Ch.119Final Battle (2)

Admiral Dietz burst into a hollow laugh.

“Major General Giford, Lieutenant Colonel Lohnstein. I didn’t realize you two were such dull-witted humans. Why refuse such a good offer, hmm? Do you actually plan on making it out of here alive?”

“Yes, of course. But if we accept that proposal, all the Holy Spirit Kingdom female soldiers here will die, won’t they?”

“Lieutenant Colonel, it seems you still can’t tell right from wrong. I’ve repeatedly told you not to sympathize with the enemy.”

I rolled my eyes. The Eight Shadows’ followers had their guns pointed at us. The officers beside the Admiral were also handling their rifles.

The situation was about to explode.

“Step aside. It would be in your best interest to come over here, even now.”

“No.”

“I’m saying this sincerely. I don’t want to shoot you. Aren’t we on the same side?”

“A person who claims to be on the same side attempts to resurrect a demon lord with the blood of my subordinates?”

“Demon lord resurrection?”

Someone snorted. It was the Eight Shadows’ followers.

“Young man, you clearly don’t understand…”

“What we’re trying to resurrect isn’t a demon lord.”

This was news to me.

“Then what are you trying to summon?”

“A demon god.”

“A demon god?”

“A demon lord is merely the king of demon-kind. Even if resurrected, such a being will eventually perish. Above all, they’re hostile to humans, making them difficult to control.”

“So what, the demon god isn’t like that?”

“The king of devils is precisely the ruler suited for the new era. Just as the Holy Spirit Order follows and believes in your goddess, we too need a spiritual pillar. A pillar to unify the entire world through magic! Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I don’t know what he’s talking about.

No, I understand what he’s saying, but it’s just not rational.

“All this time, we mages have lived with the stigma from the Holy Spirit Order for hundreds of years. Even invoking the Pledge of the Mage was useless. Why do you think that is? What’s lacking that makes us live with such treatment even in modern times…!”

“Be quiet!”

Bang!

Daisy and Olivia, who had snuck up from behind, struck the back of the head of the follower who was giving a lengthy speech.

“I can’t understand all this chattering.”

“So what are we supposed to do about it?”

The golems continued their assault.

“Ugh…”

“Brother! Damn, what are these things!”

Bang bang bang!

The followers attacked the two golems.

“Hey, you idiots! What good does shooting at stone do!”

“But Admiral Dietz is still negotiating…!”

“Negotiating? Can’t you see the negotiations have failed right in front of you! Can’t you even assess the situation? Get your head straight!”

A well-dressed follower struck the face of another follower in relatively shabby clothes. The rest hesitated before turning their guns one by one at the first follower’s command.

“Kill them!”

“There’s a filthy beast-person too. Shoot her first!”

And at that moment, I rolled my foot.

Tadadang!

A stone pillar rose just in time to block all the bullets. Since many attacks were directed at Riyo, I focused particularly on protecting her. Startled, Riyo curled her tail and stuck close to me.

“This can’t be!”

“…Using magic without incantation.”

“What kind of guy is he?”

It’s the result of reaching the level of mastery. Most spells can be omitted, and even when using truly powerful magic, only abbreviated words are needed.

Also, as my senses have sharpened, I can gauge how their mana moves and what actions they’ll take next.

That’s why I could confidently reject the Admiral’s proposal.

“Shoot, shoot! Keep shooting, I said!”

I pushed the wall forward while sending David and Kalon to the front. While they acted as anvils, I allocated mana to remotely control the mud and rocks behind us.

“Riyo.”

“Yes.”

“Remember our old promise?”

“Yes, yes.”

The fox sister’s tail gently brushed my arm.

I had boasted that I would turn around the jaws of this cult that had made the sisters this way. Now it’s time to keep that long-standing promise.

The top priority is to stop the ritual itself.

Stone arms went after the followers one by one.

“Hey, behind you!”

“Aaaaargh!”

“Admiral Dietz, save us!”

Despite most followers being in disarray, Admiral Dietz didn’t budge.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Let’s see how far you can go.”

The Admiral’s expression was strangely calm. Since he looked as if he welcomed this situation, I just disarmed them of their guns and laid the followers who touched the stones on the ground.

“Why aren’t you killing them? Are you such a soft person that you can’t even take revenge on humans trying to kill you, Lieutenant Colonel Lohnstein?”

“No, I’ll handle them according to the law.”

“Then do as I say. I am the law here.”

“I mean according to international law.”

“You certainly choose to say only the most rigid things.”

