Chapter 176

Divine Authority

[……So.]

With Cretin trembling beside me, I looked at the Mountain God, who spoke in a much calmer state than before.

Now that I was properly looking at it, even just standing still, the pressure it gave off was no joke.

There were countless cases where an ordinary person couldn’t even move when facing a beast several times larger than themselves due to sheer intimidation—so what would it be like when that beast took the form of something comparable to a moving building?

[You’re saying you’ll create a god.]

At the demand to explain what that even meant, I quietly stroked my chin and looked toward it.

……It was a bit uncomfortable to move because Cretin was clutching my clothes tightly from behind with both hands, as if telling me not to leave her, but it didn’t interfere with the conversation anyway.

“To be precise, I’ll drag that side down below the surface.”

[What kind of nonsense are you spouting.]

As it scoffed, the entire shrine around us began to rumble.

I could feel Cretin shrinking even further behind me, but I just shrugged my shoulders and continued speaking.

From the start, I wasn’t really in a position to aggressively argue with him anyway.

Because—

“I’ll also talk about the dead god you used to serve.”

The Mountain God’s eyes narrowed.

It was obvious what it was thinking.

[If you want to die, there are far better ways.]

Honestly, seeing it warn me in such a relatively civil manner made it seem better than most humans.

Among the humans I had encountered so far, there had been plenty who showed far worse behavior than this……

So it would be good for me to return the courtesy, at least a little.

“It’s true that it’s been destroyed.”

[…….]

I could feel both the Mountain God and Cretin behind me staring at me as if I were absurd, but I didn’t feel the need to elaborate.

Well, it wasn’t like I was saying something that wasn’t true.

To solve a situation, the best place to start was by clearly recognizing it……

“And I have something to say about that as well.”

[…….]

The Mountain God scoffed and scraped the ground with its forepaw.

It was a gesture filled with anger and irritation, but I could also sense the deep-seated anxiety within it.

What I was talking about right now was, for this Divine Beast, something like its last lifeline.

A Divine Beast was, in the end, a fragment derived from a god.

Perhaps a companion, perhaps a parent, perhaps a child.

It could be described in many ways, but there was no doubt it was something precious enough that it remained calm and conversed like this even with the priestess of Urgan—who had killed that very being—standing right behind me.

“So, I’ll make you one clear promise.”

[……What.]

I ran my hand through my hair and glanced around.

This was a grand structure that still retained traces of the powerful faith from the era of the Tribal Alliance, when countless beliefs coexisted.

More precisely, it strongly felt like a place that once had been so.

Collapsed pillars, piled dust, rotting wood, overgrown weeds, and the stench of decay filling the nostrils.

This Divine Beast, in a place like this—

In a location that could only be known by someone like me, who possessed an absurd level of knowledge about the world and had thoroughly studied the myths of the Tribal Alliance—

Had been waiting all this time.

It probably didn’t even know what it had been waiting for.

It likely knew better than anyone that the god it served would never come back to life.

And yet, it continued.

Again and again and again.

Repeating the experience of the future turning into the past countless times.

Even as the place symbolizing its god eroded and collapsed with time, it remained here.

So there was one thing I had to promise for certain.

Standing before the massive Divine Beast at the center of the ruined shrine, I met its gaze and spoke.

“I cannot restore your past glory.”

But at the very least, because it was something that had shown such devotion until it ended up like this—

This promise would definitely work.

“I’ll make sure that the loyalty you showed isn’t wasted meaninglessly.”

[……What do you mean?]

Just earlier, I had told it that I would create a god.

Of course, to be precise, rather than creating a god—

‘……It’s closer to “dragging down” a god that already existed to the surface.’

Before, in the Holy Crown Kingdom, when I saw Noel be imbued with a golden hue and display transcendent power, I realized something clearly.

It wasn’t a coincidence that the gods of the Pantheon took the forms of people around them.

It could be interpreted as them having some kind of connection with those humans.

And the way Noel accepted that power back then felt closer to reclaiming something that was originally hers.

‘……If that’s the case.’

Then perhaps—

The origin of the gods in the Pantheon came from humans on the surface.

One could even extend that line of thought to interpret that the power of the gods came from humans.

It was something I had further solidified while burying myself in the library studying theology.

Soon.

“I will try to bring your god back to life.”

The Mountain God’s eyes widened.

[……What?]

That voice came back in a dazed state, beyond shock or anger.

