kscans

Chapter 172 - The Hourglass of Life and the Little One, Thwump

"What is that?"

"...Huh? The Little One?"

"Isn’t that Prince Romel?"

The air stirred uneasily.

Large water mirrors had unfolded like visions in the skies above every nation.

Within them swarmed a pandemonium of monstrous spirits.

People’s eyes were drawn to the brilliant white knightly uniforms of Frontier, which stood out even in the darkness.

"Is that... Chihiro?"

A water mirror unfolded above the royal palace in Flowers as well.

Frontier’s spies, hidden in every country, connected their magic with the mages around the Castrato royal palace, delivering images and voices to their respective nations. A battle beyond human comprehension unfolded before the eyes of the clamoring people. While the whole world watched, their eyes glued to the scene, there were others stirring in a different place.

《It has begun.》

《...The time has come.》

《This time, we will grant our master a complete victory...!》

Staring at the images projected in the skies, the Lords’ Forests also grew restless.

And a commotion was brewing in the Celestial Realm, which had been watching the world below.

《What in the world has happened?》

《Is that not an O-saki of Arcadia? Why is she in the Abyss?》

《And the Higher Beings are there as well. What have they done?!》

Hundreds, thousands of gods gathered, staring intently at the water mirrors deployed across all of Arcadia. Chaos and Abyss were just as clueless.

《Chihiro...?》

As the entire world watched in an uproar, beings from another dimension also began to move.

《This is...! Call everyone! Depending on the situation, we march! We cannot lose Kazuko!!》

《Right! The path is open, so if we push it a little, we should be able to get through!!》

《This is the brink of whether our worlds will connect! Don’t hold anything back!!》

《That place is close to the demon world! I’m going on ahead!!》

The grotesque figures from each separate dimension flew about in a flurry.

The worlds born as offshoots of Earth had always been praying. Praying for all worlds to connect, for peaceful days to flow. A world where they were not toyed with by gods, not encroached upon by human logic or absurdity, a world where all living things could be free. Such was the multi-dimensional world. The Earth connected to this place was a world where people freely celebrated their lives.

They wanted to connect with other stars and other worlds.

The Little One had granted this earnest wish of the residents of the multi-dimensional world. They could not afford to lose her, the one who had connected Arcadia and the Spirit World.

The paradise the turtle created, the "Table of the Gods." The turtle was also once an O-saki from another world.

The turtle’s fervent prayer had brought about a miracle, having found a guide in the Little One. It connected the Table of the Gods to the Spirit World.

‘I wished to have met you sooner... before my star froze over.’

The giant turtle sobbed and wept.

We will not let it feel such sorrow ever again. To the turtle, Arcadia is its second home. We will not let it lose this place too!!

The multi-dimensional worlds were of one mind.

Causing such turmoil in every world, the Little One just stared intently at the scene before her.

《If you will not cooperate with us, we have no choice but to dispose of you.》

《It seems we must spend another long age.》

《Be gone, fools.》

The Higher Beings spouted arrogant words from their lofty perch.

The Little One, who had been observing them with a steady gaze, felt a vague sense of unease.

"You guys, by any chance, can you not interfere with the Abyss?"

She had felt this before. Seeing how they used underhanded tactics with Sapphard and the others as pawns, the Little One suspected the Higher Beings had some sort of restriction regarding the Abyss.

The three lights fell silent, as if taken by surprise. Silence is tantamount to affirmation.

‘That’s it! Wait a sec, I’ll look into it!’

The Little One’s words made Tsathoggua’s eyes sparkle, and he rummaged through a different dimension with both hands.

《Stop it!》

《Do not! Do not search!》

《You are one who touches the truth of all creation! That is why we sealed you in the Abyss!》

Thank you for the detailed explanation.

The Higher Beings and the gods really do say what they’re thinking so candidly. It helps a lot♪

Though they were shrieking, the Higher Beings seemed unable to touch the Dark Spirit King who protected and threatened in defense of Tsathoggua, leaving them at a standstill.

Undisturbed by the clamor, Tsathoggua, who had been reading and tossing aside book after book, suddenly shouted loudly.

