The God Hachiman of Rhozgelia

by Ivanov117

From across time, space and our universe itself, something pulled Hachiman away from his world, something powerful that needed his help. He wakes up in an unfamiliar room, naked and with no memory. A woman enters, saying things such as Gods and Divines, a terrible war between factions, the Black Void, his alternate selves, his duty as a Patron God and that he is her God and Master.

9. Well, That Wasn't a Pro Gamer Move

Part 8

The God Hachiman of Rhozgelia

"Well, That Wasn't a Pro Gamer Move"

---

Ah… The Sun.

A gigantic ball of fire and gas, burning away its life at every single moment. Past the two moons of this world and the celestial prisons that orbit them, I do not truly know how far away it is. Most of the denizens here in the continent worship a God who they believe to be a manifestation of the Sun. And that, in turn, creates a hierarchy among the Divines who are associated with it. I am one of them. We used to have a Council that oversees such matters, but that collapsed during the war. With most of my Kin gone and the others going into hiding, I am the de facto deity who has the highest Authority over it. As such, I feel much stronger in the daytime.

And that in turn grants me special abilities.

The wind feels nice against my face, but the result is my hair being quite a mess from the sudden gusts. The upper portion of my robes that were supposed to cover my top hang lazily by my waist, flapping against the strong breeze that helps the ship fly forwards. If the wind is coming from a different direction, the sails automatically retract as the openings on the masts store them on the inside. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, taking in the sunlight and shutting off anything that can disturb my meditation. Though I cannot sweat like a normal human being, I do feel a bit of warmth on my skin after basking here for several hours.

High-level creatures such as those under my employ have innate magical capabilities: Liz can breathe fire and make her blood boil; Asha the Roc can funnel magical energy into her wings to give her a boost and Suu the Slime can somewhat shapeshift and take the form of a human for instance. They gain it by basking under the Sun and consuming other creatures that also have magical energy. For those underground, they usually stay near enchanted mineral ores in volcanic regions.

Taking those things as an inspiration, I modified this body to do something akin to plants. By absorbing sunlight and replacing the bodily functions that occur in a human after it, I instead changed it to convert it into magical energy. Such a thing would not be possible in my former whole and complete Divine Core. It is only made imaginable because of the mortal soul that I possess.

It is ironic. A God's Divine Core, which also serves as their Magical Reactor is like an indestructible slab of marble. It can't be changed into a piece of art no matter what you do. But thanks to my current state, it is more malleable and flexible, able to changed and modified however I see fit. Although my magical reserves are still quite incomprehensibly massive, it doesn't hurt to store as much as I can. Since Mai is not within me, it creates a slight imbalance that can be offset by doing the earlier mentioned.

"Genji-saaaaaaaaaaaaaan!"

I hear my name being called and look down below to where the others on the deck are. As I am standing on the highest mast on the tips of my toes, they are quite small from my point of view.

Yes… Genji. That's my current and temporary alias. Sometimes, I forget it.

Black metallic bracers materialize on my hands that have red and gold overlapping lines crisscrossing them. Numerous tiny inscriptions are embedded on it, along with Runes, Incantations, Curses, Limiters, Seals, Regulators, and Mystic Codes. I take and place two on each of my legs, my arms, and one around my neck. If I were to lose control like what happened three days ago, I doubt this body would handle such a thing. It would most likely crack, before shattering and exploding violently, destroying my mortal core and the soul of my other Self. Although I and the other Divine that lives within me will be unscathed, the Young One would die and disappear forever.

To prevent such a thing from happening, I created these as a way to at least slowdown and stop myself from going too far.

I also wore small earrings of the same material and two rings and bracelets on each hand that served the same function and purpose. One can never be too careful after all. When I showed these to Rushia last night, she said that I look too flashy and rich as I wore my new robe-like clothes. The Young Hachiman said that this is called a "Kimono" or a "Yukata", traditional wear of sorts. I also made this last night on his request and direction, saying that he feels rather homesick, and seeing something familiar would make him feel better.

I offered to switch places with him earlier today if he so wanted. Since my current Divinity is dulled, he won't feel as overwhelmed and out of control unlike many times before. But to my surprise, he declined. He is currently reading a book that he borrowed from me in a room that he envisioned after his very own private quarters on our other Earth. I sometimes see him alter his World from time to time, like when he first arrived here and met Mai for the first time. But most often than not, he immerses himself either in his World or in my Treasury.

I took off that uncomfortable Hunter's garb, as well as Rushia's, and bought her more comfortable clothes at her request. We took the same color scheme when we were still traveling in the wilderness together: mine is red, black, and gold, while hers is black and green.

I feel many sharp and thin spikes pierce and go under my skin, but something like this isn't a cause for concern. For them to work properly, they need to go under the first few layers and connect with the magical circuits that run in my body. Something like this isn't normally possible, and it's only because I dulled down my Divinity by tapping into my Mortal Core that belonged to the Young Hachiman. As such, I'm more of a demigod right now instead of a full-fledged one. Several seconds later, numerous red lines appear under the bracers and start running through my body, connecting and glowing and pulsing right after. All of the lines connect and form a circle right at the center of my chest. I cannot do it to my Foreign Divine Core since with him being a Foreigner, its effects are most likely faulty and might even have an unforeseen negative reaction. It hums quietly, before completely disappearing moments later.

The Laws that govern this Earth, and my other home beyond the stars are quite different, as what The Great Bodhisattva Hachiman that resides in me said. Last night, he mumbled something about being "Forcefully taken from the Throne of Heroes.", and that "The other Shinto Gods are probably wondering where he went."

He said so in the depth of my psyche, a place where the three of us can converse. The Young Hachiman pushed and begged him to tell us more, but my fellow God refused to say anything else. Instead, he retreated into his Reality, mountainous land with tall trees, waterfalls, and marvelous Temples dedicated to his name. Thanks to our partially shared memories, that place was somewhere in his home country called "Japan".

He has no idea what our other counterpart means, which is to be expected. He is just a mortal young boy after all. Insignificant, I daresay. Even though some of his traits were converted and manifested as a skill when he merged with that God, a regular and uninteresting mortal can only have so much. Our Mystic Eyes, for instance, is an example of one such skill. It seems that in his childhood, he was ostracized by his fellows for the appearance of his eyes for many years up to the present. And that is what caused him to acquire it upon coming to this world. It's not a trait, more like an extremely high-level Curse, a rank in which I have never seen anyone possess before. One capable of piercing the very soul and mind of a target, learning their secrets, strengths, and weaknesses. Laying bare everything that can be. I daresay that if used on a normal person, instant death is guaranteed. Its most powerful ability would be being able to slow my perception of time until it almost feels as if time itself has stopped.

As a God, my reflexes are already, well, God-like for the lack of a better word. From a mortal's perspective, two Gods fighting in the sky must look like flashes and beams of light flying here and there at impossible speeds with bolts of lightning being thrown and colossal tornadoes being raised. And that is from a faraway distance. How much more if they were closer? A mortal's eyes could only perceive us as a blur of Divine energy made manifest. Worst case scenario is that they will turn to dust if they get too close.

I can recall many instances when collateral damage occurred in the past.

As to what that other Japanese God exactly means, I guess we will have to wait and see until he decides to open up.

I nod and jump down, avoiding the other masts, and sails my way. It would be bad if I accidentally break them after all. The deck comes closer and closer and I angle myself feet-first. Just before I make contact with the ground, I stop myself using the golden strings that have appeared from my fingertips. The strings stop my fall and form a staircase suspended in midair connected by the masts and wooden poles around. I look down on the two people who had watched me with fascination while fixing and putting on my robes over my upper body.

"Captain. You called?" I ask as a pair of similarly heterochronic eyes gaze into my ones. The half-elf flanks her side. The air that she gives off is that of disapproval. Most likely because I do this kind of thing every morning and ending at midday.

The Captain nods and points towards the front of the ship, although I can't quite see it because of her loose sleeves. "Darkness-san's shift is almost done. Go over to her so she can rest for today. Also, Pekora is in the kitchen and just finished cooking up lunch. So, make sure to eat up before joining Megumin-san!"

I return a nod of acknowledgment just as I finished dressing properly. The Half-Elf stares hard at my chest and then narrows her eyes to the bracers that are visible on my wrist.

"What are those things?" She asks in a neutral voice.

"These?" I raise my arm and show them. The black metal does not reflect the sunlight, it looks like it absorbs it instead as if it were a void of pure nothingness. And if you look closer, the tiny inscriptions are ever-changing.

"Just bracers and supporting aesthetics," I reply. The Captain nods and says that it compliments my eyes and hair perfectly. We talk for a little while, exchanging pleasantries, but the Half-Elf still looks at me suspiciously. She gives me another overall look, before speaking again. I have a feeling that Hoshou Marine is aware of her friend's rather unfriendly aura towards me, but she chooses to ignore it.

"Tell me, why do you do that every morning? Basking under the Sun, I mean." She asks and crosses her arms over her chest and switching her balance to her other leg as well. Her long Elven ears twitch, a negative gesture showing wariness to something.

"Yeah, Genji-san. You're pale and yet you don't get a tan or go red." The Captain says, tilting her head to the side and looking at me curiously. I do not sense any malice coming from here, just pure and innocent curiosity.

