In a Different World with a Smartphone (LN) - Volume 19 - Chapter 4

Chapter IV: We’re All Connected 

“...So, where are we?” 
I glanced around, realizing that I’d been pulled somewhere. I couldn’t see anything of interest in my surroundings. The place wasn’t dark or anything. It was just empty. The whole area had a sunset-orange hue, and some misty clouds of dull gold blew by here and there. It was like the spirit realm, but completely different. I couldn’t feel any spiritual energy here. 
“I’d like to welcome you to Niflheim, my divine-suppression realm.” 
Yula stood in front of me, bowing politely. This bastard really pissed me off. He had the gall to welcome me here when he’d dragged me by force. 
“...Huh?” 
I was unable to properly visualize my destination. 
“It took a great many resources and a great amount of time to construct. This realm is not connected to any other world; it’s completely isolated. Even with the power of a god, it would take a great deal to escape this place. The only drawback is that this place only functions so long as I am within it...” Yula’s words rang clear. 
This place was designed to isolate me, so it was designed to make it near-impossible to escape. He’d brought me here with himself to trap me. 
I tried using my divinity to warp away, but it was hopeless. It was like I’d been thrown into Aokigahara on the side of Mt. Fuji without a compass or a map. I had no idea where to go. It was basically impossible for me to anchor on to any landmarks. If I could focus my divinity it’d probably be easier, but it was being interfered with somehow. 
“It’s pretty impressive that you managed to create something like this. But if I defeat you, it’ll vanish, right?” 
I morphed Brunhild to gun mode and pointed it at Yula. He just smiled. 
“That would be most unwise. The world would indeed collapse upon my death, but it would collapse in on you. You wouldn’t be freed.” 
“Gh...” 
I had a feeling that was the case. That was probably why he’d brought me in. He didn’t necessarily want to defeat me. He just wanted to immobilize me. The only thing I could reasonably do was slowly try to find a world to pinpoint on to with my divinity, and try and warp to it. 
“Well, it’s true you may be able to return eventually. But I can’t say the world will be in the same state you left it in.” 
“What do you mean?” 
Yula grinned as projected images began appearing in the air around us. I could see a live feed through each of them, of Brunhild, Belfast, Regulus, Strain, Allent, and various others. Just about every country was visible. But why was he showing me all that? 
“Don’t you think there were too few of us defending the crystal fortress? It’s true that we may not be able to choose where we appear from the breaches between worlds... But, with a little bit of focus, we can certainly choose when to emerge.” 
“Wait, don’t tell me...!” 
Yula smiled wide as I caught on to what he meant. Behind him, in the skies of those kingdoms... cracks began appearing everywhere. 
 
“M-Miss Relisha! We’ve got spatial errors all over the world! These readings are off the scale!” 
“Gah!” 
The first organization to notice the impending threat was the guild. Their sensors picked up on the disturbances, with every single one in the world picking up on them at once. The emergence points all had identical estimated arrival times. No matter how many times Relisha tried to call the grand duke, her phone calls wouldn’t connect. 
One of these cracks had appeared right by Brunhild, though Relisha felt like their Frame Gears could probably win out. That wasn’t the case for the other nations, though. It was true they knew when the enemies would emerge, and how many there were... But most countries in the world didn’t have Frame Gears. The ones fighting the mutants would be the knights, soldiers, and whatever adventurers were available. Relisha knew that it would lead to a massive loss of life. 
The mutants, on top of killing people, transformed their prey into their own kind. This was an incoming crisis on a global scale, and there was nothing Relisha could do. She let out a horrified gasp as she gripped her smartphone, the enormity of the situation washing over her. 
“Grand Duke... Is it not ready yet?!” 
Relisha was hoping they’d be able to pull through with the trump card that Touya had mentioned, but it was looking hopeless. 
“Please... Please... Hurry!” Relisha could do nothing but quietly pray as her subordinates started calling out emergence locations. 
   ? 
“Your Highness, you must flee!” 
“Nonsense. A king must not flee and leave his people to their fate.” 
The king of Belfast calmly sat atop his throne. He scowled at the cowering nobles. Their fear was understandable, however. The spatial disruption had appeared right next to Belfast’s capital. There were around five thousand mutants expected to pour out of it. If they all attacked the capital at once, then it would surely fall. 
Most of the nobles wanted to leave, but the wise king knew it would be wrong to leave before evacuation procedures had completed. 
“Viscount Swordrick, has our knight order finished strengthening our defenses?” 
“Yes, sir! Our men have taken up positions outside our walls! We’ve enlisted the local adventurers as well!” Viscount Swordrick, wearing his Eashenese armor, said as he bowed to the king. The Eashenese katana on his waist rattled as he moved. Swordrick, the greatest swordsman in Belfast, prepared to move to the front lines. 
“We must fight hard, for the sake of those struggling in Isengard right now. I entrust our protection to you.” 
“Yes, sir!” 
As the king spoke, his smartphone began vibrating. He glanced at the display. 
“Mismede’s beastking, huh...? Ah, hello?” 
“Hey, King Belfast. How’re things over there?” 
“Not great. They’re about to emerge near the capital. It’s very stressful...” 
“Wahahaa! Same here! I sent all our best men out to intercept, but it’s gonna be a rough fight for sure.” 
The beastking’s voice was positively jolly despite the grave nature of their conversation. But he was a man who craved battle, so he was probably looking forward to the great war ahead. But the king of Belfast knew that wasn’t the only reason for his relaxed attitude. 
“It’s not here yet, is it?” 
“Pfft, nah. You know how Touya likes to take it easy. But frankly, I hope it comes soon. If it doesn’t, we’ll be in a whole heap of trouble.” 
They were relaxed because of that young man’s special trump card. They were sure it would come in time, so they were just holding out until they could use it. 
The two kings watched their retainers hustle and bustle in a panic, calmly waiting to be saved. 
   ? 
“Send our war priests and our templars at once! This is a holy war, I say! A divine test from god above! We must protect our loved ones by mustering all our strength! May the blessings of the divine be upon you, my child!” 
“Yes, ma’am!” 
The captain of the war priests, along with the commander of the templar knights, hurried out of the pope’s chambers. Fortunately for the Ramissh Theocracy, the spatial disruption had appeared far from the capital city. Unfortunately, it was still near a few smaller towns. The guilds had been helping coordinate evacuation efforts, but the situation was not all that promising. 
The pope clutched her smartphone to her chest, silently praying. She prayed, not only to the almighty god that she believed in, but also to the young man who she believed to be his messenger. 
“Your Holiness.” 
“Phyllis...” 
The pope raised her head and saw Phyllis, clad in a well-fitted cardinal robe. She was the right hand of the theocracy and the only other person who’d seen God Almighty alongside the pope. She gripped her smartphone as well. 
“Do you think it’ll come in time?” 
“I do, yes. The light of salvation will come to us before long.” 
“I feel the same. The grand duke and his fellows must be facing the brunt in Isengard right now. We must do our part as well. I trust in you, Phyllis.” 
“Thank you, ma’am. I promise I’ll stake my very life for the sake of this world.” 
The two of them clutched their smartphones, awaiting deliverance. 
   ? 
“Looks like something big is going down...” Sarutobi Homura heaved a sign as she looked down at the news app on her smartphone. 
“Mutants all over the world... Are things going to be okay?” Fuma Nagi looked up from her own phone. They were currently stationed in a guard building in Brunhild. 
“We will be fine. The grand duke already saw this coming, and the guilds have been preparing squads to help defend,” the calmest of the three Brunhild ninjas, Kirigakure Shizuku, spoke matter-of-factly. She was also holding her smartphone. 
“Do you think that thing the grand duke mentioned is gonna get passed out soon?” 
“Probably. No other way we can survive this.” 
“I’m looking forward to it, honestly... But it’s a little scary too...” 
“Steel yourselves, girls. You are warriors of Brunhild. Act like it.” 
The sudden voice, coming from nowhere made the trio yell out in shock. It was Tsubaki, the leader of the intel corps. They hadn’t sensed her arriving at all, prompting them to jump in surprise. Tsubaki quietly sighed, making a mental note to intensify their training. 
“You know what you have to do, don’t you?” 
“Y-Y-Yes, we do! As soon as the download comes up, we’ll head out!” 
“Good. Stay in constant communication, and act as one. No matter what happens, don’t get cocky. Got that, Homura?” 
“Whaaat?! How come you only singled me out?!” 
Tsubaki took out her smartphone and gripped it tight. She couldn’t help but be nervous. The plan was absolutely absurd, after all. Only the grand duke of Brunhild could have come up with such brazen insanity. 
   ? 
“Doctor. Would it not indeed be better to distribute it before the mutants emerge?” 
“We need to hold on as long as we can. It’ll be more effective with more magical power fueling it,” Doctor Babylon quelled Liora’s fears as she flourished her lab coat like a cape. 
They were surveying the spatial disruptions on the research laboratory’s monitors. The monitors displayed direct feeds from dozens of tiny wasp-like drone Gollems created thanks to Elluka’s expertise. 
“Seventy-eight emergence points globally... Indeed, they’re almost in every nation. If this goes unchecked, it’ll be a repeat of what happened five thousand years ago!” 
“And that’s why we’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen. Tica, how’s the mana gauge looking?” 
“Combined with the amount, mmh... that master spurted inside? We’re allocating resources from the Tower as well. We have enough to supply them all.” 
“Good... Very good!” Doctor Babylon nodded proudly in response to Tica’s words. She’d been left in charge of distributing a particular app. She’d explained it to Liora earlier, but the timing was vital for an important trump card like this. It needed to be unleashed at the right moment. 
“When our opponent thinks they’ve won, that’s the pivotal moment... We’ll charge in and wreck them, and cause them major trauma at the same time. Not that those mutants will get it. It should piss off that Yula guy though,” Doctor Babylon grinned as she said that, pulled out an ether vape from her coat pocket, and puffed on it for a few moments before exhaling a cloud of smoke. 
“He might think he has the upper hand on Touya, but we’re ready for it. This is my revenge, five thousand years in the making! We’re gonna get real weird with it!” 
Doctor Babylon had previously learned from Ney that Yula was the one responsible for the grand invasion during the ancient era. She wasn’t exactly the patriotic type, since she didn’t view her homeland as anything more than the place she grew up in. However, it was also home to some people that she liked quite well. 
She wouldn’t say it out loud, but the opportunity to avenge those souls had finally come. She’d be a fool not to take it. 
“Doctor. The disruption in western Regulus has opened up, mutants inbound.” 
“Spatial tear in northern Strain has indeed opened as well. Mutants all over, indeed they are.” 
“We don’t want them to cause major issues, so it’s time we did it. Operation Full Moon is a go. Begin the distribution!” 
“Indeed! Launching the app!” 
And just like that, Liora brought her fingers dancing along her work station, sending it out to all those who possessed a smartphone. 
 
