Chapter 422: Seeker (1)

“So, you’re saying a group of Divine blood called ‘Star Root’ has appeared... something like that?”

“Yes.”

At Evan’s answer, Alon tilted his head for a moment, then asked,

“How did a rumor like that even spread...?”

“Hm...?”

He elaborated for the puzzled-looking Evan.

“It’s not like the Divine blood would go around telling humans they’ve formed some kind of organization or gathering.”

It was a reasonable question.

If it were a human organization, then of course rumors would spread the more it operated.

No matter how much it worked in the underworld, information would leak unless they kept an exceptionally tight lid on it.

But if it was the Divine blood?

To begin with, they were not human.

And they were not the sort of size that could hide among humans either.

In other words, the very fact that such a rumor was being heard was highly unusual.

“Mm... it is a little strange. I didn’t think to ask that much of the information guild, so I’ll look into it right away.”

“Please do.”

“Anyway—the Divine blood group called Star Root seems to be growing within the Allied Kingdoms.”

“Hm...”

Alon thought it over.

‘...I’m pretty sure I heard there weren’t that many Divine blood that fell on the Allied Kingdoms’ side?’

That was what he had heard from the blue eyes and the One Who Soars High.

As proof of that, unlike the Empire, which had been thrown into chaos for quite a while because of the Divine blood, the Allied Kingdoms had been extremely peaceful.

Just counting the number of times Divine blood had appeared, it had not even gone over ten.

‘But last time, I was told that eight Divine blood were already active in the Allied Kingdoms.’

Once he got that far, Alon asked another question.

“Evan, have you heard anything about how large this group called Star Root is?”

“According to what the information guild has investigated, it’s over ten entities.”

“...Ten entities?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not exactly good news.”

When Penia, who had been listening from the side, muttered that in an intentionally grave voice, Evan asked,

“Well, it’s not good news, but isn’t it not bad news either?”

“...You’re saying this isn’t bad news?”

“Right?”

“Haaah—”

Penia let out a sigh with a look that plainly said,

This blockhead, seriously.

His thinking was obvious.

As if she already knew it all, she said,

“Obviously, what you mean is that even if a lot of Divine blood have gathered, it’s not bad news because they’re not attacking the kingdom at this point in time, right?”

“Right? The Divine blood aren’t attacking.”

“Isn’t that way too easygoing?”

“...Is it?”

“Of course it is! Sure, right now we’re busy fighting the Divine blood that keep appearing here and there, but we have no idea how they’ll act after this, do we? If all those gathered Divine blood really decide to shove the Allied Kingdoms over together, there won’t be any answer at all.”

At that, Evan scratched his head and argued back.

“No, well—I didn’t

not

think that far, but honestly, I’m not sure they would.”

“And what are you basing that on?”

“From the Divine blood’s point of view, we still probably don’t look all that threatening to begin with, do we?”

“Well—”

Penia thought for a moment, then answered.

“Realistically speaking, that’s true.”

“See? If they were going to attack humans in the first place, they’d have done it already. But when you look at it, they just keep increasing in number and don’t actually attack humans, do they?”

“That’s true, but...”

At Evan’s argument that if they were going to attack, they would have done it long ago, Penia made an ambiguous expression.

Listening to the two of them exchange opinions, Alon reached his own conclusion.

‘...It’d be better to prepare.’

Naturally, neither Penia nor Evan was wrong.

If it was only one or two Divine blood, he was confident he could stop them somehow.

But if there were more than ten Divine blood—

at the present moment, there was no way he could stop them, no matter what he did.

‘Evan’s opinion isn’t something I can dismiss outright, though.’

That said, even if he prepared, he had no intention of ignoring Evan’s opinion.

It had its own validity.

At least as far as Alon knew, the Divine blood had to fight each other.

To them, humans were finite tools, and in order to stand against the next stage of Divine blood that would awaken later over time, they had to secure their own faith as quickly as possible even now.

But Divine blood that ought to be that desperate were leisurely gathering a force?

That was, in fact, a little strange.

“Evan.”

“Yes, Lord Alon.”

“First, I want you to investigate that Star Root as thoroughly as possible.”

“Understood.”

Alon decided he would pay closer attention.

The next day.

Alon arrived at the Divine Land.

And—

“Lord Alon.”

“Yes.”

“I expected it, but...”

“I expected it too, but...”

“...It’s developed more than I thought.”

“...I agree.”

Evan, Alon, and Penia stood on the cliff overlooking the Divine Land and found themselves at a loss for words.

And for good reason. Compared to the last time, it had changed so much it felt like ages had passed.

What they had seen before was merely a sight of dozens, hundreds of tents set up temporarily, with small houses only just starting to be built here and there along the outskirts.

But the scene before them ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ now?

“...Lord Alon.”

“What is it?”

“Have we just not come to the Divine Land for, like, a year?”

“...Hasn’t it only been a few months?”

“Right?”

It had changed enough for Evan to ask that in genuine confusion.

Most of the hundreds of tents had been replaced with houses, and what had definitely only been wooden palisades around the outer area of the castle had now become walls, even if they were still low.

At this point, the only thing missing was the castle in the center—otherwise, it was more than worthy of being called a territory.

“...Where in the world is all this money coming from?”

Alon muttered.

And Evan suddenly remembered the insane lottery-style donations that had been held in the annex when Palantia had been founded.

“Wouldn’t it be donations?”

“Donations...?”

“Yes.”

“...Can that much really be gathered from donations alone?”

“Mm—well—Rosario too, at its core, probably gets the largest share of its finances from donations.”

Penia resolved Alon’s question.

