Elqueeness - Chapter 6

Ha-ah.  You are putting us in a very difficult position. Elqueeness-nim.”

With an awkward face, he let out a low sigh while speaking.  It was the famous Decider – he boasted of being the head of the department –  it was Arehis who was in charge of distributing and managing the souls.

When Ifrit, Uraus and I arrived at the underworld, he showed up like he was waiting for us.  He spoke as if he had been watching all of our situation from the side so I was shocked when he spoke this way.

Maybe he has some kind of insight like Trowell?
How can he speak that way just knowing that we had arrived with a Grim Reaper?

Both Ifrit and Uraus was shocked too, and they could only stare at me with long faces..

Even Ifrit can’t offend the highly positioned person from the underworld.
Or maybe the Fire Sword’s strength lessens in the underworld.

“Ha Ha…It’s been awhile, Arehis…”

Even if I said it was a while, if I calculate properly than it hasn’t even been a month since we separated.

Still Arehis didn’t point that out and took my greeting with a comfortable smile.

“Indeed.  I’m glad you are well.  Truthfully I was worried because we parted that way.  You look unrecognizable.  If I didn’t have the ability to feel the soul’s energy then it would have been hard to believe that the Ji-Hoon then is the same person. ”

“…HaHa..Is that a compliment?”

“Of course”

The smiling face of Arehis as he says this..somehow he looked spiteful enough that I wanted to hit him once.

But his face immediately became white and he didn’t even give me a chance.  The situation became bad.

His face hardened instantly and he showed a never before seen strict face.  He spoke like he was lecturing.

“This is too reckless.  Two Spirit Kings vacated their seats from Arkadon.  Did you forget that your several years absence almost caused  a calamity?
I can understand that Elqueeness-nim isn’t awakened fully but I didn’t know Ifrit-nim would participate too.”

“B..But..”

“No buts.  Thankfully you are incompatible to each other and you both vacated your seats at the same time.  If only one of you disappeared then the barely calmed Arkadon will be damaged.
Don’t you understand why the main god didn’t give spatial teleportation to Spirit Kings who is said to have the perfect strength?”

“……..”

Chup.  I have nothing to say.

Why are the underworld people so strong with their words?
I couldn’t inhibit my aching heart after watching Ifrit visibly lose spirit.

Since I somewhat knew him, I was familiar with his way of talking, but Ifrit got rebuked on the first meeting.

Still her gaze held firm so I don’t think she has any thoughts of going back.

Even if he nagged at us like a mother-in-law, Arehis was the only hope of meeting the previous Elqueeness.

Arehis stopped his word of rebuke after seemingly reading Ifrit’s resolve.

Instead he boldly looked at me and asked.

“So, what business brought you here?  You crossed the plane with no countermeasure so it must be an important business?

“Uh-ra?  I thought you knew?  Since you appeared immediately, I thought you knew everything..”

“No way.  I came out because when the Guides move between dimensions they emit a wavelength.  The wavelength of Spirit Kings were mixed in with the Guide so I hurried out here to look.
Even if I’m in charge of the underworld, I don’t have any method of finding out what’s going on when I haven’t seen the event directly.
So please speak.”

After Arehis finished speaking those words, simultaneously the surrounding scenery changed.

It was the room where we found the soul’s location.  It held a fancy tea-table with a carpet on the floor.

Ifrit’s eye turned round, because she was surprised at the instantaneous change of scenery.

I’ve already experienced it once, and Uraus lives here everyday so he wasn’t surprised at all.

“Now, let’s sit and talk. Uraus, you did well in bringing the two kings.
You are dismissed.  I’m sure you were on vacation?”

He spoke as he invited us to sit on the table’s chair and Uraus, who was about to sit, visibly shook his shoulder.

He looked like he was begging for something.  He gazed with conflicted eyes toward Arehis and laughed awkwardly.

“Actually.  I would like to stay here with the kings and when they are about to go back to the Spirit world, I will guide them back…

“Do you have some reason?”

“Ah, yes..that is.. I was greatly injured after I made a mistake.. With the help of Elqueeness-nim I was able to be safe… I would like to help him in some way.”

“Hmmm. Is that right?  Then you can do as you like.  It’s your vacation period so it is up to you to decide how to use it.”

Uraus’s expression visibly brightened after Arehis gave his consent.

He didn’t have to ask to stay and help us… My heart would feel burdened.

Truthfully, healing him was somewhat of coincidence. Actually I was able to self-awaken Elqueeness’ ability so I was helped too.

It’s quite preposterous to divvy up your gold-like vacation time to help us…Uh? Wait a minute. Vacation? Did he say vacation??”

“The underworld has vacations?”

I couldn’t close my mouth from shock and  Arehis started explain while kindly laughing.

“Certainly, Elqueeness-nim.  The world of the souls are not that different from the human world.  The underworld is…you should think of it as one’s occupation.
The humans in the Underworld are all members of this vocation.
You don’t really believe Uraus and I would work all day, several days, several hundred, several thousands of years continuously?

“N..No..Haha..”

