[Have you been watching all this time?]
[I was a little worried. After the young lady was caught, I felt guilty because I thought I did unnecessary things. I also couldn't help her directly]
Well, I guess I understand how he feels. Anyone can say that things reached this point naturally because of Kami-sama's sudden instigation.
When I casually look at Phyllis and the Pope, Phyllis was bowing down prostrating herself and the Pope surprisedly opened her eyes widely.
[Ano….. Your majesty the Dukedom King, who is this gentleman?]
[Kami-sama desu~]
[Kami~..!?]
The Pope looked at me and Kami-sama alternatively in bewilderment. Eeh? She is surprised, but isn't she not believing us too much? Ah, she has used her magic eyes now, didn't she. Though she seems to understand that it's not a lie, she still looks puzzled.
[That's right, Kami-sama. That sparkling~ thing, please do it again]
[Eh? But didn't you tell me the other day not to use it?]
[It will be easier for them to understand if you do that]
When Kami-sama exhaled, he suddenly started to emit that sparkling divinity. Wow, it's coming. Is this god's dignity? This must be what they call the halo. Right? The aura is no joke. This light make anyone agree without even thinking that this person is a god.
Her Eminence the Pope prostrated herself at once on floor similar to Phyllis that's next to her.
[C'mon, is this good enough?]
[Yes, that's plenty enough]
The pressure from light vanished. However, it just ended with that. Compared to those people, why do I have resistance to it? Is this also thanks to the raised status Kami-sama granted to me?
[What's the matter?]
[Well, I wonder why no matter how many times I see this light, I don't become like them. Have you done something?]
I tilt my head while looking at the two people prostrating themselves.
[Now that you said it, it is strange ~ja. Humans generally become like this when exposed to divinity ~ja. However, I didn't particularly….. Ah!]
[...…. saying "Ah", what is it?]
Just now, he did an [Oh f*ck] face with all his heart! He did something, didn't he?! Ah, he averted his eyes! Don't whistle. This way of playing ignorance is old enough!
(TLC: sorry, couldn't resist)
[.... Kami-sama?]
[Ah~... er~... just wait for a moment]
Kami-sama raised his right hand to the sky, and released some kind of power. What was that just now?
[I stopped the time for these two as well. It would be troublesome if they heard it]
Is that so? But, since those two have been prostrating themselves all this time it is hard to know.
[And? What is it?]
[Ah~... you died once in your original world. And because of that, I revived you]
[Yes]
Why are you saying this after a long time? Though it's thanks to that I am able to live vigorously like this.
[Usually, when a dead body is being restored, the typical process of revival involves repairing of the damaged portions of the body and the soul with the material composition of the world the person is from ~ja. But when you died I panicked. Can I still say that I have summoned your body to the world of gods or the God's Realm? After summoning you there I have revived you]
[... In other words, what does that mean?]
[The materials that make up your body are from God's Realm. It will be easier to understand if I say that your body is closer to a god]
Huh!? Why is that!?
[But when I run, I get tried. I also get injuries, you know? Even if you say it is close to Kami-sama body...]
[That's because not even one year has passed since you were reborn~ja ro. Besides, have you not realized that you change differently when compared to other people?]
I have thought of that. Things like the volume of magical power, and being able to use non-attribute magic, I did think about those. But weren't those the gifts from Kami-sama…..? No, in the end that was his fault.
[I was careless. HaaHaaHa]
[It is not a laughing matter!... And? Is there any harmful effect?]
[There isn't anything particularly. It should be fine to think of it as if you have obtained a strong body. Though you may wake up a strange power. When that happens, inform me.]
What do you mean by a strange power!? Will I reach the point where I emit out such a sparkling light...?
.... Well, it is fine. I don't mind it as long as it doesn't have any side effects or I don't die or something. If I can continue living as I have been doing until now, I don't have any problems with it.
Ah, come to think of it.
[Kami-sama, do you know about the Fureizu?]
[Fureizu? What's that?]
He doesn't know after all. He did say that he hardly peeped into this world until he sent me. According to Kami-sama, even if this world is near extinction, it is up for the people of this world to do something about it.
However, if I assume that Kami-sama has a 'No Touch' policy, who drove the Fureizu away 5000 years ago....?
