CHAPTER 6 A Fresh Start After hearing those devastating words drip from Hathies’s tongue, I nearly scream: “Wh-wh-what do you mean, the spirit world was destroyed?!” “The tremendous powers of Atrocity, which rival even those of the God of Creation, have twisted all three thousand worlds. All of the deities vanished along with the spirit world when it became ground zero.” ——Th-there’s no way…! “The underworld was affected as well, of course. The spirit world and the underworld were once sealed off from each other until space itself was distorted, granting you all passage.” Can the Lord of the Underworld see into the future like Ishtar? He speaks with the unwavering cadence of an omniscient deity. I’m shocked. Cerceus, on the other hand, stamps his feet in frustration by my side. “Dammit all! Does that mean Café du Cerceus is out of business?!” “What is wrong with you?! Aria, Ishtar, Adenela—they’re all gone!” “O-oh, yeah… You’re right… Hmm… What are we going to do?!” Crestfallen, Cerceus grips his head with both hands. Seiya then places a hand on his shoulder. “Cerceus, don’t worry about the café.” “S-Seiya? Wait. A-are you trying to cheer me up?” “You would have gone out of business regardless of what happened.” “…?! Was that supposed to make me feel better?!” Cerceus is on the verge of tears, but I’m in no mental state to deal with him right now. The spirit world was destroyed. Not only did I lose my home, but I lost my loved ones as well. Aria…! Ishtar…! Cerceus and I tremble before the grim news, but as always, Seiya remains calm. “Rista, stop blindly trusting people you’ve just met.” “S-Seiya Ryuuguuin! How dare you speak in such a way before our Lord!” Unoporta is flustered by Seiya’s rude behavior, but even then, he points at Cerceus and me while regarding the underworld ruler with a stern gaze. “I heard there was a ‘spirit vault’ in the spirit world, so wouldn’t these two have disappeared if the spirit world really had been destroyed?” Oh yeah…! Now that he mentions it…! Cerceus and I were quick to trust this so-called Lord of the Underworld, but Seiya opens my eyes, and I feel slightly calmer than I did a second ago. Our host wears a slight smile. “It appears my wording may have been misleading. It is true that the powers of Atrocity warped the spirit world, causing it to disappear. More precisely speaking, however, the spirit world still exists in a dimension different from ours. The spirit vault is in that dimension as well, which is why they still exist.” The spirit world still exists in another dimension?! I don’t really understand what’s going on, but… “Does that mean we’ll be able to return to the spirit world if we fix this spatial distortion?!” After I shout with a faint glimmer of hope, the Lord of the Underworld faintly nods. “Returning the three thousand worlds to normal, along with the spirit world, is a simple and straightforward process. You must defeat the Goddess of Atrocity, Mersais.” “Wh-where is she?!” After slowly closing his eyes, Hathies says: “In the parallel world of Kirsosa—or should I say, the warped world of Kirsosa? Mersais currently reigns over that world.” “The warped world of Kirsosa…! If we go there and defeat her, then…!” Then surely Aria and Ishtar can be revived as well! “However, reaching Kirsosa will not be an easy task. The divine gates you deities can freely create have been warped as well. They will not function normally anymore.” “Ah…!” He’s right! I can only open gates to Gaeabrande and the underworld! Not only will we not be able to defeat Mersais, we won’t even be able to go to her realm! “O-oh, come on. Seriously? So there really is no way to save the spirit world…” Cerceus lets out a pained groan, but the underworld lord softly smirks. “There is a way to reach Kirsosa, though the method will be extremely difficult.” “Wh-what is it?!” “You must restore three warped worlds, which are of S-rank or higher, to their original states. Doing so would mitigate the overall distortion and allow you to open a divine gate to Kirsosa. These worlds being difficult to save means that they play a major role between dimensions, for together, they possess the key to the fate of all worlds.” “We only have to turn three warped worlds back to normal…?” “The first is the S+ ranked warped world of Gaeabrande, the second is the SS+ ranked warped world of Ixphoria, and the last world is the SSS-ranked warped world of Galvaoth. Although these worlds may be warped, your close ties to them should allow you to open a divine gate to them.” Even Ixphoria’s been warped?! But… “I tried to open a gate to Ixphoria earlier, but I couldn’t…” “Your divine gate can currently only connect to Gaeabrande, which should be the easiest to save. First, you must fix this world. Then the gate to Ixphoria shall open and Galvaoth after that.” “O-oh, okay!” Hm? Hold on. I’ve never heard of any parallel world called Galvaoth… I suddenly look up at Hathies and notice he’s staring at Cerceus. He points his staff at the muscular deity. “God of Swords, Cerceus, you are linked to the parallel world of Galvaoth by fate.” “What?! M-me?!” “After saving the warped world of Ixphoria, open a divine gate to Galvaoth—the