Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 5 - Chapter 5

Chapter V: Tolling the Bells of Revolution

The theocracy’s capital was busier than usual.

Today was the day a huge group of heretics would be executed. A day where Ehit’s superiority would once again be shown to the world.

No matter how much the people of the capital believed in the church, rumors of their defeat at Haltina still found their way to the citizens’ ears. As much as they didn’t want to think about it, they’d been forced to contend with the fact that the church wasn’t invincible. Fortunately, today’s grand execution would once again reaffirm the absolute might of the church, so the people were celebrating.

Of course, the knights and the clergy were even more excited for this day than the commoners.

A massive portrait of a smiling Ehit sat behind the raised throne in the cathedral’s throne room. Lucifer, the pope, stepped out from a small door that sat to the right of the throne and looked down at the people gathered below him.

One was Mulm, who wielded the Divine Bow, while the other was Darrion, the user of Longinus and the Sanctified Shield. And behind the two of them were a grand total of ninety-eight Paragons of Light and Paladins, each of whom were armed with a copy of one of the Seven Sacred Relics.

Lilith and her Templar Knights, Kaime and Selm and the Holy Templar Knights, as well as Archbishop Kimaris and the bishops, were present. Lilith and the Templar Knights had all been granted replica relics as well.

Everyone’s hair was white now. They’d all been fully apostleified. They still lacked the might of a true apostle, so they had no wings and couldn’t use disintegration magic, but they were far stronger than the demi-apostles that Kaime and Selm had originally been.

This power was originally meant to be given only to the chosen hero of the age, but despite the great honor they’d received, none of the knights looked especially happy. They knew they’d simply been granted the power needed to stand a chance in the coming battle. They also knew today would be the day that decided the fate of Tortus.

Lucifer nodded in satisfaction, then walked down the pure white steps that connected the throne’s dais to the rest of the room. He stopped right in front of the first row of knights, then turned to face the throne. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he knelt like everyone else.

“Hearst-sama, we await your arrival.”

Before she’d worn the title of oracle, but now everyone knew her for what she truly was. An Apostle of God, as well as a symbol of Ehit’s might.

A pillar of light rained down onto the throne, and the apostle materialized before everyone. She spread her silver wings, and a few stray feathers fluttered to the ground. However, she wasn’t the only apostle who’d appeared.

Behind her appeared ten others, each with the exact same, inhumanely beautiful face.

The eleven apostles strode forward, the portrait of Ehit at their backs.

“Ooooooh...” one of the knights muttered, overcome with emotion.

“Lucifer,” Hearst said.

“Allow me to report, Lord Apostle.”

The heads of every nation had reached the capital, and the Templar Knights were guarding both the execution square and the city gates. There was also a defensive network that extended a whole seven kilometers above and around the city. And in addition to that, the capital’s barrier was fully operational.

Once he started talking, the words poured out of Lucifer in a torrent. He was clearly ready to strike down any and all invaders.

“Good,” Hearst said when he finished his report. She then looked over the gathered knights, her pale blue eyes sparkling with inhuman light. The knights’ excitement rose to a fever pitch in response.

“Provide our lord with this age’s finest show,” Hearst demanded, her voice as flat and emotionless as ever.

“Glory to Lord Ehit,” Lucifer said in a solemn voice, looking like the spitting image of a martyr.

The execution was slated to take place at noon.

The sun neared its zenith, and the central square was filled with people. The square was massive, a perfect circle three hundred meters across in diameter. It was often used for religious ceremonies, and so, the roads leading into it were extremely wide. All the nearby buildings were relatively small, as if to highlight the size of the square. It was the perfect place for a spectacle.

Only the road leading north, to the palace, was blocked off. Everything else had been kept open. And there wasn’t a single inch of space that wasn’t taken up with people. It wasn’t just knights, clergy, and citizens of the capital who were there either. High-ranking members of other countries who had the right to visit the capital were present as well. Frenzied shouts like “Death to heretics!” and “Bring peace to the world!” and “Glory to our lord and savior Ehit!” filled the square. But while the square and its surroundings were packed, the rest of the city was practically deserted. Only the old, the infirm, and families with young children to take care of had stayed home today. It was almost surreal how empty the populated capital looked.

