Chapter 19. Symbol and Idol (11)

Anna had a serene expression.

As if she had accepted everything.

Her expression, slightly obscured by the light behind her head, was simply calm.

Blood was flowing from her outstretched hand. The church had given her gloves to cover the holy wound, but the white gloves had long since lost their color.

Without even drying, red blood welled up from within, and the fabric became lustrous. Anna’s white clothes were the same.

Without complaining of pain, without being crushed by the burden on her shoulders, Anna simply stood there, holding her ground.

Anna had said several times that she didn’t want this situation.

I didn’t think she was lying. Anna… rather than simply disliking the position, she was seriously contemplating her own qualifications.

Does that mean that when the time comes to accept it, she will accept it?

Ria could understand that feeling.

Ria had experienced something similar.

I don’t think the weight is the same. Even if she is the daughter of the greatest hero in this country and is forced to inherit that name-it’s incomparable to becoming a symbol of a religious order.

But, even so.

Ria felt so sorry for Anna like that.

I love her.

There’s nothing she can do about that feeling. Perhaps that emotion is mixed in.

She wishes that the moment their bodies touch, their lips touch, would last forever. She wishes it could continue on.

But Anna’s appearance now seemed as if she had already moved on to a higher plane.

Therefore, the emotion Ria felt was not just pity.

Resentment.

Ria was a little surprised to feel such an emotion towards Anna.

She was resenting the fact that Anna might not be by her side someday. The fact that she might leave her behind and go far away.

“…….”

Is that so.

Marie, who had been in a similar situation to Ria, had said.

Don’t let Anna become a god.

It seemed that wasn’t just emotional advice.

Ria drew her sword.

No matter how high Ria climbed, trying to hug Anna’s waist and stay by her side, Anna was always above. Like the white cloth fluttering on the holy flagpole held high, even though she didn’t want to, she was already up there.

If she couldn’t be by her side, she would pull her down and be together.

Ascension or whatever, Ria was not ready to accept it.

……Whether that is God’s will or not.

“Hahaha!”

Laughter was heard.

Someone far above Ria was looking down at Ria. And Anna behind her.

“I’m grateful for this situation!”

“…….”

“Yes, I may not be able to stop you. But, the fact that I can offer this life to the true gods-“

The words didn’t finish.

Ria swung her sword with all her emotion. A very clean horizontal cut.

The monster didn’t fall with a single blow. Rather, it withstood the sword strike once and looked at Ria, staggering.

“How rude-“

“You’re the rude one.”

Ria muttered as she leaped into the magic bullets raining down from above.

Even without that, laughing in front of someone who was already in a bad mood was not polite.

I know that claim is unreasonable. Not everyone in the world can cater to Ria’s mood.

But still, it felt unpleasant.

More than anything.

“You aimed for Anna.”

Ria’s eyes shone menacingly.

It wasn’t just because Ria was a knight protecting Anna and was engrossed in her mission.

Ria’s object of obsession was Anna herself.

Ria didn’t know when she had become so obsessed. She had thought she would watch over someone who reminded her of her mother, who sacrificed her life in battle, with a little favor-but that person had somehow taken too deep a hold in Ria’s life.

It was a little annoying.

It was a little bothersome.

But, more than any of those feelings, she felt joy first.

As she kicked off the ground and leaped up, the falling magic bullets did not assault Ria.

Anna was behind her. She felt a light more intense than any she had ever seen.

And the sound of something breaking.

Grind. Gritting her teeth, she heard a slight grinding sound. Ria tried to block that breaking sound with that sound.

Who on earth do you think is protecting whom?

By the time she swung her sword, Ria was also feeling sadness.

*

I took one step forward.

The blackened grassland beneath my feet slowly regained its vitality. The original color of the grassland, slowly regaining its blue hue as if returning to before it was blackened, was beautiful.

The pain I felt in my hand had weakened to the point where I could barely feel it anymore.

It felt less like I was healed and more like my body had become numb to the pain because it hurt too much.

I continued to hold the flagpole. Without leaning on it, holding it high above my head, I moved forward one step at a time.

I could see Ria fighting beyond my blurred vision.

The white sword in her hand looked heavy. Now, the light of that sword had become so immense that it seemed to crush the person holding it.

I reached out towards the magic flying towards Ria. I extinguished the black magic as if a giant hand were covering Ria’s body.

Cheers were barely heard anymore.

Screams, the sound of clashing swords.

The sound of artillery and gunfire.

Only the fluttering red cross made a sound as it waved.

I knew I had to protect others. That there would be people who needed my power.

But, all I could see was Ria.

I was afraid Ria would get hurt, afraid she might leave my side.

That was the only thing I was afraid of.

If Ria died in this world, it would be my fault.

……I would be disqualified as a Saint.

Ria stopped moving.

The monster, repeatedly cut by the white sword, still stood its ground. The monsters around it roared and tried to escape from the monster, but as the monster raised its staff into the sky, they were easily sucked in like pebbles being sucked into a vortex.

Swirling black clouds.

The clouds I had made a hole in rotated and gathered towards the staff.

Ria looked back at me.

No.

From behind, the black monster raised its staff. The staff, much, much larger than before, seemed capable of splitting the ground with the sheer weight of its magic alone.

Solely to eliminate Ria, that monster was raising its staff.

Me.

It’s me.

You should aim for me.

I extended my trembling legs forward.

Crack.

Again, a cracking sound was heard. It would be problematic if it got any bigger. A few fingers might fall off.

But, that didn’t happen.

Ria’s face beyond my blurred vision seemed angry.

Ria raised her sword.

And, she aimed towards me-no, towards the sky above my head.

“……Ah.”

No.

I reached out towards where Ria’s sword was pointing, but the light from the sky was no longer directed at me.

Only the halo behind my head proved that I still possessed immense holy power.

The light moved to the sword.

Ria slowly raised her sword, which had been facing me, upwards again.

Blood was flowing on the back of Ria’s hand gripping the sword. The sleeve of her white armor was stained red, and a red line was drawn over the armor encasing her arm.

Ria was looking directly at me.

Crack.

Even from this distance, a cracking sound was heard. It wasn’t the sound from my hand.

“Ah…”

That wound isn’t healing.

I had seen many dying people. People who came with terrible parasites from another world inside them, people who were barely breathing even though their bones and flesh were separated. People with severed limbs.

But strangely, looking at Ria’s wound hurt me more than looking at those people.

Because it’s a wound I can’t heal.

As if sensing my expression, Ria looked at me expressionlessly for a moment and then turned around.

Light spread around Ria’s body.

Although it wasn’t like the grass reviving around me, the land that had been blackened was purified.

While that was happening, the monster couldn’t strike Ria down.

The giant mass of magic had already flown halfway. Even though it only slightly touched the sword Ria raised.

Ria, holding the shining sword, charged towards the monster.

*

I remembered what Anna had said.

Even if she doesn’t believe in a being called God, if it’s to protect and save people, her pride isn’t that important.

If praying could save someone, she would gladly do so.

Then, Ria should be able to do it too.

To set up an idol in her heart and believe it is God.

She said not to make her a god, didn’t she?

That probably means she doesn’t want people to arbitrarily consider Anna a god.

In that case, Ria just needs to usurp that faith.

Believe in the idol, borrow its power for a moment, and become a Saint for a while.

“…….”

It was wordplay.

Ultimately, that means creating a goddess for whom there is only one believer in the world.

But it was effective.

In many ways.