393 – S8. What Humans Can Do

“This is…”

“Finn, divine power! I can feel it!”

The goddess temple in Crownshold retained the lingering resonance of the goddess. Back when the Black Dragon Crown’s resurrection occurred, had the goddess infused her divine power beforehand, creating a sacred domain(聖域)?

A light of hope surged within the two. Perhaps, perhaps! The goddess had already completed her preparations to descend?

Until now, the sky had been dark, and communion impossible. But here, a faint signal could be caught. They could use the functions granted by the goddess, albeit in a limited capacity.

Moreover, the power of 『Nightmare Summoning』 wouldn’t reach the depths of the temple. The warrior Finn made that judgement. Therefore──

Finn set Vecchio down before the entrance. And lowering his posture, he met the gaze of the little pope’s verdant eyes, and spoke.

“…I’ll hold the enemies following behind here, at the entrance. Your Holiness, please go inside and attempt to connect with the goddess.”

“……”

Vecchio’s lips trembled, words swirling within him. ‘But Finn,’ ‘They are chasing us from outside,’ ‘It’s dangerous,’ these sentiments churned in his mind, but remained unspoken.

Because he knew his words were mere childishness.

“Your Holineessssssssss──”

The nightmares summoned by 『Fear Summoning』 still trailed after them, dragging their feet. The footsteps of the pursuers were an incessant ringing, like tinnitus.

It would be difficult to wage the siege from inside the building. The temple was vast, there wasn’t enough time to build barricades, and entrances led in from every direction. They could very well be surrounded.

So. So…

Stay with me, inside, by my side, Pin.

These were words that must not be spoken. Becchio clenched his fist.

“…Somehow, I’ll try to commune with the Goddess. Leave it to me, Pin.”

“…Of course. If you find yourself in danger inside, let me know. I’ll rush there immediately. Or—”

Or.

Or abandon the communion with the Goddess, and flee, believing someone else would solve this calamity.

We don’t need to support this sky. His Holiness is too young, and I am just a common mercenary. I saw the fear flickering in your eyes.

Don’t we all want to run?

Pin wanted to say those words. The words had risen up, brushing against his uvula.

But he couldn’t utter them. Becchio, wearing a heavy crown since birth, suppressed his fear and spoke instead:

“Uh-huh. I am, after all, a resolver! So I can do it. Surely…”

“……”

Becchio bore the weight. How could an adult, already seventeen, run away when a tiny child was trying to hold up the collapsing sky?

The time had come. The moment of choice had passed, and now only the thorny path that must be endured remained. Even if one regretted it, it was irreversible.

So please, let us find happiness at the end of this road.

“May the Goddess protect you.”

“…May the Goddess protect you.”

Screeeeeak.

Pin opened the temple door, and Becchio dashed through the gap. The little Pope did not look back. Watching that small, receding figure, Pin closed the door.

Thud.

A moment of silence.

And then, it comes. Entities summoned from terror surge forward, dragging their amorphous bodies. Relics of the past reach out.

“His Holiness is over thereeee.”

“If His Holiness makes a mistake again, we will give him ‘punishment’ aaa.”

Shling-!

Pin drew his longsword, scowled, and shouted loudly, as if to blow away the hesitation within him.

“Yeah, I never liked you lot anyway. I wanted to beat you all down with my own hands… Come at me, you scum! The Goddess’s champion will excommunicate you again!”

“aaah—!!”

From the hands of the ancient Cardinals, a dark light glinted. A divine incantation, received and emitted from the Black Dragon.

The champion stood alone against the tide.

—

The temple was still, unlit and dark.

Bechio passed along the path between long wooden benches for the worship of the faithful, ascended the dais, and reached the statue of the goddess, enshrined high above.

The time had come to fulfill her mission.

Bechio knelt, clasped her hands, and dispersed divine power. Connecting to the goddess’s remaining authority, she checked the security status of the area and identified the Black Dragon’s barrier obstructing the download.

And the Little Pope could witness it.

“…Ah, ah.”

The firewall of the Black Dragon’s Crown, embroidered thickly across the sky, possessed a finesse and artistry like sacred ropes, an unyielding hardness that could not be matched by any ore in the world.

