Death March kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyusoukyoku (WN)
chapter-17-23

17-23. Imaginary Fears (3)

Satou here. I believe the original meaning of clowns are those who bring amusement to people. Wonder when did the meaning shift to being the Fools or those who should be jeered?

◇

『GUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO』

Zaikuon is rampaging around as the black sludge wraps him.

It seems to be quite elastic, the membrane won't break apart.

Eventually God Zaikuon is submerged inside the black sludge.

『Idiot.』

『What a pitiful master that thing is.』

『Think he died?』

The nymphs are floating and circling above the black sludge.

The black sludge began to bubble up from the inside.

Just as the curious nymphs came closer to it, the black sludge violently burst open.

The nymphs ran off in a hurry.

The surrounding area would get contaminated at this rate, thus I took the fallen golden chalice and used it to catch all the falling black sludge. Then I enclosed the chalice in a strong barrier and put it away in an unused Sub-space.

『GUHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA』

God Zaikuon stood on the spot where the black sludge was.

Seems like he's undergone a slight image change, his face and naked upper body are furnished with black tattoo now.

The yellow light emitting from God Zaikuon has lost its sublimeness, looking muddy instead. The outer brim of yellow light has turned black in particular.

Dark red lights dwell in his eyes.

The same as nymphs who have been corrupted by the black sludge.

『So this is the forbidden power...』

God Zaikuon muttered while coughing violently.

『...This sense of omnipotence is not bad at all.』

I can't tell how much stronger he's become just by looking, but the nymphs who were ganging up on god Zaikuon began shuddering violently when he glared at them.

『『『O our lord』』』

『『『Our loyalties lie only to you』』』

Looks like the nymphs fully intend to get back under god Zaikuon's command.

Their master seems to have another thing in mind though--.

『GINYAAAAAAAAAAAA』

God Zaikuon's arm stretched out, then grabbed and crushed one of the nymphs.

『Lord-sama, lost his mind~』

『We're gonna get killeeeeeed』

The nymphs who scampered everywhere got chased by god Zaikuon at speed far above his speed earlier, he finished hunting all the nymphs in a blink of an eye.

"--His aura changed?"

God Zaikuon's yellow light got darker and darker every time he hunted one of the nymphs.

He's also undoubtedly getting stronger each time, but rather than strength-wise it looks more like he's getting more corrupted.

The black sludges that corrupted the nymphs must have been transferred to god Zaikuon.

『You're next.』

God Zaikuon unleashed an attack toward me.

Distance matters not as he got right in front of me in an instant.

I blocked his attack with Mana Armor I immediately deployed.

--His attacks are fast and most importantly, heavy.

I see my Mana Armor which blocked the attack getting encroached with the same tattoo as God Zaikuon's.

I moved away with Unit Arrangement and discarded the Mana Armor.

『Fool!』

God Zaikuon waited for the timing I removed my Mana Armor to strike.

I made it in time to deploy another one, but it failed to cancel the strike inertia, I got blown halfway through the mountain, creating a huge crater. That kinda hurt.

『ZAI, ZAI, ZAI, ZAYIIIIIIIIII』

Is that a cheering?

Saturated magic attacks shot by God Zaikuon poured down on me.

Each and every one of these magic feels as destructive as advanced and forbidden level magic.

The attacks gouged the mountain, transforming the terrain.

『KUHA, KUHA, KUHAHAHAHAHAHA』

God Zaikuon laughed loudly while floating in the air.

Sorry for him, but I've gotten away by Unit Arrangement since the first crash and is currently hiding with Mana Camouflage.

『--He got away huh.』

Whoops, he noticed that I had escaped.

『Very well then, I shall destroy his country to smoke him out.』

An unthinkable remark coming from a god.

Since it looked like he would do it for real, I canceled my Mana Camouflage and showed myself before him.

『Hmph, out you are.』

『Weren't you saying you wouldn't indiscriminately kill people?』

I forgot to use polite speech, eh whatever.

I don't feel like keeping up appearances any longer anyway.

『Now that I have this mighty power in my grasp, slightly fewer places to collect Divinity pose no problem. These humans will multiply on their own left to their own device anyway.』

Yup, that's a line from someone who's obtained a power beyond their capacity.

『...I see. That's it. Humans multiply. Then there is no need to hold back. They may not be as enriching as nymphs, but country-wide amount of lives should serve as a nourishment to strengthen me.』

『What are you saying?』

God Zaikuon started spouting out some dangerous-sounding words as if he was delirious.

『I shall destroy outside invaders when I get stronger. No need for deceptions nor trickeries. For I am fit to be the Gods' Top Seat. If I just get stronger.... stronger, even stronger, and for that sake the world must--<>』

God Zaikuon's aura changed to jet black.

Both the Scripture and jet black aura look familiar to the Divine Sword I have.

The land around God Zaikuon is rapidly turning into desert.

Now then, this doesn't seem like a situation where I can just leisurely observe.

Might be about time to finish this up.

◇

『I shall now reap lives infesting this land. --Starting from you.』

God Zaikuon's dark red eyes glared at me. Similar to the nymphs.

Let's wake him up for a bit.

Shock treatment is best for these times.

『<>』

『GUOOOOOOOO』

I tried to shoot a weakened lesser variation of Mythology Down exclusive for demon lords, at god Zaikuon.

It may look flashy, but since the multi-dimensional permeations effect needed to defeat gods has been weakened, it's not as effective against Immortal beings.

