Chapter 487: Castle Struggle (3)

Somewhere in the Empire.

A place that had once been the capital of the Western Empire—

but now, deep within ruins so thoroughly destroyed that nothing remained—

“Hm—”

Nataman—no, Black Eye—sat on a half-shattered imperial throne, absentmindedly scratching his head as he looked up at the sky.

“What’s wrong?”

A man with long purple hair asked him.

In the man’s hand was a human head.

The sight was grotesque, but Black Eye paid it no mind and stroked his chin.

“No—it just feels like it’s happening faster than I expected.”

“Ah— you mean the descent?”

Black Eye gave a silent nod, and this time, a woman standing some distance away, a tattoo near her eye, tilted her head as if something didn’t add up.

“Isn’t it a bit strange for you to be saying that?”

“Hm? Why?”

“Well...... you’re the one who made it like that, aren’t you?”

“Mm— that’s true, but.......”

Black Eye kept staring at the endlessly dark sky with those pitch-black pupils.

The woman watched him for a moment, then spoke again.

“......This might sound ridiculous, but—”

“Mm.”

“Is this because of Alon?”

“Mm.”

Black Eye nodded immediately, without hesitation.

The woman was at a loss for words.

“......Hey.”

“Mm.”

“Don’t tell me you’ve, uh...... awakened to same-sex love or something like that—”

At that question, Black Eye looked at her.

This time, his gaze turned cold.

“......Guess not.”

“I’d appreciate it if you chose your words more carefully. What I feel isn’t something as trivial as human emotions—it’s something far more sublime.”

“Isn’t it just raising food?”

Her mocking tone.

But in that instant—

“Enough.”

At Black Eye’s voice, the woman’s breath stopped.

He hadn’t done anything.

He had only looked at her.

And yet, she froze like a mouse before a cat.

As if even the slightest movement was no longer permitted.

After some time passed like that—

“Don’t talk about Alon like that.”

“Understood.”

At his warning, the woman nodded, cold sweat running down her back.

Only then did Black Eye’s lips curl into a smile again as he spoke in his usual tone.

“But really, you can’t help but worry, right? You know it too. The ones coming down from here on out are on a completely different level from the scraps that just fell.”

“That’s not wrong. From this point on, those who descend will even start having ‘names.’”

At her reply, Black Eye let out a small sound.

He fell into thought for a moment.

Then—

“Alright.”

As if he had made a decision, he waved his hand in the air, forming hand seals.

And at that moment—

Crack—!

The clear sky from just moments ago began to split apart with a massive fracture.

No—more precisely, it wasn’t forming.

It was closer to something hidden being revealed.

And the moment that crack in the sky fully revealed itself—

“......!”

—the woman, and the man with the purple hair, were overwhelmed.

Reverence filled their eyes.

Even if she had lost her power now, she had once been close to a god.

So she knew.

Just how terrifying that fracture in the sky was.

Just how omniscient a power it took to interfere with the world to that extent—

she knew it all too well.

And how absurd it was to tear the world apart to that degree just to save someone.

And yet, the man who had created that fracture—and was watching it with his own eyes—still waved his hand as if it meant nothing.

And then—

Crack—! Crrrack—!

The blackened, shattered sky slowly began to mend.

Slowly.

But unmistakably.

The world was repairing itself.

“Wh-what is that—”

The woman stared at Black Eye, her mouth hanging open in shock.

She knew.

Black Eye no longer possessed the power of Divine blood.

And yet—

he was restoring the world.

With nothing more than the human body of a mere tool.

Her astonishment lasted only a moment.

“Ah— as expected, this is as far as I can go ‘right now,’ huh?”

Black Eye smacked his lips in disappointment as he looked at the fracture in the sky that had only partially closed.

“Well— even so, I probably bought about three extra months? The ones on the higher tier will have a bit of a hard time once they descend. Things are a little different from before, but—”

As he muttered that, the heavens began to close once more.

Like a wound being covered, the black fracture was gradually filled again with blue sky.

As he looked up at the fully restored sky—

“I’ll trust you again this time too, Alon.”

Black Eye smiled.

At some point, rings had appeared in his eyes.

“Just like always, you’ve never disappointed me.”

Two red rings.

####

Alon was slightly taken aback by the sudden visit from Yutia and Rine.

Of course, their visit itself wasn’t a problem.

Whether it was Yutia or Rine, neither was someone who would make him uncomfortable by showing up without notice.

It was just that neither of them usually came like this without any word.

And more than anything—

“......Did something happen to both of you?”

He had never felt this kind of tension between them before, so Alon asked cautiously.

Yutia and Rine answered at the same time.

“No.”

“Not at all.”

Their voices overlapped as they looked at each other.

Both smiling.

On the surface, there seemed to be no problem at all, yet there was a strange tension in the air.

As Alon glanced between them, trying to piece together the situation—

Knock, knock—

A polite knock echoed.

“Come in.”

As soon as permission was given, Alexion entered.

The moment he saw Yutia and Rine, he flinched in shock.

“Ah— it seems you have guests. I’ll return later.”

He immediately tried to close the door.

But—

“What is it?”

Though puzzled by Alexion’s reaction, Alon asked his business.

“Th-there’s a matter regarding the castle that requires your direct confirmation.”

In the end, caught in place, Alexion spoke while nervously watching the room.

