The Last Place Hero's Return

Chapter 244: Descent of the God (4)

The Tree of Creation was the creator that had brought forth the Eight Gods. It was the source of the world, towering to the highest reaches of the sky and rooting itself into the deepest ends of the earth.

In the unfathomably distant past, faded myths told that in the age when the Tree of Creation still stood, death did not exist. No one died, nothing vanished, and nothing was ever forgotten. Theologians later named that era the Age of Eternity.

However, even an age that seemed destined to last forever eventually came to an end. Among the Eight Gods created by the Tree of Creation, the last god, later known as the Demon God, kindled a fire called the Primordial Flame and burned the Tree of Creation itself.

Regarding this event, theologians proposed a hypothesis: No matter how powerful the Demon God’s divinity was, even if he possessed the strongest divinity among the Eight Gods, he couldn’t ignite a fire capable of burning the Tree of Creation, a being that stood on a plane higher than the gods themselves. In other words, the Tree of Creation had, in effect, brought an end to its own eternal life, which was something close to suicide.

But then why? Why was the Tree of Creation, which should have been reduced to ashes, dwelling within my body? Was I a descendant of the Tree of Creation or something like that? I didn’t know. No, at this point, whether I was a descendant of the Tree of Creation or the embodiment of the Tree of Creation itself hardly mattered. The crux of the matter was that the Tree of Creation existed within me.

However, the Tree of Creation wasn’t the only thing residing inside me. The Primordial Flame was in there too. It meant that at this moment, inside this small body of mine, coexisted both the Tree of Creation and the Primordial Flame.

“Hah!”

Not one, but two powers that belonged only in myth were inside me. My thoughts were a tangled mess. Slowly, I lifted my head and looked up at the Tree of Creation towering above. With the ash-gray mist gone, the tree’s majesty was so overwhelming that merely gazing upon it made me catch my breath. Only now did I understand why, at times, the Primordial Flame had seemed to flinch, as if gripped by fear.

Staying here any longer wouldn’t yield anything more. I decided to head back. However, just as I was about to open my eyes to leave the mindscape, the ground began to quake. The earth split apart, and massive tree roots surged upward.

What the...?

The roots coiled around me. They tore through flesh, crushed my bones, and bore into my body. Even though this was not reality but my mindscape, an unbearable agony tore through me.

As if misfortune piled atop misfortune, the Primordial Flame descended upon me while I struggled within the roots. The tree roots and the Primordial Flame tangled together, and like feral beasts fighting over prey, the two forces bared their vicious fangs at one another.

Both of them were really losing it at the same time. If I stayed like this, I would be devoured. An instinctive warning screamed inside my head. I drew a deep breath and spread my arms wide. If only one of them had tried to swallow me, I could have escaped easily, but both reacting at the same time was another story. Still, they seemed to be busy tearing into each other.

I stomped and violently expelled the breath I had been holding. Shaking off the roots wrapped around me, I hurled myself away from the raging flames. Then, the roots and fire lunged after me a moment later. I just thrust my hand toward the two remnants of myth charging at me.

Ignite.

Ashen Flames flared up, interposing themselves between the Tree of Creation and the Primordial Flame. Of course, there was no way mere embers kindled by a human could block divine power. Yet, they flinched. Like starving beasts mid-pounce, the two forces froze for an instant when they saw the embers. But that only lasted for a moment. Soon, the roots and flames broke through the embers and surged forward again.

That was enough for me. The opening was fleeting, but it was there. I opened my eyes and awakened the consciousness that had been sunk in deep slumber. Cold sweat streamed down my spine. Clutching my chest, I expelled the breath that had been trapped inside me.

The women in the room rushed toward me, panic etched across their faces.

“D-Dale?”

“Dale!”

“What, what’s wrong?”

“Hah, hah! I’m okay,” I replied.

Iris grabbed my hand. “Okay? How is this okay?! You’re drenched in cold sweat!”

She immediately chanted a prayer. A rainbow-hued glow seeped into my body, and the searing pain gradually subsided.

“Phew, thanks, Iris,” I said.

“A-are you really all right?”

“Yeah.”

The pain hadn’t completely vanished, but it was manageable. However, I didn’t know what had happened just now. I could understand that the Primordial Flame had been eyeing me hungrily for a long time, but even the Tree of Creation, which I had believed had been protecting me all this time, had suddenly turned on me.

Were they fighting over ownership of my body? The creator who brought forth all things and the flames that once burned that very creator to death were now beating the hell out of each other over the right to claim the body of a mere human. It was such an absurd situation that a bitter laugh escaped me on its own.

“Y-you’re really okay, right?” Iris asked.

