“Blind faith, huh…”
Kult trembled as he covered his face with his hand.
“So what if I do? The only thing I can rely on, believe in, cling to…is the divine.”
“……”
“If I’m blindly devoted to divine power… then what about you, Johan?”
And when Kult lowered his hand—
“You don’t understand anything.”
Kult and his “Eyes” met.
“Urgh!”
In that brief instant—
Kult who had regained his two eyes unleashed divine power.
Now in possession of the sacred relic, the Prophet’s divine power blazed brighter than daylight. It was blinding like the midday sun.
“How about now?”
A crown of thorns.
Sacred nails driven into his wrists and ankles.
A representative of God whose mere appearance inspired awe.
“Have you still not changed your mind? Do you really believe you can save a child that not even power like this could save?”
“……”
“So please… don’t hurt Helena any further. Let her be freed from this cruel world.”
“And if I say no?”
“You already know, don’t you? You, or rather you all, can’t stop me.”
Kult took a step forward.
With every step he took, flowers and greenery bloomed among the mansion’s ruins.
The blood flowing from the crown of thorns transformed into a halo of light, softly wrapping around him.
That right there was one of the final bosses.
The Prophet
Kult Hereticus
We were being pushed back.
He was only walking forward, and yet we felt an overwhelming pressure we couldn’t resist.
Not just me…Yuna, who stood beside me, was also helplessly forced backward.
“Urgh!”
Realizing she had instinctively taken a step back, Yuna belatedly threw a dagger at Kult.
But Kult didn’t even try to block it.
The moment his gaze landed on the dagger, it turned into a lump of metal and fell to the ground.
His divine power and the power of wholeness had reverted the dagger back into raw mineral.
“Johan… do you have a plan?”
Seeing that bizarre phenomenon seemed to drain Yuna’s fighting spirit, and she asked me if I had a plan.
Unfortunately, I didn’t.
I had never intended to fight and defeat Kult in the first place.
It’s regrettable that things turned out this way, but no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn’t be able to stop Kult.
If there was anything I could call a plan, it was just one thing.
“We have to buy time.”
“Against that? Even if we stall him, will anything really change?”
“I don’t know…”
The situation had been dire from the start.
Kult had already become a final boss, while Lobelia’s growth was still far behind.
Even if Lobelia arrived, it might be impossible to stop Kult’s movements.
We might not even be able to stop his footsteps…
“Still, we have to try.”
“Johan, I’m the one who’s going to be doing it. So don’t say it like it’s nothing, okay?”
“I’m counting on you, Yuna.”
“Tch… Johan, you better be ready. If we make it through this, I’m collecting interest on everything you owe me.”
“If we make it through, that is.”
Because if we failed, it would all be over anyway.
Kult’s goal wasn’t something as small as toppling a single nation.
You can’t afford to “hope for next time” when facing a monster trying to overturn the entire world.
“Ha… I’m not exactly confident in close combat.”
Yuna lightly stretched and then charged into Kult’s domain.
She didn’t even carry a single dagger.
There was no point. Any weapon would just turn into a lump of metal the moment it met Kult’s gaze.
And so, Yuna dove in—
“……”
But the moment she crossed a certain distance, she froze in place as if under a trance.
“Yuna?”
Kult approached.
He didn’t even glance at the frozen Yuna, just walked straight toward me.
“…I have no idea what that was.”
I couldn’t tell what had happened to Yuna.
I hadn’t even seen Kult do anything. How could I know?
One thing had become clear: even Yuna was helpless against him.
“…Ha.”
Kult simply kept walking like the inevitable arrival of the end.
I immediately drew my sword and stepped into Kult’s domain.
Even just for a moment, I had to stop him in his tracks.
But that determination meant nothing.
The instant I entered his domain, the sword in my hand broke apart into several chunks of metal and fell to the ground.
And my body wouldn’t move, as though something invisible had seized me.
Yet strangely, I didn’t feel suffocated.
On the contrary, I felt comforted like I was wrapped in a warm blanket.
“This is…”
My vision began to distort.
Things started to overlap, as if I were seeing through multiple layers at once.
What unfolded before my eyes was a blue meadow with crisp air and birds chirping.
A sweet scent tickled my nose, and the breeze brushed past my ears.
