Oh, the Supreme One, You Say! (2)

Isaac could hardly believe his own eyes as he stared at the seal.

Yes. Right. He looked, and looked again, but this seal was...

"GYAAAAH!"

Isaac clutched his head.

The seal of a god? He had been studying like his life depended on it ever since he first heard about the God Summoning — there was no way Isaac could fail to recognize it, no matter how hard he tried.

That's right! No way!

After all the blood, sweat, and tears he'd poured into trying to draw the God of Wealth! The way he'd patiently hoarded things the God of Wealth would like, redecorating his whole room to match that god's tastes!

'And back at the Blue Pentagon, I deliberately acted like a money-crazed lunatic just to draw the God of Wealth...!'

[That was your honest heart, though.]

'Stay out of this!?'

All things considered, scheming for pocket money while reading the room was irritating work, and the God of Wealth was convenient and wonderful in a dozen different ways. Which was exactly why he'd laid all this groundwork and been lying in wait!

"Hold on, Isaac. What came up for you?"

"NOTHING came uuup!"

The moment Shuri and the Blue team drew near, Isaac hid the orb behind his back. Then he crouched down and tried to call the God of Wealth once more.

'It's not too late even now.'

The Supreme God? He didn't need that!

[Honestly, I'm not fond of the Supreme God either.]

'You just hate every god on principle, period.'

And naturally, Isaac hated all gods equally, without exception.

But of all possible gods — the Supreme God?

'What rotten, absolute dogshit luck!'

The real problem was that the Supreme God was literally called the King of Gods. It meant overwhelming, crushing power — a being even the other gods held in awe.

'But it never shows itself, so even the Upper Gods don't know its face.'

A god that never meddled in the God Realm's affairs and did nothing but sleep all day long. So it shouldn't pose much of a threat — and yet Isaac found it deeply unsettling.

'Why, of all things, did it choose the Skeleton King?'

There was no way it didn't know his faith sat at rock bottom. It was unspeakably suspicious.

'Not that it seems to mean me harm...'

If it did, it would never have chosen him. So presumably it picked him because it genuinely liked him — but why?

Was it a pervert?

Or was it because he'd reincarnated into a Saint's body?

'I've met it in person, actually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠— but that was when I got caught stealing its treasure.'

So why in the world would it choose a thief? It really is a pervert?! Until he learned its purpose, there was no way he could just sit back and go hehehe.

In terms of raw capability, the Supreme God was overwhelmingly the best, of course.

But the God of Wealth was a soft touch — the perfect god to exploit and work to the bone... no, actually, Isaac's eyes were already glittering, blinded by cold hard cash.

'Come here, my pretty, precious God of Wealth!'

His wish must have gotten through, because the God of Wealth's pattern returned to the surface of the orb.

Isaac's grin split ear to ear.

Yes! That's it! Incomparable to the Supreme God, sure, but still an Upper God among Wealth deities! Let's be friends, buddy—

And then the pattern changed again.

Pop!

And the one that shoved the God of Wealth rudely aside and revealed itself was...

"..."

Furious, Isaac moved to smash the orb to pieces. Shuri, aghast, flung himself across the distance and grabbed him.

"What is wrong with you?! What kind of god is it?! Did something twisted come up?!"

Panicked, Shuri tried to get a look at Isaac's orb, but—

"Aack! Get it out of your mouth!"

"You can't EAT it!"

Isaac, refusing on principle to show it, was trying to stuff the orb straight into his mouth. Shuri and the Blue team pounced on him in horror.

"Is that infant habit coming back again?!"

"You've got plenty of Skeleton King bones already!"

But there were people laughing at the spectacle — the Red priests and the Gold priests.

The Gold priests' laughter said, plainly, that one could never draw a proper god — but the Red priests wore smiles of outright certainty.

'Acting that desperate to hide it? It has to be an evil god.'

"Snatch it away!"

"Hurry — confirm what's inside!"

As the Red priests closed in, Shuri's face went rigid. And no wonder, given the reaction Isaac was having.

This was the boy so brazen he'd tell people to gut themselves at the slightest opportunity — Shuri had never once seen him try to hide something like this.

'What kind of evil god did he draw?!'

Before long, the Red priests were upon them.

"Show us the orb, young lord."

"If you have nothing to be ashamed of, it's better to show it."

