In Another World With My Smartphone - Chapter 602

"Master, the young lord is safe. You can rest easy."

"I understand. I leave Kuon to you."

While receiving the telepathic message from Kohaku, I continued dodging the giant arm in front of me.

Gordo, who had created the massive arm with the power of the "Green" Crown, added the power of the "Red" Crown and the force of flames to launch an attack at me.

Even if I dodged the giant arm, the tremendous power slammed into the tree roots, shattering them into pieces, and the fragments came flying at me.

It wouldn't cause major damage, but it was annoyingly painful. My concentration to dodge the giant arm was starting to falter.

Seizing an opening, I pulled the trigger of Brynhildr, but before it reached the main body, it was entirely blocked by the giant arm.

"[Gluttonous Wing Gratonic Feather]"

Countless feathers flew from the golden wings on Gordo’s back, coming at me like shurikens.

"[Prison]!"

Judging I couldn't dodge them all, I deployed [Prison] and used the barrier to defend against the feathers. It was fine to use [Prison] on myself.

The feathers that hit the barrier spread out like water balloons bursting, and part of the barrier was "eaten."

"Tch...!"

I immediately jumped back and distanced myself. These feathers had the characteristics of the Gratonie Slime. They could consume anything and convert it into their own energy.

The squirming mass eventually returned to the shape of a feather and flew back to Gordo’s back.

It was probably absorbing the magical power I had lost from my [Prison]. Taking the opponent's power and converting it into one's own… What a troublesome ability. And on top of that...

"[Spatial Distortion]"

A distortion appeared in the space in front of Gordo and in front of me.

Beyond that distortion, Gordo’s right straight, driven by his giant arm, was launched, and I found myself in a situation where I had no choice but to take it up close.

"[Accel]...!"

Immediately, I moved sideways with the acceleration magic, and in the world where time slowed down due to thought acceleration, I barely managed to dodge the punch.

It was good that I dodged, but the wind pressure created by the punch threw off my balance. In that gap, the golden feathers once again descended as if they were aiming for me. Damn...!

"[Gate]!"

Just before falling to the ground, I opened a [Gate] there and fell straight into it. It's not difficult to open it for just a moment.

The destination, of course, was right above Gordo. Now, experience the annoyance of having the same thing done to you.

In mid-air, I took out a giant rock that had been stored in [Storage]. This rock was from a recent landslide that blocked the mountain path, and I had kept it in case it could be used during the removal work.

This thing was about the size of a small bus──.

"[Gravity]!"

The giant rock beneath my feet, made many times heavier by weight-enhancing magic, crushed Gordo.

With a sound like the snapping of tree roots, the giant rock sank into the ground. I thought this should work, but the rock beneath my feet wobbled.

I immediately jumped off, and I saw Gordo, who had caught the rock with his giant arm, lifting it up.

I was amazed by the power to lift a rock that must weigh hundreds of tons. So this is the power of the "Red" Crown.

With a swing! Gordo threw the giant rock toward me.

There’s no way I’m going to be crushed by the rock I created myself as a joke. I used [Accel] to escape from the spot and dodged the falling rock.

"[Explosive Flame Bullet]"

Gordo snapped his fingers, and from each of his fingers, ten fire bullets were launched, flying straight toward me. What the hell, a ten-shot barrage of [Fireball]...! Is this also the "Red" Crown ability!?

I deployed [Prison] to shield myself from the rain of fire bullets. I was worried that it might spread to the surrounding roots, but it seemed that wasn't the case.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of [Prison] cracking.

What...!? Could these fire bullets contain divine energy!?

I managed to withstand up to the eighth shot, but on the ninth shot, [Prison] shattered, and the final tenth shot came flying at me.

"[Divine Power Release]!"

I swung Brynhildr in blade mode, wrapped in divine energy, to slash through the fire bullets.

The fire bullets, split by the divine blade, exploded in a burst of flame behind me to the left and right. That was close...!

That bastard, can he use attacks with divine energy other than [Corruption]? No... Is the power of [Corruption] literally "corrupting" Gordo?

If so, he might be turning into a demon god...!

This is bad. Technically, I’m supposed to be the administrator of this world. If it turns out I created a demon god in my first year as a god, my evaluation from the other gods would plummet.

Apparently, there are gods who aren't too fond of me, and a loss here would hurt badly.

But the "Fallen God" power he possesses isn't my fault... It’s the Destroyer God’s fault for not noticing the fragmented body of the Corruption God. If anyone should be blamed, it should be them.

Fortunately, he's not a demon god yet. Not even an apostle of a demon god. That means, since Kuon is not from this world, it’s fine for me to take him down.

"[Artifact Summoning]"

I summoned the artifact in its spherical form, which had been protecting Kuon.

Though I had lent it to them, this was originally my created my artifact. There's no way I can't use it.

"[Artifact Armament]"

The spherical artifact, about the size of a baseball, unraveled like thread and reformed into a new shape. A gunblade, made for Kuon, appeared floating in front of me.

The shape was like a short-barreled gun with a sword blade attached, but the bullets fired from it were solidified divine energy.

If I fired it as it is, the bullets would be absorbed by the Gratonie Slime’s ability, which is infused with Gordo’s divine energy. So, I coated the bullet with [Divine Power Release], a force that repels divine energy, making a bullet capable of even piercing that. It’s a divine energy armor-piercing bullet. And furthermore──.

"[Replication Copy]"

"Nu...!?"

As the artifact sword-gun floated in the air and moved in a circle, its replicas remained in place, and eventually, nine artifacts hovered around me.

"[Full Burst Fire]"

Imitating Lean's Grimgerde, I fired countless bullets toward Gordo.

