episode_0116

Creating a new Holy Sword.

Goddess Stellania had a task to squeeze out the last remaining power of the last goddess.

The existing Holy Swords of the heroes are used to kill the body of the demon king who has become immortal.

However, when the demon king’s soul, which remains in the hero’s Holy Sword, is passed on to the next demon king, the cycle continues.

The demon king’s soul passed down in this way gives birth to a new demon king, and the hero appears to complete the ‘cycle’.

But the new Holy Sword that Stellania wanted to create was not to kill the demon king’s body, but to annihilate the demon king’s soul.

By using this new Holy Sword, I could erase the existence of demons and heroes from this world as I desired.

“Yunoa, please give me your sword,” Stellania said, her resolve firm.

Without a word, I handed her my Dragonyte sword.

“Are you planning to imbue this sword with the power of the goddess to create a new Holy Sword?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“If you exhaust all the remaining power, what will happen to you?”

What would happen to the goddess if she exhausted all her power? Would she disappear like dust? Die? Or fall into eternal slumber?

But contrary to all my thoughts, Stellania answered, “I will become a goddess without the power of a goddess.”

“Empty shell of a goddess. You won’t be able to use all the abilities of a goddess.”

“So… you’ll be practically no different from a human.”

“Depending on how you look at it… that might be true.”

Watching Stellania’s bitter and sad expression, I honestly thought it was no big deal.

If ‘sacrifice’ was necessary, I thought something extraordinary would happen to the exhausted goddess.

But all that remained of the goddess with just a speck of power was to become a goddess without even that power.

『As Yunoa thought, whether Stellania had the power of the goddess or not at this moment didn’t matter much.

Would there be a big difference between a slightly incompetent goddess and a completely incompetent goddess?

If so, it was the right choice to give that last bit of power to a human who would make good use of it.』

The narration agreed with my thoughts and interjected, “…Aren’t you having quite disrespectful thoughts right now?”

“I wasn’t thinking anything.”

He’s quite perceptive.

Due to the narration portraying Stellania as an incompetent and pitiful goddess, my view of her may have been slightly distorted. Even if she had only a little power left, turning that power into a weapon to save the world was a remarkable feat.

Goddess Stellania accepted my Dragonyte sword and returned to her original goddess form.

Her golden hair floated around her, emitting a subtle light from her body. She still looked like a goddess.

“If I use my last power here, I really have no choice but to entrust everything to you.”

“I don’t want to perish at the hands of the demon king either. After all, I’m a human living in this world.”

“…I entrust it to you.”

Stellania placed her white hand on the blade of the Dragonyte sword.

Warm, intense light of a bright color seemed to flow into the blade from her hand as if magic was being infused.

Is that the power of the goddess… watching it, I feel a wavering in my heart.

After a moment, the light subsided from the goddess’s hand.

And Stellania returned to her human form, looking like an ordinary blonde girl.

“With this, I have lost all the abilities of a goddess.”

Stellania returned the sword to me, saying, “I have lost all the abilities of a goddess.”

As soon as I received the sword back, I activated my sense of magic to see if there was any change in the sword.

I didn’t feel any significant change. Perhaps the power that entered the sword was not magic.

However, in the Dragon Knight’s Blade, a faint and beautiful golden aura was subtly flowing. Perhaps this is the power of the goddess.

The Dragon Knight’s Blade was originally created to suppress the eruption of my own magical power. It has now become a new holy sword infused with the power of the goddess, but I’ll have to check later to see if there are any issues with its functions.

“Feels like a bit dizzy…”

『It was just a feeling. Stellania is fine.』

“Goddess…! Goddess…! Are you okay?”

The saint, Selena, approached the staggering goddess, Stellania, and supported her body.

“Selena… I’m fine… Just a little tired.”

“Goddess, lie down here and rest for a while…”

“Yes, thank you… I will definitely repay your faith someday.”

“If you need anything, please let me know…!”

…This is our home.

The bed where the goddess lay is my bed.

Well, I made the holy sword and even obtained clues to save the world from destruction, so I guess I can overlook this much.

After all, I don’t usually spend my time at home.

I let out a small sigh as I looked at the two sacred beings who were treating my home like their own.

* * *

My Dragon Knight’s Blade has become a holy sword.

And not just any holy sword, but a weapon that is even more like a holy sword, infused with the power of the goddess herself.

No, it’s not just like a holy sword, it is a real holy sword now…

With this, I can potentially restore balance to the world by annihilating the demon soul lurking within the Demon King. However, it’s not as simple as it seems.

