Chapter 151
"...That's what I don't understand. Normally, you should be dead..."
...This is shocking.
I want to believe I imagined it... but I definitely heard it.
What I am... is unknown?
More importantly... I'm supposed to be dead?
Whew, calm down.
My peace of mind... Risu, thank you.
Let me pet you. It'll help me calm down.
All right.
I've heard what you had to say.
I have to thank my unconscious self.
Normally, it's impossible to withstand the magic power of four heroes.
At this point, my magic power would normally run wild and kill me.
But I'm alive.
This world is why I didn't die.
It seems repeatedly purifying the 【Evil Eye】 used up my excess magic power.
That alone would have been dangerous, but I successfully avoided a rampage by creating a barrier.
A barrier is advanced magic that constantly consumes magic power... So I could use advanced magic from the very beginning.
Normally, my magic power would run out and I would die, but I instead stopped the rampage and escaped death.
Past me, you're amazing!
Apparently, a hero's magic power is increased in three stages.
Maybe it's because heroes are originally human, and their bodies need time to adjust... They really thought this through.
And mine increased in three stages too... by the equivalent of four heroes.
Apparently, the second stage was dangerous, but I avoided it by expanding and setting up a barrier.
The second time must have been when I expanded it as far as the lake.
I avoided the third stage by expanding the barrier too.
...That must have been when I was happy about managing to put up a barrier over such a wide area.
The barrier really came through for me.
A barrier alone couldn't handle four heroes' worth of magic power, but
apparently, everything I'd been doing required a constant supply of magic power.
To sum up.
Purifying the 【Evil Eye】 several times a day... Repeatedly? I don't remember doing that.
Sharing magic power with my companions... When did that happen?
Operating numerous 【Golems】 simultaneously... 【Golems】?
Letting magic-infused wind flow through the forest inside the barrier... I don't remember any wind magic.
Helping 【Yggdrasil】 evolve... Evolve?
Strengthening 【Yggdrasil】's defenses and fortifications... I don't even know what 【Yggdrasil】 is.
Removing the 【Evil Eye】 from the entire forest... Ah, that's when I cleaned up the whole forest.
...For now, it seems I did something or other every day that used magic power.
Every day, even if I did it unconsciously... It's scarier that I don't remember any of it.
It would be fine if I'd merely consumed magic power, but
my body gradually grew accustomed to four heroes' worth of magic power, transforming into a body capable of holding an enormous amount without any problem.
Apparently, a human vessel wouldn't have been enough, so I gradually transitioned into something nonhuman.
Finally, this is just the gods' theory. Since there is no precedent, apparently they can't go beyond speculation.
...The mysteries of the body. I'll just chalk it up to that.
"Are you all right?"
"...I'm fine. At this point, nothing I do will change anything, anyway."
"Hmm."
Four heroes' worth of magic power—and from heroes, no less.
Am I actually pretty strong?
It seems I'm already using advanced magic—or rather, spamming it.
"Oh, right. About those three..."
"...Three? ...Oh, the idiots—I mean, the three apprentices."
"They stole the Fruit of the World, the eggs of the divine beasts, and did all sorts of other things."
"'All sorts of other things'... Is that really all you're going to say?"
"I heard about it, and those three are hopeless."
"They don't understand the meaning of the gods' existence at all. Gods aren't free."
"There are firm rules. Otherwise, stars would be destroyed in no time."
"Honestly, what have they been learning...?"
"As for their punishment, stripping them of their apprentice ranks and divine powers has been decided."
"Most likely, they'll be reincarnated in the lowest realm with their memories intact."
"...With their memories intact?"
"They were terribly fixated on becoming gods."
"That's precisely why this can be called punishment."
"They'll fall from a place where godhood is almost within reach to one where it can never be reached."
"They'll retain their memories to make them aware of their punishment. The other gods are furious, you see."
...What kind of beings are in the lowest realm?
Is it possible... to be reincarnated in this world?
"Rest easy. Their reincarnation won't take place here."
What a relief.