Chapter 285
Divine power two tiers higher than Hilde’s swept through the area.
By the ultimate pure light, the Deadly Blooms withered to their roots.
Everyone brightened and looked back.
“Aillet!”
“Sister!”
“Big Sister!”
Aillet, with a stern face, stepped towards the group.
Under her more aggressive footsteps than usual, the persistent sprouts of Deadly Bloom attempting to writhe up were trampled.
“Just hold on a little longer. Tesillid went to deal with the cause, so it’ll be over soon.”
“What’s the cause?”
“Uh, Sister, what’s happening right now?”
Aillet answered Iphail and Hilde’s questions all at once.
“Chaos’s Apocalypse Seer has appeared in the world. The demon apostles under her command are currently occupying churches across the continent.”
The dungeon burst occurring with the liberation of Demon King Abyssinis is different from what we’ve experienced so far.
Normally, the dungeon master emerges through a gate with their entire territory, but Abyssinis escapes alone and uses apostles to occupy key strongholds in the human world.
This is more efficient and destructive.
She can send apostles to every church in the world.
Therefore, it has the same effect as causing simultaneous dungeon bursts across the entire continent.
“These Deadly Blooms are evidence that a demon apostle has invaded our church. Judging by the aura, it seems to be roughly an Archbishop-level demon from the Chaos Evil God Cult… Tesillid will deal with it quickly.”
Just then, the demon plant that had been greedily sucking the earth’s essence and growing quieted down.
Soon after, Tesillid was coming this way from the chapel, shaking off his Holy Sword.
“Dealt with it.”
The announcement that an Archbishop-level demon, meaning a demon in the two-digit ranks of the Demon Realm, had been subjugated was utterly unremarkable.
Hilde, Ash, Iphail, and Hestio, exhausted from dealing with the Deadly Blooms, slumped to the floor and caught their breath.
Meanwhile, Tesillid approached Aillet’s side.
“Aiy.”
“Yes, Tesillid.”
The voices of the two, exchanging calls, were lower and heavier than usual.
The current situation was dire beyond measure, even for the Regressor who had already seen the end of the world, and the Possessor who knew almost everything about it.
Standing side-by-side, the two fixed their gazes on the night sky, where tens of thousands of stars poured down.
“It seems to be starting.”
It was the moment Aillet spoke, as if exhaling a breath she had held.
[
[
[
The system informed her of the situation.
The final story of the original work had begun. As always, the progression was faster than expected.
Aillet managed to compose the tremor in her voice and spoke.
“To think that Abyssinis, the last Demon King, would appear already.”
“Reed probably dealt with Carpheios.”
Tesillid lowered his eyes.
For him, Carpheios was someone he couldn’t help but hold an old grudge against.
From the start, Carpheios was an entity that he wouldn’t find strange to deal with, no matter when or how.
The same was true for Reed, who shared ninety-nine iterations with him.
Soon after, Aillet and Tesillid’s gods issued a mission befitting the crisis on earth.
[
Stop Har-Magedon.
Success Reward: Tesillid Argent’s Regression Ends
Failure Penalty: World Destruction]
Difficulty, Completion Conditions, Success Reward, Failure Penalty. Nothing about it was light for her.
A deep breath circulated air into her lungs.
“Tesillid.”
A quiet call.
Aillet spoke in a voice only Tesillid could hear.
“You said it. Reed’s goal is to bring down a Demon God and establish a new god in this world.”
“Yes.”
“Then I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Did Reed start Har-Magedon knowing about the existence of the Voice-Spirit?”
“……”
A question that was about him, yet also not about him.
After a rather long deliberation, Tesillid opened his mouth.
“No.”
It was a hopeful answer. Aillet, not hiding the light in her eyes, immediately moved on to her second question.
“Then, can I persuade Reed?”
This answer was given quickly.
“No.”
His voice, crushing hope, was utterly merciless.
However, Aillet, hearing the reason, could not harbor a single shred of resentment towards Tesillid.
He confessed his depths.
“Because you don’t exist in the 100th iteration.”
The Final Mastermind, Reed.
He had no motive to love this world.
✠Immediately after Abyssinis occupied the Pontifical Palace, the Grand Chapel was remodeled to suit her tastes.
The pure white pillars and marble floors were replaced with obsidian that emanated demonic energy, and the sacred artworks painted on the walls and ceiling were covered with extremely blasphemous images.
The Grand Chapel, which had felt like a sacred altar, also transformed into an audience chamber for a reigning ruler.
Currently, Pope Benedict was prostrate beneath a high dais, bowing his head.
And next to him, a middle-aged man was cowering in the same hesitant posture.
He was Count Nauzen, who had assumed the position of Tower Master with Reed’s patronage.
Pope, Benedict Deloard.
Tower Master, Gast Nauzen.
Both of them were individuals serving Reed in the human world.
Thanks to their puppet-like utility, they were able to survive and be in this place.
Thump, thump.
A barefoot beautiful girl passed them and knelt much further ahead.
