Chapter 76
Chapter 76: Hero (4)
Flowers of laughter bloomed fully in the Labyrinth Plaza.
Survivors from progressively higher floors were appearing.
A handful of good news blooming amidst the bad news that had swept the continent—the Great Cataclysm Patch.
"Ooh! General! This time a survivor appeared on the 14th floor!"
Good news in the midst of disaster always poured down like rain on everyone's parched hearts.
"……I see."
Yet, the Imperial Capital Army General alone wore a discontented expression even then.
'I must meet His Majesty as soon as possible…….'
The conquest of the highest floor had become certain.
Nevertheless, the General could not bring himself to rejoice wholeheartedly.
'Saint Eric.'
The image of the enormous Paladin who had first escaped from the Labyrinth still lingered in the General's mind like an afterimage.
'Such a force in the heart of the Imperial Capital-.'
The Central Cathedral of the Imperial Capital, operated by the Empire's Saint.
That was Eric's base of operations.
'Come to think of it…….'
A fact he had forgotten while surprised by Jackson's skills and Ruelle's subtlety came to mind.
'Children were playing war games spewing auras and divine power.'
On his previous visit, the General had thoroughly searched even the orphanage next to the church with expanded perception.
'The one supervising that……. Was certainly the Director of the Imperial Daily News.'
At first, he thought it was merely a courtesy visit for sponsorship.
'But why is the Director of the Imperial Daily News-.'
At this point, it seemed to suggest some sort of intention.
The place that carries and conveys the greatness of the Imperial Family is the [Imperial Daily News].
Yet why is its owner at the Saint's orphanage?
This was no ordinary matter.
Perhaps……
'A poison called Divine Power might be permeating the Empire.'
Guarding the Labyrinth entrance, all sorts of thoughts passed through his mind.
It was certainly an urgent matter that needed resolving, but the General could not leave his post.
"General! Survivors from the 16th floor too!"
The highest floor of the Labyrinth had been conquered.
That fact meant the return of the First Prince, who would soon become the Empire's Crown Prince.
'The First Prince His Highness Leonardo will be returning.'
With the Imperial Palace engaged in a national crisis meeting, there would be no Imperial Family to greet the First Prince Leonardo.
In the first place, the Emperor himself had entrusted the survivor matter to the General.
'One to two survivors appearing every hour-.'
The General tried to estimate when the Crown Prince would appear.
Would it take at least a day for the conquest team of the 32nd floor to return?
'In the end, the matter about the Saint will have to wait-.'
At that very moment.
Boom!
A crack appeared in the Grand Protective Magic Circle surrounding the Imperial Capital.
"General-! The, the sky-."
"Me, Meteor is targeting the Imperial Capital-!!!"
Meteor Magic targeting cities is officially banned by the International Magic Society.
"-It, it's approaching steadily!"
The Imperial Capital Army General narrowed his eyes.
While everyone gazed at the golden sphere appearing through the blue sky, the General's eyes were fixed on the enormous Paladin floating beneath it.
'That bastard-.'
The General placed his hand on his sword and spoke one word.
"I'm going."
Boom!
The General's enormous frame vanished in an instant.
***
The General, who had boldly set out, was relegated to a supporting role.
"Aah-! How dare you disobey such an august decree!!!"
Upon arriving on the ramparts of District 4, a red-haired woman blocked his path.
Erica Fernasia.
'Why is the Prime Minister's daughter-?'
The General regained his composure and looked at her.
"All of this is by His Majesty's command!"
She spat out the word of the Emperor toward the General.
'His Majesty-.'
Hearing Erica's explanation, the General wondered if he should believe this.
According to her words, the Emperor had granted Eric the Imperial Capital's land.
And had given permission to destroy it with a meteorite.
'Surely His Majesty did not-.'
The General looked at Eric floating high in the sky.
A faint smile drawn at Eric's mouth, and in his hand gleamed a clearly shining silver stone.
His face seemed somehow detestable.
"……So it's true. His Majesty granted him even that."
The object called the [Fragment of the Moon] was held in Eric's hand.
'How could such an item representing succession be given to that bastard-.'
The General's thoughts became complicated.
He understood everything, but accepting it was nearly impossible.
People still remained on the ground.
'What becomes of those subjects below?'
As such a question occurred to him.
Boom!
A massive golden pillar rose up along the boundary of the western sector of District 5.
After a flash of sacred light, all around fell silent.
What remained there were only empty buildings.
"Uh, uh-."
"Here is……."
The General turned his head at numerous presences.
