Chapter 179: Prophecy(2)
Chapter 179: Prophecy(2)
A group of old men in black hoods had gathered, the atmosphere grave.
“The Hero is coming this way.”
“...Isn’t it too soon? I thought a force of that size would have been able to buy us more time.”
“If things had gone well, it might have even escalated into a war.”
The old man who had first brought up the Hero shook his head.
“A single strike... They say a single, massive strike of divine power wiped out their entire force.”
A murmur went through the old men. To eliminate thousands of ghouls in one blow.
That was an incredibly difficult feat.
Possessing that much divine power was a problem in itself, but hadn't they also scattered their forces specifically to drag things out?
This meant she had gathered them all together and annihilated them in one shot.
“Could there have been a mistake in the report? For the entire force to be wiped out in a single attack...”
“If that’s true, we have no chance of victory.”
“According to the report, everything was going according to plan at first... but the tide of battle turned completely after that adventurer arrived.”
“That adventurer again...”
“Thousands of troops annihilated in a single blow... It seems our usual strategy of overwhelming them with numbers won't work.”
“If not with numbers, then do we have anyone capable of defeating the Hero? Who will step forward? I’m open to recommendations.”
“...”
For the first time, silence fell over the meeting room.
No one could readily declare that they could defeat the Hero.
She was just that strong.
“Perhaps the only one who can stand against the Hero is her.”
The old men looked toward the Black Witch, lying in a glass tube.
They didn't doubt for a second that the situation would be reversed once the Black Witch awakened.
“We’re out of time. We may have to consider the worst-case scenario...”
“You! Surely you’re not suggesting we give up on her complete resurrection?”
“We must accomplish her resurrection, no matter what it takes!”
“We need a realistic plan, not just empty words of loyalty!”
The old men’s argument continued. They were being cornered, and they knew it.
The Hero was advancing relentlessly, as if she knew every single one of their secrets.
With no way to stop her advance, the old men were simply in a state of chaos.
Just then, as if to change the mood, one of the old men threw out a different topic.
It was a subject that had recently become as hot as the Hero herself.
“That adventurer. How much have we found out about him?”
“Ke—”
Just as the name Kerry was about to slip out, the old man next to him clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Are you mad? Don’t you dare speak that name so carelessly.”
Ever since the Black Witch had shown a violent reaction to Kerry’s name, the old men had grown afraid to even say it.
On the surface, it seemed they feared Kerry more than the Hero.
“My apologies... It was a mistake. In any case, I heard that adventurer gave us a hint about his origins.”
“He gave us a hint?”
The old man raised his middle finger.
“What is that finger supposed to mean?”
“They say it’s a common form of sign language where that adventurer grew up.”
“I’ve never seen such a gesture. He must have come from quite far away, then. Or perhaps he’s from some minority tribe.”
“Hmm...”
The old men each raised a middle finger, pondering it with grave expressions.
But there was no way they would find an answer.
The meeting showed no signs of progress.
There was no way to stop the Hero, and no way to discover Kerry’s origins. No answer could be found for anything.
As it was the organization’s most critical matter, no one spoke easily, but the old men all sensed it.
There was only one way.
Kerry stood before the party.
Lina and the others had slightly dazed looks on their faces.
It was all because of the woman standing next to Kerry.
“So, you’re saying... the Goddess has come to see me?”
Before Kerry could answer, the Goddess spoke with confidence.
“That is correct, Hero. My priestess, Tina, has traveled a long way to arrange a meeting between you and I.”
Standing beside her, Kerry added his own explanation of the Goddess’s position.
“To be precise, the Goddess was caught stalking me and is now making shameless excuses.”
“S-Stalking! Why would I, a goddess, ever do such a thing?”
“The reason isn’t my problem.”
“!”
The Goddess, suddenly branded a stalker, stood there with a look of utter bewilderment.
Whenever she got involved with Kerry, she seemed to accumulate humiliations she had never experienced in her entire life.
Just then, Natasha muttered as she looked at the Goddess.
“Seriously. Why is she stalking someone else’s husband? Does being a goddess mean you can just do that...?”
Though she mumbled in a small voice, she clearly meant for it to be heard. Nice one, Natasha.
It was best to give this shameless goddess a hard time.
“I told you, I wasn’t stalking him! Do you not know who I am? I am Elena!”
The name of the Goddess had lost its authority with the Hero’s party a long time ago.
“If you had business with the Hero, you could have just gone to Lina. Why were you following me?”
“Th-That’s because... I did not know where the Hero was!”
What a liar. You’ve been following us since we crossed the border. Nabi told me.
“Then you should have asked me directly where the Hero was, instead of hiding your identity and trying to run away.”
“...”
The Goddess was flustered.
She had never met a man—no, a human—who picked a fight with her over every little thing like this.
Her face flushing with embarrassment, Elena shouted.
“...Enough. Hero! Let us speak alone. I cannot possibly have a conversation with this man present. This is a very important matter.”
Right. I wasn't expecting an apology anyway.
Lina glanced at Kerry.
It was as if she wouldn’t meet with Elena if Kerry said no. That’s our Lina.
Elena bit her lip, looking vexed at the sight.
‘Elena is annoying... but she’s still a goddess.’
An important matter, she said.
We were on the verge of a decisive battle with those bastards. I didn't think we would lose, but it was always best to be cautious.
