Part 4
“Uu Uu……The [Vajra Replica] which had already been half destroyed is now completely destroyed.”
The rabbit ears of Kuro Usagi drooped and she hung her head low while sobbing.
The [Vajra Replica], which she had retrieved after the battle in [Underwood], had already been half destroyed due to its inability to handle the heat and charge released from its true form.
Kuro Usagi had released the Divinity given to it to use it as [Indra’s spear Vajra]. But the weapon had also been destroyed due to the inability to handle the sudden injection of power into it.[49]
Feeling ashamed for having acted so immaturely, Jack lightly patted Kuro Usagi’s shoulder.
“I’m… I’m really sorry about that, Kuro Usagi-dono. Please cheer up. If time permits, please let me do the repairs for you.”
“Is…. Is that for real?”
“Yeah. I will even do it at a price negotiable by our relation as allies in the Alliance too♪”
Kuro Usagi’s face immediately brightened up at that as she started to sway her rabbit ears in joy.
But the duo behind her were still locked in a staring showdown and were in the midst of a hostile atmosphere. Though they were much more obedient after Kuro Usagi’s forceful intervention, it seemed that there wasn’t any letting up in their attitudes. Such an atmosphere wasn’t conducive for the discussion to form an Alliance.
Asuka sighed as she scratched her hair while spitting her words in disgust: “…. This sure is unbelievable. Never did it cross my mind that [Perseus] would be the last Community to join the Alliance.”
“Those are the words that you have taken from my mouth. Of all people to choose, we have to ally with those [No Name]'s? Hah, don’t joke with me. Joining up with some robbers or hooligans would also be more constructive than this.”
“Ararara. Then for [Perseus], that lost to the [No Name]'s, to the point of being badly beaten up ーand hence getting themselves ousted by [Thousand Eyes]ー to fall to the Six digits, what kind of HIGH CLASS COMMUNITY is it then?”
“Shut up! You smelly bitch……”
Sparks were flying between the two who held a strong sense of animosity against each other. Perhaps it was the thought of the pitiful state that the other had already fallen to, the first one to back off was actually Asuka.
Asuka gave a light sigh as she shifted her gaze to Kuro Usagi.
“Kuro Usagi, you have no objections?”
“Eh?”
“The target of our Alliance this time. The various rude acts and his previous attempt to auction off Leticia, aren’t you the least bit bothered by that or even feeling angry?”
For an instant, Kuro Usagi was stumped by Asuka’s words. She must be referring to the various humiliations heaped upon them in the past. If one were to look at all those past incidences, it was definitely not possible for them to be allied under the same Alliance now.
But after giving it some thought, Kuro Usagi shifted her eyes towards Laius.
“Kuro Usagi also have an opinion about the Alliance candidate this time…… But you’ve said something that Kuro Usagi cannot ignore, so Kuro Usagi feels that we should not simply refuse it.”
Asuka also frowned, upon hearing that. Regarding that same line of thought, she was also quite concerned as well.
Laius had shouted loudly earlier about having repaired Deen himself……If that were to be true ーeven if the Alliance arrangement were to break downー they would also want to listen a little more about that matter out of civility.
“Mah. Since Kuro Usagi says so, I will also drop it. But what was that about earlier? Was it really you who repaired Deen?”
“……Hmph. It’s only a simple task for me. We of [Perseus] have been bestowed the Gift of Divinity from one of the [Twelve Olympian Gods], [The God of Blacksmiths, Hephaestus] himself. Using the Gift allows us to work with ores that contain dormant spiritual powers. And that is our Community’s speciality.”[50]
Laius gave a thin smile that was overflowing with pride. Though his attitude was really annoying, the weight of his words were of importance and couldn’t be dismissed as another nonsensical rubbish coming from his mouth.
Kuro Usagi folded her arms to mull over it for a while before giving a sigh after having come to an acceptance of reality.
