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Chapter 37

 

I sighed, lamenting the ineptitude of the humans gathered beneath me. It was a simple order, come outside, and yet not even half of them bothered listening to me.  I was considering sending another mental shock wave through my <Mass Telepathy> Skill, but before I could Merry stopped me.

 

“Now darling, they’re scared.  They’re just trying to protect their families.” She said.  She was smiling, but I could tell Merry would be upset at me if I continued harassing the humans.

 

“You are too sweet.” I said, sighing “But very well, I will omit the women and children for you, Merry.” before turning my attention back to those who had actually listened to my commands.

 

They were mostly men and older boys and, as Merry said, they were all standing defensively in front of their own houses.  Some had even brought out weapons, as if beings such as us could be killed with toys. It was pitiable.  

 

Looking north toward the center of the city, I found to my irritation that none of the nobles had obeyed my order either.  Not even the men.

 

Directing my ire towards them, I said “Death and pain do not care how much wealth is in your coffers, nor how much faux power you wield.” before sending a second, stronger mental shock towards the city center, resulting in screams that could be heard all the way from the residential district, where we were.  Merry frowned, but accepted that this much was necessary.  If we could not get the attention of the Nobles, our plan had no chance of succeeding.

 

Fortunately, this time the message was received loud and clear as the Nobles stumbled out of their homes.  All of them were clutching their heads and, though surrounded by guards, giving us their undivided attention.  Speaking of guards, a retinue of them were gathering below us,  as it seemed Merry and I had been pinpointed as the cause of all this.  Not that that was hard to figure out, since neither of us were making any special effort to hide our powers.

 

One of the soldiers, a young knight, drew his sword and shouted at us “Are you the ones responsible for all of this chaos?”

 

I smirked, descending so that I didn’t have to shout at him, and said “What do you think?  Or do people regularly hover ominously over Aribas?”

 

He scowled and said “You are guilty of disturbing the peace, using dangerous Skills within the walls of Aribas, and attacking innocent civilians without provocation.  By my authority as Captain of the Royal Guards, I order you to surrender yourselves to the judgment of Lord Amad. If you try to resist justice, I will personally end your lives.” There was not a hint of fear in his voice as he said all of this.  He absolutely believed that victory was assured here and that his Master had nothing to fear from him failing in his duties.

 

“I see, I see, surrender or die, is that it?” I said, my smirk becoming a leer  “If that’s the case then I think I choose…”

 

“Somnus.” I said, snapping my fingers.  Immediately, most of the guards surrounding the captain fell limp to the floor like rag dolls.  Only Robal and a select few knights were spared, as they seemed to have some special resistance to such magic.

 

“This is your final warning.  Give up.” The Captain said, pointing his drawn sword at us.   A stir went up amongst the people of Aribas. Seeing their guard captain so easily shake off magic that was strong enough to take down a dozen men gave them hope of defeating this new calamity that was assaulting their city.

 

“…do it Robal…”

 

“Beat him!”

 

“You can win!”

 

“Show this freak the strength of Aribas!”

 

The people cheered, shouting praise at their champion.  They knew it instinctively, that whoever these intruders were, ordinary men were no match for them.  So, rather than lay down and obey, they put all of their prayers into one lone man to save them.

 

He can win!

 

However…

 

“It’s cute that you think you’re a match for me- Schprengen.” I said, pointing at the ground under the remaining soldiers' feet. A second later there was an explosion there, blasting them in all different directions.  A cloud of dust obscured the area and the citizens were looking fearfully into it, terrified that their savior had perished already.

 

Fortunately, when the dust cleared, they saw that Robal was still standing.  Unfortunately, he was a little on the lighter side now.

 

“G-Gah…my arm…!” he shouted, clutching at the stump of his right arm.  He was bleeding profusely and his eyes were looking around wildly until they finally rested on a soldier- the only one besides him who was still conscious- stumbling to his feet.

 

“Y-You!” he shouted, getting the man's attention “Run! As fast as you can, go to Lord Amad! You must protect him and…tell him of what happened here.”

 

The man looked unsure for a moment, but after receiving a glowering look from Robal he quickly saluted and ran.  After that Robal turned back to face us.

 

“Go on then…finish me off.  But please leave the citizens of this fair city alone.  I was not strong enough to protect them in life, so in death I would at least like to accomplish that much…”  and with that, Robal Nemullison closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable.  All around us the people of Aribas were stricken, both with fear for the tormentor who arrived at their doorstep and with love for their protector’s valiant last words.

 

“Hmph, foolish boy…” I said, before gesturing at Merry.  She nodded and began casting a spell on the guard Captain.

 

Instantly, his arm started to regenerate from the shoulder down, and by the time she finished he had regrown the same muscular, sun tanned arm as before.  The large crowd gathered around Robal, who just moments ago were shouting defiantly, were now stunned into silence.

 

Looking in amazement at his freshly grown arm, Robal said “Instant regeneration…! But that’s a fifth tier spell, even at the guild there are only a handful of mages capable of using it…” he paused, eyes downcast, before standing up and looking at the two of us again, and saying “Why have you healed me?.”