“On this occasion, I’ll let you know.  The race that makes up most of the underworld are the divine race.  In the underworld, there exists 3 big divisions.
The ‘Surveillance division’ distinguishes and designates the souls that has finished their fate.  They divide the soul based on good and evil.  The ‘Guide division’ is in charge of bringing souls to the underworld that has depleted its lifespan.  The ‘Decider division’ in charge of distribution and they manage the whole underworld.
Among those there are director of the departments and they direct the watchers, guides and deciders.  The rank of decider is the highest, next is the watcher then the guides.

“He-eh?  By director you mean..”

“Hmm.  To easily explain it..Should I talk in terms when you lived on earth?  Directors are  a division’s team leader or a section chief.  Each division is formed by several teams so it’s more accurate to look at it as team leader.
The Surveillance division has the most numerous population.

They have to look at every dimension’s souls to determine if they are good or evil then they report to the Deciders division.  It is the most arduous division that everyone tries to avoid. Then the Guide division..what can I say. It’s a conventional division.  There is no separate Decider and a few of the team members travel outside.
They are ranked higher than a normal employee but they follow the orders of the Deciders and the Discriminators.  You could say they are like special agents?”

Moreover including Arehis, the Deciders were a senate made up of 5 people.

But not all Deciders did the same work.  Each person were in charge of some part of the underworld and among them, Arehis was in charge finding the location of the lost souls then redistributing them.

Then he snuck in the info that my situation of being born in the wrong place was the fault of the person who was in charge of production and dispersion.  It was under the jurisdiction of a Decider named Asuka and he openly expressed his innocence.

There were a lot of new rookies injected into Asuka’s team, and one of them was responsible for the mistake.

He took responsibility and he had to go into confinement.

He made a mistake that threatened the existence of one dimension. Usually one would get a death sentence but considering he is new and you were found, he was given a rather light sentence of 500 years of confinement as punishment.

“5..500 years is short?…”

“It’s very short.  Divine race has a lifespan of about 20 thousand years.  In human perspective it is almost an eternity, but 500 years is like nap time for them?”

Arehis replied seriously so instead I became ashamed.

I guess it’s like that…how should I know that divine races live so long.

I feel like humans are getting discriminated.  No matter how hard humans try they only live 100 years at most.. Aren’t the other races living too long?

I sneakily put him under provocation but I couldn’t openly complain.  Anyways even I became one of the long-lived races.

Somehow Arehis sensed the sentiment in my heart, so he continued talking while smiling.

“The longer the lifespan is for the race, they have to bear more corresponding responsibilities.  Even when Elqueeness-nim was a human, didn’t you feel thoughts of responsibility and duty?  Also even if you are a human now, there might be a different destiny after you get past the afterlife. ”

“Ha…ha.  That’s right.  Mmmm..Then, Uraus and Arehis are from the …divine race?”

If he has a set lifespan then I can understand Uraus’ bold action when he was hurt in the spirit world.

Even if he died, he has a body so there is a chance he’ll be born into a different life.  Moreover he has held the role of being a Grim Reaper so he knew not be afraid of dying.

I guess my thoughts were wrong, because Ifrit started retorting.

“Idiot, Arehis is a Decider!
He is an existence that look over the underworld.  If you want to take care of any dimension then you have to be at least a mid-tier god.

“Huk.. god?”

Arehis..he’s a god?  Which part of his appearance makes you say that?

If you are a god then you should be solemn with a white beard and have the appearance of a grandfather?

Instead he was outrageously handsome that several women would faint if he brushed by.

He has long silky black hair that reaches his shoulder.. his smile makes him look like a pretty boy so how can he be a god!!

Arehis laughed at my shocked face then continued his explanation.

“That is correct.  Also Uraus is not from the Divine race.  Divine races refers to the human-kind that lives in the god world.
They have already received an occupation through afterlife so they were given a new race.

If you live as a Divine race then work is continuous, and if there is no special circumstance, you will be reborn to the Divine race again.
You can say it continues like a Mobius strip?
In the case of Uraus or guides like him, they are spirits that have left their dead bodies to complete their jobs in the underworld.
Of course since they are souls so their life span isn’t decided.”

“T..then the Watchers are…”

“They aren’t Divine races either.  All the figures that are from the underworld that isn’t a director is not from the Divine Race.
The Watcher are made out of low-tier gods, they are given that post as a punishment for being below normal their potential. (TL note: gods with bad grade :P) It’s a position in which you are drowned by a sea of paperwork everyday.  It’s a really exhausting job.”

“…………..”

How should I say this… My outlook on this world has changed.  Or is it how I treat others that has changed?

Divine race, Spirits..  they just exist like that.. I thought of it in those vague terms, but this time I had to accept it as a reality.

Arehis and Ifrit spoke continuously while ignoring my stupefied stiff form.

“Ah, wait a moment.  If the Divine race lives in the god world then how are they able to travel to the underworld?  Perhaps they have the ability to move between dimensions?”

“Ah Ah.  They are hopefuls that would like to work for the underworld one day. They were given a special permission by the High-tier god to travel.
However they are only allowed to move to the underworld and nowhere else.”

