Chapter 58 – Oh, That’s Not How It Works (4)
“Anyway, that’s it for today. Do you have a rough idea of how to use it now?”
“…Yes.”
Luke bit his lip and nodded at him. As a hero, he was very proud of being taught by the enemy he had to defeat, but what was more miserable than that was that the method he taught was really effective. It was the divine power received from the goddess that made it difficult to explain how to deal with it even when dealing with it on its own, but after following the method Baron Armageddon taught, the flow of divine power was so easily mastered that it made me wonder why I didn’t know it until now.
“…What kind of identity are you? How do you know this kind of knowledge?”
At this point, I can’t help but realize that it’s strange even if I don’t notice. It’s strange to think of him as a person who handles divine power better than a hero while using the fragments of chaos that the goddess told him to seal. If the divine power was similar to magic, it would have been acceptable for him as a warlock to know the divine power well, but this was not the case either. From the outsider’s point of view, divine power can be quite similar to magic, but the structure and driving method of magic using magical power and divine power using faith are inevitably different.
Much more, Baron Armageddon was not a normal wizard, but a pseudo-magician in effect, who only infused the magical formula created by Mystrina, the Witch of the Mist, with magical energy from the fragments of chaos. How on earth can he know how to operate divine power that even the user, the hero, does not know well? A strange assumption popped up in Luke’s troubled mind.
A person who can easily hold and handle the holy sword, which can only be held by a hero and inflicts terrible suffering upon an evil person the moment he grips it, and who knows how to use divine power that only faithful followers of the goddess and warriors chosen by the goddess can handle. .
Only the hero can do those two things.
Hopefully it can’t be There are only two heroes who have appeared in human history. The first hero who appeared when the evil dragon first appeared and sealed it underground. And as the time for the dragon’s subjugation approaches, the newly chosen hero is himself. During the long and short period in between, the Hero, the owner of the holy sword, had never appeared. It was clearly written that way in the Church of the Goddess.
So, what exactly is Baron Armageddon?
“The power that comes from the fragments I have is similar to and opposite to the divine power of the goddess. It is only because of that reason that I know how to use the divine power.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Luke wanted to sigh. I don’t know if what he said was true or false, but he had no way of finding out on his own. In a ridiculous situation where he had to defeat the enemy with the skills he had learned from the enemy, the hero walked to the tower with his pounding head wrapped around his head.
*
“…Hmm.”
After the hero returned to Cigarete’s tower, I stopped at a park on the way to Mystrina’s mansion. I didn’t have any special business, it was just to organize the thoughts in my head and future plans. I chose a suitable bench, sat down for a while, closed my eyes, and felt the cool breeze blowing from the west.
At first, this long journey, which was just vague, is slowly coming to an end. Accepting the deal with the goddess, he came down to this world and gathered all the means he had to increase his strength in order not to be killed by anyone other than the hero. Looking back now, I can’t believe how I did it, but I didn’t want to do it again.
It is of course a pleasure to sleep with pretty women from time to time, but the process was not very smooth. In order to destroy her Mars, I made those she wanted to protect attack her, showed the ugly side of those who surrounded her to get her hands on her ray, and put Saha under me who came to assassinate me. The blood of countless assassins was stained on this hand. Quite a few people have been sacrificed to make ‘she’ who is still in the basement and ‘Mia’ who guards my mansion while I am away on my side.
As much as the hard work, the result was worth it, but now the time to put it down is approaching. I will be the hero’s final trial, and his holy sword will pierce my heart. And the completed hero finally saves this world from the evil dragon, and greets a happy ending.
I am here to see the end. After all the work is done, in order to make a wish to the goddess as a reward for the labor so far. At first, I was just living a peaceful and leisurely life in a different world by myself, but now it has changed a little. All the ties I made here, and those who are most precious to me, will go with me. Even for that, there is no time to hesitate or relax.
“Huh… I don’t know when contact will be restored again. They’re like fucking saboteurs… Anyway, they’re both gods and humans, and there seem to be people everywhere who don’t see how others are doing well. Well, what can I do? I have to endure it. That’s the promise I made with the goddess Luminus…”
Quick.
“…Uh?”
I turned my head at the sound of branches being stepped on and breaking from behind. It was not a particularly meaningful action. It just automatically looked in the direction of the sound. But the moment I saw the person standing there, my body froze. And it wasn’t just me. The pupils of the person who made eye contact with mine were also causing earthquakes.
“Ahhh…”
One step back, then another step. Seeing the opponent instinctively step back, I grasped the shrapnel hanging around my neck with my hand, deciding that there was no time to delay. While extracting the black magic from the fragments of chaos, the distance between me and the opponent increased by another three steps.
The opponent’s legs, which were about to turn around and run away, stopped immediately, and his mouth, which was about to scream, fell shut. Dozens of hands protruding from the magic circles on the ground subdued the witnesses. This time, thanks to Mystrina’s improvement again, this low-level magic, ‘Ghoul’s Touch’, has an effect that ordinary civilians who do not have the ability to sense magical power cannot see it. It will only appear to have stopped.
I got up from the bench and approached the opponent who was caught in dozens of hands and was stranded. Then, as if they were the waiting party, they put their arms around their shoulders and naturally left the park. So, after bringing the witness to the front of the Mist Mansion, I whispered in her trembling ear.
