Chapter 54: Among So Many Stars

At some point.

Strange things began to appear.

“Fall! I told you to just die!”

“What on earth are you doing!”

“You demonic bastard!”

They didn’t live up to their size.

They had charged in with such excitement a moment ago.

Now, they were keeping their distance, pouring out nothing but curses and insults.

They acted as if they would pounce the moment a gap opened.

……And in the midst of that.

For some reason.

A small child was taking those oversized fools down, moving as if performing acrobatics.

Wondering if he was seeing things, he couldn’t stop watching.

Leading a body far smaller and more fragile than theirs.

Against a brutal offense, fluttering like a leaf scattered in the wind.

…He cut, stabbed, and grazed the enemies’ vital points.

The movements and the intent of the attacks resembled what he had instinctively shown just a moment ago.

He simply could not tear his gaze away.

As if teaching, as if awakening.

“Aaaaagh!”

The illusion shattered.

A barbarian warrior swung a greatsword.

“…Like this.”

He blocked the sword.

Slighting the blade diagonally.

He let it slide.

It wasn’t anything particularly grand.

Yet, strangely, it seeped deep into his heart.

As if this movement had always been there.

Using the force of the deflection to cut back.

Surprisingly, the counterattack followed more smoothly than before.

“Gah!”

The chest split open.

Piercing through the skin and snapping the ribs.

The opponent’s chest was wretchedly torn apart.

“…….”

The illusion continued to run wild, as if performing acrobatics.

Stepping on an opponent’s leg or chest to flip over their head.

Charging toward the enemies to make their attacks awkward, leaping between their legs or over their backs.

Using his small stature to seize the hands of those trying to grab him, snapping their finger joints just as he had done, and utilizing the momentary instinct to protect those fingers to disrupt the opponent’s center of gravity.

Some, as if such attempts were pathetic, screamed and tried to crush the boy regardless of whether their knuckles or joints were snapped.

But he used their shoulders, stiffened by excitement, and their momentary rigidity to swing his sword and slash their eyes, or shallowly stab and cut their napes.

The moment they let their guard down, he would sever an ankle or slice a thigh to induce bleeding.

‘How skilled.’

Still, a sense of incongruity followed.

At such a young age, what had made that child capable of this?

Suddenly.

The phantom looked directly at him.

Just as he was watching the boy, the boy was staring back at him.

What was visible was faint, yet a vividly flashing gold.

Only after seeing those two eyes, sparkling like gold.

…He intuited something unknown.

Was it a premonition?

Or was it a simple longing, wanting to accept it as such?

…He didn’t know.

Only.

That memory suddenly surfaced.

The words the old woman had said while clearing her throat with a cough.

[One of the many, many stars will come to you. I am only telling you what I have seen, so accept the rest as you will.]

One of the many, many stars.

What did that mean?

He didn’t know.

He didn’t even have the energy to think.

Even in this moment of enduring every breath, he didn’t know when he might collapse.

His consciousness had long since plummeted to the bottom.

Everything he saw was merely faint.

And yet.

Those two eyes alone were vivid.

‘I see.’

Luel.

You survived.

You survived, and in the end, you endured.

…And you reached this place.

He didn’t know who that boy was.

However, those two eyes resembled Luel’s.

“…I see.”

He unconsciously looked up at the sky.

“If this is the ending… it might be alright.”

Did I fulfill my role?

He didn’t know.

…Only.

“……?”

Suddenly.

Through those two eyes.

The world was reflected.

The small village had become gargantuan, incomparable to before.

Inside the church, a stonemason was intently working on a sculpture with great effort.

What was he putting so much painstaking effort into?

Eventually, the completed statue had something that made one’s heart swell just by looking at it.

A man with his sword driven into the ground.

Unable to fully collapse, he clung to the sword for support, leaning his head against it as he sat slumped.

Behind him, countless people were gathered as if clinging to him.

The faces of each person were certainly strangers he did not know.

Yet, strangely, each of those faces transformed into people he was familiar with.

-Why must you leave us like this?

-I am sorry! If only we could have been of some help….

-You must get up! You can’t be like this here!

-Mister! Mister!

-…How can you leave us in such a way?

Father.

“…….”

The black-haired boy.

Looking up with eyes that resembled Luel’s, he gazed this way.

“Young man. Can you tell me your name?”

“…….”

As if they might close at any moment.

Yet, the boy lifted his vivid golden, sulfur-colored eyes.

He answered.

“I am called Kariel.”

“…….”

A child with Luel’s eyes mentioned the same name as his own.

“I see.”

Was this what “one of the many, many stars” meant?

And among those many, many stars.

You have arrived before me.

A boy with Luel’s eyes.

Showcasing the sword and skill known only to me and my master.

Facing the same trials I did.

And yet, never succumbing.

…….

“Thank you.”

The boy bowed his head.

“No. It is the opposite.”

I am the one.

“Who is grateful.”

Within his fading consciousness.

Unknowingly, a pure white radiance poured down from the sky.

In a voice he had heard somewhere before.

The boy shouted.

-Kariel! How long do you plan on making us wait!

Following that, a girl with a familiar voice.

Pouting her cheeks as if scolding him, she argued.

-I almost died of boredom!

They were there.

As if enchanted, the man moved toward the light.

His body, which had been so heavy, was suddenly as light as a feather.

Naturally letting go of the sword in his hand.

