Ch.85Trigger (1)

The demonic energy that had stained the sky crimson red disappeared.

Only pure blue remained in the background.

Following the gentle sea breeze, a pristine summer scene washed over everything.

The girl stood amidst peaceful waves.

Occasional splashes colored her toes.

Whoosh—

Only cool echoes remained in the broken foam.

Sharlotte stared blankly at the scenery.

On her silent lips lingered a rosy vitality that couldn’t quite dissolve.

“……”

It was a peculiar type of domain.

Beautiful.

It felt like being in a dream.

Just moments ago, everything had been covered in bright red mist, with bloody tidal waves pouring down like tears, and terrible dissonance echoing through the crimson fog.

But when she came to her senses, the world had completely transformed.

-If you could spare your attention for just a moment.

-I’ll signal.

It happened in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, everything changed.

-Now.

The boy leapt forward with a quick clap of his hands.

In an instant, he caught up to the sin, and without a moment’s hesitation, snatched the woman’s nape.

What followed was a simple gesture.

-Break.

But.

That was enough.

Following each joint of his grasping fingers, cracks spread through the air.

Soon the red background shattered into pieces, and layer upon layer of blue sky appeared through the widening gaps.

A landscape where red and blue intermingled.

It was an indescribable splendor.

Splash, splash—

The boy approached silently.

His composed steps walked across the vast sea.

He carried a woman in his arms.

As if her corrupted appearance had been a lie, not even a trace of darkness remained around the nun.

Sharlotte stared at the two in a daze.

‘How.’

How did he do it?

Purifying a being tainted with demonic energy.

It felt like common sense was breaking.

Despite all her experiences chasing cultists, the girl had never once heard that such a thing was possible.

It was straight out of the Bible.

‘I was wrong.’

Sharlotte realized she had been mistaken.

The alleyway, and the class placement test.

The power she had witnessed from the boy then was merely a fraction of what he possessed.

Snakus exuded an utterly profound aura.

As a princess, she had met countless powerful figures—professors, deans, sword saints—but this was the first time she felt so powerless.

Was this how the first created beings felt when facing God at the beginning of time?

‘Strange.’

Fear welled up suddenly, but curiosity took precedence.

Sharlotte didn’t think the boy was bad.

That was the conclusion she had reached after observing him.

He wasn’t greedy, as he desired nothing; he wasn’t cruel, as he overflowed with mercy; he wasn’t selfish, as he never treated others carelessly.

He didn’t emit that terrible stench unique to adults.

But.

-I just… didn’t want you to get hurt.

A brilliantly shining smile.

The fresh scent of winter.

He carried only pure atmosphere.

Others might not notice, but as a girl with special sight, she could fully perceive it.

About a being who hadn’t forgotten childhood purity.

“……”

Sharlotte gazed quietly.

Whether he knew of these complex thoughts or not, the snake simply approached with calm steps.

Preciously holding the unconscious woman in his arms.

‘Perhaps.’

Sharlotte found herself thinking.

Perhaps it might be possible.

Until now, she had merely observed due to uncertainty, but having directly witnessed a miracle, things changed.

A ray of hope shone through a situation filled with despair.

‘He might be able to heal it.’

Her brief monologue carried desperation.

As she mulled over this possibility like a plea, suddenly a painful voice reached her ears.

-Sister.

The girl’s expression rarely wavered.

Amidst the gentle breeze, Sharlotte stood there.

***

The concert ended like that.

Having subdued the thought entity, which was the clear condition, and shattered the demonic energy that had been encroaching on the surroundings, there were no more remaining threats.

I walked while carrying the limp woman in my arms.

“……”

Medro, whom I had rescued, was unconscious.

There wasn’t any particular problem; she simply seemed to have exhausted her energy.

She would likely wake up after some time.

Step, step—

Passing through the serene sea, I set foot on the warm sandy beach again.

Someone was waiting for me there.

A girl with somewhat dazed eyes.

Sharlotte only came to her senses after I spoke to her.

“Your Highness.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s go back.”

“…Yes.”

The girl nodded quietly.

We moved toward the door we had originally entered through.

Walking with a complicated expression, the girl soon seemed to make up her mind and asked me a question.

Her blue eyes were fixed on the woman in my arms.

“Hey.”

“Hmm?”

“How… did you do that?”

“You mean Ms. Medro?”

She seemed shocked.

Well.

This must be her first time seeing something like this.

Anyone who had studied demonic energy even a little would know how far-fetched the purification of a thought entity was.

Theoretically, it was impossible.

What I had just demonstrated was nothing short of a miracle that transcended all natural laws and concepts.

It would be strange not to be surprised.

“I don’t understand. What happened?”

Sharlotte murmured softly.

Though she usually didn’t show much emotion, it was obvious even at a glance that she was shaken this time.

I maintained my composure as I answered.

“Let’s discuss this later. For now, our priority should be getting out of here.”

I had subdued the conductor’s thought entity.

Having broken the core of the domain, this space would collapse soon.

With my output already bottoming out, getting trapped in a closed domain would be troublesome in many ways.

Even if I were to explain, leaving this place had to come first.

That was my reasoning, but Sharlotte seemed to think I was avoiding her question.

The girl nodded obediently and said.