Kami-sama once again raised his right hand and emitted power. He probably moved the time for those two. Kohaku is still stuck as he was. I pitied him since it feels like he is being left out....
[Both of you, raise your heads. Miss, I am sorry for what has happened.]
[N-n-no! Please somehow don't worry about it!]
[It seems I also got you involved Pope-san. I am sorry]
[Haa... I received your grace...]
Both of them finally looked up. Phyllis looks normal but she's nervous even if this is their second meeting. As for her Eminence The Pope, she is tearing up from both of her blue and green eyes. Well, I guess it is understandable.
[I heard your story. It was difficult for you until now ~no. It must have been very painful to keep living while holding such a secret. But it is alright now ~ja]
[I am unworthy of your words…..]
[It's alright just by saying it. So, what do you plan to do?]
Don't tell me that Kami-sama himself is planning to proclaim that [the God of Light doesn't exist, so this the religious group is now dissolved!] or something like that? Though I feel that's definitely the fastest way to solve it.
[About this, hey, Touya-boy, will you do something about this for me ~ja?]
Don't you do anything by yourself ?! Isn't this way too irresponsible!? Well, by all means I shouldn't borrow Kami-sama's aid, but still!
[Ummm…. You see, defeating the cardinals is not going to be alright. Without a doubt, there will be panic if we tell the truth to the public.]
But before that, they most likely won't believe us. We will certainly be branded as liars.
[Well, it is not like the citizens are at fault. With the way things are going, they will only believe in the god of light. But I feel that their way of thinking that says "Defeat evil by any means [Under the name of light and justice]!" is a little bit too much.]
[This country can no longer exist without a god. Though it will be fine if we're just able to change the teachings at least...]
The pope mutters while looking down.
However, it is not easy to change something like the teachings of a religion! It is similar to throwing away half of the current beliefs. How can that be dealt with...? It would be good if an incident that can change their way of thinking occurred. If Kami-sama appeared before the believers here, it would already be a complete interference I guess. After all we need to manage it by ourselves somehow. Right?.…..
[Well, I will leave it to Touya-boy. Other than that, I think it would be better to do something about this fellow that is situated further below from here.]
Kami-sama peacefully knocked on the stone pavement with his feet. Below? The pope's face stiffened after hearing him.
[Were you able to notice it? ... That's the spirit of darkness that Ramirez-sama who founded this country summoned... This thing still lurks below this Sanctuary.]
[Eh!?]
Are you saying this thing is also from 1000 years ago when the country was founded !? Even if it is tentatively called the spirit, isn't it similar to summoned beasts? Doesn't it need magical power from somewhere in order to stay in this world? No, in the first place why is the spirit of darkness still here?
[Before long Ramirez-sama, who founded the Ramisshu Holy Kingdom, had his mind completely eroded by the spirit of darkness and he was reversely dominated by it. After that, the spirit fused with Ramirez-sama and he was sealed in this ground by the cardinals of that time. This was also convenient for them. If you ask why, it is because the spirit didn't lose its ability of mental interference, and could be used as the power of the religious group in this country. It's can't be killed nor kept alive. Even now Ramirez-sama is still the cornerstone of religious group.]
The pope talked like that as if confessing in front of Kami-sama.
What a story. So you;re saying that this secret has been handed down by the cardinals ever since that time? I finally understood the unnaturalness of this religious group. There won't be any problems if the magical power of the spirit is fused with the summoner. Though no matter what it is still hard to believe that he is conscious.
[The magic power of the spirit of darkness can't reach people like you or this girl who has a strong resistance to magic, but it doesn't go that way for regular people. Even now, they are unconsciously being pulled to that Ramirez's consciousness]
[Then, if we deal with this spirit of darkness somehow....]
[At least the excessive faith should disappear ~ja. From there it will depend on each person's feeling and way of thinking]
I see. First, We should cut the source. Nevertheless, there will still be people who will say that [Anything is fine for the sake of justice!].
[However, it might be better to hurry up perhaps? Even if you said they sealed him, the seal is already wearing out, because of that the power of darkness started to leak out]
[You are right. Because of that, the phenomenon where people were being deprived of their vitality started to appear here and there in the capital. Officially though, it became the fault of a vampire.]
So this is the truth behind the vampire case. Right? However, isn't it bad that someone's life force is being taken away? With this it has started to store power....
