And so another week passed.
While Ainel and the other believers of the God of Abundance ran around busily, Xion spent each day more peacefully than anyone, together with Reinhild.
In the end, Ainel, unable to endure it anymore, contacted Xion first.
“Ainel. Did I not ask you not to contact me when I am with Rein?”
[Are you kidding me? There is never a time when you are not with the Demon King, so isn’t that basically telling me not to contact you at all?]
Beyond the crystal sphere, Ainel waved his arms menacingly.
Of course, Ainel’s fists in the city of Audrit could never reach Xion in Root.
“I was planning to contact you soon anyway.”
[When? In about 500 years?]
Of course, he had intended to contact him before then.
The sooner this matter was resolved, the sooner he could rest easy and enjoy the rest of his life with Reinhild.
[We’ve reached a stage where just the name value of the God of Abundance won’t be enough to increase believers anymore. It’s time to move on to the next phase.]
“Very well. I leave it in your care.”
[Don’t tell me you’re planning to dump everything on me again thi—]
Beep.
Xion immediately ended the call upon sensing Reinhild shifting under the blankets.
Ainel had contacted him unfortunately early in the morning, and Reinhild had almost woken up.
Reinhild, who had been sleeping deeply with his head resting on Xion’s arm, stirred at the sound of Xion and Ainel talking and woke up.
“Xion…?”
“Good morning, Rein.”
“What was that just now?”
“A message from Ainel.”
“Mmh, okay.”
Sleep was more urgent to Reinhild than Xion’s plans, so he answered vaguely and leaned against Xion’s chest.
And soon after, he fell into a deep sleep again.
❖ ❖ ❖
“I should never have gotten involved with Xion in the first place!”
Ainel, whose call had been forcibly cut off, roared with every drop of frustration in his body.
Why did he join the hero’s party 500 years ago and end up suffering like this?
He had applied because he thought being the hero’s companion wouldn’t let him get bored for a while. But thanks to that, even after 500 years, there wasn’t a single moment for boredom.
“If it weren’t at least interesting, I would’ve quit on the spot.”
Even if he had plenty of complaints, he couldn’t just quit something once he had started.
Ainel took on not only his own responsibilities but even Xion’s, who was slacking off with Reinhild, and continued pushing the plan forward.
“Then now… shall we try dragging the High God down to the bottom.”
Ainel released all the information he had been gathering about the Duke House of West.
Since it wasn’t widely known that the West family had been chosen by the High God, destroying the family’s reputation alone wouldn’t deal a serious blow to the High God.
But the story changed if the rumors targeted the hero who came from House West.
Xion intended to plant into people’s minds the belief that “The High God’s choice was wrong.”
To lower the value of the name “High God” itself.
[The Duke House of West lost the Hero’s Sword and concealed that fact.]
When this became known, the Empire was thrown into shock.
It wasn’t enough that the family in charge of safeguarding the Hero’s Sword had lost it—they had hidden the truth for 500 years.
Just when all fury was directed toward House West, Ainel released the next rumor.
[The Hero’s Sword is in the Temple of the God of Abundance in Audrit.]
Ainel had people spread another message:
“If the Hero’s Sword, bestowed by the High God, is in the hands of the God of Abundance, then clearly the God of Abundance is the true High God.”
The Grand Temple in the capital was a fake temple created by House West in pursuit of power.
They fabricated a false god to gather believers.
The only true god was the God of Abundance.
Unable to watch House West stain the world with lies, the true High God was working to set things right!
Rumors spread across the Empire rapidly.
Few believed them entirely, but that didn’t matter.
If even a little doubt could be planted in the faith people had in the High God, that was enough.
Rumors circulated that the young swordmaster hero actually couldn’t perform proper swordsmanship, and that House West had installed a fake hero to elevate their family into the Hero Family.
The situation ripened.
All prophecies and miracles allegedly given through the Grand Temple were branded as “lies,” produced through collusion between House West and the Grand Temple.
Among the nobles, a saying spread:
“Believing in the High God is no different from being fooled by swindlers.”
Trend-sensitive nobles all began proclaiming,
“Actually, from the beginning, the god I believed in was the God of Abundance.”
Every minute, every second, the High God’s power drained away in chunks.
As his power decreased and believers turned away, the High God’s divinity plummeted.
And right before Xion moved on to the next stage of his plan—
The High God finally lowered his tail.
❖ ❖ ❖
“So that means Xion won?”
“Yes. I won.”
Reinhild laughed brightly along with Xion’s radiant smile.
“I was lucky. If the hero of this era had been alive, the High God would have used him to perform miracles. Then it would’ve been much harder to spread the rumor that the High God is fake.”
“Where did the hero go?”
“Ainel and I suspect he is dead.”
