73. Battle God Barbatos (Battle God Barbatos)
73. Battle God Barbatos (Battle God Barbatos)
Divine Realm.
A very tall and massive stone pillar.
Atop its very peak, a single god sat perched.
The being, who outwardly appeared to be an ordinary human man, recalled with an expressionless face the words he had just heard from a human.
Having been born a god since birth, he had never once been disrespected by anything.
-Next time, face me directly.
-Otherwise, I will take it you've chickened out and are hiding away in the Divine Realm.
The corner of the man's mouth rose.
"What an amusing fellow."
If he had seemed like a man who had merely lost his mind somewhat, he might have been angered.
But because he seemed like a man who had completely lost his mind, he did not even feel the emotion of anger itself.
The man, with his striking red eyes, had black hair.
Leviathan.
He distinctly remembered having such a creature as a subordinate.
Was it a monster of the Great Sea?
But he had not been paying attention.
It also felt like something that had happened thousands of years ago.
Of course, ailments like amnesia did not exist for a god.
If he searched his memory, he could remember everything.
In any case, since the demigod-level monster he had subjugated was dead, he felt the need to confirm who had killed it.
The man recalled why he had granted divine power to a being who wielded considerable power in the Middle Realm and made him a vassal.
'The war of the gods.'
The gods were bored because they were gods.
War was impossible.
Strife was impossible.
It was the Eight Evil Gods who could not endure that boredom.
The man was precisely one of them.
What the Eight Evil Gods desired was growth.
Ironically, it was the growth achieved by the humans they considered uncivilized.
That desire to grow like humans was the reason the Eight Evil Gods started the <Divine Realm War> and murdered the other gods.
A life of settling down and living in the Divine Realm.
He felt a profound sense of meaninglessness and boredom in it.
Growth and strife were needed. Thus, by killing a few other gods, he had sought to shed his boring life in the Divine Realm.
The reason he granted divine power to Leviathan, who had been moderately rampaging in the Middle Realm, to oppress the Fishmen Tribe and various other sea races was simple.
It was to lower the divinity of the god he had extinguished, [the God of Purification—Seculus].
The man, [the God of War and Strife—Barbatos], and the Seculus he had killed were both 1st-rank gods.
Aside from the ancient gods who had transcended even the ranks and whose whereabouts were now unknown, they were the greatest gods.
The gods called the aggregate of military force and influence 'divinity.'
The superiority of gods with equal military force could be turned by 'influence.'
The influence exerted on this world.
Seculus was a god whose influence was quite large.
That was because he had broadly encompassed and supported the Fishmen Tribe and the forest races in the Middle Realm.
Barbatos wanted to bring about a change in the boring life of a god.
But he did not want to leave any possibility of defeat. So, to lower the level of that divinity, he granted divine power to a small number of sea monsters confronting the Fishmen Tribe and other races.
With Leviathan, the originally strongest, at their head.
He created an army of sea monsters.
And he destroyed the world of the Fishmen Tribe, which Seculus had painstakingly built and had been infinitely close to being called [Atlantis].
After clearly lowering Seculus's divinity.
From the standpoint of god versus god, he tore Seculus apart.
With fists and feet imbued with divine power.
The War God.
The reason Barbatos, the God of War and Strife, was called the War God among gods was because he had gathered and absorbed, as if by osmosis, all the martial arts that were said to be the exclusive domain of humans.
Martial studies.
From birth, Barbatos was a god filled with an interest and passion for all kinds of martial arts and weapons.
The reason he hadn't considered shedding his outward human form was also to use martial arts efficiently.
Just as Barbatos was thinking that he needed to look into the bastard who had just dared to lecture him on manners.
Chae-ae-aeng!!
The sound of a bell came from below.
It meant that another god had visited his territory.
Barbatos lowered his head and opened his mouth again.
"Wait."
Barbatos slowly lifted his feet from the towering stone pillar.
Hwoaaaaagh!
Barbatos's divine form passed through the stone pillar, passed through the mist, and landed on the ground.
Kuuung!
Barbatos, who slowly straightened his body, looked at the giant crow that had appeared before him.
Malphas.
He was the god among the Eight Evil Gods who had first noticed that Inkrinew was dead, and the one who had sent a nun from the [Pigero] order under his dominion to confirm the existence called Yuma.
"What brings you here, Malphas?"
The mouth of the giant black crow opened.
"Barbatos, there's a guy I thought you should know about."
Malphas was in a state of considerable tension.
Gods, in general, had little interest in the Middle Realm.
They only had a little interest in the humans or races who were spending their time trying to increase their own divinity.
And they even had little interest in each other.
This was even more so for the <Eight Evil Gods>, the category to which these two belonged, who possessed the highest divinity in the current Divine Realm.
Though it had become a situation of Seven Evil Gods now.
Even so, the gods belonging to the Eight Evil Gods were not paying much attention.
All the gods belonging to the Eight Evil Gods were those who had killed at least one god of the same rank, a 1st-rank god.
