If he were a human, his current state would be equivalent to being unconscious, with his eyes rolling back into his head and foam dripping from his mouth.
… But to the eyes of a human, he looked like nothing more than an enormous silhouette that was radiating light, so none would be able to tell whether he was unconscious or simply lying down. However, his disgrace was clear to see for the eyes of familiar spirits.
“So, G.o.ds can lose consciousness as well… That"s surprising,” muttered Aran as he glared at the G.o.d who was in this disgraceful state… Rodcorte.
“He probably pushed himself past his limits in various ways. Three of his familiar spirits, even if they were just humanoid ones created with his own Mana, as well as four reincarnated individuals with his divine protection,” said Izumi.
“The fact that he changed Jobs might have had a big effect as well. Just what kind of Job did he choose… Well, it"s good that he made Rodcorte lose consciousness. I might have been the one fainting if he just continued screaming like that,” muttered Kouya.
The three of them lowered the hands that were covering their ears.
Of course, the three familiar spirits… equivalent to Earth"s angels, did not truly have ears.
They had simply covered their ears out of the habit that had remained from when they were humans.
“He looked fine the last time… when the "Death Scythe" Konoe Miyaji"s soul was broken here. Is that because it happened before he was reincarnated?” Aran wondered.
Murakami, Hajime and Kouya had all died in Origin at around the same time. Konoe Miyaji had tried to attack Vandalieu from the Divine Realm, and his soul had been destroyed by Vandalieu"s counterattack.
“You should ask Rodcorte yourself… or so I"d like to tell you, but it doesn"t look like he"ll come to his senses for a while,” said Kouya. “I"m just guessing, but it might be as you say, Aran. He might not have felt any pain when his soul was destroyed because it was before he was given new divine protections and reincarnated.”
The other possibility was that Rodcorte had indeed felt pain and simply endured and kept it hidden… but considering his current state, it seemed fair to a.s.sume that such a thing was impossible for him.
Rodcorte had let out a loud scream when Misa"s soul was devoured. It had not been the scream of someone who was capable of suppressing and enduring pain – and an agonizing pain, at that.
“The "Gungnir" Kaidou Kanata"s soul was broken after he was reincarnated. What about him?” asked Izumi.
“That"s another thing we wouldn"t know without asking Rodcorte himself, but… either he was writhing in agony, or he"d made preparations for the possibility that Kanata"s soul would be broken. I wonder which it is,” said Kouya.
“So that means that Rodcorte is currently unconscious because he was expecting Murakami and Hajime to win against Vandalieu,” Izumi sighed.
Rodcorte had given Murakami and his companions three familiar spirits created with his own Mana for use with "Familiar Spirit Descent" as well as the powers of "Gungnir" and "Death Scythe," repaired for Murakami. He had even given them the ability to kill themselves if needed in the worst-case scenario.
In addition to that, he had provided them with all kinds of information through Divine Messages. He had gone to considerably extensive lengths and spared nothing.
Considering that, Izumi was likely correct in saying that Rodcorte had placed a lot of hope in Murakami.
And it was likely that the suicide mechanisms Rodcorte had placed in the three of them had prevented him from blocking the pain that would come with their souls being devoured along with his divine protections and familiar spirits, causing him to lose consciousness.
Izumi and the others did not know whether the destruction of the soul of Hajime Fitun, which had been absorbed by the G.o.d of thunderclouds Fitun, had also affected Rodcorte. Rodcorte had already been unconscious at that point.
“Well then, what should we do? I"ll be putting together a summary of the information we need to give to Asagi"s group and Mao,” said Aran.
“I understand informing Mao, but are you sure about Asagi? Won"t he start getting all fired up with some strange sense of justice?” said Izumi, apprehensive about this idea.
Asagi felt indignation at the fact that Vandalieu broke souls… and the fact that he devoured them. Izumi was worried about the risk that he would do something rash in his desire to stop Vandalieu, succ.u.mbing to some strange sense of justice and duty.
“Well, I think that"s possible, but… even if we stay silent, Asagi"s group will probably find out that Vandalieu"s gone and done something,” said Aran.
“Ah, you"re right. Fitun"s statues are cracking and falling apart across the whole continent,” said Izumi.
There had already been numerous incidents in which the statues of wounded G.o.ds would become cracked or bleed from the eyes. But in this case, a G.o.d himself had died.
