The Join Tribe half-god Kiryev’s jaw dropped wide open. It was like a bird’s beak had split apart. He was left speechless by the words of the God of War in front of him.
“…You want to kill a god?”
“Yep.”
“But, uh, why did you seek me out, huh?”
Kiryev felt a cold sweat trickle down.
“The Holy Maiden of the Evil God’s cult said she’d somehow host the Evil God within her body. When she succeeds, we’ll need to fully draw out the soul of the Evil God residing in her.”
Hosting the god within!
The act of a god descending into a human body.
But surely, that god wouldn’t use all of its full soul power for something as trivial as that.
It would only use enough soul power to operate the human body fully, without putting a strain on the main body’s death.
“We only need to draw out his complete soul.”
Duke Yuma recalled his abilities.
His power as the only deity of the Intermediate World that prevented the invading gods from casually returning.
While he couldn’t stop gods from descending into the Intermediate World from the divine realm, he could block the door to their return to the divine realm.
Yuma explained that ability too.
At the explanation that he could actually block the movements of gods from the divine realm, shock lit up Kiryev and Seiavern’s eyes.
“You can control a god’s entrance and exit… That’s quite impressive.”
The scene where the join tribe member with white fur and a yellow beak expressed admiration but then gradually regained composure was quite amusing.
Once collected, Kiryev pondered deeply.
“To bring him down with soul power greater than that of hosting, we’ll need to throw him bait. Even if we can’t draw the main body down, we need to bait that soul power to its limit.”
Yuma slowly nodded.
This was something he had also considered.
“But this part doesn’t seem to be something I can solve with magic. Isn’t it the Holy Maiden of that [Piggero] cult who needs to negotiate well with the Evil God Malphas?”
Right. Yuma agreed with that. This was a situation where a script had to be created. A script enticing enough to make the Evil God Malphas use soul power beyond its limit.
“Exactly. The younger brother of the second Holy Maiden, Garoon, said he would convey my intentions to her before returning. We can discuss that when the time comes.”
“Then what is it that you wanted to ask me?”
Yuma decided it was time to get to the point.
“The biggest variable is his status as one of the [Eight Evil Gods]. His rank is beyond my imagination. Even after transcending the limits of soul power, there might be a chance he could completely return his soul to the divine realm.”
“Even after performing a Great Divine Summoning that has exceeded the limits of soul power, there are cases where the soul can be completely returned to the Divine Realm.”
Kiryev and Seiavern slowly nodded their heads.
It was a statement with enough possibility. Even if they conversed about the powers of Malphas, it would ultimately be nothing more than idle speculation.
They had no detailed knowledge about Malphas’s powers, after all.
‘If that guy has a cowardly personality, there’s a high probability he’s already established a way or ability to return even after performing a Great Divine Summoning on the Holy Maiden with soul power that has exceeded the limits.’
Yuma pulled out the method that would maximize the chances of success.
“Malphas. Create a spell to draw his physical body into this Intermediate World. Or find a way to do so.”
Even if Malphas’s soul could move freely after being placed on the surface of the Intermediate World, he wouldn’t be able to escape the Intermediate World.
“…You want me to create that? A spell to draw down a god’s true body?”
Yuma nodded.
“Right.”
The only being capable of creating such a spell seemed to be Kiryev, the Half-God of the Join Tribe, standing right before him.
“You’ve become my apostle. I believe you can produce sufficient results.”
Kiryev didn’t fully deny that statement.
The magical knowledge that Kiryev had gained after becoming the apostle of the God of War, Yuma, was vast. In particular, his insight had skyrocketed.
Even though it had only been three months since he became an apostle, he could personally feel a stark difference compared to before. The ability boosts felt by Seiavern and the Lycanthrope, Kesylvia, who became apostles at the same time, exceeded their own imaginations.
“It’s true that I’ve become an apostle. Still, a medium is necessary. I need to grasp the kind of magic that needs to be created.”
“A medium?”
“The principle of binding a god’s flesh… I need to know that principle if I want to pull the Evil God’s true body into this Intermediate World.”
The ‘medium’ that the Join Tribe’s magician Kiryev desired seemed to refer to an item related to the gods.
“Is there an object that can bind a god’s flesh?”
In response to Yuma’s question, Kiryev tilted his head.
“No, I, being only a Half-God, can’t even dare to anticipate that. If such an object exists, it would surely belong to a god, wouldn’t it? Just like you.”
