Chapter 252
Chapter 252
Chapter 252
Temple of the Creator God (2)
Huh?
What did she just say?
Though I heightened my vigilance even more, thinking it might be a trap, Satera let her shoulders droop and shook her head.
"I surrender."
"...Why?"
"Because there's no need to fight."
"...So, why?"
Actually, the current situation was one where either side could reasonably think they had a chance.
It could fairly be called evenly matched.
Yet for some reason, Satera had cleanly given up the battle.
"The defense of the Pantheon wasn't originally a task Berus entrusted to me. Rather, it's the opposite."
"...The opposite?"
"If enemies invaded the Pantheon, Berus told me not to stop them but to obediently send the enemies where they wanted to go."
"...!"
"North blocked your path due to past grudges, but I have no particular reason to fight you anymore."
Ruura asked without dropping her suspicion.
"...It seems like you're playing some pathetic trick."
Satera shrugged and denied it.
"Beings like us can't easily lie. You know that well, don't you?"
"But if we get backstabbed even once after coming this far, that would be fatal."
Ruura's words were also correct.
No matter how much one suffers karmic backlash from lying, it doesn't lead to complete annihilation.
But for this side, the moment we fall into a trap wrongly, it's over.
Satera seemed to acknowledge it as reasonable suspicion and nodded.
"You're quite suspicious. Fine, I'll transfer the Pantheon's control authority to you, Ruura."
Something sparkling like starlight flowed from Satera's hand to Ruura.
Ruura received it and fell into silence for a moment.
Satera let out a slight snort and said:
"You must have handled this before, so you should be able to distinguish whether it's real or fake, right?"
"Why... aren't you stopping us with full force?"
"Hmm?"
Ruura's eyes flashed sharply.
"With this, not only the archangels but all our current forces can cross over to the Temple of the Creator God."
"Well, I suppose so."
"You sided with Berus, didn't you? But if you're going to turn around this easily, why did you bother..."
"Ruura, I think you're misunderstanding something..."
A sneer crossed Satera's expression.
"I haven't turned against Berus. I'm still following his words."
"Following?"
"Even if you take all those forces with you, do you think you can beat Berus?"
"...What?"
"Mars, Shub, Deus, and that bastard too... Surely you saw their power level during Genesis, Ruura? You calculated your chances of victory based on that."
"..."
Ruura neither affirmed nor denied it.
But in the current situation, silence meant affirmation.
The corners of Satera's eyes curved with amusement.
"Don't evaluate Berus' power based on those who survived the previous Genesis."
"..."
"You asked why I'm not stopping you with full force? The answer is simple. Even if you go, you'll all be swept away anyway."
Satera's words were full of conviction.
"I interrupted the ritual and held you back because of a bit of pride I have as the Pantheon's administrator. There's no other reason."
WHOOSH!
A massive spatial transfer gate opened in front of Satera.
Then she gracefully gestured toward the gate and bowed.
"Go on. Go and realize that you're eggs charging at a rock."
"..."
"And get smashed to pieces in despair."
It's quite a skill to rapidly demoralize allies with just a few words.
Satera had certainly surrendered to Rudian's party, but rather than before surrendering, the allies' atmosphere had considerably dampened.
Everyone must have intuitively realized that Satera's words weren't mere bluffing.
Ruura glared at Satera as if spitting.
"Damn bitch."
"I only spoke the truth though"
"Do you really think Berus can put you back on the throne?"
"You're saying what you said before again. What's impossible about it? If we just give up the position of supremacy, can we safely obtain the position of main gods in the new Genesis?"
Satera ignored Ruura's previous advice.
"Then it might not be seven Great Gods, but three or four Great Gods. At least you and Garganta won't be there."
Ruura delivered her final warning with a somewhat deflated face.
"Please don't regret it."
"...Stop with the pathetic threats and get lost!"
Rather, at such a sight of Ruura, Satera burst into anger and shouted.
Ruura sighed and turned her gaze toward Rudian.
"Let's go. Let's rescue the archangels and storm the temple."
"...Yes, Lady Ruura."
The party nodded heavily in agreement.
***
As expected, the archangels who had entered first had fallen into Satera's trap and been banished to the imaginary dimension.
"...We apologize. We have no excuse."
"At least it was fortunate that you all stayed together."
The imaginary dimension is an absolute void that decomposes even divinity.
But with several archangels combining their strength, they could at least buy time until Rudian's party came to rescue them.
"Are you capable of combat?"
"Our strength has diminished somewhat, but it's not enough to call us combat incapable."
Archangel Michael answered while clenching his fist.
"...Good."
The current forces included the seven Great Gods' Ruura and her subordinate high gods Megar, Qupea, and Sistina.
And archangels Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, and Barakiel.
Finally, there were Rudian and his companions.
Having grown to considerable numbers, they reached the final sealed area leading to the core of the Pantheon, the Temple of the Creator God.
A tranquil atmosphere with no sign of human presence.
This place, with only a few sculptures symbolizing the Creator God around, was too desolate to be considered heaven's greatest secret place.
"It's about time for that guy to appear..."
"That guy?"
"That damned opportunist. The one who said he'd never step forward until victory was certain."
As soon as those words ended, a voice was heard from nearby as if by magic.
"...Opportunist, you say. That's harsh."
Thud, thud!
Several figures revealed themselves, deliberately making footstep sounds.
