To be honest, the man before her, Karix, objectively possessed a great deal of divine power.
However, his appearance looked far removed from devoutness.
[You? Devout?]
For one thing, he had claimed this was inside a temple, yet he had snuck in here.
[Did the meaning of devoutness change after the era I lived in?]
There was no way someone inside a temple would be dressed like that.
“That’s offensive. What? What’s wrong with me?”
[What is wrong......]
The neck of the shirt he wore was all stretched out, and his pants had some strange design that looked like something worn by the squires of low-ranking noble knights. In other words, he looked shabby.
[......Yes. Let us say that is true. For now...... bring me the key.]
She decided to simply give up thinking about it. She chose to let it pass by telling herself that this era must be different from the one she had lived in.
“By the way, what kind of key are you asking me to bring?”
[Ah, yes! An enormous key!]
“If I undo this barrier with that key, I can use you?”
[That is not wrong, is it?]
Of course, the shape of things would be that she used Karix, rather than Karix using her.
“Hmm...... But if I bring you the key, is that the only reward I get?”
[......What?]
Her mind began spinning rapidly.
No matter how she thought about it, from her perspective, Karix was far from a devout person.
He had “secretly” entered a room inside a temple.
He was dressed quite shabbily.
Despite being dressed like that, he possessed a great amount of divine power.
Even if he obtained her as a mace, he wanted even more rewards.
At last, her mind derived a rational conclusion.
‘He’s a thief, isn’t he? He was able to enter only because he was born with a lot of divine power?’
There was no way someone dressed like that was a devout holy knight.
[Money.]
“Pardon?”
[I can make you earn a fortune.]
That sounded quite tempting to Karix’s ears.
‘They’ve been suffering over budget problems lately.’
Though the reason behind that was rather heartwarming.
“How much can you make possible?”
‘He is a thief.’
To her, those words only made her more certain.
[I will make you earn such a fortune that you could buy this Order with money.]
“But how are you going to make me earn a fortune?”
[I possess a great deal of knowledge from the Age of Myth. You will know once you see my key later. That key never breaks and never gets damaged.]
From Karix’s perspective.
‘There’s another key of that caliber besides the one I have?’
That was the only thought he could have. After all, an odd key he had happened to receive from a dwarf happened to be the key to the seal of this place he had happened to wander into? Even writing a novel like that would be a crime.
[I can tell you how to refine that key too...... and I can also tell you where the treasures I hid long ago are......]
She poured her heart and soul into appealing to him with reasons why he had to release her.
And that appeal was quite successful.
‘The mace was the goal in the first place.’
But that was not the end?
‘And I can add other things on top of that? I have to wring her dry!’
Having finished calculating that far, Karix smiled and spoke.
“Is that all? If that is all, then I have no choice but to turn around and leave.”
I can still squeeze more out of her! That was the result of his calculation.
[No! There is more!]
Her voice grew even more urgent.
[......Then. How about reviving the dead?]
“What?”
[I am the Mother of All Things! I can do it!]
“......Then.”
If it was true that she could revive the dead.
“What does the key look like?”
Even if he could not receive anything else, he had to release her.
[It is an enormous key. And it is a key sturdy enough that it will never break or be damaged.]
“......? How big is it?”
The key was that big? Was it something that required a key of that size?
[It is slightly bigger than your palm!]
?
“......What does it look like?”
[It is slightly dark red......]
‘Tsk. For some reason, I feel like I know that key.’
Karix fiddled with the giant key he had put in his pocket.
[And the part you hold is very sharp.]
Having heard that much, Karix wondered if it could be true and took out his beloved weapon...... no, his key.
“......Is it perhaps this?”
[Huh?]
‘This? Seriously? This thing Junknus took out of the trash can?’
[Why...... do you have it?]
She asked him that, but.
“......Good question?”
Karix had no choice but to answer that way.
“Anyway, the promise is real, right?”
[Of course! I am the Mother of All Things! A mother does not lie to her children!]
“Is that so?”
So that was how it was?
“I’ve never had a mother, so I wouldn’t know.”
[......Huh?]
I had a lot of grandfathers instead. But no grandmothers either.
“So, where do I stick it?”
[Behind the pillar.]
At her words, I glanced behind the pillar. Sure enough, there was something like a giant hole there.
The problem was.
“Well, damn.”
That hole was not a keyhole. No, strictly speaking, maybe it was a keyhole. Rather than a groove shaped like a keyhole, it was carved in the exact shape of that key.
Click.
The key I had fit perfectly into that hole.
Farewell...... my beloved weapon...... It was a short time, but I enjoyed it.
“Oh?”
Once the key went all the way in, cracks began forming in the barrier surrounding the mace, accompanied by a splitting sound.
BOOM!
“Ah, damn it.”
Why did that suddenly explode?
“You should warn me about things like this!”
[Now, hold me.]
“What you said so far, you will keep it, right?”
[Of course. As long as you are alive, I will absolutely keep it. I swear by the River Styx.]
If she had gone as far as putting the River Styx on it, then there was no way I could not believe her, was there?
“There. I’m holding it.”
[Heehee!]
When Karix grasped the mace, she laughed brightly. Like a child delighted to have gained a toy.
[You know.]
Her dark-red divine power flowed along Karix’s body.
“Hmm?”
[Originally, mothers are always liars, you see?]
Along with the voice tickling Karix’s ear, her power tapped against the area near his heart and spread through him.
“Cough.”
Karix abruptly spat blood from his mouth.
[......Huh? Why is this......?]
Leaving her flustered voice behind.
“This insane mace bast......”
Karix’s consciousness gradually faded away.
