The Beginning of Heaven and Earth (1)

When one stands alone in a world where there is nothing, they wither away day by day.

That was proven by the reflection of myself in the mirror.

My unkempt hair.

And my rough beard.

As if to testify to the years I lived in ruin, my reflection in the mirror remained pitiful.

The fruits of the past that I had built up after losing everything showed the passage of time clearly.

“Well… I decided to stop turning away from reality.”

I looked at myself reflected in the mirror for a moment, then grabbed a razor in my right hand and lifted it up.

If it were my past self, I would still be wallowing in misery and struggling in the swamp.

But I am different now.

I have faced the lives of many people, and I have made a vow with Estasia.

I could not stay bound by the past forever.

“I can’t help it. It was such a promise.”

I received courage from others to take a step further.

To repay them for that step, I had to become a person worthy of them.

The first thing that had to change was myself.

I decided to start by trimming this rough beard.

Squeak.

I squeezed out some shaving cream and applied it to my beard, then started to erase the traces of time with the razor.

“Hmm…”

This is a story that started from a human’s foolishness.

I didn’t even know what kind of ending my story would have.

I had gone too far to pretend to be good, and my hands were already stained with blood.

My deeds were worthy of being called evil.

Yet I wanted to give a happy ending to the apostles who trusted and followed me.

“…”

It didn’t matter how many or how much more I killed.

I was prepared to kill even a god if necessary.

All my sins and mistakes would be gone if I turned them around.

So there were only two things I wanted.

“Master. Your face has changed.”

“…Is that so.”

“You look like a grandfather.”

To give a happy ending to all the apostles.

And to make Estelle pay for what she did to me.

My life was driven by nothing but that.

It was a step for that alone.

“Have I become a little more presentable now?”

Swish. Thud.

I put down the razor that had scraped off the foam and turned on the water to wash my face.

The cold water touched my rough skin and flowed down.

I felt a bit refreshed after shaving off my messy beard.

I tied my long hair back with a rubber band.

It wasn’t a completely neat look, but it was much better than before.

After shaving, I wiped my face and asked Estasia.

“Are you almost ready for the expedition?”

“Yes. I think we’ll start soon.”

The order had been preparing for the expedition for a long time.

And today was the day they moved their troops.

I nodded at the news of the expedition and asked her another question.

There was more than one thing I had asked Estasia to do.

“How did the information gathering from Aronia go?”

“Aronia said it would take some time.”

Blink. Blink.

Estasia spoke with a halo shining above her head.

Ever since I learned that the angel’s halo had a communication function, I had asked Estasia for a few favors.

One of them was information gathering through Aronia.

“We need a lot of information to fight Estelle, so don’t forget to tell me every time you come in.”

“Yes.”

Estasia and Aronia were both under the goddess of harmony, so I calculated that they would be somewhat helpful in collecting information.

In fact, communicating through the halo was much more efficient than chatting with a smartphone.

I had already received some information from Aronia.

If you ask me if I can use that information right now, that part would be a bit difficult to answer.

“Especially, collect as much information as possible related to the myths.”

“I told him as you ordered, master.”

“Good job, Estasia.”

I knew less about the gods than Estelle did.

So I had to collect information somehow and narrow the gap.

Information gathering through Aronia would be a preliminary battle for the upcoming fight with Estelle.

Six goddesses. And the evil god Estelle.

There were still many enemies to face.

“Can I eat ice cream?”

“…Just one.”

“I’ll eat two.”

Estasia flew to the refrigerator as soon as she was praised.

I left her alone and sat on the bed with my smartphone on the table.

As Estasia said, the order’s believers were gathered in one place and preparing for the expedition.

Many troops were on the floating island to fight on the ground.

-“Is this the sanctuary of the order…”

-“The power of the great one is endless indeed.”

One unit was composed of those who could borrow my skills through <Divine Response Device>.

Another unit was made up of assassins trained by Daniel, the silent butcher.

And there was a dark knight order created by Evan’s guidance.

Of course, I didn’t know why they were called dark knights.

I heard that Evan named them.

“Really… A lot of time has passed.”

It was incomparable to the past order that started poorly.

I didn’t know what was going on then.

Actually, I still don’t know how things work now, but it felt more systematic than before because of the scale.

It was a spectacle to see many troops on board a floating island as big as a castle.

Perin, who was on top of the fake divine tree, seemed restless from the pressure of the crowd.

