Chapter 168 : Heavenly Gate (2)
Heavenly Gate (2)
"Altair, what are you talking about?"
Grancesia asked Altair, who had possessed Violette's body, with a fierce look on her face.
In response, Altair looked down at her with a calm expression.
"Exactly as I said. The protagonist of this world, that is."
Altair had clearly said this:
That he had heard that this would be the fate of the man who was supposed to be the protagonist of this world.
There was only one thing this could mean.
'Fabian was alive?'
I was confused by such an unexpected story.
If my father hadn't saved him, there was no way for Fabian to have avoided death.
If by some luck he had survived, he would have already shown himself. Someone with such special talent and strength would surely have become known.
'Jade also said Fabian was dead.'
The winter of the year my father lost consciousness was exceptionally cold.
Many people suffered great damage from the severe cold that struck the Vanhart domain.
Fabian was one of them.
Fabian, who was an orphan, couldn't withstand the cold and passed away.
That was what I had heard from Jade.
But now, Altair was saying that Fabian was alive.
Moreover...
'Wait, does Fabian know the content of the original story?'
What was even more troubling was something else.
To have predicted and spoken about the current situation—it would be impossible without knowing the original story.
In other words, maybe Fabian knew the content of the original story too.
'... For now, let's deal with the immediate problem first.'
At the moment, escaping from the current situation was the priority.
Fortunately, there was very little Altair could do while within Violette's body.
But the fact that he had deliberately seized Violette's body to appear...
"Is he after Violette's ability?"
The Calamity of Obedience, Setram.
Violette, its center, had a power befitting such a title.
The strength that guy possessed as a calamity.
Unlike other calamities, although he didn't change form through calamityfication or transcend his humanity, the range of his power was overwhelmingly vast.
"As expected, the master of the sword is quick-witted."
"... There's no other reason for you to descend into Violette's body."
"That's right."
Altair stroked the beard on his chin leisurely as he continued.
"I originally didn't mean to go this far. All of Setram are my dear children, after all. But after hearing that guy's story, I felt I needed to prepare for something."
There was a strange nuance that felt unsettling.
He clearly foresaw the current situation and took some measures.
But no matter how much I searched through the profile, nothing really stood out.
While I was frowning at this, Altair continued.
"So, I made a deal with the Demon King."
"... The Demon King?"
"Yes. Didn't you already meet him? That guy seems to have his own plans."
Altair spoke with a peculiar nuance as he turned his gaze out the window.
"What a foolish fellow. Trying to stop him with such troublesome means. As one bearing the fate of a calamity, it would have been better to just go along with him..."
Judging from his tone, Altair had joined hands with Fabian, while the Demon King chose to oppose him.
Perhaps the reason the Demon King said he had something to say to me in the demon realm was related to this.
"Swordmaster, whatever it is you're thinking, none of it matters. Now, no matter what he does, or what I do, you can do nothing."
"What do you mean?"
"To be honest, I don't care how many of the Seven Swords Under Heaven you gather or possess."
Altair swept his gaze across the assembly.
After glancing over the many dazed cardinals standing and the angels collapsed on the floor, he spoke.
"But the Sealblade is different. That's why, even though I know his intention, I left it be. His plan is useless anyway, and if he owns the Sealblade, it will help with what I have to do."
Sealblade Sylphin.
One of the two Seven Swords Under Heaven possessed by the Demon King, along with the Time Sword Velus.
"If I hadn't heard of my failure, it would have been different. But I heard of my own failure. If I did nothing after hearing that story, I wouldn't be worthy of being called a god."
Altair slowly raised his hand.
Then, the view of Ilishad outside the window gradually started turning red.
"W-what is this?"
Grancesia looked out the window in alarm.
Throughout Setram's capital, Ilishad, a red pattern began to spread.
It dyed the roads red, enveloping the whole city in a crimson glow.
Watching that sight, I felt a sense of alienation.
'It's quiet.'
With an incident of this magnitude, it wouldn't be strange if the city had erupted in chaos, yet it remained as quiet as ever.
"The Calamity of Obedience, Setram. Calamities are beings that can destroy the world. So then, why is Setram a calamity? Because they wage wars threatening the world? No."
Altair shook his head.
"It's because Setram can summon a being capable of destroying the world."
In the original story, Altair was descended into Grancesia's body.
So then, now...?
"Why the Calamity of Obedience! Obedience to whom!"
Altair spread his arms wide and exclaimed.
Then he grinned broadly, revealing his white teeth.
"To me, of course."
Fwoosh!
The red glow grew even larger.
At this point, even I couldn't help but see it.
'He covered all of Ilishad with a magic array!'
Grancesia's remains were only a first resort.
Knowing the original, Altair had prepared a second plan. He had set up some kind of magic array over the whole of Ilishad.
The question was, what kind of magic array was it?