‘The Demon God must have killed the hero.’
The Demon God had forcibly kidnapped Reinhild to artificially amplify his power.
But if the hero were alive, Reinhild could not surpass a certain limit no matter what.
Just as a hero could not surpass the Demon King, the Demon King could not possess strength beyond the hero.
Surely the Demon God had found the hero first and disposed of him before kidnapping Reinhild.
Reinhild concluded as much and lost interest in the hero altogether.
“Then now we have to go get rid of the High God, right?”
“No matter how much power he has lost, he is still the strongest among all existing gods. Unfortunately, I cannot face him in my current state.”
“So the High God can beat you, but chose not to fight?”
“Maybe for now, yes. But in 100 years, I will certainly be stronger.”
The High God realized that Xion would never stop eroding his divinity, even if it took several centuries.
He was barely holding on thanks to his remaining believers—but would he be able to retain his divinity once they died out and the next generation came?
Impossible.
If things continued like this, in less than 100 years, he might even be absorbed by “The God of Abundance” Xion.
That thought terrified him.
So the High God formally requested a truce through the Temple of the God of Abundance.
“I cannot eradicate the High God, but I do need to meet him to finalize the contract.”
“You’re not going to the divine realm, right?”
“It would be dangerous to step there carelessly and risk not returning, so of course not.”
“Then that ‘third world’ you mentioned?”
“I do not want even a single second where I feel time differently from you, Rein. Feeling that pain twice in my life is enough.”
“Then… is the High God coming here?”
Xion smiled.
Reinhild didn’t need to hear the answer to know it was yes.
“If anyone were to set a trap and wait, it wouldn’t be me walking into his—it would be him walking into mine.”
“But gods can’t descend to the human world, right?”
“Conveniently, the dragon guarding the barrier is currently away.”
“If he comes to the human realm, he won’t be able to use even a quarter of his true power. Will he really come?”
“The one who is in need is always the one who comes.”
Xion didn’t seem to have the slightest intention of negotiating.
Unless the High God got on his knees and granted everything Xion wanted, this battle would continue until, even after hundreds of years, the High God was erased.
By now the High God must be regretting touching Xion more than anything.
“Xion.”
“Yes, Rein.”
“Can’t we… just leave the High God alone now?”
“Rein wants to forgive him?”
“Forgive?”
A Demon King forgiving someone. Ridiculous.
Forgiveness was something that happened only when he found Xion kissing him while he was sleeping so peacefully he could barely breathe.
He had absolutely no intention of forgiving a god who treated people as playthings and tried to mold them as he pleased.
“That’s not it. I just don’t want the High God coming to Root.”
“If Rein does not permit it, no one—much less the High God—could step into Root. I had intended from the beginning to summon him to the city’s temple.”
Hmm. Having the High God come close didn’t feel pleasant, but he could tolerate that much.
After some thought, Reinhild nodded.
“I know killing a god is difficult, but ending things with negotiations feels a little disappointing.”
“Well…”
Xion narrowed his eyes and smiled.
A wicked-looking smile.
Reinhild’s favorite kind of smile.
“Do you really think the High God will return to the divine realm unscathed?”
“…!”
So he did have something else planned.
Xion truly was the perfect human to spend a lifetime together with the Demon King.
Ah, soon he wouldn’t be the Demon King anymore.
Regardless, he passed.
Xion watched Reinhild’s delighted expression for a long moment.
From the first moment they met, Rein had never once failed to be beautiful, but his happy expression surpassed anything else in the world.
Without taking his eyes off Reinhild, Xion whispered what was in his heart.
“I like you, Rein.”
“Uh—”
Reinhild had planned to answer with his usual “Yeah,” but stopped mid-word.
Today was a joyful day, the day he heard that Xion had defeated the gods.
He wanted to give Xion a slightly more special answer.
Reinhild knew exactly what words humans most wanted to hear in moments like this.
And he delivered those words to Xion with a bright smile.
“I love you.”
[ Main Story Complete ]
Thoughts
This is the first story I’ve completed which I should rejoice about, but wait until I share the extra chapters. This will be a wall of text, so feel free to skip.
I liked the first half of the story where it was all funny and Rein was just too adorable. I did appreciate the backstory which explained the current situation of Xion and Rein, however, the part where Xion wanted to be a ‘god’ only for Ainel to do all the work in the end was a bit anticlimactic for me.
I do like the author going full circle with Rein’s initial thoughts on “love” and finally being able to utter the words. <3
Nonetheless, more chapters with lovey-dovey moments will follow. I think those will remove the bitter aftertaste of the abrupt end lmao.
Thank you to all who read and finished the main story.
Thank you to people who rated this in NU. I appreciate your thoughts.
- tldr – there are 15 extra chapters to follow
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