On a Godless Planet:Volume3B Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Poseidon Wars

–Taste in earth they can both agree with.

●

Poseidon could tell his attacks were being perceived as a phase and thus avoided. So…

…If my attacks can’t hit her, maybe they can guide her.

He acted on that idea.

He was currently pursuing Irish representative Dan Anne. On his right was the perimeter of the battlefield. They didn’t have a spell field in effect, so that perimeter was a simple tacit agreement. But…

“Excuse me as I move in from the outside.”

He used a curve in the river current to boost its strength. And he sent it in without fighting his phase.

It worked.

It surged out ahead from the left, in between the perimeter and the Irish representative.

“Pretty good.”

Poseidon didn’t even have time to think “thanks” before he charged in between his opponent and the perimeter.

He didn’t hit her. Because their compatibility wouldn’t allow it. But…

“How about this!?”

He looked back to see the result.

The Irish representative had moved position.

She was now in the center of the courtyard, as if deflected by him as the current carried him around the perimeter.

And there was another new difference to her as well.

“Dan-san’s current has stopped.”

●

“This is the difference between a flowing river and stagnant water.”

Tenma read the action as knowledge.

This was the foundation of flood control.

“When a river meanders, the speed of the current on the inside and outside of the curve depends on whether the deeper side of the river is on the inside or outside. There are times when the current fully separates like an ocean current, creating a patch of rapids and a patch of stagnation.”

“We saw that at the camping trip.”

“You can find some big fish where the current is weaker.”

Tenma understood this since she had accompanied them on that trip.

“Then that’s what happened here?”

“Yes, it was. Poseidon’s current strategy is to take advantage of the fact that his river phase was being used. …And that usage of ‘current’ was not an intentional pun.”

Human-senpai gave her an extremely disappointed look, but she ignored him. Anyway, Poseidon had made use of that sort of difference.

“All Poseidon did was travel rapidly around the perimeter. But that created a speed differential between the inside and outside of the river, splitting the current. Because the Irish representative was riding his river phase, she was sent to the stagnant inner side, stopping her.”

●

“But what now?”

Bilgamesh was a king. Being a king meant handling politics, including public works such as flood control.

Back during his time, droughts were already common in Mesopotamia, requiring an understanding of rivers. He too understood how a leaf would flow after falling in a river, but…

“The Irish representative has been stopped, but she is still floating in the water. You cannot sink a floating leaf by throwing a stone at it.”

“What if Poseidon severs the link between their phases?”

That was an interesting idea.

“That would return them both to their original states. The Irish representative would fight using her authority as a mother earth goddess and Poseidon would fight using his authority as a sea and earth god. That is the last thing the Irish representative would want.”

But…

“Poseidon will not choose that course.”

“How do you figure?”

It was obvious. His actions had already indicated it.

“If he was only going to sever the link, he could have done it before doing all of this. Creating this situation instead means this is part of his plan.”

Which could only mean…

“He has some means of sinking a leaf floating in the water.”

●

Shifu saw it.

A god she considered their friend took a step from the courtyard’s perimeter and toward the center.

“That’s right. If you’re gonna use your earth authority, you’ve gotta do that first.”

Posei-chan had an earth authority. But…

“Hm? The courtyard is paved with brick, so the only earth phase is in the center. How is he going to approach that earth?”

“No, that step was enough.”

Just watch.

Poseidon had taken a single step forward.

“The Earth Shaker. Posei-chan’s authority isn’t over the surface like with a harvest god. It’s over the interior. He strikes the surface to receive a response from below.”

That god had just taken a very intentional step forward. And a moment later…

“Take coverrrrr!!”

●

The earth quaked.

The jacks supporting the bottom of the club building groaned and sparked from the vertical shaking.

“There’s barely any exposed ground left and he can still summon this much power!?”

The entire school shook and the surface of the surrounding water turned to spray.

With a sound a lot like white noise, rapidly vibrating water erupted up from around the pillars supporting the school and water vapor burst into the air.

A split second later, the structures atop the foundations shook, some sounds of destruction coming from within.

And…

“Heyyyyy! Who told you to take it that far!?”

“Ah ha ha ha! You see scenes of books scattering from the shelves all the time in movies!”

“Book scat! That sounds kinky! Can you do it with clay tablets!?”

