Soldier statues, descending the path of light from the sky like a rainbow, with their rhythmic steps. The Goddess of Death blinked and exclaimed in disbelief.
“Why weren’t they coming at once? They were preparing something like this?”
The sheer number of soldiers pouring in was laughable but not something to overlook. The tightly packed beings descended upon the Spirit Realm devoid of any emotion.
“Some make soldiers out of statues, while others brag about their muscles.”
“Ugh! If only I had strength, I could make soldiers out of darkness!”
“I guess so.”
I drew the sword from my waist.
It was the magical sword given to me by the Goddess of Death. By the way, it was just called a magical sword. It only had grotesque goat horns attached, but it wasn’t much different from an ordinary sword.
I didn’t know why I had it, but I hopped in place to loosen up.
“It’s my first time fighting with a 10-year-old body, so I was a bit worried.”
After all, everything, from strength to skills, felt lacking compared to my old body, so I was tense.
That was until the God of Life arrived in such a glorious manner to dominate the Spirit Realm.
At the end of the path of light, the God of Life, donning armor, looked down at me.
He held a spear in hand but didn’t seem eager to fight as he stood there with heavy steps.
“But I think I need to change my thinking.”
There was quite a distance between us, but I could tell he was looking at me. So, I smiled back at him.
“I didn’t know you were so scared to fight me.”
Did he hear me?
The spear held by the God of Life wobbled slightly.
“Gods have good hearing, huh.”
I had already fought the God of Life once before. When I stopped the Following Apocalypse for the second time, I had forcibly expelled the God of Life who was possessing Ares.
So the God of Life knew how strong I was from experience, hence producing numerous lifeless dolls instead of aiding me in battle.
He must have wanted to avoid a direct confrontation.
“Yeah, I would have done the same.”
But the Goddess of Death standing behind me seemed to empathize as she mumbled absentmindedly.
With a dizzy voice, she squinted her eyes and crossed her arms.
“To fight you one-on-one? That’s terrifying.”
Thinking back, the Goddess of Death had also possessed Rin to fight me twice. I inadvertently gave her a trauma.
The beings that had descended near the land of the Spirit Realm.
I positioned myself at the end of the path of light, waiting for the dolls to reach the Spirit Realm.
With such numbers, if they charged recklessly, there would be no way to handle it. It would be hard to protect the goddess too.
But seeing them approach through this path, I had no intention of just watching.
“This is the land of the dead.”
A sanctuary for the deceased.
A barren land of life.
“If you’re not dead, then entry is forbidden.”
Of course, while it was debatable whether the dolls were living beings, what did that matter? If they moved as if alive, they were the same.
BOOM!
As expected, the individual power of the dolls was pathetic. Clad in ornate armor and wielding fearsome weapons, they were merely for show.
Just because you carve wooden armor doesn’t make it real iron armor.
The God of Life had made it appear as if he commanded an indomitable army, but in reality, they were hollow wooden dolls.
CRACK!
Swinging my sword, one doll broke apart. If I had my old body, I could have destroyed three of them in one swing, but this 10-year-old body was certainly unfit for fighting.
“How about it? Do you think you can win?”
This fight would ultimately end if the Goddess of Death got captured by the God of Life. I understood that the distant figure was part of that plan.
“……”
CRACK! CRACK!
“Do you think you can win? Can’t hear me?!”
“……”
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
I was trying to pretend not to hear the sounds of destruction as I smashed the dolls, but her incessant yelling was hard to ignore.
“If you keep quiet, you might win!”
I burst out in frustration.
Who was bothering me while I was jumping around in this 10-year-old body?
But she cried out in grievance from the back.
“W-what’s with you! I’m cheering you on! Hang in there! Fighting! The strongest hero Daniel! Save the beautiful goddess who’s filled with health and charm!”
“Shut up so I can focus!”
“Tsk.”
CRACK! CRACK!
Ignoring the pouting of the disappointed goddess, I continued swinging my sword.
Since the dolls were made of light, when I sliced through them, they vanished without leaving debris at my feet.