"Oh, just a little meditation and prayers during the day. I am a devout follower of the Mother Goddess and the Divinity of the Sun." I reply to the Half-Elf, before turning to the Captain. "As for your question… I was just born like this."

I grab the insides of the robes under my neck and show them my necklace which held the white-gold eight-petalled lotus flower gem. Unlike the metal on my wrist, it glinted and reflected the sunlight that shone on it. Its eight petals made it even more beautiful to look at since the aftereffect is eight rays, with a single round one in the middle.

"I even have the Patron God's necklace."

Their eyes go wide, more so the Captain's who takes a step closer to me.

"Oi-! Uuuuuuoooooooooooooooooooohhhhh!" She screams excitedly with her feet tapping the floor in response. If I try hard enough, I can literally hear her heart start to palpitate from the inside, threatening to burst from her chest at any moment. Her heterochronic eyes also dilate upon seeing my necklace, like a starved person seeing food and drink for the first time in weeks. Without warning, she leaps at me with her face literally on my neck in no time... And the comically large pirate hat on her head falls beside her black boots. I feel that she is literally moments away from taking the necklace and yanking it out from me.

Forcefully, if I may add.

"That's-! CAN I-?! CAN I SEE IT?!"

I look to the Half-Elf, and she gives me an apologetic look as the Captain starts violently shaking me. It's the first time that she has given me an expression aside from distrust and wariness. She puts a hand on her Captain's shoulders. "Marine… Stop doing that, it's rude…"

Her words cause the Captain to go back to her senses, and she takes a step back and gives me an apologetic bow. "Ehehe… Sorry about that!" Seeing that no there is no harm in doing it, I shrug off her apology and silently hand her my necklace. And I am quite curious as to the reason behind her earlier reaction as well.

"Well, here then…"

She stops and stares at me as if mishearing what I just said.

"I'm sorry?"

I nudge my outstretched hand towards her. "You said you wanted to see it, right? Then by all means." I could not help but arch my brow in confusion at her rather extreme change in demeanor. It is just a simple necklace, blessed and imbued with my blessing by the High Priestess in the Capital. Nearly all citizens of this Kingdom had one, or at least a blessed ring or bracelet.

So, I do not quite understand what all the fuss about…

The Captain slowly reaches out with her shaky hands after rolling up her long sleeves. She takes her sweet time, dramatizing every single second of it. I sigh and step forward, taking both of her hands and placing the necklace on her soft palm.

"Eep-!" She makes a small sound upon the contact but doesn't cringe nor move away.

"There," I say, but I may as well have been talking to a boulder since her attention was fully focused on the thing in her hands. Her eyes shone with child-like wonder with her mouth slightly agape, opening and closing as she mumbled indiscernible words under her breath.

Her friend beside her narrows her eyes at me, and then goes near her to inspect the jewel as well. The Captain raises it towards the sky as if appraising and confirming its quality. It is a genuine piece, straight from my Treasury after I dug through its endless halls for an entire day. Take note that time flows very slowly in my pocket dimension when compared to the outside world. Although my control over it is still a bit loose because Mai is not with me, twenty-four hours spent inside in my World is roughly an hour or even less on the outside. That is if I try it with every fiber of my being. But with how fragile my vessel is, I doubt I can do that without severe repercussions.

Several moments pass by before she starts speaking once again.

"This…" She says with a low and shaky voice, her red hair covering her eyes and left hand clenched tightly. The Half-Elf gulps at her Captain's words and the both of us wait for her to continue.

"This… IT'S THE REAL THING!" She screams and starts cackling like a madwoman, raising her left hand towards the sky in victory, while violently stomping the floor. To make matters worse, she takes the pistol, holstered on her hip. The firearm's handle briefly glows as it links with her magical circuits, before being set off with a loud bang. A bullet, with a red trail flowing from it like a comet, launches itself from the barrel and disappears into the sky.

-The Half-Elf's hand glows, and I sense a slight rise in her magical energy being directed at her Captain. The heterochronic redheaded girl suddenly stiffens, and then it looked as if a jolt literally ran up her spine as she shrieked in surprise. Well, it is not really a metaphor since it did actually happen.

"Ah! Flaaaaaaare!" She says and turns to her crewmate after putting back her gun on the leather strap fastened on her hip. The necklace that I lent her is still in her hand, protectively clutching it to her chest as if it is the most important thing in the world. "I told you not to do that!"

The other girl's eye twitches in response. "You're always so trigger happy! What is your habit of shooting at the air anyway!? I swear you're gonna hurt someone one of these days!"

"But I haven't yet, did I?!"

The two friends start to bicker and argue in front of me, and soon, they are pulling on each other's cheeks. Although it makes for quite an amusing sight, they are not quite fighting in a sense. Just the usual harmless and fun banter between friends.

I make the fallen hat fly to my hand, and start patting away any dust that had come on it. From behind me, I hear the sounds of flapping wings and turn to see a group of birds flying right beside us. Rather large migratory birds, with a wingspan of around two and a half meters. I start walking towards them until I shortly arrived on the side of the ship. The ground was very far below us, hills with patches of woodland dotted the landscape as far as the eye can see with a river snaking its way in between the mounds. On one of the hills lies the remains of a Rhozgelian battlecruiser, its hull broken and open to the elements as vegetation had already begun to cover it. The prominent fin-like protrusions on its oblong-shaped body that stabilizes it in flight make it look like a creature in the eyes of the unattuned. As for the metal bird-like wings that were at its sides, all that remained were rusted broken beams and supports that collapsed long ago.

Hm… I wonder if…

We soon outfly the birds and some of the lands on the wooden masts above. A sudden gust of wind sways our vessel to the left, and I hear a yelp of a surprise coming from the two girls behind me. I turn to see them hastily covering their skirts against the wind. I ignore them and call the Captain.

"Captain Houshou Marine. I have a question." I say and sit on the edge of the ship while crossing my legs. With nothing but the ground far below me, they instinctively cry out lest I fall. But their fears are unfounded, I can fly after all. One of the smaller birds must have sensed my welcoming aura flies onto my lap, and I start caressing its soft and pure white feathers. Two others arrive and stay on each of my shoulders.

The birds around me may serve as a distraction, but I continue nonetheless. "What is it with that necklace that made you…extremely enthusiastic, earlier?" I ask after taking a moment of choosing my words.

"Oh! I see!" She says and nods enthusiastically, "This jeweled pendant from this land's Patron God is quite rare these days, after the war two hundred years ago."

I arch my brow and press her on for answers. "Ah, and why would that be?"

The Captain stops with a slight frown on her face, she turns to the Half-Elf who shares the same expression as her.

"You didn't know? After this land was overrun and the government collapsed, some groups started going around blaming their God for abandoning them. They gained quite a following, and harassed, and even killed many loyalists for many years. I heard that it was quite dangerous to wear any of that God's holy relics, even the Temples were raided. So those still faithful either moved to other friendly towns and cities or just hid their precious items altogether."

Her friend continues after she stops. I think she would like to speak about this topic in a more detailed fashion.

"Yeah, that's what my Father's grandparents went through. The country was diagonally split into two, with the loyalists occupying the northern half. It was further fractured into smaller city-states as petty feuds and disagreements rose among the Lords. My Great-Grandfather was there when a beam of light shone from the Central Temple at The Capital. Chaos and disarray started to spread in the city when they found out that their God, along with the highest-ranked people in it was gone. It was only thanks to the command of the few remaining Generals, along with the timely arrival of the Dark Elven fleet were able to survive. It was also in that fleet where my Great-Grandfather met his future wife…"

Hmm, I see. So she is from this land. I thought that she is from the Dark Elven Dominions to the east. Their God, Märanur, is one of my siblings who I held very dear. Before he fell to our rebellious Kin, he gave me all his remaining Authority to watch over the people in his care. Aside from that, I also inherited the imprisoned Divine Beasts in his charge. Once I reorganize this Kingdom, I will have to travel to the East.

They both look at me with confusion, and The Captain speaks first. "Genji-san, this is common knowledge. Literally, everyone on the continent knows this, at least that's what I think. Why don't you?"

I wave my hand in a gesture to ease their suspicions, all the while trying to process the new information that I just learned. "I am a Foreigner."

This time, it was Shiranui Flare who asks further. "Where do you come from?"

I make a narrow smile and look up to the sky. "Somewhere very very far. So far, that you won't even believe me."

They do not look convinced as they both put their arms across their chests at the same time. I cannot blame them really, from their perspective and from the very particular type of magic that I showed so far, I am a strange person. Add that to the fact that I rarely speak to them and am slightly cold and aloof. It would be understandable for them to feel suspicious of me, otherwise, it would show their incompetence and carelessness. Anti-Privateer groups by the admiralty exist for that reason after all. I sense another slight spike in magical energy from the Half-Elf. It only took a second, but I confirmed it after I recognized its wavelength and signature.

She is deploying a low-frequency spell, one that analyzes my psyche to see if I am lying.

I can completely mask myself but that would fuel her distrust even more. But if she looks into me too deeply, it might lay bare my Core. The least that could happen is her vomiting and fainting from the sheer incomprehensibly massive spiritual and magical pressure that I have.

