Ch.223222. Heaven’s Gift (1)

# 222. Heaven’s Gift (1)

That event would surely bring a new wind to the Empire.

Of course, that wind could not blow in a positive direction.

Though the degree might vary, no one would deny that fact.

And a young man who understood this better than anyone else muttered in a low voice before the corpse.

“I wonder… if a miracle won’t happen…?”

At that moment, the ring on his left ring finger emitted light.

Of course, the light was so faint that he failed to notice it.

He remained there, guarding the place until she arrived.

“I wish we could end this once and for all…”

There was nothing to gain by dragging things out.

While our side could provide immediate treatment, we couldn’t ignore the opponent’s natural healing abilities.

They were far superior to humans, after all.

Moreover, they no longer had an Empress.

The Empress wasn’t an exceptionally powerful asset like the Emperor.

However, her symbolic significance was enormous.

“This is basically… the same as the Imperial Palace being raided…”

At that moment, he sensed a mysterious presence from the corpse that still remained.

The magical energy was so faint it could be considered nonexistent.

Even the life force was below detectable levels.

“And yet… you’re still alive?”

“…”

It was astonishing.

The second-in-command of the demon race was truly different in every way.

He approached the demon who possessed cockroach-like vitality.

Then he thrust his sword into the ground right next to the demon’s head.

-Swoosh!?-

The sword, starting from mid-air, passing by his head and embedding into the ground, emitted its characteristic gloomy energy.

That gloomy energy was aggressive enough to devour Agareus’s body at any moment.

“Let me ask you one last thing… how did you know about this place?”

Even the place where the Empress had passed away had magic circles that made detection impossible.

And originally, this was a place where even if someone knew someone was here, finding the entrance and getting in was nearly impossible.

To that question, Agareus answered:

“Simple coincidence… God helped us…”

“You demons believe in God too?”

“Do you really need to know that…?”

It seemed difficult to extract any more information.

The opponent wouldn’t talk if attacked, and would die if attacked too severely.

Realizing this, the young man let out a deep sigh.

“This is our defeat.”

“Of… course it is… foolish human… and…”

“And?”

“The outcome on your side… will also be our victory… without fail…”

His voice was small and dark.

Yet it was filled with certainty.

A deep and enormous certainty that couldn’t be explained by mere loyalty to his lord.

“On what grounds?”

“What grounds do you have for such foolish thoughts…?”

After that, he uttered strange words whose meaning was unclear.

“Do you think that inferior species like you can overcome… heaven’s blessing…?”

Heaven’s blessing…

It was such a religious statement that it was hard to believe it came from the mouth of a demon who didn’t believe in gods.

For the young man who had never seen a demon who believed in gods, either before or after diplomatic relations, it was an utterly shocking statement.

“Heaven’s blessing…?”

“You know what you’re good at, right? Receiving rewards in exchange for believing in gods and praying—we could do that too… just that no one except Him did it…”

“Ah, so that’s it?”

It was still useful information.

Although it was information he would have learned eventually, it had its own significance.

Now that she and Andres had arrived, it gave him something to do.

He proceeded to finish off the old man before him.

“Urgh…! Aaaagh!!”

Agareus writhed in pain.

The scene was quite noisy, but the only one watching was the young man.

The other two people were distracted elsewhere.

“Um… Albert… could that be…? Could that possibly be what I think it is?”

Her face grew increasingly dark.

However, he seemed to have judged it better to just show her this scene.

Looking at the now cold corpse, he spoke.

“Unfortunately… yes, it is.”

“…”

At that moment, a single drop of rain fell from her eyes onto the ground.

Watching her made him feel like crying himself.

While he couldn’t fully comprehend her sorrow, he could empathize to some extent.

“…”

But he didn’t say anything.

He waited until she spoke first.

She slowly approached where the Empress’s body lay.

Then she caressed the cold corpse.

She felt the sensation transmitted through her fingertips and thought.

