In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 2

Chapter II: The Successor of the Gods 

“They’re in the Pallin Desert within the former Sandora Kingdom’s territory... At the very least there are ten-thousand. It’s an invasion force similar to the number that appeared in Yulong.” 
“And when can we expect them?” 
“I’d say we have less than a day.” I was on the phone with Guildmaster Relisha, quietly concerned about what she was telling me. A large Phrase invasion was incoming. 
The only saving grace of the situation was that they were in the desert. Their emergence spot was also several hundred kilometers from Draggah, the nearest town. 
Since I liberated the slaves, the region was largely disrupted. Regular farmers and traders who didn’t own slaves weren’t really affected all that much. I also heard that several of the freed slaves who remained in Sandora had gotten proper employment, as well. 
The problem came from the nobles and large-scale merchants that had subjected the slaves to abuse. 
They feared that the freed slaves would want to take revenge, so they ended up fleeing the region and taking all their assets with them. Even their guardsmen were slaves, so it wasn’t like there were many people available to help them, either. 
As a result of the mass exodus of the elite, those that governed the major cities and towns were all gone. The people remaining ended up dividing the territory into city state-like nations. 
Among those city-states were even settlements that were founded and built upon by liberated slaves. It wasn’t as if every noble was abusive. There were some who remained because they had good relationships with their workers to begin with, even if they were indentured. 
Sandora was a dictatorship that didn’t interact much with the outside world, so they had good self-sufficiency when it came to things like food. That hadn’t changed after the country dissolved, so people were still able to eat. Either way, the nobles had gone and the lower classes were running the place in their own way. 
Sandora was a desert, for the most part, but a lot of the inhabited territory had so much agricultural boon that it almost seemed impossible. I wondered if this was the work of nature spirits, contradicting the natural environment. 
There were split opinions on what had happened to Sandora. Some viewed it as a heroic act that freed the slaves, while others viewed it as the work of a demon that had crushed a country. 
I wasn’t too surprised to hear stories had grown to that extent, hyperbole was just another fact of life, after all. But one of the rumors said that I had destroyed that one city the wicked god ended up consuming... 
It was true that I’d burned it to the ground, but that was more a cremation than anything. 
Either way, it wasn’t as bad as the Yulong rumors, so I wasn’t too irritated. But there were still people out there who thought I was the source of the Phrase invasion... I couldn’t see why they’d think that. Those things are a pain in the ass to everyone. 
I decided to focus on the current emergency, I needed help from the other world leaders, pronto. I opened up an app on my smartphone... 
By the end of it all, we had four-hundred-and-twelve Frame Gears lined up in the desert. They belonged to the following nations: 
The Kingdom of Belfast 
The Refreese Imperium 
The Kingdom of Mismede 
The Regulus Empire 
The Ramissh Theocracy 
The Roadmare Union 
The Kingdom of Lihnea 
The Kingdom of Palouf 
The Knight Kingdom of Lestia 
The Demon Kingdom of Xenoahs 
The Magic Kingdom of Felsen 
Each nation had three Knight Barons and twenty-seven Chevaliers, a total of thirty each. 
Brunhild had its nine Valkyries, the three commanding units (Shining Count, Knight Baron, and Blue Moon), and seventy Chevaliers. 
Assuming ten-thousand Phrase appeared, that meant each Frame Gear needed to kill about twenty-four enemies. I anticipated that the majority of the creatures would just be small-fry, Lesser Constructs, but I couldn’t be sure until they appeared. We needed to take care not to be swarmed, though. 
“This heat really sucks. Only the custom Frame Gears have cooling functions added... It’s fine while the hatch is open, but once we get fighting it’ll be a bit of a pain.” 
“I hope they appear at night, then.” 
“If that happens we’ll have low visibility.” The knight king of Lestia and the king of Lihnea replied to my complaining. It was probably annoying when we had to fight at night in the past. I didn’t know for sure because I passed out after killing Gila during the last night battle. 
Frame Gears were coated with protective paint that meant they wouldn’t get so hot you could fry an egg on them, but it would still become stuffy and uncomfortable in the cockpit. 
“We’ve prepared plenty of water, so don’t get dehydrated out there. And be mindful of the terrain, too. There’s a possibility of losing your footing, so I’d recommend you all try to move a bit before the fight starts.” There was the possibility of death if the Frame Gears fell, after all. We did have an emergency protocol that I’d programmed into the Frame Gears, one that teleported people away from their mechs after enough damage was sustained... 
But if the cockpit itself was crushed too quickly, it wouldn’t have enough time to activate. 
The Phrase were targeting human heartbeats, so it stood to reason they might just directly go for the cockpits. 
We’d set up a ramshackle command center in the middle of the desert. It was built out of several shipping container-like structures, all joined together with a central tent. The world leaders were all in here, checking over their plans in conjunction with the map spread across the central table. 
We’d used magic to keep the command center nice and cool, but leaving the safety bubble caused things to get very hot, very fast. 
“We’ll likely get an Upper Construct, right?” 
“Like the one that destroyed Yulong’s capital? I’d like to avoid seeing one, if possible...” The doge of Roadmare and the overlord both murmured to each other as they watched the live video feeds of the desert outside. 
“I don’t think we’ll see one this time. I think it’ll mostly just be Lesser and Intermediate Constructs. There might be some metal devils, though...” 
“You mean the golden ones?” 
“Yes. They’re only slightly stronger than regular Phrase to start, but they can feast on their former kin to become even stronger. If we see any, make them the primary targets.” I didn’t know for sure if they’d appear, but it was better to be safe than sorry. I was personally more worried that another Dominant Construct could appear. 
We also had an emergency escape route in place within the command center, it was a portal we could run through to escape back to Brunhild in a worst-case scenario. 
Lapis came walking through that very portal, bringing a meal for everyone within the building. It was lunchtime. 
The Frame Gear pilots all got rice balls, a flask of fresh water, and some bite-sized sandwiches. The world leaders, on the other hand, got some chilled ramen. 
Chilled ramen was a specialty from the Yamagata prefecture. It was much like regular ramen, but it was cooled down and didn’t have as much congealed fat or oil. The soup and the noodles were entirely cold. 
It wasn’t sour like chilled Chinese noodles, and it was the kind of thing that just made you wanna keep eating it. I once visited relatives in Yamagata and basically became a chilled ramen addict as a result. 
The soup was good, it had plenty of soy sauce in it. The noodles were nice and stretchy, and it had sliced chicken, a boiled egg, menma, narutomaki, and green onions alongside it. There were lots of peppers, too. 