“……the winged armor parts from the God of Commerce, the Helmet of Invisibility from Hades, bestowed with the Goddess shield that has the Gorgon’s head attached to it and a Harpe that can kill the GodsーNo, it should already be a Harpe that can kill Celestial beings right?……And since the shield had not made an appearance in the last Game we played, it must have been offered to the God of Blacksmiths, am I right?”
[The God of Blacksmiths, Hephaestus] is a Greek god amongst the Olympian Gods who have crafted many weapons and armors. He is a God who represents Fire and manufacturing.
He is also the God who crafted the [Thunderbolt of Zeus] and the [Tripod Automatons][51] amongst the many other accomplishments in the armory of the Gods. Being the one who supported the Greek mythologies as its backbone.
But Asuka, who stood beside Kuro Usagi, did not seem to catch on to the topic as she tilted her head to ask:
“Hm, what does that mean?”
“It’s said that after [Perseus] defeated the Gorgon, he was bestowed the equipment that consisted of the [Helmet], [Plated boots], [Shield] and [Harpe]. But the [Shield] had been returned to the Goddess……It’s said in the legends that the [Shield] had been fused together with the head of the Gorgon when it was returned. And that’s where the shield of the constellation, [Perseus], resides and the truth behind the [Demon Lord Algol]. As for the one who could have bestowed the technique of fusing the shield and the head……it can only be the God of Blacksmiths right?”
Kuro Usagi recounted the [Perseus] heritage in a fluent manner while Laius started to smile smugly.
But Asuka continued to tilt her head quizzically.
“……?? Hm, which means to say that this young master is actually the descendant of a Great Hero?”
“YES! It’s HIS ANCESTOR who is the Great person!”
“Yahoho! His ANCESTOR really is great!”
“Very well then~, follow me outside now! And make known all those filthy thoughts of yours once and for all! This time Algol and I……”
“ “ “ What a despicable young master.” ” ”
“ALGOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!” “Please stop it, Laius-sama! Summoning a Celestial class being in the middle of the city isn’t funny at all!” A few knights in their working attire had quickly pounced on Laius to pin him down.
Asuka used the opportunity to digest the information on the heritage of [Perseus].
“I get it now. So the Gift of Divinity from the God of Blacksmiths is also one of the rewards for defeating the Gorgon, right?”
“YES! But it’s most probably not the Divinity itself and just of a Divine equipment that can strengthen the ability to bestow Gifts. And with that, it might just be possible to refine high level ores of the Rare Sacred Iron or Diamond Iron Ore class.”
“Hmph, that sort of fact needn’t be said at all! As long as ore-sama[52] here makes a move, such a small thing wouldn’t even need much strength……”
“Laius–sama, you can just drop the act already. If it weren’t for Jack-dono, we wouldn’t even know where to start working on those stuff.”
The male aide tried to persuade Laius.
And Laius rewarded him with an angry stare and a click of his tongue, without raising a hand at him.
Giving a sigh, upon envisioning the bumpy road ahead of them for their Alliance pact, Kuro Usagi suddenly remembered something and she turned to Jack:
“There’s something that Kuro Usagi’s been wondering about…… What’s the relationship between [Will-O'-Wisp] and [Perseus]? If I were to describe what I’ve seen, you guys don’t look to be on good terms.”
“Yahoho…… Mhm, it can be said as a relation of being indebted of sorts. I may have mentioned it before that we of [Will-O'-Wisp] had been attacked many times by [Demon Lord Maxwell].”
“YES. We’ve heard of that before. The feud between your Community and the Demon Lord of the upper Five Digitsー”
“No, that’s already in the past.”
“Eh?” Kuro Usagi cocked her rabbit ears to the side as a gasp of surprise escaped her lips.
Jack continued in a nervous tone.
“That guy isn’t at the Five Digits anymore. It’s said that during the time that we have gone to [Underwood]ー[Demon Lord Maxwell] has ascended to the Four Digits.”
“Four… FOUR DIGITS?!”
Kuro Usagi shouted in dismay.
Beside her, Asuka had also narrowed her eyes as she took on a serious expression.
