A few days later…
“Uwa~~! Big!”
In front of our eyes, a big tree filled our view.
A tree so big that you would need two adjectives to emphasize how big it is.
Even so, it was still far away, and right before our eyes came a mountain range that extends, the big tree was simply peeking out its head from the other side of the mountains.
In other words, that tree was taller and towered over the mountains.
“So that’s the prided giant tree of the Earth Church, Great Pillar-sama!!” (Karen)
Having the permission of Yorishiro-sama, it took me a few days using my flying machine to fly here. This is my first time going to such a faraway place.
Normally, the heroes of their respective Church have to protect the believers from monsters, so leaving their base is not allowed.
But with the development of the ethereal machines, journeys that take several days become a few hours thanks to the flying machine, and our scope of action has radically expanded, so slight absences have become forgivable now.
Even so, this trip to Ishtar Blaze takes several days even with the flying machine.
In the time I was troubled since something like that wouldn’t be forgiven, thanks to the special consideration of Yorishiro-sama, and Doraha-san who can serve as a guard for the Light capital, I managed to come all the way here.
“Sasae-chan! This is your homeland, right?” (Karen)
“Please spare me-dasu~~! Just kill me already-dasu~~!!” (Sasae)
The reason why Sasae-chan was at the last stages of her sanity was because she had been riding the flying machine until now.
She was holding onto my back, but as expected, the super high-speed of the flying machine seems to be tough on first timers.
The further we go, the more stamina it shaves off Sasae-chan, so we are currently taking a break for her sake.
“To think there be such a fearsome ride, the city be scary-dasu!! The distance that it be taking a month of repeated camping was closed in a few days!!” (Sasae)
I feel like I am watching the Haine-san I met for the first time.
Haine-san quickly got used to it, but I wonder about this girl.
“Seriously, how pathetic. For a hero to wail at something of this level.” (Mirack)
“Right? But well, this serves as punishment for rampaging at Apollon City so, isn’t it fine?” (Celestis)
Is what the accompanying Mirack-chan and Celestis-chan say.
…Wait a moment.
“Uhm, I should have asked this sooner but…” (Karen)
“Hm?” (Mirack)
“What?” (Celestis)
“Why are you two tagging along as well?” (Karen)
The fire hero, Mirack-chan; and the water hero, Celestis-chan. These two that are the heroes of other churches should not have any connection to this matter. Moreover, they have to protect their own base, so they shouldn’t be able to travel far thoughtlessly.
The two of them came on their own flying machine that is dyed in the color of their respective church, so if monsters appear in their base, they would take several days in order to return.
“What are you saying, Karen? We are already comrades. No matter where you go, we go together, right?” (Mirack)
“In order to realize my future plans of a worldwide live tour, I was thinking about checking out the five capitals at least once. It seems like thanks to the kindness of the Light Founder, that shadow girl will be protecting our bases too anyways.” (Celestis)
So there was such an arrangement…
Is it really okay to be placing so much weight onto Doraha-san?
It should be okay. She is so strong after all.
“Also, Karen, this time’s matter is not something that the other churches can ignore either, you know?” (Mirack)
“Eh?”
“With this girl rampaging in Apollon City, the special point of the Earth Church has been made public after all. Freely controlling the monsters that are originally our enemies, giving out an order to kill a specific person through an oracle, moreover, that reason is because that person is the personification of the Dark God Entropy…” (Mirack)
“The Dark God’s very existence was dubious, but with this, its existence has now become thicker. Just what is currently occurring in the world. There’s the need for the other churches to grasp it correctly as well.” (Celestis)
And that’s why the dispatch of the fire and water hero was approved?
“Wuuh~~, it feels as if we are the bad guys-dasu.” (Sasae)
“We are going to your base in order to confirm that, aren’t we? Well, don’t worry. We are not the type of people that would rampage around other’s house. We are not.” (Celestis)
Celestis-chan was persistently bullying Sasae-chan.
But now that I think about it, this is an incredible scene.
Four heroes journeying together; just what are we going to be fighting now?
“But, no matter what we are going to be confirming, Haine-san has already taken the lead and has been investigating, so let’s prioritize regrouping.” (Karen)
“But…”
The one who let out that sunk down voice was Sasae-chan.
“Is that Kuromiya Haine truly a good guy-dasu ka? I just can’t believe it-dasu.” (Sasae)
From this group of four, the only one who has not met Haine-san in person is Sasae-chan.
The only thing she knows of him is the oracle she received from Mother Earth Mantle, so she is uneasy. Moreover, the subjugation target has entered her homeland.
“It is okay, Sasae-chan.” (Karen)
I gently place a hand on her shoulder.
“Haine-san is stronger, smarter, and kinder than anyone, so Sasae-chan will certainly come to like him.” (Karen)
“The strongest, smartest, and kindest is Karen-nechan-dasu yo,” (Sasae)
Her uneasiness must have been driven out, Sasae-chan hugged me.
“Oh~ Oh~, since being saved at the Light Grand Church, Sasae-chi has been hugging Karen-chi like crazy~.” (Celestis)
“Can I broil that little girl’s face?” (Mirack)
“Don’t get jealous, fire hero.” (Celestis)
Like this, we deepen our friendship as we head towards Ishtar Blaze.