The worst is…well…

Turning and fading into dust or her body collapsing into itself before exploding in a gruesome show of red. And those are just the common results, I cannot even begin to imagine what my other less kind siblings have done in the past.

I raise my hand, it catches their attention and they wait for me to speak. Her spell is almost ready, around a few more seconds of concentration I wager.

"Anyway, back to the topic about the necklace." Thankfully, the Captain's eyes sparkle once more at my words, "It seems that you are very interested in it."

"That I am! Tell me, is this for sale?" She asks enthusiastically.

I make a slight frown, once again confused at her. "Holy Relics are not meant to be sold. They are freely given in the Temples…"

The Captain puts a hand on her hip and waddles her finger at me with a large smirk. "Yeah but that was BEFORE! Now that it's very rare and can't be made, because the God here is gone and all that. And it's worth very much in the Market too. Even though we're in Loyalist territory, it's always in demand, and buyers will pay large sums for a genuine piece! Why I've only touched two so far in my life!" She says and raises the thing for me to see. "This makes it the third!"

The Half-Elf and I make eye contact, and she clears her throat before speaking reluctantly.

"In the village town where I grew up, only very few have that necklace. My Mother has one, and I'll inherit it from her once I get older. It's very highly valued, that's for sure. Almost like a symbol of status and wealth. Sadly, it has lost its meaning among several of the Nobles and Elites. And that in turn was mimicked by those among the lower social classes. If my Great-Grandfather were to see this, I'd bet that he'd be furious." Shiranui Flare finishes while scanning my face for any reaction.

Good grief, how vexing. I was gone for only two centuries and now these insects are treating my Relics as…a commodity…? It looks like you can never leave these children alone for long. For the nearly eight millennia after I have observed and watched over them, they have grown so little. It almost feels like I failed as their Patron God. My siblings felt the same in the last great Council before the war. Two centuries is only a blink to me.

Who would have known, that just several decades after, we would be at each other's throats: Our side seeking to maintain Mother's Divine Law, while the others wanted to separate their Cores from her and become an entirely new and independent Divine Spirit. They sought to pierce through the outer shield of this world, travel through the stars and the Void itself to become just like Mother: becoming a Divinity that can span an entire world and capable of creating life.

How stupid. There is no proof that Mother was just like that eons ago.

The bird that I was holding looks up at me upon sensing my slight displeasure.

I shake off my current thoughts. They can wait for now.

"What about the Temples? Are they still maintained?" I ask.

"Yeah, most of them are still in good condition. At least from the Cities and Towns that I've been to. Though once you enter the Separatist's territory, I'm sure all the former Temples have been burned down long ago." The Captain replies with a nod and an arched brow, very much surprised at my question.

I look back down to the ground far below us. Particularly, at the remains of the Rhozgelian Battlecruiser.

"Captain, I have a proposition…"

My words cause an interested grin to form on her face, while the other girl sighs. The redhead steps closer to me and the birds fly away to the masts above once she gets near. I reach out my hand to return her hat, to which she gives her thanks and puts it back on. "Hoh, and here I had a feeling that you won't bring this up. Whatever you're gonna say, I'm all ears!"

I get off the edge and point at the fallen ship situated on top of the green hills that dot the grassy plains. Shiranui Flare also comes to us to see what exactly I was pointing at.

"I want you to land this ship right beside there."

She blinks several times and soon makes a difficult expression while putting her hand over her hat to make sure that it won't fly off with the wind once more. "What? Aside from the fact that we're already two days behind schedule, why would you want to go down there anyway?"

"I'm looking for its Magical Energy Core. You know, the one that powers it." I say. The two ships in my Treasury lack one, to my disappointment. If I am to make them fly again, I need to acquire one, or at least something similar. If Mai were here, I can just make her build it herself, assuming that I have a book stored there about shipbuilding…

Good grief, even I don't know the things that I have stored in my Treasury. Mai is the one who catalogs and places them in their right places. My Kin did not label me as "The Treasurer of The Heavens" for nothing. I am very proud of this special ability of mine, no other Divine can create their own pocket dimensions after all.

Although I was called "The Divine Hoarder" some millennium ago or something…

"That's unlikely…" Shiranui Flare speaks and we both turn to her, "That thing looks like it's been lying there for a long while, I doubt you can find what you're looking for in there. Add that to the fact that it may have already been salvaged for parts long ago…"

"That may be so, but it won't hurt to check just in case. The place looks quite remote, not to mention that there are no visible roads for many leagues." I gesture my arm towards the surrounding landscape to emphasize my point, "I doubt travelers go this way since there are more accessible roads and paths that go around this region, no?"

The Half-Elf scrunches up her face in thought and scratches her head. "Yeah but…" She tries to speak again but finds it difficult to convey her words properly. I turn to the Captain, even if her subordinate may disagree, she is still the Captain of this vessel.

"So, what say you?"

---

I sensed his presence before he even materialized in my room. A light blinking into existence before forming into a human-shaped figure.

"Child." His voice was calm and strangely soothing. Very similar to my own and yet, each word that he spoke held wisdom and had a weight to it. Sometimes, it reverberates into the depths of my soul, as if swallowing me from the inside. Truly, it was a voice from a God: One of the Divine beings of this world.

I close the book that I was reading and turn around to see my other Self hovering over the bed. Aside from his golden eyes in which raw Divinity flowed into the "air" itself, we look exactly the same. The Kimono and Haori that he made upon my request suited him perfectly. It was pure white, with eight bands of red light coming from a red sun on the back, and violet chrysanthemum flower designs on the lower part.

"Yo, you need me for something?" I ask, even though I know what he is about to say. We are part of the same whole anyway, I can read his thoughts, and he can read mine. At least to a certain extent.

Instead of speaking, he hovers down until his bare feet were centimeters from the ground, and starts checking out my room. He inspects my shelves filled with books and toys, my wardrobe and even picks up some pictures that I have on my table. I quietly study him, and sometimes he hums something under his breath. The Gundam that I have piqued his curiosity, and he slowly floats to his hand while turning it upside down, inspecting it thoroughly.

"What is this…? A…toy? A miniature statue of your God…?" He asks.

"That's a toy. It's from a TV show."

He blinks twice. He obviously doesn't know what it is, so I decided to explain it to him.

"It's like a play that's recorded using a device similar to those Holo-Recorder things. It has a story and actors, and it can also be based on fiction or real life."

The God nods. "Fascinating… The Rhozgelians never used it this way. Nor did any other nation in the continent, as far as I am aware. So, what is this exactly?" He holds up the Gundam hovering over his palm for me to see.

"It's called a Gundam. Like a…a humanoid mechanical construct that can be piloted from the inside." Interestingly, he starts asking more about it, and I answered to the best of my ability. I offered him a seat, but he declined and just crossed his legs and sat in midair. We spoke about trivial things about my world for quite a while, perhaps several hours. Perhaps even days. It felt so long, and yet it went by with just a single snap of your finger. The food that I ate, my culture and country, my everyday life, my likes, and dislikes, what I did to pass the time, and so on and so forth. I didn't feel tired, sleepy, or any of that. Our conversation was quite long and I don't know how long time has passed on the outside world.

We are in my own Reality in our shared consciousness after all.

The God stares deeply into my eyes, before taking in a deep breath and sighing.

My Reality crumbles, everything is brushed away as if they were leaves going with the wind. Several seconds later, the ground and walls disappeared until all that remained were blank whites in every direction. We had nothing to base our sense of depth and height from, nor did we even have something as simple as a shadow. Patches start appearing in our vision like a painting turned into a puzzle. Parts started forming here and there, connecting, elongating, expanding until we appeared in a different place.

It was His room, the place where I first arrived and where I met Mai for the first time. Everything had a regal air to it: the white walls, the different sorts of weapons and armor that were displayed and floated above, the jeweled tables and chairs, as well as the King-sized bed where Mai and I crashed together when I was still practicing flying on my own.

I find myself seated on one of the ridiculously extravagant chairs. I didn't so much as move, they materialized and adjusted themselves automatically for me. In front of us were all kinds of food and drink, so many that I can't even name all of them, much less describe them in detail. While I am here, I don't need food and drink, though I can eat as much as I can. I don't really know what happens when my belly is full of it, it just disappears on its own, or I can just will it to do so.

The God stands to my left, facing a fireplace and his back to me. On the window I see a blizzard going on outside, though I know that it's just an illusion. A literal fragment of our imagination made alive. While I am here, literally anything I can think of becomes a reality.

LITERALLY.

A snap of my fingers, and I am racing, riding a Tyrannosaurus wearing a giant Kimono, while the other contestants rode other mythical creatures in a stadium as large as the planet itself.

Going under the depths of the sea inside a submarine that I named The Cyclops, to explore untold wonders and discover creatures that have never been identified before.

I can create an armor of alien technology, go into hell itself and start killing demons and hellspawn for all eternity.

Even going into space and engaging in massive fleet battles is possible.

Everything and anything is possible here. Why I can even make my own harem of maid loli nekogir-

"Child."

The God speaks again, and this time, much louder that the entire place shook. I gulp and turn to him.

"Y-Yeah…?"

