CH 415

The points changed Seilook dramatically. Judging by the thoughts passed to me through our bond, Seilook is as, or maybe even more intelligent than a human.

Its dragon breath pierces the surface of the water behind the First Seat of Delusion, bringing a lot of it past its boiling point.

That creates a steam explosion.

“Kyah!”

“Uoh!”

The dragon breath is so bright, that even some seasoned warriors in the Admiral army scream.

Everyone alive gets down, as their instincts tell them to brace for the impact and heat that’s about to come.

But strangely enough, it doesn’t reach us here on the coast.

I look more closely, and see that where the dragon breath hit, something cylindrical is rising from the bottom of the sea and up towards the skies.

It’s a wall, given shape by the magic elements spread by Seilook as it flaps its wings.

“Is that Seilook’s shield?”

Whispers Taula as she looks at the pillar.

“Ah, yes. I guess increasing its intelligence with the points means Seilook can now use it like that. It looks like a chimney… No, the top is closed. So like, an incinerator? If it’s isolating the heat, and containing that expanding steam, then the temperature inside must be…”

I can’t even imagine how many degrees it must be in there. I’m sure the breath itself is much stronger too. It really shows that Seilook is serious.

But why there? Seilook told me to let it interpret the oracle, but…

Just as I’m asking myself this, the giant octopus body we thought was the First Seat of Delusion loses its strength and flops to the ground.

At the same time, the top part of the pillar rising from the sea opens, and slowly reveals what’s inside.

The bottom is shining red because of the high temperature. It’s like magma, but I also see the shape of a person there.

“『That is』『the real body』『of the First Seat of Delusion』”

Taula was speaking normally, but she’s now speaking the way she does when she performs an oracle. And this oracle is pretty direct too.

If that oracle is to be believed, that charred figure in the center of the pillar is the First Seat of Delusion’s real body. Now that I look at it more closely, I see thin and long things stretching from the octopus body and towards that figure in the sea, although they’re cut halfway through.

And that charred figure seems to still be alive.

In fact, it seems to be regenerating.

I see what looks like charred skin peeling off and falling, revealing something that has the same color as an octopus’ body below.

(Should I deliver the killing blow, Rust?)

Seilook? Yes, I can see from here that it’s regenerating. It’s dangerous to hold back now, so please do it. I’m surprised you figured out where it was from that oracle.

(It was easy to figure out it was in the sea with those hints. Then I tried to use the magic elements of the shield to look in the sea. I’m firing now.)

Says Seilook, sounding pretty proud of itself.

And then, another dragon breath is fired.

There’s a blinding flash of light, and this time the real body of the First Seat of Delusion is burned away without a trace.

A half-transparent plate appears in front of me, announcing the completion of the world quest.

At the same time, light rises from the sea where the First Seat of Delusion was, and what looks like the last points start flowing directly into Seilook. For some reason, Seilook’s body starts being dyed black.

World quest: Seven spokes supporting the wheel of fate.

Completed 7/7

The ancient will lying dormant in the sky.

Contractor’s ×%℃￥

Contractor’s devotion

Wisdom of dungeons

Blessings to those who go beyond logic – NEW!

Fulfillment of fate

Managed darkness.

Ruler of old blood

Then a noise reverberates all around me, and the world announcement that few could hear before is transmitted to every intelligent being.

World announcement.

『Congratulations on your completion of the world quest.

The one who received the blessings of the evil god, Seilook, has become a hero.

Confirmed the deaths of all the players.

Stopping all systems temporarily.

Transmitting the continue prompt to the hero Seilook.

Confirming.

Confirmed.

The hero Seilook has chosen to continue.

Entering summoning phase to continue.

Lifting the lockout on this world to summon players to be new demon king prospects.』

────────────────────

Then the ‘world’ twists.

────────────────────

It’s like an illusion. Like space itself is bending.

I hold my head while sitting on top of Hipopo, because it’s making me feel sick. It feels like my body is shaking.

Some faint as the world bends, some have anguished expressions, and then I hear a voice.

“I couldn’t stop it. The world will end. Eaten by…”

Zwei’s voice, painted with despair, echoes in this twisting world.

And then, from one of the torsos in the fake body of the First Seat of Delusion, emerges Zwei, as if bursting from its abdomen.

It has shrunk down to the size of the palm of my hand.

“Zwei… You were there… What is… This… What is… Going on…?”

Asks Kalin, who is closest to Zwei, while leaning on her big sword that’s stabbed into the sand. I’m impressed that she can even speak in this situation.

“Is that you, descendant of giants? It is as I said. Araysla.”

“The goddess Araysla?”

“The goddess Araysla, descendant of giants. The wall around this world has been lifted. The goddess Araysla has long since coveted this world from the outside. The evil goddess Araysla has been watching and waiting for an opportunity all this time. Once the wall was gone, that evil goddess would incarnate in one of her believers to whom she granted her divine protection, and…”

And then, Zwei’s body starts moving in the air, like something flung it away. It looks like even Zwei is caught off guard by it, as it stops mid sentence and has its eyes wide open.

Zwei grazes me as it flies past me, and an arm is stretched close to my face and grabs it.

『The talking homunculus? You will disappear right now.』

It’s the same voice as the oracle, but the person holding Zwei with a greedy and captivating smile, is Taula.