67. Grandfather’s honor!
Choco stood in an unfamiliar space and looked around.
A faraway universe embroidered with starlight spread out everywhere as far as the eye could see. The space she stood on was transparent like glass, floating in the air without support.
A sensitive person might be overwhelmed by the vastness of the universe or shudder at the loneliness of being left alone in this space, but fortunately or unfortunately, Choco was far from such a thing.
However, that sea of stars left a deep impression on even a group of humans who, like Choco, were only excited about blood and slaughter. Choco, who had been appreciating the scenery in a daze, soon came to her senses with a slur.
“But what should I do?”
Choco searched for her memory for a while. She was drawn to the surroundings and stood at the center of the ceremony, but when she came to her senses, she was standing in this place before she knew it.
However, instead of being surprised or embarrassed by the unfamiliar situation, she felt at ease with her unknown intimacy. She heard Choco’s voice as she was perplexed by her emotions welling up inside her.
“This way.”
Didn’t she feel any presence at all? Choco was startled and stiffened her tail and fur. The unknown being, who had come close to her, smiled faintly at the sight of her.
At first glance, it looked like a woman, but behind it were flapping three wings that were more like figurative symbols than biological tissue, and three halos were woven around her head.
“You, what are you?”
“Oops. Even though they look different, do you not understand this voice?”
Choco was wary of being unfamiliar and seemingly possessing absurdly powerful powers, but she soon recognized the identity of the voice.
“······Muffins? Is it a muffin?”
“Yes, my dear.”
The voice of hers, which must have been psychotic, sounded as vivid as a human voice. Muffin’s lower body was legless and made of crystal, and in that state she slid over to her and placed her hand on her shoulder.
“This is a kind of spiritual world. So I was able to show myself like this. Well, this is not what I saw.”
Muffin grinned. Her dimples were nicely dug in, but her softly curved pupils, without irises, were all pure white and looked rather grotesque.
“I came here as a guide to the saintess. Now, follow me.”
Unlike the bored voice outside of her, Muffin’s voice in this space was lively and full of life. Embarrassed by her sudden change, Choco reflexively followed her.
The muffin flew out of her glass plate in an instant. As Choco panicked and stopped, Muffin, who finally looked back at her, smiled and gestured to Choco.
“Nothing to worry about. Now, come here.”
The moment Choco hesitantly took a step into the air, a new glass plate was created in the place where her foot would touch. This was also the supernormal ability of this dimension.
Surprised for a while, Choco started to follow Muffin while stepping on her in the air. It was difficult to feel it because there were astronauts everywhere, but they were going up little by little.
“Look.”
Stars shining in a full range of colors. As Muffin stopped for a moment and beckoned lightly, the brilliance of the stars seemed to increase, but soon the light stretched and the stars connected to each other.
Choco vomited her exasperation at the dreamy sight. Lines are drawn between stars, and thousands of starlights intersect to create a brilliantly sparkling picture using the jet-black universe as a canvas.
“Aren’t you going to stay at Daeshinjeon? I’ll be busy following my master. Still, if you’re a saint, it’s better to accumulate at least some religious knowledge.”
“Ugh, studying makes my head hurt…”
“Don’t worry. I can’t believe I don’t know your personality Come on, look over there.”
It was a complex and elaborate painting that could not be recognized at first glance even as chocolate. As I turned my gaze to Muffin’s gesture, part of the painting burned more vividly.
“In the beginning there was night.”
A caring and gentle way of speaking, as if reading a fairy tale to a child. Besides, the content was just like a fairy tale book. Where is the person who does not know the creation myth?
Choco pursed her lips. But Muffin didn’t mind and continued her explanation. She drew a new picture as the starlight was distracted by her beckoning, then she gathered again.
“In the beginning, there was nothing but night. However, one day, lights were born one by one within them. At first, Taeyang, the eldest.”
The shape of a huge burning sphere. The sun always revolved around the planets and scattered light all over the world. Gyo-se was also the greatest god because he made the life of all things sprout and took care of people’s daily lives.
“The second month.”
A form of thick, cold, soft mist. It was said that those who accumulated sins would be trapped inside the moon after death and suffer forever. Those who feared the afterlife worshiped the moon.
“The youngest star.”
The constellations have been scattered. Soon, as when Choco first opened her eyes, the stars were shining brightly with their own colors instead of being connected. This was the star’s true form.
Compared to the sun, which governs this world, and the moon, which governs the underworld, the domain of the stars was unclear. Although great heroes and holy saints die and become stars.
This did not apply to ordinary people. Also, many people in this world find it difficult to understand the notion that God is a multitude rather than a singular one.
“Finally, the four of us came together to split the night, and a new world has begun.”
However, regardless of religion, the three gods were always treated as equals. Countless beliefs and demigods did not dare to exceed their authority, and evil spirits were treated as heretical and became the object of exclusion.
“You know everything.”
No matter how indifferent to knowledge, Choco learns knowledge naturally while living in the world. When she reveals her displeasure, Muffin puts out a laugh.
“Don’t worry, from now on you will come up with something you don’t know.”
The three intertwined halos spun and then separated. Halo soon unfolded and led Choco on a new path.
