In Another World With My Smartphone: Volume 13 Read online

  “Sounds like yer plenty busy in this world, huh. It’s the same on our side. I gotta rip that Yula bastard limb from limb, y’know? Honestly, I don’t think y’got him, but I gotta ask... Y’all ain’t harboring that guy, are ya?”

  “What?” What does he mean by this? Yula...? He was hanging out with the NEET god before the stuff went down with the wicked godbeast... But what the hell did he do? Why would we be sheltering him?

  “...What did you mean by that? Are you saying Yula came through to this world?”

  “Y’all really don’t know, huh? Tsk... That’s a real goddamn pain. The hell is he, then...?” Gila furrowed his brow and growled at the ground. It seemed like he was trying to locate Yula. I didn’t understand if they were enemies or allies.

  But if what Gila had said was true, and Yula had seriously come to this world, then things were gonna go from bad to worse.

  Even if the recoil sent him back, he’d gradually become acclimatized to being here until he’d be able to maintain a permanent presence... And if that happened...

  “...What happened to the wicked god’s cocoon, Gila? Did Yula do something? Those muddy-gold Phrase look similar to it.”

  “Oh? Y’know about the Shining Egg? Tell me what’cha know about it, bastard! We don’t got any idea of what it is... It’s creepy as hell! Nobody can break it! It sucks in the footsoldiers that goes near it and turns ‘em into weird shit!” Gila looked pissed off as he spoke, but he looked pissed off most of the time anyway. I was relieved either way. It seemed like the cocoon was still on the other side... I was worried it had hatched, or that Yula might have brought it over with him.

  From what I could gather it seemed like Yula had abandoned the other Dominant Constructs and left the cocoon behind... But something felt fishy. There’s no way he’d just abandon the wicked god for no reason... Something felt really wrong, and it was irritating me.

  “Pssh... Well, I don’t give a shit what that freak’s been plannin’. All I gotta do is kill him, right?”

  “Aren’t you guys both Dominant Constructs? I thought you were allies.”

  “That’s pretty racist, kid. We don’t all gotta stick together. At the end of the day I, the great Gila, will designate anyone who gets in my way an enemy. That goes fer you too, twerp.” Gila grinned as his arm morphed into a spear, then he came lunging at me.

  “[Slip]!”

  “Ghaugh!” Gila’s glorious charge turned into him falling flat on his face. I tried to shoot him with a couple of Phrasium bullets while he was down, but he managed to avoid them.

  He extended the tip of his spear-like arm and embedded it into a rock before using it to pull his body out of my spell’s effective range.

  “Bastard! What’d I say about playin’ dirty?!”

  He glared at me, but I was getting sick of his attitude. I was pretty pleased that not even he was safe from my slippery ways, though.

  “How about I make you fall over forever, you crystal loser.”

  “Tsk... Think again, bitch. I ain’t gonna fall fer that again.” As he spoke, his heels began morphing slightly, small fragments of crystal began to protrude from his feet. When the transformation was finished, he began to hover above the ground. No fair, that’s cheating! But I guess since there are flying Phrase, it makes sense that a Dominant would be able to do that...

  “Can’t slip me now, you little bastard! Time to pay ya what yer owed!” Gila came charging towards me. It looked like he was running still, but he was clearly levitating.

  I used Brunhild to fire off several rounds at him, but they did nothing. He tanked every shot and continued hurtling towards me at a breakneck pace.

  “Gh... [Accel]!” Just as his spear arm was about to smash into my ribcage, I managed to jump out of the way.

  But Gila saw my change in motion and kicked off the ground, changing his own direction to chase after me.

  His posture changed as he prepared to get me with a shoulder tackle. Several small spines began growing out of the surface of his body, primed to stab me. Oh crap! I can’t dodge that!

  “[Shield]!” I managed to use a shielding spell to prevent those spines from hitting me, but it didn’t stop the attack’s momentum. My own shield slammed into me, sending me flying backward and rolling along the ground.

