had been trying to calm his confusion with deep breaths, suddenly looked around. Everyone's reactions were calmer than expected.
"Pontima, why aren't you...?"
"Surprised? I saw it a few dozen seconds before the rest of you. I had time to prepare myself."
Pontima did not confess that several of those seconds had been spent unconscious. It was the final pride of an elder.
"And Aspen?"
For some reason, Aspen's hair—now dyed black—resembled the feather color of that giant bird. An ominous association. Nathan hoped that whatever it meant, it was not a bad omen.
"I... felt it. It's difficult to explain. This is the first time I've understood something without even receiving an explanation."
Trying not to show his anxiety, Nathan turned to the last person.
"Benny—"
Thud.
Benny had collapsed, unconscious. Foam even bubbled at the corner of her mouth.
The tilting crow looked up at the ceiling with a troubled expression.
----------
"I knew about it, but I'd never seen it before. Of course she would freak out! My whole life, I've only known Lady Santra in her Eleim form—"
Under the bird's steady gaze, Benny turned her head in embarrassment.
"Well. Anyway. Yes."
Benny resumed what she had been doing—dragging out a few objects that resembled chairs from among the countless ornaments and metal objects.
As Aspen moved to sit on a gold-leafed barrel, the crow seized her collar and pulled her back. Nathan, who had leaped to his feet, froze while reaching for his sword.
Instead of attacking Aspen, the crow plopped down onto the bed. The same bed where the skull-cracked body had lain.
Separate from the anxiety caused by the giant creature, that detail left Nathan uneasy. He also could not shake the feeling that there was a clear connection between Aspen's blackened hair—changed while she slept—and the giant crow.
"Benny, if there's anything you can tell us, even roughly, could you share it? It feels like there's still quite a lot that only you know and we don't."
At the sharp tone, Benny shrank back slightly. Unfortunately, Nathan was in no position to be delicately considerate of others.
Benny glanced at the crow as if seeking permission. That attitude alone made Nathan's heart uneasy.
"Do you remember what Hedonic means?"
"A gathering of liberals created because living in the Heavens felt stifling?"
"Roughly. But there's a fact that only some Hedonics know. Besides our main god—the Heavenly God who imposes all kinds of rules—another god exists in the Heavens. And that god became the root of Hedonic."
Benny stuck out her tongue, revealing the Hedonic pattern.
Pontima, seeing the tattoo engraved on her tongue, recoiled in horror at the shocking cultural display. It depicted two black wings spread like a heart.
"Two wings and a forked path. Crossroads and death. Freedom of choice and ruin. The guide of the crossroads, Keres."
"A god?"
Nathan asked Aspen, "Was that what you meant by showing respect?"
Aspen nodded. Her black, swaying hair kept drawing his eye.
"More precisely, an avatar. She placed herself within the constraints of flesh and manifested in the world."
Gods. Great souls that protected the races they had marked. Of course, not all were benevolent. Some punished their believers with blood. Others exploited their own people by using them as hosts.
Nathan looked up at the crow monster. In the worst case, he desperately hoped the miracle bestowed upon his hand would work on such a being as well.
"Did you do something to Aspen—"
"—You pull a drowning child from the water and immediately suspect foul play. What did I do? I saved her."
Using that terrifying beak, the crow lifted and arranged Aspen's disheveled hair. It stopped only when Pontima and Nathan groaned and rose from their seats.
"Nathan, Pontima. I am safe, so please stop."
"Damn it, but earlier—"
"That corpse was merely a shell. The owner simply extracted the contents inside. I keep telling you it's fine."
Aspen, who had been restraining the two men, smiled as if to reassure them.
Yet Nathan could not release his wariness.
"The Eleim body I used was nothing more than an artificial vessel controlled by injecting a portion of my soul. Only with that body could I intervene in this world. As long as the Heavenly God remains wide awake and alive, I cannot leave this room."
The giant bird glared at Nathan with a grumpy expression.
"So my feelings are complicated as well. Had I been free, such things would not have happened to Andau and Aspen."
Nathan mulled over the words.
"The relationship—"
"—Is bad? Are we hostile gods? Let's say that from the moment my existence became known, yes. The Heavenly God would unhesitatingly hurl lightning, and I, merely an avatar, would helplessly lose my flesh."
