episode_0285

A huge amount of faith eats away at my body. However, if you waste your faith unnecessarily, it will be difficult to obtain Akasha.

The first thing I thought of here was Wayne’s wish for treatment. I heard that Wayne had an overwhelming advantage over the demons until Akasha came.

Then, if I treat Wayne with faith, I will be in an unfavorable situation where I have to fight while protecting Wayne, and an ideal situation will be created where I can focus on Akasha and entrust Wayne with the demons.

As I thought about it, I immediately put my faith in Wayne. The amount of consumption was much less than expected, perhaps because healing living tissue was not at odds with the nature of Prinia, the original owner of the faith.

“Uh…?”

“Are there still any uncomfortable areas?”

“No… I’m as fine as a lie… But is it okay to use my faith like this? Having to deal with Akasha…”

“Not even noticeable.”

It wasn’t a joke, it really was like that. Not only in quantitative terms, but also in qualitative terms, Prinia’s faith was so good that it could not even be compared to my faith.

Skin!

“……!”

For a moment, a chill passed over my cheek. If I hadn’t turned my head, even if it was too late, I might have been hurt more. When I looked in Akasha’s direction, I saw him waving a finger.

“Don’t be distracted? Okay.”

“I wish it had ended just now… I’m still lacking in secrecy.”

It was definitely too late to find out. Even during this time, Akasha was appropriately adjusting the ratio of faith mixed with magic. I seemed to be looking for a ratio that was light enough for me to not detect, but dark enough to kill me.

“So they say it has no meaning.”

A level of faith that he would normally not dare pour out, as if pouring it all over Akasha’s large body. It was an art that not only Akasha, but even Stella and Prinia could not easily perform.

Simply having a lot of faith and using it in this way were two completely different things. Unlike other gods who have different abilities, the only thing I can handle is faith, so I am skilled at handling raw faith.

“Huh…!”

So, it was not unreasonable for Akasha to be so surprised. It seemed like they thought it was obviously impossible to avoid it, so they somehow managed to gather their faith.

I heard about the harmony between magic and faith from Stella. I heard that its versatility can easily withstand Stellar nuclear fusion energy.

However, the current Akasha was unable to completely block the onslaught of my ignorant faith. Apparently things didn’t go as planned, and large scars appeared here and there.

I never thought the day would come when I would hurt the dragon, especially Akasha, like that. The emotions are endless.

“Why… does this happen?”

Akasha’s pupils shook greatly, as if she was quite shocked when the faith-based magic that was thought to be omnipotent broke through.

“You should have become a god in a legal way. Even though there are so many things I don’t know now, there is no one to teach me.”

Actually, what I’m saying is that I heard everything from Stella and Prinia, but in any case, it is natural that there is no one to teach Akasha about faith, who took away the faith of other gods and became a god by force.

It is much more difficult to use raw faith itself than to mix faith with stars, dimensions, or magic.

Things like how much of a burden faith is on the body.

Even if you were to put the wish to protect your body into magic, you would have to consume much more faith than in outer space because there is a body in the underworld.

This is because the body has become a useless burden. And I guess Akasha’s current faith won’t be enough to operate comfortably in the underworld.

In other words, it was a wrong decision for that guy to come to the underworld in the first place.

Of course, Akasha, who did not know this, had no choice but to flounder, contrary to the charisma she had shown so far.

And I’m the type of person who doesn’t let down my guard. Akasha was not the only one considering how much faith was appropriate.

Having gained a sense of faith that allowed me to push Akasha without damaging my body, I poured out the faith given to me by Prinia to my heart’s content.

“Kaaak!”

Akasha accepted my faith a few more times and then returned to her human form as if it wasn’t working. It is a reasonable judgment. Along with the size of the target, the size of the body that faith had to assume also decreased.

“It can’t be like this… It can’t be like this!”

Akasha attacks once again with magic mixed with faith. It didn’t matter to me what kind of attack came as long as it wasn’t a surprise attack like before. As I wrapped myself in faith, the blade-like wind that Akasha shot out bounced off me and cut down the devils.

Now that I think about it, can Wayne handle this many demons alone?

As I slowly shifted my gaze towards Wayne, I saw a demon fighting fiercely with Wayne and the demons watching them silently.

……Ilgito?