‘It’s… cold…’

It was the first time she had felt something this cold.

This wasn’t the mother’s body she had known.

It was unbearably cold.

‘Why…? Why…?’

The thought circled in her mind.

‘Why… why did she die…? Was I too late…? If I had come a little faster, could I have saved her…?’

As that thought swirled in her mind, she began to think things she shouldn’t.

‘Albert… arrived much earlier than me… No, calm down…’

She couldn’t help having such thoughts.

It was the truth, after all, but she tried her best to erase those thoughts.

She knew well that reality wasn’t like that.

Instead, she tightly embraced the Empress’s body.

‘So cold…’

It was unbearably cold.

She clearly hadn’t been dead for long.

Yet her mother’s body was unnaturally cold.

Perhaps it was because of this place.

“Albert… shall we move her now…?”

“Yes.”

He followed her command.

He lifted the Empress’s body with both arms and headed toward the exit.

Together with her, whose face was still dark.

As they walked, she spoke to him, who had been silent.

“Say… say something…”

He had been saying nothing.

He merely wore a strange expression mixing regret and anger.

Still, he responded to her words.

But his answer was truly… unexpected.

“You may resent me.”

“What…? Why… why would I resent you, Albert… what are you saying?”

“Then I’ll change my words.”

He looked directly into her eyes and literally… changed his words.

“Resent me, because it’s all my fault.”

***

A little before that incident.

There was someone who couldn’t even imagine what was about to happen to himself, or more precisely, to the one he loved most.

Of course, he didn’t have time to worry about such things right now.

He looked at his opponent, who was emitting a different aura—one incomparably stronger than before.

“What is that?”

“Curious, are you? Even I find it fascinating.”

It was curious indeed.

The true nature of Bael’s second unique skill finally revealed, its presence, and his drastically changed attitude.

A sword that would be unfair to compare with others’ swords—he was holding such a perfect weapon.

Even Reinhardt had only seen such a sword once in his lifetime.

“Is that why you’ve been so stubborn until now?”

“This thing… is quite noisy…”

He looked at his sword and frowned.

There was no way it could actually be making noise.

Reinhardt couldn’t understand why he would say and act like that.

Of course, he wasn’t curious about it either.

The only question he wanted answered was: what variable would this skill create?

“Is that sword made of magic?”

Weapons summoned through skills are mostly composed of magical energy.

In other words, they are magic.

There had only been one exception to this rule so far.

That’s why Reinhardt assumed that weapon would also be magical energy.

However, he soon realized.

“Seems not…”

Not even a trace of magical energy could be felt from that sword.

Instead, a mysterious, peculiar energy emanated from it.

A vivid energy, almost like that of a living, breathing person.

“That means your precious palm can’t block it, no matter what weapon it is.”

Considering Bael’s first demonstration and what had been seen of his ideology so far, the rank itself probably wasn’t very high.

But if it wasn’t magic to begin with, that changed things.

“Tch…”

“Pray that you’ll still be alive until those precious reinforcements of yours arrive.”

Bael’s statement was arrogant beyond measure.

But there was no one present to reproach him for his arrogance.

He pointed the sword he was holding toward his opponent.

With the infinitely sharp-looking blade tip, he charged at Reinhardt, as if showing off his newly increased speed.

“The performance isn’t bad at all.”

Then, toward the man positioned below him.

He swung his sword at the fist that was extended to counter him.

The sword lightly grazed his fist and passed by.

-Swish!!-

Red blood spurted from his hand, staining his face.

That shouldn’t have been possible.

Not just any body part, but his hand.

That hand which had subjugated countless living beings.

Seeing this, he let out a hollow laugh.

“Haha…! What is this…”

Even during that time, Bael’s sword didn’t rest.

The sword immediately aimed for his head.

Bael, who had managed to reach his neck in an instant, answered his question.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s no ordinary trinket—it’s [Heaven’s Gift].”