The Hearth Goddess's Gathering
On the night the Swordmaster appeared in the city, some of the players who had fled to avoid losing their loot had managed to escape.
It had been thanks to someone who lured the Swordmaster out and bought time, and Gaon was already looking forward to the praise that would follow.
Just as it had been last time, many players had protected their wealth this time as well.
Jijonmussang had protected his loot thanks to that as well. So Gaon had expected to earn praise from him too.
But it had not been so.
Through the phone, Jijonmussang wailed in despair.
"So those bastards didn't give me the achievement reward. They gave it to Bokdong but not to me. Is this even a thing?"
"Because you ignored the gathering order and ran, that's why."
"No, was I the only one who ran? Everyone ran."
"They didn't give rewards to those who ran? It was a real war—if you get caught fleeing, you get beheaded."
"In the twenty-first century, not even execution, what beheading..."
"Don't quibble. It's fortunate that you weren't on the blacklist, right? I have no place to go, so hang up."
After hanging up, Gaon let out a sigh.
The goddess had heard the call and spoke.
'From that man's mouth comes nothing but money. It would be better to sever the ties.'
"He's one of my few friends..."
'If you can call him a friend, then bedbugs and mosquitoes are blood relatives.'
"Even if that is true, severing ties is difficult. There are two reasons I should tell you, goddess."
'Speak.'
"First, that man. Second, aside from whether he is my friend, he is clearly the only person registered in my phone's contacts."
The goddess could not speak for a moment.
'Truly tragic... Would my goddess obtain a phone as an offering and bestow that number? Then my champion's contacts would double.'
"It's fine, goddess. Really fine. Anyway, the second reason is that in the game I used to play, it was quite fun to hang out with that man. Now, though he only talks about money because he's broke, if he saves some money and has some breathing room, he'll come back like before. I think we'll enjoy hanging out again."
The goddess was not satisfied with the answer, but did not reprimand further.
'Well, good. I will not interfere anymore. On days like today, one cannot do that.'
It was a sad day.
Gaon was about to mutter something but stopped.
On this day he could not log into the game, Gaon had promised to participate in the goddess's cult gathering at her command.
Normally he would have scraped together tears to attend, but today he could not muster the will. He could not deliver the promised victory now.
Anyway, the goddess was pleased.
'This time, will you participate in disguise?'
"Yes. Since my champion cannot show his face in front of the public in succession... I fear that if the champion's movements seem too casual, it might damage the goddess's dignity."
Gaon had worried that if the Swordmaster kept appearing during closed-door training, it would seem less mysterious. Gaon had polymorphed and changed his appearance to that of a human.
The goddess sighed but was happy.
'It's a pity. You dressed up nicely. Still, I allow it. Gaon? Then, let's go.'
"Yes."
'Truly a joyous occasion. My champion attending this place with my goddess for the first time in decades?'
He did not need to take a car there. Since he had been there before, he already knew the spatial coordinates.
Gaon teleported.
The Goddess of Fire and Hearth is one of the great celestial deities.
Since humans discovered that building fires in huts was good, her teachings have never been lacking.
And in the twenty-first century, her teachings have grown even more.
If someone declares they worship the Moon Goddess of Purity, they get called a pervert or something, and if a young female college student says they worship the Goddess of Beauty and Love, they get called a slut from behind.
Those who worship the God of Swords and War are called right-wing extremists, and those who worship the God of Death and Souls are mocked as middle-schoolers with delusions.
The world is difficult for free faith.
But if one declares they worship the Goddess of Fire and Hearth, there is no reason to be criticized.
The Goddess of Fire and Hearth is also the guardian of the family.
Valuing family is the most neutral virtue.
The neutral spreads widely.
Therefore, now, her teachings have surpassed any other deity in the heavens.
To be precise, 36.4% of all Asians are her followers. Since follower numbers connect to speaking rights, in the celestial parliament, she holds 34.3% of seats. It is a great deity capable of easily rejecting a few bills alone.
Gaon felt this fact today.
The place where he teleported was in front of the goddess's substitute throne.
Gaon looked at the gathered followers of the goddess and was amazed.
"Really a lot gathered. Lots of humans, dwarves, goblins... Wow, orcs too? Trolls and elves excepted, all races are gathered here."
'Elves are here too, my champion?'
Even Earthlings were there. Considering that Earthlings' faith is not reflected in the celestial seats, it was not meaningless.
Compared to the total number of followers, this is just a part. Gaon, who had never seen such crowds in his life, watched the goddess's mass in a half-dazed state.
The cult leader, the saintess, recited into the microphone.
"A phoenix will rise from the ashes. Protect us from this trial..."
Then the chorus of hundreds of thousands of followers.
"Protect us from this trial..."
"Protect the peace of me, my family, and my country..."
The saintess of the cult was sixty-nine years old this year.
Gaon saw the face of a young girl in her wrinkled face.
'Last time she was a tiny nun. She's succeeded.'
Gaon was watching her face with a smile.
