Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 442 - The Method of Treatment

The one who was most pleased with the Saintess’s answer wasn’t Ethan.

“Now this… is romantic.”

“That’s not what’s romantic…!”

“Isn’t this why we help others?”

Roditon and Mary smiled quite contentedly.

In fact, when they first dove into the army led by the Saintess, they thought this task wouldn’t be easy.

But in the end, they had broken through that army and helped Ethan meet the Saintess, so they were feeling quite good.

Especially since Ethan was the junior who cleared the Hero’s Tower right after Roditon, who had cleared it first.

“I played the good senior role.”

“Oh! What a cool senior!”

However, Ethan remained quite calm even at the Saintess’s words that treatment was possible.

He asked again without changing his expression.

“Can it be treated right away?”

“I think you already know, Mr. Ethan. Your Extinction is on a different level from the other Extinctions I’ve been treating.”

“Yes, I know. This Extinction is the original of the disease you’ve been treating, Saintess.”

“That’s why it’s difficult to treat it right away with the methods I’ve been using so far. But… that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”

The Saintess realized something as soon as she saw Ethan.

“Please look at this Perfect Divine Body.”

What the Saintess took out was a pitch-black lump in the shape of a human.

It had the exact same form as a human, but without a face, resembling a black doll.

“This is the Perfect Divine Body…?”

“It doesn’t look flawless at all. Rather, it’s grotesque.”

As Mary said, there was certainly something grotesque about it.

But Ethan, afflicted with Extinction, definitely felt something from the Perfect Divine Body.

“It’s a body suitable for a god to descend into, isn’t it?”

Though he already knew about it from Shophrobe Hyer, seeing it in person made the feeling much more tangible.

“As you can see, this Perfect Divine Body is a perfectly created body. It allows any being to descend to the human world without any loss of power. And this is the way to treat the original Extinction.”

With those words, the Saintess looked at Ethan.

“You need to become this Perfect Divine Body.”

“…Then.”

“Yes, fundamentally, it’s not a treatment. It’s about successfully completing a ritual.”

The Saintess said so while tilting her head.

“No, it’s a bit different. Twisting the ritual a little… Yes, you could say it’s about perfecting the body.”

Perfecting the body.

Even Ethan found it difficult to understand that immediately.

“So, you mean you’ll treat me by making my body like the Perfect Divine Body.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I had thought of that method too, but before that, my body wouldn’t be able to withstand it and would disintegrate.”

“Isn’t that why you came to find me?”

The Saintess said.

“I can endure it for you. To prevent Extinction from disintegrating you. I’ve treated all the other Extinctions that way too. Of course, it won’t be easy. It will be very difficult. I might even lose my life. But…”

“You can treat it, then.”

“Yes.”

Only then did Ethan smile slightly.

“Now you’re smiling. Don’t worry. You said you’ve been looking for me for a long time, so I’ll take responsibility and treat you.”

***

The Saintess searched the fortress and took out various materials.

Then she drew a magic circle on the floor.

“First, I should draw the magic circle. But we need the most important ingredient. To get that ingredient…”

Whoosh-.

Before the Saintess could finish speaking, something swooped into the fortress.

“Human who believes in the White Light!”

It was the gods helping the Saintess.

They entered the fortress one by one and frowned deeply upon seeing Ethan.

This fortress was the last stronghold.

Although Ethan had broken through the army with overwhelming force, they thought he wouldn’t be able to breach the fortress where the Saintess was.

But for some reason, the Saintess had simply opened the door of the fortress, and Ethan was able to enter just like that.

Worried that she might have fallen under some mental magic, the gods returned to the fortress as quickly as possible.

But the situation was strange. Far from fighting, they seemed to be getting along well.

“What’s going on here?”

Before the Saintess could open her mouth, Ethan nodded to Shophrobe Hyer.

“Ethan Whiskers is not an enemy of the Saintess. He’s my partner, and he just came to meet the Saintess.”

“…Your partner?”

“Not an enemy, you say? Just came to meet her? Then why did he attack the Saintess’s soldiers?”

“You all should know, right? There’s a consciousness in Ethan Whiskers’s body. The one who can remove that consciousness is the Saintess here. My partner came to ask the Saintess for treatment. He broke through the army because he was that desperate for treatment.”

“…What?”

“What did you say?”

The gods looked at Shophrobe Hyer as if they couldn’t believe it.

“You’re saying he broke through that army just to receive treatment?”

“…Yeah.”

Shophrobe Hyer shrugged his shoulders.

“I’m baffled too, so don’t ask me anything more.”

