Chapter 24: Mickel 1

A peaceful heaven, the temple of light.
There, I was quietly drinking tea.
It was a day when the sea of clouds outside the window looked more beautiful than usual.

‘Seraphina and Beatrice will soon meet Lycoris…’

Seraphina and Beatrice heading to the Great Labyrinth of Sia Calt seemed like they were on the palm of my hand.

It was going to be a very important meeting.

I took another sip of tea, nervous but excited.

Suddenly, I remembered the day I first met Lycoris.

A faint prayer had gently reached me.

When I looked, a small seed with a will in the frozen ground was praying for me to give it water!

“Ugh… It was so cute…”

I wanted to water it right away, but the selection screen didn’t even appear…

I could only watch it for a few months.

“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry! I couldn’t use the system as I pleased…”

Finally! After a few months, the selection screen appeared, and there was an option to move the corpse of a nearby Frost Drake next to the seed!

I quickly picked it.

“Then our cute seed grew quickly…”

But what the heck! As it grew, it started to believe in me as a god of blood and slaughter!

“No! I like peace! I hate blood and slaughter!… But it was really pretty when it bloomed.”

A smile spread across my lips.

I never thought my little seed would become such a beautiful flower.

“But that stupid Frostia…!”

She suddenly appeared and took my flower away, and stuck it in the freezer for three years!

What kind of idiot puts a flower in the freezer!

“And as if that wasn’t enough, she even named it Licorice… Oh my!”

Not only did she steal the child I had chosen first, but Licorice fell head over heels for Frostia!

“Ugh! Thinking about it makes me mad again!”

I jumped up and paced around the temple before sitting back down.

By the way, I was really surprised when she lured the monsters in the mountains and caused a scene of slaughter.

But in the midst of all that, she saved a small village!

“So how happy I was! The selection window that appeared right away gave me the trait called Michel’s Flower…”

I sighed.

Even this child thinks that he got it from the festival of slaughter he held…

“Even the Red Moon is a skill you earned yourself… Why do you keep calling me the god of blood and slaughter…”

“Ha… Should I drink some more tea.”

I sighed as I poured the tea.

‘It would have been better if I had just gone and told them myself…’

Ha…

“All of this is because of that incident five thousand years ago!”

I sipped the tea that was flowing smoothly and thought back to the distant past.

A suspicious god who suddenly appeared!

The god of another world who came to spy on our world suddenly announced that he was the god of cloning, Nirrath!

The name is… hard to pronounce…

So what did I say?

“Oh, right, right. That’s what I said.

‘Why are you spying on our world?'”

And that god said that he liked this world, that he would copy everything…

He even said that he would copy our power and take it…

No, how could he steal someone else’s world!

At that time, all the gods, good and evil, gathered their strength and barely defeated him.

To be honest, I was in charge of healing behind the scenes…

The gods who fought in front were really great.

But that god of replication cast the final curse.

Because of that, the gods could no longer directly interfere with the human world.

“It was too much! I was going to go down to the human world and celebrate!”

Interference was only possible with this new ability called the System.

And it didn’t appear when I wanted it to, and it didn’t only show the choices I wanted…

Tiring!

“Whoa! Surprise!”

Just then, a translucent selection window appeared with a strange sound.

I almost spilled my tea again.

Even after five thousand years, I still can’t get used to this sound!

All the kids met!

“That was great…!”

1. Transmit the skill Brilliance to Lycoris. (Consumes 2,000 Holy Power)
2. Grants a random buff (one-time) to Seraphina’s Crystal of the Oath. (Consumes 500 Holy Power)
3. Bless Beatrice’s Silver Light. (Consumes 15,000 Holy Power)
4. Do nothing.

Possessed Holy Power: 4,961,720

‘Ah, why is the Holy Sword Blessing appearing at a time like this…

It was truly the blessing of the holy sword of a warrior who had overcome extremely poor odds.

However, it was obvious that if I blessed the holy sword now, she would take it as a command to defeat Lycoris.

Ugh… There’s nothing I can do. Number 1!

As soon as I chose, Lycoris began to glow as soon as she received the skill.

Soon after, Seraphina shed tears, knelt down, and began to pray.

“Yeah, Lycoris is my believer, so let’s get along!”

Normally, this choice wouldn’t have come up at the exact timing I wanted, but this time I’m lucky…

I thought that for a moment.

“Huh!? What, what are you doing!”

Why are you suddenly starting to fight?

Fortunately, the battle ended quickly.

Seraphina seemed to have realized something and raised her head.

Seraphina’s voice reached me.

