Chapter 276: 276 - Hitogami’s Rage
POV: Geese Nukadia
I was again in that familiar white void. There was nothing there except the white floor, stretching to infinity, with no horizon, no reference points.
It was a pleasant feeling; that place took me back to those years in the past, when I was just a nobody, overflowing with dreams and hopes. Young, inexperienced. Stupid as hell.
I was born in a small village in the south of the Demon Continent, free as a bird.
However, because I had an ego too big, I didn’t consider the village good enough for me. I was arrogant enough to think I was born for bigger things, so I ran away.
I ran away armed with a patched cloth backpack and an absurd conviction that the world owed me something.
And did I manage to achieve any great feat in the end? No, not at all.
The only skills I developed were things anyone would know how to do: cook, wash, clean... Yes, I could draw a map, haggle with merchants and even disarm a rustic trap, but if you asked me how well I perform those tasks compared to a professional... well, let’s not think too hard about that.
I was mediocre at almost everything, and terrible at almost nothing, the pure definition of a guy who strolled through mediocrity with pride.
If I weren’t so limp, maybe I could even believe in myself, but the fact was that I still didn’t know how to fight well enough to save my life.
My only purpose was to join strong, amazing guys to cover their weak points.
Have you ever seen how goldfish poop stays stuck to it while it swims? That was me.
All I had in my favor were cheap tricks and a sharp tongue — and that tongue was, in the end, what sold me to the false glory.
Being in that infinite void reminded me that I was just an idiot living a normal life. But I wasn’t going to let it end like that. I was going to achieve something big.
Something that would make me proud of myself.
Suddenly, a voice cut through the void, harsh and impatient:
"Enough, enough! I get it! You can’t let it end like this and all this shit! We have a serious problem!" bellowed the strangely blurred figure that stood before me.
The voice had a tone of judgment and displeasure. The God-Man.
He always appeared when I least expected it. But he was also a strangely comforting presence for me.
Ever since I was languishing in my small village, he would come to me in my dreams and give me advice.
He was my sacred God-Man.
He seemed anxious and worried now.
"Hm? What’s up? We haven’t even tested Rygar’s strength yet and we already have a problem?" I asked, trying to sound unconcerned.
The God-Man spoke bluntly:
"I can’t see Rygar Adoldia anymore!"
I frowned when I heard that.
"What do you mean? Did he side with the Dragon God or something?"
The God-Man seemed extremely pissed, I swear I’d never seen him so irritated.
"I have no idea how he escaped my vision! It was very sudden, but the future is changing in totally random ways, my death is even closer than before!"
He continued to complain, spewing anger and theories about possible causes. Meanwhile, I listened in silence.
Hitogami had always been someone who liked to keep everything strictly under his control; he was the one who manipulated the scene — and right now, he was losing his control in real time.
It seems the future changed again; the God-Man’s death had been brought forward by almost twenty or thirty years from the original date — after whatever Rygar had done.
Hitogami couldn’t see beings like Orsted or Rygar, but he could still see himself. And because of that, he could see his death at the hands of the Beast God.
Rygar seemed pretty ungrateful in my opinion, since Hitogami had helped him so many times. Of course, we were talking about Hitogami; he probably did something very bad to him.
Finally, after a few minutes, he stopped complaining. He breathed and I took the chance to question him in his moment of sanity.
"All right, then boss, what’s the plan now?" I asked quietly.
Hitogami looked at me, still visibly irritated, and answered with anger boiling in his voice:
"You weren’t listening? Everything went wrong! We need to kill him as soon as possible, otherwise he’ll get further and further out of control!"
I replied immediately:
"But if you don’t know anything about him now, isn’t it better to be even more cautious? Besides, what about the plan to prevent Rudeus’s children from being born?"
Hitogami showed a clear expression of displeasure when he heard the harsh truth. He answered curtly:
"Leave that to me. Rudeus is a minor matter. I already have a way to get rid of him! But being more cautious, what do you mean?"
"I mean, you have some plans prepared, as far as I know. I think it’s better to rework some of them and not rush things right now, you’ll just be wasting resources. Also, even if you can’t see him anymore, he also knows nothing about us — we’re at zero to zero."
Hitogami interrupted me:
"I don’t know about that! Since my death was brought forward, it’s better to assume he knows one thing or two."
That made sense in a way; after all, if he was capable of hiding the Divine Vision from Hitogami, he could also be capable of discovering us in some way.
That boy had always been good at inventing things, a true genius who only appears once every few thousand years.
"All right, well, even if he knew about us, we still have the advantage of being in the dark; we theoretically have the initiative."
After that, the God-Man fell into thought.
He was finally returning to his usual self, tortuous and malicious, plotting the fall of his enemy.
Sometimes people just need someone to say ’stop that shit!’ and, more often than not, they get back on track.
The God-Man was thinking, alternating between fits of rage and considerations about the future.
From time to time, he spat curses, called Rygar a kennel dog, mangy dog and other nasty names.
I found myself torn between laughing and getting serious.
