I open my heavy eyelids and the familiar ceiling greets me.
　It's my room. It's my usual bed.

"You noticed?
Sister Hanakoi.

　My sister Hanakoi was sitting on the couch beside the bed, holding a mass-produced phone in her hand.
　She tried to get up, but her body was heavy.

''I'm sleeping some more. The effects of the 'Divine Demonic Poison' have just finally worn off, so you're also deprived of energy.'
...the "divine evil poison"?
It's a poison that can kill the gods. We didn't expect this kind of move.

　Crossing her arms, Hanakoi sister groans with a gumming sound.
　Poison........poison? That's certainly the feeling that fits.
　The "Divine Demon Poison" is a poison that kills gods. The stronger the divinity, the more toxic it becomes. It seems that it's something that's seriously dangerous for you and your sisters.
　It's true that when I tried to turn myself into a god, I ended up in terrible trouble too.
　The Hanakoi sisters couldn't go to my rescue. Even if my body is human, a god is a god. This is because they might fall down on the spot.
　That's why Sakura, the only one who can use transference magic, volunteered. She was also becoming a god's family member, so she was affected by the poison and fell asleep for a whole day.

'A whole day... how many days did I sleep?'
It's been three days. It was a big deal. Everyone was getting upset and wouldn't leave the bed. I tell you, they love my brother.

　You've been down for three days.... I'm sorry for worrying you all. I'll apologize later.

''I wonder if the effects of the poison have completely worn off?
''Don't worry, the 'Divine Demon Poison' won't work if you don't get close to it, and if you move away from it, the effects will eventually disappear.

　I see......... 　I've seen a lot of those same ones fall!

Map view!
Indicators.

　A new world map is projected from the phone on the side table.



''Na........!

　I couldn't help but exclaim. The west side of the world map, that is, the underworld side, a part of it is missing. No, it's not so much missing as it is divided.
　The north and east of Isengard had disappeared, and it was completely isolated.

''This is........''
''The same thing that Fuyao-kun destroyed fell on this whole area. It rotted the earth and changed the terrain...
That spiny needle...!

　The annihilation of the earth as the earth spirit said........ That time it stopped because I destroyed it, but I didn't expect it to get to this state........

''But why did you focus on just this place and fall...?''
'There are smaller ones down in other places. According to Regina's analysis, something was embedded in this area before, right?　I thought the wreckage of that thing might have attracted a bigger one.

　The place where Hanakoi's sister was pointing. That's where I knew I'd seen it before.
　It's the place where the giant golden tree appeared before. Could it be that thing was some kind of advance team?
　The golden spores that were scattered in that country.... They descended on that as a guide....

What happened to Isengard?
That's the thing........I don't know. All I can say is that the 'divine and demonic poison' has been spread throughout this country.
All over the place.
'Thanks to that, I couldn't use my divine power to see at a distance. It inhibits me like a noise in the air.

　I heard that in the land invaded by "divine demon poisoning", our magic belonging to the gods is inhibited and cannot be used well. I wondered why the coastline appears on the map, but the cities within Isengard don't show up. This must be because it's blocking the search magic.
　Holy crap. I can't even go there with transfer magic? Well, if I go there, I'll fall down immediately.
　It's not a problem if you're a search magic or transfer magic user other than me who doesn't belong to a god.... Unfortunately, I don't know of any other users besides our relatives who are that good at it.

It's not a good idea. The "divine Demon Poison" is a poison that can kill even gods. You're not the only one with a lesser divinity, and even evil gods are not exceptions. And yet...
I know what to expect about that.

　Before I knew it, Morobane sister was standing behind Hanakoi sister. As usual, her appearance was too sudden.

''It didn't make sense to me for a long time that the evil god was holed up in the inter-dimensional space and didn't appear on our side, but now I understand. That guy was adapting himself to the 'divine Demon Poison'.
Adaptation?
'Little by little I was acclimating myself to the poison. He is an evil god with little divinity to begin with. It's not impossible. And then he gained a body that could overcome the 'divine Devil's Poison'.
No, conquering is not the right word. Conquering isn't the right word.

