Chapter 5: The Red Staff of Authority

Chapter 5:
The Red Staff of Authority

 

—1—

 

“NOW THEN, Aries’s Hand…take this.” Alice pressed the bright red staff into Kotone’s hands. “You should be able to wield the power of the spirit in it so well that its former owner will be put to shame.”

When Kotone took the staff, her shoulders shook violently and she pressed a hand to her head.

“…There’s a voice…in the staff…in my head. I don’t know the language, but I understand,” she muttered, her eyes vacant.

“Kotone-san…?” I asked.

Her actions had been uneven when she was controlled by Alice, but it seemed the Red Staff was adding an extra layer of interference.

“So, you can speak with it?” Alice clapped her hands together with glee. “Hee hee! That’s better than I expected!

I was right to have high expectations for you. While the higher beings might have been involved, the royal family really is full of idiots for letting a hero have something like this without knowing its true nature. The time of hiding in the shadows is over!”

Alice laughed in satisfaction. “Now, Aries’s Hand, my dear…do it! Show us the overwhelming power of the weapon that single-handedly brought a world to its knees!”

Kotone raised the Red Staff.

“Fire Magic Level 15: Agni’s Rage.”

Magic circles appeared around Kotone. Alice looked around and her expression went blank for a moment, but then her disgusting shark-toothed grin quickly returned.

“Amazing! Incredible, Aries’s hand! Your casting level has surpassed that of any mortal! Now that you have full control of the Red Staff of Authority, you are truly among the ranks of the gods!”

Alice’s shrill cackle rang out, and massive balls of fire appeared from the magic circles—each one in the shape of a rage-filled human face. In the blink of an eye, they swarmed through the building.

“Wh-what, what is happening? Is this hell?!” cried Bennet, standing there frozen. His sword dropped to the ground as he realized that he should have taken my advice to run.

Kotone lowered the Red Staff, and the fiery faces came rushing at us.

“Foolish boy. If you had just behaved, the higher beings wouldn’t have panicked and I wouldn’t have come to destroy you,” cackled Alice.

I pointed the Heroic Sword of Gilgamesh toward the ceiling.

“Fire Magic Level 20: Apocalypse.”

A red magic circle appeared, and flames poured out to form the shape of a dragon. It flew around swallowing up the balls of fire before breaking through the building’s walls, destroying the ceiling, and flying away into the sky.

“A level 15 spell won’t cut it,” I said, and Alice glared at me. Her face was frozen in a stiff grin.

“Wh-what happened? I’m alive…? What… Was I saved?” said Bennet, crouched on the ground at my feet.

“Please, just give up,” I said, taking a step toward Alice as she retreated backward. “That staff can’t beat me. Kotone-san isn’t your tool. Please release her right now and we can end this peacefully.”

“I-Impossible… How? How could a new traveler like you get power like that…?”

“Or I can kill you. Would that release her?” I asked as I pointed my sword at Alice. Her eyes locked onto the blade like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

There were many spells within the domain of death magic that were complicated to use. Kotone should still be alive…but her soul had been stolen by Alice. It could break Kotone if I killed Alice without banishing the spell first. I needed to do everything I could to capture Alice alive.

“So…so that’s how it is. He he he, aah ha ha! So that’s how cursed you are by the gods!” said Alice. She bit down on her finger as if trying to push down her own terror. Blood trickled down her hand and stained the fabric at her wrist as her shoulders shook in fear. “So be it! Aries’s Hand! Release the spirit from its seals within the Red Staff of Authority! Do it!”

At Alice’s cry, Kotone pointed the Red Staff up through the shattered ceiling. A crimson light poured out, turning the area around Kotone red.

What now?!

I raised my sword to the sky.

A gigantic…thing appeared in midair. It was colored the same garish red as the Red Staff and was shaped like a pillar of stone with an old man’s face. The face was expressionless, his eyes shut tight underneath a crown with a cross on his head. It was sort of like a massive chess piece, and it was warping the space around it.

“What is that…?” I asked, baffled by the thing floating over our heads.

“Hee hee, I knew that even you would be frightened. Yes? It even scares me. Behold the Red King…said to have been used by the higher beings to destroy another world in the past. It is a spirit of the greatest evil. This is what they had lying around in their treasure room, forgotten and covered in dust. They sent it out into the world carried by some pathetic weaklings. Isn’t it magnificent?” said Alice, her mouth like a gaping tear in her pale face as she laughed.

“A monster that destroyed an entire world…? K-Kanata, is that a spirit…? Is that really a spirit?” said Bennet as he tugged fearfully on the hem of my robe.

“I don’t know…but I’m a bit relieved it’s not one of the demons from the mirror,” I replied.

“M-mirror? What are you talking about?!”

I glanced at my magic bag. For one terrible moment, I’d thought that a demon had somehow escaped from the Cursed Mirror of the Warped Realm.

I used Status Check.

 

Race: Red King

Lv: 3227

HP: 19685/19685

MP: 16780/18780

 

After checking the status, I gulped. “It’s pretty strong! It’s not good that it’s hovering over the middle of the city.”

“Pretty strong…?” said Bennet, looking at me questioningly.

“Aries’s Hand! Call the Red King back here! It can’t protect us from that distance!” shouted Alice at Kotone.

“I…I can’t control it,” replied Kotone.

“What?!” Just as Alice screamed, a crack ran through the Red Staff that Kotone still held aloft. Then it shattered.

The Red King was out of control.

A seething crimson light shone from the Red King. Magic circle after magic circle appeared from its body, accompanied by a grating, mechanical sound. It was some sort of language that I couldn’t understand, but it signaled that something was about to happen…

Bright red cubes appeared in the sky, at least 30 feet across on each side. Then they began to tumble down onto the building we were in.

“Do you plan to destroy me as well? I released you from your imprisonment! Does it lack intelligence? No… It simply has no interest in humans. Aries’s Hand, protect me!”

Following Alice’s command, Kotone raised her hand into the air.

“Dimension Pocket… Albion, Shield of the White King!”

A heavy white shield that looked like a chunk of stone appeared in Kotone’s hand.

“Not many spells I can use at this distance,” I mumbled as I pointed my sword toward the sky and formed magic circles. “Fire Magic Level 20: Apocalypse.”

The flaming dragon that burst from the tip of my sword climbed skyward, destroying cubes as it went. It closed in on the Red King and swung its claws. But its flaming talons stopped just before they touched the stone spirit. The fiery dragon kept trying to rake its claws into the Red King, to no avail.

“Hee hee! Too bad! A barrier completely defends the Red King against magic. Its power is incredible,” said Alice.

So, the Red King was immune to magic because it could warp space. I began to wonder if a level 20 spell would be high enough to do the job. But just then, the Apocalypse dragon’s claws pushed past the barrier and smashed into the Red King. The eyes of the old man’s face snapped open, and its mouth gaped. A huge crack ran across its side, and flames spewed out.

