Chapter 161

CHAPTER 4 In a Twisted World I wonder how much time has passed since then. Perhaps only a few seconds. Perhaps countless hours. The death of the Hero of Destruction, and the Goddess of Warfare, Zet’s attack, and…the Goddess of Atrocity, Mersais… What happened to Ishtar, Aria, and the spirit world itself? What’s going to happen to me? So many frightening things have happened, enough to plummet someone into the depths of despair. I seek help as my consciousness wanders the abyss. While I am a goddess, there is still one name that finds its way to the forefront of my mind every time I am in trouble. It isn’t the name of any deity but, rather, the name of the man I love. Seiya…! Help! But no matter how many times I scream his name in my heart, there is no reply. I feel a warmth instead. A burly chest touches my face as a familiar scent tickles my nose. S-Seiya?! It’s Seiya! It has to be! He’s always there for me when I’m in trouble! I squeeze him tightly in my arms and open my eyes. “Seiya!!” However, the person in front of me isn’t Seiya but a muscular man with a scraggly beard and rosy red cheeks. “Come on, Rista. Stop hugging me like that. You’re making me blush.” “…?! Get off me!” “Whoa! Ouch!” I shove Cerceus away with all my might, then curl into a ball. “Bleeeh!!” “What is wrong with you?! You’re the one who hugged me, and now you’re gagging?!” “Hold on… I seriously threw up a little…” “…?! You’re actually vomiting?! How rude can you be?!” I lightly shake my head amid Cerceus’s cries. I’m such an idiot. Why would Seiya be here when I never even summoned him? Wait… Where am I? After wiping the corners of my mouth, I survey the area in muted amazement. All I can see is an endless wasteland. Withered grass and cracked stones litter the fine sand. It’s unlike any natural desert, though. It looks more like there was an explosion here long, long ago. I can even see human bones scattered about in the distance. “Wh-what is this eerie place?! Cerceus!” “I don’t know, but it’s clearly not the spirit world.” He replies in a surprisingly composed tone, so I turn around…only to find his legs trembling as he hugs himself. “A malevolent aura suffocates this place. I’m scared… Rista, can I hold your hand?” “No! Hold your own hand!” “What would be the point in that?! You’re one coldhearted goddess, you know that?!” “More importantly, where’s Aria? Where’s Adenela? What happened to the other deities?” “You were the only one nearby when I woke up. We might be the only ones who were sent to this bizarre place.” “What…?!” I’m at a loss for words, but Cerceus speaks as if he were trying to cheer himself up. “Don’t let it get you down! I mean, at least we’re okay! And—” “No. No, Cerceus, that’s not it. I’d seriously rather be dead than be alone with you.” “Are you s—?! Give me a break already!” “Anyway, let’s go back to the spirit world!” “G-good idea. Rista, open a gate.” “Wait. Can you not create gates?” “No, I’ve never tried. I don’t even know how to.” “Sigh…” Fed up with Mr. Beach Muscles, I chant the spell to create a gate to the spirit world, then gently begin to open it as my heart pounds. “Hm? What’s wrong?” “Give me a second.” In Ixphoria, spell stones would create white walls behind gates to prevent us from returning to the spirit world, so I had a feeling we wouldn’t be able to safely return this time, either, but to my surprise, there’s no wall behind the gate. “Thank goodness! It looks like we can go home!” Relieved, I walk through the gate with Cerceus, but the moment we reach the other side, his eyes snap open wide. “Hey, Rista… Are you sure this is the spirit world? Something doesn’t seem right.” I connected the gate to the spirit world’s plaza like I always do, but the area is covered in a deep fog, making it hard to see anything. “What in the world is this fog?” “This was probably Mersais’s doing… Let’s look for someone and ask them what happened!” Cerceus and I slowly walk through the dense fog for a while, hardly able to see, until Cerceus eventually creases his eyes. “There’s someone over there.” I see the back of a white-robed deity walking