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Didn’t I manage to bring this time’s matter to a close in a truly godly way?
That was the recurring thought filling my mind as I saw off Renya-san, Shion-san, and the dragonoids, whose names I don’t know, vanishing within the light.
Good gracious, I hope I could raise Renya-san’s evaluation of me a bit with this, and if things go smoothly, the dragonoids might dub this as an act of god and pass it down to later generations as a legend of divine intervention.
Well, it’s not like I want them to talk about it or anything, but when I previously appeared in front of the rulers of the humans, elves, and beastmen, things didn’t go so well since I got totally done in by Renya-san, so I must act like a goddess every once in a while, otherwise this body will very likely end up labeled as a punching bag for comedy relief. My attempts at being at least funny have backfired on me, so if I don’t recover some of my dignity here, my name as archangel will be completely down in the mud.
“Still,” I looked at the stone furnace that continued generating heat as the fires were still raging. The one caught inside was a Lost-san who had ended up in this world thanks to the demon king.
Seemingly having thought that he’d burn to cinders sooner or later, Renya-san left things just like that, but I guess I must deal with this as well. Well, I appreciate it. Previously there had been a female Lost who apparently got defeated by Renya-san’s group, but since the Lost-san inside this furnace seems to have inherited her powers, it’s a lucky break that saves me time and trouble.
Considering it like that, I used my power to first open a part of the furnace. A ridiculous, searing heat immediately pushed its way outside, tampering with my hair.
I feel like the heat is somewhat too intense, but…wait, this is way too hot! I can tell that my hair is becoming all frizzly as it’s getting burned.
Please stop. The hair on a woman’s head is her lifeline. Though it’s rather questionable whether it’s okay for me to call myself a woman in the first place. Then again, seeing how the setting of me being a goddess has tentatively taken root in this world, I think it’s fine to regard myself as a woman. In reality, angels are supposed to be asexual, though.
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Let’s give those pointless thoughts a rest and finish the job at hand.
The flames, which were shooting out from within the furnace with a rumbling, had baked the interior into a crimson hell, so having to thrust my hands inside that conflagration made me flinch back, even if it was my job.
However, once I made up my resolve and thrust both arms into the furnace, my arms got scalded in like no time. They turned into pitch-black clumps of charcoal, but there’s no one here I could complain to.
Even without being a god, it was pretty obvious that they’d become like that after thrusting them into the scorching hot furnace of hell, so it wouldn’t be weird if people regarded me as an idiot if I were to complain about going through with this, despite being well aware of the consequences.
Just as I thought that I had to reconstruct my arms later, the flames even wrapped up my clothes. They were so hot that any person would burn down to ashes in an instant. Obviously, my clothes vanished right away, their embers falling to the ground.
Becoming stark naked, even without any watching, is slightly troubling, but the bigger problem here is my arms having been burned hideously and my hair having turned into frizzly scraps. Moreover, as I somehow started to feel like my face was getting burned as well, I must currently look like some creature out of a horror movie rather than some great goddess.
And just when I assessed this as being bad, I suddenly realized that I could have simply applied a fireproof barrier around me before getting started with this.
Honestly, it’s a good thing that no one is watching this. Seriously.
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Anyway, I reconstructed my body anew, remade my clothes, and then put up a barrier to protect myself from the fire, before extending my hands into the furnace once more.
What I found inside was something that had turned into charcoal, but my objective was definitely to be found inside that something. Therefore, I endured my feelings of disgust and stabbed my hand into the lump of charcoal.
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Thankfully I was able to immediately grab what I was aiming for. I pulled both outside the cluster of charcoal, extracted my upper body out of the furnace, and took a deep breath. If I had sucked in the burning air in there, my lungs would have surely been scorched like my hair.
Because of that, I had held my breath while putting my head inside the furnace, but considering it now, I’m a goddess, so I don’t really need to breathe anyway. On top of that, I was covered by a barrier, so I doubt that my lungs would have gotten scorched in the first place.
While feeling like my thinking has been dragged down to this world’s way of thinking after having entered a physical vessel, I stared at the two objects in my hand. Those were pitiful objects that had been pulled into this world from another just to get twisted powers planted into them by the demon king or the being above him.
It was unclear whether they’d have been able to re-enter the maelstrom of death and rebirth if I had left them alone like this, and even if they had managed to do so, it’s quite likely that they’d have created yet another distortion during their next rebirth.
For this reason, it’s necessary to have them let go of everything unnecessary here so that I can return them to the cycle of death and rebirth as pure beings.
◆◇◆
The process itself finished quickly and it wasn’t overly complicated either. The objects, which were freed from all impurities, completely lost all memories and experiences of this incarnation, and were sent back into the cycle of death and rebirth.
It’d be great if they could walk through life in a somewhat better way next time, but since that depends on themselves, it’s none of my business anymore.
Lastly I extinguished the fire in the furnace so as to avoid it spreading, wrapping up the work over here.
Now then, I must head back so as to follow Renya and the others who I sent ahead, but I feel like I’ve worked a life’s worth just now. I wonder whether someone is going to thank me for all my efforts any time soon, but…just where would I find a god who’d fulfill such a measly wish anyway?
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