“Ho oh~ By high-tier god, you mean?”

“There is ‘Ehnoose’-nim that is in charge of the heavens and ‘Hellast’-nim that is in charge of the underworld.  There seems to be a silent agreement between them.
For awhile it, the Demon race(TL note: Ma-jok) tried to work in the underworld so it was a bit of a pain.
The god of hell, ‘Krajae’-nim, was barely able to calm them down.”

The definition of heaven over here is the god world the divine race lives on.

Moreover the Demon world is hell but the entire Demon world is not a scary place.  There is only a specific space that is used as hell.

It is a location reserved for punishing irredeemable souls or souls that you just want to teach a lesson.

“The Demon race look after hell and live there.
Their disposition is very aggressive and violent so they have no problem coexisting.
Occasionally they go to Arkadon to play so you might see them there.”

“What? They come to play at Arkadon?  I thought only gods and people from the underworld can travel to a different dimension?”

Maybe Ifrit lied to me to make fun of me?

I turned around angrily but I saw Ifrit looking at me with a frown like I said something stupid.

“The dimension I mentioned excluding the human world is the 4 great dimension.”

“What are you talking about again?”

In the beginning, the main god chose 5 dimensions.  God world and Demon world, Spirit world and underworld… then the human world.

Among them the 4 great dimension is the god world, demon world, spirit world and the underworld.  Only one of them can exist, but human worlds can exist in the hundreds of dimensions.

Between all of them is Arkadon.

“The ‘4 great dimensions’ are accessible to those under special circumstances.  It can be accessed by the gods and the under worlders but all the other races are barred from entering freely.  There are some limitation to going to the human world but if you have the ability, then anyone can move there.
However that has nothing to do with us?
We are trying to go to the god world.  Therefore I explained the ‘4 great dimensions’ in term you can easily understand.”

“So we could go to the human world of a different dimension?”

Maybe I could go back to earth when I have the opportunity.  I asked Ifrit with hope shining in my eyes.

But Ifrit did not even take a moment of time to think about it before coldly denying.

“No, we can transfer from the Spirit world to Arkadon because it is connected to each other.  We can’t with other places.
If we are absent from the Spirit World then Arkadon’s nature would be greatly damaged.
That is why the main god did not originally give the Spirit Kings the ability to move between dimensions.  Arehis was mad because of that very reason.
Two Spirit Kings vacated Arkadon.”

“Of course…uh?  Wait a moment..Uraus is an underworld resident so shouldn’t he be able to go to the god world?…
Then why does a Decider have to accompany him..”

“Ah Ah.  That is, it’s not impossible but it’s a matter of custom.  You could say it’s a regulation?  The god world is divided into the kingdoms where the divine races live and the holy grounds where the gods congregate and live.
If a Guide trespasses the area where the strict gods lives then there may be unknown consequences for the trespasser.
There are a fair amount of ill-tempered gods. Even the Guides who have to transfer the Divine race’s soul cannot enter god world.

So…the reason you came here is to go to the god world?”

“……..”

After Arehis asked his question, Ifrit and I similarly closed our mouth.  I guess we were feeling a bit intimidated?

Instead Uraus, who hadn’t really spoken until now, joined the conversation and answered.

“When I met them at the Spirit World, they asked if there was a way to transfer to the god world.  I believe they have some business in the god world.”

“Hmm?  Elqueeness-nim was just born so he shouldn’t have any acquaintance with the god world…That means it’s Ifrit-nim’s problem.
Even if it was me, it would be difficult for me gain entrance for others to the god world based on a personal matter.  Please could you tell me your business?”
…However if she could answer easily then it wasn’t the peerless Ifrit.

I found out about it, but she had hidden her feeling for at least a couple hundred..maybe couple thousand years.

How can she carefully explain it someone she just met today.

I glance at here and I could see a very nervous Ifrit standing there with her head down.

Arehis had gotten to the heart of the situation and it was a situation where he was waiting for Ifrit to open her mouth.

“…….”

“…….”

It was a short silence, but for someone who knew the situation, it felt like hundred thousand years had passed.

I couldn’t help it but Ifrit was contorting her face like she was about to cry.

Finally, in my heart, I decided to sacrifice myself to save another’s life.

I don’t know if it’ll be from Ifrit’s inside drying up or the Ifrit who couldn’t stand the humiliation but in the near future, Arehis will get knocked down.  (TL note: lol the life he is saving is Arehis’…I thought he was talking about Ifrit)

“I’m the one who has business with the god world, Arehis.”

I spoke while raising one hand like I was confessing.  Arehis and Ifrit’s eyes went round because of it.

Especially Ifrit was staring at me…like she was wondering if I ate something bad..it made me think I volunteered for nothing..Ku-huk.

“Elqueeness-nim?  However you are..”

“Yes, I don’t know anyone in the god world but there is an existance that I would like to meet.”

“Someone you want to meet..?”

I smiled at Arehis, who was starting at me with a confused expression.

Why is Uraus’ face turning red?  Are you hiding something from me?

My suspicion fountained but considering the time we spent wasn’t that long, I thought he had nothing worth hiding.  So I decided not to pursue it.

