I was able to resist it because of the divinity inherent inside me. Kohaku probably couldn’t because she was only here based on my magic.
I sent a message to Luli, over in Brunhild Castle.
《Luli, do you copy?》
《I do, my lord. How may I serve?》
《I need you to find Karen or Moroha, immediately. Tell them I’ve found the servile god. They’ll know what that means. Thanks.》
《As you command.》 My sisters told me they’d know whenever any gods used their powers, but it looked like this guy had been using just little enough to avoid detection. It seemed that the power flashed for just an instant, and that was all that it took.
I was under the impression that my divinity was leaking out too, so I was surprised this guy hadn’t noticed. But then I thought perhaps I had some kind of subconscious control over it, so maybe it was more of a trickle. Wait, then what if I tried to focus...
I closed my eyes, focusing on the deep black of my vision.
Hm... This feeling... It’s kind of like magic, but... brighter? It’s hard to describe... Kind of like a whole different type of pressure in the air... Gh... Let’s see if I can... bring it out...
It took only a moment. A dazzling flash of light. My body lit up like a Christmas tree as I was engulfed in a shining vortex. The light reflected off the golden room, causing a dazzling shimmer everywhere.
“Wuh...” The vortex gradually calmed, but I could still feel light flowing across my skin. I looked down at my hands in surprise, and felt something tangible resting on my shoulders.
Huh? My... Hair? I put my hands on my head and traced it... all the way down to my waist. What the hell...? I have golden hair? Or uh... platinum blond? I don’t know how to verbalize this!
“Ook-eek! Th-That power! A-Are you from the realm of the gods?!” The monkey fearfully took a step backward. The gourd then fell down from his back and rolled along the ground. Gradually, it began to spit out a golden color, until the entire thing took the shape of a man.
A thin old man lay on the ground. He had a scraggly beard, and glared at me with eyes full of hatred.
As I stood there, with long golden hair and divine light emanating from every pore on my body... it was hard for me to suppress the urge to yell “This isn’t even my final form!” I was also half-tempted to try a Kamehameha. But I was fairly composed, all things considered. I was surprised by how well I was handling this sudden transformation.
Something similar happened to the old man in front of me, as well. A divine aura emanated from his body and wrapped him in light. Though the light was somehow muddier than mine. Kind of like a dark gold, almost. All of a sudden, he made his move.
“Hyaaah!” The scraggly old man, who somewhat resembled a praying mantis in his motions, fired a beam of divine light straight out of his palm. I immediately responded by catching it with my own hand. The resulting shockwave sent a great rumble through the castle. The floorboards, walls, and ceiling tiles began to crumble and shudder. Myself and the old man were at the center of the blast.
Kohaku and Yae were in danger of being knocked down, so I used my magic to suspend them in the air.
“Ook, eek, hooooooh?!” As the very floor beneath us disappeared, the gold-clad monkey went tumbling down with the rest of the wreckage. Monkeys can survive falling from trees, right...? W-Well, this is a castle, anyway.
The old man and I floated in the air and glared at one another.
Wait, how am I flying without using either [Fly] or [Levitation]...? Is this a side-effect of my own divinity? As I thought about how weird that was, the old mantis guy opened his mouth.
“You wretch... What are you? A lesser god? A servile god? Come to capture me on some fool’s errand?”
“I’m neither, and I’m here on no such job. Why don’t you just come in quietly? Don’t you think it’s selfish to come down to the mortal world like this? Don’t you think it’s wrong to cause chaos from the shadows of Eashen like this?!”
“Silence! Can you even begin to fathom the boredom I felt day after day? Do you understand the emptiness inside me?! The dull, monotonous grind of that world?!”
Huh... So do servile gods not have positions or something? Karen’s the God of Love, and Moroha’s the God of Swords, but... Is this guy unemployed or something?! He’s a NEET!
“I haven’t even gotten a chance to live my life yet! I’m gonna do great, you hear me?! I’ll become a wonderful god, and plenty of people will worship me...!”
