The man astride the horse introduced himself as Rata. Borrowing the gods’ way of speaking, he is also probably a monster.
The situation was bad—so bad it could fairly be called the worst possible.
A fierce wind swept through the square, kicking up clouds of dust. The exits to the streets were blocked by bandits, and behind me the monster Rata waited on horseback.
I used Sun’s Divine Protection, cloaking myself in Golden Flame. If the enemies had been only bandits, I might have been able to scramble up the wall and escape. With my enhanced physical abilities, it would have been possible.
The real problem stood before me.
—Nils-san. He is already drawing his sword.
Tension surged up from my chest. I tried to recall the breathing technique Father had taught me to calm myself, but it didn’t work. At one time, I had overlapped Nils-san with my father in my mind. The more I tried to steady myself, the more my vision blurred, and all I could do was let my voice tremble.
“…It’s a lie, isn’t it?”
The shock was so overwhelming that my knees nearly gave out beneath me.
Nils-san—no, the god Freyr—didn’t even blink.
“I used Seiðr magic.”
His reply was clear and decisive, like a sword cleaving straight through me.
“First, I erased my memories as a god and implanted false ones—those of an older brother searching for his younger sister. That way, you wouldn’t suspect me.”
He raised a second finger.
“Second, Seiðr magic manipulates the mind, which means it can also seal divine power. To approach you as a human, it was more convenient to suppress not only my memories, but my power as a god as well. There was a chance that the gods allied with you might sense me otherwise you see.”
He wasn’t explaining out of kindness. He was forcing me to face reality—that the adventurer I thought had become my companion, even our party member, had been my enemy from the very beginning.
“No way….”
Don’t be fooled, I told myself.
And yet my thoughts wouldn’t stop racing.
I knew now that the Freyr I had seen in the dungeon—like his sister, the goddess Freyja—had been a fake, a mere projection, a replica. That meant the real one had escaped the ice and taken up residence in a human body like this.
The wind caught his blond hair, sending it fluttering as Freyr closed his fingers tightly around a necklace. As though swearing an oath, he pressed it to his forehead, then carefully tucked it back inside his clothes.
A gasp slipped from my lips.
“T-that’s….”
There was no doubt about it. It was the necklace Nils-san had carried, the one he had treasured as his only clue to his missing sister.
“Nils-san, you said you were searching for your sister….”
“On that point, I did not lie. I am searching for my sister.”
Freyr spoke without a hint of expression.
“The Goddess of Fertility—Freyja.”
Somehow, I understood at least that much.
The desire to search for one’s family was something even the mind-control Seiðr magic could not completely conceal.
Loki’s voice echoed in my head.
『The necklace Brísingamen. A divine artifact belonging to the younger goddess, Freyja. I wondered why it wasn’t around her neck. Her brother was the one carrying it huh.』
He continued.
『Just like with Safi, items with a “protective” effect might weaken the ice of the seal. That’s how Freyr managed to regain consciousness from the seal on his own. Now the pieces fit, but his motivation remains unclear.』
He was right.
No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why Freyr would side with monsters and try to prevent us from awakening the goddess Freyja.
He was a god himself…. so why would he interfere with waking another god?
“.…Just tell me one thing.”
I shouted.
“Why are you our enemy?!”
“To protect my sister. If Odin’s scheme succeeds, then Freyja—”
I leaned forward, determined not to miss a single word of what came next.
Freyr’s sword moved. Smoothly and naturally, its tip turned toward me.
“—!”
It was a slash like a flash of light.
I twisted my body and barely evaded it. I deflected the follow-up strike with my short sword and leapt back. Without the Golden Flame, I would have been cut clean in two.
“Hah—”
I took a deep breath.
He tried to distract me with words.
That was a feint. He was playing mind games!
Freyr’s eyes were cold and clear. I have to fight, yet something deep inside me screamed no.
I don’t want to fight this man. The man who’s searching for his sister.