In the center of the main square was a huge stage. Numerous iron cages sat in the middle of the stage. This was the execution platform.

A ring of Templar Knights surrounded the stage, preventing any of the people from getting too close. Airships floated in the sky, guarding against an aerial approach.

If you included the knights guarding the northern street, there were close to three thousand soldiers in the plaza. But there were also knight divisions ten thousand strong guarding the eastern, western, and southern gates. The main gate, which was the southern one, was where Lilith was stationed.

“Can this even be called a guard? They’re out in full force,” one of the foreign nobles’ attendants whispered.

“It’s like we’re the ones surrounded,” his companion replied, glancing warily at the knights.

Their master reprimanded them both, but even he looked visibly nervous. Even the kings of various nations looked uneasy.

Time passed, and the sun slowly climbed its way to the apex of its circuit. As it reached its zenith, a bell rang. The time for the execution had come.

The street heading north from the plaza led to a massive gate. Normally, that white gate was thrown wide open, but today it was closed. But as the bell rang, it slowly creaked open.

Beyond the gates was the Divine Mountain, and the marble white palace at its base. Standing on one of the terraces that faced the city was Lucifer and the respective commanders of the Three Pillars of Radiance. Below, on the street itself, was a group of dirty, wounded heretics. They were shackled and chained together, and two rows of knights herded them toward the gallows.

There were two hundred heretics in total. It was extremely rare for such a large group to be executed all at once, and in the theocracy’s capital no less. At the very least, it hadn’t happened even once over the past hundred years.

The crowd’s excitement rose, and the citizens started hurling insults at the heretics. However, their excitement didn’t last.

“Wh-What’s with those guys?” someone muttered, reflecting the feelings of the entire crowd.

The insults started to die down as well. Everyone’s excitement turned to confusion. The heretics’ reactions just didn’t make sense. These people were about to be executed, but none of them were crying or begging for mercy. Their eyes showed neither regret nor resignation. Rather than wallowing in despair, they all stared defiantly at the crowd. Though their steps were slow due to their injuries and exhaustion, they carried themselves proudly.

In the silence that followed, the heretics unhesitatingly made their way up the execution platform. They entered their cages without any prodding, and the knights locked them shut.

A group of figures jumped down from one of the circling airships. They were all bishops, and they had glimmering wings sprouting from their backs. They gracefully circled around the crowd, then took up positions around the execution platform in groups of three. At the very northern end was a single, older priest, wearing far fancier clothes than the others. He was the leading archbishop, Kimaris Sintail. And after a brief pause, he raised his staff.

“O Ehit, creator of the world! Glory be upon you, great god! Please bring down your hammer of justice on these heretics who dare disturb the world’s peace!”

Light began to rise from the plaza floor. The twelve spots where Kimaris and his bishops were standing rose out of the ground, creating iron pillars that were ten meters tall and four meters wide.

Kimaris’s words got the crowd worked up again, and they shook off their uncertainty. But just as they started jeering again, the prisoners spoke up.

“Hah! Pathetic.”

“This is God’s will? Don’t make me laugh. Did no one ever teach your god manners?”

“They’re all just a bunch of brats with more power than they know what to do with. You shouldn’t waste your time with them, guys.”

Three men who looked even more beat up than the others bantered with each other. Their voices carried through the plaza, and the citizens fell quiet once more.

These men were wearing rags, were covered in wounds, and were about to be executed. And yet, their banter was enough to silence the crowd.

Baharl Devault spat at the ground, while Karg Verand chuckled heartily to himself. Meanwhile, Rigan Nelson gave the pope the middle finger.

All of the other heretics who were about to be executed were just as defiant. They smiled fearlessly at the priests and at the crowd, seeming not to care that they were about to die. The heads of the various nations narrowed their eyes, carefully gauging the church’s response.

