Humans Who Fight Gods
The divine aura that had filled the space vanished in an instant, replaced by a new, overwhelming presence.
Alfred, Blurt, Gold, and Refelt, who had just entered the Sea God's Cave, shuddered as the wave of power washed over them.
A mighty presence had disappeared, and something new had taken its place.
What the hell were they supposed to make of this?
"We need to hurry," Alfred said.
Before the words had even left his mouth, Gold was already sprinting ahead. Refelt followed right behind him.
"Ugh... why does it always have to be so hard on an old man?"
Even as Blurt grumbled, mechanical boosters clamped onto his legs with a heavy clunk. With a explosive boom, he shot forward through the air. Alfred followed, dark energy jetting from his body as he propelled himself ahead.
What they found at the end of the passage was a dead end. Or rather, what had once been a passage was now completely sealed by a wall of radiant golden crystal that glowed with brilliant light.
"What the hell is this?"
"Hmm... it's beautiful. What material is this made of?"
The crystal gate was so stunning that even Blurt couldn't help but let out a gasp of admiration. But now was hardly the time to leisurely appreciate its beauty.
"It's a shame, but we'll have to smash it and move on."
Blurt summoned an array of mechanical devices that immediately began hammering away at the wall. Yet the fragile-looking crystal barrier didn't budge an inch, despite seeming like it would shatter at any moment. The instant Blurt let out a bewildered groan, Alfred gathered darkness into a massive hammer and hurled it forward.
Clang!
"!"
The darkness scattered apart. The way it trembled and dissipated, as if regretting having touched something it should never have approached, was enough to leave Alfred stunned.
"...This is no ordinary barrier."
"......"
Gold silently summoned a spear of lightning. Whatever had just appeared, it was clear they were facing something far from ordinary.
At the opposite end of the passage from Gold and the others, Kaits and Reina were still locked in a standoff. Both of them wore expressions of pure shock.
"...Is this also part of your plan?"
"N-no! Why would that guy...!"
At Kaits's low voice, Reina shook her head frantically. A single bead of sweat rolled down Leor's cheek as he let out a long breath, then regained his usual relaxed smile.
'I never imagined it would reach the final stage...'
To think Yeo Deure had actually defeated a god.
Yeo Deure had far surpassed Leor's wildest expectations. But even he couldn't do anything about this situation.
Because the Chief God, Nanar, had appeared.
The problem was... the Chief God Nanar was a fickle deity whose whims changed as easily as boiling water. There was no telling if they might suddenly alter the plan on a mere whim. In the worst-case scenario, this artifact would be the final bastion.
When Leor glanced down at the ring on his finger, he spotted a girl running into the distance.
"Wait, El?!"
Leor's daughter, El. Her heart was pounding... and she was faithfully following the warning of her instincts.
'Dre... Dre is...!'
"El! Come back here! Stop her at once!"
At Leor's command, the knight commanders of the Graise family moved to block her path, only to be halted by the sphere of light radiating from El.
Leor clicked his tongue and tried to follow after her, but someone stepped in front of him.
It was Kaits.
When he looked over at Reina, who should have been stopping him, she was standing there awkwardly, clearly unsure what to do.
"Tsk...!"
"Leor. Or rather, just Leor."
Kaits's eyes gleamed sharply.
"I don't think either of us needs an explanation."
Leor silently stroked the ring on his finger. An indescribable surge of power immediately enveloped him.
"Step aside, Hero."
His heart was filled with urgency. Even if they were far away, with the situation right in front of them, there was no way Nanar would simply watch as the descendant of one of the Ten Heroes — a comrade of the Prunar party — stood before them.
Especially El. She had received direct recognition from Nanar themselves that her talent was on par with the Ten Heroes.
"This isn't the time to be dealing with you."
"I don't have time to deal with you either."
Kaits didn't even spare a glance at the Graise knight commanders who had surrounded him. His face twisted into a scowl.
"An idiot who doesn't even know what kind of hands he's shaken or what he's done, yet still acts so composed."
Kwaaaaaaaa—
The light subsided.
