Chapter 51 – To the Divine ㅤㅤㅤGod

To the Divine ㅤㅤㅤGod

Rumors about the Holy Imperial Court headquarters are numerous. They say once you enter, you can never leave, or that they harbor military forces surpassing the Empire itself—baseless gossip filled the air. I couldn’t discern the truth of it either, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious.

The demonic sword stuck in the ground was emitting a strange light, distorting the space around it. Soon after, a black liquid began to flow from the sword, eroding the restraints.

With a cracking sound, as if metal were being crushed, the restraints were released.

My hands and feet were more painful than I had anticipated. They had been pressed so tightly that deep blue marks were left on my skin.

I walked past Cecilia, who was staring vacantly with her head arched down, and headed towards the door. Then, suddenly, I became curious about the whereabouts of the other letters. If she was heavily influenced by memory assimilation, she might answer.

With that thought, I placed my hand on her shoulder.

“Where did you put the letters?”

Her head shook at the sound of my voice.

Her eyes, shimmering blue, turned towards me. Those moist eyes trembled incessantly, as if looking at a dead person.

And I hated that gaze.

“How can you, you should die, death would be better…!”

Are we still on that topic?

Telling someone to commit suicide, is that the way of the Order? My, it seems my memory must be particularly dreadful.
The empathy of a saintess is something I can never quite grasp.

“Didn’t your precious God also say that suicide is a sin? So why are you urging it on me… Has your faith in God disappeared?”

“No, I… I am…”

I had provoked her a bit out of frustration at being tied up here, but the reaction was not good. She gave no answer and buried her head again. Cecilia’s frail body began to tremble violently. As expected, words were of no use.

I am now indifferent to it all.

I no longer have the mental capacity to deal with Cecilia. The Holy Imperial Court headquarters. It’s filled with archbishop-level powerhouses. There’s no time to spare for her, who shows no reaction even to the demonic sword. My priority should be the enemies I have to face.

The headquarters, then, would be the Pope and the Holy Knights Order.
The commander of the knights would certainly be there as well.

Well, it doesn’t matter. If it’s now, I can just barely manage to face them all.

Even in the past, when my physical abilities were not greatly enhanced, I could take on any significant figure with the use of the demonic sword. Even if I couldn’t leap or even properly lift a log, the performance of the demonic sword was exceptional.
The sword, which would blacken and burn anything it merely grazed, was truly the greatest weapon of the Demon King’s army.

With my current body, I’ve become even stronger. And with Aeon, I could even stand against the Pope himself.

Of course, that’s assuming one-on-one confrontations.

I walked past her as she buried her head into the ground and headed towards the main gate. When I reached out to the door that seemed firmly shut, it creaked open. It appeared to be unlocked.

Glancing back stealthily, I saw Cecilia looking at me.

Ignoring her gaze, I left the room.

The corridor was dark.

It was terribly dark, and the faint smell that lingered was similar to that of a factory, creating an unpleasant atmosphere.
Indeed, the feeling was foul.

The path split longways to the left and right.

Under normal circumstances, I would have chosen carefully, but there didn’t seem to be any danger, so I went with my gut… Let’s go right.

The demonic sword in my right hand vibrated slightly. It occurred to me that, like the holy sword, using the demonic sword would also come with a price.
…Well, I’ll think about that later. For now, I just need to figure out how to get out of here.

With that in mind, I walked for a while until I saw a room splattered with blood. Inside, there was a man whose skin was completely peeled off, and his flesh was dripping. The flesh was darkened and the fat had turned an orange hue, indicating he had been dead for quite some time.

It was like, the factory’s….

Ha.

Really.

I am.

Still.

“Sigh…”

All that came out was a sigh.

“…Cough.”

And a bit of blood.

If I’m going to die, I’d rather die in the original world.

As the blood sputtered onto the floor, my vision began to blur. One eye seemed completely destroyed, as if someone had covered half of my face with their palm, making it uncomfortable. And it wasn’t just that I couldn’t see; it felt like my eyeball was about to burst from the pain.
And it’s not like the other eye was fine. With only half my vision, everything I saw overlapped. I hadn’t even used Mind’s Eye with this eye. This is just too much.

The side effects of Mind’s Eye. And on top of that, the side effects of both the holy and demonic swords…

Hmm, when I get back to the original world, I should probably live off disability benefits.
Maybe this will get me out of military service… Hahaha.

Haha.

With such useless thoughts, I continued walking.

What I reached was a massive wall.
I had taken the wrong direction.

The way out was to the left.

I turned back and headed down the left path. Fearing that I would see the corpse again, I walked a bit faster.

After walking briskly enough to catch my breath, stairs came into view.

I thought it would be a bit larger than this, considering it’s the Holy Imperial Court headquarters. Or maybe there’s more than one underground prison.

Climbing the stairs and opening the door, what appeared was a small single-room.

