[I’ve shed my ordinary self.]
Duke Yuma stared intently at the continuously appearing window.
It didn’t seem like there would be an immediate change just because he had shed his ordinary self.
After all, it only meant that he had literally escaped being a ‘common person.’
He had shed the body that couldn’t amass mana, a dumb body cursed with absolutely no talent for swordsmanship.
He had escaped a state where there was absolutely no possibility for growth.
That was what shedding his ordinary self meant.
[Face it.]
Right after that phrase echoed in his mind.
Suddenly, everything went dark.
And moments later, the world brightened once again.
He saw a flowing river. The blue sky was visible. And then, a voice was heard.
=Nice to meet you.=
Soon, a shape appeared. It was a female figure formed from a swirl of pure white light.
=Yuma.=
“….”
Yuma furrowed his brow and stared intently at the woman.
He tried to guess who the woman in front of him was. Someone related to the status window.
If so, there was only one answer.
‘God?’
Yuma had killed two gods.
However, it was hard to easily assume that there was a being above the gods.
“Are you a god?”
=By now, you must be spitting out numerous questions.=
Good insight.
=First, a philosophical answer is impossible. This is because my interference ability isn’t fully intact yet. However, knowing that you have many questions, I will try to predict your inquiries and tell you everything I can at this time.=
The woman continued.
=First, yes, I am a god.=
=I am [Goddess of Earth and Eternity], Leah.=
=I am one of the gods who summoned you to this world.=
=In the Outside Divine Realm, the Eight Evil Gods refer to us that way. We are among the gods who occupy half of the Divine Realm.=
=Currently, the Divine Realm is divided into the Outside Divine Realm and the Divine Realm. The Outside Divine Realm refers to the ones that fled from the Divine Realm’s war led by the Eight Evil Gods, creating barriers.=
The defeated gods.
=You might think we lost.=
There was an inexplicable bitterness in the woman’s words.
=That statement isn’t entirely wrong. The Eight Evil Gods, of course, and many gods beneath them specialized in battle, so we had no choice but to lose.=
=However, among them, the Eight Evil Gods are the ones we absolutely must eliminate.=
=They are the ones who started killing their fellow gods. They are those who are secretly anxious, having set up barriers in the Outside Divine Realm. They realize that the war among gods has gone awry. They know the concept of sin.=
=Once the gods start their divine slaughter, they can’t stop it. The destruction of the Intermediate World won’t stop either. To break through our barrier, they will keep raising their divine ranks. The most effective way to raise that divine rank is to repeatedly destroy and restore the Intermediate World.=
In the end, this meant that to protect this land, all six remaining Evil Gods had to be dealt with.
=Just escaping from being a mortal alone won’t bring any change to Duke Yuma. After all, he only shed the curse of being a mortal from a body that had no talent for strength from the beginning.=
=It was unavoidable that Duke Yuma was a talentless body in order to summon him here.=
=What’s important from the point of having escaped from being a mortal is that he has become a vessel capable of shedding his shell.=
=As a mortal, no matter how much divine rank you accumulate, you can’t attempt to shed your shell.=
=Duke Yuma.=
The woman paused for a moment before continuing.
=You need to awaken your divine rank.=
Duke Yuma furrowed his brows.
Divine rank.
=The history has already piled up enough.=
History.
=You need to awaken the myth.=
Myth.
Duke Yuma’s mind was filled with questions.
=To protect the Intermediate World from the threats of the Evil Gods and their subordinate gods, you must escape being a mortal and then the human race.=
=You must become a god.=
A god, huh.
=Only then can you protect everyone you wish to protect.=
=Please, you must follow my words.=
=The power you possess. Many gods have contributed to grant that power.=
=You have made only the right choices until now, so I hope you make the right choice this time as well.=
That was the end of their meeting.
The illusion before him shattered, and Yuma let out a sigh.
“Damn it.”
In the end, this guy was just another one trying to wield things as he pleased.
This time, it wasn’t a voice but a status window appeared right before him.
[The only place in the Intermediate World where you can awaken your divine rank is the Transcendent Altar of the Join Tribe located at the end of the Gerhegen continent.]
[If the divine rank awakening is successful, the duration of the process cannot be predicted. It could take just a month. It might take even longer.]
Yuma examined the sentences that appeared before him along with a map. The map was of the Gerhegen continent.
Yuma stared intently at the map.
The kingdom of the Join Tribe, [Purma], where the Transcendent Altar was located, was in the northern part of the Gerhegen continent.
Yuma left his quarters and pondered deeply.
He had to become a god.
He had to accomplish something that seemed entirely impossible from a human’s perspective.
Yuma headed to the palace’s office where Princess Brigitte was working.
*
“I need to learn about the Join Tribe. I have business in Purma, which was the kingdom of the Join Tribe.”
“I have business in Furma.”
Princess Brigitte’s eyes widened at Duke Yuma’s sudden statement.
