As Yuuya and the others rested──.
"──May I hear your answer, King Arcelia?"
The important figures of the Kingdom of Arcelia, including the king, Arnold, his bodyguard, Owen, and the prince, Rhaegar, were gathered in the audience chamber.
Before Arnold's eyes, the figure of Shu Zakuren floated in the air.
Arnold lashed out at Shu, who was being disrespectful to the point of insolence.
"An answer? That's already decided! I have no intention of accepting your control!"
Hearing Arnold's words, Shu frowned in displeasure.
"That's a foolish answer for King Arnold, who is known for his intelligence."
"If our answer is foolish to you, so be it. We have no intention of accepting your ideals."
"Can you really say the same for your people?"
"…What?"
Arnold frowned at Shu's words.
"You are already in a high position. You have been surrounded by good things since your birth, and you have lived a life without any discomfort. Can your thinking and the thinking of the people really coincide?"
"That's…"
"Those who always live on the edge of life and death will agree with us."
"….."
"Your Majesty! Do not listen to him!"
"That's right! Father's reign has brought happiness to the people!"
Arnold was silenced by Shu's words.
Then Owen and Rhaegar immediately raised their voices.
Owen then turned his sharp gaze to Shu.
"Katana Saint. As you say, if humanity is controlled, Evil will disappear, and there will be no more useless conflicts. But can we really call a world where even emotions are controlled a happy world? I don't think so.
"That is also the way of thinking of those who are born strong."
"That's why Father and the rest of us are taking steps forward and worrying so that people can live in peace and security."
Arnold, who had been listening to Owen and Rhaegar's words, opened his mouth again.
"…Yes, that's right. We should not manage the people, but work hand in hand, talk to each other, and cooperate to achieve our ideal world."
Shu's eyes narrowed as he met Arnold's powerful gaze.
"Hmph… Whatever. We'll see. No matter what choice you make, God's will is absolute──"
With these last words, Shu's figure disappeared.
Arnold watched the situation and sighed.
"Hah… Is this really the right thing to do?"
"Of course, Your Majesty."
"As Father said, it's only worth it if we work together to seek the ideal world. A controlled world is no better than livestock or slavery."
"I agree…"
Arnold silently looked up at the ceiling.
"What in the world drove him to do that…?"
Arnold muttered somewhat sadly.
＊＊＊
The next day.
I got ready and went to see Iris-san.
"Iris-san, are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Yuuya-kun healed my wounds, and I have enough strength after a good night's sleep!"
Iris-san smiled strongly as she said this.
It might not be perfect yet, but… it seemed to be okay for now.
"Ah, and this time, I'll be bringing Meiko and Stella along with me."
"Nya."
"I look forward to working with you."
Stella casually lifted her paw, and Meiko bowed beautifully.
"I couldn't check yesterday because of the situation, but this is the first time I've met them, isn't it?"
"Well, there was a lot going on…"
To explain about Meiko, I had to talk about what happened in the underworld, and for Stella, I had to explain about the between worlds, which is another complicated situation.
"Just so you know, they're both strong."
"You can count on me!"
"Nya, nya!"
When they both said that strongly, Iris-san nodded.
"It's okay. For now, I just want to get some fighting power… and most importantly, Yuuya-kun says they are strong. I trust you."
"Thank you very much! Well then, let's get something to eat before we go──"
It was at that moment.
Suddenly, there was the sound of a violent crash.
"W-what is that?"
We rushed out into the garden of Sage-san's house.
We saw a number of strange human-shaped figures standing around the garden.
They were all white and dressed like medieval knights, with a huge shield in one hand and a huge lance in the other.
These mysterious white knights were standing around the house.
"What in the world are they──?"
"──What in the world are these barriers…?"
"!"
I looked towards the voice I suddenly heard and saw a figure in the air looking down at the house.
It was a woman with purple hair tied in two buns and wearing a somewhat gaudy outfit.
When I tilted my head at the appearance of the mysterious figure, Iris-san, who had been following me, also looked up at the sky and shouted.
"Whips…!" [T/n: I still can't understand the author's sense of naming, lol].
"Ara, there you are!"
The purple-haired woman then looked at Iris-san and smiled a little darkly.
"I'm really getting sick of this place. Maybe it's because the star power is so strong here that the Divine Power doesn't work well, and because of that, it's hard to find Iris… It's the worst."
The woman said with a really annoying look on her face.
"Iris-san, that person is…"
"…She's Whips, the Whip Saint."
"The Whip Saint…"
When I looked at the woman… Whips figure again; I saw that she was indeed holding a long whip in her hand.
"Whips! What in the world are you doing here? And who are these knights?"
Iris-san asked immediately, and Whips laughed like a fool.
"Huh? Can't you see? Of course, we're here to catch you."
"Wha-?"
