Chapter 60 – Descension

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Terjaohm was a quiet city.

It was due to the silence, with neither living people nor hidden monsters.

One might have expected at least one ambush.

The city, with nothing moving, was itself suffocating.

Gulp.

The sound of someone struggling to swallow past their Adam’s apple could be heard.

But whether the people welcomed it or not, we had already arrived at Terjaohm.

I moved the freshwater regardless of the fading cupcake scent.

-Exercise of Rights, Freshwater

Then the river water filling the moat surged up and filled the various parts of the broken bridges.

With the power dwelling here, even the heaviest cart would easily be supported.

I informed the people of this fact to reassure them.

“I have scouted inside Terjaohm and there was no ambush. It will be easier to block from inside here than outside. Even if a bridge breaks, I can set it up again quickly, so rest assured.”

But human hearts were so weak.

No matter how powerful a being helped them, they could not abandon their “what if” doubts.

At least, only the people who had followed from Catabria, the city where I awakened my divine name, answered.

“”As, as the Great One wills.””

Of course, there were exceptions.

“Honestly, with this much lack of trust, really.”

“I only hope the Godfather of Stars regards them with compassion.”

“Even the affection I had is about to drop off, old man.”

The grumbling Hwen and the calmly responding Bartol were representative.

I was satisfied with having gained the sincerity of a few people.

Thanks to that, I could direct the people with a light laugh.

“Everyone, enter while keeping your lines. I will be on guard for any nearby assaults.”

I hadn’t lived a life more exceptional than others.

Still, I knew well how difficult it was to gain another person’s trust.

The people who stole glances over here and then bowed their heads with guilt-ridden expressions.

For now, this was enough.

Like that, I guarded the area around the bridges made of river water for a while.

So that the people entering Terjaohm could feel at ease.

***

Broken planks, floating trash. Through the gaps, traces of battle could be glimpsed.

Not only browned bloodstains but even scorched, dried-up flesh remained exactly as they were.

The only thing not visible in the gluttonous and disgusting scene was, precisely, corpses.

People tried to look away from such sights and began to set up a new shelter.

“Take the wheels off the carts! Places we can’t block right away, we’ll use carts to block!”

“Let’s put Starflowers over there too. We have to prevent monsters from suddenly popping out of dark alleys.”

“Children and parents, please come here first separately! It’s easier to protect if you’re bunched together!”

Each person shared and took on roles they could do and had to do.

The carpenter Ad was agonizing, putting his head together with the cart technician.

“We’re short on nails… should we go with a method of assembling the wood?”

“It’ll take a lot of time. Guess there’s no choice.”

“I’ll have to tell the friends going out to search this time to find some nails.”

The problem was that twice as many nails as usual were needed.

Terjaohm would have a different type of assault than before.

To deal with enemies approaching by swimming underwater, much more nails and wood than usual were needed.

But the biggest problem lay elsewhere.

While I was scouted the shelter from the sky, Hwen and Ryugen came to find me.

I readily responded to their call and…

“Star Creation. We are worried that there is nothing the vigilantes and soldiers can do in this fight. It’s difficult to aim underwater with crossbows, and we won’t be able to keep up with human spears and swords.”

“It is as Sir Achrat says. The reason our Lion Shield Legion could not avoid a hard fight was because their ecology was tricky. No matter how much we’re on guard, the moment we give them an opening, they’re the type to drag us into the water in an instant. I fear the same thing will repeat.”

…I came to chew over what the limitations humans possessed were.

The situation was that the organization had collapsed due to the cruel massacre led by the Black Sun.

The most significant advantage humans possessed, an organized response, had been neutralized.

In a world where all heroes and brave soldiers had been killed in action, the only place they could lean on was me alone.

“Although not specialized, I know how to handle lightning to some extent. Furthermore, since I am ruling over the river water, they cannot go against the river water, and even if it’s possible, I will suppress them quickly.”

I answered simply with the purpose of quelling their worries.

But what these two people were worried about was a different part.

Hwen, hesitating to speak and turning her head away.

The one who took the lead on behalf of that outspoken elderly knight was Ryugen.

“…Is there no role given to us?”

Did Bartol leak it? Or did he vaguely realize it from Bearing Responsibility’s attitude?

It was probably the latter.

Turning the heart of a priest who has made up his mind once is a very difficult thing.

