Humans Who Fight Gods
The blue-black Runar pouring from Poseid’s body transformed into water and began to emit its own light.
Even in the blinding radiance, no one blinked. They simply prepared to intercept him.
They didn’t sense any particularly threatening aura. To them, it looked like some kind of buff skill. And even if it wasn’t, stopping now would bring no benefit.
Everyone readied their attacks with the resolve to stake everything on a single strike.
Emily, in particular, was preparing a technique that placed an enormous burden on her body. She believed that only a spell pushing past its limits would have any chance of working.
THUD!
“Ugh…!”
Almiraj’s fist slammed into Poseid’s comparatively massive solar plexus. The needle-like Runar made him double over. Immediately after, the fists of two elementals sent him flying, smashing him into the wall.
“What the hell? It was glowing ominously, but nothing changed?”
“Yeah, nothing’s… whoa!”
Even though Poseid had collapsed, his creations were still moving energetically.
Mineu and Musha, who had been puzzled by the flashy display that led to nothing, hurriedly resumed fighting.
“......”
[......]
Only the Scholar and Almiraj, who had realized what Poseid had done, broke out in cold sweat.
“Are you suggesting we all blow ourselves up?”
At the Scholar’s words, Poseid—who had been embedded in the wall—let out a low, mocking laugh.
“To reach such a conclusion using nothing but conjecture and wisdom without understanding the power of a god… What a knowledgeable fellow you are.”
“......”
“You can feel it, can’t you? The laws of the world have changed!”
BOOM!
The one who appeared beside the leisurely-speaking Poseid, riding a gust of wind, was I-Pung. His eyes were bloodshot as he roared.
“Feel what, you monster?!”
CRUNCH!
“...Huh?”
Suddenly, the sound of flesh bursting rang out.
I-Pung stared blankly at his vanished arm, then gritted his teeth and tried to attack again—only for his lower body to explode with another BOOM.
“Aaaargh…!”
Just as life was about to fade from his eyes, a sacred light pulled him in and restored his body in an instant.
“Resurrection.”
A holy technique that rewinds the target’s body to its state ten seconds prior. It couldn’t heal anything lost more than ten minutes ago, but it was still an incredibly powerful spell.
“Hmph. Wasting precious power on trash…”
Mari broke out in a cold sweat.
It was only natural. Poseid’s power, which had already felt oppressive just by standing there, was now growing exponentially stronger.
In truth, Poseid’s authority was very simple and had no direct effect on the people present in this situation.
Poseid was originally a named deity called the “Sea God,” later granted the name “Water God” by Nanar, making him a high-ranking god. His authority, as the name suggested, was related to the sea and water. Its effect was extremely straightforward.
His authority allowed him to control low-intelligence entities that lived in water. As long as their intelligence was low, he could control even powerful monsters. And the range of that control was the entire planet of Elyunar.
It was an authority on a scale worthy of being called divine.
Of course, other deities possessed authorities of similar scale. But they would never use such large-scale divine power or authority.
No, they wouldn’t even descend directly into the mortal realm like Poseid was doing now.
The reason was obvious: causality.
The power that was essentially “currency” for humans when gods took action. To exert influence in the mortal realm, one had to pay causality.
Even issuing an oracle consumed causality. The authority required for direct manifestation went without saying. If even trivial actions that affected the mortal realm consumed causality, then causing something like this on a global scale? The consumption would be immeasurable.
Using up all of one’s causality was practically a declaration of giving up the race.
Even a peculiar deity who preferred causing chaos over racing would be immediately checked by other gods if they did something like this, rendering the act completely pointless.
Especially when it came to harming the mortals of Elyunar… the causality cost was incomparably higher than harming Strangers.
Nevertheless, Poseid used his authority to control aquatic creatures. Every river, sea, and freshwater being across the world began attacking every “living thing” on Elyunar.
It started small.
“W-what the… Aaaagh!”
Suddenly being buried by a school of fish leaping from the water. Or shallow waters suddenly teeming with an unbelievable number of fish.
And then it grew increasingly grotesque.
The fish began forming human faces. Underwater monsters that could never coexist shrieked and instilled terror in people.
In the middle of the ocean.
A couple had taken out a magical yacht. The woman trembled in fear at the sharp fins circling the yacht, while the man, accustomed to the sea, looked at her fondly and pretended to shoo away the sharks.
