Chapter 545

Intermission Second Crazily Effective Waterfall Training

In any case.

The question and answer session between Hajime and Sathla continued for a while.

Hajime suddenly stood up and wore something on his right hand’s index finger. It was a finger armor made from black metal……no, based from the tip that was sharp like a knife, perhaps it ought to be described as a hidden weapon in the shape of nail.

He walked toward the unconscious Richard and crouched beside him.

What’s he gonna do? Everyone focused on him.

「This’ll be faster than interrogating him.」

*Zubu*, the black metal nail stabbed Richard’s head. It kept sinking in like his skull was nonexistent. The stabbing was so smooth like a fork stabbing a cake.

*Twitch* Richard-san jerked. Everyone was speechless seeing the abrupt violence.

Even while that was going on the fingertip seemed to have arrived at the brain and started jerking around. Voice of 「A, ah, aaa, a, ah」 reflexively leaked out matching the rhythm of that. His body was also jerking around *twitch twitch* at the same beat.

His eyes half opened and drool trickled out from his mouth. Blood was also trickling down slo~wly from his nose, eyes, and ears……

Let’s be clear here.

「「「That’s too gurooo!!」」」(TN: Grotesque)

Kousuke, Atsushi, and Noboru all screamed from their souls.

Ryuutarou was pulling his girlfriend(Suzu) to his chest to prevent her from looking, and Suzu too was clinging on Ryuutarou while her voice 「Hiih」 slipped out.

Yuuka, Taeko, and Nana were also hugging each other harmoniously as though they had just watched a startling scene of a horror movie.

「Please at least say something before you did that!」

「Please at least say a word before you did that!」

Remia-mama and Zhu-oneesan also protested. Each covered the eyes and ears of Myuu and Hinata respectively by putting them on full nelson from behind. And then,

「A, a, a, a, aaaaaaah」

「Amai-san-, hang in there! I’ll cast magic to stabilize mind now――」

「I choose you! Stick sugar!!」

Someone’s sanity point would normally get whittled down when seeing a human’s brain matter got stirred around right in front of them.

Aiko was about to use “Soul Repose” with amazing speed, however, Amai-san’s movement was even more amazing.

The bunch of stick sugar that Kaori and others bought together with the café au lait just in case were poured right into her mouth with the fluidity of flowing water and the swiftness of wind, five of them at once.

Crunch crunch. Gulp-. Swee~t♡ Happiness……

Of course, Aiko’s expression became that of the defeated……

But putting that aside.

「O-oi, Mister Nagumo!? Just what in the world are you doing!? He’s still an important suspect for now!」

「T-that’s right! We still need him for investigation! Don’t kill him――no, before that, why are you doing something so brutal!?」

Agent J and K also said their own protests even while feeling shaken up.

「Don’t worry. I don’t plan to kill him and this also won’t leave after effect. I’m just using an artifact that transfer his memory to me directly from his brain.」

「「It’s scary that you can call this as merely “only”!!」」

This time it was Takehiko and Kiyotake who spoke with matching twitching expression. A scene that caused even curse specialist to be creeped out……

As expected from someone with the title of demon god. Hidzuki-san was very impressed, while Vanessa and Claudia were shaking like they were in the presence of the embodiment of evil, or like a small rabbit in the presence of a carnivore.

Shia and Tio smiled wryly while asking for confirmation.

「Hajime-san, just to make sure, what you’re doing is probing his memory right?」

「That artifact art unfamiliar even to me though?」

「Yeah. After all it’ll take a lot of time to see this guy’s memory if he has been maneuvering since Christmas last year.」

The magic of seeing the past in the end was a method to “see” the flow of event whether it was in the shape of projecting the memory to reality or to the back of their mind.

But, this artifact was different. It could extract memory as data and transferred it to the user’s memory.

In other words, it cut the “watching time” and enabled “knowing memory” of the target as knowledge.

「I, I see. Getting the memory directly……」

「Well, if it’s something like that then……it’s fine, I guess?」

J and K accepted for now but they were sweating rivers.

Richard’s brain must be getting whipped around even now. Each time he would convulse while leaking out voice 「A, a, a」. Their reactions couldn’t be helped after seeing such thing.

Because, it was a repulsive sight that wasn’t at all inferior in ghastliness even when compared with the iridescent colored slime.

「……Hajime, you said memory transfer……is it fine? It’s not unclean?」

Yue who was the only one who didn’t get creeped out at all was snuggling close to Hajime in worry instead.

