“Man... Thank you, Reginleif. I’ll be in your care going forward.” I looked over my new partner with a smile on my face. Oh crap, right... I should send the Paloufean and Lihnean Knights to fight in other areas.
I gently placed Reginleif into [Storage], then sent the waiting knights to another part of the battlefield.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Well?”
“Their wavelengths have ceased transmission. Both have been terminated.”
“Unfortunate. It must have been the same individual that destroyed Gila.”
Two people stood talking to each other in the space between worlds. They didn’t seem at all bothered by the fact that their surroundings were naught but a roaring void.
One was a young man. The other, a young woman. They looked similar to each other. At a glance, one might take them to be brother and sister. But this wasn’t technically correct. They were, in a sense, clones. Fragments of the same self.
Even amongst the Dominant Constructs, they were anomalies. Twins that shared a single heart and origin.
Dominant Constructs are born as cores. After a long gestation period, accumulating experiences as a mindless entity, they awaken as an individual. Childhood is not something they really understand. Upon awakening, a Dominant Construct is merely itself, and that’s all it knows.
Now and then, a Dominant Construct may be born with two cores. Ordinarily, they would continue their evolution and simply awaken as a mature form with two cores instead of one.
However, these two were a representation of an abnormal circumstance. During their gestation, the cores split and developed into separate individuals.
They each had long bangs that covered half of their face. The girl’s hair covered her right eye, while the boy’s covered his left. That meant that each of them only had a single, golden eye visible.
Their physical features were largely the same. Well, not entirely. The feminine one had somewhat of a softer physique, and her chest was a little more defined.
“Shall we go out to play next time the barrier rips, Leto?”
“I think not, Luto. It isn’t our turn yet, after all. Yula will cause quite the ruckus if we leave.” Though they were born at exactly the same time, the feminine one often treated the masculine one as a younger brother. Amusingly, the boy felt as though the girl was the younger one.
The girl was known as Leto, while the boy was known as Luto. They were clearly Dominant Constructs, but even at a glance, you could tell they were different.
Parts of their crystal bodies were dyed a muddy gold, after all. That mark was the evidence they had evolved to a level beyond that of a standard Dominant.
“Just how long must we wait here?” Luto turned around, facing the enormous egg-like cocoon behind them. Occasionally a beating sound would resonate from the throbbing sac, much like a pumping heart.
The two of them flinched slightly as they felt an oscillation in space.
“Oh? We have a visitor.” Leto spoke into the dark void before him. Another Dominant Construct emerged from the black.
She had long, crystal hair, and deep crimson eyes. Her form was slender and tall. It was the creature known as Ney.
She was the leader of the faction that sought to recover the Sovereign.
She stared at the twins with fury blazing in her eyes.
“You little shits... Why did you send the Gilded out into that battle?!”
“I don’t believe we owe you any explanation or notice, Ney. We’re no longer allies, are we?” Leto giggled softly as if to mock the intruder. Luto smirked a little, as well.
“Unlike you, we no longer care about matters as trivial as the Sovereign Core. We can become strong without it, after all.”
“I told you I’m not after the Sovereign’s power, didn’t I?!”
“Then why do you continue to cross worlds like this? Even if the new Sovereign was weak, they were still the leader, right? You should have stayed back on Phrasia and supported them.”
“No!” Ney was unable to come up with a response. To Ney, there was no Sovereign other than the woman she knew. Accepting a new Sovereign would mean throwing away all her memories of the person she revered. She couldn’t possibly do such a thing.
That’s why she listened to Yula and crossed worlds using the method he’d created. It required the power of multiple Dominant Constructs to even attempt to travel from world to world, which is why even though they butted heads, none of them had attacked each other.
She knew that Yula and Gila were after the Sovereign Core, but she had to rely on their strength to keep chasing after it. The situation caused her to grit her teeth in frustration more than once or twice.
She was trying to bring the Sovereign back home, while Yula aimed to take the Sovereign’s strength for himself. It was obvious that once they found the Sovereign Core, their alliance would turn into open hostility.
But then, out of nowhere, Yula suddenly began acting strangely. He’d obtained a strange new power and began creating new Phrase using it. The bizarre, gilded monsters that came out, as a result, could hardly be called kin to beings like Ney.
Yula’s goal was now no longer focused on the Sovereign at all. By all accounts, this should’ve been something for Ney to celebrate, but she found a pit in her stomach as she saw her fellow Phrase eroded and converted into what she referred to as the Gilded.
“Well, whatever you wish to do with the Sovereign, it matters not to us. Yula doesn’t really care either. But I do wonder... Will the golden cocoon hatch faster if we feed the Sovereign to it?”
“You bastard!”
Luto giggled like a madman, which made Ney storm toward him and throw a punch his way. Her hand was caught by Leto. The little one began to squeeze it hard.
“If I might be honest, Ney... I was rather irritated by your constant spiel about how great the Sovereign is. We’re no longer allies... So it’s fine if I do what I want to you, right? Would it be fine if Luto and I devoured you?” Leto grinned as she began to wear away at the woman’s arm. Ney looked on in horror as she saw her own hand sink into Leto’s body, it was already gone down to the wrist. She’d lost all feeling in her hand, and could no longer move it.