“Ohoho... I’ve never had this before, but it is rather refreshing.” 
“Ahh... The meat’s so tender... I love it!” The other world leaders seemed to enjoy it. I made a mental note to pass on their compliments to Crea later on. 
Given that the world leaders had spent their lunches eating in Brunhild after our monthly conferences, they were all accustomed to eating with chopsticks. The new members from Felsen, Xenoahs, and Palouf were still using forks, though. 
“Oh, that reminds me... Grand Duke. Will you be sharing the Phrasium fragments with us this time around?” The king of Felsen spoke up as he slurped his ramen. He was probably thinking about how much purer Phrasium chunks were than spellstones. It would be a golden chance for Felsen to get their hands on some. He likely wanted to incorporate them into the magic train development. 
“Yeah, sounds fine. We’ll ask for a cut since you’re renting the Frame Gears from us, but everything else you guys can divide up and split.” If the Frame Gears were damaged, I expected them to pay up in raw materials. They’d only have to pay the material needed to cover the repairs, though. Our Workshop was fully automated, meaning there were no labor fees... But that was a national secret. 
Yumina and the girls took it in turns coming into the command center to enjoy some ramen, too. It ended up being quite the hit dish. I ended up giving the chilled ramen recipe to the other world leaders, so they could enjoy it themselves. 
The heat outside only intensified as the day went on. Monsters that nested in the desert sands also emerged from time to time. They weren’t a match for our Frame Gears... Unless you counted the Sand Crawlers, they were huge and a pain in the ass. Either way, we decided not to engage them unless they engaged us. 
I found myself quietly hoping the Phrase would just appear so I could go home and rest. 
I left the tent and looked across the desert. But nothing happened. Typical. They appear when I don’t want them to, and stay away when I want them to show up. 
I took a step into the desert and suddenly saw something flicker in the corner of my eye. 
“...Hm?” I felt a sudden presence about three meters in front of me. I didn’t necessarily feel any hostility, I just felt something was there. 
I imbued my eyes with divinity and surveyed the area. It was then that I noticed the sandy-looking Slime at my feet. It had a single large eye, which fixated on me once it realized I could see it. It stopped moving. 
“...Just what are you, then? Some kind of monster?” It didn’t exactly feel hostile. Even if it was a monster, I didn’t plan on killing it if it wasn’t going to attack me. I just wondered what it was. First I thought perhaps it could disguise itself like a chameleon, but it clearly only became visible once I employed divinity. 
As I kept on staring at it, it slowly began to tremble. 
Hmm...? 
“Forgive this little one, please...” I suddenly heard the voice of a woman and turned my gaze away from the Slime. 
The sand next to the little Slime began to twist and contort until it took the form of a woman with long, raven hair. Her skin was a dark tan, and she wore a simple cloth. There was also a faint light that shone around her body. I know this feeling... 
“...You’re a spirit?” 
“I am, yes. I am the Sand Spirit that dwells within this desert. This child is one of my children, and it is so meek that it couldn’t possibly pose a threat to you... That’s why I beg you forgive it.” 
“Forgive it...? It didn’t do anything to me, so it’s not like I’m doing anything to it.” 
“Your gaze is imbued with divine power, so it cannot move an inch. The power of a god is absolute to spirits and their dependents. I assumed you were holding it in place as if to pass judgment.” Oh... I remember something like that, god did mention spirits in his sermon... Something about them helping gods by making the core parts of the world. 
I weakened my own divinity until the little Slime could move again. It slowly scampered behind the spirit, shivering behind her as if terrified. I felt pretty sorry for it. 
“Mochizuki Touya... You’ve certainly been the subject of many rumors as of late.” 
“Really?” 
“Indeed. The Wind Spirit. She likes to gossip and spread rumors, so they even managed to reach this place.” 
Huh, is the Wind Spirit a woman, then? Or maybe sex isn’t really a thing since they’re elemental essences... Guess it’s just gender identity. 
But man... The Wind Spirit is a gossip, huh? I guess it makes sense, what with rumors being carried on the wind and all that. 
“Is there a reason you’re all in the desert today?” 
The Sand Spirit gestured toward the Frame Gears. 
I figured I owed her an explanation, so I gave her the general gist. She was the Sand Spirit, which meant that she had dominion over this desert... It wouldn’t be proper for us to cause chaos in her domain. 
“You don’t need to worry about explaining yourself. I was only a little curious.” 
“Thanks, then... I’m sorry for the trouble, we’ll be done here after today.” 
“Worry not. This world belongs to those who dwell above the ground. We spirits merely watch over things and offer aid when we are needed. Well, not all spirits act the same... Some take a more active approach, while others don’t really mind at all.” 
The Sand Spirit was more the latter type. She didn’t really seem too concerned with human affairs, while the Wind Spirit sounded like she was a little too invested. 
The Forest Spirit I’d met some time ago seemed to be the type that watched over people. 
“Well, regardless... I wish you fortune in your coming battle. May we meet again.” The Sand Spirit then melted back into the sand and vanished. The little Sand Slime bowed, or at least that’s what it looked like, before joining its master in the sand. Huh, that went pretty well. Her personality felt a little dry, though... Or maybe she’s just dry because she’s made of sand. Oh, that’s right... I guess that means I can see spirits if I use my divine sight... Wonder if I’ll be able to see the Wind Spirit if I use it. 
I looked up toward the sky and saw dozens of fairy-like creatures floating along the breeze. Huh... Those aren’t spirits. Maybe they’re the dependents of the spirit, though. The little dancing fairies didn’t seem to notice us from so high up in the air, but it wouldn’t have really mattered if they did or not. 
I canceled my divinity and found my eyes were all dried out and uncomfortable... Augh... they’re all dry, ow... I’ll have to get Flora to make me some eyedrops. 
“Oh, there you were, Touya.” 
I turned around to see Moroha and Karina standing nearby. 
...Huh. You guys must’ve come through from Brunhild... But why? 
Oh... Don’t tell me... Yeah, I already know. 
“...You want to join in the fight, right?” 
“Ayup.” 
“Duh.” 
“Right...” It was useless to resist. The god of swords and the god of the hunt were both brimming with excitement, after all. It’d be fine so long as they held back from using their divinity, but if they ended up smashing the Phrase with ease then it’d defeat the whole point of bringing the Frame Gears out here to begin with... Either way, I didn’t say anything. It wasn’t my place. 
“I know Moroha fights fine... But what about you, Karina? Are you planning on using a bow and arrow against them?” 