Mutants tore through the fabric of reality, pouring in all at once. Brunhild, Belfast, Regulus... They all emerged at the same time, starting their advance. I couldn’t see any Upper Constructs. Even if there were, they’d have been too big to break through as quickly as the other ones. 
“Heh... Heheh... Hahahaha! Now my kin will assimilate all living creatures of your world into our species. I will stand at the apex of a new, mutated species! I will use that power to continue crossing through worlds until even the gods are within my grasp!” 
Yula seemed positively elated as he watched the live feeds of the mutants marching on the nations. This guy’s goal was to assimilate other species into his mutant army and eventually march on the divine realm. Was he a complete and utter idiot? 
I sighed quietly as I watched the mutant forces march on the displays behind him. 
“What is it? Are you speechless? Feel free to lament your own lack of power all you like. Even with the power of a god, you’re still an insignificant little human. A pathetic dog such as you could—” 
“You know, the world I come from has a lot of stories...” I suddenly cut Yula off and started talking. I didn’t need to listen to his prattling anymore. After all, the app distribution was probably about to begin. 
“So these stories have lots of different kinds of protagonists, and it goes without saying that there’s a ton of different antagonists as well. The antagonists can usually be sorted into different categories based on the patterns of their behavior. You know, like... This kinda bad guy is gonna do this thing, or this kinda bad guy is gonna do that thing. Basically, bad guys can be pretty easily stereotyped.” 
“...Where are you going with this?” 
“Well, here’s the thing. Antagonists like you are the type to take hostages. I feel like you’d have probably gone after those close to me or those I considered friends. I knew you’d target the people of the world I’m trying to protect. That’s why I set a certain measure in place.” 
This wasn’t a very heroic line of thinking, but it was smart to aim for your enemy’s weak points. I did that all the time, honestly. But that was why I knew a snide, calculating enemy like Yula would want to as well, so I had something in place to oppose him. And it had just arrived, right in the nick of time. 
“Hm? And? Am I supposed to believe there’s something you can do from here?” 
“Oh, I won’t be doing anything, Yula. Everyone else will fight in my place. Sure, I may be trapped here, but they’re in another world. With their smartphones.” 
I held up my phone, pointing out the newly-added app to Yula. I’d left it to Doctor Babylon, but I wished that she’d picked a cooler icon for it... 
Beneath the icon, which was a cutesy version of my face, there was a simple, two-word name for the app. 
Mochizuki Touya. 

 
“It’s finally here!” 
The beastking looked at his phone, cheering loudly once he saw the app appear. Most of his nobles looked at him in confusion, but Royal Chancellor Glatz and a few others who also had smartphones inexplicably started cheering and flexing. 
The beastking began downloading the app as soon as he could, but he could barely contain his excitement. Once it downloaded, he anxiously brought his trembling finger to the app icon. And, in a flash, he felt power unlike anything he’d ever felt before flowing through his veins. 
“Oooh! It’s incredible!” 
He rushed out to the castle courtyard and began focusing his power. He’d always wanted to do this. 
“[Fly]!” the beastking screamed right before he soared upward into the air. 
“Oh! I’m flying! I’m actually flying! Ahahaha!” 
He looked to his side, and Chancellor Glatz was also flying. The beastking thought this was a bit redundant, since Glatz was a winged beastman. He just assumed that the guy wanted to try it out, much like he did. 
“[Storage]!” 
The beastking pulled a sword out from nowhere. It was huge and crafted from phrasium. This version of [Storage] was shared between all users of the app. Weapons, armor, and even food had been stocked inside it well in advance. Whoever took what was automatically recorded, and if anything was broken or lost, then they’d be able to pay for it later. 
“Glatz! I’m headed out!” 
“Huh? Your Beastliness?!” 
The beastking soared off to the south. Once he activated his beloved [Accel], he started rocketing through the air. 
“Amazing! I’m already at the battlefield!” 
The royal soldiers stood at the southern plain, ready to face down the incoming mutants. They were outnumbered two to one. And so, the beastking stopped in mid-air and decided to use [Speaker] to rally his men. 
“Warriors of Mismede! Show no fear this day! Give those shimmering schmucks something to really think about! Show them our might! I’ll be fighting by your side, so battle with all you have!” 
The Mismede soldiers cheered and waved their weapons in the air. The beastking grinned wide, pointing down his hands at his men. 
“Come forth, Winds... Blessed be the Updraft: [Tailwind]! Come forth, Light... Blessed be the Flesh: [Skin Barrier]!” 
The beastking enchanted his entire army with Wind magic to enhance their speed and Light magic to enhance their defenses. The battle would go a lot easier as a result. 
“Warriors of Mismede, charge!” 
“HRAAAAAAAARGH!” 
Thus, the true battle began. 
 
“Hyaaah!” 
The man swung his spear hard, slicing a mutant in half like it was made of butter. Phrasium weapons were amazingly durable; he hadn’t chipped his spear at all. 
The emperor of Regulus loved being able to fight again. His old bones no longer creaked and his body was instead filled with vigor and might. And in order to test out the magic, he tried something he’d been wanting to try for a while. 
“[Slip]!” 
The mutants that were headed toward him tumbled in a straight line, allowing the Regulus knights in their Chevaliers to take them out easily. Thankfully, there had been enough basic Frame Gears in the shared [Storage] for all the nations to have some. 
“Your Majesty! Please, fall back! It’s too dangerous!” 
“Don’t be foolish, my friends! I cannot fall back now, not at all! Touya would surely laugh if I quit in the thick of it!” 
The emperor of Regulus simply laughed in the face of his concerned knights. Then, he pierced the core of another mutant that was shaped like an ant and watched as it melted away. 
The emperor had fought many battles during his youth. The fire inside him had dimmed during his old age, but this battle was reigniting the spark once more. 
“How very exciting! I feel just as vigorous as I used to be!” 
The emperor gleefully swung his spear around like a child playing with a toy. He destroyed mutant after mutant with ease. He wasn’t in a Frame Gear, yet he fought just as skillfully as the men in the Chevaliers. This was, in part, due to his thorough experience as a young man. 
“Come, my knights! Follow me! Let us rid our fair land of these wrongdoers!” 
“Hoo-rah!! All hail the emperor!” 
The dull-golden glow of the mutants was gradually purged from Regulus. 
 
“Meow, meow, and meooooow!” Mr. Mittens screeched as he unleashed a sword flurry, piercing through various mutant cores until he finally felled the last one in the area. He’d beaten a whole batch by himself. 
“Meow then... where to next?” 
Mr. Mittens sheathed his crystal rapier as he turned to his fellow warrior, Athos. Athos, who looked like an American shorthair, checked the map on the smartphone-on-a-string he had dangling from his neck. He skillfully swiped along the phone with the soft toe beans on his paw pads. 
“East Roadmare. Small village called Cattenip. Around ten mutants.” 
“Sounds like a tasty village...” Porthos, the tubby Persian cat, peeked at the map and made a small comment. 
“Ten rascally mutants? Let us march off to save the day, gents!” 
The elegant Siamese cat, Aramis, raised his sword skyward. The other cats drew their swords and met his. 
“All for one, and one for all!” 
“Well then, let’s get those meowtants! [Teleport]!” 
Using Sakura’s Null spell, Mr. Mittens and the others warped off to save the day. 
 
Piercing claws shredded the mutants, and hulking bodies crushed their cores. 
Shirogane, the draconic butler of Drakliff Island, was leading an army of Dragons against mutants that had appeared in the Gem Kingdom. 
“Don’t leave a trace behind! Our master, Touya, has ordered it!” 
“Ping.” “Pong.” “Pang.” 
Shirogane, still in the physical form of a silver-haired young man, cast out his arm as he ordered the attack. The three maid Gollems, Ruby, Saph, and Emerl, imitated his pose. 
“Graaargh!” 
Giants of all shapes and sizes faced down the mutant horde. Though the mutants absorbed the fire breath, the White Dragons capable of breathing frost managed to slow down the enemy advance. The rest of the Dragons took that chance to charge at the foes, their attacks strengthened by Shirogane’s support spells. 
One of the mutants began charging up a particle beam blast toward Shirogane... 
“[Shield].” 
Only to be effortlessly blocked by the man’s magic. That spell could block just about anything, save for an Upper Construct’s beam attack. 
“My, this magic is certainly splendid. I’d expect no less from Touya,” Shirogane said as he smiled and gripped his smartphone, praising his employer. He was overjoyed that he could muster such strength in a humanoid body. 
Touya’s enemies were, naturally, his enemies as well. Shirogane would not let a single golden insect escape his wrath. 
“Purge them all! Don’t let a single one escape!” 
“Ping.” “Pong.” “Pang.” 
 
