Chapter 98

Chapter Intermission Gods with Time to Kill Gods’ Games We Play This world could be cruel to humans. Roughly 2 percent: that was the surface area of the continent covered by every human city combined. The rest was terra incognita, with plains roamed by massive, primordial creatures called Rexes and scorching deserts where the heat would claim a human life in less than an hour. But that’s why humans explore and blaze new trails. The Arises people received from the gods allowed them to carve a path through the wilds—through its poisonous swamps, its burning volcanic regions, and its deadly jungles. Yet…nature, red in tooth and claw, stood against the human challenge like a wall. “Everybody, fall back!” “We can’t, Captain! The Rexes! They’ve got us surrounded!” In the midst of the Grashala-Prus, the storm peaks, was a team of pioneers making their way along sheer cliffs no human had ever set foot on before. They had been caught in a storm and were attempting to evacuate—but a herd of terrible Rexes was waiting for them on what would have been their way home. “Mage unit, fire! Don’t let that big one get close!” “W-we’re trying, sir! But…we can’t hit it!” The carnivorous beasts could dodge magic. Each time the exploration team came into these mountains, they learned something—but so did the Rexes. Fireballs, icicles, lightning bolts—it didn’t matter. Each one sliced through the air, missing the Rex, which could jump more powerfully than any horse. “That’s impossible!” “I-it’s almost on us—eeeyaaarrghhh!” There was a terrible scream. The Rex leaped at the unit, its great mouth open wide and glistening… …until it was plucked right off the ground. Instead of landing on the humans, it simply floated there, held as easily as one might hold a kitten. Grasped by the scruff of its neck, it kicked uselessly in the air. “Wha—?” “What…the heck…is going on?” As the exploratory team looked on, astonished, the Rex was flung against the side of the cliff. Toss! Like a piece of trash. The moment the first Rex had been released, another one was picked up and flung aside. The horde that had surrounded the humans were all slammed against the cliff-side in no time at all. “This…can’t be happening,” said one woman, so amazed that she swayed on her feet and had to sit down. She was looking at a god. One any former apostle would have come across in the Arcane Court database at least once. It was a giant, as tall as a high-rise building and the color of molten lava. The Giant God Titan, “the Sage of the Earth,” was looking down at them. “Titan?!” somebody cried. “We’re not in Elements! Wh-what’s a god doing in the human world?!” The deity didn’t move, only looked down at the humans at its feet. “Hey, um…,” someone said. “……” Titan was silent for a long moment. And then, suddenly, it exploded. Pieces of molten rock that composed its body inflated and then popped like balloons, sending thousands upon thousands of shards everywhere. “The hell?!” “Everyone hit the dirt!” Chunks of rock came raining down, and the team was about to scatter in every direction to save themselves from getting crushed—until they heard a voice. “Just a sec, there!” The voice was powerful, cheerful, and coming from a wild-looking woman with rock for skin who stood before them. “Sorry to startle you. I just wanted to ask you something.” Her hair—which was the color of molten lava—was tied back behind her. She was easily more than 180 centimeters tall and dressed in a garish kimono, opened boldly at the chest to reveal exactly how fine her body was. She tried to beckon the humans over, but they just blinked at her. “Hmm? Still shocked? Oh! Sorry. This is my first time doing a spiritual body.” “Spiritual body?!” Everyone on the expedition looked at her in amazement. Sure, they might have had an inkling, but now they knew: This woman with hair the same color as the Giant God was, in fact, Titan itself. “P-please, pardon us. I’m Bach, leader of this expeditionary team!” coughed a strapping young man. “You must be Lady Titan…” “Oh? Yes, exactly! So you do know me!” “Yes! Yes, of course! Thank you so much for saving us!” “Hmm?” “…Huh?” “Was there some kind of problem?” “Er… I mean, we… We were being attacked by a horde of Rexes. Didn’t you come to save us?” “Oh… I guess I see?” The Giant God Titan nodded with a beatific look on her face. “I thought for sure you were playing a game of tag.” “………” The humans were all silent. “I felt bad breaking up your game, but I guess all’s well that ends well!” “Er… Right…” They were looking at the same situation, but on a completely different scale. What had been a life-or-death race away from the Rexes for the humans looked like a simple game of tag to a god. “By the way, I want to ask you something,” Titan said. “Y-yes, ma’am?! What is it?” They certainly hadn’t expected a god to have a question for them. What exalted riddle might she pose? The entire team gulped nervously. Titan took something out of her sleeve—a hand-drawn map with a star marking a particular city. She pointed to it. “Do you know where the Sacred Spring City of Mal-ra is?” “M-Mal-ra, ma’am?” “Yeah! I wanted to do some sightseeing around the human world and heard that Mal-ra is pretty developed and has some interesting humans.” “The Sacred Spring City of Mal-ra…” “Uh-huh?” “……The Sacred Spring City of Mal-ra is……” Bach, the captain of the expedition, pointed hesitantly toward the mountains. “It’s over there.” “Oh? You mean on the other side of the mountains.” “No. On the other side of the mountains, through the densest, darkest forest, across the ocean, and then beyond a vast desert. That’s where Mal-ra is.” “Huh?!” Titan’s jaw dropped. “But that’s just silly. I followed the map!” “Respectfully, Lady Titan…you had the map upside down. You’ve been going the wrong way.” “Sorry to bother you!” Titan said as she spun around. With godlike speed (it was only natural) and immense power, she sprang up the sheer cliffs (so far untouched by human feet) in just a few steps, and in the blink of an eye the god had vanished from sight.