Drive

The space where Tanaka was taken by the God of Creation to train – let’s call it hyperspace. In this hyperspace, there was the figure of Tanaka, who was standing with a melancholy expression and air of composure.

「It's been two years since then, huh…. I can already picture out the amazement on everyone's face when they see the figure of this gallant and mature me.」

In the hyperspace, the green ground that Tanaka had dyed in the past continued on endlessly, and in the sky, the image of the universe portrayed by the God of Creation still spread out as before even now.

While gazing at the never changing scenery, Tanaka recalled the rigorous days of his training.

He had attempted to run away to where Hero-chan was one hundred and eight times. Each time, the God of Creation had stopped and levied him with harsh training, and his tenacity had achieved a rapid growth to the point of earning him the title of Black Devil.

「With my current abilities I’ll surely be able to flirt with Hero-chan.」

Tanaka’s face was overflowing with confidence that of someone who had overcome their training. 「I guess it’s time to go back. To that nostalgic days!」

「Nope, it’s only been two days, after all. I'm going to be strict on you today too, so be prepared.」

The merciless retort of the God of Creation interrupted him.

「Just why?! Why not just say that it’s been two years already?! And while we’re at it, if we just combine it with the flow of gathering at the promised island or something, everyone will surely consent to it. The power of the weekly young magazine is still going strong, you know?!」「What in the world are you babbling about?」

Truly just as the God of Creation said. I honestly hoped that Tanaka-san, who had made dangerous remarks in two chapters in a row, would learn what prudency was.

Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but marvel at the growth of Tanaka, who had attempted to escape one hundred and eight times in two days. It was a wonder of how he could polish the weakness of his spirit to such an extent in such a short period of time.

「Anyway, I’m telling you that it’s fine even if I don’t do any more training ! You're sorely mistaken if you think I've just been repeatedly trying to run away, old man. For I’ve never even intended to run away in the first place. In fact, my true goal was to stimulate my pink-colored brain cells and create some good ideas by subjecting myself to moderate exercise!」 「Say… what…?」

What a truth that astonished even the God of Creation.

The likelihood that Tanaka had simply blabbered some random bulls to gloss the matter over was by no means untrue, but the God of Creation believed beyond the shadow of doubt that those words of Tanaka's were the truth.

It was because of the spirit he was showing, as well as that figure of his that roused nothing but anxiety as he refused to match his eyes no matter what had convinced the God of Creation. If it was this man, he might really pull something like that off—he thought. It wasn’t like I didn’t understand how impatient you were as the world was in a dangerous situation, but how much were you going to let it dull your discerning ability, God of Creation?

「W, well, you can say whatever you want with your mouth, after all. Now pray tell the basis of that confidence of yours.」

The God of Creation managed to somehow hold his ground in the face of the devil's whispers. However, from his state, it was easy to tell that he was expectant of it. 「Kukukuku. The conclusion I arrived at is an ‘immaculate but imperfect barrier’.」

「Immaculate but imperfect barrier?」

「Yes. It's only natural that a great deal of power would be necessary to create something perfect. I guess that’s also the reason why you tried to raise my power even by a little through this training, but the power you can grow in a short period of time won’t amount to much. As a result, do you honestly think that the perfected barrier would be that much stronger? I bet it won't be much different.」「T, that's indeed true….」

At this response of the God of Creation, Tanaka sensed the feedback. That the flow was leaning toward himself.

「In that case, it would be better for us to just carefully spend our time creating a barrier with the power of the current me. A barrier that’s convenient for us.」 Tanaka's argument was as such.

The God of Creation's barrier was a powerful one that would keep out anything and everything, but in exchange it also required an enormous amount of power. It was an excessive waste of power, and such a perfect barrier was by no means necessary.

The abilities that would be necessary were only two, the ability to stop the invasion of the God of Destruction and to block the aftermath of the final battle. As long as these two things could be achieved, it wouldn’t matter if they just put some suitable ability for the rest.

It was an idea that could only be concocted by Tanaka, who had always been thinking about how to cut corners and live comfortably in this harsh world.

However, if they truly did decide to set such specific conditions, it would take a considerable amount of time and effort. That was why Tanaka proposed to create a barrier that was easier to erect but was still able to satisfy the conditions. What Tanaka came up with was a barrier that would only block enormous power from passing.

The way that idea seemed to have been pulled from some manga was very typical of Tanaka. I truly hoped he would be careful not to awaken to atavism.

「I see…. it’d first of all block enormous power, but by suitably releasing its power, we’d be able to lower the necessary strength, huh. It is true that rather than erecting a perfect barrier, we will be able to reduce the consumption of power this way. But wouldn’t it be dangerous if the God of Destruction realized the attributes of the barrier? If he creates a large number of incarnations and sends them here, it’d be a big trouble.」 Tanaka put on an act and went ‘tsk tsk tsk’ in disapproval. The God of Creation was a little irritated by it.

「At that time you would be facing the God of Destruction you know, old man? If he started doing something like that right in front of you, wouldn’t that be a good chance? You should just annihilate the incarnations without reservation. You’d to be able to exhaust its power easily, so isn’t that lucky?」

The God of Creation pondered for a moment and then floated a grin.

「Not bad. It's quite a clever and sound idea. We don’t have much time left either anyway, so let’s just go with that!」

Thus, Tanaka managed to successfully escape from the training hell.

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