The effect of this event had not stopped in the Alcrem Duchy in which the city of Morksi was located; it had spread across the entire Bahn Gaia continent and even beyond, to statues on other continents.
Naturally, it had also spread to the Birgitt Duchy where Asagi and his companions were. Fitun was not particularly widely worshipped in the Birgitt Duchy, and there were few statues of him there, but it wasn"t something that would be overlooked by Asagi"s group.
With that being the case, it wasn"t difficult to imagine that they would wonder whether Vandalieu was involved.
“I suppose you"re right. In that case, it would be best to give them clear details as fast as possible,” said Izumi.
“And I feel bad for saying this, but the ones who were killed are Murakami"s group and Hajime. I"m sure Asagi won"t be happy about it, but it won"t be enough to make his blood rise to his head and head straight towards Vandalieu,” Kouya added.
Murakami, Akira, Misa and Hajime – to Asagi and Kouya, these four had been people from the same school, and individuals who had shared their fate of reincarnation. They had also been allies in the Bravers.
But they had betrayed Asagi and Kouya, and Aran and Izumi had been personally killed by Murakami. Though they were all reincarnated individuals, the relationship between the familiar spirits and the reincarnated individuals who had been destroyed was close to being enemies.
Even the hot-blooded Asagi wouldn"t lose his cool over such people being devoured.
Kouya felt almost no grief at their loss as well, though he wouldn"t say that it had served them right, as he had already seen them die in Origin.
He felt pity for them, but he didn"t feel any anger towards Vandalieu. In fact, Kouya felt apologetic towards Vandalieu for the fact that he was the one who had been forced to clean up Kouya"s betrayers.
Kouya had perhaps unconsciously considered that Murakami"s group had paid for what they did through their deaths in Origin.
And Kanako, Doug and Melissa, who were supposed to have been allies of Murakami, seemed to have been accepted by Vandalieu. Thinking about it too deeply would make Kouya question himself.
But whose idea was that "transformation?" Was it Kanako, after all? If that"s the case, Vandalieu must have taken a great liking to her, Kouya thought, but he quickly put these matters that he had no answers to aside for now.
“In any case, as long as we tell Asagi and the others what Hajime and that Fitun G.o.d did as well, he"ll understand that Vandalieu didn"t devour their souls unreasonably,” he concluded.
“Yeah, I"ll make sure to explain that in detail… Come to think of it, what are we going to do about Gotouta now that she"s left Murakami"s group as well?” asked Aran.
“Let"s tell Asagi and the others that the "Super Sense" left Murakami"s group and doesn"t seem to want to get involved with Vandalieu anymore. There wouldn"t be any point in telling him where she is; they"d never meet, since she"s left the Bahn Gaia continent,” said Kouya.
“What will we do after that?” asked Izumi.
Aran and Kouya looked around at their surroundings.
Recent events would likely cause a meeting with Alda and his forces, and the treatment of the wounded soul of Edgar hadn"t finished yet.
It seemed that the "Avalon" Rikudou Hijiri had made a move on the children of Amemiya Hiroto and Narumi in Origin as well.
“We won"t do anything in particular,” said Aran.
“Just our usual duties,” said Kouya.
There was nothing that the familiar spirits could do. The one heading to the meeting with Alda and his forces would be Rodcorte, and they were unable to leave this Divine Realm without Rodcorte"s permission. They couldn"t do anything about the treatment of Edgar"s soul, either.
… It would be possible for them to interfere with the treatment, but it would certainly be discovered by Rodcorte if they did, so it was effectively impossible.
The familiar spirits could only watch over Origin; they could not offer any concrete forms of help. Fortunately, the children were being watched by something like a clone of Vandalieu"s. They would probably be fine as long as nothing too drastic happened.
And if they paid too much attention to the children, it was possible that Rodcorte would become aware of the existence of Vandalieu"s clone – Banda.
Incidentally, it was also impossible to kill Rodcorte while he was unconscious. The three of them were merely familiar spirits; they were unable to harm him. The moment they tried, their bodies would become completely immobile, as if turned to stone.
“Yes, let"s do that,” Izumi agreed.
They would completely devote themselves to understanding the circle of transmigration system, preparing themselves for the future, as if Rodcorte was hallucinating and nothing was out of the ordinary at all.
The forces of Alda, the G.o.d of law and fate, had gathered in his Divine Realm – and there was a huge fuss inside, as if someone had opened a beehive.
