This Isn't an E*otic Game?-Chapter 119: Why Are You There of All Places

When a clear goal appears, even someone on the brink of death can show an astonishing vitality.

If that was true for a single person, then what about the Empire?

The final words left by Lady Belia upon her ascension spread throughout the Empire at a terrifying speed.

From nobles to impoverished workers who lived day-to-day,

Everyone became of one mind and one heart.

"If you want peace, prepare for war?"

"The Talahaime Rocky Mountain incident, the Princess being infected by a fragment of the Evil God, the Scrap Yard disaster..."

"Doesn’t this basically mean that the demon worshipers and Evil God fanatics are going to openly rise up soon?"

Demon worshipers and Evil God fanatics.

Disgusting vermin who had never once stayed quiet from the moment the Empire was founded until now, committing every manner of atrocity and evil.

The hatred and anger built up over more than three hundred years of experience exploded properly, triggered by the recent string of incidents and the last words of the Goddess Belia.

"We have to stop them. No matter what."

"I don’t want to see the Empire fall. I’d rather die than see that."

The number of young men volunteering for the Imperial Army began to rise.

"Today’s poetry reading event has been transformed into a fundraiser for the coming war."

In high society, where noblewomen and young ladies often gathered, a new form of competition began: who could raise the most donations.

It might’ve been the first time in the social world when one’s pride wasn’t based on dresses and ornaments, but on something else entirely.

"Train properly! A filthy, colossal evil is coming! We need to be armed to be ready for it! We have to kill way more of them than the War Sect girls do, or Lady Dulanaer will lose face!!"

The White Sect began collecting massive donations from temples across the Empire, investing heavily in the development of new weapons and in the training of holy knights and Ketralus squads.

Naturally, Iomene, the saintess of the White Sect, became extremely busy.

"If it's for war efforts, Karma Company can provide elixirs free of charge. After all, what use would my amassed fortune be if the Empire collapses?"

The Magic Tower Temple, too, began producing elixirs at unprecedented speed, and Jonathan Karma started to show what a true "Show Me the Money" cheat looked like, pouring massive financial support into preparing for war.

The Grace Sect?

"We shall now have a donation time for the Saint and His Majesty the Emperor..."

The southern region belonged to the Grace Sect.

And from the south, an overwhelming flood of donations was pouring into the capital.

Donation baskets were filling to overflowing — so much that recently, each temple had started circulating three baskets at once.

Scrap Yard also became busy.

As you know, the Scrap Yard owed a huge debt to both the White Sect and the Empire.

"Comrades. If the Empire falls, there will be no workers left. Don’t you remember what Mammon did to this city?"

The moment Karl Lenaro visited the Scrap Yard and delivered that single sentence,

The production output of the Empire’s largest steelworks exploded.

"Overtime!!"

"Let’s show the world just what kind of crazy bastards the Scrap Yard workers are!!"

Voluntary overtime began to flood in, and the high-quality, high-capacity blast furnaces — built with the overwhelming funding from Karma Company — began pouring out molten steel in torrents.

And the voluntary overtime was thoroughly compensated.

"Karma Company announced: all overtime until the war officially starts will be paid double!!"

"If you work more than a week straight, they’ll even give out vegetables and meat brought from the South! Plus, fat cash bonuses!!"

"Puhahaha!! Now that’s what makes work worth doing! Damn, money really is delicious!!"

While Jonathan Karma was leading the laborers with sheer mountains of cash,

[Let’s exceed 200% production through overtime!]

[Scrap Yard workers, awaken!]

[Comrades! The steel you forge with your hands will save the Empire!]

The labor activists stirred up the workers with countless slogans and bright-red posters they were all too familiar with.

Karl Lenaro and Jonathan Karma.

Thanks to the bizarre pairing of an utterly red labor activist and an utterly blue capitalist,

The Scrap Yard was displaying terrifying production capacity.

Everyone was busy.

And naturally, I, too, became busy.

So what was I doing?

"Okay, so body modification and Absolute Hypnosis were powers originally meant for creating life... Time Stop and 3000x Sensory Amplification, though..."

"[Time Stop and 3000x Sensory Amplification are abilities jointly created by myself and Lucifer. He desired powers that would allow him to move unseen by anyone, and to kill any being instantly.]"

