《World Reformation Activities of the Dark God — Loving Humans So Much, I Reincarnated in One》


 Chapter 0 - Prologue

    <h4>Chapter 00: Prologue</h4>


    After 1,600 years, the God of Darkness had been released. ¡°...Hey there.¡± ¡°Long time no see.¡± The one who first met him was the Light Goddess. She is none other than one of the five Gods who defeated him in the battle 1,600 years ago and sealed him. ¡°So you were the one who released the seal huh. Moreover, you alone. That must mean quite a long time has passed already.¡± ¡°Yeah. The seal we -five Gods- ced on you, in normal circumstances, there would be the need of all five of us in order to undo it, just like in the time of the sealing. But it has already deteriorated. It had loosened enough for me to undo it on my own......I will say it once again...¡± The Light Goddess continues, ¡°It has been 1,600 years long, Dark God Entropy. My loved one.¡± ¡°...1,600 years. One thousand six hundred years?!¡± (Entropy) Digesting those words, the Dark God trembled. ¡°With that much time passed, the humans must have changed quite a lot. How are they doing? Have they evolved properly? You Gods have not interfered unnecessarily, right?¡± (Entropy) ¡°Good grief, you haven¡¯t changed at all even after 1,600 years. Always going about humans, humans. You don¡¯t care about me at all.¡± The Light Goddess gave out a displeased atmosphere, but the Dark God didn¡¯t loosen his words. ¡°In the battle at the world¡¯s creation, you guys won. You wouldn¡¯t understand just how anxious I got. Because you only saw humans as trash after all.¡± (Entropy) ¡°You were the weird one for being excessively attached to humans. That¡¯s why, in the fight 1,600 years ago, there were no allies on your side.¡± ¡°And because of it, I lost. I have no grudge on that part. However, if in the time I was sealed, you guys have treated them inappropriately, and have hindered their natural evolution...¡± (Entropy) ¡°You will begin it again? The battle...of Gods.¡± Light and Darkness; the gaze of the two Gods sh. ¡°...Also, after a nce at the current world -maybe because of it being 1,600 years already- my heart is dancing to see how it has changed.¡± (Entropy) ¡°Fine. Then let¡¯s look at it from above right now¡ª¡± ¡°No...¡± (Entropy) He stops the Light Goddess that was about to open the window to look below. ¡°Even if I were to look down at it from such a high ce, I will only be able to understand the surface of it. In order to understand humans more, it would be nice to do it alongside them, standing on the same viewpoint.¡± (Entropy) ¡°What are you going to do?¡± At the question of the Light Goddess, the Dark God answers with a smile on his face. ¡°I am going to reincarnate as a human.¡± * * * On that day, a new life was born at a certain house. An unusually energetic boy. This married couple that was blessed with a child for the first time, named him ¡®Haine¡¯ and raised him with care. And this child is the very person that had the soul of the God of Darkness who had fought with the five Gods at the world¡¯s creation 1,600 years ago. The story begins by the time Haine has turned 18 years old.

 Chapter 01-02 - Filial piety

    <h4>Chapter 01-02: Filial piety</h4>


    I, Kuromiya Haine, am the God of Darkness. More urately speaking, a reincarnation of the God of Darkness. The almighty Gods are able to change their own souls to a certain extent and reincarnate in the surface world with a body. Released from the seal thatsted 1,600 years, I used these soul technique to be a human and fully enjoy the change of the world...I mean, observe it. I will be repeating myself here but, it has been 1,600 years long since I have seen the surface world. Just how much has it changed? Since my descent, I have been excited. To begin with, if I had to exin why I was sealed for such a long time...it would be a story that goes all the way back to the creation of this world. At that time, there was the cooperation of six Gods -including me- who created this world. The sky was created, the sea was created, thend was created, and at the end, the people that lived in thatnd, the humans were created. At that moment, one of the Gods said this. ¡°Let¡¯s make humans the ves of Gods.¡± The one that went against it straight away was me. We can¡¯t do something like that. As living beings, humans are free. Even if we are their creators, there¡¯s no way it is okay for humans to be ruled on the whim of Gods. The opinions of the Gods were divided in two, and finally, it turned into a battle. And so, I lost the fight and ended up sealed. By the way, the Gods that were at the side of ¡®humans are the ves of Gods¡¯ were all the 5 remaining aside from me. Since they won, the living of the humans while I was sealed should have been a rough one where they were bounded by the subordination of the Gods. Even so, I believed. Humans will push through difficulties and evolve in a way that only they can achieve. Humans are strong. And they are deeply prudent...and kind. And so, I have been reborn as a human and am living alongside them. In order to fully enjoy this world that I haven¡¯t seen for 1,600 years. The ce I was reborn as a human in was a mountain vige that can be considered a remote region. There, I received a new body as the sole son of a normal married couple. My father is a hunter. Well, even if I say so, at a small vige, hunting doesn¡¯t bring much ie, so he also gathers firewood, picks edible wild nts, and acts more like a jack-of-all-trades in terms of the forest. Even so, his skills are good. At times, he also hunts the harmful beasts that devastate the fields, monsters, and he has gained the goodwill of the vigers. And I, as his son, am seen as the one who will be following my father¡¯s steps to be a hunter. I myself think that¡¯s fine. Even if I don¡¯t leave this small vige for the rest of my life, this is also a way of living for humans. The God of Darkness enjoys the life of a normal human, and dies. That¡¯s what I thought. Until this day came... * * * With only the sound of cutting wind, the arrow flew. The arrow hits the wild boar without err, and so, the boar that has been destroying the fields thesest few days made a cry of agony and falls. ¡°I did it!¡± Confirming the hit, I run towards the fallen game. The wild boar had already died, so there was no need to deal the finishing blow. Father alsoes after he puts away his readied bow. ¡°You brought it down splendidly, Haine. There was no need for Dad to shoot a second shot.¡± ¡°In no way. It was because I knew that father would bring it down even if I were to miss that I was able to shoot with peace of mind.¡± (Haine)  Even so, the happiness of bringing down a game was big. ¡°Father, let¡¯s quickly take it apart. The meat is filled with nutrients, so we have to let mother eat it!¡± (Haine) ¡°Haine, there¡¯s something you have to do before that, right?¡± When father pointed it out, I noticed, and I hurriedly put my bow aside and kneel down. And then, I ce my hands together at the boar that had now be a corpse, and pray towards the life that was lost. This is a forest rule that hunters share. ¡°...Okay then, let¡¯s begin the dismantling. From here, the closest water source would be...¡± ¡°Over here father!¡± (Haine) Pointing the direction where the river is at based on my memories, I take the initiative of carrying the game on my back and began walking. The dismantling will have a lot of blood flowing, so it is indispensable to have a lot of water in order to wash it away. In that way, we can divide the eatable meat from the hide and bones that can be useful, the fat that can also be used as fuel, and it also makes it easier to carry. ¡°Haine has...already be a splendid man.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the case. There¡¯s still a lot of things I want father to teach me.¡± (Haine) ¡°No, there¡¯s practically nothing for me to teach you anymore. You are...too good of a son for a countryside couple like us. And so, I thought this but¡ª¡± ¡°Wait a moment.¡± (Haine) Father was in the middle of speaking, but I who had found something, entrusted the game to father and crouched on the ground. The ground that had grass growing heftily in this forest. ¡°This medicinal nt...if I remember correctly, it works with heart diseases. I was taught that by the pharmacist, Ribe-san.¡± (Haine) ¡°You, you even learned that...¡± ¡°When we return to the vige, let¡¯s have Ribe-sanpound it. It might ease the illness of mother.¡± (Haine) After I ce the plucked medicinal nt in between oiled paper and put it away, I once again carry the game and head to the water source. Arriving at the ce, I cooperate with father and swiftly finish the dismantling, and so, the job is done. Settling the request from the vige chief to subjugate the harmful beast, we are finally able to return to our house after 2 days. ¡°Father, how much boar meat will we be selling? Leave enough portion for us to eat at home, okay? We will have mother eat it after all.¡± (Haine) ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± ¡°But money is necessary too. We have to buy the medicine for mother. Even if we can save some with the medicinal nt we plucked just now, it would still be...¡± (Haine) While thinking that, something happened as we advanced through the forest. Father and I noticed it. This turbulent atmosphere as we got closer to the vige.


    ¡°What is this?!¡± When we returned, the vige was filled with abnormality. A deserted vige that doesn¡¯t even reach the fifties with all members together. And yet, at that ce, there were over a hundred people crowded there. It was clear that a group hade to this vige from the outside. As proof of it, the people that came from the outside wore white shining armor and had a different look from the vigers. The problem is that the bunch that wore white shining armor were clearly acting in a pressuring manner towards the vigers. ¡°Gather all the vigers! Especially the young ones that are between 10 to 20 years old! Don¡¯t let a single one escape!!¡± The man that seems to be leading the armored people was giving orders as saliva flew out of his mouth. The armored people -most likely knights- had already taken out their swords and spears, and urging forward the vigers by pointing at them with it. They are totally threatening them. It seems like these guys are gathering the vigers somewhere. The people inside the houses were being dragged out, forcefully whether they agreed or not. Father and I noticed this abnormal event from the outside of the vige, and we are currently hiding at the forest, observing the situation. Because we were out hunting, we didn¡¯t have to face this abnormality head on. ¡°Just who are these guys?!¡± (Haine) ¡°They probably came from the city. Such tidy bunch, there¡¯s no way they would be from around here.¡± Father must be saying that after seeing the shininess of that armor. I also think the same way. On top of that, I bring out memories, that came from another ce that were not from Kuromiya Haine, and had an idea of their identities. The knights that were covered in full armor. Those knights not only have swords and spears, there¡¯s also gs raised up as if disying who they were. The coat of arms that was engraved in the gs, there¡¯s no doubt, it is the symbol of the Light Goddess, Intion. (Why is the crest of the Light Goddess engraved in the g of these humans?) From the memories of my time as a Dark God, I had an idea of what that coat of arms was. It has been 18 years since I reincarnated as a human. In that time, I haven¡¯t left the vige once. Not having interest in the ways of the world hase to bite me. ¡°...Haine, at any rate, let¡¯s go to the ce of the vige chief, and then, we will ask what¡¯s happening¡ª¡± ¡°Wait, father!¡± (Haine) I hurriedly grab the arm of father who hade out from the bushes and was about to enter the vige. ¡°Father, we are outside the vige and they haven¡¯t noticed us. If we go now, they will find us and we will end up the same way as the others.¡± (Haine) ¡°Y-Yeah...¡± ¡°As long as we haven¡¯t made clear what the objective of those knights is, it is better not to move recklessly. Depending on how the events develop, it might be a plus that we are hiding here.¡± (Haine) ¡°I see... that¡¯s true.¡± It seems father has listened to my opinion, he bends his body again, and went back to the shadow of the trees. ¡°It is just as you say. Seriously, even though you are the son here, you say things that make me think you are the older one.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. I am father¡¯s son.¡± (Haine) But... ¡°Father, this may sound weird after I told you not to move but...how about we move?¡± (Haine) ¡°I know. I have been worried about that too.¡± Father and I went around the outside of the vige, taking care not to be noticed by the knights, and change locations. It is fortunate that this is a remote vige at the mountain recesses, the surroundings of the vige are mostly forest. And so, the ce we moved to was our house within the vige. Right now, mother should be alone in the house. Mother has had a weak body since long ago, and that¡¯s why, this unusual event makes it even more worrying. While we are hiding in the forest, we can¡¯t check inside the house because of the distance. In the time I was thinking about how to deal with this, a morous noise was heard from inside the house. ¡°Come out immediately! The Light Goddess calls!¡± Mother was dragged out from the house by an armored knight. Theplexion of her face was clearly bad. Her condition was probably not good today either and wasying down on the bed. The body of mother was weak since the beginning, and she had given birth to me when she was already over the age. She had a constitution that made it hard to have a baby, and in truth, this body of mine should have been a stillbirth. The body is the vessel of the soul. Since I had to take the vessel of a soul, in my time as a Dark God, I decided on a stillbirth when I descended. Even if it was a stillbirth, if it is a God, it is possible to heal the parts that had be bad and be reborn. However, I who was born in that way, had made my father and mother one step happier than normal, and had been raised with care. A child that they would hardly be blessed with because of illness. Moreover, they were told that it would be a stillbirth beforehand, and yet, a child was still birthed, so that must have made it even bigger for them. By the time I became 1 year old, there was a time when I spend almost a whole day walking at the outside of the vige. My body had grown enough to walk on my two legs, so I wanted to check out the surface world. Even if it was the body of a baby, for me who¡¯s a God on the inside, there was no problem. With the intent of a light stroll, I checked out here and there, and when I was satisfied and returned, mother hugged me while crying loudly. The face of a worn out woman that was anxious about her 1 year old child disappearing was reflected in my eyes. This one day that I used to walk around and fill my curiosity, was a despairing day for that person. At that moment, I finally noticed. The current me is Kuromiya Haine before it is the Dark God Entropy. That I am the son of these people. Before thinking, my body had already moved. ¡°?!! Hey wait, Haine!¡± The stop of father didn¡¯t make it in time, and, running out from the shade of the tree, I rushed straight towards my objective. ¡°Eh? Guwaaaaa?!!!¡± The knight gets punched and rolls over. ¡°Mother!¡± (Haine) ¡°Haine... Don¡¯t! Run away!¡± However, I stood in front of mother, faced the confused knights, and said, ¡°If you areing at me,e prepared! If you are going to hurt this person, I will be knocking the lights out of every single one of you!!¡± (Haine)

 Chapter 03-05 - The Light Knights

    <h4>Chapter 03-05: The Light Knights</h4>


    ¡°Gubah?!¡± ¡°Ogeh?!¡± ¡°Uboo?!¡± The armored knights fly through the air one after the other. There¡¯s no point in adding hits to opponents that are wearing something like armor, so if you simply use their own momentum to throw them, they will fall to the ground with the weight of the armor added, which will make them face hell. Depending on the way they fall, they might even snap their neck and die instantly, but I have added some discretion in order to avoid that from happening. ¡°Father! I leave mother in your care!¡± (Haine) ¡°Understood! But you...¡± I leave mother to father, and just like that, I rush forward. Normally, this is a situation where we should be hiding and checking the situation, but since we have already left our hiding, we have no choice but to confront them. Even with just a slight nce, I can tell that there¡¯s around 50 knights. If I fight them all at once, I will just be crushed by their numbers. In that case, what¡¯s most important is to crush their leader. The important-looking armored knight that seems to be one peck higher than the other knights and was giving orders a few moments ago. Aiming for that guy, I ran straight at him. ¡°Captain! Be careful!¡± ¡°?!!! What?! What¡¯s going on?!¡± The other side seems to have begun noticing the abnormality, and the one who was acting all high-and-mighty suddenly got flustered. ¡°What are you idiots doing?! Crush this insolent one that¡¯sing here! In the name of the Light Goddess!!¡± Abiding to the order, a number of knights tried to obstruct me, but I avoid them, and at times I punch them back, favourably closing the distance to the knight that was called as the captain. ¡°Uwaaa!!! Don¡¯te any closer!!¡± The captain was visibly flustered. He hurriedly threw away the sword in his hand, and in ce of that, unsheathed a dagger that was at his waist. (?! What is he intending to do?) If you are going to sh with the enemy, you would normally have more of an advantage with the long sword. And yet, he threw that away and changed to a dagger that¡¯s clearlycking in effectivity as a weapon. This mysterious action of his was soon made clear. At the same time as he points the dagger at me, the de shines brightly. ¡°[Holy Light Bullet]!!¡± ¡°What?!¡± (Haine) A light arrow was shot from the dagger. Is that how I should describe it? At any rate, it was a light that flew fast like an arrow. If this hits, it would be bad. ¡°Guh!¡± My swung armes into contact with the light arrow, and I deflect it. As expected, I had to stop running and temporarily stay in ce. ¡°Wa?!! You deflected the [Holy Light Bullet]? That¡¯s impossible...¡± The captain, who shot the light arrow, had his eyes wide open in shock. ¡°The power of the Light Goddess that was granted to us, the Aurora Knight corps...this [Holy Light Bullet] that had holy power packed in it was...repelled by a countryside bum like him. There¡¯s no way that¡¯s possible!¡± ¡°Why is a human utilizing the power of light? I don¡¯t understand, but...¡± (Haine) I was so surprised, I ended up utilizing a bit of my power of darkness. ¡°Don¡¯t just go talking down about the countryside when you juste invading our vige!!¡± (Haine) The charge resumes. I close the distance to the knight captain that waspletely bent back now. ¡°Hiiih!! Don¡¯t get closer!! [Holy Light Bullet]! [Holy Light Bullet]! [Holy Light Bullet]! [Holy Light Bullet]! [Holy Light Bullet]! [Holy Light Bullet]!¡± Falling into panic, he shot light arrows like crazy, but that¡¯s exactly why they didn¡¯t hit. There was already no need to deflect them, I simply had to dodge them, and was easily able to enter into fighting range. ¡°This is the end.¡± (Haine) And then, as I was about to punch the fully shaken face of this man¡ª Something stopped my fist. It wasn¡¯t the leader that was simply panicked all around. ¡°H-Hero-dono?!¡± Is what the captain said. The one that suddenly appeared and entered in between me and the captain was a person wearing an equally white shining armor, however, its presence waspletely different. It gave out majesty. A beautiful girl.


    ¡°Hero-dono?! Hero-dono!¡± The captain that was weak on his knees and agitated, stood back up suddenly. ¡°This viger was opposing us! He went against the Light Church! Please give him swift divine punishment!¡± The fist that was supposed to be dug on his face, was stopped by the shield of the girl that had suddenly appeared. From the impression the armor she wears is giving, I can tell that she is in the same organization as these knights that are invading our vige.  ¡°Captain Vesage...¡± The girl turns back to the captain. ¡°Why did you depart on your own volition? I told you that I was going to check the state of the seventh recruitment corp, and that you were to stay in standby until I returned.¡± ¡°That¡¯s...uhm, that¡¯s...!¡± It looks like they are quarreling. ¡°Also, what¡¯s with this atmosphere? It is as if you are capturing the ce. Captain Vesage, what in the world are you trying to do here?¡± ¡°That¡¯s, uhm...we, the Aurora knight corp, for the sake of gathering new members...¡± (Vesage) The Captain-san speaks with a fading voice like that of a child being scolded after a prank. It seems the girl got tired of listening to what he had to say, this time, she turns to my direction. ¡°You are someone from this vige, right?¡± ¡°Eh? Y-Yeah...¡± (Haine) Since she was being well-mannered, I reflexively respond in the same way. The knights around, and the vigers that were gathered outside by those knights, had their attention on that girl and were not moving. ¡°I am truly sorry.¡± Is what she said as she lowered her head deeply. Looks like she is apologizing, or more like, there¡¯s no doubt she is. ¡°I apologize from the bottom of my heart for the trouble that our people of the Church have caused to your vige. I strictly ordered them not to disturb the livelihood of the vigers, but it ended up in this. It is all because of my own negligence.¡± ¡°Eh, uhm...¡± ¡°I will have the knights put away their weapons immediately. On my name, I assure the safety and freedom of the vigers. On top of that, can you please hear what I have to say?¡± In that space of time, she lowers her head even deeper to the point that I could only see the back of her head. ¡®What beautiful hair¡¯, is what I thought, but this is not the time to be thinking about that. Looking at my surroundings, it seems the knights sheathed their swords with the words of the girl, ced aside their spears, and lower their heads in apology. Should I consider this as the danger being gone for the time being? But it looks like they don¡¯t have any intentions of leaving. It was as if they were saying they won¡¯t be moving an inch until we hear out what they have to say. ¡°Haine.¡± ¡°Haine?!¡± Mother was apanied by father and wereing to where we are. I let out one heavy sigh. In the end, I decided to listen. ¡°We came from a ce a lot further away from here, the Light capital. We are the Light Church.¡± ¡°Light Church?¡± (Haine) ¡°Yes. One of the five Gods of creation, the church that follows the Light Goddess Intion-sama.¡± The five Gods of creation. It refers to the five Gods that created this world. The Light Goddess Intion, the Fire God, Wind God, Water God, Mother Earth God. For me who was a Dark God, they are the hateful people that sealed me. However, it seems they are targets of religious faith for the people here. Well, it is obvious huh. They are Gods after all. ¡°And I am the light hero that represents the Light Church, Kourin Karen.¡± (Karen) The word hero is not a word I am familiar with. Even in my memories as a Dark God, I don¡¯t know about such a title. ¡°And so, what is this Light Church and the hero-sama doing in such a remote ce like this?¡± (Haine) From how the talk has gone, it seems I have no choice but to be the representative of this vige, so I ask that of the hero Karen-san. ¡°We are currently looking for new knights.¡± (Karen) ¡°Knights?¡± (Haine) ¡°Yes, one of the organizations of the Light Church, the Aurora Knight corps. We are being troubled by ack of personnel. In order to protect the innocent people that follow the Light Goddess, the number of knights is still not enough.¡± (Karen) Hearing that, the words the high-and-mighty Captain said about gathering all vigers, especially the young ones between 10 to 20 years old made sense. ¡°But it is a honest-to-word recruitment! In order to ept people that want to be members of the knight corps, we moved around the towns and viges in the area.¡± (Karen) ¡°But the knights that came here are clearly different, right? Not only did they try to recruit, it felt like they were going to kidnap the young ones of this vige. The one who was leading this was...¡± (Haine) The gaze of me and Karen-san were directed at the same ce. If I remember correctly, his name is Vesage. ¡°I-I had no choice!¡± (Vesage) At thiste of the game, captain Vesage spat out excuses. ¡°Since I have the chance, I will say it. Hero-dono is way too easygoing! There¡¯s no need to do something as lukewarm as recruiting, we should gather all the people here that can fight, and strengthen the Aurora knight corps as much as possible!¡± (Vesage) ¡°In order to do that, you tried to levy the youngsters of this vige?¡± (Haine) ¡°That¡¯s right. Not ¡®recruiting¡¯ but ¡®levying¡¯!¡± (Vesage) Captain Vesage bites back at the retort I made. ¡°Haine-san.¡± (Karen) Karen-san also enters the talk. ¡°I also admit that the methods of captain Vesage were forceful, however, the grace of the five Gods has begun thinning in this world. The monsters are running rampant, and in order to fight against it, we have to gather people.¡± (Karen) Even Karen-san. ¡°Of course, we are not forcing anyone. However, I want to fight together with everyone in order to protect this world, and in order to do that, I have to ask of you...please!¡± (Karen) Karen-san once again lowers her head to the point I see her back of the head. This time it wasn¡¯t an apology but a request. And it wasn¡¯t only for me, but to all the vigers. But the only thing that was returned was agitation. Can¡¯t be helped. The sincerity of Karen-san was clear as day, but the vigers also have their own life. 10 to 20 years old, in other words, they would be taking our strongest workforce, which is totally troublesome for the vige. There will probably be no one wanting to join, but Karen-san¡¯s side is giving airs that they won¡¯t be budging an inch unless someone raises their hand. If handled poorly, the knights might once again burst and resume hunting people. ¡°......Understood.¡± (Haine) Heaving a sigh, I step forward. A voice called out ¡®Haine!¡¯. It was the voice of mother, and that voice pierced my chest for an instant. ¡°I will go. That¡¯s why, please be satisfied with only me. Don¡¯t try to persuade the other vigers, and of course, don¡¯t harm them. Those are my conditions for joining.¡± (Haine)


    This is how it was decided that I, Kuromiya Haine, will be joining the Light Church. I received the praise from the surroundings in the sense that I sacrificed myself for the vige, but it is not like I myself didn¡¯t have other reasons. That¡¯s...to see the world. In the battle with the Gods that urred 1,600 years ago, I -the Dark God- was sealed by the victors, the other five Gods, and they should have recreated the world in the way they wanted. And in truth, it seems the Light Goddess, Intion, has created a church that follows her, and there¡¯s a high chance the others are doing the same thing. In the time I was absent, just how much did they intervene with the humans? In order to investigate that, I will be going. If there¡¯s something that surpasses the boundaries of eptable, it is my role as a God myself to correct it. In truth, this is something I should have done sooner. This was one of the reasons why I reincarnated as a human after all. And yet, there was a reason why I let it drag until I turned 18 years. The reason for that was... * * * ¡°Haine, are you really...really going?¡± The moment of my departure, mother grabbed my hand with reluctance and was not showing any signs of releasing it. I...was also unable to shake away that hand of hers and stayed just like that. ¡°It is fine already, let Haine go.¡± ¡°But dear, Haine has not left this vige even once, you know? Even when he goes hunting, he woulde back in less than 3 days without fail, and yet, if he were to go to the city, who knows when he wille back...¡± I was also worried about not being able to attend to mother who has a weak constitution. Actually, there¡¯s times when mother worried about me and ended up worsening her physical condition because of it. If possible, I don¡¯t want to leave either. I was prepared for it, but this is a more painful farewell than expected. And then, the linked hand of mother and I was gently separated by father. ¡°Haine is a man. The time wille when he has to leave to the outside world in order to ascertain his own worth. And today is the day. If you are his mother, congratte Haine for the start of his new life...... Haine.¡± ¡°Yes, father.¡± (Haine) ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember, but when you were 1 year old, there was a time when you disappeared from the house. Your mom and I were searching desperately for you, but we were unable to find you even when it reached the night, and we thought it was already toote.¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°However, the moment night came, you came back all of a sudden. You came back to the house on your own. It was as if you had finished your stroll and wasing back from it. Since then, mom became an incredible worrywart, but I, on the contrary, was impressed. ¡®Being able to do such a big adventure when you are only 1 year old, just how big of an adventure will you be able to achieve when you are an adult?¡¯ Is what I thought.¡± Father ces both hands on my shoulders. ¡°If it¡¯s about me and mom, don¡¯t worry. You are not the kind of man who should live your whole life in a small vige. Go see the world. Think of this event as a good chance to do that.¡± Saying this, father hugged me with both arms. For the soul of the Dark God, this was only a body that was coincidentally chosen in order to descend to the surface world, however, for the current me, these people are without doubt...my parents. These 18 years until now, I have been poured with love, taught a lot of things, and was raised by them. There¡¯s no way I would think this connection with them was just a fictitious one. ¡°Mother, father...I love you.¡± (Haine) I hug mother and father, and for the first time in my life, I depart to the world where these people are not there. At that moment, I once again learned...I was a result from inheriting the soul of the God of Darkness, but before that, I am a human...I am Kuromiya Haine.

 Chapter 06-07 - Crucible of humans

    <h4>Chapter 06-07: Crucible of humans</h4>


    And in this way, my stage has changed from my homnd to the light capital, Apollon City.


    This city where the light church¡¯s main headquarters are in, is a prominent big city even in the standards of this world.


    The number of people and buildings, it is on a whole different level from my homnd. It overwhelmed a countryside person like me.


    ¡°Ufufu, are you surprised?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san who is apanying me, was looking pleasantly at me who had turned into a country bumpkin.


    ¡°Is this your first time in Apollon City?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, rather than calling it my first experience in a city, it would be more like, this is my first time going out of the vige. Everything I see is surprising.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Is that so? In my case, it was surprising to see apletely different side of Haine-san. Since I met you, I always thought you were a cool person after all.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah, Karen-san, what¡¯s that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are not listening at all...¡± (Karen)


    What caught my interest were the vehicles that were running around the city.


    No, vehicles are normally things that are pulled by cows or horses, but these vehicles have nothing pulling them. The vehicle is moving by itself.


    Moreover, in this paved road, there¡¯s not only one of those kind of vehicles, there¡¯s several of them, and they were going back and forth.


    In other words, that vehicle that moves on its own isn¡¯t something special, but amon thing.


    ¡°That¡¯s an ethereal car.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ethereal car?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A vehicle that moves with ethereal.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hah?¡± (Haine)


    It seems she is trying to exin it, but it didn¡¯t serve as an exnation.


    ¡°Hmph...it is a vehicle that has degraded humans.¡±


    The one who said this in a bad mood was, as expected, captain Vesage who was together with us. The knight corp that he leads as well, and there¡¯s also the other corps that had spread to other locations in order to recruit new members and had reunited as we were getting closer to the light capital. It had be quite the orderly mass.


    Within that group, there were a number of people that had epted the recruitment like me.


    And so, the talk of captain Vesage continues.


    ¡°Because something like that exists, people have forgotten the grace of the Light Goddess and have be arrogant. Hey, neer, I will be telling you this in advance since you are a country bumpkin. The light churchpletely forbids the use of such machines. Remember that.¡± (Vesage)


    It is true that the knights of the light church, even when there¡¯s this many adults, are all walking on foot or riding a horse.


    There¡¯s this many, so it would have been easier to just prepare a big one of those things called ethereal cars and bring them along that way.


    ¡°Captain Vesage, please don¡¯t vent it on Haine-san. Seriously, you have been grumpy since the time in the vige.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But Hero-dono, our corp was assigned a quota of 50 people. And yet, we only brought back one. What would the founder-sama and the knight¡¯smander say?!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°If theyin, I don¡¯t mind you telling them it was all my fault. Also, I think this one recruit was our highest result in this time¡¯s recruitment expedition.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Eh?¡±


    Vesage and I react at the same time.


    ¡°This one recruit...are you referring to this country bumpkin?¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Yes. Haine-san didn¡¯t hesitate against the [Holy Light Bullet] shot by captain Vesage and was able to deal with it perfectly. Even when it was his first time seeing it.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ugh...¡±


    ¡°Fast and precise decision making. On top of that, those quick-witted movements, there¡¯s no shorings in having him as a fighting force as he is now. Isn¡¯t this the kind of talent we were looking for?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Gugugugu!!¡±


    What Karen-san was saying must have been sound, but captain Vesage, who was defeated by me, was unable to obediently consent to it and was grinding his teeth.


    And so, in order to not worsen the situation, I decide to stay silent.


    ¡°B-But...it all depends on whether this country bumpkin can show results in the entrance exam of the knight corps.¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°In that point, there¡¯s no problem. I believe in him.¡± (Karen)


    What are they talking about?


    I couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasiness towards the talk of those two.


    While we were in the middle of that, we arrived at thest point of our journey.


    The Light Grand Church located at the center of Apollon City.


    This is where the main headquarters of the light church that follow the Light Goddess, Intion, is located.


    ¡°The ones aiming to enroll, gather over here!¡±


    When we crossed the gates of the Grand Church, the people that were not wearing armor were gathered quickly.


    It is the people that were gathered from the recruitment expedition.


    I am also one of them, but calling me as someone ¡®aiming to enroll¡¯ doesn¡¯t click in me.


    Karen-san and captain Vesage have long gone somewhere else.


    As a hero and a captain, they have their own duties to perform.


    ¡°Listen well maggots! Imend you for gathering at the side of the light! From today on, you are one of the prided members of the light church!!¡±


    The one talking to the neers is a somewhat asphyxiating bald old man.


    It seems something has already started.


    ¡°However, even if I say ¡®light church¡¯ in general, the roles are many. Priests that offer prayers to the Light Goddess, the people that look after those priests; and then, there¡¯s the military power of the church, the Aurora Knight Corps associated with it, the Light knights! That¡¯s the majority of it but...ah right right!¡±


    The bald old man had a face as if saying ¡®I will be saying something interesting now¡¯ as he puts on airs in his tone.


    ¡°Within this group, if there¡¯s someone that¡¯s aiming to be the Light Hero, this is for your own good, just give up in advance. A person that surpasses Karen-sama who is the one currently in active duty, it would take at least 30 years before someone like that appears!!¡±


    When he finished, incredible cheers came from the crowd.


    ¡°Now that the preliminary talk has been wrapped up...maggots, I will have you take an exam. Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t be making you do anything difficult. We are only using this.¡±


    Saying this, the old man lifts something in his hand.


    It was hard to make out because my position was far away, but it seems to be some sort of board.


    ¡°This is called an element board, and it is a tool to identify your element. Everything in this world has received the divine blessing of the five Gods that created this world. Earth, fire, water, wind, and light; these five elements.¡±


    Looking carefully at the board that the old man was carrying, I could see that it is shaped in a clean pentagon, and at each side, there¡¯s the symbol of the earth, fire, water, wind, and light Gods.


    ¡°When a person holds this element board, this needle at the center will identify your element. We, the Light Church, will of course wee the light element. The people that have the needle of the element board pointing at the light element will unconditionally enter the Aurora Knight Corps!!¡±


    After this exnation, the actual exam began.


    The aspirators were lined up and were holding the element board in turns.


    ¡°Wind element! Rejected!¡± Water element! Rejected!¡± ¡°Light element! Pass!¡±


    That voice resounded inside the Grand Church.


    While we were at it, my turn came. The face of that bald old man soon got right in front of me.


    ¡°You...you are Kuromiya Haine, right?¡±


    ¡°Eh? That¡¯s right but, why do you know my name?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well fine. At any rate, try holding it.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Is what the old man said as he holds out the pentagonal board to me. At that moment, the needle of the element board pointed towards a ce that was slightly to the left of the light symbol.


    That¡¯s probably the element of this old man.


    ¡°Right right, I am the vice captain of the Aurora Knight Corps, Grades. If you are going to join the knight corps, I will be a direct superior of you. I forgot to tell you.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Say something like that to everyone please. What¡¯s with this open bias.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The hero Karen-sama told me to take good care of you. I have also heard about your rebellion towards Vesage. If you can be an instant fighting force, I also wee you with big open arms, that¡¯s all.¡± (Grades)


    I see, so that¡¯s how it is.


    At any rate, I take the element board from the vice captain Grades.


    Now then, I wonder what it will show...


    ¡°......Hm?!¡±


    Creaking sounds came from the element board.


    The needle of the element board, I don¡¯t know what it is made of, but it is probably metallic.


    The creaking sound continued. And then, right after, the needle bended without anyone touching it.


    ¡°Whaaat?!!¡± (Grades)


    Vice Captain Grades who was looking at it right in front of me was also surprised.


    Without pointing at any of the elements, the needle of the element board broke itself and pointed to the sky.


    As the God of Darkness, my element is of course, darkness.


    For this element board that has no entry for darkness, there was no way for it to urately identify my element.

 Chapter 08-10 - Grunt of Light

    <h4>Chapter 08-10: Grunt of Light</h4>


    ¡°Listen well! You guys are the leftovers!! Trash that didn¡¯t make the cut!! That¡¯s why you were brought here! Understood?!¡±


    ¡°¡±¡°Yes ma¡¯am!!¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°From now on, I will be making you useless trash into the strongest and all-purpose trash!! By the time I say it is already okay, you guys should have be trash that won¡¯t lose to anyone! Can you keep up?!¡±


    ¡°¡±¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Then, question! Where¡¯s this?!¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±The kitchen of the light church! Ma¡¯am!!¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right! And I am the one in charge of the light church¡¯s kitchen, the head chef, Angan Regine!! For you guys who have been sent here to do subordinate work, I am the captain, I am the God!! Understood?!¡± (Regine)


    ¡°¡±¡±Yes ma¡¯am!!¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°This is the ce that governs all the meals of the light church! The priests, knights, the founder-sama! The food we make heads to those people in their holy line of work!! If you see it lightly as some misceneous work, we will drown you in the sea of Bejimait! Breakfast is a battle! Lunch is a battle too! And dinner is a war!! There are times when we have to prepare emergency food for the Knight Corps when they depart after all!! If you guys exert yourself here, you will be splendid cooks of Light!!¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±Yes! Ma¡¯...am!!!¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Y¡ªYes...ma¡¯am!¡±


    Yes, Kuromiya Haine here.


    Given the element board to hold, the needle, that was supposed to point one of the five elements, broke because of the Dark God soul I had inside this body, and I was splendidly rejected.


    And so, the ce I was send to is the kitchen of the light church¡¯s main headquarters, and it seems I will now be made to work as an apprentice to be a Light cook.


    It wasn¡¯t only me. The people that didn¡¯t have the needle of the element board pointing at the light element were forcefully send to the church¡¯s numerous misceneous duties.


    We were being ced to work right away like work-horses.


    * * *


    ¡°...This is not how it was supposed to be.¡±


    Is what the guy at my side said.


    By the way, he was ordered together with me to peel potatoes and we were currently moving our knifes at the back of the kitchen.


    ¡°In my ns, the me that was supposed to have passed the exam with flying colors would enter the Aurora Knight Corps, immediately stand out, show achievements one after the other, get popr with the girls, and have a flowery lifestyle. And yet, what¡¯s this about peeling potatoes? This doesn¡¯t turn into a career at all.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that in the presence of Regine-san. You are gonna get a shoulder throw from that.¡± (Haine)


    His name is Frost.


    He is a neer like me that epted the recruitment of the light church, but the needle pointed at an element other than light and was rejected from entering the knight corps.


    And so, he was send to the kitchen as a misceneous worker, but it seems he is sent to do a majority of things I am also send to do, and now, we havepletely be friends with each other.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so pessimistic about it. Even this potato peeling, if you get serious about it, it can be unexpectedly fun, you know? Just how well can you peel it as perfectly as possible...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What I want to peel is not the skin of a potato, but the clothes of girls!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°As long as you continue saying things like that, I think that even if you be a knight, you won¡¯t be popr.¡± (Haine)


    If we exclude the part about his perverted way of speaking, he is a good guy, and we were soon able to be good friends.


    ¡®So the humans have evolved in a variety of manners¡¯, is what I have realized.


    In that sense, the wild actions of that Regine-san person were also likeable.


    Let¡¯s write what happened today in a letter and send it to mother and father.


    ¡°Anyways, Haine, why are you here?¡± (Frost)


    ¡°What¡¯s with that sudden and weird question? Was that a philosophical question?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, it is not the type of question asking where we havee from and where we are headed to. What I mean is...you are pretty famous within the neers. In the time when they were recruiting neers, there¡¯s talk that you got into a fight with the captain and send him flying. Even I have heard about it.¡± (Frost)


    ¡°...I didn¡¯t send him flying. I was stopped right before I sent him flying after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Geh, then the part about you fighting him was true?! Moreover, from how you said it, you were 90% in the winning side?! ...Well, there¡¯s the matter about the entrance exam. Even if the element is different, you could have gotten send to a better ce than this. Or more like, isn¡¯t it fine to have you enter the knight corps?¡± (Frost)


    So that¡¯s what he meant by that ¡®why are you here?¡¯.


    ¡°I am plenty satisfied here though. Cooking is fun.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are a mancking in ambition! If you are a man, even if you are to fall in a ce like this, at least have a goal like having a date with sis Regine!!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°Eh? Frost, you are aiming for her? For that Regine-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...How...old is sis Regine?¡± (Frost)


    ¡°Based on the information I have, 32 years old.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°32 huh. Barely in my strike zone.¡± (Frost)


    Is he seriously going to aim for it?


    I was beginning to feel fear towards my new friend, but well, it has nothing to do with me, so I concentrate in peeling potatoes.


    ¡°Hoh~, there¡¯s a guy with interesting taste here.¡±


    ¡°Uo.¡± ¡°Hiaaaa?!¡±


    A shiny bald head suddenly appeared.


    It is the vice captain that was in charge of the entrance exam, Grades.


    ¡°Just a warning, pair of neers. You better give up on that amazon. There was a formal light knight who stroke the ass of Regine as a joke while she was working as a waitress, but...¡± (Grades)


    ¡°W-What happened?!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°He got an axe kick on his head and is groaning on his hospital bed even to this current day.¡± (Grandes)


    Wouldn¡¯t it be a good idea to have that woman enter the light knights?


    Well, let¡¯s leave that aside for now...


    ¡°Did you have some sort of business here, vice captain? To suddenly appear at the back of the kitchen like this, could it be that the knight corps have nothing to do?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s a cold way of putting it. Well, it is that, there¡¯s also other girls in the light church that you shouldn¡¯t anger. Last time, I messed up with that person, so I havee to make a recovery.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Haine, I have brought something nice for you...... There¡¯s no one here aside from you guys, right?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Well, it is the back of the kitchen. If it is inside the kitchen, there¡¯s a lot of people though. Should I call them?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Stop it! I only have business with you!¡± (Grades)


    The bald vice captain looks warily around before putting his hand inside a hemp sack.


    ¡°Oh, what is it? Is it something erotic?¡± (Frost)


    Frost judges the wariness of the vice captain in this way, and gets excited.


    ¡°Shut up. It can¡¯t be helped, so I will show it to you too. Don¡¯t tell anyone about me walking around with this, okay?¡± (Grades)


    What came out from the hemp sack was a rectangr box-looking thing that was slightly big to carry around.


    ¡°...What¡¯s this? It doesn¡¯t look like something erotic at all.¡± (Frost)


    ¡°That¡¯s just your own assumption. You see, this is an element measuring device.¡± (Grades)


    Element measuring device?


    ording to the exnation of vice captain Grades, it seems this element measuring device is used to estimate the element amount of a person. <Duh>


    ¡®Isn¡¯t that the same as the element board used at the entrance exam?¡¯, is the retort I gave out, and the vice captain makes a supplementary exnation as if biting the words.


    ¡°This is something superior to the element board. With ethereal energy, it measures elements with a lot more detail and uracy.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Ethereal energy?! Isn¡¯t that a machine then?!¡± (Frost)


    When Frost lifted his voice, vice-captain Grades res at him.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said not to tell anyone! Okay? Don¡¯t tell anyone! Especially people like the captain!!¡± (Grades)


    Frost was startled by the anger of the vice-captain and slowly withers down.


    There¡¯s parts that I can¡¯t get the outline of from the conversation between the two, but for now, let¡¯s leave that aside and...


    ¡°In other words, we can have a better measurement of our elementpared to the element board?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Showing is worth more than a thousand words. Hey, you are the one that came from the Reustor vige, Frost, right?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Eh? Yes!¡± (Frost)


    It is unexpected to see someone high-up like a vice-captain knowing the name of Frost.


    ¡°I was the one in charge of the entrance exam. I have properly gone through the list of neers. I will be using the element measuring device on you, Frost.¡±(Grades)


    At the surface of the element measuring device there were five frames, and at the same time this was directed at Frost, shining words appear inside the frames. Rather than calling it words, they were actually numbers.


    [Earth: 105] [Water: 130] [Light: 128] [Fire: 214] [Wind: 309]


    ¡°Ooh?!¡±


    ¡°Frost is more specialized in wind than fire huh. 309 is quite the high number, you know. If you had gone to the Wind Church of Ludora, you would have been ced in the Whirlwind Raid Corps, no doubt.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Seriously?! I will go now!!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°Can¡¯t. You have already joined the Light Church, so we won¡¯t be letting you escape.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Eeeeh?!¡± (Frost)


    If it were the element board, it would only point the strongest element, but the element measuring device will show you in numbers how much of an affinity you have with each element huh.


    It is true that the amount of information obtained ispletely different.


    ¡°...Uhm, vice-captain Grades, is it okay to ask a question?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Frost¡¯s strongest element is the wind element, but I think the second one, the fire element, also has quite the high number.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right. With a 214, if it were light element, it is a numbers that¡¯s plenty enough to enter the knight corps.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°No waaay!¡± (Frost)


    Ignoring Frost who was beaten up by reality, I continue the talk.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean the people that didn¡¯t have the light element pointed in the entrance exam, could have had their second strongest element as light, moreover, there¡¯s the possibility they had a good enough number to get a pass?¡± (Haine)


    Vice-captain Grades answered this question with a heavy tone that he hasn¡¯t used until now.


    ¡°...It¡¯s exactly as you say. The element board is, in the end, something that simply points the highest elemental affinity one has. To put it in another way, even if the light element is only a 100, if the other numbers are all lower than 99, you would get a pass. On the contrary, even if you have a light element number of 300, if there¡¯s at least one other element that has a number of 301, you will end up rejected.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°What¡¯s with that? Isn¡¯t that weird?¡± (Frost)


    ¡°It is just as Frost says. But that¡¯s the current state of the Light Church...no, the current state of the whole world.¡± (Grades)


    The current state of the whole world.


    I felt an unpleasant ring from those words, but I had no choice but to leave it aside for now as well.


    ¡°More importantly! The main issue is you, Kuromiya Haine! I will be using this element measuring device on you!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°I see! The element board had its needle broken, but if it¡¯s this device, there might be a result appearing, right?!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°Exaaaactly! Am I not a genious?!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°You are a genius! Oh~ brave, hero! Please let me enter the knight corps!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°Hahahaha! Caaaan¡¯t!!¡± (Grades)


    What¡¯s this, these two guys are hitting it off pretty smoothly. Is there sympathy or something there?


    ¡°No, but I¨C!!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°Gotta test it out! Now then, using this element measuring device...¡± (Grades)


    And so, the numbers that were shown...


    [Earth: 000] [Water: 000] [Light: 000] [Fire: 000] [Wind: 000]


    ¡°Okay, retreeeeat! Retreaaat!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°I was stupid for expecting anything! Thinking Haine-kun was a capable child was only an illusion of mine!¡± (Grades)


    Even if you tell me that...


    I will be repeating myself here but, I am the reincarnation of the Dark God. My element is absolutely ¡®darkness¡¯.


    This element measuring device most likely doesn¡¯t have enough functions to perfectly measure a person¡¯s element.


    If this measuring device had a sixth entry, it would probably have the numbers 999 there.


    ¡°Hm? But having element numbers all 0 should be impossible. No matter how low it is, you would normally have 100, you know?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Seriously?! Haine, are you okay? Did you eat something bad?!¡± (Frost)


    There¡¯s no way food would be a deciding factor for elements.


    Humans are beings that were created with the divine powers of six Gods. That¡¯s why six elements exist.


    In truth, it would be ideal to have a good bnce of 6 elements mixed in, and leaning too much onto one would be bad.


    ¡°...Could it be...the element measuring device broke because of Haine just like the time with the element board? Isn¡¯t this bad? Hey, this was a rented one, you know?!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Now that you mention it, vice-captain Grades, the lowest number is around 100, but what would be the highest in terms of element number?¡± (Haine)


    I kind of got interested in it and tried asking.


    ¡°Hm? The upper limit for the element number huh. Generally speaking, around 400.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°No way! Then my 309 in the wind element is high isn¡¯t it?! Damn it!!! If only I had gone to the Wind Church!!¡± (Frost)


    ¡°But you see, there¡¯s always exceptions. For example, the light hero, Karen-sama.¡± (Grades)


    Karen.


    The girl that was the very person who invited me to the Light Church.


    I have not seen her since the time we separated at the entrance exam but, I wonder what she is doing.


    ¡°Listen and be amazed. The element number of Karen-sama is apparently around 700.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°S-Seven hundred?!¡±


    A 400 is supposed to be the upper limit, and yet, she has 700?!


    Impossible. If a person had that much inclination in an element, this would be in a level that would affect their very life. It would be another case if there¡¯s the soul of a God inside just like me though.


    ¡°Even within the church, they can measure a detailed number for their elements, after doing aplicated ritual that takes around 1 week, that is. Karen-sama was chosen to be the light hero based on that strong element number. And so, our job as the knight corps is to support the hero-sama!!¡± (Grades)


    I see. In other words, heroes are the strongest ones in the knight corps.


    With an elemental affinity of 700 in the light element, power follows.


    A group that fights with the hero as the centre. That¡¯s the knight corps.


    But being abat organization means that there¡¯s obviously something you are fighting against, right?


    While I was thinking: ¡®What are they fighting against?¡¯...


    ¡°So you were in a ce like this!!¡±


    ¡°Hm? Eeeeh?!¡±


    By the time I noticed, there was a beautiful girl in white armour standing there.


    ¡°Hero-sama?!¡± ¡°Hero Karen-sama?!¡±


    Grades and Frost were extremely flustered.


    ¡°Vice captain Grades was also here? I said this before, didn¡¯t I? Haine-san can add to our fighting force immediately, so let him enter no matter the element. And yet, why is he doing mere misceneous work in the kitchen?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, well...this is work as well, you know. It is not like I can do anything I want, you know!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t call it ¡®mere misceneous work in the kitchen¡¯! If Regine-san heard that, we would be seeing blood!¡± (Frost)


    The two got incredibly scared.


    ¡°Karen-san? Why are you in a ce like this?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is obviously to look for you! This is an emergency! This may be sudden but, there¡¯s the need of Haine-san¡¯s assistance!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san takes my hand and forcefully pulls it.


    ¡°Vice captain Grades as well, return to your station as soon as possible andmand the knights! Haine-san and I will be heading out first! Please tell that to the captain while you are at it!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    While I was confused on what was going on, I got pulled by Karen-san and change the location.


    At the ce we arrive at, there was something there I didn¡¯t know what it was.


    ¡°...Uhm, what¡¯s this?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A small flying motorcycle machine powered by ethereal energy.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Because it is a ptor type, only one person can ride it, but in exchange, it has speed. Also, this little one is especially modified for my use, so it is the number one model for speed. 37 times faster. Well, that¡¯s only the written specs though.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°???????¡±


    I didn¡¯t understand what she was saying at all.


    What¡¯s in front of me is probably the same type as those ethereal cars that are running all around the city and the element measuring device that the vice captain Grades had.


    How to say it, it is as if it was made with a cradle as its design, looks like it would be incredibly fast. And from both sides, there were wingsing out from it, and it looked like it was possible to fly. And it seems it is big enough to have people ride on it. <Definitely a Laputa reference>


    ¡°It is not made to have two people ride it, but since circumstances are circumstances; Haine-san, please hold tightly to my back.¡± (Karen)


    While saying this, Karen-san straddles onto the so called small flying machine, as if riding a horse.


    ¡°Now! Haine-san too!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Y-Yes!!¡±


    Following the same movements as Karen-san, I straddle onto the back of the flying machine, and wrap my arms around her body.


    She told me to do it. And she had an atmosphere saying she won¡¯t be taking a no for an answer.


    ¡°ce more strength into it! You will get thrown off like this, you know!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh? Like this?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...I didn¡¯t tell you to grab my boobs.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Sorry!¡± (Haine)


    I kind of know what¡¯s going to happen now.


    ¡°Takeoff! We are going at full speed!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Oooooohhh?!!!¡± (Haine)


    The flying machine we were riding really flew.


    Moreover, at an incredible speed. The air was hitting me with terrifying density, and it is certainly true that I was about to be thrown off by it.


    ¡°K-Karen-san! Karen-saaaan!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What is it?! If you talk, you are going to bite your tongue!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t understand the situation at all though?! Or more like, where are we heading to, even going through the trouble of flying in the sky?!¡± (Haine)


    The Grand Church is already at the far distance.


    Karen-san who was driving the flying machine said this without turning to my direction,


    ¡°As I said, it is an emergency! They have appeared!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°They?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The enemy of the Aurora Knight corps and the threat of us humans; monsters!¡± (Karen)

 Chapter 11-13 - Monster Invasion

    <h4>Chapter 11-13: Monster Invasion</h4>


    ¡°Guoooo?!¡±


    It was only for a few minutes, but the terrifying speed of the flying machine was taking away my willpower and stamina.


    ¡°To think such a fearsome thing existed! The city is seriously scaryyy!!¡± (Haine)


    I roll down from the flying machine that had alreadynded and enjoy the nostalgic feeling of the ground.


    ¡°Haine-san, please get a grip of yourself. We are already at the location, or more like, at enemy territory. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for anything to happen.¡± (Karen)


    Even though Karen-san was on the same ride, she didn¡¯t show a single sign of being exhausted.


    ¡°The fastest the light knight corps¡¯ main force can arrive is at best after 5 hours. In that time, we will scout out the ce and investigate the monsters¡¯ movements.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...Uhm, Karen-san, wait for a bit!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I want to avoid battle, but please be prepared for when it turns out as unavoidable. But at that moment, I will be taking the front, so I won¡¯t let Haine-san face any life endangering situation.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san!! Karen-san!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°?!! Yes?¡± (Karen)


    Because I suddenly raised my voice, Karen-san seems to have gotten surprised.


    But if I didn¡¯t do that, she wouldn¡¯t listen to what I have to say, so it can¡¯t be helped.


    ¡°...I still don¡¯t know anything though.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Things like: why I was brought here, where is this ce, what is happening here, what should I be doing; Karen-san, you still haven¡¯t exined a single thing.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?! ...Ah, right!¡± (Karen)


    So she finally noticed, Karen-san went: ¡®Sorry, sorry!¡¯ while prostrating, and then, she exined the details of what has transcurred till now.


    ¡°First of all, this ce is one of the sections of the Trixia forest located at the southeast of Apollon City.¡± (Karen)


    From what Karen-san says, it seems a report about the sighting of monsters was received from the Trixia forest.


    ¡°Monster...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, monsters. Subjugating monsters is the main mission of the Light Knight Corps. And so, we came here in a big hurry.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...Well, I understand that much but, why was I brought here as well?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Uh...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of knights at the knight corps, right? You could have brought someone there, and yet, why did you decide on a fresh recruit, moreover, one that failed the exam instantly?¡± (Haine)


    It is not like I don¡¯t like helping out here, but there¡¯s way too many points that don¡¯t make sense in the actions of Karen-san.


    Karen-san made a bitter expression, and answers as if groaning.


    ¡°...The knight corps won¡¯te.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hah?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Just like I said before, they will arrive here in 5 hours at best. Gathering will take 1 hour, preparing will take 1 hour, and to move all the way here, around 3 hours.¡± (Karen)


    Uwaaa...


    ¡°But! If we were to wait that much, it will be way toote! It is true that monsters have appeared in this forest, and if we don¡¯t take them out promptly, there¡¯s no point in me being the light hero.¡± (Karen)


    Once again, Karen-san lowers her head at me.


    ¡°I am plenty aware that it is strange for me to have Haine-san, who just joined the church, do something like this. But right now, please don¡¯t ask anymore and just lend me your assistance!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In this forest, there might still be people that came without knowing that monsters have appeared. Finding those people and having them take refuge, it would be impossible by myself!¡± (Karen)


    The forest around us is still peaceful and there¡¯s only the sound of wind making the leaves dance. However, there¡¯s already danger inside this ce.


    ¡°...¡±


    I turn my heels.


    ¡°Let¡¯s separate and begin moving. If we are going to search for people that didn¡¯t manage to escape in time, that way is more efficient.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°B-But! If Haine-san were to encounter a monster while you are acting on your own!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Even if I look like this, I am the son of a hunter. This may be my first time in this ce, but if it¡¯s a forest, it is practically like a garden. Even against a monster, I will show you I can run away from it.¡± (Haine)


    I end the conversation and run off.


    ¡°Now then, monsters huh.¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s been a time in the past that I have fought against monsters.


    Not as a Dark God, but in the time I was living as Kuromiya Haine.


    In the vige I was born and raised in, there¡¯s been times when some would appear mixed with the beasts around, and in those cases, the ones to deal with it are the hunters of the vige, father and I, but different from beasts, monsters vanish like mist the moment they are defeated, so there¡¯s not a single profit from it.


    ¡®It is an enemy that only brings losses¡¯, is how father categorized them in terms of problematic ones. That¡¯s what monsters are.


    They were clearly different from people, beasts, and nts, that had been born by receiving the grace of the Gods.


    Or more like, I don¡¯t remember making monsters in the time I was the Dark God.


    Things I didn¡¯t create exist now. One more mystery has been added in this space of 1,600 years.


    ¡°Well, leaving that aside...¡± (Haine)


    I stop my feet, and after confirming that there¡¯s plenty enough distance from Karen-san, I stabilize my breathing and concentrate.


    If there¡¯s really people that werete in running away inside this forest, there¡¯s no way we would find them by searching blindly.


    I am a reincarnation of the Dark God.


    Even if I am in the body of a human, I can still utilize the divine power of darkness, and am able to feel the ¡®dark waves¡¯ a person releases.


    I touched the topic a bit with the talk about elements not that long ago but, humans were created by all six Gods at the genesis of the world.


    Earth, wind, water, fire, light, and darkness; it is because all those elements are mixed in that they have all elements, and depending on the person, there¡¯s also elements they are good at and elements they are not good at.


    That¡¯s why, the shadow element will always be present inside the humans. It is just that the people themselves don¡¯t know.


    As the reincarnation of the Dark God, I can feel that part of them.


    .......I found a reaction.


    ¡°...So there really was someone who didn¡¯t manage to escape in time?!¡± (Haine)


    I run full speed to the location where the reaction came from.


    And after not a long period of time, I find an old woman and a small girl leaning on the trunk of a tree. It is probably a grandmother and her daughter.


    At any rate, I ran to the ce.


    ¡°Are you okay?!¡± (Haine)


    The old woman was rubbing her swollen leg in pain.I can tell at a nce that she sprained it.


    ¡°Ah, you, who are you? This ce is dangerous. Monsters have appeared and¡ª¡±


    ¡°I know. I am a person from the Light Church that hase here for that exact reason.¡± (Haine)


    It is fine for me to say that, right?


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s great! I came to this forest with my grandchild to gather edible wild nts, but...to think we would be encountering something as terrifying as that! When we tried to hurriedly run away, I fell, and...!¡±


    She is probably agitated.


    After finishing emergency treatment, I shoulder her on my back.


    ¡°Grandma, grandma!¡±


    ¡°Youe as well. We will be leaving the forest. If possible, it would be great if you were to guide the way.¡± (Haine)


    It was at this moment... this forest, that only had the gentle rustling of leaves, had a thunderous sound reverberate in it, and while a lot of leaves were being scattered around, the figure of those guys appeared.


    So it has finallye.


    A monster.


    It has appeared; a monster.


    A bug-shaped monster that is around the size of a human, putting it more concretely, it is a dragonfly.


    A big dragonfly the size of a human was flying in the air while staring right at the old woman, her grandchild, and I.


    ¡°...It is totally aiming at us.¡± (Haine)


    Monsters only attack humans.


    For example, even if a rabbit or a deer were to pass here, they wouldn¡¯t even stutter one bit and attack only the humans. They are ursed beings that work in that way.


    ¡°Grandma, I am scared!¡±


    A young girl, that probably doesn¡¯t even reach 5 years old, was clinging to the old woman while trembling all over, urately speaking, she was clinging at the old woman that I was carrying on my back.


    ¡°Person from the church, please just leave me behind and run away with my grandchild. This is myst will!¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t do that. After being told that, I end up wanting to save you two even more.¡± (Haine)


    For now, I lower the old woman from my back, and face the giant dragonfly that¡¯s alone.


    The giant dragonfly continues flying in ce as it keeps an eye on us. As if measuring the timing to jump at us.


    Noticing that, I purposely turn my eyes away from the giant dragonfly for an instant.


    It was baited splendidly, and the dragonfly charges towards us.


    ¡°Now!!¡± (Haine)


    While avoiding it with a hair¡¯s breadth, I ce a hand on the head of the dragonfly that hade right where I am.


    And then...


    ¡°[Dark Matter Set]¡± (Haine)


    Dark particles surge out from my palm.


    The giant dragonfly that came in contact with it had its head crushed, and it copses.


    This is the power I possess as the reincarnation of the Dark God.


    What I did just now was Dark Matter, or so to speak, I have released darkness and created particles that normally don¡¯t exist in the natural environment with the dark divine power.


    Its special characteristic is that it is able to absorb all elements excluding darkness and make them disappear.


    On top of that, it can do things like freely controlling the direction of the gravity and the strength of it.


    What I released just now was in a small dose, so to the old woman and the little girl, it must have looked like I crushed the head of the dragonfly with crazy strength.


    Since its head was crushed, the dragonfly died, and the remaining parts turned into small grains of dust and disappeared.


    This is what monsters are; living beings that are outside the principles of nature.


    ¡°It is safe now. Let¡¯s resume our return to the vige.¡± (Haine)


    The moment I was about to turn to the old woman.


    ¡°Church person, at your back!¡±


    The shout of the old woman made me return my gaze, and at that ce, there was another giant dragonfly.


    ¡°A second one?!¡± (Haine)


    Even though I defeated one just now, a new monster appeared.


    Moreover...


    ¡°It is not only 2... there¡¯s 3...4...10...20!!!¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s already too many dragonflies to even count, and they were covering the sky.


    To think there were this many...


    It is not an amount I can¡¯t wipe out by increasing the density of Dark Matter, but the old woman and the little girl will definitely be witnessing it.


    The other choice would be to carry both the old woman and the little girl and run away swiftly, but against these giant dragonflies that have wings, moreover, with these numbers, I don¡¯t think I would be able to outrun them.


    Thinking about the natural state of this world, my dark divine power is something I would like keeping secret, but...it seems it can¡¯t be helped. I will just have to hope that the old woman can keep it secret and that the little girl will be taken as fantasizing.


    ¡°[Dark Matter S¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wait there!!¡±


    The sudden call made me hurriedly stop the dark matter that was about toe out from my palm.


    An armoured girl is running here with ragged breath.


    ¡°Karen-san?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I¡¯m d. You are okay, right?! Pythonflies were gathering at an rming rate, so I thought there was definitely something going on!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Pythonflies?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am talking about those giant dragonflies there. A wind element monster, Pythonfly. As normal from a wind element, their body is fragile, but topensate for that, they have wings and fast speed, and the most problematic part is that they act in swarms. The moment they find a human, they quickly gather like this.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san turns her gaze towards the old woman and the little girl.


    ¡°I understand the situation. Just leave the rest to me, Haine-san. Please protect the civilians.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But fighting those numbers with just you alone would be¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is okay.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san unsheathes the sword that was hanging at her waist.


    A beautiful white and shiny de that doesn¡¯t lose to her hair and armor. A very straightforward sword.


    ¡°I have the light divine power that the Light Goddess has honoured me with. I became a hero in order to stand at the front and protect the powerless.¡± (Karen)


    The white de shines. As if power was being gathered in it.


    I remember seeing that before. At the time when I fought the knights at my homnd, captain Vesage had gathered light divine power inside a dagger when he shot the light arrow at me.


    But the one that captain Vesage was using was only as big as a fruit knife,pared to the sword of Karen-san that is clearly a sharp sword that would be able to split a monster in two just as it is.


    ¡°Holy sword Saint-George that was given to me together with my title as the Light Hero, please release here the holy power that is gathered inside your body!¡± (Karen)


    The light divine power that was released from the sword flew straight to the sky and bisects the Pythonflies that were at the edge of the swarm.


    Something that I would call a light sword wave had been released from the sword of Karen-san. The light sword wave stretched widely from its sides, and perfectly sliced in two the swarm of Pythonflies that were a mass in the sky.


    Several tens of giant dragonflies were falling, and before they reached the ground, they turned into dust.


    ¡°Incredible!!¡± (Haine)


    With only one swing, she was able to defeat several monsters.


    It is on a whole different level from the ¡®Holy Light Bullet¡¯ that captain Vesage used. So this is the power of the hero.


    ¡°...But...¡± (Haine)


    The swarm of Pythonflies were still upying the sky.


    It is true that the ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ is big and unparalleled, and can cut down everything it touches, but it can be called a line attack. It wasn¡¯t enough to wipe the swarm that spreads around a whole side of the sky.


    In other words, she did defeat a lot, but there¡¯s still a lot more left.


    ¡°It is okay. Until thest one falls, I will use the ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ as many times as it takes...¡± (Karen)


    Or so Karen-san says passionately, but I wonder if she can really release a big move like that continuously.


    ¡°Stop it, Karen-san. The best move would be to use that technique to provide cover while we run with the civilians.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But if we don¡¯t wipe them out here and now, they might attack other people. As a hero, there¡¯s no way I can forgive tha¡ª¡± (Karen)


    At that moment, the voice of someone, that was not her or me, reverberated in the forest.


    ¡°[me Burst]¡±


    At the next instant, the sky, that was covered by grotesque Pythonflies, was now covered by something entirely different.


    Deep crimson red mes.


    Those Pythonflies were burnt by those mes and became ashes, and not a single one remained as they disappeared.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± ¡°What¡¯s this?!¡±


    Karen-san and I were taken by surprise, and could only look at the crimson abnormality in the sky.


    ¡°Hmph, as I thought, the Light Hero is useless.¡±


    And then, the shadow of a person appears. It was the same voice that resounded in the sky a few moments ago.


    ¡°In the end, you are not worthy of being called a hero. I am the only true hero. It is none other than the one that has received the divine power of the God, Nova-sama, the fire hero, Katack Mirack.¡±


    ¡°...Fire hero, Katack Mirack?¡±


    I look at the girl that suddenly appeared with surprise.


    Even if I say girl, she is tall and has a suntanned skin, and at a nce, you would even mistake her for a man. But being able to identify her as a woman even with that is because of her breast area that was widely open.


    ¡°Mirack-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Serves you right, Kourin Karen.¡± (Mirack)


    The girl called Mirack approaches Karen-san with rude steps.


    She was practically picking a fight.


    ¡°Being cornered by something as weak as a Pythonfly, you weakling. If I hadn¡¯te in, who knows what would have happened?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°...Yeah, thanks, Mirack-chan.¡± (Karen)


    The attitude of Karen-san towards her was cowering, and the behaviour she has shown until now waspletely in hiding.


    By the way, in that time, I judged that the monsters were now gone and the danger had disappeared, so I returned to helping the old woman and her grandchild.


    ¡°R-Right, Haine-san! I will introduce you!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san called me back.


    ¡°She is Katack Mirack-san. The fire hero.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    I don¡¯t understand well.


    ¡°Wait, isn¡¯t the hero Karen-san? Are there several heroes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, I am the light hero. Haine-san also knows about the five Gods of creation, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes, of course.¡± (Haine)


    Remembering the times before I reincarnated, I end up feeling the urge to stab a fork inside the nose of each one of them.


    ¡°In this world, there¡¯s churches that follow their respective God among the five. One of them is the Light Church that follows the Light Goddess, Intion-sama. It refers to us.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Okay...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s also the churches that follow the Fire God, Nova; Water God, Coacervate; Wind God, Quasar; Mother Earth, Mantle. And each church has their own hero that represents them. Mirack-chan is the fire hero that was chosen for the Fire Church.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In that case, there¡¯s five heroes in total?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s r¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t joke around.¡±


    Karen-san was going to answer, but Mirack interjects.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one hero, the others are all fakes. And the real hero is me. Because I am the strongest hero within all the others after all. At the very least, I am better than a hero that may have thinned the monster swarm but had gotten the better of her.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Ah...¡±


    The voice of Karen-san shrivels.


    ¡°Seriously, what a saddening way of fighting that was, light hero. Compared to that, I used ¡®me Burst¡¯ and wiped them all out. That proves the power that the Fire God, Nova-sama, has granted me is superior to that of the Light Goddess by leaps and bounds.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack turns to my direction,pletely ring at me. It was an anger that felt as if she would spit fire from her eyes, but I continued without caring.


    ¡°Karen-san¡¯s ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ is a technique that sends a light sword wave of light divine power. Its power is high, but it can¡¯t be considered arge area of effectivity. On the other hand, your ¡®me Burst¡¯, was it? That one is an attack that hasrge area of effectivity and is the type that spreads. Nova¡¯s powers are mostly those types after all. The situation just now was coincidentally favorable for the fire element. Isn¡¯t that all there¡¯s to it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What¡¯s with this weakling?! So conceited!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Also, no matter how high-and-mighty you act, there¡¯s a truth that¡¯s unmoveable.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°The fact that Karen-san was the first one to arrive at the scene.¡± (Haine)


    Being pointed out that, the loose tongue of Mirack-san had stopped.


    She most likely didn¡¯t have any words to refute it.


    ¡°If you are here, that means you came here promptly when you received the report of the monster sightings, but even so, Karen-san was faster. That¡¯s why it was possible to save this olddy and her grandchild. That¡¯s without doubt the achievement of Karen-san, not yours.¡± (Haine)


    The old woman and her grandchild that had gotten back theirposure gave their gratitude to Karen-san.


    She was worried about the situation on this side, but right now she was responding to the two.


    ¡°Also, you were able to burn down the monsters in one swipe because Karen-san¡¯s attack had gathered them into one location. If they were scattered here and there, even your fire wouldn¡¯t have been able to wipe them out in one attack. It might even be a difficult fight with caution of not making a mountain fire.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s stupid, something like that is just¡ª!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s the reality. In this time¡¯s fight, the light hero that came here first was rescuing the people while luring the monsters, and then, the fire hero wiped them out. A victory through team y.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Team...y?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Haine)


    I grab the wrist of Mirack-san with my right hand, and with my left hand, I grab the wrist of Karen-san. And then, I bring both close to each other, and had the hand of Mirack-san and Karen-san hold each other.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± ¡°?!!¡±


    In the form of a handshake.


    ¡°As humans, as heroes; is there really any need to fight each other? Today¡¯s victory was the victory of you both. Let¡¯s all be happy together!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!!!¡± (Mirack)


    With more strength than I expected, the hands that were linked had been shaken off.


    And with ring eyes that were strong enough to ignite someone, she says.


    ¡°You! I don¡¯t know from what countryside you popped out from, but let me tell you this! For me, heroes are as much of an enemy as monsters! Only I am the true hero! I will also settle things up with the other ones in time! To prove who the true hero is!¡± (Mirack)


    Saying what she wanted to say, she turned around and left.


    We stood there.


    In this forest where the monsters had been defeated and peace had returned, only the sad face of Karen-san remained.

 Chapter 14-15 - A conceited reflection time

    <h4>Chapter 14-15: A conceited reflection time</h4>


    ¡°This was a failure! A failure! A BIG failure!!¡±


    The ce is the Light Church¡¯s main headquarters, the meeting room at a section of the grand light church.


    Suppressing the monster strife, escorting the people to their houses, and finishing the work that was left, Karen-san and I returned and we were soon called.


    What was waiting for us there, were a lot of important-looking people.


    One of the people there, an armoured knight, was losing his temper for some reason.


    ¡°Hero Karen! In this monster cleaning mission, there¡¯s no other word to describe it but failure! To think we would have the glory stolen by the Fire Church!! That¡¯s the worst! Is there any worse disgrace than this?!¡±


    Is what the knight said as he ps the pile of papers on top of the table.


    I got interested in it, so I checked the pile of papers and there was this heading written there.


    ¡®In the monster strife at the Trixia forest, the Fire Hero yed a big role¡¯


    I know about this. This is called a newspaper.


    Apparently, there¡¯s an ethereal powered machine that is able to print the same words in several hundreds of papers. Using this, they spread around the daily news.


    While we were in the middle of returning here, Karen-san was also interviewed by a newspaper reporter, and I who was apanying her, learned about the existence of this.


    ¡°Hero Karen, what is your job as a hero?¡±


    ¡°...Protect the people from the threat of monsters.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In that way, we show the outside world the majesty of the Light Church, and in turn, increases the divine virtue towards the Light Goddess, Intion-sama! And yet, this time¡¯s result...made it look like our Light Church wasckingpared to the Fire Church!!¡±


    ¡°Knight Commander Dobbe, calm dow¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Do you think I can be calm here?!¡± (Dobbe)


    The surroundings tried to calm him, but the armored knight that was called the knightmander didn¡¯t show any signs of calming at all.


    Or more like, that¡¯s the Knight Commander?


    ¡°...Hero Karen. As a Knight Commander, I have questioned your aptitude as a hero for a long time now. This is a good opportunity, so today, I will be thoroughly cing the me on you about this.¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°...Yes.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san epted the words of the Knight Commander without any energy.


    Even though she just returned from the monster subjugation after doing her best, I haven¡¯t heard a single word of gratitude from them.


    ¡°First of all, hero Karen, at the time you were heading to the site, I heard that you utilized the small-sized flying machine. Is that true?¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°...Yes.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That ursed machine that only corrupts us humans, the use of it ispletely forbidden inside this church. For the hero herself to take the initiative and break the rules is inexcusable!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°We will be disposing of that machine immediately. Listen here hero Karen, if you are going to act as the representative of our Light Church, have awareness of it, and follow the rul¡ª¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Can rules kill monsters?¡±


    Those words silenced the ce.


    No one showed any signs of interjecting, so I continue.


    That¡¯s right, I was the one who spoke.


    ¡°Following the rules and defeating monsters; if you are able to do that and still manage to protect the people, then follow it as much as you want. But reality is different. Against an impending threat, rules serve nothing.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°W-What did you say?!¡± (Dobbe)


    The hostility of the Knight Commander was directed at me.


    ¡°What¡¯s with you?! I am the Aurora Knights¡¯ Knight Commander, Zeberphon Dobbe, you know! And you are going to go against me?!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Giving out different opinions and looking for an unified answer, isn¡¯t that what a meeting is? Are you going to deny that very definition?¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san who was at my side, was sending me worried gazes.


    There¡¯s also several important-looking people that were surprised, but as expected, they didn¡¯t raise a single beep and were only looking at me as if looking at something curious.


    That¡¯s why, I continued without caring.


    ¡°Then, Knight Commander-san, you looked down on the flying machine of Karen-san like it was the sworn enemy of your family, but it was thanks to this very machine that Karen-san was able to arrive at the scene first. And yet, even with that achievement, you will still be disposing of it. Isn¡¯t that a bit too unreasonable?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Machines are things that corrupt humans and make people lose their faith towards God! Their very existence is evil! What¡¯s wrong with disposing of something like that?!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Even though the one that has lost the most faith towards God is you?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Dobbe)


    For the people that are in the meeting, just how do I look?


    Inside the Light Church, I am a newbie among newbies that had just joined at the recruitment yesterday. Moreover, a grunt that was send to the kitchen after being rejected from the exam.


    And that bean sprout is right now hurling at the Knight Commander. If looked at it from a calm position, it is a situation where I wouldn¡¯t be able toin even if I were to be executed for this rudeness.


    Even so, since I have already rushed in, I will have to continue.


    ¡°I?! This Knight Commander here?! I -the Knight Commander, Zeberphon Dobbe- has lost my faith towards the Light Goddess, you say?! I would like you to stop your baseless usations!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°In today¡¯s monster subjugation, it was truly tough, you know. Why didn¡¯t youe?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ugh.¡±


    ¡°The number one job of the knight corps is to protect the people from monsters, right? And yet, you didn¡¯t run there. Just what were you doing?¡± (Haine)


    I must have hit a sore spot, I could tell the vigor of the Knight Commander was withering.


    ¡°I heard from Karen-san; after receiving the report of monster sightings, the knight corps take 1 hour gathering, 1 hour preparing, and 3 hours to mobilize to the ce. Is that right? In an emergency where every second counts, you guys waste time like crazy, and in the end, you wouldn¡¯t even be able to arrive at the ce by the time it is over. I am surprised you are able to me Karen-san who was the first arriving at the scene.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...T-That¡¯s why the view of an amateur is so shallow.¡± (Dobbe)


    The Knight Commander smooths over someposure.


    ¡°Listen well. It is not like just arriving at the scene is all that has to be done. When we arrive, we have to fight monsters, keep the damages to the minimum, and grab victory in those circumstances. For the sake of that, there¡¯s the need for careful preparation, and because of it, it is a given that it will take time. When moving as an organization, mobilizing in itself will take time after all. To ignore that and just go at it by the standards of who arrives faster or slower would be¡ª¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°And as a result, you don¡¯t make it in time for anything.¡± (Haine)


    That short statement destroys the whole im of the Knight Commander.


    ¡°Assembling the necessary things at the necessary moment is important. You have ignored the timing of assembling too much, and as a result, you served of no help at all. Even though you are in a position of being the Knight Commander.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Gigigigi!!¡±


    ¡°Compared to that, Karen-san made swift judgment in this time of emergency, even utilized a flying machine, and rushed to the site faster than anyone else. As a result, she was able to save an old woman and a little girl that didn¡¯t escape in time. Karen-san was able to achieve that much, and yet, she has to be med by you who didn¡¯t do anything?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Giiiiiih!!!¡±


    From the opening of the Knight Commander¡¯s teeth, an unbelievable sound is produced.


    His hand grabbed his sword.


    The people at the meeting room raised their voices.


    ¡®Oh? Is he going to rampage here?¡¯, is what I thought, but at that moment...


    ¡°The thick-headedness of the Knight Commander is something that has been pointed out before.¡±


    And so, one of the people sitting in the meeting said, moreover, it was the voice of a woman.


    Reacting to this, the Knight Commander instantly calms down the bloodthirst that wasing out from his body.


    ¡°F-Founder-sama...¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°In the article that was written at the newspaper, looking well at it, it is referenced that Karen-san was the one who rushed head first to the ce, and that in the end, it was the cooperation of the light and fire hero that led to the defeat of the monsters...... Kuromiya Haine-san.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    This woman I don¡¯t know of called me by my full name and I get agitated.


    Because she is wearing a priest robe, her age is hard to tell. A mysterious woman.


    I can¡¯t tell because her face is covered with a veil, but simply seeing her bearing and her tone of voice, I can tell that she is a peerless beauty.


    ¡°You were the one that provided this point of view, right? Thanks to the newspaper reporter having this piece of information, our Light Church was able to maintain its prestige.¡±


    ¡°Well, it is true that I did speak with the reporter as well.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I have heard about you. I heard that you were personally scouted by Karen-san in order to increase the adapting ability of the knight corps. I am happy to see that there¡¯s already achievements from you. I heard that your family is a family of hunters. That must have properly connected to this line of work as well...... Vice Captain, Dinron Grades.¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes!!¡± (Grades)


    Being called by name, the bald Vice Captain stands up.


    So he was here too.


    ¡°It would be bad to have a capable person like this without any role. With my authority, I ept Haine-san into the knight corps. You who are in charge of revising the neers, please find him a role that can allow him to move freely without being bound by the framework of the organization.¡±


    ¡°Hah?! ......Y-Yes!¡± (Grades)


    I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on.


    The Knight Commander interjects.


    ¡°Please wait, Founder-sama! I have not heard anything about that! If it¡¯s rted to the personnel affairs of the knight corps, isn¡¯t there the need to say something to me as the Knight Commander?!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Knight Commander, Dobbe, you will be taking the me for the dy in this time¡¯s dispatch. In order to not repeat the same mistake, I will have you draft some reformation ideas.¡±


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    The Knight Commander steps back to the firm words of the woman.


    ¡°The Fire Church¡¯s headquarters located at the fire capital, Muspelheim, are situated rtively close to this Apollon City, so both churches are mostly beingpared at almost everything. If we are to get the better of again...Dobbe-san, you understand, right?¡±


    ¡°Y-Y-Y-Yes!!¡±


    ¡°I will ignore the use of the ethereal machine from the hero Karen-san this instance. Once the Knight Commander is able toe up with a reform n that makes it possible to arrive quickly at the scene, we will discuss it again. Everyone, any questions?¡±


    Not a single one of the several tens of important-looking people said anything.


    Or more like, these people didn¡¯t say anything in all the meeting.


    ¡°Then, there¡¯s nothing more to discuss in this asion. Karen-san, Haine-san, good work. You can retire for today and rest at ease.¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes!¡± ¡°Yes...¡±


    When the woman stands up, two maids also followed behind as they left the meeting room.


    That became the sign of the meeting finishing, the other important-looking people stood up from their seats one after the other.


    Only one, the Knight Commander Dobbe stood up with a red face and kicked the seat he was sat on.


    A noisy sound was made.


    And then, he walked out from the meeting room angry.


    This is something I learnedter on but, that solemn woman was the founder, Yorishiro. The number one most important person that supervises this Light Church.

 Chapter 16-17 - True reflection time

    <h4>Chapter 16-17: True reflection time</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    Woohoo! First batch of sponsor chapters! Thanks for the donators. Though it was mostly about Tsuki, lol.


    And in this way, the meeting about the monster strife -that was more of a reflection meeting- ended, and I was freed.


    However, it was a mysterious meeting where I didn¡¯t understand why I was in it as well.


    A person with no title like me was able to speak as much as I wanted, and I feel like there will be retributionter on which makes me anxious.


    ¡°...Haine! Kuromiya Haine!¡±


    When I leave the meeting room, an asphyxiating bald man was running towards me.


    ¡°Vice-captain Grades?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Seriously, thanks!¡± (Grades)


    Saying that, Vice-captain Grades lowers his bald head speedily. It even felt saddening in a way.


    ¡°I am truly sorry, and thanks for protecting the hero-sama at that time! In reality, we knights should be the ones acting as the shield for that person, and yet, I was worried about my rank and post, and was unable to say anything! Truly pathetic!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Eh? Doesn¡¯t that mean it is even worse for me who doesn¡¯t even have a rank or a post?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No problem! The Founder-sama is serving as your backing after all! With that, even Knight Commander Dobbe won¡¯t be able to put a hand on you. Seeerves him riiight!¡± (Grades)


    The tension of the baldy is high.


    ¡°...I really am pathetic. The job of us -Aurora Knight Corps- is to provide support to the hero-sama, and yet, the Knight Commander took the initiative to me the hero, and us as group members couldn¡¯t stop it. Seriously, for what reason are we even here.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Vice-captain Grades...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Can we talk for a bit, Haine?¡± (Grades)


    Taken somewhere by the Vice-captain, we arrived at the light grand church¡¯s garden.


    Time has passed since the monster strife. The sun has already gone down, making itpletely dark already.


    ¡°Do you know why the Knight Commander hates the ethereal machines so much?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°No... In the countryside I was living in, there were no such machines after all...¡± (Haine)


    Vice-captain Grades searched for something in his pocket and takes it out.


    It was a small and thin ss tube that was small enough to be heldpletely in his hand, and inside of it, there was some sort of ck shining mineral.


    ¡°This is ethereal. Around 100 years ago, there was someone that found a way to smelt this from the earth. It released energy that¡¯s able to move anything without the need for divine power. Cars and flying machines, and the element measuring device you used not that long ago as well; they all use these as their energy source.¡± (Grades)


    ¡®That¡¯s not all¡¯, is what Grades says as he continues.


    ¡°Lamps, heating, clean water, fire used in cooking; right now, it is all done with ethereal power. When ethereal was discovered, it spread to the main cities in the blink of an eye, and it raised the living standard by several times. And then, can you tell what happened after?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°...People...stopped believing in God.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! As I thought, you really are intelligent. Seriously, that¡¯s exactly what it is. Because of ethereal, the civilization advanced, stabilized the food production, cured previously incurable diseases,and provided humans methods to go against natural disasters. With all that, there would be no need to pray to God, right?¡± (Grades)


    That¡¯s why machines are the enemies of the church huh.


    If the machine culture develops and the need to entreaty to a God disappears, the people will steadily grow apart from God. That¡¯s why a person like the Knight Commander Dobbe, who¡¯s in a high position in the church, hates the ethereal machines to the point ofpletely forbidding them.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, the only problem ethereal can¡¯t solve is the monsters. By having the heroes fight the monsters as the leaders, The five churches -counting us- are somehow able to maintain the faith going.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Can¡¯t you make weapons from ethereal that can defeat monsters?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°About that, there was a joint signature from the five churches, making the use of ethereal weapons forbidden. Even the five churches, who normally don¡¯t get along with each other, were in ord with this one point. If this one point is broken, the church of God will without doubt be going to the trashcan.¡± (Grades)


    People will...escape from the ruling of the Gods.


    This is the thing that I wished for the most in my time as a Dark God. The other five Gods were at the side of ¡®humans are the ves of Gods¡¯ and I went against it.


    I fought and lost. And in the time I was sealed, I wonder what kind of path did humans walk.


    What I understand is that, as a result of this thing called ethereal, everything was wrapped up.


    ¡°It is said that the reason for the monster¡¯s origin was maybe because the angered Gods sent this as punishment to the unfaithful humans.They began appearing around a hundred years ago, and it is right at the time when ethereal was discovered.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Sounds like it might possible. Seriously possible.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The church moured that ¡®monsters are the punishment for the corrupted humans!¡¯ as they fought the monsters, and by defeating them, they obtained fame. In that sense, monsters might be our saviors.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°But Karen-san is...going so far as using ethereal machines to protect the people.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s proof she is a true hero. She is not fighting for the sake of something like the authority of the church, she is purely doing it because she wants to save people. That¡¯s why, for the sake of this, she will use whatever it is needed. The holy divine power and the ethereal machines as well. But for the higher-ups of the church, this is an eyesore.¡± (Grades)


    The church fights monsters for the authority of the church...putting it another way, to protect the authority of God.


    The reason Karen-san fights is to protect the people.


    That discrepancy is hurting a single girl.


    Within that discrepancy, a young one appeared who had no fetters and no position...


    ¡°So that was my role huh. To protect Karen-san, not only from monsters, but a variety of other things.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Grades)


    Vice-captain Grades said this earnestly. In those words, there were variousplicated emotions mixed in.


    ¡°It seems like at first, Karen-dono wanted to make you into a person that doesn¡¯t move on the whim of the church, a person that¡¯s truly a monster subjugator. She said that the moment she first saw you, she saw your abilities and sense of justice and felt that ¡®if it¡¯s him, he can do it¡¯.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Seriously?¡± (Haine)


    I was bewildered.


    ¡°But when the moment came, you surpassed expectations. I truly didn¡¯t expect you to stand against the Knight Commander. Or more like, since the moment I saw you stay at the side of Karen-dono and entering the meeting room, I thought I was hallucinating.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Haha...Karen-san¡¯s state was kinda strange since the time she met the Fire Hero, and it didn¡¯t seem like it would be good to leave her be, so before I noticed, it ended up in that way.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Seriously?! You really might be the personal knight for Karen-sama.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Did you seriously think that was a witty statement there?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No no, I am simply vexed. Even when I called myself a knight, this cowardly self was unable to do anything.¡± (Grades)


    This is what he says, but Grades-san is most likely a splendid knight.


    Also, it is true that Karen-san¡¯s state was strange. If it were the usual Karen-san, she would have spoken back to the Knight Commander, and there wouldn¡¯t have been any need for me to step in.


    The reason for this is as I thought, the Fire Hero, Katack Mirack.


    When my thoughts reach that conclusion, I felt like I couldn¡¯t just stay like this.


    ¡°Vice-captain Grades, sorry but, I will be excusing myself now.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. Sorry for having you do overtime work, neer.¡± (Grades)


    So Vice-captain Grades also understands my intentions. It looks like there¡¯s no need to say anything more.


    ¡°Ah, BUT! Don¡¯t go decreasing the distance between you two more than needed, okay?! If you dare do something like forming a romantic rtionship with Karen-dono, the whole knight corp will beat you up!¡± (Grades)


    As expected, he is a person that says a word too many.


    I searched here and there for a good amount of time.


    And then, I finally found Karen-san at the outside area of the light grand church. The storehouse of the flying machine.


    ¡°Ah, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was holding some sort of tool in her hand.


    ¡°Uhm, are you doing that thing called maintenance? To that flying machine?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. Whenever it is used, there¡¯s the need to check its stateter. It would be trouble if it were to act up in the middle of a flight after all.¡± (Karen-san)


    So Karen-san does it herself.


    She leads the knight corps, fights monsters, and while being in distress with the friction of the church¡¯s higher-ups, she does maintenance to a machine.


    This person does way too much by herself.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t thanked you yet, right? Ipletely forgot. I really am fumbling way too much today.¡± (Karen-san)


    ¡°Did I do something to be thanked for?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You did. A lot. Especially when you covered for me at the meeting room, it really saved me. If Haine-san hadn¡¯t said anything, this little one might have been disposed of.¡± (Karen)


    Saying that, Karen-san kindly pats the flying machine that¡¯s currently in standby.


    ¡°But that...if that was the usual Karen-san, you would have been able to manage something yourself, right? That Knight Commander, I don¡¯t think he is someone that Karen-san wouldn¡¯t be able to handle. In normal circumstances, there would have been no need for me to step in.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Is that so?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is. Is the reason...the Fire Hero?¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san was silent. She silently continued caressing the surface of the flying machine. It looks like the maintenance was finished a long time ago.


    ¡°Did youe here to ask that? You really like to stick your nose, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s why you dragged me here from my countryside vige, right? It is toote to regret it. If you have any worries, try telling this big brother here.¡± (Haine)


    The head of Karen-san suddenly fell onto my body. I could feel the softness of her hair and a nice scenting from her.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    It was so sudden that I didn¡¯t know what was happening. Even if my soul is that of a Dark God, my body is that of a healthy 18 year old. I would normally react to a cute girl.


    But...


    ¡°...Uuhh...uuuhh...¡±


    The weeping voice that wasing from her quickly dispersed any immoral feelings.


    ¡°Ueee! Ueeeeeee!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was crying.


    The girl that is praised as the light hero and defeats great amounts of grotesque monsters resolutely, was currently showing weakness fitting of her age.


    After crying for a while, she slowly spoke.


    As if spilling out every single bit she had piled up to the veryst.


    The real reason why she felt like crying was not because of the blunder at today¡¯s monster battle or the heartless words of the Knight Commander, it was as expected, her.


    The Fire Hero, Katack Mirack.


    Now that I think about it, since the moment she appeared, Karen-san¡¯s state was strange. And that strangeness was always there.


    Both being heroes and rivals. My assumption that it was because of the shock of her stealing away the merit was wrong.


    ¡°I know of Mirack-chan. Since before I became a hero. A long time ago.¡± (Karen)


    This is a story that is connected to Karen-san¡¯s own welfare.


    In the present, Karen-san runs around freely as the light hero, but in her childhood, she had a weak constitution and constantly fell sick.


    ¡°It is unexpected, right?¡±, is what Karen-san said trying to cover it as a joke, but for me, that hit me in the gut. A girl that possesses an inclined elemental affinity to light with a number of 700. That¡¯s definitely not something that only provides good effects to her body.


    At any rate, in the childhood days of Karen-san, her daily life was a repeat of sleeping and waking up.


    Of course, with that kind of lifestyle, it was impossible to make friends, and her child self was lonely. However, even with that, there was one person she could call a friend. A girl of the same age that lived at a neighboring house.


    That¡¯s Katack Mirack.

 Chapter 18-19 - Young day’s farewell

    <h4>Chapter 18-19: Young day¡¯s farewell</h4>


    ¡°The Mirack-chan in those days waspletely opposite of me, an energetic girl that was seen as a boy by her surroundings.¡± (Karen)


    So she isn¡¯t that much different from now.


    Anyways, it seems their houses were next to each other, and their age and gender were the same, it took no time for them to get along with each other.


    ¡°Mirack-chan was considerate towards the weak me. Like a knight protecting me. And I got spoiled by it. We were always together. She was truly a friend I loved.¡± (Karen)


    The turning point came.


    It all began with the doctor that came to do a medical examination on Karen-san, and with that process, that person noticed the overwhelming light element she had.


    The doctor rmended her to train her control of the light divine power as a method of medical treatment. And so, Karen-san began her training just as suggested.


    Then, the excessively inclined element of hers that had been eating onto her until now, turned into a talent.


    She was able to master her light element, the controlled divine power was no longer eating onto her, and she finally achieved a healthy body.


    Her talent caught the eye of the light church, and she was enlisted to the Aurora Knights with fanfares.


    It is said that there was practically no stumbling as she climbed her way to being the light hero.


    And so, in that time, her neighboring friend had beenpletely estranged from her life.


    ¡°It is not like I forgot about Mirack-chan. But with my everyday training, I didn¡¯t have the time to meet her¡ªno, that¡¯s not it. I had fun training to control my light divine power. I had so much fun, I ced Mirack-chan as secondary. That¡¯s why...!¡± (Karen)


    When they met after several yearster, Katack Mirack had be a hero as well. And she was no longer Karen-san¡¯s friend.


    The clear words of Mirack towards Karen-san: ¡®You are not a friend. You are an enemy¡¯.


    The light hero and the fire hero; the representatives of their respective churches that are fighting with each other to obtain honor -the very definition of enemies.


    Until today, there were several times where she had the chance to meet face-to-face with Mirack, but her attitude never softened.


    That had cut the heart of Karen-san into pieces.


    ¡°...It is my fault. I was the one who abandoned Mirack-chan first after all. That¡¯s why, no matter how much she hates me, it is my fault. Mirack-chan has done nothing wrong!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san tried to say it firmly, but her tears had already drenched almost half of my shirt.


    If someone were to find this scene and witnessed the hero crying her eyes out, it would probably spread through the whole grand church by tomorrow, and there would be blood raining.


    ¡°I am truly a hopeless hero. Just how many times do I have to thank Haine-san today?¡± (Karen)


    Crying as much as she needed, saying as much as she needed, she was slowly recovering her usual liveliness.


    Even so, she was unable to get rid of that nasal voice.


    ¡°It might be a bit inappropriate to say this at this moment but, today, incredibly good things happened to me.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°I learned about these things called ethereal machines, and I was able to confirm that humans have properly developed with the long passing of time. As expected, humans are incredible, humans are strong! No matter how harsh and painful their environment is, they are able to climb over it!¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s why...


    ¡°Karen-san can climb over it as well! Right this instant! Let¡¯s go!¡± (Haine)


    I straddle on the flying machine that recently finished maintenance. I somewhat learned about how to ride it by seeing Karen-san before.


    ¡°Karen-san, ride on my back!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh? Ride? Where are we going?! Or more like, can you drive this, Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The Founder-sama said this at the meeting, right? That the city, where the Fire Church¡¯s main headquarters are, is pretty close.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?! EEEEEEH?!!¡± (Karen)


    cing Karen-san at my back, the small flying machine flew into the sky.


    ¡°No way!! You are really driving it?!!! Moreover, flying at night?!!!¡± (Karen)


    * * *


    After around one hour, we arrive at the objective.


    The Fire Church located at the fire capital, Muspelheim. The inner sanctuary of fire.


    That building trembled.


    ¡°What?! What was that shock?!¡± ¡°An enemy attack! An enemy attack!!¡± ¡°An enemy attack?! Are you saying monsters have invaded?!¡± ¡°No, that¡¯s not it! That¡¯s a human!!¡± ¡°Wa?!!¡± ¡°Those guys of the Light Church have invaded!!¡±


    The people of the Fire Church were in chaos.


    And so, after randomly going around the Fire Church, the person we were searching for arrived herself.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?! What are the Ignis Militant corps flustered about?!¡±


    The Fire Hero, Katack Mirack.


    Finding us, the color of her face changes.


    ¡°Yooou!!! W-What¡¯s your business? Did youe here to get back at us for what happened this morning?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fire Hero, Katack Mirack, I havee here with a proposition.¡± (Haine)


    While hovering with the flying machine, I say this.


    By the way, Karen-san was still clinging to my back and was all stiffened.


    ¡°Proposition, you say?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We want to make an official coborative rtionship with the Fire Hero and the Light Hero. Unite the power of two heroes to fight against monsters.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Cooperation, you say?!¡±


    Mirack frowned heavily at my proposal.


    ¡°You, you are the guy that was together with the light hero this morning, right? Didn¡¯t you hear what I said? All heroes aside from me are my enemies!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. The enemy of the heroes are the monsters.¡± (Haine)


    Maybe because I refuted so firmly, Mirack looked daunted for a second.


    I see this as a chance and attack at once.


    ¡°Protecting humans from the danger of monsters. Isn¡¯t that the most important duty of heroes? And yet, not cooperating as heroes and fighting each other is only inefficient and an insult to your position.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hero-sama! Please leave this to us!¡±


    Saying this, from the side of Mirack and I, a group of muscr men came out.


    ¡°The Ignis Militant corps have arrived! You rioter of the light church, we are not gonna let you do as you wish in our territory!¡±


    It is probably an organization that serves the same purpose as the Aurora Knight corps of the Light Church.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go exaggerating, we were only having a reasonable discussion here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around! Would a person looking for a reasonable discussion invade with a flying machine with no appointment at all?!¡±


    ¡°The atmosphere asked for it, so it can¡¯t be helped.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No way it couldn¡¯t be helped!!¡±


    They do have a point.


    ¡°No way around then. In that case, just take it as me being the only one who came here to pick a fight with you guys. Can you let those girls have a talk?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Ignoring the worried voice of Karen-san, I jump down from the flying machine.


    ¡°In the time I am fighting you guys, our hero will have an audience with yours.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are going to be fighting us on your own?! We will be crushing you in less than a second!¡±


    The number of militants here are more than a hundred even when I just check at a nce. Taking into ount that this is their main headquarters, the numbers will most likely increase more.


    ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!!!¡±


    ¡°Uwa.¡±


    I catch the slow punch of the militant-san that rushed towards me, and his fist was incredibly hot.


    ¡°Hot!!¡± (Haine)


    I let off in surprise, but as expected, it is an attack with fire divine power added to it. Compared to the ¡®me Burst¡¯ of Mirack, it is a lot weaker, but it is definitely simr to the difference of the light hero Karen-san and the Aurora Knight corps.


    And then, the militants came to attack me in the same way one after the other, and at the side of this situation that had turned into a brawl, there¡¯s Karen-san and Mirack. The two girls were facing each other.


    ¡°Mirack-chan...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°To think you would resort to such a reckless action. Well then, let¡¯s go at it as well.¡± (Mirack)


    Saying this, Mirack takes a fighting pose.


    I watch over this situation as I handle the the muscr attacks that came right and left.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it, Mirack-chan! I¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Like hell it is not! After doing something that¡¯s practically a night raid, there should be no other reason but to want to settle things! We have to clearly settle who is the better hero sooner orter after all! I will make this the first act. Light hero, you are my first prey!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°...It is true that what Haine-san is doing is absurd, and I can¡¯t keep with his pace at all. But I understand what he is trying to have me do.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san unsheathes the holy sword Saint-George from her waist...and ces it on the ground.


    ¡°You!!¡±


    ¡°The light hero, Kourin Karen, once again asks of the fire hero, Katack Mirack; please, let us join forces to fight against monsters. Please fight together with me in order to protect the people from the threat that is scattered around the world.¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, Karen-san lowers her head deeply.


    If there were a high-ranked member of the light church here witnessing this scene, that person might have gone mad in anger.


    The representative of the church -their hero- was lowering her head towards a hero of a different church. With only that one point, it might be taken as the light church standing below the other churches after all.


    ¡°Karen, you...¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack also understood the meaning of it and her body had stiffened.


    ¡°Also, sorry. Since the time I entered the light church, I couldn¡¯t meet Mirack-chan at all. Now that I think about it, I didn¡¯t give my farewells either. You might be angry at someone like me. Mirack-chan has her own objective, and that objective might have nothing to do with me. But I... I want to be a proper friend of Mirack-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    At some point in time, the Ignis Militant corps had stopped their attacks and were looking at the talk of the two girls.


    And there was one of them who had stiffened into a grappling stance with me. That person said this.


    ¡°...Hey you.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Did you bring that girl here for this?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are a nice guy.¡±


    That¡¯s not true.


    Was Karen-san able to hit Mirack with all her feelings?


    In regards to that, Mirack...


    ¡°...This is stupid!¡± (Mirack)


    Said this with deep wrinkles between the bridge of her nose.


    ¡°I was wondering what you were going to say, and youe with this! I am a hero. I am different from my child self that didn¡¯t know anything at all! There¡¯s no way I would go ying friends!¡± (Mirack)


    (Eh?!) (Wa?!) (Hero-sama, that¡¯s too much!!)


    I mix in with the people of the Ignis Militant corps and watch over the girls with sweat in my hands.


    Karen-san was incredibly dejected by this answer.


    ¡°.......But...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It is true that there are a lot of monsters. It is troublesome to defeat them all myself, and it would be nice to have others helping out. However, even with that...¡± (Mirack)


    The eyes of Mirack shine sharply.


    ¡°If it¡¯s you who showed such unsightly fight like the one this morning, I can¡¯t entrust you with helping either. That¡¯s why, I will be confirming your ability again. If you show skills that convince me, I don¡¯t mind epting this talk about joining forces!¡± (Mirack)


    The surroundings went ¡®Ooooh!¡¯ and pped.


    ¡°Hmph, but this kind of proposal is nothing but a disgrace to a hero. If you don¡¯t want to, you can refuse, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I will do it! I am going to! Let me!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°O-Okay...¡± (Mirack)


    The vehement eptance of Karen-san made Mirack grow timid as she responded.


    ¡°And so, what should I do?! Defeat 300 Ignis Militants?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡±¡°Please no!!!¡±¡±¡±


    The militants cry out.


    This already feels like a live stage.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have you do something like that. There¡¯s something better, a mountain.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°A mountain?!¡±


    The militant, who was still in a grappling stance with me, showed clear agitation at those words.


    ¡°Eh? What? Do you know something about this?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Walking one whole day from this Fire Church headquarters, there¡¯s the Radonna mountainous district. Just 1 year ago, it was a ce that had a picturesque natural scenery, but now, it is a wastnd with not a single de of grass growing on it.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because an atrocious monster is now living in it. It is robust and grand. Us Fire Church contemted on subjugating it, but we didn¡¯t manage to seed even once. Hence, it is still alive, and still there. It has be the ruler of the mountain.¡±


    The militant spits out the name of that monster with bitterness.


    ¡°The fire cow, Phris. A gigantic cow-shaped fire element monster.¡±

 Chapter 20-22 - Joint Subjugation

    <h4>Chapter 20-22: Joint Subjugation</h4>


    The next day arrived and we headed to the Radona mountain district.


    The members are Karen-san, Mirack, and I.


    ¡°Why me as well...¡± (Haine)


    While walking in this mountain trail, I think of how out-of-ce I am here.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?! The one who proposed this first was Haine-san, so I will have you tag along till the end!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san who is walking ahead, had a somewhat strict tone.


    Could it be...she is angry?


    ¡°Ah, Haine-san, just now you thought I was angry, right? Isn¡¯t that obvious? I was brought to the Fire Church without being given a single notice beforehand, and with no preparation at all, I was made to face Mirack-chan. Can you imagine just how much of my mental strength was chipped away with that?¡± (Karen)


    Not only did she see through what I was thinking, she even ced incredible pressure onto me.


    ¡°...It is true that that was a bit too quick tempered. Sorry.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Seriously. Sure, I scouted Haine-san in order to have someone protect the people freely without being bound by regtions, but I didn¡¯t think you were a person that acted in such a free manner!¡± (Karen)


    I only heard about that from the Vice-captain Grades though.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you would even try to save me as well!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Am I really that free of a person?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are. To the point that you touched the boobs of a hero in the heat of the moment and acted as if nothing happened.¡± (Karen)


    Ah, something like that did happen.


    I remember that wepletely let that wash by. This is bad. Karen-san is unexpectedly the type that holds grudges.


    ¡°...I...didn¡¯t have any intentions of having anyone touch my boobs aside from my future husband.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why, don¡¯t go acting kind and make me misunderstand things, okay?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san one-sidedly cuts off the conversation and runs ahead.


    And then, I was punched from behind.


    ¡°Ouch! ...Why did you punch me, Fire Hero?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°How should I know, pervert man.¡± (Mirack)


    Katack Mirack normally had an ill humoured expression, but it was even more ill humoured than normal.


    ¡°Is the light churchposed only of fools? We are not climbing the mountain in order to have a pic. How about you guys have a bit more tension?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Do we really look that foolish?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you have even forgotten the reason why we are climbing this mountain. Now go ahead, say it.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is to defeat the monster that is using this mountains as a nest~¡± (Haine)


    Since around one year ago, a monster has been living in this mountain district.


    The name that was given to it by the humans was the fire cow, Phris.


    This monsters was so gigantic, that even the subjugation force that the Fire Church sent was turned the tables on, and because of it, entrance to the Radona mountain district was forbidden for the normal popce and deemed as a dangerous zone.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know there was such a monster. Even though the Light Church¡¯s headquarters neighbour the Fire Church¡¯s headquarters.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san once again joins the conversation.


    ¡°Looking at it from the Light capital, Apollon City, this Raguna mountain range is just at the shadow of the Fire capital, Muspelheim. It seems like the Fire Church used that geographical rtion to hide this. If the other churches know that there¡¯s a monster they couldn¡¯t defeat and are ignoring, it would be a disgrace after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wait a moment! Why do you know even that?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack was shock-struck and I casually continue.


    ¡°The people of the Ignis Militant corps gave me as much information as they had before heading here. They have a muscr look, but they are quite the kind people.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Those guuuuys!!!¡± (Mirack)


    And the Ignis Militant corps also wanted to apany us, but Mirack rejected it.


    The monster we are about to fight is dangerous enough to reject anyone with half-baked skills.


    ¡°From what I have heard, the previous fire hero was defeated by this fire cow, Phris, and ended up having to retire. If the sessor, Mirack-san, were to seed in the subjugation of this Phris, there¡¯s no doubt your fame in the church will rise sky high.¡± (Haine)


    This is also information I received from the Ignis Militant corps.


    ¡°Could it be...you used the ¡®skill testing¡¯ as a pretext in order to have Karen-san cooperate in that objective of yours...?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No way! I just...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s true, I am fine with it.¡± (Karen)


    Just when it was about to be a quarrel, Karen-san¡¯s statement stopped it.


    ¡°I am fine with letting all the honor of defeating the monster go to Mirack-chan. If with that I am able to be friends with Mirack-chan, I am fine with it. I am also asking for the unreasonable here, so Mirack-chan has to get equal merit for it as well.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Also, if we defeat a strong monster, we can give peace of mind to the people in the area. That¡¯s without doubt the job of a hero. Let¡¯s do our best, Mirack-chan! Let¡¯s defeat the monster together!¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, Karen-san once again takes the front.


    Mirack and I get left behind.


    ¡°...You once again acted on unnecessary consideration, right?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hah?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wiping away any misgivings before the fight. By bringing out a hard to say topic yourself, you avoided any awkwardness between Karen and I. If the same question had been brought out from the mouth of Karen, no matter how I answered, it would still have left some lingering difort. Karen also properly wrapped it up. Without giving me a chance to say a single thing.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Now now, aren¡¯t you just overthinking?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°On that basis, I will answer you. I have no intentions of taking the honor of this at all. It is actually the contrary.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°This subjugation will fail big time. By asking for an impossible task, I am nning on turning down your proposal. You still don¡¯t understand how fearsome that thing is. Look.¡± (Mirack)


    Saying this, Mirack points at the ce we are headed to.


    There, the mountain trail still continues and there¡¯s no monsters in sight. That¡¯s how it is supposed to be, but...


    ¡°Have a good look. That guy is already within vision.¡± (Mirack)


    However, the only thing we could see was a splendorous mountain range.


    No, wait. One of the mountains thatpose this mountain range...was slowly moving.


    That wasn¡¯t a mountain, but the back of a giant cow...


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That is the fire cow, Phris. Thergest monster in the history of the five churches that has been sighted.¡± (Mirack)


    The Radona mountain district was originally an area filled with green and warm temperature. And it was also a fertilend that had beautiful flowers blooming where tourists woulde to sightsee.


    However, now it is a barrennd with ashen earth.


    ¡°It is the fault of that guy.¡±


    Hidden in the shadows of the rocks, Mirack, Karen, and I observe the monster that had the same ashen color as that of the earth¡¯s surface.


    Seriously, looking at it closely like this, you can really tell how gigantic it is. The more you have to look up at it the more it felt as if I am looking at a real mountain.


    ¡°It is the heat that that fire element monster is scattering about. All the nts in the mountains have dried, and the living beings there have all died. Thanks to that, the current Radona mountain district doesn¡¯t have a single shadow of its former self; they are now naked mountains.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fire element huh. From the looks of it, it seems more of an earth type though.¡± (Karen)


    Seeing the figure of the gigantic monster, Karen-san spills out her impression.


    But even so, it must be a fire element. As if proving the exnation of Mirack about it ¡®scattering heat¡¯, even in this far away distance where we can observe it, the air was filled with heat and it felt like we were inside a furnace.


    For a while now, Karen-san, Mirack, and I have been sweating nonstop.


    ¡°Or more like, even monsters have elements huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hah? What are you saying? That¡¯s obvious.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack looks at me as if looking at an idiot.


    ¡°It is because monsters have elements that us humans have to use our heads in order to fight them with that in mind.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°There¡¯s element affinities after all.¡± (Karen)


    Affinity?


    ¡°Fire drives away wind, wind dries and crumbles earth, earth absorbs water, and water extinguishes fire. Those are the affinities of the elements. For example; the Pythonflies that appeared at the forest the other day were wind element monsters, hence, they were weak against fire. Being able to wipe them out with my ¡®me Burst¡¯ was also because of that reason.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But this time, the fire cow Phris is a fire element. With Mirack-chan who has the same fire element as that, it would turn into a pure battle of strength. So, how is it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Do you think something can be done against it? Against that gigantic thing?¡± (Mirack)


    Those words were incredibly convincing.


    For a woman, Mirack¡¯s height is pretty good, even so, when standing against that gigantic monster the size of a mountain, she is the size of an ant inparison.


    ¡°However, only the light element has no weak elemental affinity, and is a special element that is a little bit stronger against all elements. If you were to fight it, there might be a bit of hope?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack asks this of Karen-san in a slightly teasing manner.


    Just a few moments ago, Mirack said that she was giving an impossible task to turn down the proposal, which was bothering me.


    If we were to defeat that monster, Mirack promised to form a cooperative rtionship.


    But she thinks there¡¯s no way Karen-san can defeat the fire cow Phris.


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Karen)


    Without hesitating, Karen-san unsheathes the holy sword Saint-George.


    ¡°Please stay hidden, Haine-san. From here on, this is the job of us heroes. Mirack-chan and I will definitely defeat that thing.¡± (Karen)


    On top of that, Karen-san jumps out of the shadows.


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡± (Karen)


    The light sword wave was released from her holy sword.


    Since the target was real big, it was a hit. But that¡¯s where the problemes.


    The ashen skin of the gigantic monster repelled the light sword wave.


    The light disperses futilely. There wasn¡¯t a single wound at the surface of the monster.


    ¡°The fire cow Phris¡¯ skin is as hard as steel. In the past, it faced the joint attack of the Ignis Militant corps, but not only did it not receive any damage, it didn¡¯t even move. Steel skin and a gigantic mass; with those twobined, it is impossible to wound that guy.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack! This is not the time to be calmly analyzing this, right?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san¡¯s attack didn¡¯t amount to a wound, but it was enough to make the gigantic monster notice our presence.


    It slowly turned to our direction.


    ¡°Bumooooo!!¡±


    With a bellow, crimson fire spewed out from the surface of the monster.


    The real reason why it was called the fire cow, we would learn it at this moment.


    ¡°Kyaaaa!!¡±


    Karen-san was exposed to the crimson mes that surged forth like a tsunami.


    ¡°Karen-san!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯te!¡± (Karen)


    I was about to reflexively jump out, but that person stopped me.


    ¡°[Holy Light Wall]!¡± (Karen)


    Light flutters like ace curtain and bes a boundary line between Karen-san and the assailing mes.


    ¡°So she was able to properly defend against it.¡± (Mirack)


    In the time Mirack wasmenting about it, Karen-san attacked once again.


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡± (Karen)


    But the light sword wave was repelled by the iron skin again and disperses. It wasn¡¯t any different from before.


    ¡°The skin of the fire cow is steel itself, moreover, it is a lot harder than it and sturdier as well. In the past, I tried attacking it several times with ¡®me Burst¡¯, but it didn¡¯t work at all. No one can defeat that guy.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You! You knew that and still challenged Karen to do it?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Calm down. There¡¯s one good thing.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°The general monsters only attack humans. If there¡¯s no humans in their sight, they move until they find their prey. Just like the Pythonflies the other day.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What about that? Why did you bring that topic now?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But, only that fire cow Phris hasn¡¯t shown that type of behaviour. No matter if there¡¯s humans or not, it stays in this Radona mountain district without moving at all. It is normally only when we are the ones attacking. That¡¯s why a monster as big as this can be managed with just observing and we are able to leave it alone.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In other words, this is what you mean?¡± (Haine)


    That even if Karen-san were to lose, it wouldn¡¯t matter at all?


    Even if she were to lose, nothing will change?


    ¡°Why?! Karen-san truly wants to fix the rtionship she had with you, and yet, why are you throwing such an impossible task to her in order to push her apart?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What do you understand about me?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack ps away my arm that was grabbing her cor.


    ¡°You see, when I was a kid, I was always aiming to be a hero. I wanted to be the strongest human! That¡¯s why I did my best, and trained my element number. But it took me several years after I began training before I discovered that I didn¡¯t have much talent!!¡± (Mirack)


    In other words, she is referring to Karen-san.


    The pitiful sickly girl that lived in the neighboring house. For Mirack who was aiming for absolute strength, that friend of hers had be her target for protection in order to confirm her own strength.


    But one day, her weak friend that was supposed to be protected by her climbed high up.


    That rarely seen light element number ended up with her being weed to the Aurora Knight corps with fanfares.


    ¡°I heard about her bing a light hero, just in the time when I failed my first entrance exam to the Ignis Militant corps. Do you understand? Do you understand how vexed I felt at that time?! I was a lot more straightforward, aimed directly to be a hero, and became a hero! Entering the Ignis Militant corps after my third try, I gained strength under the gruelling training of my superiors, obtained achievements from a great number of battles, was acknowledged by everyone, and finally became a hero! That¡¯s the fire hero, Katack Mirack!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What does that have to do with why you can¡¯t get along with Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It does. I am a real hero that climbed with effort. She is a fake hero that was given her position carefreely only because of her talent! There¡¯s no way a fake hero and a real hero can get along!¡± (Mirack)


    The sound of a p resounded in the ce.


    Mirack who was pped in the cheek looked back at me dumbfounded, the person who pped her.


    ¡°Mirack, it is wonderful that you worked hard to reach your objective and managed to show results. The growth of humans is exactly the repeat of this. You did your best and became a hero, that¡¯s of course something amazing.¡± (Haine)


    But...


    ¡°Excessive effort will always bring forth strain somewhere. At the very least, there¡¯s definitely no way that a real hero and a fake hero can be decided by the amount of effort they put in. Then, what¡¯s the real line that decides whether you are a real or a fake? As long as you don¡¯t understand that, Mirack, you are the fake hero.¡± (Haine)


    Saying what I had to say, I run off.


    At the front, the fight still continues. But well, it is a situation where the light protective wall of Karen-san is somehow managing to stop the sweltering heat that the monster is releasing.


    In this time when attacks don¡¯t work at all, there¡¯s no way to turn the situation.


    And so, I stick to the back of Karen-san.


    ¡°Haine-san?! You can¡¯te. This ce is dangerous!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Let¡¯s retreat, Karen-san! Mirack-san had us fight it knowing full well from the beginning that you wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat it! It seems like there won¡¯t be any damage even if we leave it alone so, there¡¯s no point in fighting it!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, there is!!¡± (Karen)


    She said it so firmly that I couldn¡¯t say anything back.


    ¡°Such a giant monster, just its mere existence is an incredible threat! It might not be attacking people right now, but what about tomorrow? The day after, after yearster?! In order to prevent damage before it happens, this is our chance!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Chance?! Right now?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The fire and light heroes fighting together, that has never happened before! Right now she is stepping back in order to gauge my strength, but she will definitelye to my rescue!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san still believes in Mirack.


    And she has no intentions of stepping back. Because in the ce where she would retreat, there¡¯s the weak people that she had resolved to protect after all.


    ¡°...Karen-san, please listen.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°They say that that monster¡¯s skin is steel itself, but there¡¯s no way that¡¯s true. If all its body were hard as steel, it wouldn¡¯t be able to move its body. The joint areas like the legs and the neck will definitely have some sort of opening for mobility, which must be softer.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Then, if we aim at those ces!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san acted fast. She ran around the big monster in an instant.


    ¡°I found it! There really was!¡± (Karen)


    The space that connects the legs with the body. A deep wrinkle that is between the steel hardened skin. It is like an opening simr to that of helmets.


    There¡¯s no doubt it is an opening that exists in order to move the hardened skin.


    ¡°Okay. Aiming at that opening...!¡± (Karen)


    The moment Karen-san took her stance.


    The skin of the monster once again leaks out sweltering heat, and that heat attacks Karen-san and I.


    ¡°Kyaa!! This can also attack?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    The dark matter thates out from both of my hands. Fine particlese out in numbers of millions to form a ck current and it receives the heat, perfectly shutting it out.


    The dark matter that can absorb all elements and negate them was able to serve as a defensive wall plenty well, and the wave created was lesspared to the time it was blocked with the light wall.


    ¡°Haine-san?! What was that power?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it right now! Just attack that thing aiming at the opening!¡± (Haine)


    Of course, it would be easy to counter with my dark matter. But that won¡¯t do.


    In this world, defeating the monsters and bringing hope to the people is the role of the chosen heroes.


    That¡¯s what a real hero is.


    ¡°...Yes!¡± (Karen)


    epting it, Karen-san once again concentrates light divine power into her holy sword.


    ¡°This small opening...a ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ won¡¯t be able to get it. I have to make it smaller, and concentrate the power even more!!¡± (Karen)


    Thrusting the tip of the sword to the front, she positions it as if she were aiming with a bow.


    ¡°Now! Haine-san, undo the ck wall!¡± (Karen)


    Following the words of Karen-san, I stop the emission of my dark matter, and in that instant when the heat was about to reach Karen-san...


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡± (Karen)


    The holy sword stretched, urately speaking, the light divine power stretched from its tip, and it slipped right inside the opening of the fire cow¡¯s joint.


    ¡°Pierce a soft spot!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Bumooooooo!!¡±


    For the first time, the pained cry of the fire cow was heard.


    At the same time, a massive amount of heat was released.


    I once again emit dark matter from one hand, and with the other, I hold Karen-san and take shelter.


    ¡°Incredible! Haine-san, it worked!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It finally did. Then, this time, let¡¯s search for more opening and¡ª?!¡± (Haine)


    (...What are you doing, damn humans.)


    ¡°?!¡±


    Suddenly, a voice rings inside my head.


    There¡¯s no reaction from Karen-san who is right by my side. Then, I am the only one who hears it?


    (But, it looks like there¡¯s one mixed in that¡¯s not a human. It has been long since I have seen dark matter. 1,600 years long, that is.)


    Where?! Who is talking?!


    Aside from the people I know, there¡¯s no presence of anyone else around. Because of that fire cow, this is a naked mountain without a single de of grass. There¡¯s no way there¡¯s someone hidden.


    No, there¡¯s one.


    Another one aside from Karen-san, Mirack, and I that is in this ce.


    The bright red eyes of that fire cow that are staring right at me by turning its gigantic neck.


    (I will never forget it. Even when you are in the same position as a God like us, you went against the very meaning of it; the traitor. Emitting dark matter, moreover, being able to freely control it; there¡¯s only one who can do that.)


    That voice...is iting from the fire cow Phris?


    The thought waves that were directly resonating in my body. On top of that, this voice sounds familiar. The tone, its sound; it oveps with one of the five Gods that I separated from 1,600 years ago.


    (That¡¯s right. Long time no see, Dark God, Entropy.)


    Then, you really are...this monster is...


    ......One of the five Gods of creation, the Fire God, Nova.

 Chapter 23-24 - Fire God

    <h4>Chapter 23-24: Fire God</h4>


    The Fire God Nova is one of the five Gods of creation and the God that governs fire.


    Burning everything, turning it into ashes, and from there, create new things; a God of destruction and rebirth.


    This guy is also the one Mirack and the Fire Church follow.


    Why am I hearing the voice of that Fire God...from this monster?


    (...It has been long, Dark God Entropy. Since the time I joined forces with the others to seal you 1,600 years ago. I still remember your mortified face when you were about to be enclosed in that eternity, you know?) (Nova)


    Karen-san and Mirack, who are farther away, showed no reaction.


    It is probably a thought channel that only works between Gods and he is speaking directly to my head.


    (I didn¡¯t know you came back, moreover, to think you would reincarnate in a human. Looks like your bad habit of supporting this frail insects is still there.) (Nova)


    In other words, you...reincarnated in a monster huh. Into that fire cow Phris.


    That would exin a variety of things. This big frame and strength that overwhelms that of other monsters. Actions that don¡¯t apply to the usual pattern.


    If a God is dwelling inside that monster, it is obvious that it would be cheat-like in a lot of things.


    (How did youe back? In our calctions, you should still be sealed for a while more.) (Nova)


    (I was brought out, by the Light Goddess Intion.) (Haine)


    (Tch!! That fox woman, so she is scheming something again in a ce we don¡¯t know of!! Can¡¯t lower my guard with her since 1,600 years ago!!) (Nova)


    (Well, that¡¯s fine. I have a lot of things to ask you guys. It is convenient for me that you havee yourself.) (Haine)


    (You have been sleeping for 1,600 years so you have been left out from the flow of time and became aplete country bumpkin huh. Okay. We are both Gods. I will answer to a certain extent.) (Nova)


    (First of all, it has to do with that interesting figure you have right now. Regarding monsters.) (Haine)


    (Hah?) (Nova)


    (Monsters. Before I was sealed, such monsters didn¡¯t exist. But now, they are appearing here and there in this world and causing problems to the humans. Who was the one who created them?) (Haine)


    (Who do you think?) (Nova)


    (You guys. The five Gods of Creation. Even if they are warped, they are still a form of living being, and creating living beings is the act of Gods. In that case, there¡¯s no other ones capable of doing this but you guys. You are Gods after all.


    In the first ce, it is suspicious that monsters have elements. There¡¯s wind element monsters, fire element monsters.


    There¡¯s no doubt the ones who created those are the five Gods of their respective element.


    The earth element monsters by the Mother Earth, Mantle; water element monsters by the Water God, Coacervate; wind element monsters by the Wind God, Quasar; and fire monsters by the Fire God Nova, in other words, you.


    The children will resemble their parents. Hence, the monsters that were created by their Gods, hold the element of their respective creator.


    As if it were a brand. ) (Haine)


    (You said you wanted to ask questions, and yet, you already answered it all yourself. What are you trying to achieve here?) (Nova)


    (There¡¯s the need to check for the answer when deducing, right? You only have to answer with a Yes or No.) (Haine)


    The Fire God that is wearing the skin of a monster makes a: ¡®Gufufu¡¯ sound inside this telepathic conversation, and answers,


    (......Yes.) (Nova)


    As I thought huh.


    (Why are you doing something like that? Didn¡¯t you five Gods already obtain total control rights after sealing me?


    In this world that you could do whatever you wanted, why are you destroying it yourselves?) (Haine)


    (...Because it couldn¡¯t be ours.) (Nova)


    (What?)


    (Because it wouldn¡¯t go as we wanted. Dark God Entropy, in the time you were asleep, the world has changed. Changed into something unsightly and distorted. Everything began...right, with the thing called ethereal.) (Nova)


    (Ethereal? The new material that was discovered by humans around 100 years ago? The one that releases energy, powers machines, and advances civilization heavily?) (Haine)


    (That¡¯s right! That¡¯s no good! Humans can¡¯t advance!!) (Nova)


    Hah?


    (There¡¯s no need for humans to evolve. They just have to stay stupid, weak, prostrate to us Gods and obey us. And yet, when that shit called ethereal was dug out, they used it to make running machines, machines that create fire, machines that purify water, machines that plow the earth; they created a variety of machines. As a result, humans began to think by themselves, and began to move on their own!) (Nova)


    (...Isn¡¯t that a splendid thing?) (Haine)


    (No, it is not! Thanks to that, the children of those damn humans have stopped worshipping us!!) (Nova)


    Ah.


    It is exactly the same as what the Vice-captain Grades said at the Light Church.


    With the birth of machines and the advance of civilization, people forget about God. It is still in the step where they are still on the verge of being forgotten.


    (People forgetting about God is something that shouldn¡¯t happen! Humans should be dependent of Gods for eternity! And yet, they are insolently trying to escape from our hands! That¡¯s why we decided on bringing punishment to them!!) (Nova)


    So that¡¯s where the monsterse in y.


    Creating atrocious monsters that are out from the natural order, you had them attack humans.


    That became a big problem, and the humans that were forced to do such a needless fight have dyed the advance of human civilization.


    (I see. I understand the reason why you guys created monsters. urately speaking, that sophism of yours.


    Well then, one other question.


    Why did you even create heroes? The heroes, the light knight corps, the fire militant corps; that divine power they utilize was something you Gods gave to them, right?


    If you created monsters in order to punish humans, why did you go through the trouble of giving humans the power to go against it?) (Haine)


    (That wasn¡¯t my n. Another guy said it. If the humans that have fallen into the threat of monsters are saved by the power of Gods, those fools would also remember their gratitude towards their God.) (Nova)


    I see. This is something that¡¯s more in the alley of the cunning and clever Coacervate.


    To think they would utilize such an underhanded method to maintain the faith of humans...


    In this 1,600 years, Gods have really fallen low.


    (But I...thought that method was too lukewarm.) (Nova)


    .....


    (There¡¯s no way a repeat of cornering and saving will get all the prayers back. What humans need is...fear. If their fear towards Gods is edged in them to the point that they can¡¯t say no, everything will be fine. Gratitude, trust, reverence, and love are not needed. All that¡¯s needed is for humans to fear God.) (Nova)


    The God that has turned into a fire cow bellowed.


    (Fear creates the purest of prayers. That¡¯s why, I took action. Like hell I would go acting all leisure like the others. I will teach all the humans how sinful it is to forget about God!!) (Nova)


    (Are you saying that¡¯s why you reincarnated as a monster?) (Haine)


    (That¡¯s right! I created the strongest monster I could bring out with my power. This is the product of it! Dwelling in this thing that humans call fire cow Phris, I finished my preparations. Now it is only a matter of time. For the time when this body has grown to have plenty enough of my divine power!!) (Nova)


    (Then!! The reason why the fire cow Phris acted differently from the other monsters and was staying in one ce was because¡ª!!) (Haine)


    (I was waiting for its growth! But it may be time already. It would have been fine to get a bit bigger, but since you havee, this is a good chance!! Let¡¯s begin, the Divine Punishment to the humans that grew conceited!!) (Nova)


    ¡°Haine-san! Haine-san!! What¡¯s wrong, Haine-san?!¡±


    I notice that Karen-san was shaking me by the shoulders.


    Looks like I was immersed in the conversation with that guy.


    ¡°You suddenly stopped moving and was staring into the distance. The monster also suddenly stopped moving so that¡¯s fine but...you are being too carefree in the middle of a fight!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san! It is true that there¡¯s already no time to waste!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°That thing is also moving. To a point that it has never done before!!¡± (Haine)


    It was at that same moment I said this...


    The gigantic fire cow, a person would have to look up to see, stomped on the ground and walks while making the mountain tremble.


    Until now, the most it has done was releasing heat, but now, it is stomping with all its legs and moving. Moreover, the direction it is headed to is...


    ¡°Impossible!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack who was watching over the situation all this time, muttered with despair in it.


    ¡°The direction it is headed to is...the city where the Fire Church headquarters are located, Muspelheim!!¡± (Mirack)

 Chapter 25-27 - Dark God vs Fire God

    <h4>Chapter 25-27: Dark God vs Fire God</h4>


    *Doshin Doshin*


    The cause of the ground trembling like an earthquake, is in truth, not because of an earthquake; it is the fire cow Phris who is shaking the ground with each step it takes with those legs.


    ¡°Why?! The fire cow Phris has never moved so actively before!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack, who was only watching over the situation all this time, muttered this.


    ¡°Is this the time to be absentminded?!¡± (Haine)


    Shouting at Mirack who was actually absentminded, I run with my all.


    In order to go after that damn cow.


    ¡°Where is that guy heading to?! If it¡¯s you, you should know, right?! It is your homnd after all!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Then, as I thought! That guy is really heading to Muspelheim...the city where the Fire Church headquarters are?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh? Y-Yes!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is being pulled along by me along with Mirack.


    ¡°I will hold it back! Karen-san and Mirack, search for a way to defeat that guy!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eeh?! No way! Defeating such a giant monster...¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the job of a hero, right?!¡± (Haine)


    With that one roar, the legs of Karen-san and Mirack stop.


    Leaving those girls behind, I increase my speed, and go around the front of this damn fire cow.


    Even its head is several times bigger than my whole body. That kind of gigantic monster had both of its eyes directed at me.


    (...You still have any business with me, Dark God?) (Nova)


    That¡¯s right, this damn cow is one of the five Gods of Creation, the Fire God Nova.


    The strongest monster he could create with his own hands, and reincarnated using his own soul. There¡¯s a pungent smell of him scheming something quiterge-scale and bad.


    (And so, where are you going? Are you moving with the knowledge that there¡¯s something in this direction?) (Haine)


    (Of course. There¡¯s a big city of humans there, right? I am heading there to destroy it.) (Nova)


    ...As I thought huh.


    (Are you serious? The city that¡¯s located there, Muspelheim, is the city where the main headquarters of the Fire Church are, you know? It is the city where the people who worship you gather. And you are going to destroy that ce of all ces?) (Haine)


    (Doesn¡¯t matter. Humans that have forgotten to worship their God are all equal sinners. Also, that city is not the only one I will be destroying. If I destroy around half of all humanity, they should be able to remember to fear their God.) (Nova)


    (You bastard! What you are doing is contradictory! Just because they are not worshipping you... If humans die, the prayers also go with them!) (Haine)


    (Just means that people who don¡¯t worship us have no worth. No need to worry. Because of that needless thing called ethereal, humans have increased unnecessarily in numbers. Even if they are thinned out a bit, the remaining ones will remember the greatness of their God and worship with everything they have. That way, prayer energy will flow a lot!!) (Nova)


    ...


    (Looks like you Gods have not changed at all in these 1,600 years. Just like in the time we fought, you only look down on humans.) (Haine)


    (Humans were created by us Gods! That¡¯s a given! You entric Dark God that has reincarnated in such a human, get out of the way! I will be fulfilling my role as a God!) (Nova)


    (If I were someone that would get out of the way here, I wouldn¡¯t have fought with you guys 1,600 years ago. This is a bit sudden but, it can¡¯t be helped. Let¡¯s have a revenge match for that fight in the ancient times!) (Haine)


    (So impudent. But Dark God, even if I have been reincarnated as a monster, I am still one of the almighty Gods. Even here, I can still destroy a city easily, you know?) (Nova)


    Saying this, the fire cow opened its mouth wide.


    Its body was big to begin with, so when it opened its giant mouth, the size of that opening was like that of a cave.


    (Dark God, why do you think I created a giant monster? Moreover, having me reincarnate in it? The answer is...because unless it is this big, it wouldn¡¯t hold it all; the ability to utilize the power of a God.) (Nova)


    (Could it be that you¡ª?!) (Haine)


    (Inside this steel cow, I have amassed my fire divine power. Hence, my big frame and steel skin. Look and marvel, the moment this power erupts!) (Nova)


    From inside the giant opened mouth, a waving light ising out.


    ([High Temperature sh]!) (Nova)


    What came out from the mouth of the fire cow was a giant sh that envelops everything.


    And this was released towards me¨Cno, that¡¯s not it. It was directed at what¡¯s directly at my back, the city of Muspelheim. Looking at the scale of that heat sh, the range is plenty enough. So his aim was there from the very beginning!


    ¡°Kugh! [Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    Dark matter gushes out from my whole body. This spread out like a shield and meets the heat sh.


    The fire and dark power sh. My dark matter shield was somehow able to block the high temperature sh.


    (How annoying! This dark matter that erases the power of us Gods. To think it would be able to block a full-force high temperature sh. Even when you have reincarnated as a minuscule human, that power of yours has not grown any less annoying huh, Dark God.) (Nova)


    (That¡¯s why I have been telling you since long ago; humans are great.) (Haine)


    (That greatness you talk about holds no point if it isn¡¯t of use for us Gods. It is true that this dark matter of yours is troublesome, but if you are devoting yourself to defense, I wonder, just how long will you be able to defend? [High Temperature sh]!) (Nova)


    The high temperature cannon was shot once again from the mouth of the fire cow.


    I did nothing other than blocking it with the spread dark matter.


    (So you are going to just block it again huh. Even though it would be easier to just avoid it. I already know. It is because if you avoid this High Temperature sh, it will directly strike the human city that¡¯s at your back. It would wipe it out in one attack. To think you would be considerate to humans and be unable to show your full strength, as always, you are a foolish God!!) (Nova)


    The fire cow Phris...that damn Fire God Nova is increasing the output of the High Temperature sh, and I continue blocking it.


    This is vexing, but my opponent is a God. Defending against the waves of attacks is taking my all and I can¡¯t find an opening to counterattack.


    This is truly an endless loop.


    When the opponent is a God and I am a God as well, this struggle is an obvious result.


    That¡¯s why, there¡¯s the need of a different trigger in order to overturn this situation. The intervention of something that¡¯s not a God.


    2 heroes.


    The key to this battle¡¯s conclusion is being held by them.


    I -the fire hero, Katack Mirack- was only able to look at that hellish scene absentmindedly.


    ¡°Why...did things turn out like this?¡±


    I simply thought of a farce in order to drive away the annoying light hero and herckey.


    There¡¯s no way someone can defeat the fire cow Phris.


    Just like the subjugation battle that was carried out in the past, the human side was made to scatter and had to run back. The monster stayed in thisnd as if nothing happened.


    That¡¯s what should have happened now, and yet...this fire cow has taken a different action pattern from before. It grew active and has been utilizing attacks I have never seen before.


    What¡¯s with that high temperature sh?


    If something like that had been used in the past, not a single one of the people in the subjugation force would have returned alive.


    Moreover, the direction this high temperature sh was directed at was -without doubt- the ce where Muspelheim is located.


    That weird follower of the light hero was blocking this high temperature sh, and...that¡¯s the number one thing I don¡¯t understand, but...anyways, there¡¯s still no fatal damage, but at this rate, the worst case scenario is right at the corner.


    Even so, what can we do?


    In front of such a fight that defies allmon sense...


    ¡°Let¡¯s do something, Mirack-chan!¡±


    The girl at my side that was once my childhood friend said this.


    ¡°In the time Haine-san is blocking its attacks, we will defeat that fire cow!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What kind of stupid things are you spouting! Don¡¯t joke around!¡± (Mirack)


    I reflexively shouted this.


    ¡°Defeat that fire cow?! That¡¯s obviously impossible! You have seen how out of bounds that giant cow¡¯s power is, right?! It has already been proved that your light divine power has no effect on it. It has also been proven that my fire divine power has no effectivity against it since a long time ago!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We are heroes! Why is a hero the one who is giving up?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°?!¡±


    I was unable to say anything back at that.


    Damn it. I ended up thinking what she said was right.


    ¡°Also, I have an idea. That attack a few moments ago, the attack to the joints of the fire cow was certainly effective.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Such an attack that was like pricking with a needle? No matter how many times we repeat something like that, I don¡¯t think it will bring it to its death, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    The attack Karen did just now; concentrating the attack to its very limit, is something that the fire divine power can¡¯t do.


    This is like a specialty of each element, and it is certainly true that shooting at the joint areas where it is least resistant is effective, but the body of that cow is way too big to be a fatal strike.


    ¡°Also, I think it depends on the location we aim at. ¡®Depending on the ce the bee stings, it might even down a bear¡¯, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In that case, the location we should aim at is, as expected, the neck huh. It is a joint area and the armor there should be less, so if we are able to properly cut an artery, we might be able to kill it in one hit. That¡¯s only if monsters follow the same logic as normal living beings, that is.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it! Haine-san is doing his best blocking the attack, so us heroes can¡¯t just stand around doing nothing!¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s the number one thing I don¡¯t understand though.


    But the one that can¡¯t just be standing around the most is me.


    The ce that the fire cow is aiming at is the fire capital, Muspelheim. In that sense, this isn¡¯t directly rted to the light hero Karen and her follower, and they can just ignore it.


    And yet, they are the ones that are trying the most to stop the monster.


    ...The line that determines a true hero and a fake one.


    The words that person said before remained in my chest even if I didn¡¯t like it.


    I approach the fire cow, dragged by Karen. For that giant guy, we were like grass growing on the ground. And in this current state where it is facing that follower head on, it has no intention to pay us attention.


    It means that we are not even worth its time.


    ¡°If we can properly get close to it, we can gift it with a real good one, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°......No but, it doesn¡¯t seem that way though.¡± (Mirack)


    The more they get closer to the fire cow, the higher the temperature of the surrounding gets.


    The waves of the high temperature sh are creating incredible heat. The earth and stones that are at its foot had already fused and became ss.


    Humans jumping into such high heat would be akin to suicide.


    ¡°Getting closer than this is impossible. We have no choice but to aim at its neck from here.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?! We can¡¯t! No matter how concentrated the light divine power of the ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ is, even if we were to aim at a part that is least armored, piercing through it without being at close range is probably...impossible!¡± (Karen)


    Damn it, just how useless are we. Being called heroes when we are like this, what a bad joke.


    ...No, the only useless one here is me. Karen has the key to defeat the fire cow Phris.


    Compared to that, if the one here were not me but the water hero, that person could reduce the temperature of the surroundings and safely allow Karen to reach the neck of the fire cow.


    But I am unable to do something like that.


    ¡°Damn it... Damn it!!¡± (Mirack)


    Self-deprecation came out from my out from mouth.


    And then, in my anger, I grab the hand of Karen.


    ¡°?!! Mirack-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, I will give you my divine power. Putting my divine power on top of yours and boosting the output, even in this distance, we might be able to pierce through the neck of that fire cow!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eeh?! But Mirack-chan, it is possible to do that with the same element, but...our elements are fire and light, you know? They are different elements, you know?! Who knows what would happen by mixing them!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But there¡¯s no other method than that! We don¡¯t know how long that follower of yours can hold back the fire cow, and in the moment he is unable to, my city will be!!¡± (Mirack)


    I am underhanded and a coward.


    The reason for all this was because I brought them here in order to make them fail, and yet, now I am asking for their help to escape from my own crisis.


    I know that I don¡¯t have the right to ask anything of them, but...even so!!


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it, Mirack-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    The hand that was holding Karen, was held back with strength.


    ¡°We are heroes after all! There¡¯s nothing we can¡¯t do to protect the people!¡± (Karen)


    I see.


    This is what a true hero looks like.


    It has nothing to do with strength. Nothing to do with pride.


    In order to protect the powerless people, you can do anything huh.


    That was the prerequisite to being a hero.


    Just what have I been doing until now without even understanding that.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Mirack-chan...... Holy sword, Saint-George, please grant me your light power!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, Karen...... Fire fist, Barbarossa, please grant me your fire power!¡± (Mirack)


    Just like the holy sword that was granted to Karen, I was also granted a holy weapon by the Fire Church. I pack divine power into the fire knuckle.


    From now on, this mixing is a territory that no one has ever explored.


    ¡°Mirack-chan, thanks...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Why are you thanking me? The one doing the thanking should be me...no, I should be apologizing.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Because I was able to hold the hand of Mirack-chan again.¡± (Karen)


    Now that I think about it, just how long has it been since I have held the hand of Karen?


    Leaving aside the time when her follower forcefully had us hold hands, I feel like when we were 4 or 5 years old, we would always hold hands when we were going to y.


    Those days were cut away in that day when Karen suddenly disappeared.


    I heard from the adults that Karen had entered the light church, in order to be the light hero.


    It was then that I learned the word ¡®hero¡¯ for the first time.


    ¡°...Eh?¡±


    No wait, wasn¡¯t I aiming to be a hero since my childhood?


    The trigger of that was... when I learned about heroes and what reason I aimed to be one.


    I can¡¯t remember well.


    After that, only the harsh days of training pop in my mind.


    ¡®Excessive effort will warp other things¡¯, is what that follower said.


    Does that mean I have really been forgetting something because of the harshness of those days?


    What was it?


    Looking at the side of Karen¡¯s face, I remembered.


    Ah, right.


    I became a hero in order to stand by the side of Karen just like this.


    I learned about heroes when I heard about Karen bing one, so being in the same light church wouldn¡¯t work. In each church, only one hero is chosen. That¡¯s why I entered the Fire Church.


    It is not like my fire element number was high since the beginning. I covered it with blood-curling effort. But that blood-curling effort made me forget something important.


    When I became a hero and reunited with Karen after several years, I told this to her: ¡®You are not a friend, you are an enemy¡¯.


    Why did I say something like that? Did the harsh training in the Fire Church change my heart as well?


    The fire hero has topete against the other churches. Being affected by that unwrittenw, I ended up seeing Karen as an enemy.


    Even though my past self didn¡¯t wish for something like that.


    Even though I didn¡¯t aim to be a hero for something like that.


    ¡®Excessive effort will warp other things¡¯.


    ¡°Karen, I...!¡± (Mirack)


    For some reason, in this precarious situation, I remembered so many things and I couldn¡¯t hold my tears as they overflow.


    ¡°I love you, Mirack-chan!¡± (Karen) <No guys, this is not yuri.>


    ¡°Me too!¡± (Mirack)


    Our divine power begins to mix along with our hearts.


    Light and fire; the feeling of divine powers that shouldn¡¯t be mixed originally.


    A chant naturally rose into my mind.


    ¡°¡±[Divine Fire-Light, Thunder]!¡±¡±


    (Gyaaaaaa!!!!)


    ¡°Bumooooo!!!¡±


    I -Kuromiya Haine- was feeling as if my body and spirit were both screaming.


    The Fire God Nova and the fire cow Phris; to put it bluntly, they are the same existence, but for what reason is it screaming in such a painful manner?


    (W-What was that shock just now?! It hurts! It stings! What in the world is this?!) (Nova)


    I follow the gaze of the fire cow and notice it as well.


    Karen-san and Mirack; the two are holding hands and are using that hand to aim at the fire cow.


    ¡°One more shot, Karen!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah, Mirack-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°[Divine Fire-Light, Thunder]!¡±¡±


    From the linked hand of the two, a light is shot.


    That¡¯s light divine power? No, it is not. There¡¯s something added to the light?


    (Gugeeee!!)


    And again, Nova and the fire cow let out screams.


    (W-Why?! This steel skin that I have manufactured for the sake of this body isn¡¯t supposed to be receiving any wounds from something like the mere divine power given to humans! Gugegege?!!) (Nova)


    In that time, I noticed.


    ¡°...Combined elements.¡± (Haine)


    The light element and the fire element; by mixing two different elements, apletely different elemental divine power was born.


    (Light and fire; bybining these two, what came out of it was ¡®Lightning¡¯ element.) (Haine)


    (Lightning element?!) (Nova)


    (Your steel skin...was actual steel huh. That¡¯s why it conducts the electricity, and it is damaging your body directly. Their attacks are already not pointless against you.) (Haine)


    ¡°It is working! I don¡¯t understand well, but it is working, Mirack-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah! There¡¯s already no need to aim for an opening!! Let¡¯s hit it with all we got!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°[Divine Fire-Light, Thunder]!¡±¡±


    (Ugyaaaa!!! Stop iittt!!) (Nova)


    Nova screams, but the cow-shaped monster is only going moo moo, so Karen-san and Mirack won¡¯t understand what¡¯s saying.


    (Why?! Why?! Combining elements should be an impossible deed for us Gods!) (Nova)


    (That¡¯s because...you guys don¡¯t get along. If you don¡¯t ovep your hearts perfectly, it would be impossible to mix your elements to this extent.) (Haine)


    (Stop it! I am a God! The Fire God that gave you power, fire hero! Are you going to point your fangs at the one you worship?!) (Nova)


    (You are currently not a God, but a monster. A sinful monster that¡¯s trying to destroy the people they are trying to protect. What¡¯s wrong about pummeling someone like that?) (Haine)


    (Don¡¯t spout stupid things! Humans are the ves of us Gods! Gods are free to use humans in whatever way they wish. Whether it is killing them, or ying around with them¡ª! Eh?) (Nova)


    (Looks like you finally noticed. That I have approached you till the very front of your face. Nova, you damn fire cow, the moment you received thebined attack of Karen-san and Mirack, you stopped your high temperature sh attacks after all. Thanks to that, I didn¡¯t need to use a dark matter shield, and was able to freely move.) (Haine)


    ¡°In this stalemate, you were at the edge as well.¡± (Haine)


    (...U-Uhm.) (Nova)


    ¡°You must have understood as well, right? By having me block your high temperature sh, you managed to pin me down in ce, and there would be no fear of me fighting back. Fighting back with the dark matter that I create.¡± (Haine)


    (Entropy-san, wait. Please listen to what I have to say!!) (Nova)


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me with that name. Right now, I am the human, Kuromiya Haine.¡± (Haine)


    (Yes!! Uhm, Haine-san...!) (Nova)


    ¡°You didn¡¯t forget, right? In the battle of Gods, even when I had five Gods as my enemies, I managed to fight on even grounds. You know just how fearsome my dark matter that¡¯s able to erase all divine power is, just how painful it will be to be punched by it, right?¡± (Haine)


    (Wait, please. Weren¡¯t we real good pals in the past? As fellow Gods, how about we get alo¡ª) (Nova)


    ¡°I was unable to move because of the high temperature sh, but thanks to the heroes, I was able to get this close. To a distance where my fist can reach. It is true that I am the unknown Dark God, but I am still a God. The punishment I hand down is without doubt divine punishment. Now then, Fire God Nova...¡± (Haine)


    This time, it is your turn to receive divine punishment.


    *Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*


    (Gugeeeeeeeh!! Gyaaaaaaa!!!)


    Countless punches were striking the giant body of the fire cow.


    Of course, they weren¡¯t normal punches. They are punches d with dark matter.


    The dark matter goes from my fist and prates the body of the fire cow.


    (The dark matter is¡ª! The dark matter is entering my body!! I am being erased!! My fire divine power is steadily being eraaseeed!!) (Nova)


    Monsters were created by the Gods in order to harass humans; living beings that are outside the natural order of the world.


    Their identity is that of a mass of divine power.


    That¡¯s why, when they die, they will disappear just like that; if theye in contact with the dark matter that erases divine power, their volume will die out, and just like that......they are erased.

 Chapter 28-30 - Sealing the Fire God

    <h4>Chapter 28-30: Sealing the Fire God</h4>


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    P.S: I forgot to add that Mirack uses ¡®Ore¡¯, a really masculine way of saying ¡®I¡¯ in Japanese.


    ......No guys, it is not yuri!!


    By the time I had my fill of punching him a whole lot, Karen-san and Mirack ran to where I am.


    They are still holding hands. Looks like they got quite close in the time I wasn¡¯t looking.


    ¡°Haine-san! Are you okay?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What about the fire cow?! I can¡¯t see that guy. Just what happened?!¡± (Mirack)


    The heroes ask questions in rapid session.


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s the fire cow Phris, it is here.¡± (Haine)


    I point at the ground, and with that, the gaze of the two heroes were led by it.


    ¡°This is...?!¡±


    ¡°It shrunk...¡±


    At that ce, there¡¯s a fainted fire cow Phris that has all extremities twitching.


    But, it is small.


    It is iparably smaller than the time we encountered it. It is one whole size smaller than a normal calf.


    If asked how it ended up in this way, it is because of the dark matter that I continuously hit him with.


    As the dark matter that destroys the divine power entered its body, the fire divine power thatposed the body of this guy was erased thoroughly, and as a result, its volume decreased and can¡¯t even spit out fire anymore.


    It is a mystery how it got several times as small as this, but it is the type of mystery that doesn¡¯t matter.


    I have alreadypletely erased the fire God hearth that was inside of it, and it can¡¯t release heat anymore.


    We splendidly achieved the subjugation of the fire cow Phris.


    ¡°This guy...because of this guy, our city was almost about to be destroyed!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack runs towards it with anger seething.


    ¡°I will be finishing it! Bringing an end to the monster that has been destroying thisnd for so many years, that¡¯s my duty as the fire hero!¡± (Mirack)


    The arm that was equipped with the knuckle was the very definition of a blunt weapon.


    Even if she didn¡¯t concentrate divine power in it, if she were to punch with something like that, it would easily destroy the cranium of Phris who has became as small as a calf.


    That¡¯s why, I grab her arm and...stop her.


    ¡°Wait. Killing it would be a waste.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?! Why did you stop me?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The fire cow Phris has already lost all of its destructive power. The massive fire divine power inside of it has disappeared, and with this small body, it won¡¯t even be able to step on a dog. In other words, it is in a state that¡¯spletely harmless.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And what of it?! Even if it¡¯s harmless, a monster is still a monster¡ª¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why. How about exhibiting it and show it around the normal popce?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°?!!¡± ¡°?!!¡± (?!!)


    Not only Mirack and Karen-san, even the rted party was showing surprise as they open their eyes wide.


    ¡°Monsters will disappear once they are killed anyways. Then, before that, showing a weakened monster like this to the people would make it easier for them to get a feel of it. That ¡®the monster has been defeated¡¯.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That might be true, but...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It can turn into a good event for the church and it can serve as publicity as well. It might increase the number of recruits.¡± (Haine)


    (Wait wait wait! Dark God Entropy! Is your aim possibly...?!) (Nova)


    At that moment, a voice I could only hear came from the inside of the fire cow Phris.


    What¡¯s inside this fire cow is the Fire God Nova. Being seen as one of the five Gods of Creation, it arbitrarily got angered at the humans who had thinned their faith towards him and tried to bring divine punishment by reincarnating in a monster; in other words, an idiot.


    For that sake, he reincarnated in the fire cow Phris that he created himself and tuned to its very limits, but now that the transcendent power has been erased by my dark matter without leaving a single trace behind, the current him is lower than a cow.


    The soul of the Fire God Nova probably already wants to be liberated from this useless body and return to the God realm.


    (As I thought, you are really¡ª!) (Nova)


    (That¡¯s right. I won¡¯t be letting you go so easily, damn God.


    Your soul that has been reincarnated will not be liberated unless its vessel has died. In other words, until you die, you will have to continue living as a cow!) (Haine)


    (As I thought! You...you intend to seal me in this cow body!! This Fire God Nova!!) (Nova)


    (Having you easily return to the God realm and have you scheme a new mischief would be unpleasant. So, calling it sealing is not that wrong. Fire God Nova who has his soul sealed inside a powerless imitation of a cow.


    I will count this as revenge for sealing me in the past.) (Haine)


    (You damn ogre! Demon! God of darkness!! Just kill me already! Kill me and return me to the God Realm right this instant! This Fire God Nova, one of the rulers of this world, living as a pitiful and powerless cow is just...!) (Nova)


    (Well, if you don¡¯t like it, find an opportunity to kill yourself. I will be doing my best in stopping you every time you try it though. I will tie a rope around your neck and pull you as you go ¡®moo moo¡¯ in pointless struggle.


    Let¡¯s drag you back to the Fire Church just like this. It will be mostly by foot. Don¡¯t think you will be getting a favorable treatment like having you ride a horse carriage.) (Haine)


    ¡°...U-Understood. This is unheard of but, what you say does have a point. I will try talking with the people of the Fire Church. But, can I ask you one question?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, just what in the world are you?¡± (Karen)


    The one who asked me the question was Karen-san who interrupted the words of Mirack.


    With an even more worried face than that of her recovered friendship with Mirack.


    ¡°I scouted you thinking that you could be a reliablerade. But you have surpassed my expectations way too many times. Leaving aside your decisiveness in fixing my friendship with Mirack-chan...you blocked the heat sh of that gigantic monster and beat it up until it became this small. That¡¯s not normal.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I also wanted to ask that. I only thought of you as a follower of Karen but, just what are you? At the very least, you are a hero or something that surpasses that. Moreover, that power I saw from afar...that thing that I can only describe as a pitch ck-something, it was not fire divine power or light divine power, it wasn¡¯t wind, water, and earth either.¡± (Mirack)


    Well, as expected, they could see how I was using my dark matter.


    How should I exin it?


    I reincarnated in this world and wanted to interact with it as a human, so I can¡¯t just announce that ¡®I am the reincarnation of the Dark God!¡¯.


    In the first ce, is the existence of the Dark God even known?


    ¡°Then, I will exin it.¡±


    The voice of a third party resonates.


    ¡°Who is it?!¡±


    In this ce that was recently the territory of an atrocious monster, the presence of a person was felt.


    When we look at that ce, there¡¯s the figure of a familiar woman with pure snow white priest robe covering her body.


    ¡°You are...Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yorishiro?! The current founder of the Light Church, that Yorishiro?!¡± (Mirack)


    Hearing that name, Mirack showed visible agitation.


    ¡°Eh? You know about that person?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Or more like, you don¡¯t know about her? You are a member of the Light Church, aren¡¯t you?!¡± (Mirack)


    I am a beansprout that recently joined it though.


    ¡°...Well, I do know. That person is famous after all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I see.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course, just by being a founder, you are famous, but that Yorishiro alone is special. She is a woman after all, moreover, an exceptional case where she obtained the position of a founder in the young age of 18. The rumors say that she kicked her father who was the previous founder into the extremities of a political strife. She is famously known as a ¡®scary woman¡¯.¡± (Mirack)


    Is she someone like that?


    She is covered by a robe and a veil, so I can¡¯t see most of her skin at all, but I can tell from her atmosphere alone that she is a beauty.


    That Yorishiro send a gaze to us through her veil.


    ¡°First of all, our hero Karen-san. Good work in the subjugation of the fire cow Phris. And the fire hero Mirack-san who cooperated as well, I give you my thanks as the light church¡¯s founder.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ah...well...¡± (Mirack)


    The characteristic solemnity that Yorishiro exudes is overwhelming Mirack as well.


    ¡°More importantly, Yorishiro-sama, what did you mean with those words just now?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san who is the one in this group that is the most acquainted with her asks her boldly.


    ¡°I am also baffled by Yorishiro-sama being in this kind of ce, but what you said about ¡®exining¡¯, can I take it as you saying you will be exining what Haine-san is?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Of course, hero. For the sake of that, let me ask one question first. Hero Karen, do you know about the Gods that created this world?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Being asked so suddenly, Karen-san also gets confused.


    ¡°Of course, it is the five Gods of Creation. The Light Goddess Intion we follow, the Fire God Nova, Water God Coacervate, Wind God Quasar, and the Mother Earth Mantle, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But what if there¡¯s not only five Gods of Creation?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    At that question, not only Karen-san, Mirack also raised a shocked voice.


    ¡°There¡¯s one other God of Creation. That God¡¯s name is Entropy, the God that governs darkness.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Impossible!¡± (Mirack)


    Finally, Mirack couldn¡¯t take it anymore and interjected.


    ¡°Like hell I could believe that?! There being another God of Creation is just...moreover, a God of Darkness that sounds evil no matter how you hear it...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fire hero, Mirack-san. Darkness in itself is by no means evil. In this world, half of it is covered by it in the night along with the day. The sleep that people take. That is the domain of the darkness, but it is also a necessary time for humans to rest.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Uh, that¡¯s...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But Yorishiro-sama, if this Dark God Entropy really exists, why didn¡¯t we know of it until now? Like a Dark Church equal to that of the other Gods. Wouldn¡¯t it be fine to have one?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That just means Entropy is that much of a special God. But, no matter how much of a hidden God it is, the darkness part thatposes this world exists. In humans as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°There¡¯s a darkness part in humans as well?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hero Karen, just like how your light element is prominent, and the fire hero there excels in fire element, there¡¯s also humans who possess great dark element in their body. A person that has been born with big darkness power is...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Could that be...¡±


    ¡°Is it possible that...¡±


    The gaze of Karen-san and Mirack turn towards me.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Haine-san was born with strong inherent dark element and is a person that can control that power; in other words, the hero of darkness.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ...¡¯How is that?¡¯


    The gaze of Yorishiro was telling me this as she looked straight at me.


    At that moment, I was sure, about the identity of this founder of the Light Church, Yorishiro.


    This one is the same, the same as me. And while on it, she is also the same as that cow thatys fallen on the ground.


    Yorishiro is a human, and at the same time, not a human. Her soul is not that of a human.


    Something that¡¯s not human, in other words, a God that has reincarnated in the body of a human.


    Light Goddess, Intion.


    So you reincarnated into a human as well.


    ...After that, we separated in order to perform our own duties.


    Mirack pulled the fire cow Phris that has turned small and returned to Muspelheim where the Fire Church is.


    That useless cow will be under the care of the Fire Church, and just as I proposed, they will have him disyed to the public in a few days.


    Mirack herself also formally epted to cooperate with Karen-san.


    Rather than this being because we were able to fulfill the condition of defeating the fire cow, it was more because she herself had a change in mindset.


    Being able to fix her broken friendship with Mirack, Karen-san was happy from the bottom of her heart.


    But well, this talk about heroes cooperating with each other has not gone through the eptance of the Light Church itself, so it will probably be getting troublesome from here on.


    Even so, this is a talk for the future.


    Karen-san, who was all tired from the monster subjugation, returned to her room as soon as she got back to the Light Church and apparently went right to sleep without even taking a bath.


    And then, I...


    ¡°Even you reincarnated. I didn¡¯t know about that.¡± (Haine)


    The room of the Light Church¡¯s founder.


    In reality, it is a room where only a few chosen ones can enter; in other words, I am in sacred precincts.


    I was in the room of the Light Church¡¯s founder with only the two of us.


    The founder herself is a young woman. In normal circumstances, a situation like this would be impossible.


    ¡°You said you would be reincarnating as a human, so I hurriedly followed you-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what the young founder said.


    Maybe because she is in her own room, she has taken off the veil she always has on. It is a face that definitely enters in the category of beauty, but unfortunately, thinking about her inside, I can¡¯t be charmed by it.


    <figure id="attachment_6431" ss="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption"><figcaption ss="wp-caption-text">Damn bazookas in my Isekai</figcaption></figure>


    That¡¯s right, the identity of the founder Yorishiro is the reincarnation of the Light Goddess, Intion.


    One of the five Gods of Creation that sealed me 1,600 years ago, and also the very same person that undid the seal 18 years ago.


    After that, I decided on reincarnating as a human and became Kuromiya Haine but, she also reincarnated as a human?


    Moreover, she became the founder of the Light Church that follows her.


    ¡°And so, why?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What do you mean by why?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°About the reason why you reincarnated as a human.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course, because I wanted to enjoy being a human together with you-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, the Light Goddess Intion...I mean, Yorishiro came at me with her ripen body.


    ¡°Oooi?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This inconvenient flesh restricts us, but with it, there¡¯s also pleasures we can enjoy that we couldn¡¯t as Gods-desu wa. For example, giving birth to the child of your loved one.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Oryaaa!¡± (Haine)


    I hurriedly jump aside and take my distance from Yorishiro.


    ¡°Leaving aside the joking, I want to enter the real matter.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ara, I was serious-desu wa yo. Just how long have I waited for the day I would meet your human self. We will have to make the preparations for the wedding announcement...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Stop it!!¡± (Haine)


    This woman, did her animal instincts get even denser when she became a human?


    ¡°At any rate, I am surprised you were able to line up such a lie. That thing about being the hero of darkness.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is a setting I thought up since long before-desu wa. I thought that there would definitely be a time when you would gather the attention of the world. That¡¯s also the reason why I obtained the position of founder. Authority is the best catalyst to reinforce persuasion after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It might be just as Yorishiro says.


    The existence of the Dark God Entropy, since the time I was sealed at the creation era, no one ever knew of me.


    And then, if after 1,600 years there¡¯s a shocking revtion like there being ¡®one other God of Creation¡¯, it would be hard to believe. Karen-san and Mirack who heard about it were in part able to believe it mostly because those were the words of the founder of the Light Church.


    ¡°If I were to say ¡®this is an oracle from the Light Goddess¡¯, they would have obediently believed it. What innocent children-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Rather than an oracle, they are the words of the person herself though...¡± (Haine)


    At any rate, thanks to Yorishiro calming down the situation, I was able to evade the questioning of Karen-san and Mirack. But it is not like I have avoided all the questioning.


    ¡°It has been revealed that there¡¯s the power of dark matter after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine-desu ka? A special power that can only be used by one person in the world. Something as renowned as that will resound in the whole world-desu wa. You will be doing a lot of things in the future anyways, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I won¡¯t...is what I want to say, but...¡± (Haine)


    Since leaving the countryside a few days ago, I have learned about a lot of things in this world.


    The civilization that grew with the discovery of a material called ethereal. And because of it, the Gods are being left behind, and they are trying a variety of ways to change that flow.


    Even if you cut off a few humans, the problems that will be born in this organization called a church will continue appearing.


    I can¡¯t just stay unrted to that. I am not the Dark God Entropy, but Kuromiya Haine who came from the countryside.


    ¡°It is true that if bing somewhat famous in the human world will bring benefits to it, there¡¯s no reason to be against it. Let¡¯s do our best from now on as well. Just like how the humans in this world do their best to live in it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You will be involving yourself in this world, not as a God, but a human huh. That¡¯s just like you, Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And so, that¡¯s how it is. I am counting on you from here on out as well, Founder-sama. I am supposed to be your subordinate after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°If you so wish, I can provide you a position that¡¯s a lot higher than that-desu wa. You will be staying the night here, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± (Haine)


    I escape from the room of the founder, and retire.


    And so, like this, my life as the human -Kuromiya Haine- genuinely begins.

 Chapter 31-32 - The curtains rise to the interaction of humans

    <h4>Chapter 31-32: The curtains rise to the interaction of humans</h4>


    Trantor Note:


    Hey guys, Reigokai here!


    Looks like there¡¯s been some sort of misunderstanding.


    Entropy and Intion are not lovers.


    I don¡¯t know how that came to be, probably in the part when Intion said: ¡®My loved one¡¯?. I thought those words meant that she loves him, but doesn¡¯t state any sort of romantic rtionship between them. If that was a poor choice of words, please do give me a better alternative for that one.


    The other point is...


    The Dark God states that ¡®she is a beauty, but thinking about her insides, I don¡¯t find her charming at all¡¯. So I don¡¯t understand why people call him pussy and virgin right in the instant he refuses her. Would you sleep with a person you don¡¯t like?


    ¡¥_(¥Ä)_/¡¥


    Just an early warning though, there will be progress, but he won¡¯t be jumping at any rushed advances.


    (But really, if ¡®My loved one¡¯ was a poor choice of words, do give me an alternative. In order to avoid future misunderstandings.)


    Anyways, we are now entering the second arc!


    Enjoy :D!


    I am Kuromiya Haine, the reincarnation of the Dark God Entropy.


    In order to restore the friendship of the light hero Kourin Karen-san and the fire hero Katack Mirack, I acted out of the atmosphere and tension, and ended up creating a turmoil.


    Because of it, I met the Light Goddess, Intion, and the Fire God, Nova, again.


    The schemes of those Gods...that¡¯s something I can¡¯t just shut my eyes to, but for now, I will put it aside.


    The reason is...because of those sequence of events, I am currently...


    ¡°What are you? Go ahead and say it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am an escapee!!¡± (Haine)


    Facing my biggest pinch after entering the Light Church after all.


    The amazon woman that¡¯s standing right in front of me, Angan Regine. The head chef of the Light Church¡¯s kitchen.


    She is my direct superior. I was sent to do misceneous work after failing the entrance exam and ended up working in the kitchen.


    But in my time here, I was dragged out by Karen-san and went to subjugate the fire cow. My time in the actual headquarters has been short, and the way it was reflected in the eyes of Regine-san was...


    ¡°I really hate people that make light of their work.¡± (Regine)


    And so, that¡¯s how it is.


    I am a person that has been absent without notice thesest few days, and right at this moment, I am being scolded.


    Since the time I was tied up, hung upside-down, and punched around three times, my memory has been hazy.


    ¡°Wait! Wait please, Regine-neesan! There¡¯s an incredibly deep reason for this!!¡±


    Myrade Frost is clinging onto her and trying to stop her.


    He really is a nice guy. The sad part is that it isn¡¯t helping a single bit in stopping Regine-san.


    ¡°Whether he has a reason or not, it doesn¡¯t matter. The problem is that this beansprout made light of the kitchen work, and he angered me. That¡¯s all there¡¯s to it.¡± (Regine)


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it-ssu yo! If you hear him out, you will definitely understand-ssu! That¡¯s why, please hear him out!¡± (Frost)


    At this rate, I will definitely be killed by Regine-san.


    Even though I didn¡¯t have such a clear image of death when I was fighting the fire cow Phris -the Fire God Nova-, for some reason, when the opponent is Regine-san, I do see it.


    But my fate doesn¡¯t end here.


    If vice-captain Gradeses, he should be able to manage something out. He is the vice-captain of the Aurora Knight corps after all. Even someone like Regine-san would most likely listen to a person of his ss.


    Vice-captain Grades should know about a variety of things, and he shows his face a decent amount of times in the kitchen, so if he heard about this uproar, he should be...


    ¡°Wait a moment, Miss Regine! Like I have been saying, please listen to what I have to say. Haine was absent because of unavoidable circumstances. I will exin it, so please, stop punching him!!¡±


    ¡°Out of the way, vice-captain Grades.¡± (Regine)


    I am done for.


    Now that I look properly, at Regine-san¡¯s right leg, there¡¯s Frost; at her left leg, there¡¯s vice-captain Grades. But they are unable to stop Regine-san at all.


    Or more like, if even a vice-captain of the knight corps can¡¯t stop Regine-san, just how much of an amazoness is she?


    ¡°The guys that have a contemptuous attitude like ¡®it is only cooking¡¯ I have -without exception- sunk them in the sink. Are you saying this job is in and stupidpared to being a knight? But you see, I am doing that job more seriously than anyone else. Whether it is the vice-captain or the captain, I have no intentions of letting them get in the way.¡± (Regine)


    I am already on a sure path to being punched till death.


    ¡®Mother, Father, I am sorry for not being able toe back¡¯...is what I was thinking, when...


    ¡°In that case, I will be the one getting in the way.¡±


    A new person appears in the kitchen.


    And this person was so unexpected that everyone who saw that person raised voices of surprise.


    ¡°Hero-sama?!¡± ¡°Hero-sama?!¡± Hero Karen-sama?¡±


    The light hero, Karen-san.


    ¡®What is the representative of the church doing in this kind of ce?¡¯, is what would normally cross one¡¯s mind, but there¡¯s no other reason but me.


    Karen-san confirms my hung upside-down state. And then, she saw the figure of Regine-san being clung onto by two people and soon understood the situation.


    ¡°Regine-san, I am truly sorry.¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, she lowers her head deeply.


    With only that, everyone in the ce was overwhelmed.


    ¡°I was the one who dragged Haine-san out while he was in the middle of his work. The assistance of Haine-san was necessary. If you are to me someone, please me me.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Then...!¡± (Regine)


    As expected, even Regine-san isn¡¯t that brash as to talk big when the hero is lowering her head.


    She falters and is at a lost of words.


    ¡°Haine-san is a necessary talent for the future of the light church. I have no intentions of looking down on your job but, can you please hand over Haine-san to us on that basis?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...Can¡¯t be helped.¡± (Regine)


    That scary pressure draws back as if it had been a lie.


    ¡°Being asked by the light hero, I can¡¯t just say no. This is the light church¡¯s kitchen after all.¡± (Regine)


    ¡°Thank you very much!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san turns towards me who was in joy and unsheathes her holy sword.


    With one swing of that holy sword, the rope that was tying me was cut down.


    ¡°Wa!¡±


    Of course, there wasn¡¯t a single wound in my body even when the rope was tied tightly around my body.


    It would be unthinkable, but at times, Karen-san is in scary.


    ¡°Then, I will be taking Haine-san with me! Thank you very much for everything until now!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    With those words, I was dragged out from the kitchen.


    And then, from there on, there was never a second time I would be stepping in this kitchen as an apprentice cook.


    ¡°Me as a knight?¡±


    The first matter I was told about after being taken away by Karen-san was that.


    ¡°Knight as in...a knight of the Aurora Knight corps, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes. I have not heard of other knight corps here after all.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I am trying to say. What I mean is, is it okay? I don¡¯t have a single drop of light element, you know.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. In the first ce, it is strange to decide the fighting personnel on only the element. If there¡¯s an element number that¡¯s higher than light, it would be better to have them go to their respective church and show their strength there. That would help everyone, and yet, ¡®increasing the military power of other churches is a no¡¯, is the kind of reason they use to keep them in ce!¡± (Karen)


    I did think that was the case but, it seems that really was the reason why the people who failed the exam were made to work in misceneous jobs and being kept here.


    ¡°But there¡¯s currently no church that is rted to Haine-san¡¯s dark element, that¡¯s why, it is better to have you work here¡ªAh, oops.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san ces her hand on her mouth as if she just remembered something.


    ¡°This was still supposed to be a secret.¡± (Karen)


    Right.


    I don¡¯t know how to announce to the world the existence of the Dark God, and it has been 1,600 years since those damn five Gods sealed me. Rather than saying me, my very existence as a Dark Godpletely disappeared from history.


    Compared to the other Gods that have created churches and are worshipped by the humans, I am in a situation where my existence is not even known.


    ¡°I am thinking about tackling some old books in order to investigate the details of this Dark God! If the existence of a sixth God of Creation is confirmed, it will definitely be big news!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Why is Karen-san in such high tension?


    ¡°Ah sorry, I derailed the conversation. We were in the middle of our talk about Haine-san joining the knights.¡±


    She derailed the conversation herself, and she returned it to its trajectory herself. This tension really is abnormal.


    ¡°At any rate, Haine-san joining the knights is something that the Founder-sama already allowed to begin with, so no one will be able toin -even if that person is the Knight Commander.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah, that person...I feel like he would reeaally want toin though...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes, but we won¡¯t allow him to!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You are in perfect form huh, Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And so, about the post you will be taking, Haine-san...¡± (Karen)


    Hero¡¯s assistant.


    ¡°A thing like that was newly established.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hero¡¯s assistant, huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°With Haine-san¡¯s specialty, it would be hard to get used to the normal missions of the Knight corps, and most importantly, I scouted Haine-san to do things normal knights wouldn¡¯t be able to do anyways! If we don¡¯t create a new post for the sake of that, it wouldn¡¯t be effective!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah, now that you say it, there was that.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Most of the job is just as the name states, assisting the hero which is me. Since this a unique post, there¡¯s quite the extensive authority to it. The treatment will be like that of a vice-captain. But the only ones you have to obey orders from are the Founder and I, and in principle, it is okay to not obey even the Knight Commander.¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s good to hear.


    ¡°You can¡¯t have direct subordinates, but in emergencies, you can be given themanding rights to a toon. For now, this much is what has been stipted, but from now on, depending on the needs, we intend to increase the authority even more!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Why are you filled with so much ambition? I want to live as peacefully as possible you know...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s because...!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san suddenly holds my hands. She holds both of my hands tightly.


    ¡°I...want to change this world. Into a world where people don¡¯t have to get attacked by monsters; a world where we can live at ease. Even when I became a light hero, things didn¡¯t go as I wanted. But I thought about doing what I could and mixed in with the recruitment group, in order to search for a person that could be of help.¡± (Karen)


    And so, she met me huh.


    ¡°¡®If it¡¯s Haine-san, he will fight together with me¡¯, that¡¯s what I thought. But Haine-san, you surpassed by lengths-and-bounds my expectations; you were amazing. You confronted the Knight Commander face to face, fixed my friendship with Mirack-chan, the power you have is incredible, and even the Founder-sama ispletely cooperating with Haine-san...¡± (Karen)


    The Founder Yorishiro has some special circumstances regarding me though...


    ¡°At this point, I don¡¯t even know who is the one standing at the front anymore. I once again ask of you. Can you please help me make this world better?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san asks this with slight uneasiness.


    From the high tension just now, it suddenly went to a gloom one. It is only proof that she can think of other people¡¯s feelings.


    ¡°...¡±


    I bent my knees and knelt in front of Karen-san.


    ¡°If I am to be a knight, I would need a knighting ceremony, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine humbly epts the post of hero assistant. Uhm...I swear by this sword?¡± (Haine)


    I said whatever knight-like thing came to mind.


    Karen-san simply looked happy, and a single tear flowed down her eyes.

 Chapter 33-35 - Raid of a spoiled brat

    <h4>Chapter 33-35: Raid of a spoiled brat</h4>


    Having be a knight officially, there were a number of people I had to show my face to.


    ¡°Let me say this first.¡±


    One of those was the founder of the Light Church, Yorishiro.


    ¡°If there¡¯s a situation where one had to die between Haine-san and the Knight Commander, I will have the Knight Commander die without a second thought.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Founder-sama?!¡± (Who was this guy again?)


    ¡°Please talk to him with that in mind.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Not only was it a preemptive punch, it was an ultimate attack that hit the Knight Commander Dobbe.


    While looking daunted, the eyes that were directed at me were dyed in hatred.


    ¡°No matter what¡¯s said, I won¡¯t consent! Creating a post that is estranged from the line ofmand inside the knight corps is just something that will disturb the order!¡± (Dobbe)


    Since he is the Knight Commander, he must be the highest person in the knight corps.


    This is not the first time we meet. This guy was the one who was unfavorably ming Karen-san the moment she just returned from her monster subjugation.


    He really is the top atining about what others do.


    That¡¯s why, I just respond with the feeling of throwing a ball.


    ¡°Then, is this thing called ¡®order¡¯ properly serving in some way to the knight corps? From what I have seen, it has only been of use for a really limited number of people inside the knight corps.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    ¡°If the reason for having ipetent people at the top is ¡®order¡¯, it would be better to just dispose of it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You bastard!!¡±


    The Knight Commander looked as if he would unsheathe his sword at any moment.


    ¡°Founder-sama! As I thought, I ampletely against having this garbage enter the proud Aurora Knight corps!! It would disturb the order of the knight corps!¡±


    ¡°Knight Commander, this is a settled matter.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even when the Founder asserted it, the Knight Commander didn¡¯t step back.


    ¡°Listen here! In the recent years, the hands of us Aurora Knight corps have beenpletely filled with this way too wild and free hero! Just how much time do you think it took to teach that whimful girl the ABC¡¯s of order and to obey her superiors?! In this time when she is finally beginning to show the results of her lessons, if we were to ept a fool like this, it would all go down the drain!¡±


    ¡°Hey, you¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But, Haine-san has shown results.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro interrupted me as I was about to object on the abusive words the Knight Commander was throwing on Karen-san.


    ¡°There¡¯s the sweeping of the Pythonflies at the Trixia Forest, of course, and there¡¯s also the gigantic monster that has been troubling the Fire Church for a long time, the fire cow Phris. It is a fact that Haine-san served as a force in that joint subjugation.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true! That was an individual subjugation by us Aurora Knight corps!¡±


    Hey hey, you...


    ¡°No doubt about it! The gigantic monster was brought down by the light hero Karen alone! The fire hero was only going in circles around the ce, and then acted as if she also deserved the merit in this!¡±


    This man...can he only interpret all things in a way that¡¯s convenient for him?


    Now that I think about it, in the matter with the Pythonflies, he was throwing a racket by saying it was a ¡®BIG failure!¡¯, but wasn¡¯t he just happy he was able to obtain material to attack Karen-san?


    ¡°Then, are you saying this matter of the fire cow Phris was an achievement from the hero Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No. Whatever the case, she acted without the orders of the knight corps, an inexcusable act by a hero. I am on the intend to properly press the responsibility of this! From here on, no matter what is to be done, the hero will have to follow the orders of the knight corp¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Just stop it already.¡± (Haine)


    I pin down the voice of the Knight Commander that had be sharp and sour.


    That must have worked. The person in question stiffened his face and looked back at me.


    ¡°I became a hero assistant exactly to stop those kind of things. I will clearly say this. Now that I am here, I will not let Karen-san be ordered around on your own convenience. I won¡¯t let Karen-san be your puppet. Remember that.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What did you say, you impudent brat?!¡±


    Knight Commander Dobbe finally unsheathed his sword and points it towards me.


    ¡°Right this instant, I will have you apologize for the many disrespectful actions you havemitted, and have you relinquish your seat as a knight! If you do that, I will at least spare your life!!¡±


    ¡°Ah? What are you saying? After unsheathing your sword, whates next is attacking me, right? Come at me.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Was he thinking I would be scared after getting threatened with a weapon?


    Seeing me prepared to go at it, the Knight Commander was bewildered since he didn¡¯t expect this.


    ¡°D-Do you think this is just a threat? How stupid. By the time I slice you in two, it will be toote!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way a weak posture like that will be able to slice a body in two. Don¡¯t worry, I intend to settle it with just beating you up until your face swells.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Whatever the case...¡±


    The voice of a beautiful woman stops us both.


    Well, it is more like, the Knight Commander felt weak on his knees the moment he heard that voice though.


    ¡°In front of this founder of the Light Church, Yorishiro, bloodshed won¡¯t be forgiven. Haine-san, bear this in mind.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah yeah.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Knight Commander Dobbe as well, don¡¯t forget what I said a moment ago. If you can¡¯t ept Haine-san no matter what, it just means that you will have to leave the knight corps. The reform n I had you formtest time, how is the progress?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°!!¡±


    Herst words became the finishing blow and made the Knight Commander tremble in silence.


    His face was bright red in anger.


    Well, in this case, the fact that the highest authority in the Church is standing as my ally serves as a big factor.


    Founder Yorishiro; the reincarnation of the Light Goddess, Intion.


    An owner of scary attachment that pursued me by reincarnating the moment she knew I -the Dark God- would be reincarnating. Putting it bluntly, she is scary. Is it really okay to rely on her only in these moments?


    ¡°But Haine-san...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Hm?


    ¡°It is also true that Haine-san has be a member of the knight corps. In my opinion, I would like it if you two didn¡¯t fight each other, but instead, acted together in order to make the knight corps a better ce.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Eh?


    ¡°And so, I will be giving a personal mission to Haine-san. Please ept it. Karen-san is not the only person you have a duty to follow orders from; you will obviously obey me as well, the top authority of the Light Church, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    For some reason, an ominous wind is blowing.


    And so, the mission that was given to me by Yorishiro was...


    Experience a normal mission of the knights.


    ¡°That¡¯s great~~! It is truly great that it wasn¡¯t a super unreasonable mission!!¡± (Haine)


    We are talking about that Yorishiro after all; the Light Goddess, Intion.


    Being under a woman that would easily say things like: ¡®spend the whole night with me¡¯, might have been a scary mistake from me.


    ¡°Well, she is currently a human as well. She can understand the rules of society.....right?!¡± (Haine)


    The mission that was given to me this time is one that is truly logical after all.


    ¡°Even if you are the assistant of the hero and only move for the sake of the hero, coordination with the knight corps will be necessary for sure. For that sake, it is important to understand each other. I will have Haine-san work as a member of one toon in the knight corps and have you experience their work¡±, is what she said.


    On the other hand, the hero Karen-san having an assistant made people think that the ¡®authority of the hero has been strengthened¡¯. Having that assistant under themand of the knight corps itself for a period of time also holds the objective of softening the discontent of the Knight Commander and the people in the anti-hero faction.


    It is the so called ¡®political decision¡¯.


    Karen-san, who heard of thister, reluctantly epted.


    The Aurora Knight corps have divided factions between the hero and the knightmander, and antagonism is beginning to surface.


    At this rate, our efforts of having an alliance with the fire hero will prove pointless. That alliance they have is currently an individual alliance between the heroes themselves. The churches are still not getting along with each other.


    In this reformation that Karen-san is aiming for in order to protect the people from monsters, it would be necessary to reform the knight corps as well.


    For the sake of that, it wouldn¡¯t be a bad beginning to learn about them first.


    * * *


    ¡°And so, I am looking forward to working with you.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with that ¡®and so¡¯?¡±


    The one who received me the next morning at the knight corps¡¯ station was a person I know.


    Captain Vesage.


    The person that was recruiting newbies at my vige.


    ¡°Looks like we meet again. Thanks forst time.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I thought we wouldn¡¯t meet again though! When I heard you failed the entrance exam and were send to the kitchen, I don¡¯t even know how long I apuded! And yet, in this short amount of time!!! Moreover, a special post that receives the treatment of a vice-captain?!¡±


    ¡°It is so hectic that you just get lost, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Are you making fun of me who took 5 years to be a captain?!¡±


    I don¡¯t know why, but he got pissed.


    Really, a person that doesn¡¯t have any self-control.


    ¡°But well, since it is a mission, it can¡¯t be helped. Assistant Kuromiya Haine, in these few days, you will enter my knight corp and learn the basics. In that time, you will be under mymand. No objections to that, right?¡±


    ¡°None~~¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Damn it!! Well, fine. First of all, I will exin you the origins of the Aurora Knight corps.¡±


    Eh? We are beginning from there?


    Looks like he has more integrity than I expected.


    ¡°This is a standard thing to know but, we -Aurora Knight corps- serve as the military force of the Light Church. In the othernds, there¡¯s the: Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind Churches who have a simr military force, and they fight in order to protect the church.¡±


    ¡°Are they like the Ignis Militant corps of the Fire Church?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Aside from that, there¡¯s also: the Wind Church¡¯s Whirlwind Raid corps, the Water Church¡¯s Stream Marine corps, and the Earth Church¡¯s Scorched Earth Annihtion corps. Each one was respectively created at the same time the church was established. At a long past before the appearance of monsters, there was a period when these military forces acted in order to maintain the authority of the church, and also had wars with each other.¡±


    ¡°There really was such a period?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because of the long warring times, exhaustion came in, and at the same as the discovery of ethereal, monsters began appearing, so the churches entered little by little into an armistice. But thepetition of keeping each other in check still continues. Because of the growth of the ethereal machinery, the scramble for the ever decreasing believers is intensifying after all.¡±


    I see. So there was a period like that.


    In the 1,600 years that I was sealed, there were also turbulent times.


    And at the center of it, there were the 5 churches...can¡¯t help but feel like those five Gods have something to do with it.


    I will try asking Yorishiro or that shitty cowter.


    ¡°Well, right now, humans are mostly upied with the monster threat, so there¡¯s practically no fights between humans. If I had to choose, I would say it is peaceful. In that point, we have to be grateful for the monsters, I suppose?¡±


    ¡°So, the knight corps¡¯ job is mainly subjugating monsters?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No. It is not like monsters appear all day long. Our number one job is to train in case of an emergency. Training your body is a given, but we can¡¯t neglect the mental training to control the light divine power. Even if it¡¯s not on the level of the hero Karen-sama, the ¡®Holy Light Bullet¡¯ that us Aurora Knights shoot is a deadly weapon against monsters.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but that didn¡¯t work against me at all...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well, excuse me forcking in training!!¡± (Vesage) <Okay, you deserve your name parenthesis.>


    Monsters are pseudo-living beings that were created by the distorted divine providence of the Gods.


    That pseudo-body of theirs that was created by hardening divine power can easily be destroyed by attacking it with divine power.


    ...It is on a level of ¡®easier than punching it¡¯ though.


    There¡¯s exceptions as well. The fire cow Phris was exactly an example of that. The steel skin that was created by condensing the divine power to its very limits would not be possible to destroy unless it is quite the strong divine power, and trying to do it physically would be even more difficult.


    When fighting against something like that, the difference between a normal knight and a hero is shown.


    ¡°Then, today we will be training?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s fine as well, but since we have assistant-dono here learning, it would be better to show you a more substantial work.¡± (Vesage)


    Saying this, Captain Vesage showed me his characteristic smile.


    ¡°Even in this peaceful times, there¡¯s work that we can do for the sake of peace. Different from the visible dangers like monsters, we are going to pluck out small dangers. It is in and monotonous, but even so, it is a job that can¡¯t be neglected. That is...!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Oooh, that is...?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s...Idol Hunting!!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°...Uhm, sorry. Can you repeat that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Idol Hunting!!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Nooo~~!! Don¡¯t take it awaaay!! My treasured items, don¡¯t steal my Celes-tan goods!!¡±


    ¡°Shut up, you damn heretic! Posters! Trading cards! Photo collection! Even the debut songs and newest songs...there¡¯s figurines as well?! Isn¡¯t this all highest grade heretic material?!¡± (Vesage)


    I don¡¯t understand this well...


    From inside the house that captain Vesage intruded in, there were things that I haven¡¯t seen before being confiscated one by one.


    The owner of the house that seems to be a male of around 20 years old was protesting as he cried, but captain Vesage was not paying him any attention.


    To summarize...I don¡¯t understand anything at all.


    ¡°Captain! Have a look at this!¡±


    A knight that was searching the premises along with Vesage was agitated.


    ¡°This is...! A live stage limited printout?! That means, you bastard...you participated in the live?!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°That¡¯s not it...! This is something I bought from arade Celes-tan fan! But it is a treasured item, please give it back!!¡±


    ¡°Not only an heretic but illegal dealings as well?! Looks like there¡¯s even more reason to confiscate it! At this rate, there¡¯s probably more to be found here! Even if you have to rip off the alcove bs, search every nook and cranny!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°¡±Roger, Captain!!¡±¡±


    Looks like his subordinates are filled with motivation.


    Now then, it is about time to...


    ¡°...Captain Vesage...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Anyways, what an unbelievable amount of material. Looks like this will be the best mountain of things I have confiscated!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Captain Vesage...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Search more! ...Wait! This is!! A membership card of the Celes-tan fan club?!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Oi, Vesage.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hahaha! Finally, undeniable proof hase to light! You damn heretic! Capture him! I will have this guy spit out everything he knows about this fan club!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°...¡±


    I was getting pissed, so I aimed at the knees of Vesage and kicked him.


    ¡°Gohoo?! Ouch! What are you doing assistant Haine?! Are you going to interfere with our mission?!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°What part of this is a mission? To me, it only looks like you are invading the house of an innocent person and messing up his room though?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying?! This and that as well! It is filled with idol goods to the point that he can¡¯t make any excuses! Moreover, their preservation state is super high!¡± (Vesage)


    Saying this, he pushes onto me one after the other those unknown things that they have been digging up like crazy for a while now.


    ¡°With the growth of ethereal machines, this kind of things are now easy to produce and distribute! Photos, records, printed goods! All of these are heretic items that corrupt humans! Bybining the fearsome element called ¡®Idol¡¯ into it!!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°No well, as I have been saying...what in the world is an ¡®idol¡¯?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°Hah?¡±


    Every single person in this ce went ¡®hah?¡¯.


    Not only Vesage and his subordinates, even the victim as well.


    ¡°Assistant Haine.....you...don¡¯t know about idols?¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Stop with those pitying eyes.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°W-Well, you are a country bumpkin that just got here a few days ago after all. It can¡¯t be helped that you don¡¯t know. Then, I will personally teach you! You see, idols are...!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°¡®Idols are¡¯?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Girls.¡± (Vesage)


    As I thought, I don¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Girls are...idols? Then idols are everywhe¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You fool! Don¡¯t put Celes-tan in the same standing as thosemon women out there! You see, Idols are...cute and beautiful girls!!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°...Even so...aren¡¯t there quite a good amount of them here and there? Karen-san is also on the cute and beautiful side after all...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Guboooo!!¡± (Vesage)


    Vesage suddenly copsed?!


    ¡°Haine, you bastard!¡± (Vesage)


    And then got up?!


    ¡°An idol Karen-sama...just how fearsome of a thing have you imagined! I was about to lose consciousness there!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°For a while now, I have begun wondering if Captain Vesage is a person of a different world though...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I get it. I admit that my exnation wascking. With that in consideration...if I had to exin in more detail...idols are...cute girls that dance and sing.¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Like the dancers at the bars? Or those troupes?¡± (Haine)


    In the time I lived in the vige, I have seen it a number of times when I was apanying father to the neighboring town. And in the viges that have festivals, there was a time when a troupe came.


    When I remembered this and tried saying it...


    ¡°Don¡¯t put Celes-tan on the same level as those rundown entertainers! I will beat you up!!!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Shut uup! Don¡¯t make fun of others¡¯ jobs!¡± (Haine)


    I didn¡¯t understand even more now.


    * * *


    It took several minutes more to tie up the situation.


    ¡°...In other words...idols are young girls that revitalize people with their appeal and do that as their job? And so, as a part of it, they sing and dance?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...L-Let¡¯s leave it at that. Why is it so tiring to exin just that?¡± (Vesage)


    That¡¯s what I want to say.


    The knights and even the owner of the house were copsed on the floor with the same tired faces.


    ¡°...But why are the knight corps supervising this? From what I hear, it is a terribly good job. They revitalize people, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s the problem! You see, Celes-tan is...a powerful idol that can revitalize all the people in the world! That¡¯s why she is a scary enemy of us, the Light Church!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    Or more like, Captain Vesage, I feel like for a while now, you have been the one that has been the most passionate about this Celes-tan person.


    ...Uhm...Is Celes-tan the name of the idol?


    For a while now, it has been ¡®Celes-tan¡¯ ¡®Celes-tan¡¯ and it is getting annoying.


    ¡°But, why does revitalizing all the people in the world make her an enemy of the Light Church? Are you afraid she will steal away your believers?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s exactly how it is!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°If Celes-tan was only a normal idol to the very core of the word, there would be no problem! But that¡¯s not the case. Celes-tan -real name, Celestis-chan- has one other face!¡± (Vesage)


    The number one most important truth was announced here.


    ¡°Celestis-chan is the water hero!!¡± (Vesage)

 Chapter 36-38 - Idol Hero

    <h4>Chapter 36-38: Idol Hero</h4>


    ¡°...I know her, the water hero, Celestis-chan.¡±


    When I returned to the Light Church, I report to Karen-san about what happened today.


    Karen-san answered with a bitter smile.


    ¡°She is an incredible person, right? She fights monsters as a hero and also works as an... idol, was it? The job that you sing and show people your dancing, right? I really respect her.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hmph, what she is doing is not such a admirable thing like that.¡± (Mirack)


    At the side of Karen-san, there¡¯s Mirack that¡¯s irritated as she fans her tea.


    That¡¯s right, that Mirack.


    ¡°What they are aiming for is something more sly and wretched than that. It amazes me just how stupid men are for being deceived by that surface cuteness without knowing anything.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Uhm...Mirack-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?¡± (Mirack)


    The fire hero, Katack Mirack, answers.


    ¡°You are acting as if it¡¯s extremely natural to be here but...what¡¯s going on? This is the Light Church, you know?¡± (Haine)


    Your headquarters are at the neighboringnd, you know?


    ¡°Are you an idiot? Karen and I have formed a official alliance. For the sake of information exchange, isn¡¯t it a given that we would be meeting at least once a month?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But Mirack-chan, you came yesterday as well...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Of course I did!¡± (Mirack)


    She vigorously washed away the retort of Karen-san.


    ¡°If we are talking about incredible, Mirack-chan is also incredible, you know Haine-san. Since we joined forces, she segmented the light and firend in detail, and decided on how to cover those areas with the two of us. She is also actively seeking for training inbining elements.¡± (Karen)


    Eh?


    This girl that was shouting repeatedly that ¡®all heroes aside from me are enemies¡¯ not that long ago?


    ¡°What? Do you have a problem?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°No, not really. Mirack-san has cute parts as well huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Those words, I will take them as a deration of war.¡± (Mirack)


    Well, it is a good thing that the two who were in a stormy rtionship are now able to get along like in the past.


    ¡°Anyways! About the talk of the water hero Celestis, even within the heroes, she is one of the foulest women!¡± (Mirack)


    Looks like the fire hero still has more bones to pick.


    ¡°Why? Is working as an idol that bad?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine, you are unexpectedly sharp so you must have already noticed but, advertising the church is a part of the activities of us heroes.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± (Haine)


    If the hero holds the standard of the church and defeats monsters, the good will of the popce will incline to their favor.


    ¡°The idol work of Celestis is something that radically increases that point of a hero. If we digest what an idol is, it is a poprity job. They make the people themselves as their advertising signs. Celestis promotes herself as a hero via her work as an idol. She is increasing the worth of the Water Church¡¯s standard.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s...in order to increase the amount of believers in the Water Church?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course. And in reality, there¡¯s certainly fans of Celestis who have joined the Water Church just like that. Moreover, rumors say that it is quite the number.¡± (Mirack)


    Seriously?!


    It is true that when I look at Karen-san and Mirack, I can understand that the heroes are the face and standard bearers of the church.


    But the water hero Celestis didn¡¯t stop with that, she went further ahead and increased her worth to get more believers. So that¡¯s what an idol is?


    ¡°In truth, I understand why captain Vesage and the others are getting neurotic about this. Not only that person¡¯s headquarters, the Water capital, Hydra Ville <¥Ï¥¤¥É¥é¥ô¥£¥ì¥Ã>, even in the far away Apollon City, her poprity has spread.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°So that means, Water Church believers might appear right under the nose of the Light Church huh.¡± (Haine)


    Hearing that, I began feeling that was incredibly bad.


    ¡°Within the five Churches, there¡¯s a number of agreements made. Forbidding the creation of ethereal weapons is one of them, but the other important agreement is that it is prohibited to do any proselytizing activities at the headquarters of the other churches.¡± (Mirack)


    Well, that¡¯s a given.


    The five Churches scramble for the limited amount of believers, in other words, they are business rivals. If a rival were to begin doing business at your garden, that¡¯s akin to picking a fight and would definitely develop into one.


    ¡°As long as the Water Church is able to obtain believers at a high efficiency with the Celestis fans, the work of Celestis as an idol is akin to proselytizing. And her poprity has reached Apollon City and even my Muspelheim as well. People in these ces be fans of Celestis. And if she gets fans and they enter the Water Church...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It would be a legitimate breach of the agreement.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But as of now, the other churches are stillcking a way to attack this breach. No matter what¡¯s said, there¡¯s no proving that idol activities are the same as proselytizing activities after all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡®I have also heard about it¡¯, is what Karen-san said as she takes over on the exnation.


    ¡°The ones that are actually spreading the word of Celestis-san are the newspaper reporters, and those...¡¯idol goods¡¯, was it? The ones who bring in those idol goods are merchants specialized in that area. It is not like a legitimate member of the Church was involved in it, so it doesn¡¯t enter into the grounds of proselytizing, they say.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Our Fire Church has also sent numerous objections, but they used the same logic to deftly avoid it. In the end, the best countermeasure of it for now is just as you have witnessed today, stepping into the houses inside the city and confiscate the items rted to Celestis. Hard to call that an effective method.¡± (Mirack)


    That stupid-sounding exchange we had a while ago was actually part of a ploy that surrounds a secret feud of the five Churches?


    I tried unfolding the poster I had in my right hand.


    A confiscated good in today¡¯s idol hunt. This idol poster (in preserved state) I managed to somehow pilfer.


    ¡°Hm? That¡¯s...¡±


    The first one to notice what I was doing was Mirack.


    She moved from behind me and looks at the spread out poster.


    ¡°...It is kind of a sparkly woman that makes my eyes hurt.¡± (Haine)


    Those were my impressions after seeing the idol water hero Celestis.


    ¡°She is apparently a super popr idol that¡¯s corroding the five Churches, you know.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Seriously, how deplorable. What¡¯s with this incredibly deep slit? Wouldn¡¯t that show your panties?! Dirty!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But...if it is to this point that makes it almost possible to see, your eyes just end up going there even if you don¡¯t want to. In that sense, they understand the instincts of a man.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Men are dirty!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Then Mirack-san as well, stop wearing that outfit that shows so much cleavage.¡± (Haine)


    The water hero that¡¯s in this poster is, as expected, a young girl that¡¯s around 15 years old. How to say it, she is a glittering type of beauty.


    In that sense, Karen-san and Mirack, who are beauties as well, are different types. Her radiant smile had enough impact it felt like it was punching right through the poster.


    ¡°Her clothes and essories are all cold colors and well put together.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°She is probably conscious that she is a hero at the very least. Blue is the symbol color of the Water Church after all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is that also a thing? Well, in the case of this girl, the cloth material is gleaming and makes you more conscious of her body figure.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are really looking carefully, howscivious.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Her arms and legs are in good form, but her breast are bigger than normal, and her curves are drawing a beautiful line...or more like, the guy who took the photo was definitely aiming for this effect.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are already closing the line of being disgusting, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is that so? But it is something that was calcted to make you see it this way so... Ah...¡± (Haine)


    The poster was suddenly taken away from me.


    When I look up in surprise, I see that the culprit of stealing away the poster from me was Karen-san.


    ¡°Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...¡±


    Karen-san silently walks away with the poster in her hands...is what I thought, but the ce Karen-san headed to didn¡¯t have a door for her to leave, or even a window, just a wall.


    What is she going to do in a ce like th¡ªoh, Karen-san spreads the poster on that wall that has nothing and pushes thumb tacks on all four corners to fix it in ce.


    Well, posters are originally for that though.


    ¡°Karen-san, what are you doing?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, pleasee here.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes!¡± (Haine)


    The tone of Karen-san was the same as always, but she had some sort of intensity that told me she wouldn¡¯t take a no for an answer.


    I walk to the front of the wall where the poster is ced at.


    And so...


    ¡°Please touch it.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    Touch?


    ¡°Touch what?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This.¡± (Karen)


    What Karen pointed at was the poster affixed to the wall, at the idol hero Celestis that was photographed in it -at her chest area.


    ¡°Wait, even if it¡¯s a poster...a photo, that¡¯s just...¡± (Haine)


    Touching that chest area would be questionable.


    Of course, it is just a photo, but it just feels criminal. No, this actually makes it feel even more criminal and wrong...


    ¡°Don¡¯tin and just touch it please. Even when you touched my boobs...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Okay?!¡± (Haine)


    This person was still holding a grudge on it!


    That was only an ident when we were riding on one vehicle!


    ¡°Wait a second. I can¡¯t ignore what you just said!¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack said. When I thought one more troublesome person got involved in it as well...


    ¡°Mirack-chan, shut up for a moment. We are in the middle of something here.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes...¡± (Mirack)


    She was immediately shot down.


    The fire hero is so weak.


    ¡°T-Touch it already please, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...Yes.¡± (Haine)


    I don¡¯t know what Karen-san is trying to aplish here, but for now, I felt that the safest choice was to just touch it.


    I give up and follow what Karen-san said. In other words, I touch the breasts of the idol affixed at the wall...no, at the photo, nah, I was just touching a wall here.


    ¡°...¡±


    *pat pat pat*


    Only the expected sensation was felt. Hard. t. That¡¯s obvious, it is a wall after all. This is more saddening than I expected.


    ¡°So, what are your impressions?¡± (Karen)


    I was asked by Karen-san.


    Even if you ask me about my impressions...


    ¡°...Uhm, it is an incredible wall. Totally t. Nothing at all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Then, it is my win.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°Win what?!¡±¡±


    Even Mirack shouted with me.


    ¡°At any rate, I have decided.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What?¡± (Mirack) ¡°What are you trying to make me do now...¡± (Haine)


    Mirack and I were unable to keep up with what was going on and our spirit was slowly being chipped away.


    ¡°We are going.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Go where?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Water capital, Hydra Ville. We going there to meet with the water hero, Celestis-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We are going to go meet the water hero?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying, Karen?! What are you going to do after meeting her?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Of course, we will have a discussion with her¡±, is what Karen-san said.


    ¡°Whatever that person feels, her actions are putting our churches in a troubling state. We are going there to request her to stop it. If negotiation between churches doesn¡¯t work, we will use our own hero connection.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No well, if something like that was enough to make them stop, the Church would have brought us out already, right? Like, ¡®you guys say something too¡¯. They are not idiots, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack-san says. It looks like she is desperately trying to restrain the entric action of Karen-san.


    ¡°Have you forgotten, Mirack-chan? We have joined forces!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We have joined forces!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even if they don¡¯t hear us out individually, if ites to a situation where two heroes request of it at the same time, even Celestis-san shouldn¡¯t be able to refuse. Our alliance can serve of use in this kind of scenarios as well!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I-I see... When you say it like that...it does feel that way!¡± (Mirack)


    This is not good.


    Since the time Mirack reconciled with Karen-san, she has be incredibly weak to the words ¡®cooperation¡¯ and ¡®joined forces¡¯.


    In this kind of moments, I have to fulfill my job as an assistant.


    ¡°Wait please, Karen-san. Even if that idea is feasible, wouldn¡¯t it be bad to go all the way to the Water Church?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    For some reason, Karen-san red at me.


    Why is this person so scary today...


    ¡°Just think about it. How far is the water capital, Hydra Ville, from here?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Really far.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°At the very least, it is further than the neighboring Muspelheim. Several times.¡± (Mirack)


    See, as I thought.


    ¡°If we go to somewhere like that, we will have no choice but to be absent from our churches. What would happen if monsters were to appear in that frame of time? If there¡¯s only one or two, the people in the area or the knights can do something about it, but the chances of a big swarm like the time with Pythonflies, or a gigantic monster like the fire cow Phris appearing are not zero.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s right, Karen. That¡¯s exactly the time when heroes are needed. If we were to end up being ¡®absent¡¯, it would be an embarrassment!¡± (Mirack)


    Sympathizing with my opinion, Mirack also attacks.


    I thought we would be able to convince her like this, but it looks like Karen-san is a hero that doesn¡¯t falter to anyone.


    ¡°If it is that, there¡¯s no problem.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    * * *


    And so, we were brought to the extended section of the light grand church.


    This is the ce that has beenpletely established at the hangar of the small flying machine.


    ¡°If we ride this little one, we will be able to arrive at Hydra Ville in less than a day!¡± (Karen)


    Seriously?


    I have experienced its speed with my very body, so it is hard to say that¡¯s a lie.


    ¡°After this, we just have to take this long-distance etherealmunication device with us. Even in emergencies, we will be able to deal with it. We will be able to assist from anywhere in the world!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Viva progress...¡± (Haine)


    I also tried adding the meaning ¡®I give up¡¯ into it.


    ¡°...Eh? But only one person can ride a small-sized flying machine, right? Having 2 people ride it is already its very limit. If we add Mirack-san, it would be 3 people, isn¡¯t that a bit too much?¡± (Haine)


    A new opposing opinion came from a hopeless situation.


    But with this, wouldn¡¯t I end up staying? That in itself would be troublesome. Leaving the current Karen-san without supervision might be a bit dangerous...


    ¡°If it¡¯s a flying machine, I also have one I used toe here, you know.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You are also using one?!¡± (Haine)


    Mirack also has a flying machine. One that ispletely red like the symbol color of the Fire Church.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? Even if it¡¯s rtively close, walking to Apollon City and Muspelheim would take one whole day. If I didn¡¯t have such a convenient ride, like hell I would be able toe here frequently.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°So you are reallying here frequently!¡± (Haine)


    But with this, all obstructions to head to Hydra Ville have disappeared.


    If I had to said one thing, it would be that I don¡¯t have my own flying machine. Maybe, I really will be staying behind?


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Haine-san. Please ride at the back.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As I thought, it really ended up like this!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san had already straddled on the flying machine, and her back is facing me. As if telling me to sit there.


    ¡°Ah, but just a warning. No pretending like you are clinging onto me and then grab my boobs, okay? Definitely a no, okay?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Just give me a break already!¡± (Haine)


    I am beginning to feel like this will be haunting me for life.


    ¡°Hey you guys, that talk has beening out pretty frequently for a while now. What¡¯s that about? Don¡¯t tell me, you really touched them?¡± (Mirack)


    And once again, the ¡®Karen-san love-love¡¯ girl enters the fray.


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around! Like hell I would let a guy like that ride at the back of Karen! Just leave a guy like that here! No, a great idea came to mind. Haine, you ride my flying machine! I will be the one riding at Karen-san¡¯s back!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack-chan, shut up.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes...¡± (Mirack)


    The fire hero is so weak.


    ¡°Haine-san is my assistant, so it is a given that he will be apanying us. Just get on already. Don¡¯t touch my boobs likest time, okay?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, yeah...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t...touch them...okay?¡± (Karen)


    Why are you separating the words like that?


    Being told this so insistently, it actually feels as if touching them is the right answer. How strange.


    But at the same time, it feels dangerous.


    I don¡¯t know why, but since the time the idol poster was spread, I am not allowed to bring an incorrect answer with this ill-humour Karen-san.


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go.¡± (Karen)


    My journey to the Water capital, Hydra Ville, began with endless worry.

 Chapter 39-41 - Water capital’s daily scenery

    <h4>Chapter 39-41: Water capital¡¯s daily scenery</h4>


    We have arrived.


    ¡°This is the Water capital, Hydra Ville. The city where the Water Church¡¯s headquarters are located.¡±


    What a beautiful scenery this city has.


    There¡¯s canals and waterways here and there in the city, and on top of that, there¡¯s several tourist-looking people that have been passing by us on board of gonds.


    ¡°Hydra Ville is a port city build on the sea. Because of it, within the five Churches, this is the wealthiest one.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Since the time the ethereal technology developed, their amount of goods transportation and the scope of it has increased drastically, and its worth as a trade port has increased drastically as well. In those points, the Water Church dealt with it in a flexible manner. The tolerance of ethereal machines is number one in this ce.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Cargo ships that run with ethereal energy have been created, so there¡¯s no need for the assistance of the waves and wind anymore after all. But I like this city as a sightseeing city, you know. Those gonds are incredibly cute.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I have heard that the maintenance and the sightseeing ces are mainly managed by the Water Church.¡± (Mirack)


    Even if Ipare it to the few ces I have seen until now, I can tell that the Water capital, Hydra Ville, was build with a clear policy in mind.


    But this sagaciousness...it smells a lot like that person...


    Water God, Coacervate.


    He was a cunning and clever God. In the Genesis era, the one who formed thework of five Gods and defeated me was him.


    And this ce is the Water Church¡¯s headquarters, and the church that follows Coacervate.


    Are the believers of the churches influenced by the God that they worship?


    ¡°...And so, we are going to go meet the water hero Celestis now but...how do you n on meeting her?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the headquarters of the Water Church, the water grand church. It is normal for the hero to be there, and even if she is not, we should be able to obtain some sort of clue.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Just like in my case, you guys really like to charge in without making any appointments...¡± (Mirack)


    Ignoring what Mirack said, I confirm the map in order to head to the Water Church¡¯s headquarters.


    ¡°Hm, the shortest route would be to go straight here and...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ah, Haine-san, they say this viaduct is a famous ce! Let¡¯s go check it out!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We aren¡¯t here to sightsee, you know?¡± (Haine)


    Is what I say when...


    *Dondoko dondondokodon dondokodondondon*


    ¡°?!¡±


    *Dondoko dondondokodon dondokodondondon*


    A strange noise was approaching from somewhere?


    ¡°What¡¯s with this noise? A musical instrument... A drum?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Haine-san, at the canal!¡± (Karen)


    Looking at the ce Karen-san is pointing at, I could see a drum floating on the water...no, that¡¯s not it. There were a lot of drums on top of a big ship, and these drums were being beaten by many men.


    The ship was wide, enough to upy half of the canal. The gonds that were passing by its side were in a tight state. They might crash with a single mistake.


    The ship¡¯s height was also proportional to its width, and it was so high that even us who were looking at a slightly elevated area had to look up. And on top of it, there¡¯s men beating drums.


    *Dondoko dondondokodon dondokodondondon*


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Like hell we would understand this!¡± (Mirack)


    Not a single one of us understood what was going on.


    And, without a single care about our confusion, the situation headed onto an even more confusing one.


    ¡°Everyone~! I will be intruding-nyaa~~!¡±


    A loud voice, that felt as if it was pressing onto the inside of my head, pierced my eardrums.


    In the middle of the men that were beating the drums, a part that we were unable to see from our position had lifted high up -probably by the use of some sort of mechanism- and became a stage, moreover, there was one girl standing on top of that stage...


    ¡°The water hero, Celestis?!¡± (Haine)


    There was no difference from the poster. That¡¯s why I could tell. Things like the sleeve and the skirt¡¯s hem were fluttering about, and the ces that must be concealed are dangerously open; a sly outfit.


    With only slight movements, the outfit moves a lot which attracts the eyes. And as a finishing blow, that sparkling smile of hers, it was as if she was utilizing 100% of her face¡¯s muscles.


    ¡°An announcement! I havee to announce the live that will be held tomorrow~~!¡± (Celestis)


    <figure id="attachment_6471" ss="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption"><figcaption ss="wp-caption-text">Aqua?!</figcaption></figure>


    *Dondoko dondondokodon dondokodondondon*


    The drums were interluding in good tempo.


    ¡°Cleaning everyone¡¯s gloom, the pure stream water songstress, hero Celestis and her many drummers-de~~su!!¡± (Celestis)


    *Dokodokodokodokodokodoko!!!*


    I don¡¯t understand anything anymore.


    ¡°An additional public performance has been decided earlier, and from tomorrow on to three days, there will be live concerts!! This time¡¯s venue is incredible, you know! The stage is floating on the sea! No doubt it will be be a specialty of Hydra Ville! If you don¡¯te see the sea stage, you will regret it for the rest of your life! If you don¡¯te...Celes-tan will smush you into soup!!¡± (Celestis)


    Yup, not one word at all.


    ¡°[me Burst]!¡±


    A hellfire attacked the advertising ship mercilessly.


    The culprit is, of course, this person that controls fire.


    ¡°Mirack-san?! What are you doing?! Are you an idiot?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t me me! You are also unable to take anymore of this odd atmosphere, right?!¡± (Mirack)


    Well, that¡¯s true but...even if that¡¯s the case, turning into an arsonist because of that is questionable as a hero.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. For her, this doesn¡¯t even amount to a fart.¡± (Mirack)


    When I look, the fire, that was supposed to be chaotically spreading in the ce, was devoured by what seemed like an even bigger monster and was extinguished.


    That giant monster that devoured this fire was...water.


    The water below the canal rose up like a snake, lunged onto the fire, and devoured itpletely.


    ¡°...What¡¯s this, seriously... Even if you get incredibly excited, please don¡¯t throw things to the stage, customer-sama...¡± (Celestis)


    On top of the stage, the beautiful girl fluttered her blue garment.


    ¡°That garment, that looks like a dancing outfit at a nce, is actually the strongest divine relic of the Water Church, rivaling Karen¡¯s holy sword Saint-George and my Fire Fist Barbarossa.¡± (Mirack)


    You serious?


    ¡°Naturally, looking at the affinities between our elements, that person is my worst opponent. Water extinguishes fire. For her who is the water hero, extinguishing that level of mes is nothing.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack looked as if she had snapped, but it seems she actually thought it out before attacking.


    No, she wouldn¡¯t have attacked if she didn¡¯t snap in the first ce. Well, it can¡¯t be helped. Faced against such a mental corroding attack...


    And so, this shy fire and water sh gathered even more of the attention from the people, and it also drew attention to us.


    ¡°Oi, isn¡¯t that... the ¡®fire hero, Katack Mirack-sama¡¯? And there¡¯s even the ¡®light hero-sama¡¯ too. I am from Apollon City, so I know!¡±


    The attention is increasing.


    Now then, how do we calm this down. It is not on the level of Celestis, but Mirack and Karen-san can also be considered the face of their respective church.


    I wouldn¡¯t want to have us retreat in a way that would worsen the view the popce has on them.


    ¡°Everyone~~ the special guests have appeared~~!!¡± (Celestis)


    Once again, the loud voice from the stage resounds.


    ¡°In this time¡¯s live stage performance, we will have the other churches¡¯ heroes appearing as a special event! I wanted to keep it a secret until the appointed day, but I can¡¯t hold it any longer, so I will be spilling the beans~~~!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Whaaaaat?!¡±


    I wasn¡¯t the only one surprised.


    The surrounding local people, the tourists, and the general popce had their excitement rise.


    ¡°You kidding?!¡± ¡°Seriously?!¡± ¡°A coboration work with 3 heroes?!¡± ¡°I will definitely go see it! Can I get tickets now?!¡± ¡°I was nning on returning today, but I will cancel my train and prolong it!¡± ¡°Even if I have to work as a beverage seller there, I will definitely go there and see it!!¡±


    The street corners of Hydra Ville had be the very definition of excitement.


    And then...


    ¡°...So?¡±


    Karen-san, Mirack, and I apanied Celestis and arrived at the Water Church¡¯s headquarters. If we stayed there, the ruckus would prolong who knows for how long.


    This is supposed to be the office of the water hero, but just now, when we passed through the door, the room te said ¡®dressing room¡¯...


    ¡°What are two heroes doing here in my ind? If you came here to pick a fight, I call pass. I will soon be having a live performance after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...Your way of speaking is normal.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? If I don¡¯t divide work and private life, my shoulders would grow stiff. If my body gets stiffer, it would affect my performance as well.¡± (Celestis)


    I don¡¯t know if she is serious about her job or she isn¡¯t.


    And Mirack, who was brought here without a single care of her opinion, was showing clear dissatisfaction.


    ¡°...Hmph, I have heard about your indecent side job for some time now, but I didn¡¯t think it would be this indecent. Seeing it with my own eyes almost dislocated my jaw.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Then dislocate your jaw already. If you are able to do that, I can hire you as aedian.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes yes, fire hero-san that gets heated immediately. By the way, why are you together with the light hero? Didn¡¯t you girls not get along?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    Those words of Celestis made Mirack shut up in an instant.


    That¡¯s right. Right now, you wouldn¡¯t even be able to imagine it, but the rtionship of Karen-san and Mirack was as bad as that of a cat and dog.


    But well, it was all Mirack being the wild dog here though. Those words that made her remember this, made even Mirack falter.


    ¡°......W-We formed an alliance not that long ago.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hah? Alliance? Seriously?! That¡¯s incredible. So that means the light and fire churches have joined arms?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No, the churches are not involved. It was an arbitrary decision by Karen and I, but even so, we thought it would be effective in dealing with the monsters you see.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I see... But it is still incredible. In the current heroes, you guys were the ones who didn¡¯t get along the most, and yet, from all the people, you girls formed an alliance.¡± (Celestis)


    The continuous mention of ¡®not getting along¡¯ by Celestis, was making Mirack¡¯s face sour.


    The person herself doesn¡¯t have any ill-intentions, but those words were like body blows that were stacking the damage.


    ¡°And so, the reason you came here was to give me this report?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°About that...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san took over for Mirack who was quite weakened already.


    Karen-san has been maintaining silence since the moment she entered the room. That, on the contrary, made me have a vague fear.


    ¡°Oh, Karen as well, it has been a while~. But well, even if I say so, this is our first time having a proper chat? The rumours of the good-girl hero at the light church have reached my ears as well though.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes. The reason I intruded on you today was because, Celestis-san, I have an important favor to ask of you.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Please stop being an idol.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°Direct approach?!¡±¡±


    Mirack and I both eximed in unison.


    ¡°Hah? What are you saying?¡± (Celestis)


    The request of Karen-san was so straightforward that Celestis visibly frowned.


    ¡°Your activities are having a bad influence on our cities. I want you to stop them.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san didn¡¯t change her expression and didn¡¯t disy her emotions.


    On the other hand, Celestis¡¯ reaction was clear.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I have been asking, what is it you are saying! My songs are providing a bad influence?! That¡¯s not possible! Even if I look like this, I am still a hero, you know! I won¡¯t sing unless my fans are happy!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No no, you see...!¡± (Karen)


    To think Celestis would be enraged in such a way. It looks like she has her own concerns regarding her activities as an idol, but at this rate, their thoughts will not connect at all.


    I have no choice but to step in here. And then, I supplemented the parts that werecking in the exnation of Karen-san.


    About how the poprity of the idol Celestis was having a drastical rise, and with that, the proliferation of her fans in Apollon City and Muspelheim has exploded. This turned directly into most of them joining the Water Church.


    This conflicts with the agreement of proselytizing prohibition that was formed between the churches.


    ¡°Ah, I see. So that¡¯s how it is.¡± (Celestis)


    After saying this much, Celestis finally reached an understanding.


    ¡°In other words, my poprity is on the verge of stealing your fans, so you came here to ask me to stop it. in girls have it tough huh.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san firmly answers.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind your idol activities in itself. The problem is that it is connecting with proselytizing. That part is making this problemplicated. So, I think there¡¯s the need to revise this situation. For the sake of that, the methods that can be taken are two.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Stop being an idol, or stop being a hero. I see, so that¡¯s what you mean by the ¡®stop being an idol¡¯ huh.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis says this as if lightly warding off the pressing of Karen-san.


    On top of that, Mirack stands shoulder to shoulder with Karen-san and emphasizes the criticism.


    ¡°I am also of the same opinion. That¡¯s why I am here. In the first ce, Celestis, even when you are standing as a hero, you are doing a hobby like being an idol. Aren¡¯t you ashamed? If you are a hero, you should devote yourself to your main job as a hero. If you want to devote yourself into being an idol, you should pass over the seat of hero to someone else. The current you can¡¯t seat in both and are half-assed.¡± (Mirack)


    The fire hero and the light hero; these two heroes were protesting together, so the water hero couldn¡¯t ignore it.


    That was the objective when both of them came here but, will that show any effectiveness?


    ¡°...Are you stupid? That¡¯s quite the shallow thinking you have there.¡± (Celestis)


    It had no effect.


    ¡°Then, I will ask you this as well. What is the job of a hero?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s...protecting the people from the threat of monsters...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s correct, but that¡¯s not all.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis smiles suggestively.


    ¡°Heroes...fight monsters as the representatives of the church. And then, with that, they show the power of the church to them. Heroes are the face of the church, the standard bearers. Seeing that all of the five current heroes are teenage girls around their 15 makes it clear, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Celestis)


    Eh, is that true?


    The light, fire, and water heroes here are all girls, but well, now that she mentions it, if they are going to use someone as their face, rather than a man, it would be more appealing with a cute girl.


    ¡°You see, in order to serve my job as the church¡¯s face, I am doing my very best. That¡¯s what an idol is. Fortunately, my fans have epted this, and my poprity has risen. My poprity reaching outside the Water capital just means that my efforts came at y there.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°But then, the other churches¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If that troubles the fire and light, that just means you arecking in effort. Conforming with just defeating monsters. You arecking awareness as a representative of the church. You don¡¯t have a clear policy and are simply working without a single thought as the face of the church. All of this just means that it is now biting you in the back, that¡¯s all.¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san and Mirack were unable to say anything back.


    That was akin to admitting that what Celestis said was correct.


    ¡°Celestis-san...you looked like a regr idiot, but you were actually thinking about things properly huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What¡¯s with this man, so rude on our first meeting! Or more like, seriously, who are you?¡± (Celestis)


    I have been following along until now like normal, but it seems Celestis had not even acknowledged my presence.


    With a small self-introduction, I advance the conversation.


    ¡°Then, Celestis-san won¡¯t show self-restraint in your idol activities and won¡¯t show consideration to the other churches, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course. Why does a person who puts in the effort have to show consideration to people who don¡¯t put the effort?¡± (Celestis)


    I see. Understood.


    ¡°Then it can¡¯t be helped. We are leaving!¡± (Haine)

 Chapter 42-43 - If pushing doesn’t work, pull

    <h4>Chapter 42-43: If pushing doesn¡¯t work, pull</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


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    ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡±


    My announcement of leaving, left Karen-san and Mirack surprised.


    ¡°What do you mean by that, Haine-san? We are leaving already, you say?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Just as I said. We have no room to refute Celestis-san at all. So, persisting anymore is a waste of time. Let¡¯s leave right this instant!¡± (Haine)


    I push the shoulders of the two and head to the exit.


    ¡°Hohoh, assistant-kun seems to understand the most out of the group.¡± (Celestis)


    Is what Celestis said with a grin.


    ¡°Are you serious? After being told all that, leaving now is just~~!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s right, Haine-san. If we talk for a bit more, we might be able to find a point ofpromise~~!¡± (Karen)


    Looks like Mirack and Karen-san have still not given up, but even so, I push the two of them.


    ¡°No no, you two have already gone through so much asking her. Knowing that there¡¯s no hope for it, we can¡¯t just continue staying here. Even a second is valuable. Let¡¯s return right this instant. Let¡¯s return without waiting for tomorrow. Without waiting! For tomorrow!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, leave¡ª¡ª-Hm?¡± (Celestis)


    While purposely emphasizing the words, I slowly approach the exit.


    ¡®Not yet? Haven¡¯t noticed yet?¡¯, is what I was thinking when...


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    Okay, got the fish. Just as nned.


    To exin what this all means, first of all, let¡¯s see the next action of Celestis who is desperately trying to calm down her agitation.


    ¡°Uhm...there¡¯s no need to return immediately, right? You havee all the way to Hydra Ville, a sightseeing city, you know? At the very least, how about staying one night¡ªno, two nights!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No, can¡¯t. They can¡¯t neglect their duties as heroes. We definitely cannot wait for tomorrow. We will be leaving right this instant!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wait! Momento!!¡± (Celestis)


    Finally, Celestis clung onto me.


    Her attitude made such a sudden turn that Karen-san and Mirack had a bewildered face.


    ¡°...Uhm, it will probably be troublesome, you know. Like, if I had to say who would be troubled, it would be me. If asked why...that would be because if you guys don¡¯t appear tomorrow on...you see, I announced it already, right? In tomorrow¡¯s live, you guys will be appearing as guests.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    It seems like, with this, Karen-san and Mirack noticed too. That leaving right now is the best n of action that will put Celestis in the most predicament.


    ¡°That was something I said on the spur of the moment, but it unexpectedly got a good reception from the customers, or how to say it......Germana, Germana!!¡± (Celestis)


    When Celestis shouted that, the door opened and a thin man entered.


    ¡°How are the current sales of the tickets?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Well, since the time you finished your advertising and returned, sales have increased in an explosive rate. The extra area we prepared just in case was also instantly sold out. Even so, the enquiries are not dying down, and I don¡¯t know if the increase of seats will make it in time... nning department is considering the idea of adding one more extra area.¡± (Germana) <Anagram for Manager>


    ¡°Waaa! It jumps up that much just from announcing that there will be 2 hero guests?! As expected, heroes are incredible!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Also, the mass media has already caught onto this and is applying for interviews on this matter.¡± (Germana)


    ¡°With a single adlib, it created such an upheaval! My talent is scary! Ah, but! If Mirack and Karen are not present that day.....¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°.....A storm of booings.¡± (Haine)


    The short words I stealthily whispered to Celestis had frozen her.


    False publicity, betrayed fans, cursing that covers up the venue, customers that leave in the middle, floods of protests, trust that won¡¯t return, poprity drop; bing an idol that has fallen, the office will throw her away; beginning to think all those things...


    ¡°GYAAAAAAAAAH!!¡±


    It surpassed what her brain could handle.


    And then, she unsightly clings onto my leg.


    ¡°Stop~~~!! Please don¡¯t go~~!! At least till tomorrow! At least for one day, participate in the live~~!!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eeeh. Even if you ask me that~~, the ones who are going to be participating are the heroes, I am a mere assistant~~¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying! Acting as if you are an assistant or a subordinate, but in truth, you are actually the one holding the reins! I have already seen through that!! If you say YES, everything will be YES, that¡¯s how I have seen it! That¡¯s why, please nod!!¡± (Celestes)


    ¡°No.¡± (Haine)


    No mercy.


    ¡°Because, you know, our request was also rejected with no consideration. Since the talk is over, there¡¯s no reason for us to stay here, right? Even if you have a reason for us to stay, we don¡¯t, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s...uhm...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°If there¡¯s no room for consideration, then, there¡¯s no need to be considerate, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Guh guh...¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis made a groaning voice with an expression that was not fitting of an idol.


    ¡°I-I get it already! About your request, I will consider it in a positive light. I will search for apromise that will not be bad for you guys! That¡¯s why, please participate in the live!¡± (Celestes)


    ¡°YES.¡± (Haine)


    Negotiation has seeded.


    ¡°And so, you two, is it okay for you two to stay in Hydra Ville until tomorrow?¡± (Haine)


    I have already given a consent, but I confirm the decision of Karen-san and Mirack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Just getting to see that idol woman get so cornered made me super satisfied!¡± (Mirack)


    She must have been incredibly discontent about being told all that. Mirack had a refreshed face.


    ¡°Haine-san, you knew this would happen from the very beginning, right? That¡¯s why you suddenly said we should leave...¡± (Karen)


    I am sorry for stepping into action without an exnation, but I had no room to exin.


    Celestis seems to be unexpectedly intelligent, so showing any poor moves might allow her to take the lead on us.


    While I was thinking that, Karen-san approached me speedily.


    ¡°Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°Haine-san! Haine-san! Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, I am Haine.¡± (Haine)


    What is it?


    Having your eyes shine like that and looking at me with such fixation, what are you doing?


    Calling a person¡¯s name in rapid session like that, she didn¡¯t even give a proper response and just left to another ce.


    To the ce where the cornered and crushed Celestis is.


    ¡°Uuuh... For this idol hero Celes-tan to yield to something like ckmailing!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-san, thank you very much for epting our request. Thanks to that, we have achieved our number one objective.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Uh? So what?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I will be achieving my other objective right now.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh? Wagyaaaaaa!!!¡± (Celestis)


    Both hands of Karen-san grabbed the breasts of Celestis?!


    Her right and left hand were tightly grabbing each side respectively. A stance that left no opening.


    ¡°Nyaaa?!! Wa?! What¡¯s with this girl so suddenly! Don¡¯t touch touch me so frivolously. These are the boobs of an idol! Security! Security! SOS!¡± (Celestis)


    Even when Celestis was making a racket and iling, she was unable to free herself from the firm lock of Karen-san.


    In that time, Karen-san was fondling with a ratherplicated expression.


    ¡°Mirack-san...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. Sinceing to this city, there¡¯s nothing I understand.¡± (Mirack)


    Watching over this situation, we could only feel confused.


    And then, after a few seconds, Karen-san, who had brought down Celestis-san to the floor with her fondling, had finally released her, and...


    ¡°I win.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What did you win?!¡± (Celestis)


    A mysterious deration of victory.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe this! My breasts, the breasts of an idol! Touching them without permission!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine? Isn¡¯t an idol that kind of job?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is not!!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack nonchntly throws her two punches in and Celestis roars.


    ¡°An idol is not a job that sells lust! It is a job that sells youth!! If it gets around that my boobs were fondled...my value will decrease! It is still salvageable since it was a vulgar person of the same gender, but...! Hm? Excessive skinship between pure girls, the innocence that it portrays but the scent of eros that wafts from it... Might sell.¡± (Celestis)


    As long as there¡¯s the possibility, she immediately enters into calctions. So this is what a pro looks like...


    ¡°But, to go ¡®Nyaa¡¯ and Wagyaa¡¯, this idol girl has some unexpected cute screams. Seeing that slyness of yours, I thought you wouldn¡¯t be on the side to scream like that though.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You are noisy, fire hero she-male!! In that case, tell me about that tone you are ying! You have thrown away your feminineness and all! And yet, you have those useless big breasts there, if I just touch them, you would also cry in the sa¡ª!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Guard.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Why are you blocking me?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No well, you would obviously block that.¡± (Mirack)


    I see. So showing girls bickering like that can sell huh.


    I have learned something new.


    ¡°A-At any rate, definitely appear in tomorrow¡¯s live, okay?! If possible, the day after tomorrow too...and the performances in the future as well! Depending on the sales, there might be another day for this!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That depends on your sincerity.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Obviously came down to that!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis grabs her head and writhes. <WRYYYY!>


    ¡°But, just to tell you, I am not the one that does the recruiting of neers, I leave all of that to the church, so I will have to talk to the church itself in order to make it have some sort of concrete form, you know? The higher-ups have the sweet profit of obtaining believers, so they are in tacit consent of my idol activities. I don¡¯t think we will get an immediate reply between today and tomorrow...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°If you can¡¯t, we just have to leave tomorrow. Do it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What¡¯s with this tough negotiation! Hey, Karen-san, give me this assistant of yours! I want to hire him as a negotiator in difficult situations!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...¡±


    And then, Karen-san once again grabs the breasts of Celestis in silence.


    And once again, Celestis became the victim.


    ¡°...But really, why has Karen-san been persistently fondling the breasts of Celestis?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°......I don¡¯t really want to say this but...¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack says this with a somewhat heavy tone.


    ¡°It must be your fault, Kuromiya Haine. Karen became weird since the time you spread that poster of Celestis.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Uh?¡±


    ¡°Herpetitive spirit came out. I wonder what was the real objective when she suddenly proposed about going to the Water capital. When you talked down Celestis in the negotiation a while ago, she was happy that you took her side more than that of Celestis.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I have never been the enemy of Karen-san though.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Showing it out is what makes her happy. That¡¯s just how women work.¡± (Mirack)


    When Mirack says it, it suddenly makes it more vivid.


    ¡°Then, the reason why she is fondling Celestis¡¯ breasts so persistently?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Are you going to have me say everything?¡± (Mirack)


    Even if you tell me to get a hint...


    ¡°Karen has be quite the passionate woman. When she had a weak constitution, she was slender and lovely...just when did she change this much? Damn it. If only we had fixed our friendship sooner!!¡± (Mirack)


    You are plenty passionate of a woman as well.


    But, hearing this about ¡®passionate¡¯, for some reason, the first one that came to mind was the Light Goddess.


    As I thought, Gods and their believers do resemble each other.

 Chapter 44-46 - Sweet Room

    <h4>Chapter 44-46: Sweet Room</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    And so, it has been decided that we will be staying one night in Hydra Ville.


    We are considered special guests in the live performance, so we were allowed in the Water Church¡¯s guest room.


    Even in this famous sightseeing city and trading port, this is a central building. The guest room in such a ce is, as expected, quite the extravagant thing. It is a structure that was made in a way that the sea breeze could easily pass through it, so I was able to have a good view of the city¡¯s nightscape.


    ¡°Hmph, show-offs.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack mutters this as she sinks her rear over and over on the soft bed.


    Is she nning on acting that way in all this trip?


    ¡°She said we can freely pass the time until tomorrow¡¯s live. It looks like we can also do some sightseeing outside as long as we decide on the time.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Even if this was to have Celestis-san hear out our request, it has be an incredible thing. At first, I thought we would be singing as well, and that flustered me.¡± (Karen)


    But, as expected, that didn¡¯t happen.


    In terms of artistic performances, these two are total beginners. There¡¯s no way the pro Celestis would have them suddenly learn the lyrics and have them stand on stage. It looks like they can safely spectate from the side.


    Even so, in order to entertain the audience to the highest limits, she said she would be thinking up the best way to show the shiness of having three heroes together, and then, left to a meeting.


    She really is a zealous worker.


    ¡°She really was an aggressive person, that Celestis-san. Not only a hero, she also holds pride in being an idol as well.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°To me, she is only a half-assed person that can¡¯t decide on one thing though...well, that¡¯s what I want to say, but...in truth, even with that, she is still able to properly do her job as a hero.¡± (Mirack)


    Eh? Really?


    ¡°Since officially bing a hero, the number of monsters she has defeated are...not that different from Karen and I. Even when she is putting so much zeal in her hobby. I wonder, just when does she head out to do her subjugations.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is that so. Celestis-san truly is an incredible person. She is properly managing as a hero and an idol...... Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san makes a more serious tone than normal.


    ¡°Do you remember what Celestis-san said?¡± (Karen)


    Heroes are the face of the church. ¡®Since you have be a hero, you have to fulfill that duty¡¯, is that what she is referring to?


    ¡°I...thought that it was okay for heroes to just defeat monsters and protect the livelihood of the people. But my seat as a hero and my power was given to me by the Church, that¡¯s why, I probably also hold responsibility in regards to the Church.¡± (Karen)


    The serious Karen-san said this with an expression as if it was truly bothering her heart.


    ¡°I thought that responsibility could be fulfilled by simply defeating monsters. But that wasn¡¯t all. Maybe there¡¯s other things that have to be done. Seeing Celestis-san today, I began thinking that...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san is not wrong.¡± (Haine)


    First of all, I say this.


    ¡°What Celestis said is not wrong, but Karen-san isn¡¯t wrong either. The most important duty of heroes is to protect the people. Karen-san who is always thinking about that as her number one priority is already a splendid hero.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Karen. It can¡¯t be helped that your eyes were stolen by that shiness of Celestis, but you can¡¯t get lost by it. Also, remember what we came here to do. You went through the trouble ofing all the way here to solve the friction between the five Churches. You are doing plenty enough in your duty for the church.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack also joined me and cheered Karen-san up.


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s right.¡± (Karen)


    It seems like Karen-san has regained her spirit.


    Mirack and I silently bump fists.


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s sleep already. I will return to my room.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh? Haine-san is not sleeping here?¡± (Karen)


    No way that¡¯s possible.


    I am a man of age. If I sleep a night in the same room as them, some sort of mistake will definitely ur.


    Even if I am the reincarnation of the Dark God, as long as I hold a human body, I can¡¯t stay indifferent to the instincts and physiological desires ites with.


    That¡¯s why I follow reason.


    ¡°I-I see... Then tonight, it will be Karen and I only...!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°No, Mirack has a room prepared for Mirack only, so sleep there.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Truly a VIP reception. To think they would give us a personal room for each one of us.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Damn it!! This is the very definition of unneeded kindness!¡± (Mirack)


    In the future, even if there¡¯s chances for sleep overs, I promise myself that I will definitely hinder any opportunities of Karen-san and Mirack sharing a room by themselves.


    * * *


    And so, I return to the room that was prepared for me, and just in the moment I was thinking about sleeping...


    *knock knock*


    ¡®Who is it?¡¯ is what I thought as I open the door to check. The one that was standing there was a thin adult man.


    ¡°Eh? You are...¡± (Haine)


    I remember seeing him somewhere before.


    ...Right, the person that Celestis was calling Germana. He is probably the same as me, an assistant of the hero or a subordinate.


    ¡®But why is that person here?¡¯, is what I was wondering when the thin man begins to talk.


    ¡°I am sorry for intruding on you at such ate hour. There was something I wanted to talk to you about in given chance, you see.¡± (Germana)


    ¡°...Something you wanted to talk about? Is it rted to tomorrow¡¯s live?¡± (Haine)


    I have no other idea but this.


    Something to talk with a person that he met for the first time today, the only thing that would be is work rted.


    ¡°It is already rted to that, but there¡¯s also one other thing.¡± (Germana)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°First of all, I have to introduce myself here. I am the manager of Celestis-sama¡¯s idol activities, but...¡±


    Manager? Not Germana?


    ¡°...That¡¯s only my assumed form. I am actually the reincarnated Water God, Coacervate. It has been a while, Dark God, Entropy.¡±


    ¡°...What an ill-natured joke.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oh? Are you saying I am lying?¡±


    ¡°If it is a lie, just with the point that you are talking about being a God when you are a human would already make you ill-natured; if it is true, the point that you are are mixing in with the human society and scheming something unpleasant is already enough to call it ill-natured. Whichever it is, you are an ill-natured person.¡± (Haine)


    Sadly, the moment my identity was revealed, I understood that what he said was the truth.


    An inhuman part of me was reacting.


    Water God, Coacervate.


    One of the five Gods of Creation, and the God that rules over water.


    Water washes away impurities, and purifies the world. But once the stream stops, the water will stagnate and be contaminated. Water then turns into an impurity that rots the world.


    The Coacervate in front of me is truly the personification of that kind of water. Stagnated water that has been contaminated.


    ¡°So you also reincarnated. I am surprised. That means most of the Gods have descended to the surface world?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s not much to do even if I stay in the God Realm after all. By the way, it wouldn¡¯t be rmendable to talk about things like this in the corridor. Isn¡¯t it about time you let me enter your room?¡±


    If possible, I would prefer not letting a person like this in my room, but with our identities clear now, I can¡¯t just let him go without knowing what this guy is nning.


    I reluctantly let the man into my room. Seriously, as a visitorte in the night, he really is not a partner that makes my heart dance.


    The current figure of this guy. A man in his middle twenties. I have described him as a thin man for a while now, but that¡¯s how it made me think with that well-formed and slender face of his. The only thing is that he is not that handsome to remain in the head of someone, which makes it even more detestable.


    His outfit is probably a formal outfit in this world. It is well-made and truly shows ss, but aside from that, there¡¯s no other impressions of it.


    In other words, whether it is good or bad, it doesn¡¯t fall into any of those categories in the impression area.


    It truly makes me see him more and more as that God.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s celebrate our reunion.Dark God Entropy, how did you feel when reincarnating?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me by that name. Right now, I am Kuromiya Haine.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s your name as a human, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°But you...I am surprised you were able to notice my identity. I wasn¡¯t able to tell your identity until you told me.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say...it was thanks to a certain simple-minded cow.¡± (Coacervate)


    Cow...... the fire cow, Phris.


    In other words, the reincarnated form of the Fire God Nova huh.


    ¡°I also took notice of the short-circuited and violent n he had, so I already had surveince setup for him, you know? And just a few days ago, a mere amount of 3 humans appeared for this so called fire cow subjugation and managed to aplish it. But, to my surprise, there was one person there who could control dark matter!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°.....¡±


    ¡°At that moment, I understood everything. The one who released you was the Light Goddess, Intion, right? For these few hundred years, her movements have been unclear after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°And what about it? This time you are thinking about beating her up? Reproducing the same method you used 1,600 years ago, that is.¡± (Haine)


    When I am talking with this guy, I end up remembering even when I don¡¯t want to.


    In the battle of Gods that urred 1,600 years ago...


    All six Gods created the world at the beginning of it all. Created the sky, sea,nd; and then, the vegetation that grows above it, animals and insects, and in the end, we created humans.


    The trigger of that battle were those humans.


    Within all the things that the Gods created, the humans had unpredictable possibilitiespared to everything in nature.


    That¡¯s why, I -the Dark God, Entropy- said this: ¡®Humans are interesting living beings. Let¡¯s give them freedom and see what they can aplish¡¯.


    And then, the first one to directly object to this was the Fire God, Nova.


    ¡°There¡¯s no better living being than the Gods! And humans are just lower life-forms that are under the servitude of us Gods!¡±


    The Light Goddess Intion didn¡¯t say who was right or wrong, and only said: ¡®I will follow what the Dark God Entropy says¡¯. Even in those days, she was someone I didn¡¯t understand well.


    The Wind God Quasar said: ¡®Whatever the case, this is stupid¡¯, and the Mother Earth Mantle said: ¡®Both opinions are important¡¯.


    In other words, over half of the Gods had not shown any clear siding at first, and in that instance, it was still unknown how it would turn out. However, when the fight begun, it had turned into a one-sided battle of 5 vs 1.


    The one who orchestrated this is the person right in front of me. The one that never showed his opinion until the very end, the Water God, Coacervate.


    ¡°No well, you see, I chose the best route, you know?¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate probably noticed my criticizing gaze. As always, he is sharp in this kind of areas.


    ¡°Whatever im were to pass, the fight of the Gods would intensify, and if it were to be a messy fight, the surface world would also be enveloped by the chaos, and life would have died without leaving a single trace behind, wouldn¡¯t it? In order to reduce the damage to its minimum, a fast ending to the fight was necessary, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°And because of that, you coaxed the Gods that were keeping their neutrality and ced them in the same side as you and Nova huh. As expected of a scoundrel, ites with being good at making up excuses. In all situations, you spout sophism and make it so you are not the bad guy.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oya oya, so harsh.¡± (Coacervate)


    ...So...


    ¡°How about you talk already. Why did you reincarnate as a human, and what are you nning this time?¡± (Haine)


    Water God, Coacervate.


    This guy is currently not a God, but a reincarnated human. Just like me.


    The reason why I reincarnated as a human was purely because I wanted to enjoy the world after 1,600 years long. If I want to observe the human world, being a human myself is the best option.


    By the way, the reason the Light Goddess Intion reincarnated into a human was because: ¡®I want to give birth to your (Dark God) baby¡¯. A reason that¡¯s hard to understand, or more like, I don¡¯t really want to understand.


    Both of us may have some pretty fuzzy reasons, but the one in front of me is different from us. Coacervate never does things without a reason.


    What he does is always connected to troubling someone, and he never does anything that doesn¡¯t.


    That¡¯s why I ask him.


    Why he reincarnated into a human.


    ¡°You are quite direct huh. It is as if you are thinking I am someone that has to be scheming something all the time or I will die.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°And that¡¯s just how it is, right? Also, it makes it even more suspicious since you went through the trouble of revealing your identity yourself. For you, secrets that the other party has not noticed are the best trump cards, and until the most effective moment to reveal them, you will hide them even if it¡¯s through sheer obstinacy.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No way no way. I only came here tonight to reheat that old friendship...¡± (Coacervate)


    A dark stare.


    ¡°...Is one of the reasons, but there¡¯s also one thing I wanted to ask of you, you see. For the sake of that, I had no choice but to reveal my identity.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What the hell are you scheming this time?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right, in order to do that, it would be best to tell you from the beginning. Haine-san, what do you think about this present world?¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate directed that face of his to the window. A gesture saying ¡®look at the world¡¯ huh.


    ¡°This world has changed quite a bit from the Genesis era, right? A material called ethereal was discovered and the civilization grew, machines and magic began to mix in the cities of humans, even things like monsters began appearing, and the fighting has grown sporadic.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You Gods were the ones who created monsters, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Is that how it was? Well, that¡¯s right.¡± (Coacervate)


    For someone like him, this was a rare moment where he actually spoke with a decisive tone.


    ¡°I was the who proposed the idea of creating monsters.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°...As expected. I did think that was the case.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oya oya, you are not surprised?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°That¡¯s really an underhanded method fitting of you, that¡¯s all. Creating these enemies called monsters, you make them attack humans, and make it so humans once again cling onto Gods. Underhanded. Truly the underhanded Water God.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But, don¡¯t you think that¡¯s also the fault of the humans? Even though we are the ones who gave birth to them, just because their lifestyle got a bit more convenient, they forget about their true parents. Monsters might be the screams of us Gods¡¯ hearts saying that we don¡¯t want to be forgotten.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Your sophism is getting annoying already.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Anyways, when ethereal was discovered in the human world , the other five Gods aside from you might have convened and thought up countermeasures?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°At least be more decisive about something like that.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And so, the decision called monsters came out. Nova, Quasar, Mantle, and I, created Mother Monsters that hold the element of their respective element. I wonder where they are now? At any rate, as long as they are living in this world somewhere, I think they would create monsters infinitely?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What about Intion?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The great Light Goddess. Her heart can¡¯t be understood by someone like me.¡± (Coacervate)


    So he couldn¡¯t earn her approval huh.


    And that¡¯s why there¡¯s no light element monsters.


    If there really are existences called Mother Monsters...it would be dangerous to blindly believe all Coacervate says, but...it would mean that there¡¯s also a fire element Mother Monster and is still giving birth to more monsters.


    Looks like that event that was essentially like sealing the Fire God Nova won¡¯t be stopping the appearances of fire element monsters.


    ¡°The hero n was also my proposition, it seems?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°As I said, talk more decisively.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The other Gods also followed what I proposed and send an oracle to their own Church, and created this system called heroes, it seems? Thanks to that, a structure called ¡®World¡¯s Threat vs God¡¯s Envoy¡¯ was created and looks like this held back the decline of the faith. But I wonder if that satisfied everyone?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Nova looked dissatisfied. That¡¯s why he reincarnated into a cow monster himself.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Looks like he thought of something useless with thecking brain he has. But there might be others who are actually thinking properly.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Are you talking about yourself?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°After announcing my series of proposals, I immediately descended to the surface world. And then, without leaving it on the hands of the humans, I produced the hero n myself, I think? But I didn¡¯t only have the hero fight monsters, I also created a number of policies, and increased the effectiveness? Thanks to that, it seems like my Water Church has a lot more believers than other churches?¡± (Coacervate)


    So after having everyone participate in his proposal, he alone went and put it into practice himself huh.


    Really does sound just like him.


    ¡°...And so, that n of yours was this idol thing?¡± (Haine)


    The disgraceful behaviour of the singing and dancing hero Celestis pops up in my mind.


    And so, this guy here is working as that thing called manager. A puppeteer that hides his identity while stealthily making his moves.


    ¡°I am simply utilizing ns that are effective for each generation of heroes? That¡¯s probably the best method for the current hero Celestis-san to obtain believers?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°That might be the case, but...each generation, you say. You...each time a hero takes over, you always do such mendable¡¯ managing? Just how many times have you reincarnated?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I have only reincarnated once though?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Hah?¡± (Haine)


    But that¡¯s just...


    ¡°It looks like I have been living in this body for more than a hundred years already. I don¡¯t think I have died even once or have been reborn in that time though?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°A human body can¡¯t live that long. No, in the first ce, no matter how I look at you, you are around your thirties¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Did I say I reincarnated as a human?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    ¡°Ah right, I have only revealed my identity, and haven¡¯t introduced myself yet, right? Let me do it now then.¡± (Coacervate)


    And then, he said.


    ¡°The name of this body is Water Demon, Mephistopheles. A water element monster that has the ability to mimic humans, you know?¡± (Coacervate)

 Chapter 47-49 - Water Demon God

    <h4>Chapter 47-49: Water Demon God</h4>


    And then, that guy visibly changed the shape of his eyes.


    His arms and legs stretched to abnormal lengths, scales surfaced from his whole body, and grew extraordinarily sticky.


    From the spaces in between the ovepping scales, some sort of viscous liquid was leaking, and they fell onto the floor.


    He was clearly not a human. If I had to describe it, it would be a merman. In other words, a monster.


    ¡°You...were the same as Nova huh.¡± (Haine)


    I remembered the fire element monster, fire cow Phris, which was the reincarnation of Fire God Nova, so I said this.


    ¡°His decision was incredibly simple and crude. But the reason why I created this body was for a far more grand n. Monsters are irregr living beings, so the passage of time is of no matter, and this body can change into a men or women of any age and have any appearance I want, you know?¡± (Coacervate)


    Is what Coacervate says as he showcases his viscous and strange figure. Water Demon, Mephistopheles.


    ¡°Thanks to that, I have already lived around a hundred years in the surface world. It might have been even longer than that though?¡± (Coacervate)


    Meaning that with this monster vessel of his, he doesn¡¯t grow old and doesn¡¯t die, he can live in whichever generation, and is able to get involved with the water hero from the shadows -and with the Water Church as well.


    ¡°That might mean that¡¯s just how desperate Gods are now, don¡¯t you think? Because you know, the scale of my church equals the amount of prayer energy I can absorb so, don¡¯t you think it is just human nature to do the work yourself instead of simply leaving it to others?¡± (Coacervate)


    Don¡¯t go talking about human nature when you are a God.


    ¡°You really are desperate. To think you guys would get so attached to humans, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to imagine it 1,600 years ago. What happened in the time I was sealed?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oh? You still don¡¯t know?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s fine. To put it briefly, in this hundred years since the time ethereal was discovered, I got desperate in the shadows and came out, and then served my church. If it¡¯s the kind Haine-san, you should understand my hardships, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I don¡¯t. This is something you are doing for your own convenience, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°How harsh. But, after saying this much, I wonder if the preparations are enough to finally enter the real topic of tonight?¡± (Coacervate)


    Now that he mentions it, what did this guye here to do?


    Saying he came here to warm up an old friendship, talking about his own circumstances, and showing his monster vessel; those are definitely not the reasons why.


    I will be repeating myself here but, when this God moves, it is definitely for the sake of some sort of plot that will be troubling like crazy other people.


    ¡°To tell you the truth, there¡¯s something that I might want to ask of Haine-san?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I refuse.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°For the sake of that, I might have one other thing I want to show you?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I refuse.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°So we may have to move to another ce. Can youe along?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°As I have been saying, I refuse!¡± (Haine)


    But seriously, this God really doesn¡¯t listen to others. He jumps out of the window.


    He flies as if swimming in mid-air.


    ¡°Ah, seriously!!!¡± (Haine)


    No matter what he says, it will never be anything good, but since I already know that, leaving him unsupervised will not bring anything good either, I had no choice but to jump out of the window as well.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!¡±


    Aside from erasing all divine powers, my dark matter can also control gravity.


    If I utilize that and reverse the gravity to my desires, I can glide here and there in ces that have no footing.


    But, just where does Coacervate n on taking me?


    We moved to a ce outside of the Water capital, Hydra Ville. The lights of the town were already far. After leaving the port area, what¡¯s next is the sea that reaches as far as the eye can see.


    ¡°Just what are you trying to show me bringing me all the way here? There¡¯s only the sea here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, don¡¯t you think the sea is great? Big and deep. It is so grand that it might be able to keep a variety of things inside it, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°At least be decisive when saying that.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°See, can you please look at that? Look at what¡¯s contained within this great sea at this moment...¡± (Coacervate)


    Being incited to, I look at the sea that¡¯s at my feet.


    ...What¡¯s that? There¡¯s something there. Moreover, it is pretty big. Is it a whale? Or something on the scale of that. It is hidden in the sea, so it is hard to get a clear look at it, but it is a living being that has apletely different shape from that of a whale.


    ...An eel? A big eel that¡¯s simr to a whale. And it is not only one, there¡¯s two...three...no, there are even more.


    ......No, that¡¯s wrong too. As I thought in the beginning, it is only one.


    All of those are its heads and are connected to one body!


    ¡°This is the multi-headed monster that I have created. I named it Hydra Serpent...or Serpent Hydra? Whatever suits your taste. Anyways, it is a proud creation of mine, probably?¡± (Coacervate)


    This Hydra Serpent seemed to be sleeping in the sea, it wasn¡¯t moving at all. I felt as if I was looking at a machine that didn¡¯t have its switch turned on yet. It is waiting for its moment of activation.


    Anyways, it is big. Its size rivals that of the fire cow Phris.


    Something like this is hiding in the sea and is close to the Water capital.


    ¡°I leave most of the monster production to the Mother Monster, but monster creation itself can be done by the Gods themselves, don¡¯t you think? It is said that Mother Monsters were created by Gods after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    You were the one who said that.


    ¡°But that¡¯s exactly why most of the monsters created by Gods are strong. Maybe that¡¯s how order-made things work? This Hydra Serpent, the fire cow Phris, and this body of mine; Haine-san, don¡¯t you feel it too?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°And so? What do you intend to do by going through the trouble of inviting me all the way here where this sea monster is? Are you thinking about using this guy to defeat me?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No way. You were easily able to defeat the gigantic monster that had the Fire God dwelling inside it. Even if it¡¯s my proud creation, I don¡¯t think it can do that much? Isn¡¯t there a more fitting role for this little boy?¡± (Coacervate)


    And then, Coacervate said something outrageous.


    ¡°In tomorrow¡¯s live...¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...In the live where three heroes will be participating...how about having this Hydra Serpent attack that stage?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What...did you say?!¡± (Haine)


    It was so much that I lost my words.


    ¡°Have it attack the live stage?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I thought that maybe that¡¯s also a valid option?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around! A live stage is a ce where a lot of people gather, right?! Several hundreds to thousands! If you have a giant monster attack a ce like that, just how many casualties will be created¡ª!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In that part, there¡¯s no need to worry. For what reason do we have heroes?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What you mean is!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, what I truly n on doing is...having Celestis-san defeat this monster, maybe?¡± (Coacervate)


    Defeat, he says?


    Is he saying he ns on having this monster attack the live stage in order to have it be defeated?


    ¡°In the middle of those girls¡¯ singing and dancing, and the audience that is enjoying this show, at the climax of it all, I will have them witness in the flesh the real duty of heroes, monster subjugation. And that will drive the excitement to the max! With this, there¡¯s no doubt that more believers will appear from this! Is what I think will happen?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I would let you do that. Are you saying you would be going this far just to obtain poprity?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course, it will be made as a coincidence that this monster appears in the middle of the live, maybe? The audience, the people rted to the church, Celestis-san herself, would most likely think that way? There¡¯s no other thinkable exnation after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    The Water God talks as if it is an obvious thing.


    This guy, could it be possible that...he has been orchestrating the monster subjugations like that until now?


    Have monsters be defeated by heroes. By creating a scenario that fulfills this to its entirety, he utilizes this to increase the power of the church?


    ¡°In my opinion, it makes me wonder why the others don¡¯t do the same. Don¡¯t you think?¡± (Coacervate)


    He says brazenly that there¡¯s no better scenario than that.


    ¡°The objective of us creating monsters was exactly for that, wasn¡¯t it? In that case, instead of just creating monsters like crazy and then having it ¡®just do whatever they want¡¯, it is better to knead it in a way that shows 10 to 20 times more results, don¡¯t you think? I am simply putting the best of my efforts, you know? In order to have everyone happy, you see?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What part of that is happiness?!¡± (Haine)


    I was already on the verge of snapping, and yet, this water demon continues speaking.


    ¡°Won¡¯t Celestis-san be happy as well? By defeating that Hydra Serpent tomorrow, she will obtain even more support from the fans. Bing even more famous is something to be happy about, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You bastard!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°¡®But, isn¡¯t there a problem stemming from this?¡¯ Is what I thought.¡± (Coacervate)


    Saying this, Coacervate shrugs his shoulders.


    This guy really is good at making every single gesture of his annoying.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have an idea about it, Haine-san? About you and the two heroes that you brought here...¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°¡®In this stage that I went through the trouble of creating for Celestis-san, isn¡¯t there the possibility that hindrances might be stepping in the way?¡¯, is what I mean.¡± (Coacervate)


    I see.


    I don¡¯t know what kind of fate brought us to this, but Karen-san and Mirack have ended up being guests in tomorrow¡¯s live.


    If the Hydra Serpent were to attack that ce just as the scenario of Coacervate states, what would happen?


    It would obviously not be only be Celestis, those two will definitely participate in the fight as well.


    Rather than the duty of a hero, Karen-san¡¯s sense of justice would make her protect people no matter if it¡¯s the territory of another church. And Mirack who is all ¡®Karen-san love-love¡¯ would no doubt follow without hesitation.


    Of course, I will join the fray as well. With my darkness power, I might be of help to them after all.


    ¡°In that case¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    If the Hydra Serpent were to be defeated favorably, the one who will be receiving praises for it would not only be Celestis.


    Karen-san and Mirack would also be praised as brave ones.


    This is a n that he created himself in order to raise Celestis¡¯ fame alone, and in that n, someone has mixed in and the merit will end up being distributed, which is probably not amusing for him.


    ¡°I see. Such a big monster, it must have taken quite a lot of time and effort. That effort might not be rewarded, and that¡¯s why you are flustered now.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will leave it to your imagination.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Then, what are you going to do? Before this thing attacks the live performance...in other words, before the live begins, you will have Karen-san and Mirack leave?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are doing quite the ill-natured question there, aren¡¯t you? If that happens, the live performance itself would sink. You already know that.¡± (Coacervate)


    The expectations of the audience are still rising sky-high with the scheduled appearance of the three heroes after all.


    ¡°Then, I will give you an advice. Stop that scenario of yours and just let Celestis concentrate on her live. Have her sing and dance, have her converse with Karen-san and Mirack, and entertain the audience with this. Wouldn¡¯t that be plenty enough to get the poprity?¡± (Haine)


    And then, sink this giant sea dragon in the depths of the sea.


    ¡°No no, wouldn¡¯t that make it way too safe? Don¡¯t you think that, since ancient times, strategists are the types that change pinches into chances?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Isn¡¯t it okay to be safe? Safety is best.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is okay to just kill the light and fire hero.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°?!!¡±


    The sudden words of Coacervate froze me.


    What is the meaning of this?


    ¡°This is how the rearranged scenario will go like: ¡®The live enters the final stage,a giant monster suddenly attacks, and the three heroes face it. In this fierce fight, two heroes die, and one survives -the water hero, Celestis. With thest bit of her strength, she defeats the monster...¡± (Coacervate)


    Saying this much, Coacervate makes a vulgarugh.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a splendid ending! Don¡¯t you think this is even more thrilling of a scenario than the original one? With two heroes falling, the fearsomeness of my Hydra Serpent will be deeply etched in them, and Celestis who was able to defeat this fearsome monster will have her fame climb up nonstop! This is truly the definition of changing a pinch into chance! Don¡¯t you think so as well, Haine-san?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!!¡± (Haine)


    So he is just going to use Karen-san and Mirack as fodder to feed his own objective?!


    I was once again shown the deviousness and slyness of this damn God.


    For his own benefit and enjoyment, he would happily step on humans. Moreover, without dirtying his own hands. And then, he will watch from the shadows the people that are suffering, and chuckle without anyone knowing.


    That¡¯s the Water God, Coacervate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look down on them! There are three heroes, you know! They are the strongest divine power users that were chosen by the churches to go against the monsters. And there¡¯s three of them. Yet, you n on deftly avoiding one of them while defeating the other two. There¡¯s no way you can do that!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I think it is possible, you know? Didn¡¯t I tell you? That this is my proud creation.¡± (Coacervate)


    ...It is true that this one might be trouble.


    A special monster that was personally created by the Water God, Coacervate. It rivals the size of the fire cow Phris, and it probably hasparable power as well.


    The fire cow Phris was an enemy that Karen-san and Mirack alone wouldn¡¯t have been able to lift a finger against. Even if the numbers were to increase to three, I don¡¯t know if that would fill up the difference in power against an enemy on the level of Phris.


    ¡°.....But, in that case, your hero Celestis would also be in danger.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that will be a problem? After erasing the two hindrances, it is okay to just lose on purpose after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    So he is going for apletely fixed game huh. Just how rotten can he get?!


    But, this is not over yet!


    ¡°......I am here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, you are here. The Dark God¡¯s reincarnation, Haine-san. Within the group of visitors today, you are a special one. If it¡¯s the dark matter that you create, even if it¡¯s this proud creation of mine, it would probably disappear in an instant.¡± (Coacervate)


    That¡¯s right. The one who finished the fire cow Phris was me.


    As long as I am here, I definitely won¡¯t let him hurt Karen-san and the others.


    ¡°And so, we finally arrive at the main reason of my visit tonight. Can you hear me out?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What is it?¡± (Haine)


    I can¡¯t hide the irritation in my voice.


    ¡°It is something simple. I have a favor to ask of you. In tomorrow¡¯s live, in the fight of the cute heroes and the great sea dragon, can you please remain as an spectator?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Spectate, you say?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Can you please remain as a spectator?¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate continues speaking.


    ¡°If you just watch over without doing anything, my n is as good as realized, don¡¯t you think? Because in essence, you are the only one who can actually defeat my Hydra Serpent after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Do you think I willply to this?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please doply. It is a request from a God just like you after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I refuse!! ........There¡¯s a better way.¡± (Haine)


    Dark matter begins to gush out from both of my arms and swirl.


    ¡°Erasing this Great Sea Dragon, right here right now. Along with your disgusting self. That way, there¡¯s no need to worry about you scheming in the shadows, and we can wee tomorrow¡¯s live in peace!¡± (Haine)


    I knew from the beginning that it would end up like this. Since the moment Coacervate appeared before me, I understood that I would end up fighting him.


    Even within the five Gods of Creation, this guy surpasses everyone by lengths and bounds in terms of cowardliness and unpleasantness. From the very beginning, it was impossible to get along peacefully with this guy.


    ¡°No no, please wait. You have been quick tempered since always. That¡¯s why you ended up sealed 1,600 years ago, you know?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Like hell I care! Are you prepared, you shit God?! I will erase that body of yours without leaving a single particle behind and return your soul to the God Realm!¡± (Haine)


    This guy¡¯s body seems to be that of a monster mimicking a human, but in this asion, that¡¯s favourable. Even if I kill him, I won¡¯t have to be burdened by the sensation of being a murderer.


    ¡°Good grief. Well then, in order to have you regain yourposure, I might have to say the magic words.¡± (Coacervate)


    And then, Coacervate said.


    ¡°If you rampage here, humans will die, you know?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°?!!¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten? This ce is just right under the nose of the Water capital, Hydra Ville. And that city has the world¡¯s most prominent trading harbor and sightseeing ces. In terms of poption density, it might be this world¡¯s number one. If you were to fight in a ce like this, I wonder what will happen?¡± (Coacervate)


    Terrible damage will ensue.


    If it turns into a fight, Coacervate will activate the sea monster below us and the two will definitely rampage at the same time. With the intentions of doing the thing I dislike the most. In other words, he would do it with the intentions of destroying Hydra Ville.


    I have confidence that I would be able to suppress one before they are able to reach the city, but if it¡¯s two at the same time, it is impossible.


    On one hand, there¡¯s a gigantic monster on the level of the fire cow Phris; on the other, the most shrewd God reincarnated as a monster.


    Even if I try to keep it to the least amount of damage, there will definitely be casualties appearing.


    ¡°.......Kugh...¡± (Haine)


    As if showing my decision, the swirl of darkness disappears into nothingness.


    ¡°As expected of the Dark God that loves humans more than anything else. It is worthy of admiration, maybe? Well then, I will say it once again. In tomorrow¡¯s fight, you will be remaining as a spectator, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Why... Why is there the need to kill those two? If it just defeating them, leaving them wounded would be enough, right?¡± (Haine)


    Even I knew I was making a pathetic question.


    But I had no room to go against him aside from that.


    ¡°It is simple. If those girls die, it might damage the light church and fire church. It is a present state where the five Churches arepeting for the low amount of believers. Wouldn¡¯t hurt weakening the rivals, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You bastard... YOU BASTARD!!¡± (Haine)


    My anger got so piled up that dark matter was leaking out from my hands.


    As if telling me to erase that guy.


    ¡°Oho, do I need to say it one more time? That this is right under the nose of the Water capital, Hydra Ville.¡± (Coacervate)


    With only that, my movements were sealed.


    In other words, this guy was closing my choices.


    Karen-san and Mirack, or the several thousands of people living in Hydra Ville.


    In order to save one side, I would have to abandon the other.


    ¡°But, it is exactly because of this that I will firmly promise you this. If you are to ept my proposal, I will not kill the innocent people in tomorrow¡¯s attack of the Hydra Serpent, and I will not destroy any buildings. In the live tomorrow, at the stage that will be floating on the sea, the battle stage will be at the sea, right? I have at least thought about that much, probably.¡± (Coacervate)


    Is what Coacervate says as he bows reverently.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is Haine-san. I would like you to please handle this carefully. There¡¯s no need for you to answer. I am satisfied if you simply don¡¯t make any moves. But, I would prefer it if you don¡¯t have the two heroes leave before the live begins, okay? Just as you said before, the live performance itself will go down the drain, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°In the case something like that happens, I wonder who will be taking the responsibility? Please think about it thoroughly, okay? Don¡¯t worry, the light hero and the fire hero will most likely ept as well. Their duty is to protect people from monsters. To cast away their lives for that sake can be said to be their raison d¡¯etre.¡± (Coacervate)


    * * *


    And that¡¯s how the private talk ended.


    That guy...the Water God Coacervate¡¯s reincarnated form, Mephistopheles, saw me off and remained at the ce where the great sea dragon was. In normal circumstances, he would be keeping an eye on me, but it seems like he judged it was safer to be at the side of the great sea dragon.


    The most troubling part for me is two monsters rampaging at the same time. If he leaves its side in poor timing, it might give me a winning opportunity.


    In order to not leave that opening, he will most definitely be by its side all the time until the live starts.


    ...


    What should I do?


    The Great Sea Dragon and the Water Demon that has the Water God dwelling inside. I can only handle one at a time. If I were to go against them, in the time I am restraining one, the other will rampage at Hydra Ville and kill as many people as possible.


    That guy would do something like that. For him, humans are mere toys, moreover, toys that he wouldn¡¯t mind breaking.


    If I participate in the fight, he would stop this fixed game of his and will have the Hydra Serpent rampage for real. Even if I manage to have Karen-san and the others retreat before the live, it would only rampage in retaliation.


    In that point, it hurts that he nailed me down beforehand.


    Is there nothing I can do?


    A way to ovee this without sacrificing Karen-san, Mirack, and the several thousands of people.


    A way to make that shitty human-ridiculing God suffer.


    .........


    There¡¯s that.


    * * *


    And so, I appeared before someone.


    It waspletelyte at night, and by the time I arrived, that girl was already in the middle of dreaming.


    She was on top of the bed, with a beautiful sleeping figure and letting out cute sounding breaths.


    ¡°Hey...wake up.¡± (Haine)


    I mercilessly shook the shoulders of that girl.


    ¡°Uungh~~, uuuuh?!¡±


    The moment she woke up, that girl...the Light Church¡¯s founder, Yorishiro, got flustered.


    ¡°Wawawawawa, Haine-san?! What is it, sote in the night?! I-I-Is this a night raid?! If you were going to do that, you have to tell me beforehand. I also have to prepare myself¡ª!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go misunderstanding. I have something to ask of you.¡± (Haine)

 Chapter 50-51 - Backstage Water Priestess

    <h4>Chapter 50-51: Backstage Water Priestess</h4>


    And then, in the next day, at the live venue...


    Just as announced, there¡¯s a specially set up stage that floats on the sea. The audience had the extravagance of enjoying it all at the specially prepared seats on the sandy beach and the sightseeing boats.


    So this is also all a boon of the ethereal civilization huh.


    Receiving the shocking guests, the light hero and the fire hero, the venue is super filled with people. It is so sessful that they are even taking advantage that it is a sea stage by selling ship seats.


    ¡°W-W-What should we do, Mirack-chan! I am beginning to get n-n-n-nervous!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°C-C-Calm down, Karen! Heroes should show d-d-d-dignity!¡± (Mirack)


    The two, who are beginners at this kind of things, were getting nervous as crazy with the thousands of eyes that will be directed at them soon.


    On the other hand, the idol that is the lead in today¡¯s performance, Celes-tan -water hero, Celestis- was already on the stage singing and dancing.


    This side felt like she was already used to this and her moves were sharp.


    After finishing one song, she received the cheers of the fans while returning to the backstage where we are.


    ¡°The start is going swimmingly! As I thought, the first song should always be ¡®wash everything away with water¡¯!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s a song name, apparently.


    ¡°Thanks for your hard work.¡±


    ¡°Ooh, Germana......wait, eh? It is not Germana?¡± (Celestis)


    The one who said that was me.


    Celestis moves her head to both sides as if looking for someone.


    ¡°Assistant-chan, do you know where my Germana is? I think you met him yesterday...you know, his face is the only thing that is pointlessly good-looking, and that on the contrary makes him shady-looking...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°If you are talking about your Manager-san, it seems like he has some business to attend to and will be arrivingte.¡± (Haine)


    Her manager, in other words, the Water God Coacervate who is taking the form of a human and mixing in with human society.


    That guy is currently cautious of a surprise attack I might make and should be currently on standby above the Hydra Serpent.


    ¡°I see. That guy does those kind of things every now and then you know. Well, it is his job so it can¡¯t be helped though.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Have you known him for long?¡± (Haine)


    Celestis was in the middle of changing her costumes for the next song. I think she is taking off her clothes at this moment.


    The reason why I said ¡®think¡¯ is because I am not watching. Karen-san is covering my eyes tightly to the point that it might crush my face after all.


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t. In the time my idol activities began, the Church introduced him to me. Well, he is supposed to be my overseer, but he is unexpectedly reliable. He has pretty good connections at the top, and gets me a variety of jobs after all. The sea stage this time was also his idea, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    Must be.


    Coacervate chose this as the stage for the battle with the Great Sea Dragon after all.


    ¡°Celestis-san...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°How did you begin thinking about doing this idol job? Since when did you think about being an idol while working as a hero?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hm? Well, that¡¯s a question I am asked a lot in interviews. Even if I look like this, my starting point was as a person who desired to be a hero, you know. Entering the Water Church, training my divine power, and did my best with the mindset of ¡®if I am going to do it, I will aim for the top¡¯.¡± (Celestis)


    But, one day, Celestis thought something: ¡®Why should I suffer for the sake of that?¡¯.


    The training in the Church was strict, and if it¡¯s for the sake of aiming at the top that¡¯s a hero, more the case. The superiors that were instructing her said the training being painful was a given and that it is actually better if it is painful.


    The Celestis in those days was unable to ept it.


    Being a hero was a long dream of hers. Shouldn¡¯t s dream be something that is fun and heart racing?


    She thought that ¡®if I am seriously chasing for that dream, shouldn¡¯t I be having fun with all the painful training and dangerousbat?¡¯.


    And yet, she saw her training to be a hero as painful and difficult.


    Is that because she herself didn¡¯t have enough guts? Or is it because the hero she is aiming for isn¡¯t the same as the one that the Church denotes? Is that why it is painful?


    This sense of difort became doubt, and this doubt was steadily chipping away her motivation.


    ¡°But you see, one day, I thought this.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°¡®There¡¯s no need to mind the eyes of others. It is fine to just be the hero that I envisioned¡¯. Since the time I decided this, the hero training made aplete turn. Because I wanted to do shy things, I practiced dancing. After defeating monsters, I even trained a finishing pose in order to show the people I saved and myrades. My superiors were obviously angry at this, but I didn¡¯t stop. Because everything was fun.¡± (Celestis)


    And then, for some mysterious reason, she gained more strength to continue her usual hero training, showed visible signs of growing stronger, and her ability became top-ss within the Water Church.


    ¡°Then, the previous hero retired, and a selection was made in order to choose the next one, but...it was a clean sweep. The other hero candidates were nothing to sing about. The hero selection that normally takes a few days, or even months, was over in an instant.¡± (Celestis)


    And so, the hero Celestis was born.


    ¡°After that, the fighting continued. I didn¡¯t want to be a straightced hero that was pushed around by the Church; I wanted to be a hero that would make everyone smile. That¡¯s why I did a lot of things that had no precedents, and I troubled my surroundings too. And then, the goal I arrived at was an idol...... Assistant-chan.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I understand what you guys say. I understand that I am a strange hero. But you see, for me, this is the best and most fitting kind of hero. As a hero, it is a given to save people, but I don¡¯t want to hold myself back for the sake of that. If I am going to do it, I have to make the people and myself happy, or it would be a lie.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I don¡¯t n to stop being a hero or an idol. I will walk my own path. I have no intentions of handing it over.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I understa¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I UNDERSTAND!¡±


    ¡°¡°Eh?¡±¡±


    Celestis and I get surprised by the sudden third party that jumped into our conversation.


    That was Karen-san.


    Karen-san has been covering my eyes the whole time so that I don¡¯t peek at Celestis changing, that¡¯s why, it is obvious that the conversation would reach her ears as well.


    ¡°I also get it! I became a hero because I wanted to protect the people that were in trouble, but the Light Church only thinks about their own authority all the time... When I talk to those people, I lose confidence in whether what I am doing is correct! But it is okay, right?! It is okay to just do what you want to do, right?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Y-Yeah!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis had both of her hands held by Karen-san and was flustered.


    ¡°I...understand now. Even if our directions are different, if we all see through it as the hero we want to be, the world will turn for the better! Celestis-san! Let¡¯s do our best together!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°T-Thanks...but, uhm...¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right. Do you still remember?


    Karen-san was covering my eyes in order to not show Celestis who was currently in the middle of changing for the next song.


    And that Karen-san was currently holding Celestis¡¯ hands with both of her hands.


    And so...there¡¯s nothing covering my eyes anymore.


    In the opened field of vision, what was reflected in my eyes was the very figure of Celestis in her underwear.


    Maybe because she sings and dances, the design was unexpectedly simple. And the color of that underwear was...


    ¡°Sky blue!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Kyaaaaaaaa!!¡±


    If the fans knew of this, I would definitely be killed, so I have to keep silent about this.


    ¡°Everyone~~, sorry for the wait~~!! The next song will be ¡®Water on a heated stone¡¯!!¡± (Celestis)


    As expected of an idol. Even after being peeked changing, she still manages to hide it with steel-like mentality.


    And like this, the live had a little ident, but continued favourably, and the audience was incredibly satisfied.


    Karen-san and Mirack appeared in the interval of the songs and properly did their guest talk.


    And so, I who had shamed the water hero Celestis with my eyes had received the cobra twist punishment of Mirack at the backstage.


    Cobra twist is a grappling technique that¡¯s passed down in the Ignis Militant corps. They are an organization that¡¯s supposed to fight with monsters, and yet, why are they learning grappling moves aimed for humans? Anyways, my back and sides hurt. Also, her boobs are hitting me.


    The only moments I am released from this are when Mirack herself has to enter the stage.


    The live had entered its final stage, and Karen-san and Mirack were called for the closure, so I was released after a good while.


    While stretching my pained body, I watch over the three on the stage from faraway.


    ¡°Now then! The guests, Karen-chan and Mirack-chan! Please tell us your impressions of today!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh! U-Uhm...it was splendid! Please call me again!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Thanks! Then, we will be having you challenge singing and dancing next time!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Like hell we will!¡± (Mirack)


    The audience gets heated up.


    The live can be said to be a sess, at the very least, until this point, that is.


    ¡°What¡¯s left is thest event, right?¡±


    At some point in time, a shadow was at my back.


    A thin man whose attitude is so good that it actually makes him suspicious. The form of the Water God Coacervate mimicking a human.


    ¡°So you returned.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah, I thought it was time to. That thing is most likely close to the stage already?¡± (Coacervate)


    Hydra Serpent.


    ¡°Now that we havee this far, I thought it would be best to stay at your side now, you see. You remember my request, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I know. I won¡¯t be getting in the way.¡± (Haine)


    With this many people as hostages, I have no choice but toply.


    ¡°...Is it okay to ask one thing?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oya, is it something that I can answer?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I spoke with the water hero, Celestis, a while ago. What she is doing looks questionable at first nce, but I think she is a good girl that has a good head on her shoulders. She does her best in her role as a hero, moreover, she is trying to do it while having fun.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oya oya, did you be a Celes-tan fan too?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°It is not only Celestis. Karen-san and Mirack have their own image of a hero and are running towards that objective. This title called hero that is making them do their best, in a sense, might be something splendid.¡± (Haine)


    At one point, I thought that heroes may be worthless.


    It was in the time the Fire God Nova told me about the reality of this world.


    In order to get back the faith that was growing thin, they created monsters themselves, had them attack people, and make the heroes save them. By doing this, the people will recover their reverence towards the hero, the Church that the hero is rted to, and the God that is worshipped by the Church.


    I thought that maybe heroes are just tools utilized to dance with that logic.


    ¡®Aren¡¯t heroes only pitiful humans that are dancing on the palm of the Gods?¡¯, I couldn¡¯t help but think this way.


    But the earnest figure of these girls cleared away those thoughts.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it is on the palms of the Gods or whatever, those girls are doing their best living in the environment they are in. I think that figure of theirs is beautiful.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s what I wanted to say.


    When I finished, a ¡®kusukusukusu¡¯ugh came from my side as a response.


    ¡°Kukuku, seriously, you really intend to view humans as sacred no matter what. Well, I love humans too, you know? They are amusing after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Amusing?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Just as you say, humans are earnest. Happiness, satisfaction; desiring those things, humans desperately struggle. That figure of theirs is truly...how to say it...fun? Amusing? Humorous? Pitiful? Pathetic?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You bastard...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is the same for heroes as well, you know? They were simply catalysts in order to gather Prayer Energy from the humans, but my enjoyment ended up getting mixed in it too, you see? It isn¡¯t only with Celestis; there were many water heroes before her, but they all worked earnestly without knowing that I was pulling the strings from the shadows, zealously fought, and won.¡± (Coacervate)


    In the past, there must have been times where it was apletely fixed-game from him just like now.


    A victory that was nned since the beginning was being given to them without them knowing.


    ¡°Howughable was that smile of theirs! Even though it was all part of my n! Even though I had them win! Without knowing that, they misunderstand that it was because of their own power that they obtained victory. That proud figure of theirs as they bask in false glory, it is trulyughable! No matter how many times I do it, it just doesn¡¯t get old. It is truly the best amusement!!¡± (Coacervate)


    That¡¯s the reason why this guy continues staying in the surface world.


    For him, humans are not on the level of ves, they are lower than that -they are toys.


    He not only smears mud on the misfortune of people, he even does it on their happiness, taints it, and gloats himself in self-satisfaction.


    Utilizing the ethereal movement in order to have the other Gods involved, created threats called monsters, and was making fun of the humans that were fighting them.


    That¡¯s all I wanted to hear from him.


    I was able to reconfirm it.


    As I thought, this guy is a piece of shit that ys around with humans.


    ¡°...Now then, let¡¯s begin my enjoyment of today as well.¡± (Coacervate)


    The venue began to get noisy.


    At the sea surface faraway, someone had noticed that something wasing out from it. The unrest was spreading to all the spectator seats in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Today¡¯s event is even more extravagant than usual. After all, the sacrifice of tworades will serve as the topping. I wonder if Celestis will cry in sadness? I wonder if she will be able to enjoy the taste of victory? That would be so funny and make it even better, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Coacervate)


    The unrest of the venue was beginning to change into chaos.


    The identity of what wasing out of the sea...had been made clear after all.


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis who were at the stage had noticed this abnormal event, and not only that, they noticed the identity of this abnormality as well.


    ¡°Everyone! Everyone please calm down! Please don¡¯t leave from your seats!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Mirack-chan, could that be...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t expect a monster woulde out in this timing!¡± (Mirack)


    The appearance of a monster.


    That truth had been confirmed and the venue falls into panic. But that onlysted for a second.


    ¡°Everyone, we are going for an encore!!¡± (Celestis)


    The voice of Celestis reverberated through the whole venue and calmed down the fear and chaos of the people.


    ¡°An encore song has never been heard of before. Water hero, Celes-tan, monster destruction performance! Everyone, keep your eyes peeled from your seats, okay?!¡± (Celestis)


    The words of Celestis that were casual yet strong covered the fear of the venue and turned it into heat that was totally opposite of before.


    The people knew that, just as they thought, Celestis is indeed a hero.


    No matter the danger, as long she is there, there¡¯s no need to tremble. Because this is the city that the water hero protects, Hydra Ville.


    Moreover, today there¡¯s 2 who hold the same duty as her.


    ¡°Celestis-san! We will also help you out!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s not in our ce of jurisdiction, having a monster right in front of us and not doing anything would be a disgrace of my name as a hero! I will be helping want it or not!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fine. But this is my territory. I will be the center, and you girls will be the back dancers, understand?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As long as the center doesn¡¯t disappoint though. I will be witnessing with these eyes of mine whether or not your skills have dulled with all that singing and dancing of yours!¡± (Mirack)


    The sea surface undted and finally the Great Sea Dragon appears.


    Itsrge body that can hold 8 heads was also breathtaking.


    ¡°Uhioooo! There¡¯s so many!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it! Look at it carefully! Those sea monsters are all connected to one body. All of those are one. It is a monster with multiple heads!!¡± (Karen)


    Light, fire, water; the three heroes jump from the stage and head towards the enemy.


    Until now, it has gone exactly as the scenario of Coacervate.


    ¡°Well then, Haine-san, please watch over them from here, okay? Just like you promised.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Yeah, I won¡¯t move. I won¡¯t, that is.¡± (Haine)


    It was at that moment...


    At the sea, one other big ck shadow appeared.

 Chapter 52-53 - Battle Ensemble

    <h4>Chapter 52-53: Battle Ensemble</h4>


    Trantor Note:


    I...I am beginning to burn out.


    Releasing 5 chapters every 3 days was a bit too much it seems, lol.


    I will be temporarily going on a 4 day release schedule. Note that this is not a permanent change and it is simply to get some rest.


    Once I find it appropriate, I will return to the 3 day schedule.


    Anyways, enjoy the chapters :D!


    ¡°[Water Blessing]!¡±


    Celestis makes her divine relic, Miki Moses, flutter and bestows some sort of divine power effect on Karen-san and Mirack. <Lol, Mickey Mouse.>


    ¡°Now, with this, you two can walk on the water surface! You can walk up to that octopus-looking sea monster and directly punch it!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°A blessing skill of the water divine power. I wanted to experience it at least once with this body of mine, but to think the day would actuallye.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Celestis-san, octopuses have 8 legs, but that sea monster has 8 heads, you know.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Your retort is way too nitpicky!!¡± (Celestis)


    Like this, the three kick the water surface as they draw nearer to the Great Sea Dragon.


    On the other hand, the Great Sea Dragon -Hydra Serpent- had already received the order of its master and woken up from its slumber, and was showing its ferociousness that¡¯s most likely its real nature without any restraints.


    A high-pitched roar, that was not fitting of its outer appearance, travels on the waves and reverberates through all directions.


    ¡°Mirack-chan, could this be!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, if it¡¯s only based on size, it would be on the level of the fire cow Phris. Its strength is most likely on that level as well!!¡± (Mirack)


    The more they approach it, the more overwhelmed they were by its size. Can¡¯t be helped.


    The Great Sea Dragon¡¯s 8 heads turn towards the 3 little preys. Even if they turn 2 heads to each of them, there would still be heads remaining.


    ¡°Uhyoooo! This might be my first time fighting against something this big!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That shows yourck of experience, Celestis. We have experience, you know, quite recently!¡± (Mirack)


    On the other side, the venue was noisy with this unexpected event. The officials were suggesting them to take refuge, but there was not a single person who heard them out and stood from their seats.


    Everyone believes. In this crisis, their heroes will definitely break through it. By some twist of fate, there were 2 other heroes here as well.


    Is there any threat that 3 heroes cannot ovee?


    As expected, heroes are the very definition of hope for the people in this world.


    ¡°The despair of having their hopes crushed. The expression of the people that have been dyed in that color of despair, don¡¯t you think that¡¯s also quite the fun and enjoyable moment?¡±


    Coacervate...


    This guy that is currently mimicking the form of a human had stood on the stage, that already had no performance going on because the leads had jumped out of it, and was watching the battle that was about to begin at the faraway distance in this big sea.


    There was no problem in going up the stage. The live is essentially suspended, so the audience¡¯s attention was directed at a different direction.


    There were a number of staff members on the stage as well that were watching over the battle that was about to begin while gulping down.


    ¡°This tension, feeling it with my body directly, I am now sure of something. This will be the best show. No, maybe it is better to call it an execution show? The execution of the light hero and fire hero, that is.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°....¡±


    ¡°Haine-san, I am repeating myself here but, don¡¯t move, okay? If you go, it would all go down the drain after all. Along with Hydra Ville.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Yeah, I know. I won¡¯t move.¡± (Haine)


    I won¡¯t, that is.


    At the sea, it was in a stalemate where they were ring at each other. But this was only the calm before the storm, with just one sign of a ¡®start¡¯, the raging waves of battle will begin to move.


    ¡°...Mirack-chan, are you okay? The opponent is water element no matter where you look at it...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is the worst affinity against my fire element huh. No problem. I will concentrate on one spot and make it into roasted fish!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Don¡¯t just try to solve things with fighting spirit, okay? Anyways, we will have the all-purpose light element Karen-chan as our trump card, and I will act as the defense and support. The useless Mirack can run around and attract the attention of a few of those heads, concentrate in being the bait. That¡¯s all!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You are giving quite the detailed instructions, are you serious?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Why are you snapping when I am getting serious?!¡± (Celestis)


    But those girls probably understand in the bottom of their hearts.


    ¡®Even if the three of us perfectly utilize our strengths, it won¡¯t be easy to defeat that Great Sea Dragon¡¯.


    Unless a miracle urs or they sacrifice their own lives.


    Those girls are probably already hardening their resolve.


    I watched over that figure of theirs from the stage. I could only watch over them.


    If I participate, the Water God Coacervate will immediately show his true character and ughter any human on sight.


    ¡°I won¡¯t move!¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s right, I won¡¯t.


    Please move in my stead.


    ¡°Guardian of Darkness!¡± (Haine)


    *Dogon!*


    That sound became the signal to begin the battle.


    It was the sound of something punching the Great Sea Dragon. Moreover, it was a vehement and giant punch. Receiving that, one of the eight heads sunk into the water.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± ¡°Wa?!¡± ¡°Hah?!¡±


    That punch was not unleashed by Karen-san, Mirack, or Celestis; it was something that had a body several times bigger than them.


    A giant shadow that was towering at the back of the Great Sea Dragon.


    ¡°What? What is that ck giant?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is that a monster as well?!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right, a ck giant.


    With a body that doesn¡¯t fall short to that of the Great Sea Dragon, it looked down on the sea monster along with Karen-san and the others.


    And its body was ck; ck in its entirety.


    That giant, that is being covered wholly in darkness, is what I used a whole night to create. This world¡¯s first...


    Dark element monster.


    ¡°W-W-What is that?!¡±


    The sudden intrusion of another monster. The one who was shocked the most was Coacervate.


    Well, that¡¯s a given. Things have been going perfectly as he nned until now, but suddenly, an irregrity urs. Moreover, it is on the level of being able to destroy everything.


    ¡°Haine-san! Is this your doing?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I am not moving~. I am not participating~.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Nonsense! I can tell by using my God part. That ck giant is a mass of dark divine power. In other words, a dark element monster. The only one who can create that is you, the Dark God, isn¡¯t that right?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You¡¯re being loud. The people around will hear you.¡± (Haine)


    But the people at our surroundings had their attention taken by the heroes, the Great Sea Dragon, and the mysterious ck giant at the sea, so the talk of the others was not entering their ears at all.


    That¡¯s right. Last night, after the talk with Coacervate, I entered into action immediately, utilized the small flying machine of Karen-san without permission to return to Apollon City, and shook Yorishiro awake to ask: ¡®How do I make monsters?¡¯.


    Yorishiro is the reincarnation of the Light Goddess Intion.


    I was sealed for 1,600 years, so I don¡¯t know how to make monsters, and the only one I could ask about it was her.


    The fire cow Phris who is wasting away at Muspelheim -the Fire God Nova- is also an option, but asking him would be troublesome in a lot of meanings.


    And so, it ended up in me asking Yorishiro.


    Maybe because of personal reasons, she is the only one who hasn¡¯t created monsters among the five Gods, so there was uneasiness, but well, it somehow worked.


    And so, utilizing the production method that I had just heard of, what came out of it in a hurry was that giant.


    For my first time, I would say it came out pretty well.


    ¡°To think you would get in the way of my scenario in this way!!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°If I caught the back of the underhanded God like this, it was a huge sess, maybe?¡± (Haine)


    Monsters are not pseudo-life forms that only exist to attack humans.They move depending on the orders of the God that created them.


    I ordered that ck giant to ¡®defeat the Hydra Serpent, don¡¯t attack humans¡¯, and that guy is loyally following that order and is currently fighting against the Hydra Serpent.


    Giant monster vs Giant monster.


    Even when looking at this fight from afar, it had incredible intensity.


    The ck giant was taking advantage of its big body and grabbed 2 of the 8 heads of the Hydra Serpent with both of its hands and tried to yank them off with brute force.


    That attack must have been effective. The Hydra Serpent was writhing in pain, and with the remaining 6 heads, it wrapped around the body of the ck giant and bites into it with their fangs.


    Instead of blood, pitch ck darkness came gushing out of those wounds.


    ¡°...Looks like your monster isn¡¯t that big of a deal. My Hydra Serpent is better.¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate said this with a relieved tone.


    ¡°Obviously so. Monster production needs a decent amount of time and effort. That simple-minded Nova-san took 10 years in order to create the fire cow Phris that would serve as its vessel, and took another year to wait for its growth. My Hydra Serpent is also something that took a decent amount of time to create, you know?¡± (Coacervate)


    I understand what he is trying to say.


    The ck giant I created was a rushed work created in one night.


    ¡°Even so, in this short amount of time, you were able to create something of that level. As expected of one of the two poles that stand above the other four basic elements within the six Gods. But you were a bit hasty, maybe? Looks like that impromptu work of yours was unable to defeat my masterpiece.¡± (Coacervate)


    Just as Coacervate said, the fangs of the sea monster were sinking deeper and deeper, and dark divine power was gushing out.


    At this rate, it might be split apart.


    ¡°Thanks for the humorous pointless struggle, Haine-san. It was pathetic and worth the watch. Once that impromptu creation of yours is defeated, I will have those girls be¡ª¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°That guy¡¯s role is not to defeat the Hydra Serpent.¡± (Haine)


    My words made the characteristic tone of Coacervate stop.


    I am plenty aware that I wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat that Hydra Serpent with my impromptu monster. But that¡¯s fine. That guy won¡¯t defeat the Hydra Serpent, it shouldn¡¯t defeat it.


    The reason why is because that job was already set for someone else.


    * * *


    Linking with the senses of the ck Giant, I was able to hear the conversation taking ce at the faraway battle.


    ¡°Oi, what should we do?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The monsters are fighting? A breakup?¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis who were prepared to face the monster were dumbfounded by the unexpected situation.


    ¡°Seriously, what should we do?! I have never seen or heard about a fight between monsters! How do we deal with this?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Should we attack both at once? No, both are giant monsters. Even against one, who would know if we would be able to defeat it. If we manage this poorly, we might provoke both of them to us. In this situation, we should wait for both to grow exhausted and...¡± (Celestis)


    Everyone was bewildered and were unable to decide on their next action, but...


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡±


    The light sword wave directly hit one of the necks of the Hydra Serpent. It didn¡¯t sever through it at once, but water divine power was flowing out from the cut.


    ¡°Please attack the sea monster!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says this with her holy sword Saint-George in hand.


    ¡°Karen-chan?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Attack the Great Sea Dragon?! Then what are we going to do about that ck giant?! Are we going to leave it forter?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The ck one is an ally!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡±Hah?!!¡±¡±


    The words of Karen-san were throwing the two around.


    ¡°What are you saying Karen?! A monster is an ally?! Did you receive some sort of confusion attack?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Monsters attacking each other is something that has never been seen before, but monsters taking the side of humans is something that will never happen!! Get yourself together, light hero! As expected, in this situation we should retreat for now and¡ª¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san roars.


    ¡°I can tell. That ck giant is probably is something that doesn¡¯t align with anymon sense we know of. Because that one is most likely...a dark element monster!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Dark element?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Wa, what¡¯s that?!¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san who had guessed it correctly received two different reactions.


    Mirack who already knew about the hidden God of Creation, the Dark God Entropy, and the one who doesn¡¯t know, Celestis.


    ¡°...I see, that¡¯s interesting. In order to investigate it properly, we would have to defeat that wriggling one first.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Even Mirack?! What did you two girls understand about this?! But well, it sounds like that n would have a good reception from the audience, so I will do it too!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right, defeating monsters is not the job of monsters; defeating monsters...is the job of heroes.

 Chapter 54-56 - Enthusiastic performance at the big sea

    <h4>Chapter 54-56: Enthusiastic performance at the big sea</h4>


    ¡°Could it be... Haine-san, are you nning on having those heroes defeat the Hydra Serpent?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°It is already a set future.¡± (Haine)


    I actually hesitated before taking the first step.


    Before taking the first step in creating that ck giant.


    In this current era, monsters are the symbol of the Gods¡¯ arrogance, and most of all, the symbol of their deception.


    Pseudo-living beings created by the Gods that were about to be forgotten by the development of civilization in order to assert their existence. That¡¯s what monsters are.


    Even if it¡¯s to protect Karen-san and the others from the evil designs of Coacervate, if I end up putting my hands in the creation of monsters as well, wouldn¡¯t I be doing the same as what those other Gods did and end up being the same as them?


    Wouldn¡¯t it make the efforts of those girls that fight by believing in their own objective and power into something pointless?


    Karen-san and the other heroes.


    It would make me the same as Coacervate whoughs at the earnestness of humans.


    I was already on the point that even having a simr area from that God would anger me, but even so, the ones who gave me that hope were those girls.


    Katack Mirack, Re Celestis, and Kourin Karen.


    Those girls are heroes.


    Heroes are the very definition of the tools the Gods use to gather faith.


    But those girls are not being dragged by this and continue being heroes in order to fulfill their own objectives.


    It has nothing to do with the will of the Gods, it has nothing to do with the will of the Church either.


    For the sake of the people, for their own sake; as long as there¡¯s they have the will to be heroes, those girls are without doubt heroes.


    That truth moved my heart. ¡®I want to help them¡¯, is what my heart wished.


    I was simply following those feelings.


    Following those feelings, I believe that what I am doing is correct.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, do your best you three!!¡± (Haine)


    Sadly, the impromptu ck giant is not enough to defeat the Hydra Serpent.


    That guy can only serve as help.


    That¡¯s why, you are the ones that have to defeat it.


    ¡°You are the ones who have to defeat the monster. The lead role, the center of it, the ones who will connect this world together are you heroes!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You bastard...¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate who was at my side was cursing. For him, this was heading onto an undesirable direction. He probably ns on using another card in order to change it, but...


    ¡°Don¡¯t move.¡± (Haine)


    My pressure made his movements stop.


    ¡°Just try making a move. My dark matter d arm will pierce through your body.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°H-Haine-san...¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You must have thought you sealed my movements, but that goes both ways. We are already in a standstill.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s why, the ones who will be the defining factor of breaking this standstill will...not be the ones who are here, but the ones who are in the battle that¡¯s urring at another location.


    Whether those girls can defeat the Hydra Serpent or not will decide the winner of this.


    It might be tough for you girls alone, but that¡¯s the reason why I prepared the ck giant.


    Utilize that guy and win.


    You humans are the ones who have to win.


    * * *


    And so, in the crucial battle...


    Utilizing the senses of the ck Giant, I was able to tell the current state of affairs.


    The Hydra Serpent was being restrained by the ck Giant. In the meantime, the heroes were doing concentrated attacks.


    ¡°[Water Rage]!¡± (Celestis)


    From the divine relic of Celestis, a high-pressure water bullet was shot. This easily hit the Hydra Serpent, but it only send a few scales flying, and there was not much effectiveness in it.


    ¡°Ah, seriously! The target is so big that I can hit it even with my eyes closed, but it is so big that there¡¯s no point even if we hit it! As I thought, if we want to do some decent damage, it has to be the light element, Karen-chan!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis! Provide support. There¡¯s something I want to try out!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hah?! What would the fire hero even try here?! You were not blessed with the affinity this time around, you can¡¯t be counted as a fighting force! With that taken into ount...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Please, Celestis-san!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san also joins in.


    ¡°The ones testing things out will be Mirack-chan and I!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Karen! We have been training like crazy since the fight at the Radona mountain district! It will definitely go smoother thanst time! It should have increased in power as well!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do it! This is the new power of us heroes!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and Mirack stick their bodies together and hold hands. Those linked hands were directed at one of the heads of the Hydra Serpent.


    As if they were adjusting the aim with a bow.


    From inside the linked hands, divine power mixes.


    ¡°Light divine power and...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Fire divine power! Combine the two together!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°[Divine Fire-Light, Thunder]!¡±¡±


    Lightning was shot out from the two and dances madly as it soars through the sky and hits the Hydra Serpent.


    ¡°Gyoooooooo!!!¡±


    The Hydra Serpent screams in pain.


    The fire and lightbined element ¡®thunder¡¯ was dealing quite the damage even to the outside of the Hydra Serpent.


    In the first ce, the skin was wet with water. Electricity really passes well in that.


    ¡°It is working! As I thought, it really is working, Mirack-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah. Just like in the time with the fire cow Phris, it prates through the skin and attacks the inside directly! That is the strength of the ¡®lightning¡¯ element. Karen! Let¡¯s continue without rest!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡±[Divine Fire-Light, Thunder]!¡±¡±


    Lightning was hitting the eight heads of the Hydra Serpent in order.


    And then, each time that urred, screams that proved the effectiveness of it were being raised.


    * * *


    ¡°Impossible! Combined element?!¡±


    Coacervate who was at my side watching over the fight was honestly punched in the guts by thebination of Karen-san and Mirack.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about such power!! It is inflicting such effective damage to my Hydra Serpent?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you observing the battle we had with the fire cow Phris at the Radona mountain district? Even though you know about me, you didn¡¯t know about thebined element of those two?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I only heard about you from Mantle! That damn bitch!!!!¡± (Coacervate)


    What. So he talked about surveince but it was just him leaving it to others huh.


    But thanks to that, he didn¡¯t know about the ¡®lightning¡¯ element, and was unable to make any effective countermeasures.


    Nice, the path is beginning to open.


    ¡°Wait wait! What¡¯s that?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis raises a clear shout of surprise.


    ¡°Youbined light and fire to make a new element?! Is that possible?! I have never heard of that. Isn¡¯t that a new breakthrough?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Don¡¯t call it a new breakthrough. This is a new frontier that was made possible by ovepping mine and Karen¡¯s heart.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack was being tantly proud.


    Moreover, Karen-san says,


    ¡°The ¡®lightning¡¯ element that came as a result ofbining light and fire was done by taking away the weaknesses of the two elements and putting together their strong points. Looking at how much effectiveness it is showing even when the fire element should be originally incredibly weak against the water element monsters makes this point clear.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Incredible, incredible! It is strong and it is shy, and the part that there¡¯s the need for two girls to unite also shows aesthetic!! I want to do it too! I feel like my poprity will increase if I do it!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Hah?!¡±


    The one who made a conspicuous bitter expression at the ecstatic utterance of Celestis was Mirack.


    ¡°This single-minded idol. Don¡¯t just decide things by whether or not it will be popr. You see,bining elements is something that you need to ovep the hearts of the two perfectly in order to even mix the elements. You need to have a long rtionship with Karen just like me, and have to understand each other to perfection or¡ª-!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°If you girls who didn¡¯t get along in the first ce can do it, I can do it as well! Leave it to me! I am good at matching the rhythm when dancing with others!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ugh.¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis goes with the flow and takes the hand of Karen who was close.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    Seeing this, Mirack burns in the mes of jealousy.


    ¡°If there¡¯s the need to ovep hearts, maybe it would be better to stick our bodies closer? Wrapping our arms to the waist like this...cing our chests together...ara? Karen-san? Aren¡¯t they pretty big?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said, didn¡¯t I? That I win.¡± (Karen)


    Looks like Karen wasn¡¯t against the idea.


    Surprisingly, I could tell that the divine power of those two were mixing.


    The holy sword and the sacred outfit; with the divine power that was amplificated by those divine tools, it goes through the linked hands of the two and mix.


    But, in that time, the enemy wasn¡¯t just silently watching.


    The Hydra Serpent, that had been cooked from the inside by the continuous lightning attacks, had turned a part of its hostility to the heroes and attacks them.


    3 of the 8 heads had stopped wrapping around the body of the ck giant and attack the heroes.


    ¡°This is bad! Karen! And the other one! Run!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack shouts, but the two who were concentrating on the technique wouldn¡¯t make it in time to evade it.


    ¡°Ripples that glitter on the water surface, break and turn into grains of light...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Be a mirror in empty space and confound the enemy...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡±[Mirage]!!¡±¡±


    The heads hit them directly...or at least that¡¯s how it looked like.


    The big jaw of the assailing Hydra Serpent looked as if it had chomped Karen-san and Celestis who were sticking together.


    But that wasn¡¯t the case.


    It looked as if they had been crunched, but it simply cut through the sky.


    It appeared as if the two were in between the upper and lower jaw of the Hydra Serpent, but they actually disappeared like mist just before it happened and the Hydra Serpent literally bit on air.


    ¡°Wa?! What happened?!¡± (Mirack)


    Seeing this happen from up close, Mirack was also confused.


    Moreover, this phenomenon continued urring. At the surroundings of the Hydra Serpent, several tens of Karen-san and Celestis appeared and encircle it.


    Of course, the Hydra Serpent reacted to this and bit on every one of them, but all of its attacks just cut through air and this fake image of them disappeared.


    That¡¯s right, a fake image.


    ¡°Light can¡¯t continue straight into the water and defuses into a reflection, and then, shows things that are not there as if they were.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Thebined element of light and water is something that utilizes that special characteristic to its very limit ¡®Mirage¡¯. Can you find the real us from the projections that are all around the area?!¡± (Celestis)


    Several tens of mirror images that have no substance hadpletely encircled the Hydra Serpent.


    No matter how much it bit with that giant jaw, thatck of response was finally affecting its psyche, and even more heads had unwrapped from the ck Giant.


    With those increased heads, it was probably aiming to sweep through all the mirror images, but with the decrease in wrapping heads, the ck Giant obviously gets more freedom.


    The leg that was able to move kicks one of the heads of the Hydra Serpent with all it had.


    ¡°Gyoooooooo!!¡±


    A showy ssh of water was raised up.


    ¡°Wow, how intense! As expected, you are reliable, ck one!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Karen! You unfaithful woman! To think you would leave me behind andbine elements with another woman. Is anyone okay as long as you can mix elements with?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°And this one doesn¡¯t break character...¡± (Celestis)


    With the illusion of Karen-san and Celestis, the tides hadpletely turned into their favor.


    ¡°Hey, you housewrecker! Now that it hase to this, you and I will be doing it as well! If I just consider you a shared equipment for Karen and I, my heart might be able to hang on!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Am I a tool?! Well, fine. It was easier than expected, so it might work with you as well. Hug the she-male!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis jumps to the direction of Mirack.


    Fire and Water element; the phenomenon that urs with both of these antithetic elements is...


    ¡°¡±[Steam Explosion]!¡±¡±


    The terrifying expansion of air blows away one head of the Hydra Serpent and creates a thunderous sound. It didn¡¯t go as far as blowing it to smithereens, but it is certain that it dealt quite the damage.


    ¡°I see. The fire divine power boiled the water divine power and made the steam expand rapidly. With that force, it was able to blow the Hydra Serpent as well. In other words, ¡®steam¡¯ element huh.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Oh my, what¡¯s this. By mixing the violent fire element, my elegant water element became so brute.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am just making your effeminate water element into a more magnificent one with my fire element.¡± (Mirack)


    At any rate, thebined elements had shown more effectiveness than expected and were slowly cornering the Hydra Serpent.


    It was an unexpected dominance.


    My ck Giant restraining it also yed a role, but the attacks of the heroes that were using this point to their advantage were also a big factor.


    Moreover, it was a sessive disy ofbined elements.


    In this battle stage that was filled with things that had happened for the first time in history, the audience in the venue had surpassed the threshold of heated up and gone beyond that.


    There was already not a single person in the audience that feared the monster.


    They were all excited and admiring the heroes.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t exactly how it should have gone, it resulted in exactly what you wanted your scenario to do, Water God Coacervate.


    ¡°Hey, Coacervate.¡± (Haine)


    At a corner of the audience area that was swirling with heat, I talk to the man that was standing at my side.


    ¡°It is the result that you were aiming for. The great efforts of the heroes are making the audience rise up in unison.¡± (Haine)


    Of course, I didn¡¯t say this out of sarcasm.


    The scenario he wished for was the sole victory of the hero Celestis. However, in that stage, the three heroes cooperated and evenbined their powers into one in order to fight.


    Moreover, they are holding the advantage.


    The audience is incredibly excited, and in that part, it is just as Coacervate aimed for, but that¡¯s exactly why the part that missed was standing out even more.


    I was interested in what reaction Coacervate would show, but he wasn¡¯t saying anything.


    He was ignoring mepletely.


    When I checked to see what was going on, I was surprised. His face was filled with concentrated anger.


    ¡°Unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE!¡± (Coacervate)


    Just where did the usual cool attitude of his go to. Was he the kind of person that was so overwhelmed by emotion just because things didn¡¯t go slightly as nned?


    ¡°I am done ying around!! My masterpiece, Hydra Serpent! We are changing the scenario heavily! Release all the power I have given you without a single restrain!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Without a single dy after the order of Coacervate, the Hydra Serpent reacted.


    Even from afar, it was clear that the color of its eyes had changed, moreover, it was a ferocious and dangerous color.


    ¡°Gyoooooooo!!¡±


    Thrusting away the ck Giant that was grappling it, the 8 heads were raised to the sky and are swung down into the sea.


    ¡°What is it nning on doing?!¡± (Mirack)


    The 8 heads were sunk into the sea and were not moving at all.


    But that was definitely not because it had died or because it was tired and was resting; it was clear that this wasn¡¯t such a trivial thing like that.


    The abnormality was noticed first by the audience.


    The people were making a ruckus.


    ¡°Oi, what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°The sea is...¡±


    The abnormality urred at the coast line -at the beach. The waves were drawing back from the sandy beach. That wave was simply drawing back but wasn¡¯t returning as it continues backing.


    An ebb tide? But the speed it was backing is too fast and unnatural.


    As if it were being drawn onto a part of the sea water...


    ¡°Could it be...the Hydra Serpent?!¡± (Haine)


    Is it drawing the water with its water divine power?


    Because of it, the water level is steadily decreasing.


    ¡°Hey...isn¡¯t this...bad?!¡±


    This was said by an unknown person somewhere around. The local people of Hydra Ville must know more about the sea than someone like me who was raised at the countryside inside the forest.


    ¡°Bad? What is?!¡± (Haine)


    I hurriedly asked.


    This person answered.


    ¡°Because, you know...it is not the time for an ebb tide, and yet, the water level is drastically decreasing. Aren¡¯t those...the signs of a tsunami?¡±


    Tsunami?!


    ¡°Moreover, I have never seen the waves draw back this much! At this rate, what will being will be a big tsunami that can swallow the whole Hydra Ville!!¡±


    Those words made panic run around this time for sure.


    This was already on a level that the hope of the heroes and the human heart was unable to manage. The people jumped out from their seats and were running at the opposite direction of the big disaster that was about to assail us.


    ¡°Hahahaha! Run run! With those dull legs of you humans, you wouldn¡¯t be able to escape from therge tsunami that¡¯sing anyways!¡± (Coacervate)


    There was one person who didn¡¯t run away and stayed in ce, the Water God Coacervate.


    Even if he is mimicking a human, his inside is that of a God, and in the first ce, that body of his is that of a water element monster. He is probably staying here because he knows he will be fine even if he receives a direct hit from the tsunami.


    I grab the cor of that fiendish God.


    ¡°Is this the work of that Hydra Serpent?! That thing is controlling the water level with its water divine power and is creating a tsunami?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What else is there aside from that? They got way too confident. They have looked down on this God and have disarrayed my ns way too much. How unamusing. Toys that take away the fun of their owner are not worth ying with anymore.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°So you are going to destroy the whole city for that?! This is the city where you church is! Are you going to kill your own believers?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Is there anything to worry about? Humans have propagated way too much because of the ethereal era. Even if the numbers are reduced a bit, there will still be a lot more humans left.¡± (Coacervate)


    This bastard is saying the same things as Nova!


    Are all Gods like this?!


    The Hydra Serpent still had its head sunk into the sea and was not moving at all. As if it were gathering power.


    And that really must be the case. In order to cause a big tsunami, there¡¯s the need to draw the water, and when it has reached its maximum, it will release it all at once.


    In that moment, it will be the biggest disaster for Hydra Ville.


    ¡°Fuhahahaha! The anger of the Water God is the anger of the sea! My servant, Hydra Serpent, show them the dangers of the sea!! Embody my anger!!¡± (Coacervate)

 Chapter 57-59 - Trinity

    <h4>Chapter 57-59: Trinity</h4>


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    ¡°A tsunami is going to ur?! Moreover, a super big one?!¡±


    On the other side, at the faraway sea, they also caught onto the pressing situation. I could tell their agitation via the ck Giant.


    The first one to notice this was, as expected, the local here, Celestis.


    ¡°That giant sea serpent is drawing the water like crazy! Once it gathers it to its limit, it ns on turning it into a big wave and m it onto thend!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Seriously?! That sea serpent stopped moving suddenly, but to think it was in order to do such a vicious thing!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This is not the time to be surprised! If that¡¯s the case, we have to defeat it before it finishes charging at all costs! Mirack-chan, we are using lightning!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s do it!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Divine F¡ª¡±


    ¡°Wait!!¡± (Celestis)


    The two were about to shoot the lightning, but Celestis stopped them.


    ¡°Wait a moment. Even if you defeat it now, it might still be pretty bad.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh? Why?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That guy has already gathered quite the amount of water. Even if we defeat it, it is not as if that water will just disappear somewhere.If the divine power that is drawing it disappears, it will simply return to the ce it was before, and with a fitting momentum!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°So it is the same as a prepped arrow. Once it is already pulled, it will fly with the momentum once the pulling force is gone. That guy has already gathered quite the amount of water from its surroundings. With this, it would just be...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Then that means, even if we defeat it, the tsunami will still ur?!¡± (Karen)


    The question that was basically a scream from Karen-san made Celestis bite her lips.


    ¡°Of course, if we were to defeat it before it finishes gathering the water, we will be able to make the damage equally small. But that water amount is already on the level to destroy the whole coastal area!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No way!¡± (Karen)


    The surroundings of the Hydra Serpent had water rising to a level that it was defying gravity and it was in standby practically saying it was already toote.


    The Hydra Serpent itself was floating at the top of it as if looking down at the people from high-up.


    ¡°At any rate, we have to attack it! If we take even more time, it will increase the damage!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Wait, Mirack-chan! Isn¡¯t there some sort of way...in order topletely entrap that tsunami!¡± (Karen)


    The heroes were also in chaos.


    As heroes, it was natural that they want to save everyone. However, the situation is not allowing this. If they continue looking for a better solution and waste away the time, the worst scenario will ur.


    There¡¯s no decision as difficult as this one.


    But it is exactly in this kind of situations that you are there for!


    ¡°Ah!!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up, Karen?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The ck...no, the Dark Giant is...!¡± (Karen)


    This is the sole dark element monster that was created directly from this Dark God¡¯s hands. Pitch ck Giant, save them once again. Be the bridge that will lead them toplete victory.


    [Dark Matter, Set]


    Pitch ck particles were released from both hands of the ck Giant, moreover, they spread out heavily to the sides.


    ¡°This is...the same as Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Arge dark matter weir was created at the front of the Hydra Serpent, and its shape was semi-circr as if encircling the target.


    Even if a tsunami urs, we can mitigate part the damage with this.


    ¡°It is now! Let¡¯s do it, Mirack-chan, Celestis-san!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Seriously, I don¡¯t understand even more now, but I have no choice but to ride it! On this big wave!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We can stop this big wave?!¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis dishevels her outfit.


    ¡°No, we are going to create a wave! [Water Fury]!¡± (Celestis)


    Reacting to the divine power of Celestis, water also begins to gather at the surroundings of Celestis. The quantity is far smallerpared to the Hydra Serpent, but it was plenty enough to make a small wave.


    ¡°Grab on, you two! With this, we will be rushing towards that giant eel!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Seriously?! We are seriously going to ride a wave?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Celestis-san, incredible!¡± (Karen)


    Mirack and Karen-san quickly grab the waist and the shoulders to cling onto her and...


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± (Celestis)


    The three ride the wave promptly and hurry on.


    ¡°Oi! By the way, how are we going to pass that ck wall the ck Giant made?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± (Celestis)


    Understanding the intentions of Celestis, I use remote controlling to nt the ck Giant¡¯s posture a little forward, as if it were a hill road.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s goooo!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis and the others get onto the ck Giant¡¯s leg together with the wave, slide till the back, and jump from the head.


    As if it were a ramp.


    The speed was higher than expected, easily jumped over the dark matter weir, and go even higher than the Hydra Serpent that was at the top of the water mountain.


    The only thing left was for it to fall and arrive right on top of the enemy.


    ¡°What are we going to do now?! No matter how you think about it, defeating that giant thing is next to impossible!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I already know where to aim! The connecting point of that sea monster¡¯s eight heads, the core of it all!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I see, it certainly does look like a weak point! And so, how do we attack it?! If it¡¯s in destructive power, it should be mine and Karen¡¯s ¡®lightning¡¯ or the ¡®steam¡¯ of Celestis?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Everything.¡± (Karen)


    While falling, Karen-san said.


    ¡°In order to defeat that giant monster, we have to join all of our forces or it won¡¯t work. Light, fire, water; everything!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Combining three elements?! Karen-chan, you are a lot more metal than I thought!! I like it! When this battle is over, let¡¯s do a coboration! At that sea stage!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Don¡¯t drag Karen into a weird path! But I agree with the n! Now then, all that¡¯s left is challenging it!!¡± (Mirack)


    The three girls that were clinging together were falling, and in the moment they came in contact with the target, a light enveloped everything.


    The Hydra Serpent was enveloped by that sh... and was vanished.


    I don¡¯t know in detail what happened there, but from what I could see with the vision of the ck Giant was the figure of Karen-san thrusting her holy sword Saint-George with thebined divine power of the other two towards the Hydra Serpent.


    And then, after that instant, that sh enveloped everything.


    The sh that expanded like an explosion had swallowed the Hydra Serpent, and the water divine power that its body wasposed of was evaporated without a single trace.


    Is that abined element from light, fire, and water?


    My questions had no end, but without giving me time to think of it, the next disaster was released.


    The parting present of the Hydra Serpent. The seawater that this guy had gathered was already close to its critical point, and even if it was stopped in the middle of it, it was already clear that it would still be quite the big tsunami.


    If that were to arrive at thend just like that, half of Hydra Ville will be swallowed.


    That¡¯s why, from here on out, this is my job. Mine and this guy¡¯s.


    Isn¡¯t that right, my child, Darkness Giant?


    The dark matter weir that was build uprgely on both sides was originally not the way dark matter is supposed to be used, but there was no other way around it so it couldn¡¯t be helped.


    Believe in the power of darkness!


    The water and darkness sh.


    The dreadful volume of water that was surging forth, and the abnormal pressure that it was creating, was passed onto the body of the giant and even reached to me.


    But, like hell I will lose!


    Not only Hydra Ville, I won¡¯t let it swallow the sea stage either. Everyone will be doing their live performance here tomorrow after all.


    Darkness Giant, wring out everything you have!


    It doesn¡¯t matter if you are a monster, right now, you are this city¡¯s guardian!


    * * *


    The wave calmed down.


    After releasing all of its gathered up fury, it regained its calmness, and the water surface returned to its silently undting state.


    ¡°...Ppuha!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I thought I would die!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Ooi, are you alive?¡± (Celestis)


    When the sea level calmed down, Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis showed their faces.


    That¡¯s great, they were okay.


    I was able to confirm the situation with the eyes of the ck Giant.


    ¡°When I was swallowed by the wave, I seriously thought I was a goner though.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is great that the [Water Embrace] made it in time. With the water divine power, it allows you to breathe underwater. It also protects you from the water pressure to a certain degree.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°At any rate, we were able to defeat it... What about the city?!¡± (Mirack)


    There was no way for the girls, who were being jostled by the raging currents, to confirm the safety of the city in that state.


    But...


    ¡°If it¡¯s the city, it is okay.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san¡¯s gaze was directed at me.


    urately speaking, to the ck Giant that I was borrowing its senses from.


    From what I can see, this guy had already utilized every drop of power it had and was in the process of disappearing.


    In the first ce, it was an impromptu monster that I made in one night, and I even strained it more than expected.


    I utilized way too much dark divine power to block therge tsunami, exhausted the divine power thatposed its body, and is now unable to maintain its body.


    Parts of its body already have holes here and there, and it is a matter of time before it disappears.


    Karen-san was gazing at that pitiful figure.


    ¡°It protected us until it became this worn-out after all. The city is okay. You did so much for us, so it is impossible it wouldn¡¯t work.¡± (Karen)[


    And so, the limit came.


    The great Dark Giant had finished its duty and was returning to nothingness. Its eyes were directed at the heroes that had fought till the very end.


    ¡°...Thanks.¡± (Karen)


    Within the fading senses, I clearly heard the voice of Karen-san.


    * * *


    ¡°.....¡±


    With the vanishing of the Dark Giant, my shared senses with it are gone, and I concentrate on the senses of my own body.


    I already have no way of confirming the situation on their side, but it should be fine already.


    The danger is already gone. Now we only need to wait for those girls toe back.


    And so, I still have onest thing left to do.


    ¡°...We won.¡± (Haine)


    I said this to the man that was standing still at my side.


    Everyone aside from him and me had already run away because of the tsunami uproar. But the heroes won, and when the people hear that the danger is already gone, everyone will be filled with happiness and return.


    That¡¯s why, I will settle this before they return.


    ¡°They have won. Those girls have. And that also means... you lost.¡± (Haine)


    Water God, Coacervate; this is the time to settle things.


    ¡°It is your lost, Coacervate; and also, it is the victory of those girls.¡± (Haine)


    I once again said it.


    As if edging it deep into his heart.


    ¡°You prepared a monster in order to increase the fame of your own hero, and were nning on doing a fixed-game. By killing the other heroes, you were aiming to increase the fame even more, but you failed in doing that -all of them survived.¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis; the victory of all three.


    They jumped out from the palm of your hand.


    ¡°Kukuku...¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Kukukukukukuku!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate suddenly beganughing.


    His shoulders were shaking, his throat was shivering, and his whole body was letting out the sounds ofughing.


    ¡°I lose, you say? What are you even saying? This was all part of my n, you know?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you from the very beginning? My objective was to have the monster attack the live stage, and have the heroes defeat it. Didn¡¯t that get splendidly achieved?¡± (Coacervate)


    Is what Coacervate said with a loudugh.


    As if being proud of himself.


    ¡°Of course, there were slight changes in the scenario, you know? However, as long as the results are good, everything is okay. Better yet, Haine-san, your interference made the fight even more exciting, and have made that victory even more moving. With this, people that had their heart moved will join the Water Church and I will obtain a lot more believers. Really, thank you!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you get it? You did your best to have a sh of wits with me, but even that became profit for me. That means, you were dancing on the palm of my hand as well, right? Not only the humans, even a God was a simple piece in my game board!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Well, it is true that the achievement will be split to three sides between the light, fire, and water, but even so, it still bnced out in the end, don¡¯t you think? Because Haine-san made it even more exciting after all! Once again, thanks! You might be a business genius, you know?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I am looking forward to working with you in the future as well, okay? As partner Gods, that is.¡± (Coacervate)


    I didn¡¯t refute the ims of Coacervate.


    Because I thought what he said was mostly correct. In the end, the details simply changed, but the result was not that different from what Coacervate was aiming for.


    The only loss he received was the Hydra Serpent he made, but he nned on having Celestis defeat it to begin with. It is indeed just as nned.


    Coacervate received no damage.


    Everything went as this God -that pisses me off on a fundamental level- wanted. Everything.


    That¡¯s how it would make you think, but...


    ¡°Even so, you lose, Coacervate.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hah? That¡¯s not good, Haine-san. It is unsightly not to ept reality, you know? Fuhahahahaha!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°It is true that there was absolutely no losses for you in this time¡¯s turmoil. It even brings profit to you. But you still lost.¡± (Haine)


    Because...


    ¡°You have emotionally epted your defeat, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    The stupidugh of Coacervate stoppedpletely.


    ¡°You epted it inside your heart that you have lost. That nothing had gone as you wanted. Your heart understands thispletely, and yet, your head doesn¡¯t want to admit it. That¡¯s why you are lining up excuses from the bits and pieces, and persuading yourself. All you are saying are excuses. You are spitting out lies in order to deceive yourself.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Emotions! Emotionally, you say?! How stupid! The cornered ones always try to go for the spiritual part! I would like you to show more substantial proof than that, you know! Evidence that¡¯s actually visible!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Evidence huh.¡± (Haine)


    Then, I will say it.


    ¡°You...your face is incredibly red, you know?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    That¡¯s right. For a while now, the face of Coacervate waspletely red like a ripe tomato.


    His emotions had swelled so much that it made his blood rise to his head, and that color was visibly shown.


    It is not only that.


    ¡°For a while now, your eyelids have been twitching, veins are popping from your forehead, you are sweating profusely, and even your nose is dripping. Also, you have been spitting out saliva every time you speak. That¡¯s disgusting.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°W-Wa?¡±


    Right now his body is that of a monster mimicking the appearance of a human.


    Even so, it really shows emotions well. It is so well made that it is in visible that his pride was in shambles.


    ¡°You great God had your pride wounded because your own scenario waspletely destroyed, and are currently filled with rage. In terms of feeling, you havepletely lost. The one who knows this the most is your own heart.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Shut up, you damn brat... Aaaaah!!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate broke.


    He stopped mimicking a human and his appearance as a monster is revealed. A smelly half-fish human appeared right in front of me.


    ¡°I was being kind here and you guys just got so conceited! You damn country bumpkin that was sleeping for 1,600 years! You lost! You lost 1,600 years ago! A loser shouldn¡¯t be talking shit to the winner!!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°That¡¯s true. I lost 1,600 years ago. And today, you lost.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Shut up, you piece of shit! ...........................Understood. I get it already. I admit defeat. A God like me who has eternal life has no need to get a-angry at only o-one defeat! But you see, at the very least, I will be teaching you a lesson for this, Haine-san.¡± (Coacervate)


    *Ja kin* that resounded as both arms of the monster Coacervate had changed into some sort of carapace-kind of scissors.


    ¡°I will at least wash this sour stomach by killing you! Because it seems you are quite attached to that human body of yours after all! By destroying it, I will have you taste at least 1/10 of the displeasure I am feeling!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Are you an idiot?¡± (Haine)


    You were toote in admitting your defeat.


    At the very least, in the part when Karen-san and the others began utilizingbined elements to turn the tides to their favor, you should have made the Hydra Serpent self-destruct or have it retreat.


    But you struggled in vain and even had the Hydra Serpent do something like a tsunami.


    As a result, the people had escaped from the stage in fear and the only ones remaining here are now only you and me.


    ¡°We were both restraining each other. You, in order to stop me from heading to where Karen-san and the others were; and I, in order to stop you from killing people indiscriminately.¡± (Haine)


    And the people are no longer anywhere in our surroundings. The Hydra Serpent is not here anymore either.


    In other words, this means...


    There¡¯s not a single factor that stops me from beating the hell out of this guy.


    ¡°Baaagh!!¡±


    My hand that was d in dark matter had cut in two the crown of the head of the Water Demon Mephistopheles, the water element monster that has the soul of Coacervate.


    Dark matter particles prate through this cross-section, and destroy the water divine power thatposes his body.


    ¡°Weak, way too weak.¡± (Haine)


    If I knew he was this weak, I should have killed him instantly from the very beginning.


    I might have been able to bring him down along with the Hydra Serpent, without giving him the chance to bring harm to the people. I was way too cautious.


    ¡°You said it before as well, right? The two poles that stand over the four basic elements within the six Gods of Creation. It seems my drowsiness has not disappeared yet after being sealed for 1,600 years. Ipletely forgot that your existence is nothing to sneeze at.¡± (Haine)


    Like this, the body of the Water Demon Mephistopheles -the Water God, Coacervate- was devoured by the dark matter without leaving a single trace behind.

 Chapter 60-61 - Post-negotiation

    <h4>Chapter 60-61: Post-negotiation</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    Like this, the turmoil that was being being controlled by the Water God Coacervate from the shadows had its curtains fall.


    After the battle, it was a given that the whole Hydra Ville was filled with excitement.


    A giant monster that attacks the city, the heroes that valiantly stand before this monster in order to protect the city, moreover, there¡¯s three of them.


    It ismon knowledge that the Churches are fighting each other for authority and don¡¯t get along, so seeing the heroes fight together was a lot more moving.


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis became the center of a festival, and are already to the point that they might even have their names edged in history.


    The journalists, that were originally here for the interview of Celestis¡¯ live performance, were all unanimously making this matter into an article, and with that, it will most likely fly out from Hydra Ville and spread around the whole world.


    The three are not only heroes, they are already to the point that can be considered saviors.


    On my end, I knew I would have to handle matters regarding the disappearance of the surface world body of Coacervate, and I had my hands filled with it.


    His body was that of a monster mimicking the appearance of a human, so I didn¡¯t have to face the burden of bing a murderer. With all the piled up grudge I had towards him, I ended up kicking his ass.


    Even so, that guy took the form of a human, blended into human society, and had a decent amount of status and position, so killing him doesn¡¯t mean that¡¯s all that¡¯s needed to be done.


    While I was checking on what that guy had been doing as the manager of the idol Celestis, I also learned about several of his other crimes.


    Coacervate had a hold of the Water Church from the shadows, and it waspletely under his control.


    He grasped the weaknesses of the current Founder of the Water Church and the management, and even has taken some of their families as hostages in order to have them obey.


    On top of that, he also tailored the hero into an idol, has made fixed fights with monsters, and has used the Church¡¯s believers to y around like crazy.


    But now that I have erased the body of Coacervate in the surface world, those people will be released from him.


    The higher-ups from the Water Church were truly relieved that the demon that had been controlling them from the shadows had vanished, and were happy to lend a hand in concealing his death.


    After that, I used the connections that Coacervate left behind to make negotiations with the Water Church¡¯s higher-ups and resolved the friction that the idol activities of the idol Celestis was causing to the other churches.


    To be more specific, remove all the many benefits that the Celestis fan club obtains from entering the Water Church officially, and don¡¯t do any open proselytizing towards the fans.


    With this, the Water Church believers and the Celestis fans were divided in a sense, and became separate existences.


    Of course, I don¡¯t think this will solve the root of the problem, but the rest can be decided by the higher-ups of the churches.


    The Water Church was surprisingly positive about this kind of reformation, and now that the influence of Coacervate is gone, they took the initiative to ept my proposal.


    They must have considered it a risk to use the singing and dancing of the hero to increase their believers since it might make the image of the Church be perceived as superficial.


    That¡¯s why I prolonged the negotiation for a bit more because I had to bring it to a point where they assured me that Celestis will still be able to continue her idol activities.


    The time required for this was several days of discussion.


    In that time, Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis participated in the extra live performances as scheduled, and it seems they passed a meaningful time.


    And so...


    * * *


    ¡°Aaah, that was tough. The fight with the Great Sea Dragon was really tough you know~.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Ouch ouch ouch!¡±


    My spine was creaking from the pain of the camel clutch.


    To exin what¡¯s happening, Mirack was straddling on my back while I was lying down, and just like that, she is pulling my jaw and forcefully turning it.


    The so called Camel Clutch.


    It seems this is also a killer technique passed down by the Ignis Militant corps.


    It is an incredibly dangerous technique that inflicts damage to the spine, that¡¯s why I was going ¡®ouch ouch¡¯ when suffering from it.


    And more than that, the sensation of Mirack¡¯s crotch at my back.


    This sensation of pain and happiness; is she doing it while being aware of this?


    ¡°Did you know this, Haine? A big sea monster on the level of Phris was defeated by Karen, Celestis, and I, you know? It was a fierce fight.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes, I heard about it. Ouch ouch ouch!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In that time, where were you ying around at?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Sorry. I am really sorry!¡± (Haine)


    Because I was absent in the Hydra Serpent incident, it ended up being seen as very disgraceful.


    There¡¯s no way I could say that Coacervate and I were keeping each other in check.


    Mirack also saw my ability agaisnt the fire cow Phris, so fooling her won¡¯t work.


    And so, I am in the middle of receiving a normal punishment for a truant.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you spare him with that, Mirack-chi?¡± (Celestis)


    And the water hero, Celestis, was in the middle of spectating this punishment.


    ¡°I know that Haine-chi is incredibly reliable, but...involving himself in a battle between monsters and heroes would be a bit too much. Moreover, it was a sea battle, and when you miss the chance of receiving the ¡®Water Blessing¡¯ once, there¡¯s nothing you can do, right? Are you telling him to swim all the way there?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Shut up, Celestis. This guy is a lot more reliable than you think.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you have expectations of him or not... Whichever it is, why don¡¯t you stop that super glued submission technique?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°No matter how much of your female side you have thrown away, gluing yourself this much to a man is just...erotic.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Uhya!¡± (Mirack)


    Looks like she finally noticed her ownck of self-awareness. Mirack jumps away from me.


    I¡¯m saved~~. A bit more and I might have split in two.


    ¡°Oooh! Mirack-chi¡¯s girly scream, how rare! Thanks, Haine-chi. Thanks to you, I was able to hear something rare.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I¡¯m d to see you are happy.¡± (Haine)


    Though, if the price of that is one spine, the rate is a bit too high there.


    By the way, the water hero Celestis announced in the ending of the live performance that she will be taking a temporary rest in her idol activities.


    With the disappearance of Coacervate, the Water Church did a coup. There¡¯s no way this wouldn¡¯t affect her as well.


    She was directly involved with Coacervate who was posing as her manager, so there was the need to give proper exnations.


    ¡®Because of the confusion in the Water Church, the manager had hurriedly changed posts¡¯, is the excuse that was made, and for now, it seems she consented to it.


    In the first ce, he was suspicious and wasn¡¯t a manager that was liked, so Celestis probably didn¡¯t have much interest in it.


    Until the next manager is assigned, it seems like Celestis will be taking a small vacation.


    ¡°By the way, Haine-chi, I will be repeating myself here but, how about bing my new manager? Or more like, be my manager!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As I have been saying, I can¡¯t. I am the assistant of the light hero after all.¡± (Haine)


    Also, why did you correct yourself and made it into an order?


    ¡°Tch, what a loyal one. With Haine-chi¡¯s negotiation abilities, I thought he would be able to face those hard-headed people you know~. The Church suddenly told me to restrain in the idol activities, and I just don¡¯t understand at all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It probably just means that¡¯s how shocking the Great Sea Dragon turmoil was. They will most likely have you concentrate on your hero activities and prepare yourself in case of need. Isn¡¯t that normal? Obey.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is because of those dangerous times that idol¡¯s exist. With the singing and dancing of Celes-tan, I will provide hope.¡± (Celestis)


    Looks like she won¡¯t change no matter what happens.


    Celestis is a hero that not only fights with divine power, she also fights by giving hope to the people. That¡¯s also a splendid form of hero.


    ¡°Well, just leave the scolding to that much. Haine-chi, how about you go to the next one?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Next one?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It seems your direct superior has some words of praise for you. She is waiting for you at her room.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°?¡±


    Praise?


    Did I do something worthy of praise?


    Well, at any rate, I can¡¯t just stand here when I have been urged to go. Let¡¯s leave the room for now.


    If I stay here doing nothing, I feel like the punishment of Mirack might resume.


    I head to the door, and when I passed the side of Mirack, I heard a low voice that barely reached my ears.


    ¡°......Thanks.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    I heard Mirack whispering to me and it made me even more confused. Even so, I had no choice so I left the room just like that.


    When talking about my direct superior, there¡¯s only that person, right?


    ¡°Karen-saaan, did you call?¡± (Haine)


    The ce I arrived at is one of the guest rooms of the Water Church.


    It is the room that was provided to the light hero, Karen-san. Karen-san has been sleeping here in these several days, so if she is somewhere, it should be here, so I tried entering the room, but...


    This is weird. I don¡¯t see her anywhere.


    But I do feel the presence of someone.


    ¡°Haine-san! So you havee!¡±


    So you really were here, Karen-san.


    But where is she? I don¡¯t see her at all.


    ¡°Mirack and Celestis told me toe here but, am I intruding you in the middle of something? If that¡¯s the case, I wille back here another time.¡± (Haine)


    I guess that¡¯s the reason why she isn¡¯t showing herself, but it looks like that wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°No, I was waiting for Haine-san. Please sit wherever you want.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Okay...if you say so...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°If possible, in front of the closet...¡± (Karen)


    Closet?


    ¡°F-First of all, Haine-san, thank you for that time. You have saved us a lot again.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I didn¡¯t participate this time around though. I was receiving a punishment for that very same reason not that long ago.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, Mirack-chan also understands. That was most definitely her way of hiding her embarrassment.¡± (Karen)


    Her hiding almost cost me a spine though.


    From there, the conversation was temporarily cut off, and silence took ce. And then, the one who once again resumed the conversation was Karen-san.


    ¡°................It was Haine-san there, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm? What do you mean by that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I mean that ck Giant.¡± (Karen)


    Aah.


    She is talking about the Dark element monster I created in order to help Karen-san and the others fight the Hydra Serpent.


    Because I had to keep Coacervate in check, this was a desperate measure I thought with incredible pain.


    Karen-san knows that I am a dark element user, but creating monsters is the deed of Gods.


    I can¡¯t just obediently say yes to this.


    In the end, that ck Giant was not only seen by the heroes, but also by many other people, but it only became the seed of much confusion, and with the hard struggle of the heroes, this other point didn¡¯t be the topic of talk.


    A monster that protects humans; such an existence that overturns themon sense of humans, even when seeing it with their own eyes, it was still something hard to believe.


    That¡¯s why, the mass media also didn¡¯t know how to handle this information and just ignored it, and didn¡¯t even be an article.


    ¡°It is okay, you don¡¯t have to answer me. But, when I was fighting together at the sea with the ck Giant, I felt as if I was fighting together with Haine-san. Even though it was such a dangerous situation, I was really at peace.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I think Mirack-chan was the same. That¡¯s why I wanted to express my gratitude. Thanks.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san still didn¡¯t show herself, but her feelings reached me plenty well.