Everyone calmed down and began evacuating.

●

The courtyard was the center of the quake.

The brick-paved courtyard was instantly blown away and the clubroom doors collided with the top and bottom of their frames, producing sparks. But the shaking didn’t end there, a further tremor arriving just as the first faded.

…Damn! I realized too late!

Seito had been the first to raise the alarm, proving she still had her strength. That was fortunate, but it was a bit of a problem for their job.

Beisu hurried around the perimeter of the courtyard.

“Hey! Sumeragi!”

The idiot hadn’t fled in time.

He was doubled over by the shaking, his head sticking out into the courtyard a bit.

That was dangerous thanks to the airborne bricks and clumps of dirt falling from the sky. The balconies surrounding the courtyard on each floor were made of concrete, but their painted surfaces were cracked and peeling.

A god would be fine, but a human could be killed. So…

“…!”

He ran over to tackle the idiot to safety.

“Sumeragi-kun!!”

But with a voice from the side, the idiot was pulled out of the way and toward a pair of big boobs.

●

After rushing in for a tackle and missing, Beisu saw it happen in slow motion.

The idiot was pulled away and his face buried in a large chest.

Right in the center. Strike! He was willing to call that three outs with just one pitch. Or did a collision with the center scoreboard count as an out? It doesn’t matter. But…

“––––––”

The idiot’s voice was inaudible with his face buried there.

But, hm, is this really acceptable? I mean, his face is buried in some boobs and this is supposed to be a school. Then again, I did receive some union-style worship back in my day and I even egged it on by dancing naked and stuff. But this is the modern age. On the other hand, he does look happy. Oh, but I’m not saying I’d prefer it if Seito had big boobs. That’s not what this is about.

“Oh, Beisu.”

“Eh?”

As soon as he responded, a falling brick struck him right on the top of the head.

●

“The guard god was KO’d!”

The Shinto knowledge god’s comment made Seito panic.

…What was he doing!?

Well, probably just his job. Yes, his job. That must be it. Although I do think I saw him staring at Busty-senpai while he was leaping through the air, but that was probably part of his job. Yes, his job. J-O-B – job. Well, he is a guy, so maybe he got distracted by a pair of big breasts, but…well, if only mine were that big. Ah ha ha! As if that could happen!

“Oh, Seito-chan.”

“Eh?”

As soon as she responded, a falling brick struck her right on the top of the head.

●

“We now have a double KO on the guard gods!”

“They must be in love.”

“Aunt! Aunt! This isn’t the time!”

“Was I imagining it, or were they both staring at Senpai-san when they got hit?”

“Eh!? No, no, no, no! I don’t have an authority that brings bad luck! All I can do is determine their lifespan!”

“Oh, is that all?”

“No, they were overwhelmed by Senpai’s big boobs power!”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

<Sadly, I think he is kind of right…>

●

While panic filled the scene, Bilgamesh checked the courtyard.

His homeland experienced a lot of earthquakes. This was nothing out of the ordinary for him. And so when viewing the courtyard from the perimeter…

“I was right!”

Overhead, “floating” in the air were bricks, clumps of dirt, and broken-off pieces of wall. They had all been flung upwards by Poseidon’s earthquake.

“Do you know what you get when you add rubble and dirt to water?”

A debris flow.

“That was clever.”

They had seen and experienced this in Okutama.

“The clay and pebbles cause the muddy river to swallow up anything buoyant. So by including rubble and dirt in his river phase, Poseidon cut off all escape for Dan-san while she is perceived as a leaf.”

Then the power was released.

But it didn’t fall.

It exploded out as a muddy river. An invisible flash flood in the air crashed straight down onto the courtyard.

●

Poseidon launched his attack.

He did not hold back. This was a battle and a chance to show off between mythologies.

They had dome similar things during their former age.

Both when they entered Greece and when other mythologies arrived to influence them.

He was the strongest on the Mediterranean.

“Or I try to be, anyway!”

He realized Ireland wasn’t on the Mediterranean, but he chose not to worry about it. Olympus mythology was the strongest. That was the main point.

“Run wild, Wave Horses!”

●

I saw what looked like a group of animals.

It was in fact, the force of the unseen river. The movement of the rubble and dirt undulating and bouncing along below created the illusion.

