Chapter 102

It was fun.

Really fun.

In this rare haven where I could live without any worries, the past times were truly joyful and happy.

And now, it all turns into dazzling… no, into gray dust and disappears.

“Now, how about it? It’s my time to shine.”

“Eve.”

Why are you acting all cool now?

This isn’t the time for that.

Your property is turning into gray dust and flying away, isn’t it?

Do you really not get it?

“You, that, building…”

“Building?”

Eve glanced sideways and shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“When you enforce justice, property damage happens. So what? It’s not mine anyway.”

“It’s yours.”

“What?”

“That building, it’s yours…”

I pointed at the now-ruined officetel.

It was an officetel, or rather, it used to be one, but you could still recognize the skeleton of it.

“What…? Really…?”

Eve stared intently at the building’s foundation.

Her already pale skin turned even paler, almost ghostly white, and she looked like she was about to go into self-blame mode, saying she must have gone crazy and her eyes must have deceived her.

“No, Eve. It’s not your fault.”

“If only I had been more careful… If only I had thrown it at the building next door…!”

That’s not the problem, is it…?

Anyway, I whispered softly into Eve’s ear.

“If that yellow beetle hadn’t shown up, none of this would have happened.”

Eve glanced at me.

What?

I’m just stating the facts.

Besides, I want to cry too.

She lost a building, but I lost my home.

Even after this fight, I have nowhere to return to.

It’s true, isn’t it?

If that yellow beetle hadn’t appeared, Eve wouldn’t have attacked so fiercely, the building wouldn’t have been destroyed, and I wouldn’t have lost my home.

In other words.

“Escario. What are you going to do about the building?!”

It’s all that guy’s fault.

“Huh, I see. So the building that foolish Elphim destroyed was your residence, huh.”

Escario smiled faintly.

Whether it’s prejudice or not, seeing that dark face smile makes me feel uneasy.

It definitely didn’t look like a genuine smile.

“To think that the great Vesprede would stoop so low as to live in such a vulgar, unclassifiable building. Come here. I can easily prepare a residence for you in my temple.”

What is he even saying?

“I’d rather live in a doghouse than live under your roof.”

“Are you coming in or not?”

No, why does he only catch my words at times like this?

“Why do you keep spouting nonsense…”

“Hey, you should think more efficiently.”

Suddenly, Eve got serious.

I wondered what strange thing she was about to say,

“Let’s just kill him and take the whole temple.”

She’s right.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”

Escario, who had been watching our conversation, suddenly burst into laughter.

“This is quite a sight. It’s a shame to keep it to myself. Unfortunately, it seems I won’t be able to handle both of you at once today.”

“You bastard, are you running away again?!”

“Running away?”

Thud.

Escario, who had been laughing, suddenly got serious.

“It’s a tactical retreat. If a leader of a faction is ashamed to show his back, the faction will collapse in an instant.”

Eve, who had been quietly listening to Escario, chuckled.

“So, you’re scared?”

At those words, Escario’s face stiffened.

I know that feeling well.

“…What did you just say? Elphim?”

“Eve, Eve. My name is Eve. Not Elphim or Nephilim or whatever. Anyway, are you scared? You said you got your power back. So why are you running away because you can’t handle both of us?”

“I said it’s not running away.”

“No, I mean.”

Eve slung her spear over her shoulder and smirked. Her toes were tapping, making her look like a street thug.

“Are you scared?”

“You brat!”

A large circle appeared beneath Eve’s feet.

It happened so fast that I couldn’t react, but Eve stomped hard on the magic circle beneath her.

– Bang!

The magic circle spun like a flicked coin and shot into the air.

“Solar Reverse Kick!”

What the heck is that?

The magic circle, spinning in the air, was kicked hard by Eve as she leaped.

The magic circle, kicked by Eve, flew towards Escario.

“Follow-up!”

Eve’s spear shrunk to a small javelin size, and she hurled it with all her might.

The spear pierced through the flying magic circle and flew straight at Escario.

“Huh, foolish Elphim. What good will attacking me with light magic do?”

Escario casually retrieved the magic circle and even caught the spear with one hand, easily snapping it.

Eve definitely has a bad matchup against him.

Moreover, if he’s regained the power of the gods, Eve might even be at a disadvantage.

Wait, do I have nothing to do?!

Sigh.

A low sigh escaped me, and a dark torrent began to flow from the rivets of my gloves.

“I call upon your name here, as if your mother were calling you.”

The torrent flowed to the ground and began to change rapidly.

The talisman-shaped torrent began to draw a circular magic circle.

“My enemy is before me, so show my power here.”

A black sphere floated up from the circle.

A sphere with a red aura and a black glow began to grow larger and larger.

Thick veins bulged from the sphere, and just as it seemed to reach its peak size.

“Annihilate.”

At my gesture, the sphere flew towards Escario.

“Is this… dark magic? Mother, are you serious?!”

Eve’s shocked voice was in the background, but is this really all there is to dark magic? Does this even make sense?

When I think of magic, I imagine chanting spells from a distance and fighting in a flashy way.

As expected, the sphere disappeared before it could even get close to Escario.

My hands were completely blackened by the dark torrent.

Then…

Let’s try this, at least.

“Escario.”

The magic I just used isn’t actually that strong. It’s a basic ranged magic, but its destructive power varies depending on the amount of magical power used, and even then, it’s not a particularly powerful spell.

