※Below was translated by Sephallia. Thank you very much.
“Worship demons…?”
“It’s nihilism. Rather than enduring their suffering, they yearn for eternal peace. Really, how absurd.”
Spitting out those words, Loretta-san made her disdain clear. Even so, I still found myself unable to cut down other humans.
“Please get out of the way! If you have something to say I’ll hear it later!”
I screamed at them, but the heretical worshipers continued to stand in the way of the monsters.
“Destruction is salvation… Nihility is our highest longing…”
Then, when I tried pushing my way through,
“How dare you get in the way of our salvation!”
“Just how long do you intend to prolong our suffering!?”
“Yeah, how dare you when no one ever came to save us!”
“!?”
They formed a wall blocking me with their flesh as they slung their words of resentment. As though their mantra was an actual spell, their words seemed to echo and flood my mind.
“Grh…!”
It had to be the doing of the monsters or a demon. But what was more troublesome was that their words also carried their experiences.
Unable to resist the flow of murky memories, my consciousness was dragged along until it faded to black.
◆◇◆◇◆
It seemed these people hadn’t been born as nihilists. Like most others in Bauer, they started as adherents to the Spirit Church.
Among them was a former noble. After the revolution he lost his status and became a regular citizen. Unfortunately unable to forget his previous lifestyle and adapt, he spent lavishly until falling into poverty and ending up homeless in the slums. From then, it wasn’t long until he began to harbor a grudge against the world.
Another was the wife of a man who’d fallen ill. A cure had yet to be discovered even through healing magic, so the wife was forced to care for him while trying to keep her household afloat. The arduous days one after another steadily carved away at her mind and body. It surely wasn’t her fault that she eventually came to think it would be better that her husband simply die a swift death.
Yet another was a girl who’d received constant abuse from her parents. Her parents kept up appearances when in public, but regularly beat her at home. They neglected to feed her and didn’t seem to care as her body continued to weaken. When she awakened to her talent in magic, who could blame her when she used it to kill her parents?
Their suffering took various shapes and sizes, but the common denominator was a simple question perhaps everyone had asked at least once, “Just why do I have to suffer like this?”
Without ever receiving an answer, too much time passed, and they arrived at the same answer.
“I never wanted to be born.”
After reaching that conclusion, they ran into someone preaching out on the streets.
“We should not ostracize the demons. The path forward is in coexistence.”
While most would probably dismiss such words with a quick laugh, something about the message resonated with these people. What began as simply raising their objections became conversation. As the conversations continued they became believers. Some left the faith after learning that the street preachers were demons themselves, but the majority remained.
Because the only ones that had lent an ear to their pain were those demons.
They all longed for it. Longed for some form of salvation. Amidst that, their country, the Spirit Church, even their close friends and family, had ignored their pleas.
To say that they’d been tainted by the nihilism was simple. But really, who could blame them?
No.
They were more than willing to accept that blame. After all, their expectations for the other people around them had already hit rock bottom. Finally giving up on the people who’d long given up on them―they gave up on the world itself and wished for an equal end.
Ah, just why―
◆◇◆◇◆
“Alea-chan!”
When I snapped back to consciousness, I saw Lily-sama crying right in front of me.
“Lily-sama…?”
“Lily’s so glad…”
After that, Lily-sama pulled my head into her chest before crying even more.
“What… I…?”
“It was the demons’ thought contamination. The Pope came by and blessed you, so you’re okay now.”
When I looked over Lily-sama’s shoulder, I saw Clarice-sama casting a spell and deploying a large-scale magic circle. When our eyes met, Clarice-sama gave me a relaxed nod.
“I’m sorry to have worried you.”
“You really did.”
After violently fighting her tears, Lily-sama took my hand and pulled me up.
“Will Clarice-sama’s blessing… return them to normal?”
From what I could see, the demon worshipers remained tainted in madness.
“No, that’s impossible. The thoughts may have been induced within them at first, but it's become their own belief. They now ‘truly’ yearn for the end of the world.”
“That’s quite troubling…”
That meant we were in a stalemate. Pipi-san and Loretta-san had taken command and reorganized our forces, but there wasn’t much we could do against the wall of demon worshipers. In our current battle we managed to cut down a fair number, but with reinforcements pouring in from their rear, the current stalemate actually favored the demons.
“Couldn’t Pipi-san use her magic to force them asleep?”
“W-Well… trying to induce sleep is also a form of mental induction… so with their mental state fixated on nihilism, it won’t have much effect.”
It seemed we’d really hit a dead end.
“Then I suppose it can’t be helped. It’ll be a lot of work, but I suppose I’ll just have to knock them out one by one.”
“All of them!? Individually!? That’s too much!”
“But there’s no other―”
As Lily-sama and I went back and forth,
“Pipi-sama’s too soft.”
A frequency carrying sound magic much stronger than the one Pipi-san just played echoed through the area. The very next moment, the demon worshipers collapsed onto the ground.
“Misha-san!”
“It’s been a while, Alea. Just leave them to the Spirit Church.”
“Don’t forget about me~”
“Y-Yuu-sama!?”
Misha-san, one of Mother Rei’s best friends, and Yuu-sama, the kingdom’s former third prince turned princess, arrived at the battlefield. The two of them were a core part of the Spirit Church’s leadership, so what were they doing all the way out here?
“So, what did you do just now?”
“Ah, I cast a strong form of sound magic. The magic causes a strong vibration in the ears’ semicircular canals. Even if inducing sleep won’t work, there isn’t anyone who can remain standing after receiving direct vibrations in that area.”
“Misha that’s so extreme~”
“B-But you really saved us…!”
It was just as Lily-sama said. If this stalemate continued, we’d have allowed the enemy their reinforcements. Now, the soldiers here could resume battle under Loretta-san’s command.
“Why are the two of you here? I heard that you two were responsible for the refugees.”
“Yup, we were, but as we led the refugees we realized a significant number of them were moving suspiciously.”
“After Yuu-sama noticed, we issued a report to Loretta-sama and Pipi-sama, but decided to come take a look ourselves just in case. It turned out just as we expected.”
Both Yuu-sama and Misha-san were part of the Ten Saviors as well. As it turned out, most of the Ten Saviors who participated in the last war were also participating in this one.
“More importantly, Loretta told us to relay this to you two.”
“What is it?”
“She wants you two to go after the enemy commander.”
That would mean―?
“That’s right. The very one responsible for the simultaneous uprising, she wants the two of you to take down Yunu.”