That being truly possessed power equal to the goddess; that was why even she could not encroach upon the dragon’s lair. This Crown Hall was already occupied by the Black Dragon.

Out there, an informational battle waged in the divine realm. The goddess attempted to penetrate the Crown Hall but was repeatedly pushed back by the Black Dragon’s cunning defenses.

Tears welled in Bechio’s eyes. She stood here with hope, wanting to resolve this crisis as quickly as possible and save Pin, who was fighting outside to protect the Little Pope…

[… … … …]

But the goddess could not intervene here.

If there was no god to listen, no matter how much one prayed and pleaded, what meaning remained for her?

“…I.”

Before, she would have answered that she didn’t know. Bechio’s identity was solely that of the Pope; if she lost that meaning, she believed she could do nothing.

But it was different now.

Thump. Clatter.

Bechio threw off the papal crown she wore on her head. She pressed her sleeve to her eyes, rubbed hard, then sharply narrowed her gaze and steadied herself.

She was… a hacker from Omelas!

The goal was to create even the smallest gap in the Black Dragon Crown’s firewall. To create a passage for the goddess to reach through.

The only available divine power was that which lingered in this temple. Moreover, Pin would need divine power for the battle, so the more she conserved, the better.

She had to blow a trumpet that would breach the wall, with only limited resources. She would do it, she could do it.

“…Initiate operation!”

Bechio cried out, rolling up her sleeves.

—

How much time had passed? Impossible to tell. Impossible to have time to spare.

“…Hah, hah! Damn… it!”

Finn barely deflected the oncoming, counterfeit holy magic, his longsword swinging in a near-collapse. His legs gave way, sending him tumbling to the ground.

Half-prone, he scanned his surroundings. The temple entrance was already piled high with corpses, yet the replicated cardinals crawled out from every alleyway, a relentless surge.

Their individual capabilities weren’t especially potent. The old cardinals were decayed, but as high priests, had they been copied in their entirety, Finn would already be dead.

But these cardinals originated from Vecchio’s trauma, seeming to limit their power. They might have pinched and struck the young Pope, but never sought to kill him.

The problem was their sheer number.

“『Fallen Radiance』.”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯!”

Pitch-black light flashed from all directions, leaving scorched trails in its wake. He dragged a corpse over, using it as a shield, and rolled away.

Then, he plunged his hand into a pool of blood, flinging it to obscure the approaching cardinal replicas’ vision. He seized the leg of a stumbling enemy, toppling him before plunging a dagger into his chest.

Even the simple act of swinging his sword now felt like his life force was being steadily drained.

But more remained than met the eye. He was fighting dirty, yes, but to conserve holy power.

All available holy power resided within this temple. But Vecchio would also need to use it for communion, so the more he saved, the better. Filthy work, but bearable, for now.

There was just one problem.

The entities emerging from 『Nightmare Summon』 increased in difficulty with each conjuration. Having progressed from insects to a horde of cardinals, soon, the very ‘terror’ Finn harbored would manifest.

He didn’t exactly have trauma. However, in Finn’s heart resided one individual he considered uniquely strong, someone he had seen. The next entity summoned would likely be…

Clink. Thud. Thud.

The true hero, wielder of the Sacred Sword, his face half-hidden by ash-grey hair, remnants of a fire.

“──Still clinging on, Finn? A commoner who cannot wield the Sacred Sword, whose authority is borrowed, and whose innate talent is…average. Have you now discarded even your one redeeming quality, self-awareness?”

Bennett Hilton.

*Thwack!*

Finn thrust his longsword into a fallen corpse, using it as a makeshift staff, and barely managed to push himself upright. He looked at the fake Bennett with weary eyes.

“I shouldn’t call you Bennett-san… You’re just a fabricated monster.”

“Indeed. I am a counterfeit wearing Bennett Hilton’s skin. But my interior is filled with your terror, the echo in the mirror.”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

“So, you can call me honesty. I see your regret. Your fear, too.”

Is it that obvious?

Finn gripped his longsword with both hands, assuming a stance. A posture corrected by Bennett himself. If he used the Goddess’s module, perhaps he could endure a little longer.

“⋯⋯Bennett-san isn’t one for lengthy speeches. Stop rambling, and come at me.”

