Chapter 376 - G.o.d and Serpent"s Table
As I was revising this chapter after updating it (I just finished revising it)…… I realized that she really is a sh*tty G.o.ddess……
In the King’s Chamber, I was having my meal.
The white morning sun streamed in through the open windows.
Descending from the raised platform in front of the throne———- right in the center of the King’s Chamber……
There, the royal table, pa.s.sed down through generations of the royal family, was placed.
The legs of the table were intricately and elegantly carved.
On the table, there were extravagant dishes.
Rare wine filled the silver goblets to the brim.
The sound of clinking silverware echoed in the silence.
[Touka Mimori…… Hmm, could that be it? Ahh…… Sogou-san surprisingly might still be broken, but he could be using her? He seems quite cunning after all. Haahhh…… That guy is also a traitor. Even though he was my Summon. This is…… just too much! Sniff, sniff…… Hmmm…… Maybe sending him down the Disposal Ruins might have been a mistake.]
His disposal was a preemptive “warning” for the other Heroes.
It was also intended to instill the thought that “they were the chosen ones” for some of the Heroes.
After all, it was a fact that lower-ranking Heroes had often become a problem in the past.
Therefore———— going through the procedure of disposing him shouldn’t be a mistake.
However, the disposal of Touka Mimori……
Looking back to what happened next———— had I been unconsciously turning my gaze away?
No, let’s look at it another way.
I had indeed not been mistaken with my intuition.
It was just that what happened afterward was beyond my expectations.
The problem was that the disposed Hero turned out to be much more troublesome than antic.i.p.ated.
[Ah…… Ahh———]
She was one of the maids who had taken care of Armor King.
[Hurry up.]
[Ah———]
[Oi.]
[Y- Yes! H- His Majesty…… A- According to Vysis-sama’s orders…… as everyone restrained him on the bed…….]
[Mhmm, and then?]
[While he was alive…… using a cleaver for cooking…… we cut off his head……]
[Ara ara♪ How has His Majesty reacted?]
[W- With a weak voice…… While in pain…… he said “It hurts, it hurts”……]
[My oh my♪ How pitiful♪ Come on, can you like——– tell us with more presence to the story? Like, having more emotion to it…… sometimes making it poetic?]
“Good grief……”, Wormungandr shook his head.
[Well then, have His Majesty’s head and the rest of his corpse “processed” like the rest of the livestock.]
[————Eh?]
[What’s with that “Eh?”? Do you have any objections? It’s not good to waste food, you know!? Right…… While we’re at it, have yourself and your family get “processed” along♪]
[Hyiihh! N- No……! I respectfully obey! A- As you commanded, he shall be processed like livestock———–]
[Ah, make sure to leave His Majesty’s bones aside and attach them to this seat. Look, there’s still s.p.a.ce left, right? That sh*tty fly, the Mad Emperor, the Heroes, and the representatives from other countries will all be part of this chair too♪ Let’s do our best~~♪]
[U- Understo——— Wah!?]
Perhaps she’s feeling extremely tense……
The maid accidentally dropped the head from the tray, making the head tumble onto the carpet.
[Oh my! This is absolutely unacceptable!]
I stood up and went to the side of the maid who was hastily trying to pick it up.
[Stop that condescending laughter.]
[Gyehahaha! Gyehahahahahaha!]
[…….Haahhh…… You’ve always been like this, Worm-san. You never listen to others. Enough, I’m tired of it…… Sniff, sniff…… How sad…… Uweeehhhn.]
[Well…… As a whole, it’s a fact that humans aren’t creatures that are praised much. I partly agree with the a.s.sertion that they’re inferior beings. It’s also a problem that the Chief Deity and Loqierra are in the way to carry out that a.s.sertion.]
[After exterminating the Chief Deity and securing Heaven’s “resources”, let’s proceed with the next stage of the plan.]
[Ahh? The next stage?]
[The world where the Heroes from Another World originated…… Are you not curious about it?]
[Gyehahaha, for real? Sending someone who wasn’t originally from that world over there? There isn’t a single one who has done that back in Heaven, right?]
