“It’s not Atjie’s blood?”
“It’s only a possibility. But,”
Dierre once again brought his hand toward the blood, but still could not touch it.
“The reason to go so far as to make it impossible to touch this, I can’t think of anything else.”
“You’re saying this blood is the culprit’s?”
Frondier asked back as he thought to himself.
It was a story with potential. All the more so because Frondier was the one who had fought Atjie the most. For him, it was hard to even imagine Atjie bleeding.
The fact that there were no bloodstains anywhere else around here besides this spot only heightened that suspicion.
“Have you discovered something?”
At that moment, Ospreet approached, apparently having heard the two of them talking.
“Yes, in fact─”
Dierre briefly conveyed his line of reasoning.
By that time, everyone nearby had already gathered to listen to Dierre’s story.
“......If this blood really is the culprit’s, that actually adds another contradiction.”
Philly spoke, and Aten nodded in reply.
“Why Mister Atjie collapsed, is what it is.”
The blood pooled beneath Atjie’s body. It was by no means an ordinary amount. For a normal person, it was more than enough to die, and even warriors with considerable regenerative ability would not come away unscathed.
With this level of injury inflicted, why did Atjie lose?
“......The blood.......”
The one who murmured then was Philly’s second daughter, Salle.
“With the Empire’s current technological level, to identify an individual from blood, you need several milliliters. And that’s assuming clean blood, so if it’s blood that’s spilled on the ground or has been contaminated over time, you’d need a far greater volume.”
To that, Philly asked,
“With this much here, wouldn’t it be enough?”
“Yes, it would.”
There, Salle lifted her head.
“Because it was not washed away by the rain.”
“......!”
At that, Philly’s eyes flew wide. Frondier’s did as well.
Only Dierre tilted his head, not understanding the situation.
Before meeting Dierre, Frondier had already heard the situation from Philly. He had also heard about Philly’s foresight.
The reason why, despite having seen a prophecy, Philly had failed to stop Atjie’s death.
Because in her foresight, it had been raining.
“Rain......?”
Dierre, after hearing that explanation, tilted his head, unable to understand.
Rain, she said. When Atjie was found, the sky had been perfectly clear. Not just that day, but for the past few days the Empire had seen nothing but perfectly clear skies. It was not a place where rain fell that often to begin with.
Philly’s first daughter, Elicia, spoke.
“Because it wasn’t raining, I let my guard down. I was sure that when Atjie faced danger, it would definitely be when it was raining.”
The one who answered that was Salle.
“But precisely because it didn’t rain, the blood wasn’t washed away, and we were able to reason things out this far.”
Aten looked at Frondier.
“Mister Frondier, we thought that even after seeing the foresight, we failed to change it. But maybe.”
Maybe, the foresight had already been changed.
By none other than Atjie himself.
“.......”
Frondier covered his mouth with his hand.
In this moment, Frondier’s brain was spinning faster than ever. Another color settled into his eyes. Everyone who saw that fell silent and waited for Frondier.
'The culprit wounded Atjie and bled. Most likely, that was when the culprit’s plan went off track. They had intended to kill Atjie purely through combat, but that didn’t go as desired, and in the end the culprit felled Atjie by some other means.'
What was that other means.
Before asking that, there was something more important.
“......Why did the culprit choose a fight, when there was an easy way to kill Atjie?”
Unless they were simply mad for battle, if there was an easier way to kill the opponent, they could have just used that from the start.
From the situation, Atjie had no way to block the enemy’s means. That was why he fell. The culprit would have known that too.
Yet the culprit did not use that easy method, and as a result ended up wounded by Atjie and even bled.
“......I know saying this is childish of me. But.”
Frondier lifted his head and looked at everyone.
“Right now, doesn’t Atjie’s death feel ‘incomplete’?”
“I think so too.”
Dierre nodded.
“Because that’s the only assumption that makes sense of this situation.”
The culprit meant to kill Atjie.
That was why they discarded the other means and deliberately chose combat.
Because their non-combat means were incomplete. The logic fit.
'Then what was that means.'
That was what even Atjie could not respond to and fell victim to.