“Hmph.”

A surge forward.

A blink, and the scene shifted. Before him, impossibly close, was the fake Bennett. Finn desperately activated *Cognitive Acceleration*, but could only barely keep pace.

He just managed to deflect the longsword, which threatened to cleave him in two, with the flat of his blade.

*Clang—!*

“Ugh…”

More of a *thud* than a clang. Even a simple horizontal slash carried a weighty impact. Unable to maintain his footing, Finn tumbled across the floor once more.

He engaged *Body Acceleration* as well. To keep up with a bird in flight, flapping even crude wings of holy power. But it was no use.

The fake Bennett’s follow-up attacks were faster than Finn’s attempts at a counter. The enemy’s floor was higher than his ceiling.

Again, he rolled across the floor. Over and over. Again.

Was something broken? A stinging pain sent warning signals from all over. The instinct for survival screamed. *Stop fighting, stop moving, please just run.* *Escape the pain.*

“Hah, hah, kkh…”

His lungs were at their limit. No matter how much oxygen he inhaled, he only gasped. A dizzying vertigo shook his head.

And then, a stern voice descended.

“Lower your sword and step aside. This is not a burden you can carry, nor a place you deserve to be. You are in no way fit to be the hero.”

Perhaps that was so.

—

A problem had arisen. Vecchio, with his innate talent, had refined holy power and brushed against the black dragon’s firewall. But that, in itself, became a problem.

Reverse detection.

The firewall, in turn, rode Vecchio’s holy power and bored in, and the temple – its residual holy power depleted by Finn and Vecchio… was no longer safe from the *Nightmare Summons*.

Slithering. Darkness writhed, crawling from shadowy corners.

“Your Holinesssssss, Pope—?”

“We have returned againnnnn, to serve Your Holinesesssss.”

“…Hhk.”

His breathing faltered. *Calm down. Calm down, Vecchio.* But the memory etched into his body couldn’t be controlled. He kept hyperventilating, his whole body shaking with fear.

He had to focus. The firewall hack was still in progress.

Vecchio squeezed his eyes shut, praying as he modulated his holy power. A rational thought flickered. If they were merely a recreation from within the nightmare, it was actually alright. It was okay.

They would only pinch. They wouldn’t unleash murderous attacks, inflict wounds that led to death. So, *don’t mind them*.

“Dare you, ignore our wordsssssss—”

“As it has been long since we educated him, it is no wonder his character is crookedddddd.”

*Thump.*

His sleeve was grabbed.

A wrinkled, pallid hand crept along the collar. It was spectral, cadaverous – sending a chill like a haunting. And then, finally, it touched bare skin.

“⋯⋯Ugh, hic. hhh.”

Help me, Finn.

The words nearly escaped. But he barely managed to suppress them. In this situation, requesting help would only place Finn in danger.

For Vecchio, it was mere pinching, but for Finn, they attacked with murderous intent.

Fingernails scraped against tender flesh. If they gripped and twisted, it would soon swell, bright red, then bruise, a stark blue-black.

Countless hands clung to Vecchio, pulling him. Enough. Stop the hacking attempts, stop praying to the Goddess, and become a puppet solely for our opulent lives.

Old hags whispered.

“You haven’t changed at all. Your Holiness, you remain merely a puppet. There is no escaping.”

“You cannot do anything alone, can you? Isn’t that why, even now, you are endangering the hero you so adore?”

“You are unsuited. You are not at all suited for the position of Pope──.”

Perhaps.

⋯⋯⋯⋯.

But.

—

What one is born with cannot be added to or subtracted from. One could only remain oneself.

Perhaps he was unsuited. Perhaps there were better choices. If it had been someone other than him, they might have already resolved all of this and saved the one he loved.

So, he could have given up. No one would blame him. He was simply lacking in ability. It was simply too much of a burden. Therefore.

Let us flee, far, far away.

Using his shameful and humiliating inadequacy as a shield, let us run far away.

But.

“Such thoughts⋯⋯ I’ve had them hundreds, thousands of times. You see.”

“⋯⋯Because of my inadequacy, if I had done better, it would have been alright. I thought so⋯⋯.”

