When the shadows heard Sigma's words, they nodded in enlightenment.
"If you can break that 'wall'... what we couldn't do at that time... we support you. Then, we (the shadows) will literally be illuminated by the shining road, from
Cut out (leave) from your life.”
"What do you mean?"
"Eh?"
Sigma tilted his head in confusion, and Shadow also tilted his head.
"This is a joint battle plan between me and you. When I cross the wall, you should also join in... It is unreasonable to cut off the shadow."
"...Is this your Joke?"
"Did I say something strange?"
The shadow, which returned to the appearance of the old captain, said to Sigma, who was still expressionless.
"Young man...have you forgotten that we are originally Watcher's shadow, not your shadow?"
Sigma was very surprised after hearing this and looked away in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I forgot."
He rarely showed a wry smile and revealed his true feelings.
"I always feel like... I unexpectedly like you guys who are so nagging."
············
West of Snowfield, in the middle of the forest.
An unprecedented huge hurricane is approaching, and strong winds are finally blowing in Snowfield.
But even though the hurricane was so close, the light of the sun rising in the east still illuminated the forest.
I wonder if it is because the clouds at the center of the hurricane are unusually dense, and contrary to the wind volume, the clouds have not yet reached directly above the forest.
In the center of the forest, surrounded by warm sunlight and blowing wind, a voice full of spirit rang out.
"Harry, I now appoint you as the chief priest here, please take good care of me!"
"...?"
——What did the other party say just now...?
Harry stood on the smooth-cut stone bed, too confused to even answer.
Although she could hear the sound of wind in the distance, neither wind nor sunlight came close to Harley.
What spread around her was the white porcelain-colored walls and the golden light decorating the walls.
Moreover, the altar and chairs are made of a large amount of glazed stone that looks like lapis lazuli. At first glance, it even gives people the impression of a high-end art gallery showroom.
However, Harley knew that this was indeed the center of the forest.
Just two days ago, this was a place where many trees grew densely.
What it is now is the result of Ishtar giving various instructions to Harley's servant Berserker. It only took a day and a half to build such a space.
The speed of this project was also difficult for her to understand, and just when she was confused because of this, she heard the inexplicable words Ishtar said to her just now.
If anyone hears this and does not feel confused, it must be someone who is quite accustomed to arbitrary demands that depart from common sense.
Ignoring Harley's state of mind, Ishtar, the remnant of God, continued to drive her heart without any pause.
"It seems that he was so surprised that he was speechless! Of course, I also understand that he would be very happy to be appointed as the glorious chief priest, but he cannot be like the idiot who came from nowhere and was killed by Humbaba.
Are you proud and careless?"
"Words, words! Such an important position for a person like me..."
"I allow you to be humble once. But from the second time onwards, I will regard it as questioning my vision. You have to pay attention?"
Ishtar kept smiling and made the final decision decisively.
After hearing this, Harley closed her mouth as if frozen.
Because she already understood that this was not threatening her, but simply telling her the truth.
To Ishtar, what he said just now means the same thing as "If you cut off your head and play with it, you will die."
Even so, this god is really unrestrained and acts according to his own emotions.
Harley understood this as a gesture that encompassed both the arrogance and strictness of God and the unpretentious way of life as a god of nature.
Looking at Harley who was speechless and just trembling, Ishtar said with a wry smile.
"Let me tell you, of course I will not appoint you as the chief priest without any consideration, right?"
"In other words, there are deep thoughts behind this..."
"That's right! There was a chief priest who once believed in me and was one of the leading priests in the history of Uruk. Her name is slightly similar to yours. Although I don't understand why she went to such lengths to support that paranoid Jin
Pika’s rule, but she is indeed a child with a strong sense of faith! So, it’s right to choose Harley, whose name ends with the same sound as hers... don’t you think so?”
Behind the last words of "You think so?", Harley seemed to hear Ishtar's auditory hallucinations such as "I don't think you will betray my expectations for you?" as if in a hallucination.
But in fact, Ishtar probably never thought about such a thing.
She really just believed that "the person she chose based on her feelings would definitely not be wrong."
Because of this, the moment he fails to live up to Ishtar's expectations, it means that he will be regarded as an enemy by her.
…………Well, but……
As a participant in the Holy Grail War, various memories suddenly flooded into her heart.
The memory of facing Bazdilot Cotillion, the memory of almost losing his life when summoning the berserker.
And among those memories, what was deeply imprinted in her eyes was neither the color of her own blood nor the color of the flames covering the meat processing factory.
It is the figure of Ishtar who carries herself through no matter what the circumstances and keeps shining.
——Now that we are here, I also need to be aware.
——Even if I become the enemy of mankind, I will...
——If this is the price of overturning the world... of course my life will be...
With confusion, Harley responded to the god who was her savior with a mixture of gratitude and fear.
"...I accept it with full respect. I was saved by Lord Ishtar. No matter what you do, I will never complain."
"Eh? Is it really okay?"
"Eh?"
"Is it really okay to do whatever I want to you?"
Ishtar looked unexpected, and Harley felt confused again.
Seeing her like this, Ishtar lowered her tone a little.