“Horses!?”

The raging horses poured downwards from all directions.

“Why horses!?”

“It’s been a while since he took a battle this seriously.”

What is this? I asked with my eyes and received a nod of acknowledgment from Kuwajiri-san.

“Poseidon is said to be an earth god and a sea god, but he was originally a horse god. It is even theorized the earliest version of him took the form of a horse.”

“How did that turn into a water god?”

“Horses need a lot of water, so they tend to stay near sources of water. And in grassy fields, if they have no water, they will dig into the ground with their front legs to find springs.”

“That fact created a link between horses and water, influencing the forms of some water-related spirits, including ones that live in the underworld’s rivers.”

<There are differing theories related to horses, but it is thought the ones that evolved in North America began to live alongside humans in Central Asia at around 3500 BCE. The people who worshiped Poseidon continued that tradition and are thought to have entered Europe using chariots at around 1600 BCE.>

“1600 BCE? Isn’t that…?”

“The ancient Greek language was created at around 1500 BCE. Persephone and I were referred to as ‘the two queens’ at around 1450 BCE, so it fits the timeline.”

“So starting at around 1600 BCE, Poseidon and Zeus believers entered the Greek region with a military force led by chariots, where they conquered Demeter and the other local gods. The ancient Greek language was created to boost their strength and…”

“And we fought back by spreading poppy flowers to win over Zeus, Poseidon, and the rest.”

“You sound like organized crime defying a military regime…”

I could only agree with that. But as I looked back to the primitive wild horses accompanied by water…

“That should do the trick!”

They slammed down into the courtyard.

●

They managed a direct hit.

But the result was right there in front of the gods surrounding the courtyard.

The place was clean.

The earthquake had thrown so much dirt and other things into the air and stripped away pieces of the walls, but…

“It’s gone?”

None of it remained.

They only saw the original brick-paved courtyard.

●

It reminded Bilgamesh of the monotheistic god’s absurdities.

But he knew this was different.

“Sea god.”

Not you, Mr. V. Sorry. You don’t have to look my way and gesture to ask me what I want.

Instead, he spoke to the person standing in the courtyard.

“You repaired the courtyard. Do you also have a construction authority?”

“That’s right. I’m involved in building temples and stuff. That lets me do this.”

Oh.

“Don’t forget that I did send in a debris flow first. And keep in mind that I can manage this afterwards.

He took a step forward.

A dirt depression was located in the center of the courtyard. But…

“The Irish representative isn’t here, is she?”

Dan Anne had disappeared.

●

Poseidon knew what she had done.

She used that dirt depression.

There was fog hovering above it now. Thick mountain fog.

“She recreated the fog to act in reverse and remove herself from my ‘water’. Then she spirited herself away to dodge the debris flow.”

That was well done, he thought.

…The first time, she used the mountain fog as a door to spirit me away.

But he had linked her fog to his spring water, dragging her into his river authority.

And by shoving her outside the current to stop her, he had tried to sink her with the debris flow without actually removing her from the river phase.

But she had taken action in response.

While pushed away and floating, she had just barely managed to reach the central depression.

The rest was simple.

She only had to do the opposite of what he had done to drag her in.

She had created a mountain fog over the dirt and spirited herself away from the river phase.

That had cut her away from his river phase and returned her to her own mountain phase.

●

None of the others understood it.

“Um, Poseidon caught her in the river by going from fog to water, so would the reverse process be river to water to fog? But can she really just skip the intermediate water step?”

“The water was the spring water, which is like a small version of Posei-chan’s river phase, so wouldn’t the full version of a river work in its place?”

“If it worked, it worked. Stop quibbling over the details.”

“Aunt! He is a fellow Greek god! We should be working to further understand what he can do!”

“I know what happened! The small boobs had turned into big boobs, but she returned them to being small boobs! That’s in complete violation of my beliefs! If she wasn’t Busty Bangs, I’d be holding an inquisition over this!”

“Um, what does all this mean?”

“That Dan-san is in trouble.”

“Eh? She is? But didn’t she escape by spiriting herself away?”

Kido pointed to the courtyard.

“Poseidon used his construction authority to repair the courtyard. Dan-san can only use the mountain and forest phases, so she is now confined to the central depression.”

What did that ultimately mean?

