Chapter 397

Chapter 397

(397) Spread of miasma

Translator: Tseirp

The space beyond the door – was not the Goddess Tet’s space that I knew .

After all, it didn’t have a mountain of books and her table .

Furthermore, I had a floating sensation . I could walk but I couldn’t tell which way was up and which way was down .

“Alpha-san!?”

I first saw Alpha-san, the homunculus .

I ran up to her .

She was breathing but unconscious .

She seemed to have collapsed while trying to reach something far away with her hand .

Her symptoms looked the same as Pionia and Neete .

“Tet-sama – shit, she’s not here . ”

“She should be here . Where can she be –”

Damn, if Haru was here she could chase after her scent .

Kin Summon – would be impossible . Pulling her over now would endanger Carol and more importantly, I was told that I won’t be able to reach the surface from here . That probably meant that I couldn’t summon her here as well .

Normally I would use Eagle Eye to look for people but it would be pointless in this place with nothing in it .

“Libra-sama, in this situation, let’s rely on Alpha-san’s loyalty . ”

“… All right . Let’s move in the direction of where she is reaching out . ”

Yeah . In any case, we didn’t have any other clue so we could only rely on that .

After we decided on that, golden sand appeared in Libra-sama’s hand and stretched out straight .

In a world with no landmarks, it would be difficult to walk in a straight line . I see, it would act as a good guide .

Libra-sama and I relied on the gold line and walked straight . That said, it felt as though I was swimming rather than walking .

In a huge body of water floating in space, we advanced with oxygen cylinders attached – perhaps it would be more difficult to understand with that analogy .

“Hn? That is –”

I don’t know how far we’ve traveled but unlike when we first came to this world, I saw some kind of black aura .

“It seems that her loyalty is without question . ”

“Is that Tet-sama?”

“Probably so . ”

“What is that darkness?”

“Miasma . Miasma dense enough to be visualized is flowing into the Goddess space … When Ichinojo-san and Kota-san used the Goddess Statue ability to absorb miasma to temporarily stop the incident in Mallegory, the dense miasma in Mallegory was channeled to her space in an instant . ”

“It’s because of us …”

As a result of trying to protect the town, we ended up causing Tet-sama suffering?

Although I had no way of knowing it, I couldn’t help blaming myself .

If we can’t allow more miasma to gather at Tet-sama’s space, the plan to let Carol gather the monsters in the Advanced Dungeon would fail too .

After exterminating the monsters, they would return to miasma and it would be easier to purify .

But if we exterminate the monsters in front of the Advanced Dungeon, the resulting miasma would flow to Tet-sama’s place .

“It is not your fault . This is our duty as Goddesses – To avoid the same mistake as Metias, we placed Goddess Tet, the goddess positioned closest to her, the furthest away from the task of purifying miasma . If the miasma had flowed in to anywhere apart from where Goddess Tet is – even if it flowed to the Goddess of Laziness, Goddess Torerul, she would have been able to purify it . ”

The same mistake as Metias .

I wonder what happened between Libra-sama and Metias-sama?

And why doesn’t Libra-sama refer to Metias-sama as a goddess too? Even though she makes sure to add ‘Goddess’ to the other Goddesses’ name .

“Koshmar-senpai and Setolance-senpai would easily deal with this amount . ”

… Ah I was wrong . She only added ‘Goddess’ to Tet-sama, Minerva-sama, and Torerul-sama . I guess even the Goddesses have seniority .

I felt like I got a glimpse of the human – no, goddess relations between the Goddesses .

Setolance-sama surprisingly does things at her own pace, Torerul-sama is lazy, and Minerva-sama only thinks of dying . Koshmar-sama and Libra-sama have it tough .

“Ku …”

As we approached the miasma, I fundamentally knew that it was not something humans could touch .

If I was a waterfowl, this black miasma would be tar .

If I touched it, I would never fly in the sky again – I felt that sense of danger .

“Libra-sama, are we able to do something about this?”

“That is why I came here . ”

Libra-sama said and plunged her right hand into it .

