episode_0047

14. Second Tower (4)

Hyunseok slowly got up and removed his hands from me and Yeonseo.

” Did you both get enough rest? ”

He slowly got up and told us to go to the next area.

” Phew, so that’s what you’re saying next is the last one? ”

Yeonseo, who had been leaning against the summoned beast Marinarion, slowly got up from her exhaustion and walked towards the door.

” Yeah, this was the ninth island, and seeing the key and door made me feel like it was the last, so I guess that’s why. ”

” I hope this is the last time. ”

As he approached the door while talking to Yeonseo, Hyunseok took out his key and held it close to the door. This time again, a ‘click’ sound was heard and a keyhole appeared.

” Are you ready? ”

Before putting the key in, Hyunseok turned his head towards us and looked at Yeonseo and I, then looked at each other and nodded towards Hyunseok.

As he put the key in and turned it, a light unlike any before burst out and engulfed us.

I raised my arms against the dazzling light, waited for the light to dim, and opened my eyes. What I saw before my eyes was a room with pure white furniture.

*****

I don’t know what the hell happened. The light coming from the door was so blinding that I just closed my eyes for a moment and opened them.

Hyunseok and Yeonseo were nowhere to be seen, and only a pure white room with pure white furniture greeted me.

” What…what is this? What the heck…is this place…? ”

As I was looking around and wandering around, I felt someone behind me, so I took out Durandal and swung it. And the person there was…

” Pa..Truna? Why? Why are you here when we didn’t even clear the tower? What about Hyunseok and Yeonseo? We were just entering the last room. ”

” Let’s put this black thing aside and talk? ”

I took back the Durandal that was close to her neck and sat down on the sofa where she was lying, so I sat across from her and just looked at her.

” Even so, there must be a reason why you suddenly called me out like this, right? ”

” Phew, you look quite angry, unlike before. Don’t glare at me like that. It’ll ruin your pretty face. ”

” Haa, are you saying that now? If Hyunseok and Yeonseo got hurt or something while I was away…! ”

” Don’t worry. I just brought my consciousness back while my vision was still frozen. Hmm, you’ve grown quite a bit, haven’t you? You still have a long way to go, but at this rate, you’ll soon reach your second form. ”

At those words, my eyes widened and I couldn’t understand what on earth she was talking about.

Second appearance? Does that mean you’ve grown since you first became a woman?

” Second appearance? What is that…? ”

” Well, don’t worry too much. You’ll find out soon. Of course, when that time comes, it’ll be good to take some time to think about yourself again. ”

” Really, whether in the past or now, you only say what you want to say…! ”

When I blurted it out like that, Patruna smiled faintly and opened her mouth to drink tea that was on the table that she had left there for who knows when.

” How was the pleasure you felt as a woman for the first time? Was it more intense than when you were a man? ”

” N..yeah!? Wait…wait, what…what…does that sound… ”

He was startled, raised his shoulders, wrapped his arms around his trembling body, and slowly turned his head to avoid her gaze.

The look on her face, as if she knew so much about my…that…day, was so scary.

‘ When on earth… did I see that? No, more than that, why did I see it…?! ‘

” Hehe, don’t be so surprised. It’s a great pleasure for me to see you living every day, right? Well, it’s also nice to see you, oppa. ”

” Huh? What did you just say…? ”

” Rather, the reason I called you like this now is to tell you about the child you will meet now. ”

Patruna continued her story at a pace that didn’t give her time to recall what she had last heard.

” That means… It seems like you know the owner of the tower we’ll meet this time. Haa, I guess I should’ve guessed from the perspective of an angel… ”

” Hmm, actually, we just found out, right? Charlotte. The angels that have come out through you so far are ones that we have lost contact with. Among them, the one we are about to meet is Archangel Gabriel.

Our messenger and the handmaiden of Gaia, the goddess of the Earth. Of course, after Gaia died, contact was suddenly cut off… but I just found out now. ”

” So what do you want me to do? ”

” Hehe, I like you because you understand things quickly. Please don’t kill that kid, Gabriel. ”

It was a story that I couldn’t understand. You’re asking me not to kill him? After all, since he was the owner of the tower, wasn’t it necessary to take him down?

But I thought that asking them not to kill me meant that I had to dig up information. It seemed that the gods who were with Patruna didn’t know the truth about Gaia, the goddess of the Earth who had suddenly died.

” Don’t… kill… Do you know that we might die instead? ”

” Hey, that’s not possible. Don’t worry, Charlotte and the other two aren’t inferior to Gabriel. Well, if we hadn’t met at the top, then other than Charlotte… Charlotte? ”

If we had met somewhere other than the tower, I would have thought that the two of us would be in danger, so I unconsciously glared at Patruna.

