« After retrieving my duplicate, I exchanged opinions with my companions for the first time in a while.
The topic was our plan going forward.
« We've gathered as much strength as we can. It's time to go to Spain and take down that Holy Mother! Isn't she obviously the final boss? »
« Grandpa has a point. »
Grandpa wanted us to stop wasting time and head to Spain.
« We don't know how much time we have, but it still feels risky... hasn't recovered his Blessing, and there are tools we still haven't found. »
« A-ri has a point too. »
A-ri thought we needed to restore more of our strength first.
« Hmm. Are we sure the Holy Mother is really in Spain? Horus, what do you think? »
Sophia raised the fundamental question of whether the Holy Mother was even in Spain.
« Sophia made a good point. »
It was true that the Holy See, especially the Inquisition Bureau's Headquarters, was in Spain.
Still, as we'd just confirmed, Aedia could send duplicate bodies hundreds or thousands of kilometers away. She could control the Holy See even from outside Spain.
« I think she'll be near the Mirror. »
Grandpa spoke again.
« , that Mirror was underground in Spain. »
A-ri immediately objected.
« It was until 120 years ago. Who knows where it is now? »
Perhaps because she'd fought the Holy Mother in Spain once before, A-ri was more cautious.
One side thought we should settle things immediately, now that the owners of the Time Lender and One More Chance had joined us. The longer we waited, the more bizarre things the Holy Mother would do.
The other side thought we should restore more of our strength before fighting.
Both arguments made sense.
« The Protective Suit, the gun powered by blood, A-ri's thermos, my pen, and the Hourglass. Are those about all the treasures we haven't found? »
« , how are we supposed to find every tool scattered across this huge world? We have to give up on a few! »
« That's true. »
« , forget the other tools. I think we need the Hourglass. »
« That's true too. »
At that point, Mi-ro, who'd been quietly eating potato chips, cut in as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing.
« What are you, ? Some kind of Pero? You keep saying everyone's right like a parrot. »
« What are you talking about? Pero doesn't keep saying everyone's right. It just grits its teeth and bites. »
« ... You know what I mean. »
As the meeting reached an impasse, Sophia, who'd been frowning for a while, murmured.
« Could this Hourglass... have something strange inside instead of sand? »
Everyone turned to Sophia.
« Something like strange air bubbling up like foam instead of sand, right? That's it. You're all staring at me, and it's making me uncomfortable. »
That decided our next destination.
Forget the other tools for now. We'd find the Hourglass first, then decide what to do.
***
Apparently, a mysterious Hourglass had gone up for auction around ten years ago.
Magical Artifacts infused with the power of Chaos didn't often appear at auctions, but it happened from time to time.
If an item was clearly genuine, it usually ended up in the hands of a mystical organization like the Holy See or the Church of Horus. Still, quite a few failed to find an owner.
They looked special, but no one knew what they did.
« It seemed like the thing inside was some kind of mystical substance, but that was all. Nothing happened no matter how we turned it over. And they wanted two million dollars for something like that... »
If it had truly displayed mysterious power, an organization like the Holy See would've killed the owner to take it.
But the Hourglass was a tool given out by the Hotel.
To an NPC in the trial, it was just a two-million-dollar Hourglass, worth around 2.5 billion won, containing a glowing gas.
It was good that we'd unexpectedly learned where the Hourglass was, but there was one small problem.
It was in Texas.
« Texas? B-but we're in Massachusetts! The distance to Texas is, um... »
« About 3,000 kilometers. »
At Sophia's answer, A-ri's mouth fell halfway open.
« T-that's far! »
« We could charter a plane right away... »
« No, we don't need to. »
I stood up and answered casually, as if it were nothing.
« Horus? »
« One plane ride was enough. We have a better way this time. »
When I took the 'painting' from my pocket and handed it to A-ri, she looked at me in disbelief.
« You're flying there alone? And we'll join you through the Kingdom of Dreams? »
« You know me well. »
We'd taken a plane to America to conserve strength, but after trying it once, I realized something.
If I started fighting Holy See drones to protect my companions in the sky, that would waste even more strength.
Grandpa looked a little flustered.
« You and us are one thing, but what about this young lady? Miss Sophia, the Kingdom of Dreams... Oh dear. »
--- Rumble!
By evening, we arrived in Texas.
***
« Bleurgh! Uegh! »
The moment we landed, Sophia began vomiting uncontrollably.
While she did, I checked the news on my smartphone. The whole world was in chaos.
« Wow... No wonder the Holy See drones didn't attack us. The entire United States is a complete mess! »
« Uegh! Cough! »
« Whoa? What's this Kraken that attacked Beijing? Huh? They say a red devil wielding a whip appeared in Korea? »
« Quaaack! »
« Oh, that one sounded a little like a duck. Anyway, the world's definitely starting to go completely insane... »
« Phew... »
« Feeling better? »
« ... Yes. »
Sophia let out a long breath, then leaned against a tree and murmured.
« The Holy See has started lifting the Veil. »
« Lifting the Veil. I've heard that word, 'Veil,' a lot before, but what exactly does it mean? Even A-ri wasn't sure exactly what it meant. »
I knew that lifting the Veil turned the area into a hell crawling with demons.
