"Teacher’s theory may not have been so wrong after all..."
That was the Judgment Archbishop’s answer.
That answer held neither fanaticism nor faith. In fact, when it came from the Judgment Archbishop’s mouth, it even carried an eerie sense of perfect ordinariness.
It was like seeing some "expert’s" statement in the newspaper and suddenly feeling, "Ah, he seems to have a point."
And so, at a certain point, one naturally made a choice according to that "expert’s" theory.
As for what result such a choice would lead to...
Would practice not prove it?
There was no evil ambition, nor any grand ideal like Gaius’s "salvation." In a century of killing people over and over, the Judgment Archbishop, whose feelings toward life had long since gone completely numb, simply thought in that plain and simple way.
"It is about to begin."
The Judgment Archbishop raised her head and said softly.
At some point, ash had stopped falling from the sky, and everything had become clear.
There were even faint points of radiance falling from behind the heavy clouds, illuminating this city fallen into darkness.
The sky was splitting open.
First came the clouds. The clouds that had covered the city for days were torn open violently by some invisible force, directly revealing an enormous rift.
Then came the night.
That deep outline gradually tightened, then split from one end to the other into two irregular folds, like a cracked transparent film.
Above the sky were clouds. Behind the clouds was the night.
Behind the night...
Of course, there was a river of stars.
A brilliant river of stars gathered into a magnificent spiral, gradually becoming clear behind the night.
The star river was drawing closer, in a manner and at a speed that defied the scant astronomical common sense currently existing in this world.
Every star was flickering, flickering.
Like countless eyes, blinking, blinking...
"Is this sight truly what you hoped for?" Hezekiah suddenly asked.
"I do not know."
The Judgment Archbishop withdrew her gaze. After looking at that star river for only a few seconds, bloody tears had already begun flowing from the corners of her eyes.
"That is why I wanted to see."
"See... What a truly irresponsible thing to say."
"My apologies, Your Holiness."
The Judgment Archbishop removed the ring of authority that symbolized her identity as an archbishop and gently placed it before Hezekiah.
"I have been sensible for so many years. Please allow me to be willful just this once."
"Willful... is it?"
Hezekiah looked at the ring of authority and suddenly smiled faintly. This was the first time his expression had changed. "This willfulness of yours has come too late, and is far too terrifying."
"From this point onward, I will not act again. I will only serve as a complete bystander. Afterward, no matter how Your Holiness wishes to punish me, I do not mind. I am also willing to be reviled by all as a sinner.
"But..."
The Judgment Archbishop paused, then pleaded:
"Please allow me to keep watching until the end. About Teacher, about you, about this world, I want to obtain an answer that belongs to me... My heart has already gone completely numb, but at least I still want to know what it ought to beat for."
"Only... watching?" Hezekiah closed his eyes, seeming to sink into deep thought.
"That is all I can do, isn’t it?"
The Judgment Archbishop smiled. "After all, Your Holiness likely will not trust me now."
"...Very well, if you believe that will let you find your answer."
Holy Light of the purest and cleanest kind descended, laying shackles around the Judgment Archbishop’s body. Hezekiah opened his eyes, and that profound gaze once again became still as an ancient well. "Then watch."
"Thank you, Your Holiness."
The Judgment Archbishop lowered her head and did not resist this restraint, which was far too humiliating for an archbishop.
She had prepared for it long ago.
"No. I am not the one you should thank," Hezekiah said.
"What does Your Holiness mean..."
"The ones you should thank are certain people who are still trying."
Hezekiah picked up that ring of authority and examined it for a long while. In the end, however, he did not take it away. Instead, he placed it back before the Judgment Archbishop.
"You aided the Salvation Society and handed them such a crucial blade, causing several million innocent people in Saint Blancfazesiya to die wretched deaths... A portion of this enormous sin must inevitably be borne by you. Even if you are an archbishop, you must suffer the punishment of sacred fire gnawing your bones for a hundred years. You should know that better than anyone.
"But..."
"But?"
The Judgment Archbishop frowned, not understanding why His Holiness had abruptly stopped.
"Watch."
Hezekiah did not explain too much. He rose and said:
"Perhaps this game has not completely ended yet. And everything you wish to know lies within it."
...
...
Hezekiah stepped out of the carriage. He had not brought anyone else from the Church on this trip, because he knew that once matters had reached this point, numbers no longer held any meaning.
But someone had already been waiting outside the carriage.
"Your Holiness!"
Liya came over with her cheeks puffed in anger. "What exactly is going on? Why did you suddenly appear and then suddenly take me away? We were clearly about to pry important intelligence out of those Salvation Society spies pretending to be Church clergy!"
"..."
Hezekiah silently swept a glance over his own Saintess. "Have you still not noticed anything abnormal?"
"Abnormal? Of course I have, but isn’t that all the Salvation Society’s doing?"
Liya was perfectly justified. "As long as we get enough intelligence, no matter what conspiracy or trick they are trying, won’t we be able to handle it calmly?"
