Chapter 149: Taking a Step (2)

God opened the Heaven.

However, it was strangely red.

It was as if the Heaven had become bloodstained.

When the land was spread beneath it, it was filled only with a blackened, dead wasteland.

God was doubtful.

Surely it had been fashioned with Light, so why did such a world come into being?

Though there were questions and an uneasy feeling, it was the first world God had ever created.

God did not want to give up on it just because it was red and dark.

And so, life was created.

Woo…

The first living being of that black and red world was ‘it’.

‘It’ was twisted.

It was blackened and dead, bloated to a massive size.

The sight of ‘it’ stretching its two arms toward the Heaven was utterly gruesome.

It was by no means the living being God had desired.

The second and third creations were the same.

In the end, God gave up on this impure world after the fifth creation.

The reason God did not bother to annihilate ‘it’ and the other creations was that a shred of affection still remained.

But eventually, that place was abandoned.

It was discarded and neglected.

Woo…?

The Heaven, where God had vanished, was now truly nothing but red.

‘It’ sat down and blankly looked up at the Heaven.

It waited in that spot for a long time.

The Heaven and Earth were so vast, yet there were still only five brothers.

They desperately needed God’s care and attention.

『 We have been abandoned. 』

The third, who was exceptionally large, spoke.

Blood-colored tears flowed incessantly over its red skin.

Rumble—!!

The second spent nearly 100 years screaming in agony.

The second, whose vocal cords were torn to shreds, eventually became unable to speak forever.

『 Aaaaagh—!! 』

『 Why, why—! 』

The fourth and fifth spat out resentment toward the Heaven.

‘It’ could not understand.

Why was everyone so sad?

Father would surely return soon.

Even if we have twisted bodies and souls, we are His creations.

『 Please lead us. 』

Five hundred years passed since they were abandoned.

The third knelt before ‘it’.

The thick, splashing red sea was the blood-tears shed by the third.

Woo…

It refused.

Even as ‘it’ refused again and again, the brothers bowed their heads to ‘it’.

It was a ridiculous thing.

They were all creations of the same Father, so how could ‘it’ lead its own brothers?

‘It’ looked up at the Heaven.

From the spot it had never left since the moment it was born.

Even until the hearts of its brothers were stained with rage.

‘It’ alone waited for God, just as it had in the beginning.

『 Father has created another world. 』

『 No matter how long we wait, He does not return. 』

『 Do you still not realize that we have been abandoned! 』

Whenever the third cried, the red sea overflowed.

Waves with gapping mouths crashed over ‘it’.

As the sticky blood-tears flowed down its body, ‘it’ was weeping silently.

‘Father…’

It stood up from its spot.

It looked back at its brothers.

The poor things.

Our pitiful selves.

‘Father… I miss you…’

It felt resentment toward the Father who was said to have created a new world.

They were simply discarded, yet it felt as if that other world had stolen Father away.

So, ‘it’ became the King.

To find Father. For the sake of its brothers.

When another 500 years had passed since then, the first Grand War of Saints and Demons occurred.

***

I had an unpleasant dream.

My chest felt tight, as if something were stuck in it.

I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at ‘Bad Bond’.

‘Should I touch it, or not?’ My trembling fingertips merely wandered in the air.

Dammit.

I muttered a curse under my breath.

Once was not enough, so I repeated it ten more times.

After sitting like that for a while, I finished a shower as if washing away filth and headed to the Council Chamber.

The atmosphere in the Council Chamber was exceptionally stiff today.

The Markus attack had begun last night.

The battle upon which the fate of the Continents rested instantly swept away the lingering discomfort of the dream.

“Requests for an Original Army are flooding in from Chumer Castle!”

A Wizard shouted with a grim face toward a crystal ball.

Homer Castle was located in the southern part of the Laplace Kingdom.

That was the castle that had been hit by the Markus surprise attack.

“What is the enemy’s situation?”

“The direct lineage of Markus is not visible, but 5,000 Wizards and 10,000 Magic Armor Soldiers have been mobilized.”

Alisa Marx’s brow furrowed.

I leaned back against the seat and quietly observed the course of the meeting.

“They are merely the Vanguard. The forces of Homer Castle shouldn’t be pushed back so easily?”

“Homer Castle was considered highly likely to be attacked in the first place. Did they not make full preparations? How are they already in such a crisis…?”

The enemy was not even a Spirit army led by the direct lineage of Markus.

It was certainly not normal for Homer Castle, which had completed its fortification long ago, to be pushed back helplessly.

As Alisa Marx and several Wizards pointed that out, the Wizard holding the crystal ball spoke in a grief-stricken tone.

“It is said that… a giant red eye has risen in the Heaven.”

“What on earth is that? Is it some kind of Markus trump card?”

“No. There was no mention of it launching an attack. It’s just that the Wizards of Homer Castle who saw it couldn’t use their strength at all…”

The Council Chamber fell into chaos.

Arguments broke out regarding the identity of the giant red eye.

At that moment, Alisa Marx looked at me.

Neither she nor I could possibly be ignorant of what that eye was.

‘It’s dangerous.’

Few humans could remain unfazed after seeing the Eye of the Demon King.