And then, what we saw the moment we arrived at the place was…
What welcomed us the moment we stepped into the Earth capital, Ishtar Blaze, were…the screams like those of a battlefield.
“Ruuuun!!”
“Great Pillar-sama –Great Pillar-sama is angered!”
Those kind of screams were echoing all around the city.
The people were running about. The farming tools used for their daily lives and the crops had been thrown away and were rolling tragically around.
“What is this? Just what in the world is going on?!” (Karen)
Being welcomed by chaos the moment we arrived, made us fall into confusion.
“This is the daily scenery of this city —is in no way the case, right?” (Celestis)
“Oi, what do you have to say, local girl?” (Mirack)
Mirack-chan asks the one who should know this city the most here, Sasae-chan.
But the Sasae-chan in question was dumbfounded and her mouth was wide open.
“I-I don’t know-dasu! This be the first time I see something like this-dasu!!” (Sasae)
Her face was also pale.
There were a number of residents that noticed her.
“Aaah!! S-S-Sasae-sama!!”
And they run to her as if clinging onto her.
“T-T-This is terrible, Sasae-sama! L-L-Look, Great Pillar-sama has…Great Pillar-sama has has has gotten angry and—! I don’t know what’s going onsalfkjsf!!”
The residents seem to be in confusion as well, so we couldn’t get the gist of it.
“W-What should I do-dasu?! In the time I wasn’t at Ishtar Blaze, something like this–!!” (Sasae)
Sasae-chan trembles along with her words.
“It is okay! I be told it would be okay-dasu! Founder-sama said that Ishtar Blaze doesn’t have many strong monsters, so even if I be gone, the Golems would take care of it, he said! That’s why it wouldn’t be a big deal even if I be gone for a month. He said I can fulfill the oracle without any worries!!” (Sasae)
With Sasae-chan falling into chaos as well, the situation will get more and more uncontrollable.
I hug her tightly in order to calm down her panic.
“Calm down. Right now, you as the hero should be the calmest of all and tackle this. This is the Earth capital, Ishtar Blaze. And you are their earth hero.” (Karen)
“Karen-nechan~~!” (Sasae)
“At any rate, let’s go to the center of the disturbance. The people are panicked and are not in a state where they are able to make proper conversation. It is faster to confirm it with our own eyes!” (Karen)
The four of us run.
It was easy to pinpoint the location where the disturbance was occurring. We only had to head to the reverse direction of where the people are running after all.
And we already had an idea of what it was.
There’s only one thing capable of causing such uproar.
“Aah!”
At that place, there was the thing that overturned my common sense waiting.
The giant tree was rampaging.
In my understanding, once trees grow, they don’t move at all, but it seems that’s not the case here.
The roots were moving like an octopus’s tentacles.
While wriggling around, it swung through the ground, air, and all areas it could reach, and was creating abnormal damage.
“That is…the prided giant tree of Ishtar Blaze?!”
“Great Pillar-sama!!”
And just as the rumors state, it was unbelievably big.
That’s why once it rampages, the damage it creates is also unbelievable.
The houses around the city collapsed as the roots pushed out of the ground, and once it is swung down, they are crushed into pieces.
“Aah!! Why, why-dasu ka? Great Pillar-sama, why are ya doing such a horrible thing-dasu ka?! Great Pillar-sama be…Great Pillar-sama be supposed to protect our Earth believers, right?!” (Sasae)
“!! Oi, look! That!!” (Mirack)
It seems Mirack-chan has noticed something. We all observe the place she pointed at.
“That is…! Haine-san?!” (Karen)
From here, it was too far away, so I could only see him like a small grain, but I could clearly tell.
A single human was flying around in mid-air, fighting the roots and branches that were coming from all directions.
At times, he would slip through the storm of roots, and at other times, he would release a pitch-black mass as a shield.
The only one who can do that is Haine-san.
“Haine-san…is fighting the giant tree?” (Karen)
Just what does that mean?
“That guy…did he really do it?!” (Celestis)
“Eh?! What do you mean by that, Celestis-chan?” (Karen)
“He came here to defeat the ‘monster that gives birth to monsters’, the Mother Monsters, right? And the origin of the Golems is that giant tree. There’s no doubt that thing is the objective of Haine-chi. And so, that giant tree is resisting in that way in order to not be killed, don’t you think?” (Celestis)
The conjecture of Celestis-chan was just a conjecture, but it was an incredibly convincing one.
“T-Then—!!” (Sasae)
The voice of Sasae-chan trembled.
This time, it was not because of sadness or panic, it was out of anger.
“Because of him…Ishtar Blaze has fallen into this state-dasu ka? My home…because of him!! As I thought, he really be the personification of an evil God-dasu!!” (Sasae)
Is what Sasae-chan says as she runs off.
It was so sudden that we were unable to hold her down.
“Wait, Sasae-chan!” (Karen)
“Earth hero, Gonbee Sasae!! Will be saving Great Pillar-sama-dasu!! Here I go~~!!” (Sasae)
The earth scythe, Seeta, was raised.