“Heh... They’re really going for it. It’s pretty cool watching them go wild.” 
“Wh-What nonsense is this?! How can those mere creatures be mustering this strength?! What did you do, you bastard?!” 
I grinned a bit, seeing Yula’s cool demeanor break apart. The look on his face was fraught with anger, confusion, and fear. 
“Just a little power I like to call nunya.” 
“And just what the hell is nunya?!” 
“Nunya business.” 
I laughed obnoxiously, taking great joy in taunting Yula. He snarled at me, fire burning in his eyes. He clearly didn’t think the situation was all that funny. I was pretty amused that he could make that kind of expression, but maybe the cool facade had been an act from the beginning. 
The tide of battle was turning thanks to the Mochizuki Touya app. As its name implied, it was an app that allowed people to do what I could do. They’d have access to every single magical attribute possible, and their physical prowess would be multiplied severalfold. Obviously, divinity stuff wasn’t accessible, though. 
They could use as many spells as they wanted, too, since the app tapped into a deep mana well within Babylon that I’d been regularly topping up. This was my ultimate trump card. It was only to be deployed in a situation where I’d be unable to help them, so they’d be able to help themselves through my power. It was a means to entrust those I believed in to save the world themselves. It was honestly a little reckless, so I wanted to save it as a last resort. But back at the summit we’d had earlier, the world leaders did say they’d be happy to defend the world with their own hands, so I trusted them. Plus, the fact that the app download had reached my phone meant that I had a bridge to the other world. Though there was a little bit of a signal delay, apparently. 
I grinned, holding out my arms and starting a call on my phone. 
“Y’ello. Yep, I’m good. Actually, I’m glad you waited, since it let me realize I could make an outgoing call. Yeah, good call on your part.” 
“...H-Hold on. Who are you talking to?” 
“Hm? Oh, yeah. I got pulled into some weird dimension. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine. I can trace my way home now.” 
“Wait, is that a communications device?! That’s impossible! How could it be functioning?!” 
“Sorry, Doc, gimme a sec... Yo, Yula. Dude. Can you shut up? I’m on a call right now. Hold on, I’ll call back, Doc.” 
I abruptly ended my call with Babylon. I could understand Yula’s frustrations. This realm was supposed to be his, after all. Nothing was supposed to be able to come in or out without his say-so, not even stuff like light or sound. Given that I was here, in his personal space, making an outgoing call to someone he’d never met before... It was pretty clear why he’d be upset. 
The mass-produced smartphones were a product of Babylon, but mine was different. It was a legitimate sacred treasure, something imbued with the divinity of God Almighty. Back when the Reverse World was still separated from the regular one, getting service was a pain. That was solved when we had a dimensional disruptor constructed to link both worlds, but now the world was merged it was basically irrelevant. Since I didn’t want that kind of trouble to happen again, I’d asked God Almighty, who’d been in the mortal world at the time, to help me out with cell reception. He happily lent his aid, saying he figured it’d be useful for me to have phone contact when I eventually went back to Earth for a little while. It didn’t take him long at all... 
That was why I wasn’t too worried after being brought to Yula’s dimension. Frankly, I just wanted to avoid having to call Karen and asking her to come pick me up... That would’ve been way too embarrassing. Still, now that I’d had enough time to get my bearings and pinpoint my relative location via my phone, I could freely leave. 
Ordinarily, I’d have taken care of the moron in front of me, but I didn’t want to risk the space around me collapsing. I’d have probably been able to survive if I triggered a full Apotheosis, but I didn’t want to run that kind of gamble. 
“Ney told me about you. She said you were a strategic genius, but you rarely dirtied your own hands. You’ve never come to the front and stared your enemies down, have you?” 
“And what of it? So long as I have pawns that can be easily manipulated, why should I do the legwork?” 
“That’s why you’re a fool, Yula. You think too little of your enemies. I think the fact that you got a hold of a little bit of divinity went to your head.” 
“Stay your tongue! You’ve a lot of nerve, when you’re exactly the same!” Yula snarled furiously at me. He seemed to think that we were similar in that regard. 
“Dude... Do you even know how weak that wicked god is? I mean, like... do you even know what kind of god was used to create it?” 
“Of course I know! The god himself told me of his power! He was an unfathomably powerful god, above any other! He was the unbreakable god of order! He called himself a neat god, for some reason, but I’m sure he was just being modest... Wh-Why are you laughing?!” 
I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Yula. 
Pfftahaha! You idiot! He wasn’t a neat god, he was a NEET god! Oh man, okay... Okay... Calm down, Touya. I can’t believe this. This is amazing... That idiotic, pathetic NEET god must have given him an easily misunderstood explanation. Kind of like someone ashamed of being unemployed explaining things in an easily misconstrued manner. Like saying you work private security without specifying that you stay in and watch your own house all day. 
I remembered the Dragon king guy who tried to forcibly control Dragons with that needle artifact to help him take over the world. He was pathetic, and apparently, Yula was just as bad. Guys like him lied, tricked, and manipulated to get whatever they wanted. They ended up using those stronger than them to reach their own ends. They refused to dirty their own hands, saw themselves as higher than the people they toyed with. They all decided of their own volition that their enemies were lower than trash, and devised plans to sweep them away like they didn’t mean a thing. That was why they always got what was coming to them. 
In Yula’s eyes, he probably thought everyone except me and my immediate family were worthless small fries. He probably thought they wouldn’t be worth worrying about. That was his fatal, arrogant mistake. 
“Look, you at least deserve to know this. That god you found? He was the lowest ranking member divine being around. He was what’s known as a servile god. Actually, his rank was even lower than that because he got kicked out of the divine realm for abandoning what little duties he had.” 
“Excuse me?!” 
To be honest, the wicked god was probably a lot stronger now, given it had eaten up so many souls. The fight against it was going to be a pain in the ass. There were a hell of a lot of golden Skeletons among the mutant armies, so it must have consumed at least that many human souls. Still, I had no obligation to add that on to what I was saying. 
“Either way, Yula. Whatever you were working toward ends today. You can sit here and watch me take it away from you.” 
“Bastard...!” 
I pictured the coordinates from my phone in my mind and locked on to my world. Then, I warped away. Yula tried to say something, but it was too late. I was gone. 
“Whoa! C-Crap! [Fly]!” 
I was a little bit shocked to find I’d come out in the middle of the air. I’d found myself hurtling down from hundreds of meters in the sky, which was scary! It was a bit hard to fine-tune my destination using a long-distance warp like that, after all. I looked down just to be sure I was actually back in the right world. And when I did, I noticed a city with a huge tower in it, which I vaguely recognized to be Isenberg. 
“Looks like I’m home safe... Now, what about the others?” 
I landed atop the tower and pulled up my map. My fiancees were safe and sound, a short distance from Isenberg. Seemed like they’d escaped the golden palace, and I knew they had the Touya app as well. Everything was okay. 
“Wh—?!” 
Right when I was starting to relax, a sudden chill ran up my spine. I immediately recognized the aura washing over me. 
“No way...” 
I turned to look at the golden palace and found that it had been replaced by an immense pillar of light. The light swayed like heat dancing in the air. I could tell at a single glance that it was unfettered divinity. It wasn’t a pure divinity, like that of Karen or God Almighty. It was a disgusting, twisted divinity. It was steeped in muddy-gold darkness, like an amalgamation of negative human emotion. 
The hazy divinity shot upward until it took form in the air. 
I couldn’t even think of a proper way to describe it succinctly. Its upper body was insect-like. It kind of reminded me of a silkmoth. It had massive compound eyes, antennae on its head, six insectoid arms that jutted out from its sides, and moth-like wings on its back. Its lower body was long, kind of like a snake’s stomach. Its belly swelled softly, emanating dark divinity from inside. 
So far, one of the largest things I’d gone up against was the witch-king’s massive Gollem. But this thing? It was several times larger. The beastly form it originally had was completely gone. 
It slowly flapped its wings, descending to the golden palace below. When it landed, it crushed the muddy-gold structure to tiny fragments. I wondered if those wings were just for show, since they hardly seemed suited for giving its massive body full flight. 
There it stood, atop the wrecked mass, almost asserting its dominance over the landscape. 
“...So it finally hatched, huh? The wicked god’s matured form is on full display.” 
Those grim, shimmering compound eyes swiveled around and glared right at me. It knew exactly where I was. 
 
Skreeeeeeeeeeckh... 
The wicked god flapped its wings, emanating a noise that resembled nails on a chalkboard. 
Glimmering powder sprinkled from its wings, scattering across the land. It was probably the same spore-stuff that the golden tree from Isengard was releasing a while back. It transformed people who died while harboring negative emotions or people who were just especially wretched. 
It wasn’t effective against people like me and my fiancees, but if I left it be, then the spores would probably spread all around the world. 
“Reginleif!” 
I summoned my Frame Gear and leaped from Isenberg’s tower. Then, I used [Fly] to soar into the cockpit, setting my smartphone beside the monitor and firing the machine up. 
The display showed the wicked god turning toward me. 
I heard a whirring sound, and particles of light began forming between its antennae. 
Oh shit! 
“Gah!” 
I took emergency evasive maneuvers, swooping down low and getting far away from the tower. 
Around three seconds later, a huge ball of light crashed into the tower, creating an explosion larger than any I’d ever seen before. The wind pressure created by the blast came rushing toward my Frame Gear. 
“[Prison]!” 
I secured Reginleif in a barrier, preventing chunks of rubble and metal debris from hitting me. 
A mushroom cloud rose up from the impact site, black smoke trailing off it like a volcanic eruption. Suddenly, hunks of rock began falling from the sky. 
I rose higher up as the barrier kept on getting pelted by the falling stone. Then, I looked down to survey the situation. It was even worse than I’d feared. The city of Isenberg had been completely wiped off the map. 
The city had already been forsaken because of the golden Skeletons, but now there wasn’t even a trace of it left. The blast had carved it out of the earth. 
That attack was far, far beyond the might of an Upper Construct’s particle beam. If it had been a lively city filled with people, that would’ve been utterly catastrophic... 
I had a feeling I wouldn’t be able to block that attack with [Prison] or [Shield], and [Reflection] was probably a no-go, too... 
“No point sitting around on my ass. I better try attacking.” 
I split off the crystal boards on Reginleif’s back and merged them into a large blade. 
“Gonna need a greatsword for this...” 
The massive sword, which was honestly more like a gigantic triangle, pulsed as I channeled divinity through it. Phrasium was a great conductor for mana, but it also happened to channel divinity really well. 
I raised my newly-forged holy blade and sent Reginleif charging toward the wicked god. The six limbs that jutted from the monster’s torso fired out laser beams, as if they’d been waiting for my move. 
I weaved in and out, deftly dodging the incoming blasts. Then, I closed in, swinging my blade hard and severing one of its thin limbs. Thin was a relative term here, since, due to the sheer size of the wicked god’s body, even one of those arms was wider than Reginleif. Despite the phrasium blade’s divinity and strengthened composition, I met a surprising amount of resistance while cutting through. 
The severed limb dropped to the ground and smashed to pieces. 
Creaaaaaaaaaaak... 
The wicked god’s entire body sounded like it was moaning as it regenerated the missing limb. I’d expected it to have that kind of ability, but I’d needed to be sure. 
“Blaze, o Fire! Blazing Penetration: [Burning Lance]!” 
A massive, flaming lance appeared in the air and flew toward one of the wicked god’s wings. The magic attack pierced right through the wing, leaving a scorched hole. Still, the wicked god was so large that it was akin to burning a hole through a piece of paper with a cigarette. It regenerated the damage in mere moments. 
“It didn’t absorb the spell... Guess it didn’t retain that trait from the Phrase, then?” 
The Phrase lifeforms were capable of absorbing magic and using it to strengthen themselves. But it seemed the wicked god didn’t have that ability... Or maybe it just didn’t need it. 
It could use its divinity to instigate its own regeneration and could fire lasers without an external magic source. 
“This thing’s real big. I really don’t know how I’m gonna kill it...” 
If it was a regular organism, it would die if I went for the head or the heart, but then I kind of wondered if gods could even die... No, if the divine venom could supposedly kill gods, then it would be possible to kill this imperfect one. 
I started thinking too deeply, failing to notice another laser barrage. 
“Aw crap!” 
I grabbed the controls and just barely evaded the strikes... Or at least, that was how it should have gone. But the wicked god flapped its wings, causing an air current that knocked Reginleif off course! 
Before I even had time to react, a laser hit my Frame Gear directly, blasting it back. 
“Guh...” 
“Protective Barrier Damaged. Operating at sixty-five-percent efficiency.” 
A voice came from my smartphone. The protective barrier around Reginleif prevented the mech from taking direct damage, but it seemed like it’d only be able to take around two more direct hits before breaking. 
I righted Reginleif’s position and glared down at the wicked god. I didn’t think it felt anything like emotion, it was probably just attacking me on instinct. 

