“Could it be… Haine-san, are you planning on having those heroes defeat the Hydra Serpent?” (Coacervate)
“It is already a set future.” (Haine)
I actually hesitated before taking the first step.
Before taking the first step in creating that black giant.
In this current era, monsters are the symbol of the Gods’ arrogance, and most of all, the symbol of their deception.
Pseudo-living beings created by the Gods that were about to be forgotten by the development of civilization in order to assert their existence. That’s what monsters are.
Even if it’s to protect Karen-san and the others from the evil designs of Coacervate, if I end up putting my hands in the creation of monsters as well, wouldn’t I be doing the same as what those other Gods did and end up being the same as them?
Wouldn’t it make the efforts of those girls that fight by believing in their own objective and power into something pointless?
Karen-san and the other heroes.
It would make me the same as Coacervate who laughs at the earnestness of humans.
I was already on the point that even having a similar area from that God would anger me, but even so, the ones who gave me that hope were those girls.
Katack Mirack, Re Celestis, and Kourin Karen.
Those girls are heroes.
Heroes are the very definition of the tools the Gods use to gather faith.
But those girls are not being dragged by this and continue being heroes in order to fulfill their own objectives.
It has nothing to do with the will of the Gods, it has nothing to do with the will of the Church either.
For the sake of the people, for their own sake; as long as there’s they have the will to be heroes, those girls are without doubt heroes.
That truth moved my heart. ‘I want to help them’, is what my heart wished.
I was simply following those feelings.
Following those feelings, I believe that what I am doing is correct.
“That’s why, do your best you three!!” (Haine)
Sadly, the impromptu black giant is not enough to defeat the Hydra Serpent.
That guy can only serve as help.
That’s why, you are the ones that have to defeat it.
“You are the ones who have to defeat the monster. The lead role, the center of it, the ones who will connect this world together are you heroes!” (Haine)
“You bastard…” (Coacervate)
Coacervate who was at my side was cursing. For him, this was heading onto an undesirable direction. He probably plans on using another card in order to change it, but…
“Don’t move.” (Haine)
My pressure made his movements stop.
“Just try making a move. My dark matter clad arm will pierce through your body.” (Haine)
“H-Haine-san…” (Coacervate)
“You must have thought you sealed my movements, but that goes both ways. We are already in a standstill.” (Haine)
That’s why, the ones who will be the defining factor of breaking this standstill will…not be the ones who are here, but the ones who are in the battle that’s occurring at another location.
Whether those girls can defeat the Hydra Serpent or not will decide the winner of this.
It might be tough for you girls alone, but that’s the reason why I prepared the black giant.
Utilize that guy and win.
You humans are the ones who have to win.
* * *
And so, in the crucial battle…
Utilizing the senses of the Black Giant, I was able to tell the current state of affairs.
The Hydra Serpent was being restrained by the Black Giant. In the meantime, the heroes were doing concentrated attacks.
“[Water Rage]!” (Celestis)
From the divine relic of Celestis, a high-pressure water bullet was shot. This easily hit the Hydra Serpent, but it only send a few scales flying, and there was not much effectiveness in it.
“Ah, seriously! The target is so big that I can hit it even with my eyes closed, but it is so big that there’s no point even if we hit it! As I thought, if we want to do some decent damage, it has to be the light element, Karen-chan!!” (Celestis)
“Celestis! Provide support. There’s something I want to try out!” (Mirack)
“Hah?! What would the fire hero even try here?! You were not blessed with the affinity this time around, you can’t be counted as a fighting force! With that taken into account…!” (Celestis)
“Please, Celestis-san!” (Karen)
Karen-san also joins in.
“The ones testing things out will be Mirack-chan and I!” (Karen)
“Let’s go, Karen! We have been training like crazy since the fight at the Radona mountain district! It will definitely go smoother than last time! It should have increased in power as well!” (Mirack)
“Yeah, let’s do it! This is the new power of us heroes!” (Karen)
Karen-san and Mirack stick their bodies together and hold hands. Those linked hands were directed at one of the heads of the Hydra Serpent.
As if they were adjusting the aim with a bow.
From inside the linked hands, divine power mixes.