Everyone had a thought. Hey, are you looking? There’s someone convulsing crazily in front of you there. Bodily fluid mixed with blood is trickling out from all holes of his body you know? Aren’t you worrying for the wrong person?

Of course they didn’t say it though.

「Aa, it’s fine. I had tested it many times to the demons to check whether this has any negative influence……I’m finished.」

「As someone who has the established reputation of getting crude treatment despite being a princess, allow me to make a tsukkomi here okay? Hajime-san is always like that! Just what do you think the demons are!」

Of course, Princess Liliana’s tsukkomi was beautifully ignored.

*Zubo-* Hajime pulled out his finger. *Tsuu~~* It felt like there was something trickling down from the tip of the finger armor, but everyone averted their eyes so they didn’t notice.

Richard’s expression had already become peaceful when they returned their gaze. There was also nothing sticking to the finger armor. Of course, there also wasn’t a single scratch on Richard’s head. His head was clean.

The destruction of evidence was also perfect!

「N-Nagumo……you also created something convenient, convenient (?) like that huh. Is it something like the next version of “Urd Glass” or “Villagerization”?」

Despite feeling a bit creeped out, Kousuke asked with his tone intentionally light in order to soften the atmosphere of the place.

「Well yeah. ……Do you want one?」

「No need!!」

It was an extremely energetic reply. Well said! Claudia and others nodded deeply toward Kousuke as though to say that. Rana alone went 「Eh? Kou-kun, is that okay?」 while looking a bit lost. Truly an Hauria.

「I get the gist now. But, there’s one more thing to confirm……or rather I want to deal with it quickly.」

Hajime said that and took out his compass. He poured magic power into it and closed his eyes at the same time to focus.

He was concentrating really deeply. It made the atmosphere so serious everyone hesitated to even say something.

One minute, two minutes……

While strange tension was filling the air, Hajime slowly opened his eyes before long. He did that while his expression became awfully bitter.

「I see. I can sense Sathla though it’s fuzzy, perhaps because she’s a half. But, even though now I have this much information and there’s also Sathla in front me as example for detection target, I still can’t detect “The One Who Follow”.」

Kousuke and others muttered 「Seriously……?」 with disbelieving tones. Yue and others also opened their eyes wide like saucer. Something impossible had just happened. Their reaction was natural.

「Sathla. Based on your story just now, you can talk with

“The One Who Follow” through telepathy right?」

「Umu, exactly. Using telepathic ability they can sense each other even when apart, and it’s also possible to share thought and information. I’m not a pure “One Who Follow” so I can’t give order to them even though I possess the lord’s cell but……it’s possible for me to link up with them and guide their consciousness. If it’s within a limited range then I can also sense them.」

「What’s your effective sensing range?」

「Let’s see……about the radius of a hundred km I guess.」

「Yosh. Yue, use sublimation magic on her.」

「……Nn!」

Sathla became enveloped in golden radiance. 「O-ooooh」 She raised her voice with a tone that could be considered as astonishment or wonder.

Right after that, Hajime opened a “gate” with Crystal Key. The location was near the spot of the attack that he heard from Amai.

Urged by his gaze, Sathla used her telepathic ability through the “gate”. It was to call the specimen that attacked Amai.

「Mu, found them. Three……no, there’re five. They’re gathering in one place.」

「That’s convenient. What’s their distance and direction from the gate?」

「Wait for a while. …………This is……Nagumo-kun. Isn’t this near your home?」

「……What?」

Apparently she had learned the surrounding geography of Nagumo family home from the returnees commotion and the movements of magician organizations and she managed to determine the place from the shared senses.

But the location was problematic. Nagumo family house was fortified like a fortress, and there should be a lot of powerful protectors beside Sumire and Shuu starting from Netemp.

Dangerous aura burst out not only from Hajime, but also from Yue and others. Sathla stepped back a little even while focusing her mind.

「I’m linking my mind to them right now. It looks like they’re concealing themselves in a park nearby. Let me say this just in case but, I don’t feel any hostility from them.」

「……」

Hajime reopened the “gate” at the park near his house while still staying silent.

Sathla must be guiding their mind. After a short while five man in black clothes went through the “gate”. They weren’t wearing hood, and their race and age were also varied.

They didn’t give off any abnormal presence, but there was simply no emotion that could be seen from their eyes and expressions. In that sense they were strange but from a glance they simply looked like human.