There was no impact from the sword I swung. That didn't mean I was injured, though.
The world, now calm once more, had transformed. It was like a land made of clouds, bathed in warm light. Birds chirped, and sacred creatures of every shape and form wandered about, radiating holy power. Yeah. It was exactly like heaven.
Was this a Domain Expansion? I wasn't entirely sure, but it was probably something very close to it. Just like when Poseid had appeared, the space had been rewritten into one overwhelmingly favorable to Nanar.
And more importantly... my sword was currently caught in the bastard's hand. Well, calling it a hand felt wrong. It was pinched between their index and middle fingers.
"......!!"
Swish!
I spun the sword in a circle to free it from the fingers and slashed horizontally. With a casual "whoa," Nanar had already moved behind me.
Fuck.
I couldn't even see them move.
"Don't be so violent, okay? I definitely had the intention of fighting you. But honestly, I'd be satisfied if you just used up all your Equality authority."
"......"
"Look, here's proof. I could've killed you just now, but I didn't, right?"
"You created a field that's favorable to you and then talk like that? Kill me? Go ahead and try."
"Ahahaha."
Thud!
Rafnir slammed her head against the floor again, spreading both arms wide as she cried out.
"Ooooh! Nanar! Chief God!!"
Then she glared at the other participants.
"What are you doing?! This is before the Chief God!"
"Uh, um..."
Bulgeo flinched. Bratt slowly started to rise. Seeing this, Rafnir began channeling her holy power.
Surprisingly... she was several times stronger than she had been just moments ago. Was this the effect of the field?
"If you won't kneel willingly, then by force—"
"Rafnir."
"!"
Nanar had somehow already approached Rafnir and gently placed a hand on top of her head.
"Faith should never be forced. Such faith holds no value to me."
"A-ahhh...! I'm sorry! This foolish one...!"
The preliminary participants... who had been standing there in a daze, slowly dropped to their knees or knelt on one knee.
I understood why. Even from where I stood, Nanar possessed a godlike dignity, majesty, and power. It was completely different from Poseid, who had tried to force worship through sheer power.
Even so, I couldn't help but feel tense.
If it was just me, I might be able to survive using know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles. But what about the others?
Earlier, just protecting Remi had cost me an arm. If the hero party hadn't arrived in time, I wouldn't have been able to escape. And now there were countless people here in front of Nanar, who was incomparably stronger than Poseid.
If it was just me, maybe. But if I had to protect everyone... there was no way I could pull that off.
Well, to be honest, I didn't really care if most of them died or not.
But...
Without realizing it, my eyes drifted toward Lena, Meiyal, and the others.
How was I supposed to protect them? My trump card? That was only for the absolute last resort, and even if I used it, they might get caught in the aftermath of my own attacks.
Should I use the summoning authority I received from Plna?
No, even if I summoned something, could it actually defeat that thing?
The Eight Monster Kings?
Or the Five Divine Beasts, whose power I'd only glimpsed fragments of?
If it was them... they might be able to win.
I didn't fully understand the mechanics of how gods descended into the mortal realm, but no matter how they did it, their power seemed to be heavily restricted from its original state.
Even Nanar apparently couldn't use their full strength in the mortal world. But if I summoned the Monster Kings, those bastards weren't exactly on my side. They might try to wipe out everyone, including Nanar.
The Divine Beasts gave off the impression that they'd side with the gods. And if the summoning authority had been that threatening, Nanar wouldn't have guided me into using it. Either they were confident they could handle it, or they could block the activation entirely.
"You're really fascinating."
"!"
There it was again. They'd closed the distance without any presence at all.
"...What do you mean?"
"No, I mean... you stole away an absurd number of lives back in Poseid's dimension, yet you're worried about the lives here?"
They shoved their face so close it was uncomfortable. If I moved even slightly, our lips would touch.
"Are you good? Or evil? Humans need that kind of distinction, don't they?"
"I'm evil."
