Chapter 170
Chapter 170
Chapter 170
Gods of the Pantheon (2)
In truth, communication with Diablo should have resumed immediately after the battle with Evangeline ended.
The reason Rudian and Diablo had been severed was due to an overdose of divinity and outer force, so normally, Diablo should have awakened when Rudian's magic ability was converted to karma.
But there was a reason why this hadn't happened.
-That eye is still sleeping, I see.
'Right, since I don't know when it'll wake up, I'm trying to wake it artificially for now.'
-An artificial method?
'If I have the chance, I'll find another terminal.'
Fortunately, I know where it is.
The fact that Baal was the one who told me this makes my stomach churn, but what I'm grateful for is grateful... ah, damn.
"I really hate owing that bastard a debt...."
-I agree.
Rudian turned his head to look around at his companions.
The Underworld King had already returned, saying the affairs here were none of his business, so naturally Rowen, Yev, and Evangeline remained....
'Yev won't be able to use her power, so she's out. Rowen... if he sticks to defense only, there's a possibility he could pull his weight.'
In the end, he and Evangeline would have to face the rest of those bastards.
Rudian turned his head to look at the Underworld King and Evangeline.
The deal to accept her as the second contractor to solve Evangeline's lifespan problem that had reached its limit, according to their promise.
Before long, the baptism ceremony to forge that contract was racing toward its conclusion.
SWOOOOSH!
Evangeline's emerald-colored hair began to fill with black underworld energy, as if ash were settling on it.
'Is this really the right thing to do...?'
Of course, even if she received the underworld energy, Evangeline's unique spirit communication abilities wouldn't diminish.
No, since the power of the underworld was ultimately one of the forces responsible for the circulation of this middle realm, it would increase rather than decrease.
And so the Underworld King's baptism ended.
"Miss Evangeline."
"Yes, Lord Rudian."
For some reason, Evangeline responded to Rudian's call in a considerably more coquettish voice than usual.
Feeling that her tone had somehow changed, Rudian turned his head to look at her.
'Huh? Did her body grow a bit in that short time?'
Though the baptism ceremony had lasted only about 5 minutes, Evangeline's impression had changed considerably in that time.
The disappearance of her lifespan limitation meant that the karma binding her body had vanished.
Considering the power she possessed, it wouldn't be strange if some change occurred in her body or mind.
"I'm sorry, but I'll need you to use your power."
But Rudian, who didn't have time to examine this right now, decided to think about it later.
"Oof, of course."
Evangeline nodded with a gentle expression.
Even though she could sense the power of the gods felt from outside, she showed no tension whatsoever.
"Always, everywhere, I will be on Lord Rudian's side."
"......"
"Even after death."
Was it because she had accepted the underworld energy?
Something about Evangeline's statement was both reassuring and burdensome.
***
About 15km away from Lu Gloria.
Rudian's party arrived at the place where ten humans stood blankly.
"...They've come."
A wide plain where not a trace of human presence could be found.
From those who had been waiting obediently on that plain, tremendous killing intent began pouring out all at once.
"How dare mere creations make gods wait...."
"If they had delayed even a little longer, we would have blown away that city of humans."
"......"
Rudian looked at the appearance of those gods and sneered inwardly.
'Bullshit.'
If it were anywhere else, that might be possible, but Lu Gloria could be called Ruura's direct territory.
Having already touched Britian, if they destroyed Lu Gloria as well, war would immediately break out between Ruura and them.
Though Ruura was among the most docile of the Seven Great Gods along with Haniel, once she threw a tantrum, no one except Berus could stop her.
"So, you lackeys of North and Garganta, why did you come looking for me? Wasn't devouring Britian alone enough?"
"......!"
At the word 'lackeys,' their anger began surging madly.
"This damned creation dares!"
"You'd better watch your words. No matter how much you're gods of the pantheon, this is still the middle realm."
GROOOOO!
Immediately, the authority of wrath began flowing from Rudian's entire body.
FLINCH!
He could immediately feel the others flinching.
Though there was underworld energy and other powers, Diablo's power was still the best for intimidation.
Seeing him smoothly wielding such a considerable level of power, Diablo admired with an impressed expression.
-...The kid has really grown a lot. You've completely surpassed the causality critical point.
'This is how much I've grown.'
At Diablo's praise, Rudian smugly shrugged his shoulders.
The time when he would be called a kid by that bastard had passed.
-But it's somewhat strange that you're unable to manifest divinity on your own for some reason. The power you possess should have surpassed ordinary lower gods by now?
'That... well?'
At Diablo's question, Rudian hesitated slightly.
Certainly, the divinity Rudian possessed was ultimately Shub's, and he hadn't been able to bloom his own personal divinity.
'That's a problem I'll have to worry about later. Let's focus on what's in front of us for now.'
-Good. The situation seems rather ominous anyway.
'...Ominous?'
At Diablo's ominous words, Rudian's form hesitated slightly.
But before he could ask about the meaning of those words, the god at the front of the opposite side took one step forward.
"...Certainly different from when we faced Ruura's servants. We can't treat you as a mere creation."
His outward appearance was that of a blonde young man who looked to be in his mid-twenties.
However, he had sharp patterns tattooed all over his body, and above all, his pupils glowed golden, making him clearly not an ordinary human.
"I am called Raihon, belonging to the pantheon."
At the mention of Raihon, interest flashed in Rudian's eyes.
Though not at the level of the Seven Great Gods, if it was Raihon, he was a battle god belonging to the upper ranks even within the pantheon.
He was a named character who had appeared in Chapter 4 of .
"Battle God Raihon, certainly the lightning god who follows Garganta of revenge."
"...You know me?"
"To some extent."
