Duke Yuma descended from the [Sky Continent].
He arrived in the lands of the Zepharos Kingdom on the continent of Yeigel.
Of course, he brought Bell along. Accompanying them were Seiavern, the High Elf demigoddess, and Kiryev, the Join Tribe demigod. The Lycanthrope Kesylvia said she would come down and join after sorting her thoughts a bit.
Yuma had no intention of visiting the royal palace of Zepharos. There was no necessity for it.
The preaching was probably well taken care of by Holy Maiden Ermel, Hestia, and their related followers.
They met with the existing party in the land of the Join Tribe and exchanged words.
“Oh, ancestor…!”
The Join Tribe members worshipped Kiryev, who had reached demigod status among their kind.
And the High Elf Luine, trembling, paid respects to Seiavern, who was of a much higher lineage.
“It’s an honor to meet the great Sword Saint!”
Seiavern seemed to be quite a famous figure among the Elves.
Kiryev, both a Join Tribe member and a 13-circle mage, approached Cloney, the Black-Haired, Golden-Eyed Girl mage.
“Indeed, your talent is as high as that of the swordsman.”
He stared right at Cloney, who was looking at him with her bright yellow Join Tribe eyes.
“How many circles are you at now?”
“Still at the 6th circle.”
“Think you can reach the 7th circle?”
“It feels like there’s a wall in front of me. I might be able to overcome it, or maybe I won’t.”
Kiryev smiled slyly. It was a bitter smile because he could relate to her words.
“Everyone goes through such phases. It’s not that you’re slow…”
Yuma nodded as he listened to their conversation. Kiryev seemed interested in Cloney. It felt like, without even commanding her to be a disciple, he would teach her out of sheer interest.
Hestia, the Cat-Folk swordswoman and high priestess of the God of War, perked her orange ears as she watched Bell and Seiavern duel.
She had just explained the greatness of the God of War to the two demigods. Now, she was observing as both swordsmen engaged in battle.
“Me too! Teach me, Sword!”
Seiavern chuckled at Hestia’s straightforward attitude.
“Why don’t you both try teaming up?”
Three swords danced across the vast field.
To Seiavern, it was merely leisure. For Bell and Hestia, it was a serious duel since their pride was slightly at stake.
Bell and Hestia felt a significant disparity in skill. Seiavern clearly exploited openings they couldn’t see, as she skillfully dodged their simultaneous joint attacks, her eyes still firmly shut, moving like flowing water.
With a tight grip, he deftly dodged the attack like water flowing around it.
The sparring session lasted longer than expected. It had been over five minutes. Of course, Seiavern was toying with the two swordsmen as if they were her little nephews.
Had it been around ten minutes since it started?
“Yikes!”
Suddenly, a scream echoed through the air.
Bell was clutching her right side. This was due to the re-emergence of the rib fracture she suffered from her battle with Kesylvia, the transcendent of the Lycanthrope bloodline.
Quickly, Holy Maiden Ermel approached Bell, who lay sprawled on the floor.
“Bell!”
She placed her hand, glowing with divine power, over Bell’s abdomen.
“Uh, it’s just a fractured rib…?”
Ermel shook her head vigorously.
“Even a simple wound must be healed perfectly!”
Ermel was unwavering in her strong resolve.
As Ermel fussed, Hestia stepped closer to chime in.
“Yeah, yeah. There might be other injuries too, so let’s check everything!”
“Okay!”
Ermel answered with vigor. They really did make a great team.
Yuma observed the situation, trying to sort through the complex thoughts in his head.
By killing the [God of Steel and War] Duke, the only god remaining in this Intermediate World was the God of War.
He was the last one standing.
Peace.
Now, a time of peace where no enemies existed. Yuma couldn’t fully savor that time yet, as none of the fundamental issues had been resolved.
To put an end to all of this, he ultimately had to go to the Divine Realm. But right now, there was no way to head there.
“I need to kill one more Evil God.”
If he did, he might overcome the power gap between them and the [Eight Evil Gods] and get a chance to open the door to the Divine Realm.
However, the likelihood of any of the remaining five [Evil Gods] descending voluntarily into the [Intermediate World] was almost zero.
“One, I still must kill at least one more.”
A ticking time bomb.
He couldn’t leave a potential danger just lying around.
Yuma was determined to find a way, no matter what.
“First, I need to return to the Empire.”
Having eliminated the nearby threats, he needed to head back to his nest.