“Alright… if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask.”

“That wasn’t my intention.”

“Don’t worry. I don’t want to get on your bad side either.”

“Hmm.”

She seemed to misunderstand something, but it was better that she let it go so cleanly.

It wasn’t something I could properly answer anyway.

The snake and the little princess.

The two simply crossed the sandy beach side by side.

When we reached the threshold leading outside the domain, the first to welcome us was none other than Irene.

The girl had been waiting, crouched nearby.

“Ah.”

Her ears perked up when our eyes met.

Light returned to her previously dim pupils.

Irene ran over and took the unconscious Medro from me.

Even in the midst of this, she asked after my well-being.

“Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine.”

“You didn’t overdo it again, did you?”

“Well, this time was a comfortable success. It wasn’t particularly dangerous, so there’s no need to worry.”

“That’s a relief.”

Had she been anxious while waiting?

The fox nodded but couldn’t stop circling around me for a while.

She seemed to be checking if I had any injuries.

That concern was endearing.

As I quietly stroked her head, the other members who had been standing behind approached.

Naturally, Neria was the first to speak.

“Good work, Master.”

“Vice Captain.”

“The situation in the basement has been resolved as well. All survivors have been transported to Astro’s direct hospital, and the young mutants you ordered to be isolated have been sent to headquarters.”

“Have you assessed the number of casualties?”

“Of course. A total of 128 priests died in this attack, with 37 survivors, and 23 isolated mutants.”

“Many… died.”

I tasted bitterness.

I seemed to sink into melancholy for a moment, but I shook it off and took command of the situation.

It was still a moment when I needed to maintain tension.

“Let’s clean up the surroundings. The sun will rise soon. We should leave before outsiders notice anything unusual.”

“As you wish.”

The members moved busily afterward.

I calmly caught my breath and walked out of the basement.

***

When I said we would clean up the surroundings, it didn’t have any special meaning.

The space was already in shambles from the cultists’ attack.

There was no need to erase traces of our presence.

The intense residual demonic energy would make it difficult to distinguish anything properly anyway.

What we cleaned up were none other than the bodies.

“……”

At the center of the cathedral.

Beneath the upright figure of the cross, those who met their deaths were resting.

White sheets covered the neatly laid victims.

Someone’s life being tidied up one by one.

I stood blankly, watching it.

‘So many.’

There were many people I couldn’t save.

A hundred and twenty-eight.

Newly realizing the weight of that number, I let out a sigh I had been holding back.

My calm breath flowed through the scent of blood.

‘It’s always like this.’

It was always the same sentiment.

I saved people.

I prevented an accident that could have led to a catastrophe.

I acted like a hero saving the world.

But even so, I always felt troubled by those I couldn’t save completely.

Perhaps it was due to a foolish lingering greed.

‘I can’t save everyone.’

I knew that.

I wasn’t God.

I wasn’t omniscient enough to see through everything, nor omnipotent enough to accomplish everything.

The future I could see through was limited to what I knew from the original work.

The miracles I could perform were limited by my given output.

That’s why I couldn’t prevent all tragedies.

No matter how exceptional, a mere human cannot exceed their capabilities.

So.

‘Next time.’

I could only make a promise.

That next time I would achieve better results.

That I would notice faster, move appropriately, respond wisely, and save more people.

It was the same this time.

“……”

I stood silently, mulling over my thoughts.

As time passed, a girl approached from the side.

Platinum blonde hair swaying with her steps.

Blue eyes quietly observed me.

It was Sharlotte.

“…Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

The girl stood beside me.

She had said she wanted to look around the basement a bit more, and it seemed she had just come up to the ground floor.

After holding her silence for a moment, Sharlotte soon spoke.

“I owe you. Thanks to you, we could find the missing people.”

“It was nothing.”

“I’ll handle the aftermath. Even though the incident is resolved, there are still annoying procedures left. With my authority, I can resolve them quickly.”

“We plan to protect the surviving priests for the time being.”

“Yes. That seems best. If there are survivors from a branch thought to be annihilated, the cultists might find it suspicious.”

“They really are troublesome.”

“Indeed.”

Sharlotte gave her characteristically plain response.

As we exchanged opinions about the aftermath, the sun began to rise outside the window.

It was time to return to headquarters.

“Then… I’ll be going now.”

With a light farewell, I turned around.

The members had finished cleaning up and were waiting.

As I was about to step toward them, Sharlotte’s hand suddenly grabbed my sleeve.

I turned back.

“Um.”

“Your Highness?”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

It felt somewhat abrupt, but I quietly listened to the girl’s story.

She seemed to have been gauging my reaction for a while.

It seemed she had something to say.

Was it important?

Sharlotte hesitated for a while, then finally spoke as if she had made up her mind.

The girl’s voice was unusually shaky.

“I need help.”

“Hmm?”

“You might… be able to save me.”

Blinking blue eyes.

Through transparent pupils, only my figure was reflected.

Rosy lips pleaded softly.

“Please… save us.”

“……”

After hearing the girl’s words, I remained frozen for a while.

My lips twitched faintly.

I covered my mouth with my palm.

And with an ominously splitting smile, I thought.

With a thrilling sensation running down my spine.

‘As expected.’

She took the bait.