Chapter 169 : Extreme Land (1)
Extreme Land (1)
"O God Altair, please accept our lives!"
As soon as I rushed out of the Holy Imperial Palace and reached the streets of Ilishad, I witnessed countless people thrusting swords into their own hearts to end their lives.
Blood from the fallen spread across the ground, was absorbed, and transformed into magic power, adding to the scarlet light radiating from the city's center.
"Urgh...!"
Unable to bear watching people kill themselves, Grancesia ran around trying to stop them, but there were far too many.
It seemed clear we had to do something about this scarlet light as soon as possible.
"Clay!"
Just as I was running through the streets of Ilishad, a familiar voice called out and someone rushed towards us.
When I turned my gaze, I saw Kisea, Michelle, Pilla, and Mersaya standing there.
"What on earth is going on here?"
Judging from the grim expression on Kisea's face, she must have seen people committing suicide on her way here too.
Michelle looked even worse—his face had gone beyond pale to a sickly blue.
"That's..."
I briefly explained what had happened in the Holy Imperial Palace.
How Violette, whose body had been taken over by Altair, and Altair himself had caused all of this, and what their true objective was.
"Oh no, it can't be... As expected, Lord Altair is..."
"No need for honorifics for such a being, Michelle."
Pilla shot a sharp retort at Michelle, whose face was clouded with grief.
Perhaps Pilla also recognized Altair's true nature to some extent.
"He considers humans nothing but expendable tools. That's why he can perpetrate something like this."
"You're quite eloquent for a half-angel."
Perhaps surprised by Pilla's attitude, Grancesia questioned him, and Pilla bent his knees in extreme respect toward her.
"I apologize for not giving proper respect earlier. It is truly an honor to meet you, Grancesia."
"Wh-why are you acting so suddenly formal and intimidating?"
Of course, Grancesia seemed uncomfortable and quietly hid behind me.
'... She really is shy around strangers, after all.'
If you saw her appearance or heard how she spoke, you'd never guess, but in truth, she was rather timid.
Always acting confident and enjoying being praised, yet in moments like this, she would suddenly hide—it was amusing.
"Clay, what should we do now?"
Mersaya, almost never showing worry, asked with a rare anxious look. Given the situation, it was only natural to feel uneasy.
"There's probably something at the center, where that scarlet light is pouring out."
Most likely, the Gate of the Heavenly Realm is there.
If we could destroy or seal it...
"Anyway, let's hurry."
With that, I dashed once more towards the red pillar of light.
By then, there were nothing but corpses piled up in the streets, and even the sky had started to turn red.
'It's like a prelude to destruction.'
In retrospect, having a god's calamity descend upon the ground—it wouldn't be wrong to call this apocalyptic.
"Look at that!"
As we ran toward the center of the light, Grancesia pointed to the sky.
Looking up, I saw angels swooping down from the scarlet sky towards the ground.
"Isn't the Gate of the Heavenly Realm not open yet?"
"Angels don't necessarily have to use the Gate. But, of course, there's a limit to how many can come this way."
"A limit?"
"The ground doesn't permit gods or angels in the first place. It's not their world. 'The God'—set it up this way."
'The God,' she said.
She probably wasn't talking about Altair or the other gods in the Heavenly Realm.
The one who brought the Seven Swords Under Heaven to the ground, who wrote all of this history.
Probably referring to my father.
"So if the gate opens, can they all just flood in?"
"Maybe they'll come down hand-in-hand with the other gods, nice and friendly."
Altair may have the most followers and be called the God, but there are still some other gods.
If the Gate of the Heavenly Realm opens and all those gods descend too...
"It's fine. If it comes to that, I'll handle it somehow."
Perhaps having noticed my concern, Grancesia spoke up first.
Her words seemed as if she was reading my mind, so I asked her just in case.
"Wait, can you still read my mind?"
"What are you talking about? With all the time I've spent with you, I can tell that much, of course."
Well, we had spent a lot of time together. It made sense she could notice this much.
"... Oh? I'm curious to know just how much time you two spent together."
The problem was, Grancesia and I weren't the only ones present.
Even as we sprinted, Kisea shot me a curious glance, as if she had just heard some juicy gossip.
"I bet people in the domain would be interested to hear about this. Can we get the details?"
"Wh-what? It was just a slip of the tongue!"
"From Clay's reaction, it doesn't seem like it was just a slip."
"Th-that's..."
Grancesia tried to clumsily protest, but it didn't work on Kisea.
From the very start, in terms of skill with words, Grancesia and Kisea were on completely different levels.
Normally, Kisea was timid and stuttered a lot, but in tense situations, she showed a cold-headed side that Grancesia absolutely couldn't handle.
"......"
In the end, Grancesia just glanced at me helplessly.
"... Now's not the time for that. Let's stay focused."
"You're right. Got it."
Kisea nodded obediently and reached for her waist.
"We should definitely take care of those first."
As we approached the red pillar, the angels drew so close they were right in front of us.
Without anyone saying so, we all gripped our weapons and prepared to clash with the incoming angels.
[I won't let you interfere with the opening of the gate!]
There were about twenty angels.
Honestly, it was quite the challenge for us to face that many at once.
Even if I used the Heaven-Slaying Arms to resist, it would be hard to protect the other three while fighting.
[Impudent Grancesia! I'll flatten your nose while I have the chance!]
