LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 94
Chapter
“Choco, where have you been?”
“Uh, um? It’s nothing.”
Tsukiyo, who had been whistling awkwardly, seemed to be pretending when she inevitably pierced herself with her own words.
“Ha… actually, I went after that ghost.”
“Oh, right.”
I had forgotten. As Enok gazed at Tsukiyo with curious eyes, she shrunk back and spoke.
“I’m sorry. I missed it.”
“What’s there to be sorry about? I was forgetting anyway.”
“That was the spirit of the God of Life and Death. It’s likely that the God of Life and Death didn’t send it directly, but… it can still influence the God of Life and Death’s actions.”
Tsukiyo’s expression twisted uncomfortably.
“Maybe the God of Life and Death could come personally. Although, that possibility is slim…”
The God of Life and Death… Enok had only seen the demigod known as the Master of the Forest in person. He was in a weakened state from recovering from injuries, and since he had never witnessed him being earnest, it was hard to gauge how strong a demigod truly was.
Still, he must be stronger than the Sword God I saw in the dungeon. That fragment of emotion would surely be nowhere near his strength.
“Oh… this is bad.”
That fragment of emotion was already stronger than Rionne, and now something stronger than that?
“Should we run to the Elf Union?”
Tsukiyo vigorously nodded at Enok’s suggestion.
*
Even if we’re leaving, I intended to say my goodbyes as I headed toward the Marquis.
After a long session of crying, the Marquis collected himself as Enok approached and got up from his seat. He tidied up his disheveled appearance for a moment before speaking in a hoarse voice.
“…Thank you so much. I never dreamed I’d get a last goodbye like this…”
“Don’t mention it. But we need to leave soon.”
“Already…? I haven’t even properly thanked you yet.”
The Marquis was reluctant, but it was still a bit much to meet the God of Life and Death.
“When will you come back?”
Zikfrein asked, sounding equally regretful.
“Well, it doesn’t take long to get here, so we’ll probably see each other again soon?”
“Oh, right. There was teleportation too.”
“You can come to the Elf Union.”
The Marquis’s eyes sparkled at Enok’s words.
“Oh, that would be great. I had hardly anything to give you since time was tight.”
“Huh?”
“Then I’ll see you again soon. I promise to bring something worthy of a benefactor.”
“No, that’s really not necessary…”
At that moment,
───────────────!!!
The heavens roared. Startled, Enok and Tsukiyo exchanged glances in alarm.
“Could it be…?”
Has the God of Life and Death arrived already? Enok hurriedly tried to tear open space to move, but Tsukiyo, noticing something, grabbed his arm.
“Dad, look at the sky.”
When I looked up as she said, an unbelievable sight unfolded before me.
The night sky shimmered with a green hue. The source of that light was the countless branches covering the sky.
Their thickness and length were unfathomable. Those branches numbered in the thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands. As Enok stared blankly at the sky, Tsukiyo sighed.
“Could it be already?”
“Yep, that’s Rionne. I can smell her.”
“What on earth does that smell like?”
“It smells good?”
“How strange.”
Tsukiyo shook her head. Then, another anomaly occurred.
Drrrrr…
Violet markings began to form in the sky, areas that had yet to be filled by the branches.
They pushed and pulled against the branches as if engaged in a tug-of-war, and since the difference in their strength was not massive, they each claimed half the sky.
“What is that?”
Unlike the uninterested Enok, Tsukiyo looked ready to faint from shock.
“N-no way…! Another demigod!? What on earth is happening this generation…!”
This wasn’t the interference of an existing demigod. As far as anyone knew, there was no such being capable of wielding that kind of power.
Tsukiyo’s tail fur bristled.
“This is bad! We should hurry and go meet that elf at the Elf Union!”
“No need for that.”
Enok, standing like a meerkat, scanned his surroundings briefly before fixing his gaze on one point.
“Rionne is here.”
Before his words had fully settled, a silhouette suddenly appeared in the air. There was no sign of her crossing space. She emerged as if she’d been there all along, causing Tsukiyo to catch her breath.
“She truly made it to the realm of demigods!”
But Tsukiyo’s admiration scattered into the air.
Rionne, standing calmly in one spot like the wind, suddenly radiated vigor. Her hair, shimmering softly with a green hue, shone brightly, and she rushed toward him with a big smile.
“Enok…!”
She leaped into Enok’s arms, filled with emotion, and immediately tried to kiss him, but Enok’s hand blocked her.
“Enok…?”
Rionne was taken aback. It was such a shock that it even shook her newly achieved form.
‘W-wait, we only didn’t hold the ceremony, right? We were basically partners…’
We even kissed at the end! Did her feelings change in the meantime?
As a trembling Rionne faced Enok’s decree.
