The desert city, Colony.
Reconstruction had progressed quite a bit, and little by little, its old scenery was beginning to reappear.
“Mhm— hmm-hmm—♬”
As usual, Seollang leisurely looked out over the view from the top floor of the guild building.
Then, suddenly sensing a presence, she turned her gaze and—
“Long time no see?”
—spoke casually.
In front of the window, where there had been nothing just moments ago—
“I offer my greetings.”
—Hidan was already kneeling with his head lowered.
Though his appearance was sudden, as though she had already expected it, Seollang smiled.
“So, what brings you here?”
Even at the light question, Hidan’s lips froze for an instant.
Of course, the words he needed to deliver had already been decided.
But bringing up that matter was by no means easy.
Because he knew.
What kind of action the Golden Moon before him would take once she heard these words.
However, he also could not simply fail to convey the words Red Moon had ordered him to deliver.
“The Great Moon has gone missing during the battle against the throne.”
Hidan conveyed the truth to Seollang.
For a moment, the surroundings were dyed in silence because of Blackie, who had transformed into Astarotte’s Descended.
Then, the moment Alon’s gaze landed on it, the little thing returned to normal with a ppyong—! sound and toddled over toward Alon.
Blackie jumped into Alon’s arms with a kyuu—! and rubbed itself against him.
Alon naturally knelt down, caught Blackie, and blankly stroked it.
Then, when Alon raised his gaze—
—he discovered humans staring fixedly at them.
Some showed admiration.
Others caution.
Still others curiosity.
Looking over the crowd, Alon organized his thoughts for a moment before speaking first.
“To say this first, we have absolutely no desire to fight. We simply wish to talk for a bit. Would that be possible?”
At Alon’s statement, the air that had been quiet until now began stirring noisily.
However—
“......Everyone, quiet.”
—with a single sharp rebuke from one man, the commotion instantly died down.
Alon turned his gaze toward where the voice had come from.
A white-haired middle-aged man stood there.
Wearing armor different from the knights of the Allied Kingdoms or the Empire, he glanced around at the people nearby before making a proposal to Alon.
“Would you please come inside first?”
When Alon nodded, the group was guided into the interior of the cave the flesh monsters had been swarming toward.
Soon, the inside scenery revealed itself.
'......They lived here for a long time. No—not necessarily a long time, but at least over a month.'
The inside of the cave felt even more lived-in than he had expected.
Though there were no clearly divided rooms, ropes and laundry hung here and there throughout the cave.
The conditions were poor, but wooden walls had been erected to create partitioned spaces.
“It is humble, but please—”
Passing through the place where people lived, Alon arrived at a small shack located at the end of the cave.
“Earlier, things were too chaotic for me to properly introduce myself. I am Reber, the one leading the survivors of Tamonica.”
The white-haired middle-aged man, Reber, greeted them.
“My name is Alon.”
Alon bowed his head in return.
“Please raise your head. Had it not been for the Guardian, we would already be dead.”
“Guardian......?”
“Yes.”
At that answer, as though it had been waiting, Blackie popped out from Alon’s chest and tilted its head with a kyuu?
After glancing once at the little creature, Alon asked Reber,
“Mr. Reber....... Forgive me, but could I ask you to explain the current situation?”
“The current situation—”
“I would like you to explain the flesh monsters outside, the thing floating in the sky, and why the world has been ruined to this extent.”
At Alon’s request, Reber’s expression became slightly strange.
And Alon easily realized one fact.
'It seems this has been going on for a long time.'
Lightly grasping the situation through Reber’s expression that seemed to say, How could you not know this?, Alon added an explanation.
“We have not set foot on the surface for a long period due to our training, so it is somewhat difficult for us to understand the situation.”
For a moment, he considered telling the truth.
However, that might only make the explanation unnecessarily long, so Alon briefly provided a background instead.
Reber still wore an ambiguous expression, but soon nodded.
“......Understood. I do not know where I should begin explaining from, but I will tell you what I know first.”
After pausing briefly, his voice continued.
The story Reber told was not difficult for Alon’s group to understand.
'......So it’s a situation similar to the Allied Kingdoms.'
Judging from his explanation, this world of the past had a structure not very different from the Allied Kingdoms without the Empire.
However, there were two differences.
One was that unlike the Allied Kingdoms, which consisted of several large kingdoms and around a dozen small kingdoms, this place consisted of three massive kingdoms and over dozens of smaller kingdoms.
And the other was—
“......Each kingdom has its own god it worships?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
The gods worshiped separately by the dozens of kingdoms.
