Fated to Be Loved by Villains

Located near the Void Zone, the Great Temple, the Holy Kingdom’s Academy, was the most devout and quiet of the three academies.

Perhaps due to it being the birthplace of the continental church, it was a place with extremely strong religious characteristics.

Even now, though they were facing a clearly abnormal situation, most people maintained their composure and didn’t act rashly.

“...What kind of batshit crazy thing is he even telling me??”

“...”

Although, there was always that one guy who was in deep enough shit to throw dignity out the window.

Archbishop Luminol, who also served as the headmaster of the Great Temple, groaned these words out at the person who reported to him.

“Ignore His Holiness the Pope and evacuate everyone right now? Who the fuck’s gonna deal with the aftermath?”

Within the Holy Kingdom, the pope boasted power that could knock birds out of the sky if he willed it. It was to the extent that if one refused to listen to him, no one knows what might happen to them later on.

“...But.”

The one the archbishop was talking to, a professor who usually maintained close contact with the Saintess, and the one who had forwarded that very person’s request, swallowed hard and said.

“It’s clear that something unusual is happening. We can’t just leave the innocent students here.”

“...”

While Archbishop Luminol’s loyalty to the Holy Kingdom was strong, he wasn’t someone completely devoid of common sense and conscience.

Hence why his following words that sounded like an excuse came out of that loyalty.

“...His Holiness said that this is the first spark to ‘purify’ the world.”

“...”

“And everyone should gloriously accept it-”

Frankly speaking.

Even Archbishop Luminol, who was saying this, knew very well that the pope’s words were just a bunch of horseshit.

However, anyone who knew even a modicum of the internal affairs of the Holy Kingdom would understand that they had no choice but to obey his words despite knowing that.

He was called the pope, but who knows many people have been purged and disappeared off the face of Earth because of him.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a tyrant even.

And...

It was clear that Dowd’s instruction to ‘contact through trustworthy people’ via the Saintess was being faithfully carried out.

Seeing them upheld their beliefs even in the face of such danger proved it.

“Cut the bullshit, Your Grace.”

“...”

“We’re all gonna die either way.”

Though the words stated were quite blunt, but...

“I heard that that Dowd Campbell guy is opposing the pope. Honestly, I couldn’t care less what side he is on, as long as we could get away from-”

“Ah, Mr. Dowd!”

“...”

“...”

Hearing that sudden voice, Archbishop Luminol and the professor simultaneously turned their heads towards its source.

It was Lana Rey Delvium, the DLC protagonist of Sera. She popped her head out as she sprang up from the sofa.

The girl had been sleeping soundly on that sofa until now. She only woke up after she heard a familiar name. A truly carefree attitude befitting an immortal.

...Although, it could just because of her nerves were just incredibly thick.

“Is it a message from Mr. Dowd? How is he doing?”

“...Lana, I think we can save the pleasantries for later, my dear.”

“Hmm-”

Lana nodded as if agreeing, then tilted her head and asked.

“...So, what did he say?”

“...”

Looking at her carefree demeanor, it felt as if the current situation wasn’t something to be taken seriously at all.

Perhaps that was why Archbishop Luminol patiently explained the situation in a gentle tone, as if he was soothing a child.

After hearing the brief rundown of the situation, Lana scratched her head and blurred out frankly.

“Dad, wouldn’t it be better to just do it?”

“...”

“Mr. Dowd’s the one who requested it, no?”

It was such a refreshing conclusion that it made their previous argument seem pointless.

“Lana, this isn’t something you can just decide so easil-”

“From what I see, Mr. Dowd will win.”

“...”

“Even if he doesn’t win, at least His Holiness the Pope won’t be in one piece either, isn’t that reason enough?”

“...”

Without a doubt.

That was a judgment befitting a woman with beast-like intuition.

●

[The Great Temple has started evacuating. How did you even manage to do that?]

Hearing Headmistress Atalante’s perplexed voice through the magic stone, I responded with a wry smile.

“I told you, I know some reliable people.”

See, this was why having connections in high places was important.

For example, if I didn’t have this hovercar I was currently riding, I wouldn’t have reached the Golden Triangle so quickly.

