Dustin
A grim atmosphere settles over the military headquarters.
The situation is bleak.
Our other headquarters that we had set up near the battlefield was attacked and destroyed by white-robed agents.
As for the battle itself, while we managed to defeat the queen taratect, thanks to great efforts from Chief Nguyen and Chief Gohka, the swarm of Nightmare’s Vestiges that appeared partway through dealt major losses to both the human alliance and the demon army, ultimately driving them to retreat.
Of course, I never had high expectations for the human nor demon armies.
Given the strength of Lady Ariel’s main forces, it would be foolish to even count them among our assets.
But she couldn’t just ignore them if they all attacked at once, either.
She would have to send some of her forces to deal with them, and if Chief Iena’s assault went well in the meantime, the next steps would be a little bit easier…or so I hoped.
Yet I have already lost contact with Lady Iena.
I had one of my Panoptic Vision users try to investigate the Upper Stratum of the Great Elroe Labyrinth, only to find it frozen as far as the eye could see.
I did not truly expect to submerge the entire labyrinth, but I still hoped that Chief Iena’s power would be enough to eliminate one or two of the enemy’s strongest players.
At the very least, I believed she would be able to buy us a fair amount of time.
But if the Upper Stratum has been frozen over so quickly, that must mean Lady Iena was defeated after almost no time at all.
My original plan was to wait for Chief Nguyen and Chief Gohka to recover while Lady Iena kept some of the enemy’s main forces occupied, or to perhaps even defeat them, allowing us to go on the offensive.
Since Lady Iena was defeated instead, I was forced to speed those plans along and send in Chief Nguyen and Chief Gohka right away, only for both of them to fall as well.
At this point, we no longer stand a chance of conquering the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Chief Hyuvan, Chief Nia, and Chief Reise simply left too large a void behind.
All we can do now is pray for Lord Black Dragon’s victory.
And now, in the midst of this situation, I received a report from one of the reincarnations—Kenichi Ogiwara—that somehow made everything even worse.
“Are you certain this is true?”
“Would I lie about something like this? That would be an awful thing to joke about.”
I did not actually think young Ogiwara was lying, of course.
Perhaps it was just that I so desperately wanted it to be false that I could not help asking.
I know that Ogiwara is not the sort to lie at a time like this.
He has an advanced form of telepathy called “Unlimited Telephone,” and used this skill to leak information to me from the elf village for many years.
Though we only met in person once, to register me as a contact for his Unlimited Telephone skill, I know him quite well through our regular conversations.
“At this rate, the evil god is going to wipe out half of humanity no matter which side wins.”
Despite myself, I put a hand to my forehead and groan.
I cannot believe that we would receive such terrible news when we’ve just reached the point that our side can only pray for the ebony god’s victory.
If this information had come just a little sooner, perhaps we would not have lost chiefs Iena, Nguyen, and Gohka in vain.
“Ah, hang on a second, please… There! It’s all set up! I’m switching this to a group call!”
After those words, my mind is filled with noise.
It’s as if I can hear several people breathing all at once.
“What’s this?”
“Hrm? Is that you, Dustin?”
The voice I hear next belongs to Lady Ariel.
“It’s a group call. An ability of mine that allows multiple people to have a telepathic conversation at the same time.”
“You can do such a thing?”
“It’s not like I was hiding it on purpose. It just never really came up.”
Evidently, this “group call” uses Ogiwara as a conduit to allow several people to communicate via telepathy.
I never imagined that I would speak to Lady Ariel again, let alone like this.
But my senses tell me there are others besides Lady Ariel connected to this call.
“Okay, sooo…I guess let’s start by having everyone introduce themselves one at a time, when I say your name. Shun, you go first.”
“Oh, sure. Um, I’m Schlain, a reincarnation and the current Hero. Please call me Shun. Thank you for having me.”
“Wow, so formal.”
“Shut up, Ogi.”
The first to be introduced is Sir Schlain.
So it was his group that supplied the information about the evil god, then.
He did decide to pursue the unlikely hope of making both the ebony and ivory gods’ wishes come true, after all.
Perhaps it took a soul like his to find out the truth.
Someone who refused to give up or compromise until the very end.
“Next, Mr. Hyrince.”
“Right. My name is Hyrince Quarto. But at this point, maybe I should introduce myself as a double of Güliedistodiez, the ebony god. I’ll be participating in this meeting from that position, anyway. Thanks.”
Sir Hyrince is the next to speak.
He was a member of the previous hero Sir Julius’s party, and of the current hero Schlain’s as well.
But just as he says, we ought to treat him as a double of the ebony god now.
