novelraw Chapter 219 : Chapter 219
Chapter 219 : Chapter 219
Chapter 219: Waterspout (1)
The Church does not withdraw accusations.
To do so would damage the omnipotence of God.
Each priest thought differently about the concept of damage.
Some argued that making accusations had nothing to do with omnipotence.
Fire judges Demons, but discerning who is a Demon with that fire is the priest's capability.
It was because interpretations of the scriptures varied.
However, one could not deny that the end was always a hymn.
Those who possess light are bound to praise the master of that light.
That, too, was because interpretations varied.
The inadequacy one priest acknowledged, someone else would try to interpret as God's inadequacy.
That was why Seria was an unusual priest.
You were as suspicious as a Demon.
There were a few priests who cleared suspicions in such a way.
But there were no priests who apologized for false accusations.
If one searched the continent like hunting for lice, there might be more... but at least to the regressed Harad, Seria was the first case.
Seria did not declare someone a Mage until she witnessed magic directly. If she misunderstood, she apologized.
However, that was the story when Seria was in her right mind.
'Does she go mad when she sees Demons?'
Or did she endure because they were still suspects she should not touch, only to go mad unable to bear her own anger?
What he experienced in Serzila was closer to the latter.
Back then, Seria went madder with each suspect. She fell into a state of agitation.
'Now.'
She had gone mad.
"Demooooon!"
Seria shouted with flickering eyes.
Pure white fire rippled over the sailing ship. It was Seria's Divine power. It licked its tongue toward the twelve Demons.
'Is stress the cause?'
Eastern Great Plains.
When they encountered the Liberation Tower Rebellion Faction there, Seria did not go mad.
Rather, she was clever. She cared for Harad and Ellen.
She endured and endured until she burst.
Seria's agitation seemed to be that way.
If she had been stressed by countless suspects in Serzila, this time Badelots was the cause.
He had deceived Ellen and forced things through. That was stress to Seria.
"Purify them!"
The sufficiently mad Badelots incited her.
To a seasoned Inquisitor, Seria, who went madder at every turn, was a very useful weapon.
"Purify!"
Who had shouted?
Harad could not tell. Whether Seria or Badelots, those voices were utterly horrific.
The twelve Demons trembled. Old men and children were mixed among them.
'They are not fighting back.'
They would die if they stayed still.
They must not be confident they could kill the priests.
They were clearly those caught by the Church.
Asylum was only possible with ability, but ultimately what chose was not people but circumstances.
Those circumstances made Ellen draw her sword. The jet-black blade cut through the purifying fire and aimed at Seria.
"Heretic!"
Badelots glared with both eyes.
Light burning like fire shone upon Ellen.
"How dare you! Side with the Demons against a priest!"
"I have not seen magic yet."
Only when the evidence at the scene was certain.
The companionship came with such a premise. She had not yet seen the magic of those twelve Demons.
Of course, even without such conditions, Ellen would want to cut Seria's neck.
She would want calm time like she had once in Serzila.
But unlike then, Seria was not alone.
"Unless you are a Demon!"
Badelots foamed at the mouth.
"This ship! At this time! In this place!"
He was right.
Even if they were not Demons, they were suspects more suspicious than Demons.
"If you swing that sword even a little! Serzila is a Heretic!"
Badelots shrieked.
Divine power flickered endlessly. It was a threat toward Ellen and also an inspection of himself. He was killing his emotions to prevent agitation.
In contrast, Seria was agitating to her heart's content.
'Training, he says.'
Under Inquisitor Badelots, she was in training.
Yesterday, Seria had said so.
'This.'
Badelots was neglecting Seria's agitation.
"So Seria must go mad."
That was why Badelots had told Seria to conserve her Divine power earlier.
Her Divine power was not to be used when approaching Demons but when directed at Demons.
"For whose sake? Seria? The Saintess?"
Seria would soon assist the Saintess.
Badelots had said so earlier.
The Saintess of the previous life died before the Otherworld even marched south.
Only the Church knew the full story.
"For the Church."
As Harad guessed, the Saintess was a Mage.
So Seria must go mad when she saw Mages.