“That G.o.d of war – the G.o.d of thunderclouds Fitun-dono, who was said to have been able to defeat numerous evil G.o.ds remaining from the Demon King"s army if he were just blessed with the opportunity – was devoured?!” one G.o.d shouted.
“Fitun-dono physically incarnated upon the world, leading more heroic spirits than most G.o.ds are in charge of… and they were all exterminated! Not only did they fail to slay the Demon King, but they did not even defeat a single one of his subordinates. All of the heroic spirits and Rodcorte"s reincarnated individuals had their souls devoured… Is this reality?!” said another G.o.d in complete astonishment at Fitun"s defeat.
“Impossible – to regenerate even with his head, his brain, cut almost in two… Even the Demon King Guduranis"s movements slowed when his head was wounded; what in the world is he?! Will he not die unless body is pulverized, burned to ash and then scattered across the world?!” a third G.o.d screamed.
“Putting aside the fact that he has no weak spots… Just what is he?! Even without using the technique that materialized his soul in the battle against the "Blue-flamed Sword" Heinz or the spell that destroyed the Dungeon and destroyed Curatos-dono – without using his full power – he destroyed Fitun-dono!” muttered a fourth, clutching his head in fear of Vandalieu"s immortality and the power he possessed.
“To devour the heroic spirits before Fitun-dono"s very eyes…! Even if it was to strike fear into him and affect his mind, what a repulsive method!” another G.o.d said in criticism of what Vandalieu had done to mentally corner Hajime Fitun.
“Fitun-dono looked to be in real pain as his heroic spirits" souls were devoured. Can we a.s.sume that this is because he had bestowed some kind of power to strengthen either the heroic spirits or their vessels directly…? Or was it the effect of some kind of power of the Demon King"s?” murmured yet another G.o.d, trying to a.n.a.lyze the situation perhaps in an attempt to regain some composure.
This a.n.a.lysis was largely useless however, with its frequent use of "some kind of."
“Vandalieu"s subordinates are a problem. Undead, monsters, Vampires and other races created by Vida that are able to fight against physical incarnations of heroic spirits. With such subordinates at the Demon King"s disposal, any ill-prepared force we send will certainly be swept away before they can even reach the Demon King,” one G.o.d continued.
“But even if you say that, what can we do? If the Demon King returns to the other side of the Boundary Mountain Range, defeating him will become a truly hopeless prospect! We must vanquish him while he is still inside the Orbaume Kingdom… but even if we send the heroes that we have been nurturing, they will put up no resistance and simply die in vain…” another murmured in fear of Vandalieu"s powerful subordinates.
“Everything is strange to begin with. What are they? I can understand the Vampires. There are precedents of n.o.ble-born Vampires surpa.s.sing Rank 13. I have heard that the ancestor of the Ghouls was the twin of the ancestor of the Vampires, so they likely had latent potential. And I can understand the carefully raised Undead specimens that are designated as disasters. But why is there a Skeleton who can slay a heroic spirit in a single strike, even if he had not undergone "Heroic Spirit Transformation" at the time?! And why is there a plant-type monster, Ghosts of all kinds, and an Undead carriage that is able to travel between ordinary s.p.a.ce and another dimension?! How are such subordinates even created?!” a third shouted, bewildered by the existence of Bone Man, Eisen, the Ghosts, and Sam.
“The fact that he is powerful and defeating him would be a near-impossible undertaking is something that we already knew! The more important thing is his mother! She has Vida"s divine protection and is respected by the city"s people as a "Holy Woman!" This is a more troublesome problem than actual strength!” another G.o.d pointed out.
“Indeed. She has no influence outside of the city of Morksi and its surroundings yet, but at this rate, it may reach other duchies and even the entire Orbaume Kingdom. The balance of power will be completely overturned!” agreed another, fearing Darcia"s religious influence and its imminent spread across the land.
“The reincarnated individuals that Rodcorte was so proud of amounted to nothing more than this… Is his help not unneeded after all?” another G.o.d murmured, moving past the topic of Vandalieu and bringing up the issue of their cooperative relationship with Rodcorte.
This question sparked talk about the usefulness of the reincarnated individuals.
“That is a hasty judgment. Though Fitun-dono was defeated, he was only able to corner the Demon King as far as he did because he had incarnated within a reincarnated individual, was he not?”