“How can you just disappear in that situation? No matter how Rionne you are, that’s too much.”
“T-that…! I suddenly gained clarity…”
Rionne smiled awkwardly as she tightened her grip on Enok’s arm. Her gaze, looking up at him as she discarded the pride of a sister, held enough lethality to it.
“…I’ll let it slide since it’s you. But I won’t play with you today.”
“Enok-.”
“…One hour?”
“Are you really going to treat your sister like that?”
“Uh, just five minutes. No more than that.”
“Hehe, okay.”
Having quickly obtained her wish, Rionne stood in place, gazing up at the void.
“But it seems like my sister caused a bit of a mess.”
“A mess?”
Instead of replying, Rionne stepped up into the air with a serious expression.
[I didn’t expect to come this far. I’ll be there soon, so just don’t worry, okay?]
With Rionne’s voice, the world quietly settled. Her whole body glowing softly with green light as she drew out her power was akin to witnessing a being from another dimension.
‘That’s a demigod.’
A being transcending mortality, heading towards immortality. Just as Enok stared dazedly at her, a figure suddenly appeared.
[Was it the daughter of the Sword God? Time flies. You’ve come this far already.]
It appeared to be in the shape of a human man. But can we truly call that a human?
“Ugh…”
Tsukiyo frowned and slowly stepped back. Enok hid Eri in his Central Dantian and stared intently at him. Blood continuously leaked from his eyes, but he paid it no mind.
‘That’s…’
He didn’t have to say who it was. He knew.
The one who reigns. The one at the pinnacle of humanity. And the former Heavenly Death.
“Emperor.”
[So you are the Heavenly Death. It’s been a while.]
The Emperor’s gaze turned toward Enok. No, precisely, it pierced through something beyond him.
As if dragged by his gaze, Enok looked deep and soon found a colossal something.
‘Is that… a star?’
It was a gigantic star. Realizing that it was merely the energy of one being, Enok’s eyes widened as he noticed something at its center awakening and looking at him.
‘That guy.’
Heavenly Death. The one who blessed him.
It narrowed its eyes toward Enok, then grinned and waved.
Choo-
Enok raised his middle finger.
– I’m disappointed.
With that final voice, Enok’s consciousness returned as if he were being dragged from underwater.
[A new fool’s face was interesting, but there was more fun here.]
[Stay out of it.]
Rionne intervened between the Emperor and Enok.
[If you lay a finger on my partner, I won’t just stand by.]
[Partner?]
The Emperor chuckled lightly as he gazed at Rionne.
[Sure, it looks like I’ll see you again soon anyway.]
With a wave of his hand, the world suddenly brightened.
Looking up, the sky was blue. The branches and markings that divided the night sky had vanished without a trace, and the sun had taken the place where the moon once was.
Rionne’s expression hardened. The Emperor had disappeared without a trace.
[What a display of power for an old man… sigh.]
Sighing, Rionne slumped toward Enok.
“Enok, has five minutes passed?”
“Yep.”
“Ugh.”
Rionne, snuggling into Enok’s arms, whispered in his ear.
“I won’t let you go now.”
She planned to monopolize him for at least a week. Rionne’s eyes glinted with a fierce determination.
*
“They’re gone.”
What sin has the sky committed to suffer such calamities?
Before, it was cut up into pieces; now, trees grew and were wounded, and suddenly the sun rose in the night sky.
I’ve been thinking that the sky must have had a lot on its mind lately.
“Zikfrein, let’s go inside and rest for a bit.”
At the Marquis’s words, Zikfrein turned his head. The Marquis was pointing at the half-destroyed Lord’s Castle.
“Uh, yeah.”
Zikfrein briefly gazed at where his friend once was, then smiled and shouted.
“Thank you!”
See you soon.
*
[I can’t accept this.]
“I think so too, spirit. This doesn’t make sense.”
[Hey, Eri, you think so too, right?]
Eri, scratching her belly on the ground, replied to Undine’s statement.
[It’s time. Everyone knew this would happen from the beginning.]
“I didn’t! What kind of nonsense is that, acting like a beast?!”
Tsukiyo pointed at the door that hadn’t opened in a week.
“The elves’ ceremony is a load of baloney! The partner ceremony doesn’t take even an hour!”
[Well, true. Although it is a ceremony to share souls, it doesn’t take long.]
The ceremony called Marriage is different from human marriage. The elves’ marriage was, quite frankly, a binding of souls.
But contrary to the grand words, it only ends if you close your eyes for about an hour while holding hands, and for some reason, the grievance of a nine-hundred-year-old virgin seems unlikely to resolve itself that easily.
[Just leave it be. They might be trying to make quintuplets or something.]
At Eri’s cynical comment, Undine recalled events from days earlier.