Chapter 136
Chapter 136
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 136
Chapter Title: Rescue Operation - 1
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I said to Trail.
“Use the Eye of Omniscience right now.”
[Sigh. Adin whatever and whose secret?]
“Agril.”
Trail fell silent for a moment before speaking up.
[Well, since we’ve already peeked at the spirits’ secrets, no reason not to check out Agril’s.]
“Yeah. Make it a secret tied to the Heavenly God’s weakness, please.”
[Not sure if something like that even exists... Hold on.]
*Tap.*
A screen soon popped up.
[Used Eye of Omniscience.]
[Current Eye of Omniscience level is 4. Viewable secrets are A-rank.]
[Selection condition: “Secret between Adin Press and Agril.”]
[This secret is A-rank. Viewing.]
Luckily, it was something I could see.
I ground my teeth at the sight of Agril on the screen.
The thing was wrapped tight in golden chains.
It wasn’t mere restraint.
It was torture in and of itself.
*Crunch. Crunch.*
The chains sliced into Agril’s tough hide, burrowing into its flesh.
“Grooooar.”
Agril let out an agonized howl.
That was when it happened.
“Have you done some reflecting now?”
The Heavenly God!
No— that base human, Adin Press.
Adin was in the exact same pure-white humanoid form I’d seen at the starting line before.
But there was one difference.
“It’s gotten a bit smaller?”
[That’s no mite. Looks like barely three or four meters tall.]
“Yeah. Back then, it was like a massive mountain.”
What the hell? Had it lost weight?
That was when it happened.
“Your glare’s still so vicious. It’s a problem, showing that much defiance toward your master.”
“Grrrr.”
“No matter how weakened I am, I still have the strength to handle one impudent beast. Don’t test my patience any further.”
What?
Weakened?
Why? What had he done?
For the first time in ages, my nape prickled with that familiar chill.
“I think I get it. Why the Heavenly God’s weakened.”
[Huh?]
“He kidnapped Agril and keeps it right by his side. That’s why.”
[Doesn’t click for me.]
“Don’t you see? In our speed war against Idria, Agril’s beyond precious to us. Snatching it up like that goes way past the ‘passive cooperation’ Adin talked about.”
The Heavenly God backs Idria’s plan.
He could’ve just rolled up his sleeves and helped her outright.
But he stuck to passive cooperation only.
There had to be a reason he couldn’t go further.
A law.
The Heavenly God loses power if he meddles too deeply in how the human world turns... something like that.
[You sure about that?]
“Got any other explanation?”
[......Nope.]
“Let’s keep watching for now.”
That was when it happened.
*Crack! Clang!*
Agril suddenly thrashed wildly.
It looked just like a man on death’s door burning his last spark of life—enough to make my heart drop.
“Grooooar.”
“Hm? Hah.”
In the end, Agril snapped the chains.
At the same time, it gaped its massive maw wide.
*Whiiiing.*
Something immense gathered energy in Agril’s mouth.
And the next instant—
*Kwaaaaaah!*
A blast of light erupted.
No, it wasn’t ordinary light.
A physical attack for sure.
Agril’s ace in the hole.
“God’s Breath!”
[What?]
“It came out exactly once against the Second Demon Lord. Come to think of it, back in Rayners territory, it tried using that on Iori too.”
That was when the Heavenly God spoke.
“Insolent beast!”
The Heavenly God thrust out a finger.
A blinding beam shot straight from its index finger.
Agril’s breath against the Heavenly God’s light.
They clashed in midair.
*Boom! Kaboom!*
To the eye, it just looked like two different lights charging at each other and colliding.
But that alone overturned the starting line’s ground.
Reeds burst into flame, trees toppled.
“You’d bite your master after all? Do you truly wish to die!”
I dared to hope for a moment, but Agril’s breath soon began getting relentlessly pushed back by the Heavenly God’s light.
Five seconds.
It was over in five seconds.
“Grooooar!”
I nearly squeezed my eyes shut.
Agril was hurled far away by the Heavenly God’s light.
Smoke billowed from its entire body.
Its tongue lolled out long, and blood poured nonstop from its mouth.
Seeing my comrade suffer like that ignited a massive rage in me.
“You bastard. Someday, that’ll be you.”
That was when it happened.
“Huff. Huff.”
*Stumble.*
The Heavenly God suddenly staggered.
It leaned against the armrest of its golden throne.
“You... got too worked up. I shouldn’t have pushed myself like this right now.”
What?
*Swish.*
Its radiance vanished.
The pure white light faded, revealing “human” skin.
But it was back to its glowing form before I could even blink.
“That face I glimpsed just now...”
[Y-Yeah. So that’s the guy called “Adin Press.”]
“Looks like it. The white silhouette vanished, showing his true face.”
[Seems your hunch was spot on. Holding onto Agril broke the law. So...]
“Yeah. He was already weakened and went overboard with power. A sliver of hope there.”
But Trail shot me down.
[Not really. He snapped right back in less than a second.]
True enough.
But that was against a debilitated Agril.
What if we could force him to expend even more?
If we nailed the timing... maybe.
That was when it happened.
The Heavenly God muttered as it settled onto its golden throne.
“Looks like I need a bit of rest. That beast should stay quiet for a while now.”
*Cut.*
The screen ended there.
Time snapped back to normal.
I turned to my party members.
“We’re heading to the starting line.”
“Yes?”
“One of our comrades is being held there anyway. You all know that.”
“But there’s a reason we haven’t gone till now.”
“The Heavenly God’s weakened right now. This is our shot.”
Everyone tilted their heads.
I gave them a quick rundown of what the Eye of Omniscience had shown.
The most shocked was, surprisingly, Mime.
“How do you know all that?”
“......? Why’re you asking?”