The wicked god had basically been formed from the negative emotions of tens of thousands of people. It was just a mass of hatred, now. There wasn’t a dominant personality controlling it. 
Even that NEET god had just fallen into the mass of darkness, alongside the rest. Not that I was too surprised. NEETs weren’t exactly known for their strong wills. 
The wicked god suddenly bellowed, as if enraged by something, and launched several laser blasts at me. It couldn’t have read my mind, could it? Those lasers were really dangerous, so I needed to focus. 
This kind of battle was like facing a boss monster on a blind run. I didn’t know its attack patterns. I had no idea what it was weak to, either. And so, I had no choice but to be conservative. 
Man, this really does feel like a boss fight. I can even hear the final boss music from a certain famous JRPG series in my head... Hold on a sec... Huh? That’s not coming from inside my head! Why’s the final boss music from a certain famous JRPG series coming out of my cockpit’s internal speakers?! 
I turned to Reginleif to try and identify the source. 
“What?!” 
The display on the monitor showed a man sitting down in mid-air. He was furiously strumming a guitar, which was hooked up to some speakers from Babylon’s storehouse. It was Sousuke, the god of music. 
“Ohhh, hic! Wowshers.” 
“It’s pretty impressive, you know? Wicked gods like this don’t show up all that often.” 
Suika, the god of alcohol, was standing nearby with a bottle in her hands. Karen, the god of love, was also there. She was eating some potato chips. 
They were just sort of sitting there, marveling at the wicked god. 
“H-How come you guys are here?!” 
“We’re, hic, on a trip! The god of agriculture went to the, hic, puretree. Then the three fighty ones are busy fighting the, hic! The uhhh... gold thingiesh, and now we’re here!” Suika giggled a bit as she spoke. This scene didn’t exactly fit the mood... I was supposed to be engaging in an epic clash for the sake of the world! They were treating it like a picnic! 
“I just came to see if you were doing well, you know? I guess you’d call this an employee evaluation?” 
“Whatever it is, it’s goddamn annoying!” 
C’mon, guys! I’m trying to fight here! Let me have my moment! 
“Don’t worry about it, hic! We got told not to interfhere... We can give ya plenty advische, though.” 
I stared at the little drunkard, wondering what kind of advice a gremlin like her was supposed to provide. But suddenly, Sousuke’s guitar tune changed. 
I turned back toward the wicked god, just in time to see its massive, snake-like tail barreling toward us. 
All three of the nearby gods teleported away, which felt pretty unfair! 
“Gah... [Teleport]!” 
I copied the others and warped away to safety. 
The massive tail crashed into the ground, splitting it apart. If that had hit Reginleif, I definitely would’ve been flattened like a pancake. 
“How am I even meant to hurt that thing?” 
“Wicked gods are formed when a source of divinity merges with a source of grudge or negativity, you know? They’re monstrous apparitions that are imbued with the power of the divine. So only divinity is gonna work!” Karen popped up nearby and spoke plainly. 
“Uhh... Haven’t I been using divinity this whole time, though?” 
“You’ve been usin’, hic! Ushin’ divinity but alsho not divinity. You got too much, hic, attacshment to this world. You’re all mixshed up, Touya! You’re, hic, like a cocktail! Cocktails are way niiice, but, hic, pure distilled is better! Get it?! You gotta be a spirit, Touya!” 
“... Karen, what is she saying?” 
I didn’t understand what the hell the little drunk was trying to say. I didn’t know why she was calling me a cocktail, or what she meant by attachments. 
“Well, it’s kind of like this, you know? You’re a mix of godhood and humanity right now. You’re using divinity, but it’s still impure because of your attachment to your humanity, so it can’t show its full power, you know? But at the same time, you can’t become a full god either, or else you won’t be allowed to interfere with this world’s issues. You need to channel pure divinity through your body and make use of it... all while keeping your human body intact.” 
“And, uh... how do I go about doing that, exactly?” 
“You need to affirm your own goals, Touya. You need to gather your determination to defeat the wicked god, and to leave behind any lingering doubts about your godhood.” 
Karen’s explanation kind of made sense. Or well, the whole attachment part did, at least. 
It was true that part of me just wanted to keep on living my regular human life. Obviously, I wouldn’t become a full god right away, but I was still afraid of setting myself down a path I wouldn’t be able to come back from. 
But I had to come to terms with the fact that I was already on that path. I hadn’t gone down it very far, but I’d definitely been walking it for a while. Despite that, I was still worried about leaving my humanity behind... So at least in that regard, Suika was right about me having lingering attachments. 
I even knew that a tiny part of me would be okay losing to the wicked god if it meant I didn’t have to fully embrace the divinity inside me... But I couldn’t do that, since it would be a slap in the face to all the precious allies that brought me here. 
“Hurry up! Right now, you’re lingering too hard on something pointless, like a guy who got dumped and won’t stop thinking about his ex. You aren’t a stalker, are you?” 
“What’s with all the weird-ass metaphors?! Ugh... Whatever, I kinda get what you mean. Thanks, Karen.” 
“Heheh, of course,” Karen said as she grinned and flashed me a wink, Sousuke strummed at his guitar. 
...Why did you just strum a level-up sound effect from a video game? How am I supposed to interpret that?! 
“Heeey, hic! Don’t thank herrr. I gave you the advice! Spirits! Distilled spirit, that’s what you gotta be!” 
I still couldn’t understand that annoying little gremlin. 
I sighed slightly as another barrage of lasers came flying in at us. Karen and the others warped away, just like before. 
“Do your best, you know?” Karen’s voice rang out before she faded into thin air. The three of them had clearly opted to watch this battle from a safer distance. To gods like them, this was somewhat of a casual day out, like going to a baseball game. 
“Alright... Better not disappoint my crowd, then.” 
I began to swirl divinity around my body. Suika’s comment about me being a cocktail kind of made sense. My magic power, something tied to me as a human, was always mixed in when I used it. I had to distinctly separate the two things. 
I decided to use God Almighty as a reference point. My divinity came from him, so it shared the same characteristics as his own. All I had to do was replicate the pure divinity that he emanated during the Ramissh incident. I needed to distill my own divinity, to create that kind of aura. Despite the intensity of this task, I felt oddly calm. 
A strange light drifted up past my mind’s eye, staying in the center of my focus. At first, it felt like a tiny little spark, but at the same time, I could feel it expand like a grand explosion. It was the spark of creation within me, something new being born. 
I opened my eyes and felt a strange rush of power through my body. It was divinity running through me. But it wasn’t like before, when I’d garbed myself in it. This time, it was flowing out from within. 
I’d done it. It was a strange feeling, but it was kind of like assembling a plastic model and the parts just slotting perfectly into place after a little push. 
It happened so seamlessly that I was amazed that I’d never managed it before. I knew in my heart that this divinity was my own... and that it would be okay for me to embrace it. 
The power I exuded spilled out into Reginleif’s ether liquid, spreading across the entire Frame Gear. Naturally, the phrasium greatsword in Reginleif’s hand was also filled with pure divinity. 
Karen’s divinity had a kind of pink tinge to it, and Moroha’s felt like a sky-blue with a little gold lining. But my divinity? My true divinity? It shone with a silver... No, a platinum hue. 
It was different from God Almighty’s divinity. This color belonged to me. 
Another laser barrage came in from the wicked god. I dodged it and slashed at the wicked god’s limbs just like earlier. This time it was different, there wasn’t as much resistance in the cut. It was like chopping through a potato with a kitchen knife. 
Creaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak! 
The area I’d cut began to go up in black smoke, and the wicked god’s body began contorting in agony. I’d just severed a limb, but it wasn’t growing back. It fell to the ground and melted into viscous sludge. 
I did it... That means I can win this! 
“Touya, are you alright?!” 
I suddenly heard Yumina’s voice over the comms system. I turned around and saw the girls in their Valkyries. They were headed in my direction from the ruins of what had been Isenberg. 
But... just as I saw them, I also saw particles of light gathering between the wicked god’s antennae. It was charging up its attack much faster than the last time, too. I barely even had time to process what was happening before it launched the same attack that had obliterated the city right toward my fiancees. 
 