Even amid all this, a few followers managed to evade the moving stones. Most were humans wearing fine robes. Counting them, there were three—they must be the leaders of the group.

“There’s no choice now!”

“Everyone, we’re entering the sacrifice now!”

“Everyone, pray!”

I won’t let that happen.

I hurled a mass of hastily formed stones. Riyo and Salvira, who could attack from a distance, also helped.

In the end, one was buried under stones, another was caught in spider webs, and the last one collapsed after taking a crossbow bolt to the leg. Salvira simultaneously gagged them with threads to prevent them from speaking incantations.

Just as I was about to feel relieved…

“Well done, very well done.”

Clap, clap, clap.

The Admiral applauded in praise.

“Your magic skills have really improved, Lieutenant Colonel. I’m impressed.”

“Spare me the meaningless praise. It’s all over now. Why don’t you admit your wrongdoing and stop here? Then I won’t criticize you any further.”

“You really are consistent.”

“Will you give up?”

“I’m sorry. But surely you don’t think you’ve stopped the ritual with this?”

“More wordplay?”

The Admiral laughed heartily before retorting.

“Do you think I’m just bluffing?”

“Yes.”

“Then what about this relaxed attitude?”

“I’ve been watching you for quite some time. You’ve always been a person with little emotional variation.”

“Don’t mistake understanding me based on a mere two years. People aren’t so two-dimensional that their true nature can be penetrated in such a short time. Yes, just as you’ve misunderstood me all this time.”

The Admiral flicked his hand.

And then, the National Security Department troops began firing their rifles at the Eight Shadows followers.

Screams, screams, and more screams.

People’s cries echoed to the rhythm of the booming gunshots.

Neither I, nor the female soldiers, nor the golems, not even Salvira could close our mouths.

“Wow, he’s not human.”

Only the restrained vampire cackled. She chattered on.

“First you betray our demon lord’s army, and now you’re betraying your own kind? That’s truly remarkable. In a way, it’s almost admirable.”

“Betrayal? We were never comrades to begin with, so what betrayal?”

“You’re actually a demon, right? Please say you’re a demon. It would save my pride.”

“Even losers have a voice these days. What a wonderful world.”

“Enough, I shouldn’t waste words on someone like him.”

That ended their conversation. After being momentarily dazed, I managed to speak with difficulty.

“What exactly… did you do?”

“Just what you saw.”

“Did you kill them all?”

“I didn’t kill them; I merely helped with the offering.”

“…Offering?”

At that moment, thunderous sounds erupted throughout the cave.

“It’s begun.”

The tree at the center of the altar glowed red and emitted powerful mana. It was so strong that the Holy Spirit Kingdom female soldiers couldn’t even open their eyes. The force surging forth was enough to push back even the holy power of the saint.

“Look down.”

“…This is!”

A magic circle with ominous patterns appeared. It spread to where we were standing. Looking at the geometric patterns, it was a circle for summoning something.

Simply put, it’s a creation circle.

“You’d better abandon any thoughts of escape for your mental health. It will cover this entire island.”

“What are you thinking?!”

“Nothing special. To create the circle I wanted, I needed girls who had received holy power from three different goddesses. Whether they were living or dead sacrifices didn’t matter, but well. Living sacrifices are much better.”

There was no time to ask what that meant.

Light burst from the creation circle.

Simultaneously, there were sounds of people collapsing.

Rachel, Tiria, Riyo.

All three staggered and tried to sit down at the same time.

“…What’s going on.”

Though I said that, my body was already moving to support them.

I quickly grabbed Rachel, embraced Tiria, and pulled Riyo close. The three women just sighed dryly before clutching their heads and groaning.

“What’s wrong with everyone? Huh? What’s happening?”

I’m so shocked that my voice doesn’t even rise.

The saint barely opened her mouth.

“We’ve… been tricked.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve been… forcibly offered. All of us…”

It feels like the blood vessels in my head are completely blocked. I gritted my teeth and followed the Admiral with my eyes. He was heading toward a large cauldron below the altar, escorted by National Security Department soldiers.

Meeting my eyes, he muttered.

“Those friends, now that I see them, are much more impressive. Usually, this creation would cause instant death. They have quite the life force.”

“Why are you speaking so casually?”

“Because it’s nothing significant.”

“This is nothing significant?”

“The truly important matter is something else. Look.”

Admiral Dietz pulled out a bundle of dark red hair from his breast pocket.

“Do you know what this is?”