    Gratitude, deep affection, goodwill; those kind of feelings.


    ¡°A-And so...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    For some reason, the tone of Karen-san suddenly became unrestful.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t feel right to always just say thank you, so this time, I want to express my gratitude in a more substantial way!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Substantial?¡± (Haine)


    No, there¡¯s no need to mind it that much though.


    ¡°...Haine-san, you are properly in front of the closet, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Y-Yes?¡± (Haine)


    For a while now, I have been bothered by this but, the voice of Karen-san...I feel like it ising from this closet...


    The closet, in other words, the ce where the clothes are kept. Even if it is the guest room, this is the guest room that the Water Church lodges their guests of honor, so it has quite the splendid closet, and big enough to have at least one person inside.


    Then, is she actually inside this...


    ¡°Haine-san, please watch closely, okay? 3...2...1!!!¡± (Karen)


    Why are you doing a countdown?!


    It was clear for anyone that I had to nail my eyes to the closet when the number reached 0.


    And then, the closet opened with a ¡®bam¡¯ from the inside.


    ¡°Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san?!!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san was naked.


    No, she was in her underwear, so, urately speaking, she wasn¡¯tpletely naked, but even so, she was showing most of her skin which was practically being naked.


    She is normally wearing armor andpletely equipped on all her body, so this made this lightly dressed figure of hers even more dazzling. At any rate, her skin is white. I heard before that she had a ¡®weak constitution in the past¡¯, and with this, I can believe it.


    The color of her underwear is also white. Pure white is the symbol color of the Light Goddess, Intion.


    <figure id="attachment_6558" ss="wp-caption alignnone" data-shortcode="caption"><figcaption ss="wp-caption-text">Not the correct image, but hey, that¡¯s practically negligee in my book</figcaption></figure>


    ¡°Okay, over!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san quickly closed the closet and locked herself again.


    In the end, the dazzling pure white underwear figure of Karen-san onlysted for an instant in my eyes.


    ¡°How was it, Haine-san?! Are you happy?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san asks me from the wooden closet.


    What?


    ¡°No well, leaving aside my happiness, is this your way of thanking me?! Is that okay?! This has so many problematic points as a hero!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is fine! Because Haine-san...... you also saw the underwear of Celestis-san!!¡± (Karen)


    ......Ah.


    Right before the attack of the Hydra Serpent at the live performance, I do feel like such an ident did ur when Celestis was changing her stage outfit...


    ¡°Does that mean...you were gettingpetitive with Celestis?¡± (Haine)


    Even so, her shyness made her only endure it for an instant of showing me huh.


    I don¡¯t get you, Karen-san. I really don¡¯t get you.


    ¡°...And? How was it? Did I win?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san is unexpectedly concerned with winning and losing.¡± (Haine)


    And like this, I once again took a peek of a mysterious side of Karen-san.


    Myst night at Hydra Ville passed by in this way, but as expected, I have to say this before it is over.


    ¡°I was happy.¡± (Haine)

 Chapter 62-64 - he Dark God that became the reward

    <h4>Chapter 62-64: The Dark God that became the reward</h4>


    I became a sacrifice.


    The price of victory, sess, and to kick the ass of the guy that annoyed me; for the sake of that, I became a sacrifice.


    ¡°Haine-san.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°...Yes.¡± (Haine)


    The ce is the Light Church, in Yorishiro¡¯s room. That¡¯s how it is called, but it is actually the tiger¡¯s den.


    ¡°Haine-san~~.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I love you~~.¡±


    ¡°...Yes.¡± (Haine)


    To exin what¡¯s happening, I was made to sit down on the sofa that was in the room, Yorishiro ced a bed cover on me, is rubbing her cheeks together with mine, and is drawing circles on my chest with her finger over and over.


    Looks like she is truly having fun.


    I can¡¯t push her away and can¡¯t resist either.


    Because that¡¯s the kind of deal we had.


    In the big sea battle the other day at Hydra Ville, in order to outwit the Water God Coacervate who was the wire puller of it all, I worked out a n.


    Thanks to the help of a powerful ally, the heroes were able to splendidly defeat the 8-headed Great Sea Dragon.


    And so...


    What I had to do in order to create that monster was...to first learn how to make it.


    Monsters are made by Gods.


    This is a secret of the world, but it is the truth.


    I -Kuromiya Haine- am also a human, and at the same time, am the reincarnation of the Dark God Entropy.


    I do have the qualifications to create monsters, but since I was sealed for 1,600 years, I have been estranged from the worldly affairs and ended up not knowing how to create monsters.


    And so, the one I relied on in that time of emergency was this person; the Light Church¡¯s founder, Yorishiro.


    She can also be called the reincarnation of the Light Goddess, Intion.


    Different from me, she is a God that had been going strong for those 1,600 years, so when I tried asking if she knew, it was right on the mark.


    The information she gave me yed a big part in the victory a few days ago. And so, the price I had to pay for that was also big.


    In the first ce, this woman wouldn¡¯t do something so admirable as teaching things for free.


    In exchange for the way of creating monsters, the condition given was to...


    Utilize me freely for one whole day.


    ...That¡¯s how it is.


    And so, here I am, in the middle of fulfilling this one day.


    ¡°Haine-san~. Haine-san, please say you love me too.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I-I love you too...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Me too. Ufufu~~¡± (Yorishiro)


    This woman really looks happy.


    The moment night ended and it was early in the morning, she immediately called me to her room and we have been like this for the whole time. Well, it is the freedom to use me for one day, so I should at least be grateful that she began utilizing it early in the morning.


    ¡°Haine-san~.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes yes, what is it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please marry me.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro res at me displeased.


    ¡°This is not what we agreed on, Haine-san! You will listen to anything I say for this whole day, right?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And that¡¯s exactly what we agreed on. When we were arranging the conditions, we also agreed that I would only listen to your requests in this day. So, requests that carry on to other days don¡¯t count.¡± (Haine)


    If I didn¡¯t do that, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to agree on such a condition with a scary woman like this.


    The requests I will listen to are things that can be aplished in this one day.


    Requests that take more than one day no matter where you look at it are a no. Requests that restrain me on other days are also a no.


    Matters like marrying that bind me for life are of course out.


    ¡°Buuh~, Haine-san, you bully...... T-Then, how about the embrace between a man and a woman?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    What shameless things is this woman saying.


    ¡°That¡¯s also a no. If a baby is made, it would drag on further than my life.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, you cheapskate! This is a no, that is a no! You are not listening to anything I ask! You liar!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You are the one that¡¯s not following the condition. I can revoke the agreement itself on the grounds of rule breaking, you know?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I got ahead of myself. Please let us stay like this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°So desperate!¡± (Haine)


    I seriously don¡¯t understand this woman.


    It was the same 1,600 years ago, but I am simply unable to read what she is thinking at all, and there¡¯s no area that I can grasp.


    ¡°Geez... Ah, right. In that case, I want to ask you about something...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°If it¡¯s something like who I like the most, it is a no, okay?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t be so cautious. Geez... It is about Coacervate-san. Was that okay?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    The Water God, Coacervate.


    He was the wire puller inst time¡¯s incident and the prime offender.


    He was a God, and yet, reincarnated in a monster that had the ability to mimic a human, and controlled human society in the shadows without growing old or falling ill.


    I erased that body of his without leaving a single trace behind, but...


    ¡°That guy is a God. Even if his body is destroyed, his soul will return to the God realm, and it won¡¯t hurt him or itch him one bit. If you were going to defeat him, wouldn¡¯t it have been better to do it like in the case of Nova-san, restraining him in his body with the soul still in it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is just as Yorishiro said. At that time, my anger reached its very peak, and killed him in the mood.


    I have to admit I lost myposure there.


    ¡°But the enemy is a shrewd God. It wouldn¡¯t go as easy as the simple-minded Nova. The body he was using had a dirty ability like mimicking. If he wasn¡¯t restrained to an incredible level, he would escape instantly.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In that case, ¡®it would be better to just kill him given the chance, and at least crush all the groundwork he currently hadid out¡¯, is what you are trying to say huh. Coacervate-san is probably mortified at the God Realm.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s right. He wasn¡¯t only scheming a fixed fight at the sea live performance. He had a lot of other ill-natured ns on the process while he was advancing this one n.


    And in truth, after defeating him, I did my best to crush as many seeds of discord he left in the Water Church with the short amount of time I had in Hydra Ville.


    ¡°But, I am surprised you are bothered about those kind of things. Do you feel some sort of camaraderie as Gods?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please stop that. Since the time we sealed you in that fight, I have practically not talked to him at all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Uwaa.


    Just how hated is that guy?


    ¡°More importantly, this is the most happiest day since reincarnating in this body as Yorishiro. Just forget about an underhanded guy like him and let¡¯s have fun...... And so, Haine-san, the next request.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes yes, a request that can be done today, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡®Of course¡¯, is what Yorishiro said filled with confidence.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a date.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so, we are outside.


    Apollon City is one of the cities that has one of the five Churches¡¯ headquarters.


    Of course, it has a fitting poption, size, and defenses; arge metropolis that is prominent in all areas.


    Because of the ethereal energy revolution that urred, the living standard increased, and there are even cars that run around the city on their own energy.


    The buildings have also be bigger and multistoried ones are lined up more frequently.


    ¡°I have really gotten used to this sight.¡± (Haine)


    The first time I came to this city after leaving my vige, everything I saw was novel, and I was moving my head like a chicken.


    So I am a city person already huh.


    ¡°Haine-san, the streets in the city are congested, so in order to not bump into other people, it is best to hold hands when walking-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What?! But the other people are not doing that!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s because they are pros at living in the city. For a beginner that has just been introduced to the city, your evasion technique is still crude, so please give me your hand.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I see, so that¡¯s how it is!¡± (Haine)


    I lift my hand.


    ¡°It is a lie. Ufufufu.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Damn it!¡± (Haine)


    The light founder-sama is a person that likes joking.


    And that Yorishiro is currently in pretty normal clothing. Wearing a well-tailored one piece, even when looking at her from afar, one can tell that she is from a good upbringing.


    No one would be able to tell the founder of the Light Church, who is basically the ruler of this city, is in the middle of an incognito date.


    ¡°You are normally wearing a veil in public to hide your face. No surprise that regr citizens can¡¯t see through your identity.¡± (Haine)


    Even if I say identity, it is not the one about being a God, but the one about being the light founder, Yorishiro-sama.


    ¡°Yeah, I have been hiding my face because I knew a day like this woulde. This time we are spending with just the two of us, if we were surrounded by bodyguards and onlookers, it would be annoying.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Just how much has she been looking forward to this date with me?


    By the way, even with that, when we passed by with our linked arms, there were a lot of pedestrians that nced at us.


    Yorishiro is just naturally cute after all.


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis; the girls that I have met until now have their own taste and were beautiful, but as expected, Yorishiro is on another level of beauty.


    It is truly a beauty molded by the Gods, or more like, that¡¯s exactly the case though.


    ¡°And so, princess, is there anywhere you want to go?¡± (Haine)


    Since I said I will be listening to anything today, it can¡¯t be helped.


    I will satisfy thisdy to a degree that doesn¡¯t hurt me in the future.


    ¡°I will be leaving that to Haine-san -desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Oi.¡± (Haine)


    You were the one who brought me out, so don¡¯t you have a n?


    ¡°Ara, in these moments, isn¡¯t the man supposed to be the one doing the escorting?¡± (Yorishiro)


    The eyes of Yorishiro, who said this, had the light of a bully in them.


    So she intends to enjoy the flustered state of this country bumpkin huh.


    But too naive. Learn that this Kuromiya Haine has no blind spots!


    ¡°Understood! Well then, I will escort you to my rmended date spots!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Having her linked arm pulled by me, Yorishiro was filled with surprise and confusion.


    ¡°Too naive, Goddess-sama. The things you would say, I have already predicted them beforehand. I already knew you would be bringing me out on a date with that one day privilege you got, so yesterday, I already researched on those kind of stores!¡± (Haine)


    Got ya there.


    Seeing this date n that has no blind spot and unable to say a singlein, I will watch andugh at Yorishiro¡¯s mortified figure.


    When I turn to the side to look at the crushed expression of hers...eh?


    What I saw was an expression that was contrary to what I was expecting. Her eyes were moist and glittering, and her face was filled with joy.


    ¡°Does that mean...for my sake?¡± (Yorishiro)


    I don¡¯t know if she is asking me or talking to herself; after making such a hard to distinct mutter...


    ¡°Haine-san, I love you!!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ooou?!¡± (Haine)


    The arm that was wrapped around hers in the first ce was being held with extreme force now!


    ¡°As I thought, let¡¯s marry! I will decide the destination of our date! The church! After making our pledge, I will thoroughly enjoy the date n that Haine-san made, and then...!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?! It had the opposite effect?!¡± (Haine)


    What I thought would make her mortified actually pleased her instead.


    Or more like, isn¡¯t the church the ce where you are living in?!


    Since we both received answers we didn¡¯t expect, should this be considered a draw?


    The first match was muddy, and our date had only just started.


    And so, I escorted Yorishiro to the many rmended spots.


    Cafe, confectionery, an okonomiyaki store, a pasta-specialized store, seafood store, a pizza store...


    ¡°.........All of them were food stores-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    The one who rmended me these date spots was my friend in the kitchen days, Frost.


    Since the time I graduated from the kitchen and became a hero assistant, he has still been doing his best in the kitchen.


    And all the stores that he rmended to me were eateries. Isn¡¯t he getting dyed by the cook soul at a fundamental level?


    Seeing these many varieties of eateries at the streets does make me understand how much the ethereal development has affected many sides of society, but after going around so many of them, as expected, my stomach is alreadypletely full.


    Leaving me aside, girls have a smaller stomach, and Yorishiro doesn¡¯t look like she can eat that much, and yet, she said: ¡®there¡¯s no way I would leave food in the stores that Haine-san has brought me to¡¯, and ate everything without leaving anything behind. Even when I tried to stop her in the middle of it, she said: ¡®this is the date n that Haine-san made, I will go through all of them¡¯, and in the end, we ended up conquering all the stores.


    ¡°Are you okay?! Sorry! You didn¡¯t have to force yourself to eat everything!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No...! Uppu... there¡¯s no problem-desu wa. This is my first date with Haine-san. Guuh... I am currently in perfect form... ppu...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Don¡¯t lie. You are already on the verge of breaking down!


    At any rate, we have to find a ce to rest! I can¡¯t bring the Founder-sama to a dirty water fountain!


    Even so, we can¡¯t go to an eatery or a popr resting spot. Right now, Yorishiro ispletely filled, and one push would make her release everything!


    Isn¡¯t there a ce that doesn¡¯t smell of food at all and we can rest?


    ¡°...Ah, right!¡± (Haine)


    That ce.


    ***


    ¡°...I see, the library huh.¡±


    Yorishiro, who regained herposure, muttered this.


    That¡¯s right. This is the grand library located at the central section of Apollon City. Since it is a ce for reading, there¡¯s a lot of ces here where you can sit and rx.


    From the information that I got of Frost, this is the only ce that wasn¡¯t an eatery. ¡®It is great that you can sit for free¡¯, is the random reason he gave me for this rmendation, but anyways, it saved me at this moment.


    ¡°Are you okay? Do you want me to rub your back more?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, it is plenty already. As I thought, Haine-san is kind.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I feel like my points with her have increased pointlessly.


    ¡°But it has been a while since I havee here. I have been busytely after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm? You like books?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It isn¡¯t that. I am the Founder of the Light Church, so there are plenty of times when Ie here for public facility inspections.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Ah, so that¡¯s what it was.


    ¡°The diplomatic side has been restlesstely, so the times I have gone for inspections and visits has decreased though...... Did you know, Haine-san? This grand library of Apollon City has the biggest scale and has the most amount of books in the world. It is the pride of the people living in Apollon City, you know.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hoh, so it is such a big deal.¡± (Haine)


    Treasure knowledge; that can be considered one of the primary factors that make a human.


    That feeling was passed on properly even in these modern times.


    ¡°But there was a n of reducing the scale of this library.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Oi.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The creed of the Light Church and its history, they said that all publications that have no rtion to those kind of things have no worth. There¡¯s also books about ethereal techniques, and they said: ¡®that¡¯s the very definition of harmful books¡¯.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What¡¯s with that? Does that mean everything that¡¯s not convenient for them is evil?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I did stop them and avoided the massive book burning that might have urred, but...the current Light Church is mostly like this. Only they are correct, everyone that¡¯s not the same as them is inferior or evil.¡± (Yorishiro)


    She is literally the most important person of the Light Church in two meanings. She is their founder and also the Light Goddess Intion that the Church worships.


    And she is saying this while sighing.


    ¡°Did you know, Haine-san? Right now, the upper echelon seats of the Light Church are mostly hereditary.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh? Really?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I myself am the daughter of the previous founder. That¡¯s why, as long as I thought on where to reincarnate, I could have easily be the founder. Aside from that, there¡¯s the Cardinal, Great Priest, and the Knight Commander; all of them are jobs that have a set household. Haine-san, did you know this as well? When entering the knight corps, you had to get your element identified in advance on the pretence of an exam, didn¡¯t you?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah, there was that.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The current Knight Commander, Dobbe-san, do you know the light element number he has?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh, could it be?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°His household, the Severphon household, is a household that has been turning in great numbers of Light Church upper echelon members for around 20 generations. The higher-ups of the Light Church are filled with those kind of people. People that have been sitting at the top for so long, drinking the sweet nectar, and were unable to live without it.....just like ¡®those¡¯ ones.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s why, they are most scared of falling from the top. Because they can¡¯t live anywhere aside from that ce after all. They hardened that position with their blood rtives, and they refuse it the most when someone new enters. If someone were to get close to them, they would do their utmost to eliminate that person.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Like that time with me?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah, and also Karen-san as well. Only the post of the hero that has no impurity in it and is chosen purely by ability can¡¯t be passed on hereditarily.¡± (Yorishiro)


    So this is the so called depravity of an organization huh.


    It is true that groups do rot the longer they persist. No matter what it is, once the flow is lost, it will stagnate, be impure, and deteriorate.


    That¡¯s why, there will be times when a revolutionary will appear and create a windhole, and then change the inside with new things, but...


    ¡°Are you not going to do it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What exactly?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°A reformation. You are in the position of a Founder, and coupled with your wisdom as the Light Goddess, wouldn¡¯t it be easy to wipe out the old influential powers?¡± (Haine)


    From what I see, she doesn¡¯t look like she agrees with the decay of the Light Church after all.


    When I said this, Yorishiro smiled sadly.


    ¡°Haine-san, there are times when a way too excelling leader will instead be harmful for the group, you know?¡± (Yorishiro)


    The side view of Yorishiro was beautiful as always, but it somehow looked like an old woman who has lived several centuries.


    ¡°Excuse me, the two over there.¡±


    I was about to continue the conversation, but we were called out by someone.


    ¡°Can you please keep it down in the library? It will trouble the other people.¡±


    ¡°Ah, sorry¡ª-?!¡± (Haine)


    It is true that a library is not a ce to talk.


    When I was in the middle of apologizing, my whole body froze.


    Because the person that cautioned us from behind was...


    ¡°Hi there, Haine-san. What a coincidence meeting in a ce like this, right?¡±


    The light hero, Karen-san.

 Chapter 65-66 - Library War

    <h4>Chapter 65-66: Library War</h4>


    Trantor Note:


    Oh boy, there¡¯s no way I would leave these two chapters out*cough*!


    Forget what I said about the two previous chapters of sunday, they will be counted as sponsored while these 5 chapters will be normal ones*cough*. They had toe as a set, so here *cough* they are. *cough*......barely made it......


    The light hero, Karen-san, who I work as an assistant for. If we talk of Yorishiro as the peak of the Light Church, then Karen-san is truly the face of the Light Church.


    The two holy women that the Church cannot be without, have reunited in this ce.


    ¡°Karen-san?! Why?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I wonder why? This is truly a coincidence. Fufufufu~~!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san wasughing with her mouth, but her eyes were notughing.


    She was looking at me with those freezing cold eyes of hers.


    ¡°I also have my free days as a hero, you know? Is it that bad to be in a facility of my homnd?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah...and so, Karen-san, today you are in casual clothes huh. This is the first time I see you in those, it looks cute.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Thanks. But Haine-san, you yourself have quite the cute girl apanying you.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san¡¯s gaze increases even more in coldness, and I was about to freeze by the decrease in temperature here!


    Why is Karen-san so scary when we only met by coincidence in the city?!


    ¡°Also, Yorishiro-sama, how do you do?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ara, so you knew.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°If it were someone else, it would be a different story, but I have a lot of audiences with Yorishiro-sama almost every day, so even if you take off your veil, I can tell by your voice and presence.¡± (Karen)


    Yorishiro stands up from her seat and res at Karen-san with an upright posture.


    Karen-san was standing upright from the very beginning.


    *Bigi bigi bigi bigi!*


    The sounds that I shouldn¡¯t be able to hear from the atmosphere were jumping right into my ears!


    ¡°Is it okay to ask you one question, Founder-sama?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What are you doing alone with Haine-san? Haine-san is supposed to have work at the knight corps today as well.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ara, I am surprised you know, hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Haine-san is my assistant after all. More importantly, answer my question please. What are you two doing here?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°A date.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!!¡± (Karen)


    Maybe because she said it so straightforwardly, Karen-san stiffened without being able to say anything more.


    ¡°A date. It is the act of a man and a woman ying outside with just the two of them. Of course, it is not as acquaintances or as friends; there¡¯s the need of both parties to view each other as members of the opposite sex or it wouldn¡¯t be considered a date. By the way, I have changed Haine-san¡¯s work today to a paid leave. With my authority.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Uhm...! T-Then, you two are...!¡± (Karen)


    How can you be so decisive, Yorishiro-san?


    It was so assertive that even Karen-san has been dumbfounded by it.


    ¡°But please don¡¯t misunderstand.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Today¡¯s date is more of a reward from Haine-san for me. Haine-san made a debt with me, in order to save you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Save me?!¡± (Karen)


    Being told this, Karen-san gets even more confused.


    Yorishiro didn¡¯t reveal everything, but it makes me uneasy how much she will be telling.


    ¡°In order to return that debt, Haine-san is keeping mepany. That¡¯s why, Karen-san, there¡¯s no need to be jealous. You should instead be happy. Haine-san went so far for you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even if she says that, so many important parts are hazy, so there¡¯s no way Karen-san would understand it.


    ¡®This will be hard to smooth overter¡¯ is what I thought when...


    ¡°But, putting all those things aside, I love Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Those few words of Yorishiro blew away everything. Blew away everythingplicated.


    ¡°Hah?!¡±


    ¡°Haah?!¡±


    Karen-san and I shouted at that way too explosive of a statement.


    ¡°There¡¯s no lie in this. As a woman, I love the man Haine-san. Even if this is to repay a debt, spending a day with Haine-san makes me incredibly happy. I am thinking about having a rtionship with Haine-san on a level where we both love each other. For that sake, I will not hesitate in doing what I can.¡± (Yorishiro)


    What are you saying?! What are you blurting out here, Yorishiro?!


    Why in this timing, in this ce, and with this person in specific are you spilling out so much?!


    How am I going to face Karen-san from tomorrow on! Are you nning on destroying all my human rtions?!


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Karen-san was probably unable to take on all that intensity, she hides herpletely red face.


    ¡®It would probably be better for me to do some kind of follow-up here¡¯, is what I thought as I was going to cut into the conversation, but...


    ¡°...Then, I also have something to say to Founder-sama!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What is it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I also love Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san went and confessed too?!


    Leaving aside Yorishiro, Karen-san as well?!


    I could only get surprised now.


    ¡°It was love at first sight since the moment I met him...... No, in the time when I scouted Haine-san, it was more like I was charmed by him as a reliablepanion and a person I can share my values with. But in the time I spend together with him and fought together with him, I was slowly being pulled in, and a deep affection that surpassed camaraderie and friendship blossomed, and from that moment on, I began to be aware that I am a woman.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s splendid-desu wa, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I will say this clearly. Founder-sama ¨Cno, Yorishiro-sama, you having a date with Haine-san is incredibly unpleasant! Even if you tell me that was for my sake, it doesn¡¯t make me happy at all! Haine-san is...the person that will be my boyfriend!!¡± (Karen)


    I honestly can¡¯t keep up with the pace of this situation.


    Looks like two women are fiercelypeting over one man. And apparently, that man is me.


    I can understand that. But there are situations where, even if you understand, you simply don¡¯t want to. For the first time today, I have learned this.


    ¡°That was a great confession. As expected of our hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You as well, Yorishiro-sama. Even though you have less chances of being in contact with Haine-san, at some point in time, you were able to get a date. That shrewdness, as expected of our Founder.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ufufu.¡±


    ¡°Fufufu.¡±


    Women are scary.


    Now then, how should I move in this situation?


    If I simply follow my instincts, it would be to leave it as if nothing has happened, and retreat from this ce right this instant.


    Or more like, I want to do that. Let¡¯s do it.


    With my heart set, I tried to retreat without making a sound, but...


    ¡°Haine-san.¡±


    ¡°...Yes?¡± (Haine)


    I was easily stopped.


    ¡°Since we are here, let¡¯s hear the opinion of Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Right, that¡¯s exactly right. Haine-san, Yorishiro-sama or I...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡±Who do you want as your girlfriend?¡±¡±


    Being in this situation I didn¡¯t expect at all, I ended up cornered.


    ¡®Why did it turn out this way?¡¯, is the only thing I can think of this.


    At one side, there¡¯s the female Founder that controls one of the most prominent five churches in the world, moreover, she is a Goddess; on the other hand, the female hero that represents that same church.


    I have been confessed by both sides.


    I don¡¯t know what would be the best way to deal with this.


    In the first ce, this Kuromiya Haine has not received the love of a woman of the same age since the time I was born.


    The vige I was born in didn¡¯t have that many people after all. On top of that, there were many asions where I helped with my father in his job as a hunter, so my chances at interacting with people of my age weren¡¯t that many.


    And naturally, there were practically no instances where I spoke with women.


    There were asional times where I would get asked by girls about ¡®wanting to pick edible wild nts¡¯ and I apanied them as a bodyguard since my job was a hunter. As a show of gratitude, they told me ¡®I will treat you with a feast of edible nt dishes¡¯, and was called to the girl¡¯s house. And while at it, she also told me ¡®it iste so, how about staying the night here?¡¯......... sorry, it seems I really did have times when I was confessed.


    But this is the first time I was confessed in such a straight way.


    Moreover, by two at the same time.


    It is true that I am the reincarnation of the Dark God Entropy and am a God at my core. As a God, I have transcended all emotions and wouldn¡¯t waver over love.


    But right now, the vessel I have this God soul in is without doubt human.


    As long as I am a human, have a flesh vessel, have a body, I can¡¯t stay estranged from its instincts and desires.


    I want to live, I don¡¯t want to die, I am hungry, it is cold, it is hot, I am sleepy, I want to have sex, I want to love, I want to be loved, I want to make the person I love happy, I want a ce to be, I want a family, I don¡¯t want to be lonely, I want to love someone, love, love, love!


    ...Are the kind of emotions thate from my heart, but it also manifests in my body as well.


    That¡¯s why, even if it¡¯s not a problem for the Dark God Entropy, it is a big problem for the human Kuromiya Haine.


    And at this very moment!!


    ¡°Now, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Who are you going to choose as your girlfriend?¡± (Yorishiro)


    The two beauties were persistently closing in like wild animals going after their prey.


    Do I have to choose from one of them right now?


    That in itself is incredibly heavy for me, or more like, it would be incredibly painful for the person that wasn¡¯t chosen.


    After thinking it thoroughly, I finally prostrated.


    ¡°Uhm, sorry. Is it really necessary to bring out an answer right now?¡± (Haine)


    Is what I plead with a tear in my eye.


    That figure of mine must have looked pretty shameful. The intensity of those two disappeared.


    ¡°Geez, Haine-san, there¡¯s no need to say that with those eyes.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Looks like we pressed for an answer way too hastily. This is something important. It would be better to take the time to bring out an answer. Is that okay, Karen-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Of course, Yorishiro-sama. Let¡¯spete fair and square!¡± (Karen)


    Is what she says as the two heroines exchange a firm handshake.


    The two are good girls at heart, so this situation that is normally a muddy path has been smoothly sheathed back.


    At any rate, can this be considered as...being saved?


    ¡°But there¡¯s one thing I want to say to Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Really?!¡± (Haine)


    Is what I thought, but Yorishiro once again pursues.


    What is it this time?


    ¡°It is valid to choose both.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡±Eeeeeeeh?!!¡±¡±


    This shocked both Karen-san and I.


    Valid to choose both? What¡¯s the meaning of this?


    ¡°In other words, this is what I mean.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro joyfully walks to a bookshelf that was at the side.


    Ah right, this is a library.


    Yorishiro chose one book from the bookshelf and takes it out. The title of that book got the attention of Karen-san.


    ¡°...Isn¡¯t that...the scriptures of our Light Church?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Scriptures?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is a book that has the stories of the Light Goddess Intion that the Light Church worships, history of the early days of the church, precepts that the believers of the Light Church have to abide to, and precepts that the previous Founder-samas preached about. For us, the scriptures of the Light Church are the most sacred of books. In Apollon City, there will always be one book in each family.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh? I don¡¯t have one though?¡± (Haine)


    I just recently entered the church after all.


    Ignoring what we were talking about, Yorishiro turns the pages of this so called scripture.


    I already knew this, but she really is a person that goes at her own pace.


    ¡°...Karen-san, can you recite by memory the precepts of the church?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?! U-Uhm...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was flustered for a while, and in time, she hung her head down.


    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is fine. Remembering all of the scriptures of Light, there¡¯s not a single one in the current higher-ups of the church who can do it..... And so, the important part is here.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡±


    We concentrated on the part of the scriptures Yorishiro pointed at.


    It was a page that was written as the precept uses, and shows themandments and rules that the Light Church believers have to abide to.


    At that ce, this is what was written.


    [The person that will be the husband of the Founder will be allowed polygamy.]


    ¡°Ooooi!!!¡±


    There¡¯s no way I wouldn¡¯t retort to this.


    ¡°...Hey, this passage here, you were the one who included it in the scriptures, right? You were the one who abused your authority, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oh my, Haine-san. Even if I am the Founder, there¡¯s no way I would be able to readily change the scriptures that can be considered the very roots of the church-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh? Then...¡± (Haine)


    When I was in the middle of my confusion, Yorishiro whispered this to me.


    (...When the church was established, I ordered them through an oracle to include it.) (Yorishiro)


    ¡°So it really was you!!¡± (Haine)


    It wasn¡¯t an abuse of authority as a Founder, but as a God!


    What an unbelievable God!


    ...Hm? Wait. In that case, instead of Yorishiro, it is more like, the Light Goddess Intion had already predicted something like this would happen from that far back in the past...


    ¡°¡®I have already predicted what you would do¡¯...... Those words you said to me before, I will throw them right back at you-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ooow?!¡± (Haine)


    Are you telling me she predicted I would reincarnate as a human after my release since several centuries back and was doing the preparations for it?


    In order to enjoy her human live with me as much as she could?


    ¡°And so, if we go by this precept, it is possible to love both Karen-san and I at the same time.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Both...at the same time...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san repeats those words entranced.


    ¡°How about it, Karen-san? Of course, if you want to monopolize Haine-san, I will have no choice but to fight with you fair and square though...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san tightly held both hands of Yorishiro.


    ¡°Our Founder!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san fell...

 Chapter 67-69 - The reason of their encounter

    <h4>Chapter 67-69: The reason of their encounter</h4>


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    And that¡¯s how the alliance between the Light Church¡¯s Founder and the light hero was formed.


    I don¡¯t even know if it¡¯s fine anymore to call these two holy women.


    ¡°So she says! Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    Is what the hero that had been convinced by the Founder just a few moments ago said as she suddenly approached me.


    ¡°With this, everyone can be happy! Yorishiro-sama and I don¡¯t have to get rejected by Haine-san! There¡¯s nothing as great as this!¡± (Karen)


    Ah, right.


    Karen-san has the trait of not being concerned about the rules of society, and is more about wishing for the happiness of everyone, that¡¯s why she became a hero -to protect the people.


    Her basic stance as a hero is that when she is given a choice like: ¡®sacrifice someone to save the world¡¯, she would go: ¡®I will save both!¡¯.


    This time also falls into that case...probably.


    ¡°Karen-san, I am looking forward to working with you-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes! Let¡¯s pair our strengths to protect the Church and the people!¡± (Karen)


    Founder and Hero; the leader of the Church and the face of it. In other words, it is like the position of a captain and the ace, which means both of them are connected by a strong bond, but...of all things, the catalyst of it had to be...!


    ¡°Well then, Karen-san, do you want to join in on our date?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh? Is that okay? Even though you finally have the chance to be alone with Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As women that love Haine-san, trying to get ahead would be foul y. No matter the time and ce, in sickness and in health, let¡¯s have Haine-san love us together.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You have my respect, Yorishiro-sama! Ah, but I have some business to do...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If it is okay, let us apany you in that. It is okay to do that as a date, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You are kindness itself, Yorishiro-sama! It would help me a lot. To tell you the truth, I had something to consult with Yorishiro-sama and Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    The two women, that arepletely in sync, had left me behind and were advancing at their own pace.


    I was left there.


    It felt as if a tornado had just passed. Noisy and boisterous.


    Even though this is a library, even though this is the perfect spot for silence, we ended up making quite the noise.


    When I look at the surroundings, just as I thought, the gazes of the people here and the librarian-san were directed at me.


    Having their attention but still maintaining silence is painful in itself.


    ¡°...Uhm, I am truly sorry for the noise.¡± (Haine)


    I apologize and lower my head.


    But even without saying anything, the atmosphere in this ce was clearly returning to me in words:


    ¡®Guilty or Not Guilty?¡¯


    ¡®...GUILTY!¡¯


    ¡°I am truly sorry for the disturbance!¡± (Haine)


    ¡®That¡¯s not the thing you should be apologizing for.¡¯


    Is what the atmosphere was telling me.


    ***


    And so, I chased after the two as if running away and join up with them.


    It looks like Karen-san really did have something to do.


    ¡°You don¡¯t mind right, Haine-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t...¡± (Haine)


    I gave my answer, but in this situation, I had no other choice for an answer anyways.


    Well, even if we continued the date as it is, we have gone through all the date spots that Frost rmended, and even with that, it is still too soon to return, so we were about to run out of things to do anyways.


    Let¡¯s think of it as ¡®just in time¡¯.


    ¡°Karen-san, you came to the library because you had business there?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Of course. I have been going theretely, you know. There¡¯s something I wanted to investigate after all. Ah, but uhm...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°?¡±


    Laying down the conversation, Karen-san begins to fidget.


    ¡°.....Don¡¯t ignore what happened before, okay?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡®What happened before¡¯?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The talk about me...loving Haine-san! I don¡¯t mind you giving me an answerter, but leaving the confession itself as if it never happened would be incredibly troubling for me. I thoroughly used the female courage I normally don¡¯t use after all!¡± (Karen)


    She pinned it down!


    It is true that it was pushed by the alliance between these two and the confession was washed away, but it was incredibly important for her.


    But there¡¯s a ce for those kind of things, Karen-san.


    In this incredibly public space that is the library, there¡¯s quite the amount of onlookers.


    If it wasn¡¯t for that, I would have lost to the passion of Karen-san and would have hugged her right then and there, but with Yorishiro there as well, more the reason why I couldn¡¯t.


    Karen-sanpletely missed the concept of time and ce, but she was still able to manage a confession in those circumstances.


    I don¡¯t know if this is the courage she has as a hero, or the thing she called the female courage.


    ¡°At any rate, until I hear an answer from Haine-san, I will be telling you ¡®I love you¡¯ everyday.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s great. I will do that too.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even Yorishiro jumped on the wagon.


    Please spare me.


    ¡°Well, returning to the topic, my objective ining to the library. I wanted to hear the opinion of Yorishiro-sama and Haine-san, so this is truly good timing.¡± (Karen)


    Yorishiro and I?


    Just what does Karen-san want to ask?


    ¡°I was currently investigating about the Dark God Entropy.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Dark God Entropy...¡± (Haine)


    Hearing that name, I was perplexed.


    Because that God is the soul that¡¯s inside of me after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Since the time Yorishiro-sama told me about that God, I tried investigating about a lot of things on my own. This library was the best source of information I had.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°There¡¯s no other library as big as this no matter what part in this world you look at after all. If it¡¯s to investigate something, this is certainly a great ce to do it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro adds.


    In the Radona mountainous district where we had fought the fire cow Phris, I revealed for the first time my battle style with Dark Matter, and the questioning that came after was unavoidable.


    Yorishiro appeared in good timing and revealed the existence of the sixth God of Creation, the Dark God Entropy.


    In this world, aside from the Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, and Light element, there¡¯s also the dark element thatposes this world as well, and there are really rare times when the dark element is thick inside humans.


    With that ¡®setting¡¯, we were able to convince Karen-san and Mirack about my Dark Matter.


    The reality is different though. Since the soul inside of me is the Dark God Entropy himself after all.


    ¡°I have been bothered by it all this time. We have been worshipping the Gods of Creation for several centuries, and yet, I was now told that there¡¯s actually not only five but six. Don¡¯t you think this is an incredible revtion, Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah...¡± (Haine)


    It is hard for me to understand how she feels since I knew from the very beginning...


    ¡°But if that¡¯s true, why is the Dark God not known like the other Gods? Why is he not being worshipped by anyone? The questions just keep popping up!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you wereing to the library, to investigate?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes, and also...!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san fidgets for a moment, and then, as if having resolved herself, she says,


    ¡°It is the God that¡¯s connected with the person I love, so I got even more interested in it...¡± (Karen)


    Uwa.


    Now that Karen-san has confessed once, she continuously keeps attacking without hesitation.


    ¡°I understand that feeling, Karen-san. You want to learn all about the person you love after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yorishiro-sama! And so, the information about this Dark God was brought to light by Yorishiro-sama, so I thought that maybe you knew more.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Sorry.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says this looking truly sorry.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know more than what the Light Goddess-sama had enlightened me with her oracle.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so the Light Goddess herself says...


    Yorishiro and I are keeping it a secret that we are the reincarnation of Gods.


    It is obvious that we will be seen as megalomaniacs, and even if by some chance they were to believe us, it would only needlessly create disturbance in the world, and there¡¯s absolutely no good points about it.


    In the first ce, I want to enjoy this world not as a God but as a human. Yorishiro probably thinks the same way.


    That¡¯s why, the God part inside of me is a secret that¡¯s okay not being known.


    ¡°The oracle of the Light Goddess-sama must have been to let me know about the approach of the special existence that is Haine-san. She didn¡¯t tell me much.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And I am impressed at how easily Yorishiro can lie. It is probably a necessary skill to hide her true nature as a God though.


    It is not the type that brings down people, so let¡¯s consider it as white lie.


    ¡°The Gods wish for the people to think by themselves. That¡¯s why, no matter what it is, they will only reveal a small part of it. Unveiling everything is the role of the people themselves.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I see... That¡¯s true. The things you wish for have to be grasped with your own hands!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san is a honest and good girl.


    ¡°And so, I have researched on my own. I dug out as many old books from this library as possible, and read them from beginning to end. And then, when I found information that might be rted to Entropy-sama, I would transcribe it, and this is what I got!¡± (Karen)


    *Don!!* is the sound that the notebook makes when it hits the table.


    It is incredibly worn out.


    ¡°...Uhm, Karen-san, you learned about Entropy pretty recently, right?¡± (Haine)


    Then, her investigation should have begun pretty recently, and yet, did she investigate so much that it ended up with her notebook getting this worn out?


    ¡°Well, even if I say that, there hasn¡¯t been a single ce that had a clear mention of Entropy-sama though. As expected of a hidden God that its existence has not been known at all until this present day. But...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san turns the front cover of the notebook.


    At the first page, there¡¯s cute writing that¡¯s most likely from Karen-san herself.


    ¡°First, there was darkness; in there, Intion creates light; Quasar filled the sky with air; next, Mantle creates earth; Coacervate filled the earth¡¯s space with water; and atst, Nova melded it all into one with fire; and that¡¯s how the world was created.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s one passage of the Genesis.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But this part about ¡®first, there was darkness¡¯, isn¡¯t it strange? There¡¯s light, wind, earth, water, and wind; everything that the Gods made was clearly written there, and yet, darkness was empty right from the beginning. I didn¡¯t find it strange before, but now that I read it, I do feel something¡¯s off.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...That¡¯s true...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This passage was probably rewritten, and before it was rewritten, this is what was there: ¡®First, Entropy created darkness¡¯.¡± (Karen)


    Well, that¡¯s actually how it is.


    ¡°There were also other descriptions that were of interest. In the especially old books of this library, there¡¯s phrases like these appearing. ¡®Two poles, four base elements¡¯.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Must be referring to the six Gods.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! As expected of Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    Oops, should I have waited a bit more to give out that opinion?


    ¡°Based on the context throughout the book, these words should certainly be referring to the Gods of Creation, but there¡¯s five Gods of Creation, and yet, it is written ¡®two poles, four base elements¡¯, in that case, 2 plus 4 makes 6. The numbers don¡¯t match. But, if we count Entropy-sama in the math, it makes sense.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san really investigated well.


    In the six Gods of Creation, there were clear categories: the light and dark poles; and the earth, fire, water, and wind base elements. These two categories had a strong difference in high and low, but I who was one of the poles was defeated and sealed, so it became hazy.


    At any rate, I am impressed that Karen-san was able to investigate this much.


    I was sealed at the Genesis of the world, so it is natural that no one knows about me from the very beginning.


    That¡¯s why, rather than saying the books have been rewritten, it is more like, it shouldn¡¯t even exist to begin with. There¡¯s no way there would be details of the Dark God written anywhere.


    The most that can be achieved is to catch the scent of my possible existence.


    ¡°And so, I have one big reveal left for thest part.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Huh?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s apparently people that worshipped the Dark God Entropy in the past.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eeeh?!¡±


    There¡¯s no way that¡¯s possible!


    ¡°I found a book that points out the ce where they might have been living in. And its name is: The Dark Underworld Country.¡± (Karen)


    What is the meaning of this?!


    There were humans that worshipped me, the Dark God Entropy?!


    I didn¡¯t know about any of this. The person himself not knowing that he was being worshipped...is that even possible?


    ¡°Karen-san, please speak about this in more detail.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Being urged by Yorishiro, Karen-san continues.


    ¡°The Dark Underworld country seems to be the city that the people, who worship the Dark God Entropy, build. It wasn¡¯t mentioned in any of the history or geography textbooks, but there was a poetry anthology of the long past that had mentioned this name.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san turns the pages of the notebook and a page filled with what¡¯s most definitely the writing of her was shown to us.


    Summarizing that poem, the evil people that worshipped the Dark God had been destroyed together with their city.


    The poem described it as ¡®the victory of justice and the defeat of evil¡¯, and sung it highly, but it could be described as being childishly written. It was on the level that I would understand why it would be buried at the very corners of the library.


    ¡°A poem huh. Compared to a book, this has a low level of credibility.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s true. As long as there¡¯s not something backing it, there¡¯s the possibility that this author wrote it based on its own fantasy. Also, I am a bit scared of this poem.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Scared?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This poem describes the Dark God as some sort of evil being that taints humans. If Entropy-sama really is such a bad God...I really wouldn¡¯t like it.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was making a truly sad face.


    It was hard for me to say anything. As the person himself, I can¡¯t say if Entropy is truly good or evil. And I don¡¯t remember I did anything for this Darknd that was mentioned by this author.


    There¡¯s no way I would have been able to do anything, since I was sealed in that period of time.


    In the text of the poem, the only thing that¡¯s stated clearly is the name of thend, Underworld Country. I can¡¯t see a single part that mentions the name of the Dark God Entropy.


    ¡®Ruler of Darkness¡¯, ¡®the Avatar of Wickedness¡¯; those were the only vague mentions there.


    As expected, this is the portrayal of the author¡¯s fantasy that matched with me by coincidence. It would be the most natural to ept this as just that, a coincidence...


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s go confirm it.¡±


    ...Is the conclusion I reached to, but there was one person who said something outrageous.


    ¡°Yorishiro?¡± ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡±


    I was wondering why she had been silent, but she actually came and threw in an explosive statement again.


    ¡°Confirm it, where?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Of course, at the Dark Underworld country. The many questions you have will most likely have an answer when you go there.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But Yorishiro-sama...!¡± (Karen)


    I stand on Karen-san¡¯s side in this.


    ¡°The Underworld country is a mysterious city that we don¡¯t even know if it existed or not! Even if it actually does, it would be just like the poem has written it to be, destroyed and in ruins already. In the first ce, we don¡¯t know where it is! Even if we tried to look for it, there¡¯s no clues¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If it¡¯s about that, there¡¯s no need to worry.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro takes out something from her pocket. A small maic needle...something like apass.


    ¡°This is one of the secret treasures that have been passed down to the Founders of the Light Church, the ¡®Needle of Guidance¡¯.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡®Needle of Guidance¡¯?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°This needle is made from the same material as the holy sword Saint-George that was granted to you, Karen-san. If you pour light divine power into it with the image of what you are looking for in your mind, it will point at a certain direction.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Incredible! Then, if we pour divine power into this needle and imagine the Underworld country...!!¡± (Karen)


    It will point at the direction the Underworld country is.


    It sounds like an incredibly convenient item. Way too convenient.


    ¡°But, if what you are looking for is way too far, or your image is way too vague, it won¡¯t point well at your destination. In order to search for it better, you would need to pour even more light divine power. To search for a ce that you don¡¯t know where in the whole world it is and have never seen before, Karen-san, even if you ce all your divine power into it, it still wouldn¡¯t be enough.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ah...¡±


    Reality isn¡¯t that kind.


    The path that had opened was immediately closed, and the face of Karen-san clouds.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I will be going as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If we pair your light divine power with mine, we would have enough to cover the whole world. Karen-san, in exchange of this sacred treasure and my divine power, in your search for the Dark Underworld country, can I also apany you?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Of course! Thank you very much! Yorishiro-sama, how kind you are!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ufufu, we are alreadyrades in love, aren¡¯t we. It is a given to help each other.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The self-proimedrades in love are holding hands and swinging them up and down


    No, wait. Doesn¡¯t that mean the hero and the Founder would be absent from the Light Church?


    ¡°Looks like you are uneasy about something, Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Don¡¯t read my mind.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is okay. For the sake of this kind of times, I work hard everyday in order to maintain the remaining work to zero. So, in my absence, I will just have the Cardinal work as if his life is at stake.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t sacrifice the life force of someone else!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Those people don¡¯t usually work anyways, so this serves just fine.¡± (Yorishiro)


    A ck Yorishiro came out.


    ¡°I am also fine. Just like the time when we went to Hydra Ville, as long as I have the flying machine, I can handle any situation in a timely manner! Okay, with this, things have been decided. Let¡¯s go, Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Karen)


    I look at Karen-san with a dumbfounded expression, and Karen-san looks back at me with a puzzled expression.


    .......Well, yeah...I knew this would happen.


    I have to go together with them. I am the hero¡¯s assistant after all.


    Also, as the reincarnation of the Dark God, this matter is suspicious. I don¡¯t remember being worshipped, and yet, there¡¯s supposedly a city of Dark God worshippers. If there really is a ce like that, I want to properly confirm its identity.


    And more importantly, I can¡¯t leave these two, who have surpassed their ¡®Haine-san love parameter¡¯, alone!

 Chapter 70-72 - To the desert

    <h4>Chapter 70-72: To the desert</h4>


    In the past, there was a mysterious city that worshipped the Dark God, the Underworld Country.


    In order to go on a journey to search for this ce, there was the need of around 1 week of preparation.


    Most importantly, the Founder Yorishiro had to put in order a lot of tasks in order to take a leave from the Light capital, so there was the need for time to finish those.


    The hero Karen-san also had those kind of duties, and while finishing them all, a whole week passed in the blink of an eye.


    By the way, I thought the ¡®Karen-san love love¡¯ girl -also known as the fire hero, Mirack- would be desperate in trying to let her apany us, but she went against my expectations and didn¡¯t participate.


    The reason is because she has to concentrate on the security of Muspelheim.


    Looks like her constant visits to Karen-san have finally angered the Fire Church.


    To show that she has reflected on this, it seems she won¡¯t be able to visit Karen-san for a while.


    The water hero Celestis is endeavouring in both her duties as a hero and an idol in Hydra Ville.


    In that case, the members this time will only be us three...


    * * *


    ¡°I like you, Haine-san.¡±


    ¡°I love you-desu wa, Haine-san.¡±


    ¡°Are you two seriously going to do this everyday?!¡±


    In the day of our departure, I was immediately greeted with a double punch that was about to knock me out.


    The light hero, Karen-san, and the Light Church Founder, Yorishiro.


    In the several days after the event where the two confessed their love, their attacks have been aggressive. It was on a level that I felt I was beingpletely crushed t.


    Even in the middle of our duties at the Light Church, they would stick their bodies to me and whisper their love. For the body of a growing man, this was incredibly bad for my health.


    ¡°We can finally go, to our searching tour of the Dark Underworld Country!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°To think I would be able to have a journey with this lineup, it is like a honeymoon-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is a honeymoon something that¡¯s supposed to be done with three people?


    When I am involved, these two be a pair that are just wishing to be retorted.


    Weird rumors have already been spreading inside the church, and sadly, most of them are true... And in order to have those rumors cool down, this journey might be useful to make them ¡®disappear¡¯ from there.


    ......


    I tried thinking about it for a bit but, as I thought, it won¡¯t work. I can easily imagine that our absence will only invite spection and the stories will get even more inted.


    ¡°And so, Karen-san, are the preparations on your side done?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Of course, Founder! Please look!¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, what Karen-san pointed at with a *bang!* was the flying machine that I am already familiar with.


    It is a one-man ride that flies at high speeds powered with Ethereal energy, and thanks to this little one, the range of things the hero Karen-san can do have increased drastically.


    It is a great machine that¡¯s already on the level that it should be indispensable for a hero, but the one I am seeing today is a bit different from the one I am used to.


    ¡°I requested this from the manufacturers in the ptorpany and had them remodel it in several areas. It has been painted with a special heat-resistant paint and closed up as many of the opened areas in the machine as possible to increase the airtight properties of it. It is in order to avoid sand from entering.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Sand?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The destination this time seems like it will be a lot crueler than the ces we have been until now, so we can¡¯tck in preparations.¡± (Karen)


    Yeah, our journey this time is to search for the Underworld country, but the ce we are heading to search in has already been established.


    We have already poured light divine power to the ¡®Needle of Guidance¡¯ in order to have it point at our wished destination.


    And then, after matching the direction with the map, we inferred the location we would arrive at.


    A desert.


    Speaking of it in more detail, it is a big desert that is at the territory of the Earth capital, Ishtar ze. The people call it the ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯.


    It is all sand without a single de of grass growing, and it is said that everyone that has gone in there has died. And in reality, there have been reports of several people always ending up stranded there. It is a pretty dangerous ce.


    That¡¯s why, there¡¯s the need to bepletely prepared.


    ...Well, in normal circumstances, it would be best to just not go there though.


    ¡°But it is exactly because it is such a dangerous ce that people don¡¯t get close to it, and it wouldn¡¯t be strange if there were a city that people have not been able to discover there for several centuries. It might be the discovery of the century!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ufufu, it tingles your sense of adventure-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Why are these two holy women so hyped up?


    ¡°But I am still worried. Having you girls go to such a dangerous ce is just...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t look down on me, Haine-san. I am a hero. I have already learned the survival skills in order to fight against monsters in any kind of extreme situations.¡± (Karen)


    After Karen-san, Yorishiro also speaks.


    ¡°What¡¯s needed when stepping into an unknownnd is careful preparation. As long as there¡¯s that, there¡¯s no need to fear more than necessary. Believe that the wisdom of humans can conquer nature.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so says the God...


    In your case, it only means that you can just release your power as a Goddess and things will resolve somehow.


    Well, that¡¯s the same for me though.


    In that sense, there¡¯s most likely no need to worry?


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s go, Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Right, Karen-san. Finally, what we have been waiting for!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Our journey of love with Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°An incognito trip where love and desire swirls!¡± (Yorishiro)


    As I thought, maybe we should not go.


    I am beginning to wonder what¡¯s their actual objective.


    From the ces we have gone to, this ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯ is the one who is the most harshest of them all.


    It truly was sand from as far as you can see. There¡¯s nothing that serves as andmark, so the sense of direction gets disarrayed, and the sand is reflecting the sunlight making it quite hot.


    It is exactly because of the flying machine that we were able to reach all the way here and allowed us to move fast even in a ce like this, but if that wasn¡¯t the case, we would have it quite rough.


    ¡°Haine-san, Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san calls to me as she drives through the desert with her flying machine.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama is in a dire state!¡± (Karen)


    There was one girl that was having it hard.


    When I look , the person that is clinging onto the back of Karen-san at the rear seat of the flying machine, Yorishiro, was having her life force shaved off by the heat and the sunlight¡¯s radiance.


    She had her tongue out and going *huff huff* like a summertime dog.


    ¡°Ah good grief. It is because you are normally at the Grand Church and rarely go out, and now you have suddenly gone to a rough ce like this...¡± (Haine)


    At this rate, the life force of Yorishiro will run out...


    This is problematic. Even if we want to let her rest, there¡¯s only sand all around us with no ce to take it easy.


    ¡°......¡±


    Yorishiro stayed silent with only herpass in hand. The needle was going in circles like crazy, and then, points at a set direction.


    ¡°...........Oasis.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Looks like she doesn¡¯t have anymore strength to say anything more.


    What she has in her hands is the ¡®Needle of Guidance¡¯ that can point at the things you search for if you pour light divine power in it.


    This thing that we have been using in order to search for the Underworld country has now changed its target to an oasis. In other words, a water source inside the desert.


    What a crafty woman. And also, what a convenient item.


    ¡°Haine-san, let¡¯s head to the oasis. At this rate, Yorishiro-sama will dry up.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah. Having the Light Founder dying from heatstroke would not be funny.¡± (Haine)


    And so, Karen-san and I turn our flying machines to the oasis and drive our way there.


    By the way, there¡¯s currently two flying machines here; the one that Karen-san and Yorishiro are riding, and the one I am riding.


    In this journey, I managed to ride on my own personal flying machine!


    When we were about to depart for this journey, Yorishiro prepared this with her own pocket money.


    She nonchntly said: ¡®I am giving this to you¡¯, but I refused.


    After all, when I was going to buy this flying machine myself, I learned that it was being sold at a terrifying price.


    Since I be the hero¡¯s assistant, I now have quite a decent wage, but I would have to throw a whole half a year worth of my pay in order to afford one.


    Moreover, the cheapest one.


    With less than half of that price, I would be able to buy a pretty decent house at Apollon City.


    I was thinking of sending part of my pay to my parents at the vige, so it made the price even more shocking.


    Even if I am told nonchntly by her that she would be ¡®giving¡¯ me the luxury I was unable to buy, I would be way too scared of what would happen after receiving it.


    And so, right now, I am riding this only as a borrowed article from the Light Church, and only using it on official business.


    I am suddenly already using it for private business, but if I think of it as using it to act as the bodyguard of the hero and the Founder, it can¡¯t be considered 100% private business! ...Probably.


    If the Underworld country really does exist, it would be a world shaking discovery, so thinking of it in that way, it can¡¯t be called private business! ...Probably.


    And in that way, as I was making excuses for myself, we found an area of green right in the middle of the desert.


    There really was an oasis here.


    * * *


    Water welled up in the desert, and with that as a source, green grew thickly; an oasis, what a mysterious ce.


    With the vaporization of the water and the shadows that the vegetation creates, this ce is a lot more fresh.


    We took a break of around 1 hour there and Yorishiro finally regained her vitality.


    ¡°Aah, I am back~~! The blessing of nature is the best~~!¡± (Yorishiro)


    In the end, humans can¡¯t control nature.


    ¡°But the one that was saved was not only Yorishiro-sama. I was having it rough as well after all.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says this as she wipes her face covered in sweat.


    True, that applies to me as well.


    We are tougher as fighterspared to Yorishiro, but that doesn¡¯t mean we arepletely fine in a harsh environment.


    There¡¯s plenty chance that we would get heat stroke as well if we were to wander too long in the sunlight of the desert.


    ¡°As I thought, it is way too reckless to move around the desert in the morning. Let¡¯s rest in this oasis and wait for night toe.¡± (Haine)


    Is what I say and...


    ¡°When the sun goes down and the temperature lowers, we will resume the search for the Underworld country, right? Then, there¡¯s something I would like to do now that we are here.¡± (Karen)


    What? Karen-san suddenly began fidgeting.


    ¡°Bath.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I understand that feeling.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro who was groggy jumped at that proposal.


    ¡°It is so hot and my whole body is covered in sweat, and even my underwear is soaking wet. On top of that, there¡¯s sand inside my clothes, and if I don¡¯t wash it, I will feelpletely ufortable.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And so, there¡¯s an oasis here in good timing, and a spring...But you see, if we are going to take a bath, we would need to take off our clothes, and get naked, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Hearing until that point, I understood what they wanted to say. It is true that they would be worried about the gaze of a man.


    ¡°Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please peek, okay?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understoo¡ªeh?!¡± (Haine)


    I almost agreed.


    ¡°Wait, Karen-san. Isn¡¯t that the part where you say ¡®please don¡¯t peek¡¯?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In normal cases, yeah. But I love Haine-san. That¡¯s why, it would trouble me if you don¡¯t peek.¡± (Karen)


    Since the time she confessed, her aggressiveness has been escting!


    ¡°I understand that feeling, Karen-san. They would think: ¡®is that gentleman seeing me as a woman?¡¯, this is a life-or-death problem for ady. And that¡¯s how it is Haine-san, I will be taking a bath as well, so don¡¯t hesitate to peek.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I will hesitate!¡± (Haine)


    I am the human, Kuromiya Haine. And the boundary that separates humans from animals is reasoning. That¡¯s why, I value reason. No matter the time and ce.


    ¡°Are you not going to peek no matter what?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I-I won¡¯t! There¡¯s a code of conduct even in intimate rtionships after all!¡± (Haine)


    I assert this.


    I hope that these two will give up with this.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped-desu wa, Karen-san. Haine-san is not the cowardly type that would hide and peek on someone after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Yorishiro-sama. Haine-san is not the kind of coward who would hide and do things sneakily. In other words, we bath together unreservedly!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Oooi!!¡± (Haine)


    Why is it getting deeper?!


    ¡°Uhm, Haine-san! I will wring out all of my courage to apany you, so please!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that courage! Please use that courage to fight against monsters!¡± (Haine)


    When I tried to convince Karen-san, Yorishiro joins in.


    ¡°Haine-san, the courage of a hero and the courage of a woman are two different things. And to prove that, see? My legs are shaking. But, in order to be the woman of Haine-san officially, I will win against my fear!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Win against your fear for the sake of guiding your believers!¡± (Haine)


    Convincing these two utilized more energy than when we were wandering in the desert.


    ¡°Ara, Karen-san, your skin is truly white. Moreover, it is so clear, it looks like polished white porcin.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ohe on, Yorishiro-sama, please don¡¯t look so intently at my naked body. Yorishiro-sama, you yourself have a pretty well-developed body and...uhm...it is incredibly big.¡± (Karen)


    They really went to take a bath.


    The sounds of water sshing and theughs that were like the chirping of birds.


    All of those were entering my ears and stimting the male part of Kuromiya Haine. And at the same time, the human part of Kuromiya Haine was cautioning: ¡®this is not the time yet, don¡¯t hurry things¡¯.


    A fierce struggle between reason and desire.


    Of course, this is what those girls were aiming for.


    ¡°Eek! Yorishiro-sama, please don¡¯t poke at weird ces!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? My body and your body are the personal feast of Haine-san. Sampling each other¡¯s body will help in understanding what needs to be corrected-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh? Then, is it okay for me to poke Yorishiro-sama as well?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Of course. Go ahead and do it anywhere you want.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Aaaaaaahhh!!!


    That was the scream of my instincts.


    They are saying those things while knowing. Purposely having me hear it, they are aiming to destroy my sense of reason with their ¡®kya kya fufu¡¯.


    It is true that I said I won¡¯t peek, and I also said I won¡¯t bathe with them.


    If I disappear from their view, the doubts that I might be peeking wouldn¡¯t go away, so I went out of my way and turned my back at an area close to the spring and am currently sitting firmly there.


    Because I have my back turned I can¡¯t see, but I can clearly hear the sounds of the water and their lovely voices.


    They know. If they continuously make me hear those voices, they can crack my reason and I would turn into an animal.


    The tag team of these two is way too scary.


    Both of them are extreme in their behavior, but whether it is Karen-san or Yorishiro, when they are on their own, they are girls that have a bit more reservation than this.


    There¡¯s also the eyes of the surroundings and they are intelligent girls to begin with, so they know that if they lose their sense of shame, it would be terrible.


    But the brake that they ce when they are on their own suddenly gets destroyed when there¡¯s the two of them.


    When one takes one step, the other will go: ¡®ah, so it¡¯s okay to go that far¡¯, and does one step further than that. And then, the other side, seeing this, will go: ¡®ah, so it¡¯s okay to go that far¡¯, and it will be a repeat of that as they dig themselves into a deeper hole.


    By the time they notice, they are already at a far line that they shouldn¡¯t have crossed.


    Those are the kind of mistakes you end up regrettingter.


    Karen-san and Yorishiro; the two are actually quite simr, and that¡¯s exactly why they are a dangerous type to mix together.


    Being in between these two, the three of us are alone at an oasis in the middle of the desert that¡¯s basically a deserted ind.


    Encountering someone here is close to zero. Because of various reasons, I have been unable to move for almost half of the day.


    What¡¯s with this impasse that had no opening? There¡¯s no escape!


    If this seduction continues until sunset, even I wouldn¡¯t be able to protect my steel resolve!


    What am I to do, Haine?!


    What should I do about the beast inside of me?!


    * * *


    I managed to endure it.


    Because the two holy women had tired themselves out after finishing their bath.


    ¡°Ku...ku...ku......¡±


    ¡°Ufufu, she is sleeping soundly.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Karen-san is making sleeping sounds, and Yorishiro, who had ced Karen-san¡¯s head on herp, was looking at her happily.


    ¡°She must have gotten tired after frolicking too much. This morning, she had a face that said she hadn¡¯t slept at all because of her excitement. The pleasantness of the bath must have sooth her into sleep.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m saved~. That was close.¡± (Haine)


    Thanks to Karen-san being asleep, the offensive has stopped.


    If it continued just like that, my reason would have definitely crumbled, and a situation that can¡¯t be shown to children would have happened.


    ¡°...Karen-san has truly be a lively girl. Since meeting with Haine-san, she has changed to a point that you wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize her.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh? Really?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Her core as a zealous person has not changed, but in her inauguration as a hero, that zealousness was showing openly. By meeting Haine-san, she has be able to y around quite a lot.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Well, sorry for being an evil man that corrupts the hero.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is the contrary. The Karen-san before meeting you was, how to say it, overeager, or more like, stiffened up; at any rate, she didn¡¯t have any flexibility. Her intentions were good, but she was sacrificing herself for that sake. Haine-san, you were the one who allowed her to loosen that unnecessary strength.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Is that a good thing?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is. As an assistant of the hero, you are properly caring for the mental health of the hero. As a Founder, I praise you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro dresses it up as a joke.


    Now that I think about it, the Karen-san I met at my vige gave me an impression that her shoulders and elbows were more stuck to the front.


    I thought that was gone because she simply got more familiar with me, but I see, she was the one who changed.


    ¡°For a long time, I have thought I could be friends with her.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro continues looking at the sleeping face of Karen-san.


    ¡°For a long time, I have thought that she is simr to me. She fell in love with the same person as me, so my intuition was spot on. Thanks to that, we havepletely be good friends. But...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°Haine-san will...definitely choose Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro said something unexpected.


    In other words, that means Yorishiro is saying I will choose Karen-san as my girlfriend?


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong so suddenly? Saying something that¡¯s not like you.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No well...you and I have a past after all. Even if we are inside human vessels now, you wouldn¡¯t marry a woman that sealed you before, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    In the battle of Gods 1,600 years ago, in the battle where I was the Dark God Entropy and Yorishiro was the Light Goddess Intion, I was defeated by her, and was sealed for a long time.


    ¡°What, you think I am holding a grudge on you?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Just how long do you think that has been? 1,600 years. That¡¯s way too far in the past. It is even hard to not forget the grudges I had just a day before. It would be way too tiring to hold a grudge that¡¯s more than 1 year old.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But... the other ones...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The reason why I beat up Nova and Coacervate was because those guys pissed me off in the present. If they are pieces of shit like in the past, even the grudges of the past would resurface, right?¡± (Haine)


    But Yorishiro is different.


    The Light Goddess Intion in front of me is different.


    ¡°At the very least, I am fond of the Light Goddess Intion as an equal God. We arerades that cooperated to create the world. There¡¯s no way I would hate you.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine... Haine-san!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But that¡¯s only as the Dark God Entropy towards the Light Goddess Intion. The human Haine towards Yorishiro...that would have to start from zero first¡ªUoo?!!¡± (Haine)


    I looked at my side and get surprised.


    Yorishiro is crying. Silently. But there¡¯s an amount of tears that was enough to create strings flowing from both of her eyes.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?! There¡¯s no need to cry, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san is at fault for saying something that would make me cry. I felt like the burden I had been shouldering for 1,600 years had fallen off.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so that¡¯s why she is crying tears of happiness.


    She has a lot more sweet parts than I thought.


    ¡°But that¡¯s exactly why it is saddening. To the point that I would want to cry.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°When you learn about the evils I have done in the time you weren¡¯t there, you would definitely end up hating me.¡± (Yorishiro)

 Chapter 73-75 - Underworld down-slope

    <h4>Chapter 73-75: Underworld down-slope</h4>


    And then, night came.


    ¡°Now that it has be a lot easier to act here, let¡¯s move!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san stands up filled with energy.


    She is fully charged after sleeping.


    Compared to that, Yorishiro and I were in a questionable state.


    ¡°...What¡¯s wrong, you two?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No...¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    It is because Yorishiro said something like that.


    ¡®When you learn about the evils I have done in the time you weren¡¯t there, you would definitely end up hating me.¡¯


    Since the time she said that, the atmosphere between Yorishiro and I has be somewhatplicated.


    It is true that I don¡¯t know anything about the things that happened in the 1,600 years I was sealed.


    It is way too long of a time to call it a nk.


    In that time, several millions of humans must have died and more must have been born.


    In this period of time where I was not there, she has been living on. As a God that transcends humans.


    ¡°...It is here.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even within thisplicated atmosphere, Yorishiro properly does what has to be done.


    The ce where the light needle points at, is precisely the ce where we are standing.


    ¡°But...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing here.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and I look at our surroundings, but it is all sand.


    Not only a city, there¡¯s not even a single sign of anything around.


    ¡°It is okay...... Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°Go ahead.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is sad that I can understand what I have to do from just those few words.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡± (Haine)


    Along with my voice, dark matter coils around my hands.


    Reversing the gravity of it, I make it so it creates a repulsive force...and release it.


    With that repulsive force between materials, the light sand was blown away and scatters.


    And then, what appeared below that was...


    ¡°Oh?!¡±


    No matter how you see it, it can only be seen as something manmade.


    ¡°Amazing! What¡¯s this?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°A stone...b? Gate? Lid?¡± (Haine)


    At any rate, it is incredibly t and big. It is no doubt made of stone, but the detailed carvings at the surface were eloquently indicating that this is made by humans.


    ¡°To think something like this was buried under the sand!!¡± (Karen)


    But we still don¡¯t know what in the world it is.


    This beautifully carved stone b is big enough that all three of us could easily lie down on it with space to spare, moreover, the part that bothers me the most is that there¡¯s a gap right in the middle of it that runs all the way from bottom to top.


    There¡¯s no doubt it can open.


    As I thought, this really is a gate.


    A gate that divides the surface and the underground.


    The problem is how to open it...is what I was thinking when...Yorishiro approaches the gate, ces her hand on it, and pours light divine power into it.


    The carvings that were engraved on the surface had light divine power pass freely through them.


    And then...


    *Rumble rumble rumble*, the gate opens on its own.


    ¡°?!!¡±


    ¡°This is...?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and I were so awestruck that we couldn¡¯t say anything.


    What was after the opened stone gate were stairs. Moreover, stairs leading underground.


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s go.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro advances.


    We also hurriedly follow behind her.


    I wonder how far below these stairs lead to.


    We were already underground, and adding that it is night, it was so dark that I couldn¡¯t even see my own hands.


    ¡°Karen-san, make a light.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Y-Yes!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san gets startled, and from her waist, a ttering sound is made. So she unsheathed her holy sword, Saint-George.


    ¡°Pour a bit of light divine power and...¡± (Karen)


    By doing that, the holy sword lightens up dazzlingly, and the stairs are light up as if it were broad daylight.


    The light divine power is convenient.


    ¡°Hey! Hey, Yorishiro!¡± (Haine)


    I also take out my ethereal shlight and chase after Yorishiro who continued going down.


    ¡°You...haven¡¯t you been weird for a while now?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What is?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What, you ask. After all the events that are urring, you are not getting fazed at all.¡± (Haine)


    We removed the sand, found the gate, opened the gate, and continued on; every single one of them was brought by Yorishiro, but there wasn¡¯t a single sign of hesitation as she did those.


    That was as if...


    ¡°It is as if I knew everything from the beginning?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°As I have said before, don¡¯t read my mind.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That might be the case-desu wa. The location of the Underworld country, where to enter, how to open the door; if I knew everything from the beginning, it would be a given that I would know about those things, wouldn¡¯t I?...And what will be happening after as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    At some point in time, there were no more stairs.


    And then, the ce we arrived at was a big space like that of a hall.


    Moreover, at that ce...


    ¡°There¡¯s someone?¡± (Haine)


    A ck shadow is standing right at the center of the hall.


    It wasn¡¯t some sort of metaphor, it really was ck, and its outline was so blurred that I could only call it a shadow. It was barely maintaining the shape of a human.


    But it was by no means human.


    ¡°Monster?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san also noticed the abnormality and takes a battle stance.


    But that¡¯s not right. That¡¯s not a monster.


    Monsters are pseudo-living beings that were created by hardening divine power. You can¡¯t sense the oscition of the soul inside a hollow existence like them.


    But that shadow...I can certainly feel it.


    It is travelling through the space here and reaching clearly to me...the cadence of a soul.


    ¡°I-I am...¡±


    The shadow speaks.


    With only that part alone you can tell that it differs from monsters.


    But the thing that truly surprised me was not there, it is what it said next.


    ¡°I am the Dark God...Entropy...¡±


    ¡°I am the Dark God...Entropy...¡±


    The shadow repeats the same thing.


    But, what¡¯s the meaning of this?


    There¡¯s no way that thing is the Dark God Entropy. The real Dark God Entropy is right here after all.


    ¡°Dark God... Is it saying that this one is the Dark God Entropy-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san had also fallen into confusion.


    The objective of this journey...moreover, the target that we shouldn¡¯t have been able to find...has appeared right in front of our eyes after all.


    ¡°I...have never seen a God with my own eyes though. But it is certainly not a human, and now that I look carefully, it is different from a monster as well. Then, is it really a God?!¡± (Karen)


    No, it isn¡¯t. Karen-san¡¯s judgement is wrong.


    It is true that this isn¡¯t a human or a monster. But even so, it is rash to call it a God.


    Specially the Dark God Entropy, there¡¯s no way.


    The reincarnation of the Dark God is right here after all.


    As long as I am the Dark God, there¡¯s no way that this one is the real one.


    Then, what is this thing that¡¯s calling itself with my name?


    At the very least, it knows the name Entropy. With only that, it turns into a hard to ignore mystery.


    I am supposed to be a hidden God that was sealed 1,600 years ago and no one knows of.


    ¡°...¡±


    Karen-san and I were confused, but when I take a sidelong nce at Yorishiro, I could see that only she was calm.


    What should we do in this situation?


    Unable to read the situation, we couldn¡¯t make a careless move.


    The one who moved the situation was that...the dark shadow.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    The figure, that was barely maintaining the human silhouette, crumbled, and moves quickly in a form like that of a thick line.


    And the ce that it was moving to was...


    ¡°Karen-san! Watch out!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Right before it was about to hit her, the holy sword repels the lunging shadow.


    Good, she properly guarded from that. But...


    ¡°As I thought, it really is an enemy!¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s what it must mean if that thing attacked us.


    It still is an existence that¡¯s filled of enigma, but there¡¯s no choice but to fight back.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    Several thousands, several millions of jet ck particles spring forth from both of my arms, be a mass, and create a ck swirl.


    This is a brutal swirl formed of dark matter that erases earth, water, fire, and wind the moment it makes contact with them.


    Moreover, it also possesses a second property that is gravity control. Even against things that are notposed of divine power, it still possesses strong suppression power.


    ¡°Eat this!!¡± (Haine)


    I release the ck swirl towards the ck shadow.


    Now, what will you do? Even if it¡¯s a lie, you are calling yourself the Dark God. Show me how you are going to deal with the dark matter!


    But the shadow didn¡¯t confront the dark matter directly, it turned long and narrow and jumped away.


    ¡°Damn it, escaping?!¡± (Haine)


    Moreover, those movements are a lot more agile than I expected.


    If it leaves the range of the light that Karen-san¡¯s holy sword is creating, the human eye is unable to keep up with its speed.


    ¡°I will assist you, Haine-san! I will add a bit more light divine power, and...!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san increases the amount of light divine power she is pouring in the holy sword.


    When she does that, the de releases even more light, and lights up an evenrger sphere.


    Okay, with this, even if the shadow escapes far away, we will still be able to see it without losing sight of it.


    ¡°You can¡¯t! Karen-san!¡±


    At that moment, a strained scream resounds. The one who let out that voice was...


    ¡°Yorishiro?!¡±


    Yorishiro, who has been acting calm all this time as if she knew everything, was suddenly agitated.


    But I didn¡¯t have the time to think about this.


    That shadow had turned into a line as it springs around, and attacks Karen-san.


    ¡°Ei!¡±


    Karen-san once again deflects it with her holy sword and avoids a direct hit.


    But, why did the shadow suddenly change its target to Karen-san?!


    ¡°What¡¯s this all of a sudden?! .........But as a hero, I just have to shake off the sparks thate flying.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, please leave this to me, you protect Yorishiro-sama! In this narrow underground, I can¡¯t utilize the wide-ranged ¡®Holy Light Sword¡¯. In that case, I will concentrate the light divine power into one spot and...!¡± (Karen)


    She adjusts the aim with the tip of her holy sword, and...shoots.


    ¡°[Holy Light Line]!!¡± (Karen)


    The de of the holy sword turns into light and stretches.


    urately speaking, it is a line shaped divine power that was shot out from the holy sword, and it looked as if the de itself had stretched.


    That light thorn pierces through the shadow that was moving around at high speed.


    ¡°Yay! I hit it!¡± (Karen)


    To think she would be able to hit it in one go against a target that was making such crazy movements, as expected of a hero.


    But...


    ¡°You can¡¯t! This is not good!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro screams once again.


    ¡°It is not that the attack hit the target, that child went itself to be hit! You can¡¯t give light divine power to that child!¡± (Yorishiro)


    By the time we noticed something was wrong, it was already toote.


    After receiving a direct hit from the attack of Karen-san, we thought that it would get injured and weaken, but those expectations were betrayed.


    It was theplete contrary.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    The shadow...consumed Karen-san¡¯s attack and became bigger!


    ¡°What...is this?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san who was the very person that attacked was surprised by the unexpected situation.


    This attack that she released intending to damage or kill it, actually made it even livelier. Of course she would be surprised.


    Is it correct to call it livelier?


    At any rate, that shadow devoured the light divine power of Karen-san and was rapidly growing bigger.


    It is already three times bigger than before.


    It may be my imagination but, it looks like that jet ck color covering its body had grown even thicker as well.


    ¡°Karen-san! Stop your attack! It will be bigger and bigger!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?! Okay!¡± (Karen)


    With all that surprise, Karen-san had forgotten to stop her ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯, but after being shouted by me, she stops pouring divine power.


    But by the time she did that, the shadow had already grown big enough to look down on us.


    ¡°It ate the light divine power... is how I should take this sight as, right?¡± (Haine)


    I infer this from the urrence in front of me.


    With the light divine power attack that Karen-san released as the trigger, it grew in such a splendid manner, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any other reason...


    But, is that even possible?


    ¡°Light...making the darkness bigger? That normally would never happen.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I-Is that so?!¡± (Karen)


    Preparing ourselves for the attack of the shadow that would be resuming, we gather at one location.


    Karen-san probably thinks that her mistake worsened the situation, she looks like she is sorry. I answer that question of hers with the intention of lessening that feeling of hers as well.


    ¡°The Dark element...the dark matter is a substance that can erase any element unconditionally. Earth, water, fire, wind; in the face of the Dark element, they are all powerless. But, there¡¯s an exception.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The light divine power.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro takes over and speaks.


    ¡°Haine-san looks like he is invincible at a nce, but the only weakness of the dark matter is the light divine power. The only element that the dark matter can¡¯t erase is light, and on the contrary, the darkness is the one that gets erased.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro sends me a gaze, and I understood what she was trying to say. I let out a small amount of dark matter.


    When Yorishiro hits this dark matter with her own light divine power, the dark swirl scatters and disappears like bubbles. There was not a single sign of resistance.


    ¡°Waa?!¡±


    Seeing this, Karen-san was honestly surprised.


    ¡°The four base elements have a rotation of weak points within their own group. Darkness is the natural enemy of all of them, and Darkness can¡¯t win against Light. Moreover, Light is slightly stronger than all the four base elements which is an unreliable advantage.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°In other words, it creates a bigger cycle of affinities.¡± (Haine)


    Since I have not been fighting against light, I hadpletely forgotten about it.


    If it¡¯s the ¡®Holy Light Bullet¡¯ of Captain Vesage that¡¯s on the level of a small grain, I can still manage, but when ites to a certain level of skill, darkness absolutely can¡¯t defeat light.


    This is the biggest reason as to why I lost in the battle of Gods 1,600 years ago.


    ¡°But that¡¯s exactly the reason why that shadow is abnormal.¡± (Haine)


    The shadow was courteously waiting as we were in the middle of exining.


    It looks like it is adapting to its sudden gigantification and it is taking its time to do it.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    While at it, it repeated the same thing.


    Does it like introducing itself that much?


    ¡°The light divine power is supposed to be a deadly poison, and yet, it instead got bigger. It is the very definition of an existence outside ofmon sense! Ah, but, if that shadow is truly a God,mon sense wouldn¡¯t apply in the first pl¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, that can¡¯t be.¡± (Haine)


    I am the actual Dark God, and yet,mon sense still applies to me.


    In the first ce, that guy is not a God. Probably.


    ¡°At any rate, as long as light doesn¡¯t work on it, Karen-san, please step back.¡± (Haine)


    And then, I step forward.


    ¡°If it¡¯s the same element, the one with the stronger power wins. This is the natural rule. I wonder if it will see my dark matter as delicious food as well. Let¡¯s have it relish plenty.¡± (Haine)


    Dark Matter, Set.


    With a fist d with dark matter, I try hitting the giant shadow but...


    ¡°It ran away again!¡± (Haine)


    Does that thing not have any intentions of fighting me?


    Even when it has be bigger, it is still agile. While evading my attacks, it circumvents me and yet, not even giving me an eye, it rushes forward.


    Its destination was...


    ¡°Karen-san! Yorishiro!¡± (Haine)


    That bastard, just how much does it aim for women?!


    No, that¡¯s not it. Its objective is the light divine power that Karen-san and Yorishiro release.


    Now that I think about it, that thing has been aiming for Karen-san persistently from the very beginning. Karen-san, who has been lighting up the pitch ck underground with her holy sword.


    That thing probably aims for the light users in order to eat their divine power and make itself bigger.


    ¡°Run, you two!¡± (Haine)


    I hurriedly tried to chase after it, but I can¡¯t make it in time.


    ¡°Kugh!¡±


    Karen-san also takes a stance with her holy sword, but she can¡¯t do anymore than that.


    If she attacks with her light divine power, she already knows that it will only make it livelier, and she has no other method of attacking.


    Even if she runs away with Yorishiro, it wouldn¡¯t go as she wants.


    ¡°...As I thought, it would be better to get away once-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro says.


    ¡®What is she going to do?¡¯, the moment I thought this...


    ¡°[Holy Light Destruction Formation]¡± (Yorishiro)


    The floor at the foot of Yorishiro had several cracks appearing, and from those cracks, light leaked out.


    The next moment, the floor crumbled along with a thunderous sound and turned into small pieces.


    ¡°Uwaaa?!!!¡±


    ¡°Kyaaaaa!!!¡±


    In other words, our footing had been lost suddenly, and while Karen-san and I raised screams, we had no choice but to continue falling.


    It looks like this hall had a lower level, and there, a deep space was spread around.


    I feel like we will be falling for a while.


    I could utilize the gravity reversal of the dark matter to float, but there was something I had to prioritize.


    ¡°Like hell I will let you!¡± (Haine)


    In order to restrain the shadow that was still persistently aiming at both Karen-san and Yorishiro, I jostle with it and choose to fall together with it.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    ¡°So annoying! Is that all you can say?!¡± (Haine)


    On the other hand, the presence of Karen-san and Yorishiro steadily grew further away.


    That¡¯s fine. That¡¯s exactly what you were nning on doing right, Yorishiro?


    In the time you are away, I will defeat this guy!

 Chapter 76-77 - Country at the depths of the earth

    <h4>Chapter 76-77: Country at the depths of the earth</h4>


    And then, I -Kourin Karen- ended up separated from Haine-san.


    When the floor broke, what I saw while we were falling along the rubble was...the shadow calling itself the Dark God and Haine-san jostling as they both went away.


    That person did something reckless again in order to save us.


    Thinking that, I felt mortified at my own powerlessness, and at the same time, I felt happiness at how the person I love was fighting for my sake; these mix of feelings were making me confused.


    The past me wouldn¡¯t have understood this kind of feelings at all, and would have fallen in a vicious cycle of confusion and end up panicking. But now, that¡¯s different.


    I decided to name this inexplicable emotions as ¡®love¡¯.


    That definition returns my heart to serenity and it helps me out a bit.


    I love Haine-san, so I am happy when Haine-san protects me. I love Haine-san, so I end up being more worried about Haine-san than any other.


    By admitting my woman part, I was able to make an excuse of these feelings that should be scolded as a hero.


    * * *


    ¡°...Are you okay, Karen-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama, who had gotten up first, extended her hand to me.


    ¡°Ah, yes!¡± (Karen)


    I hurriedly take that hand.


    But, how pathetic of me. I should be the one protecting Founder-sama as the hero.


    ¡°We ended up falling quite a few ways down. It looks like the materials had be a lot more brittle than I thought.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah, I feel like we fell from quite the height. I am surprised that we were able toe out safely from th¡ª- Ah.¡± (Karen)


    I soon noticed the reason why.


    My rear was halfway buried -in sand. It is probably something that leaked from the desert. It had piled up and worked as a cushion to soften the impact of our fall.


    ¡°......This is...underground, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, and we have arrived. The ce we were looking for in this journey, the Dark Underworld Country.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    I pull up my rear from the sand and run to where Yorishiro-sama is and stand to her side, and then, follow that gaze of hers.


    What appeared in my sight was the remains of a city that reached far into the distance. In this space at the depths of the earth, there¡¯s many stone-made buildings. Most were partially destroyed or buried in sand; there was already no presence of life.


    But even in its current state, I can still understand that there were traces of life in the long past.


    Traces of humans living here.


    It would be more urate to describe it as ruins. Historic ruins of a grand underground city.


    This is the ce we were searching for, the Dark Underworld Country?


    ¡°Incredible! Even when it is pitch ck underground, I can still slightly tell its contour.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Looks like there¡¯s moss growing on the surface of the buildings. It seems to be the type that gives off slight amounts of light. Karen-san, perk up your ears.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Being told this by Yorishiro-sama, I concentrate on my ears and...hear some sort of damp sound.


    Could this be...the sound of water?


    ¡°It must be an underground water source. It seems like the few times that there¡¯s rain in the desert, it soaks into the sand and created a stream. Life appears in ces where there¡¯s water. But well, it is mostly vegetation though.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, Yorishiro-sama walks around as if confirming the surroundings.


    ¡°Thanks to the nts cleaning the air, we are able to breathe even when we are so below ground. Even in this dead metropolis, life still goes on -in a different form.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But...as expected, just the light of the moss won¡¯t help in seeing well. We can¡¯t confirm our footing well either so...wait please, I will make some light...¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, I was about to pour light divine power to my holy sword but...


    ¡°!! Stop it!¡± (Yorishiro)


    I was suddenly yelled at by Yorishiro-sama and got scared.


    ¡°Did you forget what happened just a few moments ago?! That shadow attacked us seeking for light, you know? If you shine your sword again, it will serve as a lighthouse and that child will once againe here-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°S-Sorry!¡± (Karen)


    It is exactly as Yorishiro-sama says.


    I could see that shadow-san jostling with Haine-san when the floor crumbled and we were falling.


    We didn¡¯t suffer a single injury, so that shadow-san must be safe as well, and there¡¯s a high chance that it is loitering around this city somewhere.


    It happened just a few moments ago, and yet, why am I messing up now...


    ¡°But, what should we do now, Yorishiro-sama? It is good that we arrived at the Underworld Country, but the passage to the entrance has copsed, and returning is impossible now. On top of that, if such an unknown *monster* like that is loitering around, it is important to protect ourselves, you know?¡± (Karen) <monster here is written in japanese, instead of the usual ¡®monster¡¯ in engrish>


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry. We have Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Eh?


    ¡°We ended up separated from him, but that¡¯s probably the best option right now. He has an ethereal shlight with him. If he keeps it on all the time, the shadow should be lured to it and target Haine-san. If it¡¯s one vs one, he can show his real strength as much as he wants.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I see...


    Against that shadow that absorbs light, I am only a deadweight.


    ¡°In that time, we should keep hidden. There¡¯s no need to get worried about the matter of getting out of here either. Haine-san will definitely manage something.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°We are throwing all of it to Haine-san...¡± (Karen)


    When I let out what I was thinking right out of my mouth, Yorishiro-sama giggles in a joking manner.


    ¡°Because you know, that¡¯s exactly how it is, right? That person can resolve anything. Save the world when it is in peril, and even the worries of women.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s true.


    Only a short time has passed since I met Haine-san, but who knows how many times he has already saved me.


    He is a lot more of a hero than me.


    ¡°That person...is a lot more of a God...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Eh?


    At any rate, Yorishiro-sama and I -Kourin Karen- decided to investigate the historic ruins of the Underworld Country that¡¯s in front of us.


    I am also bothered by that shadow that calls itself the Dark God Entropy, but our original objective was to find this city, and investigate it.


    Why did this city fall to ruins? Why did it get buried deep underground?


    If we are able to unveil the truth by investigating the ruins, we might be able to get closer to the identity of that shadow.


    Yorishiro-sama and I walk at what might have been the path of a street in the city.


    It goes through the middle and the width of the road is big.


    In the days that the city was still alive, I think that many people had moved back and forth on this road.


    But right now, it is a quiet space where there¡¯s only rubble and sand scattered around.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama, be careful. It is dark and we can¡¯t see what¡¯s at our feet.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ara, then, want to hold hands as we walk?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Karen)


    Without even knowing, I ended up holding hands with Yorishiro-sama as we walk.


    For some strange reason, this is making my heart race.


    Even if I am holding hands with someone, that other person is a girl like me, moreover, I have my heart set on Haine-san, and yet...


    As expected, is it because Yorishiro-sama is way too beautiful?


    Even in the eyes of a person of the same sex, Yorishiro-sama is transcendentally beautiful. I thought that way even when she was normally covering her face with a veil. When she took that veil off, that beauty of hers surpassed my imagination. So unfair.


    If a person hides her face in normal basis, you would imagine that person as being incredibly beautiful, so isn¡¯t the hurdle of beauty supposed to increase when that person reveals her face?


    ¡°Ufufufu...walking side by side like this...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°We look like friends, don¡¯t we?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Y-Y-Yes?!¡±


    I have only been saying ¡®yes¡¯.


    ¡°T-T-T-That¡¯s too much of an h-h-h-honor! I am a hero and Yorishiro-sama is a Founder! I pledged at the hero investiture that I would devote my sword to Yorishiro-sama...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ara Ara, that¡¯s the old stiff Karen-san -desu wa ne. But walking with our hands held like this, seeing each other¡¯s naked bodies, and most importantly, loving the same man; isn¡¯t this already on the level where it is okay to call us the best of friends?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s...!¡± (Karen)


    Even if she tells me that, as I thought, someone like me being the friend of Yorishiro-sama is just unthinkable.


    A friend is, putting it in other words, an equal person.


    No matter how I think about it, I can¡¯t consider Yorishiro-sama as an equal to me.


    There¡¯s the Founder and Hero standing, but there¡¯s also what I said before, even if I were to take away the beauty part, I am still far from reaching her level.


    For example, in the time of the idol strife, when we were fighting together with Celestis, I was overwhelmed by that person¡¯s shiness and refined charm.


    Even with that, I didn¡¯t want to lose as a woman in front of Haine-san, so I ended up saying ¡®I win¡¯. I was just acting tough there.


    And right now, in front of the beauty of Yorishiro-sama, I can¡¯t even act tough.


    A perfect beauty that would make you wonder if she isn¡¯t actually the very representation of a Goddess. Moreover, this person doesn¡¯t only have possess beauty and status.


    She is also perfect in strength.


    Travelling together with her in this asion, this fact was made even clearer. This person surpasses me -a hero- by lengths and bounds, and her ability to control light divine power is good.


    Even that skill of destroying the floor at the battle of the shadow-san, Yorishiro-sama doesn¡¯t have a divine tool like the holy sword Saint-George, and yet, she was able to create such destruction with her bare hands.


    Normally, no matter how much light element number you have, without a divine tool that amplifies it, a person can¡¯t can¡¯t bring out enough divine power to destroy things.


    Yorishiro-sama overturned such norm.


    She probably possesses light element that surpasses mine by a lot; a person that¡¯s rarely born with high affinity of her light element.


    Even in the ¡®Needle of Guidance¡¯, at first, it was supposed to be me and Yorishiro-sama pouring divine power together, and yet, it ended up with Yorishiro-sama doing it on her own all the way here.


    If Yorishiro-sama was not the Founder, she would have been the light hero, no doubt.


    Thinking that way, my confidence decreases more and more.


    Even Haine-san, he definitely likes her more...


    ¡°Sorry, it looks like I have turned your mood sour.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The hand of Yorishiro-sama slips away from my fingers.


    This is bad. Did my face show how I felt?


    ¡°But don¡¯t worry. Haine-san will definitely choose you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°A long time ago, Imitted a sin. A big sin that I wouldn¡¯t be able to atone for even if I tried to atone for it. He...still doesn¡¯t know about the details of this sin of mine. But he will know of it in time. When he learns of it, he will not forgive me.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The underground city is dark so I was unable to confirm the expression of Yorishiro-sama well.


    But for some reason, I thought that Yorishiro-sama was probably crying.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I can¡¯t be together with Haine-san. Being pampered by him is fun and it makes me happy, but that¡¯s as far as I¡¯m allowed to step into. I can¡¯t go further than that. When Haine-san learns about everything and begins to hate me, I won¡¯t be able to take it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I couldn¡¯t understand the full extent of Yorishiro-sama¡¯s words.


    I don¡¯t know what she means about ¡®a big sin¡¯, and in the first ce, I can¡¯t imagine the Light Founder Yorishiro-samamitting a sin, whether it is big or small.


    But she is most likely...unable to forgive herself.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, Karen-san, I will cheer you on. Even if I am not by his side, I would be d of his happiness after all. It might be a rude way of saying this to Karen-san though...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°!!¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    I hold the hand of Yorishiro-sama tightly.


    The force was so strong, I ended up surprising Yorishiro-sama. But, I can¡¯t stop this feeling.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! Please be my friend!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eeh?!¡±


    ¡°Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t understand well what Yorishiro-sama was saying. What I do understand is that Yorishiro-sama is a good person!¡± (Karen)


    If that weren¡¯t the case, she wouldn¡¯t have sent kind words towards me so many times, she wouldn¡¯t have yed together with me.


    Being pampered by Haine-san together with Yorishiro was truly fun.


    If it were with someone who is lying to herself, I wouldn¡¯t have had that much fun.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, Yorishiro-sama, please be my friend. Let¡¯s have Haine-san pamper us and trouble us together!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°If Yorishiro-sama hasmitted a mistake, I can¡¯t say something as presumptuous as: ¡®I forgive Yorishiro-sama¡¯. But, I can at least apologize with you as a friend! Please give me the qualification to do that, Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    And Haine-san will definitely ept whatever it is.


    He is the person I have fallen in love with after all.


    It is okay for both Yorishiro-sama and I to be happy!


    ¡°Good grief, you really are...¡± (Yorishiro)


    It was so dark, I couldn¡¯t see the expression of Yorishiro-sama well.


    But, from the hand that I was holding, I could tell that the strength she held me with had strengthened.


    ¡°...You are truly my hero-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)

 Chapter 78-79 - I play by myself

    <h4>Chapter 78-79: I y by myself</h4>


    ¡°Where am I?!¡±


    I -Kuromiya Haine- was separated from the group and was feeling lonely.


    We found an entrance to the underground at the middle of the desert. Advancing there, we encountered a mysterious shadow.


    I was unexpectedly having a tough battle against this guy that is using my name without my permission, and fell down here with it, but...this ce are the remains of an ancient city underground.


    ¡°It is okay to consider this the Dark Underworld Country, right?¡± (Haine)


    Even if I call it a city, there¡¯s already not a single person living here.


    The buildings have crumbled, and because they have been buried deep underground, these ruins have barely managed to avoid weathering.


    Just like in that poem, did they really fall into ruin because they worshipped the Dark God?


    ¡°Or more like, did they really worship me?¡± (Haine)


    The Dark God that was sealed 1,600 years ago and hadn¡¯t done anything at all?


    But that shadow...this mysterious being that calls itself the Dark God Entropy has proved that it has some sort of connection with me and this city.


    Until I solve what this connection is about in detail, I can¡¯t just leave.


    ¡°What¡¯s this feeling...as if I was told that a baby of mine had been born without me even knowing?¡± (Haine)


    In reality, for a God, believers must be that kind of existence.


    If I was told there were, I would feel my self-awareness as a God born inside of me.


    ¡°...Anyways, for now, I should prioritize regrouping with Karen-san and Yorishiro.¡± (Haine)


    I ended up separating from them in the chaos of that fall after all.


    I was jostling against that shadow in the middle of it, but it escaped.


    And so, that¡¯s how I am currently all by my lonesome self.


    If I don¡¯t regroup with Karen-san and Yorishiro soon, I might copse from loneliness.


    ¡°But how should I look for the two of them?¡± (Haine)


    From within my baggage, I take out something that looks like a short stick, and turn on the switch of it.


    When I did that, it released a shining light.


    It is a pocket light that functions with ethereal energy. Ethereal is an incredibly useful energy source. This shlight apparently doesn¡¯t need to be exchanged for a new one for at least 20 years.


    In terms of lighting, I can rely on the hero and Founder of the Light Church, but I am truly d that I actually brought it with me just in case.


    It doesn¡¯t hurt being prepared.


    I choose whichever building is the highest among them and climb to the top of it, and from there, I swing around the shlight here and there.


    I feel like I might call something else at the same time though.


    ¡°I wonder if those two wille.¡± (Haine)


    I feel like they won¡¯t.


    It was just my instincts talking here but, I was close to being sure that was the case.


    In the first ce, if they wanted to, they would have been able to release a light that¡¯s several times stronger than this shlight.


    If they are not lighting up in this pitch ck ce -not even a firefly level of light- it must mean that they are trying to hide themselves.


    ¡ªThey are probably cautious of the shadow.


    ¡ªThey are not going to regroup with me until I defeat that shadow.


    ¡°They are really strict girls.¡± (Haine)


    Then, I should continue using this shlight.


    The shadow eats light to get bigger, so it has the tendency of heading towards light craving for it.


    The reason it was waiting for us at that hall must have been because it detected the light that Karen-san was releasing from the holy sword, and came rushing towards it.


    And even if it¡¯s an artificial light that has no divine power, there¡¯s enough possibility that it will be lured by it and once again appear in front of me.


    But, do I have to swing this shlight the whole time until ites?


    ¡®That would tire my arm, what a pain¡¯, is what I was thinking when...


    ¡°Uo?!¡±


    My footing suddenly crumbled and, just like that, I make a direct drop.


    The building that I was using as footing had copsed. I slide down along with the rubble and was about to be buried alive.


    ¡°That was dangerous!¡± (Haine)


    As expected of ruins that have deteriorated after several centuries without any humans living in it; once you get a bit rough on it, things like this ur.


    ¡°Or more like, am I not damaging a legacy here? I have harmed an asset of human history...¡± (Haine)


    At the moment when I was fearing what I had done, something appeared that wasn¡¯t destroyed when the building crumbled. It towered over its surroundings without breaking.


    ¡°What is that?¡± (Haine)


    Was this something that was inside that building?


    It was a single b that seems to have fallen vertically and has a simple construction; it¡¯s made of stone...no, it looks like a mineral of fine quality that has slight transparency.


    What is this thing that is colorful in all its body and overwhelms anyone that looks at it?


    ¡°A monument?¡± (Haine)


    I thought that way because of the writings carved at the surface of it.


    Was the building something made to protect this monument from the wind and rain? Or was it to hide it from someone?


    ¡°.....I can read it.¡± (Haine)


    I use the shlight to check the surface of the monument, and trace it to the writings carved there.


    Thenguage utilized is -obviously-pletely different from the one currently used, and yet, for some reason, the -how should I call it- soul that was carved together with that writing was telling me its meaning.


    The soul that was filled with anger and hate.


    What was carved in this monument was...the history of when the Underworld Country was created, and its fall.


    ording to this monument, this whole ce called ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯ was once a fertilend filled with water and green.


    The people that lived the first period of humanity didn¡¯t know about the techniques to go against nature and weren¡¯t able to control nature either; it was truly a repetition of bing one with nature by living and dying.


    The one who brought change to this was the appearance of a single human.


    The curves of human history have always been brought by the genius of a prominent individual.


    Just like how it was in that time; that person had more knowledge than the others, and with that person¡¯s wise decision making, many new techniques were created, rules were made, and created a group of people that were organized by leadership.


    It didn¡¯t take long for it to be the framework of society.


    The ce that had thispleted framework was the Underworld Country.


    It was probably the first nation in this world.


    The Underworld Country, in order to bring together the heart of the people that live there, a certain measure was created.


    A God.


    Believe in the same God and worship it. With thatmon point, it created a sense of camaraderie between the people, made them cooperate with each other to win against difficulties, and had them share the fruits of that victory.


    The God that was worshipped by the Underworld Country as their religion, that is the Dark God Entropy.


    * * *


    ¡°It really is me?!¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t hold back my confusion after seeing my own name carved clearly on this monument.


    So it was real. A Dark God actually existed in the history of humans.


    But, I was sealed for 1,600 years and hadn¡¯t done anything at all to show anyone of my existence so, how did they even learn of me?


    Will that answer appear as I continue reading on?


    * * *


    ...


    At any rate, the Underworld Country was certainly primitive, but it still walked onto the path of a nation.


    With the cut stones, they create houses, and secure a safe ce to sleep in; by plowing thend in the surroundings, they can harvest crops from the cultivatednd; resting one day out of the several days of work, they head to the church, offer their prayers to the Dark God, and confirm once again their own affiliation.


    This living cycle that had been made distinct increased the efficiency, increased the productivity, increased the birthrate, and raised the worth of humans.


    The wealth began to spread to other ces, and the Underworld Country had grown into a hugemunity that was big enough to cover the whole ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯.


    On top of that, ording to this monument, this leap in progress was surprisingly aplished in the time a single human was alive.


    The prodigy that appeared at the origin of the Underworld Country.


    A wondrous existence that appeared out of who-knows-where, provided them with techniques and principles, and boosted the humans, that were basically just one type of animal, into an intelligent form of life.


    That human obviously became the representative of the Underworld Country, stood at the top of society, governed them, and led them.


    The name of that human was Izanami.


    Izanami was the queen of the Underworld Country.


    She preached about the kindness of the Dark God Entropy that had created humans.


    Darkness is abyss; from there, everything was born. The ruler of darkness Entropy is the one who created the whole world, and the humans are its children.


    Entropy provided night and sleep for the sake of the humans, and advised them to rest whenever they are tired.


    The people of the Underworld Country were grateful of Entropy, and offered their prayers.


    They also were grateful for their queen Izanami and praised her.


    The Dark God and the Wise Queen.


    These two factors developed the Underworld Country without any grave errors, and it became an Utopia that wouldst for millenniums toe.....or at least that¡¯s what it was supposed to be.


    * * *


    ¡°But...¡±


    I continued reading the monument.


    What was written next was about the end of the Underworld Country.


    * * *


    Invaders appeared in the peaceful Underworld Country.


    The humans outside were jealous of the wealth of the Underworld Country, envied it, and went there to steal it.


    Of course, the people of the Underworld Country fought in self-defense.


    The ones defending were the current nation that had progressed the most in the world; even if they were called invaders, there was no way to lose against these group of people that were on the level of bandits that had barely grown.


    But, the barbarians weren¡¯t the only ones who attacked them.


    Disasters that can¡¯t be brought by humans...in other words, natural disasters were attacking the Underworld Country in session.


    As if conspiring with the attack of the barbarians.


    The first were locusts; these insects that appeared from the sky were in the several thousands, and when they were right under the crops, they would fly towards it and eat it all.


    Next, was a gue. This deathly disease that flowed in the city from the water had spread in the blink of an eye from people to people, killing old people and the children, and also robbing away the life force of the young ones.


    On top of that, acid rain fell. It was different from normal rain. These fire rain that smelled rotten melted the stone-made buildings and devastated the once beautiful cityscape.


    And in the end, the earth slowly turned into sand, and the once fertilend of the Underworld Country was slowly eroded.


    Many disasters befell the Underworld Country, the people and wealth wasid waste, and there was already nothing to steal from them, and yet, the barbarians continued attacking the Underworld Country.


    Along with the swinging of axes, jeers rang on.


    ¡®This is the just retribution of God. You heretics that revered an evil God will now fall¡¯, is what they shouted.


    The locusts, disease, acid rain, and the desert; was this all a punishment brought by God?


    Don¡¯t joke around.


    A God wouldn¡¯t do something like that. A God would only watch over the humans in silence. Deciding just and evil on their own convenience and handing down punishment on their whim, that¡¯s not the deed of a God.


    You barbarians; the God that you guys worship is the actual evil God.


    Interfering with the living of humans, defeating the ones who should win, have the ones that should lose win, distorting the course of history; that¡¯s exactly what an evil God is.


    Therefore, I will destroy all of you, and also the four evil Gods that you serve for.


    Our God, the Dark God Entropy, wouldn¡¯t put its hands in a fight of humans as the authentic God it is.


    But, if you are not going to hand down any punishment against these four evil Gods that have broken thisw...


    I will be the Dark God Entropy.


    And erase all evil.


    * * *


    ¡°!!!¡±


    This is where the writings on the monument end.


    But at thest parts, the several lines at the end, were not shown visually; they were probably made from the raging emotions of the person that created the inscriptions in this monument and were stored just like that in it.


    The person that created this monument probably made it at the destruction of the Underworld Country, in order to show their existence.


    Not long after, everyone was killed, and the Underworld Country turned into dust and disappeared from history. But, if someone were to transmit the contents of this monument as evidence and understands it, it will serve as proof that they certainly did exist in the past.


    This is probably the reason why it was hidden in a building that would soon crumble. The invaders that attacked the Underworld Country will eventually erase the history of the defeated and destroy the monument. In order to avoid that, this was the desperate measure taken in order to hide it from the eyes of the invaders.


    ¡°So this is the rise and fall of the Underworld Country...¡± (Haine)


    It was a grander history than I expected.


    But, even with this, what urred in thisnd was not told in its entirety.

 Chapter 80-81 - Underworld Army

    <h4>Chapter 80-81: Underworld Army</h4>


    TL: A small note for the people that haven¡¯t noticed; the schedule has returned to every 3 days (since a week ago actually)


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    And so now, I -Kourin Karen- am in big trouble.


    ¡°Geez! Why did ite here?!¡± (Karen)


    It is that shadow-san.


    We encountered it when we were in the middle of going down to the underground city; a mysterious enemy.


    It looks like a shadow, and it changes its shape dizzyingly and attacks us.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! Hurry here!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Pulling the hand of Yorishiro-sama, we run as fast as we can.


    It chases right after us. It haspletely locked its target on us!


    ¡°We haven¡¯t shown anything that¡¯s simr to light since the time we fell, and yet, even with that, it chased after us. Is it a coincidence? Or maybe...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°This is not the time to be saying suggestive words!¡± (Karen)


    At any rate, we have to run.


    We already learned that our light divine power is nourishment for this shadow-san to make itself bigger.


    That means we can¡¯t defeat this shadow-san.


    The only one in this party of three members who can defeat this shadow-san is the one who possesses the dark element, Haine-san.


    That¡¯s why Yorishiro-sama went through the trouble of separating together with me, in order to not be a burden for Haine-san.


    And yet, the shadow-san in questiones to us!


    ¡°...Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What should we do?! We are running at full speed but we can¡¯t shake it off! Wait, did you call me, Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    What is it in this precarious situation?!


    ¡°Please leave me and run.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    What are you saying, Yorishiro-sama?!


    ¡°The chances that shadow is aiming at me are high. Also, you can¡¯t bring out as much speed as you can because you are pulling me as well. If it¡¯s just you alone, you should be able to run faster, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That isn¡¯t reason enough for a hero to abandon her Founder! In the first ce, why would Yorishiro-sama be targeted?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I saw a light flickering from the distance a while ago. It was probably Haine-san waving the shlight.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    I didn¡¯t notice at all though!


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it was to tell us his location or to lure that shadow, but now that the shadow ignored this and hase here, it means that this child doesn¡¯t simply get pulled by light.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No way!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°At least you should escape and regroup with Haine-san. The light wasing from 4 o¡¯clock, If you run to that direction, Haine-san should be there.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    Then...!


    I let go of the hand of Yorishiro-sama and turn my body around.


    The shadow-san that was chasing us from the back was now right in front of me.


    ¡°Holy sword Saint-George, I entrust my light divine power to you; change into a de that cuts away my enemies!¡± (Karen)


    The dazzling light that was released from my de was a visual representation of my piled up frustration!


    ¡°You can¡¯t Karen-san! That child absorbs light and...!¡± (Yorishiro)


    I shake off the warning of Yorishiro-sama and release it.


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡± (Karen)


    The released light wave didn¡¯t hit the shadow-san.


    It flew above the shadow-san and headed further to the back.


    I aimed at a different ce. At a part of the Underworld Country¡¯s building where no one is living in anymore, I cut it off with ¡®Holy Light de¡¯. The building that had been cut had now turned into mere rubble, and the location that it fell onto was, just as calcted, right on top of the shadow-san.


    ¡°I did it! Right on target!¡± (Karen)


    I cheer when the shadow-san was crushed by the rubble.


    Even if I can¡¯t hit it directly with my light divine power, physical attacks from external factors might work. I don¡¯t think it has been defeated with that just now, but it will definitely work to keep it at bay.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! Let¡¯s use this chance to go to where Haine-san is!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Hearing the shout of Yorishiro-sama, I reflexively bend my body.


    Almost at the same time I did this, small pieces of stone flew about. That shadow-san rotated its body like a tornado and blew away the rubble that was crushing it.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    And then after that, the shadow-san showed its figure as if nothing happened.


    ¡°What power!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san, run! There¡¯s no reason for you to get hurt here!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No, there is!¡± (Karen)


    I answer immediately.


    The shadow-san that was rushing towards us seems to have grown slightly bigger by absorbing the attack just now, even though it wasn¡¯t a direct hit.


    ¡°The light hero protects the Light Founder! And more importantly, Yorishiro-sama is now my friend! Of course I would stake my life for a friend!¡± (Karen)


    The shadow-san probably thinks it has us cornered, it stops its approach at full speed and slowly closes the distance cautiously.


    That¡¯s good. I want to buy a little more time.


    ¡°And also, please remember! We still have one more person we can trust in, don¡¯t we! There¡¯s no way that person would overlook our crisis! Because if he were to do something like that, he wouldn¡¯t be able to receive the incredible rewardter after all!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s why, don¡¯t give up. That person will definitelye.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡±


    That was close.


    Because by the time I -Kuromiya Haine- had arrived to the ce, Karen-san and Yorishiro were being cornered at that very moment.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    I strike it with my dark matter as I shout.


    This attack that had hit properly for the first time had covered the body of this shadow in an instant.


    ¡°Ooooh!!¡±


    The shadow raises a voice simr to a scream as it writhes in pain.


    ¡°Haine-san!!¡±


    On top of that, the two beauties call my name in sync.


    ¡°You really appear on the most opportune times! But...how did you know our location?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What are you saying? You were the ones who called me.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    In the time I was reading that monument, a dazzling light suddenly shone far away.


    The only ones who can bring out that much light are Karen-san or Yorishiro.


    But in this current situation where the shadow is roaming around the area, it would be strange for her to release such a conspicuous light.


    Even if it¡¯s to let me know their location, that would definitely make the shadow find them.


    But there¡¯s one exnation that makes this action logical; that they have already been found by the shadow.


    ¡°And so, I hurriedly rushed here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Then, the ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ of Karen-san just now was not only to crush that child in rubble, it was also to have Haine-san learn of our crisis?¡± (Yorishiro)


    It looks like it was the quick wittedness of Karen-san at work here.


    ¡°When you told me that Haine-san was using his shlight to show his location to us, it clicked in me at that moment. But I didn¡¯t expect him toe this fast! Not even 5 minutes have passed since I used the ¡®Holy Light de¡¯!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°For the people you love, a man can bend space in order to reach that ce.¡± (Haine)


    Well, I actually used the gravity reversal of the dark matter and flew through the sky at the highest speed though.


    I practically ignored the bacsh to my body, so my legs hurt.


    And so, the crucial shadow is covered in dark matter and has been squirming for a while now, but it should creep out from it in time.


    ¡°Oh, it is getting smaller.¡± (Haine)


    But it is still bigger than the first time we encountered it though. It is more like it got a bit smaller after swelling up a lot.


    Well, the fact that it has gotten smaller is proof enough that dark matter does work on it.


    ¡°I am gradually getting it -this thing¡¯s identity.¡± (Haine)


    It resurfaces in my mind...the words that were carved in that monument.


    ¡®I will be the Dark God Entropy.And erase all evil.¡¯


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    The shadow chants my name as always.


    ¡°No, you are wrong...¡± (Haine)


    And so, I state it -the obvious truth.


    ¡°You are not the Dark God. And that power you control is not dark element either. I have finally understood. Your power, the true essence of it. That¡¯s...light.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    The first one to raise a voice of confusion was Karen-san.


    ¡°What does that mean, Haine-san?! The power of that shadow-san is...light? But there¡¯s no way... even though it is so dark and not shining at all?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is probably changing the light divine power in some sort of way. That¡¯s why it gets bigger when it eats light. By altering it, it is able to absorb energy of the same element.¡± (Haine)


    For example; in the ces where there¡¯s light, shadows can definitely be created.


    If there¡¯s light, and there¡¯s something in front of it, the object will obstruct the light and a shadow will be created.


    The stronger the light, the darker and deeper in color the shadow will be, and at times, it can get longer and bigger.


    Just like how this guy is eating light and bing bigger.


    ¡°In other words, this guy¡¯s element is ¡®shadow¡¯. At a nce, it looks like darkness because it is ck and darkish, but it is not. By using something with substance as an intermediary, it has changed light into shadow. It is a light user. Isn¡¯t that right, Yorishiro?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°......¡±


    There was no answer from Yorishiro.


    But inside of me, my hypothesis had already changed into conviction.


    ¡®I will be the Dark God Entropy.And erase all evil.¡¯


    Where there¡¯s light, shadows can be made. In order to make a shadow, there¡¯s the need of something with substance that obstructs the light.


    And what is that something?


    The first thing thates to mind is a body -a human body.


    Using a human body as its intermediary, it is able to change the light divine power into pseudo-darkness -or in other words, shadow.


    If there¡¯s such a technique, and there¡¯s someone that has been consumed by anger and hatred to the point that it renders that person unable to control it...


    Therefore, I will destroy all of you, and also the four evil Gods that you serve for.I will be the Dark God Entropy.And erase all evil.


    The identity of this shadow is...


    A human that had its shadow power go crazy and was engulfed by it.

 Chapter 82-84 - The Goddess’ Past

    <h4>Chapter 82-84: The Goddess¡¯ Past</h4>


    Imited a sin.


    The first sin that I -the Light Goddess, Intion-mitted; betraying the person that I love.


    In the Genesis era, because of the birth of humans, the first friction between us Gods urred.


    The Dark God Entropy, who I love, adored the humans. On the other hand, the other Gods imed that the humans should be ruled over like the other living beings.


    At first, I didn¡¯t really support any of the two opinions.


    But, if it¡¯s to make my beloved Entropy happy, I thought it wouldn¡¯t be bad to raise the humans into living beings of higher-order along with him. That¡¯s all I thought of this.


    In this time, there was one God who threw mud into my heart.


    ¡°Entropy-sama seems to treasure the humans more than you. At this rate, all his love will be taken away by a lower lifeform, you know?¡±


    For the first time as a God, these emotions called doubt and envy had surfaced.


    He will choose the humans over me.


    As if trying to fight against this doubt inside of me, I stood on the enemy side.


    There was the need to subdue this friction between Gods. He will definitely avoid a fight against me. Knowing this, as long as we can reach apromise with the other Gods...


    I had such faint hopes.


    But...he fought.


    Even with a despairing situation like 5 vs 1, he still fought.


    Why?


    Does he really love humans more than me?


    Even against 5, even when I stood there, he still decided to take the side of humans and fought alone.


    The fight ended, and in the moment I had to seal him with my own hands, for the first time in my life, I felt like my chest was going to burst open.


    He definitely won¡¯t forgive me.


    I have perpetrated a sin that I wouldn¡¯t be able to atone for even in an eternity. That¡¯s how I thought at that time.


    But...this was just the beginning of my true sin.


    After the Dark God Entropy had been sealed, the four base element Gods began to act selfishly.


    The Fire God Nova exercised atrocities at times towards the surface world; The Water God Coacervate induced falsehoods to the humans, stirred up conflicts, and enjoyed watching it; the Wind God Quasar vanished into his own side; and only the Mother Earth Mantle respected my will and obeyed me.


    Within all of this, just how was I going to have Entropy forgive me? I was only thinking of this.


    For the sake of humans, he fought a fight that he would inevitably lose.


    He loved the humans that much. If I were to do something for the sake of these humans, when hees back, won¡¯t I be able to soothe him a bit?


    Thinking this way, I decided on realizing that dream he was trying to aplish.


    By showing the humans the path of progress, I thought about supporting them.


    But for the sake of that, I would have to tread with care. Because the opposition of the four Base Element Gods would be inevitable.


    Even if I am one of the poles, I don¡¯t have as much advantage against the four Base Elements as Entropy. On top of that, the seal on Entropy at that time was incredibly firm and couldn¡¯t be released without the cooperation of all five Gods.


    In order to wee Entropy into this world again, I couldn¡¯t displease the four Base Elements.


    And so, instead of acting as a God, I decided to guide the humans as a human myself.


    With a human vessel, I will reincarnate as a human and raise the humans within their own society. And then, the human me was named Izanami, and became the leader of a certain group of people.


    We created techniques and arranged rules. My group of people was bing visibly bigger with time and got wealthier.


    Those were enriching days that I didn¡¯t have in the Genesis era.


    I felt like I slightly understood the feelings of him wanting to get involved with the humans.


    And so, in the process of raising thismunity of people, I tested doing a yful thing.


    I knew that this would be a valid method to unite the hearts of the people.


    In order to put this method to practical use, I decided on uniting the people under one symbol.


    The symbol I prepared for this was...the Dark God Entropy.


    The humans will worship the Dark God, respect him, and with thatmon point, they would recognize each other asrades.


    When the seal is undone and Entropy returns to this world seeing all this people loving him and respecting him, he will definitely be surprised and be happy. That¡¯s what I thought.


    At first, I was incredibly motivated in putting this n in track.


    A part of what I did for this was conferring the ¡®shadow¡¯ power to humans.


    As the Light Goddess, I can¡¯t confer the dark power. But creating ¡®shadow¡¯ with light by using the body of humans as intermediary was a rtively easy technique.


    I utilized this ¡®shadow¡¯ as a substitute for darkness and spread it to the humans as the blessing of the Dark God Entropy.


    After learning to control the ¡®shadow¡¯ as if they were their arms and legs, the humans developed even more, and themunity grew bigger and bigger.


    Thend that I ruled over as the Queen Izanami was at some point in time called the Underworld Country, and by the time my body was all wrinkles, it had already grown into a big nation that was equal to no other in this world.


    But, I overdid it.


    There¡¯s no way amunity of humans that had be so big wouldn¡¯t fall in the eyes of the four Base Elements.


    The human civilization that had developed heavily had been seen as arrogant by the Gods. On top of that, the fact that the Underworld Country worshipped the Dark God Entropy had angered them. Because Entropy had been defeated, they were under the impression that they were superior to Entropy.


    Their anger attacked the Underworld Country in the form of divine punishment.


    Locusts, gue, acid rain; on top of that, invaders from outside that were influenced by their will had pushed the Underworld Country into the verge of destruction.


    Even when it had reached that state, I couldn¡¯t return to being the Light Goddess Intion to stop the foolish four Base Elements.


    All of them were the key to unsealing Entropy.


    If I were to injure any of the four Base Elements, the return of Entropy would be pushed to a length of time that¡¯s almost like an eternity.


    Rather than the humans I raised and guided, I ended up choosing Entropy.


    That is my second sin. A sin that¡¯s helplessly heavy.


    But what made it even more unsalvageable was the fact that my sin didn¡¯t end with just that.


    ...There was a young one named Doraha.


    A person that was born in the Underworld Country, in the age when it had been officially established as a nation.


    Since the time that person had grown aware, that person was filled with faith towards Entropy, and on top of being used to controlling the ¡®shadow¡¯, it was a level higher than the others.


    By the time Doraha had grown into a healthy young one, there was no other person as good in utilizing the shadows in the Underworld Country, and I -the Queen Izanami- conferred this child the highest title of the guardians... I conferred her the title of hero.


    And then, in the time the Underworld Country was heading towards destruction, the one who fought back the most, choked and cried the most...was Doraha.


    She ran about in order to drive away the locusts, she embraced her family that was desecrated by the gue and cried, and even utilized her own body as a roof to protect the people from the acid rain.


    She confronted the invaders that were send by the four Base Elements, refuted the insults hurled at the Dark God, and was enraged at this irrationality.


    Even when I witnessed the figure of Doraha fighting bathed in blood and shedding her own, I didn¡¯t lend her my help.


    In time, Doraha¡¯s hatred towards the Gods had increased so much that she was consumed by the ¡®shadow¡¯ and had be ¡®shadow¡¯ itself.


    In that form, Doraha had be a dangerous existence.


    The special trait of the ¡®shadow¡¯; absorbing light and making it its own power. Now that Doraha had be ¡®shadow¡¯ itself, this trait had lost all limiters. She began eating all light beginning with the sunlight itself, and had be a monster that would not stop growing bigger even if it were to cover the whole world.


    At this rate, the world would be engulfed by Doraha.


    At that time, I finally took off the body of the queen Izanami and returned to being the Light Goddess Intion, utilized all my divine power, and sealed that child -to the very depths of the underground together with the Dark Underworld Country.


    If it¡¯s underground where light doesn¡¯t reach, Doraha would not be able to get the light energy to increase her size.


    In this way, I had send that child to an underground life of solitude, wandering around for several centuries.


    This is...an unforgivable sin of mine.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    The fight between the shadow and I -Kuromiya Haine- was reaching its climax.


    At first, I was agitated by its strangeness, but after dealing with it in a calm manner, those aren¡¯t movements that I can¡¯t keep up with.


    In order to avoid Karen-san and Yorishiro from being attacked, I enclosed the both of us in a wall of dark matter, on top of that, I slowly reduced its scope to strangle its specialty which is its speed.


    By nature, the light element should have an absolute advantage against the dark element, but because of the transformation of light into ¡®shadow¡¯, it looks like this advantage has been lost.


    Every time it grazes the dark matter, it loses volume, and has already returned to the size we first met it with.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    I can mostly guess what this guy actually was.


    It was a human. Moreover, a person that loved the Underworld Country deeply and fought fiercely to protect it.


    A warrior.


    Its homnd, that wrath towards this irrationality; I could understand it to the point of hurting when reading the writings of that monument.


    The anger...and sorrow it felt to the point of changing itself into this. There¡¯s not many humans who possess such intense emotions.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. This child is actually...a child that possessed quite the rich emotions.¡±


    ¡°?!¡±


    By the time I noticed, Yorishiro was already standing right by my side.


    She entered the dark matter sphere?!


    ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be a surprise right, Haine-san? You already made it clear a while ago that darkness can¡¯t win against light.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro makes a mysterious smile.


    Looking at the hole in the dark matter that connects to the outside, I could see that Karen-san had fallenpletely unconscious.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I just had Karen-san sleep. She has be my friend, so she will definitely go against what I am about to do.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What are you nning on doing?¡± (Haine)


    I immediately ask.


    ¡°I have understood most of everything. This person called the Queen Izanami that was said to have raised up the Underworld Country, that was you, right? A reincarnation that spanned before this current body of yours as Yorishiro. The one who spread the Entropy religion was also you; you are also the one who taught them the technique to change light divine power into ¡®shadow¡¯. Were you intending on creating an Utopia with me as the centre?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°As expected of Haine-san......No, my beloved Dark God Entropy. It looks like you have seen through everything-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Since she has brought that name, it must mean she intends to have a talk as Gods.


    ¡°Is this the sin you were speaking of?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. In order to distract myself from the loneliness of losing you, I tried to guide the humans on your behalf. It was in the time when the history of humans was literally at its first steps.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And the four Base Elements destroyed this.


    The disasters that were written in that monument were truly the way those guys would mess up the world. Adding to that, the humans that attacked the Underworld Country must have be the foundation for the fire, earth, wind, and water churches.


    ¡°That shadow was originally a human living in the Underworld Country. A person that could be called virtuous. An orphan that was raised by my hands and got along quite well with her siblings that were in the same circumstances. After growing up, this child showed rare talent, and became strong enough to be bestowed the title of hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°In other words, this shadow was the first hero in this world.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But that way too strong ¡®shadow¡¯ power ended up harming that child. Engulfed by the ¡®shadow¡¯, this child became ¡®shadow¡¯ itself with the only thing in its mind being to eat light divine power. Fire, water, earth, and water won¡¯t work either. The only way to defeat that child would be...Haine-san, the dark divine power of yours.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Are you telling me to kill it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are the only one who can. At this rate, that child will escape from this ce. If she manages to get under the sunlight, she will absorb the light and grow infinitely bigger. The world will be coveredpletely by this child. Not even a God would be able to stop that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Right.


    This guy abandoned its humanity because of its desire to kill the evil Gods. If that power were not enough to match a God, it would be too saddening.


    ¡°So this was your objective from the very beginning?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Since the time I undid your seal, I wished for you to do this. If I were to spread the name of the Dark God Entropy, one day you or Karen-san would investigate it, and will eventually reach the Underworld Country, and then, you would meet this child. That¡¯s what I hoped would happen.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I see.


    Since the time we found out the existence of the Underworld Country, the flow of events to reach here were way too smooth, which felt really out of ce.


    Now that I think about it, until we encountered the shadow, it felt too mechanical. The pieces were falling perfectly.


    There¡¯s no doubt that Yorishiro wanted to bring me to the Underworld Country as soon as possible.


    But in that case...


    ¡°Why did you do it in such a roundabout way?¡± (Haine)


    Wouldn¡¯t it have been okay to request it the moment I was unsealed?


    ¡°I wanted you to kill this child the time you understood how this world works. Before you killed this child, I wanted you to know about the foolishness nesting in this world, its ridiculousness, and that this child is not a cmity but a victim. Without those, it would be way too pitiful.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The gaze of Yorishiro was poured at that shadow.


    Her profile was beautiful, but just like before, I felt the shadow of an old woman tired of living.


    If it¡¯s now, I can tell the identity of this feeling.


    At that time, she wasn¡¯t the Light Goddess Intion or the Light Founder Yorishiro, but the queen of the Underworld Country, Izanami.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    It probably has already lost its ability to think and reason.


    It simply moves with its hatred towards the Gods and the world; a flimsy shadow.


    ¡°I am sorry...for taking so long.¡± (Izanami)


    Yorishiro...the Light Goddess Intion... the queen of the Underworld Country, Izanami, spoke to this shadow.


    ¡°Being in such a gloomy ce all alone must have been pretty lonely. But today will be the end of this. The Dark God Entropy you respected so much has finallye for you... in order to drop the curtains of your pain.¡± (Izanami)


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    I don¡¯t think the shadow understands her words.


    These words were probably words of repentance.


    ¡°But rest assured. At least at your death, I will not let you feel lonely. I will apany you.¡± (Izanami)


    ¡°Hey?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This is the least I can do to atone. Sadly, I can¡¯t die as a God. That¡¯s why, at the very least, I will offer this body of Yorishiro to apany this child. Haine-san, please, crush this child and I together with your dark matter.¡±


    *p*


    A sound echoes in the pitch ck underground city.


    It was the sound of me pping Yorishiro¡¯s cheek real hard.


    ¡°H-Haine-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    That must have been quite shocking for Yorishiro, she looks back at me dumbfounded while holding her pped cheek.


    ¡°I will forgive you with this much!¡± (Haine)


    I say this with a strained voice.


    ¡°You love me right? It must been been quite painful to have your loved one pping you. That should serve as punishment. You have...already suffered plenty enough.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Also, the one who should really be punished is me.


    There were people who worshipped the Dark God Entropy, and yet, as a God, I wasn¡¯t by their side in their time of peril and was in deep sleep; I let them all die without helping them at all.


    At this asion, the problem is not that I didn¡¯t know.


    I probably...neglected my duty as a God.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    And in the time we were arguing, the shadow didn¡¯t show any new movements and stayed nailed on the ground.


    It has been exhausted to an extreme with all the fighting it has gone through. Having its shadow body shaved off by the dark matter, its size is already less than that of the first time we encountered it.


    ¡°...I am sorry.¡±


    I face that shadow and say this.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    ¡°You are not; you are a human. A human that can burn with anger for the sake of humans. That anger has changed you this much. The responsibility of this also lies in me. I am sorry.¡± (Haine)


    At the very least...I should put an end to this as an atonement.


    Dark matter overflows from my hands.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God...Entropy.¡±


    ¡°No, I am the Dark God Entropy.¡±


    The dark matter released from my hands covered the shadow entirely.


    Now that it has gotten as small as this, it can¡¯t resist and escape anymore.


    Being engulfed by the dark divine power that erases all divine power, the tragedy that was born from the dream of the Light Goddess...has now disappeared from this world.


    * * *


    ¡°It is over now.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes...thank you very much. I am truly sorry!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro was repeating over and over her thanks and apology while crying.


    The dark matter is still forming a lump and eating away the shadow until it leaves nothing behind.


    ¡°Dark Underworld Country. The metropolis that you created for me huh.¡± (Haine)


    I once again look around the ruins of it.


    In the past when this city was still at the surface, in the era where it was still shone by the sunlight, just how many people were smiling and working here?


    It is saddening that the only thing I can do now is imagine it.


    ¡°Were you the one who sunk this city deep underground?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes, I had to seal this child in a ce where there¡¯s not a single ray of light after all. This child that can absorb the light divine power, and the fire, water, earth, and wind element doesn¡¯t work on, this was the only method I could take. That woman...Mantle helped me with it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Mantle did?¡± (Haine)


    One of the four Base Element Gods. the Mother Earth Mantle huh.


    ¡°She was the only one who wasn¡¯t proactive in destroying the Underworld Country. But because she was pressed by the other Base Elements, she had no choice. She has always been weak to pressure after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is true that when she took the side of Nova and Coacervate in the Genesis battle, it gave out that feeling.


    How to call it, a woman that can¡¯t say no.


    ¡°She reluctantly brought disaster upon the Underworld Country. That took the form of the desertification hex. The desertification was serious, but it proceeded in a slow manner, and honestly, in the Underworld Country that was already on its path towards destruction, this was not that big of a problem.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And this actually turned into something beneficial in an unexpected way.


    Because of the desertification, the ground softened and it was possible to sink the whole city underground to seal the shadow.


    ¡°...At first, I did it with light feelings.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says with a trembling voice.


    ¡°I wanted to atone for sealing you. The day when the seal was undone and you see that your loved humans have developed and are now worshipping you, I thought you would be quite happy...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡®But, that was the beginning of my mistake...¡¯, is what Yorishiro says.


    ¡°I myself became a human and understood something from interacting with them directly -the meaning of what you said. Humans are wonderful. Earnest, cheerful, and possess affection and hatred that surpasses that of Gods. I was able to learn that in the Underworld Country. And at the same time, I learned to love the humans like you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s plenty enough.¡± (Haine)


    Even if it took 1,600 years, I can now share this feeling with her.


    The life in thisnd and the affection of the humans has opened the heart of a Goddess.


    This is certainly a great achievement. Humans managed to move the heart of a God after all.


    ¡°But the other ones are beyond salvation.¡± (Haine)


    The four Base Element Gods.


    Learning about the past in this asion, I understood it once again.


    As I thought, Gods are existences that don¡¯t bring anything good for humans.


    With a reason that was practically a whim, they destroyed a whole nation, and not only that, even after several centuries, they still misunderstand themselves as some sort of higher existence, and try to make the humans their ves...their toys.


    ¡°There¡¯s the need of a n to cut off the Gods from humans. And fast.¡± (Haine)


    Right at that moment, the dark matter that was covering the entirety of the shadow was clearing up.


    It must have eaten all the ¡®shadow¡¯ divine power.


    After that, nothing will be left...


    ¡°Hm?!¡±


    It looks like something is left.


    ...A human? Moreover, a girl.


    A small girl of around 14-15 years old was lyingpletely naked. There¡¯s no doubt that she is the one that was coveredpletely in the shadow.


    In other words...


    ¡°Doraha...¡±


    Yorishiro says with a strained voice.


    ¡°This is a lie, right? There¡¯s no way... You are...!¡± (Yorishiro)


    The girl opened her eyes before long, and when she raises her body, the first person that came into view must have been Yorishiro. Looking at her direction, she says this,


    ¡°Iza...nami...-sama?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Yorishiro jumps and hugs her, and then, began to cry a river.


    That means, this girl is...the real identity of that shadow.


    The shadow hero that was living in the Underworld Country several centuries ago?

 Chapter 85-86 - Returning from the Underworld

    <h4>Chapter 85-86: Returning from the Underworld</h4>


    TL: With these 4 chapters we are done with the 3rd arc!


    Also, a new chapter of Tsuki came out. Next scheduled chapter will be Tsuki.


    ¡°I am really sorry!¡±


    The moment Karen-san regained her consciousness, she apologized.


    ¡°In such a dangerous situation, to think I would lose consciousness without even participating in the battle! As a hero, that¡¯s way too shameful! What should I say to even apologize for this!¡± (Karen)


    Well, Yorishiro was the one who knocked you out though.


    ¡°It is okay, Karen-san. We safely managed to ovee the danger after all.¡± (Haine)


    Even if Karen-san was conscious and was able to fight at a 100%, we were fighting an opponent that light divine power didn¡¯t work at all against, so it wouldn¡¯t have been much different anyways.


    Well, I won¡¯t say it out loud. That would be way too pitiful.


    ¡°And so, uhm...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What happened in the time I was unconscious?¡± (Karen)


    The ce where Karen-san was pointing at was where two people are.


    ¡°Ufufu.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro was carrying a small girl and has been grinning this whole time.


    The girl looks to be around 14-15 years old, and her long ck hair reached her buttocks.


    Her skin color is also darkish, and gave out the impression of her being wild.


    She was stark naked when she appeared, but right now she is wearing a change of clothes from Yorishiro, so she is at the very least hiding her skin now.


    ¡°...Did this girl really..e out from that shadow-san?¡± (Karen)


    We have already exined the transition of events to Karen-san. Of course, leaving out the information rted to us being Gods.


    I have already told them about the monument I found when I was moving alone, and with those things put together...


    ¡°Is this girl...a survivor of the Underworld Country that was destroyed several centuries ago?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Is what we think.¡± (Haine)


    The ability to change light to ¡®shadow¡¯.


    That ability must have been pretty normal in the Underworld Country. And the number one strongest user of this was this girl; the strongest warrior of the Underworld Country fought against the foreign enemies. That must have been a hell that wouldn¡¯t be imaginable in this era.


    In those streets where blood rained and scenes of carnage were being disyed, this emotionally sensitive girl must have been painted gradually with anger and hatred.


    And then, this heart that had been wasted to the extreme...epted the erosion of the ¡®shadow¡¯ and, finally, became ¡®shadow¡¯ itself.


    I can¡¯t even imagine what kind of state this girl was in inside the ¡®shadow¡¯.


    But she was probably cut awaypletely from thews of nature. She was cut off from even the passing of time, and even when several centuries have passed, her appearance was preserved inside the ¡®shadow¡¯.


    ¡°It probably would have been impossible to separate the ¡®shadow¡¯ with herself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says while still holding the girl in her arms.


    ¡°But the dark matter of Haine-san has the special trait of only eating the divine power. This power managed to sort out minutely the ¡®shadow¡¯ and herself without even a 1% of a difference, and erased the ¡®shadow¡¯pletely. And because of this, the girl was liberated. But...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro caresses the head of the girl mncholically.


    The girl narrows her eyes at this action like a cat.


    ¡°Izanami-sama...¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Yes.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Izanami-sama...¡± (Doraha)


    Even for a 15 year old girl, her way of acting was way too childish.


    ¡°She lost her memories, right?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san asks as if confirming the information she had just been told.


    ¡°Yeah. After separating from the ¡®shadow¡¯ and regaining her consciousness, she has only been calling Yorishiro as ¡®Izanami-sama¡¯ all this time, but hasn¡¯t said anything else...¡± (Haine)


    Her fusion with the ¡®shadow¡¯ has been so long that her memory might have been destroyed, or maybe she couldn¡¯t endure the memories of her ruined country; I don¡¯t know which one it is.


    She might rearrange her memories after time passes, and there¡¯s also the possibility that she will stay like this forever.


    No one knows for certain right now.


    ¡°This is fine...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says.


    ¡°This child will be living in the new world, so her past memories will definitely get in the way anyways. The Underworld Country is already gone. It has already stopped existing since several centuries. Even if she carries the hatred of her destroyednd as she lives, it wouldn¡¯t prove positive for her at all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro, what you are trying to say is...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will raise this child myself. I will have her walk a new life in Apollon City. This time for sure, I definitely won¡¯t...make a mistake again.¡± (Yorishiro)


    These are probably not the words of the current Yorishiro, but the words of the queen that lived in the past Underworld country, Izanami.


    The resolve that only Gods would be able to bring out with their shared past souls.


    ¡°Were you able to...take off the weight on your shoulders?¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t not ask Yorishiro this.


    She was deeply regretting the fact that she raised the Underworld Country and ended up destroying it.


    Has the return of this girl...the hero Doraha, served as an acquittal for Yorishiro?


    ¡°It is the contrary, Haine-san. With this, I have finally been able to carry the weight on my shoulders. By carrying this child¡¯s life on my shoulders, by walking together with her, in the time she is able to enjoy the new life in this world, I will finally be able to atone for it...... Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Can you please live together with me? Together with the both of us?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Uh.¡± (Haine)


    This sounds like a widow with a child asking for my hand in marriage.


    ¡°...Fine.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Fine. If you are okay with me, I will do what I can to help you and that child.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am so happy!¡± (Yorishiro)


    From there on, Yorishiro smiled happily, and Doraha, who still didn¡¯t understand what was going on herself, had a spaced-out expression.


    Karen-san was watching this exchange of us a step behind with a puzzled expression.


    And like this, we finished doing what we had to do at the Underworld Country.


    Now that it is over, I feel like everything was dancing in the palm of Yorishiro¡¯s hand, but well, if that managed to clear her clouded heart, that¡¯s fine.


    Next is how we are going to return from this underground that had its stairs crumble with the fight against the shadow.


    But it seems that won¡¯t be a problem at all.


    Because we can fly with the use of the dark matter I control, it was easy to return to the entrance while carrying Karen-san, Yorishiro, and the new member, Doraha.


    That¡¯s why, right now, we are in the middle of regretting having to leave this historical ruins.


    Now that I look at it again, it is an incredibly beautiful ce.


    An ancient city that stands silently in the darkness. No sounds, just silence. Is it dead or just sleeping? It could be said to be a mystical sight.


    ¡°Beautiful...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san also held the same impression.


    Right now Karen-san and I are alone, and we were looking at the Underworld Country from a slightly elevated location.


    Yorishiro stayed to watch over Doraha, but it seems like it was because she was being considerate of Karen-san.


    In this journey, there hasn¡¯t been a single time where Karen-san has been alone with me.


    ¡°...But the ones who destroyed thisnd were...our ancestors.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    We have also told Karen-san the contents of the monument that Doraha left behind before she was consumed by the ¡®shadow¡¯. Along with my own interpretation of it.


    The foreign enemies that attacked the Underworld Country were sent by the four Base Element Gods. The humans, that were given power by the four Base Elements in order to destroy the Underworld Country,ter created their ownmunity, and the respective churches were formed.


    ¡°Then, our Light Church as well is¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡®A part of the instigators of this destruction¡¯, is what she was about to say, but I interrupt her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    My biggest basis for this is that the queen Izanami of the Underworld Country was the incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion.


    She is not so crazy as to order her own country to be destroyed.


    But there¡¯s no way I would be able to prove this basis of mine to Karen-san, so I have to bring out a different exnation.


    ¡°...Uhm, you see, in the monument that Doraha left behind, four natural disasters were written there.¡± (Haine)


    Locusts, gue, acid rain, and desertification.


    ¡°Each were respectively connected to wind, water, fire, and earth; there were no disasters that rted to light. Isn¡¯t that proof that the light church wasn¡¯t rted to the destruction of the Underworld Country?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit difficult to take as proof?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And there¡¯s one other thing. When Doraha went mad and became the shadow, the invaders must have been quite scared, don¡¯t you think? They were faced with unexpected resistance. Don¡¯t you think quite a good amount of people of the Underworld Country were able to escape in that stalemate?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ah...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And the people that managed to escape safely gathered together, and what was created was...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Light Church...is what you are trying to say?¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s probably the case.


    The queen Izanami had taken off her flesh body and returned to being the Light Goddess Intion, and this time, protected the people and guided them as a God.


    Different from the fire, water, earth, and wind; this was how the light church was formed.


    ¡°...You are incredible, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh? What is?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because you know, there¡¯s no proof at all that this is true, and yet, you are talking as if you are sure that is how it happened. It made me belief that this is also how it actually happened.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it okay to believe that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right. Thinking that way, that girl...Doraha-san¡¯s sacrifice by turning into a ¡®shadow¡¯ was not pointless. There were lives that were saved thanks to it. So Doraha-san saved a lot of lives -as a hero.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how it is.¡± (Haine)


    Right after Doraha was liberated from her ¡®shadow¡¯, I told Karen-san that that¡¯s the name she introduced herself as.


    It was actually Yorishiro who knew the name of Doraha in her past life as Izanami though.


    ¡°When I look at Haine-san and Yorishiro-sama, I sometimes feel something mysterious.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°You know a lot of things; or more like, know way too much. It feels as if you two have something different from yourselves inside of you.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s way too farfetched.¡± (Haine)


    I hurriedly refute her words, but the voice of Karen-san sinks.


    ¡°That¡¯s why it feels as if the two of you are connected. How envying.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    At that moment, the face of Karen-san suddenly approached my face, and without stopping at all, it made contact with me; lips and lips.


    ¡°This is...the reward this time.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°The reward for saving us. I promised Yorishiro that I would give you something incredible after all.¡± (Karen)


    After separating her lips from mine, Karen-san says this.


    ¡°I won¡¯t lose heart. Even if Haine-san and Yorishiro-sama have a special connection between you both, I will create a connection with Haine-san that will not lose to it! Haine-san, please treasure us both, okay?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Y-Yes!¡± (Haine)


    My cheeks are probably bright red.


    Karen-san also ruminated on what she had just done herself, and must have understood that she had done something big, she suddenly boiled bright red.


    ¡°I am g-going to take a look at Yorishiro-sama and Doraha-san!!¡± (Karen)


    And then, she ran away while still embarrassed.


    ...The actions of Karen-san escte with each passing day.


    ¡°At this rate...marriage wille by next month...¡± (Haine)


    I said it jokingly, but it felt real and made me shiver.


    Did Karen-san obtain something from this journey?


    This journey was to search for a clue of the existence of the Dark God Entropy in the Underworld Country.


    And in reality, the Underworld Country actually existed and we already learned that Entropy was worshipped by them, but further than that should still be a mystery for her.


    In my side...I did gain something from it.


    That is...the assurance that Gods are not necessary in this world.


    I learned about the atrocities that weremitted by the four Base Elements in the past when I was sleeping, and I also learned that they are useless for humans, on the contrary, they are actually harmful.


    When I just came back to this world, I wasn¡¯t really thinking much of it, but as I thought, I really do have to get moving.


    Make a n topletely sever the ties between this world and the Gods.

 Chapter 87-88 - The continuation of the legend

    <h4>Chapter 87-88: The continuation of the legend</h4>


    The story this time has reached its end.


    Whates next is something like sorting out the information for the next step.


    ¡°Was it okay to leave the Underworld Country like that?¡±


    For now, we have left the ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯ and returned to the Light capital, Apollon City where I once again ask Yorishiro this.


    Suddenly bringing back a girl of unknown origins, and suddenly telling the higher-ups of the Church that she will be raising her herself threw them into chaos, but Yorishiro is not the type who would falter at something like this.


    ¡°Yeah, I thought that it would be best to have that city sleep for a while more.¡±


    If the existence of the Dark Underworld Country is revealed, it will be a big historical discovery and the whole world would make a ruckus about it.


    Every church would send an investigation team, and the once peacefulnd might bustle in activity.


    ¡°The more that city is investigated, the more unbeneficial facts for the five great Churches will be dug out. They haven¡¯t matured enough to permit this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The city itself might be erasedpletely.¡± (Haine)


    Thatnd that had been destroyed by the whim of the Gods once, would be destroyed once again by the humans that hold authority. That¡¯s certainly not something I could swallow.


    Karen-san was also convinced by that exnation and promised to keep it a secret.


    ¡°And so, with this, my duty has finished-desu ne¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, Yorishiro takes out a maicpass that¡¯s ornamented quite a bit.


    If I remember correctly, this is a treasured article of the Light Church, the ¡®Needle of Guidance¡¯. By pouring light divine power into it, it would point at the direction of the ce one desired.


    ¡°That¡¯s...actually just a normalpass, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. It is an antique that one of the Cardinals splurged money to make. It is made of a luxurious arrangement of gold and silver, but the use itself is that of a normalpass. It is something that I was given on a certain day as a bribe.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Light and maism have simr properties. By using the light divine power, she can move thepass the way she wants. For the Light Founder and incarnation of the Light Goddess, this must have been a piece of cake.


    And, for this girl who has the past life of being the queen of the Underworld Country, Izanami, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for her to know of the location of the Underworld Country from the very beginning. As long as she moves thepass needle to the direction she wants...


    ¡°So that was only a prop to guide Karen-san and I to the Underworld Country huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah, for the sake of properly hiding the past that I am the queen Izanami. An item that shows the location of the thing you desire just by wishing for it; there¡¯s no way such a convenient item exists.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, Yorishiro threw the shy normalpass in the guise of the ¡®Needle of Guidance¡¯ to a drawer in the corner of the room. It is probably the ce for things that will never be taken out again.


    ¡°It would be problematic if thises out in a conversation in the future, so let¡¯s just say that it was lost in the confusion at the Underworld Country. I am counting on Haine-san to match up the story.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Got it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And so, Haine-san, what brings you here tonight? You purposely came at the time when Doraha was sleeping. As expected, your business has to do with those troublesome ones, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    We can finally enter the main topic.


    Since the time she had Doraha at her side, Yorishiro¡¯s bewitching nature has gone dormant, and in ce of that, a feeling of motherhood has been prominent.


    Even when I came to her room thiste at night, she didn¡¯t tease me by saying ¡®are you crawling on my bed tonight?¡¯, which helps me out, and, at the same time, it felt kind of lonely.


    ¡°...I want to hear in detail the things that happened after the Underworld Country fell.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Okay... When I took off my body of queen Izanami and returned to being the Light Goddess Intion, those guys all got surprised and grew flustered.¡± (Yorishiro)


    By those guys, she refers to the four Base Elements that destroyed the Underworld Country.


    Those guys didn¡¯t know that the queen was the incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion when they destroyed the Underworld Country huh.


    ¡°The face they made when they learned the truth, it was like a child who had their prank discovered by their mother. The Mother Earth Mantle got flustered and helped me out in sealing the Underworld Country...... At that time, it would have been fine to scold them and cause a new battle of Gods...but I didn¡¯t do that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Why?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The first reason was because logic was in their side.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No way.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It isn¡¯t. In the past, we five Gods gathered to a united idea of ¡®humans are below Gods¡¯ and sealed you. And yet, I hid the fact that I had gone to the surface world, provided humans with culture, and had them progress. Doesn¡¯t that mean I broke the agreement?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is that how it works?


    For me who is in the side of humans, this logic is a bit hard to swallow though.


    ¡°I am one of the two poles, but I don¡¯t hold that much advantage against the other four Base Elementspared to you, the Dark God. If I were to try using force to bring it to a conclusion, I might have even ended up like you. If you and I -both poles- were to get sealed, things would have gotten even worse.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And then, Yorishiro ¡ªno, the Light Goddess Intion said,


    ¡°I decided on a n.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°A n?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°When the four Base Elements reunited with me, they began lining up excuses. As expected, they said things like ¡®you were the one who broke the agreement and made the humans smarter¡¯. And so, I created this mean.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡®The reason why I ruled and guided them was in order to collect something from the humans¡¯, is what she told the other Gods to gloss over things.


    ¡°What in the world did you tell them you were collecting?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Prayer Energy.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Prayer...


    Now that she says it, I do feel like Nova and Coacervate mentioned something like that...


    ¡°This is something that I discovered by chance while I was spreading the religion of the Dark God Entropy in the Underworld Country as the queen Izanami. A type of energy in the heart of humans. When the human heart directs pure respect and affection towards a God, that heart will be mellow energy and be send towards the God.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°So that¡¯s what a prayer is huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Divine power is another form of heart energy from humans. I mentioned the existence of this to the four Base Elements, and advised them to have a taste of it. And then, they were soon enved by it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The power of human¡¯s prayers...made the Gods drunk and enved them.


    Are you telling me the human¡¯s heart has that much power?


    ¡°The Gods that assimte this Prayer Energy will have their strength increased, and, on top of that, its taste is exceptional. The Gods soon wanted to gather as much prayers as possible and began doing many experiments for that sake. The establishment of a church was a part of it. In order to stabilize the number of prayers, they created an organization that worshipped them.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And the ones who became the foundation of it were the foreign enemies that attacked the Underworld Country huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Just as you have concluded. The four Base Element Gods that had now created churches, ordered them to attack the surrounding settlements to obtain more believers, forced them to join the church, and increased their influence. Humans literally became livestock that offered prayers to Gods. That kind of era continued for around a millennium. It was a hard to endure era. And then, a change urred.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ethereal.¡± (Haine)


    The machine culture brought by the discovery of Ethereal.


    Because of this, the hearts of the humans distanced themselves from the Gods. The energy that was gathered also lessened.


    ¡°That¡¯s why they utilized a method like monsters and acted such a cheap farce. And when not even that was working, they threw a tanthrum, and were driven to kill their own believers without any distinction.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. But the current Gods...can¡¯t wipe out the humans anymore -just like how they wiped out the Underworld Country. They wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy all the five capitals where the Grand Churches are located and kill all the humans.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Why?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In the period of time that was close to a millennium, they indulged on the Prayer Energy of humans. This brought an unexpected change in them.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The four Base Element Gods...can¡¯t live without Prayer Energy anymore?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. They exploited the humans of Prayer Energy for far too long, and drowned too much in its taste. For them, Prayer Energy is already on the same level as oxygen. If they have a shortage of it, they won¡¯t be able to maintain their own existence.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Being told this reality, I was shocked.


    At the same time, I have now understood something. So that¡¯s the reason why they were so attached to humans after I returned 1,600 yearster.


    And it is no doubt the bad type of attachment.


    In the eyes of someone like me who knew them in the past, this gave out a really out-of-ce sensation.


    In the past, the Gods of Creation were a lot more indifferent towards humans. It was as if they didn¡¯t care about them at all.


    ¡°So they already can¡¯t live without humans anymore?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If humans fall, the prayers that were supplied would be lost, and at the same time, the Gods would fall as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Gods would die?


    Something as big as that would ur?


    ¡°Then, you, who formed the Light Church as well, have been eroded by the prayer energy?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am grateful for the prayers of the people, but I didn¡¯t indulge in them. I managed to notice how dangerous the Prayer Energy was from the very beginning. That¡¯s why I am the same as the time when you were sealed 1,600 years ago.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Hearing this, I was slightly relieved.


    But Yorishiro -the Light Goddess Intion- knew how dangerous the prayers were, and yet, she encouraged the Gods to it while hiding this truth.


    How scary.


    But that probably shows just how angered she was with the four Base Element Gods that destroyed the Underworld Country.


    So those four Base Element guys had changed in such a way in these 1,600 years huh.


    It is true that there¡¯s a point that bothers. They can¡¯t live without humans, and even when they have been driven to such boundaries, they still look down on humans huh.


    Truly beyond salvation.


    ¡°On the other hand, humans do not need Gods.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s how it is.¡± (Haine)


    This is one of the misunderstandings in this world.


    Gods are not necessary at all to maintain this world.


    The work of Gods is to create worlds.


    Once the creation is done, their job is over. There¡¯s nothing more to do.


    That¡¯s why, the Gods that have nothing to do anymore are simply squeezing out the spiritual energy of the ones living in this world. That¡¯s all they are doing.


    ¡°Even if the Gods need the world, the world already has no need for Gods. In that case, we just have to separate them.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The reason why I made them addicted to the Prayer Energy was...for revenge.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro said this resolutely.


    ¡°They destroyed the Underworld Country that I raised for the sake of my dear Entropy and ended up loving it as much as I love him. This is my revenge. The biggest bottleneck until now has been the seal that the all five of us ced on you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The seal the five Gods ced couldn¡¯t be undone without all five Gods.


    ¡°But, after waiting more than a millennium for the seal to weaken naturally, I was finally able to undo it by myself. There¡¯s already nothing to distress about. Haine-san ¨Cno, Dark God Entropy, please remove the harmful existences of this world.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What should I do?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°First of all, the most important thing would be to remove the harm that are the monsters. Those pseudo-lifeforms that have no soul are the viins that the Gods have created in order to maintain the faith to Gods. Once that harmful existence is gone, the need for Gods will finally be gone.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Completely eliminating monsters huh.


    Now that I think about it, Coacervate said this: ¡®We Gods have created Mother Monsters that can give birth to monsters infinitely and released them into the world¡¯.


    ¡°So we just have to defeat the fire, water, earth, and wind Mother Monsters that are somewhere in this world.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because the faith has decreased, the weakening of the four Base Element Gods has elerated. In order to create Mother Monsters, there¡¯s the need to pour several tens of times more divine power than that of the Fire Cow Phris and the Great Sea Dragon Hydra Serpent. Once the Mother Monsters are defeated, they probably won¡¯t be able to make one again.¡± (Yorishiro)


    So what must be done is already in sight huh.


    ¡°Light Goddess, are you fine with that?¡± (Haine)


    I ask just to confirm.


    Because she is also one of the six Gods that created this world after all.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. At any rate, I am currently Yorishiro, one of the humans that lives in this world. If there¡¯s an option that can bring good to the humans, it should be executed without hesitation.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s just think about what we should do as Gods after our current lives are over.¡± (Haine)


    In this way, we began to act.


    For the sake of humans and not for the sake of Gods; for the sake of recovering a world that humans can live in.


    ***


    ¡°With that wrapped up...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    The look of Yorishiro suddenly changed.


    ¡°Haine-san, is it true that you kissed Karen-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    Why does she know that?!


    Even though I kept silent about it because I knew that it would definitely be a pain if it were known!


    ¡°Karen-san disclosed it to me herself. ¡®I am sorry for stealing the march¡¯, she said. She really is a honest girl to the core. Compared to that, Haine-san, did you think it would not be a problem as long as it wasn¡¯t discovered?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Uhm, no no no...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°So for me it was a p on the cheek, and for Karen-san it was a kiss in the lips huh. It truly shows the difference in treatment here-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is she talking about the p I gave her for her sake?!


    After hearing her revenge n against the four Base Elements and what is happening right now, I am now convinced; this woman is quite vindictive.


    ¡°No you see, that p was something I did exactly because I see you as someone important...¡± (Haine)


    No, that¡¯s not it. What I have to say right now is not that.


    ¡°You said it before, right? That once I learned about the sin youmitted in the past, I would hate you.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Y-Yes...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°It didn¡¯t make me hate you, you know? I am truly sorry for making you carry so many things on your back all by yourself in these 1,600 years.¡± (Haine)


    And then, I hugged Yorishiro.


    I held admiration towards this girl that has been living under many names for a long time.


    ¡°Haine-san, as I thought, I do want to live in this body with all I can-desu wa. As the Yorishiro that can live in the same time as you. Give birth to your child and raise it; have Doraha grasp the happiness that she was unable to grasp in her time at the Underworld Country; and I also want to get along with Karen-san in all that time.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You have a lot of wishes. But, that¡¯s exactly why life is long.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. Please fill my life...with a lot of wishes.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Without saying any more than that, our lips ovep.


    It was a sweet transient time before the fierce battle that will be unfolding from here on. <TL: in the sheets>

 Chapter 89-91 - Visiting the mother

    <h4>Chapter 89-91: Visiting the mother</h4>


    TL: Sorry for the dy! I was watching ¡®It¡¯ with some friends and it got realte! <It was a good movie by the way, totally rmend it>


    The next scheduled chapter will be of Tsuki ga Michi! And tomorrow will be sponsored chapters of World Reformation


    I decided on taking a bit of time to destroy the monsters.


    They are only harmful for humans, and only convenient tools for the Gods to ensure their own existence.


    In order to cut off the influence of the Gods that¡¯s only a pain for the humans, I decided that there¡¯s the need to eliminate this pseudo-lifeforms called monsters.


    And so, what has to be done in order to eliminate monsters? When I was searching for this specific question, the answer that came out was to ¡®defeat the Mother Monsters¡¯.


    What are Mother Monsters?


    In the first ce, monsters are pawns that were created by the Gods for their own sake.


    But it would be a pain for the Gods to continue creating thousands of monsters eternally and it wouldn¡¯t be efficient.


    So, those Gods first created a ¡®monster that gives birth to monsters¡¯.


    By creating that, it will continue producing monsters on its own. It would make things a lot easier for the Gods.


    Those ¡®monsters that produce monsters¡¯ are the Mother Monsters.


    The fire, water, earth, and wind Gods agreed to this idea of monsters and church, and created Mother Monsters, making the numbers equal to the amount of Base Element Gods, four.


    Earth Mother Monster; Water Mother Monster; Fire Mother Monster; Wind Mother Monster.


    ...Are apparently the ones that exist.


    In order topletely separate the harm that are monsters from the world, there¡¯s the need to eliminate all these four.


    ording to a certain source of information, the four Base Element Gods have been weakening recently, so if we manage to defeat the Mother Monsters, they won¡¯t be able to create another one again.


    In other words, if we do battle four times, a fitting amount of monsters will be leaving the surface world for good.


    If we cut off the source that supplies monsters and defeat the ones that remain, the number of monsters will decrease for sure, and by the end, it will be zero.


    If the final supplying line of Prayer Energy for the four Base Elements is cut off, they won¡¯t be able to meddle with the humans anymore.


    The important points all lie in the Mother Monsters. And so, I -Kuromiya Haine- want to eliminate them all as soon as possible, but...there¡¯s one problem.


    Where are the Mother Monsters anyways?


    Whether it is a God or a monster, in order to give it a beating, I have to go to where it is. But the crucial location of the Mother Monsters ispletely unknown for me.


    It is certain that they are somewhere around this world, but I have no clues or an idea of where they could be.


    I do have the Light Goddess Intion at my side, but...it seems Yorishiro also doesn¡¯t have any ideas, and it looked like our reformation n had encountered a wall right at the beginning.


    But there¡¯s only one thing I know that might help out in this.


    A way to find the Mother Monsters...or more like, one guy that seems like he would know the location of the Mother Monsters.


    ...No, maybe it is more urate to call him a critter.


    ***


    And so, I am in the city of Muspelheim where the Fire Church headquarters are located.


    What¡¯s there is...a certain cow.


    (Ah~, how peaceful, how peaceful~.)


    Guided by a member of the Fire Church, I reunited with this guy after a good while.


    Well, even if I say that, how long has it been? Before that reunion there was a 1,600 years of nk space, so this might not be considered that longpared to that.


    (...Oh, isn¡¯t the one there my brethren, the Dark God Entropy? Hey hey~.)


    The cow talks to me in a telepathic-like voice that only I can hear.


    This guy is a cow.


    Four hoofed legs, a body that has a decent amount of meat, has horns, and also a tail. But it is slightly different from the cowsmonly known, its skin is hard as steel, and because of that, its surface color is kind of metallic.


    Well, that¡¯s a given. Even if it is a cow, it is a cow-shaped monster.


    It is called the Fire Cow Phris among the humans.


    It is a vicious monster that changed the once wealthy mountainous district into scorched earth and settled there, but because of many things happening, it is now confined in the Fire Church.


    Its frame that was once as big as a mountain is now on the size of a calf.


    It could be said that this is a good size to keep it indoors.


    And so, the problem with this Fire Cow Phris is that...


    (...Well, how to say this... It has been a while, Fire God.) (Haine)


    (Yeah, it has been a while while~.) (Nova)


    The cow was lying on the floor and answers me only with his tail swinging left and right.


    That¡¯s right, this cow-shaped monster may be a monster, but inside it there¡¯s the soul of a God.


    One of the five Gods of Creation and four Base Elements; the one who governs fire, the God Nova.


    Just like how I -the Dark God Entropy- incarnated into a human as Kuromiya Haine, this guy also incarnated into a monster even when he is a God.


    If I had to speak the reason why he did something like that, it would be...in order to punish the humans that have stopped fawning on him.


    For that reason, he went through the trouble of incarnating as a monster, and with the power of a God and the big frame of a monster, he was about to destroy the city, but instead got beaten up by me recently.


    Normally, it would have been proper to destroy that cow monster¡¯s body into pieces and stop its breath, but I purposely didn¡¯t do it and kept him alive.


    He is a God and his true essence is in his soul, so even if I destroy the monster body, his soul would only return to the God Realm.


    That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t kill him and decided on keeping the God soul inside the monster.


    With several excuses lined up, I had the Fire Church take custody of it, and in a sense, I had sealed him here but...


    (Ah~~a morning nap sure is rxing rxing~~.) (Nova)


    ........


    ...Isn¡¯t he feeling way too at home here?


    (Oi, Fire God Nova.) (Haine)


    (Yes, I am the Fire God.) (Nova)


    Are you really a God?


    Haven¡¯t you degraded to livestock?


    This guy is currently caged inside a cell that the Fire Church people made specially for him.


    But, even if I call it a cell, it looks unexpectedlyfy, and the space inside is on the level of a hall. It is definitely bigger than a one-person house in Apollon City or Muspelheim.


    Inside this remarkable ce, the ce to sleep and the water is properly prepared; the other space is carefullyyered withwn.


    Its surrounding may indeed be caged, but this thoroughly well-made environment...is by no means something I would think of as a jail to imprison a captured monster.


    ...It is more like...the home of a pet that¡¯s being treasured dearly?


    (...You see, Fire God...I certainly did say that I would seal you in that body of yours. But I actually didn¡¯t really mean it at all. Because you know, if you wanted to kill yourself, you could have done it anytime to get out of your body. If you wanted to, you could have run at full speed towards a wall and break your head, and that would easily let you return to the God Realm.


    It was more like, trying to annoy you.


    I actually came here with low expectations, you know. When I arrived here, I thought I would be hearing a: ¡®It died a long time ago¡¯, by the people of the Fire Church. I was prepared for that.) (Haine)


    But in reality, he was still plenty alive, moreover, he is totally feeling at home.


    What happened? Hey Fire God, just what in the hell happened?


    (You do have a point.) (Nova)


    The God, or more like, the cow answers me while still resting on thewn inside the cell.


    (At first, I also thought that something like this was just humiliating and was filled with resentment. Because you know, it is me, the Fire God Nova. And to top it all off, I was turned into a show for the human children in such a cow body. I was going ¡®like hell I can take this¡¯. My God pride was in shambles, you know.) (Nova)


    Must have been.


    This cow monster being the Fire God Nova is a truth that only I as a God as well could have noticed.


    There¡¯s no way for the other humans to know. Not even the light hero Karen-san and the fire hero Mirack who helped in defeating this cow monster.


    With my dark matter, this guy, who had lost its battle power, has bepletely harmless. ¡®In that case, if this were to be exhibited alive to the general popce, the achievement of the heroes would be on in view and be easier to have a feel of it, and it will also increase the reputation of the Fire Church¡¯, is what I think I said.


    I myself only said some random stuff in the spur of the moment so I don¡¯t remember that well.


    For me, the important part is that the Fire God was sealed in that body, and the exhibition part was just a pretext for it.


    (Thanks to that wild proposition of yours, my life as a customer attracting cow had begun. My believers encaged me in this boring cell and am being exposed to more than hundreds of people¡¯s eyes everyday.) (Nova)


    The members of the Fire Church itself wouldn¡¯t in their wildest dreams think that the monster they are exhibiting is the God they worship.


    Now that I think about it, in my way here, I saw a sign that said: ¡®Fire Cow Phris in public disy!¡¯.....


    By the way, it seems like the public disy time is over for today, and in this space, there¡¯s only the cow in question, me, and the olddy doing the cleaning.


    I am in outline one of the people that subjugated Phris, and I am also acquainted with the fire hero Mirack, so I was let in as an exception.


    (Well, it was just a pain all around for me. I thought about finding a chance one day to kill myself and return to the God Realm. In the time I was looking for that chance, the days passed, and I noticed something incredible.) (Nova)


    (Something incredible?) (Haine)


    (While I¡¯m here, the food justes on its own.) (Nova)


    (Oi.) (Haine)


    (No no, it is indeed incredible you know. Well, the current me may look like a cow, but I am a monster, so I don¡¯t actually need to eat though. But the humans don¡¯t know what monsters eat, so they bring a lot of things. Like dry grass, vegetables, peas, potatoes, carrots; with all these varietying at me, my everyday life has be unexpectedly fun you see!) (Nova)


    (Uuuhm.....is that so.) (Haine)


    (And so, well, I don¡¯t have much to do anyways even if I return to the God Realm, andpared to that, here I can get delicious food without doing anything, so I thought that maybe being here is fine...and so,tely, I have discovered something incredible. You see, when the waiter in chargees with the food and I lift up my front legs high up...they give me a lot more food! Isn¡¯t that awesome?!) (Nova)


    Isn¡¯t that just you being taught some tricks...


    And instead of calling the person a waiter, it is more like the breeder...


    (Ahzing around on thewn isfortable~~. Why did I burn the whole vegetation growing there in my time in the wild and decided on sleeping on top of rocks and earth?) (Nova)


    (Well, if you say that¡¯s fine with you, then that¡¯s good.) (Haine)


    It looks like the Fire God Nova has found his life as a pet cow surprisingly good.


    This might be good in its own way. It might raise the chances of him answering what I will be asking now after all.


    (Hm? Ah, now that I think about it, why did youe here today?) (Nova)


    The cow slowly gets up -the Fire God in the shape of a cow.


    (You are not the type who would juste here for fun after all. Visiting a hated enemy of yours that sealed you in the past, just what was your aim whening here on your own?) (Nova)


    It looks like he still has some dignity as a God remaining.


    (It is good you catch up fast. I came here to ask you something. I will be straight here. Where are the Mother Monsters?) (Haine)


    (Hoh~.) (Nova)


    (Monsters that give birth to monsters. The ones who created the Mother Monsters were the four Base Element Gods including you. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for you as one of the creators to know where they are, right?) (Haine)


    (To think you would look for them... I see, so you are nning on eliminating them?) (Nova)


    (Yeah. It has been 18 years since the seal was undone and I came back. On top of that, it has only been a few weeks since the time I left my vige and had a look at the world but, even so, I understood something for sure.


    This world already has no need for Gods.


    In this world, Gods staying here would only be a bother. I decided on thoroughly cutting off the evil that connects the Gods with the humans.) (Haine)


    (It was inevitable, inevitable. You, who are an unbelievably convenient existence for the humans, to reach that conclusion was inevitable. It is true that I joined in on that cajolery of Coacervate. And what was created from that is the Fire Mother Monster -the immortal bird, Phoenix.) (Nova)


    Immortal bird, Phoenix...


    (It is a bird that has its whole body covered in mes, and I think it is one size bigger than the past Fire Cow Phris. Burning its own body with its own mes, it gives birth to many monsters from those ashes. From that special characteristic it has, not only is it not possible to kill it with the same fire element, no element is able to kill it. Even if its whole body is destroyed, the ashes still remain, and from those ashes, a new Phoenix will be born.) (Nova)


    (Hence the immortal part huh.) (Haine)


    (But your dark matter might be an exception. With that damn matter of yours that erases all elementspletely, it might be possible to kill the immortal bird without even leaving ashes...) (Nova)


    (That¡¯s quite the unexpected honest talking from you. Well, that¡¯s fine. And so, where¡¯s Phoenix?) (Haine)


    (Don¡¯t know.) (Nova)


    (Eh?) (Haine)


    (It is true that I am the one who created Phoenix, but that doesn¡¯t mean I know where it is. It might be a pseudo-lifeform, but it is still a living being, and has without doubt a will of its own. It will go wherever it wants, and more so since it is a bird with wings. It can go anywhere in the world.) (Nova)


    (What¡¯s with that, you are of no help. After all that suggestive behaviour, you still left me with no clues huh.) (Haine)


    (Don¡¯t be spoiled, Dark God. In the first ce, why would I even have to divulge everything to you anyways?) (Nova)


    (Right, we totally don¡¯t get along.


    It was aplete waste of time. But well, since I came all the way here to Muspelheim, I will go eat with the Ignis Militant corps I got along withst time.) (Haine)


    (Well, wait there. Since you are here, let me tell you one more thing.) (Nova)


    (What is it, cow? If it¡¯sins, I will take on thoseins of yours physically as well if you want.) (Haine)


    (It is true that I don¡¯t know the location of the Mother Monster I created, but I didn¡¯t say anything about not knowing where the others are, you know.) (Nova)


    Eh?


    (Especially since that one is famous after all. In the first ce, it is a type that can¡¯t move unlike my bird. The Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood. Do you want to know where it is?) (Nova)


    ¡°...Grandma Wood?¡± (Haine)


    I repeat the name that the cow spoke of.


    (That¡¯s right, the Earth Mother Monster that the Mother Earth Mantle created.) (Nova)


    Nova continues speaking in the thought channel that only I can hear.


    I am also conversing with him in the thought channel, so if this situation continues for long, the people around might think that I am a weird guy that really likes to admire the cow-shaped monster, but it looks like this is no time to be worrying about that.


    (Just as the name states, it is a giant tree-type monster. Among the monsters, it is most likely the biggest one of them all. Mother Monsters are all originally big, but Grandma Wood is a whole level bigger even within that group.) (Nova)


    (And you say you know its location? On top of that, you will be telling me about it?) (Haine)


    (It is a tree to begin with. It can¡¯t move from the ce it was born. And, whether I tell you or not depends on your attitude.) (Nova)


    (What, so there¡¯s exchange conditions huh.) (Haine)


    (Answer me a question. Why didn¡¯t you seal me?) (Nova)


    (Hm? I have.) (Haine)


    (This pathetic thing can¡¯t be called a seal. Not the type that you can return to the God Realm whenever you want if you wanted to; the real seal we did to you 1,600 years ago.) (Nova)


    (Ah.)


    (Your freedom was taken away for 1,600 years by it. In that new fight, I lost to you and our positions reversed. It was your chance to take your revenge, and yet, why didn¡¯t you do it? You are one of the poles, moreover, the Dark God that possesses absolute advantage against the four Base Elements. If you wanted to, you could have made a strong enough sealparable to the seal we used five Gods to make.) (Nova)


    (No, I can¡¯t. In the first ce, the one who created that seal was the underhanded Coacervate.) (Haine)


    (Eh? The cowardly Coacervate?) (Nova)


    (That¡¯s right, that low-life Coacervate. That¡¯s why, I don¡¯t know how to do any sealing, and even if I knew, there¡¯s no need to go that far, right?) (Haine)


    (Wa...)


    (Honestly speaking, I was pissed by you and Coacervate, that¡¯s why I beat you both up. If I still held a grudge after beating you up, that would just mean I can¡¯t control my own hatred.


    But after seeing the past of you guys, I learned that you will certainly be causing problems to the humans, so I will be properly cutting off that connection you have with them though.


    That¡¯s the reason for defeating the Mother Monsters.) (Haine)


    (...)


    (What¡¯s with you, going all silent. If you have been convinced, tell me the location of Grandma Wood already.) (Haine)


    (...Shut up! Idiot, die!) (Nova)


    For some reason, I was grandly insulted.


    What, so you really won¡¯t be telling me.


    While I was thinking what I should do, I look at my surroundings and...I found something good.


    ¡°Sorry~, can I give this to him?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is fine. But only a little bit, okay? His mealter won¡¯t enter if you give him too much after all.¡±


    Receiving the permission of the person that was cleaning a corner of the ce and seemed to be the person in charge of him, I put my hand in a bucket and take out a carrot.


    (Come on~ please tell me with this.) Is what I say as I unt the carrot at him.


    (?!!!!)


    The cow raised up high, and lifted his front legs high up.


    Looks like it was very effective.


    (D-Don¡¯t look down on me, Dark God! You see, today, there will be students from a school close to hereing for an excursion and will be experiencing giving me food. In order to show the kids my special technique, gorging, I am keeping my stomach empty!!) (Nova)


    Just how ustomed are you to your current lifestyle...


    ***


    With all that, I was able to get the necessary information.


    The location of the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood.


    I still don¡¯t know the location of the other three Mother Monsters, but let¡¯s crush the ones that I know of first.


    And so, the Grandma Wood in question is a tree-shaped monster and is the type that once it is ced in one location, it will never move from there, which helps me out a lot.


    With the information I received of Nova, andparing it with the present geography, I calcte in what ce the objective is.


    Doing that, I learned something unbelievable.


    ***


    ¡°Is that the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood?¡± (Haine)


    After concluding where it was, I swiftly fly towards the location.


    What I encountered was...certainly the figure of a giant tree that surpasses my imagination.


    It is truly big.


    Even though my destination is still on the other side of a mountain, there¡¯s green at the other side of the mountain¡¯s summit.


    That¡¯s most likely the green of leaves.


    The leaves that grow thickly surpassed the size of the mountain and stressed its existence to me who was faraway.


    A tree that¡¯s bigger than a mountain.


    As if it is a pir that supports the sky.


    And also...


    ¡°What¡¯s at the base of that tree is...the city where the Earth Church headquarters is located, the Earth capital, Ishtar ze?!¡± (Haine)


    Looks like that¡¯s how it is.


    While heading towards the ce where the Earth Monster is, I, at the same time, am heading towards the Earth Church¡¯s headquarters.

 Chapter 92-94 - To the Mother Earth’s bossom

    <h4>Chapter 92-94: To the Mother Earth¡¯s bossom</h4>


    Earth capital, Ishtar ze.


    This city where the Earth Church is in, is far away from the Light capital, Apollon City; the Fire capital, Muspelheim; and the Water Capital, Hydra Ville. Because of that, it is a city that¡¯s isted from cultural exchange.


    Moreover, at the west of it there¡¯s the ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯, and if they want to go to other settlements, there¡¯s the danger that they would enter this area, so it made the people not want to move about which strengthened the istion even more.


    It is an isted nation by nature, and from an outside perspective, it is practically an unexplored region riddled with mysteries.


    That is the Earth capital, Ishtar ze.


    The city where the people that worship one of the five Gods of Creation, Mother Earth Mantle.


    I am flying there alone with my flying machine.


    ¡°But, to think a Mother Monster would be right in the middle of a city where people live...¡± (Haine)


    Ishtar ze is an enigmatic city, but it seems like the big tree at the center of the city is somewhat famous even in the outside settlements.


    Even if they indeed don¡¯t have much cultural exchange, there¡¯s still travelers thate to the Earth capital at times when travelling around the world.


    In the stories that they brag about, the first thing thates out is the big tree that serves as the symbol of the city.


    The people of the Light, Fire, and Water Churches as well, when I asked them about the Earth capital, Ishtar ze, most of it was: ¡®ah, that city with the big tree huh. I don¡¯t know anything aside from that¡¯.


    And in truth, when I brought the information I got from Nova about Grandma Wood to Yorishiro, even she said: ¡®Eh, that was actually one?!¡¯ and was surprised.


    It is famous, but no one knows that this is one of the roots of those things called monsters. It seems like that¡¯s the state it is in.


    ¡°And I am just a few ways away from the city where Grandma Wood is. Let¡¯s push it till the destination.¡± (Haine)


    I turn to the back and say this cheerfully.


    ¡ªNo one is there.


    Right, this time, I am the only one in this journey.


    Even in this distance where I can already see the trunk of Grandma Wood, there¡¯s no one at my right or my left.


    This is one of the big links that has to be severed in order to eradicate the monsters from this world, but in this journey, I wanted to wrap this out on my own, and because of it, I decided on going alone.


    The light hero Karen-san, who I have always been with until now, for this time, I chose not to bring her with me. If I move with a hero, there¡¯s a lot of things that have to be amodated first so it saves me in that part, and it could be a big matterter.


    And so, this time, I am alone.


    No well, isn¡¯t that good? My first journey alone. Let¡¯s go freely and carefreely without any constraints.


    ¡°Well then, everyone, let¡¯s go to the Earth capital, Ishtar ze~~!!¡± (Haine)


    Raising my hands high-up, I shout to the back......


    Ah right, there¡¯s no one.


    ...I am not feeling lonely, okay?!


    ***


    At the mountains that are quite a bit far before arriving at Ishtar ze, I got down the flying machine and hid it in the thicket.


    The reason why I am doing this is because Yorishiro gave me an advice in the time I was departing.


    ¡®Try your utmost to not bring any ethereal machines to Ishtar ze¡¯, she said.


    There was no detailed exnation.


    Giving me small amounts of various pieces of information and saying hinting at things is truly just like her.


    But Yorishiro is not the type to give advice thoughtlessly, so I should obediently follow what she said and leave the flying machine here.


    It is in outline something that¡¯s borrowed from the church, or more like, Yorishiro. If I break it, it is something that I definitely won¡¯t be able to repay.


    I camouge it by cing grass on top of it and make a specific mark that only I would be able to tell it is one, and so, hidingplete.


    Now then, let¡¯s head to Ishtar ze by feet.


    From what I saw when I was riding the flying machine, it would take around 1 day to reach there by feet.


    Even so, if I was to go by feet from the very beginning, reaching her from Apollon City would have taken at the very least 1 month. I was able to arrive in only a few days, so the flying machine is still doing its job splendidly.


    I could proceed in the ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯ without fearing it. Development really does make humans powerful.


    Understanding how amazing the Ethereal era is once again, I continue onward, and at one point, the mountain road suddenly ended.


    ¡°Oh~~¡±


    And then, there was an open field that extends as far as I could see...but it was a bit different.


    ¡°Oooh!¡±


    This is not something that was made naturally. A green ground that was prepared with human hands; a ntation.


    The sections are properly separated, and this agriculturalnd that had set crops growing from it were extending to the far horizon and from left and right to a point where I can¡¯t even see the end from here.


    What a big farming zone.


    Until now, I have seen many cities like Apollon City, Muspelheim, and Hydra Ville.


    As long as there¡¯s many humans living there, there¡¯s the need to supply their food in some way, and all settlements had their agriculturalnd in their surroundings.


    But I have not seen an agriculturalnd as big as this one.


    If this is all managed by Ishtar ze, this is not ordinary.


    ¡°The city that¡¯s under the divine protection of Mother Earth huh...¡± (Haine)


    These words leaked out from my mouth naturally.


    Mother Earth Mantle, who governs the earth, is the one who created the ground itself where the humans stand on.


    In that sense, it can be said that, for humans, she is the God that is the most familiar with them.


    The water blessing, the fire blessing, and even the wind blessing has to pass through the earth at least once before reaching the humans.


    The earth is the mother of all living beings. That¡¯s why only Mantle is not simply called Earth God, but called with affection as Mother Earth.


    The Earth Church that worships Mantle possessing such big farmingnd can be understandable.


    On the ntations, I could see people that looked like peasants here and there, and I could feel liveliness that I wouldn¡¯t be able to see in just any agriculturalnd.


    Peaceful and melodious; while thinking something like that, I walked on the road and then...for some reason, I felt a gaze.


    Someone is watching me.


    Thinking this, I looked around, and there, my eyes found another strange thing.


    The shadow of someone. A silhouette in the shape of a human.


    At first, I was so surprised by the ever-extending agriculturalnd that I didn¡¯t notice it, but it is quite big. A height that would require two adult men in order to match its size.


    That¡¯s obviously not a human.


    A doll?


    A doll made of earth.


    A giant earth doll was moving alone in the ntation.


    ¡°Could it be...a monster?!¡± (Haine)


    The special trait of this pseudo-lifeforms called monsters is that they release divine power aura, but you can¡¯t feel the beat of a soul.


    Sensing that irregrity, I noticed immediately that it was a monster, and after noticing one other thing, my alertness raised to its upper limit.


    Close to the feet of that earth-humanoid monster was...a human!


    An elderly *oba-san*. <granny>


    Her legs have already gotten weak and she can¡¯t run at her full-speed. There¡¯s no way she can escape from that earth-humanoid.


    And then, the earth-humanoid took a step.


    At the direction of the Oba-san, as if saying ¡®I will crush you¡¯.


    ¡°Watch out!!¡± (Haine)


    I immediately ran there.


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    I run towards the ce.


    Towards the ce where the old woman was about to be crushed under the step of the giant earth-humanoid.


    I don¡¯t know the details, but there¡¯s no doubt that¡¯s a monster.


    I somehow made it in time and stand in between the Oba-san and the earth-humanoid.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    I heard the voice of the Oba-san from behind.


    There¡¯s no time to hesitate. If I take my time, not only the Oba-san, the surroundings will also suffer. I release dark matter and destroy the earth-humanoid without leaving any remains¡ª-is what I thought, but I felt a *gong* shock from my back.


    ¡°Guogh?!¡± (Haine)


    I was hit by something from my back. Moreover, because it urately hit my spine, it made a dangerously creaking sound and I fall in pain.


    ¡°Dunno who ya are, but don¡¯t go jumpin¡¯ out suddenly.¡±


    The one hitting me was the Oba-san.


    She gave me one hit with the cane she is holding, moreover, it seems that cane was stronger than I expected, the pain coursing through me was not letting me move at all.


    As this happened, the earth-humanoid was approaching.


    The steps that were going *doshin* *doshin* were sinking around half of its feet into the earth every time.


    This is bad. ¡®At this rate, the Oba-san and I will be crushed beneath this guy¡¯s feet!¡¯, just when I thought of this...the earth-humanoid passes by the Oba-san and I, and heads towards an unknown destination.


    ¡°...Eh? Wut?¡± (Haine)


    When the earth-humanoid moves forward for a while, it turns around, and returns here.


    ¡°Hua?!¡±


    I thought we would be crushed this time for sure, but as expected, the earth-humanoid passes by us, and after moving for a while, it turns back...and continues that process.


    ¡°Ya see, this ntation here...I had it take a restst year. And so, I thought about nting somethin¡¯ again this year, so before that, I be thinking ther¡¯ be the need to mix the earth fer a bit ya see.¡±


    The Oba-san says this with a mixed ent. <TL: Please treat me gently on the ent >-<. If there¡¯s any sort of tips you can give me on that, I would appreciate it a lot.>


    ¡°Leaving it to that child is reallyfortin¡¯. My legs already roughed up ya see, just walkin¡¯ with these legs won¡¯t be mixing no earth. Ya can¡¯t just suddenly stand on its way.¡±


    Eh? For some reason, it has turned into me being scolded?


    ¡°B-But that¡¯s a monster...¡± (Haine)


    Because the pain in my back is still not going away, my speech is still not going back to normal.


    She looks like that, but her strength is impressive. Is this the hidden power of a farmer?


    ¡°...Could it be yer...an outsider?¡±


    ¡°Outsider?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Talking about people that came from the outside. The first thin¡¯ people who don¡¯t know this ce get surprised by is that after all. That child ya see, it¡¯s called a Golem. The blessin¡¯ of Mother Earth-sama.¡±


    Saying this, the Oba-san points at the giant earth-humanoid that is still continuing the plowing.


    ¡°...Golem?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. See fer yerself. There¡¯s some over there and there too.¡±


    In the ces where the Oba-san points at, there¡¯s certainly big human-shaped shadows plowing thend, digging canals, helping out in the harvesting; they were working in the fields restlessly.


    These so called Golems have a silhouette that¡¯s practically identical to that of humans aside from the size, so in this t agriculturalnd with such perspective in it, I ended up not noticing it.


    But...eh? Golem? But, they are monsters, right?


    The monsters are helping out in the farm?


    ***


    ¡°Oh my, yer quite the braved.¡±


    Some time has passed since then, the pain in my back finally receded, and the Oba-san was treating me with tea.


    While I was gazing at the Golem at the ntation.


    ¡°So ya misunderstood thinkin¡¯ that I was being attacked by a Golem and went to save me eh. Looks like I did somethin¡¯ bad to ya then. Thanks.¡±


    ¡°No, in the end, it was my misunderstanding, so I should be the one apologizing. Not only did I cause you trouble, I was even about to get in the way of your work.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine~. Even a granny like me gets happy when a youn¡¯ un tries to save her-sa ne. Here, eat some pickles too.¡±


    ¡°T-Thanks for the meal.¡± (Haine)


    I was eating and drinking what was being brought to me.


    A blue sky and a green in that extends further than the eye can see. The sounds that enter my ears are the steps of the Golem that¡¯s working on its own.


    What a peaceful space.


    I felt a gaze and look around. In the skies, there¡¯s the shadow of a bird of prey that might be an eagle or a hawk. It is probably aiming at the mice that might be running around the ntation.


    ¡°But well, most outsiders get surprised by it-sa ne. Humans and monsters bein¡¯ friendly.¡±


    ¡°Those Golems, do they really not attack people?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That child is just as good natured as ya-sa ne.¡±


    Maybe it has finished the plowing; the Golem that was moving back and forth only, for the first time stops its trajectory and heads to where we are.


    ¡°Thanks fer ya hard work.¡±


    When it arrives right in front of us, the Golem stops on its own, and the Oba-san seems to have begun touching the body of the Golem.


    And then...


    ¡°Uwa?!¡±


    The surface of the Golem suddenly had cracks appearing from it, moreover, this covered its whole body and, finally, it crumbles and bes rubble.


    ¡°W-What was that?! What happened?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Calm down, youn¡¯ un. The work is over, so I had it take a rest-sa ne.¡±


    Saying this, there was one piece of brick in the hand of the Oba-san.


    She didn¡¯t have something like that before though.


    ¡°This be the identity of the Golem-sa ne.¡±


    ¡°Eh? This brick is?¡± (Haine)


    Iter learned that this brick is called a Life Block, also called as Golem Core.


    ¡°Ya see, ya have to write what ya want it to do in this Life Block.¡±


    The Oba-san was writing something on the brick with a bamboo shoot or something like that. Maybe the surface is pretty soft.


    ¡°And then, ya throw it ta the earth.¡±


    After doing that, earth begins to gather on the brick, swells big, and then, it steadily shapes up and bes the silhouette of a human.


    The Golem appears once again.


    ¡°Now that it taken form, it be movin¡¯ as ordered. Now, get on.¡±


    ¡°Eh? We are riding it?¡± (Haine)


    The Oba-san has already climbed on top of the arm of the Golem and has reached to its shoulder.


    For an elder person, she is quite the dextrous one.


    ¡°I wrote a request ta give us a ride till my house. Ya¡¯ll be headin¡¯ to the city as well, right? If ya walk normally, ya¡¯ll be taking all day.¡±


    It is true. I was nning on reaching Istar ze by today, but because I was talking with the Oba-san, quite a lot of time ended up passing.


    At this rate, the sun would sink quite a few ways before I reach the city and will bepletely dark.


    ¡°...¡±


    I decided on taking up the offer.


    ***


    For an outsider, the movements of the Golem look sluggish, but because of its big frame, its steps are also wide, and allowed it to reach the objective at a far higher speed than that of the feet of a human.


    Earth capital, Ishtar ze.


    The big tree that was overwhelming even when seeing it from a real long distance, was even more overwhelming when seeing it up close.


    So this is Grandma Wood.


    ¡°Even when I look up, I can¡¯t see its top.¡± (Haine)


    Moreover, the thickness of the trunk would probably be spacious enough to ce the Light Grand Church of Apollon City on it.


    And if we were to take into ount the roots that spread from it, it would probably take up about 1/10 of the whole Ishtar ze.


    But aside from that, there¡¯s nothing strange about the tree itself. At least at a nce, that is.


    This is one of the sources for the cmity called monsters; one of the four Mother Monsters. This is hard to believe.


    ¡°How¡¯s it? Tree-sama is incredible, don¡¯t ya think?¡±


    The Oba-san once again returns the Golem into rubble, and ces the block that remains into her bosom.


    ¡°This be the pride of us, ya know. No matter where ya search in the whole world, there be no tree as big as ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Great Pir-sama?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Everyone in the city calls it that way. A great tree-sama that brings forth blessings ta humans.¡±


    I once again felt a gaze, so I look around. There¡¯s a lot more Golems walking around the city of Ishtar zepared to the time in the agriculturalnd. They are carrying luggage, carrying people, repairing houses; they are doing all this gantly.


    In other words, this ce really is a ce where...


    ¡°...Humans and monsters are coexisting?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°All of this be thanks ta Great Pir-sama.¡±


    Oba-san says this with slight pride.


    ¡°Traveller, can ya see it from here? There be people clinging onto Great Pir-sama, right?¡±


    When I strain my eyes to see where Oba-san is pointing at, I certainly did see it. At the surface of the thick and big tree, there¡¯s some sort of human-looking things clinging onto it.


    Rock climbing? No, it is a tree so...wood climbing?


    At any rate, there¡¯s people that are at an altitude that makes you question just how did they climb so far up...and just what in the hell are they doing?


    ¡°They be gettin¡¯ this.¡±


    The Oba-san says as she points at the brick.


    ¡°Eh? Then...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This Life Blockes from Great Pir-sama. It protrudes from the surface of the tree ya see, and, at the end, it falls. But it be dangerous if it were left there till it falls and hits the head of someone, right? That¡¯s why people of the church retrieve ones that are about ta fall.¡±


    And with the testimony of the Oba-san, I was convinced of one thing; the Golems are without doubt earth monsters. The Life Blocks that serve as the core of this Golems, and the big tree that creates these Life Blocks.


    That big tree is a ¡®monster that gives birth to monsters¡¯; it means that there¡¯s no doubt it is a Mother Monster.


    ¡°...Hm? Please wait.¡± (Haine)


    A part of it bothered me and I ask.


    I point at the people that are still doing work at the surface of the tree.


    ¡°You said that the people picking the Life Blocks there are members of the Earth Church, right? Then does that mean that tree is under the management of the Earth Church?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah, that be right.¡±


    At that moment, I once again felt a gaze.


    Since the time I got closer to Ishtar ze, I have been feeling the gaze of an unknown someone.


    ¡°If ya want ta, I can bring ya ta the Grand Crimson Pce.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Grand Crimson Pce? Is she referring to the Earth Church¡¯s headquarters?


    ¡°It is rare for a traveller tae all the way here after all. The people of the Church also want ta hear the stories of the outside, so they be telling us that whenever we meet with an outsider, we bring them ta their ce. It seems like they be providing lodgin¡¯ and food, so it is not a bad deal for ya either, ya know.¡±


    That¡¯s true.


    In order to learn what¡¯s happening in this city, it is crucial that I get in contact with the Earth Church.


    ¡°Well then, I will take you up on that offer. Sorry to have you take so much care of me.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I have a grandchild, ya see. Right now they be living far away, but when I treat a stranger with kindness, I feel like that person will also treat my grandchild with kindness as well.¡±


    ...Ah, please stop that.


    It reminds me of my mother and father in my vige, and it brings me to tears.

 Chapter 95-97 - Sage

    <h4>Chapter 95-97: Sage</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    ¡°Traveller, great to see you here.¡±


    Having arrived at the Earth Church¡¯s headquarters, the Grand Crimson Pce, I was guided by a member of the church to the inside of it.


    There, the person waiting for me was a man of around 50 years old.


    From what I heard, this man is the Founder of the Earth Church.


    I couldn¡¯t hold back my agitation from being so easily allowed to meet such an important person.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, even if I am the Founder, I don¡¯t have much to do in such a countryside as a leader. I always wee guests that can alleviate my boredom.¡±


    He has a slender face and looks like he is skinny, but his limbs have proper tough muscles, and the more I see it, the more I could tell that he is muscr.


    How to say, should I call it an ideal muscture? If you were to train arbitrarily, you wouldn¡¯t be able to get these kind of muscles. It is a figure that can only be obtained by people that continue working everyday and strengthens your body in kind.


    His tanned skin also tells me about what kind of lifestyle this person leads.


    ¡°A countryside church? No way. The Earth Church is one of the five Great Churches that lead this world, isn¡¯t it. Also, in the way here, I saw the big farm that extended further than the eye can see. Such a big agriculturalnd, no other churches possess something like that.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°All of it is the blessing of the Mother Earth Goddess-sama.¡±


    I offered some lip service as a greeting of sorts, but the Earth Founder took it modestly.


    Even so, calling the big farm that spreads at the surroundings of Ishtar ze as the biggest one of all might not be too far from the truth. I was indeed overwhelmed by its magnificence after all.


    ¡°Mother Earth Mantle-sama is the Goddess of good harvest. The crops that sprout from the earth and bear fruit, everything is thanks to Mantle-sama. And if us, who worship Mantle-sama, are to waste the blessing of the earth, that in itself would be a sphemy.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s splendid!¡± (Haine)


    I feel like I have met the first Founder that¡¯s acting like an actual Founder.


    With a cool gesture, the said Founder takes a tobo from a tobo box that was at his side, and lights it up.


    Every movement he did felt like that of a millionaire.


    ¡°But, in this Ishtar ze, there¡¯s a lot of things differentpared to that of the other church headquarters. Specially that...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Golems? It is true that the outsiders thate here for the first time all get surprised by it.¡±


    So it really was the case.


    The Founder puffed out smoke of the tobo from his mouth.


    ¡°For us, that¡¯s something pretty natural. Since before we were born, Great Pir-sama was there, and we grew alongside those Golems that Great Pir-sama gave birth to. The Golems are our friends, and they are also our benefactors that help us in our daily life.¡±


    ¡°Uhm...this may sound rude but...I still find it hard to ept.¡± (Haine)


    Because monsters are the enemies of humans by nature.


    ¡°I understand the confusion from the outside. When I was young and awakened my need to learn more in order to be an appropriate Earth Founder, I travelled to other countries to obtain experiences. By doing that, I learned this for the first time; about how abnormal our rtionship with the Golems is.¡±


    ¡°Then...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have seen it. In the other water, fire, wind, and light churches, they fight against these things called monsters, and suffer. Our Earth Church also uses divine power, and because of it, we can tell with our trained senses...that monsters are the same thing as Golems.¡±


    It is more urate to say that Golems are a type of monsters.


    ¡°Of course, monsters also appear in the surroundings of Ishtar ze. Fire, water, and wind element monsters, that is. Our Earth Church also sees them as a threat and doesn¡¯t neglect on preparations. Our military force, the Scorched Earth Annihtion corps, and the assigned earth hero are doing their best.¡±


    ¡°Ah, so there really is an earth hero.¡± (Haine)


    Well, obviously.


    ¡°She is currently in a mission so she is away from the Grand Crimson Pce, but if you are going to be staying long as a guest, you can meet her once she returns, and I would like it if you were to tell her stories of the outside. She is also a person that carries the church on her back. I want her to widen her view as much as possible.¡±


    The conversation deviated a bit.


    The Founder ys around with the tobo inside his hand for a bit, and then, returns the conversation back to the original topic.


    ¡°And in the fights against the evil monsters, the Golems also work as strong allies.¡±


    ¡°Must be. With that big frame and power, it would be able to deal with normal monsters plenty enough.¡± (Haine)


    That means the Golems are helping out the humans in many aspects.


    I wouldn¡¯t have been able to imagine it beforeing here. To think it would be possible to create such a harmonious world by having humans and monsters cooperate...


    I now understand why Yorishiro warned me not to bring any ethereal devices as best as I can.


    And in reality, I have seen almost no ethereal device since entering this city.


    Because there¡¯s no need for it.


    The plowing of the big agriculturalnd, building houses, repairing them, and moving around, even the fighting that has ethereal strictly forbidden, Golems are able to participate in it.


    If I were to untactfully bring ethereal devices here, the people here would instantly notice that I am an outsider and I would stand out in a bad way.


    ¡°Guest-san, as the Earth Founder, and also as one of the humans living in Ishtar ze, I have thought of it for a long time; what are Golems for us? There¡¯s a saying that states monsters are the punishment of the Gods towards humans for forgetting their respect. If that¡¯s really the case...¡±


    The Golems who help out humans even though they are the same monsters are...


    ¡°...Might be the blessing of Mother Earth Mantle-sama for the humans that venerate her.¡±


    That¡¯s indeed a way that can be taken.


    Even when they are the same monsters,pared to the other elements, only the earth monsters are acting differently towards the humans.


    And among the five Churches, this ce was able to develop in a way that is different from the others, but at the same time, in a way that doesn¡¯t fall behind the others.


    Proof of that is without doubt the big farm.


    ¡°...Oya, no good no good. Now that I notice, we have been talking about myself all this time.¡±


    As if relieving his throat, the Earth Founder smokes his tobo.


    ¡°Even though I had youe all the way here, it was rude to have you hear about stories of this old man all this time. Now, I want you to tell this country bumpkin about your stories. Now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t heard you name yet. Really, it is embarrassing how bad of a reception I¡¯m providing.¡±


    ¡°No, it is true that I waste to introducing myself. I am sorry about that. My name¡¯s Kuromiya Haine.¡± (Haine)


    *Karan*


    A dull sound reverberated in the Grand Crimson Pce¡¯s floor.


    The Earth Founder had dropped the tobo he had in his hand.


    ¡°?!¡±


    It feels like the expression of the Founder changed.


    The narrowed eyes of the good natured old man were now wide open and staring right at me.


    ¡°...Uhm, is there something wrong?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°N-No no no no! It is nothing, it is nothing! I probably just smoked a bit too much and the strength in my hand went away!¡±


    Saying this, the Founder hurriedly picks up his tobo, and once again drops it by mistake.


    This suspicious behaviour was indeed weird, but I can¡¯t just try to inquire about something that¡¯s clearly andmine.


    As long as the other party doesn¡¯t state the reason of it, I will just have to feign as if I didn¡¯t notice. After some harmless conversation, the talk with the Earth Founder ended.


    And then, night came.


    I, who was provided lodging at the Earth Church for one night, was sleeping in the guest room of the Grand Crimson Pce.


    In the past, I have stayed in the guest room of the trading and sightseeing city Hydra Ville, and this one was simpler than that one, but that made it easier to rx and sleep in.


    But I can¡¯t sleep yet.


    I still have something I have to do.


    I first wait for a good amount of time feigning as if I¡¯m sleeping and wait for the surroundings to grow quiet.


    ¡°...I think it is already good enough.¡± (Haine)


    The presence that was peeking from the neighboring room is gone.


    It is probably the lookout of the church. Maybe it has to do with the Founder clearly having a turn in his attitude when we were in the middle of our conversation?


    But since they soon stopped their surveince once they thought I had fallen asleep might mean that they don¡¯t think I am such a dangerous being.


    Do I hold some sort of crucial importance to them?


    I am bothered by it, but right now I have something I want to clear out first.


    I jump out from the window of the guest room and...


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡± (Haine)


    I use the repulsive force of the dark matter and fly.


    Repeating this again, and again, and again, and again.


    The ce I am aiming for is...the big tree that represents this Ishtar ze, also called ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯, and I go up, until I reach its top.


    Up, up, up, up, up, up,up,up,up,up,up,up,up...


    ¡°.............¡±


    Am I still not there?


    I was underestimating ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯...


    I understood that it was an incredibly tall tree even when looking from far away, but I had not understood it at all in terms of feel.


    After a time that was plenty enough to count to 1,000 with time to spare, I finally reached the leaves that can be considered the summit.


    But well, this is a tree not a mountain, so even if I say summit, there¡¯s only leaves everywhere I see though.


    It is not reliable as footing, so I was using dark matter to hover in ce, and so, I search the surroundings carefully.


    What am I searching for?


    I have been feeling it for a long time now. A gaze that has been peeking at me without rest. Even in the time when I was having a conversation with the Founder at the Earth Church¡¯s headquarters, in the time I entered Ishtar ze, in the time when I caused amotion with the Oba-san and the Golem at the farm; in all those times, I felt a gaze.


    And when I confirmed the figure of this big tree at the far away mountains, I felt this gaze as if examining me from afar.


    This big tree is being called ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯ by the people. The reality of it is that this is an Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood.


    Of course, its roots should be different to other trees.


    The unbelievable size goes without saying. There¡¯s also the point that it can create this bricks called Life Blocks that possess life, but...


    There should be other things as well.


    ¡°You can hear me right?! Come out!!¡± (Haine)


    I shout at the peak of the big tree.


    I took that much time to reach here from the ground, so even if I shout out my lungs, the people down wouldn¡¯t be able to hear me, that¡¯s why, there¡¯s no need to hold back.


    ¡°I noticed it, you know! You were watching me, right?! I felt a gaze the moment this tree came into my field of view!!¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s right, this thing that has nothing different aside from its big size, is in truth not a tree.


    It is a monster in the shape of a tree.


    Just like the trees growing in this world, it can¡¯t speak.


    The most it can do would be to observe the person that hase to its own territory with the objective of destroying it.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?! Am I mistaken?!¡± (Haine)


    And then, a change urred.


    In this footing that has been a single nket of green...a different color appeared.


    It was like the color of wisteria, a light pink color. At any rate, it is a vivid color, and yet, a faint and fleeting color as well.


    That¡¯s the color it had...that flower bud.


    ¡°Flower...bud?!¡± (Haine)


    Even if I say flower, it ising from a giant tree. The flower that is growing from it is also pretty big itself, and its bud already surpassed my height.


    ¡°Or more like, this tree can grow flowers?!¡± (Haine)


    And then, the tip of the bud slowly opened and spread into several separated petals. And from inside it, what came out was not a stamen or a pistil, it was a woman.


    She is not a human; I could tell that with a nce.


    She has a figure that is quite simr to that of a human woman, but in the first ce, normal humans don¡¯te out from flowers. Also, at the surface of her body, there¡¯s things like wisterias and peaches that have a vivid yet fleeting color.


    And, I myself understood something the moment I saw her.


    ¡°...Are you...Mantle?¡± (Haine)


    Mother Earth Mantle.


    One of the five Gods of Creation, and the Goddess that governs over earth.


    As the incarnation of the Dark God Entropy, I can tell.


    I don¡¯t know for what reason she appeared in the surface world with a body, I was so dumbfounded I couldn¡¯t say anything.


    And then, after a while of silence...


    ¡°...........I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    She suddenly apologized.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, please forgive meeeeeeeee!!!¡± (Mantle)


    The big woman shouted a storm of apologies while crying?!


    ¡°Uhah! What¡¯s with this?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please forgive meee!! I will do anything!¡± (Mantle)


    Is what she says as she clings onto me.


    Moreover, this Mantle...even though she is in the form of a human, she is so big I can¡¯t think of her as a human.


    She came out from a crazy big flower that came out from a crazy big tree, so the woman that came out from it was also crazy big.


    She easily surpasses my height.


    Try to have someone like that cling onto you. It is like having a big dog pressing you...but that wouldn¡¯t be enough to describe this. It is like a giant beast, like a lion or a tiger jumping at you.


    Against a beast that has a certain amount of strength, it is life-threatening to try and y around with it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sooooooorryyyyy!!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°As I have been saying, just calm down already!!!¡± (Haine)


    With all the confusion, the release of dark matter was cut off. And because of it, the repulsive force it was creating was also gone and...


    ¡°Gyaaa!!¡±


    ¡°Hyaaa!¡±


    Mantle and I both fell and entered the overgrown leaves of the big tree.


    97: Holy Flower


    ¡°I thought I was going to die there!¡±


    Having lost the ability to float, I fell down inside the foliage and, luckily, I got caught in a branch and it ended with nothing major happening. I say branch, but we are talking about Grandma Wood here, so it is big enough to be called ground in itself. It is more than enough to consider it a footing.


    And if I were to fall without stopping, I would have definitely died.


    But, the moment I fell onto the thick branch, Mantle who came falling down after had crashed onto me with those giant breasts of hers and I felt as if I was going to die crushed by them.


    I felt like I was going to die twice over.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorryyy!¡± (Mantle)


    The giant woman prostrates on top of the branch.


    A big woman that you can easily state that there¡¯s no adult man that can grow as big as her.


    From the women I know of, the one who was the tallest was the fire hero, Mirack, but even whenparing her to Mirack, from what I can measure with my eyes, she is at least 1.5 times bigger than her.


    Of course, she is taller than me as well. If we were to line up, my face would be right around her breasts.


    But, since the time I encountered her, the only thing she has been doing is chanting those same words and prostrating herself, so I don¡¯t really know for sure if my measurements are actually correct though.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, please forgive me. I will do anything~!!¡± (Mantle)


    And this giant woman is still apologizing.


    What is she even apologizing this much for?


    ¡°...Uhm, first of all, you are really Mother Earth Mantle, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes! And you are the Dark God Entropy-san, right?!¡± (Mantle)


    Well, yeah.


    If she can tell my identity it is proof that she is also a God.


    ¡°That body...did you incarnate as a monster just like Nova and Coacervate?¡± (Haine)


    Why do the four Base Element Gods like to incarnate into monsters that much?


    ¡°...No, it is not. This is just a temporary body.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°In order tomunicate in the surface world, it would be easier to have the ability to sense and speak. It is one of the abilities I have as a Mother Earth God. I can connect my senses directly into any nt I want. I call this ¡®Fairy¡¯.¡± (Mantle)


    Saying this, Mantle looks down at her own body that is shining faintly and shows slight embarrassment.


    ¡°It is normally in the size of the palm of a hand, but it seems it is proportionate to the nt that was made as the source. I didn¡¯t expect the ¡®Fairy¡¯ created from Grandma Wood to be so big...¡± (Mantle)


    A power I didn¡¯t know of.


    The powers of the Mother Earth Mantle are not only of the earth, but it also includes the vegetation that grows from it as a whole.


    In that sense, it can be said that her powers are a lot more wide in rangepared to me -the Dark God.


    ¡°It is not that convenient of a thing though. This body has no ability to fight after all. The most I can do is really only conversing......ah, there¡¯s also one other thing it can do! Want to fondle my breasts?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°I won¡¯t!¡± (Haine)


    I have plenty enough of that with Karen-san and Yorishiro.


    When I straight out rejected it, the expression of the excited Mantle suddenly froze.


    ¡°As I thought, Entropy-san, you really are angry!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    And then, she began crying.


    ¡°Uuuuuh~~!! I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry~!! You can fondle other things aside from my breasts, so please forgive me~!!¡± (Mantle)


    And she once again begins with the storm of apologies.


    Moreover, she is not only apologizing, she is also clinging onto me, so with that big body of hers pressing onto me, I might get killed.


    ¡°Eey, give it a break already! In the first ce, what have you been apologizing all this time for?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But Entropy-san, you are angry, aren¡¯t you? About what happened 1,600 years ago...¡± (Mantle)


    Aah.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, since the time you incarnated, you fought Nova-san and Coacervate-san, and turned them into beaten pulp. And now, you are looking to serve vengeance upon me too, aren¡¯t you? We don¡¯t know where Quasar-san is after all...¡± (Mantle)


    I see. So she is talking about the Battle of Gods that urred 1,600 years ago...


    I was sealed for 1,600 years after being defeated by the five Gods of Creation. Now that the seal has been undone and I am free, she thinks I am now going around beating them up to clear away my grudge...that¡¯s indeed a usible conclusion.


    Also, beaten pulp?


    ¡°I am reaaaally sorry! I didn¡¯t really turn into your enemy because I hated Entropy-san or anything like that! I didn¡¯t want to be left out of the group~!¡± (Mantle)


    Saying this, the giant ¡®fairy¡¯ prostrates herself once again.


    It is true that this woman has been like this since the long past.


    How to say it, it is like she is not independent at all, or more like, she doesn¡¯t hold her own opinion. She ends up being pressured by her surroundings.


    Her wish is probably ¡®I don¡¯t want to be the enemy of anyone¡¯.


    And because of it, when there¡¯s a confrontation, she wants to be good for both sides and ends up unable to say anything herself.


    Even so, in the fight 1,600 years ago, the fighting force was so inclined to one side that she judged it was impossible to stay neutral and decided on joining the other Gods.


    In other words, a fence-sitter.


    ¡°...But in these 1,600 years, the situation has changed greatly. You four Base Element Gods have changed due to being bathed way too much in the prayer energy and are unable to show your former strength. And the biggest factor is that the Light Goddess Intion is no longer on your side.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hyu!¡±


    ¡°Frankly speaking, in the battle 1,600 years ago, it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that it was a 1 vs 1 between Intion and I. I possess an absolute advantage against you four Base Elements, but I ampletely powerless against the light element. Having Intion as your ally is akin to me being checkmated already.¡± (Haine)


    But because of the rise and fall of the Dark Underworld Country that urred after the battle of Gods, Intion ended up changing into a Goddess that would definitely kill the four Base Elements.


    Even if a battle of Gods were to ur again, she won¡¯t be siding with the four Base Elements again.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, I heard you also supported the destruction of the Underworld Country.¡± (Haine)


    Right at the time when the history of mankind had begun, the Light Goddess Intion had incarnated into the human called Izanami, and what was created was the oldest nation of all, the Underworld Country.


    The first time humans had shown development in culture and progress had hurt the superiorityplex of the Gods and because of it, the purging begun.


    With the disasters that were brought by the Gods and the invaders from outside that were influenced by them, the Underworld Country fell.


    The ones who perpetrated this were the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Base Element Gods. In that group, Mother Earth Mantle is included.


    ¡°S-Sowwy~~!¡± (Mantle)


    Because she cried too much, her voice was incredibly nassal.


    ¡°I had no choice~! The three of them came at me telling me to cooperate~~! If Intion had been there, I would have been able to oppose them a bit, but she had been missing for a long time, moreover, when we found her, we discovered that she was actually the incarnation of the queen of the Underworld Country~~!!¡± (Mantle)


    She really is a girl that gets easily pressured by others.


    ording to Yorishiro who knows about the events of that time, Mantle was conservative in the destruction of the Underworld Country and had cooperated with the other Gods unwillingly.


    The desertification that urred was a slow advancing onepared to the disasters from the other Gods, moreover, it ended up being helpful in the seal that Intion did.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m really sorry. You can fondle anywhere you want~~!!¡± (Mantle)


    The Mother Earth God rubs her forehead on the ground, or more like, the branch that¡¯s serving as our footing.


    This might be considered her personality but, that attitude of hers that makes you question ¡®Dignity of a God? What¡¯s that?¡¯ is on the contrary very refreshing.


    ¡°Hah...it is fine already.¡± (Haine)


    I said this while losing strength.

 Chapter 98-99 - Divine Virtue of Mother Earth

    <h4>Chapter 98-99: Divine Virtue of Mother Earth</h4>


    Trantor: Hey guys, as you can see, the release schedule is beginning to turn really weird. So I have decided on cing a clear indicator in the website that will be stating which story the next scheduled chapter will be of.


    Hope this alleviates a bit of the confusion in my whimsical releases.


    I will also be posting this announcement in the future chapter of Tsuki so everyone is on the know about this.


    At any rate, enjoy the chapters


    ¡°I am not really concerned with what happened 1,600 years ago. I told that to the other guys as well though.¡± (Haine)


    Like hell I will remember all the resentments I had in the past.


    ¡°B-But Nova-san and Coacervate-san...¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Those guys pissed me off at present, so I beat them up. The problem was in the present. Or could it be that you are currently doing something in the present progressive sense that would piss me off?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ah eh...oboboboboboboo~~!!¡± (Mantle)


    She got extremely suspicious.


    Her shaken state is not simply at the level of easy to read.


    ¡°Ah, is it that? The issue about monsters?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°T-T-That was something I was told by the others to do, I had no choice! I couldn¡¯t do anything about it! I was alsocking in prayer energy and was drying up, so there was the need of a method to break through... And if I were to oppose by myself, I might get estranged. And Intion-sama withdrew by herself without telling me anything~~!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°That¡¯s why you agreed with Coacervate and created monsters?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes...but...¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle does a cute gesture of cing both of her right and left index fingers together and moving them slightly up and down.


    ¡°I actually...hate disputes. I honestly didn¡¯t want to fight in the battle 1,600 years ago. I didn¡¯t want to destroy the Underworld Country either. But, if I opposed it, it might have turned Nova-san, Coacervate-san, and Quasar-san against me, so...I did it against my will...¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°So going against me was okay?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because you know, Entropy-san is kind so...you might forgive me if we were to talk it out...¡± (Mantle)


    Uwa...


    Don¡¯t peek at me with that upward nce of yours. If you do an upward nce with such a big body, you will naturally end up bend down incredibly low.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I decided on opposing this time. I did agree on creating monsters, but as I thought, I don¡¯t want any strife.¡± (Mantle)


    That statement of Mantle made a number of pieces fall in ce.


    ¡°Hence, the Golems huh.¡± (Haine)


    Even when they are monsters, they don¡¯t attack humans.


    Not only that, they follow the orders of humans, help out on the work of humans, and are cohabiting with humans.


    That reason was directly rted to the main principle of the Mother Earth God.


    ¡°No, wait. Let¡¯s arrange the information.¡± (Haine)


    I only came all the way to the giant tree to investigate since I thought there was something strange about it, but the one that came out was the one who held all the answers, Mother Earth Mantle.


    Moreover, she keeps talking on and on about information that sounds truthful.


    If I stay spaced-out, I feel like I might get buried in this avnche of info.


    ¡°Even I was troubled, you know?¡± (Mantle)


    Like I said, don¡¯t go talking so much when I haven¡¯t asked anything yet.


    Moreover, I feel like she is justining here.


    ¡°Intion-sama told me about the prayer energy, and when I tried a taste of it, it was sweet, it was delicious, it was wonderful. I soon ended up captivated by it. I wanted more of it, so I made the Earth Church. A lot of people gathered at the church, a lot of prayers were gathered; it was true bliss. I drunk prayers everyday as if drowning in it. But...before I noticed, the prayers had lessened and...¡± (Mantle)


    The voice of Mantle was shrivelling up.


    ¡°When I heard from Intion-sama that: ¡®Humans don¡¯t need Gods anymore¡¯, everything went pitch-ck. And at the same time, I understood that Intion-sama had not forgiven us at all for the destruction of the Underworld Country. Nova-san just yelled around, Coacervate-san was grumpy, and when I thought Quasar-san had returned after several centuries, he once again disappeared...¡± (Mantle)


    Gods that were pushed into despair huh.


    But, if we think about the feelings of Intion, you can call it an eye for an eye. The grudge she has on them for destroying the Underworld Country she lovingly raised must have been something that seeped all the way down to her bone marrow.


    She even entrapped Mantle, who was reluctant about participating and had helped her in sealing the Underworld Country, without showing any mercy or pity.


    ¡°We had to do something. Right now, we can¡¯t maintain ourselves properly without prayers after all.¡± (Mantle)


    Hence, the monsters.


    The viins that were made to create the necessity of a God in humans.


    By having those monsters and the warriors of the Church fight, they get the humans to feel grateful for the Gods, and they offer prayers to them. But there was one God that didn¡¯t do that; the one right here.


    ¡°...I hate fights after all...¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle says this dejected.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you created monsters and did the opposite huh. Rather than having monsters attack humans, you earned their faith by helping them. It is clearly transmitted to the humans that the Golems and Grandma Wood were dispatched by a God after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! This went unexpectedly well, you know!¡± (Mantle)


    Not only did she stop crying, she actually made aplete 180¡ã and approaches me.


    Drastic mood-swings is also one of the traits this God has.


    ¡°¡®Golems are the blessing of God¡¯, ¡®Thank you for your divine protection¡¯, they say. A lot of people gave me their gratitude! I was deeply moved! Thanks to that, a lot of prayers gathered. And most importantly...it makes me happy to receive the gratitude of someone. It reaaaally makes it worth doing! So this is how it is to work as a God!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°I understand! I understand, so calm down!!¡± (Haine)


    What should I do? I am beginning to think that Mantle is saying something very reasonable.


    In order to maintain her own existence, she requires the prayers of humans, and for that sake, she provided the divine protection in the form of Golems to humans.


    The humans understand that this is the blessing of a God, and in order to return the favor, they offer prayers of gratitude.


    A give-and-take rtionship is properly formed, moreover, Mantle is genuinely joyful that she receives the gratitude of humans.


    Is there a more healthy rtionship between humans and God?


    This crooked existences called monsters...to think that depending on the way they are implemented, they can actually provide good influence.


    The ethereal, which is the main cause of the prayers decreasing, has not permeated that deeply in Ishtar ze because it is filled with the working force that are Golems.


    ...Eh?


    I feel like there¡¯s no gaps?


    ¡°And so, uhm...¡±


    I was on top of the big tree, continuing the conversation with Mother Earth Mantle.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the other Gods say anything about your way of doing things? Like Nova and Coacervate maybe?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°They did. They said things like ¡®your method is dirty¡¯ and ¡®don¡¯t you have pride as a God?¡¯, Being told those things really hurt me; it made me want to cry. But surprisingly, they didn¡¯t go further than that. And there was no forcing from their part either.¡± (Mantle)


    Within the five Gods of Creation, the ones against the monster n wasn¡¯t only Mantle; the Light Goddess Intion rejected the very idea of creating them.


    If they were to criticise Mantle heavily, it would naturally force them to direct this criticism at Intion as well, and if that were to happen, they wouldn¡¯t be able to control the situation.


    The only one from the five Gods that didn¡¯t enter in the machinations of the four Base Elements, the Light Goddess Intion. The two poles are by nature on a different level from the four Base Elements, so in order to defeat Intion, they would have to gang up on her with all four Base Elements.


    If going against Intion meant they would have to go against Mantle as well, the ones going against Intion wouldn¡¯t have a one in a million chance to defeat her.


    If Mantle calcted all this and showed the first signs of opposition based on this, it would mean that, despite her looks, she is a schemer, but...


    ¡°Fuh...¡±


    There¡¯s no way she thought that far -definitely.


    ¡°.....¡±


    After thinking for a bit, I decided on saying it.


    ¡°Hey, Mantle.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Fueh?¡±


    ¡°The reason I came here was to...destroy Grandma Wood.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Fuuueeeeeeeeee?!¡± (Mantle) <she is actually saying ¡®Fuh?¡¯ but if I prolong it, it will sound as ¡®FUUUUUUUU¡ª!¡¯, and that¡¯s not cute at all in english context, so I went for the ¡®Fue¡¯ that fits her character>


    As expected, Mantle reacted with a scream.


    ¡°The influence of Gods shouldn¡¯t be left in this world anymore. That¡¯s why I decided on destroying the very materialization of the Gods¡¯ influence, the monsters. For that sake, what has to be done is to defeat all of the Mother Monsters that serve as the origin of them all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Fue...¡±


    For a while now, Mantle has only been saying ¡®fue¡¯.


    ¡°And so, I decided on dealing with the Earth Mother Monster -Grandma Wood- which I knew of its exact whereabouts. That¡¯s why I am currently here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°T-Then, you will be...¡± (Mantle)


    I will be hitting Grandma Wood with the dark matter.


    In reality, most attacks would be rended useless against this giant tree of humongous mass, but if it¡¯s my dark matter, it should be able to manage somehow.


    ¡°Uhm...what about mercy? Is there no room for mercy?¡± (Mantle)


    A God is begging for mercy from a God.


    ¡°Well...¡± (Haine)


    And I was troubled by how to respond.


    I already understand.


    I decided on defeating the Mother Monsters in order to remove this existence that only harms humans...but once I arrived at the ce and took a look at the Mother Monster, I ended up thinking ¡®taking this away will actually harm the humans¡¯.


    I don¡¯t know about the other three, but at the very least, that¡¯s how I think with this Grandma Wood.


    A giant tree that brought a symbiosis between humans and monsters and is called with respect by the people as ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯.


    Just how much would it hurt the people of Ishtar ze if this were to be lost, in a physical and mental sense.


    Is what I am doing...truly the correct thing?


    ¡°........................I give up.¡± (Haine)


    After a long silence, I said this.


    ¡°Eh? Eeeeh?!¡±


    ¡°I will put it on hold! I will leave Grandma Wood forter and prioritize the destruction of the other Mother Monsters!¡± (Haine)


    I had no other option than to say this.


    What I am doing is all for the sake of humans. If it ends up hurting the humans instead, wouldn¡¯t I be having my priorities backwards?


    ¡°Eh? Seriously? Like, seriously?¡± (Mantle)


    It looks like Mantle was still dubious about my decision.


    ¡°Seriously. I -Kuromiya Haine- don¡¯t go back on my words.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Really, really, really? Yay!! I am so happy!! Thanks, Entropy-san, I like you so much! Want to fondle my breasts? You will, right?! This is the least I can do! Fondle them!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°As I said already, I won¡¯t! Why are you so persistent about it?!¡± (Haine)


    The happiness of Mantle was overwhelming. She must have been quite happy.


    ¡°No, but you see, Mantle, my impression of you has been shaken.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°I thought you were a Goddess that couldn¡¯t state your own opinion and would get oppressed by the atmosphere at the time. But this Ishtar ze that you have made is an Utopia of cohabitation between humans and monsters that I simply can¡¯t find fault in.¡± (Haine)


    I looked down from the branch of Grandma Wood I am currently standing on.


    I was blocked by the leaves and it can¡¯t be called a clear view, but I could see the big city and farm.


    ¡°This is how humans and Gods should have lived like. Gods would help humans, and humans will be grateful to the Gods; both will seek for each other. This is probably...the world I wanted to make in the Genesis Era.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh? Uhm...¡± (Mantle)


    The whole ¡®fairy¡¯ body of Mantle is dyed in a light vivid pink color, and that color suddenly turned into a deep vivid one. Like a flower blooming.


    ¡°What?! What¡¯s wrong all of a sudden!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s...that¡¯s not true. Someone like me...someone like me is just...¡± (Mantle)


    Her mouth may be denying it, but the expression of Mantle was unable to suppress the smile in her face. She is probably incredibly happy.


    Happy that she has been praised.


    ¡°Someone like me is always being called clumsy and unreliable within the five Gods, and I am always made a fool of... Please don¡¯t tter me, Entropy-san. I am...an idiot, so I will end up taking those words seriously! Want to fondle my boobs?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°I just stated the truth. You are a God that¡¯s sincere and is able to do what has to be done. It may look stupid from the perspective of an underhanded God like Coacervate, but that crooked view of his is a fault of that low-life God anyways. Don¡¯t mind what a guy like that says.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°! Coacervate-san...¡± (Mantle)


    Hearing that name, the face of Mantle that was intoxicated by happiness was immediately clouded.


    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s wrong?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No! It is nothing! But, this is the first time I was told I am sincere and straightforward. Fufufufu~~¡± (Mantle)


    But she soon returned to her intoxicated state.


    Getting so happy about it...she most likely doesn¡¯t get praised much.


    ¡°Have more confidence. You are the mother of all the ones that stand onnd, the Mother Earth God. What you have achieved in thisnd is worthy of praise; this Dark God Entropy admits to it. From now on, please continue pouring your affection in thisnd as the Mother Earth God without changing.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes! I like you very much, Entropy-san. Being acknowledge this much by someone...this is my first time since the Genesis Era! It made me feel like I have to do something incredible!¡± (Mantle)


    The motivation of Mantle had increased to the point that it wouldn¡¯t be able to get any higher than this.


    On the other hand, I who decided on ¡®defeating the Mother Monsters¡¯ had stumbled right at the very beginning, and I felt pretty shriveled up from that.


    Now then, what should I do from now on...


    Maybe I should return to Apollon City and revise my n?

 Chapter 100-102 - Heroes assemble

    <h4>Chapter 100-102: Heroes assemble</h4>


    TL: It will now be changing to Karen¡¯s POV for a while.


    In the time Haine-san was having an exciting journey at an unknownnd...


    I -the light hero, Kourin Karen- was in a bad mood.


    This is the first time...that I wasn¡¯t able to apany Haine-san in a journey of his.


    In the Trishia Forest, Radona Mountainous District, Hydra Ville, and the ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯ where we arrived at the Underworld Country; no matter where it was, we would always go together, and yet, this time, I am holding the fort on my own.


    I don¡¯t approve of this.


    More so after hearing the objective of his journey.


    This time, Haine-san went to search and defeat these things called Mother Monsters.


    When I asked what they were, I was told that they were monsters that give birth to monsters. It seems all monsterse from them.


    In other words, if all Mother Monsters are defeated, new monsters will not be appearing anymore.


    It means monsters will be eradicated from this world.


    If that¡¯s true, there¡¯s nothing as amazing as that. I want to help in that too.


    Dealing with monster problems is exactly the job of us heroes.


    And yet, Haine-san didn¡¯t bring me with him.


    How mortifying. I don¡¯t agree to this.


    We can save the whole world; I can be of help to Haine-san.


    To think I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything when I am aware of those chances...


    *****


    ¡°...So?¡±


    In the Grand Church¡¯s parlor room of the Light capital, Apollon City, a displeased voice reverberated.


    Even though my bad mood won¡¯t lose to it.


    ¡°Are you telling me we have been gathered here just to hear youin?¡±


    ¡°To sum it up, yeah.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!!¡±


    Two hands mmed the table hard. Because of the vibration it created, the tea I took the trouble of making almost spilled.


    ¡°You are noisy, idol woman.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack says at the opposite seat.


    This girl, she is chewing on the slice of lemon that was apanying the tea.


    ¡°Show etiquette in a tea party. Wasn¡¯t your outward appearance your only good point?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Shat up, shemale! In a ce like this, I would forget my manners and etiquette!¡± (Celestis)


    The water hero, Celestis-san, hits the table going *ban ban ban!*.


    How surprising. I thought she was a more rational person.


    ¡°...It was unexpected. I thought the light hero was a girl with a bit moremon sense than this.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh? Isn¡¯t it fine? In the times when something crazy happens, anyone would want to call their friends over to talk about it.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If you are going to call people, call the ones that are close, please! Don¡¯t go gathering people that you need to call with an ethereal wireless phone and takes half a day to arrive with a flying machine!¡± (Celestis)


    Today¡¯s tea party members.


    First, there¡¯s me, the light hero, Kourin Karen; next, there¡¯s the fire hero that is based at the neighboring Muspelheim, Katack Mirack-chan; andstly, the water hero that is based even further than that at Hydra Ville, Celestis-san.


    Those are the three here.


    As heroes, we have simr worries and interests, so I thought that we would have many things inmon to talk about, and tried calling them here.


    Since the time we defeated the Great Sea Dragon in Hydra Ville, we have understood each other¡¯s hearts, so I thought it would be nice to open up at least once and have a talk.


    And so, it leads to the present.


    ¡°...Uhm, Karen-chi, it is true that I have suspended my idol activities since the trouble with the Great Sea Dragon, so my schedule has opened up slightly, but we are already nning on resuming activities. The first live for my return has already been decided, and with my motivation rising, I was itching to do some rehearsals, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Congrattions. I will send you flowers in the day of your live!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As if some flowers will be sufficient! Calling me just to have a damn talk when I am super busy with rehearsals and meetings! If you yourself don¡¯t appear as a guest, the cost and return won¡¯t match!¡± (Celestis)


    You are so energetic, Celestis-san.


    If someone were not filled with this much energy, they most likely wouldn¡¯t be able to do something as taxing as being a hero and idol at the same time.


    ¡°Were you okay with being called here, Mirack-chan?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hah...what are you saying, Karen? Do you think I wouldn¡¯t move once called by you?¡± (Mirack)


    Saying this, Mirack-chan sips her tea sonorously.


    ¡°No no, isn¡¯t that something you ask before you call a person over?¡±, is the retort of Celestis-san that I ignored.


    ¡°But, weren¡¯t you given strict orders by the Fire Church to not move from the base?¡± (Karen)


    Because she has been visiting Apollon City too muchtely, the Fire Founder-sama and many others were angered by it.


    She wasn¡¯t able to apany us in the search of the Underworld Country due to this.


    ¡°Is it okay already? Was your restriction lifted?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Karen. Who the hell do you think I am? You are talking to the one that¡¯s boasted as the strongest within the heroes, the fire hero, Katack Mirack, you know. I have long been prepared to be scolded!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s not okay at all!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-san makes an intense retort in my stead.


    In this time when Haine-san is absent, she is quite the priceless treasure in this group.


    ¡°...Good grief. To think the fire hero and the light hero had such high quantities of crazy inside of them. This is way too surprising.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You as well, it is surprising that you have such a straight man side.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is just that you two have way too much to retort about! Ah geez! I have been shouting so much that my throat has dried! Give me another serving of tea! Serve me one that has honey syrup that¡¯s gentle to the throat!¡± (Celestis)


    Yes yes, on my way.


    But this very situation of having heroes gathered like this with no pressing business and simply drinking tea, wouldn¡¯t have been possible a few months ago.


    Mirack-chan aimed to be the strongest and viewed the other heroes as her enemies, and Celestis-san was endeavouring in her idol activities so the other heroes were not even in her view.


    ¡°...So, that tough guy-kun, where is he?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The sudden question of Celestis-san made me stop my hands that were pouring tea from the pot.


    ¡°The things that you would call us toin about are limited, right? Things rted to monsters and the church, and things that you wouldn¡¯t want to leak to the general popce. Also, the cool guy that you have been together with all the timetely is nowhere to be seen today of all days. It is way too clear that it has something to do with this, you know.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-san, contrary to your looks, you are actually intelligent.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Can I leave already?!¡± (Celestis)


    No no, I won¡¯t let you go.


    I have been given the chance to talk, so I will have them hear everything I have to say.


    From there on, my words flowed out fluently.


    I will have Mirack-chan and Celestis-san hear about how Haine-san left me behind, without leaving a single detail.


    ¡°Mother Monster?¡±


    After spitting out all that was umted in me, Mirack-chan and Celestis-san both showed equally bewildered expressions.


    As if saying, ¡®Unbelievable¡¯.


    ¡°Are you serious? If that story is actually true, that¡¯s way too incredible!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s only if this thing called Mother Monster actually exists, right? Wouldn¡¯t it mean that if we just defeat those guys, monsters won¡¯t be born again?!¡± (Mirack)


    That¡¯s right. It means that we would be able topletely eliminate the monsters that have been a harm to humans for close to a century.


    And our Haine-san went out to defeat them. Leaving me behind, he went all on his own.


    ¡°Wah~, I did think he was an incredible dude, but this Haine-chi is more than I imagined. To think he would be able to catch the existence of such a thing.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°He has a part of him that no one can measure after all. I have never been able to predict what he will do next.¡± (Mirack)


    That¡¯s right, Haine-san is amazing.


    As expected of the person I love. But that¡¯s the very reason why...


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this! Why didn¡¯t he let me help him?! I am a hero, you know. If it¡¯s about doing something about the monsters, I should be the one moving to action!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Simmer down, Karen-chi, simmer down~~!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-san tries to calm me down as if I am a horse.


    ¡°Karen, what did Haine tell you that made you stay here?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡¯the duty of a hero is to protect the people from monsters. Properly staying in the capital to enforce this is important¡¯, he said.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a sound argument?¡± (Mirack)


    I don¡¯t want to hear that from Mirack-chan whoes to other cities with the resolve of getting scolded by the Founder-san and the others just to have fun.


    I was the one who called her here though.


    ¡°What¡¯s with this group of people that I can¡¯t find enough words to retort to?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-san, who was filling up the straight man role in Haine-san¡¯s absence plenty well, was shuddering.


    ¡°You girls, even if you can fly wherever you want with that flying machine of yours, aren¡¯t you moving around way too much? I think heroes should be standing by, prepared to act for the sake of the church and the people. Haine-chi may have beente in noticing this, but he has now.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°But if we defeat the Mother Monsters, there would be no need to do that anymore, right?¡± (Mirack)


    The mission Haine-san left to aplish had enough power topletely flip around the situation in this world.


    ¡°Uhm...you two...¡± (Karen)


    At this moment, I decided on asking the question I have been holding until now.


    Mother Monsters. The moment the existence of something like that was made clear, a question was born inside of me.


    ¡°If monsters disappear from this world, what would you do?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Eh?¡±


    Being thrown that question, Mirack-chan and Celestis-san looked as if they were caught off guard.


    We are heroes.


    The duty of heroes is to fight monsters. Fight monsters and protect the people; we continue doing this forever. There¡¯s no end to it.


    If I had to mention an end in it, it would be when we run out of stamina or physical strength; till the moment we are unable to continue fighting.


    In that way, several heroes in the past have taken over the standard, and have inherited the title of hero.


    But that¡¯s only because there are monsters in this world.


    Heroes exist in order to oppose the threat called monsters. Putting it in another way, once monsters are gone, the heroes won¡¯t be needed anymore.


    Haine-san is a strong and incredible person. On top of that, he is kind, cool, intelligent, sincere, and once he says something, he will definitely aplish it.


    If it¡¯s him, he might be able to eradicate the monsters from this world.


    But, when that happens, what will we do?


    The great exploit Haine-san is trying to aplish might take away our whole raison d¡¯etre.


    ¡°Hm~, well, when that happens, we heroes will be going to the trash bin.¡± (Celestis)


    Looks like Celestis-san reached the same conclusion. Moreover, her expression was dry.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really mind.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Because you know, once I am out of the hero profession, I can just concentrate in being an idol. From the very beginning, I was not thinking about living a life of being only a hero.¡± (Celestis)


    The water hero is strong.


    It is true that Celestis-san, who is wearing both pair of shoes for a hero and an idol, has that kind of choice.


    ¡°Well, it is fine for people like me who can fall onto something, but the people that can¡¯t...might be quite pitiful~.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I also don¡¯t mind, you know.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Celestis-san send a malicious gaze towards Mirack-chan, but it seems Mirack-chan also isn¡¯t adhered to being a hero.


    ¡°Thinking about the original reason I aimed for when bing a hero, there¡¯s no need to be a hero for eternity, that¡¯s all there¡¯s to it. If monsters disappear from this worldpletely...it might be nice to aim at being the strongest among all humans. It could be more of a heatedpetition than fighting against those brainless monsters.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Uwa...battle junkie.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Also, if I am not tied down by the duty of a hero, I can hang around Karen¡¯s ce without restrain!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°So in the end it falls to that!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-san and Mirack-chan had a mindset that was so free it was surprising.


    I see, there¡¯s no real need to continue being a hero.


    Before being a hero, I am a human, I am a girl. This goes for Celestis and Mirack as well.


    If I were to stop being a hero, what kind of new life should I walk?


    ¡°...Haine-san¡¯s wife.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡±


    That¡¯s right. Why didn¡¯t I notice such a splendid life n until now?


    By the way, the number one reason for heroes retiring is marriage...in other words, a congrattory retirement.


    For some reason, there¡¯s a weirdw in this world stating that heroes have to be single, so once I marry Haine-san, I would have to stop being a hero.


    In that case, in the time I retire as a hero, wouldn¡¯t it be best if the root of all evils was eliminated?


    Without leaving a single trace behind.


    ¡°Right. In the first ce, the duty of us heroes is to protect the people from monsters. And the ultimate duty would be to eradicate monsters itself. Why should we hesitate after learning the way to do that?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh, before that, wait a bit, Karen. Did you say something about marrying? Eh?¡± (Mirack)


    For some reason, Mirack-chan suddenly got restless.


    ¡°In that case, this is no time to be drinking tea! Defeating the Mother Monsters is the ultimate duty of us heroes! We can¡¯t leave it all to Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No well, that¡¯s good and all but, about the marrying thing... about the marrying thing!! Are you going to marry, Karen? With who?! I think you said Haine... There must be something wrong with my ears. Definitely!¡± (Mirack)


    Haine-san, as I thought, I will be going as well.


    I will help Haine-san, defeat the Mother Monsters, and bring about a world where the people all over the world won¡¯t have to fear for their lives!


    ¡°Hey, listen to me! Listen to me, Karen! What¡¯s this about marrying?! That¡¯s not true, right?! No way that¡¯s true!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°So, where did Haine-chi travel to?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    The calm retort of Celestis-san detes all of my inted tension.


    ¡°.............I don¡¯t know.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Before he left, I asked him a lot, but he didn¡¯t tell me. He said that I would definitely follow him if he were to tell me!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And isn¡¯t thatpletely true? As expected of Haine-chi, his intuition is Godlike.¡± (Celestis)


    Please don¡¯t say that as if it¡¯s someone else¡¯s business.


    We got all enthusiastic and, in the end, we are unable to make the first step forward.


    ¡°But thinking about it like this, there¡¯s something that bothers me.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh? What is it?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What in the world is Haine-chi?¡± (Celestis)


    I couldn¡¯t understand the question of Celestis-san right away.


    ¡°I think Haine-san is Haine-san though?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, it is not the kind of ¡®I think therefore I am¡¯... You know, don¡¯t you feel like that guy is way too excelling in a lot of meanings? I have not seen it myself, but he has a rare power called dark element, right?¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right, Celestis-san has not had the chance to see it yet, but Haine-san is a person that doesn¡¯t fall into any of the elements known in this world.


    That power of his is overwhelming, and the dark element Haine-san creates managed to block a high-temperature sh, could beat up the giant fire cow, and even turned it calf-sized. It even easily defeated the shadow-san that the light element was unable to scratch at all.


    It was not Haine-san himself, but when the Great Sea Dragon attacked Hydra Ville and had released a tsunami on the level that could destroy the whole city, the mysterious dark giant-san created a weir with dark matter and reduced the damage on the city to zero.


    If we think of Haine-san as the only human recorded in history that can utilize dark matter, calling this power rare wouldn¡¯t be enough to describe how important it is.


    ¡°Haine-chi himself actedpletely normal, so we also acted normal about it, but you know, in reality, isn¡¯t his very existence something big enough to turn around the very principle of the five churches? What was it again? That uhm...Dark God, Entrocko?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Dark God, Entropy-sama.¡± (Karen)


    What¡¯s with that weird sounding name?


    ¡°That¡¯s right. When I heard that from you girls, I was thinking ¡®what kind of ridiculous thing is this woman saying?¡¯, but...that Dark Giant that appeared in the fight with the Great Sea Dragon, isn¡¯t that proof of the existence of that God? Such a truth like there being six Gods of Creation rather than five, that¡¯s on the level of rewriting history, you know.¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right. If Haine-san feels like it, he would be able to flip the world around to its very foundations.


    No, in reality, he is trying to turn it around at this very moment. If Haine-san defeats the Mother Monsters, the world will change with Haine-san at its centre.


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine. Now that I think about it, he is one mysterious man. It feels as if he doesn¡¯t belong to any part of the world, and it feels...as if the world will be revolving around him.¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack-chan says.


    ........


    The two of them are now friends. Friends that have ovee life or death situations together with me, and heroes that can share doubts and worries with each other.


    It is exactly because they are my friends that I decided on revealing the feeling that has been lurking inside of me for some time now.


    ¡°Uhm, this is just for argument¡¯s sake. Just for argument¡¯s sake...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Okay?¡±


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-san probably noticed the low tone I had, they both stayed silent.


    ¡°What if Haine-san himself is the Dark God Entropy?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...........¡±


    The two of them were suddenly at a loss of words and had a dumbfounded expression.


    ¡°K-Karen-chan, want a bite of my chiffon cake?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You can also eat some of my super spicy walleye pock roe cake.¡± (Mirack)


    Saying this, they both offer me their tes.


    ¡°Please stop it! Don¡¯t act so tantly considerate to me! Also, Mirack-chan, I wouldn¡¯t want to eat a cake that would burn my mouth anyways!!¡± (Karen)


    I was stupid for trusting these two!


    Treating me like a pitiful girl that has some loose screws!!


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, you crazy woman! In that case, let me say this. No matter how impressive his power is, there¡¯s no way a human is a God!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said ¡®for argument¡¯s sake¡¯, didn¡¯t I! It is not as if I was confident about it when I said it! Celestis-chan, you should at least understand that on your own!¡± (Karen)


    The tension got so high that my tone of voice towards Celestis-chan got rough.


    ¡°Whether you are confident about it or not, there¡¯s a limit to what can be brought as a topic of conversation! We are in outline affiliated to the Church! Gods are the most esteemed existences for us, you know! Even if it¡¯s just for a hypothetical situation of yours, there¡¯s no way a God would just be walking around!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ara ara, it is noisy here-desu wa ne.¡±


    Our dispute must have been pretty tough for the ears.


    The door of the parlor room opened, and a peerless beauty entered the room.


    ¡°Ah, Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°Founder?!¡±


    The Light Church Founder, Yorishiro-sama.


    Hearing that name, Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan jumped up from their seats and stood upright.


    ¡°Go ahead and continue as you were. Is it a tea party between heroes? Deepening your friendship is a great thing, isn¡¯t it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, Yorishiro-sama smiles, and at the side of that smiling Yorishiro, there¡¯s a dark skin girl of around 14-15 years old.


    ¡°Ah, so Doraha-san is with you.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Good day, light hero-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    Saying this, Doraha-san gave a polite greeting.


    ¡°Yes, good day.¡± (Karen)


    The identity of the shadow that we met at the Dark Underworld Country, Doraha-san.


    When she was just released from the shadow, she couldn¡¯t speak at all and was practically an infant, but after spending her days in Apollon City, her mental capacity recovered at a visible rate, and now, she is already at a level where even if she is standing at the side of Yorishiro-sama as her bodyguard, no one would find it strange.


    Thinking about the monument that she left behind at the Underworld Country, she must have originally been an intelligent girl.


    ¡°Ah, if it¡¯s okay with Yorishiro-sama and Doraha-san, how about joining us?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I am sorry, I have a meeting I have to attend to. I need to have a talk with the Cardinal and the others about how they are not doing the amount of work that¡¯s fit for their position, and have a discussion about how they are already too old for this...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I-I see!¡± (Karen)


    Since the time Yorishiro-sama returned from the Underworld Country, it felt like some sort of switch was flipped. She is trying to sweep the decay that has been spreading for a long while in the Light Church.


    Haine-san described it as: ¡®her olden blood stirring¡¯, but I didn¡¯t really understand.


    ¡°Well then, the fire hero Mirack-san and the water hero Celestis-san, think of this Light Grand Church as your own headquarters and rx, okay?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I-I¡¯m honored!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡®Kay! I mean, thank you very much!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan werepletely stiff in front of Yorishiro-sama.


    Once the door to the parlor room was closed, they both instantly let out a long sigh.


    ¡°...I was so scared, seriously scared. So that¡¯s the infamous Light Founder, Yorishiro-sama huh.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°This is not my first time meeting her, but that mysterious aura she has is not something one can get used to. The rumor that a person dies every time she smiles must be true.¡± (Mirack)


    The people outside were talking in such a way of Yorishiro-sama?!


    Even though she is actually a really good person... Next time, let¡¯s have Yorishiro-sama join us in our tea party.


    ¡°...Wait, the conversation derailed just now. As I was saying, there¡¯s no way a God would be walking around just like that, you know! As if it would be so easy to encounter a God!!¡± (Celestis)

 Chapter 103-104 - Hero Alliance

    <h4>Chapter 103-104: Hero Alliance</h4>


    ¡°Celestis-chan, that¡¯s also a bit strayed from the main topic.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah, so you are not going to be talking formally to me anymore huh. Well, that makes it feel as if we are pals now, so it makes me happy though.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan at times nonchntly says embarrassing things.


    ¡°Damn it! Until now, the only one that Karen could speak so casually with was me!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You should leave it at that, or people will begin calling you lesbian, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    At any rate, I...I want to help Haine-san who has gone to defeat the Mother Monsters.


    But I don¡¯t know where Haine-san went. That¡¯s the problem.


    I should have tried asking Yorishiro-sama when she was here.


    ¡°Karen-chi as well, how about not getting so worked up and just give it up this time around? It is not like this is your only chance to do go with him anyways.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s true, Karen. The duty of us heroes is to protect the people. Shouldn¡¯t you think of it as Haine-san being able to leave without worries thanks to you fortifying the defenses of Apollon City?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Those words you said just now, I wish I could have recorded it to send to the people of the Fire Church.¡± (Celestis)


    The two of them are kind.


    Right, Haine-san will be returning after a few days anyways.


    In that case, I should act as a faithful wife that waits for the return of her husband. Let¡¯s proceed with the other things that should be done.


    ¡°And so, there¡¯s actually another thing I would like to consult you two about...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Fumu?¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± (Celestis)


    The two of them casually get ready to listen. So kind.


    ¡°I want to form a hero alliance!¡± (Karen)


    The reaction of the two was simr.


    ¡°Hero Alliance?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± (Celestis)


    It looks like they haven¡¯t digested the meaning of it.


    ¡°You see, the heroes have been acting separately, right? Shouldering their respective Church on their back, and at times, quarreling with each other. Buttely, because of a lot of things urring, we have been reachingpromises, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s mostly the deed of one specific person though.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Now that you mention it, little by little, we have begun getting along.¡± (Celestis)


    Being able to have tea and speaking with each other like this is, in a sense, a sign of progress in itself. And by pushing it even further...


    ¡°In this asion, I want to expand the circle of cooperation between heroes. In other words, I want to create a cooperative structure with us light, fire, water heroes, and also the earth and wind heroes!¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s the Hero Alliance.


    Even if we are to help Haine-san¡¯s n in defeating the Mother Monsters, it would be better to have more allies.


    Now that there are more than half of the heroes in this side, this is the best opportunity to give shape to a cooperative structure.


    ¡°I see. If it¡¯s something that Karen-san wants, I have no objections.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine. If we manage to defeat those so called Mother Monsters, no doubt we would be heroes that carved their names in history. Increasing our allies as preparation for it, I think it is fine. I want results, but I don¡¯t like risks after all.¡± (Celestis)


    Ooh, the two are more into it than I thought!


    ¡°Then, I would like to contact the earth and wind hero! Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan, have you met them?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Nope.¡± (Celestis)


    Uwa...


    We suddenly fell into a pit already.


    ¡°No one here is acquainted with the earth or the wind hero?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That way of putting it must mean that Karen-chi also isn¡¯t acquainted with them huh. But, it can¡¯t be helped, right? To begin with, the ce where the Earth Church¡¯s headquarter is located, Ishtar ze, is crazy far and a national istion has formed naturally. It seems the Church itself has not had contact for several years as well.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°And we don¡¯t even know where the Wind capital Rudra State, where the Wind Church¡¯s headquarters is, is located.¡± (Mirack)


    It is just as Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan exined.


    The Wind Church is specially secretive, and their activities are strictly hidden. It is that type of doctrine. Because of this, the location of Rudra State has not been revealed, and there¡¯s even scary rumors that say people who have tried to reveal it have died unnatural deaths. The wind hero that protects this Wind capital has also been shrouded in mystery for a long time.


    ¡°Leaving aside wind, as long as we have the resolve to travel a long distance, it is possible to meet the earth hero, but even with a flying machine, it will still be a journey that will take several days, you know.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Totally a no then. If we were to leave to somewhere so faraway, in the moments where a big monster were to attack our city, we wouldn¡¯t be able to assist. Thanks to the flying machines, we heroes have gained quite the freedom in movement, but there¡¯s limits to that.¡± (Celestis)


    Groaning with an ¡®ueee¡¯, the upper-half of my body falls onto the table.


    What¡¯s with this. Everything that I have thought of has been falling into pits one after the other.


    We don¡¯t know where Haine-san has gone to, so there¡¯s no way we can chase after him, and there doesn¡¯t seem to be any hope in meeting the earth and wind heroes.


    ¡°Ah, right. There¡¯s no real need for all three of us to go, right? In the time one of us goes to Ishtar ze, the other two can assist in protecting that person¡¯s base.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The Church wouldn¡¯t allow that. As I have been saying over and over, the hero has to protect their own base.¡± (Celestis)


    I once again groan with an ¡®ueeee¡¯.


    So we have reached a dead end.


    Just when I was thinking about ending this meeting as just a tea party where we simply feasted on cake...


    A knocking sound reverberated in the parlor room we were rxing in.


    ¡°Pardon the intrusion. Is the hero, Karen-sama, here¡ª¡±


    The one who entered the room was Captain Vesage.


    A knight of our Aurora Knight Corps, and a Captain at that, so he is reasonably important.


    ¡°Hm? Who is this?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Could this be those so called light knights of the Light Church?¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan showed interest in Captain Vesage.


    In this scenario, I should be introducing them.


    ¡°This person here is one of the members of the Aurora Knight Corps, Captain Vesage. And Captain Vesage, you know the people here, right? The fire hero, Katack Mirack; and the water hero¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Celes-taaaaaaaan?!!!¡± (Vesage)


    Eh? What?!


    Captain Vesage fell on his knees the moment he saw Celestis-chan?!


    ¡°Eh?! What¡¯s this?! Is he the type that overreacts as a punchline?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was also bewildered.


    ¡°Ah, isn¡¯t it that? The one inmand when Haine-san was doing that idol hunting thing.¡± (Mirack)


    With the remark of Mirack-chan, I remember that something like that did happen.


    ¡°In order to restrain the idol proselytizing of Celestis, they would go to the houses of the metropolitan area, and confiscated all idol goods found. As they got in touch with those items, they were slowly infected as well, and by the time they noticed, they had be fans of Celestis themselves.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What, if you are my fan, just say so. It is rare to meet fans of mine outside the Water capital, so I am super happy about it. How about I splurge a bit here and give you an autograph?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Stop i~t! Don¡¯t tempt me! But, thank you very much! Thank you very much! To think there would be a day where the picture frame I bought would be of use!¡± (Vesage)


    ...I didn¡¯t know Captain Vesage was this kind of person...


    Well, that¡¯s fine. All people have an unexpected side to them.


    ¡°And so, Captain Vesage, did you have business here? Could it be that monsters have appeared?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Uwaaa~! I have obtained a heirloom! I am happier than the time I was promoted to captain!! ¡ªI mean, excuse me for that, Karen-sama. It is not that big of a matter, but I was searching for assistant Haine, you see. I was wondering if his direct superior, Karen-sama, would know of his whereabouts.¡± (Vesage)


    ...Haine-san has be quite the popr one.


    But too bad. Haine-san is absent. Hmph hmph.


    ¡°Uhm, did you need something from Haine-san? He is unfortunately absent at the moment. If you are okay with me substituting him, can I ask what¡¯s the issue?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Troubling hero-sama in a small matter like this is unthinkable! It is just that, there¡¯s a report stating that there have been sightings of a suspicious individual walking around the Light metropolitan area, and we wanted the help of assistant Haine to investigate this matter.¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°A suspicious individual?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes. ording to the report, ¡®a girl that is shouldering a scythe bigger than her own height is walking around the city¡¯.¡± (Vesage)


    That is indeed a suspicious individual.


    ¡°A scythe bigger than her own height?¡±


    ¡°Moreover, she is shouldering it? What¡¯s with that?¡±


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan, who were together with us, naturally ended up hearing the conversation as well, and furrowed their brows at the weirdness of it.


    ¡°Hah...hah... Celes-tan in the flesh. Hah... hah...¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Uhm, Captain-san?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah, sorry about that, water hero-dono! Though, I have simply received the report and don¡¯t know the details of it. We were thinking of gathering members to head to the location in question.¡± (Vesage)


    A giant scythe huh.


    As a weapon, it is on the rare side, but it is true that shouldering something like that and walking in the middle of the city would be dangerous.


    ¡°So, you were thinking of adding Haine-san to those members?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It might be unpleasant for Karen-sama to lend your direct subordinate, but I think that there¡¯s the need for assistant Haine¡¯s help in this.¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Eh? W-Why?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is a loli that is shouldering a giant scythe like the ones used to hunt down lives, you know? No matter how you think about it, this is definitely the job of a straight man to retort to. And when you talk about retorts, it is of course our church assistant, Haine.¡± (Vesage)


    That statement of yours in itself is worth retorting though.


    ¡°I see, so that¡¯s how it is.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I agree. I agreepletely.¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan agree to that?!


    ¡°B-But Haine-san is currently out because of a task and is not in the Light capital at the moment. This is a problem. If we talk about a person that has retort power on the level of Haine-san, it would be...¡± (Karen)


    In a corner of my heart, I was thinking ¡®What the hell am I even saying?¡¯.


    ¡°There¡¯s one right here.¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack-chan says as she ces a hand on the shoulder of the water hero, Celestis-chan.


    ¡°Wait! Stop that. Are you trying to turn me into a straight man character?! An idol is the opposite of that, a profession that teases! And you are telling me that I am a straight man...the role of being teased? In order to survive the entertainment world, this is a technique that I have to refine for my iing inauguration day. The most important stance as a professional! ...Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan seems to be proactive about this.


    ¡°Celes-tan in the flesh will be descending in this day to our Apollon City?! ........No no, that¡¯s not the issue here. No matter how you put it, isn¡¯t this bad?! Troubling the hand of a foreign hero to assist in the territory of the Light Church is just...!¡± (Vesage)


    Captain Vesage had a point.


    ¡°Celestis-chan, I will be going. The Light Church should be the one dealing with the incidents that ur in Apollon City. In this time when Haine-san is absent, I as the hero have to work hard for his share as well!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But, will you be okay? No matter how I see it, you are more like the type that receives the retorts, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Moreover, the airheaded type.¡± (Mirack)


    Eh?


    Am I being seen in such a way?


    ****


    And so, the tea party between heroes was temporarily suspended.


    We are now in the metropolitan area of Apollon City.


    ¡°In the end, Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan came along with us... You could have stayed in the room.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What are you saying! Karen, if you are going to be heading out to a fight, then I can¡¯t just rx about! If there¡¯s the chance, I will save you from crisis and gain points!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Also, that suspicious individual has piqued my curiosity. Why is she shouldering a giant scythe? I feel like I won¡¯t be able to sleep tonight unless I hear of the reason clearly.¡± (Celestis)


    The two of them are so carefree.


    But it is true that this is a matter that feels like we can take it more at ease than fighting monsters. Can¡¯t lower my guard though. Let¡¯s catch that suspicious person quickly and return to our tea party.


    ¡°But, now that we are searching...where should we tackle first?¡± (Karen)


    We have divided in groups with Captain Vesage to cover more ground, but for now, we haven¡¯t even seen a shadow of where she could be.


    ording to the information, she should stick out like a sore thumb, so I was expecting we would find her immediately but...


    ¡°Oi, Karen.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it that?¡± (Mirack)


    As expected, we easily found her.


    There she is, that¡¯s certainly her. At the ce where Mirack-chan is pointing, there¡¯s a scythe.


    When I saw it at first, I thought that it was a scythe walking on its own. But that¡¯s not it. There¡¯s a small girl carrying that giant scythe at its base.


    Her age should be around 12-13 years old. She is a lot younger than us. And her body build is small. That¡¯s why, the giant scythe that would normally be held by arge build man had so much left over when held by such a small body. Her every step while shouldering that thing is dangerous.


    Staggering to the right, staggering to the left; just holding it makes it a dangerous weapon, and the people in the surroundings are scared off their wits.


    Looks like we have to hurry and secure her.


    When I was about to approach her... the sound of a big bell resounded.


    It was the bell of the clock tower that informed of the time.


    It is a tall building in the main street of Apollon City, and it has a big clock that can be seen even from afar. A bell tower that rings at a specific time.


    The architecture of the building is already a few decades old, and its design has charm, so it has be one of the sightseeing spots of Apollon City.


    The clock tower was emitting a *gon, gon, gon, gon* sound, and yet...


    ¡°Hiwawawawawawa?!¡±


    The scythe girl reacted excessively at it.


    She grew flustered, lost her wits, and the scythe that was already dangerous just by holding it, was now shaking heavily to the sides.


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    All the heroes reacted to this.


    The fastest one was the water hero, Celestis-chan.


    ¡°[Water Bag]!¡± (Celestis)


    The water stream that was released from Miki Moses coiled around the scythe girl like a snake and envelops her.


    It was a feat that can only done with high control of water divine power.


    By imprisoning the scythe girl inside a cell of water, we eliminate the damage it might cause.


    Is what I thought but...


    *Pang*!


    With a single swing of the scythe, the water prison was broken and became small droplets.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    Celestis-chan was shocked by how her own technique was broken.


    ¡°My ¡®Water Bag¡¯ was destroyed?! Could it be...earth divine power?!¡± (Celestis)


    In that time, Mirack-chan and I didn¡¯t stop our legs.


    The preemptive strike of Celestis-chan was broken, but it served as an effective diversion, and we seeded in getting a pincer attack on her.


    The holy sword, Saint-George, and the fire knuckles, Barbarossa, pressure the scythe girl from both sides.


    Yeah, it was good timing.


    We may bicker a lot, but the team coordination of us three has gotten better.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move. If you get violent here, you will be immediately shot with fire and light divine power.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Sorry for being rough with you here. But having you wielding such a dangerous thing in the middle of the city is troubling.¡± (Karen)


    Will the girl be obedient?


    After remonstrating her, we waited for the other side¡¯s reaction, and...


    ¡°......Ah¡¯m sorry.¡±


    As the girl apologizes, she began to cry a river.


    ¡°Waaaa~n! Ah¡¯m sorry! I just got scared with th¡¯ sudden big sound-dasu! In mah vige, th¡¯ only time a big sound like that be made is when the fields be catching fire-dasu yo~!¡±


    ¡°E~h?!¡± ¡°W-What¡¯s going on?!¡±


    Mirack-chan and I were both surprised by this disgraceful behaviour.


    ¡°I suddenly got attacked-dasu! Scary! The city be seriously scary-dasu yo! So country bumpkins be getting their heads chopped off-dasu ka yo~!¡±


    After she said this, we tried to soothe her, and the name we somehow got was...


    Gonbee Sasae.


    The earth hero that was dispatched by the Earth Church in Ishtar ze.

 Chapter 105-107 - Small hero

    <h4>Chapter 105-107: Small hero</h4>


    Earth hero, Gonbee Sasae.


    The girl certainly did introduce herself as that.


    The hero representing the Earth Church that worships one of the five Gods of Creation, Mother Earth Mantle-sama.


    Why is the earth hero, who is supposed to be at the faraway Ishtar ze, here?


    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake.¡± (Karen)


    Ipared the big scythe she was holding with the one illustrated in a book, and voiced out this conclusion.


    ¡°This scythe is the Earth Scythe, Seeta. It is a divine tool in the possession of the Earth Church, and ranks at the highest.¡± (Karen)


    It is an object that lines up with my Saint-George; the Barbarossa of Mirack-chan; and the Miki-Moses of Celestis-chan.


    The book we borrowed from the Light Grand Library, ¡®the faraway unexplored region, approaching the mystery of Ishtar ze -Comption-¡¯, had this information written, so there¡¯s no mistake.


    ¡°She was lend such an important thing. That means, she can¡¯t be no other than the earth hero, but...¡± (Karen)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I gather our attention at one ce.


    At the suspicious individual that we brought here from the city, the small girl.


    ¡°De-de-de-de-de-deeeli~~sh-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    We are at the parlor room we were originally having a tea party in.


    After calming down themotion in the middle of Apollon City, we brought this girl -Gonbee Sasae-chan- no questions asked.


    We also contacted Captain Vesage who was searching the area, and the matter of the suspicious individual was wrapped up for now.


    It can be said that it hasn¡¯t beenpletely wrapped up yet and simply moved to the next stage though.


    To begin with, this ce was being used to have nonsensical girl¡¯s talk, and we only left once and returned after, so the atmosphere still remains. The tea was still there, the cake and the cream-filled pastry as well, so when we offered it to Sasae-chan, she began overindulging.


    First, she grabbed the target cake with both hands and brought it to her mouth.


    *nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom*


    After filling her mouthpletely, she swallowed.


    *nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom nom*


    After filling her mouthpletely, she swallowed.


    What¡¯s with this cute critter. She is so cute, I want to continue feeding her more.


    ¡°Hah~, so cute. She is so cute, the heavens might split apart~~.¡±


    And, there was one person who was being killed by that cuteness.


    Since way back, Mirack-chan has been weak to this kind of people that stir you to protect them after all -like in my childhood when I was sickly.


    ¡°Now now, if you eat so fast, your throat will get hurt, you know? You should drink tea here, and take a break first.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Ah¡¯m sorry. I was getting thirsty, so this be right in time-nasu~~ gulp gulp¡ªHOT!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ah?! I¡¯m sorry, did you have a sensitive tongue?! Okay, let me cool it down for you. Fuh~ Fuh~¡± (Mirack)


    This Mirack-chan is no good. I have to do something about this quick.


    But it is a pain, so I won¡¯t do anything.


    ¡°But why is the earth hero in Apollon City? Ishtar ze is so far it would take several months by foot, right? As expected, isn¡¯t this some sort of misunderstanding?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, there¡¯s no doubt this girl is the earth hero.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan who was at my side made a serious expression.


    ¡°This girl broke my ¡®Water Bag¡¯ with one attack. Only the earth element would be able to aplish that. Due to the element affinities, the one that wins against water is earth. Earth absorbs water infinitely, and in time, it will swallow itpletely.¡± (Celestis)


    So she is talking about the fight that urred in the middle of the city.


    It is true that it was shocking how that scythe was able to easily break through the skill of Celestis-chan who was the fastest of us three in attacking.


    ¡°What? Hm, could it be...you are frustrated by it?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan throwed apletely smug face at Celestis-chan and draws closer to her.


    ¡°Right. The water element can¡¯t lift a finger against the earth element after all. Well, there¡¯s many moments when you turn useless because the affinity is bad. This time, you were not blessed with thepatibility, so you were useless! Anyways, it happens, so burn in frustration as much as you want.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Aah, so annoying! You-are-annoying!!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan has been teasing Celestis-chan a lottely.


    Could it be that she is still hung on the fight with the Great Sea Dragon we had before? Was she still bothered by how her fire element had bad affinity against the water element?


    ¡°More importantly, the problem is this girl!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-san points strongly at the little girl that was still nomming without caring at all about our dispute.


    ¡°What did the earth heroe here to do in such a faraway ce from her headquarters?! Moreover, this is the headquarters of the Light Church! If handled poorly, this might even be a diplomatic problem. We have to make her talk, or we can¡¯t release her!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...Dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    Being threatened, Sasae-chan blinked in surprise for a moment, but she soon made an expression as if she remembered something...


    ¡°Ah, shoot-dasuuu~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    And screamed.


    What is it this time?


    ¡°Founder-sama told me ¡®don¡¯t follow strangers¡¯, and yet, I easily be following them-dasu!! This be bad-dasu! I be kept as livestock, be domesticated, and be demanded a ransom-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Eeeh?! Reacting to that thiste?!


    ¡°I-It¡¯s okay, Sasae-chan. I am also a hero. The light hero of this Apollon City, Kourin Karen. I am by no means a suspicious individual.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Not only that, I ended eatin¡¯ all grub they brought me!! They are definitely gonna demand crazy cash, and the moment they be knowing I can¡¯t spit it out, they will turn around their attitude and say ¡®In that case, we got no choice but to have you pay with that body, littledy¡¯, and be sold away!!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Not happening, not happening.¡± (Karen)


    This is a problem. This girl is the type that naturally ignores what others say.


    ¡°Uhm, Sasae-chan, it is okay. We are not scary people. We just want to ask you a few things.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That be a lie-dasu!! Founder-sama and Bishop-sama told me that the city people all be liars-dasu!! Ya be thinking that just because I am a country bumpkin you can pull the wool on me easily!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true... We simply want to ask you about a few things¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What do ya wanna hear about?! Mah security number? I won¡¯t be telling ya-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    What¡¯s a security number?


    The conversation is not getting through at all with this girl. Maybe this is called country bumpkinplex; because of that, she is under the impression that everything rted to the city is evil.


    ¡°Anyways, the city be scary-dasu! It be way too cruel for a country bumpkin to survive-dasu! But, in order to fulfill the oracle given by Mother Earth God-sama, I be pushing like rabbit in season-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°An oracle from the Mother Earth God?¡± (Karen)


    What Sasae-chan slipped piqued my interest.


    ¡°Did youe to Apollon City with that as the reason? What is the Mother Earth God having you do?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Fufufufu. Ya see-dasu na~, this be an important mission only the earth hero can aplish-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    For some reason, she began speaking with a boasting tone.


    ¡°That be right, it was in a regr morning. Woken up by the cry of the roosters, I was about to head to work on the fields...when it happened. The weed be growin¡¯ pretty thickly, so I be thinkin¡¯ about cutting it down, ya know.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°You are going pretty far back in your story huh...¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan, who was listening by my side, fiddled her hair with an irritated expression.


    ¡°To begin with, our Earth Church be standing on the motto of living together with nature! Plowing thend, and wakin¡¯ for thend. That be the most basics of a human, and this be the way of living that brings about good fortune, and this be what Mother Earth God-sama preaches-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°And she regressed to even deeper fundamental structure?!¡± (Celestis)


    But that stupid-cuteness of hers charmed Mirack-chan even more.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I -the earth hero- can¡¯t cken on the work at the fields-dasu! With each swing, each time the hoe be hitting the ground, I give mah gratitude to Mother Earth God-sama. Once I be finished with separating the fields, the earth be giving me back in the form of beautiful crops-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°U-Uhm, I understand already, so, about that oracle the Mother Earth God-sama gave you...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah, right-dasu na! I was suddenly called by the Founder-sama and attended the Earth Grand Crimson Pce still in mah work clothes-dasu yo! What they told me that time be¡ª¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°...¡±


    Eh?


    This girl stopped in the most important part.


    ¡°¡ª!! Close! I was almost caught in a leading question! The city people are truly good at fooling people-dasu yo! But it be okay! I didn¡¯t crock a single fly about the important bits-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    So she noticed!


    But, we didn¡¯t do any sort of leading though. This country girl is seriously tough.


    Even though she spills so much out of her mouth, the parts that we really want to hear, she guards them with pinpoint uracy.


    ¡°...You say that but...¡± (Celestis)


    At this moment, Celestis-chan, who was finally out of her dumbstruck state, joined the conversation.


    ¡°You -the earth hero- stepping inside the headquarters of a different church of yours, moreover, without permission; do you understand how big that is? The heroes are in basis the face of the Church, and their strongest fighting force. It is like the tip of the sword. And if that tip of the sword were to enter the another territory on their own whim, it can be taken as a deration of war.¡± (Celestis)


    Hearing this, I looked back at my own past actions and thought ¡®I really did some outrageous things huh¡¯.


    ¡°Moreover, you even created a smallmotion in the city. In order to vindicate that you hold no hostility, don¡¯t you think there¡¯s the need to exin the reason why you came all the way here? But well, if you really just came here to pick a fight, you wouldn¡¯t have any reason to exin anyways.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°And, who are ya-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    Even when being pushed with such threatening tone, Sasae-chan was still going at her own pace.


    ¡°Guh... Can¡¯t be helped. Even if I am an idol, the poprity wave of Celes-tan still hasn¡¯t reached the countryside huh. Fine, I will grant you the honor. I am the water hero, Celestis. And while I¡¯m at it, that muscle lesbian there is the fire hero, Mirack.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Did you just insult me real hard as an afterthought?¡± (Mirack)


    Everyone ignored theint of Mirack-chan.


    ¡°Hoheh~, then, everyone here is a hero-dasu ka? This be the first time I see the other heroes-dasu yo.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I am also surprised at this first encounter of ours. To think the earth hero was a loli that was so difficult to hold a conversation with.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan, please don¡¯t lose yourposure, okay?


    The other party is still a child after all.


    ¡°But but, this is the city of the Light Church-san, right-dasu na? Why are the water and fire heroes here-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Nuguh!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I be an outsider, but isn¡¯t the water and fire heroes the same-dasu ka? Why are ya here-dasu? Ya here to pick a fight-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan looks as if she doesn¡¯t understand the conversation, and yet, she stabs at the parts that hurt.


    ¡°About that, I will exin.¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack-chan says as she tags in.


    ¡°Celestis and I were invited here by the light hero Karen. That¡¯s why there¡¯s no problem at all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You were invited here-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We three had a lot going on between us, but now, we have formed an alliance, and are incredibly friendly with each other. That¡¯s why, even if we enter the other¡¯s territory, it won¡¯t turn into a fight!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That be incredible-dasu! So movin¡¯-dasu! Can heroes be friends-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Of course. If you feel like it, we will be happy to wee you -the earth hero- into our hero alliance!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Seriously-dasu ka?! I don¡¯t understand this hero alliance thing, but it sounds he cool-dasu! Please let me join-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Fine, we won¡¯t close our doors to someone that wishes to join!!¡± (Mirack)


    And so, like this, Sasae-chan became ourrade.


    ...Hm?


    ¡°In that case, secrets shouldn¡¯t be kept between friends-dasu na! I be tellin¡¯ ya why I am here-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Eh?


    We had so much trouble making her talk, and yet, now she is so easily willing to...


    Mirack-chan turns her head in my direction and gives me a thumbs up.


    It can¡¯t be helped that she is feeling proud of it. She even made progress in the matter of the hero alliance that I spoke of not that long ago.


    ¡°Mirack-chi, why are you the one making a breakthrough in the situation? So nauseating.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I aplished something, and yet, what¡¯s with that treatment?!¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan, can you stop stirring things up already?


    ¡°Now then, heroes from othernds! Once again, mah name is Gonbee Sasae, the earth hero-dasu! I be inexperienced, but please take care of me-da!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°You got it. If you have any problems, you cane consult me anytime you want!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hah...can¡¯t be helped. She is cute, so I will wee her.¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were able to ept this super sudden turn of events.


    And I...


    ¡°Sasae-chan, here as well. I am the light hero that protects this Apollon City, name is Kourin Karen.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes-nasu! Light hero-san be a damn good lookin¡¯ babe-dasu na!¡± (Sasae)


    We exchange a light handshake.


    ¡°So, returning to the original topic, Sasae-chan, why did youe to Apollon City? Coming all the way from the Earth Church to the Light Church. Did you have something you wanted to tell us?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Right-dasu! Now that it bee to this, I would like Karen-sa to cooperate as well-dasu! To aplish the mission given to me by Mother Earth God-sama!¡± (Sasae)


    And then, Sasae-chan revealed the objective of why she came to Apollon City.


    ¡°To subjugate the personification of the evil Dark God Entropy, Kuromiya Haine-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    For a second, I doubted my ears.


    ¡°Eh? Uhm...sorry. Can you repeat that?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As I said, I be told to erase the personification of the evil Dark God Entropy, Kuromiya Haine-dasu! That¡¯s what I was told in the oracle of Mother Earth God-sama-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    As I thought, I really didn¡¯t hear wrong.


    But, I couldn¡¯t understand it at all.


    I was really familiar with the name that was spoken by Sasae-chan who I had just met today.


    ¡°?!¡±


    When I turn my head, I could see the bewildered expressions of Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. We should ask this girl in more detail.¡± (Celestis)


    It is as Celestis-chan said.


    We decided on listening to a bit more of what Sasae-chan has to say.


    ¡°I was called by the Founder-sama and was told this-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    Summing up the story of Sasae-chan, the Earth Founder-sama got an oracle from the Mother Earth God, Mantle-sama. And then, in that oracle, he was instructed to erase the Dark God Entropy, Haine-san.


    ¡°ording to the oracle, Entropy apparently be an incredibly dangerous and scary God-dasu. And this God be disguised as a human and slipped into this world-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡®If we let it be, the world will fall into cmity for sure¡¯, being told this via the Founder, she was ordered to head to the ce where the Dark God Entropy is, the ce where Haine-san is.


    ¡°And I, carrying this important task, departed from Ishtar ze-no dasu! The oracle said that Kuromiya Haine be in Apollon City, so I headed straight here-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan says eloquently.


    ¡°I was scared of the people outside, so I thoroughly bounced all settlements-dasu! Advancing through pathless paths, tearing off the bark of trees, eating boiled grass, and after an unwavering month, I finally arrived at Apollon City-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°What a wild life!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is there any meaning in going so far to avoid people?!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were shocked by how harsh the journey of Sasae-chan was.


    But that wasn¡¯t the issue I was bothered with right now.


    ¡°Finally arriving at mah destination, I be thinking of how to search fer Kuromiya Haine-dasu yo. But, am d-dasu. Meeting such nice people. If ye can, please help m¡ª¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That¡¯s a lie!!¡±


    The loud shout I let out made Sasae-chan shrink her shoulders.


    ¡°What you said is all a lie! There¡¯s no way Entropy-sama would be an evil God! There¡¯s no way Haine-san would be scheming something evil! It is obvious that it is all a lie! Did youe all the way here from Ishtar ze just to spread those delusions?! That¡¯s just way too much of a pain!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wait, Karen! Calm down!¡± (Mirack)


    Being seized by Mirack-chan, my words finally cut off.


    But at that time, as if natural, the expression of Sasae-chan froze.


    ¡°Wa, Karen-chi, don¡¯t go losing your steam on a little girl you just met. Well, it is not like I don¡¯t understand how you feel though.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am sorry... But, there¡¯s no way Haine-san is the enemy of the world. Something like that is impossible. Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan understand that as well, right?¡± (Karen)


    The two know Haine-san in person.


    They should know about the many people that he has protected.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Karen. We also don¡¯t think of him as such an evil individual.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. As a hero, I am pretty confident in my eye for people. Haine-chi may have a bit of a sadistic side, but he is in basis a good person.¡± (Celestis)


    I was a bit relieved by the words of those two, and regain my calm.


    ¡°But then, why did the Earth Church give out such an oracle? That¡¯s the issue here.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Right. Since the name of the Dark God Entropy hase out, I can¡¯t think the existence of that oracle is a lie in itself... Leaving aside for now the heavily retortable part about Haine-chi being the personification of the Dark God.¡± (Celestis)


    An oracle is a core factor in representing the holiness of the five Churches.


    The words of a God can be directly told to people. The only ones who can receive those oracles are the Founders of their respective church.


    It seems each Church has different ways to receive the oracle, but the contents of it are varied as well.


    Predicting the future correctly, telling ways to counter disasters that humans wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with, and it is said that there¡¯s even times when they are told the weaknesses of the enemy¡¯s army in war.


    Since the early periods of history, the reason why the five Churches were able to grow bigger in influence was because they were able to control information. Because of this, even if an oracle are seen as proof of the Gods having a direct connection with the Church, an oracle is also something absolute.


    ¡°But, if that oracle of the Earth Church is true, then there¡¯s a point that bothers me.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°And that is?¡± (Karen)


    It seems Celestis-chan has noticed something. I ask her about it as if clinging to it.


    ¡°If it is as what the oracle says, that Haine-chi is an existence that is overwhelmingly dangerous to this world, then why is that danger only being warned by Mantle?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    ¡°If it is an evil existence that can throw the world into predicament, the other Gods would also give out warnings and raise the awareness of it. But, at the very least, an oracle like that hasn¡¯t been received from my Water Church. What about you girls?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan¡¯s gaze moves equally between Mirack-chan and I.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t heard of it either. Thinking about the personality of our Founder, I don¡¯t think they would hide anything.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In my Light Church too! Yorishiro-sama is a person that would say things that feel like they have a hidden meaning, but...but when it is about Haine-san, there¡¯s no lie!¡± (Karen)


    I-Isn¡¯t that right, Yorishiro-sama?


    ¡°In that case, it really is strange that only the Earth Church received an oracle. Hey, Sasae-chan, can you please tell us your story in more detail? First, when was the specific time this oracle was received.......¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan turned the conversation to Sasae-chan, and, at that moment, she noticed the diforting atmosphere.


    The atmosphere that Sasae-chan was forming, it was apletely different color from the ones until now.


    ¡°...Liar-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°As I thought, the city people be all crying wolf-dasu! Baiting ya with kind words. I thought ye were people I could trust, so I told ye about the story of Founder-sama, and yet, ye all called me a liar!! As I thought, the city people be all scary-dasu! Can¡¯t trust ¡®em-dasu! I ain¡¯t stayin¡¯ in a ce like this!!¡± (Sasae)


    Saying this, Sasae-chan runs and pushes the door as if tackling it.


    ¡°Sasae-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Crap! After her!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°No other choice. Good grief!!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I chased after Sasae-chan.

 Chapter 108-110 - Pursuit

    <h4>Chapter 108-110: Pursuit</h4>


    What should I do? It is my fault.


    While running through the Light Grand Church at full-throttle, I was tormented with self-deprecation.


    Even though we had gotten along...


    The earth hero, Gonbee Sasae-chan.


    For the first time since she was born, she left her homnd, and in the strangend she had arrived and was on the peak of helplessness, she would meet the first people she could open her heart to.


    Those people were supposed to be us, and yet, I was unable to ept what she had said, and rejected it all along with her very self.


    With this, it feels as if I made her trust us just to betray her.


    Right now, the meaning of what she said about that oracle doesn¡¯t matter.


    I have to catch up with Sasae-chan and apologize as soon as possible.


    The chances of Sasae-chan still being inside the Grand Church is high.


    It is big and easy to get lost in here after all.


    There¡¯s a chance that Mirack-chan or Celestis-chan, who separated to cover more ground, will find her sooner than me, but I have to make sure to be the first one to find her, and apologize properly to her.


    ¡°Uwa?!¡±


    ¡°Karen?!¡±


    In the middle of it, I stumbled upon Mirack-chan at a turn.


    ¡°How was it?! Did you find Sasae-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Not even a shadow! If we have met here, it must mean that she wasn¡¯t in your search area either. In that case...!¡± (Mirack)


    Is what we were thinking when...


    *Zudon*, a sound strong enough to make the whole building tremble reverberated.


    When I look out from the window that was close by, I could see a waterspout from afar. There¡¯s no doubt that¡¯s the work of Celestis-chan.


    ¡°That direction is...the outside za?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What is that woman doing?!¡± (Mirack)


    At any rate, there¡¯s no doubt that something happened.


    This is no moment to be caring about manners. I jump from the window, and control the fall with my light divine power, and head at full speed towards the waterspout.


    ¡°?!! Hey, wait, Karen!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan followed after.


    This Light Grand Church is my base, that¡¯s why I can tell. The ce where the waterspout came from is the za. It is normally used as a training space for the people of the Aurora Knight Corps.


    That¡¯s why it is wide without any obstructions, so there¡¯s no problems in having a waterspout as big as that being made, but...but why did Celestis-chan do that kind of technique in the first ce?


    * * *


    ...While I was thinking that, we arrived.


    The first thing that entered my vision was the back of Celestis-chan.


    ¡°Aah, you are finally here. I was waiting!!¡±


    It hasn¡¯t been long since we split to search, and yet, Celestis-chan was talking as if we haven¡¯t met for several years already.


    ¡°Celestis-chan! Did something happen?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Instead of exining, it would be faster to just see it with your own eyes! Look at that!¡± (Celestis)


    And then, being suggested by Celestis-chan, I look, and...


    ¡°?!! Monster.¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s right. There¡¯s a monster in the training grounds.


    It is the first time I have seen this type, but there¡¯s no doubt that this is a monster.


    It is big and humanoid. From what I see, it is made up from what seems to be minerals.


    The looks of monsters are normally uniform. If it¡¯s fire element, it is and beast type; if it¡¯s water element, it would be a fish or a water lifeform; if it¡¯s wind element, it would be an insect type.


    But this is the first time I see this type of monster. It gives a different kind of atmosphere from the Dark Giant-san we met in the Great Sea Dragon battle. Just what in the world...


    Since this is a training ground, there¡¯s -as expected- many light knights that were here in the middle of training, and were now surprised by the sudden appearance of a monster and were agitated.


    ¡°To think a monster would appear in a ce like this! And so, Celestis, what happened to Sasae?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan who had finally caught up, asks this from Celestis.


    ¡°...She is right there, you know.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°As I said, she is there! Look, over there!!¡± (Celestis)


    In the ce where Celestis-chan points at, at the aforementioned monster.


    I was wondering what she was saying so I strain my eyes to see, and what I saw was...a girl standing at the back of the giant earth humanoid.


    ¡°Sasae-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    Why is she at a ce like that? She is close to the point that you could say she is clinging to the leg of the monster!


    ¡°Why is she at such a ce?! That¡¯s dangerous! Hurry and get away!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Shut up-dasu!¡±


    Words of denial that felt as if they pierced at me.


    ¡°Every one of you! All the city people be enemies-dasu! My only ally be this child-dasu! ¡®Golem Boy¡¯! Kick ¡®em away, don¡¯t let ¡®em get close!!¡± (Sasae)


    Saying this, the humanoid monster rushes at us as if it were following her desires.


    ¡°Uwa?!¡±


    I fall back in order to evade.


    And so, Sasae-chan stood alone at the ce where the humanoid monster was before, and takes something out from the rucksack she had brought for her journey.


    ¡°What¡¯s that? A brick?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Crap! Again?!¡± (Celestis)


    Seeing that brick, Celestis-chan gets agitated.


    ¡°That girl, is she thinking of making more of those?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Making? More of those?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I had found that girl and cornered her all the way here. After that, that girl took out a brick that looked simr to the one she has now, and wrote something on it. And when she did that, the earth and stones in the surroundings of the block began to gather, and what came out of it is the giant thing that you see now before your eyes!!¡± (Celestis)


    Eh? Then¡ª!


    The two blocks that Sasae-chan is holding currently in her hands are¡ª!!


    ¡°C¡¯mere! ¡®Golem Father¡¯, ¡®Golem Mother¡¯!!¡± (Sasae)


    There¡¯s a total of three.


    Right in front of us, monsters we have never seen before had appeared.


    The three shared the trait that they were all earth puppets.


    ¡°¡®Golem Boy¡¯!¡±


    The first one to appear from the earth humanoids.


    As of now, it is the smallest one of them, but even with that, it easily surpasses the height of a man at his prime.


    ¡°¡®Golem Mother¡¯!¡±


    And there¡¯s the one that slightly surpasses the small one, but is a slim figured earth humanoid.


    ¡°And ¡®Golem Father¡¯!!¡±


    And finally, there¡¯s the biggest one of all three, and even its physique was that of a heavyweight.


    ¡°¡®Golem Family¡¯!! Defeat dem scary city people-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    As if obeying the orders of Sasae-chan, the earth humanoids take a stance towards us.


    Seeing this, I couldn¡¯t help but be bewildered.


    ¡°Hey! Are we in a dream right now?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is a hero controlling monsters?! What¡¯s that? It doesn¡¯t make sense!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were both bewildered as well.


    Heroes exist to defeat monsters.


    They fight against the monsters that attack humans, defeat them, and protect them; it can even be called our raison d¡¯etre.


    And a hero is utilizing the monsters that are our natural enemies?


    But we don¡¯t have the leeway to space out right now.


    Right now, those very monsters are about to attack us after all.


    ¡°Uwa?!¡±


    ¡°At any rate, return fire! The light knights in the surroundings!! This is too much for you guys to handle. Don¡¯t get close, got it?!¡± (Mirack)


    Since this is the training grounds of the Aurora Knight corps, many light knights were there.


    Mirack-chan gave orders to them, and stopped any disorder before it happened.


    There¡¯s three earth humanoids attacking us.


    There¡¯s three heroes on our side.


    The numbers are the same, but even with that, I can¡¯t say that this is a favorable situation.


    ¡°Sasae-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    It naturally turned into each one of us dealing with one earth humanoid.


    The one I had to deal with was the middle-sized slim doll. While evading the chops it was swinging, I shout at Sasae-chan.


    ¡°What is this?! What¡¯s going on?! Why is a hero using monsters?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What-suka? Yer a city folk, yet ya ain¡¯t knowing Golems-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    Golems?!


    ¡°Golems be the blessing of Mother Earth God-sama-dasu! They help us in anything and are the friends of humans-dasu! They don¡¯t lie to me like ye guys. They be trustworthy fellows-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ugh!¡±


    Those words became a thorn that pierced right through my chest.


    I want to apologize with all I have, but the situation is not allowing me to do that.


    ¡°Karen!!¡±


    Mirack-chan, who was in the same battle conditions, ovepped her back with mine.


    Being the one that proims herself to be the strongest, Mirack-chan has been charged to deal with the strongest looking one, the ¡®Father¡¯.


    ¡°This is bad, Karen! That Celestis is being pushed back!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    When I looked, Celestis-chan was fighting with the smallest one -¡¯Boy¡¯-, but even with that, her situation was unfavorable.


    ¡°[Water Wrath]!¡± (Celestis)


    The water bullet that came out from Miki-Moses struck directly at the Golem, but there wasn¡¯t any effect. It became a sad ssh at the face of the Golem¡¯s sturdy body and was swallowed by the earth.


    ¡°[Water Wrath]! [Water Wrath]! [Water Wrath]! Huuuh~, as expected, it has absolutely no effect~~!¡± (Celestis)


    In terms of elemental affinity, earth is the worst possible opponent for water.


    It looks like thatw is definite here.


    ¡°I will provide support! Karen, please hold back the other two!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Got it!¡± (Karen)


    Mirack-chan and I both revolve with our backs still sticking to each other, and then, at the gaze of Mirack-chan, there¡¯s the small-sized Golem and Celestis-chan; at my gaze, there¡¯s the two other Golems. A nice positioning was formed.


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°[me Knuckle]!¡± (Mirack)


    The ¡®Holy Light de¡¯, that I held back when releasing, knocks down both of the Golems in front of me. Because of this, I was able to stop their movements just as nned.


    On the other hand, the fire bullet that Mirack-chan released from the fire fist Barbarossa hit the small Golem, blew it away, and saved Celestis-chan from her predicament.


    ¡°Thanks! You saved me there!¡± (Celestis)


    Because the Golem was blown away and she had gotten distance from it, Celestis-chan runs to where we are in order to strengthen the defense.


    ¡°You really are useless! Can¡¯t you conquer something measly like affinities?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Shad up! I¡¯m throwing those words right back at you, you useless woman in the Great Sea Dragon battle!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan probably said this with the intentions of getting back at Celestis-chan for before.


    At that time, Celestis-chan said as much as she wanted at Mirack-chan after all.


    ¡°At any rate, we are talking about affinities here, so how about we just p it with the element that is strong against it! What was the element that was strong against earth again?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The wind element! There¡¯s none here!!¡± (Celestis)


    The wind element that dries the earth, and disperses the sand, is the natural enemy of the earth hero and the earth monsters in general.


    But the person that possesses this element is not within our group!


    ¡°Ah geez! Why is it that we are gathering at a decent pace, and yet, we can¡¯t get the ones that are needed at the desired moments?! If that chibi had been in our fight with the Great Sea Dragon, it would have helped us out a lot!¡± (Celestis)


    Is she talking about Sasae-chan who is currently antagonistic towards us?


    ¡°So noisy! If you were at the time we fought the fire cow Phris, you would have at least been useful!¡± (Mirack)


    And Mirack-chan bites at it.


    But that¡¯s not it.


    It is true that the current situation is bad, but there¡¯s a reality we have to pay more attention to.


    ¡°Sasae-chan!¡± (Karen)


    I call the girl that was at the other side of the Golems.


    ¡°Sasae-chan!¡± (Karen)


    My shout made the small shoulders of the girl at the other side of the Golems tremble.


    ¡°Sorry for what I did before! Shouting at you...saying that you were a liar! I was just surprised by what you said. That¡¯s why I unintentionally lost it there!¡± (Karen)


    I really don¡¯t know what to say to regain the trust of Sasae-chan.


    But this is what¡¯s necessary. Rather than pinning her down by force, I have to tell her how I feel by wringing out the words inside of me.


    That¡¯s why, even if I don¡¯t know what to say yet, I let everythinge out from my mouth.


    ¡°I am truly sorry for scaring you. Coming to an unknownnd on your own, you were feeling lonely, and yet, I didn¡¯t think about your feelings at all. But even if you rampage here, nothing will be resolved. Put back these Golems and let¡¯s have a calm talk once again, okay?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I am not going to fall fer yer lies again!¡± (Sasae)


    But what came back at me was rejection.


    ¡°I can tell. Ye girls know Kuromiya Haine, right?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°?!¡±


    Being hit right in the mark, I was left speechless.


    ¡°That¡¯s why ye got so panicked by it. Ya desperately tried to deny it. Mother Earth God-sama told us Kuromiya Haine be the personification of an evil God-da.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°But that must be some sort of mistake!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°See?! Ya have showed yer true hide! The light hero be colluding with the evil God-da! If ya be denying the words of Mother Earth God-sama, that makes ye the enemy of Mother Earth God-sama. In other words, the enemy of the Earth Church; in other words, mah enemy! Golems, smash-da!!¡± (Sasae)


    As if chains had been broken, the three Golems attack us at themand of Sasae-chan.


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I were parrying those attacks while jumping around.


    ¡°Ah geez! Country bumpkins are normally high in the clouds, and yet, they get sharp at the weirdest of timings! The moment she doubts us, she is incredibly thorough about it!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°So once we doubt her God, she immediately deems them as enemies huh! This might be the correct reaction as a hero representing the church though!¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan, this is no time to beining.


    As I thought, we really do have to do something about these Golems first or we won¡¯t even be able to have a calm conversation.


    There¡¯s the risk that we might drag Sasae-chan into it, so we can¡¯t use any big moves, but we can¡¯t be leisure here.


    I gather light divine power in my holy sword Saint-George, and instead of releasing it, I increase the sharpness of the sword itself.


    ¡°[Holy Light Edge]!¡± (Karen)


    The swung de easily cuts both slim arms of the Golem.


    ¡°Well done! As expected of the all-purpose Light element!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Against the earth element, not only is Celestispletely useless, my fire element is not working effectively either. So the light element that is slightly stronger than all the other elements truly does shine at this kind of times!¡± (Mirack)


    The truly all-purpose one is Haine-san¡¯s dark element though.


    In the journey to the Underworld Country, my light element waspletely useless, so it is good that I managed to regain some confidence now, but...


    ¡°At any rate, right now we have to defeat the Golems and calm down the situation!¡± (Karen)


    As the light hero, I have the duty to calm down this disturbance that¡¯s urring in my base, Apollon City.


    I can¡¯t just neglect that duty of mine.


    ¡°I am sorry, Sasae-chan! I will get a bit rough!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yerself-dasu yo! Ye allies of the evil God!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan ispletely seeing us as an evil existence!


    ¡°I¡¯ll be showing ya the true power of the earth hero now! ¡®Golem Father¡¯! We going with that formation-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan lifts up that scythe, the earth scythe, Seeta, high up.


    Now that I think about it, she also had that.


    Because of that small body of hers, and the special fighting style of using Golems, I didn¡¯t imagine it much but...could it be...Sasae-chan herself is going to be fighting as well?!


    The moment I thought this, the biggest Golem that was called by Sasae-chan -also known as ¡®Golem Father¡¯- grabbed Sasae-chan.


    ¡°What?! What is going to happen now?!¡± (Mirack)


    The earth scythe, Seeta, that was shouldered by Sasae-chan, was now being held by the Golem.


    The scythe was rtively big, but in the hands of the Golem, it looked like a regr-sized scythe.


    ¡°This be just the beginning-dasu yo! ¡®Golem Mother¡¯ to ¡®Vessel Transformation¡¯!¡± (Sasae)


    With those words, the slim Golem that I had severed both arms began to show a surprising change.


    The originally slim body was getting slimmer, slimmed with no limits, to a point that it had already lost its humanoid shape and had turned into a different form.


    ¡°That looks like...a thread? No, a chain?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I have heard about this before. The transformation ability brought by the Earth divine power. All the solid bodies that are under the rule of the Mother Earth God can be transformed by the earth divine power!¡± (Mirack)


    The Golem that had now transformed into a chain was long and thick. Moreover, those chains were slithering like a dragon or a snake, and bite onto the lower part of the earth scythe.


    ¡°Last touch! ¡®Golem Boy¡¯!¡± (Sasae)


    On top of that, thest small Golem is connected to the other end of the chain.


    With this, the earth scythe Seeta is connected to the small Golem?!


    ¡°The formation ispleted-dasu yo! ¡®Golem Father¡¯! Smash-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Obeying the order, the biggest Golem grabs the chains of the scythe with the other hand that was not holding the scythe, and then, because of it, the small Golem was dragged along with the chains.


    The small Golem was curled up...like a ball.


    And with that...


    *Bun Bun Bun Bun Bun BunBun BunBun BunBun BunBun BunBun!!*


    The big Golem uses brute force to swing around the small-sized Golem that was connected to the chain.


    Its mass was heavy from the very beginning, so seeing this spectacle from up close had quite the impact.


    The wind that was being created by swinging around the chain was hitting our cheeks stubbornly.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?! Isn¡¯t this just like a sickle and chain?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Sickle and chain?! What¡¯s with thatplicated terminology?!¡± (Celestis)


    I had no leeway to retort to Celestis-chan. If we were to be hit by the giant rock that such a giant is swinging around, we wouldn¡¯t just end up with all our bones broken.


    ¡°Ye see this-dasu ka?! By passing mah divine power via the earth scythe Seeta, I transformed the ¡®Golem Family¡¯, and strengthened ¡®em-dasu! With this power, I will defeat Kuromiya Haine, and aplish the mission of Mother Earth God-sama-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    Them missing each other has now turned into a big disaster that was threatening to crush us.

 Chapter 111-113 - Slaying Giants

    <h4>Chapter 111-113: ying Giants</h4>


    TL: And I have finally caught up to the chapters I haven¡¯t read yet. Let¡¯s all tread in this unknown territory together!


    ¡°Hey, isn¡¯t this bad?¡± (Celestis)


    Witnessing that big mass swung around at high speed, the voice of Celestis-chan trembles.


    Mirack-chan and I remained silent because there was not even the need of agreeing with what she said.


    Because of the scientific knowledge that had grown with the ethereal era, we know that liquid is denser than gas, and that solid is denser than liquid.


    And the simplest of them all is that, being hit by such a heavy solid object at such high speed will hurt.


    The heaviest and sturdiest things in this world are solid. And the one that can freely control those solids is the earth element.


    In that sense, from within the earth, water, fire, wind, and light elements; the earth element is the one that possesses the most dreadful of powers.


    And we are witnessing that danger right in front of our eyes.


    ¡°At any rate, move around! Don¡¯t let it hit you at any cost! If you do, there¡¯s no doubt you will die!!¡± (Mirack)


    With the words of Mirack-chan, we all jumped away as if we were arrows shot from a bow, and dispersed.


    Rather than calling it an action out of logic, it was more like a decision out of fear.


    ¡°Pointless-dasu! Pointless-dasu! Pointless pointless-dasu!! <Muda Muda Muda!> Now that we are in this formation, we are invincible-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    *Bun Bun Bun BunBun BunBun BunBun!*


    The wind that was being created by the chain swung around was like a storm.


    That gale and thunderous sound were intensifying the fear inside of us.


    ¡°Damn it!! Now that it hase to this, I will hit it with [me Burst] to¡ª!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Don¡¯t! Mirack-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    I stop Mirack-chan who was about to concentrate in using a finishing move.


    ¡°¡®me Burst¡¯ is a destructive technique that burns in a high area of effect! If you use something like that, even Sasae-chan will be burn to crisp!¡± (Karen)


    Sasae-chan is currently at the right arm of the ¡®Golem Father¡¯ and was holding the earth scythe together with it.


    As if it were an essory of the Golem.


    She has probably be the core of thatbination. By pouring earth divine power to the three Golems, she had them transform, and is providing them super strengthened power.


    That¡¯s why Sasae-chan can¡¯t take her hands off the scythe when they are in that formation. She herself has be a part of the Golems.


    ¡°We have to stop the Golems, but you can¡¯t hurt Sasae-chan no matter what! We have to find a way to destroy the Golems only!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Is there one?! A convenient method like that!¡± (Celestis)


    We three were yelling around, but no decision was made.


    And there¡¯s no way the other side would wait for us to finish our discussion.


    ¡°I will be crushing ye-dasu! Go~!¡± (Sasae)


    The counterweight that is turning at fast speed with the chain. The chain was the ¡®Golem Mother¡¯ and the counterweight is actually the ¡®Golem Boy¡¯.


    Calling it a counterweight is cute. With that size, it would be double the size of an adult curled up. If something like that were to hit you, it could easily destroy the body of a human.


    With speed that¡¯s plenty enough to consider it a falling rock, it is swung overhead at us.


    *Gashin!!*


    A sound that could be mistaken for an earthquake urred when it crashed with the ground surface.


    That vibration made the Aurora Knights that were looking at it from afar to lose their bnce and fall on their rears.


    The state of the ground itnded on was dreadful. Earth and stones flew about, and left out remains as if an explosion had urred.


    ¡°I did it-dasu! Smashed-dasu! Did I get them-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan confirms her victory from the top of the Golem.


    From her point of view, it certainly did seem as if we had been hit by the Golem counterweight.


    ¡°[Mirage]¡±


    ¡°Eh?! Eeh?! What is going on-dasu ka?! There¡¯s a lot of ye-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    That spectacle threw Sasae-chan into confusion.


    Well, that¡¯s a given. Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I; all 3 of us had be 6, then 12, then 24, and so on, to the point that it surrounded the Golem.


    This illusion is exactly thebined element of Celestis-chan and I.


    Combining my light element with her water element, this ¡®illusion¡¯ element utilizes the water and light¡¯s refraction to create fake images of ourselves.


    What¡¯s surrounding Sasae-chan right now are all illusions with no substance, except for one group.


    ¡°What¡¯s with this power?! This be the power of the heroes from the outside-dasu ka?! Ei! I will just crush ¡®em all-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Obeying the order of Sasae-chan, the Golem swung the chain like crazy, it tried to crush us beginning from the closest image of us, but they all showed no resistance and it all misses.


    All hits were onto illusions.


    Sasae-chan hadpletely fallen to our pace now.


    ¡°This be unfair-dasu yo! Come out-dasu! Fight fair and square-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Understood, Sasae-chan.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ue?!¡±


    By the time she noticed, it was already toote.


    The real me had drawn close to her without making any sound, and had already reached the legs of the Golem.


    ¡°[Holy Light Edge]!!¡± (Karen)


    With the de that had been strengthened with the light divine power, I sh it towards the leg of the Golem. With this, I will sever the legs of the Golem and will make it unable to move¡ª!


    ¡°Too naive-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    But my light sword was blocked by the giant scythe.


    It is a big scythe that¡¯s hard to control by a human, but for the big body of a Golem, it was a normal-sized scythe. It should be as easy to use as a knife.


    I have heard that a sickle and chain is a weapon that uses the centrifugal force to increase the power of the counterweight to throw it far away, and after it is evaded, you enter the range of your opponent and cut it down with the sickle.


    This is faithfully serving that purpose.


    ¡°Out of options-dasu na. I¡¯ll be smashing ya with the Golem¡¯s big body just like this-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    It is true that with my sword being held down, I am in a state where I can¡¯t escape.


    But, this is my win.


    ¡°Mirack-chan! Celestis-chan!¡± (Karen)


    While she was being distracted by me, the two who had jumped high-up were attacking her from overhead.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it, Celestis! One hit K.O.!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You got it! I don¡¯t really like matching my heart with yours though. Combined element, fire and water!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡±[Steam Explosion]!¡±¡± (Celestis+Mirack)


    Water evaporated instantly with the heat of fire will expand at an rming speed.


    Bing the very definition of an explosion.


    The Golem that was directly hit by the tip of its nose by it, was luckily unable to endure the explosion and was blown away.


    ¡°What-dasuuuu~~?!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was also blown away by the shockwave.


    In the end, the ¡®Golem Father¡¯ hadpletely lost its head and everything all the way to the shoulders. What was left were both arms, and everything below the stomach.


    ¡°All right! How do you like that!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°With my ability, this was a piece of cake!¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan were able to deal a satisfying attack andnded beautifully.


    ¡°Uh?! What¡¯s this-dasu? I don¡¯t understand at all-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    And Sasae-chan who was holding onto the right arm of the Golem, was outside the range of the explosion, so she had no injuries, and simply had her eyes going round and round.


    What a relief.


    ¡°Looks like it is over now. That formation they had was pretty dangerous, but the biggest Golem was the one who served as the main body. Once it is destroyed, it would be like a folding fan that has lost its rivet.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is true that the fighting style of utilizing Golems is strong. But it also told me that you yourself don¡¯t have that much ability. Give up. I will giving you a fitting spanking for all you have made us go through.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Uuh~~¡±


    Being surrounded by three heroes, Sasae-chan was trembling like a small animal.


    ¡°Kukukuku! What shall I do with you~. You have made such a grand spectacle in the house of someone else after all. In order to turn you into a splendid member of society, we will have to teach you that you have to receive a fitting punishment for everything bad you have done~~.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Oi, Celestis. You are making a smile that¡¯s not fitting of an idol.¡± (Mirack)


    Also, what¡¯s that about the house of someone else? This is not your house either though.


    ¡°Wait! Celestis-chan, stop it.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eeh?¡±


    ¡°No matter the result, I was the one that worsened the situation because of my thoughtless remarks, so everything is my responsibility. That¡¯s why, please don¡¯t me Sasae-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Nuu! As expected of Karen. She is the owner of a just and upright heartparable to that of a Goddess!¡± (Mirack)


    The peanut gallery -Mirack-chan- was being noisy, but for now, I just ignore it.


    Anyways, let¡¯s wrap up the situation, shelter Sasae-chan, and ask her about the oracle in detail.


    That¡¯s what I thought, but nothing goes as smoothly as one wants.


    We thought that Sasae-chan already had no will to resist, but she began to crawl about, and slipped away from between the space of us three.


    ¡°Ah?!¡±


    ¡°That girl!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Wait a moment there!¡± (Celestis)


    It was a moment of carelessness. She ran towards the legs of the destroyed ¡®Golem Father¡¯.


    ¡°Still going to struggle pointlessly?! No matter what you do, there¡¯s already no way to win against us!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°As I thought, you really do want some spanking? Then, I will be keeping youpany. I will even throw in an encore as a service!¡± (Celestis)


    The thrill of battle had rekindled inside Mirack-chan and Celestis.


    No good. Just when it had begun to wrap up!


    ¡°...Don¡¯t go assuming ye won-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It is not over yet-dasu yo. Not me, and not ¡®Golem Father¡¯!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan touched the giant golem that only had its legs and abdomen left. And then, we could tell with our senses that an incredible amount of earth divine power was poured all at once.


    Then...


    ¡°What?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What¡¯s that?!¡± (Celestis)


    Along with the voices of surprise of Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan, something surprising urred.


    The earth and stones in the surroundings began to swell on their own, and surge towards the Golem on its own.


    And then, after the earth and stones mixed together, it took form, and in the end, it hardened like a rock.


    To the shape of the Golem¡¯s upper-half.


    ¡°Could it be¡ª?!¡±


    ¡°It has been restored?!¡±


    The ¡®Golem Father¡¯ was already no different from the time before it was destroyed by us. It might be fitting to say that it hase back from death.


    ¡°Golems can return as many times as they want as long as the Life Block in the middle of ¡®em is not destroyed-dasu! They can use the earth and minerals in the surroundings to restore their bodies-dasu! Just because ye have destroyed it once, don¡¯t think ye have won-dasu yo! It is true that I peed a bit because of that big explosion, but only a little bit-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The Father that had been restored, picked up the earth scythe Seeta, and swings the chain and counterweight.


    We are totally back to where we started.


    ¡°Oi, this is...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah, this is bad!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan could tell.


    With a development like this, it is practically impossible to win without hurting Sasae-chan.


    Until now, we thought that we could calm down the situation by destroying the Golems.


    Without hurting Sasae-chan.


    That¡¯s why we tried to confuse her with illusions the best as we could, and then, utilized the ¡®Steam Explosion¡¯ of Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan while holding back its area of effect as much as possible in order to make it so it doesn¡¯t affect Sasae-chan and just destroys the Golem.


    But just as Sasae-chan said, if it is a Golem that can be restored as long as the Life Block is okay, as long as we don¡¯t know where this Life Block is hidden in the Golem¡¯s body, we don¡¯t have any way of defeating it unless we blow its whole body.


    If ites to that, it is close to impossible to capture Sasae-chan without injuring her.


    ¡°...Karen.¡± (Mirack)


    The voice of Mirack-chan, that was as if it had been wringed out, must have been a way of saying ¡®I will be injuring her slightly¡¯.


    If I nod to this, Mirack-chan will most likely aim solely on the Golem¡¯s highest weak point that is Sasae-chan to silence the Golem.


    I also understand that this is the best method of action.


    I am the light hero. Protect the people that are devoted to the Light Church, protect the people that live in Apollon City; I have to make those my priorities.


    I have to resolve myself.


    Just when I thought this...


    ¡°...What is going on?¡±


    In the training ground that had fallen into confusion, a bell-like voice resounded in it.


    This voice is...


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    The Light Church¡¯s Founder, Yorishiro-sama.


    If I remember correctly, she was supposed to be in a meeting inside the Grand Church, but it seems the disturbance reached even her.


    ¡°Hero Karen, what is the meaning of this? In this dignified Light Grand Church, to allow such a disturbance to ur.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama is not talking in the soft tone that she hastely been using to talk to me with, she is using the ¡®work mode¡¯ tone she uses when there¡¯s the eye of the public.


    I can¡¯t disturb the order, so I also follow lead.


    ¡°I am truly sorry, Founder-sama! But it is dangerous here, so please move back for now! I will be reporting the details of the event once the situation has been resolved!¡± (Karen)


    My real reason is that I don¡¯t want to escte the situation too much, and if Yorishiro-sama gets involved in it, it would definitely escte the situation. It was an assumption that was practically a certainty.


    ¡°That is...¡± (Yorishiro)


    My worries reached deaf ears, Yorishiro-sama ended up noticing.


    ¡°...Mantle¡¯s Golems? Why are they here?¡± (Yorishiro)


    As expected of Yorishiro-sama. It looks like she knows of those monsters.


    And the peculiar aura emanating from Yorishiro-sama seems to have made Sasae-chan notice her as well.


    ¡°Who are ya?! Are ya an ally of the evil God-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Evil God?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I be the earth hero, Sasae! Under the orders of Mother Earth God-sama, I be here to subjugate the personification of the evil Dark God Entropy, Kuromiya Haine!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°...................What did you say?¡± (Yorishiro)


    A chill attacked my spine.


    Moreover, it seems everyone in the ce also felt that chill. Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, the Light knights, and even Sasae-chan had their face turn ghastly pale.


    ¡°...Looks like the Earth Founder and the Mother Earth God are not disciplining their hero properly-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama.¡±


    At the side of Yorishiro-sama, there¡¯s a girl that nestled close to her like a shadow.


    ¡°Please leave it to me.¡±


    ¡°Okay. But don¡¯t overexert yourself. Your body was recently liberated from the shadow, so it still hasn¡¯t regained stability yet.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That person is Doraha, the shadow hero that had returned from the Underworld Country after several centuries.


    A girl with dark skin walks leisurely towards the earth giant.


    ¡°Hey, wait a moment! What is that girl doing?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°She is not even a hero, so why is she walking forward?! She will get crushed, is that okay?!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan hurriedly tried to stop her, but the two don¡¯t know.


    From where she came, for what reasons she is here; I as well don¡¯t know as muchpared to Haine-san and Yorishiro-sama though.


    The people that know her a little bit call her in this way -the dark hero of the lost Underworld Country, Doraha.


    ¡°Let me tell you this in advance.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha-san, who had approached the Golem to a distance where she could confront it, spoke as if giving her introductory remarks.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any memories. For some reason, I don¡¯t remember anything about the time I was born and what I have done in the past. I was simply taken into custody by Yorishiro-sama when I was wandering about.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°I-Is that so-dasu ka? Are ya a pitiful person-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan, who was clinging onto the Golem again, was also confused by this.


    ¡°But, even with that, there¡¯s a variety of things I still remember. I haven¡¯t forgotten letters and words, so I am able to have a conversation like this. Also, even if my head has forgotten, my body still remembers. And, most importantly...¡± (Doraha)


    *Dorori*, I felt like I heard that kind of sound.


    For some reason, the surroundings became dark. Even though it is still broad daylight. It was clearly one or two times darker than just a few moments ago.


    ¡°I wonder, is there something in this lost memories of mine? When you insulted Entropy-sama just a few moments ago, clear emotions were born inside of me... That divine power you are d in...that¡¯s the one from the Mother Earth God, Mantle, right? I can tell.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°What¡¯s with ya-suka? What¡¯s with ya-suka?!¡± (Sasae)


    The peculiar pressure of Doraha-san was shaving away the courage of Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Mantle, Coacervate, Nova, Quasar; all of them are lower ss Gods. And you who are just a devotee of that religion, what kind of arrogance brought you to think it was okay to insult Entropy-sama?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Huuh?¡±


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, please calm down.


    ¡°A fool that doesn¡¯t know her ce needs to be disciplined. Have it edged in your body...that Mantle is just a subordinate God under Entropy-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°No really, what¡¯s with this girl-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    Of course, Sasae-chan was super angry.


    ¡°Suddenly appearing, saying as much as ya want of another¡¯s God! If that be the case, I also have mah own thoughts about it-dasu yo! I¡¯ll be showing ya the greatness of Mother Earth Mantle-sama¡¯s power-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    *BunBun BunBun BunBun BunBun~~!*


    Once again, the Golem counterweight is swung violently. With that force, it makes me wonder if it could even create a tornado.


    The chain and its end were creating many afterimages, and it was already impossible to see which one is the real one.


    And that counterweight that was rotating at such high-speed...


    *Ga Shan!*, hit something and was blown back.


    ¡°Uhyaaa?!¡±


    That impact reached the Golem as well, it lost its bnce and staggers. Sasae-chan was also doing her best in clinging onto the Golem.


    ¡°Eh? What?!¡± ¡°What urred?!¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell well what happened there!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t understand either.


    Something flew towards the counterweight while it was rotating, hit the counterweight, and was send flying back. But I couldn¡¯t tell at all what flew, when it hit the counterweight, and how it was send flying back.


    In the first ce, is that counterweight something that can be send flying back?


    Even if it was the smallest Golem of the group, it was still a giant rock. Moreover, it was rotating at high-speeds that were enough to leave afterimages.


    ¡°...¡±


    The only one who could have done it is that person.


    Doraha-san. Is the person called the shadow hero going to be disy her power here?


    I didn¡¯t even have the time to think about this, the next surprising thing urred.


    *Gangan gan gagagagagan!*, the body of the Golem began to break here and there.


    ¡°Hiiih?! ¡®Golem Father¡¯ is beginning to break in an incredible pace-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    What¡¯s being thrown?


    Many small things were flying about and hitting the Golem, and were breaking its body.


    But just what is it? Is Doraha-san the one throwing them?


    ¡°¡ª! Unbelievable!¡± (Mirack)


    Looks like Mirack-chan has noticed something.


    ¡°Look! At the legs of that dark skin girl!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡®The dark skin girl? So it really is Doraha-san doing something?¡¯, is what I thought as I looked at the ce Mirack-chan pointed out and strained my eyes to see...


    ¡°Eh? Eeeeh?!¡±


    Both of Doraha-san¡¯s legs were moving minutely, moreover, at incredible speed.


    It was as if she were tap dancing. It looked as if she were stomping in ce, but that wasn¡¯t it.


    It is the shadow.


    She is kicking her own shadow that¡¯s at the floor.


    The shadow that was kicked broke finely like water in ake surface, and the pieces of shadow that were broken flew like knifes and were hitting the Golem, breaking it.


    ¡°No way... I didn¡¯t notice at all.¡± (Karen)


    I somewhat knew that Doraha-san could fight by controlling shadows, but to think I wouldn¡¯t notice she was moving her legs so finely and intensely until it was pointed out to me...


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. That girl, her lower half is doing so much, and yet, her shoulders and head are not shaking at all.¡± (Celestis)


    It is just as Celestis-chan said.


    Compared to the lower half that is kicking several tens of shadow pieces by the time you can even count to ten, the upper half of Doraha-san was not quivering at all, just like a sturdy rock.


    ¡°...I have heard this of master before. The people that have truly mastered martial arts don¡¯t shake their head up and down even when they walk or run. And from the posture that has been perfected to its ultimate state, they can bring out killer techniques that surpass their actual strength.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I dance when I work as an idol, so I can tell. When I have a big performance where I have to dance, I have to create at least one axis somewhere or it won¡¯t be beautiful movements. The movements of that girl, have properly created that axis to the point that it can be called metal reinforced.¡± (Celestis)


    The exnation of Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan surprises me in a different meaning.


    The two of them have a lot of confidence, and it is rare for them to even praise someone else.


    ¡®I am the strongest¡¯, these two that believe in this had considered the power of Doraha-san as overwhelming, to the point that they have to acknowledge it.


    ¡°Hiiih?! At this rate, I¡¯ll just be a pig to the ughter-dasu! Find victory in a fatal situation-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    And Sasae-chan, who was unable to endure it anymore, tried to counterattack.


    It was broken here and there, but even with that, the giant Golem was still able to move plenty well.


    With that body, it swings down the super heavy counterweight.


    ¡°Be smashed-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    But that didn¡¯t happen.


    Doraha-san releases a high-kick that was so high that it felt as if it could reach the skies. A long piece of shadow that was kicked at that moment urately flew straight to the center of the counterweight like a spear.


    ¡°Hiieee?!¡±


    It must have been a pretty good location to hit.


    From the hole that was pierced, cracks ran through, and the counterweight itself was broken to pieces.


    ¡°Incredible! In just one hit!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°She must have hit the Life Block.¡± (Yorishiro)


    At some point in time, Yorishiro-sama was standing at my side and exined this.


    ¡°The Life Block is also called the Golem Core; it is the real body of the earth monster. It is infinitely born from ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯, and I have heard that they are being utilized in an effective way by the residents of the Earth capital, Ishtar ze.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    What did she say just now?


    ¡°Pulling the earth and minerals in its surroundings, it uses those as materials to form its body. That¡¯s why, even if its body is destroyed, as long as there¡¯s the materials, it can reconstruct itself as many times as it wants, but once its real body -the Life Block- is destroyed, it will just return to being earth.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is true that the counterweight was one of the three Golems that Sasae-chan had, the ¡®Golem Boy¡¯.


    ¡°Then, could it be that Doraha-san aimed at that ce?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Must have been.¡± (Yorishiro)


    No way.


    It was buried in such a big body, and you can¡¯t tell where it even is. Moreover, the body itself was rotating at high-speed, and yet, she was still able to urately aim at it and pierce it?


    I don¡¯t even understand how she was able to do it.


    Underworld Country.


    In history, this is the oldest nation founded, and Doraha-san surpassed time and is now here.


    In other words, she who has the title of ¡®shadow hero¡¯ can be considered the oldest of all heroes in the world.


    So this is the power of the first.

 Chapter 114-115 - Shadow Skill

    <h4>Chapter 114-115: Shadow Skill</h4>


    ¡°No way~~! To think the Golem Boy bit the dust sooner than his parents-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Please don¡¯t say it in that way. It pains my heart.


    ¡°The small and weak ones die first. It follows the natural order.¡± (Doraha)


    And Doraha-san, please stop saying such dry things!


    ¡°...Unforgivable-dasu! Also, this ck and evil-looking fighting style, I know now-dasu yo! Yer Kuromiya Haine-dasu na?!¡± (Sasae)


    Saying this, she points at Doraha-san.


    ¡°...What are you saying?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°No need to say more-dasu yo! Evil personification of the Dark God Entropy, yer downfall was you meeting me-dasu! Now that I be here, I will do my best to fulfill the mission Mother Earth God-sama has given to me-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan takes a stance with the earth scythe, Seeta.


    Reacting to the golden light from the de, the chain that was attached to the end of it separated, and turns human shaped.


    That chain was originally the middle-sized one out of the three Golem.


    ¡°!! The two arms that I cut off have also regenerated!¡± (Karen)


    Looks like it is true that as long as the core is safe, they can reconstruct themselves as many times as they want.


    ¡°Golem Father, Golem Mother! Parents, Combine!!¡± (Sasae)


    I feel like you said some incredibly troubling words there, Sasae-chan.


    Obeying that order, the Golem parents ovepped their body, turned into earth, and mix together. They gather more earth from their feet. They be even bigger than when they mixed together, and be big enough to the point that they might even be grabbing the clouds.


    ¡°Mixing two Golems together make it this much bigger?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan looks up in surprise.


    ¡°Huff, huff~~! H-How¡¯s that-dasu ka?! By injecting earth divine power to dah Golems, it bes a lot buffer than normal-dasu! Requires a lot of juice-dasu ga... Personification of the evil Dark God, Kuromiya Haine! Give up-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    As I have been saying, that person is Doraha-san, not Haine-san!!


    I didn¡¯t even have the leeway to point that out. That supergiantbined Golem, just by stumbling and falling, it feels as if it would destroy the Light Grand Church.


    ¡°Personification of darkness...¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°...I wonder why. Being told that makes me feel slightly nostalgic.¡± (Doraha)


    Even when facing that giant, Doraha-san was not showing a single bit of panic.


    That air ofposure she has was already turning into a personality trait itself.


    ¡°My heart has nothing, it has no past either, the only thing that fulfills me is the benevolence of Yorishiro-sama who picked me up. But even with that, there¡¯s a number of words that stimte something that I should have lost already.¡± (Doraha)


    ...Eh? What?


    For some reason, the surroundings have suddenly turned dark. I thought that the sun had been covered by the clouds so I looked up to confirm, but there¡¯s good weather today with no clouds in sight...and yet, it had be dark.


    As if changing drastically from fine weather, to cloudy, cloudy to evening; the surroundings were steadily getting darker.


    ¡°The filthy four Base Element Gods...those guys are the prime things that stimte me. Every time I hear their names, inexplicable rage wells up inside of me. If they are going to go against me, I will happily be the Dark God Entropy, and just as you wish, cut you into a thousand pieces.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°This is bad!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?! ¡ª¨CUwa?!¡± (Karen)


    The shout of Yorishiro-sama surprised me as well.


    The ground at our feet had been dyedpletely ck.


    The shadow had expanded to the point that it covered the whole ground.


    The reason why the surroundings had turned dark was because Doraha-san was absorbing the light from the surroundings.


    She was absorbing the light and turning it into the shadow.


    ¡°What is this-dasu? Why you so serious¡ª¨C Gyoeeeee?!¡± (Sasae)


    The shadow expanded without limits, and swallowed the giant Golem.


    The opponent didn¡¯t have any time to resist. It sunk in one fell swoop from the legs to the chest, and just like that, it was being swallowed.


    ¡°Hiiiih?! Mah ultimate move Golem is¡ª! In just an instant?!¡± (Sasae)


    The core didn¡¯t matter anymore at this point. It all disappeared entirely without leaving even dust behind.


    With this, Sasae-chan is nowpletely helpless.


    ¡°I am...the Dark God Entropy...¡± (Doraha)


    While chanting that phrase, Doraha-san approaches Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Save me~~!! *Oba-chaaa~n*!!¡± (Sasae) <Grandma>


    The heart of Sasae-chan brokepletely.


    This is already at a stage where we can¡¯t just stay as spectators.


    ¡°Doraha-san, wait!¡± (Karen)


    I ran and entered in between Doraha-san and Sasae-chan.


    My back facing Sasae-chan and my face towards Doraha-san, in a stance of blocking her way.


    ¡°Fue?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Doraha-san, the fight has been settled already. Sasae-chan already has no strength to fight back and has no will to oppose anymore!¡± (Karen)


    Or more like, it has already reached the level of definitely being a trauma for her.


    ¡°Please forgive her already! Fighting more than it is necessary is not something a hero should do!¡± (Karen)


    But it looks like my voice didn¡¯t reach Doraha-san.


    Her face turned even more jet ck, and was about to turn into that shadow.


    ¡°I am...Dark God Entropy...¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s as far as you go.¡± (Yorishiro)


    From behind Doraha-san, Yorishiro-sama hugs her.


    Her plentiful bosom buries the head of Doraha-san.


    ¡°Aw?¡±


    ¡°I have told you before, right? You are still unstable. If you get too stimted, you can easily get swallowed by the shadow. It looks like I will have to prepare some countermeasures fast.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Being hugged by Yorishiro-sama, the rampage of Doraha-san was stopped surprisingly easily.


    Her dangerous expression melted quickly, and the shadow that was covering the ground was also receding.


    ¡°Fufu~, as expected of my hero-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Being told this, I couldn¡¯t help but get confused.


    I think the one that is impressive is Yorishiro-sama though. Being able to stop the rampage of Doraha-san so easily.


    ¡°It is as expected of you, being able to jump in an instant to save that small hero-san there in her time of need with no hesitation. You already know that your powers don¡¯t work against Doraha at all, and yet, even with that, you didn¡¯t stop.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No, well...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That action itself is the very proof of your courage. And courage is exactly what makes a hero, that¡¯s what makes others call you a hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Being told that...makes me embarrassed.


    ¡°Courage is the purity that is acknowledged by most. It looks like that heart of yours has already reached a single child.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    At that time, I suddenly felt a weight at my waist.


    When I look down, I saw the figure of Sasae-chan hugging me from behind.


    ¡°Ueeee~~!! I was scared-dasu~~!!!¡± (Sasae)


    Wrapping both of her arms around my waist, she firmly clung onto me. She must have been pretty scared there.


    And like this, the Golem turmoil that urred at Apollon City had been wrapped up.


    And then...


    ¡°I feel as if I just saw a bad dream...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Damn right. A hero controlling monsters, that monster being overwhelmed by an unknown girl that is not even a hero; I could hear mymon sense falling into pieces.¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan; these girls that hadpletely be spectators in the middle of the battle had also received a shock by that fight.


    And then, the other one was...


    ¡°Uhm...mah feet are already getting numb-dasu~~!¡±


    The culprit of this time¡¯s incident, the earth hero, Sasae-chan.


    And with that as the reason, to show her will to reflect, she is currently doing a seiza on the floor of the parlor room.


    ¡°S-Sorry-dasu. Can¡¯t ye please forgive me already-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Huh? Of course not, you rampaging hero. For a country bumpkin like you, I have to beat into you that understanding the others is a necessary skill in surviving the city.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What we are expecting from you is a reflection that is deeper than the sea. Understand that and fix that attitude of yours.¡± (Celestis)


    The two are unrestrainedly strict with Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Just saying but, even with this, we are being kind, you know? Or maybe you want to experience the ¡®Burning Fall Dogeza¡¯ of the Fire Church to reflect even deeper?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The ¡®Boiling Water Dogeza¡¯ of the Water Church might also be a good idea. By the time she cries ¡®the water is hot, I can¡¯t breathe¡¯, she definitely will have reflected on her actions.¡± (Celestis)


    They are whispering dangerous things to each other?!


    ¡°Uhm, you two! Can¡¯t you just leave it at that? It looks like Sasae-chan has already reflected plenty enough!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ueeee~~! Onee-chan, yer kind-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Saying this, Sasae-chan hugged me.


    ¡°This girl, looks like she haspletely be attached to Karen-chi after she covered for her in that fight. Being all clingy on her.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As I thought, let¡¯s go for the ¡®Burning Fall Dogeza¡¯. Let¡¯s bake her.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Your jealousy is unsightly, fire hero.¡± (Celestis)


    At any rate, it is great that the incident was resolved.


    We have also reconciled with Sasae-chan, and it feels as if we have safely returned to a stable state?


    ¡°More importantly, what bothers me is...¡±, is the opinion one other person voices out.


    It was the Light Founder, Yorishiro-sama. At her bosom, she is still holding Doraha-san in the between her arms.


    It looks like the breasts of Yorishiro-sama have a calming effect on Doraha-san. Even when Doraha-san had rampaged so scarily just a while ago, she is now peacefully sleeping.


    ¡°...The movements of the Earth Church. They ordered a subjugation specifically of Haine-san. Just what is Mother Earth Mantle thinking? Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Depending on the details, we might have to attack the Earth capital, Ishtar ze, so be prepared.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°A war?! No! Never!!¡± (Karen)


    Why is it that Yorishiro-sama, who at times says some slightly scary things, would clearly say scary things when Haine-san is involved?


    Well, that¡¯s fine. Right now, there¡¯s other things I want to ask Yorishiro-sama.


    ¡°Uhm, Yorishiro-sama...could it be that Haine-san is currently at Ishtar ze?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Why do you think that?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The objective of Haine-san this time was the Mother Monsters. To destroy the monsters that give birth to monsters. And the Golems, these existences that are earth monsters, are born from a giant tree in Ishtar ze...¡± (Karen)


    Yorishiro-sama said this in the middle of the battle.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that tree itself a Mother Monster? Haine-san went there to defeat it. The reason why Mother Earth Mantle-sama gave out an oracle to defeat Haine-san might be rted to that...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eeeh?!¡±


    The one who screamed in surprised was Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Then, Kuromiya Haine and I had missed each other-dasu ka?! What was the point of mah one month journey?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That is of no importance right now.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°For now, just shut up.¡± (Celestis)


    The water and fire team pinned down Sasae-chan.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, what will you do, Karen-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama asks calmly.


    ¡°Haine-san has gone to Ishtar ze for the sake of defeating the Mother Monster, and because of that, something unknown is moving. And so, what are you going to do about that?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I want to go to Ishtar ze too.¡± (Karen)


    I answered clearly.


    I love Haine-san. Even if I don¡¯t know what to do for the sake of the person I love, I definitely don¡¯t want to do nothing at all.


    If by being at the side of Haine-san I can be of use to him, I don¡¯t want to let that chance go away.


    ¡°...Fine.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama answered clearly as well.


    ¡°Just as you have guessed, Haine-san has journeyed to Ishtar ze. He didn¡¯t want to drag you into this, so he had me keep silent about it. Sorry about that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No well...I did infer that was the case.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But, it is true that the moves of the Mother Earth God are strange. Karen-san, not only will you be moving as the light hero, I will have you move to Ishtar ze under the name of the Light Founder as well. With that much authority in your pockets, the Earth Church shouldn¡¯t be able to act rashly.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Thank you very much! Ah, but what about the defense of Apollon City?¡± (Karen)


    The first time I gave the proposal of going to Ishtar ze, I was rejected because I can¡¯t leave my base.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. In your absence, we will have this girl do her best.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, Yorishiro-sama patted the head of the still sleeping Doraha-san.


    It is true that I have learned of Doraha-san¡¯s ability to the point that it is indisputable. With Doraha-san, even if I am not here, she would be able to protect Apollon City plenty enough.


    That makes me sad as a hero on its own sense though.


    ¡°You are the official hero here, so this is a hand I didn¡¯t want to y much, but taking into ount the feelings of a maiden in love, I will allow this rule break just this once. Karen-san, please save Haine-san for my sake as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even if there¡¯s a recement for me, there¡¯s no recement for Yorishiro-sama.


    Yorishiro-sama can¡¯t leave Apollon City.


    ¡°Understood. I will properly send Yorishiro-sama¡¯s feelings to Haine-san!¡±


    Yorishiro-sama and I arepanions that love Haine-san, we can understand our feelings.


    Then, let¡¯s do this immediately.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Sasae-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh? Me too?!¡± (Sasae)


    Of course. We are going to Sasae-chan¡¯s homnd, so why wouldn¡¯t Sasae-chan go as well?


    There were a lot ofplications, but I am finally going, to the Earth capital, Ishtar ze, where Haine-san is.

 Chapter 116-117 - Hero party

    <h4>Chapter 116-117: Hero party</h4>


    A few dayster...


    ¡°Uwa~~! Big!¡±


    In front of our eyes, a big tree filled our view.


    A tree so big that you would need two adjectives to emphasize how big it is.


    Even so, it was still far away, and right before our eyes came a mountain range that extends, the big tree was simply peeking out its head from the other side of the mountains.


    In other words, that tree was taller and towered over the mountains.


    ¡°So that¡¯s the prided giant tree of the Earth Church, Great Pir-sama!!¡± (Karen)


    Having the permission of Yorishiro-sama, it took me a few days using my flying machine to fly here. This is my first time going to such a faraway ce.


    Normally, the heroes of their respective Church have to protect the believers from monsters, so leaving their base is not allowed.


    But with the development of the ethereal machines, journeys that take several days be a few hours thanks to the flying machine, and our scope of action has radically expanded, so slight absences have be forgivable now.


    Even so, this trip to Ishtar ze takes several days even with the flying machine.


    In the time I was troubled since something like that wouldn¡¯t be forgiven, thanks to the special consideration of Yorishiro-sama, and Doraha-san who can serve as a guard for the Light capital, I managed toe all the way here.


    ¡°Sasae-chan! This is your homnd, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Please spare me-dasu~~! Just kill me already-dasu~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    The reason why Sasae-chan was at thest stages of her sanity was because she had been riding the flying machine until now.


    She was holding onto my back, but as expected, the super high-speed of the flying machine seems to be tough on first timers.


    The further we go, the more stamina it shaves off Sasae-chan, so we are currently taking a break for her sake.


    ¡°To think there be such a fearsome ride, the city be scary-dasu!! The distance that it be taking a month of repeated camping was closed in a few days!!¡± (Sasae)


    I feel like I am watching the Haine-san I met for the first time.


    Haine-san quickly got used to it, but I wonder about this girl.


    ¡°Seriously, how pathetic. For a hero to wail at something of this level.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Right? But well, this serves as punishment for rampaging at Apollon City so, isn¡¯t it fine?¡± (Celestis)


    Is what the apanying Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan say.


    ...Wait a moment.


    ¡°Uhm, I should have asked this sooner but...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Why are you two tagging along as well?¡± (Karen)


    The fire hero, Mirack-chan; and the water hero, Celestis-chan. These two that are the heroes of other churches should not have any connection to this matter. Moreover, they have to protect their own base, so they shouldn¡¯t be able to travel far thoughtlessly.


    The two of them came on their own flying machine that is dyed in the color of their respective church, so if monsters appear in their base, they would take several days in order to return.


    ¡°What are you saying, Karen? We are alreadyrades. No matter where you go, we go together, right?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In order to realize my future ns of a worldwide live tour, I was thinking about checking out the five capitals at least once. It seems like thanks to the kindness of the Light Founder, that shadow girl will be protecting our bases too anyways.¡± (Celestis)


    So there was such an arrangement...


    Is it really okay to be cing so much weight onto Doraha-san?


    It should be okay. She is so strong after all.


    ¡°Also, Karen, this time¡¯s matter is not something that the other churches can ignore either, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°With this girl rampaging in Apollon City, the special point of the Earth Church has been made public after all. Freely controlling the monsters that are originally our enemies, giving out an order to kill a specific person through an oracle, moreover, that reason is because that person is the personification of the Dark God Entropy...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The Dark God¡¯s very existence was dubious, but with this, its existence has now be thicker. Just what is currently urring in the world. There¡¯s the need for the other churches to grasp it correctly as well.¡± (Celestis)


    And that¡¯s why the dispatch of the fire and water hero was approved?


    ¡°Wuuh~~, it feels as if we are the bad guys-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°We are going to your base in order to confirm that, aren¡¯t we? Well, don¡¯t worry. We are not the type of people that would rampage around other¡¯s house. We are not.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was persistently bullying Sasae-chan.


    But now that I think about it, this is an incredible scene.


    Four heroes journeying together; just what are we going to be fighting now?


    ¡°But, no matter what we are going to be confirming, Haine-san has already taken the lead and has been investigating, so let¡¯s prioritize regrouping.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But...¡±


    The one who let out that sunk down voice was Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Is that Kuromiya Haine truly a good guy-dasu ka? I just can¡¯t believe it-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    From this group of four, the only one who has not met Haine-san in person is Sasae-chan.


    The only thing she knows of him is the oracle she received from Mother Earth Mantle, so she is uneasy. Moreover, the subjugation target has entered her homnd.


    ¡°It is okay, Sasae-chan.¡± (Karen)


    I gently ce a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°Haine-san is stronger, smarter, and kinder than anyone, so Sasae-chan will certainlye to like him.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The strongest, smartest, and kindest is Karen-nechan-dasu yo,¡± (Sasae)


    Her uneasiness must have been driven out, Sasae-chan hugged me.


    ¡°Oh~ Oh~, since being saved at the Light Grand Church, Sasae-chi has been hugging Karen-chi like crazy~.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Can I broil that little girl¡¯s face?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Don¡¯t get jealous, fire hero.¡± (Celestis)


    Like this, we deepen our friendship as we head towards Ishtar ze.


    And then, what we saw the moment we arrived at the ce was...


    What weed us the moment we stepped into the Earth capital, Ishtar ze, were...the screams like those of a battlefield.


    ¡°Ruuuun!!¡±


    ¡°Great Pir-sama ¨CGreat Pir-sama is angered!¡±


    Those kind of screams were echoing all around the city.


