episode_0184

Before Things Get Worse

“…..Damn it. I didn’t think I’d have to make an appearance myself…. Were your apostles not trustworthy enough, Camilla!”

“That’s…. Goddess Camilla….!!”

Dio V Runner and his party were greatly flustered upon seeing Camilla descending from the sky, not expecting to encounter her so early. At that moment, Tiavel suddenly clutched her head and began trembling, startling Yuria, who urgently called out to Dio V Runner.

“Dio V Runner!! I think Camilla is emitting divine power right now!! Tiavel’s condition is strange!!”

“Damn it…. But how did she know to come here? The Kajus clearly said that gods could never see the entire world…..!!! Damn it, it was because of that….!!”

“Huh? That thing….. Ugh!!!”

Dio V Runner, who was wondering how Camilla knew about this place, looked around and discovered something, greatly shocked. Cecilia, realizing that Dio V Runner was horrified by the face of Goddess Camilla’s statue she had brought, and that her bringing these items was how Camilla discovered their location, was utterly terrified. At that moment, Camilla, her yellow eyes fixed on Dio V Runner’s party on the ground, slowly opened her mouth and spoke to them.

“Nightmare-like beings who interfere with our dreams. You rejected my divine power and called all those who accepted it heretics.”

“Oh, ‘nightmare-like beings,’ how I love that. Why do all those who commit such acts say things like that, anyway…. Creative also told us not to reject the elemental races as if we were criminals…. You’re just the same.”

“Creative? Ah…. You are not a creature of this world….. Why is an uninvited guest from another world interfering in the affairs of this place? Your interference is undermining the harmony this world has longed for since long ago.”

“Being subservient to you is harmony? That’s the same nonsense he spouted, making me even more annoyed…. What are you thinking to spew such outrageous words….!!!”

‘…..Mr. Dio V Runner…. He’s trying not to lose to a goddess in an argument….!!’

When Dio V Runner retorted against Camilla’s words without backing down, Yuria was greatly astonished, and the others were equally shocked by Dio V Runner’s unyielding demeanor. They couldn’t understand what kind of battles he had experienced to not back down or fear such immense power. At that moment, Dio V Runner turned his head towards them and spoke.

“Listen to me carefully. I secretly identified her race with a scanner…. It seems she’s a real Kaju.”

“Ka…. Kaju….? Why is a Kaju in Krantid World…. in the Elum dimension…?! The Kajus left this dimension a long time ago….?!”

When Dio V Runner revealed Camilla’s race to be a true Kaju, Merzel, remembering that the Kajus had left this dimension long ago, couldn’t understand why there was a Kaju here. Dio V Runner then turned his head back to Goddess Camilla and responded to Merzel’s words.

“She must be a being who visited this dimension later. Anyway, listen carefully. That being seems to be continuously emitting divine power, trying to do something to us. So, you all must escape from here quickly. I’ll buy you time.”

“…..?! What are you saying, Dio V Runner!! Surely you’re not going to face Camilla alone….”

“Are you underestimating me, uninvited guest? Do you dare think you can defeat me….!!”

“….!! Screeeam!! My…. My head is aaaaaching!!!!”

“Ughhh…. Di…. Dio V Runner…. That unsettling feeling I felt in that village….”

Perhaps provoked by Dio V Runner’s declaration to face her alone, Goddess Camilla intensified the divine power she was emitting, causing everyone except Dio V Runner to begin suffering greatly. Then Merzel, who could resist the divine power slightly better than the others besides Dio V Runner, grabbed Cecilia with trembling hands and shouted at Dio V Runner.

“Dio V Runner…!! We still cannot resist Camilla…!! But…. But if we let our guard down like this, we’ll be caught in Camilla’s divine power and risk being brainwashed…. Why are you perfectly fine….?!”

“For various reasons, I owe a debt to the R.S. guys. But now isn’t the time to be curious about that, Merzel!! While Yuria, Cecilia, and Tiavel are still resisting Camilla’s divine power, you must get them to safety!!”

“Ah…. No, Dio V Runner….!! You alone… Screeeam!!!”