No—rather, the fact that there were Living Gods.
And the moment he heard that information, Alon understood without difficulty.
Why this world had become like this.
'Divine blood.'
Divine blood.
As far as Alon knew, this world had fundamentally been created to become a cradle for gods.
And until the Ilanef Empire collapsed and the Sins began fully moving in earnest to periodically reduce humanity’s numbers, whether true gods had actually been created or not, the world had continuously served as a cradle regardless.
If so, then there was one thing that could be inferred from this.
'So this is the past from before the Ilanef Empire was even created.'
Thinking that far, Alon asked just in case.
“Sorry to interrupt, but may I ask one question?”
“Please do.”
“Have you perhaps heard of the Ilanef Empire?”
“......The Empire?”
“Yes.”
“At least, it is the first time I have ever heard such a name....... No, to begin with, the word empire itself—”
Watching Reber tilt his head as though unable to understand, Alon confirmed his hypothesis was correct.
'Before the Ilanef Empire was created.'
Realizing they had fallen far further into the past than expected, Alon continued speaking.
“Sorry for interrupting. Could you continue your explanation?”
“Ah, yes.”
At that, though still expressing confusion, Reber continued talking.
The contents that followed were not difficult to understand either.
To begin with, it was all about war.
The story that the Allied Kingdom-like nations, whether small or large, had waged wars of conquest against one another.
Even while explaining, Reber repeatedly lamented that he did not understand why the gods fought wars.
However, Alon, who had already glimpsed part of the truth of this world, could understand why they behaved that way.
Because he knew wars to gather believers were an essential element for Divine blood.
“So in the end, you lost the war and are hiding like this?”
“......That is correct.”
Up to that point, Alon did not feel anything particularly strange.
Yes.
“And those flesh masses belong to another kingdom?”
“......Strictly speaking, not exactly.”
Up until exactly there.
“......Not exactly?”
Alon paused at the unexpected answer.
At Alon’s question, Reber nodded.
“Yes. Because all the kingdoms have already fallen.”
That was his explanation.
“......All the kingdoms fell?”
“That was not because of the wars. To begin with, the kingdom wars ended in the victory of ‘Al-.’”
“Al-, you say.”
“It was the greatest kingdom among them. And also the cruelest.”
Reber’s brow twisted.
“If Al- won the war, then not all kingdoms should have fallen, no?”
At Alon’s question, Reber let out a small sigh before answering.
“If Al- still remained, then yes. But unfortunately, Al- fell.”
“Why?”
“Because of their god.”
“......Their god?”
Reber nodded.
“Yes. Al-’s Living God, Al-Akulakka. After destroying everything else, he destroyed even his own kingdom.”
“Why?”
“To ascend.”
“......Ascend?”
This time, it was Penia.
Catching her murmur, Reber nodded and continued explaining.
“Yes. In order to ascend, he turned all those who followed him, and all the kingdoms he destroyed, into masses of flesh.”
“......Why would he do such a thing?”
“I do not know. However, rumors spread that he said it himself. That it was one of the processes required for his ascension.”
Hearing those words, Alon instinctively realized what kind of thing the ascension Reber spoke of was.
'Becoming a god.'
Fundamentally, the reason Divine blood descended to the surface was to become gods.
To kill other Divine blood and become gods themselves.
'......This won’t be easy.'
And at the same time, he realized it.
This world fundamentally existed as a cradle for Divine blood to become gods.
Meaning, if someone became a god, this world would perish.
In other words, Alon had fallen into a past fated for destruction.
“Hoo.......”
If there was at least one fortunate thing, it was that there was still time to stop it.
If the Divine blood had already completely ascended, there was no way Alon’s group would still be alive like this.
“......So we need to stop the Divine blood preparing for ascension.”
Setting his goal, Alon muttered quietly.
However—
“If you intend to stop Al-Akulakka, unfortunately, that will be impossible.”
At Alon’s words, Reber—
“Why?”
“Because he has already fused with the world.”
—spoke like that.
Somewhat hollowly.
Somewhat detachedly.
......And somewhat helplessly.
“......Fused?”
“Yes. I believe you must already have seen it.”
At Reber’s words, Alon showed confusion.
But immediately afterward—
“No way.......”
As though realizing something, Penia and Evan’s eyes widened.
Alon also opened his eyes wide.
Because he too had realized it.
What Reber was talking about.
And—
“No way—”
“Yes. The mass of flesh that devoured the sky.”
At Reber’s continued words—
“......That is the Black Flesh, Al-Akulakka.”
—Alon could do nothing but fall silent.

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