Chapter 148

Divine Descent (3)

Katya Heinkel Craven was a monster of divine power, acknowledged even within the Holy Crown Kingdom itself.

To begin with, the nickname Deathwish had been given to her because of her inexhaustible, spring-like divine power that forcibly revived her no matter how many times she died.

In that sense, what Katya was experiencing right now could almost be called a miracle.

‘……I’m being pushed back.’

I was being pushed back in a contest of supernatural output against someone.

Even when I faced Lionhearted head-on—a walking supernatural power plant specialized entirely in that field—I had at least matched him evenly or held the advantage. The idea that I would be pushed back without even properly competing had been unimaginable.

That was how monstrous the dragon force the Pontiff was unleashing before my eyes truly was.

We had been exchanging calculated moves for a while now, but the one whose body was gradually accumulating scratches was me.

True to the name Deathwish, I did not have a single wound severe enough to place a heavy burden on my body—but my regeneration was strangely slow.

I understood what that meant in an instant.

It meant that the divinity the other party was emitting was releasing such overwhelming firepower that it partially nullified even the divine attribute that had been strengthened directly by the God of Purification at the First Altar to enhance me.

The Pontiff, who had converted all of a high-ranking demon’s dark energy into divine power, had reached a realm so absurd that he could even damage a portion of a god’s authority.

……What I understood even less was—

‘Why are you just standing there……!’

Aiden, who stood behind me, was folding his arms and observing the situation as if he had no intention whatsoever of doing anything, even with such an opponent before us.

The usual stream of instructions he would have given me had stopped entirely, and the proactive drive that once made him throw himself forward to keep others from getting hurt had vanished.

He was using his entire body to emphatically declare that he had absolutely no intention of involving himself in this situation.

I felt anger surge within me. What on earth was he thinking?

* It’s fine.

* No parent ever defeats their child.

……He had said something like that just moments ago.

But a parent?

That woman?

The very person who placed this cursed shackle called ‘numbness’ upon me and left me in a state where nearly everyone in the Holy Crown Kingdom treated me as something just short of trash?

With distrust filling my eyes, my gaze settled upon the Pontiff, who had yet to regain his senses.

“…….”

Aiden had just spoken as though he were confirming that that person did not have long left to live.

Having heard something like that, it was true that it was difficult to continue looking at the other party with the same kind of gaze.

I had vaguely known. Just by looking at his physical condition, I could see many signs that would never have appeared if the Pontiff had been in perfect health.

And as for what I felt about that—

Even for me, it was unbearably complicated.

It was hardly appropriate in the middle of battle, but my consciousness slowly began to sink inward.

‘……Me too.’

I knew.

From the beginning, our relationship had not been like this.

……I always remembered.

When I was young, I used to follow the Pontiff around quite well.

There were several times when I called her Mother and ran into her arms.

I still remembered the expression she wore back then, as if it had been burned into me.

Everything changed starting from a single day.

* Your name is Katya.

* What does it mean? I don’t know either.

* I do know it was the name of one of those who died by my hand during the succession ceremony.

* He just told me that if I ever became Pontiff, I had to become a truly great one.

* ……We were fairly close. Until he died.

* I named you that because I hoped you would inherit his will. If there’s any meaning, that’s about it.

* So I’m certain that the divinity you’ll be granted will help you carry out such things with ease, if you ever become my successor.

I remembered hearing those words.

On the very day I was granted this cursed ability that prevented me from feeling anything.

“…….”

As I pushed back the divine power the Pontiff was unleashing before me, flames blazing with a terrifying presence scorched my entire body.

It was a dreadful hellfire, enough to burn my skin and tear through my muscles completely.

Yet still.

Nothing.

I felt nothing.

“-”

If Aiden Kellermain had not existed, I would probably still be living in a state where I had forgotten what it meant to ‘feel.’

I also vividly remembered the time when I began to break after losing all of that.

I committed bizarre acts, killing myself just to feel something, causing incidents, clashing recklessly with others.

Had I continued like that until everyone was sick of me, avoided me, and treated me like a monstrosity?

Even when I had fallen to that state, there had been exactly one person who did not treat me that way.

* Why are you doing this?

It was a childhood memory, so very little of it remained clear. It was also a time when my senses had begun to deteriorate one by one, and even my vision had been affected. So it was not a sharply preserved scene in my mind.

But there was a time when the Pontiff personally summoned me and met with me alone.

With a blank expression, in a short and simple manner, without showing any reaction no matter what I did, she had always stood on my side—and that day, she asked me that question.

As if she had reached her limit.

What had I answered her then?

* You know, I—

* I want to die, Your Holiness.

I don’t want to live.

Living like this, unable to feel anything, is harder than dying.

And then.

At that moment.

