Chapter 78 – Believe it!
Freid POV - Tortus, Gruen Great Volcano - 2013
I look down at the unbelievable pair that alone overwhelmed my force of over 100 monsters, now reduced to a little less than half, my gaze moves to the young woman, she has short black hair that is kept in a tiny bob and brown eyes can be seen behind her glasses, she is riding a skeleton wyvern, and is calmly studying the situation, 'She is a dreadful master of magic the likes I have never heard and seen before, that spell was able to beat Uranos' Dragon Breath, my strongest familiar a monster enhanced with the Age of Gods magic that turned him into one of the strongest monster race, a Dragon... Even so, that black fire was able to overwhelm the Dragon Breath and even injure Uranos!'.
Then my gaze move to the young man who is flying with that strange artifact, he is tall, with messy dark blue hair and almost shining crimson eyes an air of absolute confidence emanates from his whole being, and his last words still resound in my mind, and the pain of the wounds I received in that brief confrontation I had with him is still clear in my memory, like the fact, that he had more than once spared my life when he could have easily killed me, 'This is ridiculous! How could Alva-sama work with that despicable Ehit the god of the human race!! He is the god of the demons always ready to lend us his aid when we needed the most! It's thanks to him and his guide that the demons have survived until now! If it wasn't for the fact that Ehit summoned those "heroes" we would have already won this war and we would finally be safe from the treacherous humans! Showing everyone that the Demon Race is truly the superior one!'.
While all this goes through my head, I hear that Jayr guy speak again, "I know that you won't simply believe my words... But think of everything you have gone through, all the lives that had been lost, all the sacrifices the demons have made, and about this war with the humans, isn't strange that even after all this time, this war never ended?... Don't you think that is strange? Every time this war is about to end and peace is finally in sight, something happens from one of the sides, and you go back to fighting in full force!".
These words once again resound in my mind, stunning me on the spot, then everything I have gone through in my life surfaces in my mind, one scene after another.
How I was born into a military family in the demon nation of Garland, how, at some point, my entire family had been killed during the demons' ongoing war with the humans.
Afterward, I was adopted by the grand general of the demons' army, that raised me like his own son, and I eventually enlisted into the army, as a way to repay my adopted father for having raised me.
However, my foster father had fallen gravely ill, and desperate to save him, I traveled to the Frost Caverns of Schnee after learning from the demon lord Dienleed Galdea Vesperitio Avatarl-sama, the voice of Alva-sama who regularly give him guidance, that I would be granted a form of Ancient Magic upon successfully conquering it.
How despite the hardships during the journey, which nearly resulted in my death multiple times, I ultimately succeeded in clearing the labyrinth, but unfortunately, the Ancient Magic I had acquired could not help me in curing my foster father, as it only has the power to turn monsters into my familiars, and magically empower them or at least that is what I'm able to do with it, as later I learned that Maoshi is able to do a lot more with it.
To make matters worse, I learned that my foster father had died from his illness while I was on his journey, and was simply handed a will upon my return home.
Then, utterly distraught by these recent events, I once again left my home and traveled south in order to be alone.
While during my travels, I came across an injured white wyvern, whose flock had been under attack by a swarm of giant monster spiders, I was intrigued by the wyvern's uniquely colored scales and sought to have it become my familiar.
The wyvern could sense how strong I was and knew immediately that it was no match for me, but still chose to stand its ground against me, and as it charged towards me, I managed to restrain the wyvern with chains made of light magic.
As I was prepared to alter the wyvern, I ceased after questioning the point of even doing so and released it from my magic chains, but a moment later we heard a loud scream that came from another wyvern that was fighting the giant spiders.
This compelled the white wyvern to rescue its comrade, despite the injuries it had sustained, and after the wyvern's failed attempt to protect the rest of its flock, the spiders were prepared to kill them but stopped in fear when I suddenly showed up beside the wyvern.
I was impressed at the wyvern's determination to protect its brethren, in spite of the overwhelming odds against him, so I placed my hand over the wyvern's forehead, to which it did not resist my gesture, and we mentally bonded where we saw each other's memories.
Suddenly, the two of us were entrapped by webbing from the leader of the spiders, however, we were unconcerned with it and I instead proceeded to turn the wyvern into my familiar, which it eagerly accepted.
I then used Metamorphosis Magic and enveloped the wyvern in a pillar of light and transformed it into a white dragon, and together, we managed to defeat the swarm of spiders.
Afterward, I transformed the other surviving wyverns into familiars as well, then the now white dragon held a burial ceremony for its brother that had been killed by the spiders, I decided to name my new partner "Uranos", which meant 'protector of the skies'.