“Is that a shark, oppa?”
“It’s fine. Sharks are surprisingly scared of peop… huh…?”
CRUNCH!
“Kyaaa! Oppa!”
The shark suddenly leaped onto the deck and bit the seasoned sailor.
“Graaaaah!”
“Have those bastards gone insane?!”
“Hey! Everyone grab your weapons!”
Giant monsters in the form of mudskippers, crabs, or ammonites—which normally only attacked people resting in the morning or those near the sea—suddenly began assaulting coastal villages.
All of this was happening on a global scale.
Poseid did not take people’s lives.
If I take the lives of Elyunar’s people, the ‘evil gods’ will have justification to intervene, and a massive amount of causality will flow to them. It’s obvious how the gods of the same faction would react.
It would be fortunate if they only got angry. It was obvious what kind of fate would await Poseid if the greatly enraged deities turned on him.
Therefore, he only inflicted wounds.
At first glance, it seemed like nothing more than a useless tantrum. Later, this phenomenon would be called “The Wrath of the Sea God.”
Normally, this situation would have dried up all his causality, rendering any deity unable to do anything. Yet Poseid was instead gaining power and growing stronger.
Why?!
The Scholar was horrified. He knew the principles of causality, at least roughly. If anything, it should have weakened him, never strengthened him.
But thinking about it, Poseid wouldn’t have done something this crazy for no reason.
Something neither the Scholar nor Almiraj could have guessed.
A single girl who had simply thought He must have gone somewhere else… had overturned everything.
Makia.
By borrowing her body to manifest, the boundary between whether Poseid was a being of the divine realm or the mortal realm had become ambiguous. The authority that should have consumed causality was manifesting in this world, and the mechanism had changed because of Makia’s special ability called Divine Possession.
The “System” of this world now judged that the main body causing the phenomenon Poseid had triggered was not him, but Makia’s power.
And there was one common trait among all deities.
The power of reverence strengthens them. Just as the chief god Nanar, who had believers across the entire world, grew stronger when people thought of a specific god and felt reverence, that reverence directly translated into divine power.
Those suffering from the global phenomenon thought of gods, and although their reverence for the unknown god called Poseid was faint, the sheer scale of the entire world allowed him to rapidly amplify his power.
What should have been a direct manifestation and authority that consumed causality had instead become a charge thanks to her.
Direct manifestation without any loopholes required paying causality, but the consumption was almost negligible. And even that, Poseid did not bear.
It was because of a secret contract.
Hmph. For that, at least, I’m grateful.
Thinking of a certain being, Poseid snorted and let out a satisfied laugh as his main body’s power continued to grow stronger.
It’s not your turn to step forward… Absolutely not!
His two eyes shimmered with blue light. The shimmer grew larger, eventually radiating light like an inverted waterfall.
“O-ohhh…!”
[Tsk!]
Almiraj reached out and tried to apply a Privilege seal.
But Poseid simply snorted and casually shook it off. The resulting shockwave flew toward the monstrous rabbit.
Caught off guard by the unexpected blow, Almiraj screamed and slammed into the wall.
“U-uwagh!!”
Musha, who knew that some unidentified weirdo had been keeping the monster in check, panicked. In that moment, a fish in front of him bit his arm.
He hurriedly swung his sword down, but…
I-it doesn’t work?!
Earlier, the attacks had at least pushed them back. Now, they didn’t even land.
It was because of the strengthened divine aura. As their god grew more powerful, the creations had become impossibly strong.
“You held out well, you pieces of trash. Now di—”
SWOOSH! KUUUUUAAAAAAGH!
“Hmm…?!”
Suddenly, a sound that seemed to tear at the ears shook the atmosphere.
What? My authority… it’s blocked.
At the impossible event, Poseid’s mouth fell open. He looked toward the source of the power.
A witch floating in the air, emitting colorless waves. Within the vibrating waves that made one’s vision feel like it was shaking, she alone was calm.
Her magical eyes had become so clear they evoked the image of a king or emperor—more than that, a god.
“What…?!”
Poseid was more shocked than he had been at any point so far.
The power this woman emitted was tearing his authority to shreds. Moreover, it was blocking the effects that had spread across the entire world. On top of that… the power that had strengthened Poseid was rapidly weakening!
