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The Argonautai had mostly been sorted out and weakened to the point where they would not immediately die and Aigokeros had apprehended them.

Alioth, Dubhe, Phecda and Mizar were also neutralised.

And Pollux’s final hope, the Dragon King, was currently locked in a grand battle with Leon. In other words, the opposing side was almost out of personnel.

I stepped out of the barrier that I had erected to protect Luna and Terra and stood in front of Pollux.

Although there was a heroic spirit of an elf in front of her, it would not be a match for me.

Or rather, I did not even feel like fighting it. After all, if I were to defeat it, the barrier which was protecting Pollux would disappear and she would be burnt to death.

In any event, we had a winner. She no longer had any chance of victory.

“Looks like this is checkmate. Or do you still have a hand to play? If that’s the case, I suggest that you quickly take them out… I’ll make you submit straightforwardly without any small tricks.”

For some odd reason, my body doesn’t function properly if I’m fighting against the Seven Heroes, but there won’t be any problem against others.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the Dragon King or a hero of the past. Just come at me.

I cracked my knuckles and awaited Pollux’s next move.

“Hmm. In that case, I’ll meet your request. Come and dance, the origin of the flugels… the one who governs the stars of heaven! Uranus!”

A light shone down from the sky and lit up the ground like a spotlight.

On the spot which was lit, flowers began to bud and a man with pure white wings and white clothing began to descend downwards while enveloped by a god-like radiance.

A halo glowed on his back and there were three wings on each side, totalling to six. A bunch of young flugels of both genders had been summoned alongside him and hymned whilst they circled around him as if they were celebrating his advent.

The man called Uranus was displaying an affectionate smile as he very, very slowly descended to the ground.

Yes, so very slowly that it was irritating….

“Come down quickly!”

“Guaa!?”

I (yo) flew above him and punched him down so that he would get to the ground faster.

The land shook upon his impact whereas the guy himself, who had dropped down, had his arms and legs bent in weird directions and was foaming from his mouth.

What is this? Isn’t he quite fragile? I thought he would be ridiculously strong because he was called the origin of the flugels, but he’s no big deal at all.

It seemed he was killed in a single hit as he disappointedly turned into light and disappeared.

The flugel children, who were around him, were scared witless by my action, thus they were shaking quite vigorously and had slumped down.

By the way, the reason these guys were not being burnt was because the barrier protecting Pollux was still there… but the flowers which sprouted just then were burnt by the Dragon King’s hellfire’s shockwave.

“H, huh? Then how about this!? Manifest before me, the origin of all humans. You, the founder of the human race and the first guardian of the sanctuary – Aeneas!”

Answering Pollux’s summons, particles of light formed into the shape of a human.

Subsequently, what appeared was a half-naked man who liberally exhibited his body without any hesitation.

It might have been fine to call him a handsome young man with that appearance, but even then, it was still unacceptable that he only had a single cloth covering his waist.

No, I actually understood the reasoning. After all, he was the first-ever human being… in other words, he was like an extremely primitive man.

Although it sounded nice to call him the founder of the human race, to put things bluntly, it simply meant that he was born during a time when there was no civilisation. Therefore, the real thing was like this.

Although… it did not change the fact that he was still an eminent individual…

“Wear some clothes!”

“Bubuwoo!?”

The man, who received my fist, was sent spinning away and disappeared into the far distance whilst splattering in all directions.

I thought in my head how he did not return any decent response when I punched him, however, there was an answer to that query in my memory.

It seemed that the role of guardian of the sanctuary could only be passed down to and held by a single individual. Therefore, once their generation was over, the levels and the skills of the previous generation were passed down to their successor.

It was probably the work of the Goddess who did not want to needlessly increase the number of strong individuals who were at level 1000.

And at the same time, I understood why. The reason behind why all of the guardians of the sanctuary throughout history were strong even though they were humans.

