Chapter 157

CHAPTER 1 The Divine Cup I find myself in Great Goddess Ishtar’s room within the sanctuary of the unified spirit world. She gently smiles at me with her kind, wrinkled face. “Ristarte, allow me to congratulate you on saving the parallel world of Kwarna.” “It was nothing! It was only a D-ranked world, after all.” “Even so, what you are doing is quite impressive. You have saved countless parallel worlds one after another in a very short period of time.” After a bashful chuckle, I ask: “So, um… Any news on Mersais?” “I have been keeping an eye out for her ever since your incident, but she still hasn’t made a move. I believe you have nothing to worry about.” “Y-yeah, I guess you’re right…” After a brief bow, I retire from Great Goddess Ishtar’s room. While walking through the sanctuary, I think back to that day. …Both the Hero Seiya Ryuuguuin and I were forced to face an extremely cruel reality when we saved the parallel world Ixphoria, for it was the world Seiya was unable to save once before, as well as my home before I was reincarnated as a goddess. The Demon Lord brought ruin to Ixphoria, transforming it into a world of monsters. But even so, Seiya, who turned his regrets of his old reckless self into extreme cautiousness, thoroughly prepared and defeated every enemy he encountered. However, during the final battle against the Demon Lord, we learned that the killing machine Kiriko possessed the soul of our lost child, and that if the Demon Lord died, she would perish as well. Nevertheless, Seiya defeated him, and we saved Ixphoria. The lesson learned was no matter how much you prepare and no matter how careful you are, some things simply cannot be saved. After the Supreme Deity, Brahma, sent Seiya back to his world against his will, I spent the next few days on pins and needles because of Seiya’s warning. We learned that there was a fallen goddess who was cast out of the spirit world, supposedly ruling Ixphoria from the shadows: the Goddess of Atrocity, Mersais. I was on edge, worrying that each day would be the one when she would finally make her move. But no matter how many days went by, there were no signs of her arrival, and the spirit world was as peaceful as ever. When I actually stopped to think about it, I realized that Brahma had a point. The spirit world has deities such as Ishtar, who can see into the future; the Goddess of Destruction, Valkyrie; and even Chronoa, who can manipulate time. I can’t imagine how anyone could get past such an ironclad defense. My anxiety faded over time, and today, I’ve been given a mission to save a parallel world. Now that I’m a high-ranking goddess, I can choose whether or not I want to accept such a mission, but after some hesitation, I decide to do it. After all, my mind has been plagued with a distrust for Brahma along with a sense of loss over Kiriko. Because my mind has been a roiling sea of troublesome thoughts, I figure the best way to distract myself would be with work. Plus… “Ristarte, the God of Creation, Brahma, asked me to give this to you.” “Th-this is…!” The messenger of the innermost plane hands me a summoning list with Seiya’s name on it. I can see Seiya again! “I am going to save this new parallel world no matter what it takes!” After accepting the mission, I stare fixedly at Seiya’s status when… “Huh…?” I notice something aggravating written in the remarks column at the bottom of the list. You are permitted to summon your Hero with his previous memories, but only to save S-ranked worlds or higher. “Wh-wh-what the hell?!” The world I said I would save was an E-ranked world, so I can’t summon Seiya. It’s beyond infuriating. I feel like Brahma played me, but it’s too late to do anything about it. Therefore, I reluctantly summon some run-of-the-mill Hero and save the world I was assigned. …After that, I continue to take on a few missions to save other parallel worlds, but each one of them is ranked D or lower. I beg Ishtar for an S-ranked world or higher, but there aren’t that many extremely high-level worlds to begin with. Including Kwarna, I end up saving three without getting the chance to see Seiya even once. I leave the sanctuary and head to the café run by the Divine Blade, Cerceus. The usual customers are sitting at the garden table outside. “Welcome back! You sure have been working hard, Rista!” “Y-you saved a-another parallel world? A-amazing.” The Goddess of the Seal, Ariadoa, who is like an older sister to me, and the Goddess of War, Adenela, who isn’t the most confident speaker, greet me as I approach them. I take a seat in the chair they offer me and bashfully grin. “Ha-ha-ha. Yeah, I just can’t sit still lately.” I suddenly hear a deep voice coming from behind me. “Ever since you became a high-ranking goddess, you’re like a completely different person.” Standing