Then I decided to return home from my travels and used my magic to tip the scales of the demons' war against humanity in their our by controlling more monsters and having them serve us, and at some point, I had also been appointed as the supreme commander of the demons' army.
Following that, things started to change, the heroes from another world were summoned by Ehit to fight the demons, and at the same time, that strange being named Maoshi came and offered his aid in exchange for our support, he told us that he also came from another world, a world different from the one of the heroes summoned by Ehit, he came here on his own power simply because he has reached the limit of power that he can gain in his own world, and hope that here he can find a way to break through this limit and grow even stronger.
I felt that something was off with that guy, but the demon lord Dienleed-sama accepted his offer and told Maoshi about the 7 Great Labyrinths and the Age of Gods magic that they contain, and soon after he also went on my same journey to the Frost Caverns of Schnee, and he too was able to conquer it, and once he came back, the first thing he did was beat Mikhail so much that he almost died because he gave him some wrong information, then he was also about to force himself on Cattleya, but luckily I was there in time to stop him, but I was too late for Mikhail, all his limbs were irreparably broken.
Seeing him in that state enraged me, and I started to fight that monster, and he simply enjoyed every moment of it, not caring about any collateral damage he simply unleased one big move after the other laughing hard, as he brought death, destruction, and suffering to the capital and its citizen, moreover, no matter how I fought, I wasn't able to deal any kind of damage, he shrugged off most of my and Uranus' attack and magic like it was nothing simply using his own body.
After a few minutes, Alva-sama descended and forcefully stopped the fight with his Divine Powers, I thought he was going to punish Maoshi for what he did, but no, he simply said that what Maoshi did was a trial to prove who among the demons were truly worthy of following his gudiace, and even if a little upset I reclutantely accepted, then back to the palace Maoshi told us that he has a plan to deal with the human heroes, and without caring about the demon lord he went away with Alva-sama's permission.
Meanwhile, that fight showed me that my strength still isn't enough to protect the demon race, so I decided to travel toward the Gruen Great Volcano so that I can conquer it and gain another Age of Gods magic, but as soon as I came I found the top of the enormous hill that is the Gruen Great Volcano strangely open, and so I took advantage of that opening to quickly descend, and there I saw these two humans here.
Without hesitation, I attacked them thinking that they were some of the summoned heroes, but their strength is way too strong compared to the one our spies reported, especially the man he gives me the same hopeless feeling as Maoshi, and later when he introduced himself he also said that he is from another Universe.
A frown grows more pronounced on my face as I glare at them and think back to everything that happened, 'The war... My family... My foster father... the Labyrinth... the Age of Gods magic... The 7 betrayers... The summoned heroes... These "invaders" from other worlds... Could they all really be somewhat connected back to Alva-sama and Ehit? Sure thinking back at everything, the timing of some events is for sure suspicious... But that could simply be a coincidence...'.
Just when my mind is chaotically thinking of every little detail searching for proof that what this young man is telling me is all a hoax to make me betray my people and God, I again hear his voice, "Look, I understand that for you is difficult to believe in what I said... Hell, if I was in your place I would also be suspicious of some stranger that tells me that everything I believe until now is a lie without any concrete proof... So I have a proposal for you...".
I decide to listen and nod, but I glare at him as I'm still suspicious of his motive, about why he is going through all this trouble to convince me, 'Could all of this be a trap... But why?', but he ignores my clear distrust and says, "I simply ask you this... Come with us and see for yourself what is truly happening in this world... Do not trust my words, or take the words of your God for granted, just trust in what you see and make a decision yourself about what you want to do, and what is best for the Demon race... In exchange, I will help you in conquering the other Labyrinths and promise you that I will not hurt any innocent member of the Demon Race. What do you say?", and as these words left his mouth he offer me his hand.
This seems almost an offer too good to be true, but even so, before I fully decide to commit to this gamble, I ask the question that keeps appearing in my mind, "Why? Why are you doing all this when you could simply kill me?", then a smile forms on his face as he says, "Because you reminds me of my friends and comrades... You do not know this, but in my world, I'm a Saint, a warrior following the Goddess Athena, who took as her duty to protect the world from the greed and ambition of other Gods, we fight against the evil forces of these Gods for peace, love, and justice together with our Goddess at our side! You have the same spark and will inside you and I want to see where will you go and what will you attain if I nudge you toward the right path... Basically, this is simply a whim of mine, Believe it!".
