Chapter 18 ─ The one who loves "God"

"Who are you?"

Zartras suddenly pointed at Zald.

Everyone was confused, Zald didn't even understand himself if it was a joke, or his comrade finally freaked out.

"Who am I?"

"What are you talking about Zartras? You know perfectly well who I am."

"Stop wasting time with this nonsense and let's get back to the city as soon as possible."

"No."

"I beg your pardon?"

"We can't go back to the city."

The members of Testament, didn't understand what was wrong with their captain.

Again he pointed to Zald.

He became angry.

"Stop pointing your finger at me at once."

"I'm not pointing at you."

"Huh?"

Zald turned around and understood that his partner was speaking.

"You. Who are you?"

Zartras asked the knight taking Regulus' foot.

Zald didn't understand the questioning.

"What are you talking about? He's clearly one of my subordinates."

"You're wrong."

Zartras answered him.

"What do you mean?"

"Zartras... I think the fight affected your head to make you say incoherent things."

"Answer quickly."

Suddenly, Zald fell silent.

(Why isn't he adjudicating that he is wrong Zartras?)

(What's more. Why does his armor look dirty?)

The armors of all the members of Judgment were neat.

But this knight's was dirty, besides being covered with dirt, he had blood stains on his legs.

It seemed strange to Zald that he could walk calmly if he was wounded.

"I have a special sense of smell that allows me to remember the smells of the magical power of every person I meet. That's why I always shake hands, so that smell will stick in my brain."

"But you... I can't seem to remember your scent."

"Even doing memory from before the battle against the witch and vampire ended, I managed to count a total of twelve survivors, counting me and Zald-dono, that would be fourteen."

"So where did the fifteenth scent come from?"

Now everyone was looking uneasily at the mysterious person inside the armor.

Zald turned to the knight.

"If you don't want us to think badly of you, take off your helmet, now."

"..."

Without waiting for an answer, Zartras activated his spell from earlier.

"Celestial Chains!"

Golden chains emerged from a sphere.

The chains sped towards the knight at high speed.

"The sniffing thing is a very interesting detail. I never thought it was possible. The world is really huge, full of many interesting people."

A man's voice came from inside the armor.

He quickly stepped back.

One of the chains was heading towards him.

He dodged it at great speed by jumping to the side.

"He dodged it!"

"Impossible. The speed of the chains is so fast that even a sparrow can be caught in less than ten seconds."

For both Zald and Zartras it was unbelievable to see that.

No, it was beyond belief.

The knight was running in circles dodging the chains that dug into the ground.

Two of them were approaching from behind and in front to catch him.

It was impossible for him to dodge...

Or so everyone thought.

Using his hands, after leaping into the air along with a pirouette to turn, he managed to deflect the chains and they shattered part of the floor.

He quickly made a full turn and was closing in on Luvia.

"I see. You're an ally of the witch."

"I won't let you!"

The chains increased in number.

The knight began to leap about as if he were an acrobat in the circus.

He jumped here and there dodging the chains as he managed to tear the place apart.

This unhinged behavior was impossible for both captains to believe.

Suddenly, one of the chains managed to catch him because he paused, perhaps thinking about where to flee.

But it was that pause that brought him this fate.

He was caught without a doubt.

A chain headed for him was deflected by Zartras to return to the sphere, brushed against the dipper and a crack formed.

"Good. Mysterious ape, we finally stopped you, now tell us who you are."

The mysterious man after sighing several times, finally spoke.

"First of all, I would like to ask you something."

"Do you believe in God?"

The voice of the man inside the armor left unable to understand what he was saying.

For them, the people of the theocracy, belief in God is something sacred and special.

Therefore, not believing in God besides being a taboo and sacrilege, was total stupidity.

Not believing in God was synonymous with being spat upon and criticized by everyone.

Zartras answered him a little angrily.

"Of course I believe. Everyone here, at least my group, believes in God."

"Oh!"

Said the mysterious knight exalted, more and more cracking his helmet.

"That's good. There's nothing better than believing in God."

"But..."

He said something, which crossed a line no one was supposed to cross.

"I don't think we mean the same God."

"My God and your God are different."

"First of all, my God has a name, yours doesn't."

"Shut up."

Zartras said as he manifested a huge ball of fire in the sky.

The ball was turning into a flaming humanoid.

"Spirit of fire, Ifrit."

Zartras' eyes were full of blood thanks to the anger she felt towards him.

