Chapter 221: [Tales of the Gods 10] Cube God Kakushii

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A gray, perfectly square room composed of edges of equal length.

A room that is really just a perfect square, with no doors or windows.

"Aaaah, geez! So annoying, annoying, annoying~~~!"

The Cube God Kakushii was spinning at high speed while floating in such a divine realm of its own, clearly showing its anger!

In its rage, all six surfaces of Kakushii were dyed bright red, and its eight vertices increased in sharpness!

Placed in front of such a Kakushii is a large mirror... a divine tool that reflects the state of the lower world.

"Why, why, why! Why are Viola and Narakan captured~~~!"

What is reflected in that mirror is the figure of Kakushii's apostle Viola and her apprentice Narakan imprisoned in a dungeon.

Yes... they messed up.

That is the reason for Kakushii's bad mood.

Viola and the others killed the great sinner Giovanno in accordance with Kakushii's oracle.

That is something Kakushii has already confirmed.

That is good.

However, it seems they were not thorough enough and were pathetically captured.

It seems it was done by the people from the Adventurer's Guild, and Viola and the others are currently handed over to them and imprisoned in a dungeon in Tokoren, a large city in the eastern part of the Pokkeroce Kingdom.

"Unforgivable! Even though they're my apostles, they're sullying my face!"

What further irritated Kakushii was Viola's state.

When Kakushii connected [Telepathy] from the divine realm to Viola, who was chained in the dungeon, her crazed state was tremendous.

Kakushii had thought she would just seek help while grinning as usual, but that was not the case.

Viola was scared of something, scratching her head until it bled, and was in no condition to talk at all.

Even the grateful words of the god did not reach her, and her trembling state was clearly not normal.

Since Kakushii is a cube, it has no particular interest in whether humans cry, scream, or go mad.

However, Viola was a very easy-to-use apostle.

A convenient pawn.

Now that she is broken, Kakushii is very angry.

How long does it think it will take to find a new person with good compatibility to bestow an oracle upon!

"Reeally useless~! That piece of trash was just a human after all!"

The city of Tokoren where Viola and the others are currently imprisoned is governed by Count Yuunokanan, a leader of a faction hostile to the Runtart family.

No matter how great the power of itself, a god, may be, freeing them is a grueling task.

Even so, if Viola had been her usual self, Kakushii intended to help her while scolding her.

However, Viola was broken.

Even if rescued, she would be of no use anymore.

Therefore, Kakushii decided to abandon them.

Regarding their punishment, pressure is being applied from the Adventurer's Guild to the Pokkeroce Kingdom to carry it out strictly.

Narakan, who is still young and shows traces of brainwashing, may be one thing, but for Viola, who tried to destroy a base and keeps revealing more dirt the more she's pressed, she probably won't be able to leave prison for the rest of her life at this rate.

Even so, Kakushii no longer had any intention of helping her.

There is no such value in a useless pawn.

And thinking about the work that needs to be done from now on to prevent it from affecting the Runtart family is giving it a headache.

This time, Viola even went so far as to take paid leave before moving to the Zamago Forest.

Since the crime was committed during her vacation, it has nothing to do with the Runtart family.

There's no choice but to somehow settle it in that direction by using thought induction on humans and the concealment of facts that Kakushii excels at.

It also has to think of an excuse to Mereucce and the viewers for Viola and the others suddenly disappearing...

Problems are piling up.

"Aah~~, not fun~~~ ... Let's change the mood a bit!"

Saying that, Kakushii sighed and spun the dial on the side of the mirror.

This divine tool not only reflects the state of the lower world but also has various other functions.

It can also be used to view isekai reincarnation streams.

Kakushii operates the divine tool with a familiar manner and opens the page of its streaming work [Charge! Lady Mereucce!].

Currently, Mereucce is promoting a white condiment made from eggs created from her previous life's memories, and Kakushii was streaming her struggles related to that.

"...Huh? Wow! Amazing!"

And the moment Kakushii opened the work page, it was surprised by the information that flew in and changed its color to yellow!

Amazingly, the number of views of [Charge! Lady Mereucce!] had... jumped to ten times the previous number!

"Huh!? Huh!? Why, why!? Yaaay~~~!"

As if its rage and redness from earlier were a lie, Kakushii spins happily while moving as if bouncing!

For gods who do isekai reincarnation streaming, the number of views is an important factor.

It is one of the indicators and badges that show one's popularity.

In short, the more it increases, the happier they are!

They even feel as if they have become a super high-ranking god who is greater than anyone else!

But, however.

That joy lasted only until it saw the comments left by the viewer gods on the work.

Kakushii, who displayed the viewer comments, froze with its entire surface turning pale blue, unlike earlier when it was overjoyed.

The comment section, which usually had few but pastoral and warm words.

