episode_0049

The earth quakes.

Animals, squeaking and making their own sounds, their bodies filled with rotten flesh, were buried underground by the earthquake, unable to even let out a common cry as they were interred.

The earth gradually raised its domain towards the sky, as if it would not allow her to even stand.

The will of each dust particle to hold her down instead of being scattered by the wind soon caused her feet to sink into the ground.

Had she predicted all this, or was it something else? Hell showed no expression in this situation.

Without even a flicker of a frown, she simply stared intently at Demeter.

So, what were Demeter’s feelings?

Her face was contorted.

A face that could be described with a single word: wrath.

There seemed to be complex emotions at play, but no one would dispute that the dominant emotion was fury.

Were the gods not all amicable with each other?

As soon as Hell’s feet were bound to the earth, Demeter pointed a finger at her and fired the enormous beam again, just as she had shot it at me earlier.

But did Demeter know?

Even though the beam clearly pierced Hell, Demeter still watched the spot with a frown until the dust created by the beam disappeared.

A smile.

Did a smile form when she manipulated her magic?

As soon as the dust illuminated a black smile, one of Demeter’s arms was torn off.

No, to be precise, something appeared and devoured her arm.

The clear shape of teeth remained on Demeter’s shoulder, as if something had bitten her, but it was only for a moment before the Goddess of Harvest restored her arm with astonishing speed.

Did the pain linger?

With the wheat stalk that had been tucked behind her ear now gone, she clutched her reattached arm and glared at the Goddess of Death, who had finally revealed herself.

A snake coiled around her neck.

Despite its appearance, could it truly be a snake coiled around a god’s neck?

Each of the snake’s scales was not physical but composed of magic.

The yellow afterimage emanating from its eyes was enough to prevent a human like me from even manipulating magic just by looking at it.

Was it pleased to have torn a god apart?

It was swallowing something long and white, as if boasting that it had just torn off a god’s arm.

Did the Goddess of Harvest also think she could no longer endure this?

On the ground, on every single sprout that had just been born from her footsteps, on the World Tree that had just been burning,

Giant magic circles appeared.

Hell simply turned her head to observe the sight once, a slight smile gracing her lips.

Like the pattern that appeared when she wielded magic.

Had she thought that [Earth] itself, holding her captive, would prevent her escape?

Demeter now activated the magic circles emblazoned across the ground, wearing a somewhat triumphant expression.

Ah, I had bowed my head, wondering if a god like Hell would be powerless in the domain of another deity, but a single sound reaching my ears made me raise my head again.

Thump, thump.

She shouldn’t have been able to walk.

She, who should have been bound to the earth and unable to walk, was now walking upward into the sky above, using rotten flesh as a foothold.

The earth that had held her rotted away as if it had never claimed to be the fertile soil of the [Garden], crumbling weakly as its fragments touched each other.

Was the full moon truly this bright?

Every single character she unfurled in the sky was clearly visible.

It was not divine authority.

But if one didn’t use the convenient term ‘divine authority,’ how could this sight be explained by human lips?

Magic circles touching each star emblazoned across the sky, each containing countless amounts of magic.

Magic circles touching each sprout emblazoned across the ground, each containing life.

Indeed, perhaps gods do not communicate through ordinary means.

Demeter’s magic circles, filling the earth, the [Garden], and the light of the ground.

Hell’s magic circles, filling the darkness of the sky above.

They did not use divine authority.

Only a battle of magic.

BOOMING CRASH!!!!

Almost simultaneously, their magic circles activated, and a sound that shook the heavens and earth reverberated from them.

Could this truly be a sight created solely by magic?

Amidst the feast of magic that filled my vision, I dared not even consider extending my own magic to check the battlefield.

Because those magical powers were so immense, they seemed capable of devouring my own magic before it could even return to me.

BOOMING CRASH!!!!

Dust scattered here and there through small gaps where magic circles weren’t laid.

