Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: Crushing - 4
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Having heard the episode from before my regression, Trail spoke in disbelief.
[Idria said it well. Who the hell are you?]
‘Don’t say useless things.’
In any case, this ‘space I created,’ where Idria’s authority doesn’t work, was undoubtedly safer than any place in the world—perhaps even safer than the underground otherworld beneath the imperial palace.
When I used this technique in the Reynus territory, swinging the sword felt like sawing through thick timber, full of resistance.
But.
-Swish.
This time, the space sliced open as easily as if I were cutting through some kind of weed.
‘Ah. Why am I so strong?’
[That’s true, but your tone pisses me off for some reason.]
I widened the space further with my sword.
Ophelia—and the party members who had never seen me tear space before—gaped in shock.
I spoke to Ophelia as if it were nothing.
“Shall we go in... Would that sound a bit weird?”
“Ah, no. But how does time pass inside there?”
“Basically the same. You’re probably worried it’ll take too long to defeat the Demon King. Or that your lifespan might run out before then.”
Ophelia nodded.
I deliberately opened my mouth casually.
“The Demon King didn’t steal your time. That’s not his domain.”
“Well, time is the domain of the Heavenly God, after all.”
Hm.
I’d said it with Trail in mind, but whatever.
“He merely changed your body to look like an old woman. Your actual age is still in its prime, so there’s no need to worry about not seeing Mr. David again.”
Ophelia looked a bit relieved.
That was when Neril spoke up.
“Want to sleep a little?”
“Pardon?”
“You can’t just wait alone for years in that pitch-black space beyond.”
Ah.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Neril glanced at me and smiled.
“You lack delicacy, Maide.”
“Yeah, a bit.”
“That’s why we suit each other so well.”
“......”
“It means I can fill in for your lack of delicacy.”
“No, I got that.”
Neril sighed and said to Ophelia.
“You’d get tired waiting alone in that boring world. I think the little Adwin kid can help with that.”
Adwin nodded vigorously.
“I’ll put your soul to sleep. If you allow it.”
“Ah, please do.”
“Yes. Leave it to me.”
“I trust you. You remind me a lot of myself when I was young.”
“Ah... Hehe. Thank you, sis.”
That wasn’t a compliment.
Soon, Adwin chanted a spell.
Ophelia’s eyes slowly closed.
She fell quietly asleep in David’s arms.
Leaving these final words.
“I hope that when I open my eyes next, I’ll still be in your arms.”
Idria sensed the great purification spell and hurriedly severed her connection with Ophelia.
It always looked ominous and unlucky, that power of the Heavenly God.
Once I judged from experience that the purification’s effect had worn off, I tried reconnecting with Ophelia.
“......?”
But the connection wouldn’t form.
It was as if Ophelia had vanished from the world.
‘What? What’s going on?’
There was no world this perfectly severed except perhaps the underground beneath the imperial palace.
No. There was one more.
‘My authority?’
Maide had torn space in the Reynus territory.
And hadn’t he thereby shattered one of her lies?
For a moment, defiance surged within her.
‘If he tore my space, then I’ll......’
Idria tried to snap her fingers.
But at the last moment, she stopped her hand.
Tremble.
She stared silently at her hand.
At her trembling hand.
‘Huh? What’s this?’
Why was her hand shaking?
She’d never experienced this before.
That was when Kaild’s voice came.
“What’s wrong? You look scared of something.”
Idria touched her face.
Tilting her head in confusion, she asked.
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“Of whom?”
“No idea. But if I had to guess......”
He grinned and asked.
“You got done in by Maide?”
“Haha.”
Kaild braced himself for the immense pain soon to come upon him.
But Idria didn’t get angry.
Instead, her eyes gleamed with intrigue.
“Ah. So this is fear.”
“......”
“Interesting. In all those long years I’ve lived, this is the first time I’ve felt this emotion.”
“Hey.”
“Bion Kunze killed me countless times, but I never once felt fear of him. Why do you think that was?”
Kaild didn’t answer.
He realized she wasn’t asking him.
“Because I knew I’d resurrect right away. This world is always overflowing with lies. I’d die to Bion, but come back to life. It was almost like the providence of the Heavenly God.”
“......”
“And yet I feel fear toward Maide. What do you think that means, you rice worm?”
“No clue.”
“Well, a worm wouldn’t have a brain anyway.”
She stopped in her tracks.
Idria stood still, gazing up at the cave ceiling.
“It means he can truly kill me. Kill me so I can never resurrect.”
“......!”
“I’ll have to stake my life on it too.”
There, Idria noticed Kaild’s expression looked excessively bad.
She smirked and said.
“Don’t make that face. Nothing changes. No matter who Maide is, once the oracle descends on you, it can’t be overturned.”
An official statement was issued from the Dronoer territory.
Count Akain first detailed the bizarre incident that had occurred in the territory.
A worm had burrowed into the count’s son’s body and controlled him.
An avalanche of worms had nearly turned countless territory folk into victims.
‘But......’
The statement said they had safely overcome the crisis thanks to Hero Maide and his companions.
It also included that this great Demon King was Idria of falsehoods and deception, and that Kaild was the Demon King’s vanguard.
I said to Trail.
‘Show me the map.’
[Uh, hold on.]
Soon, a continental map appeared on the screen.
I immediately compared my fame with Kaild’s.
[Maide Mohan Cumulative Fame: 123,760]
[Kaild Wake Cumulative Fame: 35,170]
With the Dronoer territory—formerly Kaild supporters—turning, Kaild’s fame, which had once exceeded 40,000, was shaved down once more.
Nearly four times the difference.
But I couldn’t let my guard down.
