Chapter 208: Epilogue
A year had passed since the battle with Estelle, the god of retrogression.
Many things had happened on the continent during the past year.
The temple of abundance had moved south of the holy land, and the order had become the state religion of the empire.
The surviving priests of the six temples had also fled outside the empire’s sphere of influence.
A magnificent temple of the order had been built in Crossbridge, replacing the six temples, and the order’s organizational structure had also been greatly reformed, led by the successful Roan.
Following the reformed structure of the order, the order’s influence had also grown significantly.
Countless believers came to the holy land every day to face the god who had descended to the ground.
“Today, you look really amazing.”
Of course, it was my duty to look down on them from above.
They were the ones who came from the empire to the holy land to meet me.
I had to punish them if they showed rude behavior, but it was not difficult to greet them who would not hesitate to give their lives for me.
Today, as I wore a suit that suited my body, Eutenia, who had chosen my clothes, spoke with a smile.
Since I descended to the ground, this kind of event had always been Eutenia’s responsibility.
She had the symbolism of being the first apostle, and the wish she had asked me was also one of the reasons.
“It’s thanks to you for choosing the clothes that suit me well.”
As I imitated a stern tone and answered Eutenia’s question, Eutenia’s expression brightened even more.
She was very weak to this kind of reaction.
She would be happy all day with just one compliment from me, and when she received a gift from me, she would walk around the holy land all day and brag to the apostles.
It was a moment when I could understand why Eutenia had the trait of a fanatic.
Of course, it had changed completely in a different direction since I came down to the ground.
Now, her appearance looked like a blind love for me.
“The great one looks good in any clothes.”
“I suppose so.”
I nodded and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
I might seem narcissistic, but my reflection in the mirror was quite handsome.
The original me was also handsome enough.
Sometimes when I saw a mirror, I saw a celebrity’s face overlapping for a second.
But the appearance I saw now was a little more handsome than that.
At least, it was a look that had an old-fashioned atmosphere that did not suit the age visible to the naked eye.
As I looked at my reflection with satisfaction, Eutenia came close and draped a cloak over my shoulder.
“I’m sincere.”
“I know. You always are.”
“So, I wish you would say a sincere word to me. That’s my wish.”
Eutenia leaned her head on my shoulder in the mirror.
As I saw her, the wish she had asked me flashed through my mind.
It was not long after I had descended to the ground.
The day I asked the apostles for their wishes, only Eutenia had asked for a peculiar wish.
Her wish was very crude but special.
“I love you, Eutenia.”
But for me who fulfilled that wish, it was not an easy thing to say.
How could I say such a thing that would ruin the dignity of a god?
But Eutenia was stubborn.
So I had no choice but to say it, even if I was embarrassed.
“Please tell me more. That’s my wish.”
“I love you the most in this world.”
It was a word without any lie.
Eutenia Hyrost.
She was a very special existence for me.
She was satisfied with that and closed her eyes, opening her mouth with a languid voice.
“I like it. I feel loved by the great one.”
As I watched Eutenia’s happy face, I recalled the memory of that day.
Someday, the day she asked me for a wish.
I looked at Eutenia then and swore in my heart.
I would spend the rest of my life in this world for her.
Surely, that was the only thing that was truly valuable for my first apostle.
I still believed that.
***
In the middle of the sea where the sun was shining brightly.
There, the abyssal beast Cuebaerg was moving with a parasol on his head.
It was not Cuebaerg’s own will, but the result of the strong request of the tenants who were sitting on his head.
The vampires who were sitting on Cuebaerg’s head hated the sunlight very much.
Cuebaerg conveyed his will to Pluto, who was sitting on his head, with a relaxed voice.
-“Are you still not satisfied?”
“This place is not suitable for vampires to live.”
Pluto’s voice echoed from under the parasol that blocked the sunlight.
She looked at the isolated island floating in the middle of the sea and shook her head.
On Pluto’s right, there was Eileen, who was faithfully serving her.
She had forgotten the fact that she was once a saint, and Eileen was very obedient to Pluto.
Of course, that was also the reason why she could follow Pluto’s side until now.
-“What’s the problem?”
