Chapter 377 - [27th Round] MAX-Rank Patience

“How ironic. I, who hate adventurers so much, will become the God of Adventure…”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Ah, I understand the principle of divine powers. But I’m a bit worried since I don’t quite fit the role.”

“… And to calm yourself down, you’re holding your son-in-law’s hand?”

“It helps a lot. I can now roughly imagine what future adventures should be.”

“Is that so. Now let’s discuss our next steps… Hey, mother-in-law?”

“…”

Holding my hand with one hand and stroking my cheek with the other, she suddenly froze… then passed out.

“This is all I needed.”

I managed to grab my mother-in-law by her spine before she fell onto the sand.

It was a side effect of forcibly accepting divine power.

She wouldn’t come to her senses until her “vessel” had finished expanding and adapting to her newfound strength.

Maybe she wouldn’t wake up at all.

“This wasn’t what I wanted to happen!”

“Well, of course.”

“Oooh…”

“Stop pretending to be cute. Otherwise, I’ll cut open your ribcage, pour a bunch of sand in there, then sew it back up.”

“H-hik?!”

Closing her eyes tightly, Lanuvel looked so frightened she probably wanted to run away immediately, but she couldn’t even move a muscle due to my control over her spine.

“… Hey, carry her on your back.”

“What?”

“Are you deaf? Carry my mother-in-law on your back.”

I handed Fantasy over to her.

“But my lower back…”

“Any problems?”

“No. I’ll do it.”

A normal person would scream in pain and collapse to the ground with just one attempt to get to their feet.

However, Lanuvel could still move despite losing her divine power.

Was it because she was a former deity?

Suffering from a herniated disc and carrying Fantasy, she walked with me, her legs trembling but her lips letting not even a single groan escape.

We circled around the island once.

“Nothing…”

The hot temperature here made me want to wear nothing all day, but I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that someone was deliberately forcing me to do it.

Without any sun, stars, or moons in the sky, nights didn’t even fall.

Instead, the shades offered by the palm trees growing all over the island were as dark as blackout curtains.

“There are many durian fruits here.”

“Shut up.”

“Ooooh.”

I wasn’t as good as my father-in-law, but I gradually followed the path of a gourmet.

There was little food here.

Coconuts, durians, Lanuvel.

But I didn’t want to just eat those forever.

“Hmm, I should check what lurks underwater.”

Splash!

As soon as I dived into it, I discovered something amazing.

There was nothing there.

Although there were many eel-like fishes here, I couldn’t reach the bottom of it no matter how much I sank.

Instead…

Splash!

The sky appeared again.

Ceaselessly sinking in an attempt to reach the end of it, I ended up resurfacing after a while.

“Seriously…”

After diving and looking around once more, I was convinced we were on a small planet made entirely of water except for the uninhabited island, which remained afloat on the surface like an aircraft carrier.

I wanted to point out all the laws of physics that his place violated, including gravity, but this was an unusual world. I had no choice but to ignore it.

[Demon Realm]

The power of the Restless Demonic God.

He was a pervert who spared no effort in creating a dimension for my mother-in-law and me. That alone told me it would be difficult to get out of here without first doing what he expected us to do.

“Lanuvel.”

“Yes?”

“Tell me everything you know about the Restless Demonic God.”

“I lived fairly remotely, so I don’t know anything about him.”

“You’re useless…”

I searched the island but found nothing that could serve as a key to escaping this place.

In the center was a large hill with a gentle slope, which, to my surprise, had snow covering the top of it.

What the hell was going on with the climate here?

The clear stream created by the melting snow descended from the hill, forming a pond in a cave with strange reddish lighting and soft sand that resembled a bed… The purpose of this uninhabited island was so blatant that it would be difficult to miss.

I tried to escape into space, but the inexorable force of gravity that prevented even light from coming out easily put a stop to my plan.

… This was troublesome.

A handsome man and a beautiful woman were trapped on a small island with nothing to do.

It all came down to one thing.

Moreover…

“Although durian fruits smell bad, they’re very sweet and help fight aging, constipation, and anemia. Oh! Their pulp also contains many vitamins that act as a stimulant.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“I thought you might be curious.”

“Another word, and I’ll beat you with these durian fruits.”

“…”

As a child, I tried durian.

Dad hated its rotten-onion-like smell, and I hated its musky texture.

But my mother liked it, so there were plenty of opportunities to eat.

“Demon Lord, can I say one more thing?”

“For as long as it’s useful.”

“This is about the Demonic God.”

Didn’t she say she knew nothing about him?

“I’m listening.”

“Durian is his weapon. Rumor has it he brought the Innocent Goddess to tears using it…”

“Is that a joke?”

This smelly fruit was the weapon of a god?

Although covered with hard thorns, it wasn’t enough to injure gods.

“It’s true! Lanuvel’s heard stories about it! There are even gods who can cut planets with carrots!”

“Ha! Carrots this time?”

“I saw it with my own eyes! When the god struck it with a carrot, the planet split in half…”

“Do you want me to beat you with durians?”

“No.”

“Then you better shut up.”

“…”

I wasted my time on Lanuvel’s nonsense.

So much time had passed, but I couldn’t think of any solution.

Of course, I wasn’t just fooling around.

