The Hero's Archenemy
I looked up to find Kaits still holding his hand out with a deadly serious expression on his face.
He seemed to have given me time to think it over.
I deliberately raised my hand and slapped his palm with a loud smack.
Kaits, as if he’d expected it, didn’t flinch in the slightest as he spoke.
“Of course… I’m not asking you to do it for free. I possess several authorities. Among them are quite useful ones, like rewinding time for short periods. I can use all of them for you.”
“The fuck is he on about?”
A bitter look crossed his face.
“…As expected, you can’t accept a proposal like this right away.”
But I shook my head.
“Nah? I just thought holding your hand was fucking gross, so I slapped it.”
“......”
Those eyes are scary as hell, you bastard.
“Fine. I’ll cooperate.”
“…Are you serious?”
Kaits looked genuinely shocked, even though he was the one who suggested it.
“You, with your broken personality and indecisive tendencies, who always acts like a kid and opposes everything I do?”
“......”
Does this motherfucker actually want to work with me?
Plus, his tone wasn’t mocking. It was dead fucking serious.
…I’ll hold it in. I’m the adult here.
“Yeah. I also… thought Nanar was a piece of shit.”
I was starting to understand why Almiraj hated the gods so much.
I didn’t know much about the distant future Kaits mentioned, the one where everything gets destroyed.
But I’d had more than enough of the way those bastards acted however they wanted in the Sea God’s Cave.
First, they tried to take away my stats for messing with Poseid after he attacked me and my people. Then the so-called Chief God showed up and started flinging around attacks that could destroy the world.
Honestly, the gods who tried to stop me from torturing Poseid and Nanar pissed me off way more than those two.
I tortured Poseid, and Mangshin tortured Nanar, but the other gods pulled all that bullshit and faced zero consequences.
And even Nanar got off easy since the torture was half-assed and he disappeared without taking much damage.
I’m trash.
I usually hold back and let most things slide, but I can’t stand getting hit hard.
If someone hits me, I have to pay them back, right?
If I’m going to do it anyway, it’d be easier with Kaits on my side.
Alright then. Now that we’re officially on the same team, it’s time to share information.
“Okay, Kaits. From now on, clean out your ears and listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
“?”
A question mark popped up over the head of the guy who had looked unusually happy just moments ago.
And then I told him.
The Ten Great Heroes.
The Four Great Demon Kings.
The place where the gods sleep.
The Three God Temple.
The Abyssal Magic Palace.
The Heavenly Sacred Palace.
The Eight Calamities.
The Five Holy Beasts.
The Forest of Magic Stones.
The Dragon’s Sanctuary.
They were keywords I hadn’t thought about in a while. Every time I spoke one, Kaits’s complexion changed.
“Oh my god.”
“......”
“You… you knew all the keywords? Where the hell did you get that information??”
“I’m a prophet, duh?”
“Cut the bullshit.”
“......”
If you don’t believe me, fine, but what the fuck is with calling it bullshit, you son of a bitch.
Well, I guess dropping the prophet line on a guy who’s seen my past and knows I don’t have any special privileges was a bit of a stretch.
I obediently explained about the setting book I’d encountered when I first arrived here.
“A setting book…? Did it mention anything about the True Demon King in there?!”
He looked insanely desperate.
But since I didn’t remember anything special, I shook my head.
“That can’t be. It gave you every single keyword that acts as a key to the world, but nothing about the True Demon King?”
“Well… I did kind of skim through it.”
“Why?! Do you even understand how valuable that information is?!”
“I didn’t know, so I didn’t read it properly, you idiot!!”
If I’d known it was that important, I would’ve read it thoroughly.
But back then I was just thinking hurry up and let me play the damn game, fuck while forcing myself through it even though I was sleepy.
“…Sorry. I got worked up.”
“It’s fine if you know.”
“.....”
“What are you staring at?”
Kaits looked away from me and seemed to be thinking about something.
“I don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Your patron gods.”
Kaits interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them.