‘This is it! The true gods of light are easily corrupted by impurity!! That’s why they can’t touch the Lord of Darkness, and why they can’t get near Cesare-kun, who is a being of dark consciousness!!’

That also applied to Sapphard, who stood with Cesare.

In their past, the half-fledged Chaos and Abyss also had bodies of light. In other words, the Higher Beings were as weak to darkness as newborn gods.

"What a joke. So that’s why you tried to use Cesare and the others to remake the Abyss? If you had a subservient ruler in charge, you could do whatever you wanted, couldn’t you?"

Hearing the Little One’s mocking murmur, Tsathoggua hung his head slightly.

‘The Lord of Darkness is the same. Do you know why he’s amorphous?’

Unrecognized, nameless gods are fragile and weak. The Dark Spirit King was no different. Because he was such a vague existence, even Sapphard, who housed the power of the gods, could purify him. Even Cesare, a human, could rule the Abyss.

"A name..."

As the Little One murmured thoughtfully, everyone around her focused on her at once.

《Stop, Eisa!》

The Higher Beings were in a panic.

‘Their panic. I like it. Go ahead and name him, Chihiro.’

Sapphard grinned, a nasty smile on his face.

It was the Little One and her friends who had invited the Higher Beings into the Abyss. Tsathoggua must have known the danger, yet he had lit a lamp for the sake of humans. The Little One thought that they weren’t bad guys, just that their standards of good and evil were different.

Besides... if I remember correctly, once he gets a name and becomes a full god, he won’t be able to manifest in the physical world, right? Which means if I give him a name, the Dark Spirit King will become a god and won’t be able to interfere with the world anymore, won’t he? Yes.

But the Little One’s naming sense was questionable. She hummed and groaned, trying to think of a name, but the moment she opened her mouth as if she’d thought of something, it happened.

"Then..."

《I told you to stop!!》

The Higher Beings roared, drowning her out. A flash of light shot from their fingers, piercing the Little One’s forehead and chest. A sharp pii...n sound echoed through the Abyss for a moment, and the Little One’s small body bounced off the ground in slow motion as she was sent flying. Romel’s eyes, frozen in shock, followed her, and a scream tore from his lips.

"Chi...i, hirooo!!_"

The other people’s throats were frozen, and they remained motionless. It was as if time itself had frozen. A moment after Romel rushed forward, the others also started to move.

The entire world, watching this, gasped in unison.

"Little One?!"

"The Little One!"

The adults, holding their crying children, glared with hatred at the Higher Beings projected in the sky. It wasn’t just the human world. Screams erupted across the multi-dimensional planes, the Celestial Realm, everywhere, and similar gazes were directed at them.

《You bastards! Hurry, push through!》

The demon world poured all its magic into the dimensional rift, trying to open a path to the Abyss. Many spirits took flight all at once from the Table of the Gods, which had been connected by the Spirit Kings.

Their destination was the Castrato royal palace, the underground forest lake.

The Higher Beings were currently unaware of the countless tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of hostile glares aimed at them.

"Chihiro?! Chihiro, answer me!!"

His face twisted in terror, Romel desperately shook the Little One. After a stunned glance at him, Chihaya turned to glare at the three pillars of light, his eyes burning with rage.

"Huh...? What have you done? Hiro? Wait. Hiro is?"

Chihaya unconsciously nocked an arrow on his shortbow, tilting his head at the Higher Beings.

"Hiro is gone!!"

Just as Chihaya screamed, about to release the arrow, he heard a faint cough. A familiar, lovely voice.

"Oof... that scared me. I thought I was gonna stop breathing, nyo."

Gagging and coughing, the Little One sat up and noticed a tear-streaked Romel.

"What’s wrong, Romel? There, there, don’t cry, don’t cry."

As she ruffled his hair, Romel remained frozen, his eyes wide. Even as he confirmed the warmth in her hands, his tears wouldn’t stop falling.

...She was alive.

The Little One, who generally understood what had happened, rubbed the spots where the Higher Beings’ attack had hit. It felt a little sore, but it was nothing serious.

I just took a hit from the supreme gods, how am I okay?

The Higher Beings seemed to share the Little One’s question, as a high-pitched scream echoed through the depths of the Abyss.

