Chapter 417

Great Ancient Mage, Accompany (1)

“So.”

After the death of the Demons, Evan went to check on the humans after seeing that the disciple of the Great Mother Earth didn’t have any intention to move. The humans looked at the remnants of the dead Demons, Evan, and the disciple of Great Mother Earth, who crouched down on one side. The humans were quietly shivering.

“Did anyone get hurt?”

“Uhm, no!”

“Thank you!”

They glanced at the disciple but willingly replied. Good, the dominance had been set with this. While being satisfied with this…he instinctively flinched after making eye contact with a person among the crowd. The humans acted normally like the other humans whom Evan have saved previously. Still, there were some among them that Evan was quite familiar with. There were human NPCs who appeared in the main scenario of Yo-Ma Great War Zero…well, that was why.

“Thank you for saving us, handsome Oppa.”

“…Thank you.”

There were two girls that gave off a strong sense of déjà vu whenever Evan looked at them.

‘They are not them.’

Probably not. After clearing his thoughts, Evan pulled down his hood once more. Mirole, who stood by his side, spoke without realizing he was acting strangely.

“We are protecting the human race like you two. Will you join us? I can’t say we are a perfect party but coming with us is safer than roaming around without a destination.”

“How does an elf…human…wait, wait a second. Please hold on for a while!”

The humans gathered in an impromptu conference while being puzzled by Mirole. Still, only the two girls went out from them and came to Evan. As expected, it was a similar situation to Sharay’s. These two didn’t seem to have a deep bond with the rest of the humans.

“We want to follow you, Oppa! Luck seems to be in your way!”

“I can smell it, Unnie.”

Hair that was darker than the night sky of God’s Era. One had eyes like shining emeralds, and the other’s were redder than blood. To speak bluntly, they looked just like Redine’s, Evan’s mother, and Belois, the person whom Evan loved the most.

“Yup, they are not them. Maybe they are their ancestors.”

Maybell whispered into Evan’s ear, and he lightly nodded as a gesture of agreement. Especially the one with the red eyes, who looked like Belois, had similarities with her but also gave off a different impression. Was it perhaps because she was a distant ancestor of hers? On the other hand, the one that looked like Redine had too many similarities to the point that people would consider those two to be mother and daughter…and there would be a debate on who would take the role of the mother. If so…Evan sorted out his thoughts before it became complicated and asked them a question which he needed to clarify.

“Yeah. Do you…perhaps know a girl named Sharay? She has black hair like you two and looks very much like you girls.”

“Sharay!”

After hearing that word, the emerald eye girl approached Evan.

“Is Sharay all right? Aah, Sharay was with you!”

“As expected…Unnie is safe.”

“That’s right. I’m taking care of her at the moment. I’ll let you meet her after guiding the humans into the hideout.”

“Aah, thank goodness…!”

The girl with the red eyes seemed to be relieved at his words. Evan speculated that they were siblings.

“My name is Arpa. This is Naz.”

“I’m Zero. This is Maybell.”

“Ahem, I’m Mirole.”

“Huh?”

Mirole interrupted Evan’s conversation with the girls. The girls looked interested in Mirole, and she blushed a little.

“Zero, hold on for a while in talking to these children. The humans seemed to come to a conclusion.”

“It took quite some time.”

“Because of her existence…”

Evan knew whom she was referring to. It was Fayna, the disciple of the Great Mother Earth, who was still crouched down in the same place.

“Ms. Fayna, are you all right?”

After somewhat finishing up the conversation with the humans, Evan cautiously spoke to Fayna, who looked like a solid statue. Then she shrunk out of surprise; then, she slowly stood up while flapping her golden wings.

I-I can stand up. It’s not like I was stumbling.

Perhaps she was too nervous. As she successfully regained her posture after standing up while shaking all over, she spoke to Evan.

Are you planning to gather the humans in one place? Take me with you. The Great Mother Earth told me to look after them!

“Do as you wish.”

And I have an important message for the humans, too.

“Is it related to why you, the disciple of the Great Mother Earth, descended to this world? Will this occasionally happen from now on?”

Hiiick!

The shivering Fayna looked at Evan with fear and asked him.

Who on earth are you? How do you know the plans of the Divine Realm!?

“Everyone will know from the moment you’ve descended down that things won’t be normal like before.”

Argh…

Claiming that they had come for the humans was a mere excuse that only worked on simple humans. If gods were able to intervene in every crisis of the humans, they wouldn’t have been experiencing a harsh battle for survival while being scattered around the place.

“Hmm, let’s talk after gathering all of them along with your story. Taking them to a safe place is the top priority.”

S…sure. Let’s do that.

“Things are flowing smoothly, Master.”

“Be quiet.”

Coming here took just an instant but taking back the humans took quite a long time since they moved slowly. The humans treated Evan as a disciple of another god as he spoke with the disciple of a god on an equal footing. As they couldn’t dare speak with him (this was an entirely different relationship that humanity had established with the Great Ancient Mage in Yo-Ma Great War Zero), only Fayna and Arpa spoke with him.

The Great Mother Earth wasn’t aware of your existence. That means you were out of the gods’ radar. No, it’s more surprising that you are a human after easily killing one of the Ten Knights…take off your hood.