“I would like to meet the the previous Elqueeness.
Ifrit keeps comparing me to him and I’m feeling something like depression because of the experience. I want to see how distinguished he is.

“What..What did you say?  When did I do that?” (TL note: lol selective memory)

“You did.  At every opportunity, you say the previous Elqueeness did this and that.  Do you know how bad a Spirit feels when listening to that?  I’m sure couple dozens of hair would fall off from the stress.”

I boldly yelled it out even though my hair is fine, but I knew he’ll remain unconvinced.

The fact that Spirits could lose hair because of stress was something new.

However Arehis didn’t become a god for nothing.  While Ifrit was loss for word, Arehis’ facial expression didn’t even change.

Instead his eyes were sparkling like a child that had found something fun..It was like screaming ‘I know what you did last summer! So just tell me everything!’.

This..Did I make a mistake?

A guilty conscience needs no accuser..
I met his eye with guilt in my eyes, but I heard a strange amount of gaiety from Arehis’ voice.

“You’ve suffered a lot.  Somehow you look very tired. However how can you guarantee that the previous Elqueeness-nim is in the current god world?

“There..There is no guarantee.. I thought it would be ok to just go there..Arehis said so previously.  If a Spirit King dies then you said he either goes to the god world or walked the path of the afterlife…Therefore I just…
Ifrit had no choice but to come because I begged her to…”

“Hmm really…”

Arehis sighed like it had some meaning contained in it and he dragged out the last word.

He had a somewhat complicated dark expression so I felt cold sweat flowing down my back.

Was this too personal a buisness?  Maybe I should have told the truth and try to get a sympathetic reaction?

The death of a loved person.  If he understood Ifrit’s loving heart that wouldn’t give up then maybe this business would be unravelled easily..

In a flash, I felt the surrounding air freeze and my body withdrew a little.

I asked with a very demoralized voice to find a common ground that might comfort Ifrit.

“Maybe..If it’s too much trouble then..could you just find out what happened to the previous Elqueeness?  Could it be…that is also too difficult?”

“Let me see….”

Arehis gave a very awkward smile and after seeing his expression, I despaired.

Do we have to go back without gaining anything?

If you are a god then you could cut us some slack, Arehis!!

After seeing the rather gloomy figure of Ifrit, I felt a lot of guilt for giving her hope.

‘Don’t worry, Ifrit.  If it comes to it, I’ll blackmail Uraus to take us to the god world’

That was the plan I was making inside.

“It’s  El-wee-en.”

“Yes?”

Arehis spoke out of nowhere.  It made our eyes turn round.

I guess our looks were funny because he started laughing for a moment.  Then he spoke in a relaxed pose.

“That’s the previous Elqueeness-nim’s new name.  He is called ‘El-wee-en*Chrino*Rutessa’.  You were right, Elqueeness-nim.  That person has entered the current god world and he was given a position as a high tier god.  He is charge of the dimension “Baiton”.

“Huh-uk?”
The ends of Ifrit’s hands started to slightly shake.

It was the typical posture of someone who was unsure and nervous – her body was withdrawn, shoulders shaking a little bit and additionally she was biting her lips.  It even made me nervous.

Ifrit was thinking hard and you could see a little bit of regret in her expression but soon it disappeared.

She probably is trying hard to be satisfied with knowing the current situation of the previous Elqueeness.

Arehis looked at her figure and he seemed to have thought and confirmed something.  He started to rise slowly from where he was sitting.

I was looking sideways when Arehis said this towards me.

“What are you doing?  You aren’t going to the god world?”

“What? Ah..Then?”

Maybe he is really going to take us to the god world?

 

rehis’ expression was already burning and no matter what, it wouldn’t relax.  He shot daggers with his eyes toward the two from the Divine race.

“You dare scold a god that is above the Divine race?”

“That..that isn’t it…”

“That..that’s absurd, Arehis-nim.  We were just…”

“Shut up.  I’m not in a situation where I want you meddling in the work I’m trying to do.  You are in error of focusing on one claim that you are unable to see the whole.

You are merely of the Divine race, but you dare comment on the work of a god!
The magic formation that moves one to the holy land is located in your kingdom’s castle so do you see it as yours!
Do you want to receive a god’s judgment right now and be sent fallen into the corners of hell?”

“He-e-e-eek…” (TLN: sound you make when you cower)

Huiiik~ (TLN: whistling sound)

A small whistle came out without me knowing it.

A powerful Arehis..  His figure was almost unthinkable compared to how he usually is.

He would always use the respectful form of speech. He was amply aloof and great, but still it always felt like he lowered one level for his opponent.

His figure looked like an adult yielding trying to soothe a fussy child?

However now that he is speaking informally to his opponents, I was naturally in awe of this bona fide god.

The detached black colored aura was spreading out to the surrounding.  He had a sharp cold gaze. His strong charisma oozed out from his whole body. He was a stout and arrogant figure so much so that his opponent couldn’t even squeak.

More than likely, it is said that the quiet guys are scary when they are angry.

