35. You Have a Really Nasty Personality
35. You Have a Really Nasty Personality
"Cronus! Cronus, you son of a bitch—!"
Before the temple of Cronus
The king of gods, Zeus, pounded on the temple door with a thunderbolt in hand.
"Can you truly endure it! The predestined ending, the 'arrangement of the future' meant to overturn it, the terror of the day when everything shatters and you cannot see even an inch ahead!"
He unleashed a shout like a scream, but it never reached.
For time could not be grasped.
An existence that simply was there, yet could not be touched.
One could regret from afar, tremble in fear, or just ignore it by keeping it out of sight, but
it could never be reversed, never hastened—merely the process toward an ordained future.
"You wretch! My apostle will not forgive you! If this is you thrashing about because you can't forget your past glory, I shall topple your throne once again this time, Cronus!"
Zeus spoke.
He vowed revenge. He vowed never to let such a thing repeat.
At Zeus's grinding roar—only then did the stubborn god of time rise and greet Zeus.
"How noisy. Nothing but disturbances while I am trying to rest."
Would you kindly just fuck off.
A calm remark from Cronus.
That shameless face left Zeus utterly dumbfounded.
"You... do you truly not know what you have done?"
"What problem is there? The Great War of the future is the lot of the human children anyway. It is not our lot."
"You have—you have ignored my arrangement!"
"Oh? You called it an arrangement. How very fascinating,"
Cronus said, as if it were quite amusing.
"You call it your 'arrangement,' when you could not even hold the woman right beside you in your arms, a dullard who merely reassures himself that she is his to console himself."
No—
In a way, that was probably correct.
"The pathetic sight of you doing that is the spitting image of yourself."
"You... you bastard!!"
Pajijijijik!!
A bolt of lightning flared up violently.
The thunderbolt, shot as if to burn him to death on the spot, could not even cross a single gate and soon scattered and vanished on the spot.
"Zeus. Temper your wrath. At least, when you made me a 'bitch' rather than a 'bastard,' your eyes had been full of the charisma and wisdom to rule the gods.
...But now, your eyes are filled solely with the lust to covet a woman."
"...I will, without fail, pin you down beneath me and crush you."
"To feel inferiority toward one's father is a natural duty as a child. However, Zeus, I shall prophesy to you."
As you are now,
You can never defeat my child.
"Regressed, you say? That is a very good thing. However, if you have learned nothing from it, you shall merely repeat the same history."
"...You wretch, you think that won't be the case, do you?"
"At least, this one speaks."
When you cut off my manhood long ago, I could finally understand it then.
"The feeling I had when I cut off my own father's manhood in ancient days—you all must have felt exactly the same."
Empathy.
Compassion.
Understanding.
And acceptance.
Therefore—Cronus chose.
"I understood that it was no longer my era, that your era had come."
That was why I yielded.
I offered no further resistance.
While I regretted becoming a woman, I harbored no hostility for it.
"Do you desire proof? Then this one must say this."
Child.
From that day onward, I have not stepped out of this place.
Much less did my child ever approach other apostles, my children, 'first.'
"The child of Ares was also reaping what she sowed. The child of Hera was also the karma of your apostle. Yet if you try to pin that on this one, then you are a fool who does not even know what lies beneath your own feet."
"Grr... Aaaaaaah!!"
Kwagik! Kwajijijik! Jijik, kwagwagwagwang!!
Before the temple of Cronus, dozens, hundreds of thunderbolts poured down, but each time they scattered and vanished just before his nose.
It was only natural. Not some middling lesser god, but a god of the generation above him.
An existence of higher rank, brimming with yet greater mysteries.
The very rebellion had barely succeeded by gathering everyone's power—would such a mighty god be overcome by mere thunderbolts from Zeus?
"Go back. Even a past like this, it is painful to watch the ugly sight of my child."
"I will not forgive you! You! Your apostle too! I will trample them all, chew them up, and swallow them!!!"
"............Hmph."
