Chapter 345: The White Great Sage (First Part)
Chapter 345: The White Great Sage (First Part)
Author: October 25th is the day the 10th volume goes on sale.
The front cover is here!!**
Please buy it!
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“Kuh!”
I arrived at the Sun Country, Highland.
The reason is because the Great Sage-sama, Momo, called me.
The Teleport I am still not used to yet gave me a lot of trouble.
Lucy and Sa-san didn’t come with me.
They are apparently scared of Momo.
Also, the first thing Momo said when she drank my blood in a while was…
“Bitter?” (Makoto)
“Makoto-sama’s blood…tastes bad…wuuh.” (Momo)
“That much?” (Makoto)
I was flustered by Momo who crumbled crying.
To think she would cry… This is troubling.
What should I do…?
“You wouldn’t come meet me at all…and have already graduated from virginity… It is fine already. Someone like me…someone like me…” (Momo)
“Momo…” (Makoto)
“Makoto-sama, you idiot!!” (Momo)
“Uwa.” (Makoto)
Momo body slammed me and I was pushed down to the floor.
She began beating me just like that.
“I can’t drink your blood anymore, Makoto-sama! How am I going to live from here on?!” (Momo)
That appearance of hers is not that of the central figure of Highland, but the frail girl I met 1,000 years ago.
“Momo… I am sorry.” (Makoto)
“You don’t have to apologize!! I needed your clean blood, Makoto-sama! Your womanizing contaminated blood can’t be drunk anymore! It is muddy water!” (Momo)
“It is muddy water, huh…” (Makoto)
I don’t know the sense of taste of a vampire, but if Momo says so, that must be the case.
“Please return to being a virgin, quickly! Please regain your purity!” (Momo)
“Don’t ask for the imposs—no, it could be done?” (Makoto)
I feel like it might be possible if I ask the Time Spirits.
“Eh?”
She must have been intending to ask for the impossible here, Momo stopped crying with what I said.
“You can return to being a virgin?!” (Momo)
“…If I try hard enough.” (Makoto)
Even if I can, I am against the idea.
Also, I have a different idea.
Momo is a vampire.
That’s because she was turned into a vampire by the Immortal King Bifrons 1,000 years ago.
That’s why she is now in an inconvenient body that needs blood and is weak to sunlight.
But Momo became strong by training for 1,000 years with that.
In preparation for the resurrection of the Great Demon Lord.
But we are now in peaceful times.
There’s no need to push herself anymore.
I speak it out loud.
“Momo, let’s return you to a human being.” (Makoto)
“…………Eh?” (Momo)
Momo’s big eyes opened wide after hearing my words.
◇◇
“…Makoto, what are you doing bringing a woman as if it is the most natural thing in the world?”
When we arrived at the Deep Sea Temple, Noah-sama welcomed me with a displeased face.
By the way, Momo would lose her mind if she were to look directly at Noah-sama, so I am covering her eyes with my hands.
“You must not, Mako-kun. Flirting with a girl in front of Noah. Bad boy☆.”
“E-Excuse me…I can only hear your voices, but I feel like there’s 2 Goddesses in front of me…” (Momo)
Momo was really nervous with her eyes covered.
By the way, I had Momo bring me close to the Deep Sea Temple (the Habhain Archipelago) and arrived at the Deep Sea Temple by going down the sea.
Leviathan looked at me with eyes as if saying ‘Why did this guy go out of his way to come here from the sea…?’.
It can’t be helped.
I suck at Teleport after all.
By the way, Momo can’t Teleport to the inside of the Deep Sea Temple.
It is because she didn’t overcome the Deep Sea Temple which is a Last Dungeon.
It is apparently fine for her to come with me though.
“It would be inconvenient to not be able to open your eyes, right, Momo-chan? I will give you this☆.” (Eir)
The Water Goddess put blue glasses on Momo.
No…those are sunglasses?
“Eir-sama, this is…?” (Makoto)
“I cast a Miracle on it, so she should be fine looking at us with those sunglasses on.” (Eir)
“Ooh, thank you very much! Momo, she said it is fine to open your eyes.” (Makoto)
“R-Really…? Wa! This is the Deep Sea Temple…? A f-flower garden…?” (Momo)
Momo hesitantly opened her eyes and was surprised by the internal state of the Deep Sea Temple.
This is 100 times the garden of the Highland Castle after all.
Moreover, there’s flowers never seen before in full bloom.
Noah-sama, whose beauty makes even those wondrous flowers pale in comparison, was glaring at me with a grumpy look.
Being hit by the gaze of Noah-sama, Momo shifted and moved behind me.