“What do you mean?”
“This is the Heavenly God’s power. Or in other words, Adin Press’s power. Don’t tell me that memory’s been wiped too?”
“No. Adin didn’t have any such power.”
My eyes went wide.
No way.
“That’s impossible. The Heavenly God said it himself. He transferred the Eye of Omniscience power to my comrade.”
“I don’t follow, but there’s no lie in what I said.”
“......”
“Anyway, your comrades’ faces say you’re not bullshitting. Adin Press is weakened, huh.”
Mime looked lost in thought.
I quickly pulled myself together and spoke.
“Yeah. That’s why we’re going to rescue Agril.”
“Rescue Agril, then kill Adin?”
“Can’t promise that far. He’s weakened, sure, but he was still playing god.”
“......”
“Besides, our top priority is getting Agril back. I’ll lend a hand to your revenge if there’s time left.”
Mime let out a dry chuckle.
“Hah. You can say that so boldly? You wanted my power.”
“Not killing him this time doesn’t mean it’s impossible forever. Things have priorities.”
“......”
“Once I take down the Demon King, I’ll snag the Heavenly God for you too. Trust me.”
“Can’t.”
“Then watch this time around.”
I kept my tone deliberately relaxed.
“Size me up—see if I can kill the Heavenly God or not. While you spectate the Agril rescue op.”
“......”
“Then pick after you see the results. Your call.”
“My call...?”
“Yeah. I’m not the type to force anyone. If you don’t trust me, bail. I’ll find another way without your help.”
For some reason, my comrades all wore warm smiles.
Yeah, that’s him, their faces said.
A long while later, Mime finally spoke.
His tone sounded resolved.
“Fine. I’ll watch.”
“Nope.”
“Huh? But you just—”
“Changed my mind.”
“In three seconds?”
“Can’t just watch. You help too.”
I turned to everyone and said.
“Listen up. I’ve got a plan.”
We flew toward the starting line.
At insane speed.
Unthinkable compared to Neril’s flying magic boosted by regular spirits.
No—even several times faster than Agril at full tilt.
Adwin cast a spell on us for smooth communication mid-flight.
[Aaaah. Everyone hear me okay?]
[Fine.]
[Kuku. Think this body’s gonna drop dead from just this?]
[You look it.]
Maybe because of the boosted speed.
Even clinging to Offense’s back like a cicada, Adwin was shivering nonstop.
Neril snickered.
[Finally looks his age. He’s always pretending to be grown-up.]
[Meanwhile, Neril’s plenty chill for hers.]
[Shut it.]
[Still, duke spirits really are something else. Didn’t expect this kind of speed.]
Exactly.
Since we’d decided to borrow Mime’s help for this op, I was exploiting him to the hilt from the jump.
Risel said.
[Never dreamed Mime... no, the spirits had circumstances like that.]
[Yeah. And the Heavenly God’s actually human.]
[How’d a druid become a god?]
Who knows.
Truth be told, I was more curious about something else.
Mime had said Adin fought someone using that trumpet as a weapon.
Who the hell was that someone?
If I had to name the most secretive figures I knew...
‘Bellosian. And Imperium.’
Had it been one of them?
Either way, with Mime’s help, our speed was several times Agril’s.
How much time passed like that?
The starting line came into view in the distance.
Neril set us down in that same reed field from our last visit.
Offense spoke up, a hint of tension on his face.
“No Adin.”
“Gonna have to blow the trumpet again?”
“Probably. Even just calling it the starting line, the place is fief-sized.”
Sure enough, the starting line was almost the size of a whole territory.
The trumpet was like a knock, in a way.
No knock, no door opened—like how Adin wouldn’t greet us without the trumpet.
“Phew. Everyone’s got the plan down, right?”
“Yeah. If you can even call that a plan.”
“You got a problem with my perfect strategy?”
“Perfect where? It’s half-assed improv.”
I shrugged.
“Name one thing we’ve done so far that wasn’t improv.”
“You always say that.”
“Let’s get to it. First up, Jenia, Serein.”
The two nodded and clasped hands.
Neril handed them the Withering Jewel.
They stacked it between them and began to pray.
“Shield.”
“If you don’t wanna die, hand it over quick.”
Couldn’t even call that a prayer anymore.
To think threats still drew out its power.
The laws of this world were scary as hell.
*Whiiing.*
Soon, godly shields began enveloping us on all sides.
Not just one or two layers like before.
Dozens—no, hundreds.
We drained the Withering Jewel’s vital energy down to the roots, erecting a massive barrier over several minutes.
“Hah... hah...”
“This is the limit, even with our divine power and the jewel’s vital energy.”
“More than enough. Feels like hunkering behind thick castle walls.”
I took a deep breath into my lungs.
Then I looked around at everyone.
The meaning in my eyes was clear.
*Stick to the plan, please.*
They all nodded like they got it.
I took the trumpet from Risel.
Phew. Alright.
Time to start.
I blew into it with everything I had.
*Paaaaaaaah!*
*Flutter.*
Birds hidden in the reeds took to the sky.
And the next moment.
The Heavenly God revealed itself.
In a form worlds apart from what we’d seen at the starting line before.
Offense said with a cynical edge.
“Pathetic.”
Spot on.
The thing had shriveled up, plain and simple.
Gone was the majestic presence looming from the heavens, and even the stairs that had reached down to our feet.
It just sat on its golden throne, floating a bit off the ground in the middle of that reed field.
‘Roughly a hundred meters away?’
Neril whispered.
“You were right. Looks pretty drained.”
“Good. Still, no slacking.”
“Not slacking. ...Huh? Oh.”
Neril pointed at Adin.
More precisely, at Agril, passed out beside him.
Jenia cried out like a scream.
“Agril!”