I bit my lip without realizing it.

With a sigh, Mime spoke.

“Even after ascending to the seat of the celestial god, when it comes to commanding spirits, he truly shows himself as a former candidate for Spirit King.”

“Mime.”

“Adin has already given an order to all the spirits of the continent, to pour rain so great it could submerge the land.”

“That’s impossible. I was also a candidate for Spirit King, but there’s no way to issue a command to every spirit across the continent at once.”

Mime answered in a heavy tone.

“Yes, that’s true. If it were the original Adin, it would have been impossible.”

“The original Adin?”

“I mean Adin back when he was still human.”

“……!”

“He used the power of the celestial god to deliver his voice to every water spirit on the continent.”

So he fused his own ability as a Spirit King candidate with divine power.

Isn’t that cheating?

Lisel spoke urgently.

“I-I will send them back. With Xenia and Mime’s help, I can travel across the continent and back in just a few hours, right?”

“……”

“I will fly all over, dismissing the water spirits as I go.”

“It’s impossible. Forgive me for saying so, but they will prioritize Adin’s command over yours, Lady Lisel.”

Neril cut in.

“No, that’s not true. Lisel overturned Adin’s order when he commanded the spirits to disappear, remember?”

“Everyone has their specialty.”

“What do you mean?”

“When Adin issued commands, it was always fight, destroy, strike down… sometimes even kill. That was his expertise. But Lady Lisel…”

Lisel lowered her head.

She must know she couldn’t outdo Adin when it came to such violent commands.

Mime continued.

“The spirit tongue used to control spirits carries power in itself. The more it’s spoken, the more weight each word has.”

“So Lisel can’t overturn the order Adin gave the water spirits?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, thinking about it, it makes sense. Adin knows we have Lisel. Yet if he still chose to cause a flood with spirits, it means he is confident not even Lisel can stop him.”

All the while, the rain kept pouring down on us.

The drumming on the ground made even conversation difficult.

In the end, Xenia simply raised a barrier spell to shield us.

Shaking my head dry, I said to Trail,

“Show me a secret. Something related to solving this.”

[Between whom and whom?]

“Not Velosian, he’s out of the question… the secret between Adin and Kaeld. Velosian took Kaeld, so where could he have taken him? Surely not the special room.”

[I see. The starting point, then.]

If I was lucky, I might get a useful hint.

Trail soon activated the Eye of Omniscience.

But…

Error. ‘The secret between Adin Press and Kaeld Wake.’ This is classified as S-grade.

Access requires Eye of Omniscience level 5.

So it’s impossible.

Does that mean the secret I seek is just that well-hidden?

“This is troublesome. Even Bion’s ability can’t give us a hint.”

“Should we head for the starting point as originally planned?”

“For now, yes. Nothing else comes to mind.”

“Understood. Agril!”

Soon Agril descended, breaking through the clouds.

We quickly climbed onto his back.

With Mime’s push, he carried us at lightning speed.

But instinct told me this wasn’t the best choice.

Velosian would be guarding the starting point.

If he had masterminded this operation, he surely anticipated we would head there.

The fact he still moved forward with the plan meant he was confident.

[Doesn’t matter. He’s already meat in your jaws.]

“That’s true… urgh.”

[This downpour is getting worse. In a few days, lowlands will be submerged.]

He was right.

There would be countless refugees and deaths.

Regardless of reputation or anything else, this was something I had to face myself.

I would stop it. No matter what.

We reached the starting point in just two hours.

On the way, we saw the whole continent covered in thick storm clouds.

If we hadn’t flown above them, Agril would have suffered greatly.

But at the starting point, the weather was unnaturally clear.

We landed on the ground.

Just as I was about to ask Lisel for the horn…

Step.

Footsteps sounded behind us.

Startled, I turned. A familiar face. Updates are released by novel★fire.net

“Velosian.”

“Have you been well?”

“It hasn’t been that long since we last met. And we are not close enough for pleasantries.”

“So prickly.”

He folded his arms.

“Still, I’m surprised. You actually came here.”

“What’s so surprising about that?”

“I thought someone as clever as you would realize quickly…”

“……”

“That there’s no point in coming here.”

Offense snarled, cutting in.

“Why not? You have already been defeated once by Mide.”

“That’s true.”

“Then there is nothing stopping us from doing it again. The continent is about to be submerged. We will kill you once more and then find Adin to force him to stop the rain.”

Velosian shook his head.

“I have hidden Adin and Kaeld well. You will never find them.”

“……”

“And even if you did, it wouldn’t matter. Until this ends, I will guard the starting point.”

“……”

“I have already prepared hundreds of vessels for my body on this land. Kill me as many times as you like, I will be back instantly.”

Vessels for his body.

That didn’t surprise me much.

The fact he was standing here whole, despite having already been reduced to meat, said as much.

He went on leisurely.

“You can kill me, but can you truly do so hundreds of times in a row? Can you cut through me to reach Adin and threaten him?”

“……”

“Stop wasting both of our time. Give up.”

A silence fell.

Then I asked,

“What is Adin doing now?”

“He is using divine power to continue channelling his commands to the spirits.”