“It’s hard to get blood, and above all, the sunlight is too strong. I’d rather go to a jungle and live there.”
At Pluto’s words, Cuebaerg spat out a fountain.
Thud. Thud.
Some of the seawater that he had sucked in hard fell on the parasol.
Cuebaerg, who played a light water prank, showed a short displeasure to the tenants on his back.
-“You’re picky.”
“Weren’t there any beasts in the abyss that were picky about the environment?”
-“The abyss was all the worst environment. There was no room to choose a place to live.”
“…”
At Cuebaerg’s words, Pluto showed a moment of hesitation.
But soon she neatly folded her thoughts and shook her head.
What they were looking for now was a land suitable for building a vampire nation.
No matter how she thought, it was not right to build a nation in a place where the sunlight was strong.
“I guess this won’t work.”
At the words that compromise was impossible, Cuebaerg stopped for a moment.
But soon he retracted the fountain he had shot and answered her.
-“Is that so.”
“Sorry, but keep moving. Let’s find a darker place.”
Pluto finished talking to Cuebaerg and tapped his head several times with her palm.
Thump. Thump.
The sound of tapping the soft flesh echoed.
Cuebaerg showed a fountain full of displeasure, and then started to move forward again.
Eileen, who was watching Cuebaerg’s fountain, poked his head with her finger and spoke.
“Even if you are monsters, you will not be forgiven if you disobey the words of the ancestor.”
-“Vampires are all rude.”
With those words, Cuebaerg took off with his two tenants, cutting through the sea and heading for an unknown land.
Until they found a suitable land to build their vampire kingdom,
The journey of the three monsters would never end.
***
The Holy Land, Crossbridge.
In the place that had become the stronghold of the Order, Peter looked at his left with bored eyes.
On Peter’s left, he saw the figure of Perin sitting on the railing.
She was sitting on the railing, biting a big bite of an apple.
Her face, as she ate the apple, looked somehow happy.
“Is that good?”
“It’s delicious. Do you want a bite, Master?”
Perin answered, holding out the half-eaten apple, to Peter’s question.
Peter glanced at the apple Perin offered, then snorted and shook his head.
Even though it had been a while since Estasia disappeared from the meeting, Perin’s way of addressing him had not changed.
“…Never mind.”
Hoo.
Peter sighed briefly and turned his head to look at the other side.
On the right side of the railing where Peter was standing, there was Evan in light armor.
He was still looking at the crowded streets of the Holy Land with a heavy face.
Peter asked Evan, who was looking down at the ground, about Daniel, who had not been seen for a while.
“Where did Daniel go?”
“He went to prepare the meat for the feast for the Great One.”
The answer that came out of Evan’s mouth was a familiar pattern that he had heard many times.
It was a well-known story that he, who called himself a farmer, usually hid his identity.
Daniel was an assassin by profession, but his butchering skills were impeccable.
He had clearly learned the assassination skills to kill people silently by using animals.
Now he was using those skills to process the meat that came to the Holy Land.
“Really, who doesn’t know that’s a cover job?”
“Well. He says he’s satisfied with just preparing the meat for the Great One.”
It was unbelievable that the assassin who had terrified the world was satisfied with killing pigs and cows.
Peter could not understand that at all.
If he had the same power as Daniel, he would never have been content with that level.
Rather, he would have had ambition and tried to spread his name across the world.
Of course, that would have made him a covert assassin, contrary to Peter’s thoughts.
“By the way, did the wish you asked the Great One come true?”
Peter, who was leaning on the railing and having pointless thoughts, was asked by Evan first this time.
The wish he had asked the Great One.
It was the story of the wish he had promised to the apostles after all the great deeds were done.
Of course, Peter wished for his lost family to be returned.
His master gave him a three-year grace period for that wish.
It meant that there were still two years left until Peter’s family came back.
“There are still two years left.”
“Didn’t the Great One say he would grant it if you waited three years?”
“He promised that.”
“It’s been a year already, so the remaining time will pass quickly.”
Evan said that calmly, and Peter stroked his chin with his finger.
Daniel and Evan in front of him, they all looked like transcendent beings.