"That assumes the people you nearly tortured into tears were actually members of the Salvation Society!"
Suppressing the urge to cover his face and sigh, Hezekiah said:
"Set that aside for now. Take this new attendant nun of yours and leave the city for the time being. Someone will come receive you."
"Leave the city? Why?"
"Your task has already been completed. Next... leave it to me."
Holy Light even purer than Liya’s rose and fell with every word Hezekiah spoke. As Pope, every sentence he uttered carried tremendous dignity and force.
"His Holiness will personally handle it... All right."
Naturally, Liya could not find a reason to refuse. Yet just as she was preparing to leave...
"Wait. What about Muen?"
Liya suddenly turned back. "Where did Muen go? Why isn’t he leaving with us?"
Since the Pope himself had taken action, then not only she, but Muen as well should have no reason to remain.
But ever since Saint Blancfazesiya had turned into this strange state, Liya had not seen Muen again.
Even when she had wanted to return to the Ritual Hall to search for him earlier, His Holiness had refused.
This was very strange.
"He..."
The Pope paused.
"That boy likely has his own matters to attend to. And unlike us, he cannot leave casually."
"What do you mean, unlike us?"
"He has already sunk deeply into this timeline. He has gone from an audience member to a true actor. Since he is an actor, then naturally, before the true finale, he cannot leave the stage at will."
"I don’t understand!"
Liya felt that she could not understand what His Holiness was saying at all, and she did not want to understand.
She only knew that after they left, Muen would still remain in this dangerous place.
"If Muen is not leaving, then I am not leaving either!" Liya said angrily, folding her arms.
"You must leave!"
Hezekiah’s words finally carried anger he could not suppress. "This place is very dangerous now. It is not somewhere you can stay. Leave at once. That is an order!"
"Hmph!"
Faced with His Holiness’s overwhelming anger, Liya was not afraid. She merely silently reached up to the top of her head and grabbed the flower crown that belonged to the Saintess.
Then she puffed out her cheeks with all her strength.
"..."
Looking at the contemporary Saintess so casually using her own Saintess crown to threaten him, Hezekiah’s cheek twitched, and a strange sense of powerlessness welled up in his heart.
Not a single one of these people was easy to deal with...
"Do not worry."
Hezekiah finally could not help but sigh.
"He will be fine. At least for now, he will be."
"How is Your Holiness certain?"
Liya did not relax her vigilance in the slightest, giving the Pope no chance to stop her by brute force.
"Of course I am certain, because..."
Hezekiah turned his gaze and looked toward another place very far away. His tone even carried a strange resentment.
"In this game, Vanessa is not the only traitor. There is another madman hidden behind the curtain, pushing all of this along without leaving a trace."
"A madman?"
"Yes... a madman."
Hezekiah withdrew his gaze. "But at a time like this, what this world lacks least... is madmen."
...
...
[Your Holiness, the Starwatch Temple has sent an alarm. With the Saint Haze Palace of Saint Blancfazesiya’s royal palace as the center, the Pollution level across the entire urban area is rising sharply.]
[Pollution value has exceeded the critical line!]
[One hundred twenty percent!]
[One hundred fifty percent!]
[Two hundred percent!]
[Three hundred percent!]
[Pollution value has reached the highest standard. Physical objects in the city district are showing signs of Pollution. The world barrier above Saint Blancfazesiya is gradually failing. It has been confirmed that the Salvation Society is performing mundane severance on the entire city!]
[Warning! Unknown Evil God is approaching!]
[Confirming Evil God’s identity!]
[Evil God’s identity has been confirmed!]
[Warning! Evil God’s identity confirmed as—the Lord of the Stars!]
Urlons’s indifferent voice echoed beside Hezekiah’s ear, yet Hezekiah paid it no mind, even though the content within it was enough to terrify anyone.
Step by step, he climbed into the sky.
The dark clouds overhead had completely split apart. Behind those clouds and that curtain of night, the flickering stars were hazy and mournfully beautiful. It seemed that anyone who looked up at this starry sky would be drawn in by this beauty far beyond human understanding, and then offer up their soul from the bottom of their heart.
And it was precisely for souls that He had come.
Several million souls gathered here, like a plate of fine food without any cloche covering it. That alluring "aroma" drifted in strands beyond the world, enough to make even an Evil God high above drool with desire.
"So beautiful..."
An old man in white floated beneath the sea of stars. Yet he did not look up at the starry sea. Instead, he bent down and watched those countless decayed bodies and wailing souls.
"The blood and bones of sinners, the souls of blasphemers... only when burning with their final brilliance and heat are they so moving and beautiful. I suppose I have allowed them to offer up their final value, so that their laughable and lowly lives would not contain only sin.
"This, too, is one method of atonement...
"Wouldn’t you agree?"
The old man lowered his gaze and met Hezekiah’s eyes with a smile.
"My long-unseen... senior brother."
