Chapter 125

Setting aside the uproar among the servants after Iberin collapsed, the people who'd been on death's door, hanging on by a thread, were suddenly opening their eyes clear-headed and able to move.

Literally — without calling it a miracle of the god, there was no explaining it.

"…Wh-what is this!"

The knights and soldiers all knew why Lecashe and the emperor were locked in this siege.

The emperor was trying to reshape the Aleta Holy Empire into an "empire" with the "holy" stripped out.

The temple's authority had hit rock bottom.

Lecashe, on the other hand, was the side trying to protect the World Tree.

The knights and soldiers had come here to fight under their nobles' orders, but the truth was they hadn't given it much thought.

They were doing it because they'd been told to.

"The god…."

One knight murmured it, dazed.

"The god has descended…!"

At that cry, every one of them dropped flat to the ground.

"M-mommy, mommy…."

"My lady!"

Ether, Rozelia, and Kal were sobbing.

The fallen Iberin gave no sign of opening her eyes.

But they couldn't touch her — every time a hand brushed her skin, a sharp spark snapped against it.

"Hgh."

The fear that something might happen swelled larger.

The servants who served Iberin closely came to their senses, belatedly, at the sound of that crying.

God or no god, what mattered first was checking on Iberin's condition — they moved in and reached out.

But, as expected, they couldn't touch her.

A servant cried out and yanked her hand back.

"What's happening!"

Lyssel had heard the commotion and come running.

"Iberin!"

His eyes filled with the sight of her collapsed there.

Reason gone, he ran in to gather Iberin into his arms — and at that moment Iberin opened her eyes.

But what was inside them wasn't Iberin.

"It's been a while, child."

"What have you done to Iberin…."

"I promised, didn't I — that I'd take away the demonic energy. And you, too. The time has come for you to find your true form at last."

That was all she said.

And in the next moment, Demedeto's touch reached Lyssel too.

Black hair and black eyes had been a kind of symbol of the cursed Lecashe.

But under Demedeto's touch, the dazzling silver hair and blue eyes of the imperial line came into view.

"……Hk."

Everyone was stunned.

Even Lyssel, in shock, ran his hands over himself.

There was no need to find a mirror to check, though.

Ether, tearing up beside Iberin, had silver hair and blue eyes too.

"With this, the demonic energy that had been binding you is gone for good."

Even with the demonic energy completely gone, life flooded through every part of him.

Lyssel looked down at his own trembling hands.

"I — through this child, my Iberin, I was able to wake again, and through Lecashe I have recovered my power like this. So I will take you as my own people."

"Hk."

Every person there made a sound like they'd had the breath knocked out of them.

"What do you mean —"

"I'll grant you the strength to teach those who run rampant in their arrogance, not knowing their place, a lesson. It was always yours to begin with."

At the same time, the light pouring from the World Tree grew more brilliant still.

---

The light that spread out swept over the whole of Aleta.

"……My god."

People in the capital, people living in remote backwaters — all of them just stared blankly into the air at the crisp, clean energy that seemed to wash both body and mind clean.

Even commoners who had never so much as glimpsed holy power, let alone a priest, sensed that this wasn't ordinary power.

The devout howled and sank to their knees.

It was no different for those who'd had no faith.

It was the return of the god — the one they had searched and searched for.

The people of the Aleta Empire thought, so the god hasn't abandoned Aleta after all.

Commoners didn't know, but the nobles who understood how things were unfolding felt it more keenly.

The nobles who had stayed neutral, refusing to join the emperor, sensed that something extraordinary was happening.

"……Ah. This light."

Even in the underground dungeon where there was no way for light to come in, Yelberk felt the light seep through and let out a sound of wonder.

Cherity, who had come looking knowing where Yelberk was, was the same.

"Truly, the god…!"

But their reactions diverged after that.

Yelberk, locked away, sank into despair; Cherity's eyes burned with elation.

"So the god really stands with His Majesty?"

Yelberk thought so because he didn't know about Lecashe and Iberin.

"What do you mean?"

"In the very war launched to subjugate Lecashe, the god has descended. What can that mean?"

"It means the god is on Lecashe's side!"

"…What?"

"From the start, the emperor doesn't believe in the god. And besides, this war was meant to be the stepping stone to an 'empire.' There's no way the god would protect that emperor."

Yelberk blinked at him, dazed.

"His Majesty is most likely going to lose."

"……Is that so."

Which meant Aleta was finished.

Yelberk somehow felt he could see his own future in front of him, and yet a small laugh escaped him.

His belief that a position obtained by using others meant nothing was unchanged, and so he genuinely thought he was all right with dying.

Crash—

In the meantime, Cherity smashed open the cell door and held out a hand.

"I'll stay."

But Yel thought this was where he belonged and refused that hand.

"Why?"

"Why? If His Majesty is to lose, as you say, then I'll have to follow him."

Cherity clicked his tongue at the inflexible Yelberk.

He'd known the emperor for a long time, but he'd known Crown Prince Yelberk too, from the time he was an infant.

So he knew that Yelberk was a completely different person from the emperor.

"Didn't you yourself say that punishing by association was too cruel?"

"…What?"

"When anyone committed a wrong, His Majesty would wipe out three generations to root the bloodline out. Looking at him, didn't you say to me — that to drag innocent children into punishment by association was cruel?"

