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Afterward, I got in touch with them. I had the means of communication – wind crystals sent all over the world. My acquaintances were the ones to receive them. Though the timing was slightly off, these crystals were originally delivered for this purpose.

Firstly, I fully unleashed the magical power with maximum output to establish communication worldwide through the wind crystals.

The first one I connected with was the crystal attuned to Lula.

“Lula, can you hear me?”
“Illya! I’ve been waiting for you!”

That was fast! And loud!

“Looks like you’re doing fine. I’m glad.”
“Yeah!”

It didn’t seem like she was just pretending to be strong.

“How about your situation?”
“Ah, yeah. We are about to embark on a joint mission with the country to defeat the monsters seemingly causing the volcanic eruptions.”

It seemed they had already managed to pinpoint the cause.

Well, considering the “Strongest Evil God” likes to boast about being the strongest, his desire for attention probably made him easy to find.

“Are you joining the expedition to subdue them, Lula?”
“Yes, for now, I’m holding on with protective barriers, but I don’t want the lava to destroy all the research data and everything I’ve worked on.”
“I understand.”

Finally, she had become more optimistic. She didn’t want to return to her previous state, living solely for the past. At least, I hoped that was the case.

Nevertheless, for now, we needed to focus on our primary objective.

“Does it look like it will work out?”
“………”

Huh, no response.

Before I could ask what was wrong, she replied.

“There’s this granny in the town.”
“……Your granny, Lula?”
“No, a total stranger. She moved in with her family, I think. And every time she sees me, she starts giving me lectures, like not eating while walking and treating things with care. She’s a cranky old lady.”
“I see.”

Though I didn’t fully understand her intentions, one thing was clear: Lula’s voice was calm, and she didn’t hold any grudge against the old lady.

“But you see, she has trouble walking… If there’s even a small gap in the protective barriers, I don’t think she can escape from the smoke.”
“…I see.”
“When I suggested sending her to a town far away, can you guess what she said?”
“What did she say?”
“‘Who would scold you if I were gone?’ That’s… odd, right? It’s pushy, and her priorities seem misplaced.”

Speaking as if she was fed up, Lula continued, hesitatingly.

“But… I didn’t want her to die, you know? Even though I couldn’t care less about the Guild folk, who are just as naggy.”

I think it’s because Lula herself was aware that she was getting angry on her behalf.

But, she didn’t seem to realize it… She spoke about it as if she found the whole situation genuinely puzzling.

For her, most people are still mostly inconsequential, more of a nuisance than people she cares about.

Still, I wish that someday, she could come to value others just like she does that old lady.

“Ah, um, what were we talking about again… Oh, right! So I’m annoyed, and I wanna make sure we defeat the fool who caused the volcanic eruption so that the old lady doesn’t have to worry about running away.”
“Okay.”
“That’s why, Illya, I need your help.”
“Of course.”

That’s why I contacted her, after all.

However…

“But I’ll only give you advice, okay?”
“Huuh, but I wanna meet you!”

Hey!

Stop that. It sounds like that was your true goal all along.

“But I guess there’s no helping it. Advice, please.”
“Okay. First, let me tell you about the monster causing the volcanic eruptions…”

I told her what I knew about it.

That the cause of the eruptions was an evil god.
That it had full control over fire-based magic.
That using fire-based magic to diminish the factors wouldn’t work since the evil god generated its own fire factors.
That attacking it with fire magic would be futile, and while wind magic could disperse heat, it might have adverse effects in certain situations, so it was better to use it sparingly.
To avoid using water magic inadequately, as it could rapidly turn into steam or vapor, posing a threat.
When its main body weakens and appears, the priority is to lead it away from the volcano.
To be cautious of potential burns.
That once its weakened and the real body appeared, they had to pull it away from the volcano.

That was the rough summary of it.

“Does that mean if we keep hitting it with an extremely powerful water magic that prevents evaporation, we can win?”
“In a way, yes. But remember, even if you think it’s gone, there’s a possibility its soul remains and could possess someone. Weakening it and sealing it away is the safest option.”
“A sealing technique, huh… Okay, got it! Oh, by the way, Illya! About that spear I mentioned before—”

Our conversation continued until someone, likely part of the same expedition, came to warn her.

I was a bit concerned about whether Lula could persuade the others, but she seemed confident, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.

…At this point, dialogue should be fine!

Okay, next.

This time, Nina, the owner of the attuned crystal.

“Hello, it’s Nina!”

Oh, her voice brought back so many memories.

“It’s Illya. Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah! Ah, wait—”

I could hear her conversing with someone.

