Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 401

401.

“What’s wrong, El?”

“No… it’s just… if you head north from around there, you’ll reach Herica…”

“Herica?”

Trowell, who had repeated the question, soon let out a short exclamation.

“Ah, right. The capital of the Swalt Empire is called Herica now. Hmm, I think I understand the situation. El, isn’t your contractor there right now?”

“I, I’ll go see Esana for a moment!”

It’s impossible to know if the demons are really heading to the capital. They might change course and go to another area midway. But what if they really are going to Herica? Or what if they run into the Emperor’s army along the way? Could such a situation end without any conflict? No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem likely. The thought that Esana might be in danger makes my vision blur. I need to at least warn her to evacuate! But at that moment, I suddenly felt a strange aura.

“The demon’s army?”

I thought it was the wind blowing, but then I heard an unfamiliar voice. I stopped trying to teleport and widened my eyes. A stranger was standing before me. He was a tall, handsome man dressed in what looked like ancient Greek attire.

“…Huh?”

He had a huge bow slung over his shoulder, bigger than he was. His silvery hair shimmered like crushed pearls, and his piercing blue eyes were intense. His long, pointed ears resembled those of an elf, but he didn’t seem like an elf. Rather, the first feeling I got when I saw him was…

“A unicorn?”

Perhaps he heard me mutter to myself, because the man’s eyes widened slightly. His slightly drooping, languid eyes held a hint of amusement.

“You think I look like a unicorn?”

“Yes? Ah, it’s just that your aura feels similar…”

“Well, I suppose it would be similar. Though, to be precise, it’s not me who looks like a unicorn, but the unicorn that looks like me, right?”

I inhaled sharply. That one sentence told me who the man was. Someone can only say that they resemble something when the cause and effect are clear. And to assert that across an entire race, there is only one being who can say that: the creator god who made them.

“The God of Justice, Lusef.”

The answer came not from me, but from Trowell. The silver-haired man—Lusef—smiled deeply at the calm voice from behind. A sudden divine advent is surprising enough, but for it to be the God of Justice, whom I’d only heard about in stories. I looked at him anew with a slightly dazed feeling. Now I understood why I immediately thought of a unicorn when I saw him. Looking at him now, Sibelius’s silver hair and blue eyes were exactly the same as his. It wasn’t just a similar combination; they were the exact same color and texture, as if squeezed from the same tube of paint. So much so that, looking at the colors alone, you couldn’t tell whose was whose. Perhaps that’s why his aura felt similar to Sibelius’s.

“The best searcher in the Heavenly Army has come, which means the whereabouts of the sinner are still unknown even in the Divine Realm?”

This time, it was Ellyuen who asked the question. At his words, Lusef, who had been smiling, widened his eyes.

“A god I’ve never seen before. There aren’t any high-ranking gods I don’t know, are there? Ah, are you perhaps Ellyuen?”

“So?”

“…Heh, you’re incredibly handsome. Who spread the rumor that the God of Punishment looks like a monster? Well, it was a ridiculous rumor to begin with. I figured that since Elquines are generally good-looking, that couldn’t be true. But this is almost too much.”

“Do I have to listen to your nonsense?”

“Hmm, the rumor that you have a terrible personality is true. Well, I thought so too. It seems like Elquines always trade their personality for beauty.”

Lusef sighed and shook his head, then suddenly looked at me. A clear wariness could be read in his slightly narrowed eyes.

“Your personality must be awful too.”

Well, if you interpret it, does that mean I’m handsome too? He’s quite rude for someone I just met, but I don’t sense any malice, so I’m not too offended. I scratched the back of my head, feeling awkward, and asked.

“Um, you came to find the evil god, right?”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

“I’m in a bit of a hurry right now, so I don’t have time to dawdle. The demons are heading towards the capital of the Swalt Empire. Do you know anything about that?”

“Uuuuum, no matter how I look at it, you’re definitely an Elquines, aren’t you?”

“Yes?”

“Ah, sorry. I’m a little flustered because Elquines is speaking politely.”

“…Yes?”

“I’m really sorry. I tend to lean too much to one side when I have a prejudice. It’s not right, but that’s why I’m a little weak in these sudden situations. I understand now, so I’ll do it properly.”

