My Two Status Windows

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 100: Forming an Alliance

"Pollux was my guardian deity. So Hermes said he was punishing him, but he was actually sealed away?"

"Punishment?"

When I explained the situation with Pollux, who had tried to turn me into an angel, my father nodded.

"He is an exceptional warrior, even among the gods. Olympus wouldn't punish him. They must have sent him to guard the seal because of what happened with you."

My father sighed deeply.

"So that’s why he was watching over the seal so fiercely. We need to free more deities, but because of him, that was impossible. It seems they haven’t noticed our existence yet, but..."

"I thought he was just a playboy. Do we really need a war god?"

At that, the avatar of Avalokiteshvara spoke up.

"Yes, he is the son of Zeus and was immortal even when he was a demigod. He is famous for his skill in hand-to-hand combat. With his inexhaustible stamina, he overwhelms his enemies. Among goddesses, he was nearly as strong as a high deity, making him a very difficult opponent."

So his specialty is punching, but the skill I got from him is infinite stamina?

Wouldn’t a boxing-related skill have made more sense?

Well, I’ve put that endless stamina to good use, so I can't complain too much...

"Then, I will act as an intermediary for Asura."

"Yes, please do."

After mediating with Asura, the number of vacant slots in the intermediary system dropped to six.

This means I can expect more daily income.

Once things were roughly settled, I asked my father something I had been curious about.

"By the way, Father."

"Hm?"

"You said earlier that no one has noticed your existence yet, but Loki knows, doesn't he?"

"Are you sure Aurelia is really Loki?"

When I firmly confirmed it, my father frowned.

"Strange. We worked with him a long time ago, but back then, our power was extremely weak. He could have easily subdued us in one move."

"I have no idea what that guy is thinking... Oh, but now that I think about it, something happened when I was about to become an angel."

Pollux had summoned me and then detonated holy spirits around me.

[A saint’s soul that remembers forgotten gods. They are incredibly devout to gods of order. Your rank will increase, and your soul will become as devout as theirs. You might even want to convert into an angel...]

That’s what Pollux told me as holy spirits exploded around me.

The souls of devout followers...

Olympus had imprisoned them all in its garden.

"A saint’s soul that remembers forgotten gods...?"

"Yes. He detonated them on me to turn me into a devout apostle of order."

"This is bad...! So that's why forming Avatars has been so difficult..."

"It did seem much harder to find suitable people after the early days."

There were no suitable holy spirits to turn into Avatars, which meant they couldn't add more forces.

"If this continues, we would have been doomed."

"If more Avatars don’t join us, we won’t be able to stop them."

"At least we have the soul mediator now. That’s our breakthrough."

"If the gods accumulate enough SP in the seal and emerge on their own, it might turn out to be a better opportunity than we initially planned."

Hearing them talk made me feel uneasy.

What was the original plan that they abandoned in favor of me simply mediating SP to sealed gods?

I thought they had some grand strategy, but now I’m not so sure.

"What was the original plan?"

"Well, it was a terrorist attack."

"A terrorist attack?"

"Yes. They have completely replaced our deities, but their system is weak and fragile. We planned to destroy it."

Since Odin is currently worshiped in the churches, breaking that link would cut off their SP supply.

It sounds plausible, but...

"Wouldn’t they just reset time and undo the damage? And wouldn’t that expose our forces?"

"That’s why we planned to sacrifice one Avatar each time. We assumed our numbers had reached the limit since we weren’t getting any new Avatars. We didn’t realize they had been imprisoning the holy spirits."

That’s such a reckless plan...

I looked at my father in disbelief, and he rubbed his nose—a habit of his when he had nothing to say.

That’s nostalgic.

"Don’t look at me like that. We were in a desperate situation. But thanks to you, we have hope now. At the current rate of SP accumulation, the Archangel Michael can return as a high deity in about 100 years."

"100 years?"

"Yes. Since they reset time every two years on average, after 50 loops, a high deity can revive."

Fifty more cycles of endless repetition?

Ugh, I really don’t want to go through that.

