NOVEL NEXT Four years have passed since then.
The Great Demon Lord Lucifer’s calamity had been brought to an end; the Demon Lord mayhem was brought to an end.
That long and fierce battle was a big turning point in all the people in the world.
For the humans, the demons, and the Gods as well.
Since the time we saw off the termination of the evil Light Goddess who was controlling Lucifer, we were all covered in dealing with the aftermath.
In that fight, the Great Demon Lord Lucifer had released darkness, and the five heroes managed to reach out to the power of darkness by joining their strengths.
The waves created from the clash of the two darknesses had spread through the whole world and affected it.
The actual damage wasn’t high, but it created a big question in their minds.
‘What was that power?’
Fire, earth, wind, water, and light.
‘What’s that new power that doesn’t match the elements of any of the Gods of Creation?’
This time, there were people who had a clear answer to that question.
Not only that, the groundwork for that had been created already. It wasn’t as if it was a power that wasn’t seen by anyone before. So when those mysterious waves resonated, some were able to make a connection.
And so, those people didn’t hesitate to answer that question.
Right now, all the people in the whole world clearly learned of the existence of the Dark God, Entropy.
*****
“Haine-san, so you were here huh.”
Four years have passed since then, but the cityscape of Apollon City hasn’t changed.
While I -Kuromiya Haine- was looking at that sight, the Light Founder Yorishiro called out to me.
“You have been looking at the city lately.” (Yorishiro)
“Because I will be leaving this city soon after all.” (Haine)
For me, for the human Kuromiya Haine, this city is a city with a lot of memories.
This city that I had first arrived at after leaving for the first time from my village that’s deep in the mountains.
After coming to this city, I for the first time was able to touch the whole of this world, and there, I learned about both the world that the humans took a long time to raise, and also the distortion that was formed by the selfishness of the Gods.
In order to do justice to the hard work of the humans, I fought in order to fix that distortion the Gods created.
That battle that took a part of Kuromiya Haine’s life is soon going to come to a close.
“Since coming to this city, I have truly faced quite a lot of things.” (Haine)
Fun things, shocking things, frustrating things.
I am Kuromiya Haine, but at the same time, I am the Dark God Entropy.
For me as the Dark God, the life of this body basically only lasts as long as the blink of an eye, but even with that, it had a depth to it that rivals the 1,600 years after creating this world.
It has been around 20 years since I was born in this body. Right now, there’s still more than half of my life left as Kuromiya Haine.
And yet, I am plenty satisfied.
I am truly glad I incarnated as a human.
“Now then, if we don’t go soon, we will miss the ceremony.” (Yorishiro)
“Do I really have to go? I don’t think I am related at all though.” (Haine)
“What are you saying? You have to see her shining moment. More so since you have decided on leaving after the ceremony is finished. It is an unavoidable thing if you want to put a proper conclusion.” (Yorishiro)
So you say but…
“Now, hurry. If you are late here, it will become a regret of yours for life.” (Yorishiro)
“Saying it as if it is a marriage…” (Haine)
Well, for her, it is as big of a turning point in her life as a marriage huh.
Today, an important ceremony will be taking place for the Light Church.
The ceremony for a new hero.
****
“We will now be beginning the ceremony for the new light hero, Light Ray.”
A big amount of people were gathered in the Light Grand Church.
In order to see the new light hero that will be carrying the standard of the Light Church from today on.
“Ray, over here.” (Yorishiro)
“Y-Y-Yessu!” (Ray)
Yorishiro was fulfilling her duty as Founder and called out to her, and the 15 year old girl that still looked young had stood in attention.
That girl is Light Ray.
The new light hero that was chosen with the consensus of the Light Church.
It has been two years since she entered the ranks of the Light Church, and had her skills acknowledged by the Aurora Knight corps. She managed to climb all the way to being a hero in that short amount of time, so it was clear how much talent she has.
Even with that, Ray is still young and completely nervous here.
It is a given. She is still a delicate 15 year old girl after all.
No doubt she is not used to having the attention of so many people.
“Light Ray, you will be the light hero that will be representing our church from today on. You will have to spread the influence of the Light Goddess Inflation-sama -the protection of the light- to the world. Do you have that resolve?” (Yorishiro)
“I shu!! —I do!!” (Ray)
Stumbled again.
She is a girl that has low guts to begin with, so the ceremony today might have been too heavy on her.
It was the right choice for me to participate huh.
“Ray, you can do it.” (Haine)
I send her some encouragement in a low voice so that it doesn’t bother the ceremony.
Because I, for some reason, am considered an important person of the Light Church, I was standing by the side of the Founder, and I was pretty close to where Ray is, so it properly reached her.
“?!”
And with my encouragement as the trigger, Ray’s expression tightens.
“…Please rest assured, Founder-sama! I, Light Ray, will fulfill my duty with all I have so I don’t bring shame to the great previous hero-sama!!” (Ray)
“Splendid show of resolve.” (Yorishiro)
Yorishiro nodded pleasedly.
