Pope Noah Carnelius, the supreme leader of the Pope and supreme head of the Holy Kingdom of Caritas.

　The publicity about her is really quite fierce.

　They say she is a child prodigy. They say she is a child of the Kirinji. They say she is a child of love.

　And - they say - the one-eyed godson.

　Originally, Noah was not born in the Holy Kingdom, but in Ad Astera, the neighboring country to the east. She was the heiress of the Carnelius family, one of the greatest aristocrats in the Empire, along with Palladys and Azurite.

　Noah's father, a Cardinal, was in charge of all the rituals in the Empire, and his power and influence surpassed even the Pope of the time.

　As the son of such a father, Noah naturally took refuge in the doctrine of the Law and God and followed the path of a devout believer.

　However, although Noah was an earnest and zealous believer at that time, he did not show any unusual talents that would astonish the public, and he was, to put it simply, a very ordinary child.

　His reputation changed when he was six years old.

　In that year, Noah went to the Holy Kingdom with his father and, claiming to have received a divine revelation, he plucked out his left eye and dedicated it to the altar. Naturally, everyone was in an uproar, but strangely enough, Noah was not injured and the wound had healed perfectly, as if he had received a high level of divine magic.

　After this event, Noah was awakened to divine magic, and its tremendous effects easily surpassed those of his many predecessors. It was at this time that Noah began to be called a child prodigy.

　A few years later. He became the youngest priest, the youngest priest, the youngest bishop, the youngest cardinal, and so on, and finally he became the youngest pope ever to reign at the top of two organizations, the Temple of Law and the Holy Kingdom.

　Of course, his ascent up this ladder is unprecedented, perhaps even unprecedented. Inside and outside the church, there were many who disagreed with it. However, the voice of approval was even more than that - it was so huge that it was enough to shut out all objections.

　The basis for this support was the many achievements that Noah had made. The defeat of the Immortal King on three occasions was the crowning achievement among his many achievements.



　Undead monsters are devoid of life, and they cannot die from a single piercing of the head or heart. Even ghost monsters don't have bodies.

　They bear the name of immortal (undead) because of their difficulty in defeating them, and to destroy them, one would need either the divine magic of a priest, the attacking magic of a sorcerer, the spirit magic of a spirit user, or the armor that possesses their power.

　But in the case of the Immortal King, who was at the pinnacle of undead monsters, it was hard to say that even these methods could be passed through.

　It wasn't that they couldn't be destroyed. However, most immortal kings keep their bodies in the spirit realm called the Amulet, and the bodies that appear in this world are nothing more than shadows. No matter how many shadows he destroys, his body is still alive and well.

　Once the shadow is destroyed, the Immortal King needs some time and preparation to reappear on earth. Therefore, it is not meaningless to destroy the shadow. However, the answer to the question of whether he could destroy the King of the Immortals by doing so would be "no".

　The Immortal Monster, the Immortal King, is an immortal monster that surpasses the Immortal Demon (Undead Monster).

　In order to destroy it, you have to go to the spiritual realm on your own. Of course, this was not an easy task, and one had to be prepared to die for it. Moreover, even if he succeeded in this difficult task, it did not mean that he would be able to defeat the Immortal King.

　Fighting in the world without a body is a battle for the soul. There is no excuse for the difficulty of killing the Immortal King in human flesh.

　It's not surprising that Noah Carnelius, who accomplished that difficulty three times, has earned the respect and adoration of people inside and outside the Order.



　--and it is because of such a Noah that one can understand the abnormality of the scene in front of one's eyes.
　--the abnormality of a single swordsman destroying an immortal king.



''Gu, gee--that's ridiculous.''


　Sharamon groaned in an uncomfortable voice that sounded like rusted iron rubbing against each other. If Sharamon had a flesh and blood body, his face would have been badly contorted.


'Why can you cut. Why do I have to be cut. This body is a shadow. You can't hurt your body by cutting the shadow. Why is that?


　Sharamon's movements are terribly slow as he says that. It's no surprise, then, that Sharamon's body is deeply engraved with sword wounds from his left shoulder to his right hip.

　There's already no trace of the wound that split his brain with the first attack, yet that wound shows no signs of disappearing for any length of time.

