Yumina smiled softly. It seemed she’d noticed my hesitation. She could see right through me...
“Kohaku! Luli!” I channeled my magic and called two of my summons toward me.
It was late, so it seemed like Kohaku had been sleeping. Luli, on the other hand, seemed to be leisurely tossing grapes into her mouth straight from the vine. Good grief...
“I’m going to face the Wicked God. Kohaku, you protect Yumina. Luli, you protect Lu. Got it?”
“Y-Yep! Of course, at once!”
“Mmm... Mhm...!” Kohaku flailed around in a half-asleep stupor, while Luli answered with a mouth full of grapes. It was all good.
I couldn’t catch either of my sisters on the phone, for whatever reason... They were probably swimming and hadn’t taken their phones to prevent damage. It was a shame, but unavoidable. I sent them a text instead.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Yes!”
“Okay!”
We went through the [Gate] and came out in the ruins of Yulong’s former capital. The place was as ruined as ever. If anything, it looked worse than the last time. Now all that was left was to use [Fly] and whoosh off to Changyung.
“...Will you two be okay flying?”
“Ah, yes. I-It’s a little scary but I’m sure we can do it. Right, Lu?”
“O-Of course! Let’s just fly as quick as we can!”
They were both scared by how unstable it was when I used [Levitation] on them whenever I flew around. I didn’t have much time, though. So they’d have to bear with it.
I grabbed them both tightly and pulled their bodies close against mine, one arm around each of their backs.
“T-Touya?!”
“A-Ah, Touya?!”
“Hold on tight you two. We’ll be there in a flash.”
I used [Levitation] to pick up Kohaku and Luli. Luli was a little annoyed because she had her own wings, but I didn’t care. I could fly faster than her at this point, and time was of the essence.
I launched into the air and zoomed toward my destination. I could fly at full speed and not feel any wind resistance thanks to the protective barriers I’d erected. Despite that, the two girls fearfully clung to my side.
It would take only five minutes to reach Changyung at that speed.
My eyes were immediately drawn to the signs of death and carnage on the street, rather than the beautiful architecture and red rooftops.
We landed on the ground and found corpses here and there. They grew little crystals from their bodies, and their faces were all contorted in agony.
“How awful...”
“Terrible...!” Yumina and Lu looked on at the disaster with horror on their faces.
I used my divinity to check the bodies, and their souls were gone. There was no doubt. The Soul Eater was here.
“Gyaaaaaaugh?!” A horrific shriek resonated through the streets. It wasn’t far from me. It felt like agony given audible form.
“Let’s go!”
Kohaku turned into her full tiger form, and Luli converted into a size more suitable for urban navigation.
Yumina sat on Kohaku’s back, and Lu straddled Luli. Kohaku began walking around the area, and Luli flapped her wings.
We turned the corner and came to the source of the sound. What we found was an enormous monster ripping a man’s throat out.
It had a golden mane and what looked like an unrealistically hard coat of fur, its radiance somewhat muddied. It resembled a dog or a large wolf, but aspects of it were also similar to a lion. An unsettling mist emanated from the creature. It was like divinity, but somehow dirtier.
“Is that the wicked god?”
It was four meters tall. When it noticed my presence, it turned two glimmering red eyes in my direction. Its dark gold mane bristled with a malignant force, only intensifying the danger I could feel in the atmosphere.
This... wicked godbeast... dropped the man on the ground before leaping up to a rooftop. The man’s neck wound immediately sealed itself shut as his body shriveled and dried. A crystal flower then bloomed right out of his neck.
“This is it...”
The beast wasted no time and jumped straight from the rooftop toward me. I pulled Brunhild out of [Storage] and switched it to Blade Mode, then jumped toward it myself. I struck it as we passed each other. But... with a clang, a loud, metallic noise reverberated through the air as I touched it.
“It’s that tough?!” My arm tensed up and I felt the impact ring through my body. My attack did nothing at all. I looked down at Brunhild in awe and found that the phrasium blade actually had a chip in it.
