Chapter 54
Whoosh!
A razor-sharp blade grazed Yohan’s cheek.
He instinctively released Aura and erased even the smallest amount of damage.
Then he steadied his breathing.
His eyes followed the trident’s path.
At the same time, every nerve in his body focused on tracking the movement of mana.
[Do you really need to dodge that perfectly? I mean, it does look reasonably dangerous.]
This is good practice. Besides, I need to pass that bastard’s test.
[What a hassle. I’m telling you, just let me swallow him. Even if the Neutral Gods become hostile, they won’t exactly threaten us.]
You’re distracting me. Shut up.
[Hmph. Mean.]
Ignoring the goddess as she retreated, Yohan’s eyes sharpened.
Blades flew toward him with irregular speeds and trajectories.
His body reacted instantly.
Dodge what could be dodged.
Block what could not.
It sounded simple.
But things became very different when that process had to be repeated hundreds or thousands of times.
Without identifying the type and intention of every attack in advance, responding instantly would have been impossible.
His opponent was Pontus, the Primordial Sea God.
He had lost his authority.
Lost his strength.
And fallen into decline.
But once, he had been an almighty god.
More importantly, his soul occupied the body of a sea spirit, something almost like his own limb.
The level of ability he could display through that body exceeded even Yohan’s expectations.
His mana control in particular was extraordinary.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Clang!
Flank.
Temple.
Philtrum.
Throat.
Solar plexus.
Eardrum.
Eye.
Every attack came directly for a vital point.
Yohan blocked them all without losing his rhythm even once.
Watching the absurd sight, Pontus thought,
...It’s like watching a machine.
His power was gone.
His body was gone.
Even his soul had been worn away.
His memories were no longer complete.
The reason he had immediately mistaken Yohan for Dagon’s subordinate was because the strongest memories remaining inside Pontus were those of his battles against Dagon’s forces.
Even so, what Yohan was doing shocked him.
Even if he’s an Apostle... those aren’t attacks a human should be capable of reacting to.
Pontus controlled the arrows and spears using both thick arms like a conductor.
At the same time, he pulled in every bit of mana surrounding the altar.
After the first few dozen exchanges, there was barely a single straightforward attack left.
Every move contained technique.
Every move contained a trap.
An arrow aimed toward Yohan’s side suddenly curved toward his eye.
A spear flying toward his chest abruptly stopped and transformed into three arrows.
Every attack was built around one purpose.
Injure the enemy somehow.
Yet Yohan never fell for any of them.
Pontus found that remarkable.
If he were constantly coating his entire body in Aura, I could understand. But he’s releasing and withdrawing Aura only where he needs it...
An attacker this skilled should have been famous.
Yet Pontus could not remember anyone like him.
It was strange.
But ultimately irrelevant.
No matter Yohan’s true identity, Pontus’s decision would not change.
He stopped attacking and folded his arms.
“...Your combat sense passes. Impressive.”
“How kind of you.”
“But wars aren’t won with technique alone.”
The metal weapons behind Pontus melted together.
They became countless tiny blades, each no larger than a thumb.
Gathered together, they looked like a school of fish.
“Tactics and momentum. No matter how skilled the hero holding the front line may be, a war cannot be won if the soldiers lack tactics and morale.”
The blades moved like violent waves.
They prepared to strike.
“That’s what happened to me. My tactics weren’t bad, but my numbers and morale were far below theirs.”
Pontus stared at Yohan.
“There’s no guarantee you won’t suffer the same fate.”
“True.”
“I don’t have time to examine the ability of every soldier under you.”
His glowing eyes narrowed.
“So I’ll at least thoroughly test your courage.”
Yohan saw it clearly.
Tiny rotating saw-like formations of mana appeared around each blade.
“This attack cannot be dodged or blocked!”
Pontus gave one final warning.
“If you don’t want to die, run now! What will you do, Apostle of an Inner God?!”
Yohan said nothing.
He merely clenched both fists and watched.
Pontus assumed that silence was another bluff.
Without waiting for an answer, he unleashed the enormous wave of blades.
WHOOOOOSH!
The deafening roar filled the altar.
The wave rushed straight toward Yohan.
Then...
It split.
The blades scattered to both sides just before reaching him.
Every blade stopped.
Not one touched Yohan’s skin or clothing.
The mana control required was practically divine.
Yohan let out a quiet breath in admiration.
The blades still spun sharply right in front of his face.
“......”
“What? You aren’t attacking?”
“...How did you know?”
Pontus’s face had no real expression beyond glowing eyes.
Even so, his voice was clearly shaken.
He pointed the trident at Yohan.
“How did you know I would stop the attack?!”
Yohan already had his answer.
“I didn’t.”
“What?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Then why didn’t you defend yourself?! You could at least have tried!”
“You said it couldn’t be blocked.”
“...You couldn’t have trusted me that much. What the hell are you? Why did you do nothing?”
“Would anything have changed if I had?”
This time, Pontus fell silent.
“Well, I suppose something would’ve changed. You wouldn’t have acknowledged me.”
“......”
“It wasn’t an attack that could be blocked in the first place. Actually, trying to block it probably would’ve caused even more damage.”
Yohan’s eyes narrowed.