　That's no wonder. That's because the wound was a projection of what was carved into Sharamon's body.


'The blade that reaches the yūreiyo. The sword that cuts through the truth of the yugen. ''Silly. Such a thing.''


　If I had known there was such a thing, I wouldn't have munched on it. Sharamon groaned.

　The first attack that split his brain was definitely enchanted, but it didn't make him feel any itch. So he didn't admit that he needed to be wary of the second attack.

　If the opponent had the means to harm the Immortal King, there was no reason not to use it in the first attack, which was a perfect surprise. No one would be foolish enough to leave any spare energy to deal with Sharamon, who had sown so much destruction.

　That's what logical thinking is all about.

　And yet, the enemy's second attack did indeed capture Sharamon's body. It was grabbing him and slashing him to pieces without mercy. It was such a fatal blow that Sharamon had to prepare for his destruction.

　Now, what was in Sharamon's mind was anger. It is not anger that is about to be destroyed. It's anger at the actions of an opponent that is not logical.


　--If you have such........such a weapon, why didn't you use it in your first attack!　If I had done that, this body would have already perished!


　The opposing swordsman only faintly raised his eyebrows in response to the question, but did not answer. Wordlessly, he swung his black sword and brought it down.

　The moment the cutting edge that shone with fresh blood color spread across his field of vision, the scene from the past night party flashed through Sharamon's mind.







"--Sharamon. You didn't hear what I said earlier, did you?


　A small shadow called out to him after the evening party was over that day. It was one of the only two high-ranking Sharamon leaders at the night party.

　In addition, he was also the one who had called the Immortal Kings, who were both peculiar and peculiar, to form a night party, and had managed to make it happen.


He said, "I will listen to anything worth listening to. Otherwise, I won't listen. It's only natural.''


　There is no hint of crouching in Sharamon's voice as he responds. Even if you are a superior, you are not obligated to obey.

　However, Sharamon does have a certain amount of respect for this opponent, which is why he stopped and responded to the call. If it had been another Immortal King against him, he would have quickly left without turning around.


''Isn't it worth asking?　For me, I thought it was a useful enough story to tell everyone.

'In dealing with the empire, beware of the guardians of the island--a story that may be useful to those who still keep their bodies in this world. Like thee. But it is of no use to me. There is no one who can hurt me in the dark.


　Neither a skilled warrior, a highly virtuous priest, nor a great wizard can destroy Sharamon. Even the guardians of the demon gate are the same. Where is the need to be wary of such an opponent?


'There will be exceptions like Pope Noah, won't there?'

"Stop laughing.


　The humans praise Pope Noah for destroying the three immortal kings, and seem to think that even the immortal kings are powerless before the Pope, but this is ludicrous from Sharamon's point of view.

　The things that the Pope has destroyed and Sharamon are of a different order. Even if the Pope fights them in the underworld, he will always win. I'm sure he'll show his true worth in time," Sharamon said.


I don't care about the humans," he continued, "I don't care about you. I don't care about the humans," he said.

I don't think I have any intention of doing that at the moment. I don't think I'll ever feel like it in the future.

"If you don't want eternity, why do you become an immortal king?

No, Sharamon. It's not that I don't want eternity. I just don't want to lose fear as much as I do. I just don't want to lose my fears as much as I do.


　So I will not transfer myself to the astral world.

　Sharamon was slightly confused by these words.


''Fear.''

'What happens to a thing that loses its fear is embodied by you now. Sharamon, there were no enemies of ours in yesterday's world, certainly not in today's world. Neither will the world of today. But that doesn't mean the world of tomorrow will be the same. Fear, in other words, is the point of view.


　As he said this, the other man narrowed his eyes faintly, as if he was worried about something.

　Then he slowly opened his mouth.


'Be careful, Sharamon. You fear nothing, and you refuse to see anything. That conceit may one day lead to your downfall.

"It's a prophecy.

A word of advice. We may have different intentions, but we're all on the same path to eternity.





　How many days ago was it that we had that conversation? How many months ago? How many years ago was it?

　When the Pope's name was mentioned, it couldn't have been decades ago.

　--that was the last thought of the Immortal King Sharamon.