The Kimono that he's wearing suddenly glows, and is replaced by his usual flowing and elegant black and red robes. A long golden thin scarf also appears as it floats around him and its movements looked as if it was underwater. It fitted him very well, I know since I wore that same article of clothing for some time before his consciousness resurfaced.

He turns to meet my eyes, his face partly shadowed by the fireplace.

"I think it is time for you to go out. You have been in here for some time already. Even the child in our care asks about my sudden change in personality and demeanor. You should meet Satou Kazuma and the others, they are good people." He says.

Huh.

Who are they? Companions?

I think they are… I may have heard their names echo here from the outside…

And… Oh yeah… How long has it been since I retreated here? We were still in…

…

…

…Wait.

What was the town called again?

The Capital? Are we still in The Capital?

No, I left Mai there and flew south… Yeah, it's coming back to me… The name of that town was called… it was called… umm…

Was it Grenzy Stronghold? Wait, no. That was the place where I found and released Rushia from her curse… And that's not even a town, it's a fortification.

As for the name of the town, it was…

Lutdz town, I think?

Yes, it was there when I gave him control over our shared body. And since then, I've been-

My eyes go wide from the realization. The table snaps in two as food, drink, utensils, and all that go flying everywhere. A force field envelops Him to protect Him from the flying debris. It turns the room into a mess, though I'm not really bothered by it, I can just repair everything with a wave of my hand.

Holy shit… It's been so long… It feels like years since I've thought about that. Time passes so slow here, I recall Mai saying that I can subconsciously control its passing without realizing it. If that's the case, then…

"H-Hah? What are you talking about?" I ask, and he nods, "I don't get it. Can you make yourself more understandable, please? You know I'm not a God like you, right?" I say with a shaky voice, and I was about to say more but the words get stuck in my throat. There's something wrong with my words, and a headache occurs the more that I try or even think about his words. Like they weren't my own, it feels like I'm reading a script that I've read millions of times already until it's all I can say. My mind is a mess, and I can't even think properly anymore. Much less, form coherent words.

He frowns and fully faces me, before hovering until he's right beside me.

"…"

"…" I stay quiet and look at my hands on the table.

He sighs and sits down on the chair to my left. The air around him suddenly changes, and I feel lighter somehow and my thoughts start clearing up.

"Child, I think it's time for you to stop escaping." His voice was calm and still as water. And yet, it was like I was facing a wall whose height passed the clouds themselves. The Authority in his words was absolute, but it wasn't cold and commanding. Instead, it felt akin to a Teacher or Father-figure speaking to a student.

"L-Like I said, stop it with the big words. I don't get you."

From the corner of my eye, he suddenly flinches, as if realizing something. His gaze is intense, and I feel it crawl into my soul itself.

"Ah, I see…" He suddenly says, and lightly chuckles to himself. "So, this is Mai's doing."

I turn to him, confused and not quite understanding what he means. "Huh? What?"

For the first time since His subconscious resurfaced, the God flashes me an amused grin.

"That Mai… She knew that I would come back sooner or later. When that happens, she made it so that you would lose all interest in the outside world and stay here. Have you thought about it? No, I doubt you have. She placed a seal on you." He stands up and places his palm over my head.

"She did what to me now? But I don't feel any different? Hah? What are you talking about?" My words come out in a rush with frequent stutters, but the God has already ignored me.

It felt like something was scanning my very being, crawling and searching every nook and cranny. The feeling stops and then centralizes somewhere in my chest. He makes a pleased hum, pulls back His arm, and closes his fingers.

"Do NOT move."

Before I could even register his words, he thrust his palm straight into my chest. It was over before I could even feel anything, and he quickly retracts his hand.

"GAH!" I instinctively touch and grab my chest, looking for any wounds or anything.

O-Oh yeah… I can't die here. His hand must have just gone through directly to my Core, or something like that.

I give out a sigh of relief and look up to Him holding something in his fingers. It was a tiny ball of light, like a children's marble. I can't believe that was inside of me this whole time. "Huh, a Repressor Seal… I see. Clever. Very clever, if I say so myself." He closes his eyes and nods to himself, a small smile forming on his lips. "As expected of my Familiar, she is very crafty and cunning."

I eye the thing carefully and then ask him what it does.

"You see, Mortal souls are very…light. Unlike a Divine Spirit such as myself. It is like a brain, and all the emotions and memories that it had while living are all neatly contained inside." He puts the thing close to His glowing eyes and crushes it. The golden light that it emanated turns into an almost floaty substance, and disappears in the air.

"Since you are a strange occurrence, there are certain impossibilities that are now, possible. Your soul and psyche are accessible, like a house with different kinds of rooms. She must have been snooping inside you when you didn't know: Peering into your memories, feeling your emotions, and acting accordingly. Even the things that you subconsciously want are always in your mind, no? That Repressor Seal activated upon you switching places with me, it locked away your desire to go out. Any thought you may have on the matter is immediately sealed away, thus, the feeling of wanting to stay here forever is perpetual until it is removed.

Tell me, have you thought about it even once ever since entering here?" He says.

I frown and put a hand under my chin. I think and think, recalling everything that I've been doing, making sure that my answer was absolute. After what felt like hours, I arrive at the conclusion that He already knew.

"No. Not once..."

He nods, and with a snap of his finger, the food that had spilled, as well as the other mess that I made, went back to their original places. As if time itself had been reversed. "Well, that's that." He says and shrugs. He holds out his hand, and a book drops onto it. Without a care in the world, he leans back on the jeweled chair, puts his feet on the table, and starts reading away.

"H-Hey! You're being really laidback about this! Isn't this a big deal?!" I say, lightly slamming my fist on the table.

Tweaking with my memories and suppressing some thoughts to the back of my mind… It's no wonder I felt something was off as I did whatever I could think of in my Reality!

The God looks up from the book that He was reading. "Is it? I don't understand why you are so worked up, Child. You were just here, indulging in whatever your mind created for you to enjoy and do as you please. In the outside world, it has only been two weeks, I believe."

T-Two weeks…? It feels more than that, YEARS, even…

"How do you feel? Do you have any qualms about going out? Are you able to think properly?"

I think about it, and to my shock, I AM able to do such a thing now. I never would have thought that something like this was possible if He hadn't told me. Should that had come to pass, I would have stayed here for who knows how long, not knowing how much time had passed in the outside world. I know I'm safe of course, aside from Him, there is another Divinity here as well. The Great Bodhisattva Hachiman, our namesake. If something happened, I know that he'll do his thing. If you think about it logically, I shouldn't be the one going out and controlling our shared vessel. I'm just a normal Human that got taken from his World together with a Deity and merged with our other Self.

I don't have the wisdom of a God, nor do I know what exactly to do in any circumstance unlike Him. This is a bit scary, a desire in your mind being locked and sealed away as simple as removing a book from its shelf.

"Yeah… I can think about it now. This is unbelievable…"

He continues, even as my mouth was agape in shock. "You underestimated yourself. Well, it is also my fault since I did not tell you that you were subconsciously slowing time here on your own. Impressive, really."

"I… I can't believe it. It's like it's been years. I knew what I was doing, of course, I know I was staying here in my own volition, but just thinking about going outside was impossible. It felt as if I would immediately space out and reverse my thinking whenever I start thinking about it… This is insane…"

"Hmm, yes. That means that the Repressor Seal that she placed on you worked."

"But why would she do that?" I ask.

Mai was the first person that I met here. And she taught me everything even as my memories sometimes fade and come back to me. I knew that He was still slumbering inside me somewhere, and Mai told me that our memories might get jumbled up at times. That's why I recall some of His memories during my time here. I think it also happens to him sometimes.

He shrugs and goes back to reading. "To protect you, most likely. Aside from the Sky and the Heavens, and Nature, you forget that I am also a Divinity associated with Parenthood and Fertility. And that in turn applies to Mai to a certain extent, since she is created from our Divine Essence and all that. She must have felt some sort of maternal instincts that drove her to do it. Back then, I would stay at the Central Temple during important ceremonies and dealings, while she would go out to the orphanage to assist the Workers and Slaves there. The children and people loved us very much. Don't put it against her, everything she does is in service to our name.

It is also because of that particular element that we have as a God, that the girl easily trusted us. Tell me, do I have my own siblings in your world? Because you already know how numerous my Kin are here. There are at least a hundred and ninety-eight of them, not counting the ones that returned to our Mother."

I know some of them and by name only. Usually the major faction leaders, and those that were very close to him. More importantly, me, having a sibling…? A NON-God sibling?

"I… I don't know." I shake my head admittedly, my non-existent heartthrobs in pain. "I know I have my parents and possibly a sibling as well, but just can't see their faces when I think about them. I also don't know their names, which really sucks. It's like a haze is around most of the important and crucial things in my life that I should know about. All I know right now is trivial information like those that I told you earlier in my room. Useless information anyway… I don't even know my last name, or if I have any."

He slowly nods at my words. "Well, that sounds rather problematic. What about friends? Do you have wives or children of your own?"

I lightly recoil from his statement, the second part to be exact. "No. I mean, I think I do have friends, but not many. And I don't have a wife nor a child, I'm too young for that! That's a weird thing to ask!" I say, slightly flustered at the thought.