“It’s called Reality Manipulation!!”
Emily, who was using a technique permitted only to gods. Though there were limits since she was still human, returning Poseid’s abnormal phenomenon to its original state was a simple task.
The altered laws of the world were returning to normal.
For Emily, this was one of her most secret techniques, one that required pouring out all her power. Reality Manipulation—a power so immense it shocked even the caster herself.
In another dimension, it might be different. But in Elyunar, where high stages of existence and all kinds of deities and powerhouses existed, how incredible it was to be able to manipulate reality even for a moment… even Emily, who considered the power too dangerous, didn’t fully understand it.
But…
“How dare yooooou!”
Just from Poseid’s roar, blood poured from Emily’s eyes, nose, and mouth.
“Hng… ugh…!”
BOOM!
Emily’s power stopped.
No matter how powerful the ability, without divine energy, there was a clear limit. Still, she had fulfilled her role sufficiently.
Thanks to her, Poseid could no longer grow stronger. In fact, he had been considerably weakened.
The Sea God, driven mad with rage, stomped his feet and tried to crush Emily.
But two elementals stood in his way.
CRACKLE!GOOOOOO!
Lightning and rock, infused with powerful energy and the power of elementals, electrocuted him and dug into his body, stopping his movement.
“Krrrrrr… Y-you! You bastaaaaards…!”
The utterly blasphemous power of these beings.
Poseid looked at the girl who was the source of that power.
Thanks to the elemental power Lena emitted, the divine aura of Poseid’s creations had weakened, while it granted strength to the people around them. Even the demonic beasts that had been rampaging and spewing fire were now crushed by the elemental power and forced to their knees.
Seeing this as their last chance, everyone except those rendered unable to fight—such as Almiraj and Musha—began preparing their own secret techniques.
Lena, of course, was among them.
SWOOOOOSH.
“...!”
This can’t be.
Poseid muttered blankly.
Don’t tell me… she’s going to summon a third high-ranking elemental?!?!
This was dangerous.
These two elementals had already thinned his divine aura. If a third high-ranking elemental was added, along with the power of these worthless insects…!
And then Poseid’s eyes widened, his mouth hanging open as he stared at a certain being.
Behind Lena, manifesting with dignity… the third high-ranking elemental!
---
“Damn it. No, this won’t do.”
The water dragon that had spoken to him.
Rather than his heart pounding at the fairy-tale-like development of conversing with a legendary being, what he felt most was pure terror.
What? Go into that black sea and touch the “monument”?
Into that place that looked like it would give you a disease or have something pounce on you the moment you entered?
The black water looked filthier than sewage, seemed cursed, and stimulated primal fear. How could he know what was in that water?
Rius was a boy who had long surpassed the category of ordinary people, but he was still operating on ordinary standards. He had no experience fighting underwater, and with his frail body, if there was even a monster, he had no way to win.
No, even if there wasn’t, he didn’t want to go in. But the water dragon added in an urgent voice.
[My condition isn’t good, so exact detection is difficult, but the enemy only has one reaction. Be careful of that…]
“I’m not doing it!”
Rius shouted and turned around without hesitation. He kept repeating to himself that he had to survive.
He would live long and enjoy a comfortable life.
What was wrong with that?
Hadn’t he already done enough by coming this far?
Anyway, that great hero, Mullin, Emily… and…
......
[...Oh no...]
Rius disappeared into the darkness far down the passage.
The water dragon’s voice sank with bitterness.
And then.
“God daaaaaamn iiiiiit!”
Rius threw off his school uniform, tossed aside the lightweight armor he had been wearing underneath, and sprinted forward with everything he had. He ran so hard he couldn’t stop himself, then jumped and plunged into the black water with a splash.
I followed all the way here just to ease my conscience, and now I have to risk my life?! Damn it!
He had come to alleviate the guilt of abandoning Dre and his classmates to run to safety. But in the end, he still had to stake his life.
However…
He felt that if he ran away in this situation, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Thinking of that damn instructor with the bad personality who still willingly taught him all his know-how, Rius swam toward the bottom!
[Ooh…! What admirable courage! Young one!]
“Where the hell is this damn monu… ugh.”
Rius, who had been muttering about the damn monument, nearly swallowed water instead of air.