Sure, I could have relied on Faenol to close the distance in an instant, but endless battles awaited us, so we couldn’t just waste our stamina unnecessarily.

–In any case, we managed to buy some time.

It had always been this way, but it was no exaggeration to say that the Final Chapter was all about time management.

After all, ‘game-over’-level bombs were scattered everywhere throughout the Chapter.

First, it’d be game over If the Gate to the Astral World stayed open for too long.

It’d also be game over if the pope was left alone, as he was using the Gate as bait while he’d try to enter the Void Zone.

Of course, it’d also be game over if we were to forget about the Prophet’s existence, as she was still biding her time, preparing her own means to kill the Devils.

In any case, with this, I managed to delay the activation of the first aforementioned bombs.

The things pouring out from the Astral Realm were, amusingly, more sensitive to the element of ‘sacrifice’ than the creatures emerging from Pandemonium.

If all the people inside the Great Temple had been swallowed whole as sacrifices, the Gate’s opening would have accelerated significantly.

We need to allocate our personnel wisely.

We had no choice but to do that since we’d have to tackle all three bombs at once.

Arriving here first was part of that strategy.

“-Wow, I’ve never seen it like this before!”

Iliya screamed as such beside me.

She probably said that because she had never seen Elfante this empty before.

Confirming that the evacuation was executed swiftly and efficiently, I jumped off the gliding hovercar and landed.

“But why are we here?”

“I have something to do.”

“Hmm, really?”

“...What’s with that answer?”

When I questioned Iliya, who was rubbing her chin as if to say, ‘Is there really a need for that?’, she glanced back—probably at our other companions following behind.

“Actually, couldn’t we just make use of that woman?”

“...”

“...Judging by her aura earlier, it seems like she could kill everyone even if she charged in alone..”

...Yeah.

I completely agree with that.

“She’s strong enough to do that anyway, no?”

“...No.”

I narrowed my eyes, decisively rejecting Iliya’s words.

“We can’t let her fight.”

“...Huh?”

“The other side knows that you and her are our strongest forces here, there’s no way they hadn’t prepared countermeasures for that.”

Considering that...

It would be better to keep Eleanor out of fights until the very end.

Unless there’s no other choice, that is.

“This is also part of your job. Keep her at bay so she doesn’t waste her energy unnecessarily.”

“...You’re talking like you want me to restrain some uncontrollable wild animal.”

Hmm.

Hearing Iliya said that made me glance back at Eleanor, who was following behind in another hovercar.

“...”

“...”

“...”

Even the other Devil’s Vessels, who were riding the same hovercar, found it hard to say anything.

It felt like they were avoiding eye contact with her.

Her wedding dress—tattered, bloodstained, and covered in dirt—gave off a bizarre feeling.

But more than that, those gleaming eyes, which seemed like they were ready to kill anything in sight, looked almost like something straight out of a horror movie.

“...I mean, yeah, that’s kinda what your job is...”

“...”

After a brief silence, unable to refute my words, Iliya cleared her throat and changed the subject.

“So, what are you gonna do while I’m holding her back?”

“Things that need to be done. One at a time.”

The framework of my strategy was a little complex, but I could summarize it roughly.

While the others were out there, buying time, I’d deal with everything myself, tackling everything one by one.

The first thing to deal with was of course, that Gate connecting to the Astral Realm.

We’ve bought some time by evacuating people from the Great Temple, now was the time to put a ‘wedge’ in there.

That was something we had the means to do from our side.

Thinking that, I glared at a building I’ve entered before.

It was where one of the pillars of the barrier protecting this area from the Void Zone exists.

“...It won’t be easy to break through though.”

Iliya muttered after noticing my gaze.

She was right.

Due to the influence of the Gate connecting to the Astral Realm, I could already see the terrain changing.

Soon, creatures from the Astral Realm would be pouring one after another, just like during the Crimson Night Incident. It definitely wouldn’t be an easy task. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

But...

I’ve already prepared something for a time like this.

While thinking that, I firmly grasp what I ‘prepared’ in my hand.

“It reminds me of the old times.”

“...”

As soon as I said that...

Yuria and the Saintess, both tied up with leashes, glared daggers at me, as if they wanted to kill me.