Sure sounds like a NEET. Can’t a guy like this become the God of the Slackers or something?
So this guy had gotten bored of being unrecognized in the realm of the gods, and came down here to make this world his playground...
So he wants to be a god with duties that badly, huh...? What a pain in the ass.
“Didn’t you violate the rules of the divine realm? You should surrender already. Just come in peacefully.”
“Hmph... I sense it, boy. Your divinity is still unbalanced. Are you perhaps new to this? I feel as though you’re something fresh... Something new. Do you really believe you can handle me like that?”
“No, like I said, that’s not my job...” Just as I began to speak, the scenery around the two of us began to twist and warp.
In a matter of moments, everything was a strange off-white. The world around me was a pure void, with strange beads of light floating here and there. There was no ground beneath us, nor sky above us. We simply floated in an endless, milky abyss.
“What the...”
“This is the Spirit Realm, you know? We can freely use our divine powers here without interfering in the mortal world, you know?” Karen suddenly appeared beside me without warning. She must have brought us here. Wait, what about Yae and Kohaku?!
“Don’t you worry yourself about those two, man. I disabled that hypnosis on them and sent them to safety.” Moroha appeared as well, equally sudden and equally without explanation. The servile god saw them and immediately went pale. Shock covered his face.
“The God of Love... and the God of Swords?! What are you doing here?!”
“Come on, man... You’ve been doing whatever you wanted down here, you think we wouldn’t notice? You’ve been hiding pretty good so far, but we’ve got your number now!” Moroha pulled a blade from the scabbard on her waist. It was just a standard steel blade. But that didn’t matter, because the important thing was who was wielding it. Even a wooden sword could rend mountains if it was in her hands.
“You broke the rules, you know? Even if you’re unemployed, you can’t use divine powers in the lower worlds...”
“Gh... Unemployed... Unemployed! Unemployed?! Everyone says that! Stop it, it’s not fair...!” The servile god clenched his teeth and growled. From the sounds of things, my sisters weren’t allowed to use powers related to anything other than their respective fields, and even that was limited. It kind of felt like I was in a particular weird situation in regards to those rules, though.
I wasn’t a god, yet I wielded the power of one. I wasn’t a god, so I wasn’t bound by the rules of their world. That was probably how it was, at least.
I figured if God Almighty decided that I was appropriate enough to become the god of something, then I’d be accepted as one of them in their world... But I didn’t really feel like becoming a god or anything.
“Now, are you going to come easily? Though, given the severity of your crimes, we can’t give you a softer sentence.”
“Yup. You’re going to be reincarnated as a lesser creature for a whole hundred-million years, you know?”
“Wh— Like hell I am!” The servile god shot out another concentrated beam of his own divinity. Moroha was faster, though. In a single strike, she sliced off the man’s raised arm at the elbow.
“Gwugh...!” I was expecting to see blood, but... nothing came out of the wound. His arm just floated off.
A god was a god, after all. Seemed like he was completely different from flesh-and-blood
creatures like me. That made me wonder why he took the form of an old man... Did it reflect his feelings, or was it just the look he wanted to go for? I wondered if he was more focused on a particular aesthetic than actually doing anything useful.
“If you continue making this more annoying than it has to be, your head is next. Once you’ve paid for your crimes, you may come back as one of us... But that won’t be an option if I end your existence right now.”
Huh, guess gods can be killed, then. Even if they can live forever. They say curiosity killed the cat, but maybe boredom kills a god... Seemed like all gods probably died eventually. Maybe.
“If you’re going to force me into such disgrace, then at least allow me to struggle here! Haaah!”
“Not gonna happen!” As soon as the murky light began to emanate from the servile god, Moroha split him clean in two down the middle.
Oof... I know there’s no blood but that’s, uh... pretty intense...
“Gahh... Y-You won’t be so lucky next time...”
“Next time...?”
“M-Moroha! H-His arm!” The servile god let out a wicked laugh, and Karen yelled out something about his arm.
That was when I noticed his severed arm, seconds before it vanished from the space we were floating in. Shortly afterward, the rest of his body began to dissolve into grains of sand.
