Chapter 491: A pact from the past
Kurena's Skills [Supreme Sword] and [Phoenix Blast] had weakened Megadeth enough for [Deep Impact] to deal the final blow.
Megadeth's body fell on the ground with a loud thud, laying on his back.
They had defeated him, and shortly after Allen and the rest entered through the gate that appeared.
"Good job. I see you won."
"Eheheh, Haku also did his best!!"
'Gyau!!'
Haku imitated the way Kurena puffed her chest with pride.
"So you just waited patiently without letting Megadeth notice, that's a really good plan."
Allen and Sophie were impressed with Kurena's strategy.
"I know, eheheh."
"And I guess having the Arbiter God here also helped distract Megadeth..."
They continued talking about the fight. They had been able to see through the gate the entire time, and sometimes they got far away, but they could always hear them talk.
The Arbiter God had taken some time to enter the arena, all of which was spent by striking the barrier with her horns for a while. She never gave up on helping Kurena, and entered just in time.
(Megadeth got too impatient too, I guess he lacks experience.)
Allen knew that experience was important for fights. Megadeth was the last Gatekeeper, so he only got to fight once every few centuries, or even millenia.
He only got to fight Dragoons and dragons too, which he could defeat by periodically entering Mode Scale and healing. Seeing the Arbiter God had filled him with ambition and blinded him.
Allen had easily seen through Kurena's plan, and explained how there were plenty of ways to counter that. But Since Haku attacked just when Kurena teleported, Megadeth got too confused and was defeated.
Eventually Cecile stepped in.
"Allen, you're talking too much. Sometimes a bit of praise is enough."
(Hm?)
Allen looked around and saw everyone else nodding.
"You're right. Good job Kurena! Now we can enter the divine realm!!"
"Thank you Allen! Haku also worked hard!!"
'Gyau!!'
Kurena was grinning. Haku had also recovered from almost giving up during the fight.
'I've completed my part of the pact, don't forget to fulfill yours.'
<em class="chakra-text css-0">Clack clack
The Arbiter God spoke next, reminding Allen about their pact before walking away.
Allen felt like she was walking faster than usual, vanishing outside the gate.
She had probably returned to Heavy User Island.
(I guess she's leaving already.)
She was not interested in the divine realm. Everyone watched as she left when they felt something behind them.
'Oh well, I guess I lost. I guess Lord Desperado is always right after all.'
Megadeth returned to his small form as he lamented the result of the fight.
"Desperado?"
'Oh, it's nothing. Anyway, I guess I can't complete that pact.'
Megadeth had kept mentioning Desperado during the fight, but never went into detail.
But it seemed like the God of Space and Time had told him something.
(It seems like Desperado can see the future, but Megadeth wasn't convinced of that. Maybe his predictions aren't always correct? Or maybe he didn't tell everything to Megadeth.)
Desperado held the entrance to the divine realm shut, and as he controlled time, it was possible he could see into the future as well.
"Anyway, can we have our reward now? A Talent Change and the Proof of Scale."
Allen was curious about Desperado, but he had other priorities.
'Of course. Pacts with Gods are absolute. Alright Kurena and Haku, woohoo.'
(Hm? I see, otherwise we could've ended up here before going to Patlanta.)
Desperado seemed to be able to see the future to a certain extent.
Luck became part of Allen's party around the time he obtained Heavy User Island.
That was before Kurena entered Extra Mode, and only after that they heard about the gates.
For 3000 years the Spirit King had been wanting to come back, but could not talk about it.
In a way, that led to her being with Allen when the time was right.
"So what should we do Allen? Do you want to challenge the Dragon King?"
Allen wanted to know what Allen thought.
"Hmm...by the way, is there an option to not fight him?"
Allen did not want to take part in a fight that did not benefit him.
'Of course not. This is a pact. She might've kept quiet about it, but it's essentially a condition to open the Gate of Judgement now.'
(Ohh, he called it a condition.)
A wicked idea popped into Allen's mind.
"So the Dragon King is the last Gatekeeper? The last Trial for Kurena and Haku."
If they could not avoid the fight, then the Dragon King was essentially a Gatekeeper.
'... I'm not sure what to say from how you described it, but pretty much yes.'
Megadeth felt like Allen's wording was strange, but said it was correct.
"Then we'll gladly stand up to the challenge. The God of Space and Time is truly generous."
'Generous? Err, what are you talking about?'
"I mean, we need more power to fight the Demon King, and he generously prepared a new Gatekeeper for us... It's exactly what we needed."
'...Huh?'
Megadeth was still confused.
"I mean, Kurena and Haku have become so powerful already, and now we're getting an extra reward..."
Allen joined his hands in prayer, acting very thankful.
Megadeth had told them before that they would get a reward with each Gatekeeper they defeated.
'Huh?! No, wait, that's not what I meant!!'
"What's wrong?"
Allen acted confused, and his friends knew what was about to happen.
Megadeth did not have a reward ready, but Allen made it awkward to explain that.
'Alright, just wait a moment. I need to consult with the God of Space and Time.'
Megadeth's body froze in mid-air.
"Ohh, are we getting stronger then?"
"Yeah. We have the chance so let's take it."
'Gyau!'
Allen had been annoyed at first hearing there was one more condition, but it was not the worst now. At least Kurena would return to having a 5 Star Talent.
'Hmm...so it'll take a bit longer to get there.'
"Kurena should be able to do it. She got Megadeth after all."
'You have a point, boy.'
Mouton looked dejected hearing it would take longer to get to the divine realm, a place he dreamt of for so long.
(The Dragon King lost to Megadeth, but we defeated Megadeth. It might be hard, but we have a high chance of succeeding.)
Allen accepted the new condition only because he could take advantage of Megadeth and make Kurena stronger.
'Welp, he said that's alright. Good grief...'
"I don't have the words to express my gratitude. Actually, I'd like to ask something more..."
Allen asked if there were any more conditions after that, and what the requirements to fight the Dragon King were.
Kurena and Haku had defeated Megadeth, but that was not enough to reach the divine realm yet.