Shinka no Mi

Chapter 139: The Demon God waiting for his Revival

『————Aah, my power is returning.』

Within the darkness from which nothing could be seen, one purple flame was floating.

The flame was eerily wavering, yet it emitted a dubious charm that took you away.

『Just a little more… a little more time. Just a little more and I will be resurrected….』

There was none in this world that could truly understand the weight behind those words, filled with all spectrum of emotions.

That was because this flame was the entity the 【Demon God Cult】 worshipped, a genuine True God.

Humans could never comprehend the emotions of Gods, as Humans were beings created by the Gods.

———For the Demon God, the planet wherein he was sealed as well as the creatures that lived on there would never be his object of interest.

That was true even for the 【Demon God Cult】; they who worshipped the Demon God wouldn’t receive his love back, but they remained oblivious of it.

Just as natural it was for Humans to worship and show absolute obedience for Gods as their creators, it was no trouble for Gods as well to erase the concept of Humans.

However, as the Demon God was currently sealed, he possessed not a power to interfere with the living creatures.

However, if his seal was lifted——save for this planet, the Demon God could erase this universe or even this plane of existence with his mere thought.

Nevertheless, the fact that he was sealed remained true.

『——Assemble, my 【Apostles】.』

The moment the purple flame quietly announced it so, several dark lights appear in the scene, surrounding the purple flame.

As the instances of dark light shone brightly, they soon adapted humanoid forms, revealing the sight of several humans bowing their heads towards the purple flame.

Then, the human closest to the purple flame amongst the bowing figures opened his mouth.

「———Have you called us, our dear lord?」

The man, with a smile constantly hanging on his lips, was the man who retrieved the 【Apostles】 from the Winberg Kingdom.

As the Demon God nodded to the man’s words, he realized something amiss.

『Mu? Where are the other three 【Divine Apostles】 besides you?』

「I’m terribly sorry. Those three are still the same as they ever be…. If you so wished, shall I call upon them right this moment?」

『No, let them be. They are moving for my cause, in their own way. There are better things to indulge about. ….Be delighted. My revival is near.』

「!」

For the 【Apostles】 who revered him, those words were something they had been waiting for.

『Indeed, my revival is near. You have worked well for me till now.』

「M-, my gratitude for your benevolent words….!」

『Umu. And so, I’ll have you proceed to the finishing touch.』

「! Th-, that is….」

The man’s expression broke.

However, that expression soon turned into a grin, so much deeper and nastier than the last.

『Each of you has worked for my cause and sown the 【Seed of Calamity】 on this planet. …Some of you lost my power and faced their end before they could sow the 【Seed of Calamity】, like how it happened with Demiolos. However, that was the result of his own overconfidence. Well, while it seemed that he had devised a plan, he was stopped and now powerless. The rest of you seem to have sown the 【Seed of Calamity】 well.』

The 【Apostles】 were startled to hear that Demiolos had lost his power for the first time from the Demon God’s words, but none dared to interrupt the Demon God.

『Some of you planted it on the lands, some of you planted it in the humans’ hearts…. Nurture that 【Seed of Calamity】 well. Wake up the Last Catastrophe and plunge this world into chaos. And so my resurrection will be perfected——understood?』

「「「Yes my Lord!」」」

They all bowed their heads even deeper.

Then, the man with the constant smile raised his hand.

「My dear lord. There is one thing I wish to inform of you…」

『What may be it?』

「As a matter of fact, Rodius, Lester, and Edmund went to attack the meeting between the daughter of the Demon King and the Mankind in Winberg Kingdom, plotting to assassinate the princess. They had succeeded invading Terveil using monsters, but the kingdom managed to get the better of them with an unlikely reinforcement.」

『……What?』

「Oi, Eustice! Bastard…. you didn’t tell us that information! 」

The man with an ever-present smile——Eustice brought confusion and chaos to the other Apostles, one of which flared up to Eustice for not informing them so.

However, Eustice didn’t break his smile and continued.

「Indeed I didn’t. I have no reason to.」

「Wha!?」

「I have mentioned it before, it was an unlikely reinforcement…. and one that could defeat combat-oriented 【Apostles】 like Rodius easily. Moreover, there was no information about those people at all… If such powerful individuals had existed before, there should be at least a rumor spreading around. But knowing that there isn’t even a hush of it, we can’t exactly be rash with them. Their unknown battle prowess sure worries me, but I judged that recovering our lord’s power takes precedence, and so I stayed silent to avoid panic infesting our ranks. Have you not given it a thought? Rather than we send in more 【Apostles】 that might only be defeated again, it would be far more efficient if we have our Lord to erase them.」

「Oi bastard… what do you think Demon God-sama is!? You’re thinking to use Demon God-sama to——」

『Enough. What Eustice said is true. Once I have revived, nothing in existence can stop me. All means the same if I erased everything in the end.』

「I-, if that’s what you said, Demon God-sama….」

The man that had been snarled at Eustice backed away immediately after being told so by the Demon God.