The God arches a brow at my words, and the golden glow in his eyes disappears. He looks exactly like me since he says that he prefers his current age. His eyes, instead of dark brown like my own, were heterochronic, red on the right, and yellow on the left.

"How old are you?" He asks.

"16!"

He scoffs, something I never thought he would do. "Heh, are you telling me that your thing does not work?" A stifled laugh comes from Him. I was about to stand up and tell him to shut up when he suddenly stops and raises his hand. "Ah, things are different in your home, no? I see. My apologies, that must have been a strange thing to ask in the first place. Not to mention that you are still three years younger than the acceptable age."

"Yeah yeah I know already. Can we please drop the subject now?

"If you wish. Now then, you should get going." He says and a Gate that's the size of me opens to my left. However, he gives me a quick recap on what has happened so far ever since we switched places and I stayed here for God knows how long. It didn't take long, or maybe it did, I don't know. I still can't get my head around all this time manipulation stuff.

To further assist me, He channels something from his mind right into mine, they were His memories over the past two weeks up until now. All of it came rushing into my head, and I saw what he saw, and heard everything that he heard. Kind of like a first-person POV video being played. It wasn't as overwhelming as I thought, and after the ordeal was done, the strange feeling disappears.

"Okay, so we're in a Corsair, one of those flying ships… Rushia is in our room, unwilling to go out since she's terrified of heights… Satou Kazuma lost a bet against you in a drinking contest, and you also outdrank every single person in the entire Tavern that night… The pretty female informant has a crush on you… That crazy goddess owes you a huge debt and has wasted much of it on gambling and other nonsense… The Captain is a weirdo, and is obsessed with that jeweled pendant and might do anything to get it. But she also declined our request to go down near those ruins…"

"Yes, you are right." He nods patiently.

"By the way, about that Energy Core thing for your ships. I can always leave a fragment of myself in the ship, go down to the ground and do a quick survey and just go back. You know, just like what I did before."

The God shakes his head and points up where the two colossal vessels in His Gate loom overhead. It's so high up, the ceiling looks endless. It looks big from this distance, but it's even bigger up close. "Never mind, I will figure out something myself." A Gate opens behind His form, and I see the familiar hallways of his never-ending library. "Call out to me whenever you feel like it. I am going to have a little chat with our other Self."

"Okay then. Well, I'll be going on ahead." He nods as the golden and shimmering portal next to me slowly absorbs me into it. At first, all I saw was gold and my surroundings becoming shaky and unstable, and then I felt the familiar pull as my consciousness is being transported.

---

It feels so long since I stepped on literal solid ground. And the world around me not transforming in response to my thoughts alone. Not to mention the feeling of my soul taking over this body.

A small corridor with steel floors and wooden walls, a strange combination. I hear the rumbling of the engine that powered the ship two levels down. It's a bit claustrophobic here too, two people can barely walk side by side here. It's a medium-sized ship that can be crewed by a minimum of four people.

I swear, the technology in this world looks so backward at first glance, about the 19th century with very steampunk-ish aesthetics and themes, and yet, it's much more advanced than it looks. Flying ships, either flown purely on thrust or mixed in a lighter-than-air substance inside large sacks like an airship's, old-looking pistols that are powered by the wielder's magic circuits, and numerous other things that I had yet to fully understand. No doubt He knows how everything works, being from here and all that.

I adjust the Kimono that I'm wearing as I walk while brushing aside the bracers on my neck, arms, and legs that he put on this body as a limiter of sorts. From the memory that he shared with me, he almost snapped the other day. If he had, I'd be dead right now from the full release of his Divinity. That Bodhisattva might be fine since he's a Divine like our other Self, but I doubt my mortal Core would survive.

Pulling up my sleeve, I see the void black metal on my wrist. With my finger, I push down the skin stuck to its bottom. Numerous tiny sharp spikes become visible, along with the holes on that they were pulled out from. There is no blood since I'm still a God that's borrowing His Divinity. Golden light shines out from inside of the tiny holes, and after inspecting the slightly grisly sight, I put it back in its place.

Well, this is something. I have to remind myself that I'm not human anymore. That was a bit gruesome, not gonna lie. If blood oozed from those holes, I would have fainted on the spot in the most pathetic way possible and end up in a Yamcha death pose. God that would be extremely embarrassing. Wait, who's Yamcha, and why did that come to mind all of a sudden? I don't know why, but just thinking about that pose is kind of funny.

Finally, I arrive at the door to my quarters, and I hear a little girl's familiar voice inside. I knock several times, before twisting the handle and opening it.

The first thing that I see is the circular window on the wall, it showed the blue sky and the landscape in the distance. The room's size was okay I guess, a study table right beside the window, a closet, and then a queen-sized bed. On the bed sat Rushia, playing with Suu the Slime. Her things relating to alchemy were around the floor, the bed, and the table. Needless to say, it's quite a mess. Both of them turn to me at the same time, the former immediately flashing a wide smile.

"Nii!"

"Master!" Rushia greets me first and then followed by Suu who erratically starts hopping up and down.

I couldn't contain it any longer and leaped onto the bed. Their expressions turn into surprise as the impact caused all the things to spring upwards, together with them. I immediately put my hands under her armpits and raise her up to the air. Suu on the other hand hops on top of my head.

"Rushiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-chwwwaaaaaaaaaaaan~~~! I'm sooooooooo sorry for leaving yoooooou~~!" I turn her around and around as she laughs and giggles with joy. I hear her stuff roll on the floor, as well as the pillows that now became dirty, but I didn't really care. I close the door with a single glance right after I realize that I'm hovering over the bed. The worst thing that could happen is my wings breaking out and someone walking in on us.

I spin faster, faster, and faster until all I see is a blur. Suu barely manages to latch onto my head with her tiny tentacles, but the little girl in my arms is a different story.

Her lips quivered from the speed and wind that I was causing, and she had trouble opening her eyes. Whenever she would try to open her mouth, her cheeks would inflate from the inside like a balloon. She is perfectly safe with my arms around her smaller form, but she hangs onto me for dear life. Her current face is rather funny and cartoonish, just like those shows that I watched in my childhood. The room also starts to get affected by my spinning, with alchemy ingredients and some of the things on the table flying from their places.

"Aaaaahhhh! N-Nii! You're going too faaaaaast-! I'm g-getting dizzy!" She exclaims in a loud voice.

I decrease my speed, until slowly and surely coming to a halt. Rushia bobs her head to the side and front, her eyes were already nonsensical scribbles as she tries to get her bearings right. I also fix her hair and robes while waiting for her to recover. Her smooth green hair gradually goes back to its proper look as I pull a comb from the inside of my Kimono.

"Uwaah… Nii, I'm so dizzy… The whole world is turning upside down…" She says and holds onto me once more for balance.

A-Ah... I may have gone overboard…

I remain suspended in midair, waiting for her to recover from her dizziness. And after a few moments, I give her a kiss on each cheek and pull her close. Her smooth green hair tickles my nose as she returns my hug. She's also smaller than I remember, it's probably just me being still not getting used to being outside and all. She giggles as her small arms go around my neck as she returns the hug.

"I'm sorry I was gone for so long. Some things happened outside my control."

The little girl slowly pulls away first, her bright red eyes looking deeply into my own. "It's okay Nii, you were only gone for a few hours. Suu-chan was here to play and keep me company! Even though it's scary that we're so high up, if Rushia-chan ignores it, the fear goes away!" She gives me a toothy smile and reaches up and pats my head to make me feel better.

"There there, Nii~! I'm not going away soon~!"

Huh… A few hours?

…

Oh yeah, I switched places with Him just a few moments ago. I even tripped and fell to the floor since he didn't tell me that we'd be switching WHILE He was walking! Good thing no one was watching! That was kind of a dick move, to be honest. I forgot that she doesn't know the truth about me yet.

I give her another kiss on the forehead, before ruffling her hair fondly which causes some more giggles from her. It literally feels like years since I've spoken and seen a REAL person like this, unlike those created from my imagination within my mind. Suu's body starts to make bubbles from the inside, an expression of happiness, joy, and amusement. "Well, it was a REALLY long time for me! Tell me, have you had lunch yet?" I ask and put her down so we can sit together. She immediately makes herself comfortable on my lap and starts swinging her legs childishly. Well, she is still a child anyway.

She shakes her head in response. "Not yet, Suu-chan and I were just about to go there after I finished putting my things back into the bag." I look down on the mess that I had made on the floor and bed and tell Rushia to hold out her leather bag. With a snap of my fingers, all her things related to alchemy start floating into it neatly and in an orderly fashion. She makes small sounds of amazement as she watched, and before long, the room was tidy and spotless as it could be.

Ha! I've still got it!

"Woah! Nii, that was amazing! Teach me that please!" She says excitedly with stars in her eyes, getting down from my lap and starts walking around the room and even going under the bed and into the corners to check just in case. I ruffle her hair in response to her question when she came back shortly.

"More importantly, why are you wearing girl's clothes, Nii?" Rushia asks curiously, tilting her head to the side in wonder as her eyes start closely inspecting me.

I lightly pull on both of her soft cheeks, and she just smiles and sticks out her tongue cheekily. "Oi, this isn't a girl's outfit. It's called a Kimono. Ki-mo-no. And both boys and girls can wear this." I say as I let go of her.

