Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Whereabouts of My Companions
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Linian hadn't noticed my presence at all, too fixated on Luna right in front of her eyes. She kept her gaze locked entirely on Luna and asked in a voice brimming with bewilderment.
"Mom! How are you here?! It doesn't feel like an illusion or anything... what the hell...? Did you escape?! What about those Underground Vermin scum!? Wait, does that mean I can go back to normal now too? No, before that, why the hell were you captured by bastards like that! I told you every damn day not to trust humans! But you wouldn't listen to me, and now look at the mess you're in! Now that you've suffered, have you finally come to your senses? Honestly, Mom is just... ugh!"
"Linian, your wounds are deep—please don't get so worked up. I managed to escape. I came here hoping to borrow your power... but you don't look well at all. Could you take a look at Linian, perhaps?"
"Huh? Mom, who are you talking to ri... Ah."
"......"
Back in Libertà, she had given off the vibe of an endlessly composed powerhouse. But the way she'd just spoken to Luna made her feel exactly like a bratty teenage daughter.
I'd never seen Linian talk like that before, so I was left stunned, staring at her quietly from atop Bifrost. Linian gaped at me with her mouth wide open, then flushed bright red and waved her hands frantically.
"Y-you, y-you, y-you! What the hell are you?! How are you... with Mom... Ah, no, how did you butt into a conversation between a goddess and me... Huh? You're... the one who had the goddess's power..."
"Uh... long time no see?"
"Wh-what are you doing here... M-mom... No, how is the goddess here, and why are you two together? How did you even know I was here... And why can't I sense any power from M-mom... the goddess at all?! Why is your power so much stronger than before?"
Luna gently stroked Linian's cheek as she babbled in panic, calming her down.
"Linian, I'll explain everything slowly, so please calm down first. Treating your wounds is the top priority right now. Alvis, could you help?"
"Sure, I guess..."
I drew Light Saber, and a power surged through it that was incomparable to before—it roiled with overwhelming intensity.
Linian stared at the light in a daze, utterly entranced. I drew out Light Saber's power to its maximum and swung it toward her, infusing it with healing energy.
A brilliant light enveloped Linian's entire body, mending the horrific wounds all over her.
They were so severe it was a miracle she was still alive, so plenty of scars remained across her body. But at least the bleeding she'd been barely staunching with her own magic finally stopped properly, the holes punched through her filled in, and her breathing eased considerably.
As most of her wounds healed and closed up, Linian glanced at her own body in astonishment, then at me—the one who'd healed her—and muttered in disbelief.
"The goddess's power... It's incomparably stronger than before. And the goddess herself... I can't sense even a shred from her. What the hell happened, Goddess? I had my suspicions when this human suddenly showed up in Libertà last time and you did something, but I never imagined it'd go this far."
"I'll explain. It's a long story, though..."
I gave her the rough outline of everything that had happened since parting ways with her in Libertà.
Linian looked immensely satisfied when she heard Vector—one of the Underground Vermin—was dead. But when she learned Arborness had burned away to nothing, she flew into a rage over the land she'd personally blessed being destroyed.
And when I got to the part about me and my companions being dragged into the Underground Vermin's lair, she couldn't hold back and interrupted.
"R-right! The Underground Vermin! That scum leader of theirs! M-mom... Goddess! Do you know who that bastard leading those sons of bitches is—the one who left me in this state—"
"Solaris, I presume. I know. Even though I was bound, I could still perceive your actions."
"Huh?"
Solaris. The Sole Son of the Sun. The white dragon that shines like the sun itself.
In the game, he'd never actually appeared—not even once. He existed only in the lore.
The Sole Son of the Sun, Solaris; Daughter of the Twin Moons, Lunarin; Daughter of the Three Twinkling Stars, Liniaras.
The three dragons: the first creations shaped by Goddess Lunia in this world.
And now, Solaris—the strongest among those primordial dragons in the lore—was leading the Underground Vermin?
Solaris and Lunarin were purely lore figures. The only one players could actually interact with in-game was Liniaras—that is, Linian. So even I didn't know much about what Solaris was really like.
But judging from Linian's state, she'd said the goddess's fall had stripped dragons of their ability to take draconic form. So why was Solaris, a fellow dragon, leading those bastards?
Linian clutched Luna's hand tightly, her eyes welling with tears as her body trembled.
"That damn bastard... Born from you... Betrayed you and allied with those Underground Vermin scum who dragged you down... All because of his obsession with regaining his original form... And... sob... Lunarin... That bastard killed Lunarin..."
"...I know. As the one who brought you into being, it pains me deeply."
According to Linian, Solaris had killed Lunarin. Unaware of that fact, she'd gone to him seeking help to wipe out the Underground Vermin.
