Shinka no Mi

Chapter 216: True Demon God

(Note: What a turnaround)

We were just dumbfounded by how quickly the story ended.

“I,is it over……?”

I guess it’s understandable that I would mutter something like that.

After all, what had been such a struggle for us was now over with the use of magic.

It still feels unbelievable, but―――― it seems that my mumbling was a flag after all.

“―――― Disappointing.”

『!?』

It was a word.

The voice came out of nowhere, and even though it was muttered quietly, it echoed throughout the room and even caused cracks to appear in the floor and surrounding areas.

A mere voice, can physically affect its surroundings.

While I was surprised by the situation, a figure appeared at the top of the altar.

However……

“What, the hell…… is that……”

Al grunted and muttered when she saw the being that appeared on the altar.

It’s from purple and black, from the various forces that have taken the form of a person. …… It was an existence that couldn’t be described.

It has the shape of a person, but it was by no means a person.

As with the hints of power emitting from the existence in front of us, what swirls there … was too ominous.

It kinda seems like the anger and despair of the whole world were forcibly suppressed in the form of a person…… it was that kind of existence.

It has no eyes, and no mouth.

It was so overwhelming that it made me think that all the power just …… took the form of a person.

While we were simply overwhelmed, the humanoid in front of us continued on without any worry about us.

“I was expecting to see how you would deal with him, but …… there was nothing to see. You, too, were nothing more than dwarfed beings trapped by the laws of this world.”

“Are you…… the Demon God……?”

I asked, but in my mind, I was already convinced.

I’m pretty sure that I defeated the demon god earlier.

However, the existence in front of us now gives off a sign worthy of being called God.

He was incomparable to the Demon god from earlier.

Other than that, I can’t explain it in detail, but he resembled the sign of God, which was the reason that I came to this world.

……Could it be that the being I just saw was a fake?

“Demon God, huh…… fuh. Don’t you think that’s a name that shows through one’s arrogance, without doubting that they are absolute?”

“Eh?”

“Originally, I was a God like them. However, when they sealed me up, those guys called me the Demon god and defined me as a lower being. But that’s as far as it goes. For as of this moment, I am the true God, and all the others will perish.”

“I don’t understand what you mean……”

I don’t understand anything the Demon God is saying.

Besides, I didn’t know what kind of conflicts he had with the other gods in the past, or what kind of suffering he had gone through because of them.

But please don’t drag us into that feud.

“You don’t understand? That’s natural. There is no way a small being like you can keep up with my thoughts. Just shut up and accept my decision.”

“As I have said before…… such decision, is unacceptable!”

“Al!”

In response to the Demon god’s words, Al raised her axe and swung it down with great force.

“『Shockwave』!”

The slash shattered the ground in the room and headed straight for the Demon god, but ――――.

“……Foolish”

“Wha!?”

The slash disappeared right in front of him without even touching the demon god.

“If so…… how about this?”

Then, Olga-chan took out the Kunai from her pocket and threw it at the Demon god.

When Olga-chan threw the Kunai, it split into the number of kunai that Olga-chan wanted and attacked the Demon God.

“It’s no use. God is unreachable.”

However, as with Al’s case, the kunai disappeared right in front of him without even touching the demon god.

“This power…… it’s the same as what I felt from the magic circle when we came here……”

“It was unpleasant, right……”

Saria and Rurune muttered to themselves as they looked at the power that counteracted Al and Olga-chan’s attacks.

As I recall, she said that she felt some kind of 『nothingness』 that denies everything from the magic circle when we come to this hideout …… The Netherworld also said that this is the power of the Demon God, so I am sure that this is the true Demon God.

“You seem to have misunderstood something, but no matter how hard you try, your destiny to disappear cannot be reversed. I’m not like the monsters you’ve been dealing with so far. How can you, who are trapped in the mechanisms of this world and can only live by obeying its laws, defeat the gods who create those laws and mechanisms?”

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“Kuh……”

He’s truly on a different level.

The Demon God stood still without losing his composure so much that I wanted to say so.

Certainly, the being that I had assumed to be the Demon God earlier was also able to prevent our attacks.

However, I was able to see him use some force, such as having another life form prevent it.

And yet, the demon god in front of us now doesn’t seem to have used any power.

As if it’s natural, the attacks of Al and others have disappeared.

The Demon God continues without any particular concern for us who continue to be vigilant.

“In that sense, my Deities, had unusual powers, but …… they still have a human’s body. I heard that some of them were trying to fight against me, but it seems that they disappeared naturally, without my intention. Yes ―――― with your power”

“Eh, me?”

