Make Dark Fantasy Great Again
Chapter 335
[Void Will]
All things shall find their rightful place.
Darkness is truly where they belong.
[Status ailment has been inflicted on target!]
[Status Ailment: Void Will]
[Target: Everyone]
***
[Title: "Everyone" really has multiple meanings]
Content: Can I interpret this "everyone"
as the game's power switch?
Should I follow the Void Will and turn off the game's power?
-: Ah! Haha I never thought of it that way but
that's definitely something that could be misunderstood!
Let me carefully correct that -
"everyone" there literally means all the characters that exist in the game!
Now all characters get debuffed and the time attack begins!!!
I'll write a one-line summary below so please refer to it!
One-line summary: Farewell
-: Yeah why did you do that;;;
-[Author]: What the hell did I even do
-: Why did you start this game;;;
-[Author]: Don't say things that are right, it's fucking annoying
-[Author]: What's with the warning message popping up when I try to load data?
[The Void Will is watching you]
-: If you load that data
it goes back to before the final base setup
-: Fuck, that restart chance is OP
-[Author]: Ah
-[Author]: I really got scammed
I'm just gonna sue this game
-[Author]: And what the hell is the Void Will anyway
At least let me know what the hell happened
-: We decided to call that the fucking law of conservation
-: You made the continent too livable
so continental-level adjustments are kicking in
Back to being a shitty place to live
Kind of like an immune system driving out germs that entered the body?
-[Author]: No, fuck
Why are the germs driving out the white blood cells
This world is truly fucked
-: Now you can't do anything outside the base
You have to solve everything with only the resources inside the final battle base
-: Never check the reputation of friendly factions
-: Never check the status of friendly characters
-[Author]: Then what about
the characters outside the base?
What about my expedition I sent out for farming
-: Ha lol dude you know the answer but keep asking lol
-: What kind of answer do you expect from us? lol
-: Just ignore what they say
Uncle and aunt all went to America and are doing well so don't worry
-[Author]: Fuck
Come to the base, not America
-: Sorry but that America is the kind you can't come back from once you go...
-: There's a story that when players die, George Washington who went there first comes running to welcome them
I really like this story.
-[Author]: No
Is this really how it ends???
What is this
If the Void Will appeared, can't I do anything now?
-: If I had to say!
That's kind of like a plague
So if you somehow block the source it'll work out
-: What's really vicious is lol
Those with 'Divinity' traits get infected by the Void Will first
They're marked as priority targets by the Void Will's standards lol
So Radion where the Religious Order's main base is gets completely wrecked first lolol
-: The crime of believing in god.
Death penalty.
-[Author]: Wow
-[Author]: This one is really fucking terrible on an unprecedented level?
-[Author]: The Religious Order guys are the only somewhat trustworthy group in this trash game
-[Author]: At this point
isn't the Void Will bastard actually the real Supreme God?
If the Great Will had done half of what that thing does, the Archdemons would've been unemployed long ago
-: How many times do I have to say
this game has the darkness faction as the protagonist
and the player is a troublemaker?
-[Author]: So then
how do I cause trouble this time?
-: The Religious Order city
Go to Radion and carry out 'purification' work
Then the Void Will's range and effects will significantly decrease
-[Author]: Isn't purification the Religious Order guys' specialty?
Why aren't they doing it themselves and telling me to do it
-: Anyone who knows what that purification means: Go-
-: What did you hear when I just explained it
I said it's a kind of plague?
-[Author]: No
You don't mean kill all the people in that city, do you?
***
Radion Cathedral, the heart of the Religious Order.
In that most pious and solemn place, an untimely commotion arose.
"Sister Bardrothos...!"
The Sanctuary of Divinity.
That space had the largest scale within the cathedral, but was used most restrictively.
Because they believed that everything that happened there would be fully conveyed to the Supreme God.
Therefore, that most sacred space was off-limits even to High Priests-
"You are-"
The current situation was highly unusual.
