Chapter 38

The person seated on the throne could not be completely annihilated. He merely stood up and wiped a trace of blood from his silhouette.

Then— BOOM!

Dragon wings formed from condensed magic exploded, debris scattering as spear and sword were plunged into the blue ground.

"Novia—"

"It's fine, I can still go."

A hoarse voice sounded. Novia raised his blood-stained palm and placed it above the spear. He wanted to support himself, but his broken left arm could no longer perform such a task; he couldn't lift it anymore.

"Go back. I forgive you for what you've done. I forgive you no matter how many times. I forgive you for everything."

Yahweh grabbed Novia's right hand and lifted it, throwing him towards the blue area, which, from his perspective, was below. Afterward, he tossed the spear and sword down as well.

First century CE, a certain month, a certain day. Novia was falling from the planet's high heavens, falling continuously, his consciousness falling along with him.

The sound of the air being torn apart filled his ears. He gripped the spear and sword that fell with him with all his might. This caused his fractured ribs to pierce his lungs, further triggering coughing and suffocation within his viscera.

"I'm sorry, Melusine..." the man murmured. "You're the strongest. I was too weak..."

At this moment, Novia's consciousness plunged into the sea of blood, the very birthplace of the Beast of Sodom.

Thump. The sound of water rippling nearby. Novia snapped back to reality to find himself at the edge of the sea of blood. Next to him, Melusine looked utterly devastated. Then, he heard a voice from the center of the sea of blood—

"...But I don't even know why I'm alive, yet I feel pain when I'm about to disappear. Why is that? Tell me, Teacher."

It was Nero's voice, her young appearance from their first meeting. Her voice trembled like a cry, pitifully. So Novia said to her there:

"Perhaps there's something important still within it. Even though it's painful, there are still beautiful memories. If you discard all of it, wouldn't you feel lonely?"

"Beautiful memories... yes, there are. Of course, there are. But because of me, Teacher, you've become like this. It's only right for you to resent me..."

"It's precisely because I value you so much that I did all that. Do you understand, Nero?"

Novia pulled the bewildered Melusine along into the sea of blood. His hand seemed to touch something. As the man swam in the cold, dark sea of blood, he turned to look. It appeared to be a white stone, looking like a small glimmer of light. After securing it, he continued to swim towards the center where Nero was, pulling her hand and placing the hands of the three of them on that stone.

"I won't resent you. From the beginning until now, I haven't felt the slightest bit of resentment. I'm sorry for making you suffer so much all this time. If only I had known sooner. I'm sorry."

"...Novia, Novia, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was too weak, I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, it's okay. It's all in the past now..."

Melusine, suddenly regaining her senses, burst into tears, clinging to Novia frantically. Novia could only pat her gently, slowly comforting her. Perhaps it was extreme fatigue combined with severe mana depletion that caused him to fall asleep quickly. He then placed her in Nero's hands.

"Nero, live your life well, for your own sake."

"...What does that mean?"

"Find things you like or dislike. Walk with your own feet and live for yourself. Like that."

"Things I like... can I choose happiness?"

The golden-haired girl asked without reservation, like an innocent child.

"You definitely can," Novia replied simply. "Happiness."

"Actually, somewhere in my heart, I always thought of growing old together with you, Teacher, together until death, until the very end."

Tears fell one by one from Nero's eyes again, tears as beautiful as stars shining in the night sky.

"I see. Please, live happily forever, even if... I'm not here anymore..."

The man seemed to have prepared himself for something as he spoke these words.

"I don't want that. I don't want forever. I only want the present. I want not just the past to the present, but also the future. Not just the past, but the future too. Because my future will also be entirely for you, Teacher..."

At this moment, the sea that surrounded the three of them was no longer blood-red but filled with a transparent blue light.

Novia smiled and said, 'I see,' before speaking.

"Please don't be afraid. When you're lonely, call my name. I will definitely come back."

Novia said softly, "And, everything will be over soon. I like you, Nero."

Nero wanted to say something more, but the next instant she found that her Teacher, who was just within reach, had vanished. His figure, his presence, was as if it were just a dream, disappearing in an instant.