That’s impossible!
The beast turned around and charged toward me.
Gah!
“Come forth, Earth! Barrier of the Mother Soil: [Earthwall]!”
“Whoa!”
The ground between me and the godbeast rose up, causing the creature to smack its face into hardened soil.
“Are you okay, Touya?!”
“Thanks, Yumina!” The godbeast stared at Yumina and Kohaku before making a run toward them, only to be intercepted by Lu, who had Luli spew a rain of fireballs from her mouth.
The creature was staggered by the attack, but not much. It clambered to its feet and jumped back.
Good job!
“Gun Mode!” I switched Brunhild’s form and quickly aimed it at my enemy.
I fired off a few shots at the godbeast and it was suddenly wrapped in a torrent of flames.
I’d loaded it with specialized bullets. More specifically, ones enchanted with [Fire Storm].
The flames quickly dissipated, flowing into the beast’s body. Its lumbering form shimmered as it consumed the magic entirely.
It seemed to have the spell absorbing properties that the Phrase did... It made sense, the muddy-gold color and fur-like coating had thrown me off but it was unmistakably made of the same material the Phrase were made of. I wondered if it was some kind of modified subspecies.
“Grauuugh!” A dark golden aura began to emanate from the creature and gradually concentrated around it, before dispersing in a wide burst.
Wait, that’s... divinity!
“Yumina, Lu! Are you two okay?!”
“W-We’re okay! I don’t know what this thing is, but we’re managing!”
“I-I’m okay, yes!”
Yumina and Lu had divine protection from me and my sisters. If an ordinary person had been hit by that blast of divinity, they’d have been knocked unconscious, or at the very least forced to kneel.
Tsk... Then there was no mistaking it, this monster held something divine inside it... Even if it was caused by that stupid NEET god.
“Try to keep your distance from it!”
For the first time in a long while, I triggered my Apotheosis. My hair grew outward in an instant, and divinity wrapped around my body. In a flash, my platinum aura surrounded the battlefield.
The wicked godbeast stopped in its tracks, and suddenly I heard a dull laugh ring out from somewhere. I recognized that voice!
“Kukuku... I know this divinity... It’s you, isn’t it, boy?”
A muddy-gold swirl in space appeared beside the godbeast, and it gradually morphed into the form of a skinny old man. I was wondering when he’d show up.
“You sure have a lot of free time, but I guess that’s natural for a NEET god.”
“What a rude mouth you have... Still, thank you for coming. I’m sure with a soul like yours in its belly, my little pet here will evolve far faster.”
“So you created this wicked godbeast? You’d even go so far as to use aspects of the Phrase in its design?!”
It was definitely at least as hard as the crystal monsters. This guy was a real pain in the ass, and I wanted him done with already. He’d gone too far. This monster devoured souls and slowly empowered itself. That was just plain wrong. No god should ever do that in a mortal realm... Though, this man was no god to me.
“That’s all thanks to my benefactor... Don’t you
worry about that. It was all thanks to them that I managed to create such a magnificent wicked god. Now we won’t have any trouble ravaging this world together.”
“...Excuse me?”
“Oh, you don’t know? Any world destroyed by a wicked god no longer falls under the god of worlds’ jurisdiction. He’d no longer observe or manage it, understand? I intend to completely wipe out everything in this stupid little world, and then I will ascend as its new god, unimpeded by stupid superiors! Kuhuhuhu... Nice plan, right?”
What, his plan is to make God Almighty forsake this world entirely and then rule over it? Is this guy an idiot? Does he really think he can do that?
Still, he had a point. Wicked gods were things that were born in the mortal realm. That meant gods were prohibited from interfering in their ascension. That’s why heroes or chosen ones in the stories were granted sacred treasures to deal with them...
If those heroes fell, then the world would end up forsaken. That made sense enough. Then the world would be abandoned by the gods and slowly meet its demise. So ultimately, the NEET god’s plan was to become the new ruler of this world once it was forsaken... He was truly wretched.