The best way to utilize Vesprede’s dark magic is—

– Flutter…

How about this?

With Eve’s face looking up at me, I spread my wings and soared into the sky.

“Where I stand is my domain. Children, the time has come to proclaim your mother’s glorious name here.”

As my incantation echoed, countless black circles were drawn in the sky.

Like a path leading to the abyss, only ominous sounds came from the dark, murky void.

– Graaaa!!!

– Kraaaa!!

– Guoooook…

The sounds varied as the ‘children’ I summoned slowly revealed themselves.

From a sea serpent wrapped in deep blue to a strange bird with wings larger than mine, floating in the sky with four legs, and even a reindeer-like creature galloping through the air.

The bizarre creatures emerged from the gate, their red eyes glowing, responding to my call.

While I stood in the sky with my arms spread, laughing triumphantly, Eve and Escario on the ground looked up with stiff expressions.

That’s not all.

“Come forth.”

My wings instantly transformed into arms. All six pairs of wings turned into arms, and now I had 14 arms.

…It feels a bit weird, but let’s go with it.

“Escario. You said gauntlets are primitive weapons.”

Screaaak!

A bird—or something too large to be a bird, with a wolf-like body but wings—flew through the sky.

“How about now? Fighting seven at once. Plus three more.”

Squish…

A snake slithered through the sky, flicking its tongue.

“How about it?”

Clip-clop, clip-clop…

A reindeer began to charge with its antlers forward.

Vesprede’s dark magic has a lot of miscellaneous spells, but I didn’t think any of them would be able to damage Escario in his current state.

However, the summoning magic, which is unique to this type of magic, caught my interest.

The countless heroes and mythical beings who ultimately died and were buried in the dark realm.

And I am the god of the dark realm.

Yeah, this is it.

“Hmph, that kind of thing…!”

Escario also spread his wings and flew into the sky.

Even with three divine beasts flying at him, Escario kept casting spells, trying to fight back.

I just floated beside him, watching.

If I wanted to cast spells, I could.

If I wanted to join the attack, I could.

But I don’t feel like it.

Maybe it’s prejudice, but somehow, attacking with magic doesn’t feel satisfying.

Sigh.

I took a deep breath.

“Need help?”

Eve, who had flown beside me, asked.

Her playful expression, but the concern in her eyes showed her true feelings.

So she can make that kind of expression too.

“No. I have to take him down. Even if I do, I have to do it myself to feel satisfied, right?”

“Hmm, that’s true. But if it gets dangerous, I’ll back you up.”

“Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

Eve shortened her spear and stepped back behind me.

I took another deep breath. Escario seemed too busy fighting my children to pay attention, but he still didn’t look like he was retreating.

Even a rotten god is still a god, huh?

Then it’s time for god vs. god.

What I think about is always winning.

What I dream of is a world where my family and I are all happy.

To achieve that, I have to crush that guy first.

I felt the dark torrent enveloping my body.

My boots turned black.

Wrapped in magical power, my boots turned black, and smoke began to rise as if they were on fire.

“Alright.”

This is the momentum.

*

– Kwaang!

I dropped from the sky and landed a dropkick straight into Escario’s stomach.

Escario and I crashed onto the nearly destroyed officetel, and the building collapsed even further, burying Escario in the rubble.

“No! My building!”

Eve’s scream came from afar, but since she’s the one who destroyed it, it’s fine, right?!

I grabbed Escario by the collar with my gauntleted hand and repeatedly punched his face.

“You need to get hit too!”

– Smack!

– Thud!

– Crash!

“You know it hurts, right, you bastard!”

– Thwack!

“A woman’s face!”

– Wham!

“Like that!”

– Slam!

“You hit me! You bad bastard!”

“Stop hitting… Ugh!”

“Stomach! Solar plexus! Solar plexus! Solar plexus! Solar plexus!”

I relentlessly pushed Escario down and kept punching him.

It hurts when you get hit in the stomach.

It’s not just me hitting him.

The hands that hit, the hands that grab when he’s about to fly away, the hands that hit other places.

When I decided to hit him, the other hands joined in, turning Escario into minced pork.

Am I some thousand-armed goddess?

Escario, who previously didn’t even have a scratch on his face after being hit by my punches, now had a face so swollen it was unrecognizable.

“You bad bastard!”

– Smack!

I kneed him in the face, and Escario sprawled out on the ground.

“Whew.”

That felt good.

“Ugh…”

Escario still tried to get up, struggling.

How do I kill this guy?

While I was pondering that, I heard flapping sounds from somewhere.

And then Escario suddenly shouted.

“You, you guys, protect me! Now!”

Oh, this bastard.

Just as I reached out to grab Escario by the collar again, dozens of spears suddenly shot down between us with a sharp sound.

Startled, I stepped back, and a huge curtain-like thing draped over me.

Looking up, I saw dozens of angels throwing themselves at me.

Even if they’re pretty girls, having dozens of them with blank expressions falling towards me is more terrifying than pretty.

Before I could even dodge, I was buried under the pile of girls.

It was heavy, and I could barely breathe, but the angels held onto my limbs and body, not letting go, making it impossible to escape.

“Let… me go…! Let… go…!”

No matter how much I struggled, I couldn’t even struggle.

Completely immobilized, I heard Eve’s shout.

“Mother, get out of there! They’re self-destructing!”

Hey, save me first before saying that!

*

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