Chapter 125: In a Twisted World (2)

When we exited the portal we arrived at a vast wilderness area. We had returned to the devastated world that we had just seen moments ago.

「I…I thought I was going to be swallowed by that thing…! 」

Celseus began to use the fine sand under his feet to wipe off the sticky liquid from his face and body.

「Hey, Celseus. What is the Underworld? 」

「I heard about it from Lady Isister a long time ago. The Underworld seems to be a unique world that acts as a bridge between the heavenly world and the devilishly world. But, I don’t know the details.」

「I wonder why the portal connected to the Underworld… 」

Suddenly, I remembered what Merseys said, “The long history of the Gods’ realm has ended today”.

「I…I’m going to summon the portal for one more time!! 」

I opened the portal to the Gods’ realm again to dispel my unpleasant feelings. However, when I opened the doors, I saw the dense fog spreading in front of us, and then…

「Where, where. 」

「That monster is still out there!! 」

I heard the voice of the tongue-licking monster and I immediately closed the portal. If that thing tried to lick Celseus’ face, then that thing would try to lick mine as well!

The Gods’ realm was no good. Therefore, I tried to open the portal to Exfolia, my hometown from when I was a human. But, I couldn’t. Apparently, I could only invoke the portal to two particular places, the Underworld and this devastated world. Summoning up, I could only use the portal for these two destinations to go back and forth.

「…Ah. What should we do. 」

I was worried about what to do next. Celseus spoke from behind.

「Hey, Lista. Where are you going? Why are you walking? 」

That was when I realized what I was doing. I was walking unconsciously while thinking about what to do. I felt a strange feeling.

「What…I wonder why. 」

When I first arrived here, I was so upset and distressed that I couldn’t understand it. But, if I thought deeply about it, I felt as if I came to this place before.

「I’m sure there is a town ahead of this way… 」

「How do you know that? 」

I couldn’t explain it. I just walked with my feet buried in the sand. After a while, Celseus glanced forward. We could see something in the distance that looked like a town.

「Ohh! Lista, you were absolutely right! 」

I was really surprised to see a town. My hunch was correct. However, I was disappointed when we arrived at the supposed town. Actually, the town had tattered shops and houses that were about to collapse. Everything was in ruins. It looked like the infamous ghost towns.

Celseus picked up the decayed sign from below his feet and muttered the following.

「A signboard, huh. It says “Edna Town”. 」

Hmm? Edna Town…I felt like I heard that name before…

「Li…Lista! Someone’s coming! 」

When I tried to recall where I heard that name, Celseus shouted aloud. A human figure approached us from the forefront. Still, that figure wasn’t a normal human being. It was a giant lizard dressed in an armor.

「What! Is that a bipedal lizard? 」

「It’s a dragon…! 」

I’ve saved over ten earthly worlds. But, the world where I saw dragon people remained just one. Yes, so far I’ve only received an S-rank difficulty world as a goddess. It was the world where I summoned Seiya for the first time.

「A “Dragon”! And “Edna Town”! I’ve remembered it! This is Geabrande! 」

「Geabrande? 」

「Seiya and I saved this world together! 」

The dragon person came closer to us. Yet, I knew that it wasn’t an enemy, so I remained calm. As expected, the dragon person bended his knees in front of me.

「How heavenly you are. Are you perhaps a goddess…? 」

「Eh, yes. That’s right. Ah, excuse me, but this world is Geabrande, am I right? 」

「You’re correct. 」

「I knew it! 」

I felt a little relieved knowing that I was in a place that I knew. It meant that the Rosgard Empire still had Rosalie, Mash and Elle. However, I noticed that Edna Town was clearly different from the time I visited this place.

「Sorry, but why is this town so devastated? Did a new monster appear? 」

「This town was the site of a battle that occurred ten years ago. It was a fierce battle waged between the Dragon Tribe and the Demon King’s army. Despite the numerous sacrifices from our side, the Demon King perished, and we won. The world has been saved.」

「…Ah? 」

This dragon man took credit for the victory even though Seiya and I were the ones who saved this world. Somehow, I got a little angry.

「Wait a second! The hero who defeated the Demon King was Ryuguuin Seiya!」

「Geabrande has never had a hero before. This is the first time a goddess has come.」

「Eh. 」

「Lord Dragonite, the Great God Dragon King, has defeated the Demon King and saved the world.」

「The Great God Dragon King…Dragonite…? 」

「After defeating the Demon King, the God Dragon King began his reign in Bahamtross, the sacred land of the Dragon Tribe. The Dragon Tribe rules Geabrande. Yeah, we succeeded thanks to the blessing of our Holy Angel…」

I couldn’t swallow this absurd story. Perhaps, this dragon was a bit crazy. First, Edna was a town of humans. It felt strange to see a dragon person here.

When I doubted this situation, I stared attentively at this dragon’s face and…I suddenly had a very bad feeling. Although he was smiling at me, I felt that something was off.

…This…This kind of development…It was similar to what happened to me before…!

Passing through my mind was the time when the Warlord Emperor invited me to the sacred cathedral and tried to kill me with the Chain Destruction. That’s right, something told me that this dragon’s heart…had “malice” inside.

When I stepped back, the dragon man took out a book from his chest. He opened that thick book with a red line inside.

「Chapter 6th of the Holy Angel Scriptures. It says, “In the future, a person who claims to be a hero or a goddess may appear. However, that person is the one who brings destruction upon us all. That person should be annihilated with the Chain Destruction.」

Abruptly, a lengthy sword appeared from the page of those scriptures as if it were a magic trick! The dragon man held that sword and swung it towards us!

