Chapter 201
Beings indistinguishable from human or beast.
Demonic beasts created by the Witch.
Grotesque chimeras with human heads and limbs attached to beasts.
The eyes of Kalias’s party, advancing while annihilating them, were filled with disgust.
“The Empire’s policy to eradicate demihumans is also because of beings like them.”
Because of the existence of demonic beasts, demihumans are treated the same as them.
Demihumans mostly possess beastly appearances or powers similar to theirs, so to ordinary humans, they are no different from demonic beasts.
Thus, the Empire eradicates them.
“Anyway, the Empire bastards are disgustingly barbaric. Their intelligence level is still in the primitive age.”
“The Empire seeks to subjugate the continent by elevating Lord Lactus as the one true god.”
The demihuman eradication policy is merely a sideshow for the great nation.
Because the Empire needed to unify the nobles of various nations annexed in a short period, creating an external enemy was the best choice.
Slash.
“Ah, whatever, I don't want to hear it. Empire's circumstances or whatever. But seriously, I don't get it. Why do they live down in such a gloomy underground?”
Crunch!
Junis crushing demonic beasts with his shield, and Esther and Ailey cutting their necks.
And Kalias, standing at the forefront and acting as their guide, answered her question.
“You must have a question.”
“A question?”
“A question regarding God.”
“Ah, to avoid the eyes of God, they crawled in here, right?”
That is correct.
To avoid the eyes of God.
The Corrupted resent God.
Because they were abandoned.
When they witnessed the God they yearned for and devoted their entire lives to.
They feel sorrow or anger at God's attitude, which differs from their own thoughts.
It is truly easy for faith to turn into deicide.
Because people want to be rewarded.
A warm word.
Had He just offered a stroking touch or a single ray of light, they would not have fallen to Corruption.
However, that too is not God's will.
For God desires their Corruption.
“God desires Corruption... Kalias. Please refrain from saying such things in front of others. They will think you have turned traitor.”
Startled, Esther glared, Junis chuckled, and Kalias silently nodded.
“I shall do so.”
“How do you know such things?”
“That is not what's important.”
Whether God desires Corruption.
Or Corruption desires God.
Kalias has no interest in the love-hate relationship the Corrupted have for the God they cannot let go of even after falling.
What is important is the master of this place and the Princess.
“Do you know about Veria?”
“I know what I know, and I don't know what I don't.”
“I know roughly too?”
“Tell me.”
Junis glanced at Esther, let out a sneer, and answered.
“A witch who killed the prince of a nation and became a sinner, yet despite achieving great merit for her country, locked herself away in the deepest depths of the underground.”
“And a witch who corrupted herself.”
As Ailey chimed in to answer, Kalias nodded, and Esther asked in return.
“What do you mean she corrupted herself?”
“What is the cause of Corruption?”
When he spoke looking at Esther, she answered.
“The Corruption of divinity.”
The Corruption of divine power granted by God.
The absence of faith, no longer believing in God.
That is Corruption.
“Generally, yes.”
That is the current common knowledge regarding Corruption.
Those who do not believe in God and deny Him.
Those who serve demons and commit evil.
But doesn't that seem strange?
Whether one believes in God or not.
Even if one has convictions, there are times when one inevitably commits evil.
When cutting off the breath of a comrade suffering on the battlefield, waiting for the day they die.
How many can ignore the screams of an old man tormented by disease, begging to be killed?
Even if one commits murder with the heart to save someone, murder is murder.
Killing is defined as evil.
Then are they evil too? Are they Corrupted?
No.
There is no perfect good or evil in this world.
It is merely a concept drawn by human standards.
Just because a lion tears a rabbit to death, it doesn't mean it's a justified killing.
Killing enemies on the battlefield is merely a necessary act for one's own safety.
Merely seeking means for an end.
Is there good or evil in that?
It is just something that must be done.
Good and evil were determined by humans, not God.
“Then, saying she corrupted herself means...”
“Generally, demons and the Corrupted are equated. But strictly speaking, the two are different.”
The difference between demons and the Corrupted lies in whether they have seen God or not.
Due to that difference, their power varies from several times to dozens of times.
It is a natural result.
“Because the Corrupted are weapons themselves.”
They have appearances identical to humans, but they are not human.
To be precise, they are weapons.
Weapons abandoned by God.
That is Corruption.
“But she has never seen God.”
“!”
Then is she a demon? No.
Veria's epithet is [The Whispering Corruption]
A witch who became Corrupted without ever witnessing God.
One who deceived God and corrupted herself.
“If we were to meet Veria...”
Halt.
As soon as he finished speaking, his steps stopped.
[Kalias von Zervan.]
A voice that seemed to resonate throughout the catacombs.
A voice low for a woman's tone, yet with a certain cheerful resonance.
The Witch, appearing from the midst of grotesque demonic beasts as if they were her own children in the bitter darkness, draped in a black robe.
“Do you know me?”
[There's no way I wouldn't know the rumors of the scoundrel that have reached even the catacombs.]
So such stories are heard even here. A laugh escaped him naturally.
[What is the reason you set foot on my land?]
“Did you not call for me?”
[I called for you?]
The Witch tilted her head in doubt.
“I wondered where the pouring demonic beasts were coming from, and it turned out they were coming from here. So didn't you call me? The hospitality is quite grand.”
[...That is not it. I merely responded to your wish as well. I did not call you.]
“My wish?”
[Did you not send one? One who desires Corruption.]
She must be speaking of the Princess, Rebecca.
Kalias's brows furrowed.
“Where is she?”
[Well, where could she have gone?]
“...Did you corrupt her?”
