Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 437 - In Search of the Saintess

“By the way, Shophrobe Hyer, why are you here? Aren’t all the other gods engaged in their amusements?”

“…”

At those words, Shophrobe shook his head as if he hadn’t heard.

“Well…”

“I guess you’re the weakest one here.”

Shophrobe Hyer frowned deeply, as if Mary’s words had hit the mark.

“You look like a strong god, though.”

“He’s probably the weakest in the city of gods, so he’s been secretly watching the other gods play from these clouds and laughing. Then he happened to meet us!”

As Mary continued, an aura began to emanate from Shophrobe Hyer’s body.

“Looks like I got it right, Roditon! This is what insight is all about.”

“Enough.”

Just as Shophrobe Hyer was about to explode, Ethan stopped him.

“So those three humans are now enjoying amusements with the gods, right?”

“That’s right. They’re waging war. That human who believes in the White Light… the Saintess, was it? She was the first to enter and caught the gods’ attention. The Saintess said she came to find an object in this city. The gods said they would help her find it if she joined them in their amusements.”

“And that’s when the 1st and 2nd Apostles entered.”

“Correct, those humans entered at that time. The gods were thrilled. It’s fun to have amusements with just one human, but amusements are more entertaining the more humans there are.”

Shophrobe Hyer shook his head.

“But the Saintess found what she wanted before that and proposed a different condition. She asked to be allowed to leave this place safely. With the Perfect Divine Body, of course. As a result, a war broke out between the 1st and 2nd Apostles and the Saintess. With the gods backing them, you see.”

They were waging war with the support of the gods.

The Saintess’s goal was to safely escape this city of gods with the Perfect Divine Body.

The 1st and 2nd Apostles’ goal was to deal with the Saintess and take the Perfect Divine Body.

The war that broke out with their respective goals initially tilted in favor of the Saintess.

“Everyone was cheering for the Saintess at first. So the Saintess was winning initially. But gradually, the gods started switching to the other side. That side seemed much more interesting. I heard that if someone goes to the human world with the Perfect Divine Body, it would cause great chaos? That’s why the Saintess’s side started to get pushed back, and now it’s completely deadlocked. They’ve been like this for quite some time. But what would happen if someone went down to the human world with that Perfect Divine Body?”

“The Moon Mother would be resurrected. Half of the humans in the human world would die.”

“Huh, do they have that level of magical skill? Well, humans always have some aspects where they surpass the gods. It could be considered remarkable. I suppose the other gods roughly know this fact and have sided with the 1st and 2nd Apostles. Humans always seek out gods when things are chaotic.”

And that would make the gods even more pleased.

They could move according to the humans’ responses.

After hearing the full story, Ethan pondered for a moment.

‘The situation isn’t as simple as I thought.’

“So how do we meet the Saintess now? It doesn’t seem like we can just go find her.”

For now, meeting the Saintess was more important than stopping the war.

In response to Ethan’s question, Shophrobe Hyer clicked his tongue a couple of times.

“You’d have to break through an army. The Saintess and the 1st and 2nd Apostles are the commanders, you see. If the commander dies, the war ends. So it’s practically impossible to meet them. How can you meet them when they’re not showing their heads from their safe places?”

It was a battlefield with soldiers numbering close to a hundred thousand at a glance. They would have to break through that battlefield and reach the deep place where the Saintess was.

But reaching that deep place was practically impossible.

“Shophrobe Hyer, how many can you create?”

“…You mean troops? About 200.”

“Be honest.”

“150. That’s why I said it. It’s absolutely impossible. If I could create several thousand soldiers, there might be a sliver of possibility. But I can’t create that many. It’s impossible. Unless this amusement ends, you absolutely cannot meet the Saintess.”

Shophrobe Hyer said, squeezing his eyes shut.

“What kind of god are you?”

“Even among gods, there are weak ones. Don’t be too hard on him, Mary.”

“Damn.”

“Wow, even gods swear!”

