novelraw Chapter 142 : Chapter 142
Chapter 142 : Chapter 142
Chapter 142: Mixed Colors (6)
Demian’s eyes flew open.
He stared blankly around him. Walls absurdly high and absurdly solid. Walls that looked as though they had been wrought from platinum surrounded Demian on all sides.
“Er,” Demian muttered experimentally. There was no sign of the banshee swarm. The vigilantes were gone as well. His connection with Ernst had been severed, and he stood alone at the center of the vast enclosure of walls.
-Welcome, descendant.
No—he was not alone.
A mass of light shaped like a person brushed past Demian as it moved forward.
-This is the domain of the Pantheon.
-An infinite wall that exists somewhere within it.
A soul.
Demian realized it without difficulty.
It was something he had learned in CIAR. A body at eternal rest vanished through funeral rites, while only the soul remained, departing for the Underworld to prepare for reincarnation.
-Look upon the wall you face.
-You cannot cross it. You cannot break it.
-Feel it—the wall your ancestors faced, and we ourselves faced.
Before he realized it, countless souls had arrived at Demian’s side.
They had neither bodies nor clear voices, yet Demian could recognize who they were.
Ancestors. The ancestors of the Farenheit family. Souls among them that had not yet reincarnated had gathered here.
“I…….”
Thus, Demian opened his mouth, pulling at one cheek.
“……Am I dead?”
Did I come here because I died?
Demian asked, and—
-Hah!
-This generation’s descendant is rather bold.
-Do not misunderstand. You are not dead.
-Descendant, the reason you reached this place is not because you failed. On the contrary, it is because you succeeded.
-Rejoice. You have been given the chance to record your conviction.
Conviction.
Demian repeated the word spoken by his ancestors.
He tugged at his cheek again, but felt no pain. It seemed that pain did not exist in the domain of the Pantheon.
Then what did exist here? As he stepped forward, Demian thought. Without knowing which direction was which, he simply advanced until he stood before the wall.
“This is…….”
So that is it.
This is conviction.
Demian murmured softly.
“Convictions are carved here, upon this magnificent wall…….”
The solid wall was composed of inscriptions.
Convictions. As he traced several of the words, Demian became certain.
This was a wall of the Pantheon, and everything engraved upon it was conviction. Those who had reached this place had left their convictions behind.
-That is correct.
Yes, yes, yes, the ancestors’ voices echoed.
-I wished to protect my territory from the enemy. Facing three thousand soldiers, I prayed. Even if my own force numbered only thirty, I would become a knight who could fulfill the rest.
-I arrived here far too late. Dragging my aged body as I wandered, I sought to protect a child from monsters. And so I prayed. Even if my body were to perish, I would become a knight who sharpened his soul like a blade.
Do you understand, descendant?
The ancestors whispered thus.
-We are knights.
-We were those who possessed the duty of knights.
-We became knights while admiring tales of chivalry, yet we witnessed walls that could not be pierced by chivalry alone.
-Good and evil grow indistinct. Hierarchies harden due to the divide between poverty and wealth. Right and wrong become useless, and those who become knights one day find themselves unable to advance.
-Faced with a wall endlessly tall and solid, we are driven to question.
-What must we do? What are we to do?
-The answer is clear.
It must be engraved.
The ancestors declared in unison.
-Before a wall where duty becomes useless, we spoke of conviction.
Demian closed his eyes gently.
He clenched his trembling hand. He felt the sword hilt. Grasping the family’s treasured blade, he inhaled deeply.
-Therefore, descendant.
-Engrave your conviction as well.
-Decide not a knight’s duty, but your own.
-Forever, even should your body wither away……
-So that it may endure eternally within the domain of the Main Gods.
“I understand,”
Demian whispered quietly, then—
“I am Demian Fernando von Farenheit.”
He clasped the sword hilt with both hands.
Clang. The molten tip of the treasured blade bit into the wall.
He pressed with all his strength, but only a faint afterimage spread. He did not mind. It was enough to carve the words.
“I will leave my conviction here.”
Clang, clang.
The sound of metal rang out.
The blade struck the wall again and again, leaving only shallow scratches.
“Never to be erased…….”
Yet faintly, it was engraved.
Clenching his teeth, Demian carved the words with his own hands.
“──My conviction, and mine alone!”
***
[Wait, this is…….]
Ernst’s voice reached Demian’s mind.
Demian seemed not to hear it. He merely stood still with his eyes closed.
[Demian? Answer me! Anomalous reactions are being detected there! What on earth is happening?]
At a glance, he looked as though he had lost consciousness while standing.
Thud. Demian’s treasured sword lay sprawled on the sand. Had the strength left his hand? Staring blankly at Demian’s back, the vigilantes wondered.
No—something was different. Creak, creak. The banshees were retreating, emitting groans. The swarm that had looked ready to charge at any moment hesitated, as though frightened by the mere sight of Demian standing still.
-H-Hey! Are you all right?!
-Say something, kid!
As the vigilantes shouted toward Demian—
“I am──.”
Demian’s lips trembled.
“Knights are those who carve duty into a world where duty has grown faint.”
