Mushoku Tensei: Reincarnated as a Beast Race-Chapter 167 - Instincts Against Divinity

POV: Rygar Adoldia

In front of me, there was only emptiness. The area around me was all white, an absolute and infinite white. There was no sound, texture, or warmth.

Nothing but a complete absence of everything. No horizon. No scent. Not even a breeze.

It was a place I knew well, yet I could never identify whether it was a real location in this world or something completely outside its existence. A spiritual plane? A realm between dreams? I never knew for sure.

And then, there he was.

His pale face and that slender, disturbing smile. A mosaic covered his features, hiding his eyes and any trace of genuine expression.

And as always, the moment I saw him, the memory of his appearance felt as if it had been erased from my mind.

It was always like that. I knew I was looking at him, but I couldn't retain his image.

He was the Human God.

"Hey, Rygar!" he said with an overly cheerful tone.

My mood plummeted instantly.

I began to think about everything I'd uncovered in recent years.

Three events came immediately to mind: the ambush organized by the Storm of Tyranny; the War of Milis, led by a Miko with visions of the future; and, finally, Badigadi's warning about Hitogami.

Despite the warning, the Demon King himself didn't seem to regard him as an enemy.

When I asked why, he only said that the Human God had helped him greatly in some way, though the cost had been bitter.

I had already been expecting the day Hitogami would invade my dreams again. I had some questions.

Especially about the Dragon God.

But when he appeared, I remained silent.

Last time, he warned me about Orsted's curses and said he would need me in the future; even so, I stayed cautious.

"Hey, hey, why so cold? You act like we haven't known each other for so long!"

"What do you want, Hitogami?"

He sighed, feigning disappointment, but soon a malicious grin spread across his face.

"As always, I've only come to give some advice..."

"I have some questions first."

He stared at me for a few seconds, then shrugged.

"Alright, go ahead then!"

"Why didn't you tell me that, in the Storm of Tyranny's attack, one of the attackers was Aisha's brother and the other was Laws's daughter?"

Hitogami shook his head slowly, displaying a false frustration.

"You don't know how future vision works. Saying things outright can lead to even worse, unpredictable outcomes! If you had followed my advice and spared Minister Yaylol, everything would have been much better!"

I sneered. This guy really knew how to manipulate others' ignorance.

No one knew the limits of his abilities except himself, and he exploited that expertly.

But I wasn't so concerned about that specific event. It was just a detail.

Aisha wouldn't abandon me for killing her blood brother—she barely remembered him. Maybe Lilia would feel hurt.

And Laws, unfortunately, was already dead.

Rudeus and Sylphy had gone to the Demon Continent, as far as I knew from the letters.

And when they passed through Milis, they nearly died several times. According to the reports, they probably wouldn't return anytime soon.

"And what about Lucios Galard?"

"Hm? The new Pope of Milis? What about him?"

Hitogami looked genuinely surprised, or at least he played it well. I could never discern when he spoke truth or lies.

He had no physical body, exuded no aura, and even my instincts were useless against him. All I could sense was malice, but I couldn't tell truth from deception.

I whispered:

"Hitogami, I will capture that Pope and interrogate him. And if I find out that this war started because of you..."

He wrapped his arms around himself, feigning fear.

"Oooh, how scary!" Then he laughed. "I had nothing to do with that! Capture whoever you want! Do you want my advice or not?"

I kept my expression unchanged.

"Before that, since you call yourself Orsted's sworn enemy, why not tell me a bit more about his strength? Also, use that advice well. It may be one of your last."

Thanks to the Saint-level magic: Spiritual Sealing Barrier I was developing, soon I would have means to block these dream invasions.

Now that I wasn't fully focused on sword training, I could dedicate more to that and other skills I had 'neglected' these past three years.

Hitogami sighed dramatically:

"You know, a little gratitude wouldn't hurt... Anyway, here it is: you can't defeat the Dragon God with your current strength. Even with all your allies. You need to get much stronger!"

I didn't respond, but I listened attentively.

"For that, I recommend you develop that gravity magic you're trying to create... and also your Lightning Movement technique!"

Even with my face expressionless, my mind registered every word.

"Dragons are proficient in gravity magic, so that will help you! You learned to fight Orsted when you were weaker than him. The Sword God's tactics are useful at the start of the fight when he underestimates you. But they won't get you the victory. That's becaus—"

"Because Orsted never uses his full power. I already know that."

Hitogami gave a satisfied laugh.

"Exactly! Also, only bring allies who can cross the Holy Dragon Battle Aura!"

I asked, "And what level of strength exactly would that require?"

Hitogami thought for a moment and said, "At least Emperor level! Maybe even more if he goes all out!"

I pondered for a moment, while the Human God continued speaking.

"Now, on the main topic, I saw you're going to face Milis in battle."

He looked at me intently, "I recommend that you do not underestimate them just because they do not have any warriors among the Seven Powers! They have several torturous tactics!"

"I wasn't planning to underestimate them."

"Heheheh! Of course you were! You were thinking of invading alone to minimize your own casualties, right?"