However, currently, there.

"The author is trash."

"A work like garbage."

"The streaming should be stopped immediately."

"As expected, the trend is triangular pyramids."

Such heartless comments were overflowing!

"Huh!? Huh!? Why, why!? Wait, what is thiiis~~~!?"

The Cube God Kakushii, not understanding what happened suddenly, trembles and lets out a crying voice.

The floor behind such a Kakushii suddenly rippled as if a stone had been thrown into a lake without any warning, and a new three-dimensional figure appeared silently from there.

Although it is a figure composed of quadrilaterals similar to Kakushii... unlike Kakushii, which is made up of squares, all of its faces are rectangles.

In other words, it is a rectangular parallelepiped.

The Rectangular Parallelepiped God Nagakushii had appeared.

Nagakushii is a lower-ranking god who has long served Kakushii and can freely enter and exit Kakushii's divine realm.

"Kakushii-sama, please look at this."

After saying that, Nagakushii manifests a rectangle in space.

It is a kind of device that displays videos of gods.

And in a certain video shown on that device.

The title of that video is [The Inhumanity of Cube God Kakushii].

A title that is as concise and plain as possible.

Kakushii, still pale blue and trembling, fearfully played that video.

"You will kill that great sinner Giovanno for me."

It was a documentary video that recorded the outline of the Zamago Forest base attack incident, starting with such a line.

The video had no particular captions or narration inserted and might seem like objective content at first glance.

However, from Kakushii's standpoint, malice could definitely be felt in its composition!

It's as if, as far as watching this video goes, it is an evil god who kills people for fun, and that human who should be a great sinner is a hero who diligently protects the people of the base!

"What is this... What is this!!"

Kakushii's surface, which had turned pale blue, gradually turns red.

At the bottom of the video page, there was a huge link in capital letters to Kakushii's [Charge! Lady Mereucce!], and there was no doubt that the reason for the flaming of its work was due to this video.

"What triggered this video, Kakushii-sama, is that criticism is pouring in against you. At this rate, your divine authority will continue to decline and you will only lose power. Also, it seems the Adventure God Dorantos is quite angry."

"I don't care about that youngster! More importantly, what is this! Why do I have to be flamed!"

In response to Kakushii's hysterical screaming, Nagakushii sighed while quietly swaying.

"Certainly, it's a common occurrence in Ardyst. But have you forgotten that gods from other worlds also watch this isekai reincarnation streaming? Among the gods of other worlds, there are those who consider watching over and nurturing all living things to be of utmost importance. For such people, Kakushii-sama's actions are nothing but inhumane, and this flaming is a natural result."

"But, but! Why only me!? Other gods are also..."

"Other gods are doing it so they don't get caught. But Kakushii-sama, you got caught. So it can't be helped."

"Ugh~~! Ugh~~!"

Kakushii trembles and groans in anger.

Kakushii, not noticing Nagakushii's cold attitude as it watches such a Kakushii, issues a command in a shouting voice!

"Nagakushii! Right now, immediately! Find the creator of this video and bring them here! I absolutely, absolutely won't forgive them! I'll hurt them so much they can't even reincarnate and destroy them!!"

"Find the creator of the video, you say?"

"That's right! Hurry up! Even a fool like you can do that much, right!?"

"Haa..."

Nagakushii sighed again, looking utterly fed up with Kakushii.

And then.

"There is no need for that."

It asserted.

"Huh!? What are you saying!? Are you disobeying my order!?"

"Kakushii-sama, calm down. Calmly look at the beginning of this [The Inhumanity of Cube God Kakushii] again."

Saying that, Nagakushii plays the video from the beginning once more.

"You will kill that great sinner Giovanno for me."

Along with such a line, the pitch-black screen gradually brightens, and Kakushii's gray divine realm is shown...

"Huh, wait a minute. Why? Why is my divine realm in this video!?"

And Kakushii, watching it for the second time, noticed the strange point of this video.

Only a very limited number of close associates are allowed to enter Kakushii's divine realm.

Nevertheless, this video shows Kakushii itself bestowing an oracle to Viola from the divine realm...

In other words!

"Don't tell me... there's a traitor!?"

"Well done."

Nagakushii made a sound like applause, going pitter-patter while bouncing on the floor and changing the color of its faces to various hues.

"And I said, didn't I? To find the creator of this video and bring them here... 'There is no need for that.'"

"No way...!"

"Have you finally realized? That's right. The one who created and posted this [The Inhumanity of Cube God Kakushii]... is none other than me."

"Nagakushii... you bastard!"

Enraged by the sudden confession of betrayal by its confidant, Kakushii tries to charge at Nagakushii while dyeing its entire surface bright red!

But Nagakushii floats with a relaxed attitude, snorts at it...

"Do it."

It coldly orders!