Although Shophrobe Hyer was known as a weak god, with Ethan watching, he said everything he wanted to say without holding back.

However, the gods were quite angered by this situation.

“Human called Ethan Whiskers!”

“You are now interfering with our entertainment at its most crucial point.”

“Get that treatment after this entertainment is all over.”

“If you don’t follow our words.”

“We’ll have no choice but to force you out. This is our city.”

The Saintess raised her hand to stop the gods. But even faster than that.

“You’re spouting nothing but nonsense.”

Ethan raised his sword.

“This is the most important moment for me.”

He had finally met the Saintess.

And the Saintess said treatment was possible.

“The entertainment ends here. How dare mere gods interfere when a human is trying to survive?”

“…What?”

“What did you just…!”

“…!”

The gods’ eyes widened.

“You lot can play around all you want after my treatment is done.”

Fenrir’s power imbued the tip of Ethan’s sword.

-Fenrir’s Fang becomes even sharper!

Until now, there had been a fog in Ethan’s heart.

Even up until just before meeting the Saintess, Ethan hadn’t been certain that this Extinction could be treated.

Because it was the original Extinction, after all.

But now that he had found a definite method, the last trace of fear in Ethan’s heart disappeared. The fog that had been settled in a corner of his mind cleared up completely.

“Mr. Ethan…?”

The Saintess spoke with a slightly trembling voice.

Everyone thought the Saintess would stop Ethan. Right now, the Saintess’s soldiers had the power given by the gods.

“Just don’t kill them.”

“…!”

“Wahahahaha-!”

Roditon was surprised and Mary laughed brightly.

Shophrobe Hyer wasn’t surprised.

From the beginning, the reason the human Saintess could receive power from the gods wasn’t because she was necessary for the gods’ entertainment.

The gods themselves were captivated by her power and ability, so they started the entertainment and found the Perfect Divine Body for her.

“I’ll just keep them alive.”

Ethan raised his chin and looked down at the gods.

***

“……”

“……”

The gods stood in a line before Ethan.

Just like when Shophrobe Hyer had confidently pounced on Ethan’s group at first and was severely beaten, these gods too were just standing there without saying a word.

“Eyes, on the ground.”

“…We were looking at the ground.”

“All of you?”

“…We were!”

Shophrobe Hyer, who was standing behind, couldn’t help but laugh.

To think that these fairly strong gods in this city of gods were experiencing such humiliation.

It wasn’t long ago that he himself had experienced the same humiliation. But Shophrobe Hyer forgot that fact and enjoyed this moment.

“But I’m suddenly curious, what would happen if Teacher Ethan, who’s wearing those tremendous shackles, were to remove them?”

“…Right? He’s already insanely strong, how much stronger would he get if those were removed? Roditon, can I go on an adventure with the teacher for a bit? I mean the fully recovered teacher. No, why are you looking at me like that? I’ll only adventure for one year!”

“A person shouldn’t abandon loyalty and chase after thrills.”

“I’m a sword, though?”

In fact, Ethan was curious too.

‘I’m already strong enough to be hard to handle.’

The apostles were spreading the will of the Moonforce Order as if competing with each other. Even at this moment, the number of believers must be continuously increasing.

‘I seem to be even stronger than when I was immersed in MePan and focused on spec upgrades.’

What if Extinction is treated in this situation?

‘I’d definitely be at the level of the Three Gods, and I might even be able to face two of the Three Gods simultaneously.’

It’s just a guess, but it seemed quite possible.

‘If Extinction is treated, I might actually become the strongest on the continent.’

In one-on-one combat, he would have specs that wouldn’t lose to anyone on the continent.

Of course, Ethan was only thinking about definitely surviving for now.

‘Not dying is a good thing, after all.’

“I-if you leave us like this, the dark apostles and their gods will run rampant! If that happens, it’s only a matter of time before they advance to this fortress!”

“Can’t the treatment be postponed anytime?”

When the gods spouted nonsense again, Ethan gripped his sword tightly.

“No, just a little, just postpone it for a very short while… The situation is what it is. Shouldn’t we avoid handing over that Perfect Divine Body to the dark apostles?”

“Let’s put that aside and talk first, okay?”

The gods were extremely tense due to the terrifying aura emanating from Ethan’s sword.

“There’s no need to worry about that.”

Ethan said.

Kwagwang-! Kwagagak-!

A thunderous noise erupted from outside the fortress. As the gods had predicted, the dark apostle side was tightening the reins and attacking again.

“Now that I know for sure there’s a treatment method, there’s no need to continue this fight.”

If the war makes it difficult to treat, then the solution is to end the war.

“I’ll go end it.”