“Its eyes can open…?” murmured Alice.

The fiery dragon roared and dissipated into the sky, seemingly satisfied with its attack.

“But…the Red King is immune to magic…” said Alice, as she stared up in a stupor.

It seemed that the Red King was magic-resistant…not magic-proof. A direct hit from Apocalypse would have instantly killed a demon of the same level, but this spirit was still going strong. On top of that, it was difficult to fight against it while it was flying around freely up in the sky.

More red cubes came raining down.

“This looks bad. Bennet-san, hide behind me,” I said.

“Okay!” replied Bennet as he ducked down.

I struck with the Heroic Sword of Gilgamesh, cutting a red cube. It split in half, then dissolved into particles of light and dust that floated through the air. Two more followed behind it, and I dispatched them as well.

“…Are those really that dangerous? They’re breaking into sand,” said Bennet from behind me, slowly raising his head.

A smaller cube plummeted toward Alice and Kotone. The heavy white shield that Kotone held over their heads broke to pieces the moment the cube touched it, and the impact cracked the walls and floor, burying Alice and Kotone in debris.

I heard Alice scream as she disappeared, but I couldn’t see Kotone at all through the cloud of dust.

“Kotone-san!”

I couldn’t let Alice die until I got her to undo Puppet Coffin.

Should I go save them…?

No, the Red King was aiming for me and wreaking havoc on Manaloch. The longer the fight dragged on, the more damage it would cause to the city. Right now, I needed to defeat that thing as quickly as possible.

The Red King was similar in strength to the powerful demons from the Cursed Mirror—that in itself was plenty dangerous. I’d defeated so many demons while under Lunaère’s protection that I could recognize their weaknesses, attacks, and even thought processes. I didn’t have that advantage with the Red King.

I might even be killed if I took a direct hit. But if I spent too long being cautious as I fought, the city would take more damage and it might be too late to save Kotone. This needed to end quickly.

“L-Look, Kanata! You did it!” said Bennet happily.

Wondering what he was talking about, I focused on the Red King and felt the blood drain from my face.

“It’s running away!” cheered Bennet.

He was right, the Red King was rising at absurd speeds. I hadn’t expected it to retreat after the one hit from Apocalypse.

The demons in the Cursed Mirror always attacked and never retreated. I’d assumed that all monsters of that level did that, but the Red King was soaring higher by the second.

This wasn’t something to celebrate. If what Alice said was true, it was an evil spirit that had once destroyed an entire world before being sealed away in that staff.

If a level 1,000 demon king was enough to create an uproar, I couldn’t imagine what disaster this was going to cause.

 

—2—

 

“BENNET-SAN, I’ve got to finish this,” I said.

“Sure, of course. Now that thing is gone, Alice is the only threat. I’m sure you can do something about that witch!”

I shook my head. “No, I’ve got to defeat the Red King, not Alice.”

“Huh?! B-but… I-It ran away, right?”

“I’m going after it, but I’ll be back.”

“R-right, so you’re going to…” Bennet looked up into the sky in confusion.

The problem was that the Red King had fled high into the sky. With its barrier, it wouldn’t be effective to cast spells at it from a distance.

There were spells like Fluegel to manipulate the winds and fly through the sky, but they weren’t good for fine control. And, of course, there was no footing in the air, so it was hard to get into a proper fighting stance. Not ideal conditions to fight an enemy like this.

“Maybe I can ride Wol,” I said to myself.

“Wol…? What’s that?” asked Bennet suspiciously.

“He’s a dog spirit. He’s sweet.” Lunaère had mentioned once that most spirits had the ability to fly. And Wol lived in Yggdrasil, so being able to fly probably was handy there.

“Can you really fight against that thing?”

I raised the Heroic Sword of Gilgamesh and said, “Summoning Magic Level 18: Wolzottl.”

A magic circle appeared and a ten-foot-tall beast with vibrant blue fur stepped out of the center. His golden eyes looked at me, then shifted to Bennet as his two tails slowly wagged.

Opening his mouth to bare huge fangs, saliva spilled down and hit the floor and formed steaming puddles wherever it dripped. Bennet’s eyes opened wide, and a deep crease formed between his eyebrows as he stared in shock at Wolzottl.

“Awooo!”

Wolzottl rushed at me in excitement. I sheathed my sword and spread my arms, hugging Wol as he tackled me. He flopped to the ground, and I pet his cheek.

“I’m sorry, Wol, but I’ve got another request for you,” I said.

“Awoo, woof! Yip, yip!” Wol rubbed his face against my hand.

He quickly relaxed when I pulled my hand back. His head drooped in disappointment, then he looked at me and seemed to sense the severity of the situation. He stopped whining and fell silent.

I looked up to the sky and the Red King. Wolzottl followed my gaze and looked up as well.

“I want you to help me chase after that. Can you help me?” I asked.

“Unf.” Wol nodded.

“Wh-what kind of monster have you made a contract with?” asked Bennet, backing away to put space between him and Wol. He looked very wary, and his hand instinctively moved toward the hilt of his sword.

“He’s a good dog, Bennet,” I said.

“You’re a madman…”

I climbed onto Wol’s back, and he leapt into the sky. He ran through the air vertically while I held on for dear life, and soon we were visibly gaining on the Red King.

“We’ll catch up with it in no time!” I shouted into the wind.

But the Red King noticed us. The carved face grimaced, and it climbed faster. The spirit seemed desperate.

“For a being made of stone, it changes expressions so quickly…”

The fact that it launched a series of attacks, then ran the moment it sensed it was at a disadvantage, made it seem like a run-of-the-mill monster, not at all like the world-killer description Alice gave.

Magic circles appeared around the Red King and countless red cubes dropped at us from above.

I swung the Heroic Sword of Gilgamesh and split the cubes, but the Red King used the opportunity to climb higher.

“Well then, how about this?!” I said, pointing my sword at the Red King’s head. “Spacetime Magic Level 18: Gravity Bomb!”

A patch of dark light grew above the Red King’s head, expanding in space before suddenly contracting. The Red King dropped toward me to avoid the spell.

While it might have a strong resistance to magic, it didn’t seem like it wanted to take a direct hit from a Gravity Bomb. The barrier seemed to defend against magic by warping space, and I wondered if it was weak against spacetime spells that had a similar effect.

Regardless, that let us close the distance. I slashed apart another red cube, and Wol quickly moved in close to the Red King so I could let loose a slash from the Heroic Sword of Gilgamesh.

A gash appeared on the bridge of the old man’s nose, and its expression contorted in pain. The Red King glared at me resentfully.

Wolzottl moved to keep me facing the stone spirit.

“Sorry, Wol, this is taking longer than I expected,” I said.

