Adam and Eve (3)

The two of them held each other tightly for a while.

Though they knew everything was fine now, they still wanted to feel each other’s warmth.

A reunion after being apart for so long—they savored that moment.

“No, wait a moment.”

Eve suddenly came to her senses and pushed Lost away.

“You’ve been embracing other people like this too, haven’t you?”

“……”

“Why aren’t you answering?”

“Well, that’s how things turned out.”

“What do you mean ‘turned out’!”

Eve grabbed Lost by the collar.

Lost, still possessing human emotions, decided to quietly accept her action.

He wouldn’t make excuses.

But he truly cherished both of them.

The two women had become like halves of his soul.

Well, since there were two of them, each would be a quarter, but still.

“……I should have realized it when your Jupiter worship was so strong.”

Lost felt wronged.

His use of Jupiter’s lightning as his main technique was entirely due to Eve’s influence, whom he had admired.

It was absolutely not because he aspired to Jupiter’s notorious promiscuity.

But in Eve’s mind, Lost’s character had already been defined.

“Reflect on your actions!”

Eve began her sermon.

*     *      *

Eve’s sermon was brief. Or would it be more accurate to call it a complaint?

“Sigh… forget it. What’s the point of me lecturing Cielo, who’s become even more extraordinary than me? I doubt you’d listen anyway.”

“That’s not true, Saintess. Please lecture me all you want.”

“Then break up with that woman.”

“That’s something I need to think about a bit more.”

“And you say you’d listen?”

Hearing it put that way, I had to agree.

I’d been willing to listen to any sermon from her, but I couldn’t just break up as she demanded.

I had already given my heart to Línea, and she had done the same.

In such a situation, how could I tell her to break up just because the woman I used to love had returned?

I’d be lucky if she didn’t feel betrayed.

“I think this is something we need to work through with conversation. A necessary process for me, for Línea, and for you, Saintess.”

“Why don’t you just be straightforward and say you want to date both of us?”

“Would that be acceptable?”

“Storms of Anemoi!”

Holy magic infused with emotion. It lightly snaps my neck, sparing me from worse damage.

Whether by coincidence or intent, one of the deity statues Eve had been praying to had its head cleanly severed.

Curiously, the statue that lost its head was in the form of Jupiter.

“How can you be so shameless? How can a person possibly be like this?”

“……I’m sorry.”

“Forget it!”

Eve said this as she sharply turned her head and lowered her veil.

“Saintess.”

Eve remained silent with her head turned away.

Was she saying she didn’t even want to speak with me?

It might be good to wait until her anger subsided, but I’m not that patient a person.

“Eve.”

“Kuh……! That’s playing dirty.”

When I suddenly called her by name, Eve’s body flinched, and she turned her head back. She didn’t lift her veil, but I decided to let it pass. Her face was red enough to be visible through the veil.

“Shall we talk a bit? I’ve already explained about my journey, so now I’d like to hear your story.”

I want to hear Eve’s story.

But Eve responded to my words with an icy voice.

“Cielo needs to go back. So don’t harbor any more attachments.”

“That’s quite cold coming from someone who was just upset about me cheating or whatever.”

“……You’re right. I couldn’t shake off my own attachments either. That’s exactly why Cielo must leave. Before our lingering attachments grow deeper.”

“Eve will come with me.”

“I can’t go. Even if I leave this temple with Cielo, I would remain just a soul without a physical body. Do you want me to become a wandering ghost?”

“……There must be a way. We’ll find it. Fortunately, even the flow of time in this place……”

“And what if you can’t find one? Do you intend to waste countless years here searching for something that might not exist? You know what that would mean, don’t you, Cielo?”

“……”

I know. That would be no different from returning to my past self.

A person who regarded the flow of time as insignificant—that’s who I was.

After all, that was the best way to become accustomed to sorrow.

If I spend time searching for a way to take her with me, I’ll end up following the same path as before.

And following the same path means becoming the same as him.

