“From now on.”
Chapter 2 of the Alkeia Annihilation.
“The hunt for the traitor begins.”
*
I let out a long breath.
Opening my eyes and looking ahead, I could see the traitor who had spat out all the shadows he had swallowed. Gazing at the flooding shadows, I involuntarily recalled the past.
“Feels familiar.”
That guy Kyle had a similar vibe.
Snicker, a laugh escaped me, incongruous with the situation. I swept my hair back and steadied my breath.
『So, I’ve come this far.』
“Indeed.”
The ground shook. The air quivered.
Looking up at the sky, I saw a sky wide open.
“I made it somehow.”
I lowered my lifted head.
In my line of sight was the traitor. Just moments ago, he seemed within reach, but now he felt as distant as the stars.
Beneath the open sky, the order shook.
Things that ought to be taken for granted became anything but.
The collapsing landscape of the world looked both mystical and painfully clear. I opened my mouth while gazing at the creaking space that couldn’t bear the shadows.
“Took a long time.”
I would trample and take everything from the traitor, denying everything.
Taking away her calm, trampling her consideration, and destroying every stage she had prepared, I cornered the traitor into submission. Forcing her to bring forth that which must be brought out.
Zing! A black lightning surged.
The filth that had been pooling in her heart for centuries. The curse she had swallowed for humanity.
Unless the traitor brought that out, this hunt had no meaning. If the traitor were to be defeated while holding onto that, it would mean a death that belonged solely to the traitor. Dying there would entail both the traitor and… the hero who clung to the curse she had consumed for humanity until the end.
Thus, it held no significance.
Thus, it would merely follow the path of the Goddess of Ashes.
I would only trample the traitor.
The one who met death here must solely be the disaster, Gletus. I had no intention of leaving any room for that death to gain even the slightest nobility. The “traitor” was an existence that had to be thoroughly trampled.
…That way, they would accept it.
There is a superhuman who lived resentful of the traitor all his life.
A superhuman who lived to deny the traitor’s words, and those who had lost many things to the traitor. I had a duty to answer for their lives and sacrifices.
‘And the answer I must convey to them…’
Is to separate the deaths of the Saint and the traitor.
Disasters must die solely as disasters, and heroes must die solely as heroes. This was my answer to them, and the answer I had to convey to a certain mage who had waited for this day.
『…Thank you.』
“Thank you, but we haven’t even started yet.”
『Isn’t it a difficult path?』
I laughed.
It was as he said. Indeed, it’s a tough path.
“Right, it’s a tough path.”
A difficult, troublesome, and intricate way.
But that’s what the best is. It’s what you must walk to reach the place called the best.
“Choosing an easy path only leads to an empty wasteland, and my future self proved that.”
I still hadn’t forgotten the tale the Goddess of Ashes had shared, the conclusion she reached. Therefore, I had to walk the opposite path to her.
“So now, I must prove it again.”
I closed my eyes and opened them.
What appeared in my eyes was a platinum ring of light. Through the momentarily slowed time, I smiled. So, this is the speed at which that guy Kyle views the world.
“If you choose the toughest path and give your best effort, the place you can reach…”
The place I must reach alongside those who bled for me, who died for me, and who gave me this power. Where could that be?
“I have to prove there’s a satisfying outcome for everyone.”
I don’t need a conclusion grudgingly accepted after chewing and swallowing it reluctantly. Only a conclusion that makes everyone smile and feel satisfaction held meaning for me. Call me crazy. Laugh at me as a dreamer.
No matter what anyone says.
“You must be included there too. Cardi.”
That’s how I choose to live.
“So wait for me.”
I smiled.
“I’m going to drag you along by your hair.”
This is my way of killing the traitor.
2.
The traitor closed her eyes.
When she closed her eyes, she heard screams.
Sounds arose from the swirling filth surrounding her. Screams, resentments, voices cursing the stars shining in the sky above. Those who knew the origin and essence of the shadows recognized what this voice was.
The screams of those who could neither live nor die.
Listening to their screams, the traitor extended her arms. Her extended slender fingers acted like a conductor’s baton. The flood of filth appeared to her as countless instruments.
The King of All Demons, Demon Lord.
The role given to this corrupted being was to respond to the screams. To guide the echoing screams to where they ought to flow. To lead the screams. Thus, resolving their resentments was the Demon Lord’s duty.
‘But it’ll never be resolved.’
The traitor smiled bitterly.
Their resentments would never be resolved. They could neither live nor die, after all. Unable to attain liberation, they couldn’t find resolution. Not finding resolution…
‘The shadows are nearly infinite.’
That was why they had struggled so much.
She waved her raised finger. The swirling filth danced along her finger. It repeatedly formed and collapsed.
So this is what it feels like.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Her crimson eyes glistened. What that gaze met was the sky. Beyond the open sky lay the providence surrounding this world. The order the traitor had longed to defy so eagerly was there.
It was there, but she couldn’t reach it.
The traitor caressed her heart.
The scar engraved in her heart. The wound pierced by the Holy Spear hindered her from becoming whole. Snicker, she laughed lightly and exhaled deeply.
“How laughable.”
Coming this far, yet still being held back.
But it doesn’t matter.
Even if she couldn’t complete herself, there was plenty of material around her to make herself whole.
