Chapter 137 – The War of Belief (7)
“Ha. Saint. Saint Elysia Garrett.”
The moment I saw the photo attached to the news article, I recognized her instantly. Her hair length and appearance had changed slightly, but her defining features were still unmistakable.
After all, I had met her in person not long ago.
“I reached out to the headquarters, and it seems Rana was taken in for stress-induced gastritis. Yuria said she came to the company herself, asking to be hired now that she’s become a magical girl.”
“…That scoundrel Asmael.”
Listening to Ren’s story, I pieced together the context.
There was only one point of contact. When I asked to restore the magical girl Aria, that scoundrel Asmael, being a transcendent figure and a seraph who manages celestial angels, must have uncovered something and reached Yggdrasil.
Not knowing what his intent was, I frowned.
He was certainly proposing a secret deal to me. A pact for peace in our world. But why would someone like him send his avatar, Saint Elysia, to Earth to become a magical girl?
“Did the saint come here purely to do magical girl work? According to the article, she severed the arm of a passenger who committed assault in the name of judgment.”
“Why? You’ve done that sort of thing too, right? For ‘righteous justice’.”
Rene, who was in contact with me, flinched at my words. However, she quickly shook her head.
“Of course, I have also resorted to violence and even committed murder for my own sense of justice. However, I believe you understand that the justice I enacted was merely an extension of politics. My justice was what the majority desired, and I realized it only to correct the corrupt and broken existing justice.”
“Exactly, Rene. You’re a politician. Everything you do is influenced by the consciousness of the public who resonate with your politics. Even if the situation were the same, if they had criticized you instead of supporting you, you wouldn’t have acted that way.”
I couldn’t help but smirk at Rene’s keen observations.
Even if the actions are the same, their essence differs. Rene, the leader of a huge faction that includes Casilena and her followers, moves with meticulous calculations and justification. That is her belief and her definition of justice.
So far, the only time she acted emotionally was during the Smalillian incident.
But Saint Elysia was different. She possessed an unwavering absolute truth above all else. It was a ‘faith’ engraved in her genes that rivaled the instincts of demons, something she was not born with.
“I can guarantee that even the most fervent zealot on Earth can’t match those in the church. Because for them, faith is a truly existent belief.”
To them, established justice or order holds no meaning. To them, these are merely subjects to enlighten and persuade, not something to fear or exploit.
This is the madness that has persisted for centuries, leading them to a great war, which even the demons, who have fought madly for each other’s extermination, fear.
It’s a close approximation of pure innocence. Evil is an absolute good that they will not tolerate under any circumstances.
However, the standard for that good is ultimately determined by them, which is so radical and straightforward that it can never accept Earth’s laws and customs.
“I wonder if she came to conduct missions here on Earth.”
“Well, I doubt that’s the reason now that she’s a magical girl.”
The church is currently in an ongoing psychological war with powerful figures, including the empire, to completely consume the human forces of the continent.
However, I couldn’t be sure whether Elysia, who came as a magical girl rather than a saint, could perform missions in front of those who know nothing of holy power.
“So, what did the Frontier say?”
“They didn’t seem particularly interested. After all, they are unaware of the saint’s identity and seem to consider it just a happening from a foreign country.”
“That makes sense.”
After the collaboration, there was an oddly tense state again, but nonetheless, the Frontier and Casilena continue to be in contact.
Rene, who heard the news through that contact, said that the Frontier wasn’t particularly interested in the saint’s matters. They were still overwhelmed by the noisy domestic issues.
“Honestly, I don’t care either. She’s in a foreign land, so I assume she’ll manage on her own.”
“Um… Yuria definitely said Elysia was sent to Korea.”
“…What?”
It was then that Ren, who had been hesitantly interjecting, piped up. I glared at the one pulled from above my head.
“It’s true. It seems they discovered that plane somewhere over Korea and went there.”
“Why did they send her here… No, then where is she now?”
“I’ll try to communicate with her mascot, Tigger, through the headquarters.”