“Then, I will entrust you your personal holy sword. And at the same time…” (Yorishiro)
The eyes of Yorishiro shift to a certain place.
“As per tradition, the previous light hero will be returning her holy sword. Now previous light hero, Kourin Karen-san.” (Yorishiro)
“Yes, Founder-sama.” (Karen)
Karen-san, who was lined up with me a few steps back of Yorishiro, moved forward with her turn coming.
She is now 20 years old and has grown beautifully as a woman.
“Karen-san, with a new light hero assuming the post, your duty as hero has finally come to an end. Thank you for all the work you have done until now.” (Yorishiro)
“It is too great of an honor, Founder-sama.” (Karen)
“In the last Demon Lord battle against Lucifer, I was truly glad that you managed to return after what seemed to be a despairing situation. Since then, you have continued to work splendidly as the light hero representing the church.” (Yorishiro)
Today, Karen-san is finally not a hero anymore.
Since the moment I met her, she has been the light hero. So it felt really weird that she won’t be a hero from now on.
“Founder-sama —Inflation-sama, the holy sword Saint-George that was entrusted to me, I will be returning it to you as of today.” (Karen)
For the people around, those were words as if she were speaking to Yorishiro as well as the Light Goddess that the church worships.
There’s only a few limited amount of people who know the truth.
Both of them are the same person.
Karen-san said it in such way with that intention.
“Karen-san… This is the holy sword Arthur that will be entrusted to the new hero. Please pass it on with your own hands.” (Yorishiro)
Karen-san received the new holy sword from Yorishiro, and then, turns around to the girl that will be succeeding her.
“Ray, since the moment I saw you when you joined the Aurora Knight corps, my instincts told me that this day would come. From now on, you are the light hero.” (Karen)
Saying this, Karen-san hands over the new holy sword to the new hero.
“It will definitely be a hard journey, but I am sure you will be able to do it. Do your best.” (Karen)
“Leave it to me! I will become a light hero that won’t lose to your shine, Karen-neesama!” (Ray)
And just like this, a hero had departed from the Light Church.
Now, Karen-san is simply Kourin Karen.
- 413: Psyche
At the last fight of the Great Demon Lord battle.
Karen-san had taken my place in receiving the attack that had everything of Ates, and she ended up with her heart pierced, bringing instant death.
She was already in a state where no one could do anything.
No matter the God, it is not possible to bring back a life that’s reaching its end -it shouldn’t be done.
In that time when we could only despair our own powerlessness, the one who gave us a saving hand was an unexpected person.
“In the first place, Ates was…”
Ates was the separated part of the Light Goddess, the evil part of her heart.
Ates had changed her pure light divine power into shadow and entered the shadow spear Abel —in order to combine with me, the Dark God.
Karen-san took my place.
The converted divine power of the Light Goddess that should have been injected into me had been injected into Karen-san instead and had combined with the human soul of Karen-san.
The soul of a human and a God were becoming one.
Because of this, Karen-san had turned into something that is human and at the same time isn’t.
Karen-san herself had become the other Light Goddess Inflation.
*****
“After that, it was easy to heal my own body with the divine power I gained.” (Karen)
Karen-san says, looking back to that time.
The ceremony safely finished and Karen-san is not the light hero anymore.
“I was truly scared at first.” (Haine)
I was also remembering that time and shivers ran down my spine.
No matter how many times I remember it, it still has the same effect on me.
“It is because I felt that the divine power of Ates was resonating with Karen-san’s divine power through the pierced spear that I was questioning myself what in the world would happen.” (Haine)
I was relieved when I saw that her body was regenerating with the fused divine power of Ates, but I soon began to imagine another scary possibility.
Because Karen-san had fused with that Ates.
An existence that basically consisted on only the wicked parts of the Light Goddess.
If she were to fuse with something like that… It made me tremble in fear just thinking that maybe her whole personality would be overwritten and Ates would return.
In the end, the one who came back was Karen-san who didn’t show much difference from before.
“The personality of Ates herself had vanished before it fused with me.” (Karen)
The eyes of Karen-san lower and she shows a sorrowful expression.
“After being rejected by Entropy who she had felt strongly for all that time, in the weakened mental state she was in, she was unable to maintain herself. She was the kind of person that even went as far as to think that there’s no need for the world as long as Haine-san existed after all.” (Karen)
So my rejection was plenty shocking enough to push those last remaining fingers holding on right down into the precipice huh.
She really had nothing revolving around herself but her own agenda.
“After losing her essence, the divine power that had turned into pure energy only had found a shelter that is my soul and fused with it.” (Karen)
“I am surprised it went so smoothly. Ates and Karen-san may have similar elements to begin with, but at that time, Ates had changed to shadow, you know. Moreover, she was a Goddess.” (Haine)
“Because shadow is basically an intermediate of light and darkness, the compatibility with both was high. Also, my connection as a God Hero most likely served as an intermediate, making the fusing smoother. With the essence of Ates gone, that power of hers had no choice but to recreate its existence with me as the core.” (Karen)
As the new light.
