* * *

This god’s divine realm is a white palace with an onion-shaped roof, built on a floating island above the sea of clouds.

Shining brilliantly in the sunlight, it exudes an air of sacredness, and the gold, tastefully placed here and there, gives it a luxurious impression.

Every detail, from the walls and windows to the sculptures, is meticulously crafted… If an ordinary human were to be placed in such a space, they would probably be awestruck, beyond mere admiration.

At the center of this sacred, luxurious, and majestic white palace is a vast audience chamber.

What kind of being sits on the throne there?

A dignified, middle-aged emperor with a long beard?

Or a beautiful empress with flowing, lustrous hair?

…Neither.

The master of this divine realm, sitting on the throne… in other words, the god, is in the form of a young boy.

He’s wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts.

But both, being white, are clearly of high quality… and no fool would be foolish enough to mistake him for a neighborhood brat.

Over them, he wears an emerald green mantle with gold embroidery, and a crown atop his platinum hair.

That’s what this god looks like.

Now, that god is—

Sitting on his throne, legs crossed, his elbow on the armrest, his cheek resting on his hand, his lovely face contorted in disgust, looking down at the middle-aged man prostrating himself before him.

That middle-aged man… is a scholar-looking man, wearing a plain, but seemingly expensive, light brown robe.

His dark brown hair, streaked with white, reaches down past his shoulders… and since he’s prostrating himself, his face can’t be seen.

Compared to the glamorous, boy-shaped god, he looks rather shabby… but since he’s in this divine realm, he must be some kind of god, or a follower of a god, a being with considerable power.

And yet, the boy is making such a man prostrate himself.

Considering that he’s the owner of this majestic white palace, you can understand that the boy has a very high divine rank.

“…Hey, aren’t you late?”

Here.

The boy broke the silence of the audience chamber, which had been filled with tension.

In a very displeased tone.

“You’re late, aren’t you?”

And.

He blamed the scholar-looking man.

“I apologize.”

“Apologies are unnecessary… Hey, Gubori. Why are you so incompetent?”

And the boy pointed at the scholar-looking man… Gubori’s neck.

“Ugh…!”

And with just that… Gubori’s body floated into the air!

“Uwaah…!”

Gubori, his gaunt, plain face turning pale, scratched at his neck and flailed his legs…!

He’s being lifted by the boy’s telekinesis… and was being strangled!

“Hmph.”

“Gah…!!”

The boy stared at him impassively for a while, and then, snorting as if bored, he slammed Gubori onto the floor with his telekinesis!

Gubori let out a cry of pain, but…

“I… apologize…”

He didn’t complain.

He just kept apologizing.

Because the difference in power between the boy and Gubori is hopelessly vast.

“I told you, didn’t I? To get rid of ‘The Great Mage’ quickly.”

The boy started speaking, looking down at Gubori, who was prostrating himself again, trembling.

“And yet, what’s this? I even brought you the sludge. Why did it take you a whole month to report to me?”

“…………”

“The Prison God screwed up and got seriously injured, you know? It caused a bit of a commotion in the Divine Realm. Well, I don’t care what happens to that weakling, but I had to maintain a 【Barrier】 around the Great Prison of Delenezo, a barrier that can deceive even the eyes of the gods, because of that. I’m incredibly tired.”

“…………”

“And for some reason, that weakling, the Detective God, is also making a fuss. It’s really troublesome to deceive him too.”

“…………”

“Hey, why did it take you a whole month to report? Hey, why, why, why?”

“…………”

Gubori just trembled, neither objecting nor apologizing.

To begin with… it was the boy who discovered that ‘The Great Mage’, thought to be dead, was alive in the Great Prison of Delenezo… and thoughtlessly sent the Calamity’s sludge to the Great Prison with teleportation magic, to eliminate him.

Gubori had no say in the matter.

Gubori was simply ordered to ‘monitor the Great Prison of Delenezo until “The Great Mage” is dead.’

In fact, Gubori was trying to prevent the release of ‘The Happy Sludge’, Kolmallya, into the Great Prison, considering the potential harm to the prisoners, guards, and the Prison God.