“Damn it to hell... He was smarter than I thought.”
“This isn’t good, you know? His divinity’s all gone.”
“Huh? What just happened?” I was a little confused, so I needed some clarification.
“He channeled most of his divine essence into his right arm and escaped to the mortal world. Plus, his divinity’s gone off our radar again, so we lost him.”
“We’re back where we started... Which means we’ll have to stick around, you know?” Seriously...? How’d he get away when we had him cornered? That’s hardly fair.
His divinity was masked again, and I couldn’t use [Search] to find him, since I had no idea what form he’d be taking.
He kind of reminded me of a lizard. Chop off the tail, but it can still grow it back...
“Anyway, Touya...? What’s with that costume? You look kind of strange, you know?” Karen folded her arms as she looked me up and down. I was still wearing the Oni mask, so I probably looked weird.
“I disguised myself because I didn’t want Brunhild to be affiliated with the Eashen civil war. But uh... more importantly than that, what’s with my hair? Why’d it grow out and change color?!”
“Hmph... You awakened to your own godhood, dumbass. You probably didn’t notice, but your eyes are golden too. This is your true form.”
What?! I took out a mirror from [Storage]. Moroha was right, my eyes were a glimmering gold.
“...Is it gonna change back?”
“If you suppress your own divinity you should change back, you know? The fact you awakened means you should be able to control it.”
“...Don’t suppress it while we’re here in the Spirit Realm, though. Right now the area is clear since we’re exerting our divinity, but if any Spirits or Wraiths smell a human in here, they’ll come here. And it won’t be pretty.”
Huh, alright... I’ll save it for later, then.
My smartphone suddenly started to vibrate. The shock of the sensation made me jolt. I looked at the screen, and it informed me that God himself was calling.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Touya? Sounds like your divinity has awakened...”
“Yup. There aren’t gonna be any weird side effects, are there?”
“Hmm? You have not exactly turned into a god, so you should be fine... But it was I who brought you into the Realm of the Gods, and it was I who forged your body... It is likely that your essence has the same divine spark as mine.”
Huh... There are different types? Oh, right... That other guy’s did seem murkier.
I tried to focus on Karen, and I suddenly noticed her golden light had faint traces of pink inside it. Moroha’s also had a light blue. I guessed that this divine spark was probably related to the color you emanated.
“Hmhm... I wonder what I should do about that. If you have the same divine spark as I, then you will likely become my ward entirely... Well, that is fine. I have no problems with you as my ward, Touya.”
“What do you mean?”
“You have the power of a god, but you are still human, Touya. I must define your position clearly with the other gods... But I cannot appoint you as a god of anything in particular, nor are you in a position to be made into a servile god... That is why you will be my ward, and under my direct protection.”
“That means we’ll be family, you know?” Karen smiled and winked at me. I was mostly confused.
Family, huh...? Wait! Don’t eavesdrop on my phone call!
Still... Being family with God Almighty...? The God of Worlds? Sounds kinda nice.
“Do not think about it too deeply. You have two elder sisters, after all... Just consider me your new grandfather.” Ha. That’s a pretty high bar to pass, you know? But alright...
“But uh... Do you know where that runaway god went?”
“I do not, I am afraid to say. His presence has become as undetectable as dust. And finding him is not my job, young man. I am the one who should be informed by those hunting him, no?” I was a little confused by what he meant. Moroha suddenly leaned in to clarify.
“So long as that guy’s running around, we have reason to be down here, remember? I’m down here helping Karen find him, after all.”
Huh... I see... Wait!
I suddenly glared at Moroha, suspicion burning in my gaze. She failed her arms and yelled in a panic.
“No, no! Don’t get the wrong idea! We didn’t let the guy loose intentionally or anything! We’d never mix business with pleasure, promise!”
Hmph... I guess I believe you... But I wonder if any other gods have been trying to come down, and if I’ll see any others coming down thanks to this convenient excuse...
