Chapter 103: After the Cataclysm (3)

“I look forward to the great and noble battles we will fight together.”

“Take care, my friend.”

“To be. Together. Is joy…”

After the meeting ended, the Liberators who had been sitting at the table handed over a simple approval to Akuyuham before leaving.

However, unlike the others, one person remained.

“You’re Akuyuham, right? It’s nice to meet you.”

From in front of him, a soft voice echoed from within the Liberator’s robe.

Ssshhhh.

She slowly removed the top part of the robe that had been covering her head.

Her golden hair, swaying softly, was revealed.

“You’re a demon…”

She smiled widely at Akuyuham’s murmuring.

Succubus.

A race that sustains life by absorbing the essence of intelligent male beings.

They usually only manage to steal essence through dreams, which makes them a race with generally weak combat abilities. 

Even the succubus who worked under GM with him had been like that, but the woman standing before him possessed a formidable magical power that couldn’t be taken lightly.

“I heard you were kidnapped by GM and forced to work… is that true?”

“It is. I was in charge of Rudera’s broadcasts and various system management tasks.”

Her eyes sparkled at Akuyuham’s response.

“T-then, by any chance, do you know a succubus named Marfa?”

“Marfa?”

Hearing a familiar name, Akuyuham was slightly surprised.

Marfa was the succubus who worked with him, overseeing GM’s entire broadcast operations.

“…What’s your relationship?”

“She’s my sister! Have you seen her?”

‘She said she was opposing GM because her precious family had been captured.’

And Akuyuham remembered hearing from Marfa that she had begged GM to save her one and only younger sister, and as a result, GM had performed a second miracle.

Akuyuham realized that the girl standing in front of him was Marfa’s precious younger sister, Eris.

‘She was suffering from both the Erosion Disease and the Magic Stone Disease.’

The miraculous potion GM bestowed had the power to cure any illness, but it could only heal one disease at a time.

So GM had been moved by pity and performed another miracle.

“Yes, I know her.”

“R-really?! Then…!”

Listening to Lakrimosa’s story, Akuyuham began to understand why she had joined such an organization.

She believed that GM had taken her sister away by turning Marfa into a saint in order to save her.

‘A situation where one mistakes their savior for their enemy.’

Judging by Marfa’s personality, Akuyuham didn’t think Lakrimosa was inherently evil or ungrateful.

From the leader’s perspective, her strength must have been tempting.

Erosion Disease was caused by an overwhelming magical power that the body could not handle.

Those who survived despite having the Erosion Disease often went down in history, possessing immense power.

Having contracted both the Magic Stone Disease and the Erosion Disease but surviving thanks to the miracle, the girl in front of him had gained power that made her difficult to consider a mere succubus.

‘What should I do about this…’

Naturally, he had to inform GM.

Afterward, he would need to think about whether to tell Marfa as well.

***

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Alia.”

She was the tank that Dua had introduced.

“The Shield of the Gods, Alia?!”

Wald’s eyes widened as he looked at the new party member.

‘How does Wald always recognize these famous players right away? And what’s up with that title?’

“Why, who is this person?”

“You don’t know her? She was the main tank for the Nokjukdan Guild, alongside Guild Master Dua!”

“Is she that amazing?”

Wald and Perizet bantered as they exchanged glances.

Meanwhile, the woman who had introduced herself as Alia was secretly exchanging direct messages with them.

-What are you doing here?

-Ahahaha… It just ended up like this, somehow?

***

Given her status, Akuyuham had never expected to see her here.

-Is it really okay for a god to be wandering around like this?

-Well, what? Even Deus wanders around, playing games, so why can’t I?

The battle against the transcendent god who sought to destroy the continent and Rudera, and the great upheaval that followed.

Even though I had the help of Carthesia, Guide, and Dua, my strength alone had been insufficient.

I worked to rally the faith of everyone on the continent, and I had to proceed with missions in the sanctuaries of other gods, like the worship hall of the Holy Kingdom.

It wasn’t as if I could proceed without the permission of the existing gods.

