Ch.167Heaven’s Realm – 1

“I wonder when we’ll arrive.”

I looked around the light-filled space with a sense of displeasure. If I hadn’t been accustomed to golden light, I might have arrived here driven mad—gold was the only color that existed everywhere my eyes could see.

I had told her there was no need to meet in person, but she kept insisting on bringing me up to the celestial realm, so I finally agreed. And this was the result.

‘Since she’s the polar opposite of a demon god, I can somewhat understand her overreaction, but…’

Even considering that, her every word and action did seem unusually urgent.

First she avoided me like the plague, then suddenly contacted me wanting to meet, and now she’s even gone so far as to bring me directly to the celestial realm.

‘Surely this isn’t a trap.’

Her attitude had changed so drastically that I felt rather suspicious. I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of a trap.

I had initially accepted only because she was a goddess who sided with humans, and I judged there was no particular reason for her to trap me. But I had no intention whatsoever of letting down my guard or dismissing my suspicions.

—Keeeeeng…

With a sound that gave off an unmistakably sacred feeling, the golden light in front of me parted to either side, creating a path just wide enough for one person to pass through. I moved my feet toward the light beyond.

The celestial realm I arrived at looked, no matter how I viewed it, like nothing more than an ordinary rural village. So mundane that it felt embarrassing to even call it a “celestial realm.”

It wouldn’t have felt out of place if someone had told me it was the village where Aria and Leona lived. The houses were built with ordinary wood, the roads were made of dirt, and plants and trees grew haphazardly right next to the houses.

“…For a goddess, this is quite mod—”

“Just because it’s where a god rests doesn’t mean it needs to be decorated accordingly.”

Before my inadvertent muttering could finish, a voice filled with divinity came from right beside me. I turned my head.

There stood a woman who was unmistakably a goddess at first glance.

Her golden hair flowed down almost to her ankles. Her chest was nearly flat, but somehow her overall figure was so well-balanced that she didn’t give the slightest impression of being underdeveloped.

Her clothing resembled a one-piece dress. It was loose overall and as white as freshly fallen snow, covering her entire body so thoroughly that the only exposed parts were her neck and ankles.

When our eyes met, the woman gave me a slight smile.

“Don’t you think?”

“I never expected to hear such words directly from a goddess’s mouth.”

“Wherever I am becomes the celestial realm. The outward appearance means nothing.”

I nodded and looked around. There definitely weren’t two of her.

“Why are you suddenly looking around? I’m right here.”

“When we first spoke, you suddenly started talking as if you were a different god. I was checking if there might be another goddess here.”

After all, settings where gods are sisters managing different domains, or twins, are quite common.

Though I hadn’t heard Laura mention such a setting in her novel.

“Ah, hahaha… A-Anyway, welcome to the celestial realm, human. As I mentioned on earth, the time has come to answer your questions.”

The goddess approached me with an awkward laugh.

“You must have many questions. I’ll answer each one. Just follow me.”

“No. My questions come first.”

As I cut her off, I glanced sideways in the same direction she kept looking.

The fact that she’d been constantly glancing somewhere while trying to take me elsewhere was a suspicious combination no matter how I looked at it.

“You avoided me for so long, and now you’re not going to make me wait even longer, are you?”

“I-Is that so? Very well. What questions did you want to ask…?”

When I stubbornly stood my ground, the goddess responded with what seemed like a restless expression. I’d noticed this feeling since I first saw her, but it seemed to intensify now that I was standing firm.

It was suspicious.

Extremely suspicious.

“I once killed a Succubus Queen. Not the current Queen, but the one who was a Demon Lord Army commander. There was one named Astaroth—I’m not sure if you remember.”

“Yes… there was.”

“She appeared wielding a demon sword and attacked me, so I killed her. But I sensed a demonic energy from her that was slightly different from the demon sword’s. It was like… demonic energy that didn’t belong to this world.”

It’s unclear whether she can see through my memories or thoughts.

But since I can’t reveal my secrets first, speaking in a roundabout way was the best option. That should be enough to convey the core of the matter.

“That’s why I wanted to meet you. To ask if you knew anything about this demonic energy that differed from the demon sword’s. I didn’t expect to get an answer only now, and in the celestial realm at that.”

The goddess gave an ambiguous smile at my sarcastic remark.

The situation seemed so suspicious that I decided to be a bit forceful, but whether due to her naturally gentle personality or guilt from avoiding me all this time, she didn’t seem to have any immediate ill intentions toward me.