Looking at his outstretched hand, I'm still struggling with what choice to take, 'On one side I feel that is preposterous that Alva-sama is truly working with the diabolical human God Ehit to manipulate all of us for some kind of twisted game just to keep themselves entertained, but, really thinking back on what I went through in my life and the more recent events, I have to admit that some of Alva-sama actions are quite strange and sometimes quite counterproductive if all he seeks is the well being of the demon race as he said...'.
As the seconds pass by, I continue to carefully look at the young man, studying his every action and expression, trying to find a hint of falsehood or deceit, but I find none, 'On the other hand, this young man in front of me appears to be quite upfront and honest, moreover, as strong as he is, he doesn't need to fool me to gain something he wants, very few people can be a threat for him and that is only with the strength he showed here... The only reason to try to manipulate me would be some kind of twisted game like the ones he declares the Gods do for their own enjoyment, plus there is something about him that makes me hard to hate him...'.
Then I think back to the faces, my family's faces, my foster father, my comrades of the army, my soldiers, of all the residents of my nations Garland as they escape from the destruction brought by Maoshi, Maoshi's own gleeful face as if drunk of the power and destruction he can unleash, and the demon lord Dienleed-sama's uncaring face as the myriad of demons dies before his very own eyes.
At this point, I decide to trust what my instinct and heart tell me and decide to see for myself what is truly happening in the world, and if what this young man said is true, then I'll do what I swore to do many years ago, I'll fight to protect my people, even from their God.
Thinking that, I steel my resolve, and urge Uranus to move closer to the young man, then I shake his hand and say, "I want to see the truth! But if I find out that you are fooling me then I'll do everything possible to destroy you and everything you hold dear!", in response to this, Jayr smile grows wider as he says, "Pleasure to have you on board!".
Jayr POV - Tortus, Gruen Great Volcano - 2013
A few days passed since I was able to successfully use the Talk no Jutsu to convince Freid to join us in our journey so that he can see the true face of the God he worships, 'It was hard, and I even had to throw in a "Believe it!" trusting its brainwashing capacity, and luckily I was successful!'.
The first thing I did after he accepted my offer, was to pull him into my S.T. so that I could use my Cosmo to heal him of all the injuries he received during our fight, and after that, I did the same for all of his familiar, then I told him about the Gruen Great Volcano's layout and the dangers that lay within plus the shortcut and the price to pay for using them plus the weak points of the Magma Serpents so that he can also conquer this Labyrinth, helping him just like I promised.
Needless to say, with all that information, Freid and his familiar will only take a few days to conquer the Labyrinth and come out with the proof of conquest and a new Age of Gods magic in his arsenal.
At the same time, while Fried was going through the trial of the Gruen Great Volcano, I was fulfilling another promise I made, well, more than a promise, I was paying for the loss in the friendly game between me and Eri, and so I decided to use all my medical knowledge and mastery over Cosmo, to give Eri the best massage she received in all her life.
And so, after Freid went into the Grue Great Volcano, I open the portal that lead to my S.T and step inside with Eri and lead her to the cabin in the Athena's Bidoof, and once inside I tell her to undress and lay on the bed, then I stare at the beautiful figure of Eri as she undresses and then lays naked on my bed for a few moments before I position myself behind her body.
I can clearly feel that her excitement continues to climb with each one of my moves and when I got over her body at the height of her thighs, she doesn't say anything and just buries her face into the pillow shivering in anticipation, and with a smile, I place my palms on her lower back and begin moving the Cosmo energy into my palms and slowly begin making my way up her back as I begin massaging her body, in such way that I can relax her muscles, while at the same time, I also raise her arousal.
While her tension and pleasure are constantly increasing I keep her body in a paradoxical state of relaxation and tension, and so Eri was stuck in a cycle between incredible pleasure and absolute relaxation, as all her muscles continue to constantly twitch as her body is unable to move because of the relaxed state of her muscles.
It wasn't long before I feel the insides of her pandora box begin to clamp as a powerful climax begin to rack her body all the way from her tailbone to her brain, giving her a kind of constant pleasure that takes her on a trip to greater and greater heights, as her body continues to constantly twitch and shiver in an ever-increasing pleasure.
After a few minutes of my massaging, she calms down and is now just laying limp on the bed with a subtly happy expression while her body twitched about under the constant care of my hands.
Since she wanted a happy ending, I continue to massage her body for a little more than half an hour careful to not overload her with pleasure until she relaxes and releases all the tension and arousal of her body in an incredibly strong climax to the point where she falls asleep soon after.
