217. Piling up misunderstandings.
217. Piling up misunderstandings.
"──You worthless imbecile who doesn't even deserve to be torn apart and killed!!!"
"Ugh?!!"
'Time' twisted.
As if a piece of paper were crumpled, it folded and vanished in an instant.
At the end of it, what was visible was a fist. A small and delicate fist, but one that held 'Time' and could not be ignored.
'I have to dodge──!'
He could not dodge.
His body wouldn't move.
No, to be precise, his body itself did move, but the outcome at the end, 'getting hit by the fist,' didn't seem likely to change.
From the moment he perceived the attack, he had been using 'Time.'
After all, he was dealing with a bitch who was a carbon copy of Cronus.
There was no way he wasn't tense, no way he wasn't on guard.
─Kwadeudeuk!
"───Keolreok...?!"
But Rhea broke through his guard far too easily.
A fist deeply embedded below his stomach.
The sensation of several ribs breaking and crumbling.
The numbing, bone-chilling pain he had felt when fighting the Ares Guild Master.
"Keureuk?! Keuk....Kkeo-eop...!"
"Listen well, imbecile."
He clutched his stomach with both hands.
He had to heal it.
Fortunately, there was still plenty of 'Time' remaining.
He hurriedly used 'Time' to reverse the 'Time' of the place where he had just been hit.
"This one's name is Rhea."
"The wife of that son of a bitch you speak of, and"
"The goddess who loathes that bastard more than anyone else."
".....Keuk."
Rhea was spouting various things even while his stomach ached.
For now, she was claiming she wasn't Cronus, getting angry and telling him to stop spouting bullshit.
'Cronus's wife?'
Rhea's true identity was actually Cronus's wife?
Then she was the woman who gave birth to Hestia and the other Twelve Olympians?
".............."
"...You seem unconvinced."
Should he tell her to stop with the absurd bullshit?
If anything, her claiming to be Cronus herself would have been far more convincing.
As he continued to send doubtful looks, Rhea let out a deep sigh and began to vent to him.
"It matters not if you do not believe me. Ultimately, 'reality' does not change."
"...Well, let's say that's the case."
Whatever. Whether that bitch's identity was Cronus or Rhea, such things weren't important right at this moment.
Right now, only one thing mattered.
"Send me back outside."
First, he had to get out.
At his words, Rhea shook her head.
"Receive my gift. Then I shall release you."
"So, how many times do I have to say I'm not touching a woman I have no feelings for?"
"You do have feelings. This one commanded it."
"Ah, fuck."
The way she talked was seriously creepy, exactly the same as Cronus.
'Considering she handles 'Time' in the first place,'
She was definitely Cronus.
No matter how you looked at it, she was Cronus.
"Let's be honest and lay it all out. You're Cronus, right?"
"...It seems this one's punishment is still insufficient."
"No, but honestly, isn't it obvious?"
A personality exactly identical to Cronus.
The ability to manipulate 'Time.'
Even just looking at her appearance, it seemed like if that bastard Cronus were younger, he'd look just like that.
"You bastard....!"
"Wow, even that reaction right now!"
Chillingly identical.
Why not just admit you're Cronus already?
At his words, Rhea clenched both fists and trembled violently.
"No....This one is not Cronus! In the first place, is not Cronus a male god!"
"What are you talking about."
That bastard's dick fell off and he got gender-swapped into a female.
"....What...?"
"Didn't you know? Or are you really just pretending not to know?"
".........."
"...You really didn't know?"
Huh?
Seeing this, she didn't actually seem like Cronus.
"Cronus...that bastard became a woman──Keut....Peuheut, Peuheuheut...!"
".....???"
Rhea suddenly started laughing.
"Peuhat! Ahahahahahat! I see! After playing with his cock like a cock, Ultimately, he ended up just like his own dad!"
".....Whoa."
A sight that crossed the line even into patricide jokes.
Judging by her disposition and personality, she was clearly Cronus, but seeing her act that crazy, it also seemed like she definitely wasn't.
Because, think about it, what if that girl were Cronus?
Would she have kept her sanity after hearing to her face that she got her dick cut off and then got gender-swapped?