-“Yu, Yuto… What if we sink because it’s too heavy?”

-Sniff.

-“Do you mean we should abandon all the people…?”

YYuto and Perin were still having a friendly conversation.

I watched their conversation for a while, then checked the other apostles on Yuto one by one.

Daniel, the silent butcher, was polishing his dagger that had been enhanced by eating the magic sword, and Peter was yawning while leaning on Yggdrasil.

Eutenia was moving her shadows to estimate the number of troops on board.

She was always busy and diligent.

“You’re my first apostle. You always make me proud.”

As I looked at Eutenia, I felt a subtle emotion as I remembered the past when I threw away my smartphone.

Did I tell her not to work hard for such a thing?

Even though I knew how she felt about preparing for the war, I said that to her in the past.

She kept running towards me, only looking at me.

“I’m proud too.”

“…Of course you are.”

I moved my gaze from Eutenia and looked at Roan who was left on the ground.

He had no intention of leaving the order after loading most of the troops on Yuto.

Someone had to protect the order that the apostles had left, and Roan was one of the valuable forces, so it was an understandable decision.

Roan, who stayed on the ground, continued to help with the shipment of supplies and the movement of troops.

The work seemed to be nearing its end, as the believers who were working under Yuto were decreasing.

-“Archbishop Roan. Is the work done?”

-“We have prepared enough food, but it would be better to finish it as soon as possible.”

-“We won’t give up the advantage of surprise. We’ll finish it as quickly as possible.”

-“We must secure the heart of the origin… and succeed in bringing down the great one.”

Roan, who was talking to Evan, lowered his hand in the air.

The believers who had finished their roles began to step back.

It was time to launch Yuto.

As the believers who had done their roles stepped back, Eutenia retracted the shadow stairs that had stretched to the ground.

The huge shadow hid its appearance in the darkness and Yuto regained its original shape.

-“Didn’t you have something to say before we leave?”

Evan, who had finished preparing, spoke to Roan below.

Nod.

Roan nodded his head and reached into his chest to pull out a dagger.

The magic sword that devoured magic had become more than a simple weapon; it had become the symbol of the order.

He lifted it high in the sky and swung it several times towards the ground.

-“…”

Crash! Clang!

The believers’ attention was drawn to Roan with the fierce thunder.

Roan opened his mouth to them as he received their attention.

Large and majestic speech bubbles rose above Archbishop Roan’s head in sequence.

-“The great one has commanded us.”

-“The time has come to judge those who have false faith.”

-“Those who lie will be buried in the earth and return to a handful of dust, and those who follow the truth will receive eternal glory in his name.”

Was it true that a dog who went to school for three years could recite a bumper crop?

As if his skill in writing scriptures had not gone anywhere, Roan raised the morale of the believers with his plausible story.

And when all the stories he had prepared came to an end.

He added one last word and declared the start of the war.

-“Begin the holy war.”

Holy war.

Everyone shouted at the heavy word, and Perin moved Yuto to depart from the headquarters of the order.

Yuto, floating in the air, gradually moved away from the order.

It was now the beginning of the final battle with the holy land that had been in conflict for a long time.

And as Yuto and the order m grew farther apart until they were far away.

I looked at the messages that began to appear at the bottom of the screen with a stiff face.

-A high level of <Causality Adjustment> has occurred.

-Due to <Causality Adjustment>, [Artifact: Ascalon] has been released by one level.

-Due to <Causality Adjustment>, [Artifact: Hieroglyph] has been released by one level.

-Due to <Causality Adjustment>, [Artifact: Astra] has been released by one level.

-Due to <Causality Adjustment>, [Artifact: Smartphone] has been released by one level.

-Due to <Hero Selection>, [Artifact: Dainsleif] has been released by one level.

The sudden message of <Causality Adjustment>.

But this message was not all that came up.

As if waiting for me to start a war, the most intense messages I had ever seen came up.

-<Karma’s Judgment> has approved the connection with <Divine Realm: Asterix>.

-<Divine Realm: Asterix> is temporarily opened.

-The connection with the divine realm has a negative effect on all living beings on the ground.

-The connection with the divine realm greatly amplifies the power of divine power manifested on the ground.

-After the connection with <Divine Realm: Asterix> ends, all entities in all areas except <Holy Land: Crossbridge> will not be affected by <Divine Realm: Asterix>.

I looked at Yuto advancing towards the enemy with troubled eyes.