Marius was planning to search for Orichalcum and shimmering stardust.
Orichalcum was in the underwater castle Grand Moni, and shimmering stardust was in the ancient tower of the gods, Baal’s.
As far as Marius knew, that was the case.
He had thought that taking Barra and Zofi along would also be good training for them, but there was someone who didn’t understand the nuances of the situation.
Her name was Auraniess.
Without reading the room, she brought Iris and Sophia with her and returned with the Orichalcum and shimmering stardust, presenting them to Marius.
“There. This should be good, right?”
Auraniess puffed out her chest proudly, but Marius silently gave her a chop to the top of her head.
“Ouch.”
Auraniess, who had expected to be thanked, pouted in disbelief.
“What the heck. I went to the trouble of bringing them, so you should praise me first.”
Marius let out a huge sigh.
“Because of you, my plan to train Zofi and the others is ruined! What are you going to do about it?”
It was only when Marius pointed it out that Auraniess remembered.
Her mind had been completely occupied with getting Marius strong equipment, and she had completely forgotten about Zofi and Barra.
She didn’t make any poor excuses.
She just looked away vacuously and whistled.
Marius felt resigned but managed to pull himself together and thought about the future.
“Now that the materials are gathered, all that’s left is someone who can make it. I wonder if I can ask Isabella.”
What kind of compensation would be needed to have someone serving one kingdom dispatched to another country (in this case, a territory)?
“If I tell her I’ll unleash Auraniess on her if she doesn’t do it for free, maybe she’ll do it for free?”
As Marius muttered something unseemly, El chimed in.
“Master. I believe humans call that blackmail.”
“Ah. I was joking, of course.”
Marius wouldn’t mind asking Asteria, but it felt a bit cruel to ask anyone else.
When Marius said that, El made a strange face.
“She kind of feels like a close, mischievous friend, doesn’t she?”
“Don’t say such rude things. Who would be friends with someone like that?”
Marius thought that with all his heart.
He wouldn’t deny her way of being as a king, but whether he wanted to be friends with her was another matter entirely.
Visually, she was no less striking than Barra, Lovisa, or Auraniess, so she could be considered a beautiful woman with unfortunate company.
However, not only El but also Zofi seemed to question Marius’s inner thoughts and tilted their heads.
“I think El has a point, you know? You’re the most unrestrained with her.”
“Ah… well, that’s because…”
Marius hesitated to speak.
It was difficult to explain in words.
Asteria used Marius’s power, not for her own selfish desires, nor even for the good of her nation, but for the sake of all humanity.
All of her amoral actions were for the same reason.
Of course, he didn’t think that being right meant she could do anything, and that was why he could never like her. However, he had no intention of completely denying her.
This was because Marius had almost no actual victims, but for those who were victimized, even tearing her apart wouldn’t be enough.
These factors were complexly intertwined and formed the evaluation of Asteria.
“From the perspective of ‘for humanity,’ she’s the most reliable, but as a person, she’s not to be trusted?”
Marius himself didn’t quite understand what he was saying.
“I think I kind of get it.”
Only El said that; Zofi and Al looked blank.
Auraniess and the others seemed indifferent.
Marius felt a little sad but convinced himself that they were dealing with non-humans.
In the end, he sent Zofi as the envoy.
He was too worried about Auraniess.
Zofi was strongly viewed as a hero who participated on humanity’s side in the Eastern Defense War and defeated the demon Pal.
As Marius’s Familiar, she would be much more reassuring than a rampaging Great Demon Lord.
Isabella was lent to him for free.
“Her Majesty said it would be for the good of humanity.”
She said that with a smile at Marius.
It was an endearing smile, but Lovisa and Barra didn’t smile and casually moved closer to Marius.
Perhaps it was because Isabella’s appearance, though not as striking as theirs, was quite attractive.
Marius imagined that might be the case but didn’t voice it, as it was a reckless assumption.
What he did voice was the request for “forging Hihiirokane.”
Isabella agreed without hesitation.
“By the way, do you know how to make the Demon Extermination Black Staff?”
“Yes, I do?”
Marius, who had asked, was surprised by this answer.
He had thought he would have to make it himself.
“Can you make it for me?”
“Sure, but if there’s a failure, it’ll be a problem, and it will take time, you know?”
Marius nodded his assent to Isabella, who was looking at him with probing eyes.
While the demon lord’s fangs and claws might be obtainable, his heart and soul might not be.
It would be problematic if she failed.
A few days later, on the Farmia Continent, in a certain country.
Even though it was a dark night with only stars and the moon for light, several figures were moving within the ruins of an old castle standing alone in the wilderness.
They were followers of Tindalos, dreaming of the Evil God’s resurrection, the overturning of the world, and their own glory.
They had no doubt that they would be blessed by the resurrected Tindalos and that their ideal land would be built.
Tindalos could be resurrected because of them.
Therefore, it was natural to receive a suitable reward.
From ancient times, there had never been a single instance of humans and gods being equal, but the people living in this era had no way of knowing that.
If they possessed sound judgment, they would never have chosen Tindalos as the object of their resurrection.