Right! I can’t talk underwater!
But the water dragon seemed to have read his mind and emitted a straight blue line of light. Rius instinctively knew that the faint glow at the end marked the location of the monument.
He unconsciously scanned his surroundings. …The single monster reaction the water dragon had mentioned still didn’t seem to be nearby.
There was no time to regret jumping in without knowing what would happen. He had to follow this light and—
[Grrrrr…]
“......”
Keep… going…
Even though he was underwater, even though it was freezing cold… Rius felt like he was breaking out in a cold sweat.
This sound that chilled him to the bone.
The sound of a monster.
When he turned his head, there—illuminated by the blue pillar of light the water dragon had summoned—was a face several times larger than Rius’s entire body.
The face looked like that of a whale.
Poseid had left the last of the sea generals here.
It had no intelligence, so it couldn’t carry out complex orders. It had simply been told to guard this place. Its eyes, which had seen nothing in the darkness, now detected the intruder right beside the faint light.
[GRAAAAH!]
“U-uwah… uwaaaaaah!!”
When it roared, the water shook violently. The light vanished, and Rius, swept up in the churning currents, trembled violently.
I shouldn’t have come! I shouldn’t have come here! Save me! I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die die diediedie! I’m dead!
Rius raged, thinking this was all Dre’s fault.
Dragging me to a place like this…!
Concon tastes good, dude.
“......”
Why the hell was that popping into his head of all things?
Rius was stunned for a moment… but although the current was rough, it was still manageable. Besides, the damn whale seemed to have lost him despite its loud roar.
It wasn’t time to give up yet.
He opened his eyes wide and recalled the techniques of Dre, whom he had watched and gritted his teeth beside for so long.
…Ah! I left the sword behind, damn it!
Just as he cursed his past self from a few minutes ago who had wanted to lighten his load, the whale’s wide-open eyes locked onto Rius and charged at him—
SWISH!
Suddenly, something was in Rius’s hand.
It was cold and heavy. Rius immediately knew it was a sword.
Even when people mocked him saying his talent was fake, he had never let go of the sword.
Swing it.
Along with the hallucination of Dre’s voice, he swung the sword.
SLAAAAASH.
[...Eh?]
The whale’s head split in two.
No, the black current itself had been cut apart.
The Severing Sword had activated.
“W-what?!”
Rius, who had done it himself but had no idea what had happened, flailed in confusion as the sword guided him.
[Well done! Brave child!]
“...E-Ego Sword?!”
No.
It was simply that the god who had forged Dre’s sword had consumed causality.
Heston had used causality to guide Rius to a certain place… and that place was the monument.
[Now! Young one!]
The moment he heard the water dragon’s voice, the whale rose up behind him in a frenzy. Rius quickly placed his hand on the monument.
FWAAAAAAAASH!
Light burst forth. The black current vanished, replaced by clear blue water that slowly but surely began to fill the space.
“Haa… huff…”
Rius, who had fallen on his butt. Before him was a long, light-blue water dragon. Its massive body made Rius’s mouth hang open. It was on a completely different scale from the whale earlier.
The water dragon grinned and dramatically shrank its size. Even so, the dignity it exuded was no less than when it had been gigantic.
“Young one.”
“......”
“Get on.”
“H-huh?”
“You have the qualification. Brave one.”
Rius stared blankly at the water dragon that had lowered its head, then carefully climbed on. At the same time, water droplets wrapped around him protectively.
“Whoa?!”
“Let’s go.”
“W-where… to?”
The water dragon smiled.
“Shouldn’t we return the sword forged by that god to the excellent teacher who taught you?”
“...Ah!”
The moment the water dragon moved, the blue dragon let out a small sound.
“Ah, I should grab that too.”
Rius’s discarded school uniform and sword were wrapped in water droplets.
…The water dragon was strangely good at customer service.
---
SWOOOOOOSH.
A giant of water that inspired reverence just by looking at it. At the appearance of the third high-ranking elemental… Poseid trembled.
He trembled as he looked at Lena.
“So… that’s how it is… You… you were…”
The trembling wasn’t from fear.
Nor was it from anger at the possibility that things might go wrong.
It was from pure joy.
“You didn’t summon it! It came on its own! You didn’t even know the situation here or who the enemy was, yet you rushed over just to watch?! Hahahahahahahaha!!”