Arehis revealed his true nature and the mood was creepily frightening.  He could be called Hell’s Lion and it would be an apt comparison.

Indeed, not anyone can become the underworld’s god.

While this was going on I was naturally thinking ‘A handsome person looks tremendous doing anything’…if my companions knew my inner thoughts then maybe they would think I’m the most tremendous person.

Truthfully, Ifrit was a bit startled by the situation but surprisingly, my feelings were very calm.

Later, Trowell heard this story and he told me ‘It’s Elqueeness’ true nature that is passed on through the generations’.  At that time, I didn’t have much thoughts as I was watching the angry Arehis.  It was like I was appraising a painting.

I looked between the Divine race and our party.  There was an oppressive silence as if cold water was poured on us.  I was the first one to speak and also the one who switched the mood.

“I’m sorry.  My stubbornness has given Arehis-nim a burden. After quickly resolving the business I have at the holy grounds, we’ll return to Arkadon before there is any damage.   Could you, the two Divine race, excuse us?”

“Yes..Yes? Ah..That..That is..”

They were very flustered right now.  They did not expect Arehis to be this angry.

The penalty was heavy for a person of the Divine race to be rude towards a god.

At this rate, they were in a situation where they had no choice but to be judged and be sent straight to hell. When I came forth deliberately acting sorry,  their figures felt quite relieved while still being afraid.

Arehis’ face, which was frozen like an ice crystal, relaxed a little bit when I appeared.

” It’s not a situation where Elqueeness-nim should apologize.  This is about the rude Divine race’s attitude problem.”

Oh oh.  The respectful form of speech is back!  (TLN: there are ways to speak casually to friends or equal in age, and another way to speak to elder or with respect – Arehis dropped it while being angry )

Truthfully he seemed like he would have been indiscriminately angry toward the Divine race or even the Spirit Kings. He felt really disappointed when Arehis calmed down easily.

Ah, yeah.  I was a bit coy while getting used to my new life, but I’m is a guy who is really happy when others have bad luck.

When I died from the car accident, I wasn’t thinking about my own death. I was more focused on the thought of suing the driver who had hit me.

I used to be the president of the Couple Disruption committee and my colorful past record was well-documented.

Right now my mischievous side was secretly trying to awaken.

I thought about stepping aside while saying “Oh, that’s right” because I wanted to see Arehis scold the Divine race.  Still we couldn’t delay any more so I used my superhuman patience to refrain.

“These people are worried about Arehis’ responsibilities if a problem arises on Arkadon.  So Arehis should be more understanding.
I’ve caused you various kinds of harm.  I don’t know how to apologize..”

” You shouldn’t be.  Didn’t I say I have a debt towards Elqueeness-nim?
This is nothing compared to what you had to experience.
Well, since Elqueeness-nim said so, I won’t mention these people’s rudeness any more.”

The eyes of the two from the Divine Race twinkled after hearing Arehis.
Then their moved gazes were showing growing respect towards me.. They seemed to be deeply moved.

Inwardly, they were probably saying I’m really kind.

I felt a little bit guilty thinking about it that way.  I just didn’t want to spend more time here.

It’s fun to watch a fight when you have time.  Right now every second is precious so isn’t this just wasting time?
So don’t look at me with those twinkling eyes!

Fortunately, the two from the Divine race could not keep their eyes on me any longer.  Arehis quickly added in some words like he was waiting for them to relax.

“Leo, Marte.  The two of you will be given life as a lower tier angel after you complete this current life?”

“Yes? Ah, That…That is correct.  Arehis-nim.  This is my third life living as a Divine race.”

“Me too.”

Arehis’ speech has returned to using the respectful form of speech, so they were able to breathe a sigh of relief on one hand but on the other hand, they were still very nervous.

They didn’t want to get punished for saying the wrong thing again so they paid closer attention to their words.

Arehsis must have felt something from these figures and suddenly his gaze lighted up like a wild animal.

“If this ‘incident’ happens then everything will go down the drain.  You will have to walk the road of afterlife.  The both of you are aiming to become a high tier angel?”

“Huk..we…we wouldn’t even dare.  We are satisfied with being a low tier angel.”

” (Nod Nod)…”

People of the Divine Race can become angels.

The catch is they have to go through a bit of a picky process. The requirement was they have to live 3 lives as a Divine race before they could be promoted to a low tier angel.

On average, the Divine race has a life span of 20 thousand years and you have to multiply that by 3.

The Divine race were made out of pure souls with no profession.  If they wanted to be born again as a divine race then they cannot take up any new profession during their life time.

To summarize, only when you don’t take up a profession for 60 thousand years then you would have the right to become a low tier angel.

If you live 3 life time as a low tier angel then you become a mid tier angel.  Again if you live 3 life time as a mid tier angel then you are promoted to high tier angel.

The title of ‘Grand Arch Angel’ is given if you live 3 lives as a high tier angel.  This angel would be of a lower position then a low tier god but that angel would be able to assist the main god.  Thus they would be treated on the same level as a low tier god.

The low tier angels has 2 wings, mid tier has 4, high tier has 6 and the Grand Arch Angel has 8 wings.