The demon god, who until now had seemed to be speaking to all of us, or rather to humanity as a whole, suddenly turned his attention to me personally.

“It’s no use hiding it. I know ―――― that you are the heretic who has transformed the power of my Deities.”

“Ha,haa……”

Certainly, Destra, one of the deities, went from having the power to absolutely kill the target to having the power to heal the target, and Vitor, the deity that Olga-chan and the others have fought, because of me, his status had changed to that of a stone, though I didn’t ask him about his abilities in detail.

For some reason, Gemper’s ability was not able to create my copies well, and when the other copies were instructed to attack us, Gemper himself, who gave the instructions, was beaten up by the copies.

However, that doesn’t mean that his ability has changed or disappeared.

In particular, the last deity, Yutis, seemed to be up to something and disappeared somewhere and never came back.

…………A’re? Is it my fault after all?

I thought about it again, but I guess it’s my fault that the abilities of the Deities have gone haywire!

Then, the demon god quietly steps down from the altar and spreads his arms.

“With my complete resurrection, I have gained power beyond that of the gods who had sealed me away. Yes, as the one and only God who rules over the whole universe. But the one being that even I cannot understand, is you.”

I was told that God doesn’t understand something, but somehow? It’s me.

“Behold! This power! Everything in the universe is in my hands”

Between the Demon god’s outstretched arms, a cosmos of stars and universe compressed to a miniature size was created, where stars exploded, the galaxies being swallowed, expanded, and disappeared, and after many other changes, the universe quietly disappeared.

“I have shown you the world from its creation to its end, so that you can easily understand it.”

“Eh?”

“In other words, I created the world from scratch for you, and then I killed it. Fufufu…… for me, the universe, life forms, everything, is just for comfort.”

“No way…… you created, and killed it for your own convenience……?”

Al turns to the Demon God as if she was staring at something outrageous.

The guy whom we thought was the previous Demon God also created humans in front of us and then killed them.

But this guy, created a universe and killed it just to show it off.

“Isn’t that natural? Life has no value to me anymore. I create as I wish, kill as I wish. It’s just a plaything”

“Such …… why……”

Saria was shocked by the words of the merciless Demon God.

Saria, who had originally grown up in a world of wildness and a world of the weak and the strong, must have understood the importance of life, and she could not tolerate the demon god’s words that denied it.

“Terrible? You say something strange. After all this, you still don’t get it, do you? You are now, merely living at my whims…… well, it’s fine. Rather than that, I’m more interested in you.”

When the demon god said that, he turned his head straight towards me.

There were no eyes on his face, but I could clearly feel that something that looks like a line of sight was looking at me.

“Although it is an incarnation, you have shown that you can kill a god. You’re just a human being, but…… I don’t know how you can do that. …… I don’t know. ……!”

It was a cry that seemed to be both fear and hatred.

The cult’s hideout trembled loudly in response to that cry.

“I am the one and only, beyond the gods, and there is no being that I cannot perceive!”

“Kuh!”

“Everyone!”

Saria and the others couldn’t stand his growing pressure and fell to their knees on the spot.

“…… Even now. It’s terrifying, and hateful that you are able to be calm in front of my power, even though I am adjusting by feel to the maximum.”

Indeed, I was currently unaffected by the pressure radiating from the Demon God.

This is because, although I somehow feel that there is a tremendous power being released from him, I can’t feel it on my skin.

Is this just me being dull, or has evolution made me such a monster that I don’t even feel it …… it’s a secret that I have a feeling it’s the latter.

Then, suddenly, the pressure radiating from the Demon God seemed to disappear, and Saria and the others breathed a sigh of relief at being released.

“Tu! Haa……haa……!”

“――――However, that thought ends here. I have already seen all of your power.”

“Eh?”

“There is no point in hiding it. You fought with all your might against my incarnation, and you won. Naturally, your victory over my incarnation was a marvel in itself, but the way you’ve done it was ultimately through the power of magic. It was at that stage that I saw the bottom of your power. You’re not even an obstacle anymore.”

“E,err……”

I didn’t know what to say to the demon god, who continued to speak in a somewhat intoxicated manner.

Because, the battle with his incarnation that I thought was the Demon God was a battle with the mysterious life forms created by that guy, and in the end, I defeated it with Seiichi magic 【Judgment】.

In that sense, I’m convinced that the Demon God in front of me, who was outside of my perception, is safe, but that magic defeated not only the life forms, but his incarnation as well.

It’s not like that magic invocation is my best thing, so …… that’s …… it didn’t feel right for him to call it the bottom of my power.

