kscans

Chapter 78 - Death God Crisis

"Sarna-chan, are you really okay being alone? After what happened today... I could stay over?"

"It's true that quite a few exciting events occurred in just one day, but... everyone else seemed more flustered than I was."

"Ah... so you ended up becoming calmer instead."

"Yes. So please don't worry about it. Rika-san, Akatsuki-san, thank you for going out of your way to walk me home."

She bowed her head politely in gratitude.

"Hmm... but really, if anything happens, contact Uncle right away, okay?"

"Yes."

"Well then, we're heading out. Good night."

After seeing the two off, I returned to my room.

"Phew."

I turned on the living room lights and let out a breath, then...

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!"

That was close! Really close! I somehow managed to avoid the crisis of not just the underworld but the destruction of Olympus itself! That was dangerous! Really dangerous! Because that person was completely intent on annihilating all the gods of Olympus, wasn't he? I'm amazing for not wetting myself in that situation! Really amazing!

"To think I nearly became the trigger for destruction... this is far beyond being bad for the heart..."

But this is probably my fault. It was my mistake to carelessly choose the easy disguise method of "I have death gods among my ancestors, so what?" But thinking about it, it was only natural. With that kind of setup, when asked why I awakened, they'd naturally connect it to that night's attack. Though I do think it's a bit much to accumulate hatred on a level that could instantly annihilate mythology... s-scary...

"And what's terrible is that I can't deny a single thing about Hades being the root cause..."

In every sense, all I can say is "you're absolutely right," which is truly awful. If father hadn't raised his banner of righteousness, he never would have crossed swords with the monster in distant Japan and spun this web of fate. His subordinates wouldn't have suffered such humiliation and would still be quietly managing the underworld today.

"...Though that said, I wouldn't have been born then."

In that sense, I can't deny father's actions. Setting aside when I was just born, I've developed quite a bit emotionally now. Though it's strange for a death god to say, I could say I'm savoring the joy of living. So I'm grateful to father Hades from the bottom of my heart. But... having to face such a monster... I really want to be spared from that...

"Ah, my heart is still pounding..."

I wonder if Date Masamune felt this way when he arrived late to the conquest of the Hojo. Taking inspiration from his legend, I steeled my resolve and stepped forward in erotic underwear instead of death garments, but... what an ordeal that turned out to be. Still, Masamune had it good. Even if he wasn't forgiven, the worst that would happen was getting his head cut off and his house destroyed. In my case, using Masamune's example, it would be like all the daimyo houses of Tohoku being destroyed by association because of my mistake.

"Ah, but thinking about it carefully, I didn't completely get through this unscathed."

The massacre of all the gods of Olympus has been avoided. But that aside, the death gods who participated in that night's attack are a different story. I desperately tried to cover for them, but...

"Maybe I should just turn the entire underworld into a brothel!"

I think that's about all I managed to prevent. It's not hard to imagine that Thanatos and the others' curses have probably grown even stronger. Haha, I approached them to find a way to break the curse, but the situation has gotten worse... it's not funny. Well, there was some progress in terms of exploring Satou Hideo's power. I don't mean the black hole. Besides that, there was something else I noticed when I saw Satou Hideo manifesting his power through anger.

A fact as despairing as layering even thicker despair upon existing despair.

"...For now, let me report to Thanatos."

When I contacted him, Thanatos immediately came via teleportation.

"I'm relieved you are safe, my lady."

Um, excuse me. Could you please stop kneeling on one knee in that outfit? It's, well, you know, that part is kind of... wedged in there.

"First, my apologies. Due to my mistake, the gods of Olympus nearly got massacred."

"...Pardon?"

When I explained what had happened, cold sweat began pouring from Thanatos's entire body.

"That is... no, it was certainly not your mistake, my lady. We who cooperated should have been the first to notice."

"That's true, but that doesn't excuse me not noticing either."

Satou Hideo was more fond of me than I had realized. I think that was a major miscalculation.

"...And regarding the results of exploring his power."

"Yes."

"A despairing fact has been revealed."

"A despairing fact?"

"Yes. Satou Hideo has complete dominion over death."

Death is not something that can ever be manipulated according to human desires. If anything, maybe suicide. But even then, you can only decide the timing of your own death, you can't really say you've dominated death. And everything else... aging, illness, accidents, humans have no control over any of it.

"...I should have realized when he delivered complete death to father."

Death, that fundamental concept. It could also be called the ruler of all things. Immortal monsters often appear in mythology and heroic legends, but even those aren't complete. Usually, they get killed by weapons or whatever that can destroy their immortality. The same goes for inorganic objects. Concrete is easy to understand, we sometimes call its durability period its lifespan.

Even gods cannot completely escape from death, that absolute ruler. They only escape its dominion in limited ways like aging, they're not completely immortal. The same goes for gods who govern death. They can impose death, but that doesn't work on everything. Even setting aside irregulars like Satou Hideo, you can't unilaterally kill gods of equal or higher rank with your authority. To put it bluntly, death gods are just borrowing the authority of death like a fox borrowing a tiger's power, they don't completely dominate it. Still, the highest-ranking death gods had a special position since they couldn't die... but even that has been overturned.

"It was strange from the very beginning. Why is such a monster's body aging normally?"

"That is... no, but..."

Satou Hideo has a middle-aged physique, but he wasn't originally fat. In his youth, Satou Hideo was thin and had a good figure. So he should have continued aging gradually... but why the middle-aged physique? I realized the reason. When I was touched by the power he manifested through his anger toward father Hades and Olympus... I understood.

"It's obvious. Because he unconsciously wished it so."

That must be what aging means to Satou Hideo. Aging is one of the faces that death wears. Just thinking about it unconsciously makes it happen as he wishes. In other words, if he wishes it, he won't age, and he won't even die. If he wishes it, he can even embody the complete immortality that should have been just fantasy. He could even become a bit immortal, think "this isn't right," discard it, and return to a state where he can die. Live or die as he wishes. I can only say he has complete dominion over death.

"B-but... if that's the case, at worst, we could wait for his natural lifespan..."

"Satou Hideo is a mundane human."

He doesn't possess any firm beliefs or ideology. He lives fluffily, trying to enjoy each moment as it comes. Which means...

"...I can't die because I'm curious about the continuation of the manga I'm reading."

He could keep death at bay for just that reason alone. He hasn't noticed his peculiarity yet, but that might not remain the case. Once he realizes it, he won't think pretty thoughts like "precisely because life is limited" and will probably just use it normally. As long as things he finds enjoyable don't disappear from this world, I can't imagine Satou Hideo ever dying.

"...A blasphemer of fate. Perhaps father unconsciously sensed that abnormality."

From a death god's perspective, Satou Hideo is like a final boss, but... this boss isn't just broken or anything like that...

(Where's the return desk for this...?).