Before entering the temple,
Cronus spoke.
"Do try your best."
"─────!!!!"
The temple door closed.
Behind it, thunderbolts, curses, and abuse rained down.
Though on his way back, no one was there to see him off,
"Hooo..."
Settling onto the throne, Cronus let out a light sigh.
"...My child."
My apostle, my child who has taken my name.
Chrono.
You, the child that you are, truly...
"Are my blessing."
Hoo.
Hu hu.
Huhuhuhuhu....!
"Hoo-ha! Ahahahaha!"
Ahahahahahaha! Hahah! Hih! Hihih!
"Ahahahahahahaha!!!"
Just look at that bastard's expression!
That look of straining to seem like he was something, the face that tried its damnedest to look like a big shot—like that... kuk, pu-hahaha!
"Delightful! Truly delightful!"
Clapping and laughing uproariously.
Cronus, who revealed with all her might a frivolousness she had never shown before others, before the gods.
Usually, a languid smile was all she ever showed, but this made it clear just how good Cronus's mood was.
"Forgive? Understand? Accept? Cut the shit."
How could I forgive the bastard who took my manhood.
Cronus did not suppress the smile blooming on her face and simply cursed Zeus as he left.
"You too shall face the same fate as I. No, a worse fate than mine."
Beyond merely having your manhood severed,
the worst tribulations alone shall fill your every path.
"Hooooo... Tonight, I feel like I'll sleep very well."
Cronus.
She too was, after all, Zeus's father.
**************
The conflict between Cronus and Zeus
was not something that happened only up above.
"I challenge you to a duel."
"...Eh?"
In the middle of eating lunch, a duel challenge came out of nowhere.
Unable even to eat the spoonful of seaweed soup he had scooped, Chrono stared blankly at Ter.
"If I win, you keep your hands off Mars from now on."
"...And if I win?"
"Ha! It doesn't matter because I'll win anyway."
"..........."
What kind of idiot is this?
Chrono lightly turned his head away and ignored him.
"Don't ignore me!"
"...Eum."
Even when told not to ignore him, well.
Without even turning his head toward Ter, Chrono opened his mouth calmly.
"There's no reason for me to accept the duel."
"Ha! You loser bastard. You don't deserve Mars. Hand her over to me right now."
"That's why I'm telling you she's not mine."
"Are you scared? Of me?"
"Very scared."
"..........."
"I'm so scared, look at this."
The spoon full of seaweed soup was trembling, pudeul-pudeul.
"It's shaking nonstop. Feels like my joint's gonna dislocate."
"You... you son of a bitch!!"
Snapping.
Ter stepped toward Chrono.
Yuno, who was beside him, tried to stop Ter, but he was already seeing red; there was no hesitation in his stride.
Put another way, an anger management issue.
His right hand, already ablaze with fury, began to gather lightning, and—
"What did you say?"
"!... Mars."
Ter was someone who suddenly became very good at controlling his anger in front of Mars.
Anyway, these things were usually trivial, so let's move on.
"You, I asked what you just said."
"...Haha! You saw it earlier, right? That dimwit felt such terror toward me that he couldn't do anything."
"Bullshit."
"..........."
Mars spoke.
"Cut the bullshit and just get lost. Don't ruin a nice day."
"...Do you think that scumbag will be able to protect you?"
"What are you on about. I protect myself. And I'll protect this fucker too."
"Ha! Hiding behind a woman, what a coward."
"............."
"Mars, hold on."
Woah, woah.
Don't do it.
That's not good.
Chrono blocked her as she tried to rise from her seat.
Mars looked at Chrono for a moment, then resumed eating.
"...Alright, so birds of a feather, is that it?"
Ter nodded as if he understood.
Was he finally thinking of leaving?
[Sparring Application Form]
"...What's this?"
What Ter took out was none other than a sparring application form.
To be precise, it was an application to reserve a training ground.
