Chapter 113
Wildflowers and wild grasses bloomed profusely on the summit of the Rocky Mountain, where there had been nothing but rock. I had to sit there blankly for a long time on the soft, even cozy, grass.
I needed some time to sort out the complicated stories I had just heard in my head. And as I sat there quietly,
“Saint.”
I saw countless people who had approached me now kneeling before me.
“If you wish, we will build a Temple here. If needed, we will build three.”
As I turned my gaze, a Paladin, unable to meet my eyes properly, stammered.
“One for the Saint. Another for Lady Velia, the Goddess of War. And the last for the Gods of the Pantheon. If you wish, we will erect three Temples. If you give the command.......”
*I'm not a Deity, so I can't see it, but...*
*I felt like I could finally understand how dense the faith they were radiating must be.*
I stood up.
“There’s no need for that. It’s all over now.”
Stepping over the cracked and split rocks, I descended from the summit.
It wasn't the miracle of Moses, but as I passed, the kneeling Priests and Paladins of the Pantheon parted to either side.
“What did the Gods say? Saint. What did the Gods we serve say?”
To the question someone asked in a trembling voice, I nodded.
“I will tell everyone later. Before that.......”
I looked at my body.
The wounds I had suffered from Satan, Leviathan, and Belphegor were gone, but my clothes were literally in tatters.
*No joke, even a beggar would probably be better dressed than me.*
I wanted to rest.
*Pantheon, Asmodeus, whatever.*
For now, I just wanted to rest.
As I trudged down, my face weary,
“Amael.”
I saw my three girlfriends waiting for me at the foot of the Rocky Mountain.
It had been a long time since I'd seen their faces.
I gave them a faint smile.
Their faces showed they didn't know what to say to me.
Normally, they would have rushed to embrace me, but they seemed to know this wasn't the time for that. They stood rooted to the spot, as if nailed to the ground.
So I walked over to them.
I hugged each of them tightly, kissed their foreheads, then stroked their hair.
“I’ll tell you everything. Why I didn’t say anything all this time. Why I suddenly had to leave. I can tell you now.”
“Okay. We understand.”
“I want to rest. I’m so tired. I want to go back to the Capital.”
As I said that, my voice thick with emotion, the three women embraced me.
“You’ve worked hard. Rest.”
As Erfa, Iomene, and Almene, the sisters, comforted me with tears welling up in their eyes,
“Amael.”
A woman I'd never seen before walked up to me.
But ironically, I knew who this unfamiliar woman was.
I recognized her immediately.
Because her voice was identical.
“Kanya?”
At my words, Kanya smiled.
“Right now, it’s Velia.”
*Velia hadn't ascended yet?*
There was still a Deity by my side whom I could ask.
Just as I was about to open my mouth to ask a question, Velia raised a hand to stop me.
“I know you have questions, but for now, go back and rest.”
She wasn't wrong.
Because Asmodeus had just unleashed her powerful Authority, my body was in tatters.
I nodded obediently.
“I will do so.”
At my words, Velia nodded contentedly, then, with a flick of her finger, space tore vertically from top to bottom.
“Oh, this.........”
“Goddess. If you don’t mind, may I investigate this portal?”
While Magic Tower Lord Oergen and the other Mages swarmed around the portal like children who had found a fascinating new toy, I was the first to step through and return to the Capital.
As soon as I stepped through the portal, I arrived at a place that highlighted Velia's thoughtful consideration.
Capital Magic Tower.
Perhaps the place where I felt the most psychological stability was before my eyes.
“Saint.”
As always, but today, Grandpa Yodel, burning with a faith closer to fanaticism, was before my eyes.
Jonathan Karma was there too.
His wife and daughter, Oliviera and Cecilia, were also visible.
I smiled at them.
“I want to sleep a little. Could you prepare some clothes for me and a room?”
“We will do so.”
My room, which I entered after a long time, was comfortable and quiet.
After changing out of my tattered clothes, I collapsed onto the bed.
I was so tired.
Asmodeus had unleashed her Authority, and it seemed to have drained my body considerably.
I closed my eyes as if fainting and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
It was not until I woke up again that three whole days had passed.
***
As soon as I woke up, the first thing I saw was Kanya's face.