“Every deity possesses a certain amount of information. The higher the rank, the more valuable the information they hold. And those ten keywords… are pieces of information that every deity, every user, and every participant in the race would risk their lives to obtain.”
“So what?”
“Gaia can be considered one rank above even the highest deities. So it wouldn’t be strange for her to possess information of that caliber. But if that’s the case, why is she staying silent now?”
He pointed at me and furrowed his brow as if he couldn’t comprehend it.
“From what I hear, she only gave you the keywords without any detailed explanation. If she knew enough to give you the keywords, she should have had some information to go with them. Why was it so vague? It almost feels like she was being petty.”
“Maybe she’s just like Nanar and enjoys playing around? Like, ‘It has to be at least this hard to be fun~’ or something.”
“No. At least the Gaia I’ve seen is quite a benevolent deity. She wouldn’t do something like that just to mess with someone.”
Oh please.
Gods who don’t hesitate to screw people over can’t be called benevolent no matter how you look at it.
“…As expected, you really were an incredibly promising prospect. In reality, without any significant help, you entangled yourself with one of the main objectives—the Ten Great Families—and came into contact with countless powerful beings, even defeating them.”
“I’m pretty amazing, aren’t I…”
This bastard is really laying on the compliments thick.
“But to leave a prospect like you without any support? There must be some serious flaw, or perhaps some kind of error…”
After thinking for a long time, Kaits looked at my face and tilted his head.
“If there’s a flaw… maybe it’s your personality?”
If it had been a joke I would’ve cursed him out, but he was being dead fucking serious.
This son of a bitch??
“You motherfucker. Take this.”
Pissed off, I threw a punch at his cheek. Kaits didn’t dodge.
Thud!
“Gaaah!”
My fist hurt like hell, so I rolled around on the ground clutching it.
This guy’s body is insanely hard, but still…
“As I thought, you haven’t fully recovered.”
“Krrgh…”
Even while letting out a frog-like scream and grabbing my fist, I could feel it.
My fist—my entire body—was incredibly weakened, even excluding the stats the gods had taken away.
“No, the regeneration itself is complete… but Nanar pulled some tricks until the very end.”
“Tr-tricks?”
“The divine power he left in my body is acting like poison, preventing me from using my proper strength.”
“......”
That fucking Mangshin bastard.
Why are you suddenly dissing me?
Hey! You bastard! Hey! You should’ve removed all the aftereffects from an attack by a guy like Nanar!!
Be grateful I regenerated you with my limited power. Well, I’ll just say I couldn’t help it because he pulled some tricks after I stepped back.
Then come back out and fix it.
That’s difficult.
Stingy bastard.
......
I already knew.
It wasn’t that he was stingy. The fact that Mangshin had borrowed my body to come out was a secret technique only possible under very special circumstances.
That’s why I was worried.
What the hell was this Mangshin bastard trying to make me do that he’d go so far as to endure something that difficult?
Kukukukuk…
Don’t laugh, you’ll get attached.
“Hey, Kaits.”
“What?”
“I heard your patron god is Nanar. Can’t you ask him to do some shabam-shabam or whatever?”
“……It’s impossible. The contract has been severed, and he’s shown more interest in you than in me. Even if he removes the lingering divine power of madness from that arm, he’ll just pull some other trick.”
“I see.”
I hadn’t expected anything from the start. This was just buildup to diss him.
“The guy who says he’ll save the world made a contract with a bastard like that?”
“……At the time, I had no other choice.”
Kaits let out a deep sigh, unable to deny it.
Nanar had called Kaits his contractor, and at the end, when it seemed difficult to subdue him, he had used the contract to bind him.
Nanar was Kaits’s patron god.
“He was a powerful deity, and I needed strength. I regret it now, but…”
“That guy’s crazy too. Calling it a race while teaming up with you, his strongest competitor… Hey, I was going to ask earlier but stopped. So if the race winner’s patron god becomes the One True God, what happens to the user? And I heard you and Nanar belong to both the evil god and god factions? What happens to the prize in that case?”