In Little Garden, the Seven and Six Digits would be called the lower levels while the five digits would make up the middle and from four digits and below, all those would make up the Upper echelon. Although the Five Digits were already counted as the middle levels, the power difference between them and the next level was a difference comparable to that of Heaven and Earth. And that was an accepted truth in this world. In other words, a Demon Lord of the top tiers in the Five Digits shouldn’t be able to easily ascend into the Four Digits.
If it were to be the backing of a [Floor Master], which tend to be of the strongest race, it might still be understandable. But it is rare to see an individual ascend a level on his own.
Kuro Usagi cocked her rabbit ears to one side:
“Four…Digits? For an individual to rise to the Four Digits, it’s already undeniably one of the strongest kind……but it would require a lot of merit for someone who isn’t a [Floor Master] to ascend to the Four digits, wouldn’t it? Or is it to say……”
ーthat he had become the important spiritual power that resulted in a [Paradigm Shift]? But Kuro Usagi had already stopped herself in mid-sentence for it would sound too absurd to be said aloud.
Although this was only a speculation at the moment, but the title of [Demon Lord Maxwell] had most likely been born out of the demon that was speculated to be present within the ideologies of Thermodynamics, which is a sub-topic of Physicsー[Maxwell Demon].
This imaginary Demon had been born after the year of 1860, which is also something that happened in the nineteenth century.
But according to the generally accepted knowledge of Little Garden’s history, the prosperous age of [Paradigm Shift]s that allowed others to break into the upper levels have had happened before the seventeenth century.
And especially after the nineteenth century, the histories branching out from them, had started to split into many various possibilities and the possibilities had grown to the extent where it could no longer be controlled or recorded like before. Then came the twentieth century where the convergence and birth of Gods and Demons have had their boundaries blurred to the point of disappearing altogether. Even if there were records on it, it would only be at the scale of an urban legend. The [Paradigm Shift] that has bestowed Gifts and spiritual powers upon many had already been replaced by Beliefs in the Stronger Religions and that is the situation of the world today.
ーLet’s use this as an example.
[Perseus] is a Knight recorded within the Greek mythologies, having had existed during the BC era. If the spiritual level of [Perseus] were to deteriorate, it might cause the influence of Greek mythology to be weakened in its impact on future generations. And the worst case scenario would not exclude the possibility of being totally annihilated and forgotten.
However, due to the various influences of Greek mythology on Philosophy, Religion and Politics, it opened up many opportunities for them to have a large scale [Paradigm Shift] from their influence. Be it a true story or a story from the myths, they would still continue to appear in all the time-lines IN SOME FORM OR ANOTHER.
Hence those who are elevated to the status of Gods from the collective devotion of Humans will not be able to be killed by normal half-baked means. Since Gods are the milestones of the planet, the spiritual level and power of the individual would then retain the power to resurrect themselves according to the description of the generation that they came from.
And there’s only two ways to kill Gods: to prepare the method to overthrow them in the history that they choose to propagate their followersーor to use a strike that has the destructive power to completely wipe out a large scale of Mankind’s History.
If Celestial Beings were the strongest species that controlled over space and matter with their spiritual power,
Gods would be the strongest species that ruled over the ideologies and eras of their existence with their spiritual power.
(However, there are also those such as <Journey to the west> that have written contributions propagating into the world outside of Little Garden. If one wanted to use the [Paradigm Shift] to obtain a huge amount of Spiritual power, the only way would be to grab a seat amongst the Gods. Black Death(Percher) was a very irregular example that wouldn’t repeat itself as easily as before……)
“Kuro Usagi-san. I know what you are thinking about but that fellow isn’t a normal Demon that can be predicted by means of common sense.”
“What do you mean by that?” Kuro Usagi halted her train of thoughts as she cocked her rabbit ears to the side.
The flames in Jack’s hollow eyes took on a melancholic glow then.
“Although it might sound unbelievable…. It’s the truth that [Demon Lord Maxwell] seemed to have triggered a [Paradigm Shift] after the year of 2120AD.”
