Ch.214214. Beginning

Before the Great Debate.

I needed to find a definitive answer to what exactly our victory would be.

Once again, Griffin’s massive execution ground was being used for the Great Debate.

In the waiting room, I was discussing this matter with Lucia while sitting across from her at a table.

“It’s quite perplexing.”

“But that’s the truth.”

She seemed quite shocked to learn that the man called Mul was actually Romuleus, a fallen god, but she didn’t express disbelief.

After all, she too had never considered Mul to be an entity within our common understanding.

“Then I suppose holy power is essentially ineffective against him?”

I smiled bitterly, pointing at the Holy Grail that Lucia had brought.

I had given it to her after the Republic of Clark incident.

“Yes, since he’s one of the sources of holy power itself.”

[We’ve become powerless.]

Stella, who was accompanying Lucia, also seemed apologetic to me.

The fact that holy power wouldn’t work against our opponent meant that Lucia and Stella were essentially no different from civilians now.

“That’s not all. If we end up fighting him, no ordinary weapon or magic will be able to harm him.”

I spoke calmly, but this was actually the part that troubled me the most.

The reason I knew this was because of my experience in the Monster War.

The Romuleus I met in the Monster War couldn’t be harmed by anything except the treasures created there.

I still vividly remembered how my magic and Han-so’s punches simply passed through him.

‘At first I thought it was a rule of the Monster War.’

But no such rule existed in the Monster War, and Romuleus wasn’t an entity that could be contained by the Monster War in the first place.

Even when I fired magic at Mul when he came looking for Aria at the academy, he suffered no damage and didn’t even feel pain.

“I suppose a god is still a god, even if fallen. Mere mortals cannot touch him.”

Lucia’s expression darkened at my words. As someone who serves a god, this situation must be quite unwelcome.

[Lucia, pull yourself together.]

But Stella shook her head beside her.

[Don’t equate him with the god we serve.]

“Lady Stella.”

[And remember this clearly.]

With a slight smile, Stella declared in an unwavering voice.

[Why we serve our god in the first place.]

It was a statement with profound implications.

Not exactly appropriate coming from a former Saintess.

But thanks to her confident declaration, Lucia seemed to have renewed her resolve.

“You’re right, Lady Stella.”

Lucia nodded, clenching her delicate hand into a fist. I glanced at Stella and nodded my thanks.

“Stay with Lucia during the debate.”

[I will.]

For Lucia, who hadn’t yet fully matured as a Saintess, Stella’s presence would be a great help.

“So what do you consider our victory to be? Getting Mul to confess his true identity?”

“That won’t happen. We just need to reveal his ugly nature and the fact that he’s spreading false propaganda.”

[False propaganda?]

In response to Stella’s question, I answered with conviction.

“No god, no matter who, can resurrect the dead.”

[…]

“It’s an absolute, immutable law, and that is the fate bestowed upon this continent.”

As I’ve mentioned before.

“Gods are not as omnipotent as one might think.”

Even though this was a bitter truth for the Saintesses to hear, I needed to say it.

But even amid these heavy truths, the two remained unshaken.

The time was too short for each of us to come up with our own answers, but we had to put aside our concerns for now and focus on taking action.

An announcement came from outside.

As a voice requested everyone to take their seats for the upcoming debate, Lucia rose from her chair.

“I’ll return to my waiting room now.”

[See you later.]

After Lucia and Stella left, only Findenai, Owen, and Aria remained in the waiting room, staring blankly at me.

They had kept quiet during our conversation, showing some tact.

Deia and Darius had decided to watch from the audience section, so they weren’t here.

“Seriously, how do you plan to live your life when you keep dealing with such powerful figures? Are you going to fight the world itself next?”

“Stop with the useless talk.”

Findenai, half-lying in her chair with her hands behind her head, clicked her tongue in response.

“I’m not wrong, am I? This is quite the mess. Taking down an archdemon, blowing up a republic, and now fighting a fallen god.”

“…”

Noticing she had something she wanted to say, I subtly shifted my gaze toward her.

Seeing that I was finally paying attention to her, Findenai grinned.

“And I’ve been by your side through all of it.”

“…”

“It’s nothing. Just know this. I have nowhere else to go anyway.”

She bit her tongue slightly as if wanting to put tobacco in her mouth, then continued.

“Whatever you turn against, I’ll be by your side.”

I felt somewhat relieved by Findenai’s words, which essentially told me not to worry unnecessarily and to go fight to my heart’s content.

Understanding that this was her way of encouraging me, I accepted it without saying much.

It was almost time.

I too got up from my seat and approached Owen.

“S-Spiritmaster, you’ll definitely win!”

Owen cheered me on with his tiny hands clenched, but what I wanted from him in this moment was something else.

“This will be a time for you to understand the definition and weight of being a Spiritmaster.”

“…Pardon?”

He seemed to think my words came out of nowhere, but this was something I had been thinking about for a long time.

The reason I had accepted Owen.

“Watch carefully. What this position entails and how one should face the dead.”

“…”

“You’re next after me.”

Owen looked up at me blankly, surprised by my unexpected words. Finding the boy cute, I patted his head before heading toward the entrance.

Aria was standing right beside it.

Her complexion was dark, and her expression wasn’t good, probably because she thought I was fighting for her fate.

It wasn’t wrong, but I wasn’t without responsibility either.

After all, the reason Romuleus came down to this land was because I had twisted Aria’s fate.