《Why are you alive?! You possess no dark magic! Why did the attack of the devil’s right hand not work?!》

Hearing that scream, the Little One cried "Ah!" and noticed that the circlet she always wore, a gift, was gone. The circlet in question had shattered into pieces, large fragments scattered all around.

The hidden ability of this circlet. Chaos and the others hadn’t told her, but the circlet gifted from the gods had the power to store all kinds of magic and nullify any instant-death attack against the Little One. They had deliberately kept its effect a secret, fearing that if she knew, she would treat her own life lightly and launch nothing but reckless suicide attacks. And so the vast amount of dark magic it had accumulated during her pilgrimage had nullified the Higher Beings’ attack.

Staring at the circlet that had shattered to pieces, unable to withstand the attack of supreme gods, the Little One sensed the care Chaos and Abyss had for her. They had been secretly protecting her where she couldn’t see.

"Thank you, Chaos, Abyss."

Then she glared up sharply at the Higher Beings and roared with a piercing cry.

"Your name is Moldre! Dark Spirit King!!"

《Moldre...》

‘Dead gold. Not a bad name.’

Next to a broadly grinning Tsathoggua, the giant slime swelled up and burst with a pop! right in front of the Little One. Where the slime had burst, a dragon now sat. A colossal dragon with huge wings that one would want to call a true dragon.

Why a dragon?

The Little One blinked her eyes rapidly, then turned to look back at Sapphard with an "Ah!" The man himself averted his gaze awkwardly.

‘Uh... it was subconscious. A dark dragon in an underground lair, it’s a cliché but it’s cool, right?’

Not you again!

The Little One screamed only in her mind.

Sapphard's golden magic was the power of creation. His thoughts defined the shape of his surroundings.

《Not bad. It looks strong.》

Looking up at the Dark Spirit King, who didn’t seem displeased, the Little One laughed and thought, "Oh well." In complete contrast, the three pillars of light trembled in shock.

《It has been fixed...》

《A god of the Abyss has been born...》

《We can no longer erase it. We cannot touch it...》

Thank you for the ongoing commentary.

Despite their forms of light, the Higher Beings embodied despair as much as they possibly could.

《This is your fault!》

The three lights once again directed their killing intent at the Little One. But standing before that light was a dragon with a powerful physique.

《I will not allow it. She is, after all, my mother.》

Eh? I’m a mom?

While thinking such useless thoughts, the Little One shouted from behind the dragon’s shadow.

"I won’t accept it! You’re the parent gods, aren’t you?! Then why do you talk about disposal and termination?! Don’t treat the Abyss like a trash can!!"

《Hmph. We created them. What we do with them is our choice.》

《Do humans not also dispose of or terminate what they do not like?》

《It matters not if you do not accept us. We are the omniscient and omnipotent, revered by the gods.》

That’s right. The Higher Beings, parents to the gods, could exist solely through the faith of the gods. The faith given to their children, the gods, also brought blessings to the Higher Beings. Faith gathered from thousands, tens of thousands of worlds. The Higher Beings grew stronger exponentially.

Then, someone’s cry was heard.

"I won’t accept you! You’re no gods!"

It was the boy she had met in Castrato. The sludge of souls said to have been pulverized in the abyss overlapped in his mind with Cha-cha, who had been eaten without a trace.

"Who would accept you?! A parent is someone who would give their life for their child!! Don’t you lay a hand on my daughter!!"

This was Drago. He raised his hands high, his face beet red, shouting at the sky to come down.

There were many other enraged people as well.

Roars rose not only from the royal palaces of each nation but from every town and village.

"Do not mock us! What do you think humans and living creatures are?!"

《The gods of Arcadia are different. They are so kind they even cried for us.》

Next to Prince Marcello, whose indignation was palpable, was Dark.

"You tried to kill Chihiro?! You tried to kill her!! My Donautil will not recognize you as gods! Do your best, Chihiro!!"

Releasing magic so powerful it distorted space itself, his whole body trembling, was Marrow.

Many other voices echoed through the Abyss.

"Huh?"

Stunned, the Little One noticed Romel smirking meaningfully.

