Chapter 222: Takatsuki Makoto is pressed to choose
"...Can you please go 1,000 years into the past, save Hero Abel...and save the world?" (Althena)
Althena-sama silently proclaimed.
But now that I look properly, her expression had slight anguish.
Everyone in the church was looking at me who was at the very back seats.
Everyone's waiting for my answer.
Haah...I have no choice but to go.
I scratched my head as I headed to the platform where Althena-sama is.
"Hero Makoto..."
Someone grabbed my arm.
"Sofia..." (Makoto)
"Are you...going?" (Sofia)
She looked at me with a face as if on the verge of tears, so I couldn't respond immediately.
"Depending on the conditions." (Makoto)
I answered with a vague smile.
I slowly walk through the church.
By the time I noticed, Lucy, Sa-san, and Furiae-san were following along.
Well, that's fine.
I stood in front of the platform, at the very front of Althena-sama.
"Althena-sama, there's a number of things I want to ask." (Makoto)
"I will answer." (Althena)
She most likely already knows my question, but Althena-sama nods heavily.
"If I go 1,000 years into the past, will I be able to return to the present?" (Makoto)
This is the most important point.
If I am the only one who can change the past, I have no choice but to go.
But...I would like to be spared from a one-way trip.
"I -as the Destiny Goddess- shall answer that question..." (Ira)
Ira-sama silently proclaimed.
"The current era is the Light Era where us Holy Gods rule the world. That's why it is easy to send you 1,000 years into the past... But the era 1,000 years in the past is the Dark Era where the Devils rule. The influence of us Holy Gods towards the mortal realm was extremely weak... In order to utilize power that's on the level of time travel, it would require 100 years for the light to increase after the Great Demon Lord has been defeated..." (Ira)
"N-No way!" (Aya)
Sa-san screamed in a subdued voice.
"In other words..." (Lucy)
Lucy's voice was trembling.
"Takatsuki Makoto, you won't be able to return to the present..." (Ira)
Ira-sama's words weighed heavily on me.
...Oi oi, are you serious?
"My Knight! Refuse! There's no need for you to suffer that!" (Furiae)
Furiae-san shouted.
It is true that...no matter how you cut it, it is too unreasonable.
They are basically telling me 'Sacrifice yourself for the sake of the world'.
I looked straight at the Sun Goddess without saying anything.
Althena-sama must understand what's in my mind already.
"I will grant your wish, Takatsuki Makoto." (Althena)
Althena-sama said.
"My wish...huh." (Makoto)
I don't need gold or fame.
Althena-sama has a face that says she already knows that as she continues speaking.
"I will remove the limitations regarding the believers of the Goddess Noah." (Althena)
"?!" (Makoto)
"From here on, it doesn't matter how many believers Noah gets." (Althena)
"...I see." (Makoto)
That's certainly a big merit.
I have been the only believer until now.
I couldn't increase the amount of believers.
Even so...
"Is that all?" (Makoto)
Most of the residents of the West Continent are devoted to the Goddess Church.
It is hard to increase the amount of believers themselves because Noah-sama is being treated as an Evil God.
That's why her eyes fell onto me -an otherworlder.
"Of course, that's not all. We will welcome Noah as the Eight Goddess of the Goddess Church in this continent. In other words, she won't be an Evil God, but an official religious target." (Althena)
"I see..." (Makoto)
This is impressive.
It is like going from being an Evil God all the way to state religion all of a sudden.
""Wa?!""
The ones who reacted to the words of Althena-sama even more than me were the people in the church.
Obviously.
The existence that they were taught was an Evil God will now be a target for prayers.
When I look by my side, there's Lucy and Furiae-san at a loss for words.
Princess Noel at the platform seems to also be shocked by this.
(This is on a whole other level...) (Makoto)
This is without doubt the biggest of rewards.
But if she is going this far...
"You might as well just free Noah-sama from the Deep Sea Temple..." (Makoto)
"That...we can't do." (Althena)
Althena-sama answered my mutter.
"What? So stingy." (Makoto)
""Wa?!""
Althena-sama doesn't seem to be bothered by my rude statement.
It was actually the people around who were taken aback.
