Chapter 184: The Cathedral (2)

One afternoon, when the sun was high in the sky.

When I came back home after wandering outside, the first thing I saw was Estasia eating ice cream.

Estasia had quickly adapted to the studio apartment, where she had been staying for almost a week.

The most obvious thing was the blanket that wrapped her body.

She hid under the blanket, only poking her head out, and ate ice cream while watching a documentary about penguins.

“Estasia…”

I sighed as I looked at Estasia hiding under the blanket.

I could tolerate her not doing any work.

But I couldn’t stand her eating ice cream on the blanket.

As soon as I took off my shoes and entered the room, I said to Estasia who was eating ice cream.

“Don’t eat ice cream on the blanket.”

“It’s cold…”

But Estasia only gave a short answer and wrapped herself more tightly with the blanket.

Seeing that, I felt like I couldn’t stand her not doing any work anymore.

She needed some punishment.

Thud. Thud.

I walked straight to Estasia, who only showed her head.

And then I grabbed the halo that was floating above her head with both hands.

“Don’t eat ice cream under the blanket!”

“Don’t pull my halo!”

As I pulled her halo, Estasia’s body also came out of the blanket.

She grabbed my hand that held her halo and struggled to get out of the blanket.

When I finally dragged her out of the blanket, Estasia flopped on the floor.

Flap. Flap.

Her wings fluttered weakly, scattering a few feathers.

I gave Estasia a stern warning as she lay on the floor.

“I told you not to eat like that last time.”

“It’s cold.”

“Why don’t you wrap yourself with your wings and eat?”

“My wings are cold.”

“…”

But Estasia didn’t listen to my warning.

I was speechless as I listened to her excuses.

She looked dejected as she lay on the floor. Then she rolled over and lifted her head.

She looked at me calmly and said.

“Master.”

“What.”

“This is angel abuse.”

She must have picked up some strange words from watching TV for a few days.

Angel abuse.

It felt like words that should never meet had met.

There was no such word in the world.

Even if there was, I had no reason to accept it.

There was only one thing I could do to Estasia who claimed angel abuse.

I bent down and looked her in the eye.

“Don’t expect such standards from a demon.”

“Ugh…!”

Thump.

I hit Estasia’s forehead hard.

She grabbed her forehead and flailed.

I ignored her and went to the side. I leaned against the bed and sat on the floor.

I had a smartphone in my hand.

I left Estasia alone and looked at the world inside my smartphone.

“Pick up the feathers on the floor yourself.”

“…”

“If you don’t, you’ll have no ice cream next time.”

“O-okay.”

Thankfully, the threat of ice cream worked well.

Estasia got up quickly and started picking up the feathers that fell while she was rolling around.

Of course, she wasn’t very fast.

She kept whining at me as she cleaned up the feathers.

“Master is a wicked demon.”

“I know.”

“It’s wrong to make an angel work.”

“There’s a strawberry cake in the plastic bag I brought today. Don’t forget to put it in the fridge when you’re done cleaning.”

“Master is a kind god.”

I had to be firm with her sometimes, since she wouldn’t do any work otherwise.

After assigning her some chores, I looked at the smartphone in my hand.

The screen of the smartphone showed the same thing as always.

It looked like a game to anyone who held the smartphone, with various buttons and a game-like interface.

“I don’t have many items left… Maybe I should think about the plan some more.”

It had been a while since I found out that the world inside the smartphone was real.

And yet, I decided to move the cult and start a war.

The cult followed my orders and prepared for the war.

But there wasn’t much I could do to control the war.

I had acquired some powerful skills like <Meteor Strike> and <Lightning Storm>, but they had some problems to use them right now.

The biggest problem was <Karma’s Judgment>.

“I’ve distributed most of the items I’ve drawn, but I can’t really help them right now.”

I would have plenty of opportunities to intervene when the war started.

But not right now.

Too much intervention would inevitably bring about causality correction.

I had no reason to balance causality with my own hands for something of little utility.

If possible, I wanted to delay the awakening of the heroes as much as possible.

Considering that, I ordered the cult leaders to stop fasting for a while.

“Are you worried about the war?”

“Yeah. There’s no point in using the double coupon and slaughtering them recklessly.”

Estasia asked me with six feathers in her palm as she cleaned them up. .

I nodded at her and answered.

I couldn’t worry enough about the war.

The details would be filled by Roan, the archbishop, but I needed to make a big framework that would set the direction.

For example, who would face which enemy.

“The most troublesome enemies would be the heroes. I haven’t touched them for a while, and their causality correction has increased a lot.”

“But you said you’ve become stronger too.”

“That’s the problem. They become stronger as I become stronger.”

I explained the mechanism of the smartphone to Estasia again, who already knew everything from me.

The [Divine Tool: Smartphone] that I had was something I got from the Goddess of Harmony.

