NOVEL NEXT Chapter 89
“…Are they really trying to gauge our strength through COL right now?”
“Even so, that can’t be right. We’re still leagues behind the Demon Race in terms of gameplay.”
“Isn’t this sort of like a declaration of war? Like, COL steps in first, and then it’s game over for you guys.”
“These wicked demons… If we leave them be, they’ll surely taint the heavenly realm with their wickedness…!”
“There’s a fierce debate breaking out among humans.”
The Celestials received a COL battle request from the Demons.
The Archangels were thrown into confusion.
Furthermore, there’s an active discussion in the Mid-World about whether the real Celestials have been using the Mid-World as a shield all this time.
If they agree to the COL battle here, it would mean admitting that the words of the Demon King Sama hold some truth.
“There’s been a sudden explosion of prayers from the believers too.”
“Hmm…”
It was a serious situation to the point that they even put down their games to ponder it.
“…Can’t we just win?”
“What did you say, Uriel?”
“Look, even if the Goddess is actually Michael, that’s beside the point, right? Essentially, Michael took on that role to watch over the Mid-World. Humans just started calling that being the Goddess and began to worship her.”
As Uriel pointed out, Michael never explicitly referred to himself as a divine or a Goddess.
It was merely that humans who received grace long ago began to worship him in whatever way they liked.
And that led to the current Goddess Church.
“The crux of the matter is that the controversy arises because the Goddess was actually one of the Archangels. There’s suspicion that the heavenly realm has used the Mid-World as a shield until now.”
“Yet, in a way, that’s somewhat true, isn’t it? Uriel.”
“Y-yes, that is true, but it’s a fait accompli at this point. Instead, we should show them. Let’s crush the Demons at COL. We are still protectors of the Mid-World.”
“That sounds like a good idea. If we personally step in and defeat the Demons at COL, the faith of the humans will surely return.”
To step in and defeat the Demons personally.
Uriel’s thoughts were persuasive.
So even if the truth about the Goddess worshipped by the humans and the structure of the heavenly realm is unveiled, they could still protect the faith in the heavenly realm.
“But that’s not the main issue, is it?”
“Aren’t we worse at games than the Demons?”
But the Celestials’ gameplay was lacking when it came to defeating the Demons.
The Demons and Celestials pursued power in fundamentally different ways.
The Celestials sought goodness.
As long as manners were upheld in the grand game of competition, losing wouldn’t be so painful.
However, if there were inappropriate actions or words, they would immediately report it.
To the Celestials, games were beautiful for enjoyment.
It wasn’t about the bloodshed like with the Demons.
“Just practice hard.”
“Excuse me?”
“Just practice. If we practice, we can win. It’s not that we can’t, it’s that we haven’t.”
Uriel said this with a serious expression.
The Fire Judge Uriel.
He was the only Celestial among them to hold a COL tier of Diamond.
While not as much as the Demons, he enjoyed battle.
“It’s a training session.”
*
“So, we’ve decided to have the COL battle between the Celestials and the Demons!”
Lumia said brightly.
Just when it seemed like things had gone quiet for a while, she brought news of the COL match between the Celestials and the Demons.
“Are you planning war against the Celestials?”
“Not at all. However, the Demons are a race that must be the strongest. Naturally, the Celestials must rise above the rest in COL.”
“But the Celestials can’t play games.”
“They need public acknowledgment that the Demons are stronger than the Celestials.”
So it seems this wasn’t exactly a war after all.
Just as they always desired victory, it seemed they simply wanted to win the COL against the Celestials.
This year’s COL Champs had just been won by the Demon team.
The Demons were known as the race that sought out fights with the strong.
Now, it seemed they wanted to overcome the Celestials too.
“But can the Celestials actually do it?”
“Actually, I just got a response after a year. They said they’d fight. So we hope to hold this grand tournament, so please prepare.”
Apparently, the Celestials would even make a public appearance.
They were requesting a tournament, though it seemed more like a special event battle between the Celestials and the Demons.
“Surely, there won’t be any damage to the Mid-World, right?”
“Of course not. It’ll just be COL. But they want you to be an audience for it.”
“Now that you mention it… understood.”
The Demon King Sama preferred resolving things through games rather than war.
That fact was positive, but…
Why did the Celestials agree to this proposition, even if they couldn’t play games?
Especially considering that the Demons excelled at fighting games like COL.
In reality, they may even be better than humans at them.
“…I don’t get it.”
Soon after, Rikal arrived, and I started talking with him.
“…Can’t they just settle this among themselves in a game?”
“It seems they think they have to earn recognition from the Mid-World, Heavenly Realm, and Demon Realm all at once. Originally, the Demons prided themselves on being the strongest race.”
“Hmmm… Celestials. Celestials…”
“Is the Prince also a devout believer of the Goddess Church?”
“Not particularly. To be honest, I’ve believed in the words of Demon King Sama from the very beginning. It felt more convincing that way.”
That makes sense.
Zebit and the Demon King Sama grew close after a few collaborations together.
Initially, they kept an eye on the Demon King Sama, but soon they became chummy.