"Even if she is a Mage, she cannot be killed. Because she is the Saintess."
Except by a mad person.
"Trying to bewitch us! This Demon!"
Demon.
At Badelots' declaration, Seria's gaze whipped around.
Divine power sparked like embers from her pure white pupils. It was very brief. Seria glared at Harad then turned her gaze back to the twelve Demons.
She prioritized suspects over people, more promising suspects over ordinary suspects.
And perfect Demons over promising suspects.
WHOOSH!
Suddenly fire surged up over the sailing ship. It formed like the mast of the ship, then sprayed out as if unfurling like a sail.
Ellen's head whipped around.
Harad shook his head.
Harad was just as surprised.
It was not his fire.
"Great Devil of Fire!"
Badelots shouted.
* * *
A Dreamer was hiding somewhere in this sea.
'In the middle of the sea?'
Fire?
It was not completely absurd.
It was vagueness reasonable enough. Badelots had said that Great Devil was both powerful and secretive.
Indeed, the fire that exploded in the sky was clearly fearsome.
So much so that one would wonder why it was not an attack.
Herbis, Aroshu, Forbest... it was the most powerful fire among all he had experienced so far.
It was worthy of the name Great Devil. That fire hiding somewhere was certainly 5th Rank.
With fire of that level, Harad could not grasp its origin.
'It turns fire on and off. Precise.'
Just as Badelots had said, it was a Great Devil both powerful and sinister.
Badelots glared until the fire embroidered in the sky disappeared. Following that, Divine power transformed into a guillotine blade and struck down on Seria's neck.
The twelve Demons were shocked at the sight.
They were even more horrified when a new head regenerated from the cross-section of the neck.
"Guillotine Seria."
"......Badelots, sir."
Seria spoke and bit her lips.
"Do not blame yourself, Seria. Your agitation is righteous."
"Bullshit."
Ellen snorted.
Seria flinched. Badelots glared at Ellen as if to kill her. He showed Seria a smile.
"The reason I dared shatter your agitation was to correct its direction. There is a Great Devil of Fire here."
Seria's eyes gleamed with light again.
It was a precursor to agitation.
"It is not among them. So their purification must be postponed."
Badelots pointed to the twelve Demons.
The Great Devil of Fire was not among them. Badelots, who had chased it all the way here, was certain.
That Dreamer was not on this sailing ship.
It was hiding somewhere in the sea.
"The Great Devil of Fire takes priority."
From the strong ones first.
And from the certain Demons first.
Like Seria, Badelots also kept priorities.
It was a natural order the Church must follow.
"This is the last time, Ellen Serzila. If you interfere any further, I will regard you as a Heretic."
Badelots looked ready to agitate at any moment.
Because he had seen the fire. Harad rather hoped he would.
"Seria."
Ellen lightly ignored Badelots.
Her voice was colder than expected. Ellen still wanted to be cautious.
"I have no intention of stopping you again. That would be coercion."
"......"
"But I do not want to be disappointed in you."
Harad did not see Seria's reaction.
Before he could, Badelots dragged her and jumped down below the ship.
Badelots and Seria landed without falling into the sea. The Divine power generated beneath their feet became a small piece of land for them.
The two moved away, leaving pure white footprints on the sea surface.
It was to find the Great Devil of Fire.
"Have you given up?"
"No."
Ellen shook her head.
Her face was resolute.
"I am Serzila."
"So?"
"If I want to do something, I can do it, and if I want to have something, I can take it. That is what Serzila is."
"That is true."
"I will have Seria. As a friend."
Only Seria, not the Church.
Harad liked that answer.
"If Badelots interferes?"
"I will kill him, obviously."
He liked this answer even more.
No need to be righteous, no reason to have a grand cause.
Originally, Serzila was a selfish and arrogant name.
Elaine of the previous life proved that.
Naturally, Ellen could be that way too.
"If you are disappointed in Seria?"
"I will fix her so I am not disappointed, obviously."
Even though she said she would not coerce.
Ellen seemed full of intention to coerce.
"Do you like Seria that much?"
"A little."
Ellen said bluntly.
"More than me?"
"......?"