“Don’t underestimate me, kiddo. I don’t just use bows, you know! I have spears, daggers, hatchets, and even guns at my disposal! I can use any tool used for hunting... To an extent. I’m not exactly a match for our dear god here.” 
Wow, really? Although I guess I remember seeing her spearfishing not too long ago... 
“So give me a good weapon, alright?” 
“...You’re certainly not the god of subtlety, huh.” I sighed as I opened up [Storage] and took out several Phrasium fragments. I fashioned them into a large spear. The blade itself was about the length of a regular shortsword’s, attached to a long pole. 
I’d reduced its weight a bit, but making it too light would make it awkward to handle. 
Apparently, Karina didn’t mind it being heavy, though. She was waving it around like a madwoman. The heavier it was, the better it was to smash stuff, so I didn’t bother adjusting it anymore. 
“It’s a little fun to fight, even if we’re holding back our divinity. It’s not like we could do much fighting in the Divine Realm.” 
“It doesn’t really look like you’re holding back from here...” 
“The humans of the world could reach this level given enough time and effort! It’s not my fault they haven’t set their minds toward taking advantage of their natural blessings.” 
“Is that right...” I didn’t know whether to be amazed by her or if I should have just shook my head at her. I think if a human in this world “set their mind” toward reaching her kind of strength, they’d cease being human. 
As I looked at the two and their ridiculous feats, I realized the slight hypocrisy in my words... After all, I wasn’t exactly a regular human anymore, either. 
Just as I thought that, the headquarters siren started blaring and a voice came over the loudspeakers. 
“They’ve arrived!” I used [Long Sense] to project my sight ahead into the desert. 
I saw a crack in space, shimmering in the desert heat. The crack opened up wide, splitting the sky down the middle. Phrase began to pour forth from the hole, endlessly. They were all Lesser and Intermediate Constructs. 
“The Phrase have emerged! Mobilize the Frame Gears! Prepare for battle!” I yelled orders through my smartphone. I then took out two large Phrasium greatswords from [Storage] and passed them to Moroha. Then I used [Fly] to get an aerial grasp on the situation. 
“Wait...!” I saw another crack in space not far away from the first one. From it poured several muddy-gold Phrase mutants. The metal devils were here. 
There weren’t as many of them as there were regular Phrase, but there were still more than I expected. Of course... Of course these things had to show up, too... 
“This is bad... We don’t want these things absorbing the others and getting out of hand.” The mutants would consume the regular ones to increase their own strength. A Lesser Construct could probably turn itself into an Intermediate if it ate enough of its peers. I didn’t even want to think of the possibility of a metal devil absorbing enough to become an Upper Construct... We had to prevent that. 
“The mutants are here. All Valkyries roll out. Try to prevent them from getting near the regular Phrase.” 
Predicting the Phrase actions was harder now that the metal devils were involved. 
We set up our camp directly between the emergence point and the nearest human settlement. The Phrase chased after heartbeats, so we figured standing in front of the nearest source would mean they’d come right to us. 
Unfortunately, the presence of the mutants caused the regular ones to move erratically out of fear. We wouldn’t be able to carry out the ambush now. 
Luckily we had a strategy in place. 
“Formation changing. Prepare for teleportation.” Each and every Frame Gear suddenly materialized out of thin air, surrounding the Phrase in four directions. The new plan was to box them in and prevent escape. 
Still, even with this kind of formation, it was possible that the combat would be more focused in some areas and quieter in other areas. I had no choice but to watch over the battlefield from above and give out orders. 
The combat had begun in one corner. Elze and the girls began to make their move toward the mutants. 
“The Phrase count is as follows: Ten-thousand-nine-hundred-and-fifty-four Lesser Constructs. Two-thousand-three-hundred-and-fifty-two Intermediate Constructs. Three-thousand-and-twenty-one Mutated Constructs.” I heard Cesca’s voice from my smartphone. Good intel... Mutated Constructs is a pretty good designation. 
But damn it, there are way more than I thought. There were only around thirteen thousand during the Yulong situation. But whatever, so long as there are no Upper Constructs this should still be a cakewalk... 
“Master. Detecting massive vibrations in hyperspace readings. An Upper Construct is emerging.” 
“Oh come on!” We didn’t get any readings indicating that, gimme a break! This isn’t fair, there are too many as it is! I saw space begin to crack open again, and an enormous crystal monster emerged. 
It had a sharp beak, a long neck, two thick legs, and feather-shaped plumes coming up from its rear. It flapped its mighty wings. This was a bird-shaped Phrase... But no matter how I looked at it, it was just way too big. 
The Phrase unfolded its long wings and shook its rear, unfurling its tail “feathers” like a paper fan. The sunlight rained down upon the display, causing it to glimmer. 
“It’s a goddamn giant peacock?!” I was amused by the fact that it had feathers that were clearly not feathers, but that wasn’t the time to focus on something like that. 
Man, this is really bad... I guess I should send Elze and half of the others to deal with this while the others mop up the Mutated Constructs. 
“Master. I’m detecting another massive vibration. A second Upper Construct is emerging.” 
“You what?!” I looked back over to the peacock and then scanned the battlefield until my eyes fell on another crack on the opposite side of the battlefield. 
The second Upper Construct shattered itself through space in much the same way as the first. 
This one looked pretty disgusting. It looked just like a nautilus. It had a coiled, ammonite-like shell, and stretched out countless massive feelers. 
Several spikes protruded from its coarse crystal shell. 
“This is getting ridiculous. Now there are two of them!” I stared down at the battlefield, unable to figure out our next course of action. 
The Nautilus Phrase floated about four meters in the air above the desert sand. My grandfather told me that nautiluses gathered gas in their shells and expelled it regularly, causing them to bob up and down as they floated through the water. 
Apparently, this motion reminded the novelist Jules Verne of a submersible vehicle, which is why he named the submarine in his novel after the creature. 
At the very least, the nautiluses on Earth weren’t capable of swift movements, but it wasn’t like the same rules would apply here. 
“What do we do... I didn’t expect to see two come up... Can we even beat two at the same time? Is that even possible?” I did have my trump card in place. We had our special cannon, the Brionac, that could fire out drilling bullets. A good shot from that would be able to take out an Upper Construct with little effort. 
But it would still take time to line up a shot, so we couldn’t do any hits in quick succession. Plus we’d need to disassemble it and build it back up before we could line up the second shot on the other Upper Construct. 
Not to mention the fact that vast quantities of magic power, specifically wind and fire, were required to fire off a shot. 
It’d be fine if I did it, but with my newfound divinity, there was a chance I could overload the machine and blow it up like I did with the Dverg. If that happened, then Linze and Leen would be in danger since they’d be the ones holding it. That’s why I was hesitant to use it. 
