‘What on earth is going on?’
Though he was glad to see Xion, Reinhild still felt dazed.
The demon god had vanished without leaving a single word like ‘I will definitely return’ or ‘I’ll kill you someday’.
“Did he vanish?”
“It must have fled to the divine realm.”
Xion helped the bewildered Reinhild to his feet.
His expression was so calm, it was hard to believe this was the man who had driven off a powerful god with just a few gestures.
Reinhild stared blankly up at the collapsed ruins of the Demon King’s castle.
Just moments ago, he’d felt trapped in utter darkness with no escape, yet the problem had been resolved so easily.
He couldn’t believe it.
“So what happens to the Demon God now?”
“He lost a lot of power forcing his escape after abandoning his temporary vessel. He’ll likely lie low for a while.”
“What if he comes back down to the human world?”
“If that day comes, I will protect Rein.”
Reinhild couldn’t calm his unease despite Xion’s words, scanning his surroundings.
What if the Demon God hadn’t gone to the divine realm but was hiding nearby?
What if the High God or another of the Demon God’s allies was waiting to attack Xion?
“What should we do, Xion? I can’t stop worrying about the Demon God.”
“How can I make Rein care only about me?”
“Huh?”
Xion made a childish pout, took Reinhild’s hand, and placed it on his cheek.
It looked as if Reinhild were stroking Xion’s cheek.
“I don’t care whether the Demon God is dead or alive, or what he’s doing where. I don’t even want to know.”
“But… I am curious…”
“I’m curious about Rein’s story.”
“Uh, uh…”
Don’t you wonder about me?
Xion’s gaze seemed to ask just that.
Reinhild felt an intense urge to forget about the Demon God and focus solely on Xion, awkwardly rolling his eyes.
Come to think of it, there was something he’d been curious about all along.
“Why didn’t you contact me all this time?”
“I’ll explain everything. For now, let’s go home first. Rein’s treatment comes first.”
“Ah.”
He’d momentarily forgotten, but Reinhild had been beaten up badly just moments ago, sustaining serious injuries.
‘Why doesn’t it hurt now?’
He tried moving his limbs, clenching and unclenching his fists, but they moved perfectly fine.
He barely felt any pain or soreness.
‘Xion must know about this too.’
Xion would explain everything.
Instead of urging an answer, Reinhild nodded.
Xion wrapped an arm around Reinhild’s shoulder and pulled a parchment scroll from his cloak.
“It’s a magic scroll. Tear this, and you’ll go straight to the Root.”
Xion kindly explained the magic to the Demon King, who was well-versed in magical theory, as he tore the scroll.
Zzzzzzz,
A magic circle radiating a blue light appeared beneath Xion and Reinhild’s feet.
Wuuuung, The ground rumbled, and the surrounding magical energy vibrated.
‘I’ll never have to come here again.’
That thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Reinhild quietly closed his eyes.
Life in the Demon King’s castle hadn’t been happy, but it was still where he first met Xion.
He had built many memories here with him.
‘Goodbye.’
Reinhild said silently.
Hoping no Demon King would ever be imprisoned here again.
Light burst forth from the magic circle.
When Reinhild opened his eyes, the peaceful landscape of Root, blanketed in white snow, spread out before him.
“We’ve arrived.”
Squish,
As he took a step, footprints were imprinted on the snow.
Reinhild turned to look at Xion standing behind him.
Ever since Xion left Root, there had been something he’d wanted to say to him someday.
“Welcome home, Xion.”
❖ ❖ ❖
As the Demon God had said, the 500 years Xion had prepared was not such a long time.
At least, by the gods’ standards.
“Five hundred years is a long time for humans. Since the core of this plan—to make them believe in the ‘God of Plenty’—was carried out targeting humans, not other gods, the time was sufficient.”
“I see.”
Reinhild nodded as he sat on the plush bed, eating the rice porridge Xion had made for him.
He’d almost been fooled by the Demon God’s constant nonsense about 500 years being a short time.
But nonsense was nonsense, after all.
“The reason I couldn’t be reached is because I was somewhere else.”
“Somewhere other than Audrit?”
“No. Somewhere other than the human realm.”
“…Then the divine realm?”
Reinhild was so startled he nearly spit out the porridge he was eating.
“To be precise, it’s a third space connecting the human realm and the divine realm. It’s a place I’ve only been to once, back when I was a hero myself.”
Xion firmly grasped Reinhild’s wide-eyed hand.
His heart ached as he recalled the incident where Reinhild had fallen into a trap, unaware of the High God’s scheme.
“Why did you go there?”