The residents of the slums had been transferred to the top of the wall and the flat ground of the adjacent sector, hadn't they?
'Such a large-scale teleportation, not by a mage, but by a Paladin…….'
The sight that followed was even more unbelievable.
Crash!
Right after the residents finished transferring.
Enormous meteors fell on the shantytowns of District 5.
With a brief roar and tremendous cutting sound, wind pressure erupted in all directions.
The enormous sphere emanating sacred light, upon reaching the ground, began pushing everything away.
Crash, crash, crash!
Flatland spreading wider from the impact point.
Moldy wooden shacks were obliterated, and the densely packed slums transformed into a plain.
Though the aftermath would be tremendous, the golden pillars rising along the boundary of the sector erased it all.
'If used in war, at minimum it would sweep away an army.'
As the General held such thoughts, a voice came from beside him.
"……What's this person's scale?"
"How could divine will be light?"
The conversation of Kang Seo-hyun and Park Chang-ho, watching all of this from atop the rampart.
They were not surprised even seeing such a sight.
The scene was so unreasonable that they had forgotten to be surprised.
"But wait, can Divine Power originally exercise such physical force?"
"As far as I know……. Force is force. It's only that its application is more diverse."
"Is, is that so?"
"It can make severed arms grow back and flatten vast lands. Therefore, is it not the power of God?"
Kang Seo-hyun narrowed his eyes at the words of Park Chang-ho, who was filled with faith like a local priest.
"Ah-! Just from the aftereffects, this much reassurance! Seo-hyun, you should quickly receive His grace too."
That fanatic gaze was too burdensome.
'He really talks like a religious zealot.'
You'd only know if you'd experienced Divine Power that wasn't painful.
'It's burning to death-.'
Kang Seo-hyun quietly turned away.
However, she could not help but regret that action immediately.
"Divine Power exercising physical force is true, but summons and large-scale transfers are certainly miracles performed by Priests."
'……Crazy. Why is the General-?'
Because the Imperial Capital Army General in massive silver armor stood to her right.
"-Just like Warriors and Mages, they divide into Paladins and Priests, implementing different types of power."
If she had maintained her status as a Countess originally, she might have managed to add a word or two.
'Of all times, to encounter the General right after being exposed as a Possessor.'
There was a possibility he might not know yet since it hadn't been announced-.
"So, Countess Roben. You were a Possessor?"
"……I apologize."
The Empire has no secrets because of the Information Bureau.
Kang Seo-hyun hung her head.
"I will certainly meet His Majesty and make that bastard's truth known to all. Tell him this-."
The General said so and vanished from atop the rampart.
The General, who returned to the Labyrinth Plaza in an instant, was approached by Imperial Capital Army soldiers.
"General! That meteorite-."
"It was done with the Emperor's permission. No need to worry. We just need to focus on the tasks given to us."
Having calmed his subordinates, the General gazed at the western sky filled with gold light.
The Prime Minister's daughter flickered before his eyes.
'For the Duke's daughter to become like that-.'
He thought that perhaps the subject of the 'august decree' she mentioned at first might be a different person.
***
'I've never seen District 5 this clean.'
Eric gazed at the flattened land with a satisfied face.
The sacred sphere, while pushing away buildings, had purified all sorts of filth along with them.
The smooth flatland created thus.
Wasn't this truly land newly shaped by God?
Moreover.
[Faith acquired.]
[Current GP: 97,835]
[Current GP: 147,835]
Because many people had witnessed this miracle, GP had increased significantly.
'It increased greatly twice, and the first one was…….'
When it had jumped from 50,000 to 90,000 in the beginning.
Certainly, Erica had climbed onto the rampart.
'Did she finish her work already?'
Eric had entrusted Erica with the task of transporting 'Black Mage Possessors' and 'traitors of the Almanism Church' in cooperation with the Elf Army.
Her appearance meant these problems had been resolved.
'And that this much increased…….'
As he had felt it instinctively, Erica's affection had certainly evolved into fanaticism.
'Such faith-.'
Someday he would need to repay her, but for now Jackson is the priority.
'I need to increase my believers.'
[Believer slot expansion available]
[100,000 GP]
Since he had exceeded 100,000 GP, he could expand the believer count filled at [3/3].
'To appoint Jackson to the added believer slot…….'
He'd need to receive the money the Emperor would give.
For that, he'd have to visit the Imperial Palace again.
After expanding the believer slot with GP, he'd need to use Gold to make Possessors into Believers.
'I can't even estimate how much Jackson would cost…….'
According to the Emperor, he would give a very large sum of money as a final reward, and the amount was so unusual that he told Eric to come back later.
