Most of the information obtained from Kreutzwald had to be discarded.
It was only natural, since they could not immediately distinguish where the truth ended and the lies began.
For instance, his claim that the Abyss Gate was a prison called the Tower of the Abyss, or that he was the administrator of that Tower.
Or the information that it extended down to the hundredth floor, and that the deeper one descended, the stronger the monsters tainted by the abyss would become.
They had already confirmed, through the collapse of the seventieth floor, that those words were highly likely to be false.
According to Kreutzwald, Abyss monsters should have appeared, but the ones that emerged on the seventieth floor this time were unmistakably aberrations.
Aberrations born from the abyss itself, twisting the very laws of the world from the moment of their birth.
“Then from now on, there’s a high chance aberrations will appear.”
Hio nodded at Airaits’s words.
“That’s probably how it’ll be. I’m starting to think that perhaps the Abyss Gate itself was one of the arrangements left behind by the old gods.”
He had thought of the Abyss Gate as merely a passage for the abyss to invade through, but after meeting Kreutzwald and obtaining divine status, that thought had changed.
What if the Abyss Gate had not been made by the abyss, but by a god?
What if it had been created to hold back the encroachment of the abyss as much as possible, buying time by any means necessary in order to prepare something?
“If you think of it that way, it makes sense. The fact that this Kreutzwald guy can’t just cross over as he pleases, and the fact that the Abyss Gates are released one by one in stages.”
“That’s why we have to make the most of this time. We have to keep Kreutzwald from crossing over, and if possible, cross over to the World’s End ourselves and face him there.”
There was no telling what he would do if he were freely released into this world.
By his own account, his only goal was to restore his kingdom and bring his family back to life, but how could one who spoke of such a goal possess that kind of will?
How could he have even his emotions and heart devoured, leaving him able to reveal nothing but the abyss?
That was why he could never be trusted.
The more Abyss Gates they cleared one by one, the denser the energy of the abyss would become, and in time Kreutzwald would also find a clue that allowed him to emerge into the world.
Perhaps he had already found a way and was simply waiting.
That was why they absolutely had to find a way to reach the World’s End first.
“Cool.”
Airaits smiled with her eyes and lightly placed her fingertip on Hio’s shoulder.
“Just the two of us?”
Slowly.
Her finger traced Hio’s shoulder and descended at a languid pace.
“Well, as things stand now, the two of us alone wouldn’t be enough.”
Hio removed Airaits’s hand and placed it on the table.
“Kreutzwald’s will is darkness.”
“Darkness?”
“Darkness that devours everything. Even if we combine the authorities you and I possess right now, whether we can pierce through his abyss is… uncertain.”
“Hmm…”
He could not guarantee it.
Before obtaining divine status, what he had felt from Kreutzwald’s will when they clashed was an infinite abyss.
A terror that returned everything it touched to emptiness.
Would authority be any different?
He could not be certain.
“That’s why we need to gather more authority as quickly as possible.”
“I understand. So that’s why you’re telling me to establish a church and receive faith?”
“That’s right.”
The best option was to quickly raise Airaits’s power.
Hio had Earth, an excellent source from which to obtain faith, but Airaits did not.
“If you start in Pieria, where Venus’s sanctuary used to be, it should go well. In the first place, you’ve already bewitched all the kingdom’s people.”
“Hmm… That sounds fun.”
“Don’t do it for fun. Release everyone you’ve bewitched. Only when they truly worship and believe in you will high-quality divine points accumulate.”
“Mm. Don’t worry. That sort of thing is my specialty.”
The bright smile in her eyes made him feel somehow uneasy, but he could not press her any further here.
Airaits had a history of seizing control of the underworld and expanding it to the point that even Ataolf of the Black Fang needed her, so she would surely be good at creating a church.
The problem was precisely what methods she would use…
“…Fine. Well, do your best with it.”
It was not something he could nitpick one by one.
Airaits, too, was a successor who had inherited the divine status of beauty and love, and she had her own individuality.
He could not recklessly say that her way was wrong.
Just as Airaits never said anything about Hio’s method of always enduring.
“In any case, our top priorities are to find a way to enter the World’s End and, until then, gather as much authority as possible.”
“They’re all vague as hell. Never mind this place called the World’s End, why are the names of the authorities like this? At this rate, we can’t even tell what kind of power they are.”
“For now, build a system that can continuously gather divine points. I’ll find out somehow what the authorities can do and how to get to the World’s End.”
“How?”
He was not simply saying they had to do it, that they had to find a way, without any plan at all.
He said it because he had something in mind, and it was a plan.
It was something he could begin because he had a clue.
A way to reach the World’s End.
A way to oppose Kreutzwald.
The authorities and powers of the old gods, and even their arrangements.
The one and only clue that might know all of it.
“I’ll have to look for the Order.”
The great old mages.
He had to find the true heroes who had been standing against Kreutzwald for over a thousand years until now.
They, too, would be searching for him.
All plans would be completed after that.
* * *
The imperial palace of the Verden Empire.
The core of all power and military might, and the heart of the continent that served as its brain in the current situation.
Above that imperial palace, an abnormal phenomenon suddenly appeared.
The phenomenon was clear enough that not only the imperial palace but everyone in the capital, Imenia, could see it.
“Your Majesty! You must evacuate at once!”
The sky was dyed white.
Could there be any stranger phenomenon than this?
Every defensive artifact in the imperial palace activated, and all the knight orders on standby gathered.
The current state of the continent was nothing short of pandemonium.
