Ch.216216. Eyewitness

“I have come to escort the savior of this land.”

At the woman’s words, Findenai immediately pointed his axe forward, aiming it at her neck.

There was not a moment’s hesitation; had the woman stepped even slightly forward, she would have been left with a deep wound on her neck.

Yet despite the cold axe blade held right before her, the woman showed no sign of retreat.

“The savior must go. Do you truly intend to just stand by and watch? Much has already changed.”

“Shut it.”

Even as Findenai issued a warning that he would no longer tolerate this, the woman continued speaking.

“The continent’s destruction draws ever closer. O Savior, will you fail again?”

“…!”

Again.

That single word made Aria’s heart pound.

Again?

If she failed in this cycle.

Would she have to experience that again?

Even though everyone had forgotten her, would she have to bury them in her heart and save the continent through suffering once more?

Would she lose the professor as he is now?

The moment she had that thought.

Boom!

Findenai’s fist struck the woman’s face directly.

The woman fell backward and sprawled on the floor.

“I warned you.”

The fact that he had used his fist instead of striking with his axe was proof that Findenai had exercised tremendous restraint.

“Hmm?”

Though the sensation of the heavy blow remained in his fist, Findenai slowly assumed a stance due to a strange sense of discomfort.

The other followers continued pressing toward Aria, ignoring their fallen comrade on the floor.

“Is this how you will end it?”

“The continent will ultimately perish.”

“Nothing will be resolved if you remain idle.”

“Do you wish to witness the end of the continent once more?”

“Get back!”

Findenai gestured for Aria and Owen to move far back. The atmosphere could only be described as that of fanatics crazed with faith.

Findenai swung his axe as if to cut through their blind faith that struck at his entire body with their mere presence.

Whoosh!

The axe merely sliced through the air, passing by without inflicting any damage on them.

“…!”

In that moment, Findenai recalled the conversation between the Saintess and Deus Verdi in the waiting room earlier.

Ordinary weapons cannot inflict even a single wound on Mule.

The arrogance of a fallen god, as if saying that if one wishes to lay hands on him, they must possess matching dignity.

“Not just puppets… are you also part of it?”

The moment Findenai reached the correct conclusion.

Fwaaaack!

The bodies of the women who had arrived suddenly swelled as if exploding, their clothes tearing in all directions.

What existed there were remnants of a broken god.

Tentacles more repulsive than monsters.

The tentacles were covered with densely packed eyes and teeth, and despite their appearance, they seemed to possess will as they recognized Findenai and immediately lunged at him.

Fwoooosh!

Smoke erupted from the war shoes Findenai was wearing as he instantly leaped up. He swung his axe at the approaching tentacles again, but it merely passed through the air.

“Ah, utterly useless!”

Finally, Findenai threw away his axe and landed back on the ground, clenching his fists.

“My punch worked just now.”

The reason was the red gloves called Blood Claw that Findenai was wearing.

They were a gift from Deus, and in game terms, they would be considered a high-grade item.

Thwack!

Indeed, Findenai’s judgment was correct. The heavy punch he delivered while twisting his waist landed squarely on the tentacles.

Though he ended up fighting with bare fists unintentionally, combat without weapons was also familiar to Findenai, who came from a revolutionary background.

His elegant movements as he struck the oncoming tentacles resembled those of a boxer.

But there were far too many of them.

The tentacles seemed to be multiplying, swelling in number, and Findenai’s fists lacked decisive destructive power.

“We need to push through and escape for now.”

“Sh-shouldn’t we call for the Spiritmaster?!”

As Owen, who was holding Aria’s hand in fear, shouted, Findenai gritted his teeth and replied.

“There’s a silence spell on the auditorium! We’d have to reach the hall to call him!”

“I’ll help.”

Just as Aria, who had been trying to avoid combat if possible, was about to draw her greatsword Duatein.

Screeeech!

Blue flames ignited from the tips of the tentacles outside the door, completely burning the tentacles to a crisp.

It didn’t take long for the flames that spread along the path to reduce the tentacles to ashes.

At first, they thought Deus Verdi had returned.

The blue flames were remarkably similar to those he used.

But Deus’s image was still visible on the screen in the waiting room.

The figure that appeared outside the door had completely white hair.

“Who are you?”

Findenai remained tense at the appearance of the unfamiliar man.

“Y-You are…!”

But Aria knew him.

The first cycle had been doomed to destruction when she beheaded this man.

A face she could never forget.

The leader of Dante.

“I’ve come to repay my debt to Deus. So follow me. At least for today.”

Crunch.

As he clenched his fist, a faint white smoke rose from his entire body. It was a Spiritmaster’s magic, but no souls were visible.

Displaying such unique power, Luanes declared.

“You won’t die today.”

* * *

“Hmm?”

In the midst of the ongoing debate.

Deia, sitting in the audience, sniffed sensitively.

She thought she caught a faint smell of something burning, like grilled squid, but dismissing it as nothing important, she turned her attention back to the stage.

“I never imagined so many people would come to help Deus.”

“Stop being such a crybaby.”

