51 [51] One of the Four Heavenly Kings
Chapter 51: One of the Four Heavenly Kings
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"Bishamonten, how long has it been?"
The devil, Sapphire, claiming to be a Satan Class, said with a competitive grin. She had red hair that blazed like blood which flowed like a river behind her, ruffling by the wind.
"Looks like the devils aren't the only ones who had a backup. You wanna have a go? Been a while since I washed the floor with that snotty face of yours."
An intense aura of willpower filled the air, coming from Sapphire and clashing with her target, Bishamon's own killing intent.
Electricity blitzed across the sky, and the air grew so thick that it almost suffocated the Goddess Sakuya in the distance, causing clouds to split in the night sky.
Only I remained unfazed, other than the Phoenix, Sapphire, and Bishamon.
My Mirage hand tightened its grip around the massive sword as the [Sword Icon] tried to manifest itself. In the past, I have cut dimensions with ease using it. But I had to stop it from manifesting, my body can't bear the weight of two Icons as an Underlord. To begin with, just like the ability to insert will upon the world, that only Sages and beyond have, the Icons were the same.
The ranking system of my cultivation after [Gold] was as follows.
[Underlord]
[Overlord]
[Archlord]
[Sage/Herald]
And lastly, «⟨Monarch⟩»
At the peak of Archlord, one can either choose to be a Sage or a Herald. Later, no matter what one had chosen prior, they have to choose the other one too. They were like a set power, and only by becoming both a Herald and a Sage could a person reach the legendary rank of a Monarch.
Icons were overpowered at Monarch rank, while only cultivators at the very peak of Archlord could connect to an Icon, anyway. It's an extremely tedious process, and by connecting to an Icon can a cultivator attain the rank of Sage. Sages are Demi-Gods, and so are Heralds; in easy terms, a Sage worked like a Mage-Class and a Herald was a Barbarian-Class.
For me, who already had many Icons, I was something of a Sage already, I was half a Demi-God already. However, I won't be a proper one until I reach Archlord. Until then, while I could indeed switch from one Icon to another, it's too much to layer one Icon over the other. So I can't take a useless risk before that.
Hmmm…
Do I use the «Heavenly Demon God Art»?
I don't really want to, since it goes against the ways of the Emperor, to use a demon art from my 9th life, but…
Before I could decide, Bishamon let out a sigh, letting go of her killing intent. "Disgusting as always," she said, her whip striking the air as the space cracked. "And as arrogant as ever."
Sapphire smirked and shrugged, while the War Goddess continued. "But no, I'm not here to fight. Get out of here with Ranefer, I have been ordered to not use violence. Instead, Shinto will hold a meeting with the Satans soon."
"Oh? I see." Sapphire let go of her killing intent too.
"Why are you letting them go?" I turned to Bishamon, disappointed at the weak guts of the real-life boldness of a character I liked. "If it's you and me, we can defeat them."
What in the anticlimactic bullshit was this?
The Goddess of War clenched her jaws and turned to look at me with her silted purple eyes. "I can take care of her on my own, thank you very much, I wouldn't need your help. I do appreciate you saving Sakuya, and you'll be well compensated for it, but now that I'm here, I'm the one in charge. So be silent and follow my orders."
Damn. From behind the screen, Bishamon was fantastic, but I forgot how condescending she was in person. 'Lesson learned, never meet your idols.'
"Oh, really? You think you can win against me on your own? Let us fight then, Bishamon." Sapphire crackled out a laugh as she said; she wasn't weak, she had pride of her own.
Bishamon ignored her, staring at me, but I felt like she was talking to both of us. "You think I want to let her go? No. But I have to do as ordered, for I am the part of a fucking spineless Pantheon of Gods. Wouldn't you agree?"
Oh well, at least she was as frustrated about this as I was and even shared a look as if she could relate to me. Damn factions, always so scared to just fight it out. I nodded, and she sighed and turned to the devils.
"Leave this place now, Sapphire. I know even you wouldn't want to fight now if not absolutely necessary." She said, making the rough woman shrug.
"Yeah, yeah, you're right. So many stakes, I got warned enough times by Sirzechs. Hah, he thinks he's all grown up now just because he's a Satan as if our generation has ended." She said, shaking her head. Sapphire snapped her fingers.