"Kimo…no? I've never heard of that before. It looks really hot to wear. Don't you feel hot, Nii? And don't you have trouble walking too? It looks really tight!"

"Not really, I'm used to it," I reply.

Though I won't tell her that things like temperature don't bother me at this point. I don't even sweat like a normal human being. When He was in control of this body, he was forced to accompany her to the women's bath since she refuses to go without him. However, as time went on and they were finished cleaning themselves, his other female companions started asking why he wasn't bothered at all by the heat since he was in the water for quite a while. He had to lie and tell them that he has a natural resistance to heat.

Resistances like that are impossible for a Human to have. They don't have things like that, and can only have one if they have an ancestor that belongs to one of the more magically attuned races like the Elves and Flugel for instance.

"Where'd you get this anyway?" Rushia says and starts touching the fabric on my legs and sleeves, and also smells them too, for some reason. She then buries her face on my chest, seeking my warmth like a cute and small animal.

"I had this made for me not long ago. You know how I always like to change outfits, right?" I say, remembering a memory where she and I went to the shopping district together. She was about to form a reply of her own when the three of us hear her tummy rumble. We share a laugh as I ruffle her hair again, and she takes my hand and starts leading me to the door after loudly declaring that she wants me to feed her just like before. Just as I close and lock the door, Rushia pulls on my sleeve and pouts while looking up at me.

I recognize that pout, it feels like I haven't seen that in years. And with a small smile, I kneel down and she climbs up to my back and sits on my neck. The corridor was tall enough for her not to hit her head on the ceiling, and her arms go around my head to keep her from falling off. Suu slithers out from the inside of my Kimono like a snake, and I hear the familiar sound of the Master and Familiar telepathic link activating.

"Welcome back to the outside world, Young Master! I see you switched with Hachiman-sama!" A girl's voice says in my head, "The other Familiars and I were starting to get worried as to when you will come back!" I pat her head in response to her concerns, the surface of her slime body is smooth, cool, and dry as she rubs herself onto my cheek affectionately. If I push my fingers inside her, it's sure to be warm and wet. I know because I did just that when I first met her back in the Capital.

Wait, that sounded weird…

A-Anyway, that was during she paid her respects and pledged her life to me, as well as numerous other magical creatures that made the great ruined city their home. Beings both great and small all went to me, sort of like a welcoming parade honestly. The most amazing of them was a huge frost wyrm that flew all the way from the north, icicles fell from its wings and its breath was cold enough to turn water into solid ice.

I can't wait to release and test her out myself…!

"Yeah, thanks Suu. I missed you too. Feels like years since I last went out. Did He decide to keep you outside like this?"

Her elongated "head" nods as Rushia starts humming a tune to herself.

"Yes, Young Master. Hachiman-sama decided to let me out since I'm a very low-maintenance Familiar!"

"Okay, but what's with the 'Young Master'? You didn't refer to me like that before." I ask her in my mind.

"Hachiman-sama commanded us to do just that so we can differentiate you from each other! Although we can already sense that anyway… Oh! He also did something to himself yesterday that enabled him to absorb and convert energy from the Sun. As expected of Hachiman-sama!" I give out a dry laugh at her words of praise.

It's like having a miniature Mai around, every word that she says to me is either pampering or in admiration. Despite that, I honestly miss her too. Mai must have also locked away potential thoughts about herself in that repressor seal, in case I might worry or something. After excusing herself, Suu makes her size smaller and nestles right under my Kimono on the left side of my chest.

"Rushiaaaa-chaaaan, what do you want to eat~? I'm sure they have some yummy food~." I ask and look up. Unfortunately, all I saw were the edges of her green hair.

He didn't eat this morning, and the whole day yesterday. I might as well do that since the others might start asking questions about why I don't eat. Seriously, eating is one of the most basic things to do, you'd expect a God to at least remember that.

She starts wiggling her small legs and pulls on my ears, and I go low a bit as we start climbing a small flight of stairs that would lead to the modest dining area. Even though I don't really need to eat like a normal biological being, joining her is the best idea I've thought of today so far. It literally feels like years since I've conversed with a real person, not one created from my imagination in my own Reality within my mind. I know I've said it like a hundred times already and I may start sounding a bit redundant, but I just can't help it.

Rushia doesn't answer immediately, humming in concentration as she continues thinking about how to reply. In the end, she makes a dismissive and slightly frustrated "Aah!" sound and rubs her cheek on my head.

"Hmm… I can't think of anything! Anything tastes good when I'm eating with you Nii! Hehehehehe!" She exclaims with a shout and hugs my head, giggling all the while.

HHHHNNNGGGG-!

My nonexistent heart skips a beat upon hearing her words. Even though I'm literally a hyper-condensed collection of two Divinities and a mortal soul merged into one Core, I can't help but feel something like that deep within this vessel that contains all that Divine energy.

Such wholesomeness…! Such cuteness…! So precious…! My innate Big Brother instincts are over 9000!

"Okay okay," I say as she reaches down and pats both of my cheeks, giggling all the while. "That Arch Wizard girl won't mind if I'm late by a few minutes or two…"

---

Blue sky everywhere you see. The terrain below hasn't changed since this morning, it's still the same hills that dot the green landscape as far as the eye can see. It's almost like we haven't moved a spot. Maybe this ship is slow? When I flew from the Capital a few weeks ago, I stayed just above the clouds, occasionally going down to see where I am and compare His memories and the map I got from my Gates. During at night, I would clear away the sky and follow the stars for directions.

I don't recall going past the speed of sound though.

"See anything interesting, Genij-san…? A girl's lazy voice mumbles behind me.

I look around one more time from the roofed makeshift lookout on the bottom-right of the ship's bow. It honestly looks weird, it's like a small wooden balcony with steel supports and beams where we can see things from this particular angle. "Same as usual..."

The Arch Wizard sighs tiredly and taps her feet on the floor. "Uuhhhh. I'm so bored… IT'S SO BORING!" She exclaims and flails her arms and legs as I sit on the chair across the small table from her. The railing was behind me, and I lean back to stretch my legs a bit. This Kimono is a bit annoying, it really hampers my movement. I should change maybe open my top or leave it loose. But I may look like a creep or something.

Like one of the old Lords and Nobles of Japan. It's a good thing I remember this kind of stuff. Though I don't know what those clothes, in particular, are called, at least an image does form inside my head. Better than remembering nothing I guess.

"Yeah… I mean the view is nice and all, but it gets kind of boring after a while" I say and I admit. "Have you eaten yet?"

Megumin mumbles a reply and gives a nod without looking up at me. "Hm, I've already had lunch with Aqua and Darkness. They went to their rooms to sleep since they finished their shift. I gotta say though, that girl with the bunny ears can cook. Although the soup last night had too many carrots…"

"What was her name again? The one in a strange dress of sorts and has a very funny-sounding speech pattern?" I ask, snapping my fingers as I tried to recall it.

"Pekora-san. Hey, do you think her bunny ears are real?"

"I don't know." I shrug. I've only seen her twice so far, but she seems like a nice girl. As well as that one with the white hair and the Captain too. Though I don't really know why Shiranui Flare is suspicious of me…

"Hmm… Do you think she'd get offended if I touched it out of nowhere?"

"Beats me. Maybe that'll even be considered as harassment."

Megumin yawns and mumbles out another lazy reply. I instinctively mimic her and turn to the side while covering my mouth. "I guess you're right. I don't want to become a creep just like Kazuma."

"…"

Ha? What the heck did she just say? Is that guy really like that? He doesn't look like one though. But my other Self did catch them at that Goddess in a rather intimate moment. Probably because both of them were drunk or something. Eh, it's none of my business.

"Where's Rushia-chan anyway?"

"The crew is showing her around, they're absolutely smitten with her. I left Suu with her as well." I shrug and hold out my hand to the side. The Captain had quickly taken a liking to her and was very eager to volunteer herself. Then, I instantly remember that I can't just open Gates around people and quickly managed to stop myself. Thankfully, she's facing to the side and wasn't able to see my strange gesture.

Uwaah… And I was reading a pretty nice book that I borrowed from Him too. It was about the different dynasties that ruled here and were written High Rhozgelian, one of the major dialects in this land. The characters look like a mix between Arabic and Slavic script, more so the former once you start reading and noticing certain patterns. And thanks to my innate connection to this world, I was able to understand things quite quickly. This land has some strange and interesting similarities to my other home.

He is actually quite a bigshot from what I read and has one of the highest levels of Divinity among his siblings. Specifically, His Divinity that connects himself with the Heavens. Ah, I mean OUR siblings. I know we're one and the same and all, and that his actions are also considered to be mine, but I still can't quite get used to all of this.

I mean, who would?

I was taken from my home and woke up on a different planet, and then being told that I am a God. A night omnipotent existence that's millions of years old, older than the Moons and celestial bodies that orbit this world themselves. One that is permanently connected and intertwined with the Earth Goddess no less, and has subdued several Divine Beasts, or Old Gods in the past as well. Not to mention that I share this vessel with two other Gods. The one from here, and the other from my original world that's in a similar situation like myself and only because we happened to share the same name. That was enough of a connection to have him dragged along too.