“Noah-sama, it is nice to see you doing we—” (Makoto)
“I am not! Good grief, finally putting a hand on even the Oracle of Eir…” (Noah)
“…She is my fiance, you know?” (Makoto)
“Shut up.” (Noah)
Noah-sama stepped on my head.
It doesn’t really hurt.
Her underwear feels like it could be seen, but I can’t.
“So, what’s your business?” (Noah)
I think she can read my mind easily, but that’s that.
I answer properly as courtesy.
“Actually, I want to return Momo into a human. Is there a good way?” (Makoto)
“……………It is not like there isn’t.” (Noah)
“Eh?!” (Momo)
Momo raised her voice in surprise at what Noah-sama mumbled.
That’s Noah-sama for ya.
“What exactly is the method?” (Makoto)
“First…” (Noah)
Noah-sama lifted a finger.
“To have a Life Spirit possess Momo-chan. That will make her body from an undead to a human.” (Noah)
“Life Spirit…?” (Makoto)
This is the first time I heard of them.
There was a Spirit like that?
“Isn’t that great, Momo?! You can come back to life.” (Makoto)
“T-This is the first time I hear of such a method…” (Momo)
I was happy, but Momo was flustered by this.
That’s where the Water Goddess jumped in.
“Noah, if you hit a Life Spirit onto an undead, their original personality will be overwritten, wouldn’t it?” (Eir)
““Eh?”
Momo and I hurriedly looked back.
What did she say just now?
“Hmm, right. If you get possessed by a Life Spirit, you are technically ‘reincarnating’, so you would be in essence a different person.” (Noah)
“I-I don’t wanna!” (Momo)
“That’s not good!” (Makoto)
Momo screamed and I shouted.
What an unbelievable boobytrap proposal.
“I know… I was simply saying there’s this method. Next would be a standard time rewind. You know as well, right, Makoto? We will go back to the time when Momo-chan was alive by using the Time Spirits.” (Noah)
“I know, but Momo became an undead 1,000 years ago, you know?” (Makoto)
“Only 1,000 years. That’s an instant.” (Noah)
““……”
The sense of time of a Goddess really is so different from ours, it flustered us.
I did become a God myself, but I can’t keep up with them at all.
“It is impossible for me to rewind 1,000 years as I am now…” (Makoto)
“That much, I can do myself. In one snap.” (Noah)
Noah-sama easily shoots down my worry.
That’s fine then…?
Is there no downsides?
“Just putting this out first. Mako-kun, Momo-chan, if you rewind time to 1,000 years in the past, you will also lose the strength you got. By the way, that goes the same for the memories, but you could ask for Ira-chan to store your memories aside with a Miracle of hers.” (Eir)
“I would lose my power…huh.” (Momo)
Momo made a doubtful look even if not on the level of before.
Momo is currently the Great Sage of the Sun Country.
One of the highest authorities in the Sun Country.
She must feel apprehensive about returning to her normal human state all of a sudden.
“Is there any other way…Noah-sama?” (Makoto)
“Hmm, is there?” (Noah)
“Geez, Noah, don’t be such a bully just because Mako-kun brought a girl.” (Eir)
“I-It is not like I am bullying them!” (Noah)
“Mako-kun, it is not that hard for us Gods to resurrect an undead. However, there’s a God in charge of that front, so you would have to get their permission first.” (Eir)
“Permission…? And who is that?” (Makoto)
“That’s of course…” (Eir)
“The God of Hades, Pluto.” (Noah)
Noah-sama speaks over the Water Goddess.
“The God of Hades…?” (Makoto)
“T-That’s obviously impossible…” (Momo)
I tilted my head, not clicking with me, and Momo groaned dejected.
—God of Hades, Pluto.
The brother of the King God Jupiter, and the God of the world of dead.
I learned about that mythology in the Water Temple.
Of course, I have never met him before, and I don’t know how to get his permission…
“Here, Makoto. Take this.” (Noah)
Noah-sama gave me a sparkly envelope while I was troubled.
The envelope had a signature shining rainbow.
“What’s this, Noah-sama?” (Makoto)
“An introduction letter. You have become a new God, so go greet Pluto at Hades. You can ask him about Momo-chan while at it. It is the request of my familiar, so he probably won’t refuse.” (Noah)
““Eh?!”
Momo and I get shocked by what Noah-sama said.
“Hey, Noah, is it okay for his first greeting to be with Uncle Pluto? Wouldn’t Father Jupiter come first in terms of hierarchy…?” (Eir)
“That guy is currently not in the Divine Realm, right? I heard from Althena.” (Noah)
“Right… Where has he gone…?” (Eir)
““……”
Momo and I were shuddering at Eir-sama and Noah-sama’s conversation.