I was about to activate [Teleport] in order to save the girls, but I stopped when I noticed a surge of magic in their vicinity. 
The strike impacted, leaving an enormous crater. This one was even bigger than the first. If the girls had been in the impact zone, then not a trace of them would have remained. 
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. All the girls were on the ground beneath Reginleif, perfectly safe in their Frame Gears. 
The moment they saw the orb of light headed in their direction, they activated [Teleport] themselves and moved right to me. 
They hadn’t done it via Sakura’s power, even though it was her spell. The Mochizuki Touya app was still active, so they simply borrowed my power and did it that way. 
“I’m glad you’re okay, Touya.” 
“Yeah. Sorry, you guys. Yula sealed me away for a while there. I managed to bust out, though.” 
Man, I must have really had them shook. Wait, hold on a sec... 
“Where’s Ende and his group?” 
I looked around but I could only see my nine fiancees. Ende, Melle, Ney, and Lycee weren’t in the area. 
“We had Melle and the others go help fight the mutants. The Dragoon was pretty banged up, and we didn’t really wanna make them fight against this thing with just their bodies,” Elze answered over the comms. That was fair. Even with the Mochizuki Touya app, going bare-fisted against the wicked god probably wasn’t the wisest idea. 
“So that is the wicked god, it is...” 
“I like the size, but I don’t like the bug parts!” 
Yae and Sue offered their comments as everyone looked over the enemy. Its enormous compound eyes focused on us. I couldn’t sense any emotion or will coming from it at all, it was just a being of pure instinctive chaos. 
Particles of light began sparking between its antennae. An attack was coming! 
“Everyone, fan out!” 
On my command, the girls used [Fly] to soar upward with their Frame Gears. And right after we moved, a bolt of lightning flew from the wicked god’s antennae and scorched the ground where we’d just stood. 
Its attacks were just as big as its body. It was kind of a pain, honestly. 
“Touya... Um, I wanted to ask something...” 
“Hm? What is it?” 
“This power that’s flowing through us... Is it yours?” 
“Huh?” 
Linze’s words were a little confusing, so I glanced a little more closely at her and the girls. They had platinum divinity emanating from their Frame Gears. 
What the...? That’s just like mine! Are they receiving it because of their connection to me? Wait, this also explains how they were able to move their Frame Gears with [Fly] and [Teleport] , too. 
My divinity had improved the breadth of their skills. 
“This certainly feels warm.” 
“It’s like the grand duke is right by me... I know we can’t lose...” 
“Heheh. We’re all wrapped in our darling’s love.” 
“We got Touya’s love on our side, now! We’re unbeatable!” 
Ugh, that’s embarrassing! I-I know it’s true, but don’t just say it out loud! 
“Alright, girls! Let’s take Touya’s love and use it to strike down our foe!” 
All the girls nodded in unison, moved by Yumina’s words. Then, they began emitting their own divinity from within their bodies. It wasn’t as strong as mine, but it was every bit as pure. 
The realization hit me like a truck. The girls had already made up their minds to walk with me on the path of godhood. They hadn’t hesitated in the slightest. They had no lingering attachments. And that meant I’d been the most indecisive person here. I felt a little bit of shame. 
“Let’s do this!” Elze spearheaded the charge, nimbly weaving in between the laser rays. 
“Take this! My chi-infused finisher! Cannon Break!” Gerhilde smashed a pile bunker into one of the wicked god’s limbs. The massive arm wasn’t broken off, but cracks spread across the entirety of its surface. And those cracks then began to smolder and smoke. Elze’s divinity was preventing it from regenerating. 
“Hiyaaaah!” 
“Haaaaagh!” 
Next came two Frame Gears, one purple and one orange, Yae’s Schwertleite and Hilde’s Siegrune. They each swerved toward the cracked limb, raising their blades high. 
“Kokonoe Secret Style: Dragonfang Disaster!” 
“Lestian Sacred Sword: Sixth Roaring Thunder!” 
Their two slashes intersected, creating a mighty cross against the enemy’s arm. The limb shattered like a glass sculpture, breaking to pieces and tumbling to the ground. 
Black smoke continued to rise from the wounds in its body. The wicked god responded by launching a barrage of lightning toward the three Frame Gears that had just attacked it. But they managed to avoid the attack by simply teleporting away. 
The wicked god started scanning the area with its compound eyes, but suddenly, a bullet enchanted with [Mega Explosion] smashed into one of those eyes. 
Skreeeekch! 
The wicked god found itself jostled by the impact. Another bullet struck it in the throat, detonating on impact. The explosion left a few trails of fire on the surface of the wicked god’s body. 
“It’s an easy target, that’s for sure,” Yumina spoke up as Brunnhilde hefted its rifle and launched a third bullet. This one struck the enemy’s belly, erupting into another massive explosion. 
Another explosion rang out on the monstrous being’s shoulder. But that one hadn’t been caused by Brunnhilde, it was thanks to Lu’s Waltraute. The emerald mech had used its C-Unit attachment to launch a bombardment. 
“Wow, it really is easy to hit! My aim isn’t so good, usually!” 
Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeekch! 
A strange noise rang out from the wicked god as it raised and fluttered its wings. The strange sound carried an unusual force with it, rocking our Frame Gears with a shockwave. The sound it was emitting had muddied divinity imbued into it. Our Frame Gears were being crushed by an intangible force, somewhat similar to the effects of [Gravity]. 
It was probably a way to prevent us from getting closer, but we had something to counteract that. 
“That won’t work...” Sakura’s Rossweisse blared her muttering from its speakers, and then Sakura broke into song. She was singing the same song she’d performed during the battle against the mutant Upper Constructs. It was a pretty straightforward song about the power of love that was associated with a popular time travel movie. “That’s the power that makes the world go ’round” and all that. 
The wicked god couldn’t stand in the way of such a force. Its attack vanished thanks to Sakura’s song, and we could move again. 
“Now it’s my turn!” 
Sue’s gigantic golden Frame Gear, the Ortlinde Overlord, pulled a certain weapon out of [Storage]. It was the specialized anti-Upper Construct giga gravity weapon, the Gold Hammer. It was an enormous golden ball covered in spikes. 
Ortlinde Overlord clutched the handle and tugged on the long chain before starting to spin in a massive circle. She began with a horizontal spin before pulling it in closer and spinning it vertically. The magi-graviton particles began to accumulate within the throwing hammer’s main body thanks to the effects of [Gravity] and [Prison]. 
Schhhhkkkrreeeeeeckh! 
The wicked god shrieked, raining lasers down on Ortlinde Overlord. The mech seemed utterly defenseless at a glance, but Sue had the power of the Mochizuki Touya app on her side. 
“[Reflection]!” 
A translucent barrier appeared in the air, deflecting all the laser blasts far off into the sky. Then, the Gold Hammer began sparking, prompting Sue to finally let go. 
“Crumble to dust!” 
The golden ball, now a swirling mass of magi-graviton energy, soared toward its mark. The wicked god, likely sensing the danger, swung its tail up to deflect the projectile. 
The moment the weapon made contact with the tail, we were assaulted by a blinding flash of light that filled up the entire sky. 
Schhhhkkkrreeeehh?! 
Half of the wicked god’s tail evaporated, turning to golden dust and flying away with the wind. The Gold Hammer broke down with it. 
“Aw, I messed it up.” 
If this were an ordinary set of circumstances, Ortlinde would’ve been broken down due to the Gold Hammer’s recoil, but we’d made several tweaks to the mech’s design since then, and the extra magic from the Mochizuki Touya app meant that it was still functional. 
“I wish I had another Gold Hammer, but I’m all out!” 
“You did well, but you can leave the rest to us!” 
Sue’s lamentations were met by Leen’s voice. I looked back down toward the ground. 
Leen’s Grimgerde and Linze’s Helmwige were prepping a gigantic cannon. It was the Brionac, our specialized magic artillery. The ultimate weapon prepared for deployment against Upper Constructs. It required a crazy amount of precise magical control, as well as a deep well of mana, to fire out its massive drill bullet. 
It was just a bit too hard to control alone, and the Leen and Linze combo only allowed for one shot. It was pretty unwieldy. 
That wasn’t even getting into how long it took to charge it up... But apparently, the two girls had accounted for that, since they’d been charging the weapon up since the fight started. I could tell because the meter was almost completely full. 
“We’re ready to fire!” 
“Launch it!” 
A massive explosion rang out, propelling the drill bit toward its target. The drill hit the wicked god’s belly, starting to rotate at high speeds. It began shredding the creature, digging deeper and deeper with each rotation. 
Skreeeeekch?! 
The wicked got let out a piercing scream, powerlessly glaring down at the drill bit. 
The drill bit continued piercing through the wicked god until it fully penetrated and burst out the other side. If we looked at this on human terms, it would be like someone having a golf ball driven through their stomach. That would pretty much be lethal, but the wicked god didn’t have internal organs or anything. That being said, the monster was definitely injured by the divinity-infused bullet. 
Skreeeeeeeeekkkccccccchhhh... Ghh... Ghho... Ghhhoood... 
“Huh?” 
The wicked god suddenly stopped moving, and it started making noises in a voice that I recognized. 
“I am a God... I am absolute... I am sublime... I will not forgive those who dare defy my right... You filthy, scuttling insects... Perish underfoot!” 
Light began to glow from the wicked god’s body. A rainbow-like haze appeared in the air around it, and cracks started running all over its surface. Then, beams started bursting out of the wicked god’s body as its entire back split open. Its silkmoth-esque wings fell to the ground with a great crash, along with some of its outer shell. 
Something started emerging from the hole in its back. Rainbow-colored particles of light, kind of like the colors you’d see on the back of a CD or DVD, flowed out and took the form of leathery, bat-like wings. 
There were three pairs, forming six in total. Though they were shaped like bat wings, there was something strangely artificial about their structure. 
A jagged back rose out from the hole, following the wings. After that, six limbs pulled out as well, shedding the old body like a discarded husk. These arms weren’t insectoid like the shell’s, they were large and muscular. The area between the elbow and the forearm was coated in a black exoskeleton. Equally beefy legs burst forth from the lower body, and a new, thorn-lined tail exploded from the halved stump of the old one. 
The newly-emerged head resembled an iron helmet, with menacing horns jutting from either side. 
The insectoid shell fell apart as the creature within finished shedding it, revealing its full presence to us. 
The divinity it emanated was a far cry from the muddy gold I’d been feeling. It was releasing a pure, rainbow-colored light. But its body didn’t really seem organic at all. Its structure wasn’t something that felt like a natural occurrence. 
It was almost like... Or rather, it was completely like a mechanical structure. This rainbow-colored wicked god had the distinct form of a twisted, warped Frame Gear. 
It was somewhat similar to the witch-king’s Gollem, but that one was more clunky-looking. This one clearly had remnants of its Phrase origins in the design, but it was sleeker. If the Hecatoncheir was a mere robot, then this was more of an android. It gave off that kind of vibe. 
It felt like it was trying to imitate life, but the uncanny valley was still right there. It felt wrong. 
“Foolish, puny mortals... Pathetic little humans who only exist to consume, waste, and corrupt the land they walk... Pathetic... Pathetic... You misguided fools! You should have just obeyed me from the start!” 
There was no doubt as to the origin of the voice. Annoying as it was, it was someone I hoped had died. 
“...Long time no see, NEET God.” 
“...Mh? You wretch! You foiled me last time, didn’t you?! This is all your fault!” 
“Don’t blame me for your screw-ups, pal. You reap what you sow.” 
“Silence!” 
The tips of the horns on his helmet began glowing before firing off a triple-barrage of laser fire in my direction. 
“[Shield]!” 
I didn’t want to use [Reflection] for fear of the lasers hitting anyone else, so I simply blocked the attack. 
The wicked god stepped forward, white smoke billowing from its body. The long, spiky tail slithered behind it. 
“You pathetic little interlopers! I would have created a perfect world if you had only let me! Free of war! Free of poverty! Of discrimination and injustice! Why would you deny me?! All I wanted was a truly equal world, governed by justice and pure order! The beings of this world are lesser than the divine, so there’s no harm in showing them the light! It’s a god’s job to guide and lead lesser beings, is it not?! We could have lived in a true society, a society where I was the unquestionable ruler!” 
I didn’t really have a response for the word vomit he’d just spewed at me. Judging from his infantile behavior, God Almighty had made the right call when it came to not promoting this jackass. Maybe he’d thought the guy would learn and grow as a person over time, but there was no saving him now. He thought his ideology was absolute and just wanted to impose his way of living on others. 
I quietly willed my next command, and Reginleif’s greatsword morphed into forty-eight daggers that circled my Frame Gear like satellites. Each of the daggers emanated platinum divinity, almost looking like they were on fire. I wasn’t about to show the foul creature any mercy. He was an enemy of my world. 
“[Gladius]” 
All forty-eight platinum-imbued projectiles flew outward, piercing the neo wicked god’s arms, legs, wings, chest, and head. They all stabbed at the enemy full-force. 
When the attack finished, they returned to their standby position, orbiting my mech as the neo wicked god recoiled in pain. 
“Gaaaauuugh! You little shit! You little brat! You’re just a human playing dress up! I am the real deal! I am a real god! I cannot forgive you, do you understand?! You are a lesser being! You’re pathetic, something cobbled together in the corner without any true power!” 
“Enough. Let me tell you something, buddy. See, back home, there are all kinds of political structures. But we have a word for what you wanted to create. It’s called a dystopia.” 
Reginleif’s daggers blazed with platinum fire once more, ready to put an end to their mark. I was ready to put him down, to destroy this selfish, egotistical maniac. He’d gone on rambling too far, and this world was sick of hearing him talk. 
“[Gladius]!” 
My platinum blades ripped through the air, intent on slicing the wicked god to ribbons. 
 