When Merzel wondered why he could resist Camilla’s divine power, Dio V Runner equipped an orb to each flamethrower and shouted that now was not the time for such questions, urging them to evacuate the others. Yuria, clutching her head with her right hand, tried to somehow dissuade Dio V Runner from fighting Camilla alone, but feeling as if she would lose consciousness from Camilla’s divine power, she screamed and collapsed onto the spot.

“Yuria!! Right now, think about surviving first!!! If even you guys get brainwashed by Camilla, this world is over!!”

“But why do you have to…. If you also escape….”

“Camilla will relentlessly pursue us, for sure. So at least you guys escape!!! And find Zeke and Aria!!”

“Bu… But!!”

“It’s futile, Yuria…. Let’s go quickly…!!”

When Dio V Runner shouted that sacrificing himself was the wisest choice in this situation and urged them to find Zeke and Aria, Yuria, not wanting to lose Dio V Runner, reached out her hand to him, trying to object. However, Merzel, understanding Dio V Runner’s intentions, tied Yuria and the others with ropes and hastily unfurled wings of aura, beginning to move away from the spot. Yuria, bound by the ropes, was forcibly moved by Merzel.

“Mr…. Mr. Runner!!!”

“You think I’ll let the impure escape….. Ugh!!”

“Your opponent is me, you crazy Kaju!!!”

As Yuria, bound by ropes, reached out and screamed at him, Dio V Runner diverted Camilla’s attention by spewing flames from his flamethrower at Camilla, who was trying to shoot a beam towards Merzel, who was flying away. Then, Dio V Runner, beginning to ascend into the sky with flames erupting from his boots, removed the orb from his flamethrower, equipped a new black orb, and spoke to Camilla.

“How do you like the taste of flames?”

“Do you think the attacks of impure beings like you will work on me? Especially an uninvited guest like you, your attacks are merely a tickle.”

“Yes, I’ll admit it. That was a self-defense orb to begin with…. Before we fight, I have one question. Yuria, Cecilia, and…. even the other creatures. Was it you, Camilla, who gave them such painful pasts? If so, why did you deliberately give them such nightmares…!!”

“I thought you already knew that…. Am I wrong, uninvited guest from another world?”

“…..”

When Dio V Runner asked why she had given such terrible nightmares to powerful beings like Yuria, Camilla answered with an indifferent expression, asking if he didn’t already know the reason. Upon hearing her reply, Dio V Runner began to gnash his teeth in anger, then furiously shouted at Camilla.

“You crazy bastard…!! So the reason was to intentionally turn them into monsters to create chaos in the world so people would worship you….!!! I don’t know how even your actions are so identical to his, but….”

“That’s part of it, but it was also a test to see if they could receive my divine power. However, at that time, their hearts were full of impurities to receive my divine power. But now, the church and I are working to allow them to receive my pure divine power. Yet, why do you reject and oppose my will to unify this world?”

“Don’t rationalize your atrocities with seemingly profound words, you crazy Kaju!!! Don’t sugarcoat the fact that you’ve been conducting mad experiments to increase your apostles with such words!! Black Orb!!!”

“It’s not merely ‘seemingly profound words,’ it is my will.”

It was at that moment when Dio V Runner, now fully aware of Camilla’s atrocities, attacked Camilla by spewing black flames from his flamethrower. Camilla spread her palm towards Dio V Runner, unleashing a beam of light that overwhelmed Dio V Runner’s flames. Dio V Runner was greatly astonished to see his flames easily pushed back, then was hit by Camilla’s beam and began plummeting to the ground. Camilla then began firing beams again at Dio V Runner, who had crashed to the ground, and engulfed by the beam erupting from Camilla’s palm, Dio V Runner began to scream.

“Aaaaaaargh!!!”

“Strangely, my divine power doesn’t seem to affect you. To think there’s a creature who can resist my divine power to this extent…. It’s truly astonishing. But the more you reject my divine power, the greater your suffering will become.”

“Ughhhhhh!!! I can’t let you reach Aria!!!! I’ve already roughly guessed what your objectives are, so it’s our mission to somehow tie you down!!! Battle Orb!!!”

