Chapter 225 – Chapter 218 – Childbirth (5)

With his eyes closed, Hernán put his hand on the ground.
From his hand that touched the ground, a group of black holy power flowed out and flowed along his magic circle.

“Great. Send more divine power as it is.”

Following Marina’s instructions, as he drew more divine power from within his body, the flow of divine power accelerated.
The accelerated flow quickly reached its destination, the magic stone at the end of the magic circle.

“As you have always done. With the feeling of being pushed away and scattered.”

Hernan embraced the senses he had grown accustomed to and wrapped the mana stone with divine power.
Then, as it were, the holy power was pushed into the mana stone.

“Finished! Magic reaction light has been removed. Retrieve the divine power.”

“Okay.”

Beads of sweat dripped down Hernan’s chin as he answered.

Just before the drops of sweat fall to the floor.
Hernan removed his hand from his magic circle.

“How is it? Is there anything else I need to fix?”

Marina stared blankly at Hernán before opening her mouth.

“Doesn’t exist. Perfect.”

Hernán felt relieved at the word perfect.
Even during practice, Forty suffered from severe pain from time to time, and the number of days when Forty’s children burst into tears increased.

Even though the children are split and Hernán is taking care of them with other women, Potty’s position cannot be left empty forever.

“Then let’s do it right after sunset today. When the sun goes down, the garden here gets dark, so you can see the magical response more clearly.”

“L.”

Hernán, who was packing her stone pen and water bottle, turned his head at Marina’s call.

“Shall we talk for a minute?”

“Now? There’s nothing impossible, but it’s better to go down as soon as possible to prepare for Potty.”

“I’m thirsty, would you like some water first?”

Hernan, who was somewhat impatient, noticed that Marina’s atmosphere was a little different.
She’s not in a bad mood or not feeling well.

It’s just a strange face, like someone who saw something unexpected.

“Here is the water.”

“Thank you. Would you like to sit next to Eldo?”

Marina patted her side as she drank her water.
Hernan shrugged her shoulders and sat down next to her.

“I can smell it because I sweat a little.”

“It might be better.”

“What?”

“I’m kidding.”

Marina smiled lightly and passed her cool water bottle to Hernán.

“Hernan’s use of divine power is perfect. There is no fault.”

“Thank you for the compliment. But I bet you didn’t ask her to sit next to you to compliment you?”

“Huh. I’m not complimenting you, I’m just saying it’s weird.”

Perfect use of divine power.
In that regard, I also felt a little strange about this.

“Hernan never used his divine power before coming here, right?”

“When I was young with a lot of dreams, I tried to become a priest, but every temple in the capital says I have no talent at all.”

Did he even imagine young Hernan running around the temple?

Marina chuckled.

“Sorry. Because only Karine would have seen that.”

“… So what’s the point? The fact that I use divine power itself is because I become a kind of channel while making a wish? Then, if you keep making wishes, aren’t you becoming more and more proficient in divine power? That’s why I was able to handle it well in the recent practice.”

“If it was a matter of that level, I would have been genuinely amazed.”

The saintess looked at Hernán, erasing her laughter.

“Priests use divine power in a completely different way from magical power. If magic is to use mana for one’s own calculations and will, then divine power is to receive power from the gods.”

“My divine power is buried in this garden.”

He tapped the garden floor with his foot.

“Didn’t you say it came from the old family goddess or demon?”

“Huh. It’s probably because of the similarity of the aura you feel. By the way, Hernan.”

Marina opened her mouth as she looked around the garden where even the demons could not interfere.

“You… Have you ever prayed to God while using the divine power, or tried to lead the divine power as instructed by the god?”

“No. Could it be that other priests and Marina go through such a process?”

“Of course you should. It’s not my strength in the first place.”

However, Hernan himself uses it purely according to his own will.

Even in the battle with the war god, she did not fight by asking the demons or the old gods, and even when she calmed down the confusion of vision caused by entering the garden, she just focused her divine power on her head.
Same with practice now.

“Then… Are you saying it’s strange that I use my divine power at will without communicating with God?”

She waited for Marina’s answer.
However, the saintess only looked this way with a bit of tension, but did not open her mouth.