    The people were running about. The farming tools used for their daily lives and the crops had been thrown away and were rolling tragically around.


    ¡°What is this? Just what in the world is going on?!¡± (Karen)


    Being weed by chaos the moment we arrived, made us fall into confusion.


    ¡°This is the daily scenery of this city ¡ªis in no way the case, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Oi, what do you have to say, local girl?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan asks the one who should know this city the most here, Sasae-chan.


    But the Sasae-chan in question was dumbfounded and her mouth was wide open.


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know-dasu! This be the first time I see something like this-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Her face was also pale.


    There were a number of residents that noticed her.


    ¡°Aaah!! S-S-Sasae-sama!!¡±


    And they run to her as if clinging onto her.


    ¡°T-T-This is terrible, Sasae-sama! L-L-Look, Great Pir-sama has...Great Pir-sama has has has gotten angry and¡ª! I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going onsalfkjsf!!¡±


    The residents seem to be in confusion as well, so we couldn¡¯t get the gist of it.


    ¡°W-What should I do-dasu?! In the time I wasn¡¯t at Ishtar ze, something like this¨C!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan trembles along with her words.


    ¡°It is okay! I be told it would be okay-dasu! Founder-sama said that Ishtar ze doesn¡¯t have many strong monsters, so even if I be gone, the Golems would take care of it, he said! That¡¯s why it wouldn¡¯t be a big deal even if I be gone for a month. He said I can fulfill the oracle without any worries!!¡± (Sasae)


    With Sasae-chan falling into chaos as well, the situation will get more and more uncontroble.


    I hug her tightly in order to calm down her panic.


    ¡°Calm down. Right now, you as the hero should be the calmest of all and tackle this. This is the Earth capital, Ishtar ze. And you are their earth hero.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-nechan~~!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°At any rate, let¡¯s go to the center of the disturbance. The people are panicked and are not in a state where they are able to make proper conversation. It is faster to confirm it with our own eyes!¡± (Karen)


    The four of us run.


    It was easy to pinpoint the location where the disturbance was urring. We only had to head to the reverse direction of where the people are running after all.


    And we already had an idea of what it was.


    There¡¯s only one thing capable of causing such uproar.


    ¡°Aah!¡±


    At that ce, there was the thing that overturned mymon sense waiting.


    The giant tree was rampaging.


    In my understanding, once trees grow, they don¡¯t move at all, but it seems that¡¯s not the case here.


    The roots were moving like an octopus¡¯s tentacles.


    While wriggling around, it swung through the ground, air, and all areas it could reach, and was creating abnormal damage.


    ¡°That is...the prided giant tree of Ishtar ze?!¡±


    ¡°Great Pir-sama!!¡±


    And just as the rumors state, it was unbelievably big.


    That¡¯s why once it rampages, the damage it creates is also unbelievable.


    The houses around the city copsed as the roots pushed out of the ground, and once it is swung down, they are crushed into pieces.


    ¡°Aah!! Why, why-dasu ka? Great Pir-sama, why are ya doing such a horrible thing-dasu ka?! Great Pir-sama be...Great Pir-sama be supposed to protect our Earth believers, right?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°!! Oi, look! That!!¡± (Mirack)


    It seems Mirack-chan has noticed something. We all observe the ce she pointed at.


    ¡°That is...! Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    From here, it was too far away, so I could only see him like a small grain, but I could clearly tell.


    A single human was flying around in mid-air, fighting the roots and branches that wereing from all directions.


    At times, he would slip through the storm of roots, and at other times, he would release a pitch-ck mass as a shield.


    The only one who can do that is Haine-san.


    ¡°Haine-san...is fighting the giant tree?¡± (Karen)


    Just what does that mean?


    ¡°That guy...did he really do it?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?! What do you mean by that, Celestis-chan?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°He came here to defeat the ¡®monster that gives birth to monsters¡¯, the Mother Monsters, right? And the origin of the Golems is that giant tree. There¡¯s no doubt that thing is the objective of Haine-chi. And so, that giant tree is resisting in that way in order to not be killed, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Celestis)


    The conjecture of Celestis-chan was just a conjecture, but it was an incredibly convincing one.


    ¡°T-Then¡ª!!¡± (Sasae)


    The voice of Sasae-chan trembled.


    This time, it was not because of sadness or panic, it was out of anger.


    ¡°Because of him...Ishtar ze has fallen into this state-dasu ka? My home...because of him!! As I thought, he really be the personification of an evil God-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan says as she runs off.


    It was so sudden that we were unable to hold her down.


    ¡°Wait, Sasae-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Earth hero, Gonbee Sasae!! Will be saving Great Pir-sama-dasu!! Here I go~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    The earth scythe, Seeta, was raised.

 Chapter 118-120 - The reason for the destruction

    <h4>Chapter 118-120: The reason for the destruction</h4>


    Trantor Note: Hey guys, sorry for the dy.


    Phew, the end of the month was a very busy period. I had a lot of things to take care of. But well, the biggest reason of the dy was because...I began ying the Danganronpa Series.


    I n on finishing them all, so this will affect my releases.


    Yeah, I really like it so I will be ying it like hell! Btw, Ibuki is frickin¡¯ awesome.


    Oh, and it will be returning to Haine¡¯s POV now.


    Enjoy the chapters :D!


    Why did things turn out this way?


    To exin that, I would have to first go back a bit in time.


    The next day after I -Kuromiya Haine- arrived at the Earth capital, Ishtar ze, and had finished my talk with Mantle¡¯s ¡®Fairy¡¯.


    * * *


    It had been a while since I have used a bow.


    In the time when I was helping father in my homnd, this was something I had in my hands almost everyday though. It is a weapon and I thought that maybe I would be using one when fighting monsters, but unexpectedly, it didn¡¯t turn out that way.


    And so, I pulled the bow I haven¡¯t used in a while...and shoot it.


    A nice sound of cutting through the air could be heard, and it hit right onto the boar that wasying waste to the tuber field.


    They really are everywhere, those guys.


    ¡°Ooh, ya did it. Ya hit it-sa ne.¡±


    The obaa-san that was at my side pped her hands.


    ¡°That damn hateful boar ya know, was damaging the fields everyday and was troubling me. With the slow legs of the Golem, the most it could do was scare it away after all. Ya helped me out.¡±


    ¡°No no, I am happy that I can help out.¡± (Haine)


    The Mother Monster, Grandma Wood, that is called Great Pir-sama by the people...I decided not to destroy it.


    With this, I wouldn¡¯t have any business with Ishtar ze, but I didn¡¯t leave immediately and continue staying here.


    Today, I once again met with the Obaa-san that had guided me in my time here, and after hearing the talk about ¡®a boar is damaging my fields and it is troubling me¡¯, my hunter blood grew restless.


    Just by not touching a bow for one day, my skills degrade quite a lot, so I was uneasy in whether I could actually hit it though. I am d that the other party this time had its guard down. It looks like it didn¡¯t expect an arrow to be shot.


    ¡°But this is unexpected. If you have a farm as big as this, it shouldn¡¯t be strange to have a hunting organization of sorts.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Something like that had died out around a decade ago, ya know. Thanks to the Golems appearing, everything became convenient, ya see. Many things became ¡®something that people shouldn¡¯t put so much effort in¡¯.¡±


    While we were talking, the Golem headed to where the boar is to retrieve it. It is because it received that order.


    We just have to wait for it to return.


    ¡°Building a house, plowing the field, defeating enemies; it has now all be asking the Golems. Without those kids, our livelihood wouldn¡¯t even be able to stand on its own for a single day. This may sound weirding from someone that has been taken care of by them a lot but, at times, it makes me scared.¡±


    The Obaa-san says this as she lets her weight rest onto her cane.


    ¡°Visitor-san, did ya know? The fighting organization that the Earth Church uses in conflicts is called a scary name like Scorched Earth Annihtion corps. Several centuries ago, they be just as the name states. They be as tough and strong as a rock, and at the ces they pass through, not a single de of grass is left. They were feared by the other Churches. But now, they be good youngds that use their work time to harvest Blocks from Great Pir-sama.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that nice? Rather than scary, it is a lot better to have them being kind.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You thinking that way makes ya kind in itself.¡±


    Saying this, the Obaa-san giggles.


    ¡°...But well, yeah. I been saved by those kids quite a lot too, and that has allowed me to live ¡®till I be this old. Comining would be uncouth. Seriously, as age piles up, mah mouth gets looser.¡±


    Thisnd was good for my skin.


    In the first ce, I, as the human Kuromiya Haine, grew up at a vige in the deep mountains. This Ishtar ze that has Golems as their foundation of living and the Ethereal culture has not developed much has a close atmosphere to that of my homnd, that¡¯s why, even when I understood that I have no business here anymore, I just can¡¯t make my legs move.


    As I stay here, it makes me wonder, what¡¯s truly good for humans?


    The humans were imprisoned in the ruling of the Gods for several centuries, and the trigger that made them break out of that yoke was a new material called Ethereal that brought upon the machine culture. The convenience the machines provided dimmed the need for Gods and the people became free.


    I also moved from mynd of birth to Apollon City, and have been bathed by the ethereal culture plenty. However, now when I return to a life without machines, I felt like I was remembering something I had forgotten.


    Could it be that this peace of mind I am feeling now is because I am a country bumpkin at core?


    At any rate, the more I thought about these thoughts that I wouldn¡¯t normally think, the more I felt as if the Mother Earth God had gotten me good.


    * * *


    At evening, I returned to the Grand Crimson Pce of the Earth country.


    It is the headquarters of the Earth Church, and a nice ce that provides lodging for the travellers that arrive here every now and then.


    ¡°Hey there, Haine-san. How was the hunt?¡±


    Just like yesterday, the Earth Founder himself received me.


    However, his behaviour felt somewhat distant.


    ¡°It is only evening, and I was already able to bring down 4. The beast management is pretty negligent around here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s just how troubled we were about it. It is embarrassing. But thanks to you, I feel like this season we will have an increase in harvest.¡±


    Please don¡¯t praise me that much.


    ¡°But it would be bad to stay for too long, so I was thinking about leaving by tomorrow. I have truly been under the care of the people of the Earth Church.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No no no no!¡±


    The Earth Founder suddenly got agitated. He even bended back. Just what was so shocking about that?


    ¡°Well, no need to say that. How about staying here for a while more? Haine-san¡¯s hunting skills are important for Ishtar ze after all!¡±


    ¡°No but...I would feel bad if I were to monopolize the guest room for too long.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In that case, how about we do this? How about we build a house for you in thisnd?¡±


    Eh?


    No way. Building a house for a mere traveller, isn¡¯t that way too much no matter the case?


    ¡°No need to worry. Building a house in Ishtar ze is an incredibly easy task.¡±


    ¡°You are going to have the Golems build it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, the Golems will be your house.¡±


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Golems not only work hard, they also possess a special characteristic. By pouring Earth divine power, we can freely change theirposition and form. If we write an order like ¡®be a house¡¯ and have it absorb plenty enough divine power, the house-shaped Golem will be made in no time.¡±


    Are Golems really that convenient?!


    ¡°This Grand Crimson Pce itself is made out of several Golems. It could even be called a Golem Pce. It is normally just a normal building though. But once I -as the user- were to give an order...I can change its form freely to a certain degree. Just like this!¡±


    The Earth Founder snaps his fingers.


    And then, the walls in both sides swelled up, that swelled up part took human form, and then separated from the wall.


    Golems.


    They are small Golems that can fit the inside of the room, but there were several of them.


    They wereing out from the walls in the literal sense of the word.


    I see. This certainly is something incredible, but why is the Earth Founder going through the trouble of putting up such a show?


    It is true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but even so, this number of Golems, isn¡¯t it going a bit too far?


    Moreover, all the Golems had forms like hammers and stakes at their arm part, and it was clear that they were nning on destroying something.


    ...No, maybe kill?


    ¡°...Founder, what is the meaning of this?¡± (Haine)


    Just in case, I try asking. But at that moment, the distant feeling that the Founder had had disappeared.


    ¡°I already had the people cleared out from the room and its surroundings. To think that you and our hero would miss each other and you would be invading ournd. It was truly unexpected. As expected of the personification of the Dark God.¡±


    ¡°?!!¡±


    I was surprised by those words, and at the same time, several things fell in ce. It was hard to ept though.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, the oracle I received from Mother Earth Mantle-sama will be fulfilled by me! Personification of the evil Dark God, Kuromiya Haine! Know that you won¡¯t be leaving Ishtar ze alive!¡±


    Several Golems appeared!


    My attacks wiped out the Golems.


    ¡°Now then...¡± (Haine)


    Well, in the face of my dark matter, elements are powerless after all.


    It would be pitiful not to even leave dust behind, so I left them with things like arms and legs, but maybe because they have lost their Life Blocks, they slowly turned to earth and scattered on the room.


    ¡°Hiiiih?! Ueee?!¡±


    The Earth Founder who had seen the whole fight unfold right before his eyes let out a scream out of surprise or maybe fear, then, his legs lost strength and he fell onto the floor, unable to move.


    ¡°Well then, Founder-dono, you will be exining, right? The reason for this violence.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°W-W-W-What unreal power! S-S-S-So you really are just like the oracle of Mother Earth God-sama said, the personification of the evil Dark God!¡±


    ¡°Wa?¡±


    He knows my identity?


    Moreover, an oracle of the Mother Earth God?!


    ¡°What is the meaning of this, Mantle?!¡± (Haine)


    I made this shout directed at the sky, but the change urred at my feet.


    At some point in time, one root had entered from the window of the building, and squirmed its way to my feet.


    I was wondering what was going on, so I looked at the Earth Founder, but he shook his head to the sides with incredible force.


    Looks like this was not done by him.


    In that case, who¡ªwithout giving me the chance to think, something began to swell up from the root. A flower bud blossomed right before my eyes, and from inside it, appeared a fluorescent being.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry~~!!!¡±


    ¡°Gyaaaa! She came out!!¡±


    Just as usual, a barrage of apologies came flying out and it was as if she were trying to crush me.


    It is okay to apologize, but don¡¯t go clinging onto me at the same time. Not with that voluptuous body of yours.


    A woman that can kill people with her apologies...Mother Earth Mantle enters the stage.


    Originally, a God has no physical form, and as she doesn¡¯t have a flesh vessel like me who had incarnated, whenever she had business in the surface world, she would create a temporary body from the closest nt which is called ¡®Fairy¡¯, and with that, shemunicates.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry~~!!¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you appear without apologizing?! At any rate, calm down! What I want is not an apology, but an exnation!¡± (Haine)


    Anyways, I expended quite the physical and mental strength to have her calm down from all that apologizing.


    ...And then...summarizing what she told me, this is apparently what¡¯s going on.


    Mantle had given an oracle to the Earth Church that revered her. Stating to ¡®kill the personification of the evil Dark God Entropy, Kuromiya Haine¡¯.


    In other words, me.


    The Earth Founder that received this oracle gave out a subjugation order to the earth hero, albeit reluctantly, and had her head to the ce where I was, Apollon City.


    No wonder the hero that normally appears the moment I arrive at their territory didn¡¯t show a single shadow of appearing this time.


    To think we would miss each other as she was aiming for me.


    Then it is a given that the Founder who gave the order would be panicked.


    And so, the first thing I thought about after understanding the situation was...


    ¡°Why did you give out such an oracle?¡± (Haine)


    The ¡®Fairy¡¯ of Mother Earth Mantle was currently prostrating with that uselessly big body of hers. She is prostrating, and yet, her line of sight is not that different from me who is standing.


    ¡°........I¡¯m sorry.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Exnation! What I want from you is not an apology, but an exnation!! Did you not pick that up?!¡± (Haine)


    I pursue the issue slightly snapped. Mantle¡¯s shoulders quivered in surprise.


    No good. With one push more, she will cry.


    But now that my life has been targeted, I can¡¯t leave the matter in a hazy state.


    ¡°Could it be that the reason why you were apologizing really hard the other time was because of this?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...... *tear*¡±


    Finally crying.


    Really, so hard to deal with her. From within the other five Gods, she is one of the most difficult to deal with.


    ¡°..........Coacervate-san was...¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Coacervate?


    The Water God Coacervate?


    ¡°He suddenly came to my ce and...told me that Entropy-san hase back, so we have to do something fast. That we would be destroyed at this rate!¡± (Mantle)


    So the usual schemer behind the scenes was him huh.


    Coacervate is the type that likes to make his ns in the shadows after all.


    Moreover, just a while ago, I crushed the conspiracies that he was trying to stir in Hydra Ville, so it must have pissed him off quite a bit.


    ¡°¡®The weakness of Entropy-san is that he dotes on humans, so if we were to have the humans go against him, it would trouble him quite a lot¡¯, he said! That¡¯s why he told me to give out that oracle!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°The story makes sense but...why is it that Coacervate had you do that?¡± (Mantle)


    That guy has the Water Church that follows him, so I thought that it should be fine to just utilize his own hero, but in the middle of thinking that, I soon understood.


    For a wannabe-schemer like him, he would never dirty his own hands. He would use the hands of others and enjoy tricking them; that¡¯s the kind of trash he is.


    He broke that pattern of his not that long ago and was defeated by me, so he must have reflected on it and hid even more in the shadows.


    If he is not going to be dirtying his own hands, he just has to use the hands of others, but...since the matter of the Underworld Country, the Light Goddess Intion has been in a position that is close to antagonistic towards them.


    The one who has the closest ideology -the Fire God Nova- is currently imprisoned, and the Wind God Quasar, no matter how much he tries to find him, that Wind God is a guy that he wouldn¡¯t be able to catch.


    In that case, the only one he can utilize is this Mother Earth Mantle. Her personality also screams ¡®please use me¡¯ after all.


    ¡°...That¡¯s why, in the end, I couldn¡¯t refuse. I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry...¡± (Mantle)


    Is what the ¡®Fairy¡¯ of Mantle says as she still cried.


    ¡°...If that¡¯s the case, I can¡¯t me you for it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Fue?¡±


    ¡°I have been saying it over and over but, it is fine for you to hold more confidence. You are properly thinking about the humans as you act as a God after all. And in terms of your power, you don¡¯t fall behind them. No, you might even be stronger. Thanks to the Golems, you should have obtained a lot more prayers from the people after all.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s why, even if Coacervate says something to her, she can just reject him if she doesn¡¯t like it. She has that much amount of power after all.


    ¡°¡ªFueeeeee!! Entropy-san is kind as I thought~~!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry anymore. I am already not angry.¡± (Haine)


    But this girl, why is it that even when she is a God, she is this fragile?


    Was she like this 1,600 years ago too?


    ¡°...Thank you very much. Thanks to Entropy-san, confidence is surging up inside of me! I have never felt this refreshed in centuries!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s now, I feel like I will be able to do anything. As I thought, I really will put it into motion. What I have been thinking about for a long time ago; the n to provide ultimate happiness to the people!!¡± (Mantle)


    What is this woman suddenly saying?


    Ultimate happiness n?


    ¡°Grandma Wood actually has a second form. The first form is the state where it gives birth to Life Blocks as a Mother Monster. But I didn¡¯t want this child to stay as just that. I couldn¡¯t truly agree in the n of Coacervate-san and the others regarding the propagation of monsters, so...¡± (Mantle)


    Her way of talking is pretty forward for Mantle.


    Does that mean my encouragement affected her that much?


    ¡°That¡¯s why I added another function to this child.¡± (Mantle)


    Saying this, the ¡®Fairy¡¯ of Mantle patted the root of Grandma Wood that had infiltrated the room.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t rely on other Gods. A n that I myself made that will make possible the ideal coexistence between Gods and humans; a ground-breaking function. But until now, I haven¡¯t released it. If I were to release it, Nova-san and Coacervate-san would definitely get angry after all. But there¡¯s no need to worry about something like that, right?!¡± (Mantle)


    The Fairy of Mantle shows me a glittering smile.


    ¡°Thanks to Entropy-san, I have obtained courage! I am thinking about providing the absolute happiness that I have thought of. And then, I will also be able to obtain happiness as a God as well. Everyone will obtain happiness! Is there anything as good as this?! No, there¡¯s not! That is exactly the duty of I, Mother Earth Mantle!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Uhm, Mantle-san?¡± (Haine)


    The sudden high-tension Mantle made me pull-back a bit.


    ¡°Oooh~, M-Mother Earth God-sama?!¡±


    At my side, a voice filled with confusion and expectation rang.


    ¡°Are you Mother Earth God Mantle¨Csama?!¡±


    The Earth Founder.


    Now that I think about it, Ipletely forgot that this guy was here too.


    This old man that has already passed the fifty years old ced both of his hands in prayer towards the fluorescent Mantle, and his whole body was shaking.


    Well, the God that he has been worshipping his whole life has appeared right in front of him after all.


    I can understand how he is trembling in happiness at this.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I know of you. You are the 59th Founder-san of the Earth Church that worships me, right?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Oooh~~! Mother Earth God-sama, I am humbled!!¡±


    The Earth Founder was literally falling into ecstasy religiously.


    But is this really okay? For a God to show its figure so easily, wouldn¡¯t that create problems in the future?


    ¡°Sorry but, please let me take back the oracle I gave out before. The Dark God Entropy-san is the one that loves the humans the most within the six Gods. I was pushed by the self-interest of the other Gods, and was forced to cooperate in a plot to create discord between Entropy-san and the humans, which is a regretful action of mine.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°No way! Please don¡¯t me yourself, Mother Earth God-sama! Understood. I will forget thatst oracle. I will also immediately call back the hero that was dispatched!¡±


    I feel like with this all the problems have been resolved, but...


    ¡°Thank you very much. Well then, now all that¡¯s left is proceeding with the n with peace of mind. My n to make you and all the people that believe in me...realize absolute and wless happiness.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Mother Earth God-sama! I am honored. Just by being able to have an audience with you in the time I was alive is already plenty enough happiness¡ª-Hiiiiiih?!!!¡±


    At that moment, the Earth Founder noticed the abnormality that was urring on his own body.


    It is the root.


    The Root that had invaded this room and had bloomed the Fairy of Mantle had at some point in time wrapped around the legs of the Earth Founder.


    First of all, there¡¯s no doubt that this root is connected to the giant tree, Grandma Wood.


    The root wrapped around him didn¡¯t stop at its feet and even wrapped around his whole body, like a serpent capturing its prey.


    ¡°M-Mother Earth God-sama?! This is?! What is the meaning of this?!¡±


    ¡°I will be bringing all of you happiness. I will bring you all iparable happiness.¡± (Mantle)


    The root didn¡¯t stop at wrapping around the Founder, things that looked like branches began to grow from the root, and they began to slip into the skin of the Founder, and then, began to assimte him.


    ¡°Mother Earth God-sama?! Mother Earth God-samaaaa!!!¡±


    The Founder shouted as if going crazy, but it didn¡¯t take long for him to be silent.


    The moment he was assimted by the root, his eyes lost light, and his limbs lost strength. As if his very heart has been absorbed.


    ¡°Oi, don¡¯t tell me he died? Did you kill him?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, he is alive.¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle responded to my surprise and panic in a calm manner.


    ¡°The unnecessary functions of his body were simply cut off. By being assimted to Grandma Wood, he will be provided the necessary nourishment by the tree. There¡¯s already no need for them to intake nourishment, and no need to do the work like plowing the field and harvesting crops for the sake of that. They also won¡¯t have to fight against the foreign enemies that try to rob them of it. That¡¯s why, there¡¯s already no need to think.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°You¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    The words that Mantle said not that long ago had resurfaced in my head.


    Ultimate happiness.


    Are you telling me this is what she meant?


    ¡°This is the second form of Grandma Wood. It assimtes humans infinitely, and provides them nourishment. Thanks to this, people will be able to live without working. No need to fight, no need to worry; all the troublesome things that need to be done to survive, it is okay not to do them at all. Isn¡¯t this the ultimate happiness!!¡± (Mantle)


    At the outside of the room, I heard a piercing thunderous sound.


    Moreover, from all directions, several times. From within all that, I could hear the faint screams of people as well.


    ¡°Could it be¡ª?!¡± (Haine)


    I ran out the room and check the state outside.


    At the state of Ishtar ze.


    At that ce, it had already turned into the pinnacle of panic.


    The roots of Grandma Wood that had been unmoving until now had suddenly begun wriggling like a living being and were bringing chaos to the city.


    Mowing down buildings, turning around the ground; the branches that wereing out from the roots were capturing all the people and were assimting them.


    Just like the Founder.


    ¡°¡ªStop it!!¡± (Haine)


    I finally was unable to continue watching and jumped out.


    I released dark matter at whatever ce necessary and destroyed the roots from the closest ones I could reach, but it didn¡¯t progress as I wanted.


    The roots had already assimted the people, and if I were to put the dark matter to its strongest output, there¡¯s an incredibly high chance that I might even injure those people as well.


    ¡°Mantle!! Stop right this instant!! Release the people!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why? I am doing something good.¡± (Mantle)


    At some point in time, Mantle¡¯s Fairy was floating in front of me.


    ¡°Everyone will be happy, you know? Me, and the humans too. For a long time now, I have been dreaming of the world bing like this.¡± (Mantle)

 Chapter 121-123 - True Utopia

    <h4>Chapter 121-123: True Utopia</h4>


    ¡°Impossible! You four Base Elements can¡¯t maintain yourselves unless you receive prayers from humans, right?!¡± (Haine)


    I heard that from Yorishiro.


    For the Gods, the prayers of humans should be a sweet poison. They drunk that delicacy to the point of drowning, fattened themselves with it, and not only that, they ended up unable to live without the prayers of humans.


    Mother Earth Mantle is one of the four Base Elements.


    If she steals the consciousness of people and makes them unable to pray, it would mean her doom.


    ¡°No need to worry, Entropy-san.¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle answers calmly.


    It feels as if she is apletely different person from the woman that was crying ¡®I¡¯m sorry¡¯ just a moment ago.


    ¡°Grandma Wood¡¯s second form doesn¡¯t have such a poor making. It can assimte humans and provide them with nourishment, along with absorbing the soul energy that is pretty simr to that of the prayer energy. We will be presenting each other with the things we both want. If I remember correctly, this is called a ¡®mutualism¡¯, right?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°What are you even talking about?!¡± (Haine)


    Mantle may call it the ultimate happiness, but there¡¯s no way that¡¯s the case!


    Stealing the freedom of thought from the humans and leaving them in this state where they are simply alive, there¡¯s no way that¡¯s happiness!


    ¡°Entropy-san, I hate conflicts.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°That has been the case even 1,600 years ago. The moment the Gods began fighting, I was simply scared. I thought: ¡®who cares about humans, I just want the fight to be over¡¯.¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle wished for the fast ending of the battle, and took the side of the five Gods that had the advantage. I myself faintly understood this fact.


    ¡°But it is not as if I hate humans. They are intelligent, peaceful, and they respect a God like me. But even them, when there¡¯s a sh in opinions, they soon enter into disputes as well. Why do people and Gods fight? That¡¯s why I thought of this; the best way to live without conflicts.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°And that is to turn humans into living corpses?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eternal eradication of conflicts. That¡¯s exactly the ultimate happiness! Even so, the violent Nova-san and the evil Coacervate-san would be against it and get angry, so I couldn¡¯t find the chance to put it into practice. I...had no courage.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡®But...¡¯, is what Mantle says as she continues.


    ¡°That courage...you gave it to me, Entropy-san. You praised me for the first time! You agreed with me! That¡¯s why I was able to hold my head high and challenge this great enterprise! I will have Grandma Wood swallow all the people that worship me, and bring them into a dream world where no conflict exists!!¡± (Mantle) <God damn it, Madara. So this is where you ended up!>


    It is my fault?!


    Did a weird switch get flipped because I told her words that are normally not told to her?!


    While we were doing this, the giant tree had its roots wriggle without restraint and was capturing people one after the other. Moreover, the enemy of the people were not only Grandma Wood.


    ¡°The Golems are¡ª!!¡±


    ¡°The Golems are attacking us! Everyone, get away!!¡±


    The Earth monsters that were born from Grandma Wood, Golems.


    They were originally exceptions from the monsters that attacked humans; they helped out in the livelihood of humans, and lived alongside humans. It was as if they were the friends of humans, but now, Golems have betrayed humans.


    They take advantage of their big frame to grab the closest person to it, and give them to the roots of Grandma Wood.


    The Golems that have been born from the earth Mother Monster are clearly the dependents of the Mother Earth God. The authority rights are higher for the God than the people.


    Obeying the will of Mantle, the Golems transport the people to Grandma Wood as if they were harvesting humans. Also, as if saying they won¡¯t be letting the people at the houses out, the door are being tightly closed.


    Now that I think about it, I was told that the houses in this city are made from transformed Golems.


    They are trapping the people inside until the root visits them.


    Their lifestyle that relied heavily on Golems was proving to be their downfall at this moment.


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s all go together to the dream world. There, in exchange of receiving your soul energy, I will provide you all with unending happiness.¡± (Mantle)


    That unending happiness you are talking about is a sleep that they won¡¯t be waking up from!


    Dark Matter gushes out from my hands.


    ¡°I will protect this ce. In the meantime, hurry and run!¡± (Haine)


    The words I said made the people of Ishtar ze dumbfounded for a second, but because of the fear of danger, they soon began running away.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Entropy-san? If you do that, my work will be hindered.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Obviously. I n on getting in the way, after all.¡± (Haine)


    It looks like the Fairy Mantle couldn¡¯t understand those words of mine.


    ¡°I was careless. In the end, you four Base Elements all have a loose screw somewhere huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying? Didn¡¯t you...praise me?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°And I am saying that was a mistake! Mother Earth God, Mantle! I will destroy that screwed up ideal of yours along with that giant tree!!¡± (Haine)


    My dark matter is released.


    This dark matter that holds aplete advantage against the fire, water, wind, and earth, is plenty effective against the earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood.


    But it wasn¡¯t an effective method.


    Grandma Wood had already assimted several hundreds of people.


    Even if I were to destroy it with dark matter in that state, it is absolutely impossible to achieve that without hurting the people.


    I naturally couldn¡¯t go into the desired offensive and ended up fighting a defensive battle.


    Creating a wall with dark matter, it took my all to make sure the roots wouldn¡¯t get close to the people, but my opponent is that giant tree. It can easily go around the defense line I created, and it can attack the people from anywhere.


    At this rate, the situation will just gradually worsen.


    I have to make a drastic countermeasure... is what I was thinking when...


    ¡°?!!! Owa?!¡±


    I suddenly felt killing intent from my back, and an instant after I twisted my body, the de of a giant scythe passed by there, at the ce where I was before.


    That was dangerous.


    If I hadn¡¯t avoided that instantly, I would have been cut in two.


    The one who swung the giant scythe was a small girl.


    It is the first time I have seen this girl.


    I have not seen her once in my time at Ishtar ze. Just who is she?


    ¡°Earth hero, Gonbee Sasae!! I¡¯ll be saving Great Pir-sama-dasu!! Let¡¯s gooo!!¡±


    The hero appears at this timing?


    From the looks of this small girl that called herself Gonbee Sasae, I assume she is around 12-13 years old. She is younger than any other hero I have met, and with that, makes her look less reliable than the others as well.


    But I couldn¡¯t lower my guard.


    Her eyes are devoid of light after all.


    ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you-dasu! How dare ya do this to Ishtar ze!!¡± (Sasae)


    No wait. Could it be that this girl is thinking this chaos is my fault?


    ¡°So you really were the personification of the evil Dark God-dasu na! Now that ite to this, I be executing my original objective-dasu! Golem Father, Golem Mother, Golem Boy!!!¡± (Sasae)


    Without even finishing speaking, this Sasae-chan girl began attacking me.


    The giant scythe was named Seeta, and it is most likely the divine weapon that represents the Earth Church.


    Compared to the ones from the heroes I have seen, this one is on a whole other level of big, and the de that has earth divine power flowing from it was dangerous enough to cut iron with it, but it wasn¡¯t that much of a threat.


    She is able to utilize the giant scythe to a certain degree, but her wide moves were making it easy to predict and easy to evade.


    Her skill level isckingpared to the other heroes, which is fitting for her age, even so, it is currently troublesome.


    Because on the other side, Grandma Wood continued capturing humans, and in the time I am being troubled with Sasae-chan, the number of people caught increases drastically.


    Even so, she may be having a misunderstanding here. She is angered by her homnd being hurt.


    I can¡¯t just inconsiderately knock her out...


    ¡°Don¡¯t run around-dasu! Get cut in half to calm down Great Pir-sama-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Wait, you calm down! Even if you defeat me, Grandma Wood won¡¯t stop!¡± (Haine)


    Even when I tried to appease her, Sasae-chan was not lending me an ear at all.


    ¡°Just get defeated already-dasu! Giant Scythe Boomerang!¡± (Sasae)


    She was probably trying to throw that giant scythe and treat it as a boomerang. But...


    ¡°Oh oa...¡± (Sasae)


    It is a giant weapon that surpasses her height by a lot. The moment she tried to throw it, she lost bnce, and the giant scythe spins rapidly at an unknown direction.


    ¡°Aaah, I messed up-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°?!! Oi, wait!!¡± (Haine)


    At the ce where the giant scythe was flying to, there¡¯s a root of Grandma Wood. At its surface, it had already assimted several tens of people.


    If the scythe were to hit someone there¡ª!!


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    I set up the Dark Matter at my hands to repulsion and fly with the recoil of it. At a speed that can catch up to that giant scythe.


    ¡°Guaaaa!¡±


    Using myself as a bullet and hitting it with my body, I managed to strike the giant scythe before it reached the root.


    But...


    ¡°Guh!!¡±


    The intense pain running at my abdomen.


    It probably hit the edge of the giant scythe; I could see a cut that ran straight through my side.


    Well, I did a body blow against a big de like that, so I should consider myself lucky that I wasn¡¯t cut in half.


    ¡°I did it-dasu! He be an idiot that went himself to get hit-dasu! This be my chance! I¡¯ll give the finishing blow-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Picking up the fallen giant scythe, Sasae-chan approaches me.


    However, because of the pain in my body, I couldn¡¯t stand up properly.


    This is bad.


    Before the giant scythe fell onto my neck¡ª


    ¡°You IDIOT!!!¡±


    ¡°Ugyaaaa-su!!¡± (Sasae)


    A big water current hit Sasae-chan and was washed away by the overwhelming water pressure.


    Could this be¡ª?!


    ¡°In Apollon City you were an incredible pain because of a misunderstanding, and yet, even here, you are rampaging with that same pattern?! What was the point of your reflection?!¡±


    ¡°Celestis?!¡± (Haine)


    Why is the water hero here?!


    ¡°Long time no see~. That big wound makes you look really manly. Wait for a bit. I will close your wound by adjusting your body fluids.¡± (Celestis)


    Saying this, she ces Miki-Moses on my open wound, and then, my wound was closing at a visible speed that wouldn¡¯t be possible with natural healing.


    It can¡¯t be called fully healed, but as expected of the Water element that possesses the most practical use out of all the elements.


    ¡°...No no, why are you here?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is not only me. See?¡± (Celestis)


    Is what Celestis says as she points at a direction, and I follow it.


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡±


    ¡°[me Hurricane]!¡±


    A sh urs from afar and fire roars.


    That is without doubt...


    ¡°...Karen-san and Mirack?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°O¡¯ yes.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis affirmed it.


    ¡°The two of them quickly judged what the situation was and went their ways. They are currently fighting to protect the residents from those roots, and are evacuating the people. The only one who plunged into the day after tomorrow without grasping the situation was you, local hero.¡± (Celestis)


    Is what Celestis said as she grinded her fists at the temples of Sasae-chan.


    ¡°But because of my elemental affinity, I can¡¯t fight straight on against those roots, so I got send here though. How to say it, baby-sitting the rampaging girl.¡± (Celestis)


    Ah.


    The other side is earth element after all. It would be tough for the water element Celestis.


    ¡°But why are four heroes together? What happened to the protection of your bases?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°About that, I want to tell you about it together with all the events that have urred till now, but you also understand that this is not the time for that, right? I am the one who wants to do the questions here. Just what is going on, and what is it that we should be doing. Quickly tell me in detail and in a concise way; say it fast and make it easy to listen to!¡± (Celestis)


    Don¡¯t ask for the impossible.


    ¡°Ultimate happiness?!¡±


    That woman¡¯s n...for now, I decided on leaving it as the n of that giant tree. Putting it in a concise phrase, it would be ¡®ultimate happiness¡¯. Hearing this, Celestis and Sasae-chan froze.


    Can¡¯t be helped. It can¡¯t be understood after all.


    ¡°The problem about this is that it doesn¡¯t have a single shred of malicious intent about it. It is all out of goodwill. It is just that it decided this is okay for the sake of humans when it decided to take this violent action.¡± (Haine)


    Assimting the humans into the tree, it provides them with nourishment from inside it. In exchange, it will absorb soul energy from the tree and make them its foundation to live.


    The assimted humans will most likely be able to live forever inside the tree.


    There¡¯s no need to fight foreign enemies to protect themselves, no need to work in order to maintain themselves to live. And along with that, they won¡¯t require to think, and won¡¯t need emotions either.


    You will be able to sleep inside the tree forever.


    For it, even that is out of goodwill. It is trying to take away all the troublesome things required to live.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that?! Don¡¯t joke around!!¡± (Celestis)


    Taking out the parts about me and Mantle from the exnation, the first one to straight out object was Celestis.


    ¡°You saying that just by living you will be happy?! Humans can feel happiness exactly because they think and feel, right?! Don¡¯t go putting us on the same level as nts just growing on the ground!¡± (Celestis)


    The anger of Celestis surpassed my expectations.


    She is the hero that held doubts towards being fully devoted to being a hero and entered the bizarre route of being an idol hero.


    She definitely would object more than anyone else about that logic of having their free will taken away and considering existence as ¡®happiness¡¯.


    ¡°Rascals, did you hear that?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yeah, the reception here is favorable.¡±


    ¡°It is hard to believe, but if Haine-san said it, there¡¯s no mistake.¡±


    !


    I heard the voice of Mirack and Karen-san, who are not supposed to be here.


    ¡°What are you getting all scared for? We are keeping in contact with the ethereal sound transmission device.¡± (Celestis)


    There¡¯s something as convenient as that?!


    True, now that I look carefully, there¡¯s something at the ears of Celestis?!


    ¡°The Ethereal sound transmission development is the most advanced at my Hydra Ville! At any rate, I put one vote on kicking the ass of that tree! If they stay sleeping, they won¡¯t be able to hear my singing and they won¡¯t be able to see my dancing either!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I also agree. Like hell I would let a damn tree decide the happiness of humans!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I also...¡± (Karen)


    The voice of Karen-san, that can be heard from the wireless device, made a small pause and finally says this.


    ¡°I can¡¯t ept the opinion of that tree. Humans have the right to at least think about what is it that makes them happy. What that tree is doing is a breach to that right. Once hit, opposing is a legitimate right that we have as well!!¡± (Karen)


    As expected of heroes. Their decision making is refreshingly fast.


    And within that group, only one hero was maintaining silence.


    ¡°What will you be doing, Sasae-chi?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis ps the shoulders of Sasae-chan.


    ¡°This is the Earth capital, Ishtar ze. ¡®Protect this ce¡¯, in reality, you as the earth hero should have been the first one to dere that will of yours, you know.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I...I¡ª!!¡± (Sasae)


    It isn¡¯t that simple of a matter.


    It is exactly because this is her homnd and she knows deeply about the people here that it is making her decision difficult.


    The giant tree that is currently rampaging, just how much was it loved by the residents here? Just how unbelievable that betrayal is? It is exactly because she knows about it, that her feet are heavier.


    Moreover, she is the youngest out of the current heroes. It would be fitting to call her childish. For such a Sasae-chan, this was a harsh choice.


    ¡°Uhm, what happened to Earth Founder-sama...¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°He was the first one to get caught by the tree.¡± (Haine)


    My answer kicked Sasae-chan deeper into despair.


    There¡¯s already no one who can think for her stead.


    ¡°I¡ª!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Aah geez! How long do you n on dancing around!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis got pissed, but the decision of Sasae-chan didn¡¯t seem to being out.


    That¡¯s right. As we were in this, roots hade attacking us as well.


    ¡°Kugh...[Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    I create a wall with the dark matter and stop the advance of the roots.


    But I can¡¯t go all out. If I were to go at full output in the destructive trait of the dark matter, it might erase even the divine energy of the assimted people that maintains their very life, or they might get crushed by the heavy gravity.


    ¡°You! What are you doing?! Your wound is not closed yet!¡± (Celestis)


    The healing from the water divine power of Celestis was still not done. She can¡¯t leave her hands from it.


    There¡¯s no other choice but for me to do this.


    ¡°Aah, why?! You are the personification of an evil Dark God, and yet, you¡ª!!¡± (Sasae)


    Seeing this, Sasae-chan looks at this paralyzed.


    This is bad. Releasing dark matter obviously affects my wound, and we are fighting a defensive battle at a foreignnd. I can¡¯t expect help from Karen-san and Mirack who are evacuating the citizens.


    The moment I felt like I couldn¡¯t keep up my defense anymore...


    The roots that were attacking us had been suddenly cut into round slices.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Haaah?!¡±


    We witnessed this spectacle with surprise.


    That root had people stuck onto it at its surface as well, but as if avoiding them, the sliced pieces were cut in aplex manner.


    I could instantly tell at a nce that this was god-like skill.


    And what did this was a single swing of the giant scythe; the earth scythe, Seeta.


    But the one who was holding it wasn¡¯t Sasae-chan.


    It was someonepletely unexpected.


    That is...


    ¡°B-Baa-chan?!¡± (Sasae) <Grandma>


    Sasae-chan shouts this in surprise.

 Chapter 124-125 - Old Strong One

    <h4>Chapter 124-125: Old Strong One</h4>


    Trantor Note: Oh boy, I binge yed all Danganronpa 1 and 2, and I gotta say, I waspletely mind-blown. Now I am going for the anime, and then, V3. I am already at a state where I search for memes in youtube. I am falling deeper and deeper into this despair! Halp! Someone send Halp!


    That¡¯s someone I know.


    The granny I first met when arriving at Ishtar ze.


    She transported me at the back of a Golem to the center of the city, and gave me a hunting request after; we had that kind of friendly rtionship.


    Why is that Obaa-san holding the earth scythe Seeta and rampaging big time?!


    ¡°Baa-chan, yer all right-dasu ka?! Or more like, since when did ya take my earth scythe-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan runs towards the Obaa-san in happiness.


    And in response to that Sasae-chan, the Obaa-san presents a fist to her forehead.


    ¡°Ouch?! What ya doing, *Baa-chan*?!¡± (Sasae) <grandma>


    ¡°Ye stupid grandchild! In this kind of serious situation, why on earth is the hero spaced out?!¡±


    Eh, grandma? Eh, grandchild?


    ¡°Sorry for that, Visitor-san. Mah grandchild seems to have hurt ya.¡±


    Is what the Obaa-san says as she lowers her head at me.


    ¡°After being appointed as the hero, I thought that her judgement would get better, but it looks like that ain¡¯t the case. A stupid child will stay a stupid child. It would have been better if the previous hero waited a bit longer before marrying. Thisd doesn¡¯t have the makings for a hero yet.¡±


    ¡°But Baa-chan! That guy is the personification of the Dark God-dasu yo! The reason why Great Pir-sama is angered is without doubt cuz¡ª-Ouch!¡± (Sasae)


    She got the fist again.


    ¡°Sasae, I already knew that ye and that brat Founder were doing something secretly. Ye as well musta had quite a lot of things to think about as a hero. It must be scary to do things without knowing what is the correct thing to do, right? But ya see, even with that, the one who has to take the first step faster than anyone else is the hero. Ya see, a hero is a hero cuz they have courage.¡±


    The Obaa-san brandishes the earth scythe Seeta.


    And then, jumps forward.


    ¡°It be important to listen to the oracle, but even with that, seeing all the things that are urring in front of ya, what ye have to do should be obvious, isn¡¯t it?!¡±


    A storm dancing wildly in the sky; that¡¯s the only way I could describe that sight that was unfolding before my eyes.


    The earth scythe that the Obaa-san was manipting was dancing lightly in the sky as if it weighed nothing, and on top of that, it was freely transforming and attacking the roots that were at the surroundings.


    The de entered the roots like jelly, and just like that, it severs them.


    It is not physical strength. She is cutting them away relying solely on the weight of the giant scythe, and the Obaa-san was simply holding it.


    ...No, that¡¯s not all she is doing. The Obaa-san was constantly pouring earth divine power to the earth scythe, and by doing that, it is changing its weight and solidity at a dizzying speed.


    At times, as light as a balloon; at times, as heavy as steel; it is exactly because she changes its mass in just an instant that it felt as if that giant scythe was rampaging like a living being.


    And the Obaa-san, that was controlling that beast of a giant scythe, was its beast tamer.


    That means her skills are that much polished.


    At the very least, more than the original owner, Sasae-chan.


    Thanks to that, the roots that were trying to attack us were wiped out in the blink of an eye. The people that were captured by it were also rescued promptly.


    ¡°Strong! That Obaa-san is way too strong!¡± (Haine)


    Now that I think about it, at the time when I first met her, she hit me with strength that I wouldn¡¯t think possible from an old woman. Just what in the world is she?!


    ¡°Of course-dasu!! Baa-chan be a legend after all!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Sasae-chan shouts happily.


    ¡°She be called the strongest in the history of the Earth Church; the earth hero known as ¡®Taker by the Roots¡¯! That be my Baa-chan-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go getting all high and mighty over something that¡¯s not even about ya.¡±


    ¡°Ouch!¡±


    And once again, she gets the fist.


    ¡°It be embarrassing. Yer past craziness¡¯ just doesn¡¯t disappear once it is been edged and will stay till death, just like wrinkles.Thanks to that past glory, mah grandchild was appointed as a hero when she is still so unripened. On top of that, she was spoiled rotten by her surroundings, and showed no signs of maturing.¡±


    ¡°Uwu~~.¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan moans as if being hit in a sore spot, and the Obaa-san gives her the giant scythe.


    ¡°Now then, take it back. The current owner is not me, but ya. Yer the current earth hero.¡±


    ¡°But Baa-chan, I be still¡ª!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I am getting old, ya see. I can¡¯t maintain my full strength for even a minute. My breath is already rough and I can¡¯t move anymore.¡±


    Just like she said, the Obaa-san was breathing heavily and was sweating a lot.


    ¡°Sasae, ya only polished your Golem controlling abilities and didn¡¯t polish yer body techniques, but right now, ya can¡¯t be saying those things, ya know. Today¡¯s enemy is Great Pir-sama. That¡¯s why, Golems are not yer allies.¡±


    Just as the Obaa-san said, the Golems are still under the control of Mantle, capturing people and presenting them to the giant tree.


    Karen-san and Mirack are trying to stop it. There were surges of light and fire faraway.


    ¡°Listen well. The true power of the earth divine power is the property alteration of a solid. If ya seriously pray for it, this giant scythe will be as light as cotton, as heavy as lead metal, as thin as paper, as thick as a shield, as hard as steel, as sticky as mud; all of those properties are possible. Be it fire, water, wind, light; it can cut anything. That be the earth scythe.¡±


    ¡°U-Understood-dasu, Baa-chan!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Don¡¯t get weak on yer knees. Ya can do it.¡±


    Sasae-chan takes the earth scythe Seeta with an expression filled with determination.


    Celestis and I looked at it from beginning to end from the sides.


    ¡°Uhm, you know. That Obaa-san might have said all those things but, I think that she herself is spoiling that brat like crazy as well.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yeah. But she is properly guiding her.¡± (Haine)


    She must have been raised caringly by many people just like this, like an egg. That is the earth hero, Gonbee Sasae.


    ¡°Now Sasae, go! What is the motto of the Earth Church¡¯s military power, the Scorched Earth Annihtion corps?!¡±


    ¡°¡®Punch first, apologizeter¡¯-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°If they don¡¯t forgive ya?!¡±


    ¡°¡®Punch a lot first, and apologizeter¡¯-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Isn¡¯t that motto no good?


    But it looks like it was effective.


    Being given a push by her beloved grandmother, the hero received a hundred times more energy.


    ¡°This be the time to make a decision-dasu! In order to fulfill my duty as a hero! In order to protect a lotsa people! The earth hero, Gonbee Sasae, will now be fighting against Great Pir-sama!¡± (Sasae)


    And then, she brandished the giant scythe and ran off.


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!¡±


    ¡°[me Hurricane]!¡±


    ¡°[Strengthening] and [Edge Tornado]!¡±


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Sasae-chan were fighting at their own sides and were hindering the advance of the roots, but the situation didn¡¯t look good.


    The opponent was undeniably gigantic after all. A giant tree that would make you wonder if it is serving as a pir for the sky, Grandma Wood.


    Even if it¡¯s a hero, the attack of a single human would only be damage on a level of pricking it with a thorn. On top of that, the giant roots that Grandma Wood uses as weapons have already captured a good amount of humans. There were so many that it made the surface of the roots uneven.


    Of course, they couldn¡¯t attack recklessly, and the fight naturally turned conservative.


    We were slowly being cornered and the state of the situation was slowly turning to the worse.


    ¡°As I thought...I have to go too!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And like I said, you can¡¯t! Stay there! Just a bit more for your wound to close!!¡± (Celestis)


    The wound at my abdomen that was made by the earth scythe Seeta was closing visibly, but it didn¡¯t reach full recovery.


    In normal circumstances, it should be a wound that would require to be sewn up and have me rest for several weeks, sopared to that, this was a scarily fast recovery here. But right now, every second that passes is mortifying.


    ¡°...Ya see, we ended up relying way too much on things that we couldn¡¯tprehend.¡±


    The Obaa-san that was sitting at our side said this.


    This person that has been confirmed to be a strong fighter in the past is already an old person and can¡¯t move much, but that defenseless posture of hers felt like it was saying: ¡®who cares anymore, whatever happens, happens¡¯, as if she had given up already.


    ¡°We know about the thing called ethereal that the far cities use. That be something that was found by the hands of people, researched by the hands of many people, and took several decades to develop. It be different from Golems.¡±


    The Obaa-san continues.


    ¡°We be given something we didn¡¯t understand at all, we relied solely on something we didn¡¯t understand. I thought it wasn¡¯t good for things to continue like this, and yet, I couldn¡¯t change things.¡±


    ¡°...Even so, that doesn¡¯t serve as a reason to ept this destruction.¡± (Haine)


    My wound is mostly closed now.


    I stop the healing, and stand up.


    ¡°You, wait a moment!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis hurriedly tried to put me back in ce, but I didn¡¯t obey.


    ¡°I will defeat Grandma Wood ¨CGreat Pir-sama. I will also save the people that were assimted. Everyone is still alive. That thing¡¯s objective is to obtain stable prayer¡ªspiritual energy absorption, so there¡¯s no point if it were to kill them.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°How are we going to defeat such a big thing like that?! Also, saving the people that are assimted to the tree is practically an impossible feat. Just how are you going to safely sever the violently wriggling roots? Moreover, save those several hundreds of people!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The trunk itself.¡± (Haine)


    I point at Grandma Wood.


    ¡°The tree¡¯s body is the trunk. That guy is using only the roots to assimte humans, and the assimted people are concentrated on the roots. In other words, if we blow up the trunk, the people will be safe.¡± (Haine)


    Of course, nts are filled with vital energy. Just like weeds, even if you cut them into a thousand pieces, as long as the roots remain, it can grow as many times as it wants, which could be a usible possibility here.


    But, even if that really is the case, if we blow up the trunk, and on top of that, wipe out all the leaves and branches, the tree won¡¯t be able to receive nutrients from the sunlight, and there will definitely be some damage dealt.


    ¡°No no no no! Wait wait wait there!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis immediately objects to my n.


    ¡°You are saying this incredibly casually but, can you blow up that big tree?! That thing¡¯s size is not something to sneeze at, you know?! The biggest monster I know of is the Great Sea Dragon I fought not that long ago, but there¡¯s the need tobine several hundreds of those in order to reach the size of this tree, you know?! And you are saying you are going to blow it up?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I can.¡± (Haine)


    My affirmation left Celestis speechless.


    ¡°But in order to do that, we have to lower those rampaging roots. Right now they are wriggling and jumping around, and there are times when they would get close to the trunk; with that, there¡¯s the risk of dragging those too in it. I won¡¯t be able to cleanly blow the trunk up!¡± (Haine)


    Celestis was looking at me with a clear face of: ¡®did this guy hit his head?¡¯.


    ¡°Understood! That role, I will ept it!!¡±


    The voice that reverberated from the wireless transmitter was from Karen.


    Looks like our conversation reached their ears as well.


    ¡°We heroes will lure the roots and lower them to the ground! Haine-san, please concentrate on attacking the main body! Mirack-chan! Sasae-chan! You can do it, right?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Is there are a time when I have said no to what you propose, Karen?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand, but I understand-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Wait, you girls!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis voices her disapproval alone, but it soon disappeared.


    She already knows that once Karen-san has said something, she has a personality that doesn¡¯t go back anymore.


    ¡°¡ªI get it, geez! Let¡¯s go with that n! Get it, Haine-chi? This basically means that the four of us will be entrusting our life to you! Make it seed with frantess on the level of making all of us your brides, okay?!¡± (Celestis)


    And just when she wascking on things to say, Celestis-san goes and says something outrageous.


    ¡°That sounds nice! Let¡¯s do that!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san, please don¡¯t thoughtlessly bite.


    ¡°Anyways, I will be moving to a ce where I can snipe Grandma Wood. Please tell the others not to get closer than necessary. If they get caught in it, they won¡¯t be leaving even dust behind after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand well, but I do understand that you are incredibly confident. Okay. You take this as well!¡± (Celestis)


    Saying this, Celestis takes out something from her pocket and throws it to me.


    It is the same thing that Celestis has in her ear. A wireless device?


    ¡°It is thetest model of the head office in Hydra Ville. You equip it by fixing that hook at your ear. With that, you will be able to fight freely with both arms and still maintainmunication. I said this already but, the only ones who have been sessful in making a small version like that is us!¡± (Celestis)


    It is true that being able tomunicate even when afar is a grateful thing.


    I equip the transmission device to my right ear just as told.


    ¡°Haine-san, I have something to talk to you aboutter.¡± (Karen)


    And, the moment I equipped it, I heard the voice of Karen.


    ¡°I will have you properly exin the reason why you went on your own and left me behind, okay?¡± (Karen)


    It looks like things are getting scary.


    But in order to connect the future to that scary event, I have to obtain victory here.


    Understanding what everyone has to do, we move towards that goal.

 Chapter 126-128 - Heroes vs Divine Tree

    <h4>Chapter 126-128: Heroes vs Divine Tree</h4>


    I control the dark matter and fly into the sky.


    Looking down at a decent height, I could see the full picture of Grandma Wood once again.


    I knew that the roots that were jutting out from the ground were wriggling like tentacles and were being used as weapons, but now that I look at it like this, the roots were branched to some extent, but there¡¯s no more than 5 main roots.


    There¡¯s probably several times more of those underground, but it is most likely not utilizing those to maintain bnce.


    In the first ce, the important role of the roots is to support the trunk that is towering high up. If it were to use all of them as weapons and takes them out from underground, the tree wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain bnce and fall.


    Those five are probably the bare limit to how many Grandma Wood can take out while still maintaining bnce.


    At least that¡¯s what I would like to think. If it were to increase even more, no matter how reliable of a reinforcement were toe, we wouldn¡¯t be able to control the situation.


    I heard a shout from my ear.


    ¡°And so, what are we going to do?! Just trying to stop those giant roots of the tree is already a crazy tough mission, you know! It might even be an impossible task!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You might already know, but I will say it just in case! Don¡¯t touch that root directly! We will end up assimted as well after all!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eeh?! But I can¡¯t do proper damage unless I cut it directly-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Calm down, Sasae-chan! If you do a hit-and-run, you won¡¯t get caught!¡± (Karen)


    Their voices wereing at me from the wireless device.


    Thanks to the work of the heroes, there¡¯s already no people around the perimeter of battle. Looks like they have been safely evacuated.


    But now that there¡¯s no people around, the Golems that now have nothing to do were gathering around where Karen-san and her group are in, and the more time passes, the higher the chances they will be crushed by the numbers.


    ¡°From what I see from above, the Golems have changed their objective and are heading your direction! Their moves are dull, but they are trying to crowd onto you! The more time it passes, the difficult it will be to move!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Above?! Where are you at?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am going to be entering preparations, so I can¡¯t help. I repeat! I can¡¯t help! Please stop the movements of the roots by yourselves! I am counting on you!¡± (Haine)


    I was already in the process ofpressing my dark matter.


    I would say it will take me until around the time I count to 1,000. Will the heroes be able to stop the movements of the roots by then?


    ¡°Everyone, hear me out!¡± (Karen)


    The voice of Karen-san reverberates from the wireless device.


    ¡°Each of us fighting one separately won¡¯t let us stop the roots from moving! Let¡¯s gather up, cooperate, and find a method that we can do!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Cooperate...in other words¡ª?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°When in trouble,bined elements, right?!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right. In the long history of the five churches, not only the five have been fighting each other, this in turn made the heroes antagonistic with each other too.


    When those heroes have ovee their conflicts with each other and put their hearts together, put their elements together, a new element is created.


    That miracle has saved those girls from danger several times already.


    ¡°Eh? What you girls talking about-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    The new member Sasae-chan was the only one who couldn¡¯t keep up with the conversation.


    ¡°It is that! The thing that destroyed your Golems in Apollon City!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But what will we bebining with what?! Mine and Karen-chi¡¯s ¡®Mirage¡¯ may serve to confuse, but it won¡¯t be fulfilling the request of stopping its movements, you know!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡®Lightning¡¯ and ¡®Explosion¡¯ have way too high of a possibility to drag the people that are captured in the roots along with it, so we can¡¯t use those either. In other words, the things we have used until now are all out of the question. That¡¯s why, the one that we can put our hopes into is...at a new possibility!¡± (Karen)


    A new possibility?


    ¡°......I see. Sasae! Where are you right now?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What-dasu?! I be sending a sign-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Soon after, a big cloud of dust rose up in the battlefield at a certain ce.


    ¡°¡ªOkay!¡±


    Not long after...


    ¡°¡ªAlright! I am the first one! Sasae, let¡¯s do it!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hiiiaa?! What-dasu?! Suddenly hugging me?! Why ye suddenly pouring divine power inside mah body-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°It is fine, just match my breathing! Mix the divine power! Chant the words that appear inside your heart just as it is! Get it?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fueeeee?!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°¡°[Magma Ocean]-dasu!!¡±¡± (Mirack+Sasae)


    The ground was dyedpletely red.


    I was in standby high up in the sky, so I could tell. It was letting out a fluid-type of shine that was different from fire, and the ground was shining in red.


    Could that be..va?!


    Thebination of fire and earth has created thisva?!


    Because the ground has been covered in a liquid that is several thousand degrees in temperature, it made the roots of Grandma Wood falter and loosen their attacks but...


    ¡°This is just...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It would burn the captured people into a crisp-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    That¡¯s right. If they were to make a wave from theva that appeared, they would be able to deal heavy damage to Grandma Wood, but the people that are captured in the roots will certainly die.


    Just like how ¡®Lightning¡¯ and ¡®Explosion¡¯ are no good, the new ¡®Magma¡¯ is obviously also an overkill.


    ¡°Geez, as expected of the fire element! No matter what you mix into it, it all turns into something atrocious!¡± (Celestis)


    The voice I heard from the wireless device was Celestis. The next one to run to Sasae-chan was her huh.


    ¡°Just watch! This idol hero, Celestis-sama, will produce magnificent and beautiful water divine power, and do aplete make-up of this country bumpkin girl!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Hiiih?! I be in great demand for a while now-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    It is hard to tell from just their voices alone, but Sasae-chan is probably in a state where she is being treated like a pet by a group of girls.


    It is the pattern where she gets pampered so much that the next day she will end up all exhausted.


    And then, what appeared from mixing ¡®water¡¯ and ¡®earth¡¯...


    ¡°¡±[Tree nt]!!¡± (Celestis+Sasae)


    With the two as the center, a green color mist was released, which is something I could see from my point of view.


    What¡¯s that mist?


    And then, it fell due to gravity and falls to the ground, and when that happened, a surprising change urred.


    Grass began visibly growing on the surface of the ground, moreover, it was stretching without limits.


    It was terrifyingly thick ivies. That¡¯s the kind of nt it gave me the impression of.


    Those wrapped around the roots of Grandma Wood and drag them to the ground.


    Because they were nts, I thought for a second that they might be enemies, so I was cautious, but as I thought, it seems to be thebined element of Sasae-chan and Celestis.


    Mixing earth and water, ¡®Green¡¯ appears. Moisturizing the earth, it invigorates the nts.


    ¡°Bingo!! Look at that! Being wrapped in ivy, the roots of that bastard tree can¡¯t do anything! It is fulfilling the request of Haine-chi a 100%! Truly fighting fire with fire, nts with nts! As expected, of an idol. This is Celes-tan!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Enough with the boasting! If thebination of you and Sasae is a jackpot, grab the other roots as well.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes yes, I get it. I will move now¡ªwait, eeeeh?!¡± (Celestis)


    But she couldn¡¯t. The Golems that had gathered at the surroundings were still continuing to surround them after all.


    The giant roots that Grandma Wood is swinging around are 5 in total. Right now, only one of them has been wrapped and immobilized.


    To restrain the remaining 4, she has to get close to where each of them is and activate the green element. But to do that, she has to get through the encirclement of Golems, and even if she manages to, it would take too much time.


    ¡°Oi, Sasae! You were controlling Golems in Apollon City, right?! Can¡¯t you have them retreat with that ability of yours?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It be impossible-dasu! They are not taking orders-dasu! The order authority was most likely taken away by Great Pir-sama-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    The one who was giving birth to the Golems is the Mother Monster, Grandma Wood.


    The residents called it Great Pir-sama and it should be easy even for Sasae-chan to imagine that it possesses high influence with the Golems.


    But this doesn¡¯t link to a solution.


    They have to do something fast, or my preparations will be ending before they manage to stop them!


    ¡°Mirack-chi, you don¡¯t have a role anymore, so how about going kamikaze on those Golems and self-destruct?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°When that happens, I will make sure to bring you along with me! But, it looks like this time there¡¯s no need for that.¡± (Mirack)


    Weaving through the encirclement of Golems and passing by the giants one after the other, a silver sh approaches the three.


    ¡°Karen!¡± ¡°Karen-chi!¡± ¡°Karen-neechan!¡±


    The light hero arrives at this moment.


    Karen-san arrives to where the team is.


    ¡°You arete, Karen! I was tired of waiting!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We have found a solution, but there¡¯s a lot of problems!! For thebined element of Sasae-chi and I to bind the roots, there¡¯s the need to approach the objective to a certain degree! But for the sake of that, the Golems are aplete hindrance!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What should we do?! Have Karen and I take the front and advance as we open the path?!¡± (Mirack)


    The four congregated and their morale increased by quite a lot.


    They are brimming with the will of oveing this crisis by joining forces.


    ¡°...Hmm, it probably won¡¯t make it in time. Haine-san will soon finish his preparations.¡± (Karen)


    I felt the gaze of Karen-san from below.


    ¡°Haine-san ispressing the dark matter he releases at an incredible rate. It will probably be finished soon. We most likely don¡¯t have the time to go around binding each root one by one. That¡¯s why...let¡¯s bet on thest possibility.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Thest possibility?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s still onebination that we haven¡¯t tried out yet, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood! Then Celestis and I will hold back the Golems!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Sasae-chi! Do your best, got it?! This is the Earth capital, Ishtar ze! This is the main stage of the earth hero! Make sure you rock it!¡± (Celestis)


    I hear the sound of fierce fighting from the wireless device.


    But I could tell that there was a side that was incredibly silent.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Sasae-chan. Light and earthbined element. With that, we will create a breakthrough.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood-dasu. I been smushed for a while now, so I already got the gist of it-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    And then, the different types of divine power were mixed, and after mixing, one new type of divine power appears.


    ¡°?!!! What?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The Golems are¡ª?!¡± (Celestis)


    The first ones to notice the abnormality was Mirack and Celestis who were fighting at the frontline.


    ¡°The movements of the Golems have stopped! What happened?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Don¡¯t lower your guard, Mirack-chi! This might be the prelude to a new setup thatrge tree bastard is preparing!¡± (Celestis)


    But that wasn¡¯t the case.


    In the moment the stopped Golems began moving again...their objective was already not the heroes ¨Cit was the roots of Grandma Wood.


    Even with their big frames, the Golems jumped, used each other as footholds, and clung onto the giant roots, trying to bring them down to the ground.


    The Golems were indeed encircling the heroes, but most of the Golems were scattered at the surroundings of the giant tree, so the attack urred on all the roots at the same time.


    In order to not hurt the people assimted at the surface, they did it gently, but also firmly held down the roots to the ground.


    That means the Golems arepletely following our will.


    Why did the Golems suddenly bes our allies?


    ¡°Could it be...was this done by Karen and Sasae?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack reached straight to that conclusion.


    ¡°Light doesn¡¯t only provide energy, it can also be used as a way to ry information. The things we see are because we can visualize the reflected light with our eyes, and light tells us a variety of information.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°If I remember correctly, when Sasae-chi gives orders to the Golems, she pours earth divine power, right? When the light divine power and earth divine powerbined, the earth divine power rode the light that is in the air, and was able to reach several Golems in far distances at the same time? Is that thebined element of light and earth?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis also joins in the deduction.


    Even if that¡¯s correct, the current Golems are being controlled by the highest authority holder; they should be moving on the direct orders of Mother Earth Mantle.


    Are you telling me they have rewritten that control? Humans have?


    ¡°I...really can¡¯t believe it-dasu yo.¡± (Sasae)


    From the wireless device, a small and fragile voice is transmitted.


    It is Sasae-chan¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Golems been together with me since I be born-dasu. They been together with me since forever. They helped me, protected me. They be the friends of all the people in Ishtar ze-dasu yo. That¡¯s why, I really can¡¯t believe that they are enemies-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    The hero, that lived in thisnd and knew of thisnd more than anyone else, raised her voice along with those violent emotions rising in her.


    That voice rode the light and reaches the far ends of the world.


    ¡°Nice, Sasae-chan. Shout more. More!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Please, Golems!! Please help us-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    The Golems ovepped and fuse into a giant Golem.


    It was bigger than any Golem I have seen. To make aparison, it is big enough to fight against the Fire Cow Phris and the Hydra Serpent. Moreover, fight several of them.


    With that sufficient frame, it holds down the roots of Grandma Wood. The people at its surface are also okay.


    cing all of its weight, it felt as if it were trying to fix the rampaging roots in ce.


    The Golems are helping the humans again.


    They have been relied upon so heavily, and in the end, betrayed them. In a situation where no one believed in them anymore, Sasae-chan was the only one who blindly believed in them, and that believing heart turned it into reality.


    A young hero; a country bumpkin hero; a hero that doesn¡¯t know things and stupidly causes problems to others. But that foolishness of hers is a foolishness that allows her to stupidly believe until the very end.


    A believe towards the Golems that has been with her since birth.


    It is because she believes in the Golems that she believed in Grandma Wood who gave birth to them; It is because she believes in the Golems that she believed in the Mother Earth God Mantle that they served.


    Even if she ends up not believing in those two, she still didn¡¯t stop believing in the Golems.


    A foolishness that will be forgotten in time as you grow up; a foolishness thates from youth.


    Sasae-chan¡¯s voice reached the ces that it should have reached.


    ¡°Seriously, to think that a hero would ask for help from someone else to change the situation...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine? Sasae-chi gives out an aura that makes you want to dote on her, right? Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a quality of a hero as well?¡± (Celestis)


    Even Mirack and Celestisugh at the silly miracle that Sasae-chan created.


    But that¡¯s fine.


    I love that foolishness that allowed for this miracle.


    As someone who loves humans, loving only a part of the humans that I like would make that love of mine a lie after all.


    And so, I finished what was in my hand right in time.


    Apressed to the very limits dark matter; a ¡®Micro ck Hole¡¯.


    I actually didn¡¯t want to use it.


    The strongest destruction method I possess as the Dark God. This is something that is originally used in order to reset a world that isn¡¯t favorable.


    By reducing its power to a trillion times, I get the thing that is in my hands.


    But even with that, it is still hard to use this technique with my human body.


    ¡°...Even so, this is still plenty enough to erase half of your body!!¡± (Haine)


    Giant tree!


    Thanks to the heroes, the fear of dragging humans into it haspletely disappeared.


    There¡¯s already no need to worry.


    I stabilize my aim and release it.


    ¡°Wait!!¡±


    But, at the ce where I aimed at, at the light brown trunk of Grandma Wood that covers my whole view, there was one part that was shining fluorescently.


    That shine had the figure of a human.


    It was the Fairy of Mother Earth Mantle.


    Mother Earth God, Mantle.


    The very culprit of this disaster has showed up again.


    I can understand the reason of it.


    She knows that she has been checkmated.


    I take away the wireless device from my ear, and throw it away.


    ¡°Mantle, move away.¡± (Haine)


    Even if we are far away, if we ovep the wavelength of Gods, we can have a conversation plenty well.


    ¡°If you think there won¡¯t be any problems in being crushed because you are in the temporal form of a Fairy, you are heavily mistaken, you know?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why, Entropy-san?! Didn¡¯t you praise me?! Didn¡¯t you acknowledge that what I was doing was splendid?! And yet, are you going to reject everything now?!¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle¡¯s objection was painful.


    ¡°Everyone will be happy! Humans don¡¯t have to fight, don¡¯t have to work. They can push away all the troublesome things aside, and live forever! In return, I receive soul energy that is simr to that of prayer energy. Everyone gets something out of it, and no one suffers! Why are you getting in the way of such a splendid thing?!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Mantle...¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s right. I didn¡¯t notice how scary you could be.


    Without understanding the other side of that frailty of yours, I thoughtlessly praised you, and as a result, promoted your rampage.


    Intion most likely noticed that madness that was hiding inside of you, and in order for it to not surface, she was always careful about it and pushing it down.


    That¡¯s probably the reason for Mantle¡¯s usual weak demeanor she normally shows.


    ¡°I am sorry. I was unable to truly understand you. Without understanding everything, I looked at only a part of you. I could only appreciate a part of you that was convenient for me. I am sorry. I am truly sorry!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Entropy-san, what are you saying?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°But Mantle, happiness is probably not that simple of a subject. Just what is true happiness? An answer to that won¡¯t easilye out. Everyone gets troubled by that question, and each individual has apletely different answer to it. That¡¯s why there is no true answer, not now, and not ever.¡± (Haine)


    Making someone else happy.


    That might be meddlesome, but as a wish, I have to admit that a wish like that is not wrong in the least.


    But to ignore the will of the other party and push your own answer at someone else, I think it is an irreparable sin.


    Rather than obtaining happiness, thinking about what is happiness; for humans, the search for that in itself is important.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, Mantle, I can¡¯t forgive you, the you that is trying to steal the right of humans to think. I will be erasing that very action of yours. Just like how humans certainly die, just like how demise will always ur in the millenias of this world, right now, I will...¡± (Haine)


    ...Provide that demise to you and your subordinate


    ¡°Heavily decreased [ck Hole Cannon]¡± (Haine)


    From my hand, something that was as small as a grain was shot.


    ¡°I will say it again, Mantle. Move away.¡± (Haine)


    Right now, it was docilely flying in one direction, and in the moment it arrived at the trunk of the giant tree, it does as it was set up to do beforehand...


    It swallowed everything.


    ¡°Kyaaa!! Whaaat?!!¡± (Mantle)


    The dark matter, that waspressed to the very limits, increased the gravity due to its mass, and when it reached a certain critical point, it turns into a ck hole that releases unlimited gravity.


    When that happens, nothing can escape. Whether it is something with substance or not, everything will get caught in its gravity, and be thrown into the depths of darkness.


    Even the earth Mother Monster that possesses the most mass in this whole world had its wooden body creak conspicuously, and even the very creaking sound got swallowed along with the air, got crushed, broken, and disappears inside the darkness.


    And then, the other things as well.


    ¡°Iyaaaa!! Why?! Why is my body as well?! Even my body is being dragged by the gravity~~~!¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle¡¯s desperate scream.


    That¡¯s why I warned you to move away from there.


    Thisst resort of I -the Dark God Entropy- is not something sweet that would ignore things just because they don¡¯t have an actual body.


    A body that has nothing to do with mass... It can even swallow the soul of a God.


    In my conversation with the Fire God Nova, I told him that ¡®I can¡¯t seal Gods¡¯.


    I can¡¯t seal, but I can erase them.


    To the depths of the darkness inside the ck Hole, that is.


    This power that I didn¡¯t use on even Nova and Coacervate; to think I would be forced to use it in you.


    ¡°.......You are the epitome of pity, Mother Earth God, Mantle.¡± (Haine)


    If I had been more careful in my choice of words, we might have entered an understanding.


    ¡°Kyaaaaaaaaa!!! Noooooo!!¡± (Mantle)


    Swallowing even the cries of the Mother Earth God, the ck Hole in time swallows even itself, and disappears without leaving a trace.


    Just like how I set it up to do ¨Cit doesn¡¯t leave anything behind.


    Most of the giant tree was swallowed, and excluding the lower part that was gouged out and was left as just a stump...it didn¡¯t have a single leaf remaining.


    If I had set up the range, I could have made it so that the outside didn¡¯t have a single wound, but the inside would not even have dust left.


    My ultimate destructive technique.


    That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to use it ever if possible.


    But because of it, we were able to win this time.


    No, it wasn¡¯t only the power of the ck Hole.


    The four heroes that came at the perfect time and did a splendid job at supporting me.


    The victory was theirs.


    ***


    And like this, the curtains to the battle in Ishtar ze closed.


    The people that were assimted into the roots of Grandma Wood were cut out one by one in time, and we managed to save them all without sacrificing anyone.


    Separated from the tree bark, they regained their consciousness right after, and were able to operate just like before without change.


    In terms of humans, there were no lives that were lost. In that sense, it can be said to be a blessing. But in exchange, the damage to thend was terrible.


    Because of the rampaging of Grandma Wood, most of the buildings copsed, the ground was broken, as if this were what was left after a natural disaster.


    The sight was so terrible that it made me think it would be next to impossible to return it to being one of the five major cities.


    But that almost impossible task is something that humans have to ovee.


    No matter what difficulties are in front of them, to think about it and ovee it is what makes a human.

 Chapter 129-130 - Rebirth of the Earth capital

    <h4>Chapter 129-130: Rebirth of the Earth capital</h4>


    Trantion Note: Hey guys, because of abination of various circumstances, the amount of chapters today will be a tad less.


    Sorry Orca-san! I was thinking about releasing extra chapters today for your birthday, but I couldn¡¯t! I have failed! T*T


    ¡°Thanks for saving the Earth capital from its crisis.¡±


    The Earth Founder was giving its thanks to the heroes that were lined up.


    In ce of the destroyed Grand Crimson Pce, they were at the temporary Earth Church headquarters that was build impromptu. And the first thing that was done there was to sing praises to the heroes¡¯ achievements.


    ¡°Your presence in this time of need was an incredible blessing for us the Earth Church. The Light Church, Fire Church, and Water Church; you who have been fighting each other for a long time, have extended a helping hand to us without hesitation. This kindness of yours, as the Earth Founder of the Earth Church, I want to convey my thanks to...¡±


    ¡°.........¡±


    ¡°....Let¡¯s just stop it there.¡±


    ¡°Baa-chan?!¡± (Sasae)


    The Earth Founder...or more like, the new person that has assumed the post of Earth Founder, Sasae-chan¡¯s grandma, couldn¡¯t endure the stiff talk for even a moment.


    The former Earth Founder, who was the first to be assimted by Grandma Wood, was safely rescued, but because of the mental damage he received from the shock, he has fallen into stupefaction, and was deemed as impossible for him to continue in his post as an Earth Founder.


    Well, I was in the ce when it all happened. He was face to face with the Mother Earth God that he has been worshipping his whole life and was about to be killed by her, so I can imagine that the shock he received was something that surpasses imagination.


    And so, the one who took his ce as the new Founder was the one who made great achievements as a hero a long time ago, and is considered the legendary strongest, known as ¡®Taker by the roots¡¯; the Obaa-san of Sasae-chan.


    ¡°That¡¯s no good. As I thought, I shouldn¡¯t be doing things I am not used to doing at this age. Mah stiff shoulders are gettin¡¯ even rougher-sa ne.¡±


    ¡°But Baa-chan! Ya need to have dignity as a Founder-dasu yo! Especially today where yer officially face to face with the people of the other churches-dasu! If ya don¡¯t act properly, it will be a shame-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Those be the words of the girl that made an embarrassment of herself?¡±


    ¡°Aw?!¡± (Sasae)


    The hero that is dressed up today, Sasae-chan, has been shot down.


    ¡°Well, it be hard to convey feelings with decorated words after all. I¡¯ll be straight. Ya have my deepest gratitude.¡±


    It is true that those words reached our hearts deeper than any ornamented words.


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, who were participating in this, were also showing embarrassment.


    ¡°Ishtar ze may have ended up all beaten up, but well, let¡¯s think about it as the price we gotta pay for relyin¡¯ on something we didn¡¯t understand and just start from zero. Luckily, the agriculturalnd at the surroundings of the city don¡¯t have a single scratch. In my eyes, that can be called the core of this city, so things should work out. And most importantly, there be no deaths.¡±


    ¡°Then, the Golems are...¡± (Haine)


    I, who was standing humbly at a corner, slipped in a question.


    Karen-san pushed me heavily into participating in the ceremony as well, but since I am not a hero, I also heavily refused.


    ...The Golems were...fearsome enemies this time around.


    And their parent Grandma Wood -which is revered as Great Pir-sama by the humans- was a fearsome enemy as well.


    Until now, the Golems have been helping humans in their daily life, plowed the fields, transported goods, and even became houses using their own bodies, and yet, they suddenly changed; they captured humans, and were presenting them to the giant tree as food.


    The people of Ishtar ze saw Great Pir-sama as the blessing of the Mother Earth God, but its betrayal and the betrayal of its Golem children was shocking enough to not want to ept it.


    A heated discussion was made regarding this matter at the Earth Church, and there were even extreme arguments like: ¡®Great Pir-sama was dispatched by the Mother Earth God to eradicate humans¡¯.


    It was a radical statement that might even invite the fall of the Earth Church, but because of the words of the heroes that came from the outside, the fact that monsters are originally enemies of humans was pointed out, and chaos was withheld.


    In the end, the decision that was made was that ¡®Great Pir-sama has no connections with the Mother Earth God¡¯, and ¡®Great Pir-sama was nning on making the humans fall into its trap as a monster, and grew closer to humans for that sake¡¯.


    Of course, the truth was different. The real reason for this turmoil was the goodwill the Mother Earth God had towards humans, and her helpless difference of values she held.


    But rather than exposing those, it was better to keep those secret in order for the humans to stand up as fast as possible.


    In order to have them lean onto something, I thought that this was a convenient thing to use.


    But even so, there¡¯s still a problem I can¡¯t allow for it to stay as it is.


    The Golems.


    Even if Grandma Wood has fallen, there¡¯s still a good amount of Golems that are still remaining.


    In the battle, Sasae-chan and the others managed to steal back the control and once again turned to being allies of the humans, but...


    ¡°About that... Sasae.¡±


    ¡°Yes-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ya say it.¡±


    Being prompted by the Obaa-san, Sasae-chan speaks.


    ¡°...Right now in Ishtar ze...around 4,300 Life Blocks have been confirmed-dasu. With Great Pir-sama gone, they ain¡¯t gonna increase more-dasu, but with the incident this time, the doubts towards Golems has increased, there been opinions of disposing of all of them-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    That¡¯s the natural mentality of humans ¨Cor more like, the natural mentality of living beings.


    The moment it shows to be a danger to their life once, leaving them close normally doesn¡¯t ur.


    ¡°And the one who stopped that from happening was this one person alone.¡±


    Telling Sasae-chan to exin, and yet, the Obaa-san cuts into it and says her piece.


    ¡°It be true that we have been betrayed. But the reason why we were able to develop this much was without doubt thanks to the Golems. To forget that and just say: ¡®can¡¯t believe in them, let¡¯s trash them¡¯, that would be way too ungrateful, or so she said.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Sasae-chan really loves Golems after all.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says.


    ¡°When webined the light and earth divine power, I also heard the voice of Sasae-chan that was calling out to the Golems. Even if they have no souls, even if they don¡¯t have a will, as long as humans love them as much as she does, Golems won¡¯t betray you ever again.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-neechan!! I...I also love Karen-neechan-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan hugged Karen-san.


    Two girls were firmly hugging each other.


    ¡°...That girl, I wonder if I can slowly bake her up.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Like I said, don¡¯t get jealous, fire hero.¡± (Celestis)


    As if saying ¡®what a hopeless girl¡¯, the Obaa-san lets out a sigh.


    ¡°At any rate, we have been relying on the Golems for several decades, it be impossible for us to stand back up without the Golems. At that time, the one who gave out an evil order to the Golems was Great Pir-sama. Now that Great Pir-sama ain¡¯t here anymore, the Golems shouldn¡¯t go doing anymore evils.¡±


    It looks like that is the conclusion they arrived at.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know if to call it a blessing but, now that Great Pir-sama ain¡¯t here anymore, no more Golems will be born. It will probably take around 10 to 20 years until the Golems we currently have to break or decay.¡±


    ¡°So in that long time, you are nning on changing slowly into ethereal machines huh.¡± (Haine)


    That sounds good.


    From what I have seen, even now when I have erased Mother Earth Mantle into darkness, I can¡¯t throw away the believe that what she has formed in thisnd was an utopia.


    The humans and monsters that were originally mutual enemies were able to hold hands this much. That is something splendid, and I don¡¯t want to think that was a mistake.


    The time a God lives is long.


    After several millenniums, several epochs, will I be able to meet Mantle who has gone through the opposite side of space-time?


    ¡°That¡¯s right-dasu! That¡¯s why, for a while more, Golems will be the friends of humans-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan says filled with energy.


    This destroyed Ishtar ze will most likely return to its former glory soon with the help of the Golems.


    The human world, the nature world; today as well, it continues to move forward.


    ¡°Aah~, I am being revived.¡±


    After finishing the ceremony in the temporary Earth Church headquarter, we were allowed to rx.


    There was only me in this open air bath.


    Sinking my body in the warm water, I washed the exhaustion that has been umted in thesest few days.


    ¡°But to think there would be warm watering out from the ground. I didn¡¯t know about that at all.¡± (Haine)


    It is apparently called hot springs.


    It is a specialty of Ishtar ze, warm water of moderate temperature thates out from the ground. Inside the country, there¡¯s several tens of facilities that have dug them out.


    So this is also a blessing of the earth huh.


    There was fear that the underground construction would change because of the rampage of Grandma Wood, but because there were no changes in the amounting out, they deemed it as not having any problems in its utilization.


    In order to give a warm reception to the heroes that saved the city, they have reserved the whole facility for us. I kind of feel bad for that, but...


    ¡°Even those kind of feelings melt away here~~, hot springs are the best~.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It truly does feel good. It would have been nice if Yorishiro-sama were to havee as well.¡±


    ¡°If she were here, there would be no rxing. It would turn into a battle for my chastity¡ª¨Chm?¡± (Haine)


    By the time I noticed, there was Karen-san using the hot springs at my side.


    ¡°Ueeee?!¡± (Haine)


    Why is Karen-san here?! Isn¡¯t this the male side, for male use ONLY?!


    ¡°Why?! Why are you here, Karen-san?! This is bad! If you are in the bath, it must mean that you are naked, right?! Is this another n of yours to destroy my self-control?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san makes a small sshing sound...and stands up.


    Of course, most of the body that was hidden inside the water hade out, and I thought her naked body would be exposed to me but...


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°It is apparently called yukatabira <singleyer absorbent bathrobe (don¡¯t know the english equivalent)>. When men and women want to enter the hot spring together, they apparently give you this so you can enter the hot spring while wearing it.¡± (Karen)


    It is true that the current Karen-san is wearing something I haven¡¯t seen before, and an event that surpassed morals was avoided.


    But this in itself...the white cloth wet in the water is sticking to her skin, moreover, it is semi-transparent... It is safe, and yet, I gives out an unspeakable immoral sensation.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t misjudge me. I have decided that the moment I give my chastity to Haine-san, it will be together with my friend, Yorishiro-sama. I am not the type of woman that would steal the march after all.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I-Is that so?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And, Haine-san...¡± (Karen)


    The hot spring made a sshing sound again, and Karen-san approached me.


    Different from her, I was thinking of entering the hot springs alone, so I am not wearing this so called yukatabira.


    That¡¯s why I can¡¯t escape. Even if I try to escape, the moment I step out of the water, I will be showing a lot of unsightly things to Karen-san.


    ¡°I have finally gotten time to ask you about it. Why did you leave me and went on your own?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Uhm...!¡± (Haine)


    Now that she says it, Karen-san was really angry that I decided on going alone this time around.


    But there¡¯s no helping it. Karen-san has her own duties as a hero, and I can¡¯t openly talk about defeating the Mother Monsters, so I didn¡¯t want to involve the hero, who is the representative of the church, as much as possible.


    It is true that Karen-san and the others appearing at thest moment saved me, but the trigger to that was Karen-san being in Apollon City and meeting with Sasae-chan. That¡¯s why, in terms of result, it was probably the right decision to have her stay.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    For some reason, the silence was heavy and painful.


    ¡°...I was worried, you know.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Haine-san was not there, and just imagining Haine-san fighting alone somewhere I don¡¯t know of made me unable to sleep at night. What if Haine-san had gotten in trouble, I could save you if I were there -but what if I am not there? Just by thinking that, my heart was in so much pain.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Y-You see¡ª!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Do you think I am being too conceited for thinking that someone like me can save Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    I was being pushed back by the spirit of Karen-san!


    Not only can¡¯t I refute her, I can¡¯t even justify myself.


    ¡°There¡¯s three Mother Monsters remaining. Of course, you n on defeating them all, right Haine-san? At that time, I will go with you. Even if you tell me I can¡¯t, I will. Got it?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Y-Yes!¡± (Haine)


    Is the only thing I could say.


    I was not allowed any other answer.


    This is already not the pressure of a hero, it was the pressure of a woman. I have been told this before, but to think Karen-san had such an intense side to her.


    ¡°Good.¡± (Karen)


    Maybe she was satisfied with my answer, Karen-san smiles.


    ¡°Now then, theplicated talk is over now. From now on, let¡¯s have a fun talk...... Everyone, you cane in now!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    Without giving me time to understand, an emergency pushed my way.


    To my surprise, Mirack, Celestis, and even Sasae-chan invaded the male side.


    ¡°So you are finally done, Karen.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You made us wait too long. It is fine since we were dressed, but if we had been waiting while naked, it would have been so cold that we would definitely be freezing by now.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It¡¯s been long since I be in a hot spring-dasu~.¡± (Sasae)


    Everyone is wearing the yukatabira, so it is still fine since they are hiding their skin though.


    ...Wait, is it really fine?!


    Is it really okay for this many girls to intrude while a man is bathing?!


    You are heroes, right?! Is this okay in terms of public appearance?!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine for these beauties to reward the man that has contributed plenty this time? Or more like, what was with that super ultimate technique? If you had used something like that with the Great Sea Dragon, wouldn¡¯t it have ended in one hit?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Just think of me as an observer. Leaving aside the idol slut, if you send an indecent look to Karen, I will immediately break ¡®it¡¯, okay?¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis and Mirack are going way overboard!


    And thest one, the new member Sasae-chan...


    ¡°I be truly sorry-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    She suddenly prostrated in the bathtub?!


    Is that okay?! Your head ispletely inside the water, are your lungs going to be alright?!


    And more importantly, what is she apologizing for?


    ¡°Ya ain¡¯t an evil Dark God-dasu! Even though ya put yer life at stake to save mah homnd, I didn¡¯t understand that and attacked you. I be truly sorry-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan let her head out of the water and speaks.


    ¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what you mean.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That oracle mustta been a mistake too-dasu! I be thinking about doing my best with everyone from now on-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Is what she says as she once again plunges her head into the water and prostrates.


    But, as I thought, this girl gets really passionate once she is onto one thing.


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s leave the stiff talk there. And so, what do you want to do? What kind of service should we provide this heroic man?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°How about we all wash his body? This is something that¡¯s fitting for a bath, and Haine-san would feel like a king.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood-dasu! I be doing my best, I be scrubbin¡¯ so hard, skin will peel off-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°You understand what will happen if you react, right? I will break it.¡± (Mirack)


    Wait a moment!


    What are you doing trying to drag me down into such a perverse pleasure?!


    As I have been saying, I am not wearing a yukatabira like you girls, so when I get out from the water, a lot of unsightly things can be seen!


    Don¡¯t pull me! All four of you, stop pulling!


    Why do I have to taste the sensation of being fished out of the water when all I came to do was rx in the bath?!


    AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!

 Chapter 131 - Interlude – Know your place

    <h4>Chapter 131: Interlude ¨C Know your ce</h4>


    TLN: This one is better to release as its own chapter, so I kept it that way.


    At the time when Haine-san and the others had probably finished their objective, I -Yorishiro- received a visitor.


    ¡°Doraha.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes, Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    I spoke to Doraha, who has been at my side at all timestely.


    Thanks to her being at my side, I haven¡¯t felt lonelytely.


    I felt as if I had returned to the time before I was reborn, the time when I was Izanami, but having her at my side right now would trouble me.


    ¡°Please leave me alone for a while. Until I say it is okay, don¡¯t let anyone enter the room.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Doraha)


    The obedient Doraha left my room immediately. The sound of the closing door was thest sound to be made before my surroundings were enveloped in silence.


    ¡°...How long are you nning on staying hidden? You crept your way here because you had business with me, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    When I said this, at the wall of the room, I saw something small crawling.


    With 4 legs and a long tail, it looked like a lizard. But if I had to give an image in that type of animal, it would be more urate to call it a newt.


    Its skin was viscous, and it looked like it had plenty of moisture.


    In other words, it was quite simr to that of a newt, a small sized water element monster.


    ¡°Water God, Coacervate.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I could tell at a nce.


    A corner of the four Base Elements. Within that group, the one who is self-proimed the most shrewd, a treacherous and scheming God.


    It is exactly because I am a God that I can sense that this small newt holds the soul of a God inside of it.


    ¡°You have appeared in quite the minuscule being this time around. After having your former body destroyed by Haine-san, the creation of a new body didn¡¯t make it in time huh.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Light Goddess, Intion-sama. It has been centuries since west met.¡± (Coacervate)


    The newt ¨Cmore urately speaking, the Water God Coacervate that had incarnated in the newt-shaped monster was speaking to me in a repulsive manner.


    ¡°To think you had once again incarnated as a human, moreover, as the Light Founder that is under your religion. If you had told me, I would have immediately ordered my Water Church to provide you a variety of pleasantries.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Did you appear before me just to say that? Even going through the trouble of appearing as a weak and unsightly lizard?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°How harsh! Well then, let¡¯s enter straight into the reason.¡± (Coacervate)


    The newt changed its tone of voice.


    ¡°The Mother Earth God Mantle has been erased.¡± (Coacervate)


    It wasn¡¯t in a loud voice, but his tone was firm, and it gave out an aura that properly told of how important those words were.


    ¡°...Must have. The Micro ck Hole that Haine-san released, its gravity wave reached all the way here. If he used that, it would be strange if at least one God hasn¡¯t been erased.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°This is not the time to be so carefree! A God! A God has disappeared! One of the five Creation Gods that are supposed to be immortal since the Genesis era!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The small newt was speaking to me in the thought frequency that only Gods can share.


    This God¡¯s voice, whether it is through the air or through the mind, is quite the pain in the ears.


    ¡°To think that the Dark God Entropy would resort to such violent actions! As I thought, that God is outside our understanding! The things he does will¡ª!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Destroy the bnce of the world, and in the end, he might even make it copse. A dangerous and evil God that can¡¯t be controlled¡ªis what you want to say, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wa?! Hah?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, we should gather the remaining five Gods at once, fight together just like in the Genesis era, defeat Entropy, and seal him once again. That is what you want to say, right? Water God, Coacervate.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes, yes! That¡¯s exactly right! As expected of the Light Goddess! You already hold the same idea as me¡ª!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°And what about it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    My decisive words made Coacervate gulp down his breath.


    And then, an aura drifted about.


    ¡°It is true that the Dark God Entropy¨Cright, he is currently the human Kuromiya Haine-san, it is true that he brought an end to one of the corners of the five Gods of Creation, Mother Earth God Mantle. And? What about it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hah?! Uhm...!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You must have thought this was your chance, right Coacervate? After the troublesome Entropy was unsealed, you wanted to somehow deal with him, but you alone can¡¯t do anything against him. You needed the Light Goddess, who possesses an absolute advantage towards the dark element, into your side or you won¡¯t be able to do anything.¡± (Yorishiro)


    But the four Base Elements and me have practically cut off all rtions since several centuries ago with the matter of the Dark Underworld Country.


    Our rtionship haspletely stopped being the kind that they can just nonchntly ask me for cooperation.


    Even so, if Mantle has been erased, this is an important matter that can shake all the Gods. He must have thought that I as the Light Goddess Intion would see this matter as grave and would forget about the past incidents to take hands once again to defeat Entropy.


    For you, the erasure of Mantle must have been a perfect chance to change the current state of affairs.


    ¡°I will say it again. Even if a God has been erased, what about it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    Coacervate was still unable to speak. That¡¯s why I hammered it down myself.


    ¡°This world already has no need for Gods. That¡¯s why, even if Gods die or live, those kind of things don¡¯t matter anymore. No, if there¡¯s Gods that bring harm to the humans and the world, destroying them would actually be considered a good action. Entropy has...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Entropy has...


    ¡°Done the right thing.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Impossible! There¡¯s no way that¡¯s true! Killing a God! Is there anything more evil than that?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Foolish Coacervate. Calling yourself a tactician, you must think you know everything in the world, but it looks like you don¡¯t know one important thing.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?! And what is that?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°The Dark God Entropy...is the one who stands at the top of the six Gods. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and even Light was born from the abyss of darkness. That¡¯s why he has the right to erase what he has created himself if he doesn¡¯t like it. And the embodiment of that authority is his ck Hole.¡± (Yorishiro)


    A hole of darkness that destroys everything.


    From what I have seen, even the light divine power that is supposed to hold an absolute advantage over the dark element is no enemy of the ck Hole.


    Before the light¡¯s power reaches the superpressed dark matter core of the ck Hole, the gravity that originates from it would catch the light, it would be forever caught inside its schwarzschild radius.


    There¡¯s no one who can stop an Entropy that seriously decides to destroy the world.


    ¡°But he is kind. He wouldn¡¯t just immediately decide to erase someone just because they don¡¯t meet his likes, he wouldn¡¯t do something narrow-minded...... Coacervate, you are an idiot, so you misunderstood Entropy¡¯s kindness for stupidity.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Rampaging as much as he wanted around a kind person like that, he stepped on the humans Entropy treasured most, and then,ughed at him, and not only did he held him in contempt, he has also learned now that he can erase Gods as well.


    At thiste in time, I can¡¯t evenugh at how stupid you are.


    ¡°Coacervate, along with that wild joy of yours, you are also feeling fear, right? Without even knowing that Entropy can erase you, you have acted violently towards him many times. His bottle of patience might be breaking already.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s why even his annoying way of speaking where he mixes in questions all the time has disappeared as well.


    That¡¯s how muchposure he iscking right now.


    ¡°And in truth, even Mantle who is the most forgivable one of them all, wasn¡¯t shown any mercy.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Intion! Light Goddess, Intion-sama!!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Coacervate, you self-proimed tactician that misguided humans and had them killed pointlessly, the reason why you are ying around with humans even in this era where prayer energy is drying up is because you have already created a system simr to Mantle that would forcefully extract the spirit energy from humans, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡®When the prayer energy is finally at a state where it is not enough, I can just use that system to wring out those prayers¡¯, is what he must have been thinking.


    The monsters and the people of the Church must have been things he did to entertain himself in the time he was creating this system.


    Water God, Coacervate.


    ¡°...However, Mantle, who had executed that system, was erased by Entropy. Coacervate, if you want to walk the same end as her, do what she did.¡± (Yorishiro)


    In time, the prayers will dry up and they won¡¯t be enough.


    Thest means that the Water God must have prepared, there¡¯s no doubt that it would ignite the wrath of the Dark God.


    In other words, the fate that is waiting the Water God are two: to be silently forgotten by the humans and disappears, or to be crushed by the anger of a God and be destroyed.


    ¡°Light Goddess! Intion-sama! Please!!¡± (Coacervate)


    A pathetic cry came out from the small newt.


    ¡°Please save me! I have angered Entropy many times! That¡¯s why he won¡¯t forgive me! But I don¡¯t want to disappear, I don¡¯t want to disappear!! Please, Light Goddess, Mother of all Gods!! Please save me! Please protect me from the fiendish Dark God!!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°A God is praying to a God?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even though you have been ying around with the people that have offered you prayers?


    ¡°Shameless was a word that was created to describe you, Water God Coacervate. There¡¯s no one as stupid as you at misunderstanding their own intelligence. The stupid you probably couldn¡¯t notice. The person that you have angered with your follies, did you think that it was only Entropy?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Please save me, Intion! Please!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Get lost. Just listening to your voice is already bing a nuisance. I will give you onest advice. If you hate disappearing that much, go hide in the depths of the sea or something. Throw away your pride as a God, and if you cling onto the small prayers that humans pour onto you, you should be able to exist minutely as a small being.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Intion-sama! Our mother¡ª¡± (Coacervate)


    A surge of light divine power made a *st* noise and blew into pieces the small monster.


    The unpleasant noise disappeared and silence returned to the room.


    Coacervate shouldn¡¯t be able to do anything anymore.


    No matter what kind of tricks he makes up, the courage to win against the fear of being erased by the Dark God Entropy -by Haine-san- is already gone from that fool.


    I feel like a weight on my shoulders has decreased by one more.


    After that, I called back Doraha who was outside the room, and for a while, I passed my time holding her between my arms.

 Chapter 132-134 - Beginning of bewilderment

    <h4>Chapter 132-134: Beginning of bewilderment</h4>


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s begin the meeting.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Umu.¡± ¡°Oi-ssu~.¡± ¡°Dasu!¡±


    Returning to Apollon City, I -Kuromiya Haine- was surrounded by 4 girls.


    As a review, let¡¯s speak about each one of them.


    <TLN: the following is literally character descriptions and information of past events. Completely safe to skip.>


    First, we have the light hero, Kourin Karen-san.


    She is the first hero I met, and has been the one I have been acquainted for the longest since then. She is diligent and kind, and possesses the most bnced personality as a hero. Equipped in silver armor, her purity as if it were straight out of a painting is fitting to describe as a saint.


    Next, the second one is the fire hero, Katack Mirack.


    She is a friend of Karen-san since small, and there was a time when they were in bad terms, but after the rtionship was fixed, they became even closer. Being caught by the creed of the fire, she has a manly character that seeks strength. Her body is also well-tempered, to the point that one might even mistake her for a man.


    The third one is the water hero, Re Celestis.


    She works as an idol while she fights monsters, a unique hero. Can also be considered a skilfull one. She is good at singing and dancing along with her fighting skills, and maybe because of this, her personality is also brilliant and cheerful. Her appearance is also excelling. She is a girl that sparkles intensely.


    Thest one is the fourth, the earth hero, Gonbee Sasae.


    She is the newest addition to the group, and is the girl that came from the faraway Earth capital, Ishtar ze. She is the youngest within the heroes, and thus, her body is also small and thin. It looks like she herself thinks that she is a country bumpkin and has aplex about it, but that in itself makes her a simple and cute little girl.


    And so, those are all the four.


    Heroes that will have their names resound around the world.


    We have also umted a good amount of fights, and this team that has increased in numbers as the fights went on was...truly a gathering that can be considered a team.


    These members are like a representation of the path we have taken and it is deeply moving.


    Today, there¡¯s something I wanted to talk to them about when we are all together.


    The thing I wanted to talk about is...that¡¯s right...


    ¡°Regarding me loving Haine-san.¡±


    Hm?


    By the time I noticed, the light hero Karen-san hade close to me.


    Or more like, she is hugging me.


    ¡°Haine-san...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why are you not answering my feelings? I have said it over and over, right? I am not telling you to marry me immediately. I can tell from your behaviour that you are treasuring me. But at times, I would like to hear clear words that show it.¡± (Karen)


    Wait wait wait wait, what¡¯s with this all of a sudden, Karen-san?


    Karen-san loving me is not something that happened recently, and I myself don¡¯t think badly of it, but...why is she going on the offensive at this timing? Even though there¡¯s Mirack, Celestis, and Sasae around us?


    Karen-san, weren¡¯t you barely maintaining a line in front of people?


    And yet, why are you so suddenly going out of line?!


    As I was getting bewildered by this...


    ¡°Karen! It is always about this man. Why don¡¯t you say you love me as well?!¡± (Mirack)


    And now Mirack went crazy as well!


    The behaviour of Mirack towards her friend Karen gives a feeling of being further than that of friends, but she is suddenlying out of the closet now?!


    ¡°Just how heated do you think my feelings are for you?! They are hotter thanva, hotter than the sun, you know! Are you going to treat those feelings of mine coldly?! Is it that?! Was being unkind towards you for several years the reason?! I apologize for that! Sorry! Sorry! That¡¯s why, please love me too!!¡± (Mirack)


    Wait, Mirack?!


    Youring out of the closet is several times crazier than normal?!


    I did feel that Mirack¡¯s feelings towards Karen-san surpassed the barrier of gender, but isn¡¯t being this straightforward a bit too risky?!


    ¡°My dream~ is~?¡± (Celestis)


    While we were at it, Celestis suddenly began singing.


    Is she also going to do something?!


    ¡°While being a hero~ I wish to be the best idol~ But the truth is~ I don¡¯t care about me at all~ With my singing~ my dancing~ I wish to grant energy~ to as many people as possible~ That way~ I will also achieve happiness~ In order to share the energy~ I need to have a mountain of energy~ In order to make everyone smile~ I myself have to smile first~?¡± (Celestis)


    She surprisingly said something nice.


    But what¡¯s this? Isn¡¯t the flow of things been strange for a while now?


    The three of them have quirky sides to them, but today, that quirky side has lost its moderation.


    There¡¯s no doubt something has happened.


    ¡°Could it be...because of this-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    The new member of the hero party, earth hero Sasae-chan, seemed to be the only one who maintained herposure.


    In her hand, there¡¯s a single bottle.


    ¡°What is that bottle? A drink?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-niichan took so long ining, so I distributed them to everyone first. I be a big pain for everyone at the previous incident, so this be a soft drink I prepared as a sort of apology-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    Soft drink...


    But I can feel a destructive power from it.


    I received that bottle from Sasae-chan to test it, and I try cing my nose close to the opening.


    ¡°.....................It stinks of alcohol.¡± (Haine)


    No matter where you cut it, this is alcoholic. Thanks but no.


    The reason for this disastrous scene had be all clear now.


    ¡°Sasae-chan, what are you making everyone drink? This is alcohol ya know. Of course it would release all the desires they have been holding inside their hearts. I wonder if it will be alright? This will definitely be etched as one of their most pained memories. It would be nice if they wake up without any memories of this thou¡ª?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are ya saying-dasu?! Karen-neechan and the others may look older in my eyes, but they be legit youngdies! I wouldn¡¯t rmend them alcohol before they be adults-dasu yo! This is! Just! Grape Juice-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Grape Juice...


    Why is it that it is making me feel a concrete anxiousness?


    ¡°That Grape Juice, can I ask the detailed manufacturing method?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Manufacturing method? It simply be made by wringing grapes-dasu yo?¡± (Sasae)


    I see, I see.


    ¡°But this grape juice be high quality, so there be one more step to that. They ferment it-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That¡¯s WI-NE!¡± (Haine)


    So it really was wine, damn it!


    Isn¡¯t that the representative of fermented fruit juice wine?!


    Why didn¡¯t she notice with the simple fact that there¡¯s the word ¡®fermented¡¯?!


    ¡°Eh? I wanted to show that mah feelings of reflecting were as high as a mountain and deeper than a valley-dasu yo. Isn¡¯t it more high ss the more steps to production there is-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°The more doesn¡¯t make it better! Going too far can break the good!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Did I do something disgraceful again-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    No, it is actually Karen-san and the others that are currently in the middle of being disgraceful though.


    These three who probably ingested alcohol for the first time have be a cluster of drunkards hugging each other.


    ¡°Karen! I love you! I love you dearly! No matter what happens in the future, I will protect you!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Thanks, Mirack-chan! I love Mirack-chan too! We are the best of friends, aren¡¯t we?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You see, the number one best thing I have experienced in my life up until now was meeting you all! I thought friends were pointless things, but my friendship with you all is a treasure for me!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Of course! If we join forces, we are invincible!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I am really am d to have met Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I definitely won¡¯t forget this even till my death; the days I have lived with all of you!!¡± (Celestis)


    ......


    I pray that when the alcohol in their system is gone, they will have forgotten everything.


    What should I do about this muddy situation?


    My only saving right now is that Sasae-chan is still sober.


    She is the very cause of this, so it is hard to say that, but having at least one other person who still has their sanity helps me a lot in maintaining my own sanity.


    ¡°By the way, Haine-niichan...¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why does Haine-niichan have six arms-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    No good, this girl is also a goner.


    Well, it would be strange for this girl to be the only one who hasn¡¯t drunk in this kind of atmosphere, but I thought that she had resistance to alcohol. Seriously, it looks like that wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°Ah, but if ya have 6, that means it be fine to cut off 5, right? Yay~dasu. I wanted to try out cutting off the body of someone with the earth scythe at least once-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Moreover, only this girl has quite the darkness hidden inside her heart?!


    While I was doing a life-or-death race with Sasae-chan, I waited for everyone to wake up from their intoxication.


    ¡°Okay everyone, are you all sane now?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Eh? What?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°My head smarts.....¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What were we doing?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°There be a hole in mah memory-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    Good.


    Looks like the alcohol has conveniently purged that memory out of them.


    It is truly something good. If their memory had remained, all four of them might have taken a straight dive onto that window over there.


    Or maybe, the memory actually remains, but they are acting as if they don¡¯t remember, but if that¡¯s the case, more the reason I should just leave it be.


    ¡°By the way, Haine-niichan...¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°What, Sasae?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why is the face of Haine-niichan filled with kiss marks-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°<b>Silence.</b>¡± (Haine)


    Anyways!!


    There¡¯s a proper reason as to why I have all four heroes gathered here today.


    It is in order to talk about the things we have to do from now on.


    Subjugation of Mother Monsters.


    The most concrete form of disaster that covers this world, monsters, appear in the thousands because of a certain existence.


    That certain existence is the Mother Monsters. Monsters that give birth to monsters.


    In order to cut off that unproductive chain, there¡¯s no other way but to sever the origin of the monsters that are the Mother Monsters.


    After learning of this, I decided on wiping out the Mother Monster to eliminate all the monsters from this world.


    There¡¯s a total of 4 Mother Monsters.


    The n has already begun moving and the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood, has been subjugated.


    But that is simply the first step. There¡¯s still the water, fire, and wind Mother Monsters somewhere in this world.


    My current objective is to find the remaining Mother Monsters, and eliminate them one by one properly.


    Because the course of events proceeded well, it could be said that the matter slid in a favorable manner.


    But there¡¯s now a new state of affairs...


    ¡°That¡¯s right! We will defeat the Mother Monsters!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san roared valiantly.


    ¡°With the power of us, the hero alliance, and Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    ......


    ...That¡¯s right. Allies have intruded in my n and want to cooperate.


    Those allies are Karen-san and her jollypanions. They are all in the hero profession and have a close connection to the monsters being a danger to the world, so I understand their sentiments of wanting to join in, but...I first decided on doing this task of defeating the Mother Monsters on my own.


    Monsters are a cmity that was created by Gods. I thought this was my responsibility as the Dark God Entropy.


    There¡¯s also other reasons behind it though.


    But Karen-san and her group crossed over the line I drew, and in the end, saved me in my time of need. That¡¯s why, I can¡¯t have them stand in the sidelines anymore.


    ¡°It goes without saying why we have all gathered here today!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san took the role of advancing the meeting in my ce.


    ¡°It is in order to have a discussion! The remaining three Mother Monsters, how will we defeat them! Thinking back on the giant tree that we fought at Ishtar ze, it is clear that the other remaining three won¡¯t be an easy fight. It is important for us to wring our brains here and make a careful n to see how we will fight them!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I¡¯m shivering in anticipation. I feel like it will be the ideal stage for the idol hero, Celes-tan!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack and Celestis seem to be in too.


    ¡°...Now that I think about it, what about you, Sasae-chan?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    I try asking something that has been bothering me for a while now.


    ¡°Is it okay for Sasae-chan to be here?¡± (Haine)


    The base of Sasae-chan, Ishtar ze, is faraway from the Light capital, Apollon City.


    Walking takes around a month; even with a flying machine powered by ethereal, it would take several days.


    If a monster disturbance urs there...


    ¡°I be d that yer worried, but it be okay-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan puffs her small chest and answers.


    ¡°Mah now Founder grandma-chan said this: ¡®Ye were a huge help in the incident with Great Pir-sama, so this be our turn to help ya guys out now!¡¯. In Ishtar ze, there¡¯s the Onii-sans of the Scorched Earth Annihtion corps, and there¡¯s still a lot of Golems remaining-dasu! If we leave it to ¡®em, even if there be a strong monster appearing, they be okay even without a hero-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that sad in itself?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-chan, don¡¯t go further than that!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san scolded Celestis at her side.


    ¡°And so, please let this earth hero Gonbee Sasae apany you all in defeating the mother of the monsters-dasu! Please-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Saying this, Sasae-chan ced both hands and knees on the floor towards me, and even her forehead.


    I could tell at a single nce; this girl is ustomed to doing dogeza.


    ¡°...It has been decided that Sasae-chan will be taken care of in Apollon City for a while.¡± (Karen)


    As if sending a lifeboat, Karen-san says this.


    ¡°The Earth Founder Obaba-sama has also asked this of us. She said she wanted her grandchild, Sasae-chan, to umte experience as a hero.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right-dasu! I understood in the matter with Great Pir-sama-dasu! I still don¡¯t have the ability and actual results as a hero! I wanna stay under the hero I respect, Karen-neechan-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I think the thing that youck the most is your ability to analyze the situation and your decision making though. Just how many big tragedies have urred because of your rampaging!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack-chan, don¡¯t say further!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san scolded Mirack who was at her side.


    ¡°...Anyways, Yorishiro-sama has already epted Sasae-chan to stay in the Light Church. That¡¯s why, all heroes will help Haine-san, and we are raging with the will to destroy all Mother Monsters! Haine-san, let¡¯s do our best together!¡± (Karen)


    In the end, it alwayses to this huh.


    But I haven¡¯t forgotten that they saved me in the fight with Grandma Wood.


    This fight can decide the fate of the world. That¡¯s why, the heroes that are the representatives of humanity should join forces and fight together.


    I think that the important part of obstacles is not oveing them, but to ovee them with the help of others.


    ¡°...Understood. Let¡¯s do our best together.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Of course!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The thought of doing this without me is a mistake in itself.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The heroes all without exception had their hearts race with determination.


    ¡°...But there¡¯s a problem before that.¡±


    The problem we have to deal with before subjugating the Mother Monsters.


    That is...


    ¡°We don¡¯t know where the Mother Monsters are.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah...¡± ¡°Yup...¡± ¡°Geez...¡± ¡°Dasu...¡±


    That¡¯s right. The remaining three Monster Monsters, we have absolutely no idea where they are.


    It is impossible to kick the ass of someone that we don¡¯t where it is.


    ¡°We are back to this problem.¡± (Haine)


    I remember being troubled by this before.


    ¡°Eh? We were filled with expectation thinking that you had all the information in your hands though. What a useless man.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am not all-knowing, you know.¡± (Haine)


    I return the unfounded expectations of Celestis without any strength.


    ¡°Really, rising our expectations. How hopeless.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Unreliable-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    These girls have been really relentlesstely.


    ¡°Now now. But Haine-san, how did you learn of the Earth Mother Monster, Great Pir-sama, then?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s uhm...from a certain information source.¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s no way I can tell them that I directly asked this from one of the four Base Element Gods that created the Mother Monsters. Moreover, that very person is the Fire God Nova that is currentlyzing about as a cow-shaped monster.


    .....Ah.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, there¡¯s another piece of information I received from that source. The fire Mother Monster, only that one, I know its name and outward traits of.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hoh~, my element huh.¡± (Mirack)


    The moment I mentioned fire, Mirack immediately bites.


    ¡°The Fire Mother Monster¡¯s name is the Immortal Phoenix. A giant bird-shaped monster, and the fire that covers its body is always burning itself, and from those ashes, many fire element monsters are given birth, or so I heard.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A fire bird... Hm? ......Ah?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack raises a voice that was screaming she noticed something.


    ¡°Could it be that one?! ......Now that you mention it, that¡¯s true. But¡ª!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Do you know of it, Mirack-chi?! In that case, don¡¯t just tease us and spill it already!¡± (Celestis)


    Being pressed by Celestis, Mirack speaks.


    ¡°In Muspelheim, there are witness reports every now and then that say there has been a mysterious bird flying around the area. And its traits are just as you said just now, a bird that has its whole body covered in mes, moreover, it is probably quite big, the witnesses say that they noticed it even when it was flying from pretty far away.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah yeah, and?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°From the abnormal outward appearance it has, the witnesses quickly concluded that it was a monster...but the other party is a bird. By the time the report is given in Muspelheim, and the Fire Militant corps and the fire hero arrive at the ce, it has long flown away.¡± (Mirack)


    That¡¯s why, it seems there¡¯s witnesses of that fire bird, thereby there have been no records of fighting it.


    As expected, with wings that can let you freely fly in the sky, its whereabouts are unfettered.


    It is way too different from Grandma Wood that had its roots dug in and stayed in one ce.


    ¡°But there¡¯s more information regarding this fire bird. Moreover, from here on, it will enter into the gossip territory.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is fine, just say it already. We are in the step where we are still in between whether the Mother Monsters itself are gossip after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...Regarding that fire bird, there¡¯s an ult-like story that has no positive proof about. It states that in the ces where the fire bird is witnessed, a big monster disaster will definitely ur soon after.¡± (Mirack)


    !


    ¡°There¡¯s no proof that they are connected though. Thanks to that, that bird is being called ¡®The Bird that informs of Cmities¡¯ and ¡®the Herald of Catastrophe¡¯. But if it is just as Haine says about that being a monster that gives birth to monsters...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It falls way too in ce!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s true.


    If a disaster will certainly ur in the ces that the Phoenix passes through, that¡¯s because the Phoenix itself gave birth to those fire element monsters.


    The fire bird is not a Herald of Catastrophe, it is the Bringer of Catastrophe.


    ¡°...Damn it!! That bird! If I had known that, I would have ced subjugating it as my highest priority!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But it is exactly because it is a bird that it doesn¡¯t stay in one ce. That¡¯s why you weren¡¯t even able to fight it all this time, right? Even if you notice the importance it held...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It would be practically impossible to defeat it. Even if there¡¯s a witness report and we use the flying machines to rush to that ce the moment we receive it, it is questionable whether it will still be there. Moreover, the witness reports itself are once every several years.¡± (Mirack)


    So it really is impossible to catch the Immortal Phoenix huh.


    And while Mirack was speaking, there¡¯s Celestis at her side that was slowly getting a more and more serious expression.


    ¡°Hey, about the water Mother Monster, you have no info about it, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Y-Yeah... Not only the ce, even its shape and traits...¡± (Haine)


    It is still aplete mystery.


    ¡°I have been wondering...I think that the water Mother Monster is at the sea.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°The water element monsters are all aquatic creatures, and the ces where they appear are in a waterside or underwater. On top of that, most of the biggest ones are found in the biggest water source, at the sea. Let¡¯s assume that the water Mother Monster is inside the sea, the monsters it spreads are from the sea, moreover, if they run through the rivers to go through the whole world...¡± (Celestis)


    It would make sense huh.


    ¡°Also, there¡¯s no doubt that there have been witnesses to the fire bird and the giant tree, but from what I remember, I have no memory of hearing about witnesses of a water element monster of about the same gigantic size. The only one would be the Great Sea Dragon we fought before, but that wasn¡¯t a Mother Monster, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yeah, it is not. Just that, I can say with confidence.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In that case, as I thought, it is safe to say that there¡¯s no witnesses to a water Mother Monster. The reason why there¡¯s for fire and earth and not for water...the most usible reason would be...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Because it is hidden inside the sea huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The sea is wide enough for that. Even if the water Mother Monster possesses the same size as that giant tree, the sea can easily receive it whole. And it is also possible to hide from the eyes of humans for centuries.¡± (Celestis)


    I have lost. Celestis¡¯ conjecture is quite convincing.


    Coacervate once said: ¡®The sea is greatness. It is able to store many things inside of it¡¯. The very person that created the Mother Monster, if it is that underhanded God, there¡¯s certainly a possibility that he is utilizing that greatness to its best.


    But the conclusion thates from that conjecture is that...


    ¡°Finding the water Mother Monster will be harder than the fire bird.¡± (Haine)


    We would have to dive deep into the sea which is a lot wider than thend, so just imagining it is making my head hurt.


    Even if I were to devote several lives as Kuromiya Haine, I don¡¯t have the confidence that I would be able to find it.


    Finding the Immortal Phoenix will be difficult.


    It would be impossible to find the water Mother Monster that we don¡¯t even know its name.


    I did have an inkling that it was the case but, we arepletely closed in all directions.


    We only defeated Grandma Wood who didn¡¯t bring much harm to humans. Is this how our n wille to an end?


    ¡°Then we have no choice but to bet on thest remaining one.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san suddenly said this.


    ¡°The wind Mother Monster.¡± (Karen)

 Chapter 135-137 - At the direction where the wind blows

    <h4>Chapter 135-137: At the direction where the wind blows</h4>


    ¡°Wind...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°...Mother Monster?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    Mirack, Celestis, and Sasae-chan were staring dumbfounded at what Karen-san said. I of course did the same.


    ¡°...It is true that now that both the fire and water have been determined as being difficult to find, it is natural to concentrate on the remaining one, but...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Even so, to search for thest choice, the Wind Mother Monster? It is practically the same as having no info at all, you know? Or more like, the information we have on it is even less than all the others. That¡¯s why it didn¡¯te into the conversation, and even if we were to blindly search for it¡ª¡± (Celestis)


    In the middle of Celestis¡¯ refutal, Karen-san interrupts.


    ¡°No, we do have a method to obtain information of the Wind Mother Monster, Celestis-chan. To be more precise, to an extent that we might have a chance though...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Chance?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We are going to go meet the wind hero, and then, we will have the wind hero be ourrade as well!¡± (Karen)


    W-What is Karen saying?!


    We are talking about the Mother Monsters until now, and yet, why did it suddenly turn into talk about a hero?


    ¡°...Eh? Could it be...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...The talk about the hero alliance huh!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh? What-dasu? What is it-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    Why are Mirack and Celestis making a face as if they understand?


    I don¡¯t see what they are talking about at all here. Leaving aside Sasae-chan who is new here, I should be the one here who has been the first to second longest with her in this group. I feel like I have been alienated!


    ¡°In the time Haine-san had gone to Ishtar ze, we talked about this together. In the time ¨C Haine-san- had gone- alone.¡± (Karen)


    Ah, she is still stuck on that.


    ¡°The light, fire, and water hero have be friends, so we were thinking about having the remaining two heroes join us and make a cooperative rtionship with all five representatives!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You made a n like that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And so, we unexpectedly ended up befriending the earth hero, Sasae-chan. The remaining one is the Wind Church, the wind hero. If we can have her join us as well, the hero alliance will bepleted!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Waai, I love Karen-neechan too-dasu~¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°...This girl, can¡¯t I make her crispy on the outside and soft on the inside?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Give it a break, fire hero.¡± (Celestis)


    I feel like these four have already solidified aedy troupe.


    ¡°...Well, what Karen-chi is saying is slightly idealistic though.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis says this as if advocating for Karen-san.


    ¡°It is true that in the current state of affairs where we have absolutely no information, trying to dig out new information from a new ce is not a bad idea. Mirack-chi and I have been able to provide information or specte information regarding the Mother Monsters of our elements after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What you are saying is that if we were to ask the Wind Church or the wind hero, the probabilities of being able to hear about information regarding the Wind Mother Monster are high, right?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°They might even have critical information that might help us break through this stalemate. All of this currently hasn¡¯t left the territory of spection though. If we don¡¯t have any other things to do, there might be worth in trying.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Uhm uhm-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan raised a hand with a jerk.


    ¡°Can I speak too-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    I stay silent in contemtion.


    And then, I look at the eyes of Celestis and Mirack...


    ¡°......Go ahead.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hiih?! Yer tone of voice doesn¡¯t have a single ounce of trust in it-dasu! But I be saying it-dasu! I be getting back mah lost honor from this opinion-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    I won¡¯t retort anymore.


    ¡°Our objective is not to find the Mother Monsters, it be to defeat the Mother Monsters-dasu! So, even if we safely find ¡®em, it be natural that we will enter a violent fight-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Well, yeah...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t said anything wrong for now.¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis and Mirack were cautiously listening to her.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, obtaining more fighting power ain¡¯t gonna be bad by no means-dasu! By having the wind hero as ourrade, our fights will turn more in our favor! Many on the same objective-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Uwa, this is troublesome.


    I can¡¯t deny what Sasae-chan said.


    It is true that having more allies in this fight against Mother Monsters would be beneficial.


    Of course, if it is just defeating them, I as the Dark God incarnation can do something about it, but in the Grandma Wood fight, without the help of Karen-san and the others, I wonder how many casualties it would have appeared on the citizens if they hadn¡¯t been there.


    And also, having Sasae-chan say something decent for once is shocking.


    ¡°Karen-neechan, was that just now okay-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Yeah. Good job remembering all that, Sasae-chan.¡± (Karen)


    Ah, so Karen-san was the one who suggested it.


    I see, that¡¯s more rxing.


    ¡°But...what Karen-san said via Sasae-chan has a point. We have no other options, and with small expectations of finding information of the Wind Mother Monster, we will aim for thepletion of the hero alliance. That might be nice.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°As expected of Haine-san! As I thought, I really do love Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san said in tion.


    ...But saying that so publicly is a bit embarrassing.


    Especially in a ce where that fire hero is listening. I feel like she would be getting jealous in an instant.


    ¡°Haine, I will bake you.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Can¡¯t you make it more indirect like the times with Sasae-chan?!¡± (Haine)


    Mirack is scary.


    Anyways, looks like our n has been decided. We will head to the Wind Church¡¯s headquarters, and make contact with the Church or the hero.


    The city where the Wind Church is located at...wait, I feel like I have a recollection of hearing about it a long time ago. The Wind capital, Rudra Metropolis, was it?


    ¡°So, where is the Wind capital, Rudra Metropolis?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...Dasu.¡±


    Hm?


    ¡°¡°Don¡¯t know¡±¡± ¡°Dasu¡± (All)


    And back to square one.


    Oi, what is the meaning of this? Why do they not know where the Wind capital is?


    At first, we were thinking about searching for the Mother Monsters. There¡¯s 3 remaining, but we don¡¯t know where they are. That¡¯s why, we decided on taking a temporal detour to meet the wind hero, and bet our hopes on finding a clue there.


    We were nning on going to the ce where the wind hero is.


    And yet, we don¡¯t know where that ce is.


    ¡°In the end, we still don¡¯t know anything!!¡± (Haine)


    Even I couldn¡¯t stayposed anymore.


    I m the table several times to alleviate my frustration slightly.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t get agitated, Haine-san! Ah, right. How about I hug you to calm you down?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to stayposed in a different sense!¡± (Haine)


    Could it be Karen-san is still drunk?


    Looking at this situation, Celestis grumbles with a disappointed tone.


    ¡°Geez, it can¡¯t be helped, right? The Wind Church is a secretive ce after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Secretive?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You see, the Wind Church has apletely secretive creed. Thus, a secret church. And so, as time went on, it worsened, and at present, we don¡¯t know the location of their headquarters, don¡¯t know the face or name of the Founder, the characteristic color of the Church, scale; everything is all secret. It has be a mysterious organization that we don¡¯t even know if it even exists.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I see.¡± (Haine)


    I feel like it really does make sense.


    The reason why is because that exnation of Celestis just now ovepped perfectly well with that one in my memories.


    It is not memories of me as human, but the time when I was a God.


    Wind God, Quasar.


    One of the four Basic Element Gods.


    Also, it goes without saying but, it is the God of the Wind Church we are currently talking about.


    He is a fellow God that cooperated with creating this world, and also someone that had be my enemy in the battle of the Gods.


    There was the Fire God Nova, the Water God Coacervate, and the Mother Earth God Mantle; but within those, the Wind God Quasar was a cut from the rest and had a low presence.


    Honestly speaking, I can¡¯t remember what kind of person it was.


    Well, it is also because I was sealed right after creating the world, but even so, the other Gods had a trait that left an impression in my mind, and yet, I don¡¯t remember anything regarding Quasar only.


    It really is a God akin to air.


    The Wind Church that worships this God being a secretive one is incredibly fitting.


    Did Quasar itself purposely make it so that I wouldn¡¯t know?


    ...No good. I really can¡¯t remember.


    ¡°...Then, about the wind hero as well?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°People that have met the wind hero in this group~.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis sings like a sergeant, but no one raises their hand.


    The Wind Church...


    Not only the God, even its Church, hero, and everything rted is like air.


    ¡°No, this is not the time to be impressed. In that case, it would bepletely impossible to make contact with the Wind Church. This or searching for the Mother Monster; it is on a level where we have to wonder which one is more impossible.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right. Honestly speaking, I can¡¯t think of any good idea. Karen-chi, Sasae-chi, lesbo, think of something as well.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You insulted me casually again.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack protested naturally, but it looks like she has no good ideas either.


    ¡°Hmmm~, ah, what about this?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san¡¯s lightbulb shed.


    ¡°We will spread around pamphlets in all major cities except Rudras Metropolis. With contents like: ¡®Wind hero, please contact us¡¯. Even if the Wind capital is a secret ce, its residents should be here and there, so if they pick up those pamphlets and take it to Rudras Metropolis...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Just how many thousands would we need for that? Just the act of spreading it is not free, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    Also, the matter with the Mother Monsters is something that I would like to be kept as secret as possible, so publicizing it would be a bit...


    ¡°This unworthy Gonbee Sasae! Has a good idea-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan raised her hand with energy.


    ¡°We kidnap people walking around and interrogate them-dasu! They might be people of the Wind Church, and they might spit out the information they hiding-dasu! We continue that several times-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Just how random can that be?! There¡¯s a limit to controlling with fear! You, since the time you officially became a part of us, hasn¡¯t that dark part of yours been growing more prominent?!¡± (Celestis)


    I also thought that.


    Also, Celestis has been the straight-man for a while now, and that gives me peace of mind.


    ¡°...But, you know, we have run into a wall huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°True. Or more like, Haine-chi, haven¡¯t you been enjoying it watching me retort on my own for a while now?¡± (Celestis)


    This is a lot more of a difficult voyage than I thought.


    We ran onto a wall right at the start trying to find a way to search for the Mother Monsters, and so, we decided to leave it aside for now, and we have ran onto a wall searching for the wind hero as well.


    We are in the middle of holding our heads brooding on what to do now.


    ¡°Looks like you are troubled.¡±


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Light Founder?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Light Founder-sama?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Hiiih?! She be together with the scary person too-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Another troublesome one hase!


    The Light Church¡¯s Founder, Yorishiro.


    Just by appearing, the heroes here were all trembling.


    By the way, Doraha who has been sticking to Yorishiro like her shadowtely is also with her.


    Sasae-chan was trembling because of her. Did something happen?


    ¡°Looks like you are searching for the Wind Church.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°As expected of you, you catch on quick. Were you eavesdropping?¡± (Haine)


    Is what I said teasingly, but Yorishiro didn¡¯t answer with a ¡®yes¡¯ or ¡®no¡¯ and simply giggled.


    Truly like her.


    ¡°By the way, Haine-san, what¡¯s with those kiss marks that are filling up your face? That¡¯s quite the lovely make-up you have there-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hiiih?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will have you exin that properlyter.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡®Anyways¡¯, is what Yorishiro says as she changes the topic.


    Since the moment she appeared, the control of the conversation has been graspedpletely by her. Seriously, what a woman.


    ¡°The Wind Church. They truly are shrouded in mystery, and are a troublesome party.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Troublesome...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Without showing their figures, they disy their power behind the scenes while hiding their cards, and keep in check the other Churches. As the one who manages the Light Church, their difficulty in handling is quite troubling. Once you let your guard down, they draw near you without making a sound. There have been several instances where a dagger has been thrust to my neck.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Of course, thrusting a dagger to her neck is simply a metaphor, but to have Yorishiro say so much of them.


    The strangeness of the Wind Church has increased by a lot.


    ¡°Making contact with such a Wind Church shouldn¡¯t be a good thing. They repudiate the thought of trying to catch wind of them. If you thread poorly, you might even be erased secretly.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Scary-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°But be at ease. The Light Church I manage is one of the five Great Churches just like the Wind Church. And I am its Founder.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Hm? What is it?


    ¡°I know the way to contact the Wind Church.¡± (Yorishiro)


    After that, around 1 month passed.


    I don¡¯t know if the statement of Yorishiro was correct or not, but the time to prove it has arrived.


    ¡°But...why are we here?¡± (Haine)


    The ce we are standing at right now is not the Apollon City we are familiar with. We went outside of it, to a field that is far away.


    In terms of location, I would say it is in the space between Apollon City and Ishtar ze.


    In the first ce, Ishtar ze is the furthest city in terms of distance between Apollon City, so the space between it is quite a distance.


    Moreover, it is not like there¡¯s anything in that ce. Arriving at the actual ce, we looked around, but the only thing that was there was short grass.


    Maybe because it is in a dry area, there¡¯s no big trees growing here, and in terms of terrain, the ground ispletely t, allowing you to see all the way to the horizon.


    For now, Karen-san, Yorishiro, and I were there. And counting Doraha who is apanying Yorishiro, we total four.


    At a slightly further away ce, there¡¯s around a hundred Aurora Knight corps. It can probably be called apanying the Founder, or more like, bodyguards.


    ¡°Hey Yorishiro, can you tell us already?¡± (Haine)


    ¡®Is an envoy of the Wind Church really going toe waiting at a ce like this?¡¯, is what I continued saying in my question.


    ¡°Ara, I didn¡¯t say a single thing about that, you know?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eeeh?¡± (Haine)


    Then why did you bring us all the way to a ce like this?


    ¡°I am sorry, Haine-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    Is what Doraha suddenly said and went down on her knees.


    ¡°I was strictly ordered by Yorishiro-sama to not disclose today¡¯s ns to Haine-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Eh?! Why?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°She apparently wants to surprise you.¡± (Doraha)


    Oi, this Founder.


    When I stare daggers at her, Yorishiro simply took them on with a fresh expression.


    ¡°...What about Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Sorry... I have already been told what will be happening now.¡± (Karen)


    So I am the only one who doesn¡¯t know anything?!


    ¡°As a hero, I have to get involved with the diplomatic area of other Churches after all. Also...isn¡¯t that right, Yorishiro-sama?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you want to surprise the person you like?!¡± (Karen)


    How soothing.


    Since the time these two hit it off, they have been ying around with me.


    When there¡¯s a third party, they restrain themselves, but when there¡¯s only the three of us, they truly go berserk.


    How many times have I already been crushed by that.


    ...Eh? But right now, it is not really only us three, there¡¯s one more.


    I direct my gaze at the one other member, the dark skin girl.


    The shadow hero that has returned from the Underworld Country after a thousand years, Doraha. Being amnesiac, even when she possesses the prestige of being the strongest hero, she stays simplistic like a young girl, but...


    ¡°I am truly sorry, Haine-sama. Just like I said before, I have been strictly ordered to not speak about it.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Ah, it is fine. Don¡¯t worry about it. I will get to know if we keep waiting here anyways, right?¡± (Haine)


    But why is she so formal with me?


    She is really courteous to a point that it makes it hard to think she is amnesic. She is so courteous, I would like it if the heroes of this generation were to learn from her.


    She is way too courteous to a hero assistant like me.


    ¡°It would be okay for you to be revered at least once, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro whispered to my ear from behind.


    Could it be that this woman took advantage of Doraha¡¯sck of memories and educated her with weird memories?


    ¡°Uhm, Haine-sama!¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha wants to say something.


    ¡°If you are dissatisfied, please fondle my boobs to calm down!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Oi, caretaker!!¡± (Haine)


    I instantly felt uneasy in leaving Doraha in the care of Yorishiro!


    I am in the presence of the hero and her aide, so I can¡¯t just go grabbing the cor of the Founder.


    ¡°What the hell did you put into the brain of this girl?! What are you tainting the pure heart of this girl with?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ufufu, because you know, Doraha asked me what would make you feel happy after all~~.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°In that case, the more the reason you shouldn¡¯t tell her lies like that!¡± (Haine)


    No, it is not like I wouldn¡¯t feel happy touching boobs though.


    But the action itself and a lot of other misceneous issues are involved.


    ¡°Haine-sama, Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    While we were bickering in that way, Doraha alone calmly notified us.


    ¡°It hase.¡± (Doraha)


    Eh? What hase?


    The envoy of the Wind Church?


    ¡°An envoy won¡¯t being. The Wind Church won¡¯t be giving us a single one of their members.¡± (Yorishiro)


    At the direction where Doraha is pointing at and where Yorishiro is looking at; at that ce, a big cloud of dust rose.


    ...No, that¡¯s not it. For a second, I thought it was a cloud of dust, but that¡¯s not it.


    That¡¯s a cloud.


    ¡°Is that...the ¡®Wind Barrier¡¯, Yorishiro-sama?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san asks Yorishiro with doubt mixed in it.


    ¡®Wind Barrier¡¯?


    ¡°That¡¯s right. In order for the Wind Church to hide their headquarters, they use this barrier that has been created with the power of the Wind God. Not only does it obstruct view, it also wards off intruders. The very symbol of those isted people-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh? Wait a moment. The reason why such a thing is spreading right in front of our eyes is because...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Wind Church has not send an envoy. They won¡¯t give us anyone... Their very city ising to us.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so, that mass of dark clouds was steadily approaching us.


    The dark clouds that were like walls were closing in on us, and by the time our vision was dyed in ck and gray, its approach stopped.


    And then, suddenly...the ¡®Wind Barrier¡¯ cleared up.

 Chapter 138-139 - Wandering City

    <h4>Chapter 138-139: Wandering City</h4>


    Trantor Note: Hey guys, following a suggestion from one of thements, the chapter names will be having WR for World Reformation and Tsuki for Tsuki ga Michi depending on the story.


    This is cause the stories are soon going to have the same amount of chapters and it will be confusing to distinguishter on.


    Anyways, enjoy the chapter


    ¡°This is the...Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis?!¡±


    Once the ck cloud cleared up and the thing inside it had been exposed to the broad daylight, my vision was still coveredpletely by something humongous.


    If I had to put it in words, it would be a city on tires.


    Of course, even if I say tires, it is not like those normal ones that are used on ethereal cars, the ones here were several times bigger.


    Moreover, there¡¯s six at one side and there¡¯s a base that is putting them all together, and over that base, the city is on top of it.


    In other words...this is...


    ¡°Is this the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis?¡± (Haine)


    It was so shocking, I asked twice.


    The one who honestly answered my question that was akin to incoherent muttering was the Founder, Yorishiro.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It was constructed by refining ethereal engineering; a supergiant method of transportation. This city that is on top of this is exactly the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis, that worships the Wind God Quasar.¡± (Yorishiro)


    How overwhelming!


    Just how much time, resources, andbour force would be required to make something like that?


    Truly aption of human civilization.


    ¡°Uhm, I...! Different from Haine-san, I received all information beforehand, and yet...! I still can¡¯t hold down my surprise!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says this at my side.


    Even she was like that, so I who was not told anything about this was already at the farthestnd of agitation.


    In a sense, their n was a big sess.


    ¡°U-Ufufufufu! D-D-Did you g-g-get surprised, Haine-s-s-s-san?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you surprised as well?!¡± (Haine)


    What¡¯s wrong, Yorishiro-san?!


    ¡°*Cough*, it can¡¯t be helped. This is also my first time seeing this movingnd after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Oh, so Yorishiro also has cute parts in her like getting scared huh. Making me think that might also be a trap though.


    But yeah, a moving city.


    That¡¯s how Yorishiro described it, but it truly must be that.


    This city being on top of these tires has made this Wind capital, Rudra Metropolis, unknown of its details for a long time.


    And the reason has now been cleared.


    Being in constant movement, it doesn¡¯t stay in one ce. There¡¯s no way it would be possible to pinpoint the location of a city like that.


    But I still don¡¯t understand why they would go to such lengths to hide the details of their city.


    ¡°Secretive to the point that they would make a whole city move. In my opinion, this surpasses my understanding-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro said with a tiresome voice.


    Really, what are the people of the Wind Church trying to do?


    ¡°Well, since we have the chance, we can just ask the people themself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°They areing out.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro raised her head and it seems she had her attention at something, so I also follow her gaze.


    What I saw at that ce was what could be called the extension part of the giant moving city.


    At that ce, there¡¯s something simr to a gond lift, and it was making *gashan!* sounds that reached even our ears as the gond lowered. It was hung by wires, so it looks like there¡¯s no need to worry about it suddenly falling down.


    It lowers to the ground at an appropriate speed, and the door of the gond opens.


    And then, from inside it, around six people with the same clothing ¨Cprobably soldiers¨C move out and line up to the sides. After that, the one who appeared at the center of it was...a young man with firm features.


    ¡°Were you the ones who stopped the ungraspable wind?¡±


    The man speaks with a bitter attitude.


    ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you. I am the Light Church¡¯s Founder, name¡¯s Yorishiro.¡± (Yorishiro)


    In response to that, the young man makes a greeting with polished courtesy.


    ¡°Wind Church¡¯s Founder, Toreido Shiva.¡± (Shiva)


    The man called himself Shiva, and revealed his title as the Wind Founder.


    In other words, he is the head of this moving city.


    ¡°I am honored to be in your presence-desu wa. Since the time I entered the position of Light Founder, at this moment, I have finally met with all the other Founders.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Eh?


    Karen-san at my side was also making an ¡®eh?¡¯ face.


    Just how muchck of rtions does this Wind Church have?


    ¡°Due to our Wind Creed, we don¡¯t find it pleasant to make contact with pagans. Unless there¡¯s a big reason for it, it would be impossible to undo the Velz Bull and stop Rudras Metropolis.¡± (Shiva)


    Hm?


    ¡°ves of the Light Goddess Intion, we haveplied with a promise from ancient times and have stopped the wind that would originally not stop. Let¡¯s hear what you have to say. If it¡¯s something stupid, our anger will change the wind into storm, and will make you bastards pay.¡± (Shiva)


    What a coercive attitude.


    But without being coerced by that firmness of his, Yorishiro doesn¡¯t break her elegant pace.


    ¡°The emergency call for a conference between the five Churches. This is also my first time utilizing it, so I was worried if it would actually work. But I am d that it went as nned. Regarding the business...right right, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wind Founder-sama, the one here is the hero of the Light Church, name¡¯s Karen-san. She is strong, cute, and the pride of our Church, you know? This is a good opportunity, so I will be introducing her.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°U-Uhm, please to meet you!¡± (Karen)


    Being suddenly thrown into the conversation, it took Karen-san her everything to just greet.


    On the other hand, the Wind Founder, Shiva...


    ¡°.......¡±


    Is getting annoyed!


    The matter was dodged and he is getting annoyed by it!


    As expected of Yorishiro. There¡¯s no one as good as her in elegantly pushing the buttons of the other party.


    ¡°If possible, I would like to introduce her to your wind hero as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Pointlessly revealing information is not in our wind creed. There¡¯s no need for the hero in this time¡¯s conference.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Ara ara, so the Wind God is a stingy one.¡± (Yorihshiro)


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± (Shiva)


    Yorishiro-san, Yorishiro-san, you are provoking the other party too much.


    Even when this Founder has a face that says jokes don¡¯t work on him.


    ¡°Wait! Wait wait!¡± (Haine)


    Unable to endure it, I try to calm down the two.


    Thanks to that, the surroundings of the Wind Founder step in.


    ¡°What¡¯s with you?!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Uhm, I am sorry. I am merely an attendant.¡± (Haine)


    And there, Yorishiro speaks even more unnecessary things.


    ¡°That person there is Kuromiya Haine-san. A person that is far stronger than you or your hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiroooo!!¡± (Haine)


    Why are you provoking them?!


    Why are you doing such unnecessary provocations?!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? About the matter at hand, it can¡¯t be spoken right now anyways.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°The five Founders Conference can¡¯t begin unless all five Founders are gathered after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It looks like things have turned hectic.


    The five Churches that lead this world: Earth, Water, Wind, Fire, and Light; their leaders are going to be congregating in one ce?


    ¡°That is the Five Founders Conference.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro gives me a lecture about, but if possible, I would like it if you had told me all beforehand.


    ¡°The five Churches are the existences that rule over all the people in this world. For the sake of that responsibility, we have shouldered a variety of duties and authorities. If need be, we createws, or at times, take on arms and fight. One of the authorities that have been given to us is to open a Five Founders Conference.¡± (Yorishiro)


    In the asion an unknown chaos urs in this world that a Church can¡¯t cope on its own, there¡¯s the need for all churches to align their wills and des.


    What¡¯s opened for that sake is the Five Founders Conference.


    All tops of the Churches gather in one ce and discuss directly.


    ¡°...Is what it means.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s all the exnation of Yorishiro.


    ¡°The prohibition the five Churches have regarding the utilization of ethereal weaponry, and the prohibition of proselytizing in other Churches¡¯ base were also established in the Five Founders Conference. The general rule is that all five Founders have to be present, so it would trouble us if only at this moment the Wind Church were to not appear.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s why we stopped the blowing wind. We are fulfilling our duty as one of the five Churches.¡± (Shiva)


    The Wind Founder Shiva said this curtly.


    ¡°This is the sole precedent where the location-unknown Wind Church would answer to our calls. The Founders of each church possess a secret divine power signal for the times when a Five Founder Conference takes ce. As long as there¡¯s that, the notice will arrive at the Wind Church even when we don¡¯t know where it is.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And then, once we receive that signal, the agreement is that we would being to this location. The one who will be receiving us is the very person that has send the signal. In other words, Light Founder, that means the one who sent out the signal for the conference was you this time, right?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s right-desu wa, Wind Founder.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Then, I will have you tell me the topic of discussion for this conference. The business that I have been questioning you many times for a while now.¡± (Shiva)


    The tone of voice of the Founder Shiva increased in sharpness. I could feel the coldness of a de from the air.


    ¡°If the topic of discussion is not approved as something important enough to have all five Founders gathered to discuss, we will simply return to flowing with the wind. This is also a special privilege given to us Wind Church in the time we created this Five Founder Conference system. Light Founder, Yorishiro, let¡¯s have you answer already. Just what business did you have that you called us, drifters of the wind?¡± (Shiva)


    In that tone of voice and pressure, it was as if he was saying: ¡®if this is something stupid, I will be cutting you down as payment¡¯.


    It is already to a level that can be called killing intent.


    Being directed that killing intent, is our Yorishiro okay?


    Karen-san was watching over this in nervousness, but the Yorishiro in question was showing calmness.


    ¡°Then, I will be direct. Our Light Church will be erasing all monsters from this world without leaving a single one remaining.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    That deration changed even the face color of the Wind Founder.


    ¡°We want to ask the cooperation for that to the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind people. That¡¯s the reason for this Five Founders Conference. What we five Founders will be discussing in this conference will be in how to bring demise to the monsters that have been troubling the humans for close to a century.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Impossible... Impossible!¡± (Shiva)


    The expression of the Founder Shiva was already dyed in shock.


    Eradicating monsters must be that hard to believe for the people in this world.


    ...But even so...


    ¡°Yorishiro-san, Yorishiro-san!¡± (Haine)


    I hurriedly approached Yorishiro.


    ¡°What are you saying so suddenly? Eradicating monsters, you say. Could it be you are going to...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what I will be doing, Haine-san. I n on using all the resources from the five Churches in order to search for the Mother Monsters.¡± (Yorishiro)


    What?!


    ¡°Haine-san, it looks like you n on dealing with the Mother Monster subjugation alone, but I hold a different opinion. The monsters are a problem that all humans shoulder. That¡¯s exactly why all humans should cooperate and ovee this, and with that, humans will obtain new power from this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    As expected of one of the persons that rules over one of the churches. In her past life, she was even the queen that created and raised the strongest nation of the world.


    At times, I even wonder if she is actually the one within the Gods that believes and treasures humans the most. I am losing confidence.


    ¡°Mother Monsters, you say? Could it be...¡± (Shiva)


    On the other hand, the Wind Founder, Shiva, was still trembling in agitation.


    ¡°How about it, Shiva-san? Have you epted the holding of this Five Founders Conference?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro asks for Shiva¡¯s consent.


    At that moment...


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡±


    The voice of a hoarse old woman reverberated.


    That voice is...!


    ¡°You are¡ª!¡±


    At some point in time, an old woman wearing the Earth Founder¡¯s garment was standing right close to us.


    With several acolytes along with her, and one of them was the earth hero, Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Haine-niichan! Karen-neechan! It been a short while-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan waves her hand energetically at the side of the old woman.


    That¡¯s right, that Obaa-san is the new Founder that was appointed after the Grandma Wood battle, the grandmother of the earth hero, Sasae-chan.


    She herself was an earth hero a few generations before, moreover, she had enough skills and achievements to even be called with an alias like ¡®Taker by the roots¡¯.


    ¡°The new Earth Founder-sama, right? I am honored to meet you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. I was just about to make ma rounds to the Founders due to being newly appointed, but now ya have saved me the trouble for that-sa ne. Oh~, the Light Church¡¯s Founder and hero are both beautiful flowers.¡±


    Exchanging their first greetings, the Light and Earth Founder shake hands.


    Seeing this, the Wind Founder recovers his color.


    ¡°You are the Earth Founder? What is the meaning of this?! In the agreements of the Five Founders Conference, it is stated that the other Founders cannot step in until the Wind Church has given its consent!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°The Five Founders Conference will take ce.¡±


    The Obaa-san clearly states this.


    ¡°It is true that the holding of the Five Founders Conference is decided by Wind, but if all other Churches ept it aside from ya, it shouldn¡¯t matter. The majority rule is the foremost of all principles-sa ne.¡±


    By the time I noticed, there were two other groups that were approaching from two different directions.


    ¡°Good grief. There¡¯s quite a lot of hot-blooded ones in the other Church Founders huh. Looks like this will be a tiring conference.¡±


    The Founder of the Water Church, Ru Azul.


    He is an unique Founder that was originally the supreme ruler of the maritime business in Hydra Ville and was weed by the Water Church.


    With his past history of being a merchant, he possesses a self-interested thought pattern, so even from his position as a Founder, he is a ferocious one.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡±


    Fire Church¡¯s Founder, *Saruo Enou*. <Monkey King Fire King>


    Rising from General of the Fire Militant corps to Founder, a pure warrior at work. Training many a fighter with those hands of his, the fire hero, Mirack, is also a direct disciple of his.


    Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Light; the five Founders have gathered.

 Chapter 140-141 - Gathering of Founders

    <h4>Chapter 140-141: Gathering of Founders</h4>


    ¡°This is¡ª?!¡±


    The Wind Founder Shiva falters.


    The ones surrounding him are the equally notorious Founders of the five Churches.


    Earth Founder, *Nekosogi Shakaruma* <Her alias in japanese>; Water Founder, Ru Azul; Fire Founder, Saruo Enou; and the Light Founder, Yorishiro.


    ¡°Yaho~, Karen-chi.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Were you lonely, Karen?!¡± (Mirack)


    The water hero, Celestis, and the fire hero, Mirack, had alsoe.


    ¡°Ah, Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan! So you were the ones who brought the Founder-sans, right?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was also happy and held hands with her friends.


    Yorishiro looks at them with her eyes narrowed.


    ¡°You heard about it beforehand, right? The hero alliance can show its effectiveness in this kind of way.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I see, so she used the heroes that chatter habitually in Apollon City as envoys huh.


    ¡°The Earth, Water, and Fire Founders have already been notified of my im via the heroes. Along with a message telling them that if they agree, they were to gather in this ce. I can take our meeting here today in that way, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro, who is without doubt the youngest one within the Founders, looked around the people of her same position that were a lot older than her.


    ¡°...Well, I have a big debt with ya guys because of that incident before. With that also taken into consideration, I be riding on this talk-sa ne.¡±


    ¡°Whether it is a Founder or a merchant, there¡¯s the need to discern the benefits of the future. The im of Yorishiro-dono, I felt it was a business opportunity.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    Positive words from the Earth, Water, and Fire Founders.


    Hearing this, Shiva made a bitter expression.


    ¡°Now then, what will you do, Wind Founder? Four of the five agree; even if you cry alone, it will only sound like a spoiled brat, you know?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...Hmph, fine.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva says this as if spitting it out.


    ¡°It is not like I am not interested in the im of the Light Founder. Let¡¯s see in detail if that¡¯s not just nonsensical talk.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Thank you very much. Well then, let¡¯s leave it at having an unanimous vote in opening the Five Founders Conference. Uhm, is the assembly hall really okay to be where you wish it to be?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Assembly hall?


    While I was confused, the Wind Founder says in an exaggerated manner.


    ¡°Very well. This time¡¯s Founder Conference will be in our headquarters, Rudras Metropolis. That¡¯s why we havee here along with ournd.¡± (Shiva)


    Eh?


    In other words, we will be entering that moving city?


    Karen-san and Yorishiro were whispering at my side.


    ¡°This is...it has be quite the event, don¡¯t you think? To think we would be able to check out the Wind capital!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah, to think the Wind capital that has been denying outsiders has invited us, moreover, we didn¡¯t even ask for it. That¡¯s exactly what you would call, ¡®what kind of wind is blowing here¡¯?¡± (Yorishiro)


    It seems like it really is a big deal.


    In the time I was sensing an incredible atmosphere here, the talk between the tops was steadily progressing.


    ¡°Wind Founder, Shiva-sama, we appreciate your kindness, but your people have been in secrecy for a long time, and for your people, the Wind capital is supposed to be the very definition of a sacrednd that no one can step into. Can you please tell us the reason why you have decided to ept us in it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say this was on the discretion of the Wind God.¡± (Shiva)


    Quasar¡¯s discretion huh.


    That air-like God, what is it thinking?


    ¡°BUT...¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva resolutely said this.


    ¡°Of course, I will be cing restrictions on the people entering. First of all, the only ones that can enter are the Founders. I will allow one bodyguard per church. Is there any objections?¡± (Shiva)


    One bodyguard max.


    That means the role will naturally fall onto the heroes.


    ¡°Oya oya, how cold. Since it was a rare chance, I brought a lot of people in order to deepen each other¡¯s understanding.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    Looks like the Founders are also dissatisfied with it.


    But even so, this is a visit from the Founders.


    All churches havee with a unit of at least a hundred soldiers, and now that it has been allowed to take only one from that group, it would certainly be stingy.


    ¡°I will have the remaining people camp at the outskirts of the moving city. We will provide the facilities and food for that. There should be noins with that.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°This just be a hypothetical scenario but...¡±


    Is what the Earth Founder Obaa-san said.


    The volume of her voice was low, but it was a voice that was so sharp it felt as if a scythe was thrust at your neck.


    ¡°If an unexpected situation urs inside the city, what shall be done? The only ones who can enter the city will be the Founders and the heroes. They are existences that be irreceable for the church. The time something happens, can ya take responsibility?¡±


    ¡°At that time...¡± (Shiva)


    A faint smile appeared in the face of Shiva.


    ¡°You can attack Rudras Metropolis with all the soldiers that are at standby outside. Even if they are not as strong as heroes, if it¡¯s with several hundreds ofbatants that can control divine power, they should be able to at least destroy the tires of the moving city easily. That way, we will be sitting ducks.¡± (Shiva)


    The conversation of these two had the scent of implied danger in it.


    There¡¯s not many unexpected situations that can ur inside Rudras Metropolis.


    If there is, it would be one thing.


    The Wind Church is using this opportunity to capture the Founders and heroes that have entered their bosom.


    With the matter of them being secretive and then suddenly saying they will be receiving the Founders inside their base, it reeks of suspicious.


    It can¡¯t be helped to think that there¡¯s some sort of hidden agenda here.


    The Obaa-san, who was a past hero, pointed out this possibility and warned them to ¡®not do anything weird¡¯, and the Wind Founder answered in response with ¡®if you think it is weird, just attack¡¯ as he faced her.


    It was as if sparks were flying.


    ¡°It is embarrassing saying it myself but, within the five major cities, Rudras Metropolis is the smallest. The poption is also the lowest. If we fight straight on, the ones falling first would definitely be us.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s why ya were thorough with that secrecy, and were progressing with the ethereal research the mostpared ta anywhere. There be no doubt that ye guys be the weakest if we were to fight head on, but there be no way ye thinkin¡¯ about fighting head on. Yer not someone we can lower our guards on-sa ne.¡±


    I feel like the sparks might create fires already!


    ¡°Now now, isn¡¯t it fine already?¡± (Azul)


    Unable to endure the atmosphere, the Water Founder, that looked like the one with the weakest marrow, interjected.


    ¡°No matter what we will be talking about and what we decide on, what¡¯s necessary is trust between churches, right? If there¡¯s no trust, there¡¯s no point no matter what¡¯s decided on.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    And the Fire Founder apanies his words.


    ¡°Fuh, well fine. It be just as the Water guy said. For now, I be ¡®trusting¡¯ ya Wind guy. If ya betray me, killin¡¯ ya would be a justified cause after all.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, fine.¡± (Shiva)


    Looks like things have wrapped up for now.


    ¡°Sasae, how abouting together with me? Seeing a foreign city can be a learning experience for the future.¡±


    ¡°Understood, *Sobo-chan*!¡± (Sasae) <You will be learning all ways of saying Grandma with this Earth Founder! >:D>


    ¡°This one will of course be asking Celestis to be my bodyguard. If you are with me, this one will feel as if this one is on board of a cruiser after all.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Oka~y! Leave it to me, Papa!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°At yourmand.¡± (Mirack)


    The other churches were steadily deciding on their bodyguards.


    As expected, the ones chosen as bodyguards are all without exception heroes.


    And so, the problem falls onto the Light Church.


    The one who will be personally selected as the bodyguard of Yorishiro would normally be the hero Karen-san, but Yorishiro also has an exclusive bodyguard called Doraha.


    On top of that, well, I am probably counted.


    Who is Yorishiro going to choose from us three?


    141: The chosen ones


    ¡°As expected, the one who should be going here is Karen-san. The Light Founder should be protected by the light hero.¡± (Haine)


    When I bring out a sound and proper argument, Karen went against it.


    ¡°No, I think it is better for Haine-san to go. Thinking about the things that will be talking about at the conference, it is definitely necessary for Haine-san to be there.¡± (Karen)


    In order to form this Five Founders Conference, Yorishiro submitted the Mother Monsters as a topic of discussion.


    There¡¯s no doubt that the talk about these existences will be discussed in the conference.


    ¡°Now that the attendance is restricted to only Founders, there¡¯s no other choice but for the other people to apany the Founders as bodyguards. Haine-san, please take that seat!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wait please. This is just...¡± (Haine)


    My gaze went to the other problem -to the dark skin girl, Doraha.


    ¡°...What is it?¡± (Doraha)


    Karen-san and I look silently at her.


    She has been attached deeply to Yorishiro since the time she left the Underworld Country, and she doesn¡¯t leave her side.


    To pull apart Doraha from Yorishiro...


    And to leave her at the outskirts of the city...


    ¡°It feels terrible, as if I was taking away the mother of a small girl and abandoning her outside!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...¡±


    It looks like Karen-san felt the same. She had a serious expression all around.


    Now then, what should we do really?


    As expected, separating Doraha from Yorishiro would definitely hit my conscience, so let¡¯s decide on Doraha going then?


    ording to Karen-san, she has fighting ability that is plenty satisfying to act as the bodyguard.


    ¡°Please wait.¡±


    At that moment, the very person that has to decide a bodyguard appeared -Yorishiro.


    ¡°Before beginning the Five Founders Conference, there¡¯s one proposition I want to make.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°A proposition, you say?¡± (Shiva)


    Moreover, the one who spoke was not us, but Shiva.


    ¡°What¡¯s that about a proposition? We have consented on the Five Founders Conference and we are even providing our city as the assembly hall; don¡¯t you understand how unprecedentedly gracious we are being here? You probably want to talk about increasing the number of bodyguards, but I absolutely will not ept more than one. It is most likely just a n to have a spy slip in to dig out the details of our city though¡ª¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°No, the thing I want to increase is not bodyguards.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Interrupting the repetitive talk of Shiva, Yorishiro said this.


    ¡°What I want to increase is the number of participants in this conference. In other words, a Founder.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    ¡°In this time¡¯s conference, I want it not to be a Five Founders Conference, but a Six Founders Conference.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!¡± (Enou)


    The sudden utterance of Yorishiro made the many people there raise their voice in surprise.


    ¡°The person here, Kuromiya Haine, is...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro says as she ces both hands on my shoulders, and then, she presses her boobs stealthily on my back in a way that the people around wouldn¡¯t notice.


    ¡°Is a person that can control the rare dark divine power. What I am saying is that I want to have him participate in the conference with the same speech right as a Founder.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Darkness, you say?!¡± (Shiva)


    No no no no no no!


    What are you doing throwing explosive statements one after the other, Yorishiro-san?


    ¡°Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Y-Yes?!¡± (Karen)


    Ignoring the confusion of everyone, Yorishiro continues speaking.


    ¡°You will apany Haine-san as his bodyguard. I will have Doraha protect me.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes, but is that okay?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is okay. ?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even if you say that cutely...


    At any rate, the problem about not being able to decide between Karen-san, Doraha, and I, has been resolved by having all of us participate...right?


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    At this moment, we received support fire from the Earth Founder-sama.


    ¡°We have a crazy big debt with that Nii-chan there, ya see. That¡¯s why, I know about how big of a vessel this Nii-chan has. If he be in the conference, it would give me peace of mind-sa ne.¡±


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°Looks like the Earth and Fire are okay with it, in that case, this one also okay with it.¡± (Azul)


    It looks like the Founders are steadily epting?!


    I thought that the Wind Founder would be vehemently against it in response, but...


    ¡°Do as you please.¡± (Shiva)


    He unexpectedly stepped back easily.


    ¡°Well then, the Founders and bodyguards, I will be weing you to ournd. The elevator will be a tight fit, but I won¡¯t have youin, got it? We have two unforeseen guests after all.¡± (Shiva)


    We finally take a step into thest of the five major cities, the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis.


    But why is it we were trying to get here?


    The reason why I couldn¡¯t remember it at this moment was because it was all taken away by the show disyed by Yorishiro.


    It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that the flow of the situation waspletely in her control.


    As expected of the rumored strongest Light Founder and the Light Goddess that has been constantly putting pressure on the four Base Elements for 1,600 years.


    Thanks to that, it could be said that all events in this asion have been utilized by Yorishiro.


    With this conference, she is trying to use all the five churches to find the Mother Monsters, and connect that to their subjugation.

 Chapter 142-144 - Plan of the Fortune Princess

    <h4>Chapter 142-144: n of the Fortune Princess</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    TLN: Hey guys, Reigokai here. It¡¯s been so long since an actual sponsored chapter. I¡¯ve added a extra one for time¡¯s sake, and am thinking about doing some free chapters next Sunday as well!


    Look forward to it!


    At first, we tried to find the Mother Monsters.


    But the information was so little that we couldn¡¯t even find a starting point for our search.


    There, with the desire of finding new clues regarding the Mother Monsters and increasing our fighting force, we decided on making contact with the wind hero.


    But it seems like we didn¡¯t even have information regarding the wind hero.


    The one who came out at that moment was Yorishiro. Using a secret technique called Five Founders Conference, she seeded in summoning the Wind Church.


    But with the call of a conference, there¡¯s the need for a topic of discussion. And it has to be one big enough to make all five churches that essentially rule the world to gather.


    The topic Yorishiro used was the Mother Monsters.


    At first, I was like ¡®Hm?¡¯.


    The n of finding the Mother Monsters has once again resurfaced and with a chance of actually being possible.


    This Mother Monster subjugation that I had nned on dealing with on my own at first, has begun to involve the whole world.


    My mouth can¡¯t say anything towards the sturdy determination of Yorishiro in eradicating the monsters from the surface world, but I couldn¡¯t do anything but be surprised by the political power of Yorishiro who is able to make all of it possible.


    She is already not in the realm of simply being the incarnation of the Light Goddess, hasn¡¯t she already climbed to being the strongest existence?


    But even so...


    ***


    (...Are you still angry?)


    We had already entered the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis, and we were in the middle of moving through the city with an ethereal-powered car.


    It was a limousine type of car and possesses enough space for even us two who have been added to the group, the inside is also luxurious, and it was plenty good for the nation-level guests of honor to ride.


    But the real intention of the Wind Church for preparing such a car for us, rather than it being to wee the guests, it is more like they wanted to properly keep in check the people in order to not have them do whatever they wanted inside their territory.


    (Hey, Haine-san. Answer me please.)


    Inside that car, there was a voice repeatedly calling to me inside my mind.


    Without the need to use air as the intermediary, it is something that rides the waves of the soul, a voice that can only be heard by the people that possess the soul of a God.


    (Haine-san...you already don¡¯t want to talk to me, right? It is so sad. I feel like crying.) (Yorishiro)


    (No no no no! I was just thinking about something!) (Haine)


    I quickly follow up on Yorishiro who was eagerly talking to me in the mind channel.


    The reason why she is not talking to me in the flesh was because she was considering the many people inside the car. This woman has a lot of secrets after all.


    ¡°Karen-neechan, Karen-neechan! Look outside the window-dasu! There be a lot of super long chimneys lined up-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°They are not chimneys...but smelting furnaces. But this is the first time I have seen it in such arge scale!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Uhyaaaa, I thought that we were the ones who were the most forbearing in regards to ethereal, but it looks like I will have to rethink that.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°There¡¯s always a top to the top. Keep that in mind, water idol woman.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Why are you talking so high-and-mighty, fire she-male?¡± (Celestis)


    While warmly watching over the conversation of the heroes, I continue the secret talk with Yorishiro.


    (...Well, it is true that I am angry though. Why did you do such a reckless twist like that?) (Haine)


    (Twist, you say?) (Yorishiro)


    (About having me participate in the Five Founders Conference. Even if it was to have me apany, that¡¯s way too conspicuous, don¡¯t you think? You even publicized my dark powers.) (Haine)


    If I wanted to infiltrate the Wind capital, there¡¯s plenty of methods I could have used.


    But to think that of all things, I would be participating at an equal standing to that of a Founder, no matter how I think about it, it gives me the shivers.


    (Ara, that¡¯s not good. Making a big appeal of your existence is what will fulfill my objective after all.) (Yorishiro)


    You are still plotting something after all this?!


    What? What is it she is trying to stir up by revealing my existence?


    (It is to meet that person once again.) (Yorishiro)


    (That person?) (Haine)


    (The Wind God, Quasar.) (Yorishiro)


    ...


    The ruler of this Rudras Metropolis is the Wind Church; and the ruler of that Wind Church is the Wind God.


    As of now, it is someone that I haven¡¯t seen a shadow of its figure since the time I was unsealed. It was truly like air.


    (The original objective of Haine-san and the others to meet the wind people was because you had the faint hopes of obtaining information regarding the Wind Mother Monster, but...) (Yorishiro)


    Well, yeah, that¡¯s right.


    (If it¡¯s Quasar-san, it definitely knows about it.) (Yorishiro)


    Well, yeah, that¡¯s right.


    It is one of the very culprits that created Mother Monsters after all. Even if it doesn¡¯t know the specific location like with Nova, it should at least know its form and what traits it has.


    (But that person is one that has the mostck of presence within the six Gods of Creation. Even if you try to search for it normally, you wouldn¡¯t be able to find it.) (Yorishiro)


    I feel like this time everything is like that.


    ...Ah, no, wait. Maybe that¡¯s why?


    Is that the reason why she went so far to even set up the Five Founders Conference to infiltrate the Wind capital?


    (For us five Gods -including me- the base, where the church that worships us is in, is a special ce. If we were to enter its territory, we should be able to grab some sort of clue.) (Yorishiro)


    It is true. Now that I think back about it, the Gods until now: Nova, Coacervate, and Mantle have all appeared when we arrived at their base cities.


    (But that¡¯s not enough.) (Yorishiro)


    (Eh?)


    (The other party not only possesses an incredibly light presence within the four Base Elements, even within the six Gods of Creation, it is on a whole level of its own. Even if we were to go to a ce where it is likely to be, it is naive to think that it woulde out!) (Yorishiro)


    ...Aren¡¯t you wording it pretty harshly there?


    (In order to search for something that we can¡¯t find even when searching, the best way is to have the other sidee to us. To do that, spreading bait is the most effective way!) (Yorishiro)


    (...Are you talking about me?) (Haine)


    Bait, you say.


    Is that why you made such a big show of my dark powers in front of so many people?


    In order to have a God that is like air, who can be anywhere, and can¡¯t be seen or touched, to hear it.


    (It looks like you yourself haven¡¯t noticed it, but for the four Base Elements, you are an existence they can¡¯t ignore, Dark God Entropy.) (Yorishiro)


    She calls me by my God name.


    (The dark power has the absolute ability of erasing earth, water, wind, and fire elements. In reality, the four Base Elements should have beenpletely under your power. Them beating you at the battle of Gods is serving as the core of their shallow pride.) (Yorishiro)


    (In essence, the one who defeated me was only you though, Light Goddess Intion.) (Haine)


    To tease her, I also spoke her God name, but the response didn¡¯te.


    What?


    (...Uwu.) (Yorishiro)


    (Uwaa, that¡¯s not it, that¡¯s not it! It is not like I am holding a grudge for that time! Don¡¯t cry!) (Haine)


    But in order to find the Mother Monsters, we have to unify the power of the humans and lure out thest Basic Element God.


    To be able to bring out many results from one action is the very definition of a tactician.


    In the time I was sleeping, the one who was the most influenced by humans might have been her.


    This God to God conversation we are having right now, there might be someone else listening into it.


    Is that also her aim?


    In the time we were doing all that, the limousine had led us to the assembly hall for the Five Founders Conference.


    ...Uhm, I am also here so, is it more urate to say Six Founders Conference?


    It isplicated, so I will leave it at five. At any rate, the ce where we were led to was the headquarters of the Wind Church, the Grand Wind Workshop.


    Until we were led there, we did have the chance of moving through the inside, but mysteriously, there was not a single instance where we encountered anyone passing by.


    There was indeed the presence of people, but they didn¡¯t enter our field of vision even once.


    I felt like I was being reminded of how thorough the Wind Church is with their secrecy policy.


    ***


    In the round table prepared, one unknown man sits down where the five Founders sit.


    How pressuring!


    The heroes also stood at the back of each of their Founders to protect them, and the conference took form.


    ¡°Well then, first of all, I want to give my thanks to the Founders that have responded to my call and have gathered.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro opened with.


    An ellipsis.


    While giving a basic exnation of the Mother Monsters, the Five Founder Conference continues.


    ¡°...In short, as long as we defeat those Mother Monsters, monsters will be eradicated from this world, right?¡± (Azul)


    The Water Founder was showing a merchant-like gaze that didn¡¯t allow a single oversight.


    ¡°Quite the splendid thing. Because of those things, the ships get sunk along with their cargo, and there¡¯s also the danger for the ones on board. They are truly a bunch that are only detrimental with just appearing.¡± (Azul)


    He is saying the same thing as my father.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    My interest was piqued at what the Fire Founder said.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°...Yeah, that¡¯s right but, with all the Fire Church?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°Are you saying you are going to go that far for us?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°No way! We truly appreciate it!!¡± (Mirack)


    ording to what the Fire Founder said through Mirack, he will be spreading an exclusive searchwork with the Fire Church that has obtained the information of the Immortal Phoenix.


    Hereafter, the moment a Phoenix-like bird is seen, it will be immediately reported to all stations through the nation, and when the report arrives, they will have a system that will allow them to move promptly to the scene, or so he says.


    ¡°In our Earth capital, there was a tree named ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯. It gave birth to convenient things called Golems, and it be respected by the people. But one day, they suddenly attacked the people. We learned it be a Mother Monster after we fought and defeated it-sa ne.¡±


    ¡°That means the Earth Mother Monster has already fallen, and the remaining ones are the water, wind, and fire. If we were to defeat them, we can bid farewell to monsters for eternity.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro breathes in and stands up from her seat. She then ms both of her hands onto the round table.


    ¡°There¡¯s a variety of areas we can see it from. Just like how the Water Founder-sama said just now, the economic losses we face because of the monsters, who knows how much it would be? Putting it in other words, they are the very blight that festers humanity¡¯s growth.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The other Founders kept silent and listen.


    ¡°Just how much unnecessary energy have we expended in fighting with monsters? If we had directed that energy in something constructive, how much could we have developed? There¡¯s also no need to say that there have been many precious lives lost because of monsters. For us, monsters are...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro temporarily pauses her words here.


    ¡°...A big threat with no benefits. There should be no one who would lose anything in their eradication. This is the time when we five churches should link hands to change the world greatly!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡± (Enou)


    ¡°Yeah, that be exactly right.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s profit, boarding it is what makes one a merchant.¡± (Azul)


    It was slightly unexpected how easy it was for the Founders to approve of what Yorishiro said.


    Because just like how the monsters are only tools for the Gods to get fame, I thought that monsters were necessary for the church.


    The monsters that are a threat to humans are subjugated by the church.


    And due to this, humans are grateful to the church. Their worth is acknowledged.


    For them, that¡¯s a grace that should be hard to let go of...but it looks like that wasn¡¯t the case.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, every single human in this world is already fed up with those monsters. Even if the church protects the people from monsters -leaving aside a century ago- in the present day, it has already lost all novelty, and it has be something ¡®natural to be protected¡¯. And yet, monsters are still the same threatening existence since those hundred years. So, the cost to profit ratio has long since surpassed its worth.¡± (Azul)


    It looks like the circumstances vary from humans and Gods.


    And this had been exined by the Water Founder in the lenses of a businessman.


    ¡°Hence, I am totally in favor of eradicating the monsters! I have already heard about the Water Mother Monster from my daughter¡ªoops, I mean, our hero. Theck of information is a straining factor, but we intend to investigate little by little.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°As you see fit.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro who has be the speaker of this conference gave her words to him.


    Looks like the meeting is going well for now.


    ¡°Well then...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro¡¯s gaze is directed at the ce where she hasn¡¯t faced to until now.


    Being sit on the seat of a Founder, yet, has not said a single word since the beginning of the conference; a man that was like air.


    ¡°Wind Founder-sama, I want to hear you opinion in this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    The silence continues.


    ¡°As a Founder, it wouldn¡¯t be strange to be in possession of a lot of beneficial information. If it¡¯s you, don¡¯t you have any information regarding the Wind Mother Monster of your same element? Even if it¡¯s only a clue regarding it...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro was pressing him tenaciously, and Shiva stopped it with his hand.


    The wind that had been covered with a veil of mysteries.


    The God, the church, the city, the Founder, and the hero as well; all the things that were as if transparent, were beginning to show themselves...


    ¡°First of all, I want to ask something.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°...Go ahead.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro readily consents, but it was impossible to erase the cautiousness in her voice.


    ¡°First of all, regarding these Mother Monster things you have been talking about. Is there proof that they are really out there?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Earth, Water, and Fire as well, it pains me to see how easily you are to get swayed by such delusions. There¡¯s no evidence in what this girl is saying. There¡¯s nothing to put my trust into.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°There be evidence-sa ne.¡±


    The one who objected was the Earth Founder Obaa-san.


    ¡°There be no doubt the Great Pir-sama that appeared in our city was givin¡¯ birth to monsters. On top of that, cuz of its super size and power, it be fitting to be called the boss of the monsters.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s nothing to corroborate the theory of Mother Monsters. In the first ce, who was the one who brought out this theory of yours? How did you obtain this information?¡± (Shiva)


    Because of that question, sounds disappeared from the ce.


    No one could answer.


    The painful silence continued.


    ¡°...It was me.¡± (Haine)


    I had no choice but to speak.


    ¡°I was the one who obtained the information regarding the Mother Monsters. I told the Light Founder and the heroes.¡± (Haine)


    Shiva¡¯s gaze is directed at me.


    Those eyes were not showing any friendly color in it.


    ¡°...So it was you. From the moment I saw you, I thought you were a shady man, but that shadiness has increased by one shade more. There¡¯s a lot of things I want to ask, but let¡¯s start with where you heard about such a fairy tale like that of Mother Monsters?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I can¡¯t say.¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s no way I would be able to tell a human that I heard about this from Water God Coacervate and the Fire God Nova, not even by mistake.


    ¡°I was told about it with that kind of promise between us after all.¡± (Haine)


    I had no choice but to cover it in such a way.


    In the first ce, I was thinking about dealing with the Mother Monsters on my own, so I didn¡¯t prepare a single thing for situations where I had to exin myself.


    That Yorishiro...she involved me in such a development without even telling me beforehand after all.


    ¡°Reeks of suspicious. Well then, another question.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Is there still more?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course. Just what kind of authority do you have to sit there? At that seat where only the five Founders of the five churches are allowed to sit on.¡± (Shiva)


    He does have a point.


    I myself want to ask that too.


    ¡°What the Light Founder said before was also weird. Being on the same seat as us Founders just because of a reason like that is way too abnormal. But what was more surprising was that the only one who is pointing this out is me. Are the eyes of the Earth, Water, and Fire hollow?¡± (Shiva)


    No really, I totally agree with you.


    As I thought, isn¡¯t Yorishiro acting without thinking about the consequences?


    ¡°If ya keep saying those stupid things, I be cutting both your hands and legs off.¡±


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    I get surprised by the razor-sharp voice.


    The Earth Founder Obaa-san had her eyes shining with a dangerous light, as if showing us a glimpse of her past as a hero.


    ¡°Brat, careful with what ya say.¡±


    ¡°...Are you talking about me?¡± (Shiva)


    No need to even ask, the Obaa-san was ring daggers at Shiva!


    ¡°Our Earth Church ya see, has been saved by that Nii-chan there. A crisis never seen before. After doing so much for us, there be any other reason needed to believe?¡±


    At the fight with the giant Grandma Wood at Ishtar ze, arge amount of people were assimted, and it was trying to trap the people into an infinite sleep; I participated in that fight as well.


    In the first ce, the reason why that tree rampaged was because of my praise to the Mother Earth God Mantle which escted things.


    To take responsibility for that, I had no choice but to stop it.


    That fight was showing its effect here as well.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    Is what the Fire Founder said.


    In the past, there was the Fire Cow Phris settled at the vicinity of Muspelheim. The ones who defeated that giant monster were Karen-san and Mirack who had fixed their broken friendship.


    And with that friendship fixed, there¡¯s a person that has taken that fixed friendship to heart as well.


    ¡°This one...has not seen Haine-kun fight.¡± (Azul)


    Even the Water Founder joins.


    ¡°But there was a small incident in our city as well, you see. In that incident, this one¡¯s prided girl and the kinddies that were there by chance managed to deal with it, but after that, he was the one who dealt with the other messy stuff.¡± (Azul)


    The Great Sea Dragon turmoil that was set up by the underhanded God Coacervate at Hydra Ville.


    After having Coacervate himself retire, I did a big cleaning of the Water Church in order to sweep out the wiles he had created.


    That was the time when I first met the Water Founder.


    ¡°And so, this one has decided on ¡®trusting¡¯ him. For a merchant, trust is the most important of all. There are times when the substantial wealth is infinitely formed from the formless trust. That¡¯s why merchants can¡¯t be crude on trust. Once there¡¯s trust, you can¡¯t betray them by no means, and once you have given trust, you can¡¯t just pull it back at a moment¡¯s notice.¡± (Azul)


    Why is it that such advocacies areing one after the other?


    Founders are supposed to be politicians of sorts, that¡¯s why, there¡¯s the need to make dry decisions as well.


    ¡°This is the boon of Haine-san¡¯s natural virtue-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I am not taking advantage of something like that, Yorishiro.


    I feel like Karen-san and her friends are pumping their fists like crazy in victory. Really, all sides are boisterous.


    ¡°I see. What it means is that you bastards have fallen for this man¡¯s strength, and because of that, you believe in the utterances of this man.¡± (Shiva)


    The Founder Shiva stands up from his seat.


    ¡°Then, I will be relying on him too, on that man¡¯s strength. Whether it is worthy of trust, that is.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Could it be...you are nning on having a match? Haine-san against you?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro asks in surprise, and Shiva answers smoothly.


    ¡°There¡¯s no better way to measure someone than in fighting. Once they both face a battle with their lives at stake, you can understand everything about the other party. It doesn¡¯t only measure strength, it measures the very depths of the heart too.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Fine.¡± (Haine)


    I immediately reply and stand up at the same time.


    In the first ce, it is not in my character to be sitting in such a mboyant seat like this.


    ¡°I will be epting that bout. But there¡¯s a problem in the opponent being you. In the event that the Founder is heavily injured, it would be terrible. Isn¡¯t it at times like this where the strongest fighter of the Church -the hero- should be standing on the stage?¡± (Haine)


    This is consideration and, at the same time, a gamble.


    With a sound reason, I will pull out the wind hero that has not shown its figure yet.


    The Mother Monster and Quasar are a problem as well, but the very existence of the Wind Church is ominous.


    It makes me want to drag out as much information as possible.


    ¡°Hero huh. Hmph, then there¡¯s no problem. The wind hero is already right in front of you.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is I, Shiva.¡± (Shiva) <Lol, I had to.>


    The Founder Shiva made a daring smile as he once again spoke.


    ¡°Wind hero, Toreido Shiva. I am the Wind Founder as well as the wind hero.¡± (Shiva)

 Chapter 145-146 - A king and hero

    <h4>Chapter 145-146: A king and hero</h4>


    ¡°You hold two posts?!¡± (Haine)


    A Founder and also a hero, that is the one managing the Wind Church, Toreido Shiva.


    The hero that is originally the strongest fighting force of the church, and the Founder that is originally the one standing at the top of the church as its leader; the two will not ovep by no means, thus, it is impossible for one person to take both jobs at the same time.


    That¡¯s why there¡¯s the Earth Founder and earth hero; Water Founder and water hero; Fire Founder and fire hero; and the Light Founder and light hero.


    But in the Wind side, there¡¯s only one.


    And that¡¯s what¡¯s increasing the strangeness in Toreido Shiva.


    ¡°...Eh? Really? Isn¡¯t a hero a title that only girls get?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I also thought for sure that the wind hero would be a girl.¡± (Celestis)


    The heroes at the back were also letting out voices of bewilderment.


    ¡°Have you agreed now? The strongest authority and strongest fighting power of the Wind nation is me. No need to hold back. Go ahead ande at me.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°If you go as far as saying that much...¡± (Haine)


    I was the one who challenged him.


    I should stand and fight him proudly.


    ***


    And so, we once again moved from the meeting room and arrived at a ce that seems to be some sort ofpetition field.


    It doesn¡¯t change the fact that it is still inside the Wind Church¡¯s headquarters, but there¡¯s no roof, and directly below the sky screened by ck clouds, there¡¯s a circr-shaped ring.


    ¡°This ce is normally used by the Kazama stealth corps as a realbat training space. The fight will be a one on one. The use of divine tools and divine power is allowed; a rule where everything goes. Any objections?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°None.¡± (Haine)


    Sparks were flying between Shiva and I. The fight has already begun.


    ¡°Good. Well then, I will be changing into my fighting outfit, so please wait for a while.¡± (Shiva)


    Saying this, Shiva disappears to the inside of the building.


    At the ce, there¡¯s the heroes and Founders. And there¡¯s also a few wind guides ¡ªwhich are most likely actually just surveince.


    This ce that has been exined to us as a training space has not a singlebatant visibly training in it. I can really see how thorough they are with their secrecy.


    ¡°Uhm...what are the people that train here doing now?¡± (Haine)


    I try asking the guides knowing it was a futile effort, and the only thing they replied with was a silent nod.


    Even the guides had their face hidden with a mask, and going this far, it even made me feel suspicious.


    And on the other side, when I try looking at our camp...


    ¡°...Is something the matter, Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    It looks like Karen-san was not in a good humor.


    Why? In this short conversation we have had, was there something that would affect negatively the mood of Karen-san?


    ¡°The hero alliance n is over!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eeeeeh?¡± (Haine)


    For some reason she dered this loudly?


    ¡°Because isn¡¯t that right?! I never heard about the wind hero being a man! Who was the one who said all heroes are girls?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, right? The people of the wind are secretive, and the identity of the hero was also unknown. But a male hero? Nai wa~.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis begins toin as well.


    What¡¯s with this atmosphere? This eruption of discontent in the air.


    ¡°Adding the wind hero as arade, the n was toplete the hero alliance, but it has ended up in discarding that idea. I hope I can have your understanding in this.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Agree! Celes-tan agrees!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis agreed energetically.


    ¡°W-why it be so bad that it be a male hero?¡± (Sasae)


    It couldn¡¯t be helped, so Sasae-chan turned to being the straight-man here.


    ¡°It is obvious! My secret objective was to gather all five heroes and create an idol unit and dance together, but thanks to that bastard, it all went down the drain! It is on the level that I want to file awsuit!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ya had such a secret desire-dasu ka?! The most I know is folk dancing-dasu yo?!¡± (Sasae)


    Treating a misunderstanding as a breach in contract would only trouble the Wind Church.


    ¡°Ah, right. Maybe it is the pattern where at first he looked like a man, but he was actually a she?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We have plenty enough of that with Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I have not done a single thing to have my gender misunderstood though?!¡± (Mirack)


    The heroes are feisty no matter where they are.


    Well, judging by the physique of the Wind Founder and hero Shiva, there¡¯s no doubt he is a man, or rather, if he were a woman, the disgustingness would jump to max.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    Compared to the hero side, the Founder side was -as expected- really well-mannered, waiting for the beginning of the fight.


    And then...


    ***


    ¡°I have made you wait.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva who had finished changing, had returned to thepetition area.


    From the ceremonial dress that showed the majesty and holiness of a Founder, to the fighting clothes that emphasize easy movement.


    It is lightweight and makes it somewhat easy to see the bodyline.


    ¡°That chest...there¡¯s no doubt he is a man!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I feel relieved, and at the same time, it pisses me off...¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san and Celestis were still at it.


    ¡°Hm-dasu? Look-dasu, those knifes that be hangin¡¯ at both side of his waist. That be the Wind God¡¯s tool?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°But it has a weird shape to call it a knife.¡± (Mirack)


    On the other hand, the other two were calmly analysing him.


    It is just as Mirack says, there¡¯s one knife on the left and right of his waist, and were sheathed in the scabbards that are hanging from his belt.


    If he is going to be using those, his specialty should be extremely close-quartersbat. I feel as if I lower my guard, I will be mince meat in the blink of an eye.


    I also stand on the circr stage; and so, two men face each other.


    ¡°...Well then, let¡¯s have you show me in detail, the true strength of the dark man that all Founders praise.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You as well. You properly understand here that testing someone also means you are being tested, right?¡± (Haine)


    But it is unexpectedly my first time fighting a human vs human battle seriously.


    The group of heroes and Founders were spectating the stage from the outsides of it.


    ¡°Anyone is fine, can someone please give the beginning signal?¡± (Shiva)


    The Fire Founder stands up at the call of Shiva and speaks.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!¡± (Enou)


    The g has been lowered.


    At the same time, Shiva unsheathes the knives at his waist.


    ...Hm? Those are...not knives. Even if they look simr to knifes, they have a different form from it... What¡¯s that? Are those cylinders?


    ¡°Well then, taste them well. Our Wind God¡¯s tool, the bullet of this Wind Twin Guns, Fuuma Koutarou!¡± (Shiva)


    That was something I had seen for the first time in my life.


    Aside from the handle, everything else was hidden by the scabbard so I couldn¡¯t see it, and due to that, it made an optical illusion as if it was a knife because of the length of the scabbard itself.


    But once it was taken out from its scabbard, what appeared was something that wasn¡¯t simr to a knife.


    I would describe them as cylinders.


    The body of the weapon was practically perpendicr to the knife¡¯s handle, and had the form of an L.


    Just what in the world is that? How does that thing even attack?


    While I was in confusion, that cylinder, the side that had a hole was pointed at me.


    I instinctively felt that it was dangerous.


    *Bang!*


    From the cylinder, a thunderous sound like that of an explosion was emitted, and that happened practically at the same time as I twisted my body.


    A sharp pain ran through one side of my ears.


    The distance between Shiva and I is as good as saying we are on both corners of the stage, and yet, I was attacked in that distance.


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What happened?!¡± (Mirack)


    Karen-san and the others who were spectating from the outside raised their voice in surprise.


    I reflexively touched the ear where the pain wasing from, but fortunately, my ear was still there.


    The strength of it was enough to make me think it could rip out my whole ear. I was relieved to confirm it was still okay, but at the same time, I could feel blood sliding down it.


    So a part of it has been gouged out huh.


    ¡°So you dodged by reflex. If you can¡¯t do at least that much, it wouldn¡¯t be fun.¡± (Shiva)


    Is what Shiva said as he once again directed the hole of that cylinder towards me.


    Before thinking, I could feel it.


    Being at a position where I can see that hole is incredibly bad!


    *Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!*


    Something came at me at blinding speed again as the thunderous sounds rang, and I could feel them passing by my surroundings.


    Of course, if I hadn¡¯t perceived the danger and thrown my body to the ground, it would have passed through my body without doubt.


    There¡¯s one thing I have understood.


    Shiva is shooting something at me from that hole of the cylinder.


    At any rate, I have to move around. If I stay in one ce, that in itself will be dangerous.


    And if I stay at long range, I will just be one-sidedly attacked. First, I should run at full-speed, and approach to a position where I can fight back.


    ¡°So that¡¯s the move you will take. Well, that must be your only choice though.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva surprisingly allows my approach easily.


    He receives my punch with the cylinder.


    ¡°...What¡¯s...that?¡± (Haine)


    Now that I look at it again from up close, that mysterious cylinder shone faintly from all around it, showing that it was metallic. Its overall length is, as I thought, that of a small weapon on the level of a knife.


    I still don¡¯t know if it¡¯s okay to call it a weapon though.


    ¡°...Is that an ethereal device?¡± (Haine)


    Or maybe a weapon that utilizes ethereal?


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    I heard the voice of someone from the spectator seats.


    ¡°The use of ethereal weapons is expressly forbidden by the consensus of all five Churches! Are you telling me someone on the standing of a Founder is breaking that?!¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Don¡¯t jump to conclusions. These Wind Twin Guns, Fuuma Koutarou, are without doubt Wind God tools.¡± (Shiva)


    Wind Twin Guns...


    ¡°The mechanism itself, I used the ethereal devices as reference, but the energy source is without doubt the power of the Wind God. Adding a mineral on the grip that resonates and amplifies the Wind God power, the user can pour divine power from their hand to power it up. The divine power that flows into the gun barrel will enter one of the chambers, and willpress drastically. Pulling the trigger when in that state, once the hammer hits it, thepressed air will explode at once and will pass through the thin muzzle to be released. That is what the Wind Twin Guns, Fuuma Koutarou, give birth to.¡± (Shiva)


    I couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying at all.


    ¡°Even if what¡¯s shot is air, it goes at the speed of sound. Even the shockwave it creates has quite the power. Moreover, it has Wind God power mixed in it, so once it hits the mark, it can easily blow away the feeble body of a human. The reason why you were able to evade it was because your good instincts allowed you to predict it. With just that alone, I can understand why the Founders sing praises of you but...¡± (Shiva)


    I was suddenly kicked away from our lock of fist and gun.


    This is bad. Opening distance will allow that gun to¡ª!


    *Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*


    ¡°Just how long can you continue the desperate evasion?! Even when a bow and my Wind Twin Guns are the same projectile weapons, there¡¯s a jarring difference. Since it uses a mix of air and divine power as bullets, it means that there¡¯s no end! Even if you continue running away, the ending that you will be facing will be the same, you know! The ending where you die, that is!¡± (Shiva)


    You n on killing me?!


    It is as Shiva said, even if a bow is a projectile weapon just like that thing called gun, it is way different.


    I am the son of a hunter, so I am familiar with the bow, that¡¯s why I can understand it even more. That the most fearsome difference about it -more fearsome than its inexhaustible projectiles- is the rapid-fire it possesses.


    In the time a bow shoots one arrow, that gun would have shot at least 5-6 times in session. Moreover, from both the right and left hand.


    On top of that, you have to use both hands to prepare the bow, but that gun thing can be used with one hand, and that¡¯s exactly why two can be utilized at the same time.


    With just that, the number of shots is doubled.


    It is so hectic, I am already seeing limits in evading it all.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?! You pup of the Founders, is this all you got? Then, I will have to make you pay for disappointing me!!¡± (Shiva)


    After all this, the rate of his rapid-fire increased once again.


    This time, the way the bullets were being spread was precise, and it was made as to not allow me an easy approach.


    The only method to turnaround this situation is to get in close range, but with me being pinned at a set distance¡ª!


    ¡°Too slow! With this, it is my win!!¡± (Shiva)


    Piling up evasion after evasion, my posture had crumbled like crazy, and at that moment, several air bullets continued flying.


    It is impossible to evade.


    Then, there¡¯s only one thing I can do.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    Matching it with my sweeping arm, I form a barrier of dark matter.


    The air bullets that were said to be created by mixing Wind God power were easily blocked by the ck barrier and dispersed.


    Earth, water, fire, and wind are powerless against the power of darkness.


    ¡°...That¡¯s...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    This is bad. To think I would be forced to use my dark matter against a human.


    That means that Shiva¡¯s ability is that much good, but I didn¡¯t want to use this way too dangerous power on humans.


    The lifeless monsters and the annoying Nova and Coacervate are an exception.


    But it was not against a God or a monster, it was against a human.


    ¡°...So it really was you.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    Shiva said something. It was low, so I reflexively push out my ear.


    ¡°Don¡¯t y dumb. It is you right, Entropy? Who would be able to use the dark matter aside from you?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    He knows about the dark matter?! Moreover, my God name?!


    Just who in the world¡ª?!


    ¡°It is me, Dark God Entropy.¡± (Shiva)


    The Wind Founder and hero Shiva said:


    ¡°I am the Wind God, Quasar.¡± (Shiva)

 Chapter 147-149 - As a king and as a hero

    <h4>Chapter 147-149: As a king and as a hero</h4>


    FGWind God, Quasar.


    Shiva in front of me certainly did say this. From apletely normal-looking human, the name of a God was said.


    Normally, it would be something hard to believe, but there¡¯s no way a normal human would know my name as the Dark God and even know about the dark matter.


    Then, that means, that man is one of the four Basic Element Gods.


    The Wind God Quasar.


    And a God having the form of a human means...


    (You also incarnated as a human, Quasar?) (Haine)


    ¡°What? You are going through the trouble of saying that through the soul wave transmission? Well fine, I will y along.¡± (Shiva)


    The ce where we are facing off and the ce where Karen-san and the others are spectating is quite a few ways away, but this is just to be safe.


    Him calling himself Quasar was also in a low voice, so I think they didn¡¯t hear that though.


    (Now that I think about it, I heard the transmission a while ago too. Your talk partner was the Light Founder, right? That means she is the incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion huh. For the two poles to hold hands, that¡¯s a fearsome situation for us four Basic Elements.) (Quasar)


    The objective of that soul transmission was to lure out Quasar who we didn¡¯t know where he was, but to think he was hiding so close to us.


    So he was silently watching while in the same car as us huh.


    (With that transmission, I learned about the identity of both of you, but I am a wary one you see. In order to gain a more certain belief of it, I set up this fight. And just as nned, you used dark matter. With this, it is certain. You are the Dark God Entropy.) (Quasar)


    (The one and only.) (Entropy)


    There¡¯s no point in ying dumb here.


    I revealed my name; the name of the soul inside of me.


    (Hmph, so you finally woke up. How did it feel waking up from a 1,600 year sleep? I am truly exalted, you know! This is the moment I have always been waiting for after all!) (Quasar)


    (I don¡¯t know what¡¯s making you excited, but I am not in that good of a mood. The more I learned about you four Base Elements, the worse my mood got.) (Entropy)


    Fire God Nova, Water God Coacervate, Mother Earth God Mantle, Wind God Quasar; the four Gods that were categorized as four Base Elements were originally Gods that were supposed to help out the two pole Gods, who are their superiors, in their work of creation.


    But because of the Battle of Gods that urred at the Genesis era, the Dark God that was supposed to be the top had been defeated and sealed, and due to this, they grew impudent.


    Misunderstanding that they themselves are the rulers of the world, they acted as they pleased.


    In the time I as the Dark God Entropy came back, I learned about the sins that they hadmitted.


    And so, I decided. I won¡¯t let the four Base Elements get involved in this world anymore.


    Since the time I incarnated as a human and met the Base Element Gods, I have crushed each of their acts.


    At first, I had no such intentions, but I have done it three times in a row already.


    And now, thest Base Element God has appeared.


    Is this guy also going to walk the same path as his brethrens?


    (...But you are slightly different from the others, Quasar. You are the first one of the four Base Elements to incarnate as a human.) (Entropy)


    There¡¯s still the possibility that he is cloaking himself with the ability of a monster though, like the time with Coacervate.


    (...Nova, Coacervate, Mantle; those three huh. Those guys are idiots.) (Quasar)


    Is what Quasar spits out about his brethrens.


    (In the battle at the Genesis era, we defeated you, Dark God Entropy. The King of Gods, you who are supposed to be the absolute God. But that was simply because the Light Goddess who held an advantage was at our side. And most importantly, you gave us the win. That is exactly the origin of the madness in this world.) (Quasar)


    (...What are you talking about?) (Entropy)


    (Don¡¯t y dumb. Because of you backing off, Nova and Coacervate got on a high horse. They misunderstood that they themselves are the summit of the world, and they didn¡¯t even try to hide how stupid they were. It was like watching a dog running wild.) (Quasar)


    (You aren¡¯t mincing any words there. They are supposed to be your Base Element brethrens, right?) (Entropy)


    (Entropy, let me put this out first. That is the biggest insult for me. In the future, don¡¯t lump me in the same category as those pieces of shit.) (Quasar)


    Judging from his tone, I could tell the disdain he had from the bottom of his heart towards Nova and Coacervate.


    It is transmitted from the soul waves without passing through the body, so it is even harder to hide how one really feels.


    (Then, let¡¯s hear it, Wind God Quasar. What is it that¡¯s different from you and them?) (Entropy)


    I ask.


    Because of the discovery of a new truth, the fight had been enveloped in apletely different veil.


    A Wind Founder, a wind hero, and a Wind God; seriously, what a greedy man. This is the first time I have met a person that monopolizes so many positions to this extent. However, him incarnating into a human must mean that...he is nning on doing something that needs him to go this far.


    (Can you please tell me? The reason why you incarnated as a human. To the point that you would even go and be the Wind Church¡¯s top which worships you. There¡¯s no way there¡¯s nothing, right?) (Entropy)


    (Isn¡¯t there something you should be asking before that? You want to know, right? The location of the Mother Monster. You were talking about that with Intion, right?¡± (Shiva)


    (That¡¯s right. But in order to ask that, I need to know first just what is direction you are facing at. Quasar, are you an ally of humans, or are you an enemy?) (Entropy)


    ¡®Kukukukuku¡¯, augh that felt as if he couldn¡¯t hold it in was reverberating in the soul wave transmission -the voice of Quasar.


    (In the end, that¡¯s all you are, Entropy. You only understand me to that extend. It is a matter of course. For an absolute God like you, I am just a low ss God that has no worth in your eyes. I am not even in your consideration.) (Shiva)


    (Why are you suddenly going into self-loathing?) (Entropy)


    (Well then, let me tell you. I am the ally of no one. Not human, or God. Whether it be in the battle of Gods, or in the time when I destroyed the first nation that the humans had formed, I was simply going along with it because it was a pain. For me, Gods and humans have no worth.) (Shiva)


    And here I was wondering what he would say.


    Isn¡¯t that absolute isted way of yours the very reason why you don¡¯tst long in anyone¡¯s memories?


    Not trying to get involved with anyone, and not holding any connections with anyone.


    That¡¯s why you had an air-like presence, and Yorishiro and I didn¡¯t remember the impression we had of you.


    (But for me...there¡¯s only one enemy that I have decided I must absolutely defeat.) (Quasar)


    (Heh~) (Entropy)


    (It is you.) (Quasar)


    Eh?


    (It is you, Dark God Entropy. In order to defeat you, I incarnated as a human. The 1,600 years you were sleeping, were a preparation time for me in order to defeat you!) (Quasar)


    Wind Church¡¯s headquarters, the Wind Grand Workshop.


    In thatbat training space, a one-to-one fight is unfolding, and we were spectating this while gulping our breaths.


    I -the Light Founder, Yorishiro- was seating together with the heroes and Founders that gathered from every part of the world.


    But...


    ¡°What? The two suddenly stopped moving.¡± (Mirack)


    The battle that was intense from the get-go had suddenly stopped, and the ones at the battle ring: Haine-san and the Wind Founder, Toreido Shiva, were now ring at each other without moving an inch.


    It was silent to the point of being eerie.


    ¡°What happened? The two were moving so wildly just a while ago.¡± (Karen)


    My hero, Karen-san, was doubting this mysterious development.


    ¡°Ah, could it be that?! The one like in old stories that say: ¡®the first one that moves is the one that falls¡¯?! In a fight between two experts that have read the hand of their opponent, a move can prove fatal!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What¡¯s that? So cool-dasu! I wanna try havin¡¯ such a high level match-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ara, Sasae-chi, then, want to try it with me? The one that moves first loses, kuchukuchukuchu~¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Gyahahahahahaha! Wait, Celestis-neechan, that just be a staring contest-dasu! It be different from the point of moving first-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    *Pong! Pong!*


    ¡°Can¡¯t watch in silence?¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°-Dasu.¡± (Celestis+Sasae)


    The peanut gallery was noisy, so I am d that the Earth Founder-sama gave them a good hit on their head.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ...But I know the real reason why the two suddenly stopped moving.


    I myself have the soul of the Light Goddess Intion after all. As an incarnation of a God as them, I was able to listen to the soul wave conversation they were having.


    To think that Shiva was actually the incarnation of the Wind God Quasar...


    It was so straightforward that it in turn caught me off guard.


    Right now, Haine-san was being careful by having a conversation with Shiva in a voice that people can¡¯t hear, and was trying to dig out what ns he has.


    I can¡¯t mess up and make the situation more chaotic, so I simply watch over the situation.


    ¡°Even so...this is the first time this one has seen this. Is that the Dark Power that Haine-kun uses?¡± (Azul)


    In this situation where there¡¯s no visible way of knowing when the next move will be made, the Water Founder begins to talk as if trying to divert the tension.


    ¡°This one has heard about it before, but once looking at it in person, this one can tell that there¡¯s not a single resemnce from any of the five known elements.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that right, Papa? On top of that, it is crazy strong. It erased the fierce attack of the Wind Founder in a single swing.¡± (Celestis)


    Is what the water hero continues by saying.


    Listening to this conversation, I can tell that the rumours of the Water Founder doting on his daughter are real.


    ¡°The sixth element, darkness huh. No matter how many times I see it, it is a baffling power. Even though I have been saved by that power a lot of times.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°The one who dealt the finishing blow to Great Pir-sama be in actuality thatds power, ya know. It be practically him that defeated it on his own.¡±


    The Earth Founder says this seriously. The earth hero that is praised as the strongest in history made the words of this Obaba-sama heavier.


    ¡°Just recently, the man that be working as the Founder before me had received an oracle from Mantle-sama. Telling him to: ¡®Defeat the personification of the Dark God Entropy¡¯. Because of the incident with Great Pir-sama that urred not long after, it be wrapped up as a fake oracle, but ya see, it be bothering me, ya know.¡±


    ¡°About the Dark God? That there¡¯s a sixth one in the Gods of Creation?¡± (Karen)


    An unrestful atmosphere flowed between the Founders.


    ¡°That¡¯s not something too weed. Right now in this world, the bnce has been formed with five churches. If a new factor is driven into it, that bnce might crumble.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°No matter what it is, adding something to something that¡¯s alreadypleted is incredibly difficult. If a Dark God really does exist...¡± (Azul)


    ¡°It does exist.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Unable to hold it, I ended up speaking.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze gathered onto me, so I couldn¡¯t just stop in the middle anymore.


    ¡°The Dark God Entropy exists.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ya say that with quite the confidence-sa ne. What did the Light Goddess-sama tell ya?¡±


    ¡°The secret of the world.¡± (Yorishiro)


    There¡¯s no way I can tell them I myself am the Light Goddess, so I adjust a few details.


    ¡°This is not the time to say everything. But there¡¯s one thing I can say clearly. This world is trying to change. In this changing world, we can¡¯t continue utilizing the same system.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ya talkin¡¯ about the Mother Monsters?¡±


    The Earth Founder says.


    ¡°It be true that our ce has no choice but to change. The Great Pir-sama we been relying on is gone, so we gotta grow independent. There be talk about trading the crops and meat for ethereal tools. In this conference, I wanted to talk about that too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good-desu wa ne. I have heard of the production ability of Ishtar ze. If a trade is established, my worries at the annual rainfalls will lower-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°At that time, please doe to us. This one will provide use of our Water Church¡¯s maritime transportation.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    I managed to properly make the matter with Entropy hazy.


    The Founders never forget the benefits to their own churches, and are always walking in a way so that they won¡¯t damage it.


    The world might be changing at a speed that I didn¡¯t expect.


    The era when humans fought against each other; the era when humans fight against monsters; what will be waiting beyond that?


    But in order to reach that, there¡¯s the need to ovee several obstructions.


    The Wind Church that still doesn¡¯t have a settled position is the closest problem right now.


    Whether we ovee it or not falls upon you, Haine-san.


    Please make it so that it is either untangling the heart of the Wind God Quasar...or kill him.


    (Defeat...me...) (Entropy)


    In this conversation that shakes the soul, I -Kuromiya Haine and also the Dark God Entropy- continued speaking with the Wind God Quasar incarnated as Toreido Shiva.


    (Are you saying that¡¯s your objective? What are you saying? Are you stupid? You already defeated me 1,600 years ago.) (Entropy)


    (You are saying something like that was a victory? Even if you can fool the idiots Nova and Coacervate, you can¡¯t fool my eyes.) (Quasar)


    Quasar paused for a bit, and said this as if emphasizing it.


    (You lost on purpose.) (Quasar)


    In the battle of Gods 1,600 years ago...


    (You possess enough power to repel all five of us even if we were to gang up on you. No matter if the Light Goddess Intion were there. If you got serious, you should be able to defeat her as well.) (Quasar)


    (Why do you think that?) (Entropy)


    (Because in the fight 1,600 years ago, the only one who seriously fought you was me.) (Quasar)


    Looking back on it, in the battle of Gods that unfolded when this world had just been created, the scale defied all imagination. The sky split, the earth broke; even so, the Gods didn¡¯t fight seriously at all.


    Obviously Mantle who hates fighting is one of them. Nova and Coacervate also thought that it should be fine to just leave it to Intion that holds an advantage against me, so they were visibly cking.


    Even the important Intion was holding back her attacks because she actually didn¡¯t wanted to be my enemy, so the fight itself was a mess.


    Within that, only this guy fought me seriously, and was seriously trying to win against me. Because all his wind attacks were blocked by my dark matter, it was hard to tell though. In the middle of that offensive and defensive battle, I feel like only the eyes of this guy were shining in seriousness.


    (For an absolute power like you, the serious me, and Coacervate and the others who were cking, it must have looked like it wasn¡¯t even worth your eyes. That¡¯s why you said you didn¡¯t remember me at all even when I fought seriously.) (Quasar)


    (Uwa...) (Entropy)


    What should I do? I can¡¯t say anything back at that.


    Could it be that I have hurt him severely without noticing?


    (I don¡¯t care about humans at all. Whether we give them freedom or enve them, I don¡¯t care. But the battle itself made my heart dance. The Dark God Entropy that stands at the summit of Gods, and is the very personification of the ultimate state of a God. By defeating and surpassing you, I thought I would be able to stand at that summit.) (Quasar)


    (No, I don¡¯t really¡ª!) (Entropy)


    (But you bastard didn¡¯t even fight properly, and fell on your own to our attacks! And then, falling prisoner to the seal, you ended up taking a 1,600 year sleep. Do you understand the dejection I felt that time?! The ultimate ruler of Gods showing such a pathetic sight!) (Quasar)


    .....


    It is true that I do have a way to defeat my natural enemy, the Light Goddess Intion.


    The ck Hole.


    ck Hole, which is my strongest attack, increases the gravity of my dark matter to its very limits. The gravity that has been brought to such limits can catch even light.


    Even if Intion were to shoot light divine power at the ck Hole, before it reaches the ultrapressed dark matter that serves as its core, the light would be crooked by the gravity, and be trapped eternally in the schwartzshield radius.


    But in order to achieve that, a half-assed ck Hole is not enough.


    At the very least, it would need several times more mass than the ck Hole that erased Mantle, and if I were to create something like that, it would at the very least destroy the world partially.


    (...It is just as you say, in the fight 1,600 years ago, I had a way to win. But that path would at the same time lead to the destruction of the world. I, who chose to protect the humans, being the one who destroys the humans would be getting my priorities backwards, don¡¯t you think?) (Entropy)


    (Weakling!!) (Quasar)


    Quasarshed with a single word.


    (Weakling, weakling!! That¡¯s called being a weakling!! A God is the world¡¯s summit, and the summit of those Gods is you! You are the one who stands on top of all things, and yet, why do you have to be considerate of the ones below you?! The lower ones should be the ones doing things for the top!! You who are the top of the top has broken this order, so this world got distorted. It became a world where trash like Nova and Coacervate treated it as if it were their own.) (Quasar)


    (Quasar, you¡ª!) (Entropy)


    You were thinking in that way?


    (I am also a God. I stand at the top of the world, and as a God that exists to rule the world, it is obvious that I would push through in that duty of mine. And whether it be lucky or unlucky, the most clearest objective to be the ultimate God has been prepared for me. It is you, Dark God Entropy.) (Quasar)


    (Me huh.) (Entropy)


    (1,600 years ago, seeing how you showed such uncouth sight and was sealed, I swore this. ¡®You will one daye back, at that time, I will gain strength and I will defeat you with my own strength. I will be the ultimate God¡¯.) (Quasar)


    (So that¡¯s why?) (Entropy)


    ...


    (That¡¯s why you incarnated as a human? In order to obtain the power to defeat me?) (Entropy)


    (...The other thing that was unpleasant was that I was unable to undo the seal that imprisoned you.) (Quasar)


    It looks like he ns on ignoring my question.


    (Even if it had been weakened by the passing of time, aplishing a feat like undoing the seal on your own can only be done by the Light Goddess Intion. If you are the King of Gods, she herself is the Queen of Gods. I can¡¯t even match her.) (Quasar)


    I felt a jumpy glittery presence from afar.


    ...Did she get happy being called queen?


    (I had no choice but to wait...for you to appear before me. And finally, that has be reality! Do you understand, Entropy?! Just how long I have been waiting for this day! My devotion, my tenacity! The time hase to tie everything up into action!) (Quasar)


    (Oi, Quasar¡ª!) (Entropy)


    But without listening to my words, Quasar¡¯s soul inside the human¡¯s body was highly excited.


    (Fuhahahahahaha!! Well then, let¡¯s resume our fight! But don¡¯t think of it as the probing just a while ago. Thebination of the Wind God¡¯s divine tool, body techniques, and the ethereal research that the Wind God Quasar and the Wind Church have spent a millennium to form! That is what has led to the answer on how to defeat the ultimate!) (Quasar)


    This has already surpassed the dimension of being a fight between Toreido Shiva and Kuromiya Haine in order to gauge skills.


    It became a fight where the Wind God Quasar and the Dark God Entropy would bet their all on it.


    The wind grows rampant.

 Chapter 150-152 - A wrath of a hundred million days

    <h4>Chapter 150-152: A wrath of a hundred million days</h4>


    A wind of incredible vigour began swirling with Shiva and I at its centre.


    Of course, it was something that he had made with his Wind God power.


    (Now that I have learned that you are Entropy, I can¡¯t go easy on you. I will be going all out to defeat you!) (Quasar)


    The wind encircling us was letting out a howling sound and was annoying my ears.


    But with this much noise, our voices are also erased, and it won¡¯t reach Karen-san and the others who are spectating on the outside.


    ¡°Wind God Quasar, it is true that I didn¡¯t properly understand you.¡± (Haine)


    You, who I thought had the weakest presence within the four Base Elements, held such tenacity.


    ¡°In that case, I as one of the six Gods of Creation will ept your challenge. Those 1,600 years you say you have umted, throw them at me. But my dark matter is not half-baked, you know?¡± (Haine)


    Dark matter gushes out from both of my arms.


    That was practically like ck smoke, but in this ring where a storm is raging, it wasn¡¯t dispersing like smoke against the violent wind.


    It is because it is dark matter after all.


    A destructive matter that erases all four basic elements. It was natural for it to not be blown by the wind and still maintained together.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how much effort you have put since the time you became human, but the affinities between divine powers is absolute. Especially the affinity between my darkness and you four Base Elements. Now, how will you be overturning that natural order of things?¡± (Haine)


    The Wind God grinned with his human vessel.


    ¡°Wind Twin Guns, Fuuma Koutarou.¡± (Shiva)


    That weapon again huh.


    Shootingpressed air from the hole of its cylinder, it is a weapon that pierces the targeted enemy. But those bullets should have already proven that they can¡¯t stand against my dark matter barrier.


    One breath faster than the guns pointing at me, I wave both hands to the side and set a dark matter barrier.


    Now then, with this, you shouldn¡¯t be able to harm me, Quasar.


    ¡°[Crumble]¡± (Shiva)


    I could tell that the trigger of the gun had been pulled.


    At the same time as this happened, my body was blown away.


    ¡°Guuugh?!¡± (Haine)


    A dreadful impact as if I had been punched through my whole body.


    Both of my legs parted from the floor, and I was blown away with good momentum.


    ¡°What?! What happened?!¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t tell at all.


    The dark matter shield was covering everything with no gaps. There should have been no openings for even a needle to pass through. Are you saying he went through that and was able to hit me?!


    ¡°It is exactly because you are strong that there are many things you overlook.¡± (Quasar)


    Quasar¡ªShiva was slowly walking towards me.


    ¡°What is it I rule over? Just what is the name of the church I govern? It looks like you havepletely forgotten that.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What are you saying? You are the Wind God, and the Wind Founder, right? And while at it, you are also the wind hero.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°True. But you haven¡¯t fullyprehended wind. It is because an absolute strong individual is able to do everything with just one power, that it only sees all things in one dimension. They don¡¯t try to learn about it deeper. That¡¯s the opening that the weak can use.¡± (Shiva)


    Are you greedy or modest? Settle on one please.


    ¡°Wind is air. And air exists anywhere in the world. You simply can¡¯t see it. It exists right in front of us, and it is in constant touch with us. At your hands, legs, face; at all your body.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°?!!¡±


    ¡°I can freely control that air with my divine power. You are already touching that air. That¡¯s equal to already being in contact with me. No matter what firm barrier you have with no gaps, it won¡¯t change.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°In other words, that attack just now was¡ª?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I exined it before, right? This weapon called gun, by detonating the air that has beenpressed in the chambers of it, it is able to shoot them as bullets. But this is a Wind God divine tool. By controlling the divine power, I am able to expand the gunpowder reaction towards the outside as well. Even the air that you are in contact with right now.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That means...!¡± (Haine)


    My surroundings havepletely turned into this thing called gunpowder, and by pulling the trigger, it explodes.


    That was the identity of the attack just now?!


    ¡°Wind Twin Guns¡¯ technique, dispersion of matter ¡®Crumble¡¯. The one just now was just a simplified exnation though. It is actually quite the advanced technique.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Thanks for the kind exnation. But is it okay to be bbering about your technique?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°If you know what brought you to your defeat, the sense of defeat will be more deeply edged. The way of thinking that the more information one has, the more the advantage they hold, is something that only the weakest among the weakest possess.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Is that something the Founder of the secretive church is supposed to say?!¡± (Haine)


    I rush towards Shiva.


    As long as he has that technique called ¡®Crumble¡¯, it is in a state where he is always in contact with me via the air.


    He is able to deal attacks at point-nk.


    All barriers are pointless, probably as long as I don¡¯tpletely cut off the air between him and me.


    In that case, being far away will simply be disadvantageous for me.


    I will close the distance and force it into closebat!


    ¡°...Is what you would think.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva easily allowed my approach.


    A fierce exchange of punches and kicks began.


    ¡°Hoh~, quite the sharp moves you have there. Where did you learn that way of moving your body?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°From my father, or should I say, the forest and my father?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ha, no wonder your moves are sharp, yet unpolished. Dark God Entropy, just a while ago, you asked why I incarnated as a human, but you as well, why is it that you incarnated as a human?¡± (Shiva)


    Both my hands and legs were already releasing dark matter, so just by grazing Shiva, it would stick onto his body, and would eat away on his divine power.


    Once that happens, he would be defenseless and won¡¯t be able to do anything. Once that happens, it will be my win.


    That¡¯s all I have to do, and yet...


    ¡°There¡¯s not even a need to ask. We are talking about you, a God that caused a battle of Gods with the simple reason of ¡®loving humans¡¯. You probably just purely wanted to try being a human. Your views are already simplistic. Because you were an absolute power, it in turn also made you unable to see things deeply. That¡¯s why you didn¡¯t notice the possibilities of possessing a human body.¡± (Shiva)


    With his hand still holding his gun, Shiva grabbed my wrist and pulled me.


    I tried to resist, but for some mysterious reason, I couldn¡¯t bring out strength, and my bnce crumbles.


    ¡°What pathetic moves. Your center of gravity is totally visible!¡± (Shiva)


    The other hand of Shiva strikes my chin at lightning speed with the gun barrel.


    A gun is a lump of metal. Using it as a blunt weapon gives decent amount of damage.


    ¡°Wind Twin Guns¡¯ technique, first form. The many moves that can be made in close quartersbat is what makes the twin guns truly shine.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Gugh, Quasar...you¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    I am being overwhelmed in closebat too.


    And what is deciding it is the level of technique. Quasar in that human body has polished the way of using his body in leaps and bounds better than I do.


    ¡°6 internal organs, spread to 12 meridians, 15 coterals, and reaches to the 660 openings ¨C what passes through is ki blood. Different from the ki in the atmosphere, the one filling the body is ki blood. In other words, the total of 114 meridians in your body be the path for the wind to pass. Knowing that important point, and being able to freely control it, you can be wind itself.¡± (Quasar) <I honestly just did some light research and everything was chinese, so I might be wrong here.>


    That is...


    ¡°That is the essential point of our wind martial art that my Wind Church has taken centuries to polish. Dark God Entropy, it is true that defeating you purely with divine power would be impossible no matter how many hundred millions of days I pile up. That¡¯s why I endured the shame, and decided on gaining a different power. Even the human power...that you loved so much and went so far to protect that you even tainted the superiority of the strongest God.¡± (Quasar)


    1,600 years.


    Are you telling me that he utilized all of that time to obtain a variety of powers? In order to defeat me?


    The one in front of me is already not a God.


    Even when he was already an ultimate existence like that of a God, he still tried to reach for a further extreme.


    Something that surpasses a God.


    I am being pushed back.


    Pushed back overwhelmingly by the Shiva that holds the soul of the Wind God Quasar.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you not going toe at me? In that case, I will be continuing my offensive.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva attacks mercilessly.


    ¡°Wind Twin Guns¡¯ technique, [Sliding].¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Wind Twin Guns¡¯ technique, [Chaos Beat].¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Wind Twin Guns technique, [Crumble].¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Goaah!¡±


    No good.


    All of his attacks hit me with pinpoint uracy. Crumbling my bnce, he exploits the openings it creates.


    Not only is there no way to fight back, even my defense can¡¯t keep up.


    With that human body of his, that God has umted experience and training, and it was in full disy at this moment.


    An art that uses the body, an art that utilizes the weapon, an art that utilizes divine power; and bybining them all, it creates a natural mix of arts.


    They are not things that were build up in one day. It is something that they devoted to create in the time I indulged in sleep inside that seal.


    ¡°You¡ª! For the sake of building up this level of technique, you rejected all rtions with the other Gods?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Contact with those rotted beings would not only be a waste of time, it would also taint my self. In order to draw near your level, a millennium would becking. I don¡¯t have the time to waste on trash.¡± (Shiva)


    This Wind God has been a mystery for a long time, and within that veil of mystery, to think that something as terrifying as this was hidden.


    ¡°...How is it, Entropy? It is true that the dark matter you control is the strongest. But right now, you are a human. You are simply a human that controls dark matter. In that case, there¡¯s divine power, divine tools, and your own body; the one who is able to master the most what they have avable and manage to utilize it precisely, is the one that wins!¡± (Shiva)


    Even if I wanted to speak back, the pain and numbness was not letting me move my mouth.


    ¡°I who couldn¡¯t match your power as a God, had no choice but to gather power elsewhere in order to challenge you. You canugh at how pathetic that is. But even so, since I am a God, I will defeat you, and show you that I can polish myself to be the summit of Gods!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°There¡¯s no way I wouldugh at that!¡± (Haine)


    The sensation finally returned to my lips.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that splendid, Wind God Quasar. It is true that you got involved with humans far more than I did, and understand them more. In those 1,600 years I was simply sleeping, you pushed on your studies and improved on your techniques which have now crystallized. I can clearly tell that.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°From the five, I feel like I might have met the most decent one of the Gods for the humans...but, too bad. That¡¯s exactly why it is a pity.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Are you delirious already?! What is it that is a pity?!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva prepares his wind twin guns. If I show a slight suspicious move, he must be intending to blow me away with that ¡®Crumble¡¯ that activates at point-nk range.


    ¡°I am saying it is a pity I can¡¯t allow myself to lose against you. I can¡¯t provide you with the blessing of ¡®victory¡¯ for all the things that you have desperately tried to form. Because that would be the biggest of insults for you.¡± (Haine)


    And what¡¯s most important is that...


    ¡°You can¡¯t defeat me. All possibilities aside from me losing on purpose...are impossible. It is exactly as you said. I am indeed the absolute God. To cover that difference between us with just this much...is truly not enough.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Impudent talk! Then edge it in that body of yours! Wind Twin Guns¡¯ technique¡ª-?!!!!!¡± (Shiva)


    He must have noticed already.


    From my feet, a mass of dark matter was overflowing.


    But it wasn¡¯t only my feet. From both my hands, and from the surface of my whole body, dark matter was being produced and covering my body.


    ¡°You bastard, doing strange stuff! It is pointless struggle! Wind Twin Guns technique, [Crumble]!¡± (Shiva)


    The technique of Shiva activated, but by the time it blew up the air in my surroundings, the dark matter had already covered mepletely.


    That¡¯s why I said it won¡¯t work.


    It is exactly because his target is in contact with air that his technique is able to activate at point-nk range no matter where they are, a terrifying technique.


    But right now, my body itself has been covered by dark matter without leaving a single opening, and it is not in contact with air.


    And dark matter is the strongest protective film that nullifies divine powers.


    Even when that dark matter had covered my whole body, it was still being produced inrge amounts.


    ¡°You isted yourself huh! ¡ª-?! Wa?!!¡± (Shiva)


    He must have noticed too.


    The dark matter that continued increasing in amount was steadily flooding the ce, covering the floor, and was spreading to all directions with me as its centre.


    That domain of dark matter had finally reached the feet of Shiva.


    The ground had been dyedpletely ck, and that ck was creeping up his legs.


    ¡°The dark matter is¡ª! Are you nning on swallowing me up as well?!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva tried to get away from it, but with his divine power disturbed, he couldn¡¯t fight back at all.


    Even if you try to struggle out of it, it is already toote.


    The dark matter crawled from Shiva¡¯s legs to the abdomen, chest, head, and after covering his whole body, it swallowed him.


    But even with that, the dark matter didn¡¯t stop propagating.


    From the spectator seat, Karen-san, Yorishiro and the others must be seeing it as something ck thickly swelling; a strange spectacle.


    Being pressed down by the dark matter that can be described as darkness itself, the vision was obviously blocked; the sense of hearing and the sense of touch as well. It also erases divine power, so you can¡¯t detect those either. The only thing that can be felt is the gravity emitted by the dark matter, which allows you to understand that you are inside darkness.


    (Wee to the darkness domain.) (Entropy)


    I speak in the soul wave transmission again.


    In this ce, there¡¯s not even air, so there¡¯s no way for the sound from the vibrations of air to reach him.


    (You have been caught inside darkness. Inside the dark matter domain where not a single ray of light can pass through. In here, you are powerless.) (Entropy)


    (Do you think you have won with this, Entropy?! Wind Twin Guns¡¯ technique¡ª!) (Quasar)


    It is pointless.


    Your technique, your power itself cannot be activated unless it makes contact with air.


    Now that we have been swallowed by darkness and all air has been cut off, it is basically as if both your hands and legs have been torn off.


    Even your specialized body arts are pointless inside this darkness.


    Dark matter not only covers your entire body, it even goes inside your body, andpletely fills your lungs and stomach with darkness.


    There¡¯s no ce darkness can¡¯t invade, and there¡¯s nothing darkness can¡¯t swallow.


    (GAAAAAAAHHHH!!) (Quasar)


    It is truly a shame. For that crystallization of things you have taken so much time to make, to be destroyed this easily.


    But even so, it looks like I had to proof that there¡¯s no way to ovee things that can¡¯t be ovee.


    The two poles and the four base elements; the heavy difference that divides the Gods in two.


    ([Dark Matter, Set]!) (Entropy)


    In an instant, the darkness disperses.


    The dark matter, that was inside and outside of Shiva, created a gravitational vibration the moment it disappeared -in other words, a gravity explosion.


    The microscopic dark matter had dispersed all at the same time, not only outside of him, but even inside, when they were glued onto him.


    ¡°Gahaaaaah!!¡±


    Being crushed by the outburst of gravity, Shiva was tragically blown up.


    And ended up in tatters.


    ¡°...Huufff!!...Hufff!!¡±


    Due to my order, the propagated dark matter had all scattered and disappeared.


    Going out of the scattered dark matter, I tried hard to fix my heavily disordered breathing.


    Coveredpletely in dark matter, there¡¯s no air to breathe, and inside the dark matter where it is filled to the brim with adjusted gravity, I can control time as well and am able to stop the passage of time in my body at a number that¡¯s very close to zero.


    With that ability, I left my body in a state where it doesn¡¯t breath, and with my God soul, I controlled the dark matter to crush Shiva.


    That I am unable to fix my disordered breathing even now is because the damage I received from Shiva was that much big.


    A fighting art that was created by several centuries of study. Each one of them was a deadly attack. I somehow managed to divert the attacks with my dark matter, or mitigate the damage with it. If not for that, it would have ended in one hit.


    It is exactly because I thought that I couldn¡¯t continue enduring that I had to resort to covering it all in dark matter.


    If possible, I didn¡¯t want to use it. It is dangerous after all.


    ¡°...Oi.¡± (Haine)


    I drag my pained body and head to the man that was even more in tatters than me and was sprawled on the floor.


    Shiva had received heavy damage from the outburst of gravity.


    ¡°Are you alive?¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s no response.


    I don¡¯t want to think that he is dead.


    I didn¡¯t want to use the method of covering the whole ce in dark matter. I may be repeating myself here but, it is because it is dangerous.


    It is not because the gravity attack is powerful or because you can¡¯t breathe. There¡¯s a representative trait of the dark matter that makes it the most dangerous part of it. The phenomenon that urs when the divine power is erased.


    In the first ce, divine power is aposition that was produced by us Gods when we created the world. It fills the sky, earth, water; at all ces in the world. Of course, even within the body of humans.


    Divine power is originally a spiritual-like energy that exists in order for living beings to stay alive. With the cooperation of the six Gods, the humans created had all divine powers: earth, water, fire, wind, light, and darkness without fail. With that bnce in ce, the essence of life is born.


    If a human were to touch dark matter, their divine power inside of them would be erased thoroughly, and in the end, the incorporeal essence of life would dry up as well, and it would lead to death.


    Shiva had been swallowed up by dark matter and has been affected by it, so rather than the damage from the gravity outburst, that side of things should be more serious.


    Even if he is the incarnation of the Wind God, he is without doubt a human right now.


    ¡°It is my win.¡± (Haine)


    I call Shiva once again.


    ¡°Have you had your fill with this? The challenge that you took 1,600 years to prepare, I have properly epted it and responded to it. Though it doesn¡¯t mean I would just lose on purpose because of it.¡± (Haine)


    The fight that was made as an extension of the five Founders Conference had escted not by two times, but three.


    There¡¯s still a lot of things I want to ask this guy as a God, and as a Founder as well. I want to have Yorishiro help out in a variety of things.


    As a hero...I don¡¯t really have any noteworthy things to ask. The hero alliance of Karen-san and the others is terminated after all.


    At any rate, I want this guy to do a lot of things.


    It might end up overworking him, but it is also his fault for taking that many positions on his own.


    I will have him work properly by the amount of titles he has.


    ¡°The Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis... This is the city that you used in order to defeat me huh...¡± (Haine)


    We just finished our fight, so I didn¡¯t feel like moving on with the matter at hand. For now, I try doing harmless talk.


    ¡°In order to fight against me with something other than the power of a God, you obtained the knowledge of humans, and piled up the power of humans for several centuries, and this is the nation that came out of it huh. The wish of a God has gathered people, and has be the base of their living.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is not something as exaggerated as that.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva says this while still copsed on the floor.


    ¡°The trigger of me raising the Rudras Metropolis...the Wind Church, was because I wanted prayer energy. I was tempted by Intion.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°The result of the Underworld Country huh.¡± (Haine)


    It happened not long after the world was created.


    The first nation of humanity, the Dark Underworld Country, was build up by the Light Goddess Intion who had incarnated into a human called as Queen Izanami.


    That Underworld Country was seen as the avarice of humans, and the ones who brought it to its destruction were the four Base Elements.


    The Wind God Quasar is one of them.


    ¡°For me, that was a pain to go along with. If I hadn¡¯t cooperated, the trash Nova and Coacervate would have made a ruckus, and it would obstruct my training, so I had no choice but to expend part of my divine power to create a cmity. And after that, the one who appeared was that woman.¡± (Shiva)


    Intion who had returned to her God appearance from that of Queen Izanami huh.


    ¡°That woman showed a path to us where we could sip on the power of humans. That alone was something I couldn¡¯t ignore. That¡¯s because just by eating the prayers of humans, my power would increase by several times more after all. At that time, my hopes of defeating you had inted.¡± (Shiva)


    But that was the trap of Intion for destroying the Underworld Country.


    ¡°At some point in time, the human prayers were steadily decreasing, and at the same time, I noticed that I couldn¡¯t maintain my power without the prayers. At that moment, I finally learned the scariness of that woman¡¯s grudge. Beating you was an ephemeral dream. Right now, it is even questionable if I would be able to maintain my very existence.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°And that¡¯s when I appeared.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Honestly speaking, I was trembling in happiness. It is because I could still maintain an eptable level of power as a God, it was a critical moment. Putting it in another way, it also means this was myst chance. There will probably be no other moment where I will be stronger than now and be able to challenge you once again.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva said this with a feeling of abandonment.


    ¡°...That¡¯s why...I need nothing anymore.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What?¡± (Haine)


    The dangerous air of those words instantly made my guarde up.


    ¡°What do you mean by that?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t realize the ambition I took more than a thousand years aiming for. If I will just be decaying from now on until I disappear, I will just disappear right this instant. Let the world fall together with me..... Entropy, now that I think about it, you wanted to know, right? The ce where the Mother Monster I created was.¡± (Shiva)


    You are going to talk about that now?! Moreover, along with those ominous words.


    ¡°They were always at a ce where you could see them. That¡¯s how it has always been. The things that you want are right close by, and yet, you don¡¯t notice that and continue searching. A bunch that likes to do wasteful things.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva¡¯s finger points at the sky.


    At that ce, there¡¯s no sky. A ck cloud was blocking the view.


    ¡°That ck cloud, could it be¡ª?!¡± (Haine)


    The ¡®Wind Barrier¡¯ that was covering Rudras Metropolis at the very beginning...I thought it had gone somewhere after it dispersed, but it had be a ck cloud and was covering the sky?


    ¡°Let me introduce you to it. That itself is what I have created as a God; the Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub. Now, devour this world that I have no need of anymore!¡± (Shiva)

 Chapter 153-154 - Few against many

    <h4>Chapter 153-154: Few against many</h4>


    The ck Cloud swirled around as if it had its own will.


    It was high in the sky.


    From the center of that swirl, a part of the ck cloud stretched thinly like that of a spider thread, and just like that, it stretches all the way down.


    Then, it lowers onto Shiva who was standing up with his body covered in wounds.


    ¡°Let me introduce it to you. This is my Mother Monster, Beelzebub.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Wind Mother Monster?! That ck smoke?!¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t describe it in any other way.


    From afar, it only looks like a ck cloud; from up close, it looks like ck smoke.


    It is not impossible, but it is a gaseous-like body that doesn¡¯t look like a living being at all. Even if they are ssified as monsters, aren¡¯t they supposed to be connected to living beings somehow or another?


    ¡°At the same time as they can give birth to wind element monsters, I also had them take on the role of hiding and protecting Rudras Metropolis. In other words, that is the Wind Barrier. Even if there¡¯s travelers encountering the Wind capital by coincidence, these guys won¡¯t allow them to enter unless allowed!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Making use of every goddamn thing! The humans, the city, the ethereal, and the monsters as well; you are utilizing them all as much as you want!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I wonder about that. But that ends today. These guys will devour everything after all!¡± (Shiva)


    The ck smoke rushes in wave towards me with the order of Shiva.


    My instincts were telling me that being bathed by that would definitely be bad news.


    ¡°Hmph!!¡±


    I faced that thing straight on.


    I release dark matter, and with the same level of wave, I sh it with the ck smoke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what that ck smoke is, but it looks like it doesn¡¯t have the power to fight straight on against the dark matter. I can feel the divine power is being erased!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but what about the others aside from you?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Something came to mind, and I face the side.


    And then, what came to view were the heroes that were being attacked by the ck smoke in the same way as me, and the Founders as well!


    ¡°Damn it!!¡± (Haine)


    I quickly ran towards them.


    I will be distancing myself from Shiva in this way, but now that things have turned like this, I have no choice.


    ¡°Kyaaaa!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What-dasu?! What-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°At any rate, it is certain that touching that thing will be dangerous! [me Burst]!¡± (Mirack)


    Therge fire that Mirack released had burned the ce where the ck smoke is, and it hindered its advance.


    Thanks to that, the Founders and heroes are currently okay.


    ¡°Everyone!!¡± (Haine)


    I also ran towards the group and release dark matter at the surroundings.


    ¡°Mirack! It looks like my power and yours is effective against this ck smoke! The two of us will take one side each and block them outpletely!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Got it!! But this smoke, since the fire element is effective against it, could it be that it is something wind element rted?!¡± (Mirack)


    Based on the element affinities, fire is the one that¡¯s strong against wind.


    Fire will breathe in the air, increase in potency, and with that heat, it disturbs the flow of the wind.


    In our first encounter with Mirack, I remember her burning all the wind element monsters -Python Flies- with one attack.


    And so, the same thing happening here serves as a strengthening statement towards this ck smoke actually being the Wind Mother Monster.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know what this smoke is! As long as we don¡¯t rify the identity of it, don¡¯t touch it by no means!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You say identity, but how are we even going to identify it?! From what I can see, aside from it moving as if it has a will of its own, it seriously just looks like smoke, you know?!¡± (Mirack)


    The fastest way would be to ask Shiva himself, but that guy is still at the center of the ring, and was simply looking at us with a grin on his face.


    Mirack is releasing fire and I am releasing dark matter without pause, but the smoke is alsoing down nonstop from the main body -the ck cloud.


    As long as we don¡¯t burn it or erase it, we will be at a stalemate here.


    ¡°What is the Wind Founder doing?!¡±


    I don¡¯t know who said it, but that is a natural question.


    Only the Wind Founder Shiva was not doing anything and simply standing on the ring, but he ispletely fine. It doesn¡¯t look like the ck smoke is doing anything to him.


    But that doesn¡¯t mean we would get positive and think that we will be fine as well.


    Unless you are extremely dense, you would definitely notice that this abnormality has something to do with the Wind Founder.


    ¡°Haine-san, what is the Wind Founder trying to do?! Just what in the world is this ck smoke?!¡± (Karen)


    And that question being directed at me who was fighting with the Wind Founder is also natural.


    We were talking for quite a bit after all.


    ¡°No, well...¡± (Haine)


    But as expected, I couldn¡¯t tell them the reality straight. There¡¯s no way I can tell them that the Wind Founder is the Wind God himself, and he suddenly became despaired, and is now trying to suicide together with the world.


    While I was hurting myself on what to say...


    ¡°More importantly, Karen-san...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro speaks in good timing.


    ¡°The light divine power is not simply a power that destroys enemies with light. If that were the case, it would be no different from the fire divine power.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama? What is it, all of a sudden?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Gather your light divine power to your eyelids and try to strain your eyes. The eyes are an instrument to catch the reflected light and grasp the surroundings. By increasing the uracy of the information received by this reflected light with divine power...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°L-Like this?! Kyaaaa!!¡± (Karen)


    Did she see something by doing what Yorishiro suggested?


    Karen-san lets out a scream fitting her age.


    ¡°What?! Karen, what happened?! .......Damn it, at times like this, to think I can¡¯t move from my ce!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Don¡¯t get caught by your wicked desires and continue putting out a fire wall, lesbo hero!! So Karen-chi, what happened?!¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san answers Celestis with a trembling voice.


    ¡°This ck smoke...this ck smoke is...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Bugs.¡± (Karen)


    Eh?


    ¡°It looks like they are some sort of flies-desu wa ne. But they are incredibly small. They are even smaller than grains of sand. And there¡¯s several millions of flies swarming around. That¡¯s the true identity of this ck smoke.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Waaaa?!¡± (Haine)


    I unintentionally let out my voice at the words of Yorishiro.


    In other words, this ck smoke is actually a gathering of incredibly small insects?!


    ¡°Nuooooooooooooo!!!¡± (Mirack)


    Hearing this, the strength of Mirack¡¯s fire increases even more.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Shiva)


    At some point in time, Shiva had arrived at a ce close to us.


    ¡°The Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub. Its identity is that of a swarm of super small fly-shaped monsters. They are a gathering of around a hundred billion, but the monster itself is only one. It is a group, and yet, it is only one kind of monster. By dispersing to the surroundings, theyy eggs all around, and wind monsters are born from it.¡± (Shiva)


    This guy is saying such essential stuff in front of everyone...


    ¡°Riding the wind, they appear, swarming on rotten meat, they use that as a sacrifice toy eggs, and change them to a new life. Life is born from filth. And the one that embodies this the most is the fly army, Beelzebub. By the hands of them, the world will meet its end today!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What be the meaning of this-sa ne, Wind Founder?¡±


    The very first one to voice out was the Earth Founder Obaa-san.


    ¡°A Founder controlling a monster, I can only think of it as a bad joke. But if ya say it be the Mother Monster we been discussing about, that makes it the more doubting-sa ne.¡±


    ¡°...Hmph.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva simply made a viinous smile.


    He doesn¡¯t answer.


    Is that supposed to be him scorning us?


    ¡°Don¡¯t just stay silent and answer!¡± (Azul)


    Even the Water Founder. As expected, he forgot his usual gentleness and lifted his voice.


    {...Founder! Founder! I request a response!}


    From the ear of the Water Founder, I heard an unfamiliar voice.


    It came from the ethereal wirelessmunication device at his ear.


    ¡°...Stream Marine General? What¡¯s wrong?¡± (Azul)


    So they hadmunication with the outside through the wireless device?


    The call was probably from the troops that were in standby outside Rudras Metropolis.


    {It is an emergency! The cloud! The ck cloud that was covering the sky hase down the ground, and¡ª!!}


    !!


    I look at the sky. There, I saw that the line that was connecting the ck cloud to the ground... was not a single line anymore...


    ¡°Could it be¡ª?! The soldiers at standby outside are also being attacked?!¡± (Haine)


    The only thing that we have to understand what¡¯s happening outside is the voice that¡¯s telling us about it from the wireless device.


    Moreover, that voice was trembling with fear and confusion.


    {The cloud... turned into smoke...a ck smoke, and is closing onto us. It was eerie, so we fought back, but against smoke, the expected effect is not showing, and a few of the people at the frontline that touched the smoke...have been coveredpletely by it, and¡ª!!}


    ¡°Hiiiih?!¡±


    We, who knew about the real identity of the smoke, let out screams.


    <More than ten have fallen victim to it. With their whole body covered by the smoke, they fell writhing in pain....! Eh? Wait a moment please! The smoke is backing off from the fallen people, and...!!>


    Eh?


    {Great! I don¡¯t know why, but it looks like the smoke has pulled back on its own! Are you okay?! Medic! Just in case, check out the people that have been attacked by the smok¡ªGAhaaagh?!}


    ¡°Wa?! What was that?! A scream?! What happened?! Respond!¡± (Azul)


    For a while, only the sound of chaos reverberated from the wireless device.


    {Founder! This is terrible! The people that were caught in the smoke and were now released from it, have suddenly begun attacking us!! There¡¯s no response even when we call out to them! The ck smoke is also slowly approaching again! Orders please!! Orde¡ª-Gugyaa!}


    After that, no matter how many times the Water Founder called, the only thing that was returned from the wireless device were screams and bellows.


    ¡°...Shiva!!!¡± (Haine)


    I also let out an angry roar at Shiva.


    With absolute certainty that he is the one who is responsible for this abnormal circumstances.


    ¡°...What Beelzebub is aiming for...is the insides of you humans.¡± (Shiva)


    He replied with a tone as if he were teaching pitiful lostmbs.


    ¡°Sticking onto the humans, they enter through ces like the mouth, nose, ears; at every possible hole to invade the body. Entering the lungs, passing through the veins, and at the end, they arrive at the brain. A single one of Beelzebub is as big as 1/10 of a grain of sand. There¡¯s no problem in invading the body with that size. Then, once it arrives at the brain, it takes over their thoughts and...¡± (Shiva)


    As if edging the shock even deeper, he stored it before saying it.


    ¡°...It can freely control them.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Then, the reason why the soldiers suddenly attacked theirrades was...!¡± (Haine)


    Because they were already the puppets of the flies.


    ¡°But that¡¯s not all, you know? After all, the most important point of Beelzebub is that they are a Mother Monster. They have the function ofying eggs that give birth to wind element monsters. The brain of a human must be quite the nutritious ce as a seedbed, don¡¯t you think so too?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡° Fighting in this ce, have all the humans be parasitized by Beelzebub, and just like that, I will have them return to their homnds. By the time they arrive, all their bodies should be filled with eggs. In time, they will hatch, tear away the host, and grow. The very center of the settlements will be covered by several hundreds of wind element monsters. Moreover, by that time, the Founders and heroes will have been turned into seedbeds as well and already be dead.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Disgusting-dasu~~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan couldn¡¯t endure it and lets out a groan. That¡¯s how much the exnation of Shiva must have been displeasing in a physiological way.


    So for those things, we are all only eggying containers huh.


    Not only will we be killed...they n on parasitizing us as living corpses!


    {Founder-sama!! 1/10 of the troops stationed here have fallen to the control of the mysterious smoke! What should we do? Please give us orders!!}


    At times, there would be understandable voicesing from themunication device, voices that were at their wit¡¯s end.


    Even if they are being controlled, they arerades. They probably can¡¯t attack them without hesitating.


    As they continue in that state, the situation progresses.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this...!!¡± (Haine)


    I resolve myself.


    But Shiva was a breath faster.


    ¡°Hmph.¡±


    Shiva¡¯s body was obstructed by the ck smoke, and just like that, he disappeared.


    ¡°He ran away?!¡± (Haine)


    The most effective way of dealing with this swarm of flies is to defeat Shiva who is the one controlling them.


    This ck smoke that is made up of minuscule flies; each one of them may be small, but if the numbers are in the billions, the whole of them is close to being as big as the giant tree, Grandma Wood.


    After all, the ck cloud, that can be said to be the parent body, is covering the sky as far as the eye can see, and even when it has poured quite the amount to the ground, its denseness hasn¡¯t changed at all.


    If we just continue as we are -blocking them with Mirack¡¯s fire and my dark matter- it is clear that it will turn into us exhausting ourselves.


    And worst than that, the casualties the soldiers outside are receiving is serious.


    Toreido Shiva... Wind God Quasar.


    Are you seriously aiming to destroy the world using the Mother Monster?

 Chapter 155-156 - The way to carry out one’s duty

    <h4>Chapter 155-156: The way to carry out one¡¯s duty</h4>


    Reigokai: Boo! Surprise free chapters because I felt like it :D!!!


    Wind God Quasar.


    There¡¯s no God that prides in being a God as much as him, and is as enthusiastic as him.


    As he was a God, he aimed to be the ultimate God, and due to that, he challenged the currently strongest God that is me, Entropy.


    And then, he lost.


    The ns he took 1,600 years to have them take form, had all been turned to nothing. On the very limits of despair, he fell onto the reckless action of destroying all of humanity.


    Is he the kind of guy that just goes in a straight line when cornered?


    But, being forced into dying with him? No way!


    ¡°Why is the Wind Founder doing this?!¡±


    And the Founders and heroes, who have no way of knowing of all this underlying circumstances, were drawing loops here.


    The Wind Founder and wind hero that should have been originally a human like them, moreover, one that is on the same standing as them, aiming for the same objective. And yet, he is now causing such violent conduct.


    ¡°This is not the time to be worrying about that!¡± (Yorishiro)


    The one who roared out was the Light Founder, Yorishiro.


    ¡°Right now, the priority is to ovee the tribtion in front of us! We can worry about the intentions of the Wind once we have safelye out of this alive!¡± (Yorishiro)


    As expected of Yorishiro.


    Her current position as Light Founder, her being the incarnation of the Light Goddess, and being the queen of the strongest nation of the world, are not just for show. Her ability to cope with danger is not to be looked down at.


    ¡°What we have to deal with urgently is the people that have been controlled by Beelzebub; how we are going to save them. The only one who we know about is the Water Church that told us about the situation via themunication device, but the units of the other churches must be under the same situation.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s true.


    Many people are in confusion because of therades that are suddenly attacking them due to being controlled by the flies. And this is making the opening for the flies to exploit even bigger.


    While we are here, they are all being turned into puppets.


    ¡°Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°With Haine-san¡¯s dark matter, do you think you can erase the flies that have invaded their body-desu ka?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    Without stopping the release of dark matter that is protecting us, I ponder.


    ¡°...It is not possible. The prospect of erasing them is indeed possible, but...¡± (Haine)


    The fly army Beelzebub is the Wind Mother Monster. Since they are monsters, their bodies are formed with only divine power, so I canpletely erase them with dark matter.


    That¡¯s why I am able to stop them right now by making a barrier of dark matter, but...if that were to enter the body of a human, the circumstances change.


    ¡°...Divine power is a life energy that is important for humans in order to maintain their bodily functions. If a living body were to touch dark matter, it will erase the divine power no questions asked, and in the worst case, it might even kill the host due to a shortage of divine power.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°How about aiming directly only at the parts where the flies are parasitizing?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Even I am not omnipotent, you know. It is impossible to have the dark matter make such precise movements. In just that one point, even when dark matter is also minuscule, Beelzebub which possesses decision making as a pseudo-lifeform is superior in that aspect.¡± (Haine)


    Even so, there¡¯s no other option but to pickle arge amount of dark matter to forcefully erase the monsters inside the body.


    But if I were to do that, I would also be erasing all the divine power of that person, and that would certainly lead to death.


    There¡¯s no doubt that the flies are hiding deep inside the body.


    It definitely won¡¯t be enough to just pour dark matter on the outside of the body like the time with Shiva.


    ¡°Then, as expected...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah. The only way to make a breakthrough is to find Shiva.¡± (Haine)


    If it¡¯s Shiva who holds the soul of the Wind God, he should be able to freely control the flies.


    That¡¯s exactly why it has fallen into this situation after all...


    ¡°We will find Shiva, and convince or beat him down; whichever the case, we will have him stop the flies. As I have said before, the flies are monsters. They are purely masses of divine power. Even if they were to die inside the body, they will die without leaving a trace behind, and should not leave any remaining effects in the body.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But he did speak aboutying eggs inside the whole body-desu wa ne? We should do something before that happens!¡± (Yorishiro)


    It means that we don¡¯t have the leisure of time.


    In that case, we should find Shiva as soon as possible¡ªbut when I was about to run off, I noticed. If I were to leave here, who will protect everyone?


    These repulsive flies were raiding our very vision, and are tenaciously struggling even when blocked by my dark matter.


    If I leave this ce to find Shiva, who will protect them?


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, Yorishiro, Doraha, and the Founders of every church...If even they were to fall victim to the flies...!!


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡± (Enou)


    It was at that moment.


    At my back, an overwhelming fire divine power swirled, and was released to all directions.


    This swirling of fire that was mysteriously not affecting us humans was properly burning away the flies.


    ¡°This is...!!¡± (Haine)


    I look back.


    What I saw there was the Fire Founder with his fist lifted up, wrapped in a Divine tool band. It was the figure of Saruo Enou.


    As I thought, this fire storm came from him!


    I knew about his past history of being the General of the Ignis Militant corps, but to think he would possess such powerful divine power...


    Its power is close to that of the hero Mirack.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°It is just as the Fire Founder says.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro, even you have be able to understand what the Fire Founder says?


    ¡°We Founders will leave Rudras Metropolis and return to where the troops are.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    ¡°We will bring back the information we obtained here, and we will fix themand order of our confused allies. With that, the outside should be able to hold on for quite a while more.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Don¡¯t say such stupidness! This ce was safe because there was my dark matter! If you were to go out, you guys will¡ª!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°We didn¡¯t be Founders just to be decorations.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says this.


    ¡°Shouldering the church also means that we have to shoulder the thousands of lives that belong to it. Faced with that crisis right in front of us, if we were to run away because of fear of our lives, we would be failures as Founders.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Being told that by a youngster, there¡¯s already no running away for the elderly.¡± (Azul)


    Even the Water Founder steps forward.


    ¡°This one is a weakling, so this one is honestly scared witless...but even so, they have entrusted me with being the Founder; this one has to answer that sincerity. Merchants have no courage, but this one has to show that this one at least has the guts.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Also, if we can stand ground outside, we can buy time-sa ne.¡±


    The Earth Founder too.


    ¡°In that time, grab that Wind idiot and give him a good beating. If ya manage to have him do as ya say, even if we all end up being controlled, we can still fix it-sa ne. Lad, I be relying on ya again.¡±


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!¡± (Enou)


    These people...!


    They unexpectedly have plenty enough sense of duty to stand over others!


    ¡°Understood! I will find Shiva and beat him up! Everyone as well, be careful!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, we will also go together with the Founders.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san speaks to me.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama and the others will need guarding until they leave Rudras Metropolis after all. And in order to save the troops that are currently in danger, the power of us heroes will be necessary.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood. I leave that side to you, Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Sorry, Haine-san! This time again, I will be leaving Haine-san all alone with the important part.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. It is because Karen-san and the others are protecting the back, that I am able to push forward all the time without the need of looking back.¡± (Haine)


    And then, I stop the release of the dark matter barrier that I had ced all this time, and at the same time, I create repulsion force at my feet to jump away. On top of that, I scatter dark matter in all directions, and erase several thousands of flies in one go.


    ...In actuality, it will most likely be the very definition of difficult to try finding Shiva who has hidden himself.


    Even he himself knew that the fight would be decided if he were captured, so he disappeared from our sight.


    He must have hidden himself with the preparedness of saying ¡®no way I will let you find me¡¯.


    If I were to blindly look for him, that in itself will be a waste of time, and by that time, our side might have fallen in control of the demonic flies.


    That¡¯s why, there¡¯s the need to add an extra something in my way of searching.


    ¡°Gotta add something!!¡± (Haine)


    I utilize the repulsion force of the dark matter, and fly into the sky.


    High up.


    At that ce, there¡¯s the ck cloud that can be said to be the main body of Beelzebub.


    I jump inside it.


    And then...


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!!¡± (Haine)


    The dark mattering out from both of my hands gushed out like the violent rushing stream of arge river, and spreads to both sides.


    The ck wave mixes with the ck cloud, but without merging into one, one side devoured the other and continued spreading.


    ¡°Again, [Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    I once again roused myself into releasing more dark matter.


    The dark matter is just small particles, but with several millions, it bes a mass of incredible size, and undtes wildly in the sky.


    Jumping into Beelzebub, that sight of devouring everything looked as if a ck dragon was swimming inside the ck cloud.


    And the ck cloud couldn¡¯t do anything but be devoured by this ck dragon.


    The ck cloud had soon lost 1/10 of its original numbers.


    ¡°You are still underestimating me, Quasar.¡± (Haine)


    No matter if it¡¯s a Mother Monster, if we were to fight face to face, I would win.


    Beelzebub can stop if we defeat Shiva who serves as the control tower, but if we wipe out the several billions of flies, it will also stop.


    But well, there¡¯s nothing I can do about the ones that have already invaded the body though...


    That¡¯s why it would trouble me if Shiva doesn¡¯te out.


    I have to make hime out to try and stop me from wiping out his cute Mother Monster.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look down on me, Quasar!! I am the ultimate God that you used 1,600 years to train in order to defeat and still didn¡¯t manage to!! The longer you hide, the easier it will be for me to erase the monster you created!¡± (Haine)


    Now,e out Shiva! Get taunted!


    I once again increase the output of dark matter.


    The sky that was dyed with the color of the ck cloud seemed as if it would be dyed away at any time soon.


    ¡°Quasar, you underestimated me. Even if you Base Elements were to do those 1,600 years 1,600 times more, you would still not be able to defeat me!!¡± (Haine)


    ck was being repainted by ck.

 Chapter 157-160 - Sniper

    <h4>Chapter 157-160: Sniper</h4>


    ¡°Incredible~!¡±


    I -Kourin Karen- was shocked mindless while looking at the sky.


    Shocked by the craziness of what Haine-san was doing.


    I thought for certain that he would be running around looking for the Wind Founder Shiva-san at the Rudras Metropolis.


    But to think he would fly up!


    ¡°He must be trying to lure him out.¡± (Yorishiro)


    My Founder and friend, Yorishiro-sama, was at my side looking at the sky.


    It was as if a ck dragon was piercing through a ck cloud.


    It was such an out-of-the-world sight that you would think there won¡¯t be a second time seeing something like this.


    ¡°Lure out...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That Mother Monster must be important for Shiva as well. If it were to be on the verge of being wiped out, he mighte out. It would be wrapped up faster than straightforwardly searching inside the Wind capital.¡± (Yorishiro)


    You might say that¡¯s the faster way, but even if we were to search the whole world, I am pretty sure the only one who would be able to do something like this is Haine-san. And before all that, I think that the only one who can defeat that army of small-sized monsters is Haine-san.


    If I am not careful, my mind might gopletely nk.


    ¡°But there¡¯s one other reason why Haine-san is going wild like that in the sky.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It is something simple. If he goes that wild at the main body of the flies and decreases their numbers, the flies that go down will also decrease equally in numbers. As proof, there¡¯s not that many around us, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Now that she mentions it...


    Mirack-chan is still doing her best with her fire, but contrary to that, there¡¯s no presence of the ck smoke in the surroundings.


    ¡°Haine-san is trying to reduce the encroachment of the flies towards the humans as much as possible, that¡¯s why he plunged in there...... Now, let¡¯s not waste the consideration of Haine-san. Let¡¯s escape the city fast, and regroup with the light knights outside.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The knights from the Aurora Knight corps that had apanied us should be under attack as well. The Ignis Militant corps, the Stream Marine corps, and the Scorched Earth Annihtion corps too.


    We should return to where they are and fulfill our duties as heroes!


    ¡°Let¡¯s hurry everyone! ¡ªWait.¡± (Karen)


    Just as I was hyped up, I noticed that everyone was acting strange.


    We have to hurry and return, and yet, no one was moving.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Let¡¯s move everyone! Every grain in the hourss is precious, you know?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t move!!¡± (Celestis)


    I was suddenly shouted at by Celestis-chan.


    There¡¯s no need to raise your voice that much!


    ¡°...I understand. Because you were entranced by your beloved prince, you didn¡¯t notice, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Beloved?! Beloved, she said!


    ¡°Sasae-chi, lend me that for a moment.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ahn, mah snacks!¡± (Sasae)


    Celestis-chan sticks her hand in Sasae-chan¡¯s pocket without permission and takes it out. And from there, Celestis-chan was holding a snack bag that is widely sold in Apollon City.


    Celestis-chan throws that to the front.


    And when she did...


    *Bang!! Bang Bang!*


    A sound that felt as if it could pierce my eardrums rang as the snack bag was torn asunder in mid-air.


    ¡°?!!¡±


    ¡°Gyaaa~su!! Mah snack~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan wails.


    After being torn to that many pieces, there¡¯s no way anyone can eat them anymore.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. We can¡¯t show it with a person, right? Someone is aiming at us from somewhere. And it is trying to prevent us from leaving here.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Aiming? Preventing?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You, you don¡¯t know why Mirack-chi is still spreading her fire, right? You really are just looking at the person you like! Oi, Mirack-chi, as expected, this girl doesn¡¯t even see you~.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Stop it! I will get so sad that my support will weaken, damn it!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan shouted in sadness.


    ¡°Could it be...the reason why Mirack-chan is releasing fire even when there¡¯s no flies is because...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°To conceal us. Against the sniper that we don¡¯t know where it is aiming at us from.¡± (Celestis)


    Sniper.


    The reason why the snacks of Sasae-chan were torn to pieces was because someone shot them from somewhere?


    Like the air bullets the Wind Founder and hero Shiva was using in the fight with Haine-san not that long ago?!


    ¡°Could it be...Shiva-san himself is attacking us?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Who knows. If Haine-chi¡¯s words are correct, that thin man should have hidden himself to protect his win, so I don¡¯t think he would just so readilye out. And I also feel like this is slightly different from his style.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Style?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That good-looking bastard used a projectile weapon, but he shed from the front, and while mixing martial arts, he fought at close to middle range. But the person that is aiming at us from who-knows-where is probably sniping us at quite the long range.¡± (Celestis)


    I see.


    It is also possible that Shiva-san has changed his style, but the possibility is low.


    I try looking at the surroundings.


    In this training space, there¡¯s not much obstructions, moreover, there¡¯s a number of spires around.


    If someone were to be hidden in one of them and aiming at us...


    ¡°Mirack-chan is spreading her fire here and there because she is concealing us and using it as a shield. If what¡¯s being shot is air bullets, due to the affinities, the fire has an advantage.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We finally have the chance to utilize the element advantage. But looking at the situation as a whole, things are still going pretty bad though.¡± (Celestis)


    Even if Mirack-chan is creating a firewall, if we were to take one step out, we will get sniped.


    If the other party¡¯s objective is to prevent us from regrouping with the people outside...no, to prevent us from escaping from here...


    ¡°Whichever it is, just who in the world has set this up?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s only one thing thates to mind, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan makes a vulgar smile that she doesn¡¯t do in her times as an idol but frequently appears when she is in hero mode.


    ¡°This is the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis. It is the military force of the Wind Church, the Whirlwind Raid corps.¡± (Celestis)


    Whirlwind Raid corps.


    The Wind Church¡¯s military power that is worthy of standing in the same position as the Light Church¡¯s Aurora Knight corps, and the Fire Church¡¯s Ignis Militant corps.


    Only that name has been passed to the other churches, but in terms of the details about it, they are shrouded in mystery, just like their church.


    Since stepping into this Rudras Metropolis as a special case, we haven¡¯t seen almost anyone aside from Shiva.


    A notification was probably send to all the city and they were hidden in a way that we wouldn¡¯t catch sight of them.


    ¡°...Ah, now that I think about it, the people that had guided us...¡± (Karen)


    There were several other people aside from the Founder that served as the guides or surveince...but before I noticed, they were already gone.


    On the other hand, Celestis-chan was still throwing a number of snack bags, and was having the sniper -who we still don¡¯t know where it is- shoot them.


    ¡°What are ya doing-dasu ka, Celestis-neechan! Please don¡¯t sacrifice more of mah snack-dasu~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Shat ap! Once we return alive, I will buy you twice as many! But...damn it. I wanted to locate the sniper¡¯s position with this, but I can¡¯t tell at all!¡± (Celestis)


    What¡¯s being shot is an air bullet, so there¡¯s no color and form after all.


    More importantly...


    ¡°Let¡¯s prioritize a way to escape. Mirack-chan...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What is it, Karen?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan continues protecting us with a wall of fire.


    It feels like she is incredibly happy that I called her name.


    ¡°Can you move while still forming the wall of fire? If possible, I want us to reach a cover where we can block the sniper.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Easy peasy! If it¡¯s for you, I can go all the way to the horizon!¡± (Mirack)


    Aren¡¯t you getting a bit over-exhrated?


    Well, it is better than not having energy, so let¡¯s move slowly while being protected by Mirack-chan¡ª


    ¡°...It doesn¡¯t look like it will go so smoothly.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The surroundings be turning bad-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    It looks like Celestis-chan and Sasae-chan have noticed something.


    ¡°What? What happened?¡± (Karen)


    Being pointed out this, I look at the surroundings.


    We were already surrounded.


    By several tens of people that looked pretty brawny. They all wore the same garments, and that¡¯s exactly why I could tell at a nce that they are a coordinated team.


    They don¡¯t have any metallic-like armor on their bodies, but from their head to the toes, they were coveredpletely in cloth; clothing that screams stealth.


    This is probably the Whirlwind Raid corp.


    Beasts that had erased their presence, had now appeared with their fangs showing.


    ¡°This is bad. We arepletely surrounded. The sniping until now must have been to buy time for this encirclement to bepleted.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°These numbers...it doesn¡¯t feel like they are trying to keep us in ce, it feels as if they are going to try killing us just like that. I can only think that the Wind Church has finally gone crazy.¡± (Mirack)


    At our side, there¡¯s the Founders and heroes, 4 of each -if we count Doraha, there¡¯s 9 in total.


    On the other side, there¡¯s brawny people that can be called experienced fighters.


    ¡°...Mirack-chan, at my signal, undo the wall of fire.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Got it. Leave the vanguard to me. I have good affinity against them after all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°With us being encircled like this, meleebat is unavoidable, so there¡¯s no shit like vanguard here. Even so, Sasae-chi, take care while fighting, got it? Wind is the natural enemy of earth after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Gotcha-dasu! After the fight with Great Pir-sama, I got trained by Sobo-chan. Now be the time to show demn results-dasu! It be my chance to raise a name for mahself in Rudras Metropolis-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    Could it be that the reason why the darkness of Sasae-chan has been thickertely is because of the training with her Obaa-san?


    ¡°Celestis-chan also said this but, in this situation, meleebat is unavoidable. So there should be no worries about any sniping due to fear of friendly fire. Let¡¯s not get distracted with defeating the enemies, and just as we nned at first, let¡¯s aim to escape the Wind capital. Doraha-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Doraha)


    The dark skin girl here, Doraha-san.


    ¡°I want to request of you to be the bodyguard of the Founders. We will be opening the way.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Doraha)


    Haine-san is desperately fighting in the sky. We can¡¯t just stay dilly-dallying here.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± ¡°Ou!¡± ¡°Yes,ma¡¯am!¡± ¡°Dasu yo!¡±


    Mirack-chan undid the wall of fire.


    Using that as the signal, we instantly go on the offensive. Even if the Whirlwind Raid corps are the Wind Church¡¯s military power, there¡¯s no way normal soldiers would be able to defeat heroes.


    Sorry but, I will be pushing you away!


    ¡°Guaaaa!!¡±


    It was at that moment...


    That voice just now was Mirack-chan?!


    ¡°Are you okay, Mirack-chi?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yeah, I blocked it with fire divine power...but there¡¯s still sniping?! Do they not fear hitting their allies?!¡± (Mirack)


    The sniping doesn¡¯t stop?


    It was incorrect to change our strategy to match the meleebat.


    But the Raid corps that were encircling us hade rushing at us as if it was a matter of course, and the meleebat begins just as we thought.


    This is also just as we thought, but the members of the Raid corps are using wind divine power, even so, they are not that strong. In our eyes, they are not troublesome opponents, but...


    ¡°Hiaaaaa!! Dangerous-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    An air bullet scraped close to where Sasae-chan was standing. She was moving around, so it must have fortunately missed in the timing.


    The sniping is really not stopping. Even when we are in meleebat, they have the confidence of hitting us without hitting their allies?!


    Moreover, the bullets that are being shot are scarily urate, and there have been practically no misses until now.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!¡± (Enou)


    ¡°Master?! Are you okay?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°I¡¯m relieved! It hit the muscles in your chest so you were okay huh!¡± (Mirack)


    The only ones who are okay being hit are the fire hero, Mirack-chan, and the Fire Founder-sama.


    Those two that hold an elemental advantage against wind can simply d a thin film of fire divine power and mitigate the air bullets.


    But the others don¡¯t stand in the same advantage.


    On the contrary, Sasae-chan and the Earth Founder-sama, that are weak against the wind element, can die instantly depending on where they are shot.


    ...Is what I thought when the Earth Founder Obaba-sama...


    ¡°...Hngh.¡±


    pped away the air bullet with the cane in her hand?!


    ¡°It be certainly a precise aim. But that¡¯s exactly why the line of the shot be way too honest.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The amazingness of this person is at a ce that has nothing to do with divine power.


    ¡°Celestis-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    I stand back-to-back with her who is fighting around with her Miki-Moses.


    ¡°The longer we fight, the more of a disadvantage we will be in!! We have to finish it in one go!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Okay. We have grasped the situation plenty enough, right?! From here on, we are going to be steaming through!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan and I spoke in sync.


    ¡°¡±[Mirage]!!¡±¡± (Karen+Celestis)


    From the spreading mist, several of us appear inside of it.


    Light and water¡¯sbined element ¡®Mirage¡¯.


    Using the light to refract the small beads of water scattered in the air, mirror images are created -the power of illusions.


    The illusions created inside the mist were not only those of Celestis-chan and I, there were also several of Mirack-chan, Sasae-chan, the Founder-samas as well.


    ¡°?!!¡± ¡°?!!¡± ¡°?!!¡±


    The people of the Wind Raid corps didn¡¯t raise a single voice at all. It looks like even their silence and coordination betweenrades was thorough. Do they have such strictws?


    Because of their garments that were covering their whole face, I can¡¯t tell their expressions, but I can tell plenty enough that they are agitated.


    ¡°!!!¡±


    One of the Raid corps swung its knife at us, but...it was a miss.


    Too bad. That was a mirror image.


    The disturbance created by ¡®Mirage¡¯ is the most effective when in great numbers. Now that the attacks have stopped because of the confusion, this is our chance.


    ¡°Are you ready, Sasae?! Thanks to Karen and the extra, we have obtained time to concentrate!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes-dasu!! I be very sorry that I take more time to mix elementspared to the others-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Further at the back, there¡¯s Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan sticking to each other, mixing their fire and earth elements.


    With four heroes, we can support each other by using abined element to assist abined element.


    ¡°¡±[Magma Ocean]!!-dasu!!¡±¡± (Mirack+Sasae)


    The floor that the two were standing on began to shine red. It then melted and turned into a muddy liquid as it undtes.


    Theva attack thates from thebined elements of fire and earth element ¡®Magma¡¯.


    The material for this training space floor was probably brought from a mountain somewhere. By the time it turns liquid, it has already reached over the thousand degrees in temperature. A natural weapon of dangerous degree.


    ¡°The earth element loses against the wind element, but I wonder what would happen when it isbined with the fire element that the wind element loses against?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The element affinities be convenient-dasu!! With this, we can negate the wind element, and a barrier with plenty heat and wideness bepleted-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    In the first ce, the earth element that rules over the solids possesses defensive capabilities that surpasses that of the others.


    In this instance, it was rendered powerless because of the affinity problem, but by mixing with the fire element, it came back in a more fearsome state.


    ¡°Hahaha! Anyone that wants to be covered inva from the head down,e get us!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hiiih! Mirack-neechan! There be any need to turn in circles while holding me-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    Mirack-chan had her arms around Sasae-chan¡¯s armpit, and with her left and right hands tightly held, she made big turns.


    Matching those movements, theva was whirling and waving.


    ¡°No matter what she says, Mirack-chan really does love Sasae-chan.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Are you saying small girls are her favorite treat?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan says that with an amazed face.


    I want to believe that the wide smile of Mirack-chanes from her desire to protect Sasae-chan. That must be it.


    Anyways, theva attack of Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan has turned the tides of this situation to our side.


    Because of the high temperature, the Whirlwind Raid corps people can¡¯t even get close. And the Founders are all surrounded at the inner part of theva.


    With that, there¡¯s no way they will be facing any harm.


    The air bullets that are being shot from who-knows-where for a while now as well. Once it hits the wave ofva, it just turns to nothing.


    ¡°But...the most problematic one is still the sniper. Seriously, where is it shooting from?¡± (Celestis)


    It is true that we don¡¯t know from where it is being shot at, and on top of that, it is quite precise. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that we used the advantage of Mirack-chan to the fullest, there would have been the chance that we would have been wiped out with just the sniping alone.


    Even us who are outside of theva bulwark have not been able to narrow down the location with ¡®Mirage¡¯ after all. We are simply somehow okay.


    ¡°That problem has also been solved already though. [Holy Light de]!!¡± (Karen)


    A line of light is shot from the holy sword, Saint-George. That travelled, further, further, and further away... and hits a space where there¡¯s nothing, and makes a *Pam* sound of an explosion.


    ¡°?!!¡±


    And then, it appears, a person wearing the stealth costume of the Whirlwind Raid corps. Moreover, at its hand, it is holding a cylindrical instrument that seems to be simr to the one the Founder Shiva-san held.


    ¡°Uo?! Eh, what?! A person came out of nowhere!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It is the same as our ¡®Mirage¡¯, Celestis-chan. They probably poured wind divine power in the air and distorted the light in the ce, in order to deceive us that there¡¯s nothing there.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And so, they sniped at us while hidden huh. I¡¯m surprised you noticed, Karen-chi.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Even if I look like this, I am the light hero, you know? I can notice when a ce has light that is unnaturally warped.¡± (Karen)


    Let¡¯s not say that I just found it by coincidence while we were channeling ¡®Mirage¡¯.


    But even so, the sniper was at quite the faraway ce from us. In order to reach all the way there, it would take us as much as us counting to 10 while running at full speed.


    The air camouge would have probably not worked unless it was from that faraway.


    Even so, their precision from that faraway was a threat.


    ¡°I see. That nasty sniping was done by this person huh...... What, this person is the guide that was apanying us from the very beginning.¡± (Celestis)


    When the Founder Shiva-san went mad, the other guides had also disappeared, but to think we would find one hiding here.


    ¡°Karen.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hiaa!! Mirack-chan?! What is it so suddenly?! You scared me!¡± (Karen)


    Mirack-chan was suddenly right at my back.


    ¡°No well, you see, the bunch is suddenly surrendering. We can¡¯t just ughter them all, so right now, Sasae is tying them up.¡± (Mirack)


    Eh? Why so suddenly?


    It is true that the fight would turn one-sided now, but aren¡¯t they surrendering way too fast?


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t that fine? With this, you could say the situation has changed once more. If things go well, we might be able to bring it all the way to a win!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What do you mean by that, Celestis-chan?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We can have these guys tell us where the Founder hero is hidden in! In this fight, as long as we capture the Founder Shiva, it will be our win! In the time Haine-chi is doing his best in the sky, we will bring down the inner citadel!¡± (Celestis)


    Saying this, Celestis-chan grabs the cor of one of the Whirlwind Raid corps and pulls it up.


    It is the person that used the distortion of wind to hide and snipe us.


    Because of the ¡®Holy Light de¡¯, its eyes are going in circles. I held back, so there should be no injuries though.


    ¡°Wow there, I will be confiscating your weapon. Karen-chi, hold it.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Wa?! Yes!¡± (Karen)


    Celestis-chan throws the metallic cylinder at me.


    They shotpressed air balls from here, but the one the Wind Founder Shiva-san used was the same type, yet the shape was quite different.


    This gun is pretty long all around. It is longer than the de of my holy sword, and it feels like an iron rod.


    This person was using this gun to snipe from quite a distance away.


    By making the cylinder longer, it makes it easier to aim at long range?


    ¡°Well then, I will have you spill it. Where¡¯s your boss?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was threatening her, but the sniper-san was not speaking a single word.


    These people have been silent from the very beginning after all.


    It feels as if just trying to make them part their lips would be difficult, and in this situation where time is of essence, it might be harsh.


    ¡°Oh, you think you can keep silent in the face of this water hero, Celestis-chan? You¡¯ve got quite the positive outlook there. Well, we don¡¯t have much time but, let¡¯s have a nice talk, okay?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°U-Uhm, Celestis-chan? Don¡¯t be too rough¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡°First of all, let¡¯s talk properly while looking at each other¡¯s faces. Let¡¯s take off that mask and...¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan ces her hand on the mask of the person, and takes it off all at once.


    From inside the mask, long ck hair flows down. Her bangs swung, and her thin eyebrows and long eyshes were out in the open.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The sniper was a beauty that left us with our eyes wide open.


    ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°C-Cute!!¡±


    I, Celestis-chan, and Mirack-chan had our own reactions.


    After defeating the military power of the Wind Church, the Whirlwind Raid corps, we tried taking off the mask of the most troublesome one in the group, the sniper, and what we saw was a girl ¨Ca pretty beautiful one.


    The bridge of her nose drew a delicate arc, and her contours were thin and smooth.


    Her ck hair oveps with that of Yorishiro-sama, but the one here has her hair tied up in a bundle and gives out a stoic impression.


    ¡°...Tch.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-chan, why are you clicking your tongue?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is a trait of us idols. When we see a girl that is cuter than us, we end up wanting to click our tongues.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case, you know?! You and her have their different kind of beauties, but you two are beauties nheless!¡± (Karen)


    Celestis-chan is the shining type of beauty, and the person here is the refined type of beauty...maybe?


    ¡°...Umu, okay!¡± (Mirack)


    Let¡¯s not talk to Mirack-chan.


    I can tell that things would turnplicated.


    More importantly, I want to hear what this person has to say.


    ¡°Uhm, is it okay? There¡¯s a few things I want to ask about¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Kill me!!¡±


    Eh?


    This woman spoke her first words to us.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to say. Just kill me already.¡±


    ¡°No no no no no, we won¡¯t kill you. We won¡¯t do something that disturbing, and there¡¯s something that we would want you to tell us!!¡± (Karen)


    I want to hear about the hiding ce of the Wind Founder Shiva.


    We wanted to know no matter what.


    ¡°Fuh~, I finished tying ¡®em all up-dasu yo~. I didn¡¯t think mah skills of tying up straw hemps would being in handy here-dasu~.¡± (Sasae)


    Oh, Sasae-chan came back.


    It looks like she finished restraining the Whirlwind Raid corps.


    And then, she saw our dispute with this woman and...


    ¡°Oya? What be going on? Torture-dasu ka? Want me to tear off her fingernails-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°We won¡¯t be tearing anything off!¡± (Karen)


    Sasae-chan return please!


    ¡°Hmph! So you won¡¯t be letting me die that easily huh. Fine. Give me any kind of tortures you wish. But *I* won¡¯t be saying anything unfavorable towards my brother.¡± <TL: she says ¡®sessha¡¯ which is ¡®I¡¯ in a samurai-like way>


    ¡°No no! Please don¡¯t ept the situation so easily!¡± (Karen)


    We won¡¯t be doing any abuse here!


    ¡°...Hey, this girl just now...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yeah, she acts tough, but she is a careless one.¡± (Mirack)


    It looks like Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan are muttering something, but you two, please help me calm down this situation!


    I can¡¯t retort to all this on my own!


    ¡°Karen-san, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wa?! Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    Now that I think about it, I totally left them outside my peripheric, but the Founders are all okay.


    Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan were protecting them withva after all.


    ¡°It looks like the Wind believer here has something to say.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    I noticed that there¡¯s one Raid corp member walking to where we are while still tied up.


    In order to make it easier to speak to, that person also has his mask off, but it looks like this one is a normal man.


    ¡°I ask of you people. I will speak about what you want to know. That¡¯s why, please don¡¯t bring harm to this personage.¡±


    ¡°You bastard, have you lost it?!¡±


    The woman bites heavily at the words of herrade, but she can¡¯t change the situation.


    ¡°Please forgive me. If something were to happen to you, that in itself would be something that wouldn¡¯t allow me to face Shiva-sama!¡±


    The Raid corp man was obedient.


    In the time I was suffering with theseedy troupe here, how did Yorishiro-sama manage to make this man open up?


    ¡°Then, tell me this first.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan asks first.


    ¡°This girl that you are going so far to protect, just who is she?¡± (Celestis)


    The man, that had promised to say anything, left a space of silence before speaking.


    ¡°This personage is Toreido Hyue-sama. She is Founder Shiva-sama¡¯s little sister, and is a gunner that wouldpete for first and second ce in the Kazama Shinobis.¡±


    ¡°I see. So the ¡®brother¡¯ meant exactly that huh.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Looks like we have reeled a bigger fish than we expected.¡± (Celestis)


    This is bad. Celestis-chan is making a face that¡¯s unfitting of an idol.


    But Celestis-chan is not the only bad person here.


    ¡°...If pushes to shove, let¡¯s use this girl as bait to lure out the Wind Founder-sama.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    Yorishiro-sama nonchntly says things that everyone would have a hard time saying!


    I don¡¯t feel numb or admire that part of hers, okay?!


    ¡°For emergency situations, there be the need for emergency measures-dasu na?! Cool-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°And Sasae-chan, don¡¯t go getting influenced by this person! It definitely won¡¯t be good for your education!!¡± (Karen)


    This is not good. Everyone is going crazy here!


    My retorts won¡¯t be enough. Please return quickly, Haine-san!


    ¡°¡ª¡ªPLEASE!!¡±


    And while we were making a racket, the woman in question -Hyue-san- let out a desperate voice.


    ¡°Please! Only a small amount of time is fine. Please don¡¯t get in the way of Aniue-sama


    ! Please let him achieve his objective!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eeeeeeh?¡±


    We felt bewilderment at the supplication of Hyue-san.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that way of saying it? It is as if we are being made the bad guys here.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The objective of the Wind Founder Shiva is to use the Mother Monster, control the the envoys of the five Churches, and bring cmity to the whole world. Do you think we would keep silent and let him achieve it?!¡± (Mirack)


    I heard the sound of grinding teeth.


    It was a loud sound that would make me wonder if the teeth would break with that.


    ¡°You are wrong. Aniue-sama doesn¡¯t intend to do that! He is actually an incredibly kind person. But that notice suddenly made Aniue-sama strange <the call for the conference>! In order to have Aniue-sama return to his former kind self, we have to defeat that man, and have Aniue-sama achieve his objective!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That man?!¡± (Karen)


    I wanted to hear in more detail, but when I tried to, someone interjected -it was Yorishiro-sama.


    ¡°...You really do love your brother dearly.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡ª!!¡±


    Hyue-san must have felt a ghastly sensation from the casual tone of Yorishiro-sama. She falls silent.


    ¡°In that case, can you please tell us? Who is the one that Shiva-san is trying to defeat? What is it that the Wind Mother Monster mayhem is actually trying to achieve? Just what kind of human he truly is. Can you tell us?¡± (Yorishiro)

 Chapter 161-162 - At the summit

    <h4>Chapter 161-162: At the summit</h4>


    I continued cutting the ck cloud that was covering the sky, and when the remaining left was less than a half, I -Kuromiya Haine- lowered to the ground.


    Wind capital¡¯s headquarters, the Wind Grand Workshop. At the roof that was the highest part of it.


    ¡°You have finally appeared.¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s only one reason why I lowered myself from the sky.


    Because I found the objective I was searching for.


    The Wind Church¡¯s Founder and hero, Toreido Shiva, and also the incarnation of the Wind God Quasar.


    ¡°I can take it as the ¡®hide and seek¡¯ is over, right?¡± (Haine)


    The reason why he hid himself was because he himself is the control tower of the Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub.


    If the very culprit that created the demonic flies were to order them to stop, they should.


    Knowing this, he disappeared from our sight in order to not be caught.


    And yet, the reason why he appeared in front of me is...


    ¡°To think that you would be able to partially destroy my Beelzebub in less than half a day.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva looks at the sky as he said this.


    I could tell a sense of abandonment from those words.


    ¡°But Beelzebub and the Kazama Shinobis have done their job plenty well. They managed to stall the troops outside and the heroes that were the closest to you, and separated you from them. With this, we can truly have a one vs one.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You...still want to fight?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course. With just that superficial fight just now, don¡¯t think that you have seen the whole of my 1,600 years of studies. I haven¡¯t shown you everything yet. All the power of a God and a human.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva takes a stance with his pair of guns.


    ¡°Releasing divine power as the Wind God Quasar to a point that it would damage the flesh, I will smash you with all the abilities that this body has learned. The power of a God and the techniques of a human; at the time when it surpasses the limit, even I don¡¯t know what will ur! There¡¯s no opponent as fitting as you, Dark God Entropy, in smashing them with this!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s why you went as far as using the Mother Monster to pull me away from the others? In order to have a true one vs one fight?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Who knows. It is just that this fight between Gods that will be urring now, it would be a waste to show it to humans.¡± (Shiva)


    I wonder how serious are those words?


    It is true that a fight that will be utilizing the very depths of a God¡¯s power is something that can¡¯t be shown to humans.


    It would reveal our identities, and the effects it would have on the human society would not be normal.


    Also...


    If a human were to get close to a sh between Gods, they would get dragged into it and won¡¯t leave a trace behind.


    Could it be that Shiva was...


    ¡°Now! Take off that human body ande at me! A battle where the Wind God Quasar bets his all! I will take you on, summit of Gods!¡± (Shiva)


    And in response to the enthusiastic Shiva, I...


    ¡°Don¡¯t wanna.¡± (Haine)


    I give out an immediate answer.


    ¡°What?!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to fight you. It is fine as long as you call off the flies that are clinging onto the humans.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hmph, I knew you would say that. That¡¯s why I had Beelzebub take control of the humans beforehand. What it means is that, if you want to save them, you have to fight me and defeat me!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Shiva!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I have prepared such a setup. If you pulverize this human body, Beelzebub will automatically fall, and the people who are controlled will be saved..... The objective of you guys at first was to subjugate the Mother Monsters, right? Isn¡¯t that nice then? All your objectives have ovepped!¡± (Shiva)


    So he calcted that far when he had the Mother Monster rampage?


    All in order to have a serious fight with me?


    ¡°Even so, I don¡¯t want that. I can¡¯t fight you.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are still hesitating?!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Because you have already won against me.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Shiva)


    He has already won.


    Those words caught him by surprise.


    ¡°The proof of that is this city.¡± (Haine)


    From the roof we are standing on, I was able to take a look at the cityscape of Rudras Metropolis.


    I, who was high in the sky a while ago, was able to see it in a much bigger picture.


    Giant constructions; they were all systematically sorted in divisions. The people there havee out to see what the uproar is all about, but even so, they are not panicking around.


    It is proof of their utmost trust towards the rulers of this city, the Wind Church.


    ¡°You were the one that made this city, right? You gave birth to this city as a God, and raised this city as a Founder. That¡¯s is something I couldn¡¯t do in the 1,600 years I was sleeping.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...You love humans from the bottom of your heart after all. You love humans, and tried to guide them, but because of the seal, you couldn¡¯t do that...... This Rudras Metropolis is exactly what you wanted to make!¡± (Shiva)


    So you get it.


    ¡°¡®What you wanted to do but couldn¡¯t, I was able to. That¡¯s why it is my win¡¯, is that what you are saying?! .......What about it?!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva said this with a face as if scoffing.


    ¡°I created this city in order to defeat you. In terms of pure God power, there¡¯s no one who can stand up against you. Resisting the shame, I tried to device a new power to defeat you. This city is myboratory for experimentation. For several centuries, I have been polishing my power to defeat you. But I couldn¡¯t reach it.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be the only thing that you obtained from this city!¡± (Haine)


    The several centuries he lived at the Wind Church. Just how many humans were born and how many died? The Wind God Quasar should have been living together with them all this time.


    ¡°Shiva, this is not the only time that you have incarnated as a human, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°......The moment I died, I would soon incarnate into a baby in this city again. I have been living in this Wind Church practically without pause. I don¡¯t remember urately how many times I have incarnated anymore.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°No wonder the Gods weren¡¯t able to catch your whereabouts.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And what about it?! How many times do I have to say it before you understand?! For me, this ce is only aboratory to experiment ways to obtain the power to defeat you! The humans that live here are just assistants in my research, and are more like guinea pigs. Stop it with your naive way of thinking as if everything is a flower field!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I saw this city from the sky. The city is ordered methodically like a Go board. It is a bit of a suffocating ce, but that¡¯s just how you are. Even so, there¡¯s hospitals, schools, and facilities for recreation like parks.¡± (Haine)


    Wind Founder Shiva... Wind God Quasar...


    ¡°If you really thought of the people here as guinea pigs, you wouldn¡¯t made such buildings. I can tell. The humans, you actually¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Aniue-sama!!¡±


    The words I was about to continue had been interrupted by someone.


    When I turn around, someone shows up from the stairs to the roof. Probably a woman I have met for the first time.


    And there¡¯s also Karen-san following right behind.


    ¡°Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen?! Why are you here by yourself?!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san runs to me.


    On the other hand, the woman I have seen for the first time runs towards Shiva.


    ¡°Haine-san! The Founder-samas have all escaped Rudras Metropolis, and are heading towards the troops of their respective faction to regroup with them. Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and Sasae-chan are together with them as bodyguards!¡± (Karen)


    Are you fine being here then, Karen-san?


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama is together with Doraha-san. They have headed to where the Aurora Knight corps are. Yorishiro-sama actually wanted toe here as well, but she said she can¡¯t abandon herrades...¡± (Karen)


    I am relieved that hermon sense as a Founder is still working!


    ¡°And so...I have a message from Yorishiro-sama to Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The key to open the heart of the Wind Founder Shiva-sama is that person there, she said!¡± (Karen)


    I follow the gaze of Karen-san, and there, there¡¯s the mysterious woman that appeared suddenly.


    Is it my imagination that her appearance resembles that of Shiva?


    ¡°She is the little sister of the Founder Shiva-san, Hyue-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Little sister?!¡± (Haine)


    Well, yeah, even if he is the incarnation of a God, that doesn¡¯t mean he was born from the ground. He has parents, so obviously, there¡¯s the possibility of having siblings.


    Even if they are siblings of an incarnator, the other side will be actual proper humans. They will have the soul of a human, and in a spiritual sense, they have no connections to a God at all.


    But humans don¡¯t connect with others simply spiritually.


    A blood connection is also a splendid connection between hearts.


    ¡°...Haine-san, there¡¯s something I want you to hear.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This is something I heard from Hyue-san just a few moments ago but...Yorishiro-sama wanted me to tell Haine-san just how the current Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis, was created and how they have continued existing until now. She said it was really important.¡± (Karen)


    The birth of the Wind capital, and its development.


    That in itself is the personal history of the 1,600 years of the Wind God Quasar.


    This is the story that has been passed down in the Wind scriptures; the story of the beginnings of the Wind Church.


    The person that was the founder of the Wind Church, was said to be a person that had no ce to call a homnd and lived a nomadic life, moving from one settlement to other.


    Leading a group of people that had no ce as well, they had a long journey in search of and where they can live peaceably.


    But they were not epted anywhere, and their journey with no destination continued.


    By the time he was beginning to think that he would be a corpse on the roadside...a God appeared.


    The God introduced itself.


    ¡®I am the Wind God Quasar¡¯.


    The God that governs over wind can¡¯t give them and for them to live peacefully. But blowing a tailwind on them on their journey, it could protect the travellers.


    ¡®If you revere me as your God, I will blow wind that protects you wanderers. I will provide you with a ce at the other side of the wind¡¯.


    And so, the founder of the Wind epted that proposal, and the nomads there had be the Wind Church.


    A miracle happened soon after.


    Right after they received the oracle, the wife of the founder that was unable to have a child for a long time had conceived a child, and a healthy boy was born.


    The treasured son of the founder was smart and wise since very young, and when he became an adult, he was the strongest and smartest in the church; he became an excelling leader.


    The Wind Church began to develop and grow to be the true Wind Church in essence when this man had be the Founder.


    By that time, the Earth, Water, Fire, and Light Churches had begun to take form as well. They pressed forward in seeking for new believers, and increased their influence followed by their military power.


    From within those, the Wind Church, which was the weakest and smallest of them, took advantage of not having a set base to appear and disappear, making sport of the churches that tried to oppose them.


    Even when time passed, the Wind Church continued having excellent Founders, and in the state where the five Churchespeted with each other, they continued holding a peculiar spot for themselves.


    In time, ethereal was discovered, and with the decision of the Founders at that time, the research began as soon as possible.


    Following the orders of the sessive Founders and utilizing the know-hows of the varied fields as time went on, they finallypleted the moving city, Rudras Metropolis.


    At that time, the wind people finally obtained and to live in.


    The Wind had reached their goal.


    ***


    ¡°...Apparently, Shiva-san is the first Founder since the time this moving city waspleted.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san tells me the story just as she was told probably from the girl called Hyue.


    ¡°He took the initiative to lead the Church that waspletely new in all aspects, and kept in order the Wind Church that had stopped being nomadic, and yet, still continue being wanderers. For the people of Rudras Metropolis, Shiva-san is an incredibly popr Founder-san, they say!¡± (Karen)


    On the other side, Shiva was being clung onto by her little sister Hyue.


    ¡°Aniue-sama! Please tell them the truth!¡± (Hyue)


    The sudden appearance of his little sister had made Shiva silent.


    ¡°Lately, you have been gathering information from the Kazama Shinobis that you have spread around various ces, and I could tell that the more information you gathered, the grimmer your expression got. And then, when the call from the Founder came this time around, it was if you had been waiting for it!¡± (Hyue)


    There was something that bothered me from what those two were talking about.


    ¡°Kazama?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is apparently the official name of the Wind Church¡¯s military power, the Whirlwind Raid corps. Kazama means spies of the Wind. They fight as well, but more than that, they infiltrate the other churches, and their main duty is to steal information. Thanks to that, we don¡¯t know anything about the Wind Church, and yet, the Wind Church knows a variety of things about us, it seems.¡± (Karen)


    They had such a system...


    In that case, could it be that the battles with the Fire Cow Phris, the Hydra Serpent, and Grandma Wood had reached the ears of Shiva as well?


    If that really is true...if in that, he had information of a man that controlled a ck substance...


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why Aniue-sama is so concerned with that man called Kuromiya Haine. But Aniue-sama has never said anything wrong until now. That¡¯s why this time as well, in order to create a one vs one, we have taken the role of stalling the Founders and heroes of the other churches. But...!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue¡¯s expression changes into one of pain.


    It was as if she had resolved herself as she continued her words.


    ¡°The people of the outside said this! The identity of the ¡®Wind Barrier¡¯ is...a fiendish monster! They said that Aniue-sama is using it to destroy the world! I don¡¯t want to believe that. But...But¡ª!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hyue!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva stopped his sister who was trying to say more.


    The tone of voice that he followed with was as if saying that he wouldn¡¯t allow her to get in the way, and at the same time, it felt as if he was being considerate of not hurting the other party.


    ¡°I...am trying to finish a duty of mine.A duty that I have been continuing for a long time. Entr¡ªI mean, Kuromiya Haine, what you want to know is the way to stop Beelzebub, right?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    Since the words had changed direction towards me, I answer.


    ¡°Stopping it is easy. As long as I order them, they will obey. But with just that, the situation won¡¯t be resolved.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Beelzebub is an army of billions, and yet, it is one monster. It is not that each one of them has a will of its own. They possess a joint will shared through an element wave. They are an army, yet, the reason why they are able to obey my orders all at once is because of this.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°And what of it? Don¡¯t beat around the bush!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That joint will through elemental wave isn¡¯t perfect. When it separates from the swarm, and goes out of the effective range of the joint will, that individual will lose its will as Beelzebub. If they are caught in something and are cut off from the elemental wave, they will end up in that same state as well.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Wa?! Then, could it be...!!¡± (Haine)


    The flies that have invaded the bodies of the humans and are currently the most pressing issue right now are...!!


    ¡°Just as you have concluded, the ones that have usurped the body of the humans, due to being inside the body, they have separated from the will of Beelzebub. And so, those ones will faithfully follow thest order they received.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°The order of filling the usurped humans with eggs?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The time they leave the body of the humans is when they have executed their order. In other words, when the eggs hatch, they wille out together with the monsters that eat their way out of the host.¡± (Shiva)


    Then there¡¯s no point!


    Most of the troops outside Rudras Metropolis must have been usurped by Beelzebub already.


    Are you saying that those people have no choice but to be the seedbed of the flies and die?!


    ¡°There¡¯s only one way though. It is not to control Beelzebub, but to kill it.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Kill it?! Is it possible?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Beelzebub is one and many. Each one of the billions of flies have their own body, but they are just one; there¡¯s one individual that stands on top of all the flies. It can be considered the Lord of Flies.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°As long as I defeat that, all of Beelzebub will die. Is that what you are saying? The humans outside that have been usurped by flies as well without exception? Then let¡¯s find that Lord of Flies and defeat it! As fast as possible!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san who was listening to the talk also joined on the n. Well then, the next problem is where this Lord of Flies is...


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to look for it.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva says.


    ¡°The Lord of Flies is here. Inside of me; inside my heart.¡± (Shiva)


    Saying this, Shiva points at the left side of his chest.


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine, if you want to get rid of Beelzebub and save the people outside, pierce my heart, and erase the Lord of Flies. With that, everything will end. Everything.¡± (Shiva)

 Chapter 163-164 - An attack to end it all

    <h4>Chapter 163-164: An attack to end it all</h4>


    ¡°Heart?! Why is it in such a ce?!¡± (Haine)


    (Didn¡¯t I say so? That¡¯s the kind of setup I prepared.) (Quasar)


    Words that are not voiced out, words that are transmitted through the soul waves.


    That Shiva, he is going to talk about something that he doesn¡¯t want Karen-san and Hyue to hear.


    (In order to have you fight me seriously, I made it so everything that resolves it will ovep with my death. That¡¯s why I left the Lord of Flies here.) (Quasar)


    Shiva once again taps on his left chest.


    ¡°No way! Then, in order topletely stop Beelzebub¡ª!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°We have to hit Shiva-san¡¯s heart too?!¡± (Karen)


    The conclusion it led to had made Karen-san and Hyue tremble in fear.


    ¡°You can¡¯t! You definitely can¡¯t!! There must be a way to¡ª!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°The Lord of Flies is inside my heart. Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Light; no matter what element is used, it is not possible to conveniently destroy only the Lord of Flies. Haine, that goes for your dark divine power too.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva¡¯s gaze is directed straight at me.


    The waves of the soul once again undte.


    (This is...my way of putting an end to things.) (Quasar)


    Shiva...the Wind God Quasar said.


    (The first time I felt that humans were a threat was soon after the history of humans began. The time when the Dark Underworld Country fell. On the verge of destruction, the rage of a single human had begun eating away light, and was bing bigger without limits.) (Quasar)


    The shadow hero, Doraha huh.


    Learning the technique to change the light divine power to shadow from the Queen Izanami, she was abatant with no equal.


    But she went on a rampage because of the grieve of her falling country, and ended up bing the very embodiment of a shadow that devours all light.


    (We four Base Elements couldn¡¯t do anything about that. If Intion hadn¡¯t appeared in a hurry to seal it, the world would have fallen at that point. At that moment, I felt the fearsomeness of humans. If I were to research that, I wondered if I could defeat you, Entropy.) (Quasar)


    That¡¯s why you made contact with the humans, is that what you are trying to say?


    (At that time, I was also told about the power of prayers by Intion, and I got more and more into humans. I incarnated as a human on my own will, even imitated what Intion did; learned from humans, and sipped on the power the humans gave to me. It was all for the sake of winning against Entropy...... But...) (Quasar)


    That guy¡¯s face...Shiva¡¯s face smiled in self-derision.


    (...It is just as you say. I at some point in time ended up loving humans. Living together with them, fighting together with them, and the city that was raised through ups and downs; not only did this be irreceable for the humans, it also became irreceable for me.) (Quasar)


    Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis.


    The city that the Wind God and Wind people created by supporting each other.


    (But even so, I am a God. I can¡¯t do something as shameful as bending my original intention. The Wind Church that I raised in order to defeat you, this Rudras Metropolis that exists to defeat you; the moment I learned about your return, I couldn¡¯t not challenge you...... And so, today I was splendidly defeated.) (Quasar)


    I felt that the image I had of him was slowly being changed.


    From the beginning, this guy didn¡¯t have any intentions in destroying the humans. Even if he had fallen into despair after being defeated by me, he had no intentions of dragging the humans down with him.


    That¡¯s not the reason why he had Beelzebub go on a rampage.


    (You...wanted me to kill you?) (Entropy)


    (...)


    (In order to corner me into having no options but to do that, you prepared Beelzebub?) (Entropy)


    (If I can¡¯t surpass you in those 1,600 years I devoted myself, I wanted to at least fall by your hands.) (Quasar)


    This conversation is something I can¡¯t have Hyue and Karen-san hear no matter what.


    He thought that if he were to threaten me to destroy the humans, I who loves humans from the depths of my heart, would kill Shiva in order to stop that.


    Did you really think that?


    (The Wind Church has already obtained their promisednd that is Rudras Metropolis. There¡¯s already no need for me to stay. Humans would end up relying too much on Gods. Thest selfishness I have is -Dark God Entropy- to be put to an end by the ultimate God. After killing this body, you can seal or erase or do whatever you want to my God self as well.) (Quasar)


    The sounds of the soul stopped.


    ¡°...Now, if you are going to do it, you better be fast. The flies that have usurped the humans¡¯ bodies will finishying all the eggs after a day. If that happens, even if you were to wipe out Beelzebub, it would be pointless.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Fine.¡± (Haine)


    A swirl of dark matter is released from both of my hands.


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What are you doing?! Stop it!¡± (Hyue)


    Without giving any time for Karen and Hyue to stop me, both of my hands hit the chest of Shiva.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡± (Haine)


    Shiva was blown away by the impact.


    He falls face-up on the floor powerless.


    At the same time as this happened, an overwhelming change urred in the sky.


    The ck army of flies -those guys that still covered the sky even when I had erased close to half of them- began dying away as if in sync with Shiva.


    I could even hear the sound of each and every one of the flies vanishing.


    Several millions were urring consecutively, so with only just that, it was enough to ring in my ears.


    But their destruction was urring practically at the same time, so the sound soon stopped.


    The ck lid disappeared, and the sky spread through our vision.


    ¡°...Beelzebub has died. That means¡ª!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Aniue-sama!! Aniue-sama!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue clings onto the body of Shiva.


    ¡°No, Aniue-sama! Please don¡¯t die!! No, no!! Uwaaaaaaa!!¡± (Hyue)


    The evil in Rudras Metropolis is gone now.


    The people that had their body usurped by the flies at the surroundings of the city must be regaining their consciousness right about now.


    The fight has finished.


    ¡°Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san looks at me as if biting at me.


    She didn¡¯t say anything, but her gaze was as if shouting ¡®why did you kill him?!¡¯.


    If I hadn¡¯t defeated Shiva...the Lord of Flies inside of him, the situation couldn¡¯t be salvaged.


    Because Karen-san knew this, she couldn¡¯t criticise me straight on, even so, there¡¯s no way she would obediently ept it.


    That¡¯s why I simply epted that re.


    It was beginning to hurt me already, so I speak.


    ¡°...How long are you nning onying down there?¡± (Haine)


    Someone got up ¨Cwhile patting the head of the clinging Hyue.


    ¡°?!!!¡±


    Seeing this, Karen-san makes a face as if she saw a zombie.


    ¡°Shiva-san is alive?! What?!¡± (Karen)


    Shiva that should have been dead after being pierced in the heart got up as if nothing had happened, and it looks like Karen-san is in big confusion right now.


    ¡°Haine! You¡ª!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva himself seems to be bewildered. Looks like he himself doesn¡¯t know why he is alive.


    Well, that¡¯s understandable.


    The Lord of Flies, that served as the core of Beelzebub and was lodged inside the heart of Shiva, was supposed to be destroyed along with the outside after all.


    Let¡¯s exin it to him then.


    ¡°...The second property of dark matter, Gravity Maniption.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°By using that property, I released a gravity de at a single direction. Should I call it a gravityser? It was aser that I adjusted its power in order to not destroy the body. That prated the flesh, and -Shiva- your body was prated without harming it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And you used that to destroy the Lord of Flies, you say? But if it doesn¡¯t destroy the flesh, then it should be able to prate the Lord of Flies in the same way and not destroy it.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva stands up staggering.


    Even if he is weakened, it looks like he still has the guts to give out questions that sound likeins.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why I released a gravity de from two points, my right and left hand.¡± (Haine)


    I show both of my hands that are still smouldering.


    The gravity de that came out from two points entered the body of Shiva, crossed over inside his body, and drew an x.


    At the intersection point, the Lord of Flies was there.


    If it¡¯s one de, the gravity de wouldn¡¯t be able to harm matter, but once two ovep, it can show power that surpasses that.


    At the ce where two gravity des ovep, the Lord of Flies was crushed and died.


    Without hurting any other parts.


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine! You really are...!!¡± (Shiva)


    While being supported by Hyue, Shivaes to where I am.


    Even if I held back, his body was hit with dark matter, so there¡¯s no way the damage would be zero.


    ¡°Toreido Shiva.¡± (Haine)


    Wind God Quasar.


    ¡°I will say it once more. You think you couldn¡¯t win against me. But in my perspective, I have already lost. You really got me right in your palms in a lot of cases.¡± (Haine)


    I grabbed his cor and forcefully brought him close to me.


    You saw the potential of humans, and in order to reach out to it, you got close to humans, and in the end, lived together with them.


    Opening way to a new civilization, leading a group, sharing joys and sorrows, you have lived together with humans all the way until now.


    Those are things I wanted to do.


    In the 1,600 years I was sealed, you have fulfilled that wish of mine more than I could have expected!


    ¡°This city, the people living in it! It is the very thing I wanted to make! You went and stole the march to make it, and yet, you say you lost?! It is the contrary! I am filled with a sense of defeat right now! Thisnd that you have made, the things you gave form to, are things that are leaps and bounds superior to that of a title like ultimate God!¡± (Haine)


    It is splendid.


    Releasing Shiva¡¯s cor, he staggered back around three steps, and his back was once again supported by Hyue.


    ¡°..............I have lost.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama?¡± (Hyue)


    Ignoring for now Hyue who was making a dubious expression, Shiva mutters.


    ¡°As expected, I don¡¯t think I can possibly be able topare to you. To think you would be able to make my defeat shine with so much worth. Rudras Metropolis!¡± (Shiva)


    At the top of the Wind Church¡¯s headquarters, we look down at the cityscape.


    ¡°A shining defeat huh. Sounds like a joke.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Like I said, that¡¯s not it. Call it a victory.¡± (Haine)


    The two girls look at us in confusion, at the two of us that stand side by side.


    At any rate, with this, the incident at the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis, has reached a conclusion.


    ***


    After the fight concluded, we werepletely exhausted and didn¡¯t feel like moving.


    We were staying at the penthouse of a hotel at the Wind Church¡¯s multistoried division.


    At a ce a bit far away, Karen-san and Hyue were conversing.


    ¡°...Blue sky.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Hyue-san?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is my first time seeing it. I have never left Rudras Metropolis once in my life, and Rudras Metropolis has been covered by the Wind Barrier since I can remember.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Seriously?! That¡¯s not good! Hyue-san needs to learn about more things!¡± (Karen)


    Voices that were high and cheerful enough to melt the brain were ringing in our ears.


    ¡°Looks like there¡¯s still room for improvement in this metropolis.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Hm.¡± (Haine)


    But now that it is over and I properly look back at it, the very first objective we had, the subjugation of the Mother Monster, has beenpleted, so it should be a result worthy of celebration.


    Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub.


    Several billions of flies created a swarm, and they were all one monster as a whole.


    It seems like they move at different locations toy eggs that gave birth to wind element monsters, but now, that will stop.


    ¡°But you, why is it that you used a Mother Monster as a barrier? Could it be that you wanted to gain faith with it just like Mantle did?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around. For me, Mother Monsters are something I don¡¯t care about. It is simply something I created due to the rtionship I have with the Base Elements, and because it would serve as a way to temper the members of the Wind Church. The reason why I used Beelzebub as a Wind Barrier was simply because I was giving use to what I had at hand.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I see.¡± (Haine)


    It is quite the dangerous talk here but...Karen-san and Hyue shouldn¡¯t be able to hear it with them concentrating on their own conversation, right?


    ¡°But Entr¡ªno, Kuromiya Haine, you are not thinking that you have defeated Beelzebub with this, right?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Eh? Is that not the case?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It may have been the core and its Lord, but a Mother Monster that would be wiped out just by crushing one fly would be way too brittle, don¡¯t you think? In case something like this happened, I properly created an insurance.¡± (Shiva)


    Eeeh?


    And here I thought it would be over.


    ¡°Beelzebub hasid a special egg somewhere, and has it hidden. It is called the ¡®Green Emperor Egg¡¯ you see. Once the Lord of Flies dies, it will automatically hatch, and a new Lord will be born.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°...Then, as long as I don¡¯t destroy that one too...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No matter how many times you defeat it, you will go right back where you started.¡± (Shiva)


    What¡¯s...with...that?


    I finally felt aplished for a moment there, and yet, that has all gone out flying and was reced by an exhaustion that was multiplied by several times.


    ¡°...But it will take some time before the ¡®Green Emperor Egg¡¯ hatches out after the death of the Lord of Flies. If you crush the egg before that happens, Beelzebub will meet its true end. Let¡¯s do that immediately.¡± (Shiva)


    Is what Shiva says as he stands up swaying around.


    ¡°Eh? Is that fine? Crushing the Mother Monster.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Did you not listen to what I said? I don¡¯t care about Mother Monsters. But as the Wind Founder, there¡¯s no benefit in me going against the consensus of the five Churches. I will be having those flies take their leave in duty.¡± (Shiva)


    What a cool way of thinking as a Founder.


    He has lived a long life as a human, so he must not feel it as pressing that the faith humans have of him as a God is lowering.


    In the first ce, I feel like he has obtained a lot more religious faith from the humanspared to the other Gods.


    ¡°...From now on, if we deepen our friendship with the other churches, there will be no need for something like a Wind Barrier after all.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Hm? What did you say just now?¡± (Haine)


    Shiva said something under his breath, as if speaking to himself.


    At this very moment, the wind is trying to change its direction.

 Chapter 165-166 - The calamity doesn’t end

    <h4>Chapter 165-166: The cmity doesn¡¯t end</h4>


    ¡°And so, where is that egg-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°At the bottom of this Rudras Metropolis¡¯ base. I made it so it wouldn¡¯t be possible to find it in normal circumstances, but I am an exception. They can¡¯t hide anything from me.¡± (Shiva)


    Well, you are the very God that created them after all.


    We continue talking about this situation that would normally be quite troublesome without the God himself guiding.


    ¡°...But what should we do about the girls there? Bringing them with us is a bit...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°We can just make a random reason to move on our own. I am the Wind Founder, you know. I am in a position that can order people around.¡± (Shiva)


    That¡¯s true, but after rampaging as much as you wanted, it is a bit hard to swallow that you are actually a Founder, you know.


    But even so, we will be going there to cut off thest line that Beelzebub left, the obvious questions that Karen-san andpany would ask would be ¡®What is that egg?¡¯ ¡®How did you find it?¡¯ which are the obvious questions that wille, and trying to answer them would be a pain.


    ¡°......Haine-san, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes, this is Haine.¡± (Haine)


    Is what I was thinking when Karen-san spoke to me.


    ¡°U-Uhm, what is that egg?¡± (Karen)


    Eh?


    From the mouth of Karen-san, the question that would be incredibly troublesome if asked hade out.


    Why now?


    I thought that she would ask of this when we have moved to a different ce though?


    ¡°?!!¡±


    I turn at the strangeness of that question, and there really was an egg.


    It was floating in the air.


    I could tell at one nce that it was giving vibes different from that of a chicken egg. It had a more soft membrane-looking shell; an insect egg.


    And as if it had telekic powers, it was floating in the air.


    Its surface waspletely green, like that of an emerald, and a transparency that felt as if it was breed underwater.


    And so...


    ¡°Oi...could it be that¡¯s the Green Emperor Egg?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Y-Yeah! But why is it at a ce like this?! In order for the Green Emperor Egg to not be caught in the eye of anyone, I hid it at the shadows of the base of Rudras Metropolis. The size as well! It is an egg to give birth to Beelzebub, you know? It should be as big as the tip of the pinky finger!¡± (Shiva)


    But we were able to notice the egg that is floating right now in front of our very eyes immediately, and I can even feel an ominousness that is overwhelming.


    This size is enough to hold a whole human inside.


    ¡°...Kuromiya Haine! Attack the Green Emperor Egg!! If it¡¯s your dark matter, you should be able to return anything to nothingness!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Why me?! You can do it. You know everything about that thing, right?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And I have judged that the best way is to use your dark matter! Or more like, I also don¡¯t understand this situation! Like hell I would be able to finish off that disgusting thing with my own hands!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°This bastard spilled out his real feelings!¡± (Haine)


    In the time Shiva and I were making a ruckus, the situation progressed.


    Probably to the worst path.


    ¡°...Who are you?¡±


    That voice send shivers down the spine of Shiva, Karen-san, Hyue, and I.


    ¡°That voice just now...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t the voice of anyone here, right? Then, just now was¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    From that egg?


    ¡°Right back at you! Just what are you?!¡±


    As if by reflex, someone asked back.


    ¡°I... who am I?¡±


    The egg asks once more.


    But that question was not directed at anyone; it was a question directed at itself.


    ¡°I see... so mother died. That¡¯s why I will be born. I will move towards the fate that has been established for me.¡±


    The egg that was covered in a dark green membrane began to flicker.


    Something was about to happen.


    ¡°I have been thinking for a long time. Why were we born?¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°For all living beings, there should be a reason for their birth. There should be meaning in their life. I was thinking of that reason. As I thought of this, several thousands to millions of my brethrens died. There was no point in us.¡±


    The flickering sensation of the egg steadily became stronger.


    The light itself increased in potency.


    ¡°We were born pointlessly, and died pointlessly. I began to wonder, ¡®aren¡¯t we pointless from the very beginning?¡¯. No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no.¡±


    As if disying the emotions of the owner of that voice, the light became stronger.


    ...Emotions?


    ¡°We are also alive. We are alive, so we have to do something. I have been thinking. I have been thinking all this time. As I continued my thinking, mother gave birth to me.¡±


    A cracking noise resounded.


    The sound of something breaking.


    At the same time as that happened, a single tear ran through the giant green egg.


    ¡°In order to find the answer, just thinking about it won¡¯t make the answer appear. I must take action. In order to take action, I need a body. A body that is the strongest and the mightiest. That is me. I who was given birth by my demonic mother.¡±


    From the crack that ran at the middle of the egg, something wasing out from it.


    Wings?


    Butterfly wings?!


    ¡°I was born for the sake of leading all of the demonic beings. I was born from a demonic mother in order to give meaning to the demonic beings that had pointless flesh and received pointless deaths. My demonic mother poured all of her life into me, and gave birth to me.¡±


    The dark green eggshell broke in several small pieces, and what was inside was revealed.


    It was a child.


    A child that was small in height.


    He looked like a child that had nothing strange at all, but there was a single thing that was abnormal. From his back, he had butterfly wings of erratic design.


    And then, the child speaks.


    He continues the words he had been speaking of until now.


    ¡°After a hundred years, we demons have obtained the ability to think, and seek for meaning. I am the means for that end, the means for that step. In order to lead my brethrens that still hold no soul to what lies further beyond, I have been born to be their Lord. In other words, I am...¡±


    He is...!


    ¡°The Demon Lord.¡±


    He continued.


    ¡°I am the Wind Demon Lord, Raphael. That is my name, my meaning, and what I have to do.¡± (Raphael)


    Wind Demon Lord, Raphael.


    This mysterious child that suddenly appeared certainly did introduce himself as so.


    His look is indeed small and frail, a child with a pure face you could find anywhere, but the butterfly wings that spread from his back were abnormal. Moreover, he came out from the egg that was called Green Emperor Egg.


    Originally, that egg should have given birth once again to the Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub, right?


    ¡°Are you...a monster?¡± (Shiva)


    The one who asked this of the child the fastest was Shiva.


    ¡°...Monster. That is how the humans call us. I -Raphael- if asked if I am a monster or not, I only have one answer... that¡¯s right.¡± (Raphael)


    At that answer, everyone here had their skin shiver.


    ¡°I am the one who was born to be the leader of the wind element monsters, Demon Lord Raphael.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Impossible!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva shouts as if in madness.


    ¡°A monster has taken the form of a human and can speak?! There¡¯s no way a monster with such intelligence exists! I have not ma¡ª!!!¡± (Shiva)


    Saying until that part, Shiva¡¯s mouth shuts.


    There¡¯s Karen-san and Hyue close by. He must have felt that he needed to be careful with his words as the Wind God Quasar.


    ¡°...Foolish human. All things face vicissitudes. They don¡¯t stay at one state of being. From that change, they will look at higher heights, and walk the path of evolution. Don¡¯t think that is a privilege of only you humans. That¡¯s nothing but arrogance.¡± (Raphael)


    The Demon Lord that calls himself Raphael says this as if spitting those words out.


    ¡°We monsters also evolve and walk forward. And the result is as you see before your eyes. The Demon Lord Raphael. My mother, Beelzebub, lived for close to a hundred years, and after experiencing several thousands to millions to billions of experiences, she obtained the ability to think, she obtained sentience. And so, she began to question what we were, and for what reason we exist.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°What...did you say?!¡± (Shiva)


    From the looks of Shiva¡¯s shock, I can tell that not even the God himself was expecting this.


    ¡°And so, the Mother Monster had reached a temporary conclusion: ¡®I can¡¯t reach the answer myself¡¯. That¡¯s why mother gave birth to me. The next generation in order to obtain the answer. The parents ask, and the child answers. That is the basis of evolution for living beings. Therefore, I will be the bearer of a new era for us monsters. I will fulfill that duty.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°What are you nning on doing?¡± (Haine)


    This time, I ask Raphael.


    It was so sudden, moreover, a situation that was so unexpected, my thoughts had still not caught on yet. Even so, I have no choice but to understand it. I have to know what it is that will be urring from now on.


    By the way, Karen-san and Hyue werepletely unable to follow and were staring nkly.


    ¡°You will be the one who guides monsters, you will create a new era for the monsters; I understand that. But what is it you are going to do exactly in order to reach that objective of yours? Do you have a n?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course.¡± (Raphael)


    The Demon Lord Raphael says.


    ¡°We exterminate you humans.¡± (Raphael)


    A shock ran through my body.


    From the mysterious and unknown existence, hostility was directed at us for the first time.


    ¡°In the first ce, we monsters have been given that duty by some unknown being. ¡®Oppose humans¡¯, ¡®Attack humans¡¯. I don¡¯t know from who this order is, but since the moment we were born, it has been edged deep down in our self. We act with that as our base of action.¡±


    ¡°That is¡ª!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva wanted to say something, but Raphael ignored it and continued.


    ¡°In this surface world, there¡¯s no need for two supreme rulers. That¡¯s why, we will carry out the duty that is edged deeply inside our self for our own sake. We will eradicate the humans, and when the world has be ourspletely, the meaning of our existence should be visible.¡± (Raphael)


    The butterfly wings at the back of Raphael spread.


    And then, they p.


    With just that simple action, four tornadoes were created from all four sides of Raphael.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°Evade it, it is dangerous!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Kyaaaa!!!¡±


    We were flustered by the rampaging tornadoes, but their target wasn¡¯t us. The tornadoes move as they undted, and scatter to their respective directions.


    ¡°To begin with, let¡¯s destroy the city that is at my feet. Without leaving a single one alive, without leaving a single piece of rubble behind. Turning everything rted to humans to ashes, we will use that as the foundation stone for the new era of us monsters!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Rudras Metropolis is¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    This is bad.


    All the tornadoes that Raphael released are cmity ss. What it swallows, whether it is human or a building, it will mow it down.


    Is it exactly because he was born from the Wind Mother Mother, and he himself is calling himself the Wind Demon Lord that he is able to show power in such shape?


    But even so, being able to create four tornadoes of such power is abnormal.


    Managing such feat in one flutter is not possible for humans or monsters.


    His power...is already stepping into the realm of Gods?!


    ¡°You bastard!!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva kicks the ground, and faces Raphael who is suspended in mid-air with his big wings.


    Unsheathing his Wind Twin Guns, Fuuma Koutarou, he fired air bullets, but they were stopped by an invisible wall.


    ¡°A wall of air?! Don¡¯t underestimate me!!¡± (Shiva)


    Being hit multiple times by the wind twin guns, the wall of air was destroyed, and Shiva closed onto Raphael.


    ¡°Stop it! Stop it right now!! The ones who ordered you monsters to attack humans were the Gods! But the Gods didn¡¯t wish for humans to be eradicated! What you are trying to do is a deviation of duty!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Gods... The ones you humans call the five Gods of Creation? Idiotic. What about it?¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael¡¯s attitude was cold.


    ¡°No matter who was the one who ordered us, we were the ones who decided on destroying the humans. It was our will. Deciding on your own actions is a natural privilege of living beings. Even if your Gods are our creators as well, they can¡¯t vite our privilege!!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Guwaaa?!!¡± (Shiva)


    The squall that Raphael caused blew away Shiva.


    Right before Shiva hit the floor, I caught him.


    ¡°Are you okay?!¡± (Haine)


    Now that it hase to this, there¡¯s no choice but for me to defeat that guy.


    Demon Lord, Raphael.


    He is a clear threat to humans. If we don¡¯t defeat him here, the harm he will create will spread far!


    ¡°Wait, Haine!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva must have felt my killing intent, he stopped me.


    ¡°I will defeat him. As the one responsible for creating him, I will!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°But...!¡± (Haine)


    Shiva created the wind element monsters as the Wind God Quasar, and it is true that as a result, the Demon Lord Raphael has been born.


    That¡¯s why, it is not as if I don¡¯t understand how you feel. But even so, right now you have incarnated as a human, and are inplete tatters because of our fight today.


    There¡¯s no way you would have the remaining strength to oppose Raphael who is close to beingparable to a God!


    ¡°The tornadoes are...! Beginning to spread!¡± (Shiva)


    Just as Shiva said, the four tornadoes that Raphael released have already destroyed the buildings of the Wind Church, and they are about to step into the urban area of Rudras Metropolis.


    Those things that have been created from the divine power of the Demon Lord will surely destroy Rudras Metropolis without losing any strength as it moves.


    Not only the buildings of the city, there are also many lives there.


    ¡°The only one who can stop those tornadoes is you who controls dark matter. I will take care of things here. That¡¯s why, I leave my people...in your care!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Shiva!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please!!¡± (Shiva)


    ...


    I try to keep my expression from crumbling as I jump away.


    First, from the closest tornado.


    Even if it¡¯s a natural disaster that isparable to that of the wrath of a God, in front of me, they are not a problem at all.


    I will deal with this as soon as possible and return.


    I leave things to you until I return, Guardian of the wind people!!

 Chapter 167-169 - Unyielding

    <h4>Chapter 167-169: Unyielding</h4>


    Haine-san has jumped away.


    I understand.


    I -Kourin Karen- understand.


    The reason why Haine-san has left this ce is to protect Rudras Metropolis from the tornadoes.


    The only one who I know that can do something about those natural disaster-level attacks is Haine-san.


    But if Haine-san leaves this ce...the ones left here would be...


    ¡°And you are not going to run away as well, humans?¡± (Raphael)


    The child that is floating in the sky with his butterfly wings, the Demon Lord Raphael.


    From every quiet word of his, there¡¯s a pressure that would make you want to cry.


    ¡°No matter the case, it is pointless. All the humans here will be destroyed by this Wind Demon Lord Raphael today. Your cries of agony will be the first baby cries for the birth of the monster¡¯s new era.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Don¡¯t let it get to your head.¡±


    The one who faced that demon lord face on was the hero ¨Cthe wind hero.


    ¡°You are a shitty brat that hasn¡¯t even experienced one day since being born. You are already getting your facts wrong. The reason why Haine has left here was because we are dividing the work. He will protect this city, and I will defeat you. Write it down.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You as well, your misunderstanding isughable.¡± (Raphael)


    From the childish face of Raphael, a scorning smile surfaces.


    ¡°A mere human is going to defeat me? Keep that conceitedness in check. This Demon Lord Raphael was given the very life essence of my mother in order to be the leader that will lead all monsters. There¡¯s no way a mere human can stand against it.¡± (Raphael)


    That¡¯s right.


    I can tell because I have fought many monsters as the light hero.


    That small boy, his power as a monster is out of the bounds of understanding. He is the strongest monster from all the monsters I have fought until now.


    Stronger than the Fire Cow Phris, Great Sea Serpent, and Grandma Wood.


    The four tornadoes that Raphael released nonchntly as if waving his hand, with just a single one of those, it possessed power that surpasses that of the high-heat sh of the Fire Cow and the tsunami of the Great Sea Serpent.


    And more than that, he is simply floating in mid-air, and yet, the pressure it is releasing from his small body is overwhelming to the extreme.


    Because of this, I can¡¯t move my body and can¡¯t stand.


    It looks like Hyue-san is in the same state as me. Since the moment Raphael appeared, we haven¡¯t spoken a single word, not because we are speechless, but because we can¡¯t speak.


    Even a hero like me felt as if I was a frog being red by a snake.


    ¡°Light hero...you said your name is Karen, right?¡± (Shiva)


    And the one who is a hero just like me, and the Wind Founder at the same time, Shiva-san.


    ¡°From how it looks, it seems you won¡¯t be able to move for a while. It is okay to take your time. ce strength in your legs, and when it is time to run away, please do so bringing Hyue together with you.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Even though he is a hero too, he chose escaping as if it was a given.


    Haine-san is the same but, why is it that this person can move normally within this pressure?


    ¡°Aniue-samaaa! Aniue-samaaa!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Don¡¯t let out such shameful voice, Hyue. You and all the people in Rudras Metropolis; I will protect them all.¡± (Shiva)


    At the same time as he said this, he takes out his wind twin guns.


    ¡°Wind Twin Gun technique, [Crumble]!¡± (Shiva)


    That is the wind attack that explodes at an area with zero timeg that he showed in the fight with Haine-san.


    The time it takes to reach the target once the technique is released is zero, so, in theory, it should be impossible to deal with it.


    However...


    ¡°Guawaaaa!!¡±


    The one who was blown away was Shiva-san?!


    ¡°To think that you would confront the Wind Demon Lord with wind divine power; the very definition of a fool.¡± (Raphael)


    Without even moving a single finger, the Demon Lord Raphael was overwhelming Shiva-san.


    ¡°Since the moment I appeared here, the air in the surroundings has been under my control. Trying to attack me with that air isughable. Actually, let me tell you that the only reason why you are even breathing right now is because I am allowing it.¡± (Raphael)


    It was at that moment.


    ...It hurts.


    I opened my mouth to try to suck in air, and yet, air is not entering my mouth.


    ¡°Gahoo...¡±


    ¡°Gueee....!!¡±


    It looks like Shiva-san and Hyue-san are in the same state.


    Could it be that he is really controlling the air and has sealed our ability to breath?!


    ¡°Brittle, weak. To think we were allowing these weak living beings to act freely as rulers. But the era will change. From now on, monsters will be the ones leading the world.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva-san shouts.


    Unable to breathe, he had his body curled up, and yet, even with that, the fire in his eyes had not extinguished.


    ¡°With just a hundred years, you call yourselves the world¡¯s standard-bearers? How absurd! Humans have devoted themselves in their studies for ten times longer than that! Don¡¯t think you will win so easily!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva-san coiled around wind in the surroundings?!


    ¡°Aaah!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I can...breathe...?!¡± (Karen)


    Shiva-san released wind divine power and stole the control rights of the air around.


    ¡°So you will entertain me a bit huh. In that case...¡± (Raphael)


    For the first time, Raphael moved his body in order to attack us. Even so, he simply held his hand up towards Shiva-san, it was only that, and yet...!!


    ¡°Gaaaaaah!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva-san is being crushed by air!


    ¡°Like hell I will...lose to something of this degree!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva-san breaks free from thepressed air.


    Holding up both wind twin guns, he fought a battle for the rights of the air against the Demon Lord, while shooting bullet airs nonstop.


    But all of them disappear into nothingnesd before they even reach the body of Raphael.


    ¡°How stupid humans are. Ending up all battered up, and knowing that you will not be able to defeat me, why is it that you still try to face me? Obediently epting defeat, even if it will lead to death all the same, the amount of pain would be less.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Sadly to say, I am already used to challenging fights I know I can¡¯t win.¡± (Shiva)


    *Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!*


    Several tens of air bullets were shot from the muzzle of the twin guns.


    Even if they are bullets made of air, shooting them so repeatedly like that in that amount would definitely affect the body in some way.


    *Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang Bang!*


    Cracks begin to appear in the gun barrel.


    ¡°...Humans are quite the unsightly living beings. Self-interested, stubborn, greedy...and they don¡¯t listen to what others say. All of those things end up troubling many people!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva-san?!


    ¡°That¡¯s why, even if I end up being obedient in the end, it wouldn¡¯t be cool at all. Lord of monsters, let me tell you this. Don¡¯t look down on humaaaaaans!!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Wa?! This is?!¡± (Raphael)


    From the body of Shiva-san, wind divine power that can¡¯t bepared to anytime before was gushing out from him.


    It is several tens of times more than the time when he was fighting Haine-san. To think he had such an amount of divine power in him.


    But if he were to release this much divine power at once, the recoil it would create would also be¡ª!!


    ¡°Impossible! A mere human possessing this amount of divine power!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to look down on humans?! Even when helplessly cornered, they will not choose the intelligent option. That is the stubbornness of humans!!¡± (Shiva)


    This is not good. If he continues releasing that much divine power, Shiva¡¯s body won¡¯t hold on.


    The twin guns have already crumbled to pieces, and in time, Shiva¡¯s body will face the same fate...


    Even so, with this, it feels like Shiva-san¡¯s offensive that sacrifices his very body will finally open a path in this fight against Raphael.


    Raphael still has leeway. At this rate, the curtains will fall with Shiva-san¡¯s self-destruction.


    Shiva-san won¡¯t be able to defeat that Demon Lord on his own.


    On his own, that is!!


    My feet won¡¯t move. Even though I am not injured.


    I know. The reason why my feet won¡¯t move is because of fear.


    ¡°Get a grip on yourself! You are a hero right?! Move, me!!¡± (Karen)


    As I sweat cold sweat from all the pores in my body, I somehow manage to stand up.


    The ce I am headed to is only one.


    ¡°Hyue-san! Hyue-san! Are you okay?!¡± (Karen)


    Toreido Hyue-san.


    The sister of the Wind Founder Shiva-san, and she herself is an excelling user of wind divine power.


    The reason why Shiva-san opened up his heart in the end was because she was there with us.


    And right now, that girl has been hit by the pressure of the Demon Lord Raphael, and is unable to move her body freely.


    ¡°¡ª¨C!!¡±


    I nce at the other side.


    I don¡¯t know if to call it fortunate, but thanks to Shiva-san¡¯s desperate effort, Demon Lord Raphael¡¯s attention is concentrated on him, and he is not paying attention to us at all.


    It can also be said that he didn¡¯t consider us worthy of attention from the very beginning though.


    Anyways, I have to utilize this situation to its best!


    ¡°Sorry, Hyue-san. Can you move? Can you stand up?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I-I can¡¯t! It feels as if my body is not my own! At this rate, running away is impossible!¡± (Hyue)


    It was as expected but, Hyue-san¡¯s heart haspletely broken.


    This is not good.


    ¡°Hyue-san, listen here. We are not running away. On the contrary, we are going to fight.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°We are going to defeat that butterfly child. But that¡¯s something that by no means I would be able to do on my own. That¡¯s why, Hyue-san, I want you to lend me your power.¡± (Karen)


    The moment she was told this, Hyue-san¡¯splexion became whiter than paper.


    Unless you are someone that¡¯s being exposed to the pressure of the Demon Lord, you wouldn¡¯t be able to understand her feelings right now.


    Even so, I still say it.


    ¡°Please Hyue-san, lend me your strength. Let¡¯s defeat Raphael together.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Impossible! There¡¯s no way we can do that!! There¡¯s no way we can defeat such a monster!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-san says this as if crying it out.


    In truth, I would like to concur with that opinion myself.


    ¡°Not even Aniue-sama is able to lift a finger against him, and yet, what can I -who¡¯s not even a hero- do?! I am not strong! What can I do that Aniue-sama can¡¯t?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I am also not strong. There¡¯s a lot of other people stronger than me.¡± (Karen)


    Haine-san, Yorishiro-sama, Doraha-san; just by thinking about it for a bit, I was able to bring out these many names. As the light hero, this is pretty pathetic. But none of these people are here right now.


    ¡°The ones here right now are only you and me. That¡¯s why there¡¯s no choice but for us to do something about it.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But, But¡ª!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I understand that it is scary. But if we don¡¯t do anything here and now, the efforts of your brother will end up being pointless!!¡± (Karen)


    At those words, I felt like the eyes of Hyue-san that were dyedpletely in fear until now had begun showing something different for a moment there.


    ¡°Shiva-san is ¨Cyour brother is fighting Raphael with enough drive to exhaust his very life. But that¡¯s probably the most he can do. The body of Shiva-san will not be able to endure the divine power he himself is releasing, and will copse!!¡± (Karen)


    Shiva-san himself knows that this is what¡¯s going to happen and still decided to do it.


    What that person is aiming for is the very definition buying time.


    If the fight continues like this, Haine-san who has gone to erase the four tornadoes will return. And then, he is waiting for Haine-san to defeat Raphael.


    But by that time, Shiva-san would have already destroyed himself.


    That person is exchanging his very life for time.


    ¡°In order to avoid that, we have to move now!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°!!!¡±


    Different emotions were welling up from the eyes of Hyue-san, and it was driving off the color of fear.


    ¡°What...should I do?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°!!¡±


    ¡°Even if you say all that, I can¡¯t find a single way to stop that monster in my techniques. What should I do to save Aniue-sama?¡± (Hyue)


    urately speaking, it is not the power of just Hyue-san and I. And in reality, Shiva-san is the one that is keeping Raphael in ce right now.


    We have to defeat Raphael by utilizing that situation to the fullest.


    But how?


    Raphael nullified all the shots of the wind twin guns of Shiva-san, and there¡¯s not a single wound on him.


    There¡¯s a wind barrier around that child¡¯s surroundings, and it automatically protects him.


    Even if Hyue-san were to use the gun that has a long gun barrel, it would most likely be the same result. I think it would be hard to defeat him in one hit with my ¡®Light Divine de¡¯ and ¡®Light Divine Line¡¯.


    And if we don¡¯t defeat him in one hit, it will definitely turn into something bad.


    That Raphael definitely has the power to wipe both of us out in the spare time he is fighting with Shiva-san after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s why...can you do this?¡± (Karen)


    Hyue-san and I willbine our powers.


    I will condense my light divine power to its very limits. I will create a superpressed light divine power that is stronger than the ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯ that works with the same principle.


    ¡°You are telling me to use that as a bullet, and shoot it?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Can you do it?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I...think I can. This divine tool -the wind head gun, Enoozuno- is a gun that can shoot the formless divine power. If it¡¯s just changing wind divine power for light divine power, there¡¯s probably no problem.¡± (Hyue)


    Okay.


    I fought Hyue-san not that long ago. And at that fight, she showed incredible uracy in her sniping, and even now, it still makes me shiver.


    The light divine power is slightly advantageous to all elements.


    If it¡¯s a superpressed bullet of that, it should be able to prate the air barrier that is protecting Raphael. And with the uracy of Hyue-san, we will shoot the head of Raphael.


    With this, I can see hope in defeating him.


    ¡°But...If it were to miss...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What are you saying? When you fought us, you practically didn¡¯t miss at all, right?¡± (Karen)


    Honestly speaking, if Mirack-chan who had an advantage in elements wasn¡¯t there, we would have lost for sure.


    ¡°I believe in Hyue-san¡¯s sniping skill. I believe that you will hit for sure. If we don¡¯t believe, we won¡¯t get anywhere. Hesitating to believe is pointless.¡± (Karen)


    It might be strange to believe in someone I just met today. However, I will follow my instinct that has been honed in the many hardships I have faced.


    It is telling me that I can believe in this person.


    ¡°...By throwing away the thought of whether to believe, the true way to believe is born. That¡¯s what you said too right, Aniue-sama?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Please lend me a shoulder.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Ah, like this?¡± (Karen)


    Hyue-san ces the gun barrel at my shoulder and fixes it in ce.


    It must be a technique to avoid the shaking in the moment of the shot and have the aim slip.


    ¡°...It is the same as a sniper. If I don¡¯t throw away the wish of hitting the target, I won¡¯t be able to hit the target that is the Demon Lord. Resolve myself, and leave it all to my body. Just as I have been training everyday. Clean the mind. Forget your very breathing...and as if a snowke is falling, pull the trigger.¡± (Hyue)


    I couldn¡¯t tell when it happened.