"Do you understand? I'm one of Shu's comrades. In fact, except for the Claw Saint, the Kicking Saint, and the Magic Saint, we are all comrades…"
"No way…!"
…It seemed that the situation was more serious than I thought.
I don't know how many Holy were there, but from what Iris-san said, it seemed to be a very dangerous situation.
Besides, I didn't even know what's wrong with Master Usagi and Odis-san.
While we were looking at them with grim expressions, the white knights, who had not moved at all, suddenly started to move.
Each of the white knights picked up a lance and swung it into the garden, but they could not break through the barriers that Sage-san had set up.
Whips' face contorted in displeasure at the sight.
"What? This barrier. It's annoying me to death."
The white knights attacked violently, but Sage-san's barriers did not even budge.
In this situation, wasn't Sage-san just amazing?
"What in the world is that white knight…?"
"Isn't it good? They are the 'god soldiers' we can create now that we have become gods."
"God? There's no way you can be like that!"
When Iris-san replied, Whips looked down at us as if we were really stupid.
"Hah… you still don't get it, do you? No matter how many of us Holy defeat the Evil, nothing will change unless we correct the root of the problem. That's why Shu… and we will lead humanity."
"Don't be ridiculous. You are not qualified to do such a thing."
"Of course we are. Because we are strong. The weak can do nothing without us… Then we should make the rules of the world, shouldn't we? Instead, we've left them too much to their own devices. If we'd just thought about it a little more, we could have found an easy way to do it."
"….."
This person was… No, I wonder if all the Holy who followed the existence of Shu thought like that.
While I was speechless at Whips' words, she twisted her face.
"…Damn it, you're in my way, you damn barriers!"
Whips swing the whip in her hand, and it collides with the barrier, a tremendous sound roaring through the air.
"Aaaaahhhh! Annoying, annoying, annoying!"
She swung the whip again and again, but there was no sign of the barrier being broken.
Still, I didn't know what would happen if I left it like this.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
I took out my Absolute Spear and threw it at Whips with great force.
But…
"Hmph!"
Whips reacted immediately and blocked the spear with her whip.
"Huh? Are you kidding me that your attack can pass, but ours can't?"
No, um… if I were in the opponent's position, I would think the same thing, but this time, I was very much grateful.
It might not be fair, but if I continue to attack them from inside this barrier, I won't have to worry about getting damaged.
While I was thinking about it, Whips glared at me.
"Who the hell are you? Who do you think you are, throwing a spear at me out of the blue? This is why I don't like savage commoners."
"How could Whips know how nice Yuuya-kun is?"
"Huh?"
"Um, Iris-san?"
I didn't really care about me…
While the two continued their indescribable exchange, the attacks of the white knights and Whips did not stop.
However, when Whips realized that the barrier would not be broken no matter how long it took, she suddenly stopped attacking as if she had thought of something.
"Seriously, what is this? What's with these barriers?"
"Why don't you just give up and go home?"
Whips sneered at Iris-san, who smiled provocatively.
"Not that I mind, okay? I'll just──wipe out the nearby cities."
"Wha…?"
"What are you talking about…?"
"Why are you so surprised? What does it matter if some ordinary people disappear?"
"Don't be silly! Are you serious?"
"I am serious. If you don't like it, why don't you stop me? But if you're too scared and stay inside the barrier, there's nothing you can do! Hahahaha!"
Whips laugh foolishly, and all the white knights surrounding the garden levitate and gather around Whips.
"Then bye-bye!"
Whips smiled foolishly and seriously tried to fly away.
"I can't let you do that!"
"I won't let you go! Spiritual Chain!"
I immediately jumped out of the barrier and threw the Absolute Spear.
Meiko followed suit, jumping out of the barrier and unleashing a chain of spiritual power to capture Whips.
Then…
"Ahahahahaha! Aren't you idiots!"
Whips deflected the flying Absolute Spear and the Spiritual Chain, then turned to us and pointed the white knights at us.
"That's why it helps if you're a small fry with a weak spot! Hey, just hurry up and die!"
The white knights rushed in like an avalanche.
I immediately tried to pull out my Omni-Sword, since I didn't have my Absolute Spear in my hand right after the attack.
"I won't let you!"
But before I could pull out my weapon, Iris-san stepped between me and the white knights and slashed the attacking white knights.
"Wha…?"
Whips did not seem to expect that the god soldiers would be defeated, and her eyes widened when she saw Iris-san slashing down the white knights.
"How could you, who are not a god, kill my knights?"
"Well? Isn't it because they are weak?"
As Iris-san fearlessly told the astonished Whips, a blue vein appeared on Whips' forehead.
"You're just a small fry, don't you dare make fun of me!"
"!"
At that moment, as the magic power overflowed from Whips' body, a large number of god soldiers appeared.
"Come, be swallowed by the power of the gods!"