She slowly opened her eyes. This brand new light was so dazzling to her.

The first thing that entered her vision were gentle, swaying waves, but those waves did not belong to the sea. They were composed of roses.

Flowers of the same color as the sea of blood, yet with a completely different aura. It was a sea of flowers that filled her entire vision, with countless roses in bloom.

They swayed gently in the wind, giving Nero a momentary illusion that this might be paradise.

But it was not. This was the land of sin born from her desires. And the one who told the girl these things...

Was the one just now, the person she loved the most. Joy, love, numerous emotions overflowed from her heart, indescribable by words.

So she gathered all these feelings, forming a smile that appeared on her face.

"I love you, a hundred, a thousand, a million times more than you love me, Teacher... Novia..."

Novia's consciousness departed from the sea of blood. At that moment, a light emerged from the key on his chest.

Before him, the phantom of God reappeared, looking down.

"Truly troublesome... You've decided so easily? Novia," It asked. "Are you really going to discard it, sacrificing your key to heaven for it? This is a miracle exclusive to you. If you discard it, if you lose this honor, you will never ascend to heaven again, nor will you ever ascend to the spiritual realm."

"If miracles are born from my actions, then they are meaningless if they only target me."

Novia laughed and said to It:

"Because what I've done isn't just my effort alone. Everyone has been used by me to some extent. When it comes to sin and evil, I should be the greatest. So, what needs to be done should be obvious."

"I'll give the key I obtained to them. Besides, this never belonged to me in the first place," Novia said. "If, as the Book of Revelation says, as you say, this key is essential for my journey to Heaven, and if only I alone can ascend, then I will abandon it. I won't go, I can't go. Everyone should have this right."

Just like a long time ago, before entering Rome, when he met that poor child, someone would surely extend a helping hand to them.

—Moreover, everything that has happened in this world, all of this that started with me, should be borne by me. It's only natural.

He smiled, closed his eyes, and with his last strength, not the beast power of Albion or Nero, but his own final strength, he spoke his last wish to everyone in the world.

In an instant, light and shadow reversed, and everyone in the world witnessed that scene. Thus, in the Book of Revelation, passed down to later generations, this is one of the few illusions that remain recorded.

First, the light spreading from the distant horizon dyed the red sky and black earth white, obliterating the boundaries between heaven and earth.

The reappearing light warmed the body, and the devastated, ruined mountains, which had been completely destroyed, were now as if by a miracle, time reversed, and restored to their proper appearance.

At the same time, people looking up at the sky widened their eyes. All the scenes symbolizing the arrival of disaster had disappeared, as if it were a joke.

For this extraordinary sight, all beings after the Age of Gods could only gaze in incomprehension.

However, though many beings could not perceive what had happened, they were still certain that, for some unknown reason, the arrival of death had ended. This certainty filled the hearts of the people of the world with mixed emotions, and they let out a laughter of "being alive" from the bottom of their hearts.

Then, the next moment, compassionate and serene words echoed in everyone's ears and hearts.

"…I am here. I don't know what your current situation is. Perhaps you are in joy, perhaps you are indulging in confusion, or perhaps… you are about to face bewilderment."

"But I have something to say to all of you: please live. Just live, please continue to live in this world. This is simply my wish."

"If anyone acknowledges my voice, as long as someone acknowledges it, even if they don't know they are acknowledging it, or if it takes a long time for them to acknowledge it, at that moment, you and I will establish a connection. It doesn't matter who it is, you will have the key."

"This is what I think: we have always been a 'group.' All the suffering people in the world, the unfortunate people, those who are lost about the future. As long as they are alive, living is lonely. I think that's why we need others to offer trivial kindness, because we are all the same kind."

Beneath the sky, specks of starlight rose from the ground in this world that had just experienced the Book of Revelation.

"This is something incredibly precious. Please don't forget it."

"I am ascending to the Kingdom of the Lord. You will surely arrive too, and you will surely find it. So before that, please live with kindness towards the world. I do not wish for a world to exist where kindness is seen as weakness."

At that moment, Novia softly said:

"…That's right. No matter when, I will be by your side, in my name, Novia."

