Chapter 318

They sank into grief.

“…We….”

They became gods while remaining human.

They extorted immortality by intimidating the Demon Queen.

That made it even more wretched.

They insisted on having it, believing that grasping such mighty power would solve everything, but it wasn’t so.

They thought there would be sacrifices for the great cause, but it wasn’t that either.

They were ignorant.

They were also arrogant.

That ignorance and arrogance manifested in a dreadful form.

It came as a calamity they could not possibly take responsibility for.

They had to face the fact that they might have exterminated humanity, or worse, driven them into eternal torment more terrible than that.

If they gave immortality to humanity but they don’t look like humans, if they don’t possess human minds, are they humanity?

The reality became despair from the moment philosophical debate became necessary to prove whether they were still human.

“…….”

Responsibility.

They had to take responsibility.

But how would they take responsibility?

They might have fundamentally destroyed humanity by transforming all of them into something that merely prolongs life eternally, so how could they possibly take responsibility for that?

“………….”

Six Man-Gods covered their faces.

Possessing mighty power, they suffered, not knowing what to do with themselves.

Especially Beila Beile, who was hugging the white snake Lacrosha even as he was bitten by her poisonous fangs.

However, only Cordisias, the ‘Last Emperor’, did not cover his face.

Even though he had a face darker than anyone else, he barely endured and looked up at the sky with his golden eyes.

“…Like us….”

Cordisias said.

He decided to fulfill his responsibility.

Even if it was a responsibility he could not fully bear.

“…There might be someone like us. Someone might have overcome it.”

…….

No one affirmed.

Cordisias’s words were terribly optimistic.

Still, there were no resentful gazes.

Because he had been a flawless leader until now.

Because they had deeply respected Cordisias.

“So….”

The ‘Last Emperor’ recited.

“…Let us travel all over the world and return here. For there might be even one like us.”

The Man-Gods nodded.

Beila Beile did the same.

Traces of dark red tears remained around his eyes.

Cordisias’s two eyes, having set a goal, flashed golden.

He was still sorrowful, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stand up again.

“Sen Sorti.”

“…Yes, Your Highness.”

“You stay here.”

“I cannot do that.”

The mage raised her head.

Her belly is bulging.

Because her delivery is not far off.

“Your Highness, I also….”

“No. Do your job, Mage. Waiting for us here is your job. This is an order.”

“……If it is an order.”

Sen Sorti couldn’t reply further.

She was still heavily pregnant.

The fruit of immortality might have affected the child in her womb.

This child was also Cordisias’s child.

She bit her lip and nodded.

“Your Highness.”

Debius intervened.

“Your Highness should also stay here.”

“I cannot do that.”

“No. Sen Sorti is not alone. Your Highness must be with her.”

Cordisias raised his eyebrows.

“She is a seven-star mage. Moreover, she has now taken the fruit of immortality too.”

“Also, she is Your Highness’s wife and carries Your Highness’s child.”

“……What are you trying to say, Debius.”

“Stay here.”

Cordisias’s gaze became sharper.

He examined the faces of the others. Debius, Caseptus, Hiraeum, Ahmena Eln Yade Asmir, Beila Beile…. Everyone was looking at Cordisias with the same heart.

They were strongly insisting that he guard the side of his heavily pregnant wife.

“…….”

Cordisias could not accept it.

He felt great responsibility for this entire situation.

The hardest and dirtiest work should be his share.

He couldn’t comfortably guard his wife’s side.

However, Debius was adamant, as if such a mindset was rather arrogance.

“There is a line we also cannot tolerate, Your Highness. You must be with Sen Sorti.”

“Are you saying you will go against me, Debius?”

“It means do your job.”

“…….”

Debius was in the form of a steel lion walking on two feet.

He spoke with a voice as tough as his appearance.

“We will go to that world.”

***

Sen Sorti and Cordisias.

The two Man-Gods remained in the Dimashq Wilderness.

It was originally the continent’s greatest granary, but due to the descent of the Undying Demon Queen Lefren, it ended up becoming a wasteland forever.

Five Man-Gods traveled all over the land.

Thoroughly in every nook and cranny, examining every human.

Seven days were enough. Because they had now become gods, not humans.

“Ahmena Eln Yade Asmir.”

“I have returned, Your Highness.”

“You are the last.”

“Because I went the farthest, to that eastern edge.”

“And you were wounded.”

Cordisias glanced at Ahmena Eln Yade Asmir.

She became a god thanks to the fruit of immortality.

Even considerable wounds healed instantly, yet she was limping now.

She was even bleeding from various parts of her body.

“I encountered Firmament’s Paternal Love.”

Firmament’s Paternal Love, the leader of the thirteen gods ruling this land.

Cordisias’s face hardened stiffly.

However, Ahmena spoke as if it was no big deal.

No, rather, she looked slightly pleased.

Didn’t she return alive like this even though she faced and fought the existence she feared so much before?

“What did he say?”

“They also seemed very bewildered. They asked what on earth happened to this world, why people all became like that.”