A filthy golden color began to crawl up Ney’s arm. She quickly morphed her free hand into a blade and chopped it off before it could spread to her body any further.
She then jumped backward, attempting to put some distance between her and the others.
“Oh dear. Seems I missed my opportunity to eat all of you.” Leto grinned broadly as she absorbed what remained of the severed arm. It melted into the younger Dominant Construct’s body and vanished without a trace.
“Guh...” Ney regenerated her shattered arm and turned around, fleeing into the darkness of the void.
The power that Leto exhibited was one granted to her and her brother by Yula. It was known as Absolute Corrosion. The disgusting ability allowed them to take other Phrase into their bodies and absorb their power.
Not even Dominant Constructs were free from this power. One suffering from the affliction needed to sever the affected body parts immediately. If it reached their Core, everything would be over.
Even the thought of that Corrosion reaching her core was a borderline traumatic experience for Ney.
Luto attempted to give chase, but was stopped in his tracks by his sister.
“Leave her be. She has no power here. We simply need to remain and watch over the cocoon, as we were told.”
“Tsk. How annoying. I’m bored here... I wonder if that fellow we encountered the other day will come here again.” Luto sighed quietly and lay down on his back.
“Are you referring to Endymion?”
“Yes. We certainly managed to kill a lot of time by playing with him. Though... Given the state he was in by the end of it, I don’t even know if he’s alive anymore.” Luto grinned as if recalling a fond memory. Even though he had said he didn’t know, Leto was aware that Luto believed the badly
beaten, half-dead man was still alive. There were no secrets between the two, for they were part of an originally intended whole.
They enjoyed the brief interaction with Ney, but nothing more seemed to be happening that day.
The two of them shrugged and sat next to each other, whiling away the hours, planning out how many Gilded Phrase to send to the other side next time a rip opened.
◇ ◇ ◇
“Hmm... This could be trouble...” In the Divine Realm, in a certain little room, the god of worlds groaned to himself as he watched the scene play out on his television set.
“I told you, pops! Isn’t it already going a little too far? We need to pull the trigger on this situation before it spreads to even more worlds. Hell, you know what I’d do! I’d pull the plug on the whole situation!” The loud man leaned his elbow on the table behind the God Almighty, while loudly munching some cookies.
He was around sixty years and had a massive bulky body. His face was unshaven, his eyes were jet black, and his shaggy hair was equally raven. He took a sip from his tea and shoveled more cookies into his mouth.
“When you say pull the plug... You mean to destroy the world, do you not?”
“That’s totally what I mean, pops! I’m the god of destruction, ain’t I?” The man, or rather the god, laughed as he spoke without reservation.
There were various worlds maintained by various gods. Every now and then, a world might leave the protection of a god, and in that case, it’s up to the god of destruction to obliterate that world entirely.
Typically, divine powers were not used in mortal realms. Often at best they were used by lower-tier gods with limited power, or by dependents of gods that were granted some form of abilities. The god of destruction was another matter entirely. He used his divinity to wipe worlds from existence.
But unless there were serious circumstances at play, it was unusual for a world to lose its divine protection. That meant the god of destruction rarely got to do much at all.
The fact that he was even visiting the god of worlds meant that there were indeed serious circumstances at play.
“If this keeps up, this world is totally gonna be out of your control, pops. I don’t really get to decide if that’s an issue... But things should be easier if I end that world before it becomes a problem, right?”
“I understand what you are saying, but... I left Touya in charge of that world...”
“Touya? Oh, you mean that little kid you put under your protection? You sure something like this is okay for him? It’s pretty out of his depth, I think.” The god of destruction frowned a bit. The events going on in that world were about to become highly unstable. He felt it unfair to entrust something so erratic to a mere fledgling god, much less some complete newbie without any formal title.
“I believe it will be fine. If all goes well, I think there will be no need for you to use your powers... Even if that world ends up falling out of my control, it may well be okay.”
“Seems like you trust that kid a lot, huh. Well, that’s fine if you say so... But are you sure those two worlds are gonna be okay?” The god of destruction gestured toward the TV screen. There were two planets lined up on either side, like a mirror image. The line between them, however, seemed oddly distorted.
“There’s a wicked god there, right?”
“You are correct. It consumed a servile god, this case is most unusual. Nothing like this has ever happened before, after all.”
“A god eater, huh?” The god of destruction picked up a rice cracker and chomped down.
“This would usually be the time in which we create a Sacred Treasure, or send an Angel down there... But given it is the world I happened to send Touya to? I think he can handle it.” The god of worlds sat down gently on his cushion.
“Seems like he’s got quite the entourage, though. They didn’t seem to mind descending down there.”
“Probably because it is the first opportunity they’ve had for a vacation in tens of thousands of years. Even I enjoyed my trip down there.”
“Oh, you did? Sounds like fun. Should I head down there, then?”
