Chapter 446

The sky was a stark white color. The wind from beyond the wasteland carried no scent. The pale castle, the headquarters of Nebula Clazier, loomed over the barren landscape like the corpse of a long-dead giant.
This was my third time coming, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
“I’ve got a black eye. Why the fuck would you build a castle in this shitty place?”
I was sitting cross-legged in my pew, whimpering.
From the pulpit, I could look out over the courtyard of the pale castle. The courtyard was bustling with thousands of worshippers in white robes. An emergency convocation had been called, and most of the faithful, regardless of status, had gathered.
Abel, standing in front of me, finally spoke up.
“Say.”
“Ma, you’re talking!”
All eyes were on you.
His majestic voice had the power to draw crowds.
Abel paused for a moment, then looked up at the sky, closed his eyes, and spoke.
“Nebula Clasier—— is dissolving as of today.”
His demeanor was uncharacteristic for someone delivering the news.
Maybe it was because his mind was already completely broken, or maybe it was my threat that if he tried to pull any stunts with his men, I’d shove the hilt of my sword up his ass again. Maybe both.
There was a short but heavy silence. I could hear the panic in the air.
“——Dissolved?”
“My, did I hear you wrong, what did you just say?”
“I think I need an explanation, and who is that guy next to him?”
The din grew louder and louder. Of course, everyone was lowering their voices in front of the head priest, but the chatter of thousands of people was already a noise in itself. The higher ranking members of the congregation began to chant in earnest.
“My lord, is it true!”
“Gee, I don’t understand, everything was going so well, why—!”
The sharp-eyed archbishops and some bishops were staring at me like they were going to kill me. Perhaps I need to explain more.
So I judged, and I stabbed Abel in the ass with the scabbard.
“Hey.”
“—OK.”
Abel gritted his teeth. It was pitiful, the way he flinched at the slightest touch. His pants, reddened in the back, were a tombstone to his humiliation. He regenerated his arms, but his pants never returned.
Abel said again after taking two more steps.
“It is true. The Order has lost its purpose. The coming of the stars is not happening.”
“Well, what does that mean, why?!”
‘Literally. The great beings of the heavens–no, there’s no need for formality, for it’s all over anyway, those stupid bald heads have been wiped out, every last one of them. Even the source of their secret power has been destroyed, and we have no more visions.”
“You can’t be serious—!”
The bishop who had asked the question pressed his palm to his forehead.
But Abel’s face was too serious to throw a rotten tomato or a rock at them, telling them to cut the crap. The commotion increased, and this time the voice came from the archbishop’s side.
“My lord, why did that happen?”
The voice was familiar. I looked up and there was Letancier.
She played the flying squirrel better than anyone. Her wrinkle-free face and bewitchingly curved eyes made it easy to forget that she was a witch over a hundred years old.
“Has there been an accident in your world of greatness, a cosmic natural disaster—.”
“No. It’s not like that.”
“What?”
“The world of incompetent bald men was destroyed by one man. The man sitting behind me now. I might add, as you’ll see, that my defeat by this man is part of the reason the Order is being disbanded.”
“——what’s that.”
Letancier’s face hardened. So did the others. The gazes that had been directed at the priest focused on me. Abel looked back at me.
“Why don’t you do it yourself from here, I think it will work better.”
“Hmm, do you think so?”
It was a valid argument. I pushed myself up, hands in my pockets.
As he pushed Abel back, the faces of the congregation contorted.
“How dare you—!”
“Disrespectful man, how dare you touch the body of the Lord!”
There seemed to be some loyalty left. They hadn’t even accepted the news of the Order’s disbandment, which, in retrospect, was understandable. Of course, it was none of my business.
I spit phlegm down the podium.
“Shut up, you piece of shit, the sewer won’t take you.”
“What, what?”
“You assholes who tried to ruin the world, you think you’re so smart, I’m only going to say it once, so listen up. You have two choices.”
I took my hands out of my pockets and made a V-Jazz. Almost the entire congregation was raging like an army of horny monkeys, but I didn’t care.
“The first is to turn yourself in and pay your dues. You’ll be duly tried by the system, and your punishment will depend on how bad you’ve been. If you’ve been good, you’ll end up in jail, if you’ve been bad, you’ll be decapitated, or you’ll have a good time with the inquisitors on Rodolan.”
“Cut the bullshit! Is everyone going to listen to that?!”
“The second one is simple: die here.”
I swung my sword as I finished speaking.
A pea-sized sword qi pierced through the forehead of a believer who had just said something about bullshit. The spinning Ye Qi’s bullet smashed into the back of his head, exploding along with his brain.
“Worry. That’s it.”
The corpse-like body twitched like a centipede touched by fire.
“Huh—!”
“Ma, Marson strikes!”
In a matter of hours, the whole place was silent. The faces of even the most prominent members of the congregation turned pale. They must have realized the disparity in skill. Out of all these people, it shouldn’t be so easy to kill just one with a sword, let alone magic.
He said, twirling the sword once.
“Anyone who wants to take the second choice, do so immediately. Honestly, I’m much more comfortable with this one, because it gives you a chance to plead your case before me, the judge, while your sins have not yet reached their worst.”