But. That doesn’t feel like the *answer*. It doesn’t resonate in his heart. For some reason, even now, he was struggling to find a different solution.

The thorny path of adversity and suffering was daunting. The crushing weight, the obligations, were daunting. But he believed that something existed beyond flight. Finn and Vecchio, while staggering, were searching for what came next.

He couldn’t ask the Goddess, who embraced all things. It was uncertain whether they would even survive. The two humans were swaying haphazardly, caught in the torrent of the vast world.

The tragedy of Omelas also still hadn’t yielded an answer. The cruel questions thrown out by the world’s structure were so frightening that he wanted to give up thinking.

However.

“Even so, you see. I can’t just, do nothing⋯⋯.”

“If I give up and stay still, in the end⋯⋯ I’ll just repeat the pain⋯⋯ won’t I?”

So it is.

If there’s but one thing a human can do, in the face of heaven’s unreason. It is precisely this.

“”To find courage──!””

Clenching his fist thus, reaching forward, and finally──

To make it happen.

—

Above Crown Hall, Namgung Cheonghui’s Mind Sword slashed across the sky. Kimeera, the black magician who had been functioning as a signal to block the Goddess’s intervention, was dead, and the Black Dragon’s firewall had also weakened.

The First Prince, who had been solidifying the Black Dragon’s stage by sowing a dark fate throughout the capital, had also departed this world thanks to First Princess Ilaine’s tempest.

The two anchors that enabled Crown Hall to function as the Dragon’s Lair, shattered.

Therefore.

“『Edict: On the 0th day, the Goddess shall break the wall of flame.』”

Vecchio’s prayer finally reached its mark.

Crack, crackle──!

KABOOM-!

The little Pope’s forged spear pierced a hole in the evil dragon’s barrier. That small gap was enough. The Goddess’s light descended upon the sky of Crown Hall, which had been sealed off.

A pillar of light descends.

WHoooSH──!!

Centered on the temple, the pillar of highly compressed divine power gradually increases in thickness. Finn smiled brightly, silhouetted against the light. The little Pope, in the end, had done it.

He felt the billowing wind on his skin as he spoke.

“When a child accomplishes something, you have to praise them. So I no longer have time to waste on you. Got it?”

“────!!”

The summoned fake Venet shrieked, but his voice was drowned out by the sound of the divine power pillar purifying the corruption. Even if I can’t hear it, I can guess what he’s saying. It doesn’t matter.

“『Divine Descent』.”

SWoooSH-!

The pillar of light fell and embraced Finn. His battered body was restored, and all sorts of auxiliary modules began to activate simultaneously.

Yeah, still. It would have been better if someone else had been here, I suppose.

But, when faced with doing it, or not doing it. That’s not such an important question.

The Hero, Finn, gripping his shining longsword, leaped into the final battle. After he deals with that guy, he has to go and shower praise on that admirable Vecchio.

—

The Goddess’s divine power opened the way.

The space twisted, tore open, and beyond it, the true form of the Black Dragon Crown became visible. My wife and daughter, tussling with that lizard b*stard.

“Umm… hey! What did Dad just do?!”

“He… he’s come?! He’s really come?!”

“Mima, we’re in dire straits. If you don’t provide support immediately, prepare for the consequences in bed for every second you’re late.”

The warning was savage. Things must be really rough. Seeing that, Selvier activated her aura and leaped through the rift, shouting,

“…I’ll go help first, Hanyul oppa!”

“What… what did she, huh?! What did Selvier just say?!”

“Yuna! Don’t shoot ‘Subtraction’ in a weird place!”

Already so affectionate. I rolled up my sleeves, ready to jump in. I’ll fold that lizard b*stard into tens of trillions of pieces, erasing any chance of a resurgence. Not even a one percent possibility.

[Query: Combat assistance required?]

“No, I’m fine. Just keep an eye on things on the ground, Goddess. You’re already busy enough playing tug-of-war with him. And…”

The players went through all this trouble to clear the path for me. I need to do my part, too.

They made it possible.

Honestly, I didn’t do much. Just, you know… let them see some familiar faces again. And that connection, it created this path leading to the Black Dragon Crown.

So.

“You opened the way, and now, this is my work.”

Let’s go finish this. For that one sentence that will adorn the end of the story.