# 038 A Method to Prove Strength
# 038 A Method to Prove Strength
In the beginning, there was darkness.
A space of nothingness.
Amidst only darkness, the Heavenly Demon God thought.
Let us create new life in a place where nothing exists.
First, humans were born, and demi-humans were born.
The Heavenly Demon God bestowed death upon them, and all life died equally with the passage of time.
Yet there was one who defied this.
Presumptuously, a being born of the Heavenly Demon God resisted the Heavenly Demon God, pursued immortality and eternal youth, and evaded death, so the Heavenly Demon God personally punished this impious being.
—Heavenly Demon Death Beam.
A being originally one, but split into two.
They must be the Twin Moon Goddesses.
[Excerpt from the creation record of the Church of the Heavenly Demon God.]
* * *
In the Church of the Heavenly Demon God, ten gods each served beneath the Heavenly Demon God.
The one who handles flame, the Flame Demon God.
The one who handles ice, the Ice Demon God.
The one who rules as the god of beasts, the Beast Demon God.
The one at the pinnacle of all illusion magic, the Illusion Demon God.
The one who bestows the blessing of the night upon all thieves, the Thief Demon God.
The one who handles the blade, the Blade Demon God.
The one who governs lightning, the Lightning Demon God.
The one who stands at the apex of swordsmanship, the Sword Demon God.
The mad one, the Mad Demon God.
And the one whose existence no one knew.
Since the seat was said to be vacant, the Empty Demon God.
Each was called a Demon God with their authority placed before the title, and they trained beneath the Heavenly Demon God to one day inherit the Heavenly Demon God's seat.
In contrast, the opposing Church of the Twin Moon Goddesses had six Archangels per goddess, for a total of twelve.
Although the Heavenly Demon God and the Twin Moon Goddesses cannot directly intervene in the world, these Demon Gods and Archangels descend to the mortal realm, waging an eternal, immortal struggle against one another.
'Damn, that's a pain to memorize, so I'll just not memorize it.'
Of course, I was separate from them.
I had no desire to get involved in their fight, nor did I intend to.
Whether they fought each other by setting up proxies, or each built temples for their subordinate gods and fought using their followers, I had no wish to be entangled with them.
What I desired was solely sex.
If they interfered with my sex, I would actively step in, but they also knew that I actively stepped in when it came to matters related to sex and had refrained from meddling with me as much as possible.
Occasionally.
There were instances when the minions of the Ten Demon Gods or the subordinates of the Archangels came to my lair, but the High Elf who was my former wife handled all of that.
So, until then, there had been no particular reason to get entangled with them.
Even if I wasn't on good terms with them, we could just live in our own domains, so what was the big deal.
However.
'If it affects sex, that's a different story.'
If their struggle proved greatly beneficial to my sex, if raising Sharia allowed me to have more enjoyable sex, then there was no reason I couldn't participate in the struggle.
"Since we've come all this way, we can't just leave empty-handed."
"What are you thinking about?"
Had I smiled too lecherously and darkly?
Sharia looked at me with wary eyes.
"What are you plotting...?"
"Do you know about the Sword Demon God?"
"...Isn't that one of the Ten Demon Gods?"
"Yeah. Correct."
The Sword Demon God, one of the Ten Demon Gods, unlike the other Demon Gods, revered only swordsmanship.
Whether they were a dragon in their previous life, or a person who rose to the position of a god through swordsmanship, I did not know.
However, it was clear they were the one on the continent who cherished the sword more than anyone else.
They cherished the sword so much that if anyone claimed to be able to use a sword, they would immediately go and pick a fight, wanting to fight with swords.
Even the Archangels, and indeed even their fellow Demon Gods, were reluctant to deal with the Sword Demon God.
"The Sword Demon God is a being shunned by both light and darkness, by both sides. Nevertheless, the reason they maintain the position of Demon God is that they were chosen by the Heavenly Demon God."
"Chosen by the Heavenly Demon God? Because of swordsmanship?"
"Because they are much stronger than the other Demon Gods."
There was a hierarchy of sorts even among the Demon Gods.
Since they could not kill each other, all that remained was pride, so they determined hierarchy by fighting and winning against an opponent.
"And the reason they are that strong, and strive to become strong, is to challenge the Heavenly Demon God."
"So they are beneath until they win. Beneath the Heavenly Demon God."
"Yes. In honor of that challenging spirit of the Sword Demon God toward the Heavenly Demon God, those who believe in the Sword Demon God have competed against each other's skills. And... it just so happens that the regular tournament of the Sword Demon God is being held here in Shotarape this time."
"...Master, this direction, no way."
Sharia immediately caught on to my intention.
"Yes. I am going to have you participate in the Sword Demon God's tournament."
"Really...? Me, in the tournament?"
"Yes."
The tournament of the Sword Demon God.
"Here, they call it the Festival of Swords. It's a blood festival where everyone who can use a sword from the west gathers to compete in swordsmanship."
"...Blood?"
