Chapter 118

Ch.118 Apostle of the Goddess of War

Thud.

He stepped forward as lightly as if taking a stroll. Though his pace was hurried, his gait itself was extraordinary—so much so that he appeared to glide across clouds.

A Goddess who had reached the pinnacle of martial arts imbued every physical movement with profound, ineffable principles.

The hem of his black robe brushed against blades of grass.

It was a flower garden adorned with every imaginable beauty.

Atop a hill blanketed in profusely blooming white flowers stood a single large tree, its roots anchored serenely into the earth.

The place gave the impression that, across the entire world, only here could one find true sanctuary.

Rays of light descended, gently caressing the skin of the Goddess who presided over War. Today, the sunlight was unusually brilliant.

“It’s been a long time, Sister.”

Achille quietly spoke.

Her greeting was directed toward the being seated atop the great tree’s roots, eyes peacefully closed.

“You’ve grown much thinner.”

She gave no response.

Like someone sunk deep in slumber, lost in a long dream, she merely breathed shallowly and silently.

If there was any difference from an ordinary person, it was that her breath carried a noble divinity, as though teeming with life itself.

Of course,

That made no difference whatsoever to Achille’s sentiments.

Crack.

Achille clenched her fist.

“They said you weakened—but now you don’t even have the strength to respond to me?”

Achille smiled faintly—a sorrowful, desolate smile.

It brimmed with betrayal, anger, and resentment.

“Speak. Speak up! You reduced me to that state—and this is the result? What? Self-annihilation?”

Gooooo!

A pressure, as though silently crushing the very space, descended upon the entire garden of light. It was astonishing that such power could be unleashed within the space where Eru resided.

Few Goddesses could withstand the spiritual pressure of a Supreme Deity.

“Just what are you doing? Explain everything to me, from beginning to end.”

Still, Eru gave no answer.

Though she breathed, her silence amounted to utter disregard.

Kuuu—Whoooosh!

Achille finally lost control.

Swinging her arm, all the flowers in the garden collapsed in unison—precisely along the straight line where the displaced air surged outward from her swing.

That shockwave cleaved through the vast plain, stretching all the way to the horizon.

“Hey, Achille. The flowers are hurting.”

Only then did Eru part her lips. Her lips were far paler, having lost much of the vivid redness Achille remembered.

They used to be so beautiful.

Achille swallowed her choked sob and spoke.

“Explain it to me. I came here, didn’t I?”

“Yes. You’ve worked hard. You must have felt terribly wronged.”

“It was my fault. I didn’t feel wronged. Though I did think it was excessive.”

“Is that so?”

As Eru permitted conversation, Achille’s boiling rage gradually melted away.

“I’m sorry, Achille.”

Achille’s expression crumbled completely.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I was born first, possessing powers vastly different from yours.”

“Mm.”

“Thus, I knew many things. Too many things—including matters I simply couldn’t bring myself to speak of.”

Eru began explaining gently, soothingly, in the kindest voice imaginable.

“I didn’t cast you out of the Round Table because I hated you.”

“Then why?”

“…You may not believe me, but it was to protect you.”

“Why on earth?”

Eru slowly rose to her feet. Her body transformed into pure light, and in an instant, she appeared behind Achille, beginning to walk across the field.

Achille followed her.

“Your power—even by my standards—is dangerous.”

“Don’t spout nonsense.”

Shwaaaa—

Wind blew across the field.

Whether it was wind conjured by Eru or natural wind, no one could say.

In truth, no one knew what or where this space even was.

Goddess among Goddesses.

Goddess above Goddesses.

Mother and eldest sister of all Goddesses.

Eru’s transcendence was such that, even to fellow Goddesses, her presence resided at an unfathomably distant height.

“If I had left you as you were, our sisters would have been so terrified they’d have killed you.”

“…Is that truly so?”

“Yes. Tainting your wine with poison would have merely been the beginning.”

Eru sees the future.

Her words could not possibly be false.

In the future foreseen by the Supreme Deity, Achille would have certainly died.

“For whatever reason, had you remained at the Round Table, you would have died—whether by your sisters’ hands, by Evil Gods… or even by mine.”

Achille pressed her lips tightly shut.

Though the words were hard to believe, she found not a single reason to disbelieve them.

Few Goddesses loved, followed, and trusted Eru as deeply as Achille did.

Because it was Eru’s decision, Achille willingly relinquished her divinity and obediently descended into the mortal realm.

Achille asked,

“Then, is it no longer the case now?”

“Yes. The dangerous period has passed.”

“But the Round Table itself is still dangerous.”

Eru reached out her hand, gently raising the flowers that had been flattened by Achille.

“…Everything has a beginning and an end.”

“Even for you, Sister?”

“Yes, even for me.”

Eru revealed no emotion whatsoever. She was always like this—an emotional disposition that drove others to frustration.

Achille believed she had no emotions at all.

“My era is drawing to a close. That is the principle, the natural order.”

“How can such words apply to an omnipotent Goddess?”

Eru smiled faintly. Then she turned her body to face Achille.

…Achille was crying.

“Achille, my sister.”

“What? Why?”

“I, too, am ultimately part of this world. Even I, who govern all things, have realms I cannot trespass.”

“That’s impossible.”

Achille lowered her head.

Never since her birth as a Goddess had she felt such powerlessness.

For the first time, she understood the human heart.

“Where there is light, there must be darkness. My existence has become a bane to the world moving forward.”

“No. There must be another way.”

“There isn’t.”

Shhh.

