When I woke up, I was in a white place.
My body had become that of my previous life, and a sense of helplessness washed over me.
It had been a while since I'd felt this.
And along with this sensation came a crushing sense of defeat.
I had lost.
Lured by bait in the form of Ruijerd,
made careless by defeating Bitt,
crossed into the Biheliral Kingdom and had my location discovered by Geese,
and as a result, I'd invited both the Sword God and the North God right into my own territory.
In the end, I was alone, sandwiched from both sides, and ended up like this.
Even thinking back on it makes me sigh.
"......"
Geese, he really does see everything.
That cutting off the arm at the root would prevent someone from using magic—even I didn't know that.
His choice of location was brilliant too.
On a bridge, there was no way I could summon the Second Type Modified. He must have told them beforehand to start the battle in that kind of terrain.
Roxy had created a system now where I could manage without spreading a magic circle, but Geese didn't know that...
With the Second Type Modified, those two fighting together wouldn't have lost.
Though I suppose even those two didn't expect that a bridge couldn't withstand the Second Type Modified's footwork.
But then again, thinking about it, there was a way to escape downward...
"......"
So where exactly was Geese all along?
Was he disguised as the king of the Biheliral Kingdom?
The voice was different, but... knowing Geese, he could certainly manage a voice impression.
Or maybe, with your help, things could work out somehow?
Wait.
Now that I think about it, Shandor is suspicious too.
His voice, face, and build are nothing like Geese's, but with magic tools or
magic-infused items,
it should be possible to change all of that.
Like he'd infiltrated the Asura Kingdom from the start and captured the Golden Knight Commander or something.
He was awfully skilled at information gathering, and the probability was high.
"......"
Lately, there have been a lot of these.
Mental attacks using dreams.
The Death God Bitt was the same way.
Oh, could it be that you also have a slime-like form?
That mosaic appearance of yours—it's not that you're hiding your shape, but that's just how you naturally look?
"......"
Hey, you.
Say something already, won't you?
Talking to yourself is pathetic.
If I lost, then at least laugh and reveal the trick.
That's your role, isn't it?
You give a little pat on the shoulder, say "good effort, you tried hard but I win, too bad, duh-huh," and all that, right?
Come on, come at me. I'll punch you one last time at the end.
"............Die."
That's why, you're already dead, right?
Also, what's wrong with you, Human God?
The quality of your mosaic seems off today.
Are you feeling down?
"Every time you take action, my future changes."
Well, that's the whole point of taking action.
"I can always see my own future.
I can see far, far ahead—my own future."
Yeah, I know.
Future sight, right?
If I recall, up to three people.
Hm? The third person was looking at their own future, you said?
"Three? I can actually see more.
But I can't take my eyes off my own future. That's why it's three."
...Does that mean you're using most of your power just to watch your own future?
"My future is pitch black. At some point, it went dark."
Into the dark, you mean.
"At first, it was just Orsted. But Orsted is a weakling. He's no match for me. I'll never lose to someone that simple-minded."
Weakling...
Well, Orsted does have his clueless moments.
He kept quiet about the Supard Race the other day, after all.
I'm not one to talk, though.
"But at some point, a man started standing beside Orsted.
A man I don't know. Completely different. Probably not from this world.
At that time, it only got a little darker."
Ah.
Could that be Nanahoshi's boyfriend?
His name was... I forget.
"But soon, more people appeared. A girl. And after that, my future grew dark and silent."
"Every time you take action, more companions gather around Orsted."
"Each time, my future grows darker."
"Already pitch black."
So the things I did weren't pointless after all?
"No, everything was pointless. I'll make sure of it."
He sounds bitter.
But if he's already dead, there's nothing I can do.
"If you die, it can still be undone.
After all, it was a future created by one person.
If you kill someone with a strong enough destiny, it can be overturned.
That's what I've been doing all along."
Maybe I should just beg for mercy...?
Get on my knees and say "please, just spare my family"?
Well, if it's gotten to that point, there's probably no use.
"Die."
"Die, die."
What are you, elementary schoolers? Die, die.
"Die, Rudeus."
Listen to me.
---
I woke up.
