Chapter 41 - The Immortal Athanasia (1)
An abandoned burial ground.
Countless soldiers had gathered at a place where no tombstones were erected, a spot where one couldn't even tell who was buried there.
'Is this it?'
The one who led them was Kardis, a Guardian Knight of the Holy State Alliance.
'It's certainly ominous beyond belief.'
He had been given the mission and come to the designated location, but he hadn't anticipated such a gloomy atmosphere.
'Nevertheless, duties must be performed.'
Kardis turned his head and commanded the soldiers.
"Proceed as instructed beforehand."
At his words, the soldiers, holding the papers they had received, began to draw a formation on the ground, mimicking the diagrams.
RUMBLE...
With just that, the ground vibrated as if in resonance.
'It seems the seal is weakening.'
Kardis swallowed hard.
The divine being beneath them had been sealed for thousands of years.
It had probably been raging furiously alone to break free from the seal.
Kardis couldn't even imagine the intensity of that fury.
'This might be reckless.'
Despite this, Kardis had to complete his mission.
It was the duty assigned to a Guardian Knight of the Holy State Alliance.
SPLASH!
As the formation was completed, several soldiers brought numerous wooden buckets filled with sticky, reddish blood.
The blood of a lamb.
The soldiers scattered the blood in designated spots according to a sequence.
THUMP!
The ground vibrated, and at some point, the formation began to glow dark red.
'It's done.'
They were now facing the final hurdle to breaking the seal, following the procedures and using the formation provided by the imperial family.
Kardis pulled out a small box from his pocket and opened it.
Inside lay the Emperor of Kratia's seal.
Normally, an object that should never be taken outside the imperial family.
But this time, it was given personally by Lutan, the Emperor of Kratia.
PRESS.
Kardis gripped the seal in his hand.
From now on, it was even more crucial.
He had to face the divine being released from the seal.
His role extended to guiding that divine being into the demon territory.
"Everyone, fall back."
Kardis moved the soldiers behind the divine being containment line that the priests who had visited the site beforehand had prepared, then he entered the center of the formation, holding the seal.
'Please, let it go as planned.'
He bent down and slammed the seal onto the very center of the formation.
CRACK!
A shockwave similar to a hammer striking an anvil.
A powerful vibration spread from the formation in all directions.
ROOOAR!
Soon, the ground cracked open.
Kardis also retreated and stopped in a safe location.
The fractured earth rose in pieces, forming walls.
Inside, stairs appeared.
Stairs that looked on the verge of collapsing.
THUMP-THUMP.
Someone began to ascend those stairs.
The soldiers nervously held out their spears and swords, on guard.
Kardis also stepped further inside the divine being containment line, holding his sword aloft, observing the situation.
"Ah."
Before long, a voice was heard.
"Outside."
Saying that, the one who emerged was a girl with white hair wearing a crown of thorns.
'That's...'
Kardis held his breath.
'Athanasia?'
Athanasia the Immortal.
The ancient god who had resisted Elhaim until the very last, with an undying body.
But...
The pale-skinned girl, dressed in a simple one-piece dress and barefoot, observing her surroundings, did not appear to be such a formidable divine being.
"What is that?"
"Did we find the wrong one?"
"That's Athanasia?"
Voices of doubt erupted among the soldiers as the atmosphere instantly changed.
They were elite soldiers, carefully selected and brought here to awaken an ancient god.
However, even elite soldiers were not without fear.
They harbored considerable apprehension about awakening an ancient god.
Having been tense just moments ago due to that apprehension, it wasn't strange for them to show expressions of disappointment when the result was different from what they expected.
"Calm down."
Kardis was no different from the soldiers, but he was still a Guardian Knight.
He needed to make a calm judgment about the current situation.
'Even if she looks like that...'
Even if she didn't appear to be a divine being filled with resentment, it was necessary to confirm.
"Athanasia."
Kardis spoke.
"Is that truly you?"
At his words, the girl turned her head.
"Athanasia?"
Seeing her tilt her head at the question, Kardis gasped.
"Is it another being?"
"Why Athanasia?"
But the girl asked an utterly unexpected question.
"Why are you looking for her?"
"That's..."
"You're not even my worshippers."
Athanasia's eyes glinted chillingly.
"Wha—"
CRASH!
In the blink of an eye, as Kardis flinched, the girl had already crossed over to the divine being containment line.
CRACKLE! SPUTTER!
The divine being containment line was blocking the girl from taking another step.
An invisible wall generated along the line crackled with black electricity as it met the girl.
"I-It's a divine being!"
"It's Athanasia!"
The startled soldiers, belatedly coming to their senses, shrieked.
The girl, Athanasia, ignored them and spoke to Kardis.
"Why did you wake me?"
She wore a bewildered expression.
"I was sleeping soundly."
Sleeping soundly?
That was not a line Kardis had expected.
'No, perhaps it's better this way.'
An unpredictable divine being had emerged, but if she didn't harbor excessive hostility towards them, guiding her to the demon territory might not be too difficult.
"Athanasia."
Kardis said.
"We have no intention of fighting you."
"But I do?"