“I understand your feelings completely. But I’m certain. This isn’t something to discuss here—please follow me.”

The goddess reached out her hand with what seemed like desperate speed. I reflexively avoided it, and her delicate fingers grasped at empty air.

Her eyes widened slightly, as if she hadn’t expected me to avoid her.

“No. I need to hear it here.”

Trust was already in short supply. Such behavior could only breed more distrust. In the extreme case, I could even consider the possibility that this entire situation was a trap.

“…I’ll explain everything once we go. This isn’t something to discuss here.”

“I refuse. If that’s the case, you should first explain why it’s not something to discuss here.”

“It’s not too late. Please follow me. The explanation comes after. I promise I’ll tell you everything.”

“This is making me wonder about something else. Why are you so desperate to take me somewhere? Have you set a trap there?”

“Absolutely not!”

The restless goddess shouted loudly. Then she flinched slightly and bit her lower lip.

“…I am a goddess.”

Her jewel-like eyes began to glare at me.

“Human, you are not someone who should behave so rudely…! All you have to do is quietly go over there…! Why…!”

“You don’t seem to understand why I’m acting this way. I said I’d follow you quietly if you just tell me why you’re so desperate to take me there. Why can’t you say that one thing, causing all this trouble?”

I pushed back without backing down. The goddess now looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“…Fine.”

Golden light began to emanate from her body. Divine power. I reflexively drew out Eternity.

“Then I’ll take you by force…!”

“…”

I looked down at the goddess sprawled on the ground with a bewildered expression. It was fine up to the point where she surrounded herself with divine power and lunged at me saying she’d take me by force, but…

She was weak.

Ridiculously, unbelievably weak.

The divine power she manifested was indeed as pure as befitting a goddess, but its output was too low. Far from defeating me, I doubted she could even win against Leona.

“P-Please… it’s still not too late… follow me…”

Even sprawled on the ground and breathing heavily, the goddess kept trying to take me somewhere. I watched her with a dubious expression while examining the wooden houses and surroundings.

What could possibly be there that would make her go this far—

“…?”

I paused and turned my head. Then I focused my attention again.

‘…Divine power?’

I wasn’t mistaken. The same divine power I sensed from the goddess was emanating from the direction I had turned toward.

After briefly checking on the goddess sprawled on the ground, I moved toward where I sensed the divine power. If that divine power was the cause of her persistent demands, I needed to find out what was going on.

The direction I was walking in appeared to be an empty space with nothing in it. But I wasn’t wrong. The divine power was flowing more and more strongly.

Much stronger than what had emanated from the goddess.

After walking for some time, the surroundings changed as soon as I took another step. A large temple-like structure appeared right before my eyes.

‘What is this?’

Startled, I stepped back, and the temple disappeared as if nothing had happened. After standing frozen for a moment, I stepped forward again. Simultaneously, the temple-like structure reappeared.

I examined the ground and adjusted my foot position. It seemed something invisible was at work, with my right heel as the trigger point.

‘…Some kind of illusion barrier?’

I reached out and waved my hand around, but nothing was there. The same was true for magic and divine power.

After looking back and forth between the goddess still sprawled and twitching behind me and the temple in front, I steeled myself and stepped toward the temple. I had a strong intuition that this was somehow connected to that goddess.

The temple was entirely white, but in a terrible state of disrepair, as if it hadn’t been maintained for a long time. The pillars were cracked, and parts of it were even blackened.

And from inside, I could sense divine power much stronger than the goddess’s.

‘So this is what she was trying to hide.’

The mystery seemed to be partially solved. If what the goddess was trying to hide was this temple, and she was trying to take me in the opposite direction to prevent me from detecting the divine power, it would make sense.

But there were still many unanswered questions. Why use such a simple method if she wanted to hide it so badly? What was this temple’s purpose, and why was it so dilapidated now? Why couldn’t it be discovered?

And most critically, why was the same divine power as the goddess’s emanating from inside?

Filled with curiosity, I approached the temple. When I reached the entrance, I drew out Eternity, staying on high alert. I had no idea what might be inside, and I’d just been attacked by the goddess.

Finding what looked like an entrance, I placed my hand on the door, which opened surprisingly lightly for something that appeared to be over 10 meters tall. I cast a detection spell inside. Nothing was detected.

Slowly, very cautiously, I walked in one step at a time, keeping watch on my surroundings.

“You need not be so cautious, human.”

I stopped abruptly at the voice coming from inside.

“…For only one thing remains in these ruins.”

It was the same voice as the goddess outside.