High Priest Bardrothos looked around the interior of the sanctuary.
In a place where normally even a single believer praying would feel bustling, countless believers had gathered.
The usual strict rules did not exist there.
There was also no purpose or topic to determine everyone's policy.
The sight of everyone busily moving around and randomly talking face to face resembled a marketplace.
It was undoubtedly a negligence that would never be permitted.
Under normal circumstances, that is.
"Ah, Sister Horna."
In the bustling crowd, the two High Priests' eyes met as if drawn by something.
Those black eyes seemed to forbid the intrusion of darkness, emanating a noble and mysterious sanctity.
High Priest Bardrothos stepped forward.
From her warm impression, one could feel a tolerance that seemed to embrace anything.
High Priest Horna stepped forward.
"It's been a while. I heard the story. You rooted out the cultists who had infiltrated the Gray Magic Tower and corrected their wrongdoing."
Bardrothos smiled awkwardly.
"It was thanks to precious connections. I too have heard Sister Horna's story. You subdued the magic sword of Illatdein together with the Seer and the Hero of Sealing?"
Horna smiled awkwardly. (E/N: I...don't remember those characters...)
"That was... I too must say it was thanks to precious connections."
"..."
"..."
What is this?
This strange familiarity.
A subtle current flowed between the two High Priests.
They felt something unknown weaving them more closely together.
Just then.
The air in the hall stirred with the exclamations of several believers.
The two High Priests took that as a signal to regain their serious demeanor and brought up the main topic.
"Did Sister Bardrothos also feel it?"
Even at Horna's sudden question, Bardrothos nodded as if she had been waiting for it.
"Sister Horna, you too must have felt it, His will-"
Thus.
Throughout the place, testimonies from countless believers continued.
What that meant was obvious.
The believers currently guarding this place had come here after sharing a common experience through their firm and pure faith toward the light.
The Sanctuary of Divinity.
To this place they believed was closest to the Supreme God.
"The Great Will. It is calling us."
The expressions of the two High Priests were colored with overwhelming emotion.
Finally.
Their one-sided faith had been rewarded.
Thus delusion would fade and devotion would deepen.
They could feel that a clearer and more radiant path had opened for the church's tomorrow.
Of course.
That didn't mean everything was over-
"So-"
Putting aside the brilliant tomorrow for a moment-
Worry appeared on their faces as they returned to reality once again.
"Did Sister Bardrothos understand? His will-"
"..."
Heads shake and sighs escape.
"It's because our faith was insufficient!!!"
A loud voice burst out from somewhere.
"Quiet, can't you be quiet!? Have you forgotten where this is!?"
"Is that important right now!?!
"He is calling us- but we can neither understand nor respond to His will!!! Even while in this grand hall!!!"
"Look at those flashy decorations! Look at this bloated space! It's because we were blinded by such formalities and distanced ourselves from the essence!!! Our faith has been corrupted!!! That's why we cannot fully understand His will!!!"
"How dare you deny the value of doctrine in the sanctuary...! It's blasphemy!!!"
This is why.
High Priests governing different denominations rarely gather in one place.
They each raised their voices.
The place split as if this was its natural state.
The sanctuary instantly transformed into chaos.
The reality of being unable to do anything even though the Great Will they had pursued so long was right before them.
The believers trembled at their own powerlessness. They felt deep doubt.
Self-loathing grew deeper and shook the foundation of their faith.
"Ah..."
"Oh no..."
Horna and Bardrothos sighed deeply at the scene of division unfolding before their eyes.
They felt moment by moment that the Great Will, which had only been felt faintly before, was becoming even dimmer.
"What on earth should we do..."
What led them to anguish was not the believers' division.
It was their own powerlessness, being unable to do anything while everyone lost their bearings in faith and became confused.
If they couldn't show the right path, what difference was there between them and the others?
In that moment.
The two High Priests felt an unsettling sense of unease.
It was as if something unknown was grabbing their feet and pulling them into the abyss-
Hissssss-
The darkness lurking in the corner was whispering something to them.