behind me is Cerceus, handing me a cup of tea. Despite his extremely muscular appearance, he is a timid deity, and although he is the God of Swords, he is currently more focused on running his café than studying the blade… Yeah, I know. It sounds like a bad joke. I look up at him with an irked expression. “Now that I think about it, why aren’t you summoning Heroes?” “Because baking cakes is way more fun!” I heave an incredulous sigh at his resolute reply. “I wonder sometimes how you were able to reincarnate as a god.” “Obviously, I must have been a master of martial arts who did countless good deeds in his past life!” His words are dripping with confidence, but Aria, Adenela, and I still have our doubts. “I-it is s-strange. I-in what scenario would g-garbage like Cerceus attain g-godhood?” “…?! Could you not refer to me as garbage?! Especially when you’re drinking tea at my café!” “Hey, um…Aria? There are only two ways for humans to reincarnate as deities, right? They either get recognized for the great deeds done in their past life or they receive an endorsement from a high-ranking deity.” Incidentally, I apparently became a goddess thanks to Aria’s glowing recommendation. Aria places her teacup on the table and turns her attention to me. “Actually, there is one other way for humans to become deities.” “What?! Really? How?” “The Divine Cup.” “Th-the Divine Cup… N-now that you m-mention it, it’s r-right around the corner, h-huh?” Adenela mutters before looking at Cerceus with reproach. “B-but there’s no way th-this idiot was a H-Hero and won th-the Divine Cup when he w-was a human. L-looks like Cerceus’s o-origin is s-still a mystery.” “Ack…!” Cerceus grunts. His backstory aside, I’ve had a question mark over my head for some time now. “Hey, um… What’s this ‘Divine Cup’?” Cerceus immediately looks at me like I’m an idiot. “Rista, you seriously don’t know what the Divine Cup is?” “W-well, excuse me!” “Rista was only reborn around a hundred years ago, so it’s no surprise that she doesn’t know. The Divine Cup is held once every thousand years in the spirit world. It’s a tournament where Heroes who have saved parallel worlds of extreme difficulty can make a name for themselves and battle for the right to become a deity.” “Whoa. I had no idea something like that even existed!” In short, the Hero that emerges victorious can become a god. Cerceus amusingly says: “It’s basically just an event for deities to have some fun while searching for the strongest Hero of the past one thousand years!” The strongest Hero of the past millennium… Well, the Cup has my attention now. Aria smiles at me. “But you know how greatly the flow of time in the spirit world differs from that of the human realm. Though here the event takes place once every thousand years, that’s equal to once every ten years there. Incidentally, only those who have saved an A-ranked parallel world or higher are eligible to participate, and they must wish to reincarnate as a deity after death. Also, Heroes who participate in the Divine Cup are allowed to keep their memories and attributes when they are summoned.” Adenela pokes Aria with her elbow. “A-Aria, your H-Hero’s going to p-participate, right?” “Yes, she is already signed up for next week’s Cup.” “Wait! Seriously?!” I suddenly realize something as I scream. “H-hold on! Doesn’t this mean I can summon Seiya, too?! I mean, we did save two worlds already that were both S-rank or higher! He should be eligible!” I’ll finally be reunited with Seiya! My heart flutters as I pull out the Hero summoning list. “Wh-whaaaaaat?!” As if the list had been listening to our conversation, I find a new rule written under Seiya’s name. Seiya Ryuuguuin shall not be permitted to participate in the Divine Cup. Reason: Though he meets the requirements, he has no intention of becoming a deity. “Noooooo!” I sigh deeply in disappointment. B-but, well, he did turn Brahma down when he was offered the opportunity to become a god. Nevertheless, I couldn’t mask my frustration. “Sigh… I can’t believe someone as talented as Seiya isn’t going to be able to participate in a tournament to decide the strongest Hero…” Adenela suddenly nods. “S-Seiya would have d-definitely won.” “Right?! He would have smoked the competition!” It happens right as I raise my voice. Squish, squish, squish. I suddenly feel an odd sensation on my chest. “…Hm?” When I lower my gaze, I notice someone’s hands latching onto my breasts from behind! “Eeeeeeeeek!” I turn my head to see a goddess, completely naked save the chains covering her crucial bits. The Goddess of Destruction, Valkyrie, curls her lips into a wicked grin as she massages my chest. “‘He would have smoked the competition,’ huh? I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Ristarte. Seiya Ryuuguuin is an amazing Hero, true. In fact, he’s