…It is more like…the home of a pet that’s being treasured dearly?

• 90: Visiting the Fire God

(…You see, Fire God…I certainly did say that I would seal you in that body of yours. But I actually didn’t really mean it at all. Because you know, if you wanted to kill yourself, you could have done it anytime to get out of your body. If you wanted to, you could have run at full speed towards a wall and break your head, and that would easily let you return to the God Realm.

It was more like, trying to annoy you.

I actually came here with low expectations, you know. When I arrived here, I thought I would be hearing a: ‘It died a long time ago’, by the people of the Fire Church. I was prepared for that.) (Haine)

But in reality, he was still plenty alive, moreover, he is totally feeling at home.

What happened? Hey Fire God, just what in the hell happened?

(You do have a point.) (Nova)

The God, or more like, the cow answers me while still resting on the lawn inside the cell.

(At first, I also thought that something like this was just humiliating and was filled with resentment. Because you know, it is me, the Fire God Nova. And to top it all off, I was turned into a show for the human children in such a cow body. I was going ‘like hell I can take this’. My God pride was in shambles, you know.) (Nova)

Must have been.

This cow monster being the Fire God Nova is a truth that only I as a God as well could have noticed.

There’s no way for the other humans to know. Not even the light hero Karen-san and the fire hero Mirack who helped in defeating this cow monster.

With my dark matter, this guy, who had lost its battle power, has become completely harmless. ‘In that case, if this were to be exhibited alive to the general populace, the achievement of the heroes would be on plain view and be easier to have a feel of it, and it will also increase the reputation of the Fire Church’, is what I think I said.

I myself only said some random stuff in the spur of the moment so I don’t remember that well.

For me, the important part is that the Fire God was sealed in that body, and the exhibition part was just a pretext for it.

(Thanks to that wild proposition of yours, my life as a customer attracting cow had begun. My believers encaged me in this boring cell and am being exposed to more than hundreds of people’s eyes everyday.) (Nova)

The members of the Fire Church itself wouldn’t in their wildest dreams think that the monster they are exhibiting is the God they worship.

Now that I think about it, in my way here, I saw a sign that said: ‘Fire Cow Phalaris in public display!’…..

By the way, it seems like the public display time is over for today, and in this space, there’s only the cow in question, me, and the old lady doing the cleaning.

I am in outline one of the people that subjugated Phalaris, and I am also acquainted with the fire hero Mirack, so I was let in as an exception.

(Well, it was just a pain all around for me. I thought about finding a chance one day to kill myself and return to the God Realm. In the time I was looking for that chance, the days passed, and I noticed something incredible.) (Nova)

(Something incredible?) (Haine)

(While I’m here, the food just comes on its own.) (Nova)

(Oi.) (Haine)

(No no, it is indeed incredible you know. Well, the current me may look like a cow, but I am a monster, so I don’t actually need to eat though. But the humans don’t know what monsters eat, so they bring a lot of things. Like dry grass, vegetables, peas, potatoes, carrots; with all these variety coming at me, my everyday life has become unexpectedly fun you see!) (Nova)

(Uuuhm…..is that so.) (Haine)

(And so, well, I don’t have much to do anyways even if I return to the God Realm, and compared to that, here I can get delicious food without doing anything, so I thought that maybe being here is fine…and so, lately, I have discovered something incredible. You see, when the waiter in charge comes with the food and I lift up my front legs high up…they give me a lot more food! Isn’t that awesome?!) (Nova)

Isn’t that just you being taught some tricks…

And instead of calling the person a waiter, it is more like the breeder…

(Ah~lazing around on the lawn is comfortable~~. Why did I burn the whole vegetation growing there in my time in the wild and decided on sleeping on top of rocks and earth?) (Nova)

(Well, if you say that’s fine with you, then that’s good.) (Haine)

It looks like the Fire God Nova has found his life as a pet cow surprisingly good.

This might be good in its own way. It might raise the chances of him answering what I will be asking now after all.