As if laying down the heavy burden of duty and responsibility.

The man slowly advanced toward that place.

The man, who had suddenly become a young boy again.

With a smiling face, he ran lightly toward the boy and girl.

The boy and girl stood with the light behind them.

And behind those two.

There was a man who looked exactly like the original man.

And beside him, leaning deeply against him, a woman who showed a full bloom of a smile toward the running boy.

For a moment.

The boy stopped his stride and unconsciously turned around.

“…….”

A boy who had grown larger than himself.

The boy, toward the boy who shared his name.

The boy, Kariel, waved his arm grandly.

The clear sound of a horn echoed throughout the heavens and earth.

And eventually, the world.

Was enveloped in pure white.

And within that, the remaining pitch-black boy.

With his eyes closed, he averted his gaze from the scene in silence for a long while.

“…….”

The world was crumbling.

However, in that process, the giant warriors burst into hearty laughter.

“Kwahahaha! Yes! It has finally ended!”

“See! What did I tell you?”

“A man of that caliber! Of course, even the gods would covet him!”

“It truly was a life full of sorrows.”

“Even so, if we hadn’t seen that man’s end, how could we have closed our eyes in peace?”

When he opened his eyes, the warriors had returned to their grayish forms.

Looking at Kariel, they wore inscrutable expressions.

“Weren’t you all resentful of him?”

“We were!”

“Very much so!”

“But the object of our resentment wasn’t him. It was our tribe, our brothers, and our families who abandoned us when we became failures.”

“What do you think we did, captivated by the hollow honor of being a warrior?”

“Ah, but it was nice to act all high and mighty while using a bit of strength.”

“Which is why we deserved to be beaten!”

…It was completely different from before.

“It is true that we drifted here out of resentment. However, watching his life and his tenacity, we changed as well.”

Normally, it wouldn’t have been strange for them to become vengeful spirits or evil spirits.

In the end, because he protected that conviction even in death.

“He even moved us.”

In that life, there was not a single speck of shame.

“We, who are overflowing with shame, began to envy him.”

That is why they roughly looked after the territory he tried to protect.

“Those who remain will stay, but that is also the end now.”

“Because we no longer have the strength for it.”

“…….”

Even in death, he guarded the territory as a holy spirit.

…Is that the story?

Just how great of a person was he?

A hollow laugh escaped.

He didn’t know why, but a surge of sorrow welled up.

A life full of sorrows.

Though the end seemed to have worked out well.

Did it not mean he had endured in silence, neither living nor dead, for all that long time?

Kariel, therefore, couldn’t help but ask.

“Am I… very late?”

“Not at all.”

The warriors immediately asserted.

“Everything has its time, young man.”

“…….”

The pure white sky began to break apart into tiny pieces.

As if snow made of gold and pure white were falling.

Splendid yet bright.

Holy and sublime.

It felt truly ephemeral.

Like flower petals fluttering in full bloom on a spring day.

Suddenly.

He felt as if the scent of lavender was wafting strongly.

I see.

This place was originally full of the scent of lavender.

Especially during the festival period.

They say flower petals are thrown during the Festival events.

Containing blessings.

Containing sincerity.

Wishing for the other person to do well.

Praying that things would work out.

Containing joy.

Containing happiness.

That was the village he had risked his life to protect….

“…….”

And so, the world before his eyes.

Like a momentary dream.

Scattered away.

What remained after that.

Was Saint Kariel’s Straight Sword, emitting a soft glow.

Suddenly.

Crack!

The cracked sword broke in half.

As if laying down all the burdens he had carried.

As if even the sword was announcing that its role had ended.

====

-So it is confirmed.

The Demon King finally obtained an undeniable certainty.

That is not the vessel of a hero or a Brave.

No, perhaps it was in the past.

But at this very moment.

They were certain that he was a being completely different from such things.

Not a hero, nor a Brave, nor a sovereign, nor anything of the sort.

…A Saint.

A so-called Holy Son.

Or a being that would be called a Divine Human.

That was the vessel he possessed.

The Demon King, watching Saint Kariel’s ascension, confirmed it repeatedly.

-So that is why the old fogies were so protective of him.

They were certain of it by more than half, perhaps ninety percent.

But just in case.

Something that is not perfect is not complete.

Therefore, until perfect certainty was established.

They guaranteed nothing.

But the moment they could guarantee it, it became a confirmed fact.

-That Pope brat had a good intuition since long ago.

At first, they thought he just had a good reputation and a suitably high name, utilizing his fame well.

Even when he was appointed Pope thanks to Ermina, they hadn’t seen him as particularly threatening.

…Because even the Demon King himself hadn’t known that all of it was a mask to deceive the world.

Perhaps he had even received a divine revelation.

To ensure he did not reveal himself until the end.

-And such a fellow personally poured oil and performed the baptism when everything was nearly dead?

Quite impressive.

Perhaps he had also received a revelation, or possessed the ability to see or discover something others could not.

-But why on earth did he appear at this time?

Truly.

Truly.

Truly.

-There will be no time to be bored.

The gold smiled.

Different from a flower in full bloom.

A smile that one might see when a withering flower squeezes out the last of its life at the very end.

Such a smile settled maliciously upon her face.

It was not envy, nor jealousy, nor inferiority, nor even frustration.

The emotion dwelling there was.

…Regret.

Or irritation.

Or….

Rage.