Yuma shook his head internally. He didn’t have any items related to a medium. It was natural for him not to know about such items since he had only become a god less than two years ago.
It was only natural that a fresh god wouldn’t know about such things.
‘I have an inkling of where to start looking.’
Just one thing.
He recalled someone he could have a conversation with.
Inside the `[Messenger]` system under the `[Search Window]`, which could tell him the overall map of the Intermediate World and the presence of the gods, there was only one god available.
It was `[Goddess of Earth and Eternity]`, Leah.
Previously, she had been observing Duke Yuma in the Intermediate World from the outside, but after Yuma fully awoke as a god, it became impossible for her to keep an eye on Yuma’s every move due to his elevated status throughout the Intermediate World.
Tap.
Yuma clicked on the floating system window in the air.
He pressed the name of the goddess, Leah, with his index finger.
[Sending a message to ‘Leah, Goddess of Earth and Eternity.’]
From now on, what Yuma says aloud will resonate in Leah’s mind.
“Leah, I have something to discuss, so listen.”
Right after Yuma finished speaking, Leah immediately responded. Her voice echoed in Yuma’s mind.
[Yes, I understand.]
It had been almost a year since Yuma and Leah started communicating through the messenger. Leah, as a goddess, had experience with such communications, but Yuma wasn’t fully accustomed to it yet.
Of course, he made sure not to let it show when he was communicating with Leah.
“I have an opportunity to kill the Evil God Malphas. It’s a chance to reduce that evil god’s numbers, just as you wished.”
Yuma combined the words from his conversation with Kiryev and the words of Garoon, the younger brother of the Second Holy Maiden, to tell Leah.
[…You’re planning something that won’t be easy.]
“Isn’t it what you wanted?”
Leah seemed to think for a moment before continuing.
[Please wait for about a week. When that item pulls most of the soul energy to the Intermediate World and mentors the Holy Maiden’s body… I don’t know if it will forcibly draw out Malphas’s physical body, but it will help.]
Yuma nodded slowly.
“I’m counting on it.”
[I’m sorry for not being able to provide clear assistance.]
Yuma had no intention of blaming the Outer Gods in the Divine Realm, who could be considered his allies, now.
“I’ll catch Malphas.”
“Yuma continued speaking.
‘When the number of the Eight Evil Gods drops from five to four, make sure the gates of the Divine Realm are opened properly.’
Leah couldn’t voice her disappointment at Yuma’s cold tone. After all, they were in a position where they had to rely completely on Yuma’s assistance.
[Got it.]
A week quickly flew by.
A red dot blinked and flashed next to the messenger interface.
It was a message from Leah, the only deity recorded in the messenger.
[Something will fall from the sky soon. Make sure you catch it.]
Make sure to catch it, huh?
Yuma chuckled and got up.
Leah was right.
Suddenly, light flared in the air, and something fell.
Thud!
Yuma snatched it before it hit the ground.
[Search Eye]
Yuma’s Search Eye, glowing with white light, fixed its gaze on a black orb emanating ominous energy.
[???]
: Improvised item.
: Instantly prohibits the usage of the body’s connection to the target’s soul.
: Maximum target – God (神)
: Caution – The deity-level divine power of the main god of the Divine Realm is required for the item to take effect.
Yuma began to understand how this item was intended to be used.
‘They chose to completely block the passage for a brief return of the physical body instead of dragging the physical entity in the Divine Realm to the Intermediate World.’
Yuma tapped on the desk with his finger.
Now, all that remained was to fully descend Malphas into the body of Yulicia, the Holy Maiden of Piggero.
Three days later, Garoon, the younger brother of the second Holy Maiden, visited again.
Garoon looked at Yuma and said, ‘The Holy Maiden wishes for an engaging story to invoke Malphas into her body.’
Yuma shared what he had roughly organized in his mind.
‘We need to make him nervous. If I say that I’ve tracked the Piggero Church right to their doorstep, he will definitely feel anxious.’
The problem was that merely making him anxious wouldn’t suffice.
‘To make him possess the Holy Maiden based on the fact that he can return to his original form at any time, we need a sweet bait.’
Continuously pressuring him psychologically would make the God of War look unfavorable.
If they exposed an obvious ‘weakness,’ he would certainly try to seize it. That would be Malphas’s perspective.
‘If I say one of my close aides has been seduced by the Piggero Church, it would pique his interest quite a bit.’
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