"The name of the God of Light is forbidden to be spoken. If we try to utter it, our ears will bleed and tears of blood will flow from such power in his name."

"To insinuate that God is false by not saying his name... That is the most heretical thing I have ever heard in my life!"

"Burn to death as you beg for mercy!"

The fire spirit, Ifrit, raised his hands and from his fingertips sent a rain of fire at the knight.

This was the end of him, no matter how you look at it.

But then.

"I'm afraid I cannot grant you this."

The celestial chain was unbreakable thanks to the particles of light magic it is made of.

Runes are ancient magic that involves gathering the Odd's magical power so that a spell gains power and resistance.

If someone were to use a rune for a fireball, that fireball would undoubtedly destroy a village.

While the fire spirit Ifrit is in fact an existence known as a fairy.

Fairies are beings that inhabit the respective elements.

An Ifrit dwells in volcanoes and hot, almost desert-like areas.

Catching it is difficult but not impossible.

That combination would be impossible to block.

But the mysterious knight gently touched the chains, causing them to break for no apparent reason.

Then he did the same to the fireball.

He touched it and it exploded completely, engulfing him anyway.

No one saw it destroy the chains, but they wouldn't care if they disappeared since he was dead.

That was what they all thought before realizing that the mysterious knight was still alive.

Not just the helmet, the whole armor began to crack rapidly.

He paced as he spoke to them.

"For many of you, the belief of God is what you call a being that we cannot see, but is here, somewhere."

"But let me tell you that you are wrong."

"God is here, we cannot see him because 'he' does not want us to see him by not being worthy of his presence."

With each step he took, a part of the armor fell to the floor revealing his clothing under the armor.

A garment similar to a cleric wore, but of a jet black casual style.

"The story of the Six Great Gods is nonsense, all that is false."

"But there is something real, and that is God, not your God, otherwise..."

The helmet finally cracked and everyone could see his face.

"Mine."

A very handsome young man between 20 and 22 years old with a very mature facial expression was speaking to them.

His hair was short, but it was so snow white you might think that's not his real color.

His long eyelashes matched the reflection of the color of the blue sea in his eyes.

His voice was captivating, almost as if he were the representative of a chorus speaking.

"Pleased to meet you all, people from the Endymion Theocracy."

"My name is Nero. Nero Eden."

"I am a speaker of the true God and I came to this place because I found out you would be here."

Zald burst out in anger as he heard Nero speak nonsense.

"Every word that comes out of your mouth is hogwash!"

"Waste no time and kill him."

The knights marched to get him, even some Testament members went.

Nero simply held out his hands and approached them.

"I know that the theocracy uses the word of God to invade other countries and leave their beliefs."

"Truth be told, this didn't matter to me until recently, I'm sorry, but I came to stop them."

"Using the name 'God' in vain is very disrespectful."

"Stop talking nonsense─!"

Suddenly, Zald, who marched to the front before anyone else.

He was sunk into the ground.

He looked like a carrot sticking out.

(W-what did he do?)

Nero simply touched his shoulder and he was plunged into the ground.

The other knights who went after him also ended up one by one buried with only their heads out.

Zartras understood that he was left alone.

This mysterious individual had defeated without spilling a single drop of blood of the theocracy.

He approached Zartras, he was about to caster a new spell when his hand was grabbed.

"I understand that you love God, faith in him is the most important thing in the world, but I am afraid you do not pray to a real God."

"Your God...is nothing but an invention."

As if booming, Nero raised his hand to the sky.

"I am on a sacred mission to bring the real word of God to the world!"

"Don't be afraid, God will give salvation to all, no matter if you are a believer in him or not!"

He released his hand.

"For that reason. You will be the first saved."

He brought both hands to the ground.

Suddenly, a strange pulse shook the place.

No one knew what it meant.

Then, a strange green glow emitted from the ground.

A bizarre magic circle was made around the place.

The earth shook and Nero said.

"This is the qlifot tree, the tree that connects this world to the other world."

Nero smiled a wicked smile without losing his beauty.

He uttered a name that never existed in the history of mankind.

"Witness the royal love of the supreme outer god, Azathoth-sama."

________________

To spoiler his face, admire the not yet official design of Nero.

Also remember my notes from the previous volume?

https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/es/post/show/70db811dbddd971a5a483fff4826156b

I wasn't lying when I said Azathoth was coming out XD.