The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time

Side Chapter 12 The gods watching from afar, and others

There is an expression, "eyeballs will fly out of their sockets*," that expresses surprise. The surprise that Alda felt was equivalent to this expression.

TLN*: Obviously a Japanese expression – i.e. to be so surprised that your eyes are going to fall out of their sockets

"There is no mistake with this, Curatos?" he asked.

"There is no mistake," said Alda's loyal subordinate god, Curatos, the God of Records.

"The simultaneous activation of multiple fragments of the Demon King... the blood sealed away by Nineroad, the horns that were in the possession of the Pure-breed Vampires and the ink that had gone missing..." Alda murmured.

"He has likely now acquired the carapace that Gubamon was in possession of," Curatos added. "I could not confirm this through Iris Bearheart's eyes, but he may already be in possession of other fragments as well."

The sealing of the Demon King's fragments had been conducted by Alda, Vida and the three surviving champions, one of whom was Nineroad. The locations of many of the fragments that Vida had been responsible for sealing were now unknown.

Alda and his followers suspected that Merrebeveil, the Evil God of Slime and Tentacles, had sealed some fragments, but they had never acquired any positive proof of this.

But the problem was not the locations of the fragments. It was the fact that there were at least four fragments inside the body of a single person with their seals removed. Under normal circumstances, that person should have lost their sanity and gone on a rampage long ago.

If they were anyone other than the Demon King.

"This 'Monstrosity' could potentially be the true second coming of the Demon King," said Alda.

These words sent a wave of unrest through the gods and Familiar Spirits present here, as if shaking the entire Divine Realm.

"That's impossible; the Demon King's soul was divided and its pieces were sealed by powerful gods! My lord, some of them should be with you!" shouted a heroic spirit whose name had echoed through the lands when he was still alive.

His voice almost sounded like a scream of terror. But his reaction was one of the better ones; there was no small number of Familiar Spirits who couldn't even speak.

That was how much the Demon King Guduranis was feared. Those present here were those without physical bodies who had ascended beyond mortal life, but because of this, it was easy for them to understand what having their souls broken would mean, deepening their fear.

"Precisely. Even now, some of the Demon King Guduranis's soul fragments are in my possession," Alda replied reassuringly.

An air of relief spread among those who had gathered in this Divine Realm. However, Alda suspected that the fragments of the Demon King's souls that he did not possess were, in fact, contained within that Monstrosity.

"So, Curatos, what of that Monstrosity?" Alda asked.

"Unfortunately, my lord, Iris Bearheart has stopped believing completely, so we are currently unable to determine his location," said Curatos. "As for Mikhail's soul that had been trapped..."

"I see."

Iris Bearheart had been a devout believer despite being young, but since she had renounced her faith in Alda, their mental connection had become weak. And just when she had sent Alda a strong prayer, this was how things had ended up.

"Could Heinz and his companions oppose this Monstrosity?" Curatos asked quietly.

"That is still currently impossible," Alda replied.