“Did you answer?”

“No.”

“Well done.”

Cordisias gestured with his chin.

“Everyone is gathered, so let’s hurry.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Ahmena is still called Cordisias Your Highness.

Even though their empire must have already disappeared.

The seven gathered. Lacrosha was in Beila Beile’s arms.

Beila managed not to be bitten by the snake. Whether he tamed her in the meantime or used some trick with the power of a Man-God was unknown.

Cordisias quietly opened his mouth in front of the forms of gods that were not human-like.

“It is a mysterious thing.”

He tapped his forehead, tuk, tuk.

“To think you examined the whole world thoroughly and returned in merely seven days. Isn’t it?”

“It is so, Your Highness. It is a mysterious thing.”

Caseptus answered.

He still showed loyalty towards Cordisias.

The others were the same.

They became gods, but they did not discard their loyalty towards their leader even a little.

“Then Caseptus. You speak first. Where did you go?”

“I examined the center of the continent.”

Caseptus is a giant with an eagle head.

Since his head is truly an eagle, he possessed eyes more outstanding than other Man-Gods.

Just by sweeping a glance with those sharp eyes, he could examine exactly how many villagers there were and what state they were in, one by one.

“Our Empire, and even every nook and cranny of the Imperial court, I searched them all without missing a single one.”

“So?”

Cordisias asked.

“Did you discover anyone like us?”

“…….”

Someone like them.

Those who maintain their reason without being eaten by the fruit of immortality.

He asked if there were any who retained even a trace of once being human, but Caseptus did not answer.

Despite that sharp loyalty, he had nothing to answer.

“Debius.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Where did you go?”

“I went to the south.”

The steel lion took the word.

He added that he rummaged through the dense and damp forests down south with his steel body.

“Did you discover, Debius?”

“…….”

Debius also could not answer.

In the wide south, not a single being worthy of being called human remained.

“Hiraeum went to the West, Ahmena to the East, and Beila to the North. Can I have expectations for you all?”

“““…….”””

There were three silences.

Cordisias didn’t even show signs of disappointment.

“Is that so?”

He felt suffocated by the massive responsibility.

“Is that so….”

The five Man-Gods who had looked around the world exchanged glances.

There was one thing Cordisias didn’t know.

Something not yet spoken, something they didn’t want to say but had to say.

Someone had to talk, but no one came forward easily.

However, Cordisias was cruelly quick-witted.

“It seems you all have something to say.”

“…….”

“Why do you hesitate so much? In this situation. Speak openly.”

They now had to put someone forward.

Gazes wandered lost before stopping at Caseptus.

He is the ‘Last Minister’.

If it was a matter of reporting to the Emperor, it was rightfully his share.

Caseptus tried to speak but couldn’t bring himself to.

He fiddled with his round glasses a couple of times and then pushed Hiraeum’s back.

Hiraeum narrowed his eyes in disbelief but stepped forward instead of Caseptus.

“Are you going to speak, Hiraeum?”

“……Your Highness.”

Hiraeum, the ‘Last Slave’, opened his mouth.

“…Forest….”

He decided to tell exactly what he had seen in the western lands.

“…There was a forest, Your Highness.”

“The West originally had many trees.”

“No. It’s not just that. On my way back, I met Caseptus in our capital. But even there, a forest….”

Hiraeum spat out each word painfully.

“…Our capital, the place where our people lived… trees, grass… were very lush. Greenery that seemed a thousand years old….”

“In merely seven days?”

“…Yes. Because they, those grass and trees are….”

In the eyes of a Man-God that pierce the soul, the true nature of those grass and trees was visible.

They looked like grass.

They looked like trees.

But, they were not grass and trees.

Then what are they?

“…They are our people.”

“…….”

Despite Cordisias’s silence, Hiraeum continued.

“Those in the form of animals like Lacrosha were very rare too. Most of them just, without a trace, like a single tree, a single blade of grass….”

“……Was there anyone who became like Lacrosha at least?”

“……That is.”

“Speak quickly.”

“One person, I saw exactly one person….”

Cordisias felt doubt at the expression ‘one person’ (using honorifics).

Hiraeum disliked honorifics because he had been a slave.

Yet there aren’t many he would call with honorifics.

At the following words, Cordisias widened his eyes.

“Our Majesty…. His Majesty the Emperor… had become a sheep with golden fleece….”

“…Father too.”

He covered his face.

He couldn’t bear to look up at the sky.

He never thought it would be this wretched and heavy on his heart.

Only after possessing power transcending humans did he realize his heart was still human.

“…No one….”

Muttering.

“…You mean there is no one?”

Cordisias lamented.

“Seven, you mean there are merely the seven of us…?”

“No, Your Highness.”

Sen Sorti said.

“There are eight.”

She stroked her belly.

There is movement inside the heavily pregnant belly.

Sen Sorti was certain.

That this child in the womb is still human.

Even if he might have been influenced by her immortality, the influence has not been revealed on the outside yet.

“There is Shion.”

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