「Ah, these people! It’s them! The people who attacked me before Rin-chan sent them flying with some kind of amazing technique using wooden sword! That person is the one who swallowed my bodyguard demon!」

「I know. He’s also in Richard’s memory. They’re members of “Us”. ……Although, their insides are different huh.」

――Tekeli li Tekeli li li

Discordant sound faintly resounded inside their heads. The gazes of the black clothed men turned toward Sathla. But at the same time they also seemed to be strongly conscious toward Hajime.

Everyone could somehow feel it. The men were terribly wary toward Hajime. No, rather,

「……Fumu. It looks like they art afraid of demon god-dono.」

Hidzuki who was most sensitive of “fear” as an apparition saw through inside the heart of the men.

「However, a desire inside them surpass that fear……what? Book? Searching? Presence you say? Don’t tell me, really……?」

Sathla seemed to be communicating something with them. Right after that, the black clothed men’s gazes all moved toward Myuu.

No emotion could be felt but, that was exactly why it was revolting. It was like the revulsion of being stared fixedly by insect eyes.

Myuu reflexively groaned 「Uu」 and clung on Remia’s leg. As expected even Myuu apparently became slightly fearful in front of their foreignness. Remia too hugged Myuu tightly to protect her.

「Just to remind everyone they harbor no hostility. It’s fine. ……By the way, Nagumo-kun. Do you know of a strange book? Should I describe it as a book with similar atmosphere like the “book” at the Christmas……」

「What about it?」

Hajime didn’t answer and asked Sathla back while keeping his gaze fixed on the men.

「Apparently what they want is a “book”. They said that they won’t show themselves anymore if they get it……it looked like they attacked Amai-kun too not for killing her. They simply wanted her cell for disguise.」

In other words, they must be thinking that if they disguised themselves as her who had experience of being entrusted with the “book”, then perhaps they could ask for the “book” that they thought were in Nagumo family house to be handed over to them.

Myuu looked like she wanted to say something, but Hajime looked at her to stop her. Sathla then added.

「You can think of this as them wishing for a negotiation. These are individuals who are in possession of considerable intellect so it seems possible enough to negotiate with them. They also said that if needed, it’s fine if your side ask for conditions from them――」

「I see, got it.」

Hajime cut off Sathla’s speech.

And then,

「But, I want do a small test first before that.」

The next moment after he said that.

「「「「「!!!?」」」」」

The world was repainted――everyone hallucinated that due to the “power” that manifested.

Overwhelming presence ruled over the area in the blink of eye. The black clothed men kneeled and bowed their heads with the speed like clergymen who witnessed the descend of god.

Distressing presence was transmitted even without any word. The men were trembling heavily perhaps because of fear. They didn’t even make any of that weird cry. Rather it felt like they were desperately holding their breath.

They were in a state like a small animal in the presence of a predator, no, a divine beast.

It was caused by release of magic power that was directed only toward the black clothed men. No, the amount of released magic power itself was small. At the very least, when it was compared with the amount of magic power Hajime coated himself with.

Yes, Hajime was simply coating his body with magic power. But, the amount and density of that magic power were aberrant.

It felt like the water pressure of a great waterfall……such description was lukewarm.

An ocean. It was truly like a great ocean. Neither the end or the bottom could be seen. Or perhaps, it was like in front of a planet itself……

His presence and also the energy amount that was felt from him were literally in a different league. The space around Hajime too looked warped even though he wasn’t using spatial magic.

The black clothed men couldn’t even scream. Far from that, perhaps they couldn’t even maintain their mental balance and their body melted like mud in the blink of eye. It seemed they became unable to even maintain their disguise.

Their true form was revealed, however, they couldn’t do anything except spreading out like a stain on the ground.

Nobody could say anything.

They weren’t exposed to raging mad magic power like when Hajime used “Limit Break”. They also weren’t being bathed in the residual wave of magic power emission. There wasn’t the slightest physical effect from it.

And yet, the men were overwhelmed by Hajime who was simply standing quietly.

His presence was just too large. Never before he gave off this kind of presence. Even his presence during that final battle wasn’t this powerful.

Perhaps it would be slightly helpful to convey how extraordinary that presence was by looking at that oni goddess whose fighting spirit would burn brighter instead no matter what kind of powerful enemy she faced was now getting cold sweat while backing away.

No, rather than her, even Yue and others were wide-eyed and holding their breath in naked shock. Perhaps that fact was more helpful in conveying just how serious the situation was.