(Hm? Ah, now that I think about it, why did you come here today?) (Nova)

The cow slowly gets up -the Fire God in the shape of a cow.

(You are not the type who would just come here for fun after all. Visiting a hated enemy of yours that sealed you in the past, just what was your aim when coming here on your own?) (Nova)

It looks like he still has some dignity as a God remaining.

(It is good you catch up fast. I came here to ask you something. I will be straight here. Where are the Mother Monsters?) (Haine)

(Hoh~.) (Nova)

(Monsters that give birth to monsters. The ones who created the Mother Monsters were the four Base Element Gods including you. It wouldn’t be strange for you as one of the creators to know where they are, right?) (Haine)

(To think you would look for them… I see, so you are planning on eliminating them?) (Nova)

(Yeah. It has been 18 years since the seal was undone and I came back. On top of that, it has only been a few weeks since the time I left my village and had a look at the world but, even so, I understood something for sure.

This world already has no need for Gods.

In this world, Gods staying here would only be a bother. I decided on thoroughly cutting off the evil that connects the Gods with the humans.) (Haine)

(It was inevitable, inevitable. You, who are an unbelievably convenient existence for the humans, to reach that conclusion was inevitable. It is true that I joined in on that cajolery of Coacervate. And what was created from that is the Fire Mother Monster -the immortal bird, Phoenix.) (Nova)

Immortal bird, Phoenix…

(It is a bird that has its whole body covered in flames, and I think it is one size bigger than the past Fire Cow Phalaris. Burning its own body with its own flames, it gives birth to many monsters from those ashes. From that special characteristic it has, not only is it not possible to kill it with the same fire element, no element is able to kill it. Even if its whole body is destroyed, the ashes still remain, and from those ashes, a new Phoenix will be born.) (Nova)

(Hence the immortal part huh.) (Haine)

(But your dark matter might be an exception. With that damn matter of yours that erases all elements completely, it might be possible to kill the immortal bird without even leaving ashes…) (Nova)

(That’s quite the unexpected honest talk coming from you. Well, that’s fine. And so, where’s Phoenix?) (Haine)

(Don’t know.) (Nova)

(Eh?) (Haine)

(It is true that I am the one who created Phoenix, but that doesn’t mean I know where it is. It might be a pseudo-lifeform, but it is still a living being, and has without doubt a will of its own. It will go wherever it wants, and more so since it is a bird with wings. It can go anywhere in the world.) (Nova)

(What’s with that, you are of no help. After all that suggestive behaviour, you still left me with no clues huh.) (Haine)

(Don’t be spoiled, Dark God. In the first place, why would I even have to divulge everything to you anyways?) (Nova)

(Right, we totally don’t get along.

It was a complete waste of time. But well, since I came all the way here to Muspelheim, I will go eat with the Ignis Militant corps I got along with last time.) (Haine)

(Well, wait there. Since you are here, let me tell you one more thing.) (Nova)

(What is it, cow? If it’s complains, I will take on those complains of yours physically as well if you want.) (Haine)

(It is true that I don’t know the location of the Mother Monster I created, but I didn’t say anything about not knowing where the others are, you know.) (Nova)

Eh?

(Especially since that one is famous after all. In the first place, it is a type that can’t move unlike my bird. The Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood. Do you want to know where it is?) (Nova)

• 91: Wonder Tree

“…Grandma Wood?” (Haine)

I repeat the name that the cow spoke of.

(That’s right, the Earth Mother Monster that the Mother Earth Mantle created.) (Nova)

Nova continues speaking in the thought channel that only I can hear.

I am also conversing with him in the thought channel, so if this situation continues for long, the people around might think that I am a weird guy that really likes to admire the cow-shaped monster, but it looks like this is no time to be worrying about that.