  I looked up to try and get my bearings, and Gila was gone from where he was. He was now standing right above me, his spear arm transformed into a fist, and it was poised to come slamming into my face.

  I dodged by jumping to the side, but an enormous shockwave from Gila’s impact with the ground reverberated outwards. If that attack had hit me, it would’ve done some serious damage... He wasn’t holding back this time.

  “C’mon, punk! Y’just gonna bore me by dodgin’ all the time?!” He grinned as if to goad me into attacking.

  I couldn’t use [Teleport] effectively since he was attacking me so often. I needed to have a clear eye on the target to even manage a good hit.

  He could keep up with my [Accel] as well, which meant that another surprise attack was out of the question.

  Plus his body was just too tough. The shots I’d fired earlier had clearly hit his face and chest, but had barely made a dent in him.

  Given that he was a Phrase, it stood to reason that he’d have a core like the rest of them... But I had no idea where it was.

  Standard Phrase were fully transparent, which made it easy to see where their cores were. But the Dominant Constructs weren’t fully transparent, only the crystal outcroppings on their bodies were.

  If they had organs like humans, then it stood to reason that their cores would be stand-ins for their brains or hearts. I really should’ve asked Ende’s friend Lycee about more details when I had the chance.

  “Guess I don’t have much of a choice here...” I allowed divinity to freely flow through my body, releasing it from me in an explosive burst. I’d unleashed my Apotheosis.

  “Oh? What’s all this...?” Gila sneered uneasily at my transformation.

  My hair color changed again, but it didn’t grow any longer this time. It seemed like my control over the process had increased to some degree.

  “What’s a little change of color gonna do, huh?!” He sneered once more before charging towards me, fist clenched. Gila roared as his fist came crashing down towards me.

  My left hand, now clad in divinity, caught his fist with little effort.

  “Wh... What?!” I stared him down silently and began to pour more strength into my grasp. Slowly, I heard cracking sounds, and Gila’s fist crumbled into tiny fragments.

  “Kh... Wh-What?! You fucker!” Gila jumped backward and thrust out his non-broken hand towards me. All five of his fingers extended forwards with incredible speed, attempting to pierce me.

  But I could read all his motions clearly. I used Brunhild’s blade to sever all his fingers, they shattered to bits in an instant.

  “Son of a... Just what the hell happened?!”

  “Just a little trick of mine. I didn’t want to use it, and now you’ve gone and made me do it.” Though I was joking, I couldn’t really afford to. The Apotheosis put an incredible strain on my body. I was fine for the time being, but I knew that once I turned back into a mortal, I’d pass out and probably need to rest for a while.

  I needed to win this fight. I had to take out Gila, the Phrase, and the metal devils.

  “Don’t get fulla yerself, bastard! Yer just a human in the end! But fine, you wanna get serious?! I’ll show ya serious!” Gila scowled hard as his broken parts began to regenerate, but that was only the beginning...

  The crystalline parts covering his body started to rapidly grow and expand. His head, chest, and stomach... All of his body became coated in Phrasium material. Everything except his eyes was coated in a thick lump of crystal.

  His fingernails began to extend into menacing claws, and crystal spines protruded from his back. His head had a horn on it, and he’d even grown a tail.

  He’d turned into some k
ind of crystal beast... He almost resembled a dragon-like beastman, but far more horrific.

  I wondered if this was the true form of the Dominant Constructs.

  “GRAUUUUGH!” He swung his fist into the air, slashing his nails through the very atmosphere. The shockwave rippled towards me, but I managed to see and avoid it thanks to my divinity. Several Lesser Constructs behind me were unable to dodge, and the sheer air pressure sliced them to bits.

  I shot several divinity-laden bullets in Gila’s direction. He laughed and crossed his arms as if to tank them, but exclaimed in shock and horror as the bullets actually sank through his carapace.

  “Impossible...! How could you penetrate my Crystal Armament?!” Ha! So divinity does work, great. Just as I was thinking that, the bullets were stopped in their tracks by Gila’s rapid regeneration. They fell to the ground with a clatter.

