Ch.9696. Tolerance, Forgiveness, and Mercy

The brilliant light from the wings filled the underground.

Though the light was overwhelming, comparable to the sun, strangely it didn’t blind those who looked upon it.

“My eyes…! Aaagh! My eyes!!”

To be precise, only Sonia’s companions were spared from being blinded by the light.

While the two demons clutched their eyes in agony, white feathers fell from the ceiling. The feathers landed on her companions’ bodies and dissolved into them.

“The pain…”

[It’s gone.]

Naberius’s power had disappeared. Not only was the pain gone, but their wounds were slowly healing as well.

As her companions marveled at the miracle Sonia had performed, a singing voice reached their ears.

[Mater, eleison]

A simple song repeating just one phrase.

A simple song seeking the Goddess’s mercy.

Yet through that simple phrase, Sonia’s emotions were conveyed completely.

[Free me from hatred-]

Sonia, with a halo floating above her head, offered her prayer.

With that alone, the self-loathing that had filled her companions’ hearts melted away like snow.

If there was any side effect, it was that they fell asleep from being too relaxed, but this was Sonia’s intention.

Sonia smiled at Amon.

Amon met Sonia’s eyes and recalled the past.

*

After Sonia had kicked open the door to the Mother Superior’s office and left, Amon spoke to the Mother Superior and the squinting nun who remained.

“It seems that’s how things turned out, Mother Superior, Sister.”

“…”

“Don’t be disheartened. Someday Sonia will forgive you.”

Amon’s attitude was incredibly light.

He seemed far too casual for someone who had just witnessed Sonia’s anger.

“When that time comes, I’ll call you my parents-in-law.”

“How can you be so calm?”

To the Mother Superior’s question, Amon answered with a pure, clear smile.

“There’s an Eastern saying: ‘Those near vermilion become red.’ If I show her how to forgive first, Sonia will eventually change too.”

Amon turned his gaze toward the window and murmured.

“Until then, it’s not so bad to rest my wings.”

Amon stared at the sky, seemingly lost in deep thought. The Mother Superior, looking at the back of his head, sighed as if she had realized something.

“Come to think of it, you’ve always had an air about you like you might leave at any moment since you were young. Perhaps… that wasn’t my imagination?”

Amon nodded gently.

“That’s right.”

“Why…”

“It’s nice to leave the nest alone and soar through the sky. But a bird flying alone cannot fly far.”

Amon’s eyes were following a flock of migratory birds heading south for warmth.

The nun, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“Since when?”

When the flock of migratory birds was no longer visible through the window, Amon turned around to face the couple.

And as always, with a smile that concealed his meaning, he answered.

“I believe Mother Goddess sent me here for a reason. Is that answer enough?”

***

“Argh!! Impossible! What a detestable woman! Was it a lie that your love was directed at everyone?!”

Naberius’s scream brought Amon back to the present.

Amon’s mood, which had been good until just now, plummeted.

“Tsk.”

Amon drew his sword.

The joint pain that had been hindering his movements and the self-loathing that had stiffened his body were now gone.

And Naberius’s lies held no meaning before Amon’s discerning eyes.

Amon gave Sonia a look.

Sonia, with her beautiful wings spread, returned a merciful smile.

“I’ll leave Orobas to you.”

“I’ll be back.”

Amon nodded and rushed toward Naberius.

Naberius, who had been cursing the Goddess, reacted to Amon but—

“Kuhek! How suddenly…!”

“Don’t misunderstand. It wasn’t that you were strong, but that I was weakened.”

He was dragged away by Amon, who had fully recovered his condition, without being able to resist.

Amon slashed the dog demon, kicked it, and checked on his companions.

They were asleep due to Sonia’s power.

Amon sent mental thanks to Sonia while focusing on the dog demon before him.

He kicked away the drooling dog demon to create distance and spoke.

“I’ve been wondering about this for a really long time.”

“What?”

“I’ve been wondering what genre this world really is.”

“Are you crazy? What are you suddenly talking about?”

Naberius ignored him and attacked Amon.

But Amon blocked all the attacks while continuing to speak.

“No matter how I think about it, magic exists in this world, and both mechanization and genetic procedures are advanced, you know?”

Naberius couldn’t understand what Amon was talking about, nor why he was saying it to him.

Above all, he found it very unpleasant that Amon wasn’t focusing on the battle but continuing to talk.

But Amon didn’t stop his muttering.