So it could even read minds. Whether or not it possessed divinity, it was clearly no ordinary being. A Heavenly God and a crow god. Dig deeper, and more might appear. For the Eleim, multiple gods existed while humans had none. Damn.
So what business did a heretical god have with a human—
"As you thought, I can see through your thoughts. Curious about my purpose?"
Nathan's molars clenched.
"I'll speak plainly. Become my believer."
It resembled the offer he had received in the arena. It was by no means a pleasant memory.
Nathan simply stared at the crow with wide eyes.
"You don't wish to stand with me? Did you not promise me a lifetime of service in the Floating Arena? Running away does not erase that promise, does it?"
Similar irritation began to surge in the crow's black eyes.
"To survive the Punishment Arena as you did there, you will desperately need help of some kind, will you not?"
Focus returned to Aspen's eyes. She had been staring blankly at the avatar.
"Punishment Arena? Wait, what did you just say?"
Aspen's head whipped toward Nathan with terrifying force.
Nathan slightly avoided her earnest gaze. No matter how desperately she looked at him as if this could not be, there was nothing he could do.
"That's how it turned out."
"What do you mean, that's how it turned out? It was supposed to be finished!"
"I heard the Morbi I killed held considerable power. Thinking about it, there was no way it would simply pass."
"You said all sins would disappear according to the rules of the gladiator fight!"
"But the register of gladiator entrants burned."
Benny spoke with a complicated expression.
"The testimonies conflict. Most of the corporate owners who survived that day are pretending ignorance. They claim they definitely did not hear that Nathan Maia became a gladiator. In that case, he remains guilty regarding Mornid's murder."
Aspen remembered clearly. Everyone in that courtroom had been startled by the declaration that Nathan had become a gladiator.
"Such sophistry—"
"And Mornid's death occurred after the trial ended. Sins committed before becoming a gladiator may be forgiven, but not those committed afterward."
It was only natural. Otherwise the streets would overflow with outlaws who had learned killing techniques.
The fact that Nathan had killed Mornid eventually spread throughout the Heavens. Those who had scoffed, saying one person could not possibly kill a royal, fell into shock. That shock soon turned to fear and hatred. Because of the Sapiens who had killed two of the Winter King's children, countless Eleim had lost their property and lives.
The friends at the Graveyard House near the scene had no time to destroy evidence. They had barely escaped through the path Hrozka opened, avoiding the Winter King's swords and the berserker horde. It was a mercy that no one had died.
"And yesterday the Conclave delivered its final verdict. Survive a hundred executions and become a gladiator to receive absolution."
Benny's eyes grew moist, as if resentful.
"That... was the best I could obtain by arguing as much as possible."
"Didn't you say the Heavens are divided into nations by districts?" Aspen asked desperately, chest heaving.
"So... the North is an enemy nation. Didn't you say they periodically plunder other regions of the Heavens? This time they even launched a preemptive strike. Killing a royal of an enemy nation should be an achievement, not a crime, shouldn't it?"
It seemed she had worried about Nathan's situation the moment she regained consciousness. She must have been consoling herself with such thoughts—that Nathan would not fall into trouble again.
Benny felt her heart tearing.
"Morbi was a moderate. The only one who could, even by irregular means, restrain the Winter King's capricious actions. On the other hand, Nathan is the one who invited the invasion and the villain who eliminated any room for negotiation."
The emaciated Aspen lost all spirit. The reason Nathan had risked such danger to kill the Protector Lord. And, going further, the reason her father had died. The reason they could no longer face each other and speak.
Looking back, all of it....
Aspen's breathing grew ragged. She hung her head deeply. As she nearly rolled off the bed, Nathan rushed forward and caught her.
Contrary to his concern, the crow did not stop him.
"My... my fault. I did something I should never have done—"
"No."
Aspen's fingers dug into Nathan's skin. He grasped the trembling that ran through her entire arm and held it down.
"No. This is not your fault, Aspen."
"Are you considering the what-ifs, Aspen Peres?"
The bird tilted its head forward.
"That if you had not challenged Andau, if you had not followed me, the situation might have differed?"
"I—"
"Then Andau would have died sooner. Burned by the abyss fire bombardment. It does not seem he would have passionately embraced you as Nathan did and thrown his body over yours."