The one leading them was a quite handsome man with impressive purple hair, but for some reason his eyes were sunken like those of dead seafood.
"Lord Garganta."
The archangels who recognized him bowed respectfully.
"It's been a while, everyone."
"..."
His lips were smiling, but his eyes weren't laughing at all.
Like an inanimate object clumsily mimicking emotions.
All those seeing Garganta for the first time couldn't hide their goosebumps at his appearance.
"..."
Rudian stared at Garganta with steady eyes.
Actually, Garganta was the very person who had dragged Rudian and his companions into a swamp of hardship.
He couldn't look at him with kind eyes.
But perhaps Garganta felt the same way, as he looked at Rudian with steady eyes and said:
"The human who killed my apostle."
It was impossible not to notice the hostility hidden in his emotionless tone.
"That's enough, isn't it?"
Then a familiar girl's voice flowed from behind Rudian.
"...It's been a while, Yev."
SWOOSH!
At some point, Yev appeared and landed beside Rudian.
As expected, the two beings were acquainted with each other.
"How about settling your grudges with each other later? It's not the time to fight uselessly with Berus right in front of us, is it?"
"..."
To Yev's words, Garganta avoided answering with a question.
"Where is Ktuna? I thought she would have come with you."
To that question, Yev answered listlessly.
"She stupidly blocked the chicken wing guy's authority head-on and fell into a near-death state."
"The chicken wing's authority...? Ah, I see. You mean the Scribe."
Garganta seemed to understand immediately and nodded.
"His power is apt to cause disaster if you clash with it without knowing about it."
"Let's end the reunion greetings here."
Ruura stepped between them and stood in front of Garganta.
"You showing yourself now means I can take it as your definite participation, right?"
Garganta readily nodded.
"Since the situation has come this far, there's no choice. Fine, as Yev said, I'll forget immediate grudges."
"Good."
With two of the seven Great Gods, over ten beings equivalent to high gods, and even five Seven-Colored Worlds.
It was a force that couldn't lose even if they tried.
Thus Garganta joined the party, and they began the ritual to head to the Temple of the Creator God.
"Rudian, Grandia."
"Here."
While this place was a passage to the Temple of the Creator God, with Grandia embedded with Medaiel's power, they could enter more safely.
"By the way... there's one thing that bothers me."
"What?"
While conducting the ritual, Garganta asked Ruura this:
"Does Haniel intend to maintain neutrality to the end?"
Currently the only one of the seven Great Gods maintaining neutrality, Haniel of mercy.
After the seven Great Gods council fell apart, she and the forces following her had long since departed from this Pantheon.
"...I don't know."
Ruura turned her head with a dark expression.
"What Haniel is thinking. She definitely seems to have some other intention, but she's never revealed her inner thoughts..."
"That's right. No one in heaven would know what she's thinking."
Unlike Medaiel who was effectively under house arrest, Haniel had consistently maintained neutrality in almost all of heaven's major and minor affairs.
She was a goddess so uninterested in politics that it was puzzling how she had obtained the position of one of the seven Great Gods.
"Right. She did listen to my words properly and affirm them, but still refused to join."
There is nothing that can be done about the inevitable.
"We should be satisfied with at least not meeting her as an enemy."
With Garganta's words, silence returned to the hall again.
After several minutes passed like that.
CREEEEAK!
The massive door that had been firmly closed began to swing open in resonance with the holy sword Grandia.
"...We're entering."
Ruura was the first to begin moving with a tense expression.
"The Temple of the Creator God... a sublime place that even the seven Great Gods cannot enter and exit freely... I'm curious what kind of place it is."
Garganta also quietly followed behind Ruura.
'...Will it be okay?'
Surely one of the three Fates, Euryale, had informed them that Abel's party was currently fighting Berus in the Temple of the Creator God.
By now it wouldn't be strange if the outcome had been decided, but for some reason Rudian felt Leviathan's core, which had become his heart, pounding with a maddening sense of unease.
And so... the moment everyone entered the Temple of the Creator God.
"Welcome, everyone."
Without any particular battle preparations.
As if receiving guests who had come to his own home.
Berus, the leader of the seven Great Gods and God of Light, welcomed the party.
"...Berus."
Ruura, who knew the opponent's identity better than anyone, glared at Berus while gritting her teeth.
'...That guy is Berus!'
Rudian was also slightly tense since this was his first time actually seeing Berus' appearance.
A young man with ordinary features and curly blue hair.
He was certainly handsome, but it was hard to see him as this world's creator.
Strictly speaking, an appearance lacking in dignity.
"Where are Abel and Gray?"
Though it was a question blurted out at first meeting without even exchanging names, Berus smiled broadly and answered Rudian's question.
"Over there, behind you all."
"...!"
Rudian instinctively turned around.
And he saw Abel and Gray, along with Rebecca, Evangeline, and Crux, swaying like zombies.
'Are we already too late...!'
Seeing their state, Rudian intuitively realized that Abel and Gray had already been defeated by Berus.
"Sorry to do this right after meeting."
Berus' chilly words reached the confused Rudian's ears.
"Since there are many people, there's a need to reduce the numbers somewhat."
And as soon as those words ended, the original Abel party rushed at Rudian and the divine beings all at once.
"...How dare you!"
Raihon, one of Garganta's subordinate deities, unleashed a lightning bolt of fury at Abel who was charging at him.
And...
SLASH!
In a single strike, Raihon's head was severed.