An endless stream of magic power flowed from the ground. After this fleeting judgment, this magic foundation—[Greatest Magic Foundation in Human History]—was truly etched into the history of this planet.

The Bible—the Foundation—silently resided within the many people who held faith. No one could describe this moment as magic flowed unimpeded into the earth.

"It seems there's no need to open it anymore."

In front of Hell's Gate, Moses shrugged his shoulders.

"Let's go, Great Ancestor," he said. "It's my first time seeing the process of transforming into a beast being successfully stopped. It was supposed to be irreversible."

Noah nodded. "Bright star, son of the morning, fire that burns to ashes. Although you did not become the star you once were, you have conveyed your message. That is enough."

Behind them, Hell's Gate closed, and Heaven's Gate opened. Finally, the two of them and the two objects vanished into phantoms.

Finally—

Only one person stood on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, watching the man before him return to normal.

"Novia."

The silver-haired man turned to look at the owner of the voice.

Looking at the extremely weakened man at eye level, Shiyali, who had not yet become the Atlas Institute Director, showed the same calm expression as when they first met. She had rushed over after hastily consulting Trismegistus Hermes due to this sudden situation.

"You are going to die. I brought you a contract issued only by the Director. Use it quickly."

"So, it's possible to obtain it without paying any price."

"You're still the same as ever. You were like this before too. But this is just my personal exception, and there won't be a next time. The flame of your life is extinguishing, your physical body will die. Here, your life ends. Now, use it quickly. This way, your spirit and soul can still be saved."

Shiyali narrowed her eyes, as if to convey her firm stance.

"Is that so? Then can I enter the Inner Sea of Stars?"

"...Your human physical functions are about to cease. Therefore, the possibility of reaching the inner realm is definitely not zero. I understand. The Atlas Institute will do everything in its power—"

"The Inner Sea of Stars" was a place for Phantasmal Species, who had lost their physical bodies, to reside after the Age of Gods. However, in theory, anything that had lost its physical body could enter.

"No, you misunderstand, Shiyali. I'm not talking about myself."

Novia laughed cheerfully and gently stroked the dim Spear beside him.

"In that case, let's send her remains back as much as possible, along the path she is about to open."

The silver-haired man said with emotion, as if exhaling bubbles of memory from the depths of the azure sea.

"Thank you for helping so much, Melusine."

Sending back the body of the Abyssal Dragon—

The gradually dying man, who distributed the 'key' to the world, completed the promise made to the departed with his own exception.

The purple-haired girl could only respond with a silent nod.

"Alright, now I'll just have a good rest by myself for a while. I haven't felt this sleepy in so long. Speaking of which, I really liked your gift. Even though it was just a stone, it must have contained your precious thoughts. Thank you so much..."

Smiling cheerfully, even at the very end, this man was still deeply and quietly doing what he felt he should.

The man, his body riddled with holes, stumbled and lay down in the sea. What entered the sea with him was—

Was that truly a manifestation of the mysteries dwelling in the Mediterranean?

Or perhaps, a reappearance of a miracle, a divine envoy sent personally to guide him to the Inner Sea of Stars?

"You couldn't use it, so you couldn't hear it... What a... dazzling... light... Novia..."

Or perhaps, it was the faint glimmer emanating from him as he closed his eyes slightly.

This was the last scene of this man that she, who would soon become the Director of the Atlas Institute in the first century AD, witnessed.

Where did this man ultimately go?

This was something even the simulated spirit computer, Trismegistus Hermes, could not know.

It would only display this line, written by someone unknown—

I always guessed there would come a day someone searched for me, and sure enough, I'm glad. Anyway, thank you for knowing my name. Good luck.

So, until next time.

One who cannot betray a meaningless promise, one who cannot cruelly indulge in selfish desires.

One whose aspirations died before they could be realized, one who could not achieve their wishes.

The corrupted, the foolish, the pedantic.

One who tried their absolute best, sacrificing everything for change, and finally met their end willingly—

The Holy One, Novia, the first Pope of the Holy Church, known as the most important person in the Church's history, aside from Jesus Christ.

According to legend, he went to Heaven—and there are no further records.