Normally, a mage can only deploy one spell at a time. Marrow, who could deploy multiple, also possessed an extraordinary talent for magic.

Following his example, Romel had worked hard.

"Weaknesses are meant to be overcome, right? Chihiro♪"

Romel deployed multiple wind-passing spells, picking up the voices of various nations and delivering them to the Abyss.

"Go for it, Little One!"

"Don’t lose, Chihiro!!"

First came the voice of the boy from Castrato and Drago’s scream.

《Go get ‘em! Everyone, a dance of support!!》

Olga rampaged through the forest, leading the charge.

A chorus of "Go for it, don’t lose" echoed from all over the world. The Abyss was originally a space cut off from light. Beset by the hatred of the people, the power of the Higher Beings began to wane. In proportion to that, something hot welled up inside the Little One.

"What? What is this?"

Feeling something simmering within her, the girl tilted her head in confusion. Tsathoggua watched her, his large eyes narrowing slyly.

You probably don’t know. That your body is already equal to that of a god.

Faith is prayer and wishes. A strong wishing heart is power. The people wishing for the Little One’s victory. The multi-dimensional worlds and the gods of the Celestial Realm. They all granted enormous power to the Little One.

The prayer of faith becomes a blessing through the power of a god.

When that power reached its limit.

There were those who moved, waiting for the right moment.

《Here it comes!》

Trigger, in the seaside forest, danced with joy.

《We’ve been waiting!!》

This was Bread, from the forest near Sucaraba.

《Let’s go, my kin!!》

《Right!》

Donal responded to Legion’s sky-splitting roar. Lights rose from the Lords’ Forests in each region.

Six divine, seven-colored beams of light.

Three of them shot deep into the earth. The rest pierced the sky, forming two triangles over the great continent of Arcadia. A regular triangle and an inverted triangle overlapping. The hexagram, the crest of Frontier’s royal family.

But the power was still slightly insufficient.

Someone...!_"

Responding to Legion’s prayer for help, two creatures raised their heads.

《I suppose there’s no choice! I’ll help you!!》

《Farewell, friend from afar.》

Olga the rabbit and Soleil the turtle responded to Legion. The formed hexagram shone with an exceptionally bright light, then vanished as if absorbed into each beam.

And from the Lords’ Forests, four creatures disappeared.

At the same time, a great vibration echoed through the Abyss.

"Uwaaah? What’s happening?"

‘It’s open! Katsumi-kun, this way! You too, Cesare!!’

Tsathoggua grabbed Katsumi’s arm, pulled with all his might, and threw him into the depths of the Abyss. Cesare followed him. There was a large door there, and light shone from a slightly open gap.

‘Get in there! Don’t open it until I call from this side!’

Nodding repeatedly, Katsumi and Cesare entered the door and closed it from the inside. Relieved, Tsathoggua took a deep breath.

‘Hehe. The tables have turned. Now that that’s open and the gatekeeper is set, you can’t interfere with the Abyss anymore.’

She didn’t understand the logic of the gods, but if Katsumi was safe, that was all that mattered.

Just like Tsathoggua, the Little One collapsed from sheer relief and noticed that the something that had been filling her was now gone. It felt similar to when she used up a huge amount of magic.

While the Little One was thinking about this.

Inside the door, Cesare was sobbing without a sound. His frozen eyes trembling, Cesare collapsed inside the door.

‘You fools...’

There lay four familiar monsters. They were already dead. The ritual that should have been performed by six had been done by four. They were bound to run out of power.

Hugging the four creatures who smiled in satisfaction, Cesare refused to move even when called from outside. Not understanding what was happening, Katsumi also put his hands together in prayer and quietly stayed by Cesare’s side.

‘May you have much happiness, my master.’

The monsters, their wishes fulfilled, became souls and descended the path to the underworld, but someone appeared to block their way. These messengers had rebelled against the gods. They could not ascend to the normal Celestial Realm. They had intended to descend here and throw themselves into the abyss.

《You are...》

A pair of golden and silver demonic eyes smiled sweetly.

The Little One, who would later be abducted to the Celestial Realm, did not know of this scene that had unfolded in the Abyss.