Toward Raihon, who showed a surprised expression, Rudian opened his mouth with a relaxed smile.
"So, what do you intend to do? Did ten of you swarm here to gang up on the creation you consider so insignificant?"
"...Arrogant tone. I'll acknowledge that your power has exceeded the range of creations, but do you think you can handle all of us?"
"More than enough!"
Let me say this again - this is the middle realm.
If we were fighting in the heavenly realm, even drawing on Adi's assistance or Diablo's power would be too much to handle just Raihon alone, but....
"Do you have sufficient stored causality? If I just endure, you'll withdraw on your own - there are few battles as easy as this."
"......"
Moreover, this side now had Evangeline, who could exert her full power freed from the problem of lifespan.
Whether ten or twenty came at them, as long as the output they could produce wasn't at the level of shattering this planet, they would absolutely never be able to break through her defense.
"Yes, that's the source of your confidence."
'...Huh?'
"But human, why do you think we, who know of your existence, came looking for you without avoiding battle?"
"......!"
BAAANG!
At that moment, without warning or premonition, tremendous lightning struck the place where Rudian had been standing.
Without even a chance to dodge, Rudian raised Diablo to block Raihon's surprise attack.
"Lord Rudian!"
"Sir Rudian!"
'...What, what is this insane firepower?'
CRACKLE! CRACKLE!
Raihon's lightning, containing tremendous firepower and heat, far exceeded the power of the Spirit Kings he had experienced before.
Moreover, since it was a power that also contained divinity, it dealt damage on a completely different level from ordinary natural energy.
Rudian gritted his teeth and blocked the lightning Raihon had unleashed.
But Raihon's lightning, which seemed like it would end in a single strike, continuously bombarded the place where Rudian stood.
After the lightning attack that lasted for several minutes finally subsided.
Rudian, sparks crackling all over his body from the lightning's remnants, appeared gasping for breath.
"Huff, huff!"
"...Not bad. This should be about 10% of my main body's firepower? You withstood an attack that would annihilate ordinary apostle-level beings in one strike?"
"This crazy bastard...."
The area around where Rudian had been standing was completely charred from this attack, giving off an acrid smell.
Fortunately, Evangeline had intervened to neutralize it, otherwise he would have been in trouble.
Evangeline approached Rudian's side with concern.
"Are you alright, Lord Rudian?"
"...My body is fine, but the situation is far from fine."
Something had gone wrong.
That firepower was absolutely not at a level that gods who had descended through ordinary compensation could produce.
Even if they had made countless human sacrifices like the Apophis cult, their number was a full ten.
If all ten of them could produce similar power to Raihon just now, this battle had absolutely no chance of victory.
Rudian muttered while breaking out in cold sweat.
"I don't understand how they struggled to catch even Britian when they can produce such firepower...."
"That's a valid point. Certainly, until just a short while ago, even with all of us combining our strength, we couldn't produce the power you just saw."
That meant some variable had occurred in that short time that reversed the situation.
Raihon smiled with narrowed eyes.
"Human, you must have gathered many treasures existing on earth through your adventures so far. Among the treasures you've collected, there should be those that can sufficiently substitute for causality."
He was right.
If it was legendary-grade artifacts or higher, it was possible to convert them to causality without doing things like human sacrifice.
Of course, using precious legendary-grade items as disposables was far too inefficient.
"...Crazy bastards."
Rudian finally realized what they had done.
"Gathering treasures to accumulate power isn't a privilege only you possess. The cults of the Seven Great Gods are places that have accumulated thousands of years of history since humanity's civilization was revived. Naturally, they're among the places where all the wealth of the mortal world gathers."
"You committed such acts while eliminating your own influence on the earthly realm?"
In other words, the North cult and Garganta cult had sacrificed and invested everything they had gathered over the years to create the causality to bind them to this world.
"Soon the civilization of earth will collapse and the end will come anyway. There's no need to be attached to such things, is there?"
"Damn, in its own way, that's correct."
It was a case where 's broken power balance manifested in a bad direction.
A disaster created by fanaticism no less than that of the Apophis cult.
That meant Rudian's plan to counter with a prolonged battle had completely fallen through.
'...What do I do?'
Since the opponents were gods, he couldn't run away indefinitely.
Having come to finish things completely, they would chase him to the end no matter where he fled.
'I can somehow handle two of them.'
Evangeline, like Rudian, should be able to hold down about two of them sufficiently.
The problem was that the opponents numbered a full ten.
Each one might not be an upper-level god like Raihon, but they weren't forces that could be ignored either.
'Even if Yev brought her main body, this would be a difficult situation?'
Of course, they couldn't use that power indefinitely, but in a short battle, they were truly at a level where they could face even Yev or Diablo's main bodies.
'Alright, let's flee to the southern continent.'
With current forces, there was no chance of victory.
He needed to borrow the dragons' power or bring in other allies' forces.
Just as Rudian was making that decision.
Step.
"I'll take two of them."
"...Yev?"
For some reason, Yev, who he had thought would absolutely not intervene, declared her participation in battle!
"I have a grudge against those bastards, so helping out a little should be fine."
What grudge?
Could it be a grudge because martial law was declared in Lu Gloria because of those bastards, preventing her from eating snacks?
While Rudian was thinking of such absurd assumptions, Yev raised her finger to point at him and Evangeline.
"You two guys, me two guys, that little one two guys."
"......?"
"And your lovers and that remaining human can handle the other four."
"What?"
For a moment, Rudian couldn't understand what Yev was saying, but soon he grasped the meaning.
'This power is...!'
Felt from far away, massive psionic energy that had surpassed the causality critical point like Rudian.
And pure blood magic with impressive purity reminiscent of the Seven Seats.
He had experienced these two energies before.
"Maria... and Rebecca?"