  Shooting or cutting at him, even with divinity, didn’t mean much if he could recover. I needed to destroy his core if I wanted to win.

  “You gotta be kiddin’ me...! Don’t mess with me, Tooya! I’ll put you in the ground!!” He roared right at me. I couldn’t make out his face behind the crystal armor, but he seemed furious. His entire body was shaking.

  Wait... He’s not just shaking, he’s... convulsing? Light began to overflow from Gila’s body, and I realized what was happening. Oh crap... Is he charging one of those railgun blasts that the Upper Constructs can use?! The light began to swirl around, causing any fighters nearby to stop in their tracks and stare.

  “Crap... I gotta stop him!” I knew he was going to aim at me. Dodging would be easy... But the people behind me would die. There’s no way they’d be able to dodge a blast like that.

  Gila, uncaring, continued to charge up his blast.

  Suddenly I noticed something... A round object was shining in Gila’s throat. Is that... Is that his core?! The Upper Constructs had glowing cores right before they fired, too... So there was no mistaking it. That was what I had to crush to kill him. “That’s right, ya rat bastard! Take the hit or mourn yer friends! Ahaha--guh?!” Just as Gila was about to release his energy, his entire body was rocked by a fierce impact.

  A massive crystal bullet came in from the darkness, fragmenting against his dense body and causing him to stumble.

  He was staggered for only one or two steps, but that didn’t stop me from taking the chance.

  I fired a divine bullet right against his throat. Just one shot. The starlit night echoed only the sounds of shattering glass.

  “...Oh...?” Gila let out a gasp and clutched at his own neck. The hole made in his body by Brunhild’s bullet was gaping.

  The crystal armor coating Gila’s body loosened and clattered to the ground. My own gun, struggling from the recoil, broke down at the same time.

  “That... Im...possible...” Gila’s body slowly turned into pure crystal, as if the life was being sucked right out of him. And, after a short while, the lump of shining rock that was once the magnificent Gila, fell forwards and shattered into myriad pieces.

  I cautiously looked at him, but there were no signs of regeneration. He was gone forever.

  I turned my head towards the beautiful Valkyrie who had given me that golden opportunity.

  Brunnhilde, the silver Frame Gear, lowering its sniper rifle and standing proud in the darkness. Yumina... Had really outdone herself. Hitting a target so small at a range like that? She saved all of us...

  I let out a sigh as the divinity flowed from my body. In a mere matter of moments, fatigue and dizziness wracked my body. I had no strength to even stand.

  I started crumpling to the floor when suddenly, someone appeared from nowhere as if to catch me.

  “You did a good job, you know? We’re proud of you, little brother...”

  “That was quite the fight, Touya. I’m really impressed.” My eyelids were heavy but I opened them up anyway. I saw two familiar girls supporting me.

  “Late as ever... What terrible sisters...” Karen and Moroha. They’d probably come after sensing the metal devils and their divinity. Then they probably picked up the pace when they’d sensed my own.

  “Now now, Touya my boy... I wished to see how far you had come with my own two eyes, so it was I who asked them not to interfere.” Yet another familiar face appeared before me. Even you came...? Ah well... I guess you would... You are visiting... The other gods aren’t here, though...

  I didn’t know about Uncle Kousuke, but I had no doubt in my mind that Suika would be either blackout drunk or sleeping.

  “Ah... It’s bad... World barrier... Gotta...”

  “Now, now. Everything is fine. Once things are cleaned up here, I promise I will get everyone back home with my magic. Rest for now, my boy...”

  “Oh... O-Okay... Then I’ll sleep... Thank you...” I was fatigued beyond measure and ultimately submitted to unconsciousness.

  ◇　◇　◇

  The festival was over by the time I came to.

  I’d been sleeping for over a day... Thirty-six hours, to be more specific.

  The fatigue brought on by my Apotheosis was far more intense than I’d expected, leading me to fall unconscious for quite some time.

  Yumina and the other Valkyries, as well as the knight order mopped up the remaining Phrase after I passed out. Even Moroha chipped in.

