And in this way, we arrived at the Dark capital, the Underworld Country.
At its entrance.
When I first came here, we were considerate of Yorishiro-sama and acted in the cold night, but because we don’t have the leeway of time in this occasion, we arrived here without waiting for the sunset to arrive.
All the members here are sturdy heroes, and also, the objective that is the Underworld Country is below ground, so I knew beforehand that we could escape from the rough heat of the desert.
Hyue-chan helped out in moving aside the sand, and…
What appeared once again in my eyes was the underground door that leads to the Underworld Country.
“If I remember correctly, it was like this…!” (Karen)
I remember what Yorishiro-sama did before, placed a hand on the door, and pour light divine power.
The door opens on its own as if welcoming the return of its owner.
“Oooh!” (Mirack)
“Incredible-dasu!” (Sasae)
“Now then, let’s head down.” (Karen)
The stairs leading down were destroyed last time, so we decided on driving inside with the flying machines.
The flying machines that brought us all the way from Apollon City to the Nameless Desert.
In this desert that’s even called the Land of Death, the reason why we can step in it without feeling danger to our life is thanks to these little ones. That power was displayed even underground.
While taking care with flying in this narrow passage, we got out from the destroyed part to an open area, and there, ancient luminescent plants were spread around, lighting up the corpse of a city.
“Oooh?!” (Mirack)
“Amazing! What’s this?! What’s with this dreamlike and grandiose place?! Is this the Underworld Country?!” (Celestis)
This is the first time for everyone here aside from me that has seen these ruins of a city.
These ancient construction style, that makes one have a feeling of perpetuity, has been buried underground and has been preserved for several hundreds of years.
This sight is definitely one that can overwhelm anyone that sees it.
“I was half in doubt when I heard about it, but…! It really existed huh, this Underworld Country!” (Mirack)
“Somewhere in this ancient city, there’s a clue to defeat the Great Demon Lord-de gozaru ka?” (Hyue)
Flying at the top of this city at the depths of earth, we try to be careful of not touching the ceiling, and check this dead city from up.
“By the way-dasu…” (Sasae)
Sasae-chan was still too small to be able to drive a flying machine, so she was sitting at the rear of my flying machine when she said this.
“Why the Underworld Country be called the Dark capital-dasu ka?” (Sasae)
“Eh? From there? That’s because this city worships the Dark God Entropy.” (Karen)
“What! The Dark God Entropy actually existed-dasu ka?!” (Sasae)
Is what Sasae-chan says in surprise.
Now that I think about it, the first time we met her was when she received the mission of Mantle-sama to ‘kill the Dark God Entropy’.
A lot of things happened after that, so I ended up forgetting about it though.
We met with the very person that gave that oracle, so I could have asked about the reason behind that.
“Dark God Entropy-de gozaru ka? The people that lived here worshipped that God, you say?” (Hyue)
“Just like how we worship the five Gods of Creation.” (Karen)
“To think there would be a sixth God. If that were proved to be true, it would be a big scoop that can overturn society. If we ourselves hadn’t seen the dark powers of Haine-chi, we definitely wouldn’t have believed it either.” (Celestis)
That’s right. The objective I had when I first came to this Underworld Country was to find a clue regarding the existence of this Dark God Entropy.
The way to defeat Lucifer might have something to do with the Dark God.
“But at what part of this city is the thing we are looking for?” (Karen)
“If we look randomly, it might take us years, you know? Lucifer might even escape from Haine’s restrain by tomorrow.” (Mirack)
It is fine.
“About that, leave it to me.” (Karen)
While saying this, I unsheathe the holy sword Saint-George.
“Holy Sword! Using my divine power, show us the true path that we search for!” (Karen)
When I proclaim this while adding my divine power, the holy sword answered.
From the blade, a shining light path extends at a certain location.
“Oooh! It shone and extended?!” (Mirack)
“Since taking in the diamond that Haine-san gave me, I have not only been able to turn into a God Hero mode whenever I wish. It looks like it has also added a variety of functions into the holy sword.” (Karen)
The same function as the Guiding Needle that we used before to find the ancient city has been added to the holy sword.
And in reality, this function helped out a lot in finding again the entrance to the Underworld Country even if I have already come here once before.
“As expected, the power of Inflation-sama is great.” (Karen)
“But isn’t that strange?” (Celestis)
“Eh?”
What, Celestis-chan?
A sudden heretical statement?
“Before coming here, we heard a variety of things about this time’s opponent, right? And the one thing that surprised me the most was that…” (Celestis)
That Sunnysol Ates was the one who was controlling Lucifer from the dark.
Her identity is the Light Goddess Inflation incarnated as a human.
“True. That part was the thing that surprised me the most!” (Mirack)
“But it wasn’t a surprise on the level of being astonished though. We have met a number of Gods until now after all.” (Celestis)
Right.
Nova-sama, Coacervate-sama, Mantle-sama.
“How to say it…! After actually meeting them…!” (Karen)
“Gods are not as perfect as we thought they were. They have emotions just like us humans and can make mistakes. That’s why, even if the Light Goddess-sama has gone crazy and is trying to destroy humans, I didn’t fall into despair. I will definitely do my all to go against it though.” (Celestis)
After overcoming the wicked Water God-sama and the Mother Earth-sama that knows no restraint, we have become pretty tough mentally.
It instead makes me think I would like to walk by the side of those Gods and help each other out.
“But the Light Goddess that came out this time around is chaotic to a whole different level.” (Celestis)
“Eh?” (Karen)
“Because you know, she went through such lengths to make a big monster like that to destroy humanity, and yet, she is also helping Karen-chi out?” (Celestis)
The reason why we are being shown a path to take with the holy sword is thanks to the blessing of the Light Goddess.
“In the first place, the reason why Karen can become a God Hero is because the Light Goddess wants to help out the humans, no other way around that.” (Celestis)
“The Light Goddess be trying to destroy the humans, and trying to save ‘em as well-dasu ka?” (Sasae)