“What? The Twelve Apostles of Ruin?”
Tindalos was surprised, sensing that the servants he had created had been easily defeated.
At that moment, Marius struck.
“【Elishion】”
It was a light-elemental Forbidden Spell.
He had gambled that it would be most effective against Tindalos, a god of evil and users of dark power, but even after the fierce light faded, the enemy remained.
“It’s useless. No matter how many times you try, your magic will not work on me.”
Tindalos boasted.
It wasn’t so much that his attacks didn’t work, but rather felt like they were passing through.
“Was there anyone other than you who could defeat my apostles? However, as long as I exist, I can create as many apostles as I want. You have no chance of winning.”
He declared.
(How are they the “Twelve Apostles”?)
Marius muttered such a retort and tried using “Radar,” but there was no reaction.
The god of evil immediately laughed.
“It’s impossible for detection magic to work on me, a god. Die, scum. ‘Megid’.”
Thunder, wind, and rain remained as they were, but scarlet, hellish flames engulfed the area around Marius.
Marius dodged with Warp.
“You dodge well. I’ll praise you for that one thing, at least, you’re not scum.”
He offered condescending praise from above, but Marius didn’t have the luxury to retort.
Tindalos’s attacks were becoming faster and more powerful than when the battle began.
He might be getting stronger and stronger.
It was the same as a Demon Lord being weaker right after revival, but it was worthy of being a god to power up during battle.
(What should I really do?)
The water surface was still rising, and the time limit until the entire world submerged was rapidly approaching.
However, there was no sign that Marius’s attacks would land.
Tindalos scoffed, seeing through Marius’s state of mind.
“When you challenged me, a god, you were already doomed. No, that’s not right. The world was already doomed the moment I revived. ‘Sodom’.”
Attacks like ultrasonic waves flew from all directions.
Marius dodged with Warp, but he had no room to spare.
The fact that neither of their attacks hit was the same as with Sophia.
However, that was merely a sparring match, and this was a battle for the fate of the world.
He was gradually getting angry at his own inadequacy.
(What am I doing?)
Marius lacked many things.
One of them was various experiences and combat experience, and the repertoires cultivated through them.
“How about this? ‘Soul Drain’.”
As a chill ran down his spine, Marius deployed “Dimension Shield” and retreated to a distance where Tindalos was no longer visible.
Yet, he was still affected, and his strength drained from his body.
(Wh-what was that…?)
Following his bad premonition, he checked his status and found that his level had decreased by one.
In other words, that was an attack that forced a level down, and given the “Drain” in its name, it was possible that Tindalos’s power had increased.
He was indeed a troublesome opponent.
Regarding attack power, Auraniess was probably stronger.
However, in terms of difficulty to fight and overall ability, Tindalos was a step above.
(As expected of a god… though this is no time to be impressed.)
Marius was falling into deep despair.
Deaths were beginning to occur on the Taliant Continent as well.
The wind, rain, and thunder showed no signs of stopping, mercilessly taking lives.
People’s faces were etched with despair and resignation, and even their screams were beginning to cease.
“Rain, wind, and thunder all stop eventually, but this is an attack from a god. If we don’t defeat the god, it won’t stop, will it?”
Asteria murmured.
Her expression was unusually stern.
The royal castle of Hordia was now overflowing with citizens.
It was the highest and sturdiest building in the surrounding area.
But, how long could it last?
The dark clouds covering the world were thick, and thunder, wind, and rain raged upon the land as if competing.
(Was the revival too soon after all? I wanted to eliminate more of them…)
No one knew Asteria’s inner thoughts.
If they had, they would have likely been killed in an instant.
She had been thinking of reducing the human population further.
She was one of the causes of many deaths, directly and indirectly, but everything was actually intentional, as could be inferred from her true intentions.
Asteria’s objective was to defeat the god of evil.
Essential for achieving this was a decrease in population.
The god of evil “feeds on human despair” to increase its power.
In other words, to defeat it, there should be no one to feed on its despair.
That was the conclusion her “Calculation” skill had reached.
Of course, if her allies’ combat power were strengthened, there would be no need to reduce the population.
That was the purpose of Annette and Isabella.
And Marius’s appearance cemented Asteria’s change.
She had even harbored a near-certain feeling that if she just had this man, everything would be alright.
(I was naive. I underestimated the power of a god, even if it is a god…)
Marius had likely already started dealing with the god of evil.
He wasn’t the kind of man to ignore such a crisis.
This meant that even Marius couldn’t defeat it, which was a major miscalculation.
Asteria had assumed that Marius alone could defeat it right after its revival.
She thought that as long as she finished the fight before it gained more power, there would be no problem.
The reason she killed people and reduced their numbers was to prevent humanity’s destruction.
