(Wh-Wh-What is this?! What is going on here?!)
Ramiel questioned herself frantically, desperately clinging to her consciousness, which threatened to slip away from pure terror.
Even now, a tremendous, crushing pressure radiated from the beings surrounding them. She remembered this sensation. It felt just like when she had accompanied others to that ceremony held in Elysion, the headquarters of the Heavenly Army. It was identical to the aura of the supreme executives of the Heavenly Army who had attended the ceremony back then—those war gods. Moreover, it wasn't just coming from the few entities standing near the sword-encircled pedestal. It emanated from every single being currently surrounding them.
What faction could this be? The supreme executives of the Heavenly Army were so famous that portrait cards of them were sold across the realm; every angel in the Heavenly Realm knew who they were. Ramiel, who had idolized the Heavenly Army since childhood, naturally recognized them all. Yet she didn't recognize a single one of the gods surrounding them now. In that case, there was only one other conceivable faction.
Namely—the notorious Evil Army.
(Y-You've got to be kidding me!)
Her angelic superiors had warned her of the dreadfulness of the Evil Army countless times. Dying a clean death at their hands would be a blessing. Naturally, they wouldn't stop at tormenting the flesh; they would toy with the soul itself, subjecting it to eternal agony. She wanted absolutely no part in a fate like that.
However, even if she tried to flee right now, it was utterly unthinkable that the gods surrounding them would let them escape.
(I should have been more careful...)
This had clearly spiraled beyond what a mere angel like Ramiel could ever hope to handle.
Just because a mere human had boldly claimed someone to be the world's strongest absolute being, she had let her curiosity get the better of her. But Ramiel fully grasped now that the human named Gil had been speaking the absolute truth. After all, the war gods encircling them were all kneeling before a single individual.
"Greetings. I am Kai Heinemann. I hear you wished to speak with me?"
Standing arrogantly upon the sword-encircled pedestal, the plain-looking, black-haired youth scanned the plaza, introduced himself, and asked his question.
(What does this mean?)
The Evil Army were beings who openly embraced the concept of malice. In the first place, they were far from soft-hearted enough to engage in casual dialogue. They were particularly cruel, cold-blooded fiends who treated even powerless gods as nothing more than insects. Under no circumstances would they ever deign to converse with monsters.
In that case, were the war gods surrounding them not part of the Evil Army? Certainly, if he was the leader of war gods wielding such power, she ought to have heard his name at least once. Yet she had never heard the name Kai Heinemann before in her life. What was more, she sensed not a shred of malice—none of the disdain or contempt inherent to the Evil Army—nor even the slightest hint of hostility from him.
If they weren't the Evil Army, then what kind of faction were they? A group like this was practically a third global power. If such a force truly existed, the Heavenly Realm should have been thrown into utter chaos by now.
Could the Fly God be a subordinate of this Kai Heinemann as well? Come to think of it, hadn't the Fly God referred to someone as the "Supreme Great One"?
(No, no, that's impossible! There's no way!)
Rather, if it were true, that meant Lord Ares had inadvertently incurred the wrath of a third faction, of all things. If this incident sparked an all-out war with the Heavenly Army—
Just as she envisioned the worst possible future—
"We beg of you, please save us monsters of Northground!"
The cat-headed monster, whom Gil and the others called Kiji, raised his trembling voice on behalf of all the monsters.
"What benefit is there for me in accepting that proposal? I am not a sickening hypocrite like a Hero. Without profit, I have no reason to accept such an offer, do I?"
Kai Heinemann questioned the monsters in a calm, measured tone. That alone was enough to make every monster turn pale and tremble violently.
Small wonder. After all, this man was the leader of war gods. With a single word, he could wipe out everything present. In a situation like this, any other angel—no, even ordinary gods—would surely have reacted the same way.
In place of Kiji, who was left completely speechless,
"Please make all of us monsters of Northground the subjects of Princess Rosemary. In exchange, we swear our absolute loyalty."
The human named Gil offered a proposal that, to Ramiel, seemed entirely off the mark.
She had heard the name Rosemary before. If she remembered correctly, she was a Saint who possessed the Gift of Hero Summoning. But in the first place, there was no reason for a princess from a human kingdom in the Mortal Realm to be here. What was this human suddenly babbling about?
"..."
Kai Heinemann glanced at the woman standing beside him, her head completely concealed beneath a pure white hood.
"We have the right to choose as well."
He delivered a refusal, just as expected. The beings encircling the plaza were war gods on par with the Heavenly Army. They were not entities that mortals could casually rub shoulders with, nor would they ever desire such a thing. To begin with, there was no reason for war gods of this caliber to accept monsters as their divine people.
"If the residents of this city become her subjects, it will bring substantial benefits to Princess Rose's side."
