novelConclusion
| ← Ch.49 | Ch.51 → |
The mixed party achieved the record of reaching the lowest floor yet, but the last stronghold and 30th floor boss──Imperial Death, defeated them and they failed.
Also, because they were defeated within the dungeon, there was no reason to exempt them from the rule of taking their weapons and items even if they were the Heroes and Demon King, so the Holy Sword, Holy Spear, Holy Bow and Demon Sword were properly collected. Of course, the other items and gold were as well.
And that moment could be said to be the moment that it became impossible for them to conquer the dungeon.
The source of the Heroes' strength were the Holy Weapons that held Sophia's blessing, and now that they had been taken away, the Heroes lost most of their strength.
As for Ojisama, it wasn't as though he was that dependent on his weapon, but as you'd expect, there was a huge difference in fighting strength once he didn't have the Demon Sword.
With their blessed weapons gone, they had already lost the power needed to conquer the dungeon.
*imouto*
And like that, it spelt the end to the match.
*imouto*
Incidentally, since Sophia and Anbaal demanded the weapons, I was just keeping a hold of them temporarily, and it was decided that I would return them after the match.
Now that I had collected them, they were mine, so I could have ignored the two, but apparently now that the Holy Weapons had Sophia's blessings they had the function of flying back to the owner when they called for it, and there was nothing more dangerous than weapons flying about the dungeon.
For now I had a hold of them, and tossed them into a room locked from the outside, but from the sounds inside the room you could tell that they were rampaging about. The Heroes were probably continuing to call for them without giving up.
I personally want to return these troubling weapons as soon as possible. Considering the situation, I wouldn't be able to sell them after all, and I couldn't use them as dungeon drops either.
The Demon Sword didn't have that function and so it was behaving, but if I was returning the Holy Weapons, it wouldn't be fair not to return the Demon Sword. And what's more, apparently the Demon Sword was passed down each generation, and would one day be passed down to Leonora, so as a friend I felt that I ought to return it.
But well, I really don't have any obligation to give them back, so it should be fine if I demand some compensation, right?
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
In only thirty minutes, it would be a whole year since the match began.
In order to check up on the 『Proof of Capture』 that I placed on the 31st floor, we all gathered there.
"The 『Proof of Capture』 is..."
"Don't tell me it's that?"
Seeing the 『Proof of Capture』, both Tena and Leonora's expressions cramped. Speaking of which, Sophia and Anbaal already knew, but I never told these two.
There was a round-table-shaped pedestal in the middle of the room, and on top of it was an eerie patchwork doll.
This was the 『Proof of Capture』 that I left here, and was the proxy I used when Leonora first came here; the cursed Tena doll.
Also, since I became a member of the Divine Race myself, I conquered the cursed equipment problem, but that didn't mean that the curse on the doll itself was gone. Because of that, if anyone but myself or my kin Tena touched it, the doll would be their present - curse and all. Or at least that was my plan.
It's not like I was thinking something treacherous like "Conquer my dungeon huh? Curse you!" or anything. It was a nuisance though, so I did hope that somebody would take it away though.
"There is only a little time left, isn't there."
"Tsk."
"Hii!?"
Although it basically spelt their defeat when the Heroes and Ojisama lost their weapons, Sophia and Anbaal never declared defeat. But at this point, as you'd expect they had no choice but to give up on victory. Sophia seemed discouraged, but Anbaal was clearly in a bad mood.
Because Anbaal was being too obvious with his irritation, Lili got scared and hid behind my back.
"No invaders are ever going to reach here in time, so I suppose your match is set, huh."
"Congratulations, Anri-sama."
Hearing Leonora and Tena congratulate me, my victory finally felt real. In order to pick up the 『Proof of Capture』 as a victory trophy, I headed... or at least I tried to head towards the pedestal, but I stacked it.
Having lost my balance and begun to fall, I looked back and saw that Lili was standing on top of my dress hem. Apparently when she hid behind me in fear of Anbaal, she stood on my dress by accident. Unlike the robe that I used to wear, the dress was pretty long, and if I wasn't careful, it could get stepped on.