While engulfed by Camilla’s beam, Dio V Runner slowly reached into his pocket. When something grabbed his hand, he immediately pulled it out of his pocket and inserted the orb into a hole in the chest of his iron armor. This allowed Dio V Runner to withstand Camilla’s beam to some extent, and he immediately broke free from the beam, then began firing a rapid succession of black flame blasts from his flamethrower towards Camilla.

“This world will never submit to you!! Just like my world didn’t….!!”

“How mysterious. You should only know that my divine power can manipulate the emotions of others…. How did you figure out our objective?”

Dio V Runner, who was firing black flame blasts from his flamethrower with the determination to defeat Camilla on the spot, saw Camilla remain indifferent despite taking his flames head-on, wondering how he had deduced her objective. Dio V Runner removed the orb from his flamethrower and let out a deep sigh before speaking.

“It’s because that power has such a despicable effect that I was able to realize it…. You used that power to… no…!! You’ve been using Aria all this time, haven’t you….!!”

“….It seems you also know well how I’ve used her. Then you must also know this, outsider? That even if I don’t reach Aria, our plan will eventually succeed. You know the reason well, too.”

“…..Still, isn’t it right to put our hopes on it?”

“I told you from the beginning. It’s a futile hope.”

As Camilla spread her arms, asking if she hadn’t said it was a futile hope from the start, and created dozens of light spheres around her, Dio V Runner, realizing what Camilla was about to do, tightly closed his eyes and began to compose himself. Then, recalling Zeke and Aria, he immediately took out a black orb and a red orb from his pocket, equipped them to his left and right flamethrowers respectively, and spoke to Camilla.

“Don’t underestimate Aria, Camilla. Aria is a stronger woman than you think. Aria especially hates troublesome obstacles that interfere with Zeke… especially those that try to destroy her relationship with Zeke, and don’t forget that you are no different from such a troublesome obstacle to Aria, one that interferes with Zeke.”

“Impure one and uninvited guest from another world. I shall personally bestow heavenly judgment upon you, so that you may no longer meddle in the affairs of this world.”

“That’s a truly disgusting and unpleasant heaven. Cross Orb.”

As Camilla spread her palm towards him, making the surrounding light spheres fire beams at him, Dio V Runner scoffed at Camilla’s words and unleashed crossing red and black flames from his two flamethrowers, countering Camilla’s attack. A massive explosion erupted where Camilla and Dio V Runner were, and Yuria, watching from afar, instinctively knew that Dio V Runner had died and began to feel numb.

“Ah…. Ahhh…. Di…. Dio V Runner….”

“Snap out of it, Yuria…!! Dio V Runner did this for us….”

“I know, Cecilia…. Mr. Runner screamed at us to go, for our sake…. Dio V Runner, who saved me from the church, treated me without hesitation despite me being a snow woman…. Because Mr. Runner had a warm heart hidden behind a cold exterior, I knew what he meant when he told us to escape just now…. I knew it…..”

“Yuria…..”

As Yuria, hanging bound by ropes from Merzel, became disoriented by Dio V Runner’s presumed death and lowered her head, recalling her past experiences with Dio V Runner, Cecilia, knowing the immense pain Yuria was feeling, couldn’t say anything. Then Tiavel, who was in Yuria’s arms, worriedly reached out her hand to Yuria’s face, and Yuria stroked Tiavel’s head, saying.

“It’s okay, Tiavel. Dio V Runner got us to safety before things could get worse…. And he entrusted us with what comes next before things got worse…. And…. seeing Dio V Runner suffer like this…. My feelings for Camilla, which I’ve had since before, are starting to feel like rage, rather than fear….!!! To the point where my previous emotions are returning….!!”

Yuria said she was okay now, and that her feelings towards Camilla, which had previously been fear, were starting to feel like rage, as she looked at a small spherical device in her hand. It was a device Dio V Runner had given her earlier; if he operated it, it could transmit sounds from his location through the device. In other words, they had just heard Camilla’s answers through this device, and they were greatly angered that their entire past had become a nightmare, just as Camilla intended.

