Level 1 Strongest Sage ~

“Heave - ho.”

We arrived at Evil God’s shrine while I’m still reminiscing about the first time I met Halt, so I tossed this guy, who looked like a battered rug, onto the floor.

“Hey, are you alright?”

I tried asking just in case.

“.................”

No reply.

At least he was still breathing.

Alright, looks like he’s fine.

Give it a hundred years or so and he’ll probably recover enough to stand up on his own.

This guy is my brother, so to speak, but he’s also a danger to Halt’s — my combat pal’s family.

I’m not obligated to go out of my way just to revive him.

Maybe it’s better if I do something to block his recovery?

(( Sea God-sama, can you hear me? ))

Good timing, Halt contacted me.

“Yeah. Can hear you loud and clear.”

By the way, no other person in the entire world can communicate with the deities that stay in the Divine Realm.

The only time we converse with the people is when the energy generated by the prayers of a huge number of people reaches the Divine Realm. With that, the voices of the people would reach the deities.

The voices of those acknowledged by the deity, such as the saintess and the dragon’s shrine maiden, can reach the deity even if they are alone.

However, if the deity so wishes, they won’t be able to converse with said deity at all. Conversing with the deities consumes divine energy, so we don’t do it unless there’s plenty of enough energy to go around.

Initiating a conversation is already leagues above simply sending the message to the deities.

Only deities can initiate a communication line with another deity — this was supposed to be common sense, but Halt already defy that so to speak; he had already established a line with me.

He’s probably forcibly connecting the Human Realm to the Divine Realm using that overwhelmingly excessive mana of his.

(( Thank goodness. You suddenly disappeared so I was shocked. May I know where you are now?”))

Where…

I glanced down at Evil God.

I’m here at Evil God’s place — can I say that outright?

It’s a bit troubling.

I don’t think Halt is going to get mad at me just because I carried Evil God to his shrine…

But, what if?

What if Halt snapped because of what I did?

I glanced again at the battered Evil God.

Yeah, I might probably end up like this.

“I’m here at Evil God’s shrine.”

I recall that Halt seemed to possess an ability to discern whether you’re lying or not, so it’s useless spouting lies.

I answered honestly because of that.

(( Evil God-sama’s… Then, you mean to say you rescued Evil God-sama after I blasted him somewhere else? ))

“...Yeah. He ended up piercing through Creator God’s Shrine after you knocked him off and sent him flying.

(( C-Creator God-sama’s Shrine!? ))

“Yeah. I pulled him out and carried him to his shrine.”

Alright, what’s gonna happen next?

(( A-Ahm, excuse me. Evil God-sama — is he alright? ))

“Yup. He can’t move, but he’s still alive, at any rate.”

(( I-I see, thank goodness. ))

Halt seemed relieved.

(( It’ll be terrible if one of the deities of this world got obliterated, right?))

Well, you almost did, he survived barely by a hair’s width.

“Halt. I didn’t revive this guy, nor did I restrain him…Is that alright?”

((Of course! If Evil God-sama recovers and goes after us, then I’ll be able to deal with him somehow on my own.))

Well, it’s Halt, so he probably can do that.

“Yeah, you’re right. So, I’ll return without doing anything, then.”

((Ah, are you going home? We’re about to celebrate Evil God’s subjugation, so… do you want to come, Sea God-sama? ))

“Subjugation…”

Is that something I can participate in?

Evil God is my brother, after all.

((By the way, Tina will be cooking.))

“What?”

I wavered.

Tina Harrivel, one of Halt’s wives, had defeated the Demon King alongside the hero around a century ago.

Her hand-made dishes are first rate, or so the Celestial Spirit King said.

Cooking that’s delicious enough to wow the Celestial Spirit King — it really piqued my interest.

Inwardly, I’m almost decided to participate in this celebratory feast for the subjugation of Evil God.

((By the way, Leviathan and Sea God’s Shikigami is already here.))

“Eh?”

The Divine Beast Leviathan, one of my underlings, had become quite attached to Halt after being defeated by that guy.

He normally goes around in his sea dragon form, but since Leviathan can also shapeshift into human, he can also move around on land.

With that humanoid form of his, Leviathan would visit Halt from time to time, apparently.

But wait, even my shikigami…

((O~y, Sea God, you hear me?))

