"Is it over?"
Judging humans was far more complex than eradicating the Gastrea.
It had taken Violet quite a bit of effort.
"Judgment completed."
Inside the Void Ark, Rin asked Violet for the results.
"Report. Gastrea have been completely eradicated. Human casualties are approximately 47.2 million."
Nearly fifty million lives were extinguished by Violet.
Rin remained unmoved.
"The vast majority of them directly or indirectly harmed, killed, or persecuted the Cursed Children."
"Depending on the degree of harm, the harshest penalty was death. The lightest punishment was to make them endure the pain the girls once felt."
Rin had taken in all the Cursed Children, so he naturally had to carry their hatred and anger for them.
To avenge them was justice.
As for the rest, Rin didn't approve of their actions either, but he didn't kill them. He simply left a curse on them, out of discontent.
He had no choice. If he didn't do something, his mind wouldn't be at ease.
"Let's cleanse this world."
Rin was very satisfied with Violet's judgment. He gave the final order. "Let this downpour be the curtain call to our journey."
Rumble~
At Rin's command, the skies across the entire world turned dark with clouds.
Under the pouring rain, all traces of the G-virus—whether in the environment, in humans, or in other organisms—were completely eliminated.
Even all forms of pollution disappeared under Rin's power.
The earth would be revitalized through this rain.
The world was reborn.
Splash splash~
Seitenshi stood silently in the rain, gazing at the dim sky.
An hour had passed since Judgment ended, yet her heart still hadn't settled.
It wasn't just Rin's unimaginable divine power that overwhelmed her.
It was that she had personally witnessed countless people turn into ash right in front of her.
If it had only been that, her heart would be pained and sorrowful, but not shaken.
The Gastrea had been eliminated. Humanity would rise again.
That alone was a blessing for the survivors.
Compared to the Gastrea, who had killed seven billion in an instant, Rin's judgment wasn't extreme at all.
However...
"Why... why is it like this?"
Seitenshi trembled uncontrollably.
What shook her wasn't the loss of life, but the identities of those who perished.
So many glamorous politicians, businessmen, and educators had all fallen under God's judgment.
"Was it all a lie?"
Almost all of the top leaders of Japan's administrative districts, aside from Seitenshi herself, had perished.
Based on the standards of judgment that Rin had embedded into her mind, she couldn't understand why so many of them had died.
Had Rin made a mistake?
She questioned it.
But deep down, she knew he had not.
Those people had committed sins so great that not even God could forgive them.
Human experimentation. Abuse of power. Violent extortion. Oppression of the people.
If Seitenshi wanted to, she could dig up mountains of evidence to sentence every one of them to death.
"Are you confused?"
Suddenly, Rin's voice rang in her ear.
Seitenshi came to her senses.
She found herself, once again, standing before Rin.
But this time, it was not in a white space.
She was sitting peacefully in a quiet courtyard, tranquil and still.
"You..."
Before she could say anything, a gentle breeze swept over her, drying her soaked clothes.
"Thank you..."
Seitenshi instinctively bowed her head.
"I know what you want to ask."
Rin raised his hand, stopping her before she could speak.
"The answer is cruel, but I did not wrong any good person."
"Even by the laws of your own country, the crimes of those people would be enough to sentence them to death ten times over."
When Rin first reviewed the reports from Violet, he had been shocked too.
He hadn't expected the darkness and corruption of this world to run so deep.
One could only say that the Black Bullet world was a dark fairy tale.
And people like Seitenshi only existed to prove how small the light was in a sea of despair.
"Come with me."
"Huh?"
His sudden invitation left her stunned.
"Leave this world. Come with me and those children to a new one."
Rin did not value her for beauty.
He saw in her something far more precious: her soul.
In Rin's eyes, her soul was the most brilliant gem in the world.
Pure. Flawless. Dazzling. Warm.
If one were to evaluate her by the Cardinal World's standards, she was a born Saint.
One who could awaken fully in the future.
An awakened Saint was equivalent to an awakened Demon Lord.
Rin already had Artoria, a quasi-Hero, under his banner.
Now that he had found a potential Saint, how could he possibly let her slip away?
"...Sorry. I cannot leave right now."
But Seitenshi turned him down.
She couldn't leave.
After the fall of so many leaders in Japan, order still needed to be rebuilt.
The people needed someone to stand with them, to guide them through this storm.
An unprecedented burden now rested on her shoulders.
How could she abandon her people and flee to paradise?
"Have you made your decision?"
"Yes."
She didn't hesitate.
"Even if this is your only chance?"
"I..."
She paused, but then nodded again, this time firmly.
"You really are extraordinary."
"In a place so corrupted, to bloom like a lotus... you are even more precious."
Rin didn't press the matter.
He wouldn't force a girl to join him. That would be too crude.
"But what if I told you that leaving doesn't mean abandoning them?"
"Huh?"
Seitenshi blinked, confused.
Snap!
Rin didn't explain.
He simply snapped his fingers.
In the next instant, the two of them stood in the same place where Seitenshi had been before.
"This is...?!"
In her view, the falling rain had stopped in midair.
The water that had been flowing on the ground froze in place.
The people in the houses, the sounds in the air, the movement of light... all of it was paused.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)