Elqueeness – Chapter 43

Devastation.

I thought it would be hard to meet someone who would be more aptly described by this word.  Currently, Elwien’s disciples had evacuated from the temple.  It was hard for them to spot the majestic building within the white stone debris covering the site.

The prayer hall destroyed by Elwien had one of the crossbeams supporting the temple within it. Of course, the entire building collapsed when the prayer room was destroyed.

The disciples, especially the high priest named Rooyan, had pale expressions. They had lost the ability to speak a long time ago. I was focused on the falling building, so I hadn’t realized there was an additional person in our group.

For awhile, the disciple looked back and forth between the ground and the sky as they prayed. Their gazes landed on us, and we were about to faint from the guilt. We were able to barely stutter out the words.

“This is…what happened…”

“Ah…I’m, I’m sorry. The minor dispute suddenly…”

“It was a minor…dispute?”

Then they turned back to at the destroyed temple once again.  I looked at Elwien with an awkward expression. I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened, but this entire situation was his doing. Even if he was really angry, he shouldn’t have recklessly used his god powers. It would have been strange if the building hadn’t collapsed.

Even though, Elwien had beat up Lapis until his temple was destroyed, he continued to frown as if he wasn’t satisfied yet.  As if he felt my gaze on him, he let out a sigh, then he held up his two hands as if he was giving up.

“I’ll admit that was a bit excessive.”

“…you didn’t have to destroy the building.”

“That bastard kept making me mad.”

He pointed his finger in irritation as he indicated towards the fainted Lapis, who was lying on the floor. He was beaten so severely that his closed eyes showed no indications of opening.  Even a Spirit King like me took a full day before I woke up.  It should be the same for him.

If I went by the quantity of the beating, it wouldn’t surprise me if he woke up a week later. While I thought he deserved it, I couldn’t help but sympathize with him for a little bit.  I knew how painful god powers were. Is this what they called shared pain?

At Elwien’s shout, the dumbfounded disciples, who had been looking at the building, turned to look at us with a strange expression on their faces. It seemed they had finally realized there was an additional stranger amongst our group. They didn’t really care our number had suddenly increased. However, they were very interested in the culprit, who had demolished the temple.

“He demolished the temple…Does this mean he caused the collapse of the prayer room?”

Even though the person who had completely messed up their base was in front him, Rooyan continued to speak in a respectful manner. It almost made me express my admiration of him.  As if the sight of Rooyan was praiseworthy, Elwien crossed his arms as he put on a relaxed expression.

“Hmm. You are the high priest Rooyan? You should be 25 year old this year?”

“That…is so.  Could you tell me the reason why you destroyed the temple? You destroyed one of the bases of our god….I’m afraid you will incur Elwien-nim’s wrath.”

Even as he was answering back in a clear manner, the blond haired man would have never guessed the person in front of him was Elwien himself. He was too surprised by the unexpected situation, so he hadn’t become aware of the domineering god’s aura surrounding Elwien.

Well, no one would have thought a god would so easily descend to their world. Moreover, no one would have believed a god, who had actually descended, would destroy his own temple. I couldn’t fault the disciples for not recognizing him. Still, they were swept up by Elwien’s unique arrogant atmosphere, so they weren’t rash in showing any signs of hostility.

Elwien grinned when he saw his disciples look at him with nervous expressions.  He turned around to look at his work, which had fallen in a shabby manner.

“It fell very cleanly. Should I use this opportunity to move the temple to another location?”

“Huk?  What are you saying?  You want to move the temple!  No one has the authority to do so.”

“Ho-oh, no one has the authority to do so?”

Rooyan didn’t recognize the twinkle of amusement in Elwien’s eyes, and Rooyan answered with a resolute expression.

“Of course. This temple was raised by Elwien himself. We are just servant who have gathered here after receiving his divine message.  No one is allowed to randomly relocate a temple our god had erected.”

He-eh? This temple was directly raised by Elwien?  Well, it would probably be impossible to move stones up this rugged terrain to build the temple. It would seem impossible to common sense of humans.  This was why this temple had a similar appearance to the temple on the god world.  For a brief moment, I admired this fact.  I smiled as if this fact was entertaining as I looked toward Elwien.

“Therefore, you won’t complain if the god, who actually built this place, moved the temple?”

“That is so. However, according to my memory, we’ve never received such divine instructions.”

Was it because we were the guest of Elwien?  Even though, the disciples furrowed their brows from ill-humor, they never lost their respectful attitude.  Still, it seemed they couldn’t completely hide the anger buried deep within their heart.  I could see their clenched fists shaking slightly.  When I realized this, I looked at Elwien with a uneasy expression as I spoke.

“Isn’t it impossible to move the temple right now?  These people need a place to stay. Since you already built it, can you restore it?”