Ren quickly closed his eyes and concentrated.
“He says she’s in Vietnam!”
But it was not Ren who answered; it was Rene’s mascot, Fluffy.
“And she’s screaming for help.”
It seemed the situation wasn’t looking good. Clicking my tongue, I started asking what was going on.
“Crime organization? Makes sense. A girl who has been pampered within the church, believing in the angels’ words and that faith is everything, has been thrown into this chaotic land, where she can only become a fanatical inquisition.”
“Why does everyone look so serious? It’s not the first time people from that background have gone on a rampage.”
As I muttered worriedly, Ren glanced at me and Rene.
“Ha. If she were just like Rene, I wouldn’t have cared.”
“Ugh…”
I lamented as I twisted Ren’s cocky gaze. What I was worried about wasn’t the usual madness.
Saint Elysia and Rene, though they came from the same world and were roughly the same age, had a significant difference.
“Is she a bit dim? She does look that way.”
Fluffy threw in a comment. Dim? One could say that her indiscriminate and radical appearance might give that impression, but that was merely an outer façade.
“The biggest issue is that the saint possesses a powerful ability far surpassing Rene, which allows her to realize her ideals and justice. She’s quite literally a living avatar of a seraph meant to be a partner for the hero fighting against the Demon King.”
From the very foundation, her existence was a strategic weapon. Unless I decided to intervene, it wouldn’t be easy to stop her even if she had made up her mind.
*
“How could this be…”
“Run! Monster! It’s a monster!!”
The scene had turned into chaos, a literal hell on earth. While Takilas and Rene were discussing the saint, she, Shia, was fulfilling her duty. The judgment for the rightful justice.
“Ugh, ugh…”
The leader of the organization dropped his gun and staggered backward as he saw the corpses of his subordinates strewn around him.
With her pure white wings unfurled behind her, Shia’s body was wrapped in a faint sky-blue flame, and her eyes gleamed.
A few girls, unconscious, floated around her as well.
“Kuuh!”
[Speak, vile spawn of evil.]
As she reached out her hand, an invisible force grasped his neck and lifted him into the air. He gasped, his blood-veined face contorting as he struggled, but his weary neck would not loosen.
[Your subordinates have already spilled the beans. Were you planning to betray these children?]
“It, it’s not like that…!”
He trembled, casting glances at the girls being protected beside her, who were unconscious.
Those girls were all local magical girls. They had discovered their identities through bribery, then ambushed and kidnapped them before they could transform.
Of course, it didn’t make sense for someone like him, a mere gang leader, to pull off such a scheme alone.
“I was… planning to sell them…”
[Sell them, you say? Where to?]
“To… China…”
It was obvious he would die for revealing that, but that was the same even now. More than anything, the powerful message ringing in his head, combined with Shia’s flaring holy power, left him no choice but to weep and plead.
[You’ve kidnapped innocent children and plan to sell them. You are a wretched slaver.]
As Shia’s brows furrowed, she placed both hands over her chest, focusing her power there. He was utterly astonished at the sight that unfolded afterward.
[A sacred sword, Radiance, destined to wipe out all evil and establish true justice in this world.]
With a burst of glowing energy, she slowly drew out a gigantic sword from her chest.
[Though it is a weapon that should shine in the hands of a hero, I shall use it now to vanquish evil.]
A sword forged from holy power itself. Therefore, this sword can only be sheathed in a living saint.
The sword meant exclusively for heroes, historically the only means to kill the Demon King.
The sacred sword Radiance erupted with light from her hands, sending a colossal explosion skyward.
That light annihilated rooftops as if they didn’t exist, cutting through the dark night sky as it extended upward, piercing the clouds and banishing the moonlight, illuminating the area.
[There shall be judgment upon evil.]
“Hey, you crazy woman!”
And finally, Shia swung that gigantic sword, now larger than this entire area, directly at the enemies, while Tigger’s astonished cry was merely background noise.
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