Numerous magic circles appeared in the air again, but I was above the spirit now—it had nowhere to run and it couldn’t drop things on me. It was time to finish it off.

The Red King’s expression suddenly flipped from resentment to what looked like mocking amusement. It narrowed its eyes cruelly.

A rain of bright red cubes spread to cover Manaloch as they fell.

No! It’s targeting the city!

“Wol, drop down!” I shouted.

The Red King laughed uncontrollably.

I’d been thinking of the Red King as more like an unthinking natural disaster than a monster, but I was wrong. The Red King was concentrated evil that relied on nasty tricks.

I used the Twin Minds Method to cast two copies of the same spell.

“Fire Magic Level 20: Apocalypse!”

Two fiery dragons appeared and raced through the sky, circling outward to destroy the cubes the Red King had released. I slashed apart the ones that slipped through while Wol flew to intercept them.

A few moments later, I slashed out with my sword and destroyed the final cube that the Red King had thrown out.

We’d managed to prevent it from destroying the city, but it looked like trying to gain an altitude advantage was problematic. If I went high, it could simply attack innocent people below to force me back down again.

“Showing your true colors now that you’re cornered?” I yelled.

I readied my blade and turned back to the Red King just in time to see another cube flying toward Wolzottl. When we were distracted, it had taken the opportunity to unleash a single, well-aimed attack.

“Wol, retreat!” I shouted, and Wol fell back.

I slashed out with my sword and destroyed the cube, but a second, significantly smaller cube was following immediately in its wake.

I swung my sword back quickly, but not fast enough. A sharp corner of the cube struck my stomach. I retched and spat out saliva mixed with blood before I tossed the cube aside and broke it with a thrust of my sword.

“Woof…” Wol looked back at me with worry in his eyes.

“I’m all right. It wasn’t that much damage.” But I was running out of time. It had figured out a way to whittle me down, and I couldn’t give it that opportunity.

“Let’s finish it off before it drops more of those cubes. We can avoid another attack like that if we can take it out before it’s done casting.”

Wolzottl nodded in response and leapt through the air, closing in immediately with the Red King.

The spirit hesitated for a moment, then started firing off single cubes at me. I slashed them to pieces with my sword, and desperation filled the Red King’s eyes as I conjured another Gravity Bomb, forcing it to drop altitude.

If I could just get a little closer!

Suddenly, there was a red cube in my path. The spirit’s expression looked relieved, like it thought this would finally do the trick.

“Punch through, Wol! We can’t let this go on any longer!”

Wol advanced straight on. The cube struck me and I felt my ribs crack, but I flung it to the side and pierced it with my sword to destroy it. I couldn’t worry about injuries now.

The Red King ground its teeth and started forming magic circles far below. When the cubes fell, they would destroy the city…but I wasn’t going let that happen. We just needed to get a little closer.

“That’s it, Wol!” Then I shouted at the Red King, “You ran the moment you saw I could defeat you, then attacked the innocent to cover your retreat… That’s not how a king acts! You’re nothing but a pawn!”

I sliced down with the Heroic Sword of Gilgamesh. A vertical line ran through the Red King, and the two halves of its body started to slide apart, the old man’s face frozen in shock. Fine cracks rushed through the red stone as it crumbled away from the sword’s power.

In the center, a red sphere hovered where the spirit had been.

“Is that the Red King’s core…?”

The sphere expanded, then suddenly contracted as it turned black. Realization struck me—it looked like a Gravity Bomb before it exploded.

It’s going to self-destruct?!

That explained Alice’s taunts that Naiarotop intentionally planned this out to finish me off. I bit my lip.

“Woof…?” Wolzottl looked up at me anxiously.

“Thanks for your help, Wol. I’ll manage the rest on my own.”

“Woof!” Wolzottl barked in protest but disappeared, fading away in a flash of light as I sent him back to the spirit realm.

His level was lower than mine, and I might not be able to save him if he were hit by the explosion. I could probably avoid an instant death, and I had a plan to get out of this.

“Spacetime Magic Level 12: Slow World!” I formed a magic circle as I fell away, and a purple light encased the Red King’s core.

The spell slowed the flow of time for everything inside the area of effect. It wasn’t usually convenient to use in battle, but it could buy me time before the core exploded. I poured most of my remaining magic into the spell and cast it as powerfully as I could. I hoped that would give me the opportunity to teleport away and put distance between me and the core.

Good thing it was way up here. Who knew what sort of damage the Red King’s self-destruct would cause if it happened in town?

Using the Twin Minds Method, I began to chain cast a series of Short Gates, escaping toward the ground. Slow World would help, but I still didn’t know how long I had. Better to cast Short Gates in quick succession to put some distance between me and the core than risk taking the time to cast long-distance teleportation.

“Barrier Magic Level 26: Return to Nothing.” From nowhere in particular, I heard the faint sound of a voice, and a black magic circle overlapped the Red King’s core.

The purple light of Slow World dissipated.

“Huh…?”

I didn’t understand what had happened. All I knew was that someone had nullified my Slow World.

It wasn’t Alice. She couldn’t use spells of that level. Neither could the Red King, and he was dead anyway.

Besides Lunaère, I’d never seen anyone use a level 26 spell. And this definitely wasn’t her.

Only then did I realized that I recognized that voice.

The Red King’s core exploded, and my vision was swallowed in crimson flames.

 

—3—

 

THE EXPANDING FIREBALL rushed at me. I stopped forming the magic circle for the Short Gate and repurposed the circle to cast Dimension Pocket instead. I pulled out the Cursed Mirror of the Warped Realm and hid behind it.

It was a desperate move. My first thought was that if the Mirror was strong enough to seal away all those demons, then it should be strong enough to withstand the Red King’s self-destruct blast.

My second thought was that I might have just made a mistake that would damage the mirror and unleash hell into Locklore.

There was no third thought, because suddenly it felt like I got punched by a gargantuan fist made of hellfire. Flames rushed around me, and I slammed into the ground. I’d been pretty high up, but it only took a few moments to fall to earth. My shoulder slammed into the debris of a smashed building, and the impact left a deep crater in the ground.

I groaned and looked at the Cursed Mirror, then let out a sigh of relief. The demons were still sealed away.

Then I coughed violently, and black smoke puffed from my mouth. As expected, I’d taken an insane amount of damage, but—somehow—I was alive. Saved by the Cursed Mirror.

“K-Kanata, you made it!” said Bennet as he ran over.

“Yeah, somehow…” I replied with a pained smile.

I tried to stand, but my legs were too weak. The damage was affecting me more than I’d expected. I looked down at my body expecting to see Lunaère’s Robe covered in soot, but it was perfectly clean. I sighed in relief again.

“Don’t push yourself!” ordered Bennet before turning to shout, “Hey, you there! Adventurer! Don’t stand there staring like a moron, go get a white mage!”