“The magic you placed in those blades consumes the target’s Aura and mana to increase its own power. It’s an amplification-type spell.”
“You knew...?”
That still did not answer everything.
Pontus tilted his head.
“If you knew all that, then this makes even less sense! Why didn’t you dodge an attack that might have killed you?!”
Yohan smiled.
“What kind of front-line warrior runs away from the battlefield?”
That was his answer.
The goddess peeked out and snickered.
[You’ll never say it’s because you can’t die, will you? You’re unbelievably sneaky at times like this. Hehehe.]
I learned from the best.
[You meant that as a compliment, right?]
......
[I knew it! Our Yohan is the best! So cute! So cuuute!]
A tentacle wriggled toward his cheek.
Yohan slapped it away.
“This much courage is probably necessary if I’m going to fight those fanatics. Don’t you agree, Pontus?”
For Pontus, there could have been no better answer.
He withdrew every blade and returned them to the ceiling.
They became iron bars again.
The trident in his hands also disappeared.
“...It isn’t as though I was foolish enough to seriously dream about revenge now. I knew there was almost no chance of paying them back for everything.”
Even so...
Pontus had wanted to leave like a god when his final moment arrived.
That tiny wish was all he had left.
“You’re not exactly someone I’m thrilled to entrust my power to... but I suppose there’s no helping it.”
His voice softened.
“You really do intend to defeat them.”
“I do.”
At that moment, a small sphere emerged from the center of Pontus’s spirit body.
“There’s a saying that as long as one’s name remains, one has not truly died.”
A golden circular key rested inside the translucent sphere.
“Promise me one thing, Apostle of an Inner God.”
Pontus stared directly at Yohan.
“Never abandon the name contained within this key.”
Yohan held out both hands.
“...I promise, Sea God Pontus.”
The translucent sphere slowly evaporated.
The key remained in Yohan’s hands, shining brilliantly even beneath the deep water.
At the same time, Pontus’s spirit body began evaporating as well.
“This key was the medium anchoring my soul. The moment I separated it from myself, my disappearance became inevitable.”
Pontus watched his body turn into smoke.
Then he gave his final words.
“Move forward not with the obsession that you cannot lose, nor with the arrogance that you could never lose... but with the pride that you will not lose. Comrade.”
Those were Pontus’s final words.
Where the sea spirit had stood, an old whip remained.
[That’s...]
“I don’t know why Pontus had this... but this is an unexpected reward.”
Yohan grabbed the handle surrounded by dark mana without hesitation.
He casually swung the whip.
Crack!
The sharp sound came a moment after the weapon cut through the water.
Yohan nodded and tucked it away.
No mana remained in the temple.
It was time to return to the Burrow Well.
At the same time Yohan was fighting and speaking with Pontus in the Nameless Sea...
The cloudy sky above Devermos had grown dark enough that even the faint sunlight was fading.
Albern and Aren moved through the city while checking items off a written list.
“We already visited the plaza, so mark it.”
“Ah. Right. Marked!”
The two elves were mainly investigating the overall atmosphere of the city.
Devermos was huge for a single district, measuring more than half the size of Zul-ba-Sair.
They traveled around the entire area and observed the residents.
Grocery stores.
General stores.
Butchers specializing in magical-beast meat.
Inns.
Taverns.
There was almost nowhere they had not visited.
They paid special attention to blacksmiths and tool shops selling weapons and armor.
Their goal was to estimate the enemy’s armament level.
The conclusion reached by the two elves was simple.
“...This is a surprisingly peaceful village.”
“A-At the district boundaries, e-everyone looked really nervous!”
It was not quite as relaxed as Zul-ba-Sair on the twelfth floor.
Even so, Devermos possessed a strangely comfortable atmosphere.
Unfortunately, they had learned little besides that.
They were also disappointed that they had encountered very few Derhai, despite hearing that the race made up more than half the district’s population.
“...Let’s stop here for today and return, Aren.”
“B-Burrow Well! Return!”
Aren’s face brightened.
He hurried down an alley and accidentally collided with someone.
He fell flat on his back.
“Oh my.”
Albern quickly approached.
Standing in front of them was an unfamiliar human woman.
She was not even wearing a hood.
“...Are you all right, Aren?”
“Y-Yeah.”
Albern looked toward the woman.
“Are you all right as well?”
“Of course. Hehe.”
The woman smiled and offered Aren a hand.
Aren ignored it and stood by himself.
Then he bowed.
“S-Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Young people make mistakes.”
She smiled brightly at both elves.
“I don’t think I’ve seen either of you in Devermos before... Where did you come from? A lower floor? An upper floor? Or...”
Aren nearly answered Karam immediately.
Albern covered his mouth.
“We came from Zul-ba-Sair. It’s our first time in the Underground City, so we don’t know where to stay. We were looking around first.”
“Oh, I see.”
The woman possessed sharply defined features and long, flowing hair.
Even elves, who were not especially skilled at judging human appearances, could tell that she was exceptionally beautiful.
“As you can probably see, this whole area is built like a maze. It’s difficult to know what’s located where.”
“Yes...”
The woman introduced herself as Asenas.
Then she asked them,
“I’ve only been staying here for a few months myself... but if you don’t mind, may I show you around Devermos?”
