Extra Demon: Sacred Academy of Light-Chapter 167: Far away
It is said that in the three worlds, no existence is truly immortal in every sense of the word. And of course, that's true. No one is. For example, the Guardian Thrones of reality itself are not immortal; they can be killed, absolutely. But not just anyone can do it. There's a reason there are only three of them left in the heavens—there used to be five. One of them was killed by the sin of Greed, and the other… no one knows. At least, I don't.
On the other hand, the seraphim are the beings closest to true immortality. Beings created from the very essence of God, beings supposedly His children in the most personal sense of the word. No one knows for sure… and I don't either. But it is said that they, too, are not immortal. How to kill them? I don't know that either.
The only thing I do know is that the seven primordial sins are also not immortal. But there is a way to kill all seven, although it's practically impossible. They may be the closest thing to a true immortal in every sense of the word. Why is that said? Because the only way to kill a sin—for example, the sin of Envy—is to eliminate all envy from the three dimensions.
That essentially means killing all beings in this dimension. The same goes for the other capital sins: lust, pride, wrath, and so on. It is an overwhelming advantage to grant the power of emotion to those seven individuals. You can't kill human emotions; they are practically our very essence. Even the celestials have emotions. In fact, it is said they are worse than demons themselves. That is the closest thing to immortality, truly…
Arthur grimly stared at the familiar screen that appeared out of nowhere before his eyes:
[The Seraph of Ice (The Essence of the White Abyss) has descended upon this world.][The Seraph of Speech (The Silent Prophet) has descended upon this world.]
"Isn't it wonderful?" I heard Her Majesty Brynthia's amused voice beside me.
"Is this woman for real…?" I rolled my eyes at Her Majesty's calmness in the face of such a harrowing sight in the skies.
"This isn't a joke!" I said, frustrated, pointing at the sky, which had once been clear and beautiful, with two suns shining warmly. Now, those very skies were being frozen down to the tiniest particle. Massive ice boulders exploded as if it were the end of the world. Snow began to fall, and the temperature dropped terrifyingly.
Elsewhere, abyss-like cracks opened the skies wide, spewing black fire streaked with red. My soul trembled at the sight of that fire...
In another part, hundreds of millions of white threads moved chaotically like a tide. Sometimes, they took different shapes—even humanoid ones—and were drawn toward a golden orb that glowed like a tiny sun. The only good thing was that this area seemed calmer… or so it seemed.
With a somber look:"Are they here for the fragment?" That's what I was hoping, and based on Greed's words from a few minutes ago, thankfully they're not interested in me.
"That's one way to put it… but it's strange," Her Majesty Brynthia said with a slight smile, as if enjoying what was happening. "If that were the case, the three sins would've gone straight for Emilia. I suppose they want something more, something I don't know."
"You don't know exactly?" I asked cautiously.
"Are you doubting me, hmm?" Brynthia smiled. "Well, it's what anyone would think, but it was to be expected. The moment I removed the seal from the Fragment of Life, it would attract the sins like flies. I just didn't expect it to be so soon."
"What do you mean?" That's something Professor Emilia mentioned too, but I still don't understand what she meant.
"You don't know… but unfortunately for you, I can't tell you anything." She shrugged and didn't say another word, her gaze fixed on the sky.
"Aren't you afraid your domain will be destroyed?" Realizing she wouldn't speak on the previous topic, I decided to ask something else.
"That would be a complete loss… but on the other hand, I'd gain immense favor from the Empire, and especially from Elizabeth and Emilia. There are losses, yes, but the gains far outweigh them. Besides…" She pointed to the millions of white threads that seemed to be protecting the beastly clearings. "Elizabeth seems to know it too."
That's true. Elizabeth has protected the beast clearings as best she can with her threads, but she can't do much more than that. Snow kept falling like raindrops, and some ice chunks were dropping like meteors...
"It's one way to look at it," I nodded. "Gaining the favor of two seraphim must be something…"
"I'm glad you understand," Her Majesty Brynthia smiled. "There's not much to worry about. All my animals are in a safe place. None of them will be harmed as long as I'm here."
Her Majesty Brynthia is a demigoddess in the human world. Just like the Emperor of the Empire, she is on the same soul level… in human form, of course.Now that I think about it, I've never seen her true form… thinking on that...
"You're different now," Her Majesty Brynthia placed her hands behind her back and swayed gently.
"You mean…?"
"Your attitude. Unlike how quiet you used to be, now you're much more talkative," Her Majesty Brynthia stepped a little closer, looking at me with curiosity.
Clearing my throat a bit:"Well… it's because of the pressure."
"What?" Brynthia widened her eyes slightly. She stared at me for a few moments before letting out a small laugh. "Now that I think about it, you do look much calmer than you let on."
"I've been through a lot. I guess one just gets used to it," I shrugged with a bit of indifference. "It's a relief knowing I'm not here because of me. That makes it a lot less stressful, as long as I don't get in the way of that fight."
"I see," Her Majesty Brynthia nodded. "Setting aside the fact that, apparently, you know about the seraphim… everything else seems fine." She gave me a thumbs-up.
"I really can't understand what I was thinking," I rolled my eyes. We both fell silent as we stared at the sky, which continued tearing apart like paper. Only now, the skies opened from time to time to reveal an absolute void filled with complete darkness...