“The contractor would receive treatment second only to the One True God. According to the contract, they become an existence that cannot be treated lightly regardless of the difference in power. And why do you think I chose two factions? If I win, I can either stop the game or become the One True God. I get to choose.”
Simple enough.
“My contract with him is different from the usual relationship between a patron god and user. Contrary to what you think, you could say we never fully trusted each other until the end. I also… believe that guy can never be trusted.”
Yeah. That guy really can’t be trusted.
Setting aside his behind-the-scenes scheming, his actions are so impulsive that you never know where he’ll bounce off to.
“What worries me is that Nanar’s tricks probably aren’t over yet.”
“Is he going to descend again?”
“Descent was only barely possible because of Makia. Plus, he scraped the bottom of causality… Still, since he’s the Chief God with many followers, I think he’ll be able to descend again someday.”
“Hmm…”
“That’s not the problem. He can issue oracles while consuming very little causality. Do you understand what that means?”
I understood perfectly.
It meant the Holy Kingdom would become our enemy.
When I said that, Kaits nodded as if I’d answered correctly.
“Since he can’t descend, using the forces of the mortal realm would be his best option. If he declares through an oracle that we are evil beings… it’ll become troublesome.”
“......”
“Not to mention, Cardinal Rafnir, who’s already gone mad, has returned to the Holy Kingdom. The other believers might not accept Nanar’s descent, but… her influence in the Holy Kingdom is extremely strong. Even if it sounds absurd, they won’t be able to ignore it, so some form of interference will come. And if Nanar’s oracle descends upon the Saintess later…”
He paused for a moment before continuing in a grim tone.
“The massive nation known as the Holy Kingdom will move against us in earnest.”
“Really?”
“Yes. My hero title will be stripped, and you will become a public enemy. At best, you’ll be treated as a monster.”
“Hmm.”
But I wasn’t particularly worried.
After facing the illusory Ascartlop, Nanar’s mortal descent form, Makia… Reina… Poise… those kinds of beings, the ones who would normally be considered powerful now just looked ridiculous to me.
“I’m not really worried.”
“Why?”
“They’re all fucking trash, aren’t they?”
“Well… at the very least, each of the Guardians of Fanaticism possesses specs comparable to Mullin. Of course Mullin would win in a one-on-one fight, but if they gather together…”
“Should I start practicing shouting ‘Long live Lord Nanar! Kaits you son of a bitch!’?”
“......”
No, fuck. If there are that many people on Mullin’s level, the story changes completely.
That bitch was way, waaaay stronger than I thought.
“Don’t worry too much. Even without the Holy Kingdom, I’ve built up my own forces, and more than half of the Ten Great Families are on your side.”
“I fucked up Leor, and the Ten Great Families are on my side?”
“Have you seen Gald?”
“? No? Why?”
Why is he suddenly bringing up Gold’s father?
“It’s rare to see him that angry. Probably… Leor won’t be able to maintain his position as the head of the family.”
“Won’t sparks fly my way?”
“Not at all. And it seems Nanar, who controls the Holy Kingdom, can’t move right now either. I don’t know the reason, but…”
The reason.
I think I know it.
Either the wound he received from Mangshin was deep, or it had to do with the unidentified deity who defeated the subordinate gods under him during the fight.
I told you, didn’t I? He got caught by a scary older sister.
Mangshin giggled as if he found it amusing.
“What’s concerning is that since Nanar moves purely out of interest, he might choose options other than keeping us in check. The fact that it’s hard to predict his behavior is what makes him such a pain… Since he’s scraped the bottom of causality, I think he’ll probably act according to the standard pattern, but still…”
“…Hey, but I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“How the hell did Nanar manage to hold both god and evil god positions at the same time?”
“I don’t know that either. It’s something that originally shouldn’t be possible, but due to various circumstances, he established that status.”
“……I see.”
Useless bastard. What does he even know?
“The evil god position might become precarious because of this incident, but… Hey, Dre. Can’t you try calling Gaia?”