A stream of darkness freely roamed between their eyes like a beast prowling its territory.
The believers were constricted by another massive will that they couldn't even perceive.
Light shall illuminate darkness.
The darkness that came with the light was trying to imprison them in its embrace once again.
Thus.
It was when the believers' minds were being tainted by an empty darkness they couldn't even perceive.
"Everyone has gathered here."
It was a delicate voice that trembled like a fawn's legs.
Yet such a voice had a resonance that filled the entire vast hall.
"Saint...?"
Saint Asrania.
She who had just returned from pilgrimage appeared before the believers in the sanctuary.
The believers had fallen into such deep confusion that they forgot even the call of the Great Will-
But they forgot everything the moment the Saint appeared and focused entirely on her.
"Is it really you, Saint...?"
It wasn't anything else-
It was because the Saint's atmosphere had changed completely from before.
So much that it was hard to believe she was the same person.
"The sanctuary is noisy."
The girl who seemed to need endless care was no more.
Standing there was a being with such immense presence that she seemed capable of embracing everyone and more.
Furthermore, that aura.
Though the High Priests had reached their own level as followers of divinity, their auras seemed to instantly lose their light pathetically before the Saint.
Like embers before a bonfire.
"What happened?"
"...Saint, what happened during your pilgrimage?"
One High Priest couldn't contain their curiosity and asked.
The Saint responded with a proud smile, not hiding anything.
"I encountered the Great One and learned the path I must take."
"...!"
The hall stirred at the Saint's statement implying contact with the Supreme God.
"Saint-"
And then it settles down.
More calmly than before.
The believers who had lost their way regained hope through the Saint's presence.
"Did you also come here after feeling His will just now, Saint?"
If it was her.
She might lead them down the right path.
"...Just now?"
However, the Saint's reaction was quite different from what was expected.
"Ah...!"
The believers seemed to fall into deep confusion again.
However-
The Saint, who had heard the full story from them, said.
"How strange. If there had been His calling, there's no way I wouldn't have felt it."
Her confusion stemmed not from ignorance but from certainty.
"What you mean is-..."
That the Saint couldn't feel the fragment of the Great Will that all the High Priests had felt.
This would normally cause distrust.
However.
The Saint's eyes were looking straight ahead.
Unlike the eyes of other believers who didn't know what to follow-
The Saint's eyes seemed to be following a real form.
"..."
"..."
High Priests Horna and Bardrothos felt a strange attraction to such a Saint.
Was it their imagination?
The Saint's immeasurably vast and strangely alien aura-
Felt somehow familiar.
Thud.
"Sister Bardrothos!?
"High Priest Horna!"
They approached the Saint and knelt before her.
"Please..."
"Lead us lost ones down the right path..."
The air in the hall stirred with agitation.
Other believers began to kneel one by one, following them.
At the center, the Saint spoke in a calm tone.
"Do not be confused."
The Saint's eyes trembled faintly.
That day.
After the contact with the Supreme God.
Asrania had tried to feel His presence once more.
Repeated prayers.
However, Asrania ultimately could not reach Him.
"Because He is still beside us now."
Nevertheless, she did not lose her way.
Having directly encountered and felt Him, He certainly exists-
If she proceeded without wavering, someday she would be able to reach Him.
At this very moment.
Such faith of the Saint became conviction.
It was thanks to the presence of another believer.
"Sister Bardrothos. Sister Horna."
The Saint grasped the hands of the two High Priests.
Asrania felt a strange sensation from them.
A familiarity she had desperately longed for.
During her pilgrimage journey, Asrania had constantly felt isolated even while being with devout believers.
As if they were looking at the same place but seeing different things.
"Let us pray."
Such a Saint was saved by the presence of these two.
"For Him who will answer our faith."
Faint and faint again, but-
Because she felt from them the familiarity she had so desperately wished for.
"..."
"..."
The two High Priests gazed at the Saint.