Apparently, Aeneas underwent the ritual right before his death. In other words, the one who had just been summoned was nothing more than an empty shell who had lost all of his power.

Argonautai might have been a skill which resurrected the hero of the past in their prime state, nevertheless, even it could not bring back power which had been lost because it was already passed down to their successor.

Well, either way, even if that was not the case, as he had been given the title of guardian of the sanctuary, he should have at least had enough power to rival someone like the current Megrez who was in a weakened state… but, someone like that was no match for me.

“Next.”

“……… As, as you wish! In that case, here’s something special! Summoned in the past from a different world. An existence which was bestowed great divine power and restored peace to the world. Appear, the hero of another world!”

Thunderclaps resounded whilst a single man giving off sparks appeared before me.

His well-trained body was like steel.

He had shining black muscles and a sparkling bold haircut.

His manly face was like that of a beast and even his eyebrows were shaved off.

He wore boxer pants and boxing gloves.

A boxer, who was clearly not a Japanese person judging from his 190cm height, was shouting “I am the Champion!” and was doing shadow boxing.

Alovenus…. You…..

“This is, umm… a long, long time ago when I prioritised strength and called a person over, something like this came out, and…”

“…. I mean… if your only criterion was their strength, I suppose something like this would most likely end up coming out.”

Yeah. That young boy Sei is actually an amazingly normal hero. I was just reminded of that again.

Or more like… I have no idea what this guy’s been saying since a moment ago.

I can’t speak English, you know.

Why is it that even though Japanese automatically gets translated to a common language in this Midgard, English remains the way it is?

I thought X-Gate Online had integrated every language around the world.

“As a side note, because this guy tried to spread the language that he speaks, in Midgard, there are some people who speak untranslatable words. It seems, there are people like your Crab-san who speak that language due to their personal preference though…”

“So it’s this guy’s fault!”

“Nice Punch!”

So Karkinos’s style of speaking in English is this guy’s fault!?

The moment I thought that, my fist caught the hero boxer and sent him flying over the horizon.

Seriously… Even though this is supposed to be somewhat of a serious fight, stop calling in weird guys already.

“Anyways, don’t tell me that was the greatest card that you had?”

“Gu…. It, it doesn’t matter what it is, just come out! Heroic spirits, I summon you!”

It seems she had really been pushed into a perilous position.

Pollux desperately moved around and activated the Argonautai skill.

However, although she could summon an indefinite number of times, each summon only had one soul. A spirit which had already been summoned and captured alive by us could not be called again.

In other words, her remaining playable cards were truly limited at this moment and it was unlikely there were any significant ones left.

I was thinking such a thing, however, in the very next moment, my predictions were proven wrong in a different way.

“I was called so I have appeared!”

The one who appeared was… that annoying guy (Mars) that I punched into the distance once upon a time.

He took a glance at me with a lofty air and, backed by confidence from who-knows-where, smiled at me as if he was assured of his victory.

He then drew his sword and started to run around me in a circle.

“Now is the time for me to show you. The true ability of I, who has returned from the dead! I apologise, for I had held back at that time. I had misjudged your strength wrongly. But this time, I will not be lenient on you. This Mars, a member of the Seven Luminaries who bears the title of “Fire” shall burn you with all of my ability! Only an instant – In other words, the equivalent of the amount of time that you would experience in the Ring of Time. My resurrected self’s true ability and the “shockwave of my soul” –! Fire and Diamond Dust, by mixing two antithetical powers together, at this moment, a new and evolved sacred chaos is born. These powers who shan’t have merged together, take this moment of miracle in the eternity of time, evolved beyond their time in order to move to the future! Play for me, o’ flame. The requiem of despair. Sing for me, o’ ice. The symphony of blessing. You are already caught. There is no longer anywhere for you to run. Your path has been closed off by the unknown. Be afraid, be frightened, and celebrate and give praise. This is the moment of light that was given creation by me. You shall see it at the moment of your death. A kind embrace that invites you to become nothing. Scatter! The Ultimate Secret Art, Grand Crimson (Daiguren) –”

“SHUT UP!”