Soon, his eyes opened.
Demian sharpened his gaze and stared straight ahead.
“If good and evil are indistinct, then I will at least speak of a duty that can discern them.”
Whoosh.
A mass of light brushed past Demian’s body.
Golden light wrapped itself around him.
“If hierarchy hardens due to poverty and wealth, then I will at least speak of a duty that shatters it.”
Before long, light dyed the sandy shore.
It began to solidify, rising high enough to block not only Demian’s side, but the entire coastline.
“If right and wrong have become useless, then I will at least speak of a duty that grants them value.”
Creak.
For a moment, the banshees stiffened, then—
CREEEAK!
They charged all at once, eyes blazing as they rushed toward Demian.
“Therefore, my conviction is──!”
A shield?
No, it was like a fortress.
That was what it resembled.
Facing forward, the vigilantes were reminded of a citadel. A towering beam of light formed the afterimage of a fortress. A translucent golden citadel had been erected.
“Even if I must lay down my sword, the resolve to advance while steadfastly agonizing.”
Even if a knight’s duty vanished, nothing changed. One must debate good and evil. One must debate the strong and the weak. One must debate right and wrong.
One must advance while endlessly deep worry.
Demian murmured thus, and—
“──Steadfast as a fortress!”
He shouted at last.
Boom, boom, boom! The charging banshees crashed into the citadel.
They were thrown back, but paid it no heed. They rose again and rushed toward Demian.
Endless assault clashed against an endlessly solid fortress. One banshee crumbled and rolled across the sand, another raked at the citadel with its claws, yet—
‘……It worked.’
A faint smile touched Demian’s lips.
The translucent golden citadel stood firm, blocking the banshees without allowing even the slightest damage. The vigilantes blinked in confusion, and Demian lowered his head as he let out a long breath.
[Demian, did you just…….]
Ernst contacted him again, having identified the anomaly detected by the Tactical Controller.
[Did you achieve Aura?]
“I am not entirely sure…….”
Looking down at his hand, Demian muttered.
Golden light had gathered there.
“……But it seems that way.”
What was it that he had witnessed?
Turning around, Demian wondered. The domain of the Pantheon. A wall erected somewhere within it. Countless convictions engraved upon it. Was it real? For a moment he questioned it, and then—
“That is…….”
A different thought followed.
Because he had witnessed a scene just as unfamiliar.
“……Flowers?”
Demian sniffed the air.
He caught a leaf that had landed on the bridge of his nose.
A petal. It was unmistakably a flower petal. Stroking the white petal, Demian felt shaken.
“And trees…….”
Behind Demian’s back, the scenery of Portsmouth had changed.
The humidity and stench were gone. The unpleasantly decayed landscape had vanished, replaced by flowers and trees that now formed Portsmouth.
This was not a change caused by my Aura. Demian thought as petals fell from his hand. Yet instinctively, he could tell. The petals falling at his feet, and the flowers and trees forming Portsmouth, were all—
‘……Aura.’
It must have been an achievement born of Aura.
And so Demian was certain.
‘Monika.’
Monika Lohengrin.
She was the one who had changed the scenery.
.
.
.
[Hey, Senior. Could you answer me?]
“Yeah, I am listening.”
To Ernst’s transmission, Lizer replied.
[Well, I do not know exactly what happened, but…… it looks like Demian awakened Aura. I think the coast’s defense is no longer a concern.]
“I see. That is good.”
[Drop the listless response and take a look, will you? What is your situation like over there?]
“We are…….”
Lizer shrugged his shoulders.
Shading his eyes with his hand, he surveyed the shore.
It looked as though a fortress had been erected. A translucent golden shape towered at the center of the beach, mimicking a citadel.
“……There is no need to worry.”
Demian Fernando von Farenheit.
Did that boy awaken Aura as well? Wondering that, Lizer smiled faintly. This is a rare sight. To witness the process of achieving Aura.
“Well, even so…….”
What we witnessed was far more mysterious.
Murmuring thus, Lizer turned around.
“Isn’t that right, Monika?”
Behind Lizer, Monika had her eyes closed.
Her hand was pressed against the ground.
“Come back soon.”
Monika’s consciousness was still within the domain of the Mother God.
But she would return shortly. The changed scenery proved the result. The polluted Spirit’s Nest had been purified, and the spirits wandering through Portsmouth had regained their vitality. The land tainted by the Mother God’s punishment was now thick with flowers and trees, leaving not a trace of unpleasant energy behind.
“So now…….”
It is your turn.
Lizer whispered.
“……I know.”
Monika opened her eyes.
She murmured as she let out a thin breath.
“Let us finish this.”
Monika rose to her feet.
Countless spirits—and with them, innumerable souls.
The beings that had been within the Mother God’s domain gathered at Monika’s side. The change in scenery could not have been achieved alone. It was the result achieved together with everyone. Thinking so, Monika extended her hand, to bring everything to an end.
“──Sarrifis.”
The Pocket Plain opened, and the great sword named after her homeland was summoned.
Fresh green Aura began to coil around Monika’s great sword.