TLN: Wew, a really weird timing for a sponsored chapter. But ya know, Tsuki took all the sunday.

No worries, I will manage to release the next batch of WR in thursday!

Thanks to the donators! 

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The conversation had been temporarily stopped and the Demon Lords, the hero, and I had separated.

Because of the many shocking revelations, there was the need for a break in order to arrange the information in our heads.

The Demon Lords had gone to the room prepared by the Light Church, and Karen-san went on her way to manage the work that has accumulated after being absent for a long time.

The ones remaining were…

“Doraha, I’m glad to see you back.” (Yorishiro)

In that group, Yorishiro showed happiness at the return of Doraha who wasn’t in the Light capital for a good while.

This welcoming of Yorishiro’s treasured Doraha had been postponed till now because, the moment we returned, we immediately had to heal the mental state of the Demon Lords, and we were in a hurry to obtain information regarding Lucifer.

Yorishiro hugs tightly the small body of Doraha.

“I was a little bit lonely with you away from my side for this long, but I am incredibly happy to feel your growth.” (Yorishiro)

“I am Yorishiro-sama’s shadow. From now on and ever, I will follow you.” (Doraha)

In this journey, Doraha has understood that she is an extreme case of xenophobic.

As expected, Doraha is thoroughly courteous towards the person she acknowledges as her master, Yorishiro, and shows deep affection.

After hugging like mother and child, and rubbing their cheeks together, she then turned her gaze towards me.

“Sorry for the wait. It looks like you still have something to say to me-desu wa ne?” (Yorishiro)

Now that I think about it, Yorishiro and I haven’t seen each other since the time we brought back Mantle at the Nameless Desert.

It wasn’t that long of a space compared to Karen-san, but right now, I can’t understand Yorishiro’s thoughts to the point that I feel as if that space of time was several centuries.

“…Why did you say something like that?” (Haine)

(Wait, please.)

A voice reverberates directly in my head.

This is a voice that comes from the waves of the soul.

Words that can only be transmitted towards only a selected few souls that share a characteristic.

(Doraha is still here. It would be better to keep what we are going to be talking here between ourselves, right?) (Yorishiro)

(…Fine.) (Haine)

Yorishiro does have a point, so I accepted.

Maybe the hug of Yorishiro is quite comfortable, Doraha had fallen asleep within her arms.

After thinking she really is a child in this kind of moments, I continue the conversation.

(Why did you say something like that?) (Haine)

(What do you refer to by ‘something like that’?) (Yorishiro)

This woman…playing the fool at this point.

The conversation won’t progress if you go making pointless remarks.

(The nonsense about Ates being the incarnation of the Light Goddess Inflation.) (Haine)

(Why do you think it is nonsense?) (Yorishiro)

Obviously because…!!

(If Ates-san’s identity is the Light Goddess, all the pieces will fit. More so, with the existence of the Light Demon Lord Lucifer.) (Yorishiro)

(Ugh.) (Haine)

(How was it created? Monsters were created by Gods. Or the other possibility is that a God gave that function to what’s known as a Mother Monster, but a Light Mother Monster doesn’t exist.) (Yorishiro)

She is hitting me with logic!

(In that case, there’s no other possibility than her being the Light Goddess who created the Light Demon Lord Lucifer with her own hands.) (Yorishiro)

(Are you saying Ates was the one who created Lucifer?) (Haine)

(Yes.) (Yorishiro)

It is true that this is really convincing reasoning.

I don’t know why, but Ates is planning on eradicating humanity, and her specific method to do that is the creation of Lucifer.

And then, she shared that plan with the four Demon Lords that were born at around that time.

Even if Ates had that kind of conspiracy in mind, it is hard to connect it with the evolution of the monsters into Demon Lords, but the theory itself does indeed make sense.

(But there is a bigger problem than that!) (Haine)

(What is it?) (Yorishiro)

(There’s no way Ates is the incarnation of Inflation! No way! Because Yorishiro, you are the incarnation of the Light Goddess, aren’t you!!) (Haine)

Yeah, that’s why we are able to do soul transmission with each other.

I am the incarnation of the Dark God Entropy, so we are able to establish this communication method between Gods.

(You are the very Goddess herself, so you should know better than anyone that Ates is not Inflation! And yet, you went and said that nonsense yourself!) (Haine)

Hearing that Ates, who is scheming on eradicating humanity, was the Light Goddess…you should understand how Karen-san felt at that moment.

(Karen-san is the light hero. A member of the Light Church, and that’s why she worships Inflation deeply!) (Haine)

Why can you so easily tell a lie like that that betrays the belief of Karen-san?!