‘Even if I can’t push forward, I’m not getting pushed back.’
It was a relief to hold my ground. However, this too had its limits. Though I still had ample stamina and wasn’t sweating yet, the wave of enemy soldiers coming down the path of light seemed endless.
‘In the end, will my stamina run out first, or will these damned dolls all turn to light and disappear? That’s the fight.’
The God of Life still seemed to think there was no crisis, standing firm and just looking down at me.
Realizing this large-scale army was solely to drain my stamina, I muttered, “Coward.”
“……”
“It’s truly laughable that you can’t even face me one-on-one as a little kid.”
Trying to provoke him, he pretended not to hear me at all. Yeah, if he could approach easily, he wouldn’t have created such a massive army in the first place.
As I was smashing through the constantly incoming dolls, sweat began to form on my brow.
Shake, shake.
“……”
The fabric fluttered.
It moved here and there like a worm, creating a bizarre image that looked like a dance, but it wasn’t pretty at all.
“Aja, aja!”
She whispered, but I could hear it. The Goddess of Death took out a translucent black silk cloth from somewhere and held it in both hands, cheering me on.
I could say it didn’t matter if I didn’t see it behind me, but.
When my small body moved technically, it was impossible not to notice that sight.
Her awkward attempt at dancing while cheering me on was quite disturbing.
‘Ah, should I just kill her?’
I had grown fond of her, but why did I have to suffer for someone like that?
What if I just killed the Goddess of Death, the God of Life, and even the Goddess of Time? There’d be no problem, right?
There’s a reason why malevolent spirits exist among ghosts.
I felt like I might become one.
“I’ll say just one word!”
“Why? Are you pumped up? I’ve been practicing hard to cheer for you since last time!”
It was still hard to adjust to how she spoke as a joyful child with the face of a mature woman, but I shouted with veins bulging in my neck.
“I’ll count to three. If you do that after, I’ll come for you first!”
“……I won’t do it anymore.”
The Goddess of Death, whining sadly again.
What could possibly make her so relaxed?
She could really die by the God of Life if she wasn’t careful.
“What’s with that calmness?!”
I snapped in annoyance.
While I was smashing dolls amidst this chaos, I had been mindlessly moving my body like a wind-up toy.
The opponent, being nothing but thoughtless wooden dolls, led to this situation.
“Huh?”
The death goddess, still sulking, pretended not to hear me as I asked again.
“Why are you so calm! You could die!”
Death or the possibility of becoming a puppet captured by the God of Life loomed large. Yet, the Goddess of Death shyly replied.
“Well, you’re on my side.”
“……”
“I had a horrifying experience contemplating how to kill you, so I eventually gave up.”
As if recalling that time, she shuddered, but the goddess spoke with a sort of trust in my abilities.
“That’s why I believe you won’t lose.”
I had nothing to say.
The realization that she trusted me more than I thought felt fluffy, yet I couldn’t respond.
At that moment.
WHOOSH!
A magical barrage poured down the center of the path of light.
The sudden ambush startled not only the God of Life but surprised us too, as we wondered what was happening.
“Could it be… Rin has come?”
Since Rin was the one who connected the Spirit Realm and the continent, I wondered if she had come to help me. The Goddess of Death, mentioning Rin, looked terrified, wanting to flee after the God of Life attacked.
But the one assisting us was not Rin.
An entirely unexpected figure stepped heavily behind me.
“Heh, it’s been three years since I retired from the front lines.”
A raspy voice.
Wrinkled and mottled, her face adorned with age spots. A back bent like a bow.
The strange yet mystical Grand Witch of the Forest of the Demon Realm stepped forward.
“Grand Witch?”
The Grand Witch, like Adriana’s parents, was firing spells from behind me.
“Ah, no, how?”
I was flustered at the abrupt appearance, and she responded as if asking what was so surprising.
“It’s only natural for me to show up when the time comes.”
She replied flatly.
Despite her underwhelming answer, it took me a moment to process.
This was the Spirit Realm, where the dead come.
Then.
“Y-you! Are you dead?!”