It was already a great feat that Homer Castle had not been completely annihilated during the night.

“I will go.”

Alisa Marx cut off the arguing Wizards.

“Y-Your Highness! The battle has only just begun. How can the King say she is joining the fray?”

“That’s right. It is a hundred times better choice to send forces from another fortress instead.”

Alisa Marx dismissed the Wizards’ protests with a shake of her head.

“The battle has just begun, as you said.”

For some reason, her expression was colder than ever.

“Even if we overcome the crisis by sending forces from other castles, the experience of being helplessly pushed back will eat away at the national Will. Our Laplace Kingdom needs a victory report. An overwhelming victory report, that is.”

“Then, our Blue Hawk Mage Order will go with you!”

“No. You all remain here and closely monitor the nation’s situation. I alone am enough to protect Homer Castle.”

The dignified Voice of the King rang out.

I had to work hard to suppress the satisfied smile that threatened to emerge.

It seemed she had perfectly granted my request to return to her former self once the battle broke out.

“Your Highness…”

The Wizards looked at her with burning eyes.

It was not the look one gave a predecessor King who loved peace.

The Witch of Victory.

The atmosphere surrounding Alisa Marx was the same as when she was revered as the next Lord of Markus.

“I will go as well, Master.”

I spoke up.

After having such a disturbing dream, I couldn’t just sit by and watch a battlefield where the Eye of the Demon King had appeared.

The eyes in the room turned toward me.

“Good. I was just about to show you this Master’s true power. Prepare yourself quickly.”

***

Boom—!

Hot flames scorched one side of the castle wall.

The Barrier surrounding the castle had long since been shattered.

“Aaargh!”

Low-ranking Wizards screamed in the flames.

Black ashes fluttered in the wind.

“Dammit…”

The Holy Grail of Homer Castle, Count Aban, frowned.

Homer Castle had been fully prepared for the battle.

However, despite their preparations, they were struggling repeatedly.

The ferocity of the Wizards who had become Demons.

The things he had only heard about were certainly enough to be an object of fear.

“If this wall is completely breached, everyone dies.”

Count Aban, in his aged body, scattered magic and encouraged the Wizards.

But morale was already at rock bottom.

The Count was also merely forcing himself to be brave, and such hollow courage could not boost the morale of the troops.

“…Is this the end?”

Enemy magic rained down.

However, what was even more terrifying was in the Heaven.

Woo…

A giant red eye hovered over the Heaven and Earth.

The eye, moving without a moment’s rest, looked as if it were peering into the Abyss.

While looking at it, the Count suddenly turned back toward the fortress.

An unfamiliar Holy Banner was still planted at the top of the fortress.

It was the Sacred Emblem of Hor.

Boom—!

In the meantime, a hole was punched through the wall.

About fifteen Wizards met a sudden death under the debris of the collapsed wall.

Blood leaked from between the Count’s teeth.

In truth, he had not been able to offer a Ritual of Prayer to Hor until now.

Should it be called an Elder’s prejudice?

The traces of his stubborn footsteps had hardened into self-righteousness.

A sincere Ritual of Prayer was not as easy as it sounded.

“Dammit! Hey, if you’re watching, help us out a bit. Then I’ll try praying.”

In fact, he had already received more than enough help.

The Spirit Staff the Count held.

The collapsed castle walls.

The clothes of the dead Wizards.

Light was imbued in all of them.

The Holy Banner planted at the top of the fortress shone as brightly as the Sun.

But the Count blamed the Aegot God.

That was how much he feared the eye in the sky.

‘Hor…!’

The eye occasionally let out a scream.

Whenever it did, the enemy’s morale soared, while the allies failed to complete the magic they were weaving and suffered Mana Backflow.

“Even if this body dies, I shall take down the enemy commander before I fall.”

The Count mustered his final courage.

He climbed the wall with a body that was half-exhausted.

Magic landing right in front of him burst his eardrums.

It didn’t matter, though.

He didn’t need ears to weave magic.

“Graaaah—!”

The enemies came into view.

He wondered if they were even human anymore; their blackened bodies emitted a foul energy.

And at the very Vanguard, the Count’s target was visible.

He wore more luxurious clothes than the other enemies.

His appearance was even more hideous than the others, with horns sprouting from his head.

“Die.”

A Magic Array was drawn before the Count’s Spirit Staff.

Complex formulas were arranged upon it.

He was just about to pour out a high-level magic of the 7th Circle.

“Kk-heu…”

The giant eye and the Elder’s eyes met.

“Blast it…”

The Count muttered hollowly. Blood poured from his mouth.

Mana Backflow.

The courage he had painfully squeezed out had instead eaten away at his body.

In his fading vision, the giant and ominous eye seemed to be mocking the Count.

But why was it?

That eye, which had been narrowed like a half-moon, slowly widened.

Count Aban realized belatedly that someone was standing beside him.

The backflowing mana began to calm down.

“Master, do you need an escort?”

“It’s fine.”

“Then I’ll go wild for a bit.”

Only two reinforcements had arrived at Homer Castle.

One of them, a man dressed in Magic Armor, ran forward.