「……Not bad.」

With just those few words, Yuuka and Rana and others who looked like they had difficulty breathing lost their balance and staggered. It was like the words themselves were containing power. The like of Agent J and K unconsciously almost kneeled and hurriedly braced themselves.

As for Amai-san, she was running like a startled rabbit. She was crossing her arms in front of her head while heading toward a window that connected to the outside. Perhaps, it was that. She was planning to escape outside by smashing through the window like a movie scene.

What astonishing reflexive flight. While everyone was frozen in place, she was the only one able to move to escape. Certainly, it was understandable how she could end up being called a superhuman being.

「No, my control is still not there yet huh.」

Hajime stretched a tentacle of liquid metal to grab Amai and returned her to her chair while sending his gaze to his surrounding. He smiled wryly.

His eyebrows scrunched into a slightly apologetic look. Amai-san was screaming 「Nooooooo-」 so it was even more so.

Right after that, the abnormal pressure, the powerful presence that was definitely worthy to be called godly dispersed with a whiff.

Ryuutarou and others who were unconsciously holding their breath strongly exhaled 「Buhah」.Agent J pressed his hands on his knees, while K lost the strength in his waist and fell on his butt.

Takehiko, Kiyotake, and Claudia and others also let out relieved sighs while wiping their cold sweat.

「……Hajime? What’s just now?」

「You asked what……just as you saw, I only coated myself with magic power.」

「……Nn, I know that. What I’m asking is about the amount. You didn’t use Grasp Gloria or even extracting more from magic crystal, and it also couldn’t possibly be willpower. It was Hajime’s internal magic power.」

There was a small agitation inside Yue’s eyes. Shia and others also looked the same.

「That’s right desu! What’s with that absurd magic power! That’s incomparable with Hajime-san from before!」

「It’s great tree avatar’s class……or perhaps even far beyond that?」

「Umu. If it’s purely the amount of energy Goshujin-sama possess, then it’s an amount that couldst not be compared with human by any means though……?」

「You also didn’t use Limit Break didn’t you?」

Hajime possessed infinite magic power, and he had grasped “willpower”――the energy of earth. That was a common knowledge at this point.

But, that wasn’t it. It was just as Yue and co said, that was without a doubt Hajime’s own magic power, flowing out from inside Hajime’s body.

Yue and others couldn’t hide their bewilderment. However, Hajime looked bewildered in respond instead by their reaction.

「No, you asked what……you all know right? I said that I got a small idea for a new training method so I’ll test it. You guys remember, that time when I left for around three days?」

「……Nn. I remember. Hajime mentioned that you can’t accept being the only one staying as you are while Shizuku and others also went through apostleification.」

「Aa~, and there was also that. Because I learned how to mix magic power and willpower……」

「He was cute when he sulked a little wasn’t it. He said, even I can be even stronger, how about I reconstruct my body even! He said. Fufu-」

「There was also how Yue got strengthened from the dragon gods of the fairy world worshipping her. Though that made me asked why art it not me and I myself also devoted myself to training for a little.」

「Even though we said that we’ll help, but Hajime said something like “Training is something you do alone” and won’t give in. No, in this case perhaps it’s because that’s male’s romance I wonder?」

By the way, the abyss lord reaching his chuuniness depth VI also played an influence there.

At that time, everyone sent Hajime off with an amused smile toward his male heart but……

Even taking that into consideration, what happened just now was still unbelievable.

「After you returned home, I could feel that your magic power has increased somewhat. But, as expected what happened just now was just too unexpected. It’s not something at the level that you can just explain with “I’ve trained for a bit”.」

Shizuku’s piercing stare assaulted Hajime. Now, confess. What kind of absurd thing you’ve done? Those eyes pressed.

「Ee~rr, well now, I think that I had explained somewhat. You know, I said how I’ve gotten my hands on infinite magic power and also willpower after much effort, so I wondered whether I can cut down the process and use them as my personal magic power.」

This was about the difference between nature magic power and internal magic power.

He called it infinite magic power but, the energy that Grasp Gloria produced was “sky dragon force”. By converting it into magic power, and further absorbing it into his body as his personal magic power, he could use the energy for magic and the like.

Of course, there would be no need to match the energy with his personal magic power if he used it as fuel for artifact. And the infinite magic power supplied to Yue and others went through artifact to be converted to their respective magic power, but fundamentally such process was needed.

In short, the total amount of usable energy was functionally infinite, but by needing to go through several processes, everyone couldn’t get rid of the impression that it was a waste in the respect of instantaneous output amount.