I replied, “Ah, yeah. Sorry. I was just lost in thought for a moment. By the way, what about the Forest God?”

Iris gave an awkward smile. “Ah! I-I lost my focus, so the communion ended on the spot. Should I try calling for the Forest God with the Divine Descent again?”

It seemed my sudden bout of cold sweat and ragged breathing had broken the divine possession entirely.

I looked at her. “No, it’s fine. I’ve already asked everything I needed to. And besides, you’re exhausted too, Iris.”

Deep fatigue was etched into her face as she had used Divine Descent and a blessing back-to-back.

“Dale is right. We’ll keep an eye on him, so Iris, you should get some rest.”

“B-but...”

“It’s fine! We may not be able to use recovery magic like you, but we can take care of Dale well enough!”

“Y-yeah! Don’t worry. I-I know D-Dale’s body inside and out! I-if I notice anything strange, I-I’ll call you right away!”

Telling her not to worry, the three women laid Iris down on the sofa in the lounge.

“Dale, you come here too!”

“No, I’m fine.”

Yurina frowned. “Tch! You always say that, and when have you ever actually been fine?”

She grabbed my hand, pulling me along. Unable to resist, I let her drag me onto the long sofa and lay down. Maybe it was the softness of the couch, but as soon as I lay down, the tension drained from my body. What I had experienced in the mindscape and even my thoughts about the Tree of Creation all melted away like snow under the sun.

Elsiha said, “Lift your head for a moment, Dale.”

“Huh?”

She sat by my head and gently placed it on her thighs. “Up you go.”

A soft warmth spread through the back of my head.

Yurina, who had missed her chance at a lap pillow, stomped in frustration. “Hey! That’s not fair, Professor!”

Elisha glanced at her and smiled like a victor.

As if settling for second best, Yurina quickly lifted my legs and placed them on her lap. “Tch! T-then I’ll take the legs!”

“N-no. Isn’t putting my legs up a bit much?” I said.

Resting one’s head on someone’s thighs was something lovers did often enough, but putting one’s legs up like this felt more like something one would make a maid do.

“Hehe. I’m fine with it, Dale.”

“I’m not.”

Brushing aside my objection, Yurina began kneading my legs. “I’ll massage them for you, so just relax.”

True to a swordswoman well-versed in handling the body, she seemed to be massaging lightly, yet somehow pinpointed every knotted muscle with precision. A strange sense of comfort, tinged with an indefinable guilt, washed over my entire body.

Having lost her spot to Elisha and Yurina, Laneige wore a miserable expression and looked around, searching for somewhere, anywhere, to settle.

Her hand slowly slipped inside my clothes. “I-I guess I’ll just take care of somewhere else then.”

“Hey, wait,” I said urgently.

What exactly are you planning to do?

“Hehe. Dale, your chest... is hard, and warm.”

“No.”

“I-I’ll give you a m-massage.”

“Don’t do it,” I pleaded.

While I was struggling back and forth with Laneige as her fingers squirmed, Grace, whose presence we had momentarily forgotten, slowly opened her eyes. “What... are you all doing?”

Judging by the way Elisha’s, Yurina’s, and Laneige’s shoulders all twitched at once, I clearly wasn’t the only one who had forgotten she was there. The air in the room froze solid.

With her eyes half-open, Grace swept her gaze over the three women. “Exactly, what kind of relationship do you have with my son-in-law?”

I desperately searched my mind for something, anything, to say, but nothing came. “Uh, w-well...”

Honestly, that was only natural. What excuse could work in this situation? What could a son-in-law say when he was lying on a sofa, being doted on by three women, with the daughter in question not included?

Perhaps she had sensed the strange atmosphere filling the room, Grace’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. D-don’t tell me you three... Ah, no, right? This isn’t like that situation with that bastard Reynald, is it?”

She turned her pleading eyes toward Iris, who had been resting on the sofa.

Iris turned her head away. “S-sorry... Mother.”

Grace’s eyes flew wide open in shock, her mouth hanging agape. With a face contorted like a demon’s, she flew straight at me. “Y-you bastard! What does my daughter lack that you had to lay your hands on other women too?”

I kept quiet.

“Say something, damn it!”

Uh, what was it Reynald said, again, five hundred years ago?

I sat up on the sofa, bowed my head toward Grace, and spoke solemnly. “Mother-in-law, I will make everyone happy.”

Grace, who had been floating in midair, clutched her forehead and dropped. Her already translucent body faded until she was barely visible.

Iris jumped up and rushed toward Grace in panic. “Kyah! M-Mother! Y-you can’t disappear!”

Clinging tightly to Iris, Grace burst into sorrowful tears. “M-my daughter, how did you end up with such a bastard?”