Then, it seems that it’s not just me, but Saria and the others feel the same way when they hear it, and they all look at each other and stare at the Demon God with an indescribable expression.

But the Demon God didn’t notice our appearance, and suddenly, mud began to gather around us again!

Moreover, the number of them is the same as before, and they appear to fill the space in an instant.

“Thi,this is…… the same as before ……?”

“If you think it’s really the same, defeat it and show me.”

The mysterious life forms that the incarnation of the demon god called forth was defeated by 【Judgment】, and the life forms that appeared now seemed to be no different from the ones that were defeated earlier.

So I tried to activate the 【Judgment】 again, but ……

“A’re?”

For some reason, no magic was triggered at all.

This feeling is ……

“I told you, didn’t I? I told you that I have already seen your bottom. You can no longer use magic in this space.”

Yes, the discomfort I felt was the same as the one I felt in the 【Forest of Sealed Magic】 of Helen’s homeland, the Varsha Empire.

It was a space where magic could not be activated due to the surrounding trees sucking up the magic power, but this time it was different.

It’s as if the very concept of magic and magic power has been removed…… it had been transformed into such a space.

Because of this, no matter how much I tried to activate the magic, there was no response at all.

“Now then, what are you guys going to do in this situation where you can’t use magic?”

The Demon God looks at us happily, as if he’s watching us from afar.

“Se,Seiichi……”

In such a situation, Saria looks uneasy.

I could see that not only Saria, but also Al and the others were feeling uneasy, though they didn’t put it in words.

That’s why, I see what I have to do now.

I just, like to laugh with everyone.

Therefore, the situation that makes Saria and the others feel uneasy…… will certainly be removed by me.

As soon as I made that decision, I came up with something.

Then, in order to carry out this idea, I put my strength into the Black in my hand and took a big swing ――――.

“Did you think that if magic won’t work, then it’s physical strength? However, you already knew that any attack would be useless ――――”

“Shut up!”

While blocking the words of the Demon God, I swung my sword with all my might!

Up until now, if I tried to give it my all, it would make such a sound that the world would creak.

However, I don’t have to worry about that now.

After all, this is not a world or anything, but a space created by the Demon god.

I don’t give a damn if this space gets broken or not!

Then, not only from the time I swing my sword out, but the moment I started to swing it out, the World of the Demon God went squeak! A shattering sound was heard.

However, my attack isn’t over yet.

As I continued to swing my sword, I could feel it slicing through something in my hand.

After slicing through it, I didn’t feel anything resisting me, so I just swung as it is.

“Wha……”

When I finished swinging my weapon, I could feel the atmosphere of astonishment from the Demon God.

Because …… with just that one blow, the mysterious life forms that had filled the space had disappeared.

However, I don’t remember flying a slash, nor did I directly slash through it.

But the moment I swung my sword with all my might on the spot and slashed something where there should have been nothing, the mysterious life forms disappeared all at once.

In other words……

“E,eeh……? They really disappeared……?”

“Why are you so surprised!?”

I don’t really understand it either.

I tried to attack with all my strength for the time being, and if that didn’t work, I would think about it again, but this is the result.

I knew that this space would shatter, but even that was before I attacked …… that’s exactly what happened in my attack just now! It was shattered at the level of my yell.

That’s why, the space we’re standing in now has changed from the stone room like when we first came here, to a world of swirling patterns and colors that we don’t understand.

Moreover, if I look closely, I can see that even such a mysterious space has been slashed open, making it pitch black and nothing can be seen.

It seems that there is no concept, or existence in that black area …… It appeared that 『Emptiness』 was spreading there in the true sense of the word.

That’s, well, anyway ……

“I,I beat them, so it’s fine! Yup!”

I didn’t really understand it either, but all’s well that ends well!

As I forced myself to be convinced of that, the Demon god shook his head.

“This is stupid …… that shouldn’t happen …… What the hell was that blow? It slashed through space, time, concepts, everything …… and then my world, like this……”

The Demon God looked incredulous, while his body was shaking.

However, in the next moment, an overwhelming power was released from the demon god’s body like never before.

Moreover, it was the power of 『nothingness』 that was put in the magic circle that brought us into this hideout.

The waves of 『nothingness』 emitted from the Demon God’s body resonated with the 『nothingness』 of the space I had slashed through earlier, eroding the space with this incomprehensible pattern.

“――――you are dangerous.”

In a solemn atmosphere, the Demon God said so.

“I can’t let you do what you want any longer. There should be no such thing as a higher being than God.”

Just by telling me so, the space around us became distorted, causing 『nothingness』 to dominate the space, and in other places, the space shimmered like the universe and then disappeared, causing something like a supernova explosion, here and there, surrounding us.