Deia chided Darius, who was shedding a few tears, calling him pathetic.

But she too was grateful to the people who had come to this stage to speak on Deus’s behalf.

And she was proud of Deus, who had worked tirelessly for others despite being in the uncomfortable position of a Black Mage, which people found unreasonably disturbing.

‘He said he would become a brother to be proud of.’

Indeed, he was admirably becoming the pride of the Verdi family.

“Cough! Cough!”

“What’s wrong? Why are you coughing?”

Just then, coughing sounds came from nearby.

It was a blunt sound, more like the cry of a monster than a human’s.

“Cough! What’s wrong with my throat?”

The number of people coughing sporadically began to increase, and Deia quickly identified a common factor.

“Are they followers of Mule?”

The rosaries given by Mule, shaped like eyes, were worn by those who were coughing.

Due to the silence spell, they didn’t seem to notice anything unusual inside the debate hall yet.

“Deia, something’s wrong.”

Darius placed his hand on the sword at his waist and embraced his sister protectively.

* * *

The debate continued.

But the flow was finally turning in our favor.

Many people I hadn’t expected came to speak on my behalf.

From Lucia Saint, the Saintess, to the bishops who followed her, and even King Orpheus.

While I was traveling to Greyford for today’s debate, they had been making extensive preparations for this moment.

[But it was only possible because you, and no one else, made the effort.]

Stella approached naturally with a gentle smile, as if she had read my thoughts.

I nodded at her words and looked at Mule.

His expression hadn’t changed.

He was still looking this way with a kind, smiling face.

But the atmosphere among the other bishops behind him indicated that the flow of the debate had already shifted.

“Deceiving citizens with holy power is certainly a serious crime. Deus Verdi must bear responsibility for that.”

Lucia methodically addressed each point one by one.

“But the return of the Holy Grail and the fact that he has comforted countless souls and helped many people are truths.”

If I had been an ordinary believer or a holy figure like a Saintess, it might have been different.

“What’s also important is that the title of Spiritmaster was not bestowed by holy power chosen by God, but directly by His Majesty the King.”

“…”

“This forum is not to judge his holy power, but to determine his qualification as a Spiritmaster.”

The bishops standing behind Mule groaned with a “Ahem.” They finally realized how the outcome had been determined.

While it was true that the man called Mule was performing miracles, the position of Spiritmaster was ultimately bestowed by the king, not by God.

“You seem to have been somewhat mistaken about the title he bears.”

As Lucia stared at Mule and struck directly, Mule finally had to slowly lower the smile on his face.

“Ahem.”

The moderator, Rock Pellican, recognizing that the outcome had been decided, tried to summarize the opinions.

“It’s not over yet.”

I’m sorry, but now it was my turn.

I was grateful that others had gathered various people and asked for testimonies to protect me.

But conversely.

Rather than protecting myself, I had invested time in exposing Mule’s fraudulent acts, specifically to tear at his throat.

“Bring the woman named Charl whom you revived.”

At my words, Mule’s brow furrowed even more. Though it was an unwelcome expression, at Rock Pellican’s request, Charl, who had been waiting in the back as a witness to the miracle, stood on the stage.

Woong.

Simultaneously, the soul of the woman hidden within me rose. Just as I had shown her appearance to the students as the answer to the Dark Spiritmaster’s appearance matching game before.

This time too, I gave color to the soul. The previously translucent form gradually became more prominent and soon became visible to people’s eyes.

[Ah.]

When I did this with the Dark Spiritmaster, I had to touch her and she couldn’t produce a voice.

But I hadn’t been idle all this time, so the woman was rendered more intricately than before.

[Is, is it really me who has awakened?]

Charl’s voice resonated like telepathy through my mana, and simultaneously spread throughout the hall through the microphone.

When I had asked Findenai and Deia to explain the scene of Mule reviving people.

The two men said they saw souls rising and then being absorbed by his god.

However, this woman named Charl was different.

The soul’s appearance wasn’t visible at all, and she was said to have been revived because of her outstanding faith.

Since people cannot be brought back to life.

I judged that Romuleus had taken only Charl’s body and discarded her soul.

I deliberately went there to bring back Charl’s soul.

[Ah, aah.]

Charl, looking around with tears in her eyes, fixed her gaze on Mule and shouted furiously.

[How could you do this! I came to receive your blessing! I went because you said you would pray for me!]

That was the truth hidden behind the veil.

The fallen god’s shame that only the dead could know.

[That man killed me! And put something else in my body!]

Not only the bishops serving Mule but also the audience was once again swept up in shock.

Even the bishops who had already sensed defeat in the debate began to slowly distance themselves from Mule.

“Th-then who is this woman standing before us now!”

One of the bishops who had regained his composure pointed at Charl standing in the center of the hall and asked.

One was Charl with a real body.

The other was the soul of Charl.

Clearly, one of them was lying.

Bang!

The moment my mana transformed into magic and touched her physical body to reveal the truth.

Craaaack!

The woman who had been Charl transformed into a massive tentacle that shot high into the sky.