“But in the end, because of that same reincarnated individual, Fitun-dono met that pitiful end that we all witnessed.”
There were many G.o.ds who belonged to Alda"s forces. Thus, this was not an orderly discussion of recent events; it was a disordered clashing of differing opinions.
That was how much of a great shock Fitun"s complete defeat had inflicted upon the G.o.ds.
Several months after Hajime"s reincarnation in Lambda, Fitun had slipped out of his Divine Realm, left Alda"s forces and acted as he pleased with no heed for the opinions of others.
Alda had given up on convincing Fitun to return, but he had left Fitun to his own devices with the expectation that he would be able to produce some results when he faced Vandalieu and his allies. At that point in time, the G.o.ds had thought that it would be difficult for Fitun to defeat Vandalieu.
Vandalieu was the Demon King that succeeded Guduranis, who had been capable of destroying even the great G.o.ds. It had seemed unlikely that a single G.o.d would be able to defeat such a foe.
But he would produce some results. He would take down some of the Demon King"s subordinates, and even if he did not take the Demon King"s life, he should at least be able to succeed in wounding him heavily or retreat without having his soul devoured.
The G.o.ds had expected at least this much from Fitun.
The G.o.d of records Curatos, who had been destroyed by Vandalieu, had been a close advisor of Alda"s and held an important position. However, he was unskilled in combat and was not supposed to be on the front line of battle.
Hihiryushukaka, the evil G.o.d of joyful life, had been one of the top-cla.s.s evil G.o.ds among the remnants of the Demon King"s army. After taking a Pure-breed Vampire as his physical vessel, he had been in the same state as Fitun. But it could not be said that he had been proficient in combat.
Hihiryushukaka"s role had not been physical or magical combat. It had been using cunning methods to entrap his enemies, torturing and tormenting them to a slow death.
Thus, Hihiryushukaka had always fled from battles against the G.o.ds of Alda"s forces. It was surprising, but not incredibly shocking, that such a G.o.d had been defeated when facing the Demon King.
But Fitun was a G.o.d of war, not impaired in such ways. He had stood on battlefields as a mortal, and he had physically incarnated within a human body with which he could fully utilize his prowess in combat.
His weapons were not particularly deserving of praise, but they were two curved Orichalc.u.m swords with Demon King equipment sealed within. His vessel had been one of the reincarnated individuals that Rodcorte was so proud of.
If he had faced evil G.o.ds that had once been in the Demon King"s army, he would have likely defeated and sealed them away unless there was an extremely powerful G.o.d.
And yet, he had been defeated and his soul devoured, failing to achieve anything to speak of. It was no wonder the G.o.ds were in an agitated and discomposed state.
If even Fitun had failed, could the Demon King even be defeated? Perhaps there were some G.o.ds that were beginning to doubt this.
But Nineroad, formerly a champion and currently a heroic G.o.d of the wind attribute, said in a sharp tone: “Calm yourselves!”
The G.o.ds stopped their unproductive discussions and turned their attention to her.
Alda, the G.o.d of law and fate, was looking upon the world with a sorrowful gaze in his eyes.
Nineroad looked away from the G.o.ds, faced Alda, knelt down and bowed. “Fitun has been destroyed, but it is I who found him and entrusted him to serve as the G.o.d of thunderclouds. I bear the responsibility for his numerous chaotic actions.”
The chaotic actions taken by Fitun – Nineroad was not referring to the fact that Fitun had left her and Alda to challenge Vandalieu on his own, nor was she referring to the fact that he had used one of the reincarnated individuals sent by Rodcorte.
The fact that he had been aware of the reincarnated individuals" existence and remained silent about them was indeed problematic, but… in this case, Nineroad was referring to something else.
What she considered to be problematic was the fact that he had forcibly robbed Gordon, the Flame Blades and others of their free wills in order to use them as vessels for his heroic spirits, and the fact that he had taken the city as a hostage, regardless of being on the verge of defeat at the hands of Vandalieu and his subordinates.
It may be an exaggeration to say that such methods were unsurprising in wars between humans, but it could not be described as strange, either.
By sacrificing twenty or thirty people, fighting forces equivalent to Rank 12 to 14 monsters could be readied. A country faced with war would take such an option without hesitation if it were available.
Once war began, the sacrifices would number not in the tens, but in the thousands… perhaps even in the tens of thousands. Considering that, forsaking the lives of a mere twenty or thirty people to produce a powerful force that could end the war in its early stages would be an incredibly small sacrifice.