Anyways, during this period if you develop one profession or a person of the divine race that became an angel gets punished then they would have to give up on being promoted to the next tier.

If you aren’t an angel then you would have to walk the road of after life without even getting a chance to argue.

It is a singular rule that applies to everyone except the Grand Arch Angel, who has ‘the benefit of vanishing lifespan’.

The angels are allowed to enter the holy ground and their function is to assist in the works of the various gods.

They are an existence that is separate from the Divine race and both aren’t allowed to interfere with each other’s territories.  Their professions are like the nobles of the human world.

The only thing different from the human world is that they would gain honor but the benefit wouldn’t follow…?

Still it is a sufficiently attractive situation that most of the Divine race desperately tries to rise to the ranks of the angels.

The two of the Divine race that was cringing in front of Arehis were part of that group.

Their face turned blue after Arehis mentioned ‘angels’ out of nowhere.  They must have felt something from his attitude and they were sweating hard.

However whether Arehis didn’t see this or he was ignoring it, he kept a calm disposition.  He spoke simply about a subject that melted the others’ heart.

“Hmm. That could be a problem.  I think it would be impossible for you to become an angel.”

“Yes…why?  How..how come???”

“Ah ah.  I’m sorry to say this but as you know, I’m the god in charge of the underworld.
I am able to see clearly if a spirit has a profession.  Until a moment ago, the two of your souls did not have a profession…”

“B…But?”

Arehis looked apologetically towards the two from the Divine race who asked nervously while shaking.

Next to him Uraus had his head down like something disastrous had happened.  I guess he could also see the spirit’s profession.

Following Arehis’ answer, all of us asked ‘why?’.  Ifrit and I had automatically opened our mouth in shock.

“My anger towards your attitude has caused you to form a ‘profession’.
If it was between others of the Divine race, then the situation is small enough to be resolved with an apology…
Since I’m a god, the profession turned into ‘Blasphemer’.  What should we do?”

“Hu-uh-uh-uk!!!!”

“How…how could this be…”

This was their 3rd life as a Divine race.  They weren’t too far off from being promoted to a low tier angel.  Now their dreams crumbled in front of their eyes!

Listening to their story, they had refused to drink the water of Forgetfulness before being reborn to keep all of their memories from the past 60 thousand years.  They did this in order to fulfill their dream of becoming an angel.

In the case of Divine races, they tell you your previous goals in the past life and how many times you have been reincarnated when you are reborn.  Therefore it wasn’t necessary for them to do that, but they refused the water of Forgetfulness multiple times in the underworld.  They wanted to remember their resolution.

If one is unlucky then one will break one’s nose while falling backwards is a saying that described the duo.

The two from the Divine race had an expression like the world had ended. They slowly sat down in place.

The two pair of eyes filled with tears, but they made every effort to not let it fall.  One could tell how much they were despairing.   One could tell how much they had been hurt.

“Don’t be too crestfallen.  There is one way.”

“…….? ”
“………? ”

The duo from the Divine race, with pitiful faces, lifted their head with effort. They looked at Arehis.

Even during this situation they were filled with respect towards Arehis, and their gazes held not a single drop of blame..
Unlike the Demon race that was explained earlier, they were outrageous in a whole different way.

They might have wasted living as a Divine race for 60 thousand years?

Arehis seemed satisfied with how they looked so he didn’t hesitate before speaking.

He put forth a carrot that they couldn’t help but consume.

“I’ve told you.. I’m the god of the under world.  I can erase the ‘profession’ that was formed. ”

“!!!Is..Is that true?!!! ”

“Oh oh!! Arehis-nim!!!”

They got up like nothing had happened while being deeply moved.

They sent a suspicious gaze toward Urasus as if to say ‘Is it true?’ but he just nodded in confirmation.

The gods of the underworld has the discretion and authority to erase a spirit’s profession.

Couldn’t you have said this from the beginning and not have to melt the heart of the two from the divine race?

I gazed with incredulity, but I found out the reason immediately.

“However, I have one condition.  Please keep it a secret that I brought the two Spirit Kings.  Of course, you also have to allow us to enter holy ground.”

Right now everyone, including me, could probably see the evil light emanating from Arehis’ gaze.

Perhaps this was his aim from the beginning as he was being angry at the Divine race.

No matter what the reason was, if you receive a god’s wrath then you will always get the profession of ‘Blasphemer’.

……..It was the moment Arehis’ true greatness was revealed.
“Arehis.. You are very shrewd.”

I didn’t know what kind of retaliation Arehis will direct at me after I said this, but I had to say these words.

If I don’t then I don’t think I could ever forget the two faces of the Divine race that was seeing us off.

After seeing their expression of futility that has been transcended by something, I felt the pang of conscience.

Currently we are heading toward the magic formation that leads to the holy land with the permission of the two from the Divine race.

On the Kingdom’s entry papers, it’ll be recorded that only Arehis and Uraus visited.

A high level blackmail technique was used to resolve ‘destruction of evidence’?…

According to the records, it means, Ifrit and I have never entered here.