[That’s why it’s me.]
My lips curled up into a smile, but the smile didn’t reach my eyes.
Wormungandr rested his arms on the table and clasping his hands together, he began twiddling his thumbs again.
[Kuku…… Then, shall we return to the topic at hand? What to do in the near future, I mean. So, what are we going to do now?]
[Fufu, there’s nothing in particular we had to do. Since the Sacred Eye will eventually be destroyed, once that happens, we’ll simply open the gate again and go to Heaven. Simple, isn’t it? With your understanding capabilities, you got that?]
[What if “the blacksmith and his group” arrive here before the Sacred Eye is destroyed?]
[Then I’ll just be breaking the cliché of the play.]
[They’re humans, you know? Wouldn’t those coming here specialize against Deities?]
[Ara? You’re not thinking we’ll lose, are you? Even if Anti-Deity Specialization docks our victory chances, they still aren’t our enemies.]
[Maybe…… but what about him? That Fly King————]
CRAAAAAAAAa.s.sHHHHHH———–!
With a powerful swing, the royal table beneath my arms was subconsciously destroyed.
The table, pa.s.sed down through generations of Kings, split in half and shattered.
Hardwood splinters were pulverized and danced in the air.
[How many corpses will pile up in this futile battle———— Good gracious, I’m looking forward to it♪ Right?]
Saying that, I placed a hand on the arm of the large-build Wormungandr and pa.s.sed by.
The Fallen Deity———– Wormungandr.
In the direction I was heading for were the other Divine Servants.
They had been silently observing the exchange between us two.
The First Hero———— Ars.
A Hero who relentlessly pursued power to its limits.
Although not to the extent that everyone knows it, his name is still pa.s.sed down.
To the extent that there are still parents today who name their children after him.
For example, in the late Alion Thirteen Cavalries———–
Wasn’t the old Captain of the Twelfth Cavalry one such case?
A special existence, being a Hero from Another World.
At first, I had judged Heroes based on this man as the standard.
However, Ars had originally been “different”.
The first summoned Hero was extremely different.
The Void Being———— Yomibito.
Another peculiar one.
At the time he was summoned, Yomibito had lost most of his memories.
Indeed, he had an atmosphere unlike the other Heroes.
In fact, he seemed to be different.
“It’s like he’s from a different era.”
That’s what the other summoned Heroes were saying.
The other Heroes have various speculations about him.
Musashi, Oda…… Kenshin, Shingen.
Kojirou? Yagyu? Ittosai? Amakusa?
Tadakatsu? Sanada? Date? Yos.h.i.tsune?
I don’t really know them, but it sounded like they were names of famous people from their world.
One Hero even speculated……
[Could this person be from Yomi-no-kuni?]
And since he didn’t remember his own name, it was decided he was to be called “Yomibito”.
Some even gave him the strange nickname “Yomibitoshirazu”.
(T/N: According to Shinto mythology, Yomi is where the dead go in the afterlife. Yomi + hito(person) = Yomibito. Meanwhile, Yomibitoshirazu is a word used when the author of something is unknown or difficult to identify, such as in a collection of songs, which makes this word often found in imperial collections under Kokinshu. In other words, Yomibito = Anonymous.)
In any case———— Yomibito was strong.
He single-handedly defeated the Great Demon Emperor of that era.
The other Heroes fell in battle against them one by one.
Although they weren’t weak, they dropped out surprisingly quickly.
They may not be as strong as this time’s, but the Great Demon Emperor’s Army of that time was extremely strong back then.
As expected, even I felt on edge at that time.
That was the first time the word “defeat” crossed my mind.
However, never had I expected———-
That Yomibito would almost single-handedly end it all.
Remembering that time, I put on a refined smile.
[I believe we’ll be fine…… but if that presumptuous “blacksmith and his group” do come here, I’ll leave handling them to you. Fufu, I’ll be expecting a lot from you guys, okay?]
With narrowed eyes, I smiled at one of the three Divine Servants.
[Especially you.]