  The metal devils were definitely blessed by the wicked god. I was worried their divinity would make them unkillable, but thankfully they didn’t have much coating their souls.

  The gods weren’t allowed to use their divinity, but my sister managed to dispatch the metal devils without any real issue.

  After the battle, God Almighty used [Gate] to send everyone home to Brunhild. From there I was put straight to bed. Flora confirmed I was only fatigued, so they let me sleep it off... For a full day and a half...

  As such, I slept through the end of the festivities. The knight king of Lestia and Jutaro ended up clashing with each other in the final round of the fighting tournament, and Yae’s brother ended up winning just by a hair’s breadth.

  Lord Ieyahsu was in the audience, and he along with the Eashen delegation were reportedly delighted. All the former Eashen-dwelling immigrants who lived in Brunhild were also happy that Jutaro won. It only made sense that they’d be proud.

  Since I was asleep, Kousaka hosted the awards ceremony in my stead. The winner was Jutaro, and second was the knight king. He’d been using “Rei Hard” as a fake name. The third-place winner was Sonia, which came as a small surprise to me.

  There were also interesting battles like a father-son clash between Leon and Lyon, a fierce fight between old man Baba and the beastking, and many other action-packed fights. It was a shame I completely missed all of them while napping.

  Kousaka also officiated the closing ceremony, and apparently, the town was lively all through the night as the partying continued on until dawn.

  The festival came to a close just like that, everyone was home before morning, and I opened my eyes just before noon.

  The only people in my room were my nine fiancées and Paula the stuffed bear.

  “Crap... Seriously?” I sat in my bed, sighing softly as they explained the situation to me.

  There’s no way... There’s just no way I slept through all of that and left our guests alone...

  The other world leaders had the situation explained to them and thus weren’t offended. In fact, the people that governed the nations bordering Yulong expressed their deepest gratitude. But I still missed a lot, and that sucked.

  The world leaders and their parties were returned to their homes via several [Gate] spells called on by god himself.

  They were initially confused as to how someone else was using my magic, but once the pope explained that he was my grandfather, that seemed to satisfy their curiosities.

  “I’m a mess...”

  “That’s not true! You were in a life-or-death fight! It’s only normal you collapsed!” Lu tried to reassure me, but it only made me
feel even more impotent.

  I took on the risks when I activated my Apotheosis, but I never expected this. I definitely caused trouble for a bunch of people...

  Ugh... The timing for all this seriously sucks. Gila, you rat bastard...

  “Don’t feel bad about it, Touya. The festival was great!” Elze definitely raised a fair point, but I still wanted to see it through myself.

  “I wish to participate in the tournament next time, I do.”

  “Me too. My brother probably wishes for a rematch with Yae’s brother, as well.” Yae and Hilde grinned to one another as they planned the next festival. It seemed like this was going to become an annual event... I made a mental note to prepare better for the next one.

  “Wait, where did God-pa... Godpa... Grandpa go, anyway? Did he head home?”

  “This morning, yes. He used his magic to head back.” Damnit... I didn’t get to thank you, old man... Well whatever, I’ll call him later.

  I started rising from the bed since my body felt pretty normal, but everyone suddenly crowded around and pushed me down on my back.

  “Your plans for today have been called off, understand? You are to have proper bedrest and relaxation. If you don’t rest, then the people around you will be concerned for you.” Leen was putting her foot down, and I didn’t have it in me to argue.

  I sighed and leaned back into my bed, causing everyone to leave the room with smiles on their faces. Kohaku and Luli came forwards and stood by, it seemed they were going to be keeping an eye on me.

  “Master, rest is important for your health.”

  “Fine, whatever... But seriously, I’m not even sleepy at all. I feel good.” To be honest my body felt a little heavy due to inactivity. I wanted to stretch my legs a bit.

  Using a teleportation spell would make it easy to escape, but I didn’t want to get caught out.

  “Where are Sango, Kokuyou, and Kougyoku, anyway?”

  “Sango and Kokuyou are with lady Suika in a tavern, while Kougyoku is surveying the affairs of the castle town.”