『Rion! There’s no time! Wake us up!』
Thor’s voice rang out, but I shook my head.
My right hand reached toward my pocket—only for my left hand to grab it and force it down.
“Not yet! I—I need to talk to him!”
『Listen! The enemy didn’t tell you all that out of kindness! He definitely has a plan! He’s stalling you and us gods. He’s buying time!』
I forced myself to remember the situation I was in. I was surrounded in an alley, still holding the coins that housed the gods. I was separated from my companions.
The one who had lured us in here was Uru.
『No, Thor. Rion has a point. This is a chance to gather information. If all of us come out, Freyr will retreat. If we want to keep him talking and drag this out, now is our only chance.』
『Ugh…!』
『Let him talk. Hold back for now.』
『He’s a god! Do you have any idea what that could lead to!?』
Freyr stepped forward. From a high, overhead swing, he made a downward strike. The sword technique known as “Wrath Strike”. His most powerful attack, was not something I could afford to take head-on.
I leapt sideways.
But he was already ahead of me, intercepting my movement, he drive a piercing thrust straight toward me.
“Gah…!”
I caught it on my blade, but the impact sent me flying anyway.
『You’ll be torn to pieces…!』
Thor’s words echoed distantly in my mind. The overwhelming difference in power I’d felt during our sparring sessions—it was the same now. If I charged, I’d surely lose. Yet he kept coming.
“Double Scattering Strike.”
Using the <Swordsman> skill, I launched my technique. I barely blocked the twin slashes coming from both sides. My cheek, which had been grazed, felt a burning pain.
“Why… why would a god like you side with monsters…!?”
“I told you. Protecting what’s precious requires sacrifices.”
“Does this have something to do with Odin’s scheme…or Freyja-sama’s message?”
Freyr fell silent, then turned the tip of his sword toward me again.
I raised my voice, refusing to back down.
“Wake up!”
The blue-crystal short sword glowed green as its magical runes flared.
The sudden gust, raised by the spirit, should have thrown him off—but Freyr moved with a dancer’s grace, dodging it effortlessly. Of course, it couldn’t hold him back. He was a god after all.
I blocked his merciless upward slash with the short sword.
“That body… it’s human too!”
“Human? Yes. The pitiful man whose skills were devoured, left a hollow shell.”
Heat surged through my chest.
A sword swung in a wide arc from his right side. I spun the other way, deflecting it with a mirrored motion. It was a reflexive maneuver, but Freyr narrowed his eyes. For the first time, he seemed genuinely impressed. He leapt backward, putting distance between us.
And then I heard Solana’s voice.
『Rion, I believe in you! But…!』
The god’s words came out like blood being coughed up.
『Freyr is a powerful god. Skills are the divine power scattered into humans. And… probably—』
The next wave of attacks came like a violent storm, making me shrink instinctively. I dodged, ducked, and occasionally deflected—but no matter how it looked, I was being toyed with, led around.
It felt as if invisible threads were pulling me.
Completely, he could read my movements, my intentions, even my hesitation.
“Your Swordsman skill… was it original?”
“Are you not going to use your skill?”
Amid sparks flying from our clashing blades, Freyr’s whisper cut through the noise.
I was using the Golden Flame, but it wasn’t enough. I knew it. But as always, I couldn’t bring myself to summon my skill, to steel my heart and fight.
I swore to the Goddess that I would become the “kindest of the strongest”. From the all-encompassing message that echoed across the sky, I had also heard the word “hero”.
But I couldn’t bring myself to rouse the power meant to strike down this person—someone who had once been my companion, someone who was searching for his sister—without even knowing the full story.
“Rion. What is your resolve?”
The question came with a kick. It felt as though an iron bar had been driven straight into my stomach, and I was hurled backward.
My back slammed into a wall.
The air burst from my lungs.
If not for the armor Safi had so carefully maintained, I would have blacked out.
“Questions arise one after another. What do you cherish? What is it that you will never surrender?”
