Hans’s rampage, ironically enough, gave everyone a chance to reorganize their front line.
The soldiers of the Yuta Kingdom held back the surging cryptids, pulling their original formation backward while constructing makeshift magical barricades from which they began a defensive stand.
They faced the cryptids head-on, but never advanced their formation.
They only held their ground with absolute stubbornness.
To some, they looked like an impenetrable iron wall holding back the enemy assault.
But from another angle, it looked more as if they were blocking the path so that the rear units could not advance.
Considering that their actual intention matched the latter, it was not exactly wrong.
Even so, there was no reason to resent the soldiers of the Yuta Kingdom.
Their goal was to stop the Demon King, but the repeated strange phenomena were wearing them down emotionally and mentally.
Above all, Galaharad Fortress—the Demon King’s dwelling—was now suspended high in the sky.
Even if they wanted to advance, no ordinary soldier could reach such a place.
A suddenly sprouted white tree connected to it like a drawbridge, but who in their right mind would dare climb that?
Naturally, the regular soldiers could only wait for those who had gone ahead to resolve things.
Thanks to that, Rine was able to gather people without interference or scrutiny.
Spatial magic capable of fast long-distance transport proved extremely useful.
“Is everyone here now?”
Verom asked, resting his sword casually over his shoulder.
He was uneasy about having to join forces with the priests he had just been fighting, but what choice was there?
The situation demanded it.
“What about that beastkin fellow fighting over there? Are we not bringing him?”
The one who answered Verom’s question was Alex.
“He probably can’t come.”
“Why is that?”
“Because he’s finally found the fight he always wanted. If we go help him, Phantos will get angry instead.”
“I cannot understand that in the slightest.”
“Just think of it as a man’s pride—something he absolutely refuses to compromise.”
“Well, if that’s the case.”
Phantos had to focus on restraining Hans.
Meanwhile, the people who had been huddled together in the First Checkpoint City to avoid the cryptids also managed to join.
Stella Siren and the Cold Steel Knights.
Their joining caused quite a few complications.
The Church’s brainwashing had not been limited to the Nightcrawler Knights.
Its subtle tendrils had reached other knightly orders as well, and the moment tensions rose, the controlled ones revealed their true nature.
But the brainwashing no longer held power.
Aidan and Mandelina.
With the combined art used by the mentor–disciple pair who wielded anti-magic, all the brainwashing was wiped out.
“There are still many people on the battlefield who are under the brainwashing. We need to help them.”
Aidan, brimming with a sense of justice, volunteered immediately.
Mandelina pressed her hand heavily on Aidan’s head, roughly ruffling his hair.
“Ah! Why!”
“Because I’m proud of you. You brat—you’ve gotten so reliable it’s hard to ruffle your head now. We still have a lot to do. If you collapse on the way, don’t expect me to take responsibility.”
“I’m fine, but what about you, Mentor?”
“Who’s worrying about who? You don’t need to. Go wild as much as you want.”
Not everyone could head for Galaharad Fortress, so they divided responsibilities.
First, those who had been brainwashed still suffered aftereffects and needed rest.
Someone also needed to protect the wounded.
Even if Phantos was holding Hans back, cryptids were still wandering about in twos and threes.
So the priests remained behind for that purpose.
“We wouldn’t be of much help even if we went. It’s better for us to stay here, tend to the injured, and prevent further casualties.”
Of course, some insisted on going instead.
“I’m going too.”
Alex stood up, brushing off his wounds.
The priests’ healing was truly remarkable.
When they were enemies, there were no opponents more troublesome—but when allies, they were incredibly reassuring.
They even healed people who had been on the verge of death.
Of course, Alex had survived that long in the first place thanks to having a body far stronger than most.
“Alex... must you really go?”
Enya asked with reddened eyes.
She had cried too hard earlier; faint streaks of tears were still dried on her cheeks.
“Yes. I have to go help. This is a promise, man to man.”
“Alex. I...”
“Shh.”
Alex shook his head, telling her she did not need to say anything more.
“We can finish the rest of that conversation after I come back.”
“....”
Enya stepped back, realizing she could not stop him.
Fortunately, Alex himself showed clear determination that he would return alive no matter what.
“Then let’s go. Everyone, relax your minds and follow the path my mana opens.”
Rine released her mana outward.
Spatial mana gathered around them, causing the air to shimmer with light.
Everyone’s eyes widened at the reaction—so different from ordinary magic.
The master-ranked knights sensed Rine’s mana resonating with the atmosphere, subtly vibrating the entire space.
Flash!
With a blinding burst of light, Rine and all who had gathered around her vanished.
As if they had never existed there to begin with.
* * *
After receiving the note from Ludger and regaining her forgotten memories, Catherine needed a long time before she could calm her emotions.
Perhaps because she had suppressed her feelings for so long while living as the Saintess, the backlash left her feeling as if she had cried out an entire lifetime’s worth of tears.
“Haa... sniff.”
When she finally finished crying, she found her own reaction so ridiculous that she actually laughed.
To cry that sorrowfully at her age, and in the very next moment, feel too overwhelmed with joy to contain herself...
She felt like a fool, yet also strangely relieved.
She had fought with everything she had—and lost.
And on top of that, she had been helped by Ludger.
‘So that’s how it was. That fool escaped this hell... and still kept worrying about me.’
She had been ignorant of that, and even scolded Ludger for coming here, attacking him in her anger.
Catherine felt ashamed of her behavior.
How could a woman with such incomplete eyes, unable to see even this future, dare call herself a Saintess?
