CH 499

Olivia Lanze and the priests could only gape at the appearance of the massive horde of spirits for a moment before they had to immediately engage in battle.

The fight against these enormous, unidentified ghostly entities took on a form that made them wonder if it could even be called a battle.

The overwhelming shapes of immense hatred, which seemed to crush them just by looking at them, suddenly split into dozens of soul clusters in midair, and descended upon the Holy Knights and priests.

Aaarrghh!

Ah... T-Tu’anis...

The spirits swarmed the Holy Knights and priests in an instant, causing them to foam at the mouth and lose consciousness, or to tear at their hair in agony.

Ptooey! Pffft!

Unable to withstand the burden on their minds and bodies, the priests and Holy Knights began to swell grotesquely, and one by one, they started to burst.

Those who didn't burst began to exhibit strange behaviors.

Urrghh!

Shk!

As if overwhelmed by something, they indiscriminately swung their swords at the surrounding priests and Holy Knights.

"Possession..."

It was rare for evil spirits and miscellaneous ghosts to possess humans and commit bizarre acts, but it happened.

However, it had reached the point where these highly trained Holy Knights and priests were being possessed.

That's how powerful and overwhelming these spirits were.

Some even failed to withstand the possession and their bodies collapsed.

These were spirits more powerful than any ever encountered before.

The fragments of the spirits that burst forth from the bodies of the priests began to frantically search for their next host.

She didn't know how to deal with those who were possessed, but she had to handle them before possession occurred.

Olivia charged towards the rampaging spirits.

"Judgment upon those who have strayed from the path of purity."

Her sacred sword Tiamata responded to Olivia's words and began to emit a gentle golden light.

There was no time to consider the morality of her actions.

At this rate, the priests would be massacred.

She had to do everything she could.

"Peace to those who cannot find rest."

Oooohhh!

Olivia charged at the spirit trying to enter its next host and violently thrust Tiamata into it.

"Power to eradicate all beings that have strayed from the path."

Flash!

Screeeeech!

"In my hands!"

Olivia Lanze was the only priest in the world who did not appeal to a god.

Rumble!

Along with the release of a storm-like golden divine power, the spirits entwined in it were torn to thousands of pieces and vanished in an instant. Olivia and the other priests could clearly see this.

Olivia shouted towards the priests.

"It's not invincible! Stand firm and face them! They are just spirits that couldn't die and have gathered from all over the world!"

At Olivia's rough cry, all the priests gritted their teeth.

They were the ones who possessed immense power against these unclean beings.

Even if they had spent a long time fighting monsters, confronting and expelling such unclean beings was even closer to the original mission of the priests.

They couldn't succumb to fear.

No matter how powerful the spirits, no matter how intense their hatred.

They could definitely be eradicated.

------

The Demon King had returned.

He had left, saying he might be away for quite some time, but he returned in less than a month.

However, the close associates who saw the returned Demon King, Reinhardt, couldn't help but feel something strange about him.

"Reinhardt...?"

"It's been a while. How have you been?"

"Ah, it's you... You said it would take a long time... But you came back early, didn't you? Why, why are you touching my hair...?"

As Reinhardt touched Harriet's hair, saying he had missed her, his face expressed an indelible joy.

His demeanor, gaze, and actions all exuded a feeling that he had spent a very long time in a faraway place.

Not just his gaze, but his whole aura felt different from before.

It wasn't anxiety or impatience but rather a sense of composure and tranquility that seemed to fill his heart.

"Where is Charlotte?"

"She should be in her office."

"Nothing happened, did it?"

"Ah... Well, about that..."

"Why? Did something happen?"

"Well... It's probably better to hear it from Charlotte."

Even though the seasons hadn't changed, time had indeed passed.

So, in the absence of the Demon King, various things had inevitably occurred.

------

I knew that there was no such thing as absolute justice in the world.

I was well aware that choosing something meant losing something else.

Sitting in a position where you make too many decisions would inevitably lead to sacrificing someone, even if you thought you were making the best choice for everyone. I knew that too.

However, when the truth that I knew only in my head came crashing into reality before my eyes, I couldn't help but feel that this position was too much for me.

"Liana did...?"

"Yes."

Liana had been sorting out the refugees.

By now, an incalculable number of survivors had died at Liana's hands.

I listened to Charlotte's calm report and nodded numbly.

I had been worried that some significant change would happen in my absence.

But the change had already happened.

It had been happening all along while I was in my position, and I had no idea.

"So, the search for survivors is on hold until you come back and make a new decision. The relocation of the base is also on hold."

In the end, I am the one ultimately responsible.

Charlotte had paused all decisions and halted progress until my return.

Apart from this incident, I couldn't help but admire Charlotte's ability.

The fact that she had noticed something I hadn't been able to grasp at all while reading the report.

In the end, Charlotte was the one who truly belonged in this position, not me.

