1.
-Oh, God.
-Help me.
A girl prayed, and her wish came true.
And.
-Oh, God.
-Help us.
The boy who had stood by the girl as her childhood friend and butler prayed, and his wish also came true.
2.
"First, we have to rearrange the layout of the wedding hall," Raviel murmured quietly. "Now that we know where the apostles will appear, we can focus on the special operatives and the warriors there."
I realized this while preparing for the wedding, but the bride and groom held enormous power. We could seat our wedding guests wherever we want.
If we wanted to, we could have nobles who hated each other sit at the same table. Of course, it would ruin our reputation and people would curse us, but did that matter? Our first priority was defeating the other worlds' apostles.
'It would have been much easier if I could have stolen their blessings…'
Unfortunately, my skill [I Want To Become Just Like You] couldn't copy the blessing used by the Golden Silk.
-Zombie, I told you. The Tower is ridiculously objective in some weird aspects.
Bae Hu-ryeong looked excited, pleased that I couldn't get a free lunch.
-You're already receiving several [blessings], right? It was the same when you fought Preta. Even now, you've got blessings from the Goddess of Beauty and the Goddess of Vitality or whatnot.
'Yes. The blessings are treated distinctly from my skills.'
-Yup. Those, to be precise, are buff effects that the Constellation casts on you with their skill. How else would this work? If you want the blessing, go and get killed by the Constellations who are buffing the apostles.
'I get it already.'
I grumbled. The mechanism sounded like it was from a computer game, but what was before me was reality, not a game.
And the Heretic Questioner made that reality clear.
"If there's an apostle who can use psychological attacks, the number of guests needs to be reduced by a lot! Especially if the apostle's blessing is to recreate [one's happy memories]!"
The candle flames flared and lit up the face of the Heretic Questioner.
It was the middle of the night.
The three of us were brainstorming together in a dressing room. On the table were the layout of the wedding hall and the guest list. Raviel's dressing room had been transformed into our secret war council chamber.
"The most fatal poison in the world doesn't cause pain. It makes people happy! There aren't many people who can escape the poison of happiness showered by [The Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness]!"
"…The problem is this."
Raviel tapped the guest list with a long finger.
"The fewer guests we have, the more difficult it will be to deal with [The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains]. This apostle can summon 10,000 soldiers. If you increase the guest list, we'll suffer from psychological attacks, but if we reduce the list, we'll be crushed by the gap in numbers."
"Hmm. That's true. It's complicated…"
The two were locked in troubled thoughts. The candles burned.
"Please leave it to me."
I opened my mouth.
The two of them looked at me.
"Do you have a good idea, Death King?"
"Yes."
I nodded. Then, I explained my strategy. As I continued to speak, Raviel and the Heretic Questioner's complexions gradually changed.
"…Indeed."
Raviel looked at me in wonder.
"My wife is well-connected. If we act as you say, there won't be any problems."
Just as I didn't need to exaggerate my admiration for her, Raviel did not hold back in praising me. I felt a little embarrassed.
"But, there is a condition."
"What is it?"
"Please allow me to wear black as well, Raviel."
"..."
Raviel closed her lips.
In the empire, only the future head of the family could wear a black outfit on their wedding day. It wasn't a color I could wear as the duke consort. However, I had to wear black.
"It's not because I want to be the master of the duchy. Just…"
"No. You don't need to make excuses. I know from a previous life that you aren't someone who lusts for power."
Raviel shook her head.
"I only hesitated because of the customs of the empire. But I won't ignore my wife's wishes because of some traditions. I'll prepare your clothes."
"Thank you."
The three of us made eye contact and nodded. It was just a coincidence, but the moment we moved our heads, the candle on the table flickered.
We'd finished all of our preparations.
3.
The evening approached.
The empire's top nobles began to enter the wedding hall.
The wedding was announced and prepared in a month. It was happening extremely quickly, but no aristocrat had the guts to refuse an invitation to an Ivansia's wedding. No matter how much they cursed Raviel internally, they had to smile on the outside.
Authority was a powerful gangster.
"…The layout of the hall is strange."
Even the cowed nobles had to tilt their heads when they entered the wedding hall. They could understand why the ceremony was being held outdoors and not inside a church. It would be difficult for a union between a noble and a commoner to be blessed.
However.
"Why are the fighters grouped in one spot?"
The grand chamberlain, my adoptive father, entered the groom's dressing room.
"Furthermore, this arrangement… Excuse me, but it looks like you're expecting a battle. People who can fight are in the front, and ordinary nobles are in the back."
"I don't know what you mean," I replied naturally, surrounded and dressed by the attendants. The old gentleman's smile was swept away.
"It seems that you've cast the dregs who will be bothersome in battle in the rear and placed the useful ones up front. Please excuse my disrespect."
"My husband must have a reason for everything."
"You're also wearing a sword on your waist."
"Yes. I always enjoyed practicing and training in the martial arts. Should the person who will become the moon of Ivansia seem weak? And there might be a riot at the wedding. I have to be prepared."
"Indeed. You need to be prepared for the unexpected…"
The old gentleman smiled bitterly.