It was like drawing out seawater from sea, but to use it first the seawater had to go through water filtration plant to turn to turn it into drinking water, then it had to be distributed to various household, flow out from faucet, being flavored to various individual’s palate, before the water finally got drank……the process was something like that.

「I’ve improved the artifact so the processes can be cleared as quickly as possible but, as long as tool is needed for the process, there’s a change that the tool might get destroyed just like what Ehito did.」

Of course, he was putting in countermeasure so such thing wouldn’t happen for the second time, but there was no absolute in this world. So therefore.

「Strengthening myself is essential.」

Those words were strangely filled with strength. The word “essential” also caused them to harbor a feeling of discomfort.

But, before anyone could bring that up,

「My bad if I shock you guys. I think I had mentioned that I used the “dragon vein” under the King Tree for it but, I didn’t explain enough huh. Maybe I was being too impatient……」

What do you mean? Yue and co tilted their head. Hajime’s face turned awkward while he confessed. The shocking truth.

「Actually I dived into the “dragon vein”.」

Hm? Yue and co tilted their head even more. For a moment, they didn’t get what he was saying.

And so, Hajime reworded his sentence.

「It’s like monk’s waterfall training but using “dragon vein” instead. I used Hour Crystal to extend time and placed myself in the flow of “willpower” inside “dragon vein” for a long period.」

「Haaaaaaaaaaaaa!? Nagumo-sama!? Just what in the world are you thinking!?」

The one who reacted first was Hinata. Diving into “dragon vein”……as an onmyouji she must know just how terrifying such act was better than anyone else.

The awe residing inside her gaze until just now dispersed, changing into the gaze of someone looking at an outrageous madman. Takehiko, Kiyotake, and also Hidzuki were also looking creeped out.

「That place is a great flow where “self” vanish……Nagumo-kun, how are you alive?」

「That place should swallow, no, melt your mind, flesh, and even your soul until all of you are assimilated and you can’t ever return back again though……」

「No wonder they called you demon god……right now, I’m feeling simultaneously the greatest fear and exasperation I hath ever felt in my whole life……」

Even the legendary oni god presented Hajime with her exasperation. Certainly, there was no doubting that this person was a hundred percent demon god.

In a manner of speaking it was like high-altitude training. By doing training in a location that put huge burden on the body, a human’s cardio-pulmonary function would become more efficient than when they lived in low-altitude.

Certainly, if someone did endurance training inside energy flow that could melt everything to nothing, far from just flesh body, even their soul would be strengthened. Perhaps this method could be called as the most efficient strengthening training.

But, it was an outrageous story for the family. After all Hajime was doing something that normally would be no different than committing suicide. The light vanished from everyone’s eyes.

「N-no, wait, you all. I properly told you all! Remember! That murder punch priest! Director Dime obtained that strength by bathing in willpower for many years. I told you all that I might be able to do the same! I also said that because of that I’ll ask the help of Laila of the King Tree and also Enti of the Treasure Tree to test it for a bit!」

Hajime desperately made excuse (?). His figure when like this was completely unthinkable compared to the existence who radiated such impossible presence just now.

Rather, perhaps he looked more like a dad who got found out by his family secretly having fun alone during holiday.

「……Muu. You certainly mentioned that.」

Yes, Hajime certainly said that. That was why, they all misunderstood.

Director Dime obtained that great strength by spending more than half century in a land with bountiful “willpower” that gushed out from the “dragon vein”. That was why, they had the impression that Hajime too would “test” whether he could strengthen himself with a similarly mild method.

「Besides, even I’m not an idiot. I put multiple layers of safety measures. In the first place the “willpower amount” of the “dragon vein” can be adjusted with the help of Laila and Enti. I also prepared artifact in case a one in a million worst-case scenario happen, and I only did the test after remodeling my flesh body with the application of apostleification theory and turning part of my body into artifact to increase my toughness.」

Of course, Yue and others weren’t someone who would fail to notice the physical change in Hajime. And they had also received explanation about that.

They also knew about him transforming the metal elements in his body into artifact, and changing a part of his skeletal structure into “god crystal”.

Certainly, Hajime wasn’t really doing anything dangerous that risked his life while hiding it from his family. They understood that.

But, that was that, this was this.

After all if this incident was described with terms that ordinary people could understand, it was like someone saying that they jumped into a pool of acid and there was no problem, because he was wearing protective suit and there were also people nearby who would pull him up just in case.