What"s more, in this case, the enemy was not an enemy nation. It was the Demon King and his subordinates.
During the war against the Demon King Guduranis, 90% of the entire population of Lambda at the time had been lost. Considering that, the lives of twenty or thirty individuals was an almost negligible sacrifice.
Fitun taking the city hostage was, again, not a rare tactic in wars between humans. Unlike on Earth and in Origin, there was no law of war in this world. Villages and cities would be plundered in large wars, and in some cases, completely destroyed with their inhabitants ma.s.sacred… though admittedly, deliberately causing a monster rampage and setting the resulting horde of monsters onto a city was almost unheard of.
Directing a monster horde into an enemy nation would certainly produce results, but nothing would be gained from it, as monsters would take over the lands. In fact, it was highly likely that the monsters would then multiply and set their sights on the nation that began the rampage.
But as the enemy was the Demon King, it was a different matter entirely. If he could be defeated at the cost of turning a single city into a Devil"s Nest, even many humans would accept it.
Fitun"s actions were not problematic as a strategy for a human war. Thus, the problem… was the fact that Fitun was not a human, but a G.o.d.
He had been a legendary mercenary as a mortal, but as a G.o.d, he had been a G.o.d who fought against evil G.o.ds – the G.o.d of thunderclouds, under the command of the heroic G.o.d Nineroad, who served Alda, the G.o.d of law and fate.
He had been a G.o.d who was supposed to teach mortals what was right, to show them the G.o.ds" ideals, to punish them at times and forgive them at others, leading them onto a better path.
G.o.ds did not ask their believers to be dreamers that ignored reality or be overly optimistic.
The G.o.ds knew that their believers couldn"t sustain themselves on air, that they could not uphold the G.o.ds" teachings at all times, and that there were times when they needed to commit the sins that the G.o.ds warned them about.
But there would be no hope for the world if the G.o.ds did nothing but explain the reality before the believers" very eyes. The people would lose their knowledge of good and evil; they would no longer know what was the correct path; their hearts would fall into chaos and the world would face ruin.
That was why the G.o.ds constantly defined their teachings and strove to lead people onto a better path. That was what Alda and the G.o.ds serving him believed.
And yet, as a G.o.d, Fitun had declared war upon Vandalieu using the same methods that humans would use. That was the problem.
The G.o.ds began murmuring among themselves.
“Indeed. It would be a different matter if Fitun-dono"s teachings were of a sense of self-sacrifice, the importance of the devotion to offer up your life for the greater good, but…”
“To begin with, there wasn"t a single one among the vessels that offered up their body willingly. They were rendered disabled by the very G.o.d they worshipped so that their bodies could be used. It would not be an exaggeration to call this betrayal.”
Indeed, if Fitun had been a G.o.d whose teachings were of self-sacrifice and devotion, his actions could have been defended to some extent. But he had never taught anything like that. However, he had also never taught them the self-serving cruelty that he had shown in the battle against Vandalieu.
Fitun"s teachings had been about the importance of having the perseverance to continue improving oneself day by day, of valiance and bravery.
Ever since becoming a G.o.d, Fitun had concealed the l.u.s.t for battle he had possessed as a mercenary.
That was exactly why his actions were so deeply sinful.
“I am willing to accept any punishment. You may even impale me with the "Stakes of Law" and strip me of my divinity,” said Nineroad, offering to pay the price for Fitun"s sins.
But Alda shook his head. “There is no need for that, Nineroad. After all, the one who did not punish Fitun and let him do as he pleased is me. And it was also a failure on my own part that I did not realize his true intentions.”
“But –!” Nineroad began to protest.
“And in this current situation, we cannot afford to punish you,” Alda continued.
Nineroad was the leader of the wind-attribute G.o.ds, having taken the role from Shizarion, the G.o.d of wind and art, who had been destroyed by the Demon King Guduranis.
With the emergence of the Demon King Vandalieu, Alda"s forces were spending the days gathering their strength. They could not afford to pa.s.s a heavy punishment upon Nineroad, impaling her with the "Stakes of Law" and stripping her of her divinity, when she held such an important position.
“Nineroad-dono, every G.o.d that has gathered here understands the extent of your sincerity. But I want you to understand that we must fill the gap that has been left by Fitun"s destruction, and that your atonement will be achieved through the defeat of the Demon King Vandalieu,” said Niltark, the G.o.d of judgment.