“Furma is a fallen kingdom, you know. Over a thousand years ago. I heard only the remnants of the palace structures remain now.”
“Do you know why it fell?”
Brigitte shook her head in response to Yuma’s follow-up question.
“It crossed a line it should not have… and perished as judgment for it. That’s all that’s known.”
A line that should not be crossed.
Knowing what the goddess had just told her, she had a guess.
‘…Were they trying to become gods?’
She had heard about the Join Tribe. Unlike humans, whose growth limits are somewhat clear, they were one of the races that held the power to transcend.
Elves and Join Tribes,
those two were particularly likely candidates for achieving transcendence.
Yet it seemed they still could not become gods.
‘I don’t have time to waste.’
The golems in the Resen Kingdom had bared their teeth at the kingdom. That was definitely the work of a god.
They claimed that when they smashed the continent and restored it, that was when they gained divine power.
The process of destruction and restoration was about to be initiated.
‘It seems the Evil Gods don’t want to intervene directly, but the ones under them are still capable of causing havoc, as shown by the one controlling the golems.’
It was uncertain when the Evil Gods would use their power to wreak havoc on the Intermediate World again.
‘I’m going.’
It might already be too late to leave.
Even if he arrived quickly, he had no idea how long the flowering of that divine nature would take.
“I’ll be stepping out for a bit.”
Yuma selected a spot on the map of the Gehergen continent. It was the location of Furma, the only Join Tribe nation in the history of the Gehergen continent.
Brigitte looked at Yuma’s determined gaze.
“Do you have any idea how long this journey will take, Yuma?”
Yuma nodded.
“I’ll return as quickly as I can.”
He added immediately,
“Don’t worry. I’ll take all possible precautions for the safety of the Empire.”
Brigitte slowly shook her head.
“No, Yuma.”
Brigitte’s mouth slowly opened.
“I’m just worried about whether you’re okay.”
Yuma patted Brigitte on the shoulder.
The young emperor, who had just turned twenty-six.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Reassuring Brigitte, Yuma chose his next destination in his mind.
He began moving toward the guest room in the imperial palace, where the high elf Luine was. Luine sprang to her feet, her green hair fluttering wildly.
It was none other than Yuma, who had kept her bound to this empire.
Having witnessed Yuma defeat Barbatos, one of the Evil Gods, Luine was literally stunned. And she had found it impossible to defy his words. So, she had been diligently following his orders to protect the Astes Empire for the time being.
It had become so. So for the time being, he was faithfully carrying out the order to keep watch over the Astes Empire.
Luine’s green eyes widened in surprise and she shrank back as Duke Yuma strode confidently toward her.
“W-What brings you here?”
Duke Yuma met her gaze with a blank expression.
“Empire sentinel. Your service period is extended.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll be stepping away for a bit. This celestial matter might take longer than expected. I’ll return as quickly as I can. Anyway, that’s why your guardianship of the empire has been extended. If a dangerous moment arises where the empire can mobilize all its forces, then you’ll need to command other elves to assist.”
Luine’s face was a mix of fear and confusion.
“Um, how long do you expect this will take?”
Duke Yuma didn’t answer that question and simply stated his words.
“Answer my statement.”
“…Understood.”
Luine didn’t want to meet Duke Yuma’s chilling gaze any longer.
In truth, she was only looking at him, but ever since witnessing him take down the evil god Barbatos, just standing still felt distinctly eerie.
Having some knowledge of the Evil God through her dealings with celestial beings, and being a high elf aware of the god’s terrifying strength, she couldn’t help but feel a dreaded fear from what Duke Yuma had shown her.
The more knowledge one has, the more intense the fear becomes.
For Luine, realizing the existence of the “God Slayer” only in her mind and then witnessing that feat with her own eyes granted a whole different level of understanding.
With a confirmation from Luine—who as a high elf could muster power equivalent to that of an entire kingdom as a Great Spirit Mage—Duke Yuma moved on to his next destination.
This time, he was headed to the kingdom of the lycanthropes, Baokalrak.
Of course, it was quite a distance, so he took to the skies on his griffin, Ethan.
Whoosh—
Ethan’s wings, spread wide and flapping vigorously, glided down gently to the ground.
Even though a human suddenly appeared in their land, none of the lycanthropes brandished weapons or displayed hostile behavior.
They knew who it was by seeing the griffin and obeyed the orders given by their king, Berkan of Baokalrak.
Duke Yuma walked toward the royal palace.
King Berkan of Baokalrak watched Yuma.
“I guess it’s time to repay the favor for helping your kingdom during the demon realm invasion.”
King Berkan smirked.
“What assistance do you need?”
“If a dangerous moment arises for Astes, aid us.”
“That’s only natural, even without needing to repay a debt.”
Duke Yuma received confirmation from both races.
After returning to the empire, Duke Yuma ascended to the celestial realm.