Even if others saw her as the source of the reduction, that was her true feeling.
The “Calculation” skill has two major flaws.
One is that it requires a lot of information to derive the correct answer.
When information is scarce or inaccurate, as was the case when she misjudged Marius or underestimated the god of evil’s power, the results are like these.
The other flaw is that no matter how correct the answer, it cannot be logically proven.
This is why she hadn’t given a proper explanation even to Isabella and the others.
If she had seriously explained the deaths of her parents, she would have been labeled a lunatic, and since then, she had managed by pretending to be mad, or by incurring favors, and through various other means.
Asteria didn’t believe she was right.
It was true that she wanted to save humanity, but it was also true that she went around killing people to do so.
She wondered what part of herself was justice.
She had sarcastically told the kings of other nations, “There is only justice in this world.”
(Not yet. There’s still a possibility.)
If Marius, Auraniess, Sophia, and Iris were all killed, the world would be over.
However, her intuition told her it was too soon to give up.
If the god of evil “feeds on human despair” and makes it its power, then “human hope” might be detrimental.
She didn’t know if it was that simple, but she had to try first.
To struggle until the very end without giving up was her responsibility to those she had let die.
Of course, she didn’t expect to be forgiven for it.
“Annette.”
When she called her name, the maid trembled and cautiously approached the Queen.
She must have been wondering what impossible request she would receive, and the others, to varying degrees, sent sympathetic glances towards Annette.
(What are these guys? Surprisingly calm.)
The ability to sympathize with others must stem from having mental leeway.
Asteria was slightly pleased but didn’t show it on her face.
“I want to send Kuro or Shiro as a messenger to the Tuban Autonomous Region.”
She then glanced outside.
“Only Vlidor could go through this.”
Annette nodded hesitantly and tilted her head.
“What should I tell them?”
Asteria whispered in Annette’s ear.
Shortly before the black Vlidor arrived at the Tuban Autonomous Region, Auraniess lost his temper.
“Damn it, Marius, you’re taking too long!”
He roared and leaped outside.
“It’s taking longer than fighting me!”
Everyone thought that was his true feeling, but no one dared to tease Auraniess, who was starting to become agitated.
Isabella remained confined in a room she had been given; the staff was apparently not yet completed.
Ideally, she would have them deliver it to Auraniess after completion, but that was probably impossible.
Auraniess paced irritably in the room.
The fact that even Iris and Sophia averted their eyes and tried not to get involved showed how agitated he was.
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
Auraniess suddenly roared.
Iris and Sophia instinctively covered their ears with both hands, but everyone else collapsed on the spot.
Sophia checked Remika’s ears, who was nearby. It seemed her eardrums were fine.
It appeared he still had some reason left.
“I’m going! My intuition tells me to go!”
As soon as Auraniess shouted, he rushed outside before Sophia and the others could stop him.
“Is… is he going to be alright?”
Barra, who was huddled and covering her ears, finally managed to speak. Sophia replied.
“He’ll be fine. Auraniess-sama, though he is like that, does not lie. He must have truly felt a premonition that he needed to go and assist.”
“Does that mean…?”
Barra and Lovisa’s voices overlapped.
The fact that their thoughts immediately turned to worrying about their husbands showed that they were both fine wives.
“It means that the god’s power is beyond our imagination.”
Iris said, and Sophia nodded.
“Even Auraniess-sama cannot perform attacks that affect the world itself. In this regard, he might be considered superior to Auraniess-sama. And probably Marius as well.”
They had never even imagined a being that surpassed both Marius and Auraniess together.
Would those two be able to defeat the god of evil?
Looking outside, the storm and thunder continued relentlessly.
Would the time come when the rain stopped, the sky cleared, and they could see the sun?
“If those two can’t do it, no one in this world can.”
Lovisa said, and Barra followed.
“It’s frustrating, but all we can do is pray for them.”
Barra, in particular, felt this strongly. She was a witch with the power of one of the strongest humans, and she had even managed to land a blow on Auraniess.
In another time, she might have been known as a hero.
“Well, it’s still calm that she hasn’t claimed she’s going to help.”
Zofi, who should have wanted to assist, was the one who evaluated Marius’s two wives this way.
Al and El were also there.
They had been left behind under the pretext of escorting Lovisa and Barra.
They all knew that this was a pretense and the real reason was because they would be a hindrance.
“If we go, it’s better for those two to go instead.”
El said, looking at Sophia and the others.
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged glances.
“Those two won’t just do anything Auraniess orders, will they? Right?”
The two, who had been addressed meaningfully by El, pretended not to know, but everyone noticed that their cheeks were slightly flushed.
If Marius had been watching, he surely would have thought, “Tsundere’s here too.”