"Jiho, join forces with us. With your power, we can restore Earth to its original state."

"If all the gods return, can we stop them?"

"It’s possible. They were strangely strong, but in the end, we lost because we were taken down one by one. Now, all the gods—except for Olympus and Asgard—have formed an alliance against them. They have set aside their past grudges and are uniting."

So all the gods, except Olympus and Asgard, are forming a coalition against them...

It sounds like a real possibility.

Actually, given the situation, I don’t see a better alternative.

"If we win, will Earth be unharmed?"

"We will restore everything. We have also made a pact with Chaos to revert things back."

"Will they retreat?"

"If their interference ceases, they’ll have no justification for the invasion. They’ll have no choice but to withdraw. I’m not speaking as your father—I’m speaking as Archangel Michael, who once served the Absolute God."

Hmm... no matter how I think about it, this seems like the best option.

Our forces are weak now, but with soul mediation, we can strengthen them.

I can’t trust Olympus, Asgard, or even Chaos.

For now, forming an alliance seems like the best move.

"Alright. How can I help?"

"You mentioned that you’re connected to deities from other planets, right?"

"Yes, Drakia and Elrpian."

"Let’s use them to shake our enemies from the outside. They were once the ruling gods of their planets, so as long as you provide stable SP, their forces will be divided."

That was my plan all along.

When I agreed, the Avalokiteshvara avatar excitedly continued.

"And we will send you a list of deities for mediation. Once they regain their strength, shift mediation to the next one and continue reviving them. How many slots do you have left?"

I had six open slots, but I should keep two in reserve.

"I have four available slots."

"Then we will discuss and send you the list of deities."

"Yes, and once the mediation is complete, we will take turns accelerating time."

"That way, we can finish quickly."

The time acceleration I saw earlier...

In an instant, they had earned a million SP.

That’s tempting, but...

"If you speed up time too much, they might interfere. I’m already under close watch. I’ll stay on Earth—I still need training from Hercules."

I also need to level up Soul Reaper through mentoring.

My father agreed.

"True. The soul mediator ability is too useful. They won’t just sit back and watch. You’re being monitored, so if you disappear for too long, they’ll get suspicious. We’ll contact you instead."

"Yeah, it’s better if I don’t disappear for long. Send me the list through communication."

"Alright. Thanks to you, we finally have hope."

My father patted my shoulder, and the Avalokiteshvara avatar clasped her hands in a bow.

"I will open a portal for you."

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

With a clap of her hands, a bright white portal appeared.

"You will return to the dungeon where you were summoned."

"Thank you."

"No, I should be the one thanking you."

"Oh, and before I go, I have one more question..."

"What is it?"

"If Lord Michael regains his SSS-grade strength, what will happen to my father? Will he return to his original state?"

"Me? I must serve another archangel—for the sake of the Lord’s world."

Since the Holy Spirit has been fully requisitioned for them, does that mean my father will continue to be used as an avatar?

Is that really okay?

"Then… will my father's mind be alright? If he keeps receiving archangels over and over again… it seems like it would be mentally exhausting."

"It's fine. I'm very happy right now. To have the opportunity to serve the Lord, and to be the only one who can do it—what an honor!"

My father was genuinely smiling.

Was he always this devout?

A chill ran down my spine.

"Father, I hope you can keep your mind intact. Michael, is this really okay?"

"Jiho! I told you, I'm fine!"

"Father, I was asking Michael."

At my words, my father suddenly became furious.

No, I'm telling you I'm not okay with this.

Just as he was about to get even angrier at me, his eyes suddenly shone pure white.

And then, the entire roundtable space became bright, as if we were walking on clouds.

Just his glowing eyes are enough to illuminate the world—has Michael descended?

His divine power is no joke.

[Did you call for me, Awakened Soul?]

"Give me a clear answer, Michael."

[Your father wishes to assimilate his body, mind, and soul with us. Will you go against his will?]

Assimilate with the angels?

Does my father really want that?

Sigh.

Even if he truly desires it, now is not the time.