world you once lived in, in a past life.” “The world I lived in when I was human…?!” I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised to hear that, but Cerceus looks like his soul just left his body. The Lord of the Underworld continues: “This is also why both the God of Swords, Cerceus, and the Goddess of Healing, Ristarte, survived. To put it in simple yet extreme terms, it is because neither of you are that divine.” ““Whaaaaaat?!”” The ice-cold diss renders us speechless. Apparently insulting us wasn’t Hathies’s intention, however. “Both of you were once human. Since you were not pure deities born into the spirit world, you were not swallowed by the distortion.” Ohhh! Now I get it! I’m glad we weren’t being insulted! I actually feel a little better after hearing everything Hathies had to say as well. “It sounds like we have a long road ahead of us, but there’s still hope! So first we need to save Gaeabrande, right?” But Cerceus shakes his head. “Wait. What even are warped worlds?” “…They’re probably similar to what I saw when I faced the Death Keeper.” Seiya quietly mutters. When we fought the Death Keeper in Ixphoria, he used Mersais’s powers to create a world where the “Reckless Seiya” actually defeated the Demon Lord. “In other words, that was all just preparation for this. She’s prudent and well prepared.” It feels kind of weird hearing Seiya say someone else is “well prepared,” but…yeah… I guess that was the first warped world. Mersais was already planning on destroying the spirit world ever since we returned to Ixphoria. Hathies nods in response to Seiya’s assumption. “A world becomes warped once its timeline is distorted. The warped worlds are twisted to Mersais’s favor.” There’s one more thing that’s bothering me. I speak up, practically talking to myself. “I wonder if that has something to do with the Divine Hero being able to use Berserk: Phase Four…” “Mersais’s former Hero…” “W-wait! Mersais was the one who originally summoned her?!” The Lord of the Underworld knows that? Hathies’s clairvoyance might be even greater than Ishtar’s. “That Hero is one who should not exist, for long ago, her soul was shattered before vanishing from existence.” Oh! Aria said something to that effect back in the colosseum! “However, Mersais used her powers of Atrocity to bring her Hero back from a warped world where she did exist.” In other words, she came from a world where Zet taught her Phase Four as well?! Th-this is getting really complicated! I’m getting a headache just from trying to process everything! When I glance in Seiya’s direction, he’s furrowing his brow. “Let’s say there are thousands—tens of thousands—of warped worlds. How possible is it for one of them to contain a human capable of mastering Phase Four? Zet said that mastering even Phase Three wasn’t possible for a human, which I can understand, since I personally know how dangerous Berserk Mode is.” “Seiya Ryuuguuin, you possess great talent. However, the Divine Hero has a rare talent which separates her from all others. If you are a one-in-a-billion phenomenon, then she would be a miracle that only occurs once in a billion years.” “O-once in a billion years?! Does that mean she’s stronger than Seiya?!” “The Divine Hero is the strongest Hero the spirit world has ever known. I mean no offense when I say that she simply has no equal.” Seriously?! Someone that strong is with Mersais?! “Despite her unparalleled talents, however, she originally raised her Berserk status past the Third Phase, thus destroying her soul.” Hathies sharply creases his eyes and looks up at the ceiling high overhead. “I can somewhat understand Mersais’s resentment. In a way, it is only natural for her to harbor a grudge against the spirit world, and that hatred must have awakened the Goddess of Atrocity’s true powers. Most staggering of all, however, is her powerful vindictiveness, for she searched thousands—perhaps millions—of warped worlds to find one where the Divine Hero was still alive even after surpassing Phase Three as a berserker.” He then returns his attention to us and grins. “The Hero with Mersais may look human, but her soul has been swallowed by a chaotic aura. There is no longer anything ‘human’ about her.” Groan… Defeating Mersais already sounds hard enough, but now we have to fight some all-powerful Hero, too?! Overcome with worry, I move to Seiya’s side. But when I look up, he’s simply staring at Hathies with his usual indifference. “Hm… Okay. Let’s say you weren’t lying during your long-winded monologue.” He still doesn’t believe Hathies?! I am once again astounded by just how much of a skeptic Seiya is. He continues: “How, exactly, do you turn warped worlds back to normal?” “You must destroy that which warps the world. The source of the distortion.” I suddenly think back to what that dragonewt said. “N-now that I think about it, a dragonewt in warped Gaeabrande said that the Dragon Lord defeated the Demon Lord instead of Seiya!” “Distortion is akin to a disaster. In other words, you simply must remove the various sources of evil that rule these worlds, similar to what you have been doing up until now.” “D-do you mean Gaeabrande will return to normal if we