Despite her posture, lowering herself profoundly like a lowly servant, the oppressive presence that constricted one’s lungs never diminished.
For her true identity was none other than Chaos’s Apocalypse Seer, Abyssinis.
Of course, even the stature of that great Demon King was incomparable to the being seated high up on the distant dais.
A grotesque throne, as if fashioned from clumped pipe organs.
Upon it sat a handsome man exuding an oppressive aura, as if one needed permission for even a single breath or heartbeat.
He looked down from the dais with red eyes that seemed to contain the twilight of the world.
“O Chaos Evil God, whom I unceasingly revere.”
Abyssinis respectfully reported.
“Of the 6,666 demon apostles sent as the vanguard, 6,665 have successfully occupied enemy territory. Using these as bridgeheads, I shall advance an additional 60,000 apostles.”
“Strategy?”
“Your venerable words are engraved upon the ears and minds of our souls, not a single particle omitted. As you have instructed, I shall occupy strategic strongholds and lead this great endeavor to an overwhelming victory.”
“Do not forget. It is 67% of the continent’s area. There is nothing else to worry about besides occupying territory.”
“I shall engrave it upon my heart, again and again.”
“Go.”
“Yes.”
Abyssinis retreated from the Grand Chapel with light steps.
What remained were the two humans serving him.
Reed called out one of their names.
“Pope Benedict.”
The summons also served as permission to straighten his back and raise his head.
As Benedict raised his gaze, Reed’s right hand rummaged through subspace and pulled something out.
A long flagpole with a white flag attached.
It was the Holy Ground Construction artifact.
“Move the humanity that survives after the apocalypse to the final stronghold. The location… Mount Eltio would be good.”
A light of regret briefly flickered in Reed’s eyes.
He had wanted to decide on the final stronghold in consultation with Aillet, but he had failed. It was truly regrettable.
Thanks to that, the location was decided offhandedly, just as it came to mind.
It’s unknown what kind of disaster the Chaos Evil God, elevated to a Demon God, will bring upon the human world once it emerges.
Still, a disaster like a great flood should be easy enough to prevent.
Because the summit of Mount Eltio was the highest point of elevation on the Serentra Continent.
Just then, Count Nauzen, who had been itching to change into a more comfortable posture, saw an opportunity.
He interjected, forehead still pressed to the ground.
“Exile of the Regressing World, do you entrust such a weighty role to the Pope?”
“When the end of the world is nigh, is there anyone better than a religious leader to win the hearts of humans?”
“I apologize, but the Order Religion’s prestige is quite low these days.”
The Tower Master’s meaningful sneer. And the Pope’s flinching shoulders.
Reed’s gaze deepened at the unsettling information that came to him without needing to pay close attention.
Reed withdrew the power that pressed down on Count Nauzen’s body.
With the mercy bestowed, Count Nauzen confessed without Reed even having to ask.
The information Reed, who had just appeared in the human world, was encountering for the first time.
“The Holy Saint has become independent from the Order Religion.”
“……”
“Ah, that is, she has completely started a new religion and left, along with the Holy Sword’s Master.”
“……”
Reed, who had accumulated knowledge and wisdom comparable to the Bible of Truth, could not immediately comprehend Count Nauzen’s words.
Upon this, Benedict explained in terms more familiar to a religious person.
“The Holy Saint and the Holy Sword’s Master are heretics.”
“……”
At that moment, the handsome man seated on the throne seemed to have become a perfect still life.
The surrounding air stopped flowing and stagnated.
The demons in the ceiling paintings, statues, and stained glass, which had been pretending to be sacred artworks, trembled and cowered.
Even the environment keenly held its breath in response to the emotions of the mighty being.
However, the two humans were slow to notice the shift in atmosphere. They even dared to engage in a war of words in front of the Chaos Evil God.
“Excuse me, Your Holiness the Pope. They’re just serving a different god, that’s all. Is there a need to brand them as heretics and ostracize them?”
“The God of this world, ‘Strict Order and Goodness,’ is unique. Worshipping and exalting any other being as a god is clear idolatry and can be called heresy.”
“Oh, come on, they used Divine Descent and even opened the Gate of the Pantheon; if that’s not evidence of divine power, what is?”
“That is not evidence of divine power, but evidence of heresy. The very existence of a Pantheon denies the monotheistic God.”
“No, isn’t a monotheistic God a worldview arbitrarily decided by the religious order? If observed phenomena are wrong, then the theory should be corrected!”
“Tower Master, that is merely a mage’s conviction. What is important to a cleric is faith. And faith, by its very nature, does not permit compromise. Above all, do not forget that even those superficial phenomena you observed were created by the Creator.”
Mages and clerics had bad compatibility.
It was the moment the war of words was about to intensify.
The floor beneath the Tower Master and the Pope shook. The two flinched, but no tremor was felt.
As it turned out, it was Reed’s shadow.
The shadow, which had grown large enough to cover the entire Grand Chapel, represented his emotional state, hidden within an indifferent shell.
Privilege for Possessors