away. I sense no malice, nor does it seem to be Mersais or a devil. Cerceus and I approach the deity. “Um… Excuse me! Is Mersais—no. Is the spirit world okay?!” “…‘Spirit world’?” They reply in an unusually high voice before slowly turning around, and immediately, I almost faint. Because their face is hollow! It’s nothing more than a large, pitch-black hole! ““Eek!”” We naturally scream. Laughter then suddenly echoes from the void. “Hyah-ha-ha-ha-ha! This is the underworld.” “Th-the underworld?!” As the mysterious individual approaches us, I step back and yell: “O-oh, okay! Thanks for your help!” Cerceus and I immediately sprint through the dense fog as fast as we can, retracing our steps for a good while until we stop to talk. Cerceus furiously yells: “I told you this wasn’t the spirit world!” “B-but it doesn’t make any sense! I’ve never messed up before! Not even once!” “But she said this was the ‘underworld’! Why did the gate take us here?!” “I don’t know… Wait! I hear something…” Immediately, the dense fog is cut through, and the hollow-faced individual appears before us! “Whoa?! She came after us?!” “Hyah-ha-ha-ha-ha! Divine aura, divine aura! I feel it, I feel it, I feel it, I feel it, I feel it.” She approaches Cerceus while repeating those words. “What?! W-wait, um… I-is there something y-you need from little ol’ me?!” The mysterious person draws her face closer to “little ol’ Cerceus,” and a long tongue emerges from the hole! “Drool… Yum! Gods are so yummyyyyyy!” …Lick. “…?! E-eeeeeeeeek!!” Cerceus screams, then bolts off like lightning, so I panic and chase after him. “W-wait!” “You gotta be kidding me! She’s going to eat me! Rista, the gate! The gaaaaaate!” “Wh-where do you want to go?!” “Anywhere! Anywhere but here!” After promptly opening a gate, Cerceus and I leap inside. On the other side, we once again find ourselves in a wasteland. We returned to the world we were in earlier. “I-I thought she was going to swallow me whole…!” Cerceus grabs some of the fine sand at his feet and begins wiping off the sticky goo on his face and arms. “Hey, Cerceus? What is the underworld, exactly?” “Ishtar told me about it once long ago. It’s apparently a world that exists between the spirit world and the malevolent realm of demons. I don’t know the specifics, though.” “I wonder why the gate connected us to the underworld, though…” I suddenly recall Mersais saying that the history of the spirit world had come to an end. “I-I’m going to open another gate!” I create another gate to the spirit world in order to dispel the bad feeling in my gut. But when I gently open it, it’s nothing but a thick fog and… “Drool… Slurp…” “…?! She’s still here!” Hearing the creature lick its lips, I immediately close the gate. Like hell I’m gonna let it lick my face like it did Cerceus’s! If we can’t go to the spirit world, then how about my hometown from when I was human? I try to open a gate to Ixphoria, but I can’t. It appears the underworld and this wasteland are our only options. “Sigh… What are we going to do?” As I worry over our next move, Cerceus suddenly calls out to me from behind. “Hey, Rista. Where are you going? You’re walking pretty fast.” That’s when I finally realize it. I’m unconsciously walking in a certain direction while thinking. It’s a strange feeling, really. “What the…?” I was so startled when I first woke up that I didn’t realize it, but after thinking about it for a few moments, I start to feel like I’ve been here before. “I’m pretty sure…there’s a town up ahead…” “What makes you say that?” I don’t know how to explain it. It’s just a feeling. I push forward, trudging through the sand. Cerceus creases his eyes and just barely notices the silhouette of a town off in the distance. “Oh! You were right, Rista!” Even I’m surprised by that, but I rush over, only to be disappointed. It’s nothing more than a ghost town with run-down shops and dilapidated houses. Cerceus picks up a decaying sign at his feet and mutters: “A town sign? It says, ‘Edona Village.’” Hm? Edona… Edona… I feel like I’ve heard the name before… “R-Rista! Someone’s coming!” Cerceus shouts, breaking my train of thought. A shadowy figure approaches us from up ahead, but it’s no ordinary human. It’s a giant lizard wearing armor. “A bipedal lizard?! What is that thing?!” “It’s a dragonewt!” I’ve saved close to ten parallel worlds in my life, but there’s only one where I saw dragonewts. It was an S-ranked world, and it was the first time I summoned Seiya. “‘Dragonewts!’ ‘Edona!’ Now I remember! This is Gaeabrande!” “‘Gaeabrande’?” “It’s a world Seiya and I saved!” The dragonewt continues to approach us, but I am completely relaxed, since I know he isn’t our enemy. Just as I expected, the dragonewt respectfully gets on one knee before me. “How divine. Are you a goddess, perchance?” “Y-yes, I am. Um… This is Gaeabrande, right?” “Yes, Goddess.” “I knew it!” I feel slightly relaxed after confirming that this is a place I know. I’m sure Rosalie, Mash, and Elulu are still living in the Roseguard Empire. At any rate, my concern for the town of Edona does not wane, since it looks nothing like it did the last time I was here. “Um… What happened to this town? Did new monsters appear or something?” “This town was destroyed in battle a little over ten years ago. It was a bitter struggle between us dragonewts and the Demon Lord’s army. Though countless lives were lost, we managed to defeat the Demon Lord and save the world.” “…What?” It almost sounds like he’s taking credit for what Seiya and I did. It’s kind of aggravating, to be honest. “Not so fast! The Hero I summoned, Seiya Ryuuguuin, defeated the Demon Lord!” “A Hero has never appeared in Gaeabrande. This is also the first time you, Goddess, have ever graced us with your presence.” “…?!” “Our savior, who defeated the Demon Lord and liberated the world, was the almighty Dragon Lord Dragonight.” “The Dragon Lord…Dragonight…” “After defeating the Demon Lord, he began his reign over Gaeabrande for the welfare of all dragonewts from the holy land of Bahamutros. It was all made possible thanks to the Seraph’s blessing…” I have no idea what he’s talking about, and I’m starting to get the feeling that he might be a little off his rocker. After all, Edona was a human town. Why would a dragonewt even be here? Feeling something is off, I take a good look at the dragonewt’s face…and a shiver runs down my spine. He may be smiling, but I sense something dark deep inside him. I-I’m starting to feel déjà vu… The first thing that comes to mind is when the emperor asked me to meet him in the sanctuary, where he tried to kill me with Chain Destruction. I sense the same thing in this dragonewt’s heart: malice. When I take a step back, the dragonewt pulls a book out from under his breastplate. He then opens the thick red tome. “Article six in the Seraph’s scriptures says this: ‘There may be a time where individuals claiming to be a Goddess and Hero appear. However, they shall only bring disaster. Wield Chain Destruction and slaughter them.’” Immediately, a blade far longer than any book emerges from the scripture like a magic trick. The dragonewt then swiftly grabs the sword, gets into a fighting stance, and swings it in a wide arc. “Eek?!” Cerceus screams, but I was already prepared. I lunge and tackle him, causing us both to topple to the ground and dodge the strike. The dragonewt seems impressed. “Oh? You have good intuition.” “W-well, this isn’t the first time this has happened to me!” “Regardless, those who misrepresent themselves as the Hero and Goddess must die.” The dragonewt glares at Cerceus with his cold, reptilian eyes. “You must be the Hero, yes?” “No! I’m the God of—er… I run a café!” I’m appalled. He won’t even admit he’s a god because he doesn’t want to get hurt! How spineless can you be?! But the dragonewt pokes his tongue out of his slit mouth. “Then prepare to die, ‘Hero of the Café.’” “I told you I’m not a Hero! I just own a café!” “Relax, Cerceus! Unlike in Ixphoria, the monsters in Gaeabrande aren’t that strong! You should be able to beat him!” “O-oh, really! He’s not strong? Let me check…” Cerceus appears to be checking the dragonewt’s stats, so I decide to use Scan as well. “Excuse me?! This lizard’s