With a telekinetic force- no, a gravitational force, all the devils, the phoenix family ones and the other ones who came with them, were pulled to her. Even the dead bodies. They floated in the air before her, and she dropped to the ground to help Ranefer stand up.
"The human did a round on you, eh?"
"Human? That boy? Impossible. I've been humoring him earlier, but I refuse to believe he is a human." The phoenix devil said, coughing one last time, making me narrow my eyes.
Sapphire laughed at that. "You have no problem leaving, right? I heard it'd be harder for you to remain conscious if you weren't here."
"That's not a big problem, I will probably figure something out." Ranefer didn't look worried, she gave a curt nod. That made me a little curious about what the problem with her body was, to begin with. "It's better if we leave now. Thanks for coming here, you can do your thing."
Sapphire laughed at that, turning to take a long look at me before waving her hand and conjuring up a portal. With another wave of her hand, all the floating devils were thrown inside, and then she quickly followed, with Ranefer on her shoulder.
As they left, I took a long look at Ranefer with my newly improved Copper Sight and Jade Perception. My eyes sparkled as I noticed what the problem was with her body, smirking a little as plans spun around my head.
'I can take advantage of that if we ever meet again, little firebird.'
Just like that, the problems were finally gone. The war between the devils and gods has ended, but there was really no winner.
…..
Minor Divinities of this realm, who were hiding in caves, slowly began to walk out of their hiding. They weren't cowards, they were told by their Goddess to hide, and they had done just that. Now that their enemy forces were defeated and forced to flee, they rushed out to tend to Sakuya.
Some rushed to where I and Bishamon were, and my armor slowly dissipated with steam coming out of it, as I canceled the manifestation of [Crown Icon].
When the hexagon icon vanished from the sky, my royal arrogance vanished too and I bit my lips.
Dammit, I showed too much. I didn't think the Emperor would get triggered like that after being silent for so long. My 15 years of life in this world, and the last thousand years in my 9th life, this was the first.
I've said before that I have no prejudice toward the devils, but it's a whole different matter when a mere devil suggests a race change for me. Though it's understandable given nobody really knows Humanity's true potential in this world.
'Oh well, what's done is done.' I wished she wouldn't bother me later, because I would do more than just kill her if she did.
* * *
[Third Person Point of View]
As the Mirage Frame vanished entirely, the young human still floated in the air but at least he let go of his arrogant crossed-arms pose. Bishamon stood in the air beside him, until both of them lowered and their feet touched the ground.
The minor divinities came rushing to them, surrounding them and thanking them both. A few minutes later, Bishamon waved her hand to shun them away, and secured space to talk with the young human.
"Incredible powers for a little brat," she said, and she meant it. "What power was it, anyway? It's my first time seeing anything like that."
In truth, she was extremely impressed by his display. When she got the emergency report that Sakuya was under attack, and it was Ranefer Phenex who was leading it, she had prepared for the worst. She had come here, more than half expecting her friend's dead body rolling on the ground. However, what she found was a different spectacle entirely; a giant transparent man in gold armor and a red cape, with a human standing inside the head, casually overpowering and bullying the Original Phenex Devil.
It was satisfying to see, and she wouldn't have intervened or stopped him from killing her if Sapphire hadn't intervened first.
'Who'd have thought that bastard's Chosen would be so great? Heh, then again, low chance he knows.' Bishamon noted, the face of Yato flashing by her eyes.
The young man shrugged with a laugh, his earlier bloodthirsty eyes gone. "Asking the secrets of a magician's tricks is the same as asking a woman's age, dearie. How old are you, Goddess?"
"..." she sighed. "Fine, keep your secrets. You have no obligation to explain anything to me, anyway, rather I am the one indebted to you for saving Sakuya."
Aqua was glad she understood.
Just then, Sakuya rushed toward them with a smile on her face. She wasn't dressed yet, still wearing around the white blanket Aqua had thrown her, but at least now she had it wrapped around her properly. She leaped at him, throwing her arms around his neck.
"Thank you, human boy!" Sakuya sounded cheerful as she said, her soft chest pressing onto him as Bishamon shook her head. "I really thought you had a death wish when you suddenly appeared, who would have guessed you're actually a big shot?!"