“…Where did you hear that?”
One of the warriors, Elia, a benevolent goddess who served the goddess Luminous, protected her allies with her divine power, and healed her wounds, trembled to the point of feeling sorry for all who saw her.
*
‘Hey, what’s going on…? Oh, how the hell did this happen…’
It wasn’t such a big deal at first. Luke, who was training against the scarecrow, came into the tower with a somewhat unrefreshed face, and I, who was worried about him recently, just asked what was going on with him. Even when something big happened, Luke was the type to suffer and suffer alone rather than confiding in others, so I was able to dig out his troubles thanks to his persistence in asking questions even though he was evasive saying that nothing had happened.
‘…If only, very if. What would it be like if Baron Rag or Armageddon could use divine power and hold this holy sword that only a warrior could wield?’
Luke’s question assumed what-ifs, but I could tell. It is a kind of technique in which he confides under the assumption that what he has experienced himself but cannot explain to others as it is is the circumstances of someone other than himself. But the content was hard to just listen to and pass it over.
Baron Ragna Armageddon, that man can use divine power and wield a holy sword? It was a story that made absolutely no sense. Perhaps Luke felt the same way, he didn’t listen to my answer and hurriedly left the place, asking me to forget his words.
Concerned about Luke, I set out to find Baron Armageddon to find out the truth about him. It wasn’t because he really thought he could use divine power and was fine even with the holy sword, but to make sure he wasn’t showing lies to Luke through ominous magic such as hallucinations or mind control.
I found his back in the square. Although he was a man of sloppy speech and deed, he seemed to be an aristocrat, but the sight of him sitting quietly on a bench, even though I only saw him from behind, gave me a kind of grace that is hard to explain in words. I approached him and tried to find out what the hell he had done to Luke. Meeting him separately without being accompanied by a colleague is a very foolish and dangerous action, but it was possible because through experience so far, I was convinced that he would not lay a hand on us for any reason.
And the words that came out of his mouth made me freeze on my feet.
“Huh… I don’t know when contact will be restored again.”
Communication? Restore? What’s the story? I don’t know what it is, but it seemed like a very important story.
“They’re like damn saboteurs…”
A saboteur… Is there something interfering with his plans? If I listen quietly like this, I wonder if I will be able to understand what the plan he is plotting.
“Anyway, they’re both gods and humans, and it seems that there are people everywhere who can’t see how others are doing well.”
…God? What the hell is this guy talking about…?
“Well, what can I do?
…And the name that came out of his mouth that sounded so familiar yet somehow unfamiliar, I was speechless. Mr Luminus. The Goddess who created this world, served by our church. You made an appointment with such a goddess…? What the hell is this person talking about? In a story that cannot be dismissed as mere blasphemy, I felt something ominous.
Unwilling to listen to him any longer, feeling anxious as if I had learned a taboo that I shouldn’t have known, I forgot what I had done to Luke and took a step back to go back without being noticed by him. But the moment I took a step back with my right foot.
Quick.
“…Uh?”
“Ahhh…”
I, foolishly, confused by what he said, stepped back without even checking what was behind it, and I stepped on and broke one of the branches lying on the floor. And at that sound, Baron Armageddon opened his eyes and turned his head away, and I met his eyes.
Deep, cloudy eyes that seem to absorb all the light in the world. The eyes of a non-human being. I was afraid and fearful because I did not have the courage to face what was beyond it… I cried out the name of Goddess Luminus over and over again in my heart, and walked backwards. Recognizing me, he immediately put his hand on something hanging around his neck. It was something that the Goddess instructed Luke, who had been chosen as her hero, to collect. A piece of jewel containing the power of an evil dragon that appeared a long time ago.
Dark and evil black magic power emanating from the object called Chaos Fragment began to flow along his hand, and I, who did not have the courage or will to face the terrifying being alone, immediately tried to run away to the place where my colleagues were. But… Countless black hands protruding from the ground grabbed my legs as I tried to run away, closed my mouth to scream, and grabbed even the hands that tried to shake it off, leaving me in a state where I couldn’t do anything.
He came right up to me and put his arm around my shoulder. To a stranger, it was like treating an old friend, but to me it was nothing more than a predatory restraint, holding on to prey so it wouldn’t escape. In a neutralized state, I had no choice but to move as he led me. After leaving the park, I headed towards the mansion where the ‘Smoke Witch’ stayed, in the opposite direction of the tower where the ‘Smoke Witch’ stayed.
I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t. The countless hands holding my whole body only allowed him to move in the direction he wanted.
That’s when I got scared for the first time. We expected that the reason why Baron Armageddon was keeping his enemy, the hero Luke, and his companions alive without harming them, was probably because he had some kind of plan. However, after overhearing the insider’s secret story of what is presumed to be the plan, will he send me back safely to my colleagues?
With minimal mental manipulation, I could die as it is. Such fear gripped my entire body and gave me goosebumps. It was as if only the head had been put into the tiger’s wide open mouth. Fearing that I might die for real if I act rashly, I had no choice but to follow him quietly.
And when he finally reached the magical mist that surrounded the mansion, he asked me in the coldest, most chilling voice I had ever heard.
“…Where did you hear that?”
Almighty Goddess Luminus, protect me with eternal light. Guide me with your warm and holy love, guide my soul with your divine light, even if my path is shrouded in darkness…!