“Hey, it’s the Priestess!? Long time no see! Wow, you can use crystals like this? But if it were you, you’d have made a pact with a spirit… Oh, right, we were trying to stop that! Hahaha!”
“Sylph seems to be the same as ever…”
“I honestly thought being bound by a pact was not for me, but it turned out just fine! With this, maybe, ah, hey——Sorry, Illya! It’s fine now!”

The voice returned to Nina.
It felt as if her phone or smartphone had been taken away by a friend entirely.
I’m glad to see they’re getting along so well.

“Looks like you’re busy there. what are you doing?”
“Well, I’m currently mediating a dispute between a big-shot of the Guild and the President, along with Darling.”
“A- A fight?”

When I asked for more details, it turned out that the army of the sea-macho-filled country was all fired up, saying things like, “We’ll crush them!” Then, the head of the Archipelago Union Guild, who was appointed as an external mediator, calmly responded with something like, “Can you really defeat them?”

…I admit that the army’s thoughts were too simplistic, but the guild master’s remark was also too sarcastic and rubbed them wrong.

And so, it escalated into a fight, and Erius and Nina were trying to stop it.

“By the way, did the army mention what kind of strategy they would use?”
“No, from what I heard, they see this moment when the ringleader monster is resting on the island as an opportunity. They plan to launch an all-out attack, relying on their numbers to overwhelm.”

Wow, a muscle-brain approach! ☆

“As they say, fish that are crowding around a light source will be caught in one go…”
“Oh! They might be convinced if I put it that way!”

…They didn’t think about it before?

“They finally stopped.”

They didn’t consider it…

It’s undoubtedly a straightforward, brute-force approach.

“Thank you, Illya. Did you contact me about the current situation?”
“Yeah. I heard a bit about it, but are you doing okay?”
“Hmm, not really. Whenever someone who can fly gets close, He just runs away. But using a boat is slow, and if we tried to surround him by getting closer together, the wind could blow us all away at once, which would be pretty bad.”

It seemed that she thought it through properly, which was a relief.

But I think he’s not running away; He simply wants to compete. There was a mention in some literature about the “Fastest Evil God” name, suggesting he enjoyed competing for speed.

“What should we do, Illya? If things continue like this, everyone won’t be able to fish properly, and it’ll cause trouble.”
“…Right. Can you switch with Sylph for a bit?”
“Huh? Yeah, sure――What is it!”

Their switching so fast sure surprised me.
Oh well, never mind. They seem to be having fun.

“Sylph, did you receive any orders from the World Tree?”

For example, not to cooperate with me, or just to observe the current turmoil. If he was receiving such orders, I’d have to come up with another plan. Even if he couldn’t give me a direct answer, that would basically suggest that I’m right.

In response to my speculation, Sylph answered.

“Nope, nothing like that at the moment~?”

As if it was just an insignificant matter.

I wonder if he realized that what he said was basically admitting that sometimes he received instructions from the World Tree. I mean, even the Apostle admitted it, so maybe it wasn’t something worth hiding.

…Or maybe he’s just telling it to me.

In any case, obtaining this testimony was significant. It’s unlikely that he’s being overlooked just because he’s a free-spirited Great Spirit of Wind.

With that in mind, I had him switch with Nina again.

“About what we discussed earlier, you should get Sylph’s cooperation.”
“Huh? But when we clashed with wind attacks, it didn’t seem effective.”

So they tried it.
And it ended disappointingly I guess.

“Instead of clashing directly, try to ward it off.”
“Ward it off?”

No matter how powerful the winds stirred up by the evil god may be, they were essentially just clusters of wind factors.

Hence, if there’s an entity like Sylph, capable of freely manipulating an equivalent amount of wind, she could interfere with the used factors and redirect the winds elsewhere.

“The important thing is not to repel the opponent but to alter the wind’s direction and prevent it from recycling.”
“Yeah, to prevent recycling!”

She insists on bringing in those words that I can’t easily affirm, and it’s quite troublesome.

“In that case, Sylph doesn’t need the power to push back or counteract that much. Instead, he can manipulate a broader range of wind, right?”
“Sylph, how about it? …I can do it!”
“That’s great. With this, you can also deploy boats.”

Even if they manage to surround him, capturing someone flying in the sky won’t be easy. However, with people like Nina and Erius, who can fly, they can deliberately create an opening and guide the evil god to a specific location.

If he has confidence in his speed and prides himself on being impossible to catch, it’s highly likely he’ll take the bait. These peculiar tendencies and strange attachments were typical traits of an evil god.