Even though she was wearing ordinary casual clothes instead of her red armor, the presence emanating from her entire body seemed to declare that she was a Deity, not a human.
“Are you awake?”
At her un-God-like, overly casual and sloppy tone, I involuntarily chuckled.
“Yes, I’m awake. I slept very soundly.”
“You’ve slept for three days, so you must be hungry? What do you want to eat?”
“I just woke up, how could I be hungry?”
“True. Your mental needs are probably greater than your physical ones. You must have a lot of questions, as the Gods of the Pantheon ascended so hastily, they probably didn’t have time to answer them leisurely before leaving.”
At her words, I let out a hollow laugh.
“Why are they so weak? Blocked by just one Demon King, day in and day out... Honestly, I still don't understand this situation. Why do I have to go through all this trouble?”
*It’s the Pantheon.*
*Aren’t they Gods?*
*Then instead of relying on one human, I thought it would be normal for them to handle things themselves.*
*To find the two remaining Deities that fell to the Mortal Realm.*
*Why do I have to go through that hardship?*
*Me, of all people.*
*Haven't I suffered enough already?*
To my gloomy question, Velia nodded.
“The Pantheon really is a bunch of *fucking idiots*.”
At the blunt, unfiltered remark, I swallowed wrong and choked. Velia chuckled at my reaction.
“But Lady Velia, you’re a Goddess too, can you really say that?”
“Dulanere and I were the two most foul-mouthed Deities in the Pantheon. Fighting those *fucking bastards* from the Abyss and the seven *sons of bitches* from Hell day in and day out, my mouth just got foul, whether I liked it or not. My Divinity is just recovering, and I’m returning to my original personality. I was always like this.”
A bitter smile formed on Velia's lips that had been chuckling.
“During the Celestial War 300 years ago, the Heavenly Realm was pretty badly shattered.”
“The Orders in the Human World are fine, though? Wasn’t there enough time to recover with the faith they offered?”
“More than half of the 24 thrones are empty, so even if faith is offered, there are no Gods to restore the Heavenly Realm. The 24 Gods each had clear roles. Even if Dulanere, Rophus, and Re-Neri tried for a hundred days to restore communication with the faith offered to them, how could it be restored if they aren’t in charge of that specific task?”
Velia explained that the current Heavenly Realm was like a human whose heart and head were fine, but whose limbs had been torn off.
“The Goddess of the Moon and the God of Wisdom have been added, and when I ascend soon, it’ll be like adding another leg, but it won’t change the fact that it’s still crippled. Lucifer is a very cunning bastard. He never touches areas where he’d lose in a direct confrontation with the Pantheon. He only targets the weakened parts where the responsible Gods have disappeared.”
“Like communication between the Human Realm and the Heavenly Realm?”
“Exactly. Because communication between the Human Realm and the Heavenly Realm was the easiest to disrupt and yielded the greatest effect. If the God of Harmony, who was originally in charge of communication between the Heavenly Realm and the Human Realm, had been in the Heavenly Realm, even if Lucifer’s grandfather came, it would have been impossible to interfere.”
Even so, now that two more Deities have been added to the Pantheon, Velia explained that even if Lucifer poured all his power into it, he'd only be able to block communication.
“So if Deities are added to the Pantheon, both the Evil God and Hell suffer losses, huh? Then what have Hell and the Abyss been doing all this time? Shouldn’t they have been trying to swallow the Human Realm when the Pantheon was weak?”
“They probably wanted to a hundred times over. But the Abyss and Hell have such a bad relationship that they’d rather join hands with the Pantheon if necessary. Didn’t I tell you? 300 years ago, Hell was thoroughly backstabbed by the Evil God.”
Velia made a gesture of two fists colliding.
“Since they operate so much in the shadows, I can’t know for sure, but they’ve probably been attacking each other’s forces tremendously for the past 300 years. If Hell tried to swallow the Human Realm, the Evil God would interfere. And vice versa. That’s how the balance was maintained.”
Velia leaned towards me and pointed at me.
“And then, a being capable of breaking that tiresome 300-year-long balance suddenly appeared... That’s you, Amael. Which way the Goddess of Life’s Authority, residing in your soul, leans, will determine the end of this tiresome game.”
“Do I *really* have to do it?”
At Velia's words, I asked back in a trembling voice.