(Just as the name states, it is a giant tree-type monster. Among the monsters, it is most likely the biggest one of them all. Mother Monsters are all originally big, but Grandma Wood is a whole level bigger even within that group.) (Nova)

(And you say you know its location? On top of that, you will be telling me about it?) (Haine)

(It is a tree to begin with. It can’t move from the place it was born. And, whether I tell you or not depends on your attitude.) (Nova)

(What, so there’s exchange conditions huh.) (Haine)

(Answer me a question. Why didn’t you seal me?) (Nova)

(Hm? I have.) (Haine)

(This pathetic thing can’t be called a seal. Not the type that you can return to the God Realm whenever you want if you wanted to; the real seal we did to you 1,600 years ago.) (Nova)

(Ah.)

(Your freedom was taken away for 1,600 years by it. In that new fight, I lost to you and our positions reversed. It was your chance to take your revenge, and yet, why didn’t you do it? You are one of the poles, moreover, the Dark God that possesses absolute advantage against the four Base Elements. If you wanted to, you could have made a strong enough seal comparable to the seal we used five Gods to make.) (Nova)

(No, I can’t. In the first place, the one who created that seal was the underhanded Coacervate.) (Haine)

(Eh? The cowardly Coacervate?) (Nova)

(That’s right, that low-life Coacervate. That’s why, I don’t know how to do any sealing, and even if I knew, there’s no need to go that far, right?) (Haine)

(Wa…)

(Honestly speaking, I was pissed by you and Coacervate, that’s why I beat you both up. If I still held a grudge after beating you up, that would just mean I can’t control my own hatred.

But after seeing the past of you guys, I learned that you will certainly be causing problems to the humans, so I will be properly cutting off that connection you have with them though.

That’s the reason for defeating the Mother Monsters.) (Haine)

(…)

(What’s with you, going all silent. If you have been convinced, tell me the location of Grandma Wood already.) (Haine)

(…Shut up! Idiot, die!) (Nova)

For some reason, I was grandly insulted.

What, so you really won’t be telling me.

While I was thinking what I should do, I look at my surroundings and…I found something good.

“Sorry~, can I give this to him?” (Haine)

“It is fine. But only a little bit, okay? His meal later won’t enter if you give him too much after all.”

Receiving the permission of the person that was cleaning a corner of the place and seemed to be the person in charge of him, I put my hand in a bucket and take out a carrot.

(Come on~ please tell me with this.) Is what I say as I flaunt the carrot at him.

(?!!!!)

The cow raised up high, and lifted his front legs high up.

Looks like it was very effective.

(D-Don’t look down on me, Dark God! You see, today, there will be students from a school close to here coming for an excursion and will be experiencing giving me food. In order to show the kids my special technique, gorging, I am keeping my stomach empty!!) (Nova)

Just how accustomed are you to your current lifestyle…

***

With all that, I was able to get the necessary information.

The location of the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood.

I still don’t know the location of the other three Mother Monsters, but let’s crush the ones that I know of first.

And so, the Grandma Wood in question is a tree-shaped monster and is the type that once it is placed in one location, it will never move from there, which helps me out a lot.

With the information I received of Nova, and comparing it with the present geography, I calculate in what place the objective is.

Doing that, I learned something unbelievable.

***

“Is that the Earth Mother Monster, Grandma Wood?” (Haine)

After concluding where it was, I swiftly fly towards the location.

What I encountered was…certainly the figure of a giant tree that surpasses my imagination.

It is truly big.

Even though my destination is still on the other side of a mountain, there’s green at the other side of the mountain’s summit.

That’s most likely the green of leaves.

The leaves that grow thickly surpassed the size of the mountain and stressed its existence to me who was faraway.

A tree that’s bigger than a mountain.

As if it is a pillar that supports the sky.

And also…

“What’s at the base of that tree is…the city where the Earth Church headquarters is located, the Earth capital, Ishtar Blaze?!” (Haine)

Looks like that’s how it is.

While heading towards the place where the Earth Monster is, I, at the same time, am heading towards the Earth Church’s headquarters.