episode_0183

“This is insane….!! Those things are still chasing us…!! Are those really the physical capabilities a human can possess?!”

“While you’re not so different yourself…. chasing after us while saying such things….!!”

“Aaaahhh!! How dare you destroy the Goddess-nim’s sacred statue….!! Purge the heretics! Purge the hereticssss!!!”

“Punish the heretics!!! In the name of Goddess Camilla-nim, execute those hereticsss!!!”

“Aaaahhh!!! Crazy humans making the cold Snow Woman even more unnerved!!!”

Seeing the villagers who had witnessed the destruction of Camilla’s statue spewing fanatical words and chasing them at superhuman speeds, Yuria, who had been flying away, heard their shouts and began to panic with Tiavel. Then, Dio V Runner, who was flying away using flames from his flamethrower and shoes, looked back. He saw something, gasped loudly, and urgently shouted to Yuria.

“Yuria!! Ice wall!! Create an ice wall behind us!!! The villagers are about to shoot their arrows!!”

“Shoot!!!”

“….!!! Argh, this is crazy!!! Frozen Wall!!!”

Seeing the villagers draw their bowstrings, Dio V Runner urgently shouted to create an ice wall. Yuria quickly erected an ice wall behind them, blocking all the arrows shot by the villagers. As Dio V Runner and Yuria continued to fly, they finally came to a cliff. Seeing that the villagers had given up their pursuit, they felt a great sense of relief.

“Whew…. We almost died at the hands of innocent villagers….”

“Indeed. While we were dealing with enemies at the Revarud facility, things outside really went crazy…. But why didn’t people’s minds return to normal after the statue was destroyed? I thought Gid asked us to destroy the statue because he knew that if it was broken, people brainwashed by divine power would regain their senses….”

As they caught their breath, Yuria questioned why the destruction of the statue hadn’t restored people’s sanity. Dio V Runner fell into thought, recalling the moment they broke the statue. Then, as if realizing something, Dio V Runner nodded and began to explain to Yuria.

“Perhaps the statue had already fulfilled its role of controlling the villagers with divine power, which is why their minds didn’t return to normal even after it was destroyed.”

“What….?! Then why did Gid ask us to destroy it….? Ah…. Don’t tell me!!”

“I don’t know if it’s the same as your thought…. but I think Gid asked us to destroy the statue to temporarily suppress the cult’s activities. If they destroy a deployed statue, they’ll surely redeploy it to expand the spread of divine power… But to those who have been indiscriminately collecting Tiamel from the Revarud facility, this is just buying time. We need to solve the root cause to rescue all living creatures from the divine power.”

“Then the way to solve that cause is….”

“To defeat the master of this divine power…. Camilla.”

When Dio V Runner stated that the only way to resolve the entire situation was to defeat Camilla, the master of the divine power controlling people, Yuria felt overwhelmed and flustered. Meanwhile, Cecilia, who was also destroying a statue in a certain forest, was sitting on a rock, complaining of dizziness.

“Ugh… My head…. Every time I get close to that statue, I hear strange whispers and my head gets… ugh… I feel kind of strange too….”

“You were here. I kept sensing your energy, but I was half in doubt, thinking I might be wrong….”

“….? Ah….!! Merzel!! You’re safe!!”

Cecilia, who was resting on a rock, was overjoyed to see Merzel approaching her, dragging Viola by one leg held in his hand. Then, Cecilia noticed that Viola was unconscious and being dragged by Merzel by the leg. She looked flustered and pointed at Viola, saying:

“But did you really have to drag her like that….? It’s a bit pitiful….”

“This one spoke ignorantly and disrespectfully about angels, which was highly unpleasant, so I brought her this way. More importantly, I am even happier that Cecilia is safe. I was so worried that Cecilia might have been attacked by the cult after we separated.”

“Don’t worry about me…. Even though I look like this!… Those wicked beings who attacked innocent villages… Ugh….. Just thinking about it makes my chest ache so much….”

Cecilia, who had tried to boast of her strength to reassure Merzel, realized that in the past, she had only ever taken out her frustration on innocent people with that strong power. She then recalled those memories and began to feel depressed. Merzel was a little flustered, but he understood that Cecilia had deliberately said such things to reassure him, so he immediately patted Cecilia’s back, comforting her as she grieved.

“I already fully understood that you deliberately acted so outgoing to make me smile ever since you came to Grobel. I will say it again, I am happy, so….”