Looks like it has been decided that I will be going to Hades with Momo.
◇◇
…Momo and I have gone to the northern ends of the world: the Arctic Continent.
We were standing at the big circular hole that’s opened cleanly on the ice ground.
“It has been a while since I have come here… To the Last Dungeon: Abyss.” (Momo)
“You have come here before, Momo?” (Makoto)
“Master White Dragon has brought me here a number of times for training. It is not a place I like that much, but…you seem to be having fun, Makoto-sama.” (Momo)
“Eh? Really?” (Makoto)
As for me, I have the important mission of heading to Hades, give my greetings as the familiar of Noah-sama, and get the permission to revive Momo.
We are not going there to have fun, but…I couldn’t help getting excited here.
I was acting calm, but it seems like Momo saw through me.
A giant hole I couldn’t see the bottom of as if it pierced all the way through the planet.
It is several kilometers in diameter, and I can’t see the whole of it without using Farsight.
“Then, let’s go down.” (Makoto)
“Wuuh…so we are really going?” (Momo)
Momo and I held hands and we slowly descended the giant hole with a floating spell.
The Air Float spell is a spell I recently learned after borrowing the strength of the Wind Spirits.
It is originally a mid rank spell though.
When we went down the big hole for several hundred meters, a thick mist covered the area and light got harder to reach.
There were big creatures swimming around us.
Like carnivores aiming for their prey.
“Makoto-sama, we have entered the turf of the Shadow Dragon.” (Momo)
“We get into a dragon nest right after entering, huh.” (Makoto)
Momo warned me with a slightly nervous tone.
The upper area of the Last Dungeon’s Abyss is the den of a dragon species called Shadow Dragons.
With just that alone, I can tell that it would be hard for your average adventurer to challenge this place.
“I don’t want to waste too much time here, so let’s drive them away… Dia.” (Makoto)
I called the familiar Great Water Spirit.
“Yes~☆, you called, Our King?” (Dia)
A blue skinned Great Water Spirit appeared without even taking a second.
It is her usual appearance, but her eyes were shining faintly in rainbow.
It seems to be because I have become a God.
The presence of the Shadow Dragons disappeared the next instant.
Looks like they left.
“Aah, all the dragons have run away. They have gone inside their nest and are trembling.” (Momo)
“Our King, should I exterminate those lizards?” (Dia)
“No, we are going to be having a long journey to Hades. Let’s just go quickly.” (Makoto)
I stopped Dia who was saying something radical here, and we head deeper into the Abyss.
After diving for several kilometers, light was not reaching anymore and we were shrouded in pitch darkness.
There’s the presence of living beings from the surface of the Abyss walls.
The presence of a magic creature that’s far more powerful and vicious than the Shadow Dragons above.
But…
“All of them are holding their breath.” (Momo)
Momo said in a baffled tone.
“Even though we are in a Last Dungeon, we are not meeting a single monster.” (Makoto)
“Boring, isn’t it, Our King?” (Dia)
(Hey, Mako-kun, you are a God, so don’t rampage too much on the Mortal Realm, okay☆? Come on, next is right.) (Eir)
The voice of Eir-sama echoes in my head.
Eir-sama is going to be guiding us all the way to Hades.
By the way, the Abyss only has one entrance, but it seems like it branches in large numbers, and the places they connect differ greatly.
You apparently can also wander into a parallel world.
…This is a parallel world too though.
By the way, it isn’t connected to the world I was in.
It is because mana didn’t exist in my previous world.
Around half a day after that.
Momo, Dia, and I continued going deeper into the Abyss.
I am a God.
Momo is an undead.
Dia is a Great Water Spirit.
Since we are all inhuman, we don’t get hungry, and we can still continue on, but I could feel my concentration is close to dropping.
Just when I thought I wanted to take a break somewhere…
(Aah, after that, the road…you just have to go down…at the hole to the side…don’t enter…) (Eir)
“Eir-sama? Your voice feels a bit distant.” (Makoto)
(Sorry…Hades is getting closer…so the thought transmission is having difficulties…reaching…later…☆)
I couldn’t hear the voice of Eir-sama after that.
It makes me a bit uneasy, but I apparently only need to go straight down now, so we hurried deeper in.
“Makoto-sama…aren’t you finding it hard to breathe?” (Momo)
“Hmm, the air is a bit dense here.” (Makoto)
“Our King, Shrimp, we have entered the world of the dead. There’s Death Spirits here and there.” (Dia)
When Momo and I say the air changed, Dia told us this.
This place that should have been pitch black now had blue lights slowly swaying.