Most of the ebony god’s doubles live their entire lives as ordinary humans, never revealing their second identity until the very end unless extreme circumstances require it.
His primary aim is to experience life from a purely human point of view.
That he is making an exception to participate in this meeting is additional proof that what’s happening is of the utmost importance.
“Okay, next! Our teacher, Ms. Oka…I mean, Miss Filimøs!”
“Ogiwara, did you really forget my name just now?”
“I mean, you’ve always been Ms. Oka to us, sooo…”
“Ogi, Ms. Oka, now isn’t the time for that sort of thing.”
This familiar exchange goes to show how close the reincarnations were in their previous lives.
Our world did them a grave disservice by tearing them apart and plunging them into chaos.
And the fact that we must now depend on their help only further emphasizes how inadequate we residents of this world truly are.
We should all be ashamed.
“Hello, my name is Filimøs. I am a reincarnation and former teacher to the others, which is why many of them call me by my prior name, Ms. Oka. I am pleased to meet you all.”
Miss Filimøs is the elf reincarnation, I believe.
After the massacre at the elf village, she is likely the only survivor of their race.
That may lead to many complications if she survives after this battle, but I suppose now is not the time to concern myself with such things.
“All right, let’s keep it moving. Next! Chief Reise, representing the ancient dragons.”
“I am Reise the dark dragon. A pleasure.”
Hrm.
If Chief Reise can participate in this meeting, that means that Ogiwara has met them before.
One of the caveats of Ogiwara’s Unlimited Telephone is that he can only connect and converse with individuals he has met in person.
In other words, since Chief Reise joined up with Sir Schlain, Ogiwara must be with them right now.
“Next, Pontiff Dustin of the Word of God religion.”
Ah, my turn has come.
“I am Dustin, the pontiff of the Word of God. Thank you for having me, everyone.”
Most likely, they are all familiar with me through the world quest speeches.
It would thus be pointless to introduce myself at great length.
“Finally, Miss Ariel, the Demon Lord.”
“Hey, I’m Demon Lord Ariel. Let’s do this.”
Lady Ariel sounds rather sullen in her short introduction.
I suppose that, too, is inevitable, given that everyone else here is technically her enemy.
“And I’m Kenichi Ogiwara, the reincarnation using this group call to connect everyone. I’m just here to link you all up, so I’ll leave the rest of the proceedings to Mr. Hyrince.”
“Thanks. Let’s get right down to business, then. As I believe you’ve all heard from Ogiwara, this is about the evil god plotting to sacrifice half of humanity, as described in the world quest. We all assumed it was referring to the ivory god at first, but thanks to certain information, it’s now clear that we were wrong. The real evil god is Administrator D, the creator of the system who outranks the ebony god.”
“Might I ask a question? Who provided this information? And are we quite certain we can trust it?”
“I’m afraid I can’t reveal the source of the information. It’s not that I refuse—it’s simply not possible. Additionally, if anyone does figure out who may have provided the information, please keep it to yourself and don’t tell anyone else. I hope that answers your question.”
Hyrince responds immediately to my question.
…I see.
So he cannot reveal the source, even if he wanted to.
Since we must also refrain from mentioning it if we figure out the source, that probably means there’s some sort of restriction involved.
And the person at this meeting most likely to be under such a restriction is Miss Filimøs.
Considering how quickly Potimas was able to collect the reincarnations, outpacing even our church, it’s clear that Miss Filimøs has an information-gathering skill of some kind.
And if she is the source of this particular revelation, it would explain why she is present at this meeting.
“As for the veracity of the information, I personally believe it is true beyond a doubt.”
“I see. If you of all people feel so strongly about it, I shall take you at your word.”
It would be best to assume that this information is true if Sir Hyrince, a double of the ebony god, believes it so confidently.
I would suspect anyone else of being deceived, but the ebony god has lived far longer than even I have, keeping watch over and protecting this world.
As a part of that ebony god, Sir Hyrince could never be deceived about a threat to our world.
“Unfortunately, all we know for certain is that the evil god is D. There is no indication as to how we might prevent the destruction of half of humanity. And if I may speak on behalf of the ebony god, if D intends to stand in our way as an enemy, then we have no hope of fighting back.”
D is the being who created the system: a god far stronger than the ebony god, and the savior of our world.
Since this planet survives thanks solely to the system, that means D could destroy the world just as easily as save it.
There is no question of who is stronger when D already holds all of our lives over a barrel.
“Therefore, we’ve concluded that the only way to do anything about this information is to attempt to make contact with D first. And so, the Spatial Magic master Elder Ronandt is currently searching for a way to teleport to D’s location.”