It was only natural for such a reaction—after all, I was saying that a human would arbitrarily decide the fate of a being in the Pantheon. But I was completely serious.

That was why, as long as I could confirm at least one fact, I was certain I would succeed.

“I’ll ask just one thing.”

I spoke with an unusually serious expression.

In contrast to my previously calm demeanor, the tension on my face spread through the air itself—both the Mountain God and Cretin behind me seemed to tense up along with it.

It truly was an extremely important matter for me.

“You know the god you used to serve.”

[……Yes. What about it?]

“Is it female?”

[…….]

“……If it’s male, I’m seriously in trouble.”

[…….]

“I’m basically heterosexual.”

……An unaskable silence spread thickly through the surroundings.

▣

“……The Harvest Festival, huh.”

Princess Katya muttered in dissatisfaction as she pulled her knees up onto the chair and wrapped her arms around them.

In front of her, a hologram projected from a data slate displayed text related to the Harvest Festival in visual form.

“…….”

Words like data slate and hologram meant nothing to her, but it didn’t matter—what mattered was that she could read the text in front of her.

More importantly, she simply didn’t like this Harvest Festival at all.

“Is there something worrying you, sister?”

At those words, Katya shot a sharp glance at Milene Lazuli Craven, and the gaze returned just as sharply.

Every time she was called “sister,” it felt overly familiar and made her skin crawl, but even when she showed discomfort, Milene didn’t seem to care at all, which made it even more troublesome.

“I just don’t like it.”

So it was easier to steer the conversation toward something they could both agree on.

At Katya’s blunt response, Milene tilted her head.

“Big festivals exist in every country, don’t they? Is there really something to dislike?”

“Look at this. See it?”

Katya pointed at a specific part of the floating text.

Milene stared at it, blinking beneath the armor she always wore, and slowly read it aloud.

“The most important and auspicious day in the Great Plains. On this day, many couples are formed, and there is a custom of blessing each other’s future……”

There was nothing particularly special about it.

Making major decisions during major holidays was just human nature. It wasn’t really something to like or dislike.

After reading it, Milene nodded slightly.

“……You’re worried it might turn into something like the succession ceremony from before, right?”

“…….”

Of course, they were all favorable toward Aiden.

That was why they had followed him all the way to this remote place without a word, far from their homeland.

But even so, traveling with that many members of the opposite sex at once was, at best, something that could only be described as a headache-inducing and bizarre situation.

She absolutely did not want that kind of chaos to happen again……

“Well, that’s part of it.”

Saying that, Katya scrolled further down the text on the data slate.

There was another problem stemming from the phrase “forming couples” that she had just shown Milene.

“Look at this.”

At her words, Milene leaned forward and scanned the indicated section again.

Next to an illustration that seemed to depict Urgan, the God of Ascension, there was a faint image of another god drawn at a similar size.

“……Did the Tribal Alliance have another god they worshipped besides Urgan?”

“I heard they used to.”

At Katya’s answer, Milene looked at her with surprise.

“……What?”

“No, I just didn’t think you were the type to study.”

“……I’m actually smart, you know?”

It was just that she hadn’t had many opportunities.

Katya grumbled, but it was true that she didn’t usually study things like this seriously.

This knowledge came from following along and reading the books Aiden had been studying out of curiosity.

And because of that, she was starting to get a vague sense of what he had been investigating so intensely.

And the conclusion she reached from that—

Was not something she liked at all.

“They were family.”

Katya said, pointing at Urgan and the faintly drawn figure of the other god.

“Urgan’s…… family?”

“There’s a myth like that. Urgan’s twin god. It tried to seize divine authority from her, but was ultimately subdued by her.”

Katya scratched her chin as she spoke.

Well, it was a common kind of myth. There wasn’t really anything inherently unsettling about it.

Milene seemed to express that sentiment silently through her posture, but Katya shook her head as if to say she was wrong.

At least in this case—

There was a very troublesome common pattern to be found whenever something, whether god or anything else, became entangled with Aiden Kellermain.

“You know this?”

“Pardon?” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

“They were twin family members.”

“……Yes, well.”

“And Urgan is usually depicted as a goddess, though there’s some debate.”

“…….”

“……Which means they’re both women.”

“…….”

Milene’s expression gradually became serious as well.

She didn’t even know why she felt the need to become serious, but somehow, it felt like she should…….