'No matter how expensive Jackson is-.'
If it was a large sum by the Emperor's standard, it would certainly be possible.
'First, redevelopment for the Imperial Palace visit.'
For Eric, securing Gold and GP is the most important task.
Gold was essentially his driving force.
After organizing this flow, Eric began moving.
"Necromancers, go down below. First, build houses for the original inhabitants to live in!"
The most difficult part of redevelopment is demolition.
Yet this demolition had ended in an instant.
"Just as prepared, gather the construction materials!"
Eric efficiently commanded the Possessors.
Watching such Eric, the Imperial Army also began their work.
"District 5 western sector residents, this way!"
The residents on the rampart received guidance from Imperial soldiers and were assigned temporary residential areas.
Yet that process was excessively quick.
'Telling the homeless to sleep in the adjacent sector is calling it a temporary residential area.'
Work can't help but be fast.
These paupers originally had no homes to speak of.
'The Empire is relatively better, at least.'
Like any slum, their lives were harsh.
Originally, District 5 of the Imperial Capital was nothing but the defensive rampart.
After all, the space between the District 4 and District 5 ramparts was meant for defense, not residence.
However, as the Empire grew, paupers began gathering here.
The majority were street vagrants, the rest lived in small houses with dozens crammed together.
'Environment changes, so does life.'
Eric intended to change the paupers' lives as well while building the city.
He had also lived in a conflict zone barely different from a slum.
"Drive the pillars into that side!"
"Worker group 2, build walls, group 3, just move supplies!"
The citizens standing dumbly on the rampart could only blink, wondering if this was a dream or reality.
"What, what is that?"
"Wow……."
"Are, are we really going to live there?"
"……The Saint……. Aah-."
A proper house for the first time.
The reconstruction that seemed to need years because the population was so large appeared as if it would be finished in mere days.
"The materials stacked over there are all from the Labyrinth……."
"The, the Knights are cutting it with auras?"
"Summons are moving all of it-."
"Can you really construct buildings like assembling them?"
Division of labor.
Automation using summons.
Assembly-type construction methods adapted from Earth's modular architecture.
Construction proceeded at remarkable speed.
***
"So, Gina, how about this?"
"Hehe, your style is really good, sister? I don't think I could pull off a style like that!"
Kang Pung-ho did his best to appeal to his usefulness beside Ruelle.
"Yeah? But Eric said it was outdated-."
"Ah, the divine one doesn't have quite as much vision as a Priest. Before I possessed this body, there was something called retro, and 2000s clothing started trending again. So styles like that became trend again!"
He boasted systematic insight capable of providing advice on style first.
'The Priest is really interested in fashion.'
Kang Pung-ho was sensitive to women's fashion and was a person who understood it well.
And he possessed the skill to implement it in drawings.
"I heard from a Possessor before that on Earth there are clothes that overlap on skin like a membrane! Gina, is that right?"
"That kind would be called stockings……."
Realizing she had made a slip of the tongue while conversing between women for the first time.
Kang Pung-ho belatedly understood.
'I might die.'
One of the things Eric had earnestly warned about was stockings, right?
'Someone who can control the willful Eric-.'
However, Kang Pung-ho had already grasped the power balance of this church.
"Ah! That, actually the divine one said I'd die if I mentioned this……."
So she confessed to Ruelle, and Ruelle laughed as if amused, waving her hand.
"Gina, who am I?"
"The Empire's Saint……. God's woman-."
"Ay, woman? We're family, family."
While Kang Pung-ho subtly liked it, she read Ruelle's expression of discomfort.
'Perhaps the relationship hasn't been established yet……. Brother Eric is also kind of clumsy about those things-.'
If she continued this topic, her image might worsen.
Kang Pung-ho quickly moved her hand and drew several stockings.
Referencing Ruelle's preference for clothing that revealed her figure, she presented somewhat provocative drawings.
"Wow…… this is a bit. Eric would faint."
"Fishnet stockings, they cover the legs like a net! Let me show you others just in case!"
Swish-swish!
Coffee-colored stockings, skin-colored stockings, and white stockings.
And finally, semi-transparent black stockings.
'Not just exposure that's the problem, but style that's refined yet subtly reveals the figure-.'
Utilizing the numerous experiences gained while working as an illustrator, she had grasped Ruelle's preferences.
"Oh-! So they call these black stockings?"
Thus decided was.
Black stockings with lace trim in the shape of a band on the thighs.
"Gina, there's someone here right now who can make this, teaching classes at the orphanage next to here. What do you say? Want to go see them together?"