Waking up was the worst.
Getting told to die so bluntly... it really does feel awful.
But then again, the fact that he said "die" but not "I'll kill you"—that tells you something about the Human God's reliance on others, I suppose.
He never gets his own hands dirty.
He just gives orders from above.
What an unpleasant person.
And also...
"Am I alive?"
I was certain I was dead.
The Magic Armor "Second Type Modified" had high durability.
But I'm just a flesh-and-blood body, and I was unconscious.
On top of that, from that height.
There was no way I could survive the impact of the fall.
But if I've woken up like this, then I must have survived.
Something cushioned the fall, maybe?
There didn't seem to be any trees, though...
Well, regardless, thank you, dear Mom Paul, dear Mom Zenith, for giving me a sturdy body.
"......Mm."
I pushed myself up.
The surroundings were dim. A cave, perhaps?
I suddenly felt something off.
When I pushed myself up just now, what did I use?
I tensed my abs, propped myself on my elbows...
"Huh? I have my arms."
Both of my arms—supposedly cut off by the Sword God—were somehow attached.
I shouldn't have any self-repair ability...
As I thought about this, I stared at my hands.
"What the—what is this...?"
My hands were completely black.
Jet-black arms, like obsidian.
Yet they moved freely, as if fully connected by nerves.
I raised my gaze to my forearms and saw that the black arms were rooted at the base of my shoulders like some kind of plant.
A little unsettling.
Also, it seemed the Magic Armor Second Type Modified had been removed from me.
The leg parts were gone too.
I was in my underwear only.
And to top it all off, my entire body was wrapped in bandages.
My side was bleeding through them.
Emergency first aid, probably.
It meant someone who couldn't use Healing Magic had helped me.
Which also meant these arms were thanks to that person?
"......Ah."
Looking around, I spotted my clothes neatly folded.
And on top of them, there—lo and behold—sat an arm.
A living arm, severed but not dead.
Oh, this arm is mine.
The Dragon God's Bracelet was on it.
"Ow—!"
I tried to move toward it quickly, and pain shot through my entire body.
I immediately chanted a Healing Magic spell and healed the wounds.
Then I removed the bracelet from the severed arm and placed it on my black arm.
It should still work, right...?
"Where am I?"
I said aloud and stood up.
At the same time, I produced fire in my palm to illuminate the surroundings.
The space was about five meters square. The walls were earthen.
With a ceiling above, this was indeed a cave.
At the very back of the cave, something like a cloth had been spread out, and I'd been laid upon it.
This cloth... was it a mantle?
"......"
First, to get my bearings, I headed toward the cave's exit.
The cave curved, but I quickly saw light.
The exit.
But standing at the exit was someone.
A massive back.
Armor to match that size.
As I approached, the figure slowly turned and raised the visor of their helmet.
A familiar face appeared.
"Doga..."
"...Yo."
"Was it you who saved me?"
"...Saw the bridge collapse. Jumped right in. Rudeus, unconscious. Tried to carry you, armor too heavy, so removed it. Brought you here, treated wounds."
So he was the one who saved me.
Jumping all the way down to the bottom of a valley...
Ugh, I'm sorry, Doga.
I said you were a background character, that the story wouldn't change whether you were there or not.
"I see. Thank you. You saved my life. I'm sorry I was alone. I let my guard down."
"...It's fine. Shandor's... orders."
Doga said this with a faint smile.
Even though he was following orders, he'd been trying to protect me the whole time.
What a good guy.
I felt stupid for having thought about protecting both of them instead.
"This arm too, did you do this?"
I raised the black arm, and Doga shook his head.
"When I found you, Rudeus, wrapped in something like a cocoon. Opened it, cocoon became an arm."
...?
He was wrapped in a cocoon, and the cocoon became an arm?
The arm was the cocoon—so what exactly was the cocoon?
Did I even have something this arm could attach to?
As I pondered this while looking at my arm, Doga made an apologetic face.
"Original arm, one, found.
Other arm, looked for, not there. Maybe eaten. Sorry."
"Ah, no, no, it's fine."
Healing Magic will make it grow back.
...Once this black arm is removed, that is.
