Sanctuary Showdown
Spatial transfer—no, this was a sanctuary. The Sage could sense the Divine Power dominating the very space itself.
The Divine Power of the God of Light, known to all as benevolent and merciful.
Yet the Sage felt this Divine Power—drifting in place of mana—treating him with outright hostility.
"So my suspicions were right. You've gone and become a full-fledged servant of the gods now? Looks like it's about time I paid a visit to the Solari family too."
"You're mistaken."
In contrast, the Divine Power reacted favorably toward Neona.
Bright light gathered, dwelling within her body.
In an instant, her minor scratches vanished, and her mana amplified to a whole new level.
God's Armor
Blessing of Light
Grace of Light
Kuoooooo…!
The ground nearby trembled, and the Divine Power began to vibrate.
Her hair slowly floated upward, wrapped in radiant golden light that enveloped her body.
Light dwelled in the armor she wore. Neona's eyes gleamed with brilliance.
The air around them grew oppressively heavy, pressing down on their hearts like a vice.
At the very least, within this space, she matched the Sage—a 8-circle grand mage—blow for blow.
Neona raised her sword. The sharp edge of her Holy Sword—the one weapon untouched by light—aimed straight for the Sage's throat.
"' the individual believes in the God of Light, but 'Neona Solari' believes in no one. She trusts only herself."
"So, are you stepping forward now as the family head, or as Neona?"
"As Neona. As one citizen, I've come to stop a demon committing evil deeds."
"A demon?"
The Sage let out a hollow laugh—ha!
A demon?
Me?
'I'm a god.'
Neona right now was practically an avatar of the divine. So all he had to do was slay this avatar and prove himself the true god.
"Fine. Think you can stop that demon all by yourself?"
"Yes."
Neona's impassive eyes met the Sage's mad gaze.
"It doesn't seem all that difficult."
"Ha! Hahaha—hahahaha!"
The Sage burst into incredulous laughter. Mana began to whirl around him.
Kugugugugu…!
The two colossal auras clashed in midair.
The Sage's aura was pushed back slightly. His teeth ground together in his empty right sleeve.
If not for this wound, I would've crushed her…!
But the Sage kept up a nonchalant facade, hiding his frustration.
"Today, one unfortunate soul meets its end."
"Not unfortunate at all. Your life holds no value. And…"
A new light gleamed in one of Neona's eyes.
"You can't defeat me. The power flowing into me right now isn't just from the God of Light."
Malia Arishion seemed unaware, but Neona's sword wasn't bestowed by some dark god.
It was the War God's weapon—and a Holy Sword imbued with blessings.
War God's Blessing
Red energy currents began mixing into the golden light enveloping her. The Sage flinched for a split second.
What the hell…?
The War God's Divine Power?
'Impossible.'
The War God was aloof. She took only one priest at a time, never appointing a new one until that priest died.
Even as other gods expanded their influence and grew stronger, she stubbornly stuck to her single priest.
And if she hadn't chosen to withdraw herself? The state religion would be the War God by now, not the God of Light.
"Ha. Ridiculous."
Her lending power to someone like this?
Was this woman her priest?
'No way.'
The War God's priest was a man. He'd confirmed it last time. Flat chest, thick limbs, masculine build… no way it was a woman.
It was definitely that guy.
The arrogant bastard who'd dared split an ancient monster in half and sever his arm before coming here!
'I'll kill him when I get out.'
So he'd kill Neona Solari, kill the lich, slaughter those insolent professors, the emperor, and even the gods.
He could do it.
'I'm a god.'
"Fine. Come at me. I'll show you the 'true power of a god'—something a slave to the divine could never obtain!"
A second expression crossed Neona's stoic face.
"If even a retard calls itself a god, then sure, you're a god. Isn't that right?"
"Die."
"Try it if you can."
Flash!
In the same instant, both figures vanished.
The heads of two of the empire's three pillar families, representing their respective pillars…
If anyone had witnessed their clash, it would've gone down in history. But it unfolded in a sanctuary no one could see.
Kwaaaaaang!
Having poured his Divine Power to the limit against the ancient monster, then getting his abdomen pierced by the suddenly appearing Sage and even launching a slash afterward, Eugene's body was utterly drained.
He'd done emergency treatment in a hurry to keep the wounds from worsening, but no real recovery yet.
"Kghhh…"
It was suffocating. The bandages wrapping his whole body made even his fingers hard to move, and every breath filled the air with the foul stench of medicinal herbs.
Normally he'd just heal with Divine Power and rest, but his wounds were so severe everyone who saw them freaked out.
Well, yeah. A gaping hole in his gut with melted organs visible… If he couldn't wield Divine Power, he'd be dead.
Hell, even if he'd survived, lack of nutrition would've finished him off.
"Stay still! Ah, can't smack your back. Anyway, moving'll make it hurt more. Behave if you wanna heal fast. And chug the meds on time once your organs are better."
'Ah… those meds taste like shit…'
"Lucky your organs are regenerating so quick… Otherwise you couldn't eat meds or food. So make sure to take 'em later! Not that I'd let you skip anyway."
With the academy priests' skills, they could pour in Divine Power to patch the organs, but the rest of the wounds were tricky.
