Chapter 721: Summer Extra Chapter 「Two Days and One Night! Journey to the Sea of Stars (with Eden) 」③

I wonder how I can describe this feeling? It's not just a chill running down my spine. It was as if my entire back had frozen over... It was a chill so cold that I'm even in pain.

Timidly turning towards the source of that chill... I became completely petrified.

[Ahh, how precious. My precious beloved child... I want to shower you in love! So much love...!]

I guess this is what it means to be a frog to be stared at by a snake. In just a short time, Eden-san's condition had suddenly changed.

Her mouth arched in such a way that I wondered if a smile could ever look so insane, and even the light behind her eyes had completely disappeared.

[Haahhh~~ Hearing that my child wants to be spoiled makes me soooooo happy. My child really is happier when he's with meeeeeee.]

[E- E... den... -san?]

[I desired this... I want to love my child's everything. Yes, that's right! This is also my child's happiness! Fufu... Fufufufufu!]

[Hyiiiih!?]

Feeling too much fear that my body involuntarily backed away, I remembered about the conversation I had with Eden-san when we first came to this planet... that unbelievable story of how Eden-san was apparently usually restraining herself.

I thought that what she said wasn't possible... but I never expected... that there really was something worse than that!?

[Heeey~~ Come over, my beloved chiiiiiild! I will give you lots and lots of love. I will give my precious, oh so precious child lots of hugs. I'll also clean up your whole body. That's right! While we're at it, let me lick your whole body clean. Don't worry. I'm a God, a being that doesn't have germs. I can really clean up your everything! Every nook and cranny of your body!!!]

[....]

The dialogue isn't overwhelmingly long like her usual rambles, but the insanity contained in it is incomparable to before. I mean, her smile looked so broken that it's too scary!

[Hey? My beloved chiiiild...]

[Y- Yeeeesh!?]

[Why... are you "backing away"?]

[!?]

[Ahh, I seeee~~ You wanted to tease meeee. Geez, what a mischievous child you areeeee~~ Fufufu, I guess that's right! We play chase when one is at a sandy beach, right!? I see, that's what my child wants to play!]

[N- No, that is... Wha!?]

This won't do, she's too scary! Even though my whole body, my instincts, are screaming at me to get out of here, I'm so terrified that my body won't move.

While I was sweating profusely, a flash of black light flashed before my eyes and a huge cloud of dust rose up.

As I was stunned by what was going on, a little while later, the smoke cleared up... I saw Kuro with her fist held out and Eden-san catching it.

[...Whyyyy are you interferiiiiiiing?]

[W- Wait, Kaito-kun!? What the heck is this situation!? Doesn't Earth God look far worse than usual!?]

[...I want to know how this happened too.]

Kuro, who seemed to have rushed to the scene after sensing the abnormality, seemed to be surprised by Eden-san's condition. After a few moments of silence, Eden-san released Kuro's fist from her grip... and spoke with a voice that sounded as if it were echoing from the depths of hell.

[...You're interferiiiiing my date with my child...?]

[For the time being, can you calm down for a bit? With you like this, talking is...]

[Hindrance... Hindrance... Hindrancehindrancehindrancehindrancehindrancehindrance... All of you hindrances interfering between me and my child, disappear!!! DISAPPEAR FROM THIS WORLD!!!]

[Guhhh... You!]

After warding off Eden-san's voice filled with insanity, Kuro moved her hand and a jet-black dome enveloped them.

Immediately after that, the entire planet shook with a thunderous roar.

I don't know how much time passed, but after several large earthquakes tremored... The jet-black dome disappeared, revealing the two of them... both fallen on the ground.

[Kuro!? Are you alright!?]

Seeing half of Kuro's body had turned into a black mist, I intuitively knew that she didn't have enough strength left to maintain her usual form, so I ran over to her.

[...U- Unnn. Somehow... Rather than saying that she's twice as strong as usual... It's surprising, but it seems that in our usual fights, Earth God was "holding back so as not to kill me".]

Speaking in a voice that showed great fatigue, Kuro slowly regenerated her body as she sat up.

[But this time, rather than saying that she's really trying to kill me... She isn't trying to dodge any of my attacks, and kept attacking me while regenerating her body at super speed, so I was really brought to the edge... But I somehow won.]

[I- I see... Thanks.]

[Ahaha, you're welcome.]

Relieved to know that Kuro-san was safe for the time being, I turned to Eden-san... Half of her wings were burned off and various parts of her body were tattered, but she slowly got up, pushing her body up the ground.

[...For just this one, I thank you, God's half-body. I love my child so much that I've lost all sense of reason... This is my fault.]

[U- Unnn. I mean, your state earlier was so surprising that I also couldn't believe it... Could it be that you usually were restraining yourself back?]

[Of course. Excessive love could be heavy... If I don't keep my expression of love in moderation, I will scare my child.]

[ [ .... ] ]

Kuro and I looked at each other in silence as Eden-san casually said this. What does the word moderation mean again? Does it have a different meaning in a God's world?

But apparently, it was true that she usually restrained herself and that she really didn't intend to do anything this time, as Eden-san bowed her head and apologized to Kuro, whom she should have hated as her sworn enemy.

[I'm also sorry for scaring you, my child.]

[Ah, n- no, it's not like anything actually happened... Rather, is the way you were talking just now your original personality?]

[That's difficult to answer. However, let's see.... You can just think that the tone I had just now means that "I wasn't in a calm state". If I become like this, please call that God's half-body or Shallow Vernal, because I might ignore my child's will and put my own desires as my foremost priority.]

Putting aside whether Eden-san is usually calm or not, it seems that Eden-san doesn't really want to be in that state.

I mean, perhaps because I've seen that state of hers... Even though she's usually quite outrageous with her actions, knowing that she wants to respect my will makes me think that she's a decent person.

W- Well, anyway... seeing a new side, or rather, a scary side of Eden-san... I'm just glad that this matter has been safely settled.

The one thing I'm worried about... is that Eden-san talked about "how when she's in that state", which means that she's assuming that I may continue to face her frightening self in the future.