Chapter 254 - Mita Eshel (Patreon)

Devil worshipers have been hiding among the populace since ages past. They infiltrated large settlements and slowly grew like parasites.

Each devil cult had its own characteristics, reflecting the nature of its devil god. Dumuzin cult, the cult that had the most influence in Luxore town, was fond of chaos.

It meant they often did terror acts.

One of such acts was where Leon, a dear friend of Rose and a fellow orphan, died.

***

Even though Rose was in a temporary brain coma from the confession, Viers didn't stop.

“When I told my story in Luxore, you should've already had an inkling. At the ghoul incident, the one who killed Leon was me.”

“No…” Rose wavered and took a step back, a small trembling voice escaped her lips. “That can't be true.”

“It’s the truth that you are afraid to ascertain. I killed Leon,” Viers said with a stone-cold tone.

“No—!!”

Rose screamed in denial, hands closing her ears. When she squeezed her eyes shut, tears flowed out from the sides. Like a broken dam, memories gushed out, overwhelming her mind.

It was just as Viers said. Rose suspected it but she was too afraid to ask. She tried so hard to see the good in Viers. What he had done at Luxore was not without sin and there would be a reckoning on that but somewhere in her heart, Rose was glad Viers was not the chief perpetrator of the deplorable calamity.

“When we first met at the orphanage, my hands were already red from his blood.”

Viers used magic to convey his voice.

“STOOOP!! I don't want to hear it!”

But Rose was still in denial so Viers gave her time to collect herself. It was only a few seconds later that she responded after he had taken Dia into the badge.

“Why… are you telling me this? You could have hidden it forever,” Rose said with sorrow.

“Would you rather not know the truth?”

Yes! Rose stopped herself from saying that word. What did this talk bring other than pain?

There was a violent surge from the pit of her stomach, accompanied by the pain of the heart.

Rose yanked Viers’ lapel, uncharacteristically ferocious of her.

“Why did he have to die!?” Face raw with emotions.

“We clashed for each of our own purposes. It was unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate? Unfortunate!? Leon’s dreams, Leon’s future! How dare you simply paint it out to be unfortunate!”

Rose pushed Viers but the man was firm on his feet and didn't budge.

“...Such is life,” Viers replied serenely, looking downward at her tear-filled eyes.

“Don't try to avoid responsibility!” Rose raged.

“I’m not,” Viers swiftly replied. “Every life I’ve taken in my Path of Power, their significance rests heavily on my shoulders. They will stay with me until the end of time.”

Rose looked upward at Viers’ eyes and had a horrific realization.

“...You don't regret killing them.”

“I can’t. And that… is my sin.”

Her dainty hands released Viers’ lapel as she took a few steps back, wobbling, as if she was physically struck.

“Tell me the true reason…” Rose’s breathing quickened. “Why you’re confessing you’ve murdered my friend.”

Her face was saying she wouldn't stop until she heard an answer so Viers gave it to her.

“...Closure. To the Luxore chapter of my life. In this city where the threads of fates from the past gathered together. It is only fitting. There’s no secret left unsaid.”

Viers lied with a straight face. He had tons of other unsaid secrets.

“No, no no no! You should be saying you’re sorry, that you regret it!” Rose clenched her chest. It was hurting. Not physically but the pain was real all the same.

“What good does asking for your forgiveness do?” Viers asked.

“So I can begin trying to forgive you!”

Sudden wind pressure pushed Viers’ back, accompanied by blinding light. Viers covered his eyes in surprise. Slowly, he lowered his hand and beheld Rose who was glowing with silver light, a phantasm halo floating above her head and a pair of wings on her back.

The angelic attachments made her look like an otherworldly being but those were not what made Viers wary. It was the sudden spike of power she emitted. The power that was above the current him or his understanding.

Despite it being so, Rose’s face was twisted with pain, yet her anger at Viers was unflinching.

“You want revenge? It is your right.”

Faced with a dangerous adversary, Viers didn't mount any resistance and spread his arms.

“Strike me down.”

***

Governor-King Alvared was standing in front of a painting five meters tall and two meters wide. It depicted scenery from ages past, of an opulent city. Ivory towers and jeweled roads. The cloud on the painting moved, and so did the mystical creatures in the painting.

His rare moment of repose was disturbed by the appearance of something enormous. A power so great it made him feel dread.

“Servant of the Goddess or not, I won't tolerate any interference…”

He turned towards the origin, towards the Church.

***

A blind woman who was playing sad music under the moonlight muttered softly.

“Luminous being, light from Heaven… O blessed, will you choose mercy or judgment… I humbly pray, that it is the right choice.”

As she flicked the string on the antique musical instrument that Viers gifted her, once again she prevented the scrying of Alvared and many other interested parties.

This is an important moment for the young ones. Don't be crass.

***

Rose felt her body scream in agony. The heat was searing her body and soul. Meanwhile, her mind was battered by a tornado of confusion.

Yet, at the eye of the storm, there was a tiny bit of tranquility. There, a thought was born, that she was a human with an ugly heart.

When she heard Viers had a hand in the loss of 4000 lives, she didn't feel anguish compared to the other weight on the scale, a single friend.

Rose also felt a gaze. From something grand, and divine.

The being didn't nudge her towards an action. They only gave her great power.

Do you… want me to choose? Whatever for? Why have you chosen me in the first place? I’m unworthy… surely you realized that by now. Even then, you entrusted me with the choice? Or was this a trial?

In front of her, was the man who caused great misery. Not only to herself, but to a great many others.

The same man who told her to follow the voice of her heart to arrive at the right answer.

Rose’s heart told her that striking him was wrong. This was not justice. Lashing out at him now was not the right thing to do.

At the crossroads, she knew which was the right road.

But why is it so damn hard?