Nathan was shocked.
"Even if you say such things—"
"And Nathan would not have received your sword's crossroads. He might have lost his life. Benessa, without your protection, would have died as well. Even if he somehow survived without the crossroads, Nathan would have lost his gladiator status again. Since his employer Benessa died in the chaos."
Aspen, still held in Nathan's arms, slowly raised her head. She gritted her teeth, holding back sobs.
"It's the starting point again. Andau dies, Nathan returns to the arena. If things had turned out that way, what would you regret? Would you not have blamed yourself for doing nothing?"
The crow, glaring at Nathan, concluded.
"Beings placed before multiple forked paths often misunderstand, but only one line can be drawn to the destination. Unlike cowards' wishes, life is an irreversible thing. That is why regret is all the more worthless."
The words reminded Nathan of the deal he had been offered. The avatar's gaze remained fixed on him as if affirming it.
Feeling as though his thoughts were being read one by one, Nathan flinched. He tried hard not to think about evil spirits or the like.
The bird tilted its head beside Aspen and whispered.
"You did nothing wrong. You simply made a choice. Andau was proud of you. So am I."
The voice had suddenly grown thick and solemn. The duality, contrasting with the earlier scolding, left Nathan dumbfounded.
Aspen's reddened face was rigidly set, yet she no longer seemed on the verge of collapse from unbearable reality.
Removing its beak from her ear, the crow returned to its usual arrogant tone.
"Now then. Nathan. I have relieved one of your troubles, so I would like you to grant me one request in return."
After waiting for the heated atmosphere to subside, Nathan answered as calmly as he could.
"About becoming your believer—"
"—It may be sudden, but you will have no time to think. How many days do you suppose remain before the Conclave seizes you by the ear and drags you away?"
"Still, your help—"
"—You cannot trust it?"
Nathan's expression gradually crumbled.
Let's talk properly.
"Until now you have—"
"—Have I ever directly harmed you? On the contrary, I even transfused my own blood to heal you."
The recovery agent administered after the orc battle must have been far more precious than he realized. The blood of an avatar. Indeed, no ordinary medicine could perfectly restore someone on the brink of death with a single sip. That belonged to the realm of authority, not medicine.
"Threatening me with Aspen—"
"—To bring you here, I did expose you to danger with the orc horde and the incinerator. I also used Aspen's name for empty threats. But consider this. If I were the malicious fool you believe me to be, would I not have cut off one of Aspen's fingers and shown it to you?"
To Nathan, who closed his eyes in rising fury, the crow—its tone shifting once more—sneered.
"What do you expect? Crows are liars. Until they enter the embrace of an eagle's wings."
The eyes on either side—one resembling a crow, the other an eagle—blinked alternately.
Only then did Nathan realize the source of the incongruity he had felt from Santra all this time. That bizarre being, which spoke neither like a human nor like an Eleim, must have been awkwardly imitating life through Santra's body.
"The Peres family's betrayal?"
"The Kingdom of Peres was my believers from its very foundation. The Peres family did not betray the Federation; they kept faith with their first master."
Lightning struck inside Nathan's head.
"Human... believers?"
"I called you because there is something that must be finished. In truth, criticizing Andau as a deserter is unfair. This matter will also greatly affect the safety of the world—"
"Wait. Wait! A god that protects humans?"
The snake-headed Lizardians had the feathered serpent Coatl. Forest elves had great souls dwelling in each wood. The Eleim had the Heavenly God. Parent-like gods that protected and supported their child races against the pandemonium of the abyss, where thousands upon thousands of evil gods lurked. Most intelligent races that had not fallen under the abyss's dominion possessed such gods. Only humans did not. From the beginning, there had been no god embracing humanity. That had been the teaching of the Humanity Sect.
Nathan shook his head without realizing it. This was a trap. If it was not a lie—
"You pray as well. Have you ever considered why? It is not evidence of false faith, nor an act of foolishness. It is merely an instinct remaining because you were children of a god."
The crow avatar Keres stroked with the tip of its beak the brand engraved on Aspen's neck. The same mark was engraved on Nathan. The form of a multi-armed being lifting a vessel. The Heavenly God's pattern.
"It was so until this one swallowed it all."