“… Understood, Niltark-dono,” said Nineroad, nodding and stepping back.
“But what will happen now?” asked Niltark, continuing the discussion. “If the humans learn of Fitun-dono"s actions, will they not all lean towards Vida"s faction? Vandalieu is concealing his true nature from them, and already has a grasp over the hearts of the city"s people.”
“Would the humans not be unaware that this incident was caused by Fitun-dono?” one G.o.d suggested optimistically. “Most of the heroic spirits were also defeated by the Demon King"s subordinates without being able to reach the city; only two of them were seen approaching the front gate by the city"s humans. Would this incident not be treated as though it were caused by a mere bandit attack, unrelated to the G.o.ds?”
Fitun had used the reincarnated individual Hajime as a vessel, while the heroic spirits had used adventurers such as Gordon and the Flame Blades. Ordinary humans had only been able to perceive them with the appearance of the vessels themselves.
The "Heroic Spirit Transformation" and "G.o.d Transformation" used by the heroic spirits and Fitun had not produced any visible signals such as pillars of light descending from the sky; from afar, the only difference visible was that their bodies glowed a little. They may have had a mystical appearance, but one could plausibly a.s.sume that they had cast light-attribute enchantments on themselves.
But Niltark rejected that view. “It is too optimistic to think that will be the case. Fitun took the Orichalc.u.m weapons stored in his own Church… as well as Demon King equipment. This will likely confirm a connection between him and his Church.”
“Indeed… To that city"s people, this was a great incident. If a thorough investigation is conducted not only into the two heroic spirits that appeared at the front gate, but those who challenged Vandalieu as well… the truth will likely be revealed in the near future,” Nineroad agreed. “Even so, it is unlikely that they would realize that it was Fitun-dono himself, but… they may believe that the reincarnated individual named Hajime Inui was a hero who was nurtured by Fitun-dono. After all, many humans have become aware that many G.o.ds are currently nurturing heroes.”
“Would Vandalieu not absorb the Demon King equipment? If he does, then the connection to Fitun-dono could be concealed. No matter how influential he is in that city, without any evidence, his words will not be believed in other cities and other duchies!” the optimistic G.o.d said.
“Perhaps, but… either way, there will be no hiding the fact that this incident was related to Fitun from those with good eyes and ears,” said Alda. “Look for yourself – another statue of Fitun has crumbled like sand.”
Now that Fitun had been destroyed and his soul devoured, the statues of him were cracking, breaking and crumbling, one after another. And this was occurring more quickly and in more prominent ways in areas where the worship of Fitun was more widespread.
This was not limited to just the city of Morksi and the Alcrem Duchy. It was something that was occurring across the Orbaume Kingdom, across the Bahn Gaia continent, across the entire world of Lambda.
There was no social media or internet that allowed for the sharing of information in this world. But Fitun"s statues were being destroyed on a scale where such things were not necessary for the news to spread.
Those who were aware that the G.o.ds had been more active since several years ago would be particularly interested in this incident.
Pargtarta, the G.o.ddess of flow – the subordinate G.o.d who protected Peria, the G.o.ddess of water and knowledge as she continued to slumber – was not present at the G.o.ds" meeting.
However, the young G.o.ds sent by Alda and the other G.o.ds as her "reinforcements" had all headed for Alda"s Divine realm.
Pargtarta was the only one left here.
But there was a G.o.d who had concealed himself and come here after sensing that there were no longer any obstacles present.
“Welcome, Onee-sama,” said Pargtarta.
“… Since when have I been your older sister?” asked Ricklent with a frown. “I am indeed your superior, but you were once a familiar spirit created by my sister Peria, and now ascended as a G.o.d. It would be more correct to refer to me not as sister, but as aunt, or uncle. I am a G.o.d of both s.e.xes, or neither.”
Ricklent often took the form of three beautiful women, or of three males – one elderly, one young adult and one young boy. This was a symbol of the present, past and future – in other words, a symbol of time.
Thus, the people considered Ricklent to be of both s.e.xes or of neither.
“As always, your tone of speech is one of an aged being, Onee-sama,” Pargtarta remarked.
“… It seems that you have become more obstinate since we last met a hundred thousand years ago,” said Ricklent.
“So, what is your business here today? Have you come to compete in board games against my master Peria to win my heart?”