To destroy the demon soul, I must use the holy sword to fight the Demon King.

It goes without saying that I must win the battle.

Stellania mentioned that the hero always wins against the Demon King, following the fate woven into the structure of the world she created.

But now, with the appearance of a trash hero who was killed by the demons, the one destined to defeat the Demon King has disappeared.

I am not a hero, and I have no intention of becoming one even after learning the truth about the hero.

Yet, I must use the holy sword to seek out the Demon King and eliminate the ominous entity known as the demon soul.

“It feels somewhat unfair…”

The stories of the brave heroes who successfully subjugated the Demon King in ancient tales.

Upon learning the truth behind them, it was nothing more than a staged fate of ‘the Demon King always losing’ that was played out.

And now, with the stage of that play being completely destroyed alongside the trash hero.

I have no buffs that guarantee a victory against the Demon King.

Let’s fight fair and square, Demon King!… Would I say that?

I almost fell to the Demon King’s subordinate, Bloodstain, but how much stronger could the Demon King be.

The reason I was so anxious to find a way to prevent destruction was because I didn’t know the method.

But now that I have the method in my hands, there was no need to rush.

Having obtained the holy sword, it was wise to carry it well, increase my strength, and wait for the right opportunity.

I shared the state of this world and these plans with acquaintances, including Alcott.

Upon hearing my story, they all said they would help me if there was anything they could do.

Wait, does this mean I’m not a hero?

『No, absolutely not. Yunoa was never a hero.』

The narration immediately denied my words.

At first, I thought it meant that I didn’t have the ability to become a hero.

However, now that I’ve learned what a hero is in this world, the meaning sounded a bit different.

I shouldn’t be a hero.

Because heroes can’t save this world.

* * *

“Oh, you’re back?”

“Have you returned now?”

After meeting Algot and Mileia from the guild and returning home, the saint Selena and the goddess Stellania welcomed me almost simultaneously.

It’s become a daily routine for the saint and goddess to welcome me home… It feels strange.

“What were you doing?”

“Just cleaning and preparing dinner…”

“Yes?”

Upon hearing that, I felt like the house had become a bit cleaner.

There was not a speck of dust on the furniture, and the bookshelves were organized. Moreover, there was the sound of something boiling in the kitchen.

As I quietly sniffed, the smell of tomatoes wafted through the air.

“I heard that it is proper to repay when you receive help. Since I no longer have the power of a goddess, this is all I can do.”

Goddess Stellania said to me.

A goddess and a saint doing housework…?

My mind somehow felt distant.

“Until you restore the balance of the world, the power of the goddess will not return, so it’s not a bad idea to live like a human. Among the goddesses, there are also gods who deliberately stay in the world as humans to experience life firsthand.”

Well, if that’s the reason, I understand.

Saint Selena and Goddess Stellania prepared the dinner table together.

They served a soup that smelled like tomatoes, and dishes made with meat and vegetables were also placed on the table.

After a quick preparation, the three of us sat down at the table.

“As a goddess, do you know how to cook?”

“Selena helped me. This and this and this… Selena made them.”

Stellania pointed to a few dishes and said.

All the delicious-smelling, ordinary-looking dishes were the work of the saint Selena.

“And what about you, goddess?”

“I made this.”

When I looked at the dish the goddess pointed to, there was a small cube-shaped something.

It had a strange texture that looked like sugar or caramel.

Is it a dessert…?

“Try it.”

Stellania looked at me with a strangely expectant gaze.

I picked up the small cube on the plate with my chopsticks and put it in my mouth.

I chewed on the mysterious cube-shaped food that crumbled like sand.

Soon, a slightly nutty and strange taste spread in my mouth along with a fragrant aroma.

It was a taste I had never experienced before in my life.

Not disgusting, but very unfamiliar.

It was like discovering a new sense of taste on my tongue.

“What… what is this?”

I asked the goddess about the strange taste.

Stellania replied, “It’s the Eucharist.”

“The Eucharist?”

“The Eucharist, made by clumping oat flour with the goddess’s saliva, was a traditional and sacred food of the goddess religion.

Now that the goddess religion has split into seven sects and the tradition has been lost, the goddess Stellania remembers the time when she shared this with the priests of the temple.”

Oat flour… with the goddess’s… saliva?

“Goddess… thank you for bestowing this sacred food…!”

No, it’s oat flour clumped with the goddess’s saliva, isn’t it?

During a moment of brain freeze, the saint Selena joyfully picked up her portion of the ‘Eucharist’ prepared for her and ate it.

Damn it…