Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Odyssea(31)

“……?”

Lethe looked to her left, where her right side had vanished.

There was nothing there. No waterfall, no valley, no river, of course, no earth, no water, no sky—just empty darkness.

As the water flowing in the river crossed over to the right beyond the darkness, it simply disappeared. Half of her world had vanished, yet the remaining half was perfectly intact. The river flowed even as it became half, and the waterfall fell straight down even as it became half.

Her world does not even realize that her other half has disappeared.

“Hi, hiiik! Hwaaah!!”

Lethe stepped back. To distance herself from the darkness.

Phondior asked.

“Haven’t you ever heard of my Ecclesis?”

“I-I don’t know! What is this! Is this Ecclesis?”

The power Phondior held to erase the opponent’s Pantemonium. Lethe reacted as if she had never seen it before.

“…Ah, there aren’t many gods who have fallen for this. At most, Athena, I suppose.”

The moment the Pantemonium opens, one of the two must be trapped. Except for Phondior.

Due to this characteristic, beings that use Ecclesis can mostly hide what their Ecclesis is. Since they will be trapped in the Pantemonium anyway, there is no risk of information leaking.

However, in Phondior’s case, due to operations or negotiations, there have been a few times when he released those trapped in the Pantemonium. Bael, Aphrodite, and Athena are examples.

Among them, Bael is a demon, and Phondior did not show his abilities to Aphrodite. Because he admitted defeat himself. The only one left is Athena, but Phondior does not know that Athena is refusing to meet anyone due to the incident in Palma.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know this information. Then this is it.”

“W-Wait a minute.”

Hearing Lethe’s flustered voice, Phondior reached out his hand.

“Sorry, but you’ve made me waste a lot of time. I’m worried about Quinny too. I’ll be going now.”

“Wait! I-I have a proposal!”

“Why? Don’t you know what Pantemonium is? One of us is going to be trapped here. I don’t want it to be me. What kind of proposal do you have?”

“I-I know how to turn a monster into a spirit!”

Stunned.

At that, Phondior’s face hardened.

“That’s what you’re looking for, right? Turning a monster into a spirit! I heard it through Quinny. I-I know how to do it!”

“And?”

Phondior said with a cold gaze.

“If you wanted to make such a deal, you should have done it before coming here. What do you want to gain from that information now? You want me to be trapped here instead of you?”

“T-That’s…!”

Lethe’s gaze wavered.

As Phondior said, it was already too late. What use is information when trapped in the Pantemonium? Right now, it is impossible for Lethe to make a deal with Phondior. One of them must be trapped here.

‘…Actually, it’s not impossible.’

Of course, Phondior is an exception here.

Prondior can agree to this deal. He can free the one who is trapped.

‘But how much can I trust this?’

Lethe has already deceived Prondior once. There’s no saying he couldn’t do it again.

Moreover, right now, lives—no, something even more significant—are at stake. There’s a high possibility he’s just spouting any words that come to mind.

‘…Right. That was a factor.’

In the case of humans, it would be unbelievable.

But in the realm of gods, there’s something worth testing that belief.

“Then swear.”

“Sw-swear?”

“Yeah. By the River Styx.”

At that, Lethe’s expression froze.

The River Styx.

It is the object of the oath that must be upheld by the Greek gods.

There are many tales about what happens if one breaks the oath—falling from their divine position, or lying like a corpse for years—but what it’s actually like is unknown. Prondior is not a god.

Lethe would know. Especially since her own strong Lethe River is connected to the River Styx.

Lethe looked at Prondior suspiciously.

“W-what? If I tell you how, you’ll take my place and get trapped? Really?”

“No.”

Prondior shook his head.

“I’ll make it so we can both escape.”

“That’s nonsense! There’s no way both of us can get out of Pandemonium,”

“By the River Styx.”

“……!”

Lethe was so shocked that her mouth gaped open.

The common sense that both of them cannot escape from Pandemonium, contrasted with Prondior swearing by the River Styx that it is possible. It must be a disconnect in reasoning.

‘It’s easier to fight an opponent with insufficient information, but the conversation isn’t flowing smoothly.’

On the other hand, Prondior was relaxed in his thoughts.

Why it’s impossible to leave Pandemonium, how difficult it is. Such things are irrelevant to Prondior. He believes it’s possible.

“Okay, I’ve sworn too. You swear as well.”

“Wait a minute! Do you even understand what it means to swear by the River Styx? There are no exceptions, even if you’re human! If you break an oath sworn by the River Styx, it marks your soul!”

“Then what happens?”

“All the evil spirits and restless souls, that is, the bodiless souls, will be drawn to that mark and will try to possess your body! Among those souls, there are some that even threaten the gods!”

“……Ah.”

So that’s how the legend continued. Frondior understood roughly.

Even if they are gods, being stripped of their bodies would naturally lead to a fall, and lying there like a corpse means they are fighting against those souls. Naturally, there would be no time to do the work of a god.

But it doesn’t matter what happens.

“Yeah, anyway, I swore by the River Styx.”

“You……. Do you really understand what I’m saying?”

