Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Banquet - 1
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Velosian quickly calculated in his head.
Adin had squandered all of his fame that had exceeded 1.2 million.
His remaining fame was around 300,000.
‘What was Kaild's current fame again?'
In the mudslinging battle with Maide, Kaild had held the advantage for a while.
The fame Kaild gained back then hadn't been diminished.
Humanity hadn't yet connected the fall of the Heavenly God with Kaild Wake.
Of course, it was only a matter of time.
'What if I transferred Adin's remaining fame to Kaild?'
He hardened his resolve and spoke.
"Mr. Adin. As you know... I can manipulate fame."
Adin's face lit up.
"Oh, oh. Right. That's true."
"Of course, only humans can raise or lower fame. But I can freely transfer the fame that humanity has built up."
"I know. That's why you transferred Impellium's fame to me."
Exactly.
No matter how much fame that petty, foolish Adin could accumulate on his own.
The vast majority—no, almost all—of the fame Adin had acquired... belonged to Impellium.
Velosian had 'transferred' it.
He had handed Impellium's fame over to Adin.
Originally, transferring someone else's fame to another person was impossible.
It violated the laws of the world.
But Velosian was the one exception.
That was his authority.
A ability to interfere with the laws of the world, even if only to a very limited extent.
"I'm going to do the same thing."
"Huh? You're going to transfer Maide's fame back to me? Is that even possible?"
"Impossible. To transfer fame, the target has to die first. That's why I killed Impellium."
"R-right. That was the authority of the 'Demon King of Lies' Velosian."
"......"
"So, what exactly are you planning?"
"I'm going to kill you and transfer your remaining fame to Kaild."
A flat tone.
The words flowed so naturally, like water, that Adin thought for a moment he'd misheard.
He tried to ask again.
But he couldn't.
Puk.
Before he knew it, a hole had been pierced clean through Adin's chest.
"Ve-Velosian."
"You've worked hard until now, Mr. Adin. And sorry. For ruining your hobby."
"Y-you can't do this to me. We've been partners for so long..."
"You're right. Partners. So since the business failed, I'm switching partners."
The light faded from Adin's eyes.
Velosian dusted off his hands and turned to Kaild.
"I've transferred Adin's fame to you. Combined with yours now... it should come out to about 800,000, roughly."
"Th-this quickly?"
"What, did you think I'd need some grand spell? Transferring fame is one of my authorities. No elaborate preparations required."
The corner of Kaild's mouth lifted.
"Then I must be receiving tremendous praise from humanity right now. I should check immediately."
"Praise that'll freeze to death."
"......?"
"I merely deceived the world. I didn't deceive the humans living in this era. Now that Adin's fallen, the hero he appointed—you—will soon be torn apart gleefully by humanity."
He couldn't understand what that meant.
Velosian muttered to himself.
"That's why we need to hurry. If humanity rejects you, even this carefully tuned 800,000-plus fame will start eroding away."
"......"
"Especially if you pull off another idiotic stunt. The drop would be even steeper."
"Th-that won't happen."
Kaild denied it, but Velosian wasn't listening to him anyway.
He continued thinking to himself.
'Maide can now wield 1.2 million in fame as power. It's impossible to counter that with fame alone. And given Kaild's personality, he won't steel his resolve either.'
Transferring Adin's fame had been good, but it was just buying time.
All that awaited Kaild now was his fame dwindling away.
It was impossible for his fame to rise any further.
Velosian finally steeled his resolve.
"No helping it. I'll share my power with you."
"Your power? If you're going to do that, why not kill Maide yourself instead of using me?"
"I still can't leave the special room. And outside it, even I can't beat Maide anymore."
"Then?"
"Come with me to the special room. I'll share some of my power there."
He turned around.
As if he didn't care whether Kaild followed or not.
Naturally, Kaild followed.
Neither Velosian nor Kaild had any intention of burying Adin's corpse.
Their figures completely vanished.
And a few minutes later.
Crackle.
Space tore open in the air at the starting line.
Idria emerged from the rift.