“…”

“It’s my daughter.”

Plop, the hair fell straight into the cauldron.

[“I offer this sacrifice to the devil, so that I may see my beloved daughter Zenya once more. In exchange for reviving her, I offer tens of thousands of corpses and catalysts in the form of girls chosen by three goddesses.”]

[-How arrogant. But since you’ve paid the price, I shall grant it.]

At that moment, the light that had spread everywhere converged back toward the center of the altar.

The gathered light formed a single shape.

The form of a human.

A girl with dark red hair.

“Fi-finally. Finally…!”

The Admiral, who had maintained an expressionless face until just now, burst into tears as he received the child descending from the altar. I belatedly remembered who that child was. She looked exactly like the girl in the photos the Admiral occasionally showed.

“How long has it been, it’s already been twenty years!”

That was the girl he said I would meet for an arranged marriage after the war ended.

I’m so dumbfounded I can’t even speak.

The vampire snorted and spoke up.

“So, in the end, you backstabbed us and turned your own kind into raw meat just to save your own brat?”

“Watch your mouth, inferior being—!!”

“Wow.”

“You demons who would even devour the flesh of your birth parents for nutrients could never understand! You could never know what a parent who has lost a child at an early age is capable of!”

The Admiral, who had been hurling abuse at the vampire, now looked at me.

“You, you’re human, not a monster, so you should understand this much.”

“Admiral.”

I answered in a flat voice.

“Look at what you’ve done.”

I pointed around as I continued.

“Let’s say you brought that one person back to life. But too many have died in exchange—is this right?”

“Lieutenant Colonel.”

“Other people’s children have all died. They’ve become fish food, worse than corpses, with their bodies never to be found. Do you think you have the right to shed tears while looking at your returned child after tearing apart the hearts of millions of parents?”

“By my standards, my child is the most precious. What do I care if people I don’t even know die?”

“You’re insane.”

The Admiral burst into laughter at my words.

“Stop pretending and answer me. Would you not do the same?”

“I’m different from you.”

“Anyone can talk. But you know, there’s a research finding. Have you ever heard of the money-spitting button?”

The money-spitting button.

It’s a hypothetical button that gives wealth when pressed.

“As soon as you press the button, 1 billion is deposited into your account. In exchange, someone you don’t know somewhere dies. When presented with these conditions, how many people would press this button, and how many times would they press it? It was a thought experiment. When 100 people were asked, do you know how many said they would press it?”

“60 to 70 people, right?”

“You know it.”

“Why don’t you mention that if there’s a condition that they might see the death scene of the person they might kill, the rate of people pressing the button drops to 20 percent?”

“I was just about to say that. But even in that situation, 20 people would still press it, wouldn’t they?”

“Those people don’t know because they haven’t experienced it directly.”

“Don’t talk as if you know when you haven’t experienced it directly either.”

“No, I have experienced it.”

I pointed at Admiral Dietz and raised my voice.

“Just now! I clearly saw what you did! I refused to switch sides even when you offered me 50 billion! Don’t you understand what kind of person I am yet?”

“You must really like those female soldiers.”

“I’ve shared life and death with these women. As long as I’m breathing, this is a relationship I’ll maintain to the end, and I’ve been thinking we’d be buried together even after death! What you just did has put my precious people in mortal danger! Do you understand?!”

“So, you’re going to save them? How?”

I embraced the three women.

They’re still breathing.

But if I delay any longer, it might be too late.

“Hmm, I did like you though. Since it’s come to this, why not offer three times as many sacrifices and save those three? Of course, I’d have to silence you too.”

I nodded.

The Admiral, seemingly surprised, opened his eyes wide before starting to laugh.

“See, you’re just the same as me after all?”

“No, I’m different.”

“How so?”

“I won’t make others suffer.”

The Admiral frowned again.

I said:

“Do you know? Even magic that offers sacrifices to devils is still magic, so the efficiency varies greatly depending on mana manipulation.”

“…Senior? No! Not that!”

Major General Adora Giford, who had been standing dazed, jumped up in alarm and rushed toward me. But I had already recited the incantation.

[“…Sacrifice.”]

Let’s see.

How many can I save with my life now.

***

-Even if it’s just a little, even if this wretched life is completely burned away, please breathe life back into these dying women. Of course, I know it’s arrogant to bring back the dead. If even one of them is too late, just take my life. No compensation is needed.

To that polite and self-aware request, a transcendent being opened its mouth.

“———.”

With a voice as gentle as a song.