Since no one knew when or where something might suddenly happen, they had no choice but to be tense.
“Your Majesty, this way…”
In accordance with established procedure, Sylvia was about to evacuate immediately.
“Your Majesty…?”
Sylvia, who had been moving quickly, came to an abrupt halt.
From the sky that had turned white—
Kooong—
Something had fallen into the center of the knight orders.
Because the figure slowly rising within the thick cloud of dust—
Because the black, wavering aura around it was far too familiar.
A presence that overwhelmed the hundreds of knights surrounding it instead.
“…Theordo?”
The Death Knight had returned to the emperor’s side.
* * *
“I heard the news, but honestly, even while hearing it, it was hard to believe.”
“I understand. From what I heard, it would be.”
Even as they sat facing each other and spoke, Sylvia was staring intently at Hio’s face.
Had it not already been confirmed that he had died a year and several months ago?
When she heard that such a Hio had returned alive, she doubted her own ears.
If it had not been something reported directly by an ancient dragon, no one would have believed it.
They would have thought there had been some misunderstanding, or else that it was someone’s scheme.
But those words had been true, and just as proof, he was now talking right in front of her eyes.
And the shocking matters did not end there.
“You met the master of the abyss…? Obtained divine status…?”
What on earth did any of that mean?
Even as she listened, the words felt utterly unreal.
The bulk and aura of Theordo standing behind him had grown stronger and larger than before, but this was not something on that level.
The master of the abyss, the traces of the old gods, authority.
Everything was absurd and difficult to believe.
Yet she could not simply refuse to believe it, because the one speaking was Hio, and the bizarre battle in Hiberunia that had been reported earlier was also explained by it, and on top of that, there had been Sword Saint Vitalianus’s report just before this.
“…So what are we supposed to do now?”
“We need to resume clearing the Abyss.”
“But we don’t have the capacity. We won’t be able to form an expeditionary force on the same scale as before. If we do it like that, the chance of failure will only…”
“No, we don’t need an expeditionary force.”
“…Huh?”
Sylvia’s eyes widened in surprise.
Facing her, Hio conveyed his intention firmly.
“I want the Empire to focus only on eliminating the remaining Abyss monsters and purifying the energy.”
“B-but we don’t have the troops for that. It’s impossible to loosen the forces concentrated around the gates. If what you’re saying is true, Hio, we’d have to abandon several regions and concentrate our forces for that to be possible…”
“You only need to station a minimum number of troops around the gates.”
“…Huh?”
Sylvia looked at Hio with round eyes, as if trying to understand exactly what he meant.
And soon, she understood.
“Don’t tell me… you’re saying you’ll go clear them alone?”
That Hio intended to set out alone to clear the Abyss.
And that he was filled with confidence that he absolutely would not fail.
“Well, to be precise, I won’t be alone. Still, I can promise you that I absolutely won’t fail.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s too dangerous. If something like what happened a year ago happens again…”
“It’s fine. That won’t happen.”
The aberrations appearing for now could do nothing to Hio.
Even at the World’s End, he had endured the long night with only the realm of the Sixth Circle. Even if thousands of aberrations far inferior to that swarmed him, they could not become a threat.
As long as there was no variable in which Kreutzwald intervened directly.
“So please focus only on restoring the Empire and the continent.”
Sylvia, who had stood in silence for a long while as though she was not satisfied with Hio’s words at all, finally opened her mouth with a small sigh.
“Even if we do that, there’s still a problem. We’re absolutely lacking in the number of priests who can use divine power. It hasn’t become known yet, but no new priests have been born since the saintess.”
“That’s to be expected, since Rifyue is dead.”
“…Eh? Who died? Rifyue?”
Sylvia, who had thought there would truly be nothing left to surprise her now, once again let out a dazed sound.
Hio had come to the imperial palace immediately after leaving the divine space, so the incident in which he had saved the saintess in Hiberunia and announced Rifyue’s extinction had not yet reached the Empire.
“That’s fine now too. Divinity will begin to bloom again.”
This, too, was not a problem.
Within the church that would be newly born with Irina at its center, new priests would arise.
They might not believe it at first, but once people began using divine power one by one, how could they not believe?
“A new church will be born.”
And not only a church.
The lost magic would also be reclaimed.
He would complete the ultimate magic.
“In the name of patience and magic.”
That was the very reason he had begun this journey in the first place.
* * *
As expected, divine points did not gather as dramatically on the Verden Continent as they had on Earth.
It was only natural.
Unlike Earth, where the existence of gods had been denied, everyone in Verden believed in the existence of gods.
No matter how miraculous a power he displayed, they would not regard him as a god.
And if someone who had once been human suddenly appeared and said he had inherited Rifyue’s power, that would be even harder to believe.
Even so, the story spread.
That a hero who had died had returned and inherited the power of a god.
That he had revived the dying saintess and appointed her as his apostle, and thus divinity was spreading far and wide.
Such rumors slowly but surely began to cover the continent.
They became a hopeful piece of news after a long absence, brightening the atmosphere considerably.
There were odd rumors mixed in along the way, such as that a new church had also been born in Pieria, the kingdom of snow and ice,
or that all its residents, including the royal family, worshiped it almost like fanatics, but as always, they were swept away by larger rumors and vanished.
News spread that the Empire was launching an active monster subjugation.
That they were breaking away from the situation in which they had been forced to remain on the defensive, aggressively suppressing Abyss monsters and restoring the damaged regions, and people rejoiced.
They once again embraced hope and began to picture tomorrow.
The gate to the seventy-first floor appeared amid that situation.