And so, she was reborn. A human, but at the same time, a God. A God that has a human soul —That’s Kourin Karen.
“Karen-san…… I am truly sorry.” (Haine)
“Again with the apologizing, Haine-san? In these four years, every time this conversation is brought out, you apologize.” (Karen)
Yeah, but the soul of Karen-san that was supposed to live and die as a proper human had been tied in the curse that is being a God.
Even if her body were to perish, her soul would exist forever. That’s the kind of curse it is.
“It is fine. If it were an eternity with only myself, I would be so lonely I wouldn’t be able to take it, but I have people that can live together with me forever.” (Karen)
Saying this, Karen-san held my hand in a very natural manner.
“For now, I will stay as Karen, and Haine-san will stay as Haine-san. I look forward to what the future will bring us.” (Karen)
“Yeah…” (Haine)
Karen-san obviously already knows my identity.
My identity as the Dark God Entropy.
In the end, we revealed it all, and even with that, we still decided on staying together.
It means there’s already no escaping it.
“It is nice that you are getting along, but…”
Someone intruded in our alone time.
“It would be troubling if you were to forget about me.”
“Of course, Yorishiro-sama! We three, no matter how many times we reincarnate, will be together!!” (Karen)
Karen-san and Yorishiro who are already Light Goddesses were hugging.
An eternity with me, the Dark God.
That was the very wish of Ates that was born from a series of events, but in the end, Karen-san was the one who managed to accomplish that wish of hers.
But even with that, Karen-san is critically different from Ates.
My basis for that is that Ates saw her ideal world as a place where only her and I were in and anyone else wasn’t allowed…but Karen-san acknowledged everyone that was around her.
Her love wasn’t only targeted at me, but the whole world.
Getting involved with this whole world and creating connections, she spread varieties of love, and received the love of others in return.
Even if they were aiming for the same result, Karen-san and Ates were separated by a deep line that could be considered a boundary.
“Karen-san, you are not a hero anymore starting today, so our relationship will become even simpler now.” (Yorishiro)
“Right! Our relationship as hero and Founder-sama is gone! We are purely friends now! Love-Love comrades of Haine-san!!” (Karen)
Yeah…
Gotta cast my doubts in the way you put it.
“I as well. Having a friend like you to share our eternities together, I feel like it will be quite the fun eternity. But right now, let’s enjoy our lives as Yorishiro and Karen. Haine-san will definitely make it fun!” (Yorishiro)
“Yes! Yorishiro-sama!” (Karen)
Wait, it is troubling to put so much expectations on me!
…And so, in this way, Karen-san was completely prepared to enjoy her eternal life as a God.
As I thought, humans are strong in a lot of meanings.
“Anyways, right now, we should enjoy the fact that your title as hero is gone. The preparations for departure are already done, right?” (Yorishiro)
“Ah, yeah! Right!” (Karen)
Karen-san is no longer a hero now.
Kourin Karen will now walk a new and different path from the one when she was the light hero, but before that, it wouldn’t be bad to have a slight intermission.
“Using this chance, you will be visiting your friends, right? That’s quite good.” (Yorishiro)
“Yes! We have been pretty busy lately, so I haven’t seen them for quite a while. I was thinking about checking how they have been recently!” (Karen)
The heroes that had overcome that final battle together with her.
They have finished their duties as heroes just like Karen-san and are walking through a new path now.
Karen-san wanted to use this chance that she had graduated from being a hero to check how they are doing.
“Then, Haine-san, I will be leaving the escorting of Karen-san to you-desu wa.” (Yorishiro)
“Ya got it.” (Haine)
It was decided that I would be accompanying Karen-san in that trip of hers.
The reason I will be leaving Apollon City was because of that.
“I can’t go together with you because of my work as Founder, but we are going to be living together for what will be close to an eternity, so not being together for a bit shouldn’t be much.” (Yorishiro)
“Right…” (Haine)
I ended up leaking out a dry ‘hahaha…’ along.
“Then, let’s meet at that place.” (Yorishiro)
“Yeah, at that place then.” (Haine)
Receiving the farewell from Yorishiro, we finally depart.
The trip for Karen-san’s hero graduation.
“Haine-san, let’s go.” (Karen)
Karen-san takes a seat on the ethereal flying machine she had prepared.
If we are going to go around the other nations, there’s no doubt we would need these guys.
The flight of these guys has truly helped us out in a lot of situations.
“Haine-san, will you be sitting at the back? Or at the front?” (Karen)
“We have our personal flying machines, you know.” (Haine)
Karen-san and I riding one flying machine was a thing that happened way back when we first met.
Now that I think about it, it was also my first time riding a flying machine.
A lot of things happened since then huh.
“Is that really okay? Don’t you want to ride behind me again and cop a feel of my boobs?” (Karen)
“As I said, please forget about that already!!” (Haine)
A lot of things indeed happened, and yet, girls really don’t forget the dark past of men.