(Karen-san wasn’t that shocked about it.) (Yorishiro)

Yorishiro says as if a matter of fact.

(She has already been personally acquainted with the polluted Coacervate and the unrelenting Mantle after all. She has learned that Gods are not as perfect as humans think, and has overcome it. Karen-san is stronger than you think.) (Yorishiro)

(Even so…) (Haine)

(Also, I didn’t lie. Ates-san is without doubt the Light Goddess Inflation.) (Yorishiro)

?!

(She is my half.) (Yorishiro)

(That’s…!) (Haine)

(You have seen how Coacervate was divided after being distilled, right? Gods are intangible beings that are not tied by a body. They can freely change into anything. They can also change from one  to two.) (Yorishiro)

Then…! Is Inflation saying that she herself had something like that happening to her?

(Entropy, at one point in time, I truly hated humans. The humans that had taken you away from me!) (Yorishiro)

At the battle of Gods 1,600 years ago, the other five Gods and I were fighting over the treatment of the humans.

I wanted to protect the freedom of the humans, and the other Gods wanted to enslave them.

I was defeated in that fight and was sealed till this era.

(You went as far as going against me to protect the humans. You took the side of humans rather than mine. I couldn’t forgive that. But in the time I incarnated as the human Izanami, and lived my life with the people of the Underworld country, I should have forgotten that anger and hatred. I thought that I had learned about the greatness of the humans and my unsightly emotions had disappeared.) (Yorishiro)

Yorishiro grabs her chest tightly in pain, biting her lips as she transmits the voice of her soul to me.

(The hatred of the Light Goddess has changed form and still exists. That’s the other Inflation. It has incarnated in the form of Ates. My sister.) (Yorishiro)

Is that even possible?!

The loving emotions and the hating emotions towards humans within the Light Goddess had rebelled, and finally, separated to become individual existences.

The loving emotions became Yorishiro…

The hating emotions became Ates…

And pushed by that hatred, Ates created Lucifer to destroy the humans?

The pieces fall so in place that I could only agree with it.

(You…knew about that from the very beginning?) (Haine)

(No, I learned about it pretty recently. Right before Ates-san left, she revealed her own identity. She must have intended it as a challenge.) (Yorishiro)

She herself didn’t even notice until then that she had divided in two.

(Ates-san is my very sin. And that sin is trying to turn its fangs towards humanity…) (Yorishiro)

And that was hurting the Light Goddess herself.

Yorishiro has been hanging her head down this whole time she was revealing this.

It must have taken a lot of courage to break this out.

(Thank you, Yorishiro. For telling me.) (Haine)

Those words rang out from my soul.

Yorishiro apparently learned of this when Ates escaped. She had many chances to tell us, but the reason it took her this long to actually tell me was most likely because she didn’t have the resolve yet.

(…I really am no good. Even though, not that long ago, I spoke about how ‘if’s’ won’t change the past…) (Yorishiro)

I sit by the side of Yorishiro.

(Isn’t that fine? That just means you have learned from humans and have grown as well. In my eyes, your radiance is greater than 1,600 years ago.) (Haine)

Yorishiro most likely heard me, but she just continued to brush the head of the sleeping Doraha with a wry smile and a flushed face.

(Is that because I am basically a distilled Inflation?) (Yorishiro)

(…Let’s search for a better comparison.) (Haine)

Yorishiro and I laugh lightly.

It felt as if something in the room had gotten slightly lighter.

I finally have a picture of the core of this battle.

• 377: Exchange between human and demons

After that, I left the room and walked aimlessly around the headquarters.

Sunnysol Ates is the half of the Light Goddess that had divided due to hatred.

That soul had incarnated into a human.

Being hit by that shocking truth, I was unable to say anything and had no choice but to fall in contemplation.

I can understand why Yorishiro couldn’t speak about it until now.

From what Yorishiro said, Ates is basically the stains of Inflation, the ugly side that you wouldn’t want others to see.

Revealing that side to others without any fear is not something that even a God can do readily.

“Humans are still being dragged into the troubles created by Gods…” (Haine)

When thinking about it, this battle with the Demon Lords is practically the compilation of all the troubles that the Gods have caused to the humans.

But in hindsight, it is because of the Demon Lords battle that the Gods have closed the distance quite a lot between them and the humans.

Just when I thought that humans, Gods, and demons wouldn’t fight anymore, the existence of an evil Light Goddess has been made clear.

The world hasn’t escaped danger yet.

That feeling got heavier.

“Oh, oooi~, Haine, ooooi~!”

While I was spacing out thinking this, I heard a voice calling me from afar.

