Ch.127127. The End Approaches.

The Celestial Realm, also known as the Soul Realm or the Divine Realm.

Somewhere within it, the assembly hall for the gods of the Pantheon was filled with an eerie silence, like the calm before a storm.

The 12 Main Deities who ruled (self-proclaimed) the Celestial Realm were contorting their faces with displeasure, while the other gods belonging to the Pantheon nervously glanced around at each other with anxious looks.

Only the master of the Celestial Realm, the most noble Father of Gods, King of Gods, God of the Heavens, and supreme deity of the 12 Main Deities—Great God Jupiterius—remained silent as always.

Of course, everyone present knew well the reason for this atmosphere: those who had openly declared war against them and insulted the Pantheon.

If the damage had been moderate, these politically diseased gods of the Pantheon would undoubtedly have fought among themselves, arguing at length about who was wrong and who was right.

However, this particular problem had surpassed the level where such squabbling was possible.

Twenty-one legions—approximately 100,000 troops—had been annihilated or suffered near-annihilation, and of these, six legions amounting to 30,000 had betrayed them and joined the cause of this calamity.

Due to these losses, the Rome Empire had failed to finish off the Orc Empire which they had driven to the brink of destruction, and for the time being, they couldn’t even send out expeditions as they needed to recover from these damages.

This alone was serious enough to warrant hanging one of the 12 Main Deities, but the problem was that the damage was even more severe than that.

Three border fortresses, one military training center, four agricultural cities, three trading cities, twelve small towns, and damaged farmland equivalent to half the Korean peninsula.

If they tried to shift blame and engage in political games, it could lead to truly serious problems, so the Pantheon’s assembly hall was filled with nothing but a cold and chilling atmosphere.

Of course, the Empire—the Rome Empire—was extremely powerful.

With vast territories comparable to combining Western, Central, and Southern Europe in the real world, and a tremendous population that couldn’t even fill these territories despite their enormous numbers.

And the secret to maintaining this enormous population: naturally fertile land made even more bountiful by the blessings of the gods.

Moreover, the vast lands yielded abundant high-quality minerals, making their power closer to that of a modern nation than an ancient one.

Because of this, even with 100,000 troops evaporating, they still had several times that number remaining, and the damaged farmland didn’t even exceed 5% of the Empire’s total agricultural land.

Thanks to this, they could maintain the Empire despite such damage… but looking at it another way, they could “barely” maintain it.

The constant domestic and foreign monster subjugation campaigns were being postponed or suspended, and they had completely lost the ability to launch the finishing offensive in the war against the Orc Empire.

Particularly devastating was the destruction of the military training center, one of only three such facilities in the Rome Empire, resulting in the loss of one-third of this year’s new recruits.

What’s worse, this training center specialized in cavalry training, meaning more than half of the casualties were cavalry trainees, and consequently, there would be no new recruits joining the cavalry this year.

As a result, the gods of the Pantheon had been maintaining what seemed like an endless silence, but eventually, they had to discuss this reality they wished to deny.

《…So, what should we do about those “Evil God Council” fellows?》

*Hermecus, God of Commerce, Travel, and Wanderers

Thus, beginning with Hermecus the God of Commerce raising the topic, they started discussing those who attacked them—the so-called “Evil God Council.”

《Obviously, obviously! …Kill them. Kill them all!》

*Makius, God of War and Violence

Naturally, the first proposal was retaliation against the Evil God Council.

Those who destroyed cities, burned lands, killed citizens, and annihilated armies.

The fact that their forces needed to be completely eliminated was something even these deities—who normally fought over the most trivial interests—could agree upon.

But… there was one critical problem.

《…So, is there a way, brother Makius?》

*Bakius, God of Alcohol, Entertainment, and Festivals

《A way? What way are you talking about?!》

As Bakius spoke with an air of pessimism, Makius responded with an irritated, growling voice.

《You know, how we haven’t been able to do anything about that God of Vengeance until now.》

Bakius began speaking to Makius in a mocking, condescending tone, as if saying “don’t you even know this?”