“How am I supposed to call someone I’ve never even met? And why? From what I hear, she’s way stronger than Nanar.”
It didn’t seem like anything good would come from calling someone like that.
“That’s right. She crushed me, who had opened all my past lives, like I was a toy.”
“Opened past lives…?”
After hearing the explanation, I wanted to meet her even less.
Kaits had a power that could instantly blow away the idea that regression had no merit, and even that didn’t work on her?
“She won’t do anything violent to you. The reason she stopped me was to protect your memories.”
“Didn’t she just throw a tantrum like a frustrated old maid? Isn’t that it?”
“…If you ever meet her, don’t say that in front of her. And calling her an old maid is a bit much. Her appearance looks exactly like someone your age.”
“You’re my age too…”
“…I’m one year younger.”
What the hell is with this guy.
Is he sensitive about age…? Between two comrades with the mental age of ten thousand years?
“If you want to completely heal your arm, that would be the best option.”
“I’ll think about it.”
It was just thinking, nothing more.
Kaits probably realized my answer was half-assed, but he didn’t say anything.
“Any more questions?”
“No, I’m good. What about you?”
“You… really don’t remember anything related to the True Demon King?”
“I told you I don’t. Wait, then why don’t you give me an example? Maybe something will come to mind.”
Kaits stroked his chin as he thought.
“First, what I know is… the True Demon King’s remnant quest that Kang Geom-il is currently progressing. Completing that should give us at least some clues… The fastest way would be to find the True Demon King’s former direct subordinates, but they absolutely refuse to make contact with me.”
Direct subordinates.
Suddenly, something Rius had told me came to mind.
“Do you happen to know someone named Yuna?”
“She was a direct demon subordinate of the True Demon King. You could even call her one of the primordial Four Great Demon Kings.”
“…Was that kid a slime by any chance?”
This was something I’d asked before, and back then I’d been told that the name Yuna was fairly common among demons.
Kaits tilted his head.
“No? I’ve only seen her a handful of times, and even then it was just a glimpse during the fight with the True Demon King… She was similar, but she wasn’t a slime.”
“I see…”
Then that Yuna probably wasn’t a direct subordinate of the True Demon King.
I felt somewhat relieved.
“But still. Her behavior was strange.”
“In what way?”
“She seemed insane.”
“…So what exactly?”
This guy really doesn’t pull his punches when he talks.
“It seemed like she had been revived together with the True Demon King… Maybe because of that, she went around calling herself the greatest actress, a singing courtesan… anyway, she claimed to have a profession that would be popular with the masses.”
“......”
Everyone’s idol! It’s Yuna-chan!
…Is that the line that just came to mind?
“That, this is just my gut feeling, but…”
Creak.
Suddenly the door opened.
A mustached man wearing fancy clothes I’d never seen before.
He looked arrogant at first glance, but he was clearly tense.
“Greetings, Hero. And Instructor Yeo Deure. There is something I must discuss…”
“Wait!! Hey Kaits. I met a slime who called herself an idol and seemed to know about the first Ten Heroes. What do you think?”
Kaits had blocked the sound midway, so the mustached man’s hearing was cut off. His eyes were filled with shock.
Phew.
I couldn’t let some random mustached bastard I might not even know cut off important information with his bullshit!
“…Tell me the details later. That… that might… be a shortcut that leads directly to her.”
“Okay.”
Only then did the two of us look at the mustached man.
Kaits smiled as he spoke.
“What brings you here? Chief Aide Mord. Did the Prime Minister send you?”
“Ah. Yes. Actually, the Prime Minister intended to come himself, but something urgent came up…”
The man who had been bowing and watching our reactions the entire time finally stated his purpose under our piercing gazes.
“His Majesty has summoned you. Will you come?”
I grinned and pointed at Kaits with two fingers.
“Looks like you’re busy, Hero?”
But this old man is trembling while looking at me.
“Sir Yeo Deure.”
“……Me?”
Why the hell am I involved, fuck.