Chapter 751: Will of the God

A strange phenomenon was observed in the skies above the capital of the United Kingdom.

Though time had passed into the evening, the sky was unnaturally dark.

It wasn’t merely the setting of the sun.

It was as if a hole had been torn in the sky, an alien darkness.

A thick darkness that seemed to pull you in just by looking at it.

────────!!

As if resonating with the strange sky, the massive fire on the ground began to rage even more fiercely.

The intense flames made an indescribable roar, burning the air and twisting the space around them with their searing heat.

Whether it was just a mirage or real, it was most apparent in the Royal Palace at the center of the capital.

────────────!!!

The place that had just seen coronations, witnessed wars between citizens trying to attack and guards defending it, that had once been the sacred home to the Queen of the United Kingdom and her sons, was now engulfed in roaring flames.

It was like a giant pile of firewood.

Amazingly, a scream came from the hottest part of that blazing woodpile.

“Gaaaaaaaah────!!”

It was an inhuman, horrific scream.

······Perhaps the wording is appropriate, a ‘horrific, inhuman scream.’

For it wasn’t a human who was screaming—it was merely a Creature.

A pitiable being, unblessed by God.

A brazen one who had sought to steal God’s powers to gain that blessing.

A ridiculous being who, despite waiting for centuries, could only become a mere tool.

“Aaah······!”

That pitiable, brazen, ridiculous being had run out of strength, no longer able to scream as it started to crumble into ashes.

As the burnt-black ashes completely disintegrated and were scattered into the air by the flames, they began to cling to the body of The Burned One, forming a new body.

The ash became new flesh for The Burned One, covering his bones and organs.

In this contradictory display, as if life and death had swapped places, the flames in The Burned One’s eye sockets flickered.

Through the blinding flames that shone like the sun, The Burned One’s eyes locked onto Joanna. Joanna, too, looked back at him.

Pak!

Just then.

The flames that had been swirling around The Burned One and consuming the Royal Palace abruptly extinguished.

It wasn’t just the flames of the palace.

The fires across the whole city went out as the Royal Palace’s flames died.

As a result, beneath the gaping, dark sky, the capital was completely engulfed by darkness, and even the Underground wasn’t exempt.

Joanna and the Holy Knights were swallowed by the darkness, as if the whole world, and themselves, had vanished.

As the world was submerged in darkness, hail began to fall, and creatures crawled in the dark, chanting indecipherable prayers.

Clack!

Oliver struck the ground with his quarterstaff.

Fwoosh!

At that, flames reignited on the body of The Burned One, seated on a wooden throne, and once again, the Royal Palace and the capital were set ablaze.

The violent heat burned away the falling hail as a firestorm whipped through the Underground.

Once again, Joanna used the power of the Holy Blood, as she had earlier, to shield the Holy Knights from the firestorm.

Rather than destroy The Burned One’s body, she chose to protect the Holy Knights.

[Isn’t it both pitiable and laughable?]

From the center of the swirling yellow, orange, and red flames,

The Burned One, still seated, transmitted his voice to Joanna.

[To have endured and tried so hard for hundreds of years, just to become human for even a single day, only for it all to have been a part of the ceremony to complete this. Isn’t that truly both pitiable and laughable?]

“Aaaaaah────!!”

A scream echoed through the roaring fire.

Even amidst the ghastly sounds that seemed to burn the very space itself, the scream was unmistakably clear.

Even though the Holy Knights covered their ears, the gruesome scream pierced through, striking their eardrums and delivering its horrific source directly to their minds.

This scream was born from prisoners of Hell, and these flames were the hellfire burning the sinners.

Hellfire that had descended upon the human world—something that should never exist here.

And this could only mean one thing.

Doom.

“Cruel… so cruel.”

Standing amidst the hellfire, Joanna answered.

The Burned One, too, nodded in agreement, his fiery eyes flashing.

[Cruel, yes. And that is fate. A fate that cannot be resisted or escaped. He was born with such a fate too.]

He. Though he wasn’t clearly named, Joanna knew instantly who he meant.

She had already heard it—

“Oliver…”

The world, burdened with so much evil that all had given up on it.

Yet the one born into this world, to take on the most painful, cruel, and insurmountable task of ending it—was Oliver.

A being born to fulfill the hardest, most excruciating, and most cruel task in the world.

Regardless of his will, his character, or his effort.

[Can you bear the truth?]

That was one of the harsh truths The Burned One had revealed to Joanna.

After hearing the truth, Joanna asked,

[Are you sure it’s okay to just tell me this so easily?]

[It seems you didn’t listen carefully. Didn’t I say his purpose is his fate? Do you really think knowing this will change anything? Maybe a miracle could alter fate.]

At that cold, merciless statement, Joanna felt a wave of despair wash over her.

A despair so overwhelming that all the hardships she had faced until now seemed sweet in comparison.

Was this really too cruel?

A fate that, regardless of a person’s will, character, or effort, would crush them.

At first, Joanna had tried to deny it.

The fate placed upon Oliver. Even after hearing the truth, Joanna spoke of Oliver’s good deeds and said she believed in him, trying to deny the fate.

No, believing in him was the truth. His deeds were real. Just by following his path, one would understand.

He was the kind of person who, for the sake of the kidnapped children, risked his life to defy fate,

[You’re not listening again.]