 

Around us, the crowd looked at one another with uncertainty.  Who was this mysterious intruder? Why was he attacking us? If not to kill us, then what?

 

These questions and many more floated among the hushed whispers of the citizens of Aribas, but I simply smiled as I heard them.

 

“So many questions…” I said, laughing “Very well! I will tell you who I am!”

 

“As to why I healed you, well the answer is simple! I am no murderer.  You fought valiantly, but in the end you lost.   I see no need to do more to you than beat you.  Now then, as to who I am…” Folding my arms over my chest, I shouted “Listen well, citizens of Aribas!  My name is Illumen, and I…am the Hero of Light!”

 

Shock ran through the crowd.

 

“A Hero…?”

 

“Here? But why!”

 

“What has Aribas ever done to deserve being attacked by a Hero!”

 

“Silence.” I said, and the crowd below me went quiet. “It is not just Aribas.  All of Langrace is guilty!  You all go along, happily living free and prosperous lives with nary a care in the world for the people- for the children who have to suffer every day living hellish lives!  Surely you understand what I am talking about?”

 

Obviously not, as a great wave of confusion overcame the crowd.  Who was suffering that they had been ignoring?  Surely if any of them had seen someone suffering they would have stepped in to help!  That’s what decent people do after all.

 

“Ignorance.  So you don’t even see them as human then?  Just yesterday I saw one of them getting beaten in the street by their Master for dropping an item they were transporting.”

 

The citizens of Aribas still couldn’t figure out who I was talking about.

 

“And a week ago, I saw a man who didn’t want to be separated from his kids get the skin whipped off his back to an applauding crowd in one of the towns bordering the desert.”

 

Most of the citizens were still confused, but a few wide eyed people were starting to understand.

 

“And a month ago- a woman was raped and murdered by her owner after refusing to sleep with him of her own accord.  There wasn’t even a trial, he was free to go…”

 

Now it was clicking what I meant.

 

“Y-You mean you’re attacking us over slaves…? Just slaves!?” Robal shouted, flabbergasted.  Likewise, the citizens of Aribas went into an uproar.

 

“Is that it!? We don’t deserve all of this!”

 

“Yeah, they’re just slaves! Why should we care what happens to them?”

 

“Why do we have to pay for that?! It’s just our way of life! If you don’t like it then go to Est-”

 

“Frocht”  I said, using magic to silence them “You don’t understand now, but that’s ok.  I promise, you will soon enough.  Until then, let me give you a dilemma.  Suppose in this world there is a place called paradise where all of your dreams come true.  The only catch is- one single lone child must suffer the worst torment imaginable every single day of their wretched life.  Do you stay and live in this city, knowing that another’s torment created your paradise? Do you leave?  What is the right choice?  Because personally…”

 

I shot up into the sky, savoring the feeling of the wind beneath my wings and looked down at the city for a moment, savoring the view of this jewel.

 

Before shouting “SANCTA ALTER” my face breaking into a gleeful smile.

 

Around the city, 6 pillars of light shot into the sky.  From those pillars magical pathways stretched, meeting and intertwining with one another and then converging below me, where the seventh and final pillar glowed.

 

This was it- my own special magic that blended together the powers of a Demon Prince with my own natural talent and the added power of natural mana that my Philosopher's stone gave me.  The Ultimate spell, Sancta Alter!  The humans below me were frozen in fear, all of them wondering what fresh hell awaited them after the completion of my spell.

 

They wouldn’t have to wait long.

 

All over the city a peculiar glow started to shine from every surface-as if everything had suddenly gained its own natural bioluminescence.  With every passing second that glow became brighter and brighter until it shines as brightly as the pillars themselves.

 

Then everything began to change.  From the roads to the walls to the buildings, the city was morphing itself to the casters' will, as if it were all suddenly made of clay.  Around Aribas the walls rose up even higher than before and became covered in various intricate runes. Inside the city itself, the houses began moving and shifting, lining themselves up along the magic pathways of my spell and leaving a great empty space in the middle for…

 

Out of the ground, slowly, rose a great white spire that appeared to be made of the same light as the pillars.  Then another spire.  And another. And another, and more and more- far more than any palace would have.  Then, finally, a grand structure arose!  It loomed twice as large as the Lord’s Palace, and was ordained with artistry far greater than any measly lord or king could hope to have! Stained glass windows- or structures that looked like them, covered the building like rich tapestries telling the story of my children and I and our victory to come!  Peculiarly, there were some windows I did not remember making part of the spell, yet seemed to tell other tales…

 

At last, the building was finished! And the shining lights solidified into a material that mimicked alabaster.  It was done, my home- my castle.  Though calling it that might have been a bit of a misnomer.  Because it didn’t look anything like a palace.  It looked more like…

 

“A Cathedral…”

 

I did not know which of the myriad humans below me whispered that, but the wind carried it all the way from the ground into the sky and I…liked the way it sounded.