With nothing left to do I close my eyes and meditate, leaving a small shard of my consciousness here while I go back to my own little World within my mind. Unfortunately, before I could even start to do so, Megumin speaks again and changes her head's position so she can see me.

"Genji-san, I'm bored. Let's talk about stuff." She mumbles again with her cheek on the table's surface.

"Might as well do that. So? What do you want?"

"Hmm…" Megumin closes her eyes and hums in concentration, "Oh, I know! Let's take turns asking questions about each other." She says and sits up properly. A sudden gust of wind washes over us, and her hat flies away from her head. It was a good thing that I was able to catch it, and I returned it to her afterward.

Hmm, a bit of harmless chatter is fine I guess. I'll just avoid answering questions that are too sensitive and don't know the answer to. I'm sure He won't mind anyway. And I'm sure that He can hear and see what's happening as well. If He's against this, He can just tell me to stop anytime.

"I see. Well, ladies first then."

The Arch Wizard grins at my words and then begins asking away.

---

"Hoooooh… Are you suuuuuuuure that you're not a Crimson Demon like myself? Maybe you should look up your family tree!" She asks with both of her hands supporting her chin, looking at me straight in the eye.

I shake my head at the question for what felt like the hundredth time today. "As I said earlier. No, I'm not."

"And what's with your kind of magic anyway? Back at the Goblin's Den, you copied that spell from the Priestess. And then activate it without an incantation too." Her brow raises upwards questioningly.

I shrug and hold out my hands. "It just came to me I guess."

"And those stone Familiars! They didn't have any magical energy, but they were crazy strong!"

"I'm a bit of a conjurer myself. It's easier when you have Familiars like that at your disposal."

"What about that thing that you pulled off in that cave? You know, how you just pulled ludicrous amounts of food from the inside of your bag like it was nothing."

"It's bigger than it looks."

"What about you?" I ask in return, "Why do you only have one spell? And a really strong one too. That's like, really impractical."

I can't imagine a mage like that being successful in the academe. Perhaps in the Imperial Mage's Order, but as an instructor in the Academies where most retired Mages teach? Nah, I can't see that.

She stands up and puts her foot at the table, shaking her fist upwards. She's not really mad, just hyped up, for some reason. "Never underestimate destruction magic! It's the greatest in the world!"

"Hmm, so you're the opposite of those, 'Jack of all trades, master of none' people huh," I say with amusement.

"CORRECT!" She says in a loud voice and puffs out her chest with pride. "If you're only good at something, might as well put everything you have to it!"

I look to the side while putting a hand under my chin. "Hmm, I guess if you put it that way…"

I can't really relate since I'm the opposite as well. But for me, it's literally Master of Everything. Having a mortal soul in a God's Divine Core is pretty handy!

"Oh, by the way." I start, suddenly remembering something she mentioned earlier. The Arch Wizard sits back down on her chair very eager to hear what I have to say.

She holds raises her hand in a request to speak first, and I nod at her to go ahead.

"I hope I don't offend you for saying this, Genji-san, but you're really different today." She says with a searching look and tilts her head to the side in wonder.

I blink several times at her words and unconsciously imitate her gesture. "Huh? How so?"

She takes a deep breath and adopts a thinking pose, rubbing the under of her chin with her thumb and looking to the sky to our side.

"Hmm… How do I say this…? You were a bit…cold, before? No…" Megumin starts mumbling to herself, making sure that she words herself and conveys the message that she intends properly.

"You were distant and felt detached from the rest of us! It wasn't the condescending and indifferent type, no. And you weren't talking down on us too. More like, you were having trouble with something, and that was causing you to act that way. You always had studying and intense eyes, and when you looked at us, it felt like you weren't. The air around you always told us that you were deep in thought and your mind was off somewhere else, that's why it was a bit difficult for us to approach and start a conversation with you. Oh, but now it's gone! Your eyes now look warmer and alive! And this is also the first time that you've spoken to any of us this much too!"

I just stayed quiet and took in her words as she spoke.

Hooh, so that's how He acted when he was in control of this body, huh. I see… I guess even a God would find it difficult to fit in with regular mortals while pretending to be one.

My silence must have meant something else to her, and several heartbeats later, she immediately stiffens and bows low.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry for saying too much! Please forgive me if I offended you! It won't happen again I swear!" She says quickly with her words going all over the place, and bows again and again to the point where I got afraid that she'll hit her head on the table.

She stops when she sees me raise my hand to calm her down. "No, don't worry about it. I was… It was just a lack of sleep, that's all. That's how I usually am."

My words finally seemed to get to her and she sits down, although she does so reluctantly and with careful eyes. "A-Are you sure that you're not mad? I think what I said was pretty rude, and I won't blame you if you are…"

I shake my head with slight exasperation. I'm not so sensitive as to be offended by simple and honest observation. Plus, I didn't sense any malice behind her words anyway.

"I said I'm not, didn't I? I'm fine, really. So, stop getting all flustered about it."

She breaks under my gaze and looks down to my chest, anywhere as long as she's avoiding my eyes. "W-Well, if you say so…" I can see her fiddling with the hems of her skirt and cloak while lightly biting at the insides of her mouth.

A silence comes over us, with only the sounds of the wind on our ears, and the groaning of the ship's engines that powered the vessel. We feel the occasional vibration, though not as much since we're at the front of the ship.

"Anyway, after hearing a lot about you, I have a question." I say and she looks up to me, "You said that you always practiced that spell of yours every day, right? Have you done it yet?"

She adopts a sad expression and slowly puts her head back onto the table right in her arms. I change my vision and see her emotional aura, it was dark and depressing. Like a murky and oily shadow behind crystal-clear water. "Yeah, I haven't done that in a while since we almost got kicked out of Ludtz because of me… You know that I was practically useless back in the Goblin's Den, and I feel like I was being a burden. While you and the others were doing the fighting, I had to depend on everyone else."

"That last part? My Familiars, Suu, and the others were doing most of the work remember? I even made you sit beside Rushia-chan and I. Technically, I didn't do anything too." I say and raise my brow at her.

As I recall, He himself didn't really do much. Okay except for splitting himself and burning that Goblin place thing… But still, that's all he really did.

Megumin is surprised at my words, and then slowly sports a flustered face. A light blush dusts her cheeks and she bashfully covers much of her face behind her hands. "H-Hey… You didn't have to say it to my face you know. I'm perfectly aware of that…"

Oh, I didn't know that she was self-conscious of that. I guess she's more than an Arch Wizard who's obsessed with explosion magic. I should choose my words more carefully next time.

"Ah, my bad. Sorry." I then steer the topic of our conversation to one that she won't feel awkward nor embarrassed about. "In any event, I'm really curious about that spell of yours. I want to see it for myself." She looks at me as if not hearing my words the first time. Eyes wide and mouth agape while tilting her head to the side in bafflement, like I had gone crazy or said something stupid.

"Hah?"

For the next hour or so, I continue to try and persuade her to do the spell, under the pretext that she might get rusty and its effectiveness might fade if not practiced frequently. In the end, she finally concedes, and we go up to the stern of the vessel. Thankfully, we didn't bump into anyone. She started off as reluctant, but as we neared our destination, she held her staff more tightly as excitement flowed into her until it took all she could muster not to run off ahead of me.

Of course, I'm just doing this because I'm bored.

In fact, I am so bored, that I literally want to fly off ahead to the city of our destination just so I could do something. Or conjure up one of my Familiars and fight them for a little warmup. But unfortunately, I can't do either of those for now. My other Self had explicitly forbidden me from doing so.

We soon arrive at the taffrail, the ship's engines below rumbled as it continued on with its duty in propelling the ship forward. After looking around, I discreetly enhance and fortify the ship's steel wings just in case with a spell of mine. Thankfully, she wasn't able to detect it. Even with the background sound, I still heard her tell me to take several steps back as she starts preparing the spell. A red glowing magic circle appears beneath her as magical energy starts pouring and swirling around in the air around her.

"Darkness blacker than black and darker than dark, I beseech thee, combine with my deep crimson. The time of awakening cometh…"

Amid the tempest of magical energy, she chants her incantation as each word that she utters progresses the spell slowly until its activation.

"Justice, fallen upon the infallible boundary, appear now as an intangible distortion! Dance, Dance, Dance! I desire for my torrent of power a destructive force: a destructive force without equal! Return all creation to cinders, and come from the abyss!"

I see the magic circle start to expand, storing up its destructive potential until the very last moment. In the distance, another one appears at our level, and then several higher up. Each one bigger than the last and numerous other smaller circles inside of each one turn and rotate like a wheel or gear within a machine.

"This is the mightiest means of attack known to man, the ultimate attack magic!"

Megumin exclaims at the top of her lungs and points her staff at the magic circle far away. My hair and the ends of my Kimono flutter and flap in response. The wind around her violently speeds away in all directions as the spell finally nears its completion. I sense her magical energy reaches its peak, like a whistling kettle signifying that the water within it is boiling. The air is thick with magic, I can literally taste it as it forms right above us swirls, and spins around us like a whirlpool.

She takes one leg behind the other and readies her stance. The moment finally arrives, and with a large intake of breath, she shouts out her last words to finish and unleash the spell.

"EXPLOOOOOOOOOOOSION!"

