“Van. Nieshika-san’s here.”
“What? So something did happen to the dragon...” Vandre trailed off when he saw the pained look on Oscar’s face.
Following Oscar’s gaze, Vandre saw Nieshika’s corpse next to Badd and the others. His expression stiffened.
“Wh-What happened?”
“I would like to know that myself,” Lyutillis said, striding forward. “I didn’t make it back to the republic in time. But when I did finally return, the barrier was already active.”
She paused there, then turned to look at Sharm, who was in Laus’s arms.
“Sharm-kun had somehow activated the fog barrier. He had the Holy Sword in his hands, and he looked like he was sleeping.”
“No way...” Miledi mumbled, disentangling herself from Kiara as she turned to Meiru. Meiru immediately cast restoration magic to see what had happened.
The party saw Badd leave his will behind, then pass away while still standing. They watched Marshal and the others struggle to keep the federation soldiers out until they, too, eventually fell. Then, just as soldiers started storming the palace, Sharm and Nieshika arrived. Nieshika shielded Sharm with her body. while the young boy used the Holy Sword to activate the forest’s barrier, then drop to his knees and pass out.
After that, the vision of the past faded away.
Lyutillis staggered over to Badd’s corpse and knelt in front of him. No one knew what she was thinking in that moment, but she took his cold hand in hers and closed her eyes.
Laus, likewise, knelt in front of Reinheit. He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but it was clear that Reinheit had given his life to protect Sharm’s and then passed both the Holy Sword and the title of hero down onto his charge.
“You were a far greater knight than either of us deserved. And Sharm, you’re the best son a father could have ever asked for.”
Meiru’s restoration magic confirmed that Sharm had maintained the barrier for a full two days. He’d foregone food and sleep, used up every last drop of his mana, and had started burning his own life force once that had run out. He’d been resolved to die, if that was what it took. He’d burned away his very soul to save others. He was worthy of being called a hero, and thanks to the sacrifice of his loyal knight, Reinheit, he’d pulled off a miracle.
No, it wasn’t just Reinheit’s sacrifice that had made this possible. Every person at the foot of the sacred tree had fought and died for this miracle.
People started gathering around Miledi and the others to mourn those who had passed, and to thank them for their sacrifices. But of course, Ehit wasn’t the kind of person to give them any time to rest.
“Something’s coming!” Miledi shouted suddenly, and Oscar and the others noticed it a second later.
They recognized the presence pretty quickly—they’d seen plenty of apostles already. Not willing to wait for the apostle to come to them, Miledi and the others shot into the sky. They created platforms for themselves to stand on in mid-air and faced off against the apostle. However, the apostle maintained a healthy distance and made no move to attack.
“I have no intention of fighting you.”
“Thought so. Not like a single one of you stands a chance against us anymore.”
“I come bearing a message from my master.”
Miledi had expected as much, which was why she hadn’t instantly obliterated the apostle upon seeing it.
“Us apostles are capable of sharing the information we receive with each other.”
As she spoke, the apostle spread her silver wings and unleashed hundreds of feathers into the sky. They formed a circle above her, coalescing into a magic circle.
“After studying your Skynets, we have derived a means of projecting that shared information for others to see,” the apostle said as she created a couple dozen more magic circles. “This is what we are seeing all across the world right now.”
The magic circles began to glow from within, each one projecting a different image. Miledi and the others paled when they realized what they were looking at.
“This is my lord’s message.”
“Stop.”
The images showed various execution sites across the world.
“Stop!”
People Miledi recognized were chained up on those execution platforms. One of them had Nadia, Snowbell, and the other members of the desert village. Another showed Kipson and the other members of the village in the Fertile Land.
Mobs with torches surrounded every one of those execution sites. Miledi, Oscar, and the others all turned back to the apostle.
In an emotionless voice, she said, “Checkmate.”
“Stooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop!”
Torches were thrown onto the pyres, and the Liberators were forced to watch as their comrades were all burned at the stake. They were halfway across the continent, meaning that Laus couldn’t possibly get there in time to save them.
“The hunts will continue, and the mortal races shall dance on the palm of our lord’s hand. He has tired of this civilization and will destroy it all to build a new one from its ashes. If you wish for him to stop, then give up your lives. Will you let yourselves be executed as traitors, or will you continue to fight and sacrifice the world in the process? Make your choice. Is this free will you love so much truly worth—?”
There was a small popping noise, and the apostle’s corpse dropped to the ground. The feathers making up the projectors scattered, and the images vanished.
After a moment’s silence, Miledi shouted, “Ehiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”
Her rage had reached a boiling point, as had Oscar’s and the others’.
“You’re fucking dead!”
That was the only reply Miledi and the others had for the god who had taken the entire world hostage.