The Beginning of Heaven and Earth (2)

To Serena Ederunt, this winter in Crossbridge was unusually cold.

She could see her breath as she stood still, and white snowflakes that looked very cold poured down on the ground.

It was a cold that would make anyone stay inside the temple.

She felt the cold seep into her bones even as she stood in her place.

“Hoo…”

But today, no one could make that choice.

The elders who were hard to see even their faces came out, and there was a huge altar in front of the imperial palace.

It was an altar fit for a ceremony in the name of the emperor.

Many priests stood in front of the altar with their hands clasped.

The crowd gathered in front of the altar looked like they were telling of a great change that would come soon.

“What kind of ceremony is it that the emperor himself comes out?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything beforehand…”

“It seems that there is still no news from the temple of hunting.”

The priests who didn’t know the truth that would happen today murmured in their voices.

Most of them were low-ranking priests who had nothing to do with this ceremony.

Serena watched them and brought her cold hands together and blew her breath into them.

She felt a little better as her frozen hands warmed up by her breath.

If it were the old days, her escort Lian would have given her his coat, but now she was watching the ceremony with nameless escorts.

She didn’t know if this winter was so cold because Lian was not by her side.

“The representative of the six goddesses and the holy land, Emperor Highpright II, enters.”

“The emperor is coming!”

As Serena warmed her hands with her breath, a voice announced the arrival of the emperor that everyone had been waiting for.

Emperor Highpright II.

He was the most noble and respected priest who ruled over the holy land and was recognized by the leaders of the six temples.

Everyone looked up at the altar as he appeared.

Serena also watched him climb up the altar with a trembling body.

“…”

Thud. Thud.

Highpright II walked up the high altar with his own feet.

He moved with restraint that did not match his old age.

When he reached the top of the altar and stood in his place, everyone on the ground bowed their heads to him.

At that moment, the emperor was no different from the spokesperson of the goddesses for the ceremony.

“Listen to me.”

The voice of the emperor on the altar echoed.

Highpright II was different from his usual tone.

There was no respect for the priests in his voice on the altar.

He looked down at the priests who were burning with zeal with a domineering gaze.

His eyes were so fierce and fierce that everyone forgot his age.

“This is…”

That’s why Serena realized his intention quickly.

He had given up many things to stand there.

And he would give up many more things in the future.

What came out of Highpright II’s mouth from now on was a unilateral declaration.

It would be the most grand and magnificent ceremony that he would perform with the authority of the goddess of order.

“Pray. Close your eyes and pray.”

At the emperor’s command, the priests at the front knelt down and prayed.

The content of their prayer was as they had been instructed by the imperial palace beforehand.

With those priests under his feet, the emperor held a rod-shaped sacred relic that only he was allowed to use and spoke.

“I will now perform the ceremony to open the gate of heaven.”

“What does opening the gate mean…”

“I will begin the ceremony.”

Bang!

The emperor’s staff slammed down on the altar.

The priest who was about to protest also shut his mouth.

The meaning of opening the gate was not light, but the atmosphere here was even heavier.

The emperor, who silenced everyone, lifted his staff and opened his mouth.

“——Life. Follow the natural order.”

The emperor’s heavy voice echoed below the altar.

Serena closed her eyes as she heard his voice in her ears.

It was the first time she saw the emperor perform the ceremony himself.

She was too young to discuss the order of the world, and Highpright II had left behind a lot more time than he could compare with.

That’s why it was the first time Serena saw the emperor’s ceremony.

“——One order. One rule.”

She saw a light in front of her closed eyes.

The small light grew bigger with the emperor’s voice.

She knew what the light that she could see even with her eyes covered was.

Divine power.

It was the light of hope that connected all the priests and the goddesses’ power.

“——Obey before the great providence.”

As his solemn voice rang out, a heavier weight pressed down on her.

A wave of powerful divine power burst out from the center of the altar.

The overwhelming density of divine power that matched the weight of the emperor was conveyed to everyone here.

Serena engraved the prayer in her mind and tried to withstand the pressure of divine power that came to her.

“——One order. One law.”

Arrogant. But great.

The phrase of praise that descended on the ground was very insulting.

But under the logic of the great goddess, it was natural.

The gods were always beings that ruled over the laws of all things.

Under that mercy, humans were living by holding their breath.

“——Obey before the great logic.”

The light spread out.

Beyond the pressure that crushed her body, a warm ray of light wrapped around her.

She felt like she wanted to kneel before the goddess of heaven.

But she somehow endured and resisted it.

She was nothing but a human in front of the huge power that transcended cognition.

“——Everything will live in accordance with the order and the great law.”

Bang. Bang. Bang.

The sound of the emperor’s staff hitting the altar echoed.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

Serena’s heartbeat also rang out loudly with it.

Everyone recited the prayer under the huge order.

And the last thing that adorned it was the last line that was common to all scriptures.

“——Goddess, guide us.”