That fury wasn’t just theatricality; it was genuine anger and fear, I could tell the difference, since I was used to talking to the fake him.
And then, finally, he resumed a calmer expression — although still extremely displeased. And then he spoke:
"If everything goes as planned, the Beast God will still have to fight the One-Eyed Giant. You need to find a way to watch that fight in person, since I can’t see anymore. There exists a Sea Race capable of sharing senses; use that to see the fight. Don’t even think about getting close to him personally. Knowing the extent of his strength is essential! I need to speak with the others!"
"Aaah?!" I protested. "But what about my current mission?"
Hitogami answered simply: "Abandon it! All plans will change from now on! We need to speed everything up!"
After that, he gave me detailed advice on which route I should take to reach my target. Fortunately, there was a teleportation circle nearby.
He also told me to keep discreet and hidden while traveling; don’t attract attention.
And then, my eyes opened.
---
POV Narrator
While Geese was receiving new missions, the Great Forest was already in frenzy. The high ranks of the Kingdom were all in motion.
The Beast God had summoned only the strongest under the banner of the Kingdom of Gaia. An imminent battle was approaching.
Hundreds of elite warriors moved in secret, leaving their duties behind silently under the orders of their absolute leader.
The Great Forest was still ravaged by the Seasonal Rains, but this did not affect the war effort.
They marched toward the coast of the Kingdom of Gaia, in the Hobbit Territory, where the threat would first show itself.
Also moving through the air toward the coast was a colossal Red Dragon, Ezkalor.
On his back, eight distinct figures traveled together, each with a unique presence: Ornthorn, with his huge golden sword on his shoulder; Jino, who looked eager to throw himself into a fight; Aisha, who was reading a book, seeming focused; Weys, who watched Ezkalor intrigued. Baron, who seemed like a wall among the others; Eleonor, the swordswoman, was staring at the horizon anxiously; Skoll, the Beast God’s wolf companion; and Rygar, at the center of it all.
Five days had already passed since Rygar finished reading the Future Guide to All Things.
He had spoken with his family, exposing the danger that was approaching — not in its entirety, but enough for them to understand the severity.
Rygar left some things out of the book, like Orsted’s Loops and things like Destiny. It was better not to risk the Dragon God discovering everything.
Oldgar wrote that Hitogami had never visited anyone close to Rygar in his dreams, and therefore had never read their minds.
Maybe he had some reason for that, but it could also be because he had nothing to gain from it.
Either way, they had the initiative for now.
After telling his wives and disciple about the future, Rygar heard ideas from everyone.
Eris, as expected, was very upset at not being able to go fight right now. But she was also very happy to know they would have many children in the future.
Ghislaine, on the other hand, exuded murderous intent upon learning that her family would be under Hitogami’s constant aim.
Verdia and Aisha, more rational, asked questions and offered all kinds of ideas.
The immediate objective was to kill Esterópes.
Oldgar had suggested facing him in the ocean. It was a disadvantageous field for Rygar — where his magic would be restricted and the Depths Giant would have total dominance.
But that was it, Oldgar did not describe the fight as dangerous, only disadvantageous.
In other words, the current him should be more than enough to win.
The reason for not confronting him on land was that Esterópes’s abilities were so destructive that there could be thousands of casualties in Gaia.
In Oldgar’s timeline, when he left to face the Giant at sea, the Sea Race launched a large-scale invasion along the Hobbit Territory’s coast.
They defended themselves successfully due to preparation and superiority of forces, while also being guided by Verdia’s Future Sight.
Still, there were some losses.
It was unknown whether in this Timeline they would still attack exactly when Rygar departed, since Hitogami could no longer see his movements.
But even if they attacked now, there was a difference.
They knew who the most dangerous enemies were and what their objectives were.
There would be no surprises.
On the coast, under the orders of Gaia’s generals, the forces gathered in readiness.
Obviously they would fight on land, after all, few had mastery of magic to battle in the waters.
Ghislaine and Nina stayed to protect Eris and Verdia. Hitogami’s plan was to test the Beast God’s strength, but caution was never too much.
Finally, the sea appeared before them. The salty smell, the cutting wind, the infinite blue line. Rygar narrowed his eyes and turned to his companions mounted on Ezkalor.
"Remember. We have superiority of information and of strength. Unnecessary losses are unacceptable, be careful."
Everyone nodded. They had already been briefed in detail about Esterópes’s descendants and about the Sea Race. Each one knew what their role would be.
Without waiting any longer, Rygar flexed his muscles and leaped off Ezkalor.
He flew through the air with his own magic and stopped a few meters from the Dragon’s eyes.
"Be careful yourself too, you lazy bastard! Try to kill a few giants on your own... you fly, after all!"
Ezkalor let out a snort of disdain, clearly offended.
The Red Dragon beat his wings harder, flying toward the sea at high speed. Rygar smiled at that.
And then, he accelerated.
A purple-and-silver streak shot across the sky, ignoring the shouts and admiring looks of the warriors gathered on the coast.
It was time to kill a Cyclops.
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