“2…2120AD?” Kuro Usagi’s rabbit ears had perked up in surprise at that information.
“Wa…Wait a moment! Kuro Usagi haven’t heard of a convergent point at that time before! To have such a long history of being in the chronology of Mankind, it’s already on par with the civilization that worship the Gods! To have that sort of Convergence point occurring in a Parallel world in that era is impossible! Even if it were to occur, it can only be in the next generation of Manki……”
“No, it’s possible. I had thought the same at first and I had doubts before seeing his power with my own eyes……but after witnessing it for myself, I’ve already accepted it as a fact… That fellow is already on par with the Demon Lords of the strongest species.”
A sense of restlessness could be picked up from the glow in Jack’s pumpkin eye cavities and it did not seem to feel like a pretense at all.
Asuka who knew of Jack’s strength first-hand had also contracted the nervousness as she gave a sigh.
“……Is that so? No wonder you guys have chosen to work alongside [Perseus]. Aside from the fact that he’s an immature young master, it’s undeniable that he possess the power to control a Celestial Being.”
“Oi, who are you calling immature?”
“Yes, that’s the case.”
“At least deny that on my behalf!!! Aren’t we part of the same Alliance?!”
Asuka and Jack exchanged a meaningful look and nodded their heads. While Laius seemed to have cried out a protest, they had just ignored him.
ー[Perseus] was able to call upon the Celestial spirit of Algol.
Though she might have been defeated by Izayoi previously, her power is still one of the undeniably large existences. If one could borrow that sort of power, they would definitely be willing to set aside most of their discontent.
“……Well, I guess there’s that to consider and I might give that some consideration during the formation of the Alliance.”
“Is that true, Asuka san?”
“Mhm. But……”
In an instant, her eyes had lighted with anger once again.
“The prerequisite would be for the Leader of [Perseus] to apologize for all the rudeness shown to the [No Name]s previously.”
“Ha…Haaah? Why do I have to do that sort of thing?!”
“Then let’s end it as that. We will find another Community to ally with. Good. Bye!”
Asuka lifted her hand to wave her farewell and Laius’s expression suddenly fell solemn.
Noticing his look, Asuka started to snigger confidently in her heart.
(As I thought, there’s a catch behind all this.)
Considering the character of this man ーLaiusー he would definitely not agree to an Alliance without any conditions that benefited him.
In addition to the fact that [Demon Lord Maxwell] rose to the Four Digits, it should be more so then ever. Without a similarly high return for the high risk, he wouldn’t have been willing to accept such an alliance.
And from how Asuka had seen it, the relationship between the two Communities seemed to be in a manner that Jack could lead Laius by the nose. And she guessed that [Perseus] must have been promised some great returns.
Grabbing hold of that point in mind, Asuka announced in a haughty attitude:
“Well then, what do you say? Regarding the rudeness towards [No Name]s……Okay, let’s just start with you bowing your head to apologize to Kuro Usagi and Leticia.”
Asuka gracefully flung back her hair as she taunted Laius. If he were the Laius she knew, he would definitely jump at that taunt in rage.
However, Laius displayed an unexpected amount of self-control as he replied in a voice quivering with restrained anger:
“……That’s… That’s okay. I will accept that condition.”
“Ara, what a surprise. Looks like the Community might have fallen but you have matured a little as well. Then, what are you waiting for……”
“But I will also have a condition on my end!”
Facing Laius’s challenge, Asuka straightened herself.
“Your tone seems a little forceful. Do you think you have the right to say those words?”
“Anyways, I would have to say this condition no matter what consequences there might be! If the benefits do not go both ways, there wouldn’t be a point in having an Alliance! If I don’t test out whether the [No Name]s have the strength required to join the alliance, how do you expect me to continue on with the talks?”
Laius stood up huffy as he pointed to Deen:
“Using the three types of weapons including Deen, obtain a victory in the <Duel of Creators>. If you cannot do thatーThese three weapons will be mine!”
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