Therefore, there was a vast gap in divinity between the other 1st-rank gods now in the Divine Realm and the <Eight Evil Gods>.
Gods above gods.
It was safe to view them that way.
In the case of Malphas, he harbored considerable caution toward the human 'Yuma,' a being who had erased a god above gods, but.
The majority of the Eight Evil Gods did not. Because they had always considered the erased Inkrinew to be trivial.
The majority thought he was a bastard who had been a part of the Eight Evil Gods only through a single innate, superior authority.
That bastard may have died, but they themselves could never die. Because they, who led the deicide, were different from that lowly bastard who had joined late.
'They must be thinking that.'
So, from Malphas's standpoint, he had no choice but to come forward himself to seek their help. More precisely, he needed a blade to test that bastard first.
That was why he had come. To the War God Barbatos, the third strongest god among the <Eight Evil Gods>.
"The one who killed Inkrinew. A human named Yuma. I still don't know exactly how he killed Inkrinew."
Barbatos narrowed his eyes.
"Right, it was said Inkrinew was killed by a human. Not a non-human, but a human. That was a bit surprising."
Barbatos created a handful of light. And he threw that light into the air.
Hwaak!
The light that swam through the air suddenly turned into a mirror.
Inside that mirror, the image of Yuma, whom he had just faced through the eyes of the now-dead [Leviathan], was precisely shown.
"That bastard, is he this one by any chance?"
The black pupils of the god in the form of a giant crow, Malphas, grew very large.
"...That's right. Barbatos. I didn't know you would know of this fellow."
"During the Divine Realm War, this bastard just killed the demigod-level monster I had subjugated to lower the prey's divinity. Just now."
Barbatos felt the interest he had taken in Yuma grow a little stronger.
Malphas furrowed his brow.
"Is it a coincidence? Or... are those bastards in the good faction giving full support to this human to kill us?"
At Malphas's words, Barbatos slowly shook his head.
"If they were giving support, they would support an elf or a beastman who has the talent to reach demigod status. Why would they support a human with clearly defined limits?"
And he continued.
"Could it be, Malphas, that you were the type to believe that absurd nonsense that humans are the only beings who can reach godhood?"
"Th-there's no way that could be. I know it. At least, that it was only possible in those days when gods bore human children."
Malphas was in a cold sweat at Barbatos's inquiry. Because unlike himself, whose military might among the Eight Evil Gods was near the bottom, Barbatos possessed might that vied for the 2nd or 3rd position.
But in Malphas's eyes, that human, Yuma, was a being who warranted sufficient caution.
"Malphas."
Barbatos's red eyes fixed directly on Malphas.
"It seems you're hoping I'll kill that bastard with my own hands? Are you too scared to perform a divine descent yourself?"
Malphas felt a cold sweat running down his back.
'This son of a bitch, when did a bastard who used to have nothing but martial arts in his head get this smart?'
Malphas felt the need to change the subject.
"How could that be, Barbatos. Ah, you probably haven't heard yet. That the former 2nd-rank god Rockmenton might undergo an awakening to ascend to the 1st rank."
Barbatos felt considerable interest in Malphas's words.
"That scholar bastard? How?"
It wasn't easy for scholar-type gods to climb to the 1st rank. Not without awakening some tremendous authority.
"I hear he's awakened a time-related authority."
"Tell me in detail."
Malphas told Barbatos in detail about the authority the god of wisdom and sorcery, Rockmenton, had awakened.
Barbatos listened to Malphas's words as if deeply pondering them.
And after hearing the entire explanation, he very slowly opened his mouth.
"That's a very good authority."
Malphas nodded his head.
"Right, I was surprised too."
"I'll have to steal it."
In Barbatos's red eyes as he spoke those words, a thick greed dwelled.
"Huh?"
"I'll kill that bastard, steal his authority, and then go kill that human bastard you're wary of for you."
Malphas's beak hung open as he looked at Barbatos, who had suddenly declared yet another deicide.
The beak of the crow, that is.
Barbatos continued.
"Just imagine if I had that power, not that scholar bastard. What being, what god could stop me?"
The crow gulped down saliva.
There was no flaw in his words.
In what Barbatos had just uttered.
***
Yuma returned to the island with the Mulren tribe and spoke of many things.
His conversation partner most of the time was Yerkur, the king of the Mulren tribe.
Yerkur, shaking his long white hair, was nodding as he listened to Yuma's words.
"You are saying you want us to lend our strength against the dark clouds that have a high probability of charging in 4 months?"
Yuma nodded his head.
"That's right."
"If it is true that something will be charging in 4 months, then naturally, I will help on the honor of this Mulren tribe. Yuma."
"Thank you."
Since the original purpose from the start was to prepare for the Demon Realm Army.
By forming a strong alliance, the primary objective had been achieved.
'And Cloné's growth potential had become even more limitless.'
The fact that she could achieve it with magic using natural elements as a medium.
That was no different from having pioneered a new unique domain as a mage.
Yuma stroked the white mane of the giant silver seahorse as he organized his thoughts.
Soon, the island of the Mulren tribe began to come into view.