SRS 207

As the warmth sent down from the heavens touched them, the screams of the wraiths ceased.

The noise faded away, and a light that shone equally upon all fell upon the earth, saving the souls that had been left behind.

The curse that lingered on their souls vanished, and the source of the shackles that had kept them bound to this earth disappeared. Thus, every wraith tilted its head back to meet the light from the sky. Their expressions looked peaceful.

-…Thank you.

-Thank you.

With that brief expression of gratitude, they turned into light and dispersed. This was different from simply vanishing into ashes. The light accompanying them after death signified that a god would go with them; thus, depending on their sins, their souls would go where they rightfully belonged, whether to heaven or hell.

The group remained silent as the miracle unfolded.

Kylus gazed at the dissipating souls with eyes wide with wonder, while Mikael looked at Yohan with a pensive expression.

Sei and Bebel wiped away tears, and Professor Shinbi smiled gently. Suhyeok was trying to make sense of the entire situation.

“Hah.”

Yohan staggered to his feet.

Finally, all the light vanished, and the area returned to normal. The corpses remained, but since the souls had dispersed, the village was no longer shrouded in a sinister aura.

Yohan wiped away the sweat dripping down his face. He leaned against Mikael and whispered.

“…Let’s purify the bodies.”

“Are you going to burn holy fire?”

“…Yes.”

“Then I’ll handle it. You rest a bit.”

Mikael stepped forward and walked toward the pile of bodies. As the angel invoked the ritual, white holy fire blazed up and purged the impure energy from the corpses. There wasn’t time to hold a funeral for each person individually, but there was time to pray for their peace.

After praying for the dead, the angel looked up again. There were no more human corpses left in this village. Little by little, the unpleasant odor was fading away.

“…You.”

Professor Shinbi, who had been quietly watching the two students, spoke up.

“You are someone who walks with God.”

“…Huh?”

“…It’s nothing. It’s just that this is actually the first time I’ve seen a proper priest.”

Professor Shinbi smiled.

“If there had been a priest like Student Yohan in my world, things might have turned out differently.”

“…….”

Yohan was taken aback by this.

The professors of Fantasiademia were those who gave up on resurrection to become professors.

Why did they become professors?

…Perhaps.

Perhaps.

As sadness filled Yohan’s eyes at the hypothesis forming in his mind, Professor Shinbi smiled brightly once more and waved her hand. Spirits of light and wind appeared and began to roam the village, while singing. The spirits’ songs contained the blessing of growth. Thanks to their songs, the life that would sprout anew on this land would grow faster, stronger, and more resilient, preserving the earth’s vitality.

“Good work, Student Yohan. And Student Mikael. Since you two have put in the effort, we can’t just sit around and play. Well then, shall we search the village?”

The devastation that had already unfolded was irreversible, but traces are always left behind where something has passed.

To find any traces of the Dimensional Destroyers that might still linger somewhere in the village, the students nodded and scattered in pairs.

Mikael grabbed Yohan’s arm tightly as he moved. This was because Yohan was staggering with every step.

Mikael glanced at Yohan with a somber expression.

“You pushed yourself too hard. The curse of those souls will limit your divinity since you chose to bear that curse in their place. That means you’ll be suffering for at least a week. Doesn’t it feel like your divine power is piercing you even now? Can you endure that pain?”

“…A priest is one who fulfills the will of the gods.”

“What are you talking about?”

“It means that is what the Heavenly Lord desired.”

Mikael frowned.

“I haven’t heard of such a desire.”

“As High Priest, I wanted to save them. And the Heavenly Lord answered my prayer. That’s proof.”

“Haa…”

It was sophistry. Yet he couldn’t simply deny it. As an angel, he wasn’t unaware of the relationship between a god and their high priest or how divine providence worked. As Mikael facepalmed, Yohan smiled. His face was still pale.

“I’m always sorry for you. It feels like you’re constantly [unauthorized copy]getting dragged into things you don’t need to do because of me.”

“…If you know that, could you just hold back a little?”

Instead of answering, Yohan smiled. When he realized that was his way of saying no, Mikael shook his head.

“…Who’s going to stop you? Not even God can stop you.”

If anyone else had said that, it would have been blasphemy, but since an angel said it, there was no way to call him out on it. Yohan acknowledged it with a wry chuckle and leaned halfway against Mikael before whispering.

“Don’t worry. I’ll remember to pray for you too.”

“…….”

“…It feels strange. Even though I’ve traveled between dimensions and this isn’t my own, I feel closer to God. It feels like our connection has grown stronger. Thanks to that, I feel like I understand you a little better too.”

It was a different dimension.

