[51] One of the Four Heavenly Kings

[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.Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

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?"

"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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