Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Thunderous Roar (1)
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Goddess Io.
The youngest among the goddesses who reigned as the goddess of war and peace, ruling over the five kingdoms.
Being the youngest might make one think she was weak in power or authority, but in truth, aside from the ruling nation, she was the most beloved goddess in the other kingdoms.
No one could fail to respect the goddess known for standing against the hordes of hell alongside ancient heroes beyond Valhalla.
Thus, Io was always an existence worthy of respect and reverence.
This held true even for Yuseong, a resident of another world.
His mouth was foul, but that was just talk—he respected Io and listened well to her words.
Io believed that someday, Yuseong would open his heart sincerely, and they would laugh and chat together.
Even though...
"......"
...right now, she was in the pathetic position of being interrogated while bound with ropes.
Io was undergoing her first interrogation since her divine birth, her body restrained.
The first words out of his mouth when he heard Valian's story were curses.
"Don't bullshit me. Why the hell would those bastards be here...!"
"...I know it's hard to believe. But how could I ignore my senses blaring alarms?"
"Then your senses must be busted. Fuck... Should I ship you to neurology or what...."
Yuseong was still dismissing it as nonsense. Valian stared at him silently, then placed one hand over his heart and bellowed.
"I swear on the name of the plains! I'm neither ill nor broken. I know you don't believe me, Luke. I know you don't trust me. But believe this! Not as some lowly warrior! As a great warrior of the plains, I stake my heart on it! I'm certain!"
"......"
Barbarian.
Their homeland was the vast plains, home to a once-nomadic warrior tribe.
Though they had now coiled up in suitable mountains for a settled life, their true home would forever be the eternal plains—and they could never utter a Falsehood upon swearing on those plains.
For the moment a lie crossed their lips, they would have to take their own life, branded as having defiled the spirit of the plains.
Yuseong had no choice but to shut his mouth and furrow his brow.
"...Mirni."
"Yeah...."
"You tell me. Is this bullshit... true?"
"At least... I remember their scent. And... the stench I caught today insists it's them. ...I get that you can't believe it."
"......"
If anyone else had said this, he would've chalked it up to PTSD and mental breakdown.
But coming from Valian and Mirni of all people, he couldn't deny it even if he wanted to.
Barbarian instinct. Catfolk sense of smell.
As the (former) Hero Party supporter whose life those two senses had saved more than once...
"...Fuck. This is some truly shitty bullshit."
Yuseong spat curses nonstop, then fixed a piercing glare on Sylvia.
No, more precisely—toward the doll perched on Sylvia's shoulder!
"Spit it out if you know. Right now...!"
"Don't know─? Then I'll make you remember."
"To Luke-nim's mother, what is th—this! Kyaaak!!"
Sylvia tried to intervene, but there was no way she could stop him.
"Luke-nim! Untie this please! Mother...-."
"─Shut your trap, you wench. Keep yapping and I'll gag you too!"
And that's how things had come to this.
"......"
Sylvia was already bound in a humiliating pose, but she could endure any amount of humiliation. However, knowing that a gag would leave no one to defend the goddess, she could only well up with tears.
"...You're going too far. What has Mother done wrong...?"
"Then have her spill what she knows."
"...You really don't know?"
"Yeah, that's what you claim...."
"No, I don't."
"Whether human or beast, when push comes to shove, everything comes flooding back."
"Bring it."
"...R-really? Ah, even so... "
"You wanna end up like that-?"
"......I'll get it."
Mirni soon brought a bowl brimming with water.
Yuseong placed it right beneath the bound goddess, then slowly lowered the rope.
"They say water torture hurts like hell."
"......"
Io felt terror at drowning for the first time in her life, and like dormant neurons firing to life, she blurted it out unwittingly.
Creak.
"...Rift?"
"...Didn't you say you knew nothing?"
Yuseong had just become the first in human history—or goddess history—to prove that desperate situations dredge up every last memory.
"......"
Io sniffled tearfully, while Yuseong wore an exasperated look.
"...That's what scared you? Your body doesn't even breathe—what's there to be scared of?"
"You said your senses barely register anything. Always such a drama queen...."
Only then did Io realize that no matter how much she tortured this avatar, it felt no pain—or anything at all.
In other words, the whole ordeal just now had been pure theater.