Because it was a different dimension, using divine power presented some difficulties, just like when he first fell into the Nameless Realm. However, after going through it once before, he was able to overcome those difficulties, and using divine power wasn’t hard.

And the more he used divine power in that way, the more he prayed, the closer he felt to the Heavenly Lord.

As if he were granting him more power, the concentration and quality of his divine power gradually increased.

Thanks to this, Yohan saw things differently than before.

For instance, he sensed an intangible aura emanating from Mikael, who appeared in the body of an ordinary person.

The vast amount of divine power slumbering within his body and the long years he had lived.

Yohan could feel everything – from his outward appearance as a young man to the aura that made him anything but a mere young man. He smiled.

He had expected that Mikael was no ordinary angel. But this…?

As his thoughts intensified, the look in his eyes changed. Mikael noticed this shift and suddenly tilted his head slightly to meet Yohan’s gaze.

“…No matter what I am, or what form I take, you’ve decided to call me Mikael.”

His voice sounded like a plea not to feel any distance between them. Yohan took a deep breath, then leaned fully against him.

“You’re still Mikael.”

“Yes, Yohan.”

Mikael never used Yohan’s last name when addressing him. It didn’t matter whether Yohan was a High Priest or not.

So Yohan also decided to set aside all the countless titles he could apply to Mikael.

He was simply Mikael.

Someone who helped him, was kind to him, carried a painful past, and had become a sinner because he couldn’t forgive himself.

“Sometimes, I feel sorry for you.”

Mikael smiled at the weary Yohan’s murmur.

“Keep thinking that way. It seems that those who earn your pity end up finding happiness.”

Since it sounded like a reference to the purification he’d just performed, Yohan laughed.

Soon, their footsteps came to a halt at a certain spot. It was a dilapidated house. They slowly went inside and searched the area, but found no significant clues. Just as they were heading toward another house after a thorough inspection…

“Aaaargh!”

…A scream rang out.

“What’s going on!”

“Sei!”

The students, who had been searching different areas, all rushed out of their respective search zones to find Sei. Sei pointed to a spot as she backed away on her heels. It was toward the village well.

“I’ll check it out.”

Professor Shinbi stepped forward and walked toward the well.

Whoosh.

As a spirit of light appeared and illuminated the inside of the well, the professor’s expression darkened ever so slightly. Suhyeok and Kylus helped Sei to her feet and joined her there.

Yohan also joined his friends and peered down into the well. The spirit descended, illuminating the depths of the well.

“Ha!”

Someone gasped softly.

Yohan gripped the well tightly and stared at the figure inside.

Three severed heads lay at the bottom of the well. And above them, the head of a giant ibex, drenched in blood, was gazing up at the sky. Its unblinking eyes seemed almost alive. The eerie sight sent a chill down his spine, and as he rubbed the goosebumps from his arms, Professor Shinbi clicked her tongue.

“…The entire village was a sacrifice.”

“A sacrifice?”

“A sacrifice offered to a god who has strayed from providence. I’d wondered why their power was growing so rapidly, it seems they’ve been offering sacrifices like this across all dimensions.”

“…….”

So that was why.

The reason the souls were cursed, the reason they couldn’t leave this land.

It was because of the curse imprinted on them when they were sacrificed.

“But that’s strange. Normally, we’re able to detect rituals like this before they take place. Graduates dispatched from Fantasiademia and the dimensional missions teams are scattered across various dimensions, monitoring for anything that strays from providence. But while a ritual of this magnitude was being performed, we didn’t receive any reports about this dimension.”

Professor Shinbi, who had been muttering with a grave expression, suddenly looked up at the sky and let out a groan.

“…Someone is obscuring our sight.”

“Obscuring our sight?”

“They’re preventing us from detecting this ritual. There’s someone masking the auras of the gods who have strayed from providence and interfering with our perception. That seems to be why the power of the Dimension Destroyers has increased so rapidly.”

“……!”

At Professor Shinbi’s whisper, Yohan’s shoulders trembled slightly.

He had a hunch about who it might be.

Yohan scrutinized Professor Shinbi’s unauthorized copy face. The professor, who was explaining the situation, also seemed to know something.

“…Do you know who that one who is obscuring our sight is?”

When he asked, just in case, Professor Shinbi closed her eyes.

That meant she knew.

“…It’s the one mentioned in the prophecy.”

“The prophecy?”

“The Monarch of Greed.”

“…….”

“The prophecy referred to him as the Monarch of Greed. A monarch who would never be satisfied even after devouring every dimension.”

A monarch who would never be satisfied even after devouring every dimension.

At that explanation, Yohan reflexively turned to look in Mikael’s direction.

As though he had reached the same conclusion, Mikael’s expression darkened.