Ohanabatake no Maousama Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Under the setting sun and a sky that turned dark blue, the flowers unleashed a mystical glow all over the ravaged village.

But even amidst such unknown beauty, Darten was assaulted by undescribable worry.

However, doing nothing here would only make matters worse.

"Ha! I don't care what you do. It won't matter once I kill you! Die, you old man!!"

Darten tightened his fists and stomped over the flowers as he charged towards Qudels.

He was going by instinct, and it was the right thing to do.

"I do hate such people. The ones who know nothing but can only resort to violence. How childish."

Overwhelming violence was about to erupt.

However, Qudels just pushed his glasses up and grinned.

"Qudels!"

"Leader!!"

Adelia and the group members shouted. Then there was a loud bang as if something had burst.

That single blast resulted in shock waves that threw dust in the air in every direction.

"…What."

As the storm of dust hit her, Adelia fell to her knees.

As far as anyone could tell, there was no being in existence that could survive being hit by a rank two god of war. Though, perhaps one of the first ancient dragons or the Demon Emperor himself might stand a chance.

But, once the dust had settled, a most surprising sight awaited them.

For Qudels had stopped the rank two god's fist with just one hand.

"You… Who the hell are you!! Stop messing around, man!!"

"Ah, that was close. Your aim was quite good, you know? However, it is still not enough to kill me in a single blow."

In the next instant, Darten sensed a powerful murderous aura from Qudels, and so he jumped back.

And then the space that Darten had been a second ago was filled with Qudels's roundhouse kick, that slashed like the reaper's scythe.

"Oh, you have decent instincts. But it's not a good idea, no. You're the one that wanted to fight. And so you should fight up close with your fists, and not be so scared of my kicks."

Just as Qudels muttered this, the flowers around them started to shine even brighter.

And then, Darten understood.

These weren't just any glowing flowers.

They were like encrypted, complex magical runes.

"Woah! What the heck! You made a magic circle with flowers! What are you trying to do with this!? These runes…"

Darten was able to guess half of it as he inspected them, and his pretty face went pale.

"Oh, so you understand? You're not as dumb as I thought. Hehehe. I thought something like this could happen, and so I prepared during the day when we were still working."

And then Qudels snapped his fingers. A giant beanstalk came out of the center of the magic circle and reached for the ceiling.

After a while, the tip of it shone as it entered an entirely different space.

"Indeed. This is a spell that forcefully calls down a god from the heavens and gives them a physical body. Oh, and I am able to choose. So there will be accidents like calling a male god again."

"Y-you're horrible! What do you think we are!? Damn it. It's so powerful! I can't deactivate it!!"

Darten desperately tried to disarm it, but it wasn't his area of expertise, to begin with. And Qudels had had plenty of time to prepare.

So it was no wonder that he couldn't do it through brute force.

"What do I think you are? Nothing, really. Unfortunately, the people of my tribe are not very devout."

Qudels denied having faith in god with the same calm as if he were commenting on the weather.

In the first place, the concept of faith didn't really exist in the demon world. 

"Damn it! Go back to hell where you belong, you fiend!!"

"About that, I am unable to do it. Even if I wanted to."

Qudels looked down at the groaning Darten and smiled with a hint of bitterness on his face.

Of course, there were none here who understood what Qudels meant.

However, they understood that there was a wound that was better left untouched.

"Now, surely you understand? You lost this battle before you even raised your fists. This village only requires one god. You will be completely worthless once the new one comes down."

"Ah! Ahhhhhhh!! Damn! Damn you!! This isn't possible!!"

As Qudels declared his victory, Darten slammed his fists to the ground in agony.

"You cowardly old man! This isn't fair!! If you're a man, you should fight with your fists!!"

"And why is that? I don't even like to fight."

Qudels replied cooly to the tearful god.

"In the first place, we don't need a god of war for such a peaceful village like this. If you want more believers, why not go to a battlefield? We don't need a god who reeks of blood in this place. Oh? You hadn't even thought that far ahead… Are you that stupid?"

"Uggghhh…"

Darten's face fell.

His shoulders slumped and tears fell from his eyes as he started to talk to himself.

"This was my first time… I was finally called. I thought I was finally going to be able to do something. And so I didn't think about that when descending! It's not my fault!! I'm not a rank two god because I want to be! We rarely get called because we're so strong. And all the towns that are fit for a rank two god are already taken! It's just not fair! All I ever wanted was to come down here and protect the humans so they would thank me and give me some attention! I was going to enjoy being served by the priestesses and have sweet affairs! What's wrong with any of that! I am a god!!!"

Darten said as he ground his teeth. Qudels smiled and put his large hand on top of Darten's head.

"It isn't wrong. I too want such attention. And I do love pretty ladies. I want to boast about my achievements with a beautiful woman by my side. However, it seems that if you want that to happen, you have to consider the place and the person as well. Or they will just hate you. Apparently, such people are gossiped about in the most terrible way."

"That…I wouldn't like that. I…I want people to love me from the heart."

Darten muttered after hearing Qudels's sermon.

And then Qudels nodded.

"I as well. I want some to experience this thing called love with."

"What? You sound like some little girl. You're so lame!"

Qudels was talking very seriously, but Darten started to laugh.

"Don't laugh. This is a very serious matter."

But Qudels was grinning too. And then he opened his mouth as if suddenly remembering something.

"In any case, once this matter is settled, we can go someplace else. This frontier village does not offer much entertainment, to begin with. Being a guardian god here would only make you unhappy."

Darten nodded in agreement.

"First…we can save up some money, and then go to the entertainment districts of a big country. There will be lots of pretty ladies there for us to enjoy. And from there, we can slowly search for a city that suits you. After all, we have plenty of time to live."

"Oh! That sounds like fun! Let's do that, old man.'

Their eyes shone like two excited boys. The young rank two god of war and the middle-aged monster shook hands.

Just then, the beanstalk that had risen to the heavens was surrounded in pink light as it began to descend.

Qudels turned around to face the group members and villagers. And in a voice that shook them out of their stupor, he shouted.

"Now, here comes a goddess that is worthy of this village. Let us all celebrate!"

Chapter end