Chapter 364

C364. On Sin (2)

About two weeks after that.

Following Alon’s opinion, soldiers started gathering at the Magic Tower.

Soldiers and knights congregated with resolute expressions, as if preparing for the final battle. Their numbers were such that they completely filled the areas around the Tower.

A truly colossal scale.

At the Magic Tower, where the army continued to gather day after day without rest—

“Yutia.”

“Rine, it’s been a while.”

Rine and Yutia were also there.

“So your main body is still in Fildegreen, right?”

Yutia asked with her usual gentle smile, and Rine nodded.

“That’s right. As I mentioned last time, it’s still not in a condition to move.”

“What a pity. It would be of great help to the Master.”

Yutia spoke with a truly regretful tone, and Rine observed her in silence for a moment.

Eyes as if meditating on something.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

At Yutia’s question, Rine shook her head a couple of times.

“I had something to think about. And you don’t need to worry about that.”

“About what?”

“The help. I think I can, at least, provide that.”

Yutia nodded gently.

“Then, what have you come for?”

She asked Rine.

“Can’t I just come over?”

Rine retorted.

But Yutia didn’t wipe off her smile.

“I’d say no.”

“…That comment actually hurts a little.”

“Really? When you want to see me, you always invent tiny excuses. For example, when you were little, you’d come to ask about words you obviously already knew—”

“H-hey! You don’t have to bring up those things from the past all of a sudden…!”

Rine blushed and tried to stop her hurriedly.

Yutia, with a relaxed smile, took a seat in her assigned office.

“I’m just saying I know you well. After all, we lived together for quite some time.”

“So, what is your purpose?”

Rine sighed as if she had no alternative, stayed silent for a moment, and then said:

“Yutia, did you know about Pluton?”

She launched the question.

“Of course. You taught me yourself.”

Yutia answered, but Rine denied it.

“No, I’m talking about ‘before’.”

“Before?”

“Yes. I’m asking if you knew about it before I used Pluton.”

At that question, Yutia kept silent.

Instead of answering, she observed her intently with an inscrutable gaze.

Some time passed.

“Why do you ask that?”

Yutia’s quiet voice resonated.

Rine fixed her eyes on her.

“I know Yutia is hiding something. But I don’t plan to ask. You wouldn’t answer anyway.”

“I see you understand well.”

“Besides, I also know things about you.”

“Hmm—”

With an almost amused nuance, Yutia’s voice rose slightly.

But then—

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. Yutia wouldn’t do anything that harms us.”

Rine’s repeated firmness shook her, at least a little.

Her smile didn’t disappear.

It remained the same.

The smiling face.

The serene gaze.

But for an instant…

Her expression remained as if frozen.

Enough for anyone to notice.

“So, I’m not going to ask about your secrets.”

Rine continued.

“I just want to know one thing.”

From the beginning, she wasn’t looking for a reaction.

“…What thing?”

“Who destroyed the Ilaneph Empire?”

Rine stared fixedly at Yutia.

“Does that matter?”

With a neutral face, Yutia answered calmly.

“…Until now, I believed the world was destroyed by the Sins.”

Rine told her what she had discovered.

That Pluton and the Sin had been created in the Ilaneph Empire.

That the Sin’s name was that of a protective weapon of Ilaneph.

And that during the fall of the Empire, it was never used.

“You have researched a lot.”

“My library contains all information… except about you.”

Yutia didn’t answer that comment. She only drummed the table with her index finger, deep in thought. Rine didn’t rush her either.

She knew very well that Yutia wasn’t someone who divulged information under pressure.

Some time passed.

Finally, after that silence, Yutia said:

“I cannot answer your question directly.”

“…I see.”

“But I can give you a couple of hints.”

She said.

“H… hints?”

“Yes, hints.”

Smiling again, Yutia thought about what to tell her.

“First: just as you researched, the Sin was created by the Ilaneph Empire. It is also true that it was a ‘protective weapon’.”

Meaning—just as you saw in your library: it wasn’t the Sin who destroyed Ilaneph. She added.

“The second is—”

She looked at Rine and pronounced:

“Guihyeol.”

“…Gui… hyeol?”

“Search for information about Guihyeol in your library. It will probably bring you closer to the answer you want.”

Yutia said with a smile.

Rine opened her mouth, as if she wanted to ask something else, but—

Knock, knock.

The sound of the call forced her to fall silent.

“Cardinal Yutia. It is almost time for the meeting.”

