Chapter 28 – Climbing the Pinnacle of the Mortal World
"Set, after this, you have no right to call yourself a god of war."
Hikigaya heard such words through the haze.
Every part of his body was enduring intense pain and emitting a high fever. Despite that, his consciousness couldn't return to clarity and could only remain in this half-awake state.
Could it be that he's still not dead? That would really be quite the blessing. He wasn't even sure if he managed to injure Set in the end. Gods truly can't be judged by common sense. To think he had such ambition… in the end, it must've all just been his own delusion...
"Shut up. A guy who doesn't even have the guts to challenge me openly has already lost all dignity as a god."
"You both shut up! The curse left behind by that wretched younger sibling of Prometheus is already taking effect. The dark Christmas ritual to birth the child of the fool and the witch—only a ritual with a god as a sacrifice can succeed! Look—Set's divine power is already flowing into this guy's body and soul!"
"Damnable witch... But the one I hate most is still you. Just seeing you makes me want to kill you."
"Hmph. You just obediently retreat. When I awaken, this humiliation—I will settle it myself."
"Quite bold of you to say, considering that even if you awaken, all you'll do is continue disgracing yourself."
The voices continued echoing—one seemed to be Set's, but the other two he had never heard before.
"Hehe, you're all really close, aren't you?"
A silvery, bell-like laughter chimed in. It was the voice of a young girl, very pleasant to the ears.
"So, you've manifested yourself. Seems like you've noticed your new child."
"Lord God-King, long time no see. A witch who brings all disasters and a sliver of hope—it's not strange for me to appear where gods and humans gather, right? Is this child my new son? Does it hurt? But you must endure it, because this is the price to reach the highest peak."
Ah... his consciousness grew more and more blurry. The voices at his ears became indistinct, inaudible. It hurt, but he was also very sleepy.
Yet it felt like someone was gently stroking his head.
There was a kind of motherly warmth…
Tch. Gross! How could he be thinking like this? Had he really been beaten stupid?
"Now then, everyone—please bestow your blessings and your hatred upon this child! The seventh God-Slayer, the youngest Demon King—he shall bear this title and fate, and live on with this identity."
"Shut up, witch. Your new child—I'll personally bury him soon enough!"
"Hehe. You want to deny the consequences you caused? That's not something a god should do. Since that's the case, I shall bestow my blessing upon this newly reborn human, born as the God-Slaying King! You who defeated me, Set, who usurped my divine power—continue to grow stronger! Until the moment we battle again, you absolutely must not lose!"
Finally, he could hear nothing at all. The irresistible drowsiness caused Hikigaya's thoughts to sink completely into darkness.
When he regained consciousness again, he felt like he was lying somewhere soft.
He opened his eyes. It was dark around him, but soon everything became clear.
It was a ceiling. He was lying on a bed. Hikigaya looked to his left.
Seemed like he was in a hotel. The decorations were luxurious.
"You're awake?"
From the other side came a voice he'd heard nearly every day for the past six months.
Turning his head, Hikigaya saw his so-called mentor—Silkwat Jenazad—sitting there.
He wasn't wearing a mask, and looked quite haggard.
The first thing Hikigaya thought of was the scene where this mentor was being lifted like a chicken by that old man.
He really wanted to laugh…
And he felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.
"Those who lift others will be lifted in turn"?
No, stop thinking about it. He really would laugh out loud.
Wait, wasn't there something more important? What was it again?
"You did great, Hikigaya Hachiman," Silkwat Jenazad broke the silence again. "Amazing. Honestly, I never expected it to turn out this way. It wasn't I who succeeded—it was my disciple who did it."
It wasn't him who did it?
Hikigaya finally remembered.
Jenazad's actions at the beach had already clearly shown what he intended to do, but now he said—it was Hikigaya who accomplished it.
Could it be—him, a guy who was just an ordinary person half a year ago, Hikigaya Hachiman, had killed a god?
Killed Set!?
"I'm in a dilemma now. I've witnessed the greatest power in this world. I couldn't even hold on to the title of strongest in Pencak Silat."
Jenazad continued speaking.
"But I only taught you for six months, and you achieved it in my place. Some say you aren't a Demon King because you killed a god, but that you became a Demon King because you had the potential to kill one. Now I think I'm starting to understand that."
So it's true… he really killed Set!
So that's how it is. He had been wrongly blaming Zaimokuza all along—this was the real cheat package from transmigration!
To think he'd been living so low-profile until now—what a disgrace! He should apologize to the readers watching!
Hikigaya didn't even notice that Jenazad was looking at him with a face that clearly said, "Did this guy's brain get damaged by the god?"
Because he was grinning like an idiot, with drool almost dripping from his mouth.
Sluurp!
Swallowing his saliva hard—nearly choking himself in the process—Hikigaya finally snapped out of his fantasy.
Reality is wonderful. Being overpowered is wonderful. From now on, he was truly overpowered. Ah, it was really wrong of him to badmouth this world earlier. Maybe he should go home, buy a steamed bun, and set up a little shrine to worship "Zaimokuza-sama."
But somehow, that didn't feel quite right…
Watching Hikigaya's face constantly twist and change, Jenazad furrowed his brows deeply.
By his temperament, if it were before, he would've slapped the guy already.
But now, he couldn't do that. Whether this guy's brain had truly been scrambled by Set or not—he had undeniably become the seventh Demon King in the world.
Even if Jenazad now genuinely believed that Hikigaya's brain had been damaged, a Demon King was still a Demon King. A mentally damaged Demon King might even be more terrifying.
Were there other God-Slayers whose brains had been scrambled by gods? Jenazad pondered it carefully. Looking at the actions of the six existing God-Slayers—seemed like all of them were a bit off in the head.
So does getting your brain scrambled also count as one of the prices of becoming a God-Slayer?
Completely oblivious to the fact that he had no right to talk about others, Silkwat Jenazad began to sympathize with them.
He had always thought himself a high-IQ individual. In his faction—past, present, or future—there could never be a second person as handsome, smart, and talented as him. For such a perfect person to not be eligible to become a Demon King—clearly there was something wrong with this world.
Still, regardless of where the problem lay, he had no solution, and thus felt deeply troubled.
The disciple he took in for fun had become a Demon King. That sort of thing really makes it hard to deal with—how should he interact with him going forward?
In martial arts, they were still master and disciple. But aside from that, their statuses had already been reversed.
Jenazad might not have felt this way before, but after that night, he had truly understood how great a god was.
Because it was insurmountable—thus, it was great.
And those who could defeat gods—God-Slayers—there existed no measurement in the world to compare the gap between them and ordinary mortals.
Precisely because of that, Silkwat Jenazad was now deeply, deeply troubled…