“I know…. But honestly…. if I didn’t do this much, I felt like my heart would crumble…. That’s why I acted that way… I’m sorry. I showed you a bad side of myself again…”

“It’s alright….. More than that, you already looked unwell…. It seems the divine power emanating from the statue indeed swayed your emotions.”

“That’s right. Just as Yuria said, the cult’s divine power seems to be able to control the emotions of living beings. Because of that, my head is even dizzy…. Ugh….”

“….!! Don’t overexert yourself, Cecilia.”

Just as she was about to say that she almost lost her mind due to exposure to the divine power emanating from the statue, Cecilia swayed and was about to collapse, as if still suffering from the aftereffects. Merzel urgently grabbed her and wiped the sweat from her forehead with his sleeve. Cecilia then smiled bashfully and leaned on Merzel, saying:

“Alright…. Whew…. Can I lean on you for a bit?”

“Of course. By the way…. you’re truly amazing. To have broken so many statues while I was away….”

“Hehehe…. What’s only five?…. Just in case, I also took the face parts off…. I guess they’ll be useful, somehow….”

Seeing five heads of the destroyed statue of Goddess Camilla in front of him, Merzel was greatly surprised. Cecilia recalled how she had evaded people and destroyed the statues earlier, then began to smile brightly, as if feeling a small sense of satisfaction. At that moment, two beings suddenly descended from the sky. Merzel, who was urgently gripping his glaive with his left hand, realized that the two beings were Yuria and Dio V Runner. Relieved, he spoke to them.

“You two are safe as well. How did you shake off your pursuers?”

“We flew through the sky, and everyone got tired and couldn’t keep up. You’re truly amazing too, Merzel. To defeat Viola, who seemed to be a skilled fighter enough to make even Mr. Runner a bit tense.”

“And what did you hit her with? Why is that woman’s armor so dented? It’s crumpled as if something blunt and heavy struck her, not a glaive.”

Yuria, seeing Viola lying unconscious next to Merzel, was surprised that Merzel had defeated Viola. Dio V Runner, observing her closely, noticed unusual marks and began to deduce what kind of fight it had been. While the three talked about Viola, Tiavel, who had emerged from Yuria’s embrace, saw Cecilia leaning on Merzel and resting. She wrote something on a piece of paper and showed it to Cecilia.

‘Are you okay, Unnie?’

“Yes. This Unnie is strong, so I’ll be fine with a little rest. Don’t worry. But you’re also amazing, Tiavel. To be caught up in such a dangerous situation and not be that scared.”

‘I already went crazy because of the cult before. So it’s a little scary, but I’m used to it.’

“I see. You’re truly brave. Whew…. Hey, Dio V Runner. You two saw it too, didn’t you? That even after the statue was broken, people didn’t return to their senses.”

“You saw it too. I was actually about to talk about that… Would you all like to listen first?”

When Cecilia brought up the topic of the statue, Dio V Runner realized that Cecilia had also witnessed people not regaining their senses after the statue was destroyed. He then began to explain the solution to the current situation to Cecilia and Merzel. Hearing Dio V Runner say that to resolve everything, they had to defeat Camilla, the master of divine power, Cecilia gasped loudly and then sighed in exasperation.

“Haaahhhhh…. So, for this insane world to return to normal, we have to defeat the Goddess…. which could be Kaju….?”

“Yes. There are not many left in this world who can resist that power now. Before the enemies increase further, we must quickly defeat Goddess Camilla….”

“This is insane…!!!! The problem with Aria hasn’t even been resolved yet!! If things continue to unfold as you predicted, Yuria….”

“Then Dio V Runner-nim’s proposed solution might also become useless. Furthermore, the bigger problem is…. whether the people of the world will truly listen to our persuasion that we must kill a god and rise up.”

“The more I think about it, the more ridiculous it becomes…. This world seems to have no more hope, Cecilia.”

Merzel, realizing that the situation could worsen if the problem with Aria wasn’t resolved, sighed heavily and told Cecilia that this world seemed hopeless. Cecilia, who already deeply felt this, bowed her head and muttered with a deep sigh.

“This world has begun to fill with despair…. But if we don’t succeed in even one thing, they’ve sealed our fate by saying the world could completely fall into the hands of that so-called Goddess…. It looks even more hopeless… Damn it….”

“Even if we could learn the Goddess’s location from that saint, Viola, whom Merzel brought…. The lack of power to oppose the Goddess is also a big problem….. As Cecilia and Merzel said, this world is hopeless….”