When I pushed their face away with my hand, they laughed and let themselves be pushed back without resistance. Rafnir's eyes widened again, but when Nanar gestured for her to stay quiet, she bowed her head in utmost reverence.
"You really have no reservations~. Just like that child said."
"That child?"
"Suryeon."
"......"
I stayed silent instead of answering. Instead, I changed the subject.
"If we're going to fight..."
"?"
"How about sending the others away first?"
"Hmm? Ahahaha!"
A burst of laughter. They clutched their stomach as if they genuinely found it hilarious, tears even forming in their eyes.
What pissed me off even more was that their attitude made sense given the massive gap in power between us.
"I'll fight with you."
"Huh?"
Ipoong stepped up beside me with a determined expression.
"Me too."
A beautiful person whose gender was hard to determine also stepped up beside me. Chai... was that their name?
"I can't abandon my benefactor."
"...I don't know if you're the Chief God or whatever, but I can't just stand here and die quietly."
"Ahahahahahahahahaha!"
Nanar's explosive laughter turned into manic cackling. They grabbed my shoulder tightly and shoved their face, twisted with madness, right up to mine.
"Did you see?! Did you see that, Dre?!"
"See what?"
"This thing you're receiving from these two people right now is worship! The true fascination that gods need!! In front of this Chief God, you've gained believers! How wonderful! How refreshing!"
They let go of my shoulder, then twisted their body as if hugging themselves, letting out moans of ecstasy. To my eyes, the bastard looked like nothing but a pervert, but Rafnir and Mari seemed to see something else entirely. Their eyes sparkled like they were looking at a hero straight out of a fairy tale.
"Don't worry about a thing! Why do you think I created this space?"
"......"
"Anything regarding the gods is supposed to be a secret to those participating in the race. That rule applies even to me. Once they leave here, they'll forget everything they saw and heard. To be precise, they won't remember anything about me. They'll only remember Poseid as some unidentified monster."
That meant they had no intention of killing these people. I could feel the tension draining from the preliminary participants who had been anxious.
"So! All the memories that would be disadvantageous to you will be erased too! Don't worry about what other people think and ask me whatever you want!"
They'd been parroting "ask me questions" like a damn parrot this whole time. Their frivolous attitude was less refreshing and more fucking annoying, but I'd play along until the others evacuated.
"Who are the humans that cooperated with you to make it possible for you to appear here?"
"Suryeon. Leor. And the saintess, though not willingly. Ah, not Makia — the other saintess."
"Kaits placed a power on Leor. Gold also had people tailing him. How did you avoid all of that and descend anyway?"
"Ah, that power has a blind spot. If Leor moves of his own will and tries to do something, Kaits would notice. But he wouldn't know if someone else approached Leor."
"...Someone else?"
"Suryeon, of course."
Nanar smiled brightly.
"Every time you hear that name, your body stiffens. You two must be quite close, huh?"
"...Did she say that?"
"Yep. She said she's the one who knows you best."
"Bullshit."
"Ahahaha! Exactly! I thought so too!"
Nanar clasped their hands behind their back again and began pacing around me, nodding thoughtfully.
"But her ability is the real deal. Using that fraudulent mind-reading ability of hers that surpasses even my own, she observed the situation around you and made contact with those who could be useful in attacking you. First, she contacted me through the saintess."
"......"
"I made a lot of preparations to meet you too, but if I moved of my own will, the other gods would notice, right? The system is designed that way. Especially since your patron god is that airhead but incredibly powerful Loveheart, and even Gaia is involved. Even I was in a situation where I needed every little bit of help I could get, so I took that child's hand."
Gaia again.
Fuck. I'd never even met her.
"We worked together to come up with a plan to deal with you. Suryeon gathered all the information I needed without being restricted by the system's limitations. The optimal time, place, and circumstances for my descent."
"And that was here?"
"The water dragon is close to being a divine entity. Places where such beings exist are relatively easy to descend into. Still, it would be pointless if you didn't come, so I needed another collaborator to adjust that part. That's when I reached out to Leor."
"Leor."