“Normally, I would do so.  However, I won’t since that rotten bastard said it was shabby.”

“Kook kook.  What~  You kept that in your mind?  I liked it.  It was a pure white temple on top of a snowfield.  Isn’t it somehow fantastical?”

“Hmmm, is that so?”

As if he liked my compliments, he decided to restore his original temple without any hesitation.  His son liked it, so why would he pay attention to that bitch(Lapis)?  The disciples had confused expressions on their face, but they soon found out the meaning of his words.

He leisurely turned around, and a single word left his lips.  At that moment, the wrecked stones rose high into the sky.

【Restore】

Accompanying a rumbling noise, the stones started flying, and it started stacking on top of each other.  Then the original shape started to re-emerge. The temple was being built on its own.  It seemed as if the stones had a will of its own as it moved.

The disciples and I were shocked by this sight.  No one would have thought the temple would be rebuilt this way.  I looked at him with a surprised expression, but Elwien lightly spoke as if this was nothing.

“It’s only a Word of Power.  A high ranked god could basically make a mountain with a Word.  It can’t be compared to the Main god, who made the entire dimension….”

“Heh-eh. Your Word of Power seems to be on a different level than the ones Spirit Kings use.”

“When Spirit Kings come down to the human world, they receive a restriction on their power.  If they were in the Spirit World, they could use Words of Power comparable to a similarly ranked god.”

“So that’s how it is.”

So I could make a building with one word in the Spirit world?  Ho-oh.  Isn’t that amazing?  I couldn’t help, but be impressed by this.  When the disciples heard our conversation, their faces turned black then they started to tremble.  Mr Rooyan and Mr Kai had already prostrated themselves on the floor a while back.  It seemed they finally realized Elwien’s identity.

Truthfully, I thought the reaction was a bit late.  An unknown male suddenly appeared, and he had a uncommonly handsome features.  He also let out a serious aura, so it was impossible to think Elwien was a normal person.

Still, it was very uncommon for a ‘god’ to descend to this world, so they had realized it after the fact.  If I was in their shoes, I probably would have shown a similar reaction.  However, as if Rooyan need a more direct confirmation, he turned to look at Elwien with a calm expression.

“This lowly being dares to ask you a boon. Please speak the truth to us. Are you Elwien-nim…the god of Punishment??”

He tried hard to stay calm, but his pupils and voice was slightly shaking.  The other disciples were looking on with a nervous expression.  When Elwien finished the temple, he spoke in a passing manner.

“You have already realized the truth, so you don’t need a confirmation.  Keep silent on what you saw today.”

“Oh oh! Elwien-nim!!”

“My word! My god…”

The disciples bowed with a moved expression on their faces.  It was at this moment Elwien revealed the god’s aura he had been hiding.

Pah-aht-

A light stronger than sunlight started encircling his body.

“Kuh-huk!”

“Huh-uh-uk!”

Even I flinched at the enormous presence.  Most of the disciples prostrating on the floor fainted. The others were busy crying uncontrollably.  I even saw a person shake on the floor as he foamed from the mouth like an epilepsy patient.

However, Elwien didn’t show any signs of withdrawing the presence he had revealed.  Instead, the amount of light emitted from him was increasing. It was hard to differentiate the person from the light.  He was basically a large ball of light now.
“E..Elwien?”

I looked the blinding light with a surprised expression, and I was able to see the figure within the light move slightly.  The part I guessed to be his hand extended towards me, and I grasped it.  Warmth was transferred directly into my body.  If I just went with what I was feeling, it was hard to think that I was touching a ball of light right now.

Elwien pulled me close to him, then he mumbled in an embarrassed voice.

“It seems this is my limit on how long I can stay in the human world.  It is damn hard to hide my presence.”

“Ehk? Really? You are returning to the god world right now?”

“Ah ah.  I’m sorry.  Gods can’t stay long in the human world.  Unlike a Spirit King’s ‘Ability Restriction’, the gods have a ‘Time Restriction’.  Still, I should have been able to stay a whole day….Was it because I used the Word of Power?  It must have really accelerated the time frame.”

Elwien’s complaining voice was showing displeasure at the current situation.  He had a worried expression as if he thought he was going to disappear at any moment now.  He grinned as he firmly grasped my hand.  Then he started patting my head as if I was a child.
I looked up at him as if to say ‘What are you doing?’, but I couldn’t see anything except the ball of light.

As Elwien’s figure slowly disappeared, the disciples, who had held out, fainted as they couldn’t take his presence any more. The high priest Rooyan was the last one to faint.  As if Elwien had been waiting for this, what I thought was his hand grasped my forehead.  A heat that I wasn’t used to started to burn the skin on my forehead.
“……what is it?”