“Damn it….. To think that all the past we experienced was connected to that Kaju….!!! That Kaju must have been targeting this dimension since at least the Kaju War…!!”

“That’s unlikely, Cecilia. If her ability is divine power… then the Kaju with that exceptional divine power is already dead. It’s more likely that she inherited that Kaju’s power and thus learned about this place.”

“But still, it’s true that that wretched being arbitrarily manipulated Yuria and Tiavel’s pasts, isn’t it!!! Plus, she might have interfered and made us lose the chance for this world to apologize to us later on!!”

“…..Perhaps you might be right…. But… where should we go now…. It truly feels daunting.”

When Cecilia furiously asked if Camilla hadn’t ruined the pasts of beings like Yuria and Tiavel, even if not their own, Merzel agreed that her words might be true. Then, saying he didn’t know where to go now and that the path ahead was daunting, the others also began to feel lost, unsure of where to go. If they went to destroy the statues, Camilla might reappear, so they couldn’t destroy the statues anymore. As everyone fell silent, wondering what to do, Merzel looked down and was startled to discover something.

“….!! That’s Jid Looprian….? Wait…. This is definitely the Magrion region…. When did he get here?!”

“….? Gid?! Oh?! It’s really him…?! Who are the people next to him…?”

At the mention of Gid being below, Cecilia was surprised and looked down. When she saw Gid waving to them from a forest, the others were also greatly flustered by the sight of Gid. So, Cecilia’s party began to descend to where Gid was, and upon arriving on the ground, Merzel untied the ropes that bound the others and asked Gid.

“How were you able to arrive in the Magrion region so early? It’s only been half a day since we parted ways.”

“I had transportation, so I arrived here first. But what about Mr. Dio V Runner….?”

“…. Gid…. Dio V Runner is….”

Gid explained that he had transportation and was able to arrive quickly, then asked about Dio V Runner. Cecilia then explained everything that had happened to Gid and the Riera sisters next to him. Riera was startled, then covered her forehead with her hand and sighed deeply, saying.

“Oh my…. So we really have to face a god….”

“That’s right… So we can’t destroy the statues anymore. Unless we launch simultaneous attacks to break them….”

“More than that, we have to face a god, so who would volunteer for this fight? How many more beings are there like us who no longer fear Camilla….”

“Ahhh…!! You don’t have to worry about that, Cecilia, Yuria. Ah! My apologies for the late introduction!! These children next to me are those who previously received help from Zeke and Aria.”

“….? You too….?”

When Gid said that the Riera sisters next to him had received help from Zeke and Aria, Yuria was greatly flustered. The Riera sisters also listened to Yuria’s words and realized that Cecilia’s party were also beings who had received help from Zeke and Aria, leaving them dumbfounded. Then Gid placed his hands on both Yuria’s and Cecilia’s shoulders simultaneously and smiled gently, saying.

“I have been searching for beings in this world who are still sane and who received help from Zeke and Aria. I thought they would definitely want to repay their kindness to those two, so they would help. So, speaking of which…. Will you continue to be a part of this fight, Riera?”

“Of course. We’ve already experienced similar things, so why would we be scared? If anything, we’re just tired of it.”

“Huh…? Are you really okay with this?! Fighting a god….”

“The people inside the cave probably all think the same, too, don’t they, Gid-nim?”

“Inside the cave….?”

When Riera said they weren’t scared because they had already experienced similar things, Yuria worried if they were really okay with fighting a god. Riera then nodded and asked Gid if the people in the cave wouldn’t also agree, leaving Cecilia’s party perplexed, unsure what Riera meant. Then Gid led them to a certain cave, and there, Cecilia’s party was greatly astonished by what they saw.

“All these…. these creatures….”

“Even I, who sought out such people… no, creatures, never expected so many to gather. With this many…. wouldn’t it be worth a try?”

“…..Perhaps.”

As Cecilia looked at the creatures gathered in the cave with astonishment, Gid asked if this was enough, and Cecilia, agreeing with him and seeing a glimmer of hope, slowly began to smile.