"Suryeon contacted him, explained the plan, and Leor, who had been looking for ways to crush you, gladly accepted. It was like getting something for nothing, so refusing would've been difficult."
"What exactly did he do?"
"He simply manipulated things so that no reinforcements could arrive from outside and used the power of an artifact to make it easier for a god to descend. That's all. From his perspective, he probably thought you'd lose to Poseid anyway. As long as you died, that was enough. He didn't need to be particularly meticulous."
"What about the God's Brand?"
"Ah. That thing that watched your every move? I engraved it on you the first time we met just in case, and it came in very handy. I could've hidden it, but I deliberately let you notice it as a kind of prank. I wanted you to think that the god who hated you was planning something for later. You really didn't expect Poseid or me to show up, did you?"
Had I really been shaken up so much by a mere prank?
Anyway, the conclusion was one thing.
Suryeon.
That bitch had read the entire situation with her irregular mind-reading ability and manipulated everything.
Fucking hell.
Maybe I should've ignored Shin Jin-pae's warning and killed her right away. But something didn't add up.
No matter how much she read my thoughts and observed the situation, this development was way too convenient for their side. Before asking about that, I asked another question first.
"Did Makia or Reina know about this?"
"No. Those children had no idea I was behind it. They were simply told by someone called the saintess that you would become a threat. I was the one who told the saintess that... but it wasn't a lie. Using my power to read causality, in the future I saw... you were an incredibly ominous existence."
"You can read causality?"
That caught my attention.
"Yep. It's the reason Suryeon contacted me and why I'm the Chief God. It's a power I originally didn't have — one that the other gods desperately covet. It lets me read favorable keywords for the future, you know?"
"......"
Was this convenient development all thanks to that causality-reading ability?
"I also lured Poseid in and guided him to willingly make contact with Makia. Makia wisely chose to form a contract with you because she held you in high regard. The reason I could currently borrow Makia's body to manifest is because Poseid's contract is also connected to me. The efficiency is fucking terrible, though."
"......"
"Don't hate Makia's group too much. If Makia and Reina had known I would appear, they probably would've given up on attacking you. As for why they accepted the unknown god Poseid, they probably thought that even though they didn't know his personality, he wouldn't do anything too violent. Well, things didn't turn out that way..."
That made sense.
Whether it was the Sword Emperor Coalition or Revelation, their only goal was to kill me. If they hadn't been so fixated on targeting only me, there were plenty of other ways. Since they were only after me, taking such a roundabout route wasn't a lie.
"The reason you went this far... was just to talk to me? Or to get rid of my Equality authority?"
"Yep, yep. That's right."
"...Ha."
This fucking bastard.
"I don't get it. Was whether I fought that Gaia person or not really information you needed to go to all this trouble to find out?"
"That's just one of the questions~. Hmm. I have an overflowing amount of causality. I can use it freely for my own amusement..."
Nanar looked at me with a disgustingly friendly smile full of goodwill.
"If I had to give a reason, it's that I really, really wanted to meet you."
To go through all this hassle for such a stupid reason...
This crazy fucker.
"Whatever your intentions are, because of you, I've suffered a shit-ton of damage, you know?"
"Ah~ I'm sorry about that. But you wouldn't meet me~. Gaia is keeping you wrapped up so tightly."
"Wrapped up my ass."
"Right? I thought she was protecting you, but seeing you now... the situation is quite strange, isn't it? Ahahaha."
Rumble.
The heavenly realm shook. Flower petals scattered, and birds fluttered about in panic.
"...?"
"There are children trying to enter this place. Hmm... it's Gold and Elisia."
"!"
"Ahaha. Don't glare at me so fiercely. They won't be able to enter unless I will it... Now then, is it okay if I ask you some questions?"
"...Go ahead."
"As expected, we communicate so well! Dre. Be honest with me. What exactly did you receive from Gaia?"
"......Didn't you just say a moment ago that I was a broke, empty-handed guy with nothing?"
"Nooo~ It's such a pitiful situation that it actually makes me suspicious?"
At that moment, someone closed the distance.
It was the Scholar.
"Chief God."
