Chapter 89

The Vow

Beneath her mask, the Magician broke into a cold sweat.

She instinctively stepped back, and Aiden’s gaze followed her precisely.

Her mind went completely blank the moment she realized that.

“...W-What...?!”

It might seem like an overreaction just because his eyes were tracking her, but the real problem lay in the nature of the technique she had just deployed.

If she had used demonic energy to stop time, then anyone affected by it—unless they too wielded demonic energy—should never be able to escape. That was less a theory and more an absolute law. The very idea that someone could move, even slightly, made no sense at all.

Every supernatural ability had its own traits, but among them, demonic energy held absolute dominance when it came to control.

Even in the Pantheon, the gods had sealed Wornil out of fear of that overwhelming force, and his authority carried that very influence.

Even if two supernatural powers of divine origin clashed, if they were of similar magnitude, demonic energy would always win. Because it followed the stature of its god exactly.

Which meant—

If a demon like her had released her demonic energy to a degree that was virtually equivalent to revealing her true name, yet someone could still move within it—

Then only two possibilities remained.

First, that someone possessed a total amount of supernatural power so immense it surpassed even the demonic energy she had unleashed.

But that was an absurd assumption. Not even Lionhearted or Deathwish—currently outside the spire—could meet that condition.

This human had shown impressive abilities, yes, but not to the extent of replacing those famously called walking supernatural power plants.

Then the remaining possibility—

‘...This bastard, don’t tell me—!’

—was that the grade of the supernatural power he wielded was equivalent to Wornil, the sealed god.

Someone who possessed the authority of another god, one who could stand as an equal to the deity so feared he had become a universal enemy and was sealed away by all.

In other words—

An irregular who stood on the same level as the demons branded as enemies of the continent. A prodigy (and a calamity).

Having fought through hundreds of battles, she knew exactly what such a being was called.

“...Omnipotent One...!”

She gritted her teeth and spat out that name.

Then, a torrent of demonic energy incomparable to before surged through her entire body.

It was fortunate she had found him in advance.

Now she could cut the weed at its root—before it grew any further!

“That’s a little out of line, demon.”

But before she could act—

“...What the—who—?!”

“You can’t cut in line, hey. There’s a treaty between your kind and ours, remember?”

Along with that voice coming from somewhere—

“—What do you think you’re doing to my ‘family’?”

Her consciousness was violently yanked outward.

▣

-System Message

▶ Contact established with ‘Magician’, Azula.

▶ [Malice] level has increased by 1 stage!

▶ A new function of ‘Weaver of Fate’ has been unlocked.

▶ Copying ‘Mutated Skill’ from the target!

With that message—

A bright spark burst across his vision like a sudden flare.

Aiden’s consciousness snapped back.

“Huup—!”

He barely held back the urge to vomit as a pressure squeezed in on his temples, and he looked around. His whole body was drenched in cold sweat.

He didn’t know exactly what had just happened. But he could tell—something far beyond his perception had taken place.

‘Just now, in this place, someone—’

Had been there.

Other than the prince and himself, he felt there had been other ‘people’ present.

But there was no time to dwell on that.

In fact—

“...What the?!”

Aiden paled as he turned toward the rocket.

Just moments ago, there had still been enough time to stop the launch. But now, the engines and boosters had already ignited.

The moment he saw it, he knew instinctively—

It was too late to stop it.

The launch would happen within mere seconds…!

He had to stop it. If the Demon God’s Fragment inside that rocket spread across the Capital, it would all be over.

People would die. Everyone!

But—

‘How?’

How was he supposed to stop it?

Aiden grit his teeth and scanned the rocket from top to bottom.

Obviously, it was built to soar high into the skies. No matter how much supernatural power he poured into it, no method came to mind to stop something like this.

‘—Even so.’

He had to find one.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Things had gone off-script more times than he could count. In fact, they never went according to plan from the very beginning.

But through all that, Aiden had learned one thing.

Even when things took a turn for the worse, if he calmly assessed the situation, a breakthrough would always present itself.

Then, in a situation like this, what could he use...?

“......”

—And just like that, a solution struck his mind like lightning.

He had it.

There was one thing.

He spun up his Aether and poured it into the Soul Connector.

A piece of gear forged with star metal, ectoplasm, and all kinds of rare materials. Specially crafted to enable spiritual resonance.

If his assumptions were correct, it should be possible to interact with his other gear using this.

And that assumption proved to be right.

“Whoa!”

Teresa popped out of the Soul Connector and looked around, eyes wide.

“What is this? Did I come back to life or something?”

“…No. I only summoned your soul. I’m the only one who can see or talk to you.”

As he thought that, Aiden called up a window before him.

Right now, this was the only person he could rely on.

“Dame Teresa.”

[Hm?]

“The Capital is facing a major crisis. Please help me.”