“At any rate, young Touya... That is the situation as it is now. I shall talk to you again soon, take care.” God Almighty hung up on me before I could talk.
Hmm... What can I do in this new God Mode anyway? After a little bit of experimenting, I discovered that I could cast spells without speaking out their names or chants. It was a little frightening wielding that kind of power.
I left the Spirit Realm behind, muttering quietly and pondering my new powers.
◇ ◇ ◇
We returned to the mortal realm and found Oosaka castle ablaze. The battle had been decided, it seemed. We heard victory cries here and there. The Tokugawa-Date alliance was successful.
The sudden raid was simply too much for the unprepared Hashiba army.
Before I went to Ieyahsu’s camp, I disabled my own divinity. My hair changed back to its usual dark luster, but it didn’t get any shorter... Is this gonna happen every time I activate it? I hope I don’t have a finite amount of hair in there...
I muttered anxiously as I made my way back to Ieyahsu’s camp to meet Yae and Kohaku.
“What happened to your hair, Touya-dono?!”
“A lot happened, Yae. But Hideyooshi is done for.” Ieyahsu, who was eavesdropping, suddenly cheered in joy. The defeat of Hideyooshi solidified the victory that had been earned this day, after all.
The Hashiba army would collapse, and Tokugawa would now hold most of the power in Eashen. It was similar to my world’s history, yet completely different as well.
I healed the wounded with my magic, and then decided to make for home. Everything from that point on was Eashen’s issue to handle, after all. Everyone under Hideyooshi’s control would likely recover their senses soon, too.
As a last word of advice, I told Ieyahsu to watch out for a man named Ishida Mitsunari, just in case. But he didn’t seem to know who that was, so it seemed like that guy didn’t exist in this world.
Oh well, I guess not everything’s the same.
Yae, Kohaku, myself, and my sisters, all boarded Gungnir. Then, Rosetta flew us off to Brunhild.
I was extremely tired, so I quickly reported in and headed straight for bed. A lot of people asked me why my hair was so long, though.
A day later, my situation was dire. I collapsed into a deep fever, and I had no physical strength. I wasn’t hungry, and I felt lethargic. Not even [Recovery] or [Refresh] had any kind of effect on me.
“Wow... This is symptomatic of the common cold, but it’s also quite different. You have a fever, but your body hasn’t increased in temperature.” Flora, clad in a nurse outfit, looked at the thermometer with a frown. I was bedridden, of course, wrapped up in blankets and looking up at her groggily.
“Wh-What kind of sickness is this?! Wh-What should we do?!” Yumina sat beside the bed in a panic.
Heh... It’s kinda cute seeing her get like this.
My eight fiancees were all in the room and standing or sitting by the bed. Yumina, Elze, Linze, Yae, Lu, Sue, Hilde, and Leen were all there attending to me. But also... Kousaka, Laim, Lain, Lapis, Renne, Cesca, Flora, Karen, Kohaku, Luli, Kougyoku, Kokuyou, Sango, and Paula were all packed in there too. It was way too many people for my liking.
I was happy they’d gathered there out of concern for me, but it was still a little excessive.
“Alright, now... Touya is quite fine, you know? Everyone go back to work. There’s no problem here, no problem at all. It’s just fatigue from yesterday. You should just leave it all to me, you know?” Karen smacked her hands together and ushered everyone out of the room. She was telling everyone that crowding around wouldn’t do me any good, but I couldn’t hear all that much. My body was so heavy that I couldn’t even get up.
The door slammed shut until only Karen remained. She sat down on the nearby chair and looked down at me with a frown.
“You with me, Touya? This sickness is just your body suffering the effects of your divine power, you know? You’ll recover if you rest for a day, and you’ll slowly get used to the power inside you, I promise. So sleep for now, okay?”
Oh, I see... It’s because of my divinity, then... Thought so... I was just relieved to know the actual cause. Plus, it wasn’t like I was suffering any physical pain... It was more that I simply couldn’t exert any physical force at all. My head also felt fuzzy, like I was dreaming.
In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 9 Page 15
