Ch.171Miracle

The words of the demon Meckilles, upon closer inspection, contained many obvious flaws.

To be frank, once you make a deal with a demon, there’s no going back to how things were. And the demons’ method of resurrection couldn’t be considered normal by any means.

Moreover, wasn’t this demon Meckilles the one who had reduced Gus to such a pitiful state in the first place?

[Bringing a lower-rank being to a mid-rank battlefield, were you looking for a sacrificial lamb? Grand Duke of Maggots, is that truly what you wanted?]

“…Shut up.”

Nevertheless, Gus’s existence was the fundamental reason that left endless lingering attachments in a corner of my heart.

To give up without even attempting to save someone who had sacrificed themselves for me.

My conscience was more than just pricked—I felt genuine guilt as I struggled internally with this dilemma, and Meckilles had precisely targeted this aspect—the complete weakness of my being.

[Why didn’t you bring your trustworthy companions? Is there a reason you specifically brought your steed despite knowing the danger?]

“…”

[Perhaps, you thought it would be acceptable if it d—]

“I told you to shut up, you damned demon!”

Perhaps it was because Meckilles was speaking so recklessly, but at some point, I sensed his words transforming into vicious sophistry, and I angrily thrust my sword at him.

What he was saying might seem somewhat correct at first glance.

In this incident, the reason Gus became entangled and ended up on the brink of death could arguably be because of me, and despite my intuition’s warning, I had left the others behind and only brought Gus along.

But given that the speaker was the demon who was the perpetrator in the first place, such excuses, no matter how plausible they might sound, inevitably lose their power.

It felt like… victim-blaming, the kind you could easily find on the modern internet.

Those twisted fools who can’t accept victims as victims. Those moral imbeciles who failed to develop normal personalities and ethical standards often behave this way.

Or rather, what meaning could the words of such a creature possibly have anyway?

It’s like a career criminal with 13 prior convictions for assault resulting in death, serving a life sentence, offering criticism about school violence. No matter how correct that criticism might be, could it possibly have any social effectiveness?

Moreover, since the current situation was caused by him in the first place, I don’t even feel shame when he speaks such nonsense.

Regardless of my own faults, I harbor only pure anger and hatred toward Meckilles, who reduced Gus to such a state.

…Yet, the hesitation I feel even after coming this far must be because I’m still considerably clouded by delusion and attachment.

Now that I have the opportunity to save Gus, who was my best friend and companion, despite having the power of life and death over this demon, this method—which certainly exists regardless of good or evil—made me hesitate.

Perhaps because he knew that I was hesitating, hesitating to kill the demon Meckilles.

[…Are you hoping for a miracle? Grand Duke of Maggots. Like how the father of your concubines was resurrected?]

“Shut your mouth!”

—CRACK!

Even as I stomped on Meckilles’s head as he opened his mouth to mock me, I simultaneously felt genuinely disgusted by how accurately he had hit the mark.

Yes, perhaps I was desperately hoping for a miracle.

※ ※ ※

…Honestly, in the current situation, wouldn’t it be a lie not to hope for a miracle?

Previously, Lucius Wolfblood had returned from death through a miracle bestowed by the exalted heavenly deity, so it’s an unavoidable human psychology to hope for a similar miracle to occur again.

As the old saying from my homeland goes, “Continued favors make one take them for granted,” expecting something to be given again after it was once bestowed is unavoidable as a human…

Even as I made these self-justifications that no one might hear, I was simultaneously thinking that a miracle should be miraculous to be called a miracle.

A deity’s favor is merely a favor. What could be more foolish than expecting a sea god’s mercy again when crossing the same waters just because you once had a safe voyage due to that god’s benevolence?

A miracle is a miracle precisely because it’s divine intervention that disregards all context and conventions to achieve the impossible.

Miracles exist solely in the divine realm, and one shouldn’t desire them out of self-interest, as the domains of gods and mortals are positioned differently.

It was while I was thinking this in my heart, with this body’s almost ruthless ability to judge reality, that it happened.

【Your understanding is correct.】

“…?!!”

A resolute yet powerful voice that flowed from beyond perception, filling my inner being with warm comfort. It was the voice of ‘God’ that I had heard before.

Something that pulsated fiercely with strength. A presence that had seeped in with an undeniable existence, yet despite that, it was like a poem of screams singing beautifully.

[L-Liar…! Interfering here?! You despicable…! Golden Hand! Trash! Golden H—]

Immediately after the voice erupted, golden light burst forth from the palms of both my hands, and the demon who was touched by it screamed as if struggling before melting away like ice cream in the sun.

But for me right now, what happened to Meckilles was not even a consideration.

After touching Gus’s body, which had been on the verge of death, with my hands glowing with golden light, a ‘miracle’ occurred.

It began with golden light extending from my hands, spreading throughout Gus’s damaged soul and body, healing his wounds.

As if rewinding time, the corruption that had spread throughout his body dissolved into the air, and in places where the corruption had evaporated, flesh and muscle began to grow, filling in around the newly formed bone structure.

‘…This is.’

Regeneration, recovery, and restoration. I had seen wounds heal and flesh regenerate rapidly many times before, but this regeneration clearly had something sublime about it.

Something that resonated with my heart. Something that naturally evoked emotion by stimulating the human heartstrings restored Gus’s body, and thanks to that, Gus’s body was quickly returned to its original state…

But the changes manifesting in Gus’s body didn’t end there.

“…Huh?”

The power that had restored Gus’s body still remained even after the healing was complete, and beyond merely remaining, it was causing changes to his body.

It all began with Gus’s body starting to turn a milky white color.

Originally, Gus’s body had brown fur and a copper-colored mane like most warhorses, but now wasn’t Gus transforming into what is commonly called a white horse?

While I was desperately trying to hold back my laughter as the word ‘whitewashing’ flashed through my mind, Gus’s transformation was progressing toward a realm of sublimity that made such jokes unnecessary.

Naturally, by this point, even if I heard such jokes, I wouldn’t feel anything.

—FLAP!!

From around his waist, a pair of large and beautiful white wings sprouted, each at least 2 meters long, resembling those of birds but containing something even more sublime.

What constituted the wings was closer to non-material ‘light’ than matter. Just as elemental spirits or demons’ bodies are, regardless of having a material form, their essence is nothing more than non-material crystallization.

The mane, which had originally been close to golden, was now dyed a beautiful platinum color that resonated. Containing sublime light, it attacked and drove out the last piece of ‘corruption’ remaining in Gus’s soul.

The wicked, the impure. All evil tried to flee screaming, but the sacred miracle ignored all resistance and shattered it head-on.

This was, so to speak, spiritual ascension. The overwhelming possessor of mystery known as ‘God’ had used that power to bring about a sacred miracle.

And after Gus, who had undergone this transformation, carefully opened his eyes—

‘…Pegasus.’

With that beautiful light seeping through between the wing feathers, and magical feathers scattering in the air, I quietly murmured the name of Gus’s transformed appearance, which possessed a mesmerizing beauty.

Celestial Horse (天馬), or Pegasus. The name of a horse forged from light that gallops across the sky.

※ ※ ※

And all of this scenery…

【…Hehe.】

Beelzebub, the evil demon lord of ‘Gluttony,’ the King of Flies, was watching with a most intrigued gaze.