[Original Sin]

[Demon Realm]

I constantly tried to break through the Demon Realm, knowing full well my victory was inevitable.

After all, I could feel my power growing as the parallel Fantasy dimensions decreased due to the reduction of the students’ number of classes.

As a result, my divine power, which was always at less than 1% of its maximum capacity, accumulated rapidly.

This was proof that Ssosiel was cutting down the class count in an effort to help me the moment she noticed an anomaly. If not for the inspection, it would be even faster.

However…

[Original Sin]

[Demon Realm]

As my strength grew, so did my mother-in-law.

The Demonic God most likely controlled her power to keep me from escaping.

There was no other way but to convince my mother-in-law, who was the one endowed with this ability.

I hoped she would wake up soon.

*****

There was no difference between day and night in the Demon Realm, so I had no idea how much time had passed.

One day? Month? Year?

Time was relative.

I was tired of playing with Lanuvel’s spine, so I tried soaking myself in salty fish, but that wouldn’t solve the root problem. [Active: Look it up.]

Boredom.

Lately, as a side effect of prolonged abstinence, even touching Lanuvel’s spine had been causing strange sensations within me.

Out of pride, I buried Lanuvel on the sandy beach, leaving only her head above the surface.

I also wanted to bury my mother-in-law to hide her from my sight…

“I’m bored, Demon Lord.”

“Stop complaining.”

I would’ve already ripped out Lanuvel’s ribs and pierced her eye sockets with them the moment she complained, but now I was too lazy to do it.

My hatred for her also diminished a little.

I hated to admit it, but I appreciated her presence here.

If it weren’t for Lanuvel, who couldn’t seem to stop talking, I would have laid my hands on my mother-in-law’s body long ago.

It wasn’t even about abstinence.

I was so bored I was going crazy!

“Hmm…”

“You finally woke up!”

The strange snoring of my mother-in-law mingled with the sound of the calm waves.

… Hmm. Was it just me?

It seemed I had finally gone mad.

“Aaaahh!”

“Are you awake?”

“Yes, but my body feels normal.”

“That’s because you’ve fully absorbed Lanuvel’s divine power.”

“No. I thought there would already be a baby in my womb by the time I opened my eyes.”

“Hahaha… No.”

But it was really hard.

I didn’t consider it a weapon, as Lanuvel claimed, but durian was indeed “the devil’s fruit.”

Every time I ate it, I felt a rush of passion!

One might think they could simply avoid eating it, but their body itself required and craved for more after some time.

It was a vicious cycle.

I could now confidently say this Demon Realm could definitely drive even the Z-rank Demon Lord insane.

“Your clothes have changed too.”

“Yeah. Things deteriorate and disappear here over time.”

So I was wearing a palm leaf skirt, which I made especially for this moment.

“Hee-hee~”

“…”

“You look very angry.”

“Stop teasing me.”

My mother-in-law carefully examined the clothes that I sewed.

I sewed them in a crude manner but in a way that hid anything superfluous.

I made the needle from an eel spike and the fibers from the stalks of durian.

“You’re a jack of all trades.”

“That serves as proof that I was once a Hero.”

Any Hero should be able to do this much.

“Oh! The heroes I know are completely different.”

“They’re fake.”

“They are?”

“Yeah.”

“Hohoho!”

“Hahaha!”

“…”

“…”

Standing motionlessly, we stared into each other’s eyes for quite some time.

Fantasy was the first to break the silence.

“I was torn to pieces and killed, but I miraculously managed to avoid complete disappearance thanks to the Demonic God’s mercy. I still don’t know why he continues to help me.”

“This is insane.”

Fugitive Senior defeated Demon Lord Pedonar with the power of Brave, a power borrowed by the Demonic God to save the Demon Lord’s wife.

In other words, his wife was the cause of his failure to avenge her!

This was so confusing I didn’t know what to say.

“The most restless god in the universe is involved in this, after all.”

“So what do you want from me, dear mother-in-law?”

“I already told you. I love you. The Demonic God indeed gave me a little push, but this feeling is real. And you being my daughter’s man doesn’t matter to me. You are my savior, and I want to give you everything. Mind, body, and child.”

“…”

“I’m so sorry. If I had been resurrected a little earlier, I would have taken her place.”

“Hmm. And my father-in-law?”

“Ignore that idiot. He said that he would love me forever, but he started a new life after 5000 years!”

“You’re not wrong.”

Now that I thought about it, that was exactly what happened.

Demon Lord Pedonar had many sons, daughters, and wives that I defeated during my adventure.

Anyway, where were we?

“I love you.”

“But you’re too late.”

“I know. After all, while I was sleeping, you didn’t impregnate me.”

“…”

“But I won’t give up so easily. I still want to get revenge on my daughter.”

“This is too much…”

“Hohoho. Awkward, huh? Regardless, I’ve made up my mind to continue following you to make Ssosia live forever with anxiety in her heart.”

“Huh?”

What did she mean?

After that, my mother-in-law showed a charming smile.

[Adventure]

[Demon Realm]

“I will lend you all my divine powers, so please become an apostle. And whenever you are at odds with Ssosia, contact me.”

“Alright!”

Misfortune led to happiness.

I took one step further towards my dream of becoming a gigolo!