It seemed he faced reality after seeing the merciless attitude the god of the pantheon displayed.

Though my thoughts were different from Responsibility’s.

“This time, my role is on the side of killing as many enemies as possible. Rather than looking after each of you one by one like before, I will focus on reducing the enemy numbers. If someone is caught and dragged away, you must rescue them amidst the support of Ceciel and the starlight.”

“Is it not a matter of simply driving them away?”

“It is because I must kill the demons hiding in that sea. I must reduce the numbers as much as possible in this assault for the path ahead to be smooth.”

“It’s a decoy, then.”

Ryugen’s face hardened as he noticed the reason for coming to Terjaohm.

I nodded as it was actually correct.

“The humans captured in the sea number well over tens of thousands. I plan to salvage them as well.”

“….”

Ryugen did not answer further.

But through the sensed taste and smell, I could roughly guess what he was thinking.

He understood with his head but could not understand with his emotions.

“Ryugen. If I had tried to avoid danger rather than facing it as you thought, half of those gathered in this place would not exist.”

And I also knew why Ryugen displayed such a reaction.

I soothed the wounded soldier in as warm and soft a tone as possible.

“Ease your worries. The Lion Shield’s mistake will not be repeated. I am your god. Although I am neither omniscient nor omnipotent…”

With words that Ryugen, and perhaps everyone, was desperately wishing for.

“God does not abandon those who believe. I will show you a sight befitting your belief.”

Only then did Ryugen silently nod.

Ryugen squeezed it out with a slightly choked voice.

“Thank you… for the excessive consideration.”

“Soldier man, if you’ve said everything you had to say, you should step back now. You’ve held back the precious one for too long.”

Hwen, who was looking at Ryugen with pitiable eyes, patted his shoulder.

Ryugen, silently sobbing with reddened eyes, stepped back along with Hwen.

Expressing emotions was a truly difficult and hard thing.

Especially in a harsh world like now, it was even more so.

So I considered it fortunate rather than sad that people began to shed tears.

It was evidence that my efforts were not in vain, a living witness that the leeway to shed tears had returned.

Of course, there were exceptions who revealed such anxiety openly.

After directing the people to prepare, it was around the time I was about to drop by the destination.

There was one entity that uniquely didn’t stop grumbling in front of me.

“Star Creation, why does a precious god walk around alone without even accompanying an angel…”

“I am more comfortable alone.”

“To form a church and register in the pantheon, a certain level of sociality is essential, essential!”

She said that not knowing all those surviving gods of the pantheon were mad.

Still, it was a plan a naive angel dreamed of.

Instead of raining on the rosy future Ceciel painted, I silently agreed.

“I will try, so today remain by the people’s side and protect them.”

“Ugh… try…”

It’s also funny for her to cling to the god she came to serve when he says he will try.

Ceciel’s dissatisfaction remained, but even the current tantrum was possible because of my acquiescence.

Eventually, Ceciel flew back to the people’s side with her drooping wings.

Now I was alone in the dark and dreary city’s set alleyway.

Naturally, I wasn’t walking around just to think.

What was before me was a wreck that at least maintained its original form among the ruins.

It was precisely the shrine of the Bent Harpoon.

…And the Bent Harpoon was also one of the playable gods of [Last Comet].

“It would be good if there was something.”

Tebuk, tebuk-.

The inside of the shrine where only footsteps echoed.

I even raised my voice intentionally, wondering if there was an entity that reacted upon hearing the sound.

Perhaps the Bent Harpoon might be alive as a half-measure.

Since one doesn’t offer up everything as a sacrifice, he might have taken a little bit off.

But “what if” tends to become “as expected”.

It was already the ninth time scouring through the shrine.

The result of searching thoroughly to see if he left anything behind was as expected.

Terjaohm is the city that has groaned under Blood-Soaked Mud’s sphere of influence for the longest time.

Even if the Bent Harpoon left something behind, it would have been much faster for the demon to discover it first.

Traces that turned this conjecture into conviction were also visible everywhere.

Dried-up mucous liquid occasionally discovered on the walls and floors.

The moment I faced this unpleasant thing, the lugworm demon I saw in the prophetic dream immediately popped into my head.

It seemed snail-like monsters searched the rest of the shrine.

“How meticulous.”