Ellen's eyes widened belatedly.
"Are you jealous now?"
"What will you do next?"
Harad immediately changed the subject.
It was a question that came out without him knowing.
"Hee."
The corners of Ellen's eyes curved long.
The corners of her mouth twitched.
"What are you planning to do?"
"First, I am going to kill the anteater and see."
"That is too extreme."
It seemed that becoming cautious did not mean her conclusions became cautious too.
"Then what should I do? I have to separate them first."
Badelots had only had a fit.
She had not yet heard Seria's words.
Ellen wanted to hear it directly from the mouth of Seria in her right mind.
Whether to be disappointed or not, and if disappointed, then the discipline afterward would come after that.
"Separating them. That will be easy."
"What?"
"Badelots lost his mind because of the fire."
Harad recalled the fireworks that decorated the night sky earlier.
That was not an attack.
Yet it was powerful and splendid.
"It was fire with impure intent. I do not know what its purpose was."
If not for the fire, Seria would have purified the twelve Demons.
Or Ellen would have blocked it and become enemies with Badelots.
"The fire helped us."
It did not end there.
The sea was under the jurisdiction of the Tower of the Deep.
RUMBLE! A sound like thunder rang out.
The sailing ship twisted, and the direction of the wind changed.
In the distance, Divine power flashed. In that brightened field of vision, a huge waterspout was surging upward.
The master of the whirlpool had come.
Because it had seen some Dreamer's fireworks.
Even without Ellen stepping forward, Badelots and Seria would be separated by that whirlpool.
"Trying to help again."
The Dreamer was scratching Harad and Ellen's itchy spots.
"Demooooon!"
Badelots and Seria's eyes turned toward the waterspout.
They were priests who lost their minds when they saw Demons.
It was natural to be captivated by the Great Devil of Water openly showing off rather than the hidden Great Devil of Fire.
So, everyone was in the Dreamer's palm.
"It is unpleasant, though......"
That was why Harad felt uncomfortable.
All the more so because the purpose was unknown.
'Surely they are not trying to help.'
It was known that there was a star at the border, not that Harad was known.
The Dreamer would not know about Harad.
"There is no reason to refuse either."
However, there was also no reason to deliberately escape from the palm.
Badelots and Seria leaped toward the waterspout.
The waterspout surging into the sky was far away, yet the sea twisted here and there. Large and small whirlpools sprouted like eyes on every visible sea surface.
A horrible sound soon came from the sailing ship.
The twelve Demons clung to each other in fright. Harad was reminded of Ekampote.
"You all will die now. At the hands of Bade... no, Seria. Let us say so."
"Wh-what?"
A small, sturdy man among the group opened his mouth.
He seemed to be the representative.
Earlier, in front of Badelots, he could not even open his mouth.
"Am I not scary?"
Harad rubbed his face.
"You do not look scary."
"Then?"
"You are handsome."
"True enough."
That was enough.
"Jis."
Harad called Jis.
CREAK.
On the splitting sailing ship, shadow spread wide. It was as if a flower bud was blooming. Jis was at its center.
"All twelve people, is it possible?"
"If Harad is here, it is fine."
The shadow with Harad and the shadow without him were different.
Like a star, Jis already knew the difference.
"What about the two of us?"
"If we disappear now, it will be strange."
If they disappeared now, they would have to disappear forever.
It was a problem unrelated to the twelve Demons, but not to Harad and Ellen.
"The Instruction is... hmm."
"I will do it like Harad."
"Can you do it?"
"Of course."
Jis answered like Harad.
Harad smiled broadly.
Jis was a reliable star.
The star's shadow disappeared without a mouse or bird knowing.
"You, can you swim? Carry me on your back."
"......Here?"
The seawater lapped at their feet, splashing.
The sailing ship would soon sink.
"Balbebron did it."
"Back then, there was no magic."
"Equal to or less than Balbebron. I understand well."
"......Get on."
Ellen lowered her body.
"If it is difficult, you do not have to. I can swim too."
"Shut up and get on quickly."
"In a pinch, I will just set things on fire, obviously."
Ellen forcibly gave him a piggyback ride.