A normal person might rage or feel humiliated upon realizing it, but Io instead lit up with childlike wonder at this novel discovery.
To a goddess who had lived eons, any new stimulus was endlessly refreshing.
She even treated the torture and interrogation as mere entertainment, marveling endlessly.
"...Whatever. Just explain what a rift is."
"I'll prepare offerings or whatever—just spit it out already!"
"Me?"
Yuseong cocked his head.
How the hell would he know about something like that...?
—Hm!?
"......"
"Rift... Dimensional rift?"
"......"
The very culprit that had sucked Yuseong into Midgard!
But conversely...!
'Could beings from Midgard come to Earth too?'
His expression hardened grimly before the impossibility.
"Io, didn't you say this world has countless dimensions, and me going from Earth to Midgard was nothing but a miraculous fluke?"
"Yet demons just happen to come to this world too? That make any goddamn sense?"
"...You saying you acted as the catalyst?"
Some being tied to Midgard existed here, and the demons used it as a catalyst to get pulled in?
Just like Yuseong had—?
But the goddess denied it.
Her handling couldn't possibly be that sloppy, after all.
The true culprit, if one had to name it...
"......Me?"
"I was the catalyst?"
"......"
Someone else hearing this might deny it, rail against the injustice, or freeze in shock.
But Yuseong wasn't so childish.
On the contrary.
"Yeah? Is that how it is...."
"Nah, that's beside the point now. The fact is, I was the trigger point."
He was adult enough to clean up his own mess.
"...Valian, Mirni."
"Yeah?"
"Speak."
"That bastard... you're really certain it's a demon?"
"...Hm."
"It 'might' be a demon. That's my conclusion."
"So nothing's certain?"
"Meaning...?"
"......"
Yuseong sank into thought.
'It could be a demon—or someone empowered by a demon that slipped out of a rift... a demon worshiper.'
Demon worshiper.
Those who gained demonic energy through pacts with demons.
Remembering how many comrades had died backstabbed by those who turned demon worshiper during the war, veins bulged on Yuseong's forehead.
"Those goddamn cockroach bastards...! Went and crawled all the way to my hometown, huh...."
He might've been a weakling supporter, but he'd spent the war butchering demon worshipers and demons alike.
Demon or demon worshiper—!
If they'd slunk into his hometown, he'd just kill them.
Like always...!
"Gotta investigate first. DM, right...."
Perfect—their shady sponsor agency had plenty of skeletons.
Grill them one by one, and something would turn up.
"Hm? You moving personally?"
"...Who else?"
Valian's out-of-left-field question made Yuseong hesitate before answering, but Valian just tilted his head instead.
"Us?"
"......What?"
"Not using us?"
"......"
"...Doesn't trust us, huh."
The negative vibe hung thick—even a dullard could sense it.
Yuseong didn't trust his old comrades...
It didn't sadden him.
But Valian decided to appeal anyway.
"Luke. I know you hate us and don't trust us. But our hatred for demons is no less than yours. Use me. If you command it, I'll follow anything."
"...Since when did you ever listen to me?"
"Early war, maybe not—but I know I followed your orders best in the mid-war."
"......Tsk."
Yuseong clicked his tongue, knowing it wasn't wrong.
When Leon, Alicia—even Sylvia—ignored him and fought solo, Valian was the only one who'd moved on his orders.
His lower half was unreliable, but on the battlefield, no braver warrior was more trustworthy.
"Me too, me too! Not as much as Valian, but I nailed my missions, right~? And... this case feels like I'd be a huge help."
DM Productions wanted contact with Mirni.
To know your enemy, infiltrate their camp—that was textbook, and right now, Mirni was perfect for it.
No grounds to refuse when she pitched it like that.
'...Fuck, gotta trust these guys and work together...?'
This wasn't dealing with trash like before. Demons might be involved.
Uneasy entrusting something so grave to them.
However—
"......"
As if their foolish antics were ancient history, her words rang clear and noble with quiet strength.
And so, he made his decision.
"...I'll trust you once, damn it."
He wouldn't trust the people—just their 'hatred' for demons and 'skill'.
A historic moment: the Hero Party reuniting, if only temporarily.
"...W-what about us?"
"......When do I get untied?"
"Feels like we're being ignored......"
"......"
The four, somehow feeling sidelined, asked again with grievance—but no answer came.