“I… I… kghk… Uwaaaahhh!!”

With tears streaming down her cheeks, Rose raised her hand. Without her doing anything, it turned into a twenty-meter-long sword of light that pierced the night sky.

At the brilliant blade swinging down at his head, Viers faced it head on without cowering or defending.

In that split second, like a flicker of lightning, Mita appeared before Rose. She covered Rose’s eyes with her left hand.

What followed was a shockwave greater than Rose’s transformation before.

“Mas…ter…”

Rose fell unconscious in Mita's embrace. Mita’s hand was smoking although it wasn't burned, the same went for her entire body. Her clothes were intact but it was as if she had just come out of a sea of boiling water.

“What kind of master am I, if I don't help my disciple in their time of need?” Mita whispered back and hugged Rose tightly, mirroring a loving mother.

Seeing the conclusion of his confession, Viers sighed with relief. Cold sweat ran down the back of his neck.

The clamor invited others, like Damon, Wendy, and the others. All except Max and Bryan.

“You again? What is it this time, Viers?” Rachel said, in a manner of being tiredly amazed. Looking at the state of her hair, she looked like she was hurriedly coming here after she’d gone to bed.

“Never a dull moment, isn't it~?” Unem then turned to Mita. “Is she okay?”

“Yes. Everyone, may I ask a moment for me and Viers?”

After a brief inquiry about what happened, the gang left the two alone as per Mita’s request, carrying the unconscious Rose with them.

Mita Eshel and Viers Isuel stood face to face under the light of the twin celestial bodies.

“Are you really okay? I saw you smoking,” Viers said.

“Your sentiment is appreciated but unnecessary. They… didn't hurt me,” Mita replied with the same graceful calm that he’d known her for.

“I kind of feel bad, to keep making you clean my mess,” Viers said truthfully. “That cost a lot of Victa, didn't it?”

“If you are, then please stop making said mess. Frankly, it is a pain.”

Viers chuckled. “Right, you are. I’m sorry.”

There was a brief pause. A visit from an autumn night wind swayed their clothes.

“...Rose is a nice girl,” Mita began.

“I know. I really hurt her this time,” Viers slightly looked downwards.

“I wish you wouldn't think less of her. Earlier was-”

“No. You don't need to say anything. I realized.”

Before Mita stopped her, Rose had already stopped her strike. Viers had perceived that. Also, Mita acted not to save her own skin from the Oath’s backlash. If it was to strike down a great evil, she would have laid down her life without hesitation.

She did it for Rose, before she suffered irreversible injury from wielding a power too great, and because she put a measure of faith in Viers.

“Does that mean I’ve passed your test, I wonder… At any rate, Rose is a good person. And with a teacher such as you to guide her, she’s in good hands,” Viers smiled.

Mita didn't answer.

“The Estellian Church… They are portrayed as the paragon. The gathering of the virtuous. The forces of good. The holier than me kind. I’m here to find out if that’s true.”

“Really? You don't hope to gain more gratitude from Ciel and take advantage of Rose?” Mita’s eyes told everything.

“Hehehe, those too… There is a saying from my homeland: Every organization is corrupt. Similarly, power corrupts. The Estellian Church is both an organization and a great power. Therefore, I don't believe in your pristine renown.”

Mita didn't know where Viers was going with this so she stayed as the listener.

“About the Coriz Empire story… It got me thinking. What would happen if Coriz didn't fall two centuries ago? It really puts things into perspective. You see, I lived a life of peace before I began my walk down the Path of Power. Thanks to the revolution you supported which created the Free People Coalition, I had that opportunity instead of doing forced work in a mine as a child slave.”

Viers looked at his own hand. Not calloused, even after the many instances of swinging his sword until it bled, because of his healing factor.

“These hands of mine can be used to forge my own path, my own destiny. Not only me, but there are also countless others who have benefited from the Church’s kindness.”

“Viers, you…” Mita muttered.

“Based on what I‘ve seen in this short time with all of you. I can't say this about the Church as a whole, but you people are decent. Yes, even Bryan. I acknowledge that without the Church’s presence and contribution to preserving peace, the world would be a worse place for many who live in it. Monster hazards, lawlessness, and chaos are but a few that come to mind… On behalf of all the people of the world, I give my heartfelt gratitude.”

Those words became a spring of clear water that swelled up in Mita’s heart, nourishing it.

“Those words and the smiling faces of the next generations, are what makes our labor worth doing.”

As Mita smiled saintly, Viers saw something else. The undulation of her aura… she had broken through.

“Level 4 peak… Walking the Path of Power isn't only about resources or training, but also the conduct of the self. Seeking our way of life and following it… Pathseeker is aptly named indeed,” Viers said.

“You’re leaving…” Mita asked a question that was not a question.

“You’ve fulfilled your Oath admirably, even to someone like me,” Viers gave a precious item from Dia’s Biome fitting for a Level 4 to Mita. “That is for cleaning my mess. And this is for the others. My farewell gifts.”

Viers gave Mita a storage item. It was one of the smallest he had but inside was packed with great materials and resources. There was even one for Unem and the other members of the Valkut abbey.

“Many thanks for the gifts… It is a shame I’m unable to change your mind.”

“I wouldn't say it was a useless effort on your part. I’m glad I met you people before meeting the pompous zealots of your faith. I won't forget there are people like you. Fare thee well, Vestal Mita.”

Viers retreated into the dark night, leaving Mita with her thoughts.

O Radiant Lady… was it right of me to shelter him? Was it wrong of me to give him the benefit of doubt? I fear… so fear my actions would be a mistake.

The path had been taken. Where it led, was shrouded in the fog of the future. What was clear to Mita was that if Viers became a great evil in the future, she would be at the vanguard.

Whether she would live or die didn't matter.

It was her responsibility.