According to myths, Ricklent, the genie of time and magic, had taken a liking in Pargtarta and spent centuries challenging Peria in board games in order to have Pargtarta handed over to them.
But in truth, this was nothing more than fiction.
“It bewilders me that the myths fabricated by the humans while I slumbered are told as if they are truth. This is why a world ruled by mortals, where there is a distance between them and the G.o.ds, is very interesting,” said Ricklent.
Unlike the age during which the G.o.ds directly ruled over the people, it had become difficult for mortals to directly exchange words with the G.o.ds since a hundred thousand years ago. Thus, they had grown to invent an enormous number of myths and legends.
There were all kinds of reasons for this, such as misinterpretations of what had actually happened, and songs created by bards to be funny and amusing being told later as myths and legends.
“Interesting, you say?” asked Pargtarta.
“It is a phenomenon that did not occur when we G.o.ds resided upon the world"s surface. It is interesting indeed,” Ricklent replied. “Incidentally, the fact that you would mention something like that to befuddle me seems to indicate that the "flow" is yet to come.”
“Yes, it seems that way. Though I do understand that if we desired to join your side, now would be the ideal opportunity.”
The young G.o.ds that would normally be in the way were not here, and the attention of Alda and his forces was focused on the chaos that Fitun had caused. This was the perfect chance for Peria to leave this place and join Vida"s faction.
But Peria showed no signs of movement. She likely believed that it was not the time yet.
“Then I shall return. There is no meaning in dragging Peria out by force if she does not have her own thoughts,” said Ricklent.
“Do you not believe that my master would decide to remain on Alda"s side?” asked Pargtarta.
“If I did, I would not have come to this place on my own. As I am now, you alone would be enough to pin me onto the ground.”
“Oh my. Is that an invitation, Onee-sama?”
“… You are persistent,” Ricklent sighed.
“I think the champion Ark would have been deeply knowledgeable about culture such as yuri and boy"s love, you know,” said Pargtarta.
“That was Solder.”
With that, Ricklent disappeared as if he were an illusion.
And thus ended the clandestine meeting that took place in the shadow of the meeting of Alda"s forces.
Name: Junpei Murakami
Race: Human
Age: 2 years old (17 years old in appearance)
t.i.tle: Reincarnated Individual
Job: Magic Sword User
Level: 27
Job history: Thief, a.s.sa.s.sin, Mage, Dagger User, Magic Swordsman, Magical Fighter, Fire-Attribute Mage
Attributes:
Vitality: 149,647
Mana: 247,005
Strength: 5,822
Agility: 7,365
Stamina: 6,455
Intelligence: 6,938
Pa.s.sive skills:
Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 10
Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5
Detect Presence: Level 4
Fire Attribute Resistance: Level 4
Increased Attack Power while equipped with a Dagger: Small
Increased Agility while equipped with Non-metal Armor: Very large
Active skills:
Surpa.s.s Limits: Level 10
Silent Steps: Level 7
Dagger Technique: Level 9
Throwing: Level 5
Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 5
Archery: Level 5
Fire-Attribute Magic: Level 9
Wind-Attribute Magic: Level 5
Mana Control: Level 9
Lockpicking: Level 5
Trap: Level 7
Survival: Level 3
Lifesaving: Level 5
Mount: Level 3
Coordination: Level 5
Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 9
Armor Technique: Level 8
a.s.sa.s.sin Fighting Technique: Level 3
Magic Fighting Technique: Level 3
Chant Revocation: Level 1
Unique skills:
Chronos: Level 8
Super Mana Recovery: Level 5
Target Radar: Owner of a certain amount of Death-Attribute Mana
Rodcorte"s Divine Protection
Status Concealment
Pseudo-Gungnir
Pseudo-Death Scythe
Emergency Escape: Suicide
Name: Akira Hazamada
Race: Human
Age: 2 years old (17 years old in appearance)
t.i.tle: Reincarnated Individual
Job: Magical Fighter
Level: 99
Job history: Warrior, Swordsman, Light Fighter, Mage, Archer, Earth-Attribute Mage
Attributes:
Vitality: 184,915
Mana: 141,189
Strength: 6,955
Agility: 7,001
Stamina: 6,327
Intelligence: 6,564
Pa.s.sive skills:
Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 10
Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5
Intuition: Level 2
Detect Presence: Level 5
Increased Attack Power while equipped with a Sword: Small
Increased Defensive Power while equipped with Metal Armor: Medium
Increased Attack Power while equipped with a Bow: Medium
Increased Mana Recovery Rate: Level 3
Active skills:
Dagger Technique: Level 6
Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 7
Archery: Level 6
Throwing: Level 3
Earth-Attribute Magic: Level 8
Mana Control: Level 7
Coordination: Level 7
Silent Steps: Level 6
Survival: Level 5
Lifesaving: Level 5
Mount: Level 4
Swordsmanship: Level 8
Armor Technique: Level 7
Shield Technique: Level 4
Surpa.s.s Limits: Level 5
Surpa.s.s Limits: Magic Sword: Level 4
Magic Fighting Technique: Level 4
Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 7
Chant Revocation: Level 2
Unique skills:
Odin: Level 10
Target Radar: Owner of a certain amount of Death-Attribute Mana
Rodcorte"s Divine Protection
Status Concealment
Emergency Escape: Suicide
Name: Misa Anderson
Race: Elf
Age: 2 years old (Approximately 15 years old in appearance)
t.i.tle: Reincarnated Individual
Job: Wind User
Level: 0
Job history: Mage, Wind-Attribute Mage, Thief, Spy, Explorer, Staff Wielder
Attributes:
Vitality: 109,274
Mana: 200,016
Strength: 950
Agility: 7,948
Stamina: 4,719
Intelligence: 8,110
Pa.s.sive skills:
Disease and Poison Resistance: Level 10
Death Attribute Resistance: Level 5
Wind-Attribute Magic: Level 6
Detect Presence: Level 6
Intuition: Level 4
Self-Enhancement: Vapor Transformation: Level 10
Increased Mana Recovery Rate: Level 5
Active skills:
Wind-Attribute Magic: Level 10
Mana Control: Level 9
Unarmed Fighting Technique: Level 3
Archery: Level 5
Dagger Technique: level 3
Coordination: Level 5
Silent Steps: Level 10
Survival: Level 4
Lifesaving: Level 6
Lockpicking: Level 2
Trap: Level 3
Familiar Spirit Descent: Level 6
Surpa.s.s Limits: Level 2
Spiritual Magic: Level 1
Unique skills:
Sylphid: Level 10
Target Radar: Owner of a certain amount of Death-Attribute Mana
Rodcorte"s Divine Protection
Status Concealment
Emergency Escape: Suicide
Murakami, Akira and Misa. Three reincarnated individuals.
Murakami and Akira tried to improve their Skills and Attribute Values in a diverse way within a short time.
Misa abandoned the thought of engaging in physical combat and aimed to specialize in the use of "Sylphid" to gather information. As she acquired mage-type Jobs, she learned spiritual magic by chance – perhaps because she was reincarnated in the body of an Elf.
In order to shorten the time that he needed to acquire Skills, Murakami used his "a.s.signable Active Skill" to acquire "a.s.sa.s.sin Fighting Technique." Thus, he has not acquired the "a.s.sa.s.sin Technique" Skill that would normally be necessary to acquire "a.s.sa.s.sin Fighting Technique."
However, despite their efforts, the three of them managed to acquire Attribute Values equivalent to those of cla.s.s adventurers, but their Skill Levels did not increase as they wanted them to. Their main combat skills remained un-awakened, so their overall strength was equivalent to B-cla.s.s.
They received tremendous support from Rodcorte – rings to house familiar spirits so that they wouldn"t be destroyed by Vandalieu during their descent, and the "Emergency Escape: Suicide" Skill that would allow them to commit suicide immediately to have their souls escape to Rodcorte"s divine realm. Murakami was even given the imperfect abilities "Pseudo-Gungnir" and "Pseudo-Death Scythe," which Rodcorte put back together and repaired from their broken fragments. (The transfer of these abilities occurred when Murakami used the "Familiar Spirit Descent" Skill.)
However, during the actual battle, the fighting was left to Murakami, who was the most capable among the three in close-quarters combat. Akira backed him up with predictions of the future using "Odin," while Misa used "Sylphid" to try and exploit any gaps in Vandalieu"s defense.
As a result, they were defeated by Vandalieu without even managing to get a blow in.
Murakami"s Level being low, Akira being just on the verge of a Job change and Misa only having just undergone a Job change are all because the three of them have hit barriers in their development, preventing them from increasing their Levels any further.