Chain Reaction (1)
Shagal ground his teeth.
"Ughhh!"
Dozens of phantom short swords materialized and all of them were swung at Rian at once.
Etella shouted, "Stop!"
Her sincerity seized Shagal's body and the chains around him slackened at once.
"Ugh!"
With a thud, Shagal toppled backward. Shirone and the others watched him in stunned silence.
"Teacher, what happened?" Etella bit her lip. Above all, she was mortified that she'd already shown herself broken like that.
"I'm sorry. I had no choice." Etella, having pulled her tattered clothes back on like rags, slowly pushed herself up.
Her legs went weak and she had to brace herself against the wall, but strength returned little by little.
"It's exactly as it looks. I embraced Shagal and fell into hell. This is the punishment I got back."
"How long until the purification ends?"
When Shirone asked, the informant's voice cut in from outside the cave.
"87 hae, 2,875 gyeong, 3,241 jo..."
Etella's resignation finally made sense.
Whether that number meant anything to Shagal or not, she erased the murderous look from her face and leaned her back against the cave wall.
"Tch. What a nuisance, getting in the way." Etella said.
"Shirone, there's a True Voice in the Valley of Wails. She's accepted all her karma and is bound there too. Please—save her."
"I came to hell for that very reason. And I'll save you as well."
Shirone explained the plan.
If they rescued Etella, Shagal would be rescued along with her; it wasn't something that required much debate.
"No. Don't do that."
Rian and the True Voice—Rian who would burn himself to purify hell, and the True Voice who sealed her spiritual senses to save humanity—compared to them, Etella thought, I'm—
Just rolling around with a demon of a man.
"Please leave me out of it. I've given up on saving the True Voice and on finding Shirone. I don't deserve to fight."
"Don't blame yourself."
Shirone knew Etella.
Someone righteous enough to confront Satan in heaven—only a person of that caliber could have embraced Shagal.
In a world where you couldn't die, being bound to the man you hated most and having to live with him—
It would be a dreadful fate.
In the other world, karma wasn't something you solved so much as a burden you bore.
It was given to the extent that it couldn't originally be resolved. Rian was the exceptional case.
Purification time wasn't a rank badge, but "87 hae" carried that implication.
"We need your power. The force of Taeguk will definitely help with what we're trying to do. And maybe—just maybe—we'll find a way to purify it."
"You can cut these damned chains?"
At Shagal's taunt, Rian's eyes flashed.
"Shut up."
He couldn't reach him because the chains bound him, but his anger at Shagal hadn't diminished.
"Heh heh heh. Good. Come on, then. Don't you get tired of me? Don't you want your freedom?"
Etella met Shagal's eyes.
Something passed between them that only the two of them understood, and Shagal's gaze slid to the side.
"Hng."
He swore there was no guilt.
"All right. If my power helps. But give me a moment, will you? I want to…cleanse my body."
She wanted to purify her flesh to wash her heart clean.
"All right."
A Miracle Stream rose from Shirone's body, and the Hand of God tore through the cave.
Son Yujeong looked up, mouth agape.
"Wow."
Imir might be best in combat, but watching Yahweh's power was awe-inspiring.
A colossal hand of light hollowed out the mountain and turned into clear water that filled the pit.
Shirone finished the work in an instant.
"Son Yujeong, give her new clothes."
He could form garments with Material's power, but—
"No."
Son Yujeong plucked out a strand of her own hair.
As the clothing formed, Etella hugged it to her chest and lifted her head.
"One more thing…may I ask a favor?"
Rian frowned in confusion, but Shirone said calmly, "Shagal's clothes, too."
"Really? That guy's awful. He—"
When Yahweh's gaze cut through him, her shoulders trembled.
"All right, fine."
Etella gathered what they needed and turned back.
"Let's go."
Shagal glared at Rian as if something about him irritated him, clicked his tongue, and rose.
"The moment these chains are off, I'll kill you first."
Rian answered, "I'd like that."
They reached the lake Shirone had made.
Etella knelt and first drank her fill, then cupped water in her hands and turned her face.
Shagal raised his middle finger. "Drink that as much as you want."
Etella stripped off her ragged clothes and washed. Shagal's mood grew darker.
"You were out of sorts for a while—feeling like fighting again now? Well, if these chains get cut, you'd do anything."
"You should come, too."
Having finished, Etella called.
"To fight evil, your heart must be clear. This will help."
"Evil? Are you insane?"
Shagal barked. "I'm the worst of evil! No evil can frighten me! So what's this about the heart?"
"Shagal."
Etella's sincerity flowed through the chains.
"Ugh."
"Just as you could treat me without care, I can teach you what is right. So come."
"Annoying."
Rather than look more ridiculous, Shagal thought it better to go along and walked over.
"Here…"
He buried his face in her hands and, prostrating himself, Etella poured water and washed his hair.
"Archbishop Raphael said: If the power of evil is selfishness, then the power of good is sacrifice."
Shagal remained silent, knowing those were the words of someone he himself had killed.
"When good destroys evil, it is not necessarily different from evil. Sacrifice, Etella. The stronger the evil, the more you must sacrifice."
