Dark Fantasy: Super Coward Mode

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Empress, Demeter.

Once, while having a conversation with Oko, there was a mention of her.

She is one of the four foremost beings of the Divine Race, responsible for the concept of ‘life.’

Despite dealing with such a grand concept, they said she was surprisingly not a big deal, which made me curious about how Oko views the other Divine beings.

I’ve never heard of the other foremost beings.

Since Oko didn’t say anything further, how could I know?

Anyway.

Demeter, colorless in her concept, was looking at the deceased Emperor with an expression as if she had lost everything.

So, I had no choice but to cautiously ask her a question.

“Your Majesty, Empress.”

“….”

“If you were to use your power, wouldn’t it be possible to save the Emperor?”

“I don’t have that authority.”

“But….”

Did my words, said out of uncertainty, become a dagger instead?

The Empress forced a smile as she looked at me, but her expression held no color whatsoever.

“I only follow the flow. At times, I only collect the departed. Life that has already vanished is something I can do nothing about.”

Like Oko, it seems Demeter also lacks the power to directly intervene in the cycle.

Feeling guilty for saying unnecessary things, I got up from my seat.

The Empress was quietly caressing the Emperor’s cheek, merely gazing at him.

I could tell numerous complex emotions were crossing in her eyes.

She would likely need time.

Time to accept in her heart that the Emperor was gone.

I stood up.

The passing of the heart of the Empire posed quite a headache for how to proceed from here.

But the Empress had just given me my final command.

To make sure everyone could smile again, in the end.

To do that, I first needed to put a stop to this chaos.

“Your Majesty, Empress.”

“….”

“I will heed your command and head out first. Please take care of yourself.”

If she’s such a strong Divine being, she wouldn’t fall to even a handful of humans attacking her right now.

So, it would be better for me to focus on my own affairs first.

#

As soon as I stepped outside the palace, the scene before me felt like a complete disaster, overwhelming me with an unsettling feeling.

How on earth was I supposed to deal with all of this on my own?

I could hear the sounds of buildings crumbling from a distance.

I decided to run in the direction of the sound, where the knights were being ruthlessly swept away like sand in front of the sea.

It seemed the Divine Race was finally retaliating against the humans.

Although the knights tried to counter, their attacks were completely ineffective against the Divine beings.

I looked for the person commanding the knights.

If they could just call out Oko’s name, it would end right there, so if I could stop the knights, the fighting would naturally cease.

Among them, I spotted a knight clad in splendid attire.

It was the Deputy Director of the Lintpia Knights.

“Knights! Don’t waver! We must end these Divine beings right here!”

While knights were turning into mere chunks of meat, the Deputy Director was urging them to sacrifice themselves instead.

Something definitely seemed off.

The Deputy Director I knew wouldn’t have led people to their senseless demise like this.

“Please stop, Deputy Director!”

I quickly ran toward him and shouted.

I looked into his eyes.

They seemed devoid of light, as if he had been brainwashed by something.

“Leydan Tanton, why are you not attacking them?”

“Deputy Director! Please calm down! Knights are dying needlessly! There was a command from the Empress. Please, stop this fight!”

“What does that matter?!”

Even though I mentioned the Emperor’s command, the Deputy Director was getting angrier instead.

I felt hopeless.

Something was clearly wrong, to the point where rational judgment had vanished.

There was no way to stop this anymore.

“Deputy Director!”

“Get back! We need to crush those damned rebels right now!”

Oh, this is really maddening.

At this rate, even the remaining knights would all perish.

I didn’t want to cause discord again.

I ran behind the Deputy Director and lightly poked his shoulder with my finger.

“What… uh!”

As soon as the Deputy Director turned around to look at me, I headbutted him, knocking him out cold.

I waved my hand in front of his face to check if he was really out, and only after confirming no response did I feel relieved.

Every time I do this, it makes my head spin.

Once all of this is over, I guess I’ll have to find somewhere to hide for a while.

I looked at the knights in front of me.

Each one wore expressions soaked in fear.

They were just moving, under the command of the Deputy Director, believing the Emperor was killed by those rebels.

“Everyone, stop!”

At my shout, the knights halted first.

Did they understand that this meant giving up everything? The Divine beings began to launch their attacks immediately.