“What are you pondering about at a place like this? It doesn’t suit you, you know? A man must charge forward with their youth!!”

“…..You are drunk, aren’t you, General Grades?” (Haine)

As proof, his bald head was bright red.

Drinking alcohol when it is still daytime, maybe I should report you for misconduct, Knight General.

“What’s so bad about drinking? I am off duty today!!” (Grades)

“Eh? Really?” (Haine)

“I finally got a break after you guys came back, you know! Before that, I would have to be on full attention for the Demon Lords that who knows when they would attack, so I didn’t have a single moment to rest. I couldn’t sleep at all with you guys gone, you know?” (Grades)

Uwaaa…

Now that he mentions it, Grades-san was truly having an endurance battle while we were gone.

I changed my mind. He is finally free from the tension, so it should be fine to drink!!

“How many tens of bottles have I drunk already? At any rate, the taste of beer is proportionate to how long you work! Isn’t that right, Uriel?!” (Grades)

“Really! Alcohol tastes the best after a hardship!” (Uriel)

Why are you here?!

“Uriel, weren’t you supposed to be at the specially designated room at the church’s headquarters?!” (Haine)

“Cause you know, even if you tell me to take a break, I was bored. And then, I encountered this bald guy by coincidence, and ended up getting along with him quite well!” (Uriel)

Wait!

“Oof, I thought that the Demon Lords were all scary guys, but they are unexpectedly nice! Anyone that understands the taste of beer can become friends!” (Grades)

Even General Grades?!

He is one of the guys that made you go through a hell of stress not that long ago, you know?!

“Alcohol is truly a nice thing! It tastes good, and the more you drink, the more you feel as if the worries and stress you have inside you melts!!” (Uriel)

“Good good. Right, Demon Lords should also have things piled inside them. Okay! This old man will hear you out today, so spill your heart out!!” (Grades)

“There’s the matter with Raphael… but there’s also the scary earth hero that catches me and doesn’t let go! She is smiling. She is smiling, but it is scary!” (Uriel)

“In that case, I will teach you how to deal with scary female superiors! You know, in this Light Church, there’s a lot of scary women as well!” (Grades)

The drunks are bonding.

I wanted to retort about what the hell they are doing…but before I could, I heard the sounds of an uproar from another place.

“Celes-tan!”

“That’s culture!!”

“Oi! Captain Vesage and Gabriel!!” (Haine)

Even without confirming their figures, I could tell with what they said!!

“Oh, assistant Haine! I was in the middle of teaching this lady Demon Lord about culture!!” (Vesage)

The idol otaku Captain Vesage said.

This idiot is a big fan of the hero and idol Celestis.

And…

“To think that Celestis-chan’s popularity would transmit in this way! This must be a type of culture! Postcards, trading cards, hugging pillows! All of these is culture I have never seen before!!” (Gabriel)

There’s Gabriel elated in trying to greedily absorb the culture of humans.

“Don’t go transmitting bad culture towards other races as well!” (Haine)

“What are you saying? The only bad culture is the gacha.” (Vesage) <Amen>

Gacha?

“Umu. It is a mobile phone business that’s trending in idol shops lately. Well, it is like a lottery of sorts.” (Vesage)

I only get bad vibes from it.

“For a set price, you get the right to pull the lot, and if you manage to hit jackpot, you can get a super rare good of Celes-tan!!” (Vesage)

“And what are the chances of getting that jackpot?” (Haine)

“……”

Vesage didn’t say anything.

“You…just how much did you spend in that?” (Haine)

“…….”

“Answer! Answer, damn it!! You were finally promoted and got a raise, and yet, you can only use your money in such useless things?!” (Haine)

I grab the shoulders of Vesage and shake him, and Gabriel who was looking at the side was once again pleased.

“Incredible! This must be the joys and sorrows of the economy! This must be part of culture, isn’t it?!” (Gabriel)

This woman connects way too many things with culture!

Or more like, aren’t Uriel and Gabriel getting too used to humans?!

What in the world is going on here?!

“We are trying to learn from humans.”

This time, Michael was the one who appeared.

“The feelings of humans, their thoughts, their emotions; they are things that we demons must take in and absorb. That’s the path we should take from now on.” (Michael)

“Michael?” (Haine)

“We don’t think about eradicating humans anymore. If humans permit it, we want to walk the path of mutual prosperity with them.” (Michael)

From what I heard after, Michael had been participating in the training drills of the Aurora Knight corps, apparently to learn about the training that humans do.

He supposedly carried a mountain of Aurora Knights as if it were nothing.

Training with the strongest of monsters in a drill that is for the sake of fighting monsters.

This is already in a state where I can’t put my head around anything.