There were no reloads, and the uninterrupted barrage of bullets made Gordo adopt a defensive stance with two giant arms made of trees.

However, even that was pierced through, and the rain of bullets mercilessly rained down on him.

Like a machine gun, the storm of bullets slowly shredded the tree arms.

"Grr...! Impossible...!? What is this attack...!? I can't [Corrupt] or [Absorb] it...!?"

"That's because I modified it like that."

Normally, gods can't openly use the power of artifacts on the surface. Unless it's used as a musical instrument, like Sōsuke-nii’s case, it would have too great an impact on the world.

This is a cheat move because Gordo possesses the power of the [Corruption God]. Eliminating fallen gods is a god's job. So, there's no problem! That's my excuse...!

Though, as I excuse myself in my mind, the fact that Tōe Oba-chan and Kaori Onee-san haven’t intervened yet means it's probably okay. Whether it's a gray area, I don’t know.

"Tch"

I couldn’t maintain the replication copies of the artifacts any longer, so I decided to cancel all the copies and stop the rapid fire.

In front of me was Gordo, who was crouched and holding up his battered giant arms. He had taken several bullets to his shoulders, legs, and wings on his back, but regeneration had already begun on all parts except his wings.

The "Purple" Crown ability, Golem Skill, [Super Regeneration].

In exchange, or rather, to put it like that, feathers from his back wings were falling off, turning into sand. It seems like he's paying the price for [Super Regeneration], using the lives of millions of Orichalcum Slimes...

"I can’t… I can’t end it yet...!"

Though Gordo had the memories of a human named Chrome Lanches implanted, he was still a Golem, without a doubt. However, the intense willpower residing in this machine, enough to make me feel overwhelmed, was remarkable. What drives this creature to move forward so desperately?

At the moment I felt a faint fear from Gordo, the ring on the altar above shone with an especially brilliant light.

The brightness caused me to shield my eyes with my arm, but Gordo, on the contrary, widened his eyes and stared at it.

"It’s here...! Finally, the time has come! The time to reclaim my world...!"

Gordo's voice, as if possessed by madness, made me shudder involuntarily.

His world? What in the world does that mean...?

"You’re late..."

"Grandma Tokie!?"

Turning at the voice, I saw my grandmother, Tokie, the Goddess of Time, standing there. For a moment, I felt a jolt, wondering if the gray area had gone too far, but my grandmother’s gaze was directed at the ring above the altar. It seemed that the issue was with that.

"To think it was concealed within the divine power of the Corruption God... I can't blame that little troublemaker from the Destroyer God now. To put it simply, that is a time tunnel."

"A time tunnel!?"

A time tunnel, you mean!? The one where the past, future, and present get tangled, and once it’s created, the Destroyer God has no choice but to show up...!?

"It’s not fully fixed yet, so it’s more like a time tunnel in the making. But if it were to stabilize while still connected like this, there would be nothing we could do."

"Like the desert situation, Grandma, couldn’t you just crush it with a snap?"

When I asked, slightly hopeful, my grandmother shook her head.

"It’s not that it’s impossible. But if I were to help in this situation, the other gods would see it as favoritism toward you, Winter Night. Ultimately, they’d see it as favoritism from the World God. As your attendant, there are times when I must not lend a hand."

Grr... She's right... Even though I’ve already received a great deal of help, if I’m completely carried by her, the gods in Heaven won’t be satisfied.

"So in the end, I have to handle this myself, huh?"

"I’m sorry. If only I had realized earlier and could have told you..."

"No, originally, this is something I should have done myself..."

That’s right. The dimensional tremors causing the distortion of time and space should have been something I took care of. I had relied too much on Grandma Tokie’s goodwill and let her handle it all.

At this rate, it’s no surprise if they accuse me of favoritism. As a new god, receiving support is understandable, but relying entirely on it isn't right. I wouldn’t look good, and I won’t grow.

"Anyway, that time tunnel... I’ll destroy it. [Artifact Armament]"

The artifact unraveled like thread and began to reconstruct itself. What appeared was a large, spear-like lance, which, at a glance, could even be mistaken for a great sword.

This was an artifact made specifically for Frey. Normally, artifacts adapt to the weight suited for the user, but this one requires a certain level of weight to be effective, so it’s quite heavy.

However, with Frey’s [Power Rise], handling this super-heavy weapon isn’t that difficult. And of course, I can handle it too.

I activated [Power Rise] and aimed the lance at the ring.

Gordo, noticing me, leapt toward the ring. If it’s come to this, I’ll crush it all at once.

"[Accel]"

I used acceleration magic and charged at the ring with the lance raised.

"I won’t let you...! [Tree Hardened Shield]!"

A large shield made of trees appeared in front of me, blocking Gordo’s arms.

The artifact spear collided head-on with the tree shield. With the addition of [Red]’s power, the overwhelming strength pushed against my [Power Rise], and I could feel it coming from the shield. Additionally, the power of [Corruption] stretched out from the shield, likely trying to absorb the power of the artifact. But...

"[Divine Power Release]!"

The platinum-colored divine energy blew away the [Corruption] power. A crack appeared in the tree shield.

With a loud crack, the shield, Gordo’s arm, and his wings were blown away, and the artifact spear reached the ring.

I swung the spear like a great sword and slashed through the ring.

With a satisfying snap, the ring was sliced clean in half, and the time tunnel that was emitting light disappeared. Alright, now the Destroyer God won’t need to make an appearance!

However, a small voice escaped from Gordo, who had been blown into the air.

"Grr...! I... I didn’t want to use this... but... I have no choice...! --- [Reset]"

"What...!?"