And then…
“Johan, what should we play today?”
Someone who couldn’t possibly be there.
The most radiant memory of that time began to overlap with what I saw before me.
“This is… fake.”
Only then did I understand what Kult had done.
He was showing me paradise.
A vision of paradise where there was no sorrow or pain. Only happiness, day after day.
“Even a demon wouldn’t go this far…”
To avoid being deceived by this paradise, I bit down on my lip.
The sharp pain and taste of blood, faint as they were, helped bring back a sliver of clarity.
“Ah, right. Illusion magic was your specialty, wasn’t it? No wonder your mind is so well-defended.”
It must have been only a moment. I had been caught in the illusion of paradise for just an instant.
And yet, I was already on my knees and Kult was standing right in front of me.
When I looked up, I saw the Prophet’s eyes so awe-inspiring they almost commanded reverence.
“I’ve been through something like this recently… Sorry, but I’m not falling for it twice.”
“Is that so? Then I’ll prepare a new paradise just for you.”
Kult reached out his hand.
Like a priest delivering a blessing, he raised his hand above my head and murmured softly,
“You don’t need to be bound by duty any longer.”
My consciousness began to sink.
In the haze clouding my mind, even my reason for fighting began to blur.
If I closed my eyes like this, I would likely forget everything and become trapped in the illusion Kult created.
“…Yeah.”
But I had already done everything I needed to.
It had only been a few seconds, but Kult had already come to a stop in front of me.
And that brief window—
Crack!
—was more than enough to bring the lightning.
***
Once again, paradise came into view.
I had no idea how long I’d been here or when I arrived.
All I knew was that every moment had been filled with happiness.
A paradise free of pain and sorrow.
And within that paradise, I awakened.
“……”
Standing before me was Helena, looking at me with a sheepish expression.
Wait, Helena?
The moment I saw her face, it felt like a fog lifted from my mind.
Come to think of it, hadn’t Kult said he would erase my memories?
How long had I wasted my time in this place?
The thought made me feel sick.
“Ah, that’s the teacher I know. Your expression just got even grumpier.”
“…It’s the stress.”
“Is that so?”
“Are you really Helena? Or just an illusion Kult created?”
“I’m real.”
This was confusing.
Honestly, it was a dumb question to begin with.
Whether real or not, no illusion would admit it wasn’t real.
First, I needed to assess the situation.
I was definitely trapped in Kult’s paradise, so why was Helena here?
Was this just another illusion from paradise? Some kind of message like, “Even if you don’t save Helena, everyone’s happy in paradise anyway?”
I shook my head.
There was no reason for Kult to show me something like this. Why go out of his way to restore my memories and present Helena to me?
There was no need.
Even without all that, with my memories sealed, I had already been blending into this place.
Then let’s think. If it wasn’t my will or Kult’s that brought back my memories…
“…Yeah. That’s why they must’ve been restored.”
It was Helena who restored my memories.
That led to a second question.
“What’s going on?”
Why is Helena here?
Helena gave a sheepish smile.
***
“Gah!”
When I came to, I was sprawled out on the floor.
What—? What just happened?
“Johan, are you okay?”
“Ariel…?”
It felt like being yanked out of a dream. My head was hazy.
The images that had been clear in my mind just moments ago were rapidly dissolving into a blur.
What had I seen in paradise…?
I felt like I’d seen something important, but I couldn’t remember.
“Johan!”
“Ah…”
“Get a grip. I don’t know what happened, but you’re safe now.”
“Is there… any chance I’m still brainwashed?”
Smack!
Ariel slapped me across the face.
I felt the pain. It was sharp and real.
One thing was certain. This wasn’t a dream.
And judging by how much it hurt, it definitely wasn’t paradise either.
“…I’m back.”
“Thank goodness. You’ve been sitting there in a daze….I was getting worried.”
Thanks to Ariel’s shock treatment, I was clearheaded again, but I still had no idea what was going on.
“What the hell happened?”
“It’s a long story. More importantly, what’s the current situation?”
“That’s also a long story. You should probably see for yourself.”
Ariel lifted my head and rested it on her lap.
What is this? Am I back in paradise?
Damn it. Just how much further is Kult planning to mess with me?