Perhaps the miasma entered Libra-sama through her hand as the black miasma clung to her arm and her expression distorted in agony .

Even her clothes were dyed black .

“Ku – it’s stronger than I had thought . ”

Libra visibly put more effort into it .

The black miasma wrapped around her arm thinned and her clothes returned to its original white color .

And a path within the miasma gradually formed from her arm .

“ … Fu, Ichinojo-san . Please come along . Try your best to not touch the miasma . ”

“Understood . I won’t touch it even if you ask me to . ”

I walked along the path that formed within the miasma .

There was plenty of space in the passage but I still felt a sense of uneasiness from the fear of touching the miasma .

“Um, can’t we use – Light Magic to purify it all in an instant?”

“The power of miasma is fundamentally different from the attribute of darkness so it would be meaningless . ”

“ … I see . ”

I have seen Miri’s Darkness Magic multiple times but I had never felt this unpleasant .

“Right – if you are still worried, the Barrier Magic – Holy Mirror that you can use might be able to prevent the erosion from miasma – miasma may not pass through but it would not reduce the miasma either . ”

“Holy Mirror?”

I had such a spell?

Thinking back, I somewhat recall learning Barrier Magic .

At that time, I was surprised by XXXX ranking up so I didn’t commit it to memory .

“Why don’t you remember your own spells?”

“Sorry, the kinds of spells I have increased too much …”

I had not gotten around managing them .

I’ll have to thoroughly organize my skills and spells .

“In that case, Holy Mirror!”

After chanting, a barrier sphere emitting faint light wrapped around Libra-sama and me .

However, as it doesn’t reduce the miasma, I felt the miasma pushing back against the barrier whenever it touches it .

I felt like a pinball .

I guess it was okay since I didn’t have to worry about touching the miasma .

“We can see it now – Goddess Tet should be there . ”

At the end of the passage – there was a black cocoon-like object .

Tet-sama was inside that?

“Ichinojo-san, good work . Please wait in this barrier . ”

Libra-sama said, approached the black cocoon, and tried to dispel the miasma like before .

It took longer than before .

Once, the miasma even encroached up to her shoulder .

I was clenching my teeth since I couldn’t help out .

“ – This should be … the end . ”

After Libra-sama sighed and said that, the black cocoon-like miasma split into two and Tet-sama could be seen within .

But she looked strange .

“Libra-sama – Tet-sama’s hair – !?”

Goddess Tet-sama’s hair was originally brown like Miri . Despite that, her hair was currently dyed black .

A black that was similar to the miasma .

“She is being corroded by the miasma – I have to quickly suck it out . ”

Libra-sama commented and placed her hand on Tet-sama’s head .

At that moment, sparks scattered along with a violent sound and Libra-sama’s body was wrapped in miasma and blown toward me .

She crossed through my barrier and I caught her body .

“Libra-sama, are you all right!?”

“Yes, I’m thankful for your barrier . Without it, I would have been eroded by the miasma and Ichinojo-san would have been in trouble too for catching me . ”

The miasma wrapped around Libra-sama was left outside the barrier when she flew through it . It would have been dangerous without the barrier .

And then, Tet-sama who blew away Libra-sama slowly stood up and looked at me .

“Tet-sama! Get a hold of yourself!”

“She is being controlled by miasma – at this rate, she will turn out the same as Metias and – become a Demon God . ”

Libra-sama said .

“Demon God!?”

I shouted – at that moment .

The world shook .

An earthquake happened even though the world didn’t have a surface .

“She is slowly losing her identity as a Goddess and there is no power to maintain this Goddess space . This world will collapse at any time . Ichinojo-san, leave at once . ”

“But Tet-sama!”

At this rate, she will – just as I was hesitating .

“I’m sorry for being late, Ichinosuke!”

I heard a female voice call my real name .

A spear of light fell from the sky and stabbed Tet .

The Goddess that appeared with the spear was the most reliable Goddess during a time like this – Goddess of War, Setolance-sama .