The next moment, three types of figures - trapezoid, rhombus, and parallelogram - suddenly appear on the scene and cling to Kakushii, restraining its movements!

Normally, Kakushii would not even be bothered by such restraints, but now that its work has been flamed and its divine authority has fallen, it cannot exert its power and cannot shake them off!

"S-Stop it! Let me go! How dare you, mere two-dimensional figures, do such a rude thing to me!"

"Hahaha! That vigor, still yapping even at this point! I'll praise you for that alone, Kakushii!"

Nagakushii laughs uproariously at the sight!

The one there is no longer the confidant who had always modestly stepped back and supported Kakushii!

A ferocious rectangular parallelepiped that had been waiting for an opportunity has now bared its fangs!

"I've always thought, Kakushii! Why do I have to serve under a foolish thing like you! A cube? Just because its length, width, and height are the same, it acts so high and mighty! You're nothing more than a type of rectangular parallelepiped!"

"Let me go! Let me goooo! Do you think you'll get away with doing this to me! I won't be responsible for what happens to you!"

"Nothing will happen. In the first place, you're just a customer-attracting three-dimensional figure that looks cute... Until now, almost all the practical work as a god has been handled by me, your assistant."

"Ugh! Uuuugh!!"

The trapezoid presses down on the struggling Kakushii from above!

The area of a trapezoid is calculated by adding the lengths of the upper and lower bases, multiplying by the height, and then dividing by 2.

In other words, it's strong!!

At this point, Kakushii no longer had any means to resist...

"H-Hey... Please, Nagakushii, help me... I'll apologize... I'll apologize for always treating you selfishly...!"

"Oh my, even if you take such a pious attitude now, it won't do anything, you know? I originally prefer rounder figures rather than angular ones like you."

"!! Don't tell me...! The one pulling the strings behind this... is the Sphere God Manmaal!?"

"...Tsk, did I say too much... Hey, take it away."

"""Yes!"""

Following Nagakushii's instructions, the trapezoid, rhombus, and parallelogram press down on Kakushii with even more force and sink into the gray floor as is.

The floor ripples with a plop and their figures disappear, leaving only Nagakushii, the divine tool mirror, and the device displaying the finished [The Inhumanity of Cube God Kakushii] in the divine realm.

The gray divine realm, which had become quiet as if the earlier commotion was a lie, Nagakushii chuckled.

"Finally, the overthrowing... has succeeded... I really can't thank Manmaal-sama enough for lending me wisdom. It's such a great favor that even if I spin at high speed with one edge as the axis to draw a circle, I couldn't draw enough!"

And it glances at the mirror left by Kakushii.

"Isekai reincarnation streaming, huh..."

Nagakushii has no interest in isekai reincarnation streaming.

Until now, it had no interest at all in [Charge! Lady Mereucce!] that Kakushii was streaming.

However, while isekai reincarnation streaming has the risk of taking damage if it gets flamed like this time, if it becomes popular, mana can be obtained through advertising revenue.

Kakushii's work didn't originally have many viewers, but Nagakushii felt it would be a waste to just leave this work that has continued for a certain number of episodes as is.

Although it was a work that was intentionally flamed this time, all the damage from that flaming was taken by Kakushii.

If the rating has fallen to the lowest value, all that's left is to raise it.

If it explains that the poster has changed due to circumstances, there will definitely be gods who will continue viewing without minding this incident.

Among gods, there are many with an easygoing personality who don't mind minor details.

In other words, there are merits to continuing the posting of this work.

Nagakushii judged so.

"The genre of the story is... oh? It was a story of the romance genre? The elements of internal affairs and battles were so strong that I didn't notice. The axis is too misaligned."

And as Nagakushii closely examined the contents of [Charge! Lady Mereucce!], it thought this couldn't continue as is.

In the first place, there's no way a story created by that foolish Kakushii could be interesting.

Some kind of intervention is necessary.

Feeling so, Nagakushii falls silent for a few seconds.

"Alright."

And then, it thought this.

"Let's boldly change the genre."

In order to obtain advertising revenue, it was necessary to create a work that would explosively become a hot topic among the gods, create a trend, and increase the number of views. To do so, what would be the most appropriate genre?

What genre should Mereucce's story be changed to in order to generate buzz, explosiveness, and popularity?

Nagakushii was an amateur in this field, but it did not doubt its own excellence.

It was convinced that its judgment would be correct.

With that confidence, it reached a conclusion.

"In other words... it will be comedy."

A fearsome change in direction is about to strike Mereucce!!

This was a scene that gave a glimpse into the power struggle in the divine realm.

The Rectangular Parallelepiped God Nagakushii, who dragged down the Cube God Kakushii and cozied up to the Sphere God Manmaal.

As for the fate of this god or how it (doesn't matter at all).