“He couldn’t have sworn, right? It must have been just a cough. I cough like that sometimes too. Damn, damn, damn god.”

“Shut up!”

Roditon subtly stepped back.

‘I could bring Roditon into the academy and create a course on the art of provocation.’

That’s how excellent his provocation skills were.

Ethan smiled slightly and put his hand on Shophrobe Hyer’s shoulder.

“Shophrobe Hyer, that’s enough. You know which direction the Saintess is in, right? Guide us there.”

“Guide you? Did you even listen to what I’ve been saying? You can’t go! There’s an army of nearly a hundred thousand protecting the Saintess, how can you go? If I get involved and get hurt, falling asleep would be the worst loss for me.”

“You said you could bring out 150, right? That’s enough.”

“…?”

“I’m saying I’ll use those 150 to make a path. A path leading to the Saintess.”

***

The City of Gods.

On the ground.

The place was filled with the sounds of war – the clash of weapons and screams.

Ethan’s group, who had come down to the ground with Shophrobe Hyer, watched the battlefield situation from a rather high hill.

It was certainly much more intuitive than viewing from above the clouds.

“This side is the Apostles’ side, and that side is the Saintess’s side.”

“Now that I see it from here, it’s clear. The Saintess’s side is being pushed back.”

Ethan briefly explained the current situation to Roditon.

All Roditon knew was that the Demon Emperor wanted the Saintess, so it was necessary to make him properly understand the current situation.

‘Roditon isn’t on anyone’s side, but at least he won’t turn to the Dawn Council.’

He’s not the type of person to be tied down anywhere.

A person as free as the wind.

Such people tend to value interesting things quite highly, so Ethan explained with plenty of elements to pique his interest.

“Whether by chance or fate… two descendants of gods who started from the same place meet and fight in this city of gods. One side is trying to prevent the descent of a god, while the other side desperately wants the god to descend!”

Roditon was already immersed in the situation.

“There are no coincidences in this world, Roditon. Everything is intertwined by fate. The free adventurer Roditon, and I, Mary, the legendary sword! The two of us are going to be the decisive force in breaking this stubborn ill fate!”

Of course, Roditon wasn’t the only one caught up in the situation.

The two had quite good chemistry even as they bickered.

Perhaps they fight more because their dispositions are similar.

“Teacher Ethan, we will definitely help. We will surely stop the evil hand trying to resurrect that wicked Moon Mother! Now that I see it, it seems even the Demon Emperor has been bewitched by the snake-like words of the 1st and 2nd Apostles. No matter how I think about it, there’s no way the Demon Emperor would use the important debt he left with me for something like this.”

“It’s so clear! We’ll stop them, teacher! Just trust us!”

Shophrobe Hyer, watching the two, looked at Ethan.

“They make a reliable combo. Don’t look at them with such suspicious eyes.”

“…If you say so, I’ll believe it. Anyway, as you can see, the war situation is like that. Do you see that huge sculpture in the center? That’s what’s called the God’s Tear. That God’s Tear is the center of this place.”

The God’s Tear, standing like a mountain. A vast plain spread out around that God’s Tear as its center.

And on that vast plain, there were various terrains and structures.

“There are hills and fortresses. There’s even a river flowing over there. The Saintess is on the right side, inside a fortress encircled by the river. It’s a place that ensures safety twice, with the river and the fortress. She’s settled in a very good spot, which is why the situation continues to be deadlocked. However… as the gods keep turning away, the situation could reverse at any time.”

“Is the Perfect Divine Body there too?”

“Yes, the Saintess wants to leave with that Perfect Divine Body, but to leave, she needs to go through the God’s Tear and reach the top. But it’s the 1st and 2nd Apostles who are occupying that summit.”

In short, they need to push back the 1st and 2nd Apostles to be able to pass through the God’s Tear and leave the city of gods.

“The situation itself is quite simple.”

