Pope Dustyin's Perspective "Pope Dustyin of the Divine Word Religion."
My name is called.
When Lady
There was no one in our camp more fitting as a representative than myself.
If so, then being named like this was inevitable.
The moment I'd predicted it would come to this, I'd already begun composing my speech in my head.
However, all of that was blown away by Lady Ariel's speech.
She declared she wouldn't gather votes, wouldn't ingratiate herself at all, and would win through her own power and that of her companions alone.
And she declared war on all of humanity, looking them straight in the eye and telling them to die for the goddess.
Her way of being—how blindingly radiant it was.
"......"
My own broadcast to all of humanity had probably already begun.
But I kept my mouth shut.
For several minutes, I remained silent.
"......It has been... a long and arduous time."
The voice I finally wrung out sounded terribly hoarse.
"Up to now, I have built up... a great deal."
When I'd struggled alongside my companions to get through the chaotic period right after the System started.
When the First Demon King Fodway had bared his fangs, and all of humanity had been placed in mortal peril.
When I'd stood shoulder to shoulder with the First Hero and overcome that crisis.
When I'd finished my first life, and during my second, watched as the eras shifted and changed before my very eyes.
As generations turned and those who knew the world before the System's activation faded away—that loneliness of being left behind.
When I'd built up the organization known as the Divine Word Religion, to give hope to people sinking into despair.
At each of those moments, I'd striven to take the best course of action.
But looking back, the number of things I could have handled better is vast.
Again and again, I was reminded that in the end, I was nothing more than an ordinary human being.
Again and again and again.
Despite striving for the best, I made nothing but mistakes.
And yet, step by step.
I built it up.
Good deeds, sins, everything.
All of it, solely to save the Human Race.
"I believe in what I have built. Therefore, no unnecessary words are needed."
There should have been a more fitting speech.
If Lady Ariel had made a speech like that, it would have been easy to win people over with clever rhetoric.
And yet, I couldn't bring myself to say those words.
"I am Dustyin—the last president of the nation of Daztorudia, and the first Pope of the Divine Word Religion. And without a shred of shame, I am a man who has continued to repay the kindness of Goddess
The rational part of my mind warned that saying something like this would drive people away.
But at the very end, I wanted to speak my true feelings, unadorned by pretense.
It had always weighed on my conscience.
I'd believed this name should be reviled for eternity.
...Yes.
I hate myself. I hate what I have done.
"That is precisely why I have an obligation to see this through to the end."
Even so, once I had made my choice, I had to see it through.
"I will save the Human Race. By any means necessary. So..."
I take a deep breath.
These words are heavy.
"
A vow that was the polar opposite of Lady Ariel's speech.
There should have been a better speech.
But this would do.
Having spoken those words, I could no longer turn back.
I wouldn't turn back.
Even if it meant sacrificing the gods, I would save the Human Race. Save humanity.
『Each of their positions has been declared.』
The Divine Word resonated immediately after my words concluded.
Sariel's voice—the same one I'd been hearing throughout the long years.
『Now then—』
But the words that followed were from a voice I didn't recognize.
『Thus the stage is set. Now, all you who live in this world—make your choice. Take action. The World Quest Sequence, final chapter: will the Evil God accomplish her goal, or not?』
This was nothing like Sariel's usual announcements. A voice so cold it chilled you to the bone.
Just listening to it would make your hair stand on end—the words of someone.
Only one person came to mind.
The god who had been requested to lend her aid by the Black Dragon, and who had built the System.
『Now then—entertain me.』
That god's words were the signal for the beginning.
Of a battle where the fate of the world hung in the balance.