Chapter 131: The Final War ③
Wiping the blood from my cheek where I was hit, I quietly stood up.
“Thank you, both of you. For teaching me the effect of Divine Grace.”
I sensed surprise from Vritra and Satan that I had stood up without despairing. That said, they probably held back on that last blow. Otherwise, my body wouldn’t be in one piece right now.
Really, sloppy right to the end. Somehow, I started feeling sorry about having to defeat them.
But still, destroying people is unacceptable. Because they are living their lives earnestly, unrelated to the Goddess.
“Divine Grace.”
My quiet murmur brought about a dramatic change.
My body was enveloped in light. A light incomparably stronger than Vritra’s or Satan’s just now.
Ah, power is pouring into me. These are the feelings of the people who believe in me. Eric-san and the others I saved on a whim when I was a Beetle, the people from the Orphanage I met when I was a Black Cat are lending me their power. And this… is it the people of the Holy Kingdom? Why do the people of the Holy Kingdom believe in me this much?
“Y-You, what in the world is happening!? This is strange. Why does a newcomer like you have so many believers!?”
Vritra was panicking seeing the strength of my light. As for Satan, it seemed he couldn’t even speak.
When the light enveloping me disappeared, I was certain of victory. At the same time, I became scared. Because, how much do you think my stats went up? 100 million, 100 million! I’m pretty sure Satan said this world’s population is 200 million, right? If it’s 100 million, that’s half, isn’t it!?
I had a vague bad feeling, but the Cat Statues I saw in that kingdom, and the silver Beetle badges that Adventurers often wore, are undoubtedly modeled after my Monster forms.
The Holy Kingdom… could it be the Holy Dragon?
Well, I’ll lament the number of believers later. First, shall I punish these guys?
I moved in front of Satan and took a stance for a forehead flick. Satan had a dazed look on his face despite me being right in front of him. I flicked my finger sharply against that forehead.
Bashu
He vanished. The one who was once a Majin, immediately after reviving, returned once again to a soul state. Vritra didn’t seem to have noticed this yet.
I moved behind such a Vritra and grabbed his tail. I intended to grip it gently so as not to crush it, but it seems I didn’t hold back enough. I completely crushed the tip. Sorry.
“Gugyaaaaaaaa!”
Vritra, whose tail tip was gone, let out a scream.
(He’s noisy, let’s end this quickly.)
To annihilate Vritra’s giant body, I spread my legs, lowered my waist, pulled back my right hand, and then thrust my fist forward with all my might. Yes, a so-called straight punch.
Babuuuuuuun!
It’s over. Everything is over. Vritra vanished. Incidentally, the aftershock of my straight punch broke through the wall of the Devil’s Gate and opened a huge hole so big you couldn’t see the end of it. Sorry, Jabberwock…
“W-Who in the world are you!? Hiiiiii!”
Ah, I forgot Excel was here. Did the effect of Divine Grace wear off, allowing her to use Skills? It seems Excel escaped via teleportation.
But, oh well. The Evil God and Majin probably won’t revive for a while, and she’s not much of a threat anyway.
Jabberwock, who had been hiding in the back of the room, hurriedly appeared and asked me fearfully.
“Um, how should I put this… I kinda became a god?”
There’s no point hiding it now, so I’ll just answer honestly.
“I don’t really know, but it just happened!”
Jabberwock seemed exasperated by my light reply, but this can’t be helped. Well, I’m curious about how things turned out over there too, maybe I should head back soon.
The moment I thought that, I felt a fluctuation in space.
What could it be? Is it perhaps because I became the ruler of time and space? I understood that someone had teleported to this place. As expected of the God of Time and Space.
I looked towards where space was distorted and saw a lone woman floating in mid-air.
“Ahhhhh!? You!? No, you, Damn Goddess!!”
“How rude! Who are you calling a Damn Goddess!”
The one there was the goddess who reincarnated me as Moss, As… As… Asparagarth.
“It’s Astartina! A-S-T-A-R-T-I-N-A!”
Yes, Goddess Astartina. Meeting her here is fate. Now is the time to avenge my long-held grudge.
“Divine Grace!”
I immediately activated Divine Grace.
“What’s with you? You wanna fight me? Hmph, planning to compete with the Creator God of this world using Divine Grace, are you? Fine by me. Don’t come crying to me when you regret it later. Divine Grace!”
The two gods shone brightly. The difference in the strength of that light was obvious…
“Wait a minute!? Why do you, a newcomer, have more believers than me, the Creator God!? That’s not right!?”
Yes, my light was clearly stronger. Thank you, everyone who increased my number of believers.
I jumped above the flustered goddess’s head and gave her a knuckle sandwich.
“Ouch!”
The goddess crouched down, holding her head. Amazing, as expected of the Creator God. Taking my fist blow with stats exceeding 100 million, and only getting away with an “Ouch.”
“That’s your punishment for turning me into Moss!”
Alright, I got my revenge on the goddess who turned me into Moss. However, while there’s no doubt I really thought I might die back then, I’m quite happy now. So, I’ll forgive her with just this for this time.
“Hmph, didn’t you choose Moss yourself… mutter mutter“
The goddess was still muttering, but what on earth did she come here for?
“So, Goddess-sama, why are you here?”
“Oh right, I sensed the presence of Divine Grace being used, so I came to check it out. Because only the Evil God and the Majin can use that. If their seals were broken, I came thinking I’d give them a thorough thrashing this time, but it seems I was a little late. Well, it seems like you defeated them for me, so that’s fine. Thanks.”
Leaving only those words, Goddess Astartina went home. What a typically carefree god she is.
It wouldn’t have hurt to offer at least a word of appreciation to Jabberwock, who had worked hard guarding the gate.
Ah!? Since the Evil God is gone, maybe Zmey and Jabberwock can leave the Underground Labyrinth (Dungeon) now?
Jabberwock also seemed to somehow sense that, and apparently, he plans to invite Zmey and try visiting Mount Dragonia in the future.
I sealed the large hole I made myself with magic and teleported to the sky above the Arena in the Royal Capital.