When a member of the Union was reduced to a handful of ash by a sudden flame, they did not understand.
They could not comprehend why those people had to die.
What had they done wrong?
What kind of sin had they committed to deserve such an immediate execution?
At that time, they did not understand. They had simply stood by, unable to stop the Young Master they served, Alan.
But now, they knew.
Ah.
They were being consumed.
By this darkness.
Krrrgh—
The darkness rapidly gnawed at the wizards’ bodies.
‘Let us not change.’
‘Let us be the ones who do not go mad.’
Even as they surrounded their hearts with thick walls of resolve, the darkness only became more persistent in its craving for their flesh.
And so, with such broken bodies, they arrived at this place.
They had left the Marx family to live as themselves, but on the short path leading here, they had gathered only resignation.
The space before the Royal Castle had, at some point, transformed into a place of self-sacrifice.
“Please kill us, Young Master.”
Roan and the wizards bowed their heads toward Alan.
Embedded in their minds was the image of the Young Master burning away the heretics.
“Please kill us. We do not want to go mad.”
“We want to remain human until the very end. Please, before it is too late.”
Now that half of their bodies were shrouded in darkness, there was no way back.
There were only two paths left.
They could become madmen and join the insanity of the Marx family, or they could close their eyes while they were still sane.
The wizards chose the latter.
Fwoosh—!
Flames erupted.
Alan’s blue hair danced within the white fire.
“Is it death that you truly desire?”
He took a step forward.
“Is that enough for you?”
Enveloped in the Light of Purification, Alan looked like someone devoid of emotion. He merely asked the question in a monotone voice.
The wizards who had fled to him pressed their foreheads against the ground. Their entire bodies were trembling slightly.
“We want to live. We do not want to die.”
“Then why do you ask me to kill you?”
“More than that, we did not want to go mad. We already know what the true Light is.”
Roan lifted his head. His eyes, which held both Alan and Richard, were desperate.
“I would rather die within the Light than crave that horrific darkness!”
The Red Plague Giant, Kalgos.
His Demonic Energy was loathsome. To the wizards who had fought a fierce battle against such a being, Demonic Energy was something they could never truly accept.
Rather, as they faded into the dark, the Light came to mind.
Just as brilliance stands out most when it is dark.
“Splendid, Roan. Wizards of the House.”
Alan smiled. Even to Roan, who had served him for a long time, it was a look of satisfaction he had rarely seen.
Fwoosh—!
The flames surged like a wave.
The fierce fire opened its mouth.
The wizards, standing on the boundary between human and Demon, humbly closed their eyes.
‘Eh…?’
However, it was not hot.
Their bodies, burning in white, felt nothing.
They only heard the sound of something sizzling and boiling from somewhere.
It was the power of the Light of Purification burning away the darkness.
No one could see the expressions of those surrounded by the white fire.
“Though your bodies may be consumed by Demonic Energy, you have protected your hearts. You are fully qualified to shed the darkness and live on. Live and judge those who have been consumed by the darkness. Judge them and bring an end to the dark.”
The Young Master’s voice reached them from beyond the wall of fire.
“Ah, ahhh…”
The heat of the Light of Purification was warm.
Roan and the wizards trembled within the flames.
They had not realized just how cold they had been until now. They only understood how freezing the darkness eating their flesh was after touching the fire.
“Thank you, Resisters.”
At that moment, a sacred voice rang out.
Richard was approaching, wading through the flames.
“Thank you for coming all this way with such bodies, and for holding on.”
As the Light of Purification surged, his footsteps came to a halt.
The flames flickered violently.
They twisted and writhed before suddenly soaring upward.
The Light of Purification was welcoming Richard’s Divine Power.
“Those who seek to see the Light as the Light, you have come to the right place. Shed your wicked clothes and don the Light.”
The fire soared high enough to touch the barrier in the sky.
Within it, not a single speck of darkness remained.
How much time had passed?
The whitest flame in the world eventually subsided.
In its place, the wizards lay unconscious, having regained their natural skin color.
Looking as if they were in a deep sleep, their appearance was entirely peaceful, without a single soot mark on them.
The members of the Royal Palace, who had been on high alert, were speechless.
Faith.
Only now did they witness a glimpse of the power that Richard and Alan had been asserting.
And they had directly witnessed the wretchedness of those who were turning.
A strange look they could not hide flickered across their faces.
***
It was the evening of the next day when the wizards of the Marx family regained consciousness.
The Royal Palace convened a meeting once again.
“The Marx family is preparing to thoroughly crush Laplace. They have sent messengers to every nation, urging them to cease all exchange with this country.”
Roan, who had been brought in as soon as he opened his eyes, reported everything he had seen in detail.
Even though his mind was in a whirl after experiencing a miracle, he was more than capable of reporting the situation of the Marx family.