“This is what you need in this vacation.  Weren’t you trying to meet me, because you need ed this, my son??”

“Huh?  Ah!  Is it the god’s crest?”

I asked with a surprised expression, but Elwien didn’t answer back.  I was sure I felt him nod his head.  The heat lasted only for a moment, and my forehead turned cool as if no heat was ever present there.  It felt awkward to be touched, but Elwien continued to speak as if he was having fun.

“Hmmm. I think this is probably the first time a god bestowed a god’s crest on an Elqueeness?”

“Huh?  Why?  There weren’t a single Elqueeness before me, who had become a priest?”

“Mmmm…The previous generations of Water Spirit Kings were very prideful. Therefore, they hated to ask other beings for help.  To tell you the truth, a Spirit King becoming a priest is incompatible with one’s vacation. If one become a priest in a body without healing abilities, there will be a lot of inconvenience.”

“But…the priests of the Demon god’s church doesn’t have healing abilities?”

“Of course, they do. They contract with the Demon race to use their abilities. Wouldn’t it be funny for Spirit Kings to go around looking for the Demon race’s help on their vacation? Of course, there is a chance they could summon a Spirit King.”

However, the probability of a Spirit King being summoned was much lower for a Demon race compared to Dragons. It was lower than the probability of a person dying from a pin prick from a needle. Their race was too disharmonious with nature.  It could be said they didn’t have any affinity towards the Spirit Kings.   They were existences dealing in destruction and death, so it was hard to ask them for help.

“Hmmm…What do these Demon race look like?  I can’t tell the difference between humans and the god race.”

“It is the same for the Demon race.  No, they are much more beautiful.  If you put your guard down after seeing their beautiful appearance, you’ll probably regret it.  The more beautiful they are, they possess a higher level of strength.  If you head towards the Forest of Death, you might come across one or two.”

Even if it wasn’t the 2nd Demon world, Baiton, couple dozen of the demon race traveled to different dimensions to play. Arkadon’s Forest of Death was one such destination where the Demon race could stay without any worries.  If one looked closely inside the forest, they might have built a town in there. Many of them came there to play, but there were some who took permanent residence there.

“I have to go now. Ah. I’ll tell you this since you might not know this, but you will be able to talk to me through the crest at any time.  If that rotten lizard troubles you then contact me immediately.”

It seemed his anger hadn’t dissolved completely, so his low voice still held murderous intent.  I answered him with a laugh . I even showed  him my respect since he had shown restraint(?) when dealing with his son’s companion.  He had stopped after Lapis had fainted.

Afterwards, he said to contact him regularly then he disappeared completely.  The bright ball of light surrounding him dispersed into the air as he did so.

I stared a long time at the location where he had vanished.  Finally, I saw the disciples sprawled all over the place, so I mumbled in futility.

“…How do I move all these people inside?”

At that moment, a sigh automatically came out.

 
Isana and the disciples woke up after 1 hour had passed.

I used the Mana extracted from Lapis to summon Spirits, then I used them to move everyone inside.  One or two priests continued to wake up, and I was nervous about the numerous question that would be thrown my way.  Since a rare descent of a god happened, they would probably want to know about my relationship with Elwien.

However, I was taken aback when they couldn’t remember the events before they had fainted.  Elwien probably took care of this situation since he knew I would be put in an awkward position.

“What are we all doing here…Ah, El-nim. Have you finished your prayer?”

The high priest Rooyan, who was looking around with a vacant expression, spoke as he looked at me. It seemed he had lost all the memory after we had entered the prayer room. He felt guilty about falling asleep after he guided the guests to the room.  I tried to assuage his guilt, but he couldn’t hide his astonishment when he saw my face.  It was the same for the other disciples around us.

“I…I can’t believe it. My god!”

“Oh oh! How is this possible!”

“My god…”

“…What, what is it? Is there something on my face? What is it, Rai?”

Everyone had their mouths open as they looked at me in awe.  Isana, who seemed to have just woken up, was also surprised.  I nervously asked him the question. He just pointed toward his own forehead with one hand. It was a simple gesture without any explanation. However, it was more than enough for me to realize the current situation.

Maybe Elwien…His Father!

“Maybe…the god’s crest is…engraved on my forehead?”

At my bitter question, Isana and every disciple in the surrounding nodded their heads.

The god’s crest was engraved in a more eye-catching location depending on how highly  one was ranked as a priest. The high priest Rooyan had it on the back of his hand.  Of course, everyone would be surprised to see a mark appear front and center on my forehead.  I had forgotten about this fact when he was engraving his crest.  Shit, Elwien!

‘Even if you love your child, don’t you know you have to show moderation?’

I swallowed the outburst that was about to come out, then I let out a bleak laugh.