What remained in my memory was only the impression that the Pontiff’s face, upon hearing that answer, had been a complete mess.

At the time, I thought she was simply disappointed.

Perhaps she had not expected that I—the one she had placed such high hopes on, even considering as her successor—would turn into a lunatic running around committing bizarre acts. Something like that.

……But thinking about it now.

It was certain that more than just that single emotion had been mixed into her expression.

* I shouldn’t have done that.

* I shouldn’t have tried to place my shackles upon you.

* Rather than wishing for you to become strong and extraordinary, I should have prayed to the God of Purification for you to live the life you desired.

* It would have been better than ending up like this.

It was a time when I was not yet accustomed to perceiving the world through a vision that had begun to break, so I did not remember it clearly.

But I distinctly remembered the Pontiff’s tears, boiling over and streaming down.

Perhaps it was around that time that I began to fall out of the Pontiff’s protection.

The support that had been coming in was cut off one by one, and the signals grew stronger—politically and personally—that no one intended to maintain ties with me any longer.

From the beginning, I was an artificial lifeform that, by all rights, should never even have been granted the right to live.

To a strict theologian, I would have been something close to blasphemy itself, and the only reason I had been able to endure within the royal family was the Pontiff’s backing.

When even that was severed, what kind of treatment a delinquent like me would receive in the royal household—

Both Aiden and I had felt that brutally the moment we arrived in the Holy Crown Kingdom.

And so.

That was why the question Aiden asked me before we came here was carved even deeper into my mind.

‘- What do you think?’

Hadn’t he stubbornly tried to make me realize that I was worried about the Pontiff?

It was confusing.

Why would he ask such a question?

As if it were something unbearably important in the current situation.

Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, I did not know—but it was clear that I could not dwell on it any longer.

Because a visible change was occurring in the Pontiff before my eyes.

▣

“……What?”

Katya, who had been holding the front line, let out that voice without realizing it.

From the body of the Pontiff, who had already been wielding overwhelming supernatural power, a golden radiance was now erupting.

Like a dam bursting and a flood overflowing, the pressure pouring out—at a level impossible to believe was coming from a single human—made Katya lower her head instinctively.

The divine power that had already been pouring out as if to overwhelm us now completely filled the entire cavity, saturating it.

At a density so intense that anyone of lesser caliber would faint simply by standing here, even a superhuman who had reached a realm like Katya’s would struggle to remain upright—the supernatural power spread at a terrifying speed.

“……Time’s up.”

And Aiden, who had been quietly watching that scene, spoke in a calm voice.

“If you intended to carry out a burnt offering ritual at this level, you must have needed considerable preparation. And after pouring in this much divine power, the God of Purification will have no choice but to respond.”

“……What?”

After continuing that explanation in the same composed tone, Aiden scratched his cheek and gestured toward Katya, who blankly asked back.

“Please go closer to her, Katya.”

“…………?”

Katya stared at Aiden as if he had lost his mind.

She had been pushed back the entire time, barely able to approach. And now he was telling her to get closer—what kind of nonsense was that?

She glared at him with that question in her eyes, but Aiden merely responded with the same stubborn calmness.

“It’s fine.”

Repeating what he had been saying all along.

“From the beginning, don’t you find it strange?”

“……What do you mean?”

“If she had intended to use that level of power to harm us, we would have been dead long ago.”

The explanation fell quietly, step by step.

Emphasizing that such power was never meant to harm them in the first place.

“…….”

I was confused.

I could not keep up with how the situation was unfolding.

And yet, the experience of having stayed by his side forced my feet to move.

He had never been wrong about things like this before. So this time, too, he must be speaking something close to the right answer.

Step by hesitant step, I approached the Pontiff, who stood at the very center of the enormous formation drawn across the floor of the grand cavity.

‘……Why.’

When I came closer and looked at her—

The Pontiff’s appearance was nothing short of horrific.

Her body was already in such a state that it was astonishing she was still alive, and now that she was containing power at this level, it was as though her flesh were crumbling and sloughing off while she yet lived. Nothing showed on her expression, but it was immediately clear that she was burning the last handful of life she had left in order to wield that power.

And yet—why?

Why would she offer up the little life she had left to do something like this?

For what purpose?

Aiden seemed to know, yet refused to explain until the very end—

“……?!”

Before I could even finish that thought, the Pontiff suddenly seized my arm.

For a moment, I thought she meant to continue the battle, and I prepared myself—but then my entire body froze rigid.

After standing there blankly for a long moment, I managed to open my mouth with difficulty.

“……Huh?”

A faint gasp escaped me without my realizing it.

Because something I had never imagined was happening.

My vision—

Was regenerating.

Just like the brief moment before, when I had temporarily regained my ‘senses’ thanks to Aiden.

“…….”

With widened eyes, I looked at the Pontiff.