To Idria's right stood Firensha.
And to her left was the third finger of deceit, Vatore.
Idria gazed silently down at Adin before speaking first to Firensha.
"So this is the true nature of the so-called Heavenly God."
"Yes, Mother."
"What about his soul?"
"I've secured it."
Firensha swallowed hard, her face tense.
"Even though he's a fake god, after playing the part for eons, his soul is immense. I've handled countless souls from the afterlife, but I've never felt a presence like this."
"I imagine so."
"......Will you consume it?"
Firensha could strengthen a target by feeding them souls.
Doing so now would propel Idria to dramatic heights with the Heavenly God's soul.
But a Demon King devouring a god's soul.
Firensha, who knew how much Idria had cursed the Heavenly God, couldn't help but tread carefully.
But surprisingly, Idria nodded easily.
"I'd rather not, but I suppose I must."
"A-are you sure? This bastard is the one who sent Bion to kill you countless times."
"My current situation doesn't allow me to refuse for personal reasons. I'll set aside my private feelings for now."
"Yes. Understood."
Snap.
Firensha snapped her fingers.
Soon, Adin's soul began absorbing into Idria's.
Even for Idria, assimilating such a massive soul would take considerable time.
Idria chose not to rush or grow impatient, instead savoring the miraculous growth of her power.
Half an hour later.
Rustle.
Idria opened her eyes.
Firensha asked.
"How do you feel?"
"Tasteless."
"Oh."
"Pfft. Kidding. Hmm... I still can't quite grasp it."
"Take your time to check. Kaild's soul was so tiny that he weakened immediately upon exceeding his vessel's capacity, but Mother, you've fully absorbed Adin's soul and still have room left."
In other words, this power wasn't temporary.
Idria had completely and permanently assimilated Adin's soul.
A faint smile played on her lips.
'Yes. I'll check this later.'
Something else mattered more right now.
Idria addressed Vatore, who had remained silent throughout.
"By the way, Vatore, what's your take on all this?"
"I was truly shocked."
"A plain response, just like you. It's been a while since I last heard your voice."
"......"
"Heh. Quick to shut your mouth again."
Rustle.
She pointed at Adin's corpse.
"Velosian. Adin. And this entity called Impellium."
"......"
"It seems the world is full of secrets I didn't know. And I must uncover every single one."
"Your will."
"It pains me to ask this of you, but could you devour that filthy corpse?"
Vatore nodded as if it were natural.
Soon, he opened his mouth.
Very wide. Incredibly wide.
Wide enough to swallow a whole body in one bite.
Crunch. Crunch.
Adin's corpse was sucked into Vatore's enormous maw.
Vatore's fangs tore into Adin, and his molars crushed the bones.
A few minutes passed like that.
Vatore, back to his normal mouth, smacked his lips and said.
"It's done."
"Then transform."
"Yes."
Shimmer.
Vatore's body changed.
His hair turned white, and wrinkles spread across his face.
He had become 'Adin Press.'
This was Vatore's ability.
Vatore could transform into whatever he devoured.
It wasn't just transformation.
He could draw out all the knowledge, information, and memories the target had in life as if they were his own.
The drawback was that he couldn't use the target's 'power.'
But since the power had already been absorbed by Idria via Firensha, it was fine.
Idria's eyes gleamed as she asked.
"Did you absorb all the memories?"
"......Yes. They were so vast it took time. My apologies."
"What are you saying? It took less than a minute."
"Shall I report now?"
"Hm. No. Let's head back first."
Snap.
Idria snapped her fingers.
Space tore open again.
"The world's secrets. Such rare gossip—we can't keep it to ourselves. Let's share it with the others."
Firensha and Vatore bowed deeply.
And said in unison.
"As you wish."
After all the chaos had settled, we took a break to rest.
This incident hadn't strained our bodies much.
But mentally, we were completely drained.
After spending nearly a full day glued to our beds, we gathered again the next afternoon.
In the capital inn room, the party members yawned with just-woken faces.
"Yaaawn."
And they started light chatter.