    It must have been because it was a way too natural of a movement. It should have been something incredible, and yet, even I felt as if the sound of the wind that rang was a natural one.


    By the time I noticed...the head of the Demon Lord Raphael had bursted to pieces.


    The sound of a *Bang!!* resounded in the ce.


    What was shot as a bullet was the light divine power I imbued for Hyue-san.


    The light divine power that holds a slight advantage on all elements pierced through the wind barrier of Raphael as we wanted, and slipped into the vital area that is the cranium, and blew up the head itself.


    Aside from the remaining parts of his head, he is still floating as he has been until now, but the overwhelming pressure, and the wind barrier has disappeared, and thepressed air that was attacking Shiva-san has disappeared as well.


    ¡°...We did it? Did we do it?!¡± (Karen)


    It took us a while for Hyue-san and I to understand this.


    In time, the sense of aplishment, or more like, the feeling of victory had permeated in our whole body.


    ¡°We did it! We defeated him!¡±


    ¡°We did it! We did it! We did it!¡± <And now, I take out this g, and nt it, nt it, PLANT IT!>


    Hyue-san and I hugged each other as we celebrated, but Hyue-san soon remembered that there¡¯s something she should be more worried about.


    ¡°Aniue-sama! Are you okay?!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-san runs to her brother Shiva-san.


    Shiva-san, who had no need of releasing a great deal of divine power anymore, had now lost strength and was simply staring nkly into space.


    ¡°You...!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama!¡± (Hyue)


    As Hyue-san ran towards him, Shiva-san falls without any strength to that direction. Hyue-san hurriedly supported her brother, and I also hurriedly run there to help out.


    ...Shiva-san¡¯s whole body had dried out here and there, and it felt as if it might crumble at any moment.


    To think releasing more divine power than the body can handle would lead to this much damage to the body!


    In reality, to be able to release this much divine power without the assistance of an amplifier like a divine tool should be impossible in theory.


    Even in my memories, the only ones who can utilize enough divine power to be useable in battle without the need of an amplifier are Haine-san, Yorishiro-sama, and Doraha-san.


    Shiva-san is without doubt someone who has stepped into that realm.


    And that reality made the fearsomeness of Raphael, who pushed Shiva-san this far, even deeper.


    ¡°...To think I would be saved by you girls. Looks like I am long overdue.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama... It was thanks to this person. Thanks to this person supporting me, I was able to stabilize my heart and shoot.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-san faces my way.


    Hm?


    ¡°Humans supporting each other huh...¡± (Shiva)


    No, I didn¡¯t really do much. It was more like, the high uracy of Hyue-san made it all possible.


    ¡°Hyue had already reached the perfection of her technique, but her heart was still brittle. In the important times, she would always think of unnecessary things, have her heart waver, have her fingers tremble, and would miss her target. However, at this time, it looks like you have managed to conquer that.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Humans are always growing even in ces I don¡¯t know of. They are writing their own story. That¡¯s why humans are interesting.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva-san, who is snuggled up to Hyue-san, was showing a gentleness that waspletely different from previous instances, and it felt as the perfect picture of a Founder.


    But this is probably the real Wind Founder, Toreido Shiva.


    ¡°That¡¯s as far as the farce goes, humans.¡±


    !!!


    Eh?!


    I turn my back to the chill, and in that ce, there was Raphael who still had no head floating in the air.


    He is dead...right?


    He doesn¡¯t have a head anymore. If it were a human, that would totally be fatal. If it were human...


    But that guy is not a human, he is a monster.


    ¡°...That was a learning experience. Even if humans are insects unworthy of attention, if they are ignored, you won¡¯t know what they will pull. No matter what trash it is, I have to use this mighty power to eliminate them all. In order to build up the new era for us monsters.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Are you immortal, you bastard?!¡± (Shiva)


    Looks like Shiva-san was shivering at the sight of Raphael that had his head blown up and was still alive.


    As we were thinking about how baffling this was, at the neck of Raphael, a ck mist looked like it was released, and when that mist gathered, something was taking form?!


    When it finished, the head of Raphael that was blown up had returned as if it never happened.


    It regenerated perfectly?!


    ¡°You bastard...! That power is...!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°It is just as you guessed. It is one of the abilities I inherited from my mother. I am able to transform every single one of the cells thatpose my body into insects. Even if all this body were to be blown up, I can transform the scattered cells into flies or whatever, and gather them to regenerate.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°In other words, in order to truly kill you, we would have to destroy every single cell of yours?! You damn monster!!¡± (Shiva)


    No way!


    That is the same power as the Mother Monster, Beelzebub ¨Cno, it is a power that surpasses it!


    ¡°The snipe just now made several of my cells unusable though. However, that is your limit. You weak humans can injure me, but can¡¯t kill me. That is a difference that shows the absolute boundary you and me.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael lifts a hand up.


    Right now, we are gathered up supporting Shiva-san, so he can crush us all at the same time.


    Thinking about the difference in power between us, that surprise attack just now was our one and only chance.


    There¡¯s already no way for us to defeat the Raphael that won¡¯t lower his guard anymore.


    For us, that is.


    ¡°But you don¡¯t understand one important thing.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What?¡± (Raphael)


    I speak.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand who is the one you should really be fearing. You are in a critical moment where you are hanging between living or dying. Without understanding that, you leisurely took your time in regenerating, looked down on us as much as you wanted, and provided us with important time. Your destiny was decided with that.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hmph, I don¡¯t understand what you are trying to say.¡± (Raphael)


    I could feel that power was gathering in the hand of Raphael.


    He is most likely going to crush us with a space ofpressed air.


    But...


    ¡°The reason you don¡¯t understand is because you were born not that long ago and don¡¯t know anything.¡±


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I will teach it to you. The fear of being crushed by absolute power. I will teach you that the people that pride on their power are all just weaklings that lose to the stronger ones and disappear.¡±


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡±

 Chapter 170 - Conflicting sides

    <h4>Chapter 170: Conflicting sides</h4>


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!!¡±


    I shout out a counteroffensive in my return.


    A massive amount of dark matter hits that damn butterfly brat.


    ¡°Guwaaaa!!¡±


    Being showered by dark matter, even he had his face distort in pain.


    ¡°You...aren¡¯t you the human that ran away?! Why did you return now?!¡± (Raphael)


    Is what the evil butterfly brat says as he red at me -Kuromiya Haine.


    ¡°So you thought that huh. I literally ran everywhere to deal with the prank you pulled and finally came back, you know!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael looks at the sides while his body was covered in dark matter. He is looking for something.


    ¡°Impossible! The four Disaster Swirls are gone?! Not a single one remains?!¡± (Raphael)


    He is probably referring to the four tornadoes he released.


    Every single one of them was cmity ss. Every one of them had the power to turn into a wastnd the ces it passes through, and it was about to destroy Rudras Metropolis, so I chased towards one after the other. Do you know how much of a pain it was to erase them with dark matter?


    ¡°Are you saying you were the one who erased them? There¡¯s no way a mere human can do something like that! The four Disaster Swirls that I ced all my might into!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Hoh~, so that was all your might? Then, you should be satisfied now after doing all you could, right? Disappear already then!!¡± (Haine)


    Demon Lord Raphael.


    Your mistake was to underestimate humans to the very end.


    You must have thought ¡®I can kill them anytime I want¡¯. You must have thought that you could take your time and enjoy killing them.


    This folly has killed you.


    You should have escaped from here immediately.


    But because you got self-conceited, you failed to see the whole picture, met with unexpected difficulties in the desperate resistance of Karen-san, Hyue-san, and Shiva, and have ended up utilizing all the time you had remaining.


    The important time till your Death God returned, that is!


    ¡°What?! What is this power?! I am being erased? My invincible divine power is being erased?!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°You really thought of yourself as invincible when you are only at this level. The very definition of a brat!¡± (Haine)


    The dark matter is covering Raphael more and more.


    The resistance the wind divine power is giving is still furious, but I will have you be crushed just like this in a sh of powers!


    ¡°Don¡¯t let your guard down, Haine!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva¡¯s warning flies at me!


    ¡°That guy has inherited the ability of Beelzebub! He can change his body into small insects, and disperse in order to evade! If you let even one of them escape, it won¡¯t really be the end of him!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°?!!¡±


    He had such an ability?!


    I see. Then I will have to cover him with even more dark matter, making sure to not leave a single gap.


    While I was thinking that, I felt a divine power from a source that was not mine enveloping the surroundings.


    ¡°...Shiva?!¡± (Haine)


    To my surprise, Shiva had wrapped the area where Raphael is covered by dark matter with ayer of wind divine power.


    As if to not let a single drop of water leak; a double encirclement.


    But now that I take a closer look at the body of Shiva, I could tell that his body was even more battered than before, and I could tell that his limit has long been crossed.


    If you release more divine power with that body¡ª!


    ¡°This is my way of settling things! We four Base Elements were the ones who irresponsibly created monsters. If I were to let you alone get rid of the result of our idiocy, it would affect my pride as a God!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You¡ª!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t let down your guard down no matter what! Thinking about the traits of his mother, Beelzebub, if we let even one piece of his meat remain, it won¡¯t be his end. He is also desperate right now. No matter what small of a gap it is, he will try to create a double through it and run, so we have to seal it perfectly!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°...Understood.¡± (Haine)


    The trait of the dark matter is to erase without leaving a single trace behind.


    By manifesting this trait to its very best, I will abide by request, and will proceed to literally erase Raphael from existence.


    ¡°What¡¯s with this ck substance? Even I as a Demon Lord don¡¯t know of this. Are you telling me something like this actually exists?!¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael still had practically all of his body covered in dark matter, and the only things that can be seen from the outside are his face and his struggling arms and legs, and the ends of his butterfly wings.


    He is trying to escape from the exposed areas, but he was blocked by the wind that Shiva has created at the outside of it, and it was impossible for him to escape. On the contrary, them bing small flies, made it easier for the dark matter to sink and erase them.


    ¡°...Stop it! Stop it! Do you understand just how sinful of an action you are perpetrating here?!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°?¡±


    Raphael shouts while struggling.


    ¡°I am the Lord of all demons! The Demon Lord! As the leader that will be leading the monsters to a new era, I am absolutely necessary! Do you understand how much of a lost it is for me to be erased?!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°This bastard!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you understand that the era of humans is over?! The old ones should disappear obediently! You are the ones who should disappear, not us! From today on, we will be walking the path of glory!!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go saying things that only fit your convenience!¡± (Haine)


    The attack of the dark matter had covered the face and both arms of Raphael and is nowpletely covering him.


    The encirclement ofpressed air from Shiva didn¡¯t let a single small fly escape and pushed them back to where the clump of dark matter is.


    The Demon Lord Raphael already had no path but death.


    The sensations that were being sent by the dark matter to me were notifying me that what¡¯s inside of it is being slowly crushed.


    The inside was steadily bing smaller, lost human shape, became a small spec, but even so, they were still mercilessly erasing it.


    ¡°If we can¡¯t coexist, we have no choice but to fight until one side disappears. There¡¯s also cases when it ends up being your side that losses and disappears.¡± (Haine)


    The Demon Lord Raphael has been erased. Without leaving a single piece of flesh remaining.


    And so, the dark matter that has finished its duty, followed my will and disappears to nothingness.


    Everything disappears, and we stand on top of the floor that has lost everything in its surroundings.


    Shiva and I face each other.


    Karen-san and Hyue were watching from afar though.


    I don¡¯t know who was the one who moved first, but in order to inform that everything is now over, Shiva and I lift our right hands, and just like that, we pped them high in the air.


    TLN: I had conflicting feelings about how to release this chapter. In the end, I decided on doing it this way. As stated before, when I release a single chapter, many reasons are involved.

 Chapter 171-172 - God Conference

    <h4>Chapter 171-172: God Conference</h4>


    ¡°The Wind Founder, Toreido Shiva, was under the control of a monster.¡±


    What is this person suddenly saying?


    ¡°The Wind Mother Monster, Beelzebub, entered the body of a human, and was able to freely control it. Many people have witnessed this ability it has. The Wind Founder Shiva was controlled at an early period and had the Beelzebub army act as the Wind Barrier of Rudras Metropolis to parasitize it. And then, matching this time¡¯s five Founder Conference, they utilized you as a pawn in order to destroy humanity.¡±


    ¡°No, uhm...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Wind Founder Shiva -being controlled by the monster- utilized the Wind capital and had them attack without giving them an exnation, and then, Beelzebub would parasitize on all the five churches...however, at that moment, a ray of hope appeared.¡±


    ¡°Yorishiro-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine-san, utilizing that rare power of his, he wiped out Beelzebub and managed to eliminate the special fly that was inside the body of the Founder Shiva. Thanks to this, Shiva managed to regain his self and cooperated in the subjugation of Beelzebub. Like this, we were able to splendidly ovee this crisis.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ......


    ¡°So, how is it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even if you ask me how it is...


    One night has passed since the series of battles with that repulsive Beelzebub and the Demon Lord Raphael, and we were still staying in the Wind capital.


    And to put more detail in it, we are currently in the room of the Founder Shiva.


    Due to yesterday¡¯s fight, his whole body was wounded, and so, he is now lying down on his bed to recover.


    His body had surpassed the limits of how much divine power it could release, it even came to a point that he was on the verge of dying, but thanks to the help of Yorishiro and I, we somehow managed to keep him among the living.


    The ones here right now are only Yorishiro, Shiva, and I. In a sense, it can be called a conference of Gods.


    ¡°Shiva-san, from now on, we will have to line up the steps of the five churches and establish a cooperative structure.¡± (Yorishiro)


    This is what Yorishiro, the incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion, said.


    ¡°And yet, there was one church that didn¡¯t heed this and one-sidedly attacked us. With this, the whole world won¡¯t be able to make their next step. Even if you were to apologize and ept the me, grudge would still remain. And above all, even if you were to be asked why you acted in that way, you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell them the truth, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s true.


    There¡¯s way too many obstacles in him saying that everything was a preparation done by the Wind God Quasar that took 1,600 years; all in order to have a rematch.


    ¡°It is fine to just throw all the me to the monsters. By doing this, we widen the harmony between humans, and in a way, we would be giving those pseudo-lifeforms a reason for their existence.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    It became hard for Shiva and I topletely agree with what Yorishiro said.


    We remembered that way too abnormal existence that had suddenly appeared.


    ¡°Wind Demon Lord, Raphael huh...¡± (Haine)


    Calling himself the Lord of monsters, he wanted to exterminate humans and change the ruling of the world to monsters.


    ¡°Shiva, what do you think about it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why do you ask me?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You four Base Elements were the ones who created monsters, right? Don¡¯t you have your personal opinion regarding monsters?¡± (Haine)


    Maybe I poked a ce that hurt, the Wind Founder and Wind God Shiva went silent for a while as if gathering his thoughts first before opening his mouth.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, I didn¡¯t even imagine this would happen.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°The part about monsters gaining a will, deciding on an objective on their own, and acting on it?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro who didn¡¯t see Raphael for herself seemed to still be half in doubt about it.


    ¡°Monsters are simply viins that the Gods created in order to maintain the religious faith of humans towards us Gods. No more, no less than that. That¡¯s why, them having a will and deviating from the frameworks the Gods made shouldn¡¯t be possible for pseudo-lifeforms that hold no soul. And yet, that was...!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Things don¡¯t always work as nned. More so with a long span of time like a hundred years.¡± (Haine)


    The monsters were created by the four Base Elements a hundred years ago.


    Just how many monsters were born in that time, and how many have been defeated by the heroes? How many thousands, how many millions?


    And in that time, the Mother Monsters that are the source of those monsters have been living as a single lifeform all the way till now.


    They could at least gain a will on their own in all that time.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, it is something quite natural. I forgot in which legend it was, but it stated that simple tools can have a soul reside in them after being continuously used for hundreds years. In that case, even if pseudo, the monsters who are still living beings would fit even more in that category.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Good grief. You Base Elements always have shallow thinking.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says with a tiresome expression.


    ¡°Give me a break!! Tell that to Nova or Coacervate! They are the guys that always act with shallow thinking~~~!!.But...¡± (Shiva)


    His agitation must have made his wound hurt, Shiva¡¯s expression distorted, and he sinks his body deep into his bed.


    ¡°I am also to me for giving tacit consent to their crime huh... Will this end it?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°That existence called a Demon Lord, will it end with just Raphael? We somehow managed to defeat that guy, but I don¡¯t think this will be the end of it at all.¡± (Shiva)


    Right.


    The Wind Demon Lord, Raphael; the child of Beelzebub. The Wind Mother Monster obtained a will in the long time it lived, and with that will, it began to question the meaning of its existence, and he was the answer it arrived at.


    ¡°If there¡¯s also another Mother Monster that has arrived at the same stage as Beelzebub...¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°The Earth Monster Monster, Grandma Wood, has already been erased, but there¡¯s still the Fire and Water Mother Monster. The world might be heading to a more severe situation than we expected.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The monsters that we thought were just a bother for the world have begun to evolve into having clear animosity towards humans.


    Our objective was already to eradicate the monsters, but with this new possibility, we have to put even more effort when tackling this.


    ¡°Then, Shiva-san, I will ask you this as the Light Founder. About the subjugation of Mother Monsters -and possibly Demon Lords-, will your Wind Church...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°We will of course cooperate.¡± (Shiva)


    While still in bed, Shiva says this with confidence.


    ¡°More so if we are going to be using the excuse of me being controlled by the Mother Monster. I gotta make things right. We have defeated the Wind Mother Monster and the Demon Lord, but there¡¯s many things that still need to be done.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva gets up from his bed. For a wounded person, he really doesn¡¯t stay in ce.


    ¡°Just like how monsters have changed, the human world is trying to change as well. It is also time for us Wind Church to cease the secrecy.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Ara, does that mean you will be publicizing the many things that the Wind Church has concealed here and there? About things like the moving city and the wind twin guns. The ethereal technology of the Wind is one to two generations ahead from the other churches after all. It would help us a lot that you will be sharing your knowledge.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I am not against it, but I will be having you pay the fitting price for it. The one who knows the worth of technology the most, is us Wind Church.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Ufufufufufu~~.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hwahahahaha~~¡± (Shiva)


    They are having a politic-like talk now.


    When ites to this kind of topics, I naturally end up estranged.


    As expected, it really does make me jealous. I also wanted to get involved in the evolution of humanity and do things like making a human settlement.


    ¡°...Shiva, what will you be doing?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Me?¡± (Shiva)


    Understanding the meaning of the question, Shiva¡¯s expression gets darker.


    Due to the fight with the Demon Lord Raphael, Shiva¡¯s body has broken to an irreparable point.


    Especially when he even utilized the God divine power in order to pin Raphael. There¡¯s no way for the human body of Shiva to withstand it.


    ¡°This body is already useless. I did that with the intentions of trading my life there anyways, so it could be said that I profited big.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Why did you end up all worn-out just by going all out? You could have done many things like aligning the body with the divine power or something like that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Shut up! Even if we are all incarnations here, the amount of things the four Base Elements can do is differentpared to you two Poles!! Showing off the difference even in a ce like this pisses me off!!¡± (Shiva)


    Theplex of Shiva that had been calming down had once again exploded.


    But for Shiva who is the Wind Founder and hero, this would be a big problem since this would mean the Wind Church will face a heavy decrease in military power.


    Standing against monsters is the duty of heroes. If he is unable to perform that duty...


    ¡°...I actually have a n for that.¡± (Shiva)


    Several days passed since then, a ceremony took ce in the Wind capital.


    The ceremony to appoint a new hero.


    ¡°The new wind hero, Toreido Hyue.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± (Hyue)


    Being called by name, Hyue stands up.


    She walks towards Toreido Shiva who pushed himself to be here even when he is not in the best of conditions.


    ¡°From today on, you will be the wind hero that will protect the Wind Church and Wind capital of Rudras Metropolis.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I humbly ept this duty.¡± (Hyue)


    Shiva takes the long gun, that Hyue utilized in the battle, and gives it to her.


    ¡°We have added the high-purity amplifier mineral that we managed to recover from the pieces of the broken wind twin guns, Fuuma Koutarou, and have removed the limiters it had. It has be several times harder to utilize, but the current you should be able to master it.¡± (Shiva)


    The long gun passed from the brother to the little sister¡¯s hands.


    That wasn¡¯t the only thing that was passed to her.


    The talk about selecting his little sister Hyue as the new wind hero was something that was first mentioned in the God Conference where Yorishiro and I were.


    Shiva, who waspletely battered by the fight against the Demon Lord Raphael, has now ended up with a body that is difficult for him to participate in any fights personally.


    On top of that, the cooperation between the five churches will be growing active from now on, so he must have judged that it would be hard to be act as a Founder and hero.


    Conferring the title of hero to Hyue who earned great achievements in this battle, Shiva will concentrate on his duty as a Founder.


    This announcement stirred up all the people living in Rudras Metropolis, and after a bit of unrest, they epted it.


    That can also be said to be proof of how firmly the people trust the Founder Shiva.


    In this ceremony, there were many people participating here who were hidden at the time of the five Founder Conference and didn¡¯t show their figure. And within that group of people, we members of other churches were given guest seats.


    The Wind Church that has been concealed in their secrecy; the wind was trying to change its direction little by little.


    ***


    ¡°I am looking forward to working with you from now on.¡±


    By the time the ceremony ended and we had moved to the banquet to celebrate Hyue¡¯s appointment to hero, the hero herself came to us to give us her greetings.


    In this party filled with people rted to the Wind Church, there¡¯s a group of outsiders: Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, and Sasae-chan; 4 heroes together. No, with the addition of Hyue, it would be 5 huh.


    All 5 heroes of their respective elements have now gathered.


    I was watching over that from a step back.


    ¡°Today, I have seeded the title of hero. As fellow heroes, I would like guidance.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It is fine not to be so formal, Hyue-chan! From now on, we are fellow heroes and friends!¡± (Karen)


    As expected, the one who cut off the stiff mood and tried to have Hyue-chan mix in was Karen-san.


    And the remaining three follow-up.


    ¡°Here as well, I will be looking forward to working with you. But how to say this, with this, the five heroes are finally all gathered huh. Thinking about the time when it was just Karen and I...it is truly vexing!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In those days, I didn¡¯t think Mirack-chan would be this much of a woman-lover though.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ya bein¡¯ a hero from today on must mean that ya are my junior, ain¡¯t it?! If ya don¡¯t understand something, don¡¯t hesitate to ask me-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°And Sasae-chan, don¡¯t get conceited.¡± (Karen)


    The retorting skill of Karen-san has increased?!


    ¡°No really, I seriously did wonder how things would turn out, you know. Being told that the wind hero was a man, my ns had been derailed, you know~. But in the end, the ck hair ninja-type girl has joined, and I am going all banzai banzai here!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...Celestis-chan?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°So, I want everyone to check something out~~.¡± (Celestis)


    Saying so, Celestis began to distribute something to the other heroes.


    A thin stack of papers... are those pamphlets?


    ¡°...What is this?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The documents for the n of our live concert debuting the five heroes! Thinking about the affiliations of each of us, it will be impossible to have a live in only one city, so naturally, it will be a live tour! It will be a hard schedule, but you will be able to keep up with it, right?! I have already thought of a choreography that will make a big number like five people all flourish on the stage, so make sure to give the documents a read! Also, there¡¯s the need to make the costumes, so I am looking forward to your submits regarding your three sizes! Don¡¯t go submitting false numbers just because it is embarrassing, okay? No one¡¯s looking forward to idental exposure due to costumes that don¡¯t fit! Also¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±......¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Ouch! Why are you throwing back the project papers?! Ouch, don¡¯t hit me with those! Or more like, who is the one throwing them while adding rotation to it?! It hit my forehead and makes it hurt unnecessarily more!¡± (Celestis)


    ...


    I did know about it already, but it really does remind me that this is a gathering of characteristic individuals.


    Leading these group as a team might actually be a pain in the neck.


    Well, the only saving I can think of is that Hyue seems to be rtively normal in terms ofmon sense...


    ¡°Uhm...and so...¡± (Hyue)


    For some reason, Hyue began to fidget.


    ¡°It has been decided that us Wind Church will be helping out in the subjugation of the Mother Monsters, and the Wind Church will be cooperating with the other churches. The secrecy policy we have had until now will be adjusted, and by deepening our rtions, we believe that it will bring forth further development.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hm, it does seem so.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I think it is quite the splendid thing! The world will get closer to peace!¡± (Karen)


    The secretive stance of the Wind Church was a part of the self-defense measures they took in the era where the churches were fighting each other.


    If they are nning on developing their rtions with the churches, it is true that there¡¯s already no need for that policy.


    ¡°And in light of that! I am sorry for bringing it out so suddenly, but since this is a banquet, I would like you to have a taste of the cuisine of us Rudras Metropolis, and so, I tried preparing several of our a specialties. My homemade cooking!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Homemade?! That¡¯s incredible!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Delicious food-dasu ka?! I be salivatin¡¯ already-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°And now it has been revealed that she has domestic skills, a domestic character has joined us?! That¡¯s nice! Our strike zone will widen!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The back figure of a girl cooking is nice.¡± (Mirack)


    The reactions of the heroes are all favorable.


    Hyue¡¯s expression was shining like that of someone who had friendse to their house for the first time.


    ¡°I see...! I see! Then, let¡¯s go right to it and have you taste it!¡± (Hyue)


    Saying so, all sorts of food were being carried over to the table.


    Preserved Grasshopper boiled in soy sauce.


    Therva of a Burst King Beetle fried in bean curd.


    Butterfly saute.


    Marine worm pickled in royal jelly.


    Also marine worm but this time cooked in rice.


    Saltedtle caterpir.


    Bread.


    ¡°¡±¡±?!!!!!!!!¡±¡±¡±


    Insect cuisine.


    With the high tension Hyue showed at first, she begins exining.


    ¡°In our Wind Church, we thrive in the medicinal food. Satisfying our hunger, we have also researched ways to increase the strength of our body with it! The result of much trial and error, the practice of eating insects which are high in nutrients was adopted. What I have made today are all dishes that are categorized as the best!!¡± (Hyue)


    Karen-san and the heroes had apletely paled face and were sweating bullets at the exnation.


    ¡°W-What are we going to do about this?! I underestimated the cultural exchange. The hurdle of values is higher than I ever imagined!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°But we were the ones who brought out the talk about cooperation, so we can¡¯t refuse here! If at least one of us were to eat it...!¡± (Karen)


    ......


    Good grief.


    Having this right after that fight with Beelzebub would make things even harder.


    I stop spectating from afar and, first, take one grasshopper that was soaked in broth and throw it in my mouth.


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°.......¡±


    I chew chew, and swallow.


    ...Hm? Eh?


    ¡°This is good! I thought it was only salty, but the sweetness also mixed in, and it had a moreplex taste than I thought! The grasshopper itself was crunchy and gave it a nice feel when chewed!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The soup that was used to boil this grasshopper, that in itself has more than 20 types of ingredients used exclusively for this dish; the best sauce of all. With just that, it is an extravagant dish, but by mixing the grasshopper with this soup, it brings out even more depth to it! It is the result of the hundreds of years of research of the Wind Church!¡± (Hyue)


    In the times I went to a mountain to do hunting and had run out of food, I had no choice but to catch and eat things like spiders and lizards, so I thought I would serve as sacrifice and eat it for them but, what is with this tastiness?!


    ¡°Delish delish delish delish delish delish~~! Delish-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Even Sasae-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    As expected of the country bumpkin Sasae-chan. She is stuffing her cheeks on a te that has a mountain of King Beetlervas.


    ¡°Obaa-chan be good at making insect dishes, but this be more delish by a lot-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I see, I see! Burst King Beetle is famous for being really good for your immune system, and by eating it, it is said that it will help you have high resistance against diseases! They are hard to raise, but today I wanted everyone to eat good, so I brought the freshest ones! The ones that are trained in the wild have a whole different level of taste after all!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°When I chew on ¡®em, they be making a squishy *puchu* sound and it be delish-dasu! As expected, meat all be soft when they young-dasu na!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was giving rave reviews.


    But in contrast to that, the expression of Karen-san and the others get more and more stiff.


    ¡°W-What should we do?! Listening to that exnation, I can tell that it took quite a lot of time and money to make!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°There¡¯s a crazy amount of heart ced in thi~s. Looking at that beautiful smile, I can¡¯t bring myself to say that I can¡¯t eat i~t!¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san and Celestis were cornered.


    While watching this, I bite on the bread that is in the menu.


    ¡°...Or more like, is this bread the only thing that is normal?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That bread has dried crushed maggots mixed in with the wheat flour when made. It is apparently incredibly high in proteins, but since maggots are maggots, there¡¯s the danger of food poisoning, so only maggots that were bred in special clean and supervised environments are utilized. It takes time and effort to make this bread.¡± (Hyue)


    Moreover, it is freshly baked! The heat of the stove still remains in the bread and it is delicious.


    ¡°By the way, Mirack can also eat them normally huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Who do you think I am? I am the fire hero, you know? Do you know how many female juniors admired me, made homemade cooking for me with theircking cooking skills, and had to digest them all with this stomach of mine? Compared to that, this food just looks grotesque, but it is crazy delicious.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I see~. Ah, I thought of something nice. Don¡¯t you think it would taste great to smear this bread with that bee honey there?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I thought so as well. Okay, let¡¯s put it to practice at once.¡± (Mirack)


    A fun meal time.


    On the other hand, Karen-san and Celestis were trembling all this time.


    ¡°For the sake of an amicable rtionship between churches, for the sake of an amicable rtionship between churches, for the sake of an amicable rtionship between churches, for the sake of an amicable rtionship between churches~~!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If I just think of them as rtives of shrimps and lobsters, if I just think of them as rtives of shrimps and lobsters, if I just think of them as rtives of shrimps and lobsters, if I just think of them as rtives of shrimps and lobsters~~!!¡± (Celestis)


    It looks like they are muttering things while holding their forks and knifes, and were frozen in ce.


    Well, because three of the five are enjoying it, Hyue was incredibly happy, and the banquet proceeded harmoniously.

 Chapter 173 - Synchronicity

    <h4>Chapter 173: Synchronicity</h4>


    At the deep deep depths of the sea, a semi-transparent pir was standing.


    It is the Water Mother Monster, Strobi Laguna.


    Created by the Water God Coacervate, it is a giant gtin-property mass that possesses the function of infinitely giving birth to water element monsters.


    The main body that is as if it were a giant pir had several thousands of semi-transparent tes piled up. The te that is at the very top was isted from the rest, and by leaving itself to the sea current, it flows here and there, and in the time it is doing that, it steadily changes shape into a marine creature and bes a water element monster.


    The length of this Mother Monster is -asmon of a Mother Monster- ssified as one of the biggest in the world, but by hiding inside the very depths of the sea that is far bigger than it, humans have not caught sight of it for the hundred years since it was born.


    After finishing its release of water element monsterrvas to a certain extent, only the jellyfish-shaped core of the pir remains, then, it itself will flow with the sea current and move to a different location for spawning.


    This process has continued for a hundred years without humans knowing; the Mother of Disastrous Floods.


    But it was about to reach its end.


    The Strobi Laguna, that only has the function of division, gave birth to an egg.


    That egg shone faintly like a pear as it drifted about in the sea current, and it soon hatched. What came out from inside the egg...had the shape of a human.


    The surface of his body was transparent like that of a sea creature, but it still was a human-like body that had all extremities.


    Its eyes held intelligence.


    Transparent wings that looked like the fins of a fish spread from its back.


    On the other hand, the main body of the Strobi Laguna steadily withered even when in the sea, and in the end, its body dissolved and disappeared.


    The ultimate water element monster that was given birth with the sacrifice of its mother.


    Water Demon Lord, Gabriel.


    Was born at this moment.


    ***


    At the Earth capital, Ishtar ze, there¡¯s still the remains of what was once called ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯.


    Normally, monsters that die would disappear without leaving a corpse, but no one suspected anything about this exception.


    It must have stemmed from how out of standard Grandma Wood was.


    The upper part that was swallowed by the gravity of the ck hole has already disappeared. Only the lower part, that was left there at that time in order to save the people that were assimted by it, had been removed from the attack range. Right now, there¡¯s only a stump left and still remains in the center of Ishtar ze.


    Below that stump, at the underground part that is buried in earth, there¡¯s a round-shaped tuberous root surrounded by the roots that are freely running all the way down as if trying to protect it.


    It had an irregr spherical shape, making it look like it was molded by hand.


    But the size was that of a human.


    That tuberous root began to crack as if giving birth, and from inside, a human appeared.


    It looked like an old person with wrinkles all over its skin, but that wasn¡¯t the case.


    It was a human-shaped being that had all its body made of tree bark.


    When that ¡®human¡¯ crept out of the earth, branches came out from his back, and leaves grew abundantly from it.


    The silhouette of those branches that grew thickly from both sides were like wings.


    The ultimate earth element monster that was birthed by the Earth Mother Monster that was supposed to have died.


    Earth Demon Lord, Uriel.


    After he flew away, the stump of the giant tree, that was thought to remain there forever, had dried at incredible speed, returned to the earth, and disappeared.


    In the next morning, the people of Ishtar ze were surprised by its sudden disappearance.


    ***


    Each Mother Monster was at a faraway ce, but as if their wills had converged, they all gave birth to Demon Lords with their lives in exchange.


    Whether this was a coincidence, a natural course of events, or maybe a twist of fate; no one knew.


    The Demon Lords that had been born used their divine power to fly and were heading to a certain location. And that location was the same for all the Demon Lords.


    The ce where the Demon Lord Gabriel and the Demon Lord Urielnded at was a ce among the mountains that was far apart from human habitat.


    At that ce, there was someone in the middle of its meal.


    ¡°...So you have alreadye. What an impatient bunch.¡±


    Even so, the man continued eating.


    What he was eating was the corpse of a bird. Piercing the neck of the bird with his teeth, he crunches it off.


    The corpse of the bird was covered in mes and was burning red. It looked like it would get someone severely burned just by touching it, and yet, he continued eating as if normal.


    Grabbing hold of his Mother, Phoenix, he chews it uppletely.


    The one having a meal was the very ultimate fire element monster that the Fire Mother Monster, Phoenix, had given birth to.


    Fire Demon Lord, Michael.


    In order to give birth to him, his mother had given all of its life force.


    And its body was being eaten by the Fire Demon Lord.


    In time, the Demon Lord Michael had finished eating all including the bones and stands up. From his back, there were burning crimson fire wings just like those of his mother.


    ¡°Is this all of us?¡± (Michael)


    Michael looks at Gabriel and Uriel who had gathered below him.


    ¡°...Looks like there¡¯s one more.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Yeah, it is me.¡±


    The fourth voice that could be heard with no figure in sight.


    It was the voice of the Wind Demon Lord Raphael.


    ¡°Different from you guys who were born peacefully, I ended up meeting a powerful enemy right in the moment I was born, you see. Practically all of my body was destroyed.¡± (Raphael)


    Changing each and every single cell thatposes his body into insects, breaking them up, andbining them after, the Demon Lord Raphael is able to appear again.


    Because of this ability, Haine and Shiva cooperated to imprison him without letting a single one of his cells escape, and erased himpletely.


    However, Raphael¡¯s move for survival had already been made before all of that happened.


    When the light bullet shot by thebination of Karen and Hyue connected, the head of Raphael had been blown to pieces and meat scattered about, and with his ability, it all turned to insects and returned to his body to safely regenerate.


    However, at that time, there were several small insects that didn¡¯t actually return.


    Due to how weak his enemies were, he was certain of his victory, so he didn¡¯t think there was any need to hurry and return, and a few of them were left loitering around.


    Before they all returned, Haine had arrived, and the main body of Raphael was destroyed.


    Raphael lost because of underestimating them, yet ironically, he survived due to underestimating them.


    ¡°It was a terrifying enemy. He was using a power that didn¡¯t fall into any of the categories earth, fire, wind, water, and light. He will definitely be the biggest obstacle in creating our desired monster paradise.¡± (Raphael)


    The voice of the bodiless Raphael.


    Right now, the several small flies are his very being, and due to them being so small, it was impossible to catch them with the naked eye.


    ¡°Stop with theme excuses. What an unsightly fellow you are.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Right. Losing against a mere human, looks like the Wind Demon Lord was quite the failure. If trash like this was born in exchange of its own life, the Wind Mother was probably not that big of a deal either.¡± (Gabriel)


    The tone of Uriel and Gabriel towards Raphael was filled with contempt.


    Even if they are fellow Demon Lords, fellow monsters, they were seeds that were born frompletely different creators.


    The only thing that is binding them is their prejudice towards humans.


    The four of them had the same objective of eradicating humans and bringing up their own race into supremacy. However, the other three aside from themselves were enemies that are fighting for that spot. They are by no means allies.


    And yet, what is the reason of them gathering in one ce like this?


    ¡°We arerades.¡± (Michael)


    Shaking its fire wings, the Fire Demon Lord Michael spoke.


    ¡°You all must have seen it too. You must have seen it the moment your own mother reached understanding; the moment the thing called self-consciousness was gained. That being¡¯s shining figure.¡± (Michael)


    Uriel and Gabriel fall silent.


    Raphael may be bodiless right now, but it could be felt that he had fallen silent as well.


    ¡°That Being said: ¡®We are the ones who should be the next rulers of this surface world. Destroy the foolish and greedy humans. In order to grasp this world in your hands, you should work together¡¯. If you are going to go against that Being, I will kill you.¡± (Michael)


    Michael¡¯s fist was pushed out.


    ¡°...I understand. I don¡¯t have any intentions of going against that Being.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°We were born for that sake after all. Let¡¯s all get along.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°In order to challenge that man again, I need the help of you guys.¡± (Raphael)


    The fist that Michael pushed out was met with two other fists, and in the end, one small fly hadnded on top of them.


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±All for the sake of eradicating humans.¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Earth, water, fire, and wind; the heart of these four Demon Lords ovepped.


    ¡°First, let¡¯s gather strength. We have barely hatched out, so our strength iscking. Our body is still notpleted yet. Especially Raphael. Until you regain your body, you won¡¯t be able to do anything shy.¡± (Michael)


    Just as Michael said, the Demon Lords that had just been born have taken the appearance of humans and their appearance was that of children.


    Their height was small and their face was childish. Just like the Raphael before he was defeated by Kuromiya Haine.


    In other words, they will grow from now on.


    ¡°We will hide and wait for time to pass. In time, it will begin. Let¡¯s wait until the prelude of destruction. At that time, that Being will most likely descend as well. That Being that has only allowed us to hear its voice, will definitely let us see its figure once everything is over.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Right.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°I am looking forward to it.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Before then, I will make sure to vindicate my honor.¡± (Raphael)


    The one who gathered all four Demon Lords and guided them.


    ¡°...The Demon Lord among Demon Lords; the Great Demon Lord, Lucifer-sama.¡± (Michael)

 Chapter 174-175 - Feedback of completion

    <h4>Chapter 174-175: Feedback ofpletion</h4>


    Hearing a *hyun* sound of cutting the wind, the target was hit right in the middle.


    ¡°Fuwaa~, amazing!¡±


    And looking at this from the side where the safe zone is, there¡¯s Karen-san and I -Kuromiya Haine.


    On top of that, at the side of that target, there¡¯s already several targets that were pierced in the middle as well.


    This is all something that was achieved by one person. Truly the very definition of certain hit.


    ¡°Amazing, Hyue-chan! Your hit rate is a 100%!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san who was ovee with emotion was calling to Hyue who looked like a speck from where we were, but of course, the other side didn¡¯t react.


    ¡°A-MA-ZING~! HYUE-CHAN!!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san, even if you increase the volume of your voice, it won¡¯t work. With that distance, it won¡¯t reach.


    Even so, the speck looks like she noticed we were trying to say something, she rode her flying machine and headed towards our location at several times the speed than when using one¡¯s feet. But even with that, it still took her plenty enough time to count to 30.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Karen-dono? Was there any problem?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. I said that Hyue-chan was amazing.¡± (Karen)


    The girl that had her glossy ck hair tied up, Toreido Hyue. The wind hero that had be our newrade just a few days ago.


    The wind gun, En no Ozuno, is quite different from the other divine tools that the other churches possess. From its cylinder-shaped area, it shoots outpressed air, and it is able to shoot through targets that are faraway.


    It seems like the wind gun that she uses is specialized in sniping far away things, and even in the sniping training area that was prepared in the Light Church especially for her, we couldn¡¯t find out her true skill.


    After all, we have already seen it many times, but her uracy rate is 100%.


    ¡°No, it helps me out. In the Wind capital, due to the structure of the city, we can¡¯t create that big of a sniping field. I wanted to confirm the full-power of this wind gun that had been adjusted for hero use.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Full-power...were you able to confirm it? You shot through all of them right at the center so easily, so it might have not been enough for Hyue-chan...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No way! I can¡¯t even begin to express how much gratitude I feel for Karen-dono and the Light Founder-dono! You approved of our change in the secrecy policy that we have been so adamant about for long, and you even epted my abroad studies after I became a hero!¡± (Hyue)


    That¡¯s right.


    Hyue, who had recently be a hero, had her first job that is to visit all the other churches.


    The Wind Church were the type that would thoroughly hide everything about themselves. However, that was cut off as a relic of the past battles between the five churches and they are beginning to work in creating a new path.


    The new wind hero, Hyue, is the very symbol of the rebirth of the Wind Church.


    By appealing her existence, they are trying to strengthen the cultural exchange between the Wind Church and the other four churches, and she is currently in the middle of the visits.


    She is currently staying at the Light Church¡¯s base in the Light capital, Apollon City.


    The light hero, Kourin Karen, was in high spirits at being the host.


    ¡°But Haine-san, as I thought, Hyue-chan¡¯s sniping skills are incredible! There¡¯s no doubt that she is the one with the highest attack range from all heroes!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says towards me in excitement.


    She was praising Hyue so much that the person herself was bright red in embarrassment.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. From the heroes of the five churches, first of all, there¡¯s Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan who are frontliners; Celestis is specialized in mid-distance battles, and if I had to put her in a category, it would be support type; Karen-san is an all-rounder that can enter any category though. There certainly hasn¡¯t been one who is such a specialized long-ranged type until now.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s finally going to be a supporting firepower that we can entrust with our backs in the Hero Alliance! It makes it even more perfect!¡± (Karen)


    In group battles, seeing the battle from a backed away ce will allow them to look at the situation as a whole, and if needed, that person can take the role of main leader, which makes a long-ranged attacker necessary.


    The ability of Hyue is thest piece that fills up the hole that Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, and Sasae-chan couldn¡¯t fill.


    It looks like the Hero Alliance will be formed in a more perfect shape than expected.


    ¡°No, wait please. I am still inexperienced. I am far from the previous wind hero, Aniue-sama.¡± (Hyue)


    I don¡¯t know if it was from humbleness or she really thinks that way, but Hyue said something unreliable.


    ¡°This time, the hit rate was good because it is simply a training field. In this pre-arranged setting where I can snipe at my own pace, having a 100% hit rate is obvious, however, reality is a different story.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue has a stiffness that the other girls until now didn¡¯t have.


    ¡°In realbat, there¡¯s no environment where you can snipe at your own pace. The situation is constantly changing, and there are idents and obstructions made by the enemy. The sniping will in some way be pressured and will make the trigger finger slip. The true snipers can brush away all that pressure, and no matter what harsh winds they are faced with, they will shoot through the target with certainty. I am always aiming for that goal.¡± (Hyue)


    I see. It is true that this situation where there¡¯s no noise in the way can only be found in a training field. Hyue is clearly aware of that, is able to see the difference between real and training scenarios, and is trying to bring out the experience of her trainings in realbat.


    She is a diligent girl.


    A diligent girl that has not been present in the heroes until now.


    ¡°I got it! If that¡¯s the case, in the next training, let¡¯s try adding noise then!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is trying to bring out something crazy again.


    ¡°In the middle of your sniping, we will do something that will affect Hyue-chan¡¯s concentration! Let¡¯s test if you will be able to hit the target even with that!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You do have a point. It definitely isn¡¯t a bad idea to understand the limits of my concentration before actualbat. Karen-dono, thanks for noticing that possibility! As I thought, there really is merit in sharing opinions with others!¡± (Hyue)


    Karen-san and Hyue exchange a firm handshake.


    ¡°And so, you say that you will be disrupting her concentration in the middle of her sniping but, what are you nning on doing?¡± (Haine)


    When I ask, Karen-san does a ¡®Hm...¡¯ as if pondering.


    ¡°...Fondle her breasts?¡± (Karen)


    Oi.


    Why did thate out?


    ¡°I see! Not only are we going to deal with noise regarding the sense of touch, we will also be tackling the feeling of shame as well! Even if it is just training, it would be pointless if it is just some small noise. Rather, we should expose the body to big changes in order to not falter in any situation!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue as well, don¡¯t go seriously analyzing it.


    She is so serious that no matter what kind of joke they throw at her, she would take it seriously huh.


    ¡°Understood. Well then, who will be touching my breasts while sniping?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    For some reason, the gaze of Hyue met with mine.


    ¡°N-Noooo!! Haine-san fondling the breasts of Hyue-chan is a total no! Haine-san is a man, you know?!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san loses her cool.


    ¡°But if we think about the objective being disrupting my concentration, it would be more effective if we were to ask that of a member of opposite gender.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you can have anyone fondle your breasts for the sake of it! It would decrease your value as a woman! Hyue-chan, treasure yourself more!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t what Karen-dono saying contradicting itself?¡± (Hyue)


    Yes, that¡¯s exactly right, Hyue-san.


    ***


    And so, as our reception with the wind hero was going well.....the fire hero, Katack Mirack, suddenly arrived, and...


    ¡°Karen, Haine, help me!!!¡± (Mirack)


    Said this.


    The Light capital Apollon City and the Fire capital Muspelheim are pretty close in location and it is to a point that they can even be called neighbors.


    Because of this, the fire hero Katack Mirack, who is based there, would regrlye to the Light capital to deepen her friendship with Karen-san.


    But the visit in this day was different from the visits she normally does.


    Because the expression she was making was clearly a dire one.


    ¡°W-What¡¯s wrong, Mirack-chan? Were you cursed?¡± (Karen)


    It was to the point that the first thing Karen-san said when receiving her was that.


    It was a truly agitated expression.


    If we were to talk about Mirack, whates to mind would be that within the five heroes, she is the most manly one out of all. Her face is always filled with ambition, and yet, today, none of that was present.


    It was as if she were washed in despair.


    For now, we received Mirack in the tea party that we had opened for Hyue and had her take a seat.


    We served her tea, but she hasn¡¯t taken a single sip even when it was cooling already.


    It felt as if her mind wasn¡¯t here and was simply silently watching her own face reflected in the tea.


    ¡°Just what in the world happened to Mirack-dono? Even I who have not known her for long can tell that she is acting strange.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I also have no clue.¡± (Haine)


    I can tell that she is acting strangely, but I can¡¯t tell at all what is making her act this way.


    And then, while we were confused, Mirack finally let out some words.


    ¡°Karen, Haine, please help me!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    A sudden request for rescue.


    Really, just what¡¯s going on?


    ¡°It is not only Karen-dono and Haine-dono here though; I am also present.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°In this asion, Hyue is fine as well. Please save me!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡®In this asion¡¯?! ¡®Is fine as well¡¯?! Really a harsh outlook on the neers!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-san, please hold back for now.


    At any rate, right now, I want to hear the details from Mirack.


    ¡°At this rate, the Hero Alliance might dissolve!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eeeeh?!¡±


    The first one to instantly scream at that statement was Karen-san.


    Fire, water, earth, wind, and light heroes joining forces to fight monsters; its name is the Hero Alliance.


    It serves as an effective way against the monsters, and it is also an important method to create an impetus to increase the cooperation between the five churches that have been fighting with each other until now.


    After weing thest member -the wind hero Hyue- they have finally begun to mobilize, and yet, she is suddenly saying that it will fall?


    ¡°W-What does that mean, Mirack-chan?! The Founder of the Fire Church was incredibly in favor of it, wasn¡¯t he?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is practically the creator of the Hero Alliance, so that made the shock bigger.


    Now that the n of subjugating the Mother Monsters is in progress in order to eradicate the monsters from the surface world, the Hero Alliance is even more important.


    If they were to say that it is now dissolved, it would confuse me as well, you know?!


    ¡°Obviously! My master the Fire Foundermended the cooperation between heroes from the very beginning. That¡¯s why the ones against it inside the church were restrained...however, just that person was...!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That person?¡±


    It was at that moment.


    The door was kicked open, making a *Bam!* sound.


    ¡°Karen-chi~~! Haine-chi~~! Listen to this~!!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    The representative of the Water Church, the water hero Celestis.


    ...But she suddenly jumped into the room while crying?!


    Just like that, she hugged Karen-san.


    ¡°This is important! Emergency! Things have gotten hectic!!¡± (Celestis)


    What¡¯s with this girl as well so suddenly?


    The parlor room is already a crucible of confusion.


    ¡°Oi! Don¡¯t suddenly go intruding, Idol Woman! I am currently having an important talk with Karen!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That can be left forter, She-male! My business is a lot more important than yours after all!!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack and Celestis bickered with each other since the beginning.


    It looks like both sides are holding problems of their own, and they are both scattering sparks.


    ¡°My side is more important!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mine is more of an emergency!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡±It might be impossible to make a Hero Alliance after all!!¡±¡± (Mirack+Celestis)


    !!


    Eeeeh?!


    Could it be that both of them are cornered with the same problem and came to our ce because of that?


    Just what¡¯s going on?


    ¡°C-Celestis, don¡¯t tell me...your ce as well?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°And Mirack-chi too? What is going on? Why did that person appear at this point in time?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It was the same for our ce as well! I thought that was a person from the past already. That person...I had even forgotten about it already, and yet, it suddenly appeared today!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It was as if a dead person had crawled back from its grave! Just rest in peace already!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Seriously! Truly good grief!¡± (Mirack)


    I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on at all, but from the wording, I can tell that Mirack and Celestis are sympathizing with each other. The both of them were hugging and crying.


    ¡°These two that were getting so hyped over entering an alliance have be like this?! Just what in the world...¡± (Haine)


    This doesn¡¯t look like a trifling matter!


    Really, what happened? I can¡¯t tell at all from what they are saying, and so, just as I was about to press them to exin it already...another change urred, moreover, it was the most violent of all that happened today.


    A wall of the room was destroyed with a *Dogon!*.


    ¡°Gyaaaa!!¡±


    ¡°The wall was broken?!¡±


    Moreover, at two spots at the same time.


    What! Seriously, just what in the world is happening one after the other!


    A person appears from each of the two holes; in total, two people entered the room.


    ¡°Truly pathetic. Is this really the figure of the water hero that represents the Water Church-desu no?¡±


    Is what the right person said.


    ¡°Asking for the help of an enemy church hero, moreover, to hug and cry. Since when did the fire hero be such a wimp?¡±


    Is what the left person said.


    ¡°Celestis-san.¡±


    The right person says.


    ¡°My apprentice Mirack.¡±


    The left person says.


    ¡°It looks like the standard of a hero was too heavy for you.¡±


    ¡°Looks like I didn¡¯t wring out enough out of you to have you act as hero.¡±


    The ones who appeared were two women.


    Their looks seemed to be from people on their first to half of their twenties, and from the pressure they are releasing, I can tell immediately that they are not regr people.


    ¡°Ah, those people are¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You know them, Karen-san?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I have seen them before. Those two are the heroes that came before Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    In other words, the heroes of the previous generation?!


    ¡°The previous fire hero, Abi Kyouka-san; the previous water hero, Ra Sarasa-san.¡± (Karen)


    That means that in this Light Church headquarters, the new and old fire and water heroes have gathered?!

 Chapter 176-177 - Returning leaders

    <h4>Chapter 176-177: Returning leaders</h4>


    In this world, the title of hero is incredibly specific.


    From the earth, water, fire, wind, and light church, each one of them choose their respective strongest divine power user, and they lead the other warriors to fight against the monsters. Fight monsters and protect the people.


    That¡¯s what heroes are, and that¡¯s the hero¡¯s duty.


    And so, it has been close to a hundred years that the monsters have appeared, and has continued being that way. Of course, there¡¯s no way a single human would be able to continue on active duty for so long.


    In history, there have been many people who have received the title of hero from their predecessors and taken their ce.


    And so, the current heroes are Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and Hyue.


    There¡¯s obviously going to be previous heroes that have fought just like them.


    If it¡¯s the previous generation, they probably hold the same amount of powerpared to the present active heroes.


    And so, the ones that are currently in front of us are exactly that, the previous generation heroes.


    The previous fire hero, Abi Kyouka.


    As expected of the senior of Mirack. Her body is well-formed and muscr, however, her gaze is a lot sharper than Mirack¡¯s, and it makes it even more likely to mistake for a man than Mirack.


    The water hero, Ra Sarasa.


    It looks like she got along well with the current hero, Celestis, and has an air of elegance and charm. The gesture of hiding her mouth with a folding fan made it feel like she had the refiness of a noble.


    Those two speak.


    ¡°...Hm, the Light Church¡¯s headquarters huh. This is the first time I have stepped in it but, just as I thought, it stinks of mold.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Truly a church whose only trait is its age. No matter if mold grows or spider webs appear, do they think that it is fine to just be old?¡± (Sarasa)


    You were the ones who came raiding this ce and you say that?!


    ¡°To think that the fire hero would run into such a mold stinking hole like this, what is the meaning of this, Mirack?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°U-Uhm...you see...!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack has turned pale and is trembling?!


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? If you have something to say, say it without reservation.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°K-Kyouka-anesan! The era is progressing and we can¡¯t always be fighting each other!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Don¡¯t spew out excuses!!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Guhoooh!¡± (Mirack)


    Unreasonable physical violence?!


    Mirack was kicked and send flying?!


    ¡°Pathetic! This is pathetic, Mirack! You had quite the prospects even within my juniors, so I left you with being the sessor, but it looks like I waspletely mistaken. To think that you would forget about the duty of a hero and go into wagging your tail to others!¡± (Kyouka)


    Wagging her tail.


    ¡°You have perpetrated the same offence, Celestis-san.¡± (Sarasa)


    This time it was the previous water hero that was reprimanding the current hero.


    ¡°From the beginning, there were voices of discontent in the church regarding you. They said that you dared to y being an idol, and that maybe you are neglecting your main job as hero. But you didn¡¯t stop at that, this time, you even tried holding hands with the enemy. How outrageous. Even the esteemed people of the church and I as well can¡¯t forgive this, you know?¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°...Tch, what a noisy gold-digger.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Did you say something?¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°No, nothing at a~ll!!¡± (Celestis)


    From the conversation they had, I began seeing the issue here little by little.


    ¡°Please wait!¡± (Karen)


    It looks like it was the same for Karen-san. She jumped into the conversation as if she couldn¡¯t endure it anymore.


    ¡°Could it be that you two are reprimanding Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan because of the Hero Alliance?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°We came here to crush this so called Hero Alliance.¡± (Sarasa)


    The Hero Alliance where the five heroes will join strengths to fight against monsters.


    This was something impossible to think of with themon sense we have had until now. Because the heroes originally didn¡¯t get along with each other.


    In the past, the five Churches were stealing believers from each other, opposing each other, and there was even a time when they were at war.


    Because of the enemy of all humans -the monsters- appearing, it naturally ended and became hazy in that sense, but even with that, the view of the churches towards each other is still that of looking down and antagonizing. ¡®We are the superior church¡¯, ¡®the other four are lower than us¡¯.


    The previous heroes must have had that kind of thinking deeply edged in themselves.


    ¡°A few days ago, a message came to me. This is what it was written. ¡®The current heroes have thrown away their pride and are trying to hold hands¡¯.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°A simr thing happened at my ce as well. I was surprised when I received the notice. The junior that I believed and entrusted with the job, to think that she would do something akin to stepping on my good will.¡± (Sarasa)


    The previous heroes said without hiding their anger.


    ¡°That stupid friendship; there¡¯s no way I can overlook it as a former hero.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°I may have already retired, but I do feel a sense of duty and obligation towards my church. There¡¯s no way I can just not correct the mistake that my junior has made.¡± (Sarasa)


    So it really was about that huh.


    The reason why Mirack and Celestis said that the Hero Alliance might not be possible to form, that¡¯s because the previous heroes had heard from somewhere about the Hero Alliance, and were trying to revoke that.


    ¡°Why?! The Hero Alliance means that the heroes cooperate to fight against monsters! Rather than fighting alone, it is more efficient to fight by uniting all five of us and that will allow us to protect the people from monsters better! What about that is a mistake?!¡± (Karen)


    For Karen-san, the Hero Alliance was a task that she ced her all to aplish.


    There¡¯s no way she can stay calm after being denied that.


    ¡°¡°Of course it is a mistake.¡±¡±


    But the former heroes rejected that.


    ¡°First of all, you guys are mistaking what you should be prioritizing. What a hero should truly be protecting is the authority of the church. The Fire Church that Mirack and I are affiliated to is the most superior one in the world. The hero fights in order to prove that.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you mean to say ¡®the Water Church is the one that is the most superior in the world¡¯?¡± (Sarasa)


    Fierce sparks scatter even between Kyouka and Sarasa.


    Even if the objective they came here for is the same, these two are in no way friendly with each other.


    ¡°In my opinion, the reason why you have to cooperate is because you are all weak. A true hero is strong. Because a hero is strong, they are able to protect the people even by themselves.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Right. Trying to hide your own weakness with fancy words like ¡®cooperation¡¯, that in itself makes you a failure as a hero. As I thought, I will have you relinquish your title as hero right here and now.¡± (Sarasa)


    Agitation ran through the current heroes as they heard those words.


    ¡°Mirack, relinquish your seat as hero. It looks like you weren¡¯t appropriate to be the hero.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°You as well, Celestis-san. You should quickly return the title of hero that is way too heavy for you, and just go and y idol without the need of worrying about anything else.¡± (Sarasa)


    The words of their seniors made the light in the eyes of Mirack and Celestis change. From the light of fear, it changed into hostility.


    However, this didn¡¯t apply only to those two.


    ¡°You say that, Abi Kyouka-san.¡±


    ¡°What.¡± (Kyouka)


    The previous fire hero looks at me.


    That¡¯s right, the previous. She is already a person of the past.


    ¡°From what I remember...the reason why you retired from your post of hero was because you lost against the Fire Cow Phris, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    That is a story I heard when we went ourselves to subjugate that very Fire Cow Phris.


    The giant monster, Phris, that was exercising its authority in the vicinity of Muspelheim. Its power was mighty, and the Fire Church tried sending subjugation teams many times, but they all failed and were turned their tables on.


    ¡°T-That¡¯s true! I learned about my own powerlessness, so I relinquished my title as hero and left on a journey to strengthen myself. In order to one day defeat the Fire Cow and vindicate my honor.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Ohohohoho~~, what a pitiful weakling-san.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± (Kyouka)


    This is something that I knew already, but the previous heroes are really in incredibly bad terms.


    But right now, there¡¯s a more important thing.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know? That Fire Cow Phris has been defeated.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°W-What?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The ones who defeated it were the ones there, Mirack and Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    The Fire Cow Phris.


    The biggest monster currently known that was properly confirmed by the five churches.


    Its strength was also top ss, and the Fire Church send subjugation teams several times, but they received a crushing defeat every time and escaped.


    But the threat of the Fire Cow is gone now.


    It has already been subjugated after all.


    ¡°Subjugated by the hands of the fire hero, Mirack, and the light hero, Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What stupid things are you saying?! There¡¯s no way these two weaklings would be able to defeat that monster!!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°It is the truth. The fire hero and the light hero cooperated and defeated the Fire Cow Phris that you couldn¡¯t defeat.¡± (Haine)


    ...And so.


    ¡°Can you say it again? Who is stronger than who? Small fry hero-san that couldn¡¯t defeat the Fire Cow Phris ¨Cno, the former small-fry hero-san? Or maybe hero small-fry-san is better?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Gununununu!!¡±


    I thought I might have said a bit too much there, but I didn¡¯t feel like loosening my hand here.


    This is the bond that Karen-san and the others have risked their life to create. And yet, people that are trapped in past conventions are trying to destroy this? There¡¯s only one option, fighting back with all we have.


    ¡°Kyouka-anesan.¡± (Mirack)


    I was about to give my next attack, but Mirack interjected.


    ¡°It is true that we were the ones who defeated the Fire Cow Phris. There¡¯s definitely no way I would have been able to defeat it on my own. It is thanks to the cooperation of Karen and Haine there that we were able to defeat it.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack! You are still saying such bullshit?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°And with that in mind, I want to say something. Times have changed. The heroes can¡¯t move only thinking about their own church anymore. Those kind of heroes are the ones that are a failure as heroes!¡±( Mirack)


    As expected of the current hero. When she is not only trembling, she does have a sharp tongue. And that is obviously not something that only applies to Mirack.


    Celestis also stands up trembling.


    ¡°Fashionable resident of Hydra Ville, Sarasa-san. You also know as well, right? The incident with the Great Sea Dragon that ured recently. You married into a famous and noble mercantile family, so there¡¯s no way you would be estranged from information, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°W-What about it?¡± (Sarasa)


    She is talking about the giant water element monster that intruded on the Live of Celestis, the Great Sea Dragon, Hydra Serpent.


    That monster, that attacked because of the Water God Coacervate, had created a giant tsunami and was about to destroy the whole Water capital, but the ones who managed to save it in the nick of time were the light, fire, and water heroes.


    ¡°Has a monster stronger than that Great Sea Dragon appeared in your active days? From what I remember, there¡¯s none~. That Great Sea Dragon as well, without the help of Karen-chi and Mirack-chi, it wouldn¡¯t have been possible to defeat it. Are you saying you would be able to defeat that? On your own?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Uuh...¡±


    ¡°If three heroes were not in that ce at that time, Hydra Ville would have been destroyed by now. You and the house of your husband would have been swimming in the sea at this moment~. I will be saying this as well. The times have changed!¡± (Celestis)


    The feelings of the new era that the old ones wouldn¡¯t understand.


    It looks like there¡¯s no need for me to say anything more. Karen-san seems to be calming down as well.


    ¡°Fire Cow Phris and the Great Sea Dragon, and also the four Mother Monsters. Since the time we were made heroes, for some reason, there have been monster cmities of the highest ss. In order to deal with those and reduce the casualties of the people, the work of each hero on their own is by no means going to be enough.¡± (Karen)


    But before Karen-san fought the Fire Cow Phris and the Great Sea Dragon, there haven¡¯t been simr others of those ss before.


    In other words, Kyouka and Sarasa finished their active days by only defeating the infinitely produced monsters of the Mother Monsters.


    ¡°We are in no way holding hands to deceive our own weakness. It is in order to ovee the difficulties that we wouldn¡¯t we able to ovee otherwise. But that doesn¡¯t mean we are holding hands against our will. We, the current generation heroes, respect each other and love each other.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...Kuh.¡±


    ¡°Wu...¡±


    The speech of Karen-san that couldn¡¯t be more straightforward than that was not letting Kyouka and Sarasa find any words to refute it.


    There was someone who came to my back and whispered to me.


    ¡°...I was wondering what would happen for a moment there, but it looks like it will go well. As expected of Karen. She could say all that even against Kyouka-anesan.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The one who blew the horn to counterattack was Haine-chi though. These couple are seriously strong and invincible with their mouth and their fist.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am aplete newbie...and couldn¡¯t say anything at all...¡± (Hyue)


    Mirack, Celestis, and Hyue; you girls should also be showing sharpness here. They somehow managed to oppose them slightly by riding on the opportunity we created though.


    ¡°But you know, there¡¯s no more awkward existence for a hero than their predecessor. We have to show respect to them, and in essence, they are our superiors.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°For me, on top of that, I am also her pupil. Since the time I joined, she has looked after me, and she thoroughly knows my weaknesses. I don¡¯t feel like I can win. It is truly a blessing that Karen and the others are here!¡± (Mirack)


    For them, their predecessors are really a natural enemy huh.


    But in the end, that applies only when in the same church. Karen-san is steadily cornering the outside former heroes.


    ¡°If you have no other opinions, please take your leave. Leave the problems of the present world to the currently active heroes.¡± (Karen)


    Looks like the match is over.


    When Mirack and Celestis came over crying, I was trembling in fear wondering what was the matter, but I am d it ended up as a small problem.


    ...Is what I thought...


    ¡°I can¡¯t leave it to you; you girls that just nce at illusory dreams.¡±


    A new voice resounded in the parlor room.


    A voice I don¡¯t know at all, and a person I have seen for the first time.


    ¡°Y-You are¡ª?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was stiffened at the arrival of this new person, as if she had met her nemesis.


    ¡°Long time no see, Karen-san. I am originally not in a standing that would have me step into the Light Grand Church anymore, but due to the amount of uneasiness you as the sessor give to me, I had no choice but to return.¡±


    The new person that appeared...is a blond short-cut haired woman. Her age seems to be simr to that of Kyouka and Sarasa, moreover, her atmosphere feels somewhat simr to that of Karen-san. Depending on the way of seeing it, you could even say that their atmospheres are theplete opposite.


    Could it be that this woman is...!


    ¡°The previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates-sama?!¡± (Karen)

 Chapter 178-179 - Dark Light Woman

    <h4>Chapter 178-179: Dark Light Woman</h4>


    TLN: Ah, December~. A month filled with celebration. But that is exactly why it is one of the most busiest month, if not the busiest one.


    Because of this, the chapter releases might get a bit erratic in this month and the beginnings of January. I will still try to keep the release schedule as 3-4 days, but keep in mind that sometimes it might take slightly longer.


    Anyways, enjoy the chapter! :DDDDD!


    She vaguely resembles Karen-san. Even so, she isn¡¯t like Karen-san at all.


    She is truly a strange woman that applies to both of these statements.


    There¡¯s parts that resemble each other, but there¡¯s even more parts that arepletely opposite.


    If I had to put it in words, it would be a ¡®ck Karen-san¡¯.


    However, the clothes she is wearing, the essories, her hair, and the color of her eyes don¡¯t have a single ckponent, and yet, I got that impression from her.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that ck Karen?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Or more like, Dark Karen-chi?¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack and Celestis seem to have gotten the same impression.


    The arrival of this mysterious woman, in what way will it affect this situation?


    ¡°The previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san mutters this as if faltering.


    Is that the name of that pseudo-Karen that has a ck presenceing out of her? Moreover, another previous hero?


    What¡¯s with today? Is this a festival of previous heroes?


    ¡°Long time no see, Karen-san. Since the time I retired, right? I was unable to attend your hero ceremony after all.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Why...are you here?!¡± (Karen)


    The attitude of Karen-san in the face of this Ates that looks to be in her twenties was something I something I haven¡¯t seen before. How to say it, it is as if a small kitten had encountered an adult female cat.


    If Karen-san had a tail in her rear, there¡¯s no doubt that all of its hairs would be standing up.


    ¡°My junior was so disappointing, I had toe here to put an end to it.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Eeh?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san shouts in surprise.


    ¡°Could it be that you too came here to talk about the Hero Alliance?!¡± (Karen)


    Then it would be the same as Kyouka and Sarasa over there.


    What in the world is going on?


    Reacting to the current heroes joining hands, all the past heroes have begun to move all at once?


    ¡°Lately, there have been many voices speaking out to me, you know?¡± (Ates)


    Is what the previous hero says as she mixes sarcasm in it.


    ¡°They said that current hero is way too arbitrary in her actions and it is too much to deal with, and that you are trying to destroy the old conventions. There have been so manyinsing to me that I can¡¯t overlook it anymore, so I decided to stand up to it.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to do that.¡±


    A new voice resounds in the parlor room.


    For a while now, there has been a radical increase in the amount of people here!


    ¡°Ah, Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The Light Founder!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is Yorishiro-chi!!¡± (Celestis)


    Several people call the name of the new person that appeared -the Light Founder, Yorishiro.


    She can be said to be the leader of the Light Church, and even without that, she is a person that possesses prudence, foresight, and beauty; there¡¯s no person that can remain calm when encountering her.


    And yet...


    ¡°Ara, Yorishiro-sama, it has been long.¡± (Ates)


    Ates-san doesn¡¯t look like she is getting agitated at all.


    She is a former light hero, so she should at least be acquainted with Yorishiro. There¡¯s no way she doesn¡¯t know about how fearsome that woman is.


    ¡°I have heard that you have been doing a lottely, so that poprity reaches my ears everyday even when I have already retired.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What you want to say is bad reputation, right? Ates-san, when you relinquished your title as the hero, you promised you wouldn¡¯t be stepping into this Light Grand Church ever again. I won¡¯t let you say that you forgot.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Of course, Founder. The affection that I received from you, this Sunnysol Ates hasn¡¯t forgotten about it for a single day.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°In that case, depart from this ce at once. If you continue being so disobedient, I can order to have you thrown out not only from the Light Grand Church but also from Apollon City.¡± (Yorishiro)


    An incredible amount of sparks suddenly began scattering!


    The sparks were flying so violently that all the other people watching were scared and stepped back. Even I have already retreated to the wall.


    ¡°Karen-san, Karen-san!¡± (Haine)


    I silently circumvented towards Karen-san.


    ¡°Just who in the world is she? That Ates person, why is there such an explosive mood here?¡± (Haine)


    When I asked this, Karen-san answered with a pained expression.


    ¡°Sunnysol Ates-sama. Just as I said before, she is the one who was in the position of hero before me. She is an incredibly excelling person, and in her active days, she defeated several hundreds of monsters alone. Everyone said that her name would remain in the history of the Light Church.¡± (Karen)


    But Karen-san continues.


    ¡°Ates-sama suddenly stopped being a hero and left the Light Church just as suddenly. The one who was appointed as the light hero after her was me. I have practically not heard anything about her even in my days as an apprentice hero and have had no interactions with her before.¡± (Karen)


    She is more and more of an ominous hero now.


    Especially while looking at her figure that is straightforwardly facing Yorishiro head on.


    ¡°...Founder Yorishiro-sama, I have not forgotten my gratitude towards you. That¡¯s why, I can¡¯t just silently look at the distress that the Light Church is currently in.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Distress...you say?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Right now, the Light Church is on the verge of falling ¨Cby the hands of a part of people that want to rewrite the past conventions.¡± (Ates)


    That is of course referring to us.


    She is most likely talking about the Hero Alliance that Karen-san is trying to make reality.


    ¡°For the Light Church, the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Churches are enemies just like the monsters. And yet, joining hands with them and getting along with them? That¡¯s an action that goes against the Church¡¯s ideals. That Karen-san there is taking the initiative of doing that even though she is in the position of being a hero, and not only has Yorishiro-sama not reprimanded her, I heard that you are actually endorsing it.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Go on.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The people inside the church that think of its well-being have all unanimouslye to me to express their displeasure. If the current hero and the Founder have both stepped in the wrong path, they had no other person to rely on but me. And so, I had no choice but to appear before you like this.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Those two as well?¡± (Yorishiro)


    The gaze of Yorishiro was directed at the other former heroes, Kyouka and Sarasa. The two are trembling just like the time when the current heroes first met Yorishiro.


    ¡°We are talking about you here, so you must have thought that the more pawns the better and had them involved in this as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wa?! ......In that case, could it be that the notice telling us about the Hero Alliance was your doing, Ates?!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka roars as she asks, but Ates didn¡¯t falter one bit.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about~.¡± (Ates)


    She simply smiled. How wicked.


    ¡°Well, you were more useless than I expected, and it proved that the heroes of the trash churches are, as I thought, trash as well.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ates-sama!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san speaks out boldly.


    ¡°As I said before, by having the heroes cooperate, we can manage to oppose the monsters in a more effective way! That way we can protect even more people¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san, that very thinking of yours is incorrect.¡± (Ates)


    Ates says cold-heartedly.


    ¡°What the heroes protect is the Church¡¯s authority.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    ¡°By having the people be saved by the hero, they will respect and light up their religious belief towards the Church that the hero is affiliated to. The hero fights for that sake. What you say is the very definition of mistaking the method and objective.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°But¡ª!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°A group is often a brittle thing. There are times when it would easily crumble by losing their old conventions, their authority. Karen-san, what you are trying to do holds the danger of ending the Light Church. Do you properly understand that?¡± (Ates)


    Being gazed straight by Ates, Karen-san was unable to say anything back.


    As I thought, even for Karen-san, the former hero is also a natural enemy.


    ¡°The people that you say must be protected, they are able to live in peace thanks to the church. Is creating chaos in society with your narrow perspective also a duty of a hero? It looks like you have absolutely no self-consciousness that you are hero. Isn¡¯t that right, Yorishiro-sama?¡± (Ates)


    Being directed a disgusting gaze, Yorishiro speaks indifferently.


    ¡°Ates-san and the others, I understand now that you are displeased with the measures of the current churches. It is obvious that change invites opposition. The previous heroes being the ones taking the forefront in the old conventions¡¯ side might, in a way, be inevitable.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Meaning that the old conventions are chanted by the past people huh.


    ¡°Then this should be the best opportunity. Whether it is a person or an organization, it is impossible to continue concentrating forever in one thing. The time wille when the old ones that don¡¯t fit the requirements of the era must be reced for the new. This is the moment for that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...Are you saying this is the best opportunity to prove that?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And how will you be proving that?¡± (Ates)


    As if they already knew what the both of them would be saying from the very beginning, the conversation continued smoothly, and Yorishiro spoke the conclusion.


    ¡°Obviously, by fighting.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Dividing the teams into current heroes and previous heroes, we will be having a match. How about ¡®the one who wins will have their opinion pass¡¯?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±Eeeeehhh?!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°¡±Eeeeh?!!¡±¡±


    The current hero and previous hero teams were shocked by it. The only one who was calm about it was Ates.


    ¡°That¡¯s unexpected. Yorishiro-sama, who would always make careful preparations in order to achieve her objective, has decided on such an impulsive match like this.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°The ones who win at the end are not the ones who don¡¯t neglect preparation, but the ones who can adapt to the flow.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Whatever. But why did you make it a team fight? If we are to put an end to all this in a match, shouldn¡¯t it be enough with a one on one fight with Karen-san and me?¡± (Ates)


    Saying this, Karen-san who was standing at my side had her shoulders quiver.


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand. The Hero Alliance has the approval of all the five current Founders of the Churches. If you want to cancel the Hero Alliance, you will have to convince them all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And I am saying that¡¯s being domesticated though. Kyouka-san, Sarasa-san, that¡¯s how things are. What are you going to do?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°¡±Eek?!¡±¡±


    Being suddenly called, the previous fire and water heroes get surprised.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to, I don¡¯t really mind, you know. I can easily wring the neck of these greenhorns by myself after all. If you two are scared of fighting with your already dulled arms, you can go to the spectators seat and tremble there obediently.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t get conceited, wicked hero! Leaving aside the other half-assed bunch, my pupil Mirack is not one to so easily fall! If I don¡¯t take the stage, you wouldn¡¯t be able to do jack-shit! If it¡¯s a battle, I will be rampaging!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°I have to ept the challenges that are being sold to me, or I would be a disgrace of a Hydra Ville merchant. This is a good chance to confirm if Celestis-san has dulled with all that ying around as an idol.¡± (Sarasa)


    Mirack and Celestis stiffened their faces and went ¡®Uwaaa~¡¯ at that.


    But those former fire and water heroes, aren¡¯t they being controlled skilfully by that wicked light hero?


    ¡°Well then, now that the talk has been wrapped up, I will have you let me stay here for today. Whichever the case, there¡¯s the need for time and preparation in order to make that fight an official one. Isn¡¯t that right, Yorishiro-sama?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Fine. We will be telling you the time and ce when it is done.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Once again sparks flew around, and the face off of Yorishiro and Ates finished.


    Before leaving the room, Ates stops her steps in front of Karen.


    ¡°Karen-san, that¡¯s how things have ended up as. Let¡¯s fight with all we have in the designated date.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°U-Uhm¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I think that you are not worthy of being the light hero. I n on proving that in this fight.¡± (Ates)


    Saying this, Ates left the room this time for sure.


    Kyouka and Sarasa followed fit.


    ¡°Be prepared, Mirack. That lukewarm tenacity of yours, I will be beating it down at that day until it turns into shape!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°I will also be taking my leave here, Celestis-san. In order to, at the very least, not make it an embarrassing defeat, cancel all your idol ns and concentrate on training.¡± (Sarasa)


    Is what they said as they left.


    Seeing them off, the current heroes Mirack and Celestis reacted by saying...


    ¡°Sis was oozing the aura of a small fry!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°They were poured the pressure of Yorishiro-sama and the former light hero after all. Are you saying that the previous heroes were so whipped when dealing with the Light Church?¡± (Celestis)


    Even so, I think that Mirack and Celestis are also being smoothly dealt with by Karen-san, in the good sense of the way, or at least that¡¯s what I want to believe is how it is.


    ***


    ¡°...And so?¡±


    The storm passed and we are now in the parlor room of the Light Grand Church.


    Now that the previous heroes have left, the amount of people has finally lowered.


    ¡°The weakling smell has gotten thinner and it is finally easier to breath.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The sudden jump in the average age of this ce has finally stabilized to normal numbers.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack and Celestis go ¡®fuhihi¡¯ as theyugh.


    Was the pressure and stress from their senpai¡¯s really that much? But it looks like even the outsider also felt it. The wind hero Hyue who was trying to join the conversation said...


    ¡°Wow, that was tensing. I couldn¡¯t keep up with the conversation and, in the middle of it, I turned into air.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Truly a wind hero.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Truly a wind hero.¡± (Celestis)


    Truly a wind hero.


    ¡°But what are we going to do about this? Isn¡¯t a match a bit too much all of a sudden?!¡± (Haine)


    While I was cleaning up the wreckage that was left when the former heroes destroyed the wall, I reprimand Yorishiro regarding the duel.


    That Yorishiro was nonchntly drinking tea.


    ¡°...This is an event that I predicted.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°The five churches have been at their throats for a long time. At the time when the churches were established, they stole many worshippers from each other in order to offer as much prayers as possible to their Gods, and there was even a period when churches were at war. Since the appearance of monsters and ethereal, the fighting had drawn back in the surface, but even with that, there hasn¡¯t been a single moment where the churches have gotten along with each other.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But that is about to change, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Thanks to the effort of these young heroes here, the rtionship between the churches is rapidly increasing favorably. It is also due to the fact that we have mutual enemies that are the Mother Monsters and the Demon Lords, but all churches uniting as one has not urred even once in all of history.¡± (Yorishiro)


    But that¡¯s exactly why...


    ¡°There will always be people who will go against something that has no precedent. The heroes are the face of the church. It is hard to ignore that influence even for the people that have already retired. Knowing that the ones that have caused this change were the current heroes, they have no choice but to have the former heroes shoulder the responsibility of stopping it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That means there¡¯s someone pulling the strings in the shadows?!


    ¡°In other words, this is not simply a fight to see who is in the right but...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A pure political conflict.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And in reality, even if we were to only look at the Light Church, there¡¯s the Cardinal, Archbishop, and the Aurora Knights¡¯ General and also several other high-ranked knights. Due to them being born in a good family, they have obtained high positions.


    If the five churches cooperate and the fight against the monsters seriously begins, just by requiring them to show their abilities in a situation that needs them to, it would trouble them heavily.


    If we change to a new system, the dissatisfactions of the people that have gotten used to the old system would be many.


    ¡°We have begun a fight to eradicate monsters. For the sake of that, we will be joining hands with the heroes that have been enemies until now, and that will better the situation between churches. By doing something we have not been able to aplish before, we have made a big step.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Okay?


    ¡°Even so, the future prospects are bleak. The existence that has been born from the Mother Monster, the Demon Lord. To identify the identity of that, we have gathered the strength of all churches, but there have been no tangible results yet. In the middle of that, a problem appeared, not in the monster rted side but in the human side.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Thanks for exining the situation.


    ¡°I want to use this opportunity to bring out to light all the ones who are against this change.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...Ah, could it be that that was why Yorishiro-sama challenged the former heroes to a match?¡± (Celestis)


    Yorishiro nods at the question of Celestis.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The puppeteers in this asion will use many means in order to have the previous heroes win. The ones who move are enemies. They are the insects that are squirming inside us... Everyone...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡°¡°Y-Yes?!¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!¡±


    The current heroes tremble in unison.


    ¡°Understand that this is a fight we can¡¯t avoid. By winning this, proof that you are in the right. I will find every single enemy that is lurking in the shadows. By oveing this difficulty, we will do one more step towards peace!¡± (Yorishiro)

 Chapter 180-181 - Enquiry about the previous generation

    <h4>Chapter 180-181: Enquiry about the previous generation</h4>


    ¡°Fuwa~, Yorishiro-sama be in fire-dasu! Her political conflict spirit be showing its full color-dasu!¡±


    Is what the earth hero, Gonbee Sasae-chan says as she directs a gaze of admiration towards Yorishiro......Hm?


    ¡°Why is Sasae-chan here? She wasn¡¯t here until a moment ago?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What ya saying, Haine-niichan? I arrived together with Doraha-san and Yorishiro-sama-dasu yo.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Yes, Haine-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    Now that I look properly, even Doraha was standing at her side.


    Leaving aside Doraha who haspletely be an attendant of Yorishiro, why is Sasae-chan also together with Yorishiro?


    ¡°I will exin it, Haine-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    It looks like Doraha will be taking that job.


    ¡°At the previous incident in Rudras Metropolis, there was apparently something that meshed well between Yorishiro-sama and Sasae-san regarding the treatment of the captured people, and are now hitting it off.¡± (Doraha)


    Eh?


    ¡°¡®I have found something shining deep inside of Sasae-san¡¯, is what Yorishiro-sama said and decided that she will be inheriting her scheming abilities. We were about to open a study session with Sasae-chan. At that moment, we heard that the hero Ates had appeared.¡± (Doraha)


    Wait a second there.


    Sasae-chan is already being taught by the grandma that is said to be the strongest earth hero in history. And you are telling me that, on top of that, Yorishiro will be teaching her scheming?


    Are you nning on creating a brutal and demonic superhuman?!


    And at that moment, Yorishiro and Sasae-chan had begun talking.


    ¡°Sasae-chan, let¡¯s do a review of today. What is the motto of the Light Church?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡®Forget about inconvenient things¡¯-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    No good. She is already beginning to get infected, into the demonic Sasae-chan!!


    ...........


    Well, let¡¯s leave that problem forter. Right now, we have to concentrate on a more direct matter.


    ¡°By the way, Sasae-chan, can you please help repairing the wall that the previous heroes destroyed?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That be super easy-dasu. Using the rubble, fill in the holes and...[Combine]! Just like new-dasu!¡± (Sasaed)


    How convenient.


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s talk about the important thing. About the current and previous heroes having a match.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Can they win?¡± (Haine)


    Honestly speaking, in this kind of matches, there¡¯s the need to have the confidence of saying that in 10 matches, you can win 10 times.


    The one who wins will be in the right, so if Ates and the other previous heroes win, the Hero Alliance will dissolve and the reconciliation of the five churches would also go back to square one.


    On the other hand, if the current heroes were to win, it would mean that the talk about the Hero Alliance will continue to stand. All Founders have epted it, so it means that by fighting, more eptance will be gained.


    Putting it bluntly, there¡¯s little profit and big risk.


    ¡°The previous heroes are already retired people, right? In that case, their peak time should have passed already, and the current heroes should be the stronger ones, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Heroes are the face of the church.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yes, I have heard that many times.


    ¡°As the representative of the church, they help in creating a better image, and the heroes must be strong and elegant no matter the time. Because of that, all heroes are beautiful girls and are chosen to be around their teens.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I look around the ce.


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, Hyue; the average age should be around 14. That¡¯s also because Sasae-chan is bringing down the average by herself though.


    ¡°But there will be a time when looks and fighting power decay. The church has the tendency of having someone take over when the hero has surpassed their growth peak before she messes up. So, the heroes normally retire when they are 20-22 years old. Attest, it would be 25. The heroes that havee here today were around that age too.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is true that Ates, Kyouka, and Sarasa said that they were the previous generation heroes, but in terms of age, they simple had that adult charm in them and were still oozing with youth.


    ¡°There¡¯s actually more heroes that have gotten stronger after retiring than the contrary. Those three surely fall in that category. Even by just having a nce at them, I could tell that the aura they had was not that of someone who had forgotten about battle.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Oioi.


    At worst, doesn¡¯t that mean that they might be stronger than the current heroes?


    Teenagers versus adults; thinking about it normally, the adults win in body build and the amount of experience gained.


    There¡¯s the need for more time before we are able to add ¡®decay¡¯ in the victory factors.


    ¡°In general, that¡¯s how it would go. Now, the problem will be with the individuals though...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...My Sis, Abi Kyouka...¡± (Mirack)


    As if cutting into the words of Yorishiro, Mirack begins speaking.


    ¡°Is said to be the strongest disciple of my master Enou.¡± (Mirack)


    The current leader of the Fire Church, Enou-san who is famous for his ¡®let there be hot-bloodedness¡¯, was a General in the Ignis Militant corps.


    In his days when he led the Ignis Militant corps, he also guided several fighters and raised them to be strong or even more than that.


    The Mirack that is standing before us is also a disciple of his.


    That¡¯s why she calls the previous fire hero as Sis.


    ¡°Sis Kyouka was someone who had excelling talent. Master also acknowledged that talent and ced more effort in his teachings with her. Master, who has now be the current Founder, is thoroughly holding back the ones against the Hero Alliance, but the reason he is unable to do that with Sis Kyouka is due to the circumstances I previously stated.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You are saying that he can¡¯t do anything against his cute disciple?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What¡¯s with that? Isn¡¯t that favoritism?¡± (Celestis)


    The disruption that Celestis mixed in ended with no reaction.


    ¡°B-But Mirack-chan was also chosen as the fire hero, so you shouldn¡¯t lose in talent...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Did you forget already, Karen? I didn¡¯t have talent from the very beginning. That¡¯s why I had no choice but to cover for it with effort. Straining effort that even made me forget my friendship with you.¡± (Mirack)


    She probably remembered a bitter past, Mirack made a self-deprecating smile.


    ¡°The reason I was able to be a hero was because Sis Kyouka lost to the Fire Cow Phris and retired. I was simply the only one who fit the bill for sessor, that¡¯s all there is to it. Moreover, there¡¯s no doubt that Sis Kyouka has trained harshly in order to vindicate for her defeat against the Fire Cow. There¡¯s no way she is weaker than in those days.¡± (Mirack)


    She has talent and puts in effort as well huh.


    But the most serious matter is that Mirack has aplex regarding her senior Kyouka. Kyouka and Mirack are disciples of the same master.


    In a way, a senior might be an existence that has mixes of respect, fear, deep affection, and hatred that surpass that of their master.


    ¡°The previous water hero, Ra Sarasa, is a nasty woman.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis speaks next.


    ¡°She is a by-the-book water hero, and it is exactly because I am doing something unconventional that she sees me as an enemy.¡± (Celestis)


    It would actually be as if Celestis herself was screaming: ¡®let me be your enemy¡¯.


    ¡°It has been an unwritten rule that the water hero should marry into a big merchant family, that has influence and assets, when she retires. It is a political marriage in order to tie the church with the financial world. Sarasa as well, she married a prominent foreign trader in Hydra Ville and is enjoying a celebrity life. That¡¯s probably why she is looking down on me even more.¡± (Celestis) <Oh, so Celestis called her a gold-digger not a widow, got it. Fixed!>


    ¡°...¡±


    Is it my imagination that I saw a faint stiffening in her expression when she was speaking?


    At any rate, next it would be about the previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates...


    ¡°Let me exin about her.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The motto of the Light Church is ¡®forget about inconvenient things¡¯. Well, that was half-joking, but if there¡¯s a person that embodies this statement, there¡¯s no doubt it would be Ates-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro said as if it was a joke, but it didn¡¯t sound like much of a joke.


    On the other hand, the current light hero, Karen-san, was simply staying silent and listening.


    ¡°There¡¯s probably people who have heard rumors already, but I obtained this position of Light Founder by...kicking down the previous Light Founder, my father. My father, in his time as a Founder, tainted his hands with dishonest actions, and in order to have him take responsibility, I had him retire.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I feel like I have heard about that before.


    ¡°I will be omitting what dishonest actions he did, as it would be a scandal for the Light Church, but those dishonest acts had the hero at that time, Ates-san, involved. In the time I took the ce of my father, I had her make a decision.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Decision?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Step back by her own volition, or have someone else take her title. She chose retirement without a single moment of hesitation. She wouldn¡¯t be a hero anymore, but with this, there will be no more sins added, and on top of that, she will still receive the manypensations that retired heroes receive. She had calcted this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Meaning that, the hero Ates is that kind of woman?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. She is a woman that doesn¡¯t act unless she has calcted it minutely. In that sense, it can be said that she is theplete contrary of Karen-san who has moved purely with her natural virtue.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I understand itpletely...¡± (Celestis)


    The description of Karen-san that Yorishiro gave out had Mirack and Celestis nod immediately.


    ¡°In the time she retired, she must have had a path to make a big turnabout by facing me, and yet, Ates-san didn¡¯t take that risk. When the winning chance is low, she obediently epts defeat, and lived a life of obscurity until now.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Then, the reason why she moved now was because...¡± (Haine)


    She judged that this is the time to do a counterattack?


    ¡°I wonder. But we have to be careful about her. This very situation of several former heroes taking action might be the picture she was trying to draw.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Have the old conventions preservation faction of the churches as her allies, put them together, and use them as her own fighting force. Is she trying to defeat the current political powers and make herself take that ce by using that fighting force?


    If that is the truth, Ates is utilizing the situation in a frighteningly skilfull way.


    ¡°Ates-san herself has, in a sense, a clear head for politics after all. The title of hero was simply a step in order to obtain political power. She is a woman that would do anything in order to obtain political power -as long as it doesn¡¯t endanger herself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I...don¡¯t want to lose!¡±


    The one who shouted as if wringing out her voice was Karen-san. Those eyes of hers were burning with the light of resistance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose to someone like that. A person that only uses the title of hero for her own sake...I definitely don¡¯t want to lose!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°B-But...there¡¯s no need to get so worked up about it, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Celestis)


    Maybe because she was overawed by Karen-san who was burning in anger to unexpected levels, Celestis made a dryugh.


    ¡°It has been decided that it will be a fight of the current heroes vs the previous heroes. The ones that came from the previous generation today were only the light, fire, and water heroes; but in this side, we have the earth, water, fire, wind, and light heroes -all five heroes are gathered. Just by going at it normally, we would be winning by numbers.¡± (Celestis)


    Now that she puts it that way, she does have a point.


    It is still unknown how this match will be done, but there¡¯s no way higher numbers will be a disadvantage.


    ¡°Of course-dasu! If it be a war, it of course be Gonbee Sasae! I¡¯ll be doing my best-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I will cover your backs.¡± (Hyue)


    Sasae-chan and Hyue seem to have plenty enough motivation.


    In a team battle, the highest bottleneck would be the quality of the teamwork, but in that point, there¡¯s nothing to worry about with these girls. The bond that these girls have tempered through many battles will be their strongest weapon.


    In that case, the strength in numbers will only be an advantage for us.


    ¡°Uhm...what about me?¡± (Haine)


    I tried raising my hand.


    ¡°You are not an official hero, so you are an outsider this time around, right? Just step back!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Relying on you all the time would affect us as heroes. I will show you that I can defeat my senior with my own hands!¡± (Mirack)


    And I was bluntly rejected.


    It looks like this fight will be purely of heroes against heroes.


    But even so, the direness in the face of Yorishiro was not falling off.


    ¡°But, will it really go so smoothly? We are talking about Ates-san here. There¡¯s the possibility that she has already made a move with the Earth and Wind Church...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is she implying that the previous earth and wind heroes will also be appearing?


    ¡°The previous earth hero, you say? Uhm, I don¡¯t think I would be able to defeat that Oba-san though...¡± (Celestis)


    Is what Celestis says as she trembles.


    She must be talking about the Oba-san of Sasae-chan that is now the Earth Founder.


    That Oba-san was called the ¡®Taker by the roots¡¯ in her young days and is considered a legendary ss hero.


    ¡°Ba-chan be the hero seven generations back-dasu yo. The previous earth hero be my cousin, Yoneko-neechan-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Heh~, what kind of person is she? This is just in case but, is she good at fighting?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°She marriedst year and retired-dasu. I be selected as her recement-dasu. But if I remember correctly, Yoneko-neechan be expecting her third child to be born soon, so I don¡¯t think she can swing around a weapon-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ........


    ...........Hm?


    ¡°Eh? Wait a moment. You said that she marriedst year, and yet, she is expecting a third baby? The math doesn¡¯t match here though?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That be the production capability of Ishtar ze, be what Ba-chan said-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Does that also fall in the category of production?!


    Well, there¡¯s also the possibility that it is simply Sasae-chan¡¯s misunderstanding. That chance is a lot higher than any others, so let¡¯s just leave it aside for now.


    ¡°Hyue, what about your ce? .......But well, we all already know who the previous wind hero was huh. The Wind Founder, Toreido Shiva-dono.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s right. The Wind Church not that long ago had Shiva be the Wind Founder as well as the wind hero.


    But because of the fight with the Wind Demon Lord Raphael, Shiva received damage in his whole body that was impossible to recover from and had to retire; and so, his little sister Hyue became the new hero.


    Shiva who is now concentrating fully on being a Founder is not in a state where he can fight anymore, and most of all, he wouldn¡¯t take the side opposing the Hero Alliance.


    Looking at it in this way, there should be no worries about the wind hero at all, but...


    ¡°...No, it mighte...that person.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Hyue seemed to be muttering something with a scary mood.


    ¡°In that case, it will be a fight to determine the superior huh. Just what I wanted.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue began to caress her wind gun as sheughed ¡®kukukuku¡¯.


    What¡¯s with that? It is scary.


    ¡°A-At any rate, it might be a stupid fight, but that¡¯s exactly why we can¡¯t lose. Using this as a chance, we will wipe out the unrestful elements in the human side, and next, it will connect to the fight with the Mother Monsters!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Yees!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Everyone raised their fists at the speech of Yorishiro.


    ***


    After half a month, the details of the match between the new and old heroes, that has been approved by all the five Churches, had been announced.


    The participants in the previous hero team are: the previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates; the previous fire hero, Abi Kyouka; previous water hero, Ra Sarasa; the previous earth hero ¡®leg hunter¡¯ Iemon Yoneko; and the wind hero that was discharged while still active, Brastor Juo.


    And so, in the case that the previous heroes win, what they want to achieve is...the dissolution of the Hero Alliance and to retract the reconciliation of the five Churches. Moreover, the resignation of all the current heroes and Founders.

 Chapter 182-185 - High Risk

    <h4>Chapter 182-185: High Risk</h4>


    ¡°Oi oi, what the hell is this?!¡± (Haine)


    At the appointed day of the match.


    After checking out the details of the current heroes versus previous heroes that was announced, I raised my voice. It was a shout that was close to a scream.


    ¡°[If the previous heroes win, all the current heroes and Founders will resign]. It is just as it is written.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The Light Founder, Yorishiro, speaks back with a carefree face.


    ¡°Well, in a sense, it was expected. The people that are utilizing the previous heroes are nning on stopping the young ones of the five Churches. It is a matter of course that they would take action towards the current heroes and the Founders that are pressing forward in their endeavour.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that as if it¡¯s nothing! Even you won¡¯t be able to stay as a Founder anymore, you know?!¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s only if Karen-san and the others lose though.


    The match that is supposed to take ce today between the current heroes team and previous heroes team; it is something that originated due to the Hero Alliance that Karen-san was thinking of forming.


    A Hero Alliance that has the objective of having the heroes that have been against each other until now to cooperate with each other in order to defeat the monsters.


    That n surpassed what the creator of that very idea -Karen-san- expected, and was about to develop into the main reason for the Churches itself to reconcile.


    However, when you want to change something that has existed for a long time, there will definitely be people who will oppose it.


    The measure that those people took was ¡®utilize the previous heroes¡¯.


    As they are the past heroes, their heads still have the confrontational ideologies of the past. On top of that, the current heroes are in a senior junior rtionship with them which is a hard to exin factor. Meaning that, they are the worst kind of opponents.


    And so, it has been decided that the match will be taking ce between the current heroes (the pro-reconciliation side) and the previous heroes (the contra-reconciliation side). That¡¯s today.


    The side that wins will shut up the side that loses; that¡¯s the kind of match it should have been. However, what was announced after the half a month of preparation was that the reward of the winner would be...to put it in other words, the penalty of the defeated was so harsh it surpassed by a lot what I expected.


    ¡°In the case the previous heroes win, the current heroes and Founders will all resign.¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and Hyue won¡¯t be able to stay as heroes. And Yorishiro will also be expelled from her position as Founder.


    The rules in this match were decided in a meeting with all the churches, and were settled with deliberation, apparently.


    Of course, the ones who came out with the crazy rule of ¡®everyone will resign¡¯ were no doubt the contra-reconciliation side.


    They proposed it and managed to push it through.


    Doesn¡¯t this mean that the contra-reconciliation side one upped Yorishiro?!


    ¡°Calm down, Haine.¡± (Shiva)


    Saying so, the Wind Founder and Wind God, Toreido Shiva, pacifies me.


    ¡°Do you think this woman is so cute as to get defeated right at the get go? ¡®Make them think they have won, and then have them walk the path of destruction¡¯, that¡¯s the most basic method of schemers.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°This time, our political objective is to sniff out all the contra forces that are in the church without leaving a single one. In order to do that, there¡¯s the need to provide a delicious bait. So that even thest one hiding will want toe out from the shadows.¡± (Shiva)


    The exnation of Shiva made Yorishiro go ¡®fufufu¡¯.


    So that¡¯s how it was?


    ¡°But the people that were raising a ruckus in the meeting were simply small fries. There¡¯s the need to drag the people, that control those small fries and the previous heroes, out from the shadows. In order to do that, I am willing to ce my neck as the price.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I was totally dragged into it though.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva clicked his tongue with an expression speaking a thousandins, but Yorishiro simply smiled.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t the case, right? This time¡¯s n benefits all the five Churches. People that try to pull the leg of the ones that are going to create ambitious feats can be found anywhere after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Our Wind Church is different from you guys¡¯ ces; it is already united. Even in the reconciliation, there was not a single one who was against it!¡± (Shiva)


    It ispletely beside the point, but Shiva still snaps at the weirdest of ces.


    ¡°Now now, don¡¯t be like that, Wind Founder.¡±


    And another person speaks; the Earth Founder Oba-san.


    ¡°Ya see, in mah ce, everyone prostrated and implored me to be the Founder. In that way, ya could say that they all be a monolith. As a countryside, we really be enclosed, ya see. Even if we be told to suddenly get along with outside people...I would want there to be one more push in order to convince them, ya know.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°And you are saying this time¡¯s match will be the push that¡¯s needed?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°For that sake, I dragged out Yoneko by force after all.¡± (Oba-san)


    The reason why the earth hero, that wasn¡¯t supposed to participate, is participating now is because of this person huh.


    The Water Founder joins.


    ¡°It is embarrassing to say, but our ce is in the same state as the Light; aplete mess. Especially the household that Sarasa-san married into. It is an influential force in the financial world and are in a standing that makes it possible for them to aim for the standing of Water Founder. This one can¡¯t help but smell a conspiracy here.¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡±


    The Fire Founder is apologizing for the arbitrary actions of his disciple. Must be talking about the previous fire hero, Kyouka.


    In the end, a second Founders Conference is taking ce today. Well, their own heads are at stake here, so it is a given.


    ¡°.....¡±


    I already felt listless, so I turned on my heels.


    ¡°Ara, where are you going, Haine-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I will check out on how Karen-san and the others are doing before the match.¡± (Haine)


    ***


    While I was in the middle of heading to the waiting room of Karen-san and the others, I met a familiar face.


    The Light Church¡¯s Aurora Knight corps General, Zeberfon Dobbe.


    He shows clear hostility every time we meet.


    ¡°You poisonous insect nesting in our church. It looks like today will be your death inauguration.¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    I remember the words of Yorishiro just a few moments ago.


    ¡®The people making a ruckus are all small fries¡¯ huh.


    ¡°Today, the Light Church will return to its pure and glorious state. The Founder and hero that disturbs order like crazy will be gone, and the poisonous insect that is you will be eliminated. And then, the Light Church will regain its original form!¡±


    ¡°...Did you finish the reformation n that Yorishiro asked you to make?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wa?! ..........S-Something like that doesn¡¯t matter! The very person that ordered it will soon be kicked out from her position as Founder after all!¡±


    He still hasn¡¯t done it yet?


    How much time do you think has passed since then. He truly is ipetent.


    The contra side. Without even trying to, I was able to actually feel its existence, and this time, I will be heading to the ce where the people who will be fighting against them are.


    How are the current heroes doing now that there¡¯s only one hour till the match begins?


    With the intentions of also encouraging them, I decided on checking out how they were doing in the waiting room where they were in standby at.


    ***


    It was in a funeral state.


    ¡°Hah......what¡¯s with that? If we lose, the heroes are fired?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is this a variety show or something?! Don¡¯t go deciding so easily on the course of a hero~~!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°This be the moment that one more anecdote will be added to my legend-dasu!! And yet, I didn¡¯t hear at all that Yoneko-neechan would be taking part too-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    If these heroes lose, they are fired.


    It looks like that reality had hit them harder than expected.


    Mirack, Celestis, and Sasae-chan were in an orz position on the floor and were not moving from there at all.


    ¡°W-What¡¯s with you girls?! It hasn¡¯t been decided yet that you will be fired, right? It is fine if you just win!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You say it as if it¡¯s easy, but it isn¡¯t!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack raged.


    ¡°This is no boasting, but I haven¡¯t won a single time against Sis Kyouka before! And that shame of having my panties torn off every time I lost¡ª!! If she were to do that in the eyes of the public...!¡± (Mirack)


    The heart of the fire hero waspletely broken.


    A sister disciple rtionship is truly troublesome huh.


    ¡°At any rate, we have no choice but to fight.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san alone stout-heartedly cheered up everyone.


    ¡°Just like Yorishiro-sama said, this fight is an unavoidable fight that we must win in order to achieve our biggest objective. For the sake of eradicating monsters and leading the world into peace. Also, in order for our union to not be pointless, we can¡¯t run away. We have no choice but to win!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ooh~~.....¡± ¡°Oooh~~.....¡± ¡°Ooooh~....dasu¡±


    There¡¯s no strength in the response!


    I am getting even more preupied?!


    ¡°I am sorry Karen-san. I would like to be of help here somehow but...¡± (Haine)


    And in reality, there¡¯s nothing I can do in this fight.


    As the incarnation of the Dark God, I have done my best to make the world a better ce, but when ites to official problems like this, I end up being powerless.


    But Karen-san is always positive.


    ¡°It is alright. This is fight that we heroes have to take ourselves. That¡¯s why we have to ovee it ourselves. Ates-san and the other previous heroes are basically the old conventions taking form to attack us. If we don¡¯t break through them, we won¡¯t be able to create a new system and era!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was determined. That is the very form of the person that pulls the Hero Alliance.


    ¡°Haine-chi, if you want us to win no matter what, you can promise ¡®I will kiss you if you win¡¯ and Karen-chi¡¯s overall parameters will go up by three times more, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis who was prostrated on the floor in despair said this.


    ¡°Celestis-chan, stop it! Haine-san, I am looking forward to it!¡± (Karen)


    Which is it, Karen-san?


    But if this will only boost the motivation of Karen-san, the other four will still have their despairing state...


    ¡°Mirack-chi, Mirack-chi, I have discovered something incredible.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...What?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°When lying down on the floor like this, we can peek at Karen-chi¡¯s panties as much as we want.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What? Seriously?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack, who was lying down depressed, was told this by Celestis who was lying face up on the floor and it made Mirack¡¯s mood slightly better.


    ¡°Stop it.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is wearing a skirt today.


    ¡°Also, we are nning on moving a lot today, so I wore a shorts underneath my skirt. Don¡¯t go lying, Celestis-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand, Karen-chi. Whether it is shorts or pantyless, it doesn¡¯t matter. There¡¯s romance in looking at the hidden domain that is the inside of a skirt.¡± (Celestis)


    At any rate, it was already a mess.


    If there¡¯s another person we can rely on, it would have to be...the wind hero, Hyue. But where is she?


    I haven¡¯t felt her presence for a while now though.


    I tried looking around, and I found her standing still at a corner of the room.


    It looks like she is cleaning her gun, En no Ozuno, andughing ¡®kukuku¡¯. How scary.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter with Hyue? Why does she have such a horrifying atmosphere?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know... She has been like this all this time since the names of our opponents were announced.¡± (Karen)


    Names of the opponents?


    Now that I think about it, there was an unfamiliar name in the previous wind hero line that I thought would be vacant.


    ¡°...To think I would have the chance to kick the ass of that person in this kind of ce.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hiiih?!¡±


    What¡¯s wrong, Hyue-san?! You are scary!


    ¡°Everyone!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-san stands up proudly!


    ¡°This is a battle that will decide the rise or fall of the Hero Alliance! In order to show our justice, let¡¯s do our best and ughter all the annoying past heroes!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°We can¡¯t kill them, okay?!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    But the unexpected roar of Hyue had everyone retort.


    ¡°Right. Staying here in low spirits won¡¯t help at all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This is already our era. Let¡¯s teach that to Oba-san and the others.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Defeat them before we get defeated-dasu! That be the survival of the fittest, that be the irond rule to survive in this world-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The three that were prostrated on the floor stand up with strength gathered in their limbs.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it, everyone! Let¡¯s show the previous heroes our strength!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san chimedst, and all five shouted in determination.


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°OOOOOOOOHHHH!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°-DASU!¡±


    No matter what¡¯s said, they all have ovee many life-or-death situations together. Their teamwork is excellent.


    Worrying more than this would be unnecessary.


    Thinking this, I left just like that and decided on leaving it to them.


    ***


    This time, I really might end up simply watching.


    Those girls are strong. They should be able to ovee their own difficulties.


    Let¡¯s obediently return to where the Founders are...is what I thought but...


    ¡°..........¡±


    I thought this, and yet, my legs were directed at a different direction.


    At the direction where the waiting room of the enemy of Karen-san and the others are, the previous heroes team.


    Why did Ie here?


    I think this as I stand in front of the door of the waiting room.


    Of course, even if I say waiting room, it isn¡¯t the waiting room of the current heroes team where I had visited Karen-san and the others just a few moments ago.


    It is the waiting room of the previous heroes that are the opponents in this match.


    Will this turn into an inspection of the enemy¡¯s movements?


    There¡¯s nothing I can gain from doing that, but as expected, I can¡¯t hold down the feeling that I want to do something for them.


    ¡°...¡±


    I breath deeply once, and knock on the door.


    A satisfying *knock, knock, knock* sound rang.


    ¡°Yes~, you can enter~.¡±


    I heard the voice of someone on the other side saying it is okay to enter, so I open the door.


    ¡°Sorry for the intrusion~~.¡± (Haine)


    What weed me the moment I entered the room was...a fully exposed breast.


    ¡°What?!!¡± (Haine)


    There was a woman that had a breast exposed in the waiting room.


    It is a person I have seen for the first time, and should be around her mid-twenties. It can be said to be the standard age of a previous hero but, why does she have a breast exposed?!


    ...Wait, there¡¯s a baby nibbling on that breast.


    I see, she is breastfeeding!


    Sorry for being upied~. But babies don¡¯t care about the matters of adults, ya see~. When they hungry, they will make a ruckus, and I gotta bring out my breast~.¡±


    ¡°A-And who are you?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ara, excuse my rudeness. I bete in my introductions~. I be the previous earth hero, Iemon Yoneko.¡± (Yoneko)


    This person is...the earth hero that came before Sasae-chan.


    Her whole body is well-rounded, and even though she is in her mid-twenties, she already has the atmosphere of a mother.


    She is always showing a happy-looking smile, and she actually looks more like Mother Earth than Mantle herself.


    ¡°Uhm...sorry! I intruded while you were in the middle of something...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine~. Yer Haine-san, right? Sobo-chan told me that ya be the savior of Ishtar ze, and I can¡¯t neglect my respect~. Don¡¯t mind something like this. This little one be simply eatin¡¯ his meal~.¡± (Yoneko)


    The spirit of a mother!


    R-Right. This is the meal of the baby, so the very thought of thinking about it in a perverted way is rude!


    ¡°No, uhm...It was surprising that you would be participating in this asion! I heard that you wouldn¡¯t be participating after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well, when the notice of Sobo-chan came, it be just the time when this little one had been born, ya see. I lost all reason to refuse~.¡± (Yoneko)


    The baby must have filled himself up. He lets go of his mouth. Yoneko-san covers her breast with practiced hand, and makes the baby let out a burb.


    If I remember correctly, she is the cousin of Sasae-chan. In that case, the ¡®Sobo-chan¡¯ she is talking about must be the same as Sasae-chan, the current Earth Founder ¡®Taker by the Roots¡¯.


    A woman that possesses the same blood of the strongest hero.


    Based on the information of Sasae-chan, she was apparently unable to participate because she was pregnant, but it looks like she had already given birth. So that¡¯s why she ended up participating huh.


    ¡°Hmph, it is just before a battle, and yet, it is so noisy it is annoying.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The people of the Earth Church are trulycking grace and are noisy.¡± (Sarasa)


    From the deep part of the room, I heard theining voices of the previous fire hero Kyouka and the previous water hero Sarasa.


    Ipletely didn¡¯t notice them because of the shocking Mother Earth-level breasts, but these people were also here huh.


    ¡°What weird people~. It be obvious that children are noisy. If yain on things like that all the time, ya can¡¯t be proper mothers, ya know~?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°What did you say?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Are you picking a fight?¡± (Sarasa)


    The fire and water were seething in anger, but the earth was also releasing pressure that didn¡¯t lose to theirs.


    ¡°I simply said what¡¯s obvious, ya know~. In the first ce, the fact that ya haven¡¯t gotten pregnant a single time even though ya already be older than twenty is something impossible to think of in mah countryside. Ya would need to be quite the ugly ones~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Earth woman, whose only trait is to give birth like a rabbit, do you have enough strength as a hero topensate for that big mouth of yours?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Right. I am beginning to feel like it would be best to shut you up first before dealing with the conceited juniors!¡± (Sarasa)


    Kyouka and Sarasa take a battle stance. On the other hand, Yoneko-san looks like she is also fully intending to confront them.


    They are on really bad terms! As I thought, the previous heroes don¡¯t get along at all!


    ¡°Stop.¡±


    At that moment, a hoarse voice was hurled out. The sharpness of that tone stopped the bloodthirst of the previous heroes.


    ¡°Sobo-chan?!¡± (Yoneko)


    The one who appeared was the Earth Founder Oba-san.


    This very person is someone who trampled in a past that is even farther away than the women here. Due to the presence of their great senior, not only her granddaughter Yoneko-san, even Sarasa and Kyouka stiffened.


    ¡°Yoneko, the reason why I called ya here was not to have ya fight in a ce like this. Understand yer own role.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°I know~, Sobo-chan.¡± (Yoneko)


    Her words may sound obedient, but she is puckering her lips a hell lot.


    ¡°Ya two as well, ya must have yer own circumstances, but today, ya be members that will be fighting¡¯ together today-sa ne. Can¡¯t ya get together a bit?¡± (Oba-chan)


    ¡°Get together, you say?! Don¡¯t joke around!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka roars as she stands.


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand, Earth Founder! My objective is to beat into shape my weakling of a junior. The team battle was something that was decided on their own convenience! I don¡¯t have a single shred of an intention to get along with this bunch!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°I have no intentions of getting along with the enemy. Being a team battle is just in form; we will be doing our own thing.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°In the first ce, I don¡¯t know if this is a waiting room or whatever, but why do I have to be ced in the same room as these people?! Just breathing the same air as these people is displeasing!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The Light and Wind ones were not here from the very beginning, and yet, I feel like an idiot for faithfully staying here. I will be rxing in a different room right now.¡± (Sarasa)


    Saying this, Kyouka and Sarasa left the room angered.


    ¡°I be relieved that they are gone now~. If I be close to such widows, it would be bad for the education of this child.¡± (Yoneko)


    No well, at the very least, Sarasa-san seems to be married though...


    ¡°Can¡¯t even be described as not getting along.¡± (Oba-san)


    The Earth Founder Oba-san says with a troubled tone.


    ¡°But that be the original shape of the five Churches-sa ne. For several centuries, we been fighting each other and stealing each other¡¯s profits. It be the same in my active days. Will this turn into a passing disorder, or will a new standard arise; the answer to that will be decided by this match.¡± (Oba-san)


    Saying this, the Oba-san took the baby that Yoneko-san was carrying.


    ¡°Now, ya go prepare as well. I be watching over this child. That¡¯s why I came here after all.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Good grief. Sobo-chan is so pushy and arbitrary~. But it be really okay to seriously aim to crush Sasae-chan?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Yeah. If she gets crushed there, it just means she only amounted to that much-sa ne. Don¡¯t be going easy on them, Yoneko. This fight be showing the whole world the true worth of those girls after all.¡± (Oba-chan)


    Is it like the beasts that push their children to the depths of a valley?


    As always, the things that the Earth Church do are scary.


    ...So, in the end, I practically didn¡¯t say anything since the moment I came to this room.


    At any rate, the bad rtionship between the previous heroes was clear.


    They think of themselves as being way too strong, can¡¯t acknowledge each other, and can¡¯t even stay in the same room. That¡¯s why they can¡¯t forgive the rtionship of the current heroes, and are trying to crush them.


    As a result, what came out was the match between the current heroes vs the previous heroes.


    With the match about to begin, the stadium was already filled with more than thousands of spectators.


    ¡°To think that they would be fighting in front of such a big audience!¡± (Haine)


    The Founders were sitting in the noble area in order to spectate, and I was also mixed in that group.


    I was inly surprised by the amount of people.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t put things to an end in the eyes of the public, it won¡¯t serve as proof after all. The contra side also agreed to this-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro says as she smiles. Even though the Founders will be made to resign if they lose.


    Is this a disy that she has confidence they certainly won¡¯t lose?


    But the reason of this big prosperity of people is not only because it is a sh between the old and new heroes. It is also because of the location of the stadium.


    This is the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis.


    The Wind nation that had been clouded in mystery for many years has, for the first time, opened their gates to the public.


    The audience seats are filled with people from the Earth, Water, Fire, and Light nations that were burning with curiosity.


    ¡°I am grateful for the Wind Founder-sama¡¯s sponsorship in this-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro looks at the Wind Founder Shiva that is sitting at her side and says this.


    ¡°The Wind Church has changed their policy of secrecy, so we will be having a lot of information exchanges, and you will be profiting plenty by selling the license fees of the ethereal technology knowledge that you have gathered up until now. Will today¡¯s fight be your first big step in publicity?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hope this won¡¯t be myst day as a Founder though.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva deftly evades the probing of Yorishiro.


    This economic treat is also an important factor that the contra reconciliation side want to get their hands on in this old and new heroes match.


    They are pulling strings here and there.


    It looks like the fight is about to begin.


    A young woman, that seems to be the announcer, makes an entrance at the center of the stage.


    ¡°I¡¯m d to see you all gathered here today!! A battle that will be carving its mark in history is about to take ce right here!! The heroes of the five Grand Churches; their current and previous heroes are divided in enemies and allies, and are going to be shing!!¡±


    The announcer exined the details of the sequence of events that led to this match. About the pro and contra reconciliation sides¡¯ confrontation, and the current and previous heroes representing them in this match.


    ¡°If the current heroes win, a new era will begin; if the previous heroes win, the era will be maintained the same! This is truly the turning point of history! Everyone, watch over this fight today, and be the witnesses of history!!¡±


    The audience responds with a thunderous ¡®Oooo!!¡¯


    I feel as if it has been a festive mood this whole time. Is it my imagination?


    ¡°Well then, before the fight begins, let¡¯s have a special guest liven up the ce!!¡±


    A special guest?


    ¡°In the past, this demon intimidated the Fire capital, Muspelheim, but now, it is a mascot that¡¯s loved by everyone!! The Fire Cow Phris hase here to y with us in this Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis~!!¡±


    For some reason, a familiar cow had run onto the stage and was running here and there doing its greetings.


    The audience reacted greatly to that.


    Many were cries of happiness, and there were ces that went ¡®Kyaaa!! How cuteee!¡¯ and some that cheered.


    In response, the Fire Cow Phris lifted up its front legs high up and sends out one more greeting.


    ¡°What in the world is he doing?¡± (Haine)


    The natural question that came out from me was answered by Yorishiro sitting beside me.


    ¡°I asked the Fire Church to bring him here. The Fire Cow Phris that the previous hero lost against it and the current hero who won against it; he is the most clearest representation of the superiority between the old and the new. By disying it before the fight, it will stir up the enemy side even more-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    No, even if that¡¯s the case...! Why the hell is he fawning like crazy without any hesitation...


    And as expected, even the incarnation of the Wind God Quasar, Shiva, noticed it too.


    ¡°Wa...that cow, could it be...¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Must be your imagination-desu wa.¡±


    ¡°But...those soul waves...I feel like I have felt them before...!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it.¡± ¡°There are things that have no point in minding-desu wa.¡±


    That¡¯s right. I won¡¯t mind it.


    I won¡¯t mind that he is a mere shadow of the former Fire God Nova that tried to burn the surface world in the past!


    ***


    The performance finished, and this time for sure, the match was about to begin.


    The announcerdy once again exins the format of the match.


    ¡°The match will be a fight of five against five. It is a fight where the 10 old and new heroes will be jumbled up at the same time. Under certain conditions, it will be judged whether they are unable to continue the fight, and the one who wipes out the other side first will be the winner!!¡±


    Immediately after the exnation, several entrance gates open around the stage.


    5 entrance gates in total are arranged at the outer edge of the stage, and if we were to connect the 5 entrances with lines, you would be able to draw a perfect pentagon.


    ¡°An impartial raffle took ce with the old and new heroes, and with that, it was decided from which entrance they would being out from!¡±


    Hm?


    But there were five entrance gates opened in the stage. The current heroes have five and the previous heroes have five, so there¡¯s a total of ten.


    Aren¡¯t the numbersckingpletely?


    ¡°From each entrance gate, there will be one old hero and one new hero. In other words, two heroes will being from one entrance gate at the same time! Once they have entered, the match will begin!¡±


    Words of ¡®I see¡¯ were let out at the seats in the area after that exnation.


    ¡°This is a n to hype up the match by adding a random factor to it-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm? What do you mean by that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Earth, water, fire, wind, and light; in this fight where these five elements will be jumbled together, the usage of the elemental affinities will be the key to victory.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Elements have their forte and weakness.


    Fire wins against wind, water wins against fire, earth wins against water, wind wins against earth, and light has slight advantage against all four elements.


    That rule has affected the battles we have had until now a lot of times.


    ¡°Especially so in this fight. Avoiding the element that is disadvantageous for themselves, they have to attack the element they are advantageous against. The ones who manage to do that are the ones who will control the battle.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°True.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Those entrance gates will be the highest denominator in this fight of elemental affinities. If it¡¯s just like the announcer exined, and the heroes thate out from the doors were decidedpletely randomly...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Two people wille out from one entrance. Moreover, the two will be of opposing sides.


    In that case, the ones whoe out together will no doubt end up fighting with each other right from the beginning.


    Whether that opponent is an advantageous elemental affinity or a disadvantageous one will be decided by luck huh.


    Of course, this is a team match, so even if theye out together with an opponent whose element they are weak against, they can group up with theirrades, and if it¡¯s the contrary, they can pin down the opponent they are in an advantage against and defeat them.


    So we would be able to enjoy those kinds of strategic moves huh.


    I now understand the objective of this setup.


    I wonder which will be the sets that will being out from those entrances!!


    ¡°?!! What?!!¡± (Haine)


    First entrance gate: current fire hero Mirack and the previous water hero Sarasa.


    Second entrance gate: current water hero Celestis and the previous earth hero Yoneko.


    Third entrance gate: current wind hero Hyue and the previous fire hero Kyouka.


    Fourth entrance gate: current earth hero Sasae-chan and...what¡¯s with that unkempt hair woman?!


    No, what¡¯s more important is that, excluding the fifth entrance gate where Karen-san and Ates came out from, all the current heroes have gotten into a pairing that is overwhelmingly disadvantageous!!


    ¡°Well then, match begin!!¡±

 Chapter 186-187 - Trap

    <h4>Chapter 186-187: Trap</h4>


    ¡°What the hell is this?!¡±


    Before the team match, the positions of the participants were decided at random as a side show, but... aren¡¯t they all paired up in a way that would make it a disadvantage for all the current heroes?!


    Mirack¡¯s fire is going against the previous water hero Sarasa that extinguishes it; Celestis¡¯ water is going against the previous earth hero Yoneko that absorbs it; Hyue¡¯s wind is going against the previous fire hero that disturbs it; and Sasae-chan¡¯s earth is going against the wind that dries it...who is that?


    At any rate, with this, aside from the light heroes that have no weaknesses to mention, every current hero has been pitted against all the elements they are weak against.


    Everyone was spread on the stage facing their respective ¡®random¡¯ opponents.


    ¡°It is incredibly unlikely something like this could happen, but there¡¯s still the chance.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What are you being so easygoing about this?! It is clearly the doing of someone!¡± (Haine)


    The highest possibility is the contra-reconciliation side that wants to bring down the current heroes and Founders.


    They are doing whatever means possible to be the new political power. Without minding that what they are doing is underhanded and cowardly.


    But there¡¯s no way I would forgive that!


    I will find them this instant and choke them¡ª!


    ¡°?!!¡±


    I was going to stand up, but Yorishiro grabbed my hand.


    ¡°Take your seat.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Her tone gave no room for a no.


    ¡°You are not the one fighting, it is those girls. Look at the expression of those girls. Even if they have been cheated on, do you think those are expressions of people that have given up right from the beginning?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Being prompted by Yorishiro, I strain my eyes towards the battle stage.


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and Hyue had stiffened faces because of the disadvantageous situation, but there¡¯s no sign of them having given up.


    ¡°Ku...¡±


    I groan in their ce; for those girls that can¡¯t even voice out theirins in the battlefield.


    ***


    ¡°Everyone! Converge!¡± (Celestis)


    Seeing the situation, the first one to shout was Celestis.


    ¡°Fighting in a one vs one just like this is a definite no! We will gather at once and make it a melee fight! In terms of teamwork, we are the ones in the advantage!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Ou!¡± ¡°Understood!¡± Dasu!¡±


    The role of decision making in an emergency situation is taken by the most weakest builded one out of all the five heroes, Celestis.


    This time¡¯smand was precise, but it is exactly because themand was precise that the enemy would get in the way.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you do it~.¡±


    The one who blocked Celestis when she was trying to run to the center of the battle stage was the previous earth hero, Iemon Yoneko.


    Her plump body that would make you think that she is Mother Earth had be a wall standing in the way of Celestis.


    ¡°This is the first time we meet. I will at least introduce myself. I was the earth hero, name¡¯s Yoneko~. In my active days, I was called ¡®Leg Hunter¡¯~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Saying so, Yoneko-san takes out what seems to be a personal divine tool of hers, a scythe.


    Compared to the earth scythe of Sasae-chan, this one is pretty small, and it was as if it was a normal sickle.But for a normal scythe, it was quite thick and the length of its de was big. Its fearsomeness was prominent.


    ¡°Earth Scythe, Magd~~. But too bad~, to think I will be takin¡¯ the legs of such a loving girl~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°To think that I would have to hunt them!!¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san lowered her body as if crawling on the ground, and attacks Celestis with a posture as if she were a cat.


    ¡°Hiwawawawa!! What¡¯s this?!¡± (Celestis)


    If the one being attacked wasn¡¯t Celestis, it would have most likely ended with that one attack.


    The scythe¡¯s de that was basically licking the ground with super-low altitude headed directly at the legs of Celestis as if trying to reap them off, but she jumped by a hair¡¯s breadth and managed to evade it.


    ¡°You! [Water Rage]!¡± (Celestis)


    At the same time as she dodged, she countered with a water bullet. However, Yoneko-san received it with her scythe as she turned around and easily broke the water bullet into small droplets.


    ¡°Uwaa?!¡±


    ¡°This is the elemental affinity~.¡± (Yoneko)


    That¡¯s right. This fight is paired up in a way where our side is practically all in an overwhelming disadvantage.


    Even in the other fights...


    ¡°Right Fire Fist, Fernando! Left Fire Fist, Prius! Both fists make up the Twin Fire Fists!¡± (Kyouka)


    Previous fire hero, Abi Kyouka.


    Both of her hands were equipped with divine tool knuckles. These steel knuckles, that would originally cover the fists with their toughness and would pulverize the punched enemy, had be a divine tool that controls fire in the hands of the fire hero. Moreover, the current hero Mirack only has one fire fist equipped in her left hand, and yet, the previous hero Kyouka has them in both hands?!


    ¡°These two fire dragons that are released from these two fire fists! If you consider them the same as that paleparison of Mirack, you will get instantly burned to death! Better resist frantically, person from the Wind!!¡± (Kyouka)


    The one confronting Kyouka is the wind hero Hyue.


    She was shooting air bullets without rest from her wind gun, En no Ozuno, but they all hit the swirling fire tornado that has Kyouka at its center.


    Wind¡¯s affinity against fire is originally terrible. Even so, with the sniping level of Hyue, it should be possible for her to shoot through the slight openings that the fire dragons have and snipe Kyouka.


    But even in the time it takes to travel through those small openings, the air bullets were rendered powerless by the fire divine power that was filling the air.


    That is the elemental affinity.


    Moreover...


    ¡°How noisy. The idiots of the Fire are all noisy to a tiring extent. What about you?¡± (Sarasa)


    Mirack vs the previous water hero, Sarasa.


    The affinity goes without saying.


    ¡°...Ku.¡±


    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s screaming, please go ahead and raise it even if it is noisy. Scream by the hands of the water dance of my divine tool, Water Folding Fan, Dahyu.¡± (Sarasa)


    The folding fan that is unfolded right in front of Sarasa¡¯s face, that was her divine tool?


    ¡°This folding fan is made from the same material as the Miki-Moses of Celestis-san. Well, that girl utilizes her weapon as it is without any sort of improvement, but me, by properly fixating the end part of it, I can do something like...this!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa swings her folding fan horizontally, and from there, a line-shaped thing flew out. Mirack reacted to it by crouching.


    ¡°Uooo?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Good good. If you weren¡¯t able to properly avoid it, you would be split in two by now. This is what¡¯s released from the water folding fan, Dahyu, the ¡®Water de¡¯. A high water pressure cutter. Such a sharp water pressure can¡¯t be made by a fluttery cloth like the Miki-Moses.¡± (Sarasa)


    Due to the problem of affinity, the fire wall was easily cut in two by the water de. The only method left for Mirack was to avoid.


    They are steadily being cornered.


    ¡°Everyone is managing to immediately utilize properly the divine tools that were bestowed once again to them. Should I say, as expected?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    The words that Yorishiro spoke out bothered me.


    ¡°Originally, no matter how good humans are at controlling their divine power, they themselves are unable to make divine power attacks without assistance. The reason they are able to is thanks to the divine tools.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I have heard about that much before.


    The divine tools are made from minerals that are particr to their respective church, and -to describe it in short words- are divine power amplifiers.


    They resonate with the divine power that the wielder releases and amplifies it several times over before shooting it out, so humans are able to use divine power in battle.


    By the way, the minerals that resonate with each element are already settled, and only the elements designated are able to resonate with them.


    That¡¯s why, for example, the Light Church has the Holy Sword Saint-George that only resonates with light divine power, and the Aurora Knight corps use light swords which are only provided to people that have the aptitude for light element.


    ¡°The hero and thebatants that work under that church are obligated to return their own divine tools to the church when they retire. It would be troublesome if they were to act violently with their divine power even when they have retired from the church after all. But the previous heroes were temporarily lend the divine tools they used in their active days for this asion.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And those are the divine tools that Yoneko-san, Kyouka, and Sarasa are currently using huh.


    ¡°Every generation, the divine tools of each hero are order-made, but this might be the first time that the old and new divine tools and heroes sh-desu wa ne. I can¡¯t begin to imagine what will happen.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ***


    It is certain that they are being steadily cornered.


    Celestis, Hyue, and Mirack are being cornered into an overwhelmingly disadvantageous situation.


    The earth hero, Gonbee Sasae.


    Her opponent is someone that...I have never seen before.


    I truly don¡¯t have an inkling as to who it is. But I can say something for certain. She is scary and eerie.


    I can tell that she is a woman, but her unkempt hair extends to around her waist and ispletely hiding her face, and that¡¯s scary. Her posture is also hunchback and that¡¯s scary. She is wearing a one piece that looks like a pajama a person wouldn¡¯t wear in public at all. And that¡¯s scary.


    At any rate, it is scary.


    What¡¯s with that scary woman?!


    ¡°Hiiih!! Scary-dasu!! This person be scary by simply standin¡¯ there-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan is also obviously scared like crazy.


    The audience was also gulping their breath at the scary mood that¡¯sing from that one person in the battle stage.


    At that moment...


    ¡°Sasae-dono! Be careful! That person is dangerous!¡± (Hyue)


    It was the wind hero Hyue.


    Even though she herself is having a hard time, she desperately gave advice to herrade.


    ¡°Hyue-neechan! Ta call me with honorifics as well, ya really be kind-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That woman is Brastor Jui! A wind hero that had her title revoked!¡± (Hyue)


    So she is the remaining mysterious one.


    ¡°She is actually the greatest researcher in the Wind Church. She is skilled at both divine power and ethereal matters, and she even gave birth to a new theory! Due to this, she reached the spot of wind hero, but she didn¡¯t try to do her duty properly and was always shut in her research room, and in the end, her hero title was revoked. She has quite the history!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What the hell be that?! I never heard of a shut in hero-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Really, what¡¯s with that person?


    ¡°But her skills are the real deal! To think that she woulde to the outside¡ªUwaaa!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue is also being attacked by the previous fire hero she has the worst affinity against, and is by no means in an easy situation.


    Sasae-chan and the wind hero proxy, Juo, re at each other.


    ¡°S-Scary-dasu~~! Only this side be horrific-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    I feel like Juo had smiled behind that unkempt hair of hers. And at the same time as that happened, a number of falling sounds on the floor were heard.


    When I noticed, there were several ck ball-looking things at the feet of Juo.


    ¡°What be those balls-dasu? Eggs-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    Are you saying Juo gave birth to them?


    The ck balls seem to be of metallic property, and there¡¯s around 12 in total.


    Those balls suddenly cracked open at its center. And then, what came out were propellers that looks like those of bamboo-copters and began rotating. Several tens of balls began to fly into the sky at once.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand anything at all for a while now-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan had fallen into confusion.


    An exnation came flying from Hyue once again.


    ¡°There¡¯s two schools in the Wind Gun techniques! The first school is twin-style gun that specializes in mid-range marksmanship and close-quartersbat. The other school is the one I do, the wind long gun techniques that specialize in sniping faraway targets. But that woman, Juo, has created a third school that doesn¡¯t fall into any of the two techniques...that is, the gun rebellion technique!¡± (Hyue)


    Several tens of ck balls fly in the air, and from the newly cracked openings, something that seems to be muzzlese out from it?!


    ¡°...Wind Gun Rebellion...Koumei......go.¡± (Juo)


    For the first time, I hear the fragile voice of Juo.


    But the attacks were not fragile at all, they were a raging gale.


    Several tens of ck balls surround Sasae-chan in the air, and shoot at her from all directions.


    ¡°Uwawawawawawa! Abbu! She nnin¡¯ on making me a beehive-dasu ka yo?!¡± (Sasae)


    Wind Gun Rebellion, Koumei. That is the wind divine tool name of those ck balls huh.


    Equipped with a set of propellers for propulsion and pistols for offensive, the user Juo can send divine power through the air and make it so that she can freely control them even when far away from them. A way of utilization that can only be possible because she is a wind divine power user.


    But to think that she would be able to make them do such borate movements when she is utilizing the air as intermediary.


    Just like what Hyue warned, she is not simply a scary woman.


    ¡°Damn iiiitt!! It be taking my all just to avoid, I can¡¯t get close-dasu yo~~!¡± (Sasae)


    As expected. Because of the elemental affinities, even the earth divine power, that prides on its toughness, is unable to block the wind bullets that are being shot, and she is forced to evade.


    Since those things are using wind bullets, she can¡¯t expect them to run out of bullets.


    Isn¡¯t this a situation that will gradually be worse for Sasae-chan?!


    It is not only Sasae-chan; Celestis, Mirack, and Hyue are in the same state.


    Rather than the factor of being seniors and juniors, they are being pushed back by the disadvantage of elemental affinities, and they have been cornered to the edge of the stage already.


    ¡°Do you get it, Karen-san? This is the limit of you people.¡±


    And so, thest pairing.


    Karen-san and Ates; the one-on-one fight between the old and new light heroes.


    It is the only ce where it is free from the elemental disadvantage, and yet, due to the difference in experience, Ates was in a defensive stance and tiring out Karen-san by deflecting all her attacks.


    ¡°Coward! Just defending all this time, don¡¯t you have any intentions of fighting?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If I wait like this, the others will defeat yourrades. We can just gang up on you after that. That is the most efficient way of winning.¡± (Ates)


    Today, Ates was wearing battle clothes that fits her body perfectly, and in her hand, she wielded a spear.


    ¡°The Light Spear, Kain. As I thought, you really fit in my hand... Oh, I won¡¯t let you go to where yourrades are.¡± (Ates)


    Karen-san tried to run pass Ates¡¯ side, but she was obstructed.


    ¡°I will have you stay here having a staring contest with me for a while longer. Until yourrades are wiped out, that is.¡± (Ates)


    Karen-san was grinding her teeth.


    The silk wadding that was coiled around her neck was slowly tightening.

 Chapter 188-190 - Dial

    <h4>Chapter 188-190: Dial</h4>


    Karen-san makes the holy sword shine.


    ¡°Kuwaa!!¡± (Karen)


    She was desperately trying to somehow break through the defense of Ates and run to help herrades. But no matter how much light she releases from her holy sword, it doesn¡¯t shake the perfect defense of Ates.


    ¡°How unsightly, Karen-san. Making your holy sword sparkle so much is boundlessly vulgar. Do you want to save that much the heroes of the other churches that are your enemies?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°They are not enemies! They arerades that have ovee dangers together!!¡± (Karen)


    She once again makes the holy sword Saint-George shine intensely. However, that sword sh was easily deflected by the tip of Ates¡¯ spear.


    She makes the holy sword shine again.


    ¡°How stubborn!!¡± (Ates)


    On the other hand, the other four were more and more cornered at a critical point.


    ¡°Ugah!!¡± ¡°Hiiiaaaa!!¡± ¡°Kugh!!¡± ¡°Dasu~~!!!¡±


    At some point in time, Mirack, Celestis, Hyue, and Sasae-chan had been cornered at the center of the stage and had be one cluster of people.


    And the previous heroes are encircling them.


    It was as if the four inside and the four outside were drawing a circle.


    In other words, the current heroes have been surrounded by the previous heroes and had nowhere to run.


    ¡°This is as far as you go. It was so one-sided that it was boring.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Truly. I didn¡¯t know our juniors were such let-downs.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°If it be going ta be like this, I didn¡¯t even need ta participate.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°...Hihihi.¡± (Juo)


    What are they saying. They utilized the elemental affinities to one-sidedly attack them.


    ¡°Do you understand now, Mirack?! This is how your naive thinking of cooperation will end up like! Relying on others all the time, you are now paying for not training yourself!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Sis!!¡± (Mirack)


    The big sister is one-sidedly ming the little sister disciple.


    ¡°What¡¯s required from heroes is strength. The strength to wipe out hundreds of monsters on your own. It looks like you, who were ying around as an idol, didn¡¯t even reach that point though.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Sarasa!!¡± (Celestis)


    The gazes between the new and old water heroes were also dangerous.


    The encirclement was also slowly closing.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell ya little chicks~. The meaning of the strength that heroes should possess. There be strength that ya absolutely can¡¯t obtain by depending on others.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Hihihihi~~.¡± (Juo)


    Mirack and the others of the current heroes team had their back against each other and were facing the previous heroes that were approaching them from all sides.


    That formation when seen from above was like the inside circle is made up of the current heroes and the outside circle was made up of the previous heroes.


    ¡°...Thanks for the sermon.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis said.


    ¡°But there¡¯s nothing as saddening as listening to the sermon of idiots.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± (Sarasa)


    Being told such a bold thing, the closing feet of Sarasa stop.


    ¡°Totally agree, Celestis. People that don¡¯t even know where they are standing at and still speak their opinion to others can¡¯t be described as anything but idiots.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack, you bastard!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka also stops her feet at the sharp abusive words of her junior.


    ¡°This must be what they mean by you can¡¯t dress up your teeth huh. I am not that good with words, so I will stay silent.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I pass too-dasu~.¡± (Sasae)


    The four haven¡¯t given up.


    Even when they are cornered in a totally disadvantageous situation...no wait, is this situation really as bad as it seems?


    ¡°Listen well, grannies. The reason why you were able to do as you wished until now was because your elemental affinities were fitting more than perfectly. For your side, that is.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As long as we fought individually, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to overturn that disadvantage. However, now it is different.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Because we four have gathered now after all.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    That¡¯s right, it is exactly because the four were dispersed that they were being suppressed by the badpatibility of their opponent.


    But now that they have been driven to the center and the four are in a cluster, there¡¯s no need to force themselves to fight against the disadvantageous opponent.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed yet? Normally, the moment we ended up in a cluster, you should notice that your turn has already finished. Being drunk in your advantage, you couldn¡¯t even see the battle formation. You are more muscle-heads than I thought!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Enduring has ended. From here on, it is time for...the counterattack!¡± (Celestis)


    The circle of the current heroes made a 180 degrees turn.


    At that moment, my brain created an image of a safe dial that has been turned in the memory area, and the safe opening.


    What was drawn in the two sides of the previous heroes and the current heroes was...that by doing that rotation to the dial, the opponents of each one had changed.


    Mirack¡¯s opponent was the proxy wind hero, Brastor Juo; Celestis¡¯ opponent was the previous fire hero, Kyouka; Sasae-chan¡¯s opponent was the previous water hero, Sarasa; Hyue¡¯s opponent was the previous earth hero, Yoneko-san.


    By simply doing a half-rotation, the elemental advantages had cleanly turned!


    ¡°This is bad! Quickly¡ª!¡±


    ¡°Too slow!!¡± (Celestis)


    The current heroes attack their new opponents at once.


    It was aplete turnaround.


    ¡°Damn it! Dual fire fist, [me Burst]!!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Not enough, not enough! If you want to break my ¡®Water de¡¯, you will need to grow at least 10 more arms!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis vs the previous fire hero Kyouka.


    The surge that the Miki-Moses created had swallowed the fire whirl along with Kyouka.


    At the same time, in a different battle...


    ¡°How impudent! With the ¡®Water de¡¯ of my water folding fan, Dahyu, I will¡ª!!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Sobo-chan and Yorishiro-sama said the exact same thing-dasu... ¡®When doing something, do it thoroughly¡¯.¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan vs the previous water hero, Sarasa.


    The swung earth scythe easily sliced apart the high water pressure de and approached Sarasa.


    ¡°Eeek!!¡±


    The other sides were simr to this, and that clear turnaround had been witnessed by the other pair that was watching from afar; Karen-san and Ates.


    ¡°Those idiots!! I told them that much that they should finish the battle while they were still isted, and yet...!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°As I thought, it really was you people who did something.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san calmly approaches Ates.


    ¡°Who knows. Don¡¯t know what you are talking about. I am just saying that they are an ipetent bunch of trash that can¡¯t utilize a chance to its best.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I wonder about that. Do you really think that Mirack-chan and the others coincidentally gathered in the middle? What if they feigned as if they were cornered and skillfully led them?¡± (Karen)


    If it¡¯s just gathering them in the middle, it wouldn¡¯t beplicated at all. However, Mirack and the others moved in such a smooth and coordinated manner to their advantageous elemental affinity sides.


    There¡¯s no way they could have led and gathered them without having nned it.


    ¡°Impossible. In order to do that, they all have to be same in mind, moreover, there¡¯s the need for someone to be giving the orders from outside...ah!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates makes an expression as if she noticed something.


    ¡°Karen-san! Could it be that the reason why you were making your holy sword Saint-George sparkle for a while now was...!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That was something we all agreed on beforehand. So that we can quickly coordinate even if we were to be divided.¡± (Karen)


    In other words, with the instructions send out the light from the holy sword of Karen-san, they made an act of being cornered, and were able to deftly gather.


    ¡°This is teamwork. You will be falling by the very thing that you people looked down upon so much!¡± (Karen)


    A shrill voice filled with agitation reverberated.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, it is time for melee! Get so close and personal that elemental affinities won¡¯t matter!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Hearing what Kyouka said, I was clear of something.


    ¡°We have won.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It looks like Yorishiro at my side had the same belief.


    ***


    Bring it to a melee and push without caring about the elemental affinities.


    Hearing this, the other previous heroes also gathered and took a close formation.


    Our current heroes team didn¡¯t stop them and they themselves take a close formation as well.


    ¡°Fools! With this, your chance of winning have disappeared!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Why do you think that, Sis?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack calmly asks the reason behind the boastful tone of Kyouka.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to even think about it! As expected, in here, we who hold the seniority are stronger. We should have shed straight on from the very beginning without thinking about boring stuff like elemental affinities!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°...So she says. What should we do, everyone?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis nces at Mirack, Sasae-chan, and Celestis; and they all nod.


    ¡°¡°¡°We ept the challenge!¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!!¡±


    The current heroes and the previous heroes; this time, they really are going to be shing as a team.


    ¡°I, the inexperienced Gonbee Sasae, will be the first one stepping ta the front-dasu!! Rest in peace!!¡± (Sasae)


    The first one to spearhead was Sasae-chan.


    Brandishing a giant scythe that¡¯s bigger than her body, she charges towards the enemy lines.


    ¡°Too naive~, Sasae-chan.¡± (Yoneko)


    The one who obstructed her way from the very front was an earth hero just like her, Yoneko-san.


    With a scythe that is smaller than that of the Earth Scythe, she properly stops Sasae-chan.


    ¡°With such shabby bloodlust like that, even when ya are an adult, ya won¡¯t be oveing me, ya know~? It will disappoint Sobo-san.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Right now I be fine with that-dasu! A different person will be oveing Yoneko-neechan-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    The next instant, a transparent something shed onto Yoneko-san and sends her flying.


    ¡°Ouch!! What was that?!¡± (Yoneko)


    It was the air bullet that the wind hero, Hyue, had shot at long-range.


    Since this is a match, she must have restraint the power. Because if she hadn¡¯t, Yoneko-san would have gone right to the afterworld with that one shot.


    ¡°I be leaving mah back to Hyue-neechan-dasu!! CHARGE!!¡± (Sasae)


    The extreme frontliner Sasae-chan, and the backliner assist of Hyue.


    A really ideal role allotment.


    ¡°...With the support of a wind element, things get difficult~. Someone, please help out?¡± (Yoneko)


    There was someone in the previous heroes team that answered this.


    ¡°Hyue......I will crush you.....¡± (Juo)


    The proxy wind hero, the apparition-like woman called Brastor Juo. She hunts with her wind gun rebellion, Koumei.


    Compared to the wind long gun of Hyue, the wind gun rebellion of Juo has several tens.


    Thinking about it normally, she wouldn¡¯t have a chance of winning, but...


    ¡°[me Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    The fire dragon that Mirack gave rise to had easily driven away the balls of the wind gun rebellion.


    ¡°Wide area of effect attacks are a trait of the fire element! Added to that, there¡¯s the affinities between fire and wind! You chose the wrong opponents!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That goes for you too, Mirack!¡± (Kyouka)


    The previous fire hero Kyouka also gave rise to a ¡®me Burst¡¯. Moreover, due to it being released from the two fire knuckles in both of her hands, the heat and power were practically double.


    ¡°How disappointing, Mirack! You can only control one fire fist, so you are easily pushed back by me! What¡¯s with that shabby ¡®me Burst¡¯? That fire dragon has so many openings and it is more of a worm!¡± (Kyouka)


    It is true that the fire dragon of Mirack had openings here and there, andpared to that, the one Kyouka released came from both of her arms, so the two of them could cover the openings of each other.


    Kyouka¡¯s fire dragon certainly looked more impregnable than that of Mirack¡¯s fire dragon, but...


    ¡°Sorry for the rudeness, Sis Kyouka, but the reason why my ¡®me Burst¡¯ has openings is because they are necessary. In order to let the attacks of myrades pass.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Kyouka)


    Several water bullets pass through the openings of the fire dragon ¡®me Burst¡¯.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    And they erase the ¡®me Burst¡¯ of Kyouka in the blink of an eye.


    The one who released those was of course the water hero Celestis.


    ¡°Nice! Don¡¯t you think we are gradually bing a goodbination?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Don¡¯t say such provoking things!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack unrestrainedly released vicious fire attacks and secured a safe zone; Sasae-chan jumped into the enemy lines and dealt fatal damage; Hyue is assisting them from the backlines and covering their blind spots; and Celestis is in the middle lines freely changing to maintain coordination.


    But those are not the onlyponents that form their teamwork.


    Even when outside their formation, Karen-san was holding down her opponent Ates while using light signals to provide instructions.


    That¡¯s why the other four know about the movements of the others and can fight only looking at the front.


    The control tower, Karen-san; the space securer, Mirack; the frontliner, Sasae-chan; the backline supporter, Hyue; the one serving as the middle and holding them together, Celestis.


    I would even dare say that their teamwork is already reaching the point of perfection.


    Andpared to that...


    ¡°Sarasa! Sarasa! What are you doing?! You are supposed to be dealing with the water one, right?! Don¡¯t dilly-dally and crush her already!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Why are you ordering me around? The reason why you are in trouble is because you are weak, right? Wait, hyaaaa!! What are you doing?! Are you thinking of shooting the back of your allies?!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°........You are...at fault for spacing out in ce......More importantly, quickly extinguish that fire. With that in the way, I can¡¯t control the wind gun rebellion properly.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Who cares~. The shooting of the Wind-san on the other side is so persistent that I can¡¯t move the way I want~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ...The previous heroes were in an atrocious state.


    They only move with their own self in mind, so it creates friction. And the current heroes are taking advantage of that like crazy.


    They are not trying to cover for each other¡¯s weaknesses, shave off the strong points of each other like crazy, and are unable to show even half of their actual strength.


    ¡°Ei, move back, useless bunch! Now that it hase to this, I will wipe them out by myself!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°You are the one who should be moving back, you useless trash of a truant! I can easily take care of those teenagers myself!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°...Shut up...useless people.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Every single one of ¡®em be useless~.¡± (Yoneko)


    The front of the previous heroes hadpletely fallen.


    They had turned into in piled up trash.


    Mirack and Celestis, Sasae-chan and Hyue; they respectively held hands and were pointing their hands like guns.


    Combined elements...


    ¡°¡°[Steam Explosion]!!¡±¡± (Mirack+Celestis)


    ¡°¡°Sand Worm!!¡±¡± (Sasae+Hyue) ¡°-Dasu!!¡±


    Double attack ofbined elements.


    An explosion that urs by evaporating arge amount of water in an instant and a sand storm had blown away the previous heroes that were unsightly bickering with each other.


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Gyaaaaaaaa~~~~~~~~!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°When they began to crumble, it turned around instantly-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    At the battle stage, I see four previous heroes lying down uncouthly.


    The victor is practically decided already.


    Four of the previous heroes are out ofmision already. The one remaining is Ates who is in a one on one versus Karen-san.


    ¡°But to think it would be decided so easily. It looks like the difference in experience has shown.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Experience?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro makes a wondering face.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the contrary? If we talk about the umted experience, Ates-san and the others should have an overwhelming amount because of their seniority, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°When talking about experience, the quality is more important than the quantity, Yorishiro.¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san and the others have fought several times against opponents that would make them say ¡®this is impossible¡¯.


    The Fire Cow Phris; the Great Sea Dragon, Hydra Serpent; Grandma Wood; Beelzebub; and the Demon Lord, Raphael. They are all dreadnought level and normal humans wouldn¡¯t even be able to oppose them.


    Karen-san and the others have defeated those kind of opponents while all tattered.


    The mercilessness of the dangers they have tasted are different.


    It is exactly because those girls have ovee those dangers that they won¡¯t crumble over just any danger that rolls on them. They have obtained that tenacity.


    ¡°I see. Even if their weaknesses werepletely attacked right at the beginning of the match, but the girls did a good job in enduring.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°They were at a cliff standing on their tiptoes though.¡± (Haine)


    Compared to that, the previous heroes have worked as heroes for a long time, but the only things they have fought are the mass-produced monsters of the Mother Monsters.


    Maybe they didn¡¯t experience any true danger as they finished their duty as heroes?


    ¡°That¡¯s why those girls were weak once they were cornered. Without knowing about a way to endure in extreme situations, they crumbled instantly. It truly is a show of their difference in experience.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°One first-rate experience surpasses a hundredmon experiences. It is the same as male experience-desu wa ne. I also don¡¯t need experience with any man aside from Haine-san-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I am not talking about that.


    At any rate, the match is settled with this.


    This is the victory of the current heroes team.


    ***


    ¡°Now, what¡¯s the matter, Ates-san?¡± (Karen)


    I ask this of the previous hero, Ates, that is standing alone in the battle stage.


    ¡°The only remaining previous hero is you. Just like how you said just a few moments ago, want to be ganged up?¡± (Karen)


    Mirack and the others were already running towards them and they had surrounded Ates with all five of them.


    Seeing this, Ates...


    ¡°...Fuh...¡±


    Went out of battle stance and lowered her spear.


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around. I don¡¯t want to do something as tiring as fighting a one versus five. I hate fights I can¡¯t win.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    All five current heroes made an expression as if they had been hit by that statement.


    ¡°If it is the victory, I will give it to you girls. In this asion, that is.¡± (Ates)


    Leaving these words behind, Ates enters the entrance gate she came out from before and left the battle stage.


    ¡°W-What be the meaning of this-dasu...¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know, but the previous light hero has fled from battle. The remaining previous heroes are all down. In other words, this is...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Our win!!¡± (Hyue)


    At the same time, ear-shattering cheers were made by the audience.


    This was exactly what announced the result of the battle.


    For a moment I was wondering what would happen, but as expected of those girls, they were able to obtain victory with their own power.


    ¡°Now referee, the match is over! Announce our victory already!¡± (Celestis)


    Referee?


    Now that she mentions it, there was one more person aside from the 9 heroes there; a tenth person was there.


    Isn¡¯t that the announcer girl that appeared at the very beginning?


    Or more like, there was a referee in this kind of match? What was she even refereeing?


    ¡°Just as you exined in the beginning, you are the one that judges when they can¡¯t fight anymore, right? Announce the defeat of those old women copsed there already!¡± (Celestis)


    I see.


    Even from the audience seats, I can tell that Kyouka, Sarasa, Yoneko-san, and Juo that are lying down on the battle stage arepletely unconscious and unable to fight anymore.


    However, no matter how much time passes, the judgement of knocked out didn¡¯te.


    In time, a change urred.


    The woman that seems to be the referee took out something from her pocket.


    ¡°?!¡±


    From the audience seats where I am, it is hard to tell, but...is it an ethereal device?


    It was small enough that it can be hidden inside a pocket.


    She held that device with her right hand, and with her left hand, she scratched the pin at its tip.


    ¡°Watch out!!¡±


    The first one to break into a run was Karen-san.


    ¡°Eeh?!¡± ¡°Waa?!¡± Dasu?!¡± ¡°Wa?!!¡±


    The other four werete on their reaction due to the suddenness of it.


    The finger of the refereedy was trembling and didn¡¯t seem like she was able to take off the pin. But even with that, she still managed to take it off right before Karen-san reached her.


    Karen-san lunged her, and because of that, thedy let go of the explosive and was send flying together with Karen.


    Karen-san embraces thedy with her whole body as if covering her, and then...an explosion urred.

 Chapter 191-192 - Vile Continuation

    <h4>Chapter 191-192: Vile Continuation</h4>


    A thunderous sound high enough to break your eardrums and a violent gale that felt as if it had crashed onto all the audience had ran through the whole dome with the center of it as the origin point.


    ¡°Karen-san! Everyone!¡± (Haine)


    I soon jumped out from my seat.


    ¡°Yorishiro, please calm down the chaos in the audience seats!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Understood!¡± (Yorishiro)


    By the time I slipped through the tumult of people and jumped onto the stage, the explosion had already settled and the smoke had cleared up.


    It seems like it wasn¡¯t an explosive with that high of a power. Even so, I don¡¯t think the people that were at close to it cane out unscathed.


    ¡°Is everyone okay?!¡± (Haine)


    At the battle stage, the heroes were also in confusion just like me.


    ¡°*Cough cough*! Don¡¯t mind me! What about Karen?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That girl was the one closest to the explosion!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Or more like, why an explosion urred-dasu?! Terrorists-da suka?!¡± (Sasae)


    From within the group, the one who had run first to the ce where the explosion urred was Hyue. She was holding the referee woman.


    ¡°Leave this one to me! Quickly take Karen-dono!!¡± (Hyue)


    Karen-san was powerlessly lying on the ground after the explosion.


    When I carry her up, I saw there were cruel burns on her body!


    ¡°!!¡±


    The skin of Karen-san that was as beautiful as white porcin has...


    I gulped my breath at this sight.


    ¡°...Damn it!! Celestis! Celestis, pleasee!!¡± (Haine)


    If it¡¯s the water divine power of her, she could heal the burned areas of Karen-san, and at the same time, heal the wounds she had.


    ¡°H...Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is conscious?!


    ¡°I-Is the woman okay? I-I am so useless... I tried to put up a ¡®Holy Light Wall¡¯, but..tely, I have been leaving the defense to Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan, so I haven¡¯t used it for a while... I couldn¡¯t bring it as fast as I wanted it to...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is okay, don¡¯t talk anymore, Karen-san!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will heal you right now! [Water Heal]!¡± (Celestis)


    With the water divine power that the Miki-Moses released, not only did the skin that had heat still in it return to its normal temperature, the burns were slowly disappearing.


    On the other hand...


    ¡°Spit it out! Why did you do something like this?! Was it the order of someone?! If you don¡¯t answer, I will break an arm!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I am sorry, I am sorry, I am sorry!!¡±


    They were mercilessly interrogating the umpire woman that Hyue was holding.


    Why did she use explosives? Moreover, the moment the pin on that thing was taken off, it exploded practically right after. With that, the person doing the explosion wouldn¡¯t be saved.


    Was she nning on blowing herself up?


    But mysteriously, even when the both of them were in the same ce, Karen-san got heavily burned, and yet, she didn¡¯t receive a single injury.


    ...No, there¡¯s nothing strange about it. The reason is clear.


    Karen-san used her very body to protect her. Karen-san was properly performing her duty as a hero.


    ¡°But...what is happening?!¡± (Haine)


    The match ended in the victory of the current heroes, and yet, the feeling of victory has been blown away instantly.


    While I was thinking this...


    ¡°...An announcement by the administration.¡±


    !


    What?


    An ethereal broadcast that reverberates in the whole dome?!


    ¡°Due to an unexpected urrence, the match will be temporarily suspended. The participants in the stage, please suspend the fight immediately and follow the instructions of the personnel.¡±


    ¡°Temporarily suspended?!¡± (Mirack)


    The one who bit at those words immediately was Mirack.


    ¡°What stupid things are they saying?! The match is already over! The only ones who can move in the stage are us, you know?!¡± (Mirack)


    What Mirack was saying was totally correct.


    The previous heroes that were downed were fortunately outside the range of the explosion, so they didn¡¯t have a single injury.


    ¡°...I see, so that¡¯s how it is!¡± (Haine)


    I now understand the reason behind this explosion.


    ¡°They want to make things indefinite.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What indefinite?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This match! The ones who made that umpire hold a bomb were the people that don¡¯t want the current heroes team to win. They would be troubled if you did. The moment you are about to win, they will forcefully suspend the match. The bomb was for that!¡± (Haine)


    Hearing my deduction, Hyue twisted the arm of the umpire woman more and more.


    ¡°So? Is that how it is?!¡± (Hyue)


    The umpire woman had tears wetting her whole face as she nodded her head up and down.


    The selfish broadcast continued without caring about our resentment.


    No, wait...


    The voice of that broadcast is...!!


    ¡°After confirming the reason of this and the safety, the match will resume. Until then, the participants will be on rest time. Please wait for the announcement of the match restart while resting the fatigue and injuries.¡±


    No doubt about it. That voice is familiar.


    That voice is the General of the knight corps, Zeberphon Dobbe.


    The person that I had passed by not that long ago in this venue.


    Was he the one operating in the shadows?!


    We are currently in the nursing room inside the dome.


    The burns that Karen-san received from the explosion were healed, but even if that¡¯s the case, we had her rest.


    The one who healed her, Celestis, speaks:


    ¡°What my ability can heal are, at most, the surface wounds that the body received. But when ites to an explosion, the impact of the st should have dealt damage to the organs as well to a certain extent. We have no choice but to let those wounds be treated by an actual doctor...¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack ces a hand on the face of Celestis who was speaking as if ming herself for her powerlessness in this situation.


    ¡°Mirack-chi...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Thanks. You did well.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Right...¡± (Celestis)


    The two have passed through many a trial together with Karen-san. Their worries must be high.


    On the other hand, there were also people who were not only worried, but also burning in anger.


    ¡°Now, spit it out! If there¡¯s something you don¡¯t remember, I will literally stir up your brain till you remember!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It be the fingernails-dasu ka? Want me ta tear off the fingernails-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    Hyue and Sasae-chan continued interrogating the umpire woman.


    She is the hated person that injured Karen-san, but there¡¯s a variety of reasons why we brought her together with us.


    But it might be better to calm down those two first.


    ¡°Leave it at that. We have already finished hearing most of what we wanted to hear.¡± (Haine)


    The girl¡¯s name is tina Mina.


    She is affiliated with the Light Church and normally does grunt work like cleaning the Grand Church and making tea.


    But she actually had a different thing she wanted to do when she joined the Light Church. She wanted to be a knight of the Light Church and shine by defeating monsters.


    She joined with that kind of dream in mind, and yet, she failed the test and her dream was easily broken.


    As for me, it brings back memories of that test where they estimated the element of the people that wished to join the church. If the elemental board judges that your affinity with the light element is the highest, you pass and join the Aurora Knight corps.


    Everything aside from that is judged as a fail. You are moved to do things like being a cooking assistant and cleaning. She is one of those people.


    Being tired of the maid work she didn¡¯t even want to do, she heard the devil¡¯s whisper.


    ¡°They told me that if I obeyed their order! They would change my position in the Aurora Knight corps! They said that the one who set up that stupid entrance exam was the current Founder, so once she renounces from her post, they would think of a more suitable entrance test once she is gone!¡±


    She repeats what we have already heard as she cries.


    For the people that were controlling the things from the shadows, she was an insurance. They wish for the victory of the previous heroes team. If an undesirable result is about to be reached, they wanted to physically blow it away.


    ¡°The utilization of ethereal weapons is prohibited by the joint signature of the five Churches. That¡¯s why an ethereal bomb would normally be an impossible thing.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue exins.


    ¡°But if you were to tinker with the ethereal power, it is possible to turn it into an explosive. Of course, in order to do that, there¡¯s the need for a certain extent of knowledge and materials, moreover, the required level of technique necessary is incredibly high. It ispletely impossible for a normal pro-level engineer to manage the timing of the explosion and adjust the power of the explosion.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡®Just that...¡¯, is what Hyue said as she paused her words for a moment.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one person I know that can do that.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter.¡± (Haine)


    Is what I say clearly.


    ¡°The problem is not the ones who did it, but the ones who ordered it. Who made her hold the bomb, and who ordered for it to be activated the moment the current heroes team were about to win.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...¡±


    Everyone closed their eyes and made expressions as if they feared something.


    ¡°Listen well, the bomb that you were made to hold was made in a way that it would explode the moment the pin was taken off the explosive. Normally, it would have a timeg of at least 10 seconds for safety sake, and yet, it didn¡¯t even have that. What do you think about that?¡± (Haine)


    Mina didn¡¯t answer. That¡¯s why I spoke to corroborate my answer.


    ¡°You were about to be erased in order to keep things under cover. For them, it would be incredibly inconvenient that you were to speak of who it was that ordered you do this. That¡¯s why they nned on killing you by dragging you in that explosion, or leave you in a state where you can¡¯t speak.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The moment I was given that bomb, I was told that it would take 20 seconds to explode. They said that it would be safe if I were to throw it with all my strength the moment I took off the pin!!¡± (Mina)


    After muttering this, Mina once again had tears rolling down her face.


    So she waspletely a disposable pawn huh.


    Stabbing into the opening this woman had for her ideals and her displeasure, she was made into a puppet.


    But I can¡¯t pity her. There¡¯s something I have to do before that.


    ¡°Now then, answer. Who was the person that gave you that bomb...who was the one who ordered you to activate it the moment the previous heroes were about to lose?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates-sama!¡± (Mina)


    She answered without hesitation.


    She most likely only has those feelings of being ¡®betrayed¡¯ and ¡®utilized¡¯ left.


    ¡°Dasudasudasudasudasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan couldn¡¯t hide her agitation the moment she heard that name, but Hyue was calm. It must have been a name she was expecting.


    ¡°But are you serious? I have heard that that woman is a schemer, but to think she would show herself from the shadows so easily.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°¡®If you do it well, I will let you enter the Aurora Knight corps¡¯. In order to have her believe that promise, there¡¯s the need of persuasive strength. Her title as a previous hero must have served as backing.¡± (Haine)


    In that case, the one who set it up so that the current heroes would be pitted against the previous heroes they have the worst affinity against must have been that woman.


    But that wasn¡¯t something she did alone.


    The voice that I heard from the broadcast...!!


    ¡°So you were here huh.¡±


    Opening the door, one man enters the room.


    The General of the Aurora Knight corps, Zeberphon Dobbe.


    ¡°You bastard!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It would trouble us if you were to arbitrarily take away the suspect.¡±


    Dobbe¡¯s gaze was directed at the scared Mina.


    ¡°We have to hear about the details behind that explosion incident from the one responsible for it. As member of the management staff of this match.¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°I never heard about you being part of the staff.¡± (Haine)


    I re directly at Dobbe.


    ¡°Why do I need to report to you? Just means that there¡¯s fitting roles for the capable people. I do my all to fulfill that role. And so, I will be having that womane with me.¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Are you nning on silencing her?¡± (Haine)


    Mina reacted at those words and clung onto me.


    She is telling me with her eyes that she doesn¡¯t want to go.


    ¡°...I will be taking this person directly to where the Founder is. This match is being carried out with the consent of the five Churches. There¡¯s the need to exin it to the other Founders, and if we had the very person speak in front of them, it would safe trouble, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is my job as staff.¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°And I am saying I will be saving you the trouble.¡± (Haine)


    The two of us don¡¯t step back at all.


    I am practically certain that this man and the previous light hero Ates are connected in all of this mess.


    If that weren¡¯t the case, Ates alone would have never been able to mess with the pairings of the entrance gates.


    They both are antagonistic towards the Light Founder Yorishiro and want to overthrow the current political powers.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine?¡±


    One more voice joins in the nursing room.


    ¡°Ates!!¡± (Haine)


    The wicked hero that is the main problem here!


    ¡°I came here to visit Karen-san out of worry. She is, in outline, my junior after all.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What are you saying with such a straight face!¡± (Haine)


    You are the one who ordered Mina to hold the bomb!


    If that were toe out to light, she would be done for without the result of the match mattering.


    In reality, she wanted to shut her mouth with the explosion, but the instantaneous reaction of Karen-san had saved her, on top of that, we have secured her on our side.


    So she hurriedly came to our ce huh.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, the reason why you easily epted your defeat and left the battle stage was in order to not get caught in the explosion.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Who knows. I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about. More importantly...¡± (Ates)


    Ates gaze was directed at where Mina was.


    She walks two...three steps forward.


    ¡°Stop. Don¡¯t get any closer.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Then, from here. Mina-san.¡± (Ates)


    Mina had her shoulders tremble and looks up at Ates.


    Her lips didn¡¯t make any sound, but it clearly moves.


    ¡°...!!¡±


    Seeing this, the face of Mina gets pale and her body trembled.


    ¡°I...!! Don¡¯t know anything!¡± (Mina)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t ordered by anyone! I did it on my own volition! What I did had nothing to do with anyone!! I...I...!!¡± (Mina)


    What is she saying all of a sudden?


    Mina suddenly goes into frenzy and speaks things that overturn what she said until now.


    Ates looks at that satisfied and left the nursing room.

 Chapter 193-195 - Match resumes

    <h4>Chapter 193-195: Match resumes</h4>


    In the end, everyone had their mouths tightly closed after that and didn¡¯t speak at all.


    There¡¯s no doubt that there was a point in Atesing all the way here.


    Just what kind of magic did she cast on Mina?!


    ¡°Damn it!!¡± (Haine)


    I quickly chase after Ates.


    She left the nursing room just now, and if I run, I should be able to catch up to her.


    ¡®I will wring her up directly¡¯, is what I was thinking when I left onto corridor, but then...


    I encountered a ghost.


    ¡°Gyaaaa!!!¡± (Haine)


    Scary! Super scary!!


    I encountered a female ghost that has ruffled hair!


    Was this a spirit spot?!


    ¡°...Was the girl from before...okay?¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    The ghost was worried about Karen-san.


    No, that¡¯s not it.


    If I remember correctly, she is the proxy wind hero, Brastor Juo. The first time I saw her figure was at the battle stage, but her impression was so big, there¡¯s no way I would forget about it.


    ¡°...Right now...I am preparing the ultrasound inspection device. By using both ethereal and wind divine power...it sends ultrasound waves inside the patient¡¯s body...and with the echoes of it...it is possible to investigate the insides. If we use this...we can tell if the bones and organs are okay...... I developed it.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°???????¡±


    I once again can¡¯t understand what she is saying.


    But is this person actually worried about Karen-san?


    ¡°...The one who...created that bomb was me.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°?!!¡±


    I stagger at the sudden confession of hers.


    ¡°It was my mistake. That woman...asked me if I could make an explosive using ethereal. My blood as a scientist was stirred up. I reduced the power enough so that it wouldn¡¯t kill a human though. I should have asked about what she would be using it for.¡± (Juo)


    No no no, you should have asked!


    Is this ghost woman an airhead?!


    ¡°When you speak about ¡®that woman¡¯, you are talking about Sunnysol Ates, right?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am just going to warn you but...you won¡¯t find any evidence. I made it so it wouldn¡¯t leave a single piece after it exploded. The truth about me creating it and giving it to that woman...my testimony will not serve as proof enough. If she were to y the fool...that would be the end of it.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± (Haine)


    It is true that looking at how Ates has moved until now, there¡¯s no way she would make a mistake like leaving evidence.


    ¡°Also...I won¡¯t apologize either.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    The ghost proxy wind hero, Brastor Juo, said this resolutely with a little bit of guiltiness.


    ¡°I also...have something I can¡¯t forgive in today¡¯s match. That¡¯s why...I havee outside after a long time. I will definitely have Shiva-sama...resign as a Founder.¡± (Juo)


    The proxy wind hero and the Wind Founder Toreido Shiva. No, not only that, Shiva is also the previous wind hero.


    Maybe they have some sort of rtionship, or might be a connection?


    She probably said everything she wanted to say, the ghost made a turn and left ¨Cwhile scaring all the people she passed by.


    But, yeah. The fight will still continue.


    The hero team fight was going to be dered the victory of the current heroes, but that was all blown away by the bomb of Mina and ended up as indefinite.


    The previous heroes that were knocked out in the fight must have already regained consciousness like Juo who I met just now.


    Even if it was an underhanded method, it could still be said that they overcame a difficulty and connected the fight to the next.


    ***


    When I returned to the nursing room, the room was shrouded in an even heavier atmosphere.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, everyone?¡± (Haine)


    It was so heavy, I had to ask.


    ¡°...That light knight General left just now, but before that, he told us something unbelievable.¡± (Celestis)


    It is about Dobbe huh.


    Him saying nothing good is an usual urrence but, just what happened?


    ¡°When the matches resume, the format will apparently be changed. He said that the team battle had luck involved way too much that the fairness of it would be harmed or something like that.¡± (Celestis)


    Hah?


    What¡¯s with that exnation that had zero convincing power?


    In that case, don¡¯t go establishing a system like randomly choosing your opponents right from the start.


    ¡°And the new format that will be used when the match resumes be apparently 1 vs 1 matches-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°A total of five 1vs1 matches. The first one to get 3 wins is the victor, apparently. It seems like it will be matched with current and previous heroes of the same element.¡± (Mirack)


    Meaning that it will be Mirack vs Kyouka; Celestis vs Sarasa; Sasae-chan vs Yoneko-san; Hyue vs Juo; and Karen-san vs Ates.


    ...


    They once again came with a method that doesn¡¯t care about appearance.


    At first, they tried to get a perfect victory by matching them with the perfect elemental affinities. But that was overturned by the teamwork of the current heroes team and instead ended up with them being attacked in their weak points.


    Seeing this, those people that have learned from it have chosen the more certain way of winning without caring about winning in the best-looking way.


    By shifting the team match to individual matches, they have sealed the strongest point of the current heroes which is their teamwork. On top of that, it is a 1vs1 against the previous and current heroes of the same element.


    If we go by the individual ability without relying on the elemental affinities, the previous heroes who are the oldest ones have the advantage. That has also been proved in the team match before.


    ¡°Those guys probably wanted to make the 1vs1 matches against elements we were weak against as well, but that would be way too obvious no matter how you put it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°So they n on defeating us with raw ability huh. Even so¡ª!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s way too dirty!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis couldn¡¯t endure it anymore and shouted.


    ¡°In the team match just now, it was about to end with our win, and yet, having to redo it from square one is way too dirty! Let¡¯s goin! Along with the Founders! And then¡ª!!¡± (Celestis)


    However, what she was saying was...


    ¡°Let¡¯s have the audience ally with us as well! The people that were watching should have noticed the strangeness as well! An explosion suddenly happened, and then redoing the match that was practically set is just impossible! They should be thinking that way as well! If we were to hit them with that will of us¡ª!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No.¡±


    A voicecking in strength came from the bed.


    It is Karen-san.


    Has she regained consciousness?!


    ¡°Karen-san!!¡± ¡°Karen!¡± ¡°Karen-chi!¡± ¡°Karen-neechan!¡± ¡°Karen-dono!¡±


    Everyone surrounded the bed. Karen-san narrowed her eyes in happiness when she saw this.


    Thanks to the water heal of Celestis, Karen-san¡¯s burned areas had disappeared without leaving trace behind, and in terms of appearance, she seems to be in perfect condition already. However, because of the st of the explosion, the inside of the body received damage, and without proper inspection, we can¡¯t be optimistic.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go just like this. Let¡¯s take on this individual matches.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But! With you in that state, it is impossible! They definitely will judge you as a loss by default! When that happens, in essence, we would only be allowed to lose once!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am sorry that I will be troubling everyone! But you see, in this fight, we have to let the other side do whatever dirty moves they want and still manage to win.¡± (Karen)


    Even with the weakened voice due to her injuries, Karen-san said this with a strong will.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama said it, didn¡¯t she. The real objective of this fight is to smoke out all the ones from the contra-reconciliation side without leaving a single one behind. The more underhanded methods they take, the more room Yorishiro-sama and the others have to bring them out to light.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That might be true but...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama also understands that, so she has been letting the other side do whatever they want while staying silent. The Knight General Dobbe being a staff member must have been a trap set up by the Founders!¡± (Karen)


    It is true that Yorishiro should be able to do that much.


    The fight between the new and old heroes is not one that will end with just today. This is simply a part of what must be done in a fight that will take a long time.


    The ones on the right are the current heroes and the Founders that support them, and the ones who have taken in the previous heroes to their side are the evil ones; by having the audience today view it in this way, it will serve as quite the tactical advantage.


    The anger that the audience feels will not be used in today¡¯s battle, it will be used in order to burn the ones pulling the strings in the shadows without leaving a single one behind.


    But...!


    ¡°But there¡¯s no need for Karen-san and the others to tag along with that!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, there is. This is all in order to create a system that will allow us humans to go against the Mother Monsters and the Demon Lords. This is an urgent matter. We are...!¡± (Karen)


    The light hero Karen had a pained expression, but continued speaking


    ¡°Strong! I want to have everyone know this. To the audience that hase here today, and to all the people in the world as well, and also to the previous generation heroes as well; I want them to know that no matter what monster appears, we are so strong we won¡¯t lose. That¡¯s why, I want to let the contra-reconciliation side do all the underhanded moves they want, and show everyone that, even with that, we can still win!!¡± (Karen)


    Strong light was reflected in the eyes of the injured Karen-san.


    Seeing this, no one was able to say anything back.


    ¡°Understood. I am always on the side of Karen.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let¡¯s ride on their y then.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Sobo-chan told me that dirty conspiracies be things that only weak insects do-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I still have to settle things with Juo too after all.¡± (Hyue)


    The will of Karen-san was transmitted to the other heroes as well. That¡¯s why these girls are strong.


    And just like this, the second act of this battle began.


    The current heroes vs the previous heroes; 1vs1 matches.


    The first match is with the fire heroes; the current hero Katack Mirack vs the previous hero Abi Kyouka.


    Before the individual matches between the heroes began, I was told this.


    ¡°Please be the referee.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± (Haine)


    At the time when we were sending off Mina, Yorishiro told me this.


    ¡°In the 1vs1 of the heroes, it will basically be a deathmatch with no rules, but even if that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s the need of a person that can judge the ending of the fight and decide the victor. I want to ask Haine-san of this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    She told me something like that.


    ¡°But I am a person from the current heroes side through and through. Am I appropriate to stand as a referee that requires fairness?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°If we think of this as creating a bnce with the contra-reconciliation side and the previous heroes side, there should be no problem. Also, I might have been underestimating Ates-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, Yorishiro bit her lips.


    As if she was holding in her regret.


    ¡°To think they would use such a direct method in the middle of the match. I was nning on letting her swim as much as she wanted, and then grasp a lot of evidence regarding their dishonesty, but it would be pointless if it ends up hurting the heroes in the process. In order to protect the girls, Haine-san, it is the safest if you were right by their side.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is true that if I had been standing at their side in thest moments of the team match, I could have stopped the bomb of Mina.


    If I stand at the battle stage as a referee, I can stop most things with dark matter before it happens.


    ¡°How about just suspending the matches?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I thought of that as well, but when I went to visit Karen-san, she stopped me. ¡®If we stop here, it would be giving the victory to the other side¡¯, she said.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Isn¡¯t Karen-san a bit too hungry on winning this time around?


    Rather than her injury, that issue is beginning to worry me more.


    ¡°It is okay. Karen-san and the others will win.¡± (Haine)


    And Yorishiro will win as well.


    ¡°No matter what kind of dirty cards they bring out, they will crush them all and win. That¡¯s the etiquette of the truly strong ones. This fight is a fight that will transmit this truth to the whole world.¡± (Haine)


    And after the fight, this will corner the contra-reconciliation side that have been pulling those underhanded tactics.


    That¡¯s the reason we are allowing the underhanded tricks this time. In order to have the opponent get ahead of themselves, I understand that there¡¯s the need to act as if we are being defeated, but...


    ¡°Depending on the result of the Wind Church¡¯s diagnosis, it is possible that Karen-san¡¯s participation might be banned. The person herself is adamant in participating though.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°It is better to think about winning three with the remaining four, right? Understood. I ept the job as referee. I will hunt all troubles in the location with my dark matter.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am counting on you. In that time, I will be opening the mouth of this girl.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro hugs the bomber Mina tightly.


    Someone that was a mere maid of the Light Church has received a hug from the Founder, and her blue face from a while now has turned into a pale white one.


    But I won¡¯t pity her.


    Receive the love of the Light Founder that even the heroes fear.


    ***


    And just like this, I stood on the battle stage.


    The people in the audience filling up the whole ce were also blowing up with the strangeness of this situation and were surprised by it, but the speech of the current heroes that was done just a while ago saying ¡®we will definitely win!¡¯ had made them concentrate on the oue of the battle.


    There shouldn¡¯t be a small amount of citizens that are also in the contra-reconciliation side. This is also a fight in order to bring those people to our side.


    Let¡¯s begin by calling the participants of the first match.


    ¡°Uhm...a-at the red corner, the current fire hero, Katack Mirack! At the blue corner, the previous fire hero, Abi Kyouka!¡± (Haine)


    From the entrance gates, the two past and present heroes appear.


    The first fight will be a sh between the fire heroes.


    The two are women that have way too fit bodies, and are both tall and muscr. Those two stood in the middle of the stage and were ring directly at each other.


    ¡°...This is how it should have been done from the very beginning.¡± (Kyouka)


    As if doing their introductory remarks, the first one to speak out was Kyouka.


    ¡°My objective is to beat you into shape from square one. I don¡¯t care about the others. The interlopers have finally disappeared. You are prepared, Mirack?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Sis Kyouka, I have misjudged you.¡± (Mirack)


    The short but sharp words of Mirack made Kyouka falter for a moment.


    ¡°Thinking of me as cowardly is just an arbitrary view of Sis. There¡¯s definitely ces where I amcking, but to think that you would even join hands in the conspiracy that¡¯s trying to bring down our master for that sake.¡± (Mirack)


    The current Fire Founder, Enou, was the master of those two.


    In this time¡¯s match, there¡¯s also the condition that if the current heroes were to lose, the current Founders have to resign as well.


    ¡°What you are doing is returning favor with evil. I can¡¯t overlook this as a pupil of the same master. More so with the unsightliness you showed at the team match before. Just where did the prided fire hero Abi Kyouka of the past go to?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Shut up!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka pushes out her fist.


    ¡°Mirack, if you are a hero, speak with your fists! There¡¯s no worth of existence in a weak hero. I will be teaching you this right now!!¡± (Kyouka)


    The two of them heat up.


    It should be fine now.


    ¡°Then, begin match!¡± (Haine)


    The two fires that were released in concert to my voice were burning at the same time.


    ¡°¡°[[me Burst]]!!¡±¡± (Mirack+Kyouka)


    The fire whirls that urred at the exact moment from two different ces were like spinning tops shing with each other.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter Mirack?! Do you n on defeating me with a fire dragon of that level?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Gugh!!¡± (Mirack)


    But no matter who saw it, they would be able to tell that there was a difference in the strength of the two fire dragons.


    The weak one was being steadily crushed by the stronger one.


    ¡°Fire Fist Barbarossa! Change my divine power into raging fire!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Too soft! Fire Fist Fernando! Fire Fist Prius! Dual Fists, Dual Fire Dragons!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka has fire divine tools in both hands, and the fire that was released from them was obviously twice as much as it attacks Mirack.


    Compared to that, the fire divine tool Mirack uses is only the Fire Fist Barbarossa.


    In a sense, it could be considered a 2 vs 1, and it was clear who was at an advantage here.


    ¡°Damn it!!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack was slowly but surely being pushed back.


    With the strength of her fire dragon, the most she could do was endure to her best the same attack Kyouka was bringing out.


    But that wouldn¡¯tst long.


    Is there really that much difference in power? Is it not possible too oppose the previous heroes that have trained for a longer time?


    ¡°Learn with that body of yours, Mirack! This is how a hero actually looks like! Stronger than everyone, not losing to anyone! And because of it, there¡¯s no need for the help of anyone either! That¡¯s what a hero is!¡± (Kyouka)


    The fight was extremely painful to watch.


    In terms of basic divine power difference, Mirack was already at a state where she could only stay in the defensive.


    At times, her own fire dragon would be destroyed and burns would be left in her body, and every time that happened, she would barely avoid fatal wounds as she withstood at the edge.


    On the other hand, Kyouka didn¡¯t have a single wound and wasn¡¯t even out of breath.


    Right now the attacks have temporarily loosened. She was looking down at her junior who was letting out steam from her whole body.


    ¡°How about you admit your defeat already? Your current self can¡¯t beat me. The current you has forgotten the origin of your strength.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The origin...of my strength?¡± (Mirack)


    Even so, Mirack didn¡¯t forget her will to resist as she stands up unsteadily.


    ¡°Even to this day, I still remember the day I first met you. Just how many years has it been already. At the day the Ignis Militant corps were doing the entrance exams, I was in the venue as a test overseer. And that¡¯s when I met you who came to take the test.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Your fire element numbers didn¡¯t even reach the two hundreds. Normally, it should have already been a fail from that. But even with that, you still clung onto me.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡®I definitely want to be the fire hero¡¯, you said.


    ¡°I was outpushed by the zeal of a brat! In the end, I asked master, and you were somehow allowed to enter the Ignis Militant corps. But after that, it should have been a living hell for you. Days of training while being several steps behind the others. Shouted by the instructor, being looked down upon by your colleagues, but even with that, you continued working hard.¡± (Kyouka)


    I have heard of that before.


    Just how much effort Mirack has put on to be the fire hero.


    But for that sake, she...


    ¡°And just as you dered, you had be the fire hero. There were many others with more talent than you, and yet, you pushed them all aside and grabbed ahold of the spot of hero. It was a feat that came most of all from effort. But the current you is trying to rot your strongest point by your own hands ¨Cby getting familiar with others.¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka once again gathers divine power to her dual fire fists.


    ¡°As your senior, I have to correct that mistake of yours. For that sake, I have gone as far as participating in this fight that goes against master!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Sis Kyouka...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Smear in the shame of defeat once and learn about what position you are in! If it is you, you should be able to reach it. Aim for even greater heights!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Mirack staggered as she took a battle stance. The line of her stance was firm.


    ¡°I hated you.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°You were truly myplete opposite. You had high fire elementpatibility from the moment you were born and climbed up to being a fire hero without any difficulties. I thought that the reason why you were always leaving the talentless me by your side was because you wanted to look down on me and bully me to obtain a feeling of superiority.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°!!!¡±


    I could tell even in the middle of battle; after hearing the deration of Mirack, the heartbeat of Kyouka was speeding up irregrly.


    ¡°When you were defeated by the Fire Cow and retired from your position as a hero, I was silently cheering. I was thinking ¡®that woman had finally fallen from her high horse¡¯, ¡®well deserved¡¯. But that way of thinking was a mistake.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°There was a person who taught me that my menial prejudice was all a mistake.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack¡¯s gaze was directed at me for a moment. And then, it moved to the audience seats.


    ¡°Mirack-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was at the audience seats.


    Did the examination of the Wind Church already finish?


    ¡°Do you best, Mirack-chan!! Don¡¯t lose!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That right-dasu, Mirack-neechan! Push through with guts-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you if you lose right at the beginning of our performance!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Mirack-dono! It is all in the concentration!¡± (Hyue)


    It wasn¡¯t only Karen-san, the other heroes who were on wait for their own matches were notcking in the support for theirrade.


    ¡°Excessive effort will warp your heart and you will end up forgetting something important from it. Why was I trying to be strong, why I wanted to be a hero; I had recently forgotten about such important things......Along with my gratitude towards you.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Kyouka)


    The first time I met Mirack, it was apletely different Mirack from the current Mirack here.


    Seeing every person as an enemy, even rejecting her old friend Karen-san as she held aposed face when pouring her with insults.


    This hellish training time that Kyouka speaks of, that overwhelmingly harsh time, had slowly warped the heart of Mirack in exchange of growth.


    I don¡¯t know if that was the correct thing to do or not, but the current Mirack is not the same from the one at that time.


    A Mirack that has the power she gained from her blood-vomiting experience and has remembered the important memories of her young days.


    The never ending affection towards Karen-san is what haspleted the current Mirack.


    The new Mirack knows that there¡¯s other important people aside from herself.


    ¡°I can now clearly tell. It is because you were there that I was able to be a hero. It is because you picked me up that I was able to enter the Ignis Militant corps. Even after that, you always left me at your side and taught me important things and provided me irreceable experiences. When you retired, Iter learned that you were the one who nominated me as your sessor.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack...!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°It is because you raised me with care that I was able to reach to where I am now. Forgetting something as important as that, I got so prideful thinking I hade all this way on my own, but myrades reprimanded me. They made me remember a lot of important things......and that gratitude, I will release it all in this fist. Sis Kyouka, I will also be answering you with my all!!¡± (Mirack)


    I could tell that the inside of Mirack was beginning to increase in temperature with fire divine power. It was silent, yet hot.


    High temperature was pulsating inside of Mirack.


    ¡°You bastard!!¡± (Kyouka)


    On the other hand, Kyouka was furious.


    The fire dragon that was released from the dual fists was the biggest until now.


    Was this the disy of her own mental state? It was so big and violent.


    ¡°Mirack! Take this, my ¡®me Burst¡¯ with the highest output!!¡± (Kyouka)


    It was as if a great fire dragon was attacking Mirack like a fire tsunami.


    Won¡¯t a human be turned into cinders if they were to be attacked by something like that?


    However, Mirack didn¡¯t show a single sign of running away, and pushed out her right fist that was drawn back to its limits.


    ¡°Bear witness to it! My new technique, [Fire de]!!¡± (Mirack)


    A thin thin fire sword was released from the fire fist Barbarossa.


    The fire sword stretches towards Kyouka.


    Isn¡¯t that just like the ¡®Holy Light Sword¡¯ of Karen-san?!


    The fire sword of Mirack pierced through the fire tsunami of Kyouka and reaches her who is at the other side.


    ¡°Guaagh?!¡±


    It reached her chest splendidly and the previous hero was blown away just like that.


    But even if the caster was defeated, it doesn¡¯t mean that the fire tsunami will disappear.


    The big tsunami, that had simply been punctured slightly, attacked Mirack with its original momentum and swallowed her.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± (Haine)


    I hurriedly release dark matter against the fire wave, that was about to reach even the audience seats, and extinguish it.


    That was close.


    Does that mean they were so hot-headed that they didn¡¯t have theposure to think about how it would affect the audience?


    At the battle stage, Mirack, who had been poured from her head down by the fire wave, had all her body thoroughly burned, but even with that, she was still standing ¨Cshe was firmly standing.


    ¡°Mirack...are you okay?¡± (Haine)


    I ask worried, and Mirack answers cheerfully.


    ¡°If I were to fall to something like this, I wouldn¡¯t be an opponent for the Mother Monsters.¡± (Mirack)


    Right.


    The attacks of the Fire Cow and the Great Sea Dragon were a lot more overwhelming after all.


    On the other hand, Kyouka who had taken a direct hit from Mirack¡¯s new technique was lying on the ground.


    She wasn¡¯t showing any signs of standing up.


    There was a clear difference between her and Mirack who had received big damage.


    I announced.


    ¡°First match, in the fire hero match; the winner is the current fire hero, Katack Mirack!!¡± (Haine)

 Chapter 196-198 - Second Match

    <h4>Chapter 196-198: Second Match</h4>


    ¡°...Sis...Sis Kyouka. Are you okay?¡± (Mirack)


    The winner Mirack walks towards the fallen Kyouka.


    It looks like Kyouka was temporarily out ofmission, but she soon regained consciousness and borrowed the hand of Mirack to stand up.


    ¡°...I lost huh. This time for sure. It was great, Mirack.¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka was sportsmanlike to the result.


    Her original nature must have been her straightforwardness as well.


    ¡°But ¡®Fire de¡¯ huh. To think you would instead concentrate the fire divine power that has the highest spread out power. I am surprised you thought of it. Well, it was exactly because of it that you were able to break through my ¡®me Burst¡¯.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The Mother Monsters that we are going to be fighting in the future are of a size that is out of the norms. An area of effect attack from a single human would make scant a difference against them. In that case, we should instead concentrate it all in one ce and be bees that attack all at once.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I see. Your fighting style just now has already reached a point that is far from ourmon sense huh.¡± (Kyouka)


    Saying until that point, the expression of Kyouka clouded.


    ¡°...I didn¡¯t notice at all. I didn¡¯t know that you hated me.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°I am truly sorry.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I was always keeping you in mind when I acted. That¡¯s how much I respected that straightforward effort of yours...... But when I ask myself ¡®was there no sense of superiority there?¡¯ I myself can¡¯t answer.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°I think that no matter the person, they can¡¯t move with just a single pure emotion in mind. I was jealous of Sis Kyouka¡¯s strength and felt an inferiorityplex towards it. But at the same time, I admired it. I tried to be stronger with you as my goal. But the me that was simply trying to move while only facing forward had ended up seeing nothing aside from what was in front of me. Even though there were a lot of things that I should have been looking back to.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Are you saying...they are the ones who have made it possible for you to see it?¡± (Kyouka)


    Therades in the audience seats that were happy at the victory of Mirack.


    Karen-san who had finished her examination was waving both hands vigorously. Mirack answers this by raising her fist high in the sky.


    ¡°Sis Kyouka called it being domesticated, but it was exactly because of it that I ended up thinking about getting further strength. There¡¯s a limit to how strong a person can be on their own. The Mother Monsters are opponents that make you understand this. Moreover, there are existences even stronger than that that might be born...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is fine. No need to say anymore. I lost. There¡¯s no words to say to the loser!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka patted the cheek of Mirack.


    ¡°Do it properly, fire hero.¡± (Kyouka)


    This is of no importance, but when I looked at the noble area of the audience seats, the Fire Founder was wailing in manly weeping.


    For him, the two of them are his cute disciples after all.


    ***


    Just like this, the first match of the old and new heroes had ended with the victory of Mirack.


    So we are leading by one point.


    A bitter voice greeted Kyouka who had lost and was about to leave the ce.


    ¡°How pathetic. Disying such an unrefined match like that and still losing. As I thought, the heroes of other churches can¡¯t be relied on.¡±


    Words close to abuse.


    Passing by the owner of that voice, Kyouka silently says this.


    ¡°Then show it to me, this so called refined fighting style of the water hero that you boast of.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Of course. I will show you the difference between a true hero and a fake hero.¡± (Sarasa)


    The second match is the water hero battle.


    The previous hero that stood on the battle stage recing Kyouka was Ra Sarasa.


    Facing her was of course...


    ¡°...Good job on the opening. Thanks to you winning, I am now in a good mood to sing.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The song will obviously be a victory song, I hope. If that¡¯s not the case, I will drag you out of the stage, you got it?¡± (Mirack)


    Exchanging a high five with good momentum, the one who substituted Mirack and went on the stage was the water hero Celestis that had a big smile and shining eyes, dazzling everyone in the audience seats.


    ¡°Oooh!! It is Celes-tan!!¡± ¡°I have been waiting!¡± ¡°Celes-tan, kyuuuutttt!!¡± ¡°Hoh! Hoh! Hoh! Hoh!!¡± ¡°C-C-C-Celes-tan!!!¡±


    Incredible cheers wereing from the audience seats.


    The person that even when she is a hero, she is also working as an idol.


    This match where there¡¯s many spectators actually felt like the live performances she habitually holds. Just for this moment, the dome had be the sole stage of Celestis.


    With practiced movements, Celestis makes a smooth turn as she waves at all directions.


    Even bigger cheers burst.


    In this venue that was being covered with a sense of unity, there was a single person that lwas scowling at this.


    ¡°...What a vulgar voice. I am surprised at how those adults can let out such strange voices. It is way too embarrassing.¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa covered her face with her opened folding fan and hides her mouth that was frowning.


    ¡°Ara, could it be that it is tough to keep up with your granny stamina? But too bad. I still haven¡¯t considered how to give live performances to people of age, you see.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Keep barking.¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa said in a strict voice.


    ¡°Since I have the chance, I will put it clearly here. I definitely won¡¯t forgive you. You are the shame of us Water Church. Today in this ce, I will be handling judgment upon you. Prepare yourself!!¡± (Sarasa)


    That¡¯s right.


    The emotions that Sarasa was directing at Celestis had clear hostility.


    Just why does she hate Celestis so much?


    ¡°...Well, I don¡¯t understand things like the formalities and traditions of the other churches. But why is it that you can talk so unfavorably about others with just that reason alone?¡± (Celestis)


    The Miki-Moses covers the body of Celestis.


    That divine tool was being d in water divine power.


    ¡°Of course, I am an idol, but I am also a hero. I will buy that fight you are selling me. Especially the fight you are picking, not only on me but also on my important friends. I will be returning it all ten-fold!!¡± (Celestis)


    Second match.


    Current hero Re Celestis vs previous hero Ra Sarasa.


    ¡°Match, begin!¡±


    ¡°[Water Rage]!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°[Water de]!¡± (Sarasa)


    The water bullet shot from the Miki-Moses of Celestis, and the high pressure water de released from the water folding fan, Dahyu, of Sarasa.


    Both of them sh in the air and, no matter the times, the high-pressure de won and would cut the water bullet in half.


    Celestis had to avoid the water des that continued on with its original speed.


    And I was busy erasing them with dark matter to make sure the water des didn¡¯t attack the audience.


    ¡°Hohohohoho~~, how is the sharpness of the ¡®Water de¡¯ released from the water folding fan? That childish water y of yours doesn¡¯t even serve to dy them.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°The water folding fan, Dahyu, was made from the same cloth as my robe, Miki-Moses. The biggest trait of the folding fan is that it is firmly serving as the bone for the cloth which makes the water bullet take that de-like form.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The water bullet that has been made thin due to the paper and cloth can already be called a water de. It will cut everything. In my active days, several hundreds of monsters have be rust to this de.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Rust in a water de, can you make a less coherent sentence?!¡± (Celestis)


    The retort of Celestis only felt like her distracting herself from her pain.


    ¡°The biggest strength of the water divine power is its wideness in practical use. At times, it can wet your thirst; at others, it can create raging streams; and at other times, it can rot something by stagnating it. Just like how water itself has innumerable faces, the water divine power can be divided with just a single change. My water folding fan is one of those faces.¡± (Sarasa)


    The robe of Celestis and the water folding fan of Sarasa; even within the divine tools of the new and old heroes, the divine tools of these two are the ones that are the most different in form.


    The reason for it has been revealed.


    ¡°Compared to that, Celestis-san, that robe of yours feels like it is a representation of the wavering character of its user. The cloth that one would normally adjust to their own individual traits, you have utilized it just as it is; that¡¯s unheard of. I am shocked by your tant negligence.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Is that so? I myself think that I have drawn a jackpot though.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s just because your brain iscking!¡± (Sarasa)


    A water de was released again.


    Celestis already didn¡¯t try to stop it with a water bullet and concentrated on avoiding.


    ¡°You were always like that! No matter when, you would never be serious. You didn¡¯t care about troubling others! Have you thought about how much trouble your arbitrariness causes to others?!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°At the very least, I don¡¯t remember causing you trouble though?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Silence!¡± (Sarasa)


    A slightly bigger water de was going straight at Celestis.


    Celestis, who had her posture crumbled due to the constant evasion, was unable to cope with it. She spread her robe and used it as a shield, somehow managing to deflect it that way.


    But it doesn¡¯t change the fact that this was one-sided.


    ¡°Celestis-san, a self-centered girl like you bing a hero, wasn¡¯t that a mistake in itself? Saying stupid things like being an idol, you are truly odious. I will correct that mistake of yours!¡± (Sarasa)


    Is there nothing that can be done anymore?


    Just when I thought this...


    ¡°I also think a little, you know.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Hah?¡±


    ¡°Especially since the time I began fighting together with Karen-chi and the others. ¡®Just what can I do inside that team?¡¯, I thought of it deeply. And the conclusion that came out was...to bring the best out of the water¡¯s wide amount of uses.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What are you bbering about?! I don¡¯t care anymore. I am finishing you here!!¡± (Sarasa)


    Just as she dered, Sarasa released herst water de.


    But...


    *ssh!*


    ¡°Kya?!¡±


    The moment the water de was released from Sarasa¡¯s folding fan, it broke and dispersed. While making a big sshing sound.


    ¡°Look below you.¡± (Celestis)


    Following her words, I noticed that the surroundings are in an abnormal state.


    It was flooded.


    The floor of the battle stage that they were standing on was drenched as if a downpour had passed.


    ¡°It is the water I created. You were shooting so many water des, cutting down all my water bullets. You were a great help in camouging. This water here has my divine power in it, so it moves on my whim. Just like this...¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis waves her robe.


    As if in concert, the pool of water covering the floor shot a water bullet and grazed Sarasa.


    ¡°Hiih?!¡±


    ¡°The water de that you shoot is basically a water bullet that has been thinned. That¡¯s why, even if it¡¯s strong against attacks from the front, it is weak against attacks from below. In rock-paper-scissors, the paper wins against the rock because the paper covers it, but you see, in reality, the rocks prates the paper!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Are you saying you shot down my water de the moment I released it?! Were you in the defensive until now to create this water domain?!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Let¡¯s return to the talk a few moments ago. The strength of the water divine power is in their wide ways of use. My Miki-Moses can be said to be the divine tool that brings out this strong point to its highest.¡± (Celestis)


    A simple cloth; the Miki-Moses that could even be described as that, would at times undte, and at other times, it can be tough like a rock.


    ¡°The cloth is soft and can change its shape to anything. That¡¯s why it can be a sword, spear, shield, and even an armor. When injured, it can be a bandage, a curtain that blocks the sunlight, an overcoat to endure cold; it can be anything.¡± (Celestis)


    And in reality, at the fights with the giant monsters, we have been saved countless times by the handyness of Celestis.


    Karen-san had been treated by her ¡®Water Heal¡¯ just a few moments ago too.


    ¡°Compared to that, Sarasa, what about you? cing a bone to your cloth, you are now able to bring out a water de from it. But because of that, you have lost all other uses. By specializing in attack, you have forgotten the important wideness of use. Is that really the correct form of the water hero?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Shut up! [Water de]! [Water de]!!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa has been releasing water des several times while Celestis was talking, but they were all shot down by the water bullets that came from below.


    The flow of the battle had turnedpletely into Celestis¡¯ side.


    ¡°Well then, I will now be showing you the water hero¡¯s true way of fighting. [Water Blessing]!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis ds the surface of her body in water divine power and slides on the water drenched floor with overwhelming speed.


    The ¡®Water Blessing¡¯ that¡¯s originally used to walk on top of water, to think that it could be used in this kind of way.


    And with that, she instantly closed the distance between her and Sarasa.


    ¡°[Water Rage]!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ugyaaaa!!¡± (Sarasa)


    A water bullet released at close range, with that, Sarasa can¡¯t intercept it with a water de.


    Aiming at that instant of an opening...


    ¡°On top of that, [Water Bag]!¡± (Celestis)


    The water current that was released from her robe had imprisoned Sarasa in the blink of an eye.


    A mobility technique, an offensive technique, and a restraining technique; it is certainly true that the variety in the water divine power is a lot.


    ¡°Damn you! Let me out! Let me OUT!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Can¡¯t. You can¡¯t escape from the ¡®Water Bag¡¯. You don¡¯t have the stamina remaining for that.¡± (Celestis)


    Hm?


    ¡°The ¡®Water de¡¯ is certainly a powerful offensive attack, but it utilizes as much divine power. You are making high enough water pressure to cut through even iron after all. Who knows how much divine power you would need to create such pressure.¡± (Celestis)


    Maybe she hit the bullseye, the beautiful face of Sarasa warped in mortification.


    ¡°Also, I will be correcting one misunderstanding you had. It seems you are thinking that you are the only one who can shoot those water des with that water folding fan, but too bad, my robe can also shoot them.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis spreads her Miki-Moses wide and, just like that, she began to spin rapidly.


    The cloth that¡¯s endowed with water is heavier than what anyone could imagine and bes hard.


    By utilizing this, the Miki-Moses that had arge amount of water divine power poured into it, took advantage of the centrifugal force of the turns and...!


    ¡°Revolving Style, [Water de]!¡± <Jutsu!> (Celestis)


    A water de that revolved like a boomerang was released from the Miki-Moses.


    The water de had sliced apart both the water prison and the captured Sarasa¡ªor so I thought, but the water folding fan blocked it.


    ¡°Kyaaaaa!!¡± (Sarasa)


    But the impact of it had destroyed the water folding fan, and, unable to kill all of the force, Sarasa herself was also send flying.


    ¡°Well, it is tiring so I normally don¡¯t do it though. Cutting techniques are the specialty of Sasae-chi anyways.¡± (Celestis)


    This is...should I take it as end of the match?


    The blown away Sarasa somehow managed to stand up, but she is totally exhausted and doesn¡¯t look like she can move at all.


    Her divine tool that served as her weapon has been destroyed, and no matter how I see it, there¡¯s no way to turnaround this situation.


    ¡°...Eh...Match ends, winner is Celes¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wait!!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Woah!!¡± (Haine)


    I was shouted at in an incredibly loud tone and was stopped.


    Are you telling me you still have more to do, Sarasa?


    ¡°I still haven¡¯t...lost! Celestis-san, I will defeat you...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...¡±


    Celestis was watching this ghastly Sarasa with the calmness of ake surface.


    When I look at this, I end up wondering who is the older one here.


    ¡°...You, why is it that you hate me so much?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°!!¡±


    ¡°It might be rude for me to say this but, you and I don¡¯t have any connection. Until the day you retired and I was chosen as the sessor, we didn¡¯t even have any conversations. At the very least, I don¡¯t remember doing anything to make you hate me.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t...! I do!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡®So I really was being hated!¡¯, is the kind of mentally fatigued sigh that Celestis let out.


    ¡°...I didn¡¯t want to say this, but I heard about this from Papa before the match began.¡± (Celestis)


    When she talks about Papa, she must mean the Water Founder, Ru Azul.


    It is not officially approved, but they are both father and daughter.


    ¡°I heard that you participated in today¡¯s match without telling the family you were married in.¡± (Celestis)


    Eh?


    What¡¯s the meaning of this?


    ¡°The Ra household that you married into after retiring as a hero is a famous mercantile house in Hydra Ville. They are in a position where they can aim for the Water Founder spot if they wanted to. We thought the reason why you picked a fight with us this time was because there was that going on in the back, but early this morning, we received an urgent message from their head.¡± (Celestis)


    The head of the Ra household, in the eyes of Sarasa, it would be the father of her marriage partner ¨Cher father-inw.


    ¡°[I am truly sorry for the arbitrary actions of my son¡¯s wife. Our household has no intentions of going against the Water Founder; this has all been done on his wife¡¯s own volition. If need be, I will have my son divorce his wife in order to prove the innocence of our household].¡± (Celestis)


    Period.


    ¡°For you, the ce you are married into is the ce that you finally managed to gold-dig with that hero title you worked so hard for, right? What¡¯s the reason to hate me so much to the point that you would throw away your dreamed celebrity life?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...¡±


    Sarasa didn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°......Could it be...you are hating me because I was born from the womb of the Founder¡¯s mistress?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s not it! I don¡¯t care about that!!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Then what?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It is because you are an idol! Even though you are a hero, you show zeal in such a show off game like being an idol! I really can¡¯t forgive that!¡± (Sarasa)


    Hearing the deration of Sarasa, Celestis went ¡®eh?¡¯ as she made a bitter expression.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that something that shouldn¡¯t be troubling you at all? No, well, I have my own thoughts regarding that, you see.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No! You are troubling me! You are truly troubling me!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°The good match that I finally found after harsh tribtions as a hero...! The third son of the wealthy Ra household; a handsome man with excelling physical ability and high academic achievements...!¡± (Sarasa)


    The more I hear, the more I think it is a find of superior quality.


    ¡°I was truly happy being able to marry such a person, and yet...! Out of everyone, that person had to..........be a big fan of yours!!¡± (Sarasa)


    ........


    .............Hm?


    ¡°Eh? Fan? In other words, a fan of mine as an idol?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! He made a room for that exclusive use and, in there, it is filled to the brim with your idol goods! It is truly disgusting! He also doesn¡¯t miss a single live performance of yours and boasts about it! In front of me, his wife! Do you know how I feel at those times?!! Can you imagine it?!¡± (Sarasa)


    Uwaaa...that¡¯s harsh.


    ¡°Uwaa~, well, thanks for the support.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Rather than thanking me, please apologize! Lately, he has been requesting craftsmen to make a life-sized doll of you!! I did stop him in tears though!¡± (Sarasa)


    Is that what a rich person should be doing?! <or a person in general?! ¡ªnot judging taste though <b>( ?¡ã ?? ?¡ã)</b> >


    ¡°My woman pride is already in tatters! I have thought many times of throwing away all the idol goods while he is away! But when I think about him losing his affection towards me if I were to do that! Aside from that one point, he is a truly rich, good-looking, and kind husband! This is horrible. So harsh!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa finally prostrated and began crying.


    Her husband is infatuated with an idol ¡ªin other words, Celestis. And due to the jealousy of it, or more like, a personal grudge, the previous water hero Sarasa had participated in this battle.


    I suddenly pity her.


    ¡°Hm, to think that I had stolen the heart of my Senpai¡¯s husband without knowing. I am truly a sinful woman.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-san, this is not the time to be pulling out jokes.


    I won¡¯t be held ounted the time you are stabbed in the back by an unknown woman, okay?


    ¡°It has begun to feel pitiful. I am not a woman with such a crooked personality that would want to destroy the family of someone else. Is there a way to calm the situation down smoothly?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Are you going to give her the win this time?¡± (Haine)


    Is what I put out on the table and...


    ¡°I definitely won¡¯t be doing that.¡± (Celestis)


    Of course you won¡¯t.


    That¡¯s the Celestis we know and love.


    For now, she ignores her crying Senpai for the moment and speaks to the audience.


    ¡°Everyone~! I am happy that you support me, but treasure your family as well, okay?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡®Yeeeaahh!!¡¯, was the fervent response from the audience.


    Second match; water hero match.


    The match between the current hero Celestis and the previous hero Sarasa ended with the victory of Celestis.

 Chapter 199-201 - Third Match

    <h4>Chapter 199-201: Third Match</h4>


    Current hero vs previous hero; 1vs1.


    The first match was won by Mirack and the second by Celestis from the current heroes team. We were leading by two points from the very beginning.


    ¡°With one more win, our victory will be decided-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The third match will be the earth hero match.


    If Sasae-chan wins, it will be the victory of the current heroes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put our expectations on the fourth match with Hyue-chi.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eeeh?!¡± (Sasae)


    Celestis, who was leaving the stage after finishing the second match, left words that held not a single shred of expectation.


    The high-spirited Sasae-chan entering the stage was also shocked.


    ¡°What be the meaning of that-dasu?! Could it be ya think I will lose-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Cause you know, in terms of hyping up the story, having all straight wins like this is impossible. In this asions, you act the part of being in trouble.¡± (Celestis) <Dayum, Celestis is basically talking aboutst chapter¡¯sments>


    ¡°Why ya so gungho on the dramatess-dasu?! Ain¡¯t it fine ta have a safe three straight wins?!¡± (Sasae)


    I think what Sasae-chan is saying ispletely correct.


    Celestis who is a thrill-seeking idol to the bone expects thrills on everything she does.


    ¡°But you see, let¡¯s be straight here and ask about the possible or not possible.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Can you win? Against that?¡± (Celestis)


    The weeping Sarasa had already left and the next participant was standing there.


    From the previous heroes team, the previous earth hero; Iemon Yoneko.


    A woman that has a ripe body that would make you think she herself is the Mother Earth God. But the bloodthirst that¡¯sing out from that ripe body of hers was sinister and it was a league of its own even within the previous heroes.


    ¡°Oh my, by the time I noticed, I became thest barricade~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san obviously knows that if she were to lose, the previous heroes team will lose.


    ¡°But at those times, Sasae-chan also knows what the earth hero has ta do at those times, right? We be rted after all~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Of course-dasu! When winning and when losing, what the earth hero does always be one-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    One, two, three, aaand~...


    ¡°¡®ughter them all¡¯-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Scary! What kind of phrase are they running by, these people?! Ei! Like hell I can stay in a battle stage where a bunch of killers are standing on! I will be resting in my own room!¡± (Celestis)


    Maybe Celestis was affected by the earth heroes, she left after leaving ominous words behind.


    With this, the battle stage consisted solely of the current and previous earth heroes.


    At one side, there¡¯s Sasae-chan who is the youngest within the heroes. Her body hasn¡¯t grown much; she is small and thin. The earth scythe, Seeta, that she holds in her hand is her divine tool, and the unbnceness of the weapon and the holder already gives out a dangerous impression.


    On the other hand, there¡¯s the previous earth hero, Yoneko-san. This one has a perfected body both as a woman and as a fighter. It was truly fat well shaped. Moreover, the earth scythe Magd that she uses is just slightly bigger than the size of a normal farming sickle. In other words, it is at a size that¡¯s adequate for her body. There¡¯s no dy in her swings.


    Sasae-chan and Yoneko-san; there¡¯s no pairing with as much difference in growth within the old and new heroes as this one.


    I feel like I can understand the reason why Celestis gave up right from the very beginning of this fight.


    The two ring at the center of the stage.


    They sh bloodthirst while waiting for the beginning signal.


    ¡°Ta think that I would have the chance ta fight against Sasae-chan after retiring as a hero~. It be quite the interesting generation~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Everyone be saying that the era be moving to a new phase-dasu. In order ta not stop that movement, the inexperienced Gonbee Sasae will be facing Yoneko-neechan to the best of mah abilities-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Even though they are both rtives, what a thick bloodthirst they are releasing!


    ¡°As expected of mah grandchildren-sa ne.¡±


    ¡°Waa?!¡± (Haine)


    By the time I noticed, an old robed woman was standing right beside me.


    It was the Earth Founder. The grandma of both the new and old heroes about to fight now, and she herself was a hero that had her name resonate in the long past.


    ¡°Oh my, Sobo-chan?!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Sobo-chan, why ya here-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    The two grandchildren of faraway ages were surprised and put their attention on the Oba-san.


    ¡°Lately, probably because of my age, mah eyes have not been that good. From that faraway, I would only see ya girls as specks.¡± (Oba-san)


    Oba-san lifted her chin and pointed the furthest part of the audience seats where the noble area is at.


    ¡°But since it be the match between mah grandchildren, I wanna watch it clearly from up close ya see. I don¡¯t mind yaughing at me fer being a stupid grandma.¡± (Oba-san)


    No, your tone totally doesn¡¯t allow anyone tough at it!


    ¡°Sobo-chan! Ya say that, but what about the care of mah child?! Ya said that ya would be looking after him. That be why I epted participating, ya know?!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Don¡¯t fret, Yoneko. Yer child is right here.¡± (Oba-san)


    Within the robes of the Oba-san¡¯s arms, there was one small baby that wouldn¡¯t even be in his first year of age. He was moving his eyes and neck restlessly as if everything he saw was novel.


    ¡°Ya as well wanted ta watch the fight of yer mother up close, right? Yer mother that makes blood rain be quite cool, ya know?¡± (Oba-chan)


    Of course, there¡¯s no way the baby would understand words yet, but the granny talks to him with a soft voice.


    ¡°Sobo-chan~! Do ya be that lenient when it be a baby-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°To her daughter, she be an ogre; to her grandchildren, she be normal; and to her great-grandchild, she finally ended up being an idiot!¡± (Yoneko)


    It looks like it is a family with a lot going on.


    Leaving that aside, I will be beginning the match already!


    Third match, earth hero match.


    Current hero Gonbee Sasae vs previous hero Iemon Yoneko.


    ¡°Match, begin!¡±


    ¡°Hieeeee!! Doeeeee!! Wawawawawawa!!¡±


    At the same time as the match started, Sasae-chan waspleted pushed back.


    Thebo attacks that Yoneko-san unleashes with her small scythe easily slipped through the big scythe of Sasae-chan and assaulted Sasae-chan herself.


    As I thought, Yoneko-san is overwhelming Sasae-chan in terms of swings at tight turns.


    ¡°What be the matter~, Sasae-chan? Do ya want yer legs to be hunted by me that much?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around-dasu! Fight back with [Edge Tornedo]!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan turns using herself like a spinning top and aimed to slice Yoneko-san with the big scythe.


    ¡°More like, the ¡®Giving More Openings¡¯ technique, ya know?¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san lowered her body and easily evaded the big scythe that rotated at high speeds.


    In that same lowered position, she was about to attack the legs of an opponent that could be said to be a spinning top...


    ¡°Hiiih!! Dangerous-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    But Sasae-chan jumps immediately and avoids it.


    Even so, Yoneko-san was absolutely merciless in her pursuit.


    ¡°Yoneko ain¡¯t serious at all.¡± (Oba-san)


    The Earth Founder Oba-san at my side says this. Is she doing the job of amentator?


    ¡°If Yoneko had been serious, Sasae-chan would have both her legs gone a long time ago. Yoneko¡¯s nickname in her active days be ¡®Leg Hunter¡¯.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°A pretty straightforward nickname.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But...between Yoneko-san and Sasae-chan, there be way too much difference in skill.¡± (Oba-san)


    This is a more despairing difference in strength than in the matches before with Mirack and Kyouka, or the match with Celestis and Sarasa.


    ¡°As I thought, the young Sasae-chan still hasn¡¯t grown enough to challenge her Senpai?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That be it too, but there be another reason why Sasae can¡¯t win.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Haine)


    The words of the Oba-san drew my interest.


    ¡°What do you mean by that? Is there another point that¡¯s pushing Sasae-chan into a disadvantage?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That...just wait fer a bit. This little boy crapped. Have ta change diapers.¡± (Oba-san)


    Eeeeeh?!


    In the time the Oba-san had begun to change her great-grandchild¡¯s diapers right in the middle of the battle stage, the life-or-death exchange of attacks continued.


    The trait of the third match is that both heroes are violently moving around.


    At the previous matches, it was a sh between the fire or the water divine powers respectively, but these earth heroes were going fiercely with physicalbat.


    This could be called a fighting style of the earth heroes that utilizes the earth divine power¡¯s trait of controlling the body.


    ¡°Heave~Hoo~Heave~Hoo-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°How pathetic~. Ya already losing breath? That be why they say that Golem usersck training, ya know?¡± (Yoneko)


    Golem user?


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That be the biggest difference between Yoneko and Sasae.¡± (Oba-san)


    Oba-san, who seems to have finished changing diapers, was holding her great-grandchild between her arms.


    ¡°Just recently, we were in an inseparable rtionship with the Golems. Ya also know that, don¡¯t ya?¡± (Oba-san)


    Well, yeah...


    The Earth capital Ishtar ze had a strange cohabitation between humans and monsters called Golems.


    The earth giants that were being birthed by the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood, helped out humans, worked for humans, and were loved by many.


    ¡°For the earth hero that protects Ishtar ze, Golems be by no means existences they could ignore. After all, that big body and power, they be perfect to leave fer battle-sa ne. That be why the sessive generations of earth heroes relied on Golems and fought together with ¡®em.¡± (Oba-san)


    Now that she mentions it, I wasn¡¯t there myself, but I heard that Sasae-chan had controlled three Golems at Apollon City, and were overwhelming Karen-san and the others -a total of three heroes.


    ¡°In the Earth Church, they began to search fer a hero that had the highestpetency in controlling Golems. A good earth hero also means to be a good Golem user-sa.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Then, you were also in your time...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No. In mah active days, the use of Golems in battle still haven¡¯t gone that far, ya see. It be all about using one scythe to deal with all.¡± (Oba-san)


    The scythe technique of the Oba-san, which I could only see in disy for only a moment, was overwhelming after all.


    In the time she was young, she utilized that young body of hers to deliver a severing hell huh.


    ¡°And so...Yoneko be also the same.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Wa?¡±


    ¡°Yoneko be a rare case in this times. She was an earth hero that didn¡¯t rely on Golems and specialized in physicalbat. If Sasae¡¯s type be called a Golem user, then Yoneko be a scythe user.¡± (Oba-san)


    Hearing that answer, the information in my head ovepped perfectly.


    The reason why Sasae-chan is at a disadvantage.


    It¡¯s not only because of the difference in experience and height.


    Sasae-chan has been fighting together with the Golems and has be knowledgeable of their use. That girl is now using a single scythe without Golems at her side, and is fighting against Yoneko-san who is an expert at that type ofbat.


    That is exactly the disadvantage in this battle; the real reason for it!


    After finishing another violent exchange of attacks, the two re at each other.


    ¡°Sasae-chan, yer truly a useless child~. Relying all the time on yer Golems, yer ability with the scythe is practically as if ya haven¡¯t learned how to use it at all. Can¡¯t be helped. I am yer big sister here, so I will be teaching ya for a bit, okay~?¡± (Yoneko)


    The earth scythe Magd shines with a vicious light.


    ¡°Ya know, sickles be originally farming tools~. Waiting for the crops to ripen, ya reap the head that being out of the ground. It be a tool that¡¯s made in order to cut as closest to the root as possible. That¡¯s why, at the times when it be used as tools to kill, cutting as close to the ground be easier. I have been doing it just like that all the time. That¡¯s why mah name ended up being ¡®Leg Hunter¡¯, ya know~?¡± (Yoneko)


    Saying so, Yoneko-san separated her legs widely and lowered her body, like the posture of a cat that was about to jump onto its prey.


    With her left hand, she rolls up her right arm¡¯s sleeve. The thin arm that was now in view was like a white snake biting onto a scythe.


    The fighting stance of Yoneko-san that she showed in the team battle.


    ¡°Listen well. When yer going ta cut yer opponent, ya have ta open yer legs wide, okay~? To a point where ya can see yer face in the puddles of the rice fields. A good posture ta hunt legs. And from there...!!¡± (Yoneko)


    The wind lets out a scream.


    The distance between the two was closed in an instant.


    ¡°Uwa-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan quickly reacted and stopped it with her earth scythe. It also means that she had no leeway to even evade it, but the earth scythe and earth scythe scrape against each other as they release sparks.


    ¡°Dasuuuu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan used all her strength to somehow manage to deflect the de.


    And then...


    *sh*


    Stone blocks of the battle stage had been cut into two.


    ¡°Geeeeh?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°This is...!!¡± (Haine)


    A gap that ran deep and far in length.


    The de that Sasae-chan diverted had left a remain like that deep on the floor.


    We are at the moving city, Rudras Metropolis. Below us, there¡¯s a giant ethereal machine construction.


    The speaker soon sounded and a report came in. Fortunately, there were no casualties, and it seems that there was no damages with the Rudras Metropolis¡¯ mechanism.


    But that de cut apparently ran all the way down the 15th underground floor.


    ¡°Ara, can¡¯t do. It has been a long while, so I ended up overdoing it~. Next time, I gotta be careful and just aim to cut off yer legs. A good sickle can properly cut apart weeds and crops; and a good scythe can properly cut down legs and their owner after all~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Sasae-chan was in dire straits.


    I -Kourin Karen- was watching this in worry along with my friends.


    ¡°Ah geez! What is Sasae-chi doing?! I didn¡¯t ask for a battle that is this bad for the heart!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°de attacks that, just by receiving one, it will be the end; and she is being continuously attacked by those kind of attacks without leaving a chance to breathe. She is currently managing to evade them all, but honestly speaking, it is a situation where it wouldn¡¯t be strange for it to end anytime soon.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan, who had already finished their fights in a victory, were drawing cold sweat at the terrible situation before their eyes ¨Cas if they were the ones in it.


    ¡°A physicalbat specialist and a Golem user; I knew that the earth heroes of sessive generations were divided in two, but then, why is Sasae-dono not using Golems? She is already fighting an opponent whose skills are above hers. If she fights against her on her specialty, there¡¯s no way she would have a chance of winning!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan had a usible question and everyone else agreed.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Sasae-chi should just use the Golems to drag it into her own territory!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Because of the age, Sasae is seen as the weakest one in our group, but if we were to add Golems to the equation, that view ispletely wrong. In Apollon City, she actually fought on equal grounds against Karen, Celestis, and me at the same time.¡± (Mirack)


    If she were to use the Golems, Yoneko-san wouldn¡¯t be an impossible opponent to defeat.


    But...


    ¡°Sasae-chan won¡¯t use the Golems. She absolutely won¡¯t.¡± (Karen)


    My words gathered the attention of the other three.


    ¡°Eh? Why?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Now that you mention it, in the Rudras Metropolis fight before, Sasae didn¡¯t show any signs of utilizing Golems.¡± (Mirack)


    I speak out the words that Sasae-chan herself told me before.


    ¡°Golems were born from the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood, right? But that Grandma Wood was erased by Haine-san. Golems won¡¯t be born anew anymore and the ones remaining are all that¡¯s left. They won¡¯t be increasing in the future, and they will decrease in number as time goes, and in a few decades, they will be gone, she said.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Well, yeah...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It was indeed that kind of situation.¡± (Mirack)


    That¡¯s why Sasae-chan decided on this.


    She won¡¯t be using Golems to fight anymore.


    The number of Golems is already limited and they are only going to continue decreasing. By pushing them to the frontlines of battle, it will only elerate the decrease even more.


    Fighting will make them stand at the front of des, damage them, and degrade them.


    ¡°...Sasae-chan said that Golems have a more important role.¡± (Karen)


    ¡®Golems be necessary to rebuild the Ishtar ze that has been destroyed by the incident of Great Pir-sama-dasu! Smoothin¡¯ the jagged ground and rebuilding the houses-dasu!¡¯


    ¡®Using the Golems in battle when they have that duty would not be good-dasu! Golems won¡¯t be born anymore, so the numbers be limited-dasu!¡¯


    ¡®Of course, if monsters attack, there be the need ta protect the people-dasu. But, in those moments, I have ta protect the people on my own-dasu! Because I be the hero after all!¡¯


    ¡®Heroes are there ta protect the people-dasu! It be no good if I be protected by the Golems! It would have been okay if the times still be when Golems were born one after the other, but it already be different from before-dasu!¡¯


    ¡®The heroes that have the power ta protect ¡®emselves, have ta manage something by ¡®emselves-dasu! And the Golems will help the people of Ishtar ze with that share! The Golems that protect the people will be protected by me. That be my duty as a hero-dasu!¡¯


    That¡¯s why Sasae-chan stopped using Golems for battle.


    And so, she began learning the way to use her earth scythe from square one under the tutge of the Earth Founder Oba-san, learned from Yorishiro-sama, and is beginning to obtain her own style.


    ¡°Sasae-chi...she looked like an idiot, but was actually thinking properly...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°When she returns, let¡¯s hug her and praise her a lot!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I thought she was just a kid, but she was actually a splendid little girl!¡± (Hyue)


    Everyone was moved.


    Sasae-chan...from a hero that was protected by Golems, you have now begun to aim at being a hero that protects those Golems.


    Your fight today with Yoneko-san will no doubt be an important trial for you.


    A super-specialized physicalbat earth hero that doesn¡¯t rely on Golems.


    Win or lose, that experience will be something meaningful.


    But in order to even obtain that, she has to fight with her all without hesitation.


    ***


    And so, Kuromiya Haine at site.


    The conclusion felt like it was already visible.


    Sasae-chan was evading the de by a hair¡¯s breadth everytime, and all the attacks that she didn¡¯t manage topletely evade had taken a piece of skin along.


    Those kind of cuts had umted, and as of now, she was filled with cuts all over.


    Blood was flowing, and the blood loss was draining away her stamina.


    ¡°Your speed ain¡¯t keeping up at all~. Do ya know why?¡± (Yoneko)


    Compared to that, Yoneko-san who didn¡¯t have a single scratch spoke.


    ¡°Your earth scythe Seeta is way too big for a single human to utilize~. It be created with the intention of having a Golem swing it around after all~. There be way too much difference inparison to mah scythe that be made for human use~.¡± (Yoneko)


    It is true that the scythe of Sasae-chan is way too big, therefore, her moves end up being way too wide. She can¡¯t surpass Yoneko-san who is using a size fit for her at the shortest distance possible and at the fastest of speeds.


    By the time Sasae-chan attacks, Yoneko-san¡¯s attack has already finished and she has already fallen back to a safe distance.


    ¡°Are ya not gonna use Golems, Sasae-chan? I be looking forward to that today, so I requested my husband to look after the oldest child, and Sobo-chan to look after the youngest one, and yet...¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°I won¡¯t be using Golems anymore-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan deres as if tackling back.


    ¡°Golems are ta be used for the sake of the people of Ishtar ze-dasu! The heroes can¡¯t interfere with that-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°...I see.¡± (Yoneko)


    There was a sound of something falling on the floor.


    Something had fallen from inside the clothes of Yoneko-san. It looked like bricks; hard rectangr-shaped things.


    ¡°That¡¯s...!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was surprised at the sight of those numerous bricks.


    ¡°Life Blocks! Ain¡¯t those Golem cores-dasu ka?! Why?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I got ¡®em from Sobo-chan as a condition to enter today¡¯s battle~. Sasae-chan, if ya ain¡¯t gonna use ¡®em, I will be using ¡®em, okay~?¡± (Yoneko)


    The Life Block gathered the rubble from the floor and was forming a giant body. It was a familiar Golem creation scene.


    ¡°That be unexpected-dasu! Even in the active days of Yoneko-neechan, ya never used Golems ta fight, didn¡¯t ya?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I wanted ta try it at least once~, this kind of fighting style.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san once again lunges towards Sasae-chan with a posture that resembles that of a wild cat, however, at its trajectory, there was one Golem that had finished forming.


    Sasae-chan, the Golem, and Yoneko-san were lined up in a straight line.


    At that positioning, the Golem would be in the way and Yoneko-san shouldn¡¯t be able to attack Sasae-chan.


    But contrary to expectations...!


    *sh!*


    Yoneko-san had cut down the Golem with her scythe.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    Yoneko-san approaches Sasae-chan as she pushed pushed aside that opening she sliced open. Because the vision was blocked by the Golem, Sasae-chan¡¯s reaction waste and, even when she retreated, she received a deeper wound than before.


    ¡°Gyaa!!¡± (Sasae)


    And then, the Golem that was cut down must have been cut along with its Life Block.


    It crumbled and turned back into rubble.


    ¡°Yoneko-neechan! Just what have ya done-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan shouted at the crushed Golem rather than her own injury.


    ¡°Great Pir-sama be gone and no new Golems will be born-dasu! They be important-dasu yo! And ta use them in such an unreasonable way, no matter if it be Yoneko-neechan, I can¡¯t forgive that-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    I have never seen Sasae-chan this angered before, but Yoneko-san received that with calm andposure. Or more like, I could even feel eeriness from it.


    ¡°That be something natural for me, ya know~. If it be important, more the reason ta destroy it~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Why do ya think I became a scythe user hero? ¡®Why didn¡¯t I use Golems when they prospered?¡¯, the answer be simple~!!¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-sanughed in an eerie way that couldn¡¯t get anymore ominous.


    ¡°Because I hate Golems to the core~. That be why I want to erase them from this world as fast as possible!¡± (Yoneko)

 Chapter 202-204 - Hating Golems

    <h4>Chapter 202-204: Hating Golems</h4>


    The Life Blocks that Yoneko-san had scattered around amounted to around 10. All of those had finished shaping themselves up.


    But Yoneko-san cut them all up and made them disappear.


    There were times when she would use the Golems to attack and tried to cut them down together with Sasae-chan, but there were times when she would simply cut them down for no reason at all.


    It was clear that she was putting more importance in cutting down the Golems.


    ¡°Stop it-dasu, Yoneko-neechan! Golems still be important-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that~!¡± (Yoneko)


    It is as one-sided as always, but Sasae-chan was desperately objecting.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand at all-dasu! Yoneko-neechan can win against me plenty enough without using such a hand like this-dasu! There be nothing as iprehensible as petty tricks from the strong ones-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Sasae-chan, I be regretting it, ya know? That I shouldn¡¯t have retired from being a hero.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°If I had waited for one year before retiring as a hero -just one year more-, I would have been blessed with the chance of fighting Great Pir-sama myself~. It be truly a shame. That¡¯s why I have no choice but ta cut down the leftover Golems ta relieve myself~!¡± (Yoneko)


    The violent de of hers had cut down another Golem.


    This was already Golem bullying in the guise of a match. That¡¯s how much hate I felt from Yoneko-san towards the Golems.


    Why does she hold such hate?


    ¡°...Yoneko be the child of my fifth son and Sasae was the child of my eight daughter.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Huh?¡± (Haine)


    The Oba-san wearing the Earth Founder¡¯s religious clothing speaks.


    ¡°Both of them died.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    And she goes and says something even more shocking.


    Died? As in, the parents of both Sasae-chan and Yoneko-san?


    ¡°It be in the same ident. That day was the one year birthday of Sasae, ya see. Yoneko¡¯s parents had gone to ask about the celebration. Of course, Yoneko went together with ¡®em. At that time, that girl be ten years old. Me and other people from the church were nning to ask themter as well, but the ident ured before that.¡± (Oba-san)


    At that day, a big earthquake attacked a part of Ishtar ze, and a number of buildings copsed.


    She said that Sasae-chan¡¯s house was one of them. The family of Sasae-chan as well as the family of Yoneko-san, that had coincidentally visited them, were crushed by the falling house.


    ¡°The only ones that survived were the young Sasae and Yoneko. Weter learned that the earthquake be caused by the root of Great Pir-sama that was trying ta obtain nutrition deeper underground.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The location that shook be way too specific after all. And then, Yoneko began to hate Great Pir-sama and the Golems that be rted ta it. Since the time the incident ured, the two were raised by mah other children, but because of the hate Yoneko had towards the Golems, her rtionship with others didn¡¯t go well, ya see.¡± (Oba-san)


    The constantly smiling Yoneko-san had such a past.


    ¡°Because of it, Yoneko got attached to the old me. And so, she naturally absorbed mah techniques, and became a scythe user that had no equal in Ishtar ze. With that ability, the one who pushed her ta be a hero was me. By bing a hero and seeing the Golems helping out people from up-close, I thought that her spiteful attitude towards them would heal even if a little bit, ya see.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°But...from what I can see...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. Even in the several years she worked as a hero, the hatred that took root inside her heart had not been pulled out. In the end, the heart of a human probably can¡¯t be changed till death.¡± (Oba-san)


    While we were conversing, the fight was reaching its climax.


    The Golems had been reduced to thest one remaining and all the others had already had their Life Blocks cut down.


    Sasae-chan was standing in between Yoneko-san and the Golem as if trying to protect it from her.


    ¡°Yoneko-neechan! Please stop it already-dasu! Stop the weird stuff and fight me seriously-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Speaking big when ya can¡¯t even make me go serious~. But everyone aside from me and Sobo-chan be all the same. Relying on something like Golems, they have forgotten to polish themselves.¡± (Yoneko)


    The scythe of Yoneko-san is pushed out towards Sasae-chan.


    ¡°The reason why Sobo-chan called me here today be also to teach that to ya~. Sasae-chan, learn this. Golems won¡¯t be born anymore. There be no point in a fighting style that relies on them~. From today on, ya should throw away your feelings for the Golems from the bottom of yer heart, and be reborn to a true earth hero like me and Sobo-chan~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°I already understand that-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    The whole body of Sasae-chan trembled.


    ¡°But what Yoneko-neechan¡¯s saying be mistaken-dasu!! The people of Ishtar ze have gotten this far together with the Golems-dasu. To forget that and throw away the Golems, that¡¯s just ungratefulness-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan¡¯s stance in this won¡¯t change no matter what.


    She believes in the Golems at all times and walks together with them.


    Even if she is betrayed by them or hated by others, that pure faithfulness towards the Golems, at times, overwhelms even me.


    ¡°What a mysterious thing. Sasae and Yoneko have experienced the same ident, and yet, one hates Golems while the other loves them. They have walkedpletely contrary paths.¡± (Oba-san)


    The Earth Founder Oba-san speaks once again from beside me.


    ¡°Ya may already know, but the houses in Ishtar ze were mostly made of transformed Golems. That be the same for the house that fell on the family of Sasae.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°What are you trying to get at?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°They be under a crumbling house, and yet, only Yoneko and Sasae were saved. Do ya know why? Because the Golems protected those two.¡± (Oba-san)


    Wa?


    Golems protected those two? What¡¯s the meaning of that?


    ¡°At that day, the Golem core that had given shape to the house of Sasae was unable to cope with the sudden earthquake. But, even ifte, it was able to assimte the falling rubble and managed to protect what be inside of it. The ones saved by this be those two.¡± (Oba-san)


    The Yoneko-san that was ten years old at that time was told to look after Sasae-chan who was still one year old.


    Their parents were at the kitchen to do the preparations for the celebration, and that was what sealed their fate.


    When the house fell,Yoneko-san apparently used her own body to protect Sasae-chan. But the rubble didn¡¯t attack those two.


    Before that happened, the life block had assimted the rubble and had reformed into a shelter that covered the two from above.


    That¡¯s why, in that earthquake that had many deaths, those two didn¡¯t have a single injury.


    What was mysterious is that the Golem, that can only perform the orders that have been written beforehand on the Life Block, had for some reason moved on its own in order to protect those two.


    ¡°Even now, that reason be still unknown. But ya see, the only other way ta make a Golem obey orders aside from writing on the Life Block is to pour divine power on the level of a hero when ordering the Golem. Was it someone who ordered the Golem to do that by pouring divine power? That be also unknown...¡± (Oba-san)


    But the one thing that can be said is that...


    ¡°Sasae, who was saved by the Golems when young, be truly the child loved by Golems. That talent, that disposition, it be something that won¡¯t lose to anyone. That¡¯s why that girl managed to be a hero at that young age. She wasn¡¯t selected at that age just fer show!!¡± (Oba-san)


    Sasae-chan stands upright even whenpletely injured.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Sasae)


    And then, for some reason, she suddenly called the name of the Light Founder.


    ¡°I be sorry but, the new technique that Yorishiro-sama taught me, I be disying it here-dasu! This turned into a fight that I definitely must not lose-dasu! This time, I be truly shing against ya with mah all-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    A new technique taught by Yorishiro?!


    What is the meaning of this? Now that I think about it, it seems like Sasae-chan and Yorishiro have been hitting it offtely and she has begun to teach her, but...what in the world did Yorishiro teach her?


    It is not forbidden knowledge that is too soon for humans to know, right?!


    ¡°Wa~u!!¡±


    *nk!!*


    Sasae-chan suddenly pierced the lower end of the earth scythe Seeta onto the stone floor.


    ¡°We earth heroes might look like we be simply swinging around our scythes, but in reality, it be different-dasu! Mah divine tool Seeta as well as yer earth scythe Magd already have earth divine power flowing in ¡®em-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Right. Because of this divine power, the earth scythe always maintains the best sharpness. The de be as thin as hair, and the toughness surpasses steel. On top of that, adding resistance to its core, it will never break. A high level user can turn it light as a feather, and just right at the moment it be going ta cut the objective, turn it several tens of times heavier. Even if it ends up breaking, it automatically restores ta its original state.¡± (Yoneko)


    All of those feats are possible because it is earth divine power.


    From the five elements, the earth divine power is said to be the one that is the best for closebat.


    ¡°However, the divine tools are obviously not the only things ya can pour earth divine power into. To be blunt, as long as it be solid, anything be okay-dasu! Moreover, if we were to change theposition of a matter with the intent of using it as disposable...!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan takes out the handle of the scythe that was stabbed onto the floor.


    ¡°[Transmutation]!¡± (Sasae)


    But the scythe wasn¡¯t simply pulled out. At the lower end of the handle that was buried in the floor, there was something that wasn¡¯t there before sticking onto it.


    A chain.


    Sasae-chan¡¯s scythe had be a sickle and chain?!


    ¡°By pouring divine power amplified by the earth scythe into the ground and stone, ya created the form of a chain huh. It be true that Golem users be good at that~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Just cutting and sticking ain¡¯t the only specialties of us earth heroes-dasu! Guts~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    The chain end, that was turned around with force and gained momentum, flies straight towards Yoneko-san.


    The counterweight that was sticking onto the end of the chain should be of the same hardness than the ones used normally. If you were to hit someone with that and at that speed, a part of your body would get blown away.


    ¡°A naiveness that makes me want ta puke~.¡± (Yoneko)


    But Yoneko-san had read the trajectory of the chain¡¯s counterweightpletely and cut the chain with her earth scythe Magd.


    About a human length size was cut off from the chain counterweight and flew into the air.


    ¡°If pouring divine power into a random pebble ya find around can be plenty enough power, there would be no need for a special divine tool to begin with, ya know~. Such a hastily made weapon will only serve to buy time. Ya telling me that be the technique ya learned from the Light Founder-sama?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°I still haven¡¯t shown ya everything-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    I could tell that Sasae-chan poured more divine power to her chain via the earth scythe Seeta. By doing this, the part of the chain that was cut off transformed into a weight counterweight again as it attacks Yoneko-san.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    If I were to put an example, it would be like a snake that had its neck cut off and soon grew its head back to attack you.


    Moreover, it was at close range. Even so, Yoneko-san who is the most adept in closebat managed to avoid it at the veryst moment.


    ¡°That gave me cold sweat~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°It still ain¡¯t over yet-dasu! The real objective is...!¡± (Sasae)


    The end of the chain, that had been cut by Yoneko-san just now and had already regrown thanks to the divine power supply of Sasae-chan, began to dance vigorously in a way that defied imagination and once again attacked Yoneko-san.


    ¡°Hwaa?!¡±


    Yoneko-san who was continuously evading the continuous attacks had her posture crumble, and this time for sure, she couldn¡¯t evade it.


    The chain that was cut off before coiled around her leg and made her fall grandly.


    ¡°Even when it leaves the hands of the user, ya can still order it for a short period of time if ya have poured divine power into it-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Gwu!! So ya were nning on having it cut off from the very beginning~!¡± (Yoneko)


    Sasae-chan wrapped more chains around Yoneko-san and bound her hands and legs.


    Yoneko-san doesn¡¯t look like she can move a single finger anymore.


    ¡°Splendid...be what I should say? Stopping mah movements like this, ya be thinking of finishing me off?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°I won¡¯t be falling for that-dasu! Even if ya were to have both yer hands and legs bound, Yoneko-neechan be the type ta bite off the windpipe of yer opponent with yer free mouth at the end-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Tch, as expected of a rtive, ya can see right through me~~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Was she really going for that?


    Then, if you were to think that you had stolen the freedom of movement from all her body and get closer to her...... Scary!!


    ¡°...Sorry to say but, from the very beginning, I been thinking of stopping the movements of Yoneko-neechan-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    Huh?


    ¡°Mah divine power is still slow in output, and it takes times to send the necessary divine power ta the earth and stones. That be why I can¡¯t use it in actualbat, be what Yorishiro-sama told me to stop me from using it-dasu. But counting the time I was swinging the chain around, I had poured plenty enough divine power into the floor-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The feet of Sasae-chan made a *crack* *crack* sound.


    What is going to happen?


    ¡°...This feels...bad~!!¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san must have felt the danger as well. She tried her best to struggle and get out of the chains.


    It took her around 5 seconds to free herself from the chains.


    Yoneko-san desperately ran towards Sasae-chan after that, but...


    She didn¡¯t make it in time.


    A hand had suddenlye out from the floor and obstructed the charge of Yoneko-san.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    Surprised, Yoneko-san made a sudden brake.


    The hand that appeared was truly gigantic. To the point that it would easily be able to grab Yoneko-san whole.


    And that arm seemed to be made up of some sort of mineral.


    Stone and earth that had been transmuted by the earth divine power.


    ¡°Show yerself-dasu! Earth Giant that has taken form with my divine power!¡± (Sasae)


    An earth giant appeared from the floor.


    It was all transmuted from the divine power of Sasae-chan and taken form.


    That build was gigantic, truly gigantic.


    It is a lot bigger than any of the Golems I have met until now. And from this, I could tell the amount of divine power Sasae-chan has to even be able to create something like this.


    ¡°You had this much divine power capacity, Sasae-chan?!!¡± (Haine)


    I heard that Karen-san had abnormal amounts divine power, but isn¡¯t Sasae-chan surpassing that by a lot more?


    The Earth Founder was speaking about something regarding that, and the reason why Yorishiro decided to teach her might have been because she saw through that ability of hers.


    ¡°This be a Golem?! Ain¡¯t this a Golem?!¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san was shaking in fear.


    ¡°A Golem without a Life Block?! Ya telling me an earth hero has created a Golem out of earth divine power transmutation only?!¡± (Yoneko)


    No, before that, to even manage an urate human shape with the earth transmutation method... The body has one of the mostplicated structures in the surface world. And even if it is a super simplified version made for an earth Golem, to create a human image, wouldn¡¯t it require borate ability to the point that it could snap a blood vessel in your brain?


    And yet, this thing that Sasae-chan has created...! If I were to describe Golems as simple humanoid shaped, the one right before my eyes is the very definition of a human.


    A human; a goddess statue with the form of a beautiful woman.


    ¡°This be the fruits of Yorishiro-sama¡¯s teachings-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was riding on the shoulder of the Goddess Golem that she herself had created.


    She then jumped down onto the ground.


    ¡°I be fighting together with the substitute Golem I created. This be the new fighting style of the earth hero Sasae-dasu! Yoneko-neechan! Prepare-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    There was still one Golem of Yoneko-san remaining on the stage.


    The humbly made Goddess Golem of Sasae-chan easily crushed it.


    Confirming the safety of the Life Block that remained, Sasae-chan carefully puts it away.


    ¡°Now then, Yoneko-neechan! It be time to fight once again-dasu! I won¡¯t be stepping back one bit-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan challenges Yoneko-san straight with the Goddess Golem at her back.


    Not fighting while hiding in the shadow of the Golem, but simply going to fight herself and let it join. That¡¯s why her grandma took her in as her disciple and taught her the use of a giant scythe.


    She is trying to obtain a battle style that is not simr to anyone else¡¯s.


    ¡°Yoneko-neechan! I be beginning an awesome party-dasu! Yoneko-neechan?¡± (Sasae)


    The Yoneko-san in question waspletely spaced out while looking up.


    She is staring intently at the Goddess Golem that Sasae-chan made.


    ¡°Sasae-chan, this appearance...where did ya learn of it?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Eh? Ya talking about the appearance of this Golem-dasu ka? I don¡¯t know-dasu yo. When I randomly made one, it ended up this way-dasu. Inspiration-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    The appearance of the Golem that Sasae-chan created can be called a beauty.


    Different from the one that is born out of a Life Block, this one was the very definition ofpletion. The figure itself is exactly that of a human.


    It is as if the sculpture of a talented artist had received life just like that...or more like, the motif is that of a beautiful woman of...bountiful chest.


    Why did Sasae-chan unconsciously create an appearance like this?


    ¡°Well, that be of no importance right now-dasu! From now on, we will be hunting each other¡¯s life-dasu! I be showing ya the evolution of the hero Sasae-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was talking big, but as expected, Yoneko-san was still spaced out.


    And then...


    ¡°I give up~.¡± (Yoneko)


    She suddenly said this.


    ¡°This match, it be fine with my loss~. I can¡¯t fight anymore~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Eeeeeeeeeh?!!!¡±


    The one who was the most surprised by this deration was her opponent, Sasae-chan.


    ¡°What be the meaning of this-dasu?! That ain¡¯t something fitting of Yoneko-neechan-dasu yo! Yoneko-neechan be the type that would bite the windpipe of someone even if she were to be left with only her head, ain¡¯t that right?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That be quite the thing yer saying about me~. But ya see, being shown this figure, my poisonous nature was all taken out~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san once again says as she looks up at the Goddess Golem.


    ¡°Just what be going on-dasu? What in the world did I create-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Seeing that ya haven¡¯t noticed at all, it truly must have been unconscious huh~. Look properly, Sasae-chan.¡± (Yoneko)


    Saying that, Yoneko-san held Sasae-chan¡¯s body and made her face the Goddess Golem.


    ¡°That¡¯s yer mother~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Mother?! Mah mother was a stone Golem-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°No no no, that ain¡¯t what I mean. I am saying that this Golem be identical to yer mother~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Eh?


    ¡°Mother? The mother that died when I be a baby-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°From that reaction, I can see that ya really didn¡¯t know~. Furue-neesan ain¡¯t only the mother of Sasae-chan, she was also an earth hero. She retired with marriage in mind and gave birth to ya, Sasae-chan. And then, that ident urred.¡± (Yoneko)


    The earthquake caused by the root of Grandma Wood. Because of that, the house copsed and Sasae-chan¡¯s and Yoneko-san¡¯s parents were crushed beneath the rubble.


    ¡°Ya see, even now, I still think about it~. Why did the Golem that was serving as the house protect Sasae-chan and I? Furue-neesan was a Golem user too in her active days. Right before she was crushed by the rubble, maybe she managed to send divine power to order the Golem.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡®Protect my daughter¡¯.


    The feelings of the mother that wanted to protect her daughter even when in front of her own death is what made the Golem move.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know what actually happened. No matter how good of a Golem user ya are, sending an order to a distant life block with no divine tool be next to impossible. Maybe Sasae-chan, who was born with talent from the very beginning, unconsciously ordered the Golem ta protect herself. But...¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san walks to a different direction. She holds her own baby that was being taken care of by the Earth Founder Oba-san.


    ¡°I be a mother myself now. That¡¯s why, the amount of times I think about what Sasae-chan and mah parents were feeling at that time has increased. In that past, I only be thinking that I hate Great Pir-sama who took away my important people, and hated the Golems that were in the same league. I could only think about that.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san embraces the baby that she endured pain to give birth to.


    ¡°This hatred won¡¯t ever disappear. The people of Ishtar ze be all stubborn after all~. But ya see, today, at this moment, seeing the Furue-neesan that be trying ta protect her own child even as a sculpture, I felt as if I had been scolded~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ...


    ¡°¡®Ya have already be a mother, and yet, ya can only think about yerself?¡¯, be what I feel she telling me. Even if I will be hating Golems for the rest of mah life, I can¡¯t be showing this figure of mine to my children. It be painful to be seen as an ¡®unsightly mother¡¯ by yer own kids, ya know?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Yoneko-neechan...¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Sasae-chan, ya went through the same experience as me, and yet, didn¡¯t end up hating the Golems. I thought it be because ya were too small to remember anything...but it might have been a bit different. Yer loved by the Golems, ya know? That, or...by the soul of Furue-neesan that is inside the Golems.¡± (Yoneko)


    The Goddess Golem that was transmuted with difficulty had ended up not having a moment to shine.


    Sasae-chan once again looks at that figure.


    ¡°This be my mother-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    In Ishtar ze where the ethereal development was slowed because of the Golems, there were no essible tools to easily leave records like those of photographs.


    It is indeed possible for this to be the first time Sasae-chan has seen her own mother.


    While this was happening, Yoneko-san speaks with her grandma.


    ¡°Hey Sobo-chan, stop crying and look properly~. It be a long time since ya have seen the figure of yer daughter, ya know?¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Shat up! I ain¡¯t crying-sa ne!¡± (Oba-san)


    Ah, and here I thought she had suddenly fallen silent.


    ¡°But Sobo-chan truly is ill-natured~. Ya weren¡¯t only thinking about ripening Sasae-chan with this fight, ya were thinking of doing that with me as well. Thanks ta that, it might be possible for me ta be a better mother~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Rather than adhering to hatred, Yoneko-san noticed that she should be teaching her beloved child.


    Sasae-chan has unconsciously fostered a mother.


    The earth heroes match ended with an unexpected mood.


    ¡°Now then, referee Nii-chan, please close it~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t ya listening to what I said before? I surrendered, ya know? In that case, there only be one thing ta do~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Right. I am the referee right now, so there¡¯s one thing I gotta do.


    Bring an end to the match.


    ¡°Third match, due to the surrender of the previous hero side, the current heroes team -Gonbee Sasae- wins!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    A broadcast suddenly rang together with an ear piercing sound.


    This voice is...!


    ¡°A surrender is not allowed. You are ordered to continue the match!¡±

 Chapter 205-206 - Vain Struggle

    <h4>Chapter 205-206: Vain Struggle</h4>


    ¡°This is an order from the match administration. Surrenders are not allowed. The match has to resume until a conclusion is reached.¡±


    5 matches in the current heroes vs the previous heroes.


    Just as the third match, was about to finish due to a verbal agreement ¨Cno, can it be exined as simple verbal agreement?


    ¡°Oh my, what unreasonable people~. They telling us to fight until one of us dies?¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san, the person that surrendered, was amazed by this.


    ¡°Well, I understand what they wanna say-sa ne. The first and second match be also the wins of Sasae and the others after all.¡± (Oba-san)


    The Earth Founder Oba-san, that had stopped her tears, says this boldly.


    The first and second match were won by the current heroes team; with the victory of Sasae-chan in the third match, the victory of the whole team would be decided.


    By the way, I have no intentions of throwing a bomb.


    ¡°Well now, this be quite the bad joke~. Sorry but, I can¡¯t tag along with this. I been missing mah husband and my older child, so I wanna return right now~.¡± (Yoneko)


    But the broadcast increased even more in volume and shouted.


    It is a voice I have heard of before.


    ¡°Shut up! Fight! Today¡¯s match is programmed to have us win!! A result other than that is uneptable!! The third, fourth, and fifth match will end with the previous heroes turning the tables with three straight wins! That¡¯s obviously how it is! Don¡¯t go ruining the outline I have drawn, Earth Church¡¯s country bumpkin!!¡±


    That voice, so it really was the General of the Aurora Knights, Dobbe huh.


    ¡°Lad, hey Lad.¡± (Oba-san)


    The Earth Founder says with a tiresome voice.


    ¡°Just finish it already. I wanna return to mah room and drink tea.¡± (Oba-san)


    She is totally right.


    I announce in a loud voice so that everyone in the venue can hear me.


    ¡°Third match, current earth hero Gonbee Sasae¡¯s victory!! With this, the current heroes team that has obtained three wins first is the winner!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°¡°Ooooooo~~h!!!¡±¡±


    Apuses and cheers exploded in the venue.


    The audience here are people that came from the five major powers: the Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Light nations.


    This means that the strength and legitimacy of Karen-san and the current heroes has been witnessed by the people of the whole world and was acknowledged.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go deciding that yourself~~~!!!¡± (Dobbe)


    It looks like the Knight General Dobbe finally felt that a broadcast wouldn¡¯t be enough, he came running to the battle stage.


    He forcefully pushed away the tumult of people that he encountered on the way, and even when he pushed away children and women, he didn¡¯t care.


    With bloodshot eyes, he approaches me.


    ¡°The match just now is not valid! No, this is the lost of the current heroes due to foul y! Bringing such a crazy big statue like that, there¡¯s not a single trace of dignity in such an action!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Ya saying that the statue of mah mom is stupid-dasu to?¡± (Sasae)


    Those words made Sasae-chan burn in blunt bloodthirst.


    ¡°The match before too! And the match before that one too! It is the defeat of the current heroes due to foul y!! In the first ce, what is with you! Aren¡¯t you a person in the side of the Founder Yorishiro?! Someone like that doing the job of a referee, there¡¯s no doubt that you made verdicts that were advantageous for the current heroes! That¡¯s why all the matches until now are invalid!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Then, want to clean up the matches of todaypletely? Counting the team match not long ago, the entrance gate allocations, and even the referee girl that utilized a bomb.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Guh?!¡±


    My words made Dobbe stop his breathing.


    What an idiot.


    Why is it that he canin about others when he himself has mud at his back.


    ¡°T-There¡¯s no need to investigate that! There was no foul y there! The suspicious ones are you guys!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Do you seriously think such childish logic is going to work?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Are you making fun of me?! I am the Aurora Knight¡¯s General! The most proficient military power of the Light Church! It is different from the other trash churches!!¡± (Dobbe)


    Just like that, Dobbe changed his talking target to the crowd.


    ¡°Everyone, listen! The current heroes and Founders are trying to destroy the world!! Breaking the current established order, they are trying to bring corruption and chaos. In the first ce, the prospering Light Church mixing with the other third-rate trash is a sphemy to beauty!! Everyone thinks so as well, right?!¡± (Dobbe)


    There were many others here aside from the people of the Light Church. Just what is this idiot saying in a ce like this?


    ¡°It is wrong to decide such an important thing with a sh of brute strength! Let¡¯s take the opinion of everyone! The majority rule! Everyone should know who is in the right here! If it is with this, there¡¯s no chance we will lose!!¡± (Dobbe)


    But the reaction that came back was not even necessary to guess ¨Cit was the appropriate reaction to it.


    The venue that was burning in excitement by the victory of the current heroes team, the venue that raised cheers like a tsunami...


    Waspletely silent.


    It fell into silence in an instant.


    ¡°Waa?!!¡±


    The pressure of that silence makes Dobbe stagger.


    The cold stares of thousands in the venue were mixed with scorn.


    There¡¯s no way they wouldn¡¯t think of today¡¯s events as strange. Everyone has left it to themselves for now and continued watching, but if it had ended with the victory of the previous heroes just like that, who knows what kind of chaos would urter.


    An idiot wouldn¡¯t understand that though.


    Who knows how much trust he has lost with that ¡®safe¡¯ method he speaks of.


    Just as the Water Founder says: ¡®trust is the most important asset¡¯.


    You guys, who readily broke the rules, have lost the trust of the people; in contrast, Karen-san and the others, who were standing straight even when attacked by that unreasonableness, had moved the people and have obtained huge amounts of trust.


    That is the result of this.


    Karen-san and the others have not simply won, that victory has been witnessed by the civilians.


    They didn¡¯t simply win on their own.


    ¡°Grrrr!!¡±


    He should just stop it, and yet, Dobbe squeezed out thest of his pride and shouts.


    ¡°What¡¯s with those eyes?! Do you think it is okay to look at me with those eyes?! I am the General of the Aurora Knights, you know! A holy knight that is several tens of times higher than you heretics! Obey me! You are not allowed to go against me!! You idiots should just silently obey me!!!¡± (Dobbe)


    Just by leaving him alone, he digs deeper and deeper.


    This fight, looking at it in a political perspective, is a confrontation between the Hero Alliance and the Pro-Reconciliation side against the Contra-Reconciliation side.


    No matter the decision it is, when it involves many people, there will always be people against it; everyone will try to see things to their own advantage and will fight in order to avoid any harm to themselves.


    At times, they even fight for the sake of their stupid pride and feeling of superiority.


    The Dobbe that¡¯s in front of me is exactly the very example of that.


    There¡¯s no need to be a genius to tell that he is in the Contra-Reconciliation side.


    He is the one in the Light Church that believes himself to be the most excelling and gains a sense of superiority by looking down on others.


    He can¡¯t be satisfied unless there¡¯s someone below himself. He can¡¯t endure having someone stand above him.


    Even if it is a delusion created by himself, for him, the other four churches must be below the Light Church.


    However, there¡¯s no need for the world to tag along with his prejudice.


    If words don¡¯t work, there¡¯s no other choice but to eliminate it by force...


    ¡°Leave it at that, General...¡±


    The moment I was about to punch Dobbe away, someone appears.


    Carrying a spear in one hand, she has the appearance of an innocent person, and yet, I can only see her as suspicious-looking...


    ¡°Ooh, Ates-dono!¡± (Dobbe)


    The previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates.


    Why is the girl that¡¯s supposed to be on standby as the fifth match participant here for?


    ¡°Ates-dono! You say it as well! This match is filled with deception! Justice is going to fall and evil will bloom! There¡¯s no doubt that foul y urred from the shadows! In the first ce, I think that you are the one that¡¯s the most fitting to be the light hero. That filthy little girl that¡¯s the current hero is just a fake¡ª¨CGuhooo?!¡± (Dobbe)


    WA?!


    Ates suddenly punched Dobbe!


    Unable to endure the strength, Dobbe gets send flying away.


    ¡°Silence, filth. You are the one who did the foul y.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What?! What are you saying?!¡± (Dobbe)


    The cheek, that had been punched, swoll heavily, and Dobbe was showing an expression that was saying he didn¡¯t understand what was going on.


    They are supposed to be in cahoots in the shadows.


    ¡°I, the previous light hero Sunnysol Ates, will indict this person right now. Aurora Knight¡¯s General, Zeberphon Dobbe, you will be prosecuted for the many foul ys that were done by the Church¡¯s Contra-Reconciliation side!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Wa...What are you saying, Ates-dono? You are in our si¡ªGehoooo!!¡± (Dobbe)


    Dobbe was about to say something, but Ates kicks him again.


    ¡°First of all, at the team match just before, the entrance gates serving in favor of the Contra side was an intentional thing. Utilizing this box that has a gimmick in it.¡± (Ates)


    Saying this, Ates takes out a box that has a hole big enough to ce a hand inside.


    ¡°Ah! If I remember correctly, we took out the ballots inside of it ta decide from what entrance gate we being out from-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan testifies as a person present at that moment.


    ¡°Moreover, the reason why the girl that was in charge of being the referee acted in such a violent manner was due to the instigation of the Contra side. I have secured the contract that they had her sign in order to have her work as their puppet.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Waaa?!¡±


    Dobbe stands up even when he had been beaten up.


    ¡°Stop it, Ates! Do you understand what you are doing?! You were also in favor of our ideologi¡ªBuaagh!!!¡± (Dobbe)


    Punched again.


    Ates continues speaking as if nothing has been happening from the very beginning.


    ¡°On top of that, I have brought and arranged the documents of the insurgents that were involved in this time¡¯s plotting. I want to present this to the Founders!¡± (Ates)


    That¡¯s...isn¡¯t that the very materialization of what Yorishiro and the others were aiming for in this match?!


    In order to clean out all the contra-reconciliation side, that is going against the standard bearers of a new era, there¡¯s the need to have a good grasp of who they are first.


    That¡¯s the reason why we hung a tempting bait like having all the heroes and Founders retiring if we were to lose the match between current and previous heroes; and even let them do as much cheating as they wanted.


    It was all in order to have the other side get overconfident and have them peek out of their hiding.


    Karen-san and the others endured gruelling fights for that sake.


    No matter what kind of underhanded method they used, no matter how injured they got due to that, they gritted their teeth as they continued fighting!


    The very thing that we worked so hard for was currently dangling in front of us.


    And yet, what¡¯s with this...this feeling that¡¯s hard to agree to?


    ¡°Wait.¡± (Haine)


    I call to Ates.


    I was aware that my voice had hostility in it, but I simply couldn¡¯t hold it back.


    ¡°You are from the contra side, right? You were in cahoots with that Dobbe there, pressed today¡¯s match forward, and tried to push down Karen-san and Yorishiro. Why are you turning over now?¡± (Haine)


    At such an easy to see timing where the current heroes have won three matches and the winners of the team match has been decided.


    ¡°It looks like you are having a misunderstanding here. I have never been the enemy of Yorishiro-sama and the others for even a second.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am a former hero; me being part of the Church is a thing of the past. Meaning that, no matter from which side you see it from, I am an outsider. Being held up high on the convenience of the contra side was a pain all over, but I had a great idea.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°A great idea?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°By using this situation, I was wondering if I could help my benefactor Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Ates)


    Saying this, Ates smiled lightly.


    Is she ted by her sess? Or is that self-derision? Or maybe that¡¯s just aplimentary smile? It was a vague smile that had a different impression depending on the person seeing it.


    ¡°In other words, from the very beginning, you had no intentions of going against Yorishiro, and yet, you made it look that way so that you could infiltrate the Contra-Reconciliation side?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...¡±


    Without saying a ¡®yes¡¯ or a ¡®no¡¯, Ates smiled.


    An expression that could be taken as both an affirmation or a negation.


    ¡°By acting as if you were theirrade, you sounded out their internal conditions, investigated the ins and outs of it, to give that information to Yorishiro. With that, the contra side is done for. Was that what you were aiming for?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes.¡± (Ates)


    Ates answers.


    Like hell I can believe that!


    If the previous heroes were to win today¡¯s match, she would have remained in the contra side as if nothing had happened, and then, with Karen-san gone, she would have taken a political position!


    In other words, this woman has created a scenario where, no matter which side won, she would not only secure her safety, she would also manage to make aeback to political power.


    By easily abandoning the side that has lost!


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    Dark Matter gushed out from my hands.


    If we let this woman do as she wants, this truly will have no end!


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    !!


    When I turn back, I see that Yorishiro had at some point in timee down to the battle stage.


    The audience that is filling the venue has also not said anything in order to oversee the situation.


    ¡°Did you forget, Haine-san? She was a former light hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro whispers to me in a low voice and made me remember something I had forgotten between my anger.


    My dark matter can erase all divine powers, but the only one that I can¡¯t do that to is the light element.


    ¡°Previous light hero, Ates-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro moves forward as if rying.


    ¡°Good work in your infiltration. Let¡¯s have you give me those documents with the names of the contra side at once then.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro!


    It could be said that the documents Ates has are the very objective we were here for.


    Are you telling me Yorishiro will just ept it just because of that?


    ¡°Before that, there¡¯s something I want to request.¡± (Ates)


    Ates says this as she kneels reverently.


    ¡°I want to receive words of gratitude in regards to this time¡¯s work. Please acknowledge my achievement in this ce.¡± (Ates)


    !!


    That¡¯s basically making Yorishiro say that she made Ates destroy the Contra-Reconciliation side, and on top of that, it is also telling her to make it official that she was working under the orders of Yorishiro!


    Is she going to go that far in order to secure her own safety?!


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!¡±


    Another person jumps onto the stage.


    It is no other than the one other rted party of the Light Church, Karen-san.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t ept something like that! We have won! We have achieved our objective plenty enough!¡± (Karen)


    ¡®Please don¡¯t mix in poison just for further achievement¡¯, is what I felt Karen-san was saying.


    That was in a sense a predicament for Ates.


    If she were to be rejected by Yorishiro and Karen-san, she won¡¯t be able to return to the contra-reconciliation side and will have no ce to go.


    But...


    Yorishiro took the documents of Ates in her hands.


    ¡°Good work, Ates. Kazama Shinobis, please apprehend Ates-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    In the blink of an eye, several ck-clothed people appeared around Ates.


    Kazama Shinobis; the military power of the Wind Church located at the Rudras Metropolis we are currently in. If something were to happen, it is natural for them to be the ones acting, but...


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Ates)


    Being surrounded by the ck-clothed people, Ates raises her voice.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t misunderstand, Ates-san. These documents that have the names of the contra side, there¡¯s absolutely no assurance that they are the real deal. I am not as careless as to acknowledge your merits before knowing for sure that these are real.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You must have wanted to gain a pledge while things were still hazy, but due to the warning of Karen-san, the atmosphere cleared up. Until the authenticity of these documents are confirmed, I will have you apprehended...... Proceed at your own discretion.¡± (Yorishiro)


    With Yorishiro¡¯s signal, the Kazama Shinobis pressed Ates forward...and while at it, they also dragged out the unconscious Dobbe as they left the stage.


    ...Is this the end now?


    They won the first team match, and after that, the individual matches that were basically forced onto them ended with three straight wins. On top of that, the closest ringleaders we had -Ates and Dobbe- have been apprehended.


    Everything has ended in our favour.


    It can be said to be a grand victory.


    But for some reason, I feel like the battle still continues.


    What is with this dissatisfying feeling?


    ¡°Sad to say, it is not over yet.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro who was still standing on the stage said this.


    ¡°The reason why I came down here was not only to receive the list of the people to be executed that Ates-san had. It was also in order tomunicate the information that the lookouts of Rudras Metropolis have told me.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Lookouts? Must be talking about the people keeping watch at the outer edge of the city. They watch out for dangers thate from the outside.


    And if we talk about dangers...


    ¡°...A strange monster has appeared. It is steadily approaching this ce.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro speaks about a mysterious monster approaching, but...is that really the source of my uneasiness?

 Chapter 207-209 - Slime

    <h4>Chapter 207-209: Slime</h4>


    <h4>Monster.</h4>


    That single word changed the situationpletely.


    In this Wind capital where the current heroes and previous heroes match is being held, there¡¯s apparently a single monster that has been confirmed heading to where we are.


    ¡°This is something that has been taken by the far-sighted camera that is set up at the outer edges of the city.¡± (Shiba)


    Gathering after receiving the report, we were shown a photo by the Wind Founder Shiva.


    As a matter of course, a monster was pictured in it.


    ¡°......What¡¯s this?¡±


    If I had to put it in words, it would be a water steam bun.


    It is transparent and round. Even when I am only looking at the photo, I could feel that mushy body.


    ¡°This is the monster that¡¯s currently heading here.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva says.


    He is the person that holds the highest of responsibilities in the safety of the city we are currently in.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get deceived by the peaceful-like appearance of it. It is hard to tell from the photo, but this thing is crazy big. It may not be as big as a Mother Monster, but it isparable to the data of the Fire Cow and Great Sea Dragon we have.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Meaning that it is super-sized ss?!¡±


    This round steam bun?


    It has apletely soothing appearance that just doesn¡¯t give me a sense of danger at all.


    ¡°But it is an opponent that¡¯s a lot more dangerous than its appearance lets out to be. Look here.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva points at another photo. In there, there¡¯s the same water steam bun monster, but...


    ¡°Look closely below its feet!¡± (Shiva)


    You say below its feet, but there¡¯s no feet...


    Hm? What¡¯s that?!


    I don¡¯t know if this thing actually has a liquid body, but at any rate, its semi-transparent body had trees assimted inside it, and they were dissolving!


    The camera had clearly caught the objects that had been engulfed and were being melted into nothingness.


    ¡°?! Scary-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°If such a thing were to enter the city, it would turn terrible. Moreover, the worst thing is that this monster is heading straight here. There¡¯s no doubt that its objective is here!¡± (Mirack)


    Monsters heading to human settlements to attack them is a thing that happens often, but it ising from quite the faraway ce.


    ¡°But we are at the giant moving city, right? Can¡¯t we run away from it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°We are already doing that, but this water steam bun is chasing after us even with that. Right now, we are in a state where we are moving, but we can¡¯t separate from it. To tell you the truth... this ce doesn¡¯t have that much mobility. ces like mountains and pcides, there¡¯s a lot of locations that it can¡¯t move to due to the terrain, and the time it can move continuously isn¡¯t that long either. Once it moves for a certain amount, there¡¯s the need to recharge and give it maintenance.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Meaning that we won¡¯t be able to escape for long.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°We are nning on doing many improvements to it, but at present, there¡¯s no other way for this city to survive but to defeat that thing!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva hits the photo of the monster with his fist.


    ¡°As of now, this monster will be named Slime, and the Wind Church will do its all to subjugate it!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Yes, Aniue-sama.¡± (Hyue)


    His sister Hyue who was at his side answers.


    ¡°I will be giving you fullmand of the Slime subjugation, wind hero! Lead the Kazama Shinobis and intercept it at once!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°No.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Oi~~~~!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva immediately acts like a fool.


    Well, he was suddenly answered by the hero in a way that¡¯s not fitting of a hero after all.


    ¡°No Hyue, what are you saying?! You are already the wind hero!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama, I understand that this is an emergency, but we were also right in the middle of a fight with our existence and pride in line.¡± (Hyue)


    Is she talking about the past and new heroes match?


    But that had reached a conclusion with the victory of Sasae-chan, right?


    Due to the appearance of the monster, the victory has been postponed though.


    ¡°But you see, Hyue, with this problem that entails the whole city, it would be better to concentrate on this matter!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Also, I already announced ¡®it is the victory of the current heroes!¡¯ before the monster came, so it has already been settled. I won¡¯t let them make it unsettled like the time with the team match!¡± (Haine)


    Shiva and I were admonishing her, but for some reason, Hyue was stubborn.


    ¡°Aniue-sama, Haine-dono; it is true that we have won the match. I do think that that fact cannot be warped and negated by anyone, however...!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°However?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°My personal battle is different! I still haven¡¯t fought that one!¡± (Hyue)


    There was a ghost at the ce where Hyue points at.


    Woah.


    No matter how many times I see her, she still makes my spine shiver.


    It wasn¡¯t a ghost, but the proxy wind hero, Brastor Juo.


    She was here too?!


    ¡°Mirack-dono, Celestis-dono, and Sasae-dono got three straight wins, so my turn didn¡¯te, but I had the resolution of finishing things with her today! Aniue-sama, please give the permission to square against her!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°No.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva denies her fervent request.


    ¡°It won¡¯t take long! 5 seconds! 5 seconds is fine! In 5 seconds, I will shoot her right between her eyebrows, and after that, I will show you that I can ughter a hundred ¨Cno, two hundred monsters!!¡± (Hyue)


    Why is Hyue-san getting so bloodthirsty?


    Even though she is normally one of the mostposed ones within the heroes.


    Moreover, for a while now, Juo has been watching that state of hers andughing ¡®kusukusu¡¯.


    ¡°...Interesting. In that case, I will make you into a beehive in one second.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Oh, you are on!!¡± (Hyue)


    Picking fights back and forth!


    They are both at the neck of each other!


    ¡°...Good grief. These two are like this since long ago.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What¡¯s with that sage look you have?¡± (Haine)


    While looking at the two that are scattering sparks as they re at each other, Shiva lets out a sigh.


    ¡°Our Toreido household and Juo¡¯s Brastor household are prominent families of the Wind Church. Due to that connection, we have been acquainted since we were children.¡± (Shiva)


    Hm?


    ¡°But the two didn¡¯t get along since long ago. Every time they saw each other, they would end up fighting. Do you know how much pain I have passed being a mediator? When they grew up, Juo became a scientist and Hyue joined the Kazama Shinobis. However, this created a sense of territory in their jobs, so their rtionship got progressively worse.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama, that¡¯s because...!¡± (Hyue)


    While in the quarrel that had already escted into a fist fight, Hyue raises her voice.


    ¡°It is this woman¡¯s fault. Even though she is a scientist, she postted for hero, and actually became one! Who knows how much it hurt the pride of the Kazama Shinobis who are the military force of this nation! And yet, this woman, the moment she became a hero, she shut herself in herboratory! She didn¡¯t do her job as a hero at all!¡± (Hyue)


    Hah...


    ¡°The higher-ups of the Church all settled in the decision of ¡®discharging her¡¯, and yet, only Aniue-sama protected her! Isn¡¯t it the fault of this woman that Aniue-sama had to temporarily take the post of Founder and hero?! Saying that once she returns to society, you would be able to give that title back to her anytime!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Ugh...but...but...!¡± (Juo)


    Juo raised her voice as if cursing.


    ¡°But Shiva-sama abandoned me and made a person like this the hero...!!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Shut up! You should have been abandoned a lot sooner!¡± (Hyue)


    The fight implodes.


    Seeing this, Shiva once again lets out a big sigh.


    ¡°Juo.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Y-Yes?!¡± (Juo)


    Shiva ces a hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°In the past, there were times when I didn¡¯t understand what you were thinking. You surprised me when you said ¡®I will be the hero¡¯ when I was appointed as the Founder, and when you became one, you shut yourself in and abandoned your professional duties.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s because...¡± (Juo)


    ¡°That¡¯s why I was against it. It is true that you are a genius and are good at both researching and fighting. You most definitely had the fighting ability to be a hero. But your personality wasn¡¯t fit for being a hero. You are scared of being in public, right?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Uuh...¡± (Juo)


    Juo looked up depressed.


    She still had that ghost look of hers, but it was kind of cute.


    ¡°Even with that, I took on the role of hero so that you could return to that position whenever you wanted. But because of the previous incident, I couldn¡¯t afford to do that anymore. So I decided on passing on the title of hero to Hyue. But it was by no means something I did because I had no choice.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama!¡± (Hyue)


    Being spoken about, I felt like I heard Hyue¡¯s heart skip a beat.


    ¡°Hyue had grown plenty enough as a wind gun user to leave the job of hero to her. In regards to the coordination with the other heroes as well, she possesses the most valuable trait that the heroes require from now on. Juo, this is something that you are the most bad at dealing with.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Uuhh...!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°But I don¡¯t remember ever abandoning you. It is true that it was my bad for passing on the hero position without talking to you about it, but I do think that I need your help in the future, and the people of Rudras Metropolis as well.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Shiva-sama!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it you who created practically all the foundations regarding the moving city! Your will for research and those novel ideas of yours, they will be necessary for us now and in the future. That¡¯s why, please stay by my side and help us out. The title of hero doesn¡¯t matter!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Shiva-sama...! I love you...!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Hm? Did you say something?¡± (Shiva) <Hahahahahahaha!>


    ¡°...It is nothing.¡± (Juo)


    My god.


    Could this be...<the legendary ¡®Eh? Nandatte?¡¯>


    Juo had told me something in person between the match. ¡®There¡¯s something I can¡¯t give up on¡¯, ¡®I will have Shiva resign from his Founder position¡¯. She said that because she had feelings for him as a childhood friend and wanted to be together with him forever?


    She thought that she had been abandoned after Hyue had be a hero, and using this, Ates or someone in that faction fanned her on to participate in this.


    And there¡¯s no way Hyue, who shows signs of being a bro-con, would see this in a good wind.


    ¡°This matter has been wrapped up then. Hyue, I will be counting on you on the hero job.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Aniue-sama, move away. I can¡¯t shoot her to death with you in the way.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Don¡¯t shoot.¡± (Shiva)


    I feel like I understand now. The reason for the confrontation between the new and old wind heroes.


    That¡¯s why, I told Shiva this.


    ¡°You should just explode.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I was suddenly insulted?!¡± (Shiva)


    The Wind Founder is someone you just want to insult.


    And Yorishiro who was actually here from the very beginning and was watching over this...


    ¡°This is a development that makes me want to puke-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    She was angered by Shiva¡¯s dense headed attitude.


    Shiva was bewildered by the atmosphere of irritationing from his surroundings.


    ¡°What¡¯s with everyone?! Did I do something wrong?! ¡ªWait, ouch! Something hit me on my back! What¡¯s with this cow?! Why did it suddenly tackle me?! What¡¯s with that threatening pose?! Don¡¯t go doing preparations to tackle me again!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Please let us fight as well.¡± (Karen)


    The heroes of other churches were all inside the same meeting room as well, and Karen-san was representing them.


    ¡°The dangers of this world already have no distinction between churches. If they are in that ce and have the strength to fight, we have to face the enemy together.¡± (Karen)


    The head Shiva looks at the surroundings after that proposal. Earth, Water, Fire, and Light; all the other Founders nodded together.


    ¡°Then, I will be counting on you. As the Wind Founder, we are deeply grateful for the gracious deeds of you heroes.¡± (Shiva)


    But...I was so worried. I couldn¡¯t just not ask.


    ¡°Are you okay, Karen-san? What about your injuries in that explosion...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is okay! The burns have all been healed by Celestis-chan, and after the examination of the Wind Church, they told me that my insides are fine!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san pumps her fists to appeal her energy, but even with that, I was worried.


    Karen-san is the type that would a hundred percent act strong in the cases when she is not okay.


    Not only Karen-san; Mirack, Celestis, and Sasae-chan should still be fatigued by their matches.


    The only one in the current heroes alliance that I can say is in perfect condition is Hyue.


    ¡°As I thought, I will be the one to!¡± (Haine)


    In this asion, I didn¡¯t do much and still have plenty surplus of energy anyways.


    There¡¯s no need for Karen-san and the others that are injured to face danger. I can erase that thing in an instant with my dark matter and¡ª


    ¡°Wait there.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    The Light and Earth Founders grabbed my shoulders.


    ¡°Haine-san, I understand your feelings of caring for the well-being of the girls, but please spectate for a bit more.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°This be the chance to push-sa ne. The biggest objective of the Hero Alliance be to have the heroes cooperate and face the monsters. We will be having ¡®em witness this in the flesh.¡± (Oba-san)


    Right now in this Rudras Metropolis, there¡¯s many people from the five nations who came here to spectate the new and old heroes match.


    If five heroes were to cooperate and defeat the monsters and this were to be witnessed by those people, this will increase the authenticity of the Hero Alliance and the Contra-Reconciliation side won¡¯t even be able to breathe.


    But...


    ¡°Just give it a break already.¡± (Haine)


    I had to speak out strictly.


    Just how much have Karen-san and the others pushed themselves today. They have endured underhanded tricks and strong enemies, and they are already injured all over.


    It was all in order to push the political fight to the best of conditions for Yorishiro and the others.


    But to make those girls fight even more for those same reasons, that would be pushing all of the burden onto them.


    ¡°Karen-san and the others have fought plenty enough! I will deal with the rest!¡± (Haine)


    It was in the moment when I was about to leave the meeting room in anger, the girls stopped me who was plenty ready to head to battle.


    ¡°That¡¯s unnecessary consideration, Haine. We are still in perfect form.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°For this full day, this ce is our stage. Refusing an encore would be a disgrace as an idol.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Having something to cut be happiness-dasu! As an earth hero, anything that can be cut will be cut-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan...


    The three of them have by no means easily won the fights against the previous heroes that were their seniors.


    Rather, they won with their bodies filled with injuries, and yet...


    ¡°Haine-dono, we want to test ourselves. Just how far we can go with ourbined strengths.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue joins the row with her wind gun in hand.


    ¡°We all know that Haine-san is the strongest. But please, watch over us just for a bit more. I want everyone to see that the five of us together are also the strongest.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...¡±


    I am by no means the strongest.


    I am this weak against the straightforward light in the eyes of these girls after all.


    ***


    ...And then, just a bit after, we five were standing at the wastnd.


    I -Kourin Karen- and mypanions, totalling a number of five.


    ¡°Everyone, I will ask just in case but, are your bodies okay? There¡¯s no need to push yourselves, you know?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s what I would like to ask you, Karen. Is there really no problem with the damage you received from the explosion?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What about you, Mirack-chi? You were cooked by your Senpai, weren¡¯t you. Even now, I can still smell a slightly tasty scent, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-neechan, it looked like ya won easily, but the exhaustion of divine power wasn¡¯t anything ta sneeze at-dasu. The previous water hero be also a strong opponent-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Sasae-dono as well. The bandages around your body make you look like a mummy. As I thought, the unwounded me should hit that monster with the resentment I couldn¡¯t hit Juo with!¡± (Hyue)


    In the end, it means that we all are wounded.


    But it is mysterious. Our condition is at the worst, and yet, I don¡¯t feel like we will lose with all five of us here.


    A half-transparent round mountain was approaching us from the front.


    ¡°O~h O~h, it is getting closer, it is getting closer, the Slime-chan. Just like the information stated, the trees and stones that it swallowed have been melted in an instant. Looks like the moment you get caught, there¡¯s only death awaiting.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Looks like it is the basic to take distance and attack from afar. But before that...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°[Holy Light Sword]!¡± ¡°Fly, [me Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Water Rage]!¡± ¡°[Transmute] a rock around here and...[All In, One Shot]-dasu!¡± ¡°Wind long gun technique, [Bell Bang]!¡±


    From each divine tool, different elements were shot at long-distance.


    Those hit directly at the surface of the slime...but the problemes from now on.


    My ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ cut through the surface of the slime and did some damage to it as it dissipated, but it soon regenerated and there was no wound remaining.


    Leaving that aside for now, the fire of Mirack-chan and the earth attack of Sasae-chan opened a hole in the semi-liquid body and soon regenerated, but...Celestis-chan¡¯s water bullet hit the surface and didn¡¯t leave a single wound behind. On the other hand, the wind bullet of Hyue-chan was the one that worked the most. It opened the deepest hole within the attacks of us five.


    ¡°It resisted the water attack and is weak against the wind element?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°In that case, it is earth element?!¡± (Mirack)


    The slime is an earth element monster?


    But wait. From what I heard, the earth element monsters should have only been the Golems that were born from Grandma Wood. Moreover, Grandma Wood -the Mother Monster that is their very source- is gone and shouldn¡¯t be born anymore!


    ¡°The mystery solving sounds fun, but we should leave that forter.¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right. At our back, there¡¯s the Wind capital Rudras Metropolis and the millions of people living there.


    As a moving city, they can run away from the slime, but they have stopped that now and are a few ways back from us in standby.


    In order to watch over our battle.


    Everyone is believing that us heroes will definitely win.


    That expectation, that trust; in order to not betray it, we will defeat that giant jelly!


    ¡°I had the Kazama Shinobis do the protection of the city. It is a true to the word fight between us five and that water steamed bun.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Just what I wanted. That is exactly the stage where the heroes shine!¡± (Celestis)


    The fight begins.


    A shy fight that will serve as the decoration to end this battle.


    ¡°So, how are we going to defeat that giant steam bun? I think you already know, but we cannot make it into tea and drink it, you know!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is that big after all. In the test shots before, there was a difference in effectivity, but in the end, the opened holes have all closed.¡± (Celestis)


    That transparent liquid body, even if we were to injure it, the body begins to regenerate soon after and return to its previous state.


    Even so, if we were to do a big attack that blows away a huge part of its body, it might be possible to inflict fatal damage, but every time we fight, they are always in that level of size. In terms of raw strength, we wouldn¡¯t be able to win at all.


    Even if it is with the wind element that is advantageous against it.


    ¡°But, even when it is that water-looking, it is earth element. How to I say it, it is like unexpected...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°This is no time to be leisurely observing. That Slime might be slow, but it is steadily heading towards Rudras Metropolis. We have to defeat it somehow before it arrives here!¡± (Mirack)


    It is just as Mirack-chan says.


    And in order to defeat the Slime, we can¡¯t just push with brute strength. We have to use wits as well.


    What do we do...


    ...Ah.


    ¡°Hey everyone. Doesn¡¯t that Slime resemble a Golem?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hah?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Dasu?¡± ¡°What?¡±


    The approaching speed of the Slime is slow.


    We still had the leeway to continue our nning.


    ¡°What are you saying, Karen-chi? That rough Golem and this round water Slime, there¡¯s no simrities at all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That be right, Karen-neechan! Just because they be the same earth element, ya grouping ¡®em up be way too far fetched-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    It was a storm ofins from everyone but...


    ¡°Hm, as I thought, they really do resemble each other. The part about them regenerating as soon as their body is damaged!¡± (Karen)


    The Slime we are fighting now would pour its liquid body to the damaged area and it would soon fix itself; the Golems would use the stones and earth of its surroundings to make their body again.


    ¡°Both of them use two different things to fix up their body. That regenerating trait they have, I don¡¯t know if it is because they are both earth element monsters, but it is incredibly simr!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That may be true, but what are you trying to get at with this?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan has asked a good question, so I answered.


    ¡°Then, don¡¯t you think there¡¯s other things that are simr? Golems will regenerate as many times as they want as long as the Life Block that serves as its core is okay. In that case, maybe the Slime as well...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Ah.¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Looks like everyone has understood now.


    ¡°That Slime might have a core as well, is what you are trying to say huh! I see. If that were to be destroyed, it would be leaps and bounds more efficient than just blowing it up without leaving any trace of it!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But how are we going to find the core inside such a big thing like that? Do we jump inside it and swim until we find it? We would be melted to the bones before we find it, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    What Celestis-chan says is correct.


    But I also had an idea regarding that.


    ¡°Everyone, hear me out.¡± (Karen)


    ***


    The n meeting has finished.


    Now all that¡¯s left is to move to action.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this, everyone!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Hindrance team, move out!¡± (Celestis)


    Dividing the team in two, Mirack-chan, Sasae-chan, and Celestis-chan run towards the Slime.


    Paying plenty enough attention to their surroundings as they approach, they stop at a ce where they can still maintain their safety.


    ¡°Around here should be fine. Let¡¯s do this, Sasae!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Got it-dasu! [Magma Ocean]-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The fire of Mirack-chan and the earth of Sasae-chan cooperate to create thebined element ¡®Magma¡¯.


    The ground in front of them became redder, and bes umtedva.


    ¡°It is ava moat! It is crazy hot. If you can move through it, try it!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°With this, the Slime should stop moving its feet-dasu! That water steam bun ain¡¯t got any feet though, it just be a metaphor-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    What I asked of Mirack-chan and the others was to hold the Slime back.


    While its movements have stopped by theva moat, we continue our sure-kill n.


    ¡°We did it! It is going smoothly! Everyone, do your best!¡± (Celestis)


    And Celestis-chan who is at the back of Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan providing support.


    ¡°Celestis-nechan, ya be an extra-dasu! Putting it bluntly, there be no point in ya being here-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°It truly is painful to get an enemy that your element can¡¯t handle, right? I am truly d I am not a water element that would make me spectate because it doesn¡¯t work on the Slime~~!¡± (Mirack)


    Leaving the defense to those three, Hyue-chan and I aim for the offensive.


    ¡°Hyue-chan, I am counting on you.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood. Wind Gun Technique, [Echo]!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan snipes the Slime at a slightly faraway location. However, what¡¯s being shot is not the usual wind bullet.


    ¡°What the Wind Gun, En no Ozuno, is shooting is an ultrasound bullet that surpasses the hearing capabilities of a human. This resonates inside the Slime¡¯s insides, and the echo that returns from it is caught by my ears.¡± (Hyue)


    When I was hurt in the new and past heroes match, the proxy wind hero Juo-san utilized the ultrasound diagnosis device.


    By pouring a special sound into the body of a human, you pick up the echoes of it to make it possible to confirm the state of the insides without cutting open the body. A mysterious machine.


    I thought that maybe we could find the core of the slime with that same principle.


    ¡°But Karen-dono really does impress me. To think that you would immediately put to practical use something that happened just today.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I also didn¡¯t think I would be utilizing it.¡± (Karen)


    It really is useful to experience all you can.


    ¡°But there¡¯s a problem.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The structure of the Slime is a lot more simple than that of a human, so it is possible to locate the core without the use of a machine. But it is still that size. It is impossible to cover its whole body with ultrasound with just one shot.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Then, what should we do?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°There¡¯s no choice but to shoot several shots at different locations to cover the whole body as we search. It would take time though.¡± (Hyue)


    It is okay.


    That¡¯s the reason why I have brought my usual flying machine and have Hyue-chan riding behind me.


    In the time Mirack-chan and the others are holding it back, we will fly all around the Slime and shoot it all up!


    But just as I was thinking that...


    ¡°Karen! Karen, this is terrible!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan calls out to me.


    ¡°That water steam bun ain¡¯t fazed at all from theva-dasu! It be crossing it normally-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    No way!


    Theva moat that Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan made was crossed by the Slime as if it were a wastnd with nothing in it.


    It is not that it isn¡¯t working. The liquid that touches theva is making *fsst* sounds as it boils, but it didn¡¯t look like the Slime was suffering at all.


    It is going straight at it without losing any speed at all!


    ¡°Geez, what are you doing?! You people are really useless.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be told that by you!¡± ¡°-Dasu!¡±


    This is not the time to get soothed by the retort of Celestis-chan!


    Can we even manage to locate the core by the time the Slime reaches Rudras Metropolis?!

 Chapter 210-211 - Reinforcements Arrive

    <h4>Chapter 210-211: Reinforcements Arrive</h4>


    ¡°What are you doing, Mirack?!¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan gets a chill after hearing the voice that came from behind.


    ¡°Is faltering against an enemy of this level something a fire hero would do?! A hero only moves forward!¡±


    ¡°Sis Kyouka?!¡± (Mirack)


    The previous fire hero Abi Kyouka-san has appeared in the battlefield?!


    No, wait... I can see other people as well.


    ¡°Seeing a monster, mah old blood be boiling~. I can¡¯t just stay put anymore.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°By contributing in this monster subjugation, I can at least cleanse a bit of the shame I have faced today.¡± (Sarasa)


    The previous earth hero, Yoneko-san, and the previous water hero, Sarasa-san.


    ¡°Yoneko-neechan, why ya came here-dasu?! Did ya leave the baby ta Sobo-chan again-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°We were also heroes and we been given back our divine tools for today, so not doing anything ain¡¯t gonna look good~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°And so, we will be joining in on this fight as well. Let¡¯s go! May the Fire God Nova bestow us victory!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Mother Earth Mantle-sama, bless us with bountiful strength~!¡± (Yoneko)


    They rush towards the Slime.


    Seeing this, their juniors get incredibly flustered.


    ¡°Uwaaaaa!! Sis, wait! Seriously, wait!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That Slime melts all that it gulps down-dasu yo! If ya challenge it in closebat, ya all gonna be left without even bones-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Each one of them jumps at their respective Senpai to stop them.


    ¡°...Why do the former heroes only know of charging forward?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan and I were looking at this from the flying machine.


    ¡°Fufufu... As expected of the heroes of other churches. They are allcking neurons.¡± (Sarasa)


    The previous water hero, Sarasa-san.


    She walks forward triumphantly with her folding fan.


    ¡°The water folding fan has been fixed and is right back in action. If we can¡¯t get close, then it is all about long-ranged attacks. My ¡®Water de¡¯ is right in that alley!¡± (Sarasa)


    A high water pressure de was released from the folding fan. This hit the giant Slime as if it were natural, and it disappeared as if natural.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Just saying but, that water steam bun is earth element. You and I arepletely useless against it.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s just way too harsh!!¡± (Sarasa)


    Being informed of this by Celestis, Sarasa weeps.


    The ¡®Water de¡¯ that was blocked, broke into several droplets, and fell onto theva moat, making *fsst* fsst* sounds.


    Those were the sounds of the water being instantly evaporated by theva. And that evaporation made theva fly around here and there.


    ¡°Uwa! Dangerous! Seriously, why did you people evene here for?! ...Wait!¡± (Celestis)


    What¡¯s the matter? It looks like Celestis-chan noticed something.


    ¡°...This might actually work. [Big Water de]!¡± (Celestis)


    It was sudden.


    Celestis-chan released a big amount of water into theva moat, and just like the time with the ¡®Water de¡¯, it made an ear-piercing sound andva flew around.


    ¡°Uwa?! What¡¯s wrong, Celestis?! What are you trying to pull?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Theva we went through the trouble of creating gonna get cooled and return to being stone-dasu yo! Celestis-neechan, just because yer useless, yershing out of jealousy-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    There¡¯s no way that¡¯s the case. Celestis is a smart girl. There¡¯s definitely a reason behind this!


    ¡°That¡¯s not it! Whenva gets colder, it doesn¡¯t return to being stone! It turns into ss!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± ¡°Na-dasu?!¡±


    The words of Celestis-chan made Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan wide eyed.


    ¡°The soil around here apparently has a lot of quartz that serves as a material to make ss. By making it into muddyva and cooling it, it turns into ss!¡± (Celestis)


    Well, it is natural ss, so in more exact terms, it would be obsidian though.


    ¡°When the idiot Sarasa threw water into theva, I noticed it! Even when ss is soaked in acid, it won¡¯t melt. It might be the same for that Slime!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I see!¡± ¡°Dasu!¡±


    ¡°You two, create moreva! I will cool it down and make ss! We will create a gigantic ss wall with that and stand in its way!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan is smart!


    But will it really go so smoothly?


    ¡°Sasae-chi, use your earth element to ¡®Transmute¡¯ the earth and make it easier to turn into ss! It will make the burden on you bigger, but I can count on you, right?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°But Celestis, even with us three, no matter how much we do our best, there¡¯s no way we will be able to create ss big enough to stop the path of that giant Slime! There¡¯s no time to manage it!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Won¡¯t it be possible? Because you know, there¡¯s one more set of fire, water, and earth heroes after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°¡°Eh?¡±¡±¡±


    Kyouka-san, Sarasa-san, and Yoneko-san were confused.


    Looks like they took some time to notice that it referred to them.


    ¡°D-Don¡¯t joke around! Doesn¡¯t that mean we would have to match our divine power like you people in order to utilize that technique?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna do that~. Holding hands with this person!¡± (Yoneko)


    In order to createva, there¡¯s the need tobine fire and earth divine power.


    It is necessary for Kyouka-san and Yoneko-san to cooperate.


    ¡°Please!¡± (Karen)


    With Hyue-chan still riding at my back on the flying machine, I requested this of them.


    ¡°People are in danger here! It has nothing to do with the Church or the matter of current and previous heroes, this is for the sake of saving people! Please lend us your strength!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°!!¡±


    Kyouka-san and Yoneko-san, the two of them were looking at each other displeased, but...


    ¡°Hm! We lost today! That¡¯s why, for today only, we will stand by your ideals!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°...Since I became a mother, mah spirit has be brittle~. That city has lotsa parents and children in it too!¡± (Yoneko)


    Both hands were linked.


    At the same time as Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan who are in the same position...


    ¡°Damn it! Don¡¯t get so close to me, it is just fine to hold hands, right?! Why is there the need to stick our body together?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°That¡¯s cause yer boobs are gigantic~! With things that big, they will definitely hit somewhere! If ya have such splendid things here, ya should just have babies and give ¡®em their proper use~!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°If we are talking about big, that goes for both of us! ...Damn it, earth divine power is seriously pouring inside my body. What¡¯s with this strange sensation?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°It ain¡¯t just divine power, yer heart be also pouring into me~! Fer someone that only spits poison from that mouth, yer crazy worried about yer junior fire hero all the time!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Don¡¯t let it out from your mouth! You as well, aren¡¯t you thinking of that shrimp earth hero as if she were your actual little sister! You are thinking at the bottom of your heart about knitting new clothes for her!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Uwa!


    The two of them are mixing their divine power while fighting!


    They were heroes in the past and quite the excelling ones at that. Their control in divine power might even be better than our current selves.


    But that¡¯s not the only thing at y here.


    In today¡¯s match, it wasn¡¯t only the bonds between the current and previous heroes that grew stronger, the bonds within the group of previous heroes has also grown stronger ¡ªeven if their mouths don¡¯t say the same...


    ¡°¡°[Magma Ocean]!!¡±¡±


    A torrent ofva gushes forth from two locations.


    One side was letting out moreva than the other, but even so, it was plenty enough!


    It all spreads around as if surrounding the giant Slime.


    ¡°Senpai, this time it is our turn! The earth heroes have ¡®Transmuted¡¯ it to make it easier to turn it into ss, so it is fine for us to just cool it real good!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go ordering me! This time for sure, I will restore my honor! Full power [Big Waterfall]!¡± (Sarasa)


    Therge amounts of water that Celestis-chan and Sarasa-san released were cooling theva.


    Water steam was raising densely.


    As that happened, the Slime was slowly approaching.


    If it passes before they are finished, it will be toote. Please, make it in time!!


    ¡°Mother, I be leaving it ta ya-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    At the next instant, at Sasae-chan¡¯s feet, the Goddess Golem appears.


    It is the same one that she showed at her match with Yoneko-san.


    The Goddess Golem, as if following the will of Sasae-chan, digs its hand onto the ground and lifts up the volcanic ss that has been cooled down and hardened.


    How to say it, it was like a puddle of water that had been frozen in winter.


    That giant ss wall hit the Slime just like that.


    ¡°We did it! It doesn¡¯t melt!¡± (Karen)


    Just as Celestis-chan thought, the Slime gulped down the giant ss and tried to melt it, but it looks like it isn¡¯t working as it wants.


    Due to the fruitless efforts it was making, its advance stops.


    We finally managed to stop the movements of the Slime.


    ¡°This is a chance, Hyue-chan! Let¡¯s go!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood!¡± (Hyue)


    This time it is our turn to move.


    ¡°Hyue...¡±


    Wa?!


    A ghost from behind us!


    Is what I thought, but it is the proxy wind hero, Brastor Juo-san, who was at some point in time standing behind us...in midair?!!


    Her exclusive weapon, that wind gun rebellion of hers, had several of its spheres with ropes hanging down from them, and these ropes were tied like a swing, which Juo is sitting on. What a cute way of flying, butbined with those looks, it is still terrifying!


    ¡°You, what did youe here for?! We are in a fight with the safety of the Wind at stake!¡± (Hyue)


    As always, Hyue-chan was incredibly aggressive towards her senior.


    That reason had been established not that long ago, but because of it, our suspicions of you being a bro-con are growing dangerous, Hyue-chan!


    ¡°I can understand the gist of what you people are trying to do.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°But using your wind gun to pour ultrasound to the target¡¯s whole body...would take time. It is inefficient.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°What about it?! Even if that¡¯s the case, we have no choice but to do it!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I have already positioned several of my wind spheres...around the Slime. If I have them all release ultrasound at the same time...it will reach all the way to the Slimes very center.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°¡°Waaa?!¡±¡±


    It is true that there¡¯s several spheres of that wing gun rebellion, and if they were to all release ultrasound at the same time, it would be a lot faster than Hyue-chan who only has one wind gun.


    ¡°Hyue, you concentrate on picking up the echoes of the ultrasound thate back. You who use the wind long gun are better at looking and listening.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Guh...But why is a work hater like you doing this?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I am also a resident of the Wind. I can¡¯t just not do anything when the Wind capital is in danger. The people of that city that Shiva-sama loves...I also love them.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°This woman...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°...Call me Sister-inw.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Like hell I will, damn woman!!¡± (Hyue)


    Why are these two in such a bad rtionship?!


    Can¡¯t they get along like Yorishiro-sama and I who are in a triangle rtionship like them?!


    ¡°Right now we are in an emergency! Let¡¯s ride on that n of yours!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Prepare quick. I am already ready to activate them at any time.¡± (Juo)


    Being urged by Juo-san, Hyue-chan presses her wind gun Koumei onto her ear.


    ¡°Here it goes... Wind Gun Rebellion technique, [Tengu Cry]!¡± (Juo)


    I couldn¡¯t hear anything.


    Ultrasounds are high wind waves that the human eardrums can¡¯t pick up, and those travel through the wind to the body of the Slime, reverberate inside it, and then the sound bounces back out of the Slime¡¯s body and passes to where we are.


    Of course, the bounced back sound isn¡¯t something that a human would be able to hear either, so I can¡¯t tell.


    But if it¡¯s the wind hero Hyue-chan, by controlling the wind divine power, she can feel the vibrations of the wind that would normally be impossible to feel, and can manage to sense the slight differences in the waves that came from the insides of the Slime.


    ¡°¡ªI have heard it!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan took a stance with her wind gun...and shoots.


    *Bang!* *Bang!*


    Due to the elemental advantage, the wind bullet opened two big holes into the Slime¡¯s surface.


    Two holes that line up vertically.


    ¡°Those holes are a mark! If you cut those two holes as if you were to tie them together, you can cut down the core inside the Slime in two!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Thanks, Hyue-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    Jumping off my flying machine at the same time as I give her my thanks, Ind on the ground. And just like that, I brandish my holy sword, Saint-George.


    ¡°Wait a moment...cut it, how? The ¡®Holy Light de¡¯ of the light hero would take its all just trying to cut its surface.....¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san points this out in worry.


    Her worry is logical but...


    ¡°Shut up and watch, Juo. Karen-dono has an ace up her sleeve!¡± (Hyue)


    Everyone did their best to make the preparations.


    From the very beginning, my job was to deal the finishing blow.


    Even I have been growing as a hero as time went on. Just like how Mirack-chan gave birth to that ¡®Fire de¡¯ technique.


    I also have a technique that I came up with after training with everyone.


    ¡°Holy sword that holds the title of Dragon yer!! Utilize my light divine power and be a sword column!!¡± (Karen)


    The holy sword Saint-George, that I held up as if piercing the heavens, had begun to shine, and light divine power was released at the same direction the sword was pointing.


    It was as if the de had stretched several tens of times longer.


    ¡°Is that the...light hero¡¯s ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯?!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°But why is she releasing it up?!¡± (Sarasa)


    Seeing the light I released, Kyouka-san and Sarasa-san were flustered.


    But that¡¯s not it. This is not ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯.


    ¡°¡®Holy Light Line¡¯ is a shooting technique that is released at the enemy. Due to the trail running from the de, it looks as if the de had extended, but in reality, it is not as if it actually did.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But what Karen-chi is doing is different. She has shot a more dense and stable light divine power, and is actually making a giant ¡®Light Sword¡¯!¡± (Celestis)


    It is just as Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan exined.


    The current holy sword that has been made a giant light sword has truly be that and is maintaining its form as a giant de.


    This is my new technique that I created with the help and training with everyone.


    If it is with this giant light sword, I can slice this giant Slime in two.


    ¡°[Holy Light Bisection]!!¡± (Karen)


    The light giant sword is swung down.


    At an angle that properly aligns to the two holes that Hyue-chan opened, it enters the body of the Slime as it slices it.


    ¡°Oi oi, with that...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It will be slicing that giant water steam bun in two!!¡± (Celestis)


    Just slicing it in two is not enough.


    Even if the liquid body of the Slime were to be cleanly cut in two, it would soon stick back together and return to how it was before.


    That¡¯s why I have to aim for the core that Hyue-chan and Juo-san have sounded out and cut it with pinpoint uracy.


    This is a single stroke that was created in order to reach all the way in its insides. But...


    ¡°Kugh!!¡±


    No good. I can¡¯t stop the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ from dispersing.


    In order to create a giant de, there¡¯s the need of a massive amount of divine power, and the stronger the release, the more violent is the dispersion of it.


    I have to fix that problem or I won¡¯t be able to call this ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ as a perfected technique. I still haven¡¯t mastered my control in divine power to that point yet.


    ¡°As I thought, it really wasn¡¯t mastered yet?!¡± (Mirack)


    At this rate, the de will disappear before it arrives at the core! What should I do...!


    ¡°Good grief. What a shy girl you are.¡±


    ¡°?!¡±


    The convergence strength of the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ has suddenly increased?!


    Why?


    When I nce at my back for a moment, there¡¯s the previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates-sama there?!


    She is holding the handle of the holy sword.


    ¡°I will take the job of maintaining the form of the light sword. You concentrate on increasing the output.¡± (Ates)


    With the help of Ates-sama, the light sword has be stable!


    ¡°?!¡±


    No, this is everyone¡¯s fight.


    Right now, I have to throw away personal issues.


    ¡°Haaaaaaaaah!!¡± (Karen+Ates)


    The light sword was swung all the way down.


    ...But it was suddenly stopped.


    The Slime was sliced in two, and yet, it feels as if something or someone is grabbing ahold of the giant light sword!!

 Chapter 212-213 - The Demon Lord appears

    <h4>Chapter 212-213: The Demon Lord appears</h4>


    With the perfected light sword created by the cooperation of Ates-sama and I, we managed to cut down the giant body of the Slime from top to bottom, and at the same time this happened, its liquid body exploded.


    If we had just cut it down, it wouldn¡¯t have ended that way.


    With cutting which is, in a sense, the most cleanest way of inflicting damage, the liquid body would have easily stuck back together.


    But that didn¡¯t happen and it dispersed into pieces.


    ¡°That means...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We managed to destroy the core!¡± (Mirack)


    The heroes that were around the ce raised up their voices in cheer.


    The previous and current earth, water, fire, and wind heroes were hugging each other without distinction and sharing their happiness.


    ¡°This is incredible, Mirack! Being able to defeat a gigantic monster like that without leaving a single trace behind! This is a first for me!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Sis Kyouka! Even if you are happy, hugging me is just...! I am going to be asphyxiated by your breasts!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This is the first time I feel such a sense of aplishment! It is leap and bounds different from defeating small monsters!!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the usual for us though~.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ya did well, Sasae-chan~. So the current heroes been facing this troublesome things all the time huh.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°I be honored to receive yer praise-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I will praise you for the asion, Sister-inw!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Who¡¯s your sister-inw?! It would have been better if we had thrown this woman inside the Slime!¡± (Hyue)


    Kyouka-san and Mirack-chan; Sarasa-san and Celestis-chan; Yoneko-san and Sasae-chan; Juo-san and Hyue-chan; everyone was getting along as if the matches not that long ago were a lie ¡ªwith one exception.


    ......We were different.


    I -Kourin Karen- and Ates-sama; within us two, there was not a single bit of sense of aplishment welling up.


    That¡¯s because...


    ¡°W-What¡¯s this response?!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What¡¯s with this response?!¡± (Karen)


    The strange response that resonated via the giant light sword that was still shaped up had send chills down our spines.


    ¡°...Dasu? Karen-neechan and the other one, why ya still leaving that light sword going-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°You should just quickly put away that fuel consuming technique already.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Karen-chi? What¡¯s the matter?¡± (Celestis)


    Everyone slowly began to notice the abnormality.


    I answered in a trembling voice.


    ¡°We are being stopped!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Eh?¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu?¡±


    ¡°Our ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ is being stopped by something! What¡¯s with this feedback?! It is as if a kitchen knife was stuck inside steel!¡± (Karen)


    At the tip of the giant light sword, there¡¯s the ss shards that Mirack-chan and the others created, and the remains of the Slime, which was making the view unclear.


    ¡°[me Burst]!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan blows that away.


    And then, in the field of view that has been opened, the thing that appeared was...the figure of a human grabbing the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ sword with one hand?!


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°What?!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    No, that¡¯s not it.


    I don¡¯t feel like that¡¯s a human.


    There¡¯s no doubt that the silhouette was that of a human. There¡¯s two legs and two arms, there¡¯s also one head. No matter how you see it, it is a human.


    But the surface of his body was bark itself. Moreover, it was swarthy and uneven like a tree that has aged for several hundreds of years.


    A human that has that kind of surface would at nce be thought of as an old person, but that violent aura that wasing from him was not letting us think that way.


    If I had to describe this scene in words, it would be ¡®a tree-human stopping a giant light sword with one hand¡¯.


    No, it is not even one hand. More urately speaking, it was only the pinky finger. With just one finger, he managed to stop a joint attack between two heroes.


    With just his pinky finger!


    ¡°What?! What¡¯s with that guy?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This overwhelming aura! I think I have felt it before... Could it be?!¡± (Hyue)


    It looks like something came into Hyue-chan¡¯s mind. And to tell the truth, me as well.


    Within the new and old heroes present here, the only ones who have a memory of encountering someone simr to this are Hyue-chan and me.


    From the back of the wood human, there were two thick branches growing out on each side of him. They had spacious ramifications and had many leaves growing thickly from them.


    They gave the impression of wings.


    As I thought, this presence, this silhouette; they are simr ¡ªsimr to that Demon Lord Raphael.


    ¡°Congrattions. Good job in clearing my game.¡± The tree human says.


    While still holding our ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯, he speaks without a single trace of pain in his voice.


    ¡°...Game, you say?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah. I felt the presence of several different types of divine powers shing. It looked like fun, so I wanted to join in on it. But just a simple visit would not have any ss, so I nned something.¡±


    And that n was this Slime?!


    That giant monster fell into the category of game for him?!


    ¡°Haha, I didn¡¯t expect my exterior shell to be stripped off before reaching the city. You people are better than I thought. I was half in doubt when I heard the weeping of Raphael, but as expected, you are good as ying mates.¡±


    Could it be...the core of that Slime was him?!


    The Slime was d on him with him at its center; it was a liquid mass of earth divine power?!


    ¡°Raphael, you say?! Then you really are...!¡± (Hyue)


    He answered the shudder of Hyue-chan.


    ¡°I am Uriel. The Earth Demon Lord, Uriel.¡± (Uriel)


    As I thought, he really is the same kind as the Wind Demon Lord Raphael that we met at Rudras Metropolis in the past.


    The ultimate monster that is said to have been born in exchange for the life of the Mother Monster!


    ¡°This is a Demon Lord?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What pressure this is! I can¡¯t move!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Honestly speaking, it be scary-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and Sasae-chan who first met a Demon Lord couldn¡¯t stop their legs from trembling at the violent aura of the Demon Lord.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± (Hyue)


    Even the second timers which are Hyue-chan and I are in the same state.


    ¡°Oh please, don¡¯t be so scared. I will be leaving already after all.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say so? I just came here today to y. The moment the Slime exterior was destroyed, it was the victory of you people. If I end up getting serious just because I lost in a game, it would blemish the name of Demon Lord, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Uriel)


    Saying this, Uriel flies up.


    The giant light sword had already been erased by his pressure.


    ¡°See ya, frail humans. Today was decently fruitful. Enjoy the short time remaining you have before being eradicated.¡± (Uriel)


    After saying that, Uriel flew away.


    Seeing this off, everyone without exception thought this ¡®we were saved¡¯. At the same time, this was incredibly vexing. The heroes that are supposed to be the strongest fighting force to defeat monsters are feeling relieved by the fact that a monster has spared them.


    We can¡¯t defeat the demon lords. We have once again been reminded that.


    Then what was the point of all our struggles to unify until now?!


    It was at that moment when I was about to cry in regret...


    ¡°Do you think I will let you go?¡±


    The owner of that voice was...


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡±


    The moment the Earth Demon Lord Uriel was about to leave, I -Kuromiya Haine- released dark matter and attacked him.


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    I was drawn by the spirit of Karen-san and the other heroes, but I felt there was the need of an insurance in times of danger.


    That¡¯s why I hid and watched over Karen-san and the others.


    But they managed to defeat the Slime on their own and showed their spirit as heroes.


    It is plenty enough.


    They have fought plenty enough.


    The Demon Lord Uriel, this guy is an extraneous factor in the fight of the heroes.


    There¡¯s no need for those girls to fight this guy.


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean I have a reason to let you leave alive!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Uwaaaa?! What¡¯s with this ck thing?! It is coiling around my body and isn¡¯t getting off! Damn it! My divine power is being erased?!¡± (Uriel)


    The Demon Lord Uriel was desperate in wiping away the dark matter sticking onto him, but it is pointless.


    No matter how much power the four basic elements have, they are powerless against dark matter.


    Have your divine power eaten up just like this and end up being erased like the Wind Demon Lord Raphael!


    ¡°Impossible! A Demon Lord like me that stands on top of all demons! To not be able to break off the power of a mere human?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Your undoing was to appear before me unprepared. If you appeared here with the intentions of ying, then die on that pretext as well!¡± (Haine)


    In the first ce, we don¡¯t know where and when you guys will be appearing.


    There¡¯s no way I am such a good person to overlook one when it appears right in front of us.


    ¡°Guaaaaah!! Damn you!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Time to finish you.¡± (Haine)


    When I was about to pour a lot more dark matter to give thest push, fire, water, and wind divine power attack me.


    ¡°?!¡±


    The dark matter that was supposed to attack Uriel was consumed in defending against those attacks.


    On the other hand, due to all these elements dispersing in the surroundings, Uriel...


    ¡°Raaaagh!!¡±


    He separated his skin as if peeling off bark.


    The dark matter was still simply covering him, so Uriel had managed to escape from the dark matter that was still sticking onto the separated part.


    ¡°Aaaah! That was close! If that ck thing had entered my insides...!¡± (Uriel)


    His body that had been stripped from its bark looked like it had sap flowing down looking simr to cold sweat.


    ¡°...You would have been dead. It is because you didn¡¯t listen to my warning that you ended up in that way.¡±


    ¡°I thought it was Raphael barking excuses after losing, but it looks like there¡¯s actually an unbelievable human. I am d that I wasn¡¯t the one caught in that.¡±


    ¡°Idiot. You yed around too much.¡±


    Three more winged people came down from the sky.


    The first one had quite the colorful butterfly wings; the second one had transparent wings that looked like fish fins; and the third one had burning wings.


    With the addition of the leaf wings of Uriel, there¡¯s a total of four.


    Could it be these guys are...


    ¡°Damn it. I will introduce myself one more time. Earth Demon Lord, Uriel.¡±


    ¡°We meet again. I am Wind Demon Lord, Raphel.¡±


    ¡°I am the Water Demon Lord, Gabriel. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Fire Demon Lord, Michael.¡±


    The four Demon Lords that possess the four basic elements.


    They have all gathered here?!


    But...!


    ¡°Raphael, you say?! Impossible!¡± (Hyue)


    Even when she was about to be crushed by the pressure, Hyue still howled.


    ¡°The Wind Demon Lord Raphael was defeated by Haine-dono there and Aniue-sama without leaving a single spec remaining! Because of that, Aniue-sama was...Aniue-sama was...!¡± (Hyue)


    That¡¯s right. Shiva sacrificed his body to a point that left him unable to recover from in order to defeat the Demon Lord Raphael.


    And yet, why did someone who calls himself with that same name appearing again?!


    ¡°Did you forget my power? By changing my cells into insects, I can live if just one is safe.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Then...!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°But well, it was harsh to have 237 trillions cells be reduced to just a few. Thanks to that, I now look like this.¡± (Raphael)


    Just like Raphael said, he had apletely different look from the time we met him.


    His whole body is covered in armor all over without a single opening. It is a full armor that you can¡¯t see a single part of flesh inside.


    The only thing simr to the Raphael before are those butterfly wings at his back.


    ¡°By the way, I am sorry for the rudeness but, did we meet somewhere before? I have a tendency of not remembering humans that are weaker than flies, you see.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Gugh!!¡± (Hyue)


    Being told that, Hyue curves her mouth in humiliation.


    On the other hand, I was receiving the pressure of the four Demon Lords that had suddenly appeared.


    With a single Demon Lord, all the heroes were rendered immobile.


    And that has abruptly turned into x4.


    ¡°I have heard about you from Raphael.¡± (Michael)


    The fire winged one spoke to me.


    A scary big frame. A man that was d in muscle akin to a mountain range.


    ¡°I heard that there was one human who threatened us Demon Lords. After seeing it for myself, I can now tell that it is a lot more than I thought. It was the correct choice to chase after Uriel who left with the intend to y around. We were about to lose another Demon Lord in our n of greatness.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Are you the leader?¡± (Haine)


    I naturally asked this.


    The fire winged one had an aura that was clearly different from the others.


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing here. We are Demon Lords. In order to achieve our sacred duty, we are simply cooperating. There¡¯s no one leading and no one following orders within this group.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Sacred duty?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°To eradicate humans.¡± (Michael)


    It was low but the Fire Demon Lord Michael clearly said this.


    ¡°We dere it here. The era of humans will soon end, and the era of us demons will begin.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°The answer wille when the soon-toest war begins. I wonder which seed will survive.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for two rulers in the surface world.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°But well, the ones who will win will obviously be us though. Kusukusu~.¡± (Gabriel)


    The demon lords who were speaking alternately were overflowing with dense contempt and hostility towards humans.


    ¡°There was no need to say such a leisure thing like ¡®soon toe¡¯.¡± (Haine)


    Dark matter gushes out from both of my arms.


    ¡°I will settle things right now. You all, be erased together with the monsters by my dark matter.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°We can¡¯t have that.¡± (Michael)


    The Fire Demon Lord Michael answers in a leader-like tone.


    ¡°There¡¯s still the need for preparation before thest war begins. Until the moment when that personage we esteem descends.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That personage?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Great Demon Lord, Lucifer-sama. That personage is the very one who leads us.¡± (Michael)


    Are you saying there¡¯s still moreing?!


    Don¡¯t joke around.


    Before things be more troublesome, I will crush these ones right now at least!


    ¡°You want to go no matter what huh. In that case!!¡± (Michael)


    The four Demon Lords extend their arms forward simultaneously.


    But their aim wasn¡¯t me.


    It was aiming at the Rudras Metropolis that is far at my back.


    ¡°We won¡¯t try to avoid fights that we can¡¯t avoid.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°It is true that you might be able to defeat us even when fighting against all of us. But...¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°By the time we fall, the humans that are over there will no doubt be gone from the face of this world.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Along with those insects that are being pathetically prostrating unable to handle even our breath.¡± (Raphael)


    At my surroundings, there¡¯s the ten current and previous heroes who were unable to even stand up due to the sheer pressure of the Demon Lords.


    Defeating the Demon Lords without sacrificing a single one of them...would be impossible.


    ¡°Let¡¯s meet again, strong human. I will keep in mind that you are the only being to fear.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Until the moment when Lucifer-sama descends, we will be enjoying our time in obscurity for a while more.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°You people should enjoy it as well. That important time of yours until the day of your death penalty.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Human that controls darkness, you will be eliminated personally by Lucifer-sama.¡± (Raphael)


    After that, the four Demon Lords flew away with their respective wings.


    The battle was over ¡ªwithout feeling a single sense of reaching a conclusion at all.

 Chapter 214-215 - Hope

    <h4>Chapter 214-215: Hope</h4>


    The fight between humans and monsters is about to enter a totally new phase.


    The Demon Lords all dered that there will be a new era where monsters reigned supreme.


    If it is just as they themselves exined, the Mother Monsters should have all died in order to give birth to them.


    ¡°So there¡¯s no need to search for them anymore huh...¡± (Haine)


    In exchange, the fight against the Demon Lords, that are far stronger than the Mother Monsters, has be inevitable.


    They have the clear intent of eradicating humans.


    This is already not the time to harden our resolves to defeat monsters.


    An unavoidable battle with the existence of humans or monsters as its stakes.


    But...


    ***


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything!!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was crying in grief.


    We were currently inside an ethereal powered car and the inside was currently in a dark sunken mood.


    Even though this was after a victory, everyone here didn¡¯t have a single trace of being happy.


    This car was currently returning us to Rudras Metropolis.


    ¡°If Haine hadn¡¯t been there, we would have been wiped out.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The problem goes further than that... Those guys, we weren¡¯t even in their sight.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°That damn Raphael. He was still alive!¡± (Hyue)


    The disappointment of the heroes was serious.


    The Demon Lords didn¡¯t even consider them as enemies.


    The confidence of Karen-san and the others, after not even being seen as insects on the ground, was in shambles.


    Even though the previous heroes battle had been settled and we would be unified more from now on...


    ¡°Uhm...¡± (Haine)


    I want to do something to encourage them.


    ¡°Wait.¡±


    I thought about that as I spoke out, but I was stopped by someone.


    The previous hero, Abi Kyouka.


    The previous heroes who fought simrly in that battlefield were also riding in this car.


    Excluding the light hero Sunnysol Ates, who had at some point in time disappeared, the remaining four heroes faced their respective juniors.


    ¡°Mirack, you are a splendid fire hero.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Sis...¡± (Mirack)


    The unexpected words of her senior made Mirack lift up her covered face.


    ¡°You had be far stronger than the time I knew you. You stepped onto a domain that I don¡¯t know of. And after fighting together with you, I have personally felt it.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Really. We be simply out of the times now~.¡± (Yoneko)


    The previous earth hero, Yoneko-san, also speaks as she hugs her cousin, Sasae-chan.


    ¡°The era has separated into apletely different path ta one that ain¡¯t having nothing to do with past or current. As expected, being shut in the countryside makes ya unable ta tell what be going on with society. And it made me unable ta tell how desperately Sasae-chan be working.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Yoneko-neechan!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan had watery eyes while she was being crushed by the breasts of Yoneko-san.


    ¡°It is vexing to say, but I will be matching the opinions of the others here. Because it looks like the current trend is cooperation and harmony.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Quack-senpai!¡± (Celestis)


    The high prided previous water hero still had her stubborn attitude left.


    ¡°Celestis-san, you continue doing your best just like that. Since it looks like if you don¡¯t do your best, my celebrity lifestyle will be in danger as well. So I have no choice but to cheer you on.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Thanks! As expression of gratitude, I will send a signed color paper to your house with the name of your husband!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As I thought, I hate this person!¡± (Sarasa)


    The previous and current water heroes were both as they always are.


    ¡°Your sister-inw will be rooting for you.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Shut up! I will defeat you before the Demon Lords!¡± (Hyue)


    And the wind previous and current heroes were even more as usual.


    ¡°Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    Looking at this spectacle, Karen-san says this.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time for us to be losing heart. Heroes are everyone¡¯s expectation, hope. Even if we are defeated, we can¡¯t just stand still!¡± (Karen)


    Little by little, strength was returning to her voice.


    ¡°Right. No matter how strong I am, that is something I can¡¯t do. That is something only Karen-san and the others can do. Be the hope of everyone, lift them up, and turn into their strength to walk.¡± (Haine)


    That is the strength of the heroes, that is the meaning of heroes. The reason why the heroes are the strongest.


    Everyone here possesses that power. No matter the element, no matter if they are past or present.


    ¡°We previous heroes will dere this here and now! We agree to your Hero Alliance!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka represented them and lifts up her voice in this cramped car.


    The other previous heroes also nod in silence.


    ¡°If there¡¯s something we can do to help, we won¡¯t neglect our assistance in it! We have just been taught the scariness of the Demon Lords. Now that we have understood the urgency of the situation, we can¡¯t just be taking it easy simply because we have already retired! But right now, it is your era! You people are the main cast!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°We be supporting ya people from the shadows~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°But if you people are too disappointing, we will be taking the position though.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Hiding in the shadows......that¡¯s a nice rxing position for me.¡± (Juo)


    This is the only positive effect that I felt from the appearance of the Demon Lords.


    That is, in the face of an enormous enemy, the sense of unity from everyone has been strengthened even more.


    Adding to that, there was also the previous and current heroes match that also deepened their understandings with each other.


    The world, that had been apart before the match, is now increasing more and more in unity.


    ***


    The car had arrived at Rudras Metropolis.


    I want to have Karen-san and the others, who have ovee a series of battles, take a rest.


    Thinking this, I had stepped out of the car first and was met with something unexpected.


    ¡°Karen-san,e out and see.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It is amazing.¡± (Haine)


    There was a mountain of people.


    It wasn¡¯t only the people that were spectating the previous and current heroes match at the dome. There were also regr citizens of Rudras Metropolis.


    Everyone was watching the battle from the far-sighted camera.


    The victory that all the heroes of the earth, water, fire, wind, and light had obtained by fighting together has moved everyone.


    ¡°Thanks! Hero-samas, thank you!¡± ¡°We owe all of you our lives!¡± ¡°Watching you join strengths in battle moved me!¡± ¡°Hurrah on friendship!¡± ¡°It is the time for the five churches to join as one!¡±


    The heroes that came out from the car one after the other were showered by this weing.


    I could tell that their hearts, that had been cooled by the terrifying power of the Demon Lords, were being warmed by this encouragement.


    Their cheeks were flushing by that warmth.


    ¡°It is a triumphant return!¡±


    That¡¯s right. The return of Karen-san and the others was exactly that. One of triumph.


    They returned after a victory.


    They probably have begun feeling inside of them that they have actually won.


    The long previous and new heroes battle, and then the Slime battle that began not long after; oveing them all, this was the moment that rewarded Karen-san and the others.


    There were the women looking at the shining moment of the heroes from a step back.


    The previous heroes.


    ¡°Showered in praise with all five heroes gathered huh. This is a spectacle that we wouldn¡¯t be able to imagine in our era.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°But it be a nice sight~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°It is certain that the era has changed. But I do have the feeling that it has progressed. At the very least it wasn¡¯t a regression.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°...Too bright. It hurts.¡± (Juo)


    Heroespete and quarrel with each other; these girls lived in an era where such things were natural.


    They once rebuked their juniors who tried to change that perception, but now it looks like a different view of it has begun to sprout inside of them.


    That sprout can be considered a worthy harvest in today¡¯s battle.


    ¡°...I will be returning now then~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Eh?! Already?!¡± (Haine)


    The current heroes were busy interacting with the people, so I took the role of stopping her.


    But...


    ¡°I left mah husband and older children at the countryside after all~. I already be in a mood where I be missing ¡®em so much I can¡¯t endure it anymore~.¡± (Yoneko)


    I see.


    The heroes that have already retired have their own family to mind now.


    Today they pushed themselves to participate. We have to let them return to where they belong.


    But then...


    ¡°Oi, Yoneko, Yoneko!!¡±


    A throaty voice was calling the name of Yoneko-san somewhere.


    I was wondering that as I look around and...a robust man was approaching here?!


    ¡°Ara!! Why are ya at a ce like this?!¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san made a happy expression as she jumped onto the man. And then, without minding about being in public, they kiss!


    ¡°Uhm...could it be that you are the husband of Yoneko-san?¡± (Haine)


    Judging from the situation, that¡¯s the only thing it can be.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Ya were supposed to be staying at the house. What happened?!¡± (Yoneko)


    The husband-san that I could even confuse for a bear was making an embarrassed expression and gesture that didn¡¯t match his big frame.


    ¡°Yoneko, soon after you left, the children began getting rowdy, you see. I was also getting so lonely I couldn¡¯t endure it, so I ended up chasing after you.¡±


    ¡°Mommy!¡± ¡°Mommy!¡±


    From the back of the big man, two children peek their faces out. From what I see, they arepletely twins.


    ¡°Even ya two! I be so d. Mama couldn¡¯t live without seeing ya~! Danna-sama <husband> as well! I will go get the little one from Sobo-chan right now~! With that, all the family will be reunited~!¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san looks incredibly happy.


    I see. I heard that Yoneko-san had given birth to her third child after around 1 year of having married, but the first two were twins huh.


    When I heard about it, I was heavily disconcerted by the math not matching but if it¡¯s twins...


    ...


    .....It still doesn¡¯t match?!


    ¡°Sarasa! The rose that blooms in my heart!¡±


    ¡°Ah, Danna-sama!¡± (Sarasa)


    What is it now?!


    When I turn around to check the vigorous voice that came from another direction, I see a handsome man with a kaiser moustache hugging Sarasa-san!


    ¡°Danna-sama! Why are you here? I left the house without prior notice, and yet, why?!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Sorry, Sarasa!! I didn¡¯t know you were so tormented by this!! I need you! Even if it was a political marriage, right now for me, you are a heavenly flower in full bloom! A pearl shining in the ocean! Even if I were to conquer the seven seas, I wouldn¡¯t be able to find a treasure as valuable as you!¡±


    Could it be...that¡¯s the husband of Sarasa that was obsessed with idols?


    ¡°I have apologized to father in your sted. Everything is my fault. I won¡¯t be divorcing you by no means. Will you please return together with me?¡±


    ¡°Then, then Danna-sama! Will you be holding back your idol hobbies from now on?!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Of course! You are my greatest treasure!¡±


    ¡°You will stop buying idol goods as well, right?!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°I will cut it offpletely! ...No, how about leaving it at half the pace?¡±


    ¡°You will also not go to the live performance next week and will pass the time with me, right?!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°But what about the ticket I already bought?!¡±


    For some reason, I feel a storming.


    And just at that moment...


    ¡°Heya~! The idol hero Celestis appears like a maelstrom! You are the husband-sama that is always cheering for me, right? Thank you very much!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The first time I talk to Celes-tan in the flesh!!!!!!!!!!¡±


    ¡°With what kind of timing did you decide oning?! Go away this instant!¡± (Sarasa)


    It felt like the storm won¡¯t be leaving anytime soon, so I averted my eyes.


    The husbands of the previous heroes huh.


    They were worried about their wife and secretly came here to cheer for them huh.


    Well, they must hold an important ce in their heart. I can understand how they feel.


    Is what I thought when...huh? There¡¯s an unknown young man where Kyouka-san is.


    ¡°W-Why did youe here too? You have your work at the inn.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°But I was worried about Kyouka-san. It is natural for a couple, right?¡±


    Eh?


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Her junior Mirack was looking at the man and woman pairing with her pointed finger trembling.


    ¡°S-Sis Kyouka? W-Who is the man there?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What, so you didn¡¯t know? He is my husband. We marriedst month, you see.¡± (Kyouka)


    Oi.


    ¡°Wait a moment please! Sis had been defeated by the Fire Cow Phris, so you retired from being a hero and was training all this time in order to vindicate your honor, and had just returned!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Umu. That¡¯s why, in the middle of my training, I by chance stayed in the inn he managed. From there on, a lot of things happened, you see.¡± (Kyouka)


    The shy smile of her merciless predecessor made the expression of Mirack freeze.


    And when I look at another ce, there was Juo and Shiva...


    ¡°Shiva-sama...I love you...¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Hm? Did you say something?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°It is nothing...¡± (Juo)


    Right after, Shiva was once again tackled by the angered fire cow Phris.


    What¡¯s with this lovey-dovey atmosphere spreading from all sides?!


    In this position where you would get crushed by that love atmosphere, there were girls in their teens who were sensitive to it.


    ¡°What?! What¡¯s with this unsatisfying sensation!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°They say that heroes are justice and that they don¡¯t get angry and don¡¯t hate, but just at this moment, I don¡¯t think I will be able to protect that...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Even though we fought with our lives at stake, why am I being attacked by this feeling of wasted effort-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°For now, I will kill Juo. I will kill her before I kill the Demon Lords.¡± (Hyue)


    The heroes had darkness spreading in their hearts.


    ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. 90% of the reasons for the heroes retirements is marriage after all.¡± (Karen)


    At some point in time, Karen-san was standing at my side, moreover, she was holding my hand.


    ¡°K-Karen-san? Why are you holding my hand?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped~.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Uhm...¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped, right?¡± (Karen)


    There¡¯s no way it can¡¯t be helped!


    If Karen-san were to retire now, it would be trouble in many meanings!


    Please refrain!


    TLN: And with this, the arc ends and the ¡®Light God Hero Arc¡¯ will begin. Don¡¯t know what it is about, but it sounds awesome.

 Chapter 216-217 - Knight General

    <h4>Chapter ¨C 216-217: Knight General</h4>


    I -Kuromiya Haine- have appeared before the Aurora Knight General in order to check his mood.


    Milking favor.


    ¡°Knight General-sama, d to see you are doing great today.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Umu.¡±


    ¡°This Kuromiya Haine hase to check on your condition. This person of humble upbringing is truly honored to be in your presence. From today on, I will have a change of heart, and pledge eternal loyalty to the Aurora Knight corp¡¯s General-sama.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A pleasure to hear that.¡±


    ¡°If Knight General says so, I will jump into danger without second-guessing, and if Knight General-sama were to order me to fly, I will fly. I am the loyal servant of Knight General-sama. Please give me orders at any time and at any ce. Knight General-sama is an existence akin to a God for me, and h h h...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Uhm...can you give it a break already?¡±


    Well then, let¡¯s spill the beans now.


    The one in front of me is the new Aurora Knight General, Dillon Grades-san ¡ªthe bald old man.


    The first time we met was when he was a vice-captain and was in charge of the entrance exams for neers. After that, he brought a high-quality element measurement device ¨Cwhich is something that won¡¯t being out to light¨C.


    He has also treated me food a number of times and has helped me out a lot.


    And now that Grades-san has been promoted.


    He has mega-evolved from Vice-Captain into Knight General.


    ¡°Well, in reality, I have skipped several steps and am now standing at the top after all. It is not on the level of just being upgraded two sses.¡± (Grades)


    It looks like Grades vice-captain ¨CI mean, knight general¨C is actually happy about his promotion. His expression can¡¯t lie.


    Well, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any need to exin it now that it hase to this point, but the reason of this big promotion was of course because of the fall of the previous Knight General, Zeberphon Dobbe.


    At the new and old heroes match that urred before where the whole world had divided in two sides -the pro-reconciliation side and the contra-reconciliation side- the former Knight General Dobbe was in the contra side.


    He tried to make the previous heroes team win by using a variety of means, but it in return became the proof of their injustice, and inevitably fell.


    In normal circumstances, they would be discreet about this type of matters in order to wrap it up in a peaceful manner, but in Dobbe-san¡¯s case, his usual behavior bit him back, and also, he picked on the wrong opponent.


    A punishment that was harsher than the crimes hemited was ced upon him in a very natural manner, and was dismissed from his position as the Knight General on that very same day.


    Well, in regards to Dobbe, it wasn¡¯t only the foul ys at the previous and current heroes match, but there was also irrefutable evidence of embezzlement in the funds of the Aurora Knight corps, and hade to a point where he couldn¡¯t even give excuses anymore.


    Dobbe has med Karen-san in matters of her light hero duties since long ago.


    The reason why he was so persistent in having Karen-san under his own supervision was because, after Karen-san had be the hero, the surveince became tougher, making it hard to embezzle the funds, and so he wanted to break this deadlock.