Althena-sama approached me and whispered in my ear.
"I also thought that and asked for the permission of my father the God King... Then, that damn father said: 'The condition for releasing her is for her to marry me, so no'! Noah is my childhood friend, you know! Even though it is already painful that he is trying to make moves on my childhood friend, he hasn't reflected at all on his illegitimate child matter! That stupid old man!!" (Althena)
"Althena-sama...your speech pattern is haywiring." (Makoto)
"...I'm sorry." (Althena)
Althena-sama slowly slides away.
...This Goddess has it rough.
"Now, what will you do, Takatsuki Makoto?" (Ira)
Ira-sama asks.
"Makoto...are you going?" (Lucy)
"Hero Makoto..." (Sofia)
The uneasy voice of Lucy reached my ears, and by the time I noticed, Princess Sofia had grabbed my sleeve.
Now, what should I do?
This is troubling...
But the 'most important person' to make the final decision is not here.
I can't decide this without consulting with her.
I glance at the Sun Goddess's eyes.
"Right, we should call her." (Althena)
Althena-sama puts her right hand to the front and a giant rainbow colored magic circle appeared.
"Descend, Goddess Noah." (Althena)
The church grows noisy at the words of Althena-sama.
'...The descent of an Evil God?!'
'This is the Great Church of the Holy Maiden Anna though'.
'What kind of fearsome appearance does it have?'.
I heard those comments.
Light overflows from the rainbow colored magic circle.
I could hear the sounds of gulping.
"I was called and I came! Yan yan yaaaaan!" (Noah)
Noah-sama jumped out with good energy together with an enthusiastic shout.
"""......"""
The tension of an Evil God coming out and the gap of Noah-sama jumping out had turned the atmosphere in the church weird.
Wait, Noah-sama?
Can you please not do that in a serious scenario?
Ira-sama held her head, and Althena-sama was expressionless.
"You missed that one, Noah-sama." (Makoto)
"Oh my, really?" (Noah)
Noah-sama seemed to not mind it and swung her hair as she smiled.
She is as beautiful as always.
Lucy and Sa-san by my side were also at a loss for words.
Haah...did they get disillusioned by the Goddess I follow?
I had a wry smile as I turned to my party members.
"Hey, Lucy, Noah-sama is like this, but she is normally more serious—eh?" (Makoto)
Lucy collapsed straight to the floor.
"Eh?! Lucy?! Oi, get a hold of yourself!" (Makoto)
I hurriedly picked her up and confirmed her face, and her eyes were rolled up, drooling from her mouth, unconscious.
What's happening?!
"Aah...Aaaah...Aah..." (Aya)
Sa-san was just standing there, letting out groans with blank eyes.
"Sa-san?! Are you okay?!" (Makoto)
I looked around not knowing what to do while still holding Lucy up.
"Wuuuh...Uaaah..."
"Aah...Aaaaaaahh!"
"...Kihi! Kihihihi..."
The people in the church were all turning weird.
W-What this?!
"Noah!!!" (Althena)
Althena-sama shouted with a voice that could break eardrums.
"What are you doing appearing in your true form in the mortal realm?! Hide your true form at once! Everyone here has gone insane!" (Ira)
Ira-sama raised her voice.
Eh...insane?
"Aah, now that you mention it, I did appear the same way when I met Makoto." (Noah)
Noah-sama mutters as if unamused by this, and her appearance turned half-transparent.
"See, this is okay, right?" (Noah)
"It is not at all! What are we going to do now?! The people here are the leading people of the West Continent, you know?!" (Ira)
"Noah-sama...bring my comrades back to normal please." (Makoto)
I complained to my Goddess as well.
"Can't be helped." (Noah)
Noah-sama snapped her fingers.
"Time Spirits, turn back time." (Noah)
The surroundings were covered in rainbow light.
In an instant, my sense of direction from all sides was gone.
The air turned into a strange viscous sensation.
The strange sensation soon subsided, the light disappeared, and returned to how it was before.
"E-Eh?" (Lucy)
"Hm?" (Aya)
Lucy and Sa-san were moving their heads around restlessly.
"Lucy, Sa-san!" (Makoto)
What a relief!
They regained their consciousness.