The Burned One’s voice struck Joanna’s mind once more.

[In the face of fate, will, character, and effort mean nothing. Only the outcome matters. We recognize his efforts.]

Pak!

Once again, the flames engulfing The Burned One’s body were extinguished.

As his flames disappeared, so too did the fires ravaging the Royal Palace and the capital, leaving only the flames in his eye sockets to light the now-darkened world.

As the flames vanished, the prisoners crawling about resumed their heretical chanting, this time even more fervently.

Joanna finally realized why the prisoners were chanting prayers.

They were trying to find false peace by worshipping the very being causing their despair, because no one would rescue them from their suffering.

As the last darkness crept in, a new, eighth omen descended upon the world.

A swarm of locusts that devoured everything, people and buildings alike. Oliver struck the ground again with his quarterstaff.

Clack!

Fwoosh!

The flames engulfed The Burned One’s body once more as the Royal Palace and capital were set ablaze again.

With the fierce fire reignited, the locusts turned to fly toward the flames, where they burned into ash.

The ash of the locusts floated within the sea of flames, attaching to The Burned One’s body and forming new flesh.

His bones and organs were almost fully covered, and his body was nearing completion—a body both cracked and parched like logs, but brimming with life like fire.

[That was why I told you. I had hoped, perhaps, that you might be able to lessen the burden of his cruel fate, even a little.]

For the first time, a hint of disappointment could be heard in the otherwise emotionless voice of The Burned One.

And that alone told Joanna just how deeply he was disappointed.

However, aside from that, she also felt anger and guilt toward herself for not being able to do anything upon learning Oliver’s cruel fate.

Not that she feared the disappointment of a devil, but what she feared was—

[I thought you might at least make the bare minimum effort. Doing something to protect him without even knowing who he is.]

“······.”

[With such resolve, I thought maybe the gods would grant you a miracle. They do have a fondness for strong wills.]

“······.”

[We… at least I… wanted him to escape that fate. Because it’s too cruel and too unfair—even by the standards of beings like us.]

“······So, is Oliver truly destined to follow that fate?”

[Who knows? Even I do not know his plan. But one thing is certain. The fact that you missed your chance to destroy my vessel and instead chose to protect the Holy Knights proves that you—and your kind—are worthless. I can see why He abandoned you.]

Joanna couldn’t reply. As The Burned One had said, Joanna had protected the Holy Knights at the cost of destroying him.

Had she made the wrong choice?

Had her judgment been flawed?

More than that, had she done everything she could?

At the very moment Joanna began to doubt her actions and reflect on her past,

Pak!

The flames engulfing The Burned One’s body extinguished once again.

By the time the fire vanished from his body, the flames consuming the Royal Palace and the entire capital also vanished, leaving only the fire flickering in his eye sockets. The rest of the world was swallowed by darkness.

This time, however, the darkness was far denser.

It felt as though the oppressive darkness trapped all sound and constricted even one’s breathing, much like sinking into deep water.

A suffocating pressure began to surge from all sides.

The prisoners who had been screaming in the flames began once again to crawl across the ground, scratching at the barrier Joanna had cast and chanting their blasphemous prayers.

The ninth omen, the coming of the darkness, had arrived.

Within this omen, The Burned One’s voice echoed.

[But I still have a job to do.]

Immediately after his words, cracks of yellow, orange, and red light appeared under the fiery eyes of The Burned One.

As if stone were cracking apart. The Burned One opened his mouth.

Fooooosh…

Once he had a mouth, he breathed in, as he had once done before on the New Continent, preparing to release his breath.

In that moment, glimpses of the future flashed before Joanna’s eyes. Scenes of the Pinkmen burning alive. One clear future stood out.

It was a future of a wave of fire unleashed by The Burned One.

A wave with unimaginable heat and pressure, enough to burn Joanna’s wings, melt her shield, and incinerate every firstborn on the surface.

The final omen, the death of the firstborns, was approaching.

Swish······!

Joanna’s entire body felt as if every cell stood upright with tension. She knew she had to do something, but she couldn’t move.

What could she possibly do in the face of a tidal wave of fire?

The only thing she could do was watch.

Watch and await the inevitable death that couldn’t be evaded.

“Ah, so there you are.”

At that very moment, a voice echoed through the underground of the Royal Palace. The voice remained strangely calm, even in the face of the approaching apocalypse.

Swoosh!

The darkness that had swallowed the world gathered into a massive mouth that engulfed Joanna and the Holy Knights, expelling them onto the surface.

It was teleportation magic using darkness and shadows as a medium.

Even though nothing was visible, Joanna and the Holy Knights knew that they had emerged onto the surface.

“Oliver?!”

Joanna instinctively called out his name.

Because there was only one being capable of pulling off such a phenomenon in the presence of a devil.

Yet, there was no answer. For about two or three seconds.

Though it was a mere moment, Joanna was consumed by a fear deeper than the surrounding darkness.

Just as that fear reached its peak—

Fwoosh!

A small sun appeared, illuminating the surface around them.

“······.”

Using what appeared to be his charred right hand, Oliver conjured a small sun in his palm.

That sun forced the world swallowed in darkness to spit itself out into the light once again.

“It’s been a while, Joanna.”