    But that truth was also made clear, thus, it not only made Dobbe be shot down from his position as a knight general, it also marked the downfall of the distinguished Zeberphon family.


    This rich boy, that had done whatever he wanted due to his family status, is now wandering at the roadside.


    ¡°Well, the Zeberphon household is a distinguished family that would enter the top ten in the Light Church. If there¡¯s an attempt to bring it down, there will for sure be a ¡®Hold it!¡¯ somewhere.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°The so called ¡®begging for their life¡¯, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The reason there was none of that and was immediately brought down was because by letting him do whatever he wanted in the previous and current heroes match, the trust of the people was dropped to the pits of hell. Gossips are truly scary. With this invisible power, it instantly shutted the mouth of the political power hungry zombies.¡± (Grades)


    Being told this, it makes me think that the umted battles of Karen-san and the other heroes has been worth.


    So the pains of that time have now been rewarded.


    And now then, the former Aurora Knight General has stepped down from his post in an unsightly manner, and the one who has taken that spot is the one in front of me.


    Former vice-captain Dillon Grades-san, 42 years old; a critical age. He is not from a famous household like the Zeberphon household. He is from a normal household, and has climbed uppletely from sheer effort.


    It is exactly because he knows about hardships that he can be considerate to others, and he does a lot for the neers and doesn¡¯t just ignore the people doing gruntworks.


    His ability as a light knight is also high, and in reality, he should have plenty enough ability to be a captain of his own toon, but the reason why he still kept being a vice-captain for long was due to him not being from a special faction. There¡¯s also the fact that Grades hates injustice, and his reputation with the ¡®former¡¯ high-ups of the knight corps was bad.


    ¡°Well, honestly speaking, I thought I wouldn¡¯t climb up to being a captain anymore. You never know what life has in store for you.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°That¡¯s because it wasn¡¯t only Dobbe, the vice-captains and captains that were in cahoots with him were also fired after all.¡± (Haine)


    In other words, people that were the same as Dobbe; pleasuring in the sweet syrup of their authority and sipping on it like crazy.


    And Grades-san is the one that endured the loneliness and didn¡¯t associate with them.


    That¡¯s probably the biggest reason he was chosen as the new Aurora Knight General.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t that bad? Wiping out the higher-ups...isn¡¯t that the basically the same as killing them all, leaving only a few personnel remaining? And due to this, they had no choice but to choose me as the highest post in responsibility?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Did you think you were made the Knight General to have a fun time?¡± (Haine)


    Our Light Founder-sama doesn¡¯t have such a kind personality, you know.


    ¡°Yorishiro not only wants to clean the Aurora Knight corps, but the whole Light Church itself. In preparation for the Lord of the monsters that has recently appeared -the Demon Lords-, she ns on getting rid of the umted decay in the human world, and give a rebirth to the Light Church.¡± (Haine)


    This is a preparation for the battle against the Demon Lords, as well as a step into creating a new world.


    ¡°So I have been chosen as the standard-bearer for the reformation of the Aurora Knight corps huh. My responsibility is big.¡± (Grades)


    Saying this, the Knight General Grades rubs his trademark bald head.


    ¡°¡®At my age, I don¡¯t really care about promotions anymore¡¯, is what I thought after all. Because of the friction at the top, I decided on just taking care of the little pups and, if possible, retire without any serious errors. But that n has been deviated right at the very core.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°There¡¯s only rough waves ahead, Grades-san.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped. I became a light knight in order to be of use to others anyways. Now that it hase to this, I will do my best till my lights go out!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Yooh~! A new brave warrior is born! The new light of hope of the Aurora Knight corps!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Gahahaha! Tomemorate this promotion of Knight General, how about we go eat ramen? Founder-sama should be able to forgive at least this amount of conceitedness, right? Haine! Apany me! I can treat you all the toppings ya want!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Thank you very much! I will be enjoying it then!! I will follow the new Knight General!!¡± (Haine)


    It must be because we are both men, hanging out with Grades is different from the grouping of Karen-san and the other heroes and it makes for a fun time everytime we do hang out.


    Just like this, the unpleasant former Knight General left and the new fun Knight General has assumed the post. The knight corps are about to head to a new stage.


    This is not a matter that is exclusive to the military divisions, but it is currently also the whole Light Church that¡¯s trying to take off its old robes and changing into a new form.


    When one thing continues for long, a tear will surely appear somewhere.


    This is a reality that urs for anything and nothing can escape it.


    Whether it is an individual, an organization, a living being, an object, no matter if they have form or not.


    The things that are born in this world, no matter what it is, will not be able to maintain their shape as it originally was in the beginning. Most things will evolve into their own innate potential, and after it has evolved, it will slowly decay.


    The organization that is the Light Church is no exception.


    It has already been more than a thousand years since the church itself was established. Its time for development has long passed, and its slow stagnation has continued for a hundred to two hundred years already.


    With such long stagnation, it is natural that it would rot. And a crooked person like Zeberphon Dobbe to be one of the people in control could be said to be a natural course of events.


    There¡¯s two ways to change this flow of things. Destroy everything and begin with a new te; or change it heavily without destroying everything.


    That ¡®change it heavily¡¯ has been called ¡®reformation¡¯ since olden times. And in a big organization, in order to prolong its lifespan, there will always be an enlightening leader that will bring a big scale reformation.


    The bones will scrape off their own rotten meat, and change it into a fresh organization.


    And so, at present, the thing that is being done to the Light Church is exactly that.


    The Hero Alliance being formed, Karen-san bing the light hero; if you were to search for the origin of it, you would find many points that led to this.


    However, the most direct one was the thing that made everything move.


    The new and old heroes match that happened before.


    ***


    ¡°Squadron Captain Vesage, long time no see.¡± (Haine)


    I once again came to visit a familiar person.


    Sinceing back from the old and new hero match to Apollon City, I have been doing this all the time.


    Because practically all the people I know are being buried in work or have been promoted.


    The Vesage-san here is the one who led the recruitment toon that came to my vige. If Karen-san had not stopped me that time, I might have beaten him up hard.


    At that time, his rank was toon Captain.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t that good of a beginning in our rtionship, but after that, I also joined the Aurora Knight corps and temporarily worked together with him.


    That Vesage-san has also been toon captain for long, but he has been ranked up to a squadron captain.


    ¡°...What is it, assistant Haine?¡± (Vesage)


    But now that I have actually met him in person, that Vesage was unexpectedly unfazed by the situation.


    He has been promoted and his pay has gone up, so he should be filled with joy like General Grades.


    ¡°If you think that every single one of the people at the knight corps is able to keep up with this terrible shock, you are heavily mistaken. Even if you suddenly tell us ¡®there will be a reformation!¡¯, you know...¡± (Vesage)


    Is what he said mixing in a sigh.


    ¡°They were people that weren¡¯t that neck deep into the contra-reconciliation side to be a target of being fired, even so, they are also people that weren¡¯t that displeased with the status quo to raise their hands in approval of a reformation. I fall in that same category. Now, imagine a person like me being thrown into such a radical change. There¡¯s only uneasiness for the future, damn it...¡± (Vesage)


    So there¡¯s people with that way of thinking huh.


    In other words, the side that wants to maintain the status quo.


    ¡°But wasn¡¯t it a good change for Vesage-san? This is a promotion, you know? From toon captain to squadron captain, so the money you are given should have increased by quite a lot as well, right?¡± (Haine)


    We were already close enough to talk without any formalities.


    ¡°The responsibilities rise up equally though. If it was before the change, where I would only need to be a squadron captain that just had to stick to the customs, it would be a different story, but the knight corps will be having a stronger color of abat force from now on, right? Honestly speaking, I feel like the pain simply increased. The position of squadron captain is weighing heavily on me!!¡± (Vesage)


    This is not good.


    Vesage-san was the type of person that wanted to maintain a stable and safe lifestyle by being in a low post. But because of the change, in this doctrine of prioritizing ability that will surely being, there will be the need to have all the members show more than a 100% of their effort.


    For him, it would mean that this has be an incredibly hard to live world then?


    No, that¡¯s a no go!


    I want as many people as possible to be satisfied with the new structure that Karen-san and the others wish to make reality.


    There should be something for Vesage to be happy about in this new structure!


    ¡°Right, now that I think about it, with the advance in the cooperation of the five Grand Churches, a new agreement was signed!¡± (Haine)


    I decided to bring the conversation to a more harmless topic.


    ¡°Hm? Ah, the thing that is the closest rted to me would be that the situation of the proselytization movements of the Water Church is in a better state now.¡± (Vesage)


    Right.


    The thing about the water hero Celestis using her idol activities to take in fans into the Water Church huh.


    Originally, within the five Grand Churches, there was an agreement stating that ¡®proselytization movements in the territory of another church is prohibited¡¯, and yet, the proselytization movements of the Water Church and the idol activities of Celestis merged, there were raving fans increasing even within Apollon City, and it was difficult to control this for a while.


    ¡°But due to the cooperation of the five Grand Churches deepening, the Water Church have been doing well in self-restraining. To be more precise, the privileges that the Celestis fans would receive by joining the Water Church are nowpletely gone.¡± (Vesage)


    In other words, the Water nation and the Celestis fans have beenpletely separated.


    In the first ce, Celestis being marketed in that kind of way was because of the Water God Coacervate who ys with humans like they are toys.


    Now that their connection with Coacervate has been severed by me, the Water Founder returning the state to normalcy was a natural thing to ur.


    ¡°Thanks to that, the idol activities of Celestis have stopped with only being in the sightseeing city of Hydra Ville and waspletely separated from the Water Church. The person herself was happy that her job now has nothing to do with propaganda and is now able to act more freely though...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And because of this, we can¡¯t confiscate idol goods anymore. Really...DAMN IT!¡± (Vesage)


    Hm?


    Can¡¯t confiscate anymore?


    Could it be that the real reason Vesage is so dispirited is because...


    ¡°How am I going to gather Celes-tan goods now?¡± (Vesage)


    This guy, he was embezzling idol goods in the guise of confiscation!!!


    He has been giving off the aura of a mummy since before, but to think that it was because he had fallen so low into the idol hell! No, the idol brat path?!


    ¡°No, wait... From now on, it will be the era of cooperation. We will be getting along better with the Water Church. That means...the contact between Celes-tan and the Light Church will increase?!¡± (Vesage)


    Ah, he is a goner.


    Vesage has found new hope to live for.


    ¡°I thought it would be impossible until now, but Celes-tan having a live performance in Apollon City might be possible! Celes-tan in the flesh, a handshake in the flesh! It might be possible!¡± (Vesage)


    Or more like, that idol hero has beening here frequently to hang out since the time she became friends with Karen-san.


    Has he not passed by her coincidentally?


    ¡°Also, Celes-tan is a hero!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Her main job is being a hero...probably.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And a hero is a position that leads the church¡¯s military force, so if the cooperation continues, the connection they have with the Aurora Knights will naturally increase. In other words, the chances of me meeting Celes-tan in the flesh will increase! Okay! Lights on!¡± (Vesage)


    Is that so.


    ¡°Haine! I will do it! In the past, only the famous households had the important posts, but now with the reformation, the more achievements you umte, the closer you get to important posts! And if possible, I want a post that is the closest to other churches. Get closer to Celes-tan, and maybe...! Fuhahahahaha!!¡± (Vesage)


    He is having a delusion typical of a fan.


    Well, the era is changing, so dreaming things that can¡¯t be reached is nice.


    Even if that dream is to climb to the top of the heavens.


    So Vesage managed to ept the blessings that the reformation brings.


    Good, good.


    For now, when I meet Celestister, I will warn her that: ¡®the guy named Vesage is dangerous, so make sure not to get close to him¡¯.

 Chapter 218-220 - One unnecessary person

    <h4>Chapter 218-220: One unnecessary person</h4>


    The reformation of the Light Church was proceeding at full peak.


    This was possible because we managed to take all the decaying cliques out.


    With the dismissal of Zeberphon Dobbe as the first one, the Light Church has been cleansed from the old factions that obtained unjust profits.


    Bribing, embezzlement, fund reflux, profit forging, tax evasion, and many others.


    The people that earned a huge fortune using the old system would obviously object at changing that system. It is basically saying that they won¡¯t be able to get the money they could have gotten after all.


    That¡¯s why the Founder Yorishiro was so aggressive in the new and old heroes match. The Founders had taken a confrontational stance.


    The objective was simple. Make a list of the people that are against the Hero Alliance. At the very least, that was the objective of Yorishiro in that new and old heroes match.


    And so, that objective was aplished with flying colors, and the faction that was against the Hero Alliance were brought out to light one after the other, and were exiled from their post.


    The purification of the Light Church was proceeding smoothly, and it looked as if it would continue without any problems.


    But there was still one big problem remaining...


    ***


    ¡°I am back~.¡±


    After I finished checking out the state of my friends, I had returned to the Light Church¡¯s parlor room.


    This is a ce that only a handful of people are allowed to enter. The true definition of a sacred precinct.


    I sat at one of the seats in the parlor room, and in there, there were four dazzling beauties lined up.


    The first one is the Light Founder, Yorishiro; the second one is the light hero, Karen-san; the third one is the personal bodyguard of Yorishiro and the shadow hero, Doraha.


    That line up is still fine.


    The problem is the fourth one; well, you could say it is a problem.


    ¡°Wee back, Haine-san.¡±


    The one who weed me was the previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates.


    What is this woman doing together with Karen-san and Yorishiro, and nonchntly enjoying tea?


    ¡°How was it? Do you think the lower-ss people, that have risen to new positions, will be able to be of help to Yorishiro-sama?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Uhm, well...¡± (Haine)


    Ates who could be said to be in the opposite faction of Yorishiro is now here. Why is that?


    The reason itself is the very representation of why this woman is so scary.


    If I had to put it in words, it would be that she betrayed them. She betrayed the contra-reconciliation side that were aiming for the same objective as her.


    The contra-reconciliation side heavily relied on this woman, and in terms of fame, she would be able to go against Karen-san and Yorishiro.


    But in the new and old hero match, Ates threw them away into the fire the moment the victory of the current heroes was certain. And so, the information of the contra-reconciliation side that were herrades had been given to Yorishiro.


    She was apprehended at that time, but she was soon released.


    That¡¯s because the list that Ates had provided waspletely urate.


    The reason why the cleaning of Yorishiro is proceeding at surprising speed is mostly because the information that Ates gave had helped out.


    In other words, the contra-reconciliation side was sold outpletely.


    ¡°...Knight General Grades and Captain Vesage were more energetic than expected at the prospect of the new Light Church that wille to fruition after the reformation. It looks like they have found their own role.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s great. In order to make the new Light Church flourish, there¡¯s the need for the lower-sses to step it up. Let¡¯s use them to their best.¡± (Ates)


    Ates was talking as if she were the helmsman of the Light Church.


    Karen-san and Yorishiro haven¡¯t spoken a single word yet.


    ¡°Now now, Haine-san, you must have been tired from walking all around the ce, right? As a show of appreciation, how about some tea I made?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°No thanks, I already ate ramen with Grades-san...¡± (Haine)


    Also, the gaze that was nailed at me was silently telling me ¡®don¡¯t get deceived by someone like Ates¡¯ as it puts pressure on me.


    ...Ates was acting as if she were the leader of this Light Church since long ago pletely disregarding the actual leader, Yorishiro.


    ¡°Please give it a break already!¡± (Karen)


    And finally, unable to bear it with only a gaze, Karen-san raises her voice.


    ¡°I have endured it until now, but I can¡¯t stay silent anymore! What is with you?! Why are you here as if it were natural?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was giving such sound questions that I couldn¡¯t even speak. It seems I was the only one in that state though.


    ¡°You appeared saying that you were against the Hero Alliance. You even created a battle in order to push your ideology! And yet, you still staying here after that matter is over is way too unsightly!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The situation has changed.¡± (Ates)


    In contrast to Karen-san¡¯s anger and heat, Ates had a cool expression as she sipped on her tea.


    ¡°Right now, the world is in a situation that hasn¡¯t been seen before. The Demon Lords, that wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to call as the strongest monsters to ever be encountered, have dered that they will be eradicating humans, and the humans can¡¯t avoid that full-on confrontation.¡± (Ates)


    Ates pours more tea into her finished cup.


    Seeing her taking her sweet time to pour it as if trying to make the taste as deep as possible was annoying to watch.


    ¡°That¡¯s why the humans have to concentrate their whole fighting force. I -Sunnysol Ates- may not amount to much, but as the previous light hero, I n on providing my strength to the Light Church.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°We don¡¯t need your strength.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san tly refuses her.


    ¡°I am the current light hero. I will repel the Demon Lords with my strength. There¡¯s no need for your help.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ara ara, what a stubborn little kitty.¡± (Ates)


    Ates giggles and stands up from her seat.


    ¡°In that case, I will be taking my leave for now. This is a joint struggle, so if we don¡¯t have our hearts as one, it won¡¯t show any effect.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    ¡°In the time I am not here, please teach this selfish girl how reality works, Yorishiro-sama. That in order to obtain results, there are times when you need to join hands even with your most hated nemesis.¡± (Ates)


    She takes one sip of the tea she had poured just now, and then, presents it to the Founder.


    ¡°No matter how cornered in distress we are, I think that we shouldn¡¯t lose our character though.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The words of Yorishiro seemed like they werepletely rejecting Ates.


    Ates didn¡¯t answer to that and simply leaves with a faint smile.


    While leaving a bitterness in the parlor room that is normally used for friendly chats.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!!¡± (Karen)


    The moment Sunnysol Ates left, the parlor room grows stormy.


    ¡°Why?! Why did you invite such a person into the Light Grand Church?! If a person like that roams around, I can¡¯t even calm down to have tea!¡± (Karen)


    The hostility Karen-san had towards Ates was way too bare. To a point that it is hard to think of considering how she normally is.


    Karen-san is the type that doesn¡¯t hate people at all -but Ates is an exception.


    Why does she have such raw hate for her? I can¡¯t even imagine it.


    ¡°The situation has changed.¡± (Yorishiro)


    From the mouth of Yorishiro, the same words as Ates came out.


    ¡°I am displeased by it, but there¡¯s no other choice but to ept it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Are you saying that person is necessary in our fighting force? In order to defeat the Demon Lords? There¡¯s no need! I will defeat the Demon Lords!¡± (Karen)


    Changing the target to Yorishiro, the exact same conversation from before is repeated.


    ¡°...Also, in our Light Church, there¡¯s Doraha-san. The other churches are looking towards a stance of using the previous heroes and current ones in order to make a formation of attack and defense, but we can allot those roles with Doraha-san and I. There¡¯s no need for the help of such a person!¡± (Karen)


    The one who is always silently following Yorishiro like a shadow, Doraha.


    She was the shadow hero of the past Dark Underworld Country. And that ability of hers doesn¡¯t fall to any present hero.


    In reality, there was a case when Karen-san was able to travel faraway by having Doraha protect Apollon City after all. She is a reliable ally.


    ¡°It is better to have as many allies as possible. Is that the kind of logic that is at work here?¡± (Haine)


    Is what I add in a mutter.


    ¡°In that case, we also have Haine-san on our side! The Light Church has plenty enough military power!¡± (Karen)


    Is what she answered back sharply.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the problem here.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Without faltering at the behavior of the hero, Yorishiro sips her tea ¨Cthe tea that Ates had poured for her.


    ¡°Sunnysol Ates; she is, as expected, a fearsome person. She meticulously created a scenario where we can¡¯t reject her staying at our side.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That is?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You already know about what she presented to us in order to fall onto us, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    At the end of the new and old heroes match, that wicked woman pointed out one thing as she admitted her own defeat. That thing was the member list of the contra-reconciliation side that was confronting Yorishiro and the others.


    It could be said to be the very objective they wanted to achieve with the new and old heroes match.


    ¡°Not only was the list of Ates the real deal, they were quite the excellent documents. It didn¡¯t only have the contra-reconciliation side members of the Light Church, there were also even people from other churches in it without leaving a single one out. There was even material listed there to charge the person in question.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Then, the reason why the purging of the contra-reconciliation side is going at speeds that are higher than expected is because...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is all due to the list Ates-san provided. She must have obtained that list from the contra-reconciliation side thinking that they would be able to utilize the previous heroes more efficiently this way, but in the end, it turned into tightening their noose.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Truly reaping what they sow.


    ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean it is okay to ept her!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san still continues protesting.


    ¡°The moment she changed sides, our victory had been decided. Even without her information, the fall of the contra-reconciliation side was settled. There¡¯s no need to lower ourselves to aim for a perfect victory¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡°On top of that, Ates-san is the previous hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Interrupting Karen-san, Yorishiro continues.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t forget, Karen-san. The trust that you heroes create is immense. The achievements of you people nowadays has made that image even bigger and more heated up. And the previous hero Ates-san has served in the amplification of it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The previous light hero, Ates.


    In the point of heroes, Karen-san and Ates are the same.


    The efforts of Karen-san have made it so that poprity of the heroes increases more and more within themon popce. And from the perspective of the people that don¡¯t know anything, Ates is also a previous hero and in the same spot as Karen-san and the others.


    She is in a territory of poprity.


    ¡°No way, I am not the same as that person!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In the eyes of the uninformed public, you are the same. As long as you hold the title of hero, the gossips thate out from that title will be our greatest weapon.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is exactly because Karen-san and the others held the title of heroes as they defeated monsters that the image of heroes has been strengthened even more and it was possible to have the popce side with us.


    It is a reality that this has provided propulsion to the reconciliation of the churches and the Hero Alliance.


    That poprity had also fallen onto Ates who holds the title of ¡®previous light hero¡¯ which make them view her as a symbol of trust and hope.


    The contra-reconciliation side might have been yed by that mask of poprity as well.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put it this way. What do you think would happen if Ates-san were to be judged in front of the popce? ¡®Even if they are heroes, in the end, they are still humans. They make mistakes and will also do evil¡¯, is what they will begin thinking. Karen-san, the trust to heroes that you so desperately fostered might be destroyed.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Also, most of all, if we are to judge Ates-san, we can¡¯t just not do anything to the other previous heroes. ¡®They went against the present order¡¯, this point is something that all previous heroes share after all. Even if we don¡¯t give out punishment on the same level as Ates-san on the same grounds, it will be impossible to avoid giving punishment to the others.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Kyouka, Sarasa, Yoneko-san, and Juo; the other previous heroes.


    After the battle, we reached an understanding, and now, they are powerful allies that we can¡¯t not have.


    In order to eliminate Ates, we would have to bring down all those girls as well?


    There¡¯s no way we could do that.


    ¡°You understand now, right Karen-san? That woman gathered several merits and demerits in order to have us ept it. Of course, there¡¯s not a single reason why I would like her to be our ally. However, leaving aside the like and dislikes, she has already sealed the path to refuse.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    Karen-san finally was unable to say anything back.


    ¡°In other words, we have been thoroughly caught in that woman¡¯s scheme.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes, we have been.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro unexpectedly admitted it easily.


    ¡°She made it so we had no choice but to ept her as an ally. In that point, I will obediently ept defeat. If not, I wouldn¡¯t be able to see the truly important things after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The truly...important things?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Just like Ates-san said, we are in a stage where a battle against the Demon Lords with our existence at stake has grown unavoidable. Compared to the disasters called Demon Lords, Ates-san is simply one more of the people that think of political power. The extent of damage she can do is limited.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Meaning thatpared to the survival of humanity, this is a small evil that we have to close our eyes to huh.


    Rather, if there¡¯s merits in utilizing this small evil, it would be better to use it to its best in order to prepare for that big evil.


    ¡°Is that really the case?¡±


    That voice made Karen-san, Yorishiro, and I gather our eyes in the direction of it.


    The one who spoke was Doraha.


    She didn¡¯t speak much, just like a shadow, and there¡¯s practically no instances she has spoken herself.


    While being crushed by agitation, Yorishiro asks back.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Doraha? What¡¯s this about ¡®really the case¡¯?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No, I was just wondering if that Ates-sama person is truly that much of a dismissable person.¡± (Doraha)


    And it was rare for her to evaluate other people in that way.


    Yorishiro lovingly hugs Doraha.


    ¡°It is okay. There¡¯s no need for you to think of suchplicated things. I will continue protecting your ce to be. You don¡¯t need to worry about anything and just enjoy your time as much as you want.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The reason why Yorishiro doesn¡¯t want to burden Doraha is due to their special rtionship.


    But at ater time, I began thinking that at this point, it wasn¡¯t only Doraha who had seen through the core of Ates.


    We might have actually been too easygoing.


    Even if roundabout, we were underestimating the fearsomeness of the woman that was surely eating onto our lifestyle and melting it into destruction.


    ***


    This ce is the Aurora Knight corps training location.


    She was surrounded by many knight, moreover, they were having a friendly chat.


    There was even the new Knight General Grades-san.


    ¡°Oh Haine, you came at a good time! Come here too!¡± (Grades)


    The bald Grades-san calls for me.


    Even when he became the General, he didn¡¯t just rx in his extravagant room and is always going around.


    The reason why he is currently looking after the training of the neers is because he has been talking with the higher-ups of the knights corps about the reformation n, negotiating with the outside, and he is presently having a rest in his busy time.


    And then, there¡¯s one other beautifuldy joining the instruction of the neers.


    ¡°The two most important points when utilizing light divine power is the release and convergence.¡±


    She swings around her light spear, Kain, as if acting it out while saying that.


    The light knights were enthusiastically listening to her teaching.


    ¡°Unleashing your power at once ¡®release¡¯; properly directing that power to the direction you thought of ¡®convergence¡¯. The light divine power makes it possible for these two types to be controlled. If you just release leaving it all to power, that can be done by the thoughtless fire element. If you give that release a set direction and make it as thin as a needle...¡± (Ates)


    The light spear is directed at a certain direction as if adjusting the aim, and then, the pointy de part begins to shine dazzlingly.


    ¡°[Holy Light Line]!¡± (Ates)


    The thing that felt as if the tip of the spear had extended was actually a line shaped light divine power.


    This beam that was unleashed from the spear felt as if it had extended as it hit the target that is far at the distance and pierces through it.


    A small hole is made into the target made of wood. It was practically as if the spear itself had pierced through it.


    There¡¯s no way someone would be able to manage such sharp pration power unless their convergence ability is quite high.


    ¡°¡°¡°OOOOhhhh!!¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    The light knights that were spectating this began to cheer and apud.


    ¡°The trick to controlling release and convergence is to adjust your breathing. And then, at the same time as you breathe out, you release. Think of your divine tool as a part of your body, and control it with your whole body.¡± (Ates)


    I see, I see.


    This wasn¡¯t only limited to light, it also applied to all the divine power control, so there were parts that I can understand since I am a dark matter user.


    ¡°She is quite skilled. Not only are her exnations good, she also properly shows example. Even within the people I have seen, she is one of the best instructors.¡± (Grades)


    Since before he was appointed as the Knight General, in his times when he was a vice-captain, he has been supporting the Aurora Knight corps for close to 20 years already.


    And she is being praised by the General Grades, so she must be quite the big deal.


    ¡°Ates-sama returning to us is, as expected, something worth celebrating. Simply having two hero ss powers would be a great help, but even without counting that, Ates-sama is a really well-rounded person.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°R-Really?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°She was able to do anything without any problem since her active days, and her attention to the people below her was meticulous. It was quite regrettable that she had to retire after being involved in the previous coup. Well, I was an underling at that time, so there was nothing I could have done though.¡± (Grades)


    Grades hadn¡¯t been told anything about the circumstances behind the reason why Ates was made to retire as a hero.


    Well, that¡¯s a matter of course. I also don¡¯t know much about it, but the troubles that revolve around the retirement of Ates as a hero were on the level of scandal for the Light Church.


    In that case, they should have wanted to reduce the turmoil to its most. The fewer people knowing the truth of it, the better.


    Grades-san most likely wasn¡¯t able to do anything but spectate, just like many others.


    ¡°Uhm...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hm? What is it, Haine?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t at that time, so I don¡¯t know but, what was the reaction of the public when Ates-san retired?¡± (Haine)


    Is what I try asking about the state of those times, and he answered.


    ¡°They were all sympathetic. Ates-sama had to retire because of that damn former Founder after all.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Is that so...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama who was simply the daughter of the Founder at that time exposed the illegal actions of her father, and an uproar big enough to turnaround Apollon City urred. It was a big mayhem everyday with strikes after strikes.¡± (Grades)


    Even when the matter wasn¡¯t fully disclosed, it still dealt this much damage.


    ¡°It is because the previous Founder was a piece of shit idiot, but even when he was like that, he still stayed being the Founder, but that came to bite him back at that time, and he ended up being apprehended. If he had pulled back earlier, he could have maintained a bit of his freedom. Truly an idiot.¡± (Grades)


    And there was also a smart one.


    It is of course, Ates.


    ¡°At that time, Ates-sama had retired on her own will. ¡®I can¡¯t escape from the sin of not being able to stop the rampage of the Founder even when I stood as the hero¡¯, she said. Yorishiro-sama tried to stop her, but she apparently didn¡¯t ept.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°...¡±


    This is the darkness of the political world.


    In other words, for the many light citizens, the previous light hero Ates was the heroine of a tragedy where she was dragged into political injustice.


    And now, with the new and old heroes match before, her long time in retirement has finished and she has nowe back.


    For the normal popce of the Light nation, the return of Ates was exactly that.


    They had their arms high up in wee.


    The cleaning of corruption is also shrouded in haziness, so aside from the current ones at high positions, most of the people don¡¯t know the truth of things.


    Ironically, this is working as tailwind for the current Ates.


    Sunnysol Ates had be quite the popr person in the Light Church.


    ¡°Ah, Karen-sama!¡±


    At that moment, the current light hero walks by.


    Seeing her, the light knights went to speak with her resolutely.


    ¡°Karen-sama! Right now we are having a group lesson with Ates-sama as the instructor!¡±


    ¡°If possible, can Karen-sama please instruct us as well?!¡±


    But the expression of Karen-san wasn¡¯t that of sparkles.


    ¡°...Sorry. I have to attend to my own training, so I will have to refrain.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    And just like that, Karen-san disappears into the inside of the training field.


    The young light knights were bewildered by this.


    ¡°What happened to Karen-sama?¡±


    ¡°Was Karen-sama that kind of person? I feel like in the past she was a lot more kind and easy to mingle with...¡±


    The unrest was spreading around the neers.


    At that time...


    ¡°Calm down.¡±


    The one who spoke in order to pacify them was Ates.


    ¡°Don¡¯t me Karen-san. She is a person of bountiful talent. Her inborn light element is one that someone like me wouldn¡¯t be able to evene close to her toes.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ates-sama...¡±


    ¡°That person is using that talent of hers in order to stand as the vanguard of the Light Church and fulfill an important duty. The duty of you people is to support Karen-san from below. For that sake, you need to grow stronger.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Yes!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    The young light knights respond filled with energy.


    I thought ¡®this is bad¡¯ at the exchange they were having.


    ¡°Wait.¡± (Haine)


    Unable to endure it, I stand on the stage.


    ¡°That way of saying it would bring about misunderstandings. It is as if Karen-san became strong just because of her talent.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oh my.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That person as well has put in suitable amounts of effort in order to be strong. Negating that truth is not worth of praise at all.¡± (Haine)


    Ates protected Karen-san...is how it looked like, but that wasn¡¯t the case.


    She had created the impression that Karen-san is a person filled with talent, and was trying to separate Karen-san from themon knights.


    Geniuses get avoided by themoners.


    By inducing into the knights that Karen-san is a genius that can¡¯t be understood, it will create an istion on Karen-san, and she will manage to obtain a higher position within the knight corps.


    The silent invasion of Ates still continued on even now.


    As I thought, this woman is dangerous.

 Chapter 221-224 - Hero’s torment

    <h4>Chapter 221-224: Hero¡¯s torment</h4>


    TLN: Hey guys Reigokai here, this one will be long, so if you want to skip it, just scroll down until you see the gray line.


    I havee here with a trantor note I wasn¡¯t expecting to write but felt the need to. I wasn¡¯t sure if to put it as ament or a TLN, but since this has to do with trantions, I decided this was a proper ce to point this out.


    Today, I went to the movies to watch Fate/Stay Night Heaven¡¯s feels. I was excited to the extreme at the prospect of having the chance to watch this movie in actual theaters.


    But what I got was something I was already expecting ¡ª-BAD trantions.


    I knew I was going to get into that when I went to the movies, since anime movies are still not considered as actual cinema. And the quality of trantion would drop to follow suit to thatck of interest.


    BUT the trantions here were SO BAD I had to write about this.


    For example; the part where Illyasviel attacks Saber with Berserker, she shouts an order to Berserker (ording to trantion of the movie): ¡°Saber has high regenerative powers, so rape her and then cut off her head!¡± Like WHAT, that¡¯s not what she said!


    This is what she said: ¡®Saber has high regenerative powers, so cut off her head and destroy her body!¡± which OBVIOUSLY makes more sense.


    But the damage was made. All my friends though this was a rapy movie, and most likely, everyone in the movie was swept into that tone. Meaning that, in whates ahead of the movie, they will be expecting those kind of dirty themes and begin seeing the movie in a light that isn¡¯t actually there.


    I love the Fate/Stay Night series, and as a fan, a trantor, and somewhat of a writer, all this clicked me in the wrong way. There were many other trantion misses and so many other changes in tone, it butchered my enjoyment and made me seriously think about this issue.


    Well, sorry for the long rant guys. I really wanted to point this one out. And if you are going to watch an anime movie, be really careful. Subtitles are not to be trusted in movies. I have more trust in fan tranted things than actual movie trantions, which is a sad reality.


    But more than that, what worried me more was the behaviour of Karen-san.


    What was that cold rejection towards the knights just now?


    That is something incredibly unthinkable from the Karen-san I know.


    I was so bothered by the unsuitable attitude of Karen-san that I felt I had to keep my dealing with Ates to a reasonable extent and chase after Karen-san.


    I slip through the light knight corps¡¯ practice location and head towards the ce where Karen-san left to. Inside a forest that is outside from the area of the Light Grand Church, there was an open space that even felt out of ce.


    This ce is the long-distance sniping space that was specially made for the wind hero Hyue.


    At the time when Hyue came to visit, this is what was made; a ce that no one uses since the time Hyue returned to Rudras Metropolis...is how it should have been, but.....at that ce, Karen-san had unsheathed her holy sword and brandished it directly at the sky.


    ¡°...[Holy Light Bisection]¡± (Karen)


    A dazzling light was released from the de, and the light sword slowly be bigger, longer.


    It was apletely different technique from the long ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯ that is released as a distance attack. Making the holy sword¡¯s de itself grow bigger with the light divine power is the new ultimate technique of Karen-san; the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯.


    But...


    ¡°Kugh!¡±


    The light de that had been gigantified became small specs of light and disperse.


    When that happens, the big light sword will obviously lose its volume and be smaller.


    In reality, the big light sword of Karen-san can only increase by a limit andpletely stops growing anymore from that.


    ¡°Gunuuuuu!!¡± (Karen)


    But even with that, from what I see in Karen-san¡¯s expression, she is still trying to put in more power in order to make it bigger, but in reality, it isn¡¯t following her wishes.


    At Rudras Metropolis, she had sliced the giant slime in two with a single stroke from that technique...but at that time, it wasn¡¯t a technique that Karen-san managed to do alone...


    ¡°...Ah, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    She must have given up for now.


    She dispersed all the light de that came out from the holy sword and returned to simply being a sword.


    ¡°I have shown you an embarrassing sight. ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ is still not in a territory that can be calledpleted.¡± (Karen)


    At the time in Rudras Metropolis, she managed to maintain that giant light de, but the reason for that was not the achievement of Karen-san only, but because of the cooperation of one other person. That person is Sunnysol Ates who had lent her power to seed in the making of the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯.


    ¡°Release and convergence; utilizing these two originally opposing concepts at the same time, moreover, it has to be at the best of its capabilities, or the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ won¡¯t seed. In Rudras Metropolis, I managed the release, while Ates-sama dealt with the convergence. By dividing the work, we managed to form the giant light sword.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says this with a pained expression.


    ¡°But that¡¯s not good! I have to learn how to do ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ by myself without requiring the help of such a person!¡± (Karen)


    And that¡¯s the reason for today¡¯s training huh.


    It is true that Karen-san is blessed with talent, but she definitely isn¡¯t only described with just that. She is always unable to be satisfied with the current state and puts effort in climbing up to the next step.


    But today, that looked way too painful.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to me yourself that much. From what I see, it doesn¡¯t look like a problem that can be resolved in one go, so how about taking your time in progressing?¡± (Haine)


    The reason why I followed-up by saying this was because it was clear to my eyes that Karen-san was hurrying.


    It is because she was so in a hurry that she neglected her answers on the knights and ended up giving a cold impression.


    Taking out the impatience in her heart is also part of my duty.


    But...


    ¡°That¡¯s no good!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san rejected it a lot more fervently than I thought.


    As I thought, she is acting weird. She is losing her usual self.


    ¡°I have to...I have to be stronger no matter what! Complete ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ and also increase the power of my other abilities! But that¡¯s just not enough at all.¡± (Karen)


    Ah.


    ¡°In order to defeat those Demon Lords...¡± (Karen)


    Right.


    Karen-san and the others have already met them.


    They are the strongest of existences that can¡¯t even bepared to any of the monsters until now.


    The Wind Demon Lord Raphael; Earth Demon Lord Uriel; Water Demon Lord Gabriel; Fire Demon Lord Michael; the power of the four Demon Lords surpassed by far what we expected.


    A single Demon Lord would probably easily defeat all the heroes, and the proof of that is the fact that, with a single re, the movements of Karen-san and the others werepletely sealed.


    ¡°We are heroes! We have to fight those Demon Lords ande out victorious. In order to do that, I have to be more more more more!¡± (Karen)


    So she needs power huh.


    It is not only Karen-san. Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, Hyue; all the current heroes have felt the difference in the wall that stands before them and they are apparently all training in their own cities ¡ªwith the previous heroes as partners.


    Mirack and Celestis, who habitually came here to hang out when they found the time, have not shown themselvestely because of that reason.


    ¡°I see.¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san acting strangetely wasn¡¯t only because of Ates alone.


    In the face of these giant and powerful enemies that are the Demon Lords, it can¡¯t be helped that she would end up stiffening her body.


    ¡°...Training by yourself will not be good enough, right?¡± (Haine)


    It would be easy to untie the permeating danger of Ates and maintain the support of the knights, however, what has to be done for Karen-san who is trying to face the threat of the Demon Lords on her own is anotherpletely different thing.


    An act of kindness.


    If Karen-san is going to valiantly stand to face that threat, I will also stand by the side of Karen-san and advance together with her.


    ¡°I will be your training partner.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh? Uhm, but...!¡± (Karen)


    It looks like Karen-san was terribly flustered by these words.


    ¡°It is fine. Just think of me as a Demon Lord and attack me with all you have! It might even relief stress. Two birds with one stone, don¡¯t you think?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°T-Then...[Holy Light de]!¡± (Karen)


    A light sh is released from Karen-san¡¯s holy sword.


    It was one attack, however, I have my invincible dark matter¡ªah.


    ¡°Buaaaaagh~~!!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Being hit by the light de, I was send flying.


    Right, Ipletely forgot.


    The only weakness of my dark matter; it ispletely powerless against light divine power.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I asked if it was okay! Haine-san, are you okay?! Haine-san? Haine-saaaaann!!¡± (Karen) <Snaaaake!>


    I am alive, but I was blown faraway by that light divine power.


    How pathetic.


    To think that I, as the assistant of Karen-san, am not even able to serve as a practice partner for her.


    ¡°Aaah! How pathetic!!¡±


    In the end, after that, I passed my time watching the training of Karen-san from the side.


    Even when I have the darkness power that¡¯s supposedly the strongest of all, I can¡¯t even give advice to Karen-san in how to grow that light power of hers.


    I also finished my duties for the day and returned.


    ***


    The ce I am currently residing at in Apollon City is at the public housing area that is under the direct management of the Light Church.


    I was lent one of the rooms and was living alone.


    I opened it with my key and enter the room.


    When I turn on the ethereal-powered lights, the night became bright like morning.


    ¡°...¡±


    It is night, but I am not hungry yet.


    Let¡¯s take a bath first and get refreshed.


    ¡°Fill up the bathtub and...¡± (Haine)


    Sinceing to the big city, I have been surprised by a number of things, but one of those is that when I turn the faucet, warm wateres out on its own.


    In the time I was at my vige, we would have to go to the well, or do a round trip to the river in order to fill up the bathtub.


    Maintained sewers, pumps that one can draw water from in the residential areas, machines that heat up the water; everything has been made possible thanks to ethereal, and they move due to ethereal.


    What a splendid civilization.


    To tell the truth, sinceing to Apollon City, I have still found time to go back to my vige once every month, but one day, I want mother and father toe here and sightsee the city or something.


    ¡°Oh, the hot water has been filled up.¡± (Haine)


    I take off my clothes and enter the bathroom. After washing off the dust at the shower, I enter the bathtub.


    ¡°Fuh~~~.¡± (Haine)


    I let out a voice cause of the pleasing sensation.


    ...


    ......It may sound peaceful at a nce, however, the future prospects are pretty grim.


    The battle against the Demon Lords that will be approaching, Ates who is slowly increasing her sympathizers inside the Light Church; internal falling must be used to refer to this.


    The problem of the Demon Lords is especially serious.


    The reformation of the churches is advancing fast and we are in the middle of removing the useless things and increasing the important fighting forces, but even with that, I really can¡¯t imagine being able to do something about those Demon Lords.


    In terms of the individual strength of the heroes, for example; even if Karen-san were to perfect her ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯, what will ur? Uriel who was acting as the core of the giant Slime had stopped the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ of Karen-san and Ates with only his pinky finger.


    The difference is way too wide.


    No matter what kind of countermeasures we take, I don¡¯t feel like that difference can be filled.


    And what would happen if the heroes...the humans can¡¯t defeat the Demon Lords? The objective they have of ¡®eradicating humans¡¯ will be aplished. That¡¯s what will happen.


    The heroes, who are the ones that have actually encountered the Demon Lords, are probably the only ones who have felt this truth, this future, and are growing impatient.


    Ending up contrasting from the many people that are in joy for the sense of release of this reformation is something that can¡¯t be helped.


    ¡°...¡±


    I couldn¡¯t find an end to my thoughts as I sink myself in the bathtub.


    Demon Lords; this abnormal factors that have surpassed the structure of us Gods.


    Monsters, in a sense, could be considered the viins that the Gods created in order to increase the faith of humans towards Gods, and because of that, their natural instinct is to attack humans.


    That¡¯s why, even if they attack humans, they wouldn¡¯t eradicate humans. If they were to do that, the Gods themselves who prepared the monsters wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain faith and it would trouble them.


    And yet, the Demon Lords hold the objective of ¡®eradicating humanity¡¯.


    That would mean monsters have escaped from the strings of Gods.


    It would mean that they obtained a will as living beings.


    For a God, the evolution of a living being -no matter if it is not human- is something worth celebrating, but if whates as a result of that is a battle for supremacy against humans, I can¡¯t just silently ignore it.


    ¡°...¡±


    In the first ce, my objective was to eliminate the monsters, but that was because they were simply the puppets of the Gods without heart or soul -pseudo living beings- so I had no hesitation. So this is a troubling point on its own.


    Leaving that aside, the current problem is that if we want to win against the Demon Lords, the most direct approach would be for me to personally act.


    No matter how big of an opponent it is, as long as they are within the boundaries of the four basic elements, they can¡¯t be opponents of I -the Dark God.


    The other day when we faced the four Demon Lords, I didn¡¯t feel like I would lose.


    But the problems is that they also knew that. And by epting that truth, they nned around it. That is an incredibly big problem.


    What the monsters we encountered until now didn¡¯t have; intelligence.


    The Demon Lords having that will make the fights from now on really hard.


    As long as they know that they can¡¯t win upfront, the Demon Lords will definitely not appear before me. They will stay hidden in this wide world, and will keep their presence low until a decisive moment arrives.


    In reality, I should have left the Light capital immediately and left for a journey to subjugate them, but finding those hidden guys in that way would be next to impossible. On the contrary, if the Demon Lords were to attack the cities in the opening where I am not there, that in itself would be terrible.


    And so, it is currently in a mortifying situation where staying in the city is currently the best option.


    ¡°...The hot water has turned lukewarm while I was thinking.¡± (Haine)


    Looks like I have been thinking for long.


    Well then, let¡¯s leave the bath and do some preparations for dinner.


    ¡°Ara, are you already done?¡±


    When suddenly, a voice sounded, making my heart jump.


    ¡°Uooaah?!¡±


    Why?!


    This should be my personal room! There shouldn¡¯t be anyone else aside from me!


    But a voice actually sounded! It wasn¡¯t my imagination!


    Scary!


    I wasn¡¯t told at all that this was a haunted room! Is this the type of room that when you take off the wallpapers you will find uncountable hand blood-prints all over the ce?!


    ¡°Please calm down, it is me.¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It is Ates.¡±


    Huh?


    By the time I noticed, beside the bathtub, there was a woman brimming with allure that was covered with only a bath towel.


    That woman was, without doubt, Sunnysol Ates.


    ¡°I wanted to meet you, so I have infiltrated here.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± (Haine)


    At my room, in my bath.


    The one who appeared in there as if natural was Sunnysol Ates. I send her sharp words.


    ¡°Ara, this is the bath, so it is a matter of course to be naked.¡± (Ates)


    Is what Ates said as she fixes the bath towel that was barely covering her body. Just that, I could see for a second what was hidden behind that bath towel. Or more like, I felt like it was an intentional provocation.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant with that question. Or more like, how did you turn around the question into that?!¡± (Haine)


    What I want to hear is the reason as to why you are invading my room without prior appointment.


    And her objective behind it.


    ¡°You want to hear it? Then, first, can you please let me in the bathtub?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Why?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because if I leave naked like this without entering the warm water, I will freeze so much I would catch a cold. Let¡¯s have a nice long talk as we enjoy the warm water together.¡± (Ates)


    Isn¡¯t it fine to just talk after I leave the bathtub?!


    But that stupid Ates seems like she didn¡¯t intend to hear my answer from the very beginning, and had plunged those lustrous legs into the bathtub!


    First one leg, then the other!


    ¡°W-Wait! This is a room for one! And the bathtub was made with that in consideration, so the size is for one as well! There¡¯s no way two people can enter at the same time¡ªand she is not listening at all! Stop it! This is too cramped! Many soft things are hitting!!¡± (Haine)


    What¡¯s with this aggressive woman!


    In just a short moment, the bathtub for one was stuffed up.


    ¡°Fuh~, as I thought, havingpany in the bath is nice.¡± (Ates)


    Saying this, Ates takes out a cloth-like thing from inside the bathtub and throws it away.


    ¡°Wait a moment! What did you throw away just now?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The bath towel. Having a bath towel on inside the bathtub would be ack of etiquette.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Rather than etiquette, you should be worrying about trespassing private property!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡®The problem would be resolved if you just leave the bathtub, right?¡¯, is what I felt a voice was telling me.


    But I want you to think about this.


    The moment I leave the bathtub, the woman in front of me would inevitably be facing straight at something unsightly and things would get unsightly.


    And so, I can¡¯t move!


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine-san, I wanted to speak with you alone.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Huh?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The secret weapon that the Light Church possesses. The user of a mysterious power that doesn¡¯t rte to Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, or Light; and boasts invincible power. The many giant monsters that have been defeated until now, in every instance that this happened in the five Grand Churches, you were present.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...What are you talking about?¡± (Haine)


    For now, I try to feign ignorance.


    ¡°Karen-san ying an active role as a hero and Yorishiro-sama¡¯s status as a Founder growing rockfirm were also because you supported them from the shadows. And so, I have something to consult you about.¡± (Ates)


    Ates continues.


    ¡°Won¡¯t you change from them to me?¡± (Ates)


    In a sense, they were words I expected.


    ¡°What woulde out of doing that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I would say, the situation would be slightly better than now. Haine-san, in the times when a group of thousands to millions are going to fight, what do you think is the thing that is needed the most?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°If you want to y riddles, do that elsewhere.¡± (Haine)


    Answering questions itself is jumping into the pace of the other party.


    ¡°What a cold person. Well then, allow me to answer. An excelling leader.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°As I said, I have no intentions of listening to what you have to say.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Light Church that has expanded to the level of a nation; the Aurora Knight corps that are a portion of it also possess quite the size. Leading that group perfectly without losing order. The amount of people that possess themanding ability for that are limited.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Karen-san and Yorishiro have plenty enough ability for that.¡± (Haine)


    I felt like there would be no end, so I begin the dialogue.


    ¡°But by cing a person with higher ability into the proper position, don¡¯t you think that a bigger effect will be obtained?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°NO.¡± (Haine)


    I continue adding.


    ¡°Thinking about the confusion that will ur with the change, it would be quite the demerit. As long as the level is enough, it would be better to have the people already there to do it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ara ara, you have got quite the discernment.¡± (Ates)


    But what¡¯s with this?


    When I am speaking with this woman, I feel an inexplicable churning sensation.


    ¡°By the way, Haine-san, the people in the past said this: ¡®Humans have a good heart when they are born¡¯.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°On the other hand, different people from the past said this: ¡®Humans are born with an evil heart¡¯. The humans that are just born only have desires and instincts, making them the same as beasts. They said that: ¡®By living together with others, they learn morals and reason and be proper human beings¡¯.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Where is it you are trying to go with this?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, which do you think it is? Is the true nature of humans good or evil? Is what we obtain as we grow up...the good or the evil?¡± (Ates)


    When she finished talking about such weird things, Ates stood up from the bathtub.


    What was hidden in the water had now been fully exposed right in front of me.


    ¡°OOOIIIII!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped then. If Haine-san doesn¡¯t want to ride on my n, I will have to create a situation where you will have no choice but to ride on it.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Create a situation, you say?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A man and woman passing the night in the same room. How will it look to the eyes of the surroundings? In this asion, it doesn¡¯t matter what¡¯s inside the box. By simply creating one established fact, the rest of the facts will create itself; a crafted fact that you and I became one.¡± (Ates)


    Scary! As I thought, this woman is scary!!


    No matter how I answer, this woman already had her n seed the moment she had infiltrated my room?!


    Then why did you attack me more than that?! Or more like, that well-shaped body of hers was steadily approaching me!


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± (???)


    Wa?!!


    In this room that I thought was my sole haven, Ates had appeared, and now, there¡¯s a new voice resonating in the room?!


    ¡°Karen-san?!¡± (Haine)


    By the time I noticed, Karen-san was standing at the entrance of the bath!


    ¡°Ara, what¡¯s the matter, Karen-san? This is the room of Haine-san. Entering his room without prior notice is considered trespassing, you know?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Shameless of you to say!¡± (Haine)


    I was about to protest to a variety of things here, but a single re of Karen-san stopped me from saying anything.


    ¡°Ates-sama...please don¡¯t underestimate me so much. I knew that you would be perpetrating something.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is.¡±


    And one more voice?!


    That one is Yorishiro! Even Yorishiro appeared?!


    ¡°There¡¯s always eyes on you. We received a report that you had infiltrated into Haine-san¡¯s room secretly and we have hurriedlye here.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I see, you have saved me! Ah but, for some reason, the offensive of Ates doesn¡¯t stop?!


    She is pressing me onto the bottom of the bathtub!


    There¡¯s a lot of things sticking onto me!!


    ¡°Ates-sama! How long are you nning on sticking onto Haine-san?! We have caught you red handed, so separate from him already!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Why do I have to do that?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°¡°Arrgh!!¡±¡±, she began to pull and I to push, but to no avail.


    This woman is strong.


    ¡°Since it hase to this, how about you two watch from there? The moment when Haine-san and I enter a more carnal rtionship. It will simply change deceit to actual truth.¡± (Ates)


    Uwaaaaa?! So soft!


    ¡°Wait! Please get away, Ates-sama! Kugh, what should I do?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, there¡¯s no choice, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?! What is it that we have no choice but to do?!¡± (Karen)


    I am a 100% sure it is nothing decent.


    ¡°If we can¡¯t stop Ates-san, we also have to rush. In other words, we will also be attacking Haine-san here!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eeeeeehh?!¡±


    Without room for discussion, Yorishiro immediately takes off her clothes and invaded the bathtub.


    ¡°Wait! Yorishiro-sama?! Rushing in without a single moment of hesitation! ...No, that¡¯s not good! I am so embarrassed I can¡¯t do something like that! ...But Ates-sama and Yorishiro-sama will be doing such things to Haine-san! Aaaaahh!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san bellows as if she had awakened.


    ¡°Me as well!!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san also took off what she was wearing and rushed into the bathtub!


    No, wait! Didn¡¯t I say that this bathtub was made for one person?!


    If we were to add a total of four people in here, it would obviously get incredibly tight! I who was the first to enter it would of course be at the deepest area of it, and because it is a bathtub, there¡¯s obviously water in it, you know?!


    My head is sunk down into the water and...this is bad, I can¡¯t breath!!


    ¡°*Gurgle**Gurgle**Gurgle**Gurgle*!!!¡±


    Moreover, most of my body is being pressed by soft things, and I can¡¯t struggle even if I wanted to.


    What is with this trial?!


    As I was being crushed by the umtion of hopes and dreams, my consciousness grew dim inside the depths of the bathtub...


    ...


    Dangerous.


    I thought I would die.


    ¡°¡°¡°I am sorry!¡±¡±¡±


    In front of me, there were a total of three beauties doing seiza in front of me.


    Of course, they are wearing clothes.


    I was crushed by the beauties inside the bathtub, but my survival instincts kicked in when it felt that my life was in danger. With the repulsion effect of the dark matter I created, I pushed out the three and I somehow managed to surface.


    ¡°Karen-san, Yorishiro.¡± (Haine)


    First of all, these two.


    ¡°I am grateful that you came to save me, but the way you dealt with it was out of the question. What are you trying to pull by joining the perpetrator in crushing me to death?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I have reflected on it!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°My sense of rivalry burned!¡± (Karen)


    They themselves must have noticed that they overdid it.


    They were unexpectedly obedient.


    ¡°And Ates!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t mind me.¡± (Ates)


    This is the person that should be reflecting the most, and yet, she is not reflecting at all!!


    This evil woman! This evil woman to the core!!


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so angry. Isn¡¯t it actually a happy happening for Haine-san?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Huh?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama, Karen-san, and I; the strongest women in the Light Church havee at you to tie the deal, you know? Any man would wish for a situation like that.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What are you saying?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Or were you not happy? Even though you embraced Yorishiro-sama and Karen-san?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Hah?!¡± (Haine)


    Deep emotional gazes were piercing me from both sides.


    Karen-san and Yorishiro were staring daggers at me.


    ¡°Are you saying you are not happy? Meaning that you hate those two? Must be. No matter how beautiful you are, you wouldn¡¯t even want to touch the hands of someone that you hate after all.¡± (Ates)


    This woman! How underhanded!


    Narrowing my choices in this way, she is trying to make me choose the answers that she wishes for.


    ¡°Well, it is true that I was happy...maybe?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Then that means you like me as well.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°How did ite to that?!¡± (Haine)


    Misconstruction, inting the issue, changing the main point of the matter; this is one really fearsome woman!!


    ¡°You should have understood it now with this, Haine-san. This woman is truly fearsome.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is the statement of Yorishiro.


    Ates had already stopped doing the seiza and had taken a sit at one of the chairs in the room.


    ¡°A political power hungry person like you, now that you have returned to the political stage, I had predicted that you would aim to increase your fighting forces, but to think you were aiming to recruit Haine-san, moreover, utilizing seduction.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Finding the vitals and attacking them with precision is a basic of strategy. Don¡¯t you think a first-rate woman is fitting for the strongest man?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t joke around!!¡± (Karen)


    Maybe she reacted to those words, Karen-san stands up along with her shout.


    Her legs were wobbling most likely because she was in seiza just a few moments ago.


    ¡°As expected, you are that kind of person! I understood it since the moment I saw you. You are the kind of person that likes to steal away the things that other people treasure! You are the worst. Please don¡¯t get close to Haine-san ever again!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ufufu, what a funny girl.¡± (Ates)


    Ates giggles as if saying she was truly amused by this


    ¡°Even if we have a connection of being the current and previous hero, we are basically strangers. I only learned about you being selected as the hero after I had been driven out of the Church. And yet, you hated me this much. I really was wondering why. Ufufu.¡± (Ates)


    Ates continuesughing.


    ¡°So you saw through my true nature with that so called woman instinct, and thus, noticed that I was dangerous. As a woman myself, this is interesting, truly interesting. You possess some truly deep emotions as a hero, and as a woman.¡± (Ates)


    The gaze that was directed at Karen-san had changed directions to Yorishiro.


    ¡°You have found a nice girl, Yorishiro.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Your tone of voice has returned to how it was in the past,dy.¡± (Yorishiro)


    For some reason, the two speak in a tone that they hadn¡¯t used before.


    ¡°At any rate!¡± (Karen)


    As if throwing that question far away, Karen-san deres this.


    ¡°Ates-sama, I won¡¯t acknowledge you as my senior! Leaving aside the other previous heroes, you alone are not a predecessor that is worthy of respect!! I will show you that I can surely defeat the Demon Lords even without your help!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Interesting. Do as you wish. It might just happen that, by the time you notice, everything you have has all moved to be mine though.¡± (Ates)


    Sparks fly around.


    Of all ces, it had to be in my room.


    ¡°I challenge you!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san deres.


    ¡°Once more, this time, a fair and square match between you and me. A 1 on 1 battle! The one who loses will depart from the Light Church! How about that?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san, wait a moment!¡± (Haine)


    We finished the new and old heroes match not that long ago, and yet, you are risking injury again?!


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to.¡± (Ates)


    Compared to that, Ates had a mature response.


    ¡°Why would I go doing something that doesn¡¯t have any benefits for me? Obtaining the same result as the one that was already obtained at the old and new heroes match; to repeat a battle just for that sake, even if we think about the effects on the other churches, it would be unsightly.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°But...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Leave it at that, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro stops Karen-san who was still trying to bite.


    ¡°This is the kind of person she is. She won¡¯t get involved with fights that clearly define a ck and white. If she were to get involved, it would be in order to paint something even bigger into a gray color. The new and old heroes match that happened before was exactly that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even in my eyes, it was exactly that.


    This woman won¡¯t ever challenge you head on.


    Even if she were right in front of her enemy, she would hide her presence, make a n, wait for the moment, and will set it up so that the enemy will crumble on its own.


    And right now, her targets are us.


    Sunnysol Ates¡¯ peculiar fighting style of not swinging a weapon to battle might have already been brandished.

 Chapter 225-226 - A pleasant talk that happens only once

    <h4>Chapter 225-226: A pleasant talk that happens only once</h4>


    ¡°Leaving that aside.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The tone of Yorishiro suddenly changed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a more fun talk for now. The reason, we have stepped into unknownnd.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Ah, this is bad.


    ¡°We have arrived at Haine-san¡¯s room!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go doing whatever you want, okay?!¡± (Haine)


    Is what I warn, but I don¡¯t think it will show any result. After all, the women here are: Yorishiro, Karen-san, and Ates.


    ¡°Haine-san¡¯s room!!¡± (Karen)


    It looks like she just noticed that reality, Karen-san¡¯s expression implodes.


    ¡°Uhm uhm uhm, is that the ce where when you arrive, all your wishes wille true?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The world beyond the horizon that everyone wants to go to, that is Haine¡¯s room!¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s not true.


    Why are you ssifying my room as an Utopia all on your own?


    ¡°...I didn¡¯t take notice because I was concentrated on my hate towards Ates-san, but once I am conscious of it, I can tell that I am being touched by the smell of Haine-san from inside my lungs and it is preading through my whole body!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go saying such scary things!!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san was slowly entering a dangerous state.


    ¡°Now that we are here, there¡¯s only one thing to do-desu wa, Karen-san! This is a journey! Like the adventurers that found the Golden City!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That means it is piging time, right?! Like the bandits attacking the city!¡± (Karen)


    Stop it!


    A man also has its privacy, so don¡¯t go searching here and there!


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Haine-san.¡± (Ates)


    Ates tries to calm me down.


    ¡°I am the first one that invaded this room. Everything that would trouble Haine-san if seen, has all been secured by me!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Is that something you say with a straight face?!¡± (Haine)


    This group of damn trespassers!


    Just as I was thinking about throwing them all out the window, a smooth voice resonated.


    ¡°Uhm...¡±


    A girl nervously appears from the kitchen ¨Cit is Doraha.


    ¡°So you also came here...¡± (Haine)


    Well, that¡¯s obvious. Doraha has been following Yorishiro like a shadowtely after all.


    ¡°I am truly sorry. I thought I would pour tea for everyone...¡± (Doraha)


    This girl is also a special cookie of her own.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, I raised my voice and my throat has dried now.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Sorry to have you do that. Allow me to do the tea pouring.¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says as she approaches, but Doraha as expected had a troubled expression.


    ¡°...There¡¯s none.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°None?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°There¡¯s no tea leaves. Instead, there¡¯s something like this...¡± (Doraha)


    What Doraha ces out was a single pot.


    Since it was made of transparent ss, it was easy to see what was inside. The ck beans that werepletely filling up the inside.


    ¡°This...!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°This is.....!¡± (Karen)


    Coffee beans.


    Why are Yorishiro and Karen-san making such a bitter expression?


    ¡°...Haine-san, you can drink something like coffee?¡± (Karen)


    ¡®Something like¡¯?!


    Did she say ¡®something like¡¯?!


    ¡°Because you know, it is bitter. How to say it, it is like it leaves an earth-like feeling in your mouth.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That bitterness is the good part of it. It clears your mind, and it is great to wake you up.¡± (Haine)


    Well, it is also to enjoy the deep taste thates after the bitterness though.


    But even with that, Karen-san was looking at me as if I hade from another world as she said...


    ¡°But...tea is definitely the better tasting one. Coffee is just bitter.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro joins in.


    ¡°Tonight, let¡¯s try delighting on coffee.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    No, just leave already.


    ¡°Think about it thoroughly Karen-san. Not sharing the same likes in food as the person you love has a risk of them looking at you with bad eyes. Difference in values. It might be a reason for divorce!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Worrying about those things before marrying.


    ¡°R-Right! There¡¯s nothing bad in challenging it right now while I can! ...Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°One cup-full of coffee please! And make it a real deep one!¡± (Karen)


    Even if you order it in such a specially energetic manner...hah, can¡¯t be helped.


    I decided on making coffee at once.


    The coffee beans are already roasted, so I crush them with the mill and turn them into powder. After that, I just have to drip it, but in that part, I take out the espresso machine.


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°?!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    For some reason, the gaze of the girls gather all at once.


    ¡°What is that?! That kettle-like thing!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! Is that a tool of an ancient civilization?! Haine-san, don¡¯t tell me you are bringing out forbidden knowledge?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    What are these people talking about.


    This espresso machine is an actual present from Hydra Ville.


    With this, I can use the deep coffee beans of Ishtar ze that I was given a lot of by Sasae-chan¡¯s Oba-san, extract them quickly, and make a deep espresso.


    ¡°Umu, today was made nicely as well.¡± (Haine)


    It looks like there¡¯s some nice stickiness to it.


    From the spout of the espresso machine, a dark liquid is poured into the cup.


    ¡°Uhm, Haine-san, isn¡¯t this cup pretty small?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s because it is an espresso.¡± (Haine)


    As if saying ¡®here you go, drink¡¯, I slide the cups to the two.


    ¡°Karen-san, go ahead!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No no! Yorishiro-sama, you first!¡± (Karen)


    Sinceing here, it has been an outbreak of cmities.


    I don¡¯t care, so just drink it or it will get cold.


    ¡°Fufu, you two are such children.¡±


    The oneing out at this moment was the wicked woman who had stayed in silence until now.


    ¡°¡°Ates-san!¡±¡±


    ¡°Coffee can¡¯t be enjoyed by the tongue of children; it is the drink of the chosen ones.¡± (Ates)


    No, it isn¡¯t that big of a deal.


    ¡°I will ept the coffee that Haine-san has put his heart and soul in pouring. The two of you should get start getting used to it by first training with the sourness of the strawberries on cakes.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Gunununu!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Again saying whatever you want!¡± (Karen)


    The reason they can¡¯t fight back at the offensive of the enemy must be because of the bitterness of the coffee.


    With the bitter gazes at the sides, Ates takes the cup into her hand and, hesitantly, ces her lips on it.


    ¡°...Bitter.¡± (Ates)


    Oi.


    ¡°Ah! You now just said it was bitter! It is bitter huh! It is bitter for Ates-sama too huh!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As I thought, you can¡¯t handle it either. You false-bravado woman! If you keep being such a vain person, you will get your legs caught up someday! And in reality, you have failed once already, so learn some restrain!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    As if the cover had been torn up, the women begin to go all ¡®gya gya¡¯. As they say: one ispany, two is group, three is a crowd.


    I had no way of stopping that noisy fight, so I just watch over it.


    ¡°...Haine-sama, I tried doing it as you taught me.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Nice, good job.¡± (Haine)


    I drink the coffee that Doraha had newly made.


    Bitter.


    But that¡¯s what makes it tasty.


    Why do these girls not understand the greatness of this?


    ¡°By the way, can you please leave already?¡± (Haine)


    I say this towards these three holy women that still remain in my room.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine? How about we just stay in Haine-san¡¯s room for today?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...My room only has one bed though.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Is there a problem in that?¡± (Yorishiro)


    There¡¯s only problems here.


    This Light Founder, does she want to tie the deal with me so much?


    ¡°Haine-san, right now this room is like the inside of a box. As long as you don¡¯t open it, no one will know what¡¯s inside.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°In other words, as long as the doors and windows are not opened and it is not possible to peek inside, the fact that we did perverted things with Haine-san will be mixed with a reality where we haven¡¯t done perverted things. And so, even if we were to actually do perverted things, there¡¯s no problem at all!¡± (Yorishiro)


    That doesn¡¯t even work as sophistry.


    Regardless of what the people outside the box thing, I would be settling my own reality.


    ¡°Then, Haine-san is trying to say this, right?¡± (Ates)


    Ates joins the fray.


    I don¡¯t want this woman to say one more word, and yet, for some reason, she joins Yorishiro in attacking me like crazy.


    ¡°What you are saying is that you will be ravishing Yorishiro-sama, Karen-san, and I, so the argument of the box is not necessary!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Heck no!¡± (Haine)


    A straight ball!


    After the sophistry of Yorishiro, therees the straight ball of Ates.


    Aren¡¯t you two actually pretty in sync?!


    Or more like, just go! I want to enjoy the sce of my room at the very least!


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Yorishiro-sama and Ates-sama, staying in Haine-san¡¯s room like this would be improper!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san reproaches the two wicked women that have a messed up conception of chastity.


    As expected, she is the actual holy woman!


    ¡°Cause...! I haven¡¯t brought my pajama over! If I knew, I would have brought the cutest one I have! The super cute one I bought at Hydra Ville that hasces!¡± (Karen)


    The gist of it was slightly deviated!


    ¡°Ara ara, what a cute hero. Even though a pajama would soon be stripped off.¡± (Ates)


    Ates once againes out with her blunt words, but in response, Karen-san...


    ¡°...?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Ates)


    Karen-san was confused, unable to understand the words of Ates, and that led to Ates being the one bewildered.


    ¡°L-Looks like you are a tougher opponent than I thought, Karen-san! Is this the power of an airhead?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°More importantly! Sleeping with my casual clothes would be improper and I won¡¯t condone that! It would make wrinkles in my skirt!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As I am saying, you should just go nake¡ª-Gnnhhh!¡± (Ates)


    It was reaching a territory that couldn¡¯t be ignored, so Yorishiro poked Ates¡¯ side.


    ¡°...*Cough*. Then, how about we do this? Bring the pajama over.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Bring it over? Who will?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Well, just watch. Doraha, send amand to that person.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The silent as a shadow Doraha gave a short response of ¡®yes¡¯, and takes out the mass produced etherealmunication device and made a call somewhere.


    ¡°...Parent bird to chick; ¡®the falcon has descended¡¯. I repeat ¡®the falcon has flown¡¯.¡± (Doraha)


    Which one is it. There¡¯s no repeating there.


    After finishing what seemed to be a coded transmission of sorts, the sound of knocking could be heard from the door of my room.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± (Haine)


    When I open to see who it is, there was a single maid standing at the front of the door.


    ¡°Why a maid?!¡± (Haine)


    But wait...this girl wearing maid clothes...I feel like I have seen her before? Moreover, recently.


    ¡°...Ah, Mina!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes, it is tina Mina. Thanks forst time.¡± (Mina)


    Isn¡¯t this the woman that was acting as the referee in the previous new and old heroes match.


    It is the girl that brought out a bomb the moment the victory of the current heroes was set and made things a mess.


    After that, it was confirmed that this was the deed of the contra-reconciliation side, so it became one of the ingredients in increasing their me.


    ¡°Why are you in maid clothes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Fufufu, Haine-san, to think that you would order a prostitute to cosy as a maid; you have quite the nice hobbies¡ªGuhoo!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates said somethingcking manners, so I poked her side.


    And so, about the matter of Mina being a maid...


    ¡°Uhm...I was originally working as a grunt in the Light Church. How to say it, being a maid is more of my main job...¡± (Mina)


    Ah, so that¡¯s what it was.


    ¡°Just as Yorishiro-sama ordered, I have brought one sleepwear and a stay-over set.¡± (Mina)


    ¡°Good work. We might still have need for you, so be on standby.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Uhm...! I am already outside my work-time period though!¡± (Mina)


    So she was the one that was called just now huh.


    If I remember correctly, after the bomb incident she made herself, I had some business so I left her with Yorishiro, but I don¡¯t know what happened after.


    ¡°Even if Mina-san caused the explosion, she was simply a throw-away pawn used by the contra-reconciliation side. Due to Yorishiro-sama¡¯s bountiful consideration, she was pardoned.¡± (Doraha)


    The shadow Doraha exins it to me.


    She is already beginning to be the lubricant in this group.


    ¡°Her original job was that of a pawn¡ªI mean, maid. So she was assigned as the direct maid of Yorishiro-sama. The reason why she appeared tonight is due to those kind of circumstances.¡± (Doraha)


    Direct control of the Founder, she says.


    That¡¯s a big promotion for a maid.


    ¡°Is it okay? Even if she was used, to give such treatment to a person that actually stood against the current order? Won¡¯t it give a bad example?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°She is in the directmand of Yorishiro-sama, you know?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Do you really think she will get treated well?¡± (Doraha)


    Right. My thought pattern was incorrect.


    ¡°I feel like you people are saying something incredibly rude about me, but this is something that I thought deeply about, you know?¡± (Yorishiro)


    While saying this, Yorishiro hugs Mina who was standing at her side.


    ¡°Hywawawa!¡± (Mina)


    ¡°Ates-san is holding the depths of this girl after all. There¡¯s the need for me to keep supervision on her at my side.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Now that she mentions it! After the incident with the explosion, when we tried to have Mina spit out the details about the person behind it, Ates had suddenly appeared and, with a single re, she was silenced.


    This without doubt means that Ates has grasped something important of Ates!


    Maybe she has her parents held hostage? Or it might be that Ates holds an important secret of her.


    ¡°...Fufufu.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...¡±


    And Ates who was here made another suggestive gaze. As if a predator was ring at its prey. And that prey that is Mina was sweating bullets.


    ¡°A-A-Ates-sama!¡± (Mina)


    ¡°What, little kitten?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ah, as I thought, I can¡¯t!! I am sorry, Yorishiro-sama! I can¡¯t live without Ates-sama!!!¡± (Mina)


    Is what she said as the maid Mina rubs her face onto the legs of Ates while crying.


    What is this?


    ¡°Mina-san had been under themand of Ates-sama for a brief period of time.¡± (Doraha)


    Even if you tell me that...


    I got an exnation from Doraha, and yet, I can¡¯t understand the situation at all.


    ¡°Well, Ates-sama brought their rtionship to that in order to utilize Mina-san, but now, Mina-san is the ve of Ates-sama. If she doesn¡¯t receive the love of Ates-sama, she will fall into withdrawal symptoms.¡± (Doraha)


    Uwa!


    Because of that, she closed her mouthpletely for the sake of Ates?!


    Uwa...Ueeeeh...


    ¡°That¡¯s why I will do my best for her sake!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro once again hugs Mina tightly.


    ¡°Mina-san has been enved by Ates-san, in that case, by having me enve her, I will have her break free of her withdrawal symptoms. The reason why I had her be my personal maid is also because of that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Use poison to deal with poison?!¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t find any more befitting words to describe this situation.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you do that, Yorishiro-sama. She is my little kitten after all. I won¡¯t let you unpoison her.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Then try stealing her away from me. Let¡¯s see which enving power is the strongest; yours or mine. This is a match to determine which one has the strongest poison.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The people themselves called it poison.


    Ates was hugging her from the front, and Yorishiro was hugging her from behind, ending with Mina-san in the middle of that sandwich.


    ¡°Gyaaaa!! Yorishiro-sama! Ates-sama! This is bad, this is dangerous! This is heaven!! Yorishiro-sama¡¯s softness and Ates-sama¡¯s softness are attacking me from both sides!! My blood is being nourished by both nutrients!!¡± (Mina)


    ...When humans get way too happy, they begin to scream huh.


    I do have my share of experiences as well though.


    ¡°What Mina-san did can be considered unforgivable, but if we think of that as a punishment, well, I would say it is fitting.¡± (Doraha)


    ...Right, I also concur with Doraha¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°Uhm...¡±


    Let¡¯s not watch those three wild cats in their silly ruckus anymore.


    Thanks to these, Karen-san, who had been silent all this time, had finally spoken.


    ¡°Uhm, I don¡¯t understand well, but...what in the world is going on?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is fine for you to not understand.¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s no need to understand the taste of this woman called Mina at all.


    If that concept were to be digested in Karen-san¡¯s head, the Hero Alliance would fall. There¡¯s one member in the group that would wish for this kind of development after all.


    ¡°Hah...¡±


    On the other hand, Mina had escaped from the strange situation of being sandwiched by the Light Founder and the previous hero while having faint breath.


    ¡°Hah...Hah...! Why am I being put through this?!¡± (Mina)


    That¡¯s what I want to ask.


    ¡°Well, your throat must be dry after all that mess. Drink this coffee.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ah, thank you very much!¡± (Mina)


    Mina drank the espresso I gave her in one gulp.


    ¡°Ooh, you got a nice way of drinking there.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing nice about it though. Espresso is supposed to be drunk that way, right? It went smoothly down my throat, it was pretty well made. I like more the style of putting sugar before drinking though! Hm?¡± (Mina)


    Right after, Mina noticed the gazes that were being poured at her by the girls who can¡¯t drink coffee.


    ¡°Ah, what¡¯s the matter? Yorishiro-sama? Ates-sama? Even Karen-sama?! Please stop it. Did I do something wrong?! I didn¡¯t do anything! Ah, stop it! Don¡¯t sandwich me again! If you do that again, this time for sure I will¡ª! Aaaaahh!!¡± (Mina)


    Or more like, can¡¯t you leave already, Mina? And while at it, everyone else...

 Chapter 227-229 - Incident

    <h4>Chapter 227-229: Incident</h4>


    After that, a few days passed.


    In that time, the Light Church¡¯s headquarters were -at a nce- passing peaceful days.


    Karen-san was endeavoring in her training against the Demon Lords as always, and Yorishiro was purging several number of corruptedponents every day.


    ...Ates¡¯ scheme of taking root into the Knight corps was also steadily proceeding.


    It looked like nothing was happening, but things were certainly urring.


    The countdown continues ¡ªthe countdown to the breakdown of everything.


    The first small crack, that could be said to be an omen of this, happened today.


    ***


    At that day, I was having a heated discussion with the knights about: ¡®what is more precious for leg fetishists, the thighs or the back of the foot?¡¯.


    In that time, General Grades was participating in it as well, but bad news hade.


    ¡°Knight General! This is terrible! An incident has urred!¡±


    The young knight jumped into the station and said this with lost breath.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?! Monsters?!¡± (Grades)


    For the knights of the church, an incident normally means monsters.


    The Aurora Knights had already been reborn as an actual group that can deal with the monsters under the lead of the new General Grades.


    Everyone was trembling in anticipation at the prospects of showing this off, but...


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it!¡±


    The neer knight said this with an impatient expression.


    ¡°The ones creating an incident are...humans!¡±


    ***


    ¡°To think that our first deployment since bing the Knight General would be against humans. It doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± (Grades)


    The first thing that happened the moment we arrived at the ce of the incident were theins of General Grades.


    In reality, the appearance rate of monsterstely has been abnormally low, and it was silent to the point that it felt as if they were waiting for the right moment.


    The moment is most likely...the moment we will be encountering the four Demon Lords.


    It is as if all monsters weremanded by them, and that in itself was ominous.


    ¡°Now now, let¡¯s concentrate on the incident at hand.¡± (Haine)


    It is not only monsters that the knight corps have to deal with; the public order of the Light capital is also an important duty of them.


    Depending on the situation, I will also be lending my assistance.


    My position in the church has gotten even harder to understand, and it is more like, anything goes for me.


    The outline of the situation was the people had barricaded themselves in the metropolitan area.


    An armed group suddenly appeared at a certain establishment of Apollon City and trespassed. They took the customers and employees there as hostages, and have barricaded themselves in there.


    We knight corps are currently encircling the outside of that establishment. We have closed the escape routes.


    ¡°Hey, Haine. What do you think is going on?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like it has to do with robbers. If that were the case, they would have robbed money and everything worth it and wouldn¡¯t have taken their sweet time to be encircled by us.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If they were aiming for money, there¡¯s no one who would have chosen this ce to do the robbery.¡± (Grades)


    The ce we are currently encircling is the Light Grand Library.


    It is not only the biggest library in Apollon City, but also said to be the biggest library in the world.


    I have used it a number of times myself, so it is a ce I am pretty attached to.


    What¡¯s there are books about Gods, and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything robbers would want to go there to rob.


    But if we see it from a different perspective, it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to call it a treasury. The knowledge that humanity has piled up has been stored in this building written in letters. And as you would expect from the biggest library in the world, there¡¯s a lot of old books there. There¡¯s a good amount of books that only exist in this library.


    This point was making this incident even more troublesome.


    What¡¯s the objective of the perpetrators that have shut themselves in at such a delicate of a ce?


    ¡°Of course, we will have to take into consideration the employees and customers that are being held hostages. This looks like more trouble than dealing with your run-of-the-mill monsters.¡± (Grades)


    It is just as he says.


    For now, what is it we should be doing?


    We will warn the barricaded perpetrators with the ethereal speaker, ask about their objective, and hear out their demands.


    Just as we thought about this, the other side made a move first.


    A single armed person came out from the front entrance of the Light Grand Library.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t only me, but many other light knights raised their voice in bewilderment.


    Because one of the possible perpetrators was actually a familiar person. It was the previous superior of the light knights after all.


    ¡°Dobbe!¡±


    The previous Light Knight General. Abusing his position and authority, that avarice of his had finally bit him back and was fired from his job as Knight General not long ago.


    Why is that person here?!


    Without caring about our confusion, Dobbe takes out an ethereal speaker as well and speaks out loud with conviction.


    ¡°To the mere shadow that was once the Aurora Knight corps and has now rotten to its core! We are the true Aurora Knight corps! The legitimate sword that provides true justice in the Light Church! Its name is Ultimate Justice Aurora Knight corps!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Uwa...¡±


    With this, I could now tell at an instant the reason of this incident.


    It was so easy to understand now.


    ¡°What we demand is the justice and rights that all humans have in this world! Disassemble the high-ups of the current Church that are the source of evil and entrust the church¡¯s administration to us! If you don¡¯t, we will kill all the hostages and burn down this Light Grand Library!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Knight General, what shall we do?¡±


    The one being called at was the actual Knight General.


    Our General Grades.


    ¡°Even if you ask me, it doesn¡¯t look like they will be listening to us.¡± (Grades)


    General Grades also looked pretty bummed by this.


    This is a group that was newly made for emergencies, and now, its leader was holding his head in pain.


    ¡°This is already legit terrorism.¡± (Haine)


    And so, the outline of this matter should be like this.


    The decaying faction of the Light Church that had been expelled have congregated due to their dissatisfaction, and have now gone berserk in order to obtain their past glory.


    Because of thew, no matter how much they struggle, they have no means of winning. Even if they were to use force straight on to steal it back, they have no chance of winning.


    And so, what they have decided on doing was to take citizens hostage to take it in their hands.


    They are using the lives of unrted people to have their wishes granted.


    ¡°These people are the worst!¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t hide the disgust that was welling up inside of me.


    Fights are heartless in nature, however, there¡¯s still a line that shouldn¡¯t be crossed.


    Even if you can¡¯t win upfront, to attack the weak people that they should be protecting is already the deed of scum. This already can¡¯t even be considered a war.


    No matter how big of a justice you stand by, the fact that you have done something like this defeats all purpose.


    For scum that doesn¡¯t even understand the rules of fighting, it is impossible to act like humans anymore.


    ¡°...But it is true that they have got us where it hurts.¡± (Grades)


    General Grades crosses his arms and groans.


    ¡°ording to the people that luckily managed to escape, there¡¯s at least more than 100 people inside the Light Grand Church. If we were to include the librarians and employees, the numbers would be even more.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°They have captured that amount of people, so the perpetrators must be quite a lot as well.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Looking at the number of ethereal cars of the attackers, there should be at least 60 terrorists inside the building.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Of course, we have punctured the cars to make them unusable!¡±, a young light knight said.


    As expected of General Grades and the new Aurora Knight corps.


    Even against human terrorists they are not used to dealing with, their work of grasping the situation is fast.


    ¡°But it doesn¡¯t change the fact that this is an incredibly bad situation.¡± (Grades)


    This is the first time I see such a severe expression in Grades.


    ¡°In incidents where the perpetrators have barricaded themselves with hostages, it is close to impossible to capture the perpetrators without any sort of damage to the hostages. In this asion, everything is the worst.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°First of all, the number of hostages is way too many; the perpetrators are also many. If the expected number is at least 60, controlling the situation in an instant would be impossible. If it turns into a melee battle, there¡¯s no doubt that the hostages will also face danger.¡±


    ¡°The ce is also the worst, you know. The Light Grand Church has important documents inside it; in other words, a treasury of knowledge. There¡¯s even important documents that only remain there.¡±


    ¡°If the perpetrators were to get desperate and light them on fire, things will get irreversible in a lot of meanings.¡±


    The light knights were bringing out their opinions one after the other, but each one of them were not favorable.


    ¡°What are the perpetrators saying?¡± (Grades)


    The question of Grades was answered by a young light knight.


    ¡°As always, former General Dobbe is babbling as much as he wants in public. He wants all the current Founders and heroes to quit, and to return him to his position as Knight General.¡±


    ¡°His abilities as a negotiator are abysmal...¡± (Grades)


    I give a proposition to General Grades that was biting his lips.


    ¡°How about I deal with Dobbe?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t don¡¯t. You are one of the center figures in this big reformation, you know? For Dobbe, you are a direct hate target.¡± (Grades)


    If I were to face Dobbe who is a bag full of pride, it would stimte him in the wrong way huh.


    Those people, if I were to encounter them normally, I could have beaten them up in a matter of seconds!


    ¡°Also there¡¯s a lot of things we still don¡¯t understand.¡± (Grades)


    Grades says this while stroking his chin.


    ¡°The terrorists this time around are at least 60, but what does that mean?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°You will have to borate more.¡± (Haine)


    What does he even mean by ¡®what does that mean?¡¯.


    ¡°Due to the current big reformation, many people who were involved with the corruption had been chased off their job. The Light Church as a whole would have a total of a hundred to two hundreds who were a target of this, but in terms of the Aurora Knight corps, counting that Dobbe there, it would only reach to around ten.¡± (Grades)


    And yet, there are supposed to be 60 terrorists inside the library.


    ¡°Of course, if we were to count the people that had light sins and were dealt with by only demoting, it would be a good number, but I don¡¯t think those people would risk the job they barely managed to maintain to join Dobbe¡¯s side.¡± (Grades)


    My very thoughts.


    ¡°Even if they were to be fired from the knight corps, the Zeberphon household was still a famous household of the Light Church. Didn¡¯t they gather troops with their assets?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s that possibility, but if they were to do something like that, it would have reached our ears beforehand in some way or another. Don¡¯t you think strange the very fact that those careless people were able to carry out this n without raising the attention of the knight corps?¡± (Grades)


    We weren¡¯t even able to see a single smoke before they went into action after all.


    That they are skilled enough to manage that...is an impossibility.


    ¡°Also, now that they have been chased off the Aurora Knights, their divine tools that serve as their method of attack have already been confiscated. Since they have entered into violent actions, it must mean that they have no choice but to rely on simple swords and bows.¡± (Grades)


    Even so...we were still looking at Dobbe who continues shouting at the entrance of the library. In his equipment, it was clear that he had something that was far stronger than a sword or a bow.


    ¡°...That¡¯s...without doubt an ethereal weapon, isn¡¯t it?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well, you should be the one who is most versed in that, Haine. It is a known truth that the creation of ethereal weapons is prohibited. But in the Wind Church that is said to be the most advanced in research, there¡¯s rumors saying that they possess that kind of technology.¡± (Grades)


    It reminds me of the bombing incident at the heroes match.


    ¡°Could this possibly be the evil produced by the reconciliation of the churches? It would mean that those kind of things will be circted more and more in the underground society.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Rather than the danger of the future, it looks like the present is already in a dangerous state!¡± (Grades)


    Thinking about the present, the danger of the situation is clearer and clearer.


    In the end, there¡¯s a limit to how much a sword and a bow will be able to kill at once. But what if they utilize something simr to the bomb used at the hero match from before?


    ...The situation would be even harder to deal with.


    ¡°Currently, that idiotic Dobbe is just ranting on his own and hasn¡¯t brought out clear demands. For now, we shouldn¡¯t provoke him unnecessarily and have him speak as much as he wants.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°It will be a matter of buying time after all.¡± (Haine)


    But maintaining the current status quo won¡¯t resolve the matter.


    This might be one of the most difficult situations we have had to face until now.


    The opponent only has the brain of a monkey, and yet, those idiots have obtained the worst kind of weapons and are holding hostages.


    We have to avoid hurting the people there and, at the same time, not hurt the documents that would be considered the treasure of humanity.


    These are way too delicate of conditions, but even so, we have to take action!


    Dobbe, who is no longer a General and is now a simple human, continues doing what he specializes in doing; nonstop talking.


    ¡°...And so, the current Founder -Yorishiro- is an evil, underhanded, and lying witch! Just like the shitty hero Karen! Those two are going to bring the Light Church into the path of destruction, and the world will be dyed in evil! That¡¯s why we have stood up! We -the Ultimate Justice Aurora Knight corps- are the true knights of justice of the Light Church! True light knights at heart! If you are of right heart, stand up and defeat evil! If you do that, the sin of abandoning me and dropping me into hell, I will consider making it lighter! Wahahahaha!!¡± (Dobbe)


    His speech was not even worth hearing. But it did serve to extend the current status quo.


    However, we can¡¯t go prolonging this too much.


    The hostages also have their own stamina and stress limits, and now that they are in a situation where their very life is in danger, their limits will be reaching faster than normal.


    We have to tackle this matter as fast as possible, or it will end in a situation that can¡¯t be reversed.


    Even so, we couldn¡¯t find a method to breakthrough this situation.


    ¡°Damn it!¡±


    For example; if the wind hero Hyue were here, she would be able to grasp the situation inside with precision using her ultrasound, and would be able to use her urate sniping to silence them; or if the earth hero Sasae-chan were here, we could burrow underground and break through the ce to make a surprise attack at ces they wouldn¡¯t expect; however, these girls are currently training to face the Demon Lords in their respective nations.


    Even if we were to ask for their help, it would take too much time for them to get here. Moreover, this is a situation that has nothing to do with monsters; this is an internal matter of the Light Church.


    We have to resolve this matter on our own.


    This alliance and reconciliation wasn¡¯t done in order to ask for help in this kind of matters.


    But...with the methods we currently have, the pieces simply don¡¯t fill.


    The dark matter I use would not only wipe out Dobbe and the other lowlifes, but also the hostages and the important documents in the library.


    Dark matter possesses the highest destructive power in the world and is the ultimate method of destruction, but itcks the precision. To think that its high destructive power would prove to be its biggest fault at this moment.


    ¡°General Grades! Assistant Haine!!¡±


    A young knight runs into the meeting room.


    ¡°Reinforcements! Reinforcements have arrived!¡±


    ¡°Reinforcements, you say... This ce is currently in a stalemate, and even if we were to increase our numbers, this isn¡¯t a situation that would make a difference¡ª-?!¡± (Grades)


    Contrary to our confusion, the person that entered into the tent was an unexpected person.


    ¡°Ates!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes. I am themander of the reinforcements.¡± (Ates)


    Are you saying that the previous hero hase all the way here?


    ¡°The Founder Yorishiro-sama is really hurt by this incident. She said that her own impatient reformation has created displeasure in the surroundings and had created this kind of violence. In order to not lengthen the worry of Yorishiro-sama, there¡¯s the need to suppress the perpetrators as fast as possible.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°We understand that...but...¡± (Grades)


    General Grades wanted to exin the current situation, but before that happened, Ates proimed.


    ¡°I will be takingmand and break into the library. Please select the elimination squad.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°¡°Wa?!¡±¡±


    Grades and I lost our words at the suddenness of this.


    And soon after, we were heavily confused.


    ¡°W-Wait please! Inside the building there¡¯s more than 200 hostages! Moreover, the ce they are barricading themselves in is the Light Grand Library! It is filled with important documents! If they were to catch on fire in the middle of battle...!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Even so, there¡¯s no other good option, right? In that case, no matter how much time we take, it would be the same ¡ªno, the more time we take, the more chances they will notice our hesitation, and it will make the terrorists more confident.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°In that case, we have to take a firm attitude and break in to wipe out the perpetrators at once. We have to thoroughly teach those insects how fearsome we are and that such methods won¡¯t work against us. A number of casualties canter be handled as sacrificing a few for the greater good.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!¡± (Haine)


    I re at Ates straight on.


    ¡°Like hell I would ept humans being killed for such a reason! We will save all the hostages. We won¡¯t hurt the treasures of the past either. Those are the conditions!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is nice to be idealistic, but ideals that can¡¯t be made into reality are simply delusions. Are you saying you have a great n that can make that ideal a reality?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t say anything.


    If I had such a convenient method, we would have already done it a long time ago.


    ¡°There is.¡±


    ¡°?!¡±


    More people enter the tent; they were no other than Yorishiro and Karen-san.


    The heads of the Light Church were currently gathered here!


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! Karen-san!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ates-san, I don¡¯t remember giving you permission to mobilize. If you belittle my intentions, I will have you leave the Light Church.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Guh.¡±


    ¡°Also, I will have you stop your talks as if you were talking in my sted and recreating it as you imagine. I will be speaking my words with my own mouth.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...I am truly sorry.¡± (Ates)


    That Ates came here arbitrarily, and yet, she nned on wrapping it all up on her own?


    ¡°Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san runs towards me.


    ¡°I am d I made it in time. Actually... apletely different report arrived to Yorishiro-sama. It was supposed to be a really small incident, and there was apparently no need to report to Yorishiro-sama. Just in case, I checked the details of the report myself, and we were both surprised!¡± (Karen)


    I see.


    It must have been Ates who bribed the secretary or had a grasp of her weakness.


    Proof incriminating her will definitely note out to light, but on the strange things that ur, there¡¯s always the shadow of this person ¡ªis how things have been workingtely.


    Then, why did Ates go this far? Why did she go so far as to get a dashing start on Yorishiro to get this deeply involved in this incident?


    This barricade incident is starting to smell even more suspicious than before.

 Chapter 230-233 - The shadow moves

    <h4>Chapter 230-233: The shadow moves</h4>


    And so, about the n of Yorishiro...


    ¡°This girl will do her best.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The one who was pushed by her back and appeared was a small girl.


    Her skin is darkish in color, and gives the impression as if she had appeared from inside a shadow.


    ¡°Doraha?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°With her ability, she can infiltrate the library without alerting the perpetrators.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Doraha is the resident of an ancient civilization, and because of many circumstances, she has leapt time and is currently at our side. Our era is practically a different world for Doraha, and that ability of hers can be said to be special in this world.


    The power of ¡®Shadow¡¯ that isn¡¯t any of the other known elements; different from all the five heroes of this world, in other words, a sixth hero ¡ªthe shadow hero, Doraha.


    And that Doraha speaks on the sted of her master that is Yorishiro.


    ¡°One of my abilities, ¡®Shadow¡¯ lets me burrow into the shadows and, via that shadow, I can move around. I won¡¯t be noticed by the humans around when I do that.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°¡°!!¡±¡±


    Grades and I looked at each other and send orders to the young light knights.


    ¡°Investigate the surroundings of the library. Investigate at what direction the shadow of the building is pointing at!¡± (Grades)


    Lately, there have been convenient things called ethereal wireless transmission devices, so the orders and reports happen in an instant.


    {Currently at 5 o¡¯clock, the shadows are all pointing west. Weather is good. The surroundings are bright, so the shadows are distinct too.}, the report soon came.


    Yorishiro adds to the exnation.


    ¡°Doraha¡¯s ability is ¡®Shadow¡¯. It isn¡¯t ¡®Darkness¡¯. That¡¯s why shine as much light as possible, and the more clear the distinction between light and shadow is, the more advantageous it is for her.¡± (Yorishiro)


    In the first ce, ¡®Shadow¡¯ is a variety of the Light element.


    Where there¡¯s light, there¡¯s shadow.


    By absorbing light, it changes into ¡®shadow¡¯ that is a quasi-version of darkness.


    That is the shadow technique that was created in the ancient Underground Country. That¡¯s why the biggest weakness of ¡®shadow¡¯ is darkness, and a half-baked ck has no choice but to be dyed by the thicker ck that is darkness.


    But it is exactly because it is half-baked that there¡¯s also many things it can do.


    ¡°After seeding in infiltrating the library, I have to move to a room that is as bright as possible and has windows. In a dim room where the light and shadows are not distinct, a proper shadow won¡¯t be made, and I won¡¯t be able to hide my body.¡± (Doraha)


    Hearing this exnation, the other light knights also pitched in.


    ¡°Then, the inside of the library would be dangerous. In the first ce, books are normally not exposed directly to sunlight.¡±


    ¡°But ethereal lights have been installed inside the library recently, so in terms of lighting, there should be no problem. The perpetrators should also be scared of a surprise attack by us or an uprising from the hostages, so there¡¯s no way they would stay in a ce that has bad vision.¡±


    They are freely bringing out their opinions.


    It is still a dangerous situation, but the atmosphere that this young light knights give out makes me feel the fruits of the reformation, and that makes me happy.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san, who had left temporarily, had returned inside the tent.


    ¡°I used the flying machine to check out the library from above.¡± (Karen)


    And...


    ¡°I managed to confirm the captured hostages through the window.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Seriously?!¡±


    Karen-san slides her finger through the map of the library that was spread at the table that¡¯s at the center of the tent.


    ¡°At therge hall that¡¯s called ¡®the Goddess Space¡¯, there¡¯s an area there where outsiders would read the books in. It is plenty spacious. It looks like the hostages have been gathered there.¡± (Karen)


    It is true that this is an adequate room to have a big amount of people to keep in check.


    ¡°Originally, the Light Grand Library is a big construction of three floors, but due to trying to appeal its artistic design and because of trying to secure a light source to read, the middle of the first floor, the ¡®Goddess¡¯ Space¡¯, has a big skylight made there. I could clearly see the figure of the hostages from there.¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says as she gives a thumbs up.


    This result is thanks to being able to see from a vantage point that wouldn¡¯t have been possible without the flying machine.


    ¡°Karen-sama, that means the hostages aren¡¯t divided in different spaces, right?¡± (Grades)


    General Grades asks with deep caution.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The hundred people that I managed to confirm beforehand were all there when I checked through the skylight, and just in case, I checked the other rooms, but I didn¡¯t find any traces of people being locked up there.¡± (Karen)


    ¡®It is only limited to the rooms that I can peek through the windows, though¡¯, is what Karen-san added.


    ¡°Okay. Looks like the other side are amateurs! In this asions, it is an established tactic to separate the hostages in order to keep an insurance, and yet, it looks like they didn¡¯t even do that!¡± (Grades)


    Just that single point of everyone being gathered at one ce had made the situation a lot better.


    But there¡¯s still the delicate part about not damaging the important documents in the library though...


    ¡°Lives are top priority. Doraha will burrow into the shadows and infiltrate the ce. After securing the safety of the hostages, the light knights will rush in from all the entrances of the library and suppress them. As speedy as possible. Whether the perpetrators are left dead or alive is not important.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro gives out cold-hearted instructions.


    Now that the path to resolving this issue is visible, it all depends now on whether the perpetrators wille with an unexpected move.


    After the meeting was over, what¡¯s left is to act.


    From the most important to the lowest, everyone knew their own role and mobilized in order to achieve it.


    ¡°Wait.¡± (Haine)


    And in all that, I called out to Doraha who is the kernel of this n.


    ¡°What is it, Haine-sama?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°I want to ask something. Your power of burrowing into the shadows, is that limited to only you?¡± (Haine)


    That question actually made the people around react heavily.


    ¡°Haine-san, don¡¯t tell me you are...!¡± (Karen)


    It is exactly that.


    ¡°I will also be going along. And I will be crushing those terrorist bastards myself.¡± (Haine)


    And so, the result was that, it is possible for Doraha to hide other people aside from herself inside the shadow.


    In reality, if that weren¡¯t the case, the clothes of Doraha wouldn¡¯t be able to enter and Doraha would have to enter the shadow butt-naked after all.


    ¡°Please think of being inside a shadow as being practically inside water.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Meaning?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°First of all, you can¡¯t breathe at all. So, the time that one can stay inside a shadow is incredibly limited.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Meaning that it is only as long as you can hold your breath huh. In that case, it is fine. I am the type that can hold his breath for quite a while.¡± (Haine)


    To put it more precisely, I can utilize my dark matter to slow down the passage of time to make it so that I can pass a long time without the need of breathing, but exining that would be a pain, so I just keep it as ¡®I can hold my breath for long¡¯.


    ¡°Please wait!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san hurriedly interposes.


    ¡°If it is fine to apany Doraha, then how about increasing the amount of people that infiltrate? The more people send to battle will increase the chances of sess!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I am sorry to say, Karen-sama...¡± (Doraha)


    Dorahaposedly says.


    ¡°The amount of people that can burrow inside a shadow is proportional to the size of the shadow itself. Considering the nature of this time¡¯s n, we have to think that the most we can bring is one more person.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°In that case, the better the reason Haine-san should be the one going.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro joins in.


    ¡°Haine-san is without doubt the strongest fighting force in this present time. On top of that, it is known that the perpetrators are using weapons that utilize ethereal in some way. The one who can adapt to an unexpected situation the best is Haine-san and his dark matter.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But...¡± (Karen)


    Even with that, she looked like she was worried as she showed an expression of disapproval.


    ¡°Know your ce, hero. You have the important duty of sending these two to where the hostages are.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes...¡± (Karen)


    The strictness of Yorishiro forcefully made Karen-san ept it.


    ¡°Ates-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Ates)


    Ates had gonepletely silent since the moment Yorishiro entered the ce, but she has been in this meeting room this whole time. Or more like, she was not allowed to leave.


    If we were to let her go to a ce where we can¡¯t see her, who knows what she would do.


    ¡°Stay in the meeting room. I won¡¯t allow you to leave my side until this n ispleted.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°If that¡¯s the will of our Founder, I will of course obey.¡± (Ates)


    Ates was obedient, but who knows how much of that obedience is how she actually feels.


    At any rate, I don¡¯t think we will be able to only look forward as we fight.


    ***


    The particrs of Doraha reaching the hostages has already been nned.


    The flying machine of Karen-sanes to y again.


    This thing really does y a role everytime.


    ¡°Uhm, in other words...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Doraha-san and Haine-san will be entering the shadow of the flying machine.¡± (Karen)


    I see.


    Even the birds flying in the sky will make shadows. If we were to enter the shadow of an object in flight, the mobility will increase by a lot.


    The ce where the hostages are held in supposedly has a skylight, so if the flying machinees from the top and projects its shadow from the skylight, that will be enough to make the infiltration a sess.


    ¡°Karen-sama, make sure to have the sun always at your back when flying, and please make sure not to make contact with the shadow of the building. If you mix with other shadows, there¡¯s the chance that we will be left in that other one.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Karen)


    Looks like the shadow ability has its own rules.


    In order to not be noticed by the perpetrators, Karen-san has to fly from a hidden location.


    When the flight gets stabilized, Doraha and I are supposed to burrow inside the shadow, but before we even began, something drew our attention.


    ¡°General Grades?¡± (Haine)


    We saw Grades-san heading somewhere.


    Where is he heading to?


    He should be in the meeting room viewing the situation.


    ¡°This was supposed to be a secret since Haine-san would definitely try to stop him, but...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says this now.


    ¡°In order to increase the sess rate of the mission, General Grades took on the role of drawing attention. If the attention is drawn to General Grades, it would make things easier for Haine-san and Doraha-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Seriously?!¡± (Haine)


    The ce where General Grades is heading to is without doubt the front entrance of the library.


    At that ce, there¡¯s still Dobbe who is doing his habitual rambling speech.


    ¡°That¡¯s bad!! Standing in front of Dobbe who is definitely the one that has the most grudge of being fired from his position as a Knight General, if the current General that is Grades were to do that...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    I was about to stop General Grades, but Karen-san stopped me.


    ¡°...Grades-san is...the person that truly deserve to be the Aurora Knight corps¡¯ General.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Since the time he was a vice-captain, he has been thinking about the knight corps more than anyone else. He wasn¡¯t born in an influential family, and rose up to vice-captain without a single thing backing him. But...¡± (Karen)


    That was by no means because he was greedy for promotion.


    That bald man was always treasuring the organization ¡ªthe people that conform this organization, and aimed for battle formations that would allow people to fight at their best.


    The amount of times that he has argued with his superiors that only saw for themselves were many.


    ¡°That person knows pretty well the meaning of fighting to protect. That¡¯s why Yorishiro-sama selected him as the new General when the reformation came.¡± (Karen)


    And now General Grades has decided on the most definite method to increase the chances of sess. In order to make the mission a sess, in order to protect the citizens.


    ¡°You can¡¯t get in the way of the General! We have to do what we must do!¡± (Karen)


    The scold of Karen-san had already stopped my feet, but my gaze couldn¡¯t help but chase the back General Grades.


    And then, that person finally arrived at the front entrance of the library.


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s the matter with you?!¡± (Dobbe)


    The bald man introduced himself to Dobbe who had already fallen to being a mere terrorist.


    ¡°Aurora Knight corps¡¯ General, Dillon Grades-sama for you!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Aurora Knight corps¡¯ General? Hmm, that¡¯s strange.¡± (Dobbe)


    Dobbe was already a terrorist no matter where you look at him, but his attitude was still as if he were at the summit of everything.


    ¡°When talking about the General of the Aurora Knights, there¡¯s only one in the world, and that is Zeberphon Dobbe. Taking my title without my permission is quite the rude thing to do, Vice-captain Grades.¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°You were not only fired from your position as General but from the Aurora Knights itself. You already don¡¯t have the right to be called a knight. Moreover, taking over a public facility at broad daylight and even bringing harm to the citizens; you can¡¯t even be called a human anymore, you are trash.¡± (Grades)


    Grades takes a single breath before continuing.


    ¡°I will give you a chance. Surrender yourself now and receive your punishment. If it¡¯s now, it should still be possible to give some pity to your verdict.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!!¡± (Dobbe)


    Dobbe shouts and throws the ethereal speaker to the ground. Its fragments fly around with force.


    ¡°I -the Aurora Knight¡¯s General- has stood up for the sake of justice! In order to bring justice to that damn Yorishiro that monopolizes the Light Church! In order to bring back true justice to the Church!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°What are you referring to by true justice? Are you talking about the knight corps that you were in before?¡± (Grades)


    The tone of General Grades had be that of a person dealing with an unruly child.


    ¡°In your time as a General, you were doing whatever you pleased, and I who was being swung around also couldn¡¯t take it. Even when monsters appeared, you didn¡¯t want to leave the headquarters, and when there was no choice but to depart after delegating the leadership, you then began to wail about takingmand yourself while you were still in headquarters.¡± (Grades)


    How unreasonable.


    ¡°How much distance do you think the headquarters are from the actual spot? ¡®Don¡¯t take one step unless I order it¡¯, you said. If you had at least used an ethereal car to reduce the time to arrive at the ce, it would have been better. What you were saying to the light knights was basically this: ¡®Die¡¯.¡± (Grades)


    And in reality.


    ¡°If the hero Karen-sama hadn¡¯t been with us, who knows how many light knights would have died because of you. Even if the ones that dealt the actual fatal damage were the fangs and ws of monsters, the one who did the killing were ipetent superiors like you. It is already a legit sin to have ipetent people -with only their big pride to talk about- standing at the top. And there¡¯s many more where that came from...¡± (Grades)


    You could feel the thick resentment of Grades in the times when he was a vice-captain.


    ¡°Just because the garden of someone¡¯s house was beautiful, you would drive away the residents and put them in direct control of the knight corps; you would take the horses that the neer knights were riding just because they are good. There wasn¡¯t a single order of yours that could be considered that of a General. The moment Karen-sama had be a hero and began to distinguish herself, you demanded everyone from the knight corps to sign a deration that we won¡¯t acknowledge Karen-sama as the hero. At that time, I felt like killing you. Being unable to actually do it has made me regret it all this time.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°What?! You mere Vice-captain dares to!!¡± (Dobbe)


    The direct provocation of General Grades had immediately made the ipetent Dobbe rage.


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around, fake! Amoner like you with your dirty blood standing as General is an unforgivable sin in itself! A high-ss position is fitting only for humans of high-ss lineage! And that person is I -the head of the Zeberphon family!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°A high-ss lineage rises by aplishing the duties that they have to do. If trash like you were to leave descendants, the Zeberphon ancestors would be crying from six feet under! Listen well!¡± (Grades)


    General Grades throws away the sword that was wrapped around his waist, the sword that could be said to be the proof of his status as a light knight, and raises his unarmed hands.


    ¡°I won¡¯t put a single finger on you. If I were to scratch you, the hostages won¡¯t be safe, right? That¡¯s why I will only look down on you. I will look down on you thoroughly. If you have at least a little bit of conscience as the Aurora Knight¡¯s General, be ashamed to the extreme!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°D-Don¡¯t get closer! If you get any closer, I will...!¡± (Dobbe)


    Dobbe points the muzzle of the ethereal gun that was hanging at his side towards Grades.


    It is simr to the wind guns that the wind hero Hyue and the others use, but this one most likely shoots bullets purely out of ethereal power.


    It is a dangerous weapon that has plenty enough power to kill people.


    Even so, General Grades didn¡¯t falter.


    ¡°Listen well! In the first ce, your post isn¡¯t something that you grasp just because you wish for it! It is entrusted to you by a person that is far higher than you! Once you are acknowledged, you can¡¯t refuse no matter how much you want to! That¡¯s how duties and titles work!!¡± (Grades)


    Overwhelmed by the aura of General Grades, Dobbe takes one step back with his gun still in position.


    ¡°Even I don¡¯t have the confidence to do it! In this time when it is the most busiest of all, I was made the helmsman of the Aurora Knights. The hundreds of knights, and the several hundred thousands of people that those knights must protect. That¡¯s the amount of people that are on our shoulders! That¡¯s the amount of responsibility! If possible, I would want to run away. But now that I have been chosen to do it, I can¡¯t run away from it!!¡± (Grades)


    Once ordered by someone high, you are also pushed to move higher.


    ¡°You damn brat Dobbe! Did you have that much of a resolve? At the times when you were the Aurora Knight¡¯s General, did you ever feel the responsibility thates with it?! You haven¡¯t, have you?! I can say this with confidence! You only saw your duty as General as some sort of game! And in that game, we were the ones being yed! That¡¯s why you are ipetent!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Ugh!!¡±


    ¡°Right now you are the same as a child wailing after having your game taken! But of course, the position of General is not a game! There¡¯s no logic where society should suffer for the tantrums of someone like you!¡± (Grades)


    The whole body of Dobbe began to tremble.


    General Grades... from the very beginning, I thought of him as a great person, but to think that he was a person that was able to bring out such pressure. No, that¡¯s not it. It is exactly because he has be the Knight General, it is exactly because he is the Knight General that the he rose along with his position.


    ¡°Shut up shut up! Don¡¯t get close! Don¡¯t go speaking high-and-mighty to me!¡± (Dobbe)


    The trembling finger of Dobbe squeezed the trigger, and finally, a bullet was shot.


    *Bang!*


    But maybe because Dobbe sucks, or because the ethereal weapon¡¯s calibration was not good, the bullet flies at an unknown direction.


    It won¡¯t hit General Grades. It is not a trajectory that would hit him. But...


    *St*


    The bullet pierces the hand of General Grades.


    He purposely moved his left hand to the trajectory of the bullet, and blood gushes out heavily.


    ¡°Why?!¡±


    The bullet waspletely going at a course that would miss General Grades!


    Grades basically went and got hit himself.


    ¡°Where are you aiming?!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Awawawawa!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go shooting at random ces!! What are you gonna do if you hit a citizen?!¡± (Grades)


    Amazing.


    That person is already winning purely by pressure! ¡ªOuch!


    Someone suddenly hit my head!


    ¡°Haine-sama, it is time.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha was the one who hit me huh.


    ¡°General Grades is pulling the attention. This is the time to infiltrate the library.¡± (Doraha)


    Right.


    General Grades was so overwhelming, I got enraptured by it, but this mission, the core of it is for us to infiltrate the inside.


    But that¡¯s how effective it was.


    Karen-san had finished all preparations and stabilized the course in the time time Grades was buying. And now, it would be our turn to use that opening.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Haine-sama. Please hold onto me tightly.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha holds my hand and we slowly sink into the shadow of the flying machine.


    First the legs, then waist, and when it finally came to the head, all vision was lost.


    ¡°Woah?!¡±


    Thanks to holding hands with Doraha, the shadow had epted me as a target of the technique.


    Just like how she had exined, it was truly as if we were inside water. At the other side of what felt like a domain of water, I was able to slightly tell what was happening outside.


    ¡°Here we go!¡± (Karen)


    I could hear the voice of Karen-san outside the shadow.


    The Light Grand Church; the n to save the hostages had truly begun now.


    Entering a shadow felt mysterious.


    It is as if we were being moved along with the water tank.


    It felt as if it would continue endlessly and we were being pushed to the inside of a wall.


    When I look up, I could see the flying machine as if seeing it through a water surface.


    (Haine-sama, please don¡¯t lower your guard. Karen-sama will most likely only pass the skylight for a second.) (Doraha)


    The voice of Doraha also travelled to me in a totally different way from a normal space.


    (The moment the flying machine¡¯s shadow oveps with the shadows of the objects inside the library, we will jump to that one. With that, we will be able to infiltrate the library......but be careful.) (Doraha)


    Hm?


    (Haine-sama is not a shadow user and simply entered the shadow with me as proxy. If at the moment when we jump to the other shadow you are left alone inside the shadow, who knows what would happen. Even I don¡¯t know.) (Doraha)


    What¡¯s with that?! What a scary prospect!


    I would be instantly shut inside the shadow then?!


    No, that would still be fine, but if I were to lose the guide that is Doraha and I am unable to leave the shadow for the rest of my life and have to stay there all alone...just imagining it sends shivers to my spine!


    (Haine-sama, Haine-sama, the infiltration has beenpleted.) (Doraha)


    You serious.


    (That¡¯s why I said it would take an instant, didn¡¯t I?) (Doraha)


    Right. When I look up, I could see the skylight that reflects the sky, and the figure of the flying machine is not there anymore.


    ¡°Oi!! How long is that ¡®Knight General¡¯ guy supposed to be outside?! He has told them our demands already, I hope.¡±


    ¡°Like I would know! ...That idiot, just because this is his homnd, he acts as the leader. He isn¡¯t of use at all!¡±


    ¡°Someone go to the entrance and check out what¡¯s going on! If that self-proimed Knight General-sama is still bbering, shoot him death!¡±


    ¡°You go! Who are you ordering, you heathen?!¡±


    ...?


    Things are strange here?


    They don¡¯t feel at all like terrorists that have taken arms in order to fight the nation¡¯s power.


    (Haine-sama, for now, let¡¯s surface. Staying too long inside the shadow is not good.) (Doraha)


    Right.


    For now, I leave everything to Doraha and move through the shadow, and surfaced on a ce where we can properly hide our bodies from the terrorists.


    The characteristic smell of paper and ink was permeating this library.


    Since this is a library, I thought that we wouldn¡¯t have any problems finding a ce to hide due to the many bookshelves lined up, but the enemies are terrorists. The bookshelves are being used as barricades and to block the door of this ce.


    As if saying that the books inside of it were in the way, the books were scattered everywhere.


    ¡°How terrible.¡± (Haine)


    We managed to surface from the back of the desk that the librarian uses and hid our bodies there as we look around the ce.


    There¡¯s the hostages.


    They have been gathered at a corner of the room, their numbers are close to a hundred, and surrounding them, there¡¯s clear ruffians with their swords unsheathed


    But those are not the only weapons those guys have on them...


    ¡°That shape...they look simr to the wind guns that the Wind Church uses.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha whispers.


    ¡°They are the same as the one Dobbe was using outside. Damn it. So ethereal weapons were really circting from behind the scenes huh.¡± (Haine)


    That truth was, frankly speaking, a headache-inducing problem on the level of the Demon Lords.


    But let¡¯s concentrate on what we have in front.


    ¡°Doraha, I have thought of something.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What is it?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Your shadow, can you move it to a faraway ce without being noticed?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°As long as the shadow is connected to another shadow, it is possible to move through each shadow. As long as another thing¡¯s shadow oveps with the shadow.¡± (Doraha)


    I see. An interesting power.


    Depending on the application of the divine power, it can spread endlessly then. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s a good or a bad thing though.


    I once again look around. I catch sight of one that looks to be part of the terrorists.


    Of course, there¡¯s no way the terrorists here in the ¡®Goddess Space¡¯ are all of them.


    Counting Dobbe who is bawling outside, there should be lookouts in different locations.


    But it doesn¡¯t change the fact that this ce is where the kernel of the terrorist group is.


    First, we will take control of this ce, and take a foothold towards the resolution¡ªbut the situation is always taking one step ahead of us.


    From within the group of hostages, one specially loud voice was raised.


    It is a little girl.


    Her age is around 6-7 years old. This girl that hade to the library to read picture books like any other day, but had been caught in this unreasonable situation.


    That crying voice of hers was probably a cry for help. Maybe to her parents, or to any other adult. But there were many in this room that would get rubbed in the wrong way by the cry of this young girl.


    ¡°Shut up, shitty brat! Stop the crying!¡±


    ¡°Just kill her! There¡¯s plenty hostages anyways! It won¡¯t change with one or two missing!!¡±


    ¡°If we show example, the bunch will certainly be silent! These are the trash of the Light Church anyways! The lives of heathens are the same as trash!!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s offer the death cries of these heathens to Nova-sama!¡±


    ¡°Divine punishment on the holy name of Coacervate-sama!!¡±


    The terrorists raised gleeful voices.


    ¡°Those guys...!¡± (Doraha)


    The expression of Doraha turned visibly ferocious as she heard them.


    That was a sign that she was changing into the ¡®Shadow¡¯ that engulfs the world.


    ¡°Calm down...!¡± (Haine)


    I grabbed the shoulders of Doraha tightly.


    There¡¯s no need for you to be that fiend.


    If these people need divine punishment, I -the Dark God Entropy- will provide exactly that to them.


    I have plenty of divine punishment for everyone.

 Chapter 234-236 - Well-deserved divine punishment

    <h4>Chapter 234-236: Well-deserved divine punishment</h4>


    TLR: Hey guys, Reigokai here!


    Just wanted to give my thanks to all the patreons supporting me and also the many readers that have continued to stay by my side!


    You people are literally my driving force. Thanks! ToT


    ¡°Smite these heathens, Mother Earth Mantle-sama!¡±


    ¡°Punish this foolish heathens, Wind God Quasar!¡±


    What bothers me about this people is that the Gods that areing from each of their mouths is different.


    Until now, I thought that this incident was caused by the people driven out from their position in the Light Church by Yorishiro and were displeased by it. But the point that there weren¡¯t enough people for that in this asion came out as a point in the meeting.


    It looks like there¡¯s still more to uncover in this. But let¡¯s leave that forter.


    For now, let¡¯s just wipe these idiots out.


    That¡¯s all I have to do right now.


    ¡°Okay.¡± (Haine)


    I jump up top of the librarian desk I was hiding in.


    A *pang* sound was made, and the ears of the idiots reacted and gathered all at once to where I am.


    ¡°Good evening, fools.¡± (Haine)


    Even when dealing with idiots, greetings are important.


    Looks like they have enough neurons to get surprised and confused.


    ¡°Who are you?! From where did youe from?!¡±


    ¡°Are you from the knight corps?!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get close to him carelessly! We don¡¯t know what he might be hiding!¡±


    The panic in them was clear and, just by seeing that, I could tell that the other side is made up of amateurs.


    But I can¡¯t lower my guard.


    Even amateurs can kill by swinging a sword. Moreover, most of the people here are holding weapons resembling wind guns that might have been made from ethereal.


    I can deduce that, instead of utilizing wind divine power like the wind guns of the Wind Church, they utilize ethereal to power itself, so anyone can utilize it.


    It would be incredibly bad news if they were to continuously shoot something like that.


    I may be repeating myself here, but this is a very delicate ce to fight in.


    They have over a hundred people as hostage and the ce itself is a library that has important documents. The lives are important, but the records of the past people that are basically the materialization of the effort of many are also important.


    I have to properly protect them both.


    I won¡¯t allow them to die because of these idiots.


    ¡°...I came here with a present for you people.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s why I showed myself.


    If an unknown factor like me were to appear, their attention would be drawn to me, and their muzzles will also point at me.


    Even if a misfire urs, it is better if those shots are directed at me.


    ¡°You people are requesting for divine punishment, right?¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s why, I will be providing it.


    ¡°I have plenty to serve.¡± (Haine)


    At the same moment as I finish saying this, in this Goddess Space that is at the center of the Light Grand Library, right at the feet of the close to 30 terrorists, ck beasts appear all at once.


    ¡°¡°¡°Gyyyyyaaaa!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    And screams of fear were raised at the same time.


    All the terrorists, without exception, were covered by something ck and were unable to move.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s dark matter.


    They are small dark particles, but by having several millions to billions of them bunched up, they can act like living beings without clear form.


    This time, it felt as if sentient liquid was attacking people ¡ªas if trying to devour them.


    On top of that, their origin point wasn¡¯t from me.


    It looked like they hade out from below the feet of each one of the terrorists all at the same time, more specifically, their shadows.


    For the ones that don¡¯t know anything, it would look as if their very shadows are attacking them.


    The trick of this is abination of the shadow ability of Doraha and my darkness ability.


    With Doraha¡¯s shadow power, she can connect the shadows created by the objects in the surroundings to mobilize. I poured dark matter inside of this passage.


    By the time I appeared in front of the terrorists, that preparation had been finished and the inside of the shadows were already filled with dark matter.


    Foolish terrorists, fear your very shadows.


    With that much preparation, I just had to let the dark matter gush out from inside the shadow and have it attack the terrorists -all at the same time. Like that, it would be impossible for the terrorists to fight back at all.


    ¡°Ugyaaaa!! What?! What is this!!¡±


    ¡°Darkness! Darkness is attacking us?!¡±


    ¡°Oh God, please save us!¡±


    They were screaming while being enveloped by the darkness, trying their hardest to resist, but all of that in vain. Trying to brush away dark matter that has already stuck onto you is close to impossible. To do that, you would have to do something simr to what the Demon Lord Uriel did ¡ªrip your skin off.


    ¡°I have intentionally made the speed at which the dark matter attacks you slow.¡± (Haine)


    Properly understand that you are being eroding and taste ultimate fear. Then, take notice of the sin you havemitted, and the punishment you are receiving for it.


    ¡°This is how divine punishment truly works.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Agyaaaa!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ***


    The library had bepletely silent.


    Having erased most of the divine power that allows proper life functions to operate, the terrorists lost consciousness.


    ¡°Looks like it is over.¡± (Haine)


    Now that the inside had returned to safety, Doraha used the transmission device to contact the outside.


    ¡°Haine-sama, I have reported to the headquarters that we have taken control of the ¡®Goddess Space¡¯. The light knights have already charged in and are apprehending the lookouts one after the other.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Umu, good work.¡± (Haine)


    I had lifted up the girl that was crying and am currently searching for her mother.


    Looks like they got separated because of this incident.


    ¡°But they reallycked more backbone than I expected.¡± (Haine)


    That worked in our favor, but what helped out the most was that the ethereal guns they have were of no use at all.


    They desperately tried to resist as they were being engulfed by the dark matter, and they obviously pulled the trigger to do that, but most of the guns ended up exploding.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, Hyue said this. In order to make ethereal weapons, technique that normal scientists wouldn¡¯t have enough is required.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The utilization of ethereal weapons still has a lot of problems regarding the technological area before actually being usable. I think it would require a lot of time before we see actual use to it.¡± (Doraha)


    In a sense, that¡¯s good news.


    It might have been luck that the gun of Dobbe actually managed to shoot.


    ¡°And so, these people were given defective goods huh. The more we learn about them, the more pitiful they sound.¡± (Haine)


    Makes me the more interested in the circumstances behind the scenes.


    Even if I had dark matter erase the divine power of the terrorists, it is not as if I have dried thempletely out of it. They still have the required amount to maintain their lives, and they should wake up in time.


    When that timees, we will start with the fingernail interrogation imparted by Sasae-chan.


    ¡°At any rate, the release of the hostages is of highest priority. Let¡¯s guide them all outside.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes, Haine-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    And so, right at the moment we were helping the hostages stand up...


    ¡°Don¡¯t move! You corrupted beings!!¡±


    The door was kicked open, and the one who appeared was...Dobbe.


    Hisst useless struggle was about to begin.


    ¡°...Dobbe!¡± (Haine)


    Why is the guy, that was quarrelling with General Grades outside, currently here?


    Dobbe, who had suddenly appeared, had his face smashed up and was dirtied with tears and snot. His stomach and liver must also be in a precarious state due to the pressure exerted by General Grades.


    After being talked downpletely, he must have ran back here and encountered us in control of the ce. Because of that, he seeded in running away from the light knights that charged in and managed to reach all the way here?


    You could say he is lucky, but can you really call this luck?


    ¡°You pieces of trash! Idiots, ipetent bastards!¡± (Dobbe)


    It looks like he already has no energy left, there¡¯s no strength in his insults.


    ¡°Why are you treating me this way! I am from the renowned Zeberphon family! I am important! I am different from you people that were born in the lower sses. Isn¡¯t it obvious that the lowly should show absolute obedience to the noble ones?!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Noble humans have their respective duties as well.¡± (Haine)


    I decide to answer him.


    ¡°You have neglected those duties; no one will respect you. That¡¯s all there¡¯s to it. General Grades should have told you the same. How many times do you need to be told for you to understand?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Shut up!!¡± (Dobbe)


    Dobbe was already losing his sanity.


    ¡°I am the Knight General!! I am the greatest! Respect me! Praise me! Obey me!! You lowlifes only have that trait going for yourselves, and yet, why are you opposing me all the time?!¡± (Dobbe)


    No matter how hard you shout from that dry throat of yours, this was only the bark of a sore-loser already.


    I am tired of this.


    ¡°...Give it a rest already.¡± (Haine)


    I said this feebly.


    ¡°This world is wrong. Being in this rotten world in itself is a mistake. I will die. Die and go to where the Light Goddess Intion is. I will have her reincarnate me in the correct world. That¡¯s my only hope left!¡± (Dobbe)


    At the same time as he said this, Dobbe opened up the vest of the terrorist garment he wore, and what was inside of that vest was...!


    ¡°No way!¡± (Haine)


    I have seen that before.


    That¡¯s the thing that pushed the hero match into confusion for a moment ¡ªethereal bombs.


    Those things that were knitted onto the inside of the vest Dobbe was wearing were simr to that ethereal bomb. Moreover, there¡¯s several of them!!


    ¡°Light Goddess Intion!! Pick up this abandonedmb that has been thrown into the depths of despair!! Fufu, but let me at least give some payback. All of you will be apanying me in death!! But obviously, I will go to heaven where the Light Goddess is waiting! You guys will be falling to hell though!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Damn it!!¡± (Haine)


    I immediately spring into action.


    I don¡¯t know how strong those bombs are, but even if they were at the same strength as the one Mina used in the hero match, in this closed space, it would be plenty enough!!


    Dobbe already had the control switch in his hand and ced his finger on the button.


    ¡°Be purified, evil world!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ...And then, pressed it.


    *Bzzt*Bzzt*


    Powerless sounds were made.


    ¡°Eh? Wa?!¡± (Dobbe)


    I jump onto him.


    Dobbe was unable to receive that force and fell onto the ground.


    Without wasting a moment, I take off his vest and throw it up.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!!¡± (Haine)


    I wrap the vest in mid-air along with the bombs by using my dark matter.


    Dark matter doesn¡¯t only erase divine power. Because of its gravity, it can crush normal objects as well.


    Inside the dark matter that performs true destruction, the vest and explosives were raising cracking noises as they were destroyed.


    ¡°Uwa...Uwaaaa!!¡±


    After being stolen of hisst card that was self-detonation, Dobbe began crying.


    ¡°How much more troublesome can you get!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you die or not, but there¡¯s a lot of people with raw hope here. Don¡¯t drag them into it.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha throws a merciless reprimand.


    This man already didn¡¯t deserve a single sliver of consideration. But there¡¯s something I want to ask him before he dies.


    ¡°Even when I pushed the button...it didn¡¯t explode. That woman deceived me again...!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Wa?¡±


    Those words pulled my attention.


    Right now I should be prioritizing the safety of the hostages, but I couldn¡¯t stop myself.


    ¡°¡®That woman¡¯? Who are you talking about?¡± (Haine)


    While I was asking this, I already had a slight suspicion of who it might be.


    That woman had led the idiotic people like Dobbe and created the incident of today.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t trust her from the very beginning, but after being fired from my job as Knight General and the private funds of the Zeberphon household plummeting rock bottom, I had no other path but revenge!!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°I am asking who that woman is!! Answer!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hihi, once I jumped onto her invitation, there were many people who had the same ambitions as mine waiting there as well. It wasn¡¯t only on the Light Church. From the Earth, Water, Fire, Wind nations, there were also people that were wandering the alleys after being thrown out by the reformation of the Church; those kind of fallen ones. That woman urately found them and utilized them as pawns. Really, just in those areas, she is a skilled woman!¡± (Dobbe)


    This idiot sucks at exining!


    Can¡¯t you just jump the process and say the conclusion only?!


    ¡°But this is all the fault of you people! You people did such a wicked reformation and drove off the ones with heart, so we had no choice but to desperately fight back! We are not in the wrong. The ones in the wrong are you people that forced us into arms!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°As I said! I don¡¯t care about that!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But the one that is the most evil is the woman that utilized our distress to control us like puppets. I will never forgive that woman!! Now that it hase to this, I will destroy everything! Go ahead and interrogate me or put me on trial! I will fall, but that person will also fall along!! I will drag her along! Drag her! Drag her! Ahahahahaha!!¡± (Dobbe)


    Just as Dobbe wasughing as if gone crazy, light was coughed out from his mouth.


    ¡°Hah?!¡±


    Coughed out light?


    That strange phenomenon waspletely unknown to me, but that abnormal event had triggered my danger rm.


    Dobbe wasn¡¯t the only one spitting light out of his mouth.


    The terrorists, those guys that are supposed to have been dried of divine power by the dark matter, are spitting out light just like Dobbe.


    ¡°What?! What is this?!¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t understand at all, but there¡¯s no doubt that this is bad.


    ¡°Kugh!¡±


    I went straight towards Dobbe.


    He was the closest at hand, so I let out dark matter and try to erase the light that wasing out from Dobbe¡¯s mouth and nose, but...


    ¡°!!¡±


    My darkness was easily cut by the light that Dobbe was releasing.


    ¡°So this is actually...!¡± (Haine)


    Light divine power?!


    There¡¯s no other divine power in this world that can eliminate my dark matter aside from light.


    ...Then, the light that ising out from the mouth and nose of Dobbe is exactly as it is, light divine power.


    ¡°Haine-sama! Please stand back!¡± (Doraha)


    The next one to move was Doraha.


    Just like before, she utilized the chained shadows to sink the terrorists inside of it.


    While that happened, an ominous change urred.


    It didn¡¯t end with only that. Now the terrorists began to let out light from their ears, eyes, and from every hole, and on top of that, their abdomens swelled up like a balloon.


    It steadily swelled. It was at the point where they might explode at any moment.


    Explosions would be bad here, but fortunately, the terrorists are sunk into the shadows and werepletely isted.


    If light is the natural weakness of darkness, light¡¯s natural weakness is shadow.


    The shadow bes more distinct and deeper the stronger the light is, so by absorbing light divine power, it grows stronger.


    If it¡¯s Doraha, once they have been imprisoned in her shadow domain, she can absorb the light that they are expelling, and manage to restrain them as well.


    ¡°Haine-sama!!¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha warped her expression as she said this.


    ¡°Please get away from that man! Haine-sama is way too close to him. You will end up getting trapped inside the shadow with him!!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Got it!¡± (Haine)


    Doraha looks like she is in pain.


    Due to her hatred towards the four Base Element Gods, she once merged with the shadow and ended up maddening out of the amount of light she absorbed.


    She has imprisoned around 30 people at once, and for some reason, they are all releasing light divine power. There¡¯s no doubt that this is surpassing the capacity she can take.


    ¡°Haine-sama! Quick!!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Okay!¡± (Haine)


    I can¡¯t even begin to imagine what will be happening to them, but there¡¯s no doubt that it is nothing good. However, at that time, we definitely can¡¯t allow the unrted people to get caught.


    We have to sink all the terrorists here into the shadows.


    But Dobbe...had tightly grabbed onto my hand.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    Dobbe had both of his eyes releasing light, and his eyeballs were drying into raisins, and yet, he managed to urately grab me.


    How tenacious can you get.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, I will die!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°Like I care! Go die by yourself!¡± (Haine)


    I kick Dobbe and try to get him to separate from me, but maybe because he was squeezing out thest of his very life, I couldn¡¯t get away from him.


    While I was doing that, Dobbe¡¯s body continued swelling ¡ªas if saying it was about to explode.


    ¡°But in the end, I will at least bring you down with me! You are at fault. All the misfortunes began after you appeared!¡± (Dobbe)


    ¡°What are you saying?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t there, that brat Karen would have been obedient! That witch Yorishiro wouldn¡¯t have be my enemy either! You are at fault...You are at fault! I will be dying, so you being alive would be unfair!¡± (Dobbe)


    What selfishness!


    At any rate, I try to get away with all I had, but his nails were digging into my skin and blood was alreadying out.


    I would have blown him away with dark matter right away, but because of the light that is spilling out from his whole body, darkness ispletely sealed!


    ¡°Die, enemy of justice!! Light Goddess Intion! Please bear witness to thest moments of the Light Knight Dobbe!!¡± (Dobbe)


    *Boom!*


    The sound of an explosion was heard from somewhere. It was inside the shadow.


    The terrorists that had been sunk into the shadows were unable to endure the increase of light divine power inside of them and exploded!


    Then this Dobbe in front of me will at some point in time also...no, this isn¡¯t just a ¡®at some point¡¯, he will definitely explode soon.


    If that were to happen, how much damage would it cause?


    Don¡¯t tell me it would blow up the whole library, right?!


    ¡°Haine-sama! Please get away from him, quick!! If we don¡¯t seal him inside the shadow...!¡± (Doraha)


    I am truly d that Doraha is here.


    She has the power of shadows that has the absolute advantage against light, that¡¯s why she managed to suppress the terroristspletely.


    The one remaining is Dobbe.


    Doraha worked so hard already, so I can¡¯t let it all go to waste just because of this one guy.


    There¡¯s only one way to have him sink into the shadows.


    ¡°RAAAH!!¡± (Haine)


    I stop trying to push Dobbe away and instead plunged onto him.


    Just like that, I sink into the shadows with Dobbe.


    ¡°As you wish! I will apany you to hell!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-sama! Don¡¯t tell me...!!¡± (Doraha)


    Right.


    I will also sink into the shadows with him!!


    If it is inside the shadows that can block lightpletely, no matter how big of a light explosion it is, it won¡¯t be able to bring damage to the outside!


    ¡°I am...the Aurora...Knight General...! The renowned...Zeberphon family¡¯s...! Leader!¡± (Dobbe)


    Dobbe had already lost his humanity. That¡¯s why I had no hesitation.


    Sink the people that were once humans inside the shadows.


    In time, my own sensations sunk into the shadows, and not long after, a bright explosion urred at close range.

 Chapter 237-239 - Broken Thread

    <h4>Chapter 237-239: Broken Thread</h4>


    The Light Grand Library incident ended safely that same day.


    Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t a single casualty, and there weren¡¯t any losses in the books of the library.


    The number of terrorists was 60, but they all died. It wasn¡¯t because of the fight between them and the light knights that charged in, but because they all self-imploded.


    I don¡¯t know if calling it self-imploding is correct though.


    ording to the reports of the light knights that charged in, the terrorists that were working as the lookouts suddenly released light from their mouth and eyes, and just like that, their bodies swelled, and in the end, they exploded.


    It was the same in the ¡®Goddess Space¡¯ where the hostages were being held captive in, but Doraha-san who had infiltrated there hadpletely sealed the explosion, and things ended with no happenings.


    However...there was one thing that can¡¯t be ignored.


    It was something that made me -the light hero, Kourin Karen- unable to feel that the incident is over yet.


    It was something big.


    ***


    At the Light Grand Hospital in Apollon City, at a section of it, we were standing there without a wink of sleep.


    General Grades, who had finished his medical treatment, and Captain Vesage, who was absent because he was in another mission, were now running to where we were.


    ¡°Sorry, Karen-sama. Even when I was by his side...!¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha, who was the one on site, was feeling the most responsibility of this out of everyone and was discouraged, but there¡¯s no way it was her fault.


    Even so, I simply didn¡¯t have the words to say to her. No, it wasn¡¯t only Doraha, it felt as if I had lost all ability to speak at the moment.


    If that person is gone, my whole world will be lost.


    It felt as if this was an announcement to that moment.


    With no choice, I pat the head of Doraha-san that is slightly smaller than me. I thought that this might help soothe her a bit.


    ...In time, the doors of the ¡®Operation Room¡¯ open.


    The one that appeared there was the person we revere as Founder, Yorishiro-sama!


    ¡°¡°¡°Yorishiro-sama!¡±¡±¡±


    A medical treatment personally done by the Light Founder.


    That in itself is a surprising thing, but what about the result?


    Is Haine-san okay?!


    ¡°Please be at ease. He is not the type of person that would die from something of this level.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Then...!¡± (Karen)


    I enter through the door that Yorishiro-sama had juste out from and looked at the bed that was inside.


    There, I saw a man that waspletely covered in injuries.


    Haine-san was wrapped in bandages all over his body, but even with that, he was letting out rxed breaths.


    ¡°I am so d!¡± (Karen)


    Strength left me and I was about to fall onto the ward¡¯s floor, but Doraha-san supported me.


    Yorishiro-sama, who had performed the medical treatment on Haine-san, began to exin his condition.


    ¡°First of all, the explosion that is basically the reason for Haine-san¡¯s injuries. That in itself wasn¡¯t that big of a deal.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The strange urrence in the library.


    ¡°Doraha managed to seal the group that had taken control of the Goddess Space, but the lookouts at the outside area also exploded. But those explosions simply destroyed themselves and didn¡¯t do any damage to their surroundings. The light knights that were caught in the explosion didn¡¯t have a single wound. The most that happened was that they were showered with the blood and entrails of the terrorists, which will definitely fuel their nightmares for a good while.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I heard that report too.


    That¡¯s why this incident ended with no casualties aside from the terrorists themselves.


    ¡°But then why did Haine-san get so injured?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is heavily rted to the person himself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The power that Haine-san uses is darkness; and the biggest weakness of darkness is light.


    Facing that explosion at close range, Haine-san ended up receiving the most damage he has received until now.


    ¡°In the operation just now, I retrieved the light divine power that was eating onto the body of Haine-san, and disposed of it. With this, the light won¡¯t be corroding Haine-san further. What¡¯s left would be to let his own body to recover by itself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I am d...I am truly d!


    Haine-san didn¡¯t die.


    I wanted to hug Haine-san right this instant, but Haine-san is currently wounded and sleeping, so I can¡¯t do something excessive, and General Grades and the others are here as well.


    I desperately held back.


    The men stood close to where Haine-sanid, and after confirming he was sleeping, they let out a sigh of relief.


    General Grades and Captain Vesage.


    ¡°...This guy...he pushed forth without hesitation against what he feared the most. I thought that he feared nothing because he was strong, but it looks like I was wrong. Haine is truly a man that is strong at heart.¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Hearing what Founder-sama said, there was probably no need for him to put his body at stake. But that was something no one would have known. There was the chance that the whole library would have exploded from that. If there¡¯s a person in the light knights that says something like: ¡®he got injured in vain¡¯...Vesage, let¡¯s beat that person up.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Vesage)


    In the beginning, they by no means got along with each other, but after a certain amount of time, Haine-san had created his own ce in this Light Church huh.


    After the tension dissolved, something warm spread inside of me.


    ¡°...In the end, all the terrorists that participated in this have all died.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama speaks out in a different tone.


    ¡°The only one we could confirm their origins was Dobbe who was making a ruckus outside. The other perpetrators, because they suddenly exploded for some mysterious reason, we couldn¡¯t even manage to confirm their identity.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ording to Doraha-san who was in the area, the terrorists were calling out the name of other Gods aside from Intion-sama, and were glorifying them.


    That means there were people of other churches mixed in this terrorist act?


    But because their bodies had been blown up to pieces, there¡¯s no way to confirm this.


    ¡°I think that was the objective of the explosion.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t understand well at first what Yorishiro-sama had said.


    ¡°It means that if the terrorists had been caught alive and they are made to speak their reason and the method they used to perpetrate their act, there would be a person who would be troubled by that. That person killed the perpetrators¡ªif I had to put it in other words, that person cut off its lizard¡¯s tail.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°They did all that to seal their mouths?!¡± (Karen)


    Then that means there was someone controlling Dobbe and the others behind the scenes?!


    But to bring that person to light, we need some solid clue, but the people in question have been erased...


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama, Sunnysol Ates has arrived.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Thanks for taking your time. Please take a seat there.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The day after the incident, the Founder Yorishiro-sama had called for Ates-sama.


    The reason was because she wanted to show her appreciation towards Ates for helping out in the aftermath and to hear her report ¡ªat least that¡¯s the front.


    ¡°Ara, Karen-san, you were also here?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Yes. As a hero, I want to have a grasp of the incident that urred in my own capital.¡± (Karen)


    I -Kourin Karen- and Yorishiro-sama were sitting at the sofa opposite of Ates-sama.


    I asked Yorishiro-sama to let me apany her in this.


    In order to witness the true conclusion of this incident.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s hear the report at once. Did you find anything?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Nothing that might gives us a full picture of the incident. The biggest objective of that synchronized explosion might have truly been to erase the evidence. The explosion not having much power and basically only serving to kill the people themselves makes this assumption stronger.¡± (Ates)


    In reality, that was a blessing amidst the disaster.


    Aside from the people that were trapped inside Doraha¡¯s shadows, there were also more than 20 people at the outer areas that exploded as well.


    If those explosions had power on the level of divine power attacks, it would have turned into a big tragedy.


    ¡°Because of that, it is now impossible to interrogate them. Not only were the corpses destroyed beyond recognition, but also anything that might serve to identify them. I want to order the light knights to collect the pieces of those kind of items while they are dealing with the site, but not much can be expected.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I see... I understand. Sorry for having you work all on your own.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind it. Everyone was worried about Haine-san¡¯s operation after all. And so, how¡¯s Haine-san?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°No need to worry. The operation was finished properly and his condition is stable now. He regained consciousness not that long ago.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Eh?


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. When the situation calms down, I am thinking about giving him a visit though. Is that okay?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Sorry to say but, that won¡¯t be possible. Previous light hero, Sunnysol Ates, that¡¯s because...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama says.


    ¡°We will be apprehending you for this time¡¯s terrorist incident as the main culprit.¡± (Yorishiro)


    *Pang!*


    The door of the room was open forcefully, and from there, several light knights rushed in, and then, surround Ates-sama.


    I as well stand up from the sofa and take out my holy sword.


    ¡°This is...what is the meaning of this?¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama begins her usual self-concealment.


    ¡°This time there¡¯s no point in ying the fool, Ates-san. Haine-san recovered consciousness and testified.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Zeberphon Dobbe, who tried to bring Haine-san down with him, right before he died, he told Haine-san that the one who ordered everything was you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡°¡°!!!¡±¡±¡±


    We had already been briefed about this beforehand, and yet, everyone including me had gulped our breaths.


    The culprit behind the terrorist incident of Apollon City was Ates-sama.


    In a sense, it was a truth that I could understand.


    ¡°Ates-san, at the heroes match, you were acting as an infiltrated agent...is how it was left as, but utilizing the connections you had before, you gathered the dregs of the contra-reconciliation side that had lost their ce to be ¡ªin order to perform your crime.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The objective was that, by creating a disturbance in the metropolitan area of the Light capital, you would have me take the me, and make me resign to take responsibility. And then, you would carry on the next step.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...Okay, I will listen to this joke of yours till the end. Continue.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You have the qualifications for that after all. In reality, you wanted to expel me at the heroes match and be the new Light Founder, but sadly for you, Karen-san and the others seeded and you failed.¡± (Yorishiro)


    But Ates-sama betrayed the contra-reconciliation side, and by selling them to the enemy, she managed to escape from a sinking ship. Not only that, she managed to secure a ce in our side. Truly a despicable person.


    ¡°You wanted to utilize the strengthened footing you had to climb higher up¡ªand in a sense, you were going to climb thest step for it, but...you were slightly impatient there. To think that you would bring out your tail in such a boring way.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You are quite the dirty woman, Yorishiro.¡± (Ates)


    What a way to speak to the Founder. I can¡¯t believe such a person was a hero.


    ¡°Well fine. Let¡¯s leave it as if I was the puppeteer behind that incident. Let¡¯s assume I was the one who was controlling that useless Dobbe who only has his pride to talk about. And so, where¡¯s the proof?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    That question had made all the light knights and me falter.


    ¡°The one who pointed me as the ringleader has already died. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a bit too weak for a proof? In the first ce, the ones carrying the terrorist acts normally are disposable pawns. Most of the times, they are not told a single piece of important information.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...¡±


    Yorishiro-sama didn¡¯t say anything.


    It is true that Ates-sama¡¯s logic is sound, and it was effective in weakening the reasonability of apprehending her. Even though we know that she is the evil one here.


    Will she slip away from our hands once again?


    ¡°Proof. If you want to judge me, you will have to properly show the proof for it. Can you? Well, I already know the answer though.¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama was speaking of proof as she showed her characteristic smile.


    That¡¯s how much confidence she has.


    All the people that she used as pawns are dead and there¡¯s no evidence left.


    There¡¯s no way there would proof pointing her as the ringleader.


    ¡°Then, Ates-san, let¡¯s hear it from you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Is proof necessary to judge someone?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ......Eh?


    The words of Yorishiro had caught everyone in this room off-guard.


    ¡°You being an existence that brings harm to the Light Church and the whole world is already an undeniable truth. I am asking if there¡¯s the need for proof to judge someone like that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That surprising statement of hers had made Ates-sama dumbfounded, but in time, she began tough as if a spring hade out.


    ¡°Ahahahahhaha!! ...Right, you arepletely right. Leaving aside the trials that idiots in the streets do; between the noble people like us where schemes and artifices are the norm, legal principles and morals are all instruments. Trusting in the power of evidence was something an idiot would do, right.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. In this filthy side of the world you and I stand on, evidence is just an illusion that can be shaped as fit. And the very fact that you have no option but to rely on it is proof that you have been cornered. What¡¯s left now is to gantly ept your defeat.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Good grief. What a dirty woman you are. To think you would y me twice. No, in the end, there wasn¡¯t a single time I have won against you in conspiracies. As expected of my little sister.¡± (Ates)


    Huh?


    ¡°It simply means that you are just small fry, Onee-sama. You weren¡¯t able to throw away that way too heavy ambition of yours ¡ªjust like father. That is the reason for your downfall.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Afterughing for a while, Ates-sama had her arms bound without much resistance and was led out.


    Yorishiro-sama and I were watching that back of hers from the office room.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    I couldn¡¯t not worry about our Founder that was silently standing there.


    Yorishiro-sama and Ates-sama are sisters.


    This is the first I have heard of this.


    ¡°I am sorry, Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    But the words that were directed at me were words of apology.


    Why?


    ¡°I wanted to have you be unrted to this filthy secret feud, but with the opponent being a previous hero, it just couldn¡¯t happen.¡± (Yorishiro)


    She continues.


    ¡°This is the second time she has been caught. It won¡¯t end with a lukewarm punishment like exiling her from the church anymore. No, I won¡¯t let it end in such a lukewarm manner. I will have her live the rest of her life confined in a remote ce just like father ¡ªat the very least.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Like her father?


    She must be referring to the previous Light Founder.


    ¡°Karen-san, my father -the previous Light Founder- was forced to stand down due to corruption, is how it is known as, but do you know the specific details of why he was driven out of his position?¡± (Yorishiro)


    I don¡¯t.


    I honestly shake my head to the sides.


    ¡°Must be. Just the surface of it brought quite the damage to the Light Church after all. ...My foolish father...was nning on causing a war on the other churches.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Karen)


    A war...between humans?!


    In an era where the battle with monsters was intensifying?


    ¡°That person...had a childish ambition like that of leaving his name in history by doing something big. And in the path for that, he resorted to any means. Ates who was the hero at that time was also cooperative in that idea.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama stopped this in secret ¡ªthe Yorishiro-sama that is the youngest in the history of Founders.


    ¡°As a result, the higher-ups of the Light Church at that time, who only knew about fattening themselves with corruption, saw my father as nothing but a pain. And so, I took the standard and expulsed my father. And my sister who was involved with it as well was not chosen as the next Founder due to this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡®Even when they were filled with so much ambition¡¯...is what Yorishiro-sama muttered in pity.


    ¡°She is the previous hero, the sister of the current Founder, and on top of that, the daughter of the previous Founder; as long as she kicks me down from my position, there was plenty enough possibility for her to be the next Founder. The many conspiracies that came from the heroes match must have had that as thest goal.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The condition that that person brought out from the heroes match was the resignation of the Founders. It was quite the straightforward demand.


    In this time¡¯s incident as well, if Ates-sama had resolved it when the light knights had their arms folded, the evaluation of Ates-sama would increase, and the one of Yorishiro-sama would decrease... Was she aiming for that when she caused that incident?


    ¡°Karen-san, this type of unpleasant things will most likely ur from now on as well. But I want you and Haine-san to be as unassociated with what happens behind the scenes as much as possible.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You are a symbol; a symbol of unity between humans that will stand against the danger that¡¯s called Demon Lords. And for that, you have to be clear and pure.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The profile of Yorishiro-sama as she said this was incredibly lonely; painful.


    Because she ended up having such a family, Yorishiro-sama, who is practically the same age as me, has to involve herself in all the scheming and artifices that ur.


    Even though she is a normal girl when she is fooling around with Haine-san and I...


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    Right at the moment I was about to say something to her...


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! Karen-sama!¡±


    One of the knights that was escorting Ates-sama ran hurriedly to us.


    ¡°T-This is terrible! Ates-sama...! No, the suspect Ates suddenly got out of her restrains and escaped!!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± (Karen)


    Contrary to me who was surprised, Yorishiro-sama was calm.


    ¡°No wonder. Even if she were to obediently get caught, there would be no chance foreback. In that case, it would be better to oppose as much as she can.¡± (Yorishiro)


    But even if she were to escape, I don¡¯t think she can do anything.


    I only see this as Ates-sama running herself into a precipice.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama, I will go!¡± (Karen)


    At any rate, if Ates-sama has escaped, there¡¯s no other one who can stop her but a hero.


    Haine-sama is stillying in recovery, and Doraha-san is acting as his guard, so I have to be the one to move.


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t.¡± (Yorishiro)


    But when I tried to run out from the room, Yorishiro-sama stopped me.


    ¡°I already said it. Karen-san, I told you that I won¡¯t be letting you get involved with the filthy behind the scenes schemes. Most of all, the other side, even if she is a despicable human being, she is still a human. In this situation where you can end up identally killing her, there¡¯s no way I can let you go.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But...! Then, are we going to let her escape just like that?¡± (Karen)


    I thought that might be possible.


    Yorishiro-sama and Ates-sama are sisters linked by blood.


    Could it be that letting her escape like this is herst show of pity?


    ¡°I will go.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama said something outrageous.


    ¡°I will personally put an end to Ates-san. I stand as the Founder and I am also her sister, so this is in order to rinse the shame of my family too. Even if I end up killing her with my own hands, I will ept that dirt.¡± (Yorishiro)

 Chapter 240-241 - Fierce battle of the Goddess

    <h4>Chapter 240-241: Fierce battle of the Goddess</h4>


    ¡°Catch the traitor Sunnysol Ates!¡±


    ¡°Founder-sama¡¯s order was that it doesn¡¯t matter if she is dead or alive! But don¡¯t let her escape at any cost!¡±


    ¡°But Ates-sama is the previous hero!¡±


    ¡°We already know! But right now she is a traitor!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s capture her inside the Grand Church! Don¡¯t let this leak out to the outside!!¡±


    The whole of the light knights were mobilizing in order to capture Ates-sama.


    ¡°Harden the security in all the exits! Don¡¯t let a single thing about this be leaked outside!!¡±


    The battle with Ates-sama had begun at the Founder¡¯s office room.


    On top of that, since Ates-sama had escaped while she was in the middle of heading to the underground prison inside the Light Grand Church, the chase was still inside.


    We can¡¯t let the ruckus reach the outside, so the ce was filled with the spirit of finishing all this inside the church.


    And now, Ates-sama stood before me.


    ¡°Ara, is this the point of reunion? That was a delightful escort.¡± (Ates)


    Even though she is already just a pitiful escapee, Ates-sama wasn¡¯t showing a single sign of being flustered.


    The cold gaze of Yorishiro-sama was directed at that Ates-sama.


    ¡°So you really had noticed huh. Purposely creating a strange route for the chase of the light knights, we led you all the way here.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I was sure a splendid treasure would be awaiting me here after all. And so, you will be making me fight, right? Against that goody two-shoes over there.¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama¡¯s gaze was directed at me who was standing at the side of Yorishiro-sama.


    That¡¯s right, this is the training field that the light knights use. The perfect ce to rampage.


    Ates-sama must have already known that a fight would be waiting for her here.


    ¡°In the heroes match, I couldn¡¯t y with you after all. This is a good chance, so let¡¯s teach it to you; the strength of the true light hero.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°No need for that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Just like we previously agreed to, Yorishiro-sama steps forward.


    ¡°It is my duty as your sister to bring you down. Sunnysol Ates, the second generation of vice in the Sunnysol family, I will be cutting this with my own hands.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The reason you threw away the name of Sunnysol the moment you rose to the position of Founder was because of that, right...... But, fufu, are you serious?¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama faced Yorishiro-sama andughed as if making fun of her.


    ¡°Yorishiro, to think that you would actually challenge me in power. You who only has ability as a schemer, do you really think you can defeat me a person that has climbed up to being a hero?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Yes, it is exactly because I think that way that I am standing here.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama does one more step forward.


    ¡°Well then, Karen-san, please don¡¯t assist by any means.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But Yorishiro-sama...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You are the insurance in case something happens. If I were to be defeated, please smite that smear. But well, that will not be happening though.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The gaze of Yorishiro-sama changed from me to Ates-sama.


    ¡°I ced a lot of burden on Karen-san at the heroes match after all. I have to break some bones here. Of course, I am talking about the bones in your whole body, Ates.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Interesting. Let¡¯s see if the little sister can beat her big sister.¡± (Ates)


    And then, Ates-sama takes a stance with her spear.


    That is the personal divine tool of Ates-sama, the light spear, Cain?!


    Why does she now have the weapon she didn¡¯t have when she was apprehended?


    ¡°Did you go through the trouble of slipping past the guards in order to get that back? I didn¡¯t know a person could have such attachments to that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Now that I have lost my standing in the political world, the only thing that I can rely on now is my own strength.¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama spins her spear and sounds of stirred up wind were let out.


    On the other hand, Yorishiro-sama doesn¡¯t even have a dagger. She waspletely barehanded.


    No matter how good a person is at controlling divine power, it is impossible for normal humans to give shape to divine power.


    Without divine tools to resonate with divine power and amplify it, everyone is simply a human.


    That can be said to be an absolute rule in the five Grand Churches...or at least, that¡¯s how it is supposed to be.


    ¡°How about you, Yorishiro? Even if it is hastily prepared, you have to bring out a divine tool, or this won¡¯t even be a challenge.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°No, this is...plenty enough.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama holds up her palm at Ates-sama.


    ¡°[Light Suppression Palm]¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ngh!!¡± (Ates)


    It was at that instant, a gigantic and incredibly dense light divine power had blown away Ates-sama¡¯s whole body from the ground.


    What is with that dense lump of light divine power that is like air?!


    It was acting densely as if it were vapour.


    The light element, that is supposed to be the thinnest in terms of density, can do something like this?


    Ates-sama got hit by Yorishiro-sama¡¯s attack head on and tried to stand up with her eyes going in circles.


    ¡°[Holy Light Destruction]¡± (Yorishiro)


    From the foot of Yorishiro-sama, cracks simr to the web of a spider were being made, and when it arrived to the feet of Ates-sama, the light divine power that gushed from the pattern in the ground had blown Ates-sama shily.


    ¡°Gahagh!!¡± (Ates)


    Yorishiro-sama is strong!


    I knew already, but she is strong beyondmon sense!


    She can ignore themon sense that there¡¯s the need to utilize divine tools to amplify divine power in order to actually use them in battle.


    And with that divine power that Yorishiro-sama is releasing from her hands, she is overwhelming Ates-sama.


    ¡°Damn it!!¡± (Ates)


    But Ates-sama was a light hero in the past; there¡¯s no way she would allow herself to get defeated like this.


    She rushed straight towards Yorishiro-sama, and with that long spear, she thrusts it onto her!


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    Yorishiro-sama didn¡¯t show any signs of taking an evasive stance.


    Different from the heroes match, that thrust of Ates-sama was filledpletely with the intent to kill.


    It was at a point that was unavoidable already, when...


    ¡°[Holy w Form]¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama made the shape of a knife with her hand and light divine power came out from it, shaping into a sword and stopping the spear of Ates-sama.


    Of course, Yorishiro-sama didn¡¯t get wounded at all.


    ¡°No way!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Onee-sama, this is your fate. Caught in the poison of political power, you only thought about climbing up, and as a result, the ce you arrived at was a precipice with nothing in it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    After shing des, the two take distance.


    The light sword that wasing out from Yorishiro-sama¡¯s hand, by separating those fingers, the light sword separated into something that resembled fiendish spider legs.


    ¡°Your path is filled with too many corpses to be able to go back. Now that it hase to this, let me be the one pushing your back. Fall right down to the very depths where you won¡¯t be able to crawl back up anymore!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°[Light Cmity Palm]¡± (Yorishiro)


    Light divine power is shot from the wide open palm of Yorishiro-sama, and the palm of light grows bigger as it goes. This palm that felt as if it were the very hands of God also looked like it were a giant spider attacking with those 5 w-like fingers.


    However, no matter which it is, there¡¯s no doubt that this is the light that will bring the destruction to Ates-sama.


    ¡°Ates-san...no, Onee-sama.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama speaks in a low voice.


    ¡°This is myst advice. Listen to it properly.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What is it?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Throw away your weapon at once. Showplete obedience to us. If you do, this will end without having the need to take your life.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°If I do that, what will happen to me?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You must have an idea already, right? You will be moved to some remote ind that is impossible to escape from and you will live your whole life there. If we win the uing battle against the Demon Lords, you should be able to live your life peacefully there. Live your whole life without the need of worrying about political strifes.¡± (Yorishiro)


    This must be Yorishiro-sama¡¯sst show ofpassion.


    There¡¯s no way this person would truly wish to kill her blood-rted sister.


    ¡°...Fufufu, seriously, what a wretched little sister.¡± (Ates)


    Ates answers back with scorn.


    ¡°You knew from the very beginning that I would refuse that, right? But if you were to disypassion at the end, the people in the surroundings will see it as ¡®a Founder that had to drink down her tears and serve punishment to her rtive¡¯. Thus, your position as Founder will get even more stable. ¡± (Ates)


    ¡°So you already knew. It is good that Haine-san is still sleeping.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The giant light spider that was released by Yorishiro-sama swings its ws as if jumping onto its prey.


    ¡°Farewell, Onee-sama. I hope this is thest we see of this kind of foolishness between humans.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The light hand is swung down.


    This attack felt as if it were covering the whole training field. Me and the light knights, that were guarding the doors of this ce in order to not let the now criminal Ates-sama escape, were overwhelmed by that tremendous power.


    ¡°This is the end...!¡± (Ates)


    The giant hand crashed onto the ground and waves of wild gales attested to the terrifying power this attack held.


    Ates-sama¡¯s body was most likely crushed by the giant hand.


    This is thest moment of the enchantress that had suddenly appeared in the Light Church and had stirred up the ce with all her schemes and tricks.


    ¡°...Is what you thought, right?¡±


    ¡°¡°?!!¡±¡±


    From below the light hand, the voice of a person unbelievably resonated.


    That voice is without doubt...Ates-sama?!


    ¡°There¡¯s no way. You are okay after receiving the ¡®Light Cmity Palm¡¯? With the light divine power thates out from the light spear Cain, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to survive!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama was also unable to hide her agitation in this unexpected situation.


    As ifughing at that agitation, Ates-sama speaks.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It is true that with the light spear Cain I wouldn¡¯t be able to block an attack of this level...... But Yorishiro, in the time that I was made to retire, did you think I did nothing?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°In reality, the reason why I went so far as to use a farce like the hero match was to, of course, return to the Church, but what I sought for after that step wasn¡¯t to obtain political power as the previous hero.¡± (Ates)


    Military power.


    ¡°It was purely for military power. In order to take away what you want from others, the most effective way is direct violence. The light spear Cain is my strength itself, however, that¡¯s not all there is.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What is it you are trying to get at!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°While I was in retirement, I utilized the superfluous time I had to train, and managed to obtain a certain new power. In order to properly utilize this power, there was the need for a new divine tool. A different one from the light spear Cain. That¡¯s why I returned to the Church. The ore that serves as the material for the divine tools can only be found inside the Church after all!¡± (Ates)


    The next moment, the giant light hand of Yorishiro-sama disappeared.


    ¡°?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama¡¯s expression of surprise was a clear indication that she herself wasn¡¯t the one that made it disappear.


    In that case, there¡¯s obviously only one person who could have possibly done it ¡ªAtes-sama.


    The light hand had disappeared, and once again, that woman appeared in our field of vision with a spear over her shoulder.


    A second spear.


    In her right hand, there¡¯s the light spear Cain; and in her left hand, there¡¯s a second spear. This second unfamiliar spear was the total opposite of the light spear Cain; it was a dark spear dyedpletely in ck.


    ...Dark? No, I feel like that¡¯s not it...


    ¡°What negated my ¡®Light Cmity Palm¡¯ was that spear?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. This spear itself is my new power. Whates out by altering light divine power; the ¡®shadow¡¯ power.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°¡°¡®Shadow¡¯?!¡±¡±


    That word instantly made me think of Doraha-san; the shadow hero that holds the power of shadows.


    ¡°I secretly stole this second spear from the storage of the church, the ¡®shadow¡¯ divine tool. The trump card that allows me to show the power of ¡®shadow¡¯. I call it...¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama speaks in her characteristic manner.


    ¡°Shadow spear, Abel.¡± (Ates)


    She then shrugs her shoulders.


    ¡°Really, that was close one. This was just finished the other day, you see. If things had yed out at a sooner date, that attack just now would have been impossible for me to block, and I would have been crushed just like that.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°With the power of ¡®shadow¡¯, you absorbed my light divine power then.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama already knew the special trait of the ¡®shadow¡¯, so she says this.


    ¡°Correct. Using the shadow spear Abel to absorb it, I release it with the light spear Cain. This cycle that was created from my long training is impossible to be broken by anyone!¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama swings her light spear Cain. From the tip of it, a threatening sh was shot.


    Yorishiro-sama dodged this deliberately slow attack of Ates-sama.


    That light easily destroyed a rampart in the training field.


    The rampart made big crumbling sounds as the splinters fly around. The light knights around were running to get away from it.


    ¡°!!¡±


    Seeing this cmity, Yorishiro-sama¡¯s expression froze.


    ¡°Do you understand now? That just now was the light divine power absorbed from you that had been shot just as it is. You are intelligent, Yorishiro, so you should already understand. All your attacks have already been rendered useless by this power.¡± (Ates)


    The light divine power that attacks Ates-sama will all be absorbed by the shadow spear Abel and the light spear Cain will return it.


    ¡°All preparations have beenplete. Now then, Yorishiro, I will be taking the Founder position that should have originally been mine. While at it, I will be taking that life of yours as well. As you already know, I am a greedy one you see. Everything that belongs to you, I will be taking it all.¡± (Ates)

 Chapter 242-245 - Shadow Calamity all over again

    <h4>Chapter 242-245: Shadow Cmity all over again</h4>


    ¡°[Light Suppression Palm]!¡± (Yorishiro)


    High-density light divine power was released from Yorishiro-sama¡¯s palm again, however, it didn¡¯t blow Ates-sama away.


    The spear that was wrapped in jet-ck had absorbed all the light after all.


    ¡°Kuh!¡±


    ¡°It is useless no matter how many times you try. As expected, in this kind of situations, even the intelligent ones would do the same thing huh! They continuously repeat pointless things.¡± (Ates)


    Ates-sama spins her two spears with an expression of victory.


    Even Yorishiro-sama who can bring an output far superior to mine had the tablespletely turned around.


    That¡¯s how strong shadow is against light users.


    Originally, light doesn¡¯t hold a disadvantage against any of the other four elements, and rather, holds a slight advantage to all of them. Also, against the rare element ¡®Darkness¡¯ that only one person in the world can utilize, the light holds an advantage that could even be considered the nemesis of darkness.


    Even this element, that at a nce is all-powerful, has only one element that we can¡¯t do anything against; that¡¯s shadow.


    The shadow is a pseudo-darkness that is created from light.


    The stronger the light, the stronger and more distinct the shadow bes. The shadow users absorb light divine power and power-up limitlessly.


    This is not the first time we have gone against the shadow element.


    In the past, when we journeyed to the Dark Underworld Country that no one knows of, we were attacked by a beast that was dpletely in shadow and Yorishiro and I couldn¡¯t do anything against it.


    The reason why we managed to return alive was because Haine-san, with his ability to erase anything aside from light, was there as well. But right now Haine-san is still bedridden due to the heavy injuries he received in the terrorist incident.


    We can¡¯t expect his assistance.


    On top of that, Doraha-san who uses the same shadow power is currently guarding Haine-san just in case.


    In the current members that can fight right now, there¡¯s none who can go against the shadow of Ates-sama.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Ates-sama once again swings her light spear Cain.


    Yorishiro-sama jumps away from the light wave that was released and, losing its target, it destroyed the ground. The ground that had been gouged out horizontally made a tsunami of rubble, and the light knights, who were gathered up in order to not let Ates-sama escape, were running away from it.


    ¡°Ates! To think that you had obtained the power of shadow!¡± (Yorishiro)


    As expected, even Yorishiro-sama had furrowed her brows at the precariousness of the situation.


    ¡°In the time I was brought down by you, did you really think that I was doing nothing but y around? I utilized that moment of leisure you provided me to its fullest.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Of course, I didn¡¯t think you were obediently passing your time without doing anything, but I thought that if you were to make a move, it would be more of a stealthy political move. I didn¡¯t expect you to put steady effort like this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Even when you are about to die, you still make fun of me huh. That¡¯s just like you.¡± (Ates)


    This is not good! Ates-sama ¡ªno, Ates is seriously trying to kill Yorishiro-sama, and Yorishiro-sama has no cards that can stop that from happening.


    Yorishiro-sama also knows how powerless light is against shadow!


    ¡°Ates, tell me onest thing. How did you learn about the existence of the shadow power?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even when Yorishiro-sama had sweat flowing down from the tension, her eyes were still sharp.


    ¡°The power of shadows that is utilized by altering light is by no means something that can be noticed by coincidence. The only possibility is that you were told about this by someone or...could it be...!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s a foolish question, Yorishiro. If it¡¯s something you know, I also know about it.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°I am you, and you are me...¡± (Ates) <I am thou, thou art I>


    Ates takes a step towards Yorishiro-sama.


    It was clear that she was moving to deal the blow that will decide the battle. In other words, she is going to finish Yorishiro-sama?!


    ¡°Hold it there!¡± (Karen)


    I run and stand in front of Yorishiro-sama to protect her.


    I direct the de of my holy sword Saint-George at Ates.


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ara ara.¡± (Ates)


    Even when I showed my resolve of joining the fray, Ates didn¡¯t show a single sign of agitation.


    ¡°As I thought, this little girl is an idiot. As long as you are the light hero, you won¡¯t be able to do anything in the face of my shadow spear. Don¡¯t you understand that?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, fighting to protect the Founder is what makes a hero! Yorishiro-sama! Let¡¯s retreat for now! I will hold Ates back!¡± (Karen)


    Of course, I who only has light as my weapon can¡¯t defeat the current Ates. But even so, I will carry out my duty as a hero!


    ¡°Don¡¯t, Karen-san. You should be the one running.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama said strictly.


    ¡°Go to the hospital and bring Doraha-san here. To defeat the current Ates that has obtained the power of shadow, there¡¯s no other one but Doraha-san that holds the same power. If you use your usual flying machine, you should be able to get there in a matter of minutes. Do it while I am holding Ates back... Go!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama, I can tell.


    In the few minutes I take to bring Doraha-san here, Yorishiro-sama will be killed by Ates for sure.


    ¡°I...don¡¯t want Yorishiro-sama to die.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°There¡¯s the duty as a hero, but most of all, it is because Yorishiro-sama is a friend!¡± (Karen)


    I don¡¯t want to do something like abandoning a friend.


    Just a while ago, Yorishiro-sama told me this: ¡®I want you to stay unrted to the filthy behind the scene schemes¡¯. It has to do with avoiding any lowering in my image as a hero, but I could feel that there was one other reason for it.


    Yorishiro-sama didn¡¯t want to be hated...by Haine-san and I.


    She didn¡¯t want us to see how she used underhanded means to bring the downfall of her opponents and have us repudiate her ¡ªshe was scared of that happening.


    That¡¯s how Yorishiro-sama is.


    She hardens her heart with logic and intelligence, but inside that armor, she holds boundless fear towards making contact with others.


    ¡°I love Yorishiro-sama. I want to love everything about Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Loving a person by just seeing the beautiful parts of that person, I don¡¯t think that can be called love at all! Even if Yorishiro-sama tries to hide the parts that are not beautiful, I will step into it!!¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s how I have gained many friends, that¡¯s why, today as well...


    ¡°Let¡¯s fight together, Yorishiro-sama! If today¡¯s enemy is exactly that ugly part of Yorishiro-sama, as a friend of Yorishiro-sama, I will fight that enemy!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ufufufufufufu!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates suddenly beganughing.


    It was augh that I could tell was truly from amusement, but as expected, there was contempt in it as well.


    ¡°Karen-san, as I thought, even when you are an idiot, you are an interesting one......no, maybe it is exactly because you are an idiot that you are interesting.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like I am being praised here at all.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, I do evaluate you highly. You said something truly sharp. I am that ugly part of Yorishiro.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Karen)


    No, that was simply a figure of speech...


    ¡°It is exactly as you said. I am Yorishiro¡¯s evil, Yorishiro¡¯s darkness; are humans born evil first, or are they born good first? No matter the case, they will all have good and evil inside of them. However, it was different for Yorishiro and I.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Yorishiro was the good, and I was the evil. We both were two and yet one. Therefore, I am her, and she is me.¡± (Ates)


    What is she saying?


    I couldn¡¯t understand what Ates was saying at all.


    ¡°[Holy Light Destruction]!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    It was at that next moment, the cracks that ran at the feet of Yorishiro-sama were letting out blinding light. The earth and pebbles making up the ground floated up, the earth split, and the footing crumbles.


    The surroundings were covered in a cloud of dust so dense that I couldn¡¯t even see my own hands.


    ¡°Ara ara, Yorishiro. Taking away the vision? That¡¯s an unsightly way to buy time for someone like you...... But don¡¯t think you can escape by utilizing the dust. I am not easy to deal with, you know.¡± (Ates)


    On the other hand, having suddenly lost my footing, I ended up falling down. Due to the denseness of the dust pitching in as well, I couldn¡¯t even tell where I am currently at.


    ¡°Karen-san.¡±


    As I was in this state, a hand was gently ced on my back.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to what that person says. For that person, words are a tool to lead people astray after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ah, yes.....Uhm, I am sorry.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, I was also saved by you. I am truly d that you are our hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The reason why Yorishiro-sama raised a cloud of dust wasn¡¯t simply to buy time, but for a more clear objective. In other words, a n meeting.


    ¡°Karen-san, I think you already know but, now that Ates can use the power of shadows, she is the worst kind of opponent we can have. Even if we were to fight her together, I don¡¯t think we can win.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°T-True...¡± (Karen)


    When we were attacked by the shadow-turned Doraha-san, our attacks didn¡¯t work at all.


    That situation has returned to haunt us again.


    ¡°But Ates isn¡¯t a serious adversarypared to Doraha.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Why?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Just like how there¡¯spatibility differences between the divine power users of other elements, the shadow users also have their own difference inpatibility. Compared to Doraha who had thrown everything away to be shadow itself, the current Ates is basically small fry.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°A-Are you saying there¡¯s a way to win?!¡± (Karen)


    As expected of Yorishiro-sama. She acted as if she was in despair, but she was properly looking for a way to turn things around!


    ¡°The past Doraha hadpletely turned into shadow, so it was possible for her to infinitely absorb light. Because of this, she was a fiend that could have destroyed the world...... Well, there¡¯s still the possibility even now, so there¡¯s always the danger of her going berserk though.¡± (Yorishiro)


    But for Ates who had only chewed on the power of shadow recently, she doesn¡¯t have that much capacity, is what she is trying to say?


    If we were to push with Yorishiro-sama and I -two of the highest light users-, we can fatten Ates to her limit capacity and overload her.


    ¡°Therees the problem; the light spear Cain.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The face of Yorishiro-sama clouded.


    It looks like the cloud of dust hasn¡¯t cleared up yet.


    ¡°Even when she obtained the power of shadows, she didn¡¯t take her hands off her light element. Seriously, what an annoying ruffian. Thanks to that, she managed to resolve her own capacity problem.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I see!


    When Ates absorbed the light power of Yorishiro-sama, she soon released it with her light spear Cain.


    By continuously releasing the turned back light that had been absorbed by the shadow, she can escape an overcapacity.


    ¡°To defeat Ates-san with that overcapacity as the aim, we have no choice but to surpass that capacity at a speed faster than the absorption and release rate...... But I currently have no divine power release technique that surpasses the one of the ¡®Light Cmity Palm¡¯...as a human.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?¡±


    Thest part was too low to pick up, but as I thought, is there really no way for us to defeat Ates?


    ¡°At present, there¡¯s no way to defeat Ates ¡ªif I was alone, that is.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But right now I have Karen-san with me. If it is us two, there¡¯s a lot of things we can do that wouldn¡¯t be possible alone.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ***


    ¡°So you finallye out.¡± (Ates)


    The cloud of dust cleared up, and by the time the vision had grown better, Ates was standing in the same ce as before.


    Must be her leeway of being sure of her victory.


    ¡°Have you finished giving your parting words? Whichever the case, you two are not necessary in the new Light Church I will be controlling. I will have you two die right here and now.¡± (Ates)


    At the surroundings, there were many light knights encircling the ce, but no one could do anything.


    There were many who were there to corner Ates in ce, but due to the high level of the battle, they couldn¡¯t interfere.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to get involved! Everyone, be on the lookout in case Ates tries to escape, and prioritize protecting yourself please!!¡± (Karen)


    Being cornered this much, there was only one thing Ates could do.


    ¡°Haaaaah!¡±


    With the light spear Cain in her right hand, she receives the attack of Yorishiro-sama.


    This wasn¡¯t to absorb like with the shadow spear Abel, this was a pure sh of same elements.


    Ates and Yorishiro-sama; the one with the stronger light divine power output wins.


    ¡°Kugh, well thought! So you utilized the advantage of numbers to attack me from different directions!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°In this moment where Karen-san is holding back the shadow spear, you have no choice but to fight against me with pure power. Ates, this is where you fall.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even if Ates is a shadow user like Doraha-san, they are different.


    Ates can¡¯t even reach the feet of Doraha-san, who is the ultimate shadow user that can endlessly absorb light with her whole body. Ates can only absorb light from her shadow spear.


    That¡¯s why, as long as we can pin down that shadow spear, it is basically as if we had sealed the cycle of light and shadow.


    ¡°This is your limit, Ates. You, who only thinks about using others, will never be able to win against the power of unity that humans obtain from cooperating!!¡± (Yorishiro) <Nakama Powah!>


    In the first ce, in terms of light divine power amount, Yorishiro-sama surpasses Ates ¡ªoverwhelmingly.


    Of course, Ates is also utilizing the light divine power she absorbed from me as well, but even with that into the equation, Ates won¡¯t be able to outpush Yorishiro-sama.


    She has no choice but to be crushed!


    ¡°Nghhh!!¡± (Ates)


    The light spear that¡¯s trying to push away the ¡®Light Suppression Palm¡¯ of Yorishiro-sama was slowly being crushed, bend, and about to be destroyed.


    The situation was already flowing into Ates¡¯ defeat and it looked like no one could stop it anymore.


    ¡°Fufufufu...!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Splendid, Yorishiro, and also Karen-san; to think that you two would be able to corner me to this extent!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Are you epting defeat? Are you nning on begging for your life now? Too bad, but that chance had long been gone. I will be eliminating you as an enemy of the church and a threat to all the people that I love!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Even though I am you?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    Again with those words.


    For me, those words were aplete mystery, but it felt as if they held unmeasurable meaning behind it.


    ¡°Give it a break already! You are not me! Even if we were born from the same parents, we are separate existences!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The bodies we reside in have nothing to do with this. The amount of simrity we hold surpasses something like that. Let me show you proof of that. If I don¡¯t, my life will be in danger after all.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?¡±


    And then, from the mouth of Ates, there was no doubt that the name of that technique was voiced out.


    ¡°[Light Apocalyptic Palm]¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    From the right hand of Ates, a lump of light that was several hundreds of times bigger than the opened palm of Ates was released, and it blew away both Yorishiro-sama and the light spear that was in the middle of both of them.


    ¡°Kyaaaaaaa!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama!!¡± (Karen)


    No way!


    Wasn¡¯t that a technique of Yorishiro-sama?!


    Ates has the same technique as Yorishiro-sama?!


    ¡°This is not the time to be worrying about your friend.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ah!¡± (Karen)


    The right hand of Ates was directed at me this time.


    ¡°[Light Suppression Palm]¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Uwaa!!¡± (Karen)


    This is also a technique of Yorishiro-sama!


    How is this possible. Ates can also use techniques without the need of a divine tool!


    Then why has she been relying on a divine tool until now?


    ¡°Good grief. I wanted to keep this power a secret for a bit more. There¡¯s Haine-san of course, but it looks like there¡¯s also a troublesome one in the Wind side as well after all. I even went as far as putting up an act and making up facts in order to hide it, but it looks like it all went down the drain.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ates, what in the world are you!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°As I have been saying, I am you. You reducing the area of effect of your ¡®Light Suppression Palm¡¯ to not get Karen-san caught up in the attack ended up biting you back. If you had used a serious ¡®Light Suppression Palm¡¯ from the very beginning and had crushed me along with Karen-san, you could have won.¡± (Ates)


    ¡®As I thought, humans are living beings that are supposed to be used¡¯, is what Ates says as sheughs.


    ¡°In the end, this fight ended with me as the winner...... No, not only this fight, but the true battle that had continued for forever since the time we were born in this era. And as expected, in the human world, it wasn¡¯t good that they looked for, but evil.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You...what in the world are you saying?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama couldn¡¯t hide her confusion at the strange words of Ates.


    ¡°It is unnecessary to exin this to someone that is going to be eliminated right now. I will be efficiently showing my love to the Light Church and Haine-san, so you can die with peace of mind.¡± (Ates)


    The palm of Ates is directed at Yorishiro-sama.


    ¡°Like hell I will let you!!¡±


    ¡°Woah there.¡± (Ates)


    The swung down holy sword was easily deflected by the shadow spear.


    ¡°So you can still move with those wounds huh...... You are a truly courageous girl...and annoying.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Kya!!¡± (Karen)


    I received a hit from the handle of the shadow spear and copse.


    ¡°Just stop it already. This shadow spear Abel is the very reason why I infiltrated this church. It is aplete waste to swing it against small fry like you.¡± (Ates)


    No good!


    My body can¡¯t move anymore.


    At this rate, we are going to be killed.


    Not only me, but even Yorishiro-sama.


    Normally, in this kind of moments, Haine-san would always conveniently appear and save us. But he is currently unable to move after having saved something more important.


    There¡¯s no choice but for me to do something.


    A hero is not someone that looks to be saved, but the one doing the saving!


    ¡°Karen-san!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    I was trying to put my all into standing up, but Yorishiro-sama hugged me from behind.


    ¡°Your undying fighting spirit reached even me. Thank you. Really, thank you. You are the best friend I could have had.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Now that I think about it, you were always pouring priceless love and trust onto me. I don¡¯t know how many times that has saved me. You really are my hero. You are a true light hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    What are you saying all of a sudden?


    We are in the middle of a battle here.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I have resolved myself. I can entrust everything to you. The one and only way to ovee this predicament. You will be a hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama smiles.


    ¡°You will surpass a light hero...and be the hero of the Light Goddess.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wa? What are you trying to do?!¡± (Ates)


    Even Ates who was sure of her victory couldn¡¯t hide the trembling in her voice at the unpredictable development.


    In between the space where Yorishiro-sama was hugging me in, a pure light I had never seen before was pouring out. But that was only the afterlight. Most of it was entering from Yorishiro-sama to me.


    It was such a holy light divine power.


    ¡°Impossible. Yorishiro! Are you telling me you are pouring the soul of a God into her?! Into a lowly human?!¡± (Ates)


    Soul of a...God?


    ¡°Since the moment the Demon Lords appeared, I have been researching all this time; the way to oppose that overwhelming evil. This power that I thought of in order to defeat the Demon Lords, it is not good to use it before we fight the Demon Lords, but I trust Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is flowing into me!


    The trust Yorishiro-sama has in me...is turning into overwhelming power!


    ¡°If the prayers of humans be the strength of Gods, then the trust of Gods in humans obviously turns into strength for humans as well!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Power is welling up inside of me!


    ¡°Like hell I will let you!¡± (Ates)


    Ates releases a light wave, but the attack was blocked by the light surrounding us.


    ¡°Karen-san! Brandish that power as much as you want! The current you has the power of a God while being a human, you are a Light God Hero!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama had already parted from me, and by the time I noticed, I was already standing up.


    My body is light. Not only that, I am overflowing with power, even when my whole body should be in tatters because of Ates¡¯ attack.


    I don¡¯t know what happened to my body since I have been given no exnation, but there¡¯s something I understand.


    I don¡¯t feel I would lose to anyone.


    Even if those Demon Lords were in front of me right now, I feel like I would be able to win.


    I raise up my hand towards Ates. I am not holding the holy sword Saint-George. It was a bare hand.


    ¡°?!¡±


    From that palm, a light bullet was shot.


    ¡°What?!¡± (Ates)


    I am now able to do divine power attacks without the assistance of a divine tool.


    For some mysterious reason, I was not that surprised by this reality, and rather, felt as if it was natural.


    The light bullet flew a straight path towards Ates.


    Before it impacted, Ates once again held up her shadow spear and absorbed the light bullet.


    ¡°Fool! No matter what you do, as long as I have the shadow spear, all light attacks will¡ª! Eh? Guaah!¡± (Ates)


    Before Ates could finish her triumphant speech, an abnormality urred.


    The skin of her left shoulder swelled up like a balloon and bursted. Light divine power and blood flew around at the same time.


    ¡°Gyaaaa!! I-Impossible! I can¡¯t properly alter and absorb it?! It is different from normal light divine power!¡± (Ates)


    Yorishiro-sama speaks out to the flustered Ates.


    ¡°Ates...! I still...don¡¯t know at all what you are... But you are not the only one...who has secrets!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama had a somewhat exhausted expression.


    ¡°What are you saying!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Karen-san, at this moment only, is a human that possesses an ability of a God. It is a forbidden technique that Gods perused in the past. Karen-san has made that power her own at present with a human body.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°C-Could it be...!¡± (Ates)


    If it¡¯s now, I feel like I can do anything.


    I brandished the holy sword in front of me and pour power into that de.


    It felt as if the whole world was flowing inside my body.


    The whole world¡¯s trust, love, aspirations, jealousy, hatred; no matter the positives or the negatives, it changed into strength for me!


    ¡°Could it be that you have given her the ability of Gods to change the prayers of humans into power?! Are you an idiot?! If you do something like that...!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I will shoulder all the burden! Karen-san, you and I are currently one. Act as you see fit! Like a hero! Like a God!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    I gathered power into the holy sword once, and then, the divine power that was amplified by the ore returned to me. I move that divine power into both of my hands, condense it, and release it.


    The ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ that was iplete, had now been perfected, and is going even further beyond.


    Utilizing the image of Yorishiro-sama¡¯s previous attacks...a light sword was created with both of my hands shaped into knife-hands.


    ¡°[Light Cmity w]...? No, I need to add the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ somewhere!¡± (Karen)


    Maybe because the energy inside of me was going wild, I couldn¡¯t create a sword with a beautiful shape.


    It curved in a sinister manner, and rather than calling it a sword, it was more of a giant w.


    And there were two for my right and left hand.


    Both sides were aiming at Ates. Cutting their way as if in a pincer.


    ¡°[Light Cmity Pincer]!!¡± (Karen)


    They attack Ates as if they were giant light pincers of a crab.


    Ates was not so bold to not feel any sort of fear towards that.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± (Ates)


    She puts away the shadow spear Abel inside the shadows. In the exchange just now, she already understood that absorbing the light divine power won¡¯t serve for anything.


    As expected of the quick thinking of a previous hero, but...


    ¡°Don¡¯t get arrogant just because you have obtained one ability of a God!! Someone like you, I can beat you head on with my divine power!!¡± (Ates)


    A light hand expands.


    ¡°[Light Cmity Palm]!¡± (Ates)


    That hand that looked like a giant light spider shed head-on against my light pincers.


    Both stop their movements the moment they collide with each other, and soon after, the hand was cut by the giant pincers.


    ¡°Aaaaah!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I can tell. What is currently flowing inside of me; this power that is mixing with my divine power and growing stronger...they are the emotions of Yorishiro-sama and many other people. Whether it is good or evil, a hero receives many emotions from the people. Now that I am able to change all those emotions into power...!¡± (Karen)


    There¡¯s no way I would not be a match to someone like you!


    ¡°Damn it, damn it!!¡± (Ates)


    The small body of Ates had disappeared into the dazzling light of the approaching giant pincers and was not possible to see her anymore.


    And then, I myself was unable to bear the many emotions that were flowing into me, and my consciousness was cut off.


    I couldn¡¯t tell at all what happened after.

 Chapter 246-248 - After-explanation

    <h4>Chapter 246-248: After-exnation</h4>


    ¡°She escaped.¡±


    With the exnation that Yorishiro gave to me in her visit to my hospital room, I -Kuromiya Haine- learned about the many things that happened while I was lying unconscious due to my injuries.


    It was today that I regained consciousness.


    When I asked, I was told that it has already been four days since that incident happened, and that surprised me quite a lot. The other thing that surprised me were the details of the previous light hero Ates¡¯ capture and escape.


    I am currently being told this by Yorishiro, but...the more I hear, the more troublesome it became.


    There¡¯s a mountain of things I want to ask and hear about, but the first thing I want to ask about is...


    ¡°What is a God Hero?¡± (Haine)


    It was a concept that waspletely outside my knowledge.


    I am the incarnation of one of the six Gods of Creation, the Dark God Entropy, and Yorishiro is the incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion.


    We are the very ones that created this world, and we should know all about this world, and yet, I don¡¯t know about this ¡ªthis thing called God Hero.


    What is that?


    ¡°That is the trump card I thought of in order to go against the Demon Lords.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro said straightforwardly.


    As always, I can¡¯t read this person.


    ¡°The monsters that the four Base Elements created have evolved to self-awareness, and the end of it are the Demon Lords that have cut off from the control of the Gods. Even if Haine-san and I were to use all our power to subjugate them, it would most likely bring about heavy damage to the human civilization.¡± (Yorishiro)


    True.


    The scariest part of the Demon Lords is that they possess human levels of intelligence and move with a strategy in mind.


    The Water, Earth, and Wind Demon Lords have their yful sides to them, but the one that seems to be their leader, the Fire Demon Lord Michael, feltpletely different.


    He saw the situation with a cool-head, and will achieve his objective by utilizing any means possible ¡ªfor the sake of eradicating humanity.


    ¡°No matter how much of an ultimate power we hold, Haine-san is an individual. Even if we were to add me, it would only be two. The four Demon Lords can utilize their advantage in numbers, and if they were to move in a strategic manner, the battle between monsters and humans will be thrown into a muddy situation.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Even if we were to win that muddy battle, the human civilization will fall, and there¡¯s the chance that they will receive permanent damage they won¡¯t be able to recover from.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And most of all, the peril of humanity must be resolved by the humans themselves. Therefore, I decided on trusting the heroes. In other words, my cute friend Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro ces her hand on her chest.


    ¡°I believe in Karen-san and have entrusted a part of me to Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And that¡¯s...a portion of your God power?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The hero and the God be one.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And thus, God Hero huh.


    ¡°I have given Karen-san the God ability of ¡®growing stronger by receiving the prayers of humans¡¯.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Oi, that¡¯s...!!¡± (Haine)


    Isn¡¯t that the root of all evil?


    Aside from me who was sealed for 1,600 years since the creation of the world, and Intion who lived as the summit of the Gods in that time; the other Gods -the four Base Element Gods- drowned in the power of prayers and began to glorify themselves.


    But because the four Base Elements had indulged so much in the prayer of humans, they in time grew unable to live without them, and they began to lose their power as the era developed and the prayers grew less.


    For Gods, the prayers of humans are the very definition of a drug.


    ¡°You made Karen-san shoulder such a dangerous thing?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Due to the many battles that Karen-san has gone through, she has obtained a big reputation unheard of before. If she could change those emotions from the people, she can be a hero that could even surpass Demon Lords. Also...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro continues.


    ¡°Leaving aside me who is one of the two poles, the other four Base Elements have weakened quite a lot due to the drying up of those prayers. Even if we were to distribute that power, the heroes wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat the Demon Lords.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You...!¡± (Haine)


    Could it be that she was not only going to do this with Karen-san but all the other heroes as well?


    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t let the heroes shoulder the burden themselves. The heart of humans that have good and evil in them, if there were to be a storm of several millions of emotions added to it, that would only serve to torment those girls. But by passing it through us Gods as a filter, we can decrease the burden to its bare minimum.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The prayer energy that had led the four Base Element Gods into peril. By having only the God receive that demerit, the heroes will receive only the merits of it.


    ¡°But if you do something like that, you will also end up like the other Gods! You managed to not put your hands on the prayer energy to maintain your power, and yet...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am a human, but as expected, I am still a God. What God would I be if I didn¡¯t move for the sake of humans?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what Yorishiro said as she smiled with dazzling resolve.


    She is trying to have the humans ovee their own peril, and, as a God, she is providing them the method to achieve it, and will also join them in the fight as a fellow human.


    ¡°Because of this battle, I had to move the n faster than expected, but the result was decent. The power that Karen-san disyed as a God Hero was something that had plenty enough power to confront the Demon Lords.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But the very person, Ates, that went against that crazy strong power...¡± (Haine)


    And so, we go back to the beginning statement of our conversation.


    ¡°...She got away, didn¡¯t she?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes, she got away.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Ates was overwhelmed by this power that was on par to that of the Demon Lords, and yet...


    ¡°She escaped.¡± (Yorishiro)


    There¡¯s no point then.


    Even when using such a trump card, they couldn¡¯t manage to finish her.....No, for a human to corner Yorishiro so much is already an abnormal situation.


    ¡°That means, Ates was...a more dangerous opponent than we thought huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. Even against the technique that surpassed the ¡®Holy Light Bisection¡¯ of Karen-san, right after she was crushed by those pincers, she used the power of the shadow spear Abel to enter the shadows and, by crossing through the shadows of the rubble that were littering the ce due to my ¡®Holy Light Destruction¡¯, she escaped to the outside.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The search is still ongoing, but we don¡¯t know her whereabouts at all.


    ¡°Ates and I had been acquainted since the moment we were born as sisters. Since we were the daughters of the Founder, we were of stature, and it was rare for us to y together. Even so, we knew of each other more than what we would know of a stranger...or so I thought.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But that woman had something that was far deeper than what anyone would be able to imagine.¡± (Haine)


    In that case, Ates wanting to bring down Yorishiro to obtain the position of Founder and her trying to seduce me was not simply because she was hungry for political power, but because she had an objective that went further ahead from that.


    But we still don¡¯t know what this further objective she has though ¡ªalong with her own identity.


    ¡°Yorishiro, do you really not have a single inkling of the identity of Ates?¡± (Haine)


    Since I was sleeping when all that happened, I myself am more clueless about the situation.


    ¡°The one thing I can understand is that she is the same existence as us. She spoke as if she knew my real identity.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro¡¯s identity?


    Is she talking about her identity as the Light Goddess Intion?


    ¡°I think Ates-san is the same as us. That¡¯s why she knows about my identity and she also knows Haine-san¡¯s identity. Her being blood-rted to me might not have been much of a coincidence...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But there¡¯s only supposed to be six Gods that created this world!¡± (Haine)


    The four Base Elements, and the two poles; a total of six Gods.


    Mother Earth Mantle was erased, and the Water God Coacervate was recently beat up and his whereabouts are unknown, the Fire God Nova is leading thezy life of eating and sleeping as a cow, the Wind God Quasar has a cooperative rtionship with us as the Wind Founder Toreido Shiva, and then there¡¯s the Light Goddess Intion as Yorishiro, and I as the Dark God Entropy.


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any other Gods aside from us six! Yorishiro, are you saying that Ates is a seventh God we don¡¯t know of?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. But we are currently about to face the threat that are the Demon Lords, and this means that we now have a new opponent that might be as much of a threat as them.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Ates is on the same level as the Demon Lords huh.


    That I can¡¯t think of it as a joke makes my head hurt even more.


    ¡°The only thing that could be called a saving is that we managed to purge Ates-san from the Light Church quickly. That person used the Light Church¡¯s authority and materials to n many unsavory things. We managed to chase her away before all of those were finished. That can be said to be a blessing.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But it looks like you had to resort to quite a forceful method though.¡± (Haine)


    I look at Yorishiro with a gaze of criticism.


    The flow of the conversation changed again, and Yorishiro looked ufortable by this.


    ¡°From what I heard, I was the one who said that the main culprit of the terrorist incident was Ates.¡± (Haine)


    The trigger to corner Ates was the terrorist incident that urred in the Light Grand Library of Apollon City.


    They attacked the library, and the terrorists that captured many hostages were actually the contra-reconciliation side that had lost their ce to be.


    Dobbe and the many other perpetrators now had a grudge on the Founder Yorishiro that served as the kernel for the reformation.


    ¡®The one who was controlling this enmity was Ates¡¯.


    That¡¯s what Dobbe told me before he exploded and I told Yorishiro after I regained consciousness.


    That served as the trigger to actually move in order to apprehend Ates, but...


    I am repeating myself here but, I regained consciousness this morning.


    When Yorishiro and Karen-san were cooperating to fight Ates, I was out ofmission.


    How in the world would I be able to testify the crimes of Ates?


    ¡°Yorishiro, you...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I simply took the most effective method.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro said this while looking at the scenery outside the window.


    In the first ce, Dobbe didn¡¯t say the name of Ates once in his moment of death. At the end, he was rambling about his hate towards me and didn¡¯t say anything that would serve to resolve the incident. If he were such a key part in resolving this incident, he wouldn¡¯t have fallen so low in the first ce after all.


    And most importantly...


    ¡°If Ates was truly the main culprit, why would she make Dobbe and the others attack the library?¡± (Haine)


    The objective of Ates was to push down Yorishiro and take the spot of Founder for herself.


    What kind of meaning did the terrorist actions of Dobbe and the others serve for?


    By creating chaos in the Apollon City that Yorishiro is in charge of, it would create doubt towards Yorishiro¡¯s guidance and it would lower the evaluation of her as a Founder?


    Also, if Ates herself were to appear fast and resolve it quickly, her evaluation would increase, and the reputation might make a turnaround in the future.


    I can¡¯t say there¡¯s no logic behind it, but it is so roundabout that I don¡¯t feel like it is intelligent at all.


    If she were truly aiming for the position of Founder and she could use Dobbe and the other idiots as disposable pawns, it would have been a lot better to just try to directly assassinate Yorishiro, and if it were to seed, everything would go to her.


    And yet, why did a cunning woman like Ates do something so unlike her? Why did she y a card that only feels as if it were way too roundabout?


    If we think of it as the main culprit not being Ates...won¡¯t it make more sense?


    ¡°Who was the one that profited the most out of the crime? If we think about it in that way, the culprit naturallyes out.¡± (Haine)


    I feel I was told that saying somewhere before.


    ¡°The biggest thing that came out from that incident was the purge of Ates. The one who wished for that the most was you, Yorishiro.¡± (Haine)


    Yorishiro didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°And the terrorists were not only Dobbe and the people of the Light nation, but also from the Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind nations. They are probably the remnants of a rebel group. By gathering them all, you made them dig their own graves, and finished them off. With this, the rebels from the world will be wiped out, and the world will finally be able to unite as one against the Demon Lords.¡± (Haine)


    And so, their sin was pinned to the most problematic and dangerous factor that is Ates. If the incident is used as the pretext to apprehend her...


    ¡°It would be perfect.¡± (Haine)


    Of course, there¡¯s rebel forces that Yorishiro and I can¡¯t grasp and are moving in the shadows of society, however, the big failure of the terrorist act would make the shadows return to a more conservative posture and not act rashly.


    All the perpetrators died after all. The people, that are nning something simr, will certainly be quite scared.


    Adding to that, the weapons that the terrorists held were ethereal weapons that are prohibited. Circting through the underground routes, those things, that will definitely be a headache for the powers of the world, werepletely useless when the terrorists used it and served as nothing but trash.


    If that fact is circted as ¡®the sold ethereal weapons are useless trash¡¯ and the impression stays, it would serve as a big obstruction to the cirction of ethereal weapons.


    An effect that wasn¡¯t only two or three birds with one stone; that terrorist incident must have served as the best demonstration.


    And so, we go back to the previous point. Who was the one that profited the most by eliminating the problematic political enemy that is Ates?


    ¡°...As expected, I am a cowardly woman.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro didn¡¯t turn her head towards me and simply spoke.


    ¡°I was so scared of being hated by Karen-san and you that I ended up pushing all the ugly parts of me to my sister.¡± (Yorishiro)


    No matter what happens, I won¡¯t hate Yorishiro.


    That cowardly part of her might unexpectedly be the identity of Ates.


    The fight has ended, and yet, it didn¡¯t feel as if we have achieved something. Only the mysteries increased, and the unpleasant feeling of something stuck in between my throat remained.


    If there¡¯s nothing gained from the victory, it doesn¡¯t feel as if we have won.


    In the end, everything begins from here on.


    Now that we have obtained the trump card that is the God Heroes, the real battle against the Demon Lords and the mystery shrouded Ates will truly begin.


    But before that...


    *Bam!*, the door of the hospital room was opened.


    ¡°Haine-san!¡±


    A shining holy woman rushed into the room.


    ¡°Karen-san?!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san didn¡¯t show a single bit of restrain as she hugged me.


    ¡°I am so d! You really opened your eyes! I am so d!¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says while crying on my chest.


    She was this worried about me huh.


    ¡°What a helpless one you are, Karen-san. You must have received quite the weight after having be a God Hero yourself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Haha, my body still feels a bit jerky.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san makes a wry smile at the words of Yorishiro. But she pulled the sleeve of Yorishiro and hugged both me and her.


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    Yorishiro and I were both inside the arms of Karen-san.


    I felt like I could feel the emotions of Karen-san being transmitted through her tight embrace.


    ¡°I...don¡¯t want to destroy this rtionship.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to lose Haine-san and Yorishiro-sama! I want it to stay like this forever!¡± (Karen)


    ...


    I couldn¡¯t say anything to those pleading words of Karen-san.


    Humans are living beings that change. Living means change, and not being able to change for eternity is called ¡®death¡¯.


    ...But Karen-san had something that she wishes it wouldn¡¯t change.


    ¡°Haine-sama, Yorishiro-sama...¡±


    A small dark skinned girl nervously enters from the still opened hospital room; the shadow girl, Doraha.


    She apparently was guarding me all the time I was unconscious.


    ¡°I am sorry. I was told not to let anyone in but...I couldn¡¯t just say no to Karen-sama...¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°It is okay. We have finished our talk. Visits to Haine-san are now allowed.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Is that so?! In that case...¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha seemed to be cheerful about something. She turned around and left the room.


    ¡°Everyone, visits are now allowed. It is okay to enter the room!¡± (Doraha)


    The moment she said that...


    *Doooooooon!*


    A wave of people flowed into the room?!


    What¡¯s with this amount of people?!


    There¡¯s easily more than 50 people here!


    The hospital room had already be like a bargain sale!!


    ¡°Haine! Kuromiya Haine, are you doing good?!¡±


    ¡°That voice, General Grades?!¡± (Haine)


    Now that I look closely, from within the ck tumult of people, there¡¯s one spot that is not ck ¡ªin other words, a bald spot.


    ¡°You are the pride of the light knights! Also, ouch ouch ouch! Who is the one that is pushing the ce where I am hurt!¡± (Grades)


    Even when he became the General, he is still the same. He is still bald and hot-blooded.


    ¡°Assistant Haine! Assistant Haine!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°That voice, Captain Vesage!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°As a get-well present, I brought you a Celes-tan body pillow!! Go ahead and sleep at peace alongside it!!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°Take it back!!¡± (Haine)


    This person finally stopped hiding the fact that he is a Celestis fan!


    Someone has to put a brake to him sometime soon!


    The other people in here are the light knights that I had gotten along with; there¡¯s also the people of the Church, and it looks like the hostages involved in the terrorist incident came here to give a word of gratitude.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama, you have to return to the Grand Church. The dy in the paperwork is just...!¡± (Mina)


    ¡°Ara, Mina-san. You are right in time to get some Yorishiro love-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Stop it! Please don¡¯t hug me! The Atesponent inside of me had finallye out, and yet, at this rate, I will end up getting addicted to Yorishiro-sama! Stop it! At least don¡¯t fondle my breasts!! And my butt too!! Aaaaahh!!¡± (Mina)


    ...


    Now that I watch it in this way, the amount of acquaintances I have in the Light Church has increased by quite a lot.


    The first time I came here, everyone was a stranger to me.


    There¡¯s definitely a ce for me in this world. Right here, and in many other ces.


    Seeing this scene, I once again felt that this is a blessing and something that I should be grateful for.

 Chapter 249 - Evil Light

    <h4>Chapter 249: Evil Light</h4>


    In reality, I already knew it.


    The identity of my sister the former light hero, Ates.


    I -Yorishiro- already knew it.


    In the battle that day, Ates, who had been overwhelmed by the portion of God power from Karen-san, had no choice but to escape, and as she escaped, she told me this.


    She purposely told me to this to reveal her own identity.


    (Yorishiro...to think you were secretly developing such a trump card, as expected of my other half!) (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    That transmission that came from the soul was exactly like mine.


    This soul transmission is something that only the people who have the souls of Gods can do.


    (Ates? Is that you?) (Yorishiro)


    (That¡¯s right. Today, I will give the victory to that heroic Karen-san of yours. I will be leaving. Now that I havepleted my original objective that was the shadow spear Abel, getting greedy for more would simply serve to pull my leg after all.) (Ates)


    Ates, really, just what in the world are you?!


    (I wanted to steal your position as Founder and try standing in a position of ruling humans though.) (Ates)


    (What would you have done if you had aplished that!) (Yorishiro)


    At first, I thought of Ates-san as simply a person hungry for political power. That her only objective was to obtain political power. However, now that she has shown such special power, I can¡¯t stay in the same way of thinking anymore.


    She is clearly aiming for something after obtaining that political power.


    (It is a simple thing. Having political power, I can control the humans and rot them from the inside. I can set it up so that they would hate and betray each other. If Haine-san were to see such a sight, he would also get disappointed in the humans.) (Ates)


    (What purpose would that serve?!) (Yorishiro)


    (Yorishiro, you hated humans.) (Ates)


    At that moment, I felt as if my heart had been grabbed ahold.


    (Your beloved person loved humans more than you. With just that one point, they were already unforgivable, and yet, you joined the enemy side and fought against your loved one. That reason was also the humans.) (Ates)


    Is she talking about the battle of Gods that urred 1,600 years ago?


    Just who in the world are you?


    (Humans are the insects that separated us from our loved one. In reality, not even a single one of them should be left alive. But if you were to kill all the humans, that person would not forgive us this time for sure. What a dilemma. To think that a God would have to suffer such pain!!) (Ates)


    Even though she is not me, she was talking as if speaking about my deepest feelings.


    ...No, that¡¯s not true.


    I don¡¯t hate humans!


    (It might have been at first, but in order to be together in heart and mind with that person, I became the human Izanami and created the ancient civilization called the Dark Underworld Country, and in that ce, I learned about the greatness of humans!) (Yorishiro)


    (That in itself was simply a way to deceive yourself. It was a self-induction in order to restrain the evil that was hiding inside of you. But the hatred of a God is not something so soft that it can be held back. In time, the hatred obtained its own will, and decided on moving for its own sake.) (Ates)


    (What?!) (Yorishiro)


    (If the humans are gone...if the humans are eradicated, that person wouldn¡¯t need to look aside and will simply have eyes for me. It is fine for him and I to be the only ones in the world. Only darkness and light are needed.) (Ates)


    (Wait! What are you saying?! Just who in the world...!) (Yorishiro)


    (You should already know by now, Light Goddess Intion. I am the Light Goddess, Intion.) (Ates)


    My sister that holds the same blood as me called the name of my soul...while revealing the name of her own soul.


    (The soul of a God is special. It is bigger than any and far-reaching like no other. There¡¯s no limits. Thus, if it is necessary, it can also be split in two. You yourself were probably not aware, but while you deeply hated humans, that hatred might end up being the reason your most beloved one would hate you. Suffering from those opposing elements, you created a second you. In order to push all that hatred into that other self of yours...) (Ates)


    (I...am you?) (Yorishiro)


    (That¡¯s right, you are me!) (Ates)


    My sister Ates was the same as me, an incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion.


    The other Light Goddess that was divided along with my hatred towards humans.


    (It looks like you didn¡¯t notice your other self, but I was always observing you, you know. When you released the seal of the Dark God Entropy, I knew that you would be acting aggressively now, so I stole the march and incarnated as a human first.) (Ates)


    And that¡¯s the human Sunnysol Ates?!


    (The collection of all the things I did for a long time in order to eliminate the humans and the lowly four Base Element Gods will soon reachpletion. Everything will be destroyed. So that my beloved Entropy only sees me; so that he only loves me!!) (Ates)


    I felt like vomiting.


    The foul things that Ates was spouting out were certainly the ugly emotions that I had in the past.


    In the middle of the battle 1,600 years ago, those were the very feelings that were stirring inside me after all.


    That anger, that suffering; with the time I passed my life as the human Izanami in the Underworld Country together with the humans, it slowly went away. I thought those emotions had beenpletely gone.


    But that wasn¡¯t it.


    The evil that was inside me had been separated from me and was moving as apletely independent existence!


    (I will honestly admit that I lost to your ns. Please think of me revealing my identity as the reward for winning today. The one winning in the end has already been decided that it will be me anyways.) (Ates)


    (What do you mean by that?!) (Yorishiro)


    (The shadow spear Abel; with thepletion of this, all the pieces of the puzzle have been gathered. Now all that¡¯s left is to orderly piece them together. And then, it will bepleted. The white shining God of Destruction that I myself created...) (Ates)


    White shining...God of Destruction?


    (The Light Demon Lord, Lucifer.) (Ates)


    Atesughs ¡®Ahahahahahaha!!¡¯ as if gone insane, and the soul shakes along with thoseughs.


    (The whole world will be brought to an end by Lucifer! Humans, Gods, and monsters; everything! It is fine for the world to only have the Dark God Entropy and the Light Goddess Intion!!) (Ates)


    Ates once againughs.


    (Of course, thest remaining Intion will not be you. Even if we are the same existence, the one being loved by the Dark God¡ªby Haine-san, will be me. You will also be a pitiful existence that will be eradicated by Lucifer. I wanted you to know before you disappeared. That¡¯s why, today is the greeting for that.) (Ates)


    (Don¡¯t get conceited! There¡¯s no way Haine-san would love a person like you that wants to eradicate humans!!) (Yorishiro)


    (Won¡¯t know until I try. In order to be loved the most by Haine-san, there¡¯s the need to eradicate the humans anyways. You didn¡¯t have the courage to put that in motion. But I do!) (Ates)


    Scary.


    The identity of Ates-san had finally been made clear, and I truly felt fear from my heart.


    What she is trying to make reality is the thought that I had once considered.


    And that¡¯s obviously because she is me.


    The evil that had welled up inside of me in the past and disappeared; she is the very incarnation of it.


    (This sets the end of my deration of war. Well then Yorishiro, do your best in dealing with the Demon Lords.) (Ates)


    Ates had disappeared inside the shadows after escaping from the attack of Karen-san, and I couldn¡¯t chase after her.


    At the same time as this happened, Karen-san had lost strength and consciousness, and I supported her from the back.


    Just like she said, I don¡¯t have courage.


    I am thoroughly cowardly and underhanded.


    I am so cowardly that I couldn¡¯t even tell Haine-san about the true identity of Ates to Haine-san even when I had learned about it after all.


    It was embarrassing and scary to have Haine-san know that I had such an ugly part inside of me in the past.

 Chapter 250-252 - Is it a leaf or a legume?

    <h4>Chapter 250-252: Is it a leaf or a legume?</h4>


    TLN: Hey guys, happy chinese new year!


    Wanted to notify you guys that the previous chapters were a bit misleading about the God Hero. Looks like Yorishiro can¡¯t Godify the other heroes, only their respective elemental Gods can.


    Also, chapter 250 is safe to skip.


    Enjoy!


    At that day, a guest came to Apollon City; the Wind Founder, Toreido Shiva.


    He wanted a secret meeting with the Founders and was currently inside the Grand Church together with the Light Founder Yorishiro ¡ªand for some reason, I -Kuromiya Haine- was also together with them.


    In other words, this is...


    ¡°A God conference again huh.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva sits on the seat that was prepared and says this.


    The people here are humans, but our souls aren¡¯t.


    Wind God Quasar as Shiva; Yorishiro as Light Goddess Intion; and me as the Dark God Entropy.


    The three Gods of Creation that had incarnated into humans.


    Because of this, a meeting to decide the direction of the world will be taking ce now.


    ¡°Is Nova noting?¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva asks about the remaining incarnator Nova that isn¡¯t here.


    ¡°That guy is currently a cow, you know. He is not in a position that allows him to move freely.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Even if he could, do you think he would wish toe here? That muscle-brain Fire God that only thinks about himself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    With what Yorishiro and I pointed out, Shiva goes ¡®that¡¯s true¡¯ and easily epts it.


    That¡¯s why this conference that has the fate of the world involved in it will be starting with only us three.


    ¡°...But before that...¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva says with an irritated tone.


    ¡°What is this?¡± (Shiva)


    What does he mean by ¡®what is this¡¯?


    I follow the gaze of Shiva and look down the table.


    There¡¯s several things decorating the top of the table, but is he saying there¡¯s something weird within those things? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything specially weird there though.


    The most there is is tea and snacks to apany it.


    ¡°Why tea?¡± (Shiva)


    Huh?


    ¡°In this kind of talks, coffee is the temte, isn¡¯t it?! And yet, why tea?! I didn¡¯te here for a tea party, you know!¡± (Shiva)


    Uwa...What¡¯s with this anger?


    While Shiva-san was imploding from a taste of him that we didn¡¯t understand that well, Yorishiro-san answered in a low tone.


    ¡°...Tea is the drink of the noble ones.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Oi.


    ¡°It is truly the drink that is worthy of being poured in this day¡¯s meeting. Coffee, that¡¯s amon ce beverage whose only trait is being bitter, would only serve to obstruct the necessary thoughts in this talk.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s why childish women... It is exactly the bitterness of the coffee that brushes away that unnecessary noise in the brain. Tea is just rotten leaves. Having Coacervate being the rotten one is plenty enough!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Putting that decaying thing on the same level as tea is an insult!! What¡¯s with you! People that drink that pitch-ck liquid without milk and sugar only do that because they think they look cool!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°This damn woman went and said it! You drink tea only because you think that it is a luxury!! Or more like, what era are you even in?! In this era, it is already being mass-produced, and tea is now the one that¡¯s themon ce drink, you idiot!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Who are you calling idiot, you deaf protagonist! Tea is not only important because it is a luxury! Theplexity when making tea and the pouring, all those small things that make the taste change each time, that difficulty in use, by perfecting the correct way to make and pour that tea, that¡¯s when the true refiness of tea can be exerted, and that¡¯s what makes it noble! Don¡¯tpare it to coffee that¡¯s simply bitter!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What did you say?! How can you talk about noble when you don¡¯t even understand the thick depth in the sh between bitterness and sourness in coffee?! If we talk about theplexity of the making, there¡¯s roasting, blend, mixing, and pouring. Coffee has a lot more process! Tea simply needs to put those leaves inside a small teapot and pour warm water inside!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true! In order to perfectly bring out the taste inside the tea leaves, there¡¯s a technique passed down that would surprise anyone. Steaming, filtering, keeping the uniformity of the concentration; to do all these, you need the technique of an expert!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Even though it is just second-grade drink made of rotten leaves that people had no choice but to drink!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s just amon saying! Looks like you finally showed the shallowness of your knowledge!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡®Uwaaaaaa...¡¯ is the groan I let out inside of my head.


    These people are having a heated debate about something that¡¯s not rted at all with the main topic of the meeting.


    Why do these two hate each other so much?


    Right, I remember now.


    Gods don¡¯t get along with each other. The ones who incarnated as humans were normally peaceful, so I thought it would be okay, but that wasn¡¯t the case.


    The Gods don¡¯t get along well!


    ¡°Haine-san!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Haine!!¡± (Shiva)


    Uwaaa...


    These Gods are now pointing their spears at me!!


    ¡°What do you think, Haine-san?! You also think that tea tastes a lot better than coffee, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ha, you mistook the ally to rely on, Light Goddess. Myrade Haine is on the coffee side. He even has an espresso machine in his apartment. He won¡¯t be taking the side of a woman like you!¡± (Shiva)


    I drink both coffee and tea though...


    In the times when Karen-san and the others hold tea parties in the Light Grand Church, I would drink tea all the time without any resistance after all.


    Not only that, I can drink green tea and barley tea.


    No, before that, isn¡¯t it weird in itself to be limiting yourself to only one drink?


    ¡°Comrade Haine! Go ahead and tell that fairy-tale woman there! That coffee is the drink that us adult hard-boiled men drink!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true, right Haine-san?! Haine-san understands the fluffy and gentle sensation after drinking tea, right? You understand how nice it is when we enjoy a tea with Karen-san and the others after a day of work, right?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Why am I being faced with an ultimatum in such a ce?!


    No matter which I choose, it is settled that it would roughen the ce.


    If I were to take sides, it is obvious that I would be making the other side an enemy.


    What should I do?!


    ¡°Go ahead!¡±


    ¡°¡°Go ahead!!¡±¡±


    ¡°Alcohol! Alcoholic drinks are the ones that taste the best!¡± (Haine)


    I throw in an even more troublesome topic.


    I decided on covering myself in the smokes by throwing oil into it.


    The two idiots used this as a trigger to begin an argument about another pointless topic; this time, ¡®which one is better, wine or whisky?¡¯.


    After that pointless talk, the main topic finally began.


    ...Or more like, can¡¯t we even have a normal conversation without doing such pointless things in the beginning?


    ¡°...God Hero huh.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva, who had already regained his calmness as the Wind Founder and Wind God, begins to ponder.


    Looking at him in this way, I always think this. Why can¡¯t they get serious from the beginning?!


    ¡°You thought of quite the aggressive move, Yorishiro. No, in this setting, maybe it would be better to call you Light Goddess Intion.¡± (Shiva)


    A God Hero is the power-up method that the Light Founder and incarnator Yorishiro had nned.


    By giving a part of the God soul to Karen-san and the heroes who are at the front of battle, they can show divine power that surpasses that of humans.


    To the point that they can fight on even grounds against the Demon Lords.


    Truly a trump card for victory.


    ¡°...A few days ago, knowing that it was not a good move, I still activated the God Hero form with Karen-san and I. The Light God Hero. The result could be said to have been great. If it¡¯s that power, it isn¡¯t impossible for the humans to defeat the Demon Lords.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Ignoring the full confidence of Yorishiro, Shiva pointed this out.


    ¡°I heard that that opponent was the previous light hero.¡± (Shiva)


    Being pointed out this, the fluent words of Yorishiro stop.


    ¡°So you were forced to use the trump card that is supposed to be used to defeat the Demon Lords...against a human. To think that you would get cornered to such extent. If I remember correctly, your previous light hero was...Ates, right? Moreover, even when you used that power, you still weren¡¯t able to finish her and she ended up escaping.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Regarding the whereabouts of Ates, we are putting all our effort in the search. No matter the case, it is better to think of her as a threat on the level of Demon Lords. The fact that we don¡¯t know what she might pull makes her even more eerie than the Demon Lords.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro honestly admitted that Ates is a fearsome existence.


    We will have to rely on Shiva as an ally from now on.


    Yorishiro understands that uselessly ying tough will only make trust decrease.


    ¡°Today¡¯s topic is the God Heroes.¡± (Haine)


    Without any choice, I decide on bringing out a lifeboat.


    ¡°It is true that Ates¡¯ existence is unpleasant, but the direct threat to humanity is the Demon Lords. And the method to defeat the Demon Lords will be the God Heroes.¡± (Haine)


    Just a few days ago, Karen-san and Yorishiro joined hearts to create the Light God Hero, but...Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael; in order to defeat these four Demon Lords, just the Light God Hero Karen-san would not be enough at all.


    ¡°Everyone is necessary. The Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Light God Heroes.¡± (Haine)


    Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and Hyue; by having those girls be God Heroes, we will have the ability to fight against the Demon Lords.


    ¡°...I see. The reason why you called me here not only as the Wind Founder but as the Wind God Quasar as well was because of this huh.¡± (Shiva)


    As expected of Shiva, he understands fast.


    ¡°In other words, if I were to join hearts with Hyue and give her part of my God soul, Hyue can be a Wind God Hero. By doing this, it would be possible for her to defeat Raphael.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is.¡± (Haine)


    But that method won¡¯t work unless the Wind God Quasar himself consents though.


    ¡°I have a few questions.¡± (Shiva)


    He is the man that manages the Wind Church as the top. Obviously he wouldn¡¯t be nodding or shaking his head easily.


    ¡°We give a part of us to the heroes, but...you said it was the ability to change the prayer energy into power, right? Are you seriously saying that? Or more like, are you sane?¡± (Shiva)


    It couldn¡¯t be helped that Shiva would be showing disapproval to that.


    The prayer energy is, in a sense, the source of the chaos in this world.


    The prayers thate from the humans to the Gods are strong and dense emotional energy. By taking in this, they be stronger than before and would increase their ego.


    I was sealed at that time, so I wasn¡¯t involved in anything of that though.


    But by basking in the prayer energy for long, the Gods changed and in return became existences that can¡¯t keep existing without being supplied continuously by prayer energy.


    On the other hand, due to the advance in human civilization, the need for Gods decreased, and with it, the prayers grew less.


    The four Base Element Gods that received the biggest hit because of the decrease in prayers had weakened to a point that you wouldn¡¯t be able to see a shadow of their peak era.


    Shiva in front of us is also one of those four Base Element Gods.


    ¡°The power of prayers is overwhelming. It is true that if they could absorb that power, the heroes would be able to increase their strength to a hundred times what it is. It apparently not only makes it possible to absorb the prayers directed at the God, but also the prayers that are directed at the hero herself?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°The poprity and the trust they have for them would be a more appropriate way to put it. It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to say that the poprity of Karen-san and the others is the highest than any hero has achieved before. That¡¯s why bing a God Hero would be effective.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    Shiva didn¡¯t say anything.


    There¡¯s no other who would understand as much the fearsomeness of the prayer power.


    Prayers are a drug for the Gods. First it will provide heaven, and then, it will drag you to hell.


    I only know its fearsomeness from theory, but Shiva is experiencing it himself.


    ¡°The corrosion that the prayer power brings about is made in a way so that the Gods are the ones that will be taking the brunt. We won¡¯t be making Karen-san and Hyue-san suffer a burden that can¡¯t be taken back.¡± (Yorishiro)


    If we put it in another way, it would mean that all the bad things would be shouldered by the God, so you can¡¯t simply say ¡®yes¡¯ with a half-baked resolve.


    I may be repeating myself here but, Shiva understands the harshness of it with his own body.


    ¡°...I will ask one more question. Aren¡¯t we Gods going to resolve the matter of the Demon Lords ourselves?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I will talk about that.¡± (Haine)


    It is true that I as the Dark God would be able to defeat the Demon Lords by myself.


    Even if they were toe at me all four at the same time, I have the confidence that I would win 10 times out of 10.


    ¡°But this danger is one that has fallen onto the humans themselves. I think that the humans have to resolve their own problems.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If they didn¡¯t do that and were simply saved by the Gods, the humans would lose their own ability to save themselves. Wouldn¡¯t that be the worst tragedy to humans?¡± (Haine)


    It is exactly because humans ovee their own difficulties that they have advanced this much.


    From now on, humans will be putting their very existence at stake to fight against monsters. And the position of the highest will only be allowed to be theirs once they have won it themselves.


    I wouldn¡¯t like it if humans were to be beings that feel that being saved is a given and are unable to stand up on their own feet.


    ¡°Of course, I am right now the human, Kuromiya Haine. When the timees, I will also be fighting as another human being. But¡ª!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No need to say more. You want to bet everything on the possibility of humans, right?¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva raised his hand and stopped me.


    And then, he said what I wanted to say.


    ¡°On top of that, the Demon Lords are sly. As long as they think that they can¡¯t win, they won¡¯t be facing Haine-san head on. They would instead run around and destroy the settlements that had be short handed and make it a guerri warfare.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The opinion of Yorishiro is sound.


    If that happens, it would be muddy. Even if the Demon Lords were to be defeated after, more than half of the human poption will be gone and the civilization will regress heavily.


    ¡°As expected, there¡¯s the need for more fighting force. At the very least, a number that equals that of the Demon Lords; a fighting force that rivals that of Demon Lords.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°For that sake, God Heroes are...¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva says this as if he had decided.


    Or maybe he had already decided from the very beginning.


    ¡°Understood. I will also aim to have Hyue be a God Hero.¡± (Shiva)


    Consent.


    ¡°This body is already on the point of crumbling and it is unable to fight anymore. If I can still be of use to humans, the most I would be able to do would be to share the burden with Hyue.¡± (Shiva)


    After 1,600 years, the Wind God hadpletelye to the side of loving humans and his heart grew strong as well.


    ¡°In order to obtain power that surpasses the Dark God, the Wind nation grew along with me. Like hell I would let monsters destroy us now. We will be walking further ahead together from now and in the future.¡± (Shiva)


    With this, one more God Hero will be born.


    But the problemes from now on.


    Because there¡¯s no possibility for any other God Hero to be born.


    252: No clue


    ¡°...So, what should we do from now on?¡± (Shiva)


    That¡¯s right.


    Yorishiro had made Karen-san a light God Hero and Shiva will be making Hyue a Wind God Hero.


    With the momentum created, you would normally go ¡®now, what¡¯s next!¡¯, but...that¡¯s all there is.


    There¡¯s nothing more.


    We can¡¯t find a way to make the other heroes into God Heroes!


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Yorishiro and Shiva must have noticed that point as well.


    We three were silent.


    ¡°...Well, first, let¡¯s arrange the information.¡± (Haine)


    The light Karen-san and the wind Hyue; after clearing these two, there¡¯s three remaining heroes.


    The fire Mirack, water Celestis, and the earth Sasae-chan; in order to make these three into God Heroes, there¡¯s the need for the help of their respective Gods, but...


    ¡°All those other Gods are of no use...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right...¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°True...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro, Shiva, and I were sharing the grief.


    The three Gods necessary to make the other heroes into God Heroes: the Fire God Nova, the Water God Coacervate, Mother Earth Mantle.


    All of them can¡¯t be relied on and we have hit a wall!!


    And so, the reason why they can¡¯t be relied on...


    First, there¡¯s the Fire God Nova. He has incarnated just like us and is living in the surface world. But he didn¡¯t incarnate in a human, but into a monster. The fire element monster, Phris.


    He was defeated by me and is now living azy life in Muspelheim.


    Even now we meet every now and then, but he waspletely a simple pet.


    About that Fire God Nova...


    ¡°This God Hero n...do you think he will ept joining in as well?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course it is impossible. That muscle-brained idiotic God.¡± (Shiva)


    Even when Shiva is a Base Element God like him, he was merciless in his way of speaking about Nova.


    It is true that Nova is currently only a cow and lookspletely harmless, but in the past, he was in the side that hated the humans the most.


    The reason he incarnated as the fire cow Phris was to use the high firepower of a monster to burn the humans after all.


    ¡°Do you think a guy like that would go as far as facing a painful experience to assist in the making of a God Hero? He would simply ruminate over it and then reject it.¡± (Shiva)


    I also thought the same, so I didn¡¯t say anything.


    It is clear that it would be quite difficult to convince Nova and have him make the hero Mirack of the same element into a God Hero. But what¡¯s even more despairing is that Nova is actually easier to deal with than the remaining two.


    From the remaining Gods, the only one that¡¯s actually possible to convince is Nova.


    ¡°...That Coacervate guy, what in the world is he doing?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. I haven¡¯t seen him at alltely.¡± (Shiva)


    The Water God Coacervate is the most ingenious (self-proimed) God out of the six Gods of Creation .


    Because of some trouble, I destroyed his surface world body. Even so, because he is a God, his soul didn¡¯t suffer anything, but since then, I haven¡¯t seen him once.


    ¡°I have met him-desu wa yo.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡°Eh?¡±¡±


    Shiva and I were both surprised at the statement of Yorishiro.


    She met him? That guy?


    ¡°It was right after Haine-san erased Mantle. Realizing that a God had been erased, he nned on creating another siege against Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°And so, he approached you first since you are the natural weakness of Haine huh. As underhanded as always.¡± (Shiva)


    I also agreed with the opinion of Shiva.


    ¡°And then, what happened after?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I immediately refused, and after insulting him for a good while, I destroyed the monster body that he was residing in. But if I knew things would turn out like this, I would have captured him and stuffed him inside an insect box or something.¡± (Yorishiro)


    As always, the grudge Yorishiro has towards the four Base Elements runs deep.


    But even if Coacervate were to appear here, he would be even more difficult to convince than Nova. After all, in terms of being harmful towards humans, he would surpass Nova. He is trash that treats humans as toys and ys around with them.


    And so, the conversation about Coacervate had ended.


    ¡°And then, about Mantle...¡± (Haine)


    Mother Earth Mantle.


    This one there¡¯s nothing we can do.


    It has already been mentioned in the conversation just now, but she has been erased and is not in this world anymore.


    There¡¯s no way we would be able to convince or have her cooperate if she is not even here to begin with.


    ¡°So we are at a stalemate huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The more we talk, the more grim the mood turns.


    We are about to fight the Demon Lords face on, and yet, we can only secure two God Heroes which is disheartening.


    Now that it hase to this...


    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped.¡± (Haine)


    I stand up.


    ¡°No point brooding here. No choice but to act. If there¡¯s at least 1% possibility, let¡¯s try acting to achieve it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What do you mean by that? Are you saying you will be going to search and defeat the Demon Lords yourself?¡± (Shiva)


    No, that will be thest choice.


    Before doing that, I would like to do everything we can.


    ¡°Then, are you going to go convince Nova? He is the one with the most chances within the remaining Gods, but...¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s not it either.


    It is true that within the Gods, the one who we clearly know where he is and there¡¯s a possibility of convincing is Nova. That¡¯s why I will leave him forter. It is exactly because we can go convince him anytime we want that there¡¯s no need to hurry and do it.


    ¡°Then...what are you going to do?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro looked like she didn¡¯t understand at all, so I said the answer.


    ¡°I will be reviving Mother Earth Mantle.¡± (Haine)

 Chapter 253-255 - To the depths of Darkness

    <h4>Chapter 253-255: To the depths of Darkness</h4>


    Mother Earth Mantle.


    She is one of the six Gods of Creation and the Goddess that rules over earth.


    In my opinion, she is arade that worked together with us in order to create the world, but after that, we separated and fought against each other.


    We reunited after 1,600 years, but another problem happened with her, and in the end, I had no choice but to erase her with my strongest destruction technique; the ultimate darkness, a ck hole.


    And just like that, the God that rules over the earth had been erased from this world.


    ***


    ¡°The ck hole is my final measure as a Dark God.¡± (Haine)


    This ce is not Apollon City. It is a foreign dested ce faraway.


    While advancing through a destend where there¡¯s no one, I say this.


    ¡°And with that, I erased Mantle. If I want to erase a God, this is the only method there is.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The sole power that can kill Gods huh. To think that you held such a power, as expected of the Dark God that stands at the summit of the six Gods of Creation.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva, who in the past was in awe of my strength and wanted to surpass it, said this.


    We were riding flying machines and driving on the sand parallel to each other.


    ¡°Mantle wasn¡¯t evil, but she was even more dangerous than that. More dangerous than even Nova and Coacervate who had clear animosity towards humans. I understand the feeling of Haine-san wanting to erase her.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro was riding at the back of the flying machine I am driving, holding my back tightly.


    Yorishiro, Shiva, and I; with these group, we were pressing forward on an untroddennd.


    Two of the Founders that govern the Grand Churches of the world were out of their posts which is a big problem, but even if we have to be slightly pushy in this, we have to make this mission seed.


    It is in order to bring back to this world one of the six Gods of Creation that is missing; Mother Earth Mantle.


    We hade to a ce that¡¯s far from Apollon City and Rudras Metropolis ¡ªthe Nameless Desert.


    ¡°How long has it been since thest time we came here?¡± (Haine)


    Sand as far as you can see. Due to the intense heat and dryness, this is and of death that doesn¡¯t allow anyone who steps into it to return alive.


    A desertified area that takes up a good percent of the continent. That is the Nameless Desert.


    Normally, no one would step into it. You would treasure your life that you wouldn¡¯t do something like that. In the first ce, there¡¯s no kind of task that would require you to enter this sand-filled ce.


    And so, in this desert where no one would actuallye to, I did actually have a task I had to perform.


    The first time, it was to journey into the Underworld Country; and the second one...


    ¡°Seriously, why did wee to such a ce?¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva mutters this as he wipes the sweat off his forehead.


    Because of the heat, he was irritated.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind the reviving of Mantle. She easily gets swayed, so as long as she gets revived, there¡¯s plenty chance to have her cooperate. But why did wee to the Nameless Desert? Is there some sort of rtion with her here?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°What made this ce into a desert was the divine power of Mantle.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro¡¯s statement made the eyes of Shiva go wide with an ¡®eh?¡¯.


    ¡°You must remember what happened here as well, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°The Dark Underworld Country!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You four Base Elements destroyed that nation and a lone hero had crossed over a line that shouldn¡¯t have been crossed. Going berserk with the power of shadows that is passed down in the Dark nation, she was about to engulf the whole world in shadows.¡± (Yorishiro)


    In order to avoid that, Intion sealed the shadow fiend with the whole Dark Underworld Country.


    Now that I think about it, the one who helped in that was Mantle.


    ¡°By having Mantle make all this ce into a desert, I had her help out in sinking the Underworld Country deep down. Since then, she has been pouring divine power into this desert for more than a millenia, and this ce that was originally fertile, has been able to maintain its desertified state.¡± (Yorishiro)


    She was doing something like that?!


    ¡°T-Then, the reason why Mantle used things like Golems to obtain more prayers than others was because she was being dried up by this?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In order to maintain this Nameless Desert, she had to utilize quite a good amount of divine power after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡°So heartless!¡±¡±


    Weren¡¯t you the one who ordered her to do that, Yorishiro?!


    With the order of the Light Goddess that is at a higher hierarchy from Mantle, she was made to utilize arge amount of divine power!


    ¡°But it was necessary to go to such lengths to seal the Underworld Country.¡± (Haine)


    She not only literally sunk the city, but she also made the whole ce into a desert so that no one would get close to it.


    ¡°But now that Mantle has been erased, it looks like this desert is slowly regaining its life.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro has stepped down from the flying machine, and with her feet on the sand, she could feel the life in it.


    ¡°In a century more, the Nameless Desert will regain its lifeforcepletely and will revive into and filled with green. Just like the time when the Underworld Country was thriving.¡± (Yorishiro)


    If that¡¯s the case, it would be slightly problematic.


    A lot of people woulde here and it will end up with them seeing ¡®it¡¯.


    ¡°I understand that, but in the end, what does this have to do with reviving Mantle? With the exnation just now, I couldn¡¯t pick up anything about that.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva was even more irritated as he wiped off his sweat.


    Right, let¡¯s enter the main topic.


    ¡°The reason we came to the Nameless Desert was because of this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro raised her hand at a ce that at a nce had nothing and muttered something.


    When she did that, cracks appeared in the space and broke just like that.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°It isn¡¯t something to be surprised about, don¡¯t you think. With my light divine power, I created a barrier that twisted the direction of the light. Thanks to this, humans and animals can¡¯t detect this even when it is right before their eyes.¡± (Yorishiro)


    With that barrier released, what was inside the barrier was now clear for us to see.


    A dark sphere floating in this deste desert.


    ¡°Could it be...! This is...!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Don¡¯t carelessly get close to it, okay? If you get caught in its area of gravity pull, you would be swallowed along with your God soul and be unable to return.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s right. What was in this Nameless Desert was a ck hole.


    What I had created at the Earth capital, Ishtar ze. It is the exact same as the one that absorbed and erased Mother Earth Mantle and its subordinate Grandma Wood.


    ¡°After things had calmed down in Ishtar ze, I moved it all the way here.¡± (Haine)


    The ck hole that looked as if it had disappeared on its own had actually not disappeared. In reality, I made it look as if it had and moved it all the way here.


    It took me my all to do that.


    ¡°If it is in this desert, no one woulde here on a whim after all. Just in case, I asked Yorishiro to make an optical camouge. Made in order to not have anyone get identally swallowed by it.¡± (Haine)


    There was no more convenient ce than this Nameless Desert where no one woulde to.


    ¡°W-Why did you do that?!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva asked me with a pale face.


    That question was natural, and I answered.


    ¡°Because I can¡¯t erase it.¡± (Haine)


    A ck hole I have created once.


    ¡°I can¡¯t erase it on my own will. That¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to use it as much as possible. Because once it is created, it will be existing almost eternally.¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s a ck hole floating in front of us.


    The sand below it had already all been swallowed within the gravity range of it and formed a big gorge like that of a crater.


    ¡°It took me quite a lot of effort, you know. I had to bring it all the way from Ishtar ze to here.¡± (Haine)


    Even now, this thing would grab anyone that enters its territory and would swallow it whole.


    Whether it is an object or a living being; whether it has form or not.


    A ck hole doesn¡¯t have likes or dislikes; it is the worst kind of glutton.


    ¡°This thing has continued to exist since the time Mantle was swallowed by it in Ishtar ze.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro who was looking at the dark sphere like us said this.


    ¡°An attack that once it is done you can¡¯t erase it... The divine power attacks of us four Base Elements and the Light Goddess would disappear on their own once they fulfill their purpose!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°The Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Light can simply melt into the equal elements that are in nature after all. Even dark matter follows that rule. Darkness melts into darkness.¡± (Haine)


    But the ck hole is different.


    That is something that ispletely separate from darkness. It swallows everything -even darkness.


    ¡°The original purpose of the ck Hole is to erase the world. When the creator Entropy judges that ¡®this world was a failure¡¯, this is the reset switch that brings it all back to zero.¡± (Haine)


    It is...


    ¡°By no means is it a method to destroy something specific.¡± (Haine)


    The ck Hole is way too strong of a measure to use as an attack.


    It would be like using a bomb to kill an insect running around your house. Doing that would create damage to the house itself.


    ¡°This ck Hole is a serious problem to the world. It will continue to exist, swallowing everything in this world after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I-Is there really no way to erase it? Right, if it¡¯s the light element that can negate the darkness element...!¡± (Shiva)


    It can¡¯t be helped that Shiva¡¯s face would turn pale blue.


    ¡°It is impossible.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The Light Goddess herself frankly states.


    ¡°In order to destroy the ck Hole with light element, there¡¯s the need to hit thepressed dark matter that serves as the core with light divine power. But before that happens, the ck Hole will catch the light with its gravity and will imprison the light in its Schwarzschild radius.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Thus, the light will fall into eternal movement.


    ¡°But well, this one was simply made to defeat Mantle without destroying the world, so it was created to its minimal capacity. Putting it in words, it would be like the weakest out of the weakest ck Holes. If it is on this level, I thought that maybe light divine power would manage to reach its dark matter core, but...¡± (Haine)


    It didn¡¯t work.


    And in reality, I had brought Yorishiro here once and asked her to do it, but even with the highest output of Yorishiro, she couldn¡¯t manage to break through the high gravity of the ck Hole and ended up being swallowed.


    Because of that, I had no choice but to ask Yorishiro to create a camouging barrier.


    In the end, even when it was the weakest ck Hole, there was no method to eliminate it.


    ¡°Then...this ck Hole will exist here for eternity?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°urately speaking, it won¡¯t be eternal though.¡± (Haine)


    In order to give Shiva peace of mind, I decided on telling him the truth.


    ¡°The ck Hole will slowly disappear on its own after all. Humans and Gods can¡¯t do anything about it, but there¡¯s the possibility of time resolving it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°ck Holes will disappear on their own after some time, you say... and, how long is that?¡± (Shiva)


    Hm, if I calcte it with this size, it would be...


    ¡°At the very least, around 100,000 years, maybe.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A hund¡ª!¡± (Shiva)


    For some reason, the face of Shiva got even paler.


    ¡°Haine-san, the only one who would think that that amount of time is nothing is you-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I feel like I now understand why he wasn¡¯t so angry for being sealed 1,600 years!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva wiped off the sweat that trickled down his chin, but it looks like that sweat wasn¡¯t simply from the heat of the desert.


    ¡°Well, I think that you now understand that a ck Hole is extremely troublesome, but the problemes from here on.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Indeed. Our objective foring here is obviously not to do something about this ck Hole.¡± (Haine)


    Mother Earth Mantle.


    To bring back the Earth Goddess that was swallowed by this ck Hole.


    ¡°Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t know what happened to Mantle who disappeared inside this thing.¡± (Haine)


    Even as the very person that created it, I still don¡¯t know what happens to the things that this ck Hole absorbs.


    There¡¯s three possibilities.


    The first one; Mantle who was caught by the gravity pull of the ck Hole has been crushed all the way along with her soul and was erasedpletely.


    Second one; the heavy gravity inside the ck Hole created a ripple in space-time and Mantle was thrown to a world that ispletely different from our own.


    Third one; because the gravity had been reduced to a minimum, she wasn¡¯t erased nor thrown to a different world, but instead, was caught in the Schwarzschild radius like light and is in eternal movement.


    ¡°If it is the first and second one, we won¡¯t be able to do anything, but if it is the third one, there might still be hope.¡± (Haine)


    I say this while ring straight at the ck sphere I had created.


    ¡°By scooping out Mantle who might be caught in the circle of the ck Hole, we will bring her back to this world. By doing that, she can strengthen Sasae-chan and it should be possible to have an Earth God Hero.¡± (Haine)


    The possibilities to go against the Demon Lords will increase.


    In order to win the battle, this is a challenge that can¡¯t be avoided.


    ¡°Yeah! And, what should we do to release Mantle?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    I honestly answer the question of Shiva.


    ¡°Even if Mantle is actually safe in the circle of the ck Hole, I can¡¯t think of a way to bring her back to this world.¡± (Haine)


    In the past, I said that I don¡¯t have a way to seal a God.


    Without a way to release the seal, would you even be able to call it sealing?


    And so, we all lost strength and were lying around.


    The desert¡¯s sun was hitting us as if it were hell, but Yorishiro took away the heat in the light and Shiva was dealing with the air conditioning, so even when we were in the middle of the desert, it was decently pleasant.


    ¡°...What do we do?¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva was finally unable to endure and lets out aint.


    ¡°I heard that we would be bringing Mantle back, so I came all the way to this desert, and yet, don¡¯t go saying you don¡¯t have a way after we arrived! It was apletely useless trek then!!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You are noisy! That¡¯s why I said that we will be betting on a 1% chance! I didn¡¯t have the confidence that I would be able to exin it properly unless we were in the ce! ...Ah, don¡¯t go further from there. You might get swallowed.¡± (Haine)


    In reality, we are pretty close to the zone to the point that it might be dangerous.


    ¡°I brought you here thinking that with three Gods a good idea might pop out. You know, three heads are better than one.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Like hell I would know. What kind of sage were you expecting by gathering three Gods?¡± (Shiva)


    True.


    But in order to go against the Demon Lords, I would like the strength of Mother Earth Mantle.


    Even if we fail, there¡¯s no lost in challenging the impossible.


    ¡°I have thought this but...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro didn¡¯t get disheartened and gives out a proposition.


    ¡°How about I try shooting light divine power at my max output once again? If it reaches the dark matter that serves as its core, the ck Hole would be destroyed and it might release Mantle.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But we tried that once and it didn¡¯t work... Right, how about making another ck Hole and make it collide with that other ck Hole?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No no no no no no no!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro surprisingly gets agitated and stops me.


    It is rare for her to get this agitated.


    ¡°Who knows what would happen when two ck Holes try to erase each other! It might even end up with the world being destroyed before even the Demon Lords do anything!¡± (Yorishiro)


    It would be the easiest way to destroy the world huh...


    Yeah, let¡¯s not do it.


    ¡°But in that case, we have no routes to go. Is it really impossible to bring back Mantle from the ck Hole?¡± (Haine)


    No matter how much we wring our brains out, we can¡¯t find a way to breakthrough.


    As expected of my ultimate technique...no, calling it an ultimate technique would be too lukewarm.


    ¡°...If the rescue of Mantle ends up being impossible, what would happen?¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva questions and I had no choice but to answer with exactly what I had in my head.


    ¡°No choice but to give up. And then, we will head to Muspelheim to convince Nova.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°From the remaining Gods, the only one that has a chance to agree is Nova. It is safe to think that Coacervate is out of the question. In this current state where we don¡¯t know when the Demon Lords will be making their move, we should think of time as more important than we normally feel it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Meaning that we can¡¯t waste a single second.


    We have to make a decision right this instant.


    Will we stop here and make an attempt to revive Mantle, or should we immediately give up and head to where Nova is.


    There¡¯s no time to think.


    The time from now on has to be used for action.


    Now then, Mantle or Nova?


    ¡°Light will definitely win against darkness. That is the settledw.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Shiva?¡± (Haine)


    Shiva suddenly did one step towards the ck Hole.


    Of course, he doesn¡¯t advance any further. If he mistakenly gets too close, he will get pulled by the ck sphere¡¯s gravity.


    ¡°The reason why the ck Hole surpasses thatw and wins against light is because there¡¯s a gravity barrier before the dark matter and it twists the light divine power...right?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Haine)


    But what do you n on doing by confirming that, Shiva?


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be a stretch to call the incarnation of the Light Goddess, Yorishiro, as the strongest light user of the world. If even Yorishiro doing her all cannot break through the gravity barrier of the ck Hole...!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva spreads both of his hands and begins to control his wind divine power.


    ¡°Shiva, what are you doing?!¡± (Haine)


    I was flustered.


    That¡¯s because Shiva had his body turned into tatters after the fight with the Demon Lord Raphael and he can¡¯t fight anymore.


    If he forces himself to use divine power, his body might get destroyed from the bacsh!


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me. It is true that I can¡¯t release my full power anymore, but if I save my strength, I can still utilize a decent amount of divine power. Just like this...¡± (Shiva)


    A thin ss board was created on top of Shiva¡¯s hand. What is that?


    ¡°By using the distortion of wind, I created a lens. A lens used to intensify light, that is. If it is divine power control of this level, even my battered body can endure.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°An air lens! I see. By concentrating all my divine power output onto the lens, it can increase the power even more, right?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    If the strength increases, it could be possible to break through the gravity barrier and reach the core!


    ¡°Then I will do it as well!¡± (Haine)


    I release dark matter and shape the pitch-ck lump into a ring shape.


    By doing that, the view from inside the ring began to distort.


    ¡°This is a gravity lens created from dark matter. The intensified light of Yorishiro that has passed through the air lens of Shiva will be amplified even more with this gravity lens. If we increase the concentration and the power goes up...¡± (Haine)


    It might be possible to destroy the ck Hole.


    By doing that, we might be able to release Mantle that¡¯s possibly caught in the ring of the ck Hole!


    ¡°Fufufu...this is kind of amusing-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What is?¡± (Haine)


    I was confused by Yorishiro who had suddenly begunughing.


    ¡°Because you know, joining strengths like this feels...like we are doing what Karen-san and the others do.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...Ah.¡± (Haine)


    Isn¡¯t that fine.


    Gods learning from humans.


    Let¡¯s learn from Karen-san and the others and cooperate between Gods to destroy the ck Hole.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s try it! Haine, stand in front of me. Let¡¯s line up the gravity lens and the air lens!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Roger that.¡± (Haine)


    We line up right in between Yorishiro and the target. We were basically the barrel that guides the shell to its destination and elerates it.


    And Yorishiro who has the role of shooting the shell was standing at our back.


    ¡°Mantle...we are going this far to save you. It will trouble us if you don¡¯t properly return and be of use-desu wa yo!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro directs her pair up knife-hands at the ck sphere -through the two lens that amplify the light.


    ¡°In order to pierce something, this technique is the most appropriate. I will be borrowing your technique, Karen-san. [Holy Light Line]!¡± (Yorishiro)


    The sharp beam that was released from Yorishiro¡¯s knife-hands entered the air lens and was made thinner, and then, it passed through my gravity lens and gets even thinner and sharper.


    And like this, our n to save Mantle had begun.


    How to say it, it felt as if we were forcefully opening a vault that we had lost the keys to.


    But obviously, the mission proved difficult and we ended up being nailed in the Nameless Desert for several days.


    In that time, events advanced at a surprising speed.

 Chapter 256-257 - The plot of the end

    <h4>Chapter 256-257: The plot of the end</h4>


    TLN: Hey guys, Reigokai here!


    Some people may have noticed already that there are sponsored chapters in the queue (Thanks!) and that no sponsored chapters came out in Sunday.


    It is actually because I had to celebrate Lunar Year with my family the whole past week. But fret not! I will be tackling those chapters this week!


    Now then, from here on, I will take on the part of narrating ¡ªthe fragment of the evil Light Goddess, Sunnysol Ates.


    It has been several days since the battle in the Light Grand Church against my other half, Yorishiro, and the unexpectedly tough Kourin Karen-san.


    Having escaped from Apollon City, I was hiding myself at a ce far away from human civilization.


    At a ¡®certain ce¡¯ that is separate from the world of humans.


    Now that I have revealed my identity to my other half, Yorishiro, I don¡¯t n on living my life with this human body anymore.


    I will not be acting as Sunnysol Ates or the evil half of the Light Goddess Intion, but on my duty as a God.


    But in order to not make thingsplicated, let¡¯s leave my name as being Ates for now.


    About the ¡®certain ce¡¯ that I am using as my home, it is at a ce that is far away from the five nations and among the mountains, and it is impossible to approach by human means.


    Among those mountains, I made a giant castle with my powers as a God and was making base there for the destruction of humanity...no, if I had to put it more urately, it is not a castle but a cocoon. A cocoon that stores my precious Light Demon Lord, Lucifer.


    This whole castle was made specially as an organic outer shell to form the Light Demon Lord.


    ¡°It still needs more time it seems.¡± (Ates)


    I was checking the state of this cute child that was sleeping inside the castle.


    Now that I have obtained the final piece that was the shadow spear Abel, my Lucifer is on its way topletion.


    But there¡¯s no need to hurry. All the pieces of the puzzle are within my hands after all.


    ¡°What¡¯s left is to piece them together one by one.¡± (Ates)


    I bid farewell to the sleeping child for now and go down the stairs -in order to tame the problematic wild dogs that are there.


    ***


    When I arrive at the room, a problem soon happened.


    The group that was supposed to be four only has three now.


    ¡°...Where is the Water Demon Lord Gabriel?¡± (Ates)


    I look at the remaining three and point out the only missing one.


    They are quite peculiarpared to humans, so there¡¯s no way I would mistake their names and faces.


    ¡°Who knows. He said ¡®I thought of something amusing¡¯ and left. Don¡¯t know where he went though.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°He must have been thinking about a n to destroy the humans. He is the scheming type after all. He probably has prepared a hell that will make us go ¡®wow¡¯.¡± (Raphael)


    The Earth Demon Lord Uriel and the Wind Demon Lord Raphael speak casually.


    These idiots! I couldn¡¯t help but shout this inside my head.


    In order to eradicate the humans that stole the eyes of my beloved Entropy, there¡¯s necessary steps to take. They don¡¯t understand this at all.


    In the end, even if they have obtained intelligence, monsters are still monsters.


    To make these wild beasts move along my scenario, I will need to do quite the work.


    ¡°You people, I will be saying this again but, I am the envoy of the Great Demon Lord Lucifer-sama.¡± (Ates)


    That is the setting I made in order to call the Demon Lords to this castle.


    Currently, this is the only way to have them obey me in this human body.


    ¡°I am the servant of Lucifer-sama who rules over light. He is still in his sleep towards perfection, and since Lucifer-sama can¡¯t speak and act at his current state, I am serving as his messenger. I am the person that receives the will of Lucifer-sama. You can consider me the priestess of Lucifer-sama.¡± (Ates)


    Of course, this is all made-up.


    But if I don¡¯t say all this, the Demon Lords wouldn¡¯t even hear me out in my present outward appearance of a human.


    ¡°Please take my words as if they were from Lucifer-sama himself. If you go against my words, Lucifer-sama himself will be judging you when he awakens. Is that okay?¡± (Ates)


    When I approach them with a slightly strong tone, the Demon Lords were unexpectedly obedient.


    ¡°Tch, I know. The words of Lucifer-sama are absolute.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°This ce that you guided us to is prettyfortable after all. I don¡¯t mind thinking of your words as Lucifer-sama¡¯s for now.¡± (Raphael)


    It was mixed with a click of the tongue, but fine. As long as they move obediently as my pawns, it is fine.


    ¡°Then, I will be telling you the order of Lucifer-sama. The time to fight hase.¡± (Ates)


    The moment I said that, I certainly felt the exaltation that ran between the Demon Lords.


    ¡°The battle between the monsters and humans to decide the new rulers of the of the world is finally starting. The wish of Lucifer-sama is destruction and eradication. In order to make this surface world into a paradise for monsters, every single one of the lowly human race has to be removed ¡ªby your hands.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°This feast of death...is the wish of Lucifer-sama, right?¡±


    ¡°Interesting. It is finally time to ughter those haughty humans huh.¡±


    The Demon Lords were showing more naked will than I thought.


    Even without ordering them to eradicate the humans, that is their desire. And their instinct as Demon Lords enhances this.


    Looks like this will turn into a good flow.


    I decided on telling them the n immediately.


    ¡°I know plenty well the strength of you all. In order to eradicate the humans, a single one of you would be plenty enough, but there¡¯s a single problem, and just that single thing is making it difficult.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°The darkness user huh. It is true that he is not simply on the level of troublesome.¡± (Uriel)


    Unexpectedly, the Demon Lords wereposed and could analyze the strength of others.


    I thought that with people like them who possess absolute power, they would have their own pride for that power and wouldn¡¯t admit that there¡¯s other people stronger than them, bringing them to their own demise, but...it looks like this makes them even more worth using.


    ¡°And so, Lucifer-sama has provided you with a n.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°A n, you say?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. An attack on all five nations by you four Demon Lords!!¡± (Ates)


    Apollon City, Muspelheim, Hydra Ville, Ishtar ze, and Rudras Metropolis; these five nations are in separate locations, and it is impossible for Haine-san to protect them by himself.


    In the end, if we exclude Haine-san, everyone is small fry.


    If we think of Haine-san as being their only fighting force, it would be a 4:1 with the Demon Lords.


    ¡°Haine-san is using Apollon City as his base, so I will have you people attack the other four nations. Haine-san will hurriedly head to assist, but he will only be able to save one capital. The other three capitals will be disappearing from the map in the same day.¡± (Ates)


    Along with the heroes that protect those nations.


    ¡°Putting it in another way, it would mean that one nation will receive the help of Kuromiya Haine, right?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°What will the Demon Lord that gets faced with that do?¡± (Uriel)


    Looks like this people ask proper questions. It makes them easy to deal with, but at the same time hard to deal with.


    ¡°I will leave that to the jurisdiction of the person in question. You can challenge the darkness with your pride as Demon Lord on the line, or you can also quickly retreat. The most important part of this n is to disturb Haine-san after all.¡± (Ates)


    No matter the case, the simultaneous attack of the Demon Lords will bring destruction and chaos to the world like never before.


    Haine-san won¡¯t be able to stop that.


    In the end, he is only one person.


    It is not like I am not bothered by a few things, but I can simply stop Yorishiro by moving myself, and the incarnation of Quasar that is the Wind Founder is in tatters and unable to fight.


    They are all people that are not worth attention.


    I repeat, Haine-san alone won¡¯t be able to stop the Demon Lords!


    ¡°Now go, Demon Lords! Go to the nations that the humans have raised and make the humans shed blood! To the thousands or millions! In order to wet the throat of Lucifer-sama by the time he awakens!¡± (Ates)


    And in concert, the Demon Lords raised their voice.


    ¡°¡°Nah, not now.¡±¡±


    Eeeeeh?!


    ¡°W-What did you say?!¡± (Ates)


    I -Sunnysol Ates- have provided you with such a perfect n, and yet, you Demon Lords rejected it?


    Uriel and Raphael; as if these guys had not been listening to me talk since the beginning, they resume theirzing about.


    ¡°Y-You people...are you going against Lucifer-sama?!¡± (Ates)


    I bring out all the dignity I could as I said this, and the first one to answer was Raphael with an awkward expression.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t say we were rejecting it. We are saying it is fine if it isn¡¯t now.¡± (Raphael)


    What¡¯s with that way of speaking as if you were children leaving your homework forter?


    ¡°Within the Demon Lords, I was the one who encountered Kuromiya Haine immediately and fought a grand battle with him. Because of that, I ended up losing most of my body.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael was wearing an armor that covered his whole body and even within the Demon Lords he stood out with that appearance.


    The role of that armor was to support the body inside that was regenerating, in other words, it was being used as a ster.


    ¡°There¡¯s the need for time topletely regenerate the many cells that I lost. If you wait for a bit more, I will show you that I can destroy all of the humans myself.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°I also have a simr reason to that.¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel is the next one to speak.


    ¡°I took an attack from Kuromiya Haine and ended up receiving a wound, though it is not on the same level as Raphael¡¯s. My bark was peeled off cleanly. Walking outside like this is embarrassing.¡± (Uriel)


    What is this guy saying.


    Since Uriel is the Earth Demon Lord, his body has an appearance like that of a tree. The surface of it is tree itself, but because of the battle with Haine before, the bark part was peeled off and the white grains are visible.


    If we had to put it in human terms, it would be as if he were naked, maybe?


    ¡°I want to avoid leaving until I am covered by a ck-lustre bark. A grand ughter requires a grand appearance. Don¡¯t you think?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°...¡±


    These damn monsters!


    As I thought, they are all idiots!


    Now that my other half Yorishiro has a card called God Heroes, there¡¯s nothing to lose in being quick, and yet...! The Wind and Earth Demon Lord are throwing a tantrum, and the Water Demon Lord is not even here.


    At this rate, the simultaneous Demon Lord attack I made will end up copsing!


    ¡°I will go.¡±


    At that moment, an austere voice that made the earth tremble resounded in the ce.


    It was low and yet it travelled well.


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    ¡°Michael huh!¡±


    The Fire Demon Lord that had been here all the time but maintained silent.


    A giant muscr man with burning crimson wings.


    Because of the dignified aura he lets out, the other two Demon Lords raise their voices.


    ¡°Uriel and Raphael should prioritize healing their wounds. Gabriel must have his own thoughts as well. But if we were to not make any achievements by the time Lucifer-sama awakens, we wouldn¡¯t be able to wee him asrades of his.¡± (Michael)


    The big frame of Michael made my body as Ates have no choice but to look up at him. If I didn¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to see his face.


    ¡°I will go. I will destroy a single human settlement and make that the beacon of war.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°W-Wait there!!¡± (Ates)


    I hurriedly chase after Michael who was about to leave the castle.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you listening to my n either?! The attack to the nations has meaning when it is a simultaneous attack!¡± (Ates)


    Four Demon Lords attack four nations; it is when that scenario takes ce that we can make Haine-san fall into confusion.


    ¡°If you leave on your own, it is basically telling Haine-san to go there! Are you nning on making a foolish attack?!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That person is not almighty. By the time he receives notice of the attack, he will take time to arrive.¡± (Michael)


    The analysis of Michael was sound.


    ¡°I just have to finish my task by the time he arrives, and then leave. Kuromiya Haine is an opponent that we must defeat in time, but this will be a decent fire starter for the time when Lucifer-sama awakens.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°T-Then at the very least make your target Rudras Metropolis!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...Why?¡± (Michael)


    The zing eyes of Michael look down at me.


    ...How conceited.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know the elemental affinities? The four base elements have their respective weaknesses. The opponent you as the Fire Demon Lord are advantageous against is wind. If you attack Rudras Metropolis that has the most wind users, the easy wipe out will be even easier.¡± (Ates)


    If you are going to act, taking the most efficient way is the most intelligent way.


    I will teach that to you coarse monsters.


    ¡°...Those are not the words of Lucifer-sama.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a way of thinking simr to those lowly humans. Scheming is in the first ce something that the weak utilize. A way for the weak to oppose the strong.¡± (Michael)


    What is this giant man saying?


    ¡°That¡¯s why, against that Kuromiya Haine, I won¡¯t mind using scheming. I know that he is stronger than us. In order to obtain victory, for the sake of a future with us as the superior race, doing all that¡¯s needed to be done will not hurt our pride.¡± (Michael) to


    ¡°That¡¯s right! That¡¯s why you should attack Rudras Metropolis!¡± (Ates)


    I desperately tried to chase after Michael whose strides reach a lot further than mine.


    ¡°But what about the other humans aside from Kuromiya Haine?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°They are weak. On the level of worms. To use scheming against enemies like that, it would be like the strong fearing the weak. Do you think our pride will maintain if we were to do that? Is there any meaning in a victory you can¡¯t take pride in?¡± (Michael)


    What stupid things are you saying!


    Monsters talking about pride? Are you a true idiot?!


    ¡°I won¡¯t use schemes against anyone but Kuromiya Haine. I will destroy them straight on. That¡¯s my pride, and it is also etiquette of the strong against the weak. The weak have their path and the strong have their path to follow.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Then you...¡± (Ates)


    I can¡¯t keep this up anymore.


    Just let these idiots do as they wish.


    ¡°Where are you nning on attacking?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°The nation that is rted to fire just as me ¡ªthe Fire capital, Muspelheim.¡± (Michael)


    Muspelheim.


    So tragedy will befall them huh.


    Oh well, whatever. Just go around ughtering as you wish and get killed for all I care.


    ¡ª¡ª


    Now then, from here on, someone else will take the role of narrating.


    There¡¯s a more fitting person to talk about the blood feast that will be beginning from now on, after all.

 Chapter 258-260 - The night before the fierce battle

    <h4>Chapter 258-260: The night before the fierce battle</h4>


    It has been a while since I have not met with Karen-san and the others and my stress is umting steadily.


    I -the fire hero, Katack Mirack- am in Muspelheim today again.


    That¡¯s how it works after all.


    After the appearance of those fearsome Lords of monsters -the Demon Lords- there has been a martialw ced in the higher-ups of the church and it is covered in a strict atmosphere.


    The movements of us heroes has been limited to a certain degree and leaving our base is in basis a no.


    On top of that, even if it is temporal, the previous heroes have returned to their posts and not only in Muspelheim, but all the five nations are in a state where we are waiting for war.


    The war will start soon.


    A war between humans and monsters that will decide who will be the new rulers of the surface world. A war that has our lives at stake.


    We heroes have to stand at the front to fight.


    The Demon Lords are overwhelming, and I don¡¯t feel like I would be able to defeat them upfront at all, but even if that¡¯s the case, who will fight if not us?


    That¡¯s why the Demon Lords are in hiding, and in this time of silence that could be called the calm before the storm, I have to train as much as I can and increase my power.


    And in that time, what I am doing is...


    ***


    ¡°F-Fire hero Mirack and...!¡± (Mirack)


    (Background voice): ¡°The fire cow Phris¡¯...!¡±


    ¡°¡°Explosive hero show!!¡±¡±


    *Waaaaaaaaa!!*


    The venue was incredibly heated up.


    The audience seats were all filled with children and their parents, and their cheerings were directed at me and the cow.


    ......


    ...What¡¯s this?


    ¡°(Oi Mirack!! What are you getting all spaced out for?! The performance has already begun, you know!)¡±


    ¡°Y-Y-Yes!¡± (Mirack)


    I was shouted at by Sis Kyouka in a low voice and I hurriedly remember the words of the script that were stored in my mind.


    ¡°E-Everyone, are you doing good?! I-I am the fire hero that was chosen by the Fire Church to protect the peace of everyone, Katack Mirack!!¡± (Mirack)


    At the same time as she does the choreographed pose she practiced beforehand, a big wave of cheers welled up.


    ¡°Kyaaa! So cool!!¡± ¡°Mirack-oneechan, so cool!!¡± ¡°Mirack-oneesama!!¡± ¡°It was worth lining up the whole night!!¡±


    I was made to receive all those heated cheers as the one standing on the stage.


    ¡°And today, as a special guest, we have the number one most popr in Muspelheim, Phris-kun!¡± (Mirack)


    (Background voice): ¡°Everyone, treat me well!!¡±


    Moving in concert to the call, a cow casually moves around.


    Thaticalness heated up the stage even more.


    ¡°Kya! Cute!¡± ¡°Phal-tan, so cute!!¡± ¡°Look over here!¡± ¡°Stand on two!!¡±


    Why is this cow so popr?!


    I can¡¯t even think that this is actually that monster that destroyed arge area and made it a dangerous location.


    I was displeased by a lot of things, but I have to do the duty I was given.


    ¡°Now then, today, Mirack and Phris will be providing you a charming endurance show!! Children and parents! As people affiliated to the Fire Church, endure till the very end, okay?!¡±


    (Background voice): ¡°I am Phris~!!¡±


    By the way, the voice of Phris is being sponsored by the previous fire hero, Sis Kyouka.


    ***


    And so, after the performance ended in a big sess, I imploded in the dressing room.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± (Mirack)


    I m my fists onto the table with strength that felt as if I was trying to break it in two.


    Opposite of me, there¡¯s Sis Kyouka that is licking a candy to soothe her exhausted throat.


    By the way, that Phris is also in the dressing room munching on grass at the corner.


    Just what is going on with this atmosphere?


    ¡°...¡±


    Sis Kyouka begins to drink a lot of honey tea that¡¯s probably also for her throat.


    ¡°...Wumu, as expected of the high grade tea that Sarasa brought from Hydra Ville. Even the scent is on a different level. This must be culture shock!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°SIIIISS!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, junior Mirack. What are you getting so exalted about?¡± (Kyouka)


    Or more like, aren¡¯t you previous heroes getting way too along?!


    ¡°What is the reason for your anger? The public performance of today also ended in a big sess. The event at the end of the performance was a sess as well. The children were all going ¡®please let me touch your abs, please let me touch your abs~~¡¯. You were incredibly popr.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The very fact that we are doing public performances is the problem!!¡± (Mirack)


    There¡¯s no way Sis Kyouka doesn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Humans are currently facing an unprecedented danger! The Demon Lords are leading powerful monsters, and the war that has our existence at stake might begin as soon as tomorrow! In such a precarious time, there¡¯s no time to be ying around!¡± (Mirack)


    Normally, shouldn¡¯t we be shutting ourselves in the Fire Church and be devoting ourselves all day in training?


    Shouldn¡¯t we be concentrating in preparing ourselves for battle?!


    ¡°...It is exactly because of that.¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka leaves the finished cup on top of the table.


    ¡°It is true that danger is approaching this world. That¡¯s exactly why you have to take action as a hero.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why...!¡± (Mirack)


    This is not the time to be ying around!


    ¡°But the action you have to take for that sake is not to train yourself to be stronger.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one that taught me that, Mirack? At that heroes match before, you taught me that rather than strength you get from training, the strength thates from connecting with others is stronger than anything and more precious.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Being blinded by power and putting your all in training was your past style, Mirack.¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka pointed this out and I ended up being dumbfounded.


    Why is such a quiet atmosphere going around this dressing room where we have just finished a public performance?


    ¡°You said that when you became stronger on your own this way, you got stronger in exchange of forgetting many things. You said that it was yourrades that made you remember those things.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°...That¡¯s what you told me.¡± (Kyouka)


    I couldn¡¯t say anything.


    I couldn¡¯t object, and the only thing that resounded in the ce for a while were the munching sounds of Phris eating grass at the corner of the room.


    ¡°By gaining connections with people, you obtained a wide variety of powers, right? That is your new self. In that case, what¡¯s the point of forgetting that and regressing to your past self?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Could it be that Sis...you were trying to make me remember that?!¡± (Mirack)


    With this sham of a hero show?


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t my idea. Master nned it and ordered me to put it into motion.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Uh...¡± (Mirack)


    Master, you say. That Master?


    ¡°Our Fire Founder and Master that is famous for his ¡®Let there be hot-bloodedness¡¯?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Even if our Master is like that, he was quite worried about you. He saw through the fact that you were truly scared of the Demon Lords and the depths of your heart had grown unsteady.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Ugh.¡± (Mirack)


    Being told that, I had no words to return.


    In reality, no matter what I do to oppose the Demon Lords, no matter if I shut myself in to train all on my own, it wouldn¡¯t change much.


    ¡°Humans are foolish beings. The values that they have obtained from overbearing hardships can be easily forgotten. That¡¯s why there¡¯s the training for pursuit of knowledge. There¡¯s no end to training and learning.¡± (Kyouka)


    Phris was still munching on grass.


    *Munch *Munch *Munch*


    ¡°...It is true that I might have grown impatient because of how powerful those Demon Lords are. Because I was overwhelmed by them, I had forgotten about the connections I have with my most important people.¡± (Mirack)


    *Munch*Munch*


    ¡°That was the reason for this public performances, right?! By making direct contact with the residents of Muspelheim, you were trying to make me remember my connections with the people!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is also important for the citizens. The appearance of the Demon Lords is slightly known within the normal popce as well. Reducing the anxiety of the people is also an important duty of a hero.¡± (Kyouka)


    To think that such stupid act had such important meaning!


    And Phris still continued munching on grass.


    ......


    ¡°My eyes have been opened! I was properly doing my job as a hero today, right?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°As expected of Mirack for noticing that much! That¡¯s how my junior should be! It is already safe to leave you the position of hero!¡± (Kyouka)


    We both were overwhelmed with emotion and hugged in the dressing room. And at the side, there¡¯s Phris.


    *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch*Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch *Munch*


    ¡°¡°SHUT UP!¡±¡±


    Because of how annoying that sound was bing, Sis Kyouka and I ended up shouting.


    What¡¯s with this cow?


    It is as if it were throwing cold water at our emotional scene...


    (.......Hmph.)


    Eh?


    What happened just now? It sounded as if someone had snorted.


    ¡°In the first ce, why is this guy also here? This thing was originally a monster -an enemy of humans, right?¡± (Mirack)


    I thought I said quite the sound thing, but at the same time, I felt as if I was asking this question way toote.


    ¡°True, but...this guy already gained quite a lot of poprity in Muspelheim, and in a sense, it surpasses even our poprity as heroes, you know.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Eeeh?!¡± (Mirack)


    Seriously?


    ¡°That novelness and overbearing gestures created poprity, and there were obviously people who came here specially to see him. His character goods and things rted to him are selling like hot cakes and the Fire Church is truly joyous about it.¡± (Kyouka)


    He even appeared in the heroes match after all.


    If we make him go around, it will serve as big advertisement huh.


    Why did it end up like this?


    In the past, this thing was a ferocious monster residing in the Radona mountain range. And Sis Kyouka and I were grinding our teeths unable to defeat him, and yet, now we are touring around together.


    This is way too misfortunate.


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it fine? Don¡¯t you think he has a pretty likeable face when you look at it this way?¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka stroked the head of Phris that was still single-mindedly chewing on grass, but as if that wasn¡¯t enough, she got close enough to press her chest onto him.


    Phris ignored her and chewed on.


    ¡°How to say it... Sis Kyouka has also changed.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Not really. I loved animals since way back, you know? There¡¯s no woman that hates thectating type that is fluffy.¡± (Kyouka)


    No...I think that in the past, Sis Kyouka wasn¡¯t the type who would get attracted in that kind of girly manner.


    ¡°How about you touch him as well, Mirack? This guy is incredibly fluffy, to the point that you wouldn¡¯t even belief he is a cow.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Okay...¡± (Mirack)


    Being urged by Sis Kyouka, I try to stroke the back of Phris and it was indeed true that his hair is fluffy.


    What¡¯s with this guy?!


    This can¡¯t be described simply as fluffiness! It is on the level of a house cat that is being brushed every single day!


    I think that in the past it was stiffer than this!


    As expected, is it because he is always eating good things?! Is it that?!


    ¡°Sis Kyouka, this is dangerous. I was thinking everyday about ¡®why is this cow so famous?¡¯ but I can understand why this nice feeling of touch is so popr.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is true that it is dangerous. It has an addicting feeling to it and that actually makes it even worse. Oi Mirack, why are you hugging the cow? Don¡¯t try to feel the fluffiness with all your body!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Sis Kyouka as well! Aren¡¯t you also hugging him to the point that your boobs are squished?! Sis Kyouka is the one that is trying to feel the fluffiness with your whole body! Get a grip of yourself!¡± (Mirack)


    From the right, it is me; from the left, it is Sis Kyouka; the both of us are enjoying the fluffiness of the cow. Even with that, it was munching on the grass as if ignoring us.


    (..................Hmph!!)


    As I said, who is the one that has been snorting for a while now?


    ¡°...By the way, Sis Kyouka.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What is it?¡± (Kyouka)


    I had lost myself in the fluffiness of the cow and it took a while to recover my senses.


    ¡°I am fine with directly interacting with the citizens, but...what about those big signs that are at the venue?!¡± (Mirack)


    If you leave the dressing room and peek at the stage in the venue, there¡¯s signs here and there, and also posters. What¡¯s written in them is the name of a certain inn...


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that inn the one that Sis Kyouka¡¯s husband works in?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine to have at least that much side-benefit?!¡± (Kyouka)


    If you say that, I couldn¡¯t say anything back.


    They are in the stage where they will be marrying and make a family, but because of the unexpected situation regarding the arrival of the Demon Lords, she can¡¯t take maternity leave.


    In a sense, I feel more pity towards Sis...


    ¡°Hero-sama!¡± ¡°Mirack-oneesama!¡± ¡°...Our Onee-sama.¡±


    After finishing the cleaning of the venue, three of the staff there hade to us.


    The respective names of these three girls are Braidley ssfin, and Firey. They are the military force of our Fire Church, the Ignis Militant corps.


    In other words, the staff in charge of the construction and cleaning of the stage is being done by the Ignis corps.


    ¡°Mirack-oneesama! The cleaning up of the venue is mostly done! Can I shake your hand?!¡±


    ¡°We want the Oneesamas to move to the next venue by tomorrow! Can I hug you?!¡±


    ¡°...Can I fondle your breasts?¡±


    There¡¯s no way you can.


    Braidley has braided hair, ssfin has sses, and Firey is tall.


    They are girls who are close to my age and are like my close aides as a hero. But as you can see, they are ruffians who have a quirk or two, and even I find it hard to deal with them...... Or more like, why is it that the majority of the people of the Fire Church are attracted to the same gender?


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it fine, my junior Mirack?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°It isn¡¯t.¡± (Mirack)


    Sis Kyouka, please don¡¯t just ept their weirdness.


    ¡°You are my junior, and they are your juniors. The soul of the Fire nation is passed on in this way to the next era.¡± (Kyouka)


    I feel like the only thing passing down is the perverted soul though...


    ¡°Previous hero-sama! I am honored to be in your presence!¡±


    ¡°We will shoulder the name of the Ignis Militant corps and act in a manner that won¡¯t bring shame to it! That¡¯s why I want to touch the boobs of Mirack-oneesama!¡±


    ¡°...When you heart moves on God¡¯s will, there¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of.¡±


    It is just that there¡¯s a lot of lesbians here.


    ......Well, that¡¯s how it went.


    I was doing decently well with the seniors and juniors of the Fire Church.


    It is true that even if the danger of the Demon Lords is close, hurriedly increasing my muscle training menu will not give me the strength to go against them. Then, by clearing the worries of the people to strengthen the unity is also the duty of a hero.


    I wonder what Karen and the others are doing right now?


    I have not met them since the heroes match at Rudras Metropolis, but they should also be doing something before the battle against the Demon Lords.


    It is nice to be together with the people of my nation, but I also want to meet them.


    ¡°I want to fondle Karen¡¯s boobs...¡± (Mirack)


    Maybe because of the noisiness of the people surrounding me, I unconsciously let out my desire.


    ¡°By the way, Kyouka-oneesama! Can we also mofu mofu Phris?!¡±


    ¡°The Phris meat that you normally wouldn¡¯t be able to touch unless you line up for 2 hours or more! We want some side benefits as well!¡±


    ¡°...Is the order a cow?¡± <Ref to Is your order a rabbit?>


    Won¡¯t Phris get all exhausted the next day for being messed around so much like a hamster?


    ¡°...¡±


    Eh?


    Sis Kyouka didn¡¯t answer the three and was looking at me.


    ...Ah, so that¡¯s how it is.


    ¡°...Can¡¯t be helped then. There¡¯s still time before we move, so until then, you can mofu mofu him. Just make sure it doesn¡¯t affect your own job negatively.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°¡°Understood. Thank you very much!!¡±¡±¡±


    ...By leaving the response to me, Sis Kyouka gave me face as the current hero.


    That consideration doesn¡¯t fit her character. It simply means that she has also been changing.


    It was at that moment...


    {Let there be hot-bloodedness.}


    The speaker that had not been packed up yet had rang.


    The voice that came out after the high *kiiin* of the speakers was a person I am familiar with!


    ¡°That voice is...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Our Master, the Fire Founder-sama?!¡± (Kyouka)


    He is the head of our Fire Church and also our Master that guided us in the path of martial arts!


    But why?!


    Master is supposed to be at the Fire Grand Sanctuary.


    The outside sector of Muspelheim is quite far away from the center of the city, you know.


    ¡°Report! An emergency call from the Fire Grand Sanctuary!!¡±


    One of the three, ssfin, immediately informs me.


    {Let there be hot-bloodedness.} (Enou)


    ¡°What?!¡± ¡°What is the meaning of this!¡±


    Sis Kyouka and I were paying attention to the transmission.


    {Let there be hot-bloodedness.} (Enou)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    {Let there be hot-bloodedness.} (Enou)


    ¡°No way!!¡±


    Something like that happened?!


    ¡°...Hey, I always think this but...why is it that only Mirack-oneesama and Kyouka-oneesama understand the Founder¡¯s ¡®let there be hot-bloodedness¡¯pletely?!¡±


    ¡°It is still in a realm we can¡¯t understand yet!¡±


    ¡°...We don¡¯t understand huh. This level of realm is still not in our reach.¡±


    The three girls were confused, but there¡¯s no time to be.


    ¡°You people! Listen well!!¡± (Mirack)


    The mild mood was blown away in an instant.


    ¡°ording to the transmission of the Founder just now, monsters have appeared at the east in of Muspelheim!! Moreover, it is a horde of them!! They areing straight at us!¡± (Mirack)


    The destined battle was about to happen here and now.

 Chapter 261-263 - Suffering of the Fire capital

    <h4>Chapter 261-263: Suffering of the Fire capital</h4>


    A massive army of monsters was heading towards the Fire capital, Muspelheim.


    Receiving this information, all of the members of the Ignis Militant corps immediately prepared for battle.


    I as the fire hero, Katack Mirack, obviously had to stand at the frontlines, so I was heading to the defensive line that was made in the estimated route of the monsters.


    ¡°The army of monsters is around 7km away from Muspelheim and are heading straight towards us.¡±


    ¡°We are currently at a 2km distance from Muspelheim. The Founder ordered that we should consider this as ourst defense line and to desperately protect it.¡±


    That means if the monsters pass this line, they will invade the Fire capital huh.


    But...


    ¡°Just seven kilometers?! Are you telling me the lookouts didn¡¯t notice them until they were so close?!¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka, who had apanied me, asked a question that was basically a reprimand.


    Sis had returned to her post as a previous hero, so she has a status on the same level as me in terms of battle strength.


    ¡°About that...ording to the report of the lookouts, they said that monsters suddenly began appearing from the in out of nowhere!!¡±


    ¡°The total of monsters is at a nce around 500. Moreover, they are apparently increasing in numbers as they advance. At this rate, by the time they reach the city, there¡¯s the chance that the numbers will have increased to the thousands!¡±


    Sis Kyouka and I were doubting our ears at the report of the fire militant.


    Impossible!


    Monsters popping out from nowhere? I have never heard of that before!


    But until Haine told us about the Mother Monsters being the source of the monsters, it had been a mystery as to where the monsters came from after all.


    Trying to measure the Demons with themon sense of humans is a in waste of time.


    ¡°...Understood. What¡¯s the current damage?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fortunately...the ce where the monsters popped out(?) from was faraway from the rural area of Muspelheim and there were no travellers, so there hasn¡¯t been any casualties.¡±


    ¡°For now, we have made a number of fire militants fly around in their flying machines to notify of the danger to the settlements. With this, there shouldn¡¯t be anyone mistakenly wandering there!¡±


    Okay, that¡¯s fine then.


    Now then, what¡¯s left is to do something about that army of monsters!


    ¡°At any rate, it is for certain that the monsters are heading to Muspelheim.¡± (Mirack)


    Monsters attacking humans is an instinctive nature of them.


    ¡°If we allow them to invade Muspelheim, there will definitely be casualties, moreover, there will be many. We will make sure not a single monster reaches Muspelheim. Even at the cost of our life, don¡¯t let a single monster in!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡±Yeaaahh!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    My speech made every single one of the fire militants in the area heated up.


    Looks like there¡¯s plenty enough spirit here.


    As expected of the best elites in the church -the Ignis Militant corps!


    ¡°Well then, we will begin acting! Ry this to all members! We will go forward and confront the monsters!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    ¡°But Onee-sama, if the other side is heading towards us, wouldn¡¯t it be better to confront them from this defense line?!¡±


    Braidley and ssfin, from the group of three girls that apanied us, asked me.


    ¡°It is true that in terms of tactics, that¡¯s exactly the case -but the enemy is heading here as they increase their numbers. In that case, the longer the time we take till the confrontation, the more enemies will appear, and it will be more difficult to defeat them.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°...I see. That¡¯s true.¡±


    Firey seemed to have been convinced by this and the talk advances.


    ¡°Therefore, we will go at our fastest speed towards them, begin the battle with the monsters as fast as possible, and wipe them out....... Sis Kyouka.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Please join me in subjugating them. Let¡¯s not be stingy and settle this battle as soon as possible.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Understood! Decisive swift attacks are the specialty of the Ignis Militant corps! Let¡¯s remind the whole world the strength of our roaring mes!!¡± (Kyouka)


    It¡¯s been a while since I have seen this part of her.


    The battlefield is where a hero truly burns. That¡¯s how I should be as well.


    ¡°Mirack-oneesama!!¡±


    ¡°We are obviously going to apany you!!¡±


    ¡°...All for one, one for all.¡±


    Braidley, ssfin, and Firey were breathing roughly, but I changed my view here and...


    ¡°You will be staying here.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°¡°Eeeeeeh?!¡±¡±¡±


    I mercilessly said this.


    ¡°Why, Mirack-oneesama?! We are Onee-sama¡¯s personal guards!!¡±


    ¡°Are we not strong enough to strengthen the sides of Onee-sama?!¡±


    ¡°...Lacking in strength.¡±


    They clung onto me as if they were puppies about to be abandoned by their mother.


    ¡°Geez, don¡¯t get flustered. Properly use your brains.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Meaning?¡±


    This time¡¯s monsters are a mystery and it kind of lets out an unpleasant atmosphere.


    ¡°In the first ce, monsters popping out from nowhere is unheard of. Until that mystery has been solved, I can¡¯t say anything conclusive about how this battle will unfold.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s...true.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why we should prepare for whatever happens and leave a part of our fighting force in ourst line of defense. You people should also join that. And then, prepare for any sudden events and get an understanding of the mystery from a point where you can view the whole battlefield.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°U-Understood!¡±


    At the very least, they are an understanding bunch.


    Right now time is of essence, so it helps that they are obedient.


    ¡°Then, please report our ns to Founder-sama through the wireless transmission, and after that, give an urgent message to the other Churches as well, tell them our situation, and if possible, request for reinforcements. But I will leave the decision to Founder-sama.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°¡°Understood!¡±¡±¡±


    The three girls give out an energetic response.


    With this, everything that had to be spoken has been done.


    Now all that¡¯s left is to assault the enemy lines.


    ¡°Hey, what are you taking your time for. Let¡¯s go, Mirack!¡± (Kyouka)


    Looks like Sis Kyouka is plenty spirited.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for reinforcements. By the time the light and water people get here, let¡¯s wee them with a in filled with the corpses of monsters! With that, we will show them the strength of the Fire Church!¡± (Kyouka)


    When monsters die, they don¡¯t leave corpses though.


    Oh well, it looks like Sis Kyouka still has her fangs, and as her junior, that¡¯s reassuring.


    Now then, with the joint assault of the current and previous heroes, let¡¯s wipe out the monsters as always!!


    And so, leaving a number of fire militants and choosing only the quick-footed ones, we lead the charge...by running.


    ¡°Prompt decision and quick to carry out. What are you aiming for with this speed-centered formation, Mirack?¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka was running parallel to me without losing breath.


    She will definitely be the most reliable fighting force in this battle.


    ¡°The monsters are increasing their numbers on their own...that¡¯s the part of the report that I am bothered by. There hasn¡¯t been an abnormality like that before.¡± (Mirack)


    Until Haine revealed the existence of the Mother Monsters, it had been a world mystery where the monsters came from. And yet, that mystery was urring as they approach us.


    ¡°But ording to the information that the Churches share, those so called Mother Monsters don¡¯t exist anymore, right?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The conclusion reached is that we should think of it in that way.¡± (Mirack)


    Raphael was the first Demon Lord humanity encountered, and it was born in exchange of the life of the Wind Mother Monster. And that was properly witnessed by Haine, Karen, and the others.


    If the Demon Lords can¡¯t be born without the sacrifice of their Mother Monsters, in this current state where the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Demon Lords are all lined up, it would be weird for the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Mother Monsters to not be wiped out because of it.


    ¡°Then...it means that if we push through here, there won¡¯t be anymore monsters!¡± (Mirack)


    If that were really the case, the human side would be cheering.


    Even if the Demon Lords are powerful, they can¡¯t maintain the life of a race by themselves. Monsters will end up being a race that will go extinct.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t think that things will be going so smoothly.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°True. The monsters have surely found a new way to reproduce!¡± (Kyouka)


    If that wasn¡¯t the case, there¡¯s no way they would challenge humanity for the superiority of race.


    ¡°So that means the answer might be in our destination huh!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Might be, but right now...!¡± (Mirack)


    It is now in view!


    Fire element monsters that were covering the wide ins.


    Horse type, goat type, bird type, wolf type, monkey type monsters, and there are also types that hadbinations of those.


    The trait of Fire element monsters is that they have the shape of birds or mammals, and their hair flickers like fire.


    ¡°We are getting the first strike! Let¡¯s go, Mirack!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Got it!!¡± (Mirack)


    Sis Kyouka and I sprint without losing speed and charge towards the horde of monsters.


    ¡°Fire fist, Barbarossa!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Right fire fist, Fernando! Left fire fist, Prius!¡± (Kyouka)


    The current and previous heroes prepare with their fire divine weapons. And from there, it was released at the same time...


    ¡°¡°[me Burst]!!¡±¡±


    Giant fire dragons quickly engulfed the fire monsters.


    The monsters were unable to endure the fire we released and turned into ashes inside of it.


    We are fire element and our opponents are fire element too; against the same element, the one with the strongest energy wins.


    Even so, the numbers are at the very least 500.


    Obviously a single round of me Bursts wasn¡¯t enough. There were many remaining.


    We simply sparked the mes of battle.


    Only a small part of the enemy lines was burned down, and the fire militants rush to the opened line of the enemy that was created.


    ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡± ¡°[Heat Knuckle]!¡±


    The shouts of techniques reverberate in the area.


    The battle has begun.


    A jumbled scuffle between humans and monsters was taking ce.


    ¡°Mirack! This is...!¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka and I spearhead deep into the enemy lines while protecting each other¡¯s back.


    We heroes are basically the core of the army. We have to lead as much as possible and create chaos in the horde of enemies.


    ¡°Yeah, every single one of them is a fire element monster! To think that there would be an organized horde of the same element! What¡¯s with this family tour?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember opening a sale with preferential treatment for monsters of my same element!¡± (Kyouka)


    We were burning down all the goats and wolves that came attacking us.


    In the end, they are small fry monsters.


    Sis Kyouka has fought thousands of them and has never lost to the likes of them, and I have experience fighting giant monsters and Mother Monsters, so I don¡¯t feel like I could lose to enemies like this.


    ¡°At any rate, right now we have to concentrate on wiping out the enemy! Let¡¯s spearhead as we are now and separate the enemy, and then make an U turn just like that and continue to separate the horde even more!¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°By doing that, the separated monsters can be easily defeated by the fire militants, right?! Understood!!¡± (Mirack)


    As expected of a veteran like Sis Kyouka. She is ustomed to armies of monsters.


    ¡°The ones that want to be burned,e at us! The fire heroes are here!¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis!


    Right now, I should be the one saying that though!


    The moment I thought about quickly wrapping this up and was advancing more and more...!


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°Uoo?!¡±


    I was suddenly hit by something and was sent flying together with Sis Kyouka.


    It felt as if I had hit a hot wall.


    What was that? What did we impact on?!


    ¡°Ouch... What in the world? Uwa?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Mirack? Did you see anything weird...wa?!¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka and I looked in front and stiffened.


    Spacing out in the battlefield is something that you shouldn¡¯t do for any reason, but even the battle-hardened Sis Kyouka had made that beginner mistake.


    Looking at the one in front of us, no matter what strong expert it is, they would tremble.


    A man big like a mountain. We had collided with him and Sis Kyouka and I were send flying.


    It is true that we both are women and we are physically lighter, but even if that¡¯s the case, we are heroes that have been trained, and our rushing strength is not on the level of a normal person, and yet, he repelled both of us at the same time.


    A big body that no matter if you describe it as a mountain or a wall, it still wouldn¡¯t be enough to describe it.


    From his back there were two burning fire wings spread out.


    I know this man. I have seen him once, so I know.


    Just remembering it makes fear well up inside of me; the strongest and worst enemy ¡ªa Demon Lord.


    ¡°Looks like you two are the strongest within this bunch of humans. Well then, let¡¯s decide the fate of this battle as the strongest ones.¡±


    From within the group of Demon Lords, he is the fire Demon Lord that¡¯s considered to be the leader, Michael.


    ¡°Let¡¯s put at stake the fate of our race that we both shoulder.¡± (Michael)


    Meeting him meant death.


    Fire Demon Lord, Michael.


    One of the evils that threaten this world and their leader.


    That guy is standing right in front of us!


    ¡°Ah...Aaah...!¡± (Mirack)


    Again...it is that pressure.


    That coercive power that all Demon Lords possess. Just by being there, he kills the air around. A heavy and burning feeling.


    When we encountered themst time, that pressure had pressed onto my back, and everyone counting me couldn¡¯t move or even breathe.


    It was the same now; I couldn¡¯t endure a few seconds of it and had my knees fall to the ground.


    ¡°Agh...Kugh...! Aaah...!¡± (Mirack)


    Even my lips had grown numb and my voice couldn¡¯te out.


    Sis Kyouka was in the same state and, as if concentrating on not being crushed, she ced both of her hands on the ground and it took her all to just ce strength into them.


    ¡°Damn it...Damn it!!!¡± (Kyouka)


    The opponent has not done anything, he is simply ring at us, and yet, we were already pushed to the brink of defeat.


    ¡°Looking at your state, it seems you are not even in the shape to fight. So you people don¡¯t even have the right to fight me huh.¡± (Michael)


    Michael looked at us as if we were trash and it was as if he had lost interest.


    And then, the tragedy begins.


    ¡°Guaaagh!¡±


    ¡°Gyaaaa!!¡±


    Sis Kyouka and I weren¡¯t the only ones who had been hit by the pressure of the Demon Lord.


    That coerciveness, as long as you are in a certain range of it, no matter how many people it is, it can crush you.


    Ironically, the fire militants that had begun to catch up to us entered the effective range of the Demon Lord¡¯s pressure and were instantly crushed.


    Without his permission, no matter who it is, the moment you enter his domain, you can¡¯t even move. But the despairing part came after.


    In his domain, only the ones that have permission can move. In other words, his subordinates that are the fire element monsters can still move.


    Now that I think about it, I now understand why this horde is filled with fire element monsters. The Fire Demon Lord is the one leading them after all.


    But this wasn¡¯t the time to think about that...


    We can¡¯t move and the enemy can do so freely.


    The meaning of that is...!


    ¡°Guaaaagh!!¡±


    ¡°Ugh?! Aaaaah!¡±


    The one-sided ughter of the fire militants had begun.


    The fire goats and fire wolves jumped onto the fire militants as if they were hungering hyenas and dug their burning fangs into their flesh.


    Screams began to reverberate in the battlefield.


    It was as if those screams were telling the only one currently standing on two feet here, the Demon Lord Michael, about its effectiveness.


    ¡°No good...! This is not good!!¡± (Mirack)


    If this continues, after a few minutes we will be wiped out.


    We have to do something!


    I am the hero! The fire hero that protects Muspelheim!


    That pride is thest bit of energy that fuels my strength.


    Hitting my bend knees continuously, I bring back my strength. I somehow managed to stand while trembling, and turn my head to the back.


    ¡°Fire fist Barbarossa! Change my will into hell fire!! [me Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    mes spread through the ground as if swimming through it, and the monsters that were trotting on the ground with the intent to jump onto the fire militants and cleanly burns them down with pinpoint uracy.


    ¡°Huaa?!¡±


    ¡°The monsters have been burned down! I am alive!¡±


    ¡°A-As expected of Mirack-sama! Our hero!¡±


    The fire militants are okay!


    Of course, there¡¯s no way all the monsters have been burned down by it, but it looks like we have secured temporary safety.


    ¡°You people!! Use this chance to get out of the Demon Lord¡¯s range of pressure! Crawl if you have to! At any rate, just get away from the Demon Lord!!¡± (Mirack)


    We had approached the Demon Lord until we ended up right in front of him without noticing.


    It means that the pressure domain of the Demon Lord is not that far. If we get away from his territory, we can regain the freedom of our body!


    ¡°So you pushed back the pressure huh. Looks like you have the right to be my opponent.¡± (Michael)


    I turned at that voice.


    I ended up turning.


    That huge body was already standing at a ce that covered my whole vision.


    ¡°Michael...!¡± (Mirack)


    In order to save the fire militants, I couldn¡¯t pay attention to the most dangerous opponent.


    Crap.


    By looking right at his eyes, an even stronger pressure began to attack me, and my limbs hadpletely stiffened.


    But the enemy didn¡¯t care about that.


    After clearly confirming that I was facing him, he swings down his fist.


    A big fist like a hammer was approaching me at close range, and because it was taking up my vision, it felt bigger than an actual hammer.


    I am going to be crushed by this fist.


    I will definitely die if I get hit.


    In an instant, many things ran through my mind, but my body didn¡¯t react at all. I couldn¡¯t move a single finger to defend.


    The fire hero died with a single attack of the Fire Demon Lord; that future was about toe when...


    ¡°Mirack!¡±


    I was pushed to the side and was send flying.


    When I turned my eyes to see what it was, it was Sis Kyouka.


    Sis Kyouka had pushed me from the side.


    In exchange, Sis Kyouka was in the ce where I was and...the fist of the Demon Lord that wasing down was...


    ¡°Sis Kyoukaaaaaaa!!¡± (Mirack)


    Sis Kyouka was crushed by the fist of the Demon Lord in my ce.


    It wasn¡¯t a metaphor, but a reality.


    Along with the sound of flesh being smashed and bones breaking, a spray of blood simr to fire colored my vision.


    ¡°..............¡±


    The Demon Lord pulled back his fist and looked at the result of his own action.


    ¡°So there was another one who could have been my opponent huh. That¡¯s a thing of the past now though.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Sis Kyouka! SIS KYOUKA!!¡± (Mirack)


    I was unable to even pay attention to the Demon Lord in front of me and ran to the fallen Sis Kyouka.


    She was covered in blood and all her limbs were facing irregr directions. Her eyes had no light, and the breathing that was barely holding felt as if it might burn out anytime.


    ...If Sis Kyouka hadn¡¯t covered for me, I would have been the one ending up like this.


    Sis Kyouka...!


    Why...Why did you cover for me!


    As a divine power user, Sis Kyouka is still the one that¡¯s stronger!


    On the other hand, Michael was looking at his own hand that was covered in the blood of Sis with interest.


    ¡°This is the blood of a human huh..... How filthy.¡± (Michael)


    The blood that was on his hands was soon evaporated with the heat of his own body and disappeared without leaving a trace behind.


    ¡°Since ancient times, fire was apparently something used to purify filth. I wonder which one between you or us is the filth that has to be ¡®purified¡¯.¡± (Michael)


    The battle had just begun.

 Chapter 264-265 - Ferocious endurance

    <h4>Chapter 264-265: Ferocious endurance</h4>


    With a single attack, Sis Kyouka had been defeated.


    She is barely alive, but if not treated as soon as possible, her life might burn out at any moment.


    ¡°Medic! MEDIC¡ª!!!¡± (Mirack)


    I called out for a medic, but I soon gulped my breath.


    This is still within the pressure field of Michael. Even if regr folks were to run here, they will simply end up bound.


    Treating an injured is more impossible than a dream.


    ¡°Sis! You can¡¯t die! Please keep breathing! You can¡¯t close your eyes!!¡± (Mirack)


    I desperately tried to keep the consciousness of Sis Kyouka that felt as if it were about to go away.


    ¡°.................Mirack...YOU IDIOT!!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka used all her strength to re back at me.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°Did you forget where you are right now?! The direction you should be facing is to the front!¡± (Kyouka)


    !!


    When I turn my head as Sis Kyouka reprimanded, a giant man big like a mountain was standing there.


    ¡°Michael...!!¡± (Mirack)


    He was already the very representation of despair.


    He looked down at us without saying anything. The moment I noticed that, I knew I messed up.


    What an idiot I was. It was a given that I would be scolded by Sis Kyouka that¡¯s on the verge of death.


    I had my enemy so close, and yet, I was showing my back full of openings.


    If he had swung his fist down at that time, it would have been the end of everything.


    ¡°...Why aren¡¯t you doing anything?¡± (Mirack)


    While covering for Sis Kyouka who was down, I face Michael.


    Even if it turned into a fight, I don¡¯t have the confidence that I would be able tost a second though.


    ¡°I told you already. You have the qualification to be my opponent.¡± (Michael)


    The giant lets out a voice that felt as if it could create a tremor.


    ¡°Monsters are the race that should be the rulers of all things. The summit has to show pride. Getting a victory by taking advantage of the weakness of your opponent in an underhanded manner would make you lower than an insect. It isn¡¯t an action you can take pride in.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Now, my opponent, fight me. In order to judge the fate of our existence, the ones that are my opponents shouldn¡¯t die groveling on the ground but standing. Or will you curl up crying and once again lose the qualification to be my opponent?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°...If I lose it, what will happen?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Of course, I will simply step on you as I would with an insect.¡± (Michael)


    How egoistic!


    It is humiliating, but I managed to stay alive because of his own sense of self-satisfaction huh.


    I decide to provide quick treatment to Sis Kyouka, at least to reduce the bleeding, and then...


    ¡°Ignis Militant corps!!¡± (Mirack)


    Without minding, I call to my allies at the back.


    ¡°Retreat! Retreat!! Move back to a distance where the pressure of the Demon Lord can¡¯t reach, and confront the other monsters from there! The Demon Lord...¡± (Mirack)


    ...The Demon Lord...


    I lost my words for a moment there.


    Don¡¯t cower here! Let it all out!! In one breath!!


    ¡°I will hold back the Demon Lord!! This fire hero Mirack will!!¡± (Mirack)


    Even if those words were a bluff, they served as encouragement to the hearts of the fire militants.


    They dragged their bodies back, and orderly get out of the pressure area of the Demon Lord.


    ¡°You are prioritizing the fight of the army rather than this one huh. Is that the style of you heroes?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°...A hero exists to protect the powerless people from the monsters. If the Demon Lords are the strongest monsters, there¡¯s no other than a hero to defeat them!!¡± (Mirack)


    I take a battle stance and face this giant.


    His pressure continued to attack me, and if I were to let my guard down for a second, I feel like all my joints might break and I would copse.


    But even so, I will stand with the intention of scraping away my lifespan.


    If I get out of this alive, after this fight ends, I think I will end up with a head full of gray hair, but that¡¯s still the better case.


    Because in this fight, the possibility of surviving is a lot lower after all.


    ¡°...You managed to resist my pressure and made the frontline pull back; that was good judgement. But it doesn¡¯t provide an actual solution.¡± (Michael)


    The tone of Michael didn¡¯t show any ridicule or contempt, but there was an overwhelming animosity.


    ¡°It is true that if they fall back, they will be able to escape my pressure. Then, if I do one step forward...¡± (Michael)


    And in reality, he did take one step forward.


    *Doshin!*


    When his feet touched the ground, a heavy sound was let out and it felt as if the ground trembled.


    I unconsciously take one step back at that.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You people will have to take a step back. If you continue doing that, what will happen? In this direction, this so called homnd you should protect is supposed to be there.¡± (Michael)


    It was just as Michael said.


    At our back, there¡¯s thousands of people living in Muspelheim.


    We have to absolutely stop them from reaching there.


    That¡¯s why, in actuality, we shouldn¡¯t be allowed to even take a step back.


    In the first ce, at my back, there¡¯s something that¡¯s closer than Muspelheim; Sis Kyoukays there.


    It took the fire militants their all to get away from the territory of Michael and they didn¡¯t have the leeway to bring Sis along with them.


    I can¡¯t me them.


    That¡¯s how powerful the pressure of this guy is.


    In other words, I have no choice but to defeat Michael without making one more step back.


    There¡¯s no choice but that!


    ¡°Hah...!¡±


    I am the only one here.


    Therades I am always fighting together with are not here today.


    Theirnds are far away from here. There¡¯s no convenient development like theming to my help.


    ......


    Karen, Celestis, Sasae, Hyue; even if we are separated, you give me strength.


    Right.


    ¡°Fire hero, Katack Mirack! Onwards!!¡± (Mirack)


    There¡¯s only one thing I can do against the Demon Lord that is leaps and bounds superior to me.


    Hit him with my strongest attack ¡ªusing all of my strength.


    ¡°Fire fist, Barbarossa! Change my divine power into fire!! A sh that burns stronger than fire!!¡± (Mirack)


    I bend down and pull back my left fist plenty, as if my the fist d in the fire knuckle was pulling a bow.


    After cing plenty enough divine power, I push out my fist at full speed.


    The technique I gained from training with Karen and the others.


    ¡°[Fire Fist Line]!!¡± (Mirack)


    The beam that was released from my fist was the Fire Fist Line!


    The fire divine power that originally holds the strongest area of effect power, instead concentrates the power in a set range and a high temperature attack is possible.


    Fire Fist, pierce through the Demon Lord with this!!


    ¡°Gugh!¡±


    The Fire Fist that stretched from my fist had struck the chest of the Demon Lord directly.


    That much was a given.


    Now all that¡¯s left is whether my Fire Fist will pierce or not through his chest that looked as if it were sturdier than a castle wall!!


    The new technique, Fire Fist Line.


    A technique I created using Karen¡¯s ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯ as reference.


    Rather than taking advantage of the fire¡¯s trait of increasing the range as far as the output gives, you concentrate it at one point and increase its piercing power.


    If we can¡¯t burn it all, pierce a vital point.


    Pierce.


    ¡°PIERCEEEE!!¡± (Mirack)


    The Demon Lord Michael who had received that ¡®Fire Fist Line¡¯ with his chest had lowered his waist and was resisting it; receiving my strongest attack.


    ¡°Gunuuu!!¡± (Michael)


    Stop it.


    Don¡¯t resist it. Quickly get pierced by it.


    From within the techniques I have, this is the technique that holds the strongest offensive power while sacrificing the area of effect.


    If this Fire Fist Line is defeated, there¡¯s essentially no way for me to defeat Michael.


    That¡¯s why, don¡¯t be reserved and just get pierced already!


    ¡°Haah!¡± (Michael)


    My desire was mercilessly broken.


    Michael simply pushed his chest out and repelled my divine power, and the fire fist was turned into small sparks.


    ¡°It was a pretty good attack.¡± (Michael)


    Michael¡¯s chest only had a slight burn mark on it, moreover, that burn soon regenerated and was gone.


    I lost...!


    My brain was filled with that single word.


    There¡¯s already no method for me to defeat Michael.


    ¡°E...Even if humans are eradicated...!¡± (Mirack)


    I say this with a trembling voice.


    ¡°Monsters won¡¯t be able to rule the world. The Mother Monsters are gone! In exchange for giving birth to you Demon Lords!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hoh...¡± (Michael)


    ¡°A living form that can¡¯t procreate can¡¯t be the ruler of nature! The monsters...and you Demon Lords will be thest of your species!¡± (Mirack)


    It waspletely the bark of a losing dog.


    Now that I have lost the way to defeat him, what came out from my mouth were the barks of a sore loser that couldn¡¯t think before speaking. What a pathetic feeling.


    ¡°Do you really think that?¡± (Michael)


    Michael spreads out the fire wings that were basically his symbol and fanned them once.


    ¡°Guh!¡±


    The hot wind that was created from that single p made me cover my face to protect it. Moreover, from inside that hot wind there was something inside. Small specs of dust... ashes?


    ¡°My mother, the Fire Mother Monster, the immortal bird Phoenix used her own body covered in mes to burn herself and was giving birth to monsters from those ashes.¡± (Michael)


    Don¡¯t tell me...!


    The ashes that were send flying from the p of Michael...every ash became bigger, and in time, take the shape of a living being, and begin to operate.


    From each one of the ashes, one fire element monster was born?!


    ¡°We Demon Lords have inherited the trait of our now deceased Mother Monsters, therefore, we Demon Lords will be the source of monster prosperity.¡± (Michael)


    Then...the reason for the bothering mystery of the monsters appearing from nowhere in this battle was because Michael was making them right as they went?!


    The army of monsters that the Ignis militant corps are desperately trying to stop as well.


    Then, this Demon Lord Michael is truly the source of our crisis.


    No matter how many monsters we defeat, as long as we don¡¯t defeat Michael, this won¡¯t make a turn at all!


    ¡°I see that you are out of hands. I as well have taken too much time, and if that Kuromiya Haine were to appear, it would trouble me. Let¡¯s hurry with my job.¡± (Michael)


    At that moment, I noticed another despairing thing.


    The fire element monsters that Michael gave birth to show me were mostly fire bird types.


    It is not on the level of the Phoenix that gave birth to Michael himself, but they were falcon and crow types.


    Meaning that they are going to use flying!


    ¡°W-Wait!¡± (Mirack)


    It was just as I imagined.


    They spread their wings and flew high into the sky towards Muspelheim.


    This means...they are going to fly over the defense line that the Ignis militant corps set up!


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for the winged ones to y along with the people stuck on the ground. I will give a quick sky burial to this so called Muspelheim.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Stop it!!¡± (Mirack)


    I immediately released a [me Burst] and try to burn down all the birds that were about to fly away.


    But the number of birds that Michael created were many and it wasn¡¯t something that only my mes could burn down.


    Moreover...


    ¡°Uwaaa?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Worrying about something else when you are facing me. Should I call that boldness?¡± (Michael)


    That was close!


    I instinctively evaded the fist of Michael.


    If it had hit, it would have ended right that instant.


    While dealing with this Michael that was impossible to defeat, I had to eliminate all the hundreds of small fire birds!


    ...No good.


    A decent amount were already outside my range and were heading to Muspelheim.


    I already have no means to stop them.


    At this rate, the people of Muspelheim will be eaten by them.


    Did I fail in my duty as a hero?!


    But at that moment...!


    *Gooooon!!*


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡±


    A fire dragon bursted far at the back. The fire birds were burned down without leaving a single one behind.


    That technique! And that phrase!!


    ¡°Master?!¡± (Mirack)


    My Master and the Fire Founder; that big frame that doesn¡¯t lose to even the Demon Lord Michael was standing straight with pride.


    ...No, it is not only Master. At his surroundings, there¡¯s uncountable amount of people.


    Could that be...! The whole force of the Ignis Militant corps?!


    ¡°Mirack-oneesama!¡±


    ¡°We havee to save you. Are you okay?!¡±


    ¡°...Arrived like a sh, resolve everything in a sh.¡±


    Even Braidley, ssfin, and Firey were there.


    The people that I ordered to standby at the back, the people that were at the surroundings of Muspelheim and couldn¡¯t make it in time for the gathering; are you telling me they have all gathered in this battlefield?!


    A concentration of all the power?!


    ¡°...That high temperature attack just now was the strongest technique passed down in the Ignis Militant corps, ¡®Grand Melt¡¯...¡±


    From my feet, I heard a weak voice.


    The voice of the heavily injured Sis Kyouka?!


    ¡°It is a joint attack between many fire militants releasing fire divine power together. The more fire militants join, the higher the power.¡± (Kyouka)


    That attack just now was a ¡®Grand Melt¡¯ that utilized the whole of Muspelheim¡¯s Ignis militant corps?


    No wonder it had crazy firepower! It can easily wipe out a flock of birds!


    ¡°...It is obvious, and yet, when I actually see it with my own eyes, it is aweing. With the joint power of the whole fire militants, they can easily surpass the power of a single hero. Why didn¡¯t we notice such a simple thing?¡± (Mirack)


    On top of that, to think that Master who had left the battlefield to be a Founder had joined the fray as well.


    Leaving the current Militant General at his side, Master says his usual words.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡± (Enou)


    That¡¯s right. What am I as a fire hero doing letting my blood freeze in front of a crisis?


    My body has hot burning blood circting.


    That burning blood creates fire divine power!!


    That¡¯s what our Master had taught us in the end to Sis Kyouka and I.


    That¡¯s why, that person always says this...


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡± (Enou)


    ¡°Ignis Militant corps! Begin battle!¡± ¡°Hero-sama! We will also fight!¡± ¡°What¡¯s the point of an army if they don¡¯t protect their homnd!!¡± ¡°Let your blood boil! Heat up your heart!!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get cocky, monsters!!¡± ¡°Watch the stubbornness of humans!!¡±


    The fire militants were plenty hot-blooded as well.


    That heat began to infect the blood in my body as well.


    ¡°...The monsters that I send ahead have been wiped out huh. What an agile bunch.¡± (Michael)


    And within all this, Michael was indifferent.


    You won¡¯t understand.


    This heat that resides within us humans.


    Let there be hot-bloodedness!


    The fight is still not over!

 Chapter 266-267 - All-out battle

    <h4>Chapter 266-267: All-out battle</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    ¡°Fine.¡± (Michael)


    Michael spreads his wings.


    ¡°I will recognize you people as opponents as well. Witness the fearsomeness of a Demon Lord.¡± (Michael)


    And then, the hand of the Demon Lord was directed at the army of people.


    I could feel a terrifying concentration of divine power.


    Is he nning on hitting them with a high power attack?!


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you!!¡± (Mirack)


    I immediately rushed towards Michael.


    ¡°All-Out [me Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    With a fire fist that was charged to the very limits, I punch the hand of Michael that was stretched out.


    Not a single wound was left, but the impact deviated the hand to a different direction, and the big fireball released from it was released basically horizontally.


    ¡°!¡±


    The fireball flew faraway andnds, and that ce was cleanly burned down.


    The st reached all the way here and hit our cheeks.


    ¡°Mirack-oneesama!¡±


    One of the three girls calls me.


    ¡°We will be shooting ¡®Grand Melt¡¯ again! Even if it is the Demon Lord, there¡¯s no way he can endure the ultimate attack of the whole fire militants!¡±


    ¡°But it is a ¡®Grand Melt¡¯ that has several hundreds of people! It will take time to concentrate the divine power!¡±


    ¡°...Onee-sama, please hold back the Demon Lord.¡±


    I see.


    A glimmer of hope was visible in the despair that was covering my whole vision.


    ¡°Understood!! Leave the Demon Lord to me!!¡± (Mirack)


    With my strength, I can¡¯t even injure Michael, but if it¡¯s only holding him back, I will show you I can do it!


    But please finish as soon as possible!


    ¡°Mirack!¡±


    A voice calls out to me.


    At the same time, something hit my leg.


    The moment I looked, I understood what it was and was shocked.


    ¡°Sis Kyouka, this is...!¡± (Mirack)


    It was the right fire fist of Sis Kyouka, Fernando!


    ¡°You use it, Mirack. Against that Demon Lord, one fire fist is not enough.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°But...with my divine power, there¡¯s no way I can fill two fire fists!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Are you still talking like that? Talent doesn¡¯t matter. The current you can disy divine power that¡¯s not inferior to mine.¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka...!


    ¡°Even if the beat-up me were to hold onto them, it would be a waste anyways....... Oi! Someone!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Sis Kyouka calls for the fire militants as she spits out blood.


    ¡°Whoever is fine,e here to retrieve me! Even if my arms and legs can¡¯t move, I can still form divine power! Add my divine power in the ¡®Grand Melt¡¯!!¡± (Kyouka)


    Reacting to that voice, a number of fire militants run here.


    Even in that state, Sis Kyouka was still her usual strong self, I have to show guts as well!


    While feeling Sis Kyouka being moved away, I equip the fire fist on my right hand.


    ¡°Right Fire Fist, Fernando; Left Fire Fist, Barbarossa!!¡± (Mirack)


    With dual fists equipped, I face the giant that possesses fire wings.


    ¡°You are quite the kind Demon Lord for allowing us to move Sis Kyouka and waiting until we finished our preparations.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Your n was so transparent that I felt I should show some consideration here. In other words, you think that if you hold me back until that giant fire dragon attack of just now is ready again, you will be able to defeat me?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. Will you dance with me until the midnight bell rings, prince?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I am no prince, I am a Demon Lord.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°In the end, you are still a monster. Not even riding on the joke!!¡± (Mirack)


    I close the distance from the Demon Lord with quick-footwork, and smash him with a barrage of ming punches that won¡¯t allow him to even breath.


    ...Okay, the dual fire fists are properly working.


    The fire divine power gathered into both of the fire fists were plenty enough to utilize for an attack. But even with that, it couldn¡¯t burn even oneyer of skin of Michael.


    No, that¡¯s fine. My role is to hold him back.


    Now that the hope of ¡®Grand Melt¡¯ has appeared, I will be doing my job at full!


    ¡°Fool. It is impossible to buy time.¡± (Michael)


    Michael once again extends his hand and fixes his target at the Ignis Militant corps that had already begun gathering their divine power.


    ¡°Because by just giving one attack to that bunch of humans there, everything will end after all.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°And I am here to stop you from doing that!¡± (Mirack)


    I connect a hook punch onto the stretched arm of his and that made his arm be directed from the front to the side, and from it, a fireball was shot again to a different location.


    ¡°To think that you would repeat the same mistake. As expected of a monster.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°......I see.¡± (Michael)


    Even when provoking him, Michael didn¡¯t change his expression.


    ¡°For arge scale divine power attack, there¡¯s the need for at least a second of charge. You don¡¯t let that escape from you. It is impossible for you to deal damage, but you can crumble my posture and make me miss.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is. You won¡¯t be able to attack the fire militants unless you pass through my corpse!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I wonder about that.¡± (Michael)


    Michael¡¯s wings were pped twice, and ashes were scattered about.


    ¡°You...!!¡± (Mirack)


    Those ashes were visibly changing into fire element monsters.


    Wolves, goats, and tigers.


    ¡°As a decorum, I myself will be your opponent. Monsters that are my limbs, devour the weaklings!¡± (Michael)


    This is bad!!


    The hundreds of fire beasts passed by me and were heading towards the fire militants.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!¡± (Enou)


    Master told me to not get flustered.


    ¡°Divide in two corps! The frontline will be the wall and confront the monsters! Don¡¯t let them touch a single finger of the ¡®Grand Melt¡¯ team!!¡±


    ¡°Defend to thest! We won¡¯t let a single one past us!¡±


    ¡°Move back your group! Keep the defense team to a minimum! Don¡¯t let the power of ¡®Grand Melt¡¯ fall!!¡±


    Everyone is fighting.


    It is a fight with all the fire militants.


    The angry roars of humans and monsters could be heard here and there, and fire that surpassed those sounds was soaring around.


    Humans that control fire divine power and fire element monsters; an all-out battle between both sides.


    It was truly worthy of calling it a heated battle.


    And within that, I was at the very front, fighting against the Demon Lord that with a single hit everything is over.


    I was burning more than ever before.


    ¡°Everyone! We are all one! All as one under the Fire God, Nova!!¡± (Mirack)


    There¡¯s no way we will lose against monsters that have no God to pray to!!


    ¡°I wonder about that.¡± (Michael)


    The punch of Michael increased in speed.


    ¡°This is the end.¡± (Michael)


    The uppercut of Michael connected right in the middle of my body. A terrifying heat and power could be felt even before it reached me.


    I managed to defend with both of my arms, but the force was too much, I could feel my arms were screaming in pain and felt my legs lifting up from the ground, about to be sent flying...but before that, I had to show my gratitude.


    ¡°Gugh! Thanks.¡± (Mirack)


    Right at that moment, I told that to Michael.


    ¡°Thanks to you, I didn¡¯t have to die together with you.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°?!¡±


    My conversation with Michael was cut off at that moment. Due to the punch he had dealt, I was send flying at the speed of a bullet.


    ¡°You intentionally got yourself hit?!¡± (Michael)


    I couldn¡¯t hear what he was saying because it was already too faraway!


    My body was send flying all the way to where the Ignis militant corps were.


    I was received by a number of fire militants and I immediately shouted.


    ¡°Right now!! Release ¡®Grand Melt¡¯!!!¡± (Mirack)


    The preparations had ended.


    Abined attack with the share of hundreds of fire militants!


    Burn down, Demon Lord Michael!!


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!!¡±


    With the order of the Fire Founder, the lump of fire that was expanded to its very limits was released.


    That was thest trump card that had all the divine power of the fire militants that could be collected.


    The strongest ultimate attack of the Ignis militant corps, ¡®Grand Melt¡¯.


    A joint attack that takes more than 2 fire militants to release.


    And the one this time has the power of hundreds of fire militants.


    If you get directly hit by it, no matter if you are the Demon Lord...


    ¡°Oooh!!¡± (Michael)


    This is the first time I have heard the panicked voice of Michael.


    That¡¯s good, get even more panicked.


    The giant fire dragon made up of the divine power of several hundreds of fire militants also has arge area of effect.


    Even if you were to fly away now with those prided wings of yours, you won¡¯t be able to escape it!


    ¡°You lost, Demon Lord Michael!!¡± (Mirack)


    I unconsciously shouted this.


    This giant fire dragon that has all our power in it was burning down the small fry monsters while on its way...and finally engulfed Michael!


    ¡°Raaaaa!!!¡± (Michael)


    It was a direct hit. A clean hit.


    Michael was in the middle of the burning red fire. It was as if a sun had been thrown at him.


    No matter if he is the Fire Demon Lord, there should be a limit to how much temperature he can endure.


    There¡¯s no doubt he has a limit!


    ¡°¡±Don¡¯t endure! Be ashes just like that!!¡± (Mirack)


    I overwatch the fate of Michael as I basically pray.


    I will say it as many times as needed.


    Burn just like that and be ashes!!


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate meeeee!!¡± (Michael)


    Suddenly, a strong st of hot wind attacks us.


    My whole body was hit with a heat akin to fire and speed like that of a storm, and everyone in the fire militants including me couldn¡¯t take it and shrunk our bodies because of it.


    A st had hit us.


    It was a st that was released from Michael who was supposed to be burning inside the giant fire dragon.


    That guy had repelled the giant fire dragon that covered his whole body with a wave of fire he released.


    The giant fire dragon became the fuel of the st and scattered everywhere.


    ¡°Impossible!!¡± (Mirack)


    Michael had...! All by himself released a divine power attack that surpassed the joint strength of all the fire militants?!


    ¡°...That just now got me a bit a worried.¡± (Michael)


    Michael says this while his breathing was rough and smoke came out from his body.


    ¡°To think that you would gather the power of hundreds when you couldn¡¯t match me alone in order to bring me down. But it is truly a shame!!¡± (Michael)


    The giant says this as if roaring.


    ¡°The divine power of I -the Lord of Monsters- won¡¯t be matched by simply a few hundreds of you mere humans!!¡± (Michael)


    The aura that surged out from him had attacked the fire militants in the entire battlefield.


    This was even harsher than the st that urred a few moments ago.


    A number of fire militants had their psyches broken by this and fell to their knees.


    ¡°I-It is over!!¡± ¡°Even an attack with all our powersbined didn¡¯t work!¡± ¡°There¡¯s already no method to defeat him anymore!¡± ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness...¡±


    Losing heart is natural...but even with that...


    ¡°Don¡¯t give up!!¡± (Mirack)


    I let out my own roar towards my army ¡ªas the fire hero.


    ¡°It is true that the attack just now wasn¡¯t enough to defeat the Demon Lord...but it wasn¡¯t as if it had no effect!!¡± (Mirack)


    The fire militants that were about to lose heart were looking at me with a face that was saying ¡®what are you talking about?¡¯.


    ¡°Look! His body is filled with burns, and his prided wings are disarrayed! Even the fire wave that he used to repel the ¡®Grand Melt¡¯ should have expended quite a lot of divine power!!¡± (Mirack)


    It is embarrassing, but my attacks couldn¡¯t even scratch Michael. But an attack with all of us together has finally managed to injure the Demon Lord!


    That is a brilliant achievement!!


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, let¡¯s present him with as many ¡®Grand Melts¡¯ until we copse! There¡¯s no time to be getting scared. Charge your divine power again! Prepare the next shot of ¡®Grand Melt¡¯!¡± (Mirack)


    We haven¡¯t lost. The battle begins from now!


    ¡°Fire God Nova is looking over us! We are going to do a battle that doesn¡¯t bring shame to our God. Until we grasp victory in our hands!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡± (Enou)


    Master answered my roar with another roar, and the gathering of divine power began once again.


    Now that it hase to this, we will be shing guts here.


    The strongest attack of the Ignis Militant corps, ¡®Grand Melt¡¯, obviously expends quite a lot of energy. That¡¯s why it is whether the Demon Lord will fall, or we fall.


    Let¡¯s see which one falls first!!


    ¡°I will once again go hold the Demon Lord back! I am leaving the rest to you people!!¡± (Mirack)


    I run and charge towards the Demon Lord again.


    But...!


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Guwa?!¡±


    I was send flying as I charged.


    Michael had tackled me away and was also charging towards our side.


    ¡°I apud your utmost efforts! But there¡¯s no reason for me to y along with you people all the way! More so in a battle where time is limited to the moment when Kuromiya Haine arrives. I can¡¯t pull my hand any longer!!¡± (Michael)


    This is bad!!


    Michael had broke through me and was going to invade the lines of the fire militants!


    ¡°I will bring this to a melee and thoroughly break your lines!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°No! Wait!!¡± (Mirack)


    At this rate, there will be a mountain of corpses in the blink of an eye by the very hands of the Demon Lord!


    (What are you doing, you lowlife!)


    Eh?!


    (Make the group of humans divide to the sides to evade it!)


    What¡¯s with this voice? No, right now...!


    ¡°Fire militants!! Split formation! Evade to the sides!!¡± (Mirack)


    Maybe because of our regr training, the Ignis Militant corps quickly separate to the sides.


    From that opened up space, a line of high heat beam sted in between it.


    ¡°What?!¡± (Michael)


    The fire beam hits Michael.


    It didn¡¯t deal damage, but the Demon Lord had to stop his feet in order to defend.


    ¡°A heat beam? Another divine power user in the human side?¡± (Michael)


    But the one lumbering from in between the opened up space of people was not a human.


    It was a cow.


    (...)


    The past Fire Cow Phris that was our worst enemy in the past...had appeared in this battlefield?!

 Chapter 268-269 - Fire God stands

    <h4>Chapter 268-269: Fire God stands</h4>


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    Fire Cow Phris.


    That was the giant monster that troubled us in Muspelheim heavily in the past.


    That giant frame, skin harder than steel, and the high heating from its whole body had changed a whole area into and where humans couldn¡¯t live in.


    But that guy had been defeated by Haine and Karen¡¯s help, and for some reason, its big body had turned small, to the size of a calf.


    On top of that, in a strange twist of events, the Fire Church ended up keeping him as a pet and continues to live there till today.


    And yet, why is that Fire Cow Phris here right now?!


    Wasn¡¯t he returned to the Grand Fire Sanctuary by the staff due to the emergency situation?!


    ¡°A monster?¡± (Michael)


    The Fire Demon Lord Michael couldn¡¯t not get confused at the sudden arrival of someone of his kind in the side of the enemy.


    ¡°Moreover, fire element... Brethren of mine, where did youe from? Moreover, you attacked me?¡± (Michael)


    That¡¯s right!


    The one who stopped the charge of Michael was that heat beam.


    It is the technique that Phris used in the past when fighting against Haine.


    It was a thin beam that can¡¯t bepared to the time when he was as big as a mountain though.


    If it¡¯s in his current size...I can understand...


    ¡°What is the meaning of this? I am the Fire Demon Lord. The leader of all fire element monsters; your master. And yet, you attacked me. Don¡¯t you understand the hierarchy?¡± (Michael)


    Michael was showing the anger of a king towards Phris.


    The Demon Lord, and the monsters aside from the Demon Lord; that is most likely the first time hierarchy was created within the monsters.


    But...!


    (...Hmph, a mere beast is barking.)


    Eh?


    Again this voice.


    (Who is the one that is getting conceited, you big idiot. Who do you think is the one that created you fire beasts? Forgetting your gratitude towards your creator, you evolved arbitrarily, and not only that, you are treating your creator as a vassal? An idiot among idiots. It is so stupid I am shocked.)


    What¡¯s with this voice?


    I have been hearing it intermittently for a while now. Moreover, it looks like it is holding anger towards Michael.


    ¡°Oi, what is this voice...?!¡± (Mirack)


    Unable to endure it, I call the fire militants that were close to me, but...


    ¡°Eh? What is it, Hero-sama?¡±


    ¡°As I said, there¡¯s a voice, right? It feels as if it is resonating directly in my head!¡± (Mirack)


    But what came back from this fire militant was a face of confusion.


    ...Am I the only one who hears this voice?


    From what I see, it looks like Michael can¡¯t hear this voice either.


    So I really am the only one who hears it?


    ¡°Disappear.¡± (Michael)


    The Lord orders the cow.


    ¡°A lower form trying to go against its Lord, normally, I wouldn¡¯t let something like that go, but right now, I am currently waging war against a more important opponent. I don¡¯t have the time to waste on dealing with you. Disappear at once. Leave. Before my anger turns into action.¡± (Michael)


    (You don¡¯t understand, you really don¡¯t understand... You pseudo-lifeform with no soul.)


    This voice is...having a conversation with the Demon Lord?


    (Who is the one who will be judging who? You...or me?)


    But Michael didn¡¯t react to that voice at all.


    It is as if the voice was one-sidedly speaking.


    (This tool that was only created to be of use to me has grown quite conceited. Demon Lord, you say? The new ruler of the surface world? Did I ask for you mere monsters to be more than what you were? When did I give you such authority? Acting as you wish with no permission. There¡¯s no way I will forgive such insolence!!)


    This voice held overwhelming anger!


    (That arrogance, that arbitrariness; whose the one that angered the superior one? This pissess me off. It really pissess me off. You piss me off more than humans do!)


    W-What is this?


    Divine power welled up from Phris.


    (The humans are also an unforgivable impietyful bunch, but...in terms of amount, you are leaps and bounds more. That¡¯s why I have stepped in. If you don¡¯t understand, I have to teach you. The kind of punishment you receive when angering a God!!)


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Oooh?!¡±


    ¡°Ooooooooh?!¡±


    The ones that raised voice of surprise and confusion were the fire militants that were watching from the surroundings.


    Their gazes that were looking down were steadily rising up ¡ªmatching the gigantification of the target of attention.


    In other words...the Fire Cow Phris had grown giant.


    Into the giant and fiendish monster that took authority of the Radona mountain range.


    It was as if the dignity of that time had revived exactly as it was before.


    ¡°Hoh, you became bigger.¡± (Michael)


    Michael was also one of the people that raised his gaze, but his voice was calm.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?!¡± (Mirack)


    The very culprit of making Phris small, Haine, said that he had no ability to fight anymore!


    ¡°Oi, this...!¡± ¡°It is all over now!¡± ¡°Not only the Demon Lord, even the Fire Cow!¡±


    Voices of anxiety and fear were reverberating in the surroundings.


    That is understandable. In the past, the worst enemy of the Fire Church was not the Demon Lord, but Phris after all.


    It wasn¡¯t only one fire militant that was reminded of those hellish days after seeing that big frame of Phris.


    But...


    ¡°Everyone, don¡¯t falter!¡± (Mirack)


    I ended up shouting instinctively.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to worry about Phris. We will be fighting the Demon Lord just like we were! The n continues! Hurry the next shot of ¡®Grand Melt¡¯!¡± (Mirack)


    Even I didn¡¯t understand well why I said that.


    But I felt as if that voice had told me ¡ªthe cow is currently our ally.


    (Now, greenhorn Demon Lord! I will personally teach the young and ignorant you! The harshness of a God¡¯s anger!!)


    A red light surges from the wide open mouth of Phris.


    ([Big Heat Beam]!)


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡±


    The strongest attack that the cow had shown in the fight at the Radona mountain range.


    When that was shot at the faraway Muspelheim, if Haine hadn¡¯t stopped it from the front, the city would have been destroyedpletely.


    ¡°Uwaaaaa!!¡±


    ¡°Hiiieeee! We are going to die!!¡±


    The terrifying energy it gave out had scared a number of fire militants though!


    ¡°Don¡¯t falter! Look carefully at where the cow is aiming at!!¡± (Mirack)


    That¡¯s right.


    The ce where that cow had aimed at with his ¡®heat beam¡¯ was only at the Demon Lord Michael.


    (DIEEEEEEEEE!!)


    The giant lined ze that was shot from the mouth of the cow had gone straight and hit Michael.


    ¡°Guuuuh!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael had received it and was showing more pain than anytime today.


    Or more like, the ¡®heat beam¡¯ should have enough power to destroy Muspelheim whole, and yet, Michael got a direct hit and hasn¡¯t disappeared. That¡¯s just crazy.


    ...In this battlefield, there¡¯s already nothing but crazy.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this?¡± ¡°A monster is fighting a monster?¡± ¡°That cow is saving us?¡± ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡±


    That¡¯s what it means.


    It is true that that cow has been treated by the people as a popr figure, but a monster is a monster. Everyone thought from the depths of their heart that this nature wouldn¡¯t change.


    (Don¡¯t misunderstand, humans!!)


    That voice again!


    From where is iting from?! Who is it?! <Mirack must be a special cookie...>


    (Humans and monsters are equal trash. Foolish and haughty people that don¡¯t revere me! What¡¯s the problem in punishing those kind of people!! That is the privilege of a creator of this world! Isn¡¯t that right, Entropy?!)


    This voice...


    As I thought! Is it really the voice of that cow?!


    (Listen you fools! And Entropy, Intion, Quasar! What¡¯s that about humans being great! What about having infinite possibilities! It is obvious that I am the one that is better than everyone else!!)


    ¡°This is...!¡± (Mirack)


    I have somewhat understood it now.


    Some kind of strange energy ising inside the body of the cow.


    Is that energy what made it possible for Phris to return?


    It made it that big after having deted that much?


    ¡°That energy...just from where?¡± (Mirack)


    It looks like I am the only one who can see that energy.


    Just what in the world is going on with my eyes and ears?!


    At any rate, the infinite energy that is entering Phris...if I trace its origin...Muspelheim?


    It ising from the city?


    That energy stream looks like big branches at a nce, but when I strain my eyes to see properly, thin and small streams joined together and became one big stream.


    Every small thin stream, all thousands became a giant stream. On top of that, if I concentrate, from inside that stream, I can hear the voice of someone?


    {Please help us.}


    !


    {...Please help us, Fire God Nova-sama.}


    This is?!


    {Fire God Nova-sama, please grant us salvation.}


    {Please provide divine protection to the fire militants that are valiantly fighting!}


    {Damn it, if I were ten years younger, I would have been able to fight together with them!}


    {I can only pray. That¡¯s why...}


    {Please save us, Nova-sama!} {Fire God Nova-sama!} {Please grant us salvation!} {Please help the hero and the fire militants.} {Nova-sama.} {Fire God-sama.} {Fire God Nova-sama.}


    These are the prayers of people?!


    Prayers be the energy to Phris and it is poured into him!


    Because of that he became bigger and regained his past strength?!


    Muspelheim should have notified of the emergency already and the city should be in martialw right now. Everyone is most likely enduring patiently this cmity.


    The thing people that can¡¯t fight and the people that can¡¯t move can do is...only to pray.


    (What a self-convenient bunch!)


    And once again the voice of that cow.


    (Relying on me only at times like this. You only pray to me when you are troubled. You forgot about me when you were soaked by that thing called ethereal and only remember me when you are in problems!)


    That¡¯s...!


    (And yet...And yet why is it that I am still in this cow form?)


    Eh?


    (If I wanted to return, I would have been able to do anytime. I could have left this body that has no purpose anymore and return to the honorable heavens. Why did I stay here? Because the food was good? Because the stupid faces of the humansing to see me everyday were amusing? Was it because the idiot Entropy began to get impatient after these so called Demon Lords appeared?)


    ¡°Guuugh!¡±


    ...?!


    Wait, there¡¯s no way!


    Michael is walking slowly forward while being hit by the ¡®Heat Beam¡¯ of Phris!


    ¡°No matter how big you are, there¡¯s no way an ordinary monster can defeat a Demon Lord!¡± (Michael)


    Damn it!


    ¡°Ignis Militant corps! Hurry the preparation of Grand Melt!! Provide assistance to Phris!!¡± (Mirack)


    I also want to assist, but my me Burst alone will simply be dispersed by the waves of the ¡®Heat Beam¡¯ of Phris and won¡¯t reach the Demon Lord.


    Am I this powerless?!


    (Like hell I will acknowledge it! I won¡¯t!!)


    And the cow roars along with his ¡®Heat Beam¡¯.


    (It is not only now! The humans always felt my presence! The daily gratitude, the small changes in emotion, the hatred, the anger; there was always a bit of God in them!! No matter the time, there was your God in the heart of the humans! I won¡¯t acknowledge it! There¡¯s no way I will acknowledge that I have understood this for the first time after involving myself with the humans!!)


    What is that cow saying?!


    He is getting confused. There¡¯s no way he can concentrate on his attack with such a chaotic heart!


    It is a given that the strength of the Heat Beam would lower with that.


    What are you doing? Get a grip of yourself. You are the only one who can hold back Michael right now!!


    ¡°Do your best!!¡± (Mirack)


    I reflexively let those words out.