As if loosening up before diving into the main topic.
I used that time to speak to Trail.
'Sorry to keep you waiting so long.'
[Yeah. It was hell holding back.]
'Sorry. I was just exhausted.'
[Hm. Can't say I don't get it, so forgiven. ......But what exactly did you keep me waiting for?]
I chuckled at the absurdity.
He replied without even knowing what it was.
'My fame has now exceeded 1.2 million.'
[It has.]
'You shouldn't just casually say "it has." Don't you get it? It's finally time to level up my Eye of Omniscience!'
Trail was silent for a while.
He must have been shocked at himself for forgetting something so important.
Giggling, I continued.
'Can't say I don't get it, so forgiven.'
[Ahem. Mimicking me, huh.]
'Anyway, do it right now.'
[Sure.]
Soon, a screen popped up.
[Ding! Level up!]
[Level: Tremendously Famous.]
Just before, my level had been 'Very Famous.'
Now it was 'Tremendously Famous.'
I tilted my head.
'The level name feels a bit off. At 1.2 million, shouldn't it be something like "Unprecedentedly Famous"?'
[Dunno. Never really thought that far.]
'......'
[It's the highest level anyway, so don't get hung up on the name.]
No.
I shook my head.
'Impellium said there's something above S-grade. When we talked one-on-one.'
[Huh?]
'You saw me summon forty Eye of Omniscience screens at once. Impellium said that was the true Eye of Omniscience.'
[Whoa.]
Trail let out a sound that could have been admiration or disbelief.
I turned back to the screen.
'So how much fame do I need for the next level?'
[......No idea.]
'No idea?'
[Who are you asking? The guy who thought S-grade was the final one?]
Fair point.
Whenever I'd absorbed fame or leveled up before, the screen always showed a notice.
-Fame points needed for next level.
That fixed message, like a reminder not to forget, was nowhere to be seen now.
'Does that mean the next level isn't gained through fame?'
[Assuming there is a next level, that's the only conclusion.]
'Hm. What is it? What's missing?'
[We'll figure that out later. I'm more curious how much Kaild's fame has tanked.]
Oh.
I absentmindedly rubbed my palms.
Just then, Neril spoke up.
"Enough chit-chat. Let's get to the main point."
"Yep."
"Maide, you said your fame exceeded 1.2 million... So how's that bastard Kaild doing?"
Exactly.
In this incident, we dragged the Heavenly God's fame to rock bottom.
We hadn't asked them to deny the Heavenly God, but by placing 'Maide Mohan' above the god's name, humanity had effectively done the same.
Jenia nodded vigorously.
"That's the first thing we need to check for sure."
"Yeah."
"A hero is granted by the Heavenly God. But if that Heavenly God is trash, then Kaild Wake, granted by him, is trash too."
"......"
"Pretty logical progression, right?"
I didn't know if it was logical or not, but anyway, I asked Trail.
'Tell me his fame. Compare it to mine.'
[One sec.]
[Maide Mohan Cumulative Fame: 1,220,900]
[Kaild Wake Cumulative Fame: 880,700]
......?
At first, I tilted my head.
But soon, my expression hardened.
The party's faces grew serious as well.
"Bro. What's wrong?"
"Kaild's fame is 880,000."
"Huh? No way, that cockroach's fame was around 500,000 before."
"......"
"Adin's crashed to the 300,000s. So how the hell did Kaild, chosen by that Adin, hit 880,000?"
That was exactly my point.
It made no sense for a god-chosen hero's fame to surpass the god's.
Did Adin set up some other variable?
'What's Adin's fame at now?'
[H-hold on.]
Another screen appeared.
[Adin Press Cumulative Fame: 0]
"......"
The moment I saw that line, lightning struck my mind.
"Ahh!"
"W-what? What's wrong?"
"Adin's fame is zero."
"What? It was still in the 300,000s when we checked yesterday."
Drip.
I felt cold sweat trickling down my forehead.
I lightly wiped it with my palm.
And continued softly.
"Kaild absorbed Adin's fame."