His maniacal laughter echoed through the cave.
Everyone felt the intuition that things had gone wrong, so they unleashed their secret techniques all at once. But every single one of them vanished into thin air, creating ripples in the empty space like droplets splashing into a puddle.
“...No.”
The Scholar couldn’t even feel shock. When something was too absurd, one simply became numb.
The “water” high-ranking elemental—which had appeared to intercept Poseid and was different from the existing elemental summons—lost its blue color and turned colorless.
The massive Runar and elemental power that had maintained the elemental’s blueness… and even the divine energy… were all absorbed by Poseid.
Poseid was the Water God.
No being that used water could ever be completely free before him.
Moreover, this wasn’t a contract or temporary summons. It was an elemental that had forced its way into the mortal realm of its own will!
The talent of the small girl who had caused such a phenomenon was enough to shock even a god, but due to the randomness that even she herself hadn’t known about, the worst possible outcome had arrived.
Reverence was good, but the energy of another deity was a power on a different dimension. Poseid’s main body was attempting to descend directly into the mortal realm.
GUOOOOOOO.
Poseid’s power surged without end. The warriors who had participated in the preliminaries instinctively fell to their knees. It wasn’t because of physical pressure. They simply felt they had to.
From the being they had thought was nothing more than a hideous monster just moments ago… they recalled a single word.
God.
“Heh… hehehe… hehehehehe…”
THUD. THUD.
Poseid took a step. Unlike his monstrous appearance from before, he had returned to his usual form of a blue-skinned middle-aged man. There was a sense of dignity in that appearance.
The two high-ranking elementals that had been restraining him had holes punched through parts of their bodies and were disappearing.
“Ugh…”
Lena collapsed with a thud under the immense pressure, but she did not kneel. Even as everyone around her fell to their knees one by one, and even as only the Hero Party—excluding those who had already collapsed and Mari—barely held on against the deity, the girl endured purely out of her unwillingness to kneel before that bastard.
“Thank you, little girl.”
“......”
Poseid looked at Lena, whose eyes were wide open, as if she were adorable.
What a delightful miscalculation!
She truly deserved a reward. With a merciful expression, Poseid spoke.
“As a reward… I shall let you bear my child.”
Everyone who had been kneeling or prostrated froze.
What… did he just say?
“Ah… that witch over there too. She possesses quite tremendous power… Mixing with my seed would create excellent synergy.”
Then he looked at those on their knees and frowned in disgust.
“My children.”
Looking at the creations that now looked more like ordinary living beings than monsters, Poseid spoke in a voice full of mercy.
“Devour them.”
CRUNCH! CRRRRACK!
As if on cue, the creations scattered and began tearing into the people.
The sight of them revealing sharp teeth with ordinary appearances and showing murderous intent was grotesque and terrifying beyond words.
The preliminary participants couldn’t even think of resisting and simply screamed.
“A-aaaaaah!”
“Get awaaaaaay!”
“My arm! My aaaarm!”
Bulgeo flailed desperately. Mineu shed tears. Musha… lost one arm. Rigel, while trying to run, had a chunk of his leg torn off.
And the fallen Mukamuka, Trulim… even Almiraj had the creations swarming over them.
“Almiraj. You are useful, but far too arrogant. The situation has changed, but I have no intention of sparing you… I shall personally torment you with great care. Hehehe…”
Cruelty that contrasted with his merciful face.
Was this what a god was?
No…
“This… is exactly what a god is.”
Mari muttered.
A god was not a being who was only merciful to humans. Rather, it was a lofty existence that looked down on, crushed, and mocked humans.
Having realized that, she rose to her feet. What she served was Nanar, not Poseid. Even if that being was a true god, she decided there was no need to show reverence.
CRASH!
Immediately after, a huge shark that shattered the barrier created by her holy power bit down on her waist.
“Ugh…!”
“Mari! Uwaaaah! Scholar! Is there a way?! Any way?!”
Raeband, standing protectively in front of the exhausted Meiyal as she desperately struck down the creations, let out a scream-like shout.
The Scholar had no answer.
“......”
There was no way.
Someone had to come support them, but… who could in this situation? Kaits would be ideal, but if he could have come, he would have already.