"I see. So Lucifer was involved. But... were they always called '3000x Sensory Amplification' and 'Time Stop'?"

"[They originally had different names.]"

"Then why did they show up to me with those names? I mean... those skill names sound so vulgar."

"[My powers manifest in the form most familiar to their owner. It seems that those names were the most familiar forms to you, Master.]"

I was having a quiet talk with Asmodeus after summoning her.

Compared to what others were doing,

It wasn’t exactly impressive.

Frankly, it was just wasting time, but both Iomene and Kanya had insisted, in unison, that it was absolutely necessary.

If you didn’t grow closer to the divine source of your powers, you’d accomplish nothing — they had explained.

Thus, I was leisurely chatting away with Asmodeus in my room.

[3000x Sensory Amplification, Time Stop, Absolute Hypnosis, body modification... What kind of life did you live for those names to be the most familiar to you? Were you, like, an incubus or something in your past life?]

At Corn's absurd remark,

I couldn’t stop my face from turning red.

"Shut it, Corn."

Corn obediently shut up.

After a light cough to calm my embarrassment, I continued my conversation with Asmodeus.

"I heard that Lucifer, who used to be an Archangel, fell because of your powers."

[That is correct.]

"Then... why haven't I fallen?"

At my question, Asmodeus tilted her head, looking at me curiously.

"[I find that strange as well.]"

"What?"

"[My abilities are excessively dangerous for humans to handle. Normally, a human who starts wielding me either succumbs completely or becomes grotesquely twisted. But you, Master, have abnormally strong control over me. Even I find it hard to comprehend.]"

Maybe it’s because I’m from another world?

It was a plausible explanation.

Born in a completely different dimension, I might not be affected the same way as the humans of this world.

I looked at Asmodeus's left wing.

Out of the three wings that had once been tainted black,

Only two remained black now.

One black wing had vanished at the same time as Belia’s ascension.

"About those blackened wings... Do we really have to find divine beings to purify them? Couldn't we just use your own divine power to burn them away after connecting Heaven and the human world again like before? You’re strong enough for that, right?"

"[That is not possible.]"

"Why not? Isn’t there some easier way?"

Asmodeus shook her head.

"[There are only two ways to erase the black wings. One: Lucifer, who holds command authority over me, must be permanently destroyed. Two: I must expand the size of my own divine essence even further.]"

Asmodeus elaborated more thoroughly.

And after listening to her full explanation, I realized—

This system works almost exactly like stock shares.

When I first became Asmodeus's master,

Lucifer and I each held a 50-50 share.

Four black wings, four white wings.

But as Asmodeus devoured the faith she gathered through my actions,

The balance tipped heavily in favor of the white side —

Especially after she devoured Mammon at the Scrap Yard.

"[Under normal circumstances, absorbing Mammon’s divine essence should have increased the number of black wings. But at that time, I had detonated all the faith I had accumulated to save you, Master. Mammon’s will was weak, and his divine essence was completely purified in the process.]"

"So Mammon’s essence got fully converted into white-wing shares?"

"[Exactly. Had Lucifer still been controlling me then, Mammon’s divine power would have strengthened the black wings instead. You were very lucky, Master.]"

"Then... the method Belia used to purify your wing—"

"[She purified the essence she had absorbed from Satan and directly transferred it to me. Since killing Lucifer immediately is impossible, this is the only way to completely whitewash my wings. That's why even the Pantheon can't easily erase the remaining two black wings.]"

To erase the last two black wings,

A massive amount of purified divine essence would be needed — enough to overturn the balance entirely.

Delivering that much divine power would destabilize the balance between the Pantheon, Hell, and the Abyss.

"[Only beings like Dulanaer or Lopus have enough power to purify two more black wings. But they are already performing duties beyond their original roles. Weakening them further could cause catastrophic consequences — which I believe needs no explanation.]"

"In short, what you’re saying is...

We need to find the hidden God of Endurance and God of Courage before the Evil God discovers them.

Then absorb enough pure divine essence from them to erase your last two black wings.

If we do that, we win."

“[That is correct.]”

“If we find the God of Endurance and the God of Courage, fine.