I punched the fool who had a needlessly long monologue as usual into the air and banished him to the end of the sky.

At this moment, I was far more used to this body than I was when I fought against him the first time, therefore, even if I had the same stats, the power behind my punch was completely different. Furthermore, as Alkaid was still active, my stats themselves were also completely different.

After looking on and noting that the moon, which had shown its face after the day had entered evening, had gained another crater, I turned back to look towards Pollux.

Image from Light Novel Volume 6

“Looks like you really have run out of cards to play.”

“U, umm…. Th, there’s still the Dragon King…”

Pollux looked towards the Dragon King as her final hope, however, just as she was doing so, Benetnash sank the Dragon King into the ground with a single punch, knocking it out.

By the look of things, Benetnash, who had gotten bored of observing the battle, had subjugated the Dragon King by punching it from the side.

After having his prey stolen from him, Leon was complaining. However, Benetnash undauntedly told him, “It’s because you were taking your sweet time fighting against it.” Thus, they were in the middle of bickering with one another. Nevertheless, that was irrelevant for now.

“So… what were you saying about the Dragon King?”

“Guu…..”

“Anyways, you should have had enough by now. Get out of Pollux’s body.”

Yet, after hearing my recommendation, Pollux smiled cheekily.

And, as if to say, “If you want to attack me, go ahead and do so,” she opened her arms wide.

“No, the one who is at a loss is your side. Are you able to attack this body? If you want to defeat me, then that’s fine. Go ahead and do so. However, just know that if you are to use your power to attack me, this girl will no doubt end up dead.”

“….”

Tsk…!

Although it aggravated me to admit it, what she said was correct.

As long as she did not leave Pollux, there was nothing that I could do.

Although there was the option of attacking her using [Blunt-Edge Strike], in all likelihood, she would not leave from something of that degree. It would be the same as needlessly harming Pollux.

If the state that she was in was some kind of a status debuff, there would be a countless number of ways to remedy the issue. However, it was not any kind of a status debuff either.

Cutting only the mana away using Lifthrasir – that was also no good. After all, the Goddess was not using mana to possess Pollux.

Using some Sun attribute arcane magic which would only damage spirit-type enemies – that was also probably not going to work.

Using some warrior skill which would deal damage to SP and not to HP – was out of the question. Her SP was infinite, therefore, as expected, it would be meaningless.

What should I do… Is there some method…?

“Pollux, don’t lose.”

While I was standing still and unable to do anything, Castor had come to stand beside me without me being aware of it and spoke to Pollux.

He was not speaking to the Goddess. In all likelihood, he was speaking to Pollux who was in a deep slumber.

Persuasion, huh… Although I doubted that there would be any meaning to it, because Castor was the other half of the Twins, it was possible that it might have some form of effect.

Let’s leave it to him for a moment and see what happens. This is truly a pitiful scene.

“We’ve been waiting for this exact moment for a long, long time. A script for a play which lasts indefinitely. Deaths that repeated over and over again. You were always crying because you hated that. Now is the time to go beyond the script. Right now, we have to get away from the Goddess’s third-rate script. Grab hold of freedom with your own hands… isn’t that right, Pollux!?”

“Third-rate…………”

After hearing Castor’s persuasion, Pollux’s face visibly became depressed.

What the… Alovenus got damaged so easily.

Now that I recall correctly, she got called a third-rate by Benetnash just recently.

What seemed to be the Goddess’s power ever so slightly separated from Pollux’s body, as the light of rationality returned to her eyes.

Is it correct to assume… that Pollux is resisting from the inside? It’s not like the Goddess got depressed and left Pollux’s body of her own accord… right?

In any event, this is a good chance. If we can do something about that, we’ll be able to save Pollux.