"Yes. Here, people can die."
Did the Sword Demon God personally hold the tournament? No.
Did the Sword Demon God personally participate in the tournament? No.
It was merely an arena for those who aspired to be Sword Demon Gods, for those who worshiped the Sword Demon God, to show off their swordsmanship.
The only conversation was the sword.
Those who won by the sword survived, and those who were defeated by the sword died.
Because the weak could not survive in the world of the sword, those who had gathered under the Sword Demon God were all those who had killed other swordsmen and risen to their positions.
In this world of the sword, games or friendly sparring did not apply.
Only real combat existed.
"I plan to enter you into that."
"...Isn't it dangerous?"
Sharia struggled to muster confidence.
In a way, it was natural, since Sharia's adventurer rank was a mere Bronze.
No, a Bronze going into a tournament?
Into a place where they proved their skills against each other, even into a battlefield full of fresh blood and slaughter?
"I think I'm still greatly lacking...."
"Experience becomes your blood and flesh. Sharia, fighting each other with swords is the same as sex."
"...The same as sex?"
"Yes."
All things connected through sex.
"The first time you do it, it's frightening. But once you actually do it, the feeling changes, right? Every time you do it, it's new, and also frightening. Fighting with a sword is the same."
"Sparring... is the same as sex."
"Yes. At times, it can even be enjoyable."
Honestly, if I had found more fun in fighting with swords than in sex, perhaps I might have defeated the Sword Demon God as a living being and taken their seat.
"Sharia. This will be a great help to your growth. You need to be able to swing your sword against those who direct very sinister and nasty gazes at you."
"That means...."
"There may come a time when you have to kill."
Sharia had never killed a person before.
No, in the first place....
"You've never swung your sword against a person before, have you."
"That is... true."
Sharia was an adventurer.
If she were a mercenary, she might have had some experience swinging a sword against people, but she chose the path of an adventurer mainly dealing with monsters.
Though she ambitiously took up the sword to take revenge on the Church of the Twin Moon Goddesses and the Inquisitor of Heresy, dealing with people was still difficult for her.
The problem was that she was too kind; she needed to learn to swing her sword even against those who approached with malice.
How many in the world would harbor sinister and nasty thoughts against Sharia?
And ultimately, she would have to become my wife and deal with all sorts of vermin who entered my lair.
That statement included murder as well.
"Take this opportunity to step forward. It's fine. You'll go to a lower examination ground and take a test, and you will never die."
"Will it... help me grow?"
"Of course it will help. Do you think I brought this up for nothing? It's all a path that will become your blood and flesh."
She could not keep swinging her sword only against scarecrows and those she was certain would not harm her forever.
"That doesn't mean I'm telling you to just go out and kill people randomly. If you kill just anyone at a tournament, that's a crazy person. What I'm saying is to adopt a mindset for dealing with those who approach you with killing intent."
"...I understand what you mean."
Sharia tightly clenched her trembling hand.
"You mean I shouldn't hesitate to swing my sword against those who come to rape me or kill me."
"Yes."
Then, by directly facing those with malice against Sharia this time, she would gradually learn how to use her sword.
"Don't worry. There's still about two weeks, so it's plenty of time to grow."
"It's a truly ambiguous period for both refusing and participating."
"We'll improve your swordsmanship as much as possible during these two weeks. With this."
"...Huh?"
I pointed to the plaster statue shaped like Sharia.
It had no neck, but its lower half was Sharia made of white plaster.
"Hup."
I infused mana into the plaster statue of Sharia.
Then, shaping the mana like nerve bundles stretching throughout the entire body, I directly moved the plaster statue.
"Whoa...!"
"This is a Golem Manipulation Technique. Using this, I can remotely control it like controlling a puppet."
"Uh, could you please refrain from doing that with my body?!"
"It's not like the chest shakes anyway, so what."
"It's naked!"
"Hup, hup hup."
I demonstrated swordsmanship with the plaster statue of Sharia.
The naked plaster statue, using the power of mana, ran about here and there and showed off a splendid sword dance.
While naked.
"Look at that. How fast it swings the sword because its chest and buttocks don't shake. See?"
"To be compared to a plaster statue, it's humiliating."
"I'm not doing this for you to feel humiliation. Since this will be your very special opponent for these two weeks."
"......No way, do you mean I have to fight myself?"
"Yes."
As the saying went, all training was a fight against oneself.
Thinking on that, the plaster statue Sharia doll would be a good opponent for her.
"Just participating in the tournament will be good experience. Surely."
"Then...."
"Let's join. You need to feel how strong you've become too, right?"
Sharia hadn't only been having sex up until then.
I had gone a little easy on her, but her swordsmanship had now risen to a considerable level.
"Let's see objectively how far you've come, right here. If you even happen to win at the Sword Demon God's festival, well...."
In the meantime, considering Sharia's inclinations, especially what she experienced after coming here....
"For a week, I'll call you big sister."
Sharia's eyes, for an instant, sparkled with a red light.