"First!"
Hitogami smiled and held up a finger. "First, when you wake up, you'll find yourself in a white room. But don't panic. There are important things in there, most of them items that can help improve your strength. You don't need to rush to leave, either. There's food in the room, and you can use magic to get water."
"The things in that room can help you grow stronger. They're the key to your defeating the Dragon God."
"Second, and most importantly, your most pressing concern... is staying alive. Go to the bottom shelf of the bookcase first and find the gray magic book. That's what can save your life."
"Three days..."
"You have to learn the contents of that book within three days, or you really might die."
"Third, if you do manage to survive, remember not to go home to see your family carelessly just yet. Otherwise, you'll bring trouble down on them. At least, that's how things will be until you're strong enough to protect yourself. Finally, remember this well... an evil god as wicked as the Dragon God must be defeated, or he'll destroy this world."
After hearing the three pieces of advice Hitogami delivered in one breath, Luo Ge frowned. "Hey, I want to make sure of something. Can I really defeat someone like the Dragon God in the future?"
"Absolutely. For a certain reason, that guy can't use his full strength at all."
"Besides, you're a promising prospect I've got my eye on. Just keep your head down and develop, and you'll be stomping a half-baked amateur like the Dragon God in no time, okay?"
So, in Hitogami's eyes...
Even that Dragon God was just a half-baked amateur?
Though Luo Ge was somewhat skeptical, he couldn't help asking, "But from the way you sound, why do you seem so certain I can defeat the Dragon God? Can you see the future?"
"..."
Hitogami fell silent.
His gaze grew serious as he looked at Luo Ge. "That's a complicated story."
"Then make a long story short. If you hide things from me, my trust in you is going to drop a lot."
"I might really just surrender and join the Dragon God's side to stay alive."
At Luo Ge's shameless words, Hitogami's mouth twisted in anger. "Wow, that's cheating! You're already planning to surrender before the fight has even started? Don't you want to wash away the shame of defeat and reclaim your dignity?"
"Hahahaha..."
"That's hilarious. Can dignity put food on the table? At the end of the day, I never had any deep grudge against the Dragon God. The only reason he nearly killed me... was because you dragged me into this."
"If you want me to help you defeat the Dragon God, I don't mind... because between you and him, I'd rather help you. Provided you don't stab me in the back, of course."
"Stab you in the back? Ah! You think far too badly of me, don't you? I never stab my allies in the back. I'm a good god!"
"Anyone can say nice things. Since I've chosen to help you now, please tell me..."
"First, why are you so certain I can survive?"
Luo Ge finally voiced the biggest question in his heart.
"Because you're someone with strong luck."
"Strong luck? What does that mean?"
"It's complicated to explain, but simply put... whenever you encounter danger, you can turn misfortune into good fortune. In short, it means you're very hard to kill."
"You mean... I'm someone with strong luck, too?"
"No."
"You're still quite easy to kill."
"But your situation is also very unusual. You aren't someone with particularly strong luck, but many people with strong luck gather around you, and that fortune will protect you in unseen ways."
...Does he mean Rudeus?
Luo Ge wondered to himself.
Yet Hitogami seemed to guess what he was thinking and continued, "It's your descendants."
"Huh? My descendants?"
"Among your many descendants, there'll be a rather impressive fellow. He'll help me defeat the Dragon God in the future and prevent the worst outcome."
"Shit! You even know about my descendants? And you still fucking claim you aren't omniscient and omnipotent?"
Luo Ge was taken aback.
"You're right. I can indeed see the future, because I have the demon eye of Future Sight. In theory, as long as I want to... I can see how the future will unfold for everyone in this world."
"So you can see your own future, too?"
"Yep! That's exactly right!"
Hitogami brightened, but then his tone suddenly grew somewhat peculiar. "It's just that, at some point, the ending where I always won inexplicably changed one day. A whole bunch of bad guys would always gather around that evil Dragon God and come here to defeat me..."
"After they chopped me into pieces, that blue-haired brat riding a big white dog and holding a staff, in particular, would stick their tongue out at me and make faces every time they won. Anyway... it's so annoying. That brat is even more hateful than the Dragon God."
A blue-haired brat?
Roxy's face was the first thing that came to Luo Ge's mind, but she definitely wasn't the person Hitogami was talking about.
Then the excitable Hitogami grew happy again. "Hohohahaha... but when you wandered into that teleportation circle, I saw a different ending for myself through you. At last, I also saw hope of turning things around."
"Now you understand, right...? One of your future descendants will help me defeat the Dragon God and his evil gang."
"Oh, I see."
Luo Ge more or less understood what Hitogami meant. At least he wasn't someone helping him for no reason.
After that heart-to-heart with Hitogami, Luo Ge felt much more at ease.
After all, if someone helped him for no reason, that would only make him question their motives.
Come to think of it.
That meant...
Because his descendant would help Hitogami defeat the Dragon God, Hitogami was willing to help him. It was a cause-and-effect relationship.
If the Dragon God killed him, that might also be because he had seen his future.
But... Hitogami actually said he would lose?
Someone with an omniscient and omnipotent perspective like that.
Luo Ge really couldn't imagine how he could lose. Even without him, he should still win easily, shouldn't he?
Of course, as for whether his descendant could help Hitogami defeat the Dragon God...
Luo Ge still had his doubts.
Ultimately, this was only Hitogami's side of the story. Naturally, Luo Ge wasn't foolish enough to believe it all.
But compared with the Dragon God, who had gone straight for his heart upon meeting him, Luo Ge was still more willing to side with Hitogami, who had taken the initiative to help him. That was clearly the wiser choice.
"Young man, no matter what happens, I'll be on your side. Next... let's work together to defeat the evil Dragon God!"
Hitogami's voice echoed through the white space. His white outline began to fade, and the white space gradually blurred as well.
Hitogami finally vanished.