"Where exactly is this place?"
"Bottom of the valley. Deepest... part."
"I see... How long has it been?"
"Don't know. Here, sun doesn't rise. Two days, or three or more, I think."
Doga said this and shifted his body aside.
Then light flooded into my eyes.
A faint, slightly bluish glow.
Outside the cave, glowing moss and mushroom-like things grew thickly, covering everything.
That was what illuminated the surroundings.
But that wasn't all.
Outside the cave.
As if blocking the entrance, there were three corpses.
Shelled, dinosaur-like creatures.
Earth Dragons.
Three of them, for some reason, lay dead.
"...Did you do this?"
"Yeah. Me, protected Rudeus."
Looking at Doga's axe, I saw bright red bloodstains.
Earth Dragon blood, presumably.
Still, he took them down alone?
Impressive.
I may have been underestimating Doga.
Come to think of it, Karlmann the North God, or the Sword God, had said something...
"You're the North Emperor, right?"
"Yeah. Master still says I'm unskilled. But, monsters... I'm good at defeating them."
Who was it that said Doga was useless again?
Ariel had sent a proper fighting force, after all.
Sorry. That was me.
Honestly, I'd completely underestimated him!
"I see... that's amazing."
"Yeah."
When I praised him, he smiled happily once more.
But if Doga was the North Emperor...
"What about Shandor?"
"............I can't... say."
"I see."
Well, I had my suspicions.
When we got back, I'd confront him.
"Now, let's figure out how to get out of here."
Regardless, getting back was the top priority right now.
The Sword God. The North God.
The enemies were powerful, and they were hiding.
It was possible that no one yet knew about my defeat.
And if they were enemies, a subjugation force would come.
Those who wanted to destroy the Supard Race—they would arrive.
A hundred or two hundred in a subjugation force was manageable.
But if the Sword God and North God were hidden among them, that was a different story.
I had to stop them.
"...First, take me to where I fell.
I need to recover the armor. There might still be some usable scrolls."
"Yeah."
Doga nodded and set off.
I followed that reassuring back.
---
We reached the Magic Armor's location relatively quickly.
Along the way, we encountered two Earth Dragons.
Both were taken down by Doga with a single blow.
A single blow.
He waited for the charging Earth Dragon, swung that massive axe once, and its head exploded.
Truly reassuring.
Thinking back on the fight with the Transparent Wolves, he seemed weak against intricate techniques, but in a contest of raw power, he was unbeatable.
Well, Doga was fine, but...
"Hmm..."
The Magic Armor had been roughly cut apart.
The Scroll Vernier on the back was especially devastated.
Every scroll in the bundle had been sliced clean in two.
On top of that, my blood had splattered inside the vernier, turning it into a mess. It was completely unusable.
After Roxy went through all the trouble of making it for me...
Against a Sword God-class opponent, even the Magic Armor was useless as defense.
But the sword must have done the real damage.
The sword had been embedded halfway into the armor and snapped partway through.
It appeared to be an ordinary sword.
Gal Farion supposedly had many magic swords, but he probably didn't bring one to avoid drawing attention.
If this had been his beloved sword, the armor wouldn't have stopped it—I'd have been sliced in half along with it.
Chilling thought.
Still, if he'd brought something like that, Orsted or Cliff would have noticed...
"This is no longer usable."
I'd have to discard the Scroll Vernier that Roxy had made for me.
After all the trouble she went to, making it just for me...
At least I could come back to recover it later.
The main body of the armor still functioned.
One arm part remained, and the leg parts were intact.
It wasn't perfect, but...
Still, losing the Magic Armor's summoning scrolls was a real blow.
Without those, I couldn't stand a chance against those two.
If I made it back to the Supard village, I'd need to rush to the office immediately and retrieve the spare.
If I had the time for that.
"......Hm?"
When I removed the Scroll Vernier from the Magic Armor, along with the embedded sword tip, one of the scrolls fell out with a thud.
No, this wasn't a scroll.
It was a box.
I'd placed it there because there happened to be empty space inside the vernier.
It was about the size of a language dictionary.