『However, Eustice. If what you said was true, then why didn’t you lend your hand? You are special even among my 【Apostles】… you are a 【Divine Apostle】. You can move to any point in time and space, be it in the past, present, and the future. If so, you could have removed the lot that defeated Rodius before it even happened. Which means I wouldn’t have lost some of my 【Apostles】 had you helped them. Or am I the wrong here?』

Suddenly, the purple flame flared up violently.

That flame was by no means hot, but the 【Apostles】 present were desperately hanging their heads, feeling like they were being crushed to death by 『Something』.

Eustice himself was also intimidated by him, but he still squeezed out his words despite his smile being cramped.

「With… all due respect…. Even with my power, I could only recover them with my last-minute effort. And, actually, the matter I wish to inform of you was about the person I encountered there when I recovered them.」

『What?』

As the Demon God drew his intimidation back, the 【Apostles】 coughed vehemently, gasping for air.

『You are saying that there is someone that takes priority over the lot who defeated Rodius?』

「Y-, yes…. From what I heard from Edmund after I recovered him, I learned that they went to the meeting between the daughter of the Demon King and the King of the Winberg Kingdom to kill the former in that meeting in order to make a crevice between the Mankind and the Demons. And while they were ultimately defeated by the unknown reinforcement that I mentioned before, Edmund used his power and successfully used a 『Cursed Tool』 on the princess——or, that how it was supposed to be.」

「W-, what do you mean? A 『Cursed Tool』 is a tool that implants 『Curse』. And you need at least a God like Demon God-sama to lift the 『Curse』!」

The same man snarled at Eustice again, seemingly unable to believe what Utis had uttered.

However, Eustice himself seemed to struggle to believe his own words, evident with the crevice between his eyebrows.

「Yes, that is how it is supposed to be. But, the Demon King’s daughter…. has been lifted from the 『Curse』 then and there by a young man. Moreover, he not only lifted the 『Curse』, he even changed it into a blessing with the name of 『Charm』……」*

「HAAH!? T-, that’s ridiculous! Think of a better lie if you want to spew one!」

「……Even I wished so much it was just a lie… however, it was the reality that the Demon King’s daughter was saved while Rodius and his group were on the verge of being apprehended. Even more so, for some reason, not only I couldn’t go to the 【past】 before Rodius and his group was defeated, I couldn’t go to interfere with the events in that place where that young man was, be it past events or future events. That was why I could only recover the three at the last minute. Such a thing like this never happened before….」

「Are you serious….」

The man who had been snarled at Eustice couldn’t say another word and was uncharacteristically puzzled.

Eustice was a 【Divine Apostle】, particularly strong individuals with special abilities even amongst the 【Apostles】 within the 【Demon God Cult】. He had the ability to freely move into any point of time, be it the past, the present, or even the future.

Moreover, that ability wasn’t limited to the planet where the Demon God was sealed, but every dimension, every space-time, every universe, and every plane of existence, he could appear literally everywhere he wanted.

Even if that man didn’t like Eustice, his power was reliable. Which only made the man harder to believe what Eustice said.

『Eustice』

「My lord….」

『While indeed my resurrection is near, my power is yet to be fully recovered. If that individual becomes a hindrance to my revival… then erase him. Summon the other 【Divine Apostles】 and erase that human who interfered with your power as well as those lot with unknown battle prowess. The 【Apostles】 might not stand a chance, but you 【Divine Apostles】 should have the possibility to enact so. After all, you are blessed with a lot of my power.』

「My lord! I shall tell the other 【Divine Apostles】 as soon as possible, and I surely will demolish any variables that threaten you.」

『I expect great things from you. ——My 【Apostles】. Nurture the 【Seed of Calamity】 that has been spread all over the world. And end the world. That is what I wish for. Sacrifice this planet that possesses the remains of those Gods who sealed me, and along with my revival, I shall be the one and only, the matchless. When that happens, I will give you a great blessing.』

「「「My Lord!」」」

The 【Apostles】 all nodded in unison, then reverted back into instances of dark light, then vanished.

And the Demon God who was left alone again muttered in abstinence.

『A variable that threatens me….? Impossible, that is impossible. I am God. A threat to this I, who can easily erase not only humans but this plane of existence itself? ….Hmph, how foolish. However, that is still a bother. Well, with the 【Divine Apostles】 dealing with them, it will be resolved soon enough. My revival can no longer be stopped——』

The Demon God flickered quietly, then, as though he closed his eyelids, it slowly disappeared.

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*Funny tidbits. The kanji for Curse and Charm are the same, but they read differently.