“But the power struggle is not simple. Look, if you observe closely, you’ll see that the appearances of the created mud humans are all different. To be precise, their colors are all different.”

Seen from the ground, the troops were of various colors.

“Each god marked them like that in different colors to show that they made them. You can see that the troops on the 1st and 2nd Apostles’ side are much more colorful.”

“They have more troops too.”

“On the other hand, the Saintess’s side has simpler colors. As you know, everyone likes amusements… they don’t care much about good and evil.”

“So if the Saintess is defeated, more interesting things will happen in the human world, and furthermore, humans will directly call upon the gods, leading to even more interesting events?”

Shophrobe Hyer nodded at Ethan’s words.

“Exactly. Don’t get too angry. Our standards are very different from human standards. We don’t die… well, that’s not entirely true, but we live boring lives for a long time. Humans call us omnipotent, but we actually see humans that way. Only when they call upon us can we escape this boring life and experience interesting things.”

For the gods, living meant whether humans called upon them or not.

So they have acted in ways that could bring them amusement, regardless of good or evil.

The just cause is clearly with the Saintess, but because that cause is a human cause, this situation has come about.

“Then shouldn’t they all support the 1st and 2nd Apostles?”

Roditon nodded at Ethan’s question.

“While there are gods who move based on interest without distinguishing between good and evil, there are also gods who consider goodness, which is why this has happened. Even I have some degree of goodness.”

“…”

As Ethan fell silent, Shophrobe Hyer gave a short cough.

“They’re clashing.”

Meanwhile, Ethan’s eyes widened as he saw a change on the battlefield.

Kwang-!

Along with the sound of weapons clashing, magic rained down like a downpour.

“Huh…”

Roditon groaned at the sight.

Although they were said to be similar in appearance to humans, the way they wielded swords, shot magic, and the way they fell was literally human-like.

Especially the sight of those with colors similar to humans dying made one frown involuntarily.

“They’re not living beings. When the order is given, they advance without fear of death. They have no emotions. That’s why they can give more of a chess piece feeling.”

“Like chess pieces on a chessboard. So there are no variables at all.”

Ethan closely observed the unfolding situation.

As Shophrobe Hyer said, the Saintess’s forces were being pushed back.

“Neither of them is directly participating in this battlefield.”

“That’s because they can just give orders from their main camp while looking at the situation board. The view of the ground you saw earlier from above the clouds, that’s exactly the view that the 1st and 2nd Apostles and the Saintess are seeing now.”

‘It’s really like looking down at a chessboard and waging war.’

Moreover, there are no living beings.

“Oh, that side is using something like holy power?”

“That’s what I mentioned earlier.”

Shophrobe Hyer answered Roditon’s question.

“Which means…”

The soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Apostles were also spewing out blue frost.

The characteristics possessed by each god.

And the characteristics possessed by the humans who became the objects of amusement.

These two things combine to give power to the soldiers.

Kuwung-!

“This… it might end faster than we thought? The master of the raging earth just switched over to that side.”

The balance was crumbling.

“They say they have no life and don’t know death, but the screams are quite something.”

Mary pointed out.

“This is why the gods’ personalities are so trashy.”

Roditon clicked his tongue.

“Teacher Ethan, I’ll leave it to your judgment. Whatever Teacher Ethan decides, I’ll help you. Your fate is for you to decide, teacher!”

“Control your fate! Teacher!”

The adventurer combo’s eyes sparkled.

Ethan pondered for a moment.

“Shophrobe Hyer, prepare 150.”

“…Are you really going to break through that army with those troops?”

“We could persuade the Saintess and open the door, but the 1st and 2nd Apostles might rush in. So we have no choice but to go there with minimal forces.”

“…How do you plan to cross that army? They can see the whole war situation clearly from those clouds above. On the other hand, all we can see are countless soldiers.”

“There’s a way.”

One thing clearly came to Ethan’s mind.

‘It wasn’t necessary at all back then.’

It was a god of the New World that perfectly fit this situation.