such a catch that I’m pissed you’re his goddess and not me. But listen, there are three thousand other worlds out there.” “…?! That’s great! Now do you think you could stop feeling me up?!” I struggle and thrash about until I manage to get the Goddess of Destruction’s hands off me. Despite my disheveled dress and panting, Valkyrie continues talking like nothing happened. “There are Heroes with stats higher than Seiya’s. For example…him.” Huh…? Valkyrie juts her chin to the side, pointing at a man wearing warrior-like attire who seems to have appeared out of nowhere. He is wearing silvery white plate armor and has short, chestnut-colored hair, blue eyes, and a few scars carved into his face. “This is one of the Heroes I summoned. Allow me to introduce you. This is Ethan Schiffer. Job: battle master. He’s the strongest Hero I’ve seen in the last decade in the human world—in other words, the last millennium in the spirit world.” The Hero waves at us and smiles. “Ko’nichiwa, everybody-san.” …?! Why is he speaking in broken Japanese?! “Valkyrie! This Hero isn’t Japanese, is he?” The parallel world fad is extremely popular in Earth’s Asia right now, so it has become pretty common among deities to summon Japanese people, since they’re quick to catch on. Valkyrie cheerfully guffaws. “Ethan lives in Japan, so when I summoned him, it didn’t take him long to piece together the situation.” “Hai! I work on a military base in the Kanto area.” He works on a military base?! Does that mean he’s a soldier?! H-he must really be tough! Valkyrie confidently grins. “Ristarte, I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll let you see Ethan’s stats. Use Scan on him.” “O-okay!” I squint my eyes while using Scan on Valkyrie’s Hero. What the…?! He’s not even in Berserk Mode, and his attack is already over 500,000?! But I’m even more surprised when I see his skill list. Techniques of Destruction “H-he can even use your Techniques of Destruction?!” “After teaching Seiya, I thought maybe Ethan could learn them, too. So when I called him over and tried to teach him, he ended up mastering them. He can do everything but Gate of Valhalla now.” He mastered almost all of Valkyrie’s unique and secret moves?! I thought Seiya was the only human who could do that! Valkyrie places a hand on the Hero’s shoulder. “If I were to give him a title, I’d call him the Hero of Destruction or something.” “Demo Valkyrie-san, that’d make me sound like a bad guy!” All of a sudden, Aria timidly asks Valkyrie: “So does that mean this Hero is going to be participating in the Divine Cup?” “Yep. Your Hero’s gonna be in the tournament, too, right, Aria?” “Y-yes, she plans on participating as well!” “I hate to break it to you, but you’re wasting your time. There’s no one who can beat my Hero.” Valkyrie grabs Ethan and wraps her arms around him just like she used to do to Seiya. “The winner’s gonna be my Hero of Destruction—Ethan Schiffer.” “Hai! I am going to win and become a god one day!” “Ha-ha-ha! That’s the spirit! Now, let’s start training!” Aria trembles as she watches Valkyrie walk away with Ethan. “Th-there’s no time to waste! I have to summon my Hero and start training!” “But Aria, does she really have a chance against Valkyrie’s Hero? You saw his stats!” “The person I plan on summoning specializes in magic! I’m going to show everyone that a true Hero should be someone who can do more than physical attacks!” I watch in muted amazement as Aria rushes off to the Summoning Chamber in the sanctuary, her large breasts bouncing with every step. “I-I’ve never seen Aria so fired up!” Cerceus crosses his arms and says: “I don’t blame her. It is a huge honor for a deity to have their Hero win the prestigious Divine Cup.” “…Why do I get the feeling that you know more about this tournament than you’re letting on?” “Ha-ha-ha! You can tell? I’m actually a huge Divine Cup buff. I can even recite the name of every Hero who has ever participated! I’ve used crystal balls to watch past games multiple times, even!” “Seriously?! Then why don’t you summon any Heroes if you like it so much?!” “I like to watch, but I don’t like to participate.” I regard Cerceus with disdain for admitting it so easily. “Sigh… I know people like you—armchair MMA ‘masters’ who think they know how to fight just because they watch it every now and then.” “…?! How dare you talk to me, the Divine Blade, like that!” “A-anyway, heh-heh-heh-heh-heh… The Hero of Destruction, huh? H-he seemed really easygoing, b-but that was o-one impressive human. I-I can’t wait for th-the tournament next week.” While watching Adenela snicker to herself, I begin to daydream. A Hero that even surpasses Seiya… That does pique my interest. I wonder what kind of battle this is going to be. And just like that, the gears to my first Divine Cup begin to turn.