“The Lord of the Marx family is pushing to declare war on the Northern Continent at the same time as the fall of Laplace. Furthermore, he has incited the retainers of the house to worship the darkness. He praised the darkness as the Light, calling it a god.”
Roan’s face turned pale.
The shout of Bafel that had echoed in the center of the blackened Marx family was still vivid.
If the Marx family were to be completely eclipsed by the darkness…
Next would be the surrounding nations.
And then, eventually…
“We must stop them! The current Marx family has become corrupted!”
The family that once held the conviction to stand at the pinnacle of Magic was gone.
They followed darkness rather than Magic, and madness rather than conviction.
“They are no different from the Undead, viewing the dead as living and the living as corpses. If their madness spreads across the entire continent… it will become a world of madmen!”
At his sorrowful voice, the members in the hall let out low groans.
He was a living witness.
Roan, who now wore a desperate expression, was that very witness.
The Royal Wizards exchanged glances.
From left to right, from right to the front.
Then from the front back to the left.
The glances being busily exchanged eventually converged on one spot.
Toward the woman sitting on the King’s Throne.
The meaning of those looks all culminated in a single conclusion.
“Richard.”
The Queen spoke.
“I will accept your proposal. The Laplace Kingdom will accept everything regarding the Church of Hor and will investigate it. Please, share the Divine Grace of the being the Church of Hor serves.”
The Queen represented the will of her subjects.
The subjects made their intentions clear through the Queen’s mouth.
Naturally, it was by no means an easy task.
Belief, trust, and Faith were things that fundamentally changed many things.
The kingdom the Queen had nurtured, even at the cost of her eyes, would change significantly starting today.
But Laplace, and the continent, had to change.
The Queen and wizards of Laplace were willing to take the lead in that wave of change.
“That is a wise decision.”
Grin.
Richard smiled.
It was a smile dripping with genuine pleasure.
That day, another flagpole was planted in the Royal Castle of Laplace.
***
The atmosphere of the kingdom could not be described as good, even to be polite.
The citizens of the capital had seen it.
The Queen who had returned covered in blood.
All sorts of ominous rumors leaked into their ears.
And so, the citizens ended up spitting out what they had seen and heard through their mouths.
[The Marx family is hostile toward Laplace.]
[I heard their army has already arrived at our doorstep.]
[The Southern Continent has abandoned Laplace.]
Even the barrier that blocked the Demonic Energy beneath the sky could not block the foul rumors.
All the more so since it did not stop at mere rumors.
Clang. Thud.
Hundreds of Magic Armor Soldiers, engraved with the symbol of the Royal Palace, lined up beneath the outer walls.
The prestigious wizards ran about busily several times a day.
The nobles who ruled each domain frequently visited the capital.
However, none among them left the capital again.
War preparations.
War with the Marx family.
Perhaps even war with the Southern Continent.
With only foul rumors abounding, the citizens trembled in anxiety.
Then one day, the Queen’s voice echoed through the capital.
[We, Laplace, are preparing for war.]
She was looking down at the citizens from the Royal Castle.
the sound amplification Artifact vibrated with a low hum.
[Our enemy is the useless heretics.]
[They have no right to rule the Southern Continent as they have lost their justification, and a dark curtain has fallen over their eyes.]
[Now, this world will be divided into Light and darkness.]
The Artifact conveyed the Queen’s proclamation not only to the capital but to all of Laplace.
[Citizens of Laplace.]
[Do not fear the heretics and cast a veil over your own eyes.]
[To oppose the heretics, Laplace will gladly serve the Light.]
Flutter.
Numerous flagpoles rose from the walls of the Royal Castle.
Every one of them was the Banner of the House belonging to the Laplace Kingdom.
And between them, the Sacred Emblem of Hor fluttered.
The citizens’ eyes widened.
An unfamiliar banner.
An unfamiliar light.
The unfamiliar word, heresy.
It was too much to accept any of it suddenly.
[The Queen of Laplace, Alisa Marx, makes a pledge to her people.]
[We will be victorious.]
[So, look clearly.]
A young boy suddenly lifted his head.
The sky, which had been gloomy as usual, was slowly opening.
“Look…”
A single ray of light pierced through the murky clouds.
The young child, who loved the sunshine, smiled brightly.
Then, the ray of light multiplied into dozens of branches.
[Law — Activated]
A propitious light poured down from the opening sky.
That light formed a Stone Tablet.
An even more awe-inspiring light carved intaglio onto the surface of the Stone Tablet.
The capital, the nobles, and the citizens.
Everyone looked up at the sky.
The Stone Tablet descended slowly, very slowly, into the plaza of the capital.
By the time that Divine Artifact finally touched the ground, the light had already covered the kingdom.
[Laplace will become a Church State as of today.]
the Queen, who could see more than others, spoke without taking her eyes off the Stone Tablet.
A sense of ecstasy and longing flickered in her eyes.
It felt as if she had found a clue to the answer of what peace was—the question Alan had asked her over ten years ago.