“Tell me the truth.  You got angry on purpose?  You intended for them to develop a profession, and you wanted to use that as a secret to blackmail them, right?”

“Hahaha. Maybe…”

Despite my close questioning, Arehis responded with this usual calm smile.

However, he dragged out his last word so he may be implicating it without realizing it.

For crying out loud.. How can someone called a god blackmail his opponents of the Divine race?

It happened because of us so it can’t be helped but I couldn’t help but feel astonished.

It felt wrong like we had broken a seemingly normal god..

” Was it necessary to do that?  I think they would have let us through after you got angry..”

Uraus joined in from the side after I sent a queer gaze toward the back of Arehis’ head.

“It couldn’t be helped.  The spirits of the Divine races are pure but there are some side effects.. They are very inflexible in their ways.
First they would have let us pass to deal with the angered Arheis-nim, but afterwards they would have reported to the god that was in charge of the entrance to the holy ground.  Without capturing a weakness, the back work would be difficult to handle.”

“R..really?  Mmm..However, if they are inflexible then wouldn’t they report now?  Arehis erased their profession. ”

“Not yet.  The god can choose to destroy their profession only when they are in their spirit forms.  Until they die, they won’t be able to erase it.  Therefore even if they wanted to cause trouble, they probably wouldn’t be able to?”

Ha ah.  Therefore they have captured the perfect weakness.

Once again I could only nod my head after realizing Arehis’ greatness again.
At this moment, I was grateful that I wasn’t a human.  Maybe.

The magic formation was located inside the castle.  It was in the middle of a giant hall.
We walked through a pure white colored elegant corridor with white pillars.  After we passed a room decorated by sculptures, we arrived at a wide-open party hall.

It was decorated by multi-colored stained glass and each of the pillars were decorated by various gems.  It felt fancy, but I thought it wasn’t grander then the white spaced hall I saw in the underworld.

The hall from the underworld.. There were nothing there except whiteness, but it couldn’t hide the oppressive sense of mysteriousness emanating from that place.

Compare to that, this castle hall was very fancy but it’s feeling of holiness was somewhat lacking.

It was a sight that I couldn’t give too much point considering it was the place that held the magic formation that leads to the holy land.

However this thought changed when I saw the round gold shaped that was sculpted in the middle of the hall.

This figure was similar to the etching on the necklace around Uraus’ neck.
It had a wide golden boundary with a fancy star shape and several kinds of figures drawn on.

The picture itself was sparkling and the shapes looked like star-dust had been sprinkled on.  It was very beautiful.

The large space seemed to exist only for the golden pattern.. Am I going overboard? Haha.

I felt Uraus’ questioning gaze after he saw me laughing for no reason.
I playfully told him what I was thinking about and he unexpectedly told me the truth.

” You saw truly.  This is the magic formation that leads to the holy land. This whole hall exists for that purpose, so Elqueeness-nim’s thoughts aren’t wrong.”

“Huh-guk.  That’s the magic formation?”

“Yes. If you step up on there then you will be transported directly to the holy ground.  Is this your first time teleporting through a magic formation?  Of course, you haven’t been summoned to the human world yet?”
“………? ”

What does being summoned to the human world have to do with teleporting through a magic formation for the first time?

I turned my baffled gaze toward Uraus, who was seriously nodding his head while mumbling.  After seeing this, Ifrit answered my question.

“A magic formation is raised when a spirit is summoned to the human world.  You will experience this someday.”

“Hmm…”

I’ll experience it soon.. So I guess it doesn’t matter if I don’t worry about it right now?

I decided to ignore the problem without any qualm.

I thought since I’ll learn about it sooner or later there is no benefit to wrapping my head and worrying about it.

Soon we approached the magic formation on behest of Arehis’ urgings.  We didn’t even have time to sense each others behavior before we got on the magic formation.

Pah-ah-aht.(TLN: sound that indicates a flash)

The golden pattern started glowing right after we got on.  It was ememating so much light that it was hard to even see what’s in front.

Then a remote sense of nauseousness was continuously felt.  I felt momentarily dizzy as I felt a short sense of falling and emptiness beneath my feet.

Afterwards I felt someone’s hand solidly helping my body.  Who?

I looked toward the person who was helping me with a slightly pinched face.  Uraus, with a really red face, was maintaining my body with his arms around my waist.

After I was able to perceive this, I realized that my surrounding had definitely changed.

The kingdom was gone like it had been sold off.  We found ourselves in the middle of a garden with only white flowers and it was filled with the scent of lilies.

“This..This place…is the holy ground?”

“Ah ah. To tell you the truth, the magic formation is random.  It teleports you to any place within the holy ground..
You won’t know where you would be dropped off.
This white lily garden..  I believe it’s, the low tier goddess of flower, ‘Flowers’-nim’s garden..  (TLN: wow =_=; author got lazy naming the goddess)
El-wee-en -nim’s territory isn’t too far off from here.  That’s a relief.
Sometimes you arrive at a place where you have to walk the whole day to reach your destination.”

My mouth opened in shock at Arehis’ explanation.

The magic formation was random?  It randomly drops you off anywhere???  How can you make such a thing!!