There was no changing the fact that it was a bone-chilling act. Yue and others now were wearing a really bitter expression.

Seeing that, Hajime once more keenly felt that he didn’t give them sufficient explanation. He knitted his eyebrows.

「My bad. ……I said this before but, I might be impatient. I was confident that with that training not only my body but even my soul can be strengthened. In that case, I should do it. I have to do it. I absolutely must……I think that kind of feeling of impatience that was like an obsession was driving me that time.」

「……Nn. I’m aware that Hajime was in such mood since the “dragon incident”. I too, ought to be more attentive.」

Yue too knitted her eyebrows with worry and placed her hand on Hajime’s chest. Shia and others also made similar expressions after what Yue said and snuggled close to Hajime.

「Ahaha……there was difference in how both sides regard the degree of danger isn’t it. This kind of thing happens often.」

At the edge of their sight the stain on the ground――or rather, “The Ones Who Follow” who turned into slime were starting to move, so they apparently remembered their current situation.

There were also the agents who couldn’t keep up with the talk, so Liliana clapped in order to change the atmosphere.

Remia then also followed along by creating a warm atmosphere to assist with Liliana’s effort.

「That’s true. And so, Yue-san, everyone. For now, how about we put the case this time in order first before holding a family meeting once more later on? After all there might still be more important things that Hajime-san has forgotten to tell us, right?」

「There’s really no need for another family meeting isn’t it? It’s not like I’m doing other dangerous thing……well there are many artifacts that I haven’t mentioned yet but……」

Hajime spoke with a wry smile, but Remia smiled sweetly at him. She was simply tilting her head adorably while smiling and saying 「My my」. That was all but……

「…………F-family meeting……let’s have another one」

Hajime was defeated. Yue gave Remia a thumb up for the good job.

In any case.

Apparently Hajime managed to obtained that stupidly absurd magic power due to the body remodeling that was him putting together the cream of the crops of all the techniques the current him could do, learning control over “willpower”, as well as securing the complete backup from two avatars of great trees. Only with those the insane training of “dragon vein bathing” became possible for the first time.

That was what Kousuke and Ryuutarou and others somehow managed to understand from that talk.

Kousuke smiled wryly and looked toward Hidzuki and others while saying 「See?」.

The strength of Hajime that was questioned at the fairy world. After witnessing a fragment of it with their own eyes, his gaze now looked like he wanted to say 「Now you understand what I tried to say right?」.

Rana muttered 「Fuh, as expected from boss」 with a smug face. Claudia and others were having twitching expressions, while Hidzuki said 「I give up」 with a shrug.

Meanwhile, the crawling “Those Who Follow” gathered in front of Hajime.

They didn’t take human form. It was as though they were saying that they wouldn’t move even an inch from there as long as they didn’t receive permission.

「A-aa, umm, can I say something?」

Sathla spoke up hesitantly. It was like she was observing Hajime’s mood. She too was apparently scared real good. She was still shaken up from learning that Hajime’s strength was outside the bounds of imagination.

Hajime’s expression instantly switched. There wasn’t even a shred of warmth in his expression. It was like the difference of heaven and earth compared to the face he showed to Yue and others.

Hajime only gazed at them wordlessly. Sathla straightened her collar before she spoke up for the slimes.

「I feel a will of submission from them. They will obey you fully.」

“Those Who Follow” who at first proposed a negotiation showed their “obedience” this time.

The basis of that was apparently them recognizing Hajime as “One They Ought to Follow”.

「I see. It looks like it’s not “telepathy” or “sorcery”, but pure “difference of strength” that is effective here.」

That was to say, his “strength” was enough to become a threat for their existence. That was the one thing that Hajime wanted to know the most.

After all, this was a battle where the compass’s detection ability was ineffective. What was effective and what was not effective, or perhaps only slightly effective. There was already the combat data from Kousuke but, the more information there was the better.

「Oi, among you guys, who were the one who attacked――Aiko, my bad.」

「Aa, yes, it’s fine.」

Even though she had gotten away from the iridescent colored slime and came to Hajime, that Hajime was now biding her completely with a dark grey liquid thing. Ama-san’s mental state right now could be easily guessed.

Her eyes that were stained with fear were telling the story more eloquently than anything. 「Even though I believed in you! You too aren’t human! It’s hopeless, today is truly my final dayyy~~」 Those eyes said.

Aiko-sensei, it’s your turn. Give her heart medical care!

Such thing was taking place but let’s set that aside.