A fake oracle could overturn even this overwhelming gap.
That was when Trail spoke.
[Hey. I’ve been thinking.]
‘Yeah.’
[Why don’t you just declare it yourself? That Idria plans to pull some stunt with a fake oracle.]
‘......’
[If you lay that groundwork, even if she sends down an oracle, it won’t matter, right?]
I smirked.
‘Sometimes you seem like you don’t get what the Heavenly God means to the continent.’
[Huh?]
‘The moment any hero declares an oracle fake, their fame plummets. The Heavenly God is infallible, and no Demon King could mimic a divine oracle...... That’s what 99 percent of the people believe.’
[......]
‘People doubt everything else, but never an oracle. Doubting it means doubting the Heavenly God.’
Trail swallowed a groan.
[I just ended up doubting the Heavenly God. Thanks to you.]
‘Hm. Good sign. Always important to keep flexible thinking.’
[Agh. Didn’t you donate a ton to temples too?]
‘I’d love to recover it all. If I’d saved that donation money, my retirement would’ve come way sooner.’
I continued, soothing Trail.
‘Anyway, don’t worry too much. I have a countermeasure.’
[What?]
‘I just need to receive an oracle myself.’
Trail was silent for a while.
Dumbfounded by my perfect plan, no doubt.
[I’m speechless.]
‘Why now.’
[Seriously? Talking about receiving an oracle like you’re demanding collateral on a loan?]
‘At this point, the one refusing to send an oracle just to save face is the bad guy.’
[I mean, how the hell is a human supposed to receive an oracle?]
‘I’ll figure it out starting now. That’s why we came to the capital.’
Indeed.
My companions and I had returned to the capital.
While having dinner at a suitable inn, Jenia said.
“I watched people closely today, and the Dronoer territory’s statement has already spread throughout the capital.”
“Thanks to communication orbs. Long live Iori Otics.”
“Communication orbs are so expensive only the truly wealthy can afford them. And yet it’s spread across the whole capital......”
“Everyone who heard the news is spreading it far and wide. The Demon King is humanity’s common enemy, after all.”
Then Neril took a sip of her black tea and spoke.
“Maide, your fame has shot up to the heavens.”
“I’m kinda famous.”
“You’d be the perfect man if you just had some humility.”
“I’m kinda perfect.”
She shook her head and continued.
“Anyway, with this level of fame, an oracle will come to you soon. Once it does, no one can deny you’re the hero. You’ll go straight to kill Idria, right?”
“Oh. I forgot to mention. There’s no oracle.”
Neril blinked.
The rest of the group did too.
Serein even spat out her drink right in Offense’s face.
“Pfft!”
“Did you deliberately turn your head toward me right before spitting?”
“Yes. Exactly.”
“......”
“Maide, what do you mean? Even I, with zero faith, wouldn’t doubt an oracle.”
I calmed everyone down.
Then I carefully explained the conversation I’d had with Idria.
Of course, I omitted and edited the parts about Bion Kunze appropriately.
Explaining that would take too much.
Everyone’s expressions shifted moment by moment.
This alone was shocking enough, but my next words turned their faces ashen.
“And Idria will send down a fake oracle.”
“......!”
“She hasn’t given up on making Kaild the hero. She’ll use the fake oracle to dance around and achieve that goal.”
“We’re screwed.”
Adwin slowly slid off his chair.
Clutching his head, he said.
“Bro. There’s no way around an oracle. If Idria had sent a fake one ages ago, we’d have been done before we started.”
True. That’s exactly what happened before my regression.
No need to look far—I myself hadn’t doubted Kaild wasn’t the hero.
Even I, who knew he’d sinned against 148 million people.
So the common folk went without saying.
That was how heavy the weight of an oracle—and the Heavenly God’s name—carried.
Then Neril spoke.
“Kid, don’t despair too much.”
“Even sis’s experience can’t solve this one.”
“Want to die?”
“No.”
“From the first time I met Maide, oracles were my biggest worry. Back then, I thought it’d go to Kaild.”
Suddenly recalling my first meeting with Neril, I smiled fondly.
Neril continued.
“That worry just circled around and came back. Think about everything Maide’s done so far. Was any of it easy?”
“......”
“So everyone, buck up. No more droopy faces.”
Ooh.
A bit of life returned to the party members’ expressions.
Offense smirked and said.
“As expected of the burider.”
“Burider?”
“While you were holding the giant worm, Neril gave the operation orders. Using the great purification spell, making sure it missed Ophelia and me— all from Neril’s head.”
“I figured as much, but...... impressive as always.”
Neril gazed out the window, pretending nonchalance.
Then Risel spoke.
“So realistically, what do we do?”
“For now, let’s meet the emperor.”
“Pardon?”
“I clashed a bit with him before, but it ended well in the end. Since I’ve made face with the empire’s master, might as well use everything I can.”
“How do you plan to use him?”
I pondered for a moment.
So far, the Eye of Omniscience had labeled only two secrets as S-rank.
Me, and a man named Bellosian.
Even Idria’s secret was only A-rank, so Bellosian’s must surpass the Demon King of Lies.
And the place that Bellosian himself created and gifted to Emperor Grade was none other than......
“I’ll go to the underground beneath the imperial palace.”
“Ah! Right, that place.”
“If it’s that place whose creation method and power we can’t even guess at, maybe we’ll find some clue.”
Everyone nodded.
Jenia asked.
“But why meet the emperor again? We already have permission from Grade himself to enter.”
“The path to the underground door is still inside the imperial palace. With tight security, it’s a hassle explaining every step.
“Ah. True.”
“Might as well get free entry rights from the emperor while at it.”
Something told me I’d be going in and out often from now on.