“You miscreants! Miserable ants! You dare to look down upon me?! Me?! I am a god! A being who has lived eons! I will now pass down my judgment upon you!” 
Even as my [Gladius] strikes pierced his body, the neo wicked god continued to berate us. He waved his arms and summoned lightning from the sky. Each bolt was extremely powerful, and the slower Frame Gears of the group, namely Grimgerde and Ortlinde, couldn’t avoid any of them. 
“You two okay?!” 
“I’m good! Barrier wall is down by forty percent, though!” 
“Same here. We can probably only take one more direct hit like that.” 
The barriers around Reginleif and the Valkyrie Gears automatically blocked incoming damage, but it wasn’t an absolute defense. An extremely powerful strike would be enough to break it, and it would eventually wear down after a few strong strikes as well. 
The barriers had been created with a considerable amount of magical power, which was a testament to just how powerful those attacks were. And they were also way too quick to avoid with [Teleport]. Sakura would probably have managed, but the others weren’t experienced enough to get away in time. 
“You won’t get away, worms! Get a load of this!” 
The wicked god’s six arms flexed, and he fired laser blasts from his fingers. We suddenly found ourselves under fire from thirty-six bolts of light. 
“Gah!” “Eek!” “Mh!” Hilde, Linze, and Yae took direct hits. Their barriers weren’t broken, but they ended up being knocked back by the sheer force. With their balance lost, it left them open for another attack! 
“Stardust Shell!” Sue’s Ortlinde Overlord suddenly charged forward, reaching out its left hand as it emanated a starry light. The light transformed into a protective shield that coated the other girls. 
When the lasers stopped coming, Ortlinde Overlord held out its right arm and pointed it at the enemy. 
“Cannon Knuckle Spiral!” 
The mech’s arm detached at the elbow and launched forward, smashing into the neo wicked god’s throat with a glorious rocket punch. A little bit of the wicked god’s skin was bruised in the process. 
“How about that, huh?!” 
“You vermin! I could understand if it was that scumbag... But you’re mere humans! How dare you attack me! I am a god, I am above all! How dare you damage my opulent form! I will never forgive you!” 
The neo wicked god roared, emanating rainbow-hued divinity as lightning crashed all around us. 
“You’re not a god anymore. Not a real one. You’re just a wicked imitation. Hell, I’d hesitate to even call you a demi-god.” 
“SILENCE!” 
The neo wicked god held up his arms and spread out his hands. His palms began to glow different colors. One was red, one blue, one green, one brown, one yellow, and one black. I had a sinking feeling about what those colors represented. 
“He’s calling down elemental magic! Look out!” Leen warned everyone, beating me to the punch. In an instant, we came under assault by a raging inferno, a frigid blizzard, a roaring tornado, a barrage of rock, a lightning-imbued laser, and a hideous black smoke that seemed to writhe as it traveled. 
The laser came in first, forcing us into evasive maneuvers. We managed to use [Shield] and [Reflection] to block the fire, ice, wind, and rockfall. Then, we used [Teleport] to move away from the incoming black smoke. I could tell it was some kind of curse-based magic, probably similar to [Energy Drain]. 
The laser we’d dodged obliterated a nearby mountain, while the deflected inferno scorched the earth below, and the blizzard chilled the air around us. 
It was absolute environmental destruction. The neo wicked god was certainly equipped to wreak havoc upon the world. 
“I am a god! You hear me?! An immortal, a divine being! I am the rightful ruler of this world, I am the rightful god of this world! Kneel before me! Take your natural positions... and beg for your lives!” 
“I’m really getting sick of this... You’re not a god anymore. Not a real one. We’re sure as hell not kneeling before you, either. You’re just a deluded idiot, prattling on about stuff he doesn’t have any business involving himself in!” 
Talking to him was clearly pointless, since he was too far gone to listen to reason. Part of me felt a bit sorry for him. 
He refused to accept that things were going downhill for him. He was stuck in the belief that he was right, and everyone else was wrong. It was pathetic escapism. He was just lashing out and blaming others for his own insecurities. 
I was amazed that someone who’d lived so long as a servile god was really capable of kicking up such a noisy tantrum. From where I was standing, it seemed like he’d just wasted away his entire life. 
“You’re pretty pathetic, aren’t you?” 
“Enough out of you! You are a fool, I am in charge here! I am a god, beyond petty human squabbles!” 
“...Buddy, look at yourself. You’re lashing out with a whole bunch of negative human emotions, aren’t you? You’re angry, you’re jealous, you’re clearly upset. You’re in full-blown hysterics right now. You’re not above anything, you’re acting like a human. A child, at that.” 
“Me? Acting as a human?! Don’t make me laugh, worm!” 
His tail suddenly arched upward, launching several spiny barbs into the air. The barbs blew up once airborne, revealing a cluster of smaller spikes that were set to rain down below. 
It was the same type of attack as the cluster bombs used by Upper Constructs. 
“[Prison]!” 
I summoned a barrier around myself. If my power hadn’t fully awakened, then the attack would have definitely broken my defenses. Luckily, my platinum divinity kept me safe. 
The girls managed to use defensive magic to protect themselves too. But then, all of a sudden, the wicked god swung his arms upward. The falling spikes detonated, releasing a fine golden mist that washed over everyone except me, since I was still in the [Prison]. 
“Oh no!” 
“Wh-What is this?!” 
“Nghn... M-My strength is... fading, it is...” 
The golden mist swirled around, prompting the girls to lose their balance in the air. They all went crashing to the ground. I started to feel a strange sense of nausea as well... before I finally realized what had happened. 
“Gwahahahah! I hope it hurts, vermin! That’s all the divine venom I’ve been storing within my body! Now, I’ll grant a slow and painful death to those women, and after that, I’ll finally move on to you... Don’t think you can—” 
“Shut your mouth. Now.” 
Divine venom? Killing Yumina and the girls? Does this childish bastard really think I’m gonna let him come here, throw a tantrum, and hurt the people I care about?! What the hell is this guy’s problem, huh? He’s absolutely goddamn hopeless. I’m putting him down for good. 
“You better shut the hell up now, you pathetic NEET fuckhead. You’re the one always blaming others for your mistakes. You’re the one who trashed everything just because he was insecure!” 
“Wretch! You still talk ill of me?! I’ll—” 
My platinum-hued divinity began surging and bubbling within me until it finally boiled over. My blood began pumping in overdrive, unfettered divinity surging through my veins until every pore in my body exuded the pure, platinum sheen of my godhood. Any dizziness and nausea I’d previously felt was gone. 
“Wh-What kind of power is that?!” 
I glared down at the pathetic imitation god and called back the forty-eight daggers. Then, I morphed them together until they took the form of a greatsword. 
Not big enough. I need a bigger weapon to destroy this piece of shit... Almost as if responding to my thoughts, my divinity began gathering around the blade, giving it a larger form. The divinity wrapped around my blade hardened up... until I was wielding a shining, platinum holy blade. I knew instinctively that this blade was designed to smite the wicked. 
Did I just use my divinity to... create something? This feels weird... I used that power like it was second nature to me... 
“Wh-What?! Impossible! H-How did you Treasurecraft so easily?! Th-That’s a power only the upper echelons of the divine have!” 
“Enough. You don’t belong in this world.” 
Reginleif easily hefted up the holy blade. I charged forward at unprecedented speeds and immediately used the weapon to cleave off one of the neo wicked god’s arms. 
“Aaaaauuuugh!! Wh-What?! H-How did you hurt me?!” 
The severed arm burned away to ashes mid-fall. But I didn’t stop there. Instead, I swooped down, swinging my blade once more. And that time, I lopped off the tail. My blade cleaved through the entirety of the appendage like a knife through butter. 
“AAAAAARGGGH! Y-You bastard! You insect! E-Enough of this!” 
“You’re still spouting stuff like that? Aren’t you meant to be some sublime, all-powerful god? Or did you mean you were the god of crying and pissing your pants?” 
“I’LL KILL YOUUU!” 
The failure god lumbered forward in an attempt to grab Reginleif, but I nimbly avoided all of its swipes. I even sliced off a few fingers in the process. 
“GRAAAAARGH!! DAMN IT! DAMN YOU TO HELL! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?! I’VE WORKED FOR THE GODS FOR THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF YEARS, AND THIS IS WHAT I GET?! I CAN’T HAVE JUST ONE TINY WORLD AS MY REWARD? ARE THE GODS SO STINGY THAT I CAN’T EVEN HAVE ONE LITTLE WIN IN MY LONG, MISERABLE LIFE?!” 
“This world might be little to you, but it’s my home. The fact that you’ll never understand what it means to its people is why you’ll always be a failure.” 
He just saw the world as a reward, something to be claimed. He didn’t care about the people living on it. He just saw them as cannon fodder or ants. Who would want to be in the care of a god like that? 
God Almighty and the others didn’t interfere in the mortal realms much, and that was because they believed in freedom for all the people below. Even if the worlds struggled sometimes, or hit strange dead ends, they believed in the people and their ability to work things out long-term. 
That was why they were real gods and not this pathetic imitation. He couldn’t ever understand the feelings or connections between people. Someone like him could never be truly divine. 
I wasn’t quite at the level of becoming a real god, but I knew I would never become someone like him. I would work hard, for the sake of everyone who put their faith in me. 
“[Copy].” 
I let go of the beautiful holy blade in Reginleif’s hands, which then split off into an identical copy of itself. The two blades then became four, which became eight, constantly dividing until there were a total of forty-eight holy blades circling Reginleif. 
I’d never heard of a Null spell called [Copy] before. I just knew that it was an ability I could use, somehow. It could’ve been part of the Treasurecrafting ability mentioned by my enemy, but I didn’t have time to think about it. 
Reginleif’s arm pointed into the sky, and all forty-eight swords turned their blades toward the neo wicked god. 
“Y-You bastard, no! What are you planning?! Stop! Stop! Stop, stop, please! Stop! Don’t. Don’t you dare! Nooo! I don’t want to die!” 
“And I don’t care. [Claiomh Solais].” 
The forty-eight greatswords streaked through the air like missiles, leaving a platinum trail in their wake. I heard the sounds of metal piercing flesh, and saw the blades enter his shoulders, chest, arms, legs, belly, and head. 
“GRAAAAUUUUUGH!” 
The failure before me screamed out in agony as his body began to split apart. The holy blades gouged and writhed in his wounds, increasing the damage. 
The wicked god arched his spine, falling back due to the pain. And the holy blades, still embedded inside him, almost looked like grave markers as they pointed up from his body. 
“I’m a... god... Sublime, and... All-powerful...” 
One of the holy blades split back into twelve crystal boards before flying back to Reginleif’s back. The other holy blades faded away like mist. 
The once-mighty body of the wicked god began to flake apart, dissolving into rainbow-colored sand. The sand broke down into even finer grains until eventually, it vanished into black smoke. 
I glanced over to the girls, still fallen in their Valkyrie Gears. I reached out my hand. 
“[Delete].” 
The golden powder was washed away in an instant, wiping out the divine venom from the world entirely. 
“Are you girls ok?” 
“Ugh... I feel a little weak, but I should be alright... I’m sorry, Touya... You had to do most of the work in the end.” 
“That’s okay, Yumina. I think, in the end, it had to be me handling it, anyway.” 
Brunnhilde rose up from the ground, followed by all the others. Thankfully, none of them were badly hurt. 
“Now then, let’s wrap this up.” 
I reached out to my smartphone on Reginleif’s console and began contacting the other leaders around the world. 
 
