As she struggled, High King Viaflea reached for the blade of the Revein Gilma.

　She grabbed the invisible sword barrel and tried to pull it out, but she didn't falter as blood only flowed from her hand.

''Wha..........do you understand?''

　Bitterly, dripping with fat sweat, Via Freres asks me, "What?

'What?'

'The hostages ... aren't just Gorloana.... You must save Ahide. If you kill me, you know what will happen to him...?

　She smiles thinly, despite the pain she's enduring.

'If you're begging for your life, you can do better than that. And taking your life is not the only way for the High King to die. If only you die as a king, your country will be saved.

Well, if you don't kill him, it's no different if you hurt him!

Then you can take your pick. If you kill Ahide, I will make you suffer and kill you. But if you promise to help me, I will kill you with ease.

　I gulp down Levine Girma's blade.

''Ah, gyaaaaaaahhhhhh...!

What's up?　You had your hand out, but you won't kill Ahide?

　Breathing hard and shaking his hands, Viaflair said.

'Do you think I can't?'

Otherwise, I would have done it by now.

　As she pushed the blade further into the root, Viaflea's face was tinted with pain.
　She screamed as she endured it, killing her voice.

''I don't regret it...!

　Viaflare raised her trembling right hand and drew a magic circle.
　She laughs wryly and her face is tinted with confusion just as she tries to send her magic power.

　Working her magic eye hard, she looked around her own castle.

''Where are you looking?　If it's a hostage you're asking for, we're already here.

　A snow and moon flower fluttered down beside me.
　As a dazzling light was emitted, two figures floated there.

　They were the figures of Arcana and Ahide.
　Ahide is lying on the floor.

'As I told you, I rescued Ahyde Arobo Agatse. He's unconscious now.

Well done.

　After looking at Ahide, who was supposed to be a hostage, and Arcana, who was standing beside him, Viaphlea turned to me again.

'You look as if you didn't notice it at all?　While you were busy playing with me, Arcana broke through the prison. The Phantom Knights were busy dealing with the Dragon Knights outside. Their security was sloppy as well.

　Then I put my face close to his.
　I caress Viaflair's face, which is sinking in fear, with a cold stare.

''Well. A hostage is useless if you kill it. The fact that you've decided to kill it means you still have another trump card to beg me for your life, doesn't it?

　Spooked, Viaflea shuddered, as if frightened.

'Speak. Or do you want me to hex you into never seeing Boldinos again?

　I smile wryly at her as she changes her hue of blood.

'Yeah, I could turn her into the horrible, ugly form he abhors.

　Eyes open and buzzing, Viaflare shakes her head.
　'Don't, don't, just don't do that,' she repeats over and over again, in a thin voice.

'No. If mad love has destroyed this country, is it best to make sure you never feel like whispering about love again? How about making sure that your eyes, when they reflect Boldinos, turn to the one you hate the most?

　I could clearly see the despair in her eyes.

'Which one do you want?'

　Cracking up, Viaflare opens her mouth, but no voice comes out.

Hmm. It is hard to choose. Then I'll give you all three as a special gift.

　As if those words were the most effective, as soon as he drew the cursed magic circle, Viaflair spoke out.

''Ha, let's talk...!　I'm talking to you!　So I'll tell you...!

'Words are a choice. The next time you say something unprofitable, your tragic love will be fragile.

I'm gonna tell you how to end the selection process.　In order to bring the selection judges to an end, we must not be the winners of the judges. Then, as God intended, we'll have to follow the order!

　As if frightened, Viaflair swooped in a breath.

'Ho,'

　Finally a word worth hearing.

　But you shall not be the victor of the Tribunal.

"The orderly in charge of the Tribunal is El Lolarielom, god of consistency. That god will appear before the victor of the Selective Judgment. To destroy the God of Alignment, he would have to survive the Selection Tribunal, wouldn't he?

　Viaflair replies, still with a frightened look in his eyes.

It's true. But the selectors who have survived the Selection Tribunal cannot escape the order of Elrolarielom, the God of Harmony. The moment you follow the ritual of the Selection Judgment, you are ready to accept the power of the god.

　Winning the Selection Judgment is like receiving an inevitable curse, so to speak.

''So the first High King Boldinos, who tried to overthrow the Consistent God, was also at the mercy of the God's representative?

'Yes. Even with Boldinos' power, he couldn't defy the God of Consistency if he won the selection judges.

　So you're saying that Cerise was no match for the gods.

　That man's depths are unfathomable. Honestly, I didn't think he would fall behind any god I've ever seen, but is the compulsion of the Selective Judge that great?

'Hmm. Why don't you hand over the winner of the selection judges to the others and destroy them from the side where they appear?