[That depends on the person. I'd like to hear what you think. Did I do so? Or did I curse her as an insolent bitch and beat her to death? Or did I turn her into a demon? Did I reduce her to a demonic beast? What did I do?]
A voice as if playing a prank.
But Kalias did not fail to notice the blade hidden within.
If he let his guard down even for a moment, he would fall prey to her bewitchment. The very person who killed the Prince of Carpe with a few words was right before his eyes.
“If the Princess caught your interest. You would have certainly corrupted her.”
[Why do you think so?]
“It wouldn't be that difficult. Because the Witch's sword is just like that.”
The Witch's sword.
At the mention of it, Veria's silence continued for quite a while.
Only the growls of demonic beasts striking the silence suggested that time had not stopped.
[You speak as if you know me quite well.]
“I only know that you are called Mother. It is a trivial matter.”
Mother.
The demonic beasts and demons of this place.
And the vast majority of the Corrupted call her Mother.
[...A trivial matter. The woman you sent gave up quite a lot just to know that, yet you call it trivial. Did the one you grasp in your hand tell you?]
The Iron Lord held in his hand.
Weeping Corruption. Meaning Titeo.
“Well, he's a very blunt guy.”
[If you've received the recognition of the Weeping Corruption, your qualifications are more than sufficient... Follow me.]
Swoosh.
As the Witch turned and walked, hundreds of demonic beasts parted to open a path.
“Count.”
“Lord Kalias.”
“Scoundrel, you're following her? It could be a trap. They said Veria even deceived God.”
Just as he was about to say it was fine.
[I didn't say you could come too. Mares watched by God.]
“W-what? Mares? Does she mean bitches?”
“It seems she's mocking us as chess pieces.”
[Yul, Bi, Gyo. Get rid of those bitches. They're annoying me to death.]
Thump! Thump thump!!
Massive builds. The weapons held in each hand are all different. The six weapons on their six arms are all weapons forged by God.
“They're demons.”
Beings neither human nor Corrupted.
Demons. Those who serve Corruption, not God.
“I'll be back.”
“Count! Kalias!! It's dangerous!”
“It's fine.”
As he walked steadily, the demonic beasts surrounded and blocked the path he walked.
“Esther. We'd better worry about ourselves for now. Her hospitality seems limited to Kalias.”
“I guess even the Witch fell for his looks.”
Fell for his looks, huh.
At Junis's words, a chuckle leaked from Esther's lips.
“Esther. Veria's demons probably have skills comparable to a Master's.”
“Shall we warm up a bit for the first time in a while?”
Crack crack. Junis cracked his neck and charged straight ahead with his shield forward.
Boom!
But the one sent flying back was Junis.
* * *
Swooosh.
Darkness filled with mist.
The Witch walking alone in the center of it.
Following in her footsteps, the surrounding scenery had changed before he realized.
“It doesn't seem like a graveyard.”
Normally grown grass and weeds.
Trees and the scent of medicinal herbs are abundant.
It was a space that even created the illusion of being in an ordinary forest.
Probably her own small forest and cabin that she had created over hundreds of years.
[The catacombs are merely a laboratory for research. It's not because my tastes are peculiar.]
Swish.
Her face was revealed as she took off her robe.
Wavy dark blue hair, deep purple eyes, and lips.
“What did you do with the Princess?”
[I killed her.]
Swoosh.
In the direction she pointed with her chin, there was the corpse of a woman.
A corpse floating on a small pond.
Her face was pale, and her lips were blue.
A sword was thrust into her chest.
The pond was dyed red with her blood, and she was Princess Rebecca.
“She's dead.”
[Yes.]
“She must be meeting God by now.”
[Perhaps.]
“What were you planning to do by corrupting her?”
[Do you know why God corrupts us?]
“......”
[If they do not please God's heart, if He dislikes having them by His side, there is no need to corrupt them and throw them from heaven to earth. He could simply annihilate them.]
But God insists on throwing them down.
He throws down and drops the sword that was forged for Him its entire lifetime.
[First,]
Veria said, looking at her own sword stuck in Rebecca.
[First, it is for the cycle.]
If a saint who serves God becomes corrupted, what will happen on this earth?
For the most part, they begin to slaughter humans.
They tend to unleash their resentment and sorrow toward God onto everything around them.
The moment their entire life, lived for God and for God, is denied.
The meaning of good and evil disappears for them, and only resentment toward God fills them.
[Like that, beings once called saints come to be called the Corrupted, and struggle to slaughter and kill humans who cry out to God.]
Veria curled her purple lips as if asking if it wasn't ridiculous.
[It's a cycle. Humans do not rest idly with the mighty power of the Corrupted; they cry out to God even more and yearn for His power. As a result, human power grows as time passes. So does the power of the God they revere.]
Isn't it quite profitable for the effect brought about by a single thrown sword?
[Originally, the Dragon-Demon War was merely a slaughterhouse entangled with dragons and the Corrupted who tried to kill humans. Do you know why the Dragon race tried to kill humans?]
“Because humans believe in God, and then become Corrupted.”
[You really do know.]
From the standpoint of dragons who do not believe in God, humans themselves were an annoying existence.
The gradually growing human forces.
Their power. The existence of God. The disaster of Corruption that God created and dropped like filth was bound to be irritating to the dragons.
[Second is....]
“To forge weapons to fill Himself. They are merely sheaths.”
[Sheaths....]
“Because they must be proven.”
Like a blacksmith casting and striking iron.
Like striking and beating it to make it harder.
They too are intentionally cast away to temper the sword, making it more solid and sharp.
[...You know the truth I devoted my entire life to uncovering as if it's natural.]
Veria looked at him with wonder and asked.
[Just who are you?]
Looking up at the unseen sky.
He answered.
“The one who asked the question.”