Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 22

The 22nd Story

“Aaaargh! You think I can’t make you let go if I want to? By the way, who are you and what god are you anyway! Introduce yourself! Don’t you know introductions are basic when you first meet someone? It’s so cowardly of you to know I’m Elquines but hide your name and identity!”

“Cowardly? I recognized you with my ability. If you want to know, why don’t you figure it out yourself.”

“What? How can you say that! It’s obvious I’m a spirit! Besides, there are only four Spirit Kings! Who do you think has a better chance of finding out, one of the four Spirit Kings in the world, or one of the countless gods? It’s obviously more unfair to me!”

“Hmm, countless, you say…….”

“Yes! Besides, I’m here in the Divine Realm for an important matter! I don’t have time to investigate that! I can’t leave the Spirit Realm for long!”

“That’s your problem.”

“……Tch!”

Why am I arguing with this guy here? I’m the only one getting angry, and the other person is just calmly observing my reaction. I felt like a monkey in a zoo.

After a while, he lightly patted my head, which was still fuming, and said.

“I know you’re an interesting fellow. I’d like to play with you more, but it seems like it’s time to part ways.”

“What? Who’s playing with……!”

“Aren’t those people here to find you?”

“……!”

At that moment, I heard a faint voice calling me from behind. I reflexively turned around and saw familiar people running towards me in the distance. It was Ifrit and Arehis.

“Ifrit! Arehis! I’m here, here!”

Overjoyed, I raised both hands and waved them wildly. Then, I heard the man who ruffled my hair say quietly.

“If we meet again, I’ll give you a gift.”

“……Huh?”

If we meet again, he said?

Feeling something was off, I immediately looked up. But his figure, which should have been right there, had already vanished. Nadiel, the newly born god who had been standing politely next to him, was also gone.

“Oh, uh?”

“Elquines-nim!”

“Elquines! You idiot!”

The two, who had rushed over in the meantime, grabbed me and breathed a sigh of relief.

“You were in a place like this. Are you alright?”

“You moron! Why are you in a place like this? Do you know how much we’ve been looking for you?”

Unlike Arehis, who was pale and examining me, Ifrit immediately started scolding me. What did I do wrong? I just opened the door and ended up here, what was I supposed to do? I frowned, and Arehis sighed and said.

“I’m just glad we found you. I was so surprised to hear you were caught in a random warp…….”

“Random warp?”

Come to think of it, the blond man had said something like that too. Arehis explained with a troubled expression.

“The high-ranking god Hyten, who oversees dimensional travel, is very mischievous. He sometimes makes the travel routes irregular, causing people to end up in unexpected places. When this happens, we say they’ve been caught in a random warp. He’s never touched the Gate of Connection before, though… It seems Elquines-nim went in while he was briefly tinkering with it.”

So, in the end, I was just incredibly unlucky. Ifrit gave me a look of pity as I frowned.

“Really. What’s with you? Can’t you ever do anything right the first time? You always have this strange talent for creating trouble.”

“Is it my fault? I was surprised too, you know?”

“You’re lucky you didn’t fall far away. If you get caught in a random warp, you can fall into the cracks between dimensions and wander forever in the void, or you can end up in a dangerous place where no one can help you. Especially if you fell into a place like hell, it would take a long time to get out.”

Arehis said scary things with a smiling face as if it were nothing. Then, he smiled brightly again at me and Ifrit, who were standing there stunned.

“Anyway, let’s get out of here quickly. This Azure Sky Chamber is where the birth essences of the gods grow, and it’s one of the Divine Realm’s forbidden areas, strictly off-limits to anyone except high-ranking gods. We were only able to get in by asking the gatekeeper because of the unavoidable situation, but we can’t stay long.”

“Huh? High-ranking god?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“Ahaha. No, it’s nothing.”

What, so that blond man was a high-ranking god?

Well, he did have such an overwhelming presence that I forgot to breathe the moment I saw him (though his looks probably accounted for more than half of that). Arehis is also a god, but I didn’t feel as intimidated as I did when I stood before that man.

And I spoke informally and even got angry at such a great being? I even said there were so many gods you could trip over them, right?

If we meet again, I’ll give you a gift.

It couldn’t have been just a coincidence that his last words came to mind at this moment. I just brushed it off then, thinking it was nonsense, but it seems he didn’t just say it without meaning. What’s certain is that the gift he mentioned won’t be a good one.

‘I have a feeling I’ve caused a major incident…….’

I secretly wiped away the cold sweat flowing down my face. I’m so glad he just left. I just hoped I wouldn’t run into him again until I got back.

