Chapter 37

[What was the scariest thing in your life? Uh, well… it’s…]

[Are, are you okay?! Your complexion…!]

A pure white current flowed through my body, and flesh and blood began to regenerate.

The guy was already gone.

The explosion that spread out at the last moment would have been powerful enough to cover the entire area if it had been at full strength.

Fortunately, the guy struggled to survive until the very end, which thankfully reduced the intensity of the explosion.

Thankfully.

“You seem completely fine now?”

Belva looked at me, who had gotten up unscathed, in surprise.

Well, of course.

After going through this much, I’ve learned how to handle it.

The key is to use the remaining Dimension Power at the moment of explosion to reduce the impact on vital areas.

“That works?”

“It works, that’s why I’m alive.”

Arms, legs, shoulders, ankles.

It doesn’t matter how much these parts get damaged.

Even if they’re cut off, they’ll regenerate soon enough.

The trick is to boldly sacrifice them and focus on protecting the vital areas.

I grumbled in a tired voice.

“Anyway, that was terrifying. Having something like that suddenly pop out is a bit overwhelming.”

Still, there were a lot of gains.

Thanks to the struggle with that monster at the end, my control over Magic Power and Dimension Power has greatly improved.

Especially the fact that I devoured the information and power of a divine being was crucial.

It’s like I’ve found a hint to move to the next stage.

Carefully, I brought out the power I had taken from the guy onto my hand.

A crackling spark spread out.

Belva, standing beside me, exclaimed in shock.

“This is… Divine Power!”

I had been vaguely misunderstanding.

I thought Divine Power was a separate power, different from Magic Power or Dimension Power.

It’s true, but not entirely accurate.

What I understood as Divine Power is Dimension Power that has been altered by a massive will to take on certain properties.

It has unique characteristics different from any other power, but fundamentally, it’s just a transformed version of Dimension Power.

The Divine Power formed on my hand now feels strongly alien.

Even if I can absorb Dimension Power, if my control isn’t sufficient, putting something like this into my body would make me explode.

Or perhaps, my body would be altered to match the nature of Divine Power.

I shook my hand to get rid of it.

I have no intention of keeping such a creepy thing inside me.

At my current level, creating Divine Power is impossible.

Divine Power is the record of a being’s entire life.

It’s the rings of a tree that reflect eons of time.

I need depth.

I need to accumulate more experiences, live through more things, and devour more to open the path.

“Noah.”

I called out to Noah, whose presence had disappeared earlier.

No response.

Probably because they deduced my identity from the previous battle.

It’s not unexpected.

I’ve also prepared countermeasures.

I didn’t offer that gem for no reason.

Knowing that the Watcher race could turn into my enemy at any moment, I wouldn’t just show kindness.

*Hummm*

I resonated my senses with the Dimension Power contained in the gem.

A throbbing headache.

It felt like an eye that wasn’t there before had opened.

In a pitch-black room.

A pair of red eyes appeared in the air, staring at Noah.

[Noah.]

Noah, seeing this, panicked and burrowed into the blanket.

“N-no…! I don’t…!”

[Calm down, look at me. Closing your eyes won’t make me disappear, right?]

“……”

Perhaps reassured by the gentle tone, Noah peeked out slightly.

Their black eyes turned toward me.

With a tear-stained, slightly dirty face, they shouted at me.

“W-what do you want from me!? I can’t do this…!”

I remained silent.

I couldn’t quite understand.

The duty of their race.

How much value does that hold?

Even in the face of immediate life-threatening danger, they’re still hesitating.

Is it really worth that much?

Or perhaps, they haven’t fully grasped their own situation yet.

With these questions in mind, I wrapped Magic Power around my transferred consciousness.

My illusion, emitting a faint light in the dark space, was summoned with an overwhelming presence.

“This is strange.”

I clearly said I would respect their choice.

If they want to die, I’ll kindly kill them.

When I appeared, Noah closed their mouth.

They tried to activate their aura, but it didn’t work well.

It seems that in a spiritual state, all movements must be replaced with Magic Power, so the consumption is too high.

But it doesn’t matter.

Even without using aura, I’m strong enough.

“Is that really your choice?”

I extended a finger and poked Noah.

“Really?”

It doesn’t seem like it.

No matter how noble someone is, they’re all the same in the face of death.

It’s just that they’ve never had the chance to properly face death.

I moved closer to Noah and stared intently into their frightened eyes.