“As long as I don’t break the oath, it’s fine.”

That’s right. There’s nothing to break.

“Now, it’s your turn.”

Frondior has no intention of breaking the oath anyway. To show that, he walked to the Styx.

Now, Lethe has no other path.

Even knowing how dangerous it is to swear by the River Styx, the current situation surpasses that.

Being trapped in the Pantheon forever is something she could never think is better than breaking the Styx oath.

“……O-Okay.”

Soon, Lethe also realized this and nodded her head.

“I, Lethe, the goddess of forgetfulness, swear by the River Styx to truthfully convey to Frondior the method of transforming a monster into a spirit.”

“You’re saying that while being super nervous.”

“It’s strange that you’re not nervous! Or maybe you still don’t understand what I’m saying!”

After saying that, Lethe let out a deep sigh.

And then glared at Frondior.

“Now, let me go.”

“No, telling me the method comes first.”

“What do I have to believe about you!”

“Even if you don’t believe me, you’ll believe the River Styx.”

Frondior’s eyes darkened.

“From the beginning, you swore to ‘speak truthfully,’ right? So if you just don’t say anything, you won’t break the oath. I know you’re thinking of running away after leaving here if things go south.”

“Ugh.”

“Just so you know.”

Prondior leaned a little closer to Lethe.

“No matter where you run, no matter where you hide, I can find you. It won’t end like this.”

“……!”

This time, Lethe did not argue back. Perhaps she had come to understand Prondior a bit through her experiences.

Prondior asked again.

“It’s your turn. What’s the method?”

“……For a monster to become a spirit, three conditions are necessary.”

“Three conditions.”

“Yes. Purification, atonement, and grace.”

Prondior nodded silently. It was a sign to continue explaining.

Lethe naturally continued her explanation.

“Purification is about eliminating the thoughts that a monster possesses. Monsters fundamentally harbor hatred towards humans, so in that state, they cannot become spirits.”

“How do you eliminate that?”

“It requires a ritual. It needs several skilled wizards, but… in your case, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

If we’re talking about wizards, there are Elodie and Osprit, who are at the pinnacle. If personnel from the imperial palace are available, there should be enough wizards.

“Alright. What about atonement?”

“Atonement is necessary when one has committed actions that make it difficult to become a spirit while living as a monster. Those sins must be washed away.”

“What kind of actions are those?”

“Generally, it involves harming people. Not just murder, but also stealing property, disturbing their minds, or inciting desires. If such actions were committed, those sins must be cleansed.”

After a moment of thought, Prondior spoke.

“I don’t think Sergio would have done such things.”

“Even if he himself didn’t, in Sergio’s case, he is not the only one who is a monster. The army he commands has also taken on the form of monsters. The fact that he can maintain consciousness and control his hatred is likely because of that form. He can share the hatred.”

Sergio had become a monster along with his army.

In other words, the entire army is one monster, and Sergio is its leader.

Even if the ‘commander’ Sergio did not commit sins, it is highly probable that the ‘soldiers’ did, and it is the commander’s responsibility to bear the soldiers’ sins.

“Then does that mean that the ‘atonement’ can be done by just Sergio alone?”

“Exactly. He is the center.”

“Is that also a ritual?”

“Yes. But it’s a bit different. In this case, one person is needed. Someone who can bear all the sins.”

Someone who can bear all the sins. Upon hearing that, Prondior felt a sense of foreboding.

“What’s it mean to accept?”

“It’s just as it sounds. Sin is something only humans can bear and only humans can resolve. For a monster to become a spirit, it must rid itself of sin, but a monster cannot bear sin nor can it resolve it. It needs someone to do that for it.”

“How does that work, specifically?”

“It doesn’t really work in a specific way. If the sin is light, nothing may happen at all. However, if the sin runs deeper than expected, the one who accepts it may become tainted by evil. They could become closer to a monster or a demon.”

“…Alright. I can do that.”

Frondior nodded. Becoming closer to evil. There was no one more suited for that than himself.

“Then lastly, what is ‘grace’?”

“That’s the biggest obstacle.”

Lethe shook her head.

“Grace is a type of blessing bestowed by a god upon another being. For a monster to become a spirit, grace is necessary. While everything else is preparation to become a spirit, grace is what flips the switch to become one.”

“Is it like divine power?”

“It’s different from divine power. Divine power is a give and take between gods and humans, but grace only benefits the recipient, with no gain for the god. It’s purely an act of divine choice.”

Divine power is give and take.

As much as a god grants power to humans, humans offer their faith to the god. If Odin hadn’t abused that system, there wouldn’t have been any problem.

“Must it be a god?”

“Yes. That’s the problem. There are no gods anymore, right? All the gods descended from their thrones after losing the war.”

The look Lethe gave Frondior also carried the meaning of ‘it’s your fault.’

Frondior briefly shifted his gaze to the side and said,

“…There is one.”

“What? A god? Who?”

“Me.”

Lethe blinked in surprise at Frondior’s answer.

Leaving her behind, Frondior said,

“I am the only god now.”