Hrmmm…
The ebony god has already lost all hope of conquering the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Perhaps it would be best to give up on that matter and meet with Sir Hyrince and company instead.
I have no choice but to cooperate with them if the alternative is sitting and waiting for half of humanity to be destroyed.
But even if we on the ebony god’s side feel that way, the problem is whether the ivory god’s side will agree…
“So? What do you want us to do about it? You realize I’m still fighting to kill half of humanity either way, right? I’m not gonna change my plans at this point just because of something like that.”
Of course…
Lady Ariel has a point.
The ivory god’s side already intended to destroy half of humanity.
Whether D does it or not is none of their concern.
This doesn’t change the victory conditions for Lady Ariel’s side; thus, they can simply continue to defend the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
Though she will probably not actively hinder us, we cannot expect her to help, either.
Of course, since we are currently enemies, I could not ask her to do such a thing anyway.
“…About that, Ariel. I don’t suppose you could open up a path to the system core for us?”
“Excuse me?”
Lady Ariel’s voice takes on a dangerous edge in response to Sir Hyrince’s words.
Even through telepathy, it is intense enough to give one goose bumps.
“And why would I do that?”
“It’s the most reliable way to attempt teleporting to D’s location. D created the system, and controls it personally. By us directly accessing the core of the system, the chances of successfully teleporting to D would be much higher.”
Hyrince’s statement does make sense in theory.
But whether Lady Ariel will accept it or not is another story.
“Don’t make me laugh. We wouldn’t gain anything from going along with this.”
The ebony god’s side wants to save humanity, while the ivory god’s side does not.
And since the ivory god has to prevent anyone from entering the system core at the heart of the Great Elroe Labyrinth in order to be victorious in this battle, Hyrince’s request is an impossible one.
I am sure he is aware of this as well.
So why would he make such a request, knowing it would be rejected?
“I beg you to reconsider.”
“No thanks.”
“At this rate, half of humanity will be destroyed. Not just death—utter destruction.”
Hyrince’s words, and the urgency behind them, make everything clear to me.
Not just death…utter destruction.
In other words, their very souls would vanish.
From our perspective on the ebony god’s side, we ought to focus all our energy on stopping D, not the ivory god’s side.
For the ivory god’s side, the death of half of humanity is not the goal, but a natural result of their endeavors. For the evil god D, however, this seems to be the sole intention.
Death and destruction are similar, yet there is a major difference.
If one’s soul is destroyed, one can no longer be reborn.
We must deal with D, whose plans would cause far greater damage.
The best way to improve our chances to this end would be to convince Lady Ariel to let us into the system’s core, where one with ruler authority could connect to the administrator and create a higher rate of success for teleportation.
Teleporting to the unknown location of D, whom Elder Ronandt has not even met, is far beyond the limits of any skill.
I cannot imagine success is likely, even for humanity’s strongest mage.
From the point of view of the ebony god’s side, we must persuade Lady Ariel no matter what.
But Lady Ariel’s answer is point-blank.
“That doesn’t matter to me one bit.”
There seems to be no hope of changing her mind.
I cannot blame her.
Allowing someone into the system’s core could directly result in the ivory god’s side’s defeat.
I or someone else with ruler authority might very well take that opportunity to prevent the system’s destruction.
If anything, that would be the most logical course of action.
After all, the people who want to go to the system’s core are the leader of the ebony god’s side and another group with similar values.
They want to save everyone without sacrificing half of humanity.
“I understand that this would not benefit you. And yet the survival of humanity hangs in the balance. Is there any way we can convince you to help us?”
“Yeah, right. What kind of idiot would let the enemy waltz right into their headquarters?”
“We would of course promise not to do anything in the system core other than teleporting to D’s location.”
“I don’t believe that for a second.”
We are at an impasse.
“I’ve always made tons of compromises. And look where that got us. I refuse to compromise anymore.”
Lady Ariel’s assertion is understandable.
And it is difficult to argue.
Look at the way this world’s people mistreated Lady Sariel: using MA energy despite her warnings of its dangers, incurring the wrath of the dragons, letting her defend us from them, only to sacrifice her in order to keep this world alive.
Amid all these irredeemable transgressions, it is small wonder that Lady Ariel and the others who counted Lady Sariel as family would be furious.
And yet Lady Ariel has restrained her anger for so long.
Just as she says, she has compromised with us many times over.
It is simply too much to ask her to compromise yet again.
She has no reason to go along with our request.