“You won’t be given a chance to repent, you faithless heathens! Prepare yourselves for Ehit’s holy purification!”

The thirty-three bishops who’d been granted the honor of carrying out this execution raised their staves. The lines of light that had been running through the plaza floor joined together, creating a magic circle. The light emanating from the circle was absorbed by the iron pillars, and went from there into the bishops.

High above the pillars, a circle of light formed. The sight was awe-inspiring. A shiver ran down everyone in the crowd’s spines. That light was clearly more than strong enough to eradicate the heretics.

The citizens waited with bated breath for the circle to fall. But just then, there was a huge boom, and the sky turned white. Not because of the circle of light, but because of something much higher than it.

Everyone gazed up in shock and saw a massive beam of light bearing down on the capital. It looked like the sun was falling. That was just how bright the light was. It came from the south and slammed into the threefold barrier that protected the capital.

Judging by the angle of the light, it was clear that the shot was aimed at the palace, not the central square. Waves of rainbow light rippled out from the point of impact.

The citizens looked horrified. As they regained their senses, they began to scream.

Before the crowd could fall into a panic, the knights and the priests calmed them, telling them that the ancient artifact that protected the capital was impregnable. There was no way the barrier could fail, the knights told everyone. But just as people started to calm down, they saw something that made them pale.

The rainbow light pulsed harder...and the sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the city. The first layer of the barrier had fallen.

There wasn’t even time for the citizens to panic. The light pulsed again, and the second barrier shattered. It then expanded in size as it surged forward...until it looked big enough to swallow the entire palace whole. The capital’s prized barrier, which had never been breached in the history of the theocracy, had just been smashed to bits in seconds. Glittering shards rained on the ground, making it look like sparkling snow was falling.

A second later, there was a tearing of space and a huge black airship slowly made its way out of the dimensional fissure. The lumbering airship was shaped roughly like a whale, and it was stocked full with weapons. Mana rippled across its surface, making the ship glow like the morning sun. It was as if Noah’s Ark had appeared in the middle of the sky. The way it presented itself made it almost demand applause from all who saw it, even as it invaded the capital’s airspace.

This was the submarine palace Lac Elain, Orcus Edition. And with one earth-shattering blow, it had tolled the bells of revolution loud enough for the world to hear.

Oscar sprawled across Lac Elain’s deck.

“Haaah... Haaah, we did it. Haaah... Haaah,” he panted.

“Meiru-nee! Lau-chan! Help O-kun before he dies!” Miledi shouted.

“I know I told you to make something that’d take the barrier out in one hit, but this is one hell of a weapon,” Laus said, impressed.

“There, there, Oscar-kun. You did good.”

Laus and Meiru quickly cast healing magic on Oscar.

“Hmph, look at that. The Paragons of Light are panicking. Their formation is in tatters.”

“I can’t really blame them. I would be too, if I was in their shoes.”

“Onee-sama. If we make it out of this alive, please give me another reward.”

The seven ancient magic users lined up at the ship’s prow as they joked with each other.

Ten metallic black spheres were revolving around Miledi and three transparent shawls rested on her shoulders as she looked back at her friends.

“Everyone ready?”

Laus thumped his chest with his black, metallic prosthetic left arm, then hefted the warhammer in his right.

Lyutillis was wearing a white hunting dress embroidered with gold leaves and had her platinum-blonde hair in a ponytail. She closed her eyes and touched her forehead with her Guardian Rod.

Meiru lowered her pirate hat, her long coat fluttering in the wind, and took a step forward, her armored boots clanking loudly.

Naiz folded his arms, dressed in the traditional garb of a desert warrior.

Vandre adjusted his muffler, a massive greatsword resting on his shoulder.

Oscar adjusted his glasses with his gauntleted hands.

All six of them had fearless smiles on their faces.

Miledi sucked in a deep breath, smiled fearlessly back at them, and exclaimed, “Let’s go start a revolution!”

Everyone leaped off of the deck without uttering another word.