‘...No wonder religion has so much money.’

Newly enlightened to that truth, Alon stepped into the Divine Land, and—

“Welcome, Your Majesty!”

“Boss!”

“Hi, God.”

As though they had been waiting for him, Sili, Ryang-a, and Historia came out to greet him.

####

‘Ah, and if you’re troubled by your divine power, try visiting the Divine Land. You’ll find your answer there.’

After finishing the light greetings,

Alon entered the office, which still remained in the form of a tent.

Siyan’s words naturally came back to him.

‘I did come here first, but...’

In truth, depending on how you looked at it, this might have been a little foolish.

Siyan’s words were, at the end of the day, only speculation.

But Alon had found her words credible, which was why he had come to the Divine Land without hesitation—

‘...I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.’

And yet nothing in particular came to mind.

Just then—

Tap—

At some point, a snow-white cat appeared in front of Alon—

no,

“...Kalannon?”

[Meow—]

Kalannon had appeared.

As if it had something to say.

Before Alon could even finish making a puzzled expression—

Tap—

Kalannon climbed onto the desk and placed its little paw on the back of his hand.

And at the same time—

“!”

Alon felt his consciousness being sucked somewhere.

And when his vision, which had gone dark in an instant, returned to normal again—

“...This place.”

He had arrived in that familiar space, one he had seen over and over, where a blue galaxy sparkled.

And then—

“I had so much to say, so why are you only coming now?!”

“...Kalannon?”

“Yes?”

“No, never mind. More importantly, what do you mean you had so much to say? Did something happen?”

“Yes! Of course something happened!”

“...Don’t tell me, this is about divine power?”

“Yes. There are a lot of things I want to tell you, but the conclusion is—”

From Kalannon, who had taken the shape of a young girl as usual, he heard something astonishing.

“—we can create a god now...!”

“...What?”

...Words that could pull Alon’s focus to the absolute limit.

####

To the west of the Amphelan Continent, where the Empire stood.

Once called the Western Empire, but now a land that had lost even that name and turned into hell because of the Divine blood that had fallen there.

And among those places—

in the very center of the southern territory that had once belonged to House Nix, a land that had produced the chancellor of a great empire, but had now become complete ruins—

Crunch, crackle—

there was a Divine blood as long as a dragon from Eastern myth.

Its entire elongated body was lined with grotesque teeth and mouths.

In the place where the sunset was sinking, thousands, tens of thousands of round spheres were shining around the territory.

The identity of the Divine blood gliding smoothly among them was none other than the Father of Maggots.

One of the strongest among the Divine blood currently active after falling from the sky,

and also a servant of the Rotten Mouth, it drifted leisurely through the air.

Soon, it noticed the Divine blood that had come from outside the territory and opened its mouth.

[What is it?]

The casual condescension came out naturally even though the other party was also Divine blood.

That was because of the authority and strength it possessed.

The Divine blood in front of it could not compare to it in anything.

[...I came to make a report.]

At the words of the subordinate, from whose entire body trash-like powder spilled down without pause, the Father of Maggots asked back,

[A report?]

[Yes, regarding the order from the great Rotten Mouth to deal with the Star Eater—]

[Ah—ahhh—that. The poison-eater went, didn’t it?]

The Father of Maggots nodded.

It had recalled the task it had given the Divine blood.

[So, is the Star Eater dead?]

There was not the slightest doubt in the Father of Maggots’ words.

To begin with, killing a mere human—not even someone in the Empire—was a task far too easy for the Divine blood.

However.

[That... it seems they failed.]

[What?]

At the words that followed, the Father of Maggots was taken aback.

[They failed?]

[Th-that... yes.]

It was not easy to understand.

But after frowning for only a moment,

the hundreds of mouths attached all over its body let out mocking laughter.

[A disgrace to the Divine blood. To fail to kill a single human. Absurd.]

It found it sincerely ridiculous.

[Still, there’s nothing to worry about, is there? That idiot wasn’t the only one who went in the first place. Surely... didn’t the sinful wraith go too? I think that gluttonous insect went as well.]

Then, as though there were nothing to worry about, it continued gliding leisurely through the air, but—

[...Um.]

[What is it?]

[...The other two also seem to have failed.]

[What...?”

At those words, it stopped moving.

[...Failed?]

[Yes, both seem to have been destroyed.]

[...??]

For a moment, it was left speechless.

Of course, it was aware that the Star Eater was not an ordinary human.

But even so, a human was still only a human in the end, and to the Divine blood, nothing more than a tool.

[...Does that make any sense?]

The Father of Maggots asked back, genuinely unable to understand.

[That... I’m not really sure either.]

The other Divine blood scratched its head as if it could not understand it either.

And so, after an awkward silence flowed for a short while—

[...Well, fine. That can happen.]

The long, horrifying Divine blood found it difficult to accept, but accepted it anyway and once again began drifting through the air.

[The burned vegetation went after them next, didn’t it? And on top of that, two more Divine blood went with it to deal with the Star Eater, so there shouldn’t be another failure.]

The Father of Maggots thought of the burned vegetation.

It was not as strong as itself, but among those who had fallen, it was certainly strong.

The two Divine blood that had gone with it were the same.

However—

[...Um.]

[?]

[I also have something to report on that matter.]

[What is it?]

[...It seems the two Divine blood, including the burned vegetation, are protecting the Star Eater.]

[What? No—they went to kill it, didn’t they?]

[...Yes.]

[And now you’re saying they’re protecting it?]

[It seems that way...]

[...Why...??]

[That, I’m not really sure either...]

[?????]

At this completely unexpected update, its drifting could only come to another abrupt halt.