Chapter 250
Is it like a child throwing stones into a lake?
I don’t appreciate him playfully causing ripples for me.
I kept the Possessor Support System map open beside me and began gathering information.
“What kind of place is the Chaos Altar?”
“Obvious, isn’t it? A place to destroy the world.”
That’s an answer with no informational value. Next question, then.
I tapped the stone wall with the back of my hand and spoke.
“This building’s name is suspicious from the start. Tomb of Chaos Gods. Whose tomb is it? Yours?”
“I do live constantly contemplating death.”
“So it’s not your tomb.”
“Because I’m not great enough to call myself a god.”
Perhaps it’s because he mentioned ‘god’. His subdued voice strangely stuck in my ears.
“More than that, I have something I want to ask your opinion on, Aillet Rodelain.”
Even as I felt an ominous aura from his smiling profile, I gestured for him to ask.
“If you were to create humanity’s last stronghold, where do you think would be best?”
“Why ask something like that?”
“Because I’ve acquired something good.”
Reed rummaged in his clothes, connected to his sub-dimensional inventory.
A long object was grasped in his hand and only after being pulled out for a while did its end reveal itself.
<This…!>
As if speaking for my feelings, Agnes’s voice was filled with shock.
What Reed conspicuously pulled out was a massive flag stained with blood.
There was no way I wouldn’t recognize it.
It was the artifact, Holy Ground Construction, that I had obtained after subjugating Helkaion and returned to the Pontifical Palace.
My fingertips grew cold.
The artifact that Muriel should be using at the Pontifical Palace was now in Reed’s hands.
My chilled mind immediately grasped the implication.
“You, you attacked the Pontifical Palace?”
“Yes.”
“Whose blood is on the flag?”
“Muriel Philise… or rather, something unfamiliar pretending to be her.”
…
This was another statement that couldn’t be overlooked. My heart gave a small thump at Reed’s words, as he hadn’t yet lived through the 100th iteration to its end.
Reed, who had been carefully observing my reaction, opened his mouth.
“It seems you know something I don’t.”
I decided to return as much information as I had gained.
“Mu Ellinas. Muriel’s true body.”
It was a fact I had secretly suspected ever since the gatekeeper of the eleventh gate on the Pilgrim’s Path was absent.
Reed’s words had effectively confirmed it.
Sacred Horologer, Mu Ellinas.
In the original 100th iteration, she was the one who spearheaded sealing Reed after he was declared an enemy of the world.
“What did you do to her?”
“You ask an obvious question even after seeing the blood.”
“Killing her is useless. She’ll revive.”
Dearly loved by ‘Strict Order and Goodness’, she transcended death.
It would be accurate to say her true body is something akin to a sacred lich.
“Hmm, I see.”
Reed didn’t seem to care much.
“It doesn’t matter if one of them revives.”
…
His well-formed lips deliberately uttered words in a playful tone.
That made me calculate the cost of his sins.
At that time, 60% of Pan-El’s population must have been gathered at the Pontifical Palace.
That Chaos Evil, having broken through there, wouldn’t have finished its business courteously.
How many did it kill? Speaking of which, where’s Grandpa? I didn’t see him at the Final Judgment Site, so doesn’t that mean he was at the Pontifical Palace?
‘No way…’
Cold sweat formed in my clenched fist.
I was afraid to ask him about the well-being of my precious person. It felt like it would only confirm a catastrophe.
It seemed my inner feelings were completely read by Reed’s eyes.
He sharply poked at my weakness.
“Speaking of which, your maternal grandfather.”
“…!”
“I saw Hispenril.”
When I regained my senses, my hand was gripping Reed’s collar.
Reed responded calmly.
“Are you going to kiss me for a job well done?”
“…You didn’t, kill him?”
“I didn’t do enough to kill an Aura Master. More than that, I don’t know why you’re so surprised.”
…
The strength drained from my grip. Reed’s actions were completely different from my interpretation.
My eyes widened at this uncharacteristic outcome. I found an opening.
“Reed.”
“Calling me so affectionately, it seems you’re trying to persuade me again?”
“I know how to stop your regression.”
It was a proposal born of triumph. I thought there might be hope now. But.
“I know too, Aillet Rodelain.”
…
“I can guarantee that my method will be more interesting and even more certain.”
…
“So… we each have to do our best, right? You in your way, and I in mine.”
Only then did I see the subtle madness in his red eyes, which had never faded for a moment.
Reed, blind to destruction.
His ancient thirst, which could not be quenched without punishing the world.
He had no intention of changing his methods. So, as always, persuasion and negotiation failed.
[The ‘Voice-Spirit that Constructs the World’ sighs.]
[The ‘Scales that Judge Souls’ sigh.]
By the time Reed had stowed Holy Ground Construction back into his clothes, our footsteps stopped before a massive gate.
I frowned slightly.
“This isn’t in front of the altar.”
“Yes, it’s not.”
My gaze narrowed as I looked at the unreliable guide.
Reed, unconcerned, placed his right palm on the center of the door.