"By the way, where have you been? I thought it would be a long time before you came back..."

Charlotte tilted her head.

"And you seem... quite different."

"Really?"

"Yes, I don't know how to explain it, but..."

Like Harriet, who had looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression, Charlotte also seemed to get a somewhat unfamiliar feeling from me.

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to Charlotte's comment.

I had spent a considerable amount of time in a world where time flowed differently from reality.

Would they believe me if I said that no time had passed when I returned?

"What were you doing and where?"

"Um..."

I couldn't tell her directly about the Sun and Moon clan. Luna hadn't told me to keep it a secret, but there wouldn't be any good in spreading it around carelessly.

But if they asked me what I did in Rezaira, I didn't have a particular reason to hide it.

It wasn't as if anything significant had happened, right?

When I tried to say it, what I had been doing for the past few months seemed quite bizarre.

"I cut wood and plowed fields."

"...Huh?"

Charlotte seemed to think I was making some kind of joke and tried to force a laugh, but ultimately couldn't.

------

I had to think about Liana's problem.

It wasn't just a matter of whether or not to punish Liana; the issue Charlotte brought to me was more than that.

Liana had driven people to their deaths in a deep pit somewhere on the outskirts of Fort Mokna.

"Vengeful spirits?"

"Yeah, the Lord of Wednesday said there might be trouble later on because of the enormous amount of malevolent energy coming from there."

Charlotte had already reported the matter to the Council of Elders.

I had seen ghosts myself in the Vampire Council. However, I had heard that they couldn't greatly influence the real world.

But Lucinil believed that too many vengeful spirits could indeed affect the real world.

"Anyway, this morning, the head of the Holy Order, Olivia Lanze, went on a mission. She should be the right person for the job."

"I see."

"I wonder if there's even a need for us to intervene. Abandoning Port Mokna would solve the problem... But it seems they want to eradicate the source."

With Olivia's divine power and her shared connection to Tiamata and me, she should be able to exorcise or purify the massive number of vengeful spirits.

While I don't know what problems these concentrated spirits might cause, Olivia has already been dispatched to handle the situation.

"And, the Empire has begun organizing a large-scale expeditionary force to suppress the remaining gates."

Suppressing the gates had become impossible with a small special forces unit.

Now, the Empire was organizing a large-scale army to destroy the last gates.

The combined efforts of humanity were coming together, and a total war would be waged to destroy the remaining warp gates one by one.

This would be humanity's most powerful and final army, formed by staking their lives on it.

If that army disappeared, humanity would face its end.

"We'll need our own countermeasures."

We may not be able to help openly, but we must consider ways to support them from the shadows.

After all, the gate situation is a problem for everyone.

"Anyway, thanks for all your hard work while I was away."

"Uh, huh? No, it's... it's my duty..."

Charlotte's face turned slightly red at my compliment.

Although I had come to know things I would rather not know, it was information I needed.

Charlotte could see and understand things I couldn't. That's why I believe it was a good decision to bring her to Edina.

------

Upon returning from Rezaira, I discovered that not only was the world's situation far from normal, but Edina's situation was also quite abnormal.

The most urgent matter was the judgment regarding Liana.

I could have made a decision through the Council of Elders, but I decided to confront Liana directly.

Although she had deceived me until now, Liana had carried out those actions, believing they were for my sake.

Regardless of the circumstances, we needed to have a conversation.

I wondered if any of the other Vampire Lords, such as Eleris or Lucinil, were present, but they were both absent, and the only one left in the palace was Antirianus, who had gone out to gather information and returned.

"Welcome back, Your Eminence."

As always, Antirianus appeared sinister on the inside but maintained the utmost courtesy on the surface, which I hadn't seen in quite some time.

I never thought I'd be glad to see this old man.

"Things wrapped up faster than I expected."

"That is truly fortunate."

Although it wasn't actually resolved quickly, it was a problem that would only become more complicated the more it was explained, so there was no choice but to gloss over it.

Just until this morning, I was still in Rezaira.

I felt a peculiar sensation, as if all the moments I had spent in Rezaira had suddenly become a distant past.

There will be no day when I can return to Rezaira, and I must not hope for it.

Even if everything were to be resolved just as I wished, by then, there would still be a great many people for whom I would have to take responsibility.

So let's think of it as having had a very long and lengthy dream.

In a situation where I couldn't even imagine such a life, it could be considered fortunate to have been suddenly thrown into it.

"Anyway, you came to find me; do you have a place you need to go?"

"I think I should go to Port Mokna."

"Ah... that place? I heard some troubling events have been happening there recently."

Antirianus smiled as if he knew why I wanted to go there.

For now, Olivia went there to deal with it, but since I don't know the exact situation, I couldn't gauge the actual level of threat.

"Then, let's prepare right away."

Antirianus began casting Mass Teleport.