Let’s figure this out.

Are they an enemy or an ally?

An ally who might become an enemy, or an enemy who might become an ally?

I slowly dragged my finger from their collarbone up to their neck.

A thin, deep red line followed the trajectory of my finger, filled with dense Magic Power.

It’s a shallow but deep wound.

Just a little further up, and the carotid artery would be severed.

Noah doesn’t have the power to heal that.

They know that better than anyone.

“H-hic… hik…”

The sound of wind escaping can be heard.

Perhaps paralyzed by fear, Noah’s face has turned pale, and he’s just opening and closing his mouth without a word.

He doesn’t seem to feel any pain.

I stopped my finger at that point and asked Noah.

How are you now?

Is that ridiculous duty still more important?

“I’m not asking for much.”

I said to Noah, who was trembling with his eyes closed.

There’s only one thing I want.

“Keep going.”

In my fading vision,

Noah’s figure, gasping for breath, was faintly captured.

*

“It’s really tough.”

With Noah, with his voice, with the invasion from another world…

Why is there so much to think about?

I even miss the days when I just fought and killed without a care.

“That was a bit harsh.”

“I had no choice this time. I had to give a proper warning.”

Noah didn’t fulfill his role properly.

Because of that, I faced a life-threatening crisis.

So, the action just now was a kind of warning, also to shut him up.

If another mistake like this happens, I’m seriously considering killing Noah and replacing him with another Watcher.

“Hmm…”

Belva shuddered once, as if imagining something.

Then she walked away as if nothing had happened.

“You’re not saying much this time?”

It was a slightly strange reaction.

Last time, she screamed over a single fox.

At my sneer, Belva shook her head.

As if to say that’s different.

“Well, there’s nothing as useless as a Watcher who can’t do their job.”

Her tone was very firm.

Is this also the unique value system of a Watcher?

After staring at the spot where the lightning disappeared for a while, I also turned around.

From the spot where the sparks were crackling, an unusual energy could still be felt.

I’ll have to come back tomorrow to check again.

*

At the back of the Academy grounds.

The demon trio and Miho, who have returned from an adventure, are sitting together, making a secret plan.

At first glance, it looks like they’re having a discussion.

But in reality, it’s more like the trio is following Miho’s orders.

Miho, who has grown to look like a high school student, honestly resembles me to a surprising degree.

Except for the red corners of her eyes and the mole under her eye, you’d believe we were sisters.

And the trio can’t approach the grown-up Miho like they used to.

Even now, they’re keeping their eyes down, avoiding her gaze.

I feel a bit bitter.

What did I do?

“So, you have to keep showing that you’re useful. If you can’t prove that, the Master has no reason to keep you alive, right?”

Miho says something chilling.

She seems to think of me as some heartless person.

Watching the trio nod at her words, I stepped outside with a strange feeling.

“I’ve been treating you quite well, haven’t I?”

“Everyone has their own atmosphere, right?”

Listening to Belva’s reply, I moved to the spot where I had caught the lightning.

Even though it had disappeared a while ago, a powerful strength and divine power could still be felt.

He’s quite something.

In terms of level alone, he was clearly two steps above me.

So, I arrived at my destination.

Looking at the wriggling sparks, I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes.

“What’s that?”

I drew my sword and slowly approached.

As I approached, I observed my opponent.

Blazing golden hair.

Pure white skin.

Divinity felt all over the body.

He’s no ordinary guy.

As if sensing my presence, his cheek began to twitch slightly.

I wrapped my sword in aura, imagining a sudden attack and prepared.

Eventually, he opened his eyes.

“…Ah.”

Sparkling eyes looked at me.

Let’s watch for now.

Despite the divine power, the strength he possesses is almost non-existent.

A type of enemy I’ve never seen before.

Maybe there’s something to gain.

“Hello?”

Let’s see if we can have a conversation.

“Where is this?”

Hmm… he speaks well.

But instead of answering my question, he says something off-topic.

With a dazed expression, he looks very confused.

It doesn’t seem like an act.

I pondered for a moment and spoke.

“First, your name.”

“Name…”

Unfazed by the sword pointed at him, he slowly recalled his memory and then answered as if he understood.

Upon hearing it, a laugh escaped me.

“…Huh. What did you say?”

Surely, this can’t be.

But contrary to my expectations, he repeated his words as if it were obvious.

Annoyingly, his pronunciation was very accurate.

“Zeus. That’s my name.”