Another Progress Report

There's a week before the Pandemonium.

I find myself hiding beneath the shadows of a canopy. The mystical forest around me is one I'm intimately familiar with. It's the one that began everything. It's stood here all the way from those early days of stumbling around in this familiar-yet-foreign world.

It hasn't changed much, really. There are a few more trees here and there, and the amount of Primal Energy around me is beyond unnatural, but it's still the same forest I used to frequent so many years ago.

I don't go here often anymore—I have too many things to do now, and too many places to visit. 

And yet here I am, sitting with my back against a tree, staring at the rustling leaves above me. I'm not so sure what brought me back here today. I'd found an hour of free time, and my mind had come to this secluded place.

I close my eyes.

In a way, I'd succeeded in one of my goals. Kuoh has become a powerhouse, with exports and imports and connections galore. My name has spread out across the Underworld as my deal with Serafall is finalized, and the number of Devils in the city has skyrocketed. Some have come to recruit me—and I've refused them as politely as I can—but most come here to perform a trade of some kind after hearing of my artisan skills.

Of course, some of my more important creations are still kept under wraps. I'm not letting Devilkind get unrestrained access to Infernal Arms just yet.

Some bad apples crop up here and there. Just the other day, some guy had come to Kuoh and threatened me to join his peerage lest he level Kuoh to the dirt. Suffice to say, the Devil didn't come back to the Underworld after that.

But most of them are pretty sensible. Probably because Serafall had probably drilled it into their heads that I'm not someone they can mess with without consequence, and that she won't be coming in to save them if something happens.

My progress with the Fallen is a lot slower, in comparison. Not because of some prejudice or fear or whatever, but mainly because they don't really have anything to offer. 

Manpower? I have people willing to work to death at my beckoning.

Money? My bank's practically overflowing by this point.

Resources? I have more than a dozen factories constantly producing by this point.

Artificial Sacred Gears? Bitch, I can make my own genuine Sacred Gears.

They don't know about the last one, but I've always refused any offer regarding their artificial Sacred Gears. Azazel was a little confused, but he just shrugged. Although he does seem rather suspicious as to why. Which is fine. I'd rather let the man come to his own conclusions.

Several prefectures away, Kyoto's doing amazing as well. The Youkai's' league of power has skyrocketed ever since those Youkai Schools were built, and their progress has only sped up as more time goes on. And it doesn't seem like this progress will be stopping anytime soon either.

I'll even confidently say that the Youkais' power has equaled, and even toppled over the Grigori in some ways. It certainly helps that the Youkais are centralized while the Grigori…well, isn't.

And, again, the less said about Hibana the better. I genuinely start shaking from both fear and cringe whenever I try to ponder about that place for more than five seconds. 

I sigh. I already know that this second-hand shame I'm feeling will only get worse as time goes on.

「Comprehension not met.」A voice echoes inside my head. 「Unnatural levels of Shame detected over Host's creation.」

I smile wryly. "Being treated like a god makes me feel icky, mate."

「Confusion. Is that not what Host is?」

I cough. "Yes-, but-" 

I grimace. My eyes aren't wrong. By this point, I can't be considered a normal mortal anymore. I am a being that stands above the norm, holding a reservoir of divinity inside my core, and with hundreds of people conveying their deep Faith in me that borders on fanaticism. What else am I but a god, even if only a minor one?

Still, it doesn't stop me from feeling like I'm about to throw up. The bright gleams behind their eyes every time I answer their prayers is terrifying to see.

It certainly doesn't help that most of the things I do aren't something people can replicate.

It-, I just get reminded of the blind Faith the men of the clergy carry even as they carried out all those heinous acts. I mean, I know it's different. I know the people of Hibana won't just commit genocide to try and curry my favor or something, but still.

…or, at least I hope not. Faith can make people do some questionable things. 

I seriously hope it doesn't come to that. I'm not trying to be an overlord. I'm not!

No, but, genuinely. Divine Energy really is a cheat. Being able to get stronger by just acquiring more followers is insane. It's not surprising then why the Christian God grew to be as strong as he was. The number of people who carried him as their Faith is almost too many to consider for the human mind.

Of course, that also means that if you lose your followers, your power drops like a brick into a pond. That's why someone like Kagutsuchi's become so weak that he's hiding himself instead of coming after me.

Then again, I have so many other energies inside me that it doesn't really matter.

"Did he not feel this?" I ask, genuinely curious if the Christian God had felt similarly.

「YHWH had not felt any Shame regarding his Empire.」It explains. 

I frown. "It's a cultural thing, I guess." I say. 

I mean, I was born a human, lived as a human, and died as a human. And then I was reborn as a human, and it was only then that sanity got drop kicked out of the building. 

I might not be Human anymore, but I still think of myself as one. Then again, that'll probably fade sooner or later. Or maybe it won't. Really, it doesn't matter all that much.

…

What was I thinking about again?

「Host was pondering over culmination of Progress regarding Host's territory.」

Ah, yeah. That.

I'm not really sure where I'll take things from here. Like, I have plans to expand Kuoh and Hibana even further, and I have some ideas I'm planning to share with Yasaka and Nurarihyon after I'm done with the Pandemonium, but that's still a ways away. I'm not really all that sure what I'll do in the meantime.

…maybe I should think of some way to get stuff into space? I mean, I can reach the edge of space easily enough, and I have the materials to build a rocket and whatnot. I can always just teleport to space if I need to, but the Mana I'll need to accurately teleport across space is ludicrous. 

Ooh! Maybe I can also start a moonbase or something! I can make artificial gravity using Magic, and I can create some artifact that'll hide my base from satellites and stuff. Or I can just jump base and go to another planet entirely. I can travel to Mars, or Venus. Hell, maybe even the planets on the outer solar system. Or I can even go outside and-

Okay, let's stop there. I have enough problems down here. Let's solve some of the more pressing ones before I start thinking of ways to escape my home planet.

I take a breath. There's a week left before the Pandemonium. I've mostly prepared everything. The spell Akeno and I will be casting is done. The Mana Crystals we're going to be using to keep us propped up are ready. Kuoh, Kyoto, and Hibana have all prepared for the incoming chaos. Future plans have already been drafted.

And really, this all feels familiar to me. It almost reminds me of the wait we had before I stormed the village of the Five Principal Clans. It's surreal to think that it's only been 3 years or so since then. It feels like it's been eons since that happened.

All that's left is to wait for what's to come.

So I lean back, shifting slightly to make myself comfortable, and I smile as the winds brush against my cheeks. I can feel the warmth of the Primal Energy surrounding me, and I let my eyes close as I let myself simply exist.

…

A week later, on a bright summer day, Akeno and I take off to the skies.

The Pandemonium is to start. The people of Earth will be our audience, and the Vatican our honored guest.

And the world trembles in the wake of it all.