Episode 31: A Distorted Doctrine and the Faith of the Saint ⑧ ~The Death Throes of Karma~
"Stop them! If you don't stop them, everyone will die!! Forward, forward, forward!! Are you done loading the cannon yet?!”
Setsu-chan was trying to get to the front, so I put her down on the ground to keep her safe and sat her behind me. Even then, the pope was frantically giving instructions.
Soldiers kept coming forward, but the foot soldiers were shot by Falty's arrows, and Irene knocked down the heavily armed ones.
The front line isn't advancing as he'd hoped, but as the pope, he's probably satisfied as long as he can buy some time until reloading. ……So I plunged my sword into the ground and called out to the pope.
"What's wrong? Where did all your confidence go? You're getting pretty desperate, aren't you?"
"Shut up, you fool! That awful calamity will be blown away this time."
He was pointing at us and shouting angrily, but you could see he was getting impatient because his first shot had been blocked. Showing impatience to your enemy is the height of foolishness, and in battle, it is precisely at such times that you must remain calm and respond appropriately, but it seems that such reasoning does not enter his head. ……In the end, he's just a man who warms the chair with his butt.
"Hey, Pope. Before I reached Irene's town, I saw villages looted by your army and corpses of people they had killed. I saw a young girl being tortured to death. Some houses were ransacked and their possessions stolen. ……No matter what you say about us, aren't your acts of invasion and plunder an affront to humanity? Don't you have anything to say about that?”
"You ignorant fool, that's what religion is!! There is nothing to say about it, in fact, we highly encourage the plundering of those who are not devout!! After destroying you, I will lead this army on a grand campaign to crush and plunder those who do not join the devout, and conquer them all, taking their beautiful women as my own!!
……It's impossible for people with different ideologies to understand each other. One side has to be destroyed!
The world will be reborn under the empire.
And in the process, all filthy non-humans will be exterminated. This is a common goal shared by the empire.
If we eliminate those who make ridiculous claims about coexisting with demi-humans, then there will be no more talk of coexistence or even discrimination. And I will stand at the top!!”
That's a pretty arrogant statement. Having gained power and authority, he no longer listens to reason. Isn't that just another form of religious fanaticism? Following that line of thinking, the empire would be at the top and he would be below it, but it would be rude to point that out.
"I see, so that's how you feel. ……Now for the final question. ――Why did you guys try to kill Alberic? You tried to silence Irene too, didn't you?”
At my words, the pope stroked his beard thoughtfully. A messenger soldier ran up beside him and told him something. Upon hearing this, the pope laughed mockingly.
"……All right, I'll tell you as a gift for the afterlife. That was the will of King Bahas VII of the Empire. Once the demon king was defeated, the empire was secretly preparing to eliminate the hero. The empire has always viewed the hero as dangerous. If that's what the empire wants, then I'll obey, so I tried to persuade the kingdom."
"As dangerous? What nonsense―――"
At least Al was not someone who was hostile to the Empire, and he had no reason to be targeted by the Empire, which he had little contact with, other than being thanked for defeating the Demon King.
"I don't know the details, but it seems that the imperial family has some kind of connection with the 'hero'. ……Irene, if you had just behaved like a saint and not sniffed around, I would have spared your life, you foolish girl."
"―――I firmly refuse!!”
Irene, who had been listening while fighting, grabbed a soldier and threw him at the pope. The Pope's bodyguards shot the soldier with magic, blowing him to pieces in midair……Such messy fireworks.
"Hmph, well, fine. There are still many beautiful women in the world. I can find someone to replace you anytime……Now, let's stop wasting time. I'm going to have you guys disappear. Talking at length is something only idiots do! Now, fire the cannon!! It's my win!!”
The pope raised his hands with a triumphant expression.
"――――Ah, it's time for me to stop wasting time too."
In response to my words, a dome-shaped light completely enveloped the main forces surrounding the Pope. ……I expanded a barrier by driving a sword into the ground and extending it along the ground. ……Just as the Pope was preparing his cannons, I was preparing to trap them behind a barrier. This is reinforced with the miasma of the evil sword, making it much stronger than the one surrounding the kingdom.
"W-What the heck is this?!”
The pope was so shocked that he cried loudly with snot running down his nose.
"It's a barrier. Is this your first time seeing this? However, it has been strengthened beyond what Roger knows. It takes time to activate, but once it's up, it can cover an entire city. Covering your main force would be no problem. ―――You weren't the only one trying to buy time."
"……This is bad. If we shoot in this situation, we'll be incinerated by the cannon! Hurry up and turn off the cannon!"
As the Pope frantically gave orders, the soldiers, realizing that they were trapped inside a cage of light, rushed toward the wall of light in an instant.
"Let me out! Let me out, please!”
"No, please!! Nooo!!”
"You said we'd be absolutely safe if we obeyed the church!!”
Soldiers screamed as they were burned against the barrier.
The army fell into a state of panic, with some dying against the barrier, others turning back, and still others rushing toward it unaware of the danger, all caught up in the chaos. With that, the chain of command must be in disarray.
"Please, please help us, Your Holiness!!”
The beautiful women who were attending the pope are also clung to him, but he himself was too frightened.
"It's no use, Your Holiness! We've already cocked the cannon, so we can't stop the firing!! If nothing is done, the cannon itself will explode!!”
The pope was stunned by the words of the soldier who had come to deliver a message.
"……It feels like they're destroying themselves through their own actions."
The pope, surrounded by beautiful women, crawled to the enthroned seat and screamed with tears in his eyes.
"Y-You……You despicable scumbags――――――――!!”
As if responding to the Pope's cry, the cannon exploded and the barrier was filled with light.
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Sousaku - 創作 - We Create! 