Uncomfortable with this lonely silence, Hernán spoke up instead.

“Not only is this place close to the ancient goddess, but it is also under the close attention of the demon god. So, unlike other priests who are far away from the gods, wouldn’t the divine power respond to my will alone?”

It was said in a hurry, but it seemed like a pretty convincing hypothesis.

“If an old god or demon who is practically attached to me has the will to help me, then she doesn’t have to bother asking.”

“Acquisition of divinity.”

At the sudden answer, Hernán shut her mouth.

“The Demon God wants to acquire the ability to use divine power. In a way, it can be seen as a process of acquiring divinity.”

The saintess continued with her words, adding that since the demon god was already a god, it would be an additional gain.

“Even the human 24 gods were from another world, not ours. You acquired divinity in this world and became a god.”

“Marina? I mean…”

“Of course, no one will gain divinity by becoming an object of faith. If so, all cult leaders who have made humans gods will also become gods.”

Hernan, who was full of thoughts of going down, was completely focused on the story Saint Marina was telling.

“But this is a space created by the oldest god and the greatest wizard, the Demon God, to acquire divinity.”

While listening to the story, Hernán suddenly sensed several thoughts passing by.

This is a place where 6 people are thoroughly isolated from the outside until there are 25 people.

An egg waiting to hatch. Eggs are another world.

The 24 gods of mankind came here from another world and became gods.

24 and 25?

“Copy… Is it an imitation?”

At Hernan’s muttering, Marina also lowered her voice.
She seemed to find it difficult to raise her voice, even though no one was going to hear it.

“The gods of mankind follow the process of attaining divinity. The problem is that 24 human gods attained divinity together. For a perfect imitation, 24 more people will have to acquire divinity.”

Hernán fully grasped the gist of this conversation.

Marina was suspicious.
Ernan, no, isn’t everything here acquiring divinity?

If you deal with your own divine power, you will quickly get used to it with simple practice.
Maybe that’s why Hernan’s use of divine power wasn’t so skillful.

“But Marina… Assuming that the 24 gods of mankind follow the process of obtaining divinity as much as possible, shouldn’t the number of people be as close as possible?”

The problem is that the number of people doesn’t fit too well.
If the goal is for 6 people to become 24 people, you can even guess that the demon god really makes the people here go through the same process as the awakening of the human god, and only puts his feet on it.

However, the target number of people here is 25 people.
Including those who drank, there were 26 people.

Error is too large.

“That’s right. That’s why I’m just worried.”

The saintess’ tone changed to a more formal one.

“I am very suspicious, but there is an error in the most important part. So, for now, it is a guess that stays in a hypothesis.”

She let out a long breath.

“And the way to fill 25 people is to have children… It’s hard to understand. It was recorded that there were 24 human gods from the time they came.”

The loopholes in the hypothesis were revealed, but not only Hernan but also Marina became a little more comfortable.
Acquisition of divinity for everyone here, that is, becoming a god, was an accident on a scale that was difficult to accept.

“Hernan.”

After adding a few more words about her hypothesis, Marina leaned her shoulder against Hernán.

“We. Whatever happens after we get out of here, we do it together.”

The shoulders she leaned on trembled a little.
Hernan embraced the shoulders of a woman she desperately wanted to get out of here, but she now fears a lot.

* * *

“Ugh!”

Forty, who was riding on Hernán’s back, groaned.

“L… In the garden… Why are you going?”

“To treat you.”

Hernan opened the garden gate.

Inside the door, Marina, who had prepared in advance, was waiting.
Marina came to her side as Hernán set her potty down on the soft bed that Hernán had covered with her duvet.

“After all, you didn’t bring Sharpie? Still, if there is a Demon Lord who is familiar with magic, it will be helpful in case of an emergency.”

“Because there’s nothing more Sharpie can do. You said that the demon’s magic circle is complicated, so there’s nothing you can touch.”

That’s what I said, but the real reason was different.

The demon can obtain information from the garden through the Sharpie’s senses.
She wouldn’t react favorably to an attempt to neutralize the magic circle she created, so it’s better not to have a Demon King at all.