"I understand. Then, I shall tell my colleagues to be prepared for an unknown situation, [just in case]. Ah, right. This is probably why Her Excellency chose me as her wife's adoptive father…"
The old man bid me farewell and left the dressing room. He was probably going to go tell his followers in the special operatives to prepare for battle.
This, too, was our desired response.
'The more people who can stay calm when something unexpected happens, the better.'
Raviel was already mobilizing people behind the scenes.
[The riffraff who are dissatisfied with this union will launch a terrorist attack.]
Fake rumors like those were being disseminated. No one would believe it, but aristocrats were very mental beings. Just planting the idea of being alert would have a strong effect.
"Kyaaah!"
The effects were shown sooner than I expected.
'They've come.'
I dismissed the attendants and hurried out of the dressing room.
Simultaneously, voices that probably only the Heretic Questioner and I could hear in the world reverberated.
[The apostle of 'The Ox that Harvests Ruins' has manifested.]
[The apostle of 'The Warhorse of the Eternal Plains' has manifested.]
[The apostle of 'The Evangelist of Everlasting Happiness' has manifested.]
The same sunset I saw the previous day materialized. The sky cracked like a window, and three apostles appeared through the rift.
"My God…"
"Good Lord, what is…"
The guests staggered to their feet. Like last time, they were shocked, but a closer look revealed that their postures had changed. The warriors instinctively huddled and grabbed the hilts of their swords, and the nobles who did not know how to fight glanced around, looking for a path of escape.
And.
"Heretic Questioner!"
Above all, my own behavior had changed.
"Yes, Death King!" replied the Heretic Questioner, who had been waiting in front of the dressing room. "From now on, I will ride on Death King's back!"
"Okay!"
"Sacred Technique, Divine Transmission!"
The moment I first realized the Heretic Questioner was a psycho was when the Devil King of Fall Rain and the Guardian Goddess divided us with a test. The Heretic Questioner used sacred techniques then.
Its effect is teleportation.
-Huh?
Our destination was the red expanse of the sky.
-Wh-what?
The apostle with the hammer. We were right behind the Lady of the Golden Silk.
The Golden Silk looked at me in bewilderment. Clank! The Holy Sword I wielded and her hammer clashed. The gravity of the tall sky was crushing down on me. I cried, feeling my body plummeting down.
"One more time!"
"Ahaha! Yes! Sacred Technique, Divine Transmission!"
the Heretic Questioner shouted back like he was enjoying himself. The next moment, we once again appeared behind the Golden Silk's back. I struck my sword against her open back.
-Ugh!
The Golden Silk managed to stop my attack again. However, two unexpected ambushes were deadly. Her stance faltered.
Whooosh!
She had originally intended to simply descend from the sky, but with her broken stance, she began to fall.
-I don't know what kind of trick you're pulling, but it's no use!
The Golden Silk shouted. The wind pressure from the fall messed up her golden hair.
-My body is invincible! Nothing can hurt me now! I am invincible! The Ox that Harvests Ruins gave me a body that can never be scarred!
"Did you give up your soul because you didn't want to get hurt?!"
-What do you care?!
The Golden Silk yelled angrily.
-Everyone only sees Raviel Ivansia! That annoying bitch! She was just born into a good family, and then she acts tough like she understands all the sorrows of the world! I'll kill her! I'll steal everything that bitch has!
A filthy and disgusting desire.
But I didn't laugh at the Golden Silk. No matter how much one dressed it up, it was plain desire that guided human beings. I knew because I had been the same.
But.
"I know many people in the world who are worse off than you, lady of the barony!"
Thus, I had words that I could shout back.
I gripped the hilt of the Holy Sword more tightly.
"A person knows the pain he's suffered! So when another screams in pain, he can imagine how lonely it feels and sympathize! It doesn't matter who you are! I feel for everyone who screams in pain!"
-Ha, don't bullshit me! Who would live that kind of life?!
The Golden Silk mocked me. The wind grew stronger. Falling through the sky, she stared me down.
-You can't hurt me anyway! My body is unyielding, unbreakable, and immortal!
That was right.
If she was someone who could change with just words, she would have already changed. Words were powerless. You needed force to help someone who was screaming. That was why the doctrine of shadows held their swords.
"Shiny!"
[Shiny responds to the warrior's call.]
"Change from the Idol Sword to the Compassion Sword!"
As soon as I gave the order.
[Yes, warrior.]
Black energy flowed from the Holy Sword. Gulp! The holy blade was soon contaminated with blackness that was like dirty water.
My opponent's abilities were powerful but simple.
『She bears one of Mutia's blessings, [The Invulnerable Body]!』
『She cannot be wounded.』
But I had a way to break her.
『My ability is pain.』
The sword that I got in Master's world.
『The one who is cut by me feels pain.』
『But I do not leave a scar on their body nor kill them.』
『Suffering without injury is my ability.』
The second ability of the Guardian Goddess.
It was compassion.
"Sylvia Evanail!"
I cried out the real name of the Golden Silk and swung the sword.
"I will kill you!"
-Ha.