I couldn’t even use [Slip] since we were fighting in desert terrain. The winds would just scatter the sand before it could be effective. 
“I guess there’s nothing else for it... Meteor Rain!” In the sky above the two Upper Constructs, several softball-sized chunks of Phrasium appeared one after the other. They began to fall down like shooting stars thanks to the magic weight enhancement I’d given them. 
The peacock raised its head as if noticing the incoming barrage. 
Suddenly a high-pitched noise rang out through the battlefield. The peacock spread its tail feathers and aimed them skyward. There were round patterns on the tips of the feathers that resembled focused lenses. I saw small lights gathering on each feather, and I really didn’t like where the situation was headed. In a flash, several lasers fired out of the feather parts. They shot down the incoming projectiles. Or rather, they simply obliterated them. 
What the hell! That’s like a scattershot with the power of a railgun! How am I meant to go up against that?! I looked on in despair as the Peacock Phrase folded its feathers back, and returned them to their folded position as if holstering its weapon. 
Why’d it do that? Does it need to recharge like the Brionac? Either way, that scattershot is bad news... We need to take this one out fast! “Monica! Call down the Brionac from the hangar immediately! Linze, Leen, get ready to fire!” I yelled into my smartphone. 
I had enough ammo in my [Storage] for another Meteor Rain, but only enough for one more go. It definitely wouldn’t be enough to kill the Upper Construct. 
That’s why the new plan was to use Meteor Rain as we charge up the Brionac shot. Then we’d be able to hit it with the Brionac shot after it wastes its next attack on the projectiles. 
The issue was simply holding out until then... 
The Brionac Cannon came down from Babylon, and it was then secured by Grimgerde and Helmwige. 
The two Frame Gears linked themselves to Brionac via a cord in their backs, and then the cannon itself was anchored into the sandy ground. 
“Brionac connected! Commencing charge!” Linze’s voice was accompanied by a slow filling meter on the side of the cannon. I checked on it as I sent orders to the other Valkyries. 
“Elze, Yae, Hilde! Distract the Peacock Phrase and keep its attention away from Leen and Linze! Lu, Yumina, keep the Nautilus Phrase away from the Peacock! Sakura, Sue, you two defend Leen and Linze. Forget about the mutants for now!” I was concerned that the Nautilus might have a laser as well. The Meteor Rain would be rendered useless if that thing ended up firing it off as well. 
The Mutants were a pain, but the Chevaliers were still capable of taking them out. They were probably gonna go for the regular Phrase before us, anyway. 
“Gah... These feathery parts keep getting in the way!” Elze gradually approached the Peacock Phase, but it kept swiping its tail feathers toward her. 
Yae and Hilde were hot on Elze’s heels, dashing toward the beast while avoiding its swipes. 
The three of them arrived at its right leg at around the same time, and the three of them immediately went on the offensive. 
“Take thiiis! Crusher!” 
“Kokonoe Secret Style: Phoenix Cutter!” 
“Lestian Sacred Sword: Iron Slice!” Gerhilde’s Pile Bunker, Schwertleite’s katana, and Siegrune’s greatsword all struck the leg at the same time. 
The Peacock Phrase had much thinner legs than any of the Upper Constructs we’d seen so far. It was unable to bear the combined strikes and immediately shattered. 
“Woohoo!” The Peacock quickly lost its balance, causing the three Frame Gears to flee as it fell to the ground. 
The impact on the desert sands kicked up a dust storm in the vicinity. Unfortunately, it regenerated its leg immediately... But we’d still bought a few precious moments. 
Lu’s Waltraute was currently equipped with its Booster Unit, running rings around the Nautilus Phrase as she caught its attention. 
It slowly bobbed through the air, launching its tentacles out like spearing projectiles. Lu’s B-Unit allowed insane speed, however, meaning she dodged each impact with ease. 
The Nautilus definitely wasn’t as fast as the Peacock. It wasn’t even flying, it was just kind of lazily bobbing up and down in the air. 
Either way, we couldn’t afford to lower our guards. Even if its body was slow, its tentacles were moving at quite intense speed. If the Waltraute wasn’t equipped with its B-Unit, Lu probably wouldn’t have been able to avoid them so easily. 
I suddenly heard a ringing noise followed by a loud crash, one of the tentacles fell to the ground. Yumina had managed to snipe one with Brunnhilde’s gun. 
Or at least that’s what I assumed. Brunnhilde was completely cloaked, making it hard to see. If the stealth mode was deactivated, the sunlight would bounce right off its silver exterior and blind everyone nearby... 
“The cannon’s full! We can fire off!” Leen’s communication came through, causing me to look back at the Peacock. 
It was starting to stand back up. 
It seemed to have noticed the Brionac cannon, which was pointed right at it. It spread its wings out and started firing surfboard-shaped crystal feather projectiles toward Leen and Linze. 
The feathers fired with intense speed, but Sue appeared out of nowhere in her Ortlinde. It had activated its Overlord mode and stood tall. 
“Stardust Shell!” The great mech held its left hand up and formed a defensive barrier. All the incoming missiles thudded against it before falling to the ground. 
When it came to defense, Ortlinde just couldn’t be beaten. Sue was the youngest, after all, so I made sure her Frame Gear could never get her hurt. 
The feathers began to regenerate on the Peacock Phrase, and I saw my golden opportunity. 
“Let’s finish this... Meteor Rain!” 
This time the projectiles fell down solely toward the Peacock Phrase. It spread out its tail and began to prepare its interception attack. 
Just like before, the lasers scattered out and took care of the incoming attack, but that’s exactly what I was waiting for. 
“Do it!” Helmwige and Grimgerde activated the Brionac on my command, sending out the massive bullet with a mighty roar. 
The drill bullet kicked up dust and sand as it flew straight ahead toward its target. 
It impacted the Peacock Phrase’s body and began to work its way inside. Eventually, it drilled its way through the orange core in the middle of the creature’s chest and smashed its way out the back. 
The Peacock Phrase stopped moving entirely, and cracks began to course through its form. In a matter of seconds, it screeched and collapsed into crystal debris, leaving nothing behind but a mountain of Phrasium. 
“That’s one down!” I turned to see steam rising from Brionac, Grimgerde, and Helmwige. 
“You two okay?” 
“I-I’m okay, yes... No problems.” 
“I’m quite okay... Somehow. My magic is almost completely spent, however...” I sighed in relief, knowing that their engagement rings would be able to replenish their exhausted mana pools at least a little. 