“Light divine power and…” (Karen)
“Fire divine power! Combine the two together!” (Mirack)
““[Divine Fire-Light, Thunder]!””
Lightning was shot out from the two and dances madly as it soars through the sky and hits the Hydra Serpent.
“Gyoooooooo!!!”
The Hydra Serpent screams in pain.
The fire and light combined element ‘thunder’ was dealing quite the damage even to the outside of the Hydra Serpent.
In the first place, the skin was wet with water. Electricity really passes well in that.
“It is working! As I thought, it really is working, Mirack-chan!” (Karen)
“Yeah. Just like in the time with the fire cow Phalaris, it penetrates through the skin and attacks the inside directly! That is the strength of the ‘lightning’ element. Karen! Let’s continue without rest!” (Mirack)
“”[Divine Fire-Light, Thunder]!””
Lightning was hitting the eight heads of the Hydra Serpent in order.
And then, each time that occurred, screams that proved the effectiveness of it were being raised.
* * *
“Impossible! Combined element?!”
Coacervate who was at my side watching over the fight was honestly punched in the guts by the combination of Karen-san and Mirack.
“I don’t know about such power!! It is inflicting such effective damage to my Hydra Serpent?!” (Coacervate)
“Weren’t you observing the battle we had with the fire cow Phalaris at the Radona mountain district? Even though you know about me, you didn’t know about the combined element of those two?” (Haine)
“I only heard about you from Mantle! That damn bitch!!!!” (Coacervate)
What. So he talked about surveillance but it was just him leaving it to others huh.
But thanks to that, he didn’t know about the ‘lightning’ element, and was unable to make any effective countermeasures.
Nice, the path is beginning to open.
- 55: Combined Melody
“Wait wait! What’s that?!” (Celestis)
Celestis raises a clear shout of surprise.
“You combined light and fire to make a new element?! Is that possible?! I have never heard of that. Isn’t that a new breakthrough?!” (Celestis)
“Don’t call it a new breakthrough. This is a new frontier that was made possible by overlapping mine and Karen’s heart.” (Mirack)
Mirack was being blatantly proud.
Moreover, Karen-san says,
“The ‘lightning’ element that came as a result of combining light and fire was done by taking away the weaknesses of the two elements and putting together their strong points. Looking at how much effectiveness it is showing even when the fire element should be originally incredibly weak against the water element monsters makes this point clear.” (Karen)
“Incredible, incredible! It is strong and it is flashy, and the part that there’s the need for two girls to unite also shows aesthetic!! I want to do it too! I feel like my popularity will increase if I do it!” (Celestis)
“Hah?!”
The one who made a conspicuous bitter expression at the ecstatic utterance of Celestis was Mirack.
“This single-minded idol. Don’t just decide things by whether or not it will be popular. You see, combining elements is something that you need to overlap the hearts of the two perfectly in order to even mix the elements. You need to have a long relationship with Karen just like me, and have to understand each other to perfection or—-!” (Mirack)
“If you girls who didn’t get along in the first place can do it, I can do it as well! Leave it to me! I am good at matching the rhythm when dancing with others!” (Celestis)
“Ugh.” (Mirack)
Celestis goes with the flow and takes the hand of Karen who was close.
“Wa?!”
Seeing this, Mirack burns in the flames of jealousy.
“If there’s the need to overlap hearts, maybe it would be better to stick our bodies closer? Wrapping our arms to the waist like this…placing our chests together…ara? Karen-san? Aren’t they pretty big?” (Celestis)
“That’s why I said, didn’t I? That I win.” (Karen)
Looks like Karen wasn’t against the idea.
Surprisingly, I could tell that the divine power of those two were mixing.
The holy sword and the sacred outfit; with the divine power that was amplificated by those divine tools, it goes through the linked hands of the two and mix.
But, in that time, the enemy wasn’t just silently watching.
The Hydra Serpent, that had been cooked from the inside by the continuous lightning attacks, had turned a part of its hostility to the heroes and attacks them.
3 of the 8 heads had stopped wrapping around the body of the black giant and attack the heroes.
“This is bad! Karen! And the other one! Run!!” (Mirack)
Mirack shouts, but the two who were concentrating on the technique wouldn’t make it in time to evade it.