Hearing the voice, Yutia stood up.

“It seems our chat ends here. Then I will take my leave—”

—And I hope you find the answer.

She left that sentence and exited the office.

Afterward.

Rine, alone in the office,

repeated in murmurs the words Yutia had left.

One more week passed.

Most of the army had already gathered around the Magic Tower.

And they began their march toward the destroyed Ashtalon.

The sight of the army moving in unison, so numerous that it surrounded the Tower and more, was enough to make even Alon, who didn’t usually feel admiration for those types of scenes, shudder.

The magnitude was enormous.

“Phew…”

But aside from that shudder,

Alon let out a sigh that was a mix of relief and worry.

“What is it, Marquis?”

Penia, who was calculating something beside him, looked at him.

“I just have a lot of things to think about.”

“About the strategy?”

“Partly.”

Penia nodded and continued speaking.

“Well, of course it can be worrying. A strategy can collapse instantly if something goes differently than predicted. But based on what you said, it doesn’t seem like there is another option.”

“I suppose so. But if something fails, there will be unavoidable sacrifices.”

At that, Penia tilted her head.

“…Marquis, it’s curious.”

“What do you mean?”

“That.”

“That?”

“That you are trying to avoid sacrifices.”

“…Is that strange?”

“It is. It is impossible to go to war or a subjugation without sacrifices. Even in small disputes, there are some. That is an ideal.”

Alon scratched his head. She wasn’t wrong.

“Still, I can at least think about it… can’t I?”

“Maybe, but when you think those things, Marquis, you look different than usual. Very emotional. As if you really wanted to make an ideal a reality.”

“…Really?”

Alon touched his face, puzzled.

He wasn’t an idealist. He knew perfectly well that there would be sacrifices. And he didn’t usually feel overwhelmed or sad about it.

So her comment felt strange to him.

But that reflection was short-lived.

“By the way, how is the magic you plan to use going?”

“The preparation is ready. I can control it.”

“Then the plan won’t have problems.”

“That’s right. As long as it doesn’t overflow like we feared, there won’t be issues. But, what are you doing?”

He looked at Penia’s hands.

Even while they spoke, her hands didn’t stop moving.

Penia let out a small “ah”.

“This?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a holy book I received from Silly.”

“A holy book?”

“Yes.”

“…Why are you reading that all of a sudden?”

“Well… it’s not that I’m reading the content. I’m looking for words that work as activation.”

“Activation?”

“Yes, since we interpreted the magic I left it aside, but when we investigated the formulas I used it.”

“Ah.”

Alon nodded.

Until before managing to interpret the magic, they had kept researching the use of Reverse Heaven.

“Is that what you were researching?”

“Let’s say yes. Technically I’m just looking for an activation word, this is the real thing.”

Penia pointed to the side of the book, where formulas were written in the empty spaces.

While Penia and Alon conversed like this…

After exactly one week of advancing together with the army,

Alon arrived at Ashtalon.

Or rather, could it still be called Ashtalon?

The knight beside him frowned openly. As his reaction indicated, the first thing that hit Alon was the metallic smell of blood.

Then he was greeted by a mountain of corpses.

And finally, what could be seen was—

[…]

In the distance.

A single red knight, standing in silence, in the center of the destroyed capital of Ashtalon.

His condition could not be described as good.

The helm he wore was extremely worn.

The armor, torn and bulging as if they were protruding veins, provoked discomfort just by looking at it.

And yet, facing that deplorable appearance of the Sin, no one mocked or belittled him.

What was felt on the faces of soldiers and knights was tension and fear.

The red knight did nothing. He was just there, imposing.

However, everyone shared the same sensation—no, a common instinct as living beings.

The sensation every creature experiences when facing something dangerous.

In that situation, Alon contemplated the Sin of Wrath—

no, what was once Eliban.

He still knew nothing.

He didn’t know why he tried to spread his achievements.

He didn’t know why he felt anxious when dealing with the aberrant texts.

He didn’t know why, without liking the night, he looked at the night sky lost in thought.

He knew nothing.

But at this moment,

he did know what he had to do.

That’s why—

“…Blackie.”

[Kyu]

He whispered in a low voice.

And at that moment, when a star rose in the red sky dyed with blood—

[You arrived]

From the center of the destroyed capital, so far that no one else could hear it—

[The One with Closed Eyes (The One with Closed Eyes).]

The Sin murmured.

In silence.