A sinister box, etched with demonic patterns that looked like they'd curse you upon opening.
"The box Atofe gave me..."
The box I was told to open when I was in desperate straits.
The sword had broken by being driven into this box.
The box had a half-formed crack in it.
"......"
I cautiously opened the box and looked inside.
There was nothing inside.
Empty.
No—on the inside of the lid, something was written.
"This lump of black flesh is a split body of the Immortal Demon King Atofe. If opened in a time of crisis, it will protect its owner. Handle it with care."
A lump of black flesh...
As I thought about this, I looked at my arm.
...Could this arm be it?
I didn't remember opening it, but when Gal Farion's attack cracked the box, it must have sensed my crisis, protected me from the fall, and parasitized my arm to stop the bleeding...
Was that what happened...?
"Lord Atofe... thank you!"
There was no answer.
But I decided this was the case, and from the bottom of my heart, I gave thanks to that violent Demon King.
I bowed eastward with a kowtow.
He was probably still on the move, but if I ever met him, I'd offer him some fine liquor.
"Now then, let's head back."
The battle was near.
I had to get home quickly.
---
Well, I talked big, but I couldn't climb the cliff.
After ascending partway using Earth Magic, the mushroom and moss zone disappeared, and the surroundings became pitch black.
In that total darkness, what attacked us was a swarm of Earth Dragons.
From the left, from the right, they came one after another.
Overwhelmed by their sheer numbers, we were forced to retreat.
The footholds I'd created with Earth Magic were unstable, and over ten Earth Dragons were attacking us like geckos in the darkness.
If that were all, we might have managed, but the Earth Dragons also used magic, naturally.
In addition to above, below, left, and right, countless earthen spears shot out from the walls as well, making it impossible to break through.
They truly earned the title of dragons.
"Phew..."
After that, we tried various approaches.
Using the catapult launcher to shoot straight up in one go,
concealing ourselves with Earth Magic while ascending.
But all of them were thwarted by the Earth Dragons.
The Earth Dragons were surprisingly agile and incredibly persistent.
The catapult launch was intercepted mid-flight, and even while hidden, we were attacked anyway.
Also, once they locked onto us, they chased relentlessly.
Though, once we made it back to the area where the mushrooms and moss grew, most of them gave up the pursuit.
Apparently, this area was difficult for them.
Was it the mushrooms, or did they simply not consider it their territory?
Even so, a few did continue their chase.
It wasn't completely impossible, apparently.
"What should we do... Also, Doga, how did you manage to come down here?"
"...Yeah. When descending... not attacked much."
"Is that so... right, that makes sense."
Earth Dragons were slow to react to enemies above them, but sensitive to those below.
I knew that in theory.
But seeing it firsthand for the first time was something else.
Truly excessive.
They had the energy of chickens.
Should I just blast them away with a wide-range spell?
No, even if I did, I'd just get buried in rubble.
The valley was wide and deep.
Earth Dragons could use Earth Magic freely.
Even if I took out a few dozen, it wouldn't matter much.
And I had to fight the Sword God and North God soon—I didn't want to waste too much mana.
On the other hand, if I dawdled, the Sword God and North God's blades might be aimed at the Supard Race's village.
Or they might not go for the Supards, but somewhere else.
At the very least, Zanoba's location was known.
He might already be taken out.
I was anxious.
But calm down—getting panicked wouldn't improve the situation.
Even using Foresight to look upward, the Earth Dragons were still wary of us below.
"Is there anywhere the Earth Dragons are thinner?"
"...Yeah."
And so we started walking.
Thanks to the moss and mushrooms, our footing wasn't dark.
What attacked us wasn't just Earth Dragons—insects the size of humans, like giant longhorn beetles and centipedes.
It seemed the Earth Dragons fed on these insects.
Just a moment ago, one Earth Dragon had been carrying an insect in its mouth as it climbed upward.
And at one point, a dead Earth Dragon had fallen and was being swarmed by these insects.
The food supply was down here, and from above, almost nothing ever came down.
That explained why Earth Dragons only guarded against the area below.
A peculiar food chain ecosystem existed in just this spot.
"......"
But as I walked, something occurred to me.