After everything that happened, I’d started to think that Bennet had gotten an attitude adjustment. But it seemed his superiority complex toward adventurers was still alive and well.

“Worry about that later. What about Kotone-san and the other people being controlled?” I asked Bennet, just as someone leapt at me from behind and wrapped their arms around me. It seemed a small child had been hiding in the shadows of the rubble.

No…they were far too strong to be a child.

I looked behind me to see jagged teeth set in a wide mouth and eyes that gleamed with insane excitement. A tongue stretched out to lick my cheek.

“Corpse Doll Alice!” shouted Bennet as he stumbled away from us.

The right half of Alice’s body was almost entirely crushed, and she was covered in blood from being hit with one of the Red King’s cubes. Even so, she was making great use of her remaining physical strength. To make matters worse, she was now stronger than I was after all the damage I’d just taken.

“Hee hee hee, ahh ha ha! Surprised? Don’t worry, you can still go adventuring even after you are controlled by Puppet Coffin. You let your guard down, didn’t you?” said Alice, then she bit my neck. My flesh split and blood flowed.

I gulped. She might only be level 666, but she had enough power to kill me right now.

“I can’t believe you managed to defeat the Red King!” continued Alice. “Ah ha ha! Too bad for you—now I can make you mine! I’ve lost the Red Staff of Authority, but I’ve gained something even more powerful. As long as I have your strength, I can become one of the Unseen Hands of the Gods!”

“Unseen hands…?” I repeated.

“Don’t worry, my dear. I’ll let you stay close to your precious Kotone for all eternity. Well, you’ll have the illusion of that, anyway.”

Alice’s long tongue ran over my neck, savoring my blood as she planned to make me one of her puppets.

This was bad. I had the Ouroboros Ring, so I would be immediately resurrected if she killed me, but it used a lot of my magic and only brought me back to life at minimum HP. And since I was captured, she could just keep killing me until my magic ran out. Besides, Alice was planning to make me her puppet. I might not even get a chance to use the power of the Ouroboros Ring.

“Y-you’re not so tough now! I’m not afraid of you! I’ll take you out, here and now!” shouted Bennet as he readied his sword and came at Alice.

“B-Bennet-san!”

Alice looked at Bennet with disinterest. She was pretty banged up and probably being kept alive by death magic. Her stats were greatly reduced, other than her strength. But…

“I don’t think you can handle this, Bennet-san! I appreciate you wanting to help, but don’t do something reckless…” I said.

“…You make people want to prove they can do something,” said Bennet with a grimace. But his expression quickly turned serious, and he launched his sword’s sheath at Alice.

Alice grabbed the scabbard, and Bennet attacked. Her eyes opened wide as Bennet brought his sword down and the blade slashed across her head. She was flung back, thrown heavily off balance.

“I-Impossible… How could someone like you…” started Alice. Bennet had a smile on his pale face, but it quickly turned to fear as Alice said, “How could someone like you manage to get a hit in?”

“It’s a distraction technique. Kind of a one-off, but surprisingly effective. I can get things done when I need to!”

A huge wound was left across Alice’s face, but she didn’t seem bothered by it at all. She swung her arm wildly and flung Bennet away.

“Ah ha ha! Too bad for you, poor little knight! You might have been able to defeat me if your level were just a little higher!” mocked Alice.

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned back to see Pomera, her staff raised high. It looked like it’d seen better days as it was roughly wrapped in bandages to hold it together.

“Hi-yah!” The strike crunched into the back of Alice’s skull, and the staff broke in half again.

I wondered why Pomera was there, then remembered Bennet ordering a passerby to go get a white magic user.

Alice lay with her temple pressed to the ground, staring at me and reaching out with a trembling hand.

“Hee…hee… I’ll give you a warning, Kanata. The higher beings have turned their attention toward you. Sooner or later, you will come to a tragic end. And it won’t only be you who gets dragged down. That is why I have lived my life walking the path they laid out for me.”

Alice’s hand lost its strength and fell to the ground. Puppet Coffin could only animate the target until the moment they died.

She was gone for good. Her spells were broken, but would it be too late for the people she controlled?

Are Kotone and the others all right…?

“I-I wasn’t really thinking when I did that. That was the right thing to do, wasn’t it?” asked Pomera fearfully.

“Yes, thank you, Pomera-san. I was in real danger there, and you saved me,” I said.

Killing Alice was the only option. Even injured to the point of incapacitation, she would use all her magic to force herself back into action. It would be impossible to capture her alive.

“H-hey, Kanata… I-I helped too, right? That girl had an opening to attack because I was here,” said Bennet, moving slowly after his own brush with death.

“I’m…very grateful, Bennet-san. I’ll be even more grateful if you save Kotone-san and the others. They were probably buried when the building collapsed.”

 

—4—

 

POMERA CAST multiple white magic spells on me until I was in a state where I could at least move.

As she healed me, she gave me the news. The attack on the city had already been resolved. The majority of the Cup of Blood members who attacked Manaloch were captured or killed, and the rest had fled. While Bennet and I chased after the Red Staff of Authority, she had led the efforts to help the injured. There were quite a few sightings throughout the city of Cup of Blood members standing stunned in fear until they were captured. It seemed Philia had done some good work too.

I told her how Kotone had been captured by Alice. The lich had assumed that would slow the response against the Cup of Blood, but it seemed that she hadn’t planned on running into me.

Once we talked, Pomera went back to the healing center to make up for the shortage of white magic users. I got Bennet to help me, and we found Kotone, Hundred Monsters Gallan, and Barrot the Dungeon Master.

They were alive, but they didn’t seem to be waking up.

It was bad. I couldn’t follow the proper steps to release them from Alice’s Puppet Coffin. The horrific spell had trapped their souls and overwrote their consciousnesses to turn them into unwilling—and now unconscious—slaves. I’d hoped to force Alice to release them, but now it seemed they might never wake.

The three of them received treatment at the healing center for half a day, but they still didn’t wake up. After that, we moved them to the research facilities in the Mithril Wand to be placed under the care of experts.

The day after the incident, Pomera, Philia, Bennet, and I went to visit them. All three were still in their beds, as still as the dead.

“I must apologize, Kanata,” said Garnet with a deep bow of his head. “You relied on us, but… We still haven’t found a cure. We are searching, of course…but we should keep our expectations realistic.”

I bit my lip, and my shoulders slumped. To be honest, that was the answer I’d been expecting.

Lunaère had taught me a bit about death magic, so I was actually more confident in the depth of my own knowledge than that of the people at the Mithril Wand. Even so, I had no clue where to start.

When no one was looking, I made Kotone drink a Blood Ether of the Gods. It had no effect.

“According to the experts, their consciousnesses have been mixed up and are connected randomly. Setting them right would be like going out in a storm in a desert to gather torn pages from a spell book. Treatment may not be possible,” said Garnet.