“Those are…” (Makoto)
“Makoto-sama, those are most likely the souls of the dead.” (Momo)
Momo answered my question.
I see.
This is the world of the dead.
We have finally arrived at the entrance to the world of the dead, huh…
After going down what seemed like a bottomless hole, we finally caught sight of the ground.
We slowly land.
I look around.
I couldn’t tell whether the dark red ground was earth or gravel.
This pitch black world of darkness had countless blue ‘souls’ swaying around.
A very spacious space of nothing.
There was a single path and street light at that place.
This path continued on to the far horizon, and I couldn’t see the goal.
This path was as long from front to back and there was no difference, but I could immediately tell in which direction I should go.
That’s because the countless souls were slowly, very slowly moving while following that path.
The God of Hades, Pluto, should be at the destination of those souls.
But…
“Let’s take a short break.” (Makoto)
“…O-Okay. That was tiring, wasn’t it?” (Momo)
“Here?” (Dia)
Momo nodded at my proposal and Dia tilted her head.
It seems like this much movement isn’t considered tiring for a Great Water Spirit.
Momo sat on a chair created with magic, and began to observe for a while the world of the dead she visited for the first time.
That said, it is dreary and there’s nothing to show though.
What I am curious about is Pluto who should be managing this world.
The God that is the uncle of the Sun Goddess and the Water Goddess, and the brother of the God King Jupiter.
A pretty high ranked God within the Divine Realm.
But contrary to the lustful and battle junkie God King Jupiter, Pluto doesn’t show up often in mythology.
He is called a gentle God, but…
“Makoto-sama, shall we depart?” (Momo)
Momo spoke to me while I was pondering.
“Aah, right. Let’s do that.” (Makoto)
There’s no point worrying about it when I haven’t even met him.
Let’s meet him first and talk to him.
Momo, the Great Water Spirit, and I flew towards the direction where the souls are heading to in this dreary land.
Is it because it is the world of the dead? The Wind Spirits seem silent compared to their usual state.
Even though they are the most noisy Spirits in the surface world.
A big river eventually came into view at the far end of the dark red land.
There’s mist around the river, and I can’t see the other side.
The souls are advancing slowly above the river.
The water in the river is crystal clear and pretty, but I can’t see its bottom.
A beautiful large river.
However, there’s an uncanny creepy feeling to it.
“Momo, is this…” (Makoto)
“Most likely the Sanzu River. This is my first time seeing it though…” (Momo)
“The Sanzu River…huh.” (Makoto)
Is it really okay to cross it?
But the God of Hades should be deeper in.
The moment we were about to cross the river with flying magic.
“Oi, you people! What are you doing?!”
An unknown person shouted at us.
No, is it a person?
At the place I looked at, there was a middle-age man wearing a worn-out suit that clashed with this dreary scenery.
We landed on the ground and spoke to the man.
“Who are you?” (Makoto)
“I am the boatman that has served for generations in this river… You are living…though there’s one who is not…but you came from the Mortal Realm, right? This is not a place you guys should be coming to. It is better for you to turn back now. You won’t be able to return to the surface world if you stay too long in Hades, you know?”
He said and made a gesture of shooing us away.
Momo and I looked at each other’s faces.
The Great Water Spirit was stretching as if she had no interest in this.
“We came here to meet the lord of Hades, Pluto-sama, though…” (Makoto)
“What?!”
The middle-aged man opened his eyes wide at what I said.
“Don’t speak nonsense! Even I, who has served Pluto-sama for countless years, might or might not meet him once in several years, you know?! There’s no way a resident of the Mortal Realm can just meet that personage so nonchalantly!! If you continue speaking such nonsense, the personal Death Reaper Unit of Pluto-sama will come reap out your soul, you know?!”
He talked up a storm with an incredibly threatening attitude.
“I have a letter here… Would that be enough?” (Makoto)
I took out the letter of the Goddess from my coat’s inner pocket, and showed it to the boatman.
“What’s that?”
The middle-aged boatman-san received the letter.
The letter shone golden and the signature of Noah-sama glowed in rainbow colors.
It is awfully dazzling.
“Fumu fumu. ‘To the Lord of Hades, Pluto-dono’? Just who is……Goddess…waaaah?!!!!”
The man read the name of the sender and screamed.
He dropped the letter and I hurriedly caught it.
“Ferryman of the Sanzu River, you have guts throwing away the letter of Noah-sama.”
“Now that I look closely, are you an Undine?! What business does an envoy of an Evil God have here?!! C-Could it be that you are attacking Hades—”
“No no no! I was told by Noah-sama to greet Pluto-sama.” (Makoto)
It seemed like he was misunderstanding here, so I hurriedly denied it.