Kiryef and Seiavern, who had already wandered through the entire Intermediate World, didn’t really care about where they’d end up living.
*
Yuma looked at the figure standing in the center of the Astes Empire palace.
That figure was the emperor of this land, Princess Brigitte von Astes.
“You’ve come.”
Next to Brigitte, who spoke plainly, were Bell and Hestia. Hestia spoke brightly, as if she had just bumped into an old neighborhood friend.
“Yup, yup! We were later than expected! It’s gonna take forever to explain everything that happened! Oh my gosh, we had such a hard time!”
After Hestia, Bell chimed in.
“Right, Your Majesty! It was truly chaotic! Everything!”
Despite their lively banter, Brigitte chuckled softly at Hestia and Bell’s energy.
“Alright, go in, unpack your things, and get some rest.”
After Bell and Hestia responded with an “Okay” and headed to their quarters, Cloney walked in, contrasting the swift pace of Bell and Hestia with her tired steps.
Cloney looked at Brigitte and said weakly, “…I held on to Yuma’s ankle.”
It seemed Cloney was still troubled by the incident where she had wasted days caught in the nightmare abilities of the [God of Delicate Maces], Morg.
Brigitte gently stroked Cloney’s hair.
“It’s alright; what’s important is that you made it back safely. You should go in and rest too.”
Cloney still felt uneasy, but after managing a smile, she nodded.
“Yes, Your Majesty Brigitte.”
Ermel also greeted Brigitte before heading to her chamber. Once everyone had disappeared to their respective places, Brigitte and Yuma leaned back on a bench in the palace stroll path.
“This time took longer than I thought.”
He had expected to return in 10 days at the latest, but it had stretched to over 20.
Yuma explained about Cloney and Hestia being trapped in the [Nightmare].
As Yuma described the specific nightmares they experienced, Brigitte’s eyes widened.
“…So Cloney was racked with guilt and fell victim to a curse that stole her time.”
Brigitte looked at Yuma with her white hair fluttering.
“In a world without you… I might’ve gone insane and completely lost it.”
Brigitte continued.
“You did well. You defeated all the gods that invaded the Intermediate World.”
“Yeah, it took quite some time.”
“That took quite a long time.”
Thud…
Brigitte placed her hand on Yuma’s shoulder.
“Now you can rest a bit more peacefully, Yuma.”
“Well, I don’t know if peaceful is the right word…”
Brigitte chuckled.
“Who are those two other races you brought this time?”
“There was a place called the Sky Continent where beings of demigod caliber or close to it gathered. I got them from there.”
In an instant, Brigitte’s mouth dropped open and paused.
“…Yuma, you always manage to surprise me.”
You’re talking about bringing beings close to demigods like it’s no big deal, as if you just picked them up off the ground.
Brigitte recalled what Yuma had told her before he set out on his journey.
Originally, among the Eight Evil Gods, Yuma had killed three. He said he had to kill one more of the remaining five to open the path to the Divine Realm.
“Did you hear any way to kill one more of the Evil Gods?”
Yuma heavily nodded his head.
“They said they would let me know when they find a method, but there’s been no news at all.”
The probability of one of the Eight Evil Gods descending into the Intermediate World of its own will was almost zero.
All the Evil Gods that had previously descended had been killed by Yuma.
Knowing that, any Evil God would see descending to the Intermediate World as jumping into a death trap.
‘We have to forcibly drag them into the Intermediate World.’
The problem was, he couldn’t see any method to do it.
No matter how much he wracked his brain, he couldn’t come up with a solution.
Yuma opened his mouth again.
“The being I suspect is one of the Eight Evil Gods is the one I met when I went to the capital with Bell. The one that momentarily possessed the princess and approached me. Haven’t you found any information about the dead princess?”
The god who approached Yuma that way was Malphas, one of the Eight Evil Gods, known as the God of Terrible Constructs.
Yuma’s deduction was correct, but there was still no information found regarding the princess. Despite providing a necklace with a silver pendant to the Information Guild, no useful details had come in.
“I’m sorry, Yuma.”
“You don’t need to apologize.”
Yuma shook his head at Brigitte’s words.
“Finding a method is what matters. If the method doesn’t come easily… well, we just need to focus on improving our strength so that we can be prepared for anything.”
Either way, there was a lot to do.
Yuma was finally able to enjoy a long-awaited comfortable rest.
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