Her thoughts came to an abrupt stop.
Her head snapped to the side.
“Who’s there?”
Before she sensed a presence, her eyes hurt °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° again.
A faint pain—and with it, she felt her vision connected to something... or someone.
And that someone was approaching.
Beyond a half-collapsed corridor, two figures appeared.
One was a cold-looking, silver-haired man.
The other was a beautiful woman with long ash-gray hair.
Catherine’s gaze fixed on the woman and would not move.
It was her.
The source of the pain in Catherine’s eyes. For some unknown reason, the being connected to her.
“Who are you?”
The silver-haired woman—Arkenis—smiled gently and spoke.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Saintess of this era. My name is Arkenis. I am simply an ordinary girl who woke up from a very long sleep.”
“Ar... kenis? Impossible.”
Catherine was deeply shocked, yet instinctively accepted that the woman before her truly was Arkenis.
She could feel it—the origin of the power resting within her body was the woman standing before her.
“But how? You... died a thousand years ago...”
“That is merely what people were told.”
“...Why have you come to find me?”
Catherine’s tone shifted.
She was perceptive—quick to judge the situation.
She showed respect to Arkenis, but the strongest emotion in her eyes was caution.
If Arkenis said she wanted to reclaim the power Catherine held... Catherine would be in a very difficult position.
But Arkenis smiled serenely, as if such worries were unnecessary.
“There is something I must say to you.”
* * *
Ludger reached the top of the fortress.
The center of Galaharad Fortress. The highest spire.
It had already been high before, but now that the fortress floated in the sky, all of Bretus Island lay beneath him.
Everything looked small and distant.
Even the hellscape below, from this vast and lofty vantage point, seemed like nothing.
As if he could press down with his hand and crush it like something fragile.
‘So this is what you see. Lumenis.’
The main god Lumenis.
He must see an even wider world from an even higher place.
To him, the humans crawling across the continent were less than insects—microscopic beings unworthy of attention.
Lumenis simply enjoyed watching those microorganisms form colonies within the cage He had created.
What hardships an individual microorganism might suffer did not matter. He did not care.
He only wished for the entire cage to remain in its most beautiful form.
The vision He desired most was likely this:
Everyone worshipping Him.
For all eternity.
Without change.
But Ludger could feel it.
The sorrow, suffering, anger, pain, and despair of the people fighting below.
And also their determination and will to survive no matter what.
He felt all of it.
No matter how high he stood.
No matter how small they looked like ants from up here.
‘In the end, we are all human.’
The highest spire at the center of the fortress had been built for the enthroned Holy Sovereign to stand with his closest retainers and look down upon the people.
This was it.
This was the place where Ludger would end everything.
Perhaps that was why...
Unfamiliar faces—and familiar ones—began appearing one by one.
People suddenly manifested in a place with no cover and nowhere to hide.
It should have been surprising, but Ludger only looked at each face calmly.
His gaze finally rested on the girl who had brought everyone here—Rine.
“Rine. You made it.”
“Yes.”
Rine met Ludger’s eyes and answered confidently.
“Did you come to stop me?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I came to talk.”
“I don’t know what you intend to say, but step aside. I have something I must do.”
Ludger drew the relic from inside his coat.
The relic, once covered in dense white divine script, now appeared simply as a glowing white disc.
“I must use this. I have crossed countless hardships to reach this moment.”
“And if you use it... what will happen?”
“What do you think? With your eyes—you should be able to see it, shouldn’t you?”
Ludger looked into Rine’s pupils, as if peering into her [Judgment Eye].
Rine shook her head.
“...No. Even I cannot see it. As if fate itself refuses to permit it.”
“I see.”
After all, the Judgment Eye was a divine authority born from a god’s power.
No matter how powerful, this relic was infused with the powers of multiple gods and was directly involved in this event. The Judgment Eye could not glimpse it.
Meaning—it was an undecided future.
A pitch-black future where nothing could be seen.
That meant desired possibilities could come true...
But terrible outcomes could also unfold.
And it would be the people gathered here who would shape that future.
“Since you’ve come this far, I suppose you deserve to know what it is I’m trying to do.”
Everyone listened to Ludger’s words.
Even the Owens members—his own allies—were no exception.
None of them had ever heard Ludger’s true objective.
Now that things had reached this point, one could say the situation was essentially concluded.
Perhaps that optimism was what invited disaster.
“I’d like to hear that as well.”
A voice sounded.
Leisurely, relaxed, tinged with mischief.
Who?
No one present had spoken.
Naturally, everyone’s gaze shifted toward the source of the voice.
Upward.
Toward the sky.
‘The sky?’
Impossible.
The fortress itself was already floating in the sky. And yet—something above?
Everyone looked toward the open void overhead.
And they saw it.
Something falling, accompanied by a blinding flash of white.
“Everyone, move!”
Terrina’s warning came barely in time before the falling object crashed into the spire.
“Th–This is...”
When the dust cleared, what was revealed surpassed everyone’s imagination.
It was the Lord of the Wind Element.
A unique form, its central torso rotating like layered rings, six massive pairs of white wings unfurled around it.
The apex of all wind spirits—
The one that had summoned storm clouds to this battlefield and sealed the path through the sky.
That Wind Elemental Lord had fallen onto the fortress.
It was shocking beyond belief.
A monkey falling from a tree was one thing—but an Elemental Lord of Wind falling from the sky?
Who could possibly—
Everyone’s eyes shot upward again.
From above the place where the Elemental Lord had fallen—
—descended a star-like radiance.
No—
a person shining like starlight.