"You know the assignment this week for 'Close Combat' class is a sparring match, right? Coincidentally, you'd need a sparring partner too."
So, can you still run away now?
"Yeah. Go find someone else."
"............."
Assignment or not, what did it matter.
Why did I have to shoulder a risk with no return in the first place.
What were you, some kind of elementary school bully? The type who clings to another kid when his demand isn't met and says, 'If I win rock-paper-scissors, you do it, and if you win, we do it anyway.'
What was this nonsense about trying to play a game that only looked fair on the surface but was nothing but risk—you unscrupulous bastard.
'...But somehow, I feel like I saw that assignment from Mars too.'
Was it just my eyes playing tricks?
As I was about to finish my seaweed soup, Mars stood up as if she could no longer stand it.
"That sparring match, let's do it, you and me."
"!... I don't want to fight you."
"Why. You chicken? Because you can't even beat one cunt like me?"
"..............."
Well... wouldn't he be chicken...
I mean, the guy just got out of the infirmary.
He'd been living a sickbed life thanks to you—fractured eye socket, facial fractures, and all sorts of other shit. It'd be weirder if he wasn't scared.
'Look at that. His legs are completely wobbly-dobbly shaking.'
The degree of trembling made the spoon in my hand look cute in comparison.
"Hey, hey, don't chicken out. I beat this fucker and trample him all the time, so you think you couldn't beat me? Right?"
"Ah... Aaack!"
Wearing a fierce, battle-hungry grin, Mars pressed down hard on Ter's shoulder.
When he eventually doubled over, unable to withstand the pain, Mars, as if it was no big deal, also took the [Sparring Application Form] Ter had extended.
"The next class was 'Close Combat,' right? You've really picked the wrong day."
"Ah, aah...!"
No...!
Ter stretched out his hand far too late.
But Mars had long since left.
Ultimately, he gnashed his teeth and glared at me, then—
"───!... Heh... hehehehe!!"
Did the kid suddenly pop some pills?
With a solemn (in his effort to appear so) smile, he declared toward me.
"The Main God has shown me the light."
"......?"
So, like, you received a 'Quest'?
"Today, I will defeat Mars and return Mars to where she should have been."
"Oh, okay. Good luck."
"...Don't come crying to me later."
"That remark... hmm..."
Chrono glanced at the space behind Ter.
"Ter... again..."
'...Whoa.'
Yuno's expression was rotting away in real time.
So, like, try tackling the main heroine first.
'If it's something given as a quest in the first place...'
That means he hadn't even received the reward yet.
I could understand if he was acting cocky after receiving something, but acting out without even getting it?
I let out a light sigh as the upcoming events painted themselves in my head.
Well, it's his karma.
After that, class began right away.
"Today's class is sparring."
The dagger, sword, spear, and other 'Close Combat' cadets gathered and began the sparring lesson.
"Chrono."
"...What do you want me to do about it."
"Ah, come on. Are you even a man, doing that?"
".........Eing."
Mars seemed to need a victory spell.
I gave her a light kiss and fed her an [Encore Kiss] as well.
I mean, she'd win without this anyway, but you never know, right?
"Mars, Ter, exchange mutual greetings!"
"Please take care of me from now on, Mars."
"You just prepare to get your ass kicked."
I watched the two's spar with a bit of tension.
And the result of the spar was....
Kung! Kung! Kukung! Kwajik!
"Cadet Mars! Cadet Ter has already passed out!"
"I know."
"Cadet Mars!"
"I've gotta beat that one up a bit more for him to come to his senses."
"─────"
Just like that, he was trampled.
A situation that truly could not be viewed without mosaic blur.
[Emergency Mission]
[Lord Cronus's Gift - Success]
- This is an emergency mission issued by Lord Cronus.
1. Beat the Apostle of Zeus to a pulp (1/1)
Reward: Contribution + 50 / Cronus's Uproarious Laughter
"....Eeng?"
And amid all this, my Main God was laughing.
As expected of our Main God, what a dirty personality you have.