***

As Eugene was pushing Akasha, Wayne, who had recovered from the wounds inflicted by Akasha through his faith, quickly held Rhenias in his arms.

Her role as a warrior was to somehow hold back the demon army here.

Fortunately, the place that Akasha used as a bridgehead for the demon world was her own lair, which was quite far from the living area of humanity. Wayne knew very well that now was his first and last opportunity to easily defeat the demon army.

“I thought it was a retirement after being attacked by a dragon… but it looks very fine. What is that person’s identity?”

Rennias became even more wary of Eugene, even though Wayne was the one blocking his path.

Even from his point of view, where he had high pride as a demon, the current Akasha had become an unrivaled and powerful being, and this was because he was constantly pushing Akasha.

“You know what?”

“There is no need to give a definite answer. It’s like witnessing God.”

Wayne remained silent at Rhenias’ sharp guess. But Rhenias took the silence as an affirmation.

“As expected. It’s a god… It’s really amazing if you just look at it. I have been conquering various dimensions so far, but this is the first time that God has intervened so directly. It’s the same now, and it’s the same with the god who imprisoned us thousands of years ago.”

“Even though we know that, why should we continue the invasion like this? Why don’t you just give up and go back?”

Rhenias grinned at Wayne’s words.

“No, you can’t do that. Do you know why ordinary gods do not actively intervene?”

There was no way I knew. Rhenias also seemed to have been hoping for an answer and continued speaking immediately.

“The correct answer is because of causality.”

“…Causality?”

“Okay. Even if the dimensions are different, it applies without exception… It’s like a kind of law. If god-like writers run around freely, isn’t the impact bound to be greater? The law of causality is what tries to prevent that.”

“I don’t know because it seems like a rumor.”

“No, you probably already know. The god who imprisoned us. He hasn’t appeared in person even once since then, right? Oh, the human lifespan is so short that you don’t really know?”

Wayne didn’t answer this time, but he understood deep down. Certainly, unlike Stella, who can descend to the underworld in the form of possession only for those with high divine power, Prinia’s actions have never been recorded in literature since she created the myth of the end of the world.

“Looking at the expression on his face, he seems to be convinced. The law of causality will soon come to that God as well. If you go crazy like that… Anyway, then, let’s put an end to it.”

Rhenias tightened his hands even more. So far, all of their conversations have been taking place with swords touching each other. The magic energy contained in Rhenias’ sword became even darker and slowly pushed Wayne’s holy sword away.

‘Ugh….’

Wayne also used his divine power to avoid being pushed back, but the situation was much more difficult than before Akasha appeared.

This is because the power Arjen consumed to withstand Akasha’s attack was not restored through faith.

“As expected, even though he looks fine on the outside, the aftereffects of the injury still appear.”

“No… not at all!”

Wayne squeezed out all the dragon power he had left and deflected Rhenias’ magical energy. Despite the sudden change in power, Rhenias did not panic and kept the sword.

‘…That dragon is being pushed back. It’s difficult…’

Taking advantage of the momentary distance between them, Rhenias observed the battle between Eugene and Akasha. Lenias, who was looking at Eugene precisely, clicked his tongue.

‘Tsk… I have no choice but to continue to be stranded here as long as that guy is here… and the hero in front of me… can’t I do that…’

Rhenias decided to give up his greed for now. He gave up on conquering humanity alone and decided to inform other ‘demon king candidates’.

“Adjutant.”

“Yes, please order. Belphegor.”

“…Spread the word to other demons. ‘I will give up the monopoly.’”

“…I will follow your orders.”

Wayne said as he looked at the back of the demon who disappeared after receiving Rhenias’ orders.

“…What does it mean?”

“Didn’t you tell me when we first met? There is no devil right now, only the candidates.”

Rhenias was also a candidate for the Demon King. He had power comparable to that of the Demon King, to the point where it was unnecessary to say he was just a candidate.

“I just informed the other candidates that I would give up my right to invade first.”

At those words, Wayne’s hands seemed to relax. In the midst of a fierce battle with just one Rhenias, the appearance of other demons with similar power could not have been welcome.

“…How many candidates are there in total?”

“Ah, I wonder about that now. After all, it would be the hero’s job to take down all of us, so it would be right to tell you.”

Rhenias spread his left hand. And he raised only the index finger of his right hand, which held the sword.

“Six. There are six other candidates for the Demon King besides me.”