When Bennet heard that, he placed his hands on the rails of the bed that Gallan was lying in and burst into tears over his beloved mentor.

“Lord Gallan, Lord Gallan! I finally found you after you’d been missing for so long… I thought we could save you, but now…”

“I’m sorry… If I hadn’t struck that humanoid dragon girl with my staff…” said Pomera.

If anyone was at fault, though, it was me. If I had conserved more of my strength for after the fight with the Red King, I wouldn’t have been captured by Alice. I could have captured her instead.

And it was also likely that Naiarotop and the higher gods arranged for Alice to come to the city of Manaloch to kill me. No, it wasn’t just likely—it was almost certain.

Someone had interfered when I tried to delay the Red King’s explosion. That voice…I could never forget it. It was Naiarotop.

Naiarotop was seriously coming to kill me. Alice wasn’t lying. She said that the Red Staff of Authority incident was the higher gods’ scheme from the start and that I had no way of running from them. And the damage would extend beyond me.

I squeezed my fists.

Did I even have a chance to fight back? If they were coming after me—if the damage was going to affect those around me—I couldn’t just stand there in silence and let them take me out. I had to find the power to stand against them.

“Kanata…?” said Pomera, suddenly worried since I’d fallen silent.

I shook my head and said, “I was just thinking.” I turned to face Garnet. “Garnet-san, I’m also going to look for a way to revive Kotone-san and the others. I don’t care if it takes a lifetime, I will find a way. While I do that, could you please take care of them here? I’ll find a way to pay for their treatment.”

“You and Kotone got along well, didn’t you?” Garnet murmured, then smiled sadly. He also seemed fond of Kotone, so he probably heard that Kotone and I had been talking. “Kotone has done much for me as well. We’ll take good care of her. Don’t concern yourself with money. And…I have something I’d like to discuss with you. Would you accompany me to another room?”

He looked serious as he spoke. I had no idea what he wanted to talk about, but I had no reason to decline. I nodded.

I followed Garnet to what looked like a meeting room, and we sat face-to-face. One of Garnet’s workers left a tray with black tea and a large envelope on the table. I wondered what was inside.

“Kanata… I of course have no intention of taking Kotone’s treatment lightly. However, the unfortunate truth is that she is unlikely to regain consciousness.”

“I…understand that.”

“If you don’t wish to answer my next question, then we shall end the conversation there. Kanata…are you a traveler from another world, like Kotone?”

I debated whether to answer for a moment, then nodded. There wasn’t a good reason to hide the fact anymore, and Garnet worked closely with Kotone. He would easily be able to tell that I was a traveler. The truth was the best choice.

“I thought so… Has Kotone told you about her hobby?” he asked, looking serious. I wondered if this was a conversation we needed to have right then, but I nodded.

“Yes, she has,” I said. “And that means you are aware as well.”

“Indeed. While it may be rude, I may have done some investigations into Kotone due to the nature of my position… When Kotone reduced her time working as an adventurer, I spoke to her about it. I also promised her that I would help her to spread her art throughout the world should she finish a work she was satisfied with.”

“That would have made her happy…”

Kotone’s dream was to bring manga to this world. With Garnet’s help it would have been easy to spread her books throughout Manaloch.

“I think that if nothing else, I can at least make Kotone’s dream come true,” said Garnet as he opened the large envelope on the table and pulled out a stack of papers.

“Is this…?”

“It’s Kotone’s. I’d given her access to a room in the Mithril Wand where she could focus on her work. This is everything I gathered from that room.”

Kotone said that if I wanted to read her manga, that I could…but I wasn’t certain it was right to just look without permission. Garnet lived in a world without manga. He didn’t really have the context to judge what she’d done or understand her emotional investment in it—but I had the feeling that Kotone was a bit embarrassed by her hobby.

I waffled, but eventually my desire to learn more about Kotone won. Feeling apologetic, I ran my eyes over the pages.

It was an action manga set in a Japanese-style world about an overpowered character fighting for justice.

“It’s good…” I said.

“Yes, yes, it is, isn’t it?” said Garnet with a happy nod. “Kotone didn’t seem satisfied with it, but I think it will become quite popular.”

I could understand why Kotone wasn’t satisfied though. The content and premise were run-of-the-mill, and someone like me could clearly recognize which works she’d drawn inspiration from. The drawings were far better than what an average person could do but weren’t as refined as a professional’s.

Even so, those weren’t huge negatives considering manga didn’t exist in Locklore.

“I am not certain what format this—what do you call it?—manga should be in. I still have a number of questions about that. Kanata, if you help, things will move a lot faster. I want to honor Kotone by selling books of her work,” said Garnet.

“I would be happy to help with that. Please, ask away,” I said. I also wanted Kotone’s dream to become reality.

“That would be wonderful, Kanata! This whole affair has left an atmosphere of gloom hanging over Manaloch. It will take some effort, but we can quickly mass produce it using copy magic. I would like to begin distributing it within the next few days. Though asking you for the details might be a burden, Kanata…”

“I don’t have anything urgent to do. I’m happy to help.”

“That’s wonderful to hear.” Garnet nodded happily, then brought a hand to his bearded chin. “By the way, there is part of the work that I didn’t really understand. It was included in the back of the documents. Would you mind taking a look?”

“Let’s see…”

Flipping through the pages, I realized I’d arrived at a different manga. I continued reading, realizing that I recognized the characters, and I felt my face stiffen.

It was…boy’s love fan fiction.

The characters were from manga back in Japan that Kotone had told me she liked. She hadn’t drawn this for other people to see—this was surely just shipping for her own enjoyment. There were no explanations or backgrounds given for the characters, and the drawings were all over the place in quality. Some she had clearly taken her time on, and others she hadn’t.

“That was all I could find of it, but I didn’t really…understand,” said Garnet. “There may be pages remaining in Kotone’s room that would help explai—”

“Burn them.”

“What?!”

“It’s what Kotone would have wanted.”

Garnet didn’t seem convinced.

 

—5—

 

IN THE DEEP OF NIGHT, two figures visited a research room in the Mithril Wand. A lich in her Impurity Sealing Robe and a noble mimic. Lunaère sighed as she stood over the bed of the girl with black bangs.

“You gonna heal her?” asked Noble, and Lunaère narrowed her eyes.

“I would feel bad leaving her. And…Kanata is sad.”

“You already healed the other two, but you’ve been puttin’ her off. Kinda makes me think you were planning on leaving her this way.”

“What do you think I am, Noble?” asked Lunaère.

“Jealous, mostly.”

Lunaère scowled, then slowly stretched out her fingers, held her arms up, and prepared a magic circle. Noble pulled in his tongue and shut his lid, making him look like a normal treasure chest. Lunaère sighed heavily and lowered her arms.