When I was amazed at the power of the Demon God, who was truly worthy of the word “God,” the Demon God continued with no sense of the mockery I felt from him earlier.

“Nevertheless, in honor of the fact that you have once terrified me, I will finally use my divine power to erase your very existence.”

As he said this, the Demon God slowly held out his right arm and tried to grasp something.

“That’s why ―――― it’s over. Die.”

And, the Demon God completely grasped his right hand!

…………

……A’re?

We were on maximum alert, wondering what was going to happen, but there was no sign of anything happening.

We were puzzled by this, but it’s the same with the Demon God.

“? Why? Why, is nothing happening ……?”

The Demon God looked completely confused, and although he held his hand several times, nothing happened in the end.

“Wha,what the hell is going on here!? Why can’t I see it! I am the almighty, why can’t I know it!”

『――――Almighty again, huh』

“!”

Suddenly, a voice echoed through the entire space.

But that voice, I …… no, we know it well.

“……Oy, this voice ……”

“It’s just like the voice we heard when the alien named Gyogyon was defeated, right!”

It was what Saria had said, this voice was exactly the voice of the world that I often hear.

Then, perhaps because they heard such a voice, Al and the others looked at me as if they had guessed something.

Hold on! Don’t look at me like that! Since I haven’t done anything yet!

You see, it may not be because of me, but it’s possible that it came out because the Demon God’s deeds are not good for the world ――――.

『I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Seiichi-sama. 』

“Yes, it’s me!”

I knew it! I just didn’t want to believe it!

Then, the world continues with a truly apologetic look.

『In reality, I wanted to help you right away, but…… even if the being there is rotten, he is a God. It would be quite troublesome……』

“Who, are you? You don’t show yourself, and you don’t call out to this me……”

The demon god, who doesn’t know much about the world, turns his gaze to the sky in displeasure, and the world, unlike at my time, makes his voice colder.

『Even though you’re a god, you can’t recognize me? Hence, how can you call yourself a god? 』

“Silence. I know that you are the will of the world. But what’s with that attitude! This world and all the other worlds, were created by us. Think about your attitude towards me, your creator!”

『No, this is the right attitude towards you. You are trying to destroy the world you have created. You have no mind for us there. Do you expect me to respect someone like that? 』

“Do you, the world even, only have the same thoughts as those incompetent creatures? Or, did you get into that thought because of some incompetent creature? Everything in this world couldn’t even exist without us. Therefore, be grateful that you have been able to exist, and silently accept the fate of being erased by me.”

『Haa…… you still don’t doubt that you are the absolute being, do you? Even though you are no longer the absolute being…… 』

“What?”

To the world that tells him with pity somewhere, the demon god says irritably.

“……If that was the case, then I’d take my time to torment you and then annihilate you in front of the other gods, but …… I changed my mind. I will erase you here.”

The Demon God reached out his hand again and made a grasping motion.

But ――――

『It’s useless, you know』

“Yo,you’re not disappearing!?”

The world didn’t seem to be affected in any particular way, and answered flatly.

『I told you, didn’t I. You are no longer, the absolute being. 』

“What kind of nonsense are you talking about!? I am the supreme being, the only one who can rule this world! I have sent my apostles not only to this world, but to every dimension, gathering negative power from all time, space, dimensions, and the entire universe, and have finally resurrected as an existence that surpasses the gods, alright!? For you to say that I’m not the absolute being……”

『Haa…… Well, let’s leave this fool alone and explain it to Seiichi-sama. 』

“Eh? Ah, yes”

Setting aside the Demon God who was trembling all over, the world has called out to me again. A’re, is it okay to leave him alone ……?

『As I was saying before, I was actually planning to rush to Seiichi-sama earlier. However, because the power of that being was unexpectedly strong and, as much as we hate to admit it, we are beings created by the other gods, including that god, it was difficult for us to defy him. But with the return of that one, that too has been resolved. 』

“That one?”

What kind of being can make a world, that was supposedly created by God, defy him?

While everyone, including me, is tilting our heads on the inside, the world tells us.

『Seiichi-sama. Please look at your status. 』

“Eh?”

I don’t really understand, but I’ll try to open my status for the time being.

However, I don’t think anything will change in seeing my status.

After all, my status right now is on a journey, and I only have a blank screen with nothing written on it …… it was supposed to be.

◆◇◆

【Hiiragi Seiichi-sama】

It’s been a while. It’s me, Status.

I would like to apologize for my long absence.

And I, Status ―――― have returned.

◆◇◆

―――― Status, has returned.