‘I don’t want to see you get hurt like that again…! ‘

” Phew, calm down, Charlotte. ”

” Ah! That sin… I’m sorry. But… when I heard that story, without realizing it… ”

” That’s fortunate. I was worried that I’d be alone after returning, so I’m glad I have a companion. Back to the story, please don’t kill Gabriel. There’s something I need to find out. ”

” Ha, I see. I’ll try to do that. But if you find out anything later, please let me know. That way I can convince them both. ”

” Yes, yes, I will. Okay! Then it’s time for us to part ways. Please take care of me. ”

” Don’t worry. I will do what I have to do as your apostle. ”

When I opened my eyes after being swallowed up in light just like when I entered this place, Hyunseok and Yeonseo were next to me, and it seemed like they had only just come to their senses.

*****

Just after Charlotte left, a muscular man with long hair and a long beard approached Patruna, carrying a sword on his belt and a shield on his back.

The only thing that is unique about him is that he is one-armed.

” Tir, are you here? ”

” Yeah, but is that kid the ‘vessel for God’ you were talking about? ”

” Hmm, to be exact, I should say ‘a vessel that holds divinity’. Haa, seriously, why did the ‘divine realm’ change like this while I was sealed… ”

” That’s… I have nothing to say. More importantly, Archangel Gabriel… I’m glad he’s alive. ”

” Well, should I consider it alive? To me, it just looks like a thought left after death. ”

” Well, we’ll have to wait and see. More importantly, Vulcan, Thoth, and Hermod said that this time, they would use their power to change the tower’s reward. ”

” Huh? Why on earth would you do something like that…? ”

” I hope your apostle quickly becomes a female degenerate or something ”

” Sigh, those guys are really… ”

” Well, that’s probably just a joke. He really said that he needed to get the communication system up and running quickly. ”

” Ah, the sooner the better. It seems that there are still remnants of the evil god Thanatos among humans. ”

” What, that guy…? It’s going to be quite difficult to revive Gaia. ”

” Well, there’s nothing I can do. For now… I hope that she, the disciple of God, and the humans below will survive. ”

After saying that, the two gods just looked at her apostles below in silence and hoped that there would be no problems with their plans.

*****

” So, you’re saying I shouldn’t kill that guy? I’m going crazy, really… ”

” I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it this time. ”

” Yeonseo, this is something Charlotte can’t do anything about, so let’s endure it. ”

Yeonseo was getting irritated and pointing at the great angel Gabriel sitting on the shining throne in the distance, while Hyunseok was trying to calm her down.

But this time, I understand why Yeonseo is angry. It would be hard enough to just knock her down, but it would be twice as hard if you aimed to subdue her.

” Well, I’m saying it’s not to the extent that we can’t suppress it now. Don’t worry. ”

” Hey, Mr. Bul-ye-shi, that’s not the problem, is it? You have to try it to find out! Oh, really! I won’t leave you alone after I catch that guy! ”

” What?! Hey… Wait a minute, why are you saying this to me! ”

Yeonseo summoned her summoner and ran towards Gabriel. Hyunseok shrugged his shoulders as if he had no other choice and followed after Yeonseo.

” Haa, why am I the only one… suffering a loss…! ”

Of course, I couldn’t just stay still, so I took out my equipment and followed them.

As we arrived at the front, Gabriel slowly opened his closed eyes and soon opened his mouth.

” Where the hell did you lowly things come from! ”

‘Huh? You can even…speak…?!’

” Oh, that’s… Sha… Charlotte? ”

Yeonseo opened her eyes wide and froze at the sudden sound of Gabriel’s voice, and Hyunseok just looked at me with a look of bewilderment.

” I come by the order of the goddess Patruna. ”

‘I’m sure Patruna is a friend I know, so it’s okay if I tell her her name, right?’

But Gabriel reacted differently than I expected.

” How insolent! There is only one goddess, Gaia! You pagan! ”

Gabriel rose from his throne and spread his six black wings and flew up.

” Hey! Your goddess is actually a fraud, right? ”

” Huh…? I’m sure you said we knew each other…?! ”

Yeonseo grabbed my shoulder and shook me back and forth, and I lost my senses because of the unexpected reaction.

However, after Gabriel flew into the sky, he did not attack us at all.

Just fluttering its wings and flying around.

” What the hell are you trying to do? ”

Hyunseok looked up at the sky and thought that there might be some hidden meaning behind Gabriel’s appearance of not attacking us.

A curtain of wind surrounded us, and the black feathers that fell from Gabriel were carried far away by the wind.

But the feather was much scarier than we thought.

As the black feather fell and touched the ground, a pillar of black light burst out from around it with a ‘Whew!’ sound. What followed was a hollow hole the width of the pillar.

It’s not that Gabriel didn’t attack us, but he spread his feathers here and there to make us let our guard down so we couldn’t dodge.