But… what exactly is that? Is that a skill? Is it arcane magic? Or is it divine magic?

No, if I had to describe it, it’s the very essence of power. A fragment of the Goddess.

And I don’t have the means to deal with that in any way.

If it’s Vindemiatrix… no, it’s no good. It’s probably meaningless.

Something… isn’t there something…?

“!?”

Suddenly, a voice resounded in my head.

The voice that I heard was something that I had only heard once before, however, it was something that I could never forget.

In all likelihood, it was from the time before I (yo) had become me (ore). It was a voice I had always heard back when I was still an adventurer. That was exactly why it was so strongly ingrained within my memory.

Ahh, that’s right. I had forgotten that there was you.

Forgive me. Even now, I have yet to wake up.

But I’m joyful. That even in this state you would still recognise me (yo) as me (yo).

In that case, entertain me. Use that power of yours to your heart’s content.

“Divine and arcane. A gate of space-time opened by two kinds of powers. Thou, who possess the arm of destruction that breaks apart all contrivances. – X-Gate! Come, Taurus…. No – Asterius!”

Whilst calling Taurus’s real name, I clashed divine and arcane power together, opening a hole in the world.

Taurus was a title which was conferred by me after the creation of the Tyrannical Twelve Heavenly Stars. In other words, it was the name of his position. It was not his true name.

As those like Aries did not originally possess a personal name, the conferred name became their actual name. However, it was not the same for Taurus.

And there was only one individual who knew of his true name in this world – me (yo).

Answering my summons and appearing before me was an existence with a reliable appearance that was no different from what it was 200 years ago. Someone who could be said to be my partner in arms.

Swinging his coat around himself, a giant who possessed the title of the [Bull] manifested before me.

There was purple lightning running and splashing out of his right arm and the eyes behind his mask caught sight of the enemy which had to be taken down.

“– Aldebaran!”

The unleashed skill was a technique which destroyed and forcibly cancelled an enemy’s power.

Whether the root of that power was divine or arcane in nature was irrelevant to this skill.

The strike, which could even crumble and shatter the gods’ scripts, was shot towards the Goddess’s fragment that was coming a little out of Pollux and violently tore it apart.

A crack split open in the space-time continuum and forcibly separated what connected the Goddess and Pollux together.

And, as if a hammer or something of the like shattered a boulder, a thunderous sound resounded, dispersing away what was punched.

Well, that was probably just the smallest fraction of the Goddess’s power… probably an extent that’s not even worth a single strand of her hair, but even then, that was an incredibly cheat-like skill. If my subordinate screams this much of a cheat, my standing is in a little bit of danger. Truly, how reliable.

“… You’ve become a lot more like yourself compared to the last time we met, Ruphas.”

“Still not completely though.”

Hearing my friend’s words, I lightly smiled and answered.

Although I can’t see his face due to the mask that he’s wearing, well, it’s him after all. I know that he’s probably cheekily smiling right now.

I thought that he might as well show his face since he was in his humanoid form, however, this was one of the quirks that Asterius had.

Just like with his real name, it seemed that he did not want to show his face to anyone except for me.

Even though he has a huge frame, he’s someone that could be described as delicate or feminine… well, that’s the interesting part about him though.

Subsequently, I watched as Asterius got swallowed up by X-Gate and was summoned away.

Meanwhile, I…

…. No, I shook my head and recollected myself from the disorderly thoughts that I was experiencing.

Damn, just then, I completely became Ruphas…. No, maybe I was taken over by her?

It almost became the state that I had reached when I was fighting against Benet.

This isn’t good. I feel that the boundary between “me” (ore) and Ruphas is becoming more and more vague.

Whilst staring at Alioth and the rest who were being forcibly unsummoned after the Goddess had been separated from Pollux, I (yo) directed my attention towards Pollux who had lost consciousness.

Next, I want to meet the true you.

As I was thinking such…