As though being pulled from behind, while I was falling I reflexively reached out to grab the table in front of me, and somehow managed to avoid falling right to the ground.
"Are you all right, Anri-sama!?"
"I-, I'm sorry..."
Tena hurried over to help me up. And Lili... you don't have to apologise, so please get off my dress.
"Oioi, the hell ya doin'?"
"Well, it seems that you managed to avoid falling."
Anbaal and Sophia called out to me in astonishment.
"The hem is longer than your old clothing, so if you aren't careful it'll be dangerous, you know. Also, you sent the doll flying all this way."
It happened in an instant so I didn't realise, but when I grabbed at the table earlier, apparently the cursed Tena doll had been sent flying by Leonora's feet.
Saying that, she bent over and picked up the doll.
*imouto*
*imouto*
"........................Ah."
Seeing that, Tena let out a sound. Everybody in the room heard that, and following Tena's gaze, we moved our eyes to Leonora.
"........................Ah."
"........................Ah."
"........................Ah."
"........................Ah."
Everybody let out the exact same, stupid voice.
"Eh? ........................Ah."
Leonora was perplexed by everybody's gaze suddenly turning to her, but she followed our gazes to what was in her hand, and after realising what it was, she let out the same sound.
""""""AAAHHHHHH!?""""""
In the midst of this room filled with cries, the teleportation magic activated, and Leonora disappeared.
*imouto*
*imouto*
Leonora, you idiot...
*imouto*
*imouto*
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
"I can't accept this."
Moving to the round table in the office, that was the first thing I said.
"The winner is whoever has their patroned race touch the 『Proof of Capture』 first, ain't it? There ain't any basis for you to complain."
It's true that since Leonora is a demon, it's Anbaal's win based on the rules. But I can't accept an accident like that overturning the outcome of the match. To begin with, it all began when he scared Lili.
"What do you think, Sophia?"
"Let's see. It is true that it was a sloppy way to decide things, but according to the rules, I do not think we can help but acknowledge Anbaal's victory."
From her point of view, no matter whose victory it was, she would still be the loser, so I suppose it can't be helped that she wasn't interested in changing the rules.
I knew myself that my opinion was at a disadvantage. But, it was a little... no, it was very frustrating.
"A-, Anri... I was wrong, so can't you forgive me already?"
"No. Continue your seiza."
A voice called to me from the corner of the room, but I replied a little coldly. It was Leonora, and a little while ago I had her sit in seiza to reflect on her actions.
It was partially my fault as well for having the doll fall from the table, which is why I don't intend to scold her all that harshly, but even so a large part of it was her carelessness, so I wanted her to reflect.
"Then leaving the seiza aside, could you at least take away this doll...?"
"No. Hold onto it for a while."
On top of Leonora's lap as she sat in seiza was the cursed Tena doll. Originally the curse of the doll made it so that once you threw it away, it would suddenly come back to you at some point, but perhaps the curse began stronger while I left it alone, because now it leveled up, and would quickly toddle back to you when you let go of it. Thanks to that, Leonora couldn't get rid of it even if she wanted, and had been holding it the whole time.
"Well, you can settle things with her however you like. But no matter how it happened, win's a win, yanno. Know when ta give up."
"..................Fine."
At Anbaal's reminder, I reluctantly accepted my defeat. It was frustrating though.
*imouto*
*imouto*
"And so, guess I better hand out the 『Authories』, ey."
Saying that, Anbaal sat down at the round table, and a countless number of letters appeared around him. Next, the same thing happened around Sophia.
"These are the 『Sub-Authories』 we have. There ain't anything new we oughta add to them, so we'll just be handing over a fraction of the ones we already have to ya."
"Specifically, what fraction will we be handing over?"
"Let's see... How'bout 2/5ths."
Each of them separated 2/5ths of their 『Sub-Authorities』, and our ratio became 6:6:8, Sophia:Anbaal:myself.
"Then I'm the only one with more. Unfair."
"As long as it is to an extent that there is no disruption to the balance, there should be no problem."
It's true that we had the match because they wanted a little less, so I didn't intend to complain about the distribution being unfair.
