Beyond the Hero’s Death – 44 | Sousaku – 創作

Episode 44: Thus Spoke the Emperor ⑩ ~The End of “Justice”~

『Farewell, Emperor. I am the Knight of the Divine Horse, the sword that hunts down evil.』

It was right after I was shaking with rage in the bridge of the flying boat, which had been half destroyed by a swarm of calamities. I saw a knight riding a six-legged horse coming toward me and swinging his sword.
Evil? Did this calamity call me evil?
At that moment, I was blinded by a flash of sword light, literally like a flash of lightning――――My vision spun around, and I saw my own body collapse with my head missing, and I realized that my neck had been severed.
……Evil, who is evil? I am supposed to be the embodiment of absolute justice. How could such a stupid thing happen?
Come to think of it, a long time ago, when my father and mother were still alive, I heard a fairy tale one night. A knight who rides a six-legged divine horse and appears when evil emerges in the world to behead it.

―――Justice is here, the banner of righteousness is here, he said. I was raised being told that all my life.
Since childhood, the memory of the tragedy caused by the “hero” has been passed down, and ways to respond to it have been researched and passed down through the ages. It was the long-cherished wish of the emperors of the empire.
Fortunately, the Archmage who appeared at this time was a former imperial subject, motivated by reward, and planning revenge against the party of heroes, so they managed to recruit him. Using his knowledge, magic, and power as an Archmage, they were able to build the flying ship “Rulership”.
This ship was originally a weapon of mass destruction prepared for armed conflict with the hero, but it was fortunate that the hero of the time was mentally driven to commit suicide.
The construction of the flying ship was progressing smoothly, and the hero had been successfully eliminated, but just as everyone was breathing a sigh of relief, news of an incident involving the goddess reached them.

……The goddess exists in this world.

Due to an incident involving a meeting with the Pope and reports from intelligence agents scattered around the world, they believed that the goddess had abandoned this world――――A thought crossed my mind that perhaps she had pulled the trigger that led to this destruction.
After all, goddesses are unnecessary in this world. An irresponsible entity that bestows the divine power of a goddess but does not control where that power goes. The goddess must be defeated. Mercy has no place here.
To begin with, there are too many things in this world that are beyond our understanding, including different races such as elves and dwarves. With the completed Rulership, I should level out this uneven world, including the existence of the goddess.
This is justice! ! For the sake of peace for the next thousand years, we must break free from the rule of the goddess and create an era where people live for the sake of other people. In the process, sacrifices among different species and some human casualties are unavoidable. But it will serve as a foundation for a great cause.
In order to put an end to this system, which entrusts a single human being with the most powerful weapon and labels him a “hero,” we must cut off its roots.
I even felt proud that I was born for this purpose.
Hearing that calamities have struck various countries and cities around the world, my determination grew stronger, and I vowed to defeat all calamities. Then, determined to kill the goddess, I commanded the flying ship and took it upon myself to defeat the calamities.

―――Justice is on my side! !

Justice! Justice! ! Justice! ! Ah, what wonderful words! They warm my heart.
This way, I repeatedly repelled and destroyed the calamities that befell the empire. Yes, justice will prevail.
……Once the empire's territories have been stabilized, it will be time to take action. Let's defeat the calamities that are manifesting themselves around the world.
Just as I was thinking this, the Celestial Knight and his party came to visit the Archmage. I was interested in the Celestial Knight, who had traveled far and wide to see the world, so I let him pass and arranged for him to meet with the Archmage.
Eyes like dead fish. Dark circles under his eyes. He used to be good-looking, but now he looks tired and worn out.

――――Good. I especially liked his eyes, which seemed to swallow both the light and darkness.

I liked him at first sight, so I decided to tell him what I knew and invite him to join us.
I invited him to join me, thinking that a man who knew despair would be useful in bringing order to the world after the groundwork had been laid, but he refused. ……What a pity.
There was a world of difference between him and the Archmage, who was greedy, used people, inflated his ego, and was a hopeless man who never doubted that he was right.
The negotiations broke down, and a battle ensued with the calamity accompanying the Celestial Knight, but the Archmage had already served his purpose and needed to be disposed of, so I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to blow him up.
He kept yelling until the very end, but he was a hopeless case. Those despicable people who try to use others as stepping stones for their own gain usually end up leading miserable lives.
Trash deserves to die like trash. Remember that.
The pretentious, penniless nobleman who thought himself a strategist ended up getting carried away and making a fool of himself. His pathetic end was so ironic that it was funnier than a clown's act, making me smile despite myself.

……Then, after defeating the calamity, the gears of fate went haywire.
The calamities that had only ever attacked one at a time were now appearing in this land in groups.
What's going on? I don't understand, something's wrong. This is definitely wrong.
The location of the calamities is being tracked by intelligence units scattered around the world. If they start moving, we can track them, and with the airship's mobility, we can counter them. We will overcome each calamity one by one. That is how it should have been.

―――――Why are there three, or even four, calamities appearing? ! ? ! ? !

It's impossible. Something that shouldn't be happening is happening. Calamities that had never before shown any signs of coordination or cooperation, and had always existed as isolated entities, appeared in this land as if by mutual agreement, clearly targeting this flying boat.
Unable to respond to the abnormal situation, we were trampled and toyed with unilaterally.

This wasn't supposed to happen. There's no way this could end like this.
Why, when I am supposed to be righteous……?
As I thought about this, I suddenly remembered the calamities that had befallen this land.
The sea god Wadatsumi, guardian of the vast ocean, the flying white whale that dwells in the clouds. Adventurous tales of visiting a great sage who controls thunder on a remote island in the middle of the ocean—these were all fantastical stories my mother told me when she put me to bed.
Weren't those stories passed down among people long ago? When the Archmage muttered the words, “The world is stagnating,” I arrived at a hypothesis.

……The calamities, there's no way, right――――?

……And so I became convinced of that hypothesis. If that is the case, then everything I have done is wrong.
I feel like screaming because I've done something irreparable.
For the fulfillment of a long-cherished wish passed down through generations, I have stained my hands, believing in justice.
I don't want to admit that it's all wrong. I don't want that! ! If so, then... What have I lived for……!? !
Consumed by such hopeless despair, I could only let go of consciousness.