I ran along the riverbank as fast as I could.
I idly wondered how long I had been running for. Then I revised the question to whether I had ever ran so desperately before.
“…!”
The wind pushing against me was cold. But I couldn’t afford to stop.
“Gugi––”
I brushed away the goblin that had appeared in front of me out of nowhere with a swing of my spear.
You’re in the way. Please move.
I heard a splash.
What happened to the goblin afterwards, I do not know––
I kept having to get rid of monsters blocking my path for a short while until I finally arrived.
Simultaneously, I noticed a finely-textured magic around the area.
––Barrier magic.
It seemed like they had managed to avoid the worst-case scenario.
The students had already all gathered in one place and were now all looking at the sky with anxious expressions.
“Kami-sama! My lady!” I shouted as soon as I spotted the two of them.
Luna’s purple eyes turned to look at me. However, that only lasted a moment.
“…My lady?”
Her eyes turned back towards the distant sky.
It wasn’t just her, Athena was also looking up at the sky.
That was when I noticed. It wasn’t just the two of them. Everyone there––
I also turned to look up at the moon –– and gasped.
“…What… is that”
It was a sight right out of a fairytale.
The light of the moon was being dimmed out.
Two different-coloured streaks of light were repeatedly crashing into each other at speeds hard for the eye to follow.
The air shook from their collisions, the nearby trees crying and creaking as they swayed from the shockwaves.
“The day of wrath” Luna muttered in a clear voice.
Yep. That’s exactly what it reminded me of too.
‘The day of wrath’ or ‘Dies Irae’ was the name of a fairytale about a conflict between gods, the violence and terribleness of which was unheard of even for a fairytale.
In the story, half the world was destroyed in one night.
“N-no… t-that’s R-Ragnarok,” Kraim said, fighting for breath as he also looked up at the night sky.
You should take a breather, Kraim.
I felt like I had heard somewhere before that a fight between gods was called Ragnarok…
While I was lost in thought, another shadow came over to me from the left.
––It was Maro Burn. He was also staring at the sky with a strange look on his face.
“Damn… That’s––” he muttered in a tense voice, and I involuntarily heard as he continued. “––terrible.”
Go away.
…I did have some expectations from him for a new name.
Although, he did have a point.
It also probably had something to do with the stampede.
I looked up at the sky again to observe.
A red flash of light, and a golden one.
The exact details weren’t clear, but it was obvious it was a fight between two non-humans. Moreover––
“…”
On the other side of the magic barrier, monsters were wandering about with madness in their eyes.
And while I might just have been imagining things, it almost felt like they were all looking at me.
“This is just the beginning,” said Alice as she followed my gaze to look at the teeming masses of monsters on the other side of the magic barrier, her golden ponytail swinging anxiously.
Really? Actually, that makes sense.
“…But we’ll be able to pull through somehow, what with the magic barrier and all, right?” I asked her.
I didn’t know who had actually cast the spell, but I could tell it was a good one.
In fact, monsters trying to push through the barrier could only ineffectually attempt to do so, their feet skidding on the ground.
“Yeah… but we don’t have much more time. It’s impossible to keep the magic up forever with this many monsters attacking,” Alice said.
She turned away, and I followed her gaze.
“Mr. Soleil…” I mumbled.
Our usually languidly yawning teacher had both his hands outstretched, a pained expression on his face as he grit his teeth.
“Mr. Soleil!”
I ran over to him and began wondering whether there was anything I could do to help.
What if I use this magic? Actually no, perhaps the one Alice taught me would–
“Don’t worry. I just received a message that the royal knights have set off to come help us. Your sister included,” he said, and I suddenly heard cheers from around us.
However, my thoughts were different.
…Sis is on her way here?
In other words, this was something so big they needed to send out the country’s trump card––
That moment, a roar louder than any of the ones before rang out.
The reason for that soon became clear.