Still, the physical fatigue from suddenly draining their reserves wasn’t so easily mitigated. Physical strength was necessary to keep going while you were running on empty, after all. Firing the Brionac took a lot out of them, so they still needed their rest. 

Helmwige and Grimgerde were also damaged due to the recoil, so they wouldn’t be able to do much going forward. 
“I’ll have you both warp back to the base immediately. Flora will help you out, okay?” It wasn’t just Rosetta who was standing by at HQ, Flora was also there to treat the injured combatants who were sent back. 
I opened up a [Gate], sending the girls back to base along with Brionac and their Frame Gears. 
Only the Nautilus was left. 
“Touya!” I suddenly turned around at Yumina’s exclamation. What I saw shocked me. The Nautilus Phrase was still bobbing up and down in the air, but several of the metal devils were clinging to its body. 
They were gradually wearing away at the creature, as if melding their own bodies to it, partially melting themselves in the process. 
It continued to struggle against them, using its tentacles to swipe them to bits, but they had the advantage of a swarm. 
There were just way too many for it to deal with. The Nautilus Phrase’s body was slowly dyed a muddy gold as more and more of the Mutated Constructs melded into it, ultimately converting it to their species. 
Eventually, it fell to its side, screeching loudly as its tentacles lashed out at random targets. 
...They’re not eating it... They’re converting it! 
“T-Touya-dono, look at that!” Several gnarled spines began to grow from the Nautilus’ shell, and its thin tendrils bulked out and became squid-like tentacles. 
Its body was transforming. It had a metallic sheen to it now and was completely muddy-gold. Its entire body seemed more angular, ominous, and sharp. 
The Nautilus began to move erratically, slowly, and rose up. 
It was wrong to even call it a Nautilus at this point. It had taken on a disturbing new form, like a cross between a squid, an octopus, and a snail. 
Its body seemed a lot larger, too. It must have grown in proportion to the number of Mutated Constructs that invaded its body. 
It wasn’t done shifting its form, though... Gradually as it contorted, its shell split down the middle, exposing several sharp, thorn-like protrusions. 
It suddenly began firing those protrusions off in several directions, blasting them like rockets. They exploded in the air like fireworks, resulting in a rain of small, sharp debris that began to pelt the desert sand. 
“[Shield]!” I managed to block the sudden downpour with magic. 
The clustered attack reminded me of the fight against the Crocodile Phrase in Yulong. 
The attack was indiscriminate, aiming for friend and foe alike. The debris rained down on Phrase and Frame Gears both. The Upper Construct had been converted to the side of the mutants, so it was no longer affiliated with the regular Phrase. 
I looked around the battlefield and saw several Lesser Constructs break apart as they were impacted, I also saw several Frame Gears lose limbs. The Phrase would be able to regenerate so long as their cores were intact, but our soldiers weren’t so lucky. 
“Rosetta! Give me a damage report!” 
“Twenty-nine Frame Gears received considerable damage, sir! Seven were obliterated, sir! Fortunately, all seven pilots were recovered safely. Two of the pilots have been critically wounded, however. They won’t die, but they will need serious medical attention!” Shit, they must’ve been hit in the cockpit... At least they’re not dead. 
“Touya! Look out!” 
“Huh?!” I turned my head to the sound of Lu’s voice and saw the Mutated Upper Construct prepare another volley. 
It launched its spiny missiles again, scattering the crystal debris throughout the desert. Knock it off, you bastard! Nineteen units were badly damaged, and eight more were taken out of commission. Three more men were severely injured, and could no longer take part in the battle. If this kept up, we’d be in major trouble... 
“Touya, you hear me?” 
“Doc?” A sudden transmission came from Doctor Babylon. I wondered what she wanted at a time like this. “It doesn’t exactly have all the kinks worked out, but I don’t think you care about that. I’m sending your Frame Gear down there!” 
“What?! It’s finished?!” 
“More or less... Around ninety percent. You won’t be able to use it to its full potential, but it’s ready to be piloted.” Particles of light began to form into the desert before they scattered to reveal my very own Frame Gear. 
The body was coated in Phrasium armor, and golden veins ran through its transparent parts. It was around the same size as a regular Frame Gear. It had something on its back that looked like folded wings, but they were actually part of its support equipment. 
It had a katana at each waist side, leaving no room for a shield. It was an offensively-oriented Frame Gear, after all... Two mighty horns protruded from its head, giving it an intimidating aura. 
This was my Frame Gear, the multi-purpose combat mech, Reginleif. 
Gleaming in the desert sun, my very own war machine stood tall. Seeing it like that made me believe it was truly worthy of its secondary title, “The Successor of the Gods.” 
I was almost moved to tears by the sight of my long-awaited Frame Gear, but I had no time to lose. 
I flew through the sky and opened up the cockpit. I sat down in the hatch and closed it, while savoring that new-mecha smell. I placed my smartphone down on the console in front of me. 
A low rumble began to emanate as the various gauges and meters inside Reginleif began to come alive. The wide monitor turned on, showing me a broad field of vision. It wasn’t a three-sixty degree view, but it was close. 
I grabbed the control stick in front of me and began to channel my magic through it. Reginleif turned its head as if to answer my call. It was completely synced up with my intentions. 
Taking on an Upper Construct alone was no simple feat... But I had faith in my new ally. 
“Alright, let’s go then... Fragarach... Activate!” 
“Initializing Fragarach System.” My smartphone spoke back as the wing-like structures on Reginleif’s back unfolded themselves and broke off until they orbited my mech. There were now a total of twelve crystal slabs surrounding the machine. 
“Switch to Sphere Mode.” 
“Recalibrating Fragarach... Sphere Mode activated.” The slabs immediately turned into orbs, floating around Reginleif like satellites. This was thanks to the power of my [Program] and [Modeling] spells. It could easily shift modes, much like my Brunhild gun. 
Alright, then... This seems good to me. 
“Go get him!” The twelve crystal orbs blasted toward the Mutated Upper Construct. It transformed several of its appendages into blade-like limbs and tried to cut them down, but the spheres simply smashed right into them and left them shattered. They then pelted its muddy-gold body. 
Each of the Fragarach Spheres was over a meter in diameter, and I’d applied [Gravity] in order to make them far heavier than they had any right to be. They weren’t as powerful as a shot from the Brionac, but it could easily obliterate most Phrase structures. 
The grotesque mutant floated in the air as it continued to receive a pounding from all twelve spheres. It was like watching a suspended punching bag being knocked around by a boxer. Its body was dented and crumpled, kind of like a car after a bad accident. 