「Who attacked her and captured her bodyguard demon several days ago?」

One “The One Who Follow” swelled up. Right after that something was ejected *Splosh* from its swelling part. It was a sight that greatly caused the urge to vomit so everyone averted their eyes.

――Gugee, ugogogoh

「So he’s still alive huh.」

「C-craapp. The iridescent colored slime spat out a mucus covered demon……」

「A winged slimy and sticky goblin……that’s the worst image.」

「The filthiest sight in this world is right before our eyes――oee-」

Ryuutarou hugged Suzu tightly again as though to say 「You mustn’t see!」. Atsushi covered his face with his hands, while Noboru vomited. Disgusting-, Yuuka and co yelled while hurriedly taking distance from him.

Hajime himself showed no sign of feeling perturbed.

「You guys’ re gonna answer some questions for me.」

Hajime tested “Telepathy” and sharing thought using Sathla as proxy while sometimes making a grave expression. Even so he continued the questioning.

The time that passed for that was perhaps around five minutes. Hajime sighed and shook his head.

「Very well. I’ll conclude that you guys weren’t hostile to us originally. And about the demons who you guys absorbed at first, well, I’ll overlook it too.」

He informed them that and gathered a part of the liquid metal on his hand. The sparking of transmutation magic surged and five fist-sized balls were formed. And then, each rode on the flows of liquid metal to be carried in front of the “Those Who Follow”.

They were the upgraded version of Mons*er Ball imitation that was often used for storing Grim Reaper. Their ability to bind and their destructive force to their inside for when it was necessary had been improved drastically.

「You guys can easily do something like increasing or decreasing your body volume right? Get inside. I’ll recognize your subservience with that.」

They must have somehow understood the danger of the metal balls. After all the demon god’s eyes were telling them very clearly, 「Do you have the resolve to give me the power over your life and death?」.

“Those Who Follow” jiggled from shivers for a moment, but perhaps they thought that hesitation would be taken as proof that they changed their mind and they touched the balls without hesitation.

Immediately crimson light shined and “Those Who Follow” vanished from getting sucked in.

The liquid metal moved once again and retrieved the metal balls by swallowing them.

「”Shoggoth”, gotta catch them all.」

Hajime-san said while smiling as he turned around.

Nobody laughed. The scene just now was plainly disgusting after all, and the feeling of awe from his presence just now must be still remaining, so Hajime intentionally tried making a joke but……it seemed to be no good. Embarrassing.

「I, I don’t wanna that kind of pokem*n~, just kidding.」

「A-apologize to Ditto~ nanoo~~」

Kousuke and Myuu did their best to give a tsukkomi. Priceless.

Hajime thanked them inside his heart while coughing to gloss over the situation. And then, he sat back on his chair, collected himself, and raised a finger.

「I’ve grasped the gist. I’ll share the information about what happened concisely following the chronological order.」

Kousuke and Agent J and others also straightened their expressions and sat back on their chairs.

The demon was urged by Hajime’s gaze and vanished into his shadow. Amai-san unexpectedly saw the demon off with an apologetic expression.

She managed to endure the shaving of her SAN point from witnessing the combination of iridescent colored slime X demon was perhaps because her relieve that her bodyguard demon won over. Or perhaps it was because of her guilt of running away at full speed by herself and leaving the demon behind.

Either way, there was no doubt that she was by nature a good person. The bodyguard demon might sensed that too and laughed Gegeh gratingly and gave a thumb up while sinking into Hajime’s shadow. Like a certain Termin*tor.

「Ah, the I’ll be back……there’s no need, yep.」

――GUGEH!?

The bodyguard demon got a bit sad.

Hajime smiled wryly at that series of exchange while looking around.

「First, I’ll share and confirm the premise information.」

「That’ll helps. After all it’s a flood of new information that my brain is rattling inside here.」

Kousuke said with a troubled look. Almost everyone in this place also nodded strongly. Their minds had kept gotten hit with shock. They all would be thankful if for now there was something that could soften the blow so they could calm down first.

「Things largely ought to be sorted into two. The Explorers and the Worshippers. And, the existence of the fictional mythos.」

Worshippers were those who worshipped the gods who were said to visit from the outer space. Their objective was largely divided into two depending on the organization or the person.

The zealots whose objective was simply worshipping and serving the gods from outer space.

And then, the people who wished to make use of the gods’ power and being in charge of their blessing.