《As we all know, we haven’t been able to catch the forces of that God of Vengeance who has undermined our authority for the past few years.》

《Excuse me, but there’s an error in that statement.》

*Juno-Shala, Goddess of Home

Interrupting Bakius’s languid voice that carried a strange energy, Juno-Shala, the Goddess of Home who was also in charge of the capital’s security, interjected.

《Until now, hasn’t our Security Maintenance Bureau continuously captured numerous followers of the God of Vengeance and other evil gods? But now—》

《And yet, you never caught the real ones. Those your precious Security Maintenance Bureau catches are mostly just arrogant fools or the lowest of the low.》

Juno-Shala began speaking in irritation at his criticism of her jurisdiction, but she eventually fell silent in the face of his mockingly logical rebuttal.

《Do you even know what their goals are? Their doctrine? Their organization? Their scale? What has your self-praised Security Maintenance Bureau accomplished? Even yesterday, as my child was dying in an alley, you simply ignored it, didn’t you? Hm? Juno-Shala. Say something, hm? Hm? HM?!!》

Seeing Juno-Shala’s reaction, Bakius snorted in disgust, then shouted at her as if unleashing all his pent-up frustrations.

He directed his anger at this foolish goddess who took pride in her incompetent Security Maintenance Bureau, recalling the images of his followers who had died until now.

《Calm down, Makius. You’re too excited.》

*Anyat, Goddess of Knowledge, Wisdom, and Magic

《…Fine, I will.》

Thanks to the mediation of Goddess Anyat, with whom he was on relatively good terms, Bakius finally calmed down and tried to sit back in his seat.

《…What do those worms find so appealing about him?》

《I know. That god really has… peculiar tastes.》

Cautious and quiet, yet clearly audible to his ears, came the murmurs of other gods and Juno-Shala mocking him.

…The end was approaching.

※ ※ ※

He was just an ordinary centurion serving in the Imperial Legion.

Originally a common soldier, he worshipped Makius the War God like other legionnaires and fought diligently, indoctrinated with imperial supremacism that glorified the Empire.

Fortunately, he had considerable talent for physical combat and was highly regarded for his perfect mental discipline as a soldier.

Thanks to this, despite his origins as a common soldier, he became a centurion—a position usually reserved for nobles when they enlisted—making him an uncommon, though not rare, case.

As he had reached the position of centurion, the ultimate goal for most soldiers in the Imperial Legion, he naturally became popular and admired by other soldiers.

Particularly since becoming a centurion granted him a single-generation noble title from the Empire, he—now a nobleman, albeit for one generation only—was transferred to another legion to spend his remaining service peacefully before retirement.

He had planned to spend his remaining service peacefully in a legion that used captured Orc prisoners to produce food, but…

Unfortunately, what happened next is known to all.

Starting with the death of the legion commander and continuing with the deaths of high-ranking officials within the legion, suddenly the Orcs transformed like beasts and went on a rampage.

He was resting in his quarters when five Orcs broke in and butchered him, and he died bleeding profusely with his entrails spilling out, but…

For some reason, contrary to what the Empire had taught, his soul was not guided to the Celestial Realm but remained on earth, allowing him to witness everything that happened afterward.

The summoning of a tremendous spiritual entity—a servant of an evil god—called the Avatar of Vengeance, and the Celestial Champion who descended to stop it.

And… betrayal.

The most blasphemous and terrible betrayal of the Celestial Realm.

The disgusting celestial beings who hid truths too horrible to speak, deceived the innocent, and built false prosperity by exploiting the innocent.

Therefore, he took the hand of the entity known as the God of Vengeance to exact revenge for this deception.

“……..”

Thus resurrected with a physical body again, he came to fight under the Black Sun Legion.

If asked whether he was satisfied… well, it’s complicated.

It was quite an impulsive action, and he had no choice, so he initially submitted to the God of Vengeance out of necessity.

But the moment he learned the truth about the Empire, about the Pantheon, he changed his mind.

The Empire, the Rome Empire, the Empire of false deception—the only fitting end for them is destruction.

They will pay the appropriate price for their lies and deception.

By the hands of their Black Sun Legion.