"This path is easy to walk on."
The path along the valley floor was smoother than expected.
Some parts were blocked by large mushrooms or rocks that looked like fallen debris.
But overall, it was flat and very pleasant to walk on.
This ease of walking felt familiar somehow.
"...Yeah. Like the Red Dragon's Jaw."
"Oh!"
The place where I had those heartwarming, terrible memories with Orsted!
But it did feel just like that.
The Red Dragon's upper jaw, lower jaw, the Sacred Sword Highway...
It was hard to tell with the mushrooms and fallen rocks, but when I'd walked around there, it felt the same.
"So someone built this...?"
But those paths didn't have any monsters on them.
Which meant someone had built this and then called the Earth Dragons here...
Wait.
Hadn't I heard that it was Laplace who brought the dragons to the Central Continent?
If so, did Laplace build this path too?
For what purpose?
"......"
There was no way to know.
More importantly, I needed to find a way up.
Was there anywhere the terrain made it impossible for Earth Dragons to build nests?
I'd been looking upward with Foresight, but the valley walls were riddled with holes to the point where I questioned their structural integrity.
Like a densely packed high-rise district.
Even if not every hole housed Earth Dragons, there was certainly a large number.
A thousand? Two thousand?
And the low-ranking ones among them descended to the bottom to forage.
I doubted there was enough food down here to sustain so many Earth Dragons, but in this world, the mismatch between food supply and monster population was commonplace.
...Could I somehow use that to my advantage to climb up?
No, what would I even use?
If I fell, would I be unable to get up this time?
The Earth Dragon Valley.
They told me not to fall in, but I'd been a little too cocky about it...
"Rudeus."
"Hm, enemies?"
I tensed, expecting some new insect to appear, but Doga was pointing to the side.
There was only a wall in that direction.
No—wait.
It was hard to see behind the mushroom shadows, but there was a hole.
The hole itself wasn't unusual; there were small ones scattered around the bottom.
But this hole was a bit different from the others.
It was a staircase.
A staircase, leading down.
Not up—down.
"......"
You want me to go even further down?
That thought flashed through my mind.
"Oh?"
But in the next moment, my hand moved on its own.
My right hand pointed at the hole.
As if saying, "Go in here."
"Lord Atofe, is there an exit this way...?"
Atofe's split body didn't answer.
But my hand kept pointing.
The hand without the gauntlet.
"...Alright."
If I kept walking, I probably wouldn't find a way up.
This valley didn't go on forever.
Even if I walked endlessly, I'd just reach a dead end.
Then I'd have to turn back and search the other side, which would be a hassle.
So why not check out anything that caught my interest?
"Shall we go down and see?"
"Yeah."
Doga nodded without hesitation.
He too, perhaps having sensed something from these stairs.
We began descending the dark staircase.
---
At the bottom of the staircase was a massive altar.
A massive altar.
That was the only way I could describe it.
A huge cavern, completely covered in moss and mushrooms.
Two carved pillars stood as if supporting the space.
Between them was a stone table, and at the back of the table was an elaborately carved mural or wall painting.
Were the figures in the mural dragons?
They were painted in various overlapping patterns, but it was too dark to see clearly.
Still, this felt vaguely familiar.
Where had I seen something like this before?
"Is this a Dragon Race ruin...?"
Yes.
A Teleportation Ruin.
It felt very similar to that place.
Furthermore, the style of these carvings resembled what I'd seen in the Aerial Fortress.
If that were the case, there should be a Teleportation Magic Circle here.
But even if there was, it'd be a gamble.
Where would it teleport me? I had no idea.
I wanted to go straight up, not teleport somewhere random.
No, I shouldn't jump to conclusions.
Looking around, there were no other rooms besides this altar.
And what Atofe's Hand was pointing to wasn't that kind of thing.
It was the mural.
Specifically, a small stone shelf below the mural.
No—the shelf only looked small because the mural was enormous, but in truth, it was a decent size.
Still, Atofe's Hand had unmistakably pointed right there.
"......"
Suddenly, Atofe's face floated into my mind.
Was it really okay to follow the guidance of this not-so-bright Demon King?