That's when she'd learned the truth. She'd clashed with Solaris in a desperate fight to the death, barely escaping to here in her near-death state.
"That son of a bitch... He exploited your power, Goddess, and though it twisted him some, he'd almost fully regained his original form. No matter how hard I fought, I couldn't win. I thought I was done for, but apparently even he had limits maintaining that shape—he reverted to human form. That's when I finally escaped and hid here."
"Solaris... looked upon me in that state with profound disappointment. He judged that I, reduced to having my power exploited by traitors he could have easily slain himself, no longer had the right to be this world's god. Even if he killed all the traitors, he had no idea how to free me unharmed—and even if he could, whether he'd regain his original authority was uncertain.
So instead of gambling on the unknown, he chose to spearhead exploiting my power to strengthen himself, aiming to become the god of the next era."
"Fucking moron..."
Luna finished explaining how we'd ended up here, and when Linian heard that this world's creator had lost her divinity and become an ordinary human, her expression turned incredibly complicated.
To Linian, Luna—as she called her—was basically like a birth parent.
Linian slathered the lake's restorative waters over her body and let out a sigh.
"I see... You've... truly lost all your power now. Is there no way to get it back?"
Luna shook her head.
"In that situation, I traded my divinity for freedom of my body, allowing me to walk this world like this. Some abilities unrelated to wielding authority remain, but there's no way for me to reclaim the divinity I myself relinquished. My divinity now... rests with Alvis here."
"Even so, having some random human bear the creator's divinity... That's way too dangerous."
"Hm? Me? I don't feel anything weird in my body."
"That's not the kind of danger I mean! Humans themselves are the problem! The ones who lusted after the goddess's power, betrayed the creator, and bound her with cursed chains—they're humans! And you're just handing the whole divinity over to one of them?!"
Linian pointed at me furiously.
"Don't get me wrong—I'm grateful you healed me! But that's separate from whether a human should be handling divinity! There's no law saying they won't turn out just like the Underground Vermin scum! Bunnies are at least pure, and elves are stubborn idiots but honest at minimum! But you humans? No! Your greed knows no bounds—you put on a friendly face while hiding daggers behind your backs, stabbing at the first chance!
You'd sell your own soul for profit, and in the face of wealth, family means nothing! That's humans for you! And you're entrusting the goddess's full divinity to one of them? Who's to say they won't abuse it?!"
It was a valid point, but unfortunately, I could throw it right back at her.
"So if you were the one holding this divinity, it'd be fine, no problem?"
"Of course! Dragons are different from humans—we're wise and noble!"
"Isn't the wise and noble dragon Solaris the one leading those filthy, greedy Underground Vermin? Solaris himself joined in betraying the goddess for his personal greed to regain his original form—so what's your basis for saying that?"
"Th-that's... Solaris is just a lunatic! Lunarin and I never had any intention of that!"
"Then count me as a rare outlier among humans. Same difference, right?"
With an irregular like Solaris in her own species, Linian had no ground to argue back.
Unable to retort, as she grumbled, Luna comforted her.
"Don't worry too much, Linian. Alvis may have a habit of looking down on me and treating me with disdain, but he's nobler than any human I've seen, with a pure heart and deep love for our world. He won't walk the path of the traitors—even if he does disregard me—and I believe he'll do his utmost for this world. Even though he looks down on me."
"Man, you really hold grudges."
"What?! You actually treated a goddess like that?!"
"Just travel with this woman for two days."
Back in Libertà, she hadn't seemed particularly concerned about the goddess's well-being herself. Was that just bravado? Now that Luna was right in front of her, she'd switched completely to overprotective daughter mode.
"Linian, now it's time for the real matter at hand. We came to find you because we have a request."
"A request...?"
I stated the business.
"Remember my companions from Libertà? We got separated during the escape from the Underground Vermin's lair. Can you tell where those three are? Luna said you'd be able to."
"The bunny girl and that rude elf from back then? Added one more, huh? Hmm... I don't like guys who are disrespectful to the goddess, but they did save my life, and they did help her escape, so... Fine, I'll help. Be grateful. Getting a dragon's cooperation is a once-in-a-millennium event."
Linian kept up her pride to the end, grumbling as she hauled herself out of the water.
She could move around now, but her twisted expression showed she was still in a lot of pain.
Linian placed her hand on the ground outside the lake and closed her eyes. None of us said a word.
"......"
"Can you tell where they are?"
After a long silence, I spoke up first. Linian opened her eyes right on cue and nodded.
"Yeah. But the situation looks kinda..."
"How so?"
"It feels like the three of them are fighting a bunch of others."