When I remove my hands, I notice that she is sweating quite a bit, and I can smell her aroma coming from my palms, and since I don't want her to get sick, I take a towel and wipe down her body before covering her with a blanket, but when I move her body I can clearly see a dark stain shaped like Eri on the bed, including an incredibly large stain around where her waist had been resting.
After the massage, Eri continued to sleep for the whole day and when she woke up the next day she was unable to steadily stand on her feet, even so, we still practice the new Age of Gods magic that we received from the Gruen Great Volcano, Spatial Magic while waiting for Freid to conclude his conquest.
I admit, that I wasn't too much interested in using Spatial Magic, but even so, I practiced at least one useful spell for it, which I like to call Porta (Gate or Door), a simple portal that allows me to quickly travel to a place I have been before, basically, I created a quick travel spell in case I needed to backtrack, meanwhile, Eri simply merge it with her Dark Attribute to create a portable space connected to her shadow where she can store all her Undead Puppets, I admit that seeing that, I almost wanted to say that she just wanted to copy a certain necromancer from a famous Korean novel, but then chose to keep it for myself.
But seeing her application of Spatial Magic made me remember something, 'Now that I think about it... If I mix Creation Magic, Spatial Magic, and Regeneration Magic... I could create something like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from Dragon Ball or Evangeline's Diorama from Negima!... maybe I'll need to use some other magics but it is still possible... But do I even need it? Well, maybe... It is better to have and not need...'.
After training our new magic, I and a still unsteady but content Eri, get out of my S.T just in time to see Freid and his flock of familiars get out of the Gruen Great Volcano, I notice that they are a little singed but overall still fine, and as soon as he and the white dragon, whose name if I remember well is Uranus, lands, I notice the proud smirk on his face and as I greet him I say, "Welcome back! From that smirk, I'm sure that you were successful...".
Freid looks at me and nods, jumps down Uranus, then says, "Yes... Everything was exactly as you said... But I have to say that the message that the betrayer left behind is quite lackluster... It says nothing about the true face of the Gods, just something about the free will of the people...", I let out a sigh and say, "Yeah... it seems that Naiz Gruen Caliente was a man of few words... But those few still imply something, isn't it?", but Freid shakes his head and says, "Not enough to convince me that Alva-sama is only playing with us... He could simply refer to that hideous Ehit...".
But before we could continue, Eri interrupts us and asks, "Anyway! Where are we going next?", hearing her question I stop talking and start to think, 'Logically our next destination is the closest Great Labyrinth which should be Sunken Ruins of Melusine... From what Miledi said to gain access to this Labyrinth you have to first conquer Gruen Great Volcano and gain its proof, then a person must hold the pendant in front of a full moon and allow the light to pass through the slot where the lamp is supposed to be, that will cause the Labyrinth to rise up from the sea floor... The only problem... The full moon of this month happened yesterday... So we have to wait one month for it...'.
Realizing this, I start to think about our other options, 'If I exclude that, the remaining Great Labyrinth left are, the Divine Mountain, that is more or less easy... We just have to enter the most sacred place of this world Rambo-style and kick every Ehit servant's ass until it opens the way for the secret chamber, Frost Caverns of Schnee which is located in the demon territory and is quite far from here, and Haltina Labyrinth... that is inaccessible until you have conquered 4 other Labyrinths and have someone who has the Age of Gods magic that can only be gained in the Sunken Ruins of Melusine... So in fact the only ones that we can choose are the Divine Mountain and the Frost Caverns of Schnee...'
Reaching this point of my reasoning I look at Eri and continue my train of thought, 'And between these two the one I'm leaning on is the Divine Mountain for one simple reason... if Spirit Magic is as compatible with her as I think it is then it can give Eri quite a power boost... In fact, I'm equally scared and curious about what she can do with it seeing what she was able to do until now with sheer wit and talent... At the same time, I can lead Freid to Orcus Great Labyrinth and see if Oscar's words can further convince him since it is nearby...'.
Reaching this point, I relay to them the options, and after listening to my reasons they both decide to move toward Heiligh Kingdom, more precisely Horaud Town, where we will first go to go again in the Orcus Great Labyrinth, and so after having decided that, I focus and build a clear image of Horaud Town in my mind before raising my hand and chanting the new Spatial Magic I created, "Porta! (Gate!)", and in front of me a spherical hole in the space appears, where on the other side, I can clearly see the familiar shadow of the first town I visited in this world, then I turn my head looking at the stunned face of Freid and say, "Come on! I can't keep this open for a long time...", and after I said this, we all step into the portal that I opened at the same time, finally leaving behind this awfully hot region.