Trying to appeal to her emotions because half of humanity is going to be destroyed will not move Lady Ariel’s heart when we have ignored Lady Sariel’s suffering for so long.
If anything, the more we try to move her, the more irritated she is likely to become.
What right do we have?
After we asked so much of Lady Sariel, and whittled away at her life for so long, how can we turn around and demand even more?
I am sure that is how it sounds to Lady Ariel.
It is impossible to persuade her.
And yet we must, or else either Elder Ronandt will have to find a way to teleport to D’s location on his own, or we will need to attack the Great Elroe Labyrinth once again.
We cannot count on Elder Ronandt’s success.
And now that we have lost chiefs Iena, Nguyen, and Gohka, it would be difficult to break through into the depths of the labyrinth even with the aid of the remaining dragon chiefs.
None of these options are feasible.
They are all just as impossible as convincing Lady Ariel to help.
Isn’t there any way out of this mess…?
“Excuse me…”
Just then, Sir Schlain breaks his silence.
“Please, I’m begging you to reconsider, too! I swear we won’t do anything that would put the ivory god’s side at a disadvantage!”
For just a moment, I hoped perhaps a reincarnation would be able to convince Lady Ariel, but a simple, honest plea is hardly enough to change her mind.
“Yamada, you reincarnations throwing your hat in the ring doesn’t change my answer.”
“No, listen! At this rate, half of humanity will be gone forever!”
“If I must repeat myself again, our side was already fighting with the full intention of slaughtering half of humanity. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t make much of a difference whether they die or get destroyed.”
“But that’s awful…!”
It appears Sir Schlain will not be able to persuade Lady Ariel, either.
“Yamada, this battle concerns our world. You reincarnations are outsiders. Don’t try and get involved if you’re not prepared to face the consequences.”
If anything, now she’s the one talking him down.
“…I’d prefer if you didn’t treat us like outsiders. Yes, maybe we were born in another world. But we live in this one now, and we’re going to go on living here. We’re not interlopers. This concerns us, too. At the very least, I know I’m here because I’m prepared to be part of this.”
…Now, there’s a surprise.
Sir Schlain, who seemed at first like he would be cowed into silence by Lady Ariel, was able to make a surprisingly firm comeback.
So this is the younger brother of Sir Julius the Hero.
Though he is still young and naive, I can see now that he has truly inherited the will of his predecessor.
“…Gotcha. Sorry for being so dismissive, then.”
It appears that Lady Ariel was caught slightly off guard by Sir Schlain’s words as well.
In that short exchange, her perception of the young hero has likely improved from someone not worth her time to someone she can address on equal terms.
“But that still doesn’t mean we’re going to go along with your demands.”
Unfortunately, that still isn’t enough to change the situation at hand.
“Erm, excuse me, may I pose a question? Why do you suppose this ‘D’ is going to destroy half of humanity, exactly?”
This time, Miss Filimøs speaks up.
I can understand her misgivings.
While Lady Ariel’s side has a goal that they wish to accomplish even if it means taking countless lives in the process, D has no such clear reason.
In fact, we know next to nothing about D at all.
I myself do not understand D’s thoughts or goals in the slightest.
This, too, is something we likely cannot say for certain unless we ask D directly.
“Who knows? Not me, that’s for sure. White and Gülie are the only ones who’ve met D face-to-face. But from what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s mostly just for fun.”
“For fun?! Destroying half of humanity for fun?!”
Despite Sir Schlain’s evident shock, I do not find it overly surprising.
Any being powerful enough to create something as anomalous as the system is bound to see things differently from mere humans like us.
Although Lord Black Dragon is closely linked with humanity, the rest of the dragons were quite willing to eradicate every one of us.
We must not forget that.
To a god, mankind is little more than rubbish.
“Yes, I imagine it is at least in part just for fun. D sees this world as nothing but a toy for her amusement. I’m sure she could have saved this planet without a roundabout method like the system if she really wanted to.”
Mr. Hyrince is right.
This world is only a toybox to D.
She forced humans and demons to war against each other, added monsters into the mix, and watched mankind struggle and fight to survive.
When I think of it that way, it makes perfect sense to call someone so cruel an evil god.
But it is true nonetheless that this planet has escaped destruction, thanks to the system.
We toys cannot rebel against our owner.
“Erm, if this person really is that powerful, does that mean she might be able to grant both the ivory god’s and the ebony god’s wishes? Think about it! Maybe we can talk to her face-to-face and convince her!”
Sir Schlain speaks with the conviction of someone who’s had a brilliant idea.
True enough, I am sure D does have the power to do so.