The people around seem to have gone back to normal too.
"Noah, you..." (Ira)
"What, got a problem?" (Noah)
"We have to talk later, Noah." (Althena)
Ira-sama and Althena-sama complained to Noah-sama.
I was in a daze while listening to this.
I don't understand how at all, but I do have a grasp of what happened.
Turning back time —a miracle of a God.
It is one of the spells to revive the dead.
What a spell to use the moment you descend.
Also, she passed it by as if nothing, but what's Time Spirits?
My brain couldn't keep up.
While I was still confused, Noah-sama spoke to me.
"See, properly back to normal, right?" (Noah)
Noah-sama is waving her hand with a smile, but she messed up, didn't she?
This Goddess...
"Hey hey, Makoto, the Goddess you follow is...you know..." (Lucy)
Lucy whispers into my ear.
Now that she mentions it, this is the first time everyone meets Noah-sama.
"Geez, don't talk about her like that." (Makoto)
"You praise her a whole ton, so I imagined a good Goddess-sama though..." (Aya)
"I am beginning to feel like My Knight is being deceived by a bad Goddess..." (Furiae)
Even Sa-san and Furiae-san?!
Making them go insane the first thing they met left a way too bad of a first impression...
The people around were going: 'That's an Evil God...' and 'How fearsome...'.
Noah-sama herself is acting as if it is nothing.
This is bad, Noah-sama~.
Everyone is scared.
She must have heard my voice in my mind, Noah-sama tilted her head and placed a finger on her cheek and went 'hmm' as she walked slightly forward on the platform.
"Everyone~, I am Noah☆. Nice to meet you♡." (Noah)
She winks.
The next instant, a refreshing wind blew, and a flowery scent took over.
It was as if we were in a flower bed...wait, there really are flowers blooming?!
A-An illusion, huh...
"Aah...Noah-sama..."
"How beautiful..."
"I will convert to you..."
The eyes of the people in the church have turned to hearts.
Uwah, they easily got Charmed.
"This is kinda suspicious..." (Lucy)
"Something smells..." (Aya)
"That's an enemy..." (Furiae)
Lucy, Sa-san, and Furiae-san didn't get charmed though.
"Oh my, that's sad. Even though I have been watching you all this whole time." (Noah)
Noah-sama jumped off from the platform and came near us.
"""?!"""
Lucy, Sa-san, and Furiae-san shook.
"Hey, Lucy-chan, Aya-chan, let's get along, okay? How about converting to me?" (Noah)
"...U-Uhm..." (Lucy)
"T-This is scary...Takatsuki-kun." (Aya)
Lucy and Sa-san were being hit by the Divinity of Noah-sama.
"Noah-sama, please stop trying to get the high ground on my friends." (Makoto)
I pulled this Goddess away.
What is this Goddess doing?
"Eeh, I was simply recruiting them..." (Noah)
"I will invite Lucy and Sa-san." (Makoto)
"It has been a while since I have been in the mortal realm, so I got excited~☆" (Noah)
"Way too excited." (Makoto)
I pulled Noah-sama to the platform.
Of course there's Althena-sama there as well.
"Now, Noah, order your Apostle. Tell him to go 1,000 years into the past." (Althena)
Althena-sama says.
"Hm? I don't wanna." (Noah)
"What did you say?" (Althena)
Noah-sama easily rejected Althena-sama.
"Noah-sama?" (Makoto)
Becoming the 8th Goddess of the Goddess Church and getting the chance to obtain many believers.
That should be the long desire of the Titan Gods that are treated as Evil Gods.
If the believers of Noah-sama were to increase in numbers, the Titan Gods would be able to gain strength.
I thought I would be ordered to do it as if it was natural though...
"Makoto, you decide for yourself." (Noah)
"..." (Makoto)
"Noah...what are you thinking here?" (Althena)
The voice of Althena-sama grows stricter.
But Noah-sama had the same usual shudder inducing gentle smile like the time we first met.
Her white and pristine hand touched my cheek.
"Makoto, it is okay for you to decide. Save the world, or destroy it..." (Noah)
Her smile didn't have a single shadow of doubt.
Noah-sama had given me a heavy choice.
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