I Healed the Cold Dark Goddess’s Loneliness, and Now She Won’t Let Me Go! - Chapter 30

“So… you didn’t want me to die, so you poured your divine power into me.”

I had Lady Reine explain once more exactly what she had done to me. Because these wings were definitely related to that.

“Precisely. I originally intended to transfer about half, but you woke up partway through, so it stopped at around thirty percent.”

“No, no, no! Half of your power would be way too much! I’m not worthy!”

If things had gone according to plan, I would have ended up with the same power level as her. That’s just… I mean, even now, I possess thirty percent of a God’s power? I… I graduated from being human before I even realized it.

“Um… and these wings…?”

When I focused on them, the black feathers twitched and fluttered. I didn’t feel like I could actually fly with them yet, but they were definitely a part of my body.

“They are, so to speak, a plug. Do not worry; you can make them vanish. Take a deep breath and visualize pulling the wings back inside you.”

“A plug…? O-okay.”

As instructed, I closed my eyes and imagined the wings folding back into me. I felt a sensation like the feathers suddenly blinking out of existence. But in their place…

“Whoa!?”

I felt something erupting from my back. It wasn’t just a feeling, either; black mist began pouring out from behind me… yes, darkness. It was the exact same darkness Lady Reine used whenever she created something.

I panicked, not knowing what to do with this “smoke” coming out of me, until Lady Reine gave my back a light pat. Instantly, the sensation of something leaking out stopped.

“What was that just now…?”

“That is Shadow Divinity, the same as mine. It is the source of power that stands as the opposite to the magic of the People of Light.”

“Ah, right! Magic was originally Lord Sulug’s power too…”

Come to think of it, “pouring power into someone” is exactly what Lord Sulug did for the people in the Domain of Light. I guess I’ve basically become a magic-wielder like them.

“Though, Haruno’s power is incomparable to theirs.”

“Ahaha…”

Well, I suppose so. Lady Reine gave me thirty percent of her power directly… so I’m naturally way stronger than people who are all sharing Lord Sulug’s power across an entire domain.

“In your case, Haruno, your body seems to discharge divine energy from your back. To prevent the energy from leaking out constantly, your wings unconsciously formed to plug the vents.”

“So, they really are ‘plugs’…”

“Once you grow accustomed to it, you will be able to open and close the vents at will without my help… but that will require training.”

It seemed Lady Reine had closed the “vents” for me just now. Thank goodness. If I had wings sticking out all the time, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep on my back.

“Very well, Haruno. For a start, try manifesting the wings once more.”

“Eh?! I-I’ll try, but…”

I focused on my back. I visualized spreading wings.

This time, wings even larger and more magnificent than before sprouted forth.

“O-ohhh~!”

Now that I’d accepted them, seeing them was actually pretty exciting. Black wings… so cool!

“L-Lady Reine! Can I fly with these?!”

“If you wish it, you can. That is the power of a God. It is nothing like that half-baked magic.”

“O-ohhh~!”

Lady Reine could teleport and manifest objects from memory like it was nothing. If I have the same divine power, does that mean I can do those things too?!

My spirits lifted, and I started practicing how to handle the power under Lady Reine’s guidance. I was getting the hang of it quickly, and I was just starting to have fun dreaming about the possibilities when…

“Reine!”

A familiar voice. Lord Sulug appeared, looking more frantic than I had ever seen him. But his expression brightened the moment he saw my face.

“! Haruno! Thank goodness, you’re safe…”

“Lord Sulug, you’re safe too!”

He looked relieved to see me okay, and I felt the same. After all, the reason I had run out there was because he was in danger.

“Hmph. I exercised the utmost caution. There was never any chance of something happening to Haruno.”

“That’s not the point! No, that’s over and done with Reine. I am glad Haruno is safe, but we have a much bigger problem.”

Lord Sulug’s expression turned grave.

“Reine! You must return your blessing to the land!”

“I refuse.”

“っ! If this continues, the world will…!”

“Huh? The… the world…?”

The world. That one word gave me a glimpse of the sheer scale of the emergency Lord Sulug was bringing to us. And apparently, it involved Lady Reine.

“What do you mean? Lady Reine, what’s this about ‘returning the blessing’…?”

“……”

Lady Reine turned her head away with a huff, like a sulky child. This was her “I’m being extremely stubborn” face. Seeing that she wasn’t going to answer, Lord Sulug spoke up.

“Look outside, Haruno.”

“Okay…? Wait, it’s bright…!”

When I looked out the temple window, it was broad daylight. In this place where it was supposed to be a perpetual moonlit night, the sun was rising.

“Wh-what’s going on?!”

“Reine withdrew her blessing from this land. As a result, the entire world with the exception of this temple is being filled with my blessing.”

“Is that… um, is that bad?”

If the whole world just became a perpetual day like the Domain of Light, it didn’t seem like the world was going to end. On Earth, losing the night would be a massive disaster, but it was the norm in the Domain of Light.

“The issue is that the balance between Reine and myself has been broken. At this rate, my influence will grow dominant without limit… and eventually, the sun will become so intense that humans will not be able to survive it.”

“That’s very bad!”

Okay, yeah, that’s definitely a disaster.

“Hmph. So that’s how it is.”

“Which is why, Reine, you must return your blessing to the land!”

“I see no necessity. Whatever happens outside this temple has nothing to do with me or Haruno.”

“N-n-no way! You can’t say that, Lady Reine!”

She was cutting the rest of the world off as if anyone besides me and her didn’t matter at all. The sense of responsibility she used to have toward the villagers seemed to have vanished completely.

“Haruno…”

Lady Reine’s eyes wavered at my protest. I couldn’t just stand by and let Mina-chan and the others become unable to survive.

…But after everything that happened, I finally understood why Lady Reine hated humans so much. It wasn’t surprising that her distaste had worsened.

I realized the only way to get her to cooperate was to push it as a personal “selfish” request of mine. But before I could speak:

“However… since it is your wish, Haruno, I am inclined to listen. If I had simply granted your wish the other day, that incident would never have occurred.”

“Lady Reine, then…!”

“The other day”… she meant when I almost died. It was true that if she had helped Lord Sulug when I asked, I wouldn’t have recklessly run out. But I was the one who acted impulsively, so I didn’t want her to beat herself up about it too much. I was just starting to feel like everything was settled, when:

“But… Sulug. Is there not no end to this?”

“No end…?”

Lord Sulug echoed her, caught off guard by her objection.

“You may be willing to throw everything away for the sake of humans, but I am not. I choose a future with Haruno. Normally, I would not care what became of you, but you nearly died the other day. If you truly perished, my darkness would have covered the world and run rampant. Am I wrong?”

“That is…”

“At the rate you are going, you could die at any moment. In fact, you are practically eager to sacrifice your life for those humans. I refuse to be part of such a pathetic suicide pact.”

It was a valid point and something that had been bothering me too. Lord Sulug cherished Lady Reine, but it felt like his priority for her was quite low compared to humanity. His actions were almost like saying, “Since it’s for the people, Reine, please perish along with me”… though maybe that’s too cynical a way to look at it.

“…Reine. Just give me your conclusion. What do you intend to do?”

“It is decided. Haruno and I are cutting ties with this world entirely.”

The solution Lady Reine proposed was incredibly drastic.