Silently, Eru approached as light.

“Achille.”

“……”

“I leave the next choice to you.”

“I refuse.”

Eru continued speaking as though she hadn’t heard.

Achille’ heart ached.

“Regain your true name. Realize your destiny.”

“You intend to close the heavenly gate—what do you expect me to do?”

Eru smiled warmly.

Wiping Achille’s tear-streaked cheek, she delivered her final words.

“That, too, is up to your choice.”

With those words, Eru lay back down atop the tree roots—instantaneously.

Leaving behind only the remark that her body felt slightly weary, she dismissed her guest.

Swoooosh.

Wind blew.

Wind blew as though sweeping Achille away.

Flowers blooming across the land trembled gently.

Achille wiped her tears and thought—

This wind blowing now was surely conjured by Eru.

* * *

It was late at night.

Garfenn, for the first time in a long while, could attempt sleep in a clean, soft bed.

He was treated not as a criminal, but as a rightful knight of his cult.

Though he should have been exhausted, sleep refused to come.

His mind was too full of thoughts.

Even now, he could scarcely comprehend how many things had transpired during his brief imprisonment.

“Huuu….”

The truth of the Goddess of Light.

The fading grace of the Goddess.

The approaching era of humanity.

Or perhaps, the era of Evil Gods.

The target of revenge—and the child soon to be born.

“Anna.”

His head throbbed painfully, growing feverishly hot. His mind felt clogged with hazy dust.

[You seem troubled, my Apostle.]

Garfenn opened his eyes.

Achille, officially reinstated as of today, made her presence and power felt.

She was the true master of the battlefield, even Garfenn had never sensed her like this before.

“Goddess. Congratulations. It took far too long because of this unworthy apostle.”

[No, my child. You accomplished it all. It is thanks to your sacrifice that we have come this far. I have done nothing.]

Garfenn sat up. The Goddess sat beside his bed.

Her hand gently caressed his back. Each touch carried blessings and divinity. Tears flowed naturally.

[You have suffered. You have endured so much.]

Garfenn bowed his head deeply. Tears would not cease.

Memories of hardship and suffering passed before his closed eyes. Even he himself realized how much he had endured.

No ordinary person could have borne it.

That was why he was a hero.

Garfenn was Goddess Achille’s hero alone.

[You deserve happiness. You shall dwell eternally in the garden I created. Now, you may rest.]

Garfenn laughed through his tears.

He had always considered this moment something he could never achieve in his lifetime.

Now that it had finally arrived, it still didn’t feel real. It felt like a dream, unreal.

Above all—

“There’s still work left to do, isn’t there?”

Achille’s expression visibly darkened.

[Leave the rest to me. You have sacrificed enough. You deserve peace.]

Garfenn shook his head.

His eyes already burned with resolve.

“The final war remains. Should I not burn brightly white before parting from you, Goddess?”

[…Garfenn.]

“When the Supreme Deity closes the heavenly gate, I will only be able to see you in death, won’t I?”

[Yes.]

“To die on the battlefield is the greatest honor for an Apostle of War.”

Achille shook her head.

[Not so. It is meaningless sacrifice. This Goddess will not permit it.]

“Please permit it.”

[You!]

Achille furrowed her delicate brows.

She rose from her seat, raising her voice.

[Have you no thought for those who remain after you are gone?!]

“……”

[Even if others are one thing—what of your child? Your beloved?]

Garfenn let out a long sigh—the kind he had never shown before the Goddess.

“I, too, wish to do so. I wish to be happy, even unto death.”

[Then why?!]

“My dead wife and daughter—they never leave my mind. They glare at me with hatred.”

[That is not true.]

“I have nightmares.”

[Garfenn.]

Garfenn knelt.

Tears and sweat from his forehead fell together.

“What should I do? This hatred and thirst for revenge simply will not fade.”

[Return to Elim. Go, embrace your family.]

“Will that truly heal my heart?”

[It may be difficult.]

“Then what?”

[But if you die meaninglessly for revenge, will your family truly welcome you in death?]

Garfenn drew a sharp breath.

The Goddess’s words struck like a blade.

For whom is this revenge?

Already, thirty years had passed.

Revenge carried out now would gnaw at Garfenn’s heart and ultimately destroy him.

Even if he completed his revenge, there was no guarantee happiness would remain at its end.

[If you had no choice, I would understand. But now, you do.]

“Haa.”

[Truly seek happiness. Enjoy even a moment of peace, my pitiful child.]

Achille embraced Garfenn as he knelt.

[You have worn yourself down enough.]

Garfenn, cradled in the Goddess’s arms, wept endlessly. Even the steel wolf could become a child before the Goddess.

A long while passed.

Garfenn calmed himself and sat back on the bed.

Goddess Achille told him her plan.

[I intend to proceed as planned.]

“The plan being?”

[To pass the apostleship to Sion, that child.]

Garfenn clenched his fist.

[It seems the Goddess of Light had even arranged for Sion.]

“Sion… you mean he was part of the Goddess of Light’s plan?”

[I do not know precisely. But clearly, Eru, too, awaited the strongest sword I sought.]

Garfenn tasted bitterness in his mouth.

So it had come to this, after all.

Garfenn, clutching his pounding heart, asked,

“When the heavenly gate closes, and humanity is left alone—will you place everything on Sion, the only human who becomes as strong as a Goddess?”

Throb. Throb.

The scale of the story was so vast his head felt ready to burst.

Achille reluctantly nodded.

[Humanity’s final sword. Perhaps that was his destiny all along.]

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