Chapter 99.2: Sniping

「Please don't stop me, Heqat-dono. I must to settle this heavy debt with this evil god.」

「Harsesh, the son of Ushals and Ishtia. There're more urgent matters right now. Take a look around you. The other gods are also itching to crush both of you.」

Heqat was looking around as she spoke.

The other gods looked at the two with evil grin on their faces.

Though their alliance was formed to defeat their mutual enemy, the Hero of light, they were originally the gods who were pursuing Rena.

Maybe they had already planned to get rid of the two.

「Good grief, it's actually much better with fewer people here, Heqat-dono. I alone am enough to beat the likes of that hero.」

A man with brown skin came forward this time.

This man also looked like a human, except for his scorpion tail.

The name of the god with the scorpion tail was Giltar. It seems he was often called by his pet name, Gilta.

Giltar was the god of the scorpion man who lived in a different desert, so his territory didn't clash with Harsesh.

If I'm not mistaken, his little sister god was called Bruhl.

Two pillar gods who live in the far western desert had actually come to this place.

「WHAT DO YOU MEAN, DEATH GOD OF DESERT, GILTAR!!!」

Harsesh snapped upon hearing Giltar's remark.

Giltar was a former subordinate of the God of Death, Zarxis.

Thus, it was only natural for him to be hailed as the local god of death.

「It's exactly as I said. I alone am enough to beat the crap of that hero. And naturally, the most suitable man for that beautiful Rena.」

Giltar spoke with a confident smile on his face.

「HUMPH!!! SUITABLE MAN FOR RENA!! ONLY THAT UGLY SPIDER GODDESS ATLANKUA IS SUITABLE FOR AN UGLY MEN LIKE YOU!!」

Zuto didn't even try to hide his indignation.

「I've already parted ways with Atlankua. The last time I heard from Modes she was under Nargol's protection. Thank you very much for taking care of my wife, Heqat-dono.」

Giltar thanked Heqat.

「Yeah, I shall take care of Atlankua. And send her back to you soon. That's why I want you to stay calm till the hero is coming.」

Heqat heaved a sigh as he shook her head.

「Understood. I definitely am in your debt. Now let's focus to defeat the hero.」

Heqat nodded in satisfaction upon hearing Giltar's reply.

「THAT'S RIGHT!! THE REAL FIGHT COME AFTER WE BEAT RENA'S LOVER, THE HERO!!」

The gods nodded in unison upon hearing Heqat's remark.

They formed a united front as the men who were aiming for Rena. For the sake of defeating the hero, they temporarily set aside their rivalry.

「DATIE, GOZ!!」

Hellcat then looked at me.

「W-WHAT'S YOUR ORDER, HEQAT-SAMA!!?」

My mother approached Heqat in a hurry.

「I'LL LEAVE THE HUMAN OPPONENT TO YOU!! YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO AT LEAST HANDLE THEM, RIGHT?!!」

Mother and I had no choice but to nod.

◆Dark Knight; Kuroki

「The heck, it isn't just Reiji and co right?」

We were using teleportation magic to move to Akeron mountain range and rode Glorious toward the confectionary castle.

According to Daigan the werewolf, they're going to start the raid at the break of the dawn, Kuna added that archwitch Heqat was also in the confectionary castle.

I had no idea why Heqat was in the confectionery castle though.

Well, she might be visiting Datie, her student, but why in such a hurry?

Despite those doubts above, I felt reassured with Heqat being in the confectionery castle.

Maybe because I felt relieved that our departure got delayed.

And then, on the way toward the confectionery castle, I saw a flying ship floating above the clouds.

I hurriedly told Glorious to hide in the cloud the moment I saw that flying ship.

And just like that, morning had come while we were hiding in the clouds.

Reiji and co should've been raiding the confectionary castle around this time.

According to Daigan's report, Reiji and co shouldn't be the only ones who came.

Who is he, I wonder?

Reiji and co's comrades?

If that is really the case, things are bound to get really troublesome.