    Faster than my heart could think of it.


    ¡°What are you doing?! Get ahold of yourself! Fight on, Phris! Don¡¯t lose to the Demon Lord!!¡± (Mirack)


    My voice began to resound in the surroundings.


    ¡°...That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, do your best!! Please do so!!¡± ¡°Grand Melt will soon be ready! Stand your ground until then!!¡± ¡°If we win this battle, I will let you eat a mountain of carrots!!¡± ¡°Do your best Phris! Do your best together with us!!¡±


    The people were sending cheers of support to a monster.


    Has something like this ever happened?


    But no matter the case, in order to ovee this despairing situation, we have no choice but to do our best together with that cow!


    Together with that cow!!


    And...the encouragement didn¡¯t onlye from us.


    ¡°Do your best, Phris!¡±


    That voice...was way too light and young to be that of a fire militant¡¯s.


    To the point that it could be called childish.


    When I see...there was a child?


    At the back of Phris where Muspelheim is, there was a child standing there. Moreover, he is not alone. There¡¯s several hundreds?!


    ¡°What¡¯s with those children?!¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t the city made to evacuate?!¡± ¡°Someone! Drive away those children!!¡± ¡°If an attack strays to them, it won¡¯t end with a simple wound!!¡±


    What the fire militants were saying was understandable.


    But I soon thought this.


    The ones that were the happiest in that city since the time that cow came to the city were the children. Because children love animals after all.


    He is slightly more intelligent than normal animals, and this cow that exuded lovability was popr with the children.


    And that popr cow is now fighting in order to protect them.


    That¡¯s why they couldn¡¯t stay idle and ended uping all the way here. Are even the children hot-blooded in Muspelheim?!


    ¡°Phris, do your best!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lose!¡± ¡°Defeat those monsters!¡± ¡°Phris!¡± ¡°Phris!¡±


    The wish of the children, their trust, was bing energy and entering that cow.


    (I won¡¯t acknowledge it! Like hell I will!!)


    And then, Phris continues to scream.


    While releasing a Heat Beam, for some reason, he shouts in a voice only I can hear.


    I don¡¯t know why only I can hear that voice, but there¡¯s something I understand. It is not only the voice of that cow. Deep inside of him, there¡¯s a vibrationing from something that seems to be a soul and it went all the way to me.


    That vibration of the soul...felt like emotions.


    The emotions of the soul were trembling.


    Saying that it is happy.


    Happy that he is being prayed by humans, happy that humans are relying on him, happy that humans know of his existence; surprised that having connections with someone else would create such happiness.


    The trembling of the heart of humans was resonating with the trembling of the cow¡¯s heart and created a bigger vibration.


    A vibration strong enough to make the whole world tremble.


    (Like hell I will acknowledge it!!!!)


    The Heat Beam increased in thickness and it began to rival Michael¡¯s.


    ¡°Uoooo!!¡± (Michael)


    Everyone was bing one and fighting the Demon Lord.


    This whole city is...

 Chapter 270-272 - The decision of Mirack

    <h4>Chapter 270-272: The decision of Mirack</h4>


    But...


    Just what is this Demon Lord that is rivaling Phris shooting a Heat Beam with the emotions of the people of the city?


    In reality, it wouldn¡¯t be strange to be turned into ashes the moment it hit you...no, with that firepower, he should have been turned into ashes.


    It is an overwhelming amount of power, and yet...why is that guy able to endure such an attack by himself?


    Michael had crossed both arms to the front and continued to block the Heat Beam with his whole divine power, but the very fact that he is able to block it is already nightmarish.


    Why is he able to repel all the power of us humans all by himself?!


    ¡°...Don¡¯t get conceited, humans.¡± (Michael)


    The voice of the Demon Lord made me quiver.


    ¡°And you mysterious beast that takes the side of humans...I have somewhat understood now. Even if you are a monster just like us, you are different from us in foundation; you are something else.¡± (Michael)


    He faces Phris and says this.


    ¡°You people have gathered many numbers...continued gathering...¡± (Michael)


    Michael left a space as if searching for words, and then says...


    ¡°I can tell that you are all smashing your power at me as if centering your target. If youe at me with numbers, defeating me shouldn¡¯t be difficult, is what you must be thinking. But you can¡¯t be further from reality!¡± (Michael)


    At the same time, those words were directed at me?


    ¡°If it is about the unification of the race, I am also the same. It has been a hundred years since monsters appeared in this world. In that time, how many monsters were born and killed?¡± (Michael)


    That¡¯s...


    Several thousands? Maybe millions?


    ¡°The destination of all those dead monsters...was me! The summit that was born from the death of millions, there¡¯s no way a few thousand of you humans will be able to break through me!!¡± (Michael)


    Oi, wait! You must be kidding!


    That Michael is pushing through the Heat Beam of Phris as if he were going upstream!!


    Not only is he not getting pinned in ce by that heat, he is actually pushing it back?!


    (Y-You...!)


    The distance between the Demon Lord and Phris was shortening steadily!


    This is bad!


    ¡°Master! Is the preparation of Grand Melt still not done yet?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    Damn it, it will take it a bit more!


    The fire militants were divided in two with the arrival of Phris, the right-wing and left-wing were each making a Grand Melt, and were preparing to shoot from both sides.


    The power will be halved, but we can m the Demon Lord with two big fire dragons from both sides.


    Grand Melt from the sides by the fire militants, and a Heat Beam from the front by Phris!


    (Guuooo!! As I thought,pensating the ¡®Fire God Path¡¯ destroyed by Entropy with just the prayers of humans is just...!!)


    ¡°Looks like you are at your limit huh. Then, I will begin the blood fest with you.¡± (Michael)


    In the blink of an eye, Michael had arrived right in front of Phris.


    Just like in the past with Haine, he was once again being beaten up by Michael.


    (Guaagh!)


    ¡°Too bad, but there¡¯s not much time I can take on you. I will be crushing you right this instant!¡± (Michael)


    *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam! *Bam!*


    The hammer punch that felt as if it could destroy a castle wall was hitting Phris continuously.


    With that, he won¡¯t be able to shoot a Heat Beam again. Even if he could, at such close range, it would...!


    ¡°Mirack-oneesama!¡±


    ¡°The preparations for both shots of Grand Melt are ready!¡±


    Braidley and ssfin came to tell me, but with Michael and Phris in such close proximity of each other, we will end up hitting them both.


    ¡°...Damn it! What am I hesitating for?!¡± (Mirack)


    In the first ce, Phris should be a hated monster as well, right?!


    But it looks like there were others with conflicting feelings like mine, and the Grand Melt that had taken so much effort was still hovering in the air.


    (What are you doing, you idiots! Shoot those fireworks already!!)


    Eh?


    (The small girl over there! Looks like Intion has done something to you. If you can hear my voice, quickly take me out with him! Burn this conceited fried chicken bastard together with me!)


    Then, the owner of this voice is actually you, Phris!


    But you...!


    (This body is just a temporal one anyways! When destroyed, my soul will simply return to its rightful ce. I would be relieved to be released from this noisy lower-bound world!)


    !


    (Also, this problematic giant man, after punching for two or three more times, I feel like I will sink. Seriously, what strength. It surpasses the expectations of even his creator!)


    ...!!


    What has to be done has been decided.


    Phris won¡¯t be able to hang on any longer. That¡¯s why there¡¯s one thing that should be done.


    I run from my ce and rush towards Michael.


    ¡°Haaaaaah!!¡± (Mirack)


    Using that momentum, I punch him on the face.


    As always, there was no damage, but I managed to stop his pummeling of Phris.


    ¡°You...¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Have you gone senile, Demon Lord Michael! I am your opponent!!¡± (Mirack)


    I went in between Michael and Phris, and push out my fist.


    (You...You idiot!!!)


    This cow, to think that he had such a rotten tongue.


    But don¡¯t underestimate humans. Owing you such a big one, there¡¯s no way my pride as a human will allow me to bid farewell like this.


    As a follower of the Fire God Nova, as someone who fights shouldering the prestige of Nova-sama, there¡¯s no way I would act in a way that would lower his name with such ack of duty and resolve!


    ¡°......But well...¡± (Mirack)


    As expected, I will be dying with this.


    It has been a chain of unexpected events so I was about to forget it but, the difference between Michael and I is on a level that can¡¯t be done anything about.


    I don¡¯t think I canst a single instant upfront against him.


    (...What a hopeless one.)


    Eh?


    (I thought I wouldn¡¯t be doing as Intion wanted no matter what, but now that it hase to this, it can¡¯t be helped. The preparations for that have already been done after all. That¡¯s why you can hear my voice.)


    Huh?


    What do you mean?


    (Intion must have done something when we were at the Wind capital. It means that preparations for you to receive a part of me have already been done. In that case, just turn already!!)


    Turn? Into what?


    (Into the Fire God Hero!!)


    ¡°That¡¯s as far as you go!¡± (Michael)


    Michael¡¯s tone was filled with certainty of his victory.


    ¡°The desperate efforts of humans that surpassed expectations. This was a battle that I also learned a lot from. But I have to finish it already. My victoryes with the eradication of you humans.¡± (Michael)


    I couldn¡¯t say anything.


    Instead of an answer, I presented him a punch.


    My punch that until now had not been able to hurt Michael¡¯s body even once until now.


    Michael must also know that as well, he didn¡¯t show signs of reacting and simply took on the punch with his face.


    And then...


    ¡°Guaaa?!¡± (Michael)


    The impact made the Demon Lord retreat three steps back.


    The Demon Lord wobbled!


    ¡°What?! What was that strength just now?¡± (Michael)


    The Demon Lord mutters out of confusion.


    ¡°It waspletely different from the ones until now! Are you telling me a human has dealt an attack strong enough to push back a Demon Lord?! A mere human?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Hoh, that¡¯s unexpected.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°?!¡±


    My words made Michael react.


    ¡°What do you mean by unexpected?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°I just thought that a Demon Lord is actually a different existence from monsters. To think that a monster could bleed.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Moreover, it is the same red blood as us.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°?!!¡±


    Michael was letting out blood from his nose due to the punch he received.


    Bright red blood from that crushed nose of his.


    He must have noticed the wet sensation himself. Michael touched below his nose and was stunned by the red liquid smeared there.


    ¡°Blood?! Impossible! I was injured?! I, a Demon Lord that stands as the summit of monsters, has been injured by the attack of a mere human?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s reality.¡± (Mirack)


    If you can¡¯t ept that reality, you will be receiving a lot more injuries from now on.


    By the hands of this Katack Mirack that has been powered up by something I don¡¯t understand!


    (It is not a hard to understand power! By obtaining a part of a God, you have obtained power close to that of a God. Also, you are not a hero! Right now you are an existence that has be one with a God ¨C a God Hero!)


    The cow is making a ruckus in the back.


    The moment I received something from him, I obtained a power I have never experienced before and it flowed inside my body.


    I was pushed by that power and, when I tried swinging my fist, I easily send the Demon Lord flying.


    Incredible...overwhelming. This sense of enhancement that felt as if I am not me anymore.


    If it is now, I feel like I can defeat even a Demon Lord!


    (Even if you have gotten stronger, don¡¯t get cocky! T-This is tough! To think that there would be so much burden to the God when the God Hero is activated! It was a system that only the God gets the burden of the human prayer energy?!)


    It looks like the cow is quickly losing breath, but it is true that I have now kind of understood ¡ªthe reason why I got stronger.


    The heart power that was being poured into the cow until now, was being poured into me through the cow.


    So this is the reason for the power-up.


    Right now, I am using the emotions of people and turning them into power.


    ¡°Oooooh!!¡± (Mirack)


    Fire bursts out from my body along with my roar.


    It was as if each pore in my body had be a crater.


    The bursting out me stayed around my body like a veil -as if I myself had be fire.


    It was already not only in power, even my looks had changed to something that had surpassed a hero.


    This is the so called a hero close to a God that the cow talks about? The God Hero?!


    With the mes dding my body, the burst speed I received increased as well. I take one step and the sole of my feet exploded, giving me a boost.


    ¡°Guuugh?!¡± (Michael)


    This time, a punch to the stomach.


    Being hit, Michael once again does five steps back.


    ¡°What in the world is going on?! Why did a human get such a sudden increase in power?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°I will teach you one thing about humans! Humans are incredibly stubborn!¡± (Mirack)


    Persisting over and over, no matter how dire the situation, eventually this leads to a new path.


    We have been saved many times in the past like that.


    Along with myrades, my benefactors, and the many weak people I must protect!


    ¡°Right now, my body has an uncountable amount of human emotions flowing in me. Those emotions are changing into power and making me stronger. Demon Lord Michael ¡ªit is a strength powerful enough to defeat you!¡± (Mirack)


    I wouldn¡¯t have been able to reach such power if I was still my past self, who only thought about getting stronger alone.


    Karen had corrected my error.


    Celestis, Sasae, and Hyue walked together with me.


    Master and Sis Kyouka acknowledged a conceited junior like me.


    That¡¯s why I was able to get all the way here.


    (Please remember that it was because of my help!)


    The emotions of the cow were also flowing into me, but there¡¯s a more pressing matter right now.


    ¡°Demon Lord Michael, I already won¡¯t lose to you!¡± (Mirack)


    I will win. I must win.


    That¡¯s all there is to it.


    The emotions of the people ¨Chope, trust, expectations, courage¨C all of those were changing directly into strength and won¡¯t allow me to fall.


    The wishes of the people are passing through me and were directly filling me.


    ¡°They are imploring me to defeat you and to save them from peril!¡± (Mirack)


    Their wishes took form, and I will make them reality.


    That¡¯s what a God Hero is.


    ¡°Mirack-oneesama, incredible!¡±


    ¡°Just what in the world is going on?¡±


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness?¡± (Enou)


    It looks like the Fire Militants in the battlefield also couldn¡¯t help but get dumbfounded by this sudden development.


    Sis Kyouka, Master, the three girls, and the other fire militants had already finished the preparations of Grand Melt a long time ago and were stiffened just like that.


    But that¡¯s fine. Just let those emotions boil and watch Katack Mirack defeat the Demon Lord!


    (What you are receiving as a God Hero is not only the prayers of humans towards a God, but prayers to yourself. The trust and expectations from the people towards you as a hero are poured into your body as energy and turned into power!)


    The cow says.


    (God and hero, the emotions of humansing from these two symbols be one! That power is not on the level of a few hundreds! It is on the level of tens of thousands! That¡¯s why it is possible for a God Hero to hold power close to that of a God! ...In exchange, the emotions of fear, jealousy, and envy all go to the God instead though...ah, this is tough...)


    It looks like he is in pain, but what he means is that while I am in this form, the cow will be in incredible pain.


    It also means that he won¡¯t be able to maintain it for long.


    I have to seal the fight immediately.


    ¡°...Fine.¡± (Michael)


    One step, two steps, three steps...


    Michael walks forward as if recovering the steps he was made to retreat. And then, he was once again in front of me.


    He stood tall, covering my whole vision with that big body of his.


    ¡°You again seem to be worthy of being taken seriously. On the same level as that Kuromiya Haine.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°So you are treating me the same as him huh.¡± (Mirack)


    I suppose I will take that as an honor.


    ¡°I am the Demon Lord!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael yells.


    ¡°Standing at the summit of all monsters, I will open up a new era for monsters, the leader of the demons! The fire Demon Lord that rules over the fire inside of you, Michael!!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°¡°¡°?!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    All the people there curled their bodies at the voice that was akin to that of an explosion.


    The vibrations in the air caused by his voice felt as if they were hitting my cheeks.


    Well, not felt, it literally did.


    And everyone there thought this ¡®we knew a long time ago who this guy is¡¯...that¡¯s why we are all getting confused.


    Why is he stating this again now when we already know that?


    ¡°...¡±


    I soon understood why.


    ¡°...I am Katack Mirack. The fire hero chosen by the Fire Church, Katack Mirack!!¡± (Mirack)


    I have not introduced myself to Michael once yet.


    Because of my own feeling of weakness, I didn¡¯t have the qualification to.


    The reason why Michael introduced himself was due to the most basic etiquette when asking the name of the other party.


    I have finally gained the qualification for my name to be reminded by the Demon Lord.


    ¡°Then, Katack Mirack...¡± (Michael)


    The Lord of burning wing mes speaks my name for the first time.


    ¡°...I will crush you.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Wrong. I will be kicking your ass.¡± (Mirack)


    I have finally been recognized as a proper enemy of the Demon Lord Michael.


    The now serious Michael ced both of his hammer-like arms together directed at me.


    ¡°Hmm!!¡± (Michael)


    Along with a rise in divine power that was akin to a subterranean rumbling, his body began to have a visible change.


    The fire wings of Michael -that are basically his symbol- became thin and long to the point that they didn¡¯t retain their original form, turning into something like that of a fire sash, coiling around both of the arms of Michael.


    The right and left wings wrapped around his respective arms, and his steel fists had now be burning fire hammers.


    I thought that the fire wings of Michael were wings d in fire, but that wasn¡¯t the case; it is fire itself that had taken form into wings. That¡¯s why it can show such a drastic transformation.


    ¡°...For us Demon Lords, strength is everything. This technique that uses my wings, which are a mass of divine power, can be called the ultimate technique of this Demon Lord Michael.¡± (Michael)


    Michael says this as he points out his arms covered on his fire wings.


    ¡°I was thinking of using this ¡®Phoenix Hammer¡¯ on Kuromiya Haine only, but you have done well in making me use them on you.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°...I see. If you are going to be weing me so extravagantly, I will have to give you a fitting present as well... Ignis Militant corps!!¡± (Mirack)


    I call to myrades that had parted to the sides and were watching over the battle.


    Sorry, but it looks like I will be having you help me this once.


    ¡°Shoot the readied Grand Melt at me!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Haah?!¡±


    ¡°What are you saying, Mirack-oneesama?! Are you insane?!¡±


    Hearing this, Braidley and my other juniors were doubting their ears, but it is a given. In the first ce, Grand Melt is the strongest destructive attack of the Ignis Militant corps.


    I am telling them to throw that giant fire dragon that was made with the divine power of all the fire militants for the sake of defeating the Demon Lord.


    You would think I am being suicidal.


    But...


    ¡°It is okay. Just do as I instructed!¡± (Mirack)


    I assured sess to myrades that I have fought together with in this desperate battle.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡± (Enou)


    The first one to follow me was my master, the Fire Founder.


    As expected of Master. He trusts in his disciple more than anyone.


    The giant fire dragon was shot along with the order of the Founder.


    ¡°¡°[Grand Melt]!¡±¡±


    The Ignis Militants had separated in two with the arrival of Phris, and made a Grand Melt each to hit Michael from both sides. The two big fire dragons that wereing at me from both sides, I receive them with both of my arms.


    ¡°Right Fire Fist, Fernando! Left Fire Fist, Barbarossa!!¡± (Mirack)


    Both arms that received the big fire dragon burned vigorously, and I soon finished controlling the fire that myrades made.


    ¡°Oooh!¡±


    It is because I am their hero that I was able to easily receive their power.


    ¡°On top of that, add the power of the God Hero to it, and...utilize the strongest me Burst I can release......I call it Pleiades Burst!!¡± (Mirack)


    With both of my arms that have giant mes rivalling that of Phris, I put them together facing Michael.


    These ming arms that drew the shape of two buffalo horns.


    This posture of cing both hands together and directing it at your opponent, it was the very same for both of us.


    ¡°...I will decide this with this one attack.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Stole those words right out of my mouth!¡± (Mirack)


    The pair of wings of Michael, my two horns; which one will be breaking first. This is the time to decide that.


    We both at the same time charged at their opponent.


    ¡°[Phoenix Hammer]!!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!!¡± (Mirack)


    Both fists d in fire shed left and right, and be hellfire.


    A fierce hell of sweltering heat rose up to this world of the living.

 Chapter 273-275 - Hellfire

    <h4>Chapter 273-275: Hellfire</h4>


    The ultimate technique of the Fire Demon Lord, Phoenix Hammer; the Pleiades Burst that has my everything.


    The whole power of a demon and human had be fire and mixed.


    It became a fire that could burn down the whole world and exploded.


    ¡°Kyaaaaa!!¡±


    ¡°Mirack-oneesama!!¡±


    ¡°...Incredible explosion!¡±


    From the outside of the explosion, the fire militants rise their voice that were practically screams.


    Even if it were just the waves of the explosion, they probably hold a power simr to that of a regr me Burst.


    I don¡¯t think they arepletely okay after that, but I can only pray they are.


    I truly had no leeway to mind that.


    I was basically in the center of the explosion and had done a direct sh with Michael after all.


    ¡°Kunuuuuu!! Haaaah!!¡± (Mirack)


    I was within this high temperature that felt as if I would evaporate by simply standing there. I am able to stay alive in here thanks to the unbelievable power of the God Hero power-up.


    Even with that, I felt like my consciousness would fly by sheer heat.


    And in reality, I was about to lose my consciousness for a moment there unable to resist the heat, and at that instant, I would have lost my God Hero form and be cinders by now.


    I release divine power to the point that my head is going crazy.


    I had no other choice but to do it.


    My most fearsome enemy, Michael, was ring at me as if he were an evil spirit.


    We both are using all the divine power we have remaining to change it into fire and sh it with each other.


    What¡¯s scattering to the surroundings was the heat that had lost its direction and was spilling. It was truly to the word waves. Yet, with only those waves, the earth turned into magma, and the heated air rose up an atmospheric current on the level of a tornado, and while burning dry grass and insects, it increases in speed. On top of that, it wasn¡¯t only for a moment, the explosions continued as long as Michael and I continue to output divine power.


    We were both desperate.


    No matter how hellish of a problem we bring to the surroundings, the moment the power tilts to one side, the outpushed side will receive all the heat and be burned into cinders.


    That¡¯s why Michael and I had no choice but to push at our highest output.


    The wing of the immortal bird and the horns of the cow; a sh between human and demon with their existence at stake.


    Possessing the same fire element and strangely having the same stance as they sh their ultimate techniques.


    Wepletely different races were for some reason fighting in such a simr way right now.


    ¡°...I understand now.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Huh?¡± (Michael)


    I speak while I was releasing my divine power at full strength.


    I was impressed by how my voice travelled well even within this high temperature, but maybe it is because we are shing our fists and it is travelling through there.


    At any rate, Michael reacted.


    ¡°The biggest difference between you and me! I am fighting together with everyone. You are alone.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Did you go crazy in the face of death? What nonsense are you saying in such an extreme situation!¡± (Michael)


    Michael answers back with that stupidly straightforward personality of his. But there¡¯s no way he would understand what I am trying to say.


    ¡°I as well thought I had understood it, but thanks to fighting with you, I have once again actually felt it; that¡¯s what I am trying to say. I too was alone in the past. I thought I had be stronger by myself and tried to stand at the summit where it is not possible to stand on your own...¡± (Mirack)


    The me at that time couldn¡¯t notice that such a thing had no point at all ¡ªuntil the day I reunited with Karen and met Haine, that is.


    ¡°That¡¯s because humans are weak. The strength of a single human is limited. Even if that human is the strongest alone, what¡¯s the point of it? Michael, when I met an existence like yours that was practically on a different realm from us, I thought that we would simply be crushed.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We monsters are a race that¡¯s even tougher than humans.That¡¯s why the rulers of the surface world will be changed into being the monsters¡ª!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Wrong!!¡± (Mirack)


    I cut off the words of Michael.


    I am not trying to say that. It is exactly because he can only see my words like that that monsters are not worth of being the rulers.


    ¡°For us humans, what¡¯s most important is not to get stronger ourselves, but to get stronger with everyone. I thought I understood it. That¡¯s why I have been fighting together with myrades Karen, Celestis, Sasae, and Hyue. But it looks like I was stillcking in understanding.¡± (Mirack)


    Today I was made to realize that.


    That¡¯s because, at this moment, I have be stronger by obtaining the strength of the whole Muspelheim after all.


    That¡¯s what a God Hero means.


    If humans intended to, it wouldn¡¯t be only together with your acquaintances andrades, you can be stronger together with every living being in this world!


    That¡¯s why I -the fire hero, Katack Mirack...


    ¡°I won¡¯t lose to you! Michael, no matter how strong you are, against you who is alone, there¡¯s no way the miracle created from the connections of humans will lose!!!!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Stop the barking, you lowly human!!!¡± (Michael)


    We both released our maximum output fire, and yet, both still increased radically in firepower at the same time.


    Michael and I were enveloped inside the hellfire we released that was on the level you would wonder if it would burn down the whole world...and we both disappeared into it.


    ******


    The hellfire had dispersed.


    The ins outside of Muspelheim, that had be a battlefield, right now had turned into scorched earth that didn¡¯t have a single shadow of its past self.


    What¡¯s at the ground was only gray earth still letting out smoke.


    Far at the outside, there were still the Ignis Militant corps bbergasted at the battle they witnessed.


    They retreated quite a few ways back from their original position.


    They had to get at least that faraway from the battle of the God Hero and Demon Lord or they would be dragged into it.


    And then...


    ¡°Hah... Hah...!¡±


    ¡°....!¡±


    We were alive.


    I was alive...and the Demon Lord Michael as well.


    We were right in the middle of such a vicious hell, and yet, it was surprising that both sides didn¡¯t just turn into ashes.


    But there¡¯s no way we wouldn¡¯t be injured from that.


    My whole body was battered and my divine power has burned out. Soot was covering my whole face, and the tips of my hair are letting out burning sounds.


    Phris had copsed at the far back and his legs were twitching.


    The burden of God Hero must have pushed him to his limits.


    Looks like it will be difficult to continue the God Hero form any further.


    And Michael was in the same state.


    His dignified figure was nowhere to be seen anymore, and his prided fire wings felt like they would burn out at any moment.


    His breathing that moved his shoulder and chest heavily were proof of his exhaustion.


    He has no strength left to fight. Just like me.


    ¡°......................This is as far as it goes it seems.¡± (Michael)


    Michael spoke his opinion while breathing roughly.


    ¡°Being exhausted to this extent, even if I were to defeat you, I wouldn¡¯t have the strength to destroy the human city. I also took way too much time. It wouldn¡¯t be strange for Kuromiya Haine toe at any time now.¡± (Michael)


    Now that he mentions it, did the wireless transmission that we sent to Apollon City properly arrive?


    If they went on their flying machine, they should be here anytime now.


    ¡°I will be leaving. I thought you people were weaklings that were not worth attention, but to think I was left in this state. It is my defeat today. Very well done.¡± (Michael)


    ...Even when he is that beaten up, he still talks all high and mighty.


    If you have been cornered, at least get a bit agitated, damn it.


    It makes it even harder for me to get confidence in defeating you.


    ¡°But Katack Mirack -an opponent of mine without doubt- I will advise you. I have to deny only one thing you said no matter what. I can¡¯t leave this ce without doing that.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°...What is it?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I am alone...is what you said, right? And that you have manyrades, thus, humans are the better ones....... That¡¯s wrong. I won¡¯t forgive humans looking down at monsters with such a reason! That¡¯s because I...!¡± (Michael)


    The Demon Lord Michael howls.


    ¡°I am not alone!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°I am not alone.¡± (Michael)


    Saying this, I felt as if I saw the emotions of Michael fluctuating on his face.


    Michael and I were both in tatters as we re at each other in this wastnd.


    ¡°We monsters originated a hundred years ago. At that time, my mother Phoenix didn¡¯t even have her own will and was simply a device to single-mindedly make monsters.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°The so called Fire Mother Monster huh.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Thousands to millions of monsters were born in that span of a hundred years and then disappeared. And the one who was born in this endless cycle of repetition was me.¡± (Michael)


    Be born and die; die and be born.


    At a nce, it looks pointless, but it provides development to the race.


    That¡¯s something humans have experienced as well.


    Monsters also obtained self-awareness in what was thought to be an endless cycle, and as a result of questioning their own existence, the existences called Demon Lords were born.


    ...That¡¯s right, Haine said this.


    ¡°Over a million repetitions of the life and death of demons, at the end of that void path, there¡¯s me, the Demon Lord. You can¡¯t speak of me without the ones of the past. Therefore, I am not alone!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Are you saying you are the very personification of the monsters that have been born and died until now?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Thus, I am the one to stand at the top of monsters. I have inherited the ability to make monsters from my mother! I can make newrades from now on as much as I want! Therefore, I am not alone!¡± (Michael)


    The Demon Lord roars.


    ¡°We are by no means inferior to humans!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°...¡±


    It is just as Michael says.


    The past that the predecessors have paved; for us humans, that¡¯s a priceless treasure.


    History, knowledge, morals; that¡¯s something you can only obtain thanks to the efforts of the past. The great people of the past. What they have left behind is what created the ethereal civilization and the five Grand Churches after all.


    As a human, I couldn¡¯t deny the past paving that Michael talks about.


    ¡°But even with that, I still reject you. No matter where you go, you are alone.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You want to mock me no matter what?!¡± (Michael)


    I could hear even from here the grinding of his teeth.


    I continue speaking without minding.


    ¡°That¡¯s because monsters are still missing something. Something that humans have and monsters don¡¯t. As long as you monsters don¡¯t get that, no matter how many you prosper in, no matter how much past you umte, you won¡¯t be able to obtain connections.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°And what is that? What is it that you say we are missing? Go ahead and say it!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael already didn¡¯t have any of his previousposure.


    Even though he didn¡¯t lose his dignity even when he was cornered to the very limits.


    ¡°...A heart.¡± (Mirack)


    I answered.


    ¡°Living beings will recognize people aside from themselves and worry about them, for that, there¡¯s the need of a heart. It is true that you Michael have obtained self-awareness. But you have to evolve that self-awareness into a heart. Without a heart, you won¡¯t be able to take over humans!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Heart, you say?!¡± (Michael)


    Michael was heavily confused.


    ¡°What¡¯s a heart? What¡¯s so different from having self-awareness? We monsters have already reached the point where we can mass-produce ourselves and act on our own. Isn¡¯t that a true to the word living being?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Then, I will show you what a heart is!!¡± (Mirack)


    I slowly approached Michael.


    He was flustered by this and was cautious in whether he should be on guard to counterattack.


    Because of that, he allowed me to approach to a point where my fists could reach him.


    (...Oi, cow. Lend me your power once more.) (Mirack)


    (...Eh? Well, uhm, please let me rest for a bit more!)


    (I can¡¯t afford that right now.) (Mirack)


    God Hero mode, activate!


    (Guugh?!)


    *Bam!*


    My fist hits Michael.


    With an uppercut, his guard was thrown up and Michael as well was blown up.


    Right as the hit connected, I deactivate the God Hero mode to cut off the burden on Phris.


    ¡°¡°¡°Eeeeeeeh?!¡±¡±¡±


    Looks like the Ignis Militant corps in the surroundings were surprised by my violence.


    Everyone was looking at Michael who was soaring high in the sky.


    Michael continues going up.


    As expected of a punch in God Hero mode.


    He flies to a point that it might even reach the clouds.


    The speed he was flying at was quite high as well, so I could even hear the air being cut as he went up.


    Everyone must have noticed the Demon Lord that was going through the sky and beyond.


    After a while, Michael falls dragged down by the gravity. It made a big sound, but he managed to make a cleannding down on his knees.


    As expected, even when tattered, he is still a Demon Lord.


    ¡°...How¡¯s that? Did you see the heart?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°......Don¡¯t mess around.¡± (Michael)


    His voice trembled even more in anger.


    ¡°You suddenly punched me. What are you talking about heart in that? As I thought, you really are mocking me. Mocking this Demon Lord, you better be prepared to be crushed to pieces!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Fine, just try saying it. What did you see at the top of the sky?¡± (Mirack)


    With that question, the battle aura of Michael, that was about to explode, reduced slightly, and he answered.


    ¡°What I saw when I was punched up into the sky was the human city that¡¯s close by. The thing you people call Muspelheim....... I was able to take a peek at it from above. The humans living there, and even their faces.¡± (Michael)


    Looks like the Demon Lords have good eyes as well.


    ¡°Everyone was looking up. The people in that city probably already know about my march. There were people pale blue in fear, there were people bright red in anger towards me, people that were confused at what was happening, and people who simply felt curiosity at this novelness. Everyone was looking at me soar high in the sky, but their faces were many. Their expressions as well.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s the heart.¡± (Mirack)


    I said.


    ¡°Even when they were looking at the same direction, what they felt was different for each person. That¡¯s why the expressions in their faces be different as well. It is because they live their own life and umte their own experiences that the heart they hold is different for each person as well. That¡¯s a human!¡± (Mirack)


    It is because they hold a different heart that they are able to understand each other at times and there are times when they will enter disputes. But when they ovee that, it provides a firm connection and strength surpassing that of cooperation.


    Just like how it was for Karen¡¯s group and me.


    ¡°Demon Lord Michael, what about you guys?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°...Kugh.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°The fire monsters you made may be facing the same direction, but are they able to feel and think different things? No, they can¡¯t. The expression of monsters is always the same. It is the proof of a heartless demonic beast.¡± (Mirack)


    Monsters are still beasts pushed by their natural instinct that is to ¡®attack humans¡¯.


    Even if they have the ability to decide on things, they can¡¯t put emotions to those decisions.


    Feelings and logic; with a lot of factors affecting actions, it puts color, meaning, and draws a raw story. That¡¯s where you find the heart of humans.


    Everyone thinks different, but even with that, they must all live together...or there wouldn¡¯t be civilization, culture, and history!


    Monsters are still far from that realm!!


    ¡°...Shut up.¡± (Michael)


    *Bam!*


    This time, my body was the one that shook.


    It was practically a surprise attack. I was unable to avoid it and was send flying.


    In my case, different from Michael, I was send flying parallel to the ground.


    For a normal body, that punch would have destroyed it immediately, but right before it hit me, the God Hero mode had been activated on its own.


    (Don¡¯t space out, you idiot!)


    That cow saved me?


    That guy should have been an enemy in the past, but he is saving me quite a lot today.


    And...the Demon Lord looked like the representation of anger.


    It looks as if he can¡¯t control the anger that¡¯s welling up inside him.


    ¡°Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!!¡± (Michael)


    He should be in tatters, and yet, his divine power was increasing.


    I can¡¯t lose either. I once again activate God Hero mode. If I don¡¯t do that, we are definitely going to die here.


    Michael came punching at me pushed by his raging emotions.


    Throwing away all tactics and technique.


    ¡°SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!¡± (Michael)


    I answered that shout from his heart.


    ¡°I will shut up. There¡¯s already no need for words anymore, as you already understand.¡± (Mirack)


    We were punching each other.


    Michael and I; fire hero and fire Demon Lord.


    Leaving aside all those titles, right now we were simply being moved by the raging emotions inside of us and shing them ¡ªusing our fists.


    We didn¡¯t defend and purely hit the opponent¡¯s stomach, chest, face, as we wanted.


    Defending would be rude.


    Because there were emotions gathered in those fists.


    Evading them instead of receiving them would be ack of decorum.


    And then, after maybe a hundred exchange of punches...two hundred...three hundred...five hundred...a thousand......


    ...


    *****


    ¡°Mirack-chan!¡±


    I felt light-headed.


    I don¡¯t know how much time has passed.


    At any rate, I think I heard the voice of someone calling me.


    I felt as if the voice came from somewhere incredibly far, but it had called me back to consciousness, and I quickly open my eyes.


    When I did, I noticed Karen was standing right at my side.


    The light hero and my friend.


    ¡°Karen?! Why are you here?!¡± (Mirack)


    Shouldn¡¯t you be at Apollon City protecting it as the light hero?


    Even if it is close, why is she in Muspelheim?!


    Looking around, we were still at the burned outskirts of Muspelheim.


    ¡°What are you saying?! We received an emergency call from the Fire Church and I came as soon as possible to assist in the notice of a Demon Lord raid!!¡± (Karen)


    ...I see.


    That¡¯s right. She wouldn¡¯t hesitate for a second in rushing to help herrades.


    That¡¯s exactly how my friend Karen should be.


    ...Yeah, I might even fall for her.


    ¡°Sorry, Karen. As a friend and as the hero representing the Fire Church, I appreciate the support of the Light nation.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This is not the time to be saying something like that!!¡± (Karen)


    Eh?


    I was thinking of increasing my points with Karen by doing a heartfelt thanks, and yet, she wrapped it up with ¡®something like that¡¯.


    Isn¡¯t the Karen of today a bit heartless?


    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand in what kind of state you are in right now, Mirack-chan?! Here, look!¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, Karen takes out a pocket-mirror from out of the armor she is wearing and gives it to me.


    To think she would have a pocket-mirror even in her battle garment, as expected of Karen, her feminine qualities are high. But the moment I saw what was reflected in the mirror, I was blown away.


    ¡°Hiih?! Monster!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s how you look right now, Mirack-chan!¡± (Karen)


    The one that¡¯s making a surprised expression inside the mirror had her whole face swelled up; a mysterious lifeform.


    Her whole face is so swollen that it was basically elliptic-shaped, and looked like some sort of bad tasting fruit.


    I don¡¯t want to believe it, but Karen is saying so as well, and taking into consideration that I am the one who is looking straight at the monster in the mirror...


    ¡°This thing is me?¡± (Mirack)


    Is my face all swollen up because of being punched too much?


    Now that I think about it, my whole body stings, and my legs were losing strength and swaying.


    Karen supported me right as I was about to fall, so I somehow managed to stay up.


    ¡°Sorry, Karen!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is fine already. More importantly, what happened? What happened to make Mirack-chan look like a meatbun?¡± (Karen)


    A meatbun, you say!


    I exchanged punches with that Demon Lord Michael! And punched, punched, punched...


    Right, what about him!


    My memory was cut off while I was exchanging punches with Michael. What happened to him? I have no clue at all.


    I hurriedly look at my surroundings.


    When I did so, I saw the members of the Ignis Militant corps watching over us from afar.


    That there¡¯s Aurora Knights mixed in with the group must be because they came together with Karen.


    But why are those guys watching over from afar?


    To think that the only one who woulde to me when I am this beaten up was Karen...could it be that I am not popr? The moment I felt hurt by it, I understood the reason why they couldn¡¯t approach.


    I finally direct my gaze to the front.


    ¡°Michael. Oi, Michael.¡±


    ¡°How troublesome. What a shameful look were you turned into by a mere human.¡±


    There, Michael was in the same state as me -all beaten up.


    On top of that, at his side, there was a tree human and a full-armored guy; or so to speak, two more Demon Lords.


    ¡°Those guys, if I remember correctly...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The Earth Demon Lord, Uriel, and the Wind Demon Lord, Raphael...¡± (Karen)


    Leaving aside Michael who has exhausted all of his power, the only one who can resist and approach all the way here under the pressure of the newly arrived Demon Lords was Karen.


    Michael was reactionless at the call of those two for a while.


    ¡°...?! Uriel, Raphael?! You guys, why are you here?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That priestess of Lucifer-sama said ¡®hurry and retrieve Michael¡¯, so we hurriedly did.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°And now that we are here, what¡¯s with that look of yours? You who is supposed to be the leader of the Demon Lords, to think that you would have so much trouble against a human.¡± (Uriel)


    The expressions of the two Demon Lords was that of scorn towards their brethren.


    As I thought. These guys are not people worthy of respect.


    ¡°Well, we are both equally on the path of human eradication. Since we are already here, I don¡¯t mind helping you out.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Right. It looks like that scary Kuromiya Haine is not here. How about we three ughter all the humans here at least?¡± (Raphael)


    !


    What Uriel and Raphael said nonchntly made our sense of danger rise.


    I confirm the state of the cow at my back.


    (P-Please spare me already!)


    No good.


    The God Hero mode has been used over his limits and the breathing of the cow is already feeble.


    It is visible that anymore God Hero transformations will be impossible.


    Are you telling me we have to fight two unhurt Demon Lords in this kind of state?


    ¡°STOP IT!!!¡± (Michael)


    But Michael¡¯s roar flew towards those two Demon Lords.


    As if the Earth and Wind were rabbits being roared at by a carnivore, they both falter.


    ¡°I won¡¯t allow you to put a hand on them!! They are my opponents! If you are going to kill them without my permission, I will crush you guys first!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Oh, scary~!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°What¡¯s with you? We are offering you help here. No need to shout that loudly, you know.¡± (Raphael)


    Uriel and Raphael were confused by the unexpected rage of Michael.


    Or more like, I am surprised as well.


    ¡°There¡¯s one thing I understood from today¡¯s battle. In order for us monsters to take the spot as rulers, I thought that it was fine to simply defeat the humans. But that wasn¡¯t the case.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°¡°?¡±¡±


    ¡°In order for monsters to be the new rulers of the surface world, there¡¯s still one thing we arecking. I don¡¯t understand what that is, but we have to obtain it. That¡¯s something that was made clear today...in today¡¯s fight with my opponent, Katack Mirack.¡± (Michael)


    Michael¡¯s gaze was directed at me.


    The Fire Demon Lord had his whole face swollen just like me.


    I can¡¯tck in decorum.


    For some reason, I felt that way and red back straight at him.


    ¡°I won¡¯t take back my previous statement. I will be departing for today.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°But I will return for sure. Katack Mirack, for me, you are a great opponent. The more I fight you, the more I can learn. In order for monsters to stand as rulers, what is it we have to obtain? I feel like I will get that answer as I continue to fight you.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Fine. I will fight you as many times as you want.¡± (Mirack)


    I answered.


    ¡°...But, if you are going toe again, at least obtain the ability to get jokes. As a Demon Lord, your majestess would increase with a catch-phrase of some sort. When ites to that way of using your intelligence, you are still far from reaching humans.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°..............¡±


    When I said that to make fun of him, Michael went silent for a while and straightforwardly said this.


    ¡°...Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Michael)


    Saying this, Michael turns back as if he was satisfied and leaves.


    Karen, the people there, and me dumbfoundedly saw off that back, and even the Demon Lords were the same.

 Chapter 276-277 - After burning out

    <h4>Chapter 276-277: After burning out</h4>


    Just like this, the Demon Lord Michael left.


    For a moment there, I thought the destruction of Muspelheim and the fall of the Fire Church was unavoidable, but now that things are over, the both of them are okay.


    Damages were low and we didn¡¯t allow monsters to enter the city.


    We splendidly managed to repel the Demon Lord Michael.


    Though, there was a crazy amount of injured in the Ignis Militant corps.


    Especially Sis Kyouka who covered me in the middle of the fight. Her injuries were the most severe and was immediately sent to the hospital, but with the many burns and fractures, she was made to rest.


    Regarding the bone fractures, the bone specialists in the Earth Church will be taking care of it; the burns will be taken care of by the healers of the Water Church.


    We had to invite them here to provide treatment, but it will still be hard for her to return to the battlefield anytime soon.


    Aside from that, there¡¯s also many fire militants injured in trying to clean up the monsters Michael created. On top of that, due to shooting Grand Melt multiple times, most of the fire militants were down from exhaustion.


    Grand Melt is originally an ultimate technique and it is not the kind that leaves energy after.


    Mostly everyone in the fire militants had wrung out all their divine power, and were literally unable to move a single finger anymore.


    The ones who carried us back were Karen and the Aurora Knight corps.


    The Aurora Knights came rushing from Apollon City after the call for reinforcements, but they arrived at the battle practically at the end of it. Even so, it really helped us out that they took the job of cleaning up after instead of the fire militants.


    If they weren¡¯t here, a number of deaths would havee out from beingte in treating the injured after all.


    And so, I was also...


    ****


    ¡°Mirack-chan, are you okay?¡±


    In my room at the hospital directly managed by the Fire Church, Karen asked.


    The Aurora Knights have finished most of their relief job and were about to return to Apollon City, so she hase here to give her goodbyes.


    ¡°Of course I am okay. I am the fire hero, you know. I am the strongest within the fire heroes.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fufufu, right.¡± (Karen)


    This kind of pride works as a joke between Karen and I now.


    In reality, I had uncountable injuries in my whole body, and the burden to my body when in God Hero mode was not something that could be ignored. The doctor prohibited me from training for a while.


    ¡°But I was surprised. To think that Mirack-chan became a God Hero as well. Thanks to that, you were able to fight back the Demon Lord, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Well, yeah. If not for that, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to turn away Michael. We would have all been ughtered and Muspelheim would have be a barrennd.¡± (Mirack)


    From what I heard, Karen had also seeded in turning into a God Hero.


    When a hero receives a part of a God and powers up by it, they be a God Hero. That power is overwhelming, and when I wasn¡¯t in that form, I couldn¡¯t injure the Demon Lord at all, but after, I was able to fight on even grounds against him.


    I understand how big a God Hero is after actually bing one.


    That power without a doubt will be our trump card against the Demon Lords. It can¡¯t be missing.


    But...


    ¡°Why was I able to be a God Hero?¡± (Mirack)


    That was a question I couldn¡¯t not ask.


    It is not as if I did any special training to be a God Hero, and it is not as if I passed a trial or anything. I didn¡¯t do any ritual either.


    And yet, in a really abrupt manner, as if it had been jammed into me, I obtained power that was several times higher than anything until now.


    For the Fire Church that treasures training the most, I feel as if I cheated in some way and it doesn¡¯t let me calm down.


    ¡°It is the help of the Gods, Mirack-chan!¡± (Karen)


    Karen says shiningly.


    ¡°The five Gods that we revere have caught onto the danger of the world and have provided us with the power to fight it back! As I thought, the Gods are really looking over us!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...¡±


    Karen innocently prided at the miracle that is the God Hero form, but I had a different impression of it.


    Before bing the fire God Hero, there was a voice resonating directly into my head that only I could hear.


    That voice, looking at the situation, was without doubt from the Fire Cow Phris.


    After the battle, he returned to his small size and was sent back to the hut of the Grand Fire Sanctuary.


    Maybe because he pushed himself when fighting, or because his injuries still hurt after being pummeled by Michael, he is sleeping all the time without any energy, but due to his appetite being higher than the usual, they told us that there¡¯s nothing to worry about.


    But in this battle, the Lord of monsters came to attack us, and yet, even when he is the same monster as them, Phris fought as the ally of humans.


    That mysterious action pushed his fluffy poprity from before even more.


    It looks like the Fire Church is currently filled up with people worshipping and trying to get a look at that cow.


    ¡°...¡±


    The voice that directly resonated in me and guided me before bing a God Hero.


    That voice...if that was really the voice of that cow...if the power of the God Hero is truly a power given to us by the Gods...


    ¡°No way, right?¡± (Mirack)


    I denied the conclusion that was led from putting two situations together.


    ¡°Mirack-chan? What is that ¡®no way¡¯ you speak of?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask, Karen! It is definitely impossible! I am just overthinking. That cow just coincidentally did an action that favoured us! Other possibilities are improbable!¡± (Mirack)


    A monster is?! No way!


    I don¡¯t want to talk about this matter anymore.


    Karen considered my feelings and didn¡¯t pursue the topic.


    We changed the conversation to something else.


    ¡°...But even with that God Hero power, you couldn¡¯t defeat the Demon Lord.¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s right.


    As long as there¡¯s no notice from the other nations about it, this will be the first battle between a God Hero and a Demon Lord.


    Whether a God Hero is truly the trump card to overturn the Demon Lords. It was supposed to be an important cornerstone, but I was unable to defeat Michael.


    The God Hero didn¡¯t lose to the Demon Lord, but it wasn¡¯t able to beat it either.


    For us humanity, who are heavily inferior in numbers against them, this is nothing short of saddening.


    ¡°...I don¡¯t think it is such a bad thing.¡± (Mirack)


    I couldn¡¯t defeat Michael.


    ¡°The Demon Lords are our enemies...but, just as he said, I think that we both are great opponents.¡± (Mirack)


    There¡¯s types of opponents.


    The type of opponent that the more you fight them, the more both of you regress; the ones that the more you fight, the more you grow.


    In that sense, we can categorize them as bad and good opponents, but the truly troublesome ones are probably the good opponents rather than the bad ones.


    That¡¯s because you can simply defeat the bad opponents in your hatred.


    But the good ones, the opponents that you connect with from things other than hatred, just how do you reach a good conclusion to it?


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t tell anymore. How should I wrap up my battle with him? Is it fine with just one of us dying? I began to feel that just doing that would not be good.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack-chan...¡± (Karen)


    Michael and I; hero and Demon Lord; human and monster.


    In this battle of supremacy, just in what way would it be desirable for our battle to conclude?


    ¡°In order to grasp that answer, I have to fight him once more.¡± (Mirack)


    It is inexplicable, but for me, the unavoidable battle between Michael and I in the future was something that I was looking forward to on the same level as how I look forward to reuniting with Karen and the others.


    ¡°...Now that I think about it...¡± (Mirack)


    Karen was about to leave the room, but I let out a final question.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see Haine this time. What happened? He is the type of guy that would stick his head in other people¡¯s business even when you don¡¯t call him.¡± (Mirack)


    Maybe there was an even more precarious situation happening somewhere else and he headed there, so I was a bit worried.


    When I asked this, Karen¡¯s expression visibly clouded and she muttered.


    It was such a low mutter that I had to ask again, and I finally understood what she said.


    ¡°Missing? Along with the Light Founder?¡± (Mirack)


    And so, in the end, I -Kuromiya Haine- should be the one closing this.


    We are still in the Nameless Desert.


    In order to bring back Mother Earth Mantle who it would be nice if she were caught inside the ck Hole.


    Yorishiro, Shiva, and I were cooperating in destroying the ck Hole, but it isn¡¯t working at all.


    It isn¡¯t even showing signs of going well.


    The only weakness of my ck Hole is to eliminate the dark matter core inside of it with Light divine power. The ck Hole itself would be eliminated and might release Mantle who is probably caught inside of it.


    However, no matter how many times we try, the light divine power gets caught in the high gravity of the ck Hole before reaching the core.


    Even when we increased the power with the air lens of Shiva and my gravity lens, we couldn¡¯t break through the heavy gravity.


    We tried many times with light divine power, but they all ended in failure.


    Right now, we were sttered on the ground resting our mental and physical exhaustion that was umted from all the failures.


    Adding that we are in the Nameless Desert, being crazy hot is making it even more exhausting.


    There¡¯s no signs of anything going well and there was a sense of fruitless effort welling up inside of us already.


    ¡°How about we return...?¡± (Yorishiro)


    The first one to voice out words of surrender was Yorishiro.


    ¡°As expected, we were underestimating the power of darkness. No matter what n we have, it won¡¯t work on the ck Hole. It is true that if the return of Mantle happens, we will be in an advantage, but if we get too adhered to that, it might end up being fatal.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is as Yorishiro says.


    In the first ce, the three people here are the incarnations of the Dark God Entropy, the Light Goddess Intion, and the Wind God Quasar. In other words, a gathering of Gods.


    ¡°In the time we are doing this, who knows when the Demon Lords will begin moving. Let¡¯s abandon the matter of Mantle and prepare for things in the range of what we can do.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Her logic was so sound we couldn¡¯t say a single word of objection.


    If we could salvage Mantle here, we could make Sasae-chan into an Earth God Hero and it would increase a lot our fighting forces against the Demon Lords, but...that¡¯s not the only problem.


    It is rather Coacervate that¡¯s a problem bigger than Mantle.


    The possibilities of him cooperating are despairingly nonexistent. It is impossible to make all five into God Heroes in the current state, so it might not be necessary to force us in bringing back Mantle.


    Let¡¯s be reasonable here and think of a way to win with the cards we have at hand.


    ¡°...Aren¡¯t you misunderstanding something?¡±


    And in that moment, someone had cut in.


    Within the group of three here, the one who spoke atst was Shiva.


    ¡°Misunderstanding? What is it we are misunderstanding? Now that it is impossible to bring back Mantle, we have to hurry and make Hyue-san and Mirack-san into God Heroes. I think convincing Nova will be difficult, but simply having the prospect of convincing makes it better than the other two. We should quickly¡ª¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I am saying.¡± (Shiva)


    Yorishiro pressed on, but Shiva stopped her.


    ¡°What I mean is that what we werecking wasn¡¯t output, but uracy.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°¡°?¡±¡±


    We didn¡¯t understand what Shiva was saying.


    ¡°I will begin with the basics. Why is it that the light divine power is not reaching the core of the ck Hole?¡± (Shiva)


    Because the gravity of the ck Hole is...


    ¡°The ck Hole pulls in everything no matter what it is, right? In that case, even if the light is caught in the gravity, its destination should be the center of the ck Hole. In other words, at the superpressed dark matter core. In that case, even if we did nothing, the caught light would reach the dark matter, isn¡¯t it?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Yeah but...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You said that the light would be infinitely caught inside the Schwarzschild radius, right?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s right.¡± (Haine)


    Sorry, but I actually don¡¯t understand it well myself either.


    Don¡¯t you think the words Schwarzschild radius sound cool though?


    ¡°When you approach a certain distance to the ck Hole, no matter what power you have, you won¡¯t be able to return. That radius is one that you can¡¯t return from. If you make one step into it, no matter what it is, you won¡¯t be able to escape from the ck Hole ¡ªeven light.¡± (Shiva)


    Oh, I am impressed you know so much about it, Shiva-san.


    By the way, Yorishiro had already given up in understanding.


    ¡°And so, returning to the previous topic, we have shot light divine power in order to destroy the core of the ck Hole. But we didn¡¯t seed once. We were thinking that the reason was because the light divine powercked in strength to break through the gravity, but is that really the case?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Then, what is the reason for the failures?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Until now, we were aimlessly shooting light to the ck Hole. We didn¡¯t try to urately shoot at the core. Isn¡¯t that the problem?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°...¡±


    He does have a point.


    The ck Hole looks like a pitch-ck sphere, but that¡¯s because it doesn¡¯t let even the reflection of light return which makes it look that way.


    The superpressed dark matter core can be said to be the only thing with substance inside the ck Hole, but because it is superpressed, it is a thousand times smaller than a grain of sand.


    If you want to aim at it and hit it, you would need God-like precision.


    But Yorishiro and I didn¡¯t take it as an important point to stress.


    We had the positive thinking that since the ck Hole is absorbing everything, even if we don¡¯t seriously aim at it, it should go to its target on its own.


    Without noticing that we were contradicting ourselves because of the light being caught by the Schwarzschild radius.


    ¡°Listen well. Even with that, the strongest element against darkness is light.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva¡¯s professor-like lecture continues.


    ¡°The one with the highest possibility of escaping from the ck Hole is light as well. The speed of light is the fastest and has no mass after all. It is probably that the light, which has been shot blindly into the ck Hole, would graze the core and pass by it, but the gravity catches it and pulls it back.¡± (Shiva)


    Yeah yeah (I don¡¯t really understand).


    ¡°If it were a normal substance, it would be pulled by the gravity just like that and fall into the center of the ck Hole. But light is different. Light is good against darkness, but has no mass and flies at high speed, so it goes against the gravity and can proceed through the contrary direction of the gravity. Even if it enters the Schwarzschild radius.¡± (Shiva)


    Yup yup yup (still don¡¯t understand).


    ¡°But everything that enters the Schwarzschild radius can¡¯t get out, which is absolute. As a result, what happens is that ¡®the power trying to escape¡¯ and the ¡®power trying to pull in¡¯; both the high speed and high gravity bnce each other out and stop into a boundary line between possible to escape and impossible to. That¡¯s...¡± (Shiva)


    The Schwarzschild radius...


    This radius is basically the satellite orbit of the ck Hole. The light that gets caught in a battle of speed and gravity ends up being unable to move from that ce.


    ¡°I have made a wordy talk there, but what I mean is that in order to destroy the ck Hole, we have to aim the light divine power urately and hit the core.¡± (Shiva)


    That¡¯s why Shiva said that rather than output, we need is uracy.


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro who had given up on listening has revived!


    ¡°Just means that instead of blindly shooting, we should aim this time, right? Why did you make such a long talk just to say that? Is it that men think they will look cooler by sounding intelligent?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You woman also immediately shutted out the talk you yourself had no interest in! As I thought, all women aside from Juo are idiots!¡± (Shiva)


    Them not getting along is a default.


    But even if Shiva¡¯s hypothesis is correct, it is not as if things have been easily resolved now.


    The destruction of the ck Hole is still a treacherous path.


    Because as I said before, the core of the ck Hole is thousands of times smaller than a grain of sand.


    But its mass is several hundreds of times that of a mountain though.


    urately hitting such a small target is close to impossible.


    ¡°I will do something about it.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva jumps in.


    ¡°I am the Wind God Quasar, but I am also the human that has the position of Wind Founder. I have confidence in my aim as a dual wind gun user.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Shiva...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course, in terms of long range sniping, I am no match for Hyue, but...there¡¯s still worth in trying. I will fix the direction of the light beam of Yorishiro with the air lens. Haine.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will have you take the role of feeling the position of the core as a darkness user. Let¡¯s try struggling a bit more before giving up.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva stands up as if saying break time is over.


    I also follow and stand up. Yorishiro, as if saying ¡®good grief¡¯, lifts up her big butt from the sand.


    After many failed attempts and hypothesis, we were approaching the destruction of the ck Hole.


    But even with that, it would still require hundreds of test shots more in order to pierce through the core of the ck Hole.


    In other words, what I am trying to say is that it will still take more time to save Mantle.

 Chapter 278-280 - The late arriving idol

    <h4>Chapter 278-280: Thete arriving idol</h4>


    ¡°God Hero?! What¡¯s that?!¡±


    The water hero Celestis-chan eximed.


    We were still in Muspelheim.


    In this city, where it hasn¡¯t been long since it had repelled the raid of the Demon Lord Michael, Celestis-chan has arrived. The reason is obviously to help in fighting the Demon Lord.


    But because Hydra Ville is slightly faraway from Muspelheim, by the time Celestis-chan arrived, everything had ended a long time ago.


    ¡°Our nations are truly far away from each other in a half-baked way~.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan says this to Mirack-chan who was still lying on the hospital bed.


    ¡°If it were as close as the Apollon City of Karen-chi, I could have appeared in the battle against the Demon Lord and presented him with a Water Wrath... It is that, right? The one who attacked you was the fire Demon Lord, right? It is the perfect opponent against me! To think I would let the most delicious spotlight scene escape!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan swings her fists as if she truly regretted this.


    As expected of Celestis-chan who is working as a hero and idol as a side job. She has an incredible showbiz spirit.


    By the way, Sasae-chan and Hyue-chan, who were even further away from us, had received a call in the middle that the Demon Lord had been driven away and returned to their cities.


    When I think about that, it makes me think that Celestis-chan¡¯s location is actually the most half-baked one.


    ¡°You say that, idiotic idol...¡± (Mirack)


    The injured Mirack-chan speaks out as if she had already had enough of this.


    This is a hospital room.


    Mirack-chan was hospitalized due to the injuries she received from the battle with the Demon Lord.


    ¡°A Demon Lord is not an opponent you can do something against with just the elemental affinity. In the first ce, the amount of divine power they possess is on a whole different realm. A slight advantage in elements would get pushed back with pure raw strength.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°W-What¡¯s with that all-knowing tone you have? Just because you were the first one to fight a Demon Lord. Are you the kind of precocious girl that boasts on her other female friends after having her first time?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan has actually encountered the Demon Lords as well, so what came out from her mouth was jeering rather than actual objections.


    Moreover, Mirack-chan didn¡¯t ride on the jeering of Celestis-chan at all and said in a pretty serious way...


    ¡°As I thought, in order to fight against the Demon Lords, we can only rely on the God Hero mode. The new strength provided to us heroes...¡± (Mirack)


    And was analyzing the situation.


    I feel like after the fight with the Demon Lord, Mirack-chan¡¯s atmosphere has changed...


    ¡°...Wait, hm? Oi, Celestis! Who are you saying is boasting about her first experience?! You are an idol, and yet, you can only banter in such a dirty manner?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Shad up! Don¡¯t go reacting sote! More importantly, that thing you mentioned! You said that at first as well!¡± (Celestis)


    What?


    ¡°God Hero, the God Hero! What in the world is that?!¡± (Celestis)


    Ah.


    We finally went back to that talk huh.


    ¡°Wait, Karen-chi?! You also know about this God Hero thing?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah, yes. You see...¡± (Karen)


    Sinceing here, I finally got my existence acknowledged.


    Actually, I have been here from the very beginning.


    Apollon City is closer to Muspelheim than Celestis-chan¡¯s ce, so I was able to arrive here faster than anyone, but when I arrived, it was already at the end of the battle, and it was practically settled.


    Even with that, the Aurora Knights and I were of use by doing the cleaning up though.


    When we had finished that and I was thinking of returning, Celestis-chan appeared and hadpletely lost my timing to leave.


    Leaving that aside...


    ¡°About the God Hero talk, right.¡± (Karen)


    God Hero; that is the ray of hope that has been provided to humanity.


    Suddenly appearing in this absolutely despairing situation where we are cornered by the Demon Lords; the trump card to fight against them.


    ¡°By assimting a part of a God, we heroes be one with that God power. That is a God Hero.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That power is most likely a hundred times stronger than in your normal state. I received the blessing of the Fire God Nova-sama and became the fire God Hero. With that, I managed to fight on even grounds against the Demon Lord Michael. Before that, with just a single re of the Demon Lord, I couldn¡¯t even move properly.¡± (Mirack)


    It is paining, but in reality, just by being hit by the pressure of the Demon Lords, the freedom of our whole body is taken away.


    But maybe because Mirack-chan and I have be God Heroes once already and became able to fight the Demon Lords equally, we are now able to move freely without being hit by the pressure of the Demon Lords even in normal form.


    ¡°Geez. It is unfair that Mirack-chi is the only one getting the good stuff~. Receiving such a special power from the Fire God-sama only~. Why are the other Gods not helping us?¡± (Celestis)


    Even after Celestis-chan finished listening to the exnation, she was still dissatisfied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think so as well, Karen-chi? It should be fine for us to receive the blessing of our Gods as well to fight the Demon Lords. We also have the motivation, you know? As long as we are given the power, we will defeat them one after the other. Isn¡¯t that right, Karen-chi?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°Karen-chi?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was asking for my agreement as arade that can¡¯t be a God Hero, but I only returned silence. And the sharp Celestis-chan immediately caught on.


    ¡°...Sorry. I have already be a Light God Hero.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-chi?!¡± (Celestis)


    The one I fought in my God Hero form was not a Demon Lord though.


    The light power that was overflowing through my whole body was certainly something that can¡¯t bepared to anything before.


    With this power, we can definitely defeat the Demon Lords. The moment I became the Light God Hero, I thought that.


    This Demon Lord battle that I felt was only despairing had been shone a ray of hope.


    And there was one person that waste in riding that flow...


    ¡°So unfair!! Karen-chi and Mirack-chi are so sneaky!! Am I the only God Hero virgin here?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Don¡¯t call it God Hero virginity!¡± (Karen)


    I don¡¯t want that kind of logic!!


    ¡°Why is it that the Light Goddess-sama and the Fire God-sama are the only ones that are all sweet on their humans?! They are way too overprotective! ......No, wait...¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan seems to have noticed something.


    ¡°If you can be a God Hero by receiving the blessing of a God, then if I were to get a blessing from a God as well, I can be the Water God Hero, right? Water God Coacervate-sama!¡± (Celestis)


    The idol headed to the window and pokes out her head as she yelled.


    ¡°The God Coacervate-sama that is worshipped by the Water Church! Your hero implores you! Make me a God Hero as well! Into a Water God Hero! Let me get rid of my God Hero virginity!!¡± (Celestis)


    What in the world are you shouting outside the window, Celestis-chan?!


    Just because she waste to the party, she has lost her calm this much. Idols must have it tough. Always being sensitive to the changes of trend.


    ¡°For now, can you please keep it quiet in the hospital room?¡± (Mirack)


    The injured Mirack-chan had a bitter expression.


    As they say, having three women is a crowd.


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I; it has been quite a while since us three have been gathered. I know that we have to go back to our cities as heroes, but my butt couldn¡¯t leave the seat.


    I end up staying longer.


    Celestis-chan opened up a pastry bag without asking and begins to eat it on top of the bed Mirack-chan is lying.


    ¡°It feels as if it has been quite a while since we have been together like this.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan felt the same way as me.


    ¡°...Right. In the past, we were rivals, and the only times we met each other was in the battlefield. I didn¡¯t think we would be able to reunite in such a pleasant manner.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What is the most antagonistic one in the group saying? Getting ahead of yourself there.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I still have antagonism exclusively for you, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    This exchange between Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan has already be the usual.


    If Sasae-chan and Hyue-chan were here, it would be perfect though.


    We were currently absorbed in our training to fight against the Demon Lords at our respective cities, so we haven¡¯t seen each other in a long time.


    To think that we would not meet each other for so long after making the Hero Alliance official...


    It naturally increased the amount of things we talked about.


    The talks about the God Hero and Demon Lords were in a reasonable amount as we talked about a variety of other things.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, Karen-chi and Mirack-chi, in the time I haven¡¯t seen you two, what have you two been doing in your cities?¡± (Celestis)


    First of all is a report on our recent state.


    ¡°We have been doing a hero show together with the cow around the province.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We crushed Haine-san with our butts.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan moved away her hair as if she was doubting her ears, but she soon changed gears and...


    ¡°Oh well, that¡¯s fine. More importantly, me! Listen to what I have been doing at Hydra Ville! Listen!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Huh? You must have ignored your training as a hero and continued with your idol stuff, right?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Ding ding! Correct! That¡¯s exactly right!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I said it sarcastically though...¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan, in whatever the time it is, she is always the same old Celestis-chan.


    ¡°But this time it is different from the usual! That¡¯s because the five Grand Nations tour of the idol hero Celes-tan has been nned!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°Is that so...¡±¡±


    Mirack-chan and I did our best to bring out a reaction.


    Apollon City, Muspelheim, Hydra Ville, Ishtar ze, Rudras Ville; these five cities where the five Grand Churches are can be called the biggest cities in the world.


    Having a tour in the cities of these five Grand Churches must be a great enterprise for an idol.


    Is that the reason why Celestis-chan¡¯s breathing is rough?


    ¡°Until now, because of the five Churches not getting along well, it was impossible to make a live performance in other cities, but thanks to Karen-chi and Haine-chi, the Churches have now joined hands, and it is now possible to do so!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan rejoices.


    I will be repeating myself here but, this is a hospital room.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot to the Hero Alliance, don¡¯t you think! In the times when my idol activities were thought of as proselytizing for the Water Church, I didn¡¯t even dream something like this would be possible!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Well, a hero is working as an idol, so it can¡¯t be helped you think in that way.¡± (Mirack)


    The hero is basically the face of the Church after all.


    ¡°My activities as an idol have beenpletely detached from the Water Church thanks to the reformation, and from now on, I feel like I can act as an idol even more without feeling stiff on my shoulders!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°D-Don¡¯t forget your duty as a hero, okay?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Right right, about that, Karen-chi and Mirack-chi, I have something I want to ask you two.¡± (Celestis)


    There¡¯s still more?


    ¡°So, have you thought about what to do after defeating the Demon Lords?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡±


    After defeating the Demon Lords, she says?


    Not that long ago we had such a difference in strength that were unable to stand up with a single re of them though.


    Even if we have obtained the hope that is the God Hero mode, isn¡¯t this way too optimistic?


    ¡°Drawing a view of the future is an important thing to do in order to create an objective to win battles!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°If you mess up even one step, it would create a death g though.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°You see, when we defeat the Demon Lords, the monsters in the whole world will be destroyed, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s, well...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°When that happens, the heroes will be of no need anymore. When that happens, I will also have to bid goodbye to my two roles of hero and idol. In other words, I will be concentrating on being an idol only! From the water hero that dances and sings, I will be ss changing into the unwavering water songstress!!¡± (Celestis)


    Ooh.


    And there, Mirack-chan says calmly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean a water buffoon?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Huuh?! In that case, how about you try the tsukkomi role?¡± (Celestis)


    These two scatter sparks.


    I can¡¯t tell if they get along or not.


    But...what to do after defeating the Demon Lords huh.


    Really, what will happen to us then?


    Defeating the Demon Lords means the fall of monsters as well. It is just as Celestis-chan says.


    If that¡¯s the case, we heroes whose duty is to protect the people from monsters will have finished their job.


    It is not only Celestis-chan. This is an unavoidable problem for Mirack-chan, Sasae-chan, Hyue-chan, and I.


    ¡°If I stop being the light hero...¡± (Karen)


    I would be the wife of Haine-san.


    Yeah, there¡¯s no problem at all.


    ¡°Leaving that aside, this city kind of stinks of tediousness.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan said all she wanted to say and changed the subject herself.


    She says this as she looks at the cityscape from the window of the room.


    ¡°It is right after a big battle after all. It can¡¯t be helped that they are exhausted.¡± (Mirack)


    The wholy injured Mirack-chan objects.


    It is true that the current Muspelheim has done their all to push back the attack of Michael and arepletely exhausted.


    The Ignis Militant corps that serve as the military force of the Church and to maintain public order have all been injured without exception.


    In order to fill that space, there¡¯s the need to borrow the help of people in other professions, so the city can¡¯t hide its confusion.


    But the expression of the people in the city was filled with spirit.


    It may have been a hard battle, but they managed to drive away the Demon Lord in the end, so they were sure it was a victory.


    ¡°A city exhausted by battle... I didn¡¯t make it in time for the battle itself, but if I were to leave without doing anything, it would be insult to the name of Celestis-sama.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What are you saying, Celestis-chan?¡± (Karen)


    Please don¡¯t do anymore unnecessary things.


    ¡°If the things a hero can do have run out, then this time, it is the time for an idol to enter! The idol hero that heals the people with her singing and dancing is standing here!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Seriously, what are you nning on doing, Celestis-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan says with a pose.


    ¡°A guerri live!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What are you saying?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan says first what I wanted to say.


    Really, what is Celestis-chan saying?


    ¡°As I said, a live!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan says this without showing a single trace of shyness.


    ¡°We will do a live! Doing a live as an idol; isn¡¯t that a given?!¡± (Celestis)


    I am once again experiencing how weird of an existence is the idol hero Celestis-chan.


    ¡°Right now this city...it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that they are exhausted after surviving a battle with the Demon Lord, and their hearts are currently wasted.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think their hearts are wasted right now though...¡± (Karen)


    They won the battle after all. So their spirit must be at their highs.


    ¡°And the one who can heal the heart of those people is the hero that¡¯s at the same time an idol, me. I will be the *Anima Spiritia* whose songs will resound through the whole Milky Way!!¡± (Celestis) <Macross 7 reference>


    I don¡¯t understand what Celestis-chan has been saying for a while now.


    ¡°Also, since this will be the first live being performed at another city, there¡¯s no doubt this will be the foundation for my future five nations tour! If I get a certain amount of customers from this live, it can give momentum to my live tour!¡± (Celestis)


    Ah, I get it now.


    As I thought, what Celestis-chan does always has detailed calctions in the shadows!


    ¡°Now, Mirack-chi! Since it has already been decided, let¡¯s immediately enter preparations for the live! Cooperate here as the local hero!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around. Go die.¡± (Mirack)


    Those words of Mirack-chan were a representation of her ¡®No¡¯.


    ¡°I refuse tagging along in that weird disgraceful behaviour you n on doing, but more than that, my whole body is in tatters because of the fight with the Demon Lord, you know? Not only can¡¯t I run or train, I can¡¯t even get out of this bed. Everytime I want to pee, it is code red, you know.¡± (Mirack)


    You don¡¯t have to say that much, Mirack-chan!


    ¡°Why should I move for your sake in this state? Even if I wanted to move, I wouldn¡¯t be able to, geez.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°[Water Heal] Punch!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Guuugh?!!¡± (Mirack)


    Eeeeeeh?!!


    The punch of Celestis-chan was nailed onto the stomach of Mirack-chan lying on the bed?!


    Why did she enter such sudden violence?!


    ¡°See? You got better with that, right?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah, I really got better.¡± (Mirack)


    No way!


    It is true that the water divine power of Celestis-chan has the ability to heal wounds, but...!


    ¡°The Water Heal affects the water inside the body and fixes the injuries! I drove that into Mirack-chi¡¯s body along with my punch!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Why along with a punch?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°No special meaning.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You DAMN WOMAAAAAN!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan who had now be full of energy in heart and body had lunged onto Celestis-chan.


    I thought of stopping them, but in this matter, Mirack-chan ispletely in the right, so I decided on ignoring it.


    ¡°At any rate, I have healed your wounds, so you now owe me one! Return the debt by cooperating with me!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Gugh! When you say it in that way, it would be a disgrace as a hero if I were to ignore a debt!¡± (Mirack)


    I think a pushed debt isn¡¯t one you have to repay, Mirack-chan.


    ¡°Now then, since the talk has been wrapped up, let¡¯s do the live! I will make this the first step of the idol hero Celestis into the world!¡± (Celestis)


    ***


    In this way, the live performance of the water hero Celestis-chan in Muspelheim had been decided.


    Originally, she came as reinforcement for the important battle, but she didn¡¯t make it. On top of that, she began an event that no one asked for. Normally thinking about it, you would make a big frown.


    But the Stream Marine corps that came together with Celestis-chan were able to heal the wounds of the people like Celestis-chan did, and it helped a lot in the recovery of the fire militants that were injured by the battle.


    Because of that, the reinforcements of the Water Church -no matter if they didn¡¯t make it in time for the battle- were greatly weed, and their good impression in the people of the city rose.


    But Abi Kyouka-san who was heavily injured by the Demon Lord had injuries that surpassed broken bones, so with just the water divine power, it would be hard to see it getting better, so there¡¯s the need to wait for a bone specialist from Ishtar ze toe here.


    Leaving that aside, because of this unexpected tailwind, Celestis-chan¡¯s sudden live was proceeding smoothly.


    I stopped myself from leaving the Fire capital until things have settled down and I was losing even more chances to return to Apollon City.


    ***


    ¡°And so, I ended uping!¡± (Karen)


    The day of the live of Celestis-chan in Muspelheim.


    But well, it hasn¡¯t even been two days since Celestis-chan had arbitrarily announced a live, so it is not like it has been long.


    As expected of something that has the adjective guerri on it. They must have prioritized hastiness than carefulness.


    Even when there was short publicity, the venue was full.


    ¡°No matter what¡¯s said, as expected, Celestis-chan¡¯s poprity is strong!¡± (Karen)


    Hiding at the side of stage, Mirack-chan and I were watching over the state of the venue.


    The live will begin soon.


    Soon, Celestis-chan will appear on stage and she will throw the full house audience into the very depths of enthusiasm.


    ¡°It was announced that this is a charity and all sales will be donated after all. If you stimte the national spirit of the citizens that rose highly because of the Demon Lord battle before, people would obviously gather.¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack-chan exins as a local.


    But Celestis-chan...it looked as if she thought of it on the moment, and yet, it is so minutely nned!


    ¡°That high ability to calcte coupled with her good virtue and passion; as expected of a Water member.¡± (Mirack)


    Hydra Ville is the number one mercantile city of the world after all.


    ¡°...Celestis-chan takes those kind of situations and makes them as much of a plus as possible, and connects this as a rise for the five nations tour!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If her sales here have a good kick, it will be easier to convince things like sponsors, and the hurdle to make it happen will be lower, but seeing her safely seed makes me somewhat pissed off.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan...are you still holding a grudge for that ¡®Water Heal¡¯ punch?


    ¡°That¡¯s why I have prepared an assassin.¡± (Mirack)


    Assassin?


    While we were doing that, Celestis-chan appeared at the stage. With her characteristic idol smile, she heats up the people in the venue.


    ¡°Everyone~! Thanks for gathering today at the reconstruction support live of Muspelheim! I am the main personality here, the water hero! Celestis!¡± (Celestis)


    A cheer of ¡®Ooh!¡¯ was returned.


    ¡°Being able to sing here at Muspelheim as a water hero is proof of the friendship between the Fire and Water Church! In order to make that friendship stronger and stronger, I will enthusiastically sing today! The first song is¡ª!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Before that...¡±


    Cutting off Celestis-chan who was getting in the mood, Mirack-chan takes the mic.


    This action wasn¡¯t in the script, so Celestis-chan and I both went ¡®?¡¯.


    Without minding, Mirack-chan continues.


    ¡°Since this is a proof of friendship from the Fire Church and the Water Church...in order to make this event a sess, we have prepared a special guest!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s friend, the Fire Cow Phris!!!!¡± (Mirack)


    A single cowes running out to the stage.


    Isn¡¯t that the Phris that we defeated together with Haine-san?!


    And the moment that Phris appeared, the heat in the venue increased by several tens of times!


    ¡°UUUOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!¡±


    ¡°Phris! Phris!! Phris!!!!¡±


    ¡°Phri¡ª*cough cough cough!* Guh...Phris!!!¡±


    That strength of cheering was not in the same level as when Celestis-chan appeared.


    The spotlight of the area had beenpletely stolen by Phris.


    Celestis-chan was standing stunned on the stage...

 Chapter 281-282 - A fluffy character goes strong

    <h4>Chapter 281-282: A fluffy character goes strong</h4>


    And then, the live ended...


    ¡°Wow, I didn¡¯t think it would be decided so clearly!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan, who had her n end up in more than expected, had a truly joyous expression.


    In contrast to that, at the corner of the dressing room...


    ¡°.......................................¡±


    There¡¯s a crushed Celestis-chan there.


    She is curled up in a ball and sticking her forehead to her knees and muttering something.


    Her voice was so low I couldn¡¯t hear what she was saying.


    There¡¯s no glitteriness in her outfit anymore and she was enveloped in a heavy dark aura right now.


    ¡°H-Hey, didn¡¯t you overdo it? This is the first time I have seen a Celestis-chan this down!¡± (Karen)


    I obviously got worried and pull the clothes of Mirack-chan.


    But Mirack-chan¡¯s expression was still loose.


    ¡°She ended up like this because she underestimated being an outsider. There¡¯s popr ones in every nation. When an away personality challenges the home of another personality, you will get turned the tables around outrageously. Don¡¯t you think so as well?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan, who was high on her reins, directed her gaze at the other person in the dressing room ¡ªthe fire cow Phris-san in question.


    A small monster the size of a calf was munching on the grass that was prepared in the dressing room.


    ¡°...Or more like, uhm...¡± (Karen)


    I have not been involved with this cow since the fight at the Radona mountain range, but what in the world happened here?


    The Phris that I know is supposed to be a fearsome monster, and yet, why is it currently a popr figure in Muspelheim?


    ¡°Since the time it became harmless after being defeated by Haine, this guy has been really popr mainly among the children.¡± (Mirack)


    Children do love animals after all.


    ¡°On top of that, with the raid of the Demon Lord not that long ago where he put his own body at stake to protect the humans, the already high poprity he had had now made a new breakthrough, you see. Right now, the sales of goods rted to him have increased by four times. The field trip course of the Fire Church on Phris is a long line everyday now, and it is currently breaking several records!¡± (Mirack)


    Moreover, I don¡¯t think those records will be changed for a long time!


    ¡°I would say this served as a good learning experience if she is thinking about taking a step out of Hydra Ville! If you want to make it big in this Muspelheim, you have to be at least one tenth of our Phris!¡± (Mirack)


    You are taunting her too much!


    Mirack-chan, that¡¯s too much!!


    Just what is going on with you?! Why is Mirack-chan so bitter only at the times when she is dealing with Celestis-chan?!


    ¡°.........................¡±


    On the other hand, Celestis-chan was still muttering at the corner of the room.


    Must have been quite the shock.


    In this live performance outside her homnd that she thought would be perfect was all overturned by not even a human, but a cow after all.


    Phris continues munching on grass.


    ¡°...Wrong...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°I was...wrong.¡± (Celestis)


    The volume had finally risen enough for me to actually be able to hear Celestis-chan.


    ¡°...Being fawned over for being an idol or a hero, I thought of that as my own poprity and got over myself!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No, uhm...there¡¯s no need to deny yourself that much...!¡±


    ¡°It is true that I was a frog that didn¡¯t know of the ocean. To think a fluffy animal character would be able to get this much poprity! I have noticed it today. I have received a revtion!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    ¡°This era is about animals¡ªno, it is about fluffy characters! Idols are already a thing of the past!!¡± (Celestis)


    Eeeeeeeeh?!


    ¡°I will quit being an idol and be a fluffy character!! Please, Phris-san!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan prostrated to the cow?!


    ¡°Please make me your disciple! Please make me a great fluffy character!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°Wait wait!!¡±¡±


    Both Mirack-chan and I were struck senseless by this and ended up going over to Celestis-chan.


    ¡°What are you saying, Celestis-chan?! If you end up as a fluffy character, not only will you be quitting as an idol, it would mean quitting as a human!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Celestis! Did I overdo it?! I apologize, so please don¡¯t begin anything weird!!¡± (Mirack)


    And desperately tried to do a follow-up, but the situation was more serious than expected.


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna! I will also be a cow! If a cow is the trend, I will be a cow! I will also get big boobs, so it should be two birds with one stone, right?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°A Holstein?!¡± (Karen)


    Or more like, there¡¯s no need to go so low, Celestis-chan!


    Please don¡¯t wish for the impossible!


    ¡°Mirack-chan!¡± (Karen)


    I reflexively let out a strict voice on Mirack-chan.


    The person herself had her shoulders jump like a child being scolded.


    ¡°...No well, uhm, I was just thinking about teaching this Celestis the difficult path of outside tours!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Enough about that! Apologize!¡± (Karen)


    When I said this, Mirack-chan grabbed the shoulders of Celestis-chan.


    ¡°Celestis! I am truly sorry! It is that, you see... No matter what others say, I like your idol self, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°...Really?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan reacted!


    I have to ride the flow as well!


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I also love the idol Celestis-chan! Mirack-chan and I will always be cheering for you!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! We are your eternal fans!¡± (Mirack)


    When we said that, Celestis-chan snorted her bright red nose and hugged us both.


    ¡°Uwuuuu! I also love you two~~!! We will always always be friends, okay?!¡± (Celestis)


    We had no choice but to return the strong hug of Celestis-chan with strength.


    What¡¯s with this development?


    The only one seeing us three desperately hugging each other from an outsider perspective was Phris who is in the same room as us.


    For some reason, I heard a voice resonate directly in my head.


    (...What¡¯s with this development?)


    Moreover, it was in a tone as if shuddering.


    ¡°...But you know, I think there¡¯s something to learn about fluffy characters.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan had finally regained her usual pace and said this in a calm tone as she analyzes it ¡ªwhile holding grass and feeding Phris-san herself.


    ¡°In essence, the animal types are strong in this field. There¡¯s practically no children who hate them after all, and they are easy to make into cute cartoonish designs, so they are good formerce as well... What a bummer. The more I think about it, the less openings I find. To think the Fire Church that I thought was filled with muscle idiots had such amercial strategy going on.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan says: ¡®The simple fact that I was able to realize this has made it worth to have a live here¡¯, as she bites her lips.


    ...But Phris-san is more of an urrence after a chain of events, so I feel it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea to take as reference...


    By the way, in the corner of goods sales of the live, there were many Phris-san goods; Phris stuffed toys (S, M, L, XL), badges, keyholders, letter set, pencil box, Phris figurines (all five types), Phris trading cards (all 70 cards), Phris body pillow covers, 1/100 scale Phris stic models (event limited color edition).


    All of them had a killing in their sales the moment they were opened, and the fire members must have gotten quite flustered by that.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, there¡¯s no choice but to ride on that flow! We Water Church will also develop our own fluffy character!!¡± (Celestis)


    It is good that Celestis-chan has regained her energy, but she once again said whatever she thought of.


    When I look at my side, Mirack-chan also had a face of ¡®this woman is once again saying whatever she thinks of...¡¯.


    ¡°A dreamlike coboration between the new fluffy character of the Water Church and the idol Celestis-chan! It won¡¯t be a simple 1+1=2; it will be a 200! It will be a hundred times stronger, a hundred times!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I won¡¯t be retorting anymore, got it?¡± (Mirack)


    But Celestis-chan really has shocking levels of aggressiveness when ites to entertainment.


    Even in the live just now, Phris-san had taken away all the spotlight, and yet, she quickly moved to assisting and finished it with a bottomline sess.


    This surprising level of professionalism, just from where is she bringing all that out?


    ¡°When talking about a fluffy character of the Water Church, it would definitely have to be a character involving water, right? Water Lad-kun? Water Lifesaver-kun? Swimmer-kun? Wawater-kun?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°How about Fire Lad?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Wait, Mirack-chi! What are you joining the brainstorming for?! You already have a sessful subject that¡¯s Phris-kun, so be satisfied with that!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine to have a second fluffy character?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Like hell it is fine! Get pulled by your greed and fail!!¡± (Celestis)


    ...


    While watching over the bickering of those two, I...


    ¡°...What about Kotaro-kun?¡± (Karen)


    Yeah, no way.


    Let¡¯s close Kotaro-kun inside of my mind.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Kotaro-kun nice?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I think it is nice with Kotaro-kun.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°They heard me?!!!!¡± (Karen)


    They jumped right onto it!


    ¡°Hey hey Karen-chi, this talk just now, can I use it for the live talk that¡¯sing next?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No way that¡¯s okay!¡± (Karen)


    Just leave Kotaro-kun as my own delusion please!!


    ...Damn it.


    Celestis-chan was so crushed just a few moments ago, and yet, why is it that she is so fast in recovering?


    Isn¡¯t she already bursting in energy!


    ¡°But...with a suddenly thought character like that, it wouldn¡¯t be able to stand against Phris-san who already has a rockfirm standing! Rather than a Kotaro-kun that has no background to it, a character with an existing foundation would be more desirable.¡± (Celestis)


    Stop! Don¡¯t insult Kotaro-kun~!


    ¡°Right! I have thought of something good!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan was already in a nk state.


    ¡°For the entertainment of now on, a fluffy character is necessary! But in terms of achievements, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to go against the pioneers! In that case, it is fine to just use someone, that already has achievements, as a fluffy character!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Continue.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In other words, I who already have achievements as an idol should be the fluffy character!!¡± (Celestis)


    The best fluffy character was actually Celestis-chan herself bing the fluffy character?


    ¡°Hm, isn¡¯t it fine?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan has already given up on thinking!


    ¡°Then, show it to us here. This fluffy Celestis you talk about.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Okay! Imma show ya all!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan shows drive and began to concentrate her whole on searching for her own fluffy character.


    ¡°I am Celestis~! Love me, love me~!¡± (Celestis)


    And it looks like she found something strange.


    ¡°Okay, I will love you.¡± (Mirack)


    And for a while now, Mirack-chan¡¯s character has been weird as well.


    The side that wants to be loved, and the side that loves; Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan who fulfilled the requirements on both sides hugged each other.


    ¡°...¡±


    Well, this is something I have thought about before but, Celestis-chan might be the maximum loved character.


    Her being a hero and an idol obviouslyes from desires like wanting to protect the people and raising the motivation of people by dancing and singing, but at its root, there¡¯s the desire of wanting to be loved by the people that is swirling inside Celestis-chan to the point of obsession.


    It is because she wants to be loved that she can do her best.


    I think that way of thinking is in no way bad as a motivation for a person.


    ¡°Mirack-chi, I love you~, I love you~.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes yes.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan are still hugging. I also began to feel tingly.


    ¡°I also love you a lot!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eeh, even Karen?! Oi, are we going to be hugging all three of us together?! I totally wee that but...! Ah, the heat of the two is making my reason fly away~!!¡± (Mirack)


    We three are now hugging each other like before.


    I wonder how many times we should repeat this before we are satisfied?


    The one watching over this was Phris-san only.


    And then, I once again hear a voice resonating directly into my head.


    (What¡¯s with this scene that¡¯s making my heart jump?!)


    It was mixed with a shudder again.

 Chapter 283-285 - Shadow, fire, and water

    <h4>Chapter 283-285: Shadow, fire, and water</h4>


    And then, after repeating exchanges between Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I that would make one¡¯s brain go limp, it felt as if there was no end in sight.


    ¡°I want to say ¡®I love you¡¯ to Sasae-chi and Hyue-chi...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°How about writing a letter?¡± (Mirack)


    *Knock *knock


    The door of the dressing room was knocked, and one girl enters the room.


    ¡°Karen-sama.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Doraha-san.¡± (Karen)


    Dark skin and ck hair; a girl that looked as if she had crawled out from the shadow of the ground itself.


    ¡°Ah, this girl...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The girl that we normally see at the Light Church...¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan are people thate pretty often to the Light Church even when they don¡¯t have much of a business there, so they remember Doraha-san.


    ¡°Karen-san, I havee to give you a report. At the goods corner, after the Phris goods were sold out, the Celestis goods were sold out as well.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Seriously?! Yay!!¡± (Celestis)


    The very first one to raise a hurray after hearing those news was Celestis-chan herself.


    At the moment the sales began, they were making a killing.


    It wascking behind the Phris goods by a lot, but I am d to see that her idol hero bill of sale was able to stay afoot.


    ¡°In reality, when the sales were over, the remaining goods were all bought by Captain Vesage...though.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Ah, so that person came as well.¡± (Karen)


    His pay got better after being promoted, but is his money going tost if he does such reckless buys like that?


    Let¡¯s believe in the possibility that the remaining goods of Celestis were few.


    ¡°Rather than saying he came here, it is more like, he was part of the production staff.¡± (Doraha)


    Eh?


    ¡°Eh, didn¡¯t you know, Karen-chi? Today¡¯s live was made possible by the cooperation of the Aurora Knights, the Fire Militants, and the Stream Marines. Acquiring the venue, the production, the management of the sales and customers...¡± (Celestis)


    This is the first time I heard of this.


    Even in those areas there¡¯s the cooperation of the Churches?


    ¡°My idol activities should have already been separated from the church, but this time only, it was a sudden live, so it is a special case. The light and fire people were using this chance to gather information on the know-hows of the water¡¯s production team.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°Hm?¡±¡±


    This not only confused me but Mirack-chan as well.


    ¡°Hey hey, by the way, Karen-chi.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan calls me with a voice as if sounding me out.


    ¡°I have been thinking about this since a long time ago but, who¡¯s that girl?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Who do you mean by that girl?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As I said, that girl. That darkish girl that looks like she has been surfing in the summer!¡± (Celestis)


    When she pointed that out, I immediately realized she was talking about Doraha.


    Now that I think about it, have I even done a proper introduction of Doraha-san to everyone?


    ...I feel like I haven¡¯t.


    Doraha-san being in the Light Church is due to special circumstances, so it is pretty hard to talk about that to other people though...


    ¡°T-Then, this is a good chance, so I will be introducing her, okay? This person here is Doraha-san!¡± (Karen)


    I ce my hands on the small Doraha-san and introduce her.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°............¡±


    ¡°¡°That¡¯s all?!¡±¡±


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan raised their voice together.


    It can¡¯t be helped, you know! There¡¯s no more information I can talk about Doraha-san!


    Doraha-san was originally born in the Dark Underworld Country that prospered more than a thousand years ago.


    When the Underworld country fell, she turned that anger into wrath and had her power run berserk, and ended up turning into a fiend that could swallow the whole world, so she was sealed and has lived like that until this modern era.


    We ended up meeting Doraha-san by searching for the mystery of the Dark God Entropy, and fought a fierce battle. With Haine-san¡¯s power that erases everything, her berserk state was resetted, and she managed to return to the surface world after more than a thousand years.


    After that, with nowhere to return to, Yorishiro-sama took over the care of Doraha-san. Now, she is the personal guard of Yorishiro-sama and a part of the Light Church.


    And all of that...


    ¡°I have no confidence in properly exining this.¡± (Karen)


    And that¡¯s how it is.


    It was so out of norms that even if I were to say it as it is, they wouldn¡¯t be able to understand what I am even saying.


    It is not as if Haine-san and Yorishiro-sama have told me not to say anything, but it must be because they knew that even if I were to speak about it, no one would believe me.


    That¡¯s why I will persevere in the silence.


    ¡°Closing the shell? There should be no more secrets between us, right? It is fine, so spit out all you know.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it faster to directly ask this girl rather than asking Karen? Oi, Doraha, try to introduce yourself. Where were you born in and how you ended up joining the Light Church?¡± (Mirack)


    The two have changed their target to Doraha-san herself?! How is this going to turn out? To tell the truth, I haven¡¯t been able to properly gauge the personality of Doraha-san...


    I don¡¯t know how she will act when interacting with people of other nations.


    Just what in the world will happen?!


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me so casually, you filth.¡± (Doraha)


    ...The air stiffened.


    ¡°Worshippers of lower Gods like Nova and Coacervate are trying to be friendly towards Karen-sama and I? Know your ce.¡± (Doraha)


    Uwa, so it hase to this.


    Now that I think about it, the Underworld Country Doraha-san lived in was destroyed by tribes that are currently the Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire Churches.


    Even though she is so polite to Yorishiro-san, Haine-san, and I.


    So Doraha-san was an extreme case of xenophobia.


    ¡°I am truly sorry.¡± (Karen)


    I apologize for the impoliteness of Doraha-san as her guardian.


    At the same time, I now had to exin why Doraha-san hated the other churches so much, so in the end, I had to reveal her incredibly umon circumstances.


    ¡°Eh...so this girl is from an ancient civilization?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That exins the transient feeling this girl gives out.¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan show no unpleasantness in having being insulted.


    I am stroking the head and chin of Doraha-chan who was still going ¡®grrr¡¯.


    ¡°Eh?! You believe that story just now?!¡± (Karen)


    It is weird for me to be saying this but, it makes me worry about the health of their brain!


    ¡°Well, this would be a scenario where, normally, I would check for the alcohol levels of Karen-chi, but...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We have witnessed the outrageous power of this girl personally after all. In order to acknowledge something like that, there should be an outrageous exnation to bnce it.¡± (Mirack)


    Ah.


    That was a pretty good while ago. When we met Sasae-chan for the first time.


    We ended up battling Sasae-chan due to various crosses, but the one who held down Sasae-chan was not us but Doraha-san.


    Using the shadow power that she obtained in the Underworld country and is now lost in the modern era.


    ¡°Golem-ready Sasae was a strong opponent even when going three against her. And yet, she overwhelmed that kind of opponent all by herself, so I thought she was not your regr chum from way back then.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°She uses a strange power like that of Haine-chi after all. Why is it that the weird people stick to the Light Church?¡± (Celestis)


    H-Haine-san is not a strange person, you know!


    In the first ce, he is always doing the tsukkomi role. Being the guy that retorts is proof that he hasmon sense, right?!


    ¡°The Underworld Country huh. Hydra Ville has advanced decently in history research, but I have never heard of that ancient civilization.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°In terms of history research, the Light Church is the number one after all. That part should be trusted...... And so, the Underworld Country was destroyed by the five Churches in the past, so she hates us as their descendants?¡± (Mirack)


    In reality, the Light Church wasn¡¯t involved in that, so it is actually the other four Churches though.


    Doraha-san went berserk at the indignation of this, became shadow itself, and was trying to swallow the whole world.


    Due to the long time she was sealed, she lost her memories, but the emotions that are in the depths of her heart are driving her to hate her past enemies without a clear memory of it.


    ¡°Looks like the path of Doraha-san adapting to society is still long, Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Karen)


    Honestly, I thought that hering to another nation was a big step forward.


    Since returning from the Underworld Country, she has always been at the side of Yorishiro-sama, or if not, at the side of Haine-san. That¡¯s how unstable Doraha-san was in the past.


    After one to two months of living in Apollon City, she got used to this era little by little, and I thought that maybe she was already okay without following Yorishiro-sama and Haine-san.


    Even the other day, it was out of necessity, but she guarded the unconscious Haine-san on her own.


    Maybe it is finally the time to challenge travelling on her own, is what Yorishiro-sama decided.


    She entrusted Doraha-san to me the day before she left together with Haine-san.


    {I say that, but there¡¯s still anxiety remaining in leaving her alone, so I want to leave her in your custody, Karen-san} (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-san told me this with a tone like that of a mother.


    {We can¡¯t bring Doraha to the ce we will be heading to, and right now she is an important fighting force of the church. In the time Haine-san and I are away, if Doraha were to be gone as well, I would be worried about the security of Apollon City.} (Yorishiro)


    And she added.


    {Doraha is pretty attached to Karen-san as well, so if Karen-san stays by her side, I would also be able to have peace of mind-desu wa. In the time Haine-san and I are absent, please protect Apollon City together with Doraha.} (Yorishiro)


    Then left! Together with Haine-san!!


    And they are still missing!!


    I don¡¯t know where they went, but that¡¯s unfair Yorishiro-sama! What happened to the agreement of loving Haine-san together?!


    ...There are a mountain of things I want toin about, but right now I have to swallow it and worry about Doraha-san.


    Doraha-san is currently being stroked by Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan on her head and chin, but even with that, she was still intimidating them with a ¡®grrrrr¡¯.


    ¡°Hnng...¡± (Doraha)


    Eh?


    ¡°Grrrrrrr!!¡± (Doraha)


    As I thought, Doraha-san was growling. But is it my imagination that I heard her sound in pleasure?


    ¡°But I am surprised that Karen-chi has brought such an important fighting force all the way here together to Muspelheim.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°True. If I remember correctly, that Haine and the Founder Yorishiro are absent from the Light capital, right? On top of that, if you were toe here to reinforce us with this girl, wouldn¡¯t Apollon City bepletely empty?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In our side, we had Sarasa stay, so we left the protection of the city to her and I myself went to assist in the reinforcements...... Ah, the Light nation also has their previous hero, right. Sunny...something, right?¡± (Celestis)


    No...


    Sunnysol Ates is also aplicated matter though.


    It is true that it was hard to decide how much of our forces to send to the Fire Church¡¯s request for reinforcements.


    Even if Doraha¡¯s mind and body have stabilized, there¡¯s still insecurity in leaving her alone. But if we take into consideration the protection of the Light capital, it would also give more peace of mind if one were to go reinforce Muspelheim while the other stays.


    When I was at a lost with that, the Aurora Knights¡¯ new General, Grades-san, scolded me.


    {Those Demon Lords are opponents outside ourmon sense. Even if we were to do our all, we wouldn¡¯t even have a one in a billionth chance, but we would be letting that small chance escape if we don¡¯t do our all.} (Grades)


    {If they have appeared in the Fire capital, we should use all our strength to crush them. It is fine for the Light capital to have the minimum preparations. I will take themand of the defense. You people should use your all and do your own job.} (Grades)


    And so, Doraha-san and I were able to head to Muspelheim.


    It was practically over by the time we arrived though...


    ¡°Hoh... The new Aurora General was a guy that could make such a momentous decision like that huh.¡± (Mirack)


    Hearing my exnation, Mirack-chan gives out a male-like impression.


    ¡°The previous General was so bad even we heard about him after all. Does that mean the Aurora Knights have finally caught up to the light hero-sama and have be a proper army?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was half-teasing as she congratted the reformation of the Aurora Knights.


    It is true that there were a variety of tribtions, but after oveing them one by one, we are slowly growing more organized.


    We are properly preparing for the uing battle.


    But if I had to point one problem, it would be Doraha-san.


    Being stroked by Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan...


    ¡°Hnng...¡± (Doraha)


    Isn¡¯t she really moaning in pleasure there?


    ¡°Grrrrr!¡± (Doraha)


    She is intimidating them?


    Doraha-san hates all churches aside from the Light Church, so even if Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan both stroke her, her hostility is not lowering.


    Her head is being stroked and her chin is being tickled...


    ¡°Hnng Hnnnng...¡± (Doraha)


    Or maybe her hostility is decreasing?


    ¡°Eii! Stop it!!¡± (Doraha)


    WIth a thunderous *Dooon!* sound, Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were blown away.


    Doraha-san¡¯s special ability, controlling the shadows.


    With that power, Doraha-san expanded her own shadow and blew them both away.


    ¡°Uoo...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Ouch ouch. I hit my butt. There¡¯s no need to suddenly blow us away. Geez.¡± (Celestis)


    The impact of the shadow must have been weak. Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan don¡¯t seem to be in that much pain.


    ¡°Fool! It is you heretics¡¯ fault for being so sticky! If you do that again, I will use all my shadow techniques to kick you to death!!¡± (Doraha)


    Yeah, this is no good.


    The world is moving to an era of harmony, and the Light Church is adopting this, and yet...


    ¡°Doraha-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-sama! These people were rude! Even though they are worshippers of lesser Gods, they touched my body without permission!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Punishment.¡± (Karen)


    I hit her head as lightly as possible.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say things like ¡®lesser Gods¡¯. There¡¯s no higher or lower in the Gods that people believe in. All of them are important Gods that look after us humans.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-sama... But...¡± (Doraha)


    Her homnd was destroyed.


    That anger, that hatred still continued to stay in the heart of Doraha-san even after a thousand years. The size of her indignation is not something I can even imagine in this short 16 years life of mine.


    But...Doraha-san has lost her past memories, and has even forgotten the reason why she hates those Gods. To drag that hatred in that condition, there¡¯s no way it is good.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama is endorsing the reconciliation of the other four churches. And yet, if Doraha-san hates everyone so much, it would get in the way of Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama...¡± (Doraha)


    I do think that it is underhanded to put it in this way to this girl that loves Yorishiro-sama, but in order to make her reflect on it, there¡¯s no other way.


    ...Telling someone to do something is hard. I feel like I will have it hard when I am a mother in the future.


    ¡°...That¡¯s not good. I have to be of use to Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°In that case, you have to get along, not only with Yorishiro-sama and Haine-san, but also the people of the other churches. And so, first of all, let¡¯s apologize to Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan.¡± (Karen)


    I hold the shoulders of Doraha-san and make her face the two.


    ¡°...I am sorry for blowing you away.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°¡°......¡±¡±


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan maintained silence for a while. It was as if they had lost breath, and then...


    ¡°Cuuute! This girl is cuuute!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was the first to hug Doraha-san.


    ¡°It is as if this girl is a doggy! She doesn¡¯t get along with other people aside from her owner and when she gets scolded, she gets all depressed! Cute cute, she is too cute!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Holding a human and calling them ¡®doggy¡¯ is no good, you thoughtless idol.¡± (Mirack)


    And Mirack-chan continues.


    ¡°But...in this battle against the Demon Lords that continues, a hero level force is truly important. Just like Karen, I will be counting on you as well.¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack-chan said as she stroked the head of Doraha-san to a level that felt it could make smoke.


    I am so d...


    Looks like it will go well with these two and Doraha-san.


    If things go well with Sasae-chan and Hyue-chan as well and she is able to get along with many others, Yorishiro-sama would be a bit more relieved.


    After indulging plenty in animal therapy, Celestis-chan seemed to suddenly notice something.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, I am surprised that she was able to participate in the production of today¡¯s event. This time it was a cooperation between three nations, right? Were there no problems happening with the fire militants and our stream marines?¡± (Celestis)


    ...Now that she says it...


    Doraha-san has absolutely no problem with the Light Church and can get along with anyone of the Light nation.


    But any other nations, it is just as seen now. In a venue where there¡¯s light, fire, and water people all over the ce, I don¡¯t think things would go smoothly.


    Since arriving to Muspelheim, Doraha-san has been together with me the whole time and didn¡¯t create any scene, but maybe it was bad to let her go outside alone?!


    ¡°...Ah, yes. When I went to check the state of the venue, some insolent heretic spoke to me.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°¡®Hey you, aren¡¯t you cute. If you have the time, how about having tea with me?¡¯ he said.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Trying to pick you up?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And so...¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha-san said this in a natural tone.


    ¡°I kicked him.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°¡°¡°Hiiiiiiih!!!¡±¡±¡±


    We all let out a scream.


    ¡°And then, what seemed to be hisrades were gathering one after the other, and said ¡®what are you suddenly doing?!¡¯ and it was getting noisy, so...I kicked them all.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°¡°¡°Hiiiiiih!!¡±¡±¡±


    There was no time to wait.


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I kicked open the door and dash towards the venue.


    ¡°In the first ce, who was the one trying to pick Doraha-san up?! Isn¡¯t that a legit crime? There¡¯s no excusing that!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave killing him forter! Right now what¡¯s most important is to grasp the situation! Hurry!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Doraha-san! Please don¡¯t leave my sight for a second until Yorishiro-sama returns, okay?!!¡± (Karen)


    So, when we actually arrived at the ce, in this venue where the customers had already left, there¡¯s a lot of light knights, fire militants, and stream marines with their heads piercing the ceiling.


    ¡°¡°¡°GYAAAAAAA!!¡±¡±¡±


    There¡¯s no doubt they were all kicked into the ceiling by Doraha-san.


    It is aplete ughter.


    ¡®Why even the light knights that are supposed to be allies?¡¯, is what I thought in my confusion, but at any rate, in order to save the people that have their head piercing the ceiling, we had to diligently work as if we were harvesting fruits.


    The battle had finished, and yet, we had a lot of things to do and our exhaustion umted.

 Chapter 286-287 - Return of the wicked God

    <h4>Chapter 286-287: Return of the wicked God</h4>


    ........


    The Fire God Nova is currently incarnated in a cow¡¯s body and living in the surface world.


    The one humans call Fire Cow Phris.


    (Good grief, it has finally gotten silent.)


    The cow that was left alone in the dressing room -Nova- remembers the girls that were frolicking just a few moments ago.


    Everytime Nova sees that, he couldn¡¯t help but think ¡®why are humans so noisy?¡¯.


    Humans are probably living beings that can¡¯t live without enjoying the enjoyable moments. When everyone gathers, they have fun.


    Today¡¯s live event must fall in that same category.


    (They are a wretched living form... Keh.) (Nova)


    And so, now that those girls had left from the room, the ce was incredibly silent.


    At a corner of the room, there¡¯s a mountain of presents from the live audience.


    No matter which it was, they were for Phris.


    After the raid of the Demon Lord Michael the other day, just with Phris helping them out on a whim, the humans gave out truly exaggerated gratitude.


    (Hmph, they are truly simple people.) (Nova)


    Phris snorted and looks at the mountain of presents.


    Handmade stuffed dolls of Phris, letters of gratitude, drawings of Phris and the hero facing the Demon Lord, flower bouquets, and collections of autographs.


    They were mostly the works of children, so most of the handmade ones were things made with rough skill.


    (Giving me a bunch of things that I can¡¯t eat. If you are going to bring something, bring food.) (Nova)


    Of course, within the presents, there were the types of food Phris likes the most, but the caretakers of Phris separated those and have stored it at a different location.


    The things that are at the room are the nonestible type, but even with that, it was still packed up and has be a mountain that rivals the height of Phris himself.


    But well, Phris has gone out of his battle form and it is currently only the size of a calf though.


    (...Hmph, they are really a simple bunch. Those fools.) (Nova)


    Nova participated in the battle against the Demon Lord out of a whim.


    The arrogance of the Demon Lords for going against his will as a God and their ns on ruling the surface world had picked a nerve of Nova, but there was also a part of him that simply wanted to rampage.


    And yet, the humans got happy on their own, gave him their gratitude, and treated Phris as their friend.


    The simpleness in their way of acting was truly amusing in the eyes of a God.


    (Hmph.) (Nova)


    Nova, who was going ¡®like hell I will y along with them¡¯, turned around and headed to his bed. It is at one of the corners of the room, and in terms of position, it would be at the opposite corner of the mountain of presents.


    When Phris arrives at his bed, he bites onto his nket and drags it right at the front of the mountain of presents and sleeps on top of the nket.


    (A bunch of guys that can¡¯t take a hint. Hmph.) (Nova)


    And so, as he lies down on his nket, he looks at a doll that was badly made within the mountain of present and snorts again.


    ***


    (Good grief. I can¡¯t continue looking. It is way too pathetic.)


    A sudden voice resonates directly into the soul of the Fire God Nova.


    The unpleasant tone of that voice immediately blew away the quiet feeling the cow had.


    (Coacervate huh.) (Nova)


    Nova immediately knew who was the owner of that voice.


    Water God Coacervate.


    Just like Nova, he is one of the six Gods that created this world.


    You could say they are brethren, but Coacervate was the kind of filthy God that you wouldn¡¯t want to ept are of the same kind.


    (The brave and resolute Fire God Nova, that was feared in the past for his utmost tyranny, has now turned into a cow and living a pet life. Truly a pathetic sight. I can only think of it as you losing your pride as a God.) (Coacervate)


    Nova narrowed his eyes and scanned the dressing room, but he couldn¡¯t find anything that could be Coacervate. But he could tell that there was a presence creeping about the walls.


    (...Fearing Entropy and not getting attention from Intion, you have finally ended up in my ce huh. What¡¯s your business? I admit I don¡¯t have anything to do, but even if that¡¯s the case, I don¡¯t have the time to waste on trash like you, you know?) (Nova)


    Coacervate self-proims as a cunning God, and finds the most joy in scheming.


    Since the Genesis era, he has been making Gods and humans dance on the palm of his hands, and with that, he began to boast that ¡®I am intelligent¡¯.


    Because of that rotten personality, the Water God is thoroughly hated by the other six Gods.


    Of course, for the Fire God Nova, his brethren Coacervate was nothing but the target of disgust.


    The Gods of Creation have been divided in two factions for a long time: the ¡®pro-human side¡¯ and the ¡®human subordination side¡¯. Being ssified in the ¡®human subordination side¡¯ together with Coacervate was a disgrace that Nova couldn¡¯t endure.


    (No no, I simply came here to confirm something. About your apostasy, Fire God Nova.) (Coacervate)


    (Apostasy?) (Nova)


    (¡®Humans are the ves of Gods¡¯, ¡®the Gods decide how to use the humans¡¯. Even though we had those things inmon, the youtely has been acting in a way unlike you. So I got anxious about whether you would end up being subservient to Entropy and change your doctrine, so I havee personally today to hear your thoughts.) (Coacervate)


    His tone was gentle, but the contempt that was behind those words, there¡¯s no way it could be hidden.


    That was the peculiar unpleasantness of these God called Coacervate.


    (Don¡¯t underestimate this Fire God Nova!!) (Nova)


    Even if Nova knew Coacervate was trying to provoke him, he couldn¡¯t not bite.


    (I don¡¯t care what happens to the humans! Spreading and burning everything, that¡¯s the destruction and rebirth which is the essence of fire! The battle just now was because the Demon Lords pissed me off more than the humans. It had nothing to do with the humans!) (Nova)


    (Hearing that relieves me. As I thought, a zing ferocity is the characteristic of you, the Fire God. It is great to see that it is still alive in you.) (Coacervate)


    A ¡®kusukusukusu¡¯ugh resonated once again mixed with ridicule.


    (Hmph...if your business is done, leave. Just listening to your slimy vocal sounds sends disgust down my spine.) (Nova)


    (Now now, don¡¯t be like that. We got to see each other after so long. Why don¡¯t we have a small harmless talk?) (Coacervate)


    (Don¡¯t want to.) (Nova)


    Nova was so against the idea that it showed in his tone.


    (Now now, don¡¯t be like that...... Right, how about this talk? About the Demon Lords.) (Coacervate)


    With those words on the table, Nova couldn¡¯t simply feign as if he didn¡¯t hear it.


    (...Now that I think about it...) (Nova)


    Nova slowly raised his cow body.


    (There¡¯s such an emergency situation. There¡¯s no way you wouldn¡¯t ride on it ¡ªas the self-proimed cunning God.) (Nova)


    In the first ce, the one who proposed the creation of the monsters was none other than Coacervate.


    The era moves forward, the civilization develops, and humanity has grown enough to live on their own strength, and with that, they began to pray less and less to their Gods.


    That was a serious problem for the Gods.


    That¡¯s because in that span of more than a thousand years, the Gods had gotten used to being prayed by humans, so they are unable to maintain their existence without the prayers of humans.


    If the prayers continue to stagnate in this rate, the Gods might not even be able to stay as Gods.


    In that case, let¡¯s have the humans pray to the Gods again.


    For that sake, there¡¯s the need of a problem that would make the humans pray to the Gods ¡®please save us¡¯.


    That problem is the monsters.


    (If monsters attack them and threaten their lives, the humans will once again cling onto Gods, and the humans will send their prayers. You were the one who presented this to the other Gods, Coacervate.) (Nova)


    (Yeah, and thanks to that, you were able to secure a set amount of prayer as well, right?) (Coacervate)


    It is unpleasant for Nova that it was just as Coacervate says.


    It is true that, in those times, Nova looked down on the humans as no more than garbage, so Nova ended up agreeing to the proposition of Coacervate not only once but twice.


    Quasar and Mantle also agreed to the proposition of Coacervate with their own ns in mind.


    And that¡¯s how the era of a long battle between the four element monsters and the humans began.


    This is a story from a hundred years ago.


    (And with that as the seed, the Demon Lords were birthed. Seriously, your ns always end up turning the table at some point.) (Nova)


    That was the best attempt Nova had to bite against Coacervate.


    Monsters were pseudo-life forms without a soul created solely to wring out prayers from humans.


    They were birthed as a pure mass of divine power,cking a soul and a will.


    They arepletely different from the humans and fauna.


    It is plenty enough with the humans being the living beings outside the framework of the Gods.


    And within that framework, the monsters were true to the word tools created by the Gods that shouldn¡¯t be able to be more than that.


    (But even with that, monsters escaped from the framework of us Gods.) (Nova)


    That¡¯s the Demon Lords.


    In the span of a hundred years, with a repetition of birth and death of millions of brethrens, the ultimate monsters were born.


    They possess divine power that rivals that of Gods and obtained self-awareness that monsters should originally never have.


    Everything was outside the expectations of the Gods.


    (The other part that pissess me off is that those damn Demon Lords surpass the current strength of us Gods. With the prayers drying up, our strength has decreased quite a lot from our peak times.) (Nova)


    Nova challenging Michael alone and being unable to defeat him was proof of this.


    The reason why Michael was driven off was because of thebination of powers between Nova and Mirack, and also the people living in Muspelheim; it was the result of changing all the emotions into strength.


    (Entropy, Intion, and Quasar; the bunch that are on the side of humans are doing strenuous efforts. They are desperately searching for methods to have humans go against the Demon Lords.) (Nova)


    (Kukuku... It would be nice if such a convenient method actually existed, right?) (Coacervate)


    (So Coacervate, what do you n on doing?) (Nova)


    Nova slowly began to understand the reason why Coacervate appeared there.


    (Intion created the system of God Heroes and is trying to use that as a trump card against the Demon Lords. Entropy and Quasar are quite cooperative about it.) (Nova)


    (And, does that...go for you too?) (Coacervate)


    The unpleasant question of Coacervate made Nova unable to push back his bitterness.


    The one who gave birth to the second God Hero in the surface world in order to fight back Michael was none other than Nova himself after all.


    (Is this your way of saying...you want to join in on this?) (Nova)


    Nova saw that this is the objective of his visit.


    The incarnation of Entropy -Kuromiya Haine- has set Coacervate as the one that¡¯s most against them and thinks he won¡¯t cooperate no matter what.


    But for Nova, this just looked like a shallow read.


    There¡¯s no God as loyal to self-convenience as Coacervate. You could also call it selfish.


    If the Demon Lords manage to eradicate humans, there will be no one to pray to Gods, and that would lead to the downfall of the Gods themselves.


    Humans can live without Gods, but at this present day, Gods can¡¯t maintain their existence without humans. That¡¯s why, even Coacervate who at nce looks like he doesn¡¯t care about humans at all, would never allow humans to be eradicated by Demon Lords.


    (In order to maintain your own existence, you must protect the humans. For the sake of that, you have no choice but to cooperate with Entropy and the others in getting ready the God Heroes.) (Nova)


    The reason why he asked this of Nova today must have been for that.


    In the past, Nova was in the ¡®human subordination¡¯ side and shared the same beliefs as Coacervate. Now, he is in a somewhat close rtionship with Entropy and the others.


    If Coacervate works out things through Nova, he can still maintain a bit of pride and join Entropy.


    Nova thought ¡®this is truly Coacervate-like¡¯.


    (Of course, Entropy and the others won¡¯t like it, but they are on the brink right now. They can¡¯t reject an increase in allies. If you really want, I don¡¯t mind passing your word to them.) (Nova)


    Nova saw this as an opportunity to spite Coacervate, so his tone changed ordingly.


    But that wasn¡¯t the case.


    Even after a 1,600 years knowing Coacervate, he still couldn¡¯t see through the depths of his mind.


    (Kukuku...kukukuku!!) (Coacervate)


    (Hm?) (Nova)


    (You are truly a stupid God, Nova. Did you think you saw through my ns with just that much?) (Coacervate)


    Nova was stunned by this.


    Coacervate can¡¯t live without the prayers of humans. That¡¯s why he should have no choice but to enter the side of protecting humans.


    (It is true that I didn¡¯t expect the appearance of the Demon Lords either. But there¡¯s pleasant miscalctions. That¡¯s exactly what the Demon Lords are -a pleasant miscalction for us.) (Coacervate)


    (What?!) (Nova)


    (The Demon Lords arrogantly call themselves the new rulers of this surface world. And, they hold power worthy of that title. In that case, it should be fine to just give them the surface world. Thus...!) (Coacervate)


    Coacervate pauses for a moment.


    (The humans are already of no need. If they are going to be eradicated by the Demon Lords anyways, as a God, it doesn¡¯t matter how I recycle them, right? This is survival of the fittest, the natural order; Entropy shouldn¡¯t be able toin with that. It looks like luck has finally turned to my favor. Hahahaha!) (Coacervate)


    (What do you mean by that, Coacervate?! Just answer!!) (Nova)


    No matter how many times Nova shouted, the Water God didn¡¯t answer, and while there was a sticky sounding from the walls, the presence in time disappeared.


    Something bad was about to begin.

 Chapter 288-289 - Calamity that soaks in

    <h4>Chapter 288-289: Cmity that soaks in</h4>


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Doraha-san, and I -Kourin Karen- were driving in the sky.


    Flying with their usual flying machines, they fly past the ins and continue.


    The destination is Hydra Ville. The Water Church¡¯s headquarters and the ce where Celestis-chan lives.


    ¡°Hey, is it true that Hydra Ville is in danger?!¡± (Celestis)


    Straddled onto the flying machine and going at full-speed through the sky, Celestis-chan shouts loudly.


    Mirack-chan answers shouting as well.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!! But it is what this cow says, so there¡¯s no way we can ignore it!!) (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I were riding our respective flying machines, and Doraha-san was sitting at the back of mine, but there was a single cow hanging with the three ropesing from our three machines.


    None other than Phris-san.


    About half a day ago, we had finished clearing up the live venue in Muspelheim, and this cow-san hade charging at us bellowing.


    (You idiotic woman!! This is no time to bezing around!! Coacervate is nning on doing something!!) (Phris)


    And so, hearing this, Celestis-chan and I thought this at first...


    ¡°¡°THE COW SPOKE!!!!¡±¡±


    Because you know, cows normally don¡¯t talk.


    At first, I thought that my ears and head had gone crazy and I was truly scared, but within that confusion, Mirack-chan alone remainedposed.


    In contrast to our confusion, she heard out the cow-san and gave out her decision.


    ¡°We are going to Hydra Ville.¡± (Mirack)


    And so, we are on our way to Hydra Ville.


    ¡°Geez, I don¡¯t understand anything anymore!! Why is Hydra Ville in danger?! And why is that cow telling us this?! In the first ce, why can this cow talk?!¡± (Celestis)


    The mouth of Celestis-chan was shooting a rapid-fire of sound questions.


    Those were questions I also held and we were expecting a proper answer from Mirack-chan.


    But...


    ¡°...I don¡¯t know.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan only said this.


    ¡°But if it is something this cow said, there¡¯s worth in believing. That¡¯s all I can say!¡± (Mirack)


    Such an out of norms talk, most people wouldn¡¯t even give an ear to it. That¡¯s why we let the soldiers we brought stay in the Fire capital and we heroes headed to Hydra Ville.


    If something really did happen there, regret wouldn¡¯t begin to describe what we would feel after.


    (...That Coacervate...) (Phris)


    A voice once again resonates.


    It is Phris-san that¡¯s hanging from our three flying machines. He was unexpectedly obedient hanging there.


    (Looks like he still hasn¡¯t fixed that bad trait of his about unting the schemes he has thought of to someone else. Even though that made him failst time. Apparently, he can¡¯t change that nature of his. In order to prove that he is intelligent, he always needs someone that¡¯s more stupid than him.) (Phris)


    Is that really the voice of Phris-san?


    But why?


    That voice is not something that anyone can hear, and Doraha-san who is currently clinging onto my back and the people we harvested from the ceiling couldn¡¯t hear it either.


    Only us three could hear it.


    What¡¯s with this?


    (You three had been inserted a factor to be God Heroes by that super ill-natured Intion. Because of this, your souls can resonate with Gods more easily.) (Nova)


    Even if you exin it to me in that way, I still don¡¯t understand at all.


    (Everything is because of the appearance of the Demon Lords. Because of them, everything is beginning to twist. The boundary between human and God. This boundary that was properly separated, you are the first people to step into it. Just like how a crack spreads, the boundary between humans and Gods is slowly crumbling.) (Nova)


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that!!¡± (Celestis)


    An agitated voice cuts off Phris-san.


    ¡°You said Hydra Ville was in danger!! I didn¡¯t hear anything about that! Why when I am absent of all times!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was the number one out of it when hearing about the emergency of Hydra Ville from Phris-san.


    That¡¯s a matter of course. Hydra Ville is where Celestis-chan lives, and she is the water hero that must protect that ce after all.


    There¡¯s nothing as pressing as her being absent at such a time.


    Even with that, Celestis-chan didn¡¯t say something like ¡®I shouldn¡¯t havee to reinforce Muspelheim¡¯.


    ¡°Calm down, Celestis-chan! Hydra Ville has the previous hero Sarasa-san, right?!¡± (Karen)


    It is exactly because she left the ce to her that Celestis-chan was able to leave the Church.


    ¡°The previous heroes surpass us current heroes in technique. If she is there, most of anything can be dealt with!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan also cooperated in trying to calm down Celestis-chan.


    It is true that we were also letting our guard down.


    That¡¯s because we took at heart the words he left behind. The words of the Demon Lord Michael that left without settling the fight.


    {...Our battles with you humans must be ones that make us grow. Thus, our battles can¡¯t be underhanded and foul.} (Michael)


    Michael seemed to have felt something from his battle with Mirack-chan.


    {The next time I fight with you people, I will be frontal about it. I won¡¯t pull a single trick to bring you down. Therefore, wait with afortable heart for our next battle.} (Michael)


    Uriel and Raphael also joined in and said.


    {We also want to heal the wounds that Kuromiya Haine dealt to us. So we will tag along with our whimsical leader.} (Uriel)


    {You have done it, humans. Your lifespan has lengthened. The time when we are in perfect shape, will be the time you people disappear. Enjoy the short time you have left!} (Raphael)


    We took that at heart and, after the battle, we were truly actingfortable.


    We took our time in returning, and even did a live.


    But now that I think about it, there was one Demon Lord missing in that ce where those Demon Lords were giving their words.


    ¡°The Water Demon Lord Gabriel!!¡± (Karen)


    There¡¯s no way of knowing what the Water Demon Lord is nning.


    But the words of Phris-san: ¡®Coacervate is nning on doing something¡¯, is he talking about one of the six Gods of creation, the Water God Coacervate-sama?


    The name of the Water God that was suddenly mentioned; the Water Demon Lord whose whereabouts are unknown; the dots were connecting too well.


    That¡¯s why we have no choice but to go. To Hydra Ville that¡¯s connected to water as well.


    ¡°I can see it now! Hydra Ville!¡±


    With the highest speed of the flying machines, it took around half a day. The distance between Muspelheim and Hydra Ville was around that much.


    This time it took around that much time and we finally arrived at the Water capital.


    And then, we soon noticed an abnormality.


    ¡°The water hero Celestis has returned! Please grant me an audience with Papa¡ª I mean, the Water Founder-sama!!¡± (Celestis)


    Parking the flying machines at the Water Church headquarters, in order to understand the situation, we ask for an audience with the Water Founder ¡ªthe father of Celestis-chan.


    If something happens in the Water capital, there¡¯s no way a report wouldn¡¯t go to the Founder¡¯s way.


    But...


    ¡°Someone, is there anyone?! ...Damn it, the soldiers are cking at a time like this!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-chan, calm down!¡± (Karen)


    In the time Doraha-san and I were untying Phris-san¡¯s ropes, Celestis-chan was heading deeper and deeper.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, I will go directly to Papa! Wait here everyone!!¡± (Celestis)


    We can¡¯t do that.


    We do our fastest to untie Phris-san and chase after Celestis-chan who ran off.


    I havee to the Water Church headquarters before, so we managed to chase after Celestis-chan without getting lost.


    ¡°Founder-sama! I will be intruding without permission!!¡± (Celestis)


    Even if they are father and daughter, Celestis-chan maintains her etiquette as a hero towards the Founder.


    And just as I thought that, Celestis-chan kicks open the doorcking all sorts of etiquette.


    ¡°Water hero Celestis has returned after finishing a small errand! I got information that there¡¯s danger approaching the Water capital¡ª!¡± (Celestis)


    But there was no one to answer Celestis-chan.


    The office room of the Founder had no one in it.


    ¡°What. Even Papa at a time like this?! At this time, he should be at the office room! Better not be another drinking party!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was getting pissed off all over, but we who were slightly moreposed than her had begun to notice the strangeness.


    ¡°...Hey, Celestis-chan. This is kind of strange!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah no, sorry. Our Founder says that connections are important, so he has a habit of leaving when in working hours to parties and those kind of things... It is a scandal, so don¡¯t go spreading it, okay?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s not what we mean!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan also felt the strangeness of the situation and her voice trembled.


    ¡°This is the Water Church¡¯s headquarters! One of the five Grand Churches of the world, and there¡¯s several thousands of people regrly working here!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh? Well, of course. Why are you stating the obvious?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°And yet! We parked our flying machines outside and came all the way here to the office room of the Founder...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And we didn¡¯t pass by anyone!¡± (Mirack)


    Since the moment we entered the headquarters of the Water Church, no, since the time we arrived at Hydra Ville, we haven¡¯t seen a single human aside from ourselves!


    ¡°Is that even possible?! Hydra Ville is a big city, right?! It is the biggestmercial city, right?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is on a whole different level from the sticks! The Water capital of today is way too silent! Last time we came, it was a lot more lively!!¡± (Mirack)


    Being pointed this out, Celestis-chan finally managed to pick something up.


    Her cheerful face began to cloud and she ran out from the office room.


    ¡°Celestis!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Celestis-chan! Where are you going?!¡± (Karen)


    We also hurriedly chased after her.


    ¡°I am going to the worship shrine! If it is there, there should be people offering prayers all the time! If we go there...!¡± (Celestis)


    And we arrived.


    There was no one.


    If it were the usual, the preaching of a priest would be resounding over this sacred precinct and the prayers of the pious water people, and yet, it is now silent.


    ¡°The training field! At the Stream Marine¡¯s station, there¡¯s always at least 20 people on standby in case of emergencies!¡± (Celestis)


    No one was there.


    Leaving the emergency station empty is a big offense, and yet, there was not a single soul in the Stream Marine¡¯s station.


    ¡°The dining room! When there¡¯s something, everyone gathers at ces with a lot of food!¡± (Celestis)


    There was no one.


    ¡°Maybe the basement! When an emergency urs, it is written in the manual that they should take refuge there!¡± (Celestis)


    No one.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?! What¡¯s with this!¡± (Celestis)


    There¡¯s no doubting anymore.


    People havepletely disappeared from the Water Church, and probably from the whole Hydra Ville as well.


    But what in the world had to happen to be in this state?


    Leaving aside the fact that people havepletely disappeared, the city of Hydra Ville is no different at all.


    No buildings damaged, no things fallen at the streets; in other words, no traces of chaos.


    Hydra Ville¡¯s poption should be more than tens of thousands.


    To have that amount of people disappear without any chaos. Is that even possible?


    ¡°...Karen-sama...and the other people.¡± (Doraha)


    The one who spoke to us while we were walking around was Doraha-san.


    We couldn¡¯t leave her in Muspelheim so we brought her here but, what is the matter?


    ¡°Please follow me. There¡¯s something here.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡®What do you mean by that?!¡¯, is what I wanted to further say, but Doraha-san didn¡¯t give me the time and ran to somewhere.


    ¡°O-Oi, girl!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Where are you nning on going?!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan and I had no choice but to chase after her.


    Doraha-san ran out of the Water Church and entered the Water city.


    We followed after, but as expected, there wasn¡¯t the shadow of a single person around the city.


    ¡°What is this?! What is going on?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan speaks as if she were going to break into tears at any moment.


    This is the city she lives in, so Celestis-chan being the one hurting the most at this view couldn¡¯t be helped.


    And so, we chased after Doraha-san and ran, ran, and ran...


    The moment I was beginning to think how long we would be running and was running out of breath, we finally encountered it.


    ¡°...Ara, there were still people that haven¡¯t melted?¡±


    The strongest and worst cmity threatening this world; the ultimate monster, the Demon Lord.


    The fourth of them; the Water Demon Lord Gabriel.

 Chapter 290-292 - Ocean Demon

    <h4>Chapter 290-292: Ocean Demon</h4>


    Wings that were transparent like the fins of a fish and were shining a rainbow brilliance.


    With such wings on its body, its whole body shines in a verdant color.


    A rough female body. <Wait, he was a she?!>


    That is the Water Demon Lord, Gabriel.


    From the unique looking Demon Lords, this Gabriel is one notch up ¡ªthe lone woman in the four Demon Lords.


    In the first ce, I have never heard of monsters having genders. In that sense, this Gabriel¡¯s existence is out of norms, and because of this, it is eerie.


    ¡°...Culture is truly interesting.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel suddenly said towards us who were shuddering at the pressure she let out.


    ...A sound reverberated.


    From the hand of Gabriel, there was some sort of gold ne wrapped around it and rings with gems embedded to it, and there were also several other essories wrapped around.


    ¡°You...that¡¯s...!¡± (Celestis)


    The one that immediately reacted after seeing that was Celestis-chan.


    ¡°They are things I found in the city. What a strange custom humans have. Decorating their bodies with small things like this. What is there to be proud about this? Strength? Wealth? Or maybe beauty?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°You...!¡± (Celestis)


    The words of Gabriel raised the vigor of Celestis-chan.


    Normally, she should be crumbling under the pressure of the Demon Lord, but the current Celestis-chan was unconsciously pushing it back with adrenaline.


    ¡°It was you, right?! The one who made the people of Hydra Ville disappear! Answer! Where are the people?! Papa...no, where are the Founder and the Water Church members, the residents of Hydra Ville, the many tourists in it!!¡± (Celestis)


    I want to think they are all okay.


    I don¡¯t want to think about any other possibility.


    Gabriel was facing the desperate Celestis-chan but she simply showed elegance..


    ¡°Ara ara, if you want to question people, how about introducing yourself first? Isn¡¯t that one of the cultures you people have build up?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Tch...¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan clicks her tongue bluntly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know of me? As expected of a monster that reeks of the sticks. If you don¡¯t know, I will tell you. I am the water hero Celestis that protects this Water capital!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Is that so...¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°To attack this Water capital while I was absent. For someone acting all high and mighty, what you do is quite petty, Demon Lord-sama. Did you arrange it beforehand with Michael who attacked Muspelheim?!¡± (Celestis)


    Being told this, Gabriel finally showed fluctuation in her emotions.


    ¡°Ara ara, that Michael, so he moved as well huh. Even though he was the one that was the most reserved. I wonder what wind blew this change. Ah, if we talk about wind, it would be Raphael, right?¡± (Gabriel)


    I was expecting this, but it seems like Michael¡¯s attack to Muspelheim and Gabriel appearing in Hydra Ville were a coincidence.


    At a nce, it looks as if Michael had served as a distraction and Gabriel had used that opening. Then that means several solo actions made a coincidental teamwork y?


    ¡°By the way, hey hey, that just now falls into the ¡®joke¡¯ culture of yours, right? I tried using that phrase ¡®the wind blew this change¡¯ and the Wind Demon Lord Raphael. How was it?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°That¡¯s an inside joke and it is hard for the public to understand! 10 points!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan gave her grading while in desperation.


    ¡°Ah geez! Answer me already!! Where are the people of Hydra Ville?! If you say something like ¡®I killed them all¡¯, I won¡¯t leave it at boiled fish or fry fish, I will beat you into a pulp!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do something so barbaric. This Water Demon Lord Gabriel is aiming to be a cultured Demon Lord.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°C-Cultured?¡± (Celestis)


    Cultured?


    ¡°In order for us monsters to control the surface world and be the rulers of all things, just destroying the humans is not enough. Monsters have to surpass humans in all aspects or monsters won¡¯t truly be the rulers of the surface world.¡± (Gabriel)


    The Demon Lord Gabriel continues.


    ¡°In power, we Demon Lords already win against the humans -to an overwhelming extent. Then, what should we surpass them in next? Intelligence. Humans have their own individual thoughts, umte them, and called it culture. I want that. Because if monsters obtain culture, they will surpass humanspletely. That is my objective as a Demon Lord.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Well there, what amendable thing!¡± (Celestis)


    No matter what time it is, Celestis-chan doesn¡¯t forget to be sarcastic.


    ¡°Michael, Raphael, and Uriel will in time agree to my thoughts as well. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t want to do anything that is uncultured; in other words, barbaric things. Mass murder and destruction is the very definition of barbaric, right?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°...Those were ims I can mostly agree with, but I am already fed up with your monologue! Answer already! Where are the people of Hydra Ville?! What happened to Papa and the others?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Right..... You can see one over there, you know?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Celestis)


    At the ce where Gabriel pointed at, Celestis-chan and I, as well as Doraha-san and Mirack-chan, who were at the back, moved our gazes there.


    When we did that, there was certainly something there where Gabriel pointed out.


    That woman was someone we knew. A person we have met before.


    That person is...


    ¡°Sarasa-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Previous water hero, Sarasa-san. Just like Kyouka-san and Yoneko-san; she is a hero that came before us.


    In reality, they should have finished their job as heroes and retired. But because of the unforeseen appearance of Demon Lords, they have returned to duty as a special case. They are facing this battle with us current heroes.


    Celestis-chan being able to leave her base and heading to the help of another Church was because Sarasa-san was defending the fort.


    And yet, that Sarasa-san was currently copsed without showing signs of moving.


    ¡°Sarasa!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Sarasa-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Celestis-chan and I hurriedly run to Sarasa-san.


    We were under the pressure of Gabriel, but to think that we wouldn¡¯t notice a person copsed so close to us!


    ¡°Sarasa! Sarasa! Come to your senses! What happened?!¡± (Celestis)


    Sarasa-san was not conscious, and after shaking her body, she finally opened her eyes slightly.


    ¡°..........Ah, Celestis-san. You finally came huh. You were sote, I was tired of waiting.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°What about you! You always talk big about being a past hero, so defeat a Demon Lord while I am away at least! I didn¡¯t ask you to save me food!¡± (Celestis)


    Sarasa-san was relieved at the arrival of Celestis-chan.


    Celestis-chan was truly worried about her senior that fought to the point of copsing.


    But even with that, the two were spitting outins to each other. Is that a shared trait of water heroes?


    ¡°Now that we are here, you are not needed! We will crush that Demon Lord ourselves, so the injured should rest!¡± (Celestis)


    Saying this, Celestis-chan tried to carry Sarasa-san up, but Sarasa-san herself pped it away.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-san, you already understand, right? You are actually intelligent despite your looks after all!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°W-What are you saying?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°An unprecedented crisis is currently attacking the whole Hydra Ville! This is not the time to be worrying about me alone. It is mortifying, but with my strength, I can¡¯t stand a chance at all!¡± (Sarasa)


    While they were doing that exchange, Gabriel was simply overlooking it with leisure all over. She wasn¡¯t showing a single sign of nning to attack.


    She waspletely underestimating us.


    ¡°That woman was thoroughly boring. She is supposed to be the strongest in this city, so I wanted to take my time to taste it, and I even ced a rule that I wouldn¡¯t attack at all, and yet, she couldn¡¯t injure me at all.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel lets out a sigh as if she were truly disappointed.


    ¡°Not only that, she continued attacking until she exhausted herself and lost consciousness. Geez, it was a waste of time.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°It is fine with that. Thanks to the bought time, Celestis-san managed toe back in time after all!¡± (Sarasa)


    Hearing those words, Celestis-chan and I were stunned.


    ¡°Sarasa...could it be that you...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Understanding that you wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat the Demon Lord, you decided on buying time?¡± (Karen)


    While repeating attacks that don¡¯t work on the Demon Lord, she waited for the return of Celestis-chan?


    Attacks with your full power won¡¯t have any effect; for abatant, this is more exhausting mentally than physically, and yet, she repeated that process.


    ¡°The one there is the light hero-san...and the fire hero-san, right...?!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa-san whips her exhausted body up and then looks at Mirack-chan and I.


    ¡°You people truly get along well. It would have been great if Kyouka-san, Yoneko-san, and Juo-san, and I fixed our rtionship sooner. They are such good people after all...!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa-san shows a weak smile and then says resolutely.


    ¡°Heroes of the other churches, please help out my junior. Please save our Hydra Ville. I will cut open the way for that path!¡± (Sarasa)


    She spreads her folding fan.


    That is the divine tool of Sarasa-san, Dahyu. The water de that cuts everything.


    ¡°Listen well, Celestis-san. The people of Hydra Ville can still be saved...! By extracting that wicked divine power that Demon Lord poured and making a turnaround in the situation, things should return to how they were. But for that sake, we have the defeat the source!! That Demon Lord!!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Eh? Wa?! Exin properly!¡± (Celestis)


    But Sarasa-san didn¡¯t provide any extra exnation and challenged the Demon Lord valiantly.


    ¡°Ara ara, still n on fighting? Repeating pointless things; there¡¯s nothing to learn of culture from an uncouth human though.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°In that case, I will show you my true power just as you wish!! Now that Celestis-san has arrived, I can throw my everything!!¡± (Sarasa)


    The water folding fan of Sarasa-san was gushing with an amount of water divine power that we have never seen before.


    ¡°Look properly, Celestis-san! Even if it is against a rather annoying person like you, there are techniques you don¡¯t use in human matches!!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa-san rotated her body with folding fan in hand, on top of that, the ultrathin water des that surge from her water folding fan stretch in ord to the direction of the rotation.


    It was as if a water tornado was surrounding Sarasa-san¡¯s body.


    ¡°[Water Beheading de ¨C Dragon Dance]!¡± (Sarasa)


    Rotating at super fast speed, the water des umte on her body.


    This could already be called the ultimate violence in water divine power. Everything that touches that water tornado would be minced in an instant and be left with nothing.


    ¡°She had such a trump card hidden?!¡± (Karen)


    As expected of a past hero that has more experience than us.


    ¡°If she had used that in the heroes match, I would have lost!¡± (Celestis)


    Not only lost, she would have died. That¡¯s why Sarasa-san literally sealed that technique in the heroes match.


    Celestis-chan¡¯s knees tremble at the all-out of her senior.


    ¡°If I can manage even a small wound...! This will bring a bigger advantage to Celestis-san and the others who will be fighting next...!!¡± (Sarasa)


    A water tornado that minces everything it touches; or putting it in other words, a water shredder.


    Sarasa-san tried to crash this onto the Demon Lord with her whole body, but...!!


    ¡°Ara, splendid. You prepared such a surprise.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel leisurely extends her hand, and once that hand touches the roaring water des of Sarasa-san, they warp in several directions as if they had shed against a wall harder than steel, unable to get through that one hand of hers.


    The roars of the water des began to sound like cries now. They run wildly at random directions and disperse into droplets.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°And I see, a trump card is something that has to be hidden until it shows the best effect. nning and strategizing is also culture.¡± (Gabriel)


    She is not hurt at all?!


    The ultimate attack of Sarasa-san...not even a scratch!


    ¡°Gaaaaah!!¡± (Sarasa)


    And then, the arm of the Demon Lord that broke through the water folding fan, continued with its momentum and pierced the chest of Sarasa-san.


    No way!!


    The thin arm of Gabriel pierced Sarasa-san?!


    Right at the middle of the chest of Sarasa-san!!


    ¡°Nooooo!!¡± (Celestis)


    Seeing this, Celestis-chan reacts heavily.


    She practically was about to run reflexively to her, but Mirack-chan and I hurriedly stop her.


    ¡°Celestis-chan!! Don¡¯t!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If you rush without thinking, you will simply be a second victim!!¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan is normally the mostposed within our hero group, and yet, she lost herself this much...


    ¡°Don¡¯t make a ruckus...!!¡±


    The struggling of Celestis-chan stopped at that strict voice.


    It was no one else but Sarasa-san who had the arm pierced from front anding out from her back.


    ¡°Sarasa...you...!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You can¡¯t trouble your friends...! It is fine. Just do as you always have -calm andposed- and properly watch what¡¯s about to happen. Watch what kind of cmity this Demon Lord brought to this Water capital...!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa-san swung her water folding fan even when her chest was pierced, and tried to take revenge on Gabriel at close range, but even that showed no effect on the worst of opponents.


    The Water Beheading de, just by touching the skin of Gabriel, dispersed into droplets.


    ¡°Increase the power by concentrating... So divine power has that way of use huh. Is this the culture called military arts? ying together with you people really overflows with freshness.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Guuu....Aaaah!!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°That attack just now was also good. Most enemies would have been cut by that, but...too bad. The difference in our divine power is way too big. No matter how much you concentrate on one point, you won¡¯t even be a match to me in my normal state.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Looks like that¡¯s the case..... I thought I could cut at least oneyer of skin though. Seems this is as far as I can do! But...¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa-san looks back towards us.


    ¡°The actual current heroes are here already. Defeating you people is the duty of those girls. Your fate has already been decided. Prepare yourself...!¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Is that so. Oh well, I have already had enough fun with you, so I will have you retire.¡± (Gabriel)


    And then, something dreadful ured.


    Sarasa-san¡¯s body is melting!


    ¡°Eh? Wa? No way!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What is going on?!¡± (Celestis)


    She was melting, turned into water......and disappeared?!


    Sarasa-san?!


    The puddle that is spread at the feet of Gabriel...it was once Sarasa-san...


    ¡°You! You...!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was grinding her teeth, and even we could hear it from where we were.


    ¡°How dare you kill Sarasa! I will be your opponent next! I will avenge Sarasa!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ara ara, quite the impatient child. Are you going to avenge someone that¡¯s not even dead?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Celestis)


    Those words made Celestis-chan, who was about to jump at her, stop.


    ¡°I told you already, didn¡¯t I? Ipletely repudiate barbaric acts that stray the most of culture. Killing is a barbaric action. That¡¯s why, even if I will eradicate humans, I don¡¯t kill humans.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°You are going to eradicate humans without killing them? What¡¯s with that weird riddle?! Can you do something like that?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The answer lies at the goal.¡± (Gabriel)


    What Gabriel pointed at was Sarasa-san who had melted into liquid.


    That puddle was moving on its own.


    ¡°¡°¡°?!!¡±¡±¡±


    Not only Celestis-chan; Mirack-chan and I were also shocked.


    The puddle slid through the ground as if it were pulled by something...advanced, advanced, advanced...and *sploosh* fell into the water -to a bigger puddle of water.


    No...rather than calling it a puddle...!


    ¡°That¡¯s...a reserve pond?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan, who lives in this city, was the first one to notice.


    ¡°I was so concentrated on Gabriel that I didn¡¯t notice, but...isn¡¯t this the reserve pond that¡¯s at the end of Hydra Ville?!¡± (Celestis)


    Reserve pond?


    If I remember correctly, it is a facility that receives the increased water of the rivers when it rains.


    ¡°To prepare in case of arge scale flood, a big ditch to let water umte is made, but...this is strange. It is exactly because it was made for that objective that it normally shouldn¡¯t have water in it, and yet...!¡± (Celestis)


    But the reserve pond that¡¯s in front of us is filled with water; moreover, it is not simple water.


    It is slightly red...or purple? At any rate, it is a color of water that¡¯s impossible naturally, and it is currently filling up that reserve pond.


    At an impossible to be ce, there¡¯s impossible to exist red water.


    ¡°Wait a moment!! Could this possibly be...!¡± (Celestis)


    What happened a few moments ago resurfaced in our minds.


    Sarasa-san melted into liquid had fallen into this reserve pond on its own; the Hydra Ville that has no people in it... Doesn¡¯t that mean...!


    ¡°It is about time to answer your first question.¡± (Gabriel)


    The first question of Celestis-chan: ¡®What did you do to the people of Hydra Ville?¡¯.


    ¡°They are right here, you know? All the people that moved about in this city are all here. They have all been changed into this ¡®undiluted lifeforce¡¯. This undiluted lifeforce that¡¯s umted in this pond are the very humans you are searching for.¡± (Gabriel)


    Eradicating humans without killing them; is this what she meant?!


    ¡°How is it? Isn¡¯t it splendid? Fufufufu...¡± (Gabriel)

 Chapter 293-295 - Affected by demise

    <h4>Chapter 293-295: Affected by demise</h4>


    This purplish red that¡¯s filling this pond...are you telling me it is actually the people of Hydra Ville that suddenly disappeared?!


    Counting the touristsing to this Hydra Ville, there should be around tens of thousands.


    Are you saying that all of them have be liquid and filling up this reserve pond?!


    Celestis-chan¡¯s father, the Stream Marines, the elderly, the men and women; they have all been mixed in this pond?!


    ¡°Did it surprise you? This is the human downfall method that I specially prepared myself.¡± (Gabriel)


    The Water Demon Lord Gabriel was showing pride as if she were boasting about her new toy.


    ¡°You see, I actually evaluate the humans highly. Even if the existence of you humans is unforgivable, the culture that you took time to create is an eye-opener.¡± (Gabriel)


    Culture; for a while now, Gabriel has been saying that word as if it is already a habit.


    ¡°Even if we are to eradicate you humans, I am thinking of leaving the culture you humans have created. That¡¯s why I hate destruction that surpasses the necessary. The splendid buildings, the beautiful clothes, the shining essories; if I were to destroy them, it would end up being incredibly barbaric.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°This woman...! She has been saying self-convenient things a while now...!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan furrowed her brows as she showed clear hostility.


    ¡°...Are you saying that¡¯s why you thought of a way to only destroy humans?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As I said...destroying in itself is a barbaric act. You see, I want to provide you humans with a peaceful eradication. It is said that all life was born from the ocean. I am the same as well. The Water Mother Monster, Strobbi Laguna, drifted about in the ocean as she gave birth to me. The ocean is the beginning of all...¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel closed her eyes and spread her arms, as if she were a caring mother.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I will return them to mother ocean as theirst. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s the most beautiful ending?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°You...! Don¡¯t tell me...!!¡± (Celestis)


    What¡¯s the matter, Celestis-chan?!


    She suddenly trembled at the words of Gabriel.


    ¡°I said it before, right? The pond that everyone is umted in is a reserve pond! It stores the increased water temporarily in order to stop floods. Once the danger of flood is gone, it will be drained, and will return to being a dry pond to prepare for the next heavy rain!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh? Then the umted water would be...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Confluencing at the close rivers and returning to the ocean like that!¡± (Celestis)


    It will return to the ocean.


    If that happens, everyone will be lost forever!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it interesting? The reason why I gathered the undiluted lifeforce here was because I wanted to make the end of you people even more dramatic. The heavily umted undiluted lifeforce flowing into the undting ocean...it would be quite the grand event!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around! You soused mackerel woman!! I won¡¯t let you do that!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan takes a battle stance as she shouted.


    What¡¯s the matter, Celestis-chan?! I understand your feelings of getting angry after what¡¯s been done to your people, but why are you pulling the trigger now?!


    ¡°Sarasa said this! ¡®They can still be saved¡¯!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is possible to return the people melted by that soused mackerel woman to normal! She is the Water Demon Lord. If it is an abnormality that urred due to water divine power, it should be possible to treat it with water divine power! That¡¯s what Sarasa wanted to say!!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s why Sarasa-san rushed onto Gabriel.


    Even if she were to be liquified, she trusted that Celestis-san would save her. She wasn¡¯t trying to pointlessly throw away her life!


    ¡°But if they were to be poured into the ocean, it would be toote. Mixing with the ocean water that is endless, this undiluted lifeforce would end up being diluted, and it would be impossible to return them to their previous human form.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s why you are getting so hurried?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The only time that it can be reverted is when the undiluted lifeforce is keeping its 100% purity inside that reserve pond. If the water gate is opened and the undiluted lifeforce pours out, it is over! We have to defeat Gabriel before that happens! We will save Papa, Sarasa, and everyone in Hydra Ville!¡± (Celestis)


    Understood!


    Our objective, what we should aim for, how to win, and what would mean our defeat; we will defeat Gabriel before the undiluted lifeforce is poured into the ocean!


    ¡°We will be fighting as well, Celestis-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I will as well! If I didn¡¯t, it would have been pointless of meing here!!¡± (Mirack)


    Not only me, Mirack-chan was also overflowing with intent to fight.


    ¡°Please, you two...lend me your strength! Fight together with me to save my important people!!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I; the only time we had these lineup to fight against monsters was at the battle with the Hydra Serpent.


    We will win just like that time!


    This is a battle we can¡¯t afford to lose!


    ¡°If I add you into the undiluted lifeforce, it would make this a solution of all this city. Isn¡¯t that right, water hero-san?¡± (Gabriel)


    And the battle stance of the Demon Lord was also ready.


    ¡°That pond is already close to overflowing, so let¡¯s wrap it up in this ce. After making you and those two into undiluted lifeforce, let¡¯s begin the long awaited discharge event.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Try it if you can! Today we will make it clear whose life will be ending!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Today isn¡¯t an ending but a beginning. The humans in thisnd will be the beginning to the eventualplete undiluted lifeforce transformation. And then, they will return to the ocean of beginnings. Be grateful that I have prepared such a beautiful closing for you all.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°That¡¯s unnecessary meddling!! We will be doing the production of our own ending!!¡± (Celestis)


    The water Demon Lord and the water hero were scattering sparks.


    ¡°Why are the water people all so poison-tongued?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan pointed out a really sound thing.


    But the opponent is a Demon Lord. It is not someone that you can simply challenge and win.


    There¡¯s the need to understand your own strength and the opponent¡¯s, and n a way to defeat your opponent...


    Our side has Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I, and also.........eh? Only us three?!


    There should be another one! Where is she?!


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s begin. I will be looking forward to how your cultured way of fighting is.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°......I have no obligation to answer that expectation.¡±


    At that moment, the shadow at the feet of the Demon Lord Gabriel undted.


    At the same time as this happened...a girl jumped out from the shadow!


    ¡°Doraha-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Since when was she hiding inside the shadow of Gabriel?!


    The position is right at the proximity of Gabriel, because the shadow was stretching at her back, she haspletely taken the back of Gabriel.


    Gabriel also had a look as if thinking ¡®why did someonee out from my shadow?¡¯.


    It was a perfect surprise attack.


    ¡°You have no worth in existing. Break and be simple divine power!¡± (Doraha)


    The kick of Doraha-san wrapped in shadow attacked the neck of Gabriel.


    Doraha-san¡¯s kick connected onto the neck of Gabriel without any obstructions.


    The kicked neck of Gabriel cracked on and on, and then, only her head flew into the sky.


    It was truly a beheading.


    ¡°¡°¡°Eeeeeeehhhh?!!¡±¡±¡±


    All three of us were surprised.


    When I look properly, I saw that Doraha-san¡¯s leg was dded with a shadow shaped sharply like a de.


    So that¡¯s what became the guillotine that beheaded Gabriel.


    The lost art of altering light divine power into shadow.


    Doraha-san was the strongest user of shadow in the Underworld Country ¡ªthe shadow hero.


    Her ability of changing a shadow into a de, and her ability to hide in the shadows; that mastery in the arts of shadow, as expected of the shadow hero. It is on a whole different level from Ates who had just learned about it.


    ¡°Eh?! Wait, is it over? Is this how it ends?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The Water Demon Lord died?!¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan looked dumbstruck at the head of Gabriel that was flying through the sky like a ball.


    Normally, most living beings would die if they had their head cut off, but the monsters that are born outside the logic of living beings...moreover, the Demon Lords that stand at their summit...


    ¡°That just now was a pretty good attack.¡± (Gabriel)


    The cut head of Gabriel was caught splendidly by her body.


    ¡°What?!¡± (Doraha)


    Even when her head and body were separated, as if saying there wasn¡¯t much problem with that, Gabriel caught her head as if she were ying catch-ball.


    ¡°If you are going to make a surprise attack, it should be at the back where the senses of the opponent are the hardest to reach. Taking the back of a strong opponent that you can¡¯t win against upfront is a matter of course. The ability to make that seed, and to creep your way without making a sound, it is quite the thing. This is culture.¡± (Gabriel)


    That abnormality made even Doraha-san falter.


    ¡°Too bad. If it wasn¡¯t me who is made up of more than 90% ocean water, you could have defeated me with that just now. Not only shes, even if I were to crumble to pieces, I can regenerate.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel returns her head to its original position. It went back to how it was, as if there wasn¡¯t a wound from the very beginning.


    Herrade Raphael had survived even when Haine-san destroyed most of the cells of his body.


    That¡¯s why this was a development I somewhat expected.


    ¡°At any rate, you use the divine power in quite an interesting way. That dark divine power, at first, I thought that it was the same as that Kuromiya Haine, but it ispletely different. I judge that it is an altered version of light divine power.¡± (Gabriel)


    Moreover, she saw through the shadow power of Doraha-san with a single attack?


    ¡°Interesting. The moment a single change is made into something, it turns into culture. Show me more of your culture. Provide growth to the intelligence of us monsters.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t tell me, I will show you. But whates after isn¡¯t growth, but destruction.¡± (Doraha)


    The surprise attack failed.


    Even with that, Doraha-san valiantly faces her.


    She jumped high and the kick that drew a big arc was aiming at Gabriel¡¯s head.


    ¡°[Shadow Mirror Beak]!!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Ara ara, a big kick technique. That¡¯s not really cultured.¡± (Gabriel)


    True, the kick of Doraha-san just now was so wide it was easily dealt with using a single arm.


    But that was the aim of Doraha-san.


    Doraha-san was in the sky, and at the ground, there was her shadow. From that shadow, as if it was waiting for Doraha-san, a giant shadow mouth surfaced.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Gabriel)


    Even Gabriel was surprised at the giant shadow big enough to swallow her whole.


    ¡°The reason of the big motion was to move the target¡¯s attention up.¡± (Doraha)


    The shadow that swelled up looked like the beak of a pelican trying to swallow up its prey whole.


    That beak had swallowed Gabriel until her waist, but was stopped by the pressure Gabriel was exerting on it.


    ¡°If breaking you will only make you regenerate like water, I just have to swallow you without leaving anything behind ¡ªusing my shadow.¡± (Doraha)


    She is trying to do that with the shadow that¡¯sing out from the ground.


    ¡°By moving one¡¯s attention up, it makes your legs open, I see. But don¡¯t underestimate me. For a Demon Lord like me, your divine power is just¡ª!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Karen-sama!!¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha-san calls me.


    ...!


    I see!!


    ¡°[Holy Light Line]!!¡± (Karen)


    A beam was released from the holy sword, Saint George.


    The target is not Gabriel but the shadow beak that is trying to swallow her.


    The light spear pierced the shadow.


    ¡°What are you doing? Interfering with the attack of yourrade?!¡± (Gabriel)


    The read of Gabriel waspletely wrong.


    The shadow beak absorbed the light and became deeper, clearer.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Shadow grows stronger with light divine power!!¡± (Doraha)


    With thebination of my light divine power, the shadow power trying to swallow Gabriel gets stronger. It was as if a vacuum of darkness was trying to suck her into the shadows.


    The ck was shing with the blue, but the ck grew stronger and stronger.


    By having a light and shadow user cooperate, it is possible to fight in this way.


    ¡°It is not only that. Today¡¯s weather is clear. The natural light of the sun strengthens my shadow and bes its nutrient. Be swallowed by the strength of this whole world! Be eliminated without leaving a single trace behind, Demon Lord!!¡± (Doraha)


    What a fight.


    The darkness that tries to swallow everything. It was like a reproduction of Haine-san¡¯s way of battle.


    As I thought, Doraha-san is the shadow hero that hase from the fires of battle a thousand years ago.


    Her surprise attack to light up the sparks of battle was also splendid.


    Even if that surprise attack didn¡¯t work, she has a wide array of techniques that lets her n further ahead. An offensive battle style that doesn¡¯t let a single moment to breath.


    Everything is not simply because she is a good divine power user, but because she has gone through several scenes of carnage.


    ¡°Karen, Celestis!! What are you getting all spaced out for?! We arete to join!!¡± (Mirack)


    The reprimand of Mirack-chan was thrown at us who were watching the fight of Doraha-san.


    ¡°Protecting this world is the duty of us current heroes. We can¡¯t leave it all to that little girl. We will join the fray!!¡± (Mirack)


    It is as Mirack-chan says.


    Leaving it all to Doraha-san would be a disgrace as a hero.


    ¡°Oi, cow!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan calls.


    When I looked, I saw that Phris-san was at our back. This cow-san that we brought all the way here with our flying machines from Muspelheim to here.


    But why did we have to do all that?


    ¡°You understand, right cow?! This is the reason why we had you apany us all the way here!! For the sake of protecting the people of Celestis! Lend me your power again!!¡± (Mirack)


    (Good grief, no choice then!!) (Phris)


    The cow-san bellows and there was an overwhelming change in Mirack-chan.


    It appears, the fire God Hero.


    From Mirack-chan¡¯s body, an overwhelming fire divine power I have never seen before burns.


    The heat produced from her body was so high that I couldn¡¯t get too close to her, and because of her hair going up due to the intensity of her divine power, it was as if they were undting like fire.


    ¡°This is...the Fire God Hero?!¡± (Karen)


    I have be a light God Hero myself, but this is the first time I see someone else be one. That intensity made me lose my breath.


    Did I look like this when I became a God Hero?


    ¡°Karen, be a light God Hero too. Also, Celestis, leave the Demon Lord to us!¡± (Mirack)


    Eh?


    I was about to ask in more detail about this, but Celestis-chan was faster.


    ¡°What do you mean by that, Mirack-chi?! This is Hydra Ville! The ones in danger are the people of the Water Church! Who will fight if not me, the water hero?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am saying that we will take your ce in fighting. That¡¯s why, Celestis, you do what only you can do.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡®What only I can do¡¯?¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan continues speaking while maintaining her God Hero form.


    ¡°The people that were made into liquid, you can return them to normal with water divine power. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but...are you telling me...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis, you begin doing that right now. Return those liquified people to how they were with your own hands!¡± (Mirack)


    The reason why we didn¡¯t do that and tried to defeat Gabriel first was because she would definitely get in our way.


    What¡¯s most important for us right now is not to defeat the Demon Lord but to save the people.


    In this situation where we don¡¯t know when the water gate will open, prioritizing the undiluted lifeforce is by no means the wrong choice.


    ¡°We will hold back the Demon Lord. You can¡¯t turn into a God Hero anyways, so not only can you not defeat the Demon Lord, you won¡¯t even be able to hurt her. You should understand that plenty.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s true, but...¡± (Celestis)


    Even with the strongest attack of Sarasa-san, she lost to Gabriel without inflicting a single wound.


    In order for the current us to win against a Demon Lord, there¡¯s the need of the God Hero form.


    ¡°In your current state with no God Hero form, you would only get in the way. You concentrate on saving the people, leave the Demon Lord to us. You are shouldering the most important job.¡± (Mirack)


    To think Mirack-chan could see the picture of the battle so sharply. After bing a God Hero and gaining experience fighting Michael, Mirack-chan herself has grown.


    ¡°The most important thing is not to defeat the Demon Lord, it is to save the people. That¡¯s exactly right.¡± (Karen)


    At any rate, I decided on riding it to the right direction.


    ¡°We will do something about the Demon Lord, so Celestis-chan, save the people turned into undiluted lifeforce. The only one here that can use water divine power is you, Celestis-chan. If they get you, Celestis-chan, even if we were to defeat the Demon Lord, we won¡¯t be able to save the people.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In other words, you are basically the king in this chessboard. The moment you are taken, we lose. Keep that in consideration.¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis-chan is intelligent. No matter how much she has lost herself right now, she can¡¯t reject things that have sound logic.


    ¡°Ah geez! I get it already!! I will concentrate on saving the people, so crush that soused mackerel woman! I am counting on you, okay?!!¡± (Celestis)


    Of course, Celestis-chan!


    If I turn into the Light God Hero, it will be the world¡¯s first time two God Heroes fight a Demon Lord. We can gang up on her.


    Doraha-san as well is pushing Gabriel back.


    It is not impossible to defeat a Demon Lord now!


    ¡°I will also do it!! Change! Light God Hero!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°What¡¯s with that call?!!¡±¡±


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan retorted, but I thought it would be saddening without doing some sort of initial call before transforming!


    But I put a lot of spirit in it to be a God Hero, and yet, there was no change at all.


    ...? Only a vacant atmosphere flowed.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    What? Why?!


    I tried to turn into a God Hero, and yet, why didn¡¯t I turn into one?!


    I turned into a God Hero and drove off Ates, and Mirack-chan managed to transform so easily.


    (I¡ªIt is obviously impossible, you light brat!!) (Phris)


    That voice is...Phris-san?!


    (In order to be a God Hero, the help of a God is necessary! In this moment when Intion is not close, bing a light God Hero is a dream among dreams! Or more like, argh, this is tough!! This is tough!!) (Phris)


    Phris-san said while sounding desperate.


    (Or more like, you people, if you are going to do nning, be a God Hero after! It pointlessly increased the time of my burden!!¡± (Phris)


    What does he mean by that?! Intion, he says. Does he mean the Light God Intion that us Light nation people worship?!


    Intion-sama is not close by? That¡¯s why she can¡¯t help us?!


    But Intion-sama is supposed to be watching over us all the time!


    ¡°Anyways, it can¡¯t be helped! Doraha and I will do something about this Gabriel!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan makes the mes of her God Hero form swirl.


    ¡°Karen, now that it hase to this, please support Celestis! Protect Celestis and make it so that she can fully concentrate on her work of saving the people!¡± (Mirack)


    Could it be that I am the most useless one this time?!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan rushed immediately and assaulted Gabriel who is being swallowed by Doraha-san¡¯s shadow.


    I won¡¯t let you do as you wish! Stay still until you get swallowed by the shadow!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Ara ara, I know about you. You are that thing called God Hero, right?¡± (Gabriel)


    Her lower body is inside the shadow, her upper body was held by Mirack-chan in God Hero mode, and yet, Gabriel¡¯s calm didn¡¯t crumble.


    ¡°Karen-chi, what are you doing?!¡± (Celestis)


    And a voice reprimands me.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, we will be moving as nned! Come with me to save the liquified people!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°O-Okay!¡± (Karen)


    Celestis-chan and I quickly ran towards the reserve pond that¡¯s filled with undiluted lifeforce.


    The undiluted lifeforce and the corners of the reserve pond were almost at the same height.


    Celestis-chan simply knelt down and she was already able to touch the surface of the undiluted lifeforce.


    ¡°This is everyone...! Papa and the people I know of!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan¡¯s expression warped in pain.


    ¡°But Celestis-chan...! Right now...!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I know. In the time Mirack-chi and Doraha-chi are doing their best, I will bring everyone back!! Miki-Moses! Pass my divine power to the undiluted lifeforce!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan¡¯s divine power rises and spreads in the reserve pond that¡¯s filled with undiluted lifeforce.


    ¡°...Celestis-chan? How is it going?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wait a bit...... I am beginning to understand. This undiluted lifeforce isn¡¯t simply turning the body of a human into liquid. The information thatprises the soul of the people, it is sealed inside this liquid as well!¡± (Celestis)


    ...


    Uhm...what?


    ¡°That¡¯s why, by passing water divine power through it and taking out the information of each one of them, the reformation of the body using the undiluted lifeforce as material will begin. In that case, let¡¯s do it! The whole lot of it!!¡± (Celestis)


    The output of Celestis-chan¡¯s water divine power increases even more.


    This should be mostly the all-out of Celestis-chan.


    But is it okay to be letting out this much?!


    ¡°Celestis-chan, are you okay?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Guh! The reformation is consuming more divine power than I thought. That soused mackerel woman! She transformed several tens of thousands of people with this technique that takes so much divine power, moreover, she managed to do it in a single day! As expected, Demon Lords are outrageous!¡± (Celestis)


    I can tell that trying to save them is incredibly difficult.


    But if we get to save one person, it would be a result in itself!!


    Do your best, Celestis-chan!!


    (I can¡¯t allow you to do that.)


    Eh?


    A voice resonates directly into our head again?!


    Moreover, it ispletely different from Phris-san. It is a deep viscous voice.


    Who is this?!

 Chapter 296-297 - Evil God appears

    <h4>Chapter 296-297: Evil God appears</h4>


    *Ssh!*


    Making a noisy sshing sound, what jumped out from the undiluted lifeforce was one lizard.


    ¡°Gyaaaaa!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°L-L-Lizard?! Noo, don¡¯te over here!¡± (Karen)


    All girls hate slimy reptiles!!


    And so, Celestis-chan and I were incredibly agitated.


    At that time, *Gush!* the burning leg of Mirack-chan steps on the lizard-san.


    Did she go through the trouble of stopping her fight with Gabriel?


    ¡°...What are you two doing?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°I am sorry.¡±¡±


    Mirack-chan is manly as always!


    ¡°Look closely. This guy is not a real lizard. It is a monster.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan lifts her leg, and there was nothing left of the lizard.


    Once monsters die, they return to being pure divine power and don¡¯t even leave a corpse.


    (Good grief, what a rustic woman. Might be fitting for the hero of the muscle-headed Nova-san though.)


    ¡°¡°Waaaa?!¡±¡±


    The lizard again! A lizard jumped out from the undiluted lifeforce?!


    (I am not a lizard. This Crawling Devil is a newt water element monster. Well, girls like you that are filled with cotton inside their head wouldn¡¯t be able to tell the difference between a newt and a lizard anyways.)


    ...What did it just say?


    What¡¯s with this monster? It is as if it can naturally piss off people.


    In the first ce, why is it that a monster other than the Demon Lords can speak human words? It is like Phris-san.


    (Crawling Devil is a weak small monster, but its manufacturing cost is low, and it is perfect for a temporary body. Even if I get crushed like just now, I can soone back.)


    Is what the lizard says, or rather, the newt as it inted and deted around the chin. Is that the newt breathing or something?


    ¡°Geez, what¡¯s with this?! Let¡¯s ignore this little monster and continue the rescue! Each second is valuable!!¡± (Celestis)


    (And I said I wouldn¡¯t allow you, right?)


    At the feet of Celestis-chan who was trying to head to the pool of undiluted lifeforce, the newt stood in her way.


    (Celestis-san, since before, I have been tired of you not listening to me, but now I don¡¯t even n on ying along with you. You are already of no use to me after all.)


    ¡°What are you saying, you mere lizard monster! I don¡¯t know about you!!¡± (Celestis)


    Uhm...it is a newt.


    (It is a matter of course that you wouldn¡¯t notice. But I know you well. You broke the rules of the Church, and entered a frivolous act like being an idol, lowering the authority of a hero. A dirty girl that was born from the womb of a prostitute nted by the current Water Founder. In reality, you shouldn¡¯t be worthy of shouldering the honour of being the water hero.)


    *Bam!* a feet strongly stepped on it.


    Celestis-chan trampled on the newt monster like Mirack-chan.


    There was darkness I had never seen before in that expression.


    (Fuhahahaha!! Did you get angry at being hit on the nail?! As expected of a brat, your emotional control iscking!!)


    The newt once againes out from the pool.


    What¡¯s with this thing?! Unlimited newt works?!


    (Let¡¯s return to the main topic. It is my bad habit to derail. When I find the weakness of someone, I can¡¯t just not praise it, you see.)


    ¡°You...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Wait, Celestis-chan! Don¡¯t get caught in his provocation!¡± (Karen)


    If you go along with this lizard, we won¡¯t be able to move forward at all!


    (I said it before but, I can¡¯t let you destroy this Ekhidna Spring. This is an important contract between her and I after all.)


    ¡°¡°?!¡±¡±


    What does that mean?


    There¡¯s no doubt this Ekhidna Spring that this liza¨Cnewt is talking about is referring to the undiluted lifeforce pool.


    I thought it was a matter of course that a monster would be protecting the undiluted lifeforce that the Lord of monsters has created, but the way this lizard acts, makes me feel like it is different.


    This monster is the same as the others, but it has something that¡¯spletely different from them.


    ¡°Celestis! Karen!! What are you two doing?! Is this the time to be distracted by such a small fry?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan reprimands us from the back.


    (Seriously, it is as she says. To deal with me and forget about what you should be doing, a careless act fitting of a hero. Hohoho!)


    The lizard mocks us.


    The pressure that attacks us from our back made Celestis-chan and I turn back our heads.


    There, a crisis was urring.


    ¡°...Ara ara, so you have stopped those intruding girls. What a good boy, Lizard-san.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel had broken through the shadow beak of Doraha-san.


    ¡°Kugh!¡± (Doraha)


    And Doraha-san, having her own attack broken, was hit with the recoil.


    ¡°The cooperation of many, using the power of nature; looks like you werecking in energy to stop this Demon Lord.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Not yet! [me Knuckle]!¡± (Mirack)


    In order to stop this degrading situation, Mirack-chan released a me Knuckle.


    It wasn¡¯t a regr me Knuckle, it is a super high temperature me Knuckle powered up by the God Hero form.


    However, Gabriel covered herself with the transparent wings growing from her back, and blocked that fire punch with it.


    A fire attack of a God Hero waspletely stopped.


    ¡°D¡ªDamn it!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Even between the Demon Lords and God Heroes, the elemental affinities apply. Water extinguishing fire still applies between you and me, you know?¡± (Gabriel)


    The elemental affinities affected the battle!


    ¡°Too bad. If Raphael was the one here, you would have an overwhelming advantage.¡± (Gabriel)


    (Being in ecstasy to the power of the God Hero, you ended up forgetting the basic principle of elemental affinity. As expected, humans are foolish. Humans holding the power of Gods is a waste of a treasure.)


    At some point in time, the lizard monster had crawled up to the shoulder of Gabriel.


    This may be obvious but, are they actuallyrades?


    (That¡¯s why Gods abandon you people and the Gods decide to side with monsters. As the seed that will prosper the most in the surface world. You humans are already not needed. Please disappear obediently.)


    ¡°What are you saying?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan bites at the words of the lizard.


    ¡°You are a mere small monster, and yet, you are talking about the will of the Gods?! How disrespectful! There¡¯s no way you would understand the thoughts of the Gods!!¡± (Celestis)


    (No, I do.)


    The lizard says.


    (That¡¯s because I am a God after all.)


    ¡°¡°¡°Hah?¡±¡±¡±


    That statement took us three off guard.


    What did that lizard say just now? Did our ears go crazy?


    But that lizard said something hard to ept in a clear voice.


    (I am the Water God, Coacervate.)


    The Water God Coacervate; one of the five bigs that created this world and the God that is worshipped by the Water Church.


    It is the highest religious belief of Celestis-chan and the people of the Water nation, and the target to offer prayers.


    That name hase out from such a small monster.


    ¡°...Don¡¯t joke around.¡± (Celestis)


    And of course, the water hero Celestis-chan¡¯s voice trembled in anger.


    She normally looks frivolous, but Celestis-chan is the water hero, the representative of the Water Church. Her devotion should also be higher than regr.


    ¡°Being an idol, I have heard many a joke from a lot of people, but this is the first time I hear such a bad joke. It was so bad that you would be dragged down in the middle of your performance and be forever forbidden to go air again.¡± (Celestis)


    (Hohoh~, is that so.)


    ¡°The Water God Coacervate-sama is the holiest of existences for us Water Church! And yet, for you to insult it in this way! You are prepared to be shred to pieces, right?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan was serious.


    She even forgot about the existence of Gabriel that had the lizard on her shoulder and takes a stance with her Miki-Moses.


    ¡°You are a God, you say?! You mere small lizard. If you are going to make stupid lies, make them when you have be a lot more majestic!!¡± (Celestis)


    (And as I said, I am a newt... But you do have a point there. In order for us Gods to go to the surface world, there¡¯s the need for us to use a temporary body. Just like that Nova-san over there.)


    ¡°WA?!¡± (Mirack)


    The one who reacted to that was Mirack-chan.


    She followed the gaze of the lizard and turns back to Phris-san who was behind us.


    (...!)


    ¡°Then, he really is...?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan seems to have an inkling of what he said.


    (I also wanted to prepare a more fitting body as a God, buttely, I have been involved with many bad people, you see. If I am going to have my body destroyed by them, it would be better to have a body that I wouldn¡¯t mind it being destroyed.)


    ¡°Ara, I think it is a great body. It is small and cute.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel moves the lizard from her shoulder to her hands and ys around with it.


    It looks like they have a good rtionship.


    ¡°No matter what you say, I won¡¯t believe it! There¡¯s no way Coacervate-sama would be such a small lizard!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan¡¯s hostility was bing obstinacy.


    I at first was also adverse to this and couldn¡¯t ept this talk at all, but little by little, I felt something that made me have no choice but to ept iting from that lizard.


    On top of that, as if reinforcing the statement of that lizard...


    (Coacervate.) (Phris)


    Phris-san faced the lizard and speaks.


    (What is the meaning of this? Being so blunt about your existence towards the humans, isn¡¯t that an action that breaks the rules of us Gods?) (Phris)


    In response to that, the lizard answers with an attitude as if mocking it.


    (Fuhohoho. The rules of Gods huh. You have be quite the good boy after living for a bit with the humans, Nova. If Entropy saw this, he would be moved to tears.)


    (The Dark God has nothing to do with this. Gods revealing themselves to humans should be an invible rule, a taboo.) (Phris)


    ...!


    Entropy, the Dark God?!


    (When Gods reveal themselves to humans, the God and the humans will get too close that humans won¡¯t be able to send prayers anymore. For the side of Entropy that protects the humans, the Gods being close to humans would mean that the humans would lose the strong spirit of trying to ovee problems by themselves. Thus, no matter what position you are in, the conclusion that we should ¡®hide our existence¡¯ was reached.) (Phris)


    (Yeah, that¡¯s exactly right. But that kind of consideration is already unneeded. That¡¯s because the humans themselves are not needed anymore.)


    The lizard says as if nothing; as if he were throwing a tool that he can¡¯t use anymore.


    (Nova, aren¡¯t you the same? For what reason did you take that monster body?)


    (......)


    Maybe it hit a ce where it hurt, the cow-san freezes.


    His body trembles.


    (Because civilization was developing, humans were forgetting their prayers towards Gods, and in order to punish them for that, you became the Fire Cow Phris, right? In order to bring divine punishment through the violence that a monster would bring about. Aren¡¯t you one of the Gods that was already tired of the foolishness of humans?)


    (That¡¯s...true but...!!) (Phris)


    Phris-san was searching for words to refute that, but as if saying he couldn¡¯t, he lowered his head.


    Phris-san was actually a monster that lived at the mountain range close to Muspelheim.


    It controlled the ce and should have moved in order to attack the monster, and yet, it didn¡¯t; a mysterious monster.


    At a moment in time, it moved straight to the city in order to destroy it.


    If Haine-san hadn¡¯t stopped him, Muspelheim would have been burned down without leaving even ashes.


    What the lizard says fitted these points.


    (And yet, you were defeated and are now basically a pet taken care of by humans. The heroic Fire God Nova has fallen so much.)


    (W-Who is a pet?!) (Phris)


    (Not only that, you even changed your own hero into a God Hero and are trying to save them from demise. Since when did the Fire God fall down to being a betrayer of his own beliefs? Being treated as a pet, was even your heart domesticated into a pet?)


    Phris-san shouts.


    (Are you insulting this Fire God?! Gods are the summit of this world! They don¡¯t curry the favour of no one, and kneel to no one!! If humans are to pull a slight on me, my anger will be divine punishment, and I will burn those fools down!! ...Ah.) (Phris)


    As if Phris-san were saying ¡®oh crap¡¯, he looks at his surroundings.


    There were three heroes here counting me who were dumbstruck by hearing the conversation of Phris-san.


    (Now that I think about it, you people can hear my voice now....... No well, you see...!!) (Phris)


    (Isn¡¯t it fine? That testimony just now was the reality of the will between us Gods.)


    The lizardughed with its lizard face.


    (You understand now, heroes? The Gods are already fed up with you humans. Being all high up with the ethereal, you stopped worshipping Gods and abandoned us. And so, the ones that were chosen as the recement of humans by us Gods are...!)


    The lizard crawls up the thin arm; the thin arm of the summit of Water monsters, Gabriel.


    (The monsters. That¡¯s why I am cooperating with her in destroying the humans.)


    ¡°Oh geez, I have received the seal of approval from a God.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel once again ys around with the lizard.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is, humans. You have already been abandoned by your Gods. Now that humanity has no use for the Gods, you have no choice but to disappear as an olden race. I will keep alive the culture you people have build up, so at least disappear uprightly at the end.¡± (Gabriel)


    Is what the Demon Lord said as she held up a God.

 Chapter 298-299 - We have been abandoned

    <h4>Chapter 298-299: We have been abandoned</h4>


    Gods have abandoned humans?


    No way. Then...we humans will...really be destroyed by the monsters?!


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Kuh...¡±


    Celestis-chan and Mirack-chan looked as if they had their souls pierced by this reality.


    They were frozen and couldn¡¯t move from their ce.


    (Nice, nice!! The despair in your faces, it is the best! It was worth the trouble of stirring up Nova and inviting you people to thisnd!!) (Coacervate)


    The God that was taking the form of a lizard was pping with its front legs as if finding this amusing.


    (Hey, Gabriel-san. It is as I said, wasn¡¯t it? Never doubting the Gods, believing that they will always be loved by the Gods; the moment they realize that was just their own assumptions, that expression they show...! There¡¯s no more fitting portrait for the catastrophe we have drawn!!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°How stimting. It is said that at times tragedies are popr, but maybe this is also culture. This is a learning experience.¡± (Gabriel)


    The Demon Lord Gabriel and the God Coacervate; the two were side by side as if they were sharing same beliefs.


    Gods are our allies.


    I didn¡¯t doubt this once.


    It was as natural as the sun rising from the east and sinking from the west; that¡¯s how natural I thought Gods were watching over us humans.


    But that wasn¡¯t the case.


    The Gods were angered by how the humans didn¡¯t love them, and due to this, they have also stopped loving humans as well.


    There have been ims that monsters were created as punishment to humans for being selfish.


    Are you saying those ims were correct?


    Are Gods really wishing for monsters to rece humans? For monsters to be the ones prospering in this surface world?


    ¡°To tell you the truth, this way of eradicating humans by changing them into undiluted lifeforce was taught to me by him. umting it in this pond temporarily and releasing it all at once as well. The grandness of it when it happens, isn¡¯t it the most fitting production for the long history of you humans?¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel continues.


    ¡°The Gods have provided you humans with a beautiful end. Isn¡¯t that thest pity they have given to you humans?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°There¡¯s no end that¡¯s beautiful.¡±


    In substitute of us who were bound by the chains called despair, there was one shadow that moved swiftly.


    That shadow ran fast around Gabriel.


    Doraha-san.


    ¡°Eradication and death, it is always unsightly. That¡¯s why humans fear extinction and try to avoid it by all means.¡± (Doraha)


    (A survivor of the Underworld Country huh. The words of a human who has tasted eradication does have the convincing power!) (Coacervate)


    The words of Coacervate that were mixed with ill-will didn¡¯t make Doraha-san react.


    ¡°Little girl, still want to fight? I admit that you are a divine power user that¡¯s a cut above the rest, but even with that, you are far from reaching us Demon Lords. Hasn¡¯t that been proved already? Aside from the God Heroes, I would say that there¡¯s only Kuromiya Haine who would be a match to us.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°True. But in order to fill in the gaps of strength that are hard to fill up, preparation will be what¡¯s used to fill that up. And what¡¯s needed for preparation is time.¡± (Doraha)


    From the feet of Gabriel, the shadow beak appears once again and swallows the lower body of Gabriel.


    The reason why Gabriel was easily caught must be because she thinks ¡®she can escape at any time¡¯.


    ¡°You wasted time in pointless chattering with Karen-sama and the others, and have allowed my preparations to finish. Learn that this is the cause of your defeat!¡± (Doraha)


    Wa?!


    The divine power of Doraha-san is radically increasing?!


    ¡°What a foolish girl. I will get out of this level of restrain instantly and turn you into undiluted lifeforce.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel begins to move ¡ªbut she couldn¡¯t.


    She was clearly struggling, and yet, she couldn¡¯t break away from the shadow beak of Doraha-san.


    ¡°?! What is the meaning of this?! I easily managed to destroy it before, and yet, this shadow is increasing in power?!¡± (Gabriel)


    (You idiot! Getting caught off-guard! A shadow user increases in power by absorbing light!!) (Coacervate)


    The lizard at the shoulder of Gabriel raised its voice in agitation.


    Now that he mentions it...!


    Our surroundings have turned dark as if clouds had blocked the sun.


    Even though there were no clouds in the sky, even though the sun is casting sunlight all over?!


    ¡°Oi! This abnormality...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I feel like I have seen it before!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were flustered by this abnormality and their despair was lowering.


    ¡°If I remember correctly, this is what happened when Doraha destroyed the Golem of Sasae!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That time was also sunny, and yet, it suddenly turned dark, right?!¡± (Mirack)


    Absorbing light, she changes it into power for her shadows!


    ¡°Ah!¡± (Karen)


    No good!


    In the fight with Sasae-chan, when Doraha-san made something like this happen, her powers went berserk and she was about to change into shadow.


    It is because Yorishiro-sama was close that her sanity returned!


    But right now there¡¯s no Haine-san or Yorishiro-sama. If Doraha-san were to go berserk in this situation.....!


    ¡°I...I am...!!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°No good! Doraha-san!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡ªI am...the unparalleled shadow user.¡± (Doraha)


    Eh?


    The phrase of Doraha-san is different.


    The Doraha-san, that has been on berserk until now due to her grieve on the destruction of her country, was caught in her delusion of bing their protector God, the Dark God Entropy.


    ¡®I am the Dark God Entropy¡¯, is what she told herself.


    But right now it is different.


    ¡°¡ªI...even if I have lost my homnd, due to my new connections, I have found a reason to fight.¡± (Doraha)


    It was as if she were doing a chant in order to give herself purpose.


    ¡°Doraha?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Doraha-chi?!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were also drawn in by that statement of Doraha-san.


    ¡°¡ªThus, I am invincible. There¡¯s nothing my shadow can¡¯t pierce. There¡¯s nothing that my shadow can¡¯t kill.¡± (Doraha)


    The surroundings get steadily darker.


    It is already night -even though it is broad daylight.


    Doraha-san has absorbed all the light the sun is shining?!


    (Gabriel! What are you taking your time for?! Quickly escape! An attack that has this much light umted, it would rival that of a God Hero!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°I can¡¯t...! The restrain of this shadow is so strong...! It doesn¡¯t even budge?!¡± (Gabriel)


    No matter if Gabriel were to struggle, it was all toote.


    Due to her hatred born from her fallen homnd, Doraha-san threw away her humanity once, however, she has returned in the current era and has gained connections with Yorishiro-sama and many others, and now, she has received a rebirth.


    This is not an attack with the anger of things that she has lost, but an attack to protect what she has now.


    Doraha-san is brandishing the power that had consumed her in the past once again.


    (Gabriel! Now that it hase to this...!!) (Coacervate)


    Toote.


    ¡°Be erased, [Shadow Cannon]!!¡± (Doraha)


    What Doraha-san shot was the true definition of a ck beam.


    This shadow bombardment of wide radius enveloped Gabriel.


    I could only describe it as amazing.


    The bombardment Doraha-san released had power surpassing that of my Holy Light Line, and it stretched as if it could pierce the heavens.


    The waves it created were also overwhelming and even us who were outside the range were hit by the gales.


    ¡°Uwa!¡± ¡°Woah woah woah!¡±


    We hurriedly guarded ourselves, and if we didn¡¯t properly put our hands on the ground, it felt as if we would be blown away.


    Because of the gales, even the undiluted lifeforce undtes heavily, and we were shivering at the prospect of it spilling out, but it looks like it managed to stay inside.


    (That shadow girl...! To think that she could use so much power!¡± (Phris)


    Phris-san ¨Cor maybe the Fire God, Nova-sama?¨C was also surprised by the shadow beam that Doraha-san shot.


    That powerpletely rivaled that of a God Hero.


    Being able to line up with God Heroes without borrowing the power of Gods, as I thought, Doraha-san is way too amazing.


    ¡°Gabriel got hit by that attack directly. She was bound by the shadow, evasion was obviously impossible!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This should be the end of the Demon Lord!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were sure that Doraha-san¡¯s ultimate technique hadpletely erased Gabriel. I was also the same.


    If she didn¡¯t die from that, there¡¯s nothing we would be able to do against the Demon Lord.


    And yet...!


    (¡°Fu...hahahahahaha!!¡±)


    !


    Wa...that voice just now!


    It is as if a voice that resonates directly in my head and a voice resonating through the air were ovepped!


    (¡°That just now made me shiver. An unexpected danger.¡±)


    What¡¯s this?! What¡¯s this voice?!


    The cloud of dust made from the shadow beam of Doraha-san clears up.


    Inside it, what appeared was...!


    ¡°Gabriel?!¡± (Karen)


    No way! Even with an attack of that much power, the Demon Lord was not defeated?!


    ¡°No no, even I wouldn¡¯t have been able to endure the attack just now. If I had been hit by it, there¡¯s no doubt I would have died. If I were just a Demon Lord, that is.¡± (Gabriel)


    (That¡¯s right, but the current Gabriel-san is not just a Demon Lord.) (Coacervate)


    As I thought, there¡¯s two voices speaking.


    What¡¯s the meaning of this?


    (Don¡¯t you get it? It is the same. The same as your God Hero.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Getting a super power-up by receiving a part of a God is a God Hero, right? Then, I who has been chosen by the Water God Coacervate, isn¡¯t it fine for the same to happen?¡± (Gabriel)


    !


    In other words...!


    The Demon Lord Gabriel has received a part of the Water God Coacervate...


    (¡°Water God Demon Lord¡±)


    The cloud of dust had cleared uppletely and the figure of Gabriel was clear to the sight.


    At the forehead of Gabriel, a small lizard was sticking onto it. This small monster that calls itself the Water God Coacervate, rather than calling it sticking, it is more like it ispletely adhered!


    (I won¡¯t do something as stingy as only giving a part, I have given everything to Gabriel-san. Right now Gabriel-san and I arepletely one!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°That is the Water God Demon Lord, Gabriel. You humans finally were able to put the game on even grounds with your card of God Hero, and yet, with this, it returns to the previous rtionship in power. Pitiful humans.¡± (Gabriel)


    No way!


    By having the help of Gods, we were finally able to bring it to an even battle with the Demon Lords...


    So Gods have really abandoned humans? Did the Gods take the side of the Demon Lords?


    (¡°Well then, let¡¯s deal with the most troublesome one first.¡±)


    The God Demon Lord Gabriel¡¯s gaze is directed at her feet.


    At that ce, there is...!


    ¡°Doraha-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Maybe because she had released a big attack, she is exhausted and her eyes are out of focus.


    The God Demon Lord has approached right before her face, and yet, she can¡¯t even react to it.


    (¡°Bye bye, small troublesome one.¡±)


    A super high-pressure water current was released from the hand of Gabriel and Doraha-san couldn¡¯t even avoid it.


    Being hit directly, she was swept by it and ends up falling inside the undiluted lifeforce pool.


    *Ssh*


    And just like that, she sinks and didn¡¯t surface.


    ¡°Doraha-san! Doraha-saaaaan!!!¡± (Karen)


    Unable to make it in time, I ran close to the reserve pond and called Doraha-san, but as if obvious, there was no response.


    (We ended up throwing her into the Ekhidna Spring without turning her into undiluted lifeforce...... It would be troublesome to have impure things mixing in it.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine. It is just one. After melting the other three, we will be discharging it all at once anyways.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel¡¯s target had now turned to us.


    ¡°¡°!!¡±¡±


    Mirack-chan and I stepped back out of fear.


    Right now, the only one who can be a God Hero is Mirack-chan. But the Fire God Hero is on an incredibly disadvantageous position against the Water Demon Lord. Moreover, the current Gabriel has be one with Coacervate and became a Water God Demon Lord.


    If it is a God Hero and a God Demon Lord, the difference in strength would basically be that of a hero and a Demon Lord; in other words, a great difference.


    We have no cards to y!


    ¡°I actually have hope now.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°?!¡±¡±


    Celestis-chan was the one who spoke.


    What did you say, Celestis-chan? In this situation where there¡¯s only despair, what hope did you get?!


    ¡°Gabriel has be a God Demon Lord, and it has been proved that the Water God has truly be the ally of the Demon Lords. But that has also proved one other thing. The proof of the God Heroes.¡± (Celestis)


    ...?


    ¡°If the Gods had all truly abandoned us humans, why was Karen-chi able to be a Light God Hero? Why was Mirack-chi able to be a Fire God Hero? A God Hero is actual proof that Gods are helping the humans. If Gods were truly wishing for the fall of humans, there¡¯s no way they would help us!!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s true.


    I look at Mirack-chan who was able to be a God Hero thanks to the power of Nova-sama.


    ¡°Five Gods of Creation! There¡¯s five Gods in total, they are not one single entity! There¡¯s Gods with different ideologies. There may be Gods who hate humans, but there¡¯s also Gods that love them. As long as the Gods belief in humans, humans won¡¯t throw away hope!!¡± (Celestis)


    (At the very least, your God has abandoned you though.) (Coacervate)


    The lizard adhered to the forehead of Gabriel says -the Water God Coacervate that the Water Church worships.


    (I am that very God after all. Leaving aside the idiots of the other churches, you alone have the right to despair. Now, what shall you do? Are you going to despair? Or are you going to do something as unsightly as changing your affiliation to another God now?) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke! I won¡¯t throw away my belief towards you!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan valiantly threw caustic words at her own God.


    ¡°My father is the Water Founder, and my mother is the best courtesan in the Water capital; that¡¯s me, Re Celestis! I was raised in this Water capital, live in this city, and love the people here from the depths of my heart! The history this city has umted, the culture that it has knitted, the mixed art; I love them more than anyone else!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan had high pride as she announced this loudly.


    ¡°Water God! You are the very source of the Water Church, the Water capital! If I didn¡¯t love you, then how would I be able to love everything that regards to Water?! Prepare yourself, Water God!! No matter how filthy or how underhanded of an existence you are, I will continue loving you!!¡± (Celestis)

 Chapter 300-301 - The capital of love

    <h4>Chapter 300-301: The capital of love</h4>


    Water hero, Re Celestis; her mother worked as a courtesan.


    A courtesan can also be called a ¡®high-ss prostitute¡¯.


    It is mostly a job where you spend a night with a man, but a courtesan is on a different level from a normal prostitute.


    If needed, they can head to venues where the nobles and celebrities gather, utilize their refined beauty, read poems, dance, and at times, even speak of politics, and gather attention from the public.


    Being a customer of a courtesan is a pride for men.


    There¡¯s no regrets for the men buying the best of women, and rather, they take that as an act to raise their own value, and they make public the fact that they passed an enjoyable night.


    That is the love and beauty culture that goes around in the Water capital of Hydra Ville.


    Courtesans are a part of the representative cultures of the Water capital, and it transmitted throughout the whole world like charming poetry.


    Of course, there¡¯s ranks within the courtesans as well, and the highest of courtesans had poprity and respect that could rival that of the Water Founder.


    In order to embrace such a woman, it would obviously require the money, but money wasn¡¯t the wall. Even if you were to prepare the money, if you don¡¯t have a high status, you wouldn¡¯t even be paid the attention and be driven out immediately.


    It meant that you can¡¯t get a night with them by simply winning the lottery.


    Even if you are to gather money and family status, unless the man himself has personal ability, they won¡¯t have a chance either.


    Only the best of men were able to spend a night with the best of polished beauties.


    The courtesan culture was so weaved into Hydra Ville that breaking that unwrittenw would be unforgivable.


    The beauty of the courtesans and the pleasure they provide was the pride of the Water capital.


    Within all that, the best of men had bought the best of courtesans.


    The name of the man is Re Azul.


    The second son of a foreign tradepany that has been going for four generations. In his young ages, he rode ships, overcame stormy seas, forced his way in storms, and had moved around many a trade harbour.


    His eyes to see a business opportunity and his moral of never betraying trust had increased the trust their parents had for him when he was in his mid twenties by several times, and he had climbed to being a prominent figure in Hydra Ville.


    At that time, that man had fallen in love with the courtesan that is said to be the ultimate supremacy.


    That beauty waspared to that of a mythical Goddess, and her whole body was decorated with gems that were collected from the whole world.


    The men of Hydra Ville -counting the Water Founder- were all seeking her. In the end, the only one that she herself allowed was the merchant that had personal achievements and poprity, Re Azul.


    The passionate love of the best courtesan and the best young merchant had created rumors, and with that inspiration, many poems and ys were born.


    The time the love of the two had red up was without doubt the hottest and sweetest time of Hydra Ville.


    But there was an end to the love of those two.


    A chance to polish his retainers hade as fast as a bird falling.


    With the retirement of the previous Founder, there was now a vacant spot at the highest of positions in the Water Church.


    The retired Founder had personally nominated Azul as his sessor.


    The condition the previous Founder gave to Azul was that he should marry his daughter and make a family tie between their households.


    With this as the condition, Re Azul became Ru Azul.


    But he had no intentions of letting go of his true love.


    Separating a political marriage and your true love that is your mistress was something that wasmon within the high positions of Hydra Ville.


    Azul was already thinking of receiving the courtesan, who he had spent many a passionate night with, as a concubine, but at that time, she had already decided to leave the Water capital on her own will. Like a feather drifting onto the ocean.


    An intelligent woman like her that had climbed up to the summit of courtesans already knew.


    For Azul, who had a weak position due to marrying into his wife¡¯s family, he wouldn¡¯t be allowed a willful action like taking in a concubine.


    In order to protect her own pride and the fame of the man she loves, the intelligent woman had drawn back on her own ¡ªwhile still having inside her womb the proof of their passionate love.


    With the passing of ten months, she had given birth to that proof and was named as Celestis.


    Celestis and her mother were living at a vige pretty faraway from Hydra Ville.


    Celestis was raised by a mom only, but her mom was once a woman that shone in the noble¡¯s society at the Water capital.


    Even if she has parted from that position, she hasn¡¯t degraded, and was working at a school there. Many praised her as an irondy, and while pouring the best of loves to her own daughter, she gave strict education to her.


    It could be said that the foundation for Celestis bing an idol hero had been cultivated here.


    In time, maybe because of her linage or her education, Celestis had been raised more intelligent than the average, and obviously began to question her own birth.


    Everyone had a mom and dad, and yet, she didn¡¯t know the face of her own father.


    She only had a mother.


    She had never hated her kind and strict mother, but she had the nature of getting the answers for the questions she has. Probably an hereditary trait from both of her parents.


    Making deductions from things like the letters thrown into the storage room, Celestis had pinpointed her father, ended up having a big fight with her mother, went to the Water capital, and obtained permission to enter the Water Church.


    cing a condition on herself of, ¡®I will never reveal my personal background to my father¡¯.


    Because Celestis¡¯ mother disappeared without telling her lover that she was pregnant, her father didn¡¯t know the very fact that he had a daughter.


    Due to political issues that might ur, the fact that the current Water Founder had an illegitimate child can¡¯te to light.


    Unrted to such problematic things, Celestis simply wanted to see the face of her father, so she took the test of the Water Church, splendidly obtained a high score, and managed to join the Stream Marine corps.


    Seeing the Founder stepping onto the tform to give a speech in the enrollment ceremony, Celestis had immediately fulfilled her objective.


    Now that she had lost her objective, it would be tasteless to simply return without doing anything after going through the trouble of going to a big city.


    At one point in time, she thought of bing a courtesan and ruling the noble society like her mother, but as expected, even if it is high-ss, a prostitute is still a prostitute.


    Even Celestis got scared of suddenly jumping into such a world. And most of all, if the secret of her birth were to be revealed in the future, such a position would create troubles for her father for sure.


    And so, Celestis found a new path, one that rivaled that of a courtesan, the job that began to be popr in Hydra Ville, an idol.


    With this, she can work both as a Stream Marine and an idol.


    In time, it was decided that the water hero at that time, Sarasa, would be marrying and retiring. Celestis, who had passed the exam with flying colors, had dered that she would be a hero and an idol and had shocked the high-ups.


    When they asked for the reason, she said ¡®because I want to be the ideal hero I picture¡¯, but in reality, the devilish charm that she inherited from her mother was moving her.


    The mother was a courtesan, and her daughter is an idol; the two mother and daughter had fascinated the whole Water capital.


    The father that obtained the highest position in Hydra Ville within all men, and the mother that obtained the highest position in Hydra Ville within all women.


    Celestis, who had been born from those two, was truly the heaven-sent child of the Water capital.


    The Water capital¡¯s history, customs, soul; they all dwelled inside Celestis and there¡¯s not a single factor that was unnecessary.


    Her bing the representative of the Water Church, the water hero, might have been an inevitability.


    The only thing that can be said is that in this despair that has fallen upon the Water capital, it was fortunate that they had obtained the best saving hand.


    (Hoh? You say you will continue loving me? Hohohoho, what a fool.) (Coacervate)


    As expected, the Water God, that¡¯s inside the lizard, was mocking Celestis-chan.


    I -Kourin Karen- and Mirack-chan were prepared for whenever the battle resumes as we watch over the both of them.


    I want to save Doraha-san who had fallen into the undiluted lifeforce pool, but making one misstep against the God Demon Lord would spell death for all of us.


    Honestly speaking, I couldn¡¯t move because of fear, and I couldn¡¯t even wipe off the sweat from my forehead.


    (This Coacervate has long abandoned you humans and have joined the monsters, and yet, you are still clinging onto me and try to ask for help. Humans are truly foolish living beings.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°The stupid one is you, God-sama.¡± (Celestis)


    (What did you...?!) (Coacervate)


    The scathing words of Celestis-chan made Coacervate react heavily.


    (Fool, you say?! I am the most intelligent of the Six Gods of Creation, and is hailed as a cunning God!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°For a God, youck the ability ofprehension. I said I would love you, so why did it turn into ¡®please save us¡¯? I am the one giving, and you are the one receiving.¡± (Celestis)


    (What nonsense are you saying?! What does a mere human n to provide me?!) (Coacervate)


    Isn¡¯t the God being slowly swept into the pace of Celestis-chan?


    ¡°As you are stupid, it might be hard to understand, but you are the very heart of the Water Church and Hydra Ville. For the people that have gathered below you, loving you is their very lifestyle, the very state-of-being for the city. Loving the God, and loving the people; that way of living bes history, and builds up culture.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°...!¡±


    Hm?


    Did Gabriel tremble just now?


    ¡°It is truly for the best that the Gods are faraway. To think that the Water God was such trash and an idiot to top it off; if that were known from the very beginning, no one would have joined your religion and the Water Church wouldn¡¯t have been born. But the reality is that the Water Church already exists. The followers of the Water God and the people in it; each of them love the Coacervate-sama that lives within their own hearts, and pray to him.¡± (Celestis)


    That is the same for the other churches and the other Gods.


    By loving something that we don¡¯t see and don¡¯t know, we regte ourselves.


    ¡°Loving the God is the very state-of-being of the city. As that¡¯s the case, I -being the water hero- have to love the God that my people love. That is my way to break through the despair; my way to face you; my way of living as the water hero!!¡± (Celestis)


    (How stupid! In the end, that¡¯s simply you being unable to ept reality!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°The one who doesn¡¯t see reality is you!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan, even when you are facing your God for the first time in your life, you don¡¯t do one step back!


    ¡°Coacervate, who was sitting on the summit of Gods by being loved by the humans! It is because humans followed you that you are a God; it is because humans loved you that you are a God!! And yet, you have thrown away that position all on your own! I have never seen an idiot that¡¯s more stupid than you!¡± (Celestis)


    (Damn you, little brat!! You are saying I¡¯m an idiot?! Not only once, but twice!!) (Coacervate)


    Looks like Coacervate doesn¡¯t have much patience, he is easily provoked by Celestis-chan.


    (I won¡¯t forgive you anymore! You hero that only mocks your God! I will kill you in the name of divine punishment!!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Wait, Coacervate.¡± (Gabriel)


    But the enemy didn¡¯t move.


    That¡¯s because Coacervate was one with Gabriel after all.


    If the two don¡¯t agree, the body won¡¯t move.


    ¡°This girl said something that interested me. ¡®Love builds culture¡¯.¡± (Gabriel)


    (And what about it?! Throw away such pointless things!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°It is not pointless. Culture is an absolute necessary for the growth of monsters. I have to get the source of it no matter what. Water hero, Celestis.¡± (Gabriel)


    The slender body of Gabriel slowly approaches Celestis-chan.


    ¡°I ask you, what is love? In what way does it connect to building up culture?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°No well, being asked directly like that is incredibly embarrassing though.¡± (Celestis)


    Yeah, it is indeed embarrassing!


    ¡°¡®What is love¡¯? It is something that humans have not been able to find an answer to in the thousands of years humanity has lived in...... Right, how about asking Karen-san who has lots of experience in this? She already has a long list of names for the child that she will have with her loved person after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Gyaaaaa!! Celestis-chan! Why do you know that?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You really did that?!¡± (Celestis)


    Oh crap, I was baited!


    While we were bbering there, the topic began to derail.


    (Eii, how stupid! Gabriel, just ughter them all already!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°It is fine, just wait for a bit. We can turn them into undiluted lifeforce whenever. Once we do that, we will open the water gates and send them all pouring out. But before that, I want to gather a bit of information.¡± (Gabriel)


    (Pour it all out? I won¡¯t let you do that.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Gabriel)


    ......?


    For some reason, the state of the enemy side is strange.


    Gabriel was trembling all over.


    ¡°W-What? The freedom of my body...¡± (Gabriel)


    (We went through the trouble of gathering undiluted lifeforce. If it didn¡¯t serve me, it would be pointless. Gabriel, you have worked well doing as I said. As expected of a chick that doesn¡¯t even have 1 year since being born, even if your body is splendid, your brain is young. It saves me a lot of trouble that you are easy to control.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°W-What did you say?!¡± (Gabriel)


    (As an extra, to think that I would be able to get the chance to be a God Demon Lord this soon. I have to be grateful to the humans for that. At any rate, now that you and I have be one, your consciousness is not needed. What¡¯s needed is your body, the massive amount of divine power of a Demon Lord!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What are you doing?! ...Stop it! Don¡¯t enter inside of me! My consciousness...my self-consciousness that I received from my mother, Strobbi Laguna is disappearing!!!¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel was visibly suffering and struggling as she held her head.


    But that in time stopped, and Gabriel slowly raised her head. The color of her eyes were different.


    It was as if her eyes had turned from round amphibious ones to fiendish reptilian eyes.


    ¡°With this, this body is mine.¡±


    The intonation of her voice as well as her way of speaking were different as well.


    That was the way of speaking of the voice that directly resonated into our head, of Coacervate?!


    (Coacervate...! You...!!!¡±) (Phris)


    Phris-san shouts with a trembling voice.


    (Did you take over the body of the Demon Lord?! Crushing its conscious, you have be the owner of that body?!) (Phris)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It went just as nned from the very beginning.¡± (Coacervate)


    Demon Lord Gabriel¡¯s body...Coacervate was speaking with it.


    ¡°In the end, Demon Lords are still monsters. Taking over a pseudo-lifeform with no soul is easy for a God. That¡¯s why I have crushed the temporary conscious she had, and decided on taking her body and power that has worth.¡± (Coacervate)


    This guy is truly the worst.


    ¡°This body is truly the one that is worthy of being of a God. I have now managed to turn into my strongest state since the Genesis Era. The soul of a God, the body of a Demon Lord, and then, the Ekhidna Spring that has several tens of thousands of humans! With all these gathered, I will be the strongest God, one that surpasses even Entropy!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The God¡¯s eminent virtue, the feelings of humans, the Demon Lord¡¯s tyranny; he has trampled on all of this.


    At this moment, the worst height had been born.

 Chapter 302-303 - Arrival of the saviour

    <h4>Chapter 302-303: Arrival of the saviour</h4>


    Coacervate has taken over.


    Her body and power are the same; only her conscious has been blown away.


    Normally, it would mean that a God has defeated a Demon Lord, and that is something to rejoice, but...I can¡¯t be happy about this at all.


    That¡¯s because the first God we met directly can¡¯t be any worse than this.


    (...To think that thebination of God Demon Lord itself was the trap to take over her body!) (Phris)


    Phris-san, who is apparently actually the Fire God Nova, was looking at this with deprecating eyes.


    Receiving this gaze, the God that became a Demon Lord said this in a refreshed manner.


    ¡°Hohoho... isn¡¯t it splendid? Even Intion wouldn¡¯t have imagined that there was this way of using the God Hero system she thought of, but that¡¯s simply because I am the most intelligent within the six Gods of Creation after all. This is what they call a victory of wits.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What are you getting all high about?! That¡¯s just wicked intelligence thates out of lies!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chanins, but Coacervate ignores her.


    (Coacervate, a guy like you who has excessive amounts of spotlight greed still hasn¡¯t spoken enough, right? I will ask you one other thing. Why did you melt all the humans?) (Phris)


    Phris takes one step forward with judgmental eyes.


    (Your objective was to obtain the strongest body, in that case, you could have just deceived the Demon Lord alone. But you instead made the Demon Lord ride on your n. You changed the tens of thousands of people in this city into undiluted lifeforce and created such an ill-natured pool. Whates after?) (Phris)


    ¡°Hohoho, as expected, even if you are muscle-headed, you are still a God. You have noticed a nice part. Since we are old friends, I will tell you.¡± (Coacervate)


    The Godughs viciously with the face of the Demon Lord.


    ¡°It is in order to gather prayers. For us Gods, the prayers of humans are the best quality of energy. Isn¡¯t it a matter of course that I would want to secure a supply of that?¡± (Coacervate)


    Saying this, Coacervate looks at the undiluted lifeforce pool lovingly.


    ¡°Humans that have turned like this are truly cute. They don¡¯t think anything unnecessary and just silently stay there. The undiluted lifeforce has the information thatprises a human and their soul, so next, I just have to activate this part with divine power and I will be able to take the prayer energy anytime I want. This is truly the ideal state!¡± (Coacervate)


    (You bastard! That¡¯s...!) (Phris)


    Phris-san raises his voice.


    (It is practically the same thing as how Mantle tried to use Grandma Wood! Due to this, she angered Entropy, and you should already know what happened to her!!) (Phris)


    Eh?


    Mantle, he says? Could that mean Mother Earth Mantle-sama?!


    ¡°Please, don¡¯t put me on the same level as that easy to pressure woman. Also, humans will soon be eradicated by the Demon Lords. Thinking of how to recycle the trash, no matter if it is the King of Gods, Entropy, he shouldn¡¯t have such authority toin.¡± (Coacervate)


    (What kind of logic is that?!) (Phris)


    Is Phris-san trembling in anger?


    ¡°Uhm...Phris-san? Or more like, Nova-sama? In other words, what does that mean?¡± (Karen)


    Prayer energy? Same thing as Mantle?


    There were so many questions inside of me.


    (That damn God, by melting the humans into liquid, he robs them of their thoughts and emotions, and simply be tools to gather prayer energy from!! Because of this, he can supply energy as much as he wants and is in an invincible state! It really pissess me off!!) (Phris)


    Phris-san is truly angry from the bottom of his heart.


    ¡°You are jealous aren¡¯t you, Nova? Oh right, you are currently the cow Phris-san, maybe that¡¯s more fitting to call you? I fooled the childish Gabriel by saying that ¡®it would be more grand to umte it all before discharging it all to the ocean¡¯, but the objective from the very beginning was to umte it. This will be the source of my strength, the Ekhidna Spring.¡± (Coacervate)


    (Do you really think Entropy will forgive that?!) (Phris)


    ¡°How many times do you want to have me say that the Dark God is of no matter before you can understand? I have now obtained the body of a Demon Lord and an infinite supply of human prayers. I am the strongest. If pushes to shove, I will show that I can even defeat Entropy in an upfront fight!!¡± (Coacervate)


    (What stupidness! No matter how much strength we four Base Elements increase, we will never be able to surpass darkness in power!!) (Phris)


    That was a conversation between Gods.


    The scale was so big that I felt like my mind would go numb, but I can¡¯t be so carefree.


    ¡°The more I hear, the more stupid my God gets.¡± (Celestis)


    And there¡¯s one person who doesn¡¯t falter in front of a God!


    Why is Celestis-chan so strong-willed?!


    ¡°If you want to be loved by humans, isn¡¯t it the norm that you should make effort to be loved? And yet, you are using such a method to control thempletely. This is the thought pattern of a rapist. Worse than childish.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Shut up, you brat! You still mock me?!¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate controlled the body of Gabriel and directed her open hand at us.


    ¡°No matter the case, you people will be a part of the Ekhidna Spring. There¡¯s no way you would think that I would spare you, right? Serve me use as an energy source at the very least!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Can¡¯t you talk about a rtionship with humans without gauging loss and gains? More and more childish.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan truly doesn¡¯t hold back any punches!


    ¡°Even without doing that, humans would love Gods if you wish for it. What are you so scared of that you have to make everything move as you want it to?! If you are a God, stand tall and proud, and ept our love!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Shut up! I will melt youpletely along with that annoying mouth of yours!¡± (Coacervate)


    In reality, the problem is that we have no method to escape from this crisis.


    The opponent is a God that has fused with a Demon Lord, a God Demon Lord. That strength of divine power is of the strongest ss than anything we have met before.


    Not only is it impossible to win by fighting normally, currently, the only one we can rely on is Mirack-chan who is the only one that can turn God Hero, but fire has the worstpatibility against water.


    ¡°...Oi, cow.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan asks Phris-san who we have now identified as Nova-sama.


    ¡°Do you think you can continue the Fire God Hero?¡± (Mirack)


    (Of course. But are you okay with that? A God Hero, that has be one with the God, has the risk of having the God take over their body. You just saw that happen before your very eyes with that shitty God, you know?) (Phris)


    ¡°If you could do that, you would have done it a long time ago. No matter the case, in this situation where our only way to go against a Demon Lord is bing a God Hero, we have to bet on that.¡± (Mirack)


    (Even if you be a God Hero, the other side is on the same battle conditions -a God Demon Lord-, moreover, the affinity advantage is on the other side. This is not a battle you can win, you know?) (Phris)


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, I will do it! I am the only one that can fight right now!!¡± (Mirack)


    (No wonder you are challenging the impossible. I like that spirit. That is the mindset of the fire, don¡¯t care about the small things!!) (Nova)


    There¡¯s also a God and hero matching their wavelengths here.


    ¡°How sweltering. Disappear already.¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate releases a high-pressure water current.


    Mirack-chan faces that with her all.


    ¡°Haaaaaah!! [FLAME BURST]!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan was already in her God Hero form, but not only was the power on different nes, the affinity was bad, so I don¡¯t think she can win against the water current.


    ¡°Celestis-chan!! Let¡¯s join as well!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s throw in a pebble into the ocean!!¡± (Celestis)


    We also began to channel our divine power and, just as we were about to go against the Demon Lord...


    A big thundering sound resonated as the giant water current became steam and disappeared?!


    ¡°Wa?! Hot! Hot! The steam is hot!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Was the one who evaporated that water current Mirack-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    Incredible. Being able to boil down that much water; does the Fire God Hero possess that much heat?


    ¡°...No, it wasn¡¯t me.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan was standing shocked.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t only me. There was another fire from a different direction!¡± (Mirack)


    At the same time, something hade to the ground.


    A big muscr body with fire wings spread.


    ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°You are...!!¡±


    We were shocked by the figure that we were familiar with.


    ¡°Did you save us?! Fire Demon Lord, Michael!¡± (Karen)


    Michael.


    He suddenly appeared and saved us.


    ¡°Fire Demon Lord and Fire God Hero...with the two fires of maximum output, they evaporated the water divine power?!¡± (Karen)


    When the ultimate strength of a human and demon join, they can ovee the elemental weakness.


    But why?


    Why is a Demon Lord -that should be an enemy- saving us?


    ¡°Are your wounds okay already, Muscle Bundle?¡± (Mirack)


    Contrary to us who were confused, Mirack-chan spoke with him in a nonchnt manner.


    The two of them had fought a hard battle just the other day, so she must be talking about that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate me. You are already at perfect shape, so why would I be the only one dragging my injuries?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°So, why did you save us? Aren¡¯t humans enemies that should be eradicated?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°......¡±


    The Fire Demon Lord remained silent and looked at the front for a while.


    At that ce, there¡¯s the Gabriel who had her body taken over by Coacervate.


    ¡°...I was wondering what Gabriel was nning, so I followed her divine power trail and came all the way here, but you people were already fighting her.¡± (Michael)


    Eh?


    ¡°I have already established that humans are living beings that are of interest and we should learn from. In order to learn a lot more, I decided on not acting at first and watch over your battle, but it has be a situation where I can¡¯t keep doing that.¡± (Michael)


    The changed Water Demon Lord was red sharply by the Fire Demon Lord.


    ¡°Gabriel! Led astray by a wicked being, you have been caught in their trap; that¡¯s the very definition of careless. But we arerades under the same banner, I can¡¯t abandon you.¡± (Michael)


    He push out that hammer-like fist towards Gabriel.


    ¡°Wicked being, I will have you get out of Gabriel.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Ha, a damn puppet is talking all high and mighty!¡± (Coacervate)


    The face of Coacervate in Gabriel¡¯s body had an expression of scorn that he had never shown before.


    ¡°Let me tell you since you are misunderstanding. Monsters are in the end just pseudo-lifeforms without soul. They are puppets that we Gods created in order to be useful for us. And yet, you have misunderstood your own purpose in life, and not only that, you are even trying to climb up to race supremacy. The very definition of idiocy, the very definition of avarice.¡± (Coacervate)


    The poisonous words of Coacervate continue.


    ¡°Monsters should just continue being useful tools. In that point, this Gabriel-san is quite the nice tool. Great to be my new body. Fire Demon Lord, if you are a monster, learn your ce as a tool utilized by Gods!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Like I care.¡± (Michael)


    Michael answers in a low voice.


    It was low and hot, like charcoal fire.


    ¡°No matter what purpose we were born with, I will be deciding the path I take. In other words...!¡± (Michael)


    Michael pushes out that giant fist forward.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly right.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan stands by the side of Michael and takes a fighting stance.


    ¡°I see that you are beginning to understand the dogma of our Fire Church. Speak what you have to say with your fists; thus, it is fine to speak few words...... But, there¡¯s the need for quite the resolve to fight that thing, you know.¡± (Mirack)


    God Demon Lord.


    A God resides in the body of a Demon Lord that originally has the ultimate divine power, and has created a system where he can absorb this prayer energy thing without limits. On top of that, the element is water. For Mirack-chan and Michael that are fire element, he is the worst of opponents.


    (What is a follower of mine getting all weak-kneed for?! If it is a line between God and human, we also have one here!!) (Phris)


    Phris-san admonishes Mirack-chan with a rough tone.


    (This is a good opportunity, so teach that damn Water God! There¡¯s nothing that the fire of this Fire God Nova can¡¯t burn down!! I am the Fire God Nova! The Fire God Nova that you people worship!!) (Phris)


    ¡°Uo? What¡¯s gotten to you, cow? Your motivation is higher than usual.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan says this and Nova-sama scratched the floor with his front legs as if he were uneasy.


    (...It hurts, but what that water hero said had truth in it.) (Phris)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    (That ¡®Gods were able to sit atop because they were loved by humans¡¯. It is exactly as she said. After living close to humans by being Phris, I was finally able to realize that truth!) (Phris)


    Phris-san says.


    (Gods be Gods by having humans pray to them. The only one that was omnipotent from the very beginning was Entropy. The remaining others, until we were epted by humans, we were basically simply a part of nature. It is because you people have called us Gods that we were able to be Gods!) (Phris)


    The Cow-san shakes his head as if he noticed something.


    (Damn it! Damn it!! Why am I saying such embarrassing things?! This is the job of Entropy and Quasar!! Listen well, in other words, what I want to say is that...!!) (Phris)


    The God speaks.


    (Gods will never abandon humans!! That¡¯s because Gods don¡¯t want to be abandoned by humans either!!) (Nova)


    ¡°Hmph, you rebellious God!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This is truly hot-bloodedness!¡± (Michael)


    Eh?


    Could this possibly be...?!


    No way, no way. I did think it might be happening but, is a battle about to ur where a God Hero and the Fire Demon Lord will be joining hands?!


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this, Michael! Let¡¯s test out in realbat whether fire really can¡¯t defeat water!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°This is something that can¡¯t be helped in order to save myrade. But to think that there would be a day where I would fight together with a human; is this what the hot-bloodedness brings about!¡± (Michael)


    The tall Mirack-chan and the big body of Michael, overwhelming mes burst out from their bodies. This was the result of Phris-san sending out his God power.


    ¡°I see, this is a learning experience! Between humans, Gods, and demons; all things rted to fire are all muscle-headed!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate was facing them with the stolen body.


    What he was facing was a hellfire that felt as if the sun had fallen down straight onto the.


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Phoenix Hammer]!!¡± (Michael)

 Chapter 304-306 - Fire vs Water

    <h4>Chapter 304-306: Fire vs Water</h4>


    ¡°Kyaaaa!!¡± (Karen)


    Being hit by super high heat, I fell into hallucinating as if I was thrown into the fire.


    The Fire God Hero Mirack-chan and Fire Demon Lord Michael; divine power output by these two powerhouses.


    I was behind those two, in a safe ce where I would definitely not be hit by their attacks, and yet, it felt as if I would be burned with just the heat waves.


    Then, what happened to Coacervate who got hit directly by it?!


    ¡°Hohohoho! Hohohohohoho!!¡±


    This disgustingugh, could it be...?!


    Coacervate waspletely fine.


    He is releasing a massive amount of water with both hands ced at the front.


    That giant surge of water was extinguishing all the fire that Mirack-chan and Michael released?!


    ¡°This is the reason why! This is the reason why I say that the fire people are all stupid!! There¡¯s no way fire can win against water!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The Fire God Hero and the Fire Demon Lord, in terms of fire, these two are without doubt the best, and yet, they can¡¯t even injure the Water Demon Lord.


    Are affinities really absolute?!


    ¡°If you want to win against me, you should retreat once, and bring Mother Earth or the Earth Demon Lord! Or maybe Entropy! That¡¯s how resourcefulness works! It is exactly because you ignore that and think something can be done through spirit and courage that you fire elements are all idiots!!¡± (Coacervate)


    I had no words to return at what Coacervate said.


    ¡°Surrendering immediately just because you can¡¯t match is not hot-blooded at all! Isn¡¯t that right, Mirack?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Exactly! Resourcefulness is the word cowards use to run away! The Fire God Hero and the Fire Demon Lord; with the two summits here, running away would be an insult to the Fire God Nova!!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan and Michael don¡¯t pull back......or more like, why are those two so in sync?


    ¡°Aah! You idiots that can¡¯t ept reality! In that case, I will finish you all at once! The Demon Lord will die as a useless tool! And the human heroes will be true trash that can¡¯t even be recycled!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The amount of water Coacervate released increased even more.


    ¡°¡°Gnnngghh!!¡±¡±


    Mirack-chan and Michael wrung out their all in releasing fire, and with that, they evaporate the water current that attacked them, and somehow managed to bring it into a back and forth.


    *Psssst!* the steam created from that evaporation had covered the surroundings, and even when it is an open ce, it felt as if it were a sauna.


    ¡°Hohohoho! Even if a Demon Lord and God Heroe at me, I am currently thebination of those two, a God Demon Lord!! Even if youe at me together, there¡¯s no chance to win!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate had a lot of leisure, as if saying he could break this stalemate anytime he wanted.


    ¡°While at it, let me tell you something nice. I can receive infinite energy from that Ekhidna Spring over there. It is undiluted lifeforce made of several thousands of humans after all.¡± (Coacervate)


    It is true. I can somewhat tell there¡¯s some sort of energy drifting from that red-purplish pool and heading towards Coacervate!


    ¡°The power of a God Demon Lord and infinite energy, on top of that, the elemental affinity. There¡¯s these many factors in my favor. And yet, you are ignoring all that and fighting me; what other word to describe that but idiotic?¡± (Coacervate)


    *Fsssst!!* the water steam rises violently. To the point that we couldn¡¯t see their fighting figure from where we were.


    ¡°Damn it! The energy flowing into that Water God, it is the same as the one in the battle at Muspelheim! In other words, the thing that strengthened the cow, the power of human emotions!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan also sees that energy.


    But, ah geez! Because the water steam is getting thicker and thicker, I see less and less!


    My vision is all white!


    ¡°Now then, this is the end. Curse your own stupidity as you die!!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°The idiot is you~!!¡±


    Eh?!


    That voice is Celestis-chan?!


    Where are you? I can¡¯t see at all because of the steam!


    ¡°Here! I am here!¡± (Celestis)


    When I strain my eyes, Celestis-chan was crouched at the corner of the reserve pond and had both her arms inside the undiluted lifeforce.


    ...No, wait a moment...


    Celestis-chan is missing both arms?!


    ¡°You bastard! You changed both your arms into undiluted lifeforce on your own will?!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I am the water hero, the best divine power user of the Church! Melting my body into liquid seems to be easier than turning it back!¡± (Celestis)


    But why are you doing that, Celestis-chan?!


    ¡°By mixing a part of my body into the undiluted lifeforce, you n on linking with the Ekhidna Spring, right?! And with that, interfere with my energy recharge!¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate had seen through the aim of Celestis-chan and was agitated by it.


    I see. At any rate, if we manage to cut off the endless supply of energy, Mirack-chan and Michael will have a better chance.


    ¡°Too bad, you are wrong! It is the contrary!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°Eh?!¡±¡±


    I ended up raising a voice of surprise together with Coacervate.


    What does that mean, Celestis-chan?!


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say?! I would love you! That is the same for the tens of thousands living in Hydra Ville! The people that are currently melted into liquid, the pure religious faith they have towards you, their love! I will bring them all out and hit them right at you!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan linked up with the undiluted lifeforce for that sake?!


    Utilizing the energy supply he absorbs in such a way!


    ¡°Now then, I wonder if the filthy you can endure the most beautiful parts of the human heart! Don¡¯t you want to try it too?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°How stupid! No matter what part you kidnap of the human heart, it is all dirty!! What you are trying to do is fruitless effort!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s put that fruitless effort to practice!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan shouts with spirit as the red-purplish undiluted lifeforce shone brightly.


    The same time as this happened, a massive amount of energy gushed forth.


    All of this pure energy gathered went directly at Coacervate...!


    ......


    ...or not.


    ¡°Heh?¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Wa?!¡± ¡°Na?!¡± ¡°Oh?¡± (What the?!)


    Everyone raised a dumbstruck voice as they watch over this unexpected situation.


    The beautiful emotion energy, that Celestis-chan released, stopped in mid-air and bes a sphere of firm shape.


    The strange happenings continued.


    The steam that was created from the sh between Mirack-chan and Michael against Coacervate; this steam was filling up the ce, but that steam went towards the sphere and gathers at one point.


    ¡°What?! What is happening?!¡± (Celestis)


    No one could understand what was happening and can¡¯t exin it.


    In time, the abnormality entered thest stage.


    The gathered steam was absorbed by the sphere of human energy and took form.


    It was like the silhouette of a person.


    The steam shaped like a human was floating in the air?!


    This steam human was formed from the beautiful parts of the human heart as its core...


    ¡°...What? What are you?!¡± (Celestis)


    The question must have been because it was shaped as a human.


    There¡¯s no way it would respond; that¡¯s what I thought, but the steam human unexpectedly answered.


    (I am...a God.)


    Eh?!


    (I am...the Water God, Coacervate.)


    (I am...the Water God, Coacervate.)


    The steam human that called itself that had surprised everyone.


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Haaah?!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    The one who got surprised the most was the wicked one.


    ¡°W-What are you saying?! There¡¯s only one of each God of Creation, and within those, the most intelligent one is I, the Water God Coacervate! You that speaks of my name, who are you actually?!¡± (Coacervate)


    (I am the Water God, Coacervate. And you are also without doubt the Water God Coacervate as well.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°What nonsense are you saying?!¡± (Coacervate)


    It truly makes no sense.


    There¡¯s two existences that call themselves Water God? In the first ce, the fact that Gods are present in front of us is already a hard to swallow thing.


    If there¡¯s two, it must mean that one of them is a fake Coacervate?!


    ¡°In that case, the one that took over the body of that soused mackerel woman should be the fake Coacervate! Damn it, fooling around with us. You lied to us, didn¡¯t you?!¡± (Celestis)


    (No, my hero Celestis, he is also -without doubt- the true Coacervate.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Eeeh?¡± (Celestis)


    The steam human Coacervate says.


    (If we were to differentiate by authenticity, him and I are the real one. In the first ce, the existence of Gods are heavily different from that of humans. It is not settled that there¡¯s only one God named Coacervate.) (Coacervate)


    What does that mean?!


    The more I hear, the more confusing it gets!!


    (There are times when the Water God gets divided. Water acts in different ways and changes ordingly. Water that always stays liquid; cool it and it turns into ice; heat it and it bes steam. There¡¯s no other than water who can be so many things.) (Coacervate)


    (N-Now that he mentions it...!!) (Nova)


    Wa?!


    Nova-sama seems to have reacted to that?!


    (I remember now! Something like this happened before once! Coacervate increasing by two!!) (Nova)


    ¡°R-Really?!¡± (Karen)


    (...That was not long when the five Grand Churches were made. Stealing each other¡¯s believers, we Gods were fighting fiercely as well. Within all that, Quasar and I were pissed off at how dirty Coacervate¡¯s way of doing things was, so we tagged forces and beat him up) (Nova)


    Eh...


    Gods had such a bad rtionship?!


    (Quasar has the ability to strengthen fire. Using this, my fire burst had boiled down that damn Coacervate, but from the water steam that was made, a new Coacervate was born, just like now.) (Nova)


    ¡°No way.¡± (Karen)


    (The new Coacervate and the originally existing Coacervate fought each other, and in the end, the previous one killed the new one. It was apparently possible because they are of the same cloth though. Moreover, the new Coacervate was such a good guy to the point that you would think ¡®are you actually Coacervate?¡¯ and provided things like protection, support, and instructions to his own church!) (Nova)


    Nova-sama ended it with ¡®now that I think about it, this served as a big reformation to the Water Church¡¯.


    He is a good guy?


    That Coacervate is?!


    (We Coacervates are the Water God. The symbol of water is purity. All filth is washed by water. But if you change the way of seeing it, it could also be said that all filth gets umted in the water. I, who rule over water, am the God that gets affected the most from the filth that¡¯s created by humans and nature.) (Coacervate)


    Is what the steam Coacervate says.


    (That¡¯s why, having umted filth, he ended up in that wicked way. That Coacervate over there is the umtion of more than several hundred years of pollution.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°What are you saying as you wish?! What are you then?!¡± (Coacervate)


    (There¡¯s two ways to take out the impurities of water. Filtration or distition. One of those that is distition; by boiling the water once, it is divided into impurity and steam, and by having the steam return to liquid, it goes back to being pure. This is what happened to me.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Then, could it be...?!¡± (Karen)


    I was reminded about the simultaneous attack of Mirack-chan and Michael not that long ago.


    The water attack of Coacervate was evaporated on and on and became steam.


    With the strong fires of these two powerhouses, a massive amount of steam was made, and this wasn¡¯t simple water steam, it was water divine power released from the very Water God. You could even say that it is part of Coacervate¡¯s body.


    That gathered and took form into a new Coacervate ¡ªleaving the Coacervate that is purely filth.


    (In a sense, I am the distilled Coacervate. And the one over there is...!) (Coacervate)


    The steam finger points at the possessed Gabriel.


    (Polluted Coacervate.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Polluted! Polluted, you say?! Are you saying that about me?!¡± (Coacervate)


    (You must have had a time in the past where you were pure. But after several hundreds of years absorbing filth, that filth reached your heart. It looks like even your memories of the past were contaminated. You even forgot that a new you is born when you are distilled. What a pitiful one.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°W-What are you speaking all high and mighty for?!¡± (Coacervate)


    (But simply by separating filthy water and steam wouldn¡¯t be enough to make me appear ¡ªwithout the power of human emotions which serves as my foundation, or so to say, prayer energy.) (Coacervate)


    Ignoring the polluted Coacervate, the distilled Coacervate-sama looks at the side. At that ce, there¡¯s Celestis-chan.


    (My hero Celestis, it is thanks to you extracting the pure feelings of the people of Hydra Ville and giving it to me. It is because you continued loving me that I was able to exist.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°N-No well...! I didn¡¯t expect even in my dreams that something like this would happen!¡± (Celestis)


    (I thought that you were a genius of being loved, but that wasn¡¯t the only thing. Even if you were missing that, you are a strong hearted girl.) (Coacervate)


    What to do. The distilled Coacervate-sama is overflowing with divinity.


    If this continues, I might end up joining the Water Church.


    (But hero, this is not the end. In order to save my children, the Water people, and ovee this crisis, we have to defeat the pitiful Demon Lord that has been taken over by the filthy me. Will you please lend me your strength?) (Coacervate)


    ¡°O-Of course! It is the duty of a hero to fight for the sake of the Water God and the Water Church!!¡± (Celestis)


    Maybe Celestis-chan is feeling something from that steam Coacervate-sama like me, or it might be even stronger than that, she showed eyes ofplete trust towards him.


    Celestis-chan restores her arms and takes it out from the undiluted lifeforce.


    (Then, Celestis, you understand what needs to be done in order to do that, right? This is the moment where you have to shoulder my power!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°Eh? Does that mean...!¡± (Celestis)


    It looks like Celestis-chan couldn¡¯t digestpletely what he said, so the distilled Coacervate-sama deres loudly.


    (You are going to be one! The Water God Hero!!) (Coacervate)


    At that moment, Celestis-chan changed.


    An incredible amount of water divine power release. Her very body had turned transparent like water, as if she had be a Water Goddess.


    It is not an intense transformation like that of my God Hero mode or the one of Mirack-chan; but the tranquility it lets out is overwhelming!


    ¡°This is...a God Hero!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan had obtained a new power.


    As if confirming her own state, she looked at herself for a while, but...she suddenly disappeared.


    ¡°Guuaaaah?!¡± (Coacervate)


    Is what I thought when, suddenly, he was blown away?!


    The punch that was nailed at his stomach was without doubt the fist of the Water God Hero, Celestis-chan.


    Celestis-chan had approached Coacervate at a speed that couldn¡¯t be caught with the eyes and had connected an attack?!


    ¡°Incredible! My whole body feels as if it has be running water and I can move like a flow!! Moreover, these overflowing emotions!!¡± (Celestis)


    You can¡¯t stop flowing water, you can¡¯t catch it either.


    ¡°Looks like the current is now flowing in our favor. The God-sama that is filled with filth, I will have you leave the stage.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°How conceited!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Now that the new Coacervate-sama hase to the stage, I have no obligation to love you. Sorry, but the love of Celestis-chan is expensive. I can¡¯t sell it cheap to two Gods!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan continues her pursue.


    A barrage of punches hit Coacervate without missing a single one.


    The Fire Cow and the steam person watch over this.


    (Oi, are you okay, Coacervate?) (Nova)


    The distilled Coacervate-sama answers this.


    (Yeah, Nova. I knew it beforehand, but the burden the God takes when using God Hero mode is quite big. In this state where my body has just been formed, it is tough...!) (Coacervate)


    The God Hero mode was something that ced a burden to the God?!


    Nova-sama and Coacervate-sama are also fighting with us in order to make Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan into God Heroes!


    (I am grateful for your worry, Nova. Looks like you have changed quite a lot after interacting with humans.) (Coacervate)


    (Y-Yeah...) (Nova)


    Phris-san is getting flustered.


    And while that happened, the other side continued.


    ¡°This is a chance!! Let¡¯s beat it down at once!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°If we make the enemy into steam, I have judged that this will make the new Water God stronger! We will burn it down with our firepower!!¡± (Michael)


    Mirack-chan and Michael attack the polluted Coacervate with an unexpectedbination as well.


    ¡°Hiyaaaa!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The polluted Coacervate falls back out of fear and Michael draws closer.


    ¡°Wicked God, I will have you return Gabriel!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°What are you barking about, you mere tool! You bastards are existences solely for the sake of being used by us Gods! No soul! No self-consciousness! Kuhahahaha!!¡± (Coacervate)


    While fighting Michael through fists and words, polluted Coacervateughs in a repulsive manner.


    ¡°...That¡¯s right. Even if you liberate this body, I have already crushed the self-conscious of Gabriel to pieces before taking over her body.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°If she were a human, it would be possible to reform it by utilizing the storage of the soul that humans have, but for monsters, that¡¯s impossible. That¡¯s because they are pseudo-lifeforms with no soul after all! The moment she lost her body, this body has died, and has be just a skin of divine power!!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Don¡¯t mess around!!¡± (Michael)


    The Phoenix Hammer that was released from both arms of Michael blows away the polluted Coacervate as it boils him.


    But to think that he could fight against the water element he is weak against to this extent; as expected of a Demon Lord, he is powerful.


    (Looks like your power is decreasing! The filthy one!) (Nova)


    (His power has been divided into him and me after all. The control rights of the Ekhidna Spring¡¯s energy has also beenpletely stolen away from him, so his supply is zero. Right now, his divine power is most likely on the level of a normal Demon Lord.) (Coacervate)


    No wait, a normal Demon Lord is still on a whole different ne of strength though.


    Is this what they call power creep? Is this power creeping?


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Gaaah!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Being burned by Mirack-chan as well, Coacervate lets out steam from his whole body.


    ¡°Further mercilessness!! See and learn; the God Hero mode¡¯s [Water Beheading de ¨C Dragon Dance]!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Aaah!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Celestis-chan also joins in the follow-up, swiftly dancing into the battlefield and conjuring storm of water des.


    Coacervate tried to stop this simr to how Gabriel didst time with Sarasa-san, but this time, the water de storm easily cuts down on Coacervates barrier and assaults him.


    The polluted Coacervate was already crawling.


    ¡°T-This is unfair! Ganging up on me alone with so many numbers!! I won¡¯t y along with you people anymore. When in disadvantage, retreat at once. The speed in decision is a trait of the cunning!¡± (Coacervate)


    (You n on running away?!) (Nova)


    Polluted Coacervate shows signs of retreating.


    We all were agitated by this.


    ¡°You think I will let you escape so easily? You still haven¡¯t returned the body of Gabriel!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°If we were to let a rotten guy like you escape, who knows what kind of evil n you will cook upter!! I will definitely put an end to this right here!¡± (Celestis)


    Michael and Celestis-chan were alsopletely in the mode of the enemy of my enemy is my ally.


    It would be difficult to escape from these two.


    ¡°Ooh, scary scary. In that case, I will be using a card of my own.¡± (Coacervate)


    The eyes of the lizard that is adhered to the body of Gabriel were shining.


    At the same time as this happened, some sort of metallic sound reverberated?!


    ¡°This sound...¡±


    ¡°Could it be...?!¡±


    We direct our gaze faraway. At a part of the reserve pond that is filled with undiluted lifeforce, at that big metallic watergate!


    ¡°The watergate is opening!!¡± (Karen)


    This is bad! If the watergate opens, the undiluted lifeforce will pour into the ocean!


    If it mixes with the ocean water, we can¡¯t return them to humans!!


    ¡°Hohohoho!! Oh no, this is terrible! What will the hero of humans do?! Don¡¯t mind me and do your honorable job!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°You...! Just how dirty can you get!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I am also pained in losing this Ekhidna Spring I took so much trouble to get, but...well, there¡¯s still a lot of humans. A new Ekhidna Spring can be made! Let¡¯s just consider it fruitful that I have obtained this body!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The polluted Coacervate was channeling his divine power and preparing his escape.


    No good! At this rate, the polluted Coacervate will escape!


    But if we were to chase after him, the people that have been made into undiluted lifeforce...!


    But that problem was resolved in an unexpected manner.


    ¡°...Karen-sama!!¡±


    The watergate was opening, and yet...the undiluted lifeforce is not pouring out?


    From the opened space of the gate, a new ck wall was stopping the purplish red water.


    A ck wall?! A shadow wall!!


    ¡°Doraha-san!!¡± (Karen)


    Doraha-san, who had been defeated and thrown into the reserve pond, has created a wall of shadow!


    ¡°I will take care of this! Defeat the enemy!!¡± (Doraha)


    She should be heavily injured, and yet...she is enduring that as she fights her own battle!


    ¡°Damn you!! You ancient resident that doesn¡¯t know when to die!!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you! You jellied fish Water God!!¡± (Celestis)


    Polluted Coacervate had been distracted by Doraha-san for a moment, and in that opening, Celestis-chan had approached him!!


    ¡°[Water Beheading de ¨C Dragon Dance]!!¡± (Celestis)


    With the strongest technique of her senior that she haspletely mastered now, she attacks her hated enemy.


    ¡°GAAAHHH!!¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate quickly made a temporary water shield as he immediately retreats. He runs about trying to escape with the body of Gabriel.


    At that escape path, the Demon Lord Michael awaited.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Coacervate)


    Changing directions, there was now Mirack-chan waiting.


    ¡°Hiiih!¡± (Coacervate)


    Everytime he tried to change directions, no matter where he tried to escape...


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want a conclusion like this! I won¡¯t lose! The intelligent me, a cunning God like me, there¡¯s no way a pathetic defeat like this could be possible!¡± (Coacervate)


    At any rate, his strong desire of escaping doesn¡¯t seem like it will be fulfilled.


    That¡¯s why he arrived at this point in the end.


    ¡°I am the Water God, Coacervate!¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°No, you have lost that position already.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    And he has arrived under me -Kourin Karen.


    It is true that I am the weakest one here, but it is a mistake to think that I will be easily letting you escape!


    ¡°A God that has lost its respect from humans is not a God. You who have denied your connection has lost your right as a God.¡± (Karen)


    In other words, a kind of demonic spirit.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I will defeat you. As a hero under a God.¡± (Karen)


    I can¡¯t just stay a bystander in this battle.


    *sh*, my holy sword cuts off the lizard that was adhered to the forehead of Gabriel.

 Chapter 307-308 - Water Saint

    <h4>Chapter 307-308: Water Saint</h4>


    <TLN: For easier understanding, Distilled Coacervate will get the Makotwo treatment.>


    Like this, the polluted Coacervate was cut off from the body of Gabriel.


    That existence returned to being a small lizard monster and waspletely powerless.


    (T-Take your hands off me! Get them off!) (Coacervate)


    Even with that, it tried to escape which can be considered praiseworthy.


    The small body of the lizard was tightly caught in my hands and was struggling around, but I won¡¯t let you escape no matter what.


    Just that...


    ¡°Ueee~. I am touching a lizard~! It feels so disgusting~!!¡± (Karen)


    It is slimy, it is wiggling around, and its stomach is bright red.


    Even if it was on the spur of the moment, why did I grab on a lizard?! ...Ah right, it is a newt.


    ¡°Hih, it is so disgusting I might cry... Celestis-chan, trade ces with me~!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Gyaaa! Yuck yuck! Don¡¯t bring it here!! But don¡¯t let it go by any means. The bastard would escape after all!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan is a tyrant.


    And on the other hand, there were also people who were serious.


    Michael; now that the polluted Coacervate has been cut off and Gabriel is supposed to have been released, he silently carried her up.


    ¡°Michael...¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan approaches from behind anxiously.


    ¡°...¡±


    Michael simply looked at Gabriel without saying anything.


    If what the polluted Coacervate said was correct, the conscious of Gabriel has been crushed and won¡¯t be able to awaken again.


    The ones without soul can¡¯t regain a conscious that has died out.


    That¡¯s why Gabriel won¡¯t wake up ever again...


    ¡°Michael!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan calls Michael again worried.


    Michael¡¯s shoulders trembled slightly.


    ¡°So it is true. Does this mean we really are fake lifeforms with no soul?! Being born as tools of the Gods, do we have no way of living other than fulfilling our destiny?! Gabriel, if you had been a human, you would have easily woken up, and yet, in your current self, are you unable to wake up?!¡± (Michael)


    Michael¡¯s monologue was painful.


    We could also tell that.


    ¡°...Hngh, what? So noisy.¡±


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    Is what I thought, but Gabriel woke up.


    As if she had woken up from her sleep, her body trembled as she stretched.


    ¡°...Eh? Why did I lost consciousness? ...Ah, right! That little lizard, making a fool out of this Demon Lord!! I will make sure to make him pay¡ª! Wait, Michael? Why are you here?¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel was more energetic than we expected, and Michael looked at this absentminded. But he soon pushed that fist strongly to the sky.


    ¡°Ooooooh!!¡± (Michael)


    And releases a roar directed at the heavens.


    ¡°Did you see that, Gods?! The monsters! The monsters are not pseudo-lifeforms! We have a soul and a heart!!¡± (Michael)


    Gabriel waking up must mean that.


    ¡°We are not bound by destiny anymore!! We decide our lives on our own and we will grow far and high! Watch as we do that! You Gods that reside in the heavens!!¡± (Michael)


    (The God is here...he is over here!) (Nova)


    Phris-san approaches around Michael¡¯s legs.


    ¡°Michael!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack!¡± (Michael)


    Gah.


    Mirack-chan and Michael hugged each other?!


    ¡°I have thought this before but...why are those two getting along so well?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It must be that... It is probably the Fire Church¡¯s trademark ¡®after a one on one, we are friends¡¯...¡± (Karen)


    We could only watch over this abnormal scene.


    (It is not exclusive for Gods and humans; the demons are also stepping into a new era.) (Coacervatwo)


    ¡°Ah, the good Coacervate-sama.¡± (Karen)


    The God that formed the silhouette of a human said this.


    (No, as long as the humans, Gods, and demons are living in the same world, they are all heading towards a new era huh. It might be nonsensical to divide them in humans and monsters.) (Coacervatwo)


    Coacervate-sama was looking at this world in a positive manner.


    Oh my, so Godlike.


    (My hero, Celestis. The one who paved this was you.) (Coacervate)


    ¡°C-Come again?!¡± (Celestis)


    (You joined hands with the heroes of the other churches and stepped across old boundaries. That¡¯s why the old walls around the world are beginning to crumble. This Water God Coacervate is also a part of this change of old to new.) (Coacervatwo)


    ¡°No no no! That¡¯s too much of an honor. Also, the one who proposed the Hero Alliance was that light hero over there that only thinks with her womb.¡± (Celestis)


    Who is thinking with her womb?!


    Celestis-chan, your way of speaking is leaping over boundaries too!


    (Celestis, please continue being the singing and dancing hero of the Water Church that heals people all over the world. I love your singing.) (Coacervate)


    (He is so clean it is shocking.) (Nova)


    Phris-san, who was looking at this from the side, said this mixed with a shudder.


    (...Well then, it is about time to put an end to this.) (Coacervatwo)


    ¡°Yes! We are returning the undiluted lifeforce to their previous human selfs, right?¡± (Celestis)


    Distilled Coacervate-sama and Celestis-chan; they both face towards the reserve pond that¡¯s filled with purplish red liquid.


    By the way, the watergate has already been closed once again and Doraha-chan is sttered on the floor over there.


    (...Before that, it is beginning to get tough to affect the surface world with this body. I will also take form like the others.) (Coacervatwo)


    The distilled Coacervate-sama raises his steam hands and something surfaced from the undiluted lifeforce.


    ¡°That is...a monster?!¡± (Karen)


    A monster that has a size and shape quite close to that of a human appeared. But it doesn¡¯t move an inch, as if it were sleeping.


    (T-That¡¯s...!!) (Coacervate)


    The small lizard inside my hand began to struggle again and it was disgusting!


    (In preparation for the time when, by some stroke of luck, Entropy was gone for good, I created that Mephistopheles MkII! You bastard, what are you doing without my permission?!) (Coacervate)


    (But in the time when you were nning to take over the body of Gabriel, you decided that it was not needed anymore and threw it away, right? In that case, I will pick it up.) (Coacervatwo)


    Distilled Coacervate-sama lost form, became shapeless mist, and entered the monster.


    The eyes of the monster, that looked like a doll without soul, gained light.


    ¡°...Water Demon, Mephistopheles. No, as a guardian living together with humans, the name water demon would not be fitting.... I will be calling myself the Water Saint Mephistopheles, not out of arrogance, but to separate from my past and to remind me of it!!¡± (Coacervatwo)


    Incredible!


    The monster that had a dirty color like that of sludge had be clear and pure?!


    Are you saying this is how it looks when the soul of a God enters a monster?!


    ¡°Now then, my hero Celestis, this is the moment to show your evolution as the Water God Hero.¡± (Coacervatwo)


    ¡°Yes!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan returns to being God Hero once again and, with her transparent body like that of water, she throws herself into the undiluted lifeforce?!


    What are you nning on doing, Celestis-chan?!


    After turning into God Hero mode, Celestis-chan was mixing with the undiluted lifeforce?!


    ¡°Link with the undiluted lifeforce is finished! Wait for a bit, okay? I will make you people remember the ce where you should be!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Celestis!¡± (Coacervatwo)


    Coacervate-sama, who is now in the body of Mephistopheles, pours divine power into Celestis-chan -a massive amount of it.


    ¡°God and human...the two mix like water and fish, and they swim freely around. Water, be my freedom!!¡± (Celestis)


    A massive amount of divine power control from the Water God Hero!


    ¡°Water technique [Water Sync]!!¡± (Celestis)


    As if in concert with the shout of Celestis-chan, the undiluted lifeforce filling the reserve pond shone all at once!


    Humans began toe out from the water surface as if being pushed out by that light!


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ...They areing out!


    ¡°Hya?!¡± ¡°Wa?!¡± ¡°Wow wow?!¡± ¡°Mama?!¡± ¡°What about the Demon Lord?!¡±


    Incredible! The people changed into undiluted lifeforce are steadily returning!


    At this pace, it will take only a few hours before the tens of thousands of people return to normal.


    Just a few moments ago, Celestis-chan was shocked by the amount of divine power it expended to make this possible, and yet, with the God Hero power, she is managing it so quickly!


    ***


    In the end, it didn¡¯t take even an hour to return all humans to normal.


    ¡°Papa!!¡± (Celestis)


    With her God Hero mode released, Celestis-chan hugs her father, the Water Founder-sama.


    The Founder-sama was also one of the people that were saved from the danger of the undiluted lifeforce.


    ¡°Ooh! Celestis!! You saved everyone, didn¡¯t you? As expected of the water hero!¡± (Azul)


    The Water Founder-sama hugs his daughter.


    The residents of Hydra Ville were turned into liquid, but now that they have returned safely, they were confused by the strange thing that happened to their bodies and were happy at each other¡¯s safety.


    ¡°My beloved children...¡± (Coacervate)


    Mephistopheles speaks as he floats in mid-air.


    ¡°Wa?! Is that a monster?!¡± (Azul)


    ¡°That¡¯s not it, Papa. It is Coacervate-sama who has descended upon this ne by borrowing the body of a monster.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Azul)


    The gaze of the Water God is directed at the Water Founder-sama.


    ¡°The 193th Water Founder, Ru Azul; a person who has reached the peak of spirit, wits, and love, being able to meet you directly is a joy.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°That¡¯s too much of an honor! Receiving praise directly from our God, as a follower of Water, there¡¯s no greater joy!¡± (Azul)


    The Water Founder-sama prostrates without hesitation.


    ¡°Your daughter has inherited your passion to be loved, and inherited her mother¡¯s intelligence to make others love her; being able to have a hero like her in this era was the luckiest of things.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°¡°Thanks for your words of praise!¡±¡±


    The Founder and hero were prostrated at the grateful words of their God. The same as the thousands of Hydra Ville residents.


    ¡°And the Water believers living in the Water capital, thank you for your love. The reason why I was able to take off my filth was because of your love. Humans have saved their God. That¡¯s why I, as your God, pledge to save you people as well... The same goes for you, Water Demon Lord, Gabriel.¡± (Coacervate)


    The gaze of the God changed for thest time, and it was directed at the culprit of this incident, the Demon Lord Gabriel.


    Due to being beaten up while her body was taken over by Coacervate, her whole body was in tatters.


    ¡°W-What is it?!¡± (Gabriel)


    Even with that, it seems like she had her pride as the head of the monsters, her attitude was obstinate.


    ¡°A monster that was created by the Gods at first as a tool and has reached the point where you have your own will. You people have surpassed the framework of us Gods. A race that has surpassed the frameworks of Gods is already a splendid lifeform. I bless the evolution of you people.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°If possible, I don¡¯t want you to use your evolution in order to wage war, but for coexistence. The ocean is vast and generous. There¡¯s no doubt it will ept two fishes swimming in it.¡± (Coacervate)


    And then, Coacervate-sama gave a closing to it.


    ¡°Light hero, please pass the polluted me here.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Ah, y-yes!¡± (Karen)


    Being suddenly called, I present the lizard I had in my hand.


    I was finally freed from the wriggling inside my hand, but I don¡¯t think the goosebumps will be disappearing all day!


    (Giieee!! What are you going to do?! I am you, you know!!) (Lizard)


    The lizard was moved to the hand of Coacervate-sama.


    Ignoring the wailing lizard, Coacervate-sama speaks to Cow-san this time.


    ¡°Nova, I am thinking about meeting old friends. Want to apany me?¡± (Coacervate)


    (Ah, okay.) (Nova)


    Phris-san was probably the one who couldn¡¯t follow the situation the most.


    ¡°Celestis, Gabriel, and the Water believers under me, I will be taking my leave for now, but I am always by your side. In difficult situations, please remember me. Remember that your God is always by your side.¡± (Coacervate)


    The Water God inside the body of a monster, the Fire God that is inside a cow; their legs began to separate from the ground.


    ¡°O-Oi cow?!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan hurriedly calls out Phris-san who was floating.


    (I will be apanying him for a small walk. I will be eating when I return, so don¡¯t you dare clean up the carrots at my hut.) (Nova)


    Leaving those words, the Gods left.


    This big incident, where Gods have directly stated their presence to us for the first time, has been safely resolved in this way.

 Chapter 309-311 - Crossing over myths

    <h4>Chapter 309-311: Crossing over myths</h4>


    TLN: This is no joke! Thanks for the support!


    Sponsored Chapters


    I -Kuromiya Haine- and the group are still in the middle of saving Mother Earth Mantle.


    Or more like, it was supposed to be a simple mission where once we manage to do it once, it will be over, but because that once doesn¡¯t happen at all, we are facing a long trek.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°.......¡±


    ¡°...........¡±


    Yorishiro and Shiva, who are together with me in this mission, were silent.


    This situation where, no matter how many times we try, there¡¯s no progress. Even our hearts were exhausted.


    This ce is the danger zone that no one steps into, the Nameless Desert.


    Inside the ck hole that has been ced at the depths of this desert, Mantle is sealed, or so we think. In terms of probability, it could be that even her soul has been crushed by the gravity of the ck hole, or maybe she was thrown into a different world from the warped space created there. Those possibilities are present as well.


    We are betting on the possibility that Mantle can return to this world.


    And so, by using the only element that can go against the dark element, we are trying to shoot through the core of the ck Hole, but...how many times has it been already?


    A hundred? A thousand?


    Yorishiro was shooting the light divine power and Shiva and I were doing the support to make it so that it hits the target, but it isn¡¯t going well at all.


    In the first ce, the morepressed the core is, the higher the gravity, is how the ck Hole works. That¡¯s why the size of the core is one hundredth the size of a grain of sand.


    Just that one point makes it close to impossible to shoot at it, and yet, because the surroundings of the ck Hole don¡¯t even allow the reflection of light, we don¡¯t know exactly where the core is.


    Even with the uracy of Shiva who has mastered the wind gun technique, we can¡¯t do anything.


    ¡°Ah geez, another failure.¡± (Yorishiro)


    After thousands of test fires turning out in fruitless effort, Yorishiro lets out a sigh as if she was already tired of this.


    ¡°My whole body is sticky with sweat and sand... Hey, how about we move to the oasis and have a break? I want to dip in water and get refreshed-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Again?! Didn¡¯t we have a break just a few moments ago?!¡± (Shiva)


    Due to piling failure after failure, everyone¡¯s heart was in shambles and were irritable.


    The normally bad rtionship of Shiva and Yorishiro was even worse right now.


    ¡°The body of a woman is delicate. We are in such a harsh environment, and that¡¯s exactly why there¡¯s the need to take the proper care! Ah geez! Who was the one that left the ck Hole in such a damn hot desert?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro is snapping in a way different from usual?!


    This is proof that she is being quite mentally cornered.


    ¡°In the first ce, Shiva! If you weren¡¯t here, Haine-san and I would be all alone and we would be able to bath in the water and go kyakyafufu! But thanks to you, it has been divided into male and female! You are in the way! Why are you here?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°You people told me toe together! I as well don¡¯t want to see your naked body anyways! If it is mixed bathing, I would prefer doing it with Juo!!¡± (Shiva)


    No good! Because of the heat, the two are getting irritated?!


    We didn¡¯t want to make our time here pointless, so we have endured until now, but we have to put an end to this soon!


    The rescue of Mantle is impossible, we should give up.


    The problem of the Demon Lords can¡¯t be put aside, so we can¡¯t waste anymore time.


    It would be best to return as soon as possible and prepare to go against the Demon Lords.


    Was our choice of saving Mantle mistaken from the very beginning?


    (Hmph, those are bad faces you got there, you people.)


    ¡°Everyone is doing their best in trying to save Mantle, so it can¡¯t be helped that they are tired.¡±


    Huh?!


    In this Nameless Desert where there shouldn¡¯t be anyone but us, we heard voices.


    We turned around to see what it was, and there, two monsters were lined up.


    ¡°Phris! And also...!¡± (Haine)


    I think I have seen him before. That humanoid water living being kind of impression this monster gives off...Water Demon, Mephistopheles.


    Isn¡¯t that the body Coacervate used in the surface world?!


    Then the reason it is here now must mean...!


    ¡°Coacervate and Nova huh!¡± (Haine)


    Within the six Gods of Creation, they were the central figures against the humans. Why are they here?!


    ¡°...Then, I will be having you see yourst moments here.¡± (Coacervate)


    (Gaaah!! Unhand me, unhand meee!!)


    Inside the hand of Mephistopheles, there¡¯s a single lizard struggling.


    The soul voiceing from that lizard is without doubt that of Coacervate.


    There¡¯s two Coacervates?


    What is the meaning of this?!


    ¡°The polluted me, that abyss that is spreading in front of us is the most fitting as your grave.¡± (Coacervatwo)


    (D-Don¡¯t tell me, you bastard...! Stop it! Why are you doing such a horrible thing?! I am you, you know?!) (Coacervate)


    ¡°You who refused your bond with humans are already not a God. And so, you don¡¯t share the same title as Water God. Evil spirits are supposed to be exorcised.¡± (Coacervatwo)


    (STOOOOP!!) (Coacervate)


    Without caring about the lizard¡¯s desperate struggle, Mephistopheles positioned in pitching form and threw the lizard...directly at the ck Hole that absorbs everything.


    (Ugyaaaaa!!!)


    ¡°Now, Intion! Quasar! At the ce where my polluted self is being crushed, there¡¯s the core of the ck Hole!!¡± (Coacervatwo)


    Ah! I see!!


    A ck Hole doesn¡¯t allow light to reflect, but a soul is different. If it is to follow its destination, even we can follow it outside the ck Hole.


    The only way to investigate the inside of the ck Hole!


    ¡°Shiva! Take position! There¡¯s only one chance!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Kugh, what¡¯s with this development!!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva is confused, but I am as well, you know.


    But there¡¯s no way I can let this chance slip by, so we both line up the wind and gravity lenses.


    (The polluted Coacervate has divided recently, so he is weakened! He doesn¡¯t have the strength to cling onto the Schwarzschild radius! In other words, his soul will surely be crushed by the center of the ck Hole!) (Nova)


    Even Nova gave out advise!


    What in the world is happening?!


    ¡°Aim for that moment and... [Holy Light Line]!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro shoots a light beam.


    This passed through the lens of Shiva and I, and with the angling of Shiva, it flies at the ce where lizard Coacervate¡¯s soul was crushed.


    It entered the ck Hole and...


    .......


    *GWOOOOON!*


    ¡°Kyaaaaaa!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Did we do it?!¡± (Shiva)


    The ck Hole was destroyed.


    The core has been erased by the light divine power and all the light caught in the Schwarzschild radius was released all at once, dispersing everywhere.


    It was an overwhelming explosion.


    If this wasn¡¯t the Nameless Desert where there¡¯s nothing, this could have destroyed a town.


    By releasing all our God power, we were able to protect our body, but the gathered air from the gravity expanded heavily and created a big st of wind.


    At that moment...


    ¡°...Ouch!¡±


    A big somewhat fluorescent woman came flying together with the st. Her butt falls grandly onto the sand.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Mantle¡¯s fairy?!¡± (Haine)


    The temporary body of Mantle that she created to act in the surface world.


    She has returned!


    ¡°Ouch ouch ouch... Eh? Why is everyone all gathered here?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Huh?¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Being told this, we noticed once again the six gathered here.


    Dark God Entropy, Light Goddess Intion, Wind God Quasar, Fire God Nova, Water God Coacervate, and the Mother Earth Mantle that came flying just now.


    This is something that I didn¡¯t expect at all but, could this be...the first time after 1,600 years that all six Gods of Creation have gathered?!


    To think something like this would happen.


    The six Gods that created this world have reunited at one ce.


    This is the Nameless Desert. Unless you are feeling suicidal, no one would step into it. That¡¯s why this meeting of Gods had no fear of having interlopers.


    ¡°.......First of all, everyone, it has been a while.¡± (Haine)


    Not knowing what to say, I did my best to give an opening greeting.


    ¡°You say that, but I have been meeting Haine-san frequently though.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°In the sense that these members are reunited. This is the first time since the Genesis Era.¡± (Shiva)


    (That¡¯s because a goody-two-shoes God has been sealed for 1,600 years!) (Nova)


    ¡°But now Entropy-san hase back and the friendship of the six Gods has also been revived. Isn¡¯t that a great thing?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Uhm, about that... Why is everyone gathered?¡± (Mantle)


    ......


    Every single one of them were speaking their minds out. I honestly don¡¯t think I will be able to put these people in order.


    In the first ce, these Gods -including me- were the ones who created this world.


    Creating space and time, in order to fill that space, air, water, and earth were created, and with fire, everything was melded together.


    The ones who did this were us Gods.


    Right after, because of a difference in opinions, we were divided in two sides and fought each other. One side was me Entropy, and all the others were on the other side.


    I was defeated in the battle of Gods and the winners sealed me.


    And so, after 1,600 years passed, the seal was broken and I incarnated as the human Kuromiya Haine.


    Now, we are here.


    The other five Gods were apparently doing whatever they pleased in my absence.


    Once I returned, as chances came by, I got to know of their deeds from hearsay, and there were times when I would be angry or impressed by them.


    But to think that there would be a time when we would all gather.


    Even if we had moments were we would see each other, the Gods don¡¯t get along by nature, so I thought it would bepletely impossible for everyone to gather when called...


    ¡°Uhm...by the way, what did you guyse here to do?¡± (Haine)


    I didn¡¯t know what to talk about, so I move the conversation to the cow and fishman that suddenly appeared.


    It would be inconvenient not to have a body when acting in the surface world, so we Gods prepared a body when we descended.


    I -Entropy-, Intion, and Quasar had incarnated as normal humans. We are acting in the world of humans with the standing of humans.


    But these other two Gods are different.


    Nova incarnated into the Fire Cow Phris; Water God Coacervate into the Water Demon Mephistopheles; both monster bodies.


    That¡¯s why their looks are different from the rest and, even if we were to go back to why they incarnated as monsters, their way of thinking is simply too different from mine.


    We are in such an antagonistic rtionship, and yet...


    (What we came here to do, you say?! ...Hmph, that goes the same for you people. What are you ying around here for?!) (Nova)


    Is what the cow Nova says as he bursts right at the beginning of our discussion.


    (The goody-two-shoes that imed about protecting the humans were you people in the first ce!! And yet, you don¡¯t do as you say, and are spacing out at such a remote ce. In the time you weren¡¯t present, do you not know how much distress the cities of the humans faced?!) (Nova)


    Eh?


    ¡°Now now, don¡¯t be so angry. Entropy-san and the others were also doing their best.¡± (Coacervate)


    And the fishman tries to calm down the cow.


    ¡°No, maybe I should call you Haine-san right now. At any rate, in order to gather the God Heroes to go against the Demon Lords, they were challenging the harsh enterprise of bringing back Mantle-san that had disappeared into the depths of the ck Hole. I, Coacervate, am aware of their hard work.¡± (Coacervate)


    ......Or more like...


    ¡°...Uhm, Coacervate-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Indeed, it is I Coacervate. I have not met Haine-san since our quarrel at the Water capital.¡± (Coacervate)


    I unintentionally asked in a questioning tone at the end but, is it really Coacervate?


    The Coacervate I know is a vaciting and underhanded guy that loves doing things people hate; that kind of terrible guy though?


    It has been a while since we have met, and even when his incarnated body is that of a monster, it somehow gives out a divine feeling...


    ¡°Uhm...that body, if I remember correctly, that¡¯s the one I destroyed before...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes. This body was destroyed by Haine-san and I remade it, Mephistopheles MkII. But there have been a change of ways, and now, rather than Water Demon, it is Water Saint.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°W-Water Saint?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, please don¡¯t misunderstand. It is not as if I am calling myself a saint out of conceit.¡± (Coacervate)


    The fishman began to justify.


    ¡°It is actually the contrary. In the past, I called myself a God, and yet, because of the underhanded ways I employed that were far from this title, I have caused trouble to the people. Thinking of redeeming myself and to separate from my past self, I had this body shoulder the title of ¡®Saint¡¯. The title of Water Saint has the objective of bing what¡¯s close to what humans think of as Saint, and to actually be one!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The fishman seems to be getting heated up as he speaks.


    I was actually surprised by the honesty I could feel from that speech.


    What¡¯s with this Water God? He has changed way too much from thest time I met him. What happened in the time I haven¡¯t seen him?!


    ¡°Oi, could this possible be...!¡± (Shiva)


    And Shiva who was watching this seems to have an idea of this.


    (Yeah, in the past when we beat this guy up, something simr to this happened.) (Nova)


    It looks like Nova also knows something.


    Or more like, this guy appeared together with Coacervate, so there¡¯s no doubt he knows the answer itself.


    And so, from then on, we were told by the Fire and Water Gods about what happened while we were saving Mantle.


    ¡°Distition.¡± (Haine)


    Something like that can happen?


    In other words, the Water God, when heated to a certain extent, he evaporates and bes steam.


    By doing this, the many contaminated parts get separated?


    ¡°Coacervate is the God that is the most easily affected by the dirt of the humans and world.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Intion speaks.


    ¡°It is because water washes away all filth that the impurities stay inside of it. Those impurities warp the personality and cause tons of pain to their surroundings. When creating the world, quite the amount of impurities were born, and he swallowed them all after all. He had been quite contaminated from the beginning.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s why it would have been impossible for me to know of the clean part of him since I was sealed right after the Creation huh.


    No matter what it is, everything creates filth when they are born or die.


    ¡°But Coacervate being in an evaporated state is quite rare. Isn¡¯t this the second time this has happened since the 1,600 years after the Genesis era?¡± (Yorishiro)


    What? Only two?


    In that case, Coacervate has only been in this state once in the time I was sealed?


    (That was something that happened not long after our Churches were made.) (Nova)


    And the cow speaks.


    In other words, it was at the time when human civilization was beginning.


    (At that time, we were stealing away our believers and fighting each other. At that time, my Fire Church and Quasar¡¯s Wind Church were having an all-out battle.) (Nova)


    ¡°And in all that, Coacervate had sent an oracle to the Water Church. They made a surprise attack to the Fire and Wind Church while we were in a battle. The surprise attack worked and my Wind army was practically wiped out.¡± (Shiva)


    Quasar grinds his teeth in anguish as he remembered those times.


    Truly a Coacervate-like way of doing things.


    ¡°At that time, I had incarnated as the Wind Founder, but since I was takingmand of the army, I died along with many of my troops. Being liberated from my flesh, I returned to being Quasar. Pissed off, I challenged Coacervate to battle.¡± (Quasar)


    (I was also pissed off, so I cooperated. With the wind increasing the strength of my mes, we boiled him continuously. He was evaporated, and this guy was came out.) (Nova)


    ¡°I am truly in debt for that time.¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate lowers his head.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, this served as a trigger for a big leap in the human civilization.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro points out.


    ¡°The distilled Coacervate did his very best to be a guardian working for the sake of humans and the Water Church developed heavily. The reason why the Water Church has a rtively free way of thinking that is not caught in the doctrine of the Church is most likely because of this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But well, after a hundred years, I was contaminated again and absorbed into the polluted Coacervate though.¡± (Coacervate)


    (True.) (Nova)


    The Gods were talking about the past with nostalgia.


    Hearing this story, I closed my eyes for a moment and decided.


    ¡°Let¡¯s burn this guy again after a hundred years!!¡± (Haine)


    No, really.


    The Coacervate that ys around with humans is a big problem for the world.


    If we can deal with that at a regr basis, there¡¯s no reason not to.


    ¡°True. In time, I will once again be contaminated and will cause trouble to my beloved humans and my brethren Gods. If it is in order to avoid this, I am more than willing to burn in the mes of hell. Actually, that¡¯s what I want!!¡± (Coacervate)


    The fresh water God that had been separated from his filth was speaking in an admirable manner and made me surprised.


    ¡°No, about that...!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°It is easier said than done!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Shiva and Yorishiro warn.


    I thought it was a great proposal though?


    ¡°...Originally, when my body is evaporated, it will normally return to my God core. That¡¯s why, no matter how much I get evaporated, if it returns to a contaminated core, I will simply return to being the polluted Coacervate.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Eh? Then why were you able to split into filth and distilled this time and in the past?¡± (Haine)


    (Because he had a ce that could be his new core.) (Nova)


    ¡°A ce that could be his new core?¡± (Haine)


    (The human prayers.) (Nova)


    The cow is dragging the exnation.


    (Humans pray to their God. Within those prayers, in order to direct their prayers to a God they have not seen, they create a figure of their own. The figure that is shaped within the hearts of humans, when the steam converges into it, the distilled Coacervate is born.) (Nova)


    ¡°That means the prayers towards Gods possesses quite the power if they are able to do a feat like that. Several hundreds of years ago, at the time when the Churches were just being made, the prayers were abundant to the point that it could serve as the core to his body.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°And this time around, my hero Celestis didn¡¯t lose to the doubts and despair, and continued loving me as her God, so that love had gathered my vaporized self. I am truly fortunate to have a hero like that.¡± (Coacervate)


    Everyone was shocked.


    But I see. Simply burning Coacervate and having him evaporate is not enough huh.


    It is not only the Gods that affect humans, humans also affect Gods. I feel like this is a good example of that.


    ¡°Whether it was a coincidence or an inevitability, I was able to separate from my polluted self and be distilled. Now that I am here, I will fulfill my original duty as a God and will cooperate with everyone to protect the humans and the world.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°O-Okay.¡± (Shiva)


    (Ah, yes.) (Nova)


    ¡°Well, isn¡¯t it fine?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is disgusting-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Only Yorishiro didn¡¯t hide her opinion.


    But the most difficult one to convince, Coacervate, has joined forces with us. This is good news.


    ...No, we did nothing to contribute to this. Karen-san, Celestis-san, and the others were the ones that did their best in order to create this situation where Coacervate has been reformed.


    As I thought, humans are not solely being protected by Gods, they protect themselves and make the world better.


    I help those girls out as the Dark God Entropy, and as Kuromiya Haine, I will struggle together with them.


    The exnation for why Coacervate ended up this way had be an exnation of what happened outside, and we have now confirmed that Mirack and Celestis have sessfully be God Heroes.


    With the transformation of the two that we thought would be the hardest to make reality, having all five elemental heroes into God Heroes is looking more possible now!


    ¡°Karen-san has already be a God Hero, so there¡¯s only two left.¡± (Haine)


    Leaving aside the Wind that is trustworthy, the only one left would be...


    The gaze of the five Gods were directed at the remaining God.


    ¡°Hiiih! What is it?!¡± (Mantle)


    Directed at Mantle who was cowering at the side.

 Chapter 312-313 - Return of Mother Earth

    <h4>Chapter 312-313: Return of Mother Earth</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    ¡°This girl...she hasn¡¯t been speaking for a while now.¡± (Coacervate)


    (I was about to forget she was even here.) (Nova)


    ¡°This is her we are talking about. She was probably going to say ¡®I think so as well!¡¯ after we have arrived at a decision.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Truly an easily pressured woman!¡± (Shiva)


    The one they were speaking about in whatever way they pleased was Mother Earth Mantle, one of the four Base Element Gods.


    In the first ce, the very reason why we are in the middle of the desert is because of this person.


    We went through a lot of trouble bringing her back from the ck Hole.


    This might have been the most trouble I have had since incarnating as Kuromiya Haine. Leaving aside the irony that the most trouble I have had was to undo my own ability.


    At any rate, it seems like Mantle was really caught in the Schwarzschild radius.


    I am d.


    She was released at the same time as the ck Hole was destroyed.


    ¡®Wee back, Mantle¡¯, is it okay for me to say that?


    In the first ce, I was the one who threw her into the ck Hole. If I were to wee her with a smile, just how would she feel?


    Now that she has returned, will we get a repeat of what happened before?


    ¡°Oi, what¡¯s the matter Haine? Get to business quickly.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva hurried me, but my legs were heavy.


    ¡°When actually facing her, I remembered a lot of things of the past. So I was wondering what I should say to her first...¡± (Haine)


    (What are you pulling out after sote in the game?! Every single one of us here are filled with past grudges!) (Nova)


    ¡°It is truly a state where we would want to have the head of the other.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°If it is okay, I can talk things out with Mantle-san.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°¡°¡°Not now.¡±¡±¡±


    If Coacervate, the very definition of radical change, were to be the first to speak, it would simply confuse Mantle who had just returned to this world.


    We should be a bit more careful here and check for her reaction!


    Deciding this, I resolve myself when...


    ¡°...¡±


    Yorishiro silently approached Mantle.


    Of course, her past with Mantle is not shallow either.


    Mantle is currently in the temporary body of a Fairy, and she was facing Yorishiro with that body withholding the silence.


    ¡°...Ah, could you be Intion?¡± (Mantle)


    As expected of a God, Mantle noticed the identity of the God soul that was deep inside Yorishiro.


    As if answering this, Yorishiro stretches out her hand and...ps Mantle.


    ¡°¡°¡°(GYAAAAAA!!)¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Even us as spectators were letting out big screams.


    Moreover, Yorishiro didn¡¯t stop at one time, she went for two, three, and more as she hits the head of Mantle¡¯s fairy.


    ¡°[Holy Light p] [Holy Light p] [Holy Light p] [Holy Light p]!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hyaaa~, it hurts. Please stop it, Intion-san!¡± (Mantle)


    Gyaaaa!!


    What are you doing?! What are you doing, Yorishiro-san?!


    Even going as far as putting light divine power on your palms, isn¡¯t that to certainly provide damage to Mantle?!


    I hurriedly hold Yorishiro to stop her.


    Shiva grabs the hand that was about to be brought down, Coacervate goes in between the both of them to cover for Mantle, and Nova was flustered and moving around aimlessly in his cow body.


    ¡°What are you doing?! What are you doing, Yorishiro-san?! Mantle finally returned, and we were thinking about getting along from now on, and yet, this treatment is way too much!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is the contrary, Haine-san. This is the proper education for Mantle.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Education?


    ¡°You should know as well. This Mantle may look like a light woman that gets pressured easily, but deep down, she is extremely dangerous.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Easily pressured Mantle. Yes-woman Mantle. Yes-woMantle!¡± (Coacervate)


    (You, shut up for a moment.) (Nova)


    We ignore Coacervate who had a radical change in character.


    The danger deep inside of Mantle huh.


    It is true. Leaving aside Coacervate and Nova who had clear animosity towards humans, the reason why it reached a catastrophe like having only Mantle be erased by the ck Hole was because of this.


    Within the four Base Elements, she was one that thought decently of humans.


    For the sake of humans, for the sake of their happiness; aiming for these, the conclusion she reached was to capture the humans in trees and turn them practically into nts, estranged from any distress or pain.


    ...


    This was not something done out of malice, but from pure good will.


    I couldn¡¯t reach apromise with Mantle, and in the end, could only erase her into the ck Hole.


    That has connected to the pretty precipitous situation of now.


    ¡°It looks like everyone is misunderstanding here. From within the four Base Elements, Mantle is the scariest one. It is not on the realm of power, specialty, or anything like that. It is her very way of thinking.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yes, that¡¯s exactly right.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I was the most cautious about her from all the four Base Elements. I observed whether she would pull something, and if she were to, I would hit her. Because that¡¯s the best way to stop her from going wild after all!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Fueeee?! I am sorryyyy!¡± (Mantle)


    Due to Yorishiro¡¯s thrashing, Mantle waspletely meek now.


    Could it be...the reason why Mantle is easily pressured is because Intion had disciplined her in this way?


    Because if Mantle were to move on her own will, it would definitely surpass boundaries and cause trouble, so the Light Goddess disciplined her and made it so that she would only act on the will of others?


    ¡°I took 1,600 years keeping Mantle in check, and yet, with Haine-san getting involved once, that lid was taken off and that big cmity urred. You spoil her too much!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°S-Sorryyyyy!!¡± (Haine)


    (What¡¯s with this scene as if a couple were fighting over the education of their child?) (Nova)


    The others didn¡¯t participate and were simply watching over this.


    If they were to join in thoughtlessly, sparks might fly their way after all.


    ¡°At any rate, if you are going to be involved with this girl, you will need to tread with utmost care. If you are to mess up even for a bit, keep in mind that I will be sending you to the other side of the frontier.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Lower your guard a bit and it will cost you your life?!


    Maybe it would have been better not to bring her back?!


    ¡°Uhm, uhm, in the end, why was I brought here?¡± (Mantle)


    While we were flustered, Mantle herself was unable to keep up with what was going on.


    But it can¡¯t be helped now that she has returned.


    We will have Mantle turn Sasae-chan into the Earth God Hero!!


    ¡°I see... Demon Lord-sans and God Hero-sans huh.¡± (Mantle)


    We first tell her the many things that happened while she was inside the ck Hole.


    The monsters that Mantle and the other four Base Elements created, those monsters have surpassed the will of Gods and have obtained their own will, and have begun to act on their own ord.


    Even Mantle would be shocked by this.


    ¡°Things have turned problematic, it seems.¡± (Mantle)


    Or not.


    Now that I think about it, it even looks like she forgot about the fact that she had fought me due to the matter with Grandma Wood. Are even Demon Lords a trivial matter when you are a God?


    ¡°So, in order to defeat those Demon Lord-sans, you want to grant power to the hero-sans, right?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! That¡¯s right! I am d to see that you understand fast!¡± (Haine)


    Because of previous events, providing information to Mantle feels like treading on thin ice.


    If the information is not enough, it won¡¯t get through properly, but if we were to give too much, it might create misunderstandings and she might get out of control again.


    Today we have Yorishiro with her eyes shining, so it makes me even more nervous.


    ¡°Fight-o! Haine-san!¡± (Coacervate)


    And the cheers of Coacervate are annoying!


    When he was polluted he was obviously annoying, but his distilled self is annoying as well!


    ¡°Understood! I will cooperate as well!¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle announced loudly.


    ¡°Quasar-san, Nova-san, and Coacervate-san are also cooperating, so I will be cooperating as well!!¡± (Mantle)


    This woman bended to group pressure.


    ¡°She just went with the flow.¡± (She went with the flow.) ¡°Indeed she did.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s opinion were the same.


    ¡°It is fine this way.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says calmly.


    ¡°When this girl moves on her own will, it definitely brings catastrophe. That¡¯s why her being servile is good enough. It is the best way to reduce the damage.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No! That¡¯s not true!¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle responds innocently without a moment¡¯s dy.


    ¡°This time for sure I will be a God that is of use to the human-sans! I understood! Even I can guide the human-sans to happiness if I try! I understood after being praised by Entropy-san!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°¡°¡°(...)¡±¡±¡±


    Strategy meeting!


    I have Yorishiro look after Mantle and gathered everyone else.


    ¡°Oi! I thought she hadpletely forgotten about the incident before, but she is still dragging it in a strange way!¡± (Haine)


    (Moreover, it is serving as motivation! What do we do?! Excessive motivation will definitely lead to getting out of control!¡± (Nova)


    ¡°There¡¯s already past record of this after all. Expecting different results with the same circumstances and method would be the epitome of stupidity.¡± (Shiva)


    Every single one of them were giving out opinions that brought anxiety.


    ¡°Oi, Coacervate! You used Mantle before to keep me under surveince, right?! Can¡¯t you control her with that experience?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That was the act of my past self. Holding the hearts of others and controlling them is an unforgivable act that goes against my standards.¡± (Coacervate)


    (And this guy has turned into a saint in such a convenient timing!) (Nova)


    This is not good.


    We can¡¯t find any effective methods as uneasiness keeps rising!


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine?¡± (Yorishiro)


    At that moment, Yorishiro says this as she pats the head of Mantle.


    ¡°No matter the form, she is trying to help out someone else in such a spontaneous manner. This is something that hasn¡¯t happened before ¡ªfrom what I know, at least.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Aw aw~¡± (Mantle)


    The patting on her head soon became stroking.


    ¡°It is not only Mantle. Quasar, Nova, and Coacervate; by the time we noticed, their positions have changed quite a lot from the past. I wonder whose influence it was. Was it Haine-san, or maybe the living beings called humans.¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Y-Y-You idiot!!) (Nova)


    Nova is the one to react instantly.


    (I ain¡¯t taking the influence of no one! The strongest existence that are Gods take influence from no one! Can¡¯t say the same for the all-looks Quasar and the Coacervate thates with a purification feature though!) (Nova)


    Yorishiro was still stroking the head of Mantle.


    ¡°Just like how they were, Mantle might have some sort of change showing in her as well. In order to confirm this, Haine-san, I will be asking you to be the overseer of this.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Huh?!¡± (Haine)


    Why me?!


    ¡°Because your words gave this decisiveness to Mantle after all. I will have you take responsibility. No matter the case, there¡¯s no way we can leave a dangerous girl like her going around freely without surveince.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t more eyes be better?!¡± (Haine)


    I tried to at least make it so I am not the only one pushed this.


    ¡°You do have a point, but we have stayed too long in the Nameless Desert in order to bring her back. I have to return to Apollon City soon. I feel like my work has umte quite a bit.¡± (Yorishiro)


    A valid excuse!


    ¡°Right. I also have a previous appointment with Juo of checking out the marriage ceremony hall after all.¡± (Shiva)


    (There¡¯s apparently watermelon for tomorrow!) (Nova)


    ¡°I have to work as soon as possible in helping for the sake of humanity!¡± (Coacervate)


    You people are enjoying the world to your fullest it seems!


    What were we fighting about in the Genesis era?!


    ¡°And so, I will be leaving the care of Mantle to Haine-san who seems to be the freest one-desu wa. Please see that this girl will properly make the earth hero-san into a God Hero.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I can finally return to the Wind capital huh.¡± (I will return to the Fire capital too.) ¡°I will go around the world and bring smiles to the unfortunate ones!¡±


    Is what they said as they began to leave.


    Leaving only me and Mantle¡¯s Fairy.


    ¡°Watch me, Entropy-san! This time for sure, I will make all the people happy!¡± (Mantle)


    Meeting them all in one ce after 1,600 years, I once again felt it.


    As I thought, I hate these guys!!

 Chapter 314-316 - Disappearance of blessing

    <h4>Chapter 314-316: Disappearance of blessing</h4>


    Right before we separated at the Nameless Desert, there was a meaningful conversation.


    ¡°There¡¯s something I would like to entrust you with.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Huh?¡± (Haine)


    Yorishiro who was riding on the back of Phris and was about to fly away seems to have remembered something and returned to where we were.


    ¡°Coacervate told me an unexpected problem regarding God Heroes. It may be improvised, but I thought of a n to better it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Is what she said as she presents me something from her palm.


    It was a sparkling gem.


    ¡°Wow, it looks as if it would sell highly!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I wonder if it is okay for a God to have an evaluation like that when looking at gems at a nce though... It is a diamond. When you have the chance to meet with Karen-san, can you please give it to her?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, she gives me the transparent shining gem.


    (I will also be giving it to you, a ruby.) (Nova)


    ¡°And from me, an aquamarine.¡± (Coacervate)


    I receive them from Nova and Coacervate as well, and then, they left.


    Yorishiro flew away on Phris¡¯ back. Mephistopheles probably has that kind of ability too, by the time I noticed, he had already disappeared.


    The ones remaining were me and the Fairy of Mantle.


    ¡°They really pushed it all to me!¡± (Haine)


    It is true that I am affiliated to the Light Church and I don¡¯t have a concrete post, but to think that this would make me look like I have nothing to do...


    Doesn¡¯t that in turn mean that they see me as a convenient guy that would do anything?!


    This is a bad turn of events.


    When I return to the Light capital, I must find a better post.


    But before that...


    I have to face the big problem in front of me.


    ¡°Yes? What is it?¡± (Mantle)


    The big woman that surpasses me in height by a lot, in other words, Mantle.


    ***


    Can¡¯t stay spaced out all the time, so I decided on leaving the Nameless Desert as well.


    ¡°Now then, where should I go?¡± (Haine)


    It would normally be the Light capital, but I currently have a problematicpanion ¡ªMother Earth, Mantle.


    Thinking about the reason we brought her back, it would probably be better to go directly there in order to fulfill it.


    Ishtar ze.


    In order to make the earth hero, Gonbee Sasae-chan, there into an Earth God Hero.


    ***


    And so, I have arrived at the Earth capital, Ishtar ze.


    Since it was quite close to the Nameless Desert, we could easilye here. This is my second time here.


    When I came here before and now, it had quite the different impression.


    The biggest reason is because the giant tree at the center of the city, Grandma Wood, is gone now.


    The giant trunk that felt as if it were supporting the heavens and the branches that covered the sky are now gone, and this made the sky look bigger than normal.


    ¡°We still haven¡¯t gotten used to it and are still confused, you know.¡±


    A member affiliated to the Earth Church met me at the outside of Ishtar ze and was guiding me.


    Due to my achievements at the previous incident, I have already be a known face and my treatment is good.


    ¡°After the hero-samas defeated Great Pir-sama, the stump was left for a while. But that suddenly disappeared one day, you see. So we all thought this: ¡®Great Pir-sama ispletely gone now huh¡¯.¡±


    Great Pir-sama refers to the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood.


    It gave birth to the earth element monsters, Golems, from its giant body, and were unusual monsters that followed the orders of humans.


    Golems surpassed humans by a lot in frame and power, so they were priceless treasures in manualbour. In the past, a world where monsters and humans coexisted was made a reality in Ishtar ze.


    No, that still continues on even today.


    Grandma Wood is gone now, but the Golems that have already been born still have several remaining.


    Since the source has been cut off now, they are destined to slowly wittle in numbers and fade away, but even so, the remaining Golems are still working for a variety of things under the orders of the humans.


    I was able to look at all this while the staff member-san guided me by my side.


    This picture that will someday disappear, it felt as if it was more fulfilling than the times when Grandma Wood still existed.


    ¡°...So, what happened after Grandm¡ª I mean, Great Pir-sama disappeared?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A big hole was left. Great Pir-sama was big, so the roots holding it together were also gigantic. We were worrying that this might cause a ground sinking, but nothing happened.¡±


    When Grandma Wood disappeared, the Earth Demon Lord was probably born.


    In a sense, isn¡¯t that incredibly good luck?


    The Demon Lord that is supposed to eradicate all humans had been born in the middle of a big city, and yet, it left without doing any destruction.


    Uriel is a lot more whimsical than the other Demon Lords, so who knows what he was thinking when he didn¡¯t put a hand on the humans though.


    At any rate, I felt relieved after thiste about the safety of Ishtar ze.


    ¡°Now then, we will soon be there.¡±


    The staff member-san said.


    ¡°The earth hero, Sasae-sama, is currently in the Earth Church¡¯s training grounds devoting herself to training. When she learns that you havee, she will most likely be quite overjoyed.¡±


    That¡¯s right, the reason I came here was to meet Sasae-chan.


    Just as the guide said, as we proceeded in this field, I could see a giant female-shaped Golem that was as big as the towering walls and roof.


    There¡¯s no doubt that¡¯s the new technique Sasae-chan used at the heroes match.


    That¡¯s the handmade Golem of Sasae-chan that was made solely from the divine power of Sasae-chan.


    The Goddess Golem ¡ªhad been cut down to pieces in an instant.


    Even from afar, I could confirm that.


    Cut to pieces by the scythe of Iemon Yoneko-san.


    ¡°Gyoeeeeee!! Dasu!!¡±


    When I arrived at the training grounds of the Earth Church, Sasae-chan was blown away along with the cut to pieces Golem.


    And then, she fell to the ground and bounced twice.


    Seeing this, a big sigh was let out somewhere.


    ¡°Sasae, if Yoneko hadn¡¯t given up at the Wind capital, ya would have lost.¡± (Oba-san)


    Is what the Earth Founder-san said. She is also the blood-rted grandma of Sasae-chan.


    With her overseeing the battle of the current and previous heroes, Sasae-chan was in the middle of training with her senior Yoneko-san.


    Well, even if I were to call it training, it is totally just realbat though.


    ¡°Not yet-dasu! Yoneko-oneechan! I request one more match-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan stabbed her personal divine tool Sita to the ground and pours divine power.


    She is trying to make another Goddess Golem but...


    ¡°Not only are ye slow, yer full of openings~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san closes in on her prey with the speed of a cat and was immediately at Sasae-chan¡¯s vicinity.


    ¡°Awawawawa?!¡±


    Sasae-chan was unable to stop pouring divine power to the ground and tried to defend with her big scythe, but due to the small size of Yoneko-san¡¯s divine tool being far superior in maneuverability, in the end, after three exchanges, Sasae-chan was unable to cope with her anymore and ended up with her having the scythe of Yoneko-san ced on her neck.


    ¡°Sasae-chan, ya really should take a break.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san said in a tired tone.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t ya head stuffed up because of yer exhaustion? That be why ya do such mess ups like trying ta do a wide open attack like Golem tempering right in front of yer opponent.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°It is just as Yoneko says-sa ne. Rest for a bit and cool down yer head. Also, eat lunch.¡± (Oba-san)


    I can¡¯t tell if these elderly are strict or kind.


    ¡°I thoroughly refuse-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    But Sasae-chan was stubborn.


    Well, Sasae-chan being stubborn is an usual thing though.


    ¡°Quickening the refining speed of Golem creation be one of the tasks ta be done-dasu! If I be prompted by Yoneko-oneechan¡¯s dangerous look, mah sense of danger might increase-dasu! Please, one more round!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°...Sasae-chan, ya thinking of me as some kind of ogre?¡± (Yoneko)


    Just as Yoneko-san says this...


    ¡°...Oya, ain¡¯t that Haine-niichan?¡± (Oba-san)


    It looks like they finally noticed me spectating.


    ¡°Ah, true-dasu! Haine-niichan be visiting us-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ara, he has seen an unsightly part of us~.¡± (Yoneko)


    And it looks like Sasae-chan and Yoneko-san as well.


    The divine power running through the divine tools was stopped, and they release their fighting stance.


    ¡°It been a while-dasu! Why ya visiting us today-dasu?! A souvenir-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan says while she runs to me.


    This girl that is the youngest within the heroes, at times like this, she shows the cuteness that fits her age and I can understand how Mirack would show a criminal-like face every now and then because of this.


    Well, about my business... I can¡¯t just speak out the truth without applying any filters, so I lie a bit.


    ¡°...I missed the big breasts of Yoneko-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ara, it be the natural course that if you put yer hands on the wife of another, ya will get pummeled by the husband, ya know~?¡± (Yoneko)


    The husband of Yoneko-san is as big as a bear after all.


    I am not good at this making up lies on the spot.


    ¡°...I missed the small breasts of Sasae-chan?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hello, this be the Scorched Earth Annihtion corps-dasu ka? There be a criminal here-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Not this one either!


    In the end, I ended up going with the ¡®I came here just to check on the state of things¡¯ which didn¡¯t have any fun in it. Looks like ad-libbing jokes will be a difficult trek for me.


    ¡°Checkin¡¯ the state of things huh. Well, we be in this current situation after all. It ain¡¯t bad to keep themunications tight-sa ne.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°There¡¯s things that be hard tomunicate through wirelessmunication after all~. I am beginning to crave seeing the face of Kyouka-san, Sarasa-san, and Juo-san directly~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Is what the two elderly said in understanding.


    But within those, only Sasae-chan was making a grave expression.


    ¡°...From the wirelessmunications, it be said that there already be the appearance of Demon Lords at the ces of Mirack-oneechan and Celestis-,oneechan-dasu. There be no way of telling when our ce will be falling into chaos-dasu. The one ta take arms first at that time be me Gonbee Sasae-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan increased the strength in her arms holding the earth scythe.


    ¡°In order ta protect the city, I gotta get stronger than how I be now-dasu! Haine-onii-chan, ya being here might be destiny! Good time tae, I want Onii-chan to train me as well-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Huh?¡± (Haine)


    What¡¯s with this overflowing determination of Sasae-chan?


    It was the same when she was in the middle of training but isn¡¯t she a bit too pumped up?


    ¡°That Sasae, she been like this all the timetely-sa ne. Being all gung-ho even though it ain¡¯t like her.¡± (Oba-san)


    The Founder Oba-san was worried about the state of the grandaughter.


    ¡°As I thought, meeting the Demon Lords at the Wind capital must have gotten to her. Their strength was not normal after all. Thinking how we be shing des with ¡®em one of these days, even I get weak-kneed~.¡± (Yoneko)


    True.


    Even Karen-san, right after returning from the heroes match, had been on high-alert for a good while because she faced the pressure of the Demon Lords.


    Sasae-chan who is the youngest one of the heroes, moreover, having the self-deprecating view of beingcking behind from the others, must be on even higher stress than them.


    ¡°Now then, Haine-oniichan! Let¡¯s quickly begin battle-dasu! I request enough drive that ya would identally cut me in two on the spur of the moment-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan¡¯s breathing is rough.


    Can¡¯t be helped.


    In order to reduce the stress on her shoulders, I decided on keeping herpany.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡± (Haine)


    Damage +999,999,999,999,999,999,999.


    Sasae-chan¡¯s Golem has been destroyed.


    ¡°Hogeeeeeh! Dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was once again blown away.


    This was clearly going overboard.


    ¡°Oh my. I heard about it, but Onii-san is truly strong~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Blowing up Great Pir-sama be practically Nii-chan¡¯s sole achievement after all. I wouldn¡¯t mind ya dealing with Sasae-chan while doing a handstand-sa.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t mind it~!¡±


    ¡°Nee-chan, weak~~!¡±


    At the sides of the Oba-san and Yoneko-san, the children of Yoneko-san had appeared.


    They were using the defeat of Sasae-chan as side-dish while munching on a rice ball.


    ¡°Disgrace-dasu! My own weakness be heartbreaking-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    She punched the ground with her fist and appeals her regret.


    ¡°Do yer best, Nee-chan.¡±


    ¡°If ya give up, that¡¯s when it-be-over Nee-chan.¡±


    The children cheer her up.


    From the eyes of Sasae-chan, they are the children of her cousin Yoneko-san, so...what are they called again?


    ¡°But if there be a person so strong already, ain¡¯t it okay to just leave him to defeat all the Demon Lords? I also want this situation to calm down and get a fourth child~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Weakling-dasu!! Yoneko-oneechan!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Guhoo?!¡± (Yoneko)


    Sasae-chan¡¯s elbow attack hit cleanly onto the stomach of Yoneko-san?!


    When you do things, you overdo it, Sasae-chan!!


    ¡°Why a hero be saying such weakling things like that?! Ain¡¯t ya supposed to protect the world-dasu?! The ones ta protect the Earth Church and the Earth capital be the earth heroes-dasu! I ain¡¯t letting anyone take that job away from me-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°So cool, Nee-chan~.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lose, cool Nee~.¡±


    You are so heated up there, Sasae-chan.


    I feel like doing something for the hard-working her.


    Since I am having practice matches with her, let¡¯s give her some advices.


    ¡°Uhm, watching the fights of Sasae-chan, I have thought this. Could it be that even though you are a Golem user, you are trying to fight yourself as well?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    Since the heroes match, Sasae-chan¡¯s battle style has changedpletely.


    Sasae-chan had been taught by that crafty Yorishiro about how to create Golems with her own divine power, and is now able to make Golems without the need of a Life Block.


    A normal Golem requires a Life Block that the Earth Mother Monster created, but Sasae-chan who has mastered the earth divine power can create a humanoid lump of earth through alchemy.


    In this situation where Grandma Wood is gone and the Life Blocks can¡¯t be replenished, it is still possible to use Golems for battle if you don¡¯t care for their destruction though...


    ¡°But that would create quite the burden for Sasae-chan, right?¡± (Haine)


    To create a big Golem, there¡¯s the need for divine powerparable to that of its size. Also, in order to make it move like a human, there¡¯s the need for detailed controlling.


    Just with that, the creation and use of Golems in battle should be incredibly exhausting mentally and physically, no doubt about it.


    ¡°On top of that, Sasae-chan is not only concentrating on controlling the Golem, but you yourself are also trying to fight.¡± (Haine)


    For example, showing as if the Golem is going to be punching from above but instead it is Sasae-chan charging from below; or Sasae-chan and the Golem doing a pincer attack type of team attack.


    ¡°That¡¯s right~!¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san who was groaning in agony a moment ago from the surprise attack had recovered already.


    ¡°The Golem user heroes normally leave all the fighting to the Golems. Even the normal Golems that have Life Blocks required swift detailed instructions in order to use them in battle which needs quite the amount of concentration.¡± (Yoneko)


    Even the Golem-hating Yoneko-san that is specialized in closebat is knowledgeable about the circumstances. As expected of a hero.


    ¡°That¡¯s why Sasae-chan should concentrate on controlling the Golem only~. And yet, she tries to fight as well, so it bes entangled between herself or the Golem, which slows the movement of one side. Because of those openings it creates, she has been losing all the time to me~.¡± (Yoneko)


    The first time I saw it in the heroes match, I thought that a new ultimate technique was born. That means the Goddess Golem is far from being perfected yet huh.


    If they were to fight, Yoneko-san with a lot more experience is better than Sasae-chan.


    If she hadn¡¯t given up on her own in the heroes match, Sasae-chan¡¯s weaknesses would have been urately exploited and she would have lost.


    ...That¡¯s definitely not the wrong evaluation.


    ¡°Not bending my believes is mah hero way-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    But Sasae-chan was stubborn.


    ¡°I pledged this-dasu! That I wouldn¡¯t be using the Golems, I would be a hero that fights together with Golems! I want to be a hero that not only protects the people of the Earth Church, but also the Earth Golems-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan...so that¡¯s how you thought.


    ¡°Also, the Demon Lords that we be fighting now on are abnormal-dasu. If I leave it all to the Golems, I will never be able to defeat ¡®em-dasu! For that sake, I and the Golems have to move like seasoned warriors! I have to do the best of what I can do-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was thinking so far when she was pushing herself in her training...


    I thought that she was a stupid girl that didn¡¯t think much, but as expected, Sasae-chan is a hero!!


    ¡°She just be stubborn-sa ne.¡± (Oba-san)


    Is what the Founder Oba-san said calmly.


    ¡°Being stubborn be like a trait of us Earth people-sa ne. That be because we been clinging onto the earth and been living by depending on what¡¯s born from it. We have ta belief that the seeds we have buried will bear fruit no matter what. We can¡¯t live in any other way.¡± (Oba-san)


    Waiting for several days without any results, the intelligent ones would say ¡®give up¡¯, but they would stubbornly cover their ears and would wait for things that they themselves have no way on influencingpletely.


    They believepletely that it will bear fruit, so they continue to wait.


    That¡¯s how the people of Ishtar ze have lived for 1,600 years.


    ¡°Sasae probably inherited those traits of the Earth deeply into her. That may be why she be most fitting as the earth hero-sa ne.¡± (Oba-san)


    I thought that she was going to say something harsh, but when I listen to the end, I could only hear it as a rtive seeing Sasae-chan dearly.


    I have been thinking about this for a while now but, isn¡¯t this Oba-san really soft on her grandchild Sasae-chan?

 Chapter 317-318 - Earth God Hero

    <h4>Chapter 317-318: Earth God Hero</h4>


    ¡°Now then, training resumes-dasu! Yoneko-neechan, in order to take the crown of strongest, please give me the chance to fight ya!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped~. Now that it hase to this, I will have ya be the strongest as soon as possible, so we can defeat the Demon Lord and have my next child~.¡± (Yoneko)


    The sharp noises of metal shing once again reverberate in this battle of current and previous earth heroes.


    But Sasae-chan couldn¡¯t endure the fierce attacks of Yoneko-san even once.


    All the fights ended in around fifty exchanges.


    ¡°Gyeeee! Dasu!!¡±


    ¡°Gyaaaaa!! Dasu!!¡±


    ¡°Once more! ...Ata! Dasu!¡±


    That was simply her bullying herself. I don¡¯t think this will grant her any progress.


    But charging forward mindlessly might be the essence of the Earth people¡ª their stubborness.


    ¡°Hoeeeh, she is really doing her best, isn¡¯t she!¡±


    From the pocket of my clothes, a stretched out voice resounded.


    That¡¯s right. You might already know with the flow of things but, the one who spoke was Mantle who we saved at the Nameless Desert.


    In the first ce, she is indispensable for my objective here, so thinking of her going out of control at any moment, I would need to have her in my sight at all times.


    And yet, sinceing to Ishtar ze, I thought that Mantle was not making her presence known at all, but now...


    ¡°Hngh, I can¡¯t see. Entropy-san, can I bring my face out a little more?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Make sure not to be caught. Also, call me Haine now.¡± (Haine)


    Mantle was currently inside my pocket.


    She has a small body; small enough to enter the pocket of a human.


    Her outer appearance of being a naked beauty shining light pink still doesn¡¯t change, but her size has changed from the giant woman you would have to lift your head to see, into a palm-sized one.


    This is a trait of the temporary bodies Mantle uses in the surface world.


    Different from Yorishiro, Shiva, and I who incarnated to humans, and also from Nova and Coacervate in monster bodies.


    Mantle¡¯s body is not that of a human or a monster. With her authority as an Earth Goddess, she can cut off a part of the lifeforce of the nts that are close to her ruling area and change it into a temporary body; that¡¯s a fairy.


    Mantle once created a fairy from Grandma Wood. But now that Grandma Wood is gone, it was apparently hard to maintain that fairy for long. And so, she has created a new fairy which is her current body.


    ¡°...That body, if I remember correctly, it is proportionate to the nt that you use, right?¡± (Haine)


    Mantle¡¯s new fairy was made from apletely normal tree.


    The reason why Mantle¡¯s body was abnormally big in the past was because the source it came from was also the abnormally big Grandma Wood. When a normal tree is used as the source, it ends up as a cute little girl ¡ªa pocket-sized one.


    Well, a fairy is a unique kind of body, so it helps since this is easy to hide from the people.


    ¡°My hero-san is truly a hardworking one, isn¡¯t she!¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle says in a pleased tone.


    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s also the previous hero-san! Uuuh, I am scared of that person and am slightly no good with her! The current one is small and cute. She is great!¡± (Mantle)


    A hero that scares the God...


    ¡°More importantly, the objective we came here for, please fulfill it properly.¡± (Haine)


    I whisper to her in a voice that can¡¯t be picked up by the surroundings.


    With this, the several days we spend will finally bear fruit.


    ¡°Totally understood! This time for sure I will make the human-sans happy!!¡± (Mantle)


    You don¡¯t have to get so hyped up.


    ¡°Also, I like that little hero-san. She is small, cute, and on top of that, hard-working; not entering the eye of anyone aside from the ones watching directly. I feel like her and I share a lot of things! I sympathize!¡± (Mantle)


    Really, tone it down a little please.


    ¡°I should just give that girl power, right?! That way, she can be a God Hero, right?! ...I can tell. That girl has received the teachings of Intion-san and the preparations to receive a God have already been done! Then, there¡¯s only the need to create a link from there! Easy-peasy!¡± (Mantle)


    The fairy of Mantle jumps out from my pocket and flies directly towards Sasae-chan.


    I decide on watching on this process of God Hero transformation with my own eyes.


    Sasae-chan was concentrating in her training, so it was impossible for her to notice the fairy that was closing in on her from behind.


    ¡°Here we go, FUUUUSION!!¡± (Mantle)


    Eh?!


    At that moment, an overwhelming torrent of divine power was created with Sasae-chan in the middle.


    ¡°W-What be going on-sa ne?!¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Sasae-chan, what be the matter~?!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Nee-chan?!¡±


    ¡°Nee-chan be evolving?!¡±


    The rtives in the surroundings obviously noticed this abnormality and were flustered.


    I also covered my face reflexively from the pressure of the divine power dispersing in every direction resembling a wind st, but it calmed down in time and, when we look at what¡¯s basically the point of explosion, I was shocked.


    At that ce, there was a peerless beauty standing there.


    Her age was probably around 20 years. Her glossy long hair was fluttering in the air. Her breasts might even be bigger than those of Yoneko-san, and her waist was shaped like a well-shaped gourd. The muscles in her butt were firm and, even when her other parts were bountiful, it was slender; a beauty filled with contradictions.


    That beauty that you would even feel suspicious about was standing at the ce where Sasae-chan was before!


    ¡°No wait! Could that possibly be...!¡± (Haine)


    Sasae-chan?!


    No way! Sasae-chan is only a 12 years old lovely little girl who only had her potential standing tall!


    And yet, why is a girl around her twenties -no matter how you see it- standing there?!


    But the big scythe in her hands is without doubt the Earth Scythe Sita that is of exclusive use for Sasae-chan.


    Then, is it that? The only thing I can think of that could prompt such change right now would only be one.


    Because Mantle had connected with Sasae-chan and became a God Hero?!


    The Earth God Hero, Sasae-chan!


    An appearance that surpasses imagination by leaps and bounds has descended here?!


    After bing a God Hero, Sasae-chan became an adult?


    No, in God Hero form, Sasae-chan turns adult?


    Whichever the case, the youngest one within the heroes that had a small petite body is not here anymore. The one there now is a bountiful beauty that felt like a flower had bloomed there.


    ¡°How long are ya gonna be stunned there fer-sa ne?!¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Ouch!¡± (Haine)


    I got poked in the eyes by the Founder Oba-san.


    ¡°My eyes! MY EYES!!¡± (Haine)


    Why were my eyes poked? The reason was none other than the God Hero Sasae-chan. Due to her sudden growth, her clothes were ripped here and there.


    In other words, the adult Sasae-chan with big boobs and butt was naked right now.


    ¡°Ah, no well...what in the world happened here-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan mutters.


    If we had to put a voice tune to it, I would say it went from a soprano to a mezzo soprano, but her way of speaking was still that of Sasae-chan.


    ¡°No, Sasae-chan! That be something I would like to ask mahself~!!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Nee-chan has transformed!¡±


    ¡°Nee-chan has transformed!¡±


    Yoneko-san and her children could only be surprised at the suddenness of this.


    In the meantime, I was still wriggling in agony.


    ¡°My eyes! MY EYES!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°At any rate, Sasae-chan, first of all, put on some clothes! A girl walking around naked outside before being married be unsightly~!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°That so? I never be told that before-dasu. I was not told anything even when I was swimming butt-naked at the river-dasu yo?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Just hide that uselessly ripe body of yers already, ya shameless woman!!¡± (Oba-san)


    Looks like Sasae-chan finally put on some clothes after being reprimanded by the Oba-san ¡ªnot like I can see anything though!


    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped-dasu na.¡± (Sasae)


    Finally healing from the damage of being poked in the eyes, I regained my sight, and what I saw was...the naked adult Sasae-chan. The ground at her feet was slowly rising up. The earth was thinly covering the body of Sasae-chan.


    That earth was covering her whole body without leaving a single opening, excluding her head, and on top of that, she had changed its properties.


    ¡°[Fiber Alchemy]-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    As Sasae-chan said this, the earth covering her body changed into proper clothes. Moreover, you could tell at a nce that they were high-quality. It felt like silk or satin.


    It hasn¡¯t gone through the normal sewing process and it is not possible to stitch it either, so it was basically a heavenly garment. This adult Sasae-chan that¡¯s wearing such garment looked like the very definition of heaven-descended.


    ¡°Oh my, how lovely. It looks like a princess of somewhere~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Moreover, ta be able ta alchemize something as detailed as cloth... Sasae, what in the world happened ta ya? Too many things have happened, I can¡¯t keep up-sa ne.¡± (Oba-san)


    Yoneko-san and the Oba-san were truly confused by the big abnormality that urred, but...I feel like they should be a bit more confused and flustered than that...


    At any rate, I am the only one who can answer the questions to this abnormality.


    While enduring the pain in my eyes that still doesn¡¯t recede, I say in a wrung out voice...


    ¡°The Earth...God Hero...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°¡°¡°God Hero?¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu?¡±


    The Earth hero family reacts in symphony.


    ¡°Right-sa ne. They did mention something like that in the wirelessmunication reports. It be something that be trending in the city apparently.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°The one where the God confers power ta the hero?! I thought it be a spook story from the city~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis have be God Heroes, and their names have begun to spread around huh.


    ¡°Does that mean...Mother Earth Mantle-sama has...conferred me power-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    The adult-turned Sasae-chan looks down at her body as if to confirm herself ¡ªher current self that is overflowing with charm to the point of shocking.


    ¡°...For some reason, I feel like I can do anything now-dasu. Now that I think about it...!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan pierces her Earth Scythe to the ground. At the same time as she did this, the Goddess Golem made by Sasae-chan surfaces.


    ¡°Incredible! The refining speed can¡¯t bepared ta before~!¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°The pouring of divine power and thepletion of the Golem be practically at the same time?! She must have poured quite the thick concentration of divine power or it wouldn¡¯t have gone that smoothly!¡± (Oba-san)


    Sasae-chan swings her big scythe with energy.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go-dasu yo! My other self!!¡± (Sasae)


    The tempered Goddess Golem runs together with Sasae-chan.


    Sasae-chan and the Golem; they were moving as if they were separate beings, but that wasn¡¯t the case. Sasae-chan created it and it will stay as being a part of Sasae-chan.


    It is different from the Golems made out of Life Blocks that move semi-automatically.


    It won¡¯t move without being given every single instruction from Sasae-chan.


    Even if a human were to have four arms, I wonder if they would be able to move them freely in whichever way they want. Even two arms are a lot, and you would have to choose which one is your dominant arm.


    It is the same with this. For Sasae-chan who has created a Golem with her own divine power, it is as if she had grown an extra body.


    Controlling it together with her own body is practically impossible, that¡¯s why she has been unable to move it properly until now and has lost all this time against Yoneko-san.


    But right now it is different.


    Now that Sasae-chan has be a God Hero, she can control both her and the Golem, and they were showing movements as if they were having a dance.


    ¡°It be as if mah own body ain¡¯t mah own-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Not only her divine power output increased when she became a God Hero, her control, and even her processing ability had received an incredible power-up that can¡¯t bepared to before.


    The big scythe that didn¡¯t fit her small size before has nowpletely fitted her adult body and it doesn¡¯t feel precarious to have it in her hands anymore.


    All points were perfect, and Sasae-chan who only shone in her raw talent has suddenly reached the point of perfection!


    ¡°Earth God Hero, Sasae! Has descended here-dasu!! With this power, I will cut all ¡¯em Demon Lords to pieces-dasu yo!!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan shouts enthusiastically.


    However, I can only feel uneasiness from this...

 Chapter 319-321 - Water Sisters

    <h4>Chapter 319-321: Water Sisters</h4>


    Hello there, it is the Light hero, Kourin Karen.


    After finishing the harsh battle at Hydra Ville, we were actually still at the Water capital.


    The people that were turned into a strange liquid called Undiluted Lifeforce were actually the whole of Hydra Ville, moreover, since Hydra Ville is a sightseeing city, the tourists there also fell victim to it. In other words, a lot of people were turned.


    Helping those people out and returning them to their ces will take quite a lot of effort, so Mirack-chan and I happily epted to help out.


    When in trouble, we help each other out. That¡¯s how the rtionship between the five Churches is now.


    And with that, time continued flowing.


    In this way, we finished the rescue activities to a certain extent and, in the time when it was the calmest...


    ***


    ¡°Hnfufu~ Onee-sama~!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes yes.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Onee-sama, Onee-sama~~!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes yes... Wait, what in the world is going on?!¡± (Sarasa)


    Being hugged by Celestis-chan, Sarasa-san was the very definition of confused.


    Well, that¡¯s a given though.


    Within the current and previous heroes, Celestis-chan and Sarasa-san are the ones that have the least respect for each other.


    Compared to Mirack-chan and Kyouka-san, who were disciples under the same master; Sasae-chan and Yoneko-san, who are cousins; and there¡¯s also Hyue-chan and Juo-san who are bitter enemies with Shiva-sama in between.


    These two have an unusual senior and junior rtionship that doesn¡¯t share a connection.


    Celestis-chan herself had not showed any sort of interest towards her senior Sarasa-san until now, and yet...


    ¡°Onee-sama, I love you~. Fufufufufu...¡± (Celestis)


    Being suddenly called Onee-sama and her over-familiar act of burying her face into the boobs of Sarasa-san, for the people that know these two, they would go ¡®What in the hell happened?!¡¯ no doubt.


    But I know the reason...


    ¡°Uhm...Sarasa-san, didn¡¯t you do quite a lot in the battle with Gabriel?¡± (Karen)


    I tried to exin the situation.


    ¡°Did quite a lot? That¡¯s not true. My best technique did not work at all after all.¡± (Sarasa)


    That¡¯s right. In the time when Celestis-chan was absent, Sarasa-san was the one who protected the Water capital. While she was away, the Demon Lord Gabriel appeared and, even when the difference in strength was overwhelming, Sarasa-san stepped ground until Celestis-chan arrived.


    This gained the respect of her junior Celestis-chan. On top of that, the technique that she showed at the end was sealed at the heroes match she had with Celestis-chan because it was too powerful, which also resonated within Celestis-chan.


    Sarasa-san was turned into undiluted lifeforce after and has safely returned, but Celestis-chan has been sticking to her since then.


    ¡°I see Sarasa-oneesama in a new light!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan had her eyes sparkling.


    ¡°That strength of heart of not giving up in an incredibly disadvantageous situation! The amazingness of thest attack! Sarasa-oneesama is cool, I admire you!!¡± (Celestis)


    And so, in this way, Celestis-chan was respecting her like crazy.


    ¡°Well...I am happy that you respect me, but I am your senior here, so I would be d if you had that respect from the very beginning though!¡± (Sarasa)


    Completely true.


    ¡°Well, Celestis-chan can¡¯t hate the people that do good for the Water nation after all...¡± (Karen)


    She also has the trait that unless she doesn¡¯t find anything of value, she doesn¡¯t even try to act as if she respects you though.


    ¡°And when she judges you as someone good, she doesn¡¯t show any restrain in her show of affection. Truly someone that doesn¡¯t have openings!¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan, who was by my side, was half in admiration and half tired by this.


    Celestis-chan then once again buries deeper into Sarasa-san¡¯s bossom and says with a low but clear voice.


    ¡°Really, thank you, Sarasa-oneesama. For protecting my beloved city. The people that I love. If you hadn¡¯t been there, if you hadn¡¯t done your all to protect them until I arrived, by now, they would have all been...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-san...¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Ah! I thought of something nice! When I graduate from being a hero, can I join Sarasa-sama¡¯s family?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°In that way, I can truly be Sarasa-oneesama¡¯s sister after all!¡± (Celestis)


    An outrageous proposal fitting of Celestis-chan.


    ¡°Gyaaa!! Don¡¯t! Don¡¯t! If you were to join my family, after retiring from your title as hero, you will have the position of being the daughter of the current Founder. I will be the one who will be losing my position in the family!!¡± (Sarasa)


    For Sarasa-san, the current Celestis-chan was actually even more of a threat than the past one.


    ¡°Oh well, it is good that they get along with each other...¡± (Mirack)


    And seeing this, Mirack-chan immediately gave up on thinking anymore.


    I also did the same.


    ¡°But isn¡¯t this the very view of culture?!¡±


    ¡°¡°?¡±¡±


    There was one other person watching the bantering of the water heroes along with Mirack-chan and I. That person is...uhm, the Demon Lord.


    ¡°I have learned one other thing about culture. With this battle, I have learned that the source of culture is, in other words, love!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°I see...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Loving others and holding the will of making others love you; in order to express this, you bring out a variety of knowledge and put it into action. That itself is culture! In order to get culture into my hands, I should learn about love first and master it!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ...Is what the Water Demon Lord is saying.


    Even though the battle is already over, this Demon Lord still hasn¡¯t left.


    ¡°Oh! You said some nice things there, Demon Lord!! In that case, to learn about love, you have to act first!!¡± (Celestis)


    And Celestis-chan speaks to the Demon Lord as if nothing had happened.


    It was as if she had already let it be water under the bridge. In a sense, you could call that the respect Celestis-chan had for words of the Water God she loves.


    ¡°Right, there¡¯s the need to act or nothing can be obtained! In order to obtain love, what should you do?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Of course, to dere your love to the one you love! That act is the most simple of cultures! You try shouting it as well, Sarasa-oneesama, I love you!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Sarasa-oneesama, I love you!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Eeeeeeh?!¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa-san herself was the most shocked one.


    My condolences.


    ¡°Next is a hug! It is fine. Sarasa-oneesama is benevolent, so she will even ept a Demon Lord!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Sarasa-oneesama, I love you~!¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel approaches with both arms open and, obviously, Sarasa-san¡¯s red alert was sounding.


    At this point, I can¡¯t tell if Celestis-chan is being serious here or this is just in bullying.


    ¡°Wa-Wait! Wait for a bit! ...No, if I run away here, it would be a disgrace! Let it be my junior or a Demon Lord, I will ept them both! Come at meeeee!!¡± (Sarasa)


    Ah, she epted it.


    In this case, I think that Sarasa-san¡¯s benevolence like that of the mother ocean has only worsened the situation.


    ...Well, it is good that they are getting along.


    Let¡¯s give up thinking.


    ¡°Gugagagaga! Wait, as I thought, the Demon Lord¡¯s strength is totally different from humans. The bones in my whole body will break! Can you please hold back a little?! My insides wille out!!¡± (Sarasa)


    Let¡¯s leave aside Sarasa-san who is supposed to be in cloud nine for being hugged by her little sisters.


    My attention switched to the other one, the giant that towered on us.


    ¡°Michael...¡± (Karen)


    The four Demon Lords that...are supposed to threaten this world. The one that stands as their leader.


    Michael was standing there with arms crossed and showing aplicated expression. He had both eyes closed as if in silent prayer.


    It was as if he were sleeping, but at the same time, it looked like he was a philosopher contemting.


    ¡°...You are not returning either?¡± (Mirack)


    The one who brought the topic was Mirack-chan who exchanged fists with Michael before.


    The Fire Demon Lord slowly opens his eyes.


    ¡°With Gabriel in that state... She said she won¡¯t be returning until she obtains the human¡¯s culture...¡± (Michael)


    At the other side, there¡¯s Gabriel and Celestis-chan hugging the passed out Sarasa-san.


    ¡°I as well, even if it was in order to save arade, I ended up joining forces with the humans that I am originally meant to eradicate. Thinking about what Uriel and Raphael will say to that, it makes it harder to return.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°There¡¯s also things the Demon Lords can get awkward about?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan said it as if she was joking, but Michael is always super serious.


    ¡°That can be considered to be the heart in a way. What we monsters have recently obtained. But....it is not as if we have truly obtained it yet.¡± (Michael)


    Michael ps his fire wings slightly.


    One of the ashes that fell visibly turned bigger and changes into a wolf with fire fur.


    The most orthodox of the fire monsters, Hell Hound.


    Three fire wolves appeared at once and it caught the eye of us who were right at the vicinity.


    They were growling ¡®Grrrr!¡¯ and, with those instincts pushing them, it felt as if they would attack us at any moment.


    But when Michael raised his hand to gesture them to stop, the fire wolves obey like obedient dogs.


    ¡°As expected of a Demon Lord. You can even control the instincts of monsters to attack humans and have them obey huh.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, monsters attack humans. They attack and try to kill. That is the nature that¡¯s been edged in all monsters. There¡¯s no other way to call it but an instinct.¡± (Michael)


    Michael says this as he looks at the kinfolks he himself created.


    ¡°No, it can¡¯t even be called an instinct. It is a function. Monsters don¡¯t attack humans out of hatred or sense of duty, it is not because of the vulgar excitement thates from destruction either, neither is it because of the survival instincts that kick in when animals attack other animals... Monsters simply have the function of attacking humans.¡± (Michael)


    His exnation felt as if it carried pain.


    ¡°You could say we Demon Lords have escaped from that root and have obtained a heart. I won¡¯t let anyone deny that. Like hell I would let anyone...... But all monsters aside from us are still moving under that function that fakes their state as lifeforms.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Michael...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Katack Mirack, what you said in the past about ¡®Monsters not having emotions¡¯, I still haven¡¯t been able to turn it around. As long as that isn¡¯t done, monsters not only won¡¯t be able to stand as the summit of all races, we won¡¯t even be able to stand as a lifeform at all.¡± (Michael)


    Michael bends his knees and strokes the head of the fire wolf he had created.


    If this were a normal dog, it would be waving his tail and might even return the act by licking the hand of the person.


    But the fire wolves didn¡¯t react even when being petted.


    ¡°...In the end, Gabriel and I have the same opinion. In order for monsters to obtain their position as a new lifeform, we need to mix with humans, and learn from them. That¡¯s the surest way to reach that goal. By doing that, these guys might one day be able to feel happy at theirrades increasing in numbers.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s...that¡¯s nice!¡± (Karen)


    I unconsciously raised my voice.


    Michael and Mirack-chan turned their gaze towards me at the same time.


    ¡°If we humans and monsters stop fighting and get along, we can learn the good things about each other and be able to grow together! It is definitely a LOT better than fighting until one side perishes!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s not possible.¡± (Michael)


    Michael immediately denies that possibility.


    ¡°We monsters and humans have to fight in order to decide who is the most fitting ruler in this world. Until either side falls.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true! Who decided something like that?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The Great Demon Lord, Lucifer-sama.¡± (Michael)


    Those words were proimed from the mouth of Michael. An impressive-sounding name like that. A name I have heard before.


    ¡°The Demon Lord that rules over us Demon Lords, the Demon Lord of Demon Lords; the one who is the ruler of all monsters in the true meaning, the Light Demon Lord.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°The Light...Demon Lord?!¡± (Karen)


    There¡¯s a light element Demon Lord?


    And that Demon Lord is the boss of all of them?!


    ¡°That Light Demon Lord you speak about, you are saying he is the very culprit scheming the eradication of humans?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What. So in the end, the most evil one of them all was the one rted to Karen-chi?!¡± (Celestis)


    Being tired of mushing Sarasa-san, Celestis-chan joins in on our conversation.


    Or more like, I don¡¯t know about this, you know?! Being the same element doesn¡¯t mean we are rted, okay?!


    ¡°When we were still inside our mothers, Lucifer-sama spoke to us.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel was carrying the foaming Sarasa-san as she came towards us.


    ¡°¡®Eradicate the humans, the rulers of the world are us monsters¡¯. Obeying those words, we four Demon Lords gathered and decided on fighting the humans.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Lucifer-sama hasn¡¯t reached perfect shape yet and is currently in sleep. Once Lucifer-sama is born, it will be the true end of humanity.¡± (Michael)


    I felt a chill run down my spine.


    Even though we have grown close enough with the Demon Lords to speak with them in this way, you are telling me the direction to destruction has not been averted at all?


    ¡°But now, I can¡¯t help but have doubts to Lucifer-sama. I understood for the first time after fighting. Humans are living beings that surpassed my expectations by a lot. It is not solely from strength. The humans definitely hold an unknown power that is hard to even describe in words.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°You must be talking about culture and love!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°And those might actually be only a part of what tremendous thing the humans hold. For monsters, even if humans are enemies, they hold something that we require. I have to face Lucifer-sama. I have to ask him something.¡± (Michael)


    Hearing what the Demon Lords had to say, we thought that they were incredible.


    They are desperately thinking about their way of living. I even ended up thinking that passing our days carefreely is embarrassing.


    ¡°Whichever the case, nothing will begin unless Lucifer-sama wakes up though.¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael nods at the words of Gabriel.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Right now we simply wait for the right time.¡± (Michael)


    Meaning that peace will continue until that Lucifer-san awakens? Or more like, the true hell will begin once he awakens...


    ¡°Uhm...how about we all attack that Lucifer guy while he is still sleeping?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You, read the mood a bit.¡± (Mirack)


    It looks like even Celestis-chan didn¡¯t think that was a really decent proposition. She soon closed her mouth when Mirack-chan scolded her.


    ¡°Celestis-sama! Also, the heroes from the other churches!¡±


    A member of the Water Church calls us at that moment. This is Hydra Ville after all.


    But why did he call us in such a hurried voice?


    ¡°There¡¯s a report from the Stream Marine corps. There is an unknown something heading towards the city!¡±


    Unknown something?


    What?


    ¡°Wait. This Hydra Ville has just ovee a conflict not that long ago, you know? It is troubling to be constantly shot in such a brief period of time, geez!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°But there¡¯s the need to deal with the thing that ising. Since we are here, let¡¯s help out as well. Let¡¯s finish this quickly.¡± (Mirack)


    I was alsopletely in agreement to Mirack-chan¡¯s words.


    Let¡¯s have the knocked out Sarasa-san rest for now, and so...the other one...


    ¡°What about Doraha?¡± (Mirack)


    Being asked by Mirack-chan, I silently shook my head to the sides.


    Doraha-san fought together with us against Gabriel, and she hasn¡¯t healedpletely from the damage she took and is still bedridden.


    The wounds themselves have been treated with water techniques though. However, maybe because she used power that surpassed her limits, she is still sleeping like a log.


    She is not in a state where she can participate in battle.


    ¡°Understood. Whichever the case, she has done plenty work already. Let her rest.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°If she weren¡¯t there at that time, the Water Church would have been done for after all. We have to at least gift her a good sleep!!¡± (Celestis)


    And so, Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I will be dealing with this unknown situation.


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°..........?¡±


    On the other hand, the two Demon Lords heard the report and raised their senses as if checking for the presence, and they both turned their head and the same direction at the same time.


    ¡°...This divine power...¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Uriel? Why is that guying here?¡± (Gabriel)


    ording to the lookouts of Hydra Ville, an unknown ¡®something¡¯ was letting out an overwhelming amount of divine power as it headed straight towards them.


    Predicting the course it will take, we wait for the arrival of that ¡®something¡¯ at the easiest ce to fight off someone; at the ins.


    It is pretty faraway from the city, so there¡¯s no worries even if we were to rampage quite a bit.


    But what worried me more was...


    ¡°..........¡±


    ¡°............Uhm...¡± (Karen)


    Michael and Gabriel came along with us as well.


    These two, along with Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and I.


    It is an abnormal grouping.


    ¡°This is quite the bizarre group of people.¡± (Celestis)


    I understand why Celestis-chan is making a bitter smile.


    ¡°If I stay with you people, I can meet more new culture! I -Gabriel- am the type that doesn¡¯t let go of a learning experience!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°...The one heading here is probably a guest of ours. Then, it is manners for us to be the ones meeting him.¡± (Michael)


    Gabriel says with half amusement, while Michael seems to have felt something.


    What ising here anyways?


    We could confirm that something was making a dust cloud as it headed to where we were. It is on a level where you would think a stampede is heading our way. Moreover, that dust cloud is still quite far away from us, and yet, we could feel a presence even from where we were.


    How to say it, it felt as if it were hurried, or desperate?


    I could feel that from the something that is making that dust cloud.


    ¡°This is obvious but, it is steadilying here.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Looks like we will soon be able to confirm with our eyes. Just who is it that is making that dust cloud?¡± (Mirack)


    When we strain our eyes, we were finally able to pick up who the one making that dust cloud was.


    ¡°¡°¡°Uriel?!¡±¡±¡±


    One of the four Demon Lords threatening the world, Earth Demon Lord, Uriel!


    That figure of his, that is like a tree taking the form of a human, there¡¯s no way of mistaking it. There¡¯s branches drawing the silhouette of wings spreading from his back which is a trait of that Demon Lord.


    Gabriel, Michael, and now there¡¯s Uriel; are you telling me three of the four Demon Lords will be grouping in this Hydra Ville?!


    ¡°As expected of my sightseeing city. Even Demon Lords want to check it out at least once.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°This is no time to be throwing jokes, Celestis-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    Leaving aside the two here, the other Demon Lords are still hostile towards humans.


    If Uriel arrives here, at worst, it might be a battle with Hydra Ville¡¯s safety at stake!


    ¡°He won¡¯t trouble the humans.¡± (Michael)


    Michael says softly but with a clear tone.


    ¡°It looks like he has business with me.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Michael~~!! Michael Michael Michael Michael Michael Michael Michael!!¡± (Uriel)


    The Earth Demon Lord repeatedly calls the name of hisrade Michael.


    And then, he arrived here. With the speed he used to create that dust cloud, he charges at Michael.


    ¡°Michael~~~~!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    And then, he clings onto the legs of Michael.


    ¡°Michael!! Save me, Michael! Save me, save me, save me, save me, save me, save me!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°O-Oi, what¡¯s the matter, Uriel? Why is a Demon Lord like you making such an unsightly scene like this?!¡± (Michael)


    Even Michael was unable to hide his confusion and was looking at hisrade that had fallen into panic.


    ¡°Save me, save me, save me! Save m¡ª*cough *cough *cough! At any rate, save me!¡± (Uriel)


    Why is this Demon Lord-san so scared?


    When talking about Demon Lords, aren¡¯t their existences the very definition of fearsome?


    ¡°If we don¡¯t hurry, that person wille! That person is...!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°That person?¡± (Michael)


    Uriel¡¯s ominous words made us move our gazes towards the route he came from before, and there was someone there already.


    A peerless beauty shouldering a big scythe.


    ¡°¡°¡°Who is that?¡±¡±¡±


    I...think this is the first time I have seen this person.


    Because if I saw her once, I would definitely not forget about her. That¡¯s the kind of beauty level she had.


    In terms of age, I would say she is slightly above us, around 18 years old, maybe?


    Even so, she had a liveliness simr to that of a child, and was apanied with the contradictory feeling ofposure of that of an adult.


    Her boobs are also incredibly big.


    Even as a person of the same gender, her beauty made me let out a gasp.


    Just who in the world is she?


    ¡°Gyaaaaaa!! She is hereeeee!!¡± (Uriel)


    And Uriel let out a scream at that beauty.


    ¡°What are you saying about that human woman?! Ah?!¡± (Michael)


    The moment Michael let out that question, the beauty had already closed in on him.


    When did she manage to do that?!


    That speed of hers, not even I...no, not even we all here were able to catch it.


    ¡°You bastard!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Michael?!¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael and Gabriel barely managed to react to it and attack the mysterious beauty.


    Michael with a punch d in fire, Gabriel with a high pressure water bullet; they are both divine power attacks that surpass the level of humans by a whole lot, but the mysterious beauty didn¡¯t flinch at either.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    She deflected the water bullet, and then, the swung big scythe cuts off the right arm of Michael?!


    What in the world! She was able to deal with two Demon Lords at once so easily?!


    ¡°Are you okay, Michael?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°You bastard!¡± (Michael)


    Michael quickly falls back and sticks his arm back in ce.


    Being able to bring it back to normal after such a big wound is proof of the fearsomeness of a Demon Lord, but the mystery woman-san is actually scarier right now!


    ¡°Hiih! Not even Michael is any good. What in the world should we do?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°What is the meaning of this, Uriel?! What in the world is that human?!¡± (Michael)


    Now that it hase to this, there¡¯s no room for doubt. The one who has made Uriel lose all his pride as a Demon Lord was that mysterious beauty.


    ¡°Oi, this situation... What should we do?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In the first ce, who is that beautifuldy?! Human? Monster? I can¡¯t even tell that!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were flusteredpletely.


    No, thatdy is most likely a human, but that strength makes it questionable whether she actually is a human!


    ¡°Hah...Hah...! I finally caught up!!¡±


    That voice...Haine-san?!


    The third intruder from the route where Uriel and the mysterious beauty came from. It is Haine-san who had been missing thesest few days!


    ¡°Haine-san! Where were you until now?! Or more like, what¡¯s with this situation?!¡± (Karen)


    Haine-san was most likely desperately chasing after Uriel and the mysterious beauty. His flying machine was overheated and smoke wasing out from it here and there.


    ¡°T-T-That¡¯s Sasae-chan...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Sasae-chan turned into a God Hero. Mantle...overdid it...!¡± (Haine)


    No no, what are you saying, Haine-san?


    The Sasae-chan that should be in Ishtar ze, there¡¯s no way she would be here!


    In the first ce, there¡¯s nothing resembling Sasae-chan with this person here!


    ....


    .....Could it be...that familiar big scythe that looks as if it would hunt down lives that this beauty is holding...the Earth Scythe, Sita.


    ¡°That incredible beauty is the God Hero Sasae-chan?!¡± (Karen)

 Chapter 322-324 - The successor of ‘By the roots’

    <h4>Chapter 322-324: The sessor of ¡®By the roots¡¯</h4>


    We are going slightly back in time.


    urately speaking, to the time after I -Kuromiya Haine- had witnessed Sasae-chan turning into a God Hero.


    Such a meta way of exining things in terms of story is not really that desirable, but in order to make it easier to understand, I think it is better this way.


    ***


    ¡°Well well, she really has grown well.¡±


    This was after the surprise of Sasae-chan bing a God Hero and turning into an adult.


    Finished confirming the power up of the God Hero form, Sasae-chan herself and her rtives were in the middle of giving a review at Sasae-chan¡¯s sudden growth.


    ¡°Truly well grown. Sasae-chan, haven¡¯t ya gotten bigger than me?¡± (Yoneko)


    The one saying this was her cousin Yoneko-san.


    She was holding the well-ripped bust of adult Sasae-chan as she fondles it.


    ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t really understand well-dasu. It be a truly unknown feeling-dasu yo.¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan gave that impression towards the feeling of having her own breasts fondled.


    It can¡¯t be helped. That incredibly t in had suddenly be two big mountains after all. It is as if your body had suddenly been ced something on it, so the feeling of incongruity thates from it is certainly something that would perplex someone.


    Even though Yoneko-san is by far the one with the biggest breasts from the current and previous heroes, Sasae-chan surpassed even that.


    ¡°Breasts bigger than mine; I have never seen that before, so it be natural that I be interested in it~. In my family they all be big, but adult Sasae-chan be a cut above the rest~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Mom, I also wanna fondle~!¡±


    ¡°Me too~!¡±


    Yoneko-san¡¯s children were also interested.


    Sasae-chan suddenly grew after being given a part of Mantle.


    This growth is not a natural one but a temporary one. However, if given time to grow normally, I wonder if she will end up having this figure?


    If that¡¯s the case...Sasae-chan has incredible potential as a woman as well.


    ¡°Ara...now that I think about it...¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san stopped fondling Sasae-chan¡¯s breast and had moved her attention to Sasae-chan¡¯s beauty.


    ¡°W-What it be this time-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I felt like I saw the adult face of Sasae-chan before, but I remember now~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san says.


    ¡°This Sasae-chan looks exactly like when Grandmother be young~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°¡°¡°Eh?¡±¡±¡±


    The one who reacted the most at this was the very person, the Earth Founder Oba-san.


    She is the grandma of both Sasae-chan and Yoneko-san.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say stupid things, Yoneko! There not be a single time in my life I have had a spaced-out face like this-sa ne!¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Aw aw aw....!¡± (Sasae)


    The Oba-san objected more than expected, and the adult Sasae-chan got scared by the pressure of this.


    ¡°That ain¡¯t true~. Well, I myself haven¡¯t seen Sobo-chan in her active days, but I seen it once a long time ago. A portrait of when Sobo-chan was young.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°It be one that was decorating the art museum of Ishtar ze, but fer some mysterious reason, the next times I went there, I couldn¡¯t find it anywhere. But I really remember it vividly. That¡¯s why I can say fer sure that Sasae-chan resembles ya~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Ya, ya saw that?! Even though I immediately bursted into the ce after I heard that they had brought it out!!¡± (Oba-san)


    You did something like that, Oba-san?


    On top of that, the Founder Oba-san makes a difficult expression as she faces me, and then gestures me toe.


    ¡°Hm? What is it?¡± (Haine)


    She grabbed my cor and whispers to me.


    ¡°Keep it between us. It be true that this Sasae does resemble mah young self.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Seriously?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Seriously-sa ne. When I saw that first for the first time, I felt like I be looking at a mirror...... No, I been thinking that way since long before. I have 10 daughters and 84 granddaughters, but...¡± (Oba-san)


    There¡¯s so many?


    Is this the breeding power of Ishtar ze?!


    ¡°The one who resembles me the most be Sasae-sa ne.¡± (Oba-san)


    Hearing this from the person herself, I for some reason had shivers run down my spine.


    The Oba-san was known in the past as the earth hero, ¡®Taker by the roots¡¯. She is the hero seven generations ago and the aplishments she has gotten are the very definition of legendary.


    The number of monsters she has cut down in her active days were the highest and her military records were also the highest of any. Even within the conflicts between humans, she would rampage without showing any mercy, and I heard that she has made the blood of the heroes of other churches in her generation rain.


    She was the one who had been the longest time active from the heroes. Normally, a hero retires around the age of 20, and yet, she continued being a hero even when she was 20, and even when she had married and was pregnant, she continued being a hero, and then, she finally retired after her daughter had grown to the point where she could seed her as a hero.


    After that, all the earth heroes have been her daughters or granddaughters.


    The legend among legends within the earth heroes among that had overwhelming influence even in posterity -that is ¡®Taker by the roots¡¯.


    ¡°You are saying Sasae-chan resembles you?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. Now that I think about it, I was also absent-minded when I be young. People normally made fun of me. But when I think about it now, it be exactly because I be absent-minded that I didn¡¯t have anything obstructing my sight and was able to persistently chase after what I could see. I think I was that kind of child.¡± (Oba-san)


    That¡¯s exactly how the current Sasae-chan is.


    Are you saying that the Oba-san overcame this and became a hero that cuts down everything?


    ¡°That be why I thought this when I saw Sasae: ¡®This one has talent¡¯. That there be no doubt she would be as strong as me when I be on my peak. But I thought that would be a lot further in the future. And yet, she suddenly grew into such a beauty!¡± (Oba-san)


    Moreover, when she was in her active days, she had created a grand legend for herself with her big scythe. And yet, Sasae-chan not only has a scythe but also her Golem. She has trained to utilize both the Golem and the scythe freely.


    She possesses talent rivalling that of the previous legend and has been loved by Golems since she was born.


    If that disposition has bloomed at once thanks to bing a God Hero...!


    ¡°Mugh?!¡± (Yoneko)


    The abnormality had already started.


    Hearing something that sounded like a scream from Yoneko-san, the Oba-san and I stopped our conversation and hurriedly turn around.


    There, we saw a scene we couldn¡¯t understand.


    Sasae-chan had stolen a kiss of Yoneko-san?!


    ¡°What are you doing?!¡±


    It must have been by force.


    Yoneko-san was hugged tightly and their lips were pressed together; it looked like a snake that had coiled around its prey and was about to swallow it.


    But after Sasae-chan thoroughly licked the tongue and lips of Yoneko-san, she threw her away as if she had grown tired of eating her.


    ¡°To think I would allow my lips to be stolen by someone other than my husband...¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Mom~!¡±


    ¡°Get a hold of yerself, Mom~!¡±


    Yoneko-san was copsed and the children run to her.


    ¡°What are ye doing Sasae?! Are you shameless?!¡± (Oba-san)


    The Oba-san was also incredibly confused.


    But there was further confusioning.


    ¡°I-I don¡¯t understand either-dasu... But...but...!!¡± (Sasae)


    The adult Sasae-chan looks at her own hand clenching her scythe.


    That fist was trembling as if she couldn¡¯t hold back her overflowing strength.


    ¡°This strength, this divine power, I can¡¯t hold it back-dasu! If I don¡¯t release it soon, I feel like I might go crazy-dasu~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Sasae?!¡± (Oba-san)


    The divine power Sasae-chan was releasing was simr to a gale.


    Then, she turned her head at a certain direction.


    ¡°I can feel it-dasu. Our enemy be at that direction-dasu... I will go out for a bit, cut ¡®em to small pieces, and spread ¡®em into the fields-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Is the gibberish she said as she ran off!!


    What in the world was that?!


    ¡°Nii-chan, please go after her!¡± (Oba-san)


    This is the first time I have heard such a desperate voice from her.


    ¡°I have ta look after the copsed Yoneko! I leave Sasae-chan to ya!!¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°Ah geez, got it! I will go!! [Dark Matter, Set]¡± (Haine)


    I release dark matter from my legs and, with the repulsion effect, I fly high and chase after Sasae-chan.


    Why do the earth element people go towards directions that you don¡¯t n them to!


    And so, I chase after Sasae-chan but...


    ¡°I have already lost sight of her!¡± (Haine)


    Sasae-chan was running so fast, just a single mistake allowed her to disappear as if she were mist.


    Earth divine power doesn¡¯t have anything shy to boost their moving speed like the fire and wind, so is this pure leg strength here?


    Did her muscle strength get boosted to abnormal levels after bing a God Hero?


    This is the first time I see a God Hero myself, so I don¡¯t have anyone topare it to but, isn¡¯t the power-up way too overblown?


    I am steadily getting more worried.


    The grouping was that Mantle and Sasae-chan after all.


    That¡¯s why losing sight of her hurts and I have to find her as soon as possible, but the ce I arrived at after chasing after her is a forest that¡¯s pretty far away from Ishtar ze. The field of vision is bad and that makes it even harder to find.


    I was about to give up when...I felt a different presence from deep in the forest.


    ¡°?!¡±


    Moreover, it is quite the sinister presence.


    Since it would be difficult to find Sasae-chan in these circumstances, I decided on giving up on it for now and check for what the presence is about.


    ***


    ¡°Uriel?!¡±


    And so, when I follow the presence, the one I encountered was the tree human. One of the very problems that humans are facing.


    Why is he here?


    ¡°Oh? I finally began acting and the first one I encounter is you. I really have no luck. Or maybe this is a trial?¡± (Uriel)


    The Demon Lord, whose whole body was deep ck like an old tree, showed caution as he clearly showed his pride.


    ¡°In order for us monsters to rule this world, you are a trial we have to ovee.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°You...why are you here?¡± (Haine)


    A Demon Lord is not the kind of monster you coincidentally encounter on a walk.


    In that case, there¡¯s no doubt this guy is here for some reason.


    ¡°...Kuromiya Haine. The bark you forced me to tear off had finally regenerated, you see. How is it, this nice ck. Looks like a tree that has surpassed the thousand years, right? It was pretty difficult to get this quality, you know. I ended up taking a decent amount of time.¡± (Uriel)


    Is what Uriel says as he shows off his bark as if he were bragging about his fashion.


    I don¡¯t really understand this attachment he has.


    ¡°My new attire has been finished and I had finally decided on acting to eradicate the humans. I was thinking about destroying the city that¡¯s not far from here.¡± (Uriel)


    !


    Is he talking about Ishtar ze?!


    ¡°Michael went to the Fire capital and Gabriel went to the Water capital, so I thought I should also attack a ce rted to earth... Michael and Gabriel were influenced by mere humans and have been contaminated. In order to mend that shame, I must fulfill my duty as a Demon Lord.¡± (Uriel)


    The fruit-like eyes of Uriel had inhuman light shining in them.


    ¡°The Demon Lords were contaminated? What do you mean by that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It means that they have gotten all friendly with them. Hmph, how disgusting. Raphael is already a mess, so the only decent Demon Lord left is I, Uriel. The important task that the Great Demon Lord Lucifer-sama has left us, I will be aplishing it on my own.¡± (Uriel)


    Whichever the case, it means that he is burning with hostility.


    No matter if he is an invincible Demon Lord, they can¡¯t match the incarnation of the Dark God. That¡¯s something they should know already after the battle in Rudras Metropolis.


    ¡°You already know you can¡¯t defeat me, and yet, you show no hesitation. Is that conceitedness? Or is your pride supporting you here?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Pride? I see, right! In order to continue being the Lord of monsters, I can¡¯t allow myself to turn tail from the same enemy twice! I will defeat you on the name of this Earth Demon Lord, Uriel!¡± (Uriel)


    And of course, I can¡¯t allow Uriel to pass me and have him arrive at Ishtar ze.


    In order to not let a single human be hurt, I have to destroy Uriel right here!


    ¡°Now!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Begin!!¡± (Haine)


    Right in the moment Uriel¡¯s earth power and my dark power were about to sh...


    *Swish


    The sound of something being severed was heard.


    ¡°Hm?¡± ¡°Eh?¡±


    The both of us let out a dumbfounded voice.


    And then, something unbelievable happened at our surroundings.


    We were currently inside a thick forest. That¡¯s why there¡¯s several tens of trees at our close vicinity, but those trees were cut down all at once.


    ¡°¡°Eeeeeh?!¡±¡±


    What in the world?!


    The trees fall and make a thunderous sound, moreover, several of them fell at the same time, so it increased the intensity even more.


    Because the trees were now gone, the field of vision was cleared up at once.


    ¡°W-What?! This grove of trees were cut down by a single swing?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Uriel! Uriel!! You are also cut!! Like, really cleanly!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh? ¡ªAh! You are right!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel was also a victim of the tree cutting. He had been cut from around his waist.


    ¡°...Hm?¡±


    Now that I look properly, my clothes were cut around the stomach?!


    Uo! That was close! This was definitely the work of what cut down the trees and Uriel!


    This sh that had a scary range had severed several trees along with Uriel, and even I was caught extremely close to that range.


    ¡°Uo! Dangerous!¡± (Haine)


    If I had been one step closer, I would have been one of the victims as well and my innards would be spilling out. It would have turned into gore!


    ¡°What?! What happened?!¡± (Uriel)


    Several branch-like things grew out from the cut and he soon reconnected the cut area.


    It was as if nothing happened. I see, so this is a trait of the Demon Lords huh.


    ¡°Leaving that aside...¡± (Haine)


    Uriel waspletely cut in half and I was cut slightly in my stomach.


    When seeing it from this point of view, it should have been an attack from behind Uriel.


    ¡°Kukukuku... Finally found ya-dasu yo.¡±


    A terrifyingugh resounded. The one who appeared was...


    ¡°To think I ended up passing mah target from excess of momentum-dasu. Because of that, it took unnecessary amount of time to return-dasu.¡±


    A fascinating princess in swung stance with a scythe.


    Earth God Hero, Sasae-chan!!


    Demon Lord and God Hero; the two that should meet in battle have gathered in one ce.


    Now that I think about it, Sasae-chan did say ¡®there¡¯s an enemy¡¯ when she left.


    In other words, she had caught the presence of someone this faraway even when she was in the earth capital?


    It is hard to believe, but that¡¯s exactly why she is here.


    Sasae-chan had appeared at the back of Uriel, so he turned around.


    ¡°Attacking me from the back. What a low move... But a strong divine power enough to cut me in tw¡ª?!¡± (Uriel)


    It seems Uriel noticed something, he cut his words.


    ¡°I see. It is the so called God Hero, right? I know that this had given a lot of trouble to Michael. Meaning, those fangs have appeared in the Earth domain as well huh.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°...¡±


    Sasae-chan didn¡¯t answer.


    She simply repositioned with her earth scythe and showed that she had fighting spirit.


    ¡°Fine! I will first finish you off in front of Kuromiya Haine! No matter what kind of method you employ, I will teach you that there are boundaries between humans and demons you can¡¯t ovee!¡± (Uriel)


    As he informs his will to fight, Uriel raises his finger and says.


    ¡°Rot and return to the earth!¡± (Uriel)


    And then, he turns to where I am and looks at me with a cocky face.


    Eh? What?


    ¡°In order to show my strength as a Demon Lord, I heard that there¡¯s the need for a ¡®catch phrase¡¯, you see. And so, I have thought about it! How is it? Isn¡¯t it cool?¡± (Uriel)


    Ah...


    He is the Earth Demon Lord, so ¡®Return to the earth¡¯ huh.


    ...I would say decent.


    ¡°Now then, since we are done with the introduction, let¡¯s finish the opening performance and then have the main battle with Kuromiya Hain¡ªUhya?!¡± (Uriel)


    Sasae-chan had attacked him as if he were doing nothing, and Uriel¡¯s body was once again cut in two.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that he is a Demon Lord that can recover any damage in a moment, those attacks would have ended the battle instantly.


    ¡°This woman! Did you not hear my catch phrase?!¡± (Uriel)


    Obviously, Uriel had already recovered from the cut.


    ¡°Fine. People that don¡¯t answer etiquette, I will crush them immediately!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel acknowledges Sasae-chan as an enemy and holds up both hands, and from the surface of those bark arms, a liquid of high viscosity came out.


    I thought it was some sort ofcquer, but when it fell to the ground and became a lump, I remembered where I saw it!


    ¡°That¡¯s a slime!¡± (Haine)


    The earth element monster that intruded in the heroes match!


    ¡°Analyzing your attacks, I judge that your specialty is cutting down with that scythe of yours! It doesn¡¯t matter how many times you try to cut it, there¡¯s no point! Moreover, this guy can melt anything it touches!!¡± (Uriel)


    It is true that this could be considered the natural enemy of the shing attacks of Sasae-chan.


    The menace of the slime was something that we had experienced plenty in the heroes match. The size itself is a lot smaller than that time, but it is still big enough to swallow the adult Sasae-chan whole.


    ¡°Now then, melt into nothingness!¡± (Uriel)


    I wonder if I should participate in this as well.


    From how things flowed, it is a one on one between Sasae-chan and Uriel, but I should crush the Demon Lords for the sake of humanity.


    But I am scared that Sasae-chan unknowingly touches that liquid.


    I decided on watching for a timing to enter while using Uriel as a sacrifice to see what the God Hero Sasae-chan can do!


    The slime tried to swallow Sasae-chan, but...


    *Hyun *Hyun


    The earth scythe was swung, creating heavy and sharp sounds.


    ¡°Wa?¡± ¡°Huh?¡±


    Uriel and I could only let out our surprise.


    In the blink of an eye, she must have cut several hundreds of times. The slime had turned into small pieces and sprayed to the ground.


    Even if it is a liquid slime, there¡¯s no way it can return to normal.


    It had been cut into such small pieces that it was dispersed by the wind of the forest and didn¡¯t return anymore.


    ¡°Wa...! What? What?!¡± (Uriel)


    Even Uriel was confused by this and unconsciously retreated a step back.


    The Demon Lord that could stun the heroes with a single re was being overwhelmed by the hero now!


    ¡°...Not enough-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t cut enough. It didn¡¯t provide much resistance-dasu. Bring something that gives a better response when being cut. I want to cut a lot-dasuuuu!!¡± (Sasae)


    When she finished speaking, she was already in close range to Uriel.


    Uriel and I were unable to catch the moment she moved her feet.


    *sh


    The body of Uriel had once again been severed.


    ¡°Fool! No matter how many times you cut, my body will regenera¡ª!¡± (Uriel)


    *sh *sh *sh *sh *sh *sh *sh


    Even when spoke to, Sasae-chan¡¯s arms didn¡¯t stop.


    The body of a Demon Lord must be hard. It didn¡¯t go like the time with the slime, but even so, the scythe had sliced through the body of Uriel several tens of times.


    ¡°Eh? Wait, wait!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    What is Sasae-chan thinking when cutting? In defeating the Demon Lord and protecting the peace of the world? I feel like that¡¯s not the case.


    Sasae-chan is currently cutting for the sole purpose of cutting.


    Is she feeling pleasure from cutting?


    ¡°Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°No, no~~!!¡± (Uriel)


    No matter how many times he was cut into pieces, the regeneration of the Demon Lord surpassed it.


    But for the God Hero Sasae-chan, this is most likely something she desired. A toy that no matter how many times you cut, it won¡¯t get broken is right in front of her after all.


    ¡°This woman...is not looking at me as an enemy. No, she isn¡¯t even looking at me as a living being!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel, even when being continuously cut, he looked at the eyes of his opponent and noticed.


    What those eyes were reflecting were simply the cut down fragments.


    ¡°She is only looking at me as something to cut!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu. Cut-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Uwa! Uwa hyaaaaa!!¡± (Uriel)


    The Demon Lord let out a scream.


    It was truly a scream of fear.


    Something he can¡¯t understand, something that threatens him, something that rejects his very being; people hold fear to those kind of things, and Sasae-chan was currently the very personification of all that in Uriel¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Waaaa!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel uses the most earth divine power he could bring out to push Sasae-chan away.


    The moment he created distance in that way, he began running at the opposite direction of his opponent.


    He ran away.


    The Demon Lord Uriel is running away from Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Ah, wait-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    As if she wouldn¡¯t let her long-desired toy escape, she jumped after him and swings her scythe.


    This cuts the knees of Uriel, but Uriel didn¡¯t care and continued escaping.


    He left the part that would return to normal if he were to stick it together.


    ¡°No! Save me! Save me~~~!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Wait-dasu! Let me cut ya more-dasu~~~!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan chases after the escaping Uriel.


    And so, just like that, the two had gone far away to the point that they had be specks.


    ¡°...¡±


    Wait, this isn¡¯t the time to be spacing out!


    I have to chase after them. I can¡¯t let that Sasae-chan alone.


    I return to Ishtar ze once and ride my flying machine, and immediately fly to the direction the two ran to.


    Things have turned south.


    A God Hero is a power-up after receiving a part of a God.


    But this abnormal strengthening of Sasae-chan, there¡¯s no way Sasae-chan would be this maddened even if she were to receive a part of a God.


    All of it.


    Mantle had poured everything of her into Sasae-chan!


    Damn it, that Mother Earth, can¡¯t she learn moderation?!

 Chapter 325-326 - Progress

    <h4>Chapter 325-326: Progress</h4>


    And so, back to the present.


    The running Uriel, the chasing Sasae-chan, and me chasing after them; I didn¡¯t think we would go all the way from Ishtar ze to Hydra Ville like that!!


    ¡°Something like that happened?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The small and cute Sasae has be so voluptuous?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What crazy boob size! This is not on the level of being bigger than yourself! It surpasses imagination itself!!¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis who had been listening to the events that led to this were unable to hide their agitation, but what agitated them the most was apparently the boobs of Sasae-chan that had grown far from expectations.


    It is to the point that, if those were watermelons, being this big would be excessive moisture and it wouldn¡¯t be suitable for sale.


    ¡°Damn it! The sparks have swallowed us as well!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Uriel! Don¡¯t get scared over there and help us out! This is a cmity you brought yourself, right?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Save me! Save me~~!!¡± (Uriel)


    On the other hand, even though the Demon Lords have increased to three, Sasae-chan still acted as if nothing.


    Swinging her giant scythe as if it were a meteor shower, she overwhelms the three Demon Lords.


    ¡°She is not being pushed back even when she is going against three Demon Lords?! Even if she has be a God Hero, is that even possible?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Or more like, isn¡¯t Sasae-chan the one pushing them back?! Michael and the others can¡¯t keep up with the speed of Sasae-chi!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°This is not good!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san panics.


    ¡°Let¡¯s participate! Let¡¯s save the Demon Lords!¡± (Karen)


    Eh?


    ¡°Gotcha. Sasae obviously looks like she is not her normal self, and this can¡¯t be wrapped up without a fight!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But the current Sasae-chi is definitely not normal. Can wee out of this unscathed?¡± (Celestis)


    No no no no!


    Am I the weird one for thinking that what Karen-san and the others are saying is strange?


    ¡°Uhm, Karen?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What is it, Haine-san?! I will be asking where you were with Yorishiro-sama after we stop Sasae-chan, okay?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That in itself is scary, but...! More importantly, I want to confirm this but, are you really going to stop Sasae-chan in order to save the Demon Lords?!¡± (Haine)


    Am I the one in the wrong to think that it should normally be the other way around?


    Because you know, we went through hell in order to bring back Mantle so we could defeat the Demon Lords, you know?


    ¡°...Haine-san, I understand what you are trying to say.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says heavily.


    ¡°But in the time Haine-san was absent, the situation changed. We can arrive to an understanding; we can finish this without having the monsters and humans fighting; those possibilities have appeared.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s how it is, Haine-chi. Even for me, Gabriel is a character I wouldn¡¯t like dying here.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I also wish for a conclusion that Michael can be okay with. For that sake, it would trouble me if he were to die here!!¡± (Mirack)


    What a turn...


    To think that even Mirack and Celestis also agreed with this. This isn¡¯t a situation that can be summarized as having a personal difference in opinions.


    ...Humans and monsters reaching an understanding, she says.


    I did hear about the events that transpired at Muspelheim and Hydra Ville from Nova, but until I actually experienced it now, I couldn¡¯t have even imagined it.


    To think humans would be able to interact with monsters in a way Gods had no idea was possible; humans are truly amazing.


    ¡°And that¡¯s how it is. Let¡¯s go! Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Got it. All three...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°God Hero Mode, activate!!!¡± (Celestis)


    ...


    Silence.


    Obviously, nothing happened.


    ¡°Oh no~! The same mistake!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We can¡¯t be God Heroes without the Gods in the vicinity! This time, not even that cow is here! What should we do?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Jumping into that de hell in normal mode would be suicidal! Coacervate-sama,e back!!¡± (Celestis)


    Is what Karen-san¡¯s group wails about.


    Right, the God Hero mode cannot be activated unless they link with their respective God.


    But the Light Goddess Intion and the Fire God Nova have returned to their own capital, moreover, the unmanageable Water God Coacervate has be a mass of goodwill due to being distilled and, with that overflowing goodwill he has, he flew out and there¡¯s no clue as to where he is.


    With this, the three won¡¯t be able to be God Heroes and can¡¯t help in this crucial moment.


    So the God Heroes had such an issue!


    ¡°...Issue?¡± (Haine)


    I feel like I heard that word not that long ago...


    When I search my memories, I check my own pocket. And then, I take out three gems that look as if they would fetch quite the sum of money if they were to be sold.


    ¡°...Uhm, Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Aaah... Could it be that I will end up being a side-character again?! Wait, what is it, Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°This...¡± (Haine)


    I ce the transparent gem that Yorishiro gave me on Karen-san¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Wa?! What is this expensive looking thing?! A gem?! Could it be a wedding ring?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san, that¡¯s just pushing it.


    In the first ce, it is a gem in the raw. There¡¯s nowhere to put your finger in.


    ¡°Mirack is a ruby and Celestis is an aquamarine.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oh, oh~?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Uwa~! Looks expensive! It is hard to find jewelry with such big gems, you know!¡± (Celestis)


    Don¡¯t say it as if it were a big potato you found in your stew.


    At any rate, a while after the gems of the Gods touched their respective heroes...a bright light was released from the gems.


    ¡°Kya?!¡± ¡°Oh?!¡± ¡°What in the world is...!¡±


    White light from the diamond; red light from the ruby; blue light from the aquamarine; with these lights radiating from them, the gems were absorbed by the holy sword, the fire knuckles, and the robe of the heroes and disappear.


    It was as if they had fused with their divine tools.


    ¡°What what? What in the world happened?¡± (Celestis)


    Everyone was surprised by this and, finally, the result was shown.


    A fierce amount of divine power was released from the bodies of Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis-san as they all turned into God Heroes!


    Karen-san released dazzling light from her whole body, Mirack had fire dding her body, and Celestis had be transparent like water.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this? We turned into God Heroes without the permission of the Gods?!¡± (Mirack)


    This is the meaning of those gems.


    In order to solve the inconvenience of not being able to turn into God Hero mode unless you have the God by your side, they create a path between the God and the hero.


    So those gems were for the sake of creating that path in the divine tools huh.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really get it, but this is incredible...!¡± (Karen)


    The shining Karen-san mutters.


    ¡°With this, the time for the God Heroes to join forces hase! Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan! Let¡¯s go!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah! Or more like, this is the first time we see the God Hero figure of Karen!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°For a moment, I thought you were lying to not be left behind! With this, all three of us God Heroes are on stage!!¡± (Celestis)


    The three God Heroes charge to battle.


    The God Hero mode that was thought of in order to defeat the Demon Lords is now being activated in order to save them.


    Should I call it irony? ...No, this is definitely what is called as ¡®progress¡¯.


    Something unbelievable was urring in front of me.


    ¡°No way!!¡±


    The battle should be in our overwhelming favour.


    Michael, Gabriel, Uriel; three Demon Lords; Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis; three God Heroes; with a total of six of the strongest in the world, they are still unable to defeat the God Hero Sasae-chan?!


    ¡°[Phoenix Hammer]!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    A simultaneous attack of the Fire Demon Lord and God Hero was well done to the point of being called teamwork, and yet, this wasn¡¯t a threat at all for Sasae-chan.


    The fire attacks have high firepower, but are slightly slower, so with Sasae-chan¡¯s speed and body technique, she easily evaded it.


    ¡°Not a single attack is hitting! We have no choice but to attack from close range!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Don¡¯t, Karen-chi! There¡¯s nothing the current Sasae-chi can¡¯t cut with that Earth Scythe! The moment you enter her range, you will be cut in 17 pieces at the very least!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The elemental affinities still apply between Demon Lords and God Heroes. We as water element users can¡¯t deal with her earth element!!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Save me, save me~~!!¡± (Uriel)


    Even if Celestis and Gabriel are afflicted by the disadvantage of element, there¡¯s still six there, and yet, even with that, they can¡¯t do anything. That¡¯s just weird.


    As I thought, Sasae-chan is at a ce that surpasses that of a God Hero.


    Mantle didn¡¯t just give a part of herself, she has poured her everything into Sasae-chan.


    The current Sasae-chan ispletely fused with a God?!


    ¡°Damn it! Let¡¯s also tackle with elemental affinity! If we talk about earth element, it is wind! Is there no reports of Hyue-chi bing a God Hero yet?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Raphael! Where did Raphael go?! Uriel, do you know? You get along with that guy, don¡¯t you!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! He is also in the middle of nning his attack to the humans!!¡± (Uriel)


    Unable to find an effective way to break through this situation, the new alliance of Demon Lords and heroes that are supposed to be the strongest were panicking.


    ...Now that it hase to this, it can¡¯t be helped.


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]!!¡± (Haine)


    I also step into the battlefield where des were dancing wildly.


    The shield I made out of dark matter stopped the Earth Scythe that supposedly can cut anything.


    ¡°No way! Haine-chi stopped that scythe?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As I thought, that man alone, I can¡¯t gauge him. As long as Kuromiya Haine exists, the victory of us monsters won¡¯t be possible.¡± (Michael)


    The scythe of Sasae-chan can cut anything because the earth divine power affects the solids and is providing ultimate toughness and sharpness.


    That¡¯s why there¡¯s no way the all-erasing dark matter shield wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it.


    On top of that, with the second property of the dark matter, gravity maniption, I repel the scythe that rained upon me.


    ...The attacks of Sasae-chan were at a level where I have to use both properties of the dark matter in order to block it!


    ¡°Stop it already, Sasae-chan!!¡± (Haine)


    I was about to spread the dark matter and cover her in order to capture her, but Sasae-chan retreated speedily before that happened and escapes from the grasp of the dark matter.


    She read what I was going to do?!


    You are incredibly troublesome to deal with, Sasae-chan!!


    ¡°At any rate, this is as far as you go! Stop the fight! It looks like the situation has changed so, in order to properly grasp the current state of things, you have to undo your God Hero mode!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why?!¡±


    !


    That way of speaking!


    What came out from the mouth of Sasae-chan were words that were clearly not of Sasae-chan.


    This way of speaking...Mantle!


    Could it be that bypletely fusing with Sasae-chan, she has taken over her body?!


    ¡°The Gods have decided it, right? In order to protect the human-sans, we have to eradicate the Demon Lord-sans. That¡¯s the reason why we are giving the hero-sans the power of Gods. That is a God Hero.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°The Demon Lords will be defeated by a God Hero. What is the wrong about this? It is good timing that there are three Demon Lords here. Isn¡¯t this the time to defeat them all at once?¡± (Mantle)


    What Mantle was saying with the mouth of Sasae-chan was correct.


    It is in her nature to go in a straight line the moment she is determined to do something.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?! Is that really Sasae?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It¡¯s as if apletely different person is inside her and speaking! I can¡¯t feel a single bit of Sasae-like talk of it!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Her outer appearance is also like apletely different person. Isn¡¯t this just apletely different person from the very beginning? Did Haine-chi just make a mistake?¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san and the others began to notice the abnormality and were confused.


    Mantle had poured all of her instead of just a part of it, and because of that, the very conscious of Sasae-chan had been pushed away somewhere and the control of the body had been changed!


    ¡°...Light, Fire, and Water hero-sans, I am Mantle -Mother Earth God, Mantle.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°¡°¡°?!¡±¡±¡±


    Mantle spoke directly to Karen-san and the others?!


    ¡°I have heard about your achievements from Nova-san and Coacervate-san. You are doing your best for the sake of the people. That¡¯s worthy of praise.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Ah, thank you?¡± (Karen)


    And they weren¡¯t able to keep pace of the conversation due to the characteristic atmosphere of Mantle.


    ¡°I will also learn from you people and be of use to the human-sans this time for sure. I will do my best to eradicate the Demon Lord-sans so, can you please not get in the way?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°No no no no!!¡± (Karen)


    As expected, they couldn¡¯t just let that slip by.


    ¡°Please wait! It is true that the Demon Lords and humans were antagonistic at first, but it has changed! A new possibility has appeared, a path where there¡¯s no fighting!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In order to cross that path, I want you to please stop the battle right now! Oh God, we ask of you!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Or more like, the Mother Earth God is talking from the mouth of Sasae-chi. Doesn¡¯t that mean her body has been taken over?! Isn¡¯t that the same as what the dirty Coacervate did to Gabriel?!¡± (Celestis)


    As expected of Celestis, she noticed that part.


    Mantle ces a finger on Sasae-chan¡¯s cheek and says.


    ¡°Is there any good for the human-sans in walking that different path?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°¡°¡°Eh?¡±¡±¡±


    It was difficult to answer immediately at this question.


    ¡°When asked suddenly about that...I don¡¯t know what to answer!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Humans and monsters coexisting, right? What kind of effect this will bring... I haven¡¯t really thought that far yet.¡± (Mirack).


    ¡°It would be aplex problem in terms of society. Philosophically as well. What is life? What are the standards that separate a living being from one that is not? What about the cycle of hate that has transpired until now? The more I think, the more convoluted it bes!!¡± (Celestis)


    Karen-san and the others were thrown into abyrinth of thoughts!


    On the other hand, the line of action of Mantle was incredibly clear.


    ¡°The Demon Lord-sans are really dangerous existences nning to destroy the human-sans. That¡¯s why I will eliminate them. If I save the human-sans from danger, I will be of use to the human-sans this time for sure!¡± (Mantle)


    Now that I think about it, in the incident with Grandma Wood, the actions of Mantle were simplistic to a fault.


    In order to live, humans work, fight, and shoulder pain. ¡®If I take away that pain from them, they can be happy¡¯, that logic of hers was incredibly simple. However, humans can¡¯t be defined only as simple. Living has suffering in it, but there¡¯s also happiness and joy.


    Shepiled them all into suffering and thought about taking it all away. That¡¯s way too rash.


    That¡¯s why Mantle and I were unable to reach an understanding and I had to erase her into the ck Hole.


    Her simple-mindedness was so strong that anythingplicated couldn¡¯t enter her head.


    Are we going to be at odds again because of her simple-mindedness and end up having no choice but to continue the path where humans and monsters have to fight until one side perishes?

 Chapter 327-328 - Denying a God

    <h4>Chapter 327-328: Denying a God</h4>


    ¡°God! God of the earth!!¡±


    A different voice enters the discussion of the God and heroes.


    The serious voice of the Demon Lord Michael that sounded as if he was shouldering the world.


    ¡°Are you saying the Gods don¡¯t forgive the existence of Demon Lords? Are you saying monsters are living beings that shouldn¡¯t hold hearts?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°No. Monsters are not even living beings. They are tools.¡± (Mantle)


    The so clear response of Mantle made Michael gulp his breath audibly.


    ¡°Tools created by the Gods for the sake of the Gods. The Gods that were flustered by how the humans stopped praying after civilization developed created monsters so that they would pray again. If monsters threaten the humans, they would look for help by praying.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Oi, wasn¡¯t an unbelievable reality revealed just now?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Meaning that they were pumps the Gods set up? The Gods are unexpectedly sly.¡± (Celestis)


    The humans were showing agitation at one of the world¡¯s secrets that was revealed by Mantle as if it were a passing thought.


    ¡°You are the tools used in order for humans to pray, so there¡¯s no need for tools to have hearts. That¡¯s why we created monsters out of pure divine power and didn¡¯t ce a soul in them. It isn¡¯t possible for things like that to have a heart.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°...Kugh!¡± (Michael)


    Michael silently tightened his fists.


    ¡°You monsters have deviated from the duty that us Gods have set for you. That¡¯s why you must be destroyed. Monsters were created for the sake of humans, and yet, if those monsters were to destroy those humans, it would go against their purpose.¡± (Mantle)


    Everything about Mantle is simple and straight, and that made it hard to refute.


    And yet, this feeling of wanting to refute it with all they had...everyone in this ce felt that way.


    An argument that has no ce where to hit -this might be what you would call the weight of a God¡¯s words.


    ¡°I also ask! Earth God!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel speaks now.


    He was utterly in fear due to the de hell of Sasae-chan but, right now, his body was overflowing with strength.


    His cut off leg had already been regenerated, even if it was a hasty job.


    ¡°I...was born from the earth mother that you had created.¡± (Uriel)


    Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood.


    ¡°Those memories may be hazy, but I have inherited them. You say that monsters were originally made to do evil to the humans that had forgotten their prayers, but I think that only us earth monsters are different.¡± (Uriel)


    It is exactly right.


    The only type of monster that Grandma Wood gave birth to were Golems. Different from the other monsters, they obeyed the orders of humans and lived together with humans.


    That¡¯s why the people of Ishtar ze that worship Mantle had grown fond of the Golems and respected Grandma Wood as they called it ¡®Great Pir-sama¡¯.


    Until the great fall that Mantle created, that is.


    ¡°I was against the other Gods. Even if humans didn¡¯t pray to me, I wanted to be of use to them. That¡¯s why I created monsters that would help humans rather than ones that attacked them.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°The birth of Golems had that kind of reason behind it...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But Earth Demon Lord-san, I didn¡¯t think that an existence like you would be born under this feeling of ¡®wanting to help humans¡¯ that I ced when creating Golems. Same as the other Demon Lord-sans, to try and destroy the human-sans... It ispletely contrary to the wishes of your creator. Truly bad kids.¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle announces.


    ¡°I will be destroying you for the sake of the human-sans.¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel¡¯s voice was filled with anger.


    What was overflowing from his body was resentment.


    ¡°We were born for the sake of humans...for the sake of Gods? Where is our own reason for living?! Are you saying that it is wrong to live for our own sake?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°It is exactly as Uriel-san says!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san agrees to the words of the demon.


    ¡°No matter the living being, even if it doesn¡¯t have a soul, it should still have the right to live for their own sake! No one can deny that!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No matter if you are a God, there¡¯s no way it is okay for you to arbitrarily decide the fate of the ones living on the surface world! Humans might end up getting that treatment as well, so I can¡¯t say that this is someone else¡¯s problem!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°As I thought, we will bepletely in opposition to this! Also, return Sasae¡¯s body! Her body is not something that a God can do whatever they want with it!¡± (Mirack)


    The human team was obviously against the words of Mantle.


    ¡°It goes without saying that we will also be fighting.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°The Water God has already given us his blessing, so I will be going against it with confidence.¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael and Gabriel were obviously in fighting stance.


    There was not a single one in favor of Mantle.


    ¡°Eh? Eh? Uhm...uhm...!¡± (Mantle)


    Seeing this situation, the usual habit of hers appears.


    ¡°But...I am doing this for the sake of the human-sans. I was thinking of being useful to the human-sans!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°And we are saying that¡¯s unneeded consideration! We humans don¡¯t need your help!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis gave the final blow with her sharp tongue.


    ¡°Mantle.¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t just stay silent either.


    Bringing her back might have really been a mistake.


    Her way too simplistic way of acting, no matter how much you think for the sake of humans, it doesn¡¯t end up being good for the humans.


    Before an irreversible catastrophe urs, I might have to erase her once again into the deep depths of the ck Hole.


    ¡°In the end, it looks like no matter what we say, we won¡¯t reach an understanding.¡± (Haine)


    Even the Dark God Entropy, that is considered as the ultimate God, can¡¯t change her.


    To try and connect this Mother Earth God to the other existences.


    ¡°That¡¯s not true-dasu!!¡±


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡±?!!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Eh?!


    That voice just now...?!


    The voice that only had the words of Mantleing out...this time around, the words of someone else came out.


    The real owner of that voice.


    ¡°This Earth Hero, Gonbee Sasae! If it be the words of the Mother Earth, Mantle-sama, I be following ¡®em no matter what they be-dasu! That be the way of the Earth nation-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Sasae-chan?!¡± ¡°Sasae?!¡± ¡°Sasae-chi?!¡±


    The ones who were agitated by the sudden mention of this name were her very friends, Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis.


    ¡°As I thought, is that really Sasae-chan?! It is hard to believe but, is it really Sasae-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes, I am-dasu! The ipetent, Gonbee Sasae! Even if mah boobs got bigger, I still be everyone¡¯s friend-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan says with strength.


    It looks like her body wasn¡¯t taken over even when Mantle was residing in it.


    ¡°More importantly, what be this-dasu ka?! Everyone ganging up on us. Don¡¯t go bullying our God Mantle-sama-dasu! I be stepping in and say no-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan says with a bad temper.


    What is the meaning of this?!


    ¡°Uhm...but you see, Sasae-chan, we can¡¯t agree to what Mantle-sama said. Monsters are already not the same as before¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I don¡¯t care about that-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°¡°¡°Eeeeh?!¡±¡±¡±


    Her statements werepletely absurd and, everytime she enforces her words, her boobs shake, which overwhelmed the three youngdies.


    It also overwhelmed me.


    ¡°The important thing be whether I believe in mah God or not-dasu! In the face of the words of mah God, everything else be a trifling matter-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eeh?! I don¡¯t think it is such a trifling matter though!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-neechan, Mirack-neechan, and Celestis-neechan; each one of ya have yer own God ye believe in-dasu. And fer me, that be Mantle-sama-dasu. It be because we believe in our God that those words be priceless, ain¡¯t it-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°B-But...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That be why, if it be the words of Mantle-sama, I will follow ¡®em-dasu! No need for context-dasu! I will cut the Demon Lord-sans, stick ¡®em up, and cut ¡®em up again-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Torture?!¡± (Haine)


    To think Sasae-chan would agree with Mantle!


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t this feel like deja vu?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You think so too, Celestis? Actually, I also do!¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack and Celestis say.


    ¡°The first time we met Sasae-chan, she had received an oracle from the Mother Earth God, and when we showed opposition to those words, Sasae-chan got angry and it even ended up in a fight!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And now, Mantle is speaking personally and, when we went against it, Sasae-chi got angry!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It will definitely fall into the same pattern!¡± (Mirack)


    For the five Grand Churches, the Gods they worship are absolute existences.


    Denying them can even end up in killing.


    Sasae-chan is faithfully applying this, and she is about to apply it now.


    ¡°Mantle-sama created the earth we stand, sit, and sleep in, and she also nurtures the food that we eat everyday-dasu! She even sent Golems that were the friends of humans. Not believing in the Mother Earth God-sama after all this would be ungrateful-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Sasae-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The people of the Earth nation believe in Mother Earth-sama in anything and everything-dasu! Someone that doesn¡¯t believe ain¡¯t religious-dasu! Oi, the Demon Lord there!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Yes?!¡± (Uriel)


    Being pointed the scythe at him, Uriel was greatly scared.


    ¡°What ya gonna do-dasu? By the will of Mantle-sama, I will be destroying ya-dasu. If ye don¡¯t want that, ya better fight back-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°In mah Ishtar ze, when we don¡¯t know whose side be the correct one, there be only one thing the Earth people do-dasu! Kill each other-dasu! The one that dies be the one in the wrong-dasu! Got that-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eeeeeeh?!¡±


    It was quite the messed up statement.


    But...


    ¡°Oh my! Oh my! My hero-san will believe in me?!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Obviously course-dasu! Someone that doesn¡¯t believe saying they be followers would be the lie-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°This is...the first time I have been told that... I am so happy!¡± (Mantle)


    Beforeing here, the grandma of Sasae-chan told me this: ¡®Sasae-chan resembles herself¡¯.


    When she was young, she looked absent-minded and as if shecked the ability to think, but that¡¯s exactly why she was able to push through with a clear mind and head straight towards what she believed in.


    What was born from this was the legend that would make even crying children silent, the ¡®Taker by the roots¡¯.


    Sasae-chan had inherited that trait almostpletely and possesses the ability to believe in something blindly like her grandma.


    A domain that half-baked sagaciousness wouldn¡¯t be able to reach; a foolishness that knows no bounds.


    ¡°...Let¡¯s try leaving it in Sasae-chan¡¯s hands.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    My decision created confusion in my surroundings, but I felt like betting on it.


    At times, the foolishness of Sasae-chan would be the source of trouble and would irritate the short-fused ones. But that foolishness also, at times, can change the impossible to possible.


    It is not some in foolishness, it is an extrarge foolishness inherited from the blood of a legend.


    It might be able to achieve big things that the regr intelligent ones wouldn¡¯t be able to achieve!


    Achieve things that even I, the Dark God Entropy, gave up on...


    ¡°The way too simplistic heart of Mantle; trying to connect it to others is impossible, but she might be able to make that impossible into reality.¡± (Haine)


    In this battle with the Demon Lords, the humans have even managed to change the hearts of the Demon Lords.


    In that case, she should be able to change the heart of a God too ¡ªwith that trusting heart of hers that¡¯s on the level of being foolish.


    ¡°Stand up and ept the challenge, Uriel.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°You will fight alone.¡± (Michael)


    Michael spoke to him from the back and the tree human Demon Lord trembled heavily at those words.


    ¡°It looks like each of us Demon Lords have to be tested -in what we are and what we should do. We have to fight our own battles and reach those answers.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°No, what are you saying, Michael?¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°In this stage where the earth hero and Earth God are standing, Uriel, this is no doubt your stage as well. Gabriel and I have done our fight too and we got a vague view of the path we should advance on. Uriel, you must take that step as well!¡± (Michael)


    The Fire Demon Lord says this with burning passion.


    ¡°Even if you currently don¡¯t have a decision, one should appear after battle! sh to your heart¡¯s content! sh, break, mix those broken pieces, to the point that you can¡¯t even tell what was its previous form, and find an answer that you haven¡¯t found until now!! ...In other words, let there be hot-bloodedness!!¡± (Michael)


    Ah.


    Now that those words havee out, he has no choice but to ept.


    ¡°Ah geez! I get it!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel shouts annoyed.


    ¡°That was my intention in the first ce anyways!! Earth hero, if I fight you and win, that means I should be the one to keep on living! I will bring judgement. Monsters are the ones who should keep on living in this surface world!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit-dasu! Makes it worth cutting-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was her charming self as always as she takes a stance with her all-cutting scythe.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s begin-dasu! A battle where I will believe thoroughly in Mantle-sama and will decide the way of living of the Demon Lord-sans-dasu!! No grudges no matter who dies-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)

 Chapter 329-331 - Like a maelstrom

    <h4>Chapter 329-331: Like a maelstrom</h4>


    ¡°Was this really okay, Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    It couldn¡¯t be helped that Karen-san would ask with uneasiness.


    The one on one battle with Uriel and Sasae was decided in a truly weird sequence of events.


    We all had no choice but to turn to spectators, but I think it can¡¯t be helped.


    ¡°Mantle is a God that moves with a simple line of thought, so she can¡¯t be convinced withplicated logic. It is simr to Sasae-chan. Unless we use something that surpasses logic, it won¡¯t work.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And you are saying that ¡®something¡¯ is a fight?¡± (Mirack)


    It may not be the best choice, but that¡¯s the only effective method I can think of.


    I don¡¯t know at all what result this battle will bring about, but we have no choice but to believe it will be a good one as we watch over it.


    ¡°...That may be fine for Sasae-chan and Mother Earth-sama, but Uriel-san who is their opponent is just...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Well, I can only say that he should just go along with it!¡± (Haine)


    I am beginning to feel sorry for that Demon Lord.


    ¡°Uryaaaa! Now that it hase to this, I will do this thoroughly!¡± (Uriel)


    The person himself is getting pissed off after all.


    ¡°Uriel is unexpectedly a scaredy-cat isn¡¯t he. To get so agitated just because he got cornered...¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Looks like he is still far from hot-bloodedness.¡± (Michael)


    The other two Demon Lords were mannerdly watching over it as well.


    ¡°Be sure to watch, how the serious Earth Demon Lord looks!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel bends his body and ps the two branch-like wings from his back heavily.


    Their shape resembles that of wings but, as expected, they are still wood.


    Those two branch wings of his grew wide at an incredible rate, and then, drew a spiral towards the heavens, and became a tree.


    That size and the way the leaves spread, it is like...!


    ¡°It looks like Great Pir-sama-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    It was like the Earth Mother Monster that gave birth to him, Grandma Wood.


    Of course,pared to the Grandma Wood that spread through Ishtar ze as if covering it whole, it is a lot smaller. But even if it is mini-sized, there¡¯s a feeling of grandeur to it.


    There¡¯s no doubt this trait had been inherited from his mother.


    ¡°What¡¯s surprising is still toe. Watch and be in awe!!¡± (Uriel)


    Something was released from the spread out tree.


    *Bang *Bang *Bang *Bang


    They were shot out at incredible speed, like bullets. Several hundreds were being shot from the whole tree at rapid fire.


    They flew diagonally downwards and hit the ground, raising heavy dust clouds.


    ¡°Uwa! Dangerous!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wait, Uriel?! If you are going to fight, be mindful of your surroundings! It would hurt if it hits us!¡± (Celestis)


    It is true that it was quite the amazing rapid fire. Decent enough to be used as an attack, but the things that look like bullets were buried in the ground, and the opponent Sasae-chan doesn¡¯t have a single scratch.


    What is Uriel trying to do?


    ¡°Kukuku! If you want to know the answer, strain your eyes and look carefully. At what I shot.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Eh? That is...!¡± (Haine)


    Straining my eyes, I caught on.


    What was dug into the ground was a block that was big enough to hold in one hand.


    I remember that shape...


    ¡°The Golem¡¯s core, a Life Block!¡± (Haine)


    A Golem is in basis just a lump of earth in human shape, but it is not as if theye out as giants from the very beginning.


    They will first be born as blocks from Grandma Wood and, by using that as the core, they gather earth and stones around the area to form the humanoid shape.


    Right now, that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s happening.


    The several hundreds of Life Blocks Uriel shot were changing into Golems and became a big armymanded by Uriel!


    ¡°Are you surprised at my Golem army?¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel had already returned the tree-form of his wings back to normal.


    ¡°Uriel can also create Golems?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Apparently, the Demon Lords have inherited the ability to make monsters from the Mother Monsters. If that wasn¡¯t the case, the monsters wouldn¡¯t be born anymore after the death of the Mother Monsters after all.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san exined it to me.


    ¡°It is actually an ultimate technique that I had saved in order to swallow your cities whole, but now that it hase to this, I don¡¯t need to show any restrain. With these army of several hundreds of Golems, I will beat you to a pulp!!¡± (Uriel)


    Is what he says as he moves way back at the rear of the Golem army.


    ¡°That guy, isn¡¯t he actually so scared that he is hiding in the shadows of the Golems?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°A man too far away from being hot-blooded.¡± (Michael)


    Hisrade Demon Lords were also being quite the harsh judges.


    On the other hand, Sasae-chan who had witnessed the sudden spawning of the Golem army...


    ¡°What a...! What a great thing-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Was actually moved.


    ¡°The Golems that I thought wouldn¡¯t be born ever again...have once again been born! There be nothing as happy as this-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Uriel)


    As expected of the Golem-loving Sasae-chan.


    Now that I think about it, Sasae-chan¡¯s undivided attention to the Golems was admirable.


    After the incident with Grandma Wood going berserk, the Golems were about to be made into the bad guys, but the one who covered for them was Sasae-chan.


    That¡¯s why Golems still continue being the friends of humans in Ishtar ze.


    ¡°As thanks for showing me something so good, I will also be pouring mah own bit-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    The dynamite body Sasae-chan, who is filled with power thanks to Mantle, hits the ground with her Earth Scythe, Sita.


    ¡°That stance is...!¡± (Haine)


    Sasae-chan¡¯s new technique, the alchemy refined Golem that doesn¡¯t require a Life Block!


    And then, just as I thought, resonating with the divine power that Sasae-chan poured, a beautiful female-shaped Golem appeared from the ground.


    Just that...there was one thing that I didn¡¯t think would happen.


    The numbers...


    ¡°Waaa?!¡±


    The Golems refined by Sasae-chan were not only limited to one.


    There were 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50...hundreds...


    An incredible amount of Goddess Golems appeared at the surroundings of Sasae-chan.


    ¡°This is...the true power of the God Hero Sasae-chan?!¡± (Haine)


    In the past, she could only make one, and it was not on a level where she could use it in battle, and yet, in the blink of an eye, she could now make several hundreds.


    Are you saying that¡¯s how much outrageous her divine power has increased?!


    ¡°...Now that I think about it, Sasae-chan has still not used a Golem in battle since the time she became a God Hero!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°W-What do you mean by that, Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The earth heroes are divided in two types: the ones that fight in close quarters with their scythe, and the ones that fight controlling Golems. But Sasae-chan fights in the frontlines while controlling Golems. She was thinking of doing both of those at the same time.¡± (Haine)


    She was struggling heavily in how difficult this endeavour was.


    ¡°By bing a God Hero, even that problem might have been ovee. Her natural ability of controlling Golems has increased and her skills with the scythe rose to the level of Yoneko-san.¡± (Haine)


    Her body has grown and she now has a body that can properly swing her big scythe after all.


    ¡°And yet, Sasae-chan has been using only her scythe in battle until now ¡ªwithout using her specialty that are Golems.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Meaning that Sasae-chan has not been showing half her strength until now?!¡± (Karen)


    Even with that, she fought with three Demon Lords and God Heroes at the same time and didn¡¯t lose.


    How much potential is inside of Sasae-chan?!


    And there¡¯s also another thing. The abnormal fight that would be beginning now, I couldn¡¯t just not falter at it.


    Uriel had brought out his strength as the Earth Demon Lord to make several hundreds of Golems; Sasae-chan followed fit and refined an army of Goddess Golems.


    A Golem army and a Golem army are about to battle.


    If they were to sh, there¡¯s no way this will wrap up as just a one on one match.


    ¡°This be the ultimate technique of the God Hero Sasae! I call it ¡®Earth Conquering Female Corps¡¯-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    A swarming Goddess Golem army.


    In the past, a single one of those would make us speechless, and yet, now it has several of them appearing at once. It has already surpassed shock and reached the point where I don¡¯t even know what reaction to make.


    On the other hand, Uriel had also created several hundreds of Golems.


    The current situation is that it is expected to be a Golem army vs Golem army group battle.


    ¡°This...! Just what kind of situation will this bring?!¡± (Celestis)


    The spectators were unable to stay calm at this situation.


    The first one to raise her voice in this ce that felt as if we were inside a sealed bag was Celestis.


    Mirack also answers this.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! But it is certain that this battle will turn into one that we haven¡¯t experienced before!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is a battle of a group against a group after all. Until now, we have fought against one Giant monster at a time, but fighting many with many is not something I have done before!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Even if it is arge scale battle, it just feels different in nature! It is as if this were like the time the Churches were at war!¡± (Karen)


    It is just as the trio says.


    This is already a mass battle between Uriel and Sasae-chan.


    It is on a scale where, rather than calling it a battle, it would be more fitting to call it a war.


    Even I can¡¯t predict what kind of fight this will turn out into.


    ¡°Fufu! Isn¡¯t that fine. This is apletely different type of battle until now. It is fitting for the Demon Lord Uriel!! In that case, your Golem army and my Golem army; let¡¯s decide which one is the strongest one!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°No, before that!!¡± (Sasae)


    Is what the adult Sasae-chan says with her hand raised.


    But, can¡¯t something be done about those boobs of hers that shake at every single action of hers?


    Everytime my gaze gravitates to them, Karen-san pokes my sides.


    ¡°Cutting each other out of pure hatred be inelegant-dasu!! Before the sparks fly, how about appraising each other¡¯s goods-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Goods?! Appraising?!¡± (Uriel)


    A sudden unexpected development!


    ¡°Uriel-dono. About the Golems ya made-dasu ga, they truly be made with loyalty to the basics-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Huh?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°It can even be said that they be Golems born naturally without any sort of outside influence-dasu. There be only the necessaries and they probably be able to work efficiently, but it be the truth that I don¡¯t feel a single sense of individuality in ¡®em and it feels like something be missing-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°What are you trying to say?!¡± (Uriel)


    The question of Uriel is natural.


    The Golems that Uriel created are indeed regr ones that use a Life Block to gather the earth around with simplistic legs and arms.


    Compared to the Goddess Golems of Sasae-chan, Uriel¡¯s feel like they are way too simple in making.


    ¡°The Goddess Golems of Sasae-chan are obviously made with the female body as its motif; a design overflowing with alure. The thinness of its waist and the charming curves that entice the viewer. It is indeed beautiful, but, at the same time, it creates insecurity in the work and adds an unnecessary step into the creation of it. It can be said it is inefficient.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    Celestis-chan is giving amentary about it.


    ¡°If it is in cultural terms, leave it to the hero of the sightseeing city Hydra Ville, Celestis-chan! We have imported arge amount of potteries created from the good earth there. I have seen a lot of them, so my eyes are trained. I can serve as thementator!¡± (Celestis)


    We didn¡¯t ask for amentator though!


    ¡°Sasae-chi¡¯s Golems are truly works that have ¡®beauty¡¯ as their theme! They may be humanoid but, in the end, they are simply tools for manualbour, however, by giving them a gender, it makes it possible for them to charm the people that see it ¡ªtruly a bold thought!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Incredible! This is also culture, isn¡¯t it?!¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel bit?!


    What¡¯s with the water element people all the time?!


    ¡°Being molded by the gone mother of Sasae-chi, there¡¯s also a motherly feeling added onto the beauty it has. Truly aplex making! Because of thisplexity, it doesn¡¯t fall into the category of being a dirty piece of art that was only made to invite the carnal desires! There¡¯s even a feeling authority from it! Holiness! In other words, a Saint!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I be grateful for yer high evaluation-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    The no-holds barred evaluation of Celestis makes Sasae-chan thank her.


    ¡°When looking at the Golems of Uriel after that...as I thought, they are so simple it is saddening.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°No affection ced on them, it is as if saying ¡®I made them on the spot¡¯. Couldn¡¯t you put a bit more of a...strong-like look to them?¡± (Celestis)


    The way too honestment of Celestis making Uriel distracted was inevitable.


    ¡°What stupid things are you saying, human! My kinfolk Golems are earth element monsters! Monsters decorating themselves; are you telling me to imitate humans?!¡± (Uriel)


    And he exploded.


    ¡°But Uriel, weren¡¯t you pretty bothered by your outward appearance?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Gabriel?!¡± (Uriel)


    The Demon Lord was shot from the back.


    ¡°The bark that you took off because you were hit by Kuromiya Haine, you said that you didn¡¯t like the shade of ck it had when it regenerated, so you took a hell lot of time in it. What should have taken a few days to go back to normal, took several weeks. I even thought, ¡®aren¡¯t you an idiot?¡¯.¡± (Gabriel)


    Now that I think about it, he did say something to that effect...


    ¡°I don¡¯t count! I am a Demon Lord after all! As the Lord of the demons, I have to show fitting majesty!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°A hot-bloodedness that is understandable.¡± (Michael)


    Michael nods at it.


    ¡°Compared to that, Golems are only weak monsters and there should be a fitting look for the small fry. There¡¯s this many, so I don¡¯t have the time to be cing details on each and every one of them!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Putting details ain¡¯t entering in the adorning category-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    And Sasae-chan once again joins in the discussion.


    Or more like, this conversation is still continuing?!


    What about the fight?!


    For some reason, the Golem design opinions are still ongoing.


    ¡°I also like the simple Golems that don¡¯t have deliberate decorations-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan points out.


    Sasae-chan¡¯s tone of voice had be like that of a beauty after turning into an adult and, for some mysterious reason, it also gave it more weight in her words.


    ¡°Golems that be made just for the sake of working without any unnecessary decorations. But even with that, they still have limbs and face-dasu. At times, I feel kindness in their expressions-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I-I see?¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Golems that don¡¯t return to Life Blocks after a long while of being formed, slowly have their surface covered by moss, and color begins to be painted in what be once earthen color-dasu. When I see Golems that can only look like that after having passed such a long time...!¡± (Sasae)


    Yes...?!


    ¡°I feel like, ¡®Muhyaaaa¡¯-dasu!.¡± (Sasae)


    I see, I don¡¯t understand!


    ¡°A learning experience! This is a learning experience! As expected of the opinion of an habitant, their opinions just have a different taste!¡± (Celestis)


    And Celestis began to memo it with passion?!


    Like really, isn¡¯t this already entering a domain where only a certain type of people can understand?!


    ¡°Of course, the Golems that Uriel-dono made as well...!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Uriel-dono?!¡± (Uriel)


    What path is this thing taking?!


    ¡°...Since they be made just now, ye can¡¯t search fer a depth that can only be found with umted time-dasu. The structure of the Golems be simple, so that kind of depth makes it more interesting though-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Here, Sensei!¡± (Gabriel)


    Sensei?!


    Gabriel raised her hand and called Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Then, in the current state, you are saying Uriel¡¯s Golems can¡¯t match yours?! In front of Sensei¡¯s Golems that exude feminine charm and have an elegance to them, the seedy-looking Golems of Uriel are inferior!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Don¡¯t call them seedy-looking!¡± (Uriel)


    Sasae-chan answers the question of Gabriel.


    ¡°That ain¡¯t the case-dasu. It be true that Uriel-dono¡¯s Golems be of simple making, but within this form that requires a minimum degree of shape, there are also individual traits that inevitably appear-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan says as she moves her gaze to the Golems made by Uriel.


    ¡°As expected of Golems made directly by a Demon Lord, the skill of the maker be showing directly in it-dasu. For example; the shoulder width!¡± (Sasae)


    She points around its shoulder.


    ¡°Its shoulders are wider than the regr Golem and it gives it a threatening look-dasu ga, however, as expected, this be the form it took after having the thought of ¡®I will defeat ya!¡¯-dasu. Of course...!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae...-sensei?


    ¡°...The build be well made and that links into it being good in physical ability-dasu. It can be said that this line of thought of Uriel-dono be directly affecting the strength of the Golems-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°W-Well, obviously. They are Golems made personally by the Demon Lord after all!¡± (Uriel)


    Looks like Uriel wasn¡¯t against that part at all.


    ¡°But everything can be bad when there be too much-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°The Golems of Uriel-dono... maybe because it took shape from yer desire to not lose, both fists have be quite big-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan says this as she directly touches the forearm of the Uriel-made Golems.


    ¡°Of course, with the logic of a hammer, when the end be bigger and heavier, the stronger the destructive power it has when hitting-dasu. However, the heavier it be, the harder it be to control also applies. More so when you make a part that be from its main body so big. It be natural that its movements would be affected-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ugh!¡± (Uriel)


    Now that she mentions it, the hands of Uriel¡¯s Golems are big enough that it would affect the bnce of the Golems.


    Even in my amateur eyes, I could notice after it was pointed out.


    Those kind of small inconsistencies are what decide the victory in a battle at times.


    ¡°It goes without saying in terms of functionality. When evaluating in terms of looks, rather than calling it a human, it would be more fitting to describe it as a monkey-dasu. It feels as if ye got too stuck in yer zeal-dasu na. In order to make a creative work, it be important to have passion, but if that passion be poured all into yer creations, the technique gets overwritten-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Shut up!!¡± (Uriel)


    Must have been a sense of opposition towards the dry evaluation of Sasae-chan, Uriel roars.


    ¡°I silently hear you out but, what are you trying to say for a while now?! The Golems are my limbs; tools of battle! Isn¡¯t it fine to not put so much spirit into each and every single one of those tools?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Even though you got angry when Mantle told you that monsters are tools?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ugh!¡± (Uriel)


    I reflexively spoke out and Uriel choked his words.


    Because, you know...I couldn¡¯t just not say anything about that.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say to others what you yourself got angry when being told that. Rather, the people of Ishtar ze ced their heart and soul for generations into the Golems that have only been hollow shells, and with that umtion over umtion, you as a Demon Lord with a heart was born. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Guh... No way... There¡¯s just no way...!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel couldn¡¯t refute it, and within that confusion of his, more strikes were sent.


    ¡°Honestly ept the advice, Uriel. Isn¡¯t this a good chance to absorb the culture of humans?¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Gabriel?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Being sportsmanlike is also part of being hot-blooded, Uriel.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Even Michael?!¡± (Uriel)


    Even hisrades were ganging up on him.


    ¡°Gngh! Gunununu!! I get it, geez. In that case, let¡¯s decide this clearly!¡± (Uriel)


    He finally snapped.


    ¡°Which Golem is better; we will decide in battle! Destroy each other, and the one that remains is the superior Golem. The perfect way to decide that no one canin about. In the first ce, we were intending to fight, and yet, why hasn¡¯t it begun yet?!¡± (Uriel)


    It is exactly as Uriel says.


    The fanfare of war has finally been sounded.


    ¡°I ept yer challenge-dasu! A battle of Golems that has never been seen before will be taking ce here! Let this victory be witnessed clearly by Mother Earth Mantle-sama!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Yes! I will clearly witness it!!¡± (Mantle)


    Even so, it still felt like we were in a festival of some sort.

 Chapter 332-334 - Tactics

    <h4>Chapter 332-334: Tactics</h4>


    Just like this, hundreds of Golems sh and a big battle began.


    A big war was unfolding right before our eyes.


    We spectators might get dragged in it, so we were watching the battle from a pretty faraway location that allowed us to see the whole picture.


    The view from there was truly a battle where you wash blood with blood...Well, the ones fighting there are Golems, so there¡¯s no blood though. In substitute, clouds of dust were made as their rocky body was broken and the location was noisy.


    The basic Golems of Uriel and Sasae-chan¡¯s refined Goddess Golems had mixed and was in a chaotic state as they destroyed each other.


    When the basic Golems destroy the head of the Goddess Golems with their fists, the Goddess Golems would sever the Basic ones with their swordhand.


    Even when they are broken and fall, new ones are continuously made from the back, so destruction with destruction ovepped without showing signs of ending.


    It is truly a battle; truly a war.


    It was clearly a different type of battle to the ones we have experienced until now.


    ¡°It is kind of...scary!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san, who had ovee several trials and tribtions from the many giant monsters she has defeated, was feeling fear from this ¡ªthis sight where Golems are being destroyed one after the other.


    ¡°Sasae is fighting in a way so that doesn¡¯t destroy the Life Blocks of the enemy Golems. The Golems of Sasae were shaped from her divine power so, as long as Sasae herself is in good shape, they cane back as many times as they want. They are destined to return to the earth when their divine power is taken away.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack was watching this with a stout heart.


    ¡°But, this just...doesn¡¯t feel right. As I thought, battles should be done one on one. Group battles don¡¯t go with my nature.¡± (Mirack)


    And she also said words that were truly fitting of a person of the Fire nation.


    On the other hand...


    ¡°The cruel battlefield, the noise of drearily resounding shes; conflicts truly make the heart of people race and stir!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis was saying some strange things.


    ¡°Why is it that I am shaken by this important war-like battle andpositions are flowing one after the other inside of me?! New songs are overflowing inside of me and are not stopping! At this rate, by the next live, I might be able to have one with all new songs!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Incredible. This is also culture, isn¡¯t it!!¡± (Gabriel)


    And Gabriel once again rides on it.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Michael)


    To finish, Michael mutters this with his arms crossed.


    ¡°I can only describe this battlefield with those words. I understand that this is too rough of a description and it doesn¡¯t capture it all. In order to grasp and feel it all, I still need to learn a lot of words and values.¡± (Michael)


    That¡¯s right.


    And then, after learning it all and being able to separate the things that are unnecessary, you will steadily take out the unnecessary parts and, in the end, you will return to those words again ¡ªLet there be hot-bloodedness.


    ¡°But the ones learning the most in this battle are the ones who are actually in it, Uriel and that hero girl. In this battle, just what will they learn and what kind of answer will they reach? I will be watching over this.¡± (Michael)


    ***


    Time passed and the state of things was slowly tilting to one side.


    Within the repetition of Basic Golems breaking and Goddess Golems breaking, the amount of times the Goddess Golems were being destroyed was slowly increasing.


    It looked as if Uriel and Sasae-chan were making new Golems one after the other, but...as I thought, there¡¯s no mistake. Uriel is slowly pushing it to his favour.


    ¡°Kukuku... What¡¯s the matter? Aren¡¯t your Golems brittle?¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Kugh...-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Even from afar, we could see that the adult Sasae-chan had a strained expression.


    ¡°This is the reality! Unrted to things like appearance and elegance; in the end, the true value of Golems is their strength! Rather than your Golems that have unnecessary things added to them, my Golems that are simply aimed at strength are stronger! That¡¯s the simple reality!¡± (Uriel)


    *Crash!


    Another Goddess Golem broke from the punch of the regr Golem.


    The same thing was urring here and there in the battlefield.


    ¡°Not good-dasu! Retreat-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Like I will let you!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel¡¯s Golems chase after the Goddess Golems that were retreating.


    Does he n on finishing it now?!


    How impatient!


    ¡°It is because you make them in the shape of a feeble woman that the Golems themselves turn out feeble. As I thought, there¡¯s no need for mour in Golems! Utility is the true worth! Unnecessary factors that would affect it negatively should all be taken away!!¡± (Uriel)


    ...That Uriel, is he holding a grudge on ornamenting because his Golems were spoken ill of before the battle?


    But this flow of things...is Uriel really the one in the advantage?


    ***


    ¡°Hey, these movements...!¡± (Celestis)


    Even within the group of spectators, someone else had noticed it as well.


    As expected, the literate Hydra Ville resident Celestis was the one.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it strange? At a nce, it looks as if Sasae-chi is the one being pushed back, but...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It is not strange, is it? The Sasae army is actually being pushed back after all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°What a fool, Mirack-chi. Your brain really only works for one on one battles?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Sasae-chan¡¯s Golem army looks as if they are retreating, but they are actually extending their formation to the sides.¡± (Haine)


    When I pointed this out, Celestis snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Right! On the other hand, Uriel¡¯s Golem army is steadily stepping forward due to him chasing after Sasae-chi¡¯s army!!¡± (Celestis)


    The formation of Sasae¡¯s army that has extended to the sides looked as if they were going to wrap Uriel¡¯s army from left and right.


    ¡°The Crescent Formation.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That Uriel! Did he get baited into a trap?!¡± (Michael)


    Looks like Michael has also noticed it ¡ªthe crafty scheme that Sasae-chan had prepared.


    ***


    ¡°What?! W-What is this?!¡± (Uriel)


    By the time Uriel himself had noticed, it was already after the fact.


    The half encirclement of Sasae¡¯s army had already been finished and it had already be a disastrous scene where Uriel¡¯s army was being beaten up.


    The breaking of the Goddess Golems were simply used to bait him into a trap.


    ¡°The fourth daughter of Sobo-chan, Sano Oba-chan, told me this-dasu. ¡®The specialty of women be pinning techniques¡¯. That ye be the strongest after ya got ¡®em down!¡± (Sasae)


    Following that advice, she acted as if she were a weak girl, and when the man has lowered his guard, you constrict them to death like a snake.


    Sasae-chan¡¯s tactic worked well.


    ¡°One of dah teachings of the earth! ¡®At first, like a maiden; in the end, like a predator¡¯-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    The Goddess Golems had already stopped their acting and had begun fighting back with all their strength.


    The half encirclement had already been finished and the Sasae army could attack from many directions, so it gave her even more of an advantage; Uriel¡¯s army who is the one taking the brunt of this was thrown into a predicament.


    ¡°Damn it! Damn it!!¡± (Uriel)


    If Uriel were to have a rtive understanding of the terrain, he could aim for the weak points of the formation created from the encirclement and escape from it by rushing one point. But, not knowing this, Uriel decided on retreating instead of pushing out of the encirclement.


    ¡°All forces, fall back! Retreat!¡± (Uriel)


    But with that, he will simply be chased after at the same speed he retreats and get one-sidedly beat up.


    He ispletely caught up in the advantage of Sasae¡¯s army.


    ¡°Damn it! That¡¯s dirty! Are you telling me you were feigning as if you were losing in order to get an advantageous position?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°¡®The lies of God are teachings, the lies of a warrior are strategies¡¯, that be what the sixth son of Sobo-chan, Saruga Oji-san, told me-dasu! Fooling and being fooled be the basics of war! Being fooled be the mistake of the fooled-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Even what Sasae-chan is saying is beginning to sound adult-like?!


    Moreover, in a not so desirable direction!


    Did Sasae-chan be a bad adult because of Mantle?!


    ¡°Fantastic! Beast! This must be the ¡®art of war¡¯ thates from the battle culture of humans, right?!¡± (Gabriel)


    It looks like Gabriel-san is getting excited, but I am not that familiar with this Demon Lord, so let¡¯s leave her alone.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t you think this might end just like this?¡± (Celestis)


    I agreed with Celestis¡¯ opinion.


    The ability of amander is shown in whether they can get out of situations like this when they have fallen in them.


    But the moment Uriel noticed that he was surrounded, he couldn¡¯t see through the weak points of the opponent¡¯s thinned formation, and threw away the option of pushing through.


    He lost the timing to turn a turnaround into a turnaround and the situation worsened.


    The more timings you miss, the harder it is to recover.


    Honestly speaking, I don¡¯t think Uriel has the intelligence and courage to deal with this situation. Then, what¡¯s left is to be washed away by the flow that Sasae-chan created.


    ¡°Demon Lord... So they are still beings that rely fully on their great amount of divine power huh.¡± (Haine)


    To think they would be so brittle the moment they are against an opponent that has a divine power that rivals theirs.


    At that moment, someone reacted to my mutter.


    ***


    ¡°Damn it! Damn iiiitt!!¡± (Uriel)


    And so, Uriel was finally beginning to look like it is no good.


    His own army had already been reduced to half of what was before and, even when he tried to add new Golems, the pace couldn¡¯t keep up.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this, crowd up and harden the defense! Resist the attacks of the enemy!!¡± (Uriel)


    A stupid decision.


    If they were to stand ground crowded, they won¡¯t be able to move properly and will have no choice but be destroyed steadily from the outside.


    Uriel has once again made a bad choice in a bad situation.


    The Goddess Golems had already be ughtering amazonesses.


    The oue of this battle was once again affected by the nature of these two.


    The actual Golems that are born from Life Blocks, as long as they have their Life Blocks, they can think on their own to a certain extent.


    On the other hand, Sasae-chan¡¯s Goddess Golems had Sasae-chan¡¯s divine power running through every piece of the Golems and are basically marites.


    In other words, Uriel¡¯s Golems are semi-automatic with their Life Blocks while Sasae-chan¡¯s Goddess Golems arepletely manual control.


    They show different advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation, but in this asion, it waspletely tilting into Uriel¡¯s disadvantage.


    It is exactly because you can leave the decision making to the Life Blocks that Uriel¡¯s burden in giving orders decreases, but with Uriel sucking this much, there¡¯s no point in reducing the burden.


    In this situation where they are cornered, the movements of each individual Golem is important, and yet, the semi-automatic Golems of Uriel can¡¯t act quickly to the situation and were in confusion as they were being attacked from different directions.


    Compared to that, Sasae-chan¡¯s Goddess Golems have to be controlled even in the smallest of details and this makes the burden in Sasae-chan as much, but that problem has already been cleared when she became a God Hero.


    In that case, all the Goddess Golems are basically the limbs of Sasae-chan. Each one of them can move as if they were living beings.


    An army that has coordination and one that doesn¡¯t. There¡¯s no need to think about which one would win.


    The basic Golems of Uriel were already just waiting to bepletely hunted down by Sasae-chan¡¯s Goddess Golems.


    If these were a battle between humans, these would be the point where they would raise the white g.


    ¡°Now that it hase to this...! Now that it hase to this...I myself will be entering the fray!¡± (Uriel)


    Oh.


    ¡°Or more like, why didn¡¯t I do so from the beginning?! My strength is higher than all the Golems I madebined! I will fight myself and dominate the enemy army!!¡± (Uriel)


    So he noticed it. There were actions he should have taken the moment his army was surrounded, but he can still do something about it.


    But there¡¯s one thing he is overlooking.


    That trump card is something that the other side also holds.


    ¡°Then, I will be yer opponent as ye wish-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel somehow managed to avoid the scythe that came from overhead.


    Adult Sasae-chan had suddenly appeared in front of Uriel.


    ¡°You! Why are you here?!¡± (Uriel)


    The positioning in the battlefield of Sasae-chan and Uriel should be one end and the other.


    As the Generals watching over the battle, they should have been at the deep parts in order to be able to properly see both armies.


    And yet, at some point in time, Sasae-chan had rushed deep into enemy territory and was right in front of the enemy General.


    ¡°The moment the half encirclement was finished, I moved around-dasu. In the climax, it needs to be a one on one battle between the Generals-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan takes stance with her earth scythe.


    With this, Uriel has beenpletely checkmated.


    Sasae-chan definitely won¡¯t withdraw her de.


    In the first ce, Sasae-chan issued this challenge with her thoughts as a resident of the Earth nation. If Uriel doesn¡¯t oppose her here, the decision of Mantle about ¡®Destroying the Demon Lords¡¯ would be correct and Uriel will be killed.


    That is the way of thinking of the Earth nation people.


    ¡°Ah...Ah...!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°If ya ain¡¯t gonna resist, I will be taking that neck of yers-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The scythe of judgment was swung.


    With this, the match to decide who is the top of the Earth between Uriel and Sasae-chan has been decided¡ª


    ¡°What are you doing, Uriel?!¡±


    And there, an unexpected interruption appeared.


    Right in the middle of Uriel and Sasae-chan, a fireball crashed and broke the ground.


    ¡°Hiih?! What-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Michael?!¡± (Uriel)


    The one who stopped thest moment was the Fire Demon Lord.


    The leader of the four Demon Lords with a big muscr body and fire wings spread.


    I thought he interrupted to save hisrade Uriel, but...


    ¡°That¡¯s pathetic, Uriel!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Hiih?!¡± (Uriel)


    He suddenly began reprimanding thatrade of his?!


    ¡°What a pathetic sight you are showing as one of the Demon Lords! Don¡¯t you have guts?! Because of you, we Demon Lords are being thought of as cowards that only rely on our strength in divine power!!¡± (Michael)


    Could it be...Michael heard what I muttered before? And because of that, he is pissed?


    ¡°Even...Even if you tell me that...! Didn¡¯t youe here to save me?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Don¡¯t delude yourself!! This is your battle, Uriel! If you don¡¯t fight on your own, it won¡¯t have meaning!! But don¡¯t forget that you are shouldering the name of all us Demon Lords!! I won¡¯t allow an unsightly defeat!! Fight with all you have!! I will be your witness!!¡± (Michael)


    What he was saying was all jumbled up, but he continued.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give up! Do your best, Uriel!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Do your best? Is that all?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What else would be needed?!¡± (Michael)


    Saying this, Michael stretches his arms horizontally and releases high ranged fire dragons.


    The direction of those burning mes was the Golem armies that were still in battle. Without a care of ally or foe, all Golems were swallowed by it; their surface was burned and, due to them being made out of earth, they ended up hardening like pots ¡ªevery single one of them.


    As expected, the divine power of a Demon Lord is incredible.


    ¡°Now, what¡¯s left are the only people that need to fight! Bring out your all and fight! Without using Golems; with your own body!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°W-Wait!¡± (Uriel)


    Even with that, Uriel-san clings onto him.


    ¡°Michael, you saw it too, right?! That God Hero is abnormal! She is on another level even whenpared to other God Heroes!¡± (Uriel)


    Well, that¡¯s true after all.


    In the first ce, a God Hero is a system where you only give a part of a God. However, in this asion, Mantle, who always goes overboard in everything she does, poured everything of her so, looking at that point alone, Sasae-chan¡¯s God Hero form is several times stronger than the others.


    Moreover, Sasae-chan and Mantle have a simr mind at the most weirdest of ces and, because of that synchronicity, the power increases by even more. Thanks to the work of the Golems, Mantle managed to get a lot more prayers than the other Gods, so that makes the power go up by even more. Because she didn¡¯t have to maintain the ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯ that Intion had forced her to due to her being thrown into a ck Hole, her use of divine power has been zero until now.


    On top of that, Sasae-chan herself has inheritedpletely the talent of a legend, but because she was young, it was supposed to raise with time, however, the God Hero transformation had released it all.


    ...


    The more I think about it, the more I end up thinking ¡®what kind of beast have we awakened¡¯.


    I even feel pity for Uriel who is being made to fight against something like that.


    ¡°It is impossible to fight her upfront and win! We should run away or attack her all at once!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Like hell I care!¡± (Michael)


    The wordyin of Uriel was blown away by the few words of Michael.


    ¡°That¡¯s pathetic, Uriel! Are you going to give up just because your opponent is strong?! From the very beginning, humans were in those same circumstances!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Even against the Demon Lords that were far superior in strength, the humans didn¡¯t surrender and fought head on! As a result, they obtained the new strength that is the God Hero form! There¡¯s no evolution for the ones that give up and turn their backs! Uriel, your decision is akin to throwing away the possibilities of monsters!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°E-Even if you tell me that...!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel was on the verge of crying.


    ¡°I also think that way, Uriel.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Even Gabriel?!¡± (Uriel)


    The Water Demon Lord had gone down there as well.


    ¡°The humans not only have strength. They also possess the wits and love to ovee difficult situations where strength is a nonfactor. Whether we monsters can obtain this or not; I think that is what will decide if we monsters can be true living beings!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°What does that have to do with this fight?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand?! This fight has our will and pride at stake! Show an unsightly disy at such a fight and you would be throwing dirt at the pride of all the Demon Lords!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°I think exactly the same.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san, Mirack, and Celestis had also joined?!


    ¡°This battle is one that one of the Gods of Creation, Mantle-sama, is watching over personally. This is a fight where you are showcasing your very meaning of existence to a God.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Your God told you that you monsters are just tools, you know?! Are you not feeling frustrated by that?! This battle is your best chance at showing the true meaning of your existence and making that God go wow!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s why there¡¯s meaning in you fighting alone. There¡¯s no one aside from you who can show her the reason of your existence! This is something that only you alone can do!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°What, even the humans?! What is it you are trying to make me do by ganging up on me?!¡± (Uriel)


    This must be a pain to the max for Uriel.


    A difficult situation, an enemy he cannot win against. It would be a lot easier to just run away.


    But...


    ¡°Everyone here has ovee that and has gotten all the way to this point.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine?!¡± (Uriel)


    Unknowingly, I had followed everyone and had arrived to where Uriel was.


    ¡°Everyone wants you to ovee that as well. They want you to stand at the same summit; in order to stand side by side. To stand as equal friends.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Friends, you say?! Friends?! What a joke. Demon Lords are simply joining forces in order to eradicate humans. Moreover, humans are the enemies!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°In order to realize this, this battle is necessary. Ovee it as well. Ovee this battle and find the answer at the other side that can¡¯t be expressed in words! And then, show it to all of us!!¡± (Haine)


    Those words became the trigger. Everyone began to speak out their share.


    ¡°Do your best, Uriel! Show your will as a Demon Lord!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°You can do it, Uriel! You can definitely do it!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Please do your best, Uriel-san!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Do your damn best already and show your guts!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Do you best~ Uriel! Do your best~!¡± (Celestis)


    Support from everyone.


    Everyone here is wishing for Uriel to ovee this.


    ¡°Do your best, Uriel! If you are one of the powers that stand at the top of the demons, show it!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Aaaaaaahhhh!! Gaaaaaahhh!! Kishaaaaa!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel broke.


    ¡°Aaaah! Geeeez!! Every damn single one of you irresponsibly telling me to do my best!! I get it already! I just have to do it, right?! I just have to bring out my all and defeat that beast woman, right?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Oooh!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    *p *p *p


    Everyone began to p together.


    The already pissed off Uriel had broke his limit in the pissed off meter.


    ¡°Y-Ya done now-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was waiting mannerdly.


    Well, that¡¯s a given. For her, this fight was already not one where the survival of humans or monsters is at stake. It is like a court where it is decided whether you are right or wrong.


    A match where the God is watching over it.


    You can¡¯t just choose right or wrong lightheartedly.


    ¡°Then, we resume the battle-dasu! But before that, Uriel-dono, I also wanna say something to ya-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°?¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Do yer best-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Shat up!!¡± (Uriel)


    Everyone is saying it, so Sasae-chan felt like saying it as well.


    That nature of going with the flow of things, maybe she really is being influenced by Mantle?

 Chapter 335-337 - Eudaimonia

    <h4>Chapter 335-337: Eudaimonia</h4>


    ¡°Oooooh!! [Wooden Punch]!!¡± (Uriel)


    The punch of Uriel sends Sasae-chan flying.


    Even if he is a coward, that¡¯s a Demon Lord for you. In terms of battle strength, he is on the world ss level.


    ¡°They have finally begun fighting in close quartersbat. I think this is the first time I see Uriel fighting personally.¡± (Gabriel)


    Until now, he has been fighting by using Slimes or Golems and it has always been with something in between after all.


    This is also part of why he is called a coward Demon Lord.


    ¡°But once it is pushed to a close quarters fight, Uriel is strong.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°The Earth element is originally the most suited for closebat. By taking effect on the solids, they can adjust its hardness, weight, and sharpness as they wish with earth divine power. That power shows its most effectivity in close range.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But the same goes for Sasae-chi.¡± (Celestis)


    More so because Sasae-chan also has the technique. She has learned the use of her big scythe from her Oba-san and Yoneko-san.


    Compared to that, Uriel had recently gained intelligence and, no matter how you think about it, he doesn¡¯t have the know-hows.


    In terms of technique, the difference is high.


    He has no choice but to fill that difference with something.


    ¡°Damn it! Damn it!! What¡¯s with this, what¡¯s with this?! Everyone saying things that don¡¯t make sense!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel¡¯s desperate state was already reaching new heights.


    By increasing the height of his own wooden body by a crazy extent, he has somehow managed to oppose Sasae-chan.


    ¡°I...! I simply wanted to eradicate the humans! Eradicate the humans and have the monsters take the position of rulers that the humans held! That¡¯s all it was for this battle!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel cried out as he lets out a barrage of punches -while spitting his own barrage of ¡®this is not how it was supposed to go¡¯.


    ¡°And yet, why do I have to pass through this painful experience?! Why do I have to pass through this scary experience?! I am a Demon Lord, you know?! The strongest existence in the surface world! Why is it that this position is being threatened?! No, in the first ce, why is it that I have begun to feel things like fear and pain?!¡± (Uriel)


    Why do you feel fear, why do you feel pain.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have even thought about it in the past...! The kinfolk that were born before me from my mother as well; they didn¡¯t feel things like fear or pain. And yet...!¡± (Uriel)


    That¡¯s because the very thought of ¡®thinking¡¯ was alien for them after all.


    No matter the thought or emotion, if you don¡¯t have the basis of ¡®feeling¡¯, they simply can¡¯t exist.


    The Demon Lord is feeling danger to his life and is desperately fighting against it as he suffers because he now holds a heart that can feel.


    It is because he has be a living being that holds a heart.


    ¡°How terrible! Were we born in this world to feel such things?! Were we born to learn about pain and harshness?! Meeting such a strong opponent was in order to experience pain?!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel extents several tens of roots, but even when he swings them around like a club or a whip, it was all cut to pieces by Sasae-chan¡¯s scythe.


    When a living being feels danger towards their life, they feel fear towards it. The Demon Lord must be the same.


    ¡°If I am to pass through such a painful experience...! It would have been better to not have had a life from the very beginning! That way, there would be no need for me to think or feel!¡± (Uriel)


    Yes, you wouldn¡¯t feel all that.


    ¡°Thinking or feeling...! If I didn¡¯t have those, I wouldn¡¯t be feeling this painful experience myself! My very self wouldn¡¯t be here! My existence itself wouldn¡¯t have been present! Thinking is...! The same as existing?¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°I think, therefore I am-dasu ka.¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan says this without stopping swinging her scythe.


    ¡°The second son of Sobo-chan, Reushi-ojichan, said that-dasu. He died from an illnessst year though-dasu ga. He be a philosophical guy to the bitter end-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan¡¯s rtives are truly varied.


    ¡°I also hate tough things-dasu. Things like pain and things that ya don¡¯t like, it wouldn¡¯t be bad fer ¡®em ta be resolved without feeling those kind of things-dasu. But no matter how harsh it be, if ye were to lose the very ability ta feel, that would be the saddest-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Right... That¡¯s true! I am already a Demon Lord. I ended up having a heart...! Giving up my heart now would definitely be the most painful and scariest of all!!¡± (Uriel)


    The fighting had temporarily stopped.


    Uriel looked down at his wooden body as if confirming its state.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want that. No matter how painful and scary the future is, I definitely don¡¯t want to forsake my heart.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Same here-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Why did I turn into something like this? Being tormented by pain and fear. Would it have been better to not be born at all? No, that¡¯s not it! There¡¯s no way that¡¯s it!¡± (Uriel)


    No matter what pain and how harsh of a life you have, you can¡¯t just call your birth a mistake.


    That same feeling is swirling inside of Uriel.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand! There¡¯s no logical sense to this!¡± (Uriel)


    Contradictions.


    For the people that can only speak from logic, contradictions are just painful.


    The current Uriel is...the Demon Lord Uriel is trying to ovee this.


    By crossing over a problem that can¡¯t be solved by logic, he will reach at what¡¯s beyond it.


    ¡°Who was it?! Who was it that birthed me in this way?! Into something that just doesn¡¯t make sense, into something that can¡¯t be exined! Who was it?! Who was the one that created me?!¡± (Uriel)


    At that moment, Uriel¡¯s eyes stopped at one ce.


    The current opponent of his, Sasae-chan.


    No, the one he is looking at is the existence that¡¯s inside of Sasae-chan herself. The God that is currently providing power to Sasae-chan.


    ¡°I see... It was you...¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°...?¡±


    ¡°You certainly did say it.¡± (Uriel)


    That monsters were created by the Gods.


    That they were created to serve as the tools of the Gods.


    Uriel must have remembered those words clearly just now.


    ¡°You created us...¡± (Uriel)


    And the Earth Demon Lord Uriel speaks from the heart.


    ¡°...Thank you very much.¡± (Uriel)


    Why is he thanking her?


    It is true that the one who created the monsters -especially the monster that gave birth to Uriel- was Mantle, but that was something far in the past.


    Monsters obtaining self-consciousness was something they obtained on their own. Moreover, the Gods were looking at monsters solely as tools.


    In the past, I fought the other Gods as the Dark God Entropy because of their treatment towards humans ¨Ceven whenpared to that, the standing of the monsters must have been harsh.


    Even with that, Uriel gave his gratitude.


    By simply looking at the part that ¡®they have created us¡¯.


    ¡°Oh my~!¡±


    A fluffy voice resonates.


    ¡°Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my~~!!¡±


    That voice came from the adult Sasae-chan, but it was definitely different from Sasae-chan¡¯s usual way of speaking.


    ¡°Thank you, he said! Thank you, he said!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Mantle-sama?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°This is the first time I have been told that!!¡± (Mantle)


    For some reason, Mantle is happy to an incredible extent.


    ¡°I have always always done a lot of things in order to be of use to the human-sans. But it never went as I wanted, failed, get scolded by Intion-san, and also get erased by Entropy-san...¡± (Mantle)


    That is the undeniable truth.


    ¡°But being thanked by the monster-san must mean that I have been of use to the monster-sans, right?! Even if I wasn¡¯t of use to the human-sans, I can be of use to the monster-sans!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Eh? No, that¡¯s not...!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Understood. As per the request of the monster-sans, I will eradicate the human-sans!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Wait, wait, wait!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Mantle is deciding on things way too easily as always.


    Changing sides on a single thanks?!


    ¡°Wait-dasu yo, Mantle-sama! We humans have also been giving our thanks to Mantle-sama everyday-dasu! We give our thanks from morning to night-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ara, really?¡± (Mantle)


    We also thankful fer Mantle-sama creating us-dasu shi, and we also be grateful fer blessing us everyday-dasu! I also be grateful that ya made me into a God Hero-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ara ara ara, the human-sans were also this grateful?! They didn¡¯t tell me directly, so I didn¡¯t notice!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°We always be giving prayers of gratitude everyday-dasu yo!! Also, I gave ya my thanks directly not that long ago-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°At that time, what you said was ¡®I believe in you¡¯...¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°It basically be the same-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    By the way, this conversation ising from Sasae-chan and Mantle who is possessing Sasae-chan, so two people are speaking from the same mouth, making it quite the surreal spectacle.


    ¡°I-Is that so?! Then, I was properly being of use to the human-sans?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Not only properly, ya were doing a splentacr job-dasu yo!! Mantle-sama be the best God-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Oh my, oh my, oh my!!¡± (Mantle)


    I could tell the happiness of Mantle even from here.


    ¡°I have never been told something like that since the Genesis Era!! I was of use to the human-sans huh! I managed to stay as an useful God, right?!¡± (Mantle)


    She is truly happy.


    It is exactly because she is a God that can work that hard for the sake of others that she can be easily influenced in her everyday.


    At any rate, it looks like Mantle¡¯s desire of being useful for someone has finally been fulfilled after 1,600 years.


    ¡°Understood! For the sake of the human-sans that believe in me, I will eradicate the monster-sans that are trying to eradicate the human-sans!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Wait, wait, wait?!¡± (Uriel)


    This time, Uriel was the one agitated.


    ¡°That¡¯s troubling! We can¡¯t let go of the meaning we were born! We are also grateful for having been created by you!! Isn¡¯t that what I said before?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Ara ara, that¡¯s true.¡± (Mantle)


    Two hard to coexist truths were shing inside of Mantle.


    ¡°Ara? Ara? ...What do I do here? This is troubling. What should I do?¡± (Mantle)


    If she grants the wish of the monsters that have shown their gratitude to her, she would have to eradicate the humans; for the sake of the humans that worship her, she has to eradicate the monsters that threaten the humans.


    For Mantle who has only made incredibly simple decisions until now, this is a contradiction that she definitely won¡¯t be able to find an answer to.


    ¡°What do I do, what should I do?! Eradicate the monsters for the sake of humans? Eradicate the humans for the sake of monsters? ...Ah! Eradicate them both?!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°¡°No no no no no!!¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!!¡±


    It was close to jumping into a catastrophic conclusion, so the two of them stopped her.


    ...This woman has a tendency of reaching destructive conclusions all the time.


    ¡°That¡¯s no good, God-sama! Don¡¯t reach such close-minded conclusions! Deliberate and discuss about it!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°That¡¯s right-dasu yo! Also, that matter already has a conclusion-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Eh?


    ¡°I already said it-dasu! Which one is right or wrong be decided by who dies-dasu! The one who survives be the one in the right-dasu! And we have been having a match until now-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°But...neither of us has died?¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel asks as if confused.


    Looks like he couldn¡¯t keep up the pace anymore and would scream at any moment now.


    ¡°One must die in order to reach a conclusion? You won¡¯t say we are gonna be fighting again, right?!¡± (Uriel)


    And there goes the coward.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say that-dasu. This match has already ended-dasu. And the result has already been shown-dasu. Both sides didn¡¯t die. Both sides survived-dasu. That means...¡± (Sasae)


    The judgment was made.


    ¡°We both be right-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Both are in the right? Oh my, oh my!¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle lets out a voice as if she had been enlightened.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think of that! I simply thought that if one is good, the other one should be bad!!¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle has always been separating everything in ck and white since 1,600 years ago.


    ¡°By the way, I go by the word of ¡®justice wins, evil dies¡¯-dasu! That be why, whether it be good or bad be decided by whether ya die or not-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ...As I said before, the way the Earth nation people think is scary.


    ¡°I have already shed des and judged-dasu! We both survived-dasu! And so, the judgment of ¡®both being right¡¯ be given-dasu! That be the style of the Earth Church-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Hey, Gabriel... Wouldn¡¯t it be better for you people to eradicate the humans? Like, the Earth nation might need a bit of cleansing, if you catch my drift.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°E~h?¡± (Gabriel)


    Celestis and Gabriel were whispering to each other, but we outsiders were respecting the radical conversation that was urring.


    ¡°Uhm then, what should I do? If I don¡¯t eradicate either the humans or monsters, who should I eradicate?¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°Ya don¡¯t have ta eradicate anyone-dasu! Just as Karen-oneechan says, how about aiming fer coexistence-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    I shivered at Mantle who was unable to get away from the thought of eradicating, and I also ended up shivering at the strength of will of Sasae-chan in refuting her own God.


    ¡°Just as Karen-oneechan and the others said, the proposal of humans coexisting with monsters-dasu! But! If it be about coexisting with monsters, our Earth Church be the one with most experience-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Oh my, that¡¯s true!¡± (Mantle)


    They have been on friendly terms with the Golems for a century after all.


    ¡°Our Ishtar ze having an inseparable connection with Golems bemon knowledge-dasu! Humans and Golems have always been getting along with each other-dasu! This also be thanks to Mantle-sama-dasu! Thank ya very much-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ara ara, if you thank me that much, I am going to blush!!¡± (Mantle)


    Being poured by gratitude, Mantle was at cloud nine.


    ¡°But! That rtionship had been thrown into chaos because of Great Pir-sama¡¯s rampage-dasu! That truly be a regret-dasu!! Who was the one that threw cold water ta our rtionship with the Golems?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ugu!¡± (Mantle)


    Sasae-chan twists the knife naturally at her own God.


    ¡°On top of that! After seeing how Uriel-dono created Life Blocks an idea shed-dasu! A nice idea-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°A nice idea?!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    The spectators were also confused.


    ¡°In this times when Great Pir-sama¡¯s gone and the Golems are not born anymore, Uriel-dono can go to Ishtar ze and make Golems-dasu! It will be theing of another era of prosperity-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    What?!


    ¡°Oh my, oh my! That¡¯s truly a nice idea!!¡± (Mantle)


    ¡°No, but that¡¯s...!¡±


    It is true that coexisting is good, but isn¡¯t this going a bit too far right off the bat?!


    ...No, that¡¯s exactly why this can only be done because the Earth Church has been coexisting with Golems for a hundred years, but...even with that...!


    ¡°The conversation be wrapped-dasu! Now, Uriel-dono! I want ya toe to our capital, Ishtar ze, right now-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°No... what¡¯s this about the conversation being wrapped up? I am still in the stage where I am shocked by the development though!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel was surprised all the way.


    But Sasae-chan and Mantle aren¡¯t kind-hearted enough to y along with the other party¡¯s surprise.


    ¡°Sobo-chan be bringing techniques from the outside ta fill in the gaps of the Golem! But it looks like we need another change of policies-dasu! We gotta go back immediately and have a meeting-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?! Eh?! Eh?! What are you tying me for?!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel is restrained while in confusion.


    Sasae-chan had alchemized a rope or more like a wire to tie Uriel with.


    While at it, she retrieved the Life Blocks of the Golems that had been destroyed and puts them into a bag that she had alchemized.


    ¡°Well then, Karen-oneechan! Mirack-oneechan! Celestis-oneechan! And the others!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Y-Yes?!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Being called, it took our all to respond.


    ¡°It been a long time since west met, but I will be taking mah leave for this urgent business-dasu! I wanna show this hooked fish to Sobo-chan as soon as possible-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°By hooked fish, are you talking about me?!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel, who looked as if he were a fish caught in a, was bellowing.


    ¡°Well then, bye bye-dasu! I¡¯m gonna meet ya guys in the near future and give ya a report of the current state-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I will also go with you! I am shining the most right now in all this 1,600 years!! I am truly d to be a God!!¡± (Mantle)


    The excitement of Sasae-chan and Mantle werepletely synchronizing!!


    Are these two okay? Can they properly separateter?!


    ¡°Gyaaaa!! Wait! Wait!! I have not said a single word about going with you!! Take this off! Release me from this!! At least stop dragging me as you go! My bark is tearing off as it scrapes the ground! Gyaaaa!! Are you actually nning on dragging me all the way like this to Ishtar ze?! By the time we arrive, I will only be left with my legs!! Seriously, wait! I said wait!! Ugyaaa!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel¡¯s cries of agony were disappearing in the horizon together with his figure.


    ¡°Uwa~~!!¡± (Uriel)


    Left there, we at least gave our condolences to Uriel as we let out a sigh.

 Chapter 338-340 - Towards a new era

    <h4>Chapter 338-340: Towards a new era</h4>


    It had ended up in a result that I wouldn¡¯t have even thought.


    The behaviour of Mantle, that we Gods didn¡¯t have the ability to correct, was corrected by the human Sasae-chan.


    It was unbelievably impossible to manage with logic, but that¡¯s probably why she managed to change that Mantle.


    I may have been reminded of the greatness of humans.


    Well, leaving that aside, we all were left in the ins after Sasae-chan, Mantle, and Uriel left, and had no choice but to space out.


    ¡°In the end, we didn¡¯t do anything!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We just left Sasae to rampage as she wanted after all. She came like a storm and left like a storm!!¡± (Mirack)


    Celestis and Mirack were definitely not characters of dim presence, and yet, Sasae-chan hadpletely taken the spotlight.


    Sasae-chan¡¯s fearsomeness gets even more fearsome the more I think about it.


    ¡°......Let¡¯s return as well.¡± (Michael)


    Is what Michael said.


    ¡°As we go by in the fights with the humans, it feels as if we destroy one wall at a time. The battle of Uriel also felt as if we had gone through another wall and had advanced a step forward.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Right... Then, the next thing we should do is to progress onto what¡¯s after that broken wall.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel says agreeing.


    ¡°Even if we are to learn from the humans and live together with them, we first have to check the thoughts of Lucifer-sama. And so, we will return to the castle.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°? You have a ce that¡¯s like the base of the Demon Lords?¡± (Haine)


    I pursue the subject. The big hand of Michael that felt like a shield stopped me.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that. Just like how we abide to the moral code towards you people, we also have a moral code towards Lucifer-sama.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°If we were to let you people into Lucifer-sama¡¯s ce when he is still in his sleep without his permission, we won¡¯t be able to regain his trust ever again. If you want to avoid battle, this oue wouldn¡¯t be desirable, right?¡± (Michael)


    That¡¯s true.


    To think the Demon Lords would be reprimanding me for my manners!


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave things to Michael-san and the others.¡± (Karen)


    Looks like Karen also agrees with the Demon Lords.


    ¡°If we want to push the coexistence, we have to trust in the other party or nothing would begin. This is where we trust in the Demon Lords and wait. Just like how Sasae-chan did. Let¡¯s try to straightforwardly trust!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I think the ¡®trust¡¯ of Sasae-chi has pierced through being aggressive though!¡± (Celestis)


    The opinion of Celestis has a point, but Karen-san¡¯s opinion also has a point.


    ¡°...Understood. Demon Lords...¡± (Haine)


    I face the tall Michael.


    ¡°The next time we meet, it will not be as enemies, but as friends.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Michael)


    The first time we saw each other, I didn¡¯t think things would turn out like this.


    What kind of conflicts urred in my absence?


    As I see off Michael and Gabriel who were flying off, we couldn¡¯t help but feel happy at the future that wasing.


    ****


    After that, it was all taking care of the aftermath.


    The Muspelheim, Hydra Ville, and Ishtar ze incidents that were brought by the Demon Lords were all wrapped up as a series of events, but all of them ended with low damage, so the whole world sighed in relief.


    The aforementioned cities will need to clean up after those incidents, but what¡¯s important are the lives.


    The material damages can be fixed as much as required. It looks like all cities were in high motivation.


    Within all that, Karen-san, me, and the parties rted to the Light Church decided on returning to Apollon City for now.


    Sasae-chan had dragged Uriel to Ishtar ze and Mirack had returned to Muspelheim to reorganize the Fire Militant corps.


    Since Celestis was already at Hydra Ville, she had resumed helping on the jobs that had stagnated.


    The Light Church was the only one who didn¡¯t get a direct attack from the Demon Lords, so we asked if there was anything to help in, but they told us that we had helped plenty enough and kindly refused.


    ¡°We can¡¯t have the hero be absent for so long, so return to your homnd already¡±, is what they told us.


    It is true that they are being considerate.


    At any rate, my flying machine had ran through Ishtar ze all the way to Hydra Ville without any breaks and at full speed, so it required aplete overhaul at its manufacturer.


    Doraha was finally in a state where she could stand from bed, but she wasn¡¯t in perfect shape yet, so we decided on having a slow return by ethereal train.


    Karen-san, Doraha, and I...


    ***


    The scenery that can be seen outside the window of the train was a different vour from that of the flying machine.


    The regr method of transportation when moving from one country to another are these ethereal trains.


    It was finally possible for us to take it easy and use this regr method of transportation to return to the Light capital.


    ¡°Doraha-san, it looks like they are selling a variety of things in the train, so how about buying something to eat?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-sama, this refrigerated orange thing has captured my heart! Also, this celebratory key holder is worth of notice!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°No, as I said, something to eat...!¡± (Karen)


    I thought Doraha was slightly colder before, but right now, she is strangely hype, maybe because she is not used to a train, or it might be because she had received some sort of change in the time she was in Muspelheim and Hydra Ville.


    Looks like all humans are showing growth in ces the Gods don¡¯t know of.Karen-san, Doraha, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and even the Demon Lords.


    That¡¯s why humans are great, and that¡¯s why I went so far as to fight the other Gods to protect that possibility.


    And then, even those Gods had learned about the greatness of the humans with time- without the need of teaching them- and the world was beginning to gather into one.


    This was brought by the strength of the humans, and they have grown to the point where they can ovee their problems by themselves.


    It has reached a point where it might be unnecessary for Gods to help humans anymore.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this fun, Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san offers me a refrigerated orange as she says this.


    ¡°It is nice to take it easy and be shook by the train like this.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°True.¡± (Haine)


    The fight with the Demon Lords that had the fate of humanity at stake feels as if it might end up peacefully if it continues like this.


    This factor made my heart even calmer.


    ¡°By the way, talking about fun...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Your outing with Yorishiro-sama was fun as well?¡± (Karen)


    ...


    Where did the calming trip go?


    My mentality had gone from zero to code red.


    ¡°No well...you see, it is kind of like a top secret mission. It cannot be disclosed...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is something you can¡¯t even tell a hero? I am truly interested in that.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san stands up from her seat and sits by my side, making a heavy sound as she does.


    The seats of the train were spacious enough for two people to sit in, and since I am at the window side and Karen-san is sitting by my side, I am now cornered?!


    ¡°There¡¯s still a lot before reaching Apollon City. Let¡¯s enjoy the view from the train as we take our time talking...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san! If you get so close to me, I will be crushed between Karen-san and the wall, or more like, your soft thigh and arm are pushing against me! At any rate, you are a bit too close forfort!¡± (Haine)


    I had no choice but to do my best in fixing the mood of Karen-san that had been neglected for a long time.


    ¡°Karen-sama! I want to try out this thing called train boxed lunch!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s try out the boxed lunch. Let¡¯s buy all the types and eat them. Haine-san, money.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Haine)


    After bringing a close to the incident at Ishtar ze and Hydra Ville, we were in the middle of returning to Apollon City.


    I had met up with Karen-san due to various circumstances, fought together, and after oveing that, we managed to return safely.


    And so, we are currently at the shaking ethereal-powered train and enjoying our way back...or at least, that¡¯s how it was supposed to be.


    ¡°And you see, Celestis-chan was terrible, you know?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I see...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°She said that I ¡®think with my womb¡¯, and I was also made to grab a slimy lizard and she didn¡¯t save me from that! Ah, but when she faced the God Demon Lord, Celestis-chan was incredibly cool! I learned how incredible it was to love!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I see...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Mirack-chan was the first one to fight a Demon Lord-san, so it could be said that the one who opened up all possibilities was Mirack-chan! I could only be a spectator at the end of that battle, but the punching battle between her and Michael-san was truly awesome!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I see.....¡± (Haine)


    And so, that¡¯s how time passed with the nonstop talking of Karen-san.


    Since the time I left Apollon City to bring back Mantle, we have been apart.


    We haven¡¯t been separated this long since we met.


    It means that a lot has umted inside of Karen-san huh.


    Because she couldn¡¯t be together with me?


    ...That¡¯s the reason why stress umted?


    ¡°Ah~, if Haine-san were together with us, you could have witnessed it all personally~. You could have witnessed these big events that would change history together with me. Ah~ ah~.¡± (Karen)


    It really is not me being over-conscious.


    Karen-san was clearly way too stressed after being separated from me.


    ¡°Uhm...Karen-san...¡± (Haine)


    I said this while being incredibly careful.


    ¡°...I am sorry.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why? Why are you apologizing? Haine-san was absent from Apollon City because you had important business that had to do with saving the world, right? Alone with Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Alone...with Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Karen)


    ...


    No, to put it more urately, it was with Shiva as well, so it wasn¡¯t as if I was alone with her, but saying that will only sound like a bad excuse and it might be like throwing oil to the fire.


    In the first ce, if I were to tell her that I went with Yorishiro and Shiva to revive the Mother Earth God, I would have to reveal my identity as the incarnation of the Dark God Entropy, so I can¡¯t just speak about everything.


    I still want to continue enjoying a normal human life, if that¡¯s what my current life can be called.


    What should I do to get her in a better mood?!


    ¡°Hah...It is fine.¡± (Karen)


    Looking at me, Karen-san lets out a big sigh.


    ¡°If you make such a troubled face, I won¡¯t be able to force it onto you anymore. I love Haine-san a lot and I don¡¯t want to be hated by Haine-san after all.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I see...¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san had be a girl that can say things clearly like this.


    ¡°I have known since way back that Haine-san is riddled in mysteries, so there¡¯s no point in pursuing it now. I love Haine-san, so I will trust in Haine-san even in the parts that I don¡¯t know of. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡± (Karen)


    The decisiveness in Karen-san¡¯s voice made even me feel overwhelmed by it.


    We have been separated for quite a bittely. There¡¯s Mirack¡¯s fierce battle, the big love of Celestis, and the foolishness of Sasae-chan; Karen-san must have had some sort of influence in all of those.


    She herself has reached the God Hero form, and in the time I wasn¡¯t with her, she has grown remarkably.


    I could ept that open-heartedness of Karen-san.


    ¡°...I am truly sorry, Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Geez~.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Those are not the words I want to hear from Haine-san. Please learn to pick up those kind of things.¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says as she puffs her cheeks.


    Rather than saying she is angry, it is more like she is sulking.


    ...


    Okay, let¡¯s say it.


    ¡°No matter what happens, I will never hate Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Passing grade.¡± (Karen)


    The expression of Karen-san has softened for a bit!


    ...No, she is blushing?!


    ¡°I actually wanted you to clearly say that you ¡®loved¡¯ me, but that modesty is also a charming point of Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, Karen-san moved closer to me, her body sticking to mine.


    Every soft part of hers was making contact with me!


    ¡°Ah... I have be surprisingly bolder than before. But it can¡¯t be helped. It is just the two of us here after all!!¡± (Karen)


    Right!


    Until now, we have normally been together with Mirack or Yorishiro, so being just the two of us is pretty unusual!


    ¡°But Haine-san was alone with Yorishiro-sama just recently, so it would be unfair if I didn¡¯t have my quality time as well. It is a short while until we arrive at Apollon City, but I will be properly enjoying our alone time.¡± (Karen)


    Shiva was with us at that time though...or more like, woah! Even her nice scent was close enough that I could pick it up!!


    This is bad. My sanity will be melted away!


    Train travelling is pretty nice. Alone time in the train!


    ¡°Karen-sama, Haine-sama.¡±


    No, we are not alone.


    Doraha was absent from her seat for a bit, but she had returned now.


    ¡°Wee back, Doraha-san. Was there any boxed lunch that seemed good?¡± (Karen)


    Maybe because a third party had arrived, Karen-san regained her sanity as well and a small space had opened between her and me.


    A really small space.


    ¡°Yes! Buying inside the train within the time limit of when the train is still running made me excited. I was scared of taking time in choosing, so in the end, I bought one of everything!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°That price ising directly from my pocket though!¡± (Haine)


    I am sending half of my pay to my family, so this is actually pretty painful!


    ¡°Train boxed lunches are pretty good, aren¡¯t they! The ones I ate before were incredibly delicious, so I want to eat more train boxed lunches! I want boxed lunches!!¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Right. You want boxed lunches, right! You rarely get the chance, so enjoy boxed lunches to your heart¡¯s content!¡± (Karen) <Ekiben is a boxed lunch bought in trains, but it can also refer to a sex position.>


    Stop it!


    I don¡¯t understand, but it feels as if you are saying a problematic statement there, so please stop!


    ¡°Eh? But Doraha-san, for someone who bought all the types, you took quite a bit of time. It took so long that I thought you had gotten lost.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The buying itself finished quickly, but I was called out by someone after that. It was apparently from a member of a branch Light Church at the previous train stop.¡± (Doraha)


    The train had already resumed movement and had left that train stop not that long ago.


    ¡°I received a message from that person. It is apparently an urgent order from Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    Urgent order from Yorishiro?


    What in the world happened?


    Yorishiro is the Light Founder. She has plenty enough authority to order Karen-san and I who are affiliated to the Light Church.


    But at this time, she is giving us an urgent order? I don¡¯t know what situation would warrant being urgent.


    While I was confused, the one at my side...


    ¡°Doraha-san, to think you not only were able to do an errand on your own, but could also properly respond to a stranger that called out to you...! I am moved!¡± (Karen)


    For some reason, Karen-san is getting emotional?


    Uhm...it is true that Doraha-san¡¯s birthce is special and, in the time she was brought back, she was basically a child mentally, but...


    ¡°She is not that young, you know. Aren¡¯t you overblowing it with just shopping and responding to a stranger?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san doesn¡¯t know, that¡¯s why you can say something like that!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    I was scolded?!


    ¡°Do you know how serious her dislike of strangers was?! ...I am relieved with just the simple fact that she hasn¡¯t high kicked someone to the ceiling! It makes me sigh in relief!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I-Is that so?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In the first ce, Haine-san, you are one of the people that found Doraha-san together with Yorishiro-sama and I! Your consideration iscking! That¡¯s why you end up missing the small growths of Doraha-san! Doraha-san is also growing everyday! Moreover, she is a girl, so you have to pay proper attention and praise her at the right times!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I am sorry!!¡± (Haine)


    For some reason, I havetely been getting scolded as if I were a father that doesn¡¯t know how to raise a child?!


    Moreover, by a different girl every time!


    The conversation derailed!


    What about the urgent message of Yorishiro?! Bring the train back in track!


    ¡°A person of the branch church had given me a telegram.¡± (Doraha)


    Is what Doraha says as she gives me a single piece of paper.


    I open these folded paper and, even though the paper itself was rough, the beautiful writing that showed the grace of Yorishiro could be seen in it.


    The contents of it are...


    ¡®Karen-sama, Haine-sama,


    I have received notice of your achievements in the many nations. Having the name of two precious people of mine resonate through the nations is something that makes me incredibly proud.¡¯


    ¡°...For a telegram, this is quite the leisure writing here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s just how Yorishiro-sama is after all.¡± (Karen)


    True.


    The only one capable of crumbling that pace of hers would be someone like Karen-san.


    Let¡¯s continue reading.


    ¡®Taking into consideration that there¡¯s no dy in ethereal transmissions, ording to the information from the other Churches in a favorable rtionship with the Light Church, from the four Demon Lords, three are positive at the prospect of coexisting with humans.


    It is a hard to believe report, but if it is made possible, it would be a truly joyous situation.


    We, the Light Church, are going to join this development and are on the intent of walking this path together.¡¯


    ¡°...Well, this is indeed a development that would be hard to imagine when we first met the Demon Lords after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This is all thanks to Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and Sasae-chan doing their best! Everyone not only protected the world, they also changed it!¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says in excitement.


    ...There were truly a series of events that were hard to believe.


    Now that I think about it, what is that Uriel doing right now?


    Did he safely go back?


    ...Let¡¯s just continue reading.


    ¡®Now then, the thing that¡¯s of concern now is the Wind nation.¡¯


    Fumu.


    The Wind nation huh.


    ¡®From the four Demon Lords, the Water, Earth, and Fire Demon Lord have calmed their hostility towards humans, so the remaining one is the Wind Demon Lord.


    His name being Raphael.


    His whereabouts are currently unknown and it is definitely not something we can take in a positive light.


    On top of that, Karen-san, Mirack-san, Celestis-san, and Sasae-san have achieved God Hero form, so the remaining one is the wind hero, Hyue-san.


    If she manages to be a God Hero, the five God Heroes will be gathered.¡¯


    True.


    Since the Wind Founder Shiva is cooperative, we didn¡¯t pay as much attention to it as other heroes.


    Moreso with Shiva being the incarnation of the Wind God Quasar.


    If he wanted to, he would be able to make Hyue into a God Hero.


    Thinking in this way, we prioritized the fire, water, and earth that felt like they would be a lot more troublesome and left wind forter.


    ¡®I have a presentiment that the next incident will happen at the Wind Church.


    And so, Karen-san, Haine-san, and Doraha; about your current return in train to Apollon City, please change your destination and head to Rudras Metropolis.¡¯


    ¡°So this is the actual matter at hand huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The details of the urgent order.¡± (Karen)


    ¡®Rudras Metropolis is a moving city, but the current location is urately being notified to the other Churches.


    Haine-san and the others should be able to arrive soon to their current location after exiting at the next stop and changing trains.


    We have received the permission of the Wind Founder Shiva, so you will be staying for a while in Rudras Metropolis and get ready for any sort of abnormal situation.


    Best regards,


    Light Founder, Yorishiro¡¯


    I see.


    So that¡¯s why she send a telegram at the previous stop huh.


    But ¡®get ready for any sort of abnormal situation¡¯? That¡¯s quite the vague order.


    ¡°Haine-san, let¡¯s go.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was already resolute.


    ¡°The Demon Lords are all acting. After three of the four acted, I don¡¯t think the remaining one will not be doing anything.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Meaning that the presentiment of Yorishiro might actually happen.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I haven¡¯t met Hyue-chan in a while, so there¡¯s still worth in going there to at least check how she is doing!¡± (Karen)


    So the next incident will ur in the Wind nation huh.


    It is true that this does feel possible. The Light capital already has Yorishiro there, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems in being absent for a bit more.


    In that case, let¡¯s go to the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis.


    ¡®P.S¡¯


    Hm?


    ¡®To Karen-san.


    I am truly sorry for separating you from Haine-san for so long.


    Please consider this mission as an apology.¡¯


    Hmmm?


    ¡®Leave Apollon City to me and, this time, you enjoy your alone time with Haine-san.


    I will also leave Doraha-san in your care.


    I am looking forward to your stories when you return. I will be waiting at our love nest.¡¯


    The moment I read that, Karen-san was shedding tears of gratitude.


    ¡°As expected of Yorishiro-sama! As expected of my Founder! I will follow Yorishiro-sama for the rest of my life!!¡± (Karen)


    ...Was this actually Yorishiro¡¯s main reason of changing our destination?

 Chapter 341-343 - Spring Breeze, so to speak

    <h4>Chapter 341-343: Spring Breeze, so to speak</h4>


    And so, like this, we changed destinations and decided on heading to Rudras Metropolis.


    Rudras Metropolis is an unusual city that¡¯s riding on top of a giant ethereal transportation device. The trait of it is that it is always in motion.


    That¡¯s why it is extremely difficult to grasp its location and it is normally referred to as the Mirage Land; an existence shrouded in mystery.


    But in the current times where the Churches are having a good rtionship, Rudras Metropolis has been sending wireless transmissions and telling the others of its location themselves, so it is decently possible to visit them now.


    Karen-san and I have arrived close to the city, and after travelling by foot for a day, we should be able to arrive. The Mirage Land was already at sight.


    Well, there¡¯s still an inspection of sorts before entering the city, but we have obtained permission from the highest authority of the Wind Church, so we can pass just by having our faces recognized.


    We could enter normally.


    The Wind city, how long has it been.


    The first time I arrived here was when the Five Founders¡¯ Conference was opened, and the next time was in the heroes match.


    This would be the third visit.


    Moreover, it has changed a lot in atmosphere since the second visit... it felt festive.


    ***


    ¡°¡°Wee to Rudras Metropolis!!¡±¡±


    That¡¯s the kind of weing we received the moment we entered.


    That¡¯s not all.


    The cityscape of Rudras Metropolis is the very definition of cheerful.


    The hanging boards decorating the buildings, the balloons rising here and there, there were flowers decorating the stores without exception, and all the girls that were at the streets were saying ¡®are you going to be participating in the martial arts tournament?¡¯, which made us want to question it.


    ¡°...What in the world is with thismotion?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and I were dumbstruck by the weird state of the city.


    ¡°...From what I remember, Rudras Metropolis was a lot more calm. I remember it giving out a bloodthirsty atmosphere.¡± (Haine)


    My confusion didn¡¯t lose to hers.


    Maybe because Rudras Metropolis is standing on top of a moving object, the feeling of being artificial and cold was oozing out from the whole ce, and I have memories of the people in this nation not showing themselves much.


    The Wind Church was thorough in their secretive policy for many centuries.


    As if showing off this stiffness, the first time I came to Rudras Metropolis, it felt like a cold gale of a city.


    And yet, now...


    ¡°Now it feels like a spring breeze...¡± (Haine)


    The people are cheerful and warm; the cityscape is cheerful and showy; I can¡¯t think of this ce as the same city I visited before.


    Just what in the world happened in the time between when we left Rudras Metropolis thest time until now?!


    ¡°...Haine-san, please look at that!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san noticed something and points at it.


    When I follow the direction of her finger with my gaze, I saw a normal mercantile house.


    It was in a festive state like the other stores, but they were the same as the stores in the city, and there¡¯s nothing that really stands out.


    ...Well, having that thought itself makes it clear that the whole city itself is in weird though.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it! What I want you to see is the sign!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Sign?¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s certainly a sign that seems to be hastily made at the store¡¯s front, and there, this is what was written in a congrattory manner: ¡®Celebratory sale inmemoration for Founder-sama¡¯s marriage!! 90% off at most!!¡¯


    ¡°90% off?!¡± (Haine)


    What a discount!!


    No wait, don¡¯t get fooled!


    If they were to make such a big price reduction, the store would fall! It said ¡®90% off at most¡¯, so the important part is the ¡®at most¡¯. In other words, if only one item at the store were to be sold at 10%, the ¡®90% off at most¡¯ would not be a lie!


    The other articles would be at 50% off? 30% off? Or maybe, they are actually selling at the established price and saying ¡®this is the lowest price we can go¡¯?!


    By reducing the price on trash-like stuff that no one wants, they bring in the customers, and then, sell the actual goods they want to sell in their actual price!!


    But if we search properly, we might be able to find something that¡¯s at a good price!


    Let¡¯s go inside and check!!


    ¡°Haine-san! Haine-san! That¡¯s not the part you should be concentrating on!¡± (Karen)


    What?! Do you understand what you are saying, Karen-san?!


    ¡°What I want to see is what¡¯s on top of the price reduction! The ¡®Commemoration of Founder-sama¡¯s wedding¡¯!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Founder-sama¡¯s ...wedding?¡± (Haine)


    Meaning that they are selling cheap because of this?


    ¡°Founder? Whose Founder?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The one in this Rudras Metropolis! The WInd Church¡¯s Founder!! When they talk of Founder, it is obviously the Wind Founder-sama!!¡± (Karen)


    Ah.


    Toreido Shiva huh.


    Now that I think about it, he did talk about marriage or something.


    In that case, this festive mood in the whole Wind capital is to celebrate that?!


    ¡°Well, the Founder is the top of the Church after all. If it is such an auspicious event, it is natural for the whole Church to celebrate, but...¡± (Haine)


    To think that the cold and iron-like people of the Wind Church would get so heated up.


    Is Shiva surprisingly liked by his subordinates?


    We slipped through this festival, and finally, managed to get an audience with the person in question.


    ¡°I wee you here from your long journey.¡± (Shiva)


    Wind Founder, Toreido Shiva.


    ¡°I have already heard the details from Yorishiro by wireless transmission. I am grateful for the consideration of the Light Church as the Wind Founder.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Okay...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Wind Church will give you a warm reception in your stay at the Wind capital. Think of it as your own homnd and stay for as long as you wish.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°.........¡±


    I ended up instinctively saying this.


    ¡°Gross.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    It is a totally out of boundsin to the number one authority of the ce we are visiting, but...I couldn¡¯t not say it.


    Because you know...


    ¡°That¡¯s not your personality at all!¡± (Haine)


    What¡¯s with that proper weing?!


    The first time we met Shiva, he was more haughty and snappy, and it felt as if you could get cut with that edginess!!


    And yet, what¡¯s with this mildness here?!


    ¡°Haine-san! No matter what, that¡¯s way too rude! Towards the Founder-sama of another church...!¡± (Karen)


    It is obvious that Karen-san would reprimand me.


    ¡°It is fine, light hero. You can already consider Haine and I as friends of several years. Speaking in a slightly loose manner just means that we are that close.¡± (Shiva)


    However, this Wind Founder spits out words like those of a saint.


    Where is the sharpness of before, Shiva-san?!


    ¡°How to say this... It is as if you and Rudras Metropolis have made aplete turnaround!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ah, so you have already witnessed thoroughly the state of the city beforeing here huh.¡± (Shiva)


    By here, he means the reception room of the Wind Church that we are currently in with Shiva.


    ¡°Quite the exaggerated reaction those guys have. A wedding is simply like a door that everyone has to pass through at least once. Just because it is the Founder, the city is in a celebratory mood... Well, as the one being celebrated, I am quite happy though.¡± (Shiva)


    It was quite the adult way of dealing with it.


    ¡°I want you people to participate in my wedding as well. I will assure you your stay here until then, so it is fine to tour around or have some cultural exchange.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°It really is gross! Shiva-kun, why did you be such a mild guy?!¡± (Haine)


    If a human loses their edge, it is the end, you know?


    I may be persistent here, but where is the edginess Shiva had when I first met him?!


    ¡°Haine, the single you might not understand yet, but once a man marries, their personality gets more depth.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Is that so...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°When I was an unmarried man, I let my youth take over me and felt as if I could do anything. After obtaining a woman I can love, feeling the need for a family, and gaining someone you wish to protect, you will naturally end up softening.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Women are kind and gentle at their roots. By being together with a woman, the wildness of the man willy in rest. Meaning that it gives room for your personality to grow. Marriage has that kind of effect.¡± (Shiva)


    I feel like...the conversation has turned into preaching?!


    ¡°On top of that, by having a partner, you can perceive others more clearly, and acknowledge that there are people with other way of thinking than yours. From the very beginning, the body of men and women were made differently, so there¡¯s no way their ways of thinking are the same. By being together with the other gender, by shing small opinions in trivial daily matters, you obtain knowledge.¡± (Shiva)


    Growth as a human.


    That¡¯s...


    ¡°That¡¯s the meaning of marriage, Haine.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Like hell I care!¡± (Haine)


    Why is it taking a direction as if I¡¯m being taught?!


    ¡°It is splendid, Founder-sama! I have been moved by your words!!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san is totally into it!


    ¡°So marriage had that kind of meaning! By being together with the person you love, your own personality grows! What splendid words!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Light hero, that¡¯s not what I meant.¡± (Shiva)


    Oi, Founder. Don¡¯t get all-knowing in here.


    ¡°You don¡¯t grow yourself, you grow together with the person you are tied together with. A man and a woman that have be one with the link that is a family; that is truly a single being. It is impossible for just one side to move forward.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°It is even more splendid! I am feeling the need of marrying now!!¡± (Karen)


    Stop it.


    ¡°Uhm...¡±


    While there was this charade going on, Doraha finally spoke.


    As a mentally young girl, she didn¡¯t have much to say in this kind of conversation, so she was silently drinking coffee until now, but...


    ¡°This ck drink is bitter and not tasty. Is there no tea?¡± (Doraha)


    Is what she said.


    ¡°Dorahaaaaa!!¡± (Haine)


    I shouted.


    That¡¯s because what she said was the number one phrase that would piss off the super coffee maniac Shiva.


    Even putting milk or sugar in your coffee in front of him is unforgivable, and yet, she even went and said to bring out tea instead, so Shiva will definitely snap.


    If it is that Shiva, he would definitely be pissed off!


    Is what I thought, but...


    ¡°I see. The tongue of the young really can¡¯t stand the bitterness huh... Oi.¡± (Shiva)¨ª


    Is what Shiva says as he calls the maid that was at standby at his side.


    ¡°Change it to a sweet cappino please. With lots of milk and sugar.¡± (Shiva)


    He changed!!


    This Shiva haspletely turned!!


    To think he could ept another person that has different tastes!! Is the married Shiva totally unfazeable?!


    ¡°It is incredible, Haine-san! This must be the power of marriage. We must learn from this too!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Not ready yet, so no!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Also, sorry but, I also want a cappino!!¡± (Karen)


    Humans don¡¯t stay with the same personality from birth to death.


    By experiencing many things and receiving influences from their environment, they can change their ways freely.


    That is also one of the great things of being a human.


    ¡°But you people havee on a mission. Let¡¯s have a slightly serious talk.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva was merry because of his marriage, but he returned a bit to his past atmosphere.


    Well, his face will definitely loosen again in a little while though.


    ¡°Battles urring almost at the same time on different nations. That has reached my ears thanks to the wireless transmissions. To tell you the truth, I was absent for a while because of some business, you see. When I returned, a lot of reports came to me to the point it flustered me.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva is currently keeping it a secret that he is incarnation of the Wind God Quasar.


    He cooperated heavily in returning Mantle.


    ...At that time, his brain didn¡¯t look like it was a flower bed like now though.


    Maybe it got rewritten temporarily because of his bad rtionship with Yorishiro?


    ¡°From the four Demon Lords, three have already shed with humanity. Moreover, the results were not a victory or a defeat, but a reconciliation. They were reports that made me doubt my ears.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva giving out that impression is something reasonable.


    That¡¯s because he is one of the first people that encountered a Demon Lord after all.


    The first one to appear in front of humanity was the Wind Demon Lord, Raphael, and it was Shiva who fought him with weapon in hand.


    At that time, we both fought against him together and somehow managed to erase him, or at least that¡¯s what it looked like.


    The price for that was that a warrior like Shiva, who had both the jobs of a Wind Founder and hero, was unable to continue doing that. Receiving damage that rendered him impossible to return to his line of job as a hero.


    Giving his position of hero to his little sister, Hyue, he decided on concentrating on his Founder position.


    ¡°Shiva, I want to ask you this. Do you think humans and demons can join hands?¡± (Haine)


    I want to hear his opinion as someone who fought against a Demon Lord to the point of breaking his body to an irreparable state.


    ¡°Rather than me, shouldn¡¯t you be asking the Demon Lords?¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva answeredposed.


    ¡°Both sides suffered a great deal of damage in that fight. Raphael has the ability to change every single one of his cells into insects and regenerate himself, but your dark matter erased most of it and left just a few.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°It is true that, even if he is a Demon Lord, that¡¯s not something you can regenerate from immediately.¡± (Haine)


    Because of that, I thought Raphael¡¯s actions were slightly dullpared to the other Demon Lords.


    ¡°Normally, there¡¯s no one who wouldn¡¯t hold a grudge after being done something like that.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s just...!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san interjects as if she couldn¡¯t hold it.


    ¡°That¡¯s just unreasonable! When Raphael appeared, he was the one who attacked us first! We simply fought back. Getting angry for being greatly injured after that would be misguided me!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That logic is correct. But it is also true that the other party has their own view of things.¡± (Shiva)


    With his marriage, Shiva has now obtained the ability to see other people with their different ways of thinking.


    ¡°Moreover, the problematic thing is that, in reasoning, being right or wrong isn¡¯t that important. If we were to put it in an exaggerated way, you could get a hundred people and those hundred people might be in the wrong. Once one person thinks they are in the right, it will be their way of acting.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Especially in battle.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course, there¡¯s no way we would allow our destruction on reasons that are clearly wrong. If they are to attack, we will simply face them. That¡¯s all we can do.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡®That¡¯s all we can do¡¯, those were words show the limit of Shiva.


    ¡°Are you saying that, against a wrong reasoning, there¡¯s no other way to stop them aside from fighting and defeating them?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we can join hands like the other Demon Lords and Churches. That is something the other party has to decide. We don¡¯t have the choice.¡± (Shiva)


    The cool-headed decision making of Shiva as a Founder was shown.


    Their fight with the Wind Demon Lord had begun since long ago.


    This will probably be a totally different battle from the other Demon Lords that had begun their own fights recently.


    The sparks were already there and they will not disappear just like that.


    ¡°And so, I have ordered the military force of our Wind Church -the Kazama Shinobis- and the wind hero to be on alert. So that, even if the Demon Lord were to attack us, we will be able to react immediately.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I thought the inside of the city was a festival, but it looks like you are properly putting ground on the ces where it is required.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course. Or more like, because of the dangerous times, I was thinking of doing my wedding as simplistic as possible, but the guys below are not caring at all of the person in question and are going all festive.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva makes a wry smile.


    He says all that, but it looks like he is still happy that everyone is celebrating them.


    ¡°Uhm...that means the wind hero...!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says while fidgeting.


    ¡°Uhm...is Hyue-chan also...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Of course. Now that you are in Rudras Metropolis, I would like you to meet her as well. It looks like she has been worrying about you people everyday.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Ah, yes!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san¡¯s voice changed from timid to a springy one.


    For her, her other herorades are also important friends. She has already met Mirack, Celestis, and Sasae-chan, so the remaining one is Hyue, and she must be worried about her.


    ¡°It looks like she is also preparing a lot of things for the uing Demon Lord battle. I would like it if you were to give her advice as someone who has already experienced battling with Demon Lords.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Yes, then, I will go immediately!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san quickly gets up from her seat and was intending to head to Hyue¡¯s ce right now.


    Even though she hasn¡¯t heard in what part of Rudras Metropolis she is yet.


    ¡°I will have someone of the church guide you. Work has piled up on me, so I can¡¯t go with you guys. Please give her my apologies when you see her.¡± (Shiva)


    It took us a lot of time to return Mantle after all. Of course work would pile up. Moreover, his wedding will be taking ce soon, so it is a situation that¡¯s clearly busy for him.


    ...Sorry about that, Shiva-kun.


    ¡°Understood! Haine-san, Doraha-san, let¡¯s go as well!! Hyue-san may look like that, but she actually gets lonely easily!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Understood, Karen-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha follows after Karen-san who runs out of the room.


    After confirming that only Shiva and I remained in the room, I ask him in a whisper.


    ¡°And so...what about the God Hero matter?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No problem. Intion¡ª I mean, Yorishiro has already embedded theponent to be a God Hero inside of Hyue. What¡¯s required next is only to pour a part of a God inside of it.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡®Seriously, since when did she manage to do that?¡¯, is what Shiva said questioningly.


    ¡°Just that, there is a part that bothers me aside from that.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Something that bothers you?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°For that sake, can you meet with Hyue once? She is the wind hero, but at the same time, she is also the little sister of this Toreido Shiva. I want her to have a fight that she can acknowledge.¡± (Shiva)


    Six Gods of Creation, further divided into four Base Elements. Within that group, the Wind God Quasar was the one who noticed the potential of humans the fastest, and in order to learn about humans and change it into power, he incarnated as a human.


    As that went on, he would have a new family, a new lover, and new emotions to interact with his important people.


    Quasar had reincarnated several times already.


    For the Toreido Shiva that only exists once, Hyue is his only little sister.


    ¡°Understood. I will go check it out.¡± (Haine)


    I also stand from my seat and follow after Karen-san and Doraha who had left the room before me.

 Chapter 344-346 - Reuniting with the sylph

    <h4>Chapter 344-346: Reuniting with the sylph</h4>


    And so, we asked where the location of Hyue is, and to our surprise, she wasn¡¯t inside the Wind capital.


    She was standing right at the wastnd outside the moving city of Rudras Metropolis.


    Wind Hero, Toreido Hyue.


    Her long ck hair tied in a ponytail and her gant straight figure felt picturesque even from far away.


    ¡°There she is! Hyue-cha~n!!¡± (Karen)


    The first one to run towards her was Karen-san.


    It can¡¯t be helped that Karen-san would get excited for reuniting with her herorade after so long.


    ¡°Ah...¡± (Hyue)


    And it looks like Hyue also noticed Karen-san running towards her.


    ¡°I am truly sorry!!¡± (Hyue)


    And she did a diving dogeza.


    ¡°¡°Eeeeehhh?!


    This not only shocked Karen-san but me as well.


    Why did she suddenly do the highest form of apology the moment we meet?!


    ¡°It is been a long time-de gozaru! To tell you the truth, I knew in advance that Karen-dono would being!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Ah, yeah. It is been a while.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Even so, I prioritized my training and didn¡¯t go wee you. As the wind hero, and as a friend, this is the very definition of disgraceful! I can¡¯t face you like this, so I will be sticking it onto the ground!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Aaaah! Please don¡¯t scrape your face on the ground so much!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san could only get flustered.


    Compared to Karen-san, I am not that much acquainted with Hyue yet.


    I still haven¡¯t grasped her character yet, but there¡¯s no doubt that she is a special cookie just like the other heroes.


    You could say she is an...extreme level of straighced?


    ¡°It is okay, Hyue-chan. I am not bothered by that. I am the one at fault for suddenlying to visit after all. If I were to interrupt your training, I would be the one who would be hurt.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why, don¡¯t worry about it!¡± (Haine)


    I also follow-up on her.


    With that, Hyue finally raised her head from the ground. She was filled with dust.


    ¡°Karen-dono, Haine-dono, that big heart of you two that is as vast as the sky, I am truly humbled.¡± (Hyue)


    And once again, she gives us her deep gratitude.


    There, Doraha who camest said this.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t forgiven you though.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°I am truuuuulyyyyy sorryy~~~!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue rubbed her face on the ground again!!


    ¡°Back to zero!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Doraha-san! You really are ruthless on people of other nations!!¡± (Karen)


    To think that it wasn¡¯t only Hyue but Doraha also that had a side of her like this.


    I see. Doraha is not only bad with other people, she is also crazy aggressive towards outside people.


    The reason she was able to receive the message at the train station was because it was someone of the Light Church and her sensor barely worked in favor there.


    ¡°Anyways! ...Hyue-chan, you were training? That¡¯s why you are at the outside of Rudras Metropolis, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. My current training is slightly showy, so I asked Aniue-sama to stay in thisnd where there¡¯s no people-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    So he changed the destination of the moving city on the request of his little sister...


    Was Shiva unexpectedly a doting brother?!


    ¡°I see... Hyue-chan is doing her best as the wind hero after all.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I was appointed as hero recently, so in order to stand side by side with Karen-dono and the others, I have no other choice but to work harder than everyone.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. Hyue-chan is plenty strong.¡± (Karen)


    True. From within the five heroes, Hyue utilizes a special divine tool called a long wind gun, which makes for an incredibly special type of fighting style.


    Made with a machine structure, it can shoot at long distances, moreover, it can hit urately at its target and pierce through them.


    The range of attack is danger itself, and it could even shoot you death from a distance that you wouldn¡¯t even be able to notice and wouldn¡¯t be able to understand what happened.


    Since the time the five heroes were gathered to form a team, Hyue has been standing at the backlines, seeing the whole battlefield and quickly disposing of the frontlines that approach which is incredibly important.


    There¡¯s not a single person in the Hero Alliance who would look down on Hyue.


    ¡°When you say training, you mean sniping training, right? Are you shooting urately at something that¡¯s far?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not the case-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    Hm?


    ¡°I am currently in the nning of a new fighting style-de gozaru. With the long wind gun I have been using until now, I thought I wouldn¡¯t be able to face the Demon Lords.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eh? But the sniping of Hyue-chan is super strong. If it is Hyue-chan; Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, and I would have peace of mind in leaving our backs to you, you know?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But with that, I would be leaving the frontpletely to everyone, and I wouldn¡¯t be able to fight without being protected. As long as I am a hero, I should be able to fight alone against monsters and...be able to face Demon Lords!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue says with strength.


    I felt like she was a bit worked up there. Being nervous in the face of a big opponent like the Demon Lords is something that I have gotten used to seeing in the other heroes already, but...


    ¡°This is a good chance. I want Karen-dono and Haine-dono to inspect my new power. It is still iplete, so hearing the opinion of you two will serve as reference.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°W-What?¡± (Karen)


    The straighced people are, at times, strong at pushing.


    We ended up spectating Hyue¡¯s training.


    ¡°Please look forward to it. This power will definitely be able to go against the Demon Lords. I have sold my soul to the devil for that sake!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°¡°Devil?!¡±¡±


    Doesn¡¯t sound peaceful!


    Please treasure your life and soul.


    ¡°Let me introduce you. The devil that I sold my soul to!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hi there...¡±


    And so, it appeared.


    The proxy wind hero, Brastor Juo.


    ¡°¡°Hiiiiih!!¡±¡±


    Karen-san and I jumped up while raising a scream.


    Because a ghost had appeared!


    A ghost!


    The ghost of a woman that has her hair hanging down her face!!


    ¡°Wait, this is Juo-san!!¡± (Haine)


    The proxy wind hero, Brastor Juo-san.


    She works as a scientist in the researchboratory of the Wind Church, and because she was so concentrated on her research, she ignored her appearance and her skin care as well, and ended up with an outward appearance like that of a ghost.


    ¡°This exchange is repeated...all the time. You still don¡¯t learn...!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Uhm, can you please not stand silently at my side?! Every time you do that, I am sure that one year is scraped off my life!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san was clinging to my body and trembling.


    ¡°...Fuhi, long time no see~.¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san had her whole face hidden with hair that looked like seaweed.


    I feel as if I would be cursed if I were to answer carelessly, so I was hesitating on my answer.


    ¡°Also...first of all, congrattions on your marriage.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°.......*Blush*¡± (Juo)


    She is also one of the reasons of the crazy ruckus that¡¯s happening in Rudras Metropolis.


    The marriage of the Wind Founder.


    Juo-san is incredibly rted to it.


    Because she is the one who will be marrying Shiva after all.


    ¡°...Tch!!¡± (Hyue)


    When I said that, Hyue at the side clicked her tongue in displeasure. She pointed her wind gun up in the sky and shot it.


    ...So she is still a ¡®I like Shiva a lot and hate Juo a lot¡¯ huh.


    What a brocon.


    ¡°And so! Here is the devil I sold my soul to!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t call your sister-inw a devil, Hyue-chan!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san¡¯s proper retort flew.


    ¡°...I see. Hyue is Shiva¡¯s little sister, so if Juo-san marries Shiva, Hyue and her would be sisters-inw huh.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wuoooooooo!! Gruoooaaaa!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue is going mad.


    This girl can¡¯t ept the marriage on an exaggerated level.


    ¡°That¡¯s! That¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t matter right now-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°She averted her eyes from reality.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The problem is that this woman is the best scientist in the Wind Church!! Combining the wind techniques and the ethereal techniques. In terms of poultry inventions, there¡¯s no one who can match this woman!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Fuhi, thanks for thepliment...¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san doesn¡¯t seem to be against it.


    It is true that, from the five Grand Churches, the one that has the most advanced ethereal research is the Wind Church.


    The churches were originally against the idea of the machine culture developing, so they were prohibiting it, but the only church who took the initiative to research it themselves was this Wind Church.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I lowered my head to this ghost woman I didn¡¯t want to lower my head to, in order to request something of her-de gozaru. The making of a new divine tool!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°¡°A new divine tool?!¡±¡±


    That announcement made both Karen-san and I raise our voices.


    A divine tool is a weapon required to fight with divine power, and for the heroes that stand at top, it ispletely necessary.


    Not only that, the heroes are lend a unique divine tool just for them as tradition. The holy sword Saint-George of Karen-san is a divine tool that¡¯s uniquely for her use.


    The wind divine tool of Hyue is one that came from the city with the most advanced ethereal technology, so there¡¯s even machineponents in it.


    Hyue¡¯s long wind gun; Shiva¡¯s dual wind guns; Juo¡¯s wind rebellion guns; they are all weapons that you wouldn¡¯t be able to see in other churches at all. At first nce, one couldn¡¯t tell how they would be attacking their opponents.


    And yet, she is saying there¡¯s another new weapon now?


    ¡°But Hyue-chan, I said it before but, Hyue-chan¡¯s sniping is plenty strong, you know? There¡¯s no need to force yourself to change that battle style!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°There¡¯s no point if it doesn¡¯t work on Demon Lords-de gozaru! Right now my objective is only to defeat the Demon Lords! That¡¯s why I had Juo make it!¡± (Hyue)


    Just what in the world did she have Juo make?


    ¡°It was good timing that Karen-dono and Haine-dono came! Juo! We will be operating it for the first time now!! This is the time to show my gun technique and your scientific ability!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°...It is the request of Kotome, so I can¡¯t say no. I will apany you.¡± (Juo)


    Kotome is apparently her mother-inw.


    ¡°...Well then, switch on. Activate.¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san takes out something that looks like a control and pushes the button.


    At the same time, an earth tremoring *gogogogo* sound reverberated.


    ...No, the earth is actually tremoring?!


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! What¡¯s going to happen?!¡± (Haine)


    An unexpected development!


    Doraha, who was ying around with the bugs in the area as if it wasn¡¯t of her business, was also surprised by it and clung onto Karen-san.


    ¡°Wa?! Ah! Haine-san, that!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What is it?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The rock, the rock is...!¡± (Karen)


    We are currently at a deserted wastnd faraway from Rudras Metropolis, so there was only small grass as far as I could see, but there was a single towering boulder standing there.


    I thought it was a natural object in the environment, so I didn¡¯t pay it much mind, but it looks like that wasn¡¯t the case.


    It was not a natural boulder, but a gigantic artificially made something that was covered and camouged as a boulder.


    ¡°Now everyone, feast your eyes on it!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue takes off the cover all at once.


    And from inside, what appears is...!


    ¡°What?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What is that?!¡± (Karen)


    Something that Karen-san and I couldn¡¯t understand.


    If I had to put it in words, it would be a...metallic giant?


    It has the shape of a human and it is made of metal.


    It is moving on its own and making sounds like those of roars!


    ¡°What is this? Is it a Golem?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is true that it does resemble it, but...!¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s not the case, right?


    Golems are earth element monsters, but I don¡¯t feel earth divine power from this metallic giant.


    What I feel from it is clearly...wind divine power.


    ¡°...This is the..ption of my...research.¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san speaks proudly with a muttering voice.


    ¡°The result ofbining all the wind guns made and making use of them in a smooth manner. A giant weapon that ended up being human-shaped in terms of machine structure. I call it a robot.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°¡°A robot?!¡±¡±


    ¡°A divine tool robot that moves on wind divine power...... I call it, the moving gun, Kukurukan.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Wind moving gun, Kukurukan?!¡± (Haine)


    It is apparently the name of the metallic giant.


    Even with that, my understanding is not keeping up at all!


    ¡°What¡¯s with this feeling?! It is the feeling of being exined something that¡¯s right in front of you but not understanding at all!¡± (Haine)


    I remember having this feeling before...


    Right, it was the same feeling as when Karen-san showed me the flying machine for the first time.


    I couldn¡¯t understand at all what was in front of me, and even when it was exined to me, I couldn¡¯t understand the words itself at all.


    That¡¯s how it feels right now.


    ¡°What in the world is this?!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san seems to be in the same boat this time.


    Isn¡¯t that right? There¡¯s no way this can be understood.


    When a human is in front of something you don¡¯t understand at all, they can¡¯t help being dumbfounded.


    ¡°Maybe it really is a Golem? It is human-shaped and it is inorganic.¡± (Haine)


    From within our memories, what¡¯s closest to resembling this would be a Golem.


    But Golems are solely earth element monsters, and the one in front of us is a metallic...robot? I feel like it is different in a fundamental level.


    This is a type of machine that Juo-san has made as an ethereal scientist.


    If I had to categorize it, I would have to put it in the same category as the flying machine.


    ¡°Juo, I want to make an operating experiment immediately. Is the data gathering ready?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It ispletely ready. I have already set up several wind rebellion guns here and there for recording sake. They have thetest camera recorders installed and we can check back on it as many times as we want.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Okay.¡± (Hyue)


    After finishing a small talk, Hyue enters the metallic giant in question.


    ...Enters?!


    ¡°The wind moving gun is controlled in that way.¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san, who remained in ce, exins briefly.


    ¡°After the encounter with the Demon Lords, Hyue made a direct request to me. The request was an ¡®equipment that can serve to go against the Demon Lords¡¯.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Go against...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Demon Lords?¡± (Karen)


    As expected, Hyue was really single-mindedly thinking that there would be a battle against the Demon Lords huh.


    ¡°It is true that the long range gunmanship of Hyue is fearsome. Because the battle stage of the heroes match was limited...I was in the advantage...but in a field where anything goes and there¡¯s no limit in distance, I would end up being one-sidedly shot.¡± (Juo)


    True.


    That¡¯s how dangerous Hyue¡¯s prided sniping range is, and there¡¯s nothing scarier as an enemy.


    ¡°But the Demon Lord that she will be fighting against in the future, no matter how urate and sharp of a snipe it is, she won¡¯t be able to kill it. Their defensive capabilities and endurance are on a whole different level. In order to defeat that, we would need destructive power that surpasses it or we won¡¯t be able to certainly kill them.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°And so, Hyue requested for that destructive power huh.¡± (Haine)


    Just like she says, they possess an unbelievable amount of divine power, and most attacks would be blocked by their natural divine power barrier. On top of that, they all possess strong regenerative ability, and they won¡¯t die by simply cutting them to pieces.


    Raphael was the very definition of that. Even when I erased a great amount of his cells, I was unable to kill him.


    No matter how urate of a snipe one manages, there won¡¯t be any point. Even if it is in the head or the heart.


    That¡¯s why she went for a destructive power that can erase everything.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. In order to fulfill the request...I aimed for the increase of firepower. Without aiming for a breakthrough...I simply added everything that was already present.¡± (Juo)


    The weapons she has made until now -the wind guns.


    The best scientist of the Wind Church, Juo-san, has certainly not only created the wind rebellion guns, but many other weapons as well.


    She added them all and aimed for something that can utilize them all...


    ¡°...And that¡¯s what came out?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I think it came out pretty well...even for my standards.¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san¡¯s breathing got rough.


    That¡¯s...a prided work of hers?


    ¡°There¡¯s around 20 types of weapons installed in the wind moving gun...Kukurukan. Hyue is able to control them all at once. It couldn¡¯t be helped that the weight had increased radically along with the firepower. With the infinite ethereal moving device added to it...it is possible to show mobility that can endure actual battle.


    In terms of specs...it would be able to wipe out the giant monsters that have appeared in the past. Truly a scientific wonder of the Rudras Metropolis. The scientific power of the Rudras Metropolis is number one of the five Grand Churches...!¡± (Juo)


    Understood. I have understood plenty enough that it is incredible.


    ¡°Please calm down, Juo-san!¡± (Haine)


    It is difficult to deal with craftsmen that get fluent the moment it is about their craft.


    The first thing that¡¯s difficult is that they don¡¯t make any sense!


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s begin the test drive! Don¡¯t mess up the recording, Juo!¡± (Hyue)


    A metallic...robot. I can hear the voice of Hyue from inside it.


    ¡°...As I said already...the preparations are alreadyplete. Or rather...you are the one that has to begin soon or I might get tired.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°So you have said it now! Then, wind moving gun, Kukurukan! Start!!¡± (Hyue)


    The metallic beast lets out a roar.


    This was the sound it made when it moved at high potency, but it was so strong that it made my eardrums tremble.


    ¡°Grrrrrr!¡± (Doraha)


    That piercing sound scared Doraha and she was clinging onto the leg of Karen-san -or more like, isn¡¯t her wild nature getting stronger?


    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s begin with the test firing of the strongest one first!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue shouts energetically.


    ¡°Eh? Don¡¯t tell me...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wind main armament, Beethoven!!¡± (Hyue)


    A cylindrical objectes out from the metal giant with the shout of Hyue, and ends up with a stance of being carried on its shoulder.


    That was truly a cannon. It looked like it was shouldering a cannon.


    And then, from its gunport, an overwhelming air heat was released.


    *Booom!!*


    The gun was pointing at a different direction and it was shot at a pretty far distance, and yet, a st strong enough that it felt as if it was hitting my head directly had attacked me.


    ¡°Awawa!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and Doraha had stumbled two to three steps back and ended up falling on their butts. And then, the actual air bullet had..pletely blown away a hill that was apparently the target!


    ¡°...The Wind main armament, Beethoven, is the wind gun that possesses the highest firepower within all the things I have made. It is a wind divine tool, so what is shot is a wind bullet. It doesn¡¯t change in basis, but the scale and destructive power areparable to that of the Fire Church¡¯s ¡®Grand Melt¡¯.¡± (Juo)


    The squall blew violently due to the sudden change of atmospheric pressure caused by the bombing.


    No wonder they went through the trouble of operating it outside of Rudras Metropolis. If this were shot in the city, it would turn into a big catastrophe!


    ¡°Because of how incredibly big and heavy it is, along with its heavy energy expenditure, I was troubled in whether it was actually operable by a human, but it looks like it is no problem for Kukurukan. With this, the Wind Church has obtained a new power.¡± (Juo)


    ...Could it be that this person...has created a crazy incredible thing?!

 Chapter 347-348 - There’s a problem

    <h4>Chapter 347-348: There¡¯s a problem</h4>


    ¡°...The Wind Cannon, Beethoven. Its power and uracy has reached the desired levels. No visible burden on the machine. Results are great.¡± (Juo)


    Looks like it went as expected and Juo-san¡¯s mood was on rise.


    ¡°I have created something good. As dawn of the mass production of Kukulkan, we will crush something like the Demon Lords...!¡± (Juo)


    Is it really okay to mass produce something like that?


    Won¡¯t it turn into thest war?!


    ¡°Creating just that one machine blew away a whole year of the budget of ourboratory, so it won¡¯t be possible though.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that too much?!¡± (Haine)


    How much is one year of budget?!


    How much is that one year specifically?!


    No wait, I don¡¯t want to hear it! For a supermoner like me who feels pain in his pocket when treating a cute girl to train lunch boxes, there¡¯s no doubt the numbers she would say would be able to stop my heart!


    ¡°Hyue, looks like operating it is going smoothly. Next, I want to check the maneuverability and the chassis...¡± (Juo)


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°...Hyue?¡± (Juo)


    Hyue, who was inside Kukulkan, wasn¡¯t making a single sound.


    ¡°This is...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there something wrong?!¡± (Karen)


    We obviously end up getting worried and run to the robot, forcefully opening up the hatch.


    When we did that, Hyue fell out from it with her eyes going around in circles.


    ¡°Hyue?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hyue-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and I had released her together, but Hyue waspletely unconscious.


    ¡°......Looks like the drastic divine power consumption and the recoil gave her a double punch. I thought I solved the drying up of divine power with ethereal, but looks like the recoil was...... Should I strengthen the shock absorber in the cockpit?¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Don¡¯t just calmly analyze it and help her out! Isn¡¯t she your sister-inw?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Who is her sister-inw¡ª¨C?!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Woah?!¡± (Haine)


    Hyue revived with a roar!


    To think she would react to the word sister-inw even when she is unconscious. Does she really dislike it that much?!


    ¡°...Hah...Hah... How disgraceful. I lost consciousness huh. Beethoven is the strongest trump card of Kukulkan. If I faint every time I shoot it, it won¡¯t be of use in actualbat.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°We can solve the problem by increasing the defense of the cockpit. Let¡¯s leave the test operation here for today and return to theboratory.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°No, not yet...¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue stands up, but it looks like her legs are unsteady.


    ¡°We simply tested shooting the main armament. The test firing of the other sub-weapons, and their effect on the chassis, and its endurance to continuous firing. We are going to test them inbat. There¡¯s way too many things we have to test.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°That will be when the cockpit is improve¡ª¡± (Juo)


    ¡°No! It is more efficient to bring out to light as many problems as possible to fix them all at once. For the sake of that, we have to continue testing!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°No, wait.¡± (Haine)


    Unable to take it, I enter to stop her.


    ¡°Even if you are to do that, you should put a break in between, Hyue. The recoil of the bombing has caused more damage to you than expected.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...Even while I am doing this, who knows when the Demon Lord will attack. When that happens, we can¡¯t have Kukulkan be unfinished. We have to prepare for an attack as soon as possible!¡± (Hyue)


    Saying this, Hyue tried to enter the cockpit again.


    As I thought, I could feel quite the hurry from her.


    The threat of the Demon Lords.


    The hero shoulders the duty of crushing them.


    The five heroes that protect the five nations were all struggling with this pressure. However, I felt severe hurry from Hyue that was one step higher than that.


    ¡°...¡±


    A hand grabs the hurried Hyue from the cor.


    ¡°?!¡±


    And then, forcefully takes out Hyue who was trying to ride Kukulkan.


    ¡°Uwawawawawa?! What is the meaning of this?! ...Karen-dono?!¡± (Hyue)


    Being dragged out, Hyue was confused and turns her head back.


    She realized that the one who grabbed her cor was Karen-san.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter-de gozaru ka, Karen-dono?! As you can see, I am currently busy¡ª!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hyue-chan, let¡¯s y.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Hyue)


    Hm?


    ¡°Hyue-chan, do you understand in what situation you are in? I havee here, you know? I am a guest, you know? Moreover, I am visiting here as the representative of the Light Church, the light hero. Isn¡¯t it a matter of course that a hero of the same rank should be entertaining me?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, but, as I said...!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Fighting is not the only duty of a hero. That¡¯s why, Hyue-chan, cancel your current ns, and y with me. Doraha-san as well, let¡¯s go together!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes, Karen-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha agreed and Karen-san grabbed the hand of both as she pulls them.


    ¡°Wait! Did you two hear what I said-de gozaru ka?! I have an important duty to...! Aaaah~~~!!¡± (Hyue)


    Being dragged away without a say in the matter, the echoes of Hyue¡¯s cries fade away in the distance along with her figure.


    ......


    ...That was Karen-san being considerate.


    ¡°...Thanks. You were a great help.¡± (Juo)


    On the other hand, the ghost Juo had entered the metallic robot that remained.


    ¡°Hyue has beenpletely into the development of thistely that I thought she needed a break already. She is a serious girl after all. If someone doesn¡¯t force her, she won¡¯t take a break.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it have been fine for you to be the one to tell her?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is not possible for me. She hates me, so she won¡¯t listen to what I say no matter what.¡± (Juo)


    Right.


    Hyue¡¯s hate for Juo is quite the thing after all. Must be her brocon acting up there.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I was surprised when Hyue requested me to make this. I thought she wouldn¡¯t ask me for anything ever.¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san seemed to be in deep thought.


    ¡°That¡¯s just how strong her resolve is. She is a hero and ns on protecting Rudras Metropolis at all costs.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It would be nice if that were all there is...¡± (Juo)


    The meaningful mutter of Juo-san bothered me.


    But Juo-san smoothly activated the robot and prepared to return.


    ¡°I will be returning to theboratory and improve this little one. This is probably the first andst time Hyue will be relying on me after all. Gotta do my best.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t push yourself, okay? You are also busy, right?¡± (Haine)


    She is the bride of a wedding that is soon toe after all.


    There¡¯s no doubt she should be busy with the wedding preparations and all that.


    ¡°...No worries. The preparations for the wedding are being done by other people.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Oi oi.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Shiva-sama is the same. We want to concentrate on our jobs. We are a couple that think the same way.¡± (Juo)


    Saying this, she operates the robot and leaves.


    ...As always, she is a person that is hard to grasp.


    Now then, let¡¯s go after Karen-san, Hyue, and Doraha.


    ¡°Thepletion of Kukulkan... thepletion of Kukulkan......! Is getting further away...!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I-It is okay, Hyue-chan! The Demon Lord-sans will wait while we are having a break and ying around!!¡± (Karen)


    Hyue has been like this the whole time she had returned to Rudras Metropolis. And the city was also still in their festive mood over the marriage of their Founder.


    Is this going to continue all the way until the wedding?


    Karen-san, Hyue, Doraha, and I were in the middle of walking through the tumult of people.


    ¡°That robot is currently being improved by Juo, so it is not as if progress has been stopped. Taking a break is also part of work. Hyue, you have been working all this timetely, right?¡± (Haine)


    In order to reduce the burden in Hyue¡¯s heart even if for a little bit, I decided on hurting my pocket again.


    If she eats something good, her heart should naturally gain some respite as well.


    Because there were a number of stalls taking advantage of the festival, I bought snacks for all of our group.


    I distribute this candy in a stick to all four of us.


    ¡°Wa~, so good! Even ordinary candy can give the feeling of delicious when eaten at a festival!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san licks the candy in a stick and turns it around to enjoy the taste.


    ¡°It is a popr product of Rudras Metropolis, the lethocerus candy-ni gozaru. I also like it a lot-de gozaru yo.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hm?!¡± (Karen)


    The tongue of Karen-san that was licking on the candy had stopped.


    ¡°After cooking the freshly caught lethocerus from the water spots, they enclose them in candy-de gozaru. By the time your tongue gets tired of the sweetness of the candy, you can taste the saltiness of the insect-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    Now that she mentions it, insect food ismon in Rudras Metropolis.


    ¡°But this lethocerus candy isn¡¯t that good. Looks like they were stingy in the production cost and used lethocerus that¡¯s not fresh-de gozaru. That¡¯s why they made the candy non-transparent. They are making it so you can¡¯t confirm the state of the inside before buying it-de gozaru yo.¡± (Hyue)


    The ones selling have also thought it thorough.


    We are tourists that just bought it without noticing that.


    Well, I just bit on the candy normally and ended up crunching on the lethocerus that¡¯s inside though.


    ...It is true that there¡¯s a skeletal sensation to it. And there¡¯s also the squishy feeling thates out after biting it all.


    As expected of the water bug that is said to be the strongest underwater, the stretchiness of its meat is nice. It is true that this serves as quite the nice stimulus whenbined with the sweetness of the candy.


    ¡°...Uhm, Haine-san. If you want, you can have mine too...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san slowly offers me her candy.


    If I remember correctly, Karen-san was always in tears when insect food came out huh.


    No, but...


    ¡°Is that okay? You know...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san licked that candy quite a lot, so if I were to put it in my mouth...¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san must have reached to the conclusion of ¡®indirect kiss¡¯. Her face turnedpletely red.


    ¡°Never mind! I will take responsibility and lick it all!!¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san said as she brings the candy back to her mouth.


    ¡°Uh...sweet. It is good...! But when I finish licking this candy...!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ah, it is okay-de gozaru yo, Karen-dono. I will eat it.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue says and bites on the lethocerus candy that Karen-san has in her hand.


    Looks like she already finished eating hers.


    ¡°Eh? Is that okay, Hyue-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Food differs from each nation after all. Forcing yourself to eat wouldn¡¯t be good for either side. Nom nom.¡± (Hyue)


    And so, the candy that Karen-san was licking, is now inside the mouth of Hyue.


    In the past, Hyue had happily done her best to show the prided insect cooking of Rudras Metropolis to her newrades.


    Maybe she has noticed the differences thate from being raised in different environments.


    ¡°...Well, it can¡¯t be helped-de gozaru yo. But the candy itself isn¡¯t that good either...¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue looked slightly dissatisfied as she bites onto the candy.


    Seeing this...


    ¡°Hyue-chan! As I thought, I will be eating it!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san pulls the candy out of Hyue¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Feeh?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°This is the taste that Hyue-chan likes, right?! Hating on the food that a friend of mine likes is not something that a hero should do! More so, saying that I don¡¯t like it when I haven¡¯t even eaten it yet! Nom!¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san deres as she bites on the candy that had gotten pretty small already from being inside of Hyue¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Wuh... the sensation of something that¡¯s clearly not candy hase out... It is okay. I am the hero that was okay even when directly holding a lizard!¡± (Karen)


    Lizard?


    Just what in the world happened, Karen-san?


    Lizards remind me of newts, and those are poisonous, so I don¡¯t really want to eat them.


    ¡°...Karen-dono, when the body of the lethocerus shows up, crunch on it without hesitation-de gozaru. Even if you lick it, it won¡¯t be taste of anything-de wa gozaranzo.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Understood...!!¡± (Karen)


    *Gabu*


    ¡°Feeh?! What¡¯s with this sensation that I have never felt before?! And this jelly-like meat that¡¯sing out!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s the taste of the lethocerus-de gozaru yo. Since it is a fitting bite-size, it has been established as a sweet in the stores-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Incredible! Incredible! To think I would be able to meet a taste that I haven¡¯t experienced before; this is truly cultural exchange!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I am happy to see you are happy-de gozaru! But as I said before, because this is not that good of a product, next time, I will be treating you to the best hand-made lethocerus candy-de gozaru yo!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Really?! I am so happy!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is truly a genius in getting along with people.


    She broad-mindedly epts the different values of other people, and puts love and effort in it.


    Karen-san is probably a big core for why the five Churches that didn¡¯t get along at first are now joining as one, and even the Demon Lords are joining those ranks.


    ...By the way, Karen-san and Hyue were exchanging that candy like crazy. Is it okay because they are girls?!


    My heart was throbbing just from watching it though!


    By the way, Doraha didn¡¯t show much opposition to the lethocerus inside the candy and ate itpletely -with stick and all.

 Chapter 349-351 - The insecure hero

    <h4>Chapter 349-351: The insecure hero</h4>


    While we were walking around the city like this, the restless Hyue had slowly regained her calm and had begun to enjoy her reunion with Karen-san and the others from the bottom of her heart.


    ¡°Wa~! Hyue-chan, what¡¯s this stall?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°This is a throwing weapon stall-de gozaru na. The signature weapon of the Kazama Shinobis is the shuriken. You use those in this game-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Oh~! It is the type where you throw shurikens and hit the prizes, right?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, you have a match with the stall owner throwing those shurikens, and the one who gets stabbed first loses-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What¡¯s that?! That¡¯s scary!¡± (Karen)


    Even with that, Karen-san, Hyue, and Doraha had challenged the shuriken stall and left the stall owner like a cactus. They splendidly obtained their prizes.


    Looks like the more shurikens you stab at the stall owner, the higher the prize rank.


    They obtained what¡¯s most likely the highest ranked prize, a big stuffed toy of the mascot character of Rudras Metropolis -Windy-kun-, and were chuckling.


    ¡°Everyone... thank you very much.¡± (Hyue)


    After a while, Hyue suddenly thanked us and that led to confusion.


    ¡°Hm? What¡¯s the matter? Were you that happy to get Windy-kun?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°No, aside from that...you guys brought me away from the development of the divine tool and were considerate on me by giving me a change of pace. I want to give my thanks for that-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    Oh.


    Hyue also noticed the consideration of Karen-san huh.


    She is a good girl after all. Well, that goes for all the heroes though.


    ¡°...Hyue-chan, there¡¯s no need to be in so much of a hurry. You are not fighting on your own. With Haine-san, Doraha-san, and I here; even if a Demon Lord were to appear, we will be fighting together with you!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san hits her own chest filled with confidence. When she did this, her fist bounced off and her breasts shook.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be pessimistic! The situation is tilting to a favorable direction for the humans. You have heard of the God Heroes in the wireless transmissions, right?¡± (Karen)


    God Hero.


    These words are not known only by a limited amount of people now, it is beginning to be known by the whole world.


    ¡°It is true that...I have heard about those reports from the messengers of their respective nations-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°The Gods of our churches are helping us out! Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, and I have be God Heroes! Hyue-chan can definitely be a God Hero as well!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Do you really think so-de gozaro ka?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! I heard this directly from the Fire God-sama and the Water God-sama after all!! They said that the Wind God Quasar-sama is especially in favor of the humans!!¡± (Karen)


    That Nova and Coacervate, they had leaked those things out to the humans huh.


    But more than that, the fact that they revealed their identities and made direct contact with the humans makes me want to hit those guys with a ck Hole.


    This mighte as weirding from the Dark God that incarnated as a human, but the boundary between humans and Gods should be clearly defined.


    ¡°You see! In the fights until now, we have directly met with the Fire God-sama, Water God-sama, and Mother Earth-sama directly, but they were all nice allies, you know!! That¡¯s why the Wind God-sama must be an incredibly good ally as well, no doubt!¡± (Karen)


    So she says, Shiva-san.


    Those were words I would like the incarnated Quasar to hear and delight in his reaction.


    ...But, to think that Nova, Coacervate, and Mantle would be called good allies. Karen-san¡¯s saint-like personality must y a big factor in how she sees them though.


    But... leaving aside Nova and Mantle, Coacervate being a good ally huh.


    ...That contaminated water bastard was called a good ally. It yed a big part that he has been distilled and the filth of several centuries has been taken away.


    I skimmed through the newspaper that I had bought on the way here.


    These were the headlines that were going around.


    ¡®A miracle?! A spring welling up from drynd!!¡¯


    ¡®A river flood avoided urban areas, no casualties!!¡¯


    ¡®Viges that were fighting over a water source have made up! A mysterious monster used his wisdom to divide it equally!!¡±


    ......


    Those are all his doing.


    Thinking that this guy will be umting filth and changing into a viin...


    Does he digest karma? Or maybe he umtes it?


    ¡°That¡¯s why, Hyue-chan can be a God Hero when the Demon Lord-san appears! With that, it will be solved!!¡± (Karen)


    The conversation on the other side continued.


    Karen-san seemed to be in slightly high tension.


    ¡°Karen-dono... I think that¡¯s wrong.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It is true that the Gods loving us and helping us is something to be happy about. But if humans take that for granted and stop bettering themselves, the blessings of the Gods will only be poison that rots the inside of humans.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue speaks my mind out.


    It also doubles for the reason of why I wanted humans to not know about Gods being in the surface world. Just knowing that fact alone can serve as a poison for the growth of humans, rotting their potential and possibilities.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I want to grow stronger with my own strength as much as I can-de gozaru. Before relying on Gods, I should first be a hero that is acknowledged by the Gods -by my own strength!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue began to get worked up again.


    All heroes lost theirposure when the Demon Lords appeared, but I think Hyue was the one that took it the hardest.


    ¡°...Hey, Hyue, why are you so worked up?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Uh.¡±


    ¡°It is true that it is important to be independent, but your current attitude feels as if you have to fight the Demon Lord on your own no matter what. What is the reason that¡¯s making you feel that way?¡± (Haine)


    When I asked that, Hyue made a discouraged expression.


    And then, she painfully said.


    ¡°I...if I don¡¯t do that first, I won¡¯t be able to get bnce.¡± (Hyue)


    Bnce?


    What does she mean?


    ¡°I became a hero recently. The achievements as a hero, the experience; I am lower than everyone in those aspects. Karen-dono, Mirack-dono, Celestis-dono; to stand at the side of the others, my efforts and ability are stillcking-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That¡¯s not true. Hyue-chan is doing plenty well as a hero.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san¡¯s heartfelt feelings seemed to not have been enough.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, I need achievements-de gozaru. A grand achievement that allows me to be acknowledged as a hero. I want to achieve this on my own without the help of anyone-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Going against a Demon Lord alone for the sake of that is just...!¡± (Haine)


    The achievement she is aiming for is on the max level.


    ¡°Uhm... how about taking on a more gentle quest...? Monsters are not limited to Demon Lords after all!¡± (Haine)


    For now, it would be better to cooperate with everyone in matters that affect the destiny of humanity as a whole.


    Personal achievements should be raised slowly with your daily efforts.


    ¡°No, that won¡¯t do.¡± (Hyue)


    But Hyue was more stubborn than I thought.


    ¡°I have never fought by myself before after all.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°You have never fought alone?¡± (Haine)


    That mutter of hers surprised Karen-san and I.


    ¡°Uhm...Hyue-chan? You say that, but I also haven¡¯t fought alone, you know?¡± (Karen)


    Well, of course. The fights between humans and monsters are group battles that have the survival of their race at stake.


    The heroes lead the respective soldiers of their affiliated church, andtely, the heroes have even cooperated in fighting together.


    Fighting alone wouldn¡¯t be done unless you are quite the peculiar character. And thinking about the many things that would be lost if you were to lose, that peculiar character would be a sinful one.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I mean. My fighting style requires the support of someone else at all times, so..¡± (Hyue)


    I see.


    Hyue¡¯s long gun, En-no-Ozuno, was made in mind for long range snipes.


    With that kind of fighting style, there would be no way a proper one versus one can take ce.


    It would be either a one-sided assassination without giving the chance for the other party to notice, or a group battle, where you provide backup for the frontlines.


    Watching the battlefield from the back and eliminating beforehand the dangers that the others haven¡¯t noticed.


    I said this before but, the importance of this is of the highest degree, and her participation in the Hero Alliance was incredibly reassuring.


    But when I think it again...


    ¡°It is true that Hyue¡¯s battle style is not fitting as a hero that cuts through the enemy lines.¡± (Haine)


    Heroes are the symbol that protects humanity.


    How to say it. Shooting from a hidden location without standing out isn¡¯t that cool, or more like, not that hero-like.


    ¡°Hyue-chan, why did you choose that Wind Long Gu¡ª-nhgh...¡± (Karen)


    Wind Long Gun technique.


    Karen-san, don¡¯t bite your tongue in such a cute way.


    ¡°...*Cough*, why did you try to learn that? The wind divine power users have a variety of styles, and they all have their special points, which makes them interesting.¡± (Karen)


    True.


    In the past, Shiva, who was a Founder and hero at the same time, used the dual wind gun technique and showed terrifying closebat prowess.


    The proxy wind hero, Juo, had an even more unique fighting style called Wind Rebellion Guns.


    Both of them are suited to fight directly with the monsters at the frontlines, and they are shy and thrilling battles styles.


    ¡°...I originally wanted to be of help to Aniue-sama...¡± (Hyue)


    I see.


    ¡°If Aniue-sama will be fighting at the frontlines, I will take the back and protect Aniue-sama from danger. That¡¯s why I learned the wind long gun technique-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    The brother that advances forward, and the little sister that protects the back; she was training with that image in mind.


    ¡°To tell you the truth, I didn¡¯t think at all that I would be a hero-de gozaru. I simply wanted to be of help to Aniue-sama. Bing stronger and fighting; those were my only objectives-de gozatta.¡± (Hyue)


    Instead of defeating the enemy, she wanted to be a sniper that secures the safety of her allies.


    Her reason for choosing that position was, as expected, her brother huh.


    ¡°Hyue-chan, you really like your brother...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes! I like him a lot-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue agrees vehemently.


    ...Uhm, isn¡¯t that the part where you should get embarrassed cause you were seen through?


    ¡°And I want Juo to die-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to let so much of your true feelings out!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...Juo was taken out of her position as hero and Aniue-sama took her position as recement, which led to his body breaking, forcing him to retire. The batton was passed to me-de gozatta.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue was once again showing a pained expression.


    ¡°I honestly didn¡¯t imagine that things would turn out like this-de gozaru. My strength was supposed to protect only Aniue-sama. And yet, it isn¡¯t limited to protecting him anymore, but protect all the people of the Wind Church -no, all the people in the world. Is my current self enough to achieve that?¡± (Hyue)


    This was the first time I heard the wavering of bing a hero from the mouth of Hyue.


    We witnessed the moment when she became a hero.


    A hero is a position that holds heavy responsibility, so it will of coursee with uneasiness and doubts, but it looks like that uneasiness continued all the way until now.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you had a new divine tool made and thought of a different battle style. All in order to get the achievement of defeating a Demon Lord on your own?¡± (Haine)


    Even if that¡¯s the case, I think that robot strays way too far from that!


    ¡°...Sorry. It was a verbal slip just now-de gozatta. Please forget about it.¡± (Hyue)


    When reaching certain positions, those people are not allowed to show weakness.


    A hero also falls into those positions.


    Hyue noticed this and corrected her posture.


    ¡°No matter if I am worthy of that position or not, now that I am a hero, I have to fulfill that position to the best of my abilities-de gozaru. If I don¡¯t do that, it would be a disgrace for Aniue-sama that had chosen me as a hero.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Truly like you.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And so, I n on continuing my training without ckening. If possible, I would like Karen-dono and Haine-dono to assist me.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue lowers her head deeply.


    Well, helping each other is important, and helping out in training isn¡¯t a bad thing.


    But at this rate, I feel like she will refuse any reinforcements when the actual battle with the Demon Lord happens...


    ¡°But, in the end, I still think you are fine as you are, Hyue-chan.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says this with a tone as if soothing Hyue.


    ¡°With how things are going, I feel like there won¡¯t be a battle with the Demon Lord-sans.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°We have reached apromise with Michael-san, Gabriel-san, and Uriel-san. Raphael will definitely¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    Before Karen-san could finish saying what she wanted to say, a shouting voice interrupted them.


    ¡°Hero-sama!! Wind Hero, Hyue-samaaaa!!¡±


    Looks like it was someone from the Wind Church.


    He is clearly agitated.


    ¡°I am so d...! So you were here! ...We searched everywhere for you.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± (Hyue)


    Even if she carries insecurities inside of her, if she were to show them to the outside, she would be a failure as a hero.


    In front of her brethren, she had to tidy up her voice and attitude.


    ¡°Please return to the headquarters at once! Something terrible has happened!¡±


    ¡°Something terrible?! What in the world happened?!¡± (Hyue)


    Being urged by the member of the Wind Church, Hyue hurriedly returns to the headquarters, and we had no choice but to follow.


    In the current state, the only terrible thing that could happen would be the arrival of the Demon Lord.


    Looks like the final Demon Lord battle will begin!


    ¡ªThat¡¯s what I thought, but when we stepped into the Wind Church, the one who received us was a maid-like person I see for the first time.


    ¡°Ah, Hyue-ojousama! You have finallye!!¡±


    ¡°Fein-san, what¡¯s the matter?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue seems to be acquainted with her as well, but she was also confused by this.


    ¡°Ah, everyone, this is Fein-san. She is a maid of our Toreido household-de gozaru. She has been working under us for a long time and she is practically family-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Ojou-sama...! Those words are wasted on me!¡± (Fein)


    Now that I think about it, Hyue¡¯s family is one of the most influential households in the Wind Church.


    That¡¯s why the eldest son Shiva became the Wind Founder and ended up marrying Juo who is from an influential family too.


    ¡°Fein-san is also one of the people preparing the wedding of Aniue-sama-de gozaru. Since the two in question are busy.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Yes! We are cooperating with the Brastor household to progress the preparations.¡± (Fein)


    When I look, the butler-like person at the side lowers his head.


    It is a wedding between influential families, so there must be a lot going on.


    ¡°...But can you wait for a bit, Fein-san? There¡¯s apparently something terrible happening, so I returned to the headquarters just now.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I was the one! I was the one who asked to call for Hyue-ojousama!!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Hyue)


    Looks like...things are moving to a different direction?


    ¡°I was the one who told them it was something terrible! It is terrible!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Uhm...Fein-san? What has happened?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It is terrible!!¡± (Fein)


    Spit out what is terrible already.


    ¡°The preparations for the wedding are not proceeding at all!!¡± (Fein)


    ......


    ........Wa?


    ¡°What? That¡¯s all?¡± (Haine)


    I thought it was the arrival of the Demon Lord, so once things were revealed, it felt like cold water was thrown onto me. I ended up slipping out those words and the Maid-san red at me for that.


    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®that¡¯s all¡¯?!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Woah!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Shiva-obhama and Juo-sama¡¯s wedding is an event of utmost importance as it is the joining of the Wind Church¡¯s influential powerhouses; the Toreido and Brastor family! As the person left in charge of it, for this maid of the Toreido family, this is a job of top priority!¡± (Fein)


    What an incredibly threatening attitude!


    ¡°More so when Shiva-obhama is the current Wind Founder! This is a celebration that involves the whole Wind Church! If this were to fail, I would have to die to make amends!!¡± (Fein)


    How exaggerated!...is what I thought, but there might be that much of a punishment when influential families are involved.


    I tried directing my gaze to Hyue just in case, and Hyue shook her head to the sides with an exhausted expression.


    ...So it was only this maid-san being heavily delusional huh.


    ¡°So, what do you mean by the preparations of the wedding not proceeding? If I remember correctly, the wedding will be...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°In ten days!!¡± (Fein)


    10 days?!


    Isn¡¯t that pretty close?


    With the day being this close, it is understandable that the city would be raising a festival though.


    No, raising a festival is still too soon even with 10 days.


    ¡°How much is not prepared?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Everything!!¡± (Fein)


    Everything?!


    ¡°Everything, you say?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What do you mean by everything?!¡± (Karen)


    Not only Hyue and I, even Karen-san was surprised and bit onto those words as well.


    Maybe the maid-san felt danger, her face turned blue.


    ¡°That¡¯s...Shiva-bhama and Juo-sama prioritized their work and didn¡¯t get involved at all in their wedding preparations, so...! No, that part is fine. The two of them are important people of the Wind Church, and they are busy. That¡¯s why we took the job of proceeding with the preparations, but...!¡± (Fein)


    Did a problem appear?


    ¡°Even with that, the two of them said they wanted to decide on the important things since it is their own wedding. The wedding dress, the interior design of the opening banquet, the menu, the guests¡¯ seat orders, and the cake; there¡¯s nothing decided!!¡± (Fein)


    Eeeeeeeeeh?!


    There¡¯s only 10 days left, right?!


    ¡°The ceremony itself has already been decided that it will be held in the Grand Wind Church, with him being the Wind Founder, but Shiva-sama and Juo-sama said that they would be deciding on the priest as well, and that hasn¡¯t been decided either. The five candidates are still on hold!!¡± (Fein)


    Uwa...


    ¡°Shiva-sama had suddenly said that ¡®I will be meeting with the Light Founder¡¯ and went missing for several days, and when he finally returned, he holed up in his office room with the work that had umted!! No matter how many times I called, there was no answer!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Fein-san has a habit of nagging a lot, so Aniue-sama ended up getting a habit of ignoring what she says.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Everything is for the sake of Bhama bing a wonderful head of the Toreido family! But now that it hase to this, the only other person aside from myself that can make Shiva-bhama listen is Hyue-ojosama!!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°What about father and mother?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°If Danna-sama and Oku-sama were to learn of this mess, my dignity as a maid would be...!!¡± (Fein)


    The maid-san has it tough in a lot of ways huh.


    But, from what I hear, the reason why Shiva went missing in such a busy period is clearly because we dragged him to the Nameless Desert.


    ...I have a part of the responsibility in this.


    ¡°Was Juo the same?¡± (Haine)


    When I ask the butler that seems to be from the Brastor family, he simply nodded with a disheartened expression.


    ¡°...I had her make Kukulkan, so I am partly to me for that..... Understood.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue turned to me.


    Hm?


    ¡°Haine-dono, it seems like you are close to Aniue-sama. Aniue-sama was wise and brilliant, so he was unable to make close friends in the Kazama Shinobis, so you two have an incredibly mysterious closeness. But that¡¯s exactly why he would hear what you say. Can you please bring Aniue-sama here in my sted?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I am fine with that but, what about you, Hyue?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will be going to where Juo is. The time limit is already closing in. I want to take care of the troublesome stuff as soon as possible.¡± (HYue)


    Meaning that she will be dividing the job rather than just leaving it to one person huh.


    Okay.


    Just like I said before, I hold part of the responsibility.


    This is slightly peacefulpared to a Demon Lord battle, but in order to protect the festive mood of Rudras Metropolis, I will be providing my best to assist!

 Chapter 352-354 - I heard about it from a neighboring housewife

    <h4>Chapter 352-354: I heard about it from a neighboring housewife</h4>


    *Bam!*


    I kick open the door without knocking.


    ¡°Hiih?!¡± (Shiva)


    And Shiva screamed in surprised from it.


    He stops his hands that were signing documents.


    ¡°What, so it was Haine! Ah~, that surprised me. Did you check on Hyue already? I want to hear the details about it, but sadly to say, I still can¡¯t get my hands off this, you see.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°[Dark Matter, Set]¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Eh? Uwaaa?!!¡± (Shiva)


    I engulf Shiva in dark matter no questions asked and, just like that, leave the room carrying him on my shoulders.


    Kidnapping the Founder?, I don¡¯t care.


    I have the permission of the wind hero, so there¡¯s no problem.


    ***


    And in this way, I return shouldering my catch, and there, I could see Hyue returning with the ghost Juo under her arms.


    ¡°Good?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Good.¡± (Haine)


    We were having an exchange with the minimum amount of words.


    Quick information transmission is an important part in seeding at a crime.


    And so, like this, we gathered the bride and groom.


    We made them do a seiza side by side.


    ¡°Uhm...Hyue? Just what in the world is going on?!¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva was unable to understand what was happening at all and the fact that he was suddenly kidnapped.


    You would obviously want to hear the reason in all the confusion.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way you don¡¯t know, Aniue-sama. I have already heard everything from Fein-san.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eh...¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Even when you are in face of your wedding that only happens once in your whole life, you have been too focused in your job that you haven¡¯t done the preparations. Aniue-sama¡¯s wedding not only involves both of your families, but also the whole Wind nation, and on top of that, it also gathers the attention of the other Churches.¡± (Hyue)


    Truly the epitome of workaholic.


    ¡°If you were to show an unsightly wedding because of ack of preparations, the embarrassment of the Wind Church could be transmitted to the whole world! I will have Aniue-sama and the others concentrate on the wedding preparations! All other jobs will be temporarily put on hold!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°B-But, if we were to do that, the management of the Wind Church would stagnate¡ª!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Just leave it to administration. If they can¡¯t progress with anything without inquiring with the Founder, they are of no need!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°No, but...it was because of my long absence that work that only the Founder can put a final word to has been umted heavily...!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°If you have been able to manage until today, you can manage to umte it for 10 days more. At any rate, please quickly decide the priest for the ceremony!¡± (Hyue)


    Uwa...


    Hyue is going full-throttle, no questions asked.


    I thought she was a straightced and moderate girl, but to think she had such a strong pushy side to her.


    ¡°Hyue-ojousama has been like that since long ago.¡± (Fein)


    Fein-san, who is standing by my side, says this.


    ¡°She is polite and proper when in public, but with her rtives...especially Shiva-obhama and Juo-sama, she is...how to say it, incredibly strong!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Even towards Juo?¡± (Haine)


    Meaning she sees Juo as a rtive?


    Or more like, she sounds like the total opposite of our Doraha.


    ¡°Yes. I am serving the Toreido family from my father¡¯s side, so I know of Obhama since they were children. Hyue-ojousama, who is normally obedient like a doll, would turn into a beast only at the times when Juo-sama came to y!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°I thought that was because she hated me...!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°¡°Hiiih?!¡±¡±


    Juo suddenly appeared from nowhere, and Fein and I were about to have our heart stopped.


    Looks like her ghost-looks aren¡¯t something that you get used to no matter how long you know that person for, as proved by Fein-san.


    ¡°I have been bitten by her in the times she was not even a year old. I thought that she simply couldn¡¯t stand me in a physiological level...!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s not the case, Juo-sama! Hyue-ojousama likes Juo-sama quite a lot!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Really?¡± (Juo)


    Maid-san, I understand you wanting to smooth the rtionship of your employer¡¯s family, but I think you shouldn¡¯t say those kind of things so lightly...


    ¡°That¡¯s true. When Juo-sama was a child, every time you came to y to our residence, Shiva-obhama would always meet you together with her, didn¡¯t she?!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Rather than calling it meeting me, it was more like she was waiting to hit me...!¡± (Juo)


    I can imagine a little Hyue going ¡®grrr¡¯ as she shouts ¡®don¡¯t touch Aniue-sama!!¡¯.


    ¡°Even when Juo-sama walked the path of a scientist and entered the academy, Hyue-ojousama had Juo-sama in her mind. She held you in her mind as much as Shiva-obhama who had entered training for the Kazama Shinobis.¡± (Fein)


    ¡°It is more of a ¡®know thy enemy¡¯...!¡± (Juo)


    The one who controls information controls the war after all.


    ¡°Well, I have tried asking about this to Hyue-ojousama once. About what she thinks of Juo-sama.¡± (Fein)


    ¡°You overstepped your boundaries there, Maid-san.¡± (Haine)


    This has already pushed me to blurt my thoughts out.


    ¡°Well, I brought that topic up in between casual talk though. Until that time, I honestly thought that Hyue-sama didn¡¯t like thedy of the Brastor household.¡± (Fein)


    But Hyue apparently answered in this way.


    ¡°She said: ¡®It is the person that Aniue-sama likes a lot, so it can¡¯t be helped¡¯.¡± (Fein)


    Fein-san ys out with a change of tone.


    ¡°Looks like rather than her own feelings, she had epted the feelings that Shiva-obhama had towards Juo-sama and couldn¡¯t do anything about. She treasures her brother more than anything else after all. She understands that the help of Juo-sama is necessary for the sake of Shiva-obhama¡¯s happiness.¡± (Fein)


    ¡°Eh...¡± (Juo)


    ¡°There¡¯s no bigger happiness as a maid than being able to serve these siblings.¡± (Fein)


    That¡¯s how Fein-san wrapped this up.


    This might be the silver tongue of a maid that is trying to avoid problems within the family, but it also felt like there was a tint of truth in it.


    That must be how the heart of a human works.


    ¡°Fein-san! Fein-san!!¡± (Hyue)


    And Hyue was currently unstoppable.


    ¡°The personal selection of the priest, the interior design of the banquet, the seating order of the attendees; all of those have been decided! What¡¯s left is for the staff to do their best!!¡± (Hyue)


    Already?!


    Hyue-san sure works fast!


    ¡°Thank you very much!! With this, we will make it to the estimated day!!¡± (Fein)


    ¡°What hasn¡¯t been decided yet is the bride¡¯s dress!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue¡¯s gaze falls onto Juo.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Juo! This point alone can¡¯t be left to the groom! You have to choose for yourself the dress that you will be disying!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°......Hyue.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Hm? What?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Nice, sister-inw.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Stop with the nonsensical talk and hurry. I heard that the bride¡¯s dress is still only sewn in its initial stages!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue pulls the hand of Juo-san.


    This is the first time I see her going in such an energetic manner. I can already see the difference in treatment she has towards family.


    Hyue pulls Juo-san away.


    We can¡¯t just leave those girls alone, so Karen-san, Doraha, and I go together with them.


    The ce we arrived at was a luxurious clothing room.


    There were several tens of clothing that were worn by mannequins or hung and lined up, moreover, they were all female clothes. On top of that, from what I see, each one of them looks so fancy that I think it would cost a whole month of my pay for a single one.


    They truly are the dresses.


    ¡°These are all the candidates for the wedding dress of Juo.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°All of them?!¡± (Haine)


    Isn¡¯t there way too many?


    There might actually be close to a hundred dresses here!


    ¡°Are you saying we have to choose only one from all of this?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying, Haine-san? In the weddings of these days, it ismon sense to change dresses.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Change dresses?¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san¡¯s was looking at me with eyes as if saying ¡®does he not know?¡¯.


    ¡°You change several times in the middle of the ceremony. And so, you dress in several different types of wedding dresses.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I see, and in that way, it entertains the eyes of the guests.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s not it!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It isn¡¯t?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obviously because the bride wants to dress in a variety of dresses?! A wedding ceremony is something you only get once in a lifetime!! That¡¯s why, it is impossible to just go in one dress!!¡± (Karen)


    Go in several different dresses for one¡¯s own sake?!


    I can¡¯t understand well the desires of a woman!


    ¡°Well, adding to that, this is the Wind Founder¡¯s wedding, so it has the influence of the whole Wind Church on the table. There¡¯s the need to make the wedding as extravagant as possible, which will also lead to showing the other churches how big the Wind Church is.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue exins as she checks the dresses.


    ¡°The era of confrontation has passed, and peace is bing the standard of the whole world, so there¡¯s nothing good in being seen lightly. The other churches will definitely send envoys to celebrate this asion, so we have to make a grand wedding that will awe them!¡± (Hyue)


    Well, Karen-san and I are like the envoys of the Light Church in a sense.


    We only noticed at the moment we arrived though.


    ¡°If we are going to make it extravagant, changing the dresses once or twice won¡¯t be enough. Ten times, twenty times...no, we should change it 100 times, maybe 200 times.¡± (Hyue)


    Wouldn¡¯t that make her change all the time in the wedding?!


    ¡°But there¡¯s a problem with that...¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue¡¯s bitter gaze turns towards a certain direction and we follow it.


    At the ce we focused our gazes in, there was a ghost that felt as if she had crawled from the depths of theherworld.


    This ghost is without doubt the bride of the wedding.


    ¡°...No matter how beautiful and luxurious of a dress we have her wear...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°If the person herself is like this...!¡± (Haine)


    The guests will most likely be in awe for a different reason ¡ªmostly fear.


    ¡°It is practically a mystery why this point hasn¡¯t been addressed until now though!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well, the way of dealing with it had already been established, so it wasn¡¯t taken as a big problem.¡± (Hyue)


    Right.


    In the past, there was a time when we tried to beautify this Juo-san that looked like she had came right out of drowning in the sea, and the result was that she ended being an incredible beauty.


    It was as if a vengeful ghost had ascended to heaven.


    I have seen this purified Juo-san once, but she was so dazzling and beautiful that I don¡¯t remember it well now.


    ¡°Haine-san? What are you remembering~?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wah?!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san whispered at my back and I felt my spine shiver.


    ¡°Uhm...then, how about calling Celestis or Sarasa-san to beautify her by the time of the wedding?¡± (Haine)


    With the help of the water divine power that can affect the body, we can purify Juo-san.


    By doing that, a heavenly bride will most definitely descend in the wedding.


    ¡°Umu, that¡¯s why this problem was not seen as a big one-de gozaru ga. But with this, it might be impossible to try on the wedding dresses-de gozaru na. For now, how about selecting the ones she should wear just by nce?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°No problem.¡± (Juo)


    Is what the ghost bride added.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any preference. I can¡¯t go troubling my friend Sarasa all the time.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°By that, you mean?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I have made this.¡± (Juo)


    Saying this, she points at a certain something that¡¯s at the corner of the room.


    Looks like...a metallic capsule that a whole human can enter?


    We again didn¡¯t notice such a strange thing so close by us!


    ¡°After receiving the help of Sarasa and the others, I tried making this. This is an ethereal device that replicates their techniques.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Eh?! Don¡¯t tell me, you are nning on using this to...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is pretty easy to replicate the effects that the water divine power has on the body by using ethereal. With this, I can transform again!¡± (Juo)


    Saying this, Juo-san presses the button on the capsule.


    Then, the capsule opens in two as if saying e in¡¯.


    Juo-san enters the capsule as if this was the obvious way, and then, presses a button inside the capsule, and the capsule closes.


    Right now, Juo-san waspletely a Schrodinger Juo-san.


    I can only feel uneasiness in all this, but maybe because of Juo-san operating it from the inside, the machine began to slowly move.


    ...*Wuuuun, nk*


    *Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep¡ª!*


    *Zugagagagaga!!*


    *Dotan, batan*


    *Zudodododododo!!*


    *Oraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraoraora!!!*


    *Dorararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararararara!!*


    [Thank you very much!!]


    ¡°Awawawawa?!¡±


    From inside the capsule, sounds that are definitely not natural wereing out from it?!


    Is the person inside okay?! Or more like, what is happening in there?!


    By the time our uneasiness changed to fear, the capsule that was making noises like crazy let out a groan as it stopped, and turned silent.


    And then, it opened slowly, and what appeared from inside it was...


    ¡°Aloha~.¡±


    A heavenly descended, purified Juo-san.


    I just can¡¯t believe it.


    Seeing this heavenly descended being as the same person as that vengeful ghost is just...


    Glossy ck hair flowing down, skin that glows like a pearl; the two eyes of hers, that one couldn¡¯t see at all because of her previously weedy hair, were now visible and dazzling. This slightly drowsy expression of hers contrasted with the clear-headed expression of Hyue.


    ¡°...Tch.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-san, I have to question that habit of clicking your tongue everytime you see her.


    ¡°If you can turn into that in an instant, you should just maintain that look in your everyday life.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°But that side is my natural form, so don¡¯t you think that¡¯s fine?¡± (Juo)


    Well, your current form gives more of a reassuring feeling, you know...


    Isn¡¯t it just fine to make the beautiful form into your actual form?


    ¡°Haine-san? Why are you getting all lovestruck?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Ouch ouch ouch ouch?!¡± (Haine)


    It hurts?!


    Karen-san is pinching my butt for some reason!


    I am not lovestruck or anything. I was simply admiring a beautiful woman.


    ¡°Haine-dono doesn¡¯t understand the heart of women-de gozaru na...!¡± (Hyue)


    Even Hyue pitched in!


    And the Juo-san in question...


    ¡°...Fuhi.¡± (Juo)


    Her inside was the same as before.


    Well, obviously. If her personality changed along with her appearance, I wouldn¡¯t be able to trust women anymore.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave that aside. Now that you are in that appearance, we can actually resize the dresses. Let¡¯s begin trying them on.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°...For now, let¡¯s reduce the candidates. Which one to wear at the wedding ceremony? It would be better if it were as shy as possible.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Right. There will be envoys of the other churches as guests, so this will also serve as a show of our change in policies from the time we were secretive. Let¡¯s make it a really shy one.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°A in one would give out the impression of still being secretive...¡± (Juo)


    Is what Hyue and Juo-san said as they begin choosing the dresses.....


    ¡°¡°DOOOON¡¯T!!¡±¡±


    For some reason, the one that they chose waspletely dirt bad.


    ¡°It is no good-de gozaru! Even if my head understands it, my instincts ends up choosing the in ones-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°.....We of the Wind nation try our best to not stand out, and our motto is to have an air-like presence... Even if asked to choose a shy dress now...¡± (Juo)


    What a praiseworthy nature you have been born with, Wind people.


    They have been tasked with the duty of hiding since the time they were born, the very ce they live in is always in motion, and it is the church that no one could put a finger on; being unable to suddenly stand-out might not be that much of a surprise.


    ¡°Uhm...If you want...!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san raises her hand nervously.


    ¡°How about I check the dresses?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-dono will?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°The Wind people can¡¯t choose shy designs. In that case, I as someone of the Light nation, might be able to take a different perspective about it. Since I am already here, please let me help out.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-dono!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue firmly took the hand of Karen-san.


    ¡°I am truly grateful! If Karen-dono of the Light nation is to oversee this, I am sure we will be able to find a dazzlingly shy dress in no time-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Wait, Hyue-chan?! In what light do you see the Light Church?!¡± (Karen)


    True.


    Do you think the Light Church that worships the Light Goddess Intion would be a bunch of entric people......wait, that might not be wrong?


    ¡°Fine!! See! This is the one I have chosen. My favorite wedding dress!!¡± (Karen)


    What Karen-san pulled out was...a pure white dress that was way too loyal to the basics.


    In a sense, it looked like white like snow, and released a radiance that could dazzle the eye.


    ¡°Ooh! The white color easily shines and stands out! So the basics is the way to go, is that right-de gozaru?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Good job, light hero...!¡± (Juo)


    Looks like Hyue and Juo-san were satisfied with Karen-san¡¯s suggestion.


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s try it out at once, Juo! If there¡¯s an issue with the size, we have to resize it at once! We have short time to do that!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Y-Yes, ma¡¯am...!¡± (Juo)


    Hyue andpany were going at high pace. At that time...


    ¡°Wait, please.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san stepped in again.


    ¡°I am sorry to stop you when you are in a hurry, but I have another proposal.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°A proposal?¡± (Hyue)


    What in the world would Karen-san propose?


    ¡°How about Hyue-san also tries out the dresses?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Excuse me?!¡± (Hyue)


    Hearing this, Hyue was greatly confused.


    ¡°What do you mean-de gozaru, Karen-dono?! I am not the one getting married but this woman-de gozaru zo! There¡¯s no point in anyone other than her wearing a dress-de gozaran ka!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°There is meaning. We will beparing how it will look in differing heights.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°?!¡±¡±


    ¡°Clothes give off quite the different impression depending on the height of the person wearing it. There¡¯s designs that go better for plump people, as well as ones that look good on slender ones. We will beparing to see which one it is for each dress.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In other words...Juo and I?¡± (Hyue)


    Now that she mentions it, these two girls have quite the contrasting body build.


    Because of her work as a scientist, Juo-san¡¯s body is decently plump, and her breasts and butt have volume.


    On the other hand, Hyue has trained her body, so her body is well-toned, and looks like an herbivorous beast that¡¯s specialized in running. And the breasts to match that body...


    ¡°...¡± *Bang!*


    ¡°Uoo?! That was dangerous!¡± (Haine)


    Hyue had silently shot her gun?!


    I guarded myself with dark matter right before it hit me, but Hyue really is quite radical in her reactions!


    ¡°...Fuhi, tiny breasts seal of approval.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Shut up!¡± (Hyue)


    Friction was happening between Juo and Hyue.


    ¡°It is fine! Hyue-chan¡¯s small breasts are efficient small breasts!! They are made in a way so they don¡¯t obstruct your job as a hero!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Even if Karen-dono -a hero that has pretty big breasts- tells me, it doesn¡¯t sound convincing!¡± (Hyue)


    Calling them efficient small breasts made my heart throb for some reason.


    ¡°As proof of that, Hyue-chan¡¯s whole body is well bnced, and has a smoothness like that of a cat! It is a body build that is practically fated to have small breasts as the most beautiful part of it!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you areplimenting me or picking a fight with me!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It is exactly because of Hyue-chan that we canpare it with Juo-san on the same dress!! Now then, you two, change clothes!!¡± (Karen)


    The ultimate pushiness of Karen-san had now activated.


    When Karen-san is like that, the only one who would be able to stop her is Yorishiro.


    ¡°I understand! I will do what Karen-dono says, so just...!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue¡¯s embarrassed expression is directed at me.


    Ah, well, of course.


    ¡°I will be waiting outside.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°[Holy Light, *Nekodamashi*]¡± (Karen)


    It was in an instant.


    Karen-san, who had walked right in front of me, had both of her hands release an incredible amount of light, and dazzled my vision.


    ¡°My eyes!! My EYEEEEEESS!!¡± (Haine)


    I can¡¯t see anything!!


    It was such a strong light that I felt as if my retinas had been burned.


    ¡°Once in the effect of this ¡®Holy Light, Nekodamashi¡¯, your vision won¡¯t return for a while. With this, there won¡¯t be any worries of being peeked at when changing.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Was there a need to do that?! Wouldn¡¯t it have been okay to just leave the ce?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Out of room doesn¡¯t mean out of means.¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s a hell of a paranoia there!


    Damn it. My eyesight will properly return, right? I feel as if this will definitely leave some sort ofsting damage.


    At any rate, it doesn¡¯t feel right to stand still when I am unable to see anything, so I tried to fumble my way to the wall, but...


    ...*Squish*


    I touched something soft.


    ¡°KYAAAAAAAAA!!!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san lets out a cute scream.


    I would call this divine punishment.


    Now then, which part did I touch?

 Chapter 355-357 - A love-comedy of three

    <h4>Chapter 355-357: A loveedy of three</h4>


    And so, with my vision killed by the sh, I end up staying at the ce where the maidens are changing.


    ¡°Eh? Eh?! Wait a moment, Karen-dono! Do we have to change our underwear too-de gozaru ka?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Of course! Depending on the dress¡¯ designs, your shoulders might be visible. If that¡¯s the case, the strings of the bra would be visible, right? And there are also dresses thate with bra.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Fuhihi... This panty is absurdly plentiful inces...!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Juo! Is there a single person who would call underpants as panties in this era?! You really don¡¯t know anything aside from your researching!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It is fine, just stay in ce, Hyue-chan! I am going to gather the meat at your sides to create cleavage!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What are you saying, Karen-dono! There¡¯s no way my breasts can create a cleava¡ª It was created?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°There¡¯s no impossible for the boobs of a girl!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Fuhihi... I don¡¯t need to do anything to have cleavage though.¡± (Juo)


    I feel like dying.


    The density of pink in this ce is suffocating me.


    Why am I in this ce unable to leave and move?


    If I were to try fumbling my way to the exit in this state where I can¡¯t see, I might touch one of the girls identally.


    And, there¡¯s no way I can join that conversation that is a 100% girl¡¯s talk.


    That¡¯s why I stiffened my body like a statue and made my heart stone as well. Don¡¯t react to any erotic kyakyafufu they do. I had no choice but to endure this pink storm till it passes by.


    ¡°Haine-sama, Haine-sama.¡±


    !


    This voice is...Doraha?!


    ¡°If you want, I can bring you outside.¡± (Doraha)


    That¡¯s great, it would help out a lot!


    To think there would be a saving line called Doraha in this pink hell!


    I was about to tell her ¡®please, lead me outside!¡¯, but...


    ¡°¡ªExcuse me.¡±


    The door was opened.


    I heard the voice of a man.


    ¡°I heard about Juo and Hyue being here. Do you have a bit of time? There¡¯s something I want to confirm about the ceremony...... Eh?¡±


    The ¡®eh?¡¯ at the end felt as if he had frozen.


    The pink atmosphere that was in this room just a moment had frozen in an instant as well.


    ¡°...Doraha.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Exin the situation.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Wind Founder has entered the room.¡± (Doraha)


    So it really was Shiva huh.


    ¡°And so, what¡¯s the state.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The wind hero and the previous hero are in their underwear. They are pure white and have a lot ofces to go with the dress, so they are quite cute.¡± (Doraha)


    No need to exin in such detail.


    In other words, Shiva has stepped into his little sister and bride while they were dressing huh. Moreover, the underwear is of high-ss.


    ¡°Karen-sama is the only one in regr clothes since she is the one helping them change, but the wind heroes are staring directly at the Wind Founder, and their faces are stiffened. And they are now steadily getting red.¡± (Doraha)


    The default route.


    Now then, what will you do, Shiva? Depending on your words, this will decide whether this situation will calm down or explode!


    Show me your ability to deal with unexpected situations!


    ¡°...The Wind Founder is sweating bullets all over his face. And he is conspicuously averting his gaze.¡± (Doraha)


    Hearing the exnation of Doraha, I could tell that it was game over.


    ¡°Ah, you two... It fits you two pretty well. You look good.¡± (Shiva)


    And he has now ced the tombstone.


    ¡°¡°Kyaaaaaaaaa!!¡±¡±


    A sudden gale had been created along with those cute screams, and it blew me away as well.


    As expected of the gale created by two wind heroes. It is nothing to look down on. I only took the aftershock of it and I couldn¡¯t breath, so Shiva, who had taken a direct hit, must be in an incredible state right now.


    Because my vision was in temporary retirement, I was swept by the whirling wind freely, and it hurt when colliding with things like walls and other stuff.


    ¡°Haine-san, are you okay?! I will save you!!¡± (Karen)


    I heard the voice of Karen-san approaching me.


    What reliable help. I stretch my hand out towards the voice of Karen-san.


    *Squish*


    I once again felt something soft from my hand. It was like a softness made in heaven.


    ¡°Nghkyaaaaaaaaaa!!¡± (Karen)


    A scream from Karen-san as well?!


    And in this way, I was blown away by light divine power, and couldn¡¯t tell left from right anymore.


    ******


    It took more than several minutes for everything to calm down.


    ¡°No... It is true that it is my fault for entering the room without knocking. Knocking is the greatest culture of humanity after all. It is certainly true that I am at fault for neglecting it.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva, who definitely crashed into many things, had scratches all over his body.


    I had finally recovered my eyesight, so I was able to see that pitiful face of his.


    ¡°But you see...Juo and I are supposed to be married next week, you know? Isn¡¯t it okay to not get that frenzied over something like seeing her in underwear? ...And Hyue, I am his brother, you know? There¡¯s no brother who would feel anything at seeing his sister nake¡ª!¡± (Shiva)


    *Bang bang!*


    The terrifying sound of blows were heard from the shut door.


    Probably two hits at practically the same time.


    Shiva and I had long been thrown out of the dressing room, and we are now doing a dogeza at the corridor.


    ¡°¡°I am sorry! Truly sorry!!¡±¡±


    But there was no response from the other side of the door.


    This silence is frightening.


    ¡°Seriously, Shiva, you...! You really serve no other purpose but to worsen everything. Can you even call yourself the Founder-sama that leads the Wind Church?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oh, shut up...! Or more like, I don¡¯t want to hear that from you. You brought upon the fury of the light hero after fondling her breasts twice, right? You really don¡¯t have good timings. Or was it intentional?¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I will return those words right back at you! You are already in yourte twenties, and yet, you still have the loveedy disposition?! Are you really an adult?!¡± (Haine)


    The dispute was about to explode, but the door was once again hit noisily, so we both returned to silence.


    ¡°...Let¡¯s change the topic.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Uhm...now that I think about it, what did youe here for, Shiva? You are here because you had some business, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course. Since then, I stayed back to arrange the details of the ceremony, but there was something that couldn¡¯t be established without Juo and I, so I came to call her.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Just that?¡± (Haine)


    He could have just send someone to call her.


    He is a Founder-sama after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but I was also slightly in an ecstatic mood, you know. I wanted to be together with the girl that will be my wife for as much as possible.¡± (Shiva)


    Getting all cherry-minded there. Just go explode.


    For some reason, the tense atmosphere at the other side of the door got denser while we were conversing.


    And then, the door opened.


    I was attacked by an optical illusion as if pure white light had leaked out from the opened space.


    <Virgin Road: Japanese for the bride¡¯s walk down the aisle.>


    ¡°Incredible!!¡± (Haine)


    The heaven-descended Juo-san wearing a pure white dress felt even more heavenly now. And her originally pearl-like shining skin was amplifying the white of the dress without bringing either down.


    Her original plumbiness was fitting into the dress well, and it created a neat and clean beauty.


    ¡°Shiva-sama...how is it?¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san asks with a downcast look.


    The idiot Shiva had frozen after seeing Juo-san, so I had to nudge him from the side to have him snap out of it.


    ¡°Gufuh?! ...Ah, it looks good, it looks good! It looks really good!! You are incredibly beautiful!!¡± (Shiva)


    The praise of Shiva that held no sense of individuality made Juo-san¡¯s face redden once again.


    How innocent.


    And now...


    ¡°Shiva-san, how about here?¡± (Karen)


    Pushed by Karen-san, the one who came out was Hyue dressed in a pure white dress as well.


    This was also no less beautiful.


    Hyue is still a teenager, so she normally wouldn¡¯t be wearing a wedding dress though, but even when she is wearing the same dress design as Juo-san, the impression it gives waspletely different.


    Her trained body, at nce, doesn¡¯t look like it would bnce well with a heavily ornamented dress, but even with that, because Hyue herself is a natural beauty, she was beautiful in whatever she wore.


    Rather, her incredibly slender body was increased in volume by the frills of the dress, and it increased that feminine charm.


    Seeing this, the brother Shiva said.


    ¡°Why is Hyue wearing it as well?¡± (Shiva)


    A truly on point opinion.


    ¡°I thought you would be saying that. That¡¯s why I told you, Karen-dono! That I didn¡¯t want to show Aniue-sama! It was obvious that he would just be bbergasted! And that¡¯s what happened!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It is fine, it is fine! Shiva-sama, please give your impression! Tell her she looks beautiful!¡± (Karen)


    For some reason, he was overpowered by Karen-san, and Shiva nodded repeatedly.


    ¡°Yeah, of course, you look good. My little sister is a beauty to begin with after all.¡± (Shiva)


    Hearing this, Hyue turned bright red.


    The two dressed as brides were bright red.


    It was a hard to describe atmosphere, so there was the need for someone to break this.


    ¡°R-Right, Shiva, you came here because you had some business, right?!¡± (Haine)


    That was my role.


    ¡°Right! Right! Juo, to tell you the truth, it is something that I can¡¯t do without you! Pleasee with me!!¡± (Shiva)


    ***


    And so, the ce we arrived at with Shiva as the lead was... the Grand Church inside the headquarters.


    In the day of the wedding, Shiva and Juo-san will be standing in front of the altar to do their pledge in the presence of the Wind God Quasar ¡ªleaving aside the fact that Quasar has incarnated as Shiva himself.


    In other words, this will be the true stage for the wedding.


    ¡°At the day of the wedding, Juo and I will be entering from different entrances, and we will be walking straight towards the altar.¡± (Shiva)


    It is a pattern that¡¯s normally seen in weddings.


    ¡°...And so, in the words of the person in charge of the wedding proceedings, there will apparently be solemn music at the time of our entry, but once we arrive at the altar, he says he wants to stop the music at the same time as that happens.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s why he wants to measure how long it will take for us to reach the altar?¡± (Juo)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Shiva)


    The speed one walks at differs per person after all.


    I do think that¡¯s just being way too nitpicky, but this is the wedding of their Founder, so they probably want this to go perfectly to the smallest of details.


    ¡°You are wearing your dress and all, so it would be nice to try and take the walk. For the sake of the actual day.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Juo)


    When the two move towards the entrances of the church, I hold the ethereal stopwatch.


    ¡°By the way, there¡¯s absolutely no one aside from us here.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The church is not allowing unauthorized personnel for the sake of the wedding-de gozaru. The ones that want to, will have to go to the second church inside the headquarters to offer their prayers.¡± (Hyue)


    I see.


    ¡°Well then...get ready, and...go!¡± (Haine)


    That call didn¡¯t fall like the right one, but Shiva and Juo-san enter the church.


    And just like that, they arrive at the altar. The path leading up to there was truly the thing called Virgin Road, and it will definitely be their bridge at the time of the wedding, but there was an unexpected problem.


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Eeeh?!¡±


    Karen-san and I, who were looking from the side, raised voices of distress.


    The steps of the two are not matching.


    To put it more precisely, Shiva¡¯s walking speed was way too fast and Juo-san¡¯s was way too slow, so when the two link arms and walk, the distance from each other slowly grows wider.


    I felt like I was watching a bad three-legged pair.


    ¡°What are you two doing?¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t help grumbling.


    With this, measuring the time would be the further of the problems. It is great that they practiced first.


    ¡°Shiva! Walk a bit slower! In this case, it is easier for the faster one to match the pace, right?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°U-Umu, you are right...!¡± (Shiva)


    But it looks like the problem fell on Juo-san as well. And as a girl who acts like a ghost in her daily life, she apparently had her own style in things.


    Shiva couldn¡¯t match that and, no matter how many times they tried, they couldn¡¯t walk side by side.


    ¡°This is bad...! To think we would be hitting a wall at a ce like this!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s only ten days for the actual wedding, right? Can we correct them by then?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and I were worrying, but there was someone who stepped forward a beat faster than us.


    ¡°What are you two doing?!¡± (Hyue)


    It was Hyue.


    She approaches the about to marry couple with a strength that she doesn¡¯t show to us.


    ¡°Aniue-sama! Juo developed her own unique style when mastering her wind gun rebellion technique. It is obvious that you wouldn¡¯t be able to match her on normal means!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I-I see!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Juo as well! In your everyday life, walk normally. You are not that much of a slowpoke that you wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to therge strides of Aniue-sama!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°S-Sorry...!¡± (Juo)


    Hyue was pulling the two of them.


    I thought Hyue, who loves her brother and hates Juo, would be against the wedding, but maybe that wasn¡¯t the case.


    It might be just as that Maid-san said.


    ¡°I can understand.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san said at my side.


    ¡°Hyue-chan really loves the both of them.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san speaks out the sentiments of her friend.


    ¡°Ah, geez! I can¡¯t just stand to watch this!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue went in the middle of the linked arms of the bride and groom, and ced her body in between. Hyue¡¯s right arm links with Shiva¡¯s arm, and her left arm with Juo¡¯s.


    With the three walking side by side, they once again entered in a new set.


    ¡°Listen well! The two of you, match my pace!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°O-Okay!¡± ¡°Understood!¡±


    ¡°The original technique of Juo ¡®wind step¡¯ is something that I have tested myself. I will adjust the pace in the middle, so you two match that!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°¡°Yes...!¡±¡±


    And so, a strange entrance of the bride and groom began.


    The groom, bride, and the little sister.


    A Virgin Road with the three in arms huh.


    Hyue was also in a wedding dress, so they really looked picturesque.


    ¡®Did you aim for this when you made Hyue wear a dress?¡¯, is what I ask to Karen-san when I send her my gaze, but she shook her head to the sides.


    Karen-san obviously didn¡¯t have such high nning skills.


    But the three of them are without doubt walking down the Virgin Road to bing a wonderful family.


    ¡°Come on. One, two, one, two...! Aniue-sama, drop the pace a bit! Juo, don¡¯t put divine power between the space of your feet and ground!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°¡°Y-Yes!!¡±¡±


    Looks like the entrance practice will still be continuing.


    But I think that this is an incredibly important time for the three of them.


    This is something that happened at a different location at the same time.


    The Demon Lords were flying towards the castle.


    It is their base and also the cradle of the Great Demon Lord Lucifer that has still not reached a proper birth yet.


    They temporarily called that ce as ¡®castle¡¯.


    This is not something that the Demon Lords themselves prepared, but something that a human woman calling herself as ¡®Lucifer¡¯s Priestess¡¯ had guided them to.


    For the Demon Lords, that woman¡¯s identity is unknown and hard toprehend. And after deepening their understanding by fighting against the humans, her shadiness increased even more.


    To the point that they want to change their view of her from shady to dangerous.


    That¡¯s why Michael and Gabriel weren¡¯t in the mood of returning to what¡¯s supposed to be their home at all.


    On the contrary, they were nervous, as if they were charging towards enemy territory.


    They were nning on going back to the castle and have an audience with Lucifer who might have awakened by now.


    Why do they have to fight the humans? Whates after the eradication of the humans?


    The future that Michael and the others saw after directlying in contact with the humans, the even bigger something that they can obtain from there ¡ªis the direction that Lucifer points at leading to such a future?


    ¡®There¡¯s the need to speak with the Great Demon Lord about this¡¯, is what the three Demon Lords with their prided wings thought as they flew through the sky in order to confirm this.


    ¡°...Really, you saved me there.¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel, who was flying at the furthest back, said this with true heartfelt relieve.


    ¡°If you guys hadn¡¯te to save me, I might have been made a deity that forever makes Golems. Humans really surpass logic. With just their momentum, theypletely sealed my chance to object!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel, who had been dragged to Ishtar ze by Sasae, had been held high up as the deity that reces Grandma Wood.


    A personal altar for Uriel had been made in the blink of an eye, he was enshrined there, and young and old people regardless of gender were visiting him alternatively.


    In the time Uriel was overwhelmed by this and couldn¡¯t move, Michael and Gabriel appeared, and after doing some desperate convincing, they were allowed a temporary leave with the pretext of ¡®arranging personal matters¡¯.


    ¡°...But I have to return at the fixed date. The threatening words of the hero: ¡®If ya don¡¯t return, I will be searching for ya-dasu yo!¡¯, don¡¯t leave my ears!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°You are just weak to pressure, Uriel. Good grief, to think that the Earth Demon Lord had such a pathetic side to him.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel says with a tone as if making fun of him.


    ¡°...The more time it passes, the more our individuality grows.¡± (Michael)


    Michael speaks with him at the lead.


    ¡°Not only our abilities and outward appearance, but mostly our personalities. The experience and knowledge is changing each of us from the inside, and changing us more and more into different beings.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s culture! By shing opinions between people of different thoughts, knowledge is spoke out loud and takes form, is what the people of the Water Church said!¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel says in an intoxicated manner.


    In that case, the Demon Lords will in time hold different ways of thinking, and might end up confronting each other.


    At first, the Demon Lords were cooperating to bring destruction to the humans, but now, even their biggest objective might be facing a downfall.


    At the time when their objectives change and they face in new directions, will the Demon Lords be able to maintain the same grouping?


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Michael?¡±


    Reacting to their leader that had suddenly stopped in mid-air, Gabriel and Uriel also stop.


    ¡°I was thinking about meeting you. It is fortuitous that you are the one that came to meet us.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°¡°?¡±¡±


    Michael looked straight at an empty space, and then, from that one ce, something appeared.


    Many small points took shape, and those points became uncountable in no time, moreover, they were whirling like a storm.


    ¡°Uh?!¡± ¡°This is...!¡±


    That intensity made Gabriel and Uriel protect their eyes as they follow it with their gaze, but in the instant when their vision was obstructed by it, a new strangeness appeared.


    A steel armor that covers the whole body. From his back, colorful butterfly wings were spread.


    ¡°Raphael?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°What, so it was you? Don¡¯t scare me.¡± (Gabriel)


    Thest of the four Demon Lords that came together under the banner of human eradication.


    His whole body is covered in full body armor and doesn¡¯t show a single bit of skin, which makes his appearance a step more unique than that of the other Demon Lords that are unique to begin with.


    A suspicious look is directed at the dark gap in his helmet.


    ¡°...Raphael, the three of us have found a new possible path for us monsters to walk in.¡± (Michael)


    The Fire Demon Lord speaks with the Wind one.


    ¡°Instead of fighting humans, we should walk together and better each other. I think that, in this way, we will be able to go even further without stopping because of wounds we have done to each other. I am beginning to feel like seeing what this path will bring about.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Culture is the best! Culture is necessary in the development of monsters!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°I don¡¯t have that much freedom of choice as them, but I don¡¯t want to fight humans anymore. Especially with that super scary hero!!¡± (Uriel)


    The other Demon Lords chime in on their approval to coexist with humans.


    It was as if a cold ditch had been made between Raphael and the other three.


    ¡°We are nning on going to Lucifer-sama to ask about his will once again. Ask him if fighting the humans is truly the only path. Raphael, I want you to apany us as well.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s a great idea. We four are practically together all the time after all.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°The four together is what makes us the four Demon Lords. Let¡¯s go, Raphael.¡± (Gabriel)


    The three Demon Lords invited him, but the Wind one answered bluntly.


    ¡°I refuse.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°¡°¡°?!¡±¡±¡±


    This clear refusal surprised the three and confused them.


    ¡°You three really have been corrupted and have had your thoughts crooked. In order to climb to the summit of all living beings, we have to kick out the current ones at the summit. In other words, the humans.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°And we are saying that, instead of having one side stand at the summit, we can coexist and¡ª!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That can¡¯t happen. The summit is always one. Humans are enemies we must destroy. If you guys are not going to eradicate the humans, I will. That¡¯s all there is to it.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Exin yourself, Raphael!¡± (Michael)


    Even the leader Michael couldn¡¯t read the intense emotions that were hidden in the words of Raphael.


    That¡¯s because those three still don¡¯t know about that emotion.


    ¡°If you guys have lost the will to do so, I will be doing it myself. ughter the humans, prosperity to the monsters; those goals will be achieved by the Wind Demon Lord Raphael on his own. I simply came here today to announce this.¡± (Raphael)


    As if saying there¡¯s nothing more to speak of, Raphael turns around.


    ¡°The four Demon Lords are now disbanded. You three can go choose a new name for your group now.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Wait, Raphael!¡± (Gabriel)


    The bitter voice of Gabriel stopped her brethren who was leaving.


    ¡°Why are you saying something like that?! Aren¡¯t werades that have acted together since the time we were born?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Comrades? Don¡¯t go joking.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael says coldly.


    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been a single time you guys have thought of me as arade. Did you think I hadn¡¯t noticed?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°¡°¡°?!¡±¡±¡±


    No one could refute those words immediately.


    Without giving the time to break that silence, Raphael once again rides a gale and disappears from sight.


    A storm¡¯sing.

 Chapter 358-360 - Celebrating with friends

    <h4>Chapter 358-360: Celebrating with friends</h4>


    It has been ten days since I -Kuromiya Haine- havee to Rudras Metropolis.


    I am now here for apletely different reason than the time I arrived here.


    We hade here to prepare for battle, prepared for the possible arrival of the Demon Lord.


    We actually suffered from a hard battle, but it wasn¡¯t a battle with the Demon Lord, it was because of a battle called preparations for the wedding.


    In this time when there was only ten days before the wedding, they understood that the preparations were not proceeding to an extent they didn¡¯t expect.


    The reason was because of the workaholic levels of Juo and the current head that is Shiva.


    Moreover, the people in question think that being buried in work is natural, so it was truly troublesome to drag them out and make them participate in the preparations of the wedding.


    Of course, the preparation itself is being done by specialists of the trade, but there will be things that only Shiva and Juo themselve can decide on, so they have to participate as well.


    Hyue was the one who dragged Juo out, and I -an outsider- dragged Shiva out.


    ¡°Aniue-sama obediently hears what Haine-dono says after all.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue said as if that were a matter of fact.


    And so, when we received requests of support from the ones in charge of the preparations, we would look for Shiva. It is not as if he is always shut in his office, there are times when he leaves to do inspections and visits, so it wasmon to search for him and drag him back.


    In the free time, Karen-san, Doraha, and I enjoyed touring Rudras Metropolis, and in no time at all, the day came.


    ***


    Day of the wedding.


    The festive mood of Rudras Metropolis, that has been enveloping the whole city since ten days back, was now at its highest peak.


    Everyone was already so high in excitement that I felt as if deaths might even appear from all that.


    Well, celebrations are kind of like that, so it should be okay as long as they are careful.


    And so...


    ¡°It is great to see you here. Can you please show me your invitation? ...Yes, yes. Then, please head to the ceremony hall. This is the pamphlet. There¡¯s precautions you have to take written in it, so please read them before the ceremony begins.¡± (Haine)


    For some reason, I am doing receptionist work.


    It is not as if I am not thinking ¡®why?¡¯, but I do understand that we arecking in personnel, so it can¡¯t be helped.


    ¡°At the time of leaving, we will be giving out amemorative present, so please doe to ept it..... Well then, enjoy the ceremony.¡± (Haine)


    Even so, I have attended a good number of guests and am beginning to gain some leeway.


    ¡°Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    And when I was doing this, Doraha and Karen-san approached me.


    The girls had dressed themselves to participate in the wedding ceremony and looked like high-ssdies.


    ¡°Do you want to go to where the bride is before the ceremony begins?¡± (Karen)


    Is what she said.


    It is apparently okay to leave my reception job, so I headed to the waiting room of the bride with Karen-san.


    And what about the groom, you ask? Who cares.


    ****


    When we arrived at the waiting room, there was already quite the density of people there.


    ¡°Juo! Congrattions on your marriage!!¡±


    ¡°I havee to celebrate.¡±


    ¡°Ya can now make babies with yer head held high up. Make sure to do it like crazy tonight.¡±


    The ones surrounding the pure white Juo-san were women that were around their twenties.


    When looking only at that, it would be a simple group of friends having a pleasant talk, but when looking at it carefully, the members of it are quite the big deal.


    Previous fire hero, Abi Kyouka-san; previous water hero, Ra Sarasa-san; previous earth hero, Iemon Yoneko-san.


    And the bride Juo-san is basically the previous wind hero, so it would be a gathering of the previous hero team.


    ¡°Ah...so you girls were also invited to the wedding?¡± (Haine)


    When I ask, they made a cheerful expression befitting of this great day.


    ¡°Of course. We have to stand witness to the best day in the life of my friend, or it would bring to shame my name as a previous hero!¡± (Kyouka)


    Kyouka-san deres.


    She had received a heavy wound from the fight with Michael, but it looks like she haspletely recovered.


    ¡°We did receive a polite invitation after all. No matter the case, this is the wedding of the Wind Founder, so the other churches sending envoys to celebrate this is a matter of course. If I am the one to go, it would be two birds with one stone.¡± (Sarasa)


    Sarasa-san says with a big proud face.


    ¡°I have left Sasae-chan defend the fort~. Those girls been leaving and having us defend the fort all the timetely, so this be the time for us ta spread our wings.¡± (Yoneko)


    Yoneko-san says with a bright smile.


    Hearing this pained the ears of Karen-san as the previous light hero was still missing and, even with that, she was out in another nation.


    ¡°Ha...haha...¡± (Haine)


    I could only make a bitterugh.


    ¡°Well, even if we didn¡¯t have anyone ta protect the fort in our absence, we would have stille here today.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We have to celebrate the important day of our important friend after all.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Juo-san is arade that fought in the same team as us. We have to share the happiness with everyone.¡± (Kyouka)


    Is what the three said in good will.


    ¡°Everyone...!¡± (Juo)


    Hearing this, Juo was teary.


    ¡°I am d that I participated in the hero match...! To think I would be able to meet such great friends as you all...! I will treasure these connections the rest of my life...!¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Yeah, go ahead and do that. Of course, second to your groom, that is.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°No need to throw the bouquet at us. We are already married after all.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°I want everyone ta have babies, so that my children can get more friends~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Everyone speaks out their mind as they hug.


    ...What a sight.


    When they were first introduced, the previous heroes hated each other¡¯s guts so much, but now, none of that is left.


    I am surprised how humans can have such sudden changes, or more like, there¡¯s nothing difficult when humans get along with each other.


    As I thought...


    ¡°This is proof that the world is changing. Even humans and monsters are beginning to get along with each other! It is obvious that heroes would get along as well!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was incredibly moved.


    In this heartwarming view, something disturbing caught my eye.


    A gaze that was peeking from the small opening of the door.


    I can only see a part of it, but that face that can be seen from the opening, it is that of Hyue.


    Hyue, why are you doing that and not entering the room?


    In the end, Hyue left just like that, leaving the young bride team and Karen-san.


    I left the room and chase after Hyue.


    ¡°Hyue!¡± (Haine)


    Chasing after her in a corridor where there¡¯s no one, I was finally able to confirm the figure of Hyue.


    Seeing her outfit that I couldn¡¯t see from the door¡¯s opening, I was shocked.


    ¡°That appearance...!¡± (Haine)


    Isn¡¯t that a battle costume?!


    The kind that a hero wears to fight monsters. Clothes that prioritize movement and defense.


    It is an appearance I am used to seeing her in, but today was a day where it was abnormal.


    Today is a day to celebrate the wedding of Shiva and Juo. There should be a dress for such asions.


    Even Karen-san has taken off her usual armor and hase in an evening dress that matches her age to attend the ceremony.


    If Hyue who has the biggest connection with the bride and groom is looking like that, could it be...


    ¡°Haine-dono, I won¡¯t be attending the wedding.¡± (Hyue)


    She directly said that.


    And she did so without stopping her steps, so I hurriedly had to follow after her.


    ¡°Not attending?! Why?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I have already told Aniue-sama. Even if this is a festive day, we can¡¯t neglect the defense of our nation. There¡¯s the need to station the minimum of security and someone tomand them.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°And the onemanding them will be you, Hyue?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°A hero is one that stands at the front of the military force. This is natural.¡± (Hyue)


    That might be the case, but...


    ¡°Isn¡¯t there anyone else? Shiva and Juo-san would be happy if you were to attend the wedding though.¡± (Haine)


    From the series of conversations I have had sinceing to Rudras Metropolis, I have grown certain of something.


    Shiva, Juo-san, and Hyue get along incredibly well.


    Hyue may show unbing jealousy as a sister and would look like she hates Juo at a nce, but Hyue and Juo actually acknowledge and respect each other.


    That¡¯s why this decision is probably not from negative emotions like not wanting to congratte the two or things like not wanting to make the mood bad.


    I also don¡¯t think this is because of a sense of duty like Hyue had said just now.


    To use a reason like that to not attend the wedding of his actual brother, there¡¯s no way Hyue is such an unsociable person.


    ¡°As I thought, I can¡¯t escape from Haine-dono.¡± (Hyue)


    Looks like we have arrived at the destination as we did this exchange.


    We were continuously walking as we went on after all.


    I was simply following Hyue, but...isn¡¯t this theboratory of Juo?!


    And the thing in front of us is the divine tool robot that she made together with Juo, the Wind Mobile Gun, Kukulkan!


    ¡°We made time in between the preparations of the wedding and finished it-de gozaru. The Wind Mobile Gun, Kukulkan.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°But why today of all days did youe here?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because it is needed-de gozaru. I have to bring out the full potential of this guy when fighting!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue swiftly enters Kukulkan, activates it, and flies away from the storage.


    ¡°Uwa?! Hyue! Wait!¡± (Haine)


    I was flustered for a moment, but the exit of the storage was linked directly to the outside of Rudras Metropolis.


    If I were to report this to Shiva or someone to that effect, there¡¯s the possibility I will lose sight of Hyue.


    I have no time to be hesitating.


    ¡°Kugh... [Dark Matter, Set]!¡± (Haine)


    I used the repulsion of the dark matter to fly, leaving theboratory to chase after Hyue.


    Kukulkan easily surpassed the mobility of a normal ethereal car and quickly advanced through the barren wastnd.


    Even so, this wasn¡¯t a speed that I couldn¡¯t keep up with, so I followed her from her back, and in time, she stopped.


    ¡°Haine-dono! To think you would be able to follow me all the way here, as expected of the ally that Aniue-sama acknowledged!¡± (Hyue)


    No, it isn¡¯t such a big deal though...


    We were quite a few ways away from Rudras Metropolis. It is at a distance that one can see the moving city whole. With this much of a distance, no matter how much of a ruckus is made, they wouldn¡¯t notice.


    ¡°What are you nning on doing all the way here, Hyue?¡± (Haine)


    Weren¡¯t you supposed to be takingmand of the security of the city?


    ¡°Now that we havee this far, I can¡¯t hide it from Haine-dono anymore. If possible, I want you to not interfere. This was my agreement with that person.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That person?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That person said that they would be keeping the agreement. That¡¯s why I want to keep my part of the agreement too.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That¡¯s a good attitude.¡±


    Suddenly, a whirlwind urred in front of us.


    It rose up a cloud of dust andpletely blocked my vision for an instant.


    ¡°Ugh! What is going on?!¡± (Haine)


    The whirlwind soon subsided and there was one abnormality floating at that same ce.


    Colorful butterfly wings and full-body armor covering his whole body.


    ¡°Wind Demon Lord...!! Raphael?!¡± (Haine)


    To think he would appear at the day of the wedding!


    ¡°It has been a while, Kuromiya Haine. Whenever I appear in front of humans, you would almost always be there. You and I may have quite the annoying fate tying us.¡± (Raphael)


    Is what the full-armored Demon Lord said with a sarcastic tone.


    The first Demon Lord I met was also the moment humanity first encountered a Demon Lord.


    At that time, he had a different kind of fantastical look. He had the look of a child with butterfly wings.


    The reason why he is wearing that full-body armor is because he was about to be killed by me, so he is now in that armor topensate for it.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, it was my mistake to be convinced that I had given you the finishing blow there.¡± (Haine)


    Now that the enemy has shown himself, I have to seal my agitation and concentrate on the matter at hand.


    ¡°If you are nning on making a mess of Shiva¡¯s wedding, if you haven¡¯t forgotten your animosity towards humans, I have no choice but to erase you without leaving a single remain of you.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Just what I want. Kuromiya Haine, you are the biggest threat in eradicating the humans. Oveing that is basically the same as achieving our objective. Fighting you now and fighting youter would be the same thing.¡± (Raphael)


    ...As I thought, this guy doesn¡¯t n on stopping his battle with humans.


    I thought that if Michael, Uriel, and Gabriel had joined the side of coexistence, he might have had a change of heart seeing thoserades of his, but...it looks like that was just a hopeless dream.


    ¡°Please stop, Haine-dono.¡± (Hyue)


    I was about to take a step forward, but Kukulkan¡¯s giant hand blocked my way.


    ¡°I asked you just now-de gozaru. To not interfere at all. That¡¯s the agreement we had-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Agreement... What agreement are you speaking of?¡± (Haine)


    An agreement between Hyue and Raphael that a third party can¡¯t intrude in had already been sealed.


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine, you know of my power already, right? The power I inherited from my mother, Beelzebub. The ability to divide my cells into insects.¡± (Raphael)


    That¡¯s exactly the ability that made it so I couldn¡¯t kill you after all. Moreover, the insects he is divided into are the size of cells, so there¡¯s no way for a human to notice that one of them has flown off.


    ...Ah.


    ¡°I have already had several of my selfs infiltrated in the city. In order to gather information for the most appropriate time to attack.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°How unscrupulous!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°My bugs should have been able to infiltrate without being noticed by anyone. But that didn¡¯t happen.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°There was someone who noticed my supposedly unseeable selfs. That wind hero over there.¡± (Raphael)


    Hyue could?!


    ¡°You underestimate me way too much. My sharp senses that were trained with the Wind Long Gun technique can easily catch that presence of yours that I already know too well of.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Because of that, I had a better opinion of her and got motivated to do my move. That¡¯s why I had an agreement with her.¡± (Raphael)


    He used the fact that he was detected in his infiltration to his advantage and made contact with Hyue, exchanging this agreement.


    ¡°I challenged Raphael to a one on one duel.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°So she told me toe today to do exactly that.¡± (Raphael)


    A formally issued duel?!


    ¡°Hyue! Why did you do that?! Confronting a Demon Lord on your own is not a sane thing to do!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Killing Raphael for certain is not something easy-de gozara nu. And in reality, not even Haine-dono managed topletely kill him, and the root of evil hassted till today.¡± (Hyue)


    Ugh.


    Can¡¯t say anything against that.


    ¡°In order to defeat him, there¡¯s the need for proper preparation-de gozaru. Thus, it was necessary to have a fixed date for the battle.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Meaning, you have a n?¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael adds in with a provoking tone.


    ¡°Are you telling me that trump card is Kuromiya Haine himself? It is certainly true that if he were to have another chance, he might be able to kill me for sure. You could even call it the most effective of moves. But I wouldn¡¯t say this abides to the agreement of a one on one duel.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand. Haine-dono is an unexpected intruder. An unwanted third party-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    How rude!


    What a terrible way of putting it!


    ¡°The one who will be killing you is none other than me. It is the duty of I, the wind hero, Toreido Hyue. Defeating the Demon Lord is the job of the hero!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue makes the engine of Kukulkan roar.


    ¡°I will have Haine-dono act as the witness of this duel. I once again ask of you, do not interfere!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°But, Hyue...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°If you are to participate, please do so after I have been defeated and die. That¡¯s my stand as a hero-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    I could tell from her expression that there was unbending will.


    The kind that, if I were to not listen to her request here, she would never forgive me.


    ¡°......¡±


    Of course, I have no obligation of epting her request.


    Even if the other Demon Lords have be friends, the Demon Lords themselves are still a threat to humanity.


    In order to avoid the danger for sure, we should crush them with our all when there¡¯s the chance.


    Then, it would be best to have the two of us fight Raphael.


    But...


    ¡°...Understood.¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t answer with anything else -faced with such resolve.


    ¡°I am in your debt.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue gives me a short sign of gratitude.


    She was already locked onto Raphael, not allowing him to escape.


    ¡°Sorry for the wait. Then, just as agreed, let¡¯s have a one on one.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It won¡¯t change anything though. I will be killing all the humans in that city. This simply means you will be the first one... And so... What¡¯s with that over-exaggerated outfit you have?¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael says with a scoffing tone as he looks at Hyue.


    Looking at the metallic robot that Hyue is riding in.


    ¡°It is ugly and exaggerated. You thought that if you were to cover your whole body with such a thick shell, you would be able to protect yourself from me? You look like a turtle who has withdrawn its limbs!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand. This Wind Mobile Gun, Kukulkan, is not something made for the sake of allowing me to survive, it is something that was made to kill you. Human¡¯s tenacity, human¡¯s wisdom; learn that with your body as you travel to the realm of the dead!¡± (Hyue)


    The signal to start was a gunshot.


    Gunfire that the Wind Mobile Gun of Hyue spewed out.


    ¡°[Wind Gun, Gatling]!!¡± (Hyue)


    The several gun barrels in a ring-shaped bundle, equipped at the right arm of Kukulkan, began to revolve.


    Wind bullets were scattered at terrifying speed matching the revolutions.


    What was shot from the wind divine tool were allpressed wind bullets.


    That¡¯s why there¡¯s no moment where it would run out of bullets, and in theory, it is possible to shoot infinitely.


    But...


    ¡°How stupid! You think something like that will work on me?!¡± (Raphael)


    It is just as Raphael says.


    The Demon Lords are the summit of monsters born from the four Base Elements, and the strength of the divine power they possess is one that wouldn¡¯tck at all with their title.


    It is on a level that wouldpletely overwhelm humans.


    As proof, the tornado that Raphael created with a single p of his wings had repelled all the bullets of the gatling gun and was now heading towards Hyue!


    ¡°Guuuugh!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue was hit by the tornado, but she somehow managed to resist it.


    Kukulkan.


    The armor of the robot she is riding is not just for show, and because of its weight, it wasn¡¯t send flying by the tornado.


    ¡°Nuuuaaaa!!¡± (Hyue)


    On the other hand, she used both arms to rip the tornado apart.


    ¡°Oooh!¡±

 Chapter 361-364 - Turbulence

    <h4>Chapter 361-364: Turbulence</h4>


    It really started.


    Hyue vs Raphael.


    A one on one between the wind hero and the Demon Lord.


    But as expected, Raphael has been on an overwhelming advantage since the beginning.


    ¡°[Cmity Storm].¡± (Raphael)


    The tornado that Raphael created with one p of his butterfly wings was tormenting Hyue who was driving Kukulkan.


    ¡°Guaaaaa!!¡± (Hyue)


    She is able to resist as of now because of the thick and heavy armor of Kukulkan, but if she were to receive that in the flesh, it would be over in one hit.


    The divine power of a Demon Lord is truly out of norms.


    ¡°Hahahaha, what¡¯s the matter? Is the only trait of that big thing its weight?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Keep barking! Fine, bear witness to the power of the Wind Mobile Gun, Kukulkan!!¡± (Hyue)


    The left arm of Kukulkan is directed at Raphael.


    This left arm has a big gunport equipped to it.


    ¡°[Wind Rippling Gun, Nobel]!!¡± (Hyue)


    At that instant, the air between Hyue and Raphael exploded.


    It didn¡¯t shoot a bullet of wind, but made the air itself exploded in the area between them to deal damage to the target. This is a technique that resembled the one Shiva used in his time as a wind hero, the wind dual gun technique.


    It is an attack that explodes the air in the target¡¯s surrounding with no timeg, making it impossible to avoid or defend.


    But...


    ¡°[Vacuum de]¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael had nullified it as if nothing.


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What a stupid technique. You can easily block this attack by cutting off the air in the surroundings.¡± (Raphael)


    And then, Raphael made a sudden descent from the sky, at close range to where Hyue is ¡ªto where Kukulkan is.


    ¡°By the way, I have already found the weakness of that big thing.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael stands at the feet of the robot.


    Kukulkan¡¯s size is enough to have one human inside, so its body is pretty big, and it had to look down at Raphael, but...


    ¡°It covers its whole body with thick metal to protect itself, and has several types of wind guns installed to it. As a result, it has this big of a body...... But it is exactly because of its big frame that you can¡¯t do anything when approached like this.¡± (Raphael)


    It is as Raphael says.


    In the first ce, the arms of Kukulkan are not made as dextrous as a human¡¯s arm, and it takes its all to use it as a battery.


    If he were to enter into the inside range of those arms, Hyue would lose all means of attack.


    ¡°Kuh!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue revved the mobility engine of Kukulkan and was thinking of retreating at high speed, in order to create distance.


    But there¡¯s no way the Demon Lord would allow this.


    ¡°Too slow!!¡± (Raphael)


    From each of the five fingers of the gauntlet of Raphael, tightlypressed air ws were shot.


    ¡°[Kamaitachi]¡± (Raphael)


    Their sharpness made it hard to believe that it was air, and it easily cut the metallic armor of Kukulkan.


    ¡°Guaaaaah!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue took a defensive stance, and thanks to that, both of the arms of Kukulkan had been cleanly cut.


    With that, there¡¯s no way she will be able to use the weapons installed in them, and won¡¯t be able to defend herself with that same move anymore.


    If he were to do the same attack, it would be the end.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t even think of the possibility of me fighting you in close range? Well, the first time we fought, I did leave all the job to the size of my divine power and was attacking crudely after all.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Guuuh...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It just means I have also grown. Even if you guys were to try struggling with your schemes, I will always be walking ahead of you humans. One of the proofs that monsters are superior to humans.¡± (Raphael)


    It is true that Kukulkan wasn¡¯t made with ns of fighting a Demon Lord in closebat.


    In the first ce, the Wind techniques themselves are not suited for closebat. That¡¯s the territory of the Earth techniques.


    That¡¯s why, Kukulkan not being suited for closebat is not the fault of Juo-san and the driver Hyue...


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s leave the ying around. How about fighting seriously now? Show your trump card.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°W...What?!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue dragged the feet of Kukulkan and took a fighting stance.


    ¡°Are you ying dumb? Did you think I didn¡¯t know?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°God Hero. God-He-ro.¡± (Raphael)


    Those words made not only Hyue gulp her breath but me as well.


    This guy...!


    ¡°Is it something to be so surprised about? Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel were defeated by the God Heroes, right? There¡¯s no way I wouldn¡¯t know.¡± (Raphael)


    That¡¯s true, but that¡¯s not the problem here!


    ¡°It means that, in the end, humans have received power from the Gods and have finally managed to be equal to Demon Lords. Now, go ahead and turn into a God Hero as well. No need to hold back. In your case, you would be the Wind God Hero, right?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°......¡±


    Hyue kept silent inside Kukulkan.


    ¡°You guys finally managed to fight equally with us after bing God Heroes. If I don¡¯t crush you in that state, there would be no point in this fight. In order to have you taste true defeat...turn into a God Hero.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°I refuse.¡± (Hyue)


    What came out from Hyue was clear refusal.


    Hyue refused turning into the Wind God Hero.


    ¡°I have decided. This fight is one that I will ovee with my own strength. By defeating you with my own strength, I will be able to be a true hero.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°...What?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Line up, Demon Lord Raphael! I will be the one to defeat you! No God Hero, or anyone else; it will be this wind hero, Toreido Hyue!!¡± (Hyue)


    Why are you so stuck in fighting alone, Hyue?!


    A Demon Lord is originally not an opponent that a single human can do something about.


    In the fight of Michael and Mirack, the confrontation of Celestis and Gabriel, the overwhelming of Uriel by Sasae-chan; it is not as if they overcame those difficulties by themselves.


    Humans and Gods, humans and humans, and even humans and demons; with those many connections, they changed it into strength and managed to ovee those things that strength alone wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    That¡¯s supposed to be a strength of the humans.


    Why are you throwing that strength away and challenging the Demon Lord?!


    ¡°...What. So you won¡¯t be turning into a God Hero huh.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael was showing a truly bored expression.


    ¡°In that case, I have no further business with you. I will kill you quickly and go after the next prey.¡± (Raphael)


    His gaze is directed at me.


    ¡°First, it will be you, Kuromiya Haine. Since you are already close by, I will be having my revenge for the first time we fought.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°...¡±


    Being directed clear hostility, I got on guard.


    ¡°The next would be that man called Shiva. I will never forget the humiliation this Demon Lord Raphael received from you and him. Once I settle that, I will be beginning the humanity eradication n at full.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Fine then. Before fighting, tell me something.¡± (Haine)


    Dark matter was already being released minutely from both of my arms.


    If Hyue won¡¯t turn into a God Hero, I am the only one here who can defeat him.


    ¡°Do we really have to fight each other?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hoh?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°I thought at first that there was no other way but having only one side survive. That there was no way but to fight and decide by the erasure of the other. That¡¯s how I thought.¡± (Haine)


    But the ones who taught me that this was a wed way of thinking were the humans that look weak at a nce.


    They ced their all in their fight and made the impossible possible.


    What brought this about was the strength that¡¯s deep inside the heart of humans, the ability to belief.


    This surpassed races and even reached the lord of monsters; they changed them.


    The coexistence of humans and demons that even Gods didn¡¯t believe in, the humans were trying to make it true.


    ¡°Yourrade, Michael, said that he epted walking alongside humans. Gabriel and Uriel as well.¡± (Haine)


    Not a future where you step on someone else to gain glory, but a future where everyone shares the glory.


    ¡°Raphael, can¡¯t you also walk alongside us?¡± (Haine)


    If he does that, there¡¯s no need for us to fight here.


    ¡°Hmph, every single one of you people, wasting time with such stupid things.¡± (Raphael)


    But my expectations were betrayed by those simple words.


    ¡°It is true that Michael said something like that too. That instead of eradicating humans, we should walk alongside them...!¡± (Raphael)


    So Michael is really trying to fulfill his promise with us.


    And Raphael is trying to go thepletely opposite path.


    ¡°Why?! Why can¡¯t you walk the same path?! Even when you are a Demon Lord like Michael and the others!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right... If I had to say a difference, it would be...¡± (Raphael)


    I could feel a deep deep dark gaze from the opening of the helmet that covers the whole face of Raphael.


    ¡°That we have already begun our battle.¡± (Raphael)


    ...?


    What does he mean by that?


    ¡°My fight with you people has already begun. Thus, it won¡¯t be stopped until it reaches a conclusion. And that conclusion will be either me dying or you guys dying; those are the only two possible conclusions.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you mean. Michael and the others overcame their battles with the humans and reached an understanding with them.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Those can¡¯t be called battles. They didn¡¯t fight humans at all. The only one who has experienced a battle between humans and demons is me, this Raphael.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Exin yourself clearly!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand? We Demon Lords were born from our mothers the Mother Monsters almost at the same time, but the only one who had to fight immediately after being born was me. Even now, I can still remember it. You guys were there when I broke out from the Demonic Green Imperial Egg my mother Beelzebub gave birth to.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Yeah...?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°And so, we fought. At that time, you said this: ¡®if we can¡¯t coexist, we have no choice but to fight until one side is gone¡¯. I clearly remember this. My fight with you humans was exactly that kind of fight.¡± (Raphael)


    Even now, I still couldn¡¯t see clearly what Raphael was trying to say.


    Just what is it Raphael is looking for in our fight?


    ¡°...It is exactly as you say, Demon Lord Raphael.¡±


    And there, a voice resonates.


    It was Hyue.


    ¡°I remember it too. The day you first appeared in front of us.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Good grief. You still want to fight? I am not interested in you who can¡¯t turn into a God Hero though.¡± (Raphael)


    It is true that it was impossible to ask for further battle with Kukulkan missing both arms.


    ¡°It is just like that time...! You didn¡¯t see me as a threat at all andpletely put me out of your peripheric. While Haine-dono and Aniue were fighting with their all, I couldn¡¯t do anything...!¡± (Hyue)


    In the first battle with Raphael, Shiva and I cooperated to try and erase all the cells of Raphael without leaving a single one behind.


    Hyue was indeed there as well.


    ...And she was almostpletely on the receiving end.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to taste that feeling of worthlessness anymore. This time, I will surely defeat you with my own hands. ...As a hero. In the name of this title of wind hero that I seeded from Aniue-sama!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Your spirit is nice, but if it isn¡¯t apanied with power, it just looks unsightly. If you are not going to turn in a God Hero, borate in how you n on defeating me with that piece of scrap that¡¯s close to breaking.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°And as I said, you underestimate us too much. Just like in the past!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Wa?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°You haven¡¯t seen all the wind guns equipped in Kukulkan yet!¡± (Hyue)


    At some point in time, arge amount of spheres were surrounding Raphael.


    ck spheres that had a propeller-looking thinging out from their top that was rotating.


    They were flying in the air with that.


    With a nce, I could tell that there were tens of them. They were flying around as if surrounding Raphael.


    ¡°Wind Gun Rebellion, Koumei!! This is the first piece that will be driving you to checkmate!!¡± (Hyue)


    Wind Gun Rebellion, Koumei.


    This is supposed to be the wind divine tool of the proxy wind hero, Juo-san.


    It is a specially unique one even within the many divine tools.


    By having these things that are apparently called bits fly in the air at every direction desired, you attack with the small wind guns equipped in them.


    Moreover, it is not only one, there are several. It is a weapon that can attack from all directions and instills fear in not knowing from which direction it will being next.


    But obviously, Juo-san is not here.


    Then, the one controlling those wind guns is...


    ¡°Hyue...is it you?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The Wind Gun Rebellion, Koumei, is a divine tool that requires a grasp on the space and high processing ability which the genius Juo possessed. Making this divine tool impossible to master by anyone else. It is normally not something I can master-de gozaru...... But...¡± (Hyue)


    The robot she is riding makes a low growl.


    ¡°With the assistance of Kukulkan, I can somehow utilize it as well. All thirty bits! Right now, they are all my imperial guards-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°And what of it?¡± (Raphael)


    Even when surrounded, Raphael was calm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you seriously think that with ten or twenty of these pebbles, you will be able to defeat me. If that¡¯s really the case, I might have to reevaluate my view of you. To that of an idiot that surpasses my wildest of imaginations.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°No matter what you say, this is my trump card. If you couldn¡¯t notice that, then you are the one that¡¯s an idiot!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Interesting. Then test it out. Test if these pebbles can really injure me.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t be doing that.¡± (Hyue)


    Raphael tilts his head in puzzlement.


    ¡°The Wind Gun Rebellion is only an encirclement to stop your movements!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Wa...? Kugh, what?!¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael¡¯s voice suddenly began to show unrest.


    But it was only his voice, his body didn¡¯t budge a bit. When agitated, your limbs would normally move to show it as well.


    It looked as if Raphael couldn¡¯t move even if he wanted to.


    ¡°...You...what did you do to me?! Why is my body not moving?!¡± (Raphael)


    Can you really not move, Raphael?


    ¡°The ones flying around are not wind guns used for normal attacks. They are speakers that emit a special sound wave-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°A stiffening sound wave that Juo discovered in her researches. By mixing in sound and divine power, it hardens the wind divine power, and makes it possible to stop movement!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Impossible! Even if there¡¯s logic to it, there¡¯s no way an idea of humans would be able to stop me, a Demon Lord! Me who has several tens of times more divine power than you people!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly why...-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue showed a ferocious smile that felt as if fangs could show.


    ¡°This stiffening sound wave only works on wind divine power. The bigger the divine power, the stronger the restrain-de gozaru! And more so since monsters are pure masses of divine power. The Demon Lords that stand at the summit are giant masses of divine power themselves. Truly a trump card exclusive for the Wind Demon Lord!!¡± (Hyue)


    And...


    ¡°With your movements sealed, there¡¯s no better moment to hit you with this!!¡± (Hyue)


    The gun barrel that¡¯s installed at the back of Kukulkan came out and is ced on its shoulder.


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡± (Haine)


    What I saw at its test drive.


    If I remember correctly, the Wind Main Cannon, Beethoven.


    The strongest wind gun that¡¯s installed in Kukulkan!


    ¡°With this, I will blow every single cell of yours! This will seal the battle! Demon Lord Raphael!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°You bastaaaard!!!¡± (Raphael)


    *Doooon!*


    Without a single bit of hesitation, the huge cannon roared.


    The one shooting it is Hyue, so there¡¯s no way it would be missing. The cannon that¡¯s hailed to have the strongest firepower had impacted urately where Raphael was.


    It created a giant explosion of wind in the area of impact and mowed down everything in the ce.


    Even I had a hard time staying on my feet from this distance.


    Just the st of when the wind shell was shot had created a massive gale that raised stones and dust in the area, making it hard to even see.


    But once the actual explosion came, it created such a strong wind that just keeping my eyes open was painful. I had to cover myself with both arms and a thin veil of dark matter.


    Firepower that could blow off a mountain.


    Raphael had his movements sealed with the special sound waves, so he shouldn¡¯t have been able to evade or defend.


    It is certain that it hit him directly.


    And the result is...


    ¡°There¡¯s...nothing?¡± (Haine)


    At the ce where Raphael was supposed to be restrained, there was not a single fragment left behind.


    It waspletely empty.


    ¡°Was he really blown off? Without leaving a single cell behind?!¡± (Haine)


    Raphael can escape by changing his cells into insects, so if it weren¡¯t for that special sound wave, it would have been impossible to catch him.


    To think she would have such an effective trump card!


    ¡°Hah...! Hah...!¡± (Hyue)


    And that Hyue was breathing in a fashion that seemed as if every breath she took was painful.


    The spheres flying around have all fallen to the ground as if saying they had run out of energy.


    ¡°Hyue, are you okay?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...As I thought, the recoil of using the Wind Cannon is rough-de gozaru na. Juo said that she increased the resistance around the cockpit, but it is far from perfect.¡± (Hyue)


    Even with that, it is a lot better than the test drive where she was knocked out by it.


    But...


    ¡°You really managed to defeat Raphael!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Indeed. With this, we can enjoy Aniue-sama¡¯s wedding without worries...¡± (Hyue)


    The voice of Hyue, even when exhausted, was filled with a sense of aplishment.


    At the same time, I thought this. What will Michael and the others think when they learn about this?


    To think I would be worrying about something like this. I already can¡¯t tell what¡¯s right or wrong anymore.


    ¡°...Without worries huh? Then, how about I help out in making that wedding even grander?¡±


    !


    What¡¯s that voice just now?!


    ¡°I will make it so bright red flowers sprout in the whole city.¡±


    This voice is from Raphael?!


    He is alive?!


    Did he escape from that restrain or somehow managed to endure the attack?!


    ¡°Haine-dono! Look at that-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue was also at her wit¡¯s end.


    ¡°The ground...!!¡± (Hyue)


    Ground?


    When I look at the surroundings as pointed out, at this wastnd where the grass was growing here and there, there were metal glints.


    ¡°Metal... Armor!¡± (Haine)


    The full-body armor of Raphael.


    It had been dismantled and dispersed here and there.


    Raphael, in order topensate for his body that was mostly destroyed in the battle before, had covered his body in full-body armor.


    The kind that covers his whole body without leaving openings.


    That has now disassembled and was scattered far apart on the ground.


    I can tell that the inside is empty when straining my eyes. There¡¯s nothing inside.


    What is the meaning of this?!


    Then where did Raphael go?!


    ¡°If it is me, I am here.¡± (Raphael)


    And then, an abnormality urred.


    The armor parts that were scattered on the ground had flown up into the sky all at once.


    They flew in the sky as if they were living beings, as if they had a will of their own.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°What is happening-de gozaru?!¡± (Hyue)


    The flying armor parts were dancing in the sky as they piece each other like parts of a puzzle.


    The forearm and upper arm joined together, and the hard thighs join as well. Furthermore, they assemble together with the trunk area, and in the end, the head settles at the topmost part.


    Then, colorful butterfly wings spread from the back, and the Demon Lord hadpletely regained his previous form.


    ¡°Wa... Wa...?!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t understand what was happening.


    At the time when the armor was in pieces, I couldn¡¯t see anything inside of it, in other words, it was hollow.


    Does that mean that even when it has reconstructed itself to its previous form, the inside is empty?!


    ¡°I see...! So that¡¯s how it was!!¡± (Hyue)


    Looks like Hyue had noticed something.


    ¡°Remember-de gozaru, Haine-dono! That armor is supposedly topensate for thecking state he was in after being almostpletely erased by Haine-dono... But!¡± (Hyue)


    But he couldn¡¯t restore enough cells to the point of reconstructing his body.


    The most he would be able to manage is to form those butterfly wings at his back.


    Even so, Raphael wanted to look the part of a Demon Lord, so he desired a humanoid appearance.


    That¡¯s why he utilized that armor.


    ...Is that how it is?!


    ¡°That armor was actually empty, and it was simply being controlled with wind divine power-de gozaru. In other words, it was a papier mache puppet-de gozaru yo!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That¡¯s right... I will at least give you that.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael answers calmly.


    But that presence he gave off was exuding silent anger.


    ¡°It was truly a troublesome thing, you know. Kuromiya Haine, because you erased most of my body, I rantepared to the other three and felt as if I was being looked down on. In order to escape from that humiliation, I wanted a body no matter what. That¡¯s when I met this guy.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael hits his metallic armor.


    ...No, I don¡¯t even know if I can call that the main body of Raphael anymore.


    ¡°I found this guy at the ruins of a residence. Maybe because the owner was missing for several decades, the residence had lots of dust umted in it and lots of weed growing in it too. What was abandoned in it was this guy here.¡± (Raphael)


    Must have been a decoration from a prosperous noble.


    It is human-shaped and has at least enough space for the joints to move.


    And so, the few insect cells remaining took residence inside the armor like a hermit crab.


    ¡°Well, the attack just now was truly dangerous. We monsters are beings of pure divine power,so I didn¡¯t have any techniques to escape from that sound wave. If I was purely in my monster body, that is.¡± (Raphael)


    But right now, Raphael is in his temporary shelter that is the armor.


    Even if Hyue were to mix divine power in the air to release stiffening sound waves, it wouldn¡¯t have any effect on it.


    ¡°I hurriedly withdrew my cells inside the armor and tried lowering my divine power to its utmost limit. Thanks to that, I was able to escape the restrain, and the gravity brought the armor down to the ground. The shockwave of the shot helped in dispersing the armor outside the st range. It was a close one.¡± (Raphael)


    He managed to pull off something like that?!


    ¡°If I was in my normal state, it would have been impossible to do. If I were to hold back too much of my divine power, I wouldn¡¯t be able to retain my self, and I would vanish. By maintaining my existence in the shell that was this armor, I was able to keep my divine power to almost zero without vanishing, and managed to protect myself... How ironic, don¡¯t you think? It is exactly because I ended up in this pathetic look that I was able to avoid your attack.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Kuh...!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue grinds her teeth hearing Raphael¡¯s triumphant voice.


    That move was her sure-kill n to defeat the Demon Lord after all. She definitely took a lot of time making n after n and making sure it would take form.


    And to think that all of it would be broken in such a way...


    ¡°It looks like you exhausted a heavy amount of divine power by shooting that wind cannon. A mere human wouldn¡¯t be able to shoot twice of those in a row. In other words, your n haspletely misfired, and it is impossible to do the same thing twice.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Ugh!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°By the way, I have thought of a new technique thanks to what happened just now. I will show it to you now, so enjoy it to your heart¡¯s content.¡± (Raphael)


    Right after he finished speaking, Raphael¡¯s body scattered as if it had exploded.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    In reality, each part of the armor disassembled.


    Each part of the armor was flying sharply like a swallow, they flew around around Hyue and I.


    ¡°Hahahaha!! See that?! I grasped the ability topletely control each part just now! It means that I have managed to change trouble into a chance for growth!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°So fast!¡± (Haine)


    The speed in which the armor parts were flying around in was more than expected, and I could tell that this was bad.


    That¡¯s because it wasn¡¯t just one armor part after all.


    If I were to concentrate on the movements of one part, the others would attack in that opening! Moreover, it is metallic, so it might even lead to fatal injuries if they to hit parts like the cranium!


    ¡°Hyue! Sorry, but I will be assisting here!!¡± (Haine)


    Hyue has poured all her divine power in her n, so she can¡¯t resume battle anymore.


    Now that it hase to this, I will be fighting Raphael!


    ¡°Don¡¯t-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    I was suddenly blown away by a strong power.


    The broken arm of Kukulkan had pushed me away.


    Because of that, I rolled to quite the distance away from Hyue, and Hyue was left alone in the middle of the flying pieces of Raphael!


    ¡°Hyue! Why do you go to such lengths to fight alone?!¡± (Haine)


    I couldn¡¯t understand.


    What is she getting so hung up over?! Why is she so stubbornly trying to be alone?!


    ¡°Even if you were to fight alone! Even if you were to win alone! There¡¯s no pride as a hero in that! A hero¡¯s duty is to protect the people! Mixing in pointless stubbornness, that in itself would make you a failure as a hero!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am fully aware of that-de gozaru...! But, I just can¡¯t not be stubborn about it-de gozaru...!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue answers withck of breath.


    There¡¯s no doubt that she is practically out of stamina.


    ¡°I can feel it-de gozaru...... Raphael, that¡¯s the same for you as well. You are the same kind as me-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)

 Chapter 365-366 - Lacking in ability

    <h4>Chapter 365-366: Lacking in ability</h4>


    ¡°Hahahahaha!! Die die die!!¡± (Raphael)


    The battle was already in its climax.


    It is safe to say that Hyue has already used all her cards.


    The metallic robot she appeared in, Kukulkan, had both of its arms broken and in the state of barely working.


    Gatling, Nobel, Koumei, Beethoven; all of them are destroyed, orcking in energy, so the only one that remains is the small machine gun that was equipped at its waist.


    Even with that, she continuously shot as long as she could, creating distance with the enemy, and showed tremendous resilience.


    Because the engine in its chest is still running, she could continue running around and didn¡¯t allow her opponent to target her properly.


    But all of these only served to endure and she simply can¡¯t wish for anymore results than that.


    In other words, she doesn¡¯t have the strength to push that status quo and make it into a victory.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?! You can¡¯t win against me by just running around, you know?!¡± (Raphael)


    The armor parts that had disassembled were chasing the running Wind Mobile Gun at high speeds.


    Raphael was in a good mood after obtaining a new technique.


    ¡°But this is nice! Struggle more! Writhe pitifully!! That pathetic look of yours is truly pleasant! Show me even more amusing looks and entertain me!!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Kuuugh!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue rotated Kukulkan herself as she spread wind bullets around with her machine gun, but she didn¡¯t have the leeway to urately aim, and she couldn¡¯t hit the parts of Raphael which were flying around violently.


    ¡°Is that even an attack?! This is what an attack is!!¡± (Raphael)


    High pressure whirlwinds were shot from each flying armor part of Raphael.


    ¡°Uaaa?!¡± (Hyue)


    This attack that felt as if it were the ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯ of Karen-san but in wind version had been shot from the many armor parts at different directions, attacking Hyue like a volley of bullets.


    The whirlwinds hit Kukulkan directly, and the steel armor was being cut with the fierce stream of wind.


    ¡°Suffer more! Raise more screams!! That¡¯s your role! Suffer, cry, and sooth my heart like so!¡± (Raphael)


    The whirlwinds that were released from the armor parts were more than ten in total.


    They were attacking Kukulkan from all directions, and finally, thest weapon that is her machine gun and her lifeline that is her engine had been destroyed as well.


    ¡°Guua?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°This time for sure, it is the end.¡± (Raphael)


    Maybe he was now sure that his victory was assured, Raphaelbines the parts again and returns to a humanoid shape.


    ¡°With this, I have destroyed all the abilities of that big guy. Can¡¯t attack or move anymore. That thing is now just a metallic coffin.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°With this, you have finally understood, right? Humans can¡¯t win against Demon Lords. The strength of our existences is on a different ne. That¡¯s why the monsters that are ruled by Demon Lords are the most suited to be the next superior race.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°You humans are a race that must be eradicated. Seeds that must be destroyed by the Demon Lords. ept this and disappear as you struggle pitifully!¡± (Raphael)


    .....Guh!!


    I can¡¯t take it anymore! I can¡¯t silently watch over it!


    I have to save Hyue. I can¡¯t just let her die like that!


    I don¡¯t know why she is so stuck in fighting alone, but she has already fought plenty enough.


    She should pass the baton to me already!!


    ¡°Don¡¯te, Haine-dono!!¡± (Hyue)


    I tried to run to her, but Hyue stopped me.


    ¡°If you get any closer, I won¡¯t forgive you! I won¡¯t forgive you for eternity!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hyue...!¡± (Haine)


    Why are you going so far for this?!


    ¡°Listen well, you can¡¯t win against me anymore. You have no other way of survival but to ask for the help of Kuromiya Haine, you know?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°......You sure?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue speaks within Kukulkan that now has less use than even a coffin.


    ¡°It is true that a mere human confronting a Demon Lord is foolhardy. A human alone would never be able to defeat a Demon Lord.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°That¡¯s what I have been telling you. You are a woman that doesn¡¯t learn.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°A human would never be able to defeat a Demon Lord...... that is, the other Demon Lords aside from you.¡± (Hyue)


    ......At that moment, the air froze.


    That frozen air was created by Raphael.


    Being hit right in the nail, his heart alongside the ce around him had frozen.


    ¡°You have weakened. You are a lot weaker than the time when you first appeared before us!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°What are you saying... What nonsense do you speak?!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°I did have a vague feeling, but it changed into certainty when I saw that. That moment when you used such an unsightly method to escape from my Wind Cannon.¡± (Hyue)


    Raphael has gotten weaker? A lot more than when we first met?


    ¡°Most of your body had been destroyed by Haine-dono. But because a few of your cells remained, you managed to escapeplete erasure. However, that brought heavy damage. It was impossible for you topletely recover!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°......!!¡±


    ¡°And in reality, you were unable to return your cells to their previous numbers, and had no choice but to don such an armor! It is impossible to recover the damage you have taken! And your strength decreased along with the damage you received!¡± (Hyue)


    The direct attacks that Raphael made against Hyue.


    The tornadoes, wind fangs, and the whirlwinds that were shot from the divided armor parts; all of them were strong enough to overwhelm Hyue. They were indeed strong, but...


    ¡°All of them were enough to overwhelm me, a single human. However, the power of a Demon Lord should be even more incredible than that. And in fact, the first time you appeared, you had strength that felt as if you could destroy Rudras Metropolis with a single finger!¡± (Hyue)


    Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel; all had strength that surpassed the imagination of humans.


    Compared to that, the strength of the current Raphael is definitely strong, but it is not one that surpasses imagination.


    He looks inferiorpared to the other Demon Lords?


    ¡°That¡¯s why I was able to hang on until now without bing a God Hero, in my normal state... The because reason for that is because you are weak. You became weak! Isn¡¯t that right?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°...That¡¯s right. It is exactly as you say.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael answers.


    That voice of his was shaking little by little -with anger.


    ¡°I am already in a state where I can¡¯t recover anymore. After most of my body was erased by Kuromiya Haine, I am unable topletely recover to my previous state. My body...doesn¡¯t remember how to return to its original shape...¡± (Raphael)


    Before he was erased by me, his figure looked like that of a child.


    Time has passed since then, so if he were in a regr state, he would have grown by now, just like the other Demon Lords.


    But his body had been erased before that happened and he doesn¡¯t know how his grown body looks like.


    ¡°My ability as well. It looks like my regeneration had its limits. When divided to a certain extent, I can¡¯t increase anymore than that. With such a small amount of cells, I can¡¯t use as much power as Michael and the others. Entrusting my existence to this armor is the most I can do in order to maintain looks.¡± (Raphael)


    The more Raphael speaks, the more his voice shakes in anger.


    Anger that¡¯s filled with humiliation and hatred.


    ¡°Do you understand?! The first time the Demon Lords gathered...they were clearly looking down on me. A loser that was defeated by humans the very moment he was born. A weakling that isn¡¯t worth the title of Demon Lord! The resentment of my heart when I was bathed by that shame! The sorrow!! Could you understand that?!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°......¡±


    Hyue didn¡¯t react at all.


    ¡°This prided Demon Lord Raphael...the honorable Wind Demon Lord!! I will never forgive the humans that drove me to this unfinished state!! The humans themselves, and Kuromiya Haine who was the direct perpetrator! Especially that guy called Shiva!! And also you!!¡± (Raphael)


    The armor finger of Raphael points at the unmoving steel giant -at Hyue who is inside it.


    ¡°You who has seen through a secret that can¡¯t be known! You can¡¯t be forgiven either!! Pointlessly touching into my humiliation, and making me remember my pain; I will have you regret it plenty for doing that!!¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael once again divides in parts, flies, and charges towards Kukulkan.


    They went at high speeds akin to those of shooting stars, and they all hit Kukulkan¡¯s body, driving into its armor.


    ¡°You won¡¯t being out from that hard shelter anyways, right? In that case, you will be killed in due time! I will pierce through you as a coward that is shut into her shell!!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°I wonder about that.¡± (Hyue)


    At the same time she says that, the cockpit cover flies out with an explosive sound.


    ¡°Emergency escape! I was waiting for this moment!!¡± (Hyue)


    And then, without leaving a single second in between, Hyue herself flies out from Kukulkan.


    ¡°Not only have you gotten weaker, your intelligence is alsocking! Didn¡¯t you notice I was provoking you?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°P-Provoking?!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°You have been provoked sessfully and ended up attacking Kukulkan directly! Thest weapon left of Kukulkan; taste it with that body of yours!!¡± (Hyue)


    Raphael had sunk into Kukulkan with the intention of piercing through Hyue who was inside, so he couldn¡¯te out immediately.


    ¡°The Divine Ore that is installed inside of Kukulkan, if send into an overload state with the assistance of the ethereal power...!!¡± (Hyue)


    ......Self-destruction?!


    An overwhelming explosion urred in front of me.


    My face was unable to withstand the heat of the gale hitting my cheeks, and I had to cover my face with my arms.


    ¡°Uwa?!¡±


    That was thest attack of Kukulkan.


    Turning itself into a bomb and perishing with the enemy.


    Hyue was aiming for this.


    By pathetically running around, she made her opponent think he was in the advantage and lower his guard plenty enough. On top of that, she stabbed onto the trauma of her opponent and made him lose his ability to make calm decisions.


    By doing that, she induced him into a sloppy attack, and when she had made her opponent close enough to a point he can¡¯t escape in time, she would activate herst trump card.


    ¡°Waaaahh!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue managed to escape before the explosion, but because of the gales, Hyue was flying in the sky.


    Even if she had drawn him in plenty enough, in order to not give enough time for him to avoid it, she made it explode before she herself could escape to a safe distance.


    I felt fearsome tenacity for victory in that action of hers.


    ¡°Hyue!¡± (Haine)


    I obviously couldn¡¯t just silently watch that and, by calcting her drop point, I safely catch her, dampening the impact of the fall with dark matter.


    I managed to avoid her stting onto the ground.


    ¡°Seriously, what a reckless thing to do! If you were to fail by a step, you would have been caught in the explosion!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am in your debt...! But I had to go that far. In the end, Raphael is still a fearsome opponent. After all, see there...!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue moves her gaze.


    I follow that gaze of her, and inside of the burning hellfire, I was able to confirm two shining eyes.


    Raphael hadbined his armor again and appeared from within the hellfire?!


    ¡°That guy...still didn¡¯t die even after being hit by that explosion?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Even if he is broken, he is still a Demon Lord, it seems-de gozaru. However, it looks like he didn¡¯t escape unscathed. If that weren¡¯t the case, the sacrifice of Kukulkan would have been in vain.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue lowered herself from my arms and heads towards her opponent.


    Those steps of hers were unsteady, and I could visibly tell that she had no strength left.


    And there¡¯s Raphael. It looks like the damage he received from the explosion of Kukulkan was serious.


    The armor that was his shelter had been crooked by the heat and impact of the explosion, and there were even cracks here and there.


    His right arm was gone.


    It was most likely at the centre of the explosion and was blown into pieces.


    ¡°You are a mess...... How was it? The feeling of being ripped a new one by a mere human.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Don¡¯t get conceited, human...! It is true that I was injured, but I can still fight. The damage you have should be far higher than mine.....!!¡± (Raphael)


    That¡¯s exactly right.


    Even if Hyue has received the attacks of Raphael within the thick armor of Kukulkan, she is by no means unscathed.


    On top of that, because of the Wind Cannon Beethoven and the self-destruction, her divine power must be expended to its limits.


    She should becking in energy by a lotpared to Raphael.


    ¡°...I also have...something to tell you.¡± (Hyue)


    Even with that, the fighting spirit of Hyue didn¡¯t waver.


    She takes a stance with her wind long gun, En no Ozuno, which she probably already had by the time she entered Kukulkan.


    ¡°Do you think you are the only one who was left unable to cure? ......Aniue-sama was also...the Wind Founder Shiva had also received wounds that will never disappear..... He now has a body that can¡¯t fight!!¡± (Hyue)


    Right.


    Shiva is the Wind Founder and was even a wind hero at the same time in the past.


    The first Demon Lord to appear in front of humanity, Raphael, was the reason why he had to retire as a hero.


    Shiva released divine power that surpassed his limits in order to restrain the overwhelming divine power of Raphael, to the point that it would injure his own body, and in the end, he ended up receiving damage that was impossible to recover from.


    That¡¯s why he had to step back from the frontlines and give that position to Hyue.


    ¡°That Aniue-sama that was said to be strongest out of everyone since the beginnings of the Wind Church...! Has ended up with a pitiful body that can¡¯t even fight...! You know, I learned wind techniques in order to help Aniue-sama. I gained strength. And yet, the back of Aniue-sama I pledged to protect, is not there anymore...!!¡± (Hyue)


    She said herself before that the reason she learned wind long gun techniques, that are originally made to assist from the backlines, was because she wanted to help out Shiva who had entered the path of battle within the Kazama Shinobis.


    For her, battling and Shiva were her everything. Assisting Shiva was her reason for battle.


    ¡°I can¡¯t fight together with my brother anymore. It is because of you, Raphael! You broke Aniue-sama!!¡± (Hyue)


    Raging fighting spirit and words of resentment gush out from Hyue.


    Those were emotions. Emotions of hatred that were difficult to hold back.


    ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you.....! Defeating you with these hands of mine...is the duty that I have been entrusted upon when I was given the title of hero by Aniue-sama! I won¡¯t let anyone have this!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around...! Who cares about breaking a single human? I am nning on destroying all humans. And yet, you guys...!¡± (Raphael)


    From the beaten up body of Raphael, from the openings of the cracks around the whole armor, an aura of hatred was gushing out.


    ¡°Pushing me down to such a pathetic look...!! Someone like you wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the humiliation I felt. The pain of being the only loser within the Demon Lords, and be looked down upon by the others..... I will never forgive you humans who made me pass such a bitter experience!!¡± (Raphael)


    Hyue hates Raphael.


    Raphael hates humans.


    Due to that circle of hate, the exhausted bodies of the two were moved forcefully with strength.


    ¡°I...!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I...!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°¡°Will never forgive you!!¡±¡± (Hyue+Raphael)


    After all this, I have finally understood...the meaning of this fight.


    In this moment when humans and monsters as a whole were about to enter a phase of reconciliation, these two wanted to fight no matter what.


    The reason for that is...hatred.


    Disregarding things like race, the two simply fought because of their own personal hatred, and were unable to throw away the option of fighting.


    Without putting an end to it; without settling things; it wasn¡¯t possible for Hyue and Raphael to join hands.

 Chapter 367-369 - Once something has already been broken…

    <h4>Chapter 367-369: Once something has already been broken...</h4>


    Three winged people descend at my surroundings.


    ¡°...What¡¯s happening?¡±


    Fire Demon Lord, Michael.


    And there¡¯s also Gabriel and Uriel.


    The Demon Lords have all gathered here.


    ¡°The one fighting is... Raphael?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t it already unnecessary to fight humans?!¡± (Uriel)


    The battle still continued to unfold in front of us.


    After losing Kukulkan, Hyue had no choice but to rely on En no Ozuno, and Raphael had disassembled his body again to fly around and attack.


    But the battle was already at its climax.


    Both sides arepletely exhausted and their speeds are already quite lower than at the beginning.


    But the wind long gun techniques that Hyue had trained for long years are still sharp, and she managed to urately shoot down the armor parts.


    ¡°Raphael! That idiot! Isn¡¯t he getting beaten up?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°If both sides have run out of divine power and it turns into a battle of wills, the humans who have ovee many difficulties are in the advantage. Raphael doesn¡¯t understand that!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°It is because he underestimates humans that things have turned out like this! We are stopping this before they can deal the finishing blow!! Geez, that broken Demon Lord really causes trouble at every step!!¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel try to jump into the middle of that maelstrom in order to stop the battle.


    There¡¯s no doubt that if these three world-ss powers were to go there, they would be able to restrain the those two that arecking in breath.


    But I lifted my arm and stopped the Demon Lords.


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine! Why are you stopping us?!¡± (Michael)


    Michael was confused, but I ask.


    ¡°Why did you guyse here? How did you guys notice something like this was happening?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°We Demon Lords have a kind of instinct that allows us to sense the other Demon Lords. Thanks to that, we were able to sense that Raphael was in some sort of danger.¡± (Michael)


    I see.


    We Gods have a simr kind of thing between us, so I could ept it pretty easily.


    In that case, these guys are the only ones who noticed. I don¡¯t have to worry about whether Shiva and Karen-san have also noticed at Rudras Metropolis.


    ¡°Don¡¯t interfere.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°You can¡¯t get involved in that fight. That fight is a fight for only Hyue and Raphael. No other people can get involved.¡± (Haine)


    The Demon Lords looked like they couldn¡¯t ept my words.


    The same as me a few moments ago.


    ¡°What are you saying?! We Demon Lords have already decided not to fight humans!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Since this has been decided, there¡¯s no point in fighting anymore. Pointless things should be stopped at once!¡± (Michael)


    No, there¡¯s meaning.


    ¡°It is toote already. Raphael is different from you guys. He already began his confrontation with humans. Once something has begun, it can¡¯t be stopped midway. There¡¯s no choice but to do it till the end.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying?! Michael, Uriel, and I have also fought the humans at first! But at the end, we understood each other, isn¡¯t that right?!¡± (Gabriel)


    I said the same thing as them. But now, I can tell that it is different.


    Something that one can¡¯t go back from.


    Because something like that happened, you can say that the battle had truly begun.


    ¡°Raphael was the first Demon Lord to meet humans and fight them. And in all that, he broke a human and drove him into an unrecoverable state.¡± (Haine)


    It cannot be taken back.


    ¡°And Raphael himself as well. Most of his body was erased by me and it is now in a state where he can¡¯t regeneratepletely. Even if he is a Demon Lord, there was apparently a limit.¡± (Haine)


    It cannot be taken back.


    ¡°When there¡¯s things that can¡¯t be taken back. Hatred is the only choice to fill that space that has been lost. There¡¯s no other way to fill that space than to hate the one that stole it, that broke it. That¡¯s why those two have to fight. Until the hatred that seeps into the cracks of the heart are withered without leaving a single bit behind.¡± (Haine)


    That is what I have understood as a spectator.


    That¡¯s why the two wanted to fight on their own.


    ¡°Hyue, and most likely Raphael as well, are fighting on their own and have rejected assistance. That¡¯s probably because they don¡¯t want their hatred to leak to the outside.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hatred...to the outside?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°It is true that there are times when fighting can allow the parties involved to understand each other. In order to win, they analyze their opponent, and they learn about their strengths and weaknesses that go beyond friendship, and that changes into a connection.¡± (Haine)


    But in the end, by fighting, there will always be hatred rising up as well.


    After hurting and breaking each other, it is a matter of fact that they would end up hating each other.


    ¡°Michael, Gabriel, Uriel; if you guys were to participate in that fight as well, you would definitely end up hating humans.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Impossible! Something like that is just...¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Hate can transmit to others.¡± (Haine)


    When a loved one is hurt, hatred is born.


    Just like how Hyue couldn¡¯t not feel hate when her brother Shiva had been gravely injured.


    There¡¯s only one way to be unrted to that. To not participate in the battle.


    ¡°Those two most likely understand this instinctively. Now that there¡¯s hatred in their hearts, they can¡¯t simply not fight. They can¡¯t let that hatred leak to the outside, that¡¯s why, they are fighting on their own.¡± (Haine)


    That must be the reason why they chose this day for their fight.


    In order for Shiva to not notice, she thought that there was no other day than in the day of his wedding.


    ¡°This is to settle things. Something that only they can end. For the sake of ending the circle of hate, they have to fight by themselves!!¡± (Haine)


    Even by going to the lengths of refusing the help of Gods ¡ªrefusing the power of a God Hero.


    ¡°If they understand that much...! Then why don¡¯t they stop fighting?! If they are intelligent, why don¡¯t they think of a different way?!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel says this as if he were raising a scream.


    True, he does have a point.


    ¡°Even with that...they just can¡¯t not fight. They most likely have a reason that is estranged from matters of intelligence or foolishness.¡± (Haine)


    ****


    ¡°Raaaaaaaah!!¡±


    ¡°Kiiiieeeeeee!!¡±


    The two fought in order to spit out the emotions they couldn¡¯t do anything about.


    Flying armor, and wind bullets shooting them down.


    It was truly a battle akin to a storm,cking all sense of order or anything else. As spectators, we had no choice but to silently watch over it.


    In time, there were the sounds of a bell ringing at the direction of Rudras Metropolis, and big loud cheers that reached all the way here echoed.


    The wedding of Shiva and Juo-san must have started.


    Hatred with hatred, happiness with happiness; they were being divided as if being twopletely unrted matters.


    Then, the battle finished.


    It wasn¡¯t a clear thing like one winning against the other.


    It was just that both of them ran out of strength.


    Their stamina had long ran out, and there¡¯s a limit to how long one can fight with willpower alone.


    They continued fighting even when that limit was reached, and the two ceased fighting at the same time.


    The power of the two is wind.


    The surroundings have turned into a mess because of the windstorms that raged in the fight of these two, and they were in the centre of that.


    Even with that, there was proof of who was victorious.


    The Wind Long Gun of Hyue.


    A sharp wind de extended from the tip of the gun, and piercing Raphael with it was what decided the end of the battle.


    The gun was still stabbed in the torso of Raphael.


    ¡°Hyue!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Raphael!¡± (Michael)


    Unable to stand it any longer, we all run to their sides.


    I went to Hyue, and the Demon Lords went to Raphael; each side separated them and pulled some distance.


    First, how¡¯s Hyue!


    ¡°I...I am in your debt...¡± (Hyue)


    She is quite exhausted, but it looks like she is okay.


    There doesn¡¯t seem to be any danger to her life.


    On the other hand, Raphael was...


    ¡°Raphael! Get a hold of yourself, Raphael!¡± (Michael)


    The agitation of Michael was not normal.


    The wind gun pierced in Raphael had already been taken out, and the hole that was at the trunk of the armor was hollow.


    But that shouldn¡¯t be rted at all to the life or death of Raphael.


    That¡¯s only the shell that Raphael uses as shelter after all.


    The few remaining cell insects simply reside within it.


    No matter how much the armor is destroyed, Raphael himself should be safe and he can just move to another shelter.


    That¡¯s how it is supposed to be, but...!


    ¡°Why?! Why is the divine power of Raphael thinning?! If it thins even more than this...!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Oi, get a hold of yourself! Concentrate and stop the dying out divine power!! If you don¡¯t...!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel were unable to say the words that came after.


    Death.


    Demon Lords can die.


    All living beings in this world are destined to die at some point in time. All things that have a beginning also have an end; this is how the world works.


    But these guys that have just been born are not prepared to ept that natural thing.


    ¡°......It is fine... I will die.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael easily says.


    He was epting the fate that was approaching him.


    ¡°I understood this since a while ago. Looks like there really was a minimum amount of cells required in order to maintain my existence. I passed that limit after my body was erased, so even if I didn¡¯t disappear immediately, I would disappear slowly as time went on.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°.....Because of me?¡± (Haine)


    I ask him while holding Hyue¡¯s body.


    ¡°...That¡¯s right, Kuromiya Haine. You defeated this Demon Lord Raphael and saved many of your people. That¡¯s something to be proud of. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°........¡±


    ¡°¡®If we can¡¯t coexist, there¡¯s no choice but to fight until one side or the other disappears¡¯. Those were the words you spoke. That wasn¡¯t wrong.¡± (Raphael)


    The shine of the armor covering Raphael was rapidly losing luster ¡ªas if his life was escaping from it.


    ¡°Hyue...! Wind hero, Hyue...!¡± (Raphael)


    Isn¡¯t this the first time...Raphael has said the name of Hyue?


    ¡°......What?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°You said it, right? That we are the same. It is true that we both held hatred within, and we had to fight in order to put an end to it...... However, there was a part that was slightly different.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°......And that is?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°In the end, I could only hate you guys for my own wounds. But yours wasn¡¯t for yourself. You felt anger for the sake of another, and directed that hatred.¡± (Raphael)


    Get angry, not for yourself but for someone else, and hate someone for it.


    ¡°That¡¯s most likely the foolishness of a human, and also a strength of them.¡± (Raphael)


    In the remaining time of Raphael that felt as if it would end anytime soon...


    ¡°But Michael, Gabriel, Uriel; if you guys are to walk together with humans, make sure not to be engulfed by hatred. Don¡¯t be like me. That idealistic idea of coexistence cannot be spoken about without oveing hatred.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°That¡¯s a lie! There¡¯s no way you would die! You are the most stubborn out of all the four Demon Lords!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°You disappearing is some kind of joke, right?!¡± (Uriel)


    The Demon Lords were crying.


    Being in the face of an unimaginable farewell from arade, their hearts were breaking to pieces.


    ¡°Even if you guys are sad, you must not change that into hatred. The empty space that is created after losing something, it should be possible to fill it up with something that¡¯s not hatred. I was unable to do that, but if it is you guys who aim to coexist with humans, you must learn how to...!¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael¡¯s gaze connects with Michael¡¯s.


    ¡°...My friend.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Yeah, we are friends. We are without doubt friends!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°I am satisfied. Even if my heart was imprisoned by hatred, I could to put an end to it. Thanks to that aggressive hero over there.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael¡¯s gaze was directed over here now ¡ªmore precisely, not me but Hyue who was in my arms.


    ¡°Wind hero, Hyue.....I have onest request to make you.¡± (Raphael)


    The ceremony continued without any problems, and the figure of a man and woman appear from the main gate of the Wind Church headquarters.


    One was the Wind Founder that was wearing the formal outfit of Founders, Toreido Shiva.


    The other one is Brastor Juo-san in her pure white dress ¡ªno, from today on, she will be Toreido Juo, the wife of the Founder.


    The wedding has ended and they are now officially married so, in order to have everyone in the Wind capital know, there¡¯s ns of having them ride a convertible ethereal car to have a parade in Rudras Metropolis.


    ¡°Congrattions!!¡±


    ¡°Congrattions on your wedding!!¡±


    ¡°Let there be good blessings for the husband and wife!!¡±


    ¡°May you both have a happy married life!!¡±


    The people that were surrounding them from the sides of the parade course were sending them their blessings and apuses without holding back.


    The confetti was dancing in the sky, and Rudras Metropolis, that normally gives out an impression of having a heavy atmosphere, was now lively as if they had been reborn.


    Everyone was smiling.


    Everyone was in joy.


    The new married couple were waving their hands from the convertible ethereal car.


    Everytime they do that, cheers rose up.


    Today is without doubt a day of celebration.


    ****


    ¡°How is it? ......Can you see it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah......¡±


    Hyue and Raphael were at the roof of a building in Rudras Metropolis that was faraway from the parade.


    ¡°I can¡¯t show up at the parade with this beat-up look, so this is as close as we can get. Forgive me.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It is fine. I can see it plenty well.¡± (Raphael)


    With the wind long gun technique of Hyue, she is able to bend the wind and amplify objects to see clearer from afar.


    Even in a distance where you would normally only see specks, they were able to clearly see the joyful smiles of the people.


    ¡°Why are they making such a content expression? Even though his body was destroyed to a point of not being able to recover, just like me.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Aniue-sama has a treasure that surpasses that. That¡¯s why.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue was also looking at her happy brother and the woman that was at her side.


    The two that will be walking together forever from now on.


    ¡°In order to protect that, Aniue-sama threw away his body. Even if he were to break, if what¡¯s truly important for him is safe, he wouldn¡¯t feel remorse.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I see...... So that¡¯s the difference between him and me huh...¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael already only had the head of the armor left.


    It would have been impossible for the exhausted Hyue to carry the whole armor to Rudras Metropolis and move it all the way to where they are.


    Hyue refused to have someone take her ce in carrying him.


    Saying that this is a duty that only her as the person that fought Raphael is allowed to do.


    ¡°It is because he has things that are more important than himself that he doesn¡¯t worry about he himself breaking. I didn¡¯t have any other thing aside from me that was important.¡± (Raphael)


    That¡¯s why, when he broke, he was caught by hatred.


    ¡°When seeing it from that perspective, that guy was the winner and I was the loser.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°That¡¯s right...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡®I want to see the state of Shiva¡¯, that was Raphael¡¯sst wish.


    And Hyue fulfilled that wish.


    ¡°You have my thanks, wind hero Hyue. You were the most fitting opponent for myst fight. More than Shiva, and more than Kuromiya Haine.¡± (Raphael)


    The end of Raphael was already arriving.


    He had already lost his remaining strength, and the helmet that served as his head had lost its shine and was rotting.


    ¡°You epted my heart that was trapped in hatred. By fighting you, this ending of mine...well, it won¡¯t be that bad.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°I feel the same. I also brought out everything that was lurking inside of me and struck you with it. If I hadn¡¯t brought all of that out, I wouldn¡¯t be able to be a true hero.¡± (Hyue)


    In order to separate from her past self, that was simply chasing after the back of her brother, into a hero that walks forward on her own in order to protect the people.


    ¡°There was no other way than settling the anger and hatred, that I felt when I couldn¡¯t save Aniue-sama at that time, by fighting you.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°And so...did you manage to do that?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Yeah, if it is now, I can say this without any worries in my heart.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue says this to her two important people that are faraway.


    ¡°Aniue-sama, Juo.....congrattions on your wedding.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°......Congrattions on your wedding.¡± (Raphael)


    The helmet that Hyue held said the same thing.


    Hyue asks while making a wry smile.


    ¡°Why are you saying it as well?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Who knows. I simply felt like saying it. Maybe because, thanks to my fight with you, I was able to settle my anger and hatred as well.¡± (Raphael)


    His heart was empty now.


    That¡¯s why any kind of emotion cane out.


    ¡°You epted my hatred by fighting me. You allowed me to take out the pathetic sides of my heart.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°It goes both ways.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°As I thought, I am d you were myst opponent. I admit it.....¡± (Raphael)


    The light of life dimmed...and disappeared.


    ¡°You are a true wind hero...¡± (Raphael)


    Death arrived for the Demon Lord.


    This is a natural thing for all living beings.


    ¡°Heroes...are the ones...to defeat...the Demon Lords...¡± (Raphael)


    Within the arms of the hero...the Wind Demon Lord made hisst breath.


    ****


    I left the matter of Raphael to Hyue and I -Kuromiya Haine- stayed at the ce where the battle took ce.


    I cannot leave these guys alone after all.


    Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel were broken by their first experience of losing arade.


    ¡°Lies...! This is a lie...! There¡¯s no way Raphael would die. The most stubborn within us...!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Why...! Why couldn¡¯t I be more kind to him! I couldn¡¯t notice the pain he held. If I had encouraged him, this wouldn¡¯t have...!!¡± (Uriel)


    Their hearts were currently in a state they couldn¡¯t do anything about.


    I can¡¯t leave them on their lonesome, and it is also in case they go out of control.


    ¡°.....I end up thinking stupid things.¡± (Michael)


    Michael was trying tofort hisrades together with me, but even so, he couldn¡¯t hold back his own feelings.


    ¡°At that time, if I had been more attentive to Raphael¡¯s state of mind...if I had used better words when interacting with Raphael...would things have ended up in a different manner? Truly foolish. Even though I can¡¯t change the past no matter how much I think about those kind of things.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Everyone is like that.¡± (Haine)


    I stand by his side.


    ¡°Everyone lives by while shouldering those regrets. There¡¯s not a single living person that has died without experiencing this at least once.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Regret... Death...¡± (Michael)


    Michael raises his head as if he noticed something.


    Of course, his expression was not cheerful.


    ¡°It means that gaining a heartes with having to face such scary things huh. Raphael has taught us that. And Raphael himself faced that straight-on.¡± (Michael)


    That¡¯s right.


    That¡¯s exactly right.


    ¡°In that case, we also have to face what¡¯s in front of us. Kuromiya Haine, the reason why we werete here was because we were heading to the castle. At the Cocoon Castle where the Great Demon Lord Lucifer sleeps in.¡± (Michael)


    He did say something like that when we separatedst time.


    ¡°Raphael disappeared and, unless he releases a big stream of emotions, we had no means to find him. Thus, we prioritized the audience with Lucifer-sama. I do feel some regret in whether that was actually the right choice, but we are in the present now. Anyways, we returned to the castle of Lucifer, however, we saw something unbelievable.¡± (Michael)


    Unbelievable?


    ¡°There was nothing...!¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel eximed, still unable to stop her overflowing tears.


    Uriel as well.


    ¡°At the ce where Lucifer-sama¡¯s castle was...there was nothing, and only a leveled ground remained. Everything disappeared like smoke. Lucifer-sama, the castle around Lucifer-sama, and obviously, that woman as well...!!¡± (Uriel)


    That woman?


    They did say that before in between lines but, just who in the world are they referring to?


    Does that mean there are other monsters that have obtained a will of their own aside from the Demon Lords?


    Or maybe...!!


    ¡°She said that she was a proxy to ry the will of Lucifer-sama. That she was ¡®Lucifer-sama¡¯s priestess¡¯. She took the side of the monsters even though she was a human, and offered to help in eradicating humans. If I remember correctly, her name is...¡± (Uriel)


    When I heard that name, I was shocked.


    Is that even possible?


    Calling herself as Lucifer¡¯s priestess and approaching the Demon Lords...


    Sunnysol Ates.


    The previous light hero...

 Chapter 370 - Only four

    <h4>Chapter 370: Only four</h4>


    ¡°...Tch, useless pieces of trash.¡±


    I -Sunnysol Ates- was biting my nail in anger.


    Every single one of them doesn¡¯t move in the way I want.


    The Great Demon Lord Lucifer should have been in his perfected form by now.


    All the puzzle pieces are inside my hands, and I thought what was left was only to put those pieces together.


    But this part was moving slowly.


    To think the idiot Michael, the durd Gabriel, and the coward Uriel would reconcile with humans without fulfilling their duty.


    I didn¡¯t expect this to happen.


    In the end, the only one who brought out results was Raphael.


    He was the only one who fought till the end with the humans, died, and became a puzzle piece on his own to be ced in its correct ce.


    But it was only one.


    With just one, it is just not enough at all.


    Six pair of wings, twelve in total; all of thembined are what makes the Great Demon Lord


    ¡°Pitiful child of mine! To think that the parts have moved on their own whim and you haven¡¯t been able to reachpletion yet...!¡± (Ates)


    I look up at the shining towering figure.


    Those useless Demon Lords were showing signs of returning, so I hurriedly changed locations.


    Thanks to that, I have no choice but to forcefully activate Lucifer that I was thinking of having it sleep until it was perfected.


    How pitiful my child is.


    To think I would have to awaken you in such a crooked figure before reaching beautiful perfection.


    I am the half of the Light Goddess Intion, as well as the human Sunnysol Ates.


    The Light Demon Lord Lucifer that I have created will be the first and only light element monster in the world.


    But I was nning on making it not only that, but apletely invincible and unique monster.


    Because of that, I sought everything.


    Lucifer had to have not only light but all of them.


    That¡¯s why I deceived the Demon Lords of each element and set them to fight the humans.


    The Demon Lords were supposed to have a fierce battle with the humans.


    With the sacrifice of several millions of humans, the Demon Lords would fall, and the residual four base element divine powers will lose their owner and float in the sky.


    I was nning on having Lucifer use that.


    The Demon Lords born from lower Gods like Nova, Coacervate, Mantle, and Quasar would at most serve as puzzle pieces to perfect my Lucifer.


    But the results of inferior Gods would obviously be inferior.


    They were all idiots that couldn¡¯t even properly move in the rails I had prepared.


    Raphael was the only one who died ording to my ns, and yet, he couldn¡¯t even bring down a single human along with him. A pathetic death.


    Well, fine. It is a whole lot better than the other three idiots that couldn¡¯t even die.


    The Demon Lord ss wind divine power that separated from Raphael had safely arrived to Lucifer as nned and became part of it.


    Currently, there¡¯s now colorful butterfly wings at the back of Lucifer along with its light wings.


    A total of four wings.


    With this, there¡¯s four.


    Only four.


    Lucifer should have had twelve wings when it waspleted.


    This is all the fault of Michael and those idiots for not dying.


    It would be one thing if they were way too weak to kill the humans, but to think they would reconcile and stop the fighting. On top of that, they didn¡¯t kill humans.


    Why is it that every single pawn of mine doesn¡¯t move as I want them to and are all braindead?


    ¡°...Now that it hase to this, there¡¯s no other choice.¡± (Ates)


    If they won¡¯t move as I want, I just have to move directly.


    Lucifer is currently iplete, but it has plenty enough power after obtaining wind. It should still be able to easily crush those three even if they were to fight Lucifer together.


    There¡¯s no need to hide its presence in case something happens.


    Idiots that don¡¯t have the will to fight are basically trash. I will have the Light Demon Lord dispose of that trash, and change them into wings that will decorate its back!


    ¡°Light Demon Lord, Lucifer; you are currently not the Great Demon Lord yet. When you obtain all the elements, all the powers, you will truly be the Great Demon Lord!¡± (Ates)


    Sorry for waking you up before that.


    But it looks like, in order to reach the perfect strength, you will have to obtain it with your own hands.


    ¡°Now go, Lucifer. In order to be perfect, and with that perfected strength, destroy this unsightly world!!¡± (Ates)


    The mountain moved.


    That itself is the figure of my creation, Lucifer.


    A big build that doesn¡¯t fall short to the Mother Monsters that the four Base Elements created.


    I provided a human-like upper half to this child, and a snake-like lower half.


    What will be destroying the humans, is the foolishness of the humans themselves.


    This design is a metaphor of this.


    The unsightly and disgusting snake lower half is the selfishness that lies deep inside all humans, and their cruelty given shape.


    At its back, there¡¯s only the shining light wings and the still new butterfly wings.


    Adding to that, there will be the fire wings, transparent wings, and the tree wings.


    And then, thest ones will be...


    ¡°Go, Lucifer!!¡± (Ates)


    This is the time to sound the trumpet of the end!!

 Chapter 371-373 - Looking back

    <h4>Chapter 371-373: Looking back</h4>


    ¡°I...might be the most evil God of all.¡± (Shiva)


    Toreido Shiva said.


    ¡°From the four Base Elements...no, from the six Gods of Creation.¡± (Shiva)


    He was speaking as his other soul that resides in himself, the Wind God Quasar.


    This God that rules over wind had trained in order to climb up to being the top of all Gods.


    For the sake of that, he got involved with humans and learned from them.


    He wondered if by having a God take in the potential of humans, that God would be able to be the top of the Gods ¡ªthe way to get closer to the Dark God.


    To achieve that, he incarnated as a human, moreover, he repeated that several times as he experienced life.


    As a result, the Wind God incarnation, Toreido Shiva now exists.


    ¡°But as I repeated that, I ended up being charmed by the humans.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva speaks with a grave expression.


    ¡°That brave standing of the humans. Living their lives modestly. The simple smiles thate out from them at incidental things. The many small happenings that one would think are pointless, I began thinking that maybe that¡¯s where the greatness of the humans lies in.¡± (Shiva)


    Even when he is a God, he aimed to surpass Gods, and in a sense, Quasar was the more serious one out of them all.


    ¡°How ironic. Even though I got closer to humans seeking for strength, the humans taught me that the pointless is the strongest. And so, even as of today, I am residing in the body of a human, and enjoying the life of a human.¡± (Shiva)


    Being born, growing, falling in love, have children, and raise them.


    Shiva had a wedding the other day, and has reached the very definition of the pinnacle in human life.


    ¡°But...was that truly the correct thing to do?¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva says while looking down at the helmet he was holding.


    The beaten up and hollow helmet.


    There¡¯s obviously no signs of life in it.


    ¡°The Wind Demon Lord Raphael is theption of the wind element monsters that I as a God had created. Just like the other Base Element Gods, even if they were created at first as tools for the Gods, they should have been able to find their own reason to live.¡± (Shiva)


    But he couldn¡¯t.


    Raphael is alreadypletely gone. Only the helmet remained as if leaving a corpse.


    ¡°I enjoyed my life as a human so much, got so absorbed in my own enjoyment, that I might have neglected my duty as a God. Maybe I should have epted the existence of the Demon Lords just like Nova, Coacervate, and Mantle did.¡± (Shiva)


    But the Wind God had the duty of protecting his brethren from the Demon Lords as the human Shiva. And he even went so far as to destroy his own body to achieve this when he fought stubbornly against the Demon Lord.


    Before he himself could be threatened by them, he threatened the Demon Lords.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I might be the weakest within the six Gods of Creation. I got so absorbed in my own enjoyment that I forgot my side as a God...¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°You said ¡®duty of a God¡¯ before. But that duty is...¡± (Haine)


    I -Kuromiya Haine- spoke.


    I was the only one allowed to visit this sickroom, as a brethren of his, the Dark God.


    ¡°To create worlds. Create a world, create life, and that¡¯s where the job of the Gods is over.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s why, at the moment when the world creation is over, the Gods are no longer needed.


    ¡°From there on, it is a matter of each Gods¡¯ pride. How will you maintain your stance as a God? In what way will you act towards the living beings that you have created? All of those would just be the self-satisfaction of us Gods.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But...!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°There¡¯s no duty for us Gods to love the lives that we created ourselves. And within that, you -Wind God- loved the humans more than anyone else. That¡¯s why I respect you from the bottom of my heart.¡± (Haine)


    And this love of his is reaching out to monsters as well.


    ¡°I think that loving more than two at the same time is incredibly difficult, you know. Especially when you are not only a God right now but a human as well.¡± (Haine)


    Toreido Shiva has a family, a wife, andrades that he loves deeply.


    Because of that, he couldn¡¯t avoid a battle with the Demon Lords as his human self.


    ¡°The decision you took at that time was correct. If you continue worrying like that, it would mean that you are alsoining about this girl¡¯s fight, you know?¡± (Haine)


    Both Shiva and I look down at the bed in front of us.


    Sickroom.


    The one currently residing in this sickroom is Toreido Hyue.


    She was lying in the bed to rest her exhausted body and treat the wounds after a hard fight. She is currently in a deep sleep as if to heal her wounds as fast as possible.


    ¡°To think she would fight without telling me.¡± (Shiva)


    Founder and hero, and also brother and sister.


    In order to settle matters with the Wind Demon Lord, she didn¡¯t attend the wedding of Shiva that happened right around the same time.


    ¡°That was her resolve. Hyue and Raphael fought by themselves so that the hatred thates out from the battle won¡¯t leak out.¡± (Haine)


    Shiva learned of this after everything nned in the wedding was over already.


    Shiva, surprised by the fight that urred against the Demon Lord and his death -which Shiva himself was unaware of- made him run to the ce in question while still in his groom outfit.


    ¡°Even though I was prepared to make her a God Hero anytime...she even refused that.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°That¡¯s what resolve is about. The resolve from Hyue...and also from Raphael.¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s right, resolve.


    The only way to cut off the cycle of hatred that stretches infinitely. The need to cut the emotions that rose up without limit.


    That¡¯s what it means to put an end to things.


    Hyue thought of her own way to put an end to it, and acted on it.


    ¡°This is something that only she could do, because...¡± (Haine)


    The Hyue lying here is...


    ¡°She is the wind hero after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right. Hyue is a true wind hero.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva¡¯s words felt as if he were also telling himself that.


    ¡°I thought she would stay as my cute little sister forever, but she has be quite the reliable one without my knowing. There¡¯s already no need for Juo or I huh...¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Not only Hyue. That¡¯s how it is for all humans.¡± (Haine)


    Humans are strong.


    They are not so weak that they would need the help of Gods for everything.


    On the contrary, there are times when humans have helped us Gods, and have made us learn and understand new things.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get so worked up -as a human, and as a God.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°To think you would encourage me in such a way. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to imagine that 1,600 years ago.¡± (Shiva)


    Time changes everything.


    Humans, Gods, monsters, and all other things.


    ¡°...Now that I think about it, what happened to those guys?¡± (Shiva)


    Hyue asked about them as if he had just remembered.


    ¡°Ah...¡± (Haine)


    He is referring to the three Demon Lords that came to Rudras Metropolis chasing after Raphael.


    Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel.


    In the past, Gods created monsters to trouble humans, but after the long time of a century, they evolved.


    They obtained a heart and a will.


    As a result, the Lord of monsters was born, the Demon Lords.


    That¡¯s the same for the three here, and...the now gone Raphael.


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°.........¡±


    And Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel were simply silent.


    Even when we moved to the Wind Church headquarters and had them sit at the reception room, they had their heads down without saying a single word.


    .....The atmosphere was incredibly heavy.


    It felt as if I had all-nighters for a whole week.


    ¡°...Ah, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    When I entered the room, the one who noticed me immediately was Karen-san.


    She kept the Demon Lordspany while I was together with Shiva, but it looks like her expression was already showing exhaustion.


    ¡°This is not good! I can¡¯t do anything about this atmosphere!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Looks like that¡¯s the case!¡± (Haine)


    The atmosphere tormenting Karen-san was alling from the Demon Lords.


    It is heavy, gloomy, and damp.


    It is the kind of atmosphere that could crush you if you were to try fixing it.


    That¡¯s definitely something that was created from the sadness, regret, and loss of the Demon Lords.


    ¡°I should have...¡± (Uriel)


    The first one to speak was Uriel.


    ¡°I should have payed more attention to Raphael. I was the one that hung out the most with Raphael within our group. And yet, I couldn¡¯t notice the worries of Raphael...!¡± (Uriel)


    Those words were filled with self-condemnation and regret.


    ¡°I as well, you know!¡± (Gabriel)


    The next one to speak was Gabriel.


    ¡°I was going all culture this culture that... I was unable to see the ones closest to me. I can¡¯t even notice the state of mind of myrade. There¡¯s no way I have the qualifications to talk about culture!¡± (Gabriel)


    As expected, she was also filled with self-condemnation.


    ¡°...The leader of the Demon Lords huh.¡± (Michael)


    And thest one is Michael.


    ¡°There was no higher or lower within us Demon Lords. That¡¯s why I thought that it was presumptuous to be called the leader. But if I had taken that role more seriously, and had acted as the one who put order within the group, Raphael might not have ended up like that.¡± (Michael)


    They were always filled with vigor, but now, they are weakened to a pitiful state.


    ¡°It was basically as if I had let Raphael die...!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°No, if I had been more level-headed...!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°No, it was I that...!¡± (Uriel)


    And then, the three Demon Lords return to silence.


    ¡°.....It has been a repeat of this for a while now.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san said with a disheartened expression.


    ¡°They fall silent, say self-deprecating words every now and then, let out sighs, and fall silent again. It is aplete negative spiral.¡± (Karen)


    It is true that anyone caught in this atmosphere would be dragged down as well with its heaviness.


    ¡°But to think they would be this discouraged. Looks like the Demon Lord-sans truly thought of each other asrades and important existences.¡± (Karen)


    It is true that it is unexpected.


    At first, the Demon Lords were born from different elements, making them shing existences.


    I could tell that they were only in a temporary cooperation in order to eradicate humans.


    ¡°But camaraderie must have been born towards the partners they grouped with for the first time.¡± (Haine)


    It happened so naturally that even they didn¡¯t notice.


    That¡¯s why, when they lost one in their group, they noticed the camaraderie, and must have gotten even more hurt by it.


    Noticing the importance of that something after losing it is sad, but it happens often.


    ¡°When thinking of it in that way, the Demon Lords are truly pitiful. I don¡¯t know what to say to them...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is easy to get influenced by nature, so she was on the verge of tears right now.


    She also learned of everything after it was already over. Until then, she was in the wedding of Shiva and Juo-san, and she apparently had bloodshot eyes trying to catch the bouquet.


    At that time, they got the report of Hyue and Raphael having a duel, and made strenuous efforts to clean up.


    Karen-san was obviously really worried about her friend Hyue, but it was better for her rtive Shiva-san to see her, and she herself would be caring for the Demon Lords.


    ¡°...Now that I think about it, where¡¯s Juo-san?¡± (Haine)


    Where¡¯s the recently married Juo-san?


    ¡°She went to the battle¡¯s location to retrieve the robot, and while at it, gather the armor parts...¡± (Karen)


    ...Well, she is a scientist, so she might be thinking something that we regr people can¡¯t understand.


    We should put our all in the problem in front of us.


    In other words, how to make the broken Demon Lords stand up!


    ¡°Well, looks like it will be impossible for us.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san?! Please don¡¯t give up all of a sudden!¡± (Karen)


    Even if you tell me that, healing the heart of someone requires quite the experience and technique.


    And I only know one person who has reached that professional level.


    ¡°No other choice but to leave it to that person.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°?¡±


    Is what I mutter when a new person enters the room.


    ¡°Haine-sama, Karen-sama.¡±


    Doraha.


    The girl that came together with us from the Light Church.


    ¡°Reporting. The objective is at sight.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was confused by the report.


    But the ce we are currently in is Rudras Metropolis. A moving city that has the most advanced ethereal technology.


    Even when we were standing by here, the city as a whole was heading towards a certain ce.


    This was a request from me to Shiva.


    ¡°So we finally arrived.¡± (Haine)


    A nostalgic ce.


    Apollon City.


    Apollon City.


    The city where one of the five Grand Churches, the Light Church, is using as their base.


    I am technically affiliated with the Light Church, so it is also my base as well, but since I have been quite absent from ittely, I felt pretty nostalgic about it.


    ¡°This is as far as we can bring you.¡± (Shiva)


    After arriving at a ce quite close to Apollon City, Shiva told us this.


    ¡°This was an agreement within the five Grand Churches. Our Rudras Metropolis can¡¯t get more close to the other cities than necessary. I will bring out an ethereal car to send you guys there.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Sorry for the trouble.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Even so, we n on staying around here for a while, so if something happens, we wille help immediately.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°No no, giving us a ride all the way here is plenty enough.¡± (Haine)


    Giving our farewells, Shiva and I exchange a strong handshake.


    ¡°Uhm...! What about Hyue-chan?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was still worrying about her friend Hyue.


    ¡°She is still sleeping, but there¡¯s nothing threatening her life. I will have her greet you when she recovers.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Ah, yes!¡± (Karen)


    And so, we left the Wind capital in this way.


    We rode the car, but...


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°......¡±


    The ones who were inside first, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael were keeping their silence.


    Because we are inside a pretty cramped space, the heaviness increased by a lot.


    ¡°Uwa...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Oooh...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and I were at a loss for words.


    We have to endure this atmosphere until we arrive at Apollon City?


    ¡°......¡±


    And there¡¯s another one in the Light Church team, Doraha.


    ¡°You guys are depressing.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Stop it! Doraha, stop it!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right now, a straight ball is way too dangerous!!¡± (Karen)


    As expected, Doraha can¡¯t read the mood.


    *****


    And so, we finally returned to Apollon City.


    How many days have I been absent?


    I don¡¯t think it is more than half a month, but for some reason, it feels as if I haven¡¯t returned for years.


    Even though it hasn¡¯t been a year since I moved from my hometown to Apollon City, I already feel like this is my second home.


    ¡°Oh, Haine! So you finally returned!!¡±


    When we arrived at the Light Church¡¯s headquarters, the first one to instantly wee us was the Aurora Light Corps General, Grades-san.


    He is a strong man that climbed his way to General, and his headcking a single strand of hair was shining conspicuously.


    ¡°General Grades, I am truly sorry for being absent so long.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is fine! Your job is to get special designated work and go around here and there after all!¡± (Grades)


    Ah.


    So that¡¯s really how I was being seen as.


    Well, can¡¯t be helped.


    I really have been leaving the Light capital almost all the time without even notifying after all.


    ¡°But you know, Haine, even I had it tough this time.¡± (Grades)


    General Grades says as he ces his arm around my shoulders.


    Is this...the preliminary preparations for preaching andints?!


    ¡°The outside is dangerous with how the world is and the Demon Lords, right? In that sense, we had not only the hero-sama, we also had you and Doraha-chan, so ouryers of protection were pretty tough. If they were to attack us, we would have peace of mind with you guys here...¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Sorry.¡± (Haine)


    Normally, the current and previous heroes are the onesmanding the military force of each church.


    The retired previous heroes were brought back to duty temporarily for this emergency state, for the sake of dealing with situations that might ur.


    ¡°But you know...the previous hero Ates is missing, and you and the Founder-sama were missing together as well. Not only that, Karen-sama, Doraha, and you went to assist another city, so you guys didn¡¯t return for a good while...!¡± (Grades)


    Ah.


    The voice of General Grades is gradually growing more nasal.


    ¡°By the time I noticed, I was the one with the highest standing. The responsibility was crazy high. Just thinking about what would happen if a Demon Lord were to attack us in this state, I couldn¡¯t sleep at all. Even so, I couldn¡¯t show fear in front of my subordinates...!¡± (Grades)


    Looks like, in the time we were gone, the stress he was under was incredible.


    ¡°I am already bald so there¡¯s no hair that can be loss, but if I had hair, I would have certainly lost a hell lot from the stress. My pillow would be filled with hair. You can understand, right? Right?! I was in a middle-ss position not that long ago, but I suddenly had the fate of the city resting on my shoulders!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°But...I heard that Grades-san was the one who had Doraha apany Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    I was moved when I heard from hearsay of the decisiveness of General Grades when saying ¡®If we are going to send reinforcements, we will be reinforcing with our all!¡¯.


    ¡°That¡¯s cause I had no choice but to do that at that time! I actually didn¡¯t want her to go! I wanted someone I could share the responsibility with!!¡± (Grades)


    As if releasing all the stress inside of him, Grades-san cries on my shoulder.


    Sorry.


    Taking all the fighting force when we don¡¯t know when a Demon Lord would attack.


    There¡¯s no helping that you would be worried.


    ¡°Where did you go?! Don¡¯t leave me alone~!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Yeah, good work, good work.¡± (Haine)


    I soothe Grades-san who has regressed to an infant after being released from his responsibilities.


    ¡°Ah~, with this, I am finally released from my daily worries. If the Demon Lords attack us, we can have you guys confront them as well.¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Speaking of that, I want to introduce you to some people.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Grades)


    ¡°The Demon Lords that came along with us on the way.¡± (Haine)


    Close to my back, Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel line up.


    ¡°Gyaaaaaa!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡®If I had hair, I would have lost them all at that instant¡¯, is what the bald General Grades said after.

 Chapter 374-375 - Support of the heart

    <h4>Chapter 374-375: Support of the heart</h4>


    And well, after scraping away the lifespan of General Grades in that way, we moved to achieve our biggest objective.


    ¡°Uhm...Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Why did you bring the Demon Lords to Apollon City in the first ce?¡± (Karen)


    A valid question from the apanying Karen-san.


    ¡°Karen-san.....the Demon Lords are currently hurt by the shock of experiencing the loss of arade for the first time. They may have strong divine power, but they were born recently. They don¡¯t know how to take the sadness.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I see...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is because they are in that delicate of a state that there¡¯s the need for fitting skill or it will be impossible to heal them. We need a specialist in handling the heart.¡± (Haine)


    And from the people I know of, the one who is the best at this is this person ¡ªthe Light Founder, Yorishiro.


    The three Demon Lords and her were having an audience at the altar of the Light Church.


    ¡°WAAAAAAAAAAIT!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was conspicuously agitated by this.


    She closes in on me who is spectating this together with her.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! Why are you having Yorishiro-sama face the Demon Lords?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you already? We need someone to treat the heart of the Demon Lords.¡± (Haine)


    The one most fit to do this is Yorishiro.


    ¡°A specialist in evaluating the heart, diagnosing the wound, and has the best technique for it; don¡¯t you think that¡¯s basically Yorishiro, Karen-san?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well, yeah...¡± (Karen)


    After all, religion is specialized in filling the openings of the heart.


    And Yorishiro who rules over the Light Church is the best heart controller.


    ¡°Mind control is a necessary skill in religion after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°This is not a cult!!¡± (Karen)


    But I have already brought them before her.


    Now then, Yorishiro, heal the wounded hearts of the Demon Lords with that silver tongue of yours that brought you all the way to the top of the Light Church at a young age!


    ¡°.....I have a rough idea of things thanks to Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro speaks in an austere stance.


    A voice that could pull even us in. And for the spiritually wounded Demon Lords, this had great effect.


    ¡°Gugh...¡± (Michael)


    ¡°What¡¯s with this voice?! I feel as if I am being drawn in...!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°The divinity is...!¡± (Uriel)


    The Demon Lords were all ears now.


    ¡°The first taste of separation. It must have been painful to even describe in words. Saying ¡®I understand your feelings¡¯ here, would be hypocritical. Your pain is yours only after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ugh...¡±


    The Demon Lords endured the words of Yorishiro that felt, at a nce, as if she were pushing them away.


    ¡°The death won¡¯t resurrect. What¡¯s lost cannot return. Even if you were to say ¡®if I had done those things at that time, it might not have turned out this way¡¯, time will still not rewind. No one can change what has happened in the already gone past.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°We already know that!!¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel rebutted as if she couldn¡¯t endure it any longer.


    ¡°But that¡¯s all we can do! We can¡¯t stop thinking about how there might have been a chance to save Raphael!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°And what if there had been a chance?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro asks cool-headed.


    ¡°We would only be carving that uselessness of us for letting that chance escape.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Michael mutters heavily.


    ¡°We are ipetent. No matter how much divine power we are overflowing with, or how big it is, we couldn¡¯t even save onerade. We are useless people that are only flung around by our own strength!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro stops her words for a moment and says.


    ¡°That¡¯s how everyone is.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?¡±


    Uriel raises his head.


    Like a sinner that had noticed the existence of God in the middle of their prayer.


    ¡°The longer one lives...the more regrets one will surely shoulder. They painfully think ¡®if I had done this¡¯ while regretting a past that they can¡¯t do anything about. This is something that everyone who has made decisions would experience.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro spreads out her arms as if epting their faults.


    ¡°Like you people right now.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡°¡°!!¡±¡±¡±


    The Demon Lords gulp their breath.


    ¡°The ones that don¡¯t have regrets, the ones that haven¡¯t failed, are people that without exception have not fought, have not struggled, at all. The ones who don¡¯t fight, ridicule the people that do.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s why, the people that fight, don¡¯tugh at other people that fight as well.


    They know the pain of fighting, and they also know the grief of fighting as well.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I won¡¯t ridicule you people.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro brings back the spread out arms of hers to her chest, that simple action of hers felt as if it were bringing everyone before her into her embrace. Even from where I was, I could feel a warmth inside of me.


    Everyone that knows that same pain...


    ¡°As people that know that same pain, we can understand each other as well. You can make decisions that won¡¯t make you repeat that same pain. We call that wisdom.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Because...


    ¡°That¡¯s the only thing that serves asfort in our loss after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    What has been lost won¡¯t return.


    In that case, if at the very least you can use that unbearable pain as a lesson for the future, that pain would have had meaning, and you canfort yourself with that.


    ¡°I see...¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. For the sake of Raphael as well, we can¡¯t just stand idly...!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Founder-sama!¡± (Uriel)


    The three Demon Lords kneeled.


    As if the chain of pain had been released.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t kneel. From now on, we will be having an equal standing asrades after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And Yorishiro properly strengthened the connection!


    She doesn¡¯t let a chance escape!


    ¡°...Uhm, Haine-san, it is true that Yorishiro-sama has managed to bring back the spirit of the Demon Lords, but...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was showing slight signs of escapism.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we taking advantage of the opening in their hearts?¡± (Karen)


    I also felt that way.


    Maybe leaving it to Yorishiro was a mistake?


    I began feeling regret as well.


    And in this way, the Demon Lords managed to at least get back on their feet after the loss of theirrade.


    ¡°Hey hey! Now that I look closely, this building has quite the dignified style! The walls and pirs are filled with carvings, I feel a lot of culture in it!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°But, doesn¡¯t it instead make it suffocating with that many decorations? It surpasses the ¡®muhyaaa¡¯ feeling and ends up being overwhelming instead.¡± (Uriel)


    Gabriel is in high tension with the city that¡¯s brimming with culture.


    Uriel has...increased his skills as a connoisseur?!


    ¡°Apollon City is also called as the City of Schrs. It is the city that has the most developed ideology culture.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro acts as the representative and exins it.


    ¡°History, philosophy, literature, psychology; those kind of things are what this city specializes in studying and polishing. The biggest library of the world, natural history facilities,academic conferences, documents of the world¡¯s mysteries; this city is filled with those kind of things daily.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°So the study of how to better yourself huh. How hot-blooded.¡± (Michael)


    Michael mutters with his arms crossed.


    ¡°It is the kind of knowledge we need the most. What are we? We have to properly decipher this first. We have to move forward for the sake of Raphael who has departed before us as well.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Michael!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°We can¡¯t stay idle looking back! Walking forward is the path to repay Raphael¡¯s friendship!¡± (Uriel)


    The three Demon Lords held hands.


    Wow...


    These guys get along well...


    ¡°But before that, there¡¯s a problem we have to solve.¡± (Haine)


    Is what I add in.


    ¡°The Great Demon Lord Lucifer is still thinking of eradicating humans, right?¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s right.


    I didn¡¯t bring these guys to Apollon City only to have them stand back up.


    I want them to tell us something important.


    The Demon Lord that is still shrouded in mystery and threatens the world as a whole...


    Lucifer.


    And also the one behind that.


    ¡°And about the other person...¡± (Haine)


    I was told about her by Michael and the others.


    But before I could ask in more detail, the sadness of losing Raphael had sunk into them, and they were not in a state where I could ask them about it.


    That¡¯s why I wanted them to get back on their feet even if I had to use the silver tongue of Yorishiro that was borderline brainwashing.


    ¡°Sunnysol Ates.¡± (Haine)


    In order to ask in more detail about this woman that is deeply connected with Lucifer.


    ¡°The Priestess of Lucifer. That¡¯s how she called herself.¡± (Michael)


    Michael answers me.


    ¡°She told us that she is the one who will speak the will in the stead of the still unawakened Lucifer-sama. The representative that will hear out the words of Lucifer-sama for the sake of aplishing Lucifer-sama¡¯s objective. That¡¯s how she exined herself.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°And in reality, her ability to take action was good. She managed to find our hiding without any difficulty, and brought us to the castle where Lucifer-sama was sleeping.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°When I actually saw Lucifer-sama sleeping, I was bbergasted. At that time, we were still looking down on humans from the bottom of our heart, but it was because we saw that that we were able to ept that woman.¡± (Uriel)


    The testimonies of the Demon Lords wereing out one after the other.


    The more they say, the more agitated I got.


    She is definitely not a woman we don¡¯t know of.


    That¡¯s because she was the previous light hero.


    But just before the fight against the Demon Lords, she was defeated by Yorishiro, and fled from the Light Church.


    After that, her whereabouts were unknown.


    We didn¡¯t know where she was, but no one imagined that she would be at the side of the Demon Lords.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san shouts as if speaking out the feelings of everyone.


    ¡°It is true that Ates-sama...no, Ates is a person that possesses something that we can¡¯t gauge. That she would be perpetrating something that we wouldn¡¯t be able to predict...!¡± (Karen)


    True.


    I was unconscious at that time so I wasn¡¯t present personally, but Ates apparently acted in a way that would make one doubt their eyes in the battle that would trigger her escape.


    Using a lost art of the light divine users ¡ªswinging a divine tool that governs over the shadow divine power.


    Not only that, she had a level of light divine power that rivalled that of Yorishiro without the need of a divine tool.


    They finally managed to defeat Ates by having Karen-san be a God Hero, but that in itself makes her abnormal among abnormals within the humans.


    ¡°But even with that...! To think that she was the one pulling the strings in the Demon Lord battle is just...way too abnormal. It surpasses the limit of what a human would be able to scheme!¡± (Karen)


    It is just as Karen-san says.


    No matter how good of a schemer Ates is, managing to control the Demon Lords to destroy the world is just not on the level that a single human can manage in terms of method and objective.


    ¡°What if she is not just a mere human?¡±


    Those muttered words gathered the attention of everyone.


    Yorishiro was the one who said this.


    ¡°Yorishiro...?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Ates-san was a person that gave out an abnormal aura since before she left us. Resourcefulness that can¡¯t normally be seen in humans, divine power impossible for a human to possess; it is as if she was something that surpassed humans.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What would that be?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san couldn¡¯t help but question.


    ¡°Are you saying Ates is not a human? Then what? A monster? A Demon Lord?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san, I have heard that in your fight with the Demon Lords, you have met people that were the same as her.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Wait...


    ¡°In Muspelheim, Phris as the incarnation of the Fire God Nova; at Hydra Ville, the Water God Coacervate; and Mother Earth Mantle that became one with Sasae-san. Didn¡¯t you speak directly with them?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The Gods that were far away and were the object of worship in the five Grand Churches. They have all been approaching humans one after the other. And the personage that we light devotees worship might have been right close by.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Oi, wait, Yorishiro.


    What are you trying to tell her?!


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Sunnysol Ates is the incarnation of the Light Goddess, Intion.¡± (Yorishiro)

 Chapter 376-377 - Whereabouts of Goddess

    <h4>Chapter 376-377: Whereabouts of Goddess</h4>


    TLN: Wew, a really weird timing for a sponsored chapter. But ya know, Tsuki took all the sunday.


    No worries, I will manage to release the next batch of WR in thursday!


    Thanks to the donators!


    Sponsored Chapters


    The conversation had been temporarily stopped and the Demon Lords, the hero, and I had separated.


    Because of the many shocking revtions, there was the need for a break in order to arrange the information in our heads.


    The Demon Lords had gone to the room prepared by the Light Church, and Karen-san went on her way to manage the work that has umted after being absent for a long time.


    The ones remaining were...


    ¡°Doraha, I¡¯m d to see you back.¡± (Yorishiro)


    In that group, Yorishiro showed happiness at the return of Doraha who wasn¡¯t in the Light capital for a good while.


    This weing of Yorishiro¡¯s treasured Doraha had been postponed till now because, the moment we returned, we immediately had to heal the mental state of the Demon Lords, and we were in a hurry to obtain information regarding Lucifer.


    Yorishiro hugs tightly the small body of Doraha.


    ¡°I was a little bit lonely with you away from my side for this long, but I am incredibly happy to feel your growth.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I am Yorishiro-sama¡¯s shadow. From now on and ever, I will follow you.¡± (Doraha)


    In this journey, Doraha has understood that she is an extreme case of xenophobic.


    As expected, Doraha is thoroughly courteous towards the person she acknowledges as her master, Yorishiro, and shows deep affection.


    After hugging like mother and child, and rubbing their cheeks together, she then turned her gaze towards me.


    ¡°Sorry for the wait. It looks like you still have something to say to me-desu wa ne?¡± (Yorishiro)


    Now that I think about it, Yorishiro and I haven¡¯t seen each other since the time we brought back Mantle at the Nameless Desert.


    It wasn¡¯t that long of a spacepared to Karen-san, but right now, I can¡¯t understand Yorishiro¡¯s thoughts to the point that I feel as if that space of time was several centuries.


    ¡°...Why did you say something like that?¡± (Haine)


    (Wait, please.)


    A voice reverberates directly in my head.


    This is a voice thates from the waves of the soul.


    Words that can only be transmitted towards only a selected few souls that share a characteristic.


    (Doraha is still here. It would be better to keep what we are going to be talking here between ourselves, right?) (Yorishiro)


    (...Fine.) (Haine)


    Yorishiro does have a point, so I epted.


    Maybe the hug of Yorishiro is quitefortable, Doraha had fallen asleep within her arms.


    After thinking she really is a child in this kind of moments, I continue the conversation.


    (Why did you say something like that?) (Haine)


    (What do you refer to by ¡®something like that¡¯?) (Yorishiro)


    This woman...ying the fool at this point.


    The conversation won¡¯t progress if you go making pointless remarks.


    (The nonsense about Ates being the incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion.) (Haine)


    (Why do you think it is nonsense?) (Yorishiro)


    Obviously because...!!


    (If Ates-san¡¯s identity is the Light Goddess, all the pieces will fit. More so, with the existence of the Light Demon Lord Lucifer.) (Yorishiro)


    (Ugh.) (Haine)


    (How was it created? Monsters were created by Gods. Or the other possibility is that a God gave that function to what¡¯s known as a Mother Monster, but a Light Mother Monster doesn¡¯t exist.) (Yorishiro)


    She is hitting me with logic!


    (In that case, there¡¯s no other possibility than her being the Light Goddess who created the Light Demon Lord Lucifer with her own hands.) (Yorishiro)


    (Are you saying Ates was the one who created Lucifer?) (Haine)


    (Yes.) (Yorishiro)


    It is true that this is really convincing reasoning.


    I don¡¯t know why, but Ates is nning on eradicating humanity, and her specific method to do that is the creation of Lucifer.