“I’m not a monster. Besides, I trust Kanata,” she said.

“Definitely. You might use a high-level spirit to eavesdrop, or you might attack his friends when you were stalking him, or run away instead of talking to him. But you’re definitely not a monster.”

“O-of course it sounds bad when you say it like that. I was just worried about Kanata, so I kept an eye on the situation.”

“Pretty sure most stalkers would say the same thing.” Noble rattled his lid in annoyance. “And that guy in black you talked to…he seems super suspicious. You sure you shoulda let him go?”

Lunaère had given Noble a brief explanation of what had happened at the Adventurer’s Guild, but Noble thought the whole thing smelled fishy. Lovis had said that he was close friends with Kanata. Yet Noble and Lunaère had been following Kanata for weeks and they’d never once seen Lovis. The bandit’s excuses had just been a little too good.

“Lovis is a good person…I think. He told me… He told me Kanata loved me,” said Lunaère, starting to blush.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t make him good.”

“You’re being stubborn. I used Yama Dharmaraja’s Eye of Truth too, and Lovis wasn’t lying.”

“Ehh, I guess.”

Lunaère turned back to Kotone and held her hand above the sleeping girl’s forehead.

“Death Magic Level 21: Anteros’s Salvation.”

A pink magic circle appeared above Kotone’s forehead.

The spell cleansed and organized a soul dirtied by death magic. Lunaère continued the spell for at least thirty seconds, then slowly pulled her arm back. The magic circle faded.

“That’s the last of it. She should wake in time as well,” she said.

“Always amazing, Lunaère. Takes you just a few seconds to heal what other people have already given up on,” said Noble.

“It’s actually quite difficult to return a broken psyche to its original state. It’s not something I want to do on a regular basis. It’s easier to break things than it is to fix them.” Lunaère seemed tired as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

“Let’s get outta here. Don’t want to get caught,” said Noble.

“Wait just a moment.”

Lunaère placed her hands on the bed’s rails and stared at Kotone. Then she brought her face close to Kotone’s ear and said, “I won’t forgive you if you ever touch Kanata.”

“What was that ’bout trusting Kanata?”

“I-It’s just in case. Just in case. Let’s hurry, Noble.”

As they made their way out side by side, her eyes narrowed in unease.

“These strange things continue to happen,” she said. “Just after a level 1000-class demon king appears, an ancient spirit is released from its imprisonment. These sorts of things don’t usually happen even once a millennium. And Kanata…if he’d made a single mistake, he would have been in real danger this time.”

“You think there’s something behind it all?”

“Is it my fault?” she asked with a severe expression. “It’s possible Kanata has been targeted because I raised his level so high. If this is how it was destined to turn out, Kanata should never have left Cocytus… Perhaps now I should take him back and lock him up there.”

“You don’t have to jump to that so fast… Besides, there’s no one stronger than you, right? Yeah, if anyone looks dangerous to Kanata, you can go beat the snot out of them first,” said Noble.

Lunaère stopped and blinked.

Noble added hastily, “I mean, you can’t actually do that.”

“Noble…that’s a good idea. I will consider it.”

“Seriously…?”

 

—6—

 

TWO DAYS LATER, Pomera, Philia, and I were walking through Manaloch on our way to see Garnet at the Mithril Wand.

“Why does this always happen to me?” groused Pomera, her shoulders slumped.

After the latest crisis, there were renewed cries throughout town that declared Pomera the hero of Manaloch.

She did, of course, go through the city, healing the injured. But tacked on to that achievement were tales that she chased off Lovis of the Black Reapers, repaired the Adventurer’s Guild with her white magic, and killed Corpse Doll Alice with a single strike.

“Pomera’s so cool! Wow!” Philia danced around in excitement.

“Thank you, Philia. But I’m not that happy…” said Pomera.

“Pomera-san, you healed a building?” I asked.

“Don’t be dense, Kanata! It was…” said Pomera but she stopped there, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“What’s wrong, Pomera-san?”

“Nothing. Just… Kanata, do you know someone? A really beautiful girl? Have you been keeping her secret from me?”

“Huh…?”

The sudden question caught me off guard. Pomera was the first friend I made after leaving Cocytus. Kotone and Rosemonde could both be considered beautiful, but Pomera had met them. She wasn’t talking about that woman who traveled with Lovis, was she?

“What are you hiding from me, Kanata?” asked Pomera, her face suddenly coming close to mine.

“Uh, I’m not trying to—”

“Pomera’s scary now!” whispered Philia.

“She had white hair. The tips were a little bit red. And she had different-colored eyes…” said Pomera.

“That’s Lunaère! That means she’s still in Manaloch!”

Last time I met her was when I defeated Mother, and I thought Lunaère had gone back to Cocytus after that. It was fantastic news that she was still in Manaloch. I hadn’t expected Pomera and Lunaère to run into each other.

“Lunaère…? Isn’t that your magic teacher and the person you owe your life to?” asked Pomera.

“Yeah, I told you about her. So you met Lunaère—what’d you talk about?” I asked, and Pomera’s expression immediately clouded over. It felt like I’d blundered into a trap.

“Kanata… You said that Lunaère was an old lady in her eighties, right?”

“Oh, huh, I don’t…” I raced back through my memories.

I did say that.

In my defense, I almost said Lunaère was a thousand years old, but then thought I shouldn’t reveal the fact that she was a lich. Eighty was a compromise.

“Yeah. I did say that…” I said.

“I know you said that! Why did you lie to me?! Confess!”

“I-I’m sorry, but it’s difficult to explain. I have a reason… B-but is it really something to be that angry about?”

“I’m not angry! I’m just asking questions! Confess!”

“R-right now…?”

“What’s wrong?! Going to tell me more lies?!”

She was definitely angry. I looked at Philia for help, but she was clapping her hands in amusement.

“Kanata, Pomera, Philia, thank you for coming. I saw you on your way and came out to meet you,” Garnet called to us. Pomera’s face turned red. She looked embarrassed and took a step back from me.

“I-I’m sorry, Kanata… I got a little worked up,” she said.

I bowed my head slightly to Garnet, partially in greeting, partially to say thank you for saving me just now. He gave a tiny thumbs-up and smiled.

“I have everything you requested earlier. Shall I have it all delivered to your lodging later?” asked Garnet.

“I appreciate the offer, but I can store it using spacetime magic. I’ll take it now,” I replied. Now that the cat was out of the bag concerning my level, there wasn’t much point in trying to keep a low profile with Garnet.

Now I could start mass producing the Blood Ethers and get back to leveling Pomera in the Cursed Mirror.

“And also, regarding the sap of the spirit tree… We’ve completed our quality inspection. In that incredible volume, we can’t possibly sell it all at once. It would crash the market. But I believe with some time, the quantity you gave me before will eventually bring you two hundred million gold,” said Garnet in a low voice.

