The sudden appearance of one of the three great gods brought time to a standstill in the venue.
Only the Tower Management Layer members remained as usual.
The pressure, even from a disembodied voice, rendered those present speechless.
“…Well then.”
As the voice of Elisamil (God) echoed through the venue, the representatives of the Kingdom of Gates flinched in unison.
They sensed that the voice, though unseen, was directed at them.
“It seems you’ve said whatever you pleased, haven’t you?”
At Eris’s words, Kousuke thought to himself, “Wow.”
In Kousuke’s mind, he clearly pictured Eris with a cold sneer on her face.
“Despite having warned you repeatedly before, the fact that you would do this now means you are picking a fight with us, correct?”
At those words, the Kingdom of Gates’ representatives turned pale.
It was virtually a declaration that they had been cast aside by the gods.
“W-wait a moment!!”
Amidst the intimidation, the one who managed to speak was, as expected, King Arthur.
“…Is there something?”
“We certainly are not picking a fight with the gods…!”
“Oh? Then what was that exchange just now? It sounded as though you twisted our opinions and unilaterally burdened the avatar with work that was meant for you.”
“That’s not true!”
“You won’t say that, will you? You were just threatened for not performing your duties as gods.”
“…That has nothing to do with us…”
“I won’t let you say that. After all, you are here as envoys of your country, are you not?”
At Eris’s words, King Arthur finally fell silent.
“Setting aside the person who voiced their selfish opinion at the beginning, the fraud who calls himself a cleric is also prepared, aren’t you?”
“…Wh-what!?”
The two who were pointed out by Eris were struck speechless.
Temple Head Dominique, in particular, who had been called a fraud, turned white, past pale.
“Why are you so surprised? You didn’t convey our words accurately and instead interpreted them to suit your own convenience before relaying them. Is that not a form of fraud?”
Kousuke, listening to Eris’s voice beside him, watched as if it were happening to someone else, thinking, “She’s really angry.”
After all, Eris wasn’t here for Kousuke’s sake.
Originally, the gods had issued various warnings to the temple, but they had ignored them and spread convenient information to the public.
From the gods’ perspective, as Eris had just said, it was nothing short of fraud.
Even though Eris was the one appearing here, Kousuke knew that the other gods were also quite angry.
It was only natural, considering their warnings through oracles had been ignored.
On top of that, there was the threat directed at him earlier.
While Kousuke himself didn’t particularly care, that threat could be seen as a provocation to the other gods.
Whether the one who made it was aware of that was another matter.
Considering all of this, it could be said that the Kingdom of Gates had, at the very last moment, tied the noose around their own neck.
More accurately, it should be said it was the temple within the Kingdom of Gates, but it was essentially the same.
After all, the King himself had gone to the trouble of appearing here.
King Arthur would likely protest that he wasn’t here as the King, but such an excuse would never reach Elisamil (God).
Any clumsy excuse would only further incite her anger, which was plainly visible.
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Under normal circumstances, Kousuke, who met Eris so often, and Silvia, with whom he had divine union almost daily, would have no chance to speak with Elisamil (God).
Not “almost no chance,” but “absolutely no chance.”
Therefore, even if he couldn’t fully grasp how angry Eris was, Arthur understood that he was facing divine wrath.
He had to do something, but his position made it impossible.
While the temple was deeply involved in politics, they couldn’t interfere with personnel matters.
Regarding Carl, as the manager of the Tower, even the King couldn’t easily meddle with him.
After all, the revenue from the Tower could be considered the nation’s core industry.
The King couldn’t lightly interfere with the person who held the fate of such an industry in his hands.
He desperately tried to think of a solution, but no good ideas came to mind at that moment.
As for the two involved, one showed almost no change in expression, while the other struggled to breathe.
Arthur could infer that the one struggling to breathe was likely being overwhelmed by Elisamil (God)’s divine aura.
Even Arthur himself felt the pressure, so it must have been difficult for someone who had properly trained as a cleric.
Of course, the difficulty was due to a guilty conscience; the clerics of Amamiya Tower, who had no such issues, were interacting normally.
While that in itself was abnormal, it showed just how deeply the members of Amamiya Tower were involved with the gods.
Given that one of the gods ruled over it, they should have anticipated this.
This was the consequence of taking the temple’s claims at face value.
The other person, who was not a cleric, was probably thinking at this moment that they had nothing to do with it.
However, such an excuse would no longer be accepted.
As Arthur resigned himself to awaiting punishment, Elisamil (God) delivered her ultimatum.
“Your country and you will face divine judgment. Prepare yourselves, for there is no escape.”
“N-no…!!”
Divine Judgment, as the name suggests, is the direct use of power by the gods.
In the past, the downfall of nations has been attributed to this judgment.
“Know that such is the extent of the gods’ anger. After all, you dared to interfere with what the gods should be doing while you are merely human.”
With that, Eris turned to Kousuke without waiting for Arthur’s retort.
“So, the punishment is up to you, alright?”
“Eh? Am I really the one to decide?”
“Who else would it be?” she asked, her tone implying it was obvious.
“Hmm. Well, it’s fine, I guess. It’s what I had already decided. This should be okay, right?”
“I will abide by whatever you decide.”
He thought her response was cunning, but Kousuke was not foolish enough to voice it.
Eris had already anticipated what Kousuke would say.
And based on that, she had come forward after judging that punishment to be appropriate.
“First, regarding the Kingdom of Gates…”
“Wait! N-no, please wait! I beg you… have mercy!!”
King Arthur bowed his head, and Kousuke wore a look of exasperation.
It was as if to say, “What are you thinking now?”
“Even if you say so. If I go easy on them here, I’ll be blamed by the gods.”
“That’s right.”
Eris, who had not yet completed her divine union, pressed the point.
“Let me reiterate: consider whatever the avatar decides as the gods’ decision. Defying it is equivalent to defying the gods.”
The Kingdom of Gates was now faced with an ultimate choice: obediently accept the punishment or defy the gods.
The personnel of the Tower’s executive branch watched this unfold, holding their breath.
It was understandable.
After all, what was about to happen was a divine judgment spoken of in legends.
And the one to carry it out was Kousuke, with whom they interacted daily.
It was a stark reminder that Kousuke was now a member of the gods.
From their perspective, knowing Kousuke’s personality, there was a possibility of a lenient outcome. However, if they were to anger the gods instead of Kousuke, they could face a similar situation.
For them, who were arguably closer to the gods than the Kingdom of Gates, what was happening could not be dismissed as someone else’s problem.
The content of the punishment will be in the next chapter > < And with this chapter, the total word count has exceeded 1 million characters. The novel information includes reserved posts. This chapter is undoubtedly the 1 millionth character mark. LOL. 1 million characters… I can't believe I wrote this, even if I say so myself. I never imagined I would be writing a work of this length. This is undeniably thanks to all of you who are reading and the site "Shousetsuka ni Narou." My deepest gratitude to all readers and everyone involved.