“Switch to Blade Mode.” 
“Recalibrating Fragarach... Blade Mode activated.” The crystal spheres immediately reformed into blades. They began to dance through the air, slicing freely at the Mutated Upper Construct’s limbs. 
While it was distracted, I took the opportunity to spear its body with half of the Fragarachs. They weren’t able to reach its core, however. Due to its muddy-gold body, it was harder to see where the core actually was. 
“If that’s how you wanna play it, fine!” I called all the Fragarachs back, converted them into their base forms. 
“Switch to Lance Mode!” The twelve crystal slabs all began sliding into each other until they formed a massive lance. 
Reginleif grasped it and leaped into the sky before flying toward the Mutated Upper Construct. Unlike Linze’s Helmwige, Reginleif didn’t need to transform to become airborne. It was capable of using [Fly] as an extension of myself. 
“[Accel]!” With a single word, my speed boost caused Reginleif to blast forward at supersonic speed, driving the lance into my foe. The mech charged forward faster than a speeding bullet, pushing the lance tip through the creature fully, impaling it entirely. Its body began to splinter and crack, before falling to pieces. 
I looked at the golden fragments until I finally found its blood-red core. 
“Switch to Blade Mode!” The lance in my hand changed into twelve separate blades, and immediately they ran themselves through the core. 
A crack ran through the middle, and the core shattered into pieces. 
After a few moments, the metallic shards of the Mutated Upper Construct melted into goop. 
I was already high above the ground at that point, gazing down at the liquid as it seeped into the sand. 
Reginleif was unlike any other Frame Gear I’d ever handled... It moved just like an extension of my own body. 
“What a display... How was it, Touya?” 
“Incredible, Doc... Really incredible.” 
“Wonderful! That’s to be expected, though... It has all the features of the other Valkyries and more. I even included something that’ll surprise you.” 
“...It isn’t a self-destruct feature, is it?” 
“I’ll admit I thought of implementing something like that, but I canceled it. It would be a waste to destroy my masterpiece.” That’s your reason? How about having a little consideration for me?! I’m the pilot! 
Either way, the Mutated Upper Construct was finished. All we had to do was mop up the rest of the battlefield. 
I brought up my monitor and had it display the remaining enemies. There were a lot to the north and east. My sisters were headed eastward... So I decided to head north. 
The Fragarachs changed back into their slab forms and docked back on to Reginleif’s back, giving it its winged appearance once more. 
“Yumina... Could you and the other Valkyries take care of the mutants? I’ll handle the Phrase in the northern area.” 
“Copy that. Please take care.” 
“Mhm.” I had Reginleif give the girls a thumbs-up before taking it through the air toward the northern part of the desert. 
As I got closer, I noticed that the Frame Gears under the control of Lihnea and Palouf were the ones engaging the Phrase in this area. 
The Paloufean knights weren’t quite as talented as the Lihnean ones were, but they were trying their best to support. Still, they were clearly overwhelmed in terms of numbers. 
I saw a prone Paloufean Frame Gear about to be blasted by a laser-firing Mantis Phrase. 
“Switch to Reflector Mode.” The twelve crystal slabs quickly slid off Reginleif’s back and immediately formed a wall in front of the fallen Frame Gear. 
The laser hit the wall of Fragarachs, bouncing it off at a random angle into the sky. If the attacker hadn’t been a Phrase, I would’ve just directed the laser right back at them. 
I unsheathed a katana and used it to cleave the Mantis Phrase in half with a single strike. I didn’t even have to aim to take out its core, it was laughable. 
“Switch to Dagger Mode.” The wall of Fragarachs split back into twelve pieces, and then each piece split into four. The small pieces then turned into pointed, dagger-like objects. This mode effectively turned twelve slabs into forty-eight daggers. 
The daggers began to orbit around Reginleif. 
Let’s do this! 
“Gladius!” The forty-eight projectiles immediately broke out of orbit and descended to the battlefield below, penetrating Phrase cores over and over again. They glittered in the sunlight as they continued to hunt down their prey. 
Gladius was the name I’d given to this attack, one that was ruthless, omnidirectional, and all at once. 
Technically speaking, I have to manipulate the Fragarachs by myself. Even though there were support systems in place, I’d say my upper control limit would be about six swords. The more you try to control, the sloppier your control over them would become. In the worst case scenario, they’d start hitting each other, or things other than your targets. 
However, Reginleif was an extension of myself and thus was subject to the accelerated mental processes that [Accel] granted me. Thanks to that, I could freely control all forty-eight blades at a time. 
If I lost my focus, however, I could still miss. Originally I planned on using my smartphone’s auto-target function, but I realized that it wouldn’t let me change my motions on the fly, or react to situations effectively in real-time. 
It was still cumbersome, though. Forty-eight definitely felt like overkill, too. Plus I had to take care not to become too focused on the weapons to the point where my control on the main mech became loose. Fortunately, this mode was just for big clean-up situations. 
Lesser Constructs could easily be destroyed with just a single strike, but Intermediate Constructs required me to fuse four or so into a larger blade to pierce its defenses. 
Before I even knew it, at least five-hundred Phrase died to my sudden attack. 
I recalled the daggers, and they began orbiting Reginleif again like satellites. 
“Whew...” I heard celebratory cheers coming from the nearby knights, but I just slumped back in my chair and let loose a relieved sigh. 
Man... That was a little more stressful than I expected. 
But it wasn’t over, the battle was still raging elsewhere. I needed to support people in other areas of the Desert, too. I was about to move again when I heard the systems around me begin to power down. I wondered what the hell was happening. Even the lights on the dashboard in front of me were going off. 
I continued to look around in confusion as my mech began to descend. Even the little daggers combined back into wings and quickly sat on Reginleif’s back. 
“What’s going on here?!” 
“Don’t panic, Touya. You’ve simply gone beyond the Operational Limit.” 
“The what now?!” I glared in exasperation at my smartphone as Doctor Babylon spoke through it. I wasn’t told about this! Reginleif finished descending. It took a knee in the desert, so I manually opened the cockpit hatch. I immediately regretted my decision, as the desert heat was almost suffocating. 
“Reginleif doesn’t work like the other Frame Gears. It moves by taking in your magic directly. However, it can’t fully endure the depth of your mana pool, Touya. That’s why we have the Operational Limit in place, to shut it down before it overloads like the Dverg did... Clearly, the system still needs fine-tuning.” 
“Oh come on...” It seemed like I couldn’t use it for over ten minutes at a time. But that was a preferable alternative to having it detonate like the Dverg did... I definitely didn’t want to be responsible for trashing the best Frame Gear we had. 