…The boy, of course, wouldn’t listen, and punished Gubori for remonstrating.

Anyway, everything that happened was based on the boy’s decisions, and there’s no reason for Gubori to be blamed.

But even if he said that, the punishment would only get worse.

Therefore, Gubori kept his mouth shut.

“To begin with! Why was ‘The Great Mage’ even alive!? I should have made sure he was dead!”

Meanwhile, the boy’s irritation shifted from Gubori.

Gubori let out a small sigh of relief.

“What… ‘Great Mage’!? How irritating! I want to erase all traces of ‘that’ from Ardyst as much as possible!”

The boy, irritated, ruffled his platinum hair, and clicked his tongue.

“‘The Great Mage’… I should have eliminated him the moment he started calling himself that… Why didn’t you do that, Gubori!?”

“Guh… I apologize.”

Here, the boy’s irritation was directed at Gubori again.

The boy pointed at Gubori… and manipulating gravity, he pinned Gubori to the floor.

Gubori is currently a lower-ranking god, and his body is much more durable than an ordinary human’s.

But even he is groaning, his bones creaking under the immense pressure.

An ordinary person would have been crushed to death.

But even after being subjected to such violence, the only words Gubori uttered were apologies.

…The reason why he didn’t eliminate ‘The Great Mage’ earlier is because the boy judged that he shouldn’t be killed yet.

‘The Great Mage’s’ “Great Mage Cram School” was generating a lot of profit for the boy.

Therefore, the boy didn’t kill ‘The Great Mage’.

It was all the boy’s decision.

Gubori had nothing to do with it.

…But he can’t point that out.

“Haaa… Well, whatever. Hey, Gubori… anyway, ‘The Great Mage’ is dead. Right?”

Perhaps having calmed down after tormenting Gubori for a while, the boy sighed deeply, and released his control over gravity.

“…The Great Prison of Delenezo… was undoubtedly completely swallowed by ‘The Happy Sludge’, Kolmallya.”

Gubori… repeated the report he gave to the boy before he was choked.

“You properly dealt with the sludge, right? If it gets out that I was the one who released it, I’ll be reprimanded by those other weakling gods.”

“As you commanded, I had my apostle mobilize the Ice White Emperor Dragon. The sludge part has been eliminated.”

“I see… I see! Then, well, I guess it’s fine!”

Here.

The boy, finally in a good mood, stood up from his throne.

And walking towards Gubori… he kicked him pointlessly, while he was still prostrating himself.

“Then I’ll go check on the system, as usual.”

And he snapped his fingers.

His figure instantly vanished, leaving only Gubori, still prostrating himself, in the audience chamber.

“…………”

Gubori was trembling.

Ashamed of his own misery.

It wasn’t like this before the “Day of Ruin”.

Everything changed… since that day…

“…………”

For a moment, his past glory flashed through his mind… and Gubori shook his head as if to shake it off.

And then, slowly, he stood up…

“Ku… Kukuku…”

He let out a small laugh, a twisted smile on his face.

Gubori didn’t report… that just before the Great Prison of Delenezo was swallowed by the sludge, a reaction resembling teleportation magic was observed inside the Great Prison.

He didn’t report that the one who defeated the sludge wasn’t the Ice White Emperor Dragon… but a mysterious girl, using magic, with combat abilities surpassing even ‘The Great Mage’.

This is sowing a seed.

He doesn’t know if it will bear fruit, or how much fruit it will bear, but—

Someday.

Someday…!

“…………Fuu…”

Here.

Gubori, noticing the ugliness of his own expression, slapped his cheeks, and took a deep breath.

And then, putting on an expressionless mask.

To perform his original duties, which had been interrupted for a whole month because of the boy… he staggered out of the empty audience chamber.

【The Day of Ruin】

The day the Super-Ancient Magic Civilization was destroyed, when Engee Albitt’s actions incurred the wrath of the gods.

This concludes Arc 25.

Although there are still various mysteries surrounding “The Great Mage”… please wait until the end of Part 2 for the continuation!