However, that would be…
“So you’re depending on gods again?”
I can sense Lady Ariel’s immense anger even through telepathy.
As I suspected, Sir Schlain’s proposal struck a nerve with her.
“You can’t do it yourselves, so you turn to a god. How’d that work out for this world last time, huh?”
We humans turned to Lady Sariel for help, and even now, we continue to repay her kindness with cruelty.
For Lady Ariel, who is striving to save her, asking a god for help is unthinkable.
“…I’m sorry. That was thoughtless of me.”
“If you weren’t a reincarnation, I’d probably kill you where you stand.”
Her threat sounds serious enough that cold sweat runs down my back.
It drives home the depth of the rift between our side and hers all over again.
Though we understand each other’s words, we can never understand each other’s feelings.
I am sure it seems that way to Lady Ariel as well.
If anything, she seems to believe even more strongly that we cannot agree.
Humanity has betrayed Lady Sariel for so long after all.
Perhaps trying to persuade Lady Ariel any longer would only be wasting our time.
“That won’t do at all, Hero. We’ve got to win this on our own, or it won’t be worth anything. Besides, from what I’ve seen of our world all this time, D’s not likely to do us any favors.”
Chief Reise chimes in with an easygoing drawl.
I can easily picture them shrugging languidly as they speak.
“Yes, I agree. D seems to cherish fairness, from what I can tell. If we make such a request of D, she will expect something of equal value in exchange. When Güliedistodiez asked her to save this planet, she created the system and ordered us to save it with our own sweat and blood. And we have no way of paying the price she would demand this time.”
If fairness is truly important to her, is this her way of evening the playing field in spite of her divinity?
Placing limits on herself because she could otherwise do anything she wanted?
Of course, knowing that would not help us negotiate when we have nothing to offer, just as Sir Hyrince said.
But if she truly values fairness, then perhaps…
“This could be D’s method of divine punishment.”
I blurt out the thought through telepathy as soon as it strikes me.
“Even if the ivory god’s side loses, mankind will still pay for their crimes. Perhaps she decided that this would be the fairest outcome, from a god’s perspective, and that is why she issued the world quest.”
If that were the case, perhaps we should simply resign ourselves and accept our punishment.
The thought drains all energy from my body.
All this time, I have worked tirelessly to defend humanity, no matter the cost.
But in truth this was merely stubbornness: I felt that since we betrayed Lady Ariel, we must commit to that stance until the bitter end.
And as a result, divine judgment has deemed that humanity must be punished.
Which means…all this time, I’ve just been…
“I cannot deny the possibility, but it is still a mystery why D decided to create the world quest. The only way to find out is to ask her directly. We cannot waste our time on pointless theories and conjecture. Let’s continue the discussion.”
At Sir Hyrince’s words, I pull myself together.
Although I am not sure what else there is to discuss, since it seems we cannot come to an agreement…
“…Hyrince, Dustin, that Ronandt fellow, and any interested reincarnations. Ah, and throw in Balto as a representative of demonkind. I will allow those people, and only those people, to enter.”
Just as I was about to give up, Lady Ariel makes a proposal that I can scarcely believe.
“…Are you sure?”
“Isn’t this exactly what you people wanted?”
It is, and yet I am utterly bewildered.
Lady Ariel has no reason to accept our pleas.
Just as she told us multiple times, the ivory god’s side need do nothing but continue to focus on defending the Great Elroe Labyrinth.
There is no need for her to allow us inside.
Lady Ariel’s offer is all risk and no reward for her faction.
I can understand why she excluded the other ancient dragon chiefs.
They are the only ones who can stand up to the ivory god’s forces at this point.
But even if we do not pose much of a threat in battle, it is still dangerous to allow those of us with ruler authority to enter the core of the system.
The ivory god’s side’s conditions for victory are that the ivory god herself must win, and they must prevent anyone from entering the system’s core to prevent its destruction.
Only those with ruler authority can stop the system from being destroyed.
If she allows anyone with that authority to enter the core, they could easily do just that.
“Does this mean you have decided to trust us?”
“Of course not. How could I possibly trust you? It’s just that I wouldn’t mind meeting D and having a few words with her myself.”
If she is acting on her own desires instead of trusting us, that does somewhat explain her change of heart.
Though I still cannot understand why she would allow such a risky venture.
“Thank you.”
Still, it is an incredibly fortunate turn of events for us.
Even if this is a trap and I am to be killed, there is nothing else that the ebony god’s side can do.
My life would be a small sacrifice to make.
“I’ll be waiting in the Great Elroe Labyrinth, then.”
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