I fell from a high, high, high place.
The light that was right in front of me just a moment ago becomes so distant it’s barely visible.
And when there are no more lights lower than me, I finally arrive at the place where I was.
It’s been a really long time since I came below the surface.
Originally, I was the water that filled the bottom.
Splash!
Huh?
Rather than actually splashing water, it’s more like water biting water? The expression is strange, but it’s closer to the feeling of pouring water into a place with oil.
I became interested in that.
There’s something other than me in this wide and deep sea.
And it’s doing its best to gnaw at me.
Ah.
I see.
It seems something else has appeared in my place since I was away.
I don’t feel anything in particular even if I’m eaten. Do as you please. I’ll focus on the other side that I can still see.
You.
Just now.
You ate my warmth?
I didn’t care what you did. I was going to let you do as you pleased while living on the same bottom, since it doesn’t particularly itch or hurt even if you eat me.
But you desire warmth?
The warmth falling to this bottom?
No.
No.
Absolutely not.
Originally, I couldn’t move my body. No, I thought I couldn’t.
But that’s not it. I was just filling this vessel completely. Because I was the whole, it made no difference whether I moved or not.
But now there’s something else.
So I grasped it. So that it can never steal warmth again, so that it can never do anything forever.
Just as it had eaten me, I swallowed it whole.
I completely dismantled it so that it could never think of touching light again.
After that, nothing was left.
The gray-white me in my memories whispers asking if I’m a cuckoo, but huh? Is that how it works?
Am I a heretic?
Still, it’s none of my business. Whatever my identity is, the warmth is mine.
I focused again on the world where I was. Even though I’ve fallen like this, the connection is the same. No, rather than saying I fell, it’s more like, something different?
Hmm.
I don’t know.
I’ll think about it later.
First, I see the world through Joanna’s eyes. A pile of sand filling half her vision. The sound of wind and a woman’s voice in her ears.
From Joanna’s perspective, there are holes in her arms and chest, but she’s not dead yet.
But it’s a fatal wound.
Judging from her breathing and pain, her lung has been punctured.
With each breath she can’t breathe properly and vibrates, and her nostrils are full of the stench of blood.
But I hear an unfamiliar woman’s voice. At the same time, where Tis is looking.
From his perspective, I see a girl with a large chest compared to her small stature standing there. Although her hair is golden instead of purple, it’s clearly a face I know. Because I’ve often seen it through Joanna’s eyes.
Rebecca Rolfe.
It’s her.
No, not me, but the real Rebecca Rolfe.
I thought she would have disappeared after her heart was taken out, but she’s standing there perfectly fine? But her condition is strange.
There’s no light. Of course, there’s no warmth at all either.
Even looking through Yasle’s eyes, there’s none. Wasn’t light the soul?
Or is it that? Is it the swampman proposed by the philosopher Donald Davidson? That which comes back to life without a soul? It’s unique. At least I’m not inside her.
In other words, it means I can’t see through her eyes.
But it seems Rebecca saw everything I did while I was moving her body. No, not just actions, but she knows what I thought too. She uses memories only I know to accuse Yasle.
Honestly, when she imitated my way of speaking, it was really funny.
I see.
You hated the Future Hope Church that much. So you feel nothing even though Joanna has fallen.
Personally, I have no reason to dislike Joanna, right?
And silence fell.
There are two people crying here.
One is Yasle.
The other is Joanna.
Both are quietly shedding tears.
Then a familiar voice shouted. It shouted at Yasle to clean up what he had done himself.
It’s Andrew.
He accuses him of bringing in such a monster, saying because of you this world is about to fall into the hands of an evil god.
At that, the eyes of the people around began to fill with hatred. And that emotion made them raise the swords in their hands and point them at Yasle who was crying sadly.
Yasle, who had been shedding tears, stood up as soon as the people around him pointed their weapons. Then he raised a strangely shaped weapon.
Tis also has an expression full of hatred. I’d like to check on Rebecca or Joanna, but there are no blessed people around here except Tis, Yasle, and fallen Joanna.
If I turn my gaze just a little, I can see people in the underground temple being massacred.
Yes. It was finally breached.
Witga taking many troops outside two days ago is probably one of the reasons it fell so easily.
Additionally, Witga headed east.
But he didn’t go down to the Kingdom of Anselus in the south. Because he’s following Andrew’s subordinate.
Meanwhile, the capital of the Kingdom of Anselus was finally captured. There are hardly any buildings left standing properly in the capital, as if it had been carpet-bombed.
The blessed people destroyed it while fighting.
And Wide, who caused this, and the people he leads have settled in the royal castle, eating and drinking plundered food while resting comfortably. In one corner far from where they’re eating, there are corpses of people torn to shreds.
They were all important people of the Kingdom of Anselus.
In other words, Yasle’s wish has been fulfilled.