“Q-questions…?”
“Yes. I have chosen. My sister—I will reclaim her, no matter what. And beyond that, I choose nothing else. That is my resolve.”
His blue eyes bore into me. There wasn’t the slightest trace of cloudiness or hesitation in them. A stark difference from me. I still wanted to talk, to ask, to understand.
The skill had activated because of fear. Because I knew that if things continued like this, I would die.
“Thunder God’s… Hammer!”
The lightning was effortlessly avoided.
His counter attack slashed across my shoulder. The impact hit me like a burning lance, pain searing through me all at once.
Solana screamed.
『Rion!』
I tried to force myself upright. I had to use a skill—use a blessing.
Another voice followed, tight with urgency.
『…This is the limit. Rion, awaken us.』
Uru’s words echoed in my mind—but then another voice drowned them out.
“Oniichan!”
An impossible call came from behind. I spun around.
“Lu…?”
It was her. Lu.
Impossible. She should be in the capital. H-how…?
For a moment, I forgot the pain, the battle. My attention was stolen.
Her face twisted with sadness.
“Oniichan, why are you fighting that person…?”
――!
My chest tightened.
I had sworn, like in the stories, like Father did, to become a kind and strong adventurer. And yet here I was, fighting the very person who was searching for his sister.
“That…!”
A sharp, stabbing pain throbbed through my chest.
Nils-san… no, Freyr…?
Our desire to protect our families was the same—so why weren’t we on the same side?
Before I could dwell on it, Lu’s face twisted into a gleeful, almost cruel smile.
“Hahahahahaha!”
I froze. A monster was laughing using Lu’s face.
“So, as I thought, you are strong yet at the same time, terribly weak.”
Frost crept over Lu’s body. A burst of white light erupted—and from within, Rata appeared.
So it had been an illusion.
“You—!”
“Oh my? Were you planning to just stare idly?”
A sword struck from the side. I was flung back, along with the short sword I had been holding. As I landed and tried to take cover, a boot slammed into me. Pinned against the wall, I barely managed to point my short sword forward.
My vision was terrible. Whether it was from the damage or from tears, I couldn’t tell.
『Rion! 』
I had no choice but to face the truth. Nils-san, no, Freyr had become my enemy.
He wouldn’t return. He wouldn’t come back to the party.
“Help me… Goddess!”
I clenched the gold coin in my left hand.
Solana, Thor, Loki, Sigris and Uru appeared, scattering golden light as they manifested.
Freyr, god of swords, halted at a measured distance.
“So… you’ve cling to the gods.”
Freyr’s lips twisted ever so slightly.
A sharp sting of defeat pierced my chest. I couldn’t gather my resolve, couldn’t fight back. My determination—my resolve to protect my sister—felt weak.
The wind whipped wildly, tossing Freyr’s golden hair like a living flame.
“Kindness without resolve is no different from weakness.”
The words drove into my chest like an icicle.
Solana swung her right arm.
“Traitor! Do not mock those with a righteous heart!”
The goddess, her golden hair tossed wildly, glared at Freyr.
“…Rather than you, who would harm my followers, it is Rion—struggling to strike you—that is truly strong.”
At that moment, the ground trembled. I had been on my knees, and I staggered, barely caught by Sigris.
Freyr tilted his gaze northward.
“—It seems Ymir has arrived as well.”
That name belonged to the primordial titan.
A chill slithered over my entire body.
The direction Freyr looked was at the north. The place where the Odis Temple stood.
Freyr and Rata began to retreat.
The appearance of the gods had turned the tide in our favor. This battle had probably been intended from the start only to delay us. The gods and the monsters kicked off the walls of the buildings, rising up onto the rooftops.
Their direction is the north, the same as ours.
“Everyone!”
I returned the gods to the gold coin. As I healed my aching body with White Flame, I gave chase.
If they were targeting the Odis Temple, there was only one possible target, that divine artifact!
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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