They were so modest when the Great One asked them for their wishes.
The wish Evan asked for that day was the prosperity of the Alemir family.
It was a completely different sight from ‘that woman’ who boldly asked for a crazy wish.
“Evan, you are amazing. Sometimes you seem to have no greed.”
“Do I look like that?”
“Yes. Think about it, the crazy woman who asked the Great One to say he loves her once a day…”
Peter’s mouth, which was casually talking about Eutenia, was blocked by Evan’s thick gauntlet.
Peter looked puzzled at Evan, who suddenly blocked his mouth.
He had brought up the topic when there were only three of them, but he didn’t understand why he reacted like that.
Then Evan warned him with a serious face.
“Eutenia can hear the stories that flow throughout Crossbridge. It’s better to be careful if you can…”
-“I already heard it.”
Before Evan’s words were over, a hand stretched out from the shadows and grabbed Peter’s back.
The hand that grabbed his back forcefully slammed Peter into a pillar of the building.
Kwoong!
With a dull impact, Peter opened his eyes wide and screamed.
He felt a sensation of nausea from the pain that spread throughout his body.
“Aaaah!”
“I should have advised you earlier, but it was too late.”
Evan smiled as he looked at Peter, who was slammed into the pillar, and reached out to him.
Above Evan’s head, who reached out to the fallen Peter, the sun shone brightly.
***
After Estel reversed the flow of causality.
It took a long time, but the earth was able to recover to a considerable extent.
Although half of the population had disappeared and a significant number of infrastructure had been destroyed, humanity was resilient enough to overcome those wounds and move forward.
The TV in the sanctuary, which had been repeating the same content every day, began to show new content.
The internet, which had been silent and stopped, also had new information uploaded every day.
It was going in a completely different direction from the broken world where only old memories existed.
My sanctuary was still located in a place where there were few people, but that was unavoidable for the safety of the world.
“Estasia. Clean up the feathers you dropped.”
A fallen angel with the power of destruction.
An overly diligent angel.
And two beings with divine power.
It was a space where such beings existed.
For the peace of the world, it was the right answer to keep them away from the residential area.
Of course, sometimes they went out to shop, but that was only occasionally.
The basic premise was that they were holding down the transcendent beings here.
“No.”
Unfortunately, the roommate who lived with me – no, the cohabiting angel was very unfriendly.
She was watching TV while eating ice cream, and ignored the feathers on the floor.
She refused my request with a very firm attitude, putting a full scoop of ice cream in her mouth.
It was a sight that made me sigh involuntarily.
I felt the need to be a little more stern with Estasia.
No matter how lazy she was, she wouldn’t listen to God’s command? That’s what I thought.
“Is that so? Then it’s an order. Clean up a bit.”
“Estasia doesn’t listen to master’s orders.”
“…Why?”
“Because she’s a fallen angel.”
She said that and took a bite of ice cream.
Munch.
I had no choice but to stare at Estasia with a blank face as she stuffed her mouth full of ice cream.
I couldn’t think of what to say in response to her blatant statement.
It was hard to deny since I was the one who turned Estasia into a fallen angel.
“…Estasia. It would be better if you did some cleaning.”
Aronia, who couldn’t stand it, chimed in from the side.
She spread her wings and spoke to Estasia with a confident voice.
But Estasia’s answer was very cold.
“Aronia will do everything anyway.”
“…”
“I don’t want to do it.”
Creak.
Aronia’s head turned to me with a strange sound after hearing Estasia’s answer.
Her eyes were full of expectation as she looked at me.
She seemed to think that I would side with her since she was right.
“Well, you should clean up your own feathers…”
“Cheer up, Aronia.”
“Master!”
But I only cheered her on.
It was hard to refute the logic of the invincible fallen angel with my current reasoning.
I put the new smartphone I bought in my pocket after giving Aronia a brief encouragement.
And I prepared to leave the room where Estasia and Aronia were.
Being a god was more work than I thought.
“I think I have to go up to the roof now.”
“Please don’t abandon the hard-working angel!”
Aronia grabbed my leg and clung to me as I tried to go to the roof.