"Wow. Our Scholar. It's been a while. Though for you, it would be a memory from the past."
"......Though it is presumptuous of me to speak."
"Then don't speak."
"Pardon?"
Vwoong.
When Nanar slowly raised their hand, a space opened up. A passage leading back to the Sea God's Cave...
"I'd like to talk with Dre alone now. Could everyone please leave?"
"I don't want to be alone with a man."
"Hmm? I don't have a gender? If I had to say, since I'm currently using Makia's body, wouldn't that make me a beautiful girl?"
"......"
But the Scholar didn't move.
"...Chief God..."
"Hmm."
Nanar smiled. But that smile looked dangerous.
"Since you're Kaits's comrade, my contractor, I'll forgive you this once."
"......"
"Leave."
Even so, the Scholar didn't move. Nanar let out a sigh and began gathering power.
Yes.
Finally, I could sense this bastard's presence!
Shukak!
"Oh?"
I had finally detected a fragment of Nanar's power. I cut through the rising light and shouted.
"Everyone get out!!"
"Hmm. You sensed my divine power already? You haven't overcome the 'Stage' yet, but you're able to perceive power beyond it??"
Nanar's expression was dyed with manic glee.
"Very good."
Flash!!
Brilliant light burst from their body, and I had a premonition.
I couldn't block all of this.
At least a few of them would die...!
Surprisingly, what blocked it was another golden wall.
It was Mari's power.
"Ugh...!"
"Cardinal Mari!! What are you doing to the Chief God...!"
At Rafnir's shout, Mari's face filled with guilt, but she didn't stop.
And then.
Crack.
"Ah..."
The holy power vanished from Mari's body as if it had been washed away. Seeing her face fill with despair, Nanar clicked their tongue.
"Normally I would've found that admirable, but right now it's just annoying..."
Nanar reached out their hand and...
Crack!!
Almiraj's privilege seal wrapped around them. But it was released in an instant.
The Forgotten God's authority was instantly dispelled.
"You and the Forgotten God you contracted with were equals in strength. But don't you think it's strange to believe that a power granted by that pitiful, forgotten being in its wretched state could possibly bind someone of equal rank?"
"...Nanar!!"
At my shout, Nanar looked at me with an expression that seemed to say, Oh my, how scary.
"Please send everyone away. Then I'll talk with you."
"Aww. Don't look at me like that. I was going to send them away, but the Scholar insisted on staying?"
"Scholar. Leave."
"...Dre. If I stay here, you'll..."
"I said get out!"
"......!!"
The Scholar slowly rose to his feet. Almiraj... smiled so widely it looked like her mouth would tear, then wrapped Runar around both arms.
> [Of course I'm the exception, right?]
"No? You can leave too. Actually, I quite like you."
> [What?]
"That chuunibyou way of speaking, the freshness you bring to this race... Well, I respect free will."
But. Nanar continued in a low voice.
"Since our Dre wants to talk with me alone, this time I'll have to force you out."
Immediately after.
With a heavy clank, everyone except me was ejected from the space.
This son of a bitch.
He really was insanely strong and versatile.
"Now it's just the two of us, Dre! Let's talk—"
Shwaak.
Talk my ass.
I had no intention of doing any such thing.
Severing Sword.
I aimed straight for Nanar's neck. Unlike before, instead of catching it with fingers, this time I wrapped it in jagged, uneven Runar and swung it like a mace.
Now, how will you—
Flash.
"...Fuck."
There was no need to take defensive measures. The best defense is a good offense. But I had a true ultimate defensive technique.
Know yourself, know your enemy, and you shall win a hundred battles.
Wrapping myself in it, I blocked the light Nanar emitted and...
Kwaak!
My shoulder was pierced through.
"......!"
"Ahaha."
The smiling Nanar spoke with delight.
"So even that gets pierced at this level, huh?"
"......Ha, fuck."
Today's luck is complete dogshit.
It looked like I might have to bet everything.
It seemed like I would literally have to burn my life away.
I might have to use the forbidden skills I've never used before.