And even if she did manage to suppress her anger, would she mock it like some third party?
If he was told Hermes dragged him off and subjected him to female corruption TS, that'd be one thing, but in the first place, a being who's a Main God isn't someone who'd fall so easily....
....But then again, maybe that wasn't so certain.
'Hestia said so.'
That Cronus fell from the position of Main God.
That he had fallen as a god and that I was appointed as the next successor.
So, just maybe, if it really was like he said and Cronus had undergone female corruption TS...?
"...Nah, no way."
No matter how much of a piece of shit Cronus was, he didn't think he was that much of a pathetic loser.
After all, he wasn't just any god, he was the Main God of the NTR Three Greats, wasn't he? Despite how he looks, he's one of the Main Gods of the bosses, so female corruption TS?
No matter how much of an NTR game this was, that was speculation that crossed the line too far.
"Huaah! Haah, haaaah....It has been a long time. It feels like truly a long time since I have laughed like this."
"...Is it that good?"
"Of course. It is good. How could it not be!"
Rhea shouted toward him with eyes half-mad.
"The days that bastard violated me are still vivid. The sight of him devouring my child before my two eyes also seems to be right before me. I begged him to stop. I pleaded for him to come to his senses. I begged with both hands, cried out, and crawled on the ground weeping and wailing until my throat was raw, those disgusting days are crystal clear──so how could the end not be laughable, seeing him end up just like the dad he so despised!"
".....Ffffuck."
For now, he felt he could believe it.
Rhea was not Cronus.
Because none of the statements coming out now were statements that could have come from Cronus's own mouth.
'But...still, something's off.'
He asked Rhea, who was laughing in high spirits, once more.
"Still have no intention of letting me go?"
"Ahh──that remains unchanged."
"...Hmm."
He grabbed Squite.
"However, you need not fret too much. At this point, it would be right for this one to change her thinking as well."
"...Huh?"
He let go of Squite.
Rhea approached him with an utterly relaxed smile and whispered.
"You have brought joyous news to this one, and have become this one's master, if only for a moment. It would be right for this one to also respect and show consideration."
"That means...."
A glimmer of expectation.
"Worry not, Chrono."
And then,
"If that wench is not to your liking, I shall bring another wench and gift her to you."
"..............."
Greek god character truly never goes away.
He grabbed Squite and swung it just like that.
****************
"Heut──?!"
A momentary surge of fighting spirit.
She twisted her body with all her might and dodged.
At that instant, Squite narrowly grazed past above her body.
".....You bastard."
"Tch. Was I too obvious?"
Why.
For what reason.
Clearly, she had tried to give the very best she could...!
"This is too much. Too much. This heart. This feeling. The pain is the same as when I trusted my former husband and was betrayed."
"So, how many times do I have to say stop trying to give things to someone who doesn't want them?"
"Why do you refuse this one!"
"Being loved by someone can be a wound to that person, I said!"
Seupat, Seugagagak!
Blades fired in rapid succession.
Attacks trying to harm with truly all their might, even consuming 'Time'.
'Keuk....Damn it, damn it, damn it all!'
It was unjust.
Tears welled up.
A pain so sharp her fists clenched tight, and an indescribable sense of betrayal made her grind her teeth.
She had made an effort.
She had poured her own best effort into making a gift.
And she simply wished for that child to receive her gift and be happy.
After all, after so long, it was finally 'her own child.'
Unlike the times when Cronus devoured them, or when the child she barely managed to give birth to was raised in another mother's arms.
Though not a god, nor connected by her own bloodline, nonetheless she thought of him as 'my child' and wished for him to be happy...!
"What...what in the world did this one do wrong for you to act this way!"
"The fact that you don't even know that shows you're already hopeless, you bitch!"
"Ugh!, You, bastard...!"
'Time' twisted.
Space flew at her in succession.
Regrettably, she didn't have enough 'Time' to pull off such antics against him.
Ultimately, she had to fight using the 'Time' received from Chrono.
A fight between one who possessed the root of the power and one who had barely been fed scraps from the side.
Who would hold the advantage was a painfully obvious story, but.
"Too soft! Did you think this one would fall to such a degree!"