I remained silent. I just observed him with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Well, you yourself said you never trusted me because of your instincts and blah blah blah... So I hope you at least trust the fact that we have the same enemy! And I'm going to need a favor soon!"

"I refuse."

"Don't be so quick to refuse! It could be beneficial for you too!"

"I doubt it."

"Uhh, you're such a difficult guy..."

For a brief moment, Hitogami let his mask slip. Even without discerning his appearance, a distorted, disgusting, and malicious expression took over his face.

And he said, in a malicious tone:

"Well, this was a great meeting... watch what's coming around the corner, Rygar..."

The white began to warp. The edges of the void twisted. Everything started to return to its place. The 'spiritual world' receded, and I woke up.

----

When I awoke, a feeling of unease refused to leave my chest; my mood was foul.

Ezkalor still flew across the blue sky at great speed, above the clouds.

I had set magical circles for a Barrier to block the wind and another to keep us warm, so we hadn't had much difficulty on the journey.

I was still in Ghislaine's arms, which ought to have been enough to distract me from almost everything, but at that moment, it didn't seem to help.

Aisha and Eris were leaning against me, sleeping deeply, as if they had no worries in the world.

I moved carefully so as not to wake them, lifting my body slowly and looking up at the sky above us.

A clear blue, without clouds, stretched across the entire horizon.

Ghislaine noticed my restlessness and asked in a hoarse, low voice:

"Did something happen?"

After thinking for a moment, I told her about the dream.

About Hitogami's appearance, what he said about the Dragon God Orsted, and about Milis.

I tried to relay his words almost verbatim, in case she noticed something I had missed.

Ghislaine listened silently and, after a while, said:

"You already know if he's really trying to help... kill the Dragon God?"

"He probably is," I replied without hesitation.

"Even before I became Orsted's enemy, Hitogami had already classified him as an adversary. Though that might just be a well-crafted lie. Still, I believe he spoke the truth about the Dragon God's 'curses.'"

I reflected on my encounter with Orsted again.

"First, everyone feels fear or hatred toward Orsted, as proven by our group's reaction when they saw him."

"Second, even I, with a powerful sixth sense, couldn't feel anything at all when he stood before me. Neither good nor bad... nothing."

"And third, he used only the minimum of his strength to defeat us that time."

"Even if these curses are something else, the effects probably aren't far from that."

Ghislaine crossed her arms and thought for a moment.

"That makes sense... but then why are you feeling uneasy...?"

I replied thoughtfully, "I don't know... Hitogami said he'd need to ask me a favor next time; maybe he's plotting something, but I don't know exactly what."

Ghislaine was lost in thought, as if pondering something deeply, and finally asked:

"If you're still not strong enough to kill Orsted... would I really be useful in a fight against him?"

I didn't answer immediately.

Ghislaine was strong. One of the most powerful swordswomen in the world.

But Hitogami made it clear that I could be underestimating Orsted's true strength.

Gall Farion taught me a lot about how to face him, but thinking about it... not even the Sword God fought Orsted with everything he had.

Perhaps no one besides me was close to the required level.

Even I was still far from reaching him.

In any case, I didn't plan to face him so soon. I'd only consider it when I was much stronger than Gall Farion someday.

Until then, I'd need to be careful. If Orsted appeared and decided to kill me for getting too strong, it would be far too problematic.

So, after the war in Milis, I would increase my power and strength in silence, in the shadows.

I turned to Ghislaine, who wore a worried expression, and said:

"I was able to wound him three years ago, even though he was holding back. A wound is still a wound. As long as you keep growing stronger steadily until then... I believe you'll be strong enough to fight."

She seemed a bit cheered by my words. But inside, I wasn't so sure.

If I judged that Eris and Ghislaine weren't strong enough at the moment of battle, I'd have to take other measures.

But at that moment, the unease I felt about Hitogami was more important.

My greatest confusion and concern in dealing with him was that I knew nothing about this God; I sensed malice but never knew why.

Why did he enter my dreams? Why did he give me this advice? Where was he? What was his ultimate goal?

Not knowing anything about an enemy made it hard to do anything against him; at most, I knew that the Human God hated Orsted and wanted him dead.

But I wanted that too.

Even considering most of Hitogami's words as lies, even staying constantly on guard against him, I still felt something was wrong.

An uncomfortable impression that, no matter what I did, I was acting exactly as he wanted.

It was unsettling. As if I were trapped in an invisible web, struggling to break free, but with no idea where to start.

Badigadi had also warned me not to trust Hitogami and to be wary of his counsel.

But... was that enough? I doubted it.

I hoped the mental-blocking magic I was developing would be enough to free me from this unease.

To liberate me from this persistent feeling.

The sense that, no matter what I did, I had already fallen into a trap. An invisible and inevitable trap.

I lifted my gaze once more. Far off, a silhouette stood out like a dark speck in the sky.

A floating fortress, imposing and magnificent: the Armored Dragon Fortress, Perugius.

One day, I too would have to visit that place. But not now. At the moment, I already had too many worries.

We continued our journey, flying through the skies, drawing ever closer to Milis.

Meanwhile, I kept refining the barrier magic that, in theory, would prevent Hitogami from invading my dreams.

After all, I had a war to win.

-----

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