“Looks like Her Highness is the only one who can endure it in there.”
The sight I saw with my head slightly raised was far from paradise.
Lobelia was darting around inside Kult’s domain, scattering red lightning as she went.
“We can’t get close. The moment we approach beyond a certain distance, it feels like our minds get clouded over…”
“I know. Yuna and I were both affected by that. But Ariel, what happened to Yuna?”
“Her Highness threw her over there.”
“I see.”
I turned my head slightly and saw Yuna, cruelly embedded in the rubble.
So Ariel only took care of me… The blatant favoritism made me feel strangely conflicted.
“Ugh…”
I pushed myself up.
I couldn’t keep relying on Ariel forever.
“How is Her Highness completely fine? I couldn’t even step into that domain, let alone use magic from outside.”
If Yuna’s throwing knives were rendered useless, Ariel’s magic probably met the same fate. It likely reverted into pure mana.
“Johan, is trusting Her Highness our only option right now?”
“Who knows?”
I turned my attention to Lobelia, who was doing her best inside Kult’s domain.
Despite some slight disruption, her red lightning worked without issue even within that space.
It was probably due to a shared trait of the imperial family’s awakened power.
Red lightning wasn’t just red lightning.
That red color itself was the power passed down through the imperial family of Miltonia.
An absolute counter.
The awakened ability: “Destruction”.
All imperial members were born with that power. A power that could shatter any unfair ability equally.
But even now, Lobelia couldn’t draw out its full strength.
Not even in the final chapter of the game could she manage that.
In other words, Lobelia alone could never defeat Kult.
“If we can just buy a little more time, something might work out.”
I pushed myself up from the ground.
Then took a moment to look around.
Yuna was unconscious, Emily was in the corner implanting an artificial heart into Helena. Lobelia stood in Kult’s way, while Ariel stared up at me blankly as I rose to my feet.
My role here was done.
I had done everything I could, buying time until Lobelia arrived.
From the beginning, my goal was to save Helena, not to stop Kult. That was never my job.
“Johan?”
“Ariel, I’m going to step away for a bit. Can I trust you to handle things here?”
“……”
“I’m counting on you.”
I forced my staggering body to move.
“With your body like that, where do you think you’re going?!”
Maybe it’d be fine to collapse here and let someone else handle the rest.
After all, what could someone like me possibly do?
But if there’s something I can do, and I’ve decided I will—
“To catch that junior of mine.”
This time, I’m not running away like I always do. I’m going to see it through to the end.
***
Just after leaving the half-destroyed mansion of the Hereticus Marquisate,
I spotted Dietrich not far away.
Yeah, this bastard… I knew it. With all this chaos, there’s no way he didn’t notice.
It’s not like he’s being held back like Lobelia or the Oracle.
I was going to wait for him to sort out his thoughts, but with things the way they are, I don’t have that luxury anymore.
“Senior?”
“Yeah, it’s been a few hours, hasn’t it? So, did you get a chance to chat with Kult?”
“…Yeah.”
The decisive Dietrich I used to know was gone.
After all he’d been through, all that reflection had turned into something close to indecision.
“Mind if I sit down for a bit?”
“Senior, you’re bleeding… Are you okay?”
“And what if I’m not? You planning to get revenge on Kult for me?”
“……”
Ugh, I’m dizzy.
Did I lose too much blood?
Well, I really did roll around in the dirt this time. This was completely unlike me.
Maybe the only reason I’m still standing is because the adrenaline hasn’t worn off yet.
Once it does, I’ll probably be screaming in pain like an idiot.
So I should take care of what needs doing before that happens.
“Why are you here?”
“…I’m still not sure.”
“Is stopping the madman who even killed his sister really something you need to think about?”
“……”
Dietrich was gripping his sword tightly. He probably wasn’t calm. He was just holding it all in.
“…Actually, Kult didn’t kill Helena.”
“What…?”
“I did.”
Only then did I notice the blood already staining the sword in Dietrich’s hand.
“It’s as good as if I killed her.”
Dietrich held the sword in a death grip, like he’d never let it go again.
He clutched it so tightly, it looked like he might crush the hilt.
That alone told me everything.
Helena had taken her own life.
With Dietrich’s sword.
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