« It's a complex concept. It refers to all the means the Holy See uses to protect the world. »
« Ah? »
« Say there's an urban legend that gains power through rumors. To stop it, they must control public opinion and prevent strange rumors from spreading. In that case, controlling public opinion is also part of the Veil. »
« I understand. »
I'd thought the Veil was some sort of protective barrier installed by the Holy See, but it was actually a term for every method the Holy See used to protect the world.
« Then the world is starting to fall apart because the Holy See isn't protecting it anymore? »
« That's right. »
Holy Mother Aedia had said she would take a step forward.
Her plan must have been huge enough to change the entire world, so she was probably drawing on even the resources she'd used to protect it.
« We really don't have time. We need to go to Spain as soon as we find the Hourglass. Should we have the others join us afterward? »
« ... »
« Oh, we have two million dollars, right? I'd rather settle this by talking than take it by force if possible. »
« If they ask for twenty million instead of two million, we'll give it to them. »
I figured Room 207 was already in its final stretch.
What did money mean at this point?
...
We didn't need two million dollars.
We didn't even need two dollars.
The elderly Texas couple who'd happened to acquire the Hourglass wanted something completely different.
***
« Please! Horus, please... We have only one wish! »
I was flustered.
Thinking about it, it wasn't strange that an elderly couple in the twilight of their lives recognized me.
Until last evening, few people knew my face, so I'd let my guard down. But I was rapidly becoming the most famous person in the world.
The video of me guiding 8,000 followers in the forest toward the light had received hundreds of millions of views on YouTube alone.
Some people called it the temptation of a demon, while others believed they were watching Horus guide his followers to 'heaven.'
The elderly couple belonged to the latter group.
« M-my wife and I haven't attended the Church of Horus. W-we're sorry. »
« You don't need to apologize... »
« W-we're proud to say we've lived as good people. I-I graduated from the Austin Institute of Technology at twenty-five, and... »
The old man suddenly began listing every detail of his and his wife's lives.
He was busy explaining why they deserved to 'go to heaven.'
« ... »
This was dizzying.
Who could've imagined ordinary people would bow before me and pray for me to send them to heaven?
I'd never imagined a situation like this.
Sophia could only smile awkwardly. No, she couldn't say anything.
« Goodness... »
From an ordinary person's perspective, I could vaguely understand.
Demons had suddenly begun crawling out everywhere in the world.
Wasn't this the moment of the apocalypse?
Yet when the critical moment arrived, the Holy See they'd believed in and relied on their whole lives had vanished somewhere. Jesus and God were nowhere to be seen.
Instead, 'Horus,' whom they'd thought was a heretic, had appeared and was saving followers.
Once the old man from Texas reached that conclusion, he made up his mind quickly.
The Christian faith he'd believed in all his life was wrong. There was another 'true' god!
« Pontiff! C-can I still be baptized now? If you command it, I'll jump into ice water... »
« ... That's more of an Orthodox baptism thing. We don't have a process like that. »
The elderly couple was utterly desperate.
To hell with the money. They had to get into heaven!
« The Hourglass... »
« Here it is! Please, do not abandon Amy and me... »
In the end, I gave a bitter smile and spoke.
« David. Amy. »
« Yes! »
« You found the Cult's sacred relic, and by offering it to me without asking for payment, you have earned great merit. »
« ...! »
« Rest easy. I have prepared a Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss for you both... Spend the rest of your days in peace. »
« Ah... My god! »
***
After retrieving the Hourglass, I looked for somewhere to sleep briefly so the others could join us through the Kingdom of Dreams.
Around the time I found a suitable car, Sophia, who'd been silent for a long time, murmured.
« Horus. »
« Hm? »
« I won't live much longer. »
« ... »
A-ri and I had found Sophia in a hospital.
The only reason she could move around as if she were fine now was surely magic.
It wouldn't last long.
« It's all right. I've lived long enough, so I have no regrets about dying at any time. But there is something I'm curious about. »
« ... Ask. »
« Horus and your companions sometimes speak about things I can't understand. »
Whenever we made plans, we inevitably talked about the 'Hotel.'
Each time, everyone would flinch and look at Sophia, but she'd never asked a question.
« You all seem to come from outside this world. Am I right? »
« ... »
« Is it a heavenly realm? A great land where gods dwell? »
« ... Something like that. »
A heavenly realm. A great land where gods dwelled.
Unexpectedly, it wasn't entirely wrong.
It was the sort of thing a religious leader could reasonably imagine.
« Then, Horus. Is my mother alive there too? »
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
She was asking if was alive in 'heaven,' right?
« Uh, um... »
« Is that difficult to answer? »
« No. noona, um, is alive there too, of course. »
Sophia smiled so brightly that she looked like a painting.
« That's a relief. My mother falling victim to that monster, the Black Knight, was my lifelong sorrow... Thankfully, you saved her soul. »
I was so speechless I couldn't get a single word out.
Should I tell her I wasn't the one who saved 's soul?
That the monster Black Knight was actually 's companion?
Sophia kept catching me off guard with such innocent questions.
Then, just as I began to feel uneasy with where the conversation was going, she finally asked the question I had been most worried about.
« Horus, then can I also go to your heaven after I die? »
« ... »
What was Aedia doing right now?
Being alone with Sophia was way too much pressure!
Hurry up and destroy the world or whatever already!