"Let me make this clear — you have no right of refusal."

The Red priests thrust out their hands, menacing as blades.

But Isaac flipped them the bird and, in one lightning motion, hurled the orb into the pond inside the ceremonial grounds.

Sploosh!

"Aaah!"

As it vanished into the deep water, every onlooker froze in shock and stampeded toward the pond.

The Blue team and Shuri could only reel in disbelief.

Seriously — how dire an evil god do you have to draw to throw it in a pond?!

'No, wait. This actually works out. Now those bastards can't confirm Isaac drew an evil god...'

"It's no use!"

"!"

At that moment, a red streak dove into the pond.

Sploosh!

It was Naiser. The flustered Red priests hastily stripped off their outer robes.

"Young lord!"

"After him!"

"We must find it, no matter what!"

Underwater, Naiser's eyes bulged wide. Finding a single object in this paltry bit of water was nothing — less than nothing — to the Red heir and his superhuman body.

<Eye of Discernment>.

Light flared in Naiser's eyes, and his vision transformed. Lines of light traced the pond floor, and forms began to separate and distinguish themselves even beneath the murky water.

He soon picked out the small round orb — and his mouth curled into a smirk.

'Found it!'

He snatched it up in a single stroke, his lips and chest tingling with triumph.

No wonder Isaac had been willing to die before showing the result!

'So the god wasn't wrong after all!'

He hadn't been seeing things. And the proof that he was right was right here — in this hand, against this chest!

'I can finally deal with that bastard once and for all!'

At last, Naiser's face broke the surface of the water.

"Secured it!"

As Naiser waded out of the pond holding the orb aloft, the Blue team went ghost-pale — and the other side erupted in cheers.

"As expected of the young lord!"

Naiser thrust the orb high and shouted for all to hear.

"Look here, everyone! Behold the god Isaac Eshua drew! What did I tell you? It's an evil god, isn't it?!"

"Oooooh!"

"Now, seize that bastard and drag him off! That bastard drew an evil—"

But something was wrong with the reactions around him.

The Red priests, who should have been surging forward in triumph, showed no intention of moving. No — far ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from moving, the faces all turned toward him were...

"...Why is everyone making that face?"

Every single priest's gaze had converged on one point — the orb in Naiser's raised hand.

The orb inscribed with Isaac's name was glowing.

Yes. Which meant the seal of the god Isaac had drawn was...

"...Hold on."

"Isn't that... the seal of the Supreme God?"

What?

...WHAT?!

Startled, Naiser's eyes darted down to the orb.

And the moment he confirmed the Supreme God's seal, his face froze solid.

At a glance it resembled an evil god's sigil — but there existed exactly one seal on an entirely different plane of existence. And it belonged to the being called the god of all gods...

"The Supreme God?!"

At those words — within earshot of the Blue team — Isaac convulsed like a freshwater eel, thrashing and flopping in a full-blown seizure.

"It's NOT the Supreme God!"

"It is, though?"

"It is NOT! It's the God of Wealth!"

Sweat streamed down Shuri's face.

...God of Wealth, my ass! Anyone with eyes could see it looked nothing like the Wealth pattern!

No — that wasn't the point right now.

"...Did Isaac seriously just draw the Supreme God?"

The entire ceremonial grounds erupted into chaos.

"Blue just drew the Supreme God?"

The Red priests, who had come over smirking, went without saying. And the Gold priests stared at Isaac with the faces of men sucker-punched out of nowhere.

And small wonder — the Supreme God was neither a god of Blue nor a god of Gold!

Naiser's mouth flapped open and shut.

"No... damn it. What? With THAT level of faith, how did he draw what?!"

This was a god that not a single Cardinal or Pope in all history had ever drawn! Of course ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the entire assembly was collectively losing its mind.

The more Hirei thought, the more his expression warped — and the Emperor snickered at the sight.

"Gold landed a fine god as well, didn't it?"

At those words, Hirei's eyes couldn't help but turn vicious. That damned Emperor. Was he openly picking a fight now?

Of course, Kina's god was an excellent one. If not for that 'Supreme God,' no one in this entire generation could so much as lay a finger on Kina — hers was the greatest draw in history.

But that was simply what was owed.

'Damn it all. I even channeled holy arts for him at the very last moment just so he'd draw something like the God of Wealth.'

And in the end — the Supreme God.