defeat the Dragon Lord…?!” At the very least, we have a goal now. But Seiya casts a dubious look at the Lord of the Underworld. “Hmph. You’re awfully cooperative.” “Because those who dwell in the underworld, including myself, rely on the gods. We only wish for the spirit world to return to normal.” I vaguely remember Unoporta saying to me that she appreciates everything we’ve done for them. What exactly did she mean? “Um… What’s the relationship between the underworld and the spirit world?” “I guess you could call it…supply and demand.” “Uh…huh…” I have no idea what he means, so I’d like him to clarify, but Seiya appears to be more interested in fixing the warped worlds. “By the way, what happens to the monsters and people you kill in these warped worlds? Does it affect anything after the worlds return to normal?” “Whether they die by your hand or by other means matters not. They will come back to life. Technically speaking, once the world returns to normal, it will be as if the events you underwent to save it never occurred.” “I see. If what you’re saying is true, it sounds like I can kill anyone and everyone without having to worry about the consequences.” I-is it just me or does this sound like a terrorist meetup?! But I’m sure this is all extremely important! “Your journey shall be rife with difficulties. However, you must save the distorted Gaeabrande first if you hope to reach Kirsosa, defeat Mersais, and restore the spirit world.” Hathies slowly stands from his throne. “Now, go! Show me how two gods—who survived, thanks to their divine fortune—and their Hero struggle against fate in the warped world of Gaeabrande! Show me how long you can weather Mersais’s powers of Atrocity!” Hathies raises a sharp-clawed hand into the air as if to signal the start of our mission. However… “No,” says the Cautious Hero. “S-Seiya?!” “Do you seriously expect me to suddenly go to a distorted parallel world without any preparation whatsoever?” Ahhh! I feel like it’s been so long since I’ve heard those words! “My level was reset. While I remember the initial steps to the Techniques of Destruction and how to use Berserk Mode, I lost all my other skills.” “B-but you can still turn into a berserker…! That’s great!” While I’m thrilled that he can still use his Techniques of Destruction and Berserk Mode, which have been carved into his soul, Seiya’s face is stern as ever. “What are you talking about? Doubling or even tripling my extremely low attack power isn’t going to change anything. I have to raise my level from the ground up, or it’s pointless.” “So what do you want to do?” After a few moments of silence, Seiya says: “From now on, we’ll be using the underworld as our base of operations while we save the warped worlds.” “Seriously?! This is going to be our base?! A place like this?!” Hathies’s eyebrow twitches as I scream in utter astonishment. “Oh? ‘A place like this,’ hm?” “O-oh, um…! ‘A wonderful place like this’ is what I meant, of course! Ha-ha-ha!” Yikes! I better be careful about what I say! “Our end goal is defeating Mersais and restoring the spirit world to its original state, right? She’s powerful enough to destroy the spirit world, and her Hero has no equal. We must take extraordinary measures to face such powerful enemies. In other words…” Seiya sharpens his gaze. “We need to find that first step here in the underworld.” “Heh-heh-heh…” Hathies chuckles. “You are already concerning yourself with the final battle against Mersais even while the warped Gaeabrande remains unaddressed? How wise. So that overly cautious personality of yours is your virtue as well.” What the…?! He even knows about Seiya’s personality?! “How does time flow in the underworld compared to the surface?” “The time of this world conforms with the spirit world. The time difference is one one-hundredth that of parallel worlds.” “We should be able to take our time, then.” “Heh-heh-heh. Both humans and gods residing in the underworld? While unprecedented, such a concept is most intriguing.” The Lord of the Underworld may be laughing, but I’m on pins and needles. H-hold on! Are we seriously going to live in the underworld?! I’m pretty sure this place isn’t going to be all sunshine and rainbows like the spirit world! Will we be okay?! My gut feeling is immediately proven right. Hathies turns his gaze to Cerceus and me. “However, living here would prove difficult for a god. You could face…humiliation that you may find unbearable.” “‘H-humiliation’?!” “Hold up! What kind of humiliation are we talking about?!” While Cerceus and I panic… “I’m fine with that.” ““Hey!”” We scream in unison, taken aback by Seiya’s immediate reply. Unoporta, who had been standing in silence the entire time, suddenly blushes. “A god is going to be staying in the underworld…! Hee-hee-hee-hee…! How wonderful! Ah, what a wonderful surprise!” She slowly licks her lips while smiling to herself. Eek! What did she mean by that?! …Cerceus and I timidly shrink back as we find ourselves in an ominous new world. I have been feeling nothing but anxiety and fear ever since Seiya said he wanted to use the underworld as his base.
Chapter 164
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