“T-two hundred million?!” I cried, and the people passing nearby looked at me in surprise. I quickly lowered my voice and said, “S-sorry about that…”

If we got that much, it would essentially solve all our money issues. I really needed to thank Wolzottl. Next time I called him, I’d make sure to have a nice steak on hand.

“Also, about Kotone’s manga, which you helped me with—we’ve begun circulating it through Manaloch,” continued Garnet.

“A-already?!”

“Yes. This is just as a trial run, but both of her works should be in circulation now. They’ve been well received by those working on the project, and I expect they will explode in popularity. This would have been impossible without your help, Kanata. Please let me thank you again.”

Garnet operated incredibly fast. He wanted to brighten up the mood in Manaloch after back-to-back disasters, but I never imagined he could get a final product and start distributing it this quickly.

“I really didn’t do that much. Thank you for making Kotone’s dream come true,” I said.

“No need to thank me. I’m sure Kotone will be glad as well.”

Garnet smiled in what seemed to be genuine happiness. I was glad I’d helped him. Then my eyes widened.

“Hang on… Both her works? Wasn’t it just the one?” I asked.

“You remember that short one about the boys’ friendship? I did think it was somewhat…eccentric. Unfinished and a little inconsistent. But oddly enough, it was received very favorably by a portion of my staff. They insisted we publish it.”

I covered my face with my hands. Kotone almost certainly made that one for her own enjoyment and didn’t want it shown in public. Besides, it was a fanfic that had no context in Locklore.

“Sh-should I not have done that?” asked Garnet, crestfallen.

“…No, I don’t think you should have.”

That’s when I heard hurried footsteps approaching.

I saw neat black bangs, a slender body, and familiar metal gauntlets. There was no doubt about it, it was Kotone. But her normally cool, expressionless face was bright red, and tears filled her eyes.

“Kotone-san, you’re awake!” I cried, tears naturally welling in my eyes as well.

Kotone glared at Garnet and drew back a gauntlet-clad hand for a powerful punch.

I felt the blood drain from my face. A serious strike from an S-rank adventurer like Kotone wouldn’t leave a trace of Garnet behind.

I stepped between them and grabbed Kotone’s hand.

“C-calm down, Kotone-san! What’s wrong?! Are you still being affected by Puppet—!”

Kotone used her other arm to put me in a headlock.

“K-Kanata! This is your fault too! I told you I wanted to keep it secret! And why did you have to publish…that?! You of all people should have understood what that was when you saw it!” she shouted.

So, it was about the manga. I should have at least tried to slow Garnet down. Actually, I should have destroyed the boy’s love manga on the spot.

“I’m sorry, Kotone-san! I’m so sorry!” I cried.

“Apologies mean nothing now! I didn’t want anyone to know about that! I’ll kill you both and then follow you to hell!”

“I’m really sorry!”

Fat tears fell from Kotone’s eyes as she squeezed my neck with greater force.

“P-please stop, Kotone! I-It was my fault! Forgive Kanata!” Garnet cried.

“Please stop, Kotone! Let Kanata go! I-I don’t really know what’s wrong, but we can talk it out!” added Pomera.

Garnet and Pomera desperately latched on to Kotone and peeled her off me.

 

***

 

It seemed that Gallan and Barrot had woken as well. The magic user responsible for their care couldn’t explain their miraculous recoveries. I was just happy that Kotone was back to her old self.

The next day, every copy of Kotone’s boy’s love manga was retrieved and destroyed. Her main manga went on to become a huge hit in Manaloch.

I hoped she would be happy. But no matter how many times Garnet and I went to see her, she stayed locked up in her room for the next week and refused to come out.

 

—7—

 

“COME ON! Just kill him already! You don’t have to make him a puppet—just finish him!”

Naiarotop was watching Kanata and Alice from the Upper Realm through a dimensional window. They bit the fingers of their left hand while watching with rapt attention.

Finally, Kanata was pushed to the brink. With Alice’s level and abilities, she should be able to defeat Kanata given how much he’d been weakened.

“That puny guy is coming at you! Kill him, kill him! Killhimkillhimkillhim!” screamed Naiarotop in frustration as Bennet turned his sword toward Alice.

Naiarotop had done quite a few questionable things to bring this plan together. If this failed, they would be out of ideas.

They’d set Alice up to be Kanata’s demise, but now she was having second thoughts. Instead of killing him, she wanted Kanata for a puppet.

“You don’t have to do that! Just hurry up and finish him! I’ll give you something to replace the Red Staff later—just kill him now!”

Naiarotop brought their face closer to the dimensional window. If this failed, Naiarotop’s master might give up on them.

“Please, Alice!” they begged. “Kill him now! If you want the power of an Unseen Hand of the Gods, I’ll give it to you later!”

Then Pomera whacked Alice in the back of the skull and sent the lich crumpling to the ground. Naiarotop tore at their green hair and collapsed on the floor.

They groaned, then turned to lie on their back and let out a heavy sigh.

“Why…? Why did this have to happen…?”

As they lay there, Pomera began casting healing spell after healing spell on Kanata, restoring his HP. It had all been for naught.

“My subject. It seems you have done something truly outrageous,” came the voice of Naiarotop’s master. Naiarotop continued to lie there without replying. They normally responded to their master’s call immediately, but the issue with Kanata had worsened their relationship to the point that Naiarotop simply stared at the ceiling with lifeless eyes.

“I-Is this thing on? Can you hear me? It has yet to be made into a Memory Sphere, but a number of our Higher God clients were in an uproar when they saw the live stream. Once the Memory Sphere is made public, Locklore’s continued existence will be endangered.”

“Eh. Who cares?” Naiarotop finally replied. “Besides, you’ll just get made fun of again. I bet all the gods watching were overjoyed when Kanata Kanbara won. Why don’t you set aside your pride already and accept the truth? You gave me an impossible task, and I’ve got no other plays left. I did everything I could. If this is a failure, then it’s your failure.”

“In this one instance…your failure is for the best. Since we’re speaking frankly, it is a good thing you failed to kill him. How could you make such an egregious mistake? I should be thanking Kanata Kanbara for helping us avoid the worst possible outcome.”

“Wh-what?! Is that some kind of jab?! What exactly did I do that could be considered such a horrible failure?” shouted Naiarotop in anger. They sat up and glared upward.

Despite all the restrictions on Naiarotop, they had managed to push Kanata to the brink of destruction. They had done absolutely everything they could within the limits of their boss’s extreme restrictions. Obviously, they failed to seal the deal, but enduring this sort of verbal abuse drained them of any desire to get the job done.

“Sigh…” said their boss.

“Well don’t just say ‘sigh’ and nothing else! Explain to me what exactly I did wrong!”