A year later, we would have had no choice: we would have had to bring them all together and then indiscriminately slash at them.
I’m being uncharacteristically merciful, partly because of the timing, but also because some of the guys I’ve met in the past parallel worlds have been pretty good.
One of them, Letancier, whispered quietly.
“—You guys, don’t ever step out.”
“Huh?”
“It’s not something we can handle, ever.”
Cold sweat trickled down her temples. Her lips were pressed together in a state of extreme tension. She was a quick-thinking woman, after all, a member of the Church’s staff. The archbishops, while dissembling, seemed to agree with her.
The blue-haired elf nodded.
“Nope. I don’t want to die yet. I’d rather go to Rodolan.”
“If only it weren’t for the baby birds—I’m sorry, where did that come from?”
“If I move, I’ll hurt him, and there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Anarchy, Alicia, and the enhanced human Kylasis. I’d seen them all before. Fantasia, the one I’d been watching most closely, was absent, off on some distant mission.
The archbishops, the top brass, were hesitant, and the lower ranking faithful were not speaking up.
I’m running out of time.
After waiting exactly ten seconds, I nodded.
“Okay. I guess we’ll just have to make sure everyone knows they’re going to be brought to justice, then we’ll go straight to the portal—”
“Nope. I don’t like it.”
“What?”
“You little shit, how dare you say that to anyone?”
A sharp voice interrupted. I arched an eyebrow and turned my head. A woman with striking red hair was glaring at me. Like the other archbishops, she was a face I had seen once before in the last parallel world. Was her name Thierria?
She stepped forward through the crowd and pointed her index finger at the podium.
“We let him have his fun, and he talks on and on and on. You think you’re entitled to talk down to us, when you’re nothing more than a cattle dog with a sword?”
“Thierria, no!”
“Keep your cowardly mouth shut, Letancier. You think you’re an archbishop when you’re so intent on your unworthy gimmick.”
Thieria growled harshly. Letancier bit her lower lip, unable to retort.
Tieria, Tieria. If I remember correctly, she was an ancient vampire or something.
‘I got my hair cut on the lowest floor of Rodolan. I never got to see what kind of technique they used.’
She looked in my direction again.
“But you’re the most pathetic of them all, Master. If I had known you were such a coward, I would never have joined the Order in the first place.”
“Thierry.”
“Don’t you dare call me my name. It’s disgusting. Also, I was wondering earlier, why are you bleeding from your ass? Did that brat rape you or something? Kkhihi—!”
Thieria laughed.
I was the only one laughing besides her.
As expected of a vampire, he was sensitive to the smell of blood. Abel wasn’t angry at the humiliation; in a way, what he’d been through in the past hour had been nothing more than a rape. Both physically and psychologically.
I sighed with laughter.
“Whoa—you’re really bothering me. If you’re gonna come at me, come at me fast, man.”
“You’re an arrogant asshole–I’m going to do it even if you don’t say it.”
Thieria’s face contorted.
Kaaaaaah! Her body erupted in a shower of blood.
The blood, which moved as if it were alive, transformed into a three-meter-tall demonic form. It was the appearance of an ancient vampire from the books. Revealing her true form, Thieria roared in a voice like boiling water.
“I’ll tear both of you assholes apart at the same time!”
The blood demon spread her wings and took flight. A crimson trail etched her path.
It was quite fast. I knew her confidence was no bluff. In fact, only a few people in this crowd would recognize her now.
“Tsk.”
Unfortunately, one of those few was me. I twisted my head, and a bloody fingernail grazed my ear.
“What—!
Thierria’s eyes flashed with embarrassment. She had already fallen behind me and was trying to turn around, but I had no intention of letting her. I tugged on the hilt of my sword and unleashed the blow. Dozens of white lines scrawled dizzily across the demon’s flesh.
“Uh—.”
“I hope you’re the last one. Seriously.”
The blade was drawing blood. He slid the sword into its scabbard. The straight line that had been carved into Thieria’s body exploded in a single gash. A rain of blood poured down, and then there was nothing left. Abel smiled bitterly as he watched.
“Foolishness.”
The look on their faces was a mixture of emotions. The congregants who realized what had happened were in shock. Unable to say anything, I threw the two heads I had packed to them.
“Now, your gift.”
“Gifts—? Heh heh heh!”
The congregant who received the head was stunned. They were all faces he recognized. Maron and Verminion. They were the last of the archbishops who had remained in the Pale Castle, the last of the archbishops who had rushed in before the gathering.
“Ma, Maron!”
“Oh my God. Verminion.”
The panic soon subsided into silence.
No one spoke now. I watched the quieted crowd for a minute, then started walking toward the lake that led to the outside world.
“Let’s go. I don’t have time.”
“——!”
There was no one who didn’t follow.
Except for the pale castle rooted in the ground.
I looked around and muttered to myself.
“This place will bloom someday, too.”
A lonely wind stroked a land that would not be visited for some time. The sky, disconnected from the world of the giants, was slowly turning blue from deep within.