“Ripples that glitter on the water surface, break and turn into grains of light…” (Celestis)
“Become a mirror in empty space and confound the enemy…” (Karen)
“”[Mirage]!!””
The heads hit them directly…or at least that’s how it looked like.
The big jaw of the assailing Hydra Serpent looked as if it had chomped Karen-san and Celestis who were sticking together.
But that wasn’t the case.
It looked as if they had been crunched, but it simply cut through the sky.
It appeared as if the two were in between the upper and lower jaw of the Hydra Serpent, but they actually disappeared like mist just before it happened and the Hydra Serpent literally bit on air.
“Wa?! What happened?!” (Mirack)
Seeing this happen from up close, Mirack was also confused.
Moreover, this phenomenon continued occurring. At the surroundings of the Hydra Serpent, several tens of Karen-san and Celestis appeared and encircle it.
Of course, the Hydra Serpent reacted to this and bit on every one of them, but all of its attacks just cut through air and this fake image of them disappeared.
That’s right, a fake image.
“Light can’t continue straight into the water and defuses into a reflection, and then, shows things that are not there as if they were.” (Karen)
“The combined element of light and water is something that utilizes that special characteristic to its very limit ‘Mirage’. Can you find the real us from the projections that are all around the area?!” (Celestis)
Several tens of mirror images that have no substance had completely encircled the Hydra Serpent.
No matter how much it bit with that giant jaw, that lack of response was finally affecting its psyche, and even more heads had unwrapped from the Black Giant.
With those increased heads, it was probably aiming to sweep through all the mirror images, but with the decrease in wrapping heads, the Black Giant obviously gets more freedom.
The leg that was able to move kicks one of the heads of the Hydra Serpent with all it had.
“Gyoooooooo!!”
A showy splash of water was raised up.
“Wow, how intense! As expected, you are reliable, black one!” (Celestis)
“Karen! You unfaithful woman! To think you would leave me behind and combine elements with another woman. Is anyone okay as long as you can mix elements with?!” (Mirack)
“And this one doesn’t break character…” (Celestis)
With the illusion of Karen-san and Celestis, the tides had completely turned into their favor.
“Hey, you housewrecker! Now that it has come to this, you and I will be doing it as well! If I just consider you a shared equipment for Karen and I, my heart might be able to hang on!” (Mirack)
“Am I a tool?! Well, fine. It was easier than expected, so it might work with you as well. Hug the she-male!” (Celestis)
Celestis jumps to the direction of Mirack.
Fire and Water element; the phenomenon that occurs with both of these antithetic elements is…
“”[Steam Explosion]!””
The terrifying expansion of air blows away one head of the Hydra Serpent and creates a thunderous sound. It didn’t go as far as blowing it to smithereens, but it is certain that it dealt quite the damage.
“I see. The fire divine power boiled the water divine power and made the steam expand rapidly. With that force, it was able to blow the Hydra Serpent as well. In other words, ‘steam’ element huh.” (Mirack)
“Oh my, what’s this. By mixing the violent fire element, my elegant water element became so brute.” (Celestis)
“I am just making your effeminate water element into a more magnificent one with my fire element.” (Mirack)
At any rate, the combined elements had shown more effectiveness than expected and were slowly cornering the Hydra Serpent.
It was an unexpected dominance.
My Black Giant restraining it also played a role, but the attacks of the heroes that were using this point to their advantage were also a big factor.
Moreover, it was a successive display of combined elements.
In this battle stage that was filled with things that had happened for the first time in history, the audience in the venue had surpassed the threshold of heated up and gone beyond that.
There was already not a single person in the audience that feared the monster.
They were all excited and admiring the heroes.
Even if it wasn’t exactly how it should have gone, it resulted in exactly what you wanted your scenario to do, Water God Coacervate.
- 56: More unreasonable than a natural disaster
“Hey, Coacervate.” (Haine)
At a corner of the audience area that was swirling with heat, I talk to the man that was standing at my side.
“It is the result that you were aiming for. The great efforts of the heroes are making the audience rise up in unison.” (Haine)
Of course, I didn’t say this out of sarcasm.
The scenario he wished for was the sole victory of the hero Celestis. However, in that stage, the three heroes cooperated and even combined their powers into one in order to fight.
