Ch.44. Holy War (1)

For about an hour after that, I tormented the Incarnation of the Black Sun.

It felt like a good time, bringing back old memories.

Actually, each of these experiences is a helpful process for adapting to this newly changed world.

Looking at the whimpering incarnation, I debated whether to lift the curse or not.

“Should I do this or not?”

If I hadn’t been there, our filial daughter Lisia would have been ganged up on and suffered greatly.

And before me stands the mastermind behind all this.

“Alright, let me ask just one thing.”

「….」

“What on earth possessed you to attack Lisia?”

Judging by my progress in the game, I had established our order to such a position that most constellations wouldn’t dare touch us.

I had elevated the order’s authority to a position worthy of being called “Absolute.”

The message remained silent for a while.

The sight reminded me of a child trying to confess their wrongdoing.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ says it hates you, Constellation ‘Ron.’」

“I know that.”

It’s not like they started hating me just yesterday.

By the way, the constellations know me by my changed name rather than my original username.

Anyway, that’s not the point.

The question is why they decided to rebel against me now.

Actually, I’d felt something off since first meeting the living Lisia.

It was overshadowed by the Black Sun bastards’ attack, but why was she searching for me with such sadness?

At least when I was playing, everyone was all smiles and laughter when I ended the game.

Resources, affection levels, faith metrics, progress—everything was going smoothly with no crisis in sight.

So why would another order’s forces think to invade, even with my current power level?

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ pleads that it was necessary.」

“What was necessary, exactly?”

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ says that if they didn’t weaken your forces this way, your order would have launched a massive holy war against the world.」

When I heard that answer, my mind went blank.

“…What?”

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ says your order is currently insane.」

The news that followed was truly shocking.

A massive holy war? Our people?

No matter how I think about it, it feels like a lie.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ shouts that it’s not a lie.」

This is my order we’re talking about.

Those guys might do bad things, but my perfectly normal order wouldn’t start a war unprovoked.

‘…Or would they?’

I found myself doubting my own thoughts.

I did actively advance the game progress, but I never played with malicious intent.

That alone makes me a good player.

The game community is full of all kinds of malicious gameplay, after all.

And what I wanted in the game was to expand my order’s influence and collect beautiful, strong female characters.

Whether other factions suffered from holy wars wasn’t my concern.

That’s why I wasn’t particularly aggressive about holy wars against other orders.

“Our people are that bloodthirsty?”

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ confirms.」

“Why?”

「It claims your absence was the problem.」

“Huh?”

A war just because I stepped away briefly? I didn’t raise our people that way.

I raised them with pure fatherly devotion and love.

“You’re lying.”

No matter how I look at it, his claim and my order’s nature are complete opposites.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ claims your neglect was the problem!」

“What neglect?”

「It says that because you abandoned the order, your priests are blaming others for it.」

“What did I do?”

This is unfair.

All I did was play the game diligently and just now save Lisia with the power of love.

“Wasn’t it something you guys did?”

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ says it wasn’t them.」

“Sigh, I don’t know.”

Let me summarize the situation.

My order thinks the constellations are responsible for my disappearance.

And the constellations are desperately trying to save themselves.

“Our people aren’t like that.”

They were always smiling and laughing; I never thought they’d make such extreme decisions.

I need to quickly check what’s really going on.

Even with world-class power and influence, a holy war against the entire world is nothing but a shortcut to self-destruction.

‘Were they that separation-anxious?’

Ready to turn against the world just to find me?

“How long were we even separated?”

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ says the constellation’s silence was unprecedented.」

“Is that so?”

I can’t even begin to grasp how this world operates.

The game world I knew was just pressing buttons to play, then exiting the game. That was it.

If I try to understand the situation using the game’s settings:

Constellations are gods.

They’re beings who must answer when called by members of the order.

But there’s a disconnect between me when I was playing the game and me now—we can’t interfere with each other.

Can I say with certainty that my current body is the same as before?

‘Absolutely not.’

Though forced upon me, I’m no longer just myself.

‘I never thought this would be real.’

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ earnestly requests that you end the curse now.」

“…”

At that request, I manipulated the system to find the curse cancellation tab.

「Do you want to withdraw the curse placed on the ‘Black Sun’ order?」

“Yeah.”

Withdrawing an already-placed curse requires accepting some penalties, but they’re insignificant to me.

I can always place another curse anyway.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ sighs with relief.」

“Is this really the time to be relieved?”

I still have a lot of information to extract from him.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ tenses up.」

While watching his reaction, I continued manipulating the system to check our order’s status.

First, I noticed that parts of the map were blackened and dead.

This indicated they were deactivated from my influence.

Meanwhile, the monastery where I just saved Lisia had been reactivated and turned blue.

‘This is exactly like before.’

When divine power is channeled through believers at a constructed monastery, it activates the monastery, altars, churches, and so on.

The range only extends to the area the monastery oversees.

“It’s completely ruined.”

Looking at the state of the map, separation anxiety seems justified.

Clearly, something happened when I crossed over to this world.

“Where do I even start fixing this…”

The area I was managing is so vast that I feel lost.

If I start by activating the center of the order first—

As I was thinking this and moving my fingers—

-Ding!

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ screams!」

“You startled me.”

Turning my attention back to the sudden alert, I saw the message window ringing loudly.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ trembles with fear, saying they’ve arrived.」

“Who’s arrived?”

I thought everything was over since I lifted the curse.

「It reports that your believers have arrived.」

“…Our people?”

Checking the map, I saw countless green dots heading toward the Black Sun’s territory.

The problem is, there are far too many of them.

“What the…”

Like they were going to war, the green dots in formation were invading the Black Sun’s territory at an alarming speed.

A holy war.

The believers, desperate to find me, had finally made their move.

“This is insane.”

This isn’t a game but reality.

Even I can understand what war means.

“What the hell.”

A massacre with blood and flesh flying everywhere in the world I’m managing.

And the fact that my children are the main perpetrators of this evil—absolutely unacceptable.

According to the system explanation and information extracted from the constellation, this problem can be solved simply by proving my existence.

“Who’s managing them over there right now?”

I focus on the brightest glowing entity among the green dots marching to wage holy war.

『Belladis Rocheria』

And I saw a very familiar name.

“Ah.”

I know this name. She’s a character I recruited.

But she’s different from Lisia.

While Lisia was obtained through gacha with currency, Belladis was a story character.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ is shocked.」

The constellation, seeing the name through me, reacts as if it knows.

They can’t forget this name either.

She was the monster they created.

“Wow.”

It’s like a staged scenario.

The person who hates the Black Sun the most, and the order that must stop her.

And me watching it all.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ begs you to do something, anything.」

“Me?”

There are many ways to intervene, but why should I save those who just tried to attack our child?

That was my genuine question.

「’Incarnation of the Black Sun’ offers to do anything.」

“Anything, you say.”

Well, that changes things.

I accepted the constellation’s offer and decided to stop the war.

In truth, I don’t want a war on my side either.

In the game, it would just end with a click of data.

But in reality, war—holy war—only ends when someone gets hurt or dies.

I don’t want my order’s priests to meet such a cruel fate.

“I’m absolutely not doing this because I want to see our Vera in person.”

「….」

I was greatly inspired by seeing Lisia embodied as a living person.

Now it’s Belladis’s turn.

「Do you want to use the skill ‘Divine Manifestation’?」

I decided to personally descend to the scene of the holy war.