“You said you swore by the River Styx!”
[Yes. As long as you are ‘alive.’]
And so, Karix’s vision went dark.
***
“......?”
Ah, an unfamiliar ceiling......
What is this? Where am I?
“Ow......”
“Hey, you rascal!”
“Gah!”
What the hell, all of a sudden......
“Grandpa Harkan?”
“Yes, you rascal! You lunatic!”
“Gah! Why?!”
No, I should know the circumstances before getting hit.
“Hoo...... I was worried.”
Why? Did something happen?
“What happened?”
“I heard a strange noise and came to check, only to find you collapsed.”
Me? I probably...... found a mace in that strange room...... and then talked with it?
‘I fainted.’
What was this?
“I don’t know why you suddenly collapsed in the hallway like that, but......”
“The hallway?”
Huh? I was definitely in that room, wasn’t I? The room where that strange mace was.
“Yes. You had collapsed in the hallway, unable to breathe properly.”
Wow, damn. That was dangerous.
‘......Then was everything until now a dream?’
“It is fortunate that I found you. Otherwise, you might have died suddenly and miserably, you rascal.”
Then from where to where was the dream?
“Honestly, I was wondering where you vanished after getting scolded.”
What? So it was real up to the point where I managed to run away after being scolded?
“?”
Then where exactly had it turned into a dream?
‘Have I been that tired lately?’
“Still, they said your physical condition is quite good. To the point that they do not know why you collapsed.”
“Really?”
What is this? That makes the fainting even harder to understand.
[What the hell is this! What are you?!]
“Good question...... What am I......”
?
As I lowered my head, an oddly familiar voice reached me.
“Gah!”
“Karix?”
Startled, I retreated backward while still lying on the bed.
“Gh......”
“Gh, what?”
“Ghost!”
What is that?! Something translucent is floating in the air!
[Ghost?!]
“......You rascal. No matter how old I may be, I am not that far gone!”
“No, Grandpa! You can’t see this?”
He couldn’t see that? Had age finally taken his eyesight too? I thought that would happen to Sir Slan first.
Grandpa Harkan struck me on the head.
“Ouch......”
Why did he hit me?
“Stop making fun of an old man and just rest.”
“No......!”
I wasn’t making fun of him, though? No, I’m telling you, that weird-looking ghost is right in front of me.
BANG!
At last, Grandpa Harkan went outside and slammed the door shut, leaving only me and the ghost in the room.
[Pfft......]
The ghost, covering her mouth with her hand as she hid her laughter, entered my sight.
“......What are you?”
Seeing her laugh like that, it did not seem like she was the kind of ghost who meant to harm me.
[Me? You do not know what I am?]
By the way, this voice was very familiar......
“Huh?”
The mace?
[Yes. That mace is right.]
“......Then where is the mace?”
[Over there.]
In the place the ghost pointed to, the mace I had seen in that room was sitting right there.
“......Harkan saw that and didn’t say anything?”
[He said it was not the first or second time you were carrying something strange, then let it pass.]
Had I really built up that much bad karma?
[By the way, what are you, exactly? How did you withstand my control and imprison me?]
“What?”
She had tried to control me? The one in that mace wasn’t a hero from the Age of Myth?
[How irritating! I did not want to form an apostle contract with someone like you!]
“Hey, you think I’m happy about......”
Wait, what?
“An apostle contract?”
[So irritating!]
No, wait. Apostle?
You bastard, don’t tell me......
“Are you an evil god?”
[I am not an evil god? I am just an ordinary god.]
Her answer was so shameless that my head rang for a moment.
‘What is this? No, I’m an apprentice holy knight. I made a contract with an evil god and became her apostle?’
What the hell......
“Hmm. This must be a dream.”
There was no way such an insane situation could be reality.
[Wake up! At least listen to my explanation!]
The evil god threw a fist at me as I lay back down properly on the bed. Naturally, all I felt was a slight chill.
‘This feels disgusting.’
The mere fact that someone was hitting me made me feel disgusting.
‘No, wait. It’s probably a dream anyway, so does it matter?’
[Hey, you bastard!]
“Ignore, ignore.”
If I ignored her, slept again, and woke up, I would escape this shitty dream. It seemed I had been very tired lately.
[Do not ignore me!]
“Snooore......”
[No, what the hell.]
***
She was a god with many aliases. Because she handled sacred blood, she was called a goddess. Because all living beings possessed blood, she was called the Mother of All Things. And because she made that blood take the form of fire for purification, she was called the Evil God of Blood Flame.
Such a being was now.
“Not a dream?”
[Of course not.]
Being treated as nothing more than a dream.
“Seriously? I became an apostle of an evil god?”
[If you do not believe me, bare your heart and see.]
“No, damn it. How am I supposed to bare my heart?”
[Take off your shirt, idiot!]
At those words, he slipped off his shirt.
“Ah, fuck.”
Near Karix’s heart, a strange-looking mark was firmly engraved.
“......But it somehow didn’t get discovered.”
[That is because I used some of my power!]
“You can hide this mark?”
It was a situation where he did not know whether to call it fortunate or not.
“Hey.”
[What?]
Only then did Karix notice something strange.
“How do you know all that?”
[Because I was watching from beside you?]
“How?”
Harkan was strong, first of all. That was obvious. Strong enough to turn about three apostles of most evil gods into paste. But even that Harkan could not see this evil god?
[Ah, I can only be seen by you.]
“Shouldn’t you have said that earlier?”
[You slept!]
The Evil God of Blood Flame felt as though she would die of pent-up rage because of Karix, who thought only of himself.