She lathered his hair with soap.
"That is the yin-and-yang relationship. Evil isn't simply destroyed—it is turned by good…"
"You were a good man. I killed you."
Shagal's remark still provoked him, but Etella no longer got angry.
"Yes. Archbishop Raphael's final forgiveness of you came because he foresaw a titanic struggle between good and evil. Destroying evil won't make evil vanish. But if you become good…"
"You could become evil yourself, couldn't you?"
"Certainly possible."
The greater the sacrifice, the easier it is to slip into malice, and Etella herself could be at risk.
"She might come to resent you, curse her fate. But it's over now. This journey of yours and mine will end here."
Splash. Water poured.
"End."
The last word echoed as water ran down Shagal's cheek, his long hair hanging like a curtain over his face.
The sanctuary erupted into chaos.
"What are you doing! In the middle of the sanctuary opening—this is an act of aggression!"
Gis jabbed a finger in anger at Kitra, king of Paras.
"What have I done to deserve this?"
"You— you…!"
They had rendered the angels useless.
That was the core issue.
Pyramids had been erected across the world and countless lives were lost.
"Isn't that for the better?" from other nations' perspectives, the neutralizing of the angels' power was something to applaud.
"We haven't been harmed by it," Kitra said.
"Again, building that proto-advanced civilization wasn't my will, and it couldn't be stopped."
The Corona Kingdom shot back. "We've already uncovered that the Zodiac Twelve are manipulating the Law. We have proof."
"Even so, nothing will change. Those who sit in these seats know: human hands cannot prevent divine intervention."
"It isn't a god."
Everyone in the sanctuary turned toward the observers' seats.
Pope Constantin, who had kept to religious matters, ascended the dais.
"The Lord does not ruin human lives with such ignorant structures. This is a demonic calamity."
"Demonic?"
Kitra snorted.
"The holy knights of the Anti-Demon Corps have been dispatched to investigate the pyramids. They will ascertain the facts and collect evidence. And if you, Kitra, are a heretic…"
Constantin's eyes blazed. "I will punish you with my own hands."
A golden radiance—the Rami Church's greatest sanctity—filled the council chamber.
'Impressive,' people thought.
Eyes searched for Havitz, but, as expected, he did not appear.
The Pope ground his teeth. 'Is he even going to avoid this incident? Coward.'
He had secretly been looking forward to a clash of power and turned to Shirone with frank emotion.
Reports said Shirone hadn't left the Papal domain since their first meeting.
'What is he planning?'
Shirone, thinking of Havitz and Wizad, felt someone watching and met the gaze.
'They'd never imagine what monstrous things are happening in the holy place they worship.'
Thirteen kilometers from the Holy See, small villages dotted the forest like specks.
As night passed, Shirone and his party checked several villages and fell increasingly silent.
Seina bit her lip. 'All lies?'
In the village she inspected, countless children were put through special training.
Children reduced to skeletons from lack of food, children praying until their throats bled.
Through such harsh training, holy knights were shaped to stand against evil.
'So that's what the martyr code really is.'
The moment she realized the faith and the powers the gods supposedly granted were nothing but brainwashing—
'It's over.'
Seina lost her divine power.
"Let's go back. I'll take responsibility and inform them. Someone will listen."
"Do you really think so?"
Shirone stopped at the entrance to the deepest village.
A sign read "Village of Heaven."
Even before stepping inside, the stench of abominable evil that emanated from the place was almost sickening.
"Hnggh."
The sanctuary light wasn't on, but Seina felt it too.
"What on earth is here?" Feeling too terrifying to speak recklessly, Shirone led his friends into the village.
Even without peering closely, agonized prayers and moans echoed from many houses.
"No one's out. Are they imprisoned?"
As Naid looked around, someone walking toward the village hall came into view.
"Hide."
Seina pressed herself against the wall and her eyes widened.
"The High Priest?"
Papal rank number three, Maximus—but the solemn face she knew was gone.
'How could someone change so much in a few days?'
His eyes were glazed as if drugged, his face unwashed and haggard.
"Let's go."
They followed Maximus into the village hall and stopped at the entrance, frowning.
"Ugh…"
Through the window, naked men and women smeared in animal blood writhed together.
Seina couldn't take in every detail, but she recognized a few familiar faces.
"That's a priest I know."
Her voice trembled.
Maximus went inside, washed his face from a basin full of blood, then stripped and slowly pushed himself into the writhing mass.
Seeing those blood-soaked bodies rubbing against one another made Seina's stomach turn.
"Ugh!"
Iruki clapped a hand to his jaw. "Doing this in broad daylight—in the Papal domain. This isn't brainwashing, it's a devil cult ritual."
A woman's voice said, "Right, a satanic ritual."
When Shirone turned, a hooded girl stood at a window across the room.
"This is the stronghold of the Satanist church. They can only get in through the Papal underground, which is why no one found them."
Seina asked, "Satanist church? More importantly—who are you?"
"Me? Yora."
The girl lowered her hood.
"Long time no see, Shirone, Iruki, Naid."
It was Candler Eden.