“Now I understand why you’ve been a servile god for so long. You’re pathetic.”
“Silence, cretin! How dare you speak so highly when you aren’t even a real god! You aren’t even a servile god... Tsk! You’ll become fodder for my pet, and together we will ruin this place!”
The godbeast, on its master’s call, opened its maw and spewed forth several blasts of black flame.
“Gah!” I repelled one of the black blasts with a divinity-clad punch. It wasn’t hot, but the impact shook me down to my wrist.
Holy crap! If I wasn’t using my god-stuff right now, then that would’ve shattered my arm!
I was tempted to clad Brunhild in divinity and use it to deflect the blasts, but I didn’t want to run the risk. If the blasts were enough to shake me during my Apotheosis, then my weapon would probably break entirely. I tried to block another one of the blasts with my bare hands, but just touching it for more than a second hurt like hell! I just deflected it again with my fist. The deflected black blasts landed far away from the town, creating a massive torrent of flames on each impact with the ground. I had serious trouble to deal with here. This godbeast was clearly leagues stronger than the NEET god himself!
“You know, the thing about wicked gods is they eat souls and gradually evolve based on how they live during the gestation period. That Yula fellow did a lot of tinkering with my pet here. It’s quite interesting, really. The final result is most impressive. It’s evolved to this point in barely any time at all, you know?”
Yula?! Damn it, this bastard really has been spending time with a Dominant Construct!
“Now, if you don’t mind I’d like to wrap this up quickly. If the sword broad and the love lady get here, I might actually be in trouble... That’s why I need to take care of you right now!”
“Hmph... The feeling’s mutual, buddy. [Power Rise], [Teleport]!”
I warped right next to the godbeast and drove an empowered fist into its abdomen. Its entire body crumpled like a bent noodle and blasted off.
“GRAUWAUUUGH!”
It flew into the sky and smashed into a tall building, collapsing the structure on impact. It fell to the ground and found itself trapped beneath the freshly-created rubble.
“Wh—?!” The servile god stared, bewildered, as he turned to look at his pet. I used that opportunity to clad Brunhild in divinity and shoot two bullets straight into that pathetic NEET’s legs.
“Gaugh! Wh-What?! How?! You aren’t even a full god! How could you penetrate my divinity?!”
“Does that matter? I have a blessing from the god of worlds himself.”
“You what?!” He screamed in pain as he fell to his knees. The wounds in his legs were dribbling a golden mist instead of blood.
“How can this be?! How can you have an aura like that?! You’re already on the level of a senior god, but you aren’t in the pantheon! That’s impossible!”
“Unlike you, I have some humility. Unlike you, I work hard and I don’t sully myself with wicked deeds. I also know shame, unlike you.”
I would take no joy in taking up a high-ranking position just because of the body I was born into. I didn’t want to inconvenience the other gods, not until I was ready to accept the responsibility of the job.
Now, all I had to do was figure out what to do with this stupid NEET. If I disposed of him here and now, I’d end up doing Karen and Moroha’s job for them... Though they’d have probably sensed our divinity at this point and were likely en route.
Suddenly, the debris from the wrecked building rumbled, and the wicked godbeast broke out from beneath it. It growled as if it was waiting for my hesitation, and jumped my way.
It landed between me and the servile god before launching three more black flame barrages at me.
Not again!
I would’ve been fine to dodge it, but there was a chance of survivors in the city. I didn’t want them getting hurt. Not to mention the fact that Yumina and Lu were right behind me.
I had no choice but to punch the blasts away from the city again. This time I made sure to massively bolster my hands with excess divinity, as I didn’t want to hurt myself too badly again.
Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, and each smack caused me considerable pain in my limbs.
“Ow, damn it! Stupid animal!”
As I winced in pain, I noticed the servile god dragging himself over to the godbeast.
“Kuku... Kuhuhu... I think that’s enough for one day! But mark my words, boy... Next time...”
