Ch.313Half-Baked (7)

As I entered the null space through the gate, I began to see Renatus and his group.

Just two creatures.

It was a pathetically small number to call a “force,” but I couldn’t let my guard down.

“So you must be the human called Eidel Rheinland. I can definitely sense an energy different from ordinary life forms. How interesting.”

I swallowed hard at my first encounter with Renatus.

From this point on, there were no standardized strategies or useful countermeasures.

Even Ireh Hazlen had never defeated Renatus. Her judgment was that it was better to avoid confronting him if possible.

But I couldn’t do that.

“Cartesia.”

I had to save her, as she was about to be devoured by Renatus at any moment.

“…Kid, why are you here?”

“Why are you in that state?”

Cartesia’s appearance could hardly be called presentable, even as a polite lie. The fact that she was bound by tentacles was problematic to begin with. Usually, she was the one binding me.

“The world our kind lives in is survival of the fittest. If you’re unlucky, you get eaten by another creature like this. Well, I expected it. Sorry we had to meet again like this.”

“Stop joking around and tell me straight. What happened?”

“Are you blind? It’s exactly what you see.”

Cartesia sneered.

“Kid, I’ll give you one piece of good news and one piece of bad news. The good news is that you no longer need to remain in a contract with me, and the bad news is that these creatures in front of you are starting to take an interest in you.”

The two outer gods, who looked like dust, were staring intently at me. They whispered to each other.

“There’s something off about this being for a mere 4-dimensional existence. Seems to possess quite a lot of Pron and Coin too.”

“Yes, teacher. It would surely be delicious if we devoured it.”

“Eating it as is would be good, but breeding it would be nice too.”

“Are you suggesting we create a cavity like this place and start an orchard?”

“Yes. It would definitely be delicious.”

What are these lunatics babbling about?

“It’s not a star or nebula, just a mere insignificant life form. If we breed such a creature, it would probably rupture, unable to withstand it.”

“I mean it’s worth trying since it doesn’t seem to be an ordinary being. Though as you said, the problem is that mental attacks don’t work on it.”

After hearing the last remark, I felt uneasy and checked my status window.

[— ‘Sluggish Chaos’ has used <Waltz of Stars> on you.]

[— Unauthorized access.]

[— ‘Sluggish Chaos’ has used <Fugue to the Abyss> on you.]

[— Unauthorized access.]

[— ‘Sluggish Chaos’ applies <Mental Gender Transformation>, <Weakening>, <Lethargy>, <Submission>, <Surging Lust> to you.]

[— Unauthorized access. / <Surging Lust>(+10%) has been applied.]

I suddenly got goosebumps. I hadn’t noticed at all that I was being attacked.

“Except for the breeding-related one that slightly affected it, it’s deflecting all attacks. What kind of creature is this?”

“All the more delicious it would be to breed. I’m certain.”

Snicker, snicker.

The two outer gods closed the distance in an instant. A chill ran down my spine. If I stayed still like this, I felt like I would lose something precious as a human.

“Sonia!”

“Young master, you take the smaller one. I’ll fight the larger one!”

“No, don’t engage!”

I pulled Sonia back. And just then, I spotted a trumpet floating through the space.

[— You have obtained ‘Blasphemous Trumpet(EX)’.]

It was a brass instrument I had acquired after defeating Matonica. I had stored it here since I didn’t need it immediately, but now it came in handy.

Poo, poo, pooo.

I grabbed the trumpet and blew three random notes, feeling the flow of time around us becoming viscous.

[— The world has frozen.]

[— Time until thaw: 9 seconds.]

Time stopped. Sonia and I used this opportunity to escape from the null space. We had literally just dipped our feet in and pulled them out.

“What should we do about that?”

“Let’s go back south. Sonia, go bring Rustila Kersil and Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein. I’ll go to the spirit chamber and…”

“Young master!”

Clang!

Sonia, who had drawn her calipers, deflected something. It was an irregular polyhedron. The deep purple crystal flew far away, hit the wall, and shattered.

“Young master, I think it’s better if we move together.”

“…Let’s do that.”

I nearly lost everything I had accomplished so far to a single possession attempt by an outer god. With a heavy heart, I moved with Sonia accompanying me.

We hurriedly brought Zernya von und zu Trisha Adelbein and Rustila Kersil and placed them with Ireh Hazlen. Once the ‘Great Triangle’ effect activated, I could feel somewhat relieved.

Finally, I met the saint who was quietly praying in the spirit chamber. When she saw me, she fled to a corner in terror but couldn’t put up much resistance.

I reclaimed the human time machine as well. With this, I had made all the urgent preparations I could.