Hmm... I wonder if we can make it run longer if we have it save some magic in reserve... But damn, what about the fight? Ah... Whatever, the others should be able to take it from here. I’m just glad I didn’t hit the limit before defeating that big one. 
The limit meant that Reginleif had to be more carefully considered in terms of timing. It was possible we could end up expecting an Upper Construct only to deploy Reginleif and have no Upper Construct appear at all. 
It was possible that we could have a situation like this battle, where two appeared without warning... It’d be really bad if there was a long delay between their emergences, too. 
I took my smartphone from the console and hopped out of my cockpit on to Reginleif’s shoulder. The sunlight was only intensifying, and it was uncomfortable. 
“Man... Thank you, Reginleif. I’ll be in your care going forward.” I looked over my new partner with a smile on my face. Oh crap, right... I should send the Paloufean and Lihnean Knights to fight in other areas. 
I gently placed Reginleif into [Storage], then sent the waiting knights to another part of the battlefield. 
 
“Well?” 
“Their wavelengths have ceased transmission. Both have been terminated.” 
“Unfortunate. It must have been the same individual that destroyed Gila.” 
Two people stood talking to each other in the space between worlds. They didn’t seem at all bothered by the fact that their surroundings were naught but a roaring void. 
One was a young man. The other, a young woman. They looked similar to each other. At a glance, one might take them to be brother and sister. But this wasn’t technically correct. They were, in a sense, clones. Fragments of the same self. 
Even amongst the Dominant Constructs, they were anomalies. Twins that shared a single heart and origin. 
Dominant Constructs are born as cores. After a long gestation period, accumulating experiences as a mindless entity, they awaken as an individual. Childhood is not something they really understand. Upon awakening, a Dominant Construct is merely itself, and that’s all it knows. 
Now and then, a Dominant Construct may be born with two cores. Ordinarily, they would continue their evolution and simply awaken as a mature form with two cores instead of one. 
However, these two were a representation of an abnormal circumstance. During their gestation, the cores split and developed into separate individuals. 
They each had long bangs that covered half of their face. The girl’s hair covered her right eye, while the boy’s covered his left. That meant that each of them only had a single, golden eye visible. 
Their physical features were largely the same. Well, not entirely. The feminine one had somewhat of a softer physique, and her chest was a little more defined. 
“Shall we go out to play next time the barrier rips, Leto?” 
“I think not, Luto. It isn’t our turn yet, after all. Yula will cause quite the ruckus if we leave.” Though they were born at exactly the same time, the feminine one often treated the masculine one as a younger brother. Amusingly, the boy felt as though the girl was the younger one. 
The girl was known as Leto, while the boy was known as Luto. They were clearly Dominant Constructs, but even at a glance, you could tell they were different. 
Parts of their crystal bodies were dyed a muddy gold, after all. That mark was the evidence they had evolved to a level beyond that of a standard Dominant. 
“Just how long must we wait here?” Luto turned around, facing the enormous egg-like cocoon behind them. Occasionally a beating sound would resonate from the throbbing sac, much like a pumping heart. 
The two of them flinched slightly as they felt an oscillation in space. 
“Oh? We have a visitor.” Leto spoke into the dark void before him. Another Dominant Construct emerged from the black. 
She had long, crystal hair, and deep crimson eyes. Her form was slender and tall. It was the creature known as Ney. 
She was the leader of the faction that sought to recover the Sovereign. 
She stared at the twins with fury blazing in her eyes. 
“You little shits... Why did you send the Gilded out into that battle?!” 
“I don’t believe we owe you any explanation or notice, Ney. We’re no longer allies, are we?” Leto giggled softly as if to mock the intruder. Luto smirked a little, as well. 
“Unlike you, we no longer care about matters as trivial as the Sovereign Core. We can become strong without it, after all.” 
“I told you I’m not after the Sovereign’s power, didn’t I?!” 
“Then why do you continue to cross worlds like this? Even if the new Sovereign was weak, they were still the leader, right? You should have stayed back on Phrasia and supported them.” 
“No!” Ney was unable to come up with a response. To Ney, there was no Sovereign other than the woman she knew. Accepting a new Sovereign would mean throwing away all her memories of the person she revered. She couldn’t possibly do such a thing. 
That’s why she listened to Yula and crossed worlds using the method he’d created. It required the power of multiple Dominant Constructs to even attempt to travel from world to world, which is why even though they butted heads, none of them had attacked each other. 
She knew that Yula and Gila were after the Sovereign Core, but she had to rely on their strength to keep chasing after it. The situation caused her to grit her teeth in frustration more than once or twice. 
She was trying to bring the Sovereign back home, while Yula aimed to take the Sovereign’s strength for himself. It was obvious that once they found the Sovereign Core, their alliance would turn into open hostility. 
But then, out of nowhere, Yula suddenly began acting strangely. He’d obtained a strange new power and began creating new Phrase using it. The bizarre, gilded monsters that came out, as a result, could hardly be called kin to beings like Ney. 
Yula’s goal was now no longer focused on the Sovereign at all. By all accounts, this should’ve been something for Ney to celebrate, but she found a pit in her stomach as she saw her fellow Phrase eroded and converted into what she referred to as the Gilded. 
“Well, whatever you wish to do with the Sovereign, it matters not to us. Yula doesn’t really care either. But I do wonder... Will the golden cocoon hatch faster if we feed the Sovereign to it?” 
“You bastard!” 
Luto giggled like a madman, which made Ney storm toward him and throw a punch his way. Her hand was caught by Leto. The little one began to squeeze it hard. 
“If I might be honest, Ney... I was rather irritated by your constant spiel about how great the Sovereign is. We’re no longer allies... So it’s fine if I do what I want to you, right? Would it be fine if Luto and I devoured you?” Leto grinned as she began to wear away at the woman’s arm. Ney looked on in horror as she saw her own hand sink into Leto’s body, it was already gone down to the wrist. She’d lost all feeling in her hand, and could no longer move it. 
A filthy golden color began to crawl up Ney’s arm. She quickly morphed her free hand into a blade and chopped it off before it could spread to her body any further. 
She then jumped backward, attempting to put some distance between her and the others. 
“Oh dear. Seems I missed my opportunity to eat all of you.” Leto grinned broadly as she absorbed what remained of the severed arm. It melted into the younger Dominant Construct’s body and vanished without a trace. 
“Guh...” Ney regenerated her shattered arm and turned around, fleeing into the darkness of the void. 