Snap! The traitor flicked her finger.
What leaped from her flick was the corrupted divinity. The strength of the Saint who was closest to God. Gleria had aptitude for all forms of divine arts, but among them, the one she mastered most proficiently was… Of course, it was this.
Divine Art, Life Weaving.
The weaving of life, also known as creation.
This was a divine art only Gleria Bel Armias could handle, one that had even been designated as forbidden during that time. The Church considered the creation of life to be a power reserved for the God above.
Thus, during her time as a Saint, she only utilized the miracle of revival, an extension of life creation. Holding the belief that one shouldn’t use others’ lives as tools.
However, that belief crumbled with her betrayal.
As the traitor, she came to realize she could use life creation more effectively and in various ways. Fusion, mixing, melting, and alteration of life… Thus creating new living beings. By insulting numerous lives, she transformed into an alchemist and summoner, rather than a Saint.
“Ah…”
And at this moment, the traitor feels it.
Perhaps the shock akin to when she first forged her servant. She felt countless lives contained in the swirling filth. She heard the curses and resentments melted into the place.
The vibrations of life, deeper and more profound.
Gazing at the mixed shadows and filth, the traitor felt elated. Truly, they were the best materials. They were the supreme offerings.
“Arise, my children.”
…To the summoner who reached towards divinity, to the traitor Saint who reached the peak, the best materials were handed.
“Let your screams be heard by them too.”
As she waved her fingers, the shadows took shape. The shadows, which surged alongside their master’s touch, were no longer mere filth. They were no longer mere screams that would flow down and scatter.
“Let the screams echo.”
The shadows she had possessed, which had merely been filth until then, now took on the most suitable form. The surging shadows took on the form of hands.
Crack! Wham! Crunch!
As the hands clutched one another.
They clawed at each other. Thus, a stairway was formed leading to the hole in the sky. Ascending with each step, the traitor moved towards the heavens. She climbed the path towards completion.
As she stepped on the stairs, the traitor waved her hand.
There was an abundance of filth overflowing, and enough hands to create. From the filth pooled on the ground, from the filth that soared to the sky, from the blood of gods flowing through the land, hands surged forth.
Watching the rising hands, the traitor suddenly thought.
Centuries ago, hadn’t the princess I encountered in the Shadow Temple looked like this? Truly a nostalgic memory. And also an unamusing one, I suppose.
“Now it’s my turn to rise.”
The traitor smiled as she looked downward.
“Go on, try to stop me.”
Just like how we did back then.
3.
Flinch.
Looking at the hands rising from all directions, Belnoa unconsciously took a step back. It was unsettling. There was a bizarre scenery that compelled onlookers to step back involuntarily.
…How should I even approach this?
Belnoa’s eyes darted as she peered at the surging hands. It wasn’t only Belnoa who couldn’t approach the hands hastily; Chloe, Lac, Natida, and even Resti’s servant stepped back before the hands.
It was a god. They were facing shards of divinity.
A force so unknowable that all living beings would sense a… primal fear. They felt an oppressive weight pressing down on them, their bodies became stony.
“Ugh, huff…”
I thought I’d gotten used to demonic energy, but this was at a completely different level. It was different from the presence of disasters. The overwhelming air and a voice whispered ominously in their ears.
Kneel.
Kneel before the god, before the king.
An existence that forced everything in its path to bow. Before the Demon Lord, everyone’s bodies turned stiff. The hands reflected in their eyes shook, slowly growing larger, as if to cover the sky.
『First…』
Bleep! With a loud ringing, a voice echoed in their ears. A clear voice.
『Let go of the breath you’re holding. Breathe out deeply.』
As they heard that voice, they let out the breath they had been holding. With a sigh, Belnoa widened her eyes. She had heard this voice before.
“Old man Cardi…?”
At that murmuring, Cardi did not respond.
With a short chuckle, Cardi continued speaking.
『Once you’ve exhaled, open your eyes wide. Do not face that with trembling eyes. Focus your gaze and stare.』
Cardi spoke briefly.
『Face the essence. Do not be afraid.』
Only then did the vision of the Demon Lord settle before Belnoa, Chloe, and the rest of the hunting party. The enormous hands shrank back to their original size, just as they had first encountered.
『Once you have faced the essence…』
Cardi’s voice grew slightly clearer.
『Listen to my words.』
The hunting party began moving again.
Holding their weapons, they lent their ears to the voice ringing in their ears. A clear, resonant voice.
『I am Cardi.』
『Cardi van Armiel.』
Cardi proclaimed his own name.
In this open sky, in this place, the words of the star do not bind Cardi. Thus, without hesitation, Cardi declared his name.
『Centuries ago, I was the Grand Magus who hunted the Demon Lord.』
The Grand Magus, Cardi van Armiel.
『From now on, I shall inform you.』
He shouted.
『How to hunt the Demon Lord.』
『How to destroy those black hands.』
『The method to reach their center.』
The Grand Mage who battled the Demon Lord for ten days and nights smiled. Though he had lost power, he had not lost his knowledge. His voice resonated across the battlefield.
『Follow the directions.』
『I will guide you to the center.』
Cardi stood on the battlefield in his own way.
Once again, to reach the place he had failed to arrive at that day. To prove his millennium.