Gil offered an even more nonsensical reply. It was futile. There was no way the leader of these Transcenders would care in the slightest about the petty politics of the Mortal Realm.
Or so she thought—
"Hmm. What kind of benefits?"
Kai Heinemann completely defied her expectations.
"Monsters are the very definition of diversity. Some can fly, some possess immense strength, and others have nimble hands—they harbor a vast array of talents. With proper education in technology and academics, this place holds the potential to become the economic and cultural center of the world."
"Hmm. Indeed, you make a fair point. Wouldn't you agree, Rose?"
Kai Heinemann asked the deeply hooded woman beside him in a buoyant tone.
Rose? Could she truly be the Saint Rose? No, more importantly, what had the leader of the Transcenders just said? Did he just entertain the colossal blunder of turning monsters into divine people?
"There is no way the kingdom's government would ever permit making monsters into our subjects!"
The woman named Rose blurted out a retort that was absurd in an entirely different way.
Naturally, Ramiel found the notion just as foolish. But that had nothing to do with whether a petty organization like the Holy Amelia Kingdom's government would allow it; rather, it was because these war gods would never, for the sake of their own pride, permit monsters to become their divine people.
"Sister, that is a misplaced concern."
Letting out a deep sigh, Gil addressed the exact point Ramiel had been pondering, his expression and tone laced with mild exasperation.
"It must be because you are too close to the situation. You don't understand your own standing in the slightest. The wishes of the kingdom's government are entirely trivial now."
He was right. The true core of the matter rested solely on the will of the leader of the war gods, Kai Heinemann.
"Trivial? The intentions of the great Amelia government?"
"See? That statement alone proves your misunderstanding. Surely, the moment Lord Kai became your Royal Guard, the very nature of the Throne Succession War was forced to change drastically. It's only natural. Looking back on it now, that monster of a Prime Minister, Johannes Roosevelt, may have been the only one who realized it. That's why, back then—"
Gil faltered, choking back his words.
Johannes Roosevelt was supposed to be the Prime Minister of the Holy Amelia Kingdom. That name alone was famous even among angels like Ramiel. Of course, he was categorized as a dangerous element whose competence bordered on excessive, but he was still merely a member of the Human Race. Why were human names being dropped one after another in a dialogue among gods?
Glancing sideways at Ramiel, who was drowning in a whirlpool of bewilderment, Kai Heinemann curled the corners of his lips into a broad smile.
"Let us return to the topic. Becoming our subjects is, ostensibly, equivalent to falling under Rose's command. That would mean abandoning your claim in the Throne Succession War, wouldn't it?"
He posed a question to Gil that plunged Ramiel into even deeper confusion.
(I don't understand any of this!)
Why would becoming Kai Heinemann's divine people place them under the command of Saint Rose? Naturally, there was no way this extraordinarily sinister god served beneath a mere Saint. This was undoubtedly just the whim of a chief god. For now, she had no choice but to watch how things unfolded.
"Over the past few months, I have learned to a painful degree just how weak, pathetic, and cowardly I truly am. Without everyone's support, I am just a tiny, helpless human who can accomplish nothing alone. For someone like me to become King would be an utter joke."
Shrugging his shoulders, Gil looked around at the monsters, speaking as though savoring the weight of every word.
"Was becoming King not your dream?"
For the first time, Kai Heinemann's smile vanished, replaced by a look of utter seriousness.
"You really know everything, don't you? That's right. My dream was to become King."
"Then why give it up? Becoming King was your mother's dying wish, was it not?"
"At the end of the long, arduous journey you imposed upon me, I finally realized the true meaning behind my mother's final words."
"The meaning of her final words...? And what was that?"
"What my mother wished for wasn't for me to become King. She simply wanted me to be kind-hearted. That was all."
"..."
Kai Heinemann stared silently at Gil for a moment, then covered his face with his right hand and burst into uncontrollable laughter.
After a few moments, realizing that everyone was looking at him with bizarre expressions, Kai Heinemann cleared his throat loudly.
"Very well. My questioning is at an end. Rose, you are satisfied with this as well, yes?"
He looked down at Saint Rose beside him, seeking her confirmation.
"Yes..."
With her head lowered slightly, her face flushed red, and tears streaming down her cheeks, Saint Rose nodded firmly.
"Then, Gilbert Loto Amelia, discuss the rest with those two over there! I will respect whatever decision they make."
He projected his voice toward the two figures in navy hooded robes kneeling before him beside Saint Rose.
The two stood up, bowed respectfully to Kai Heinemann, and pulled back their deep hoods.
One was the angel Tetor, freckles dotting the bridge of his nose, and the other was a handsome, well-featured young man of the Human Race with golden hair.