[…]

Hearing those words, Teresa smiled gently and nodded.

[What do I need to do?]

“……”

Aiden let out a faint chuckle.

Yeah, she really was the Warden of the Realm.

It didn’t matter what the situation was, or whether it could be done or not. Those were all secondary concerns.

If it had to be done, if it was something that needed doing, she’d do it.

No matter what.

If there were people to protect, she would act.

The problem was—

“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure what to do either. This is my first time.”

[...What are you even saying?]

Teresa asked with a puzzled look, but Aiden couldn’t explain it either.

-Skill Info

◆ Remnant: Warden of the Realm – Resolve

A will that reaches the heavens can serve as the material for miracles. A great being watches over you.

▶ Materialize the ‘essence’ of the target into a skill.

▶ Use with caution.

…He didn’t even understand what this skill effect actually meant.

Still, whatever it was, all he could do now was try. It was do or die.

Aiden clenched his teeth and stared at the rocket.

From the engine of the fully prepped rocket, an unbearable heat was now pouring out. Launch was truly imminent.

If that thing soared into the sky and scattered the Fragment of the Demon God, the Capital would be finished.

He couldn’t stop the rocket launch. Which meant—what he had to do was...

“……”

Aiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Dame Teresa.”

[Yeah?]

“Ever since I was a kid, every time I saw rockets or stuff like that on TV, there’s always been this one thing I wanted to try. Kind of like a dream.”

[What is it?]

He didn’t feel the need to explain it in detail.

…After all, a man’s dream is, more often than not, a foolish one.

▣

—Almost done.

Noel let out a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Thanks to the Black Guard of the Aslan Ducal House, most of the beasts that had rampaged through the Capital had been subdued, and the group attacking military and critical infrastructure within the city had just been rounded up as well.

Even the bird-type beasts that had nearly covered the entire sky had almost all been incinerated by the combined efforts of Katya and Reaver.

The invasion of the Capital, led by the prince, was now on the verge of being completely subdued.

“Your Highness, are you all done over there?”

[Yep! I think I even got a bit friendly with the doggy!]

[…You damn human. I swear, I’ll kill you when I get the chance!]

[Sure! Try it if you can, woof-woof!]

“……”

Hmph.

Maybe they really had grown close.

Noel mulled over that odd impression as she turned to look toward the inside of the Central Spire.

Now, everything hinged on Aiden and what was happening in there.

“All right. Then I’ll go and assist Mr. Aiden—”

That was as far as her sentence got before it was cut off.

Well, anyone would’ve stopped mid-sentence upon witnessing what she just had:

The ceiling of the Central Spire—the tallest structure in the Capital—was completely blown apart as something burst through it.

Seeing its shape, Noel let out a dumbfounded breath.

“…A rocket?”

Not just any rocket—one shaped like a missile.

She didn’t even have time to question why such a thing had just launched before she hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth.

Superhumans—especially those considered at the pinnacle—possessed extraordinarily sharp eyesight.

It meant that even from this distance, she could clearly see what was hanging inside the rocket.

And just laying eyes on it—

“Urgh…!”

Noel barely managed to stifle the urge to vomit as she gasped for air.

And after that reaction, her face turned deathly pale.

She didn’t know what that thing was, nor why it was suddenly inside a rocket.

But a spine-chilling, dreadful premonition ran down her back.

She had a very, very bad feeling that if they left this alone, a catastrophe would strike the entire Capital!

She quickly raised her communicator to her mouth.

“Your Highness, please come to my location immediately! There’s something that must be stopped right—”

Once again, her sentence cut off.

…And once again, it must be said.

A superhuman’s vision was very keen.

If she could see what was inside the rocket, then naturally she could also see what was outside of it—what was attached to its surface.

That thing attached to the rocket soared upward with the booster, rising high into the sky. And just looking at it—so profane and ominous that even a superhuman like her nearly retched—

…Hmph.

But that shape… somehow looked familiar—

“……”

Noel rubbed her eyes.

Maybe.

Maybe she was just seeing things.

No—honestly, she had to be wrong.

“……”

She rubbed her eyes again.

And again.

Rubbed them hard enough that they turned slightly red…

“……”

But what she was seeing didn’t change.

“Uh, huh, huh, huh—”

Noel let out a sound that landed somewhere between laughter and sobbing.

It was, perhaps, the most appropriate sound possible, given the desire to both laugh and cry at once.

[…What? What is it? What’s going on?]

Katya’s voice came from the communicator, but Noel had no mental capacity left to respond logically.

The only words that barely made it out of her mouth were:

“Ei…”

[…Eh?]

“Ei, Ei…”

[What, are you regressing into a toddler or something—]

“Eiden Sieeeeeek—?!”

…Even she thought it was the strangest voice she’d ever made.

But surely, under the circumstances, some leniency could be granted.