The power that Leto exhibited was one granted to her and her brother by Yula. It was known as Absolute Corrosion. The disgusting ability allowed them to take other Phrase into their bodies and absorb their power. 
Not even Dominant Constructs were free from this power. One suffering from the affliction needed to sever the affected body parts immediately. If it reached their Core, everything would be over. 
Even the thought of that Corrosion reaching her core was a borderline traumatic experience for Ney. 
Luto attempted to give chase, but was stopped in his tracks by his sister. 
“Leave her be. She has no power here. We simply need to remain and watch over the cocoon, as we were told.” 
“Tsk. How annoying. I’m bored here... I wonder if that fellow we encountered the other day will come here again.” Luto sighed quietly and lay down on his back. 
“Are you referring to Endymion?” 
“Yes. We certainly managed to kill a lot of time by playing with him. Though... Given the state he was in by the end of it, I don’t even know if he’s alive anymore.” Luto grinned as if recalling a fond memory. Even though he had said he didn’t know, Leto was aware that Luto believed the badly beaten, half-dead man was still alive. There were no secrets between the two, for they were part of an originally intended whole. 
They enjoyed the brief interaction with Ney, but nothing more seemed to be happening that day. 
The two of them shrugged and sat next to each other, whiling away the hours, planning out how many Gilded Phrase to send to the other side next time a rip opened. 
 
“Hmm... This could be trouble...” In the Divine Realm, in a certain little room, the god of worlds groaned to himself as he watched the scene play out on his television set. 
“I told you, pops! Isn’t it already going a little too far? We need to pull the trigger on this situation before it spreads to even more worlds. Hell, you know what I’d do! I’d pull the plug on the whole situation!” The loud man leaned his elbow on the table behind the God Almighty, while loudly munching some cookies. 
He was around sixty years and had a massive bulky body. His face was unshaven, his eyes were jet black, and his shaggy hair was equally raven. He took a sip from his tea and shoveled more cookies into his mouth. 
“When you say pull the plug... You mean to destroy the world, do you not?” 
“That’s totally what I mean, pops! I’m the god of destruction, ain’t I?” The man, or rather the god, laughed as he spoke without reservation. 
There were various worlds maintained by various gods. Every now and then, a world might leave the protection of a god, and in that case, it’s up to the god of destruction to obliterate that world entirely. 
Typically, divine powers were not used in mortal realms. Often at best they were used by lower-tier gods with limited power, or by dependents of gods that were granted some form of abilities. The god of destruction was another matter entirely. He used his divinity to wipe worlds from existence. 
But unless there were serious circumstances at play, it was unusual for a world to lose its divine protection. That meant the god of destruction rarely got to do much at all. 
The fact that he was even visiting the god of worlds meant that there were indeed serious circumstances at play. 
“If this keeps up, this world is totally gonna be out of your control, pops. I don’t really get to decide if that’s an issue... But things should be easier if I end that world before it becomes a problem, right?” 
“I understand what you are saying, but... I left Touya in charge of that world...” 
“Touya? Oh, you mean that little kid you put under your protection? You sure something like this is okay for him? It’s pretty out of his depth, I think.” The god of destruction frowned a bit. The events going on in that world were about to become highly unstable. He felt it unfair to entrust something so erratic to a mere fledgling god, much less some complete newbie without any formal title. 
“I believe it will be fine. If all goes well, I think there will be no need for you to use your powers... Even if that world ends up falling out of my control, it may well be okay.” 
“Seems like you trust that kid a lot, huh. Well, that’s fine if you say so... But are you sure those two worlds are gonna be okay?” The god of destruction gestured toward the TV screen. There were two planets lined up on either side, like a mirror image. The line between them, however, seemed oddly distorted. 
“There’s a wicked god there, right?” 
“You are correct. It consumed a servile god, this case is most unusual. Nothing like this has ever happened before, after all.” 
“A god eater, huh?” The god of destruction picked up a rice cracker and chomped down. 
“This would usually be the time in which we create a Sacred Treasure, or send an Angel down there... But given it is the world I happened to send Touya to? I think he can handle it.” The god of worlds sat down gently on his cushion. 
“Seems like he’s got quite the entourage, though. They didn’t seem to mind descending down there.” 
“Probably because it is the first opportunity they’ve had for a vacation in tens of thousands of years. Even I enjoyed my trip down there.” 
“Oh, you did? Sounds like fun. Should I head down there, then?” 
“Perish the thought. You and I both know that if you descended, the world would end.” That wasn’t a metaphor, either. If the god of destruction set foot down there, it would be a catastrophe. 
“So that’s it, then? You’re gonna leave this problem to that Touya kid?” 
“I am, yes. I will give up on it if he refuses to handle it, of course. He is much too unreliable as an actual god right now... But I think after two or three thousand years, he will turn out quite well.” 
“Well, hopefully he can handle that mess. I don’t exactly relish killing all those people.” The distortion between the two worlds was about to bring on unusual, potentially disastrous effects. The god of destruction firmly believed that obliterating both planets and establishing a hard reset was the best way to go about fixing it. 
“Fine then, I’ll wait before asking to destroy them again. But you should probably explain the situation to that kid.” 
“You are quite right... I will speak to him at some point, I promise. But I would like to keep an eye on the situation for the time being. It is still possible this distortion will vanish without our intervention.” 
“Are you sure about that?” They both knew that the chances of that happening were low. The god of destruction was fine for the time being, but he still believed forcing a hard reset was the optimal solution. 
But he decided to trust God Almighty’s intuition. Even though he was humanized, Touya was still one of the divine. He was around the level of an apprentice god. If he could focus himself, then things would be okay. 
It wasn’t uncommon for a god in human form to strike down wicked gods or evil Dragons, after all. 
“How long’s it been since a human became a god, anyway?” 
“Hmm... Let me think... I don’t quite recall. There are many humans and circumstances out there, after all. The chance to become a god is rather slim, as well.” 
“Heh... I’ve also never heard of anyone becoming a god by mistake... If you really did kill him by mistake, I mean...” 
“That is quite enough speculation out of you, young man.” God Almighty frowned at the god of destruction’s nefarious grin. 
It was certainly an unusual mistake, one he didn’t quite understand making. But perhaps this too was the work of destiny, something beyond even a force as great as him. Either way, to the god of worlds, Mochizuki Touya was like a wonderful young grandson. 
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I saw the god of battle. You seen him?” 
“If I remember correctly, he said something about having found a worthy apprentice...” The two gods continued their small talk around the table. On the TV screen in front of them, the distortion slowly began to transform into a whirlpool, as if something were close to emerging from the space between both worlds.