“I don’t want to.”

“Oppa, the hood doesn’t look good on you. You look cooler without it.”

“I’m not taking it off.”

Fayna tried to investigate Evan’s identity while Arpa spoke to him with a mischievous look. This scenery involving Evan was quite common in the present time.

“Zero is the human who was acknowledged by the spirits. And I can’t let you overly claim your authority of being the disciple of the Great Mother Earth when you are in the Mother Forest. And you, little girl, don’t speak to Zero so lightly.”

And it was the usual Mirole who raised her guard against Fayna and Arpa as if she was Evan’s deputy.

“Huhu, this atmosphere befits you, Master.”

“Maybell, stop looking at me with that relaxed look.”

“But I actually am relaxed! Aaah, this sense of superiority…I might get addicted to it.”

It was understandable for her to feel such since she was now able to monopolize Evan when she had a hard time spending just one night alone with him.

“Ma-Maybell…!”

Maybell clung onto Evan’s back and hugged him while saying such words, and Mirole’s face blushed like a tomato. But unlike how she shook off Fayna and Arpa away from Evan, she only gave a strange look to Evan without being able to intervene.

“Hmmmph.”

So, you are in such a relationship with the Demon…!

While Arpa considered how Maybell clung to Evan as something interesting, Fayna blushed like Mirole and seemed jealous. Leaving aside why the little girl Arpa pretended to be a grownup that knew everything, Yo-Ma Great War Zero players would shout for joy on acquiring a new CG if they saw the facial expression which Fayna was currently making. However, Evan couldn’t stop lamenting the thought that the plot was going in a completely different direction compared to the game. In the midst of the strange atmosphere, they entered the area where the humans and dwarves were training hard.

“You’ve arrived.”

“Huh, Hans!”

“Thomas!”

Unfamiliar names were called between both groups, and the humans were united. Everyone was hugging one another with teary eyes. It was somewhat expected, but they seemed to know each other since long ago. This would make the talk go smoothly. Evan took a moment for humans to celebrate their reunion. He clapped his hands to calm them down and redirect their attention to him.

“For those who already know the rules, relay them to the newcomers. And this is Ms. Fayna, the disciple of the Great Mother Earth, and she will be with us for a while.”

I’ll stay by your side until I discover your identity!

But Fayna’s sight was fixed on Maybell and not Evan. Why was it so? Perhaps the Succubus Queen was too charming for those of God’s Era. Going forward, Evan considered locking his tent tighter than before.

“Disciple of the Great Mother…!”

“Did God make the disciple of the other god kneel before him!?”

“Amazing…as expected from god!”

“Look at the face of the disciple! She surely has been charmed by the enormous power of a god!”

Well, weird rumors had started to spread with just introducing her. It was great that she wasn’t able to hear the whispers among the humans since she was busy observing Maybell’s movements.

“Then let’s listen to what Ms. Fayna wants to tell us.”

Yeah, I have something to say!

As her mind was filled with imaginations between the Demon in front of her and the human, Fayna came back to her senses through Evan’s words, and she stepped forward after clearing her throat multiple times.

The boundaries of the Middle Realm with the other realms are breaking down due to the unprecedented chaos in the dimension.

“…”

I believe you have confronted the evil Demons several times already, but that’s just the beginning. Forces that are eviler than the Demons are planning to invade Middle Earth. Many gods, including the Great Mother Earth, tried to stop them, but their fangs target even the Divine Realm. The good gods couldn’t do much to help Middle Earth since they are busy defending the Divine Realm, but they intend to protect you by sending their disciples, like me.

That wasn’t completely true. It was true that the Demons planned on invading even the Divine Realm, but that didn’t require all of the gods to fend it off. In fact, the Demon Realm couldn’t even interfere with the Divine Realm if the Middle Earth were firmly holding its ground. And that was why the gods were sending off their disciples to concentrate their forces in the Middle Earth. They were a shield against the Demons. Increasing the number of followers in the process could be considered a collateral result.

“They are completely bad beings.”

“Anyways, they are lending their powers to Middle Earth, so it’s not all bad. I’ve said it many times, but gods like the Great Mother Earth are nothing compared to the others.”

There were cases where some gods used this chaos as an opportunity and had different goals in mind. And that was part of the main scenario in the latter half of the game.

“So, from now on, we have to maintain an appropriate relationship with them that’s not too close nor far…Hmm?”

Evan felt a strange stare in the middle of the private conversation with Maybell, and he lifted his head. And he saw everyone except Fayna was looking at him.

“But our God has revealed himself in front of us.”

“What an idiot; protecting the Divine Realm while eliminating the Demons is nothing with god’s power!”

“The meaning behind him granting us this power can be that he is raising his army to fight against the Demons.”

“I finally realized the deep meaning behind his actions. We became the protectors of Middle Earth…!”

…Would they believe if Evan told them that he was just teaching them how to defend themselves? Nope, they wouldn’t. Evan shook his head and let out a deep sigh. On the day when the disciple of the Great Mother Earth had descended, for some reason, the humans began to believe in another god instead of the Great Mother Earth.

…Evan wouldn’t ever accept this fact, though.