Chapter 242: The Devotion of the Fool

242 – The Devotion of the Fool

The location I have teleported to, is a huge room. The floor is entirely covered with a faint glitter, extending so far out as to cause an optical illusion that the horizon and sky can’t be distinguished. Inside this room that appears to extend infinitely, there is an enormous magic circle filling it that looks like a geometric pattern. And then, nesting amongst that magic circle like threads of a web, are countless small spiders. My clones.

The clones here are hacking the System. Here, in the heart of this world, serving as the management region of the System’s nexus, is the place where the Goddess is sealed away.

At the center of the magic circle, there she is, the Goddess. With half her body missing, the Goddess appears to have merged half-way into the floor of the room. As if chanting a curse, an incessant System message is being recited from her mouth.

『Proficiency requirements met』

『Proficiency requirements met』

『Proficiency requirements met』

.........。

She only has one mouth, so that voice is heard overlapping repeatedly. Before my apotheosis, I had heard that voice ad nauseam. I had provisionally called it the “Voice of Heaven”. Since it’s actually the case that it’s the voice of the Goddess, I wasn’t exactly wrong was I.

I approach the Goddess who is continuing to read out the messages with a vacant expression. Then, with my hand shaped like a blade I thrust it into the top remaining half of her body.

『!』

The Goddess has a look of anguish on her face. However, I disregard that and move the hand I had thrust in, penetrating the Goddess’s body.

『Error. Unexpected access from outside identified. Proceeding to eliminate. 』

A skill – that is something that shaped the power of the soul into a form that makes it easy to use in practice. As such, the power of the soul that is currently unused is customised by the power of the System into an easily accessible form. In short, so long as the power of the soul remains, it means that it is still possible to acquire another skill. For something easy to understand like skill points, it basically means putting on display the excess amount that can be used.

Natsume-kun has certainly lost his skills. However, he still possesses half the remaining energy from them. Then, it is apparent that his state will change back to how it was. All sensei has done, is to just briefly stop him in his tracks and nothing more. For the crazed Natsume-kun, I don’t think that is going to even stop him at all, let alone something improbable like him reforming himself. Humans, are not such noble creatures.

I look at the Goddess. Sensei for one, the Goddess for another, I wonder why they are trying to devote their lives to such pointless things? Scum will be scum. No matter how far you go they won’t be saved. Why don’t they get that? Also, why are they able to sacrifice themselves in order to try to save that lot? It’s incomprehensible.

Ah, I’m annoyed. What do they think of their own lives? Isn’t desperately struggling to stay alive what living creatures are supposed to be about? But they are doing nothing but going out of their way to waste their own lives. What makes me even angrier is that everyone I approve of does such things.

This is why everything is getting ruined. The Goddess’s devotion, Kuro’s anguish, the Demon King’s determination and sensei’s charity. All of that lumped together just brings ruin. What of the world? I don’t care. If it’s going to be destroyed then go be destroyed already. Rather than everyone I would rather save only those I approve of.

What sensei had activated, was the presentation skill. The result is, as the name suggests. To present the power of the soul that is comprised of one’s own skills to the world. Sensei forcibly made Natsume-kun present his skills and status. The end result, felt like it became half a success and half a failure though.

Skills are formed from the power of the soul. So then, what happens when the power of the soul is suddenly lost? Well, when the power that comprises the soul is abruptly lost, the soul obviously collapses. Sensei sacrificed her own soul, so that she could hold together Natsume-kun’s soul which would otherwise have collapsed. Then for sensei’s soul, it was me who held hers together. Because of that, even I’ve taken some damage you know.

Sigh. To prepare for conflict against Kuro, I had wanted to avoid wasting energy as much as possible too. Well, this time it couldn’t be avoided. However, I cannot allow sensei to take the same measures again. For me as a god it was merely concluded with the sense of having uselessly wasted a bit of energy, but in sensei’s case, her soul has taken an enormous amount of damage. If she does the same thing one more time, I don’t have any confidence that I can prevent a collapse again.

I have to control Natsume-kun’s activities as well. If I continue to just let him do as he pleases, I’m sure that nothing good will come of it.

Okay. I’ve decided. Originally I had intended to simply observe, but now I’m going to intervene with all my might.

Translation notes:

“Presentation” is a skill that comes with the Ruler of Charity title – see chapter 163. It’s “presentation” as in “to present something to someone”.

Oka-chan’s words to Natsume in this chapter were all from S15.