I kept on guard for something to jump out at me, but nothing appeared. Two shelves and six empty bottles. And one door that could lead outside.

I stealthily opened the door that seemed to lead outside. However, there was nothing to be seen. It was too quiet for the headquarters of the Holy Imperial Court. It was unlikely that Cecilia and I would have a private meeting… Could it be that this wasn’t the headquarters after all?

I didn’t have accurate information at the moment. If I were to act rashly and a battle ensued, I would have no choice but to abandon Valkvogel. So for now, reorganizing and securing her was the priority.

After staring outside through the crack for a while, I finally closed the door and headed back underground.

I hadn’t noticed it on the way up, but as I went down, Valkvogel’s room was the first thing I saw. It didn’t look particularly intact, but I found it quickly anyway.
She looked like a lunatic, banging her head against the wall while plucking at her wings, which were riddled with holes, and stuffing them into her mouth. I wanted to go to her immediately and stop her, but… for some reason, I felt that approaching her now would be dangerous. Perhaps Valkvogel was also affected by the memory assimilation.

Anyway, as I headed to the room next to Valkvogel’s, the one I had been trapped in,

“Kuh, kuhh, keh…”

There was Cecilia, struggling with a rope tied around her neck.

“Sa, save, save me.”

Her appearance, trying to find a footing while spraying liquid, was ridiculous. The very woman who always bestowed kindness upon the poor with her noble gaze, now begging for her life in such a ridiculous form.

One hand was clutching the rope, and the other was reaching out to me. Her legs were frantically spreading and closing, trying desperately to breathe.

It would be unusual not to laugh at that sight.

Both Valkvogel and Cecilia… My memories aren’t that sad. Isn’t this an overreaction? I’m really not affected, but their reactions are just too much.

“Kk, ah…………”

The struggling stopped. Her hands went limp as if all strength had left her body.

That’s enough observation.
Now to do what I must.

I could savor her death as it was, but there was still information I needed from her. And if the saintess died, I would truly have nowhere to run.

With a short grunt, I swung the demonic sword horizontally.

Then, with a thud, her body collapsed to the floor. I approached slowly and kicked her shoulder a few times, but there was no response.
She seemed to have fainted.
The impact on the cervical spine, even if momentary, must have been significant. It could have been a fatal injury, but she’s probably alive. After all, she hadn’t been hanging for that long.

Once Valkvogel’s seizures stop, we’ll escape. For now, I need to rest. I have to gather my strength if I’m going to fight the bastards of the Holy Imperial Court.

I sat down on the floor. Avoiding her vomit, I leaned against a convenient wall and caught my breath for a moment. That’s when I noticed a letter that hadn’t been visible before.

There was a letter caught in the pocket of Cecilia’s black clothes.

A stark white sheet of paper.

It was Cecilia’s letter.

With shaky eyes, I immediately reached out for the letter.

* * *

Hello?

Take care.

If it’s you, you would bless my death.

So, goodbye.

To a believer of the Holy God.
From the hero.

-The third letter written.

This is probably the second letter I’ve written while in my right mind.

Cecilia would surely not come down this far. She had a personality that wouldn’t read if the writing was too long. She’ll probably never get to this part.
I’m not even sure if she would bother to read it, she always ignored me.

Haha, was that too unpleasant?

There’s no time. I’ll get to the point.

If you’re reading this letter, it means you’ve kept the promise we made at our first meeting, right? Even though I’m planning to break the promise and leave first… I’m sorry.

To return home,
You’ll surely find it.

P.S.,

In the fifth letter, the hint I couldn’t write is the same as Master’s.
Find it well.

And Lumen’s letter─

The voice echoes in my ears.

This is the end.
Goodbye.

To God’s Sacrifice.

* * *

I crumpled the letter carelessly and tossed it aside.

“…Son of a bitch.”

If you’re going to give a hint, at least give a proper one.

What a shitty way to go.

Moreover, considering he said he was in his right mind, but the most crucial information for returning home is missing… there must have been interference. Then this information can’t be trusted.

Now there are only two letters left. At a point where I should have obtained sufficient information, I haven’t gotten anything substantial yet. Maybe just the fact that the letters might have been tampered with?

Even after clearing my head and thinking, I felt like I was being lured into a trap, but there was nothing I could do about it.

Is there anyone closely associated with the goddess who dislikes her? Someone who could nonchalantly offer me a helping hand. Or even just someone in a position close to the goddess would be enough. Someone with the kind of information that could shake off this ominous feeling.

Ha, as if there would be such a person around me.

In the end, it looks like I’m the one who’s going to have to suffer through this.

I swallowed a sigh and looked over at Cecilia, who had fallen. She seemed to have regained consciousness, her eyes open. But she just lay there, drooling without moving, staring into space.

…Ah, found one.

Such a person.