Hernán held the secret of Sharpie, which other women still did not know, and lifted the potty top.

“Come on.”

“All right.”

Potty looked at Hernán with blank eyes and pursed her lips, but she couldn’t understand anything.

Seeing her exhausted, Hernán bit her lip.

“It begins.”

A light moan escaped Potty’s mouth as Hernán’s hand was placed on her stomach.
And the black divine power flowed from Hernan’s hand.

Just like in the past practice.
Infiltrate her divine power along the path of the magic circle that she has become accustomed to drawing even with her eyes closed.

“Ugh… ㅡ”

Potty shuddered, probably from the sensation of divine power crawling inside her body.

“I will hold it.”

While Marina grabbed and fixed Potty’s body, Hernán silently channeled her divine power from her womb to her heart.

And her divine power touched the magic stone in her heart.

“This is the last…”

As the divine power permeates the mana stone, the feeling that the energy emanating from the mana stone is fading is conveyed.
With the momentum to erase all the magical power of the magic stone, she continued to radiate her divine power.

“Huh?”

It was then.
Found something more.

“Hernan? Why?”

“There are more magic circles.”

“Yes?”

Very subtle.
I could feel the fine lines on the surface of the mana stone that I could only know after directly touching it with divine power.

No, to be precise, geometric line patterns were detected throughout the heart where the mana stone was located.

“Is there any reaction? If you think it is dangerous, stop immediately!”

“No, it’s okay.”

Although embarrassed by the unexpected appearance, Hernán continued to work.

“There is no response from the new magic circle.”

Relieved by the unresponsiveness, Hernán completely grabbed the mana stone with divine power.

Then, the remaining magic power soon disappeared, and only Hernan’s divine power was felt inside the magic stone.

“… It’s okay!”

When Hernan got the same result as he had practiced dozens of times, he cheered and recovered his divine power.
Potty only coughed lightly a few times, his breathing stabilized and his complexion gradually improved.

In other words, the attempt to neutralize the magic circle by attacking the mana stone was a success.

“It really is… It is surprising in many ways.”

Marina let out a mixture of admiration and worry as she watched the divine power that was naturally captured in Hernán’s body.

“Forties. Are you okay?”

“L…”

Potty looked at Hernan with his eyes that had returned to focus.

“Every time… Thank you for saving me.”

Could it be because she felt the condition of her own body?
She showed her appreciation by holding her partner’s hand and bowing her ear instead of her head.

Hernando, in relief and joy, tried to tell Foti that he had suffered.

“Dad!”

The garden door burst open.

“Ella? Why at this hour?”

Ella, who ran quickly, looked at the crowd and put on a puzzled expression.

“From now on, is this Potty’s mom’s room?”

Seeing Potty lying down, Hernán smiled and pulled Ella closer.

“Why did you come? You have to prepare well.”

“This! The mothers were pregnant and would have a hard time coming up, so Ella brought them right here!”

“This?”

“It is paper. A piece of paper that the demon gives us when it has news to deliver to us…”

As Marina slurred her words, Hernán unfolded her papers in foreboding.

[How to unlock the magic circle. In other words, there is only one way to end Potty’s suffering. Hernan just needs to get her pregnant. The moment the child nests in her womb and the child’s body comes out of the mother’s body, the magic circle collapses and Potty recovers. Demons will return to humans.]

“Is this the same as the last time?”

Marina said, glancing sideways at Hernán.

“Hey!”

The garden door opened once more, and this time Silnia jumped inside.

“What have you done? Why are the papers with the same content pouring out?”

She held out the papers in her hands full of her tired face.
In the past, she was in charge of christening the pattern for pregnancy diagnosis, so she didn’t seem to like the current situation.

“Is this the same thing?”

Ella was amazed at the paper Silnia held out to her.

“Only this is different.”

Hernán picked up another from Ella’s stack of papers.

[Good try. But it’s not enough The ultimate solution is pregnancy only.]

“Ah!”

Everyone turned their heads at the sharp scream.

“Forties!”

There, Potty was rolling on the floor holding the magic circle of the ship that had resurfaced.

As Hernan hugged Potty, he said inaudibly.

“You must make 25 people, right?”