He's twitching on top of the crater, but still clinging to life.

The jet black aura that had overrun god Zaikuon was blown away, his body regained back its dim yellow coloring.

Only temporarily though, as the jet black aura quickly covered god Zaikuon back.

『T-that's a blasphemy, to me, the strongest supreme god.』

『Yeah yeah.』

Looks like I don't need to worry about god Zaikuon dying with the lesser version even if I don't hold back.

I just keep shooting out [Lesser Mythology Down] at the right time while randomly replying him back.

『I am』

God Zaikuon sunk deep on the ground as he was about to stand up.

It seems like there's a period of time where he moves more sluggishly after getting hit by lesser Mythology Down.

My aim is amusingly accurate because of that though it's also partly thanks to the practically zero time lag before the spell is invoked.

『The strongest』

Apparently he's the strongest, guess I'll increase the output a bit more.

『Invincible』

Increasing the shooting pace should be fine since he's invincible and all, right?

I've used up all my mana after several shots, so I resumes the work while recharging from Mana Batteries.

Man he's pretty tough.

Truly what you'd expect out of a god.

To think he hasn't lost his fighting spirit after getting hit this much. Since it's starting to get tiring, I kind of feel like whatever and just shoot the normal Mythology Down.

I guess he'd really die from that one though?

His jet black aura has gotten considerably worn down, should be okay.

If that still doesn't work, then the only thing I can do left is the Anti-God Sealing Magic that Corpse taught me, but using that won't differ much from killing him if we consider his role of maintaining the barrier against outer space invaders.

Since I don't really enjoy killing, I'll pick the sealing card only after using up all other cards.

『...I, am... Su, pre, me...』

Whoa, he still got some spunk left in him.

Let's try repeating the same attack set I used earlier.

God Zaikuon was trying to say something, but then he stopped by the end of the second set.

I observed him for a while before his finger twitched.

『...This is...Unforgivable...Land...Perish...』

Forget breaking his mind, it's fueling his vengeful spirit instead.

I've got no choice.

I'll make him taste a sense of crisis with the non-lesser version of [Mythology Down].

I'll weaken the power as much as possible so it won't kill him by mistake--.

『IMMAKILLYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA』

The worn-out god Zaikuon charged at me like a beast.

--Mythology Down.

Incomparable to the fake one earlier, painfully blinding lights and soul-shaking vibrations infringed upon the land and sky far and wide.

The terrain gets greatly gouged out, blown earth and sand are forming into bulky clouds.

Dark clouds swirled into whirlpools, the fierce wind blew away the rubble on the ground.

"Guess I overdid it a little?"

The collateral damage may be far less than Meteor Shower, but this destructive power exceeds that of ordinary forbidden magic.

--Seriously?

At the bottom of the gouged earth, there lies God Zaikuon.

◇

"--Vermilion barrier?"

A barrier made of vermilion light protected god Zaikuon.

It seems to have hit its limit with that one shot, cracks is spreading on the surface of the barrier as I speak.

『Wait.』

『Indeed, you must wait. Karion said so.』

『Urion, do your job too. Even Godly Barrier cannot defend the next one.』

『Now that's shocking.』

A girl clad in indigo blue lights, and a petite girl clad in vermilion lights showed up.

Judging from their conversation, they must be god Urion and god Karion.

The lights are too intense, only their silhouettes are visible.

『Getting beat around by a human even after harnessing the forbidden power...』

『Good grief, truly a disgrace to us gods.』

Humanoid in the shape of big men clad in orange lights and green lights also showed up.

These two must be god Heraruon and god Garleon.

『I'm sorry to have kept you waiting.』

Then a female silhouette clad in emerald green lights manifested.

This one must be god Tenion.

『Karion, Urion, you two imprison Zaikuon inside Godly Cage. Can I count on Heraruon and Garleon to purify him?』

After confirming the gods' consents, god Tenion turned toward me.

『I'm sorry. Allow me to apologize in Heraruon's place.』

No point in apologizing to me.

『Please direct your apologies to Boruean Forest's Sacred Tree, Aialize-sama.』

『Yes, of course I will.』

Then I guess, I can accept her apologies.

『Next time, just break the Godly Barrier and beat him to pulp. Karion said so.』

『I did not. But Zaikuon should be made to know his place once.』

God Urion and god Karion said some violent remarks.

Since even the gentle god Tenion isn't saying anything, I guess I've been given the OK to beat god Zaikuon down with [Mythology Down] the next time he's misbehaving again.

『But, please don't be mistaken. For there is a true enemy.』

『--True enemy?』

I know whom she's trying to imply, but does this enemy refer to mine or them, gods'?

『You probably won't believe it if that name is spoken by our mouth. As such, let's have you heard it from someone you trust.』

God Tenion reached her hand toward to the sky, then I could feel the presence of some sort of barrier creaking.

『It's a barrier Zaikuon put outside the world in order to avert our gazes.』

As she swung down her arm, I could sense the creaking barrier breaking to pieces.

I've slipped out of the world many times before, but it might be a good idea not to underestimate these gods if they're able to put up barriers in that unstable place.

『Come, it should be here any second now.』

Arisa's voice reached my ears right as god Tenion said that. It's Familiar Link.

Apparently, the barrier god Zaikuon set up had barred Familiar Link from connecting.

『Master, it's terrible! Demon God in the sky!』