I had the same dream again.
"──Saara-sama, please run away!"
The people of Moatra said to me,
──The Earth spent many years creating these humans.
But the gods treated humans like toys and ruled over them.
Therefore, the Earth created me to save her beloved children, the humans.
To protect the mission given to me by the Earth, I liberated the humans from the gods and founded a great nation called Moatra.
Moatra developed various technologies through the hands of humans and grew into a beautiful country.
But──there is no trace of it anymore.
The gods summoned the divine beast, and it was destroyed.
The beast has a huge body, almost half the size of Moatra's, and is still slaughtering people.
"How could I escape and leave you all behind?"
I, who was created to be the protector of mankind, could not possibly run away and leave my people behind.
But the people would not give in.
"No. They are not after us; they are after… you."
"!!!"
"You must have noticed. They are trying to drain the star power to take complete control of the Earth!"
Yes, as the humans said, the gods' target was not me… but the Earth's "star power."
Although it is already in a state of destruction, the reason we are still able to fight the divine beast is largely due to the star power we get from the Earth.
However, this star power is not infinite.
The more people, including myself, resist the gods, the more the star power will be depleted.
If the star power continues to be depleted at this rate, the Earth will face extinction.
When that happens, this land will belong to the gods.
I had to avoid that.
But──.
"Even so, I, who was created to be the protector of humanity, cannot abandon you."
"Saara-sama…!"
"Besides! Just as our power is limited, even the gods are not absolute."
It is true that the divine power of the gods is terrifying and powerful.
You could say they are omnipotent.
With this power, they can create not only human beings but also an infinite number of other life forms and even rewrite the laws of the world.
But it is the Earth and the star power that blocks such a powerful force.
This land did not belong to the gods. It belongs to the Earth.
There was no way I could allow such an outrage on Earth.
"So I will never give up. You, too, must lend me your strength!"
"Saara-sama…"
Nevertheless, the gods gathered divine power and created a disaster called the divine beast.
Unlike the gods, the divine beast cannot create life, nor can it rewrite the laws of the world.
But as the incarnation of destruction, it destroys all life on this planet.
We fought such a monster.
People fell one by one.
However, I did not give up and continued to fight.
But then──.
"Wha…?"
Suddenly, my body was pushed down considerably.
It was trying to drag me, who had star power, down without even a moment's resistance.
Confused by the sudden situation, I turned my eyes to see what it was.
There, with its lid open, was a golden coffin.
The coffin relentlessly sucked me in and locked me inside.
"What the hell is this? Open it!"
I frantically pounded on the inside, but the coffin would not budge.
Even with my star power, which was equal to divine power, the coffin would not budge.
I had never seen such a thing before.
But it was inevitable.
Because this coffin was created by──the Earth.
"We are sorry, Saara-sama. We have no choice but to do this…!"
"What are you talking about? Get me out of here!"
I said desperately, but the people would not let me out of the coffin.
The coffin was the result of the people's wish to the Earth to let me escape.
And the Earth responded to that wish.
That is why I cannot escape from the coffin.
Because I am a being created by the Earth──.
"Saara-sama. You are this planet's last hope."
This voice was filled with immeasurable determination.
"What do you people think…? Don't be stupid…!"
"Saara-sama. Please──live. With our, with our pride──."
The next moment, I felt my consciousness fading.
I tried desperately to hold on to my consciousness, but I could not resist.
"Stop… stoooooppppp!"
And then──my consciousness was cut off.
I don't know what happened after that.
Then, I would dream about that scene.
Again and again, the same dream.
Every time I dreamt, I reached out for it again and again, but since it was a dream and yet real, there was nothing I could do about it.
So I prayed.
I hope the people of Moatra… the Earth are safe.
And please──please wake me up.
＊＊＊
We returned from the battle against Yin and the others in the between worlds.
But soon after our return, a battered Iris-san came to me.
"I-Iris-san! Are you okay?"
I took out a bottle of Complete Recovery Herb Juice and gave it to Iris-san, who I hurriedly held in my arms.
The wounds on Iris-san's body disappeared in an instant…
"T-thank you──"
"Iris-san!"
"It looks like she fainted."
"Nya."
The Complete Recovery Herb Juice could completely heal wounds but couldn't restore lost strength.
"Let's go to Sage-san's house first."
I took Iris-san in my arms and went to Sage-san's house immediately.
Then I put her on the bed and took a break.
"How could the Sword Saint Iris-san be in such a state… what on earth could have happened to her…?"
Could it be that something related to Evil has happened again?
Anyway, I have to report to Reimei-sama about what happened in the between world and…
While I was thinking about this, Meiko opened her mouth.
"I'll take care of Iris-sama, so why don't you go back to your home on Earth?"
"Can I ask you to do that?"
"Yes!"
"Thank you. Well then, Stella, let me introduce you to my family."
"Nyaa!"
Following Meiko's words, I took Stella with me and returned to my house on Earth.
Then, for some reason, everyone, including Lexia-san, were gathered in the room where the Door to Another World was placed… that is, in the storage room.
"Yuuya-sama!"
Meanwhile, Lexia-san was the first to notice me, and as soon as she ran up to me, she hugged me with all her might.
"Le-Lexia-san!"
"Yuuya-sama, are you okay?"
"Y-yes. I'm fine, but…"
I was confused because I didn't expect to be hugged by her.
Then Luna immediately came over and grabbed Lexia-san's neck.
"What are you doing? Get away from him!"
"I'm not leaving him!"
"You will leave him!"
After Luna forcibly pulled away Lexia-san, the two began to argue as usual. But as soon as the argument was over, Luna turned her attention to me.
"More importantly… Welcome back, Yuuya."
"T-thank you."
What can I say? I'm happy to hear someone welcome me back.
When I smiled at Luna, she looked at Lexia with a triumphant expression on her face for some reason.
"How's that? This is what you call the right distance with Yuuya."
"Mukiiii! What? …But it's okay! Unlike Luna, I already hugged him!"
"What did you say?"
…Somehow, they started arguing again.
While I was smiling at the two of them, Kuuya-san and Ouma-san came up to me.
"You're back."
"Ouma-san, Kuuya-san!"
"How are you? How was the between world?"
"There was a lot going on, but we made it."
Again, I briefly explained what had happened in the between world.
After listening to my story, Kuuya-san groaned.
"I see… Because they were rejected by their world… they invaded different worlds to get their ideal lands…"
"Hmm. That's a pretty big story. But I am more surprised that this one who was rejected from the world is here than those people…"
"Nya~"
Ouma-san looked at Stella as he said that.
The one in question, Stella, was not paying any attention to Ouma-san and was just sitting there absentmindedly.
While watching her, I asked about something that was on my mind.
"Speaking of which… What's going on with everyone gathered here?"
"Oh, that's right! Yuuya-sama, there is a big problem!"
"Eh?"
I tilted my head at the agitated Lexia-san, and Kuuya-san opened his mouth with a confused look on his face.
"I don't know where to start…"
"I think we should start with that woman, right?"
"A woman?"
"Look here."
In the direction Luna pointed, there was a strange woman with red hair.
The woman seemed to be unconscious and asleep.
"W-who is she?"
When I said this, everyone looked at each other, surprised to see a complete stranger in the room.
Then Ouma-san opened his mouth on behalf of everyone.
"…The woman came out of a coffin that was lying there."
"A coffin?"
When I turned my head, Ouma-san pointed in a certain direction.
There, I saw what looked like a pharaoh's coffin, which I had seen many times before, lying completely open.
"Eh… eeehhhhhh! Th-There was a person in there?"
"I see that you didn't know about it either…"