The fallen Atjie had become someone no one could touch. The same went for the blood pooled around Atjie.
Magic that even with the Empire’s skilled magicians gathered, they could not dispel.
Within the scope of Frondier’s knowledge, only one thing was possible.
'......Ecleksis.'
The culprit had used Ecleksis. They were someone capable of using Ecleksis.
Given that they were able to face Atjie head-on and, from the outset, had assumed their own victory, the odds they were human were vanishingly low.
Either a god or a demon, one of the two. At a time like this, when Satan and the other Seven Deadly Sins were busy watching Zeus’s mood. The more likely side was the gods.
'But according to what I heard from the demons, there are no cases where you die just because Ecleksis is fired.'
Frondier alone was the exception.
But even for Frondier, killing the opponent was only an outcome, and Frondier’s Ecleksis itself was not something whose purpose was to kill.
It’s the opposite of mine, if anything. Unlike my power, where there’s a risk of dying even though killing isn’t the purpose, this looks like death but isn’t a complete death.'
Still, judging from the effect, it was certainly a power that was infinitely close to death. This power could not subjugate or make the opponent submit. It seemed to be a state itself that was the objective.
Among the gods, a god who used an Ecleksis close to this.
But this alone was not enough to know.
To narrow down the culprit further,
“Why did the culprit target Atjie. Was this crime their objective? Or are they aiming for something bigger.”
Jane asked.
She wore a sorrowful face, remembering a former student.
“......I see.”
Frondier lifted his head.
“What it’s aiming at is me.”
“Huh?”
“There was something that kept not making sense, but now it’s clear.”
If the culprit was one of the gods, there was absolutely no reason to target Atjie.
Atjie had no divine power, but he had never rejected the gods, nor had he done anything that would earn their hatred.
However, if Atjie were not the final objective, then everything became clear.
It was to draw Frondier in.
To lure Frondier through Atjie’s death.
Into their own territory.
In the human world, gods could not exert their full power, and humans could not kill gods.
'Indeed.'
A truly simple story.
Just as Frondier was thinking of striking back at the gods, the gods also found Frondier a complete eyesore.
To the point they wanted to kill him right this instant.
'I know who the culprit is.'
A god who used Ecleksis, whose Ecleksis was closely tied to death, and whose objective was Frondier himself.
'Thanatos.'
Golden eyes and black wings, the unmistakable god of death from Greek mythology, in the form of a boy.
Thanatos, who had set a trigger on the activation of Weaving to try to kill Frondier. From their very first meeting, he had been an enemy with whom Frondier could never walk side by side.
“That’s how it is.”
Knowing the culprit, knowing the objective.
Frondier spoke.
“Our hearts match.”
It was a relieved expression, and,
“.......”
Even his allies fell silent and gulped down their fear at the chilling look in his eyes.
Bzzzt─
As if it had been waiting for that moment, Frondier’s phone rang.
When Frondier checked the screen, someone he had not expected at all was calling him.
‘Revet de Lishae.’
Revet, Elodie’s older brother. He was the one calling.
'What is this about?'
When Frondier answered, a hurried voice came from the other side.
[Frondier, get over here right now!]
Without greeting or asking after him, Revet spoke bluntly.
“Where do you mean?”
[Come to Teivon! Hurry! There’s something I need to show you!]
At that, Frondier narrowed his eyes.
“......Do you not know what situation I’m in right now? I am busy at the moment.”
[I know, I know!]
He knew?
As Frondier tilted his head at that, Revet said,
[You want to save Atjie, don’t you!]
“......!”
[I came to Teivon a few days ago at Hector’s request. No matter how cold this place is, news still flies! I heard the rough story. That Atjie kicked it in the middle of some damn road!]
Crude words flew out of Revet’s mouth.
As Frondier was about to say something to that,
[That’s bullshit!]
One sentence that brought all of Frondier to a stop.
[Is Atjie the kind of bastard who dies like that, Frondier!]
“......There’s no way.”
[Whatever the situation is, you’re going to try to save Atjie. You’ll completely ignore everyone else’s worries and just do it! That’s the kind of bastard you are!]