I dashed out to the Divine beings and shouted loudly.

“Stop! I command you to withdraw your murderous intent in the name of ‘Oko’!”

Then, the Divine beings all stopped, showing expressions of shock.

They appeared to be filled with discontent, but regardless, they paused upon hearing her name.

Only after a complete silence fell did I yell.

“Let’s please stop this meaningless fight! Isn’t it foolish for our races to kill each other, relying solely on a word with no evidence, believing we were led astray?”

Upon my shout, the knights’ expressions brightened slightly.

The Divine beings looked at me, filled with indignation.

They had been attacked first by humans, so their response was completely understandable.

“I just spoke with the Empress! She did not kill the Emperor! It seems it was the Commander! The Divine beings are merely being framed!”

Finally, the knights began to lower their weapons slowly.

It seemed they were now puzzled about why they were even doing this.

“You are.”

A representative among the Divine beings approached me.

Seeing their expression, it appeared they had decided to abandon the intent to attack.

“Why do you side with us?”

“I’m not taking sides. There was never a division in the first place. Everyone was simply mesmerized by something.”

The representative let out a sigh at my words and gestured to other Divine beings to also stop.

Finally, signs of the fighting beginning to cease were evident.

Who knew that one act of rebellion would resolve things so easily?

It almost made me think that the entire military system might have no real meaning.

Having calmed the Divine beings, I still needed to head out to stop the ongoing chaos elsewhere.

Thinking of having to pull off another act of rebellion made my head hurt, but I figured it was better than watching the Empire collapse.

As I thought this and was about to leave, suddenly—

Thud.

With a piercing sound, the representative of the Divine being beside me collapsed.

Along with him, the knights nearby suddenly burst and disappeared without a trace.

I became so startled that my vision began to sway uncontrollably.

What the hell was happening?

“Oh my, we can’t have that.”

At that moment, a voice filled with cunning reached my ears.

I turned my head in the direction of the voice.

There was a little girl.

With black hair and black eyes.

A rather cute-looking girl, who approached with a sly smile, bowed her head, and then swiftly pulled back, saying:

“Are you telling the Divine beings to stop when the humans are coming, wielding the Spear of Longinus?”

The girl flashed a chilling smile.

“Leydan Tanton.”

Before I could even process her calling my name, I heard the roars of humans draw closer.

The contract with the Divine beings.

The law stipulating that they would form a bond by sealing the Spear of Longinus.

That was now shattering into pieces right before my eyes.

Starting with the Commander.

“Immediately execute the rebels!”

Even after falling from the fourth floor, the Commander appeared completely unscathed.

I tried to move to block them right away, but I found myself unable to move as I collided with something.

An invisible wall was surrounding me.

“Ah, really. You’ve messed up my plans too much. Is it because you’re favored by that bystander? I have no choice but to step in personally.”

As she spoke, the knights charged at the Divine beings, rapidly piercing their bellies with spears.

The Divine beings, who had shown almost invulnerability to regular attacks, were being skewered as easily as pudding by the Spear of Longinus.

“No! Stop!”

It can’t be.

The fight is escalating further.

Because of that mysterious girl, it seemed the Divine beings had already lost their composure, preparing to attack the knights again.

Damn it.

Was I really going to do nothing?

Please.

I wished for anyone to come and stop this situation, and then—

Suddenly, something strange began happening before my eyes.

The knights, who had been attacking the Divine beings, unexpectedly pulled out the spears they had stabbed into the Divine beings, and in a movement that seemed unnatural, almost as if the world had flipped upside down, they began to turn back round.

The wounds on the Divine beings’ chests started to revert back to normal.

Only I and that girl were left watching this happen without any alteration.

“…Tch, you finally stepped in.”

As the girl shouted that, whatever had been blocking me also disappeared.

And someone stood before me.

“…Sorry, Leydan. Am I late?”

A familiar voice.

Hair of silver shaking.

“I had a bit of a struggle dealing with someone who made strange beings.”

Although I could only see her back,

I could tell.

The energy emanating from Oko made it clear she was very angry.

“Gaia. You’re talking about her, right?”

As soon as Oko spoke that name, the girl’s wicked smile widened.

 

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