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Chapter 5Vol. 2 - . - The Other Disciple (5)
After the clandestine meeting with Tartanin that Leelou had arranged, Zhaviest went to the village of Leaven, which was said to have been conquered by the Demon Lord's Army.
With three accompanying children following him, Zhaviest took a swig from the sake bottle he brought out of his breast pocket. The six children he had at that time, now reduced to half, were of no interest to him.
He walked through the countryside, gazing at the fertile land through which the river flows with a suspicious look in his eyes. Soon, what appeared to be a village came into view.
Then, a group of ox-headed demons, who looked like village guards, approached Zhaviest slowly.
Zhaviest put his flask of sake away and produced a smiling face. The demons let out a muddy voice.
"Hey, you. Where's your demon master?"
"I DON'T have a master. But… that's right, you know. If I had one, I suppose it would be god?"
Zhaviest remained aloof, but he did not stop walking.
"This guy. Is he a stray human?"
"How rare, in these days."
The demons simply followed after Zhaviest, seemingly unnerved by his commanding attitude.
Eventually, they arrived at an open area that looked like a village square. Zhaviest confirmed that the slave villagers, clad in dirty clothes, were watching the situation from a distance.
(Let's, do it here?)
The ox-headed demons were discussing the situation casually with Zhaviest at a sidelong glance, who had stopped walking.
"Who wants, this slave chap?"
"I'm just in time! But rather, I don't want something like a middle-aged man as a slave, you know. Let's take just the brats."
Ignoring Zhaviest, he turned to face the children that ox-headed demon was bringing along.
"Rest assured. I won't kill you, you know! Y'all work hard as slaves."
However, the children were smiling, even laughing. A moment later, petals fluttered from behind one of the boy's back. The tree peony's petals whirling in the wind formed a human shape in the blink of an eye, and a bizarre figure, several times taller than a child, rose to its feet.
"…Ah?"
The demons were stunned. A beautiful, statuesque female face. A halo above her head. On her back, white wings. The figure, which closely resembled the shape of an angel as described in folklore, took off from behind the boy's back and fluttered over the head of the ox-headed fiend. A halo-like divine radiance descends from the angel to the demons.
"Gah… ah guh gah…!"
Smoke poured out of the demons' bodies. Before long, rather than calling it incinerated, it was more like vanishing———the demon got completely erased from the world itself. After bringing it down, the angel flew over the head of another demon.
"…From the 'Peony Bloom Revelation Gospel'— 'Holy Hiten Slay.'"
Zhaviest muttered, and the voice of the angel, laughing gently, echoed through the town.
"Hohoho. Hoho hoho hoho hoho."
Several angels soared through the air above the village of Leaven, which was under demons' dominion. When they spotted a fleeing demon, they flew over their heads. The holy light immediately annihilated them.
A swarm of demons vanishing. The villagers, who had been watching from afar, began to gather in droves.
"L-Lord Angels…"
"Saviour! It's the World Saviour!"
After slaying all of the Demon Lord Army troops stationed in Leaven, Zhaviest bowed humbly to the villagers as they surrounded him.
"I'm the World Saviour from the descended Divine Decree. I'm called Zhaviest, the humble herald of Heavenly Power."
"OOHH–!" cheered the crowd. Both men and women praised Zhaviest with tears in their eyes.
"Thank you so much! Thank you so much!"
"Ah, Lord Zhaviest! We ask you to please save the world!"
"Yes, yes. I will take care of it."
The white-bearded village leader staggered up closer to Zhaviest, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
"God has not forsaken us!"
(Kakaka. God, huh?)
Zhaviest smiled wryly as he recalled the time when he received his heavenly power.
It's been a year since Zhaviest, a retired member of a thief gang, became a priest at a church in a remote town. When he was drinking sake bought with the money he had gotten by swindling old people under the pretense of purifying departed souls ——— Zhaviest received a divine revelation from god.
"In these turbulent times, let the pure in heart serve GOD…"
Zhaviest was listening to the solemn woman's voice in a trance-like state of inebriation.
(HUH—? Me? Pure? No f-ing way— right?)
"If you were to acquire mighty power, for the sake of what would you use it for?"
After taking another sip of his sake, Zhaviest said with a red face.
"Of course, I would SAVE the world from the demons! — Since I'm a priest, you know—"
Zhaviest laughed as he said this with a slurred speech. Again, a voice came from the heavens.
"Wonderful mindset. As I thought, worthy of being a World Saviour vessel. Well then, let me give you a small fragment of the power needed to save the world. Please receive the Tengen's aura."
"Hey, He—y. I'm grateful for your blessings.—"
"This is the power of compassion, which is the power to receive a small portion of the life force from living creatures other than demons as alms and turn it into offense power or even defense power———'Heavenly Power.'"
"Roger that—"
The female voice continued to explain. Zhaviest thought to himself, "Shut up— man," and half-heartedly listened to the story.
…He had strange dreams because he was drunk, and when he was about to put his hand on his pounding head———he was astonished when he saw his arm. Floral patterns, like tattoos, appeared on both arms.
*Zhaviest left the church thinking, "This can't be real." *
A stray cat was walking along an alley on a moonlit night. Zhaviest turned his hand toward the cat. The floral aura coming from his arm transformed into an angel, which then moved toward the cat. Before long, the cat got tired of walking and lay down on the spot. In return, his body was filled with strength. His hangover had flown away in an instant.
(I received a portion of his life force, huh?)
The woman's story was bothersome, and he had carelessly paid no attention while listening to the last part, but it seemed to be exactly the same way as she had explained. It seems that he had indeed been granted a mighty power by someone.
(The Power of Compassion... "Heavenly Power," right?)
Suddenly, it occurred to him. Zhaviest extended his hand once more toward the cat, who was yawning and looking exhausted.
"…This time, siphon it all off."
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