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With Johnny leading the way, I followed him toward the heart of the holy city. But the closer we got, the more I began to sense something strange and unsettling in the air, enough to make me tilt my head in confusion.

I cast a glance at Johnny, and he wore the same puzzled expression, his eyes narrowed toward the direction of the Tower of the Azure God. The structure was so massive that, from here, only its immense foundation was visible.

“What’s happening…? Something about the atmosphere feels wrong.”

An instant later, a thunderous explosion rang out, followed by a deep tremor that rolled through the ground. The pavement and air shuddered, sending a sharp vibration through our bodies.

“W-Was that an earthquake?!”
“No, I don’t think so. It felt more like an explosion… Something’s definitely going on.”

As dark smoke rose two streets away, accompanied by distant screams, I reached into the ribbon-like expansion pouch at my waist. I drew my trusted sword, Gilles de Rais, and retrieved my wing accessory, La Vie en Rose, equipping them without hesitation.

“I’ll check it out. It looks dangerous, so you should stay back.”
“What? Hold on! That’s exactly why I should go with you!”
“Suit yourself. I’m going ahead. Catch up if you want.”

Leaving those words behind, I dashed toward the source of the chaos without looking back. Johnny, naturally, was left far behind.

The paved streets gave me perfect footing to move at full speed, but the area had already plunged into chaos, flooded with a panicked crowd screaming as they fled in all directions.

“—Guess I have no choice,” Realizing the roads were hopelessly clogged, I clicked my tongue and changed my approach. Launching into a vertical dash, I used walls, trees, and skywalk railings to leap and maneuver through the upper levels of the city. With the crowd too panicked to notice, I made my way forward unhindered, closing in on the source.

The chaos had erupted right at the base of the Tower of the Azure God. Twisted, monstrous creatures were rampaging through the streets, where shops for clergy, believers, and pilgrims once stood peacefully.

“Monsters!”
“Azure God, save us!”
“Help me! Azure God, please!”

These monstrous beings—part human, part beast—ranged from Orcs and Kobolds to Ogres and Cyclopes. Their twisted grins deepened as they basked in the terror around them, tearing through the chaos with brutal delight.

“You monster!” I leapt from the fifth floor of a building and struck down the most intimidating Cyclops in sight, following up with a point-blank blast of my Holy Disruption spell.

“Get out of here, now!” With the Cyclops obliterated by my strike, I quickly moved to target the next creature while shouting for the crowd to evacuate. But—

“Please save us!”
“Azure God, hear us!”

There was still space to escape, but most of them simply collapsed to the ground, whispering prayers as if salvation would descend from the sky. Judging by their robes, many of them were clergy.

“If you have time to pray, then run already!” I shouted at them, but they stayed frozen, making themselves perfect prey. The monsters closed in and began their slaughter without mercy.

Relying this blindly on their so-called Azure God, even when escape was within reach, was more than pathetic. It was like they had abandoned all will to live. At this point, they were little more than mindless husks. What meaning did life hold for people like this?

No matter where you are born, in the safest country or the calmest land, the same truth holds: no one can know if they will live to see the next sunrise. Death waits around every corner, and life never plays favorites, not for the young, the old, the wealthy, or the poor.

Sure, the resources available to each person might differ depending on their circumstances, but the line between life and death is far closer than most realize. It waits silently, always near. That’s why it was so maddening to watch these fools—who, in their hour of truth, blindly placed their lives in someone else’s hands instead of making their own choice.

“Do not resist! These creatures have come from the Tower of the Azure God. This is divine will! Embrace it with open hearts!” An elderly man, clearly a high-ranking clergyman, began shouting with a booming voice that carried across the street, trying to rally the crowd under this madness.

“Are you out of your mind?! Do you have a death wish?!” I shouted in disbelief, but the old man simply responded with a calm arrogance that made my skin crawl.

“But of course! If this is the will of the Azure God, then it is our sacred duty to obey! O faithful followers, accept this divine will and paradise shall be ours!”

