By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9, Episode 1: Unmasking the Curse

“That was really fast...” I muttered.

We had flown on dragonback for half a day, including occasional landings to rest and detours to avoid flying above cities, and arrived a little ways north of Gimul. Seeing the city gate in the distance was a reality check in two ways: one, that I was back in Gimul, and two, of how fast the dragon had flown. It had taken me a month to walk to Teresa, albeit taking some detours to grind my adventurer rank. If I had gone into the City of Lost Souls alone, there was no way I could have returned this quickly to Gimul if I’d tried. I’d flown on plenty of airplanes, but that didn’t lessen my shock that there was a creature who could fly nearly as fast as one. No wonder monsters were being used for the transportation of people and goods in this world... I’d even say that flying on a dragon felt safer and more comfortable than flying economy.

Currently, the massive dragon was nuzzling Reinbach’s chest, like a house pet begging their owner not to go to work. The gesture was adorable enough that I had to remind myself exactly how dangerous the mighty beast could be.

“Thank you for that. Now get some rest,” Reinbach said. A breath later, the dragon disappeared like it had been an illusion.

That left me wondering if Reinbach had actually used Summoning magic instead. At the very least, I had never seen nor heard of a Taming spell that could summon a familiar. But I had seen Elise summon a large wolf familiar with Summoning magic. To the best of my knowledge, though, Summoning magic did not allow for a master and familiar to communicate mind-to-mind. After watching how Reinbach interacted with the dragon on our journey and their parting just now, it was hard to believe that they couldn’t understand each other.

Maybe he found some kind of loophole like I did with slime magic, I mused. But how? 

“Shall we?” Reinbach announced.

“I’ve readied a carriage,” Sebas said.

I had almost forgotten why we landed here, when the day was still young and the dragon could have flown farther. We were to verify whether the curse was still on me, and to break it as soon as possible if it was. Time was of the essence. As soon as we all climbed into the carriage, it set off smoothly. In ten minutes or so, we would be at the city gate.

“Thank you for bringing me to Gimul so quickly,” I said to Reinbach.

“It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for us. Are you sure you want to go to the church for this?” he asked.

“Yes. It’s the safest option, in my opinion.”

There were other things on my to-do list that I would have liked to check off while I was in Gimul, but dealing with this curse was at the top of it. The adults had suggested that I see a warlock, exorcist, or priest. Normally, those would be the only choices for breaking a curse. But I had a fourth option.

“Of course it’s the safest...” Sever sighed. “No one else would think to seek an oracle from the gods.”

“No one other than a child of the gods... I hate to be a nag, but don’t go blabbing around about that, especially to the higher-ups of the church, if you don’t want a world of nuisance,” Remily warned.

“I certainly don’t. I’ll be careful.”

When the carriage rolled up to the city gate, the highest-ranking guard on duty came to greet us. Just as we could see the north gate when we landed, they apparently had a clear view of the dragon. Still, the Jamil crest on the carriage, along with Reinbach and Sebas’s—and even my—presence allowed us to pass the gate with little more than a greeting. I felt bad for wasting the man’s time, but I supposed that was part of his job.

Once we passed the gate, I decided to make myself a little more presentable, since I was going to a church. I asked a cleaner slime to dust me off, and stowed my weapon and armor into the Dimension Home. The church had no rules against being armed on its premises, but it felt like an appropriate sign of respect.

“Can I borrow that slime, Ryoma?” Remily asked.

“Of course!”

***

Soon enough, we arrived at the church. At its gates, Bell the nun greeted us. As soon as she saw the crest, she snapped into a deep bow. I told her that I’d stopped by to thank the gods for keeping me safe on my journey, which wasn’t a lie.

She gestured me to the chapel, where a few people were scattered throughout, engaged in prayer. Quietly, I found a seat towards the corner and prayed. The familiar light embraced me, sending my consciousness to the divine realm.

“Huh?” Once the light faded, I found myself in the white void I had grown accustomed to, occupied by Gain, Kufo, and Lulutia. I’d been greeted by more of the gods during my past few visits, so it was a little off-putting to see just the three of them... But not as off-putting as the looks on their faces, their brows raised or twisted with questions. Overall, the air between us was heavy.

If I had screwed up somehow—that was my first thought—the gods said nothing. Actually, it looked like they didn’t know where to start. So, I forced myself to speak first. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Something’s happening right now, I think,” said Kufo.

“Did you do anything unusual, Ryoma? I sense something strange,” Lulutia added.

“That’s probably the thing I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Then let us hear your story first,” Gain said.

After I walked them through what happened in the City of Lost Souls, I brought out the magic gem encased in rock. Suddenly, the gods’ faces grew even graver.

“Ryoma, you need to hand that over,” Gain said in a deep, commanding voice I’d never heard him use before.

Of course I obliged, although I was surprised to hear him speak like that, and the rock cluster floated up to Gain’s hand. Then, Gain moved some distance away, where he, Kufo, and Lulutia encircled the gem.