“......Did the tower masters install something strange again?”

“They insist it’s absolutely necessary......”

At the continued report, Alon spoke as if he had no choice.

“Yutia, Rine. I’m sorry, but I’ll step out for a moment.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

“Of course. We’ll be waiting, Godfather.”

“For now, talk with Evan.”

Leaving Evan behind, Alon followed Alexion out.

“Alexion.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You seemed quite startled when you saw Yutia and Rine earlier. Did something happen?”

Once they were far enough from the room, Alon brought it up.

Alexion’s eyes rolled once or twice.

“Th-that is......”

“That is?”

“They’re both incredibly beautiful, you see. Hahaha—”

He laughed awkwardly, clearly forced.

Anyone could tell it was an excuse.

Alon was confused for a moment, but—

‘Come to think of it, Alexion’s from the back alleys. Then maybe he’s afraid of Yutia?’

Recalling Yutia’s status as a cardinal, he simply nodded to himself.

While Alon reached that mistaken conclusion—

“......”

“......”

“......?”

Yutia and Rine were still looking at each other.

Evan simply stood there, confused.

Then—

“So, Rine, what brings you here?”

Yutia spoke first.

“Oh, I had something to take care of.”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t think I can stay in Fildagreen anymore.”

“I see. Did something happen?”

“It’s a bit embarrassing to say, but the place I was staying collapsed.”

“Hm—”

“So I came here to stay with Godfather for a while.”

“......?”

At Rine’s words, Evan felt something was off.

He didn’t quite understand.

Of course, the fact that her residence had suddenly collapsed wasn’t the issue.

Whether or not that was even possible aside, it was at least something that could happen.

But even so, there didn’t seem to be any reason for her to come all the way here.

In the first place, there was no way Magrina would throw her out of that massive castle over just one collapsed room.

“Oh my, what a coincidence. It’s the same for me.”

......Of course, that applied to Yutia as well.

And so, just as Evan was about to ask them about it—

“Well—”

“Ah, about that. Congratulations, Yutia.”

Before he could, Rine spoke with a smile.

“Oh my, congratulations? What do you mean?”

“I heard the temple has already been restored.”

“To rebuild it after collapsing would take at least three months. I think you’ve misunderstood something.”

Yutia immediately refuted it.

Rine smiled brightly in response, took out a magic orb from her clothes, placed it on the desk, and infused it with magic.

Wooooong—!

With a low hum, an image of the Rosario temple appeared.

“Look. It’s all fixed, isn’t it?”

“Oh, it really is?”

The orb Rine had taken out wasn’t for storage—it was for communication.

Realizing that, Evan stared at it in fascination.

And inside the orb—

[It’s a miracle of the gods!]

[The temple rebuilt itself!]

[O- ooooooh!!]

“......Huh?”

Excited voices echoed continuously.

Then—

“Looks like you can go back now.”

Rine said with a smile.

“......”

The moment Yutia’s gaze fixed on the temple inside the orb—

Boom—!

“?”

The self-restored temple, filled with countless worshippers—

Rumble—!!

—suddenly began to collapse.

[W-what—!]

[It’s collapsing!]

[Aaaahhh!!]

The temple crumbled in an instant like a background in a painting, and the worshippers scattered in panic.

“......?”

Silence fell over the office at the absurdity of what had just happened.

“Oh my, it collapsed again?”

Yutia said lightly.

And at that moment—

Tick—!

As if time had reversed, the shattered temple began rebuilding itself.

“???”

Evan was too stunned to even speak.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the orb displaying something that shattered common sense.

Unlike him, Rine still smiled as her lips moved.

“Oh my, it seems the Goddess Sironia is performing another miracle.”

Boom—!

But the moment she said that, another explosion rang out.

The temple collapsed again just as easily.

Yutia shrugged lightly.

“It seems the Goddess Sironia has no talent for construction.”

But not to be outdone—

Rumble—

The collapsed temple began to rebuild again.

“It looks like she’s trying her best.”

Boom!

The temple shattered again mid-construction.

“Even effort has its limits, it seems.”

[A-aaaahhh!!]

[Th-this is bad!]

[The Goddess Sironia is testing us—!]

As the temple rebuilt and collapsed over and over again, the worshippers screamed and fled.

Even the one holding the communication device seemed overwhelmed with fear, the screen shaking nonstop.

And yet—

“......”

“......”

The two women looked only at each other.

“......Ah.”

At last, Evan began to understand what was happening.

Creak—!

The door opened, and Alon entered.

“......?”

The atmosphere was incredibly awkward.

Sensing it, Alon cleared his throat.

As Evan opened his mouth to briefly explain the situation—

Crash—!

The window suddenly shattered as someone burst in.

“......Seollang?”

It was Seollang.

At the sudden entrance—and the method—Evan was left speechless, while Alon stared at her in confusion.

But Seollang, breathing heavily as if she had rushed here in a hurry, saw the others present and—

“Ah!”

—hurriedly opened her mouth, looking like she had arrived too late.

“Teacher— I mean— I, uh— ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) what was it—! Th-that—!”

She repeated herself, unable to organize her thoughts from the rush.

Then, as if her thoughts finally clicked into place, her eyes lit up.

“I lost my home, so I ended up becoming an orphan!”

“......Huh?”

Having just finished work, even Alon’s usual expressionless face broke as confusion spread across him in an instant.