“Y-You guys! Don’t be so impressed!” Fresa cried.
If we let our guards down for even a second, this path is going straight to the other side. This isn’t good!
“Hm, so you aren’t as weak as I thought,” Grida said, glancing at Gaokerena. She’d seemed disinterested at first, but it looked like he’d gotten her attention.
“Do you tremble at my awesome power, little girl? I am afraid it is too late.”
“Did you call me a ‘little girl’ again?” Grida huffed and gently grabbed the path with both of her hands. “Then I guess I can show you just a teensy bit more of my power.” Without even digging her heels into the ground or bending her legs, Grida simply pulled on the path with her arms. “Hiyah!” Contrary to her adorable voice, the path creaked to a halt.
“Wh-What?! What is happening?!” Gaokerena’s face paled. He lowered his center of gravity as he tugged with all his strength, but the path refused to budge. “Gaaah?! Wh-What is this strength?!”
“What’s wrong? I thought a little girl like me wasn’t worth your time.”
“Wh-Why?! Why is a being with this much strength connected to the Fruit of Knowledge?!”
“Look very closely. Your string with the villagers and my string with Furutsu are different.”
Excuse me? There’s different types of paths? I can’t see my own so I have no idea what it looks like. Gaokerena suspiciously looked in my direction before his face revealed his sudden panic.
“H-Huh?! I-Impossible!” he said. His face quickly turned from a shade of red to pale. Kinda reminds me of a lamp going out.
“Th-This is incomprehensible! How can a banished being have both a zain and a cuff?! How have you connected a high-ranking path that is not a mem?!”
I have absolutely zero clue what you’re saying! I recommend everyone here just let it in through one ear and out the other!
“Probably because I haven’t been banished,” Grida said with a smile. God, even your smile’s adorable.
“What in the world are you talking about, little girl?! This has nothing to do with...” Gaokerena trailed off as understanding flashed across his face. “What?! N-No! H-How can this be?!” He turned white as a sheet.
Looks like the weather’s overcast. Maybe I should bring my laundry in.
“M-Milady...! Wh-Why are you here?!” Gaokerena said, trembling.
Why does he suddenly look terrified?
Grida giggled. “I won’t forgive you, old man! Since you made me ‘grow,’ you must be prepared to take on your punishment!” Grida stuck her tongue out and whispered, “Just kidding.”
I don’t really get it, but don’t be too mean, all right? The guy’s crying and shaking his head viciously.
“H-Help me! I...I had no idea!” he mumbled, as tears and mucus ran down his face. Ugh, gross.
“Grida, what’d you do to him? He’s all terrified now,” I asked.
“Huh? Can’t you tell?” she replied.
What? I can tell that he started acting weird once you mentioned that his path and my path were different kinds. “You said that Gaokerena and I had different paths. What’s so different about them?”
“Um, color? Oh, and aura! I can’t quite explain, but it’s totally different!”
Huh. Really. I can’t see my own path, so it’s not like I can tell.
“You...don’t know? Color? Aura?” Gaokerena said, looking up.
Was he listening in to our conversation?
“A-Are you a stray?!” he said, suddenly lively again. “Hah! Ha ha ha! Fantastic! You are not connected to the main body, are you?! I see now!” He had an evil smirk on his face once more.
What’s with you? One moment you’re crying, the next moment you’re laughing. You look super unstable.
“If you are just a simple stray, then this battle becomes winnable once more. Hah!” The dayquril behind Gaokerena completely disappeared. The villagers shrieked in agony, growing thinner and frailer by the second. Gaokerena panted. “Behold the full extent of my power!”
He absorbed the life force from the villagers to grow even larger! They were still alive, but it looked like all they could do was stand there.
“How awful,” Grida murmured sadly.
I agree, we can’t forgive him.
“I will win! I shall win right here, and take all of your powers!” Gaokerena roared as he desperately pulled on the rope once more.
Your face! It’s terrifying! What’s wrong with your face?!
“Whoa! Seems like the old man’s regained some of his vigor,” Datil said.
“Eep! He surprised me!”
You guys are a bit too relaxed, I think. You could stand to be a little more shocked here.
“Excellent! This is my victory! Hah!” Gaokerena’s eyes were bloodshot as he pulled on the rope with all his might.
“You can’t win,” Grida muttered quietly, and her voice echoed throughout the room. In an instant, the path creaked to a halt before slowly starting to move toward me.
“Gah! Wh-Why?! How can a stray like you—not even connected to the main body—wield this much power?!”
Grida took on a harsher tone as she glared at him. “You’re wrong. I can tell that this isn’t just me. This is all of our power combined! Me, Furutsu, Fresa-san, and Datil-san!”
Really?! Now that you mention it, every time you touched the path, my body felt a little lighter. Gaokerena tried to fight back with all his might, but he was slowly getting dragged toward our side.
“Ugh, no! Anything but this! Stop, I beg you! Forgive me!” he said, his confident air crumbling. However, Grida didn’t stop pulling.
“No! You pretended you were a god and ate a lot of people, didn’t you?”
That’s right. He called himself a god and just went around eating all the people who worshiped him.
“Wh-What?! Pretending to be a god, you say?! I am no mere god—I am above that! All I did was eat humans! Why must I be in this situation from consuming a few animals?! Stop! Stop!” The white line steadily approached his feet.
“Pathetic. Didn’t you challenge us? You’re a sore loser, old man,” Datil said.
He’s right. If I was in your position and had bet my own life on all this, I sure wouldn’t be this pathetic about it.
“Aw, what happened to that dandy face of yours?” Fresa said. “Oh well, not like buff men are my type anyway.”
Yeah, you said that already.
“Please! Stop! Stooop! I beg of you! S-Save me!” Gaokerena cried, his hair disheveled as he shook his head vigorously once again. The white line was finally right in front of his feet.
Grida laughed. “Goodbye, old man,” she said with a smile.
Gaokerena yelled through his tears. “Nooooo!”