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The world spun in a dizzying blur. Round and round it went, turned by an unseen hand.
He couldn't tell up from down, left from right—he no longer even knew where he was.
It had started in the wasteland, then shifted to high mountain ranges, canyons, forests, deserts, lava, the seabed, and then far up into the sky...
Without being allowed a single moment to regain his footing, Glatony was left utterly at the mercy of the world’s rotation.
He was like a toy captured and trifled with by an innocent child.
Yet, as he was handled so recklessly, Glatony felt a strange sense of nostalgia.
Through his hazy consciousness, he remembered the day he was first picked up by his former master, the Progenitor Demon King Beelzevuit.
Back then, Glatony had truly been her toy. She had swung him around as she pleased; the number of times he had nearly died was easily in the hundreds.
And yet, despite such treatment, he hadn't been unhappy.
Back when he was a Corpse Rat, Glatony had never been viewed by his parents or siblings as anything more than an object of scorn or potential prey. It was the first time anyone had directed an emotion resembling affection toward him, twisted as it might have been.
"I wonder... how long has it been since someone looked at me with such innocent eyes...?"
Now that he thought about it, he felt like he had been cowering in fear of the threats around him ever since Beelzevuit passed away.
When he was a subordinate, he feared his new masters and his superior colleagues. After becoming a Demon King, he feared the emergence of new enemies. Even after ascending to Godhood, there had never been a moment for his heart to rest.
Now, Glatony wore an expression more peaceful and defenseless than ever before.
A gap in strength so vast that fighting was a farce, an overwhelming power that didn't even recognize him as a threat—being toyed with by such an overwhelmingly superior entity was enough to knock him off the stage of "strength" he had been desperately clinging to.
Before he knew it, a soft smile played across Glatony's lips, as if a heavy burden had finally been lifted.
"Master... dear..."
Like an infant being rocked in a cradle, he lost consciousness with a serene face.
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"...Huh? Where did that Glatony guy go?"
Since I had returned the earth to its original position, he should have been around here somewhere... but I couldn't find any sign of him.
Just as I was wondering where he’d disappeared to, I spotted a lone mouse sitting upright on the ground.
"Squeak?"
The mouse looked around restlessly. When it spotted us, it scurried behind some cover with incredible speed.
It peered out at us for a moment, then immediately dashed away into the distance.
"...Why is there a mouse in a barren wasteland like this?"
"Who knows? Mice are everywhere, Master," Grimo replied.
This is a wasteland with no food or water, though.
Maybe I dug it up while I was manipulating the ground? If so, I might have put the little guy through a lot.
"Oh, look. There’s the Holy King, just lying there."
"Right, he got spat out in the middle of the fight earlier. Looks like he’s still breathing, at least," Beal added.
It would be a problem if he died, so I decided to hit him with some Healing Magic.
Honestly, though, he just looked like his head was spinning; it didn't seem like anything serious.
Then again, if he weren't that tough, it would be hard for him to preach pacifism in a world as dangerous as this.
"More importantly, we must find Glatony. It is far too dangerous to leave a monster like that at large," Jiriel insisted.
"Well, an even greater monster is currently running loose right here... Hm?"
Just as Beal was about to say something rude, the sky—which had been choked with black clouds until a moment ago—suddenly erupted with a dazzling light.
"There is no need for that."
A voice echoed from the heavens. It sounded familiar...
"Glatony has returned to the Wheel of Reincarnation. Even if he were to be reborn, it would take a dizzyingly long time for him to regain that much power. The world has been saved."
"...Who are you?"
"Allow me to properly introduce myself. Come—this way."
As the voice spoke, my body was enveloped in light.
I was drawn upward, toward the Celestial Realm that lay beyond the sky.
—I arrived in a space of pure, blinding white.
It was the same place where the entity posing as God, Glatony, had been earlier.
But unlike before, the sense that something was being hidden was gone. Instead, the air felt refreshing and clean.
Another major difference was the center of the room. The floating veil was gone, replaced by a chaise longue.
Sitting there was the middle-aged man I had only recently parted ways with—Rigo.
"Rigo? Oh yeah, I remember this guy. Completely forgot he existed," Grimo muttered.
"We were a bit preoccupied. But why is this man here...?" Jiriel wondered aloud.
While my familiars questioned the situation, Rigo slowly clapped his hands.
"Hello, Lloyd-kun. First, allow me to offer my thanks. Your performance was truly magnificent... almost beyond human belief. I am truly grateful."
"What's going on? Give it to me from the start."
"Ah, yes, of course. My apologies. First, an introduction. I am... well, the one called God."
Identifying himself as God, Rigo began to tell his story.
"It was... oh, ten thousand years or so ago, I believe. Glatony, who had become a Demon King, was rapidly gaining strength and had become too much for even the Celestial Realm to handle. I went out to face him, but I was easily defeated, and he usurped my position as God—I assume you heard that much from him?"
I nodded. Rigo’s voice carried a weight of truth that made it impossible to doubt him.
The way power resided within his very words reminded me of the Holy King's Magical Song... in other words, it was proof of his divinity.
I could see now why the Holy King had believed Rigo's words without question back then.
Well, I was fine with accepting him as the real deal. If it turned out he was lying, I’d just have to beat him up later.
"You have the look of someone contemplating something rather violent... Ahem. At any rate, after defeating me, Glatony must have thought I still had some use. He didn't kill me, but he stripped me of my power and imprisoned me. The rest, as you know, is history."
"By the way, Mr. God, you disappeared while I was climbing the stairs. Where did you go?"
The Holy King, who had just woken up, asked the question with a bewildered look. God scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"To be honest, I knew going to the top was a wasted effort, so I took the liberty of slipping away halfway up. Stairs are quite a chore at my age, you see."
"H-Hey! Isn't that a little heartless, Mr. God!?"
"Ha-ha-ha! My deepest apologies."
The Holy King immediately started bickering, but God didn't seem to mind.
In the end, though, his laziness meant he’d avoided running into Glatony. Maybe being imprisoned once had made him more cautious.
"He's a remarkably laid-back God. Just like he was when he was acting as Rigo," Grimo remarked.
"It must be his natural temperament. Small wonder he lost to Glatony," Jiriel added, looking exasperated.
Well, I figured a God was better off being a bit lax. If some overly meticulous guy took the job and started interfering with every little thing, it would be a huge pain.
The managed society Glatony had talked about during our fight—the one where "dangerous" elements are eliminated—was out of the question.
Besides, it would be a terrible waste to nip interesting potential in the bud just because it might be a little risky.
"At any rate, I must reward Lloyd-kun for saving me—and, by extension, the Celestial Realm. ...If you'll excuse me."
God slowly walked over and held his finger up to my forehead.
The moment his fingertip touched me, there was a sharp pop, and my vision was washed away in a flood of white.