"Keup...?! Keueuk, seriously, what the hell is going on...!"
Regrettably, the difference in experience was vast.
Having spent her entire life with that bastard, the 'depth' of her knowledge regarding 'Time' was different.
He attacked using 'Time.'
It was praiseworthy in terms of utilizing 'Time.'
But──true utilization of 'Time' was not merely of that category.
The concept of 'Time' was a 'concept' that transcended physical phenomena, beyond the world itself.
And if one had a grasp of that concept.
─SeuPapapapat!
─Dudadadadada!
"Such a 'miracle' is also no surprise."
"......Insane."
Countless blades extended out.
They passed by futilely without even grazing a single layer of skin.
The bullets that shot out as if to pierce leather as well.
They bounced off and vanished before even touching the body.
"....Chrono. Realize now, little by little, that such actions are meaningless."
".........."
"Do you not also feel it."
"Bullshit."
Attacks poured in without pause.
However, contrary to that, Rhea's anger, sense of injustice, and betrayal slowly began to subside.
Because──
'──It is merely fighting spirit.'
Chrono's attacks were solely attacks meant to 'suppress' Rhea.
Showing clearly his heart did not wish to fight her Ultimately, attacks that absolutely would not kill, that did not want to wound but would suppress to achieve what he desired.
"I see. I understand your will."
".........?"
Rhea embraced Cronus.
Saying she understood. Saying she comprehended, she stroked his head.
What could she do if he refused so adamantly?
As a parent, one cannot forcefully push what a child hates.
"I shall accept your will."
"...Then."
I shall respect your will.
"However."
As a parent, though she could not forcefully push what a child hates.
"Accept it and keep it for now."
"...What?"
"It means I shall erase all memories and the past."
"............"
Even so, she had the authority to make him walk about one step further by force.
When one does not know, it can be so. But once they know, it can be different.
Whatever it is, experience is what matters.
Rhea reached out her hand to Chrono with pure goodwill and kindness──
─Seugak!
"Eut───!"
Her cheek was cut.
"....What!"
"It's this, isn't it?"
An attack that hadn't reached her until just moments ago.
But this time, it clearly touched her.
Why? How?
Such questions were not needed.
"I really am a dumbass, huh."
Because─
"I used this plenty at the Ares Guild but forgot because it's been a while."
─He, too, was one who handled 'Time.'
"Back then I was so pissed I just winged it by feel in many ways, so it can't be helped."
But still,
Now he thought he knew.
"'Fixing' the 'future' through 'Time'."
That's it, right?
The reason her attacks connected and his attacks didn't.
Chrono pulled up his fighting spirit once more.
Now it was possible.
Now, he could defeat Rhea.
"Why."
At the sight of Chrono resisting to the very end, Rhea eventually had no choice but to ask.
"Why do you refuse this one so."
To that earnest question.
Chrono aimed his gun at Rhea and answered.
"Don't involve other people in matters related to you and me."
".......Ha!"
For such a thing,
For such a mere 'trivial thing' as that?
Moreover, if not for her, that girl would have lost her virginity, her life, her honor, and her respect, all of it. She was a 'human' who was only barely saved because of her, contained solely upon this one's hand...
"And if you really wanted to give 'a gift like that,'"
Inside a confused mind.
Toward Rhea, who was at a loss, completely unable to understand Chrono, Chrono spoke.
"Rhea, it'd be right for you to become the gift yourself."
".....Ha?"
A gift.
Her?
Whose?
"What in the world do you..."
"It's a matter related to you and me."
A statement beyond comprehension.
Chrono spoke.
"So does it make sense to bring someone else?"
"................."
Does it make sense to bring someone else.
Does it make sense for someone else, for a third party, to intervene.
"......Ah."
Because it is a matter related to you and me.
With no one else intervening.
[Rhea]
"Ah-uh....Ah...?"
At that moment, Rhea realized.
The continuous parallel lines.
The greatest cause of the sophistry that had been going back and forth, frustrating the goddess.
[It'd be right for you to become the gift yourself.]
"Hiiyaaaaaaaack?!!"
Was none other than──the overlooked major premise that she hadn't even imagined the possibility that Chrono desired herrrrrrr!!!