The red flash of light was zig-zagging through the sky. The golden one was nowhere to be seen, instead there was a huge column of black smoke rising from the forest.
The red ray of light had sent the golden one flying down into the forest.
“Sir, what even is that!” a brown-haired girl asked our teacher excitedly.
Everyone else paid close attention to the conversation, holding their breaths.
They all wanted to know. What the two rays of light were. What was happening.
“…It appears to be… a fight between the goddess Astaroth and the lord of this forest, Fenrir.”
I got goosebumps.
Did he say… Astaroth?
A chill went down my spine as I recalled her slowly disappearing into that black portal of hers.
So, the cause of this disaster––
“Goooo, Astaroth-sama!”
“Crush Fenrir!”
………Huh?
The students all looked up at the sky with fiery eyes.
The things they were shouting took me right past surprise and deep into the territory of amazement.
“What the… hell are they saying,” I murmured to myself, unable to keep my cool.
Mr. Soleil was the only one who seemed to have heard.
“…Isn’t it obvious? The goddess Astaroth is one of the heroic gods who saved the world,” he said admonishingly.
I was about to rebuke what he said – and stopped.
Indeed. That’s right.
The answer was right in front of me.
“““Gooooooooo Astaroth-samaaa!”””
––––Yep. I know this feeling.
Just what had I been thinking.
The cause of the stampede: the lord of the forest, Fenrir. And in order to stop it, the goddess Astaroth appeared. And that’s the right answer.
––Ah, how amazing.
I wanted to go against such a beautiful story?
Against such an ideal… wonderful set-up…
– ‘I am a nameless… stray god.’
…Now that I think of it, I felt the same way back then.
‘…What is your name?’
What if the choice I made back then – was wro–
“As… if…!”
I grit my teeth in denial of the something flowing into my mind.
–––––––– No way.
No way. No way, no way!
It wasn’t the wrong choice at all!
That choice I made, and what I am feeling right now are definitely not wrong!
“Kami-sama!”
Desperately trying to stop myself from shaking, I ran over to Athena, and put my hand on her shoulder–
“–Kami-sama?”
She was not the Athena I knew.
She looked at me with somber, sorrowful eyes.
“Yuno-san… I need a favour,” she said, walking up to me and gently hugging me.
It was so sudden that I didn’t know what to do.
Although, I could clearly feel my face becoming hotter.
Luna, on the other hand, stared at me with an icy expression and a deathly glare.
“Umm, erm? K-kami-sama, I-I”
She hugged me even tighter.
Then, she leaned on to my ear–
“Please… save her,” she whispered.
“…Her?”
“The divine beast who has protected this land for millennia, as per an ancient agreement,” the goddess Athena whispered, letting go of me.
I couldn’t move. Athena had suddenly transformed and hugged me. So it was completely natural. Completely natural.
––Athena’s red eyes stared at me unwaveringly.
I was the first to look away.
…It was embarrassing. It was a restless feeling.
Having gathered up a little courage, I turned back towards her.
But, her gaze was already back on the two once again colliding flashes of light.
“…She’s… crying,” Athena said, a tear streaking down her own face as well and dropping to the ground.
“…!”
There was only one thing left for me to do.
However…
“–Go,” came Luna’s clear voice.
“But… here is…” I said, causing Luna to sigh in exasperation as she turned to look at me again.
“You can do something about that, am I wrong?”
I–
“Yes, my lady,” I nodded confidently.
“…Eh… hey, wait! I’m sorry, I just, it was the spur of the moment…!” said Athena, her face reddening as she frantically waved her hands.
…Cute. It seems like she’s back to normal.
“Do not fret, Kami-sama. I’ll go stop them,” I said, and her face turned pale.
“D-don’t! A human can’t–”
“Yes, I can. After all–” grabbing my spear, I pointed it at Athena. “–I have the power you gave me.”
I smiled.
That’s right. I would do anything for her.
Even if that was–
–killing a god.
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