For now… from what I’ve observed, my father never seemed to have such extreme faith, like someone at the level of the Holy Spirit.

If his faith were really that deep, I wouldn’t stop him from ascending alongside the archangels.

But I can’t let him lose his mind just yet.

"If, even after all this is over, after peace has been restored, he still wishes for it… I won’t stop him. But not before then. This is my demand as a soul mediator."

[Understood. You are an essential being to us as well. We shall delay Kim Sejun’s salvation a little longer. In return, I swear it in the name of Michael.]

Then, the white light in his eyes faded.

My father's pupils returned to their usual black color.

And when all the light had completely disappeared, he let out a sigh.

"Jiho, why did you do something I never even asked for? Do you know how much I wanted this?"

"They were going to use your body over and over again—can’t a son at least worry about that? Once peace is restored, just spend time with your grandchildren. I won’t stop you from going to heaven then."

"You… brat… just go."

My father waved his hand dismissively at me.

Geez, now he's sulking.

Since when was he so religious?

Well, he looks a bit annoyed, so I should take my leave.

"I’ll be going now."

After bowing once to my father and the Goddess of Mercy, I stepped into the portal.

Then, an A-rank dungeon appeared before me.

The once icy world was now completely engulfed in flames.

Did opening the portal cause the fire to break out and spread this much?

Since there were no enemies, I simply destroyed the dungeon core, returning to the mountaintop.

In this place, ten days had passed, but on Earth, only a single day had gone by.

And my accumulated SP had reached 600,000.

600,000 in a day?!

That’s more than double the efficiency!

It must be thanks to adding a god to the system, but at this rate, I'll be reaching 1 million SP per day soon.

"You, what the hell?"

Suddenly, Hercules appeared.

He stared at me with a confused expression.

"Why is so much SP coming in all of a sudden?"

"What, is it noticeable?"

"Yeah, at this level, it’s obvious. You suddenly started mediating more than twice as much."

Hmm, really?

Then that means Olympus and Asgard must have noticed too.

I should say it’s because of a skill stone…

Ah, whatever, I’ll just make something up.

"I got a gacha item when I ranked up, and a skill stone came out."

"A skill stone? That can come from a gacha?! What, what kind of gacha was it?"

Hercules suddenly grabbed my arm tightly.

Creak!

Ah… Aaah!

Was that the sound of my bones breaking?

The pain jolted me awake.

"Oh, my bad."

He snapped his fingers, and my arm instantly healed.

What the hell, is he giving me medicine after breaking my bones himself?

So this guy knows how to heal too, huh?

"That really hurt! Calm your temper."

"Hah! After all the times I’ve killed you, you’re complaining about a little pain? Just tell me where you got the gacha. I'm pulling right now."

Hercules' eyes burned with determination.

His energy was downright menacing.

For someone like Hercules to be this excited, was that item really that valuable?

I better make up a good story.

"I got it from an S~SSS-grade gacha item. I thought I got scammed, but… is it actually a good item?"

"Of course! It’s SS-grade, but there’s so little supply that everyone’s desperate for one. They used to appear in the shop occasionally, but lately, they haven’t shown up at all. I’ve been searching for a skill stone for so long, and you’re telling me it came from a gacha…? I’m pulling right now."

With that, he vanished in an instant.

Huh… did I just unleash a spending frenzy?

Ah well, whatever.

He might get something good.

Or maybe he will actually get a skill stone.

Curious if the S~SSS-grade gacha was really being sold, I opened the SP shop—and saw that it was listed for 100 million SP.

Wow, 100 million…

Even earning 600,000 a day, it would take over 150 days just to afford one pull.

Anything S-grade or higher is no joke.

Vrrrrrrrr.

Another A-rank dungeon was generated.

Even in the midst of his shopping spree, Hercules was still summoning dungeons.

I could also see Drakina clearing one nearby…

Oh, now that I think about it, Diana also reached A-rank, so I can summon her now.

It’s been a while—I should call her out.

"Diana, summon."

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]