“So what’s going on? And why is Ireh unni in this state?”

“I’ll explain quickly since we don’t have time.”

After I explained the situation, Zernya’s face turned sullen.

“So Ireh unni is like this because of those two outer gods, and the outer god cooperating with you is also in danger. Meanwhile, the people in the east are still suffering from Pron addiction… The situation is more serious than I thought?”

“I need your help to solve this problem.”

I apologized to my wives who were busy with work and assigned roles.

“Zernya, please treat Ireh. Sonia and Rusti, come with me into the null space. While you two hold off the two outer gods, I’ll blow the trumpet and rescue Cartesia. And saint, if we fail, turn back time.”

The saint, trapped in a net, collapsed weakly, sobbing.

Soon the operation began. We entered the null space through a portal opened by Sonia and once again encountered the two outer gods who were trying to absorb Cartesia.

***

Shortly after Eidel and Sonia had fled, Renatus and Powehi had clicked their tongues at Cartesia.

“Seems like he was trying to save you, but in the end, he was just all talk.”

“Teacher, look at the state of the lower world. They’re just running away, unable to do anything against the irregular polyhedron you sent. Hahaha!”

“As they say, a small basket cannot hold large fruit. No matter how special he might be, his capacity is only this much.”

The two outer gods snickered. Cartesia spat at them.

“Look at this?”

The mist forming Renatus suddenly changed shape. And the next moment.

Thwack!

Cartesia’s head was slammed down to the lower right. A heavy force that had transformed into a blunt weapon had struck her and passed by.

Just then, the tentacles binding her loosened. Cartesia fell limply to the floor. The neural network forming her thoughts buzzed.

“How dare you show such Darwin-like defiance instead of respecting the father who gave you life. Truly impudent.”

Renatus controlled the mist to strike Cartesia. She rolled on the floor, suppressing her groans.

“Do not resist.”

Her last remaining Pron and Coin were taken away. Having already lost much of her power, in this state she couldn’t even defeat a human.

At death’s door, Cartesia recalled the past.

– Your mother was a constellation, right?

– Filthy half-breed. A disgrace to our kind.

– So, do you have any Coin?

– Live in that black hole forever. Being trapped in such a peripheral galaxy suits your station perfectly.

Cartesia suddenly gritted her teeth, but at the same time, she felt like it didn’t matter what happened to her.

– I heard there’s an outer god who likes young stars. That outer god has a strange hobby of planting seeds in constellations to create child stars, and when those children gather Pron and energy, it harvests and savors them. In my life as a wandering star, I’ve seen at least fifty inner gods die that way.

She had known her fate for a long time.

– If you’re under ‘Star’s Binding,’ you can’t even commit suicide by normal methods. You need a more fundamental understanding of that binding.

Of course, she had frantically sought knowledge to resist that fate, but in the end, she realized it was futile.

Beyond the panorama of fleeting memories, Cartesia saw her father’s mist trying to devour her. She closed her eyes in resignation.

[— Omega-level transformation, <Meteor Strike>]

Whoosh!

It was then that a blade passed through Renatus’s main body. A sword wrapped in Aether pierced through Renatus like a skewer, scattering blue plasma.

“Ugh!”

That wasn’t the end.

A following cluster of stars drew a cross-fire targeting Renatus. Meteors fell from all directions, mercilessly pummeling him. Starlight rose like steam.

“Oh no, teacher!”

Powehi rushed in to help, but hesitated when suddenly confronted by calipers blocking his way.

Tss-tss-tss.

As Rustila Kersil drew her Plasma Sword, Aether began to overflow into Renatus’s body. Aether energy was like deadly poison to outer gods.

It should have been a fatal blow. But.

“…How annoying!”

Renatus escaped the flow of Aether by parallel-shifting only the mist forming his main body. His attention turned to a human male.

Cartesia painfully lifted her head. There stood her contractor, holding a trumpet.

“Well, you fled so pathetically, yet you’re back. What confidence.”

“I didn’t flee, I regrouped.”

As Eidel waved his hand, Sonia and Rustila Kersil rushed in from both sides. Powehi and Renatus sighed as they prepared to receive their attacks.

“One doesn’t touch the apocalypse during a meal.”

“Don’t disturb us while we’re eating!”

Crash!

The two humans and two outer gods clashed with each other.

Woooong.

The brass instrument made a heavy sound, cooling time. Eidel’s figure, which had been far away, had somehow moved in front of Cartesia.

Cartesia looked up at Eidel with a frown.

“You’ve lost your mind, kid. Did you come to die?”

“No, I came to save you.”

Eidel began running while carrying the disheveled Cartesia.