* * *

The Divine Realm consisted of 13 forbidden areas, including the Azure Sky Chamber, 189 sacred areas, 2,069 open spaces, and countless divine palaces. The scale was on a different dimension from the Spirit Realm, where you could see the entire landscape from one place (it’s nonsense to say the dimensions are actually different, though).

“Wow…….”

I couldn’t help but exclaim as I looked at the hills and fields spread out everywhere, and the beautifully landscaped trees. I had expected it to be amazing since it was where the gods lived, but it felt even more beautiful and peaceful than I had imagined. It even seemed like there was a pleasant fragrance in the air.

“Ellyuen-nim’s palace is just a little further from here.”

Arehis said, looking at me and Ifrit, who were busy looking around, with a pleased expression. I walked closely beside him, who was walking ahead, and asked.

“Hey, Arehis. You said all the gods have their own palaces, right? Then do you have a palace here too?”

“Of course. It’s just a small one, about the size of a temple, though.”

“Do the sizes of the palaces vary from god to god?”

“Palaces are generally formed under the influence of the divine power one possesses. Because of that, mid- to low-ranking gods like me usually have small palaces, about the size of a mansion or temple. In comparison, the palaces of high-ranking gods are very large.”

“Hee, I see.”

“Do you see that palace over there?”

Following Arehis’s gesture, I immediately spotted the palace surrounded by a huge wall. The path leading through the middle of the blue forest blended with the towering milky-white palace, creating a scene like a painting.

“That’s a very pretty castle. Is that the palace of a high-ranking god?”

“That’s right. It’s the palace of Prawath, the Goddess of Flowers. It’s famous for being the most beautiful among the palaces of the gods. Besides that, the palaces of the high-ranking gods are generally grand and beautiful. Ellyuen-nim’s palace, which we’re going to now, is the same.”

After a while, Ellyuen’s palace, which began to reveal itself, was truly splendid and magnificent, just as he had said. The distance from the entrance to the castle was about the size of a village, and the paved stone path was all made of diamonds. In the huge forests that stretched out on both sides, a clear and pure sound like a harp rang out whenever the wind blew.

It was said that it was built under the influence of the divine power one possessed. Just looking at the surrounding scenery, I could tell how great the owner who lived here was.

“What kind of god is Ellyuen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, like Goddess of Flowers or overseeing dimensional travel. It seems like each god has a title like that. I think I heard that Arehis is the God of the Dead.”

“……Hmm, are you curious about that?”

Then, for the first time, a slight tremor appeared in Arehis’s calm eyes. It was a look of reluctance. Until now, he had always explained things proactively, but he had never avoided answering a question, so I was a little surprised and looked at him. Ifrit also looked impatient.

“Um, Elquines-nim. All gods have innate attributes. It’s divided into smaller categories internally, but broadly speaking, it’s divided into the attributes of Heaven’s Will and the attributes of the Demonic.”

“I know. You said Ellyuen is a god of the Demonic attribute.”

At my answer, he slowly nodded and continued his explanation.

“If the attributes of Heaven’s Will are made up of human’s good emotions and beautiful things, the attributes of the Demonic are made up of the opposite. Ah, of course, just because the attribute is like that doesn’t mean that the god in charge of it is judged by good and evil. They’re all necessary parts to govern humans. The gods of the Demonic attribute tend to have stronger divine power and bolder personalities than the attributes of Heaven’s Will because they have more frequent incidents and are more difficult to deal with, but anyway, the area of responsibility and the true personality have nothing to do with each other.”

Although the digression was long, I could guess what he was trying to say to some extent. In short, he was saying not to have prejudice in advance just because they had a scary title, right?

‘Just how heinous is the title…….’

Actually, it wasn’t that surprising. I already knew that the personality of the previous Elquines wasn’t normal. Rather, it would have been more embarrassing if it had been the attribute of Heaven’s Will. That’s probably why Ifrit didn’t seem to care much.

Even so, Arehis was still cautious.

“Do you remember that the dimension Ellyuen-nim was in charge of was called ‘Byton’?”

“Ah, yes. I remember.”

“Like Arkadon, which you govern, there are several areas among the many intermediate dimensions that are directly affected by the four major dimensions. Byton is one of them, and it’s connected to the Demon Realm by a passage. It’s almost like a second Demon Realm.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“……It’s a dimension that several high-ranking gods were in charge of, but they gave up in less than a few years.”

“……!”

What did I just hear?

When I raised my head with a dazed gaze, Arehis wore an ambiguous expression that I couldn’t tell whether he was smiling or crying.

“The demons were originally a tribe belonging to this Divine Realm. But their personalities were too violent, so they were very difficult to handle. Their abilities were almost the same as the gods, but they only spent time enjoying blood, slaughter, and fiercely fighting every hour. Of course, it was difficult for the places where they stayed to maintain their original form. In the end, the Demon God who created them judged that it was no longer possible to fix them, and he confined them to a dimension where they could only stay among their own race. That’s how the current Demon Realm was created.”

