Act 5: Chapter 40: Masked Man
“… Some of Greed's golems might still be rampaging in the city. Let's go.”
I called out to Philia, who was still hugging Greed.
“Uhm…”
Philia nodded, caressing Greed's head one last time before walking toward me.
At that moment, the sound of clapping hands resounded in the room.
When I looked in the direction of the sound, a man stood there before I knew it.
“Brilliant… Kanata Kanbara… No wonder the higher beings are racking their brains to find a way to deal with you.”
The man's face was covered by a roundish mask, and a crown was placed on top of his head. In his hand was a huge cane glowing in golden color.
“… Who are you?”
“Nice to meet you, I'm the leader of the 《Invisible Hand of God》, the true ruler of this Locklore, 《World King; Veranta》. So far, you have managed to restrain Ramiel, forced Sophia to run with her tail between her legs, even curbstomping my magnum opus… Adam.”“The leader… of the 《Invisible Hand of God》?”
The leader of the organization that tried to kill me had actually shown up on his own. Wait a second, something he said caught my attention.
“Magnum opus… Adam?”
When I checked Greed's level, I realized that his name was Adam.
“W-What do you mean? The one who created Uncle is the real Greed…”
Philia expressed her doubt. It seemed she knew about the secret behind Greed's… or rather, Adam's birth, yet the reality seemed to clash with what she knew.
“Well, you're mistaken. Adam is the creation of my 《Gift Skill》… 《Universal Alchemy》. I just slipped in as one of Greed's subordinates and helped a bit.”
“What…!”
“To be exact, Adam himself was supposed to be a 《Humanoid Dragon》… over level 500. But in order to turn him into your opponent, I once again sneaked among Adam's lackeys and pretended to find the method to mass-produce 《Mechanical Moon》. Thus resulting in the creation of my magnum opus. It wasn't something that Greed could ever hope to create, no matter how much money he spent.”
“YOU LITTLE…!”
I unconsciously grabbed my sword, ready to strike at Veranta.
“Are you… the one toying around with Uncle?”
Veranta looked down at Philia upon hearing her question.
“It's just the result. In the first place… We, the 《Invisible Hand of God》 are the ones who aided Greed to become the great merchant in this kingdom. We raised a poor, yet greedy merchant to add color to this world.”
“Then… that Greed's… or rather, Adam's hatred is…”
I thought that the reason for Greed, who was tormented by sadness and anger, to hate humans was because he had no idea where to vent those emotions. But if what Veranta had said was true, then he was the root of Adam's suffering.
“Though we let the matter take its course after his creation, the matter went as we predicted… That's all I can say. His hatred was the bud that we cultivated carefully with preparations.”
So all of this tragedy was caused by the 《Invisible Hand of God》.
Philia reached out her hand toward Veranta and clenched her fist.
Giant white arms with red patterns appeared and crushed Veranta.
“《Deploy》”
Just when the fist was about to be clenched shut, countless swords and spears appeared out of nowhere, stabbing the giant hand and stopping its movement.
Philia glared at Veranta as red tears trailed down her cheeks. This was the first time I saw her look so enraged.
“I didn't come here to fight. And even if we fought… none of you can defeat me. I showed myself to give you a warning.”
“A warning?”
“We… the 《Invisible Hand of God》 are the protectors of this world… we are working day in and day out to ensure the storyline. Do you know why?”
“… To become the chess pieces of the higher beings only to trample on the inhabitants of this world.”
“What I mean is the method itself, not the end goal. The reason I reveal everything to you isn't to negotiate with you, nor do I try to provoke you.”
“Can you stop beating around the bush?”
“Once the higher beings lose any interest in this world, this world… this Locklore is going to be erased.”
I felt a chill running down my spine upon hearing those words.
“Just because they got bored, that's too much…”
“To begin with, the higher beings used a lot of resources to do… something like maintenance to Locklore. In fact, there are few similar worlds to Locklore that have been erased since they're bored. Do you get it now, Kanata Kanbara? I admit that we did create tragedy. Yet your act of trampling them down has rapidly decreased this world's lifespan. Now tell me how you feel after crushing the higher beings' expectations?”
I couldn't give an answer immediately.
“… What do you want by telling me that story? Surely… killing me will be the fastest way to save this world, but…”
“If only doing that would settle this problem. Unfortunately, the only reason I came today is just to talk with you. As I told you before, I didn't come to fight. I've told you, right? Adam is my magnum opus? Even with the wealth of the great merchant Greed, that is the limit of what I can prepare. As for Ramiel… and Sophia, who have already been defe— oh well, it's not like you know who Sophia is.”
I already knew about Ramiel, but I had no idea who Sophia was. Did something happen to her in a place that I didn't know about?
“Around level 5000… man, that's a pretty good level. But still a far cry from the 《Demon King of Sixth Heaven; Nobunaga》. Not on the level where I need to use 《Void of Silence》.”
… 《Demon King of Sixth Heaven; Nobunaga》. I've heard that name before from Ramiel. According to Ramiel, that person had a personality problem which made him ill-suited for an organization like the 《Invisible Hand of God》, but that person was something like the organization's ace in the hole.
“Well then, farewell, Kanata Kanbara. The D day is just around the corner. I will protect my beloved Locklore… with my own hands. You should do your best to struggle for the people you care about.”
After saying so, Veranta turned around and walked away from us. Just when I was wondering what he wanted to do, a giant mirror of metallic relief appeared in front of him. Veranta walked into the mirror, and his figure vanished along with the mirror. It seems he teleported himself to another place.
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Harem, Hero, Demon King, Seven Deadly Sin, Seven Virtue, Sacred Beast, Sword and Magic, Dystopian Future, DESTINY PROJECT HAD IT REALIZED!, Dungeon, Dragon, 72 Demons, Reincarnations
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