After the mass, people came to take the smile from the goddess's champion.
Journalists.
Most seemed from Earth. So, they did not hesitate to crowd in front of the saintess and ask various questions.
"Your champion attended the pro-war faction political gathering of the Karse Federation a few days ago. It completely opposes the goddess's reputation as the leader of the pro-peace faction. Can you explain the meaning of this action?"
"The goddess..."
"Has the goddess changed her stance to a war supporter in the end? If so, it's a decision that deeply saddens and disappoints the Earthlings who have supported the cult while hoping for peace..."
The old saintess tried to answer each journalist's question sincerely, but the journalists' angry responses did not subside at all.
To Gaon, it was highly sacrilegious. Feeling indignation, he spoke to the goddess.
'Goddess. If permitted, I will cut the throats of these journalists and offer them to the sanctity!'
'I will not permit it. Do you want to be criticized by your goddess for suppressing the press? Just as your goddess is sacred, the right to know is also sacred, so journalists being bold in front of the shrine is common. My champion must adapt to this era too.'
Gaon gritted his teeth.
'No matter how common, it's not a pleasant sight. I cannot understand the goddess's intention in bringing me to this place.'
'Sorry, Gaon. But there was a prophecy.'
'If it's a prophecy...'
'It was a prophecy warning to be cautious of sudden threats. I thought it was a warning of an evil tax audit, but it was not. To prepare for an unknown threat, I moved my champion.'
In the midst of this, one journalist pushed forward through the others.
With other journalists frowning, the one who stepped forward asked loudly.
"It's very regrettable to say this, but there are claims that the goddess's shown intention of peace so far was not a two-faced tactic!"
The saintess could not hold back.
"Sacrilege! How dare you insult the goddess now?"
"I declare it was not my intention and deeply apologize! However, it's not something to gloss over with anger. This is something that needs quick clarification..."
Gaon could not hold back his anger at this point.
"What the hell is this kid doing? Is he crazy? Is such rude speech common? If so, it's an unacceptable thing!"
The goddess did not let it go even now.
'It's not common. Even if that man is an Earthling and his pockets are full, it cannot be. There are over 2.4 billion followers of my goddess on Earth alone, how?'
Of course, the followers listening to the saintess's press conference could not hold back.
"That guy what the..." "Who the hell is that? Drag him out!"
"Drag him out!"
Amid angry criticisms from all sides, as the speaking journalist was slowly backing away, another sacrilegious statement followed.
It was not the statement from the journalist just now.
Shocking, there was another one trying to commit sacrilege.
A certain human man stepped forward and shouted.
"Don't spout nonsense, witch! What sanctity does a cheap god have for sacrilege to be possible?"
Everyone gathered heard that.
A moment of silence. The statement was so shocking that everyone's minds went white. Impossible to react with words, shocking sacrilege.
In the midst of this, Gaon could not muster anger either. He was not shocked either.
Gaon is sensitive to elves and voices. Before getting angry, he felt something strange and warned.
'How did that man's voice reach me? No speaker was used.'
Considering the crowd and the sound they were making, it was abnormal.
Continuing, the man's voice echoed to all.
"「Cheap gods! Abrikatta—ghosts who shamelessly claim the names of gods! To all of you who worship them, there will be death! Ahude—before dying, know the name of the only absolute being! Saronicu—He is the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!」"
As the man's words continued, the moisture around began to condense.
The condensed moisture took shape.
Only then did people realize that the man had subtly mixed in a spell.
"Magic!"
Sharp ice shards appeared around the man. Magic.
As the one who learned that magic, Gaon could anticipate the tragedy that would soon come.
Soon those shards would spread in all directions.
Like grenade beads.
No need to use grenades or dynamite instead, it's a war spell that is not used much these days, but it was prepared for use in this place where firearms are banned.
Magical terrorism. Amid screaming, the man shouted.
"In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen!"
Five large ice blocks were shot in all directions. Now those ice blocks would be shot further divided. They would severely injure or kill the people nearby.
The goddess was watching all this.
For the situation where many followers would die and be injured, the goddess was not worried. It was not because she was merciful and gentle that she feared bloodshed.
'Gaon?'
The goddess called to herself, and the champion responded.
'Yes, do not worry, goddess.'
The journalists were also terrified and did not know what to do.
In the midst of this, one journalist was taking photos of the situation with his camera. Not out of professional spirit, but because he had no other action in mind.
Amid everyone's confusion, the journalist stared blankly at a man standing with a sword.
The man swung his sword in place.
Air slash.
His feet did not move, but suddenly it seemed he was practicing a slashing motion.
The slash that acted about 100 meters away reached in front.
At the moment five ice blocks were shot, the man was in five directions at once.
And the slash he just did also affected all five directions.
The gray, rippling blade advanced and erased the ice shards. It erased and erased five times. A single slash hit all the ice shards 5 meters apart continuously.
The journalist could not tell that the man had teleported with 0.3 second intervals while swinging the sword.