Every time karma’s balance collapsed and causality correction occurred, I also received the effect of causality correction and gained more functions.

What I called leveling up until now was actually that concept.

My actions resolved the karma imbalance between the six gods and demons, and that made the power of the Goddess of Harmony stronger.

The more I tried to gain an advantage, the stronger my enemies became.

It was a strange situation.

“So I have to postpone karma acquisition as much as possible and deal with those annoying ones first.”

“Like that mage named Merona Frost.”

“Of course, Arien Crost. He’ll be the toughest opponent. I have to use <Holy Blast: Logration> on him even if I use it.”

My eyes naturally went to the icon of <Holy Blast: Logration> at the bottom of the screen.

Using <Holy Blast> would give a wide-area penalty to the enemy for a certain period of time.

And most of those effects were fatal for paladins and mages.

I had to use <Holy Blast> on that Arien guy no matter what.

He was the strongest and most threatening among all enemies, including heroes. He could easily escape from the battlefield with his unique mobility.

“And he also pushed back Eutenia… It won’t be easy for anyone who goes out. If I have to find someone who can fight him, maybe…”

He was also the one who had a one-sided advantage over Eutenia.

No matter who faced him, any apostle would likely feel embarrassed.

So I had to prepare as thoroughly as possible.

I had to move an apostle who could gain an advantage over a mage in a space that endangered mages.

For example, like that guy Mabu on the screen right now.

-“Swing harder. Don’t let any distractions get into your sword.”

-“No, I swing with both hands like Evan, so I can’t do that kind of skill…”

-“Don’t make excuses for yourself. Training is never enough no matter how much you do it.”

Mabu, who was learning from Evan, was shown on the other side of the screen.

They were training themselves by swinging their swords in a corner of the cult.

I looked at the weapons in Peter’s hands with a troubled expression.

The [Divine Tool: Dainsleif] that Peter had was a divine tool that allowed him to move at an incredible speed in a narrow area.

And the weapon he held in his other hand, I didn’t know its name, but it had the effect of weakening magic.

He was a nemesis of mages who was optimized for fighting at high speed in a narrow sanctuary.

“Will Mabu fight Merona?”

“…I guess so. I think that’s the best option if possible.”

He was someone who no one expected until he barely protected Eutenia.

And now that I think about it, he was also someone who I did a lot of terrible things to.

The sixth apostle, Peter Enklof.

Both Eutenia and I owed him a lot.

I wasn’t sure if I could pay him back even after this war ended.

But if it was possible, I wanted to give him a happy ending as my apostle.

“He’s an apostle of God… I don’t think that’s a fitting title for him, but I should give him a gift since he’s taking on the most important task.”

I touched the screen to open my inventory.

Pop.

As soon as I opened my inventory, an item at the top came into my sight.

A cloak with a sinister design and a jet-black color.

It was a holy relic that I obtained from a draw that burned all my assets.

It was an item that had a radical effect unlike any other items I had so far.

-[Holy Relic: Sephida’s Cloak]

-Reduces damage from magic by 50%.

-Protects from negative status effects caused by magic.

Sephida’s Cloak.

It was an item with a simple but powerful effect.

Simple effects were usually powerful.

And it was also an item that suited Peter, who was becoming a counter to mages.

This would be a great help in the fight against Arien.

I decided to give this holy relic to Peter and moved my hand to the <Voice> skill at the bottom of the screen.

“Hmm, hmm.”

“…”

“Pick up the feathers first, Estasia.”

I brushed off Estasia’s blank stare and looked at Peter on the screen.

And then I opened my mouth to speak to him.

I spoke with the voice of God, but this time I didn’t need the help of a divine translator.

I was already their master since I decided to become their god.

-I tell the sixth apostle.”

-“I tell the sixth apostle.”

Peter, who heard my trust, lifted his head and looked up at the sky.

In his hands were a white sword and a black sword, one each.

Their colors seemed to prove Peter’s twisted fate.

“Prove yourself even in the darkness.”

-“Prove yourself even in the darkness.”

He was a hero.

He was born with the destiny of a hero, and he was destined to be admired by everyone.

It was none other than me who led him to the path of an apostle.

At the end of the destiny that I forced upon Peter, I had to give him a future that he wanted.

That was the role given to a demon who decided the fate of humans and the world.

“Don’t give up hope even in hardship.”

-“Don’t give up hope even in hardship.”

Flap.

A black cloak landed on Peter’s shoulders.

The holy relic that contained darkness proved my will by putting a ring on Peter’s chest.

In front of the hero who fluttered his cloak, I gave him my last trust.

“Then, I will be your god.”

-“Then, I will be your god.”

Peter was not the only one who had to prove himself.

So did I.

Proving that I deserved to remain as a god who suited them.

And correcting the mistakes that I had made as much as possible.

That was the burden of someone who called himself a god.