　I open the balcony window and sister Karina comes in. Wait a minute, where are you coming in, hunting god!　Come on in through the door!
　I wanted to tsk, but I put that aside and ask the question.

''What do you mean ... taken in?''
'How do you think the weaker creatures can avoid being preyed upon by the stronger ones?'
'What?　It could be........living in harmony with a stronger creature, or mimicking to be able to escape and hide.......or acting in groups. And... well, poison...
I'll take that as a yes. He fed us a god-killing poison that we couldn't touch. It's a cunning trick. No god or god's family can get anywhere near one affected by this 'divine evil poison'.

　Venomous organisms can be roughly divided into two categories. There are two types of creatures: those that are venomous to prey, and those that are venomous to avoid being preyed upon.
　Venomous creatures such as vipers and scorpions are the former. In the former case, they can inject neurotoxins into their opponents to make them immobile before they are preyed upon.
　The latter would be a puffer fish or a hermit frog. They secrete venom or carry it in their bodies to kill the predator.
　It was the latter that the evil gods took. It is said that the higher the divinity of the 'divine Demon Poison', the more dangerous it is......................Huh?

''........Could it be that the 'Divine Demon Poison' doesn't work on humans?''
'It doesn't work. It's completely harmless if you're not a god or a god's family member in the first place. Instead, any barrier will be eroded if it enters the range of the 'divine Demon Poison', so even Fuyao-kun's [Prison] can't prevent it.

　Sister Morobane answered that. Even [Prison] can't prevent it........ The two new voices reach me as I furrow my brows.

''The lucky thing was that we were separated from the continent. The [Divine Demon Poison] is absorbed by the earth and contaminates its geology. However, what washed into the ocean will fade and disappear. So we no longer have to worry about contaminating the entire world.
But... but... In the end, the land of that country has been eroded by the "divine and demonic poison". It's become a poisonous swamp for all the gods and their relatives.

　Uncle Kosuke, the god of agriculture, and Drunken Hana, the god of alcohol, are sitting on the sofa while talking to each other. So, where did they come from?　
　Apparently, the 'Divine Demon Poison' doesn't maintain the foggy state I saw, but rather dissolves into the ground and turns the earth into something toxic (only to the gods and their attendants, that is).
　Come to think of it, there was an American comic book hero whose weakness was a special ore........ I wonder if it's like that.

'What happened to the people of Isengard?
There hasn't been any particular change yet. Even though the land has been contaminated by the Divine Demon Poison, it doesn't do any harm to humans. However, the place is crawling with mutant species, and the situation is quite dangerous. I have heard that some of them have escaped by boat to the neighboring countries.

　The sound of a sad guitar drifted out of the closed closet, as if to cover Sister Morobane's explanation. Eric Satie's "Gymnopedie"........
　I'm not going to tsk anymore. It's a trivial matter why the music gods are in my closet.

Didn't some of those needles fall out of the country?　What about you?
'They're all small, and a few mutants seem to have sprung up, but the Adventurer's Guild and the Knights of the Land seem to have managed to deal with them. Most of the larger ones fell together in Isengard...
"Other than Isengard, what's the 'divine magic poison'?
'It's being scattered around, but it's basically harmless to humans and animals. It's just that it will be a land where spirits won't be able to get close, and there won't be a single plant or tree growing there.

　Spirits are God's family. They don't come close to a land that destroys them.
　Which means that Isengard will be a land without spirits.... I cannot receive the grace of the spirits. Isn't that a land where no one can live anymore?

So, what are you going to do now?　This world is no longer in the hands of the World God. The only thing left to do is what you do with it, Fuyu Yoru.

　Sister Karina turns her gaze to me with a wry smile. What do I do?　It's obvious.

"I'm going to slay the evil one. We can't let them have their way with us. I will exterminate them from this world.

　The Hanakoi sisters look at each other and laugh. It's kind of annoying when they give me a Nimanima and "I thought you'd say that" look.

That's the spirit!

　Bang on the door of the room!　And then it opens up vigorously, and I'd say it opens up, or rather blows open, and my uncle Wuliu comes in.
　So ah!　Can't you people just walk in here?

"We will do everything in our power to help you in your fight!　So go ahead and fight without a care in the world!　I'll pick up the bones!
No, I'm not going to die. And fix the door.