“……I can imagine what kind of race they are.”

“They’re a really amazing tribe. If we were to talk about them, it would probably take days and nights to finish.”

Anyway, after the Demon Realm was created, the Divine Realm regained peace. Even if they caused accidents, it wouldn’t be a problem as long as it happened in their own land.

Moreover, due to the barrier set up by the Demon God, the demons could not directly descend to the intermediate realms unless they were summoned by someone. Occasionally, one or two would go down and cause problems, but that was something the god in charge of that dimension could handle.

If it had ended there, it would have just remained a good memory from the past.

But recently, a huge incident occurred that shocked everyone. In an intermediate dimension called Byton, a human magician broke through a dimensional passage connecting to the Demon Realm.

“……Wow, is that possible?”

To my astonishment, Arehis smiled bitterly and nodded.

“Humans are a race directly created by the Chief God. That’s probably why they have something special about them. They seem to be the weakest and most fragile, but they sometimes exert mysterious powers. They’re probably the only beings among all races that can perform miracles.”

“Miracles…….”

“What else would you call breaking down the walls of dimensions if not a miracle?”

But the result was disastrous. The demons who jumped into Byton through the connecting passage began to indiscriminately massacre the residents there.

As if to vent their pent-up frustrations from being trapped, the demons quickly occupied Byton. The god who was originally in charge of the place tried to fix it somehow, but it was not enough. In the meantime, Byton was completely subjugated to the Demon Realm. It happened before the gods in charge of dimensional connections could even do anything.

“It was terrible. Since then, all the gods in charge of Byton have been so stressed that they’ve been spitting blood. It was already too much to handle just the demons, but they also had to protect the existing residents from them, so how could they not be? In fact, to be honest, the only god who can handle the demons is probably the Demon God. He’s the one who created them, but he’s also the strongest among the gods. Did you know that? But there are two high-ranking gods in charge of the Demon Realm.”

“Huh? Two people?”

“Yes, the Demon God Kanos-nim and the God of Hell Kraze-nim. The Demon God recruited the God of Hell because the demons didn’t listen and kept causing accidents, so he said he would throw them into hell. But then a second Demon Realm was created there. Do you understand what the situation is?”

“…….”

I understand. It’s so chillingly realistic that I’m almost out of my mind. Good heavens. But the previous Elquines was in charge of such a dangerous place?

Suddenly, the image changes from a prince on a white horse to a low-ranking detective harassed by gangsters, and it’s probably not just my imagination.

Ifrit’s face was already pale. He grabbed Arehis’s sleeve as if he was begging and asked.

“I-Is Ellyuen okay? Is he safe?”

He swallows a rough breath and clutches his chest with trembling fingertips, as if he’s checking on the safety of a lover who’s gone to war. But Arehis smiled faintly instead of answering and asked.

“Do you happen to know what the new name of the previous Elquines-nim, ‘Ellyuen Krino Rusate,’ means?”

There’s no way we’d know that. Ifrit and I shook our heads at the same time as if we had made a promise. Arehis also had a face that already guessed that. After a while, the moment we heard his words that followed, Ifrit and I had no choice but to freeze.

“Ellyuen means ‘to destroy’ in the divine language.”

“……Yes?”

“Krino means ‘to judge,’ and Rusate means ‘to demolish’ or ‘to destroy and kill’…….”

Wh-What. What’s with all those names?

It’s a terrifying name that makes my whole body tingle just hearing it. I thought the pronunciation was pretty, but I never imagined it would have such a meaning.

Arehis smiled brightly at us, who were just opening our mouths blankly, at a loss for words.

“Ellyuen-nim, the highest god of the Demonic attribute, is in charge of the realm of ‘curses and punishments.’ It was the Chief God who judged that there was no more suitable dimension than Byton for him. So, the two Spirit Kings don’t have to worry about him at all.”

“C-Curse? Punishment?”

“Yes, he’s especially specialized in punishment. To add one more thing, there’s even a rumor that the god the demons fear the most these days isn’t the Demon God, but ‘Ellyuen’ of Byton.”

“…….”

‘You should have said that sooner!’

I only suffered a loss by worrying for nothing. In a bewildered mood, I checked Ifrit’s appearance first. I was curious about what kind of expression he would be making.

But as expected, the years he had lived could not be ignored. He was nodding with a resigned face. He even had an attitude that it was natural. That guy is capable of that, huh! What kind of monster did you like!

‘Will I be able to survive meeting that guy?’

It’s clear that this meeting is jinxed. I felt like the sky was turning yellow.