I would end up diluting my 20 years of life that I had barely managed to preserve, like fresh water in the ocean.

“There is a way. Closer than you both think.”

“……?!”

Just then, the First Apostle entered through the temple wall that Eve had broken.

It seemed this was his first time coming inside as well, as he kept turning his head to examine his surroundings.

“Son of Man. Have you recovered your true existence?”

“Yes.”

“Then, were you able to avoid forgetting yourself?”

“Yes.”

“That is truly fortunate. Please be careful not to be swept away by the sea of memories in the future.”

Through the cracks in Peter’s mask, a smile was visible. It seems he had been worried about me too. It’s remarkable, considering we had only just met in this place.

Well, that’s probably why he became the First Apostle.

“……Cielo. Who is this person?”

“Eve doesn’t know either? This is the First Apostle.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Saintess of Heaven. I know you’ve been praying for the Son of Man here. Your faith was truly beautiful.”

“Ah, thank you……”

“Therefore, I wish to commend your devotion.”

Peter said this while presenting a golden key.

The key to the gates of heaven.

Come to think of it, I hadn’t thought about it while getting beaten, but that was said to be an object that opened doors between earth and heaven.

A heavenly object I had never seen even in my days as the Son of Man.

The only means to open the gates of heaven and earth at both ends of the path.

If used, it might allow someone who could only maintain form here to travel to earth.

“……I wonder if that would be permitted?”

Such an object surely couldn’t be used carelessly. It was entrusted to Peter because of trust, not given to him to use as he pleased.

Peter’s role was to guard the gates, not to open them.

“I don’t need permission. I plan to use it and accept divine punishment afterward.”

“What?”

“They won’t kill me. Eventually, they’ll forgive my sin, because I believed this was right.”

“……I see.”

There’s a saying that it’s faster to be forgiven than to get permission.

It seems Peter plans to put that into practice.

It sounds like a joke, but it was a statement accompanied by resolve.

“Son of Man. In truth, the situation on earth is not good.”

The situation on earth is not good.

That’s something I already knew. Peter must know it too.

The fact that he’s giving me a specific warning suggests that something must have happened while I was away.

Has war finally broken out?

If so, I need to escape Skadi as quickly as possible.

“In fact, at the time the Son of Man returned here, the ‘Most Venerable One’ was martyred.”

Peter’s words hit me like a hammer blow to the head.

I couldn’t believe what he meant.

God and his apostles are considered to be worshipped. That’s because we are beings half-removed from humanity.

Then who would the “Most Venerable One” refer to?

That would be someone granted authority just below the apostles. The symbol of all deities who guides the faithful.

The Bible says, one who is not God or an apostle, so not to be worshipped, but the most venerable figure.

“His Holiness…?”

That is what they call the Pope.

*     *      *

It was just as Lost and his companions were setting out for Skadi.

Pope Cotinus, after receiving a report that Alfheim had been liberated from the <Wind’s Tomb>, immediately stepped down from his papal position and left the headquarters.

In fact, Cotinus had been preparing his resignation for a long time.

It was when the Vicarious Saint appeared.

He had prepared for this, foreseeing how events would unfold.

Cotinus G Eden.

He was one of the princes of the empire that ruled over vast territories.

And he was considered the closest to the emperor’s throne.

He was wise and simultaneously strong.

Because of this, other princes couldn’t even think of fighting against him.

With his overwhelming position, the imperial throne would not waver.

‘That’s what I believed… how arrogant I was.’

One day, news reached his ears that the third prince had died.

It was an assassination.

Cotinus used every means at his disposal to find the culprit and finally discovered who was behind it.

-How could……

It was another one of his brothers.

Creden G Eden. Someone who had talent, but somewhat lacked the abilities a royal should possess.

A horrific act where brother killed brother had occurred.

-Brother. You don’t understand. We have to do things like this to win.

-We……? “We,” you say?

