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Chapter 396:

It was as I expected.

With tears in her eyes, she was crouched on the ground, shaking with a confused expression.

Of course, it was natural.

In the original story, the Sun God was declared to be a good god, and she was confused and despairing at his declaration of destruction.

…I can only imagine the loss she must be feeling now, having firmly believed that the Sun God was a good god.

Perhaps, she feels as if the ground she was supposed to stand on has collapsed.

Now is my chance.

While she was in a state of deep despair at the Sun God and confusion about what to do, she was the most unstable.

This was my chance to bend her to my will.

Everything I\'ve done, everything I\'ve ever done, has been for this moment.

That\'s why I opened my mouth.

"Celeste."

"Why did we follow the Sun God?"

"…What?"

I said that with a serious expression, and she asked me back with a confused expression.

To her, I opened my mouth quietly.

"We followed the Sun God…because he was a good god…because he saved our lives, and we knew he would do the same for this world."

Yes.

This is what I had been whispering to her all along.

‘The reason we believe in the Sun God is because he\'s a good god.’

…Actually, Celeste probably didn\'t have a reason to believe in the Sun God. It was just blind faith.

But the moment I stipulated ‘why we believe in the Sun God\', it would have been natural for her to accept it on her own, as if by implication.

So I made a premise.

We believe in the Sun God ‘because\' he\'s a good god.

And that means…that if the Sun God is not a good god we don\'t have to believe.

"…Yes. But…But, hmmm. Egotistic. I don\'t know what to do now, now, now…"

She sobbed like that, still on the floor, knees together, clutching me, head bowed.

Then, in a sobbing voice, Celeste began to tell me what had happened earlier.

"Egotistic, it\'s true…God came and spoke to me alone."

And with that, Celeste told me everything that had happened between her and God.

That God had told her to destroy this world until he could descend in his place.

That her powers were actually given to kill people, not to save them, for the sole purpose of eliminating more humans…and that she was told to eliminate those with star power.

"I don\'t know…Egotistic. I don\'t know, I don\'t know, what am I supposed to do, hmmm, what am I supposed to do…?"

She asks, completely broken, clinging to me.

"Celeste, you just need to calm down. Okay?

I gently pulled her back into my arms, for now.

…She looked much worse than I thought she would.

Seeing the leader of the villains, who had been through so many battles, looking so fragile, like a little girl, made me feel sick.

Has she ever looked this broken before?

Perhaps this is how a person reacts when their lifelong beliefs are shattered.

And in front of her.

"Hmph…"

"Yeah. Just calm down, calm down."

With a pitying expression, I stroked her back as she sobbed in my arms.

I stood in front of her, face to face, with a stern expression, and pretended to think for a moment.

"….hah."

I looked at Celeste, narrowing my eyes.

With a look of determination I grabbed her by the shoulders and said.

"Celeste. Listen."

At my words, she struggled to raise her head and looked up at me.

I looked at her dazzling silver hair and watery golden eyes, and began to speak bravely, as if after much deliberation, I had come to a conclusion.

"Celeste. We believed in the Sun God because we believed he was a god that would save mankind."

"The Sun God will save the world just as He has saved us. In ancient times and now, He has always cared for humans alone and looked after us. Though He is not present in this world due to unavoidable circumstances, He will surely return one day to lead us once again…

But,

Now, I realize that he is not such a god at all…And that he is trying to destroy the world out of sheer malice, for reasons unknown.

Should we follow His words?"

"You mean….?"

She looked up at me with a confused expression, as if she had misheard me and couldn\'t understand what I was saying.

Now. This is important.

I put on my best serious face and began to speak with determination.

"…I, uh, I don\'t think so."

"If God is going down the wrong path and you\'ve ever been his follower, it is right to stop him, even if it means dying.

And now, God is not who we thought he was…and is about to destroy the world, even using you as a pawn.

I…I think we should stop him even if it takes all of us working together to stop him from destroying humanity."

I exhaled after speaking so forcefully.

…And then, at the end, I added.

"…And you, Celeste, what do you think?"

Celeste\'s response was…

"I, I…"

She looks up at me with watery eyes and trembles, unable to continue.

She was even more confused than before.

…But.

‘…She\'s shaking.’

I, who had betrayed the god she had worshiped her entire life.

She wasn\'t angry, but she was confused.

I could tell that she was shaking now, which means that she just needed a little more push.

I grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

"Celeste. Do you remember what I said before, that I\'ll always be by your side?”

"…Yes."

"And… I also told you a few days ago that if the world turns against you, I\'ll be the only one left standing by your side. I\'ll defend you against anyone.

Well, I think it\'s about time I made good on those words."

I turned so I was eye-to-eye with her, and spoke in a serious voice.

"When I say that to protect you, I would have to face God…I would stand up to God, only to protect you because you are far more important to me than an invisible god. Until the day I die, I will stand up to God, for you, and watch over this world."

I say, while silently, I run my hand through her hair, as a single tear drips down her cheek.

She smiled, and then opened her mouth.

"When I asked you why you believed in the Sun God… you said it was because he saved your life when everything else was falling apart, and you started following him.

And now…I…I will save you. I will protect you. I will be the new direction of your life.

…As much as that is true, I need you to trust me now. I will take charge, I will save this world, and I will right the wrong God.

I will be the rock you can lean on.

Celeste…please…will you join me?"

I said, and reached out my hand.

The devil whispered.

Yes. Everything I\'d said so far was practically a whisper of the devil.

Don\'t think too deeply.

Lean on me.

I\'ll do all the hard work for you, if you just lean on me…I mean, depend on me.

We are not betraying God. We\'re just correcting a god who has gone astray.

So, come with me.

For this moment, in effect, I have spent all of my time since I joined Cathedral.

"….."

Celeste had been listening silently, her silver hair hanging down, her head bowed, since the middle of what I had just said.

Then, still keeping her head down so I couldn\'t see her face, she muttered quietly to me.

"…Egotistic."

"Yeah."

"Did you know? How long I believed in the Sun God."

She gave a hollow laugh as she said it.

"From my childhood, until now. For decades, I\'ve spent my entire life following only him, wondering how I could live according to his will, what would be right for him, what would please him."

"…Yeah."

"So, perhaps, the old me, if that same God told me to destroy the world…I would have hesitated, but I would have followed Him. After all, I am His body, reborn because of Him, and I am obligated to follow Him."

"But…But, now…"

And with that she raised her head, and looked up at me with reddened golden eyes.

Then, in a trembling voice, she confessed to me.

"…because of you, I\'m going to lose it all.

You have to take care of me…all the way. Do you understand?"

She grabs my hand as she says that to me.

I squeezed her hand firmly, looking her in the eye and saying.

"Yes. I understand, I\'ll see it through to the end."

Just like that, I had succeeded in bringing Celeste, the greatest variable on the road to destruction, to my side at last.

***

And that time.

"….."

Stardus opened her eyes to an unfamiliar space.