“The capital sent an Inquisitor of Heresy, so I issued an oracle to prove I was a god. Because of that, my divine status rose, and I was flung into the divine realm.”
“You can issue an oracle even though you’re not a full god?”
“No. That’s why I used the power of the High God I received when I was a hero.”
Xion gathered all the remaining power of the High God to issue the oracle.
‘The God of Plenty has descended to this land himself for his devotees.’
To leave behind this single statement.
The world was thrown into chaos.
That a god had descended to this land for us.
That fact alone was enough to turn the world upside down, but when it became known that the same divine decree had been issued at both the Temple of the God of Plenty and the Temple of the Guardian Deity, an even greater uproar ensued.
“Even the gods likely didn’t know that using the power of the Guardian God allowed oracles to be delivered at his shrine, even if he wasn’t present.”
“The Guardian God must have been utterly shocked.”
Shocked was an understatement.
This incident led some devotees to believe the God of Plenty was actually the Guardian God.
They believed the true deity, the God of Plenty, had descended to this land to teach them that their prayers to the ‘High God’ were misdirected, and to reveal the correct name.
With each new believer holding this conviction, the High God’s power shifted toward Xion.
The High God must have been beyond astonished, truly horrified.
“Good. That was the original goal, after all.”
“But as more believers trusted me, my divine power surged dramatically.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“The result was good, but because of it, I nearly got expelled from the human realm.”
Once you enter the divine realm, it becomes difficult to return to Reinhild’s side.
Of course, he would have found a way back eventually, but Xion didn’t want to waste that much time away from Reinhild.
Xion barely managed to hold onto the soul that was nearly banished to the divine realm and secured a place in the Third World.
It was possible because Xion was of human origin and the memory of visiting that space was etched into his soul.
“Time flows differently there. A minute there equals a day here.“
”So that’s why I couldn’t reach you for days.“
”I’m sorry for worrying you, Rein.“
”You don’t look very sorry, though.“
”I’m just so happy Rein was worried about me.”
As Reinhild’s eyes narrowed, Xion pulled out his secret weapon.
It was a bowl of fresh porridge, suddenly sprouting a large chunk of meat.
“Oh, meat.”
Reinhild, who had been dissatisfied with eating only pale porridge, forgot about the earlier incident and ate the porridge Xion had generously ladled out.
“I met the Lord there.”
“The Lord, ugh. Cough,”
Reinhild, his mouth full of porridge, choked on Xion’s words.
As Reinhild coughed, Xion swiftly handed him water.
Only after drinking the entire cup could Reinhild speak again.
“You met the Lord?”
“It seems he was waiting there, knowing I would come.”
” Did you… defeat the God?”
Xion shook his head.
What a pity.
“My power still isn’t enough to face the God. But I was able to escape by running away from him.”
“Good job. If you see the God again, just run away.”
Xion only smiled at Reinhild’s words.
Truthfully, when he faced the God this time, his first thought was ‘This is actually for the best’.
Xion had no intention of fleeing.
Even if it meant cracking his soul, he intended to clash with the God once to gauge its power.
He only retreated upon realizing Reinhild was in danger, prompted by the God’s words: ‘By now, the Demon King you cherish so dearly must be shattered by the Demon God’s hand.’
“The Demon God must have known I faced the God.”
“So that’s why the Demon God declared Xion dead. He must have assumed anyone who faced the High God would surely perish.”
“That’s also why the Demon God couldn’t attack me directly. He had no confidence he could survive a fight against someone who had met the High God and returned alive.”
Even as Xion and Reinhild clung to each other, weeping and wailing before him, the Demon God could not attack, his frustration burning within.
He must have agonized over it.
He couldn’t know whether Xion had fought and defeated the High God to return, or barely escaped with his life.
So the Demon God just kept screaming until Xion attacked, then turned tail and fled.
“I couldn’t split the Demon God in two, but my attack definitely connected.”
“It’s a shame you didn’t split him in two.”
“Healing that kind of injury consumes divine power. The Demon God will have to live as a weakened being for a while. Trembling in fear that I might come for him someday.”
“I like that.”
“It’s nothing compared to what Rein went through.”
Recalling the pain Reinhild endured, anger surged within him once more.
Xion clenched both fists tightly.
Reinhild, who had been quietly watching Xion, placed his hand over Xion’s tightly clenched fist.
Xion swiftly unclenched his fist and interlaced his fingers with Reinhild’s.
“Xion.”
“Yes, Rein.”
Reinhild, his expression grave, spoke with solemn determination, as if making a tremendous decision.
“Can’t you stop trying to become a god?”
Leave a Reply