Even now, people were losing body parts one by one. The Scholar had his monocle and eyeball torn out.
The guilt hurt more than the pain.
…I’m sorry, Kaits. It looks like this is as far as we go in this round.
At the very least, he had to let Dre and that young girl escape.
Then he glanced at Dre and felt a chill run down his spine.
Why wasn’t his expression changing?
Why did he look so indifferent?
He wasn’t out of his mind.
Even in this horrific scene, he showed no interest in others at all. He only occasionally glanced at Almiraj, Lena, and the similarly collapsed Meiyal, muttering something as if longing for them…
“Living a good life my ass…”
He was still hesitating over something… and the Scholar could feel it.
He knew what that “something” was.
The line.
He was hovering right on the edge of crossing a certain line. He was so deep in thought that he wasn’t even paying attention to the situation around him!
And then… Poseid walked right up to Lena.
“Ooh… how pitiful. I shall release the power that torments you.”
The power pressing down on Lena weakened.
The attitude of acting like he was doing her a favor after causing it himself was utterly disgusting, but he genuinely believed he was being merciful.
Poseid looked at Lena, who was coughing and hacking, with affection, then reached out a finger. The cute twin-tail she had tied was soaked by his touch and naturally unraveled into straight hair.
How could a bug that would burst if he simply pressed down with this finger be so lovable?
Now that I look, she is quite beautiful by human standards.
If she was already this lovely, how much more beautiful would she become as she grew? Perhaps she would rival the Goddesses of Beauty?
“Now, child. Raise your head. Behold the god you shall serve from now on…”
PTUI.
“......”
It was spit aimed at his face, but with Lena’s weak strength, it couldn’t possibly reach that far.
Still, the humiliation was clearly conveyed, and…
“I showed you mercy… and you dare?!”
BOOOOOOM!
He released divine power. With it, Lena was slammed into the ground with a thunderous crash. Her face hit the floor first, shattering her nose and head as blood flowed. She fainted. And at the same time—
Ding!
The absorption of the high-ranking elemental has been fully completed.
The System… after a truly long time, announced the descent of a deity into the mortal realm.
[The Water God Poseid has descended into the mortal realm!!]
The message that his true main body had fully descended spread to every Stranger.
Soon, insignificant gods would pour out quests one after another. By then, Poseid would have already created his own kingdom… no, his own world.
He no longer needed to rely on “him.”
That arrogant bastard who acted like a superior just because he had given him a name…
With this main body, he would build a temple and spread the name of the Water God Poseid far and wide. Causality would pour in exponentially, and he would reign as the sole god of this world.
There were many preparations needed, but with this power, it would be more than enough…
“Right now…”
“Hm?”
It was a very faint voice, but it pierced the ears clearly. A voice trembling with rage—or perhaps with ecstasy.
Come to think of it, I still haven’t killed the bug that was my original target.
Honestly, it was a being that no longer mattered, but he turned around, saying he would do it now.
And the moment he saw that bug—Yeo Dre—
THUD!
“...Huh?”
Poseid staggered. He couldn’t see out of one eye.
…Why?
…Had he been injured?
In his true main body?
“WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TOUCHING, YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!!!!”
Pressure.
Poseid took a step back, then gritted his teeth in humiliation and tried to step forward again. Or rather, he tried to.
The explosive killing intent made him instinctively retreat.
“Poseid.”
“......”
Dre, who had risen to his feet, spoke slowly.
“All of you… are going to be annihilated.”
An immense power surged from Dre’s body. It wasn’t his own power.
It was a familiar presence. A deity he had found arrogant yet never dared to fight…
The existence that even the chief god Nanar, who acted like his superior, found unbearable.
The aura of the highest-ranking god who always wore a bored expression and arrogantly looked down even on other deities.
All-Nist.
Ding!
[Fire God: Poseid! You bastard!]
[Plague God: You’ve completely lost it, Poseid…]
[Heston: Just you wait! The counterattack is about to… Huh?]
The deities who could intervene again were bewildered. Then, one more system message appeared.
Ding!!
Authority 'Equality' is activating!
According to the caster’s will, equality will be applied equally to all beings on this star!
There is a time limit, so please do not be too alarmed if you suddenly become weaker or stronger!
Be careful of the roller-coaster sensation caused by the gap between extreme differences!!