Lusef, who had been answering with a slightly troubled expression, immediately turned serious. The amusement vanished from his face, a sharp light settled in his eyes, and the relaxed atmosphere instantly became tense. He asked me, surprising me inwardly with the sudden change in atmosphere.

“I was going to ask you that anyway. Why is there a demon army in Arkadon?”

“Ah, Karyuan created a rift in the dimensional wall. As says he deliberately let the demons cross over…”

“Ah, I see. I know what’s going on. He summoned Mors. Right, the Demon King could use that. I didn’t think of that. But who is As?”

“Asmodel, a demon who is likely to be the next Demon King.”

“…Asmodel?”

At that moment, Lusef’s voice lowered. A tremor could be felt in his eyes as he turned around in surprise. He looked like he had been greatly shocked by something.

“Who named him that? It wasn’t Kanos, was it?”

“No? No, it wasn’t. I heard the dead Duke of the North named him.”

“Hoo, okay. …But he’s the next Demon King?”

“Yes, I heard he has all the qualifications, so probably?”

“Does Kanos know that too? Does he know his name?”

“Kanos told me that first. I don’t know if he knows As’s name, but wouldn’t he?”

At my words, he made a complicated expression for a moment, then sighed.

“What a mess… Ah, damn it, I don’t even know anymore. First, I have to do something about Mors. You said they’re going to the capital of some empire called Swalt?”

“Yes, I don’t know the exact destination, but they are heading in that direction.”

“Hmm, it’s been a while since I’ve been involved in this, so I don’t know the recent situation in Arkadon very well. By any chance, Swalt isn’t a theocracy that worships Kanos, is it?”

“That’s right though…?”

“It is? Aaaah— oh my god. I knew it. I never get these premonitions wrong.”

Lusef, who had been holding his head in his hands for a moment, readjusted the bow slung over his shoulder. He seemed to have come to some conclusion on his own, but I, who didn’t know the full story, could only be bewildered.

“Does it mean anything?”

“Huh? Ah, it has a very bad meaning in this situation.”

Lusef’s expression looked bitter as he answered. What followed was an unexpected remark.

“Do you know the black magic called Tears of a Fallen Angel?”

“…!”

“It’s the black magic I hate the most. It corrupts priests and exploits the resulting curse, a terribly ugly magic.”

Of course, I know about it. How could I forget? I watched as the head of a family revealed his ugly side because of it. It’s probably one of the memories I’ll never forget.

“Demons have a similar aura to demon priests.”

So when I heard this, I could only be stunned. Until a moment ago, I was just confused without knowing anything, but now I felt like I knew what he was going to say without even hearing it.

“In a place blessed by the demon god, that aura becomes even more special. The Holy Empire, especially the headquarters of the Order, is where the blessing of God is strongest. In other words, if that spell is cast there, it’s not much different from casting it on a real priest.”

“That means…”

“You can extract and amplify divine power. And it’s not just one or two, it’s an army. I swear on my name, with that much power, you can easily break Kanos’s seal.”

Ah, so that’s the goal.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips. I thought that bringing the demons to this land was just a delaying tactic. That they were trying to cause a commotion and blind us by using them. But in fact, it seems that it was a means prepared for this purpose.

“If there was such a method, why didn’t they commit it sooner? They could have tried it as soon as the seal was placed…”

“It’s not that they didn’t, but that they couldn’t.”

Ellyuen said indifferently at that time. Even though shocking content was being delivered one after another, his expression seemed calm. No, not only him, but Trowell and Lapis didn’t look very surprised either. It seemed that everyone had already guessed the situation to some extent.

“Couldn’t?”

“If such a large-scale spell occurred, Kanos would have found out for sure, and they would have been caught.”

“Ah.”

In other words, it means that it doesn’t matter if they get caught now. I don’t know if it means they are confident that they won’t be caught anymore, or if it means they can beat Kanos. Either way, it wasn’t interpreted in a good way.

“I’m going first!”

While I was organizing my thoughts, Lusef shouted urgently and disappeared. I was staring blankly at the figure scattering like the wind when Trowell lightly touched my shoulder.