The rocky ground rose beneath her feet to raise her face to the same level as his, as she hugged him and rubbed her cheeks with his. "Tell me what you want. Do you want a Health Blessing? Or an item? Or would you like wa-ta-sh-"
"Sakuya," Bishamon cleared her throat. "Do not mess with the young mortal, humans at his age are very vigorous, he might take you up on that joke offer."
"..." Aqua stayed silent, enjoying the soft feeling of her chest, as the two Goddesses argued.
Sakuya pouted, "Who said I am joking?"
"Sakuya…" Bishamon gave her an intense look, making her look away. She sighed and explained, "We need to meet with Lady Amaterasu. This situation is big, and so she wants to see the both of us. We can only give the mortal his compensation after the meeting. Though, yes, mortal," she looked at Aqua. "Would you like to come with us? Your testimony will be appreciated and you can even meet the benevolent Amaterasu, the Goddess who… reincarnated you."
"..."
"No need to be surprised— yes, we know. I personally don't know much, except for that you were a doctor before."
Aqua just stared at her in silence. That was not surprising, he had known from the manga source material that the Gods were aware of Aqua and Ruby's rebirth. He had other stuff to do, he also had to return as soon as possible, he didn't want to get dragged in this Devil-Gods mess more than necessary.
"Sorry, I am a bit busy, you guys can deal with this on your own." He said after fully deciding. He added, "I am looking forward to the reward, though. What will it be?"
Bishamon frowned at his greedy remark but didn't object to his unwillingness to go. "You will receive your reward, be sure of that. Just give us a bit of time, and tell us if you have anything specific you want. Oh, no Fruit of Immortality."
Aqua launched. "Don't worry, none of that sort. It's not some legendary fruit, artifact, or weapon, I just need some herbs. Not that I know that such lush pocket dimensions with magical environments exist, I'm sure you'll be able to get me these with ease."
Since he was going to receive rewards, he wasn't going to let them choose and give him some crappy things. He'd rather make his own choice and order some herbs that he would be needing soon. He had plans, now that he was finally at Underlord.
"Someone, being a paper," Sakuya yelled as one of her servants quickly returned with a piece of paper. She was still hugging him, smiling at him, with an amusing glint in her eyes that was curious to see what he was up to.
Aqua accepted the paper, holding it with one hand, and used a simple Qi technique. The paper shone, slightly burning on parts, as the Qi carved a list on the pristine thing. It was a quick and efficient way to write things down.
The list was not short, it had 54 types of different herbs listed. Bishamon accepted it and both of the Goddesses observed it, they didn't find anything that they couldn't give in there. So they nodded.
"I would have talked to you for a bit more, but sadly we're both busy." Then she added, "By the way, let me tell you, any other God or Goddess in my place would have dragged you to this meeting."
Aqua thought she'd give him an arrogant look, but instead, Bishamon showed him a rare smile. "But I won't because I don't want the other Gods bothering you about your powers. Whatever the case, you have saved my friend's life, something that was my job. So consider this a personal favor. I will also make sure no God or Devil bothers you regarding today's incident, so rest assured. You can return without any worry; I will deliver your reward myself when the time comes."
Sakuya laughed hearing her friend's rant, making Bishamon frown and look away. She turned to face Aqua instead, looking into the eyes of the brilliant young man. He was a very interesting individual, chatting with his local Gods in such calmness. She leaned in and kissed his cheek, leaving a sloppy red mark of lipstick.
She drew herself back from him and stood beside Bishamon. "I'll try to come with her when she brings you your herbs. Until then, take care. I see your friends are still in the Middle Shore, I'll teleport all three of you out if you are alright with it?"
"Wait, what's a middle shore?"
"...."
The Near Shore, Middle Shore, and Far Shore were local terms of this world. Aqua, having never interacted with an informative native supernatural person much, didn't know the terms. The goddesses exchanged glances and then explained to him the local terms, and then some more.
When they were done, Aqua accepted the proposal to get teleported out to Earth, aka the Near Shore. He was planning to help the girls with some magical advancement as well, however, given their current mental state, this wasn't the right time.
So he would help them with tips and such later. For now, he had to get out and make sure the situation outside hadn't grown bad.
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