Now that I see Ifrit’s expression it expectedly became abnormally wrinkled.
She lived far longer than me, but this situation was also new to her.

“Ha..haha.. Why is it so inconvenient…”

“The high tier god ‘Hyatt’-nim is in charge of the area of ‘Magic’ that deals with ‘teleportation’, and he is very eccentric. It can’t be helped.  It is one of his minor pranks.  He is being persecuted by the other gods, because of it..”

He deserves to be persecuted~~!  At that moment, Ifrit and my heart yelled out the same thought.

Even if you are eccentric, how can you make that kind of magic formation that connects to the holy land.

Today we were lucky.  We were dropped close to El-we-en’s territory but what if we had arrive at a place where we had to walk for a whole day like Areheis’ said!!

At that same moment, a new curiosity formed about El-we-en, who was the previous Elqueeness.

Now that I see it, each god is only in charge of one area of the dimension.
For example, it’s like the flower goddess or the god in charge of magic.

Then what is El-wee-en in charge of?

I opened my mouth toward Arehis- who was the most likely candidate to resolve my curiosity the fastest and the easiest.

“Well, Arehis.  El-wee-en, the previous Elqueeness, is a god in charge of what?  Now that I see the gods, each of them are in charge of an area..
Like..the..goddess of flower, or magic..”

“Mmm.  You are curious about that?”

Arehis, whose face was bold up until now, showed a slight amount of unrest.

Something was bothering him, but it seemed he felt duty bound to tell us. He seemed to have a complicated expression?

Next to me, Ifrit’s overbearing red eyes glowed while waiting nervously for the answer to my question.

He resolutely looked at her, and Arehis gave a sigh of resignation. He spoke after saying these weighty words, ‘You better prepare yourself and listen to this’ and he started to open his mouth.

” Do you remember that the dimension El-wee-en-nim was in charge was called ‘Baiton’?”

“Ah, yes. ”

“Baiton is.. it’s the only dimension that is connected to the Demon world.  It’s the same as the connection between Arkadon and the Spirit world.
Of course, it is the dimension where the Demon race can move around with freedom the most. Currently it could be called the 2nd Demon world?..”

“He-eh…”

“….Several high tier gods were in charge of the dimension, but they all quit within few years.”

“……eh?”

What did we just hear?  It’s a dimension..that gods..gave up on?

We stared at him with stupefied gazes, and Arehis stared back with an ambiguous expression that Ifrit and I couldn’t tell if he was going to smile or cry.

“There are two high tier gods in the Demon world.  The god of hell is ‘Krajae’-nim and the Demon world’s god is ‘Kanos’-nim. I’m telling you, asides from these gods, no other gods were able to handle the Demon world.

Since the Demon race is very violent, they would faint in frustration dozens of times during a day taking care of them.
However, another ‘Demon world’ appeared where these Demon races could run amok.  That place is ‘Baiton’.”

“Gulp…”

“Even an evil god has a limit in how much they can look after the Demon race.  It is too hard of a work to control the Demon race that had moved to a different dimension.

Thus when the existence from your dimension jumps over to another then the responsibility is passed on to the other dimension’s high tier god.
However as I have told you, Baiton has enough demons to be called another Demon world.  Of course, normal gods cannot handle this.
This one god got so mad that he almost tried to destroy the whole dimension. ”

“Ah ha ha…”

The previous Elqueeness is in charge of that incredible dimension?  Oh my god.

No matter how I think about it, this meeting was filled with bad luck.

Even Ifrit’s complexion turned white..

The person who she misses is going through daily tribulation, and it seemed she was filled with worry for him.

El-wee-en became a high tier god not too long ago, and it seems like an impossible dimension to endure.

“Eh..Is El-wee-en fine?”

“Ha ah.. Somehow it seems really dangerous…”

After seeing us shake our head and mumble, Arehis looked at us with a meaningful smile.

“Do you know what the previous Elqueeness-nim’s new name, ‘El-wee-en*Chrino*Rutessa’, means? ”

…how would we know.

He nodded his head after seeing our clueless expressions.

His attitude seemed very full of himself. Ifrit and I did not know what kind of expression to make.

” El-wee-en means ‘To destroy’ in the Divine language.”

“Hu-uk?”

“Chrino is to ‘Judge’..Rutessa is to ‘Demolish’ or ‘To kill with destruction’..that is the meaning.”

” !!! ”

“It’s been referenced that the most feared god is not the Demon gods. It’s been said that the current demon race fears Baiton’s El-wee-en the most.”

Arehis laughed at us, who were speechless.

“The main god judged that El-wee-en, the god of punishment, suited the ‘Baiton’ dimension the most.  Therefore, the two Spirit Kings should not worry too much about it.”

“………”

Ifrit and I closed our mouth before we could even squeak.

Punishment?  Haha…Yes, punishment… He’s the god of punishment…… ….

All of a sudden I looked at Ifrit and I saw here shaking her head saying ‘If it’s that guy then it’s possible’.

…I…Would I be able to survive after meeting this guy?…

I felt like the sky was turning yellow.