“Goddess. I’m very cowardly. Everyone calls me a Saint, but I’m a weaker person than anyone else.”
I looked at my thigh.
When Satan seared my body with the Demonic Sword Baltaruk.
Honestly, it hurt like hell.
It truly hurt enough to be traumatic.
“Honestly, it hurt so much when I was seared by the Demonic Sword. It’s a pain I probably won’t forget for the rest of my life. Goddess. I’ll just hand over control of Asmodeus to you... Can’t you go retrieve the remaining Deities instead of me? All of this is too heavy for me.”
At my words, Velia shook her head.
“Among the Deities of the Pantheon or Hell, including myself, there is no one who wouldn’t be corrupted by the Goddess of Life’s Authority right before their eyes. Amael. Lucifer, in his Archangel days, possessed stronger self-control and restraint than any other Deity in the Pantheon. Even such a being was corrupted just by having the Authority before him. There’s no guarantee I wouldn’t become like that either.”
“Even Gods get corrupted?”
“They would be corrupted. There are only two beings who can properly control the Authority you hold in your hand: the Goddess of Life herself and the Evil God of the Abyss. Only those two. So it’s impossible for me to take on your burden instead.”
“Then why am I fine?”
*If the Goddess of Life’s Authority is so intensely tempting that even Gods are corrupted by it... then what am I, who has had it for over 20 years?*
“That’s a mystery to me too. You have an astonishingly strong resistance to temptation. A normal human, like Asmodeus’s previous human master, should have fallen into elation and arrogance, becoming corrupted and twisted. Yet you are astonishingly resistant to corruption. You are the one who has controlled the Authority with a sane mind for the longest, Amael, excluding Lilia.”
“.......”
I looked at my hands.
*What am I, really?*
*What’s so great about a guy like me that I’m rated so highly for temptation resistance?*
As I stood there dumbfounded,
Velia carefully approached me and took my hand.
“Amael. You’ve suffered a lot. The Heavenly Realm was a mess, so we couldn’t properly support you or tell you anything. I can fully imagine and understand the emotional pain you must have endured. Even if you say you want to stop here, I can’t stop you, nor do I have the right to.”
Velia quietly bowed her head.
“Nevertheless, shamelessly, I ask this of you. Please retrieve the two remaining Deities. If only they return, the Pantheon will fill 12 of its 24 thrones. With that much, we will secure the minimum power needed to push back the Evil God and Hell.”
Velia pointed behind my back.
“And the remaining Deities will be able to erase the traces of Hell embedded in the Goddess of Life’s Authority, one by one. If I take one, and the other Gods each take one, the Goddess of Life’s Authority can fully belong to the Heavenly Realm once more.”
*The three jet-black wings on Asmodeus’s Left Wing.*
*That must be what she meant by removing them one by one.*
*Indeed.*
*From Velia’s perspective, she had no choice but to ask like this.*
“So, I have to go through trouble I don’t even want again, huh?”
“.......I’m truly sorry.”
“Then I can’t do it for free. Shouldn’t I get something in return for all my suffering?”
At my words, Velia straightened her posture.
She looked at me with serious eyes.
“What do you want?”
I swallowed hard.
“Make me happy, please. I don’t want to see that awful prophecy from Rufiel come true. Give me a truly happy, ordinary, quiet life. That’s all I ask, Goddess.”
At my words, Velia carefully and reverently kissed the back of my hand.
“I swear to you on my very existence. I will fulfill your request, even if it costs me everything, Amael. Because that is the least we can do for you.”
At her words, I let out a small laugh.
“It’s good to hear you say that. And even if it wasn’t you, Goddess, I was going to go retrieve the two remaining Deities anyway.”
I had to stop Hell and the Evil God from swallowing the Human Realm.
Even without any reward.
I was going to do it regardless.
“So don’t worry and ascend. I’ll find the two remaining Deities and send them to the Heavenly Realm, no matter what.”
Velia smiled at my words.
She stood up.
“Amael.”
“Yes.”
“Kanya is currently threatening to kill me in her mind, but I know Kanya very well. Given her personality, she’d just sit around sucking her thumb and die without ever confessing, so I’ll say it for her.”
Velia laughed. A lot.
“Kanya wants to have sex with you. How about adding her to your girlfriend list while you’re at it?”
It was a mischievous smile.