That’s why I sought out the senior god, Deus, who had once told me to come to him whenever I needed help, and she introduced me to her fellow god, Alia.

Thanks to the help of the two main gods who divided the continent, excluding the World Tree that the elves worshipped, the Demon God that the demons believed in, and the Fire God that the dwarves followed, I was able to build relationships with them.

Deus had been favorable to me from the start, as she was completely absorbed in Rudera, but Alia had not.

She had been worried that I might take away their followers.

I heard that many of their worshippers had converted to GM’s followers.

***

It was almost a declaration of war.

It made sense why Alia would be hostile toward me.

“But since there was a chance the continent could be erased, I showed them Guide’s memories to persuade them, and with their help, we were able to trigger the Great Cataclysm.

After that, I thought the continent had returned to peace… but…”

-Why Alia? What if you’re caught?

-Do you know how many women in our kingdom are named Alia? It’s a blessed name, so if you call it out in the streets, at least five or six women would turn their heads. Besides, who would ever imagine their god is tanking in a game?

No one would think a god is enjoying role-playing as a meat shield. Saying it out loud would be borderline blasphemy.

-More importantly, I got bored just sitting up there. I figured I’d try out some games too. Even Deus enjoys playing, you know?

Come to think of it, even the celestial god Deus, like a dopamine addict, enjoyed gambling content, so this was fairly tame in comparison.

Reality’s issues were mostly resolved, so maybe there was no harm.

-But why did you go as far as talking to Dua to join our party? From what I can see, you were thriving as a tank at the frontlines.

-Oh, that?

Alia scratched the back of her head, looking a bit embarrassed.

-It was fun, but… I got a little tired of it. Besides, wouldn’t it be more fun to hang out with the creator of this world?

Tired of enjoying the end-game content as a key member of the vanguard?

It seemed this goddess was as much of a dopamine addict as Deus…

-Our adventures aren’t going to be that exciting.

Not every adventure could be thrilling, even for the creator. 

It was more enjoyable to wander without knowing everything, so I left the world’s management to Guide and roamed around.

-That’s fine. As long as I can travel with you.

-What?

I hadn’t expected this kind of companion at all.

Even so, she had been called the Goddess of War, so she could definitely handle the role of tank.

We had worked together to fend off the attacks of the transcendent god, so Albus believed she had no ulterior motives.

Albus…

The real master of Rudera, whom I had met through Deus.

At first, I thought he was a sneaky god, trying to steal away faith, sanctity, and worshippers.

The world he created, Rudera, was so fun that it made me forget everything, but the depletion of faith was a matter of survival, so I couldn’t think entirely positively of him.

However, during the process of preventing the continent’s crisis caused by consecutive disasters, I came to meet GM, who turned out to be nothing more than a small, fragile human boy.

Even though I had lived as a god for so long, I could only destroy, not create. 

And yet, he had created a world in a human body.

I was utterly shocked.

And it didn’t stop there.

He had gathered the hopes of everyone on the continent and fought off a transcendent god.

He and Deus had both managed to stop a cosmic entity, something even we hadn’t known existed, saving the continent.

While others had watched the broadcast of the event, we gods had witnessed every step firsthand.

Though I had once considered him an enemy to be eliminated, he had thrown himself into danger to save everyone.

Without him, the Sacred Kingdom would have perished long before the transcendent god arrived, and I too would have ceased to exist.

Who could watch such a noble and majestic sacrifice and not be captivated?

Having lived all my life as a warrior, I had never experienced life as a woman, but just seeing him made my lower belly stir.

The reason I had approached his daughter, the new Goddess of the Desert, Duamutep, was to get closer to him.

Duamutep enjoyed playing games too, so I thought if I won her favor, I could naturally adventure with him.

The plan worked beautifully.

I did feel a bit guilty for using the pure-hearted young goddess, but I figured I could play the role of a mother figure for her later. 

She would like that.

A few uninvited guests were no big deal. 

What mattered was that he was here.

Now, all that was left…

“Is to enjoy adventures together with him.”

The goddess smiled in a way Albus couldn’t see.