“How about ‘Return to Nothing,’” said Naiarotop’s master shortly, and the junior god jumped in surprise. “You used magic to interfere directly, you fool. Did I not tell you that was absolutely forbidden?”

“U-urgh, uhhhh… But that was…it was…”

Naiarotop cradled their head in their hands. Return to Nothing was the spell Naiarotop had “unintentionally” used against Kanata when he looked like he was going to easily avoid their final surprise. Naiarotop had been forced to tweak the scenario.

“My finger slipped! L-Listen…if he wasn’t killed then, it would’ve all been for nothing. Y-you can’t just pick and choose how I do things, you told me to make it work…” Naiarotop muttered any excuse that came to mind. Tears slowly filled their eyes. “Oh yes, that’s it! Just edit the Memory Sphere so it isn’t that easy to spot…”

“It has already been seen in the livestream. Besides, there would be no way to hide how unnaturally Kanata Kanbara’s spell suddenly cut out. You know how the fandom picks this stuff apart on Gospl. It would backfire and cause an even greater scandal.”

Naiarotop was at a loss for words and simply opened and closed their mouth weakly.

“Have I not told you many times? If we interfere directly, it will become a world where anything goes. Its current format is unique among the higher gods. If we set a precedent for interfering, they will lose interest. If they lose interest, Locklore ceases to exist. If Locklore ceases to exist, you cease to exist.”

“U-urgh, ugh…”

“That is what I mean when I say it is good that Kanata Kanbara survived. If he had died then, it would have meant your interference had a significant impact on the world. As is, we escaped with only minor damage. However, that does not change the fact that you used a level 26 spell against a person in Locklore. Locklore will carry that blemish for the rest of its existence. Do you understand the damage you have done? What could have prompted you to do something so careless?”

“It’s because I wanted to kill him! If I went through all that trouble and it still didn’t work, I’d be out of options!”

“’Went through all that trouble’, hm…? Let me be clear, your most recent plan was horrific. It’s one thing for a demon king to randomly get their hands on a powerful item. But you gave direct orders to the person responsible for carrying out the deed. Alice, was it not? That is obvious divine intervention. Even Locklore natives have noticed! I am certain the other gods watching Locklore have seen it too. Alice revealed everything! We have no hope of hiding it now.”

“Of course I knew that when I did it! But if I didn’t do it, I couldn’t get rid of him! You should know that too! You’re always looking down on me, telling me to do this and that! If I say it’s not possible, it’s your job to tell me another way!” shouted Naiarotop, the pressure of their emotions boiling over. “If you believe I can’t do the job, then just eliminate me and make a better subject! You’re being an idiot!”

Once Naiarotop flung out one insult, they just kept coming.

“In truth, this failure was so over-the-top that I did consider eliminating you. Though, that is a different conversation from whether or not I believe any of my other subjects are capable of taking care of Kanata Kanbara.”

“Uh, oh…” Naiarotop’s face paled upon hearing their own elimination had been considered. This conversation had taken a sudden turn for the worse.

“Your direct interference was horrific. But after serious deliberation, I have decided to allow your continued existence,” said the master.

Naiarotop let out a heavy sigh of relief. They sank weakly to their knees and said, “R-right, of course. I didn’t think you’d actually eliminate me…”

“I am increasing your authority in regard to Locklore. Your attempts to circumvent restrictions have only led to disaster, so perhaps their removal may actually make things cleaner.”

Naiarotop’s expression changed immediately. “M-Master! Are you certain?”

“Yes. I had previously banned you from direct methods of interference, such as the Red Staff of Authority incident, but I will allow such actions in the future. However, direct interference using magic is strictly forbidden. You may also send direct messages to the Unseen Hands of the Gods.”

An evil smile appeared on Naiarotop’s face.

“Understood! With this level of authority, I should be able to find a way to kill Kanata Kanbara! Now the path is clear, Master!”

“However, your enemy is not only Kanata Kanbara. You must also kill or drive the lich Lunaère back into the depths of the dungeon Cocytus. She is gaining interest in the outside world and may yet become the source of many problems.”

“Yes, I understand, Master. However, I have already thought of a solution for her. Lunaère, or whatever her name was, will become emotionally unstable once Kanata Kanbara is dead. It shouldn’t be difficult to force her back into Cocytus—she is powerful but mentally fragile. A strong wind could break her spirit. And, unlike travelers, the other gods pay her less attention. I will take care of her; I am confident of that.”

Naiarotop stood and spread their hands as they spoke.

“Finally, I see your true nature returning, my subject. I expect much of you.”

Naiarotop put a finger to their chin, a wrinkle between their eyebrows.

“But why did you speak so harshly to me just before you increased my authority? I am grateful, but won’t the gods react poorly to that?” they asked.

“Ah, I have already woven that in as well. I have already announced your name to the other gods and presented you as Kanata Kanbara’s new archenemy.”

“Whaaaat?!” Naiarotop shrieked loudly at their master’s absurd statement. “I-I’m sorry… What does that even mean, Master?! Kanata Kanbara’s archenemy… Why do I have to fight against a pathetic human like we’re equals?! This whole thing is just a setup for me to take a fall?!”

“Responsibility rolls downhill, my subject.”

“So, that’s what this is all about! You’re running from your responsibility and pushing it all onto me! That’s your ulterior motive, isn’t it?! Th-this is terrible! I was supposed to become a Higher God someday, but now my reputation will be ruined for all eternity! How could you force your own subject into the role of a basic villain?! You’re the one in charge! How can you so calmly tell me to do something so ridiculous?!”

“Locklore has begun to move too far from its original premise—there is no precedent for this, and there will likely be many disappointed gods. In order to have the gods accept your direct magical interference, I had no other choice but to publicly announce your opposition to Kanata Kanbara and drop it into the backstory.”

“That’s absurd! Please think of what you’re doing to me! Can’t you please just reconsider?!”

“Can I? As I explained before, this is not about something as trivial as your poor reputation or whose responsibility it is. This is about the continued existence of Locklore. My only other possible action is to eliminate you and apologize to the other gods. If you wish to escape this with as little damage to your name as possible, you must take care of Kanata Kanbara immediately. I suspect this may help you recover your reputation.”

“Pleeease don’t make me a spin-off!” cried Naiarotop weakly. But by that point, their master’s presence had already vanished. Naiarotop was part of the entertainment now.

“Why me? Why me?” Naiarotop stood weakly and looked toward the dimensional tear. Kanata was rushing around the area looking for Kotone.

“If something happens to Kotone-san, Naiarotop, then I…I won’t let you get away with it!” said Kanata to himself. That broke the dam holding back Naiarotop’s rage. Racked with fury, their humanoid form crumbled, and they morphed into something otherworldly.

“You pathetic human filth! Kanata Kanbara! Look how you’ve damaged my honor! I will drive you to the depths of suffering and despair! Then I will kill you!”