Chapter 77: Dragon God and Hitogami (Patreon)

Smack!!!

Dragon God Orsted raised a hand and slapped himself across the face.

He watched Rudeus and the others until their figures shrank into the distance and vanished.

Yet he was still tangled in indecision.

Was Rudeus really one of Hitogami's Apostles??

Everything Rudeus had said was moving, and yet—

was Rudeus really one of Hitogami's Apostles??

What if this whole thing was one of Hitogami's traps??

He gritted his teeth, wavering endlessly.

He sighed, and went on wavering all the same.

Dragon God Orsted slammed his fist into the ground, savage and furious.

He felt nothing but sorrow at his own cowardice.

The once-invincible Dragon God Orsted—

why? Why had he ended up like this??

He thought back over every one of his past reincarnations...

Whenever a situation looked hopeless, his attitude had basically been to give up entirely.

If it didn't work out this life, there would be a next one.

If the next one failed, there would be another after that.

Hitogami had never had a good way to counter him — no method to drag him down through the cycle of reincarnation—

so...

he had been born standing on ground that could never be defeated.

But he had never once considered—

what if Hitogami actually found a way to overcome him?

What would he do then???

Keep giving up??

Facing a Hitogami of unimaginable power, knowing there was no hope of victory left, would he simply stop resisting??

He thought back to the deaths of his family.

Through countless reincarnations, over more lifetimes than he could count...

it seemed the hatred of those days had slowly hardened into a single obsession.

The memories of those days had slowly worn away with each rebirth, too.

Now...

he could barely even recall the sound of his family's laughter anymore.

All this time, the one thing left to him had been revenge — revenge against Hitogami!!!!

But even at that one thing... he'd done a miserable job.

So...

Rudeus's proposal — that he join the Alliance of the Righteous and fight Hitogami together—

that proposal was genuinely a good one!!!

He truly wanted to accept it!!!!

But—

but!!!!

Wasn't this really just another one of Hitogami's traps??

The more he thought about it, the more Dragon God Orsted couldn't stop the tears welling at the corners of his eyes.

What was he even afraid of??

Afraid that Hitogami could uncover the secret of his reincarnation and use it to control him??

Before now...

hadn't he always simply given up, since Hitogami could never touch him anyway?

Why? Why!!!!

Why!!!!????

Dragon God Orsted kept pounding his fists into the ground, again and again,

until the sheer force of it shattered the rock supporting the ground beneath him.

Just as he was about to plunge into the black chasm opening beneath his feet—

Dragon God Orsted...

landed a single leap away, onto the peak of another mountain.

He gazed into the distance, at Rudeus advancing slowly far below.

He watched Rudeus and Eris trading jokes and jabs.

Without meaning to...

a thread of envy slowly rose up inside Dragon God Orsted.

Maybe...

he'd just wait and see what Rudeus did next.

If Rudeus really was one of Hitogami's Apostles,

he'd surely choose some moment to slip off the Dragon God's Blessing Bracelet

and go make contact with Hitogami.

As for Rudeus—

once he'd finished speaking with Eris,

his gaze turned to Ruijerd.

"Mr. Ruijerd, I'm sorry for deceiving you for so long."

"It's all right..."

Ruijerd shook his head. "I understand why you did it."

Rudeus smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Mr. Ruijerd.

Still, let's make Fittoa Territory the point where we part ways.

It'll be a fitting close to this rare bond of ours."

Ruijerd nodded, smiling. "No problem... though I'll be honest, you gave me quite a scare back there."

Rudeus laughed. "Yeah. Anyone in that position would've failed to make sense of what I was doing.

But given the circumstances, I didn't have any other choice.

It's fine now, though...

I've gained the Dragon God's protection, so Hitogami can't see me anymore.

Next, I'll make several copies of this item and hand them out to you two, so you won't have to live under Hitogami's thumb either."

Ruijerd nodded, sounding deeply moved. "I really can hardly imagine it. Your enemies are either the Dragon God, or that Hitogami out of legend."

Rudeus laughed. "It's not that big a deal. Everyone climbs up one step at a time.

There might be plenty of people out there with far greater natural gifts than mine. But I have advantages of my own — from my original world.

Don't forget, I'm someone who came from another world entirely.

Compared to this one, the world I used to live in had a far richer wealth of ideas."

At Rudeus's words...

Nanahoshi Shizuka nodded along, laughing in agreement. "That's true. Compared to this world—

if it weren't for how outrageously overpowered magic is here in so many ways, I'd say our world's foundations were far stronger than this one's!!"

Hearing both Rudeus and Nanahoshi Shizuka say so,

Eris, eager to learn about Rudeus's past, couldn't resist asking curiously, "So what was your old world actually like??"

Nanahoshi Shizuka answered at once, brimming with nostalgia. "Skyscrapers, cars, planes..."

Every time she named something,

Rudeus conjured up a matching light-screen for everyone to see.

Watching it unfold, Eris and Ruijerd both grew more and more fascinated.

And so...

Rudeus's group pressed onward, laughing and chatting as they went.

All the while, Rudeus kept working to unravel the principles behind the Dragon God's protection.

Behind them, Dragon God Orsted — his expression once again cold, stern, and imposing — followed at a measured pace, keeping a distance that wasn't too great.

Everything seemed to be moving toward a good outcome for everyone.

Everyone, except Hitogami, alone within Void World.

His face twisted with despair, he pounded his fists against the white floor beneath him.

He wanted to cry, but no tears would come.

Why? Why had everything that was going so well fallen apart like this??

Damn it — damn it all!!!!

Was there any way — any way at all — to fix this crisis??

Or else... should he just use Rudeus's family as hostages???