But what if both of them have weakened over the past three hundred years like Belia, and they don't have enough divine essence left to erase your two black wings?

Wouldn’t that mean we’re screwed even if we find them?”

Asmodeus shook her head.

“[That won't happen.]”

“Why not?”

“[Before the Heavenly War, those two gods led the largest congregations on the surface world. Although they fell to the human realm after their defeat, the fact that they still haven't been found by the Evil God even after all this time proves it. They must still possess enough divine essence to share with me.]”

At her words, I had to let out a long sigh.

“If they were that powerful, why haven't they been found yet?

If they still had enough divine essence to avoid the Evil God for three hundred years, why didn’t they just ascend back to Heaven?”

The Empire had scoured the land top to bottom, yet there was still no news of finding the God of Endurance or the God of Courage.

“[I don't know either. Before I entered your body, I too was asleep for over three hundred years. I have huge gaps in my knowledge as well. Please forgive me for not being able to answer every question.]”

Two divine beings had fallen to the human world.

They would have been irresistible prey for Hell and the Evil God.

The Pantheon had been useless, and those two divine beings would have had to survive alone while avoiding Hell and the Evil God's pursuit.

At the same time, they must have been preparing for ascension back to Heaven.

But in the end, the God of Endurance and the God of Courage had neither succeeded in returning to Heaven nor been captured by the Evil God.

“This is driving me nuts. It’s not even a riddle at this point.”

As I sighed—

[Amayel. I’m reaching my limit. I can’t maintain this summoning much longer.]

Corn’s voice reached me, tinged with irritation.

When I summoned Asmodeus’s immense divine essence and wielded her powers, my body would break down.

To minimize that burden, I still needed Corn.

Corn shared the psychic load, helping absorb part of the strain.

But, of course, even with that, there were limits.

Two hours.

That was the maximum time Corn’s psychic support and my body could maintain Asmodeus’s summoning.

“Thank you, Asmodeus. You can return now.”

At my words, the eight-winged angel bowed politely to me, then disappeared from my room like a mirage.

Once she was gone, I realized my body was drenched in sweat — as if I had bathed in it.

It really put a massive strain on the body.

Without Corn, it would be practically impossible for me to handle Asmodeus's divine power.

“Thanks, Corn.”

[No need for thanks. Just keep your promise, alright? When this is all over, you better reincarnate me in a goddamn magnificent unicorn body.]

Corn was more of a spiritual entity at this point — born when he absorbed fragments of divine essence that spilled out during Asmodeus devouring Mammon.

According to Lord Yorgen of the Magic Tower,

Corn was currently the only entity on the surface capable of bearing the strain of divine summoning.

In short, Corn and I were stuck together whether we liked it or not.

I collapsed onto the floor.

“I wonder if Lady Lilia, once she regains her powers, could pull off something like that.

She is the Goddess of Life, after all. Don't you think?”

[I’m sick of living in this pathetic little pony form. I wanna have a proper mating season with a mare, dammit.]

I couldn't help but snicker at Corn’s grumbling.

“Oh right. You’re still a virgin, aren’t you, Corn?”

[Please, for the love of God, don't go spreading that around. Do you have any idea how humiliating it is for a unicorn male to be a damn virgin?!]

“As long as you perform your duties properly, I’ll have no reason to spread it.

I'm counting on you.”

At my words, Corn heaved a long, heavy sigh — just like I would.

[I can handle sharing the load for summoning or using divine powers just fine.

But what then? We still need to find the God of Endurance and the God of Courage if I’m going to stay useful.

Can we even find them?]

Hearing that made me feel slightly uneasy, but I shook my head.

“They’ll be somewhere. I’m sure of it.

The Hero Order is searching with everything they’ve ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) got.

We’ll find them sooner or later.”

[If, by chance, they’re found outside the Empire’s territory — like in the Northern Great Labyrinth or the eastern desert — we’re seriously screwed.

How the hell are we supposed to get through those death zones?]

Corn said it half-jokingly.

****

And, as always—

The worst predictions had a way of coming true with terrifying precision.

Three days later.

“The God of Courage has been found in the Northern Great Labyrinth!!”

The Empire had finally identified the location of one of the two fallen divine beings.