Athanasia stared intently at Kardis.
"You're not even my worshippers, are you? You're the ones who imprisoned me, right?"
"Your worshippers are also in a dangerous situation right now."
Kardis quickly explained.
"Most of your worshippers are currently on the border of the demon territory."
"Demon race?"
Athanasia tilted her head.
"What's that?"
"A new race, different from humans. One that established a new divine being called the Demon King."
"A new divine being?"
Athanasia's face, which had been questioning, grew a little colder.
"Ah, something troublesome has emerged, hasn't it?"
She let out a hollow laugh and said.
"There must be a reason why you drove my worshippers into such a place, too, right?"
"As time passes, your divine power will disappear."
Even now, with time having passed, there were few who carried on her faith. If they all fell to the demon race, the outcome was obvious.
"Everyone is just trying to survive, so I hope you will help us."
"Hmm~."
"It must also be unpleasant for you that someone is trying to create a new divine being."
At his words, Athanasia sighed.
"Is that something a worshipper of Elhaim should say?"
"Regardless, Elhaim is not on this land right now."
Kardis raised an eyebrow and said.
"It's a blasphemous thing to say, but I'm telling you anyway."
"Yes, it seems so."
Athanasia briefly turned her gaze to the sky.
"But it's really nice outside. Being stuck in that tomb, all sorts of bugs were crawling around. Even I, the immortal, was no different from the dead."
"That's..."
"Anyway, I'll be able to wander freely outside from now on, but it's a bit lonely by myself. Could you lend me some soldiers?"
"Soldiers?"
"Yeah."
"We cannot. The soldiers here all belong to our Holy State Alliance..."
"What alliance?"
THUD.
Silence.
Kardis, whose face had turned ashen, turned around, realizing that the sounds of the soldiers behind him had suddenly ceased.
Half-destroyed.
Their chests were blown open.
Their arms were gone.
Their heads were crushed.
Their legs were broken.
Their necks were twisted.
"!"
What Kardis saw was the gruesome sight of the soldiers who had been perfectly fine and on guard moments ago, now mangled and grotesquely dead.
"It seems they all disagreed with what you said?"
Athanasia's voice was heard.
Kardis squeezed his already closed eyes even tighter.
'It was a misjudgment...!'
He had thought that even if she was an ancient god, they could somehow manage her to a certain extent since the divine being containment line was made using methods left by Elhaim.
However, a divine being was, quite literally, a divine being.
The containment line, mimicked by humans, had failed to exert its full power.
"Well, I guess I can call them my soldiers now."
CRUNCH, CRACKLE.
The half-destroyed, fallen soldiers twisted their bodies and rose again.
Still in their broken state, they clutched their spears and swords with their remaining limbs.
"This is a challenge to the Holy State Alliance."
Seeing Kardis, who had barely managed to utter words, Athanasia calmly took a step.
The containment line that had been pushing her back was no longer functioning.
She had already shattered it while dealing with the soldiers.
"Who challenged first, I wonder?"
She tilted her head.
"I don't think it was me."
"If you act like this, we cannot just let you go."
Kardis adjusted his grip on his sword and lowered his stance.
"If you don't cooperate, I will buy time here."
"Until all my worshippers perish?"
She shrugged her small shoulders.
"I think I know how this will turn out. If you can see forward even with your eyes closed."
"..."
As Kardis remained silent, the soldiers shambled closer.
'No choice.'
In that horrifying scene, Kardis recalled only one objective.
'I must get her to the demon territory somehow.'
Kardis pressed his eyelids even harder and said.
"I will tell you the exact location of your worshippers."
Negotiation was all that was left.
♧
"Athanasia is in Geltir, a royal state slightly north of the continent's center."
More precisely, in the graveyard for the sick in Geltir.
"It's a place where incurable vagrants were buried when they died. No one would have thought Athanasia was sealed there."
Neville laid out what he knew to Clay.
"I will separately record the locations where the rest of the indigenous deities are sealed."
"Thank you."
Clay placed a hand on Neville's shoulder.
"It must have been a difficult decision, for you to step forward like this."
"Not at all."
Neville wore a somewhat pained expression.
"I know Your Majesty is suffering more than I am. If Your Majesty has no other choice, then I will do my best to preserve the world as intact as possible from your side. Because no one will be able to defeat Your Majesty."
"You think so?"
"Yes."
Neville swallowed hard.
"Your Majesty was invincible even before. Seeing that you don't even die, you must be a being beyond providence, beyond our comprehension."
"Indeed."
"And I remained here not simply because I believe there will be no one to oppose Your Majesty."
The world was already rotten.
Neville thought so.
"A sickness that won't be cured unless someone overturns it has spread across the continent. While I don't agree with all of Your Majesty's decisions, if it cannot be stopped anyway, I will at least try to do something with the mercy Your Majesty has granted."
"Very well."
Even before Clay, who had become the Demon King, Neville did not betray his ideals.
Clay respected him for that.
He had always been such a human.
"Kardine."
Clay turned his head and said.
"Send out scouts to Geltir."
It was time to prepare to receive her.
https://stellarrealm.net