'The only time Elrolarielom will show up is in the presence of the winner of the Selection Judge and the God of Selection. If anyone else is there, they can't even see, let alone touch, the God of Alignment.

　Is that why the name of the God who presides over the Selective Judgment is hardly known?

'So how do you lead them to their demise?'

'There's a way to meet Elrolarielom on the way to the Selection Judgment. The Order of the Congruent God certainly exists in this subterranean realm, if only because it hasn't surfaced.

That's a bit strange. A god that should only appear after winning the selection trials is walking around out there?

'What I just described was a time when the order of the Aligned God was stable. But it has been distorted.

　Hmm, it's not impossible.
　This Averniu, the God of Destruction, is now transformed into the Demon King's Castle of Delzogade.

"What happened to you?

At the first selection tribunal held underground, a dragonborn who was the first representative of the selectors disrupted the order in Elolarielom. That dragonborn was chosen as the selector by Militia, the God of Creation. She tried to use her power to contain the alignment god Elrolarielom with her power.

　Out of the corner of my eye, Arcana looks down.
　She seems to be thinking about something.

'I see. So, neither the Selectmen nor the ordinary gods can follow the alignment gods in their hands, but if it was Militia who created this world, they could handle it.

Yes. But the Creator God's plan has failed. He was one step away from sealing Elorarielom and ending the Selective Judgment and was betrayed by the dragonborn of his own choosing. Militia is dead.

　Not perished, but dead?

What happened to you when you died?

''I don't know. It may have been reincarnated, or it may have been interrupted as well. All I know is that that betrayed dragonman destroyed the enclosed Elrolarielom....

　The God of Reconciliation was destroyed once.
　Despite this, the Selection Judgment is currently underway.

'So, is this what you mean?　Because Militia died in the process, the half-sealed order of the Alignment God Elrolarielom was at work. Whoever wins the selection judgement cannot destroy the God of Alignment. Because according to your story, he would be considered an agent of the god. Still, what happens if you destroy the God of Consistency?

　It reminds me of the purpose of the selection tribunal.

'Originally, agents were meant to make up for lost order, weren't they?

　From what we've heard so far from Viaflare, there is one conclusion to be drawn.

'The first Acting Judge took the order of Elorarielom in his person to make up for the lost order. That's why the selection judges are still going on today. And that first representative is here under the ground. Hence, if he wins the Selection Judge, he will fulfill the role of the Alignment God.

　She nodded clearly.

'Yes. So if only we could meet with the first deputy before the Selection Judge decides, we could bring this divine ritual to an end.

Where are you?

You'll have no trouble finding it. We're looking for it, too. But the clues are there. The first representative of this agency hated the world.

　The world is a big deal.　

Why?

They were the enemy. They were everything. All along, the dragonborn were persecuted. He was born in Aghaha and was treated as an abomination from birth. God had prophesied that the persecution of the dragonborn would lead to the salvation of many people. Wherever he went under the earth, the people continued to oppress him, and the dragon-man accumulated hatred.

　There have been some cruel prophecies.

　Even if it minimized the number of victims, it would not be reasonable to sacrifice an innocent people.

''At last, the dragon man became a sacrifice to the king dragon. The dragon man's life was swallowed up by the root of the dragon, and he died without any help. But his strong hatred remained in the womb of the dragon. The baby dragon was born with a fierce hatred in his heart.

　Cutting off the words once, Viaflea continued to explain.

''Agaha feted the little dragon. But there was an unfathomable anger in the little dragon. There were still feelings of being persecuted unreasonably. Eventually, he was chosen as the eight gods' selector and vowed to take revenge on the people of the earth and their gods. The end of it was just as I said before.

'So the first deputy didn't serve his purpose after all?

　'Kokoro,' nodded Viaflair.

'Yes. Unfortunately, that dragonborn, who only acted out of hatred, couldn't grasp anything.

　You've tried to take revenge on the people and God and ended up becoming an unwanted agent yourself.

'How did you know so much about the first agent?'

''This is something that's in the forbidden book of Gadesiola. It was left by the first High King, or Boldinos.

　If it was Cerise who left the forbidden book behind, it sounds very shady.
　But I don't know if it's a lie.

"Does it say, 'End the Selection Tribunal'?

' ... yes. It seems that the Agaha prophecy says that the Selection Judgment must not be ended, but there's something Diedrich hasn't told you either.

　Viaflair smiled thinly, as if to say that it was a revitalizing move.

''The Selection Judge is the cause of the Shaking Sky. Soon the pillars of order will not endure and the earth's depths will be crushed by the canopy. That is the day of calamity that will be handed down to the Agaha.