In their eyes, Tindalos being treated as an Evil God was simply from the perspective of those who belittled them and enjoyed the world.
They believed that the standards of those enviable, or rather, abominable individuals, should not be considered.
“Well then, we shall finally begin.”
As Pope Brezhnev said, the followers moved to their assigned positions.
They were in what used to be the audience chamber.
Mages were placed at the four corners, holding torches of darkness, a five-pointed magic circle was drawn with beast blood, and a part of the Demon Lord’s remains was offered in the center.
“Great Tindalos, who sits on the supreme darkness, we offer you this sacrifice. Descend upon this land and bless us. And bring the end to the age of light.”
There was no response to the Pope’s invocation.
After some time, unease spread among the believers.
“W-what? Nothing is happening?”
“Wh-why…?”
They looked at each other, muttering in hoarse voices.
Pope Brezhnev’s gaunt face was beaded with cold sweat, and he called out to his followers.
“Once more, let’s perform the ritual again.”
The followers obeyed in silence, but distrust towards the Pope began to flicker in their eyes.
As they were already resentful of being ostracized by society, it was quick for them to question the Pope.
Therefore, he decided to assert his authority with his power and silence them.
He became Pope simply because he was the most skilled mage.
While the Tindalos Cult sounds respectable, its reality is nothing more than a group of outcasts.
They could not possibly have the ordinary selection methods of other legitimate religions.
Everyone who met the Pope’s glare bowed their heads.
The intimidation was successful, but this was only because their trust in the Pope still remained. If it had completely vanished, they would have dragged him down through sheer numbers.
Brezhnev, for his own self-preservation, began to pray more desperately.
“He who sits on the supreme darkness…”
His desperate prayers were in vain; Tindalos did not answer.
A heavy atmosphere permeated the ritual site.
At this point, Brezhnev’s position became precarious.
The way his followers looked at him changed to a stern one.
“W-wait. Calm down. We can talk this through.”
Brezhnev was already starting to panic.
Although he now held the title of Pope and was in a position to boss his followers around, he was originally a disgraced court mage.
If he had been framed by someone, it might have been excusable, but in a country with a fixed number of positions, a younger, stronger person had appeared, and he was replaced.
It was unknown if he could have managed if he had made an effort afterward, but he didn’t and turned to alcohol, leading to his wife and children leaving him.
Wasn’t the look his family gave him at the end similar to the look his followers were giving him now?
Brezhnev’s trauma was triggered, and he foamed at the mouth and collapsed.
He was too pathetic to be the leader of an evil organization.
The fact that such a man could have been in charge indicated the limits of the Tindalos Cult.
Not all of them were so foolish as to be completely unable to imagine such a thing, and Brezhnev was not pursued.
The problem was what to do next.
“How can we make Tindalos reappear?”
“We were taught this ritual by Rubens, weren’t we? Were we deceived?”
Just as those fears began to grow, one man voiced a doubt.
“Is it possible that this Pope is misremembering something?”
“Isn’t that more likely? There’s no reason for the demon to deceive us.”
“That’s right. In our desire for Tindalos’s return, the demon and we are in agreement.”
With increasing agreement, the Pope completely lost his authority.
It was understandable since he had fainted just from being threatened with being strung up.
“Then, the question is, why did it fail?”
“Was the sacrifice not enough?”
A young woman said that, merely voicing a thought that came to her mind.
However, others found it agreeable.
“I see. Indeed, Tindalos devours the light, destroys order, and overturns the world. This level of sacrifice must have been too little.”
“I see, now that you mention it.”
Once one person agreed, everyone else quickly voiced their assent, and no one stopped them.
“It seems we need to prepare a new sacrifice…”
“Aren’t there some right here?”
A man looked meaningfully at the unconscious Brezhnev.
“I see. So we’re making a useless person useful.”
Again, there were more and more voices of agreement.
Not a single one of them felt pity for the man who had been their comrade.
“I’ll do it.”
A burly man drew a blade and plunged it into Brezhnev’s chest.
With a short cry of agony, the former Pope became a former organism.
“Well then. Let’s go for third time’s the charm.”
He prayed to the god a third time.
And—Tindalos answered.
“…Who calls me? I am Tindalos. The creator of the world, and one who is equal to all.”
The voice was deep and heavy, like the rumbling of the earth, accompanied by a sense of oppression.
“Ooooh!”
The followers of Tindalos rejoiced, looking at each other with fervent eyes.
Then, the eldest among them spoke on behalf of the group.
“We are those who worship you, Lord Tindalos. Please descend to the earth and guide us.”
Everyone bowed down, pressing their hands and foreheads to the ground, praying with all their hearts and souls.
“Very well.”
After a short reply, thick clouds rapidly spread across the night sky, and thunder boomed.
A lukewarm wind began to blow.
Then black lightning struck the Tindalos followers, and they all perished.
From their charred corpses, a black mist-like substance emerged.
“I am Tindalos… the purifier of this defiled world. The one who reduces all life to nothingness.”
The ominous voice echoed across the entire Farmia Continent, and the sleeping people were startled awake.
The worst Evil God, Tindalos, had been resurrected for the first time in tens of thousands of years.