“Th-This can’t be! How did that mortal defeat my god?! Just what is he?!” Yula stood within the Niflheim boundary, totally dumbfounded by the events he’d just witnessed. 
This was an utter nightmare. He’d been aiming for the power of a god, and then he wished to seize a world of his own. But now his ambitions of controlling this world and one day returning to dominate Phrasia had gone up in smoke. 
Just what had he done wrong? Just where had he miscalculated? He’d fed the cocoon with all the souls it required. He’d done everything to the letter. 
Was Mochizuki Touya telling the truth? That this god he’d staked all his faith in was actually a weakling...? Could he really have gotten so carried away with elation that he’d overlooked the fact that he’d been lied to? This just wasn’t fair. How could he have been so stupid? Yula, filled with rage at this turn of events, slammed his fist into the wall of his barrier world. 
But something began happening when he looked at his fist. Something that utterly horrified him. 
“Wh-What?!” 
The color was draining from his body. Yula’s muddy-gold form had lost its divine blessing, and as such, was reverting to a dull lead-like color. 
Niflheim, the entire realm around him, also began breaking down. This was only natural, of course. It took the power of a god to create and maintain a world, even a small one like this, and now that power was gone. 
The live feed from around the world showed the mutants losing their color as well. 
“N-No! My plans! H-How can this be?! Gah... F-Fine, plan B, then! I’ll return to Phrasia and make the young Sovereign my puppet, and then I’ll...” 
“I don’t think so.” 
“What now?!” Yula roared as he turned around and saw something that made a chill run up his spine. It was his former leader. Standing by her side were the two Dominant Constructs he’d traveled alongside in the past, and a young-looking white-haired man who wore a white scarf. 
“Sovereign?! H-How did you come here?” 
“A friend from another world told me where I might find you.” 
Melle waved her smartphone lightly. Ende was familiar with the method of traveling through worlds, and now that Niflheim was breaking down, it was just a matter of looking for him. 
“Gah!” 
“Prisma Rose.” 
Melle cast vines from her right hand, snaring Yula in them and slamming him to the ground. 
“Gaugh!” 
“You’ve been awfully persistent so far, Yula. But it’s time to pay the piper.” 
Melle’s words were devoid of feeling. Yula knew how frightening the Sovereign could be, and now that the ice-cold rage was directed toward him, he was terrified. 
“It was my error in failing to recognize your greed, Yula. I didn’t want to believe that such wickedness would be in my immediate vicinity... It was my own naive nature that caused untold destruction across countless worlds. Touya dealt with the brunt of it, but it’s time I put an end to this for good.” 
As her right hand continued producing vines that stretched out and trapped Yula, Melle suddenly raised her left. A thick, crystal vine extended from her left hand, forming into a long blade at the tip. 
Yula started to muster all the power he could in an attempt to summon his Zenith Armor, but his lead-grey body didn’t shift. He had lost the divinity within him, along with the phrasium characteristics he was born with. It was at this point that the reality of the situation sank in. Yula was about to die a truly meaningless death. 
“W-Wait, Sovereign! Please, have mercy! A-At least grant me an honorable death on Phrasia. A-At least grant me that, please! Honor our traditions!” 
“There’s no honor in this, Yula. Begging just makes it worse, so keep quiet. Accept your fate, and break apart. At least there’s quiet beauty in that.” 
“W-Wait! No! Stop! Stop! I can’t die here! I’m not meant to—” 
“Prisma Guillotine.” 
The blade came swinging down, slicing cleanly through Yula’s neck, and obliterating the core before he could finish his sentence. 
Yula’s body crumbled to pieces before it began dissolving into a black haze. 
“N-No, why... I... I’m...” 
Yula had brought countless worlds to the brink of darkness. He had led armies of Phrase on a mindless campaign of slaughter. But in the end, in a dark space between worlds, Yula pitifully died. And eventually, nobody would remember his name. 
 
Even after we beat the wicked god, the mutants still remained in the world. Even when the wicked god’s divinity left their bodies, weakening them and turning their bodies a dull grey, they still survived. 
The mutants had been freed from Yula and the wicked god, but their directive to kill humans was still something that ran deep. Thus, they continued trying to do exactly that. 
But they’d lost their abilities to regenerate, and they’d also lost their ability to harden their bodies. They were about as powerful as generic Stone Golems. The mutants, now weakened, were easily dispatched by knights and adventurers around the world. 
We also decided to fly around the world and pick off any we found, which was kind of tedious work, honestly. Still, someone had to clean up. 
There were many countries where mutants appeared all over the place, but some nations didn’t have any emergence events at all. Some locations suffered major losses and damages to their towns, while others didn’t lose a single building. 
The world had been saved, but I wouldn’t forget the losses we’d incurred that day. Thinking I could save the day without anything going wrong was sheer arrogance on my part. 
All in all, it took about two more days to completely wipe the mutants from the face of our planet. And with everything settled, Brunhild put out a formal announcement to the other countries. Thus, tentatively, the world came to know peace. 
After everything was dealt with, I went back to Brunhild and fell asleep. I was out so hard I didn’t even dream. 
“Mmh...?” 
I woke up in my bed, but it was still dark out. I glanced at my smartphone, noticing it was only five in the morning. 
The Mochizuki Touya app had been removed from everyone’s phones. It was the pivotal piece that led to our victory all around the world, but it squeezed Babylon dry of almost all its mana stores. Everyone kind of went hog wild with it, but we wouldn’t have won so quickly otherwise. 
“Hmnh...” I yawned and stretched my arms before throwing on a coat and heading out to the balcony. 
The sun was just starting to rise. I could see faint traces of light around me. 
I sat down at the table and reached into [Storage] to produce a pot of coffee and a mug. Then, I poured out the coffee and took a sip. It was good. 
“Would you mind if I partook in a drink?” 
“Of course I wouldn’t.” 
I took out another mug and placed it in front of God Almighty, who appeared before me as if out of nowhere. I set down a little cup of milk and a sugar bowl for him as well. 