Revet spoke as if seeing straight through him.
Because it was exactly as he said, Frondier had nothing to say.
He soon let out a short, “Ha.”
It was close to a hollow laugh, but for the first time since he had come here, a small smile bloomed.
“Yes, I am that kind of bastard.”
[Then get your ass over here, pronto! Time is of the essence!]
Come to think of it, Revet’s voice had been hurried the whole time. Whether he was running toward somewhere, or being chased by something.
“What is going on?”
[You’ll see when you get here!]
He was right.
After answering that he understood, Frondier hung up.
“It seems I need to go. Revet is calling me about Atjie.”
Philly nodded. Right now, if it could save Atjie, they needed to secure every scrap of information they could.
“Be careful, Frondier.”
“Of course.”
Just as Frondier was about to take off again.
Someone grabbed his hand.
It was Aten.
“......Aten?”
Frondier asked, but Aten said nothing. She simply held Frondier’s hand tight, her eyes wandering here and there.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It’s just, just......”
Biting her lip hard, Aten looked at Frondier.
Even if she did not say it, her eyes were speaking.
Don’t go.
For some reason she could not name, she felt he must not go.
Yet she knew that what she was saying was nonsense.
“......It’s okay.”
To reassure her, Frondier spoke.
“I’ll be back.”
***
Frondier’s flight speed was the fastest among humans in the Empire. Because the Heukcheon he possessed served as wings, and at the same time its whole body emitted aura to increase thrust.
However, his aura consumption was that much faster than others’. Because he possessed the mana of Helheim, normally that consumption was nothing to worry about, but this time was different.
He had crossed the continent once, gone back and forth repeatedly between the mansion and the site of Atjie’s incident, and now he had flown all the way to Teivon again.
“......Huff, huff. Hoo.”
When Frondier arrived in Teivon, he realized he had very little aura left. Physically as well, he was exhausted.
“This was the designated spot.”
Revet had sent him a particular location via phone. The coordinates pointed beyond Teivon’s outer wall.
For ordinary people, it was a very dangerous place where monsters from outside could come charging in, but for the current Frondier, it did not matter in the slightest.
“......That cave, huh.”
Looking around, Frondier soon spotted a cave. His instincts also told him that there was something inside it.
Frondier lightly propelled his body toward the cave.
But the closer he got, the stranger the feeling he received.
What he felt first was the scent of mana that was somehow familiar. At first he thought that was only natural, since Revet would be waiting inside.
However, he gradually realized this was not just any familiar mana.
By the time Frondier set foot at the cave entrance, he immediately understood what that mana was.
“......You, why......?”
Inside the cave, a woman was standing.
Sunset-colored hair, eyes that held a lake.
Beside her, Revet and Hector lay collapsed. Judging by the relaxed rise and fall of their shoulders, it seemed they had merely fainted.
“Hi, Fron.”
And the woman standing there greeted Frondier.
“Elodie.”
Frondier looked at Elodie, heightening his tension.
What stood before him was unmistakably Elodie. Neither a trick of the eye, nor any kind of illusion.
From Agoris, across the continent to this place, Elodie had flown here and now stood before his eyes.
At that moment, Frondier had a premonition.
That among everything he had done up to now,
he was about to fight the hardest battle of his life.
“Fron, I’m sorry.”
Elodie wore a small smile.
“I can’t let you go.”
“Elodie.”
“Even if the whole world lets you go, even if I know you’re doing the right thing.”
Divine Power Release
Rudra, Agni, Indra, Chandra
Four Gods Simultaneous Deployment
Designation,
Inies.
A storm of divine power that seemed ready to explode surged around Elodie.
Within the light of vivid colors, Elodie looked at Frondier.
She wore a small smile.
─Protect Frondier. For the sake of that one thing, how much sacrifice is acceptable? Is it something more important than your life? Is it something worth twisting your entire fate for? Or is it something that must come first, even if it shatters the balance of the whole world?
“I’m sorry.”
As she spoke, as she smiled,
Elodie cried.
“I have to protect °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° you.”