In an instant, a large booming sound is heard, then magic around us transports itself to the magic circles suspended in the air a distance from us. Starting from the topmost, each circle disappears and then solidifies the concentrated destructive magic within before moving on to the one below it. The last one receives it, and then after a heartbeat of nothing…the flash of light came.

And then a large pillar of immense explosive energy appears in the air, its top high above us while the bottom is obstructed from view by the limits of my current standing. An earsplitting crack, and then a rumble soon follows that even the ship shakes and groans from this distance. Its wings and hull hold together since the explosion is far away. The clouds instantly part before it, and then the shockwave finally impacts us not a moment too soon. Megumin's limp body violently comes flying at me, and I manage to hold on to her just in time. I guess normal people would get blown away by the shockwaves huh.

"Oi! What the heck?! You idiot! Keep your footing!" I yell out just in case she can't hear me from the deafening sound. I try to help her back to her feet, but her legs are flaccid and unmoving. Her arms, as well as her head, were lazily hanging as if she had fallen asleep. That possibility is inapplicable since when I looked down on her, her eyes were wide awake.

"Genji-san! I did it! I did it! It's been so long-!" She yells out amidst the loud sound from her spell. She has a very proud and smug grin on her face. Which is completely out of place from her current state!

The ship leans to the side from the shockwave, and I balance ourselves by holding onto a nearby railing. Even her head is lazily dangling to the side, and I had to hold it and her back close to me lest she gets blown away as well.

"Hey! Why aren't you getting back up?!"

Her previous expression disappears and instead is replaced by an embarrassed one instead. She flashes me a small sheepish smile while looking to the side. I hold out my other arm upwards, a shaft of light quickly escapes from it, which then flies upwards and envelops the entire ship in a semi-transparent net-like barrier. The shuddering of the ship stops, but the clouds around us continue to fly in all directions coming from the center of the explosion.

Her spell finally dissipates, and she lets out a relieved sigh. All that's left is an upright pillar-shaped smoke in the distance as the ship flies on. I look down with a slightly irritated look as I wait for her to finish what she was supposed to say.

"Y-You see… Right after I do this spell, I can't move my body for several hours because of the toll it takes on me. It consumes all of my magical energy and stamina, so… Sorry! Tehee~!" She says and then finishes by acting cutesy while sticking out her tongue.

YOU-! LITTLE-!

Don't you 'Tehee~!" me!

What the hell is this spell?! It sounds good on paper but the aftereffects are way too much! What kind of mage invented this spell?! Was it a Crimson Demon like her?! If all of them are just as obsessed with destruction magic, then I take back what I said about them being impressive Mages!

I resist the urge in throwing her overboard for forgetting to tell me such an important piece of information. Better yet, holding her over the edge of the ship over the ground far below as punishment. As much as I want to, I can't do that of course. But I still couldn't help but make a slight frown.

With a sigh, I let go of the railing and lean down, taking her very much limp legs up with my arm while the other one held her back. She stays quiet as a small blush dusts her cheeks, and her oversized hat covered much of her face fell onto the floor. I kick it back up with my leg, and it lands snugly right on top of my head. She purses her lips and looks to the side, avoiding my eyes. If she could at least move her arms, I bet that she'd immediately reach up and take her hat back to cover her flustered face. Being carried princess-style like this… Shouldn't she be happy? I thought all girls would like to get carried like this at least once in their lives?

Still, with her so close to me like this and now that I get a good look at her without this oversized hat, I have to admit that she's pretty cute. A bit of a fledgling when compared to some other women that I have met so far, nonetheless, having the sort of charm that she has is in fact alluring in a way.

I sigh and break eye contact to make her feel less awkward.

"Seeing that you haven't even moved so much as a twitch, I guess you're telling the truth then..." I say while staring at nothing in front of me in particular.

"Yes, I am. Thanks for catching me by the way…" A silence comes over us as we wait for the other to speak. The barrier that I made around the ship dissipates as fresh air and a breeze comes our way. My bangs become undone, and I jerk my head to the side to avoid it from covering my eyes. I don't want to look like some sort of edgy teen that has dark powers or something. God that's so cringe.

From the corner of my eye, Megumin still hasn't said a word. So I nudge her a bit with her soft right cheek brushing against the Kimono on my chest, wordlessly asking her what I should do next. I can't exactly put her back on the chair so we can resume being on lookout duty. Although I can do that, it's one thing to actually implement it. I don't want to carry or drag her around me like a bag or something. It's like I'm taking care of a human vegetable with how she is basically immobilized.

But still…

Hmm… Her thighs are really soft are they…

…

I miss Mai.

"Oi" Megumin says with disquiet and a light frown as I look down on the girl in my arms. It's a good thing since my mind might have floated off somewhere again, "how long are you going to keep holding me like this…"

I shrug and turn my back to the ship's rear after removing the enhancement spell on its wings. I don't sense any damage on them, nor on the hull. "Yes, Ma'am. Where are we going next? Do you want me to drop you off in your roo- "

I suddenly hear the sound of hard stomping from the inside of the upper cabins several meters in front of us. It was going fast, and whoever it was, that person didn't bother opening the door in a calm manner since it exploded into a hundred different pieces as shards of wood and metal flew in all directions. I turn to the side and put myself in its way to protect Megumin. The debris bounced harmlessly off of my Kimono. One even hit me right in the eye and I didn't even do so much as a blink.

She was a blur as she literally jumped high in the air. Like a ballerina, she spun several times and landed flawlessly and gracefully on the deck. It was perfect, I can tell that every single movement was the result of countless tries and attempts in the past before reaching such a seamless motion.

I have to admit to the Captain, that looked really cool.

The Captain was also dripping wet. Her red hair covered the right side of her face and was a mess. It dripped with water, not to mention those on her arms and legs as well. She wore nothing but a towel over herself and she had a fierce and alarmed expression on her face while holding a pistol on each hand. Clearly, she must have literally just burst from the showers and sprinted outside.

"GENJI! MEGUMIN! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" She exclaims and looks around erratically, looking up to the sky and to the sides of the ship. "WHAT WAS IT?! WAS IT A DAMNED WYVERN?! PIRATES?! I MADE SURE TO AVOID DANGEROUS ROUTES ALONG THE WAY-!"

Captain Houshou Marine, with her hair still dripping with wet and a towel over herself, then starts running around the deck, checking if there are any damages to the ship as well as keeping an eye out for possible danger. I still haven't moved since she appeared before us, neither has the immobile girl in my arms even uttered a word as well. The Captain of the ship wildly speeds and dashes here and there, she must be using some sort of enhancement magic to be able to run and sprint that quickly.

I'm honestly amazed at how the towel around her hasn't flown off yet.

Not that I'm hoping for that to happen of course. It's just a random thought that popped up in my head.

I look down on Megumin, who has been watching the Captain with an expression between awkwardness, and reluctance. It's like when you know you did something wrong, and it's only a matter of time before your Mother finds out and spanks your butt as punishment. I can't really relate since I don't have my memories of my mortal Mother. As for my Mother here, well she literally created us in our already perfect forms so that's that I guess. You can't really expect the Primordial Earth Mother to do things a mortal Mother would do.

Megumin finally meets my gaze. The pupils inside her half-lidded eyes look empty and lifeless. Her lips had pursed themselves and became a thin line.

"Hey, Genji-san."

"Hmm?"

She blinks several times before continuing, and from the corner of my eye, I see the Captain lightly jogging towards us.

"We're gonna get in trouble, are we?"

Now that I think about it, this was a really bad idea. A lot of things could have gone wrong if anyone else were in my place earlier. The hull could have cracked, the wings might have broken up from the shockwave, and the numerous others that would equally lead to the ship falling down to the ground below.

But hey, at least I assisted her after she did that surprisingly powerful spell of hers. And to top it all off, I copied and added it to my large array of spells and incantations at my disposal without her knowing. Seriously, are Arch Wizards really this inept that they can't detect their spell being analyzed and imitated, or am I just plain overpowered? It's just a glorified explosion spell anyway, not the most complicated thing to do really. Although I'm pretty sure that I can do mine a hundred times stronger. But I won't test my chances since it might break the seals that my other Self had placed on this body.

I lightly chuckle at her words while shaking my head and closing my eyes. She also does the same as a light giggle escapes from her lips.

"Yup, I think we are in trouble, Megumin."

---

Bruh

I can't believe that I literally wrote all of this in ONE WEEK. First, it was supposed to be only 5k chapters, then it turned into 8k, then 10k, then 13k, and then finally arriving at a WHOPPING 17k words damn. Definitely almost broke my personal record for most words in a single chapter. That chapter, in particular, is in my main fic btw.

I'm going to update my main fic in a few days, as well as my other Alt Endings as well. I also have an idea for a new one, but I'm not sure if I should go ahead with it or just stick to my current ones for now.

So yeah! If you want to see a character that you won't have a cameo here, just say so in the review section and I'll think about it! Also, feel free to ask a question that you might have regarding the fic like 8Man's power level (He's basically a God, of course, he's OP lol xDD), references, and other stuff that I might have just glossed over and forgotten about!

Feel free to favorite and follow, or write a review if you want! We, Authors, need some feedback to improve ourselves! :))