[For now, we should do something about this spirit of darkness.... Are there people who seems to be her eminence's allies?]
[There are some cardinals who are hoping for the same changes as I do, but our numbers are small when compared with Cardinal Zeon faction....]
It is still better than having no one. Though I think it is better if you hide how this country was formed, and the mind interference of the spirit of darkness. Also, the teachings that allow people to execute without hesitation anyone who deny their god just like Phyllis can be considered as something wrong.
[Then, is it alright to leave the rest to you? Since I will keep watching for awhile, I ask this of you Touya-boy. Farewell then]
[Eh!? Are you pushing this onto me!? Wai.....!]
Kami-sama disappeared into the beads of light before I complained. He ran away! Damn it! He pushed onto me something troublesome. It would have been fine to give me a little help here, isn't it!
Time started to move again, and Kohaku looked speechless.
"Master. Right now, there was strange feeling coming from here..."
"It isn't harmful so don't worry about it"
"Yes...."
In between the time stop and it's time restoration, Kohaku probably could not keep up with how our pose or location changed. It is also troublesome to explain, and I would like him not to be worried about it.
[... It feels like I was having a dream...]
[I thought so too, Your Eminence]
Is this the joy of meeting with Kami-sama? While I was watching the Pope who muttered in order to try to sooth her excitement, Phyllis let out a giggle.
A that time, an electric shock suddenly pierced my back. It is similar to something like a worm crawling and it is unpleasant. It's coming from further down... don't tell me?
[I think this is going to be slightly bad. The seal of the spirit of the darkness is coming off]
[No way!?]
Phyllis's face became pale. Then we started hearing a low rumbling sound from below. It's getting worse and worse. Anyway we need to escape from here!
I passed through the iron bars twisted with [Modeling], went up the stairs while taking Phyllis and the Pope along. In the meantime, the rumbling still continued, and it seemed to gradually grew bigger and bigger. This dungeon might collapse if things don't go well!
After coming to the passage with doors lined to the left and to the right right, I confirmed whether there were other prisoners just in case. Luckily there was no one, and without any change, we run up the stairs again.
[Who are you bastard? How did you leave, raaa!?]
After climbing the stairs, I instinctively shot the guard we met by chance with a paralysis bullet. Ooops. I can't possibly leave him here. How troublesome!
[Kohaku! Return to your original size!]
『As you command』
Because he suddenly started to talk, the Pope was surprised by Kohaku who got larger. But I didn't have spare time to explain. I put the paralyzed guard on Kohaku back, and we escaped from the dungeon.
After running through the Sanctuary corridor, the sun has already completely gone down when we arrived at something that resembled a courtyard. The moon is high. When I confirmed the time, it was already midnight.
Because the barrier was not set up that far, we moved to the town central by using [Gate].
While the rumbling in the underground became something like an earthquake, the downtown was overflowed with inhabitants who guessed that this was not an ordinary case. It seems the people in this country are not immune to earthquakes.
While I unload the guard from Kohaku's back, the surrounding people noticed her Eminence the Pope. As expected, the Pope-sama seems to be a celebrity, since she was completely surrounded surprisingly fast by everyone in the streets. Probably they couldn't help it because of uneasiness even without this ground rumbling.
[Pope-sama! What on earth is going on!?]
[Please calm down. First for your safety, please get away from here...]
The moment she was about to explain them to take refuge, a massive explosion blew off a part of the sanctuary. Something crawled out from the cloud of dust that gathered around the blown off section. What the hell is that!?
Roughly speaking, it is a giant. However, it doesn't have a human shape. It is warped in pitch black skin with two horns. From the side there are countless number of small arms, and six tentacles extends from its back. On its lower half, who knows how many octopus-like legs have grown. But there is only a big mouth splitting horizontally without eyes on its head.
[go, ga, gu, ga, gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!]
That fellow raised a sinister roar resounding in the earth itself and the atmosphere trembles. This scream roaring throughout the capital was more than enough to drive the people into the depths of fear. The ground begins to tremble with creaking sounds and the people start to collapse. Is this the mental interference ability? Perhaps it is increasing the emotions of fear.
The calamity of God of "Evil". Such words float in my head. That's the shadow of what was once the summoning master called Ramirez connected with spirit of darkness. Now it is a millennium old monster.