I might be able to do something against Reiji and co but things might get really troublesome if they had another helper.

「What's your plan, Kuroki?」

Kuna spoke with a worried voice.

Maybe I should just charge in.

But Kuna and the daughter of the demon king, Pollen, had a higher priority so Datie had to do something about this situation for now.

I couldn't let both of them meet in a dangerous situation.

I brought them along with me since it would be alright if it was only Reiji and co but the situation was far worse than I expected.

I couldn't make the stupid move right now.

I turned around and looked at Kuna who sat behind me.

Behind Kuna was Pollen who was sleeping soundly on Glorious' back while muttering 「I... can't eat anymore...」 in her sleep.

She slept along with Putina who seemed to be in pain in her embrace.

「To be honest, I also have no idea about what to do.」

I was really troubled.

Firstly, I want to know what the people in that flying ship wanted to do by floating over there.

I might be able to do something if they're not Reiji's reinforcement.

I asked Glorious to fly a bit closer to the flying ship.

And then, when we reached a certain distance from the ship while hiding in the cloud.

I felt an extremely powerful hostility coming from the ship.

「Oh no!!!」

I quickly summoned my demon sword and swung it in front of me.

I reacted in the time since right at that very moment, an arrow tore apart the cloud and headed straight toward us. Then it was sliced apart by my demon sword, and burnt to a cinder by my dark flame.

Glorious raised a low groan.

Kuna, who was sitting behind me, had already readied her scythe.

「Sorry Kuroki. I failed to conjure my barrier fast enough.」

Kuna had no choice but to apologize to me for her negligence.

But, it wasn't her fault since that arrow came as soon as I felt the hostile intent from the ship.

Unless the barrier had already been set beforehand, no one would be able to conjure such an instant barrier in front of that arrow.

「What happens, Master Kuroki?」

Polen woke up immediately upon feeling the abnormal situation.

「Enemy is coming Your Highness.」

I declared so.

And based on their level of hostility, the other party was clearly not an average Joe either.

I glared at the flying ship.

After the arrow that fired toward us dispersed the cloud that we used to hide our figure, we couldn't hide anymore.

There, I saw the figure of a man standing on the deck of the ship with a bow in his hand.

He was an extremely handsome man, even from the perspective of a man.

And that handsome dude was surrounded by numerous beauties by his side.

That flying ship then started to inch closer toward our position.

I couldn't afford to let my guard down.

「My bad, I had no choice but to attack when I saw such a giant dragon approaching my ship. I just never expected that someone has been riding on the giant dragon's back all along. Are you injured?」

The handsome dude spoke shamelessly after firing an arrow that was clearly aimed at me.

Yes, that arrow wasn't aimed toward Glorious, he was aiming at my heart.

In short, that nonsense about having no idea about "Someone riding" was a big fat lie.

Who is he, I wonder?

Despite the smile that he maintained on his face, he kept releasing his killing intent toward me a while ago.

Even if for example, this handsome dude had some sort of grudge against me, I had no idea why he had such a grudge.

I kept pondering about that matter while looking at the women surrounding the handsome dude.

Those beauties wore white clothes that allowed one to take a glimpse of the contour of their body curves, and adorn themselves with many accessories made from gold and silver.

The long slit on their clothes exposed their rich, bountiful valley, and their long legs.

The handsome dude was smiling while being surrounded by beauties.

The beauties were looking at the handsome dude with dreamy look on their faces.

If it was me before Kuna was born, I would surely cry tears of blood as I cursed at the handsome dude.

In contrast to the dreamy look that they showed when they looked at the handsome dude, the beauties were glaring at me.

「NO WAY!!! THAT'S ALPHOS-SAMA! MASTER, IT'S ALPHOS-SAMA IN THE FLESH!!」

Polen was screaming hysterically upon seeing the face of the handsome dude. As if she met her idol.

Alphos... that name sounds familiar.

That was the name of Rena's big brother. He should be deified as the god of song and arts by humans.

And that Alphos was currently glaring at me.

I got this feeling that he wouldn't let me go in peace.