Soon. Their eyes took on a strange light.
Saint Asrania.
High Priest Bardrothos.
High Priest Horna.
While everyone was lost, an unwavering light appeared in those three people's eyes.
Ah.
The three believers simultaneously let out exclamations.
Their prayers had reached.
***
"...Lindal!?"
-Hm? Ah-...
Lindal had been spacing out for a moment.
He came back to his senses at Risir's shout.
"The preparations for the ritual are complete! Please give the next instruction!"
-...
Then, considerable confusion appeared on his face once again.
-...Lindal, are you alright?
Lu-Rach couldn't hold back and expressed his concern.
Communication with believers through a third party.
He couldn't even dare to imagine what Lindal must be feeling right now.
But, before long-
Lindal's eyes once again faced straight ahead.
The corners of his mouth were slightly raised.
Had they lost their faith?
Or had they found a new faith?
Whatever it was, it didn't matter.
As long as it could lead them down the right path-
If it could guide them to a place he couldn't take them-
-...Yes, that's enough.
A deep smile appeared on his face.
***
Shortly after.
Following Lindal's instructions-
And according to Risir's mediation(?), a ritual was performed in the holy city 'Radion'.
-From now on. I will have their Mental Images temporarily take refuge within my own Mental Image. So that the Void Will... cannot invade them.
-Wait, Lindal...! Are you alright!?
Lu-Rach shouted.
He, who was in a similar yet different situation to Lindal, knew.
If Lindal, who didn't belong to this world, exerted such massive influence-
The price he would have to pay.
-Yes. I'm fine, of course.
Lindal nodded without hesitation.
A pleasant smile had appeared on his face.
His gaze fixed on Risir.
-Because now they have found a new path.
"...Lindal?"
Risir couldn't bring himself to ask Lindal what he meant.
-Risir.
Two hands firmly grasped Risir's left hand.
Lindal looked straight into his eyes and said.
-This might be our last conversation. Ironically- in my current situation, even having a conversation with you in this form is difficult. So let me say this clearly.
Crack.
More force was added to the gripping hands-
-Thank you. For everything about you.
***
Shortly after.
The ritual was performed.
In different spaces, different beings held the same intention.
The believers of the holy city Radion reached their hands toward the sky.
Lindal reached his hand toward the crystal spread beneath the floor.
At that moment.
A massive distortion occurred in the center of the crystal-
Through it, massive energy surged forth.
The holy city Radion.
The Mental Images of those citizens who believed in one common value- followed the guidance of 'Saint Asrania'.
A massive 'Mental Image' that could encompass the entire city flowed in.
-...
Lindal gritted his teeth and prepared to accept all of it.
That which even the being called the Supreme God couldn't fully handle.
--...
But why was it that.
-...?
The pain and weight that never came no matter how long he waited.
Lindal turned his gaze just in case.
"Hm...?"
Risir was tilting his head at a strange foreign sensation.
***
"What on earth is this..."
Saint Asrania.
Following the ritual and embraced in the 'Supreme God's' arms, she and her group were swept into great confusion.
There, something of unknown identity welcomed them.
It was two pillars.
Opaque pillars that retained the texture and color of sand.
Those pillars were so massive they could reach the far sky, and even craning their necks with all their might, the tops didn't come into view.
Just then.
Rumble rumble rumble-
The atmosphere vibrated.
At the end of the sky-
Something exploded from a position high enough to reach the sun.
-What are you!?!
It was vibration caused by a voice.
The voice of a being who once had an entire city under their feet.
Sand Mountain that Blocks the Sun-
No, Mischievous One of Sand Hills, Verdande....ssu... said.
-Has Master taken in more vermin again!?
Massive pillars supporting the sky.
A grayish-white sun.
This was how the two spirits(?) appeared to their eyes.
The spirits(?) looked down at them from above the sky.
-Why are you so small!?
The massive Mental Image encompassing all of the holy city Radion was contained there.
In that place of bizarrely immense scale.