Not knowing that the wish of the person who gave such orders has been fulfilled, Wide is talking about what to do next instead of waiting for the next order.
Yes. He already knows that the Future Hope Church has fallen. He’s young, ambitious, and his confidence is sky-high, but that doesn’t mean he’s a fool.
He too had been gathering information little by little, and Andrew’s subordinate had approached him before.
So he’s anticipating it too. Since he said it himself, it must be true. He seems to be close with his subordinates as he’s had several conversations with them. He’s thinking of founding his own country.
Let’s return to the Skard Desert.
The underground temple and the villages around it have been annihilated. Literally annihilated. The Kingdom of Lasve and the Kingdom of Kogni really killed every single person.
Of course, it’s not that there’s absolutely no one who escaped safely.
But unless you’re willing to die, it’s impossible to call yourself the Future Hope Church anymore. There’s no more future or hope for the Future Hope Church.
The final battle between Yasle and the people of the Kingdom of Anselus has begun. Andrew escapes in the midst of this. I’m curious what path he’ll walk from now on. But unless there’s a blessed person by his side, I won’t know Andrew’s news for a while. The blessed people have already all died fighting Yasle.
Tis and the Anselus people fought hard.
Even when Tis’s arm is torn off by Yasle’s magic that has become several times more powerful, he regenerates and becomes a shield for others. Tis is the tank and the others are doing damage and debuffs. A regenerator as a tank. Not a bad method.
When they first started fighting, they blamed Yasle, but now no one opens their mouth.
It’s probably because it’s already hard enough just fighting.
Yasle is so strong that they can’t even speak.
Meanwhile, someone approached Joanna who was still lying down. When Joanna, who was making a deflating breathing sound, slightly raised her head, Rebecca Rolfe’s face appeared in front of her.
But her hair color is golden instead of purple, and her eyes are normal blue instead of glowing purple.
“You’re not the Rebecca I know. Right?”
It was actually almost just a deflating sound, but Rebecca seemed to understand and nodded. She crouches near her and looks at Joanna.
“You’re going to die like this.”
“Yes, I know.”
Rebecca, seeming displeased with Joanna’s answer, knelt in front of her. She should at least lend her legs to a dying person, but she sits in front of Joanna who has fallen with her face in the sand.
The Future Hope Church that killed her and her family. Rebecca seems to hate anyone who was a member of it.
“Why did you stupidly block it? The role of this place was already over when that terrifying god obtained knowledge it should never have gotten. You too, or perhaps you of all people, knew best what was inside this body, didn’t you?”
Then she blurted out like this:
“You’re really stupid.”
At those words, Joanna burst out laughing, then coughed violently, spitting out a lot of blood, and collapsed exhausted. And instead of answering Rebecca’s question, she asked quietly:
“Did you watch together?”
“I watched many things. Really many things. That being watches countless worlds with countless gazes. Maybe it’s still watching even now?”
Hmm.
That’s right. I am watching. I’m always watching the blessed people without missing a moment. Even if there are differences in concentration, I’ll watch until the moment the contract ends. That’s how I can receive the reward, right?
“If so, I should greet it. Yes, I’ll be saying my final farewell. Even though I think I’ll be able to see at the last moment, if this is the last…”
And Joanna said in a completely worn-out voice, in a voice like when we first met:
“Thank you.”
And with a crackle, my vision turned black and a small warmth flowed into me. But even that warmth warming my body was just for a moment.
The cold chill wrapping around my spine shattered and erased the warmth as if it had never been there.
As usual.
That’s how it was.
Yes.
The first person to receive my blessing has died.
Because she’s a member of the Future Hope Church, I don’t feel anything.
The gray-smeared man flips me off.
I know. I know.
But I don’t feel anything.
Instead, I become the night sea under the night sky and look up at what’s above.
Until the moment Tis finally stabs his sword into Yasle’s heart.
One of the many pieces of life that Yasle had twisted jumped out, went round and round, and finally stabbed Yasle.
Karma is bound to repay.
Rather than sin and punishment, it means that if you scatter countless seeds on bare ground, at least one of them will sprout.
Oh?
Here, even though the breath has stopped and all senses have disappeared, the warmth didn’t come immediately. So I reached out.
A small membrane was wrapping the light.
What a foolish person.
After doing so many things?
So I tried to take it whole, but the membrane disappeared as soon as it touched me, so I just took the light.
Then I fell down.
When I fall below the surface, the light gives its warmth to me and disappears. It doesn’t matter whether it was originally white light or had been dyed black by me. As always, the warmth slightly melts me and then disappears as if it had never existed.
Meanwhile, Tis raises his sword and shouts a victory cry, and his companions follow suit and shout. In a corner of his vision, Rebecca is neatly laying down Joanna’s body.
Now.
The pseudo-religion called the Future Hope Church has ended.