“……The Evil God that resurrected just recently…? I don’t really get it, but okay. I will guide you to the residence of Pluto-sama. Ride on my boat.”
“Is it really okay?” (Makoto)
“I can’t just drive you away…”
The man seemed to be pretty tired just from this short conversation.
But I am scared of wandering in Hades with no clue from left and right.
I can’t hear the voice of the Water Goddess yet either.
We indulged in the offer and decided to get on the boat parked at the edge of the river.
I was wondering whether a rowing boat would be cramped with 4 people, but the moment we got on it, it got big enough for 10 people to get on.
Looks like the size of the boat is freely malleable.
*…Gih…Gih…Gih…Gih…*
The boat was making that creepy sound as it advanced through the Sanzu River.
Even though we are barely rowing here, the speed of the boat is pretty fast.
“………”
“………”
“………”
We silently waited to arrive.
I was thinking it should be fine for the ferryman to talk about something, but there was nothing.
We can barely see the surroundings because of the mist.
That’s why we can’t enjoy the view, but there would be times when big shadows and small shadows would pass by.
“There’s quite a lot of wandering souls today…”
The Ferryman-san muttered.
“Really?” (Makoto)
“Yeah. There might be a big war in a world somewhere.”
“…Is that so.” (Makoto)
Hades apparently not only includes the West Continent we live in, but even the dead of other worlds.
Their numbers are massive.
I suddenly thought that maybe the soul of Noah-sama’s believer and my senpai, Cain, is somewhere around here.
If Momo can come back to life, could I ask for Cain as well?
Noah-sama wouldn’t go against it.
While I was thinking that…
“It is coming in sight: the residence of Pluto-sama.”
“That’s…” (Makoto)
“The center of Hades…” (Momo)
Momo and I muttered dumbfounded.
The scale of the ‘residence’ I imagined was completely different.
A distorted multistory building that might have more than 100 floors felt like it towered far and wide.
So wide and big it doesn’t even fit in my whole field of vision.
A huge jet black castle that’s completely unlike a construction of the Mortal Realm.
It might be even bigger than the Deep Sea Temple in terms of scale.
The boat we were on stopped at a small pier adjacent to the castle.
“Sorry, bro. My boat won’t reach all the way to the main gate. There’s a big gate over there, right? Enter from there… There’s a gatekeeper, so be careful.”
“Thanks, old man” (Makoto)
“Thank you very much, old man!” (Momo)
“…Thanks.” (Dia)
Momo, Dia, and I thanked the ferryman and parted.
The boat made gih…gih… sounds as it disappeared inside the mist.
What should we do on our way back?
Can we get a taxi or something here?
I am a bit uneasy, but we decided to go to the main gate he mentioned.
(Big…) (Makoto)
Can you call this…a gate?
There’s a giant gate the size of a 5 story building.
We could probably enter from here, but…there’s one big problem.
“…Grrrrrrrrrrr.”
A low growling has been directed at us for a while now.
The ferryman said that there’s a gatekeeper.
I see, it is exactly as he said.
There’s a big watchdog in front of the gate lying down.
Its size is bigger than your average dragon.
And the mana clad around its body is far beyond that of an Ancient Dragon.
“E-Excuse me…Makoto-sama, could that possibly be…” (Momo)
“Aah, speaking of which, they did say Hades…” (Dia)
Momo’s voice is trembling.
The Great Water Spirit spoke in an annoyed tone.
Of course, even I know the name of the monster in front of my eyes.
The Watchdog of Hades with 3 heads: Cerberus.
In terms of fame, it doesn’t fall short to that of Leviathan. That legendary Divine Beast was glaring at us.
■Comment Response:
]Please do the Furiae-san arc after the Great Sage-sama arc!
-That’s most likely my plan…as long as Noah-sama or Ira-sama don’t interject that is.
]It is possible for Makoto to not react well to Spirits even though he is now a God?
Spirits are whimsical, so even if you are a God, you have to get along with them or they will be indifferent.
■Author’s Comment:
It is Anna-san!! Cute!!**
There’s also Mel-san! She gives that big sister vibe.**
Johnny-san and that Demon Lord have been drawn as well!
[Extra]
This is the first time it appears in this story, but it is the same one that appears in the Sword Saint that begins with Zero Attack Power.
By the way, the ‘Dark Magic: Hades Watchdog’ that Nevia-san used 1,000 years ago was simply a spell that imitated Cerberus-kun.
It is not that she summoned the actual one.
It wasn’t really clear, so I am clearing it up here.
l
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