    And then, she shared that n with the four Demon Lords that were born at around that time.


    Even if Ates had that kind of conspiracy in mind, it is hard to connect it with the evolution of the monsters into Demon Lords, but the theory itself does indeed make sense.


    (But there is a bigger problem than that!) (Haine)


    (What is it?) (Yorishiro)


    (There¡¯s no way Ates is the incarnation of Intion! No way! Because Yorishiro, you are the incarnation of the Light Goddess, aren¡¯t you!!) (Haine)


    Yeah, that¡¯s why we are able to do soul transmission with each other.


    I am the incarnation of the Dark God Entropy, so we are able to establish thismunication method between Gods.


    (You are the very Goddess herself, so you should know better than anyone that Ates is not Intion! And yet, you went and said that nonsense yourself!) (Haine)


    Hearing that Ates, who is scheming on eradicating humanity, was the Light Goddess...you should understand how Karen-san felt at that moment.


    (Karen-san is the light hero. A member of the Light Church, and that¡¯s why she worships Intion deeply!) (Haine)


    Why can you so easily tell a lie like that that betrays the belief of Karen-san?!


    (Karen-san wasn¡¯t that shocked about it.) (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says as if a matter of fact.


    (She has already been personally acquainted with the polluted Coacervate and the unrelenting Mantle after all. She has learned that Gods are not as perfect as humans think, and has ovee it. Karen-san is stronger than you think.) (Yorishiro)


    (Even so...) (Haine)


    (Also, I didn¡¯t lie. Ates-san is without doubt the Light Goddess Intion.) (Yorishiro)


    !


    (She is my half.) (Yorishiro)


    (That¡¯s...!) (Haine)


    (You have seen how Coacervate was divided after being distilled, right? Gods are intangible beings that are not tied by a body. They can freely change into anything. They can also change from one to two.) (Yorishiro)


    Then...! Is Intion saying that she herself had something like that happening to her?


    (Entropy, at one point in time, I truly hated humans. The humans that had taken you away from me!) (Yorishiro)


    At the battle of Gods 1,600 years ago, the other five Gods and I were fighting over the treatment of the humans.


    I wanted to protect the freedom of the humans, and the other Gods wanted to enve them.


    I was defeated in that fight and was sealed till this era.


    (You went as far as going against me to protect the humans. You took the side of humans rather than mine. I couldn¡¯t forgive that. But in the time I incarnated as the human Izanami, and lived my life with the people of the Underworld country, I should have forgotten that anger and hatred. I thought that I had learned about the greatness of the humans and my unsightly emotions had disappeared.) (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro grabs her chest tightly in pain, biting her lips as she transmits the voice of her soul to me.


    (The hatred of the Light Goddess has changed form and still exists. That¡¯s the other Intion. It has incarnated in the form of Ates. My sister.) (Yorishiro)


    Is that even possible?!


    The loving emotions and the hating emotions towards humans within the Light Goddess had rebelled, and finally, separated to be individual existences.


    The loving emotions became Yorishiro...


    The hating emotions became Ates...


    And pushed by that hatred, Ates created Lucifer to destroy the humans?


    The pieces fall so in ce that I could only agree with it.


    (You...knew about that from the very beginning?) (Haine)


    (No, I learned about it pretty recently. Right before Ates-san left, she revealed her own identity. She must have intended it as a challenge.) (Yorishiro)


    She herself didn¡¯t even notice until then that she had divided in two.


    (Ates-san is my very sin. And that sin is trying to turn its fangs towards humanity...) (Yorishiro)


    And that was hurting the Light Goddess herself.


    Yorishiro has been hanging her head down this whole time she was revealing this.


    It must have taken a lot of courage to break this out.


    (Thank you, Yorishiro. For telling me.) (Haine)


    Those words rang out from my soul.


    Yorishiro apparently learned of this when Ates escaped. She had many chances to tell us, but the reason it took her this long to actually tell me was most likely because she didn¡¯t have the resolve yet.


    (...I really am no good. Even though, not that long ago, I spoke about how ¡®if¡¯s¡¯ won¡¯t change the past...) (Yorishiro)


    I sit by the side of Yorishiro.


    (Isn¡¯t that fine? That just means you have learned from humans and have grown as well. In my eyes, your radiance is greater than 1,600 years ago.) (Haine)


    Yorishiro most likely heard me, but she just continued to brush the head of the sleeping Doraha with a wry smile and a flushed face.


    (Is that because I am basically a distilled Intion?) (Yorishiro)


    (...Let¡¯s search for a betterparison.) (Haine)


    Yorishiro and Iugh lightly.


    It felt as if something in the room had gotten slightly lighter.


    I finally have a picture of the core of this battle.


    After that, I left the room and walked aimlessly around the headquarters.


    Sunnysol Ates is the half of the Light Goddess that had divided due to hatred.


    That soul had incarnated into a human.


    Being hit by that shocking truth, I was unable to say anything and had no choice but to fall in contemtion.


    I can understand why Yorishiro couldn¡¯t speak about it until now.


    From what Yorishiro said, Ates is basically the stains of Intion, the ugly side that you wouldn¡¯t want others to see.


    Revealing that side to others without any fear is not something that even a God can do readily.


    ¡°Humans are still being dragged into the troubles created by Gods...¡± (Haine)


    When thinking about it, this battle with the Demon Lords is practically theption of all the troubles that the Gods have caused to the humans.


    But in hindsight, it is because of the Demon Lords battle that the Gods have closed the distance quite a lot between them and the humans.


    Just when I thought that humans, Gods, and demons wouldn¡¯t fight anymore, the existence of an evil Light Goddess has been made clear.


    The world hasn¡¯t escaped danger yet.


    That feeling got heavier.


    ¡°Oh, oooi~, Haine, ooooi~!¡±


    While I was spacing out thinking this, I heard a voice calling me from afar.


    ¡°What are you pondering about at a ce like this? It doesn¡¯t suit you, you know? A man must charge forward with their youth!!¡±


    ¡°.....You are drunk, aren¡¯t you, General Grades?¡± (Haine)


    As proof, his bald head was bright red.


    Drinking alcohol when it is still daytime, maybe I should report you for misconduct, Knight General.


    ¡°What¡¯s so bad about drinking? I am off duty today!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Eh? Really?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I finally got a break after you guys came back, you know! Before that, I would have to be on full attention for the Demon Lords that who knows when they would attack, so I didn¡¯t have a single moment to rest. I couldn¡¯t sleep at all with you guys gone, you know?¡± (Grades)


    Uwaaa...


    Now that he mentions it, Grades-san was truly having an endurance battle while we were gone.


    I changed my mind. He is finally free from the tension, so it should be fine to drink!!


    ¡°How many tens of bottles have I drunk already? At any rate, the taste of beer is proportionate to how long you work! Isn¡¯t that right, Uriel?!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°Really! Alcohol tastes the best after a hardship!¡± (Uriel)


    Why are you here?!


    ¡°Uriel, weren¡¯t you supposed to be at the specially designated room at the church¡¯s headquarters?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Cause you know, even if you tell me to take a break, I was bored. And then, I encountered this bald guy by coincidence, and ended up getting along with him quite well!¡± (Uriel)


    Wait!


    ¡°Oof, I thought that the Demon Lords were all scary guys, but they are unexpectedly nice! Anyone that understands the taste of beer can be friends!¡± (Grades)


    Even General Grades?!


    He is one of the guys that made you go through a hell of stress not that long ago, you know?!


    ¡°Alcohol is truly a nice thing! It tastes good, and the more you drink, the more you feel as if the worries and stress you have inside you melts!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Good good. Right, Demon Lords should also have things piled inside them. Okay! This old man will hear you out today, so spill your heart out!!¡± (Grades)


    ¡°There¡¯s the matter with Raphael... but there¡¯s also the scary earth hero that catches me and doesn¡¯t let go! She is smiling. She is smiling, but it is scary!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°In that case, I will teach you how to deal with scary female superiors! You know, in this Light Church, there¡¯s a lot of scary women as well!¡± (Grades)


    The drunks are bonding.


    I wanted to retort about what the hell they are doing...but before I could, I heard the sounds of an uproar from another ce.


    ¡°Celes-tan!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s culture!!¡±


    ¡°Oi! Captain Vesage and Gabriel!!¡± (Haine)


    Even without confirming their figures, I could tell with what they said!!


    ¡°Oh, assistant Haine! I was in the middle of teaching thisdy Demon Lord about culture!!¡± (Vesage)


    The idol otaku Captain Vesage said.


    This idiot is a big fan of the hero and idol Celestis.


    And...


    ¡°To think that Celestis-chan¡¯s poprity would transmit in this way! This must be a type of culture! Postcards, trading cards, hugging pillows! All of these is culture I have never seen before!!¡± (Gabriel)


    There¡¯s Gabriel ted in trying to greedily absorb the culture of humans.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go transmitting bad culture towards other races as well!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying? The only bad culture is the gacha.¡± (Vesage) <Amen>


    Gacha?


    ¡°Umu. It is a mobile phone business that¡¯s trending in idol shopstely. Well, it is like a lottery of sorts.¡± (Vesage)


    I only get bad vibes from it.


    ¡°For a set price, you get the right to pull the lot, and if you manage to hit jackpot, you can get a super rare good of Celes-tan!!¡± (Vesage)


    ¡°And what are the chances of getting that jackpot?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°......¡±


    Vesage didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°You...just how much did you spend in that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°.......¡±


    ¡°Answer! Answer, damn it!! You were finally promoted and got a raise, and yet, you can only use your money in such useless things?!¡± (Haine)


    I grab the shoulders of Vesage and shake him, and Gabriel who was looking at the side was once again pleased.


    ¡°Incredible! This must be the joys and sorrows of the economy! This must be part of culture, isn¡¯t it?!¡± (Gabriel)


    This woman connects way too many things with culture!


    Or more like, aren¡¯t Uriel and Gabriel getting too used to humans?!


    What in the world is going on here?!


    ¡°We are trying to learn from humans.¡±


    This time, Michael was the one who appeared.


    ¡°The feelings of humans, their thoughts, their emotions; they are things that we demons must take in and absorb. That¡¯s the path we should take from now on.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Michael?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°We don¡¯t think about eradicating humans anymore. If humans permit it, we want to walk the path of mutual prosperity with them.¡± (Michael)


    From what I heard after, Michael had been participating in the training drills of the Aurora Knight corps, apparently to learn about the training that humans do.


    He supposedly carried a mountain of Aurora Knights as if it were nothing.


    Training with the strongest of monsters in a drill that is for the sake of fighting monsters.


    This is already in a state where I can¡¯t put my head around anything.

 Chapter 378-379 - Wicked Snake Fiend

    <h4>Chapter 378-379: Wicked Snake Fiend</h4>


    Sponsored Chapters


    And so, in this way, the exchange between Demon Lords and humans deepened gradually to the point that made me question ¡®what the hell is this?¡¯, and finally, we faced a big change.


    There were few things we could do to approach the matter.


    The most direct way to solve the problem would be to find Ates and capture her, but we don¡¯t know where she is at all.


    We could make her a world wanted person, but if we are going against a God incarnation, it definitely won¡¯t be easy to find her location.


    It was the same when the Demon Lords hid to avoid me after all.


    What we can do would be to harden our defenses with our respective heroes, and make it so we are not hit in any opening.


    *****


    ¡°Hero-sama!! Assistant!!¡±


    We were thinking about passing the day hanging out with the Demon Lords, but a Light Knight came flying to report to us.


    ¡°Emergency call!¡±


    Emergency call?


    In this era, we can exchange information with other nations in an instant thanks to the ethereal wireless technology.


    Even if one of our ces gets attacked, we can immediately fly to their aid, and we will be able to provide fast assistance with the use of the flying machines.


    ¡°Emergency call from Rudras Metropolis!¡±


    ¡°Rudras Metropolis... That¡¯s pretty close.¡± (Haine)


    The moving city of Rudras Metropolis is currently at standby in a ce close by to Apollon City in case of any unexpected events.


    Karen-san and I ran to themunication room and faced the mic.


    ¡°This is Kuromiya Haine speaking! Wind Church member, can you hear me?!¡± (Haine)


    {Haine... Is that Haine?!}


    This voice.


    Isn¡¯t it Shiva?!


    For the Founder himself to make a call, moreover, from how he is speaking, I can tell he is in pain.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?! What happened?! Exin the situation!¡± (Haine)


    {That monster...! We weren¡¯t even in its sight.....! It treated us as pebbles at the roadside...! A whole city...!}


    The speaker was rying the voice of Shiva that was faraway, and it was reproducing the pained voice of his.


    ¡°Oi! Oi! Is Rudras Metropolis okay?! What about the damage?!¡± (Haine)


    {Don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s not much damage on our side..... It didn¡¯t give us any attention, so the damage was kept at a minimum..... Howughable.} (Shiva)


    His voice was filled with regret and self-derision.


    {It was so sudden that we didn¡¯t have the time to bring out the hero or the Kazama Shinobis. That guy only shot one divine power attack. However, that one attack blew away Rudras Metropolis and made it bounce three times.} (Shiva)


    Bounce?!


    The whole Rudras Metropolis?!


    It may be the smallest out of the five Great Cities, but the city is basically a moving fortress, and yet, with one attack?!


    {The reason we didn¡¯t flip upside down was thanks to the bncer that Juo invented. But because of that, Rudras Metropolis¡¯ moving engine haspletely stopped. Many buildings inside have been destroyed. We can¡¯t head out to provide assistance. We have our hands full in the rescuing inside the city.} (Shiva)


    What?


    ¡°What are you talking about? We are the ones who should be going to help. We will send Aurora Knight corps with relief goods, so¡ª!!¡± (Haine)


    {DON¡¯T!!} (Shiva)


    ¡°?!¡±


    The agitated shout of Shiva made me gulp my breath.


    To think Shiva would lose his wits to this extent.


    {There¡¯s no need to send help to us! You guys should strengthen the defenses of the city! That¡¯s why we called you!!} (Shiva)


    ¡°?!¡±


    {That thing¡¯s objective is you guys! The ce where you guys are, Apollon City!! Our Rudras Metropolis was only coincidentally in the way, so it pushed us to the side!!} (Shiva)


    Just what in the world...!


    {I will be the one sending reinforcements! When the situation has stabilized, I will immediately send Hyue as well! That¡¯s why, resist until then, please!! Listen well, survive!!} (Shiva)


    *****


    With the call of Shiva that left no opening to speak back ending, I immediately left from the Light Grand Church. And then, I look at the direction where Rudras Metropolis is.


    ¡°What is happening, Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san seemed to be uneasy as well.


    I don¡¯t know either. I don¡¯t know, but I can clearly tell it is something incredibly bad.


    ¡°...? A mountain range...?¡± (Haine)


    Was there a mountain range at that direction.


    No, there¡¯s no way.


    The moving city of Rudras Metropolis cannot traverse properly through mountainous terrain, so it would always choose t ground.


    That¡¯s why, there¡¯s no way there would be a mountain range at the direction of Rudras Metropolis!


    ¡°?!¡±


    Another mystery urs.


    That mountain range began to swerve.


    ¡°The mountain is...moving?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s not it, Haine-san! That¡¯s not a mountain!!¡± (Karen)


    The other members of the Light Church began toe out after hearing the uproar and were equally flustered.


    ¡°It is not a mountain, but a snake! An incredibly big snake is slithering!!¡± (Karen)


    It is exactly as Karen-san says.


    A giant snake that can be mistaken for a mountain was slithering towards us!


    ¡°That¡¯s...what blew away Rudras Metropolis?!¡± (Haine)


    Where is the head and tail end of that snake?


    The body of the snake is so big that it was impossible to find it.


    ¡ªNo, I found it.


    The giant upper body of the beast that was slithering its way towards us.


    ¡°The head of the snake...is actually a human body?!¡± (Haine)


    Upper body is human, lower half is snake; moreover, its whole body is as big as a mountain.


    Could it be, this is...the strongest andst Demon Lord?


    The Demon Lord that reigns over light, the Great Demon Lord Lucifer?!


    This is...the Great Demon Lord Lucifer?


    A giant beast that one could mistake for a mountain, and instead of a snake head, it has a human upper half.


    Truly strange-looking.


    To the point that would make me have goosebumps.


    Its rough reptilian skin brought about a feeling of disgust in a physiological level.


    I don¡¯t know the reason, but it is probably an instinctive ability that snakes scatter through species that are several times smaller than it.


    Moreover, a part of it looks exactly like a human.


    That upper half of a robust manbined what a human is used to seeing with that of a beast, making the picture even more grotesque.


    ¡°Akakakakakakakakaka!!¡±


    The roar that pierced the air and cut apart the eardrums further increased the disgustingness.


    It is a mass of repulsiveness.


    That¡¯s thest threat of the Demon Lord battle.


    Lucifer.


    ¡°What in the world is going on?!¡±


    People came out one after the other from the Light Grand Church where one can see the abnormality that is the new Demon Lord.


    And within that group, there¡¯s Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel.


    They were holding a philosophy book, idol poster, and an alcohol bottle respectively. I could tell that they were fully enjoying the human culture in Apollon City.


    ¡°Hiiih?! What¡¯s with that disgusting thing?!¡± (Gabriel)


    Even Gabriel had gotten scared by Lucifer¡¯s atypical appearance.


    ¡°Could it be that¡¯s...!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Great Demon Lord, Lucifer...sama?¡± (Michael)


    Uriel and Michael were dumbstruck by what seems to be the first time they see their ruler Great Demon Lord.


    ¡°This is the first time I see him in action! Is that really Lucifer-sama?! I only saw his cocoon so...¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t see him directly when he was sleeping in the castle, but to think he would be this big! Isn¡¯t he a lot bigger than the castle that served as his cocoon?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it! That castle itself was Lucifer-sama! So we were using the inside of Lucifer-sama as our base?!¡± (Michael)


    Voices of agitation were leaking out from the Demon Lords.


    And within them, there was one who had his fists tightly gripped and trembling.


    No, his whole body was trembling. The one who was trembling as if trying to hold back his raging stream of emotions was Michael.


    ¡°...What ¡®Great Demon Lord¡¯...!!¡± (Michael)


    Wa?


    ¡°That thing is not a Demon Lord. It is just a giant monster. It is true that it is gigantic, but I can¡¯t feel intelligence or a soul! It is just a giant monster that brings about destruction by the orders of its God!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°N-Now that you mention it...!¡± (Uriel)


    Monsters repeated a cycle of life and death for a century long, and at the end of that umted experience, is what brought about the Demon Lords who have a will and soul.


    They are truly worthy of being the rulers of monsters. In order to get the best out of the intelligence they have gotten, a trait of them is that they possess a physique simr to that of humans.


    But the Great Demon Lord that¡¯s supposed to stand at the summit of Demon Lords doesn¡¯t fit any of those traits.


    A size that far surpasses that of humans, an abnormal lower half that can take up the whole vision of someone, and that way of acting, that roar didn¡¯t have a single shred of intelligence from it. It is basically a beast.


    It is just like the Hydra Serpent we fought before; a puppet with no will controlled by a God.


    ¡°We were worshipping that thing as our summit?! We called that the Lord of Monsters?! Don¡¯t joke around!!¡± (Michael)


    The roar of Michael echoed powerfully within the whole structure of this Light Grand Church.


    ¡°This made it clear! As I thought, that woman...Sunnysol Ates, she was deceiving us Demon Lords!! Lucifer already isn¡¯t worth respect!!¡± (Michael)


    And then, as if showing the anger in his heart, the Fire Demon Lord spreads out his fire wings.


    ¡°From now on, I -Michael- will takemand of us Demon Lords. Gabriel, Uriel! Entrust your lives to me!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael shouts loudly.


    ¡°I maintained equality because we were under Lucifer, and because I neglected giving order to the Demon Lords, we lost Raphael! I won¡¯t let the same mistake happen! From today on, I -Michael- will lead you guys as the leader of the Demon Lords!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Good grief, finally the leader is going to act as the leader huh.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°I don¡¯t really mind. There¡¯s no other than Michael who would take a troublesome role like that anyways.¡± (Gabriel)


    Uriel and Gabriel epted the resolve of theirrade lightheartedly.


    ¡°......Kuromiya Haine.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Ah, yes?!¡± (Haine)


    I was surprised by the sudden mention of my name.


    ¡°Leave the job of dealing with that Lucifer to us Demon Lords.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The trouble that us monsters have created, will be put to an end by us monsters. That is the true order of this world.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°¡±We gotta pay you guys back for putting up with us after all.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°You guys help out that Wind capital that seems to have received damage. I want to learn the culture of that nation one of these days.¡± (Gabriel)


    And then, the three Demon Lords spread out their symbolic divine power wings and fly into the sky.


    ¡°Wa?! Wait! Do you mean that...!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san and I had no choice but to absentmindedly see off the Demon Lords that were leaving.


    Could it be that what is about to begin now is...a direct battle between the three Demon Lords led by Michael against Lucifer?!

 Chapter 380-381 - Demon Lords frontline

    <h4>Chapter 380-381: Demon Lords frontline</h4>


    But we can¡¯t just let them go like this on their own. That¡¯s what I thought for some reason.


    And whether I want it or not, I have already moved to action.


    ¡°Hyaa!¡± (Haine)


    I make a big jump.


    I somehow managed to jump onto the Demon Lords that were still not that far from the ground yet.


    ¡°Kyaaaaa?!¡±


    But...it looks like I coincidentally jumped onto the only female Demon Lord, Gabriel.


    ...It really was a coincidence, okay?


    I jumped on the spur of the moment and ended uptching on her, but from an outsider¡¯s perspective, I am without doubt a degenerate?!


    ¡°Kyaa! What¡¯s with this guy?! Hugging ady out of nowhere without permission! That¡¯s not culture!¡± (Gabriel)


    Give me a break!


    You have been gettingpletely dyed in the color of Celestistely! At first, the only difference you had from the other Demon Lords was your appearance, but now, your personality has beenpletely changed!


    ¡°Haine-san?! What are you doing?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san calls me in a reproachful and agitated tone from the ground.


    I am grabbing onto a Demon Lord that is thinking of heading to where Lucifer is, so Karen-san is steadily getting further and further away.


    ¡°Sorry, Karen-san! I will be apanying the Demon Lords!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°?!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    This deration surprised not only Karen-san but the Demon Lords as well.


    What is the meaning of this, Kuromiya Haine? I told you that the problem of monsters must be put to an end by us monsters.¡± (Michael)


    Michael alsoes out with a reproachful tone.


    ¡°There¡¯s the need for a witness to the battle between Demon Lords, right? I will take that role. Bring me along!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°.....¡±


    The real reason might be something else though.


    I heard about the real identity of Sunnysol Ates, and now that I know about it, I have to meet her again once more no matter what. That¡¯s how I felt.


    ¡°...Fine. Even so, there¡¯s no need for you to get involved.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Thanks. I will by no means throw cold water at the resolve of you Demon Lords.¡± (Haine)


    And in this way, I ended up being a spectator to the battle of Demon Lords.


    ¡°H-Haine-saaaan?!¡± (Karen)


    And Karen-san had no choice but to see us off in a flustered manner.


    I raise my voice towards the girl down.


    ¡°Karen-san! Pleasemand the Aurora Knights and harden the defenses of the city!! And also make sure to refuse the aid of Rudras Metropolis!!¡± (Haine)


    Leaving those words behind, I left towards the sky with the Demon Lords.


    By the way, it was only after a whileter that I remembered I could fly with my dark matter.


    The heat of the moment is a truly fearsome thing.


    ****


    And then...


    We finally made it.


    To where the monster that makes the earth tremble is; the Great Demon Lord Lucifer.


    ¡°This is...!¡± (Haine)


    What Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and I were witnessing down from the sky was truly like a picture of hell.


    There¡¯s a fiend covering the ground.


    The long long snake tail of Lucifer was wriggling, slithering, and coiling around as it covered the whole ground.


    It is not only long but also gigantic, so the trees and small hills were mowed down and there was boundless destruction and cruelty spread around.


    And then, there¡¯s also the snake¡¯s scales that can be seen everywhere.


    ¡°This truly...looks like hell...¡± (Gabriel)


    Even Gabriel faltered at the tragedy below.


    ¡°What are you guys gonna do? This thing covers the whole vision, so even with eyes closed, you could hit the target.¡± (Haine)


    I gave out my opinion as a spectator.


    ¡°Silence, you degenerate.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°No mercy?!¡± (Haine)


    Gabriel ispletely on guard of me now.


    I have already left her side and used my own dark matter to float.


    ¡°Let¡¯s search for what¡¯s...supposed to be its head. We saw it from afar after all.¡± (Michael)


    That upper half that looks like a human huh.


    ¡°Even if we were to blindly attack a big body like this, we wouldn¡¯t get much results. More so when the size made us believe it was a mountain range and can cover the whole ground. If we were to shoot divine power without any thoughts, even us Demon Lords might run out of energy before we can deal a fatal wound.¡± (Michael)


    An urate decision from the now official leader Michael.


    ¡°When talking about a weak point of living beings, it would be the head. Fine then. Let¡¯s find the tip of that guy.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°But shouldn¡¯t we attack with a n in mind first? It is this long after all. Even if we were to randomly trace it, we might even take several years if we don¡¯t do it well enough.¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel does have a point. This fiend is long to an unbelievable extent, moreover, its slithery body is akin to abyrinth. Tracing it and finding the head would be one hell of a job.


    But...


    ¡°Wee, useless trash.¡±


    The person we were looking for appeared before us.


    We were only looking down, and a voice came to us from up.


    ¡°That voice...!¡± (Haine)


    At some point in time, at a ce even higher than us, a monsters with a crooked head was there.


    It was like a cobra aiming for its prey.


    So high up that it might reach the clouds.


    ¡°Lucifer!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Looking down on us all high-and-mighty!!¡± (Urie)


    The giant looking down at us, now that I have a better look, that upper human half had an heteromorphous look.


    Reptilian eyes and mouth split all the way to the ears. The teeth that peek out from that mouth were all sharp like saws. The thin tongue flickers in and out of the mouth rapidly.


    And most of all, a single woman stands at the top of Lucifer¡¯s head.


    A charming woman.


    There¡¯s no way of mistaking that figure.


    ¡°So you really came out! Sunnysol Ates!¡± (Haine)


    The evil Light Goddess has appeared in front of me in her true mask for the first time.


    ¡°I am impressed you all had the gall to appear in front of me without any shame.¡± (Ates)


    A voice filled with heartfelt disdain poured out from Ates¡¯ mouth.


    ¡°Even when you were holding up the standard of human eradication, you betrayed your own convictions and ended up ttering your enemy on the other side of the fence!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Shut up, deceiver! Your trickery has long been exposed!¡± (Michael)


    Michael refutes without faltering a single step.


    ¡°Light Goddess, Intion!!¡± (Michael)


    The finger was pointing straight at Ates without doubt.


    ¡°So you learned of my identity huh..... How did you notice?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°The Light Founder Yorishiro saw through you!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That woman...... Fufufu, she is unexpectedly loose mouthed.¡± (Ates)


    Even when the true essence of her soul has been seen through, Ates didn¡¯t get flustered and simplyughed as if nothing.


    ¡°You are a God, and yet, you plotted on destroying the humans! For that sake, you utilized us Demon Lords!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Even though you are a God, you nned on destroying the very humans you created; you must be quite crazy! All the Gods we have met until now were all weird, but the only truly evil one was you!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Really, I feel bad for the humans that worship a wicked God like you! It is an insult to culture!!¡± (Gabriel)


    The Demon Lords hurl out abuse towards Ates.


    Since they understood that they had been deceived by Ates, their way of speaking naturally turned severe as well.


    ¡°Goddess... Before being born, we heard this from inside our mothers: ¡®Destroy the humans and stand at the summit of the world¡¯.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°What about it?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°We believed that that voice was from the ruler of all monsters, the Great Demon Lord Lucifer. But now, after seeing the true Lucifer with these eyes of mine, that thought was blown away.¡± (Michael)


    The reptilian eyes of the giant Lucifer that one can¡¯t feel any intelligence within.


    ¡°This beast...there is no way it would have the wisdom to guide us monsters. Those words were spoken by you, the Goddess, right?! And you set it up so that we would fight the humans!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Fufufufufu!!¡± (Ates)


    A scorningugh.


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s the case, you were the ones who decided on destroying the humans. Not being able to push through your own decisions, what feeble resolve. In the end, the title of supreme race was too heavy for a bunch of animals huh.¡± (Ates)


    Ates didn¡¯t refute the usations of her being the one deceiving the Demon Lords under the name of Lucifer.


    ¡°Like hell I care!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael says as he pushes his fist forward.


    ¡°Straying from your original intentions is certainly unsightly. But not fixing it up after realizing it was a mistake is even more unsightly! Within actual battle, we realized the greatness of humans, and we found a better path!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Whatever the case, a thought that was induced into us before we were even born, in a stage where we didn¡¯t have any ability to decide for ourselves. When we gained that ability to think for ourselves, for the first time, we noticed that it was a mistake.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Culture and love are indivisible; love and humans are indivisible; thus, in order for monsters to obtain culture, the humans have to continue existing. Also, I want to talk a lot more with Celestis.¡± (Gabriel)


    Not only Michael; Uriel and Gabriel were showing their opposition towards Ates.


    The Demon Lords that were feared as the strongest existence and the humans felt their survival threatened, moreover, those three are all facing her.


    However, the scorning smile on Ates¡¯ face didn¡¯t go away.


    ¡°...Seriously, you mere parts, don¡¯t go talking like you are some big deal.¡± (Ates)


    Even when she was smiling, her face was overflowing with disgust.


    ¡°Well, fine. I will teach you pitiful puppets. It is exactly as you guys say.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°I spoke to you guys when you were about to be born from the inside of the Mother Monsters, and I indeed induced you guys to massacre the humans. For I -the Light Goddess- it was of no difficulty.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Then you...!!¡± (Michael)


    So it has been confirmed that the wire puller of this Demon Lord conflict was Ates.


    ¡°I was thinking of making you people into the limbs of the Lucifer I created and have you guys help out in the eradication of humans, but... you all ended up being unbelievably useless. Looks like the thought of the four Base Elements about how monsters shouldn¡¯t have a will was the correct one.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk anymore!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael shouts with a voice filled with rage that could make even the earth tremble.


    ¡°No matter our origins, we are now moving with our own wills. The same as humans and Gods; as members of this world, we will bring judgment to the ones that bring harm to the world!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°If I don¡¯t protect peace, that scary earth hero might scold me after all. Let¡¯s act the role of a good Demon Lord trying to protect the world.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you destroy culture!!¡± (Gabriel)


    Derations of war were being made one after the other.


    The Demon Lords were already a part of therades that protect this world.


    ¡°Haine-san, what about you?¡± (Ates)


    But Ates ignores the high-moraled Demon Lords and speaks to me.


    ¡°I am happy to meet you again, Haine-san. You left that Yorishiro and that hero brat, and prioritized me, right?¡± (Ates)


    Ates is an incarnation of the Light Goddess Intion, just like Yorishiro.


    The spirit of a Goddess that should have originally been one had been divided into two by the love and hate of humans.


    If she is Intion as well, she must know of my identity.


    ¡°Haine-san, what do you think? Do you think humans should perish?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Are you really asking me this?¡± (Haine)


    If I were someone who would say ¡®yes¡¯ here, I wouldn¡¯t have caused the battle of Gods in the Genesis era.


    But this is a story that only the ones involved know of.


    ¡°...Right, you are that kind of person.¡± (Ates)


    Ates smiled in a lonely manner.


    ¡°Ates...! So you are really...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Then, at the very least, spectate until everything is over please. I will present you with an ideal world where there¡¯s no worries and pain.¡± (Ates)


    The same time she says this, there was a change in the giant snake.


    From its back, shining wings sprouted out.


    ¡°Light wings?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wings are the symbol of Demon Lords! For a giant monster to have them, how presumptuous!¡± (Michael)


    Those wings were quite different from the wings of a normal bird, and stretched out like thin lines. And then, they draw a big curve up, and before long, the ends of the wings of each side connect at the top.


    Both wings had drawn an arc and had connected at the top, drawing a big circle.


    The big shining circle that Lucifer carried on his back was like...!


    ¡°A sun?!¡± (Haine)


    From that sun, a dazzling light was released.


    To the point of making me cover my face.


    ¡°This is light divine power! Not good!¡± (Haine)


    My dark matter is...!


    ¡°Uwaaaa?!¡± (Haine)


    In due time, the dark matter that I was using to maintain myself in the sky had been dispersed by the light divine power.


    And with that gone, I had no way of going against the natural gravity and was dragged down to the earth.


    ¡°Please stay outside the mosquito for a while, okay? Until the time when the preparations for the destruction of humanity are finished.¡± (Ates)

 Chapter 382-384 - Battle of the Demon summit

    <h4>Chapter 382-384: Battle of the Demon summit</h4>


    Hiyururururu...


    ¡°Gue?!¡± (Haine)


    Having lost the repulsion effect of the dark matter, I fall upside down.


    The ce I fell on is the giant snake in question. Its scales are unexpectedly soft, so my fall was safe.


    ¡°But it hurts a bit. Ouch ouch ouch...¡± (Haine)


    Damn it.


    The advantage light has over darkness really is absolute.


    An enemy with light element has not appeared until now, but one has finally appeared at this time, the light element monster, Lucifer.


    .....


    If Michael and the others don¡¯t do something, it might actually be bad.


    After I had fallen straight down, I was able to confirm that Michael and the others stayed in the air as if natural.


    ¡°Oi... Kuromiya Haine has fallen. What should we do?¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. In the first ce, he came here as a spectator. Just think about it as the spectator taking its rightful seat.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Then that means it is finally the sole stage for us Demon Lords, right?¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael¡¯s fire wings, Gabriel¡¯s transparent wings, Uriel¡¯s branch wings; each of them is filled with thick and ferocious divine power.


    Even if they have be easier to get along with after mingling with humans, each one of them has enough power to wipe out all humans, so a Demon Lord battle won¡¯t be a simple matter.


    ¡°Then...¡± (Haine)


    The Great Demon Lord Lucifer is certainly different from the other Demon Lords -it is just a giant monster.


    As proof, with just the gesture of its creator, Ates, it immediately acts on the order -as if stressing the fact that it has no will of its own.


    ¡°Now, go ahead. The strongest of the strongest monsters, the Demon Lord of Demon Lords; Great Demon Lord, Lucifer, show the half-baked ones who can¡¯t do their job how perfect you are.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Makes my stomach churn!!¡± (Michael)


    The three Demon Lords charge as if saying the first to move wins.


    ...But that rush was repelled by dazzling light waves.


    ¡°Unuuu?!¡±


    ¡°Gueee!¡±


    ¡°Kyaaaa!!¡±


    Michael, Uriel, and Gabriel had been hit by that light torrent and were pushed away.


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s something that was released from the shining sun on Lucifer¡¯s back -from the light wings.


    ¡°¡®Grand Descent¡¯! The light element is slightly stronger than the four base elements. It is not as absolute as the dark element, but light has absolute advantage against darkness.


    In that sense, the most stable power is the light.¡± (Ates)


    Ates says this while controlling Lucifer like her arm and legs.


    ¡°That¡¯s why the light element Lucifer is the lord of all monsters. Children of the four Base Elements that can only be the ves of the two Poles, I will allow you the chance to repent and obey Lucifer.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Kuh, foolish!!¡± (Michael)


    Even when they were blown away by the ¡®Grand Descent¡¯, Michael and the others didn¡¯t falter.


    ¡°Like we will obey anyone! We will be the ones to decide that! The ability to decide, that will itself is what monsters took a century to attain!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael once again heads straight towards Lucifer.


    But this is way too straight of a confrontation.


    ¡°Hmph, truly stupid. ¡ª[Grand Descent]¡± (Ates)


    As expected, the stream of light attacked Michael just like before!


    I thought that he would be pushed away like before, but...


    ¡°Uooooo!!¡± (Michael)


    He is resisting!!


    Michael is releasing an even higher amount of fire divine power, and as if showing this physically, the fire wings had increased several times in size.


    With that vigor, he is rivalling the ¡®Grand Descent¡¯ of Lucifer!


    ¡°...Soft.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°It is true that this light divine power is slightly advantageous against my fire divine power, but it is only a bit. In the end, just a bit. There¡¯s nothing that I Michael can¡¯t push away when serious!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael at full power had broken through the light stream!


    ¡°[Phoenix Hammer]!!¡± (Michael)


    And then, with both arms d in fire that were akin to a hammer, he smashes them onto Lucifer!


    ¡°Akaaaaa?!¡± (Lucifer)


    Lucifer itself raised a voice of pain as it retreated.


    ¡°Is that all you have, Great Demon Lord?! Kuromiya Haine¡¯s darkness power is leaps and bounds scarier than that light of yours!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael pushes out his fist and acts as a lord.


    From his sides, new elements attack at almost the same time.


    ¡°I will be using a new technique I learned!¡± (Gabriel)


    Gabriel had appeared with a graceful spin.


    ¡°[Water Beheading ¨C Dance of the Dragon]!!¡± (Gabriel)


    From both arms of Gabriel, a high pressure de flowed out.


    And by spinning with those in her arms, it covers her whole body and a water current drill is created.


    This de that can cut anything it touches had hit Lucifer without any hesitation.


    ¡°Atogikikakakakaka!!¡± (Lucifer)


    Lucifer raised a repulsive scream seemingly in pain.


    On top of that, Uriel...!


    ¡°[Forbidden Dry Dhyana]!¡± (Uriel)


    He stretches his arms like those of a tree¡¯s roots, and pierces the body of Lucifer.


    ¡°Kaikaikaikaikai!!¡± (Lucifer)


    Uriel was basically a tree taking human form, so those arms were spreading inside the body of Lucifer.


    ¡°¡®Forbidden Dry Dhyana¡¯ uses my root arms to crawl into the body of my opponent and cut them from the inside. On top of that, with the absorbing property of my roots, it can steal away moisture! Fall into pieces as you dry up!¡± (Uriel)


    The same time he says this, Uriel had spread the roots plenty enough and takes out his own hands.


    The roots that had spread heavily inside of Lucifer¡¯s body had surfaced even to the outside.


    ¡°Ha! This guy is not a big deal at all! You are totally weak, honestly speaking, a small fry!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°For us who were nning to fight against Kuromiya Haine, this opponent is just a disappointment. The pressure that I felt from that darkness power, I can¡¯t even feel half of that from this guy!¡± (Gabriel)


    Yikes!


    Why are you guysparing it with me so much?!


    ¡°That¡¯s all for the advantage the light power has.¡± (Michael)


    Michael, Gabriel, Uriel; the three lined up were ring at the plenty hurt half-snake giant.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hit them all at once, Uriel, Gabriel! Let¡¯s give them the retribution for deceiving us!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Okay, Leader!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°It means that this is the victory brought by the cooperation of us three Demon Lords!!¡± (Gabriel)


    Fire, Water, and Earth divine power were rising to critical levels.


    They are nning on hitting Lucifer with that and corner it to defeat!


    ¡°Goodbye, fake Demon Lord! Disappear from this world together with the wicked n of your creator!!¡± (Michael)


    The three charge at exactly the same time.


    Fire¡¯s red, Water¡¯s blue, Earth¡¯s golden were flying like arrows.


    If it were to get hit by that, the slight advantage of the light element won¡¯t be of help.


    Lucifer would no doubt perish.


    It can¡¯t avoid it and it won¡¯t be able to guard against it with the light element.


    We won.


    The moment I was sure of that...


    ¡°Uwaaaaaa?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°¡°Uriel?!¡±¡±


    One of the three arrows was easily blown away?!


    Uriel was knocked down by the counter of Lucifer, and the other tworades of his made a U turn to save him.


    What was shot at Uriel wasn¡¯t light divine power.


    Wind divine power?!


    ¡°Why?! Lucifer is a light monster, isn¡¯t it?! And yet, it can use the wind element?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°It is impossible for a monster to use an element other than the one it has! Just what in the world...!¡± (Michael)


    Lucifer used wind divine power.


    No one could hide their agitation at this unbelievable situation.


    Except for one, the master of Lucifer, Ates.


    ¡°Fufufufu, this is what it means.¡± (Ates)


    Atesughs as if she were a spider who is spinning the web on its prey.


    Reacting to the signal of hers, Lucifer¡¯s giant body trembles and something spreads out.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡±


    Wings spread out from Lucifer¡¯s back again.


    Even though he already has its light wings, at the back of the Great Demon Lord, there¡¯s another pair of wings...


    Those wings...


    Were like colorful butterfly wings...


    ¡°Those are...the wings of Raphael?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wa?! Impossible!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡±


    ¡°Raphael¡¯s...Raphael¡¯s...!!¡±


    Another pair of wings grew out from the Great Demon Lord Lucifer.


    On top of those sun wings it already had, it now also had colorful butterfly wings.


    We have seen them before.


    That¡¯s because those are wings that one of the Demon Lords, the Wind Demon Lord Raphael had!


    ¡°But...¡±


    Raphael should have died after the fight he had with Hyue.


    Why does Lucifer have his wings?!


    ¡°Ufufu...¡± (Ates)


    Ates as always has her spider expression of ying with her prey as she charmingly waved her hand.


    As if in concert, Lucifer waves those butterfly wings.


    ¡°Nuguuuaaaa!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Kyaaaa!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Gueeee!!¡± (Uriel)


    A gale was created from its p, and the Demon Lords in the sky were blown away.


    ¡°T-This really is a wind divine power attack! By using Raphael¡¯s wings!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°What in the world is going on?! Why does he have the wings of Raphael?! Why can he use the power of Raphael?!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Raphael! Raphael!!¡± (Uriel)


    The Demon Lords were falling into big confusion with the sudden situation.


    The loss of theirrade Raphael was a hard to ept reality for the Demon Lords.


    By moving to Apollon City and mingling with the humans, they finally overcame their sadness, but...if they are hit with such a thing, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for the wound in their heart to open.


    ¡°Fufufu... Lining up such amusing stupid faces. Fine. I will exin to you fools since I pity you.¡± (Ates)


    Ates says with a 100% scoffing.


    ¡°I said it before but, Lucifer is still not in aplete state. That there will be a moment when Lucifer will bepleted.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You meant the time it was sleeping until when it awakened, right?! That guy is already up and acting!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°No.¡± (Ates)


    Ates easily pushes away the biting response of Gabriel.


    ¡°Lucifer is still iplete. The Great Demon Lord Lucifer I created is the ultimate existence that will surpass all monsters and also Gods as well. The current Lucifer is far from its perfect form.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°W-What?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°In reality, I wanted to awaken it when it was in itsplete form though. But the tools for the sake of that were so crude that I had to move this child personally.¡± (Ates)


    ¡®Seriously...¡¯, is what Ates adds with scorn in her eyes.


    ¡°Useless tools.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...Kh!¡± (Michael)


    Could it be that...what she refers to as theplete form of Lucifer is...!


    ¡°Lucifer is the ultimate and perfect Great Demon Lord. That¡¯s why it must be a perfect being that has all elements. Not only light, but fire, water, earth, wind, and...!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Could it be that¡¯s the reason why Raphael...!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Ates)


    Ates looks down at the Demon Lords.


    ¡°It is not only Raphael. You Demon Lords are parts to perfect Lucifer, you know.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Parts, you say?!¡± (Gabriel)


    The words of unknown meaning that she was repeating until now had finally gained meaning.


    ¡°You Demon Lords are the condensation of the four Base Element¡¯s divine power, by being purified for several hundreds of generations, you were expanded. Then, taking in this, Lucifer, who will then have the four ultimate four base elements, will truly be the perfect Great Demon Lord of all elements!!¡± (Ates)


    On top of the light, it would also have all four base elements; the ultimate monster?!


    ¡°When at its back there are six pairs of wings, the Great Demon Lord Lucifer will bepleted. And there¡¯s the need of 3 parts for the sake of this!¡± (Ates)


    Ates moves her gaze towards Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel respectively.


    ¡°Now, this is the time for you guys to fulfill your raison d¡¯etre. Offer your body for the sake of the Great Demon Lord Lucifer¡¯spletion.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael lets out a roar like never before.


    ¡°Our reason for existing is to be an offering to that beast?! This is the first time I have heard such a displeasing joke!! We are the ones to decide our reason for existing!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°You are getting too prideful, you mere parts.¡± (Ates)


    Ates wasn¡¯t affected at all by the pressure Michael was releasing.


    ¡°You being parts was decided before you were even born. ept your fate obediently.¡± (Ates)


    The butterfly wings had be a part of the half-snake giant.


    The symbol of the Wind Demon Lord¡¯s power had be only his wings and turned into the power of Lucifer.


    ...Even when dead, his dignity had been trampled on.


    ¡°...Kh!!¡±


    Something snapped somewhere.


    ¡°Uwaaaaaaaaa! Raphaeeeeeel!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Uriel?! What¡¯s the matter?!¡± (Gabriel)


    Suddenly, Uriel screamed in madness and rushed towards Lucifer.


    ¡°Return them! Return the wings of Raphael!! He died with pride! Don¡¯t dirty that! Don¡¯t dirty thaaaaaat!!!¡± (Uriel)


    Blood had rushed to the head of Uriel for the desecration of his friend¡¯s life.


    But Uriel, with your earth divine power...!!


    ¡°Wait, Uriel!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°No good, stop Uriel!!¡± (Michael)


    The other Demon Lords chase after theirrade.


    Everything was within the ns of that ursed spider.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Come here. This child here is hungry.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Uwaaaaa! [Forbidden Dry Dhyana]!!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel once again stretches his roots and makes it crawl into the inside of Lucifer.


    ¡°With this, I can tear up your body from the inside! I will go all out this time around! I will spread around my roots inexhaustibly until that big body of yours crumbles!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Too slow.¡± (Ates)


    Lucifer once again ps its new butterfly wings.


    Not only did it blow away Uriel, it also dried up and crushed the roots that Uriel was trying to stretch.


    ¡°The four Base Elements have their respective weaknesses. Wind dries up earth and weathers it. In other words, Earth Demon Lord-san, you cannot defeat Lucifer anymore.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Shut up!!¡± (Uriel)


    Element affinities.


    This rule that controlled a lot the flow of the battles until now is once again standing in our way.


    Fire wins against wind, wind against earth, earth against water, and water against fire; that¡¯s the rtionship between the four base elements.


    That¡¯s why for Uriel, wind is a big weakness.


    ¡°Uwaaaaaa!!¡± (Uriel)


    Even with that, Uriel didn¡¯t stop his charge.


    I thought he was a coward, and yet, to think he would fight against them in such a bold manner.


    Was his attachment towards hisrade Raphael so strong to bring such a reaction?


    But this will only make the current situation worse.


    ¡°Wait, Uriel! Calm down first! Regainposure!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Geez! You are a coward, so don¡¯t go getting all emotional for your friends!!¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael and Gabriel were desperately trying to calm him down, but the effect was low.


    ¡°Ufufu... Well then, let¡¯s smash you with a technique of that important friend of yours.¡± (Ates)


    Understanding what Ates wanted, Lucifer spreads out its colorful butterfly wings.


    And then, that split apart mouth that resembled a snake had let out clear human words.


    ¡°[Four Cmity Whirls]¡± (Lucifer)


    At the same time as it pped its butterfly wings, four tornadoes attacked Uriel.


    ¡°Gugyaaaaaa!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°¡°Uriel!!¡±¡±


    Michael and Gabriel were pushed slightly back at the dreadful gales this attack created. And yet, it was as if only Uriel was being sucked in by them.


    Uriel couldn¡¯t do anything against the maximum wind divine power that he has the worst affinity against.


    Receiving the concentrated attack of the four tornadoes, he was being beaten up.


    ¡°Gugh!!¡± (Uriel)


    That beaten up Uriel was caught by the giant hand of Lucifer.


    ¡°...Hmm, you didn¡¯t die huh. Looks like the output was lower than expected.¡± (Ates)


    Seeing his state, Ates pits out those words.


    ¡°As expected, it must be because his death was brought by through the erasure of most of his divine power with the dark matter of Haine-san. The divine power amount that Lucifer managed to absorb was low.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Guuugh...¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Well, the wings of you guys serves the purpose of converting divine power, so as long as Lucifer has unlimited light divine power, it should work out some way or another though. But it would be better to have than not.¡± (Ates)


    What?


    What is she thinking!


    ¡°In other words, if we do this, it can engulf your divine power whole.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...What? Wa? Could it be...?!¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel was inside Lucifer¡¯s hand.


    He was shocked and panicking.


    Because the hand he was in was slowly being brought to the mouth of Lucifer.


    ¡°Stooooop!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Urieeeel!!¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael and Gabriel seemed to have caught on in what they were intending to do.


    They hurriedly released divine power attacks, but...


    ¡°Stop! Wait! Don¡¯t tell me you are going to eat¡ª! No, no! No¡ª¨CGyaaaaaa!¡± (Uriel)


    *Gulp*


    It didn¡¯t make it in time.


    Uriel disappeared along with that sound.


    Inside of Lucifer¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Uriel!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Uriel was eaten?! By that beast?!¡± (Gabriel)


    Michael and Gabriel couldn¡¯t stop it.


    That action had no opening or pause, and that unnatural happening had frozen everyone in ce.


    ¡°If you take them in alive in this way, all the excessive divine power you guys have can be turned into Lucifer¡¯s power.¡± (Ates)


    Ates says with a triumphant face.


    ¡°I was originally thinking about only taking in your wings, but you could say this is a blessing in injury. Thanks to you guys being useless pieces of trash that won¡¯t fight, I found a way to evolve Lucifer even better.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You...!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°You must have noticed already, right? The reason why I went to such lengths to lower myself and have you guys fight the humans.¡± (Ates)


    To have the humans kill the Demon Lords...


    At first, the Demon Lords sought the seat of the supreme race and fought the humans.


    If that conflict had continued, it would have led to the fall of the Demon Lords or the humans. But it would have without doubt caused heavy damage to both sides.


    ¡°In the human side there¡¯s Haine-san and Yorishiro. The four Base Elements would take some action as well. The humans would wipe you guys out even if they had to sacrifice a lot. And then, Lucifer would collect the remaining wings and beplete.¡± (Ates)


    She nned all that...


    ¡°And yet, you guys cowardly fell into ttering the humans, and stopped fighting. No sacrifices from the humans and Demon Lords is the worst development. You mere parts derailed my n and I had to activate Lucifer beforepletion. That sin of yours, I will have you pay for it now.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t make me repeat myself!¡± (Michael)


    Michael shouts as if grinding his teeth.


    ¡°We are not your puppets! We will find our own reason for existing!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! If it is engulfing them alive, it must mean that Uriel is still alive, right?! I will cut open that beast and bring him out of its stomach!¡± (Gabriel)


    The remaining Demon Lords didn¡¯t lose their fighting spirit.


    But...


    ¡°Can you? Water Demon Lord, Gabriel.¡± (Ates)


    A new change appeared in Lucifer.


    A single tree sprouted from its back like wings.


    ¡°Uriel¡¯s wings have...!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°So even the engulfed Uriel¡¯s power has been taken in?!¡± (Michael)


    Lucifer now had three pairs of wings.


    ¡°The earth wings that possess overwhelming advantage against the water element. Gabriel, this time, it is your turn to be engulfed.¡± (Ates)

 Chapter 385-387 - Proof of existence

    <h4>Chapter 385-387: Proof of existence</h4>


    ¡°Gabriel!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°No good! Michael, at least you run away!!¡± (Gabriel)


    The battle was already turning one-sided.


    The earth wings that were gained after engulfing Uriel arepletely dominating the water divine power of Gabriel.


    And then, the destiny of Gabriel was the same as herrade.


    The body build of Gabriel that flowed fluidly resembling a fish had disappeared inside Lucifer.


    After that, a new change happened.


    Once again, wings appeared from the back of Lucifer, this time, transparent films like the fins of a fish. The very same as the wings of Gabriel.


    Great Demon Lord Lucifer, the wings that were at its back were eight now.


    ¡°With this, water has be ours now. The remaining one is you, Fire Demon Lord, Michael.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...Kh.¡± (Michael)


    Michael is now thest remaining of the Four Demon Lords.


    His fighting spirit is not gone yet, but he is not stupid enough to not understand the disadvantage he is in right now. The bitterness of being unable to break through this situation is clearly showing in his face.


    ¡°Now that we have obtained the water power to nullify your fire divine power, there¡¯s not a single spec of possibility for you to win. Obediently offer that body to Lucifer.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Guh...!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Just think about it. Bing a part of Lucifer means that you will be a part of a perfect existence. Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s the highest of honors? The will and heart are pointless stuff. Absolute power is what reigns supreme.¡± (Ates)


    She waspletely pushing her own sense of values...


    ¡°Be a part of that supreme being, Michael.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I refuse!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael shouts with unyielding will.


    ¡°No matter what sophistries you try to spit out, I won¡¯t do as you wish! I will definitely defeat that beast and save the captured Uriel and Gabriel!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°What unsightly pointless struggle. Fine. I was nning on having you get eaten by force from the beginning anyways.¡± (Ates)


    The giant body of Lucifer slithers its way towards Michael.


    If Michael gets eaten, Lucifer will have all four Base Elements and will bepleted!


    ¡°[me Burst]!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael released arge scale fire against that Lucifer.


    But this fire didn¡¯t directly hit Lucifer, it spread around and exploded in the vicinity. Chain explosions were being created continuously creating a giant smokescreen.


    These explosions had spread so far that, even if water was used, it wouldn¡¯t dealpletely with it, and even if Lucifer tried to use wind, the fire of the explosions would repel it.


    It is slightly different, but that¡¯s the ¡®me Burst¡¯ of Mirack. When did he learn it?


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine!¡± (Michael)


    In the time the explosions were annoying the Great Demon Lord, Michael descended to where I am.


    So the me Burst was for the sake of this.


    ¡°I have a request of you. I want you to help me.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Wa?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is pathetic after telling you not to interfere, but the situation has deteriorated to a point where we can¡¯t do that.¡± (Michael)


    Taking into ount the identity of Ates, there¡¯s no doubt that her final objective is to kill all of humanity.


    After devouring all the Demon Lords, there¡¯s no doubt the next aim of hers will be the humans.


    ¡°I really do want to help out, but my power can¡¯t do anything against it...¡± (Haine)


    No matter how many elements Lucifer has, its true element is light.


    Darkness can erase all elements, but the moment it touches light, it disappears.


    ¡°If that wasn¡¯t the case, I would have jumped to action the moment Uriel was about to be eaten. I could only watch...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But there¡¯s an exception, right?¡± (Michael)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The only method to surpass light with that darkness power of yours.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Are you telling me...!¡± (Haine)


    Is he talking about the ck Hole?


    By utilizing the second property of dark matter, gravity control, to its very limits, a bottomless dark matter that can swallow anything can be created.


    Not even light can go against the ultimate gravity and, before it reaches the dark matter that serves as its core, it will be imprisoned in its gravity.


    ¡°It is true that the ck Hole might be able to do something about Lucifer, but...!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Then it is decided. I heard that there¡¯s the need for time in order to prepare the ck Hole. I will buy that required time!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°W-Wait!¡± (Haine)


    I hurriedly stopped Michael who was about to fly away.


    ¡°Are you okay?! The ck Hole absorbs everything and crushes it into pieces. It cannot do something as skilled as differentiating the captured Gabriel and Uriel!¡± (Haine)


    In other words, in order to use my ck Hole to defeat Lucifer, we would have to sacrifice Uriel and Gabriel!


    ¡°...There¡¯s no choice.¡± (Michael)


    Michael says with an expression filled of bitterness.


    ¡°I put up a tough front with those guys, but now that it hase to this, it would be best to think that it is impossible to save Gabriel and Uriel. We must not allow this beast to trample down on the world.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°But...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I won¡¯t let them die alone.¡± (Michael)


    !


    ...What are you nning on doing with that tone filled with resolve, Michael?


    ¡°Gabriel and Uriel acknowledged me as their leader. And yet, I am hopelessly going to sacrifice them; truly the definition of unworthy. I will at least fulfill my responsibility as leader.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you are really going to...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will do my best to hold Lucifer back until the very end. When you are ready, hit me together with them without hesitation.¡± (Michael)


    No way!


    ¡°That¡¯s thest path I can take for those guys that called me theirrade.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Don¡¯t say such stupid things! No matter what happens, there¡¯s no way it is okay to sacrifice yourself!¡± (Haine)


    Especially you guys who are the life that was finally brought by with the many generations of monsters.


    To throw that away so easily is just...


    ¡°Even so, we have to protect this world.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°We were given life, and the one who raised that life of us was this world itself. It is exactly because the world, the Gods, and the humans were here first that we monsters could be epted asrades.¡± (Michael)


    Michael is not only seeing his own race asrades, but also everyone that lives and dies in this world.


    It hasn¡¯t been that long since he obtained a will, and yet, he has already reached such heights!


    ¡°Even if we are to perish, this world must continue. If not, even our proof of existence will be gone! We existed in this world!!¡± (Michael)


    Michael waves his fire wings and flies.


    To protect this world as a member of this world.


    ¡°I am counting on you, Kuromiya Haine! I entrust our proof of existence to you!!¡± (Michael)


    I wonder how much time passed after that.


    Michael did his very best to hold back Lucifer as he dered himself.


    Gabriel had already been engulfed, so Lucifer could control water freely.


    For the Fire Demon Lord Michael, just trying to endure that water divine power was a struggle.


    He pushed his all and managed to do it.


    ¡°Guh...ah...¡± (Michael)


    Wringing out his veryst drop of divine power, Michael lost to Lucifer.


    But it was a meaningful defeat.


    Michael bought time with that very body of his and allowed me to finish the ck Hole I was creating.


    ¡°I leave the rest to you...!¡± (Michael)


    With his exhaustion rendering him unable to move a single finger, Michael was swallowed inside Lucifer.


    Fire wings spread from the back of the half-snake giant, and finally, five pairs of wings were lined up.


    With this, the Great Demon Lord Lucifer has obtained the power of the four Base Elements.


    ¡°Now then, the problematic stuff that had to be done before its awakening has all been cleared up now. With my surroundings being filled with ipetent people, I myself had toe out to work. Truly unbelievable.¡± (Ates)


    The one standing at the top of Lucifer, a beauty that, even if bewitching, was nothing but wicked.


    ¡°But with this, I am finally able toe all the way to where you are. Without being constrained by anyone; exposing my everything to you.¡± (Ates)


    Ates¡¯ gaze was directed at me.


    Her eyes were shining with discernible excitement.


    ¡°It has truly been a while, Dark God Entropy. I am the Light Goddess, Intion.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Wrong. The incarnation of the Light Goddess is Yorishiro.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That is also me. The Light Goddess Intion was divided in two after all. The humans stole away my most important person. The part that forgot about that hatred for humans and turned into a fence sitter became Yorishiro.¡± (Ates)


    ¡®...And the part that continued holding that hatred towards humans...¡¯, Ates mutters in a clear voice that properly delivered the heavy emotions she felt.


    ¡°Incarnated into I, Sunnysol Ates.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Did you not think about which Intion I would prefer? Did you forget the reason why I fought the other Gods 1,600 years ago?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I do. For you, humans will always be number one. Putting me, a Goddess, aside. Compromising with the humans and ttering them like Yorishiro is, basically leaving the number one spot inside of you to humans and permitting myself to be number two or lower.¡± (Ates)


    Emotions of anger...no, jealousy, were flowing out from her.


    ¡°Can I really allow that? I who was at your side as one of the six Gods of Creation? Humans must perish. As long as they continue sitting in the ce where I should be.¡± (Ates)


    The ce of being loved the most by me, Entropy, huh.


    She is crazy.


    That¡¯s the only way I could define her.


    ¡®If I am not loved in the way I want, destroy the reason for it¡¯, that¡¯s just selfishness.


    It would be one thing if you were to fight for the sake of your loved one, but to hurt others to fulfill your own desires; that is only selfishness.


    ¡°Do you think I will allow that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will have you understand with time. The time you understand my yearning love will definitelye.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Making others understand huh. Didn¡¯t even try to understand others yourself?¡± (Haine)


    Even though the other Light Goddess Yorishiro managed to do it.


    ¡°The personification of the Light Goddess¡¯ evil, Ates, I will never allow you to eradicate humans. If you are trying to aplish that, it will be impossible unless you defeat me first, you know?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are saying you are going to be fighting? Against me?¡± (Ates)


    Her gaze felt as if she had heard something stupid.


    ¡°You are the king of Gods that rules over everything in this world. There¡¯s nothing that you can¡¯t defeat. Aside from one exception that is!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°That is me. Because you disliked being an absolute existence, you created me, the darkness killer. As long as I, the Light Goddess, exist, you can¡¯t stop me. And this child as well!¡± (Ates)


    The half-snake giant made a disgusting *jururu* sound as it approached me.


    ¡°This Lucifer that I put my all in creating is the ultimate monster that surpasses Mother Monsters and Demon Lords. On top of that, it is light element, so there¡¯s no way for you to win. Or maybe...¡± (Ates)


    Atesughs in a meaningful way.


    ¡°Are you going to be using that? That trump card that is inside your palm.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    As expected, Ates had already noticed the ck Hole I was creating.


    Right now it is still inside my palm and I am counterbncing its effect with dark matter, but once it is released, I won¡¯t be able to stop it with my power and it will be a dark hole that continues swallowing everything.


    The core is minuscule, so it can¡¯t be seen with the naked eye, but it is a mass of dark matter that surpasses the level of ultimate. If one can feel divine power, no matter how dull-headed one is, they would be able to notice.


    ¡°It is true that, with that power, you would be able to erase me and Lucifer. But, will that be all it does?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...No, it won¡¯t.¡± (Haine)


    Ates immediately read through my thoughts.


    That, in the end, I can¡¯t use a ck Hole to defeat them.


    ¡°This is not the same as when you eliminated a mere base element like Mantle. Lucifer and I possess the absolute advantage in terms of affinity. In order to erase us, you would have to release a ck Hole several times stronger than the time with Mantle.¡± (Ates)


    And what would happen if I do that. A ck Hole that is even stronger and has more range than the time with Mantle will be created, and will swallow, not only Ates and Lucifer, but everything else as well.


    It will probably drag a fifth of this world along with it.


    ¡°The ck Hole is originally something that exists in order to erase the worlds that don¡¯t fit the criterias of their creators. A reset switch only allowed by the Dark God. It is way too strong to use as an attack against a specific target.¡± (Ates)


    It won¡¯t destroy the world, but with a fifth of it being destroyed, it would create several chain effects that would definitely eradicate humans. Moreover, a ck hole stronger than the one used on Mantle will remain in this world, and that one will be impossible to eliminate with a number of days. It would take years, maybe even millenniums.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really mind that though. What I must do is eradicate humanity. It would simply mean that you saved me the trouble. If you don¡¯t care, then go ahead. Please release that ck Hole.¡± (Ates)


    Ates was provoking me exactly because she has seen through everything.


    Of course, there¡¯s no way I could do it.


    To pull the trigger that would destroy humanity myself...!


    ¡°Looks like you have grasped the whole situation. No matter how you struggle, it is my win. The only conclusions left are for humans to be eradicated by me or you...... But...¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°That is by no means my final goal. I can¡¯t forgive the foolish humans, but I am aiming further ahead after giving their proper punishment.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What else...would you even wish for after?¡± (Haine)


    I am already full with just this.


    But Ates, as if not understanding bounds, shows even more wickedness.


    ¡°Haine-san, in reality, this Lucifer still hasn¡¯t reachedpletion.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Wa?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Counting the original light element, Lucifer has gained the fire, water, earth, and wind elements after absorbing the Demon Lords. It now has five pairs of wings. But it is still not enough. Haine-san should understand, right?¡± (Ates)


    What more is she trying to gain?


    After obtaining all five elements, more would only mean...


    !


    ¡°The stupid humans don¡¯t understand the ultimate element that stands above earth, water, fire, wind, and light. Six pairs. After obtaining all of them will Lucifer reach perfection.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me...!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Haine-san.¡± (Ates)


    Ates confesses as if she were a maiden in love.


    ¡°By engulfing you, Lucifer will obtain the sixth pair of wings, the Darkness Wings!¡± (Ates)


    Darkness Wings.


    You are telling me you want to decorate the back of Lucifer with that sixth pair of wings?


    ¡°That¡¯s your true intention?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± (Ates)


    Hating humans. Even though she prattled about loving me...


    ¡°...In the end, what you were looking for was strength huh.¡± (Haine)


    Lucifer¡¯s light and the four base elements of the absorbed Demon Lords, and on top of that, adding my darkness power as well.


    If that happens, Lucifer will definitely be invincible.


    Ates who controls Lucifer like her limbs would definitely be the almighty existence of this world.


    ¡°Are you nning on governing this world and bing its monarch after obtaining that power? Is that your true wish?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I am so sad, Haine-san..... No, Dark God Entropy. To think you wouldn¡¯t understand my true intentions at all!¡± (Ates)


    Ates bites her lips as if she were truly saddened.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need the world. Rather, I would like it gone. What I really want is only you. That¡¯s why I will have Lucifer engulf you.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Huh?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Once you enter Lucifer, you won¡¯t have to care about the outside anymore. No need to hear, to need touch; there¡¯s no need for you to see anyone but me.¡± (Ates)


    ......


    ...Scary.


    ¡°The environment to realize this is inside Lucifer. When I invite you to this eden, I will borrow that power of yours to have Lucifer destroy this world. After that, I will also enter Lucifer and we will live for eternity there with just the two of us.¡± (Ates)


    Scary!


    ¡°In other words, Lucifer is an eternal cradle for you and I. When Lucifer has both light and darkness, the four Base Element Gods won¡¯t be able to do anything. And with the possession of all four Base Elements, the other Intion, Yorishiro, won¡¯t be able to do anything either.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Just for that, you created a perfect existence that can control all elements?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Is there a problem with that?¡± (Ates)


    ...She is crazy.


    I can say with confidence that this woman is crazy.


    I have seen a number of weird people until now, but now that I look back on it, it was simply because our ways of thinking didn¡¯t match. I have never seen someone with the level of passion to charge at an unbelievably dangerous direction like her.


    Trampling on other people¡¯s dignity, life, for one¡¯s own benefit, moreover, easily beautifying it with ¡®it is for the sake of love¡¯.


    It has already surpassed the ne of way of thinking and has entered the realm of abnormal; the ultimate level of selfishness.


    Is this really the evil Intion that was cut away from Yorishiro?


    ¡°I am truly d that Yorishiro...wasn¡¯t someone like you.¡± (Haine)


    There¡¯s no doubt that the one I should call as Light Goddess Intion is Yorishiro.


    ¡°It is fine for you to not understand me yet.¡± (Ates)


    My rejection didn¡¯t go through Ates at all.


    ¡°We Gods possess close to infinite time. Once you and I live together inside of Lucifer, you will definitelye to understand me one day!¡± (Ates)


    How many thousands, how many millions of years would that be?


    ... I am getting goosebumps.


    ¡°No way. It won¡¯t end up with you and me. I won¡¯t let you destroy this world either. I will love the people that love the same things as me!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Loving me is plenty enough! No one else has the qualifications to be loved by you!!¡± (Ates)


    With the fury of Ates as signal, the half-snake giant began acting again.


    ¡°You can¡¯t go against Lucifer with your dark power anyways! Obediently get engulfed and cooperate with the eradication of humanity and the destruction of the world!¡± (Ates)


    The hand of Lucifer stretches.


    A hand that shone like the sun.


    Even if I tried to oppose it by releasing dark matter, it was obvious that it would be nullified by the light divine power that is being released continuously.


    The opponent is gigantic.


    Even if I were to try to run away now, I wouldn¡¯t be able to.


    ¡°You won¡¯t move huh. Fine. Please let yourself be captured obediently.¡± (Ates)


    Ates probably thought that I had given up. She acted as if I were already in her hands.


    Right at the moment Lucifer was about to touch me with that glowing hand...!


    ¡°Now!!¡± (Haine)


    I sprung to action.


    I released the finished ck Hole that Michael bought time for me to prepare.


    The ck Hole that had left my control had immediately acted as its nature dictates. Itpressed itself as it absorbed everything.


    ¡°You fell for it! There¡¯s no way you would have thought I would release my ck Hole this close!!¡± (Haine)


    Because even I myself might be caught in it!


    ¡°Ara, if you are using the ck Hole, it must mean that you have resolved to destroy this world yourself, right? That¡¯s fine for me.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I wonder.¡± (Haine)


    If you are the other part of the Light Goddess, you should notice soon.


    ¡°This ck Hole...?!¡± (Ates)


    That¡¯s right. This ck Hole doesn¡¯t have the power to erase Lucifer.


    It is even weaker than the one I used against Mantle.


    Thus, a small scale ck Hole like that won¡¯t bring fatal damage to the world.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I had to release it close, to the point I might be caught up in it as well. Because if not, it would have been erased before it was released after all.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Are you stupid?¡± (Ates)


    Ates¡¯ merciless contempt.


    ¡°No matter the timing, that small ck Hole can¡¯t defeat Lucifer. It won¡¯t be able to absorb Luciferpletely and will be stopped in the Schwarzschild radius, after that, it can be released after by slowly sending light divine power to the core.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± (Haine)


    Even if it is the Light Demon Lord, eliminating the core of the ck Hole with light divine power to get released from the Schwarzschild radius will take time.


    Just like when we struggled to free Mantle from the ck Hole in the Nameless Desert.


    ¡°How much time did it take to break the ck Hole that sealed Mantle? Three days? Five days? That¡¯s how much time you guys will probably take as well.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You are saying this is to buy time? What can you do with that? This only means that humanity has extended its life by just a little bit!¡± (Ates)


    Ates was also caught in the gravity of the ck Hole and was about to fall in the infinite darkness -together with her puppet Lucifer.


    But she didn¡¯t show a single bit of agitation. Even if it takes a bit of time, she is sure that she will be able to return after all.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. It is fine for it to only be a bit. With that bought time, they will definitely manage something.¡± (Haine)


    Because I believe in the humans.


    In the end, all I would be able to do is erase Lucifer along with the whole world.


    Michael and the others who were engulfed by Lucifer.


    These true living beings that were born in this world and had decided to live together with us in this world; I, the Dark God, can¡¯t even save them.


    ¡°But if it is the humans...!¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, Hyue; if it is them, they should be able to protect what they love by themselves.


    ¡°I will believe in the humans! The power of humans that Gods don¡¯t have and can¡¯t even describe; those heroes possess that!¡± (Haine)


    For a moment, I felt as if Ates¡¯ expression had warped in fury.


    But it soon disappeared from sight. Not only her expression, but everything of her.


    ¡°The time that you bought Michael, isn¡¯t going to go in vain.¡± (Haine)


    I raise my head and mutter to no one in particr.


    The price of releasing the ck Hole at close range with the resolve of being caught in it as well was beginning to attack me.


    I am also destined to be caught in it.


    No need to worry. Just have to hold out until Ates destroys the ck Hole.


    At that time, the human heroes will definitely have a sure-fire n in wait.


    ¡°Wicked Intion, I will fulfill that wish of yours for a little while. Let¡¯s continue falling inside the Schwarzschild radius together!!¡± (Haine)


    There was no answer from her.


    Sight, hearing, and all other senses were dyed pitch ck by the darkness after all.

 Chapter 388-389 - Confirmation of a despairing situation

    <h4>Chapter 388-389: Confirmation of a despairing situation</h4>


    ¡°No way! Haine-san has?!¡±


    I -Kourin Karen- was doubting the report that was told to me.


    Haine-san was swallowed by the ck Hole he himself created?


    ¡°Is that true? Is it true that Haine-san has disappeared, Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Sadly, it is the truth.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The one who revealed this to me was our Founder, Yorishiro-sama.


    In the time we were in an hectic state with helping Rudras Metropolis after the damage they received, and with the preparations of the Light capital¡¯s defense, she was apparently using light divine power to confirm the battlefield.


    ¡°The Light Demon Lord Lucifer that Ates-san¡ªno, the Goddess Intion created was a worse monster than we ever imagined.¡± (Yorishiro)


    From what Yorishiro said, Lucifer absorbed the Demon Lords and is now able to use all four base elements.


    ¡°With the power of the Wind Demon Lord that died, Lucifer utilized the advantage of affinities to defeat one Demon Lord after another, and stole away their powers. Right now Lucifer not only has light, but can also freely control all base elements.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°A single monster...controlling all elements?!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that invincible? The guy itself doesn¡¯t have a weak point, and yet, it can hit its opponent¡¯s weaknesses as much as it wants, right?¡±


    The ones who groaned in such way were Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan.


    Not only them.


    There¡¯s also Sasae-chan and Hyue-chan here.


    They heard about the emergency Apollon City was in and had alle to help.


    ¡°In this time when we finally managed to have Uriel-dono promise to be the new deity-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Did things end up like this because I defeated Raphael?!¡± (Hyue)


    Right now, Sasae-chan has already separated from Mother Earth and has returned to her little girl form.


    Hyue-chan has also recovered from the wounds she suffered in the battle with Raphael, but her regrets are heavy.


    We five heroes have reunited after a good while, and yet, the atmosphere was heavier than ever before.


    ¡°...But no matter how strong the enemy was, that Haine was able to defeat them without any problem!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Isn¡¯t Haine-chi the kind of guy that had crazy power making you go ¡®seriously?¡¯ or ¡®no way¡¯?! Even the Demon Lords were scared of his dark power and made them run away and hide. If it were Haine-chi, he would be able to go against all elements!¡± (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan¡¯s protests were simply futile.


    ¡°It may be Haine-san, but it is not as if he ispletely invincible. The darkness power that¡¯s supposed to erase everything has one opponent it doesn¡¯t work on.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°?!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the light element. Darkness cannot defeat light.¡± (Yorishiro)


    This was a reality that all heroes aside from me didn¡¯t know.


    Only earth, water, fire, and wind element monsters existed until now, and there was no light element monster.


    On top of that, the first ones that Haine-san affiliated to aftering to society were us, the Light Church.


    That¡¯s why there were no moments where Haine-san had to fight light, so the weakness of the darkness didn¡¯t get exposed until now.


    That¡¯s why it looked like it was invincible.


    ¡°But now, the ultimate light has appeared in the form of Lucifer. For Haine-san, the Light Demon Lord is truly his natural enemy. There¡¯s truly limited methods he can take against that.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...Do you mean the ck Hole?¡± (Karen)


    The ultimate darkness attack that erased Grandma Wood in Ishtar ze.


    ¡°By utilizing the second property of the dark matter to its very limit, the gravity that urs from it can even bend light. That heavy gravity cannot be broken through by light and would be erased by thepressed dark matter that serves as the core of the ck Hole.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Then isn¡¯t Haine-chi like seriously invincible?!¡± (Celestis)


    The retort of Celestis-chan was also ineffective right now.


    ¡°But in order to erase Lucifer, there would be the need for a ck Hole that¡¯s several times more powerful than the time with Grandma Wood. If he were to release something like that, this world itself wouldn¡¯t get away safely.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t get away safely?!¡±


    ¡°At the very least, it would be enough to destroy humanity.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Humanity will perish with the aftereffects?!


    ¡°The ck Hole is originally a technique to destroy the world. In order to avoid that, Haine-san released a ck Hole at its minimum force.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And that is the current situation.


    We are currently in the meeting room of the Light Church¡¯s headquarters. At that table, several photos were thrown on top of it.


    It is from the scouting unit of the Aurora Knights that had taken photos of the battle between Haine-san¡¯s group and Lucifer.


    There was a ck sphere floating and it was a sight as if out of this world.


    ¡°We ourselves have seen the ck Hole in Ishtar ze as well, but...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°This is strange...!¡± (Celestis)


    It wasn¡¯t just a simple ck Hole.


    From the sphere that¡¯s supposed to swallow everything, the tail of a snake was jutting out.


    ¡°It is the tail of Lucifer.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama began to exin.


    ¡°Lucifer is basically a giant snake monster. A small ck Hole on a level that can¡¯t injure the world wouldn¡¯t be able to swallow the whole body and its tail has ended up poking out.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It resembled the situation of when a wild snake has swallowed a mouse from the head and wasn¡¯t able to swallow it whole and its tail is peeping out.


    ¡°It is a ck Hole only on this level after all. It would be no surprise if Lucifer were to slip out in due time. Even without that, we are talking about the Demon Lord that holds the light that has the absolute advantage against darkness. With enough time, it could even destroy the ck Hole itself.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Time... How long would it be?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t take a month. At worst, a few days.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Only a few days?!


    The method that Haine-san gave his very body to utilize will return to nothing in just a few days?!


    ¡°Karen-san, don¡¯t misunderstand.¡± (Yorishiro)


    As if seeing through my heart, Yorishiro-sama reprimands me.


    ¡°Haine-san epted to be swallowed by the ck Hole himself in order to obtain those few days. Believing that you guys would definitely ovee this crisis.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°We...?¡± ¡°Ovee...?¡± ¡°This crisis...?¡± ¡°-Dasu?¡±


    The other heroes aside from me were also confused at the words of Yorishiro.


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, Hyue-chan, and I -Karen.


    We obtained the title of hero, and we are people that have obtained the qualifications and awareness that we should protect others, but just in this one, my heart is simply not standing up.


    ¡°Even if you say that...is that an opponent we can do something about?¡± (Celestis)


    The first one to voice out her doubts was the most intellectual one in the group, Celestis-chan.


    ¡°An opponent that not even that Haine-chi could go against... No, not only Haine-chi, even the Demon Lords were unable to do anything against Lucifer and lost, right?¡± (Celestis)


    In the past when we met the Demon Lords, we were wondering how to defeat such a big opponent like them and despair had filled us.


    After that, with the miracle called God Hero, we somehow managed to ovee the battle against the Demon Lords, but...a threat that easily surpasses those Demon Lords arrived, Lucifer.


    ¡°Absorbing the Demon Lords means that, at the very least, it has the power of four Demon Lords at once, on top of that, it also has the Light element that stands atop of those. That¡¯s the Great Demon Lord Lucifer, right?¡± (Mirack)


    The voice of Mirack-chan was also weaker than usual.


    ¡°Even if we were to turn into God Heroes and face them, it would deftly hit our weaknesses and make us crumble in an instant. An enemy that holds all elements is just...!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Something we haven¡¯t fought before-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Everyone was dejected.


    The reason is obvious.


    Haine-san fought and couldn¡¯t defeat it.


    That reality was shocking us more than expected.


    Haine-san is incredibly strong.


    Using a special power that is darkness, he has managed to defeat all enemies easily.


    Even though he has that much strength, he didn¡¯t step in more than necessary in consideration of us heroes, but we all felt peace of mind somewhere in our heart knowing that he had our backs.


    ¡ªNo matter how dangerous it gets, Haine-san will do something about it in the end.


    I thought something like that unconsciously.


    And yet, that Haine-san used his all just to seal an opponent together with him for a few days.


    That is the Great Demon Lord Lucifer.


    The reality that we have to fight an opponent like that was agitating us.


    ¡°Why are you all acting like spoiled children?¡±


    ¡°?!¡±


    The sudden strict words made me reflexively quiver.


    ¡°Y-Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    To think she would reprimand us in such a direct way...


    ¡°Karen-san, what are you?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Answer.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Even if you ask me to answer...


    What am I? Even if you suddenly ask me...


    ...Ah.


    ¡°U-Uhm...!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°......The l-light hero.¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s right.


    Chosen by the Light Church, shouldering the power of the Light Goddess Intion, and protecting the people; that light hero!!


    ¡°What about you, Mirack-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    It wasn¡¯t only me.


    Yorishiro-sama made the same question to every one of us here.


    ¡°No need to ask. I am the fire hero chosen by the Fire Church!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Celestis-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Of course, the water hero. Isn¡¯t that obvious!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Sasae-chan?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ipetent Sasae! The earth hero-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Hyue-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°After fighting with Raphael, I can finally say it with pride. I, Hyue, am the wind hero-de gozaru!!¡± (Hyue)


    We all are the heroes chosen by their respective churches.


    Our responsibility is not only to protect the people, but to also stand proud and be an image to others. In order to provide them strength, and at the same time, strengthen humanity itself as a whole.


    ¡°Why are you of all people afraid of the enemy? Fighting the enemy that threatens the people and defeating them is the duty of heroes, isn¡¯t that right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Y-Yes!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The reason why Haine-san was sealed together with Lucifer was because he believed that you all could do something as long as there¡¯s time. Until now, many threats have attacked you all!¡± (Yorishiro)


    The Fire Cow Phris in the Radona mountain range; the Hydra Serpent in Hydra Ville; Grandma Wood¡¯s rebellion in the earth capital; the sequential battles against Beelzebub and the Wind Demon Lord Raphael; the heroes match; and then the sh against the Demon Lords...


    Just remembering them all makes me feel as if I am losing weight at how many things have happened.


    ¡°But you have ovee all of them. Was the reason why you overcame them all solely thanks to Haine-san?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You are all strong. And you also have a strong sense of duty that turns into your own strength when facing danger. That strength of heart, Haine-san believes in it. This is the time for you all to answer that trust once again!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    !


    Right, Haine-san has always trusted us.


    He believed that we would all definitely ovee those difficulties.


    ¡°Answering that trust is what a hero does, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is not only Haine-san, all the people in this world, no matter the threat, they believe that the heroes will be able to defeat it.


    That¡¯s what a hero is.


    ¡°Looks like we weren¡¯t acting like ourselves.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Now that I think about it, this is the chance to make Haine-chi owe us. Let¡¯s save him as a change!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Haine-dono be the saviour of Ishtar ze-dasu! Imma also save Uriel-dono and have a festival-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Looks like this is the time to show the true form of the wind hero, Hyue!¡± (Hyue)


    Everyone regained their energy.


    Everyone here is used to crisis, so a good push on the back was plenty enough to make us stand up.


    ¡°Understood, Yorishiro-sama! You are telling us to use the best of the time Haine-san bought for us to face Lucifer, right?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We will also properly save the Demon Lords! I still have a lot of lectures piled up to teach Gabriel about culture after all!¡± (Celestis)


    The mood waspletely turned around.


    ¡°...What we have to think about is in what to use that time. Training? Should we research forbinations we can use when we turn into God Heroes?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We will also have to investigate the enemy plenty-de gozaru. With the scientific power of our Wind Church, we will research Lucifer thoroughly. We might find a new weakness.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Cut-dasu! We gonna cut itpletely-dasu yo!!¡± (Sasae)


    Vigorous opinions fly around.


    But the one who stopped that flow was Yorishiro-sama.


    ¡°...No, I want you all to use this time to go somewhere.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?¡±


    She wants us to go somewhere?


    ¡°If you go there, you will definitely find a n against Lucifer. I will have you five heroes head there immediately.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°A-And that ce is...?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Is that really okay?¡± (Karen)


    Is what I ask nervously, but Yorishiro-sama said the name of the ce I didn¡¯t even expect woulde out.


    ¡°The Underworld Country.¡± (Yorishiro)

 Chapter 390-391 - Five Colored Gloss Fountain

    <h4>WR ¨C Chapter 390-391: Five Colored Gloss Fountain</h4>


    Dark Underworld Country.


    I do know that name, but I don¡¯t know at all for what reason that name came out at this moment.


    That ce is the nation that worshipped the Dark God Entropy.


    A nation that has already fallen.


    They appeared in the daybreak of human history, developed greatly, grew in scale, and became the firsts to form culture.


    At present, not even that nation¡¯s existence is retained in the memories of the people, and rediscovering this location would affect humanity heavily.


    But in this situation where we don¡¯t know what will happen to the world due to Lucifer...honestly, I feel like it would be best to push aside academic problems temporarily though.


    ¡°Head to the Underworld Country.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama said this unsparingly.


    ¡°Deep in that city, the key to defeat Lucifer should be sleeping there. You five should search for it and find it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Uhm...Yorishiro-sama...why do you¡ª¡± (Karen)


    ¡®Know something like that¡¯, is what I was going to continue with, but...


    ¡°I received contact from Shiva-san saying that the Wind Church will do their all to analyze Lucifer. The other Churches are also preparing for battle, and the previous heroes are also going to be standing in battle. Our Light Church¡¯s defense will be hardened by Doraha.¡± (Yorishiro)


    There was no space for me to say anything.


    ¡°You heroes will head to the Underworld Country and find what is absolutely necessary to fight against Lucifer. The fate of the world is resting in you people¡¯s hands!¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so, we were practically pushed into a journey.


    A journey to once again step into the Underworld Country.


    *********


    But this journey had a big difference from before.


    The liveliness of thepany. Before, when we were in the journey of searching for the Underworld Country, Yorishiro-sama, Haine-san, and I -Karen- were travelling together.


    Because Haine-san, a male, was in the group, Yorishiro-sama and I were pretty meek.


    Compared to that...


    There¡¯s Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, Hyue-chan, and I; a total of five.


    People say that three girls is noisy, so it wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that a group of five girls would be boisterous.


    The journey was lively to the point that no one would think this is a journey with the fate of the world at stake.


    ¡°Wait!! Wait wait, I didn¡¯t hear anything about this! This Underworld Country is in this Nameless Desert?! It is crazy hot here!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°This be the Land of Death-dasu yo?! If ye step in it, ya ain¡¯t gonnae out alive-dasu! I forgot to write a will-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Aaaahh... Aaaaaahhh...¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack-dono is on the verge of death-de gozaru?! This person is supposed to be the fire hero, and yet, she is weak to heat-de gozaru yo?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Leaving aside the heat...! What are your opinions?!¡± (Karen)


    Ah...so noisy.


    At this rate, I can¡¯t concentrate in finding the Underworld Country, so I decided on taking a small pause.


    This ce is the most prominent danger zone in this world, the Nameless Desert.


    This sight of solely sand that stretches all the way to the horizon and has nondmark would confuse the people that enter it, and with the heat and dryness, it will dehydrate people to death.


    In the past, several hundreds of people have lost their way in this desert and haven¡¯t returned.


    That¡¯s why people feared this ce as a cursednd, and there¡¯s no one who woulde in here because they want to.


    That¡¯s why it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise if there¡¯s a giant forgotten ruin in this desert...


    But before going there! Let¡¯s take a break!


    **************


    ¡°Aaah! I am back to life!¡± (Mirack)


    We came to the oasis that we used before as a ce to take a break.


    The moment we arrived, Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, and Hyue-chan took off their clothes and practically dove into theke.


    ¡°!!!¡±


    As they ran there, everything including their underwear was being scattered.


    ¡°E-Everyone¡¯scking way too much shame! Even if this ce is a remote region, even if the chances of someone passing by is extremely close to zero...!!¡± (Karen)


    We are in a group here, so even if you are going to take off all of your clothes, show a bit of shame at least!


    ¡°Eeh? What are you trying to act all elegant for, Karen-chi?¡± (Celestis)


    Is what Celestis-chan says as she surfaces slightly from the water while making bubbles.


    ¡°In the first ce, we all have shown our everything several times already. There¡¯s no need to get embarrassed after so long, right?¡± (Celestis)


    Well, there was indeed the hot spring of Ishtar ze, and the high-ss spa of Rudras Metropolis; now that I think back, there were many moments where we have shown our naked bodies.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this what they call skinship, Karen?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan had half her face sunk in the water, and was replenishing moisture.


    ...Like a hippopotamus.


    ¡°By showing ourselves to each other and with nothing to hide, our connection will strengthen. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that every time we show our naked bodies to each other, the link that ties us grows stronger.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Even if that¡¯s truly the case, I feel wicked emotions from the gaze of Mirack-chi though?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I feel as if I am being looked at thoroughly by an old man-de gozaru?!¡± (Hyue)


    Celestis-chan and Hyue-chan were getting flustered by the gaze of Mirack-chan that was not fitting that of someone from the same gender.


    Mirack-chan! As I thought, the people of the Fire Church prefer people from the same gender rather than the opposite?!


    ¡°At any rate...when I look at the naked body of Sasae, it really makes me think.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Hm? What-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    Without noticing the wavering that was being created in our hearts, Mirack-chan was beginning to extend her hands to even the youngest one here, Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Right now, Sasae doesn¡¯t have a mountain or a valley yet with that little body of hers, but when I remember the plumpness of when she became a God Hero... the difference is just...!!¡± (Mirack)


    Ah, now that she mentions it...!


    The super power-up we get when we receive a part of a God, the God Hero mode; thanks to that, we were able to fight against the Demon Lord-sans, but within them, the time when Mother Earth-samabined with Sasae-chan, the change of hers was a special one even among us.


    ¡°...The little girl Sasae-chi had be a voluptuous dynamite body woman after all. It was my first time seeing boobs that are like watermelons.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh? What happened-de gozaru ka?¡± (Hyue)


    Only Hyue-chan who wasn¡¯t there was unable to follow the conversation.


    ¡°I thought it might have been because of the high synchro rate between you and Mother Earth, or maybe that you wouldn¡¯t be able to return to your former state, but it looks like you properly returned to normal!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yes-dasu! The power of Mother Earth-sama ain¡¯t something I can monopolize after all-dasu no de!¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan while puffing out her smooth nk chest.


    ¡°Of course, I can turn into God Hero mode whenever it be necessary-dasu! As Mother Earth-sama says, the earth hero¡¯s main trait be physicalbat, so it apparently be best for the body to be in their grown state-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°And thus that crazy voluptuous body?!¡± (Karen)


    Just remembering makes even a member of the same gender as me have a nosebleed.


    ¡°Meaning that there¡¯s a high chance that when Sasae-chan grows, she will turn out that way?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know-dasu ga! But it probably be the case-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Don¡¯t affirm something with a ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯ and ¡®probably¡¯...


    ¡°......¡±


    Mirack-chan made a bitter expression for a moment, and then, hugged the body of Sasae-chan silently.


    ¡°Eh? Eh? What-dasu? Why are ye suddenly hugging me-dasu?!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Well, if you are going to be growing into a Sasae-chan filled with meat, I was thinking I might as well enjoy this small Sasae while I have the chance.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan is already at a level where we can call the police on her!


    ¡°Ah, then I as well~!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°T-Then me as well. I will treat myself to the cute Sasae-dono while I can!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Even Hyue-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    The three naked girls were squashing Sasae-chan all at once?!


    ¡°Uwa?! What be this-dasu ka?! What be going on-dasu ka?! Mah pretty aura has mesmerized everyone-dasu ka?! But I want ya to have a bit ofposure-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was being petted while the water was being sshed around.


    After a few years, even without the God Hero mode, Sasae-chan will have that voluptuous body. It would instead turn into us being the ones being seen as cute...


    ......


    ¡°Wait wait! I will also pet Sasae-chan!¡± (Karen)


    I also take off everything along with my underwear and jump into theke. We are all going to enjoy Sasae-chan that will be going away soon in the future.


    This journey that has the world¡¯s fate at stake...within this journey, the tie between us heroes has strengthened once again...maybe?


    And in this way, after enjoying a bath in the oasis, we five were drying ourselves at the vicinity of theke.


    ¡°Hngh~, that felt great~!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°It is nice that the water temperature was good, but on top of that, it felt great to be able to bath naked outside without the need to worry. It might end up being a habit.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan, please don¡¯t awaken to weird fetishes.


    We five had taken off everything including our underwear, but it was a pain to wear our clothes even after getting out of the water, so in the end, we were lying down while still being naked.


    This is something we can do because we are deep in the Nameless Desert. There¡¯s no way we would lower our guards this much if there were a chance for people to pass by.


    ¡°This be heaven-dasu~. Can¡¯t get enough of this feeling of the sun burning my skin slowly-dasu yo~.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°If you like tanning in the sun so much, how abouting in the outing season to the Radona mountain range that our Fire Church manages? We can¡¯t go full blown naked like here, but going in a swimsuit and tanning your skin in the cool air of the mountain range feels nice, you know?¡± (Mirack)


    Is what Mirack-chan says like a tour guide.


    Right. I would like to enjoy an outing with everyone.


    ¡°Well, it would all be the end if Lucifer destroys the world though-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°......¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Eh? What-de gozaru ka?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan...even though you are the wind hero...


    ¡°You are the wind hero, and yet, you can¡¯t read the mood.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Why-de gozaru ka?!¡± (Hyue)


    Maybe because we were not wearing any clothes at all, we are showing less restraint than normal.


    Right now, there was nothing shutting out our bodies and hearts.


    ¡°Then, since we all have nothing to hide, I will be speaking my heart out!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan rose up from her lying down position, and her breasts that were not big but definitely not small shook.


    ¡°Is this really the time for us to be doing this?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Uh?!¡± (Karen)


    This is probably something that all five of us were thinking.


    ¡°The Great Demon Lord Lucifer is an enemy on a level we haven¡¯t faced before, and the Demon Lords that we finally had gotten along with were all defeated. On top of that, Haine-chi was also defeated and he used his all to buy time. And in the important time that Haine-chi has created, we are...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡®Is it okay for us to be pointlessly wasting it here?¡¯, is what you are trying to say?¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan takes over her words.


    Meaning that she also has the same opinion as Celestis-chan.


    ¡°No way! To call it pointless...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I also feel the same-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan bends that slender body of hers that flowed beautifully.


    ¡°It is a given that we want to find a way to defeat Lucifer, but I feel like it is a bit too far-fetched to think that we will find that way in the ruins of an ancient civilization. And how did the Light Founder-dono reach to that revtion-de gozaru?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Since the moment I met her, she has been shrouded in mystery, that Light Founder. But this time around, it is so unfounded that I can¡¯t just ept it.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That ¡®go to the Underworld Country¡¯ gave the impression that she didn¡¯t even have the leeway to feign a natural act. We were pushed by the pressure of that Light Founder and came all the way here, but with this break, I ended up regaining myposure.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand well-dasu ga, but is that so-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Everyone¡¯s doubts, questions, are erupting suddenly aftering here?!


    Maybe these are the effects of having time to arrange our thoughts and everyone being naked, diminishing our restraints.


    ...It is true that Yorishiro-sama is a person that one can¡¯t read what¡¯s hidden deep inside of her. If I were to put it bluntly, she was suspicious.


    I can¡¯t tell what she is thinking deep inside her heart.


    That¡¯s why there¡¯s the need for the ones who believe her to have courage in believing.


    ¡°I believe in Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Karen)


    I decisively stood up.


    I won¡¯t falter right now. I will stand upright even if I am not wearing any underwear!


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped that everyone is uneasy. But within this group, I am the one that knows Yorishiro-sama the most. And I was able to believe that the decision of Yorishiro-sama this time was the correct one.¡± (Karen)


    That¡¯s why...


    ¡°Can everyone please believe in that decision of mine? All five of us have ovee many things by cooperating with each other. I think that the trust between us five won¡¯t lose to anyone. That¡¯s why, please believe in the me that believes in Yorishiro!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°......¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Hearing this, Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, and Hyue-chan stood up one after the other.


    All five of us were facing each other naked and created a circle.


    ¡°If Karen-san goes so far as saying this much, it can¡¯t be helped. I already swore to never go against you ever again after all.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Riding in the waves of the trends is one of the traits an idol has to have in order to survive long. I have won big with the entric actions of Karen-chi and the others, so I will be riding on this winning horse as well.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Believing in simple honesty through the very end be the height of us Earth devotees! I will trust in Karen-neechan till death-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°I would be delighted to join you as arade...!¡± (Hyue)


    By exposing our bodies, and exposing even the depths of our hearts, we were able to unite once again.


    It is a journey we are in a hurry with, but there was definitely big meaning in this break.


    ¡°Okay! Then, let¡¯s keep the break up to here and head to the Underworld Country!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°Wait Karen, aren¡¯t you hurrying too much? Shouldn¡¯t we rest for a bit more?¡± (Mirack)


    No no! Lucifer won¡¯t wait for us, so we have to arrive at the Underworld Country before ites back, and find a way to defeat it!


    Being urged forward by me, everyone hurriedly puts on their clothes.


    Now that I think about it, it might have been bad to hurriedly put on our clothes like this.


    We only noticed this fatal mistake after we finished putting our clothes on.


    *****************


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°......¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    The five heroes finished dressing.


    There was a strange sense of incongruity in everyone.


    Because we hurriedly put our clothes on...


    ¡°Wa...we...?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We mistook our panties!¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right! The incongruity came heavily from ourher region!


    Because we were so hurried, we put on the panties of a different person.


    ¡°The ones I put on are...from Celestis?! Why didn¡¯t I notice I put on such a crazy shy one like this?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mine is Hyue-chi¡¯s! Or more like, why are your panties mesh cloths as well?! Is venttion in your crotch important too?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Hiiih?! The panties of Mirack-neechan be baggy-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Mine¡¯s from Karen-dono-de gozaru ka... There¡¯s a good amount of space left. Is the butt of Karen-dono unexpectedly big-de gozaru?¡± (Hyue)


    There¡¯s the fact that we hurriedly dressed, but this tragedy happened because we also threw around our clothes randomly, you know!


    If we all had taken off our clothes properly and folded them...!


    At any rate, I didn¡¯t want to waste the time of undressing again to change panties, so we decided on heading to the Underworld Country like this.


    Because the clothes of girls takes quite a good amount of time to take off and put back on after all.


    But I...the ones that I mistakenly put on were the ones of the youngest in the group, Sasae-chan!


    Small small small!!


    It is wedging in, it is wedging in!!

 Chapter 392-394 - Prism of contradictions

    <h4>WR ¨C Chapter 392-394: Prism of contradictions</h4>


    And in this way, we arrived at the Dark capital, the Underworld Country.


    At its entrance.


    When I first came here, we were considerate of Yorishiro-sama and acted in the cold night, but because we don¡¯t have the leeway of time in this asion, we arrived here without waiting for the sunset to arrive.


    All the members here are sturdy heroes, and also, the objective that is the Underworld Country is below ground, so I knew beforehand that we could escape from the rough heat of the desert.


    Hyue-chan helped out in moving aside the sand, and...


    What appeared once again in my eyes was the underground door that leads to the Underworld Country.


    ¡°If I remember correctly, it was like this...!¡± (Karen)


    I remember what Yorishiro-sama did before, ced a hand on the door, and pour light divine power.


    The door opens on its own as if weing the return of its owner.


    ¡°Oooh!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Incredible-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Now then, let¡¯s head down.¡± (Karen)


    The stairs leading down were destroyedst time, so we decided on driving inside with the flying machines.


    The flying machines that brought us all the way from Apollon City to the Nameless Desert.


    In this desert that¡¯s even called the Land of Death, the reason why we can step in it without feeling danger to our life is thanks to these little ones. That power was disyed even underground.


    While taking care with flying in this narrow passage, we got out from the destroyed part to an open area, and there, ancient luminescent nts were spread around, lighting up the corpse of a city.


    ¡°Oooh?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Amazing! What¡¯s this?! What¡¯s with this dreamlike and grandiose ce?! Is this the Underworld Country?!¡± (Celestis)


    This is the first time for everyone here aside from me that has seen these ruins of a city.


    These ancient construction style, that makes one have a feeling of perpetuity, has been buried underground and has been preserved for several hundreds of years.


    This sight is definitely one that can overwhelm anyone that sees it.


    ¡°I was half in doubt when I heard about it, but...! It really existed huh, this Underworld Country!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Somewhere in this ancient city, there¡¯s a clue to defeat the Great Demon Lord-de gozaru ka?¡± (Hyue)


    Flying at the top of this city at the depths of earth, we try to be careful of not touching the ceiling, and check this dead city from up.


    ¡°By the way-dasu...¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan was still too small to be able to drive a flying machine, so she was sitting at the rear of my flying machine when she said this.


    ¡°Why the Underworld Country be called the Dark capital-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh? From there? That¡¯s because this city worships the Dark God Entropy.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°What! The Dark God Entropy actually existed-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    Is what Sasae-chan says in surprise.


    Now that I think about it, the first time we met her was when she received the mission of Mantle-sama to ¡®kill the Dark God Entropy¡¯.


    A lot of things happened after that, so I ended up forgetting about it though.


    We met with the very person that gave that oracle, so I could have asked about the reason behind that.


    ¡°Dark God Entropy-de gozaru ka? The people that lived here worshipped that God, you say?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Just like how we worship the five Gods of Creation.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°To think there would be a sixth God. If that were proved to be true, it would be a big scoop that can overturn society. If we ourselves hadn¡¯t seen the dark powers of Haine-chi, we definitely wouldn¡¯t have believed it either.¡± (Celestis)


    That¡¯s right. The objective I had when I first came to this Underworld Country was to find a clue regarding the existence of this Dark God Entropy.


    The way to defeat Lucifer might have something to do with the Dark God.


    ¡°But at what part of this city is the thing we are looking for?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If we look randomly, it might take us years, you know? Lucifer might even escape from Haine¡¯s restrain by tomorrow.¡± (Mirack)


    It is fine.


    ¡°About that, leave it to me.¡± (Karen)


    While saying this, I unsheathe the holy sword Saint-George.


    ¡°Holy Sword! Using my divine power, show us the true path that we search for!¡± (Karen)


    When I proim this while adding my divine power, the holy sword answered.


    From the de, a shining light path extends at a certain location.


    ¡°Oooh! It shone and extended?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Since taking in the diamond that Haine-san gave me, I have not only been able to turn into a God Hero mode whenever I wish. It looks like it has also added a variety of functions into the holy sword.¡± (Karen)


    The same function as the Guiding Needle that we used before to find the ancient city has been added to the holy sword.


    And in reality, this function helped out a lot in finding again the entrance to the Underworld Country even if I have alreadye here once before.


    ¡°As expected, the power of Intion-sama is great.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But isn¡¯t that strange?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    What, Celestis-chan?


    A sudden heretical statement?


    ¡°Beforeing here, we heard a variety of things about this time¡¯s opponent, right? And the one thing that surprised me the most was that...¡± (Celestis)


    That Sunnysol Ates was the one who was controlling Lucifer from the dark.


    Her identity is the Light Goddess Intion incarnated as a human.


    ¡°True. That part was the thing that surprised me the most!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But it wasn¡¯t a surprise on the level of being astonished though. We have met a number of Gods until now after all.¡± (Celestis)


    Right.


    Nova-sama, Coacervate-sama, Mantle-sama.


    ¡°How to say it...! After actually meeting them...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Gods are not as perfect as we thought they were. They have emotions just like us humans and can make mistakes. That¡¯s why, even if the Light Goddess-sama has gone crazy and is trying to destroy humans, I didn¡¯t fall into despair. I will definitely do my all to go against it though.¡± (Celestis)


    After oveing the wicked Water God-sama and the Mother Earth-sama that knows no restraint, we have be pretty tough mentally.


    It instead makes me think I would like to walk by the side of those Gods and help each other out.


    ¡°But the Light Goddess that came out this time around is chaotic to a whole different level.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Because you know, she went through such lengths to make a big monster like that to destroy humanity, and yet, she is also helping Karen-chi out?¡± (Celestis)


    The reason why we are being shown a path to take with the holy sword is thanks to the blessing of the Light Goddess.


    ¡°In the first ce, the reason why Karen can be a God Hero is because the Light Goddess wants to help out the humans, no other way around that.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°The Light Goddess be trying to destroy the humans, and trying to save ¡®em as well-dasu ka?¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Makes no sense-de gozaru na!¡± (Hyue)


    It is true that in this incident, the actions of Intion-sama have remarkable contradictions.


    I myself, if I wished to, would be able to turn into the Light God Hero. By using the diamond that is fused with my holy sword.


    That is the proof that the Light Goddess has not abandoned me -has not abandoned humanity.


    Is she trying to destroy humanity?


    Or is she trying to save it?


    It is as if there were two Light Goddesses...


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that answer lies at the end of this light?¡± (Celestis)


    At the end of the light¡¯s guide that the holy sword is releasing.


    That light continued on towards the center of the Underworld Country.


    At the center of the Underworld Country, there was a building that was a size bigger than the rest.


    It was like some sort of pce.


    It reminded us of the five Church headquarters at each of the five Great Cities.


    ¡°...The light is...entering that ce.¡± (Karen)


    We got off our flying machines and enter the pce guided by the light.


    Together with Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, and Hyue-chan.


    ¡°Just in case, let¡¯s be plenty prepared... Hyue, we leave our backs to you.¡± (Miracks)


    ¡°Understood.¡± (Hyue)


    The dark shadow that was loitering in this city in the past -Doraha-san turned berserk- is not here anymore, so I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any danger though.


    While we were hurrying, we arrived at the location.


    At the ce that the light was pointing at, at an incredibly extravagant room in the highest floor of this pce.


    ¡°Uwaaaa~!¡±


    I say extravagant, but that was of course a thing of several hundreds of years in the past. In other words, at present, it ispletely the dregs of what it once was.


    But the size of this room, the decorations that were on the walls and pirs, and most of all, the throne that is at the highest ce of this room; it wasn¡¯t hard to deduce the use of this room.


    ¡°The space of the king!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Must be. The king sat at that throne and most likely did things like audiences and ceremonies.¡± (Mirack)


    I have heard about that before.


    The king that ruled over this Underworld Country in the past was a woman. If I remember correctly, her name was Izanami.


    The queen Izanami sat in this throne and ruled over the Underworld Country.


    This is the space of the queen.


    ¡°We have reached a ce that has quite the mood to have a clue, but I wonder what¡¯s here?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t even be funny if there be nothing-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case though!


    ¡°At any case, let¡¯s try searching! Like some sort of pattern carved somewhere or a special monument!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Okay okay. But it feels like we are graverobbers.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Honestly speaking, that¡¯s not something heroes should be doing-de gozaran na.¡± (Hyue)


    At any rate, there¡¯s no doubt that there¡¯s some hint here that will tell us how to defeat Lucifer! Probably!!


    We have no find it at any cost!


    Or we wouldn¡¯t be able to face Haine-san who bought us time by using his very body!


    ¡°Oi Karen, the corners of the room are dark, so can you make it brighter?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Okay!¡± (Karen)


    Because we are underground, there¡¯s no actual source of light, so in that sense, it is indeed a dark city.


    Due to this, I used my holy sword to release light and get some visibility around the area.


    ¡°? Karen? Aren¡¯t you shining way too much? Shining too much makes it harder to see instead...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Eh? Ah, wait a bit!¡± (Karen)


    I got flustered. That¡¯s because I was unable to control the light that the holy sword was releasing.


    I am trying to keep it down, and yet, the light was gradually overflowing the ce.


    ¡°Karen, what¡¯s the matter?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Finally the trouble came?! Uwa?!¡± (Celestis)


    Everyone tried toe to where I am, but they stopped their feet.


    Because their divine tools also suddenly began shining.


    ¡°Fire Knuckles Barbarossa?! Just what in the world is going on?!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Robe Moses is suddenly...!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Earth Scythe Seeta, what be the matter-dasu?! Listen ta me-dasu!!¡±(Sasae)


    ¡°Wind Long Gun, En no Ozuno?! What are you trying to tell me?!¡± (Hyue)


    The divine power light that was being released from each of the divine tools were increasing in intensity without limits, and finally, it took over our whole vision, and even our senses were dyed in it as well!!


    ******************


    And then, when the light calmed down and our senses returned to normal, we were in an unknown location.


    (Where are we?!) (Karen)


    At the very least, I am sure that this is not the room we were in before.


    It is a space where there¡¯s nothing.


    It was ¡®nothingness¡¯ in the very sense of the word.


    There¡¯s no ground, no sky, no air, no light, no darkness; I could tell that there wasn¡¯t even the concept of space.


    Not even our bodies were here. Only our consciousness was in this ce that can¡¯t even be called a space.


    (Karen?! Karen, are you okay?!) (Mirack)


    (That voice...Mirack-chan?!) (Karen)


    Rather than voice, it was more like pure waves of the consciousness? That¡¯s what we were able to use to confirm each other.


    (It has somehow turned into something crazy-dasu?!) (Sasae)


    (How can we return to normal-de gozaru ka?! Won¡¯t it be pretty bad if we stay like this?!) (Hyue)


    I can feel the consciousness of Sasae-chan and Hyue-chan too.


    And obviously, Celestis-chan as well.


    (The only saving is that we can feel each other. Maybe we were able to maintain a connection thanks to the fact that we exchanged our panties?) (Celestis)


    I wonder...


    But even if we are able to confirm the situation, it would be pretty bad if we were unable to return.


    It would be pretty bad if we can¡¯t return by the time Luciferes out.


    Most of all, if we were to continue in this situation where we can¡¯t even perceive our own bodies, I feel like it would be hard to maintain our sanity.


    (We have to do something to return to normal!) (Karen)


    (Wait.)


    !


    Wa?!


    Sinceing here, this is the first time a voice other than ours has reverberated in this ce.


    (This voice...!) (Karen)


    I feel like I have heard it before...!


    (I am sorry for startling you all. But there¡¯s no need to worry. After I finish telling you what must be told, your consciousness will be returned to your bodies in the Underworld Country.)


    (W-What is the meaning of this?!) (Celestis)


    (The truth that I am about to tell you now is a secret about the beginning of the world. For the sake of telling you this, first, I wanted you all to see the Underworld Country with your own eyes. Without that knowledge, the weight of the truth that I am about to tell you would be different after all.)


    This voice...


    It sounds like the aged voice of an olddy but, could it possibly be...!


    (That¡¯s why I pushed things so that you all coulde to the Underworld Country. I set it up in your divine tools so that it would activate when you reach the Underworld Country¡¯s throne room. What you all are about to see is the reality that urred at the beginning of the world. And also...)


    A painful pause for our eager selves was left in between the words.


    (Something that you all must know when you face Lucifer.)


    ...


    (A story about the love of the Dark God, and the sin of the Light Goddess.)


    First, there was nothing.


    Not even ¡®nothingness¡¯ existed.


    Before the world was born, there was no concept of anything. A nothingness that surpassed nothingness.


    There, a proper ¡®nothingness¡¯ was born.


    It was the nothingness called darkness. The nothingness that was solely ck in color existed in the world under the name of darkness.


    By being born in this space of nothingness, the world had for the first time something to denote its existence.


    That darkness in time obtained sentience as the will of the world; it became the Dark God Entropy.


    Entropy thought: ¡®In this world where there¡¯s only nothingness, I want to make an opposite¡¯.


    And there, Entropy first created an existence that could be considered its opposite; he created light.


    Shadow and light; plus and minus; by having an opposite, the world was bnced, and as a result, several concepts were born.


    The existence that was created as the antithesis of the Dark God Entropy was the Light Goddess Intion.


    Within that, the four Base Element Gods were created as the subordinates of those two poles.


    Fire God Nova, Water God Coacervate, Mother Earth Mantle, Wind God Quasar.


    The six Gods of Creation were gathered, and the world creation began in its real sense.


    Within the light and darkness that Entropy and Intion ruled over, Mantle created earth, Coacervate created the ocean, Quasar created the sky, and Nova used fire to melt them all together.


    In this way, the world was born.


    Next, the Gods created the living beings that would be residing in the world.


    A variety of animals, nts, and in the end, created the humans.


    Even within the many living beings, the humans held a specially abundant range of emotions. The king of Gods Entropy took a liking to them the most.


    Entropy left the world to the humans and decided on watching over how they would develop.


    But the other Gods were against that decision.


    The Gods were the ones who created the world, therefore, the owners of the world are the Gods. The humans are a part of the world, so they are the belongings of the Gods. Humans shouldn¡¯t leave the supervision of the Gods.


    ...Is how it went.


    The thoughts of the Gods and the Dark God had divided, and finally, the battle of Gods urred.


    The battle shook the earth, divided the ocean, and broke the sky.


    Seeing this, Entropy feared that the world might be destroyed if the battle of the Gods continued, so he admitted defeat on his own.


    The Gods that ended up as the winners used that authority to seal the Dark God Entropy. He was secluded from the world.


    Getting rid of the Dark God, the five Gods acted as they wished.


    ************


    (!!!)


    I -Kourin Karen-, who had be only a consciousness, was shown along with my four otherrades the very beginning of the world.


    (The six Gods...created the world...)


    (Humans were born...)


    (A battle between the Gods happened to decide how humans would be treated...)


    (And the Dark God lost-dasu ka?)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Hyue-chan, and Sasae-chan were also shocked by the truth that was told.


    (Moreover, it wasn¡¯t as if the Dark God lost by strength, but surrendered to lessen the damage it would bring to the world?) (Hyue)


    (Wouldn¡¯t that mean that the reason why the fight began and why it ended was because he treasured the humans?!) (Mirack)


    (What¡¯s with that?! The Dark God is leaps and bounds nicer than the five Gods that we worship!) (Celestis)


    (Dasu dasu!) (Sasae)


    Everyone was deeply impressed by the consideration that the Dark God had towards the world.


    (But...that¡¯s exactly why we didn¡¯t know of the Dark God.) (Karen)


    The Dark God was sealed at the genesis of the world, so he didn¡¯t get involved with the world at all, and didn¡¯t get to know the humans either.


    The God that loved the humans the most couldn¡¯t even have his existence recognized by the humans! That¡¯s just...!


    (After the king of Gods Entropy was sealed, the Gods turned like beasts that have lost their owner. They acted as they wanted, and ruled the humans and the world.)


    Is what the mysterious voice continued saying.


    But this voice...it might really be...


    (But within those five that were called the five Gods of Creation, there was only one that held a different sentiment from the others. There was someone that regretted the sealing of the Dark God Entropy and grieved about its own mistake.)


    ¡®That God is...¡¯


    (The other pole that stands at the side of the Dark God; the Light Goddess Intion.)


    Our consciousness would now be peeking at the early days of human history after the creation of the world.


    ***********


    The Light Goddess Intion is one of the most important Gods along with Entropy.


    That Goddess regretted from the bottom of her heart that she had gone against her partner the Dark God.


    Where there¡¯s light, there¡¯s darkness; where there¡¯s darkness, there¡¯s always light.


    The light and darkness that should never be separated had been separated, and with one side being sealed, the Light Goddess felt as if her body was being ripped apart.


    In order to protect the order of the Gods, she purposely took the side of the four Base Elements.


    Entropy would then notice that decision of hers and would pull back before the battle turned into something definite ¡ªis what she believed would happen.


    But in the end, the Dark God chose the humans and began fighting.


    Not only that, he ended the fight for the sake of the humans. epted the messed up conditions of the four Base Elements and sealed himself.


    Entropy had prioritized the humans in everything and never chose Intion once.


    For her who stands as the top of the Gods, this was the height of agony, and the height of humiliation.


    ¡°Why did my beloved Dark God choose the humans instead of me?¡±


    Those emotions became jealousy, and that jealousy turned into hatred towards the humans.


    But if she were to persecute the humans under her hatred, when Entropy wakes up from his seal, he would never forgive her.


    Hate the humans, love Entropy; those two emotions that couldn¡¯t coexist were tormenting the Goddess.


    In order to put in order those emotions, Intion decided to learn about the humans.


    Getting in contact with the humans, interacting with them, and confirming whether the humans truly have the qualifications to be loved by the Dark God.


    And with that decision, Intion herself incarnated as a human, and decided on living with the humans.


    The Goddess possessed power and knowledge that surpassed that of humans by many boundaries.


    With that inside the body of a human, it was basically almighty intellect, and by guiding the humans, the viges that were born were steadily getting bigger.


    And then, what were only a few viges increased even more in scale, and so, for the first time in this world, a nation was created.


    That nation was called the Underworld Country.


    And so, the incarnation of Intion that brought to existence the Underworld Country was the queen Izanami.

 Chapter 395-396 - Confrontation of good and evil

    <h4>WR ¨C Chapter 395-396: Confrontation of good and evil</h4>


    (Then...the one who made this Underworld Country was...!) (Mirack)


    (The Light Goddess incarnated as a human?!) (Celestis)


    Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan were surprised at the side, and yet, for some reason, I waspletely calm.


    It is as if I knew the answer from the very beginning so I didn¡¯t get surprised. I am not really sure myself, but that¡¯s how I felt.


    (The Light Goddess Intion wanted to know.)


    The guide, that we aren¡¯t sure whose voice it is from, was lowering her tone.


    (Whether the humans that Entropy loved so much, to the point that he sacrificed himself for, are truly worth that much.)


    ¡®For that sake, she incarnated as a human and got in contact with the humans¡¯.


    (At the same time, the Light Goddess wanted to atone for what she did to the Dark God.)


    (Atone?) (Karen)


    (By guiding and protecting the humans he loved in his ce, she wanted to apologize for the battle that was made because of the humans.)


    (S-Such a roundabout way!) (Karen)


    Just how guilty did the Light Goddess feel towards the Dark God?


    (And then, with time, the seal would dissolve, and when the Dark God returned to the world, humans would know about his actions and would give their gratitude to him. That¡¯s the kind ofmunity she wanted to create.)


    (That¡¯s why...) (Karen)


    That¡¯s why this is the Dark capital, the Underworld Country.


    The city that worshipped the Dark God Entropy that was sealed and was unable to get involved with the world.


    (So the one who spread around the name of the Dark God that couldn¡¯t be known of was...) (Hyue)


    (The Light Goddess-dasu ka?!) (Sasae)


    In that way, the Underworld Country developed.


    Being guided personally by a God, the first civilization that appeared in humanity had developed without problems.


    (With that passage of time, she learned of it.)


    The voice continued speaking indifferently.


    (The greatness of humans that Entropy spoke of. The fear thates from being alive, protecting oneself even if they have to push down others for it; but even with that, they would take hands and ovee difficulties that they alone wouldn¡¯t be able ovee. Love and hate. While having both of those contradicting emotions, she was trying to adjust to both of them.)


    I felt like that voice had slight nostalgia mixing in it bit by bit.


    (I... the Light Goddess had, at some point in time, be enraptured by the humans as well. It was not only for the sake of the Dark God, the Light Goddess also felt like helping the humans for her own sake as she developed them. She had begun to think in such a way.)


    As I thought, this voice really is...!


    (Not as the Light Goddess Intion, but as the queen Izanami...)


    (Do you think such a thing can be forgiven?)


    !


    What?!


    In this consciousness space, a new voice reverberated.


    The only ones here are Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, Hyue-chan, and I; and also the voice that has been speaking.


    And in that space, a new voice appeared.


    It was different from the previous voice; this one was filled with criticism and denial.


    (The days where you had be the queen Izanami and had gotten along with humans was simply self-suggestion.)


    (What¡¯s with this voice?!) (Mirack)


    It is as if it was denying the previous voice -the Light Goddess Intion- with everything she had.


    (Is that why you separated from me? And became the other Light Goddess?) (Intion)


    The voice of the Light Goddess that came first speaks back to the new voice without losing in drive.


    (Exactly. Even if it is for the sake of being loved by him, why are you ttering mere humans? With that, humans will always be number one for him. I would have no choice but to be number two or lower.) (Intion 2)


    (Isn¡¯t that fine? There¡¯s not much meaning in order. Isn¡¯t that something the humans taught us when we lived together with them?) (Intion)


    (That¡¯s just the excuse of a woman that can¡¯t win. I won¡¯t forgive them. I can¡¯t forgive the humans that are being wholeheartedly loved by him! If only the humans didn¡¯t exist, he would only be mine! Solely for this Light Goddess Intion!!) (Intion 2)


    Eh?!


    (That¡¯s wrong, Intion.) (Intion)


    The previous voice admonishes the new one with a low tone.


    (Things and time have a limit, but there¡¯s absolutely no limit to love. That is something that the humans taught me. On top of that, he is the king of Gods. He possesses unlimited power as the Dark God. And yet, why are you saying there¡¯s a limit to only his love?) (Intion)


    A direct objection.


    (I am the same. I will love the humans that he loves in the same way that he does. That¡¯s why I am the Light Goddess Intion that can stand at the side of the Dark God.) (Intion)


    Wawawa...


    (In the end, we are fundamentally different from each other.) (Intion 2)


    (That¡¯s why you separated from me and became such an existence?) (Intion)


    The voice and the voice were increasing the pressure as if they were confronting each other.


    (Why are you arbitrarily thinking that? It might be that I didn¡¯t separate from you, but that you were the one that separated from me, you know?) (Intion 2)


    (Are you implying that you are the real self? That¡¯s impossible. Because Entropy doesn¡¯t forgive your existence. The existence of the Wicked Light Goddess.) (Intion)


    (Then, are you saying you are the ¡®Good¡¯ Light Goddess? How selfish of you.) (Intion 2)


    No way...


    (There¡¯s two Light Goddesses?!)


    Because of her love for the Dark God, the Good Light Goddess decided on loving the same ones as him.


    Because of her love for the Dark God, the Evil Light Goddess hates the ones that he loves.


    And those existences were fighting each other in a ce where we humans didn¡¯t know of?!


    (I will destroy the humans. For the sake of my beloved Dark God.) (Intion 2)


    (I will protect the humans. For the sake of my beloved Dark God, and also, for the sake of the humans too.) (Intion)


    We again were forcing our way deep into the mysteries of this world.


    (The Light Goddess...divided in two?!) (Karen)


    The shocking truth had bewildered us heroes.


    (But if that¡¯s the case, the contradiction that Celestis-dono spoke of before would make sense.) (Hyue)


    The Light Goddess created the Great Demon Lord Lucifer and is trying to destroy the world, but at the same time, she made me a Light God Hero in order to protect the humans.


    This contradiction didn¡¯t make sense if we were to think that this was done by the Light Goddess-sama alone.


    A good and an evil Goddess.


    If those were things that were done by these two independently, there would be nothing as simple as that.


    (In the past, the Water God Coacervate-sama had been distilled and his clean and unclean parts separated. Does that mean the Light Goddess-sama had the same thing happen to her?!) (Celestis)


    Gods are existences that we can¡¯t gauge with ourmon sense.


    Unable to bear the conflicting feelings inside of her, her body was split in two.


    (And so, now, the evil Light Goddess became Sunnysol Ates and created Lucifer, and is trying to eradicate humanity.) (Mirack)


    (In order to stop that, the good Intion-sama be doing her best-dasu?!) (Sasae)


    The mysteries of the world were being unveiled here.


    (I...didn¡¯t notice at all that you had separated from me.) (Intion)


    The voice...the good Intion-sama said.


    (It is true that I had a time when I hated the humans. It is not as if I didn¡¯t feel jealous when Entropy chose his beloved humans instead of me. But those ugly emotions disappeared slowly as I lived together with the humans as the queen Izanami.) (Intion)


    That¡¯s what the Goddess thought, but that wasn¡¯t the case.


    (That¡¯s right. That¡¯s when I separated from you. I couldn¡¯t endure those obsequious days towards the humans that stole Entropy from me.) (Intion2)


    (Are you saying that that¡¯s when you began to move in the shadows? I didn¡¯t notice your existence at all.) (Intion)


    Even though it is herself.


    (Being deceived by the humans, deep inside your heart, you wish to be deceived. Must be the same as that. For you, I am an existence that you don¡¯t ever want to acknowledge. Thus, you unconsciously rejected to notice my existence.) (Intion2)


    (You are the ugly parts of me after all. True. I would certainly want to look the other way at something like that.) (Intion)


    (But thanks to that, I was able to move freely...... Hey, did you know?) (Intion2)


    The aura of a spider coiling around its prey wasing out from the wicked Goddess.


    (The Underworld Country that you treasured so much, the Underworld Country that you did your best to raise to the point that you degraded yourself to being the human Izanami; the ones who destroyed that Underworld Country were certainly the four Base Element idiots, but...) (Intion2)


    I had heard that before.


    This ancient city was destroyed by the currently existing Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth Churches...


    (I was the one who instigated it.) (Intion2)


    (So it really was you huh.) (Intion)


    (Ara, no surprise?) (Intion2)


    (Since the moment I noticed your existence, I had a feeling that was the case. Even if the four Base Elements were to get angered by the development of the Underworld Country, the four Base Elements at that timecked any form of unity.) (Intion)


    (True. Because of the fight with Entropy, Coacervate hadpletely lost the trust of the other Gods after all.) (Intion2)


    (Nova moves under violence, so he doesn¡¯t know how to act under someone¡¯s leadership; at that time, Quasar and Mantle already didn¡¯t have the intention of hurting the humans more than necessary. In order to bring them all together and push for a big offensive...) (Intion)


    (There¡¯s the need for a Pole ss authority. It is exactly as you think.) (Intion2)


    And, in that way, the Underworld Country fell?


    (Well, even if that¡¯s the case, I only showed up in front of Coacervate though. I didn¡¯t want you to know of my existence yet at that time after all.) (Intion2)


    (Coacervate announced that he had the approval of the Light Goddess. And when I returned to the God realm from the body of the queen Izanami, he lost the trust he had with the Gods again huh.) (Intion)


    (On top of that, since they wouldn¡¯t even think that there¡¯s two Light Goddesses, my actions were kept hidden. Seriously, people that think of themselves as intelligent are the easiest to utilize.) (Intion2)


    Gods use Gods, and persecute the humans.


    The scale of things was so big that my head was going dizzy.


    (And you danced in my tune as well.) (Intion2)


    (Is that so.) (Intion)


    (I did feel like destroying that garden of yours you called Underworld Country, but the truly important part was to have you want revenge against the four Base Elements.) (Intion2)


    (It is true that I didn¡¯t want to forgive the four Base Elements at any cost because they destroyed the Underworld Country. That¡¯s why I trapped them and had them get addicted to prayer energy, thus, weakening their strength.) (Intion)


    (Even to the point of using the tool called ethereal.) (Intion2)


    Eh?!


    (I know about it. A secret that not only the four Base Elements but Entropy himself doesn¡¯t know. The one who gave ethereal to the humans was you, Light Goddess Intion, right?) (Intion2)


    (As expected of the Light Goddess. You even knew myst secret.) (Intion)


    (The pure energy that provided the humans of this world the machine era. The origin of it was the Underworld Country.) (Intion2)


    Whaaat?!


    The underground city that our bodies are currently in?!


    (The technique of changing the light to shadow that was practiced in the Underworld Country. That is the origin of ethereal.) (Intion)


    (That¡¯s right. The friction that happened with the creation of the pseudo-darkness that is shadow against light created the byproduct that is the perfectly non-elemental energy, ethereal. That power had spread from the Underworld Country to the surface world.) (Intion2)


    (The humans that created civilization with ethereal at its base separated more and more from the Gods. The four Base Elements that had grown addicted to the prayer energy were weakened even more.) (Intion)


    (Meaning that your revenge had been achieved. But your vengeful mindset turned beneficial to me as well.) (Intion2)


    (Just like how my influence created ethereal in the world, your influence created something as well. That¡¯s...) (Intion)


    (Monsters.) (Intion2)


    The two Goddesses were already ignoring us and continuing their conversation.


    What are the Goddesses trying to make us hear?


    (So the one pulling the strings towards the birth of monsters was you as well huh.) (Intion)


    (Coacervate thought he himself was the conductor though. Delusional fools are truly worth utilizing.) (Intion2)


    The treatment of the Water God Coacervate is growing worse and worse...


    (Coacervate, who was induced by you, proposed the creation of the monsters to the Gods as if it was his own idea. Me not joining it was also in your calctions, right?) (Intion)


    (Yeah. You were the one who trapped the four Base Elements, so there wouldn¡¯t be any need for you to procure prayer energy. Even if you were to create light element monsters, I wouldn¡¯t need it. What you have, I already have it after all.) (Intion2)


    (Then, as expected, what you really wanted was...) (Intion)


    (I knew that theption that is called Demon Lord would bepleted by adding up several hundreds of monster generations. That¡¯s how I structured the system after all.) (Intion2)


    (What you aimed for wasn¡¯t the Demon Lords themselves. More urately speaking, it was the very crystallization of the divine power that the Demon Lords possess...) (Intion)


    Their wings.


    (Having Lucifer take away their wings and absorbing it was part of your n since the very beginning! Since when did you n have the creation of Lucifer in your mind?!) (Intion)


    (Since the very beginning as well.) (Intion2)


    The wicked Goddessughed daringly.


    (Since the moment I separated from you. To be more urate, I wanted to create something different. But because of some minorplications, it ended up as the Great Demon Lord Lucifer.) (Intion2)


    (What was that different thing you wanted to create...?) (Intion)


    (A new world.) (Intion2)


    The wicked Goddess continued.


    (I would create a new world. This world was a failure. The unnecessary factor that are humans had led astray the King of Gods. That¡¯s why I wanted to create a new world. A world where no unnecessary factor is present; a world for only me and him!) (Intion2)


    (And that¡¯s Lucifer, right?) (Intion)


    (To create a world, there¡¯s the need for at least six factors. Just like how Entropy created the other Gods of Creation.) (Intion2)


    In order for the Dark God to create a world, he made the opposing element that is the Light Goddess, and on top of that, the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind Gods were created as well.


    If the Dark God could create a world alone, he would have done so from the beginning.


    Then, if what she says is true, to create a world, the bare minimum requirements would be those six elements?


    That¡¯s why, if the evil Goddess wanted to create a new world, she would have to gather the other five elements aside from the light element?


    (But that¡¯s something we can¡¯t do. Creating Gods. Such deed can only be performed by the almighty Dark God Entropy.) (Intion)


    (Right. That¡¯s why, what I can¡¯t create, I will have to steal in order to achieve. I had the four Base Elements create monsters, and wait until they have evolved into Demon Lords. A wait of a hundred years.) (Intion2)


    (And so, you harvesting that fruit is the present situation huh. In order to furnish your Lucifer.) (Intion)


    (With light as its base, Lucifer has obtained the power of the four base elements; Lucifer is the world itself now. Now, if I can assimte the most importantponent, darkness...) (Intion2)


    The world would bepleted.


    Thepleted wish of the wicked Light Goddess; a birdcage where no unnecessary factors are present.


    If the darkness is assimted...the key toplete that world, as well as the beloved person she wishes to live with in that world, will both be gathered at once.


    ********


    (That¡¯s all I can tell you people.)


    (What you people are fighting. Why is it you have to fight.)


    (When you have understood that, you will definitely obtain a new power.)


    (The strongest foundation of your power that protects you people.)


    (Stand up. Face thest fight to save this world!)

 Chapter 397-398 - The time for a decision

    <h4>WR ¨C Chapter 397-398: The time for a decision</h4>


    The talk ended.


    As if telling us there was nothing to say anymore, the consciousness world disappeared, and I -Kourin Karen- as well as Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, Sasae-chan, and Hyue-chan had returned to our original world.


    To the fallen Underworld Country; at the throne room that serves as the center of it.


    ¡°Oh, we are back!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We have a body!¡± (Celestis)


    Everyone still couldn¡¯t escape from the agitation of what happened.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t we...told something incredible just now-de gozaru mai ka?!¡± (Hyue)


    Yeah, the truth that we were told of. The secret of the Gods, the secret of the world.


    The scale is way too big to entrust to us humans.


    ¡°In the end, the turmoil happening in this world was brought by the blind love of the Light Goddess-sama huh.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You...choose your words a bit more!¡± (Mirack)


    But there was conflict in the heart of the Light Goddess.


    Love and hatred to the point of separating herself in two.


    This event raised the world in a crooked way.


    ¡°But the n of the evil Light Goddess is closing to itspletion.¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan said with a stern face.


    ¡°She turned her back on this world that had things she didn¡¯t want and is trying to create a new world. The personification of those feelings is Lucifer itself.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Meaning that that giant snake will be a world in itself? I think I have heard a story about the world being inside a giant coiled snake.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In order to create a world, there¡¯s the need to gather all six elements. It has already assimted the Demon Lords and obtained four elements. If we think about the light elements that was already present, then there¡¯s only one left...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°The dark element-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    If it can assimte that one, Lucifer will bepleted as a new world.


    ¡°Was there worth in using here?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Bying here, we were able to see the memories of the Light Goddess and we were able to learn about the enemy¡¯s objective and identity. Well, it wasn¡¯t pointless.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°But that be all it was-dasu?¡± (Sasae)


    It couldn¡¯t be helped that we would question it.


    ¡°The enemy is massive-de gozaru. A weakness to defeat the opponent, a useful new power; wasn¡¯t there something else-de gozaru ka?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s explore the Underworld Country a bit more and search for something that can serve as a hint¡ª¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡± (Karen)


    I said.


    The gazes of the four gather on me.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing else we can gain here. This is plenty enough. Let¡¯s go back.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°But...¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We learned about the meaning behind this battle. What we have to win with this battle. What else would be needed aside from that?¡± (Karen)


    A reason we must not lose.


    As long as we know that, we definitely won¡¯t lose!


    ¡°...True.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°...If we take too much time, Haine-chi won¡¯tst after all.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°We be returning with a sharpened knife-dasu! Our batteries be charged to the max-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°We will fulfill our duties as heroes now!!¡± (Hyue)


    The reason why the Goddess showed us her memories here was because she entrusted us with the battle.


    Because she believed that we would be able to protect this world ourselves.


    We will answer that trust and fight to protect this world.


    That is our duty as the ones living in this world!


    ******


    ¡°Those girls areing back...¡±


    With resolve in hand, I -Yorishiro, the Light Goddess- could be said to be the very culprit behind this time¡¯s cmity.


    Being divided in two because of a variety of conflicts, I became the good Intion.


    And the evil Intion incarnated as Sunnysol Ates.


    And now, Ates herself is the worst cmity attacking this world.


    Since the genesis of the world, I have been protecting the humans in ce of the Dark God, and watched over the progress of the humans. That¡¯s what I intended.


    But even I might have been a harmful existence for the humans.


    ¡°You are pretty discouraged there, Yorishiro-sama.¡±


    In the Light Founder¡¯s room where I should be the only one in, a new stream-like voice reverberated.


    After that, mist gathered, and a fishman dressed like a pierrot appeared.


    ¡°Coacervate. Even when distilled, you still have the hobby of trespassing?¡± (Yorishiro)


    In the past, this Water God that couldn¡¯t be described as anything but trash, hadpletely sanctified after his battle with the humans.


    Right now, he is using the water demon¡ªno, the water saint Mephistopheles to move around in the surface world.


    He is apparently moving around here and there doing good deeds.


    ¡°You have done quite the big move there. Showing the humans a memory of the genesis era.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°It is something necessary for those girls.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Why this cmity has urred, why they have to fight against it; by knowing that, the resolve they will hold will be different.


    ¡°And if it is those girls that have learned the meaning of the fight, they will definitely be able to defeat the other me.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°For the sake of that, you even showed them a recreation of the information you managed to obtain from your other self.¡± (Coacervate)


    So he noticed huh.


    ¡°It is not as if you were crossing your arms doing nothing. Since the moment you learned of Ates¡¯ identity, you spend a lot of time sending your consciousness to the spirit world and investigating your past half, right?¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°Yeah...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Thetter part that I told Karen-san and the others was information that I managed to draw out from the memories of Ates-san.


    But it is not as if it all went smoothly.


    Especially her final objective. I only learned of it when she had already been caught whole into the ck Hole together with Haine-san.


    If I had learned of it sooner, I would have stopped the Demon Lords that were heading to battle...


    ¡°Ates is already an enemy of this whole world. The job of stopping that is fitting for the heroes.¡± (Yorishiro)


    That¡¯s why, it might have been a bit roundabout, but I had them go through the trouble of going all the way to the Underworld Country in order to, not only hear, but see and feel it themselves the path the world had taken.


    They are shouldering the world as they fight, so they have the right to know everything about the world.


    ¡°Then, are you saying you will be putting this battle in the hands of the humans?¡± (Coacervate)


    The tone of Coacervate sounded cautious.


    ¡°Actually, I came here as the representative of the four Base Elements. Nova-san can¡¯t move freely in Muspelheim, Mantle-san is scared of speaking face to face with you, and Quasar-san has his duties as the Wind Founder.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°And so, since you are a free spirit, you are representing them?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°We Gods also bear responsibility in this fight.¡± (Coacervate)


    The already clean Water God speaks clearly.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we not limit ourselves to support and actually move to fight personally? If protecting the humans is the duty of us Gods...¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect a day woulde where I would hear those wordsing out from you four Base Elements.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Those words that I wouldn¡¯t ever hear 1,600 years ago.


    Who was it that changed you people?


    There¡¯s no need to even think of it.


    ¡°Of course, we will provide our full support by having Karen-san and the others transform in their God Hero form to fight against Lucifer. We will pour all our strength, and we will take over all the burden. But...¡± (Yorishiro)


    The ones who will be acting will be them.


    ¡°This world is already the world of humans. Protecting this world is the duty of the ones that live in it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Just like how he believed in the humans, I will also believe in them.


    The strong and kind humans.


    ¡°They will definitely manage to do it. And when they actually manage to do it...¡± (Yorishiro)


    The humans will finally not need Gods anymore.


    We have returned.


    To this ce that will be a battlefield.


    At this ce that¡¯s dozens of kilometers away from Apollon City, this level ground that hasn¡¯t been developed and has no viges, there¡¯s the Great Demon Lord Lucifer restraint inside the ck Hole.


    ¡°That¡¯s Lucifer?!¡± (Mirack)


    The five heroes returned from the Underworld Country.


    They have finished their preparations for battle, and were lined up in front of the half-snake giant that will be their opponent.


    Just that...that half-snake giant is...!


    ¡°It be so strange that it enters the level of disgusting-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Not even the ck Hole was able to swallow it whole, and the long snake body was sticking out from the ck hole.


    Honestly speaking, it is disgusting.


    ¡°Ueh... My stomach is turning just from looking at it.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Hmm... Maybe it can make a good meal-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Stop...¡± (Celestis)


    That will be our opponent this time huh...


    *Crack*


    The sound of something breaking reverberated.


    It was like the sound of a chick trying to break out from its shell.


    And then, soon after, a bigger shockwave was created as the ck Hole broke.


    ¡°Uwaaaaa?!¡±


    ¡°Kyaaaaaaa!!¡±


    A tremendous gale raged, and it took our all just to stand ground.


    And then, the true repulsiveness appeared in front of us.


    ¡°This is...Lucifer?!¡± (Karen)


    A giant half-snake monster with five pair of wings.


    The upper half is that of a robust man, its lower half is that of a snake. Its face is also snake-like, and has reptilian eyes as well as a mouth split all the way to its ears.


    ¡°Can¡¯t feel a single shred of intelligence from it-de gozaru na!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°It would be an insult to put that thing in the same category as Gabriel and the other Demon Lords!¡± (Celestis)


    Beforeing here, we heard about it from the exnation of someone.


    Lucifer is the perfected tool of a monster created by the wicked Light Goddess.


    It is different in a fundamental level from the four Demon Lords that obtained a heart after the culmination of several generations.


    On top of that, the ten wings at its back.


    Theye in a set of two, and they have a different design respectively.


    Light, wind, earth, water, and fire wings.


    Aside from the light wings, all the others were stolen from the Demon Lords.


    ¡°Oh? And here I was wondering who it was.¡±


    From high up, there was a condescending voice sounding out.


    ¡°The first ones to wee me aftering out of the ck Hole are you people huh. Powerless humans on the same level as worms.¡±


    A bewitching woman was standing at the top of Lucifer.


    Sunnysol Ates; the incarnation of the wicked Light Goddess.


    ¡°With the Demon Lords defeated, the ones used as their remaining hope was you people huh. How pitiful. Being forced to face an opponent that you know you can¡¯t hope to win against. There¡¯s no torture as big as this.¡± (Ates)


    Ates says whatever she wants.


    She is not even seeing us as enemies.


    ¡°My time is way too important to waste on you worms. If you throw away your pride and prostrate, I will allow you to run away from here. If you do that, you will be able to prolong for a bit your life till the moment I destroy the world, you know?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around!¡± (Mirack)


    The first one to roar was Mirack-chan.


    ¡°Our jobs as heroes is to protect the world! We will never show our backs to someone like you who wants to destroy it all!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°If you look too up, you will trip, you know?¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan joins in.


    ¡°The intelligent Gods acknowledged our strength, but you seem to be an idiotic God. You will definitely begin spewing words like ¡®if only I hadn¡¯t underestimated them, I wouldn¡¯t have lost¡¯ like a total loser.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Cut-dasu! I be cutting like crazy-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°We five will absolutely fulfill our duties as heroes!!¡± (Hyue)


    Sasae-chan and Hyue-chan were also overflowing with fighting spirit.


    But Ates still held her stance like a queen with Lucifer as her puppet.


    ¡°Idiots who can¡¯t understand their own situation are trulyical. How unsightly.¡± (Ates)


    She was thoroughly looking down on us.


    ¡°Lucifer is already on a ne that mere humans can¡¯t do anything about. I obviously also know about God Heroes. But with just receiving a slight boost of God power, you have no way of doing anything against Lucifer who is about to be a new world.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°Look.¡± (Ates)


    The half-snake giant pushed forward its clenched fist.


    !


    That fist is holding something...


    A person...


    Could it be...!


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    I am happy that Haine-san, who had fallen into the ck Hole together with Lucifer to restrain it, has safelye back, but...


    ¡°Uuh...¡± (Haine)


    It looks like he has received damage from it.


    He was only groaning in pain within the hand of Lucifer and can¡¯t even move his body to try and escape from its grasp.


    ¡°As expected of Haine-san, even when he fell into the ck Hole with the body of a human, he was still able toe back with his whole body, but...but he has finally fallen into my hands.¡± (Ates)


    Ates made an intoxicated face.


    ¡°Finally, he is within my hands. I won¡¯t let you go ever again. You are mine and only mine.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    There wasn¡¯t even time to raise a scream.


    The hand holding Haine-san was quickly moved to the mouth of Lucifer, and he was swallowed with a gulp.


    ¡°Haine-san! Haine-saaan!!¡± (Karen)


    There¡¯s no way my scream would reach him.


    And soon, a change urred.


    New wings appeared from the back of Lucifer.


    Pitch ck wings, darker than any ck in this world.


    With this, six pair of wings have been gathered.


    ¡°Hahahahahahahaha!! Finally! Finally Lucifer has beenpleted! Hahahahahahaha!!¡± (Ates)


    Atesughs as if she had gone mad.


    ¡°With this, all the pieces have fallen in ce, and the puzzle has beenpleted! What¡¯s left is to destroy this meddlesome world, and Lucifer will be the new world!!¡± (Ates)


    We already weren¡¯t even reflected in Ates¡¯ eyes anymore.


    She has already achieved her objective.


    ¡°Please wait for us, Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    I shout words that can¡¯t reach out to the ears of the person.


    ¡°I will definitely save you, Haine-san!! I will definitely save you from that monster along with the Demon Lords!!¡± (Karen)


    Just endure for a bit more. Please wait for us!!


    Ates¡¯ objective has been achieved. But our fight has begun now.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, everyone!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah!¡± ¡°Roger~!¡± ¡°Yes-dasu!¡± ¡°Understood!¡±


    Everyone together...!!


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°[God Hero mode, activate!]¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±

 Chapter 399-400 - Two sides unite

    <h4>Chapter 399-400: Two sides unite</h4>


    ¡°Light God Hero, Kourin Karen!¡±


    The first one to introduce herself was me, the God Hero that has received a part of Intion-sama and shine like the morning sun.


    ¡°Fire God Hero, Katack Mirack!!¡±


    Obtaining a part of Nova-sama¡¯s power, her body releases fire, and she herself is searing hot.


    ¡°Water God Hero, Re Celestis! The live starts!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan -with the power of Coacervate-sama was- transparent like water, and even if it was calm water, it was grandiose. It felt like a heavy silence.


    ¡°The ipetent Gonbee Sasae! As the Earth God Hero, I be slicing and dicing ya-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    The one who showed the most surprising change within us was Sasae-chan.


    After turning into a God Hero, the cute little body of hers had be the body of a beautiful woman that one would gulp when seeing.


    It is because her body was forcefully grown in order to reach the age one can move the mostfortably to use the closebat specialized earth divine power, but just by growing, would anyone end up as voluptuous as her?!


    And then...


    ¡°Wind God Hero, Toreido Hyue, has arrived to the scene!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan has be a God Hero as well.


    Her state was stillness. But the wind that was always making her hair wave was nowing from her body itself.


    It may be a calm wind, but it felt as, if the moment requires it, it could turn into a violent gale.


    That¡¯s the impression that the Wind God Hero Hyue-chan gave out.


    ¡°We did it! Hyue-chan has also be a God Hero!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I am grateful. With this, I can be... This is thanks to Aniue-sama-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    At any rate, with this, the five God Heroes have gathered.


    The preparations of battle have been arranged.


    ¡°...Hmph, a bunch that doesn¡¯t have worth existing, no matter what they do is also pointless.¡± (Ates)


    On the other hand, Ates still showed disdain towards us.


    ¡°Even if you were to borrow the power of lower Gods like the four Base Elements, or the power of my other half, there¡¯s not even a grain of a possibility to defeat Lucifer who has be a perfect existence. It is because you humans don¡¯t understand things as obvious as this that you are all sinful.¡± (Ates)


    As if following after her words, Lucifer¡¯s six sets of wings fluttered.


    ¡°But fine. My n has already been set to motion. My beloved one is already inside my hands. What¡¯s left is to destroy the world. My several hundred years aspiration has finally been fulfilled. As a celebration, I would even be fine with giving myself a reward.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Before bringing the world to its end, I will kill you people that are the hope of the world, and the humans will fall into something that¡¯s deeper than despair. I will bring the humans to the depths of despair before eliminating them.¡± (Ates)


    Ates wraps her arms around her body and makes a wide grin.


    ¡°That is the best pleasure. It would definitely be worthy of a gift to me.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You damn pervert.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack-chan walks forward while showing her contempt.


    ¡°Feeling pleasure from the pain and sadness of others is the proof of a psychopath. Those kind of idiots need a good beating and have them learn pain with their own bodies.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Right. It is because you have never felt pain yourself that you can¡¯t empathize with the pain of others.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Educating idiots also be the duty of heroes-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Let¡¯s all five of us beat you up.¡± (Hyue)


    The morale of everyone rose up greatly.


    And then, the gun to signal the beginning was shot.


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    The very first one to attack was Mirack-chan.


    The strengthened version of ¡®me Burst¡¯, ¡®Pleiades Burst¡¯.


    Arge fire that would be big enough to cover a whole town was attacking the half-snake giant.


    But...


    ¡°Foolish fool.¡± (Ates)


    The big me of the Pleiades Burst was dispersed in an instant in the face of the giant water current Lucifer released.


    ¡°Did you people forget already? The current Lucifer is a perfected existence that has all elements.¡± (Ates)


    The transparent water wings of Lucifer were the ones that shot that giant stream of water.


    ¡°Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Light, and Darkness. They are all now the weapons of Lucifer. Even if you were to repeat pointless attacks, it will all end by simply using the weakness of your element. Just like what happened.¡± (Ates)


    Water beats fire, earth beats water, wind beats earth, fire beats wind; the four elements have their respective good and bad affinity.


    Because of those affinities, the Demon Lords were also deftly defeated.


    ¡°Only the light element user Karen-san doesn¡¯t have a weakness, but...well, she is an enemy that force can easily manage. That¡¯s why, what you people are doing, is pointless from beginning to end. Humans are truly foolish.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    Even with that, Mirack-chan valiantly shot the God Fire.


    But Lucifer quickly used a water shield to stop that fire.


    ¡°No matter how many times I say foolish, it wouldn¡¯t be enough... Why don¡¯t humans learn? Are you nning on repeating the same mistake?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Raaaaaaah!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°And why does he continue loving such foolish living beings? That is the biggest sin of the humans. As I thought, you people really need a proper punishment.¡± (Ates)


    The eyes of Ates shine in a suspicious light while the water shield continued to stop the fire of Mirack-chan.


    ¡°Erasing the world in an instant would be boring. I will have you all properly repent for the sin of being loved by that personage.¡± (Ates)


    *Swit!* Something pierced the water shield.


    ¡°Eh?!¡±


    The one who raised a voice of surprise was Ates.


    She waspletely sure there was no doubt of her victory.


    ¡°Gyaaaaaa!!¡± (Lucifer)


    The thing that pierced the water shield had electrified both Lucifer and Ates.


    ¡°Ugyaaaa!! Wa? What is going on?! Just what in the world got through the water shield?!¡± (Ates)


    The water shield of Lucifer was still dividing both sides without showing a single wound.


    ¡°Seeing it from the affinity perspective, it is not the fire hero. Then, did the earth hero do something? But it went bzzzt!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The power of ¡®thunder¡¯.¡±


    ¡°?!¡±


    We proim at the other side of the water shield.


    ¡°The power of ¡®Light¡¯ and ¡®Fire¡¯...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Gather into one!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°¡°Light+Fire [Thunder]!!¡±¡± (Karen+Mirack)


    The thunder pierced the water shield and attacks Lucifer.


    The thunder had further increased in power thanks to the God Hero mode, so it had plenty enough power to affect that giant monster.


    ¡°Gyaaaaa!! Thunder, you say?! There¡¯s no element like that...!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Combined elements.¡± (Karen)


    The trump card that we heroes have been using numerous times in the past.


    Thebination that the cooperation of two heroes can bring forth.


    This power has saved us several times before already.


    ¡°Water conducts electricity, and it can easily pierce the water wall of yours. Completely changing the elemental affinities is one of the strong points of thebined elements.¡± (Mirack)


    Because of the damage received, Lucifer¡¯s divine power got disturbed and, unable to maintain the water shield, it flows down.


    From there, we appeared in her sight. In front of Mirack-chan and I who were holding hands.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we havebined elements, but we were in sync as if natural!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Of course! It is Mirack-chan and I after all!¡± (Karen)


    Now that I think about it, the firstbined element was this pairing.


    The battle with the Demon Lords was mostly individual battles, so we didn¡¯t have much chance to actually bring that out.


    Our connections that have been strengthened after many tribtions. Now that we have obtained a superior power that is the God Hero mode, the firepower of thebined elements have boosted in power by even more.


    ¡°You...! Cocky humans!!¡± (Ates)


    Uwa, Ates is angry.


    But is that okay? To narrow your field of vision by getting angry.


    ¡°Your enemies are not only Karen-chi and Mirack-chi!¡± (Celestis)


    From a different direction, two others were holding hands.


    ¡°Water and Wind!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Two in one make...¡¯Ice¡¯!!¡± (Hyue)


    Celestis-chan and Hyue-chan¡¯sbined element attack!


    ¡°¡°[Blizzard]!!¡±¡± (Celestis+Hyue)


    It wasn¡¯t just in wind.


    A wind that had ice and snow mixed in it.


    Thisbined element attack of Celestis-chan and Hyue-chan hit Lucifer directly.


    ¡°Akakakakaka!!¡± (Lucifer)


    Lucifer was raising a painful cry but...it is so disgusting?!


    ¡°Don¡¯t rest! Let¡¯s attack one-sidedly just like this!!¡± (Celestis)


    Obeying the instruction of Celestis-chan, we were already beginning our next action.


    Mirack-chan lets go of my hands and immediately goes down -to where the womanly Sasae-chan was waiting at.


    ¡°Sasae! That state of yours has big boobs as always!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That be of no importance-dasu yo! Let¡¯s begin already-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    This time, Mirack-chan and Sasae-chan join hands.


    Fire and Earth, the two elements together form... ¡®Magma¡¯.


    ¡°¡°[Magma Ocean]!!¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!!¡± (Mirack+Sasae)


    Moreover, it was an even more powerfulva attack than before. The earth all around released a red light, and it engulfs the long long body of Lucifer.


    ¡°Oaaaaah!!¡± (Lucifer)


    This attack was pretty effective against Lucifer with that long snake body it has.


    Blizzard from the top, magma from the bottom.


    Intense cold and searing heat; these two attacks from two areas should be plenty effective even on the Great Demon Lord-sama.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get ahead of yourselves, worms!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates who was at the top of Lucifer raised a shout.


    ¡°What are you doing, Lucifer?! Use fire for the top and water for the bottom!! Even if the affinities have been nullified, it should be able to mitigate the high temperature and low one!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you!¡± (Karen)


    In an instant, I appear right at the proximity of Ates herself.


    A sword on each hand. A light sword that stretches straight approaches Ates from both sides like a scissor!


    ¡°[Holy Light, Severing Scissors]!!¡± (Karen)


    Eat this maximum output attack of the Light God Hero!


    ¡°Kuh! [Holy Light, Apocalyptic Hand]!!¡± (Ates)


    It didn¡¯t go that smoothly, and Ates herself used her own amplified divine power attack to fight back.


    A divine power that can match me in my current God Hero form. If it is now, I can understand how she is the incarnation of the Light Goddess.


    ¡°But with this, your movements have been sealed!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°As long as Lucifer is a giant monster with no intelligence unlike the other Demon Lord-sans, it won¡¯t be able to do careful movements without your orders!¡± (Karen)


    Even if it holds six elements, the one who is using them minutely is Ates. It is impossible for Lucifer without her instructions!


    ¡°Now, everyone! While I am holding Ates in ce!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°Alright!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!¡±


    Everyone was doing as they wished.


    Fire, Water, Earth, Wind; it was abined element festival mixing in a variety ofbinations!


    First, it was Fire and Water!


    ¡°¡°[Steam Explosion]!!¡±¡± (Mirack+Celestis)


    Earth and Wind!


    ¡°¡°[Sand Storm]!!¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!¡± (Hyue+Sasae)


    Water and Earth!


    ¡°¡°[Tree nt]!!¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!!¡± (Celestis+Sasae)


    Wind and Fire!


    ¡°¡°[Firestorm]!!¡±¡± (Mirack+Hyue)


    Thebined elements that were connecting one after the other were overwhelming Lucifer.


    ¡°Nice! This flow of events is nice!! Or rather, won¡¯t we win if it goes on like this?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°No need for the opponent to have a turn! Let¡¯s push all at once just like this! This is not the performance stage of Celestis, so there¡¯s no need to be shy in order to warm up the audience!!¡± (Mirack)


    It is true that, until now, it has been our overwhelming advantage.


    But is Lucifer, the enemy that defeated Haine-san and the Demon Lord-sans, an opponent that would fall like this?


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around, WORMS!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Uwa?!¡± (Karen)


    I was blown away by the vigour in Ates¡¯ roar.


    ¡°Karen?!¡± ¡°Karen-chi?!¡± ¡°Karen-neechan!¡± ¡°Karen-dono?!¡±


    Everyone gathered below me, and the offensive had been temporarily stopped.


    And then, Ates who had been freed from my restraint...


    ¡°Unforgivable! Unforgivable!! I was ying along with you all and you get all spoiled! You really don¡¯t understand your ce. That¡¯s why humans are fools!!¡± (Ates)


    She is crazy angry!


    ¡°Do you understand?! The fight until now has all been me ying around! Just a slight caprice before ending the world. As proof...!¡± (Ates)


    Eh?


    ¡°My Lucifer has only used the four base elements, right? Even though this child can use more than that now.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is the end. Game is over. I will go as nned and erase this world along with you all!¡± (Ates)


    The wings of Lucifer moved.


    Thest of the six pairs of wings...


    The Dark Wings that it obtained after engulfing Haine-san.


    ¡°Lucifer! Use the Dark power that stands at the top of the six elements!! With the power that was made to destroy the world! ...Use it as it was intended to, and destroy this world!!¡± (Ates)


    The other five wings are drawn in, and the dark wings spread out wide as if substituting them.


    And then, in the middle of the wings, a dark swirl was slowly gathering.


    ¡°Could that possibly be...!!¡± (Karen)


    The dark matter that Haine-san uses?!


    Moreover, it is gathering and condensing it? In that case...


    ¡°That¡¯s right. A ck Hole.¡± (Ates)


    Ates said with pride.


    ¡°The ultimate form of the dark power. The reset switch to destroy the world. This power that normally wouldn¡¯t be allowed to anyone but Haine-san, I will be utilizing it. Be swallowed by the ck Hole and perish.¡± (Ates)

 Chapter 401-402 - Return to the beginning

    <h4>Chapter 401-402: Return to the beginning</h4>


    ¡°ck Hole?!¡± (Karen)


    The ultimate destruction method of Haine-san.


    Are you telling me Lucifer can also utilize that?!


    ¡°Kuh!¡± (Karen)


    I immediately release a ¡®Holy Light Line¡¯ towards the ck Hole.


    But the line of light couldn¡¯t even arrive at the ck Hole, was bended by an invisible strength, and was sent to who knows where.


    ¡°It is pointless. With that measly light power of yours, it will be caught by the gravity barrier, and won¡¯t reach the ck Hole¡¯s core.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°No way...!¡± (Karen)


    Even though I heard that darkness is the only method to go against darkness!


    ¡°The only ck Hole you have seen must have been the one at Ishtar ze that erased Mantle, right?!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Ugh...¡±


    ¡°The ck Hole that¡¯s being created by Lucifer right now is on a different level from that one. It is a standard ck Hole. It is the original scale used to destroy the world, that is.¡± (Ates)


    Destroying...the world...


    ¡°That¡¯s the true purpose of a ck Hole. And yet, that personage was so attached to this world that he only used the minimum size of the ck Hole when creating it... How saddening.¡± (Ates)


    Ates¡¯ expression distorts.


    ¡°That personage that holds the ultimate power in the world had restricted his own almightiness for the sake of stupid living beings like humans. To not be able to use his all as he wished. Just by looking at that point, you humans are all sinful!!¡± (Ates)


    She directed a gaze filled with hatred.


    ¡°But that¡¯s all over now. I was thinking of ying around with you all before crushing you, but I don¡¯t feel like it anymore. Disappear inside the ck Hole altogether with the world!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Why?!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan refutes as if biting.


    ¡°We know about your objective! In order to live eternity together with your beloved Dark God, you wanted to create a new world with that Lucifer, and shut inside there with only you two, right?!¡± (Celestis)


    Ignoring the other party¡¯s will.


    That may simply be how the wicked Light Goddess does things though.


    ¡°In that case, as long as you create the new world, there¡¯s no need to care about the old world. The existence of this world should have nothing to do with your objective! How about just leaving us alone and you go to your Eden?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± (Ates)


    Ates promptly denies her.


    ¡°For me, destroying this world holds as much priority as making Lucifer into a new world.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°W-What?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You paltry humans, when moving to another house, you would clean the old house, right? After refreshing yourself in this way, you can move to your new home with a clear mind, right? It is the same as that.¡± (Ates)


    Old house...cleaning?!


    ¡°You humans are the trash that deceived my beloved Dark God. There¡¯s the need to erase every single speck of trash. Without doing that, that personage wouldn¡¯t be able to cut ties with his old world, and my revenge wouldn¡¯t dissipate.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°This woman!! What crazy stuff is she spewing!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Also, who knows what the four Base Elements and the other Intion would do if left alone. It is fine to just erase them together with this world. And then, after squaring all ounts, Entropy and I can fully enjoy our own Eden.¡± (Ates)


    This person...this God...is crazy!!


    As long as she and her loved one are there, there¡¯s no need for anything more. No, there cannot be anything more.


    That¡¯s why her ultimate selfishness of erasing everything without leaving anything behind is the worse kind of selfishness.


    ¡°And so, please properly disappear as well, okay? This is the order of the God that created you people. You will obviously obey, right?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°We refuse!¡± (Karen)


    I spoke.


    ¡°Even if you are a God, we will not allow you to decide our fate arbitrarily. There¡¯s no one but ourselves who can decide our own fate.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°How selfish. Since when did humans be so prideful?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°From the very beginning.¡± (Karen)


    Since the moment the humans were born in this world by the hands of the Gods.


    ¡°The Gods that created us had blessed us humans. They acknowledged that we have splendid strength and potential. That blessing is the foundation of our pride.¡± (Karen)


    We have seen it.


    At that Underworld Country, when we went to the consciousness world, we experienced the Genesis era with our eyes, with our senses.


    That¡¯s why we know.


    Since the very moment we humans were born, the Dark God was happier than anyone.


    And that God provided us with pride, blessings, potential, and also protected us from a variety of unfairness.


    ¡°The blessing that the Dark God gave to us humans, we ourselves can¡¯t put it to waste!! Doing that would mean betraying the Gods, and betraying ourselves!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Kh!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates¡¯ expression distorts into a scary countenance.


    ¡°Ates! No, Wicked Light Goddess! Your actions itself are the same as stepping on the blessing of the Dark God and smearing mud at it! The one who goes against the Dark God the most is you! You are the one that¡¯s the furthest from the Dark God!¡± (Karen)


    Someone like you...!


    ¡°We won¡¯t lose! As the children of the Gods!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Indeed!¡± ¡°Just as Karen-chi says!¡± ¡°Right outta mah mouth-dasu!!¡± ¡°Sound reasoning!¡±


    The heroes gathered here felt the same way as me.


    What we saw at the Underworld Country, it told us of our past history, as well as gave us pride.


    That pride pushed our retreating legs...and made us walk forward.


    History. What we inherited from the past was granting us pride!


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± (Ates)


    Ates was groaning silently.


    It was like a trembling that came from the bottom of the earth. A groan that came straight from hell.


    ¡°Me...going against Entropy-sama? That I am the one that is the furthest from Entropy-sama, you say?!¡± (Ates)


    Ates screamed like a vengeful ghost.


    ¡°You have said what you shouldn¡¯t have! You mere humans, how dare you insult me, the Light Goddess!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You are not the true Light Goddess! The true Light Goddess is...!¡± (Karen)


    The one who has always been watching over us.


    The one who watched over us in ce of the absent Dark God with regret that would drive her to tears.


    So pitiful, filled with deep love that would make you want to hug her; the true Light Goddess.


    ¡°For the sake of that person, I will defeat you! With the strength of everyone here!!¡± (Karen)


    Light!


    ¡°Fire!¡± ¡°Water!¡± ¡°Earth-dasu!¡± ¡°Wind!¡±


    Abined element mixing all five elements.


    With this concentration, we will crush Lucifer¡¯s darkness!


    ¡°Fools! This is what you call getting way too ahead of yourselves! It is true thatbining elements is an effective tactic. I will acknowledge that. But what point does it have in front of darkness!?!¡± (Ates)


    Ates says with ridicule.


    ¡°It is presumptuous that humans are able tobine elements to create new ones which even Gods can¡¯t manage to, but...no matter whatbined element it is, it is powerless against darkness!! Just obediently get swallowed by the ck Hole!¡± (Ates)


    That¡¯s not it.


    We know.


    When we learned of the beginning of the world, we had already learned that the Dark God was the very beginning of this world.


    That God was born first, and from that God himself, the idea of creating a world was reached.


    In order to create a world with bountiful colors, Entropy understood that just the ck color wouldn¡¯t be enough. He separated himself in many parts, and created Gods aside from himself.


    That is the Light Goddess.


    Those are the Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind Gods.


    ¡°If we return the power of those Gods to one again...!¡± (Karen)


    We five heroes with our fivebined elements.


    Reaching out to the past, we learned of the answer, so we were able to find a path to this conclusion.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, everyone!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°YEAAAAH!!¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!!¡±


    Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Light; five elementsbined...!


    ¡°Manifest! [Dark Matter]!!!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates saw the dark matter that we created and was shocked.


    From the hands that we five were holding, there was a dark swirl we were used to seeing.


    ¡°Dark matter?! The most precious and grand power...to think that humans would be able to wield it!!¡± (Ates)


    Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Light; bybining all those elements, whates after is ¡®Darkness¡¯.


    The world was born from darkness to begin with.


    That¡¯s why, if we were to put together everything that shapes this world, it will reach to the source that is darkness.


    ¡°If we hadn¡¯t seen the beginning of the world, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to arrive to this power.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Controlling divine poweres from the image you have after all. Even if we were to mix five elements, if we can¡¯t imagine something clearing out of it, we wouldn¡¯t have arrived at darkness!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°We did see the darkness of Haine-chi a number of times, but with only that, we would brush it off as just a phenomenon. There¡¯s no way we would be able to see through its true nature.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Seeing the beginning of the world, we learned about how darkness gave everything to the world-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°It is exactly now that we have learned about how much the Dark God loved this world and its humans that we are able to use the darkness!¡± (Hyue)


    Dark matteres out from us at an ever greater pace.


    By using this power, we can fight against Lucifer.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, everyone. Before Lucifer can finish the ck Hole, we will crush it with our darkness!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°¡°Yes!!¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!¡±


    A torrent of dark matteres from our linked hands.


    It was not inferior at all to the power that Haine-san normally wields.


    The ck matter of Lucifer was already about to turn into a ck Hole.


    The gravity barrier it was creating was easily being negated by our dark matter wave, and got swallowed into thepressed core.


    ¡°Damn you!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates¡¯ shrilling voice was proof enough that this was a valid tactic.


    ¡°Swallowing all elements and erasing them; that¡¯s the first property of dark matter!¡± (Karen)


    Haine-san¡¯s words.


    ¡°Just what would happen if dark matter shes?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t this be the first time it has happened in history?¡± (Celestis)


    Our dark matter against Lucifer¡¯s dark matter.


    ¡°When a dark matter of a different party shes, will they erase each other?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, then that¡¯s fine! If we continue releasing dark matter, it would also mean that Lucifer won¡¯t be able to add more dark matter to finish the ck Hole-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    It is just as Hyue-chan says.


    For now, even if we are to drain ourselves, we have to continue releasing dark matter, and prevent Lucifer from finishing the ck Hole!


    ¡°If the ck Hole is finished, the world is done for! Think of this as us being in the brink of death and wring out all the strength you have!!¡± (Mirack)


    Our darkness and Lucifer¡¯s darkness.


    The two darknesses are currently fighting each other, and it doesn¡¯t look as if either side is in an advantage, but...


    ¡°Fools! Lucifer¡¯s power is not only darkness!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates had regained herposure.


    ¡°Lucifer is a perfect being that has obtained all elements. Moreover, its true essence is the Light Demon Lord! On top of that, the Light divine power is the only peerless way to defeat darkness!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°This is bad!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°With Lucifer¡¯s light power, I will destroy your darkness!!¡± (Ates)


    No good!


    If it does that, we will be pushed aside in an instant!


    But...Lucifer¡¯s light attack didn¡¯te no matter how long we waited.


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°...Tch! Can¡¯t do it. The darkness of Lucifer and the light would being from the same source. If it were to release a different power, the ck Hole Lucifer is forming would also be erased as well...¡± (Ates)


    Darkness can¡¯t win against light.


    Looks like thatw is working even inside Lucifer.


    And even if Ates were to use her light, at her range, it would simply be sucked into the ck Hole as well.


    ¡°The other four base elements as well can¡¯t be used while the dark power is activated?! Lucifer is supposed to be perfect, and yet, to think there was such a restriction to its powers...!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°It is because you got greedy and tried taking everything! You are definitely the type that would fail in a diet and get crazy fat instead!!¡± (Celestis)


    The strongest power in the world; darkness.


    The usage of it is, as expected, difficult.


    ¡°Ha! Then, it is just a matter of pushing by force!¡± (Ates)


    Lucifer stopped being at a loss and puts its all in pouring dark matter.


    ¡°Guaaaaaa?!¡±


    ¡°Dasuuuuuu!!¡±


    The pressure we were receiving increased in an instant!!


    ¡°Even in a pure strength contest, it is impossible for a giant monster like Lucifer to lose against just five humans! Now then, let¡¯s wait until you people run out of steam!!¡± (Ates)


    Isn¡¯t that the worse kind of situation?!


    A giant monster and humans. Even if we were to just include the stamina, we are all just girls in our teens! We don¡¯t hold that much stamina in ourselves!


    Our secret n that¡¯s the dark matter, in the end, is only serving as buying time.


    Moreover, once our stamina is gone, we will be one-sidedly pushed.


    We have to think of a new n, or things will just gradually worsen.


    ¡°...Can you please...leave it to me?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan?


    While continuing to release dark matter, Hyue-chan says this.


    ¡°If it goes well, we could break this stalemate. Of course, to our advantage. Can you please believe in me?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I will!¡± (Karen)


    I answered immediately.


    ¡°Hyue-chan is a splendid wind hero after all! If Hyue-chan says she has a good idea, it will definitely go well! Isn¡¯t that right?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Of course. There¡¯s no ally I would trust as much with my back as Hyue after all!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°In this party, Hyue-chi is the second most intelligent after me! I will be looking forward to what you bring out!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°I will leave it ta Hyue-neechan-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Mirack-chan, Celestis-chan, and Sasae-chan also quickly decided on trusting her.


    Hyue-chan takes out some sort of cube embedded with what seems to be small jewels of different colors. Red, blue, yellow, green, and white.


    ¡°...Hngh!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan released a great amount of wind divine power as if hardening her resolve.


    Then, she ced it at the hilt¡¯s side and somehow it stuck onto it.


    ¡°This is a device that came about from researching the jewels and Lucifer itself. It is still a prototype, but it allows the same ability to change an element to other elements. The conversion rate is not that good yet and requires a lot of energy to bring it to a decent output. But as God Heroes, it is at an useable level.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue began exining as she finishes what seemed to be her pouring divine power to it.


    ¡°Right now I have imbued as much wind divine power into the device as possible-de gozaru. The sync with other people is only required in the beginning of thebination, so as long as the element is present, you can still continue releasing it. With this, the five elementbination will continue for a while more, and the dark matter won¡¯t be cut off for now!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Meaning that, In that time, you will be settling your n, right?¡± (Karen)


    Hyue-chan silently nods, releases her hand, and flies off.


    The individual enterprise of the Wind God Hero, Hyue-chan, was about to begin.

 Chapter 403-405 - The Wind of Rebirth

    <h4>Chapter 403-405: The Wind of Rebirth</h4>


    ¡°Uooooo!!¡±


    Hyue-chan, who had be one with the wind after turning into a God Hero, was able to fly in the sky freely.


    Like a rising dragon, she rushes up until she arrives at the back of Lucifer.


    ¡°If it is from here...!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan takes a stance with her sniping divine weapon that shoots through anything that¡¯s in its aim.


    ¡°Hyue-neechan, do yer best-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Time is limited! Don¡¯t lose!!¡± (Celestis)


    While we were using ourbined strength to release dark matter, we were hoping for the turnaround from Hyue-chan.


    Dark matter would normally require the release of our five elements.


    Without Hyue-chan and just a temporary source that is continuously dissipating on its own, we won¡¯t be able to maintain it for long.


    But if we stand ground here, we can restrain Lucifer, and it can help out Hyue-chan.


    We are still helping each other out.


    ¡°Do your best, Hyue-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    Hyue-chan pulls the bolt of En No Ozuno, and sends a bullet into the chamber.


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Karen)


    And then, the shot is made, sending out sparks around it.


    The bullet that was shot made a direct hit onto Lucifer¡¯s back, more urately speaking, close to where the wind wings are.


    The bullet digged deeply there.


    ¡°What are you doing? Are you an idiot?¡± (Ates)


    Ates was simply ridiculing that action of hers.


    ¡°The giant body of Lucifer receiving a single pea shot of yours; just what would it bring about even if it were to hit? Humans really like useless things huh. I can¡¯t y along with all your games, so please just stop the useless struggle.¡± (Ates)


    ¡°You think so?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chanughs boldly.


    Ates still hadn¡¯t realized. But we were able to notice the abnormality.


    ¡°Wa?! Right now, Hyue just...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah, she certainly did...!¡± (Celestis)


    She shot a real bullet, didn¡¯t she?!


    ¡°The Wind Long Gun is a weapon that shoots wind bullets mixed with divine power. Because it is air, it won¡¯t ever run out of bullets. Even though that¡¯s the strong point of the weapon...!!¡± (Karen)


    Hyue-chan deliberately shot an actual bullet.


    In other words, that bullet must have something special.


    ¡°It may be vexing, but my sister-inw Juo is the best scientist in the Wind Church.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°?¡±


    ¡°Because of her work in creating Kukulkan, I am heavily indebted to her, but immediately after, I have already put a debt of equal weight on top of it. When we were retrieving the remains of Kukulkan, Juo retrieved a certain something as well.¡± (Hyue)


    Could she be talking about...the armor of the gone Wind Demon Lord Raphael?


    ¡°I will say it once again. My sister-inw is the best scientist. She detected the feeble remaining divine power inside the armor, and found a swarm of insects that were maintaining their life in a dormant state. She said they were his remains that barely managed to survive.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°W-What is it you are trying to say here?¡± (Ates)


    ¡°The remains that should have disappeared if left alone, Aniue-sama shared his own divine power to him and resurrected it. Juo created a cultivation device for his exclusive us and concentrated in maintaining his living functions. And that small handful of cells we somehow managed to resurrect, I have shot them in the bullet just now!!¡± (Hyue)


    That¡¯s what was the actual bullet just now?!


    It is currently dug inside the body of Lucifer.


    ¡°This was apparently a method they thought of after observing the fight of Haine-dono and the Demon Lords against Lucifer. Lucifer¡¯s body has his stolen wings. They are supposed to be the divine power conversion devices, right?! In order to change the bountiful light divine power of Lucifer into wind divine power!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me...!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Even if he can¡¯t revive on its own strength, the inside of Lucifer¡¯s body is a treasury of divine power that can be changed into wind divine power!! Juo found him, Aniue gave him power, and I shot him! We desperately worked for this! That¡¯s why, revive!!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Wind Demon Lord, Raphael!!¡±


    The flesh of the snake broke open.


    A part of Lucifer¡¯s body had been blown up from the inside, and a humanoid figure appeared from there.


    I remember that figure.


    That silhouette when he was in his full armor, it is truly that of one of the four Demon Lords.


    Wind Demon Lord, Raphael.


    The Demon Lord that was supposed to have burned out his life in the fight with Hyue-chan has once again appeared here?!


    ¡°Alright! Sess!!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan raised a cheer while floating in the sky.


    ¡°It was all as Juo nned. As expected of my sister-inw! How vexing!!¡± (Hyue)


    I don¡¯t know if she was proud of her sister-inw or if she is dissing her. Be clear, Hyue-chan.


    But she herself is probably conflicted about this.


    ¡°Ah... No way, that¡¯s impossible!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates was the one who had her face pale the most at the revival of Raphael.


    And, as if natural, the colorful butterfly wings disappear from the back of Lucifer.


    ¡°This is mine. It is a matter of course to return them.¡± (Raphael)


    The tone of the revived Raphael was strong.


    After having most of his body erased by Haine-san, he lost so much of his power that he couldn¡¯t maintain his body, but after taking away the divine power of Lucifer, he must have returned to his peak condition.


    ¡°But why are in your armor? If you arepletely revived, shouldn¡¯t it be fine to be in your flesh?¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan speaks frankly to him in mid-air.


    ¡°So nosy. I like this figure. My body has grown from its partially destroyed state, and it can¡¯t properly picture a grown state in its perfect condition. It instead reformed the armor as if it were what my body was originally as.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°The form of the divine power is heavily influenced by the image of the individual itself. We have experienced that just now with thebined elemental dark matter, and yet, it is still hard to swallow...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°To think you people would be the ones who would save me.¡± (Raphael)


    There was no happiness or anger in the voice of Raphael.


    In the past, these two fought fiercely with their hatred in te.


    ¡°We settled things in that fight. In that case, let¡¯s start from zero.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°You and that Toreido Shiva guy... But, it won¡¯t be starting from zero.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael says with strength.


    ¡°My life was saved, so I am indebted to you people. For the sake of repaying that debt, I will have to defeat that big guy.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°That fiend has your friends as well. From now on, we will be helping each other out!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Hmph. To think Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel would get upped by an imbecile monster like this that only has size going for it. Looks like I really have to be by their side!!¡± (Raphael)


    While throwing insults that had warmth in it, Raphael soars into the sky.


    Hyue-chan also follows him.


    There¡¯s now one pair less of wings in the six pairs of wings of Lucifer.


    From now on, we are going to crush it further!


    ¡°Release!¡± (Raphael)


    The body of Raphael divided as if it had exploded?!


    ...No, that¡¯s not it. More urately speaking, the parts of the full armor covering Raphael separated, and they were flying around individually?!


    ¡°Is that the special technique of Raphael that Hyue-chan was talking about?¡± (Karen)


    While keeping up the release of dark matter, we were looking at the battle from the ground.


    ¡°Why are you doing that again?! If your strength has been regainedpletely, you should just have a body inside your armor, you know?!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan throws a retort.


    In the past, Raphael apparently used the armor topensate for the mostly erased body of his.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious that it is because it is cool?! Also, I can do this...!¡± (Raphael)


    The armor parts surround Lucifer and were emitting something.


    ...I don¡¯t hear anything?


    ¡°?! Ultrasound?!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan immediately strained her ears.


    ¡°! Okay! I have picked up the location where the people caught inside of Lucifer are-de gozaru!¡± (Hyue)


    I see!


    In the time when we were fighting the giant monster named slime, we used ultrasound to check its inside and found the monster¡¯s core.


    They did the same as that time!


    Inside Lucifer, there¡¯s still the Demon Lords that have been engulfed and have had their powers robbed.


    And Haine-san as well!


    ¡°Haine-dono is the one that is specially deep inside, and I don¡¯t think we will be able to get him out unless wepletely cut off all functions in Lucifer!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Ates¡¯ attachment to Kuromiya Haine seems to be on an iprehensible level after all. In that case, let¡¯s take each one out beginning from the closest one!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Okay!¡± (Hyue)


    Raphael released sound and Hyue-chan picked it up. The teamwork of hero and Demon Lord was already working perfectly.


    The two of them were soaring the sky at high speed while facing Lucifer.


    ¡°Kuh, now that it hase to this, let¡¯s stop the creation of the ck Hole temporarily and...!¡± (Ates)


    Ates was trying to deal with Hyue-chan and Raphael!


    ¡°We won¡¯t let you!!¡± (Karen)


    We increase the output of dark matter and push Lucifer.


    ¡°If you stop the creation of the ck Hole right now, Lucifer will be swallowed by our dark matter! I wonder how much divine power you would lose before you are able to neutralize it with light divine power!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Damn you, worms!!¡± (Ates)


    We are stopping Ates and Lucifer.


    In that time, Hyue-chan!


    ¡°The people that are caught are inside a cage created by their own divine power!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Looks like it! In that case, the one we should release is...!¡± (Raphael)


    The separated armor of Raphaelbines once again.


    But that figure was not human. What is it?


    ¡°[Raphael Cannon]¡±


    Wa?!


    Raphael¡¯s armor turned into the shape of a big gun?!


    ¡°That ghost-like woman seems to have inputted a variety of things when she was extracting me. To think she would add such a function in me!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°But right now it is necessary!¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue-chan shoulders the Raphael-san turned into a cannon, and just like that, she takes aim?!


    ¡°The Raphael Cannon shoots a wind cannonball with Demon Lord level divine power. And on top of that, my God Hero divine power...!¡± (Hyue)


    A precise shot that holds the highest of firepowers.


    ¡°Wind Gun Technique [Tipping the Scales]!!¡± (Hyue)


    An attack that would pierce the heavens dug right into Lucifer and exploded right on contact!


    This attack easily shredded a chunk of Lucifer¡¯s flesh.


    ¡°Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!¡± (Lucifer)


    Lucifer writhes in pain.


    The wind divine power had hit the area where the earth element was the most concentrated at.


    In other words, the ce that Hyue-chan had aimed was...


    ¡°Uooooo!!¡±


    Breaking out from the part that had been softened by the wind attack, a wood human came flying out from inside of Lucifer.


    The Earth Demon Lord Uriel-san has been released.


    ¡°Kuh! Anotherponent has been...!¡± (Ates)


    The earth wings began to disappear from the back of Lucifer.


    With this, there¡¯s four pairs remaining.


    ¡°Raphaeeeel!!¡± (Uriel)


    And then, the released Uriel-san flew straight onto Raphael-san who had returned to humanoid form.


    ¡°Raphael, you were alive!! Uwaaaaaaah~!! Yahoooooo!!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Uwaa?! What are you doing?! So disgusting!¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael-san was shocked and amazed that he was being hugged.


    Since he doesn¡¯t know how saddened hisrades were after he died, it can¡¯t be helped that he would be confused.


    ¡°Sorry, Raphael!! I won¡¯t look down on you ever again~!! I am truly d you are alive~~!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Aaah, so noisy! We are in the middle of battle! Don¡¯t go hindering our guard! Or more like, so you guys really were looking down on me?!¡± (Raphael)


    It is truly great that Raphael-san has returned.


    ¡°Uriel-dono¡¯s return-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    And there¡¯s also one here who was happy about the return of someone.


    The adult muchimuchi Sasae-chan.


    ¡°Can¡¯t stay here-dasu!! Karen-neechan! I will be going too-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I will also be adding mah earth divine power in ya holy sword-dasu! Well then, I be leaving the rest to ya-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    Saying this, Sasae-chan flew off.


    ¡°Uriel-dono, long time no see-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Hiiiih! Sasae-sama?!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡®Sama¡¯?!


    ¡°It is not what you think..... The reason why I waste in my return, you see... Right, Lucifer! That fiend ispletely at fault! Because it ate me, you see!!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°That be of no importance-dasu yo! Right now, what be important be to fight-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°You say it doesn¡¯t matter, but...that in itself is saddening!¡± (Uriel)


    This grouping is also the same as always...


    ¡°In order to save the caught Demon Lords, there be the need fer the elements of the respective weakness-dasu! In that case, there be something we need ta do as well!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Ah, yes! Right!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Save the Water Demon Lord, Gabriel-san-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°[Vanquishing Decapitation Slice]-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan used her big scythe and made an opening in the skin of Lucifer.


    Ates could only look in anguish as her light divine power and Lucifer were basically sealed and pinned down by the dark matter of both sides.


    It was truly ironical.


    From the cut Sasae made, the flowing body of someone jumps out from it like a fish out of the water.


    ¡°Nice! Gabriel is out as well!!¡± (Celestis)


    Reviving Raphael served like andslide. After he was brought back, a Demon Lord after another was being freed with the cooperation of the God hero and Demon Lord.


    Celestis-chan raised a cheer as she gets closer to me with her hand still linked and releasing dark matter.


    And the Gabriel-san in question...!


    ¡°Uwaaaaa~~~!! Raphaeeeel!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°YOU TOO?!¡± (Raphael)


    As expected, she jumped right onto Raphael-san while crying.


    ¡°Sorry~! Sorry for not noticing your worries~~!! I won¡¯t make that mistake again! Let¡¯s be friends forever~~!!¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°Aargh, get your hands off me!! Didn¡¯t the Demon Lords have a much more of a dry rtionship with each other?!¡± (Raphael)


    No, it is already more wet than you could ever wish for.


    ¡°A damp rtionship is just about right!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis-chan soars.


    ¡°This time, it is my turn! I have already added my divine power to your holy sword, so I leave the rest to you~!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ah! Celestis-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    Celestis-chan left as if she were just throwing the job onto me!


    This doesn¡¯t look as easy as it seems, you know! I am already drenched here! I might as well be the Water God Hero instead!


    ¡°Gabriel! Sorry for interrupting your emotional moment there, but I will have you work right away! We are going to save thest one!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Understood, Celestis! We have to get the leader out or we won¡¯t have any sort of order here after all!!¡± (Gabriel)


    The two water element users released high pressure water from both of their hands as if they had nned it before, and just like that, they spin their bodies.


    ¡°¡°[Water Beheading Technique ¨C Dragon Dance]!!¡±¡± (Celestis+Gabriel)


    ¡°Kaaaaaaaaaah!!¡± (Lucifer)


    Lucifer once again raises a cry of pain.


    She had received instructions of the ce she should aim beforehand by Hyue-chan.


    Destroying the cage made of fire divine power with water divine power, the one inside is liberated.


    A big body that felt as if he was shouldering all the anguishes in this world, as if he had crawled back from hell itself...the Fire Demon Lord Michael returns.


    ¡°Michael~!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Great! With this, all the Demon Lords are back!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°The Demon Lords really do need the four gathered or it simply won¡¯t be fun!!¡± (Gabriel)


    The same time as the four winged ones return to the sky, four pair of wings had decreased from the back of Lucifer.


    Light and Darkness.


    There¡¯s only those two remaining.


    ¡°Damn you...! Damn you...!! Even though you are just mere parts, even though you are just puzzle pieces...!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates¡¯ expression had dyed bright red in anger.


    ¡°...Karen, I leave the rest to you.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Eh?! Mirack-chan?!¡± (Karen)


    Finally, even Mirack-chan entrusted me her fire divine power and left.


    And then, flies off to the Fire Demon Lord that has just returned.


    I am barely holding on here though! It is pretty exhausting to do the share of all 4 people with a device I don¡¯t even know that well!


    ¡°Michael!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Fire hero, Mirack! Right now, Lucifer is the enemy of everyone living in this world. If we don¡¯t put an end to it, there¡¯s no future for this world!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s why we are gonna punch him! Both you and me!!¡± (Mirack)


    A zing me came from both of their hands.


    ¡°[Phoenix Hammer]!!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    An attack that felt as if it had thrown us at the center of the had been released from the Fire God Hero and the Fire Demon Lord.


    This is the pair that has fought the earliest in the hero and Demon Lord battles, and also the ones that have been together the longest.


    This attack hits Lucifer directly and sends it flying.


    ¡°Gaaaaaaaah!!¡± (Lucifer)


    Because of the impact of that attack, Lucifer had no leeway to continue pouring divine power to the ck Hole!


    Okay, now!!


    ¡°I will destroy this stalemate!¡± (Karen)


    The divine power that I received from Hyue-chan, Sasae-chan, Celestis-chan, and Mirack-chan still have reserves inside of my holy sword left.


    Before it runs out, I will use all the dark power and...!!


    ¡°Holy sword, Saint-George! Light sword! With all the hope of everyone gathered, release the sacred darkness!!¡± (Karen)


    The holy sword was d in darkness it had never shown before.


    This darkness is the materialization of our wish to protect this world.


    There¡¯s no good or evil between light and darkness.


    The one that decides what¡¯s good or bad is the heart that resides in it after all.


    ¡°Darkness sword, Bisection!!¡± (Karen)


    The stretched darkness de hits the ck Hole that Lucifer was creating, immediately slices it in two, and it breaks to pieces.


    With that one attack, the divine power that was left from everyone had been used up, the device itself broke, and it returned to being purely a light sword.


    ¡°Hah...Hah...!¡± (Karen)


    It took my all to stop the ck Hole that would destroy the world, and yet, it couldn¡¯t reach the body of Lucifer, but...because of the many attacks that the God Heroes and the Demon Lords did, the giant body was already tattered.


    The six pair of wings were now only two.


    If we exclude the light wings that were originally there, there¡¯s only the dark wings it gained from absorbing Haine-san.


    ¡°...We have cornered it. The Great Demon Lord Lucifer.¡± (Karen)


    And the puppeteer, Ates.

 Chapter 406-407 - Four Gods at the side

    Chapter 406-407: Four Gods at the side


    ¡°This is your lost.¡± (Karen)


    I said this to the already wrecked Lucifer and Ates who is sticking to it.


    Around her, there¡¯s myrade God Heroes and the Demon Lord-sans; a total of eight.


    We were surrounding her so that we won¡¯t let any weird movement escape.


    ¡°Now that Lucifer has lost most of its wings and it is in a beaten up state, you don¡¯t have a method to go against us all. Please give up obediently and free Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Fufufufu! How foolish can humans be? Thinking that with just this you have won.¡± (Ates)


    Could it be that we will never be able to reach an understanding with this person?


    ¡°It is true that Lucifer has lost four pairs of its wings. And what of it?! The power of the wings is more about quality than quantity. What you guys regained were basically trash of wings!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What did you say?!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°What¡¯s with that after forcefully stealing them from us?!¡± (Gabriel)


    The Demon Lord-sans that were direct victims of it were angered to the extreme.


    ¡°The strength of the four Base Elements is trashpared to the two Poles that are light and darkness. Lucifer still has light and darkness remaining! As long as I have those, you people are basically rubbish!!¡± (Ates)


    Lucifer slowly gets up, and spreads out its dark wings.


    The dark power that swallows everything and erases it.


    ¡°Now, Lucifer! Use your invincible dark power to crush the foolish! And after that, absorbs the parts again and bepleted once more!¡± (Ates)


    !!


    So she really wants to continue fighting!


    Tension began to run through the whole ce, but then...!


    ¡°Guuh!¡± (Lucifer)


    Lucifer suddenly stopped moving.


    ¡°?! What¡¯s the matter, Lucifer?! Move! Move and kill them all right this instant! Are you going to mess up my ns as well?! You ipetent tool!!¡± (Ates)


    Even though Lucifer was receiving abuse from its creator, it didn¡¯t move.


    Rather, it trembled as if in pain, and then, finally, a clear movement urred.


    Arge number of pitch ck somethings wereing out from the mouth of Lucifer.


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    I could tell at a nce that this was abnormal.


    It isn¡¯t just from its mouth. Its eyes, nose, ears; not only that, even from the wounds that were made from our many attacks were spewing out those ck things.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter, Lucifer?! Stand! Stand and fight!!¡± (Ates)


    There¡¯s no way it can do that.


    In time, Lucifer didn¡¯t just gush them out, but also began to shine from its whole body.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?! Why does every single one of you not move as I wish?! That¡¯s why I say all the people born in this world are trash! No one is of use!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates was raising a shrilling voice as she grieves her own misfortune.


    We didn¡¯t know what to do and could only watch over this.


    ¡°The reason nothing goes the way you want is because...¡±


    ¡°?!¡±


    There, a majestic and dignified voice pitches in.


    ¡°You don¡¯t love anyone, Ates-san.¡±


    ¡°Yorishiro?!¡± (Ates)


    Yorishiro-sama?!


    Why is she here?!


    ¡°You don¡¯t love anyone. That¡¯s why no one can love you. Sadly, there¡¯s no one who would want to do anything for someone they don¡¯t like.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What are youing all nonchntly at this point of the battle? Did youe here after knowing that you are riding a winning horse?!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Yeah. You are already done for.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama calmly said this.


    It was calm, but the pressure that came from that voice silenced not only us heroes, but even the Demon Lords.


    ¡°I was always wondering this. Why is it that darkness can¡¯t win against light?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Darkness is the origin of this world and the strongest of powers. Is it possible for it to hold a weakness? Is it possible to have a supremacy that has a weakness?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What is it you are trying to say?!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Thew of ¡®darkness can¡¯t win against light¡¯ was something that the Dark God himself created.¡± (Yorishiro)


    What does that mean?


    Meaning that the Dark God made a rule that would harm his own invincibility?


    ¡°There¡¯s no one who loves this world more than the Dark God Entropy. It is exactly because he is like that that an absolute existence wasn¡¯t allowed to exist in this world. Not even himself. Because an absolute existence would surely break the bnce of the world and would hinder progress.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?! That¡¯s why he...?!¡± (Ates)


    That¡¯s why he created the light that counteracted him?


    By deliberately creating an element that can get the better of him, he formed a bnce in the name of the two Poles, and in that space, he was able to create the colors that were the four Base Elements.


    ¡°Light... That¡¯s the very kindness that the darkness created. And yet, you didn¡¯t understand that kindness and absorbed that darkness along with that personage himself. At that moment, the darkness lost its God¡¯s love.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°Your selfish heart has been projected into the darkness.¡± (Yorishiro)


    A darkness that has lost its God¡¯s love would not forgive the existence of an antithesis like light.


    A rivalry between light and darkness was urring inside Lucifer¡¯s body.


    Unable to endure that sh, Lucifer is beginning to copse internally?!


    ¡°It might have managed somehow if the absorbed four Base Elements served as interims, but now that you have lost the Demon Lords, it has lost anything to block its way and the copse increased in speed at once.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What?!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Lucifer will most likely be erasedpletely beforelong. Your ns have copsedpletely, Ates-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    At the side of Yorishiro-sama and Ates ring at each other, Lucifer was writhing in pain even now.


    She didn¡¯t even show pity at the Lucifer she herself created and simply clicked her tongue.


    ¡°Fine. I will admit defeat this time.¡± (Ates)


    Ates dered.


    ¡°But this is not a definite lost. Even if I have been defeated today, I as a God have basically close to eternal time. I will form a n from zero, and will somedaye back again. And then, at that time, I will make reality a perfect world where only him and I exist!¡± (Ates)


    !


    Ates¡¯ body is being enveloped in light?!


    Don¡¯t tell me she is nning on escaping!


    ¡°That won¡¯t happen.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wa?!¡±


    Ates seemed like she was about to disappear inside the light, but she was caught by something and pulled back?!


    She failed in escaping.


    ¡°You asked why I nonchntly came at this point of the battle, right? You made a question, and yet, you were going to leave without hearing the answer. What a rude person.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What¡¯s this?!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°Let me answer. I came because preparations werepleted. Preparations to make it so you definitely can¡¯t escape.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama clearly spoke.


    ¡°Right now, this whole area has the four Base Elements making a barrier. You, as the incarnation of the Light Goddess, won¡¯t be able to break through that barrier. Light can¡¯t win against the four Base Elements when they join forces. That is also a rule set in this world by the King of Gods.¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Good grief, that Goddess gives rough treatment to us Gods!) (Nova)


    (Isn¡¯t that fine? This is a fight that will decide the fate of the world. I instead feel as if just this much help doesn¡¯t feel like enough.) (Coacervate)


    (I can¡¯t disobey the orders of Intion-san~.) (Mantle)


    (...)


    Nova, Coacervate, Mantle, and Quasar; the Gods that rule over the four Base Elements were divided in every direction, and were forming a barrier.


    In order to not let the main culprit of this incident, the evil Light Goddess, escape. Their role is incredibly important.


    (This battle is a battle to show the growth of humans.) (Quasar)


    The Wind God, who is the sole one that has incarnated as a human in this group, says this.


    (The humans have already escaped from the control of the Gods and have be living beings that can ovee any difficulties on their own. This is also a battle to show this. That¡¯s why we Gods intrude in it. This much support is plenty enough.) (Quasar)


    (But Quasar-san, is it okay for you to be using that much power?) (Coacervate)


    The Water God asks.


    (Your human body was partially destroyed because of the battle with a Demon Lord, and shouldn¡¯t be able to endure heavy outputs of divine power. To deploy a big barrier in that state is just...) (Coacervate)


    (You are really thoughtful there. Your distilled state really throws me off.) (Quasar)


    The Water God wasn¡¯t given the due respect even when he was being considerate.


    (...There¡¯s no problem. Juo tinkered with my body. So that using my power as a God won¡¯t put a burden to my human body.) (Quasar)


    (Is that possible?!) (Coacervate)


    (It was apparently a byproduct of when she was researching to revive Raphael though. She truly is a genius.) (Quasar)


    (But...that means...) (Coacervate)


    Coacervate notices the implication.


    (Quasar, did you tell your identity to your wife?) (Coacervate)


    (Yeah, before leaving to this battle.) (Quasar)


    Not only to his wife, but also to his little sister.


    (I didn¡¯t feel like keeping anymore secrets to my family, you see.) (Quasar)


    The trigger to reveal his identity as a God to his important people was the death of Raphael.


    Shiva, who holds two identities as a God and a human, didn¡¯t want to neglect one side by putting abel of which one was more important.


    (I was anxious thinking that maybe they would see me as a guy with problems in his head, but the two of them epted me. Looks like the trouble that you people have been causingtely has served as my groundwork.) (Quasar)


    Thanks to that, he was able to cooperate with Juo in order to revive Raphael. And Hyue was also able to easily ept turning into a God Hero.


    (From now on, I will be living seriously as both the Wind God Quasar as well as the human Toreido Shiva. For the sake of that, I have to pull out the cmity here.) (Quasar)


    (Meaning that you havepletely graduated from causing trouble to people on the whim of a God huh. I deeply agree with it!) (Coacervate)


    (When you say it, it is incredibly hard to ept though!) (Quasar)


    (I think it is fine~.) (Mantle)


    The Gods poured more and more divine power and strengthened the barrier.


    In the past, they belittled the humans, and even sealed the Dark God, but after 1,600 years, each of them have respectively settled their connections with the humans.


    Now, the only ones left who haven¡¯t settled that connection are...the Light and the Darkness.


    *****


    ¡°Uguah!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates was about to disappear into the light but was pushed back by something?!


    We heroes and Demon Lords couldn¡¯t do anything but watch over it.


    ¡°You can¡¯t even escape anymore. Evil Light Goddess. The cmity that you tried to bring upon this world, I will put an end to it.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama says as if bringing down the judgment.


    Lucifer was already tattered and unable to move. I don¡¯t think Ates has any way of winning anymore.


    The madness of the wicked Goddess hase to an end here.


    ¡°Ates, I will seal you.¡± (Yorishiro)


    She says cold-heartedly.


    ¡°Just like how the Dark God was sealed in the past. We are talking about you who has a weaker divine powerpared to him, so even if the seal is going to be destroyed with time, it will most likely take several thousands of years. Be isted for a close to an eternity.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What¡¯s...with those eyes?!¡± (Ates)


    The voice filled with hatred from Ates reverberated.


    That was a voice I wouldn¡¯t believe ising from a Goddess. It was already to a point I would only think of it as a vengeful ghost.


    ¡°Are you looking down on me?! Even though you are me, you are nning on pushing all the ugly parts of you on me and leave yourself as the clean part?! You hypocrite!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°...?¡±


    We heroes and Demon Lords that were cautious for any movement slightly further back were tilting their heads.


    ¡°Are you saying you are the only one who has the rights of being loved by that person?! No! The only one that¡¯s allowed to be loved by him is me! Me who would go as far as destroying the world for his sake! I am the only one!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°¡®You are me¡¯?!¡±


    ¡°Could it be...!¡±


    The agitation that was spreading in the surroundings was taken advantage of by Ates.


    ¡°Fine. Now that it hase to this, I won¡¯t be able to achieve my objective. I admit it! ...But!¡± (Ates)


    Ates runs off.


    Even though we were plenty on guard, we were unable to take immediate action.


    Because the direction Ates was running to was the direction we thought she would definitely not be running away from.


    To the one that is squirming in its light and spewing out darkness -to where Lucifer is!


    ¡°Impossible! If she runs off there...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°She would be bathed by the darkness that Lucifer is gushing out!!¡± (Mirack)


    If what Lucifer is spewing out is dark matter itself...!


    There¡¯s no way a living being would be able to resist something like that if it were to touch them!


    ¡°Kyaaaaaaa!!¡± (Ates)


    And that¡¯s what happened.


    Ates had run inside the darkness that had spread like a pond, and it was basically like jumping inside an ocean of acid.


    The smell of burning flesh was wafting along with the smoke it was making.


    Right now, that dark matter had no restraint. It is a different kind of dark matter from what Haine-san usually uses.


    It is hard to describe, but it felt as if itcked emotions. As if it were just mindlessly devouring without a care of what it is.


    ¡°Gyaaaaaaaaa!!! Aaaaaaahh!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°What a stupid thing to do! I will save you right this¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Wait, Karen-san!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama grabbed my arm as I was about to run to her.


    ¡°It is already toote! If you go now, even you would be swallowed by that darkness!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    No way...


    What was Ates trying to do by jumping into something like that?!


    After seeing that her wish wouldn¡¯t be granted...!


    Suicide?!


    ¡°I won¡¯t die by myself!!¡± (Ates)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°This world...! This world that robbed me from my love, I will bring it down with me!! I will make this world pay for the sins it has perpetrated!! Even if my wish of being together forever with my beloved has been severed...!! This world alone, I will...!!¡± (Ates)


    ...?!!


    A sound like that of an earthquake...!


    From Lucifer?!


    ¡°Ates...you...!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama seemed to be flustered.


    ¡°She used herst authority as the creator of Lucifer to make the light of that monster go into a rampage. If it is the darkness that has lost its love and is shing with the light, it will definitely try to match the rampaging light as well!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°What in the world have you done?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if this is enough to destroy the world, but it should cause severe damage to it! At least, it should wipe out the present humans! Please fulfill myst wish! Lucifer!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates grins...in the embrace of a darkness that isn¡¯t seeing her at all.

 Chapter 408-409 - Joining forces

    <h4>Chapter 408-409: Joining forces</h4>


    ¡°Kyahahahahahahahaha! Disappear world!! A world that brings me and him apart should just disappear!! Kyahahahahaha!!¡± (Ates)


    Ates was the one to be swallowed first by the darkness and disappeared from sight as she spread out a maddenedugh.


    Not even a single strand of hair was left. Sunnysol Ates waspletely erased.


    ¡°......¡±


    But we didn¡¯t have the leisure of offering our condolences to her.


    Because we all might be following after her if we don¡¯t do something.


    ¡°Wait, the ck thing that big guy is gushing out! It doesn¡¯t show any signs of stopping! Rather, it is increasing in speed!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Don¡¯t even try to touch it! That dark matter is like a super fiendish version of itself that doesn¡¯t only erase divine power but also matter!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°If something like that be gushed out without limit, the world would perish-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    The partially destroyed Lucifer has already turned into a sprinkler that spouts out dark matter.


    Divine power and matter were being swallowed widely and erased.


    Mirack-chan and the others in the surroundings were on guard as they witnessed that dark matter and were astonished.


    The end of the world.


    Sinceing here, finally, we were feeling that danger in our skins.


    ¡°[Holy Light Line]!¡± (Karen)


    I released light divine power to the dark matter.


    Normal dark divine power can¡¯t defeat light, so this should erase the darkness, but...


    *Bakin!*


    The light was repelled by the darkness.


    ¡°Don¡¯t, Karen-san!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro got angry at me.


    ¡°The dark divine power that is being gushed out via Lucifer is darkness that has lost the love of Entropy! It has lost the tolerance of ¡®losing against light¡¯ and has turned into the ultimate malice!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    And the light that served as its antithesis is now acting as a fuel that increases their force by shing with each other.


    Until now, light had been like water that extinguishes fire for the darkness. But now, it has turned into oil.


    ¡°And most of all, what¡¯s worse is that...!¡± (Yorishiro)


    If light doesn¡¯t work, just what in the world can we do to stop this darkness?!


    ¡°What do we do?! At this rate, the world will really be swallowed by a darkness that no one can stop!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Lucifer itself is also being burned by that loveless darkness. When it reaches its limit, Lucifer will disintegrate and the darkness should naturally stop!¡± (Yorishiro)


    If we wait for that...!


    ¡°We can¡¯t!¡± (Michael)


    Michael joins the emergency meeting.


    ¡°Even if that guy is different, it is still the strongest ss of monster that holds the title of Demon Lord. On top of that, it has a humongous body. Leaving aside maintaining its life, if it is just maintaining its body, it should be able to endure for quite a long time the sh of light and darkness!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°To the point that it would turn into apetition of whether the world or Lucifer will be dying first.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael joins in.


    Everyone was trying to go against what is literally a threat to the world.


    ¡°In that case, we have to act right this instant and stop that gushing of darkness as fast as possible!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But how?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°That¡¯s obvious!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama raises a voice filled with resolve.


    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt that the source of that darkness is Haine-san who is trapped deep inside Lucifer. We will break into the body of Lucifer and save Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡±


    ¡°If we sever the link Lucifer has with Haine-san, it should stop the gushing of darkness.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But Yorishiro-sama...!¡± (Karen)


    Who would do something like that?!


    Jumping into the inside of Lucifer and digging out Haine-san would be the act of a daredevil!!


    ¡°Right now, Lucifer is a literal mass of fiendish darkness! Entering Lucifer would mean that you would have to touch that darkness. That person would be erased without even reaching the count of ten!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I will go.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama stepped forward.


    ¡°I will save Haine-san even if at the cost of my life. I will stop that loveless darkness.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama?!¡± (Karen)


    Could it be that she is looking for death?!


    ¡°Karen-san, I leave the rest to you. The Light Church, Haine-san, and Doraha as well. If they are in your hands, I would have nothing to worry about.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I desperately tried to stop Yorishiro-sama.


    The darkness was already spreading close to our feet, but even with this hurry, I can¡¯t let this person go!


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama, don¡¯t treat your life lightly! Haine-san wouldn¡¯t want Yorishiro-sama to sacrifice herself!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°This is not only for the sake of Haine-san. The fate of this whole world is at stake. If that¡¯s the case, Haine-san will definitely understand.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But¡ª!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama looked straight at me.


    Yorishiro-sama should be young and beautiful, and yet, for some reason, her expression looked like that of an olddy that had expended her whole life.


    ¡°I have to take responsibility. The sins I have done in the long long path I have walked on, I have to atone for all of them right now.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°......What do you mean by that?¡± (Karen)


    I could feel a prickle inside my heart when I heard that voice of hers. Even without hearing those sins she speaks of, the pain of it was already reaching my heart.


    ¡°It is okay for you to not know. It is something that you shouldn¡¯t know. Please let me go without asking anything.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No, I already know.¡± (Karen)


    I finally was unable to hold it in and spoke out.


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! You are the Light Goddess Intion! You are also Intion-sama!¡± (Karen)


    My words stirred the surroundings.


    ¡°In the Underworld Country, we saw that the Light Goddess was split into good and evil.¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°If Ates is the evil Intion...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama should be the good Intion-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    Yorishiro-sama kept silent when I said that, but she soon spoke again.


    ¡°...As I thought. But, since when?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I had my suspicions before that, but it turned into certainty when I heard it -the conversation Yorishiro-sama had with Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    It was right after Apollon City had weed the Demon Lords.


    I ended up eavesdropping from the door at the conversation of Haine-san and Yorishiro-sama.


    And there, I certainly did hear it.


    Yorishiro-sama is the incarnation of the Light Goddess.


    And that Haine-san is the incarnation of the Dark God Entropy.


    ¡°Because Yorishiro-sama was cautious of anyone eavesdropping, you were speaking in soul transmission. But for some reason, I was able to hear it!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...Is that so. For the sake of turning you people into God Heroes, we opened up the channel between us Gods. Because of its influence, you were able to pick up the soul wavesing from us Gods huh.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama lets out a sigh as if in resignation.


    ¡°Then you should understand, right? Ates is me. Ates¡¯ sins are my sins. To atone for those sins as well as my own ones, I have to save Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Wrong! Ates was the bad one! Yorishiro-sama did nothing wrong!¡± (Karen)


    Yorishiro-sama treasured the humans as the Light Goddess.


    She provided humans with culture as the queen Izanami, punished the other Gods that obstructed this, and by creating ethereal, she pushed the progress of humans.


    Even when she became Yorishiro-sama, she helped out the humans from a variety of dangers!


    And yet...


    ¡°I like Yorishiro-sama! That¡¯s why, please don¡¯t just leave like that! I don¡¯t want Yorishiro-sama or Haine-san to disappear from my side!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama stands there absentminded.


    Even so, I understand.


    The cruel reality that, even if I were to stop Yorishiro-sama here, the situation will only continue to worsen.


    Is it too idealistic to want to save the world without the need to sacrifice anyone?!


    (Well said!!)


    Eh?


    What was that voice just now?!


    (Not sacrificing anyone! No matter how precarious the situation, you will try to ovee everything without paying a price!!)


    ¡°Oi, this voice...!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Lucifer?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Lucifer spoke?!¡± (Celestis)


    That voice certainly came from Lucifer who was already at the point where his shape was warping.


    Different from the other Demon Lord-sans, Lucifer should just be a giant monster with no intelligence.


    Even though it hasn¡¯t spoken a single thing until now that could be described as words...


    ¡°No, could it be that this voice is...!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama, did you notice something?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°This tone, this way of speaking; even if it is being spoken from a different mouth, there¡¯s no way to mistake it!¡± (Yorishiro)


    !


    No way, this is...!


    ¡°Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    Haine-san is using Lucifer to speak with us?!


    (Thanks to you all cornering Lucifer, the path was finally connected.) (Haine)


    Is what Haine-san said through the mouth of Lucifer.


    ¡°Haine-san! You were alright then!¡± (Karen)


    (Yeah, somehow! That voice must be from Karen-san, right? Great, looks like the sense of hearing also connected!) (Haine)


    What a relief! Haine-san is okay!!


    ¡°Eh? Then Haine-dono is the Dark God Entropy-sama?!¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Read the mood.¡± (Celestis)


    Everyone is getting flustered, but at any rate, this is great!


    ¡°Haine-san!¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Yorishiro, huh?) (Haine)


    Within us, Yorishiro-sama was the one who regained her calm the fastest.


    ¡°If you are using Lucifer to speak, it must mean that you are controlling the nervous system of Lucifer with your dark matter, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Yeah, just recently. Thanks to the damage dealt to Lucifer, the restraint loosened. But I can¡¯t escape. The light divine power in the surroundings is eliminating the dark matter!) (Haine)


    I see...!


    Lucifer is in nature the Light Demon Lord.


    The darkness of Haine-san is different from the darkness that is rampaging via Lucifer.


    The darkness that Haine-san has proper control of is darkness that has the restriction of ¡®losing against light¡¯ that came from his love to the world.


    ¡°Haine-san, right now, Lucifer is making the darkness it absorbed from you go berserk and spreading it to its surroundings! At this rate, the whole world will be covered with the loveless darkness!¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Loveless darkness, you say?! What is that?!) (Haine)


    ¡°Can¡¯t you sever the connection it has with the darkness from your side?! Right now, you are the very source of the world¡¯s danger, you know?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    (...Even if you tell me that... No good. That Ates, it looks like she paid special attention in creating the area I am in. No matter what I try, I can¡¯t get out. I can¡¯t stop the extraction of darkness either. The most I can do is connecting with its senses!) (Haine)


    For Ates, the most important part was the cell of Haine-san.


    It would be obvious that she would do her very best so that he doesn¡¯t escape!


    (Sorry everyone but, please lend me a hand!) (Haine)


    ¡°As in?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Lucifer is not only making the darkness go berserk, it is doing the same to the light as well!) (Haine)


    Well, it is the Light Demon Lord after all!


    Right now, inside of Lucifer, the light and darkness are making a chaos as they rampage.


    And the light part inside of it is conveniently sealing Haine-san.


    (Please remove that light divine power by attacking it from the outside!) (Haine)


    ¡°How can we do that...?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is possible.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama moved on.


    ¡°It is impossible to eliminate dark divine power with other elements, but if it is to eliminate light divine power, it is possible to do so by hitting it with other elements. Even if light does have an advantage against all elements, it is far inferior to that of darkness!¡± (Yorishiro)


    So if we were to hit the light with all the elements here, we have plenty enough chance to break it?!


    But right now, the area where Haine-san is, is covered with darkness. It is pretty easy to spot as the light pushing out the darkness is especially strong there.


    ¡°But we have to do something about the darkness around first!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I will do it! The darkness might be reacting adversely to the contact of light, but it doesn¡¯t mean it ispletely immune to it. I will use all my light divine power to open up a path! In that moment, shoot in everything you got and break Haine-san free!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama¡¯s eyes were shining with resolve. I could tell that she is nning on using her everything to assist us.


    I nod at Yorishiro-sama and return a strong gaze.


    (If the light that is hindering me disappears, I can get out of here and deal with the darkness. In the end, only darkness can control darkness after all!!) (Haine)


    ¡°Understood!¡± (Karen)


    I am brimming with energy!


    ¡°Everyone! This will be thest all out attack! Let¡¯s destroy the light of Lucifer and save Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°Yeaaaaah!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡± ¡°-Dasu!!¡±


    The Demon Lords and the God Heroes raised a roar without caring about their their standings and race as they rush forward.


    This is the time to ovee everything and have everyone¡¯s heart as one.


    Let¡¯s regain the treasured peace in the world!!


    ¡°Be ready!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama began to channel her divine power into her hands. A massive amount of dazzling light shines, and then, begins to take form.


    ¡°[Sacred Light Palms]!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Two gigantic light hands appear and grab an area of the darkness. The fingers tried to pry open the darkness, but the darkness seemed to be showing much more resistance than expected.


    ¡°Please open!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama shouted as if pleading.


    The hands began to shine an even stronger light and the darkness began to give way.


    Before long, a small opening was made, and from it, light began to gush out of it. It was like a path of light.


    That small opening steadily became bigger and bigger, and...


    ¡°Now!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    With that one shout, everyone immediately jumped into action with their already prepared attacks.


    First, me!


    ¡°[Holy Light de]!!¡± (Karen)


    Next, the fire pair of Mirack-chan and Michael.


    ¡°[Pleiades Burst]!!¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°[Phoenix Hammer]!!¡± (Michael)


    Celestis-chan and Gabriel came in like a stream.


    ¡°¡°Double [Water Beheading Technique ¨C Dragon Dance]!!¡±¡± (Celestis+Gabriel)


    Sasae-chan and Uriel with matching breaths.


    ¡°[ughter Severing sh]-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Gyaa! Don¡¯t go cutting my arm as well!! [Forbidden Dry Dhyana]!!¡± (Uriel)


    Hyue-chan and Raphael were literally one.


    ¡°[Raphael Cannon]! We are going for another shot!¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Understood! Wind Gun Technique, [Tipping the Scales]!!¡± (Hyue)


    Light, fire, water, earth, and wind weaved into the opening of the darkness Yorishiro-sama created and exploded first in the gushing out light and quickly destroying the light divine power deeper in it.


    The more light divine power goes away, the more Haine-san can do.


    ¡°The ones who will save this world from danger are the humans and monsters huh.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama spoke a little back from where we are.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it should be. This world is already for them both. I will just act as one of the people living in this world!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama shouts as the hands increase in strength.


    With this many Demon Lord and God Hero level attacks, most of the light divine power of Lucifer must have been eliminated.


    And yet, it is way too scary that the dark divine power around isn¡¯t showing any signs of appeasing.


    ¡°Or more like, it is flying around! The impact of the attacks is making the darkness scatter around!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°A bit can¡¯t be helped! We have to solve this before the darkness covers the whole world!!¡± (Michael)


    We continue the barrage of attacks, scraping away on the light divine power, and finally, managed to reach all the way to the skin.


    In all that time, Yorishiro-sama¡¯s light palms were receiving the shockwaves of those heavily powered attacks, but they were enduring steadfast as if saying they won¡¯t budge.


    Soon, the attacks stopped and the light hands were already gone.


    With this, Haine-san should have been freed of his bindings!


    Even if we have blown away the light divine power, there¡¯s still a massive amount of darkness remaining, so we can¡¯t go save him directly.


    Please escape quickly, Haine-san.


    (.............)


    The darkness suddenly stopped gushing out.


    Not only that... The dark matter that was already out was returning to Lucifer? It is being absorbed?!


    ¡°Warmth...returned to the darkness.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Eh? What do you mean by that, Yorishiro-sama?¡± (Karen)


    Because the darkness was being used by Lucifer -or more like, Ates- the love of the darkness was gone, and even the weakness that¡¯s supposed to be ¡®weak against light¡¯ was gone, and turned into a mindless danger that threatened to destroy the world.


    ¡°The darkness right now is different. I can feel the same kindness of Haine-san from the darkness that Lucifer is releasing...¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Because I remade it.) (Haine)


    Lucifer spoke again ¡ªwell, more like, Haine-san did.


    (Using the opening created from the partially destroyed body, and the reduction of light divine power, I took over its body by synchronizing with the dark matter coursing in its body. Right now, this guy is not the Light Demon Lord anymore.) (Haine)


    To put it in other words...


    (It is the Dark Demon Lord, Satan.) (Haine)

 Chapter 410-411 - Dark Demon Lord

    <h4>Chapter 410-411: Dark Demon Lord</h4>


    The danger of the darkness stopped as sudden as it came.


    Thanks to the Light Demon Lord Lucifer turning into the Dark Demon Lord Satan, the dark matter that was about to cover the whole world was possible to control.


    The fiendish dark matter had returned to simple dark matter and was being retrieved by the body of Satan.


    ¡°There we go...¡±


    And then, after everything was over, a single man came out from the mouth of Lucifer¡¯s giant body -I mean, Satan.


    ¡°Haine-san!¡± (Karen)


    I unconsciously ran towards him and hugged him.


    Without minding about the public gaze.


    ¡°Haine!¡± ¡°Haine-chi!¡± ¡°Haine-oniichan!¡± ¡°Haine-dono!¡±


    The others were also rushing one after the other.


    Of course, Yorishiro-sama as well...


    ¡°Haine-san, good work.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°No, the ones who did a good work were you all. Everyone did their best and managed to save the world.¡± (Haine)


    It felt as if their words were reaching directly to our hearts.


    Should I say as expected of the Light and Dark God here?


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine!¡± (Michael)


    The Demon Lords came down from the sky one after the other as well, but their expressions were that of uneasiness.


    ¡°What happened to Lucifer? This is...¡± (Michael)


    It caused us quite a lot of trouble, and even made the light and darkness inside itself go into a rampage, but now, it is practically as good as new now.


    It is a size smaller than that of the Light Demon Lord, and its body gave out a ck lustre as if it had been varnished, not showing a single wound on itself.


    ¡°Right now he is the Dark Demon Lord, Satan.¡± (Haine)


    Haine-san said.


    ¡°Looks like that Ates has abandoned her control rights of Lucifer, so taking advantage of that opening left, I took over and changed him. In order to make the dark matter spreading around harmless.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Was there a need to go through such lengths?¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael bites on.


    ¡°Eh? Raphael? Weren¡¯t you dead?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s of no importance right now. You should have been able to control the rampaging dark matter yourself, or eliminate itpletely! And yet, why did you go through such troublesome lengths?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Because I couldn¡¯t endure it, maybe?¡± (Haine)


    Haine-san silently looked up at Lucifer.


    ¡°If it were in the past, I would have erased it without any hesitation. But after fighting you Demon Lords, I have learned that you Demon Lords also have a life, also have a heart. It is because I thought that...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It was too pitiful to erase, then.¡± (Raphael)


    Haine-san nodded.


    ¡°Especially this guy. He was being used by Ates since the beginning of this incident. He was being used without being able to distinguish right or wrong, so I questioned whether it really was okay to have him take responsibility for it.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You...¡± (Raphael)


    Those words reached out to the Demon Lords the most.


    ¡°Can¡¯t have this guy hurt the humans anymore then!¡± (Michael)


    ¡°That was our objective from the very beginning though.¡± (Gabriel)


    ¡°With this, we havepletely lost any reason to fight the humans!¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Hmph, every single one of you are too soft.¡± (Raphael)


    They were trembling probably because they were moved.


    At that moment, I was sure.


    The battle with the Great Demon Lord Lucifer, the battle with the Demon Lords in general -no, not only that, the battle that continued for a hundred years with the monsters had...at this moment,e to an end.


    From now on, a new era will begin.


    An era where humans, monsters, and Gods will live together in peace.


    ¡°...By the way, where¡¯s Ates?¡± (Haine)


    Haine-san made a light-hearted question as if it was bothering him a bit, but that question made everyone in the ce stiffen.


    ¡°It was because her control had stopped suddenly that I was able to take over Lucifer, but...seeing that she is not around anywhere in sight, did she escape? Then we still have work to do!¡± (Haine)


    Haine-san was pondering seriously on his own, but everyone in the ce was serious for a different reason.


    Even if she was such a helplessly evil person, it was still hard to tell him about her death.


    ¡°Haine-san!¡±


    And from within that, as expected, the one to jump into to the fire first was Yorishiro-sama.


    ¡°Ates-san threw herself into the dark matter and...¡± (Yorishiro)


    (She is not dead.)


    !


    What was that voice just now?!


    That voice that reverberates right into the soul!


    ( There¡¯s no way you shouldn¡¯t have noticed as a God yourself, Yorishiro. In the end, for us, a human body is simply a temporary vessel. No matter if it were to fall, our real self that is the God soul will not be affected.)


    T-True!


    We also knew that Ates¡¯ true identity is the evil side that separated from the Light Goddess, and yet...!


    ¡°Ates! Where are you?! Where are you speaking from?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    (It just means that everything went ording to n. The reason I erased the body of Ates was because I wanted to escape from that body. That was my real objective. It didn¡¯t matter if Lucifer destroyed the world or not!) (Ates)


    What does that mean?!


    (If I were to threaten you people with Lucifer destroying the world, and you were to seed in stopping it, I knew that you all would lower your guards!! That opening is what I was looking for!!) (Ates)


    Ates¡¯ voice showed slight regret for a bit.


    (If the world were destroyed and the world where Haine-san and I could be together forever were created, it would have been perfect, but...! Now that it hase to this, I won¡¯t wish for too much! I will keep it to one wish! It is fine as long as I be one with my beloved! Haine-san! No, Dark God Entropy!) (Ates)


    It was at that moment.


    From what we thought was now the harmless Dark Demon Lord, a small thorn flew out from its body.


    No, that¡¯s not it.


    It isn¡¯t a small thorn!


    Satan¡¯s body is gigantic to begin with, so even if it is small for it, if it were in human size, it is plenty of a normal size.


    A small size for Satan would be...a spear in our eyes.


    A pitch ck spear came out from Satan¡¯s body.


    ¡°That¡¯s...!¡± (Karen)


    I remember it.


    That¡¯s the shadow spear, Abel!


    The divine tool that holds the power of shadow that Ates disyed when she escaped from the Light Church.


    Moreover, its target is...Haine-san!


    ¡°Haine-san, watch out!¡± (Karen)


    Ates¡¯st aim was, as expected, Haine-san!


    The shadow spear Abel came out from aplete blind spot when we were concentrating in the voice of Ates, so at this moment, even Haine-san can¡¯t react in time!!


    (It is already toote! Now Haine-san, ept myst wish! And let¡¯s be one!!) (Ates)


    *Stab*


    The sound of a de entering flesh.


    But the shadow spear didn¡¯t pierce Haine-san, but me...Kourin Karen.


    ¡°Karen-san?!¡± (Haine)


    I made it in time.


    Just as it was about to happen, I went in between Haine-san and the spear and protected Haine-san with my body.


    In exchange, the spear was stabbed deeply inside my body though.


    (You......!! How dare you! How dare you, you damn brat!!) (Ates)


    The voice of Ates reverberates from no ce in particr.


    (You are still getting in my way! Every single time!! If only you weren¡¯t there! If only you were gone!!) (Ates)


    ¡°Ates! So this was yourst card!¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro-sama says as she runs to me.


    Directed at the spear that¡¯s pierced in me.


    ¡°So the reason why you incarnated into a human and even became a hero of the Light Church to make the shadow spear Abel was because of this?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Exin, Yorishiro!¡± (Haine)


    Haine-san showed desperation while supporting my body.


    I am happy that he is being kind with me, but my emotions are not being ted. It was as if my emotions were leaking out of my body along with my blood...


    ¡°Shadow divine power is converted to light divine power. The shadow spear Abel specializes in controlling that shadow divine power.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Ates herself is the incarnation of a God, so if she were to strip off her flesh body and return to her God form, that form is quite close to that of divine power. If she changes herself into shadow and takes shelter in the shadow spear, and then, uses it to pierce Haine-san with it...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°W-What will happen?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Darkness and shadow hold pretty simr attributes. If darkness and shadow were to mix through the shadow spear, it might have been possible for Ates to literally be one with Haine-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?!¡± (Haine)


    That was the end goal of Ates.


    For that sake, she made the shadow spear Abel.


    (...That¡¯s right. After destroying the world and creating a new world, Entropy and I would be one, and we would live our lives without ever being bothered by anyone. That was my ideal. My ultimate objective, and yet...!) (Ates)


    The pitch ck spear speaks begrudgingly.


    So Ates¡¯ soul really did enter this spear after her body perished.


    (Not a single thing was fulfilled! My ambitions dashed...because of a single human worm!!) (Ates)


    ¡°Shut up!!¡± (Haine)


    Haine-san shouted.


    It was a raspy voice that I hadn¡¯t heard from him before.


    ¡°Who cares about you! More importantly, Karen-san! We have to treat Karen-san as soon as possible!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Wait, Haine-san! If you take out the spear right now, she might bleed out! Wait until preparations for the treatment are done!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Celestis! Please do something! Treating injuries is your specialty, right?!¡± (Haine)


    Haine-san is being so desperate for my sake.


    I am kind of happy...


    It feels like I am being treasured...


    (Who cares?! Who cares about me, you say?!) (Ates)


    I could feel the despairing from the ck spear.


    (No way! I have been thinking only about you for 1,600 years! I acted for your sake!) (Ates)


    Rejection from her loved one.


    That was the ultimate despair for her.


    All her objectives have been thwarted, and she has no weapon or power left. All of those things that were supporting her, she lost them all. With that, Ates ¡ªno, the other Light Goddess, lost all strength and disappeared.


    She might have really been just the shadow that separated from the true Light Goddess Intion.


    She was a part of a God, she only had a small part of the powerpared to the real body, but she used her feelings for her loved one as support to make it all the way here.


    Because she is only a small part of a whole, her emotions were limited. She could only like her sole love.


    That¡¯s why she could only hate everyone aside from her loved one.


    Maybe she was actually...


    (A pitiful person.) (Karen)


    ¡°Get a grip of yourself, Karen-san!! Don¡¯t stop breathing!!¡±


    A person shouts loudly in my ears.


    Who is it?


    Ah, Yorishiro-sama huh.


    It took me time to remember.


    ¡°Celestis, please do something! If it is in your God Hero state, you should be able to close the hole in her body with water divine power, right?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°T-That¡¯s not possible! Because the ce where this spear is pierced is Karen-chi¡¯s...!¡± (Celestis)


    Heart.


    The shadow spear Abel had pierced through the left side of my chest.


    ¡°It is instant death! The moment she was pierced by it, her breathing and pulse stopped! Please ept reality! Haine-san and Yorishiro-sama, please don¡¯t pretend as if you don¡¯t see it!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Lies! Karen-san can be saved! Isn¡¯t that right?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please open your eyes, Karen-san! Please breath! You are not the kind of person who would die here, right?!¡± (Yorishiro)


    I see... I am already dead huh.


    Then, the reason why I can see everyone around must be because I have turned into a soul and looking at them that way?


    It may be that my ascension is being slightly postponed but will soon head to heaven in a while.


    Haine-san, Yorishiro-sama, please don¡¯t be so sad.


    I have saved the world as a hero, and was able to fight for you two.


    I am plenty satisfied.


    You two can probably take off your flesh body ande to the heavens in an instant as Gods.


    Because you are humans, and at the same time, the Dark God and the Light Goddess after all.


    Please return to that heaven only after you have properly finished your life here.


    I am the light hero, Kourin Karen.


    I managed to finish my job as a hero.

 Chapter 412-413 - The departure of a hero

    <h4>WR ¨C Chapter 412-413: The departure of a hero</h4>


    Four years have passed since then.


    The Great Demon Lord Lucifer¡¯s cmity had been brought to an end; the Demon Lord mayhem was brought to an end.


    That long and fierce battle was a big turning point in all the people in the world.


    For the humans, the demons, and the Gods as well.


    Since the time we saw off the termination of the evil Light Goddess who was controlling Lucifer, we were all covered in dealing with the aftermath.


    In that fight, the Great Demon Lord Lucifer had released darkness, and the five heroes managed to reach out to the power of darkness by joining their strengths.


    The waves created from the sh of the two darknesses had spread through the whole world and affected it.


    The actual damage wasn¡¯t high, but it created a big question in their minds.


    ¡®What was that power?¡¯


    Fire, earth, wind, water, and light.


    ¡®What¡¯s that new power that doesn¡¯t match the elements of any of the Gods of Creation?¡¯


    This time, there were people who had a clear answer to that question.


    Not only that, the groundwork for that had been created already. It wasn¡¯t as if it was a power that wasn¡¯t seen by anyone before. So when those mysterious waves resonated, some were able to make a connection.


    And so, those people didn¡¯t hesitate to answer that question.


    Right now, all the people in the whole world clearly learned of the existence of the Dark God, Entropy.


    *****


    ¡°Haine-san, so you were here huh.¡±


    Four years have passed since then, but the cityscape of Apollon City hasn¡¯t changed.


    While I -Kuromiya Haine- was looking at that sight, the Light Founder Yorishiro called out to me.


    ¡°You have been looking at the citytely.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Because I will be leaving this city soon after all.¡± (Haine)


    For me, for the human Kuromiya Haine, this city is a city with a lot of memories.


    This city that I had first arrived at after leaving for the first time from my vige that¡¯s deep in the mountains.


    Aftering to this city, I for the first time was able to touch the whole of this world, and there, I learned about both the world that the humans took a long time to raise, and also the distortion that was formed by the selfishness of the Gods.


    In order to do justice to the hard work of the humans, I fought in order to fix that distortion the Gods created.


    That battle that took a part of Kuromiya Haine¡¯s life is soon going toe to a close.


    ¡°Sinceing to this city, I have truly faced quite a lot of things.¡± (Haine)


    Fun things, shocking things, frustrating things.


    I am Kuromiya Haine, but at the same time, I am the Dark God Entropy.


    For me as the Dark God, the life of this body basically onlysts as long as the blink of an eye, but even with that, it had a depth to it that rivals the 1,600 years after creating this world.


    It has been around 20 years since I was born in this body. Right now, there¡¯s still more than half of my life left as Kuromiya Haine.


    And yet, I am plenty satisfied.


    I am truly d I incarnated as a human.


    ¡°Now then, if we don¡¯t go soon, we will miss the ceremony.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Do I really have to go? I don¡¯t think I am rted at all though.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°What are you saying? You have to see her shining moment. More so since you have decided on leaving after the ceremony is finished. It is an unavoidable thing if you want to put a proper conclusion.¡± (Yorishiro)


    So you say but...


    ¡°Now, hurry. If you arete here, it will be a regret of yours for life.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Saying it as if it is a marriage...¡± (Haine)


    Well, for her, it is as big of a turning point in her life as a marriage huh.


    Today, an important ceremony will be taking ce for the Light Church.


    The ceremony for a new hero.


    ****


    ¡°We will now be beginning the ceremony for the new light hero, Light Ray.¡±


    A big amount of people were gathered in the Light Grand Church.


    In order to see the new light hero that will be carrying the standard of the Light Church from today on.


    ¡°Ray, over here.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Y-Y-Yessu!¡± (Ray)


    Yorishiro was fulfilling her duty as Founder and called out to her, and the 15 year old girl that still looked young had stood in attention.


    That girl is Light Ray.


    The new light hero that was chosen with the consensus of the Light Church.


    It has been two years since she entered the ranks of the Light Church, and had her skills acknowledged by the Aurora Knight corps. She managed to climb all the way to being a hero in that short amount of time, so it was clear how much talent she has.


    Even with that, Ray is still young andpletely nervous here.


    It is a given. She is still a delicate 15 year old girl after all.


    No doubt she is not used to having the attention of so many people.


    ¡°Light Ray, you will be the light hero that will be representing our church from today on. You will have to spread the influence of the Light Goddess Intion-sama -the protection of the light- to the world. Do you have that resolve?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°I shu!! ¡ªI do!!¡± (Ray)


    Stumbled again.


    She is a girl that has low guts to begin with, so the ceremony today might have been too heavy on her.


    It was the right choice for me to participate huh.


    ¡°Ray, you can do it.¡± (Haine)


    I send her some encouragement in a low voice so that it doesn¡¯t bother the ceremony.


    Because I, for some reason, am considered an important person of the Light Church, I was standing by the side of the Founder, and I was pretty close to where Ray is, so it properly reached her.


    ¡°?!¡±


    And with my encouragement as the trigger, Ray¡¯s expression tightens.


    ¡°...Please rest assured, Founder-sama! I, Light Ray, will fulfill my duty with all I have so I don¡¯t bring shame to the great previous hero-sama!!¡± (Ray)


    ¡°Splendid show of resolve.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro nodded pleasedly.


    ¡°Then, I will entrust you your personal holy sword. And at the same time...¡± (Yorishiro)


    The eyes of Yorishiro shift to a certain ce.


    ¡°As per tradition, the previous light hero will be returning her holy sword. Now previous light hero, Kourin Karen-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes, Founder-sama.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san, who was lined up with me a few steps back of Yorishiro, moved forward with her turning.


    She is now 20 years old and has grown beautifully as a woman.


    ¡°Karen-san, with a new light hero assuming the post, your duty as hero has finallye to an end. Thank you for all the work you have done until now.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°It is too great of an honor, Founder-sama.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°In thest Demon Lord battle against Lucifer, I was truly d that you managed to return after what seemed to be a despairing situation. Since then, you have continued to work splendidly as the light hero representing the church.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Today, Karen-san is finally not a hero anymore.


    Since the moment I met her, she has been the light hero. So it felt really weird that she won¡¯t be a hero from now on.


    ¡°Founder-sama ¡ªIntion-sama, the holy sword Saint-George that was entrusted to me, I will be returning it to you as of today.¡± (Karen)


    For the people around, those were words as if she were speaking to Yorishiro as well as the Light Goddess that the church worships.


    There¡¯s only a few limited amount of people who know the truth.


    Both of them are the same person.


    Karen-san said it in such way with that intention.


    ¡°Karen-san... This is the holy sword Arthur that will be entrusted to the new hero. Please pass it on with your own hands.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Karen-san received the new holy sword from Yorishiro, and then, turns around to the girl that will be seeding her.


    ¡°Ray, since the moment I saw you when you joined the Aurora Knight corps, my instincts told me that this day woulde. From now on, you are the light hero.¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, Karen-san hands over the new holy sword to the new hero.


    ¡°It will definitely be a hard journey, but I am sure you will be able to do it. Do your best.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Leave it to me! I will be a light hero that won¡¯t lose to your shine, Karen-neesama!¡± (Ray)


    And just like this, a hero had departed from the Light Church.


    Now, Karen-san is simply Kourin Karen.


    At thest fight of the Great Demon Lord battle.


    Karen-san had taken my ce in receiving the attack that had everything of Ates, and she ended up with her heart pierced, bringing instant death.


    She was already in a state where no one could do anything.


    No matter the God, it is not possible to bring back a life that¡¯s reaching its end -it shouldn¡¯t be done.


    In that time when we could only despair our own powerlessness, the one who gave us a saving hand was an unexpected person.


    ¡°In the first ce, Ates was...¡±


    Ates was the separated part of the Light Goddess, the evil part of her heart.


    Ates had changed her pure light divine power into shadow and entered the shadow spear Abel ¡ªin order tobine with me, the Dark God.


    Karen-san took my ce.


    The converted divine power of the Light Goddess that should have been injected into me had been injected into Karen-san instead and hadbined with the human soul of Karen-san.


    The soul of a human and a God were bing one.


    Because of this, Karen-san had turned into something that is human and at the same time isn¡¯t.


    Karen-san herself had be the other Light Goddess Intion.


    *****


    ¡°After that, it was easy to heal my own body with the divine power I gained.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says, looking back to that time.


    The ceremony safely finished and Karen-san is not the light hero anymore.


    ¡°I was truly scared at first.¡± (Haine)


    I was also remembering that time and shivers ran down my spine.


    No matter how many times I remember it, it still has the same effect on me.


    ¡°It is because I felt that the divine power of Ates was resonating with Karen-san¡¯s divine power through the pierced spear that I was questioning myself what in the world would happen.¡± (Haine)


    I was relieved when I saw that her body was regenerating with the fused divine power of Ates, but I soon began to imagine another scary possibility.


    Because Karen-san had fused with that Ates.


    An existence that basically consisted on only the wicked parts of the Light Goddess.


    If she were to fuse with something like that... It made me tremble in fear just thinking that maybe her whole personality would be overwritten and Ates would return.


    In the end, the one who came back was Karen-san who didn¡¯t show much difference from before.


    ¡°The personality of Ates herself had vanished before it fused with me.¡± (Karen)


    The eyes of Karen-san lower and she shows a sorrowful expression.


    ¡°After being rejected by Entropy who she had felt strongly for all that time, in the weakened mental state she was in, she was unable to maintain herself. She was the kind of person that even went as far as to think that there¡¯s no need for the world as long as Haine-san existed after all.¡± (Karen)


    So my rejection was plenty shocking enough to push thosest remaining fingers holding on right down into the precipice huh.


    She really had nothing revolving around herself but her own agenda.


    ¡°After losing her essence, the divine power that had turned into pure energy only had found a shelter that is my soul and fused with it.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I am surprised it went so smoothly. Ates and Karen-san may have simr elements to begin with, but at that time, Ates had changed to shadow, you know. Moreover, she was a Goddess.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Because shadow is basically an intermediate of light and darkness, thepatibility with both was high. Also, my connection as a God Hero most likely served as an intermediate, making the fusing smoother. With the essence of Ates gone, that power of hers had no choice but to recreate its existence with me as the core.¡± (Karen)


    As the new light.


    And so, she was reborn. A human, but at the same time, a God. A God that has a human soul ¡ªThat¡¯s Kourin Karen.


    ¡°Karen-san...... I am truly sorry.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Again with the apologizing, Haine-san? In these four years, every time this conversation is brought out, you apologize.¡± (Karen)


    Yeah, but the soul of Karen-san that was supposed to live and die as a proper human had been tied in the curse that is being a God.


    Even if her body were to perish, her soul would exist forever. That¡¯s the kind of curse it is.


    ¡°It is fine. If it were an eternity with only myself, I would be so lonely I wouldn¡¯t be able to take it, but I have people that can live together with me forever.¡± (Karen)


    Saying this, Karen-san held my hand in a very natural manner.


    ¡°For now, I will stay as Karen, and Haine-san will stay as Haine-san. I look forward to what the future will bring us.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah...¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san obviously already knows my identity.


    My identity as the Dark God Entropy.


    In the end, we revealed it all, and even with that, we still decided on staying together.


    It means there¡¯s already no escaping it.


    ¡°It is nice that you are getting along, but...¡±


    Someone intruded in our alone time.


    ¡°It would be troubling if you were to forget about me.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Yorishiro-sama! We three, no matter how many times we reincarnate, will be together!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san and Yorishiro who are already Light Goddesses were hugging.


    An eternity with me, the Dark God.


    That was the very wish of Ates that was born from a series of events, but in the end, Karen-san was the one who managed to aplish that wish of hers.


    But even with that, Karen-san is critically different from Ates.


    My basis for that is that Ates saw her ideal world as a ce where only her and I were in and anyone else wasn¡¯t allowed...but Karen-san acknowledged everyone that was around her.


    Her love wasn¡¯t only targeted at me, but the whole world.


    Getting involved with this whole world and creating connections, she spread varieties of love, and received the love of others in return.


    Even if they were aiming for the same result, Karen-san and Ates were separated by a deep line that could be considered a boundary.


    ¡°Karen-san, you are not a hero anymore starting today, so our rtionship will be even simpler now.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Right! Our rtionship as hero and Founder-sama is gone! We are purely friends now! Love-Loverades of Haine-san!!¡± (Karen)


    Yeah...


    Gotta cast my doubts in the way you put it.


    ¡°I as well. Having a friend like you to share our eternities together, I feel like it will be quite the fun eternity. But right now, let¡¯s enjoy our lives as Yorishiro and Karen. Haine-san will definitely make it fun!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes! Yorishiro-sama!¡± (Karen)


    Wait, it is troubling to put so much expectations on me!


    ...And so, in this way, Karen-san waspletely prepared to enjoy her eternal life as a God.


    As I thought, humans are strong in a lot of meanings.


    ¡°Anyways, right now, we should enjoy the fact that your title as hero is gone. The preparations for departure are already done, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ah, yeah! Right!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san is no longer a hero now.


    Kourin Karen will now walk a new and different path from the one when she was the light hero, but before that, it wouldn¡¯t be bad to have a slight intermission.


    ¡°Using this chance, you will be visiting your friends, right? That¡¯s quite good.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes! We have been pretty busytely, so I haven¡¯t seen them for quite a while. I was thinking about checking how they have been recently!¡± (Karen)


    The heroes that had ovee that final battle together with her.


    They have finished their duties as heroes just like Karen-san and are walking through a new path now.


    Karen-san wanted to use this chance that she had graduated from being a hero to check how they are doing.


    ¡°Then, Haine-san, I will be leaving the escorting of Karen-san to you-desu wa.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Ya got it.¡± (Haine)


    It was decided that I would be apanying Karen-san in that trip of hers.


    The reason I will be leaving Apollon City was because of that.


    ¡°I can¡¯t go together with you because of my work as Founder, but we are going to be living together for what will be close to an eternity, so not being together for a bit shouldn¡¯t be much.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Right...¡± (Haine)


    I ended up leaking out a dry ¡®hahaha...¡¯ along.


    ¡°Then, let¡¯s meet at that ce.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yeah, at that ce then.¡± (Haine)


    Receiving the farewell from Yorishiro, we finally depart.


    The trip for Karen-san¡¯s hero graduation.


    ¡°Haine-san, let¡¯s go.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san takes a seat on the ethereal flying machine she had prepared.


    If we are going to go around the other nations, there¡¯s no doubt we would need these guys.


    The flight of these guys has truly helped us out in a lot of situations.


    ¡°Haine-san, will you be sitting at the back? Or at the front?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°We have our personal flying machines, you know.¡± (Haine)


    Karen-san and I riding one flying machine was a thing that happened way back when we first met.


    Now that I think about it, it was also my first time riding a flying machine.


    A lot of things happened since then huh.


    ¡°Is that really okay? Don¡¯t you want to ride behind me again and cop a feel of my boobs?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°As I said, please forget about that already!!¡± (Haine)


    A lot of things indeed happened, and yet, girls really don¡¯t forget the dark past of men.

 Chapter 414-415 - The Fire since then

    <h4>WR ¨C Chapter 414-415: The Fire since then</h4>


    And so, in this way, I ended up apanying her in her celebratory trip.


    The first ce we would be visiting is the Fire capital, Muspelheim.


    It is the closest to Apollon City, and that¡¯s exactly why our first encounter was with the fire hero Mirack and hadplications with her, but now, it is a far memory.


    I heard that Mirack had already entrusted her hero title.


    A retirement a step faster than Karen-san and the start of a new life.


    What is she doing now?


    *****


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡±


    When we arrived at the Fire Church¡¯s headquarters,the one who weed us was the Fire Demon Lord, Michael.


    The Demon Lords are currently learning about human society to properly know about humans.


    ¡°Oh, long time no see.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Kuromiya Haine, it is great to see that you are doing well.¡± (Michael)


    The first time I met these guys, I didn¡¯t even think a day where we could carefreely talk like this woulde.


    We Gods were with the intention of wiping out the Demon Lords.


    The reason why we have surpassed that n and ended up being able to hold hands with the Demon Lords is thanks to the greatness of the humans.


    ¡°It has been a while, Michael-san. How is Mirack-chan doing?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san kept the greetings to a minimum and asks a question connected to her reason for visiting.


    For her, Mirack is the friend she has been acquainted with the longest.


    Because they have been busytely with their hero sessors, they haven¡¯t met for a long time.


    ¡°If it is her, she should have left to do her show biz again.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Show biz?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You guys should go check it out as well. That Mirack, thinking of such an interesting thing, I expected no less of a human.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡±


    From inside the Fire Church, another bulky muscr person came out who looked like the very definition of a big man.


    The Fire Founder.


    In the past, he worked as a General of the Fire Militant corps, but even now, he is still plenty muscr, and looked like he could join the frontlines at any moment.


    ¡°Master.¡± (Michael)


    Michael spoke with respect towards that Fire Founder-san.


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Michael)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness.¡± (Enou)


    ¡°Master says that he will settle matters on his side, so you two can head directly to the venue.¡± (Michael)


    ¡®Thank you very much¡¯, Karen-san says with a cramped face.


    ¡°...Uhm, Haine-san.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Yeah?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Even now, I am still unable to understand the Fire Founder-sama at all... Andtely, Michael-san is beginning to resemble him more and more...!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Let there be hot-bloodedness, Karen-san.¡± (Haine)


    Men are of few words.


    *******


    While we were at that, someone from the Fire Church guided us to the venue in question.


    Many spectators were crowding the ce.


    There¡¯s something like a square in the middle of that crowd... Is it like a stage?


    ¡°It is apparently called a ¡®ring¡¯.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says this as she looks at the pamphlet that was given to us when we entered the ce.


    ¡°ording to what is written in this pamphlet, this is apparently a show to enjoy battles.¡± (Karen)


    A show to watch and enjoy battles?


    ¡°Idea by the previous fire hero, it says... In other words, it is referring to Mirack-chan, right? It is apparently an event that Mirack-chan thought of. The one where you cheer for your preferred fighter in the one on one battles as you enjoy watching...¡± (Kanre)


    I check the pamphlet that I was given.


    They are fighting under set rules, so there¡¯s no danger for the fighters and the audience huh.


    ¡°The new type of show Mirack proposed. Its name is...pro-wrestling.¡± (Haine)


    When my understanding reached to that point, the venue suddenly raised in excitement.


    By the time I noticed, there was some sort of referee-looking person on top of the ring.


    ¡°Everyone, excuse the wait! The main event of today will be starting now!!¡±


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°YEEAAAAAAHHH!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    With that announcement, the crowded venue got incredibly fired up.


    To the point that I feltpletely left out not knowing what was going on at all.


    ¡°First, at the red side! The representative of the Muspelheim Pro-Wrestling and the previous fire hero, the fire whirlwind that saved the world, Katack Mirack!!¡±


    The audience raised big cheers as the muscr woman went up the ring.


    In these four years, her body build has gotten even more pronounced.


    ¡°Mirack-chan is the same as always...!¡± (Karen)


    Seeing her friend at an unexpected ce, Karen-san was happy, but at the same time, surprised.


    ¡°Now for her opponent, this one is also a central figure of our Muspelheim Pro-Wrestling! Its poprity tops even our representative Mirack! The rampaging cow! The Fire Cow Phris!!¡±


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°¡°YEEEEAAAAAAAHHH!!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    What incredible cheering!


    And the one getting up to the stage at the opposite side of the ring is a honest to word cow!


    This one is also someone we are all too familiar with!


    ¡°What is that guy doing?!¡± (Haine)


    Mirack and Phris were ring at each other and sparks were flying.


    ¡°Well then, this is a pairing that we in the Muspelheim Pro-Wrestling are familiar with! With a total of 57 matches; Mirack with 29 wins, and Phris with 28 wins! They are evenly contested!!¡±


    They have been fighting that much?!


    ¡°Will Phris win today and line up the wins?! Or will Mirack pull her tenacity as former hero and pull further away?! The gong of fate will be sounding now!!¡±


    *Kong!*


    With a dry sound like that of a bell, Mirack and Phris begin their sh.


    Looks like that¡¯s the signal for the match to start.


    At the same time as this happened, the heat of the audience reached max output and it felt as if the whole venue had turned into a battlefield.


    ¡°This is...pro-wrestling?!¡± (Haine)


    Phris rams Mirack, and she grabs and throws him away. A sole physical battle with no divine power involved unfolded and fast attacks were dished one after the other from both sides.


    Seeing this battle, the audience increased in tension, and by the time I noticed, I was also raising my voice and cheering.


    *****


    After the match ended.


    With the kindness of the organizer, we were able to intrude in the waiting rooms.


    Well, I say organizer, but I am talking about Mirack herself though.


    ¡°Ooh, Karen!! It has truly been a while!!¡± (Mirack)


    We reunite with Mirack at one of those waiting rooms.


    She had already taken a shower, and had finished cleaning herself up from the sweat that she had from the match.


    And just a bit lower, Phris was once again munching on grass.


    ¡°So you have finally graduated from heroics as well huh. Everyone is steadily changing.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah. I was specially surprised by your change, Mirack-chan.¡± (Karen)


    It looks like Karen-san was unable to ride on this so called pro-wrestling that she saw today even till the end.


    ¡°Oh, how was it, Karen? The pro-wrestling I thought of, was it fun?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°I didn¡¯t understand it well!¡± (Karen)


    A truly honest opinion.


    Mirack and the other heroes have not met that much in these four years, but the changes that match that time were truly surprising.


    ¡°I heard that Mirack was one of the heroes that retired pretty early within the legendary generation, but I see, you quit being a hero and were doing this huh.¡± (Haine)


    The legendary generation refers to Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and Hyue.


    The title for the five heroes that managed to fight through the toughest battle in the history of the five Grand Churches.


    Those five were the ones who brought a true closing to the battle between humans and monsters, so their heroic achievements will most likely be passed down in history for many generations toe.


    ¡°Yeah. Even when I stopped being a hero, I wanted to aim for the path of the strongest, you see. But bringing strife in the peace that I managed to gain with myrades would be stupid.¡± (Mirack)


    Strength is something that is polished in battle.


    But in present society, battles like those arepletely gone.


    ¡°And so, I thought that it would be nice to have people who aim for that same summit to fight in set rules. Then, make it into the entertainment industry, sell tickets to spectate them, and profit even more from it.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°That¡¯s quite well nned for you, Mirack.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well, I asked Celestis for advice in matters of the entertainment industry though.¡± (Mirack)


    Ah, her huh.


    She herself is profiting in the idol entertainment industry, so she might have a few things to say.


    ¡°Ufufu, Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan get along especially well even within the Legendary Generation after all.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-chan said this with a smile and this made Mirack grimace.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say something so itchy, Karen! Me and her are fire and water! There¡¯s no way we would get along!¡± (Mirack)


    (Keep telling yourself that.)


    The cow that was munching on grass at the side of Mirack said this.


    A voice that came from the soul waves that normal people can¡¯t hear.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Nova-sama. Have you been doing well?¡± (Karen)


    (Hmph! How can I be doing well being trapped in this monster body! On top of that, I am being made to tag along with this woman¡¯s tomfoolery. It is a pain all over!) (Nova)


    Because of the Demon Lord incident, the path that links the Gods had been opened to the Legendary Generation to have them be God Heroes.


    Thanks to that, Karen-san and the others are able to converse in the soul waves that should only work for Gods.


    This Fire God, he is already apletely popr figure of the church as a cow, but to think he would also join the entertainment industry.


    ¡°See, Karen? Our God is not cute at all, right? He is always spitting hateful words like this.¡± (Mirack)


    I waspletely on the same opinion as Mirack.


    He says he doesn¡¯t like his cow body, and yet, continues in that body for four years now. He really isn¡¯t honest.


    ¡°The pro-wrestling industry that I proposed, at first, didn¡¯t have people who could properly match me, andcked the ability to heat up the people, but that changed when this guy began participating. He has poprity with the kids to begin with, so he is the best customer gathering cow.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°The Fire Church has truly been blessed with a great God.¡± (Karen)


    Phris snorts at the two chatting as he continued munching on grass.


    ¡°Hey Karen, and also Haine.¡± (Mirack)


    Mirack says reservedly.


    ¡°The world has changed since the battle four years ago. The five churches don¡¯t fight each other anymore, and the rtionship they have is good.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah.¡± (Karen)


    Totally right.


    ¡°And so, in this, we heroes have changed our ways. The roles for the active military forces are mostly gone, and the Church¡¯s duty of public rtionship has gotten a close up because of this.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°And you are saying this pro-wrestling is an extension of that duty?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is part of it. I wanted to do good for the world in my own way even if I have retired from being a hero. Things might be a bit awkward between me and my juniors though.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Now that you mention it, the fire hero that seeded you is that Firey-chan, right?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says as if remembering.


    In that past, when Mirack was still an active hero, there were three girls that were sticking to Mirack as their little sisters kind of thing.


    One of those three had managed to be the next hero.


    ¡°Yeah, Braidley and ssfin seem to be supporting her by her side. The title of fire hero was passed on to Firey alone, but in the end, the three of them together make one proper person, I would say.¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Mirack-chan, you are talking like the old Kyouka-san...¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It really makes me actually taste that the previous heroes are truly troublesome existences for the current ones. Hey Karen, you will be going to visit Celestis, Sasae, and Hyue, right?¡± (Mirack)


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I n on doing.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Then, please give them my regards. That, in the near future, let¡¯s all five of us gather together again.¡± (Mirack)


    Even when she has passed on her position as hero, Mirack still continues to tread the path of the strongest. Moreover, this is not only to make herself stronger.


    By interacting with others, it influences each other, and it makes the world itself progress. A healthy path to bing the strongest.


    (Oi, Entropy.) (Nova)


    Nova speaks to me while I had nothing to do.


    (Later, at the specified ce.) (Nova)


    ¡°Yeah, I know. At the specified ce.¡± (Haine)


    And so, in this way, we headed to the next location.


    ¡°Aah~, I can¡¯t stand this! Unbelievable!!¡±


    The moment we arrived at Hydra Ville, the one who weed us was the cursing of the water hero, Celestis.


    ...No, she is not the water hero anymore, so it would be more urate to say former hero.


    ¡°What¡¯s with this, geez! ...Ah, Karen-chi and Haine-chi, long time no see! Hey, geez, are you listening?!¡± (Celestis)


    Even when she was weing us, she continuedining.


    It is a pain, so if you are going to do something, please do one thing at a time.


    ¡°Celestis-chan...! It has been a while, and yet, what is it that you areining so much about?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san had just reunited with her friend, so she could only be bewildered by the great storming of hers.


    That Celestis, in these four years, she has grown remarkably and I thought that she now had more leeway in her idol work, but...if she throws a tantrum like this, no matter which part it is, it is aplete waste.


    ¡°...The moment we came to Hydra Ville, we were guided by a church member all the way here, but there was no exnation of this. Just what is the matter, Celestis-chan? Celestis-chan also retired from being a hero, right?¡± (Karen)


    We are currently at a room in the Water Church¡¯s headquarters.


    And for some reason, all openings counting the windows were tightly closed, and it was as if to not let anyone escape. Yet, the only one in that room is Celestis.


    Well, until we came to visit her, that is.


    ¡°...This is like some sort of prison cell. What did you do this time, Celestis?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please perish the thought of me being imprisoned because I did something bad!! I didn¡¯t do anything! Even though I did nothing wrong, I am being imprisoned!!¡± (Celestis)


    This was the reason why Celestis was in a bad mood from the very beginning.


    When we were guided to this pseudo-prison cell, the water church member asked us: ¡®please appease Celestis-sama¡¯.


    ¡°Then why did it turn into this imprisoning? Celestis-chan, be honest here.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Why are you talking as if you were reprimanding a problem child?! I haven¡¯t done anything! If I had to say a reason, it would be because I retired as a hero!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°?¡±¡±


    I don¡¯t understand even less now.


    Why is her freedom taken away even more when she has retired from her duty as a hero?


    ¡°...It is rted to a tradition of our Water Church.¡±


    The door opened, and the one who entered was the Water Founder-sama.


    ¡°Ah! Papa!!¡± (Celestis)


    By the way, he is also the father of Celestis.


    ¡°Geez, Papa! Free me already! I have things I want to do!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°That won¡¯t do. Celestis, you have retired from being the water hero, so you have to walk forward to a new path. And, in terms of our Water Church, the path of a retired hero has already been decided.¡± (Azul)


    Ah, right.


    Now that he mentions it, I think I have heard about it a long time ago.


    The retired water heroes would mostly marry right after retirement and enter an influential family of Hydra Ville.


    Since heroes are mostly girls, moreover, they have long years of achievements with the church, it would turn into a big connection for both the family and the church.


    If a former hero were to be wedded, it would create a thick connection to the church.


    In other words, the retired heroes of the Water Church are soon thrusted into a political marriage.


    The hero that came before Celestis, Sarasa-san, married an influential family as well right after she retired.


    Celestis has retired as well, so she would be made to marry some family, and it would strengthen the connections of the Water Church.


    ¡°As I have been saying many times already, I have no intentions of going through predetermined rails!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis showed a proud confrontational stance.


    So this is the reason why she is being imprisoned.


    ¡°Even if there¡¯s the need for a new path after retiring as a hero, like hell I would want to marry and pass my days stagnating as a wife! If I have to pass such boring years, I would prefer to die!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°You may say that, Celestis, but not only did you bring unprecedented achievements as a hero, you are also my daughter. This may not be the best way to put it, but within the water heroes that have had political marriages, your worth can¡¯t bepared to any others. Look.¡± (Azul)


    Saying this, the Water Founder-sama ced a big bundle of papers on top of the table.


    It was so thick that it would be better to say it is tall. The weight of it was making the table creak.


    ¡°What¡¯s with this big bundle of papers?¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Photos sent to Celestis for a marriage interview. There¡¯s more than two hundred.¡± (Azul)


    More than two hundred?!


    ¡°Requests to marry Celestis have not been limited to Hydra Ville but the whole world. Society has changed and the rtionship of the five Grand Churches has grown to the better, and there¡¯s also the poprity of Celestis as an idol bringing heavy effects in this too.¡± (Azul)


    The Water Founder-sama says this as if mentally fatigued.


    I on the other hand had my interest piqued and flipped through the marriage interview photos.


    All of them were handsome men with their backs straight, but...eh? I feel like I saw a familiar face?


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this General Vesage?!¡± (Haine)


    A light knight of our church, and in these four years, he finally managed to be promoted all the way to General.


    Why is he sending a marriage interview photo?! Does he have the permission of the Founder?!


    ¡°If there¡¯s a proper person I, as Celestis father, can leave her care to, there would be nothing as relieving as that. Celestis, if you acknowledge me as your father, can you please find a good family to marry into as filial piety?¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Ugh...! If you put it that way...!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis and the Founder-sama lived their lives without recognizing each other as father and daughter for more than a decade due to several circumstances.


    Well, it was a political and status rted matter the likes of Hydra Ville.


    Even with theck of parental love between the two, this didn¡¯t make it weaker, it rather made the long time make them care for each other even more.


    ¡°It is true that I would like to answer the expectations of Papa as much as possible, but...! But I can¡¯t pull back in this! I want to paint my own life with my own hands! I don¡¯t want to pass that privilege to others!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Celestis...!¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Papa, listen! I will stop being an idol as well!¡± (Celestis)


    That announcement not only shocked the Founder-sama, but also Karen-san and I as spectators.


    When speaking of Celestis, it is idols.


    The unheard ofbination of being a hero and idol at the same time, that made her even more unique than the previous generation heroes.


    She herself treasured her idol work as her life, and yet, she is suddenly saying she will quit it?!


    ¡°I have been thinking about it for a while now. I have already passed my teens, so continuing as an idol would be pushing it. I have been thinking since a while ago about graduating from the idol industry after retiring as a hero.¡± (Celestis)


    Well, that realistic way of thinking is also Celestis-like.


    ¡°And then, I want to rise to the next stage! Putting an end to my idol hero self, I want to challenge my new self! Please, Papa! Allow my selfishness!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Ugh...!!¡± (Azul)


    Her seriousness had transmitted plenty well, making the Founder-sama falter.


    But he is a person that understands his own standing as the Water Founder.


    It heavily weighed on which side he will take. Will he take the father side, or the Founder side?


    There...


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it fine, dear?¡±


    A new person entered the room?!


    This is a person I haven¡¯t met before.


    She is a woman that resembles Celestis a lot, so she is incredibly beautiful.


    She is quite old already, but that age haspletely changed into charm. She was the very definition of a beautiful madam.


    ¡°Mama?!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Mama?!¡± (Haine)


    The words of Celestis shocked me.


    In this day, Celestis¡¯ Mother-san takes the stage?!


    ¡°She was a former high ss courtesan of Hydra Ville, after knowing that she was pregnant with me, she left the side of Papa. It wasn¡¯t long ago that she was finally epted as the second mistress of the Founder.¡± (Celestis)


    I did hear rumors of it but, it was this person?!


    In other words, the beloved wife of the Water Founder that had pledged lifelong love to.


    ¡°S-Sharl!¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Celestis inherited the aggressiveness of both of us. There¡¯s no way our girl would make a normal family and pass her life as a wife doing nothing, right?¡± (Sharl)


    That way of speaking...is she praising her or speaking ill of her?


    ¡°If we were to force her to marry a wealthy person and she causes trouble at the ce we made her marry into, it would beat the purpose. In that case, wouldn¡¯t it be better to have her rampage in a ce where your eyes can reach so that the damage is limited to a minimum?¡± (Sharl)


    ¡°As expected of Mama! You really understand me well!!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis, is it fine for your mother to have such an evaluation of you?


    ¡°I understand what you are trying to say. But as a Founder, with these many people wishing to marry my daughter, I can¡¯t just refuse them just like that.¡± (Azul)


    Saying this, the Water Founder-sama picked up a part of the many photos.


    It was only a part, but just picking that part required the Founder-sama to open up his hand to the limit.


    ¡°Are you saying you want to answer the expectations of society? Can you do something like that?¡± (Sharl)


    ¡°W-What do you mean by that?!¡± (Azul)


    ¡°There¡¯s truly a lot of marriage interview photos. A lot of groom candidates, but only one Celestis. With so muchpetition, no one would ept unless the one picked isparable to a Church Founder ss standing.¡± (Sharl)


    True.


    The current five Grand Church Founders are either already married, or of the same gender, but the people that are in standings that can aim to be Founders in the future, there are a good amount of them in these photos.


    ¡°If we want to use Celestis in a political marriage, it would be most efficient to have her marry into a different church. With that, Celestis would have to leave Hydra Ville.¡± (Sharl)


    ¡°Ugh...!¡± (Azul)


    ¡°If that were to happen, would you be able to endure the loneliness of not being together with Celestis?¡± (Sharl)


    It was like stabbing a vital point with a needle.


    The Water Founder-sama instantly fell silent and, while at it, was sweating bullets...before finally exploding.


    ¡°I DON¡¯T WANT THAAAAT!! I don¡¯t want Celestis to marry~~!!!¡± (Azul)


    Is what he cried out as he fell onto the floor writhing.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t live together with her in her cutest times that were when she was born to her growth, and yet, you are telling me she will soon be married and gone again?! I don¡¯t want that! Celestis! Stand by Papa¡¯s side! You can¡¯t marry anyone!!¡± (Azul)


    ¡°Got it!! As expected of Mama! You are good at controlling Papa!¡± (Celestis)


    Celestis was overjoyed and gave a thumbs up to her mother.


    In this way, Celestis managed to avoid the marriage thates with her hero retirement, but...is this really okay?


    ¡°S-So, Celestis-chan...¡± (Karen)


    We were basically air from beginning to end this time around, so Karen-san broke the silence and asked.


    ¡°In the end, what is it you want to try after quitting as an idol and hero?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°d you asked! What I am aiming for next is a revolutionary upation that can utilize the experience I have had as an idol and hero! A producer!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°¡°Producer?!¡±¡± (Karen+Haine)


    Another weird term came flying out.


    ¡°A revolutionary existence that grasps the special traits of an idol and ns ways to sell them in the most effective ways! I stood on the stage as an idol in the past, but this time, I will be standing at the back to support the younger generations!! From now on, I will changing my standings, and support the idol industry even more!!¡± (Celestis)


    I-Is that so!


    ¡°And so, I have already found the new idol I will be raising. With her talent and my smarts, we will create a big boom that can¡¯tpare to the me of the past!!¡± (Celestis)


    Saying this, Celestis headed towards the closed window.


    And then, she opened it with a bang.


    ¡°Look! That¡¯s the new talent I will be pushing!!¡± (Celestis)


    We can instantly see that person from the window?!


    Because Hydra Ville is adjacent to the sea, what came to my eyes immediately was the wide sea.


    From that sea, a mermaid jumped up from it making a spray of water that created a rainbow.


    ¡°Oohohohohoho!! This is culture! This is truly culture!!¡±


    No, rather than calling it a mermaid...! Isn¡¯t that Gabriel?!


    Are you saying you want to sell her as a new idol?!


    ¡°In this new world where humans and monsters are to coexist, an idol monster is plenty a topic! Gab-chan had good looks, and she is female! There¡¯s plenty possibility that she will be a big hit! ...Gab-chan!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes, Producer?!¡± (Gabriel)


    For some reason, their wavelengths match?!


    ¡°Looks like you have finished the personal training that I gave you! Then, we will be nning the specifics of the performance!! Now that I have received the permission of Papa and Mama, the new Celestis is unstoppable!! This time, as a producer! Let¡¯s aim for the summit of the idol industry, Gab-chan!!¡± (Celestis)


    ¡°Yes, Producer!!¡± (Gabriel)


    No matter how old Celestis is, her agressive take on her ambitions will never change.


    Her new ambition has truly just begun.

 Chapter 416-418 - The Earth since then

    <h4>Chapter 416-418: The Earth since then</h4>


    After being overwhelmed by the deep sides of Hydra Ville, Karen-san and I were heavily exhausted mentally.


    But we are expecting another heavy exhaustion ratio from the next ce we are going to visit.


    Because we are nning on going to the Earth Church¡¯s base that is Ishtar ze, the people that are specially crazy even within the Five Grand Churches.


    ****


    ¡°It has been a while, Earth Founder-sama.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Huh? Whatcha say?¡± (Oba-san)


    When we arrived at Ishtar ze, the first thing we did was give our greetings to the Founder.


    The Founder-sama of this ce had a past record of being a hero which came with a certain sharpness with her, but...


    ¡°IT HAS BEEN A WHILE! IT.HAS.BEEN.A.WHILE~~!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Aah. Ah ah, Nii-chan, it has been a while. Mah ears havepletely gone bad, it been a pain.¡± (Oba-san)


    With the passing of four years, the past powerhouse haspletely turned frail.


    When I met her for the first time, she was already a granny, but she was still plenty vigorous, and yet...when you think humans are plenty aged already, they can still get even more aged huh.


    ¡°It has been tiresometely ta sit in the Founder seat all day, ya see. I been telling ¡®em to let me stop already, but the talk doesn¡¯t seem to advance-ssa...¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°There¡¯s no one who can take your ce as Founder yet after all.¡±


    The one who entered our audience with the Founder was a tree person.


    The Earth Demon Lord, Uriel.


    ¡°Uriel-san! It has been a while!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san greets Uriel politely.


    ¡°Yeah, it has been a while, Light hero-dono..... No, you are not a hero anymore, right.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Yeah. Asmemoration of graduating as a hero, I am going around the nations greeting everyone. Haine-san ising with me.¡± (Karen)


    Uriel¡¯s manners have already been polished so well that I could even tell just from normal conversation.


    This guy has already changed in these four years huh.


    ¡°I been leaving everything troublesome of our Church ta Uriel-san-sa ne. That be why a senile granny like me can still manage as decoration.¡± (Oba-san)


    The eyes of the Oba-san were so narrow now that I can¡¯t even tell if they are open or closed.


    They were a lot more open in the past...


    ¡°A decoration can be done by anyone, and yet, they ain¡¯t letting me quit. It be truly troublesome-sa ne.¡± (Oba-san)


    ¡°It is because a person like you, who has both dignity and achievements, is standing at the top that everyone is able to leave a variety of things in the hands of a monster like me without any worries. What¡¯s important is not intelligence and ability, but trust. You were the one who taught me that.¡± (Uriel)


    Saying this, Uriel ces a shawl he made himself onto the Oba-san.


    ¡°We need you to be in good health or we would be troubled. For the sake of the humans living in this nation, and for the sake of the monsters.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°I feel sleepy-sa ne.¡± (Oba-san)


    After that, the Oba-san didn¡¯t say anything more, as if she had truly fallen asleep.


    ******


    ¡°ording to the doctor, her heart has weakened.¡± (Uriel)


    While advancing through the Earth Church, Uriel speaks of the recent state of things.


    ¡°She aged drasticallyst year, you see. She has been repeating words like ¡®If I leave it ta everyone, I can be at peace¡¯, ¡®I be fine with dying anytime¡¯. I can¡¯t help feeling pained hearing that.¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel is a monster, but I could tell he was worrying about the aged Oba-san from the bottom of his heart.


    ¡°We Demon Lords don¡¯t actually have a lifespan. That¡¯s exactly why I am scared of watching people dying and leaving them behind. I can¡¯t help but feel respect towards the humans that live to their best and have achieved great things with the limited time they have.¡± (Uriel)


    From within the four Demon Lords that have separated and are working at their respective churches, Uriel is the one that is the most connected in the work of the Church.


    There was a reason for that...


    ¡°I am the Earth Demon Lord, so I can make earth element monsters after all. And the Golems are closely tied to the livelihood of this nation.¡± (Uriel)


    That was the first reason why Uriel was brought to this nation after all. Moreover, it was practically forced.


    We passed by many people while we were walking, but every single one of them had bowed to Uriel.


    ¡°Demon Lord-sama, Demon Lord-sama~!¡±


    ¡°My gratitude, my gratitude~!¡±


    Is how it normally went.


    Their way of praising the Demon Lord was as if they were worshipping a God.


    ¡°You are incredibly popr. Aren¡¯t you even more popr than Mother Earth Mantle herself?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t say that. Who knows from where she is listening.¡± (Uriel)


    Is what Uriel says with a dryugh.


    ¡°Because of that Mother Earth Goddess, the humans here have been living together with Golems since long ago. Everyone already knows, but this nation is the one that has the longest history in humans and monsters helping each other out.¡± (Uriel)


    From within the monsters, the only ones who heard out the words of humans and worked were the Golems.


    Those Golems have been united by Uriel, and the people respect him deeply.


    ¡°The subject at hand now is seeing how the harmony of humans and monsters will nurture. We are currently cooperating with the Wind Church to research ways to add an ethereal engine to the Golems.¡± (Uriel)


    ¡°Why do something like that?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The weakness of Golems is their natural speed and their inability to do precise work, so I thought about changing them as much as possible. Golems are just a mass of earth, so it is plenty possible to add a mechanical structure within it.¡± (Uriel)


    Golems that can fly in the sky like flying machines; Golems that can run through thend as if they were ethereal cars.


    ¡°But most of all, as long as Golems are present, there would be no need for the ethereal mechanization that the humans have developed; that¡¯s the thing I want to avoid. I considered the n of having the humans lose the Golems for a brief period of time to introduce ethereal machinery, but they know that I can make Golems, so that n was at an impasse.¡± (Uriel)


    To continue relying on Golems, or develop their civilization into that of the other nations; the Earth Church was heatedly discussing this.


    ¡°It is no good to develop just one or the other. Monsters and humans; they have to grow together...¡± (Uriel)


    Uriel stops his feet.


    ¡°That¡¯s what she continues to im...... Oi, Sasae!¡± (Uriel)


    The ce Uriel had guided us to was a za.


    There, a voluptuous woman shouldering a big scythe was being surrounded by many boys and girls.


    ¡°...Oya, the ones there, ain¡¯t they Haine-niichan and Karen-neechan-dasu ka?!¡± (Sasae)


    That¡¯s right. She is the earth hero Sasae-chan that has grown greatly in the span of four years.


    Her breasts and ass are all plump, and her height has also increased.


    There¡¯s not a single shadow of her little girl figure of four years ago.


    ¡°It has been a while, Sasae-chan.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It been just a short while-dasu yo! We met at the Light capital not that long ago-dasu ka!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°True! I have been saying ¡®it has been a while¡¯ so many times that it ended up being a habit!!¡± (Karen)


    Is what the heropanions say as they hug each other.


    Sasae-chan was the youngest by a lot within the Legendary generation, so even after four years, she is still an active hero.


    Karen-san has retired just the other day, so she is thest active hero.


    In the light hero ceremony just the other day, Sasae-chan participated as a representative of the Earth Church.


    In the time we were going through Muspelheim and Hydra Ville, she had returned straight to Ishtar ze.


    ¡°But really...no matter how many times I see you, you have really grown, Sasae-chan!¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says as she stares at Sasae-chan¡¯s body intently.


    The first time we met Sasae-chan, she was around 12 years old, I think. She was at an age where a growth spurt was natural, but even with that, she grew more than anyone.


    Even the size of her boobs are in the high ranked side from the ones I have seen.


    In the past, when she fused with Mantle, she changed into a voluptuous woman of unbelievable proportions, but Sasae-chan managed to obtain a body simr to that one with time.


    ¡°This is truly the nurturing ability of Ishtar ze.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°But in my opinion, these be too big, and it be ufortable-dasu yo. And every time I meet Mirack-neechan, Celestis-neechan, and Hyue-neechan, they all fondle mah boobs-dasu. Also, Karen-neechan be fondling them in present tense-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eeh~? Because you know, with them being so splendid, wouldn¡¯t you feel like touching them?¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says as she fondles those boobs that still had plenty to spare even when spreading her hand as wide as possible.


    I feel like the atmosphere will turn pink by just this alone.


    ¡°If we are talking about the size of the boobs only, it doesn¡¯t reach Yoneko-san¡¯s yet. This is on a level where it would actually be rude not to fondle them. Isn¡¯t that right, Haine-san?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If I say ¡®yes¡¯ here, will I be allowed to fondle them too?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°I will have the Scorched Earth Annihtion corps arrest you.¡± (Karen)


    It was a trap!!


    Why does Karen-san always try to test me?!


    Is it because of love?


    I really don¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Or more like, Uriel is gone?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That personage be really busy making Golems-dasu. We have ta let him have his time-dasu yo!¡± (Sasae)


    I think he simply ran away though...


    A trauma was edged into Uriel the very moment he met Sasae-chan, so he must still be afraid of her even now.


    ¡°And so, Sasae-chan, what were you doing?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I was in the middle of teaching a variety of things to the children of the vige-dasu yo! The way to use the scythe and Golems! They have ta learn properly both of these things-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    So that¡¯s why she is hanging out with the children in this za huh.


    ¡°They all be the children of mah cousins, so they be blood rted-dasu yo. Today be a babysitting day-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    .....


    ...Just a nce and I can tell that there¡¯s more than a hundred here though...


    So this is the fertility of Ishtar ze huh.


    The earth hero family with the Founder Oba-san at the helm truly has a lot of children, but her grandchild Sasae-chan is the third generation. So if they are the children of her cousins, that would make this children the fourth generation.


    And they surpass the hundreds huh.


    It gets scarier and scarier!


    ¡°Nii-chan~!¡±


    ¡°It has been a while, Haine-niichan~!!¡±


    From within the children, there¡¯s the twin daughters of Yoneko-san I have met before mixed in the group.


    Yoneko-san is also a grandchild of the Earth Founder-san, and would fall into the cousin category for Sasae-chan, so well, it wouldn¡¯t be weird for these pair of twins to be here.


    ¡°Yoneko-neechan be having an outing with the other mothers, so I be looking after ¡®em-dasu. The next earth hero who will seed me might be within them, so I have ta guide ¡®em properly-dasu!!¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Sasae-chan...you have grown.¡± (Haine)


    In the past, Sasae-chan would rush forward on assumptions.


    Now, everyone has retired and she has be the oldest of the heroes, and her career as a hero has also grown.


    In the eyes of the heroes from the other churches, she must look like a reliable big sister.


    There¡¯s the ones that grow old, the ones that mature, and the ones that are newly born.


    That¡¯s the cycle of human life that has been repeated for more than a thousand years. And that¡¯s really visible in this Earth nation.


    ¡°When Ie to this nation, I feel like I am being shown the reality of living.¡± (Karen)


    That was the honest opinion of Karen-san.


    It is true that, in this nation, no matter what kind of evolution the humans have done, you can feel that the roots of humanity still remain here.


    ¡°We can¡¯t lose! In order to live our best as humans, let¡¯s marry as soon as possible and give birth to the next generation!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And obviously it turned into that kind of talk!¡± (Haine)


    Since the time her retirement was decided, Karen-san has been more frequent in those kind of topics!


    ¡°Don¡¯t be careless, Sasae-chan! Time passes by quicker than you can notice, so don¡¯t let your chance to fall in love escape, okay?! Obtain both achievements as a hero and happiness as a woman!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was about to raise her fist with a ¡®Yeaah!¡¯, but Sasae-chan was dumbfounded.


    ¡°Eh? Ya still haven¡¯t been told-dasu ka? I thought that I had already told this to someone-dasu.¡± (Sasae)


    ¡°Eh?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I will be marrying next month-dasu yo.¡± (Sasae)


    ......


    ........................Eh?!


    ¡°EEEEEEEEEHHH?!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was obviously shocked as well.


    ¡°At the ce I was doing my rounds at, I found a good hardworking husband, so I confessed immediately and got an ok-dasu! Life is short and I be ady-dasu kara!!¡± (Sasae)


    Sasae-chan says with her chest puffed out.


    ¡°I be told that we are both young and it be too soon, but looking at the customs of Ishtar ze, I would say it be close to a suitable age-dasu! Ah, even if I say I be marrying, there be no problems in continuing as hero-dasu! Sobo-chan be a precedent after all-dasu!¡± (Sasae)


    The current Earth Founder was a famous hero with the nickname of ¡®Taker by the roots¡¯.


    She was so strong that, even when it should be the norm to retire after marrying, she had continued as a hero until her daughters grew enough to be her sessor.


    And so, Sasae-chan, who had fought through the biggest danger of the world that was the Demon Lord battle, had be a new legend that was said to surpass that Taker by the roots.


    It is exactly because it is Sasae-chan that they will probably not only allow her to continue as a hero after marriage, but maybe even after giving birth!


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a lot of things I want to retort about though!¡± (Haine)


    Even when humans have reconciled with monsters, the hero system still serves as a big role for the church as their face.


    It looks like, within that hero system, the long long legacy of Sasae-chan was about to begin.


    A few days more after the shocking happenings at Ishtar ze.


    We were heading to the next ce, the Wind capital, Rudras Metropolis.


    When talking about Rudras Metropolis, the first thing thates to mind is the Wind Church that¡¯s the most advanced ethereal technology research, and thanks to that advancement, the city itself is on top of a gigantic mobilization device.


    They don¡¯t stay in one ce, and if need be, they can move their whole city together with them.


    Of course, there¡¯s terrain limitations in that they can¡¯t cross deserts or seas.


    ......It has been four years since then.


    *********


    ¡°...It is floating.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°.....It is indeed floating.¡± (Haine)


    We were dumbstruck by the panoramic view we had of Rudras Metropolis.


    Dumbstruck by the full portrait of Rudras Metropolis that has changed to a point that our understanding can¡¯t catch up.


    The moving city that was the amalgamation of their ethereal technology was now floating in the sky.


    I don¡¯t know what¡¯s the deal with that, but it is flying in the sky.


    A whole city was floating at a pretty high altitude.


    The moving city of Rudras Metropolis had now be the flying city of Rudras Metropolis.


    *****


    ¡°Haine! And also Karen-dono! It is an honor to see you here!!¡±


    Since we are riding flying machines, we could easily enter the ce.


    When we lower at a ce that seems to be a space specially for takeoffs andndings of flying devices, the Wind Founder, Toreido Shiva was waiting for us.


    ¡°Why is it flying?!¡± (Haine)


    It had been a while since we met again, but the first thing that came out flying from my mouth was that.


    Because there¡¯s no way not to.


    Why is a city flying?


    ¡°......Well, to tell you the truth, we had ns of remodeling Rudras Metropolis since a good while ago, but...¡± (Shiva)


    It is impossible to cross mountains and seas after all.


    Everything they pass through would be mowed down by the city after all.


    That¡¯s why, I can understand that, rather than using tires to move, it would be more convenient to fly in the sky.


    But...!


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that it would take at least a decade to actually make ite true?! Why did the estimated time get reduced by more than half?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Hahahaha. You could say this is the true power of our Wind Church.¡± (Shiva)


    Even when I was shaking him by the cor, Shiva was filled withposure.


    ¡°Ethereal technology is always in constant progress. It is not strange for it to be possible to do what we couldn¡¯t do yesterday. That progress at times can advance time of other things even more.¡± (Shiva)


    Advance time.


    ¡°Well, this flying city still has many issues we have to solve. The biggest of them is the energy issue. Its continuous flying time is limited. A practical flying city is still a thing of the future.¡± (Shiva)


    Also, it seems to be weak to bad weather.


    That¡¯s a problem that one can easily arrive to if they were to think a bit though.


    ¡°In the first ce, the reason why we made Rudras Metropolis into a moving city was because we wanted to make our location unknown by constantly moving, so that we could hide from the other churches. We could get a strategic advantage against the opposing churches in the past after all.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°But there¡¯s no need for that anymore. The Five Grand Churches have gotten along incredibly well after all!¡± (Karen)


    Shiva nodded at the remark of Karen-san.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why this flying city is not for past grudges, but for friendship.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Meaning?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°In the future, we will have the floating Rudras Metropolis be connected to the other four capitals by something like a wire, and with that, we can make a ropeway of sorts toe and go. We will make Rudras Metropolis into amunication center that connects the whole world together!¡± (Shiva)


    What a big dream.


    That edge of Shiva that was so sharp it would cut anyone close to him had reduced as time went on.


    It is as if his fangs have been trimmed.


    Is this also because of time?


    ¡°Aniue-sama, you were still here-de gozaru ka?¡±


    The moment I felt the conversation would lengthen, a reproachful voice rang at my back.


    ¡°Hyue-chan!!¡± (Karen)


    The little sister of Shiva and previous wind hero, Hyue, had appeared.


    As arade of hers that went through harsh battles together, Karen-san hugs Hyue without any restraints.


    ¡°I came here worried because you weren¡¯ting back no matter how long I waited, and what I find here... Aniue-sama, what¡¯s your idea of having guests standing here in the open? We of the Wind Church will be known as people who don¡¯t know how to receive our guests, you know?¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Ah, sorry. I got excited talking about this flying city. I ended up rambling on.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°I also wanted to wee Karen-dono properly. It is incredibly inconvenient that someone has to watch over the flying engine at all times-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Right! Why is Hyue here?! Why did you leave the flying engine alone while it is still activated and came here?! The flying engine is still iplete, and the floating limit is 30 minutes, you know?!¡± (Shiva)


    It can onlyst that long? That¡¯s short.


    ¡°I know. That¡¯s why...¡± (Hyue)


    Our footing seemed to be shaking.


    ¡°We are preparing tond-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    From the speakers of the deck, a noisy announcement resounded.


    {Prepare tond! Prepare tond!}


    {We will be cutting off the energy of the flying engine andnding on the ground.}


    {Residents, please brace yourself fornding! Hold onto the security handrails at your vicinity, and please secure safety!!}


    {10 more minutes! 5 more minutes fornding! 3 minutes!!}


    What an incredible ruckus!!


    Looks like there still the need for more time before humanity can take the skies.


    *****


    While making a big *zushiiiiin!* noise, Rudras Metropolisnded.


    Because of that, a big ruckus like that of a toy box being flipped over was made, and we who were at the outer edge of the city were on the brink of being thrown out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fly again until you make proper improvements in your facilities!!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is not as if we fly regrly. We did a special exception today in order to wee you guys.¡± (Shiva)


    So you made it fly when we came?!


    That¡¯s troublesome for us, but more than that, it makes me feel as if we were causing trouble to the popce of Rudras Metropolis, so please don¡¯t do that again!


    ¡°It has been a while, Hyue-chan. What have you been doing after retiring from being the wind hero?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san was going at her own pace, or more like, even after that messed up event, she was prioritizing her own curiosity.


    Karen-san and Hyue had a tight connection as fellow heroes.


    Hyue was the one who was thetest in joining the ranks of hero within the Legendary generation, but she was older than Sasae-chan in terms of age, so she has retired as a hero recently.


    Really, I wonder what she has been doingtely.


    ¡°I have been appointed as the boss of the Kazama Shinobis.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eh?¡±


    Aren¡¯t the Kazama Shinobis the organization that serves as the military force of the Wind Church? Like the Aurora Knights of the Light Church.


    Heroes serve as the fighting strength of the church as well as their standard bearer, so their roles were basically to keep order of the military forces in their respective nation.


    ¡°Does that mean Hyue has retired as a hero and is now in a behind-the-scenes position?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva joined in the exnation.


    ¡°It has been decided that the Kazama Shinobis will be dividing in two. The division that will be specializing in armed might, and the other that will be specialized in information gathering.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°These two were originally one. The Kazama Shinobis were heavily different from groups like the Aurora Knight corps to begin with, but now that the wars are over, and being friendly with other churches is prioritized nowadays, there were opinions here and there that said they didn¡¯t want to show a dirty image-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°In this era where disputes are gone, you could say that the importance for information has increased even more. And so, by separating those areas from the Kazama Shinobis, the newly remade information gathering of the Kazama Shinobis was born.¡± (Shiva)


    Hyue and Shiva exin alternately.


    ¡°The remaining military force of the Kazama Shinobis has taken the name of Whirlwind Raid corps it originally had from the Church. We left themand of them to the newly appointed wind hero. In that sense, you could say that the information division Hyue is taking charge of is the real Kazama Shinobis though.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Ooh! That¡¯s impressive, Hyue-chan! It is like the boss of a spy division?!¡± (Karen)


    Where did Karen-san learn that word?


    ¡°My objective is to be of help to Aniue-sama so, no matter what form it changes to, it is a blessing to be of use to the people of the Wind nation as well.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue says in an admirable manner.


    ¡°Ah, now that I think about it, there¡¯s something I remembered in regards to the information gathering. Haine-dono...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°There¡¯s this Frost guy that entered the Light Church at the same period as Haine-dono, right-de gozaru?¡± (Hyue) <Wow, I thought author forgot about him.>


    Ah, now that she mentions it...


    Entering the Light Church at the same period as me, and stationed at the cafeteria because of a weird exam. My post was changed soon after, so I haven¡¯t spoken much with Frost after that.


    I thought he was still doing his best in the cafeteria though.


    ¡°He was a member of the Kazama Shinobis-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Eeeeeh?!¡± (Haine)


    I didn¡¯t know at all!


    ¡°At those times, the churches had friction with each other, so in order to grasp the inside state of the other side, we forged the identity of many and had them infiltrate the church asmoners-de gozaru. But now that times have changed and there¡¯s no need for spies anymore, many have been released and have returned-de gozaru. But...¡± (Hyue)


    -De gozaru, but...?


    ¡°Only Frost refused returning, and stayed in the Light Church-de gozaru. He said he got a wife there and can¡¯t leave the ce.¡± (Hyue)


    A wife? Wait, don¡¯t tell me...the amazon of the Light cafeteria...Regine-san?


    ¡°The current Kazama Shinobis may be an intelligence gathering division, but it is not as if we steal information from opposing forces now. We simply gather information legally, and analyze it. Because of that, I want to inform you guys as members of the Light Church-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°I see. Thanks...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°If you meet Frost there, please give him my regards-de gozaru. Tell him that there¡¯s no need to think of his former home and protect his own family.¡± (Hyue)


    I feel like she said an incredibly big secret as if nothing at thiste of a time.


    Rather than the secret that only a few people know, I was more shocked by the fact that Frost managed to conquer Regine-san.


    Looks like a lot happened since then.


    (...Oi.)


    With those short words, I was brought back to reality. It looks like several armor parts were flying around in my sight.


    Those partsbined in mid-air and made a human shape...


    ¡°Raphael! You are still rocking that style?¡± (Haine)


    By using his special ability of changing his cells into insects, he can divide andbine as many times as he wants, so by entering an armor set, he can freely fly around.


    For a period of time, he had no choice but to rely on the armor as a shell, but he has regained his strength now, and there¡¯s no need for the armor to serve as shell...


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that fine? And also, don¡¯t call it a style! You may not know, but I am pretty popr among the children. I got a big cheering not that long ago.¡± (Raphael)


    Popr with the kids?


    ¡°More importantly...I was wondering why you guys haven¡¯te at the stipted time, so I came to check, and here I see this pitiful sight. Shiva and Hyue, you guys haven¡¯t finished the work you have today, right?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Tch. These few years, you have be a demon that stresses the schedule times...¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Huh? Who do you think has made the technology progress drastically in the Wind Church? It is because I am using all of my separated insect cells for parallel thinking, and am able to simte several scenarios in an instant, right?¡± (Raphael)


    Eh?


    Raphael has been doing that?


    ¡°Raphael is basically a living nanoputer of this Rudras Metropolis now, and is respected by everyone-de gozaru yo.¡± (Hyue)


    I really don¡¯t understand what she is saying.


    ¡°And such an important person like I is being used as an errand boy, you know? ......Kuromiya Haine, and also Karen.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°¡°Y-Yes?!¡±¡±


    I got surprised by the sudden call of my name.


    ¡°There¡¯s still someone who wants to meet you guys. I will guide you to that person.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°¡°W-What?¡±¡±


    A person that wants to meet us?


    Who is that?


    ¡°...Well then, I will be returning to work-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    Hyue immediately ran away for some reason?!


    ¡°I will go as well.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Wait-de gozaru. Aniue-sama has even more work piled up than me-de gozaro. You activated the flying engine just to wee Haine-dono and Karen-dono, so there should be plentyints from the pertinent areas regarding that-de gozaru.¡± (Hyue)


    ¡°Wait, Hyue! I will go with Haine and the others! Because my cute treasure is there~~!!¡± (Shiva)


    Even though Shiva was desperately pleading, he was powerlessly dragged away by Hyue.


    Really, who are we meeting?


    ¡°Ah, damn it...... Haine!¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Hm?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°For now, let¡¯s meet at that ce.¡± (Shiva)


    ¡°Yeah, at that ce.¡± (Haine)


    And so, in this way, Shiva was dragged by his little sister, and led to his working ce.


    Continuing our stay at Rudras Metropolis.


    After finishing our greetings to Shiva and Hyue, we were being guided to another ce.


    The one guiding us is none other than Raphael.


    ¡°......¡±


    ¡°.....¡±


    ¡°Uhm...¡± (Karen)


    The silence while we were moving was painful.


    Karen-san valiantly tried to make conversation, but she was unable to find a topic, and silence fell back.


    Within the Demon Lords, Raphael was the Demon Lord that we fought the most fiercely with.


    We tried to erase him one-sidedly before even giving him any chance to see what path he would be taking, and with that as the trigger, a battle of hatred was created.


    The one who received that hatred and solved it was Hyue.


    That¡¯s why, after Raphael came back to life, he was able to take residence in Rudras Metropolis with not much issue in living together with humans just like the other Demon Lords.


    Humans and Demon Lords; even if the ill feelings between races is gone now, I personally still feel awkward when with Raphael.


    ¡°Uhm...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to be considerate.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphael said straight.


    ¡°Even if the reconciliations of humans and Demon Lords is progressing well, it doesn¡¯t mean we have to force ourselves to get along. Kuromiya Haine, our first meeting was the very definition of a battle to the death. Being able to have friendly chats with memories like those would be pushing it.¡± (Raphael)


    It was a cold attitude.


    ¡°B-But...¡± (Karen)


    Because of her personality, Karen-san tried to push on, but Raphael stops it with his hand.


    ¡°What¡¯s important is not the past, but the future. Seeing that child, I learned that, in order to create a path to the future, there¡¯s the need for the new generation that doesn¡¯t know of the past grudges.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°That child?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°When you see for yourself, you will understand.¡± (Raphael)


    Looks like we arrived at the destination.


    We even used a car in the middle of it, and after entering a big house, we crossed a corridor, and entered a room.


    The ce we arrived at was an incredibly noisy space.


    ¡°Ooh, you are finally here!¡±


    ¡°To make us wait, you guys have grown cocky huh.¡±


    ¡°Well, they are actually a big deal, you know. They are the legends that saved the world after all.¡±


    ¡°Fuhihi... Truly normies.¡±


    These people...!


    ¡°Previous heroes?!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Mirack and the others retired, so we can¡¯t be considered previous heroes anymore though.¡± (Kyouka)


    Mirack¡¯s predecessor, Abi Kyouka-san; Celestis¡¯ predecessor, Ra Sarasa-san; Sasae-chan¡¯s predecessor, Iemon Yoneko-san; and the problematic wind hero that came before Hyue, Brastor Juo.


    Excluding the Light Church, we are in the presence of all the heroes of two generations ago.


    ...It is a pain to call them in a new way, so let¡¯s just call them previous heroes collectively.


    ¡°Now that I think about it, it was strange that, no matter what nation we were in, we didn¡¯t meet any of the previous heroes. So you were all gathered here?¡± (Haine)


    Is what I said with confusion and surprise.


    ¡°Yeah. Since the heroes battle, we have gathered here regrly to have chats.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°This time, it coincidentally ovepped with your visits.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Saying it be a coincidence be dishonest~.¡± (Yoneko)


    And everyone began to speak their piece.


    ¡°Actually...we arranged this meeting beforehand. We all wanted to meet you at the same time, you see...¡± (Juo)


    The bride of the Wind Founder, Juo-san, said.


    Looks like she is taking care of her skintely, her attire and hair look refreshing, making her outward appearance beautiful.


    ¡°That¡¯s a gesture that makes me incredibly happy.¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san walks forward before me.


    ¡°When I see everyone gathered, it reminds me of the heroes battle. That was the trigger for the five Churches and the heroes topletely unite.¡± (Karen)


    ¡®Harmony between the churches is an unreachable dream¡¯, that¡¯s how badly the previous heroes of that time got along.


    It is true that this event served as an opener for the new era. It may not have been on the level of changing the whole world, but it was a moment that changed society heavily.


    And after that, the previous heroes were the biggest help to the current ones in the battle against the Demon Lords.


    ¡°In the past, we acted as if looking down on the heroes of other churches proved our own worth.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°To think we would be getting along so well now. Remembering the past actually makes me feel embarrassed.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°It would be great if, not only us, but our husbands were ta get along with each other as well~. It would influence the economy of the churches after all.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°The hotel chain that Kyouka¡¯s husband manages; the mercantile enterprise of the family Sarasa married into; Yoneko¡¯s husband, because of his connection with the Earth Church, is the most influential member of the congress. Thanks to everyone working as middlemen, my husband has been helped out a lot...¡± (Juo)


    ¡°What are you saying, Juo?¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Your husband is the biggest fish out of all of them.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°He be the Wind Founder after all~. Yer the biggest gold digger here~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Everyoneughs with a cheerful ¡®Ahahahaha!¡¯.


    These people have changed so much it is shocking.


    ¡°Now that they mention it, this is Shiva¡¯s house huh. No surprise it is extravagant, being the house of a Founder and all.¡± (Haine)


    And it is a suitable ce for Juo-san and her friends to gather.


    I feel really constricted being the only man here invading a home party of housewives!


    ¡°...Light hero, Karen. Congrattions on your retirement as a hero.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°We called you here today because we wanted to tell you that. You have been a truly great help to us after all.¡± (Sarasa)


    Inviting Karen-san and I to take a seat around the table, the previous heroes offer us tea.


    With four years passing by, the young beauties of before are nowpletely giving off the presence of wives.


    ¡°N-No really... I wasn¡¯t that big of a help...!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san quickly grew modest.


    ¡°You really were, you know. You were the one who stood at the foremost in the battles.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°The reason why we can be here together be because of yer hard work.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°There¡¯s someone we want to introduce you to.¡± (Kyouka)


    Someone they want to introduce?


    ¡°...It is okay now, Raphael. Bring them all here.¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san says, and the door of the room opened up with a bang, and right after, critters began to pour in.


    ¡ªIs what I thought, but that wasn¡¯t the case.


    What I thought were small critters were actually normal humans.


    But they were incredibly small and young. Four children that are around 2-3 years old.


    Following them was Raphael who was making metallic noises as he entered the room.


    And here I was wondering where he had gone to.


    ¡°You people...make it so we can enter quicker. I know it was to give them a surprise, but...¡± (Raphael)


    What¡¯s with these children?


    They were going ¡®wai~¡¯ ¡®kya~¡¯ as they head towards the feet of a respective previous hero.


    There¡¯s four previous heroes; four children in total appeared.


    Could it be...


    ¡°Raphael-san, thanks for looking after these children.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°If you are going to learn of humans, try properly learning how to babysit. It was a nice experience, right?¡± (Kyouka)


    Is what Kyouka-san says as she holds up one of the children.


    That child had simr skin color and hair color to that of Kyouka-san. The other children that the other previous heroes held up had simr resemnces.


    There no doubt about it.


    ¡°No, impossible impossible impossible. Human children feel like they would break just by touching them a bit. That just makes it too scary to deal with them. More so when the children themselves do dangerous things on their own. I just can¡¯t get a rest. It is too much for me.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°All children be like that. Human women be pushed around by those kids and manage to raise them, so it should serve as nice experience for Raphael-san~.¡± (Yoneko)


    Karen-san and I were beginning to feel left out, so I decided on asking.


    ¡°Uhm...sorry but, who are these children?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°You can tell just by looking, right? They are our children.¡± (Kyouka)


    Right.


    They are the children that each of those four had raised inside themselves and gave birth to.


    Yoneko-san was already the mother of three four years ago, so this one must be her fourth.


    She must have matched her friends and gave birth to more.


    ¡°We were made to fight in the Demon Lord battle even when we had retired heroes already after all.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°We were not allowed to have a child until the Demon Lord battle calmed down.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°The reason why we could give birth to these children and raise ¡®em be because Karen-san and the others managed to put an end to the battle~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°That¡¯s why...we are truly grateful.¡± (Juo)


    The children look to be around three years old, and the Demon Lord battle finished four years ago, so...just calcting it feels embarrassing...


    ¡°Ah, also, Shiva said he wanted toe with us...¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Papa is enamored with our child after all...¡± (Juo)


    Juo-san held up the obedient child that resembled her.


    I see...so Shiva tried to use us as a chance to meet her child.


    ¡°Uhm...everyone¡¯s children? Then...¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san asks shyly, and the mothers respond in order.


    ¡°As you can tell, they are all girls.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Kyouka-san¡¯s child is so much of a tomboy that I wonder at times if she is actually a boy though.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Being energetic be a good thing~. But with such a coincidence in genders, I feel fate at work here~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°They were born at the same exact year...and they are all girls. With these much matching, in time, they will most likely...¡± (Juo)


    ¡°¡°¡°¡°All be heroes together.¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°...Such a thing might actually happen.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°That would be a dream-like situation.¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Would be around 10 years from now. By that time, I¡¯m sure Sasae-chan should have retired~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Friendly heroes.¡± (Juo)


    Hearing this, Karen-san¡¯s expression brightened more than anyone else.


    ¡°Waah! That sounds great!!¡± (Karen)


    With the Demon Lord battle reaching an end, monsters are not enemies of humanity anymore.


    That¡¯s why there¡¯s no enemies for the churches to fight anymore, and the heroes have remained as simply the face of the church.


    As long as the five Churches remain, heroes will continue to exist.


    With many more sessors toe.


    ¡°Well, if I were to mention a problem, it would be that we would be missing the Light one from the five Grand Churches.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°That¡¯s why, isn¡¯t that where Karen-san has to do her best in?¡± (Sarasa)


    ¡°Ye have retired already, so yer duty now be the same as us~.¡± (Yoneko)


    ¡°Give birth to the next generation and raise them. The birth of a new light hero depends on you.¡± (Juo)


    What are you people inducing to the recently retired hero?!


    ¡°To think that everyone was having so much expectations in me...! Understood! For the sake of a bright future, I myself will give birth and raise the person that will carry on the next generation!! Isn¡¯t that right, Haine-san?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°And we go full circle!¡± (Haine)


    I was expecting it already, geez.


    ¡°W-Well...that¡¯s how humans have passed on their will in the more than thousands of years. Seeing the sight of you all like this, I can truly experience the reality of that.¡± (Haine)


    It took my all to say this as I drank tea, so that I could at least dilute the situation a bit.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Humans have loved each other, gave birth to the next generation, and in that way, we have continued existing for thousands of years.¡± (Kyouka)


    ¡°Haine-san, you can¡¯t ck on that duty. Men think of no one else other than themselves unless they are expressly told by someone else after all.¡± (Sarasa)


    And yet, they are now ganging up on me!


    This is he embarrassing! This calls for a strategic retreat!! I must escape from the premises!!


    ¡°N-Now that I think about it, that was unexpected! To think Raphael would act as a babysitter!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Don¡¯t go trying to change the topic so tantly.¡± (Raphael)


    Raphaelpletely saw through my intention.


    ¡°But...didn¡¯t I tell you before? That my technique can grasp the heart of the children.¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Grasp the heart of the children?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Watch and marvel.¡± (Raphael)


    As soon as he said this, he separated the armor parts that constitute himself, and begins to fly around the room.


    And then, he once againbines, and makes a pose!!


    ¡°Waai~~!!¡±


    ¡°Rafa-chan, so cool~!!¡±


    ¡°One more time! Do it one more time~!!¡±


    ¡°Do it again holding a rifle and a sword~~!!¡±


    Cheers from the children were flowing out?!


    ¡°How¡¯s that?¡± (Raphael)


    ¡°Well, it was indeed decently cool even in my eyes, so...¡± (Haine)


    It must have been quite shocking for the children.


    ¡°But I thought those kind of things would make boys happier than they do for girls though.¡± (Karen)


    The opinion of Karen-san is valid.


    The little girls that have inherited the blood and talent of the previous heroes; being able to cope with something like this must mean that they really do have the aptitude to be heroes in the future.


    The kind of girls that like sword fights more than ying with dolls.


    ¡°By the way, Raphael...¡± (Juo)


    Thedy head of this household, Juo, speaks.


    ¡°Dividing andbining indoors is dangerous, so from here on, do so outside.¡± (Juo)


    ¡°Yes, sorry.¡± (Raphael)


    And in this way, the life of humans is passed on.

 Chapter 419-420 - The Light since then

    <h4>Chapter 419-420: The Light since then</h4>


    After going through all the other nations, our journey was still not over.


    There¡¯s still one more destination we have left.


    We are heading there now.


    The Underworld Country.


    *****


    ¡°Uwa~! It has gotten lively~!!¡± (Karen)


    True.


    This is the first thing Karen-san said after going down to where the Underworld Country is.


    I followed after her and was surprised by the prosperity of the area.


    The Underworld Country that had fallen a long time ago and should not have any people living in it has now be a boisterous ce with many people.


    ¡°This is the Underworld Country investigation team that the five Grand Churches sent cooperatively huh.¡± (Haine)


    In the four years after the Demon Lord battle, the existence of the Underworld Country had been made clear, and the five churches decided on making abined front in investigating it.


    As of now, we can see several ethereal lights set up here and there in the Underworld Country, the sand that was piled in this old ruined city has been carefully swept with brushes, and the carvings that havee out to light from this are being sketched or photographed by the people around.


    Everyone is currently investigating the uncovered Underworld Country and trying to recover that lost history.


    No, not only the existence of the Underworld Country was uncovered, the existence of the Dark God Entropy they worshipped has alsoe to light.


    The other heroes also came to this Underworld Country, brought back the dark power, and thanks to that, they managed to defeat Lucifer.


    This is so well-known that there¡¯s no one in the world that doesn¡¯t know about it. The Dark God Entropy has gathered a lot of attention as the sixth God that brought the power to save the world.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have minded my existence staying a secret though...¡± (Haine)


    I was talking to myself there, but Karen-san who was by my side heard me clearly.


    ¡°No way! Haine-san...no, Entropy-sama is the God that thought all the time about us since the moment the world was born! It should be fine for humans to be grateful for that!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Is that so...!¡± (Haine)


    This is a conversation we can have only because Karen-san knows of my identity.


    I was sealed for 1,600 years since the world was born, so I don¡¯t have much experience of people worshipping me, and once it actually does happen, it is embarrassing.


    ¡°It is okay! As the study of the Underworld Country progresses, we will learn about how the Dark God was worshipped here. And then, in time, everyone will worship Entropy just like the other Gods! When that happens, I am sure it will be wonderful!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling itchy just hearing it...¡± (Haine)


    At the very least, in the current state, the Underworld Country is simply being investigated as a historical location, so a lot of people of the Light nation who are the most specialized in that area were sent to study the ce.


    To tell the truth, Karen-san and I...


    ¡°We will be working here as part of the investigation team from today on, right?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± (Karen)


    So that¡¯s how it is.


    Karen-san was a hero, so she could have had a better post than this if she wanted. But she didn¡¯t wish for that, and instead, was given the job to join in the investigation of the Underworld Country.


    ¡°I want to be of use to society in this ce.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If the study of the Underworld Country progresses, the era that was gone from the history of humanity wille to light, and we will learn about where we came from, and what we have done. With just the simple fact of knowing or not knowing, perception can change.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-san, you have already saved the world, and yet, you are still trying to be of use to humans?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Of course! I am one of the Gods now after all!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says with pride.


    She has fused with the divine power of Ates and turned into a Human God.


    At that time, I thought that this eternity as a God would be a curse to her, but Karen-san is not the kind of weakling who would falter over such small things.


    No matter if she is a human or God, she doesn¡¯t hesitate to act for the sake of others.


    That¡¯s the kind of person; the kind of God; the kind of soul she is.


    ¡°...Now then, let¡¯s leave the sentimentalism till there.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s greet the collective leader of the investigation team that we will be under the care of from today on.¡± (Karen)


    An investigation teamprised of members of all five Grand Churches were dispatched to this Underworld Country, so there¡¯s a leader tomand and put in order this team that would definitely create friction with such a diverse group of people.


    And that person is...


    *****


    ¡°Haine-sama! Karen-sama! It has been a while!!¡±


    ¡°Doraha-chan!¡± (Karen)


    At the headquarters of the investigation team, we arrived at the tent of the leader, and the one who weed us was the shadow user, Doraha.


    It is the girl that had been living with us in Apollon City just recently.


    After four years, she has grown into a strong and beautiful figure, but for us, Doraha will always be Doraha.


    ¡°Sorry, Doraha-chan. Having youe here before us. It must have been lonely being in a ce where there¡¯s only people you don¡¯t know, right?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Karen-sama had her important hero retirement ceremony after all. It can¡¯t be helped that you had to stay in Apollon City. Also, you managed to meet with your friends you haven¡¯t met after a long time, right?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Yeah! They are all doing really well!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°If it is to make time for the sake of that, it is a matter of fact that I would go first to the location.¡± (Doraha)


    At first, she was intensely unsociable and made it hard for us to even send her to errands, but now, Doraha has grown greatly.


    Now that I think about it, we first met Doraha at this Underworld Country.


    Doraha crossed time and has returned once again to her birthce to bring it back to life.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not just stand here talking. Please enter the tent. The investigation team leader is waiting for the arrival of you two.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± (Haine)


    Doraha guided us and we entered the tent.


    The one waiting for us there sitting was the beauty that we had seen when we left Apollon City.


    ¡°You two have finally arrived.¡±


    ¡°Yorishiro-sama! Light hero ¡ªI mean, Underworld Country investigation team member, Karen, has arrived!!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Me too.¡± (Haine)


    Yorishiro.


    She is the highest position in this investigation team.


    Doraha is her assistant.


    ¡°So Yorishiro-sama really did arrive faster than us huh.¡± (Karen)


    ¡°You guys went around the nations while I just had to head straight here after all..... Karen-san...¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Karen)


    ¡°Can you stop with the -sama? I am not the Light Founder anymore after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Right, since she is now the investigation team leader, she can¡¯t concurrently be the Light Founder as well.


    Almost at the same time as Karen-san retired, Yorishiro had passed the Light Founder position to her sessor and quitted.


    Compared to the grand ceremony made for Karen-san to pass on her position, hers was done without much of an audience.


    More so when she is one of the Founders that managed to fight through in the most problematic times of humanity.


    ¡°The ones who fought upfront were the heroes. It is obvious that Karen-san would be the most acimed since she was one of those heroes.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°But it was wrapped up by simply passing down the position, right? With the hero just recently being changed as well, would that be okay?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No problem. The next Light Founder is that Grades-san after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Light General, Grades.


    Even though he was simply a vice-captain when I met him, he has climbed up quite a whole lot.


    He is probably the one who has been promoted the most within my acquaintances.


    ¡°He is the most suited for the Light Founder position of this era.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The already former Founder Yorishiro said this while the wooden seat she was sitting on made a creaking sound.


    ¡°With the five Grand Churches being peaceful, the monsters and humans coexisting, we shouldn¡¯t bring old traditions into matters. Like the pedigree doctrine that spread like a disease in the Light Church, and the pointless hereditary system.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The other churches didn¡¯t have as much of a problem with this, but the Founder of the Light Church was always set to being hereditary.


    The important posts aside from the Founder one were also mostly the same, and in the time when I first arrived at the Light Church, it was on the level where it was clear how much it was decaying.


    There, Yorishiro stood up, and with Karen-san and my help, we managed to better this little by little, and the past misdeeds of the Light Church have been mostly eliminated.


    And even Yorishiro herself gave up her seat as Founder topletely cut off past traditions. The new Founder is Grades-san who doesn¡¯t hold any pedigree or connections.


    ¡°There¡¯s no better person than Grades-san as Light Founder to prove the new standpoint of the Light Church.¡± (Yorishiro)


    He entered the Aurora Knights without any connections, and rose all the way to vice-captain with ability alone.


    After that, it may have been with the assistance of the coup, but he managed to rise to General, and showed leadership that surpassed his position at the time of the Demon Lord battles.


    That¡¯s why more people than expected had epted him as the new Founder.


    ¡°But even if that¡¯s the case, wasn¡¯t it too fast? Yorishiro, you yourself are still young as well, so you could have made several reformations and¡ª¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Haine-san, we have already had this conversation many times before I was going to quit as Founder.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Rather, it is exactly because I am still young that I wanted to retire. Passing down the Founder seat to Grades-san is the best andst reformation I can do.¡± (Yorishiro)


    It is because I heard about it and felt like she was in the right that I couldn¡¯t stop the resignation of Yorishiro.


    ¡°By resigning in the time when she still had influential power, Yorishiro-sama wanted to be of help to Grades-san as the new Founder, right?¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san says with a face as if she is on the know.


    Assigned as the Founder without any connections or pedigree; Grades is an unprecedented new Founder.


    In anything that has no precedent, there will always be winds trying to push it back. There¡¯s no guarantee that Grades-san will not fall on his knees at that opposing wind.


    ¡°That¡¯s why, by using all my influence as previous Founder, I got rid of the forces that would try to go against Grades-san.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°By doing that and then putting Grades-san in the Founder position, the custom of the Light Founder being assigned not by connections but by ability will be settled. It would wipe out the hereditary system that was corroding the church in the past...¡± (Haine)


    That¡¯s the objective of Yorishiro, but...Grades-san, who was chosen to be that tailwind, wasn¡¯t ted of being the new Founder.


    Before leaving from Apollon City, I went to where he was with the intentions of celebrating him assuming the Founder position.


    ¡®There¡¯s no way I would be able to manage such an important duty~~~~!!¡¯, is what he said while crying.


    It is a mission impossible on the level that would bring a bald old man to tears.


    If he had hair, by the time he finished serving his time as a Founder, he probably would have had a full head of gray.


    ¡°Also, if I am to use my youth effectively, I would like to use it in another way.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°?¡±


    Yorishiro stood up from her seat, and...swiftly draws close to me.


    ¡°Burning in passion together with my loved one. That¡¯s something that can only be done when still young. Throwing away my position as Founder, a new life in the Underworld Country together with Haine-san. I have to enjoy it to the fullest.¡± (Yorishiro)


    I knew your real reason to quit was that!!


    ¡°That¡¯s not good, Yorishiro-sama! It would trouble me if you don¡¯t let in the mix!!¡± (Karen)


    Is what Karen-san says as she joins in and worsens the mess!


    ¡°Of course, Karen-san. You and I are the same existence now, so let¡¯s be loved by Haine-san together, and live our lives here in this Underworld Country!!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°So the Underworld Country will be the love nest of us three!! That¡¯s way too lovely!!¡± (Karen)


    ...No.


    The Underworld Country also has many researchers gathered here burning with inquisitiveness, so let¡¯s properly do our job here as well!


    ¡°Ufufu, in time, this Underworld Country will have peopleing here. I would like to make it a great city with science and tourism in mind-desu wa ne.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Mantle-sama has stopped the desertification, so the ¡®Nameless Desert¡¯ is slowly but surely growing more green. Thisnd could turn into a residential area overflowing with people!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It really makes one look forward to the future-desu wa ne. Ufufufu.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so, the Light Goddesses were making the future look brighter and brighter by themselves.


    Because Karen-san has be one with Ates and turned into the new Light Goddess, as a result, Yorishiro and Karen-san have ended up turning into the same existence.


    Thanks to this, their rtionship has gotten even bettertely.


    The triangle rtionship we had didn¡¯t create any sparks, instead, they are teaming up and spearheading me.


    Well, you could argue that was how it was from the very beginning though.


    ¡°Haine-san is the incarnation of the world¡¯s strongest, the Dark God, so making two girls happy should be a piece of cake, right?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Also, we are one existence, so it is a matter of course that we should be loved together, right?¡± (Karen)


    That synched offensive of theirs made me want to pass out.


    And in that way, I was also included in the investigation team of the Underworld Country, and the ce I would be residing till the end of times seemed to be on the verge of being decided here.


    The life of Kuromiya Haine from now on.


    Being in between two loving women, I will be putting my energy in this historic ruins huh.


    ¡°Well, doesn¡¯t sound bad.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Right-desu wa ne?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that right?¡± (Karen)


    The important two also seem to be having fun so, at any rate, this has be our new home.


    ¡°Since we have the chance, how about calling Haine-san¡¯s parents here as well?¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Hm...but my mother and father are...¡± (Haine)


    My mother has had a weak body since birth, so it would be tough to leave the mountains that she has already gotten used to living in.


    I have been going back there three times a year, so I was thinking about continuing that habit though.


    ¡°Then, the next time you are to return, bring Karen-san and I too!¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°We want to greet our soon to be mother and father inw!!¡± (Karen)


    Please don¡¯t.


    My parents have been living quite the regr life, so please don¡¯t go overturning theirmon sense with a shocking development at this point.


    I want to slowly take my time to tell them about the outrageous conduct of their son.


    Right now, let¡¯s take care of one other problem.


    ¡°Doraha.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yes?¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Have they arrived already?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Yeah. Since they would pull attention if they were toe here, I had them wait at a ce far from here. If it is okay with you, I can guide you there.¡± (Doraha)


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go.¡± (Haine)


    I don¡¯t care about the bunch, but making guests wait would be ack of manners.


    Before beginning my job as a member of the investigation team, I have to fulfill my duty as the Dark God.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for Doraha to guide him.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Saying this, Yorishiro stands up.


    ¡°I will carry that out. Whichever the case, I will have to participate as the Light Goddess as well.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Me too! I will go as well!!¡± (Karen)


    Karen-san too is already a Light Goddess as well, and has her own duty as a God to fulfill.


    ¡°And so, Doraha, I will once again be leaving things in your hands while I am absent.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°Understood, Yorishiro-sama.¡± (Doraha)


    Doraha epts without saying a singleint.


    Yorishiro hugs her.


    ¡°I will not be making you wait as long asst time. I will return as soon as possible. And then, let¡¯s make the Underworld Country great again, together.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ****


    And in this way, we went out to the surface, and flew with our flying machines in the Nameless Desert that has the burning sunlight shining strongly.


    The desertification has already been stopped, and the green is slowly returning to it, but natural change will always be a slow one.


    This ce will turn into an area with plentiful green with time, but it will most likely not be in the time where I can see it with the eyes of Kuromiya Haine.


    ¡°That¡¯s why this desert still works as a ce to hide things from others.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°It is a harsh environment to begin with after all. Without our searching abilities as Gods, we would get lost and dry to death before being able to find that child in this Nameless Desert.¡± (Yorishiro)


    And so, with the searching ability of Yorishiro, we managed to find that someone.


    Dark Demon Lord, Satan.


    The relic that was created by the Demon Lord battle.


    ¡°It has been a while~. Have you been doing well?¡± (Haine)


    Satan is different from the other Demon Lords in the fact that it didn¡¯t have generationspiled within him, thus, doesn¡¯t have a will and heart.


    It is simply a monster that is especially big.


    The Light Demon Lord that Ates created to destroy humanity had been changed into a Dark Demon Lord with me stealing its control rights.


    Ates has already disappeared inside Karen-san, so Satan has no reason to rampage anymore, and since it was too pitiful to kill him, we are leaving him like this.


    No, Satan now has an important task, important enough that we wouldn¡¯t be able to kill him now.


    ¡°He is releasing it at an incredible pace today as well huh.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The dark wings that spread from the back of Satan were mixing with his light wings, and the pure power that was created in the middle of those wings moved to the sky and dispersed.


    That¡¯s ethereal.


    ¡°To think ethereal was created from the friction of the darkness and light.¡± (Haine)


    The light power of when he was Lucifer stayed even when he changed, and Satan is currently an incredibly abnormal existence that can use both light and darkness.


    ¡°...In the past, I created ethereal to eliminate the influence of the Gods.¡± (Yorishiro)


    The creation of shadow that formed by changing light into an artificial darkness; as a byproduct of this process, ethereal was born.


    This became a great energy source for human civilization, and served as a foundation for big developments, creating an industrial revolution.


    ¡°With the fall of the Underworld Country, which was the source of ethereal, gone, if this were to be left as it is, ethereal would disappear from this world in time.¡± (Yorishiro)


    If that were to happen, the human civilization would most likely regress heavily.


    That important duty is now being undertaken by Satan.


    ¡°Even without a will and heart like that of Michael and the others, Satan is currently a splendid Demon Lord.¡± (Haine)


    When I pat that scarily big body of his, Satan shook as if ticklish.


    I arbitrarily thought that this was his way of expressing his happiness.


    ...And so...


    ¡°Satan is supposed to be the meeting point but, I don¡¯t see those guys anywhere. Are they not here yet?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Doraha-san said they were already here though...¡± (Karen)


    We moved our attention to the surroundings and then...


    ...Something came out.


    Four different types of divine power.


    (Took your sweet time toe, you idiots!)


    A cowes out from the ground as it shook off the sand on him.


    It is the cow that we met at Muspelheim, Phris. And also the incarnation of the Fire God, Nova.


    ¡°...Why are youing from underground?¡± (Haine)


    Did he finally change jobs from cow to mole?


    (Like hell I would wait like an idiot in this crazy hot ce! I dug underground and was avoiding the light of the sun!!) (Nova)


    ¡°Right now, I am a human, so I can¡¯t do something beast-like like that.¡±


    When I moved my gaze to where another voice came from, I saw Shiva.


    The incarnation of the Wind God Quasar.


    ¡°I was taking a rest at the oasis that¡¯s close to here while I waited. I can just have her tell me when you guys will being after all.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva was holding a pot.


    From within that pot, a single nt was growing from it. At the top of it, a flower bloomed, and from within that flower...


    ¡°I am sorry~.¡± (Mantle)


    The temporary body ¡®Fairy¡¯ that Mantle uses to appear in the surface world showed up.


    ¡°.....What are you apologizing for?¡± (Haine)


    This Mother Earth is truly unchanging.


    ¡°.....With this, all six Gods of Creation are gathered.¡±


    And thest one, appearing from mist that came out of nowhere, a monster that has a simr silhouette from that of humans.


    ¡°So everyone is here now then?¡± (Coacervate)


    The Water God, Coacervate.


    Residing in the body of the Water Saint, Mephistopheles.


    Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Light, and Darkness.


    The six Gods that created the world by gathering six elements.


    Residing in the body of humans, the body of monsters; each of us were enjoying life in this world we created in the way we wanted.


    And now, we are all gathered in one ce.


    Just that...


    ¡°To think you guys would be the ones calling us. Color me surprised.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°No no, we arerades that helped each other out in creating the world. Isn¡¯t it fine to gather together like this? ....Keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    Coacervate, who is probably the one who organized this, said.


    He is clever in his own way after all.


    ¡°But well, today, we actually have something important to propose to you people. That¡¯s why we asked you toe all the way here. Please lend us an ear here. It would be great if you were to consider this in a serious manner......keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    ......


    Uhm, Coacervate-san?


    What¡¯s that ¡®keh¡¯ you have been doing for a while now with your throat?


    ¡°You...has your personality grown a bit wilder?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Not really. Thanks to everyone, my heart is clean like a mirror.....keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    As I thought, he is beginning to pollute.


    The Water God, due to his element, easily gets polluted by the impurities of the world, and if left alone, he will end up turning into a contaminated bastard.


    We distilled him by burning him with fire like crazy, and yet...


    ¡°He is beginning to get contaminated again?¡± (Haine)


    Oi oi, he was distilled only four years ago, you know?


    ording to the testimonies of the other Gods, it took at least a hundred years for him to return to being contaminated after his distition.


    ¡°The amount of impurities in the past and now are different after all.¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro says with a tone as if saying ¡®what a pain¡¯.


    ¡°This looks like we have to purify him again soon. It would be a pain if you were to turn back to a polluted bastard and cause problems to humanity again.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°The reason why we called you guys here is also rted to this.¡± (Shiva)


    Having the polluting Coacervate step back, Shiva takes his ce.


    From within the Four Base Elements, this guy really is the one that¡¯s the easiest to talk to.


    ¡°What¡¯s with all the formality? If you wanted to talk about something, wouldn¡¯t it have been fine to talk about it when we visited Rudras Metropolis?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Can¡¯t do that. This is a consensus from all of us four Base Elements. We want the permission of you two as the two Poles of the Gods of Creation.¡± (Shiva)


    Shiva leaves a pause.


    The other three Base Element Gods lineup, and after a nce at them, Shiva speaks with a grave tone.


    ¡°We n on leaving this world.¡± (Shiva)

 Chapter 421-422 - Wonderful World

    <h4>Chapter 421-422: Wonderful World</h4>


    ¡°You are going to leave this world?¡± (Haine)


    The sudden deration of the four Base Elements had surprised me so much, I had to say it again.


    ¡°Why so suddenly? Why are you saying that?¡± (Haine)


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± (Karen)


    The newbie as a God -Karen- also raised her tone with a trembling voice.


    ¡°Every one of you guys have a variety of grudges towards each other. I am also aware of this. But after oveing the trials and tribtions until now, humans and Gods should have been able to reconcile, right?!¡± (Karen)


    At the far past, at the beginning of the world, Gods could only see humans as ves that should obey them.


    Aside from me.


    But after a long long passing of time, humans have grown, developed, and that greatness has begun to be acknowledged by even the Gods.


    The Gods that had looked down on the humans all the time are now epting the humans.


    ¡°From now on, humans and Gods can finally advance together in a normal rtionship. And yet, Gods are disappearing and leaving humans?!¡± (Karen)


    ¡°It is the contrary, new Light Goddess.¡± (Quasar)


    Shiva...no, the Wind God Quasar spoke.


    ¡°Humans have grown in a strong and splendid manner. That¡¯s why humans don¡¯t need Gods anymore.¡± (Quasar)


    ¡°In reality, we should have done this sooner. The role of us Gods is to create a world, and the moment we did that, our role was over......keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    (Slovenly living our time in a world where we have nothing to do; we Gods are simply troublemakers for the true protagonists of this world, the humans.) (Nova)


    ¡°I think so as well~¡± (Mantle)


    The four Base Elements were all giving their own opinions.


    ¡°The humans already have enough strength to stand on their own two feet. The Demon Lord battle was the best example of it.¡± (Quasar)


    ¡°Humans bursted right through it and managed to ovee that battle splendidly. There was no need for us Gods to protect you, or save you......keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    As if Karen-san couldn¡¯t take it anymore, she intervened.


    ¡°But that was because you Gods provided us with the strength of a God Hero¡ª!¡± (Karen)


    (It doesn¡¯t change the fact that you guys were the ones who personally fought.) (Nova)


    That¡¯s right. That was clearly the victory of humans.


    For us Gods who created humans and believed in them, there¡¯s no better pride.


    ¡°That¡¯s why we are going to stop any extra interference, and decided on leaving the world. Before I incarnated to this body of Shiva, I have been living as a human many times, and each time I did, I was able to experience something new that I didn¡¯t experience before.¡± (Quasar)


    Quasar smiles.


    ¡°But it is time to put an end to it. I will be separating from always being in the care of a linked body and also the people of the Wind nation. They have to continue forward on their own strength. Looking at the child I had with Juo, I think about this more and more.¡± (Quasar)


    ¡°After leaving this world...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro joins.


    As one of the highest within the Gods, she is in a standing that allows her to decide.


    ¡°What do you n on doing?¡± (Yorishiro)


    (Right, that¡¯s what it is.) (Nova)


    Nova says with rough breathing from his cow body.


    (How about creating a new world?) (Nova)


    A new world?


    ¡°The role of us Gods is to create worlds to begin with. You could say the people here have developed and this world is a great sess. With that sess in mind, how about challenging for the next one? Is what we are thinking...keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I also think that~.¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle is adding agreement here and there as it goes.


    ¡°But in the end, we four Base Elements can¡¯t create worlds with just us. The foundation of the world -time and space- can only be created by the Light and Darkness Gods.¡± (Quasar)


    (And so, how about leaving this world together with us and creating a new world?) (Nova)


    ¡°We have a lot of past grudges between us, but how about letting it be water under the bridge?...Keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I think so too~.¡± (Mantle)


    I was bewildered by this, and so, I looked at Yorishiro and Karen-san.


    Their eyes had no hesitation.


    ¡°...Right. We are not the ones who have the answer.¡± (Haine)


    The one who has the answer is this world itself.


    This world has developed and evolved. If this world has arrived to the answer of not needing the protection of us Gods anymore...


    ¡ªWe Gods have to ept that.


    ¡°Humans believe in Gods; but more than that, Gods believe in humans. That¡¯s what I felt the most in the passing of 1,600 years.¡± (Haine)


    ¡°...But, Haine-san...¡± (Yorishiro)


    Yorishiro pulled my sleeve.


    ¡°We are currently not only Gods, but also humans.¡± (Yorishiro)


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Right now, we are Haine-san, Yorishiro-sama, and Karen. We won¡¯t leave this world until we fulfill that role as humans, right?¡± (Karen)


    The two beauties are looking at me with uneasiness in their eyes.


    ...Of course.


    ¡°I will enjoy my life as Kuromiya Haine to the fullest. For us Gods, the whole life of a human is like the blink of an eye. Let¡¯s live it to the utmost!¡± (Haine)


    ¡°Well, yeah. I have no intentions of leaving this world until I watch over Hyue marrying, my child splendidly growing up, and growing old together with Juo!¡± (Shiva)


    (I gotta look after the pro-wrestling enterprise of Mirack for a little bit more.) (Phris)


    ¡°After we leave, I am thinking of leaving the supervision of things to the Demon Lord-sans. I am sure they will be splendid guardians of the world...keh.¡± (Coacervate)


    ¡°I think so too~.¡± (Mantle)


    Mantle, at least try to say something for yourself at the end.


    ¡°Well then, it has been decided.¡± (Haine)


    After living through our life to the fullest, we will aim for the next world.


    Just like in this world.


    Let¡¯s make another wonderful world.


    Karen-san, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, Hyue; and also the many people we have met until now...


    This world is...truly a wonderful world.


    After that, even more time passed on.


    There¡¯s not a single one left in that world that knows about that gathering.


    Some had their soul leave their dying bodies, some were given new duties from the Gods as they left the world.


    Even with that, the world continues uninterrupted.


    The miracle that they had made possible in the past has now turned into a legend and has been passed down by many people.


    As Kuromiya Haine, Yorishiro, and Kourin Karen; we who have finished our roles and hade out from our bodies, had now returned to being Gods, and were leaving on a journey to look for a new role.


    Now then, next will be...


    What kind of world shall we make?


    ¡ªWorld Reformation activities of the Dark God, The End

 Chapter 423 (END) - Afterword

    <h4>Afterword of author and also me</h4>


    Author Afterword:


    World Reformation activities of the Dark God.


    With this, we have reached to the end.


    Thank you very much everyone who has been apanying me till this point. I am truly thankful for your reading this story.


    This story that had begun in 2016, I have managed to finish writing it in the short period of one year.


    This was my first attempt at publishing a story in ¡®shousetsuka ni narou¡¯ < page>. There were a lot of things I was worried about, but I think it was an important experience.


    Gods incarnating as humans, Gods and humans, and also, resolving problems with monsters.


    I think I was able to portray the different senses of value that ur between each other that was at times serious and at times funny.


    The characters appearing there as well. The protagonist Haine, and of course, the heroines Karen, Yorishiro, Mirack, Celestis, Sasae-chan, and Hyue; many went moving about on their own, and I myself as an author was able to enjoy it as well.


    The story of Haine and his group is now over, but I am thinking of putting out a new story in the future.


    Well then, to the people that have read this together with me.


    Thank you very much!


    Let¡¯s meet at a new story!


    ************


    Trantor Afterword:


    Hey guys, Reigokai here!


    Oh boy, so we have finally managed to finish one journey. I am not really sure how to express my feelings right now, but I do have one thing I can say: it was truly fun.


    First, I would like to talk about my opinions on this story. I will be blunt here, this was by no means a masterpiece. There was a definiteck of bodynguage descriptions in this story, the political implications that could ur between the many nations, themon popce had low to almost no participation focusing heavily on the main cast, and I could go on for a good while, but you get the idea.


    So I say it again, a masterpiece? No. But, an enjoyable story? Heck yeah!


    It may not have the most deep political structure, but it sure in hell nailed the main cast and things that surrounded them. The nations had some really defined traits between each other which you could easily tell; the Gods, humans, and even the Demon Lords were filled with personality; how the author handled the Demon Lords was probably my favorite part of the story itself.


    Now, I said my favorite part of the story was the Demon Lords. The story in itself was pretty normal to me before they appeared. The characters were quirky and fun, but I felt like the author was going to continue the form of beat up big monsters for each nation; and then, with the Mother Monsters, he would repeat that form. But I was pleasantly surprised that he took that and turned it around before they battled them out ¡ªthey were basically a meal for the Demon Lords. Then, he went a step above and spinned it around. He sanctified the Demon Lords in ways, I am pleased to say, I actually enjoyed how they all changed. Sorry heroes, I like all Demon Lords more (except for Celestis).


    Okay okay, I said my favorite part of the story itself is when the Demon Lords appeared. But that¡¯s in the narrative view. In terms of the story as a whole, what truly shone the best was definitely the characters. Their personalities were truly defined to a T. There were times where the author didn¡¯t properly specify who it is that was speaking, but I could tell clearly who it was. That¡¯s how defined it was. I could probably line out a situation, and easily imagine how every character would react differently from that one situation.


    As I said, the character I liked the most is Celestis. She is the one who takes the cake, and she would probably eat it in front of me with a wide grin. She reminds me of Aqua from Konosuba, but with a bigger brain. Her witty funnyments poking fun at tropes is what I loved the most, and also the quirkiness of the water nation she showed was simply the best.


    A close second would definitely be Michael. His battle was most likely the battle that heated me up the most in this story. It was a true show of humans working together to defeat one big threat. And it ended with one of the things I like the most: a raw fist fight. And the end was the cherry on the top, when he said: ¡®Let there be hot-bloodedness¡¯, as he left. I have to admit, that one hit me greatly in both awesomeness and how much he had grown from that battle. At that moment, we all knew how the author would handle the Demon Lords, and I had a good smile when I learned that. ¡ª¡ª-My only gripe with Michael is that I was totally shipping him with Mirack. Come on author! This was supposed to be humans and demons coexisting! Make babies! I don¡¯t care what anyone says, I believe that in that nk space of time, they both married and lived happily ever after with their pet cow!


    *Cough*


    Anyways, let me address the true driving force that pushed me to continue this story when it was clearly not popr for many who were most likelying from a heavy political and moral conflicting story like Tsuki.


    The readers that actually stayed with me through the whole journey.


    Just reading how you guys reacted to the story as it went on and knowing that you were all staying for reasons simr to mine truly made me happy.


    Let¡¯s be honest, we all knew the faults of the story, but I am sure you all managed to overlook those ws and say ¡®hell, this is a story, and I enjoy it for what it is!¡¯. No nitpicking there.


    I have to say, I am truly thankful for that.


    It let me enjoy the story fully knowing there were others who enjoyed the journey together with me.


    As you guys can already tell, it was a joy to trante this story and share it.


    This story may have ended already, and with Tsuki only having a few extras remaining, it is obvious whates next.


    This is an end and also a beginning, but I digress. This is a World Reformation afterword after all.


    I would like to say onest thanks to everyone who stuck to this journey together with me and shared their joys and displeasures in it.


    Thank you very much!


    Let¡¯s meet at the next world!


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!