　He returns the words to his uncle Buryu, who hotly raises his fist to the heavens, with a cold look in his eyes. An unlucky thing to say.

''Fuyao-san!　You're awake...

　As expected, if I was making that much noise, everyone would notice.
　In no time at all, people were rushing around my bed. Hey, soooo!　Don't go diving!
　In the middle of it all, I took Sakura's hand, which was a little tearful, and pulled her close.

'Thank you. I don't know what would have happened if Sakura hadn't come to my rescue...

　She shook her head with a shake of her head and Sakura stared at me with straight eyes.

''It's natural. It's natural for us to help the king. It is the role of the wife to support her husband. You should rely on him more.''

　I'm not your wife because you're not married yet, but I'm really happy about that feeling. I couldn't help but hug Sakura who smiled at me saying that. d*mn, she's so cute!

You must be so jealous...
Well, it can't be helped this time. Even Sakura slept through the day. It's your reward.

　Else strokes Sue's head as she sucks her fingers. If this kind of thing is a reward, I'll give you as much as I can, but....
　But still, the fact that Sakura was also affected by the 'Divine Demon Poison' means that everyone else is in danger too.......
　Assuming we defeat the evil god, that's the problem.

''How much of this 'divine Devil's Poison' does it affect?　If not everyone here, for example, if it's our Knights, does it have any effect on them?
Well it's a difficult thing to do. If you are a complete stranger, you have nothing to worry about. However, even if you are under the protection of someone who is slightly affected by the divine energy, those who are close to Fuyao-kun may be affected by the 'divine demon poisoning', even if it's only mildly...

　Hmmm, Hanakoi's sister crossed her arms and groaned. What, that's all that affects you?
　Sister Morobane also explained with a small nod of her head.

The Divine Demon Poison reacts to such divine love as love, friendship, affection, goodwill, and favor, and eats away at life. Perhaps everyone who lives in Brunhild will be damaged in some way. But it's not going to kill you like we did. It's just a mild case of nausea and dizziness.

　"If you hate a priest, I hate you even for your kesa," were the words that flowed through my mind. The devil's poison, which invades all lives related to the natural enemy called God. What a nasty thing to say.
　That means it affects everyone I know.... This hurts my heart. Oh, no, it doesn't have any effect on the people who were offended or didn't care about it?

''Well, isn't there a way to prevent the 'divine Demon Poison'?

　Her uncle Kosuke answers Linse's question by reluctantly opening his mouth.

''There is no such thing on earth. It's not that there is no way to invade its body like an evil god and let the poison acclimate to its body, but if you do that, we and you will never be able to touch Fuyoru-kun again.
Rejected!　I can't allow that!

　Sue was the first to object. I don't want to take that approach either.

''We should think of some kind of solution. That evil god?　And I can't just leave the "I'm not going to let the

　Lou cuts him off as such, but he has no idea what to do about it. If there's not a single survivor in Isengard, there might have been a way to sink the entire country, though. I don't think that would be enough to kill us, though.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure it's a breakthrough, that it is...

　Oozomu Yae raises her hand towards her sister Hanakoi. What is it?　If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them.

Isn't this 'divine magic poison' also effective against machines?
A machine?　Yeah, you can't try to attack it in frame gear, can you?　Even Fuyao-kun's 【Prison】 is being eroded. The defensive barriers deployed in the cockpit of the frame gear are useless...
Oh, no, not that way, that's the Golem one.

　For a moment, I didn't understand what Yae was talking about, and then I pouted, but then I came to understand.

''For example, that is. The golems that Fuyao-dono treasures are also affected by the 'divine and demonic poison' and die... oh, no, will they stop functioning?
''It won't be. Since it's not a living thing, I don't think it's affected by the 'divine Demon Poison'.......

　I see. Morobane, you're right, Golem........well, Frame Gear, but the machines themselves are not affected by the "divine Demon Poison"?
　It's true that if even tools and objects were affected by the "divine Demon Poison", my clothes, Brunhild, and even my phone would have been no good to me.
　It's beginning to shed some light on this. You know, Golem is an Elka engineer. Let's go talk to him.