'Probably...'
Fortunately, considering his intentions, it was easy to figure out what it was.
His objective was to summon himself.
In the end, this magic array must serve that purpose.
'But to descend a god...'
I hoped it wasn't true.
But seeing Altair laughing madly, I was certain my guess was correct.
"Altair, you crazy bastard!"
Grancesia rushed out and grabbed the laughing Altair by the collar, slamming him against the wall.
There was a thud, and the weak bones in Violette's body broke, but Altair didn't care.
"Grancesia, do you see it? The noble sacrifice of our believers."
"You, you...! What do you take humans for...!"
Violette's ability was to make the citizens of Setram obey—a power similar to the divine power Grancesia said Altair possessed.
'A power to control those who received divinity from Altair.'
But since Altair had not descended to the ground, he couldn't exert that power on a wide scale.
Just one or two at most.
That's what Grancesia said.
So, Altair manipulated Violette to cause this kind of disaster with her power.
"God Altair, please accept my life!"
People walking the streets drew knives from their pockets and stabbed their own necks, collapsing.
The crimson blood spilled from the fallen soaked into the ground, enhancing the glow.
"You plan to offer up every human in Ilishad as a sacrifice?!"
"That's right, my daughter. This is the only way left for me to come into this world. From the start, unless it was your body, there's no vessel that could take my full power—so this was my only choice."
Saying this, Altair shed tears that seemed truly sorrowful.
"I too did not want to sacrifice the children. But there was no other way. I couldn't let this opportunity slip by... Still, they will be glad. Their sacrifice will open the gate to heaven."
"God Altair, please accept our lives!"
Soon, even the cardinals standing around Altair started to cut themselves and fell to the floor.
The blood from the cardinals flowed out, staining and spreading over the floor of the Holy Imperial Palace.
Altair whispered quietly to Grancesia, who stared at the scene in blank dismay.
"Grancesia, you shouldn't have lived. If so, none of this sacrifice would have happened. Yes, if only you alone had been sacrificed..."
Slice!
The guy's head rolled across the floor, cutting off his words.
Even as Violette's face rolled across the floor, it was still twisted in an unpleasant smile.
"Clay?!"
Grancesia shouted in alarm at my sudden action.
I felt a bit sorry that Violette's blood had splattered on her, but it couldn't be helped.
"Why were you even listening to that? Should've just smashed him like the other angels."
"Th-that's..."
Grancesia strangely avoided my eyes with an oddly downcast expression.
"It's true that just by the fact my fate changed, so many people died."
"What are you talking about? Did you start this massacre?"
And in the original as well—though it was never mentioned—just how many people must have died when Altair took Grancesia's body?
I guessed it was probably more than just one city.
"What matters now is not Altair's words."
"... Huh?"
"He said this light opens the gate to heaven, right?"
I looked at the crimson light outside the window.
Because the power was so intense, I could clearly see the path it was taking.
Grancesia, whose Eye of Insight let her see far more than me, would know even better.
"Shouldn't we stop that first?"
* * *
The Vanhart domain was oddly bustling.
Rutia, who had a precognitive dream, had been making all sorts of preparations for days, and today she started gathering people.
"Take this, take that as well..."
"Ru—Rutia? Why did you suddenly call us all here?"
Monet carefully called out to Rutia, who was packing a large bag.
Seeing the bulging bag, it didn't seem like she was just packing for a trip.
"Hm? Ah, everyone's here."
Rutia turned her gaze to the three people in front of her.
Monet, Maria, and Riya.
They did not know why Rutia had gathered them here.
"Rutia, what kind of dream did you have? I doubt you called us for nothing."
Riya was curious what kind of dream Rutia had. So far, she had never explained it clearly.
"Princess, you should head to the empire first."
"Huh?"
"By now, the dragons must be on the move."
"That means..."
What Rutia was saying was simple.
It meant that a war would break out soon.
"Does that mean Clay failed to stop Setram, mother?"
"I'm not sure. But it's not failure."
At Rutia's somewhat ambiguous words, Maria frowned, and Rutia quickly continued.
"What's important is that the princess must go to the empire now. The dragons will arrive soon. As for why you have to go... you probably know better than anyone, Princess."
"..."
At those words, Riya's eyes became subdued.
It seemed those words meant something to her.
But Maria now had another question.
If Maria had been called here to speak of war, or even to fight dragons—
"... Then why did you call Monet? Surely you're not asking her to cook in the middle of a war."
"Th-that's right. I don't think I'd be any help in fighting dragons..."
Monet is lucky.
Very lucky—but not at all helpful in fighting dragons.
"Monet..."
Rutia handed over her large packed bag to Monet.
"There's a lot for you to study from now on, so I called you here early."
The 'world of gods' she saw in her dreams.
She needed to teach those things to Monet.