That Person. Later on…

Freud made this grotto to seal the Evil God inside, after all, which is sufficient by constructing a god barrier. So, in order to prevent anyone from moving in as well, it seems that he made a plain construction.

There’s really only a single path in, without even a branching path or traps and the likes.

Besides, it’s not dark even though it’s a grotto; if anyone notices well, there are glowing moss overgrowing the wall surface.

“This single path…… It’s just like me, huh……”

“……Ha? What the heck are you saying all of a sudden?”

As we headed deeper, Freud said something cryptic.

I narrow my eyes as I look to him on my side.

“In what way is this one-way path similar to you?”

“It’s representing my decision of casting away my divinity and keep living on as Wazu-sama’s butler from now on.”

“Yooo~sh!!! Let’s make a branching path now, immediately!! Let’s dig a new one open with my fist!! Or how about destroying it once and for all, huh!?”

“Please don’t, Wazu-sama.”

No duh, of course I won’t do that kind of thing.

Freud also seems to know that I won’t do that, so he only tries to stop me with his words.

The goddesses giggled at our antics from the back, and Mother Earth-sama said something outrageous.

“It’s just like Wazu-san and God of Creation are long-time bosom friends, from the way you talk.”

No, it’s not……

With that, we continued forward until an open space appeared.

It was wide enough to struggle in and in the center of the space, there was Shiro, kicking a pebble under his feet while looking bored.

When we enter Shiro’s sight, the corner of his lips turns up in joy as he opens his arms wide as if welcoming us warmly.

“Yaa, yaa, yaa!! You’ve finally arrived!! I thought you were going to come here sooner, but you’re terribly slow, huh? Did you take some detours on the way? Oh well, it’s still within my allowable limit, though if you’re just a liiittle bit any later than this, the Evil God will already start to get resurrected, you know?”

In other words, the Evil God’s resurrection hasn’t begun yet……

I shouldn’t take Shiro’s words at face value, but he doesn’t have any reason to lie. I think.

“So here we go!!”

Shiro’s open arms clap in front of him, making a pan!! sound echo.

“Now, how should I push all the hindrances to go forward, hm~? Because I only have a business with Wazu-kun!!”

Shiro said that, while transporting behind us, then he opens his arms to one side, as if escorting the others to go further into the path.

That action makes Freud and the goddesses to look at me.

I nod once, telling Freud and the others to go ahead to the depth of the grotto with my eyes, earning their words in return.

“……Be careful.”

“I’ll pray for your safety……”

“Don’t force yourself.”

“Leave the Evil God to us.”

“……Zzz.”

“We’ll go first.”

Freud and the others said each of their pieces for me before getting past Shiro, heading towards the depth of the grotto.

Shiro, looking at their figures, call out to them.

“Oh, that’s right! The Goddess of Darkness is waiting inside, you know~!!”

『Yosshaa~!! I’ll definite destroy her~!!』

Most of the goddesses raised their voices, breaking into a run in fiercely high spirit.

When I look in that direction, the spot looks so pitiful that it’s scary……

“Now, with this, the hindrances are all gone.”

“Hindrances? You sound as if this is all going according to your plan, but….. Well, it really is, actually…… So it’s as you say. Then, what do you have in mind for leaving us alone in this 1-on-1 meeting?”

“Isn’t it obvious!? Of course to fight!! I told you, didn’t I? We are [similar but different]….. We can never recognize each other’s existences, we can never come into understanding…… That’s why we always strive to destroy each other!!”

While saying that, Shiro shows an amused laughter, clenching both of his hands to make fists, then clash those fists against one another, beckoning while looking at me as if saying ‘come if you dare’.

“……Are you not going to use any weapon?”

“Weapon? For beings close to deities like us, no weapon in this world would be worthy!! You understand that much, right? Moreover, you often said from a long time ago, that a fight between men has to be done with their fists!!”

The moment he finished saying those words, Shiro threw a punch at me.

I instantly avoided the fist, but Shiro’s speed of drawing closer to me was faster than my normal self.

I leaped behind right away to dodge his pursuit.

“That was way too close…… Fuh~…… It seems that you’ve reached a state where you can go through apotheosis. Your Status seems to be high, huh?”

“Obviously!! I don’t want to die, so I went through proper training, you know!! But nevermind that, you could still dodge, huh?!! Even though I’ve ended up killing countless people who looked negligent…… I can’t say anything except as expected of you!!!”

“Er, thanks for that, I guess…… Right, you reminded me, it was your fault that we’ve been dragged into a lot of troublesome things…..”

The incident of the elven village, Marnbondo royal family, Meru’s kidnapping, Haosui’s turning into a demon king, beastkin kingdom’s uprising, and when Princess Eris was captured in the Imperial Capital Iscoa….. Most likely, he had also done a lot of things on places where my eyes couldn’t see…… Honestly…… What a really troublesome jerk……

“Ahahaha!! Have your fighting spirit roused a little?”

“Yeah, I want to send you flying, and while I’m at it, I wish to send the Evil God flying too!!”

For the second time, Shiro spurred on me, throwing his fist forward. But I grabbed and stopped that fist and threw a punch to him in return.

Indeed, Shiro is fast, on the same level on my normal self.

However, it means that I’m taking it easy by staying at my normal self. If I exert a bit more strength, I have some room to be on the stronger side.

Shiro, whom I knocked away, hit against the wall and have some blood spurt from his mouth. But he never stops laughing like that.

“Ahahahahahaha!! As I thought, I couldn’t stay in this level, huh…? No matter how far I thought about it, I wasn’t originally built for combat after all…… If we’re in the normal states, I can’t cross our gap.”

While wiping the blood from his lips, Shiro stood up then murmured, “Watch me,” and went through apotheosis.