“G-Gramps?”

I could hear Gramps Creator God from the other side of this communication line for some reason.

((I’m also invited to this Evil God Subjugation party, and I’m here at Halt’s place right now. You too come here. Tina’s dishes is getting cold already, so hurry up. ))

Eh… Ehh!?

Gramps, what the heck are you doing!?

((It’s a waste of Divine Energy, so just do that to Sea God, will you. 】

((Alright!))

The moment I heard Halt’s conversation with the Gramps —

I had been summoned by Halt.

“..............”

“You’re late, Sea God.”

“I apologize, Sea God-sama. I summoned you under the orders of Creator God-sama.”

This might sound obvious, but it’s the first time I experienced being summoned by a human.

“H-Hey, Halt. T-This is me just guessing, but, perchance, did you… to Gramps….”

“Yeah, I also asked Halt to summon me. Luckily I don’t have to use divine energy at all. Halt, I can just count on you whenever I have to manifest from now on.”

“Please leave it to me.”

“.............................”

Halt’s already at that level where it’s almost impossible to believe he’s not a deity.

Ah, but wait, since he can summon deities, doesn’t that make his existence beyond us?

“Sea God-dono, long time no see.”

An elderly guy with a slightly different physique, quite on the muscular side, from gramps greeted me.

“N-No way… Soryuu?”

“The one and only.”

The most powerful monster was here.

A being that doesn’t allowed it to be tied to simply being a “monster”.

I’m slightly higher in rank than him, being one of the Four Great Deities of this world, but he was above the deified beings that were once mere people, also known as posthumous deities.

“Halt also called me here, so I came.”

The dragon that supplies the mana of the entire world went out of his way to transform into a human just to visit Halt’s mansion.

Halt, are you also connected to Soryuu?...

Hm?

C-Come to think of it —

“Hey, Halt… you’re married to that Hakuryuu girl, right?”

“Are you perhaps referring to Hakua? Yes, indeed.”

“That’s right. Halt is now tied to my granddaughter, so you can say that Halt and the House of Ernol is now part of the Dragons’ bloodline. But then… based on the power relationship, it might be better to say that Dragons are now part of Ernol’s House.”

Soryuu laughed heartily after saying that.

Dragons are known to be extremely prideful creatures.

That’s because Soryuu, the pinnacle of the dragon race, was such.

And yet, here he was, that Soryuu, saying dragons married into Halt’s family.

“You’re late, Sea God.”

“Come on, hurry up and come here!”

“Wha — why are you guys here too!?”

Sky God and Earth God were also here as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.

“I called them. Of course, Halt’s the one who summoned them.”

“...............’

W-Well, I guess it’s natural, given that he also summoned Gramps, the Creator God himself?

Earth God pulled me, and we entered Halt’s dining hall.

And there stood —

Celestial Spirit King and the other Spirit Kings.

Divine Beasts Leviathan and Fenrir.

Shikigami, Dragon God, and other deities, too.

You could say that the upper echelons of this world were all gathered here.

The only one absent would be Evil God.

“Sea God-sama. What a pleasure to have you here.”

While I was busy standing dumbfounded with my jaw dropped, a woman clad in maid clothes approached me with a glass of wine.

“O-Oh, thanks.”

“Yes. Here, please enjoy this.”

“Fumu. Seems like we’re complete.”

When Gramps raised his voice, the entire venue went deathly still.

It seems I was the last one.

“I do think it’s kinda weird celebrating the defeat of the Evil God that I created myself, but…”

“Ah, I-I apologize!”

Halt seemed to have overlooked that point.

“Well, it’s fine. That Evil God sneakily did things behind my back, after all. That guy is to blame for everything.”

Halt seemed relieved after hearing him say that.

Gramps going the extra mile to prove ‘I’m Halt’s ally’ is impressively cringe.

But then, I do understand where he’s coming from, to the point it’s almost painful.

That’s because he’s a total Bakemono, summoning us deities like a it’s just a piece of cake!!

Getting along well with Halt is the best plan out there.

“Well then, in celebration of Halt’s subjugation of Evil God —”

“Let’s have a toast!”

“Toast!”

The ‘red carpet’ banquet attended by the upper echelons of this world, was opened no other than by the world’s most supreme deity.