“No matter how I think about it, this world seems more like fusion punk than cyberpunk? At best, it’s arcane punk? It doesn’t seem like cyberpunk at all, you know?”

What is he talking about? The question rose to Naberius’s throat.

But his claws silently aimed for Amon’s neck. All of them were blocked by Amon.

“But no matter how I think about it… I’d like this to be part 4, you know. But it doesn’t seem like part 4 either.”

Amon briefly recalled the protagonists he had experienced.

The past protagonists always fought against one massive organization.

In the end, their true endings always brought about a cataclysmic change to the world.

But Amon had never properly fought against a massive organization so far.

Of course, Megacorp is huge.

But it wasn’t comparable to the organizations faced by protagonists who had seen true endings.

If anything, it was closer to a prologue boss.

The legendary past protagonists had legendary backgrounds where they had taken down several Megacorp-level organizations before their main stories even began.

That’s why Amon had been troubled.

He hadn’t found a proper opponent yet, couldn’t even guess what the true ending was,

and felt he wasn’t on the same level as the past protagonists.

So Amon thought:

“No matter how I think about it, part 4 doesn’t seem to have even started??”

So Amon defined this world as part 3. As an extension of part 3, which was a cyberpunk genre.

Because he dared not think that his current self was on the same level as those legendary figures.

But that was only until today.

“Now I can walk their path a little differently.”

The path of the past protagonists is great.

But it’s sad.

They achieved great feats and gloriously sacrificed themselves.

Amon admires and respects them, but he wants to walk their path a little differently.

When all stories end, wouldn’t it be happier if there was at least one person to hold hands with?

That’s why he hadn’t walked that path until now.

Because he couldn’t bear to leave Sonia, who was once a friend and now a lover.

Life is long. It wasn’t too late to wait until she spread her wings.

The gears of the story that Amon had paused began to turn.

“Let me begin my story, you unbelievers of this world.”

Amon destroyed his silver anklet.

Divine Power that was so strong it was strange he hadn’t noticed it before began to leak from his body.

Amon didn’t control the Divine Power flowing through his veins.

With that alone, incomparable Divine Power flowed out compared to just moments ago.

Seeing this, Naberius’s three heads each recalled a different face.

The man who cut off the limbs of the Saint of Sin and killed the Antichrist.

The man who single-handedly annihilated all entities that could destroy this world.

The man who permanently banished the four artificial intelligences that ruled the world.

They were different people, but they always thwarted Goetia’s plots.

The three heads screamed in rage.

“You…! How long will you…!”

Naberius’s screams were drowned out by Amon’s chanting.

[O my soul! Praise the name of the Mother Lord!]

[Forget not her grace, and forgive all my sins and transgressions!]

As Amon’s chanting began, a different song from Sonia’s mercy song started to be heard.

That song harmonized with Sonia’s mercy song, filling the place with a sacred atmosphere.

Naberius, who had been shouting with veins bulging on his neck, suddenly froze in place and couldn’t say anything.

At first, he thought it was an illusion, but as the chanting continued, he realized it wasn’t.

‘Impossible.’

His source was being shaved away. The soul of his main body, separated from his flesh, was being shaved away.

The lifespan that demons shouldn’t have was being shaved away.

Annihilation.

A word he had never considered came to mind.

Naberius barked more violently, trying to forget his fear.

“This can’t be!” “Don’t be ridiculous! After abandoning me!” “I’ll kill you!!”

But Amon’s chanting continued.

[All people! Fear! For she is gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in mercy!]

[Rely on her mercy!]

“Kyaaaak!”

[Bless this land!]

[Benedicite Creatrix!]

A spherical domain expanded with Amon at its center.

When the sphere finally touched Naberius’s body, it disappeared without any resistance.

He tried to escape, but the domain was faster.

“Save me…”

Naberius disappeared before finishing his words.

Meanwhile, as Amon created his domain, Orobas, whom Sonia was facing, was crying.

He tried to keep his eyes open as they gradually closed, but eventually couldn’t withstand the weight of his eyelids.

“I want… to sleep…”

With those words, the horse-headed demon also turned to ashes and disappeared.

At the place where the two demons had vanished.

In that place that felt sacred, Amon and Sonia looked into each other’s eyes.

“Sonia. Let’s go together.”

“Yes. Together forever.”

Without anyone taking the lead, the two held hands and moved their faces toward each other.

The two faces disappeared within Sonia’s wings.

When the wings spread again, a beautiful ring was on her ring finger.