-Ah, you didn’t know. That bastard tried it first. I just paid him back. Brother, haven’t you been seeing the world too beautifully? How ugly is this world in reality?

-……Did you think this would allow you to become emperor?

-At least this way there’s a possibility.

Creden sneered.

Even a perfect crown prince with excellence in both civil and military affairs still doesn’t understand the world.

That’s natural.

After all, he merely looked down at them from the highest and safest position, never having to see the ugliness.

-How can you be so obsessed with that position? Can you say it’s more precious than a brother’s life?

-Someone like you who has everything wouldn’t understand. How much we, in our mediocre positions, had to fear the night—being despised and compared to others.

-You should have at least spoken up! Why didn’t you ask for a conversation! If you had, I could have given up the emperor’s throne!

-Even saying one word could cost us our heads. That’s the position we were in. You’re telling us to speak up? When we have to risk our lives just to speak to you, you’re telling us to ask you to give up the throne?

Could a mere beggar offer advice to an emperor? It is possible.

But how many people would have such courage? Creden was simply not such a person.

Cotinus, seeing Creden’s twisted smile through tears of blood after killing his brother, realized.

That his very existence had been poison.

He thought he knew everything, but in reality, he knew nothing.

-Brother, stop pretending to be clean. The empire has continued this way. If not now, someday you too will have to kill someone to protect yourself.

Creden was right.

The position of emperor is essentially sitting on a throne stained with blood.

That’s the history that has been passed down.

The moment he sits on the emperor’s throne, numerous nobles, including his retainers, would urge him to kill Creden.

Because nothing good comes from leaving royal blood alive. Of course, that’s not strictly necessary. He could also send him into exile.

But without a doubt, Creden’s situation would become miserable.

On the other hand, what if he recklessly gave up the throne?

Then a bloodbath would ensue.

They would resort to any means necessary to change Cotinus’s mind.

And among those methods, the quickest and easiest would be to quietly erase Creden.

-Then, I will lay down everything to protect you.

That’s why Cotinus laid down everything. He chose to completely disappear from the empire’s territory, preventing others from making misguided judgments.

Thus, Cotinus wandered the world, met Revenna, and became a priest who rose to Pope.

“And only after laying down even that, I finally meet you.”

“You’ve lost your mind, Pope.”

Cotinus arrived at Duke Hope’s domain alone.

He didn’t even try to hide his movements.

Word had already spread that Cotinus had resigned from his papal position and was clearly heading towards Duke Hope’s territory.

In such a situation, Belial could feel with chilling clarity what Cotinus’s best option would be.

“I may not be able to stop your scheme, but I can help minimize the damage.”

“Kkkk…… Fascinating. Truly fascinating. I’ve never underestimated you, but I never imagined you possessed such terrifying insight.”

Cotinus had completely seen through Belial’s scheme.

Even more clearly than the Vicarious Saint who had traveled back in time.

Belial trembled.

“Fine! I’ll admit it! This moment is your victory! But the end of the war has not yet been decided, so you will watch the end of the world from beyond death!”

Around Cotinus, numerous demons had already fallen. His holy power had destroyed everything.

Yes, the way he uncovered Belial’s true identity was straightforward.

He revealed it by confronting him with power too great for the adversary to conceal.

It sounds simple in words, but only a handful of beings could accomplish this.

And even if it were possible, such a talent would surely die.

Cotinus had accepted that sacrifice.

The demon wasn’t ready yet.

Humans weren’t ready either.

But giving more time would only make the demon’s schemes more sophisticated while weakening human unity, so Cotinus felt the need to forcibly shake up the situation.

Yes, he’s advancing the timing of the war before the opponent can prepare further.

“My existence may be insignificant and won’t cause you great harm.”

In clear combat stance, Belial spread his wings. Twelve pairs of wings unfurled, seeming to block even the sun, casting a deep shadow.

“I shall take at least one pair of those wings, demon.”

And thus, Cotinus was martyred.