Only after Kerry nodded did Lina move to follow the Goddess.
Elena and Lina sat down to talk at a distance from the rest of the party.
“What do you think they’re talking about, husband?”
“Who knows. She may be a stalker, but she’s still a goddess. It probably wouldn’t hurt to at least hear her out.”
“A stalking goddess. It’s so shocking. It’s all because you’re too popular, husband. From now on, I’ll have to go with you even when you go to the market.”
“...”
Natasha was finding a strange excuse to go to the market with me.
The party was waiting for Lina and the Goddess to finish their conversation.
Not much time had passed before Lina’s voice rose.
Lina was angry. So angry that you could feel the murderous atmosphere even from a distance.
Victoria spoke with a serious expression.
“Lina is getting angry at the Goddess. Given that her opponent is a goddess, it’s not in Lina’s character to act like that... What on earth is going on?”
Victoria was right.
Given Lina’s straight-laced personality, she wouldn’t get angry no matter how rude the Goddess was.
In fact, although Lina and Elena didn’t get along, Lina had always maintained her etiquette toward the Goddess.
Just then, Lina, visible in the distance, shot up from her seat. Now she was shouting.
The birds in the forest took flight with a startled flutter at the sound of her voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous!!!”
I’d never seen Lina that angry before.
“You expect me to believe a prophecy like that right now?!”
Seriously, what kind of nonsense did the Goddess spew? I should go stop Lina.
The atmosphere was growing more and more hostile. Just as the party started to move, Lina was already on her way back.
“Lina!”
Kerry ran toward Lina to ask what had happened.
Just then, Lina’s eyes began to tremble. As if she’d seen someone she never should have seen again.
She wouldn’t have been that shocked even if a dead person had come back to life.
But she quickly bowed her head, hiding her face with her blonde hair.
Lina spoke in a trembling voice.
“I’m sorry, Kerry... For now... please let me be alone for now.”
“...”
Seeing Lina’s forlorn, retreating back, I couldn’t bring myself to stop her.
No. More than that, I was fucking pissed.
Because when I turned my head, I saw Elena sitting there nonchalantly, as if nothing had happened.
‘What kind of bullshit did you spew this time?’
I first calmed my excitement and politely asked the party.
“...Everyone. Could you give me a moment to speak with the Goddess?”
The party members who had followed me nodded and returned to their spots.
I wanted to avoid showing them this side of me if possible.
Kerry approached the Goddess, who was still sitting there with a prim expression.
“Hey.”
“...”
“Hey!”
“!”
Only then did the Goddess, who had been feigning composure, flinch and turn her head.
The Goddess had a trauma. A verbal assault she had never imagined she would hear as a deity.
The man who had delivered that assault was now radiating the same murderous aura as he had back then.
“W-What is it? Show some respect. I am the Goddess... Elena.”
“Are we really in a position to worry about etiquette? No. This isn’t the time for that.”
“...”
“What the hell did you say to Lina? What did you say that...”
...made a woman who never once complained, even after enduring the Great War in her past life and suffering from nightmares every night, have a complete mental breakdown!
I couldn’t say that. The fact that I knew Lina was a regressor was a secret.
“Tell me what you said. Unless you want to see me lose my shit again.”
At the part about him losing his shit, the Goddess’s pupils shook uncontrollably.
It was as if she was reliving the trauma of that day.
“...”
Under the pressure of her trauma seemingly about to repeat itself, the Goddess spoke in a voice that was barely a whisper.
“As a goddess, I merely relayed a prophecy. That is all.”
“A prophecy? What kind of prophecy?”
“...”
“You’re not going to tell me? You can’t tell me, is that it? Well, isn’t this just fucking insulting? And you never told me that Lina was Elpis’s Hero, either, did you?”
The goddess next door grants regressions, but our goddess just trolls us. I’m so fucking pissed. Seriously.
“Let me ask you one thing. What exactly am I to you?”
“...”
“Can’t answer that either? Fine. Let’s not even talk about it. I wasn’t expecting anything. Just tell me what the prophecy was. It’s something I’ll find out anyway when I ask Lina, right?”
“...I told the Hero that she must not kill the Black Witch.”
“To stop the so-called Black Witch, we’ve gone through all this trouble, and now you’re saying we can’t kill her?”
It was enough to make anyone angry.
But it didn’t feel like it was enough to provoke such a violent reaction from Lina.
Above all, the way Lina had looked at Kerry was not normal.
‘It felt like it had something to do with me.’
“Even I cannot perfectly prophesize all that is to come. But I can declare this one thing.”
“...”
“If the Black Witch is killed... this world will be destroyed. This is the fragment I saw within the vortex of fate.”
I didn’t know if she was telling the truth or lying.
But I had a feeling there was still something the Goddess wasn’t telling me.
“I feel like there’s something you’re still not telling me.”
“There is not.”
“It would be in your best interest to stop hiding things and tell me the truth. If I ask Lina and her story is even a little different, then... you know my personality, right?”
“...”
The Goddess remained silent.
Just as I was about to unload another volley of insults, figuring she hadn't learned her lesson, Tina’s eyes changed.
“Um... Sir Kerry...”
“...Yes. You’re Tina, right?”
“...Yes.”
The bitch of a goddess had fled on her own.