"Heh."
But that's only when it's just us.
With Grancesia here, things were actually the other way around.
It wasn't that we had to struggle desperately against the angels, it was that the angels now had to struggle desperately to stop us.
KWAANG!
The first angel to rush at us was punched by Grancesia and slammed into the ground.
So powerful was her blow that the ground cracked for dozens of meters from where the angel hit.
"Wow."
Kisea stared at Grancesia in disbelief.
Well, it really was a ridiculous amount of strength.
'Now that I'm stronger, I can see just how powerful Grancesia really is.'
Now, as I stood on the verge of becoming a Great Swordmaster, I could somewhat gauge Grancesia's strength.
'Could I really become like that?'
Grancesia said if I reached Great Swordmaster, it would be possible.
Even so, hearing it and believing it was possible were two different things.
The divine aura that Grancesia exuded now was indescribable.
[Damn it! What are these humans! Why are we—AAGH!]
Still, that didn't mean I could leave all the work to her.
I cut through the waist of an angel attacking from the front with my sword.
The power housed within the Heaven-Slaying Arms inflicted horrifying pain on the angel with even the smallest wound.
[Stop them!]
[Altair! Protect us!]
I cut down the charging angels.
I dodged the attack of an angel thrusting his spear, slipped past him, and stabbed my sword into his chest.
Slash, slash, and slash again.
There were only about twenty angels at first, but more and more came, at least double that, blocking our way.
By the time we reached the pillar of light, angel corpses lay in a line behind us.
"It's like we're the devils here,"
Michelle muttered quietly, gazing at the scene. For him, a former priest, all this must seem like a nightmare.
Pilla patted Michelle's shoulder and said firmly, "If there's any devil, it's Altair, the one behind all this."
"... You're right."
No more angels appeared.
Probably because, as Grancesia had said, the number of angels that could descend to the ground had reached its limit.
"Clay, with Grancesia here, why would they bother with such a meaningless act?"
Mersaya quietly approached and asked me.
The amusing part was that she had addressed Grancesia as 'Lady' from their very first meeting.
Our Mersaya was indeed endlessly meek before the strong.
"No, it was actually very meaningful—frustratingly so."
"Huh?"
"The angels accomplished exactly what they were supposed to."
Because I could read the profile, I knew.
As I approached the scarlet pillar, several sentences appeared before my eyes.
If the angels hadn't stopped us, or if we had arrived a bit earlier, maybe we could have destroyed this magic array and prevented all of this.
==
〈Gate of the Heavenly Realm〉
A gate created by Altair to override the 'God's' laws and bring down the forces of the Heavenly Realm to the ground.
In the process, countless humans in Ilishad were sacrificed, their blood mixed with that of the angels to create this miracle.
Once the gate opens, the Heavenly Realm and the ground will be connected.
==
A magic array drawn upon a patch of ground heaved up from below.
At its center stood an enormous gate dozens of meters tall, crushing and destroying the surrounding area as it emerged.
"It'll open soon."
I spoke calmly, but my mind was racing. I didn't know how to stop that gate.
'If only I had the Sealing Sword...'
With that, I might have been able to seal the gate before it opened.
But right now, I didn't have the Sealing Sword or any of the other Seven Swords Under Heaven.
KWAANG!
Grancesia struck the gate with all her strength, but it did not break.
She clicked her tongue and frowned.
"There's too much human origin in it. Even the Altair who created it wouldn't be able to destroy this gate."
If Grancesia couldn't break it, then none of us could.
'Think.'
I squeezed my brain for ideas.
What could I do to stop the gate right in front of me?
But no good ideas came to mind.
If we just had a little more time, I could have gone to find the Sealing Sword...
'Did the Demon King foresee this situation?'
He had the ability of foresight.
If he knew the gate would open, he wouldn't have suggested I come to the demon realm.
He wouldn't have proposed a deal in the first place.
That means there must be a way out of this situation.
Or, at least, a way to buy time if not turn things around.
"Clay,"
Grancesia called me quietly just then.
When I turned my head, she gave me a bright smile.
"We just have to buy time, right?"
She really did seem to read my mind.
Or maybe she had reached the same conclusion as me.
"If you can."
I stared at the huge, scarlet gate.
The gate, creaking, now seemed about to open.
"How long will it take?"
"A week should be enough."
"What? That's pretty long."
Grancesia complained and then strode confidently towards the gate alone.
"But it's not impossible, if that's all."
KRIKIIIK!
The huge gate began to move.
As the crack between its massive leaves widened, a white light burst forth.
Waves of power so intense they could barely be faced by mortals spread throughout Ilishad.
And then—
KUGUGUGUNG!
Grancesia placed both hands on the gate and pushed.
The gate, which had been slowly opening, slammed shut with a thunderous clang.
The gate creaked again, trying to open, but with Grancesia holding it shut with both hands, it couldn't move.
"... This can't be happening."
One human had closed the Gate of the Heavenly Realm.
Mersaya, as a dragon, knew just how impossible this was.
I, too, was utterly dumbfounded.
'Is this real?'
Looking at Grancesia's face, she didn't even seem particularly strained.
"Breaking it would be hard, but this much is doable. ... It's a relief it doesn't open inward. Pulling would be harder than pushing."
"I-is that so?"
Was it really something to be relieved about?
For once, I found it impossible to answer.