“El, let’s go too.”

I nodded at the words, then paused at the thought that flashed through my mind. I don’t know why Kanos’s message to Ellyuen comes to mind at times like this. He told him to stay put, that’s what he wrote.

“…”

In a short moment, I felt like I had tasted all the bad emotions I could imagine. Come to think of it, I should have asked about the annihilation formation too. I regretted sending Lusef like that. There were so many things to find out. If a high-ranking god has to sacrifice himself, is that an absolute prerequisite, and if so, under what conditions are they selected, or has someone already been selected, and is Ellyuen coming down to earth in advance related to that? The content I wanted to confirm was spinning around in my head. But there was only one thing I could say.

“Ellyuen.”

“Speak.”

“You’re not going to die, are you?”

Then Ellyuen widened his eyes slightly as if he had heard an unexpected sound. He stared at me quietly with a strange expression for a moment, then soon smiled.

“If my son wants it.”

* * *

When a pope appears in an order, its headquarters is recognized as an independent holy kingdom. At this time, the existing country where the headquarters is located faces two paths. Either the entire country is absorbed into the Holy Kingdom, or only that area is recognized as an independent country and only light exchanges are made. In most cases, the latter was overwhelming, and in the former, coercion was often involved. Among them, Swalt, which voluntarily chose the former method and became a Holy Empire, could be said to be a rather special case.

Swalt, now a vast empire ruling a continent, was once a small kingdom called Soltrete. A kingdom that was always helplessly invaded by neighboring countries, with no special talents or usable resources. When the temple of the demon god suddenly appeared in the capital of this small country on the verge of collapse, it was natural that no one paid attention.

In this world, temples are entities that suddenly appear. Since human will was not reflected in the slightest, no one paid special attention to it. Rather, there was an atmosphere of pity for the poor king who had some of the capital’s expensive land taken away by God. However, the king of Soltrete at the time recognized at a glance that it would become the butterfly’s wings that would bring a typhoon in the future. He actively interacted with the demon god’s order and began to build a strong military force based on that power.

The time was when the demon god’s authority was at its strongest. A time of absolute power when even a low-ranking priest could render hundreds of soldiers helpless with a single finger. The kingdom, backed by that power, had nothing to fear in the world. It didn’t take long for the powerless and unimpressive kingdom to grow to the point where it threatened neighboring kingdoms. Thus, the Soltrete kingdom finally reached the historic moment of rising to become an empire.

But the real historical part happened the day after the emperor held his coronation. The mark of God appeared on the cheek of the young demon priest, who was not long after birth. It was the first pope established in the demon god’s order. The first emperor of the empire, moved by this, built a new palace in a place that harmonized with the headquarters of the Order and formally dedicated the country to the demon god Kanos. This is the background to the birth of the Holy Empire of Swalt.

…The point of this long story is summarized in one sentence. In other words, the demon god’s order headquarters is in the capital. It is also right next to the imperial palace. They are so closely attached to each other that it can be regarded as one place. Right now, demons are flocking there in droves, and a god also headed there a little while ago to stop them. An evil god may appear soon. Of course, the gods’ response to annihilate him will proceed at the same time.

The problem is that Esana is in the imperial palace right now. I just heard the news that the imperial army had finally won the civil war and was reinstated. It would have been precarious even if it was just the capital, but now it was completely within range. Even the very center!

The figure of Karyuan, who was crawling like a ghost, that I saw in the Carters Imperial Palace came to mind again. The sight of the corpse of the dead royal family hanging in his hands. I forcibly suppressed the sight of that tragic corpse with a hole in its chest trying to turn into Esana’s appearance. When I checked with the eyes of the spirits from time to time, Esana seemed to be doing well. She was fine until just a little while ago. There wouldn’t have been a problem in that short time. But humans die in an instant.

“Esana!”

I don’t even remember how I got to the imperial palace, or the process. The only thing that is certain is that I told the group that I was going first. When I came to my senses, I was almost throwing myself onto the desk. I could see Esana’s face right in front of me, her eyes wide open. The paper she had been holding in her hand a moment ago was falling with a thud.