“——Goddess, guide us.”

“——Goddess, guide us.”

“——Goddess, guide us.”

“——Goddess, guide us.”

At the moment when the emperor’s voice ended with everyone’s prayer.

Boom—!

Serena’s consciousness was awakened by the light that burst out over her eyelids.

A flash of light for a moment covered the holy land, and then Serena lifted her heavy eyelids.

When Serena opened her eyes again after closing them for a while.

All the priests who were in the front had disappeared from their seats, leaving only a mass of light.

***

A splendid mansion located in the island.

There, Prince Aicliffe raised his head with a tense face.

He would have gone to his office and checked his schedule for the future, but for some reason he felt like he couldn’t do that today.

It was because a chilly feeling passed through his spine as he stood in the mansion.

It was too strange to blame it on the cold winter weather.

So Aicliffe had no choice but to raise his head and check the direction where he felt uneasy.

“Ah…”

The sky that was reflected in Aicliffe’s raised eyes was different from usual.

What was different was, first of all, its appearance.

It felt like the light around a certain point was distorted.

It was something that could not be explained without magic.

Something was happening in the sky.

Something unknown was causing a change in the island’s sky.

“What on earth is going on?”

Aicliffe was well-versed in most of the sciences, thanks to being born as an emperor and receiving education from the palace.

Even to him, the change in the sky that was happening now was hard to understand.

Something was distorting the sky.

Was it a tower located on the island? If not, was it a prank by a malicious archmage?

If not that, did it mean that someone who could cause such distortion existed on the island?

As he watched the sky with all kinds of worries, a strong light burst out from the center of the refracted sky.

“…”

It started with a strong light in the center.

A huge line was drawn in the sky from the point where the light burst out.

The trail of flash made of bright light.

The light that split the huge sky was a sign of the change that would happen.

Aicliffe’s trembling voice flowed out of his mouth at the sight of the change in front of him.

“The sky… is torn?”

The trail that split the sky began to crack with a sound.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

Aicliffe’s pupils grew bigger along with the growing crack.

It was an unbelievable sight.

A miracle that even an archmage could not do was unfolding in the sky.

The peak of its strangeness was the scenery that shone beyond the crack.

“…”

The opening.

Beyond the torn sky, the realm of God revealed itself.

A heavenly paradise with lush plants.

There, countless angels appeared with their wings spread.

The angels with pure white wings emitted a radiance that would captivate anyone’s eyes.

Among them, the angel in the front had wings that were larger than any creature’s wings in the world.

The fluttering wings’ shadow covered the ground and hid the shining sun.

“Tell the foolish humans.”

“An, angel…!”

The angel who cast a shadow on the ground opened his mouth himself.

A powerful will that stuck in his mind shook Aicliffe’s head.

The spreading wings shook his sight dizzyingly.

She looked down at all the humans living on the ground and declared to them with a heavy voice.

“Obey the great order.”

“Those who oppose the order will be punished.”

It was a warning to humanity.

It was a declaration of war to those who abandoned the rules made by God and reached out to the darkness.

Aicliffe’s hand trembled as he looked at the warning angel.

The angel’s eyes were not looking at him, but he felt their gaze on him.

No human could be rude to the messengers of God in front of him.

“Only the right order will be the light that protects your paradise.”

His legs that supported his flesh were trembling too.

He felt like he would collapse on the floor any moment.

The pressure from the messengers of God was incomparable to anyone he had ever faced.

“From now on, we will punish the evil spirits that roam on the ground.”

“Those who have sinned repent, and those who follow the light pray.”

After leaving a brief warning to the humans on the island,

The angel who blocked the sun began to fly somewhere.

Starting with the giant-winged angel who started flying first, many angels followed her.

With the angels moving toward their destination in his sight, Aicliffe slowly raised his trembling hand.

“Huh…!”

The angels stayed here for only a moment.

But Aicliffe felt like it was hours.

Aicliffe moved his shaky hand and touched his neck.

His fingers felt his neck still intact.

***

On top of Uto heading to the holy land, Pluto sensed a sinister aura and got up.

Something huge and disgusting was coming from afar.

It was divine power of an unbelievable density.

And its destination was none other than the sect they had left behind.

“Perin. Don’t mind me and keep going.”

“Pluto? What’s going on?”

Perin asked with a question at Pluto’s sudden remark.

But Pluto didn’t care and lifted Deathside up.

She thought she was the only one who could stop it here and now.

And others had a mission to carry out the command of a great being.

“You just have to keep going toward your destination. I’ll go stop those unwelcome guests myself.”

So Pluto had only one decision to make.

She took her stance and jumped off Uto.

The powerful barrier that surrounded Uto let Pluto go quietly.

As Pluto fell toward the ground, Perin’s voice came to her ears again.

“Pluto…!”

“Let’s meet again when this is over.”

Whoosh—!

As she faced the wind that brushed her cheek, Pluto greeted her as she fell.