He was planning to escape before my sisters arrived. I couldn’t let that happen.
But, before I could make a step forward to stop him, the godbeast slowly turned its head toward the servile god.
What is it doing...?
The godbeast slowly opened its mouth. I stared at it, uncertain of what was happening, but... it moved forward and brought its maw down upon the servile god’s throat.
“Ngh... Gh-Ghah! Whah... Wh...y...?!” The servile god’s eyes went wide with shock. He stared at the golden godbeast as it began to devour his soul. Even I found myself too shocked to move.
“I... Kh... I see... n-now... Gh... God... damn... Y-Yu...la... You did... gngh... this?! Ghah...! Bastarrrd...!” The servile god slowly began to turn into black sand, starting with his legs. He was being eaten up, along with his divinity. After a short while, he exploded into flashes of muddied light, and only the godbeast remained.
“Did... Did he just eat him? Did... Is he dead?” I stared on in horror as the wicked godbeast released a pulse of divinity from within its body. The divinity slowly coalesced until it turned into a soft, cotton-like material. It began to snare and wrap itself around the godbeast, almost like a silkworm’s cocoon.
The godbeast was slowly but surely obscured by this Divinity-laced cotton until it was entirely cocooned. Gradually, the cocoon rose one meter into the air and began to flicker and pulse with a dirty-gold light.
“...What the hell is this?” It was a cocoon. A massive cocoon. Floating in the air, pulsing and flickering with an ominous light...
I didn’t understand what it was, but I recognized that it was no good. I wanted to get rid of it as quickly as possible.
I switched Brunhild to Blade Mode and clad it in divinity. Then, I attempted to cleave the cocoon in half.
However, my effort proved fruitless. Nothing happened. My attack just didn’t work. The cocoon deformed slightly, but simply squished back into place like a memory foam pillow.
Tsk...
I thought I could use [Icebind] on it in order to immobilize it so I could kill it more easily, but that proved pointless as well.
The moment I prepared the spell, the cocoon began to shimmer and shake, and its very form began to fade away from existence. It was fading, it got to the point where I could partially see through i
t.
“Wait, crap! Is that the recoil phenomenon that the Phrase are affected by?!”
Big enough creatures that came through the world boundary would eventually be recalled through the recoil effect. It was an automated defense system that made it so those that forced their way through couldn’t stay. If a wave came into the beach, it would always have to recede.
I was always thankful that something like that existed, but now it was working against me.
“Entwine thus, Ice! Frozen Curse: [Icebind]!” I hastily recited the incantation in a last-ditch attempt to seize it, but the icy bindings failed to capture the cocoon.
The golden cocoon had already vanished, and the divine aura it was emitting was now gone as well.
“...It got away.” I sighed quietly and cut off my Apotheosis.
And, just a moment too late, Karen and Moroha appeared from the sky.
“You’re late.”
“I’m sorry. Karen was asleep.”
“Shush, shush! Don’t tell him that!”
...Seriously? That’s why? I glared over at Karen, who had the imprint of a towel on her cheek.
Well, it wasn’t like either of my sisters would’ve been able to stop the godbeast from eating the servile god.
Yumina and I explained the situation to my sisters.
“Wait... seriously? A wicked god did something like that...?”
“A mortal existence gaining divinity is nothing new, but this is quite troubling...”
So that confirmed wicked gods were mortal creations and were likely born separately from the actual gods themselves.
Either way, there was no way we could’ve countered this. A wicked god taking in the powers of an actual god was unprecedented. There was no way a human could stand against it. If this world was forsaken and nobody was left to watch over it, it would end up just like how the servile god wanted it. Ironic, that his death would likely be the fuel toward letting that ideal live.
The wicked god would still be confined to this world, and nothing nor anyone would interfere with it. It would simply stay on the barren world that it ruined until it died. That was how things would work under normal circumstances. Though, these weren’t normal circumstances. I was a man who held the power of the gods, but I was not yet a full god. I wasn’t held accountable to their rules.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 12 Page 6