「Richard is the latter I guess. Well, in his defense he’s being turned really fanatic because of the sorcery applied on him when he was born and the interference from the “gate of god”.」

「And, the objective of Richard and his friends is to have the “god of gate” bring them along to a new world. To be more accurate, it’s to escape from “this ruined world” right?」

Hajime nodded at Kousuke’s question.

「The Worshipper’s organization are as many as there are gods that they believe in. It looks like there’re also organizations and even gods who have perished throughout their long history.」

「……Nn~, was it the Explorer that achieved that? Like Amai or Sathla?」

「I’m not anything like that! I’m an ordinary person!」

The bus guide’s unwavering insistence was put aside. Sathla shook her head.

「The Explorers is certainly existence that stopped the Worshippers’ vicious crime. I myself had crushed several of their organizations in the past. But, the god is out of the question. Only another god can oppose a god.」

「You’re saying that there were conflicts between gods.」

Surely, a lot of people had gotten dragged into it. Rana’s expression became displeased, while Sathla nodded with a bitter expression. The truth of not few unexplainable mass disappearances and deathly incidents in history were exactly because of that.

「There are also people who can use sorcery among the Explorers and the Worshippers. The Explorers are like stray exorcist, but the Worshippers apparently use unique energy that is subtly different from magic power or willpower as the fuel. Most likely, it’s a power connected to the outer space gods.」

The existence of magician could be grasped by the compass. But, when the search was done over wide area they couldn’t be recognized as dangerous element was likely because of the influence of the outer space gods. It was only to some degree but, the energy must have concealing effect for them too.

「And, about the crucial so called outer space gods……」

The compass didn’t react against them. They fundamentally laid motionless in hiding and put the greatest importance in not standing out. They extended their influence to human and moved them as their pawn, and sometimes they would also secretly maneuver using mythological creatures like “Those Who Follow”, or created unique “tool with power” like the “book” directly or perhaps indirectly.

Where did something like them came from? What was their true identity?

There was no answer to those questions in Richard’s memory. Sathla had also asked “Those Who Follow” but unfortunately it was unclear.

But, based on Sathla’s experience, and the story that she heard from the lord who was her father, they were apparently not existence that could have proper communication.

Perhaps they ought to be called as existence that was like the embodiment of concept of madness of sorts.

Even the thought of them that was conveyed from “Those Who Follow” only conveyed obsession toward survival to a maddening degree and dread toward something. It must be because in the end they were nothing more than creation of outer space god.

The only thing that he understood was the objective of such beings.

「They are soul collecting existence that isn’t demon or apparition. They prophesized the destruction of the world and schemed to escape from this world using the souls they collected as energy……I guess, based on Richard and Sathla’s story.」

Hiding themselves until the day of ruin arrived, while single-mindedly gathering strength to go to the next world. That was the objective of the gods of outer space.

「To me, something like prophecy of the end of days are too many too count throughout history. I even think that perhaps it’s just an excuse they use to make humans collect souls for them.」(Sathla)

To begin with, although it was taking so much time that it would make normal human faint thinking about it, what the gods were doing was something like a mass killing.

Just like mentioned before a lot of humans got dragged into conflicts between gods or organizations. There were also cases where there were Worshippers behind the war between countries.

In that case.

「Aren’t they actually the one who will bring the destruction? It’s only natural to think like that right?」

「「「「「That’s true.」」」」」

Sathla shrugged her shoulders. Ryuutarou and others reflexively agreed with what she said.

In any case now they had shared the premise information. Hajime didn’t add anything to Sathla’s conjecture and got to the main subject.

「The spark that lit the fuse is the Christmas incident.」

Richard’s memory, Sathla’s information, the attacks that Kousuke’s group and Amai encountered……

Hajime looked around at empty air so that he could sort out his thought too while he began talking about the truth that connected the chain of incidents.

.

AN: Thank you very much for reading this every time.

Thank you very much too for the thoughts, opinions, and reports about misspelling and omitted words.

I’m sorry that the story doesn’t really progress but, this intermission will be until part 3 so mercy.

※Meme introduction

– Poking around brain matter with finger armor

From [Kaze no Stigma] & [Hunter X Hunter]. In [Kaze no Stigma] a glove was used. As expected cracking open the skull like in [Hunter X Hunter] would shave off the SAN parameter of everyone other than Amai-san too.

– It’s hopeleeess, today is the end for sureee

From Vegeta of [Dragon Ball Z: Broly – The Legendary Super Saiyan].

– Dit*o

From Ditto of [Pocket Monster].

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