Since they got along with the Demon King Sama, it’s no wonder they believed him.
It’s pretty funny that the Prince is close with the Demon King, though.
“So, what are we going to do? We need a stadium.”
“…Rather than using the existing stadium, how about utilizing the Trinity Council like we did during the Arcane War? It would allow us to contain any dangerous situations.”
“But there aren’t many spectators there.”
“Can’t we just stream it live from Twatch?”
“Hmmm.”
It seemed somewhat persuasive.
I wasn’t sure if the Tower Masters would agree to it.
However, since the Demon King Sama was friendly, it didn’t seem the Celestials would be in much danger.
It was just absurd that beings like them would come this far to fight through a game.
Why is it that everyone here is so eager to immerse themselves in this?
“Understood.”
Surprisingly, the Tower Masters passed the proposal in one go.
The Tower Masters showed great interest at the idea of beings from the heavenly realm making an appearance.
So, it was decided that the COL battle between the Celestials and the Demons would take place at Trinity.
And that fact spread across the world.
“What?! The Celestials and Demons are going to have a showdown in COL?!”
“The Celestials responded to the Demon King Sama’s request?!”
“Does that mean the Goddess will descend?”
“Are there five Goddesses?”
Utter chaos.
And just then, a revelation came down from the heavenly realm.
“Oh… this is…”
The content of the revelation concerned this battle between the Celestials and the Demons.
It stated that the five Archangels would descend to the earthly realm to thwart the wicked schemes of the Demons.
This declaration meant that the Celestials would directly achieve victory and drive the Demons out.
This revealed the existence of the Archangels and somewhat eased the distrust regarding how the Celestials had used the Mid-World as a shield in the past.
[The revelation reveals the shocking existence of the heavenly realm: the five divine Archangels descend to vanquish the Demons.]
[Summary of the history of the War of Humans and Demons along with the revelations so far.]
[The Celestial-Demon War begins at Trinity. What is the purpose of this war? The Demon King Sama remains silent.]
[The real Celestial users have been confirmed to exist. The gaming skill of the Celestials is ‘the worst’.]
[Can the Celestials really achieve victory? Honestly, the lacking gaming skill of the Celestials.]
[A tense nerve war between the followers of the Goddess Church and the Demon King Sama faction. Is it right for a human to become a fan of the Demon King Sama?]
[Interview with the representative of the Demon King Sama fan club, ‘Demon King Sama Faction.’ ‘Demon King Sama is not evil.’]
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“Who are you going to root for in this Celestial-Demon War?”
“Honestly, it’s the Demon King Sama. I was never a follower of the Goddess Church.”
“But what if something happens? If the Demons and Celestials clash, wouldn’t the continent be completely destroyed?”
“Oh come on! Do you really think the Archangels would put us in danger? And would the Demon King Sama really put us in danger? We’re safe!”
“I-is that so?”
The quaking continent.
The ticketing competition for the Celestial-Demon War surpassed a staggering ratio of 10,000,000:1.
It’s no exaggeration to say that every race in the continent attempted to buy tickets.
The audience capacity at Trinity was far smaller compared to the royal tournaments, which only increased the competition.
“The Celestials are coming down to the Mid-World… What on earth made this happen…?”
“I don’t know! Just let me go watch the match, so don’t bother me for a while!”
“Didn’t you stop coming around because of games recently, Riji… Hmmm… if that’s the case, then I might…”
When saying all races, that included Dragons too.
However, it’s needless to say that the Dragons didn’t engage in ticket purchasing directly.
Instead, they moved their bodies just from hearing the news from Riji.
The Dragons of the continent soared the skies heading towards Trinity.
“Hey, why are you here, blackie?”
“Shut it, Gold. If the Celestials are coming down, how can I not be interested?”
“Everyone be careful! One wrong flap of your wings and the continent could fly off!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be polymorphed so I’ll just watch.”
“…Dragons?”
The Space Tower Master, who was preparing for the Celestial-Demon War, was taken aback.
One Dragon might have been manageable, but now, all the Dragons on the continent were flying in.
It was a sight so rare it would be hard to believe the world could end at any moment.
As the Dragons entered the space above Trinity, they transformed into human forms and stood before the Space Tower Master.
“Transcendent one, may we also watch the war between the Celestials and the Demons?”
“Yes, that’s possible, but the audience seats are fully booked.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll watch from here.”
“Y-yes, sure.”
Each of them grabbing popcorn, the Dragons settled in the audience seats above.
After a while, the audience began to enter.
The crowd was bustling.
The lucky ones who had secured tickets through intense competition.
However, those who missed out on tickets were also watching through the ‘Twatch’ broadcast.
The number of viewers reached about 100 million.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that nearly all races across the continent were now watching the broadcast of the Celestial-Demon War.
And then the lights on stage lit up.
The moment the match was about to begin.
“Now, we will commence the battle between the Celestials and the Demons! The showdown between the Demons and Celestials shall begin—!” With Rai’s announcement, the divine light and dark magic began to envelop the stage.