But unfortunately, I was a cruel god with a cold heart.
I mercilessly left Aronia behind and got out of the room.
I didn’t forget to firmly remind Estasia and Aronia as I left.
“Clean up all the feathers before I come back. And eat ice cream moderately.”
“Have a safe trip.”
Thud.
I closed the door with Aronia’s wailing and Estasia’s farewell.
The city that was being rebuilt came into view from afar.
The city was bustling with noise and movement.
Cars with headlights on were driving on the roads, and countless workers were restoring the ruined city.
It was a contrast to the city that was dead and dark until recently.
“What a nice view.”
I felt a sense of pride in my chest every time I saw the people who came back.
I couldn’t recover all the people I lost, but the half I got was very precious.
Was this the feeling of the gods who watched over the humans on the ground?
Even if they didn’t know about me, I would love them anyway.
I had many nights when I stayed up longing for them, and they were vividly in my memory.
“I hope they’re all happy.”
Snicker.
I muttered to myself as I walked up the empty stairs.
The stairs that I had climbed many times were cleaner than before.
It was thanks to Aronia who cleaned diligently.
At the top of the stairs, there was a large cage with a sinister aura.
Of course, the one behind the cage was a familiar girl.
“You’ve been visiting more often lately.”
“I’m worried that the goddess here might run away. It would be a disaster if the world was destroyed again, right?”
The god of regression, Estel.
I was holding down Estel, who had weakened after exhausting most of her power, here.
Estel, who was trapped in the cage, was leisurely reading a book in her hand.
It was something I had Aronia bring to her.
I leaned against the cage that held Estel and glanced at her reading the book.
Estel was reading a book with an old-fashioned title that suited her.
“Did you have a good day yesterday?”
“Of course not. Someone is keeping me locked up here.”
“Isn’t it the duty of a god to monitor the seal so that it doesn’t break?”
I said that and checked the sturdiness of the cage that locked Estel up.
A strong energy came from my fingertips, telling me that it was intact.
It meant that the cage could still do its job.
Estel’s power had not recovered enough.
“You know this cage will collapse someday, right?”
“Well, that day will come eventually.”
“Do you think I’ll stay still when that happens?”
Estel, who was watching me inspect the cage, warned me with a sharp voice.
She was right.
It might be impossible for me to hold Estel down forever with my power.
Someday, she might break the cage with her own power and escape.
I couldn’t tell if that would happen in 100 years or 1000 years.
But even then, my actions wouldn’t change much.
“Then I’ll have to stop you again.”
“Do you think you can do that?”
“I don’t know yet. Maybe by then I’ll have grown into a great god?”
I would stand in front of Estel many times in the future.
I wouldn’t let her ruin this world again.
That was the role given to me as a god.
I would destroy and save this world over and over again.
That was the only duty I could bear as the god of destruction.
“I don’t know about that.”
“I knew you would say that.”
I left Estel’s cold answer behind and took out the smartphone I had in my pocket.
The new smartphone I bought in the city was shining brightly as if to prove its newness.
I unlocked the screen of the smartphone with my finger.
Swipe.
The pictures of the apostles and the believers appeared where my finger passed.
They were the images I took from the other world and set as the wallpaper of my smartphone.
“You have a bad hobby. You still put their pictures on your smartphone after all that?”
“They’re my favorite.”
“It’s quite a devotion.”
I scanned the faces of the apostles in the photo as I listened to Estel’s words.
Eutenia. Evan. Pluto. Perin. Daniel. Peter.
And the holy emperor Roan standing among them.
They were precious memories that would never fade away, even as time passed.
“I like keeping them like this. They’re the things I don’t want to forget, even if time passes.”
“…”
Thump.
As I watched the apostles on the screen, I tilted the phone and showed it to Estel.
Estel’s cold eyes looked at the screen of the smartphone.
She glanced at the faces of the apostles with an indifferent expression.
I also smiled brightly and looked at the screen with her.
Even under the dark sky, the screen of the smartphone shone brightly.
“It’s nice to know that we can always be together.”
Beyond the small screen of the smartphone.
There was a world.
There was a precious story that I could never forget.
And there was me.