So they were even borrowing rarely used medical knowledge!
Thanks to the blessings, his mind stayed sharp despite feeling his organs regrow in real time, and the pain was minimal. Small mercies.
'Once my real Divine Power's back, I'll heal everything in one go.'
No booze, no food—this was hellish.
"Rest up then. Sleeping's best."
Clunk.
The nurse left, shutting the door. Eugene tried to sigh deeply but swallowed it at the stab in his chest, closing his eyes.
Just sleep.
A bit of rest and his Divine Power should recover.
Slrrrp…
Then something moved.
He snapped his eyes open, rolling only his eyeballs to spot it.
A shadow.
'What the hell?'
The shadow creeping from the corner slithered along the wall with eerie skill, right up beside his face.
Up close, Eugene's face went deadpan.
'…What're you doing?'
Eodukshini. Using the slime's shapeshifting to pull off a spooky act.
-Rawr!
"…"
Whatcha doing, you little—kgh!
Unable to speak, he shot a glare screaming "what the fuck." Eodukshini coughed awkwardly, shrinking down.
-Ahem… Thought you might be bored, so I tried.
Yeah, hilarious. Now lemme sleep.
As Eugene closed his eyes, Eodukshini scattered into bits, amusing itself.
-Hmm. This apple looks tasty.
That's from five days ago. Color still good?
Crunch crunch.
The room filled with Eodukshini's munching. Nice ASMR for bedtime. Eyes shut, drifting off—
-Waaah… hngh, whaa…
Crunch crunch crunch!!
Eyes flew open again at the sobbing.
Ah, for real…
Just sleep already!
-Sniffle-hic. Dying like that… he wasn't the type.
What? Who died?
-Waaah, he was mean but never truly bad…
Me?
-Filthy temper, always suffocating me, bullying, nagging—but never a bad guy…
The hell, man?
-Don't worry, Master!! I'll spend your fortune wisely!!!
"Ububububu!!!!"
That little shit—once I'm better, you're dead.
"You okay?"
"Ububu."
With returning Divine Power going straight to healing, he could now mumble without much pain.
Ashy sighed deeply at his garbled "yeah sorta," sitting beside him.
"Why'd you push so hard?"
"Ububup."
"Don't say you didn't. That was pushing it."
"Ubup. Ububub."
He felt wronged. If he hadn't stepped up, they might've been wiped out.
And without that Sage bastard, it'd just be exhaustion.
Ashy knew it too, so she said nothing more, tidying his messy hair.
"…Yeah, it was a situation where you kinda had to. If not for you, we'd be banged up bad, or the academy might've crashed… Anyway, big mess."
See? I did good.
"Still, you went beyond what I taught at the end? You did amazing. It's your swordsmanship originally, so it wasn't too hard to handle, right?"
Yeah, felt natural.
This fight confirmed it—he was specialized against mages and swordsmen.
That final slash pierced the Sage's barrier and lopped off his arm.
'What the hell was I in that Mirenji novel? Whatever.'
If not for this crap, he'd be boozing it up. Ah, wanted a drink.
"…Sorry for snapping."
Why apologize?
"…But still. It was necessary, but to outsiders who didn't get the full picture, it looked like overkill—and scary as hell. When Jenella and Adria show up later, reassure 'em. They nearly fainted seeing you skewered on that spear. Barely stopped 'em from rushing in screaming you were dead."
Oh, right.
"Ubub, ubububu."
"Jenella? She's fine except exhaustion. The blood tears in her eyes? Overused her ability."
"Ubububu."
"Good? Got it. Anything uncomfortable?"
"Ubub, ubububu."
Then gimme my weapon. Few days' rest means the backup battery—er, sword—should have some Divine Power charged.
Let me grab that to recover. Then these wounds'll heal fast…
"None? Okay. Apple… Eodukshini? What if you eat 'em all?"
No, bring the sword!
Wooong! Wung! Wooung!
The sword wailed its protest too.
"Go buy more apples quick."
-But I'm a slime.
"No money? Here, my card."
Ignored.
Eodukshini slunk back looking pitiful, plopping an apple on the table.
"Good job."
-Fucking assistant profs…!
Ashy hummed, peeling the apple—chunks of flesh coming off, not just skin. Made Eugene's flesh crawl.
That's not how you do it!
"Oops. Halved it. Hmm… Here, Eodukshini, eat."
-Yay!
"I'll get a fresh one…"
…Just leave me alone!
"Ueeer. Uee! Hwaaa!"
"You okay?"
"Ueerr, uh."
-Says not okay.
"Call the nurse?"
"Ueerr…"
-Says you'll make it better if you cuddle.
"Oh. Here, your divine deputy."
-Hehe…
Ashy petted Eodukshini then climbed onto Eugene.
"I know a way to heal the '■' right away. Wanna try?"
"…?"
Me? Healing method?
Do it quick.
Ashy pulled out a sheet of paper.
[How to Give Birth]
…Isn't that misspelled? It's "give birth," not "heal"!
Wait, on purpose?
"Ubub! Ubububu!"
"What?"
He glared at the "birth" character. Ashy blinked blankly.
"Spelling's right though?"
"?"
…What?