“I see you are no longer caught by surprise, hm?” 
“Well, I’m kind of used to it now. But it might be because I fully awakened to my divinity.” 
“I would say it is likely because it is me. You and I are connected by divinity, my boy. I have a feeling that if it were Karen, you may have been a bit more surprised.” 
Dang. And here I’d thought that I’d just gotten used to their random popping-up. 
“I suppose congratulations are in order, are they not? You have vanquished the wicked god, and purged the threat from this world. I, through my authority as the god of worlds, do hereby acknowledge you as my kin. Though your divinity is certainly enough to match gods of the highest echelon, your formal position would be just above the servile gods.” 
“Starting from the bottom, huh?” 
“Alas, that is how it must be. I cannot show favoritism solely on the basis of us being connected through divinity. That being said, the other gods are aware of your potential and our connection. I am quite certain you will be fast-tracked to a high status. It should only take around ten-thousand years.” 
“That’s hardly fast-tracking to me...” 
“Now, now... After the first two or three thousand have elapsed, ten will feel like a mere blink of the eye.” 
That reminded me of something the French philosopher Paul Janet once proposed. It was a law about psychological time in relation to the self. 
The idea that when you were a little kid, a whole day could feel like forever. But when you were an adult, a whole year could pass without you realizing. 
At fifty, a year was a fiftieth of your entire life, but at five, it was a whole fifth. Janet proposed that this proportional length affected how we perceived time. 
Basically, when you were a kid, everything was new and unique, so those new experiences felt longer and fresher. But as you grew and repeated the same processes, your brain optimized the handling of those things and made time seem shorter. Still, putting that on the scale of thousands of years felt wild. 
“So, what’ll I do from here?” 
“Well, let us see... I think that for the first two hundred years or so, it should be fine to have you live here as a regular human. After that, we will bring you to reside in the divine realm. You will still be the custodian of this world, of course, and can freely visit it now and then.” 
“How exactly am I gonna go about managing the world?” 
I was a bit concerned about looking after an entire planet when I had to rely on so many others just to keep my country together. 
“I do not believe you will need to do much at all. You would only really need to interfere if the world barrels down a dangerous path or if it is threatened with imminent destruction.” 
“And what should I do in that case?” 
“I imagine you would grant a sacred blade to someone you designate as messiah, or perhaps you could give some kind of divine guidance to the devout. You will not be able to directly interfere, as that would be a violation of the rules. Though, you could always circumvent this by assuming human form and descending to their world.” 
I was pretty glad to hear I wouldn’t have too many responsibilities, but I really didn’t want the world to deteriorate to the point where direct intervention became necessary. 
“Well, we need not worry about that for now. This world is in your hands at this time, and that is a good thing. I mentioned earlier that I wished for this place to become something of a resort for the divine, do you recall? Keep this between us two, but a great many gods have expressed interest in the idea. There is quite the waiting list for deities requesting time off to enjoy themselves here.” 
“Is that gonna be okay? I don’t know how well the world’ll adapt to a bunch of gods chilling down here.” 
“Fret not, we will screen all the applicants carefully. They can only descend after converting into human form, anyway. Even if they run rampant, the world should remain safe. Ultimately, they only want to live an ordinary life for a while down here. Well... as ordinary as they can be. There is novelty in living out life as a regular human for a while. It is somewhat like those video games you had back on your original world.” 
That made sense to me. Video games were a great form of escapism. You could be a hero in an RPG, or lucky with the ladies in a dating sim, or even uncover mysteries as a detective in point-and-click games. The gods were keen to live a life that was unlike their everyday ones. It was a little funny to think about it like that. 
I wondered if they were a bit jealous of Karen and the others. 
“The god of love and the god of blades will stay to support and mentor you, as will the god of agriculture and the others. Is this alright?” 
“I won’t say no, but it kinda feels like you’re giving me the favoritism you just told me you couldn’t give...” 
“Ohoho, I am sure nobody will mind, so long as we keep it implicit. The last time I had a direct benefactor was hundreds of billions of years ago, and I rather enjoy it. I would like to see you grow. Consider this an expression of familial love... Or the love of a grandfather for his grandson.” 
I was thankful that God Almighty cared about me so much, but I had a feeling all these gods on the ground were going to be a pain in my butt. 
“Well, it will all come together in the end. Ah, one last thing... No world lasts forever. All come to an end with time. That applies to this world, and your former world as well. What is important, at the very end, is what kind of world it was. I hope that the fruits of your labor make other gods comment on what a splendid place it was when the end finally comes. And I hope that the god of destruction never has to visit this place on official business.” 
“Yeah. I don’t want that to happen either...” 
“I am sure you will do well, my boy. I’ll be watching, and waiting, warmly.” 
Just like that, God Almighty vanished before my eyes. The sun had risen before I’d even noticed, illuminating the surrounding area. 
I’m this world’s custodian... 
It honestly didn’t feel real. Still, I had a couple hundred years to live as a regular human, so I wanted to start doing regular human things. 
First thing’s first... 
 
“Hmm... I’m not sure about this one... What do you think, Lu?” 
“Umm... I like frills, to be honest... I’d also love it if it had Regulus’ national colors.” 
“Ooh. This is rather outrageous, it is. But perhaps I would be better suited to this one, I would...” 
“This one looks good for moving in, Yae. I’ve seen this kind of style in Lestia before.” 
“Too much choice... Don’t like this... I’ll just choose one randomly...” 
“Sakura, you can’t choose something so important at random! You’ll regret it later on.” 
“Please keep out of the way, Paula. You won’t need a dress.” 
“Aw geez... This is so tough.” 
My fiancees were currently hard at work flipping through a big book of wedding dresses. 
That was natural, given this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them. Personally, I thought they were making too big of a deal out of it, but I wasn’t stupid enough to say that out loud. 
“You just gotta go with what you feel! I chose mine right away!” Sue was sitting by me on the couch, shrugging as she spoke bluntly. 
She had indeed chosen her dress right away and passed the photo on to Lapis, our chief maid. I kind of wanted to tell her to consider it a little more, but Sue was the kind of person who typically knew what she wanted at a glance. 
“It’s the wedding soon! I’ll finally be able to call myself your wife. Isn’t that amazing?” Sue laughed and gave me a tight hug from the side as she said that. She’d certainly changed the most compared to the first time I met her. She hadn’t grown much in terms of size, but she was maturing at a fair rate. 
In all honesty, there were still parts of me that viewed her as a kid, but then she’d come out with something that took me aback, and I realized just how much she’d grown. 
In terms of my world’s years, she was in her mid-teens. She was also around the same age that this world considered childhood to be over, so it was just a case of accepting the reality I was in. I was hardly an adult myself, after all. 
“I feel a little bad about marrying Sue when she’s this young... I get worried about how Duke Ortlinde’s taking it.” 
“Don’t worry, Touya! My parents are busy with little Edo, anyway. I love that little cutie too, he’s such a good boy.” 
The Edo in question here was Edoward Ernes Ortlinde, Sue’s little brother. He was the heir to Duke Ortlinde’s household and my future brother-in-law. He wasn’t even a year old yet. 
Once I married Sue and the others, I’d gain a whole host of in-laws, but the only ones younger than me were Ed and Yumina’s little brother Yamato. I kind of wondered how my relationship with them would be in the future. 
Edo had a lot of hopes resting on him, and I hoped that he’d grow up to be a competent right-hand man to Yamato, the future king. It was kind of funny that Yamato and Edo ended up having Japanese-sounding names, but that was more a coincidence than anything else. Edo was just a nickname. 
“When we get married, I can live here! I’ll be with you dawn to dusk! Isn’t that great?” 
“It’s great, yeah. I’ll be happy to have you living here full-time, Sue.” 
“I’ve been doing a lot of preparation at home! I learned about sewing and cooking! All my tutors said nobles don’t need to learn that stuff, but I want you to eat my cooking! And I want my children to have handmade clothes as well! I wanna do my best!” 
Sue was the type to undertake a task and then see it through to the end. There wasn’t much to read with her, since she was just straightforward and honest. The thought of her taking that kind of initiative for the sake of our future made me smile, and I hugged her back. 
“No fair... Me too...” Sakura grumbled slightly as she walked toward me. It seemed like she’d chosen her dress as well. 
“Did you pick out a dress?” 
“Not gonna worry about it... Inside’s more important than outside... Hug me... Hug me...” Sakura said as she held her arms out, giving a little pout in the process. I laughed a little before reaching out and embracing her as well. 
There was definitely part of Sakura that enjoyed being pampered. She would definitely deny it if I brought it up, but I had a feeling daddy issues could’ve been at play there. She never knew her father during her childhood, so she probably had some repressed or unfulfilled feelings of wanting to be doted on by a fatherly figure. 
To be honest, I wished she’d direct some of that need toward her actual dad, though. The overlord was so pathetic that it just made me cringe. I wondered if you could even call it daddy issues if the person with the issues didn’t direct them toward her dad. Still, I knew at least that Sakura loved me as an equal. That was only part of her. 
“Sakura’s so spoiled.” 
“He’s my husband... I can be a little spoiled... It’s normal, especially when he’s older...” Sakura matter-of-factly replied to Sue. That reminded me, every one of my wives except Leen was younger than me. 
Yae and Hilde were a year younger. Elze and Linze were two years younger. Sakura was three years younger. Yumina and Lu were four years younger... And Sue was six years younger. 
I knew that it wasn’t exactly the same as how things were in my world, but I still had some reservations about being an eighteen-year-old about to marry a twelve-year-old. 
Technically, Sue was sixteen in my calendar... but she sure didn’t look like it. I couldn’t tell if that was because people in this world aged slower or if it was because of my divinity influencing her. 
Apparently, my divine benefactors would age up until a certain point and then stop growing, kind of similar to what happened with Leen and the other fairies. Sadly for Leen, her growth already stopped a while back, so she’d just stay the same regardless. 
After a few years, it was entirely likely that Leen would look like the youngest of all my wives. 
“When are we holding the ceremony...?” 
“The world’s still recovering, so probably not for half a year. We need to work hard on a lot of stuff right now, anyway,” I gave a casual reply to Sakura’s question. 
We’d start preparing for the wedding while everything else was going on, but my current priority was dealing with Isengard. It wasn’t really a functional country at this point. It was just a barren wasteland like Yulong. The only good thing about that bad situation was the presence of the puretree. 
The spirits that had fled the country thanks to the divine venom were slowly coming back because of the puretree’s allure. It would eventually become a landmass with a great number of spiritual inhabitants. 
The main issue was deciding who that territory belonged to. Nothing had happened yet, but I didn’t want a Yulong situation where people started laying claim to the remnants of the country. It was kind of good that the witch-king didn’t produce any heirs, come to think of it. 
All I could do was hope the three bordering nations, Lassei, Gardio, and Strain, would keep a close eye on the situation. 
“Mmm... You’re thinking about complicated stuff again. Forget about that and pay attention to us, Touya!” 
“Sue’s right... Pay attention...” 
The two of them started chanting “pay attention” over and over after that. I didn’t know whether to smile or feel freaked out. 
It was definitely true that I’d been too busy for quality time in recent months, though. The issue with the wicked god had finally been squared away, so I did want to make it up to my wives... But I also had a lot of duties on the backburner. 
“Well, I guess I can take the afternoon off.” 
I smiled and took out my smartphone, projecting its display into the air. 
“We gonna watch a movie?” 
“Yeah. Looks like the others are taking their sweet time, so let’s watch something in the meantime.” 
“Okay... I wanna watch something funny... No horror movies...” Sakura made her needs known. I showed everyone a horror movie once and they freaked the hell out. It was pretty bad, honestly. Though it was a little bit funny seeing them scramble, given that they were born in a world with real zombies and wraiths out there. 
“Hmm... Let’s go for something simple.” 
The smartphone was a sacred treasure, and it actually translated any movie into the common tongue through divine means. But even if we had the language barrier cleared, that didn’t mean the girls would be able to understand a movie that relied on too many foreign concepts. 
Like, if I showed the girls a movie about the high-flying lives of the men on Wall Street, they wouldn’t understand it. Though, I had a feeling maybe Doc Babylon would understand it more than I did. 
I settled on a nice comedy. It was a simplistic story, but a classic one that was easy to pay attention to. It was the story of a piglet that learned how to herd sheep. If I recalled correctly, it was highly regarded and had a heartwarming ending. 
“Alright, it’s starting.” 
“Hurray...” 
I sat, sandwiched between Sue and Sakura, and decided to relax for the first time in a long while. It was nice to just take it easy for once. 
As an aside, the girls did end up picking out their dresses. The movie was almost over by that point, so I restarted it to give them a chance to enjoy it as well. It was a lovely, happy scene.