“Poseidon isn’t going to just let her do this.”

●

Poseidon prepared to end it.

He had used his construction authority to fix the courtyard. But if his opponent had fled to the center…

“I’ll use my specialty to trap her.”

He held his right hand overhead. Something dropped down from high up in the sky.

This had been launched high by the earthquake during the debris flow.

The artificial structure was shaped like a giant cylinder.

“A rooftop water tank!”

He swung down his arm and the wild horses accelerated in a straight line.

The container of water was large enough to entirely cover up the central depression and it hit with a metallic clang.

“…!”

His attack was complete.

●

The brick was consumed and a few tremors spread across the ground, but the water tank was not shaken.

The wild horses’ water vanished and the structure sat there 5m tall.

“Now you have nowhere to run.”

He had won.

●

Mr. V looked to the god he had borrowed a lot from.

…He always has the wildest ideas.

He was about as famous as it got. The variety and levels of his authorities were far and above most other famous gods. He had authorities that combined his primary phase and concept and he had plenty of other authorities added on because the people wanted them.

He had simply used one of those here.

That god had used the greatest power he could while just barely sticking to the courtyard.

“Impressive as always, Poseidon.”

“Oh, c’mon. You know flattery won’t get you anywhere with me.”

“I do of course. Especially because…”

He went on to finish that sentence.

“You lose, Poseidon.”

●

Mr. V pointed in front of him.

Someone stood behind Poseidon’s tall form.

“Irish representative.”

“Nh!”

Both her hands were posed in front of her.

She mimed wielding a bow and in her right hand, where she should be holding an arrow…

“I took…a single brick.”

If she launched that, it would hit.

It would also be powerful. Of course, the question remained how much damage it could actually cause to a major god with so many authorities. But…

“You get what this means, don’t you, Poseidon?”

“Oh, dear… Yes, I do.”

Poseidon sighed before continuing.

“The powerless use their intelligence to resist great power. If I keep going, I’ll end up like Goliath after David was through with him.”

With that, the powerful sea god turned toward the goddess behind him.

He faced her directly.

A few of the other gods tensed in response, wondering if the battle was about to resume.

But Poseidon wouldn’t do that. He wasn’t that sort of god. While the Irish representative held her breath and maintained her fighting stance, he took her hand and placed his large hand on the brick aimed at him.

“You don’t like having to do this, do you?”

●

“Sorry about that. I’m something of a fighter myself. In the old days, I let my power do the talking, which didn’t make me many friends, so I’ve seen this before,” he said.

“I was wielding my power for myself. But…”

“But?”

“You were wielding your power for yourself, but you stopped right at the end there.”

Poseidon tilted his head.

“Why? If you had shot me, Mr. V would have declared you the winner. Everyone would’ve seen me as the former barbarian who loves violence and you as the hard-worker who fought back against me. No one would’ve blamed you, so why did you stop? Could it be…you were worried for me?”

His question received a near immediate response.

The island nation mother earth goddess – that forest and mountain goddess – took a few breaths and responded.

“It…wasn’t that,” she said. “We left for paradise to leave…everything in the care of…the new people.”

She took another breath.

“So we gave up…fighting. So I stopped…for me! Because I left all these things for the new people! I stopped to avoid defiling our story! Not everything is…about you, powerful god!”

●

Poseidon had his answer.

He didn’t let the smile on his face escape or slip way as he wrapped his fingers around her hand and had her throw away the brick.

“We just have to be friends! That was well said!”

“…Eh?”

“I love it. I need someone to say these things to my face or I’ll end up living like everything is 2 billion percent about me. So…”

He crouched, lowering his great height to reach her eye level.

“I so hope you’ll be my friend. I want your pride to be something I can be proud of. I want to know even an idiot like me can have a great friend like you.”

●

Kido heard several held breaths being released.

“Whew, that was nerve-wracking. Cause Posei-chan really lives in the moment.”

“I agree, but don’t you have some questions about that duel?”

And just then…

“Hey! Mr. V! What do you mean Poseidon lost!?”

Demeter stepped out into the courtyard and pointed at each duelist.

“That last part made no sense! I call foul! That doesn’t count!”

Interlude

“Aunt! I should have known you would discover and point out their cheating!”

“They need to hide it better.”

“I don’t think that’s the lesson here.”

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