“I don’t think it’s a situation where we should give up so easily.”

“….?”

As Cecilia and Merzel slowly began to give up, Yuria also agreed with them and was about to give up on overcoming the situation herself. At that moment, Dio V Runner said that it wasn’t a situation to give up so easily, which greatly surprised everyone, and they turned their heads to him. Dio V Runner then stroked his chin, recalling the past, and began to speak to them all.

“Even in my hometown, the Ruzarid dimension, some lunatic named Creative did many crazy things to change the races of other living beings to his own. His power was so immense that others hesitated even to confront him…. But even in that situation, there were those who chose to fight him. And after a long struggle, the resistance forces were finally able to defeat him. As someone who was part of that resistance at the time, I can confidently say that…. even in this situation, there will certainly be those who are moving to protect this world.”

“But how many such people are left in this world….”

“How many are left isn’t the problem, Cecilia. What’s important is that such people bravely stand beside us and fight against Camilla together. No matter how small their powers may be, you all know that when they gather, they become a great force, don’t you? So, in my opinion, it’s still too early to conclude this fight.”

Despite the extremely difficult situation, Dio V Runner told them not to give up, saying that this situation could certainly be overcome, just like the battle he had experienced. Everyone then began to ponder whether there truly were other living beings in this world besides themselves who would stand against Camilla. Then, Cecilia and Yuria suddenly flinched as if remembering something. They looked at each other’s faces, nodded, and muttered.

“What if…. what if there are still living beings in this world who received Zeke’s help….”

“Those people must also be like us….!! Dio V Runner, perhaps…. just as you said, there might still be people in this world who want to oppose Goddess Camilla. The living beings Zeke helped! All of them received Zeke’s help and had at least some of their regrets erased, so those living beings might have briefly resisted the divine power just like us!”

“Then Gid might have realized that and gone to find the remaining sane living beings in the world who received Zeke’s help…. But this isn’t a problem Gid can solve alone….”

Dio V Runner understood Gid’s intentions after hearing Cecilia and Yuria’s words, but he questioned whether it was possible for Gid to find all of Zeke’s beneficiaries in this world alone. Then, Tiavel wrote something on a piece of paper and showed the paper with her words written on it to Dio V Runner.

‘Wouldn’t he be well aware of that?’

“…. For such a young child to know such a word…. Anyway, if what you say is true, Gid might have some countermeasure in mind…. Then what we need to do is break the statues as Gid said to buy him time….. But everyone seemed to suffer quite a bit when exposed to divine power….”

“Cecilia also suffered a lot…. So, how about this? Cecilia and Yuria manage this damned saint, and the two of us go around breaking statues….”

“Ah…. No….!! I can still do more…. I can still do more, so…. Ugh….”

When Merzel suggested that he and Dio V Runner go around breaking statues while Yuria and Cecilia looked after Viola, Cecilia tried to force herself to stand up, saying she could still fight. Dio V Runner saw this, pressed down on Cecilia’s shoulder, turned his head to Yuria, and said:

“You and Cecilia should first retreat to a safe place. Especially since you have to protect Tiavel, you can’t move too violently, so I think it would be best to do as Merzel said.”

“….I suppose there’s no choice…. Dio V Runner. You have to do your share and mine. Understood?”

“Yes. I’ll do your share, so don’t worry and…..”

“Ah…. So you are the ones struggling in a futile dream. The ones who seek to trample on our dream.”

“…..!!!!”

Just as Yuria was about to take Cecilia and leave to find a safe place, a tremendous light suddenly burst forth from the sky, and a voice called out to them. Dio V Runner’s group all flinched in surprise and looked up at the sky. They saw a long white-haired woman in a white dress descending from the sky. Dio V Runner saw the woman’s face, flinched, and muttered with a hollow laugh.

“Damn it…. I didn’t expect the situation to deteriorate so rapidly…. No…. Rather, it’s only natural for this to happen… But I didn’t expect her to appear so quickly…. She must have been uneasy leaving it to her followers…. Camilla!!!”

“….!!!”

When Dio V Runner shouted that the woman descending from the sky was Camilla, the others were greatly shocked. Cecilia compared the face of the statue she had brought with the woman’s face and was greatly astonished that it was indeed Goddess Camilla descending from the sky, just as Dio V Runner had said. Thus, they suddenly encountered the mastermind behind all these events.