A rain of ashes that had been breathing and alive just moments before.

A sound that shook heaven and earth, a sound far too massive for words.

Amidst those natural disasters, I simply hugged Ellicia beside me and Brownie in my arms.

Because the magical byproducts created by the collision of two enormous beams were scattering everywhere.

As I grew accustomed to that reverberating sound, I finally found the courage to send out a small amount of magic, albeit limited to a small range.

Gently placing my finger on the magic-scarred ground, I couldn’t believe the information the magic sent back to me.

A black magic circle.

A black magic circle, floating slightly in the sky, was blocking a portion of the beam being unleashed towards us.

This was no ordinary clash between gods.

Hell, the goddess looking down on Demeter from above, was protecting us, though I didn’t know what kind of contract she had made with the System.

How long did that roar last?

By the time the full moon, highest in the sky, began to descend, perhaps they too thought that a war of attrition was meaningless.

The magic circles pouring down from the sky were the first to cease.

Only then could I sense what the goddess in the sky was doing.

Each tiny root was emerging from her hand.

These roots intertwined to form a single hilt.

Was it because I had played the game with too much immersion?

As soon as I sensed the sword, I immediately recognized what kind of wood it was made from.

“Yggdrasil….”

A gigantic cross-shaped sword.

Once the roots had formed even the blade, a massive sword was held in her hand.

Had Demeter also noticed the sword?

She placed her hand on a sprout that still seemed to glow with light and was brimming with vitality.

Then, that green sprout created a sword similar in shape to the one Hell had produced.

Did Hell still want a fair fight?

Or was she simply viewing Demeter as a goddess far beneath her?

Even though it took time for Demeter’s sword to form, Hell simply held her sword and did nothing.

CRASH!

At that moment, Demeter launched herself from the ground with a mighty crash, charging towards Hell.

To an ordinary person, it would appear to be a useless sword made merely of wood.

However, that was a sword imbued with Demeter’s divine authority: the earth itself.

CRASH!!

How long had they been slumbering in the earth?

One by one, enormous stems hidden underground burst forth as if to aid their goddess, lunging towards Hell.

As soon as those incredibly sharp stems touched Hell,

She was momentarily undetectable by my magic.

Had she bestowed death upon the very concept of sound?

No sound could be heard from the sky above.

Thud…thump…

other than the remnants of the stems falling to the ground.

“….!”

Only then could I sense Demeter and Hell, who were clashing swords.

One strike.

A root from Demeter’s sword broke off, embedding itself in the ground and creating a giant tree.

A root from Hell’s sword broke off, touched the tree, and instantly withered it to death.

Having lost the momentary clash of power, Demeter was flung a short distance away, and Hell raised her sword high as if to not miss this opportunity.

Two strikes.

A black sword aura shot out from Hell’s sword, aiming for Demeter.

A single seed burst from Demeter’s sword, forming a colossal shield that blocked the sword aura.

But had the shield obscured her vision?

Perhaps not seeing Hell who had flown behind her, Demeter was cut by the sword’s afterimage and fell to the ground.

Could she still remain on the ground?

Hell momentarily held her sword to Demeter’s neck.

They moved their lips as if exchanging words, but perhaps Hell wasn’t pleased with their conversation.

Thud, and the Yggdrasil root pierced the neck of the Goddess of Earth.

Then, Demeter’s body gradually began to transform into wood.

Slowly, from her hands, from her feet.

Was she returning to Olympus?

Demeter gradually began to resemble the wooden puppet she had once seen, seated on the World Tree’s throne.

Once her entire body had turned to wood, Hell withdrew the sword.

Was it because Hell was present here?

The squeaking sound of rats seemed to return to my ears.

[Hey, if you’re hiding backstage, isn’t it about time you came out?]

A low and serious voice.

This feeling, as if the voice wasn’t heard by the ears but directly hammered into the brain.

Hell had, at some point, plunged her sword into the ground and stood before me.