His words seemed to infect the few who still lingered. One by one, they dropped to their knees and began to pray, joining others who had already succumbed to that same blind faith. The monsters, seeing a fresh crop of unmoving targets, wasted no time descending on them with claws and fangs.

“Unbelievable… Morons, the lot of them!” I growled through gritted teeth, cutting down Orcs and Goblins whose eyes gleamed with twisted delight as they tore through the helpless crowd.

“Hiyuki! I finally… caught up. You’re seriously fast…” Johnny appeared beside me, panting heavily as he wove through the panicked crowd.

“Oh? You should have just run away. Or are you planning to die here like the rest of those zealots?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?! And more importantly, what are those things?!”

Johnny stared at the scene in horror as monsters surged from the tower. The believers made no effort to resist and allowed themselves to be devoured.

“What do you mean? Those are just monsters. Some look like demi-humans, but you’re telling me… you’ve never seen monsters before?”
“Wait… could these be the same ones the Azure God sealed in purgatory? Like in the scripture?”
“So that’s the story, huh? You might actually be onto something.”
“Then what should we do…?”
“I’m not sure either.”

If Tengai or one of the Demon Generals were here, they could wipe these things out in a single blow. But they weren’t, and I didn’t have the area-of-effect firepower to handle a swarm this size. Without my «Pet Unison» state active, even with nearly limitless HP and MP regeneration, my base form was still too fragile. They may be weak individually, but sheer numbers could overwhelm me.

Judging by how fast the monsters were spawning, I was clearly losing ground.

“There’s not much we can do unless we get inside the tower and figure out what’s making them appear. Maybe then we can do something about it.”

Still, forcing our way into the tower while monsters were pouring out in waves felt like walking straight into our graves.

“So all we need to do is get inside the Azure God’s tower?” Johnny asked, grimacing as he thought it through.
“I can’t promise anything even if we do, but it’s the only lead we’ve got,” I replied, cutting down another monster without pausing.
“But I might know a way. Follow me!”

Johnny didn’t wait for my answer before turning to run.

“…Well, I guess I don’t have a choice.” Grumbling under my breath, I followed him, leaving the chaos behind.

◆◇◆◇

A crudely built gondola, resembling a wooden box with a roof, creaked slowly along its cables as it made its way toward the Tower of the Azure God.

“This is Snake. I’m overwhelmed by carnal urges,¹” I muttered, half-joking, half to distract myself from the height.
“Feeling a little pent-up?” Johnny repeated with a completely serious expression.

I let out a heavy sigh at his earnest reaction.

“It’s just a joke. Forget it,” I said, brushing it off.
“If you say so. But if you’re struggling to keep it together, you can always ask for my help,” Johnny offered, completely missing the double meaning.

I chose not to respond to Johnny’s suggestive remark and instead shifted my attention downward, peering through the cloudy glass window to assess the situation below.

Although the view was hazy and distant, it was clear that enormous monsters had appeared and were wreaking havoc across the holy city, rampaging wildly in all directions.

“Isn’t there any way to make this thing go faster?”
“Don’t expect miracles. This lift was abandoned ages ago. I only knew it still functioned because I overheard it during one of my all-rounder jobs. This is actually my first time operating it.”
“Hold on! What if the cables snap while we’re still in midair?!”

If this thing gave out now, we’d be nothing but a smear on the ground.

“Then I guess we just pray it doesn’t happen,” Johnny replied with a helpless shrug, clearly unbothered by the idea.

1. Editor’s Note: The translator didn’t know the reference so I had to spent half an hour looking for it. In the end, I turn to ChatGPT, but that didn’t help much either, they did give an answer but I don’t know how accurate since all the link reference they provided came back invalid. This is what ChatGPT had to say about this:

   This line is a well-known internet meme in Japan, derived from fan-made parodies of Metal Gear Solid. It’s not an official line from the actual games, but it’s widely recognized in Japanese online culture for being absurd and out of place, usually played for laughs. The humor comes from the overly serious tone being suddenly broken by a bizarre comment about l̲i̲b̲i̲d̲o̲.

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