“Aria.”

“Professor…”

“There’s a clear limit to what I can do for you.”

I will take on her fate and save this continent in her place.

But in the end, only Aria herself could break free from the destiny of being a hero that had been imposed on her.

“What do you mean…?”

“It’s alright, just watch me. See what enemy you must fight, and what you must cut down.”

Also.

“I’ve already given you the key to break these shackles.”

I patted her shoulder and walked out. There was no need to give her a complete answer.

In the end, Aria needed to take active steps herself to break the shackles imposed on her.

As I headed toward the debate hall, I stopped in front of a passage where sunlight was streaming in from outside.

A man wearing a black robe with Dante’s emblem.

It was strangely quiet, and I found it odd that there were no staff or security around.

I could easily tell that he was the cause of all this strangeness.

“I thought you might come.”

Having anticipated this, I spoke without much surprise.

And I revealed his identity.

“Heralhazad.”

The leader of Dante.

A Black Mage who massacred the Griffin Kingdom 200 years ago, and the worst necromancer who has been carrying the karma of the royal family until now.

Another name for him is Luanes Luden Griffin.

Luanes looked at me as he lowered his hood when I called his name.

His white hair fell to his eyes, and his golden irises proved that he was of royal blood.

His facial skin seemed slightly distorted, but he was clearly handsome.

However, unlike Mul’s white hair which gave an impression of purity and innocence, his seemed faded and dull.

There were still traces of his younger self that I had seen in the Monster War.

“Deus Verdi.”

Luanes called my name with a subtle expression, perhaps a bit surprised that I had anticipated his arrival.

“I didn’t expect you to know me. And you even anticipated my coming?”

“It wasn’t hard to deduce, considering your objectives.”

“…”

Luanes frowned, seemingly feeling that I had seen through his core intentions despite his surprise visit.

But I continued speaking without giving up the initiative.

“Did you think there might be new possibilities since Mul supposedly resurrected the dead?”

“…Yes, because it could change what I need to do.”

Dante.

In other words, Luanes had only one goal.

The salvation of the continent.

In fact, to see the true ending, one must not kill Luanes.

More precisely, one should kill him after he has achieved his goal.

Aria in the first playthrough failed to do this, which is why the continent was destroyed.

A necessary evil.

That’s exactly how the necromancer standing before me could be defined.

He seemed to have come with some hope, but I shook my head.

“There’s nothing like that. What Mul showed was not resurrection but a fraud. The dead cannot come back to life.”

“…”

He seemed to have anticipated this, as Luanes didn’t add anything further.

After lowering his gaze for a moment, he sighed with regret and changed the subject.

“Then I have no choice but to continue with my plan.”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

But.

“I will stop you.”

The salvation method he had chosen stood in complete opposition to my beliefs.

When I answered firmly, Luanes frowned painfully and glared at me.

“This continent is already saturated. You know that too. There’s no more room for souls to rest.”

After killing Luanes, there is only one ending.

The boundary between life and death on the continent collapses.

The dead who have accumulated over thousands of years—eventually, there’s no more room for them to rest on the continent, and they wander the land without sleep.

Those who become ghosts do as they please since they’re already dead, and those who died unjustly rise again to resolve their grudges.

Eventually, the continent becomes a land of the dead.

The method Luanes chose, having observed this future from 200 years ago, was just one.

“Annihilate all the dead who have entered into rest.”

A statement filled with determination.

It wasn’t something a necromancer who deals with souls should say. After all, without souls, a necromancer is nothing more than a mere magician.

But Luanes had made his choice.

“I’m cleaning up the continent. By annihilating all the souls that have already entered into rest, we make room for those who will die in the future, and the problem is solved.”

“…”

“There’s no other way. So help me.”

Luanes slowly extended his hand.

It was a gesture filled with pitiful pleading, but I, of course.

“I refuse.”

I did not take his hand.

“…If we leave things as they are, the continent will perish. We can’t just stand by and do nothing.”

“Even if they are dead, they too are human.”

He and I stood at the same boundary.

But we were looking at it from opposite perspectives.

“There’s not much difference between rest and annihilation anyway! Why cling to those who are already dead!”

There are humans who lose attachment to life because they are close to death.

There are humans who find life more precious because they are close to death.

This was the difference between him and me.

“It is the final legacy of all those who struggled and lived as humans.”

A kind of record.

Just as we record the past in history books and remember, learn from, and grow through the people of that time.

Those who have entered into rest were the historical records of humanity and the library of the continent.

“…”

“I have a method.”

I had pondered this many times.

In fact, I had spent more time thinking about alternatives to Luanes’s plan than about the continent’s ending.

Ever since I entered this continent until now.

And so I voiced the answer I had found.

After hearing everything, Luanes’s eyes widened, then he bit his lip and shook his head.

“That’s just armchair theory.”

“It might seem that way now.”

“It’s impossible. Such a thing.”

“But I will accomplish it.”

I have always achieved what seemed impossible. This time too, I will make it possible.

Thinking that further conversation would be meaningless, I walked past Luanes.

Standing still, he glared at me and then dropped one last comment.

“Thanks for eliminating the Griffin demon in my place.”

“Then.”

I spoke without stopping my steps.

“Protect Aria in the waiting room. Consider that as payment.”

It was clear that Romuleus would approach Aria in some way.

Leaving Luanes behind, I headed toward the debate hall where they were waiting for me.