“Huh?”

“Michael-sama’s will is that overwhelming power is needed to protect the peace.

You were not a tool of Michael-sama, but a guardian of peace.”

“Aaaah! Why is it turning out like this again!”

“No! It’s the opposite! You were the one who sent me to change Lycoris’s beliefs!!!”

She ran around the temple, clutching her hair.

This was really a big deal.

If Seraphina returns to the Church of Light like this, the believers will believe me as a god of war.

No! I’m a good god who loves peace!

Why does it keep going like this!

I always choose the best option!

“Haa… The tea has cooled down as expected.”

She sighed and drank the cold tea.

What should I do now…

“Solaris! Solaris!!”

She shouted as soon as she kicked open the golden palace door.

There was no guard or manners. She was that urgent.

“Why is it so noisy?”

The sun god, Solaris, turned her head as if she was annoyed.

Her red hair fluttered and burned like the sun.

“This is a big deal! My followers.”

“Again, are you talking about that flower?”

Solaris sighed. Her golden eyes were clearly exhausted.

“This time it’s different! This is really a big deal!”

“How many times has the flower you raised been stolen by Prostia…”

“I told you not to! This time, you’ve mistaken the saint!”

She jumped up from her seat and grabbed Solaris’s arm, shaking her.

Normally, she would have been angry at her for daring to mess with the sun god, but today, she just looked tired.

“So… what is it this time?”

“I became the god of war__”

“Huh?”

“Me! The peace-loving god of light! I became the god of war who loves blood and slaughter!”

Suddenly, Solaris burst into laughter.

“Puhahahaha! You? The god of war?”

Solaris’ eyes widened. Then…

“Don’t laugh! This is seriously serious!”

“So how are you going to solve it this time?”

“So… when can we directly interfere with the human world?”

Solaris’s laughter stopped. She said calmly, “Michel, just give up. We have no choice but to wait until we can go down ourselves.”

“Then! How much longer do we have to wait?”

“Well…”

Solaris rested her chin on her hand and thought.

“The evil gods of the Demon World are trying very hard to create a passage. If they succeed, shouldn’t we follow their method?”

No! Then the evil gods will go down first! Do you know what will happen to the human world!?

“Then is there another way?”

Solaris was speechless. Among the gods of the Heavens, who would be able to solve this problem…

“Ugh… You’re all so stupid…”

“So, do you want to go now? I want to take a nap.”

Solaris said with a sly smile.

“What!? A nap in this situation!”

“No matter how much you struggle, there’s nothing you can do right now.”

“But still…!”

“You can come and complain tomorrow too, right?”

In the end, I was kicked out of Solaris’ palace.

The palace of the sun floating in the sky felt even more stinging than usual.

“This irresponsible… ugh!”

“I think we’ve talked enough, so shall we go now?”

Bea started to prepare to leave.

“Wait a minute! I have one more gift!”

The roots of Licorice groped around on the ground and gathered up the pieces of roots that had been cut off during the battle.

“Take this! This root has a very strong poison. It didn’t work on you, but if there’s someone you don’t like later… Hehe, you know?”

It was hard to believe that it was the words of a divine being.

But strangely, I didn’t feel any repulsion.

“You can mix it in your food and dispose of it without anyone knowing! Or you can just get a little bit on your clothes…”

The way the roots swayed and carved the letters seemed like fun.

Bea looked at me with worried eyes.

Her silver armor glowed faintly in the blue light of the labyrinth.

“Are you… really okay?”

Bea’s voice was filled with hesitation.

But now I know.

In order to achieve true peace, sometimes darkness is necessary.

“Yes. That’s what Master Mikel taught me.”

I nodded and answered.

“Hey, what! You guys who can win with skill don’t need this, but this is just… insurance, just in case!”

As the roots of the Lycoris slowly moved and carved letters, a new realization blossomed in my heart.

The pieces of roots in my arms felt heavy.

However, my heart became stronger as much as the weight.

“Goodbye! See you next time!”

We slowly exited the labyrinth, looking at the last letters the roots left behind.

‘Master Mikel, the God of Light who permits everything for the sake of peace….’

The new realization completely changed my beliefs.

What should I tell the Order of Light when I return?

This truth, this realization…

“Sarah.”

I heard Bea’s worried voice, but I was no longer confused.

Rather, it was as if I understood Michel’s true intentions for the first time.

“Michel, now I understand the true meaning of peace!”

My prayer echoed softly in the ice cave.

And that prayer, perhaps, was flowing in the exact opposite direction of Michel’s intentions.