What I was complaining about was that only I was getting more.
The one who won the match was Anbaal, so it should have been fine if he just increased both Sophia and mine, so I couldn't accept that he targetted only me.
"Why is it just me?"
"You're the newbie, so dontcha need experience. I'm giving ya work outta the goodness of my heart, so be grateful."
I glared at him, but Anbaal ignored me with a nonchalant expression.
Or rather, that's definitely a lie. There's definitely no mistake that this was revenge for the hardships he had with the dungeon capture.
But it was in the rules that the winner would be deciding the ratios, so since it wasn't large enough that it destroyed the balance, even if it was frustrating I wouldn't change a thing even if I made a fuss.
"Well then, how'bout we go from my Deadly Sin Types. Lessee, I'll give ya 『Gluttony』, 『Greed』, 『Lust』 and 『Envy』."
Hah? By Deadly Sins is that the Seven Deadly Sins? So they had the same concept in this world too?
But still, the selection he handed me sure was cruel. I'd better protest.
"I'm not that big of an eater."
"If a divine who doesn't even need food eats three meals a day, ain't that gluttonous enough?"
Being told that, I couldn't even go "Guu..." in frustration, but lately haven't you and Sophia been eating three meals too...?
"Then about 『Greed』..."
"No, no matter how ya look at it, it suits you perfectly, right?"
............Well, I did take an entrance fee, so I guess that can't be helped.
But the last two definitely do not fit me.
"『Lust』 and 『Envy』 don't match me."
"To begin with, it just helps if you have a reference, so it doesn't even really matter, yanno?"
That's way too different from what you said earlier.
Or rather, if the Deadly Sins are the same as the Seven Deadly Sins, the only ones left are 『Sloth』, 『Pride』 and 『Wrath』 ...He definitely kept those because he thought they were cool, that guy.
Also, that's not following the ratio. If you say 2/5ths then don't hand me over half.
"Well then, I shall hand you some from my Virtue Types. I will give you 『Moderation』, 『Thrift』 and 『Endurance』."
Whoa, whoa, it's weird once you mix it in with the Deadly Sins. You can't have both 『Gluttony』 and 『Moderation』 after all.
Also that means she left behind 『Diligence』, 『Chastity』, 『Compassion』, 『Humility』; all the good sounding ones for herself.
While I was in blank amazement at how unreasonable it was, the letters floating around Sophia and Anbaal flew towards me.
Do not want. Do not want, I said.
"Well then, next are the Living Being Types, huh..."
Wait, please wait. At this rate, something outrageous is going too...
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
A few hours later, ignoring me as I lay burn out over the table, Sophia and Anbaal left the room with satisfied expression after completing pushing 『Authorities』 onto me.
"Um, Anri-sama... Are you all right?"
"I'm... not."
Raising my head in bother, I looked at the words floating around me. They were completely random. Governing over such a hodgepodge of 『Authorities』, I don't even know if I can be called the Evil God anymore.
In the end, Anbaal said "Since you made this whole bloody mess, this suits ya just fine." and left the word 『Chaos』 in front of me, so I was completely angry.
*imouto*
『Gained title "Odd God". 』
*imouto*
I heard the 『System』's voice for the first time in a while, but 『Odd God』? What the heck is 『Odd God』.
You're supposed at least make it "Chaos God", right!?
*imouto*
How on earth am I supposed to get rid of this irritation.
"Ummm... C-, Can I stop with the seiza soon?"
And while I was thinking that, what reached my ears was the voice of Leonora, who had been sitting in seiza for the entire time. It seems that the numbness in her legs had just about reached the limit, and just stirring a little would send incredible stimulation down her legs, so she was stuck frozen solid unable to move.
Speaking of which, the reason this happened was half her fault, wasn't it.
Finding a place to point my sword, I smiled darkly inside, before reaching my fingers out to her legs.
There are two chapters left until the main story is finished.
TL: Odd God, or 『変神』 is read as 'henjin' - it sounds exactly the same as for the word 変人 (weirdo), so it's basically the same as calling her a weirdo.
| ← Ch. 49 | Ch. 51 → |