*screams*

Celseus screamed, but I reacted immediately. I dodged the strike by pushing Celseus and myself down. The dragon man spoke pleasantly as if he were impressed.

「Oh. You have a good intuition. 」

「I…I’ve experienced this before! 」

「Still, those who deceive the hero and the goddess must die. 」

Then, the dragon man stared fixedly at Celseus with his cold reptile eyes.

「Are you the one proclaiming to be the hero? 」

「Wrong!! I’m the Swordsman God…No…I’m the owner of a cafe!! 」

I was surprised. Even if Celseus claimed to be a god rather than a hero, he would still be treated as an enemy, therefore, he tried to disguise himself as an outsider!? What a lack of will-power!!

Nevertheless, the dragon man showed his slippery torn tongue.

「Then, you shall die. “Cafe’s Hero”… 」

「I just told you that I was the “owner of a cafe”!! 」

「Calm down, Celseus! Unlike Exfolia, enemies shouldn’t be that strong in Geabrande! I’m sure that you’ll win if you fight!」

「I…I see! He isn’t that strong, huh! Let’s see… 」

Celseus seemed to be watching the status of this dragon man. I activated my clairvoyance ability as well.

Dragon

Level – 41

HP – 67842

MP – 0

Attack – 35515

Defense – 37489 …

「No!! This lizard is actually strong!! His stats are almost the same as mine!! 」

「Ehh! 」

I was also surprised. That status had a terrible ability value reminiscent of a beast in Exfolia. Bu…But, this was weird! How was this possible? This world was Geabrande!

This dragon was particularly strong. I didn’t understand why. Even if Celseus were a Swordsman God, no matter how strong he were, he wouldn’t know how to fight against a bipedal lizard, since this was the first time he encountered such an enemy.

「Anyway, I’m unarmed, and he’s got a weapon with the Chain power! Let’s run away! 」

「…I won’t let you escape. 」

The dragon man swung his sword high and jumped at Celseus! But, I managed to prepare a sandbag in advance and threw it on the dragon’s face. 「Ugh! 」, the dragon groaned. He crouched in pain because of the sand in his eyes.

「Let’s run now! Celseus! 」

「Ye…Yeah! 」

We ran through the deserted Edna Town. We were out of breath. Eventually, we entered the supposed center of this town. Collapsed buildings were densely packed. We hid behind one of those buildings.

「Ah, ah, ah, ah…! 」

While I took deep breaths, Celseus spoke to me with a surprised face.

「Lista! When did you prepare that sandbag? 」

「I prepared it when we walked on the sand before reaching this town. I picked it up and collected it on a bag. It was just a safe measure.」

「You…Somehow, you look kinda cautious. Right now, you resemble that hero.」

It seemed that I was a little cautious because I had been with Seiya for a long time. It ended up being contagious. Anyways, I heard the echoing of the dragon’s angry voice at the distance.

「Bastards! You damned evil spirits! Where are you hiding? We, the Holy Angel Sect, won’t yield to the demons’ greed nor will we accept those who deceive the hero!」

「Holy Angel Sect? I don’t understand anything anymore! 」

I could see from the shade that the number of dragons had increased to three.

…He…He had comrades here!?

However, they couldn’t find us because of the many tattered buildings in this area.

The dragons walked in the opposite direction.

「They went that way. Phew…We’re safe for now. 」

「How are we safe!! What the hell is wrong with this dangerous world!! You lied!! You didn’t save this world!!」

「I didn’t lie! I really saved this word! But, this is… 」

Did we go back in time? To the time before Seiya and I saved Geabrande? Or rather, did we go forward in time? No, it can’t be…This was something else…!

「He…Hey, Lista! There are dragons over there too! 」

Celseus whispered nervously. When I turned around, I saw a walking dragon person wearing hemp clothes, unlike the previous one who was dressed in armor.

「You must be kidding! There are so many types of them here! 」

「This is bad! Let’s go, Lista! In one way or another, we’ll have to sprint out of this town!」

「Ye…Yes…No, wait a moment. 」

I wanted to escape from this dangerous place straightaway. However, I’ve been thinking a lot about it. What Seiya would do if he were on this situation?

「…That dragon informed his comrades that we are hiding in this town. They will find us if we try to jump out of here right now. Let’s hide here for a while and see how it goes.」

「Are…Are you sure that we’re going to be all right? 」

「That building over there looks like it’s uninhabited. Let’s go inside. 」

We entered a nearby abandoned house. After I closed the door slowly, I crouched under the window. I did this so that I could look at the outside situation.

「Ugh… 」

Celseus rumbled behind me.

「Wha…What’s wrong? Did you get hurt? 」

「No. I have migraines because of repeated tension and stress. I want to go home and eat my Petit Pancakes….」

「Geez!! I can’t rely on you for anything!! 」

Ah, c’mon! I couldn’t leave this to Celseus! I’d have to fight on my own when the time comes!

I made another sandbag from fine sand. When I tried to put the sandbag in my chest as a precaution, a piece of paper fell to the floor. It was the heroes’ summoning list with Seiya’s name on it.

The moment I picked up the list in a hurry, I opened my eyes wide. New characters appeared at the bottom of the summoning list. They were glowing in gold.

『S-rank difficulty world or higher confirmed for a salvation quest. You can summon Ryuguuin Seiya now.』

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Ohhhhh, the moment lista was waiting for!

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