I had to return while swallowing my regret.

I wanted to look around a bit more, but the time limit struck first.

The stars were setting.

***

After the appearance of Shadow Flame, the invisible flame, preparations at the shelter became significantly more complex.

“Put out the furnaces. We don’t know what tricks they might try, so put them out beforehand. For the time being, we’ll use the Starflowers to light the surroundings.”

Ryugen, calling out orders in a voice freed and refreshed after venting long-held emotions.

The soldiers found it a bit puzzling but, figuring it was fine either way, smiled and complied.

Bartol, the sole priest, was busy transcribing these scenes into words and pictures.

“You draw better than I expected.”

“One of my childhood dreams was to be a painter. I gave it up quickly since I wasn’t particularly creative… but I found it was more than sufficient for illustrations.”

“You don’t even seem surprised anymore.”

“You keep surprising me, so now I just accept it.”

The multi-talented Bartol had even acquired the composure to calmly bat back my words.

It was not only Bartol.

The people gathered at the shelter all seemed relatively at ease.

Because even while trembling at the ominous signs, they had a firm belief to anchor them.

-Protection Miracle, Comet’s Tail

-Protection Miracle, Barrier

-Grant Miracle, Stability

-Exercise of Rights, Fog

I had already stacked layers of defense using every power at my disposal.

The fog, in particular, was an authority with high utility in many ways.

Even if the enemies came submerged from below, they faced the penalty of having to surface to attack.

Naturally, the surface would begin to show abnormal signs.

Moreover, thanks to enhanced senses from mastering freshwater, detecting them would be far easier.

I had even deliberately created barriers underwater to force them to circle around.

I believed that through this raid, a sea route would open.

“The Black Sun! The sun is rising!”

“Everyone to battle positions! Load the bolts!”

All the stars had set, and the sun rose.

The standby soldier, upon hearing this, rushed frantically to the torch that had not yet been put out.

“What? The torch is still fine?”

“I’m telling you it’ll go out soon. Stop talking and put it out.”

“Sure, okay.”

…It was at this moment that I sensed something strange.

The Shadow Flame had not manifested.

Only then could I realize that something was different from usual.

Under normal circumstances, the moment the Black Sun rose, the world should have been swallowed by an encroaching shadow.

Crushed beneath the dark radiance that would smother one’s breath.

But that dark radiance could not be felt.

No, if anything…

It was bright.

Others might have taken it as a good omen, but I was different, having experienced this before.

“Uh, uh. The, the sun…”

“The dark radiance is disappearing. I-is this real? It can’t be.”

“You all see? I told you, he didn’t abandon us! The Sun God is still alive! Long live the Sun God!”

Those who had believed the Black Sun came about because the Sun God had died all cheered at once.

In contrast, I felt like I wanted to scream.

This was not the dark violet radiance it usually showed.

The orange radiance that the sun should have originally possessed was wrapping around the Black Sun and slowly heating the world.

As the pitch-black night sky gradually faded to pure white, the cheers grew even more fervent.

“The Sun God has forgiven us!”

“O benevolent sun… deliver us from the evil demons.”

“O light, lead us to victory!”

Long live, long live, long live the Sun God…

As the rising cheers swelled, my insides began to churn.

The sun reclaiming its original light was the worst possible omen.

Just as I had feared, I was able to find a familiar silhouette beyond what others could not see.

A golden suit of armor draped in a brilliant mantle of iridescent feathers.

Just as I saw him, he looked back at me.

The pure white flame, seated at the center of obsidian stones of mysterious colors embedded all around, stared back at me.

[To me, it is but a moment.]

Ziiiiiing.

The sun stained black illuminated the world once more.

[To you, it shall be time longer than endless eons.]

The only one who had grasped the situation and was trembling was Ceciel.

“Ch, Star Creation, Star Creation.”

The people who had been gasping in awe as the world brightened were far slower to notice something was wrong.

The world was growing brighter without end.

The volume of light flooding every direction was far beyond what human eyes could bear, and involuntarily, tears streamed down without stopping.

“S, something is wrong. All I can see is white.”

“Wasn’t he supposed to have forgiven us? Wh, why is the Sun God…?”

The Sun God.

[If you so desperately long for light, I shall blind you in light.]

Having endured the penalty of many days, he had temporarily descended before us.