“……”

“To drench the continent until it’s submerged, the water spirits have to suffer greatly. To keep them from slacking, he must continuously drive them. It’s grueling work, so don’t interfere.”

I paused to think for a moment.

An idea came to me. A good one.

But I kept my expression calm and changed the subject.

“Are you really fine with this? What if humanity ends up extinct?”

“……”

“What if there isn’t a single human left to worship Kaeld as a hero, and they all drown? Then there would be no source to forge the lies that fuels Idria’s power.”

“……”

“I thought you were helping Idria. Or was it that you secretly wanted to ruin her plans?”

At my question, Velosian lowered his head.

His shoulders began to shake slightly.

That had to be laughter, not tears.

And he wouldn’t cry in front of me anyway…

“Ke-keh. Ahahaha!”

“What are you laughing at?”

“Come on, Mide. The moment all of humanity brands you as a fake hero, Adin will stop. There will be no mass extinction.”

“What?”

“Do you really think humans, staring death in the face, would still cling to their faith in you? Don’t tell me you actually believe that.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but Velosian spoke first.

“Not a chance. If anything, I worry it might end too soon and be boring.”

“……”

“No matter how much they act high and mighty, in the end they are human. There are very few things they would stake their lives to protect, and the title of hero isn’t one of them.”

“You bastard.”

“Mide, you seem to think too highly of humans. Well, I suppose that’s only natural since you’re of the same species. Understandable.”

But since I was of another species, I will look down on them.

That was the meaning behind his words.

Clap.

Velosian clapped his hands together.

“Now then, please be on your way. It’s time for my nap.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then we will fight. I will likely die, and then resurrect in a new body.”

“……”

“In the end, that will solve nothing except venting your anger. You know that as well as I do.”

Step.

He turned his body.

Boldly showing us his back.

Neril glanced at me and asked,

“Should I attack? At least cut that tongue of his out?”

“Forget it.”

“Mide.”

“At least now we know threatening Adin won’t work. If nothing else, that’s a result.”

“……”

“Let’s go back. We can’t plan with him watching.”

Everyone looked reluctant.

I gazed at my companions quietly.

We have been together long enough. They should recognize the look on my face by now.

“……!”

As expected, their eyes lit up.

They glanced at each other and nodded slightly.

[What? What kind of face are you making?]

‘You didn’t notice? That’s disappointing.”’

[My perspective is just different from the others, that’s all.]

‘It’s nothing. Just the line I always use.’

I had thought of a good plan.

In truth, the answer had been there from the start.

Mime had said Adin mixed the divine power of the Celestial God with spirit tongue to command all the spirits to drench the continent in rain.

And Velosian had just confirmed it again.

So the method to stop the rain naturally presented itself.

We held an emergency meeting atop Agril’s back.

“Our destination is the capital. How long will it take?”

“The capital? Uh… about thirty minutes.”

“Then take us straight there.”

“Ah, yes. Agril!”

As Xenia made the request of Agril, Neril asked,

“The capital? Why there?”

“Adin is continuously giving commands to the spirits.”

“Right.”

“That’s the key. If he loses the power to give orders to all the continent’s spirits at once, then we win.”

“……?”

“Don’t you see? He just needs to not be a celestial god anymore.”

Everyone fell silent.

Slowly, Adwin raised his hand.

“I get the sentence, but… how do we drag him down from godhood?”

“His ascension must have been built on humanity’s faith.”

“That was our guess, yes.”

“Then all we need is for the continent to renounce the celestial god.”

“No, but how?”

“We will go to the capital and meet the emperor. With imperial authority, he can issue orders to every lord across the continent.”

Good thing I had built a strong relationship with the empire’s ruler.

My conduct when I saved Serein’s parents had paid off.

[You call threatening him with a sword ‘conduct’?]

‘Whatever. He believes I’m the true hero now. That’s enough.’

At that, Offense spoke.

“You don’t mean… you will order the lords to command their subjects to renounce the celestial god?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s insane. There’s no way that will work.”

Not just Offense, everyone looked doubtful.

Serein opened her mouth.

“Honestly, I fully support the direction of the plan. It even indirectly fulfils my wish to abolish the priesthood.”

“That has nothing to do with it.”

“Just saying. But Offense is right. It won’t get through.”

She clicked her tongue with regret.

“We are the only ones who know that Adin is human.”

“……”

“Since I never had much faith to begin with, as a child I used to cautiously ask others, does the celestial god really exist? Does he really love us?”

Her face darkened.

“The responses were shock, scolding, contempt, ridicule… all kinds. But summed up, it was basically ‘are you insane?’ That eventually led to abuse from my parents.”

“Serein…”

Lisel took her hand.

Serein gave a small laugh as if brushing it off.

“Mide. My story is exactly what the celestial god means to the people of this continent. Not even the words of the Hero could break that belief.”

“But I will.”

“……”

“And I will make sure it does.”

Everyone tilted their heads.

Adwin asked,

“You mean you will do it yourself? Surely not…”

“Yes.”

I cleared my throat.

“I will give a speech to the entire continent.”

Support on Patreon

Rate on NovelUpdates