Moreover, they are holding the advantage.
The audience is incredibly excited, and in that part, it is just as Coacervate aimed for, but that’s exactly why the part that missed was standing out even more.
I was interested in what reaction Coacervate would show, but he wasn’t saying anything.
He was ignoring me completely.
When I checked to see what was going on, I was surprised. His face was filled with concentrated anger.
“Unforgivable! UNFORGIVABLE!” (Coacervate)
Just where did the usual cool attitude of his go to. Was he the kind of person that was so overwhelmed by emotion just because things didn’t go slightly as planned?
“I am done playing around!! My masterpiece, Hydra Serpent! We are changing the scenario heavily! Release all the power I have given you without a single restrain!!” (Coacervate)
Without a single delay after the order of Coacervate, the Hydra Serpent reacted.
Even from afar, it was clear that the color of its eyes had changed, moreover, it was a ferocious and dangerous color.
“Gyoooooooo!!”
Thrusting away the Black Giant that was grappling it, the 8 heads were raised to the sky and are swung down into the sea.
“What is it planning on doing?!” (Mirack)
The 8 heads were sunk into the sea and were not moving at all.
But that was definitely not because it had died or because it was tired and was resting; it was clear that this wasn’t such a trivial thing like that.
The abnormality was noticed first by the audience.
The people were making a ruckus.
“Oi, what’s that?” “The sea is…”
The abnormality occurred at the coast line -at the beach. The waves were drawing back from the sandy beach. That wave was simply drawing back but wasn’t returning as it continues backing.
An ebb tide? But the speed it was backing is too fast and unnatural.
As if it were being drawn onto a part of the sea water…
“Could it be…the Hydra Serpent?!” (Haine)
Is it drawing the water with its water divine power?
Because of it, the water level is steadily decreasing.
“Hey…isn’t this…bad?!”
This was said by an unknown person somewhere around. The local people of Hydra Ville must know more about the sea than someone like me who was raised at the countryside inside the forest.
“Bad? What is?!” (Haine)
I hurriedly asked.
This person answered.
“Because, you know…it is not the time for an ebb tide, and yet, the water level is drastically decreasing. Aren’t those…the signs of a tsunami?”
Tsunami?!
“Moreover, I have never seen the waves draw back this much! At this rate, what will be coming will be a big tsunami that can swallow the whole Hydra Ville!!”
Those words made panic run around this time for sure.
This was already on a level that the hope of the heroes and the human heart was unable to manage. The people jumped out from their seats and were running at the opposite direction of the big disaster that was about to assail us.
“Hahahaha! Run run! With those dull legs of you humans, you wouldn’t be able to escape from the large tsunami that’s coming anyways!” (Coacervate)
There was one person who didn’t run away and stayed in place, the Water God Coacervate.
Even if he is mimicking a human, his inside is that of a God, and in the first place, that body of his is that of a water element monster. He is probably staying here because he knows he will be fine even if he receives a direct hit from the tsunami.
I grab the collar of that fiendish God.
“Is this the work of that Hydra Serpent?! That thing is controlling the water level with its water divine power and is creating a tsunami?!” (Haine)
“What else is there aside from that? They got way too confident. They have looked down on this God and have disarrayed my plans way too much. How unamusing. Toys that take away the fun of their owner are not worth playing with anymore.” (Coacervate)
“So you are going to destroy the whole city for that?! This is the city where you church is! Are you going to kill your own believers?!” (Haine)
“Is there anything to worry about? Humans have propagated way too much because of the ethereal era. Even if the numbers are reduced a bit, there will still be a lot more humans left.” (Coacervate)
This bastard is saying the same things as Nova!
Are all Gods like this?!
The Hydra Serpent still had its head sunk into the sea and was not moving at all. As if it were gathering power.
And that really must be the case. In order to cause a big tsunami, there’s the need to draw the water, and when it has reached its maximum, it will release it all at once.
In that moment, it will be the biggest disaster for Hydra Ville.
“Fuhahahaha! The anger of the Water God is the anger of the sea! My servant, Hydra Serpent, show them the dangers of the sea!! Embody my anger!!” (Coacervate)