“Perish the thought. You and I both know that if you descended, the world would end.” That wasn’t a metaphor, either. If the god of destruction set foot down there, it would be a catastrophe.
“So that’s it, then? You’re gonna leave this problem to that Touya kid?”
“I am, yes. I will give up on it if he refuses to handle it, of course. He is much too unreliable as an actual god right now... But I think after two or three thousand years, he will turn out quite well.”
“Well, hopefully he can handle that mess. I don’t exactly relish killing all those people.” The distortion between the two worlds was about to bring on unusual, potentially disastrous effects. The god of destruction firmly believed that obliterating both planets and establishing a hard reset was the best way to go about fixing it.
“Fine then, I’ll wait before asking to destroy them again. But you should probably explain the situation to that kid.”
“You are quite right... I will speak to him at some point, I promise. But I would like to keep an eye on the situation for the time being. It is still possible this distortion will vanish without our intervention.”
“Are you sure about that?” They both knew that the chances of that happening were low. The god of destruction was fine for the time being, but he still believed forcing a hard reset was the optimal solution.
But he decided to trust God Almighty’s intuition. Even though he was humanized, Touya was still one of the divine. He was around the level of an apprentice god. If he could focus himself, then things would be okay.
It wasn’t uncommon for a god in human form to strike down wicked gods or evil Dragons, after all.
“How long’s it been since a human became a god, anyway?”
“Hmm... Let me think... I don’t quite recall. There are many humans and circumstances out there, after all. The chance to become a god is rather slim, as well.”
“Heh... I’ve also never heard of anyone becoming a god by mistake... If you really did kill him by mistake, I mean...”
“That is quite enough speculation out of you, young man.” God Almighty frowned at the god of destruction’s nefarious grin.
It was certainly an unusual mistake, one he didn’t quite understand making. But perhaps this too was the work of destiny, something beyond even a force as great as him. Either way, to the god of worlds, Mochizuki Touya was like a wonderful young grandson.
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I saw the god of battle. You seen him?”
“If I remember correctly, he said something about having found a worthy apprentice...” The two gods continued their small talk around the table. On the TV screen in front of them, the distortion slowly began to transform into a whirlpool, as if something were close to emerging from the space between both worlds.
Interlude: A Tale From Oedo
“This tastes great!” I chomped down a bite of food. I scooped up some rice and shoveled another bit of the pickled radish and yellowtail sushi into my mouth. It was really good...
The fatty fish really made me feel nostalgic. It was also the first time in a while I’d eaten such delicious daikon radish...
“How is it, Touya-dono. Do you like my mother’s cooking, do you?”
“Yeah, I really do. This stuff’s amazing, Yae...”
“Oh, my... I am pleased to hear that my food is fit for a world leader, I am... Thank you so much...!”
“Gahaha! Seems the young lord likes it a lot, honey!” Yae’s mother, Nanae, was sitting opposite me and Yae. Her husband, Jubei, laughed heartily as he heard me compliment the food.
To be honest, this wasn’t actually a yellowtail... But the fish was so close that it was practically the same thing as the one found on Earth. Besides, who really cared about getting the name right? It tasted too great to even care.
“This is tasty... I should be able
to replicate this...” Lu sighed in relief as she sat next to me. She couldn’t help but look at any dish with a chef’s eye, it seemed.
We were visiting Eashen, since we hadn’t been there in a while. Because of that, we were treated to a nice family meal in celebration of Yae’s return home.
Other than Yae, we were joined by Lu, Hilde, and Sue. They all seemed equally impressed by Nanae’s cooking.
“Would you like seconds?”
“Oh, thank you... If it’s not too much trouble, I’ll take some.”
Ayane, who served the Kokonoe family as a housekeeper, took our empty bowls and promptly refilled them with side dishes and rice.
We had rice from Ieyahsu in Brunhild, so we could enjoy this kind of thing now and again. But it was definitely rare to enjoy home-cooked Japanese-style food like this, so I took the offer whenever I could.
I’d planned on going to meet with Ieyahsu to thank him for the rice he’d sent, but it seemed like he was busy in a meeting with the other Feudal Lords.
Yae’s father was staying home for the day, but her older brother had to head straight to the castle and act as a bodyguard for the duration of the meeting.
After the incident with the servile god, the Tokugawa household established itself as the dominant power in Eashen. The other Feudal lords were basically treating him as the de-facto leader. It seemed like Ieyahsu had many busy days ahead of him.
Yae and Hilde headed to train in the dojo after they finished their food. She wanted to show the Lestian princess more of the Kokonoe style.
They also said exercising after a meal was a good habit to keep up, but I felt so full that I didn’t really feel like moving... I was fine where I was.
I didn’t need to do swordplay, so I decided to have some tea with Jubei. Ah... This is nice, too...
Lu and Sue went into the kitchen with Nanae to ask her about the food and help her wash up. Ooh... Wonder if they’re gonna make this back at Brunhild... Wait, we don’t have any fresh yellowtail there... We could buy some, I guess?
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 14 Page 6