The Golden Silk scoffed. She seemed to have no intention to avoid my blow. Her face was daring me to stab her somewhere. She had confidence in the blessing she had received. This absolute confidence was holding her up.
-If you want to kill me, try…
The Golden Silk couldn't finish her sentence.
Instead, she began to scream.
-Aaaaaaaah!!
The tip of my sword pierced through her heart. It left no scars. The blade simply went through the Golden Silk's chest as if there was nothing there. There was no blood.
-Kkgh, ha, eck?!
But there was pain.
-Aaaack! Aaaah!!
A bloody scream tore the red sky. Falling like a shooting star, the Golden Silk cried in pain. Her voice spread past the wind and into the sunset.
"Heretic Questioner!"
We were falling from the sky. The ground was rapidly approaching. I stabbed the Golden SIlk's heart one more time.
And just before we fell to the ground—
"Now!"
"Sacred Technique, Divine Transmission!"
The Heretic Questioner yelled like he had been waiting. He repeated the sacred technique several times. Pop! Pop! With each teleportation, the speed of our fall gradually decreased. Finally, we landed safely on the ground. We escaped from crashing.
However, the Golden Silk could not escape.
Booooom!
The ground shook as if a small meteorite had crashed. Dust rose up. Unlike last time, the Golden Silk's descent became a plunge. Nobody had been hurt by her hammer.
-Hick, hiik, kuk… This, ah…?
There was only an apostle who convulsed in pain from a pierced heart.
I fixed my grip on the sword.
"Does it hurt?"
Then, I slowly walked to the Golden Silk.
"I guess it must."
Hearing my footsteps, the Golden Silk flinched. Sobbing and groaning, the Golden Silk shakingly stood up.
-H-help!
The Golden Silk didn't hear me. She only begged for rescue. Toward the evening sky. Toward the puppets of the other Constellations.
-We had an agreement! I-it was a contract! Mutia won't forgive you if you just watch! Your Constellation will be unhappy, too!
-Hm.
The general on the pegasus opened his mouth.
-That's strange. A Constellation… no, it's not. Is it a fragment of a Constellation? I can't guess where you found such an artifact, but—
The general slowly raised his flag.
-It doesn't change that you are a disturbance I must subdue. Soldiers of the Warhorse. Awaken.
Then, the summons made themselves known.
-Guoooh!
Hundreds and thousands of ghosts appeared. In the light of the red sunset, the ghosts looked like murderers covered in blood. Shocked screams erupted throughout the wedding venue.
The other's ability was prodigious.
『The Sanctuary Battlefield is an area-of-effect blessing. It influences the whole field.』
『The effect is amazing. It [affixes the summoned being's ability to its prime].』
『Each of those ghosts is an elite among elite soldier. They are the souls of the warriors who followed Mahos!』
But I had a way to defeat it.
"Gongja," said Raviel, coming up behind me. When I looked back, Raviel was holding something in her hands.
"Wear this."
It was a black cape.
Raviel put the cape around me like a scarf. Soon, my white tuxedo was hidden under the black cape. And on the black expanse, the Ivansia coat of arms was embroidered with silver thread.
Meanwhile, the ghostly army drew nearer and nearer.
"D-Duchess Ivansia!"
The wedding guests who doubled as warriors looked at Raviel in confusion. Compared to last time, they were better equipped and protected, but the march of the ghosts was horrifying.
"What should we do? Give us an order…"
"Shut up for now."
"..."
Raviel responded to them briefly and finished equipping me with the cape. Her attitude showed that she wasn't worried about the ghostly legion.
"Hmm."
She looked at my outfit and nodded.
"The cape also suits you well."
"Thank you for granting my request. Still, I have to do this."
"I understand. Finish it the way you want."
"I will."
I smiled and turned around.
A huge number of ghosts were running at us.
『The Sanctuary Battlefield is an area-of-effect blessing.』
『It affixes the summoned being's abilities to its prime.』
『It influences the whole field.』
I slowly lifted the black sword.
Then, I spoke.
"Hundred Ghosts Reincarnation."
The shadow under my feet spread like twilight.
[Your skill is being activated.]
Evening.
The sky was red from the sunset, and the horizon was darkened by shadows.
-What…!
The general who spearheaded the charge on his pegasus stopped. The ghosts following him also stopped. The attack that had so confidently tried to overwhelm us was blocked by a shadow that buried the ground.
"My lord."
One of the shadows opened her mouth.
"Did you call me?"
Preta knelt on one knee.
Her appearance was different from usual. She wasn't in the delicate form of Estelle. A dark red substance endlessly oozed from Preta's body. This form was that of the [Devil King of Fall Rain], whom I had once fought.
『It affixes the summoned being's abilities to its prime.』
It wasn't just Preta.
Behind her stood warriors in dark robes. Each had a different face, origin, and life, but they were united under the color black.
"We greet the Infernal Heavens' Young Master!"
They were those who proved my life.
In the black cloak, I said, "Please fight for me."
The cult members who followed the doctrine of shadows bowed at once.
"We accept Young Master's orders!"
The moment had come to start the war.