A flicker of doubt crossed my mind.
But my feet moved.
Following where Atofe's Hand pointed, I stood before the shelf.
On it, several bottles were lined up.
Low-transparency bottles with open mouths.
And in the center of the shelf, something like a low-transparency crystal ball was fixed in place.
"Don't tell me there's alcohol in here or something."
Thinking this, I picked up one of the bottles.
It was carved with dragon patterns.
If I showed it to Zanoba, he'd probably go on about its value.
Incidentally, the inside was empty.
"So... what am I supposed to do with this?"
I asked Atofe's Hand.
No answer.
Instead, Atofe's Hand extended its reach.
Past the bottles, toward the low-transparency crystal.
And the moment it placed its hand on the crystal, control returned to me.
"......"
What was this?
What was I supposed to do?
Bottles, a crystal, an altar.
It felt like suddenly hitting a puzzle in the middle of an RPG game.
"Rudeus, that."
Doga suddenly pointed above my head from behind.
Looking up, the upper part of the massive pillars supporting the altar was glowing blue.
No—that wasn't right.
The pillars themselves weren't glowing; something blue and luminous was seeping down from above.
And it descended rapidly, pooling into a basin-like receptacle beneath the altar.
So this crystal ball—or rather, the entire altar—was a magic device.
A magic device that produced blue water.
But this light reminded me of the glowing moss and mushrooms outside.
"So what exactly is this water?"
Were they telling me to drink it?
The color looked unhealthy...
No—the fact that the bottles were placed alongside it meant this water was meant to be used somewhere.
Pour it into the bottles, feed it into some device, the device activates, a door opens, and you get a legendary sword.
I don't need a sword.
"Maybe... this?"
What Doga pointed to was the mural.
There, a massive painting was displayed.
It depicted humans and Earth Dragons.
When the magic device was activated, blue water would flow into certain parts, making them glow and revealing the full picture.
The mural seemed to show the flow of blue water.
At the top was the altar, and from it, a person was drawing blue water with a bottle.
Then that person sprinkled the water on the people around them.
The people who received the water took up swords and spears and attacked the Earth Dragon-like creatures from behind, hunting them.
If I was reading this correctly at a glance, this water was useful for hunting Earth Dragons.
There were also characters beside the painting, but I couldn't read them.
They looked like Dragon Race script, but slightly different.
"Oh, but wait..."
I suddenly thought of something.
Earth Dragons never descended to the bottom of the valley.
Blue moss. Blue mushrooms.
And blue water.
Perhaps people had once lived here.
These people used this blue water to keep the Earth Dragons at bay.
Earth Dragons disliked whatever component was in the blue water.
And the blue moss and mushrooms contained that same component.
No—looking at the mural more carefully, the people were attacking the Earth Dragons from behind—and from diagonally below.
Diagonally below those hyper-sensitive Earth Dragons.
...Perhaps they couldn't see it.
The Earth Dragons couldn't perceive things that emitted this blue light.
That was why they rarely descended to the bottom.
And if you sprinkled it on your body, you'd be invisible to the Earth Dragons?
"...Should we try this?"
I turned back and asked Doga.
I didn't explain the reasoning.
"Yeah."
But Doga nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
---
Some time later, I was at the top of the valley.
I had escaped.
The Earth Dragon Valley.
After leaving the cave, we had sprinkled the bottle's contents evenly over our bodies.
Then, using an Earth Magic elevator, we slowly raised ourselves upward.
We moved slowly, worried that going too fast might attract attention.
It was a bingo.
The Earth Dragons didn't react at all to us, glowing with blue light.
Perhaps they couldn't see us, or perhaps they didn't recognize us as food.
They just clung to the valley walls, huddled together, staying perfectly still.
And after about an hour.
Continuing our slow ascent, we finally caught sight of the night sky.
It was nighttime, apparently.
Somewhat moved by the moonlight, we set down at the valley's edge.
"We did it."
"Yeah!"
I slapped Doga on the back, and he nodded with a happy grin.
It had taken some doing, but we'd escaped successfully.
I needed to get back to the Supard village and report about the Sword God and the North God right away.