Choco walked through space through Halo. Somehow, it felt like the starlight was closer than before.
*
The saintess’ ritual is not something that ends overnight.
In order for God to be able to project more power onto the ground, the Archbishop of the Stars and his clergy were carrying out a sacred ceremony called the ‘Stairway to the Constellation’.
Of course, the axis of the ritual is the holy sword muffin. While they were performing a divine ceremony outside, Choco had gone inside alone.
[Climbing one flight of stairs a day. The more you climb the stairs, the closer the light of God comes to you, and on the 6th day like that…]
[When?]
[I don’t know the details. Because I was not a party to the ceremony.]
And while Choco performed the ceremony, we had nothing to do.
[Holy sword. There are two most annoying things in the world, you know what?]
[Yes?]
[The first is to stop talking.]
Recently, there are a lot of times when I have to keep quiet like this, so I also have complaints. Even so, the Church of the Sun got a lot of glare, but I can’t go around and give them more excuses.
hahahaha, after this job is over, I should ask Cream to get a request to wipe out monsters and go wild. Working while noticing people like this doesn’t suit my aptitude.
“Me too.”
[Honestly, you were just as crazy as me.]
Once it bothers me, I kill it. It was a common thought for me and Cream. The difference, though, is that Cream doesn’t always kill, but sometimes it just stops at the subdued level?
Of course, I’m in a position to kill and see, but right now it’s a bit unreasonable. Because this place is Daejeon. It overflows with divine power that is harmful to me.
Other people’s lives are not precious, but my life is precious, so I had no choice but to save it now.
“Hmm?”
From noble mtl dot com
[Why?]
“Someone is coming.”
Now we were occupying one of the priest’s quarters. That’s why, if the priests of the stars were roaming around, Cream wouldn’t have bothered to say such a thing.
I haven’t felt it in my senses yet, but judging from Cream’s reaction, it’s probably an outsider. And the guests of Daeshinjeon couldn’t have been kind to us.
[I wonder if it will be okay.]
I don’t want to cause a conflict here, at least. However, against my will, the uninvited guest was coming toward us. I could feel that presence now as well.
Soon, the door opened and a young knight with a familiar face appeared.
“Hero, you were here as well.”
A disapproving tone that inevitably shows the minimum amount of respect. My name was Winsley, but I remembered it because I was caught by Cream after swearing at me.
He was fully armed and even had an official badge, and through him we could see his affiliation and rank. The Golden Rose Knights directly under the Church of the Sun. At least the vice-captain level.
“Why are you here?”
Besides, seeing that he was accompanied by his gang, it seemed like he came with a strong heart. Cream tilted her head curiously, and Winsle’s face flushed red.
But he soon calmed down his anger with a deep breath. Then he put his hand on his glove, then took it off and threw it at the warrior’s feet. Explicit signal.
“A challenge for a duel, hero!”
“You, to me?”
Cream spoke innocently, but everyone in the room could tell that the abbreviated words meant something like, “What about you?” Her innocence she revealed her own feelings without her filtering.
No, she didn’t even feel the need to hide her feelings now, considering that Cream sometimes skillfully hid her own feelings.
Because the hero was too insignificant to deal with psychological warfare.
[Reject, there is no reason to fight.]
“I hate it.”
“Are you running away from an honorable duel!”
Even so, there is no need to deal with it. That knight must also know that he cannot be defeated, but if he dares to stand out so confidently, it must mean that he has a plan of his own.
I like ruining everyone’s plausible plans, but what I like more than that is to say NO to a guy who thinks he’s strong.
[You can’t just ask for a duel with a hero without any justification… Are you unaware that such actions of yours will rather tarnish the reputation of the golden rose?]
[Did you hear that? So don’t waste it like a kid and get out of here.]
However, when the holy sword mentioned the justification, Winsle put on a proud expression.
“No, there is a cause.”
[Ha, what else are you talking about?]
“My cause is you! You evil bunch!”
Is this friend specializing in sudden acceleration? He pretended to be polite just a moment ago, but as soon as I opened my mouth, he squawked like a pig.
“I will avenge my grandfather who died decades ago with your blade!”
[Hey. Then you should go to the knife owner and ask him to take out your anger on the knife.]
“Stop the sophistry! I know for sure that you were controlling that body at the time!”
He was angry, throwing even the bare minimum of his mask and pointing with his finger. Seeing this, Cream must have felt displeased, and a faint spirit of envy radiated from her body.
Since we’ve already come this far, there’s nothing we can do about it. I made up my mind to sacrifice myself in the Great War, but that was enough. The flying flies openly whimper, do we have to put up with that?
“So don’t even think about running away from a sacred duel. Karbal!”
[Onya, I’ll do whatever you want.]
I don’t know what the members of the Church of the Sun are up to, but it doesn’t matter. There is a warrior on this side. Above all, as long as it’s a duel, they can’t even use cowardly means.
Then, in the end, we have no choice but to fight head-on. That guy was also a well-trained knight, but I couldn’t imagine Cream losing to an opponent of just that level.
[Did your grandpa die while spilling his intestines? I’m looking forward to it. I’ll make you the same way.]