"……I did."

It had been said once, in passing.

The emperor at that time had killed even a newborn child and put the head on a pike.

It was so horrific that even the nobles had murmured about it.

But on the flip side, because of it, no one dared rise against the emperor.

"So why are you so easily applying the same rule to yourself?"

"…But."

Yelberk didn't know whether Cherity knew about Lecashe's situation or not, so he kept it back.

"I know about that too."

When Cherity said it, Yelberk answered.

"Really? Then you should understand why I'm doing this. They've been on the receiving end for far too long, haven't they."

"Let's at least take this conversation outside first."

"No. I belong here."

The Lecashe Grand Duke, maybe — but Iberin, who looked to genuinely love young children, didn't seem like the kind of person who'd want Yelberk gotten rid of.

She'd already taken in two children who weren't even hers.

One more wouldn't be strange.

And besides, Yelberk had a record of betraying his own father, the emperor, and helping Lecashe.

"You have to finish things properly."

"…Finish?"

"Do you really think the emperor will back down this easily?"

"……Ah."

"If the god really has descended, he'll think Aleta is done for. Which means he'll see this through to the end. That's what I'm saying."

True enough — with that temperament, the emperor turning tail and running just because the god had appeared didn't add up either.

"The emperor has shut you up in here and already marched down to Lecashe. Come out, quickly."

"……Then I should head to Lecashe too —"

"It's already too late for that. What you should do, Your Highness, is your own work here. The same goes for me."

Cherity smiled and held his hand out again, and after a moment of hesitation, Yelberk reached out and took it.

---

From the moment the long-vanished god appeared, the game was effectively over.

Morale shot up, and one moment of awe followed another at the god's appearance.

The emperor's side didn't know the details of how things were unfolding, but they knew this light was no ordinary thing.

"What on earth is going on here?"

"…This is — almost as if."

Above all, it was definitely not demonic energy.

"Enough!"

Sensing where that thought was going, the emperor let out a furious roar.

"That can't be."

"…R-right, of course."

If what they were thinking was right, it meant the god had cast them aside.

That, of all things, couldn't be true.

Just then a soldier rushed in, shouting urgently,

"Your Majesty! Th-there, outside!"

"What is it?"

"Y-you'd better come see for yourself…."

The emperor, already on edge, swung his sword in irritation.

Schunk.

The soldier let out a short, choked cry and his head went straight off.

"Who do you think you are, telling me where to go."

He'd thought that once he'd killed Lecashe and gotten rid of the World Tree, everything would be fine.

That was why he'd come down here in person, and yet the situation wasn't unfolding as he wanted, and the emperor was rattled.

"Hk…."

The nobles just held their breath.

When the blood seeping from the beheaded soldier flowed far enough to reach his own feet, the emperor finally pulled the tent flap aside and stepped out.

And the emperor saw it.

The fortress of Lecashe, shining in radiant brilliance.

The nobles who followed him out stood transfixed and stared too.

"Wh-what on earth…."

The men outside were still flat to the ground.

The light, blinding enough that one's eyes might fail, soon faded — but the troops had lost their morale long before that.

"I-I cannot fight any longer."

A knight said it and threw his sword down.

It wasn't a soldier — it was a knight.

When one did it, the same response rippled through.

Clang.

Clink.

One after another, they threw their swords down.

"What is the meaning of this! Pick up your swords this instant!"

"And you call yourselves knights?!"

The flustered commanders shouted themselves hoarse, but it didn't seem to reach them.

"We are knights! Knights of the Aleta Empire! We cannot dare to go against the will of the god! General, do you truly not see?!"

If anything, it had become an open insurrection.

The commander's face flushed crimson, but he couldn't refute it.

"You — bastards!"

Then the emperor cracked like a thunderclap.

"Are you not subjects of the Aleta Empire? If so, following my command comes first! Pick up your swords this instant!"

The emperor said it again, but every one of them stayed still.

The nobles' faces twisted, and they hung their heads.

If even they were starting to wonder whether they could win this fight, what could be expected of mere knights and soldiers.

"If you do not pick up your swords, I'll kill every one of you!"

The emperor lifted his sword himself and cut down a knight who'd been at his side.

He'd already finished off one man back in the tent, so blood was dripping from the blade.

Aagh!

The knight bit down on a cry of pain and toppled to the ground.

"Wh-what the —"

It didn't end there.

The emperor swung his sword recklessly, threatening anyone in reach.

Even the nobles standing close to him scattered in panic, and the soldiers floundered, falling back away from him.

"I'll kill every last one of you! Pick up your swords, I said!"

The emperor shrieked it.

But his stamina, like his swordsmanship, was hopeless, and he soon wore himself out and began gasping for breath.

"Hk, hk…."

His hair stuck out wildly, his clothes crumpled — at a glance, he hardly looked like an emperor at all.

While the emperor's camp was in the middle of all that chaos, Lyssel appeared.

Even with Lyssel standing there watching, no one had noticed him.

"Pathetic — beyond pathetic."

That was what Lyssel said as he watched the sorry spectacle.

The knights, whose senses were keener, noticed first; then the emperor turned his head and saw Lyssel.

"……You?"