Ch.1157The Time Draws Near

Due to the enraged Invidius self-destructing by smashing his divinity into Heaven’s Wall like a shell, Haschal defeated Invidius but couldn’t steal his divinity.

It wasn’t that he gained nothing at all—he did absorb some divinity that leaked out when destroying the god’s core, but it was insignificant compared to the main body’s divinity.

In reality, despite all that struggle, he hadn’t achieved any meaningful growth, but…

Well, what did it matter?

Haschal’s goal wasn’t to steal the evil god’s divinity but to somehow block him, and he had successfully accomplished that objective, so he should be satisfied with that.

Originally, if he had completely stolen and absorbed Invidius’s divinity, it would have caused serious problems instead.

If he had obtained such power, Haschal too would have been bound by Heaven’s Wall’s restrictions, unable to set foot on earth until the barrier that Invidius had punctured completely collapsed.

And if he had rejected that power instead of absorbing it, Vanirgand, who had been watching her intently, would have eagerly accepted it, saying, “Are you really giving me all this?”

“Vanirgand. Yes, he’s the problem.”

Vanirgand of Wrath and Gluttony.

After the descended Invidius collapsed due to repeated reckless mistakes in his frenzy, this evil god quickly became the main concern for the ascended gods.

“He’s started interfering with the mind in earnest. Now we can’t stop him with our power alone…”

Invidius’s self-destruction didn’t completely destroy Heaven’s Wall, but it did create a massive hole in its center, and Vanirgand began to interfere more actively in the mortal world through that hole.

Of course, still being bound in chains, all he could do was interfere with the minds of those with celestial flesh, but… that interference was the problem.

Previously, Vanirgand’s interference could be suppressed through the Stigmata of Astraea, but from the moment Haschal awakened her divinity, the stigmata lost its effectiveness and became a mere tattoo.

This was only natural.

The stigmata was proof of appointment as an apostle to represent a god’s will—in other words, evidence of being the god’s foremost servant.

Haschal’s status, having awakened the divinity of stars and dawn, was equal to Astraea just before her ascension, so she could no longer remain as her subordinate.

Therefore, after awakening her divinity, she had to resist Vanirgand’s threats with her own divinity and will, not with the help of ascended gods.

…The problem was that this was by no means an easy task.

“I need to be strong enough to defeat Vanirgand in nightmares—or at least be able to fight on equal terms, but that seems difficult right now.”

“From what I can see, you keep dying.”

Recurring nightmares, repeated near-death experiences without respite.

With each time Haschal was killed by Vanirgand in her sleep, her mental strength was gradually eroded, and her mental barrier naturally weakened.

Having experienced something similar when fighting Isabella, she was managing to endure for now, but no one knew how long she could hold out.

The moment that mental barrier reached its limit and collapsed, her soul would be devoured by Vanar and perish, and her body would become a vessel for his manifestation.

There was only one way to avoid that blasphemous future.

As mentioned earlier, Haschal herself needed to become strong enough to fight and defeat Vanirgand in her nightmares.

‘I do expect her to be able to do that… but just in case, I should prepare in advance.’

For that very reason, Elpinel began to seriously reconsider the contingency plan she had put on hold for a while after Haschal had grown significantly stronger.

The cruel option of striking first to secure her power and soul if Haschal ultimately couldn’t endure and was pushed to the brink of her mental barrier breaking.

—-

“—That is your role. To carry on the final hope, even if it means committing injustice. I can’t say it’s the right thing to do… but it’s necessary.”

“……”

Heirek looked down at Demian sprawled beneath his feet and smiled bitterly.

Despite attaching grand justifications, it ultimately meant killing Haschal before she went insane and stealing her power and soul.

Even Heirek, who was earnestly trying to persuade, didn’t think it was the right thing to do. Honestly, from Haschal’s perspective, there could be no greater betrayal.

However, those who bear the heavy responsibility for the fate of the world sometimes have to dirty their hands, even if reluctantly.

That’s why Heirek understood and accepted Elpinel’s will, and as she requested, appeared before Demian to offer him an opportunity to become stronger.

“…Rest time is over. Get up.”

The first emperor of the Empire of Karl Las, who achieved such mighty martial prowess that he could cut through mountain ranges with a single stroke, despite not having obtained even a fragment of divinity.

The endless battle with Carlos the Great, the hero from eight hundred years ago.

Of course, this was merely a thought-form recreated through Heirek’s divinity and holy sword, not Carlos himself, and the battle itself was more like a dream than reality…

“Get up and face me, or die where you lie.”

“Kuk…!”

His martial prowess displayed in the dream was equal to that of Carlos in his lifetime.

Moreover, Heirek deliberately didn’t mention the fact that even if one died in this space, they would immediately be revived.

Demian, suddenly threatened by the continent’s strongest warrior from eight hundred years ago, could only desperately struggle to survive.

======[ Feirus ]======

【 It has drawn near. 】

The old god whispered to his apostle.

The day of descent was approaching, and as the first and only apostle of chaos, it was time to throw himself into the world’s conflict.

“Father of all things. What do you desire of me?”

The saint from three hundred years ago, the apostle of the old god, asked.

Where should he go and what should he do? He would follow any command, so please show him the way.

【 To a place beyond the eye of heaven. Prepare your forces and elevate your status. 】

Alfodhr answered.

Go deep underground where neither the warmth of the sun nor the coolness of the moon reaches, join the war of demigods to build power and accumulate divinity.

【 My spear-sword shall guide you. 】

He would grant him the power for this purpose, so he need only believe and follow, and all would be accomplished rightly.

“I thank you for your grace, Father.”

Feirus believed these words without doubt.

More precisely, he couldn’t doubt them. He wasn’t permitted to harbor suspicion.

—-

Three hundred years ago.

Feirus, a saint of Elpinel, was praying as usual while worrying about the deepening conflicts between the churches when he saw a vision like a prophecy.

A world without gods.

The main deities, believed to be immortal, perishing before death, and the earth, having lost divine protection and care, burning and perishing in war and chaos.

‘What… is this…?!’

A truly shocking vision.

If it had happened just once, he could have dismissed it as a hallucination or nightmare caused by mental stress, but even after that day, Feirus repeatedly witnessed the same vision.

As if whoever showed him that vision was whispering into his mind that they wouldn’t allow him to forget.

Therefore, Feirus couldn’t shake off the anxiety that was gradually eating away at his mind.

If it wasn’t a simple vision, then what was the identity of this vision?

Was it someone’s malicious prank?

Or a prophecy?

Was someone warning him in advance of the worst future that would—or was likely to—eventually come true?

…If so, what should I do?

Feirus prayed almost daily to find an answer, but his god, as always, gave no response.

Amid deepening worry and anxiety, the answer came not from his god but from an entity at the opposite end.

【 Have you seen the fate? 】

A heretical sacred object secured as spoils and evidence from the crusade against cultists.

The moment Feirus picked it up to investigate its power, someone’s voice thundered in his mind like striking lightning.

【 All things cannot escape the constraints of mortality, and even gods are not absolute beings of eternal immortality. Someday this world will lose its gods and meet its inevitable end. 】

The voice of Alfodhr, the god of an old cult designated as heretical for its doctrine of human sacrifice.

“How dare a cursed heretical demon utter such ominous words!”

Of course, Feirus didn’t readily accept that voice. At that time, he had not yet abandoned his faith in Elpinel.

“Your followers have met their rightful judgment, and your sacred grounds have crumbled to ruins. You too shall return to the depths of hell from whence you came!”

Therefore, Feirus vehemently rejected Alfodhr’s voice.

At least, at first.