extremely strong! His stats are barely any different from mine!” “What the…?!” Even I’m surprised. His stats closely resemble the powerful beastfolk I saw in Ixphoria. B-but that doesn’t make any sense! This is Gaeabrande! Is this dragonewt especially strong? There’s no way of knowing. Regardless, it doesn’t make any sense that a lizard-person would be as strong as a god known as the Divine Blade—God of Swords. “Anyway, I’m unarmed, and he has that Chain-thing! We have to run!” “I will not let you escape.” The dragonewt raises his sword aloft and lunges at Cerceus, but I throw my homemade sandbag at his face. “Gwah!” He groans while crouching. It looks like the sand got in his eyes, just as I had hoped. “Cerceus, let’s get out of here!” “O-okay!” We sprint through the ghost town of Edona, gasping for breath, until we arrive at what appears to be the center. Numerous collapsed buildings are jumbled together, so we decide to hide in the shadow of one of them. “Pant… Pant… Pant…” As I try to calm down, Cerceus turns to me with a look of surprise and asks: “Rista! Where did you get that bag of sand?” “Well, you know how we walked through all that sand on the way to town? I started to pick some up and stuffed it in a pouch just in case.” “You’ve become somewhat…cautious…hm? Just like that Hero of yours.” It looks like Seiya’s rubbed off on me a little. At any rate, I can hear the dragonewt furiously shouting in the distance. “Where did you go, you filthy heretics?! We, the Order of Seraph, shall not yield to those who claim to be the Hero. Not even Demon’s Sword is an exception!” “The ‘Order of Seraph’? What is he talking about?!” I peek in the dragonewt’s direction from our hiding place, only to discover that there are three of them now. H-he had allies?! But there are tons of buildings here, so it looks like he’s having a hard time finding us. The dragonewts are walking in the complete opposite direction of where we are. “Phew… Looks like we can relax for now.” “This is no time to relax! This world is dangerous! Are you sure you weren’t lying when you said you saved it?!” “I wasn’t lying! We really did save it! But this is…” Did we go back in time to before Seiya and I saved Gaeabrande? No, if anything, it feels like we’re in the future…? N-no, wait… There’s something really different about this. Something is…! “R-Rista! There’s a dragonewt over there, too!” Cerceus whispers. When I look in the same direction that he’s pointing, I see a dragonewt wearing hemp clothing instead of armor like the rest. “Seriously?! Just how many of them are there?!” “This is not good! Let’s get out of here, Rista! It’s a gamble, but we’ve got to run for it and get out of this town!” “Y-you’re right. …Wait.” I want to escape just as badly as he does, but I suddenly think to myself, What would Seiya do? “The dragonewts have already told their allies that we’re hiding somewhere in the town, so it’s highly likely we’ll get caught if we run now. Let’s keep hiding a little bit longer and see how things play out.” “A-are you sure that’s a good idea?” “This building appears to be empty. Let’s go inside.” We enter the deserted house. After slowly closing the door so it doesn’t make a sound, we crouch under a broken window. It’s the best spot to see what’s happening outside, after all. “Mn…” Cerceus groans behind me. “Wh-what’s wrong? Did you get hurt?” “No. I just have a migraine due to all the stress and being so nervous. I can’t wait to go home and eat some silver dollar pancakes…” “Seriously?! Could you be any more useless?!” Ugh! I can’t count on Cerceus for anything! It looks like I’m going to be the one fighting if it comes down to it! I made one more sandbag to distract the enemy, so I better have it ready just in case. As I pull the pouch out from under my lapel, a sheet of paper slides out with it and flutters to the floor. It’s the Hero summoning list with Seiya’s name on it. I pick it up in a fluster, and my eyes open wide, for glittering in gold at the bottom of the list are the words: Parallel world of S-rank or higher confirmed. Permission to summon Seiya Ryuuguuin granted.