"...I should have given you some advice before, right?"
"!"
"Self-sacrifice is okay, but if you have to do it anyway, it's better to do it happily, like this."
Ishtar said this and grabbed Harley's shoulders.
"————"
Forgot the advice.
He might be killed. Could it be that his body would be broken into pieces and crushed like this?
Although Harry had such frightening thoughts——
The goddess of beauty pulled her frightened shoulders towards him, and gently embraced her still trembling body into her arms.
Ishtar's hands were gentle and warm, covering Harley and her heart.
Although Harry was surrounded by a strong magical power filled with the aura of God - but it was not the same magical power that seemed to erode the existence here with overwhelming concentration.
In this incredible sense of security, as if she was a young child being held tightly in the arms of her mother who is no longer alive, Ishtar's magic seeped into Harley's body.
"Eh……?"
It feels as if something has passed through my magic circuit and been painted and covered with other colors.
But Harley didn't feel any displeasure about this. It would be better to say that she felt the illusion that her existence was recognized for the first time since she was born in something powerful, or from the world itself.
When I passed by, tears were streaming down my face.
"Ah...ah...I, I am..."
Harley shed so many tears that she doubted whether there was really so much water stored in her head. She felt as moved as if she finally knew the truth of the world and understood the meaning of her birth in this world. Just like that, she
Immerse your body in Ishtar's arms and magic.
Facing Harley who had stopped moving and losing her emotions, Ishtar said this in a calm voice as if nothing had happened.
"That advice is the same as what you said when you offered yourself as a sacrifice to me. I don't want this kind of timid, self-defeating, and boring life of abandoning one's own value."
"I, Ishtar, my lord..."
"Are you still afraid of me?"
——Obviously it should have disappeared into thin air...
He recalled the experience of giving up his life when he was confronting Bazdilot in the factory area.
However, that overwhelming force that seemed to ridicule even this consciousness was now hugging his body tightly.
——I am so... weak...
"Yes, it is."
Although Harley couldn't help but blurt out her thoughts, at this time, her heart was gradually beginning to be filled with other emotions that were different from terror.
"I'm so scared...so scared that I want to run away if I can."
Harley's breathing began to twitch, and her speech began to become less fluent. Ishtar smiled and whispered in her ear as if to reassure her.
"It's okay. This is the evidence that you are afraid of losing, Harley. It is also the best evidence that you still want to live. Indeed, when I want to kill you, I shouldn't have any hesitation in doing so. But... even if someone else
Even if they deny you, I will also bless you in your life along the way."
"...To me, this kind of person...?"
"Why are you standing here? You certainly didn't come here to scare me, right?"
"I am……"
Facing the eroding sacred magic power, Harry felt as if his brain was melting.
As if being forced out by this divine light, the feelings that I had been avoiding paying attention to began to gush out from the bottom of my heart.
At the same time, the memories in her heart also began to pour out.
The memory of when his parents were killed by magicians.
The unreasonable destruction and mourning, the sight of all the happiness up to that point being shattered.
"Ahhh...ahhhhhhh..."
The memories pouring out of the brain make the existence called self emerge.
"I, I just want revenge..."
"That's right, that's the soil that gave birth to you. This is not a favor given by me. It is something that only belongs to you."
"It doesn't matter what the world looks like...it doesn't matter whether there are mysterious people or not...! I just, just, want them to taste what I have tasted! What is lost will never come back.
Such a natural feeling! Just like to me, my family will never come back... I want them to feel that the so-called mystery is lost forever and can never be had again..."
As Harley said this, she realized that the "heat" in her feelings was rapidly disappearing.
This was because she felt how powerless she was to act based on one person's emotions in the face of this level of power and the power of the gods themselves.
I have never underestimated my life of dedicating everything to revenge.
However, the moment Ishtar's magic power poured in - the whole person fell into a feeling as if the world he had lived in until now was just a small water tank. Now he jumped out of the home with the small water tank and faced the sea.
, in a mood where you can even see the stars and the sea.
"Sure enough...I...I still can't do it."
Second humility means death.
Although I understand this, it is not humility, but I think so from the bottom of my heart.
——Ah, that’s right, because the goddess in front of me really doesn’t have any eyes for people.
——It must be because her own existence is too dazzling, so she has not looked at my figure.
"You are the light itself..."
With her vocal cords twitching, Harley whispered in a broken voice.
"A short... short human like me... cannot stand by your side!"
Facing Harley who finally screamed as if she hated herself, Ishtar seemed to ignore the scream and covered her heart with a peaceful but powerful voice.
"You're not a short human being. I'll vouch for you."
Ishtar closed her eyes at this moment, looked back at her past for a moment, sealed the passion in her eyelids, and said this.
"Revenge... destruction in order to regain one's injured dignity is a natural law for a being with a will."
Although it seemed as if she was telling herself something - Harley, who was wrapped in a huge aura, did not notice it.
"Ishtar...sir..."
"Fight to your heart's content. No matter what the outcome is, I will always watch you humans until the end. Whether it is a beautiful death or an ugly death struggle, I will always watch your end..."