But there was still a chance.

Once a god was drawn, the next step remained: the contract with that god. Drawing the Supreme God was astonishing, but contracting with it was no simple matter.

'His tier will never be high enough. Not a chance.'

And the contract was the one thing that absolutely had to be stopped.

As Hirei's eyes gleamed with calculation, so did Eli's.

'No matter what happens, that contract WILL be made.'

Well, after all — the Supreme God himself had chosen Isaac. The contract would almost certainly go smoothly.

And Isaac, for his part, would surely do his utmost to contract properly with the god who had chosen him.

The conference room in the Imperial Archive.

"So the matter of House Eshua shall... Your Grace?"

"Pfft."

A laugh utterly unfitting for a state meeting squeezed its way into the room. But the nobles, straining to ignore it, carried on.

"This winter, House Eshua will—"

"Pffft."

"...Your Grace?"

"Pffhff."

By that point, the nobles had given up entirely and turned to look at Eli, head of House Blue.

"Your Grace. You appear to be in an exceptionally fine mood."

Eli chuckled on. Pfft, pffhff.

The Emperor and the nobles were mid-session, yet the corners of Eli's mouth had shown not the slightest intention of coming down since the meeting began.

To the other nobles, it was a sight that made them doubt their own two eyes. Good heavens — the walking blizzard that was the Duke of Eshua, smiling?

'...So the man is capable of smiling after all?'

'I've never once seen him laugh.'

And the reason for it was more absurd still.

"It seems the Duke of Eshua's good humor is all thanks to his grandson."

Yes! That entire smile — all because of his grandson!

Was that truly the same Blue Duke who had never once shown his descendants an ounce of mercy?

The Emperor laughed as well.

"You heard, Duke. Your grandson drew the Supreme God."

"Yes."

"In the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Empire's several thousand years of history, a Supreme God has never once appeared. Remarkable."

The assembled vassals hurried to agree.

"Quite so! It may well be an omen that great fortune is about to descend upon the Empire!"

"For House Eshua to deliver such an auspicious sign."

But as though to strike down the vassals' flattery, someone cut in, crisp and cold.

"That is only meaningful if he can summon it."

"!"

The Gold Cardinal — Duke Hirei Berit.

"Anyone can draw. Only when one succeeds in summoning and contracting can it truly be called a god of one's own."

At that, Eli let out a snort of laughter.

"And because 'anyone can draw,' I take it Gold has never once managed it?"

Crack.

Hirei answered with a venomous glare instead of words.

At the spectacle, the Emperor smoothly laughed it off.

"Autumn, with the Sacrificial Offering Festival, is the season when the high nobility gather in the capital. With my esteemed lords assembled like this, a piece of good news does put even Jim in high spirits."

...Good news for Blue alone, you insufferable Emperor!

Hirei's brow knotted with irritation.

'Blue drew the Supreme God.'

Thanks to it, every priest under heaven was in upheaval at this very moment.

And the longer Hirei dwelled on it, the more grotesquely his face twisted — which made the Emperor snort with laughter.

"Gold drew a fine god too, didn't it?"

At that, Hirei's gaze could only grow fiercer. Damned Emperor. Gloating, was he?

Of course Kina's god was a fine one. If not for that 'Supreme God,' no one in this generation could dream of touching Kina — hers was, frankly, the greatest draw of the age.

But that much was simply what she deserved.

'Damn it. I even cast holy arts for him at the last moment, just to steer him toward something like the God of Wealth.'

And the end result was — the Supreme God.

But the game wasn't over yet.

After drawing a god came the process of contracting with it. Drawing the Supreme God was extraordinary — but the contract was anything but easy.

'His tier will never be sufficient. I guarantee it.'

And the contract was the one stage that had to be blocked at all costs.

Just as Hirei's eyes gleamed with schemes, so did Eli's.

'Come hell or high water, that contract WILL be completed.'

Well, after all — the Supreme God himself had chosen Isaac. The contract would almost certainly go off without a hitch.

Isaac, too, would surely work hard to contract properly with the god who had selected him.

And around that time—

Shuri was staring, baffled, at Isaac, who was tearing through books like a man possessed.

"...Isaac. What exactly are you studying right now?"

"Annulment of divine selection, AAAAH!!!"

"..."

...Right. Doesn't look the least bit sincere, but whatever. Study hard, kid.