“Sit tight,” Lulutia said gently, not diverting her attention from the magic gem.

All I could do was quietly sit there and stay out of their way. Even in their usually comforting presence, I was beginning to feel a little nervous. Seeing how the gods are reacting, that gem must be something serious... 

The gods were glaring daggers at the cluster of crystals as the rocks covering it crumbled away. All three of them raised their hand to the gem. A light emanated from each of their palms and engulfed the magic gem in a giant ball of light. At this point, they finally relaxed a bit. They must have accomplished whatever they set out to do with the gem. As if to confirm my suspicions, the gods exchanged a few words, then Kufo and Lulutia vanished along with the ball of light.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Gain said, the intensity in his face giving way to contemplation. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions on your mind, and I owe you a lot of answers. But before any of that, you accomplished a great feat, Ryoma. Thank you for bringing that to us.”

“Glad to be of service. I’m guessing that wasn’t just a cursed magic gem, then?” Judging by the gods’ reaction, it must have been something really nasty. I just wanted to seek their advice on it, so I certainly hadn’t expected to be thanked just for bringing the thing. A chill crawled down my spine at the realization that I’d been carrying an object so dangerous all the way here.

“No, it was not. If you want the short answer, it’s a god.”

I could show no reaction beyond freezing on the spot and staring at Gain blankly. “I don’t think I heard you right. A god?”

“Yep. Not a rod or a cod. A god, the same as any of us.”

“So I did hear you right... How did a god turn into a magic gem and get itself buried in a place like that?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“It’s a fairly long story...” Gain began.

First, he explained that the magic gem I excavated was host to a demon lord that once terrorized this world. A demon lord—sometimes called a diabolic god—was a god who broke a taboo and tried to destroy or take over the world of other gods. The distinction was made by their deeds alone and not due to their nature, like the difference between a citizen and a criminal.

This particular demon lord had once managed a world of civilizations and technologies millennia ahead of this one. Humans of that world waged war with said technology, and ruined their world beyond repair.

A god and their respective world hung in balance like yin and yang. Without a world to take care of, a god eventually ceased to exist. Most of the time, gods who lost their worlds would sacrifice a great deal of their power to create a new world as a last resort. Still, their power would gradually recover as their new world developed, so the majority of gods would suck it up and make their new world. On rare occasions, though, a god who lost their world would resort to taking over the world of another god rather than creating one from scratch.

“That explains a lot, but didn’t you say this demon lord was long gone? You told me something like that when I first arrived in this world,” I said.

“Indeed, the demon lord itself is gone. What you found was a nasty memento. I assume it sealed away a fraction of its own power and consciousness in the recesses of that place to keep us from destroying it entirely. The thing you found can be more accurately described as a fragment—or vestige—of the demon lord.”

“Something with enough energy to resurrect the demon lord would surely tip us off before the resurrection...” Gain continued. “But if you hadn’t found that gem, Ryoma, it most likely would have continued collecting magical energy in that pit for perhaps tens of thousands of years until becoming a monster powerful enough to damage the world itself—and the composition of its magical energy. You did this world a huge favor.” Even if the threat it would have posed might not have come to fruition for tens of thousands of years, Gain made it clear that the gem was something that they couldn’t afford to ignore.

“There are people in possession of magic crystals found with that gem. Will they be all right?” I asked.

“They’ll be fine. I took a look a minute ago and verified that the ones they have are ordinary magic crystals—merely pockets of magical energy solidified in the process of the demon lord fragment gathering energy. No harm will come of them. You, on the other hand...”

“I thought so.”

“Just a fragment of a demon lord can be more than enough... You were right to be concerned, because the curse you alone received was enough for all five of you.”

“I don’t feel any different,” I said. There had been some shivers and confusion when I first found the gem, but nothing since then. I was even starting to convince myself that the curse had been broken after all. “This curse... Or would it be a smiting, since it came from a former god? Anyway, how can I get rid of it?”

“No need to worry. While it’s a tricky curse, another god can remove it with no problem. This is something that we should have spotted and dealt with, so I will take care of it. For now, sit back and have a cup.”

Just as Gain said so, a coffee table materialized with a cup of tea, which I gladly took. It was reassuring to have the gods helping me deal with this.

“I am always impressed by how quickly you accept these things,” Gain said.

“There’s little I can do about a god-level curse on my own, I’d imagine. Or maybe it’s because I don’t really feel like I’ve been cursed. If I was experiencing clear symptoms, I might feel differently about it.”

“Is that so? In any case, you’ve had a terrible run of misfortunes, Ryoma. I thought I’d blessed you with decent luck.”

“Since coming to this world, I have felt pretty lucky.”

“There are few things less fortunate than finding a demon lord fragment and being cursed by it.”

I chuckled at how quickly Gain had shut me down. “Then, I’ll gladly ask for your help.”

“Try to stay relaxed.”

Once I finished the tea, Gain told me to lie down on an examination table he’d conjured. I tried to relax as instructed, and I could feel my mind fade away, like a deep fog was thickening around it.