“There’s no need to be wary. This is…”
DRRRRR!
[
“…Carpheios’s treasure vault. Since we’re already in Sanarak, I thought I’d give you a souvenir.”
Rare treasures were packed tightly in glass display cases reminiscent of cubes.
As Carpheios was also the blacksmith demon, most of the stored items were weaponry.
I stopped at the threshold and looked into the interior of the treasury.
Reed spoke as if he knew all my thoughts.
“You were going to come anyway, weren’t you?”
That’s true.
Given the accelerating pace of destruction, the day for the Demon King’s war wasn’t far off.
To prepare for that, one of Carpheios’s cherished items was absolutely necessary.
‘Lily Cross Scythe.’
Gyeom (鎌) means scythe.
And a lily cross (Cross flory) refers to a cross whose four corners elegantly curve in the shape of lily petals.
In other words, the weapon I was looking for was a scythe modeled after a lily cross.
A weapon born from the combination of a cross, signifying atonement, and a lily, signifying immaculate purity, was suitable for striking demons.
[The ‘Eye that Oversees All Chaos’ is unnecessarily pleased.]
Looting Sanarak’s treasure vault to obtain the Lily Cross Scythe was part of my plan from the beginning. The problem was, however.
‘The person helping me with that now is Reed.’
I don’t entertain such soft thoughts as Reed helping me out of goodwill.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m wondering what trick you’re up to.”
I blurted it out and then regretted it. But Reed didn’t care.
“Think comfortably, Aillet Rodelain.”
“Then can you say something that would put my mind at ease?”
“To connect the Final Dungeon, ‘Cradle of Chaos’, to the human world, you need to defeat at least two Demon Kings. I’m merely borrowing your hand for that task.”
“You intend to use me…?”
“The expression ‘receiving help’ sounds better.”
“That’s a pretty good reason.”
Only then did I start walking. Reed, seemingly satisfied, pulled up the corners of his mouth in a smile and led the way.
Carpheios’s cherished items were diverse, as if encompassing all kinds of weapons.
As we walked, scanning them with our eyes, only the sound of two pairs of footsteps echoed in the static air.
Even Agnes was quiet, as if observing Reed. I had no choice but to break the uncomfortable silence myself.
“Why don’t you do it yourself?”
“…What?”
Reed’s reaction was slow due to the unexpected question.
My question was an extension of our previous conversation.
“If you defeat the Demon Kings with your own hands, couldn’t you achieve destruction faster?”
“That’s too clean. Shouldn’t it live up to the name ‘Chaos’?”
It was just like the psychological depiction of the 100th iteration’s protagonist in the original story.
For the first time in a while, he seemed to be within my line of sight, not in a blind spot of the original story.
“I won’t be helpful to the chaos you desire. Never.”
“Well…”
Seeing him drag out his words, it seemed he was thinking of another ‘pretty good reason’.
After a moment, the excuse he carefully picked was…
“I told you before. There are things I want to keep by my side, even if they’re not helpful.”
…
“For me, that existence is still you. So, you could say I’m creating an excuse to be together.”
He had a knack for leaving me speechless.
“Do you know something, Aillet Rodelain?”
And a knack for changing the subject.
“What else?”
“Carpheios is also the blacksmith demon. He has a particular knack for refining weapons.”
“So?”
“So I’ve made some adjustments to the Lily Cross Scythe to suit you better.”
“What?”
“We’ve arrived just in time.”
Reed stopped walking and turned his body to the right.
Standing beside him, I saw the weapon displayed in the showcase directly in front.
A scythe in the shape of a cross, its length almost matching my height.
Judging by its three corners, top, bottom, and right, shaped like flowers, and its left corner curved like a scythe blade, it seemed to be the Lily Cross Scythe.
But it was quite different from what I had imagined while reading the original story.
Lilies are inherently white flowers, aren’t they? I had expected a white and elegant scythe made of silver metal and moonstone.
However, the weapon currently before me was made of black metal and sardonyx, and its tip was sharpened into a spiky, thorny shape, like thorns.
It felt like looking at a corrupted cross.
Moreover, the shaft of the cross forming the scythe was unusual. Looking closely, it was tightly segmented.
‘Just like my Serpens.’
Sure enough, the system affirmed all my observations.
[
An peerless weapon created by synthesizing the ‘Lily Cross Scythe’ with the ‘1st Holy-Demonic Sword’ and the ‘Royal Flexible Sword’.
While preserving the circuit in the cross portion that can deal fatal blows to Demon Kings, the lower part of the shaft has been modified into a flexible blade. Thus, it can implement scythe techniques (鎌術) horizontally and flexible weapon techniques longitudinally.
Furthermore, as the characteristics of the Holy-Demonic Sword are imbued within it, it binds to the first contactor and changes shape into a spear. Special caution is required.
Note: The ‘Newly Born Chaos Evil’ ardently wished for your corruption and meticulously custom-made this weapon.]
“Take it. It’s a gift.”
…
A privilege for the possessor