What is this?
Seriously? This isn’t a dream? No, I may not have been devout...... but I hadn’t had any blasphemous thoughts, at least.
I had still lived thinking evil gods and demons were my enemies, so why?!
“Oh, Chief God......”
Why have you given me such a trial?
[I am your god now, though?]
“Shut up.”
I was trying to at least pretend to be devout for the first time in ages, and that parasite had to ruin the mood.
[What? Parasite?]
“You can read my thoughts too?”
[Is that what matters? What matters is that you called me a parasite!]
No, that was incredibly important.
“Can’t I read your thoughts?”
[How dare a lowly human try to stand as an equal with a god!]
At those words, I snorted and said,“You’re sealed anyway.”
[......]
I won.
[In any case, apologize. What human calls a god a parasite?]
“You talk too much for an evil god bastard.”
[What evil god? Where would you find a god as good as me?]
Even by what was written in the scriptures, you killed more than three thousand people, didn’t you?
[And! Do not call me an evil god. Call me Mother! I am the Mother of All Things!]
Wow. Are you the woman who will become my mother?
“Bullshit has its limits.”
Why did my first mother have to be someone like that?
“Haa.”
I simply flopped down on the bed.
[Why are you lying down again?]
“Get out. I’m dizzy because some weird gnat keeps flying around.”
[Gnat?]
“Do you prefer parasite or gnat?”
I was going to call her whichever one she hated more.
[Even if you keep doing that, the fact that you are my apostle will not change.]
Apostle, my ass.
“I’m not doing anything.”
[Tch.]
“What do you expect from someone who tried to kill me?”
But now that I thought about it, something was strange.
“Oh. Wait.”
She had clearly sworn by the River Styx. As long as I was alive, she would keep everything she had said.
“I’m alive, aren’t I?”
[Why are you smiling like that?! It is frightening, so stop!]
“Hey.”
An oath sworn by the River Styx, by the beginning of the world itself, had to be kept whether one was an evil god or a god.
“Revive one person for me. Right now.”
[I cannot!]
Oh? Look at this?
“Was the oath you swore by the River Styx a lie?”
[No...... It is not that I will not. It is that I cannot!]
Ah?
“......I undid the seal, didn’t I?”
[Do you think an evil god sealed for ages would have any divine power left?]
True.
[By the way, you know you are in quite a lot of danger, yes?]
The evil god, who had been speaking, stopped and smiled slyly.
“What danger?”
[This is Aria’s headquarters, is it not? If you keep me with you, you will be sliced apart immediately, will you not?]
“......”
She was not wrong. If a person with a great deal of divine power saw the alien quality in my divine power, they would suspect me.
[So let us make a contract.]
“......What kind of contract?”
[If you cooperate in finding my body, I will give you all my power. Then, unless it is someone around the Saintess’s level, you will not be caught by others. Tempting, is it not?]
“I’d rather rip off this lump in front of me.”
You’re my lump, you damned bitch.
“Are you trying to stab me in the back again?”
I had been far too innocent. I would not make that mistake again.
[......What? Who is innocent?]
“What?”
[What apprentice holy knight demands money from someone who is sealed?]
It was not as if there was a law saying I could not, right? And my intentions had been pure.
“I told you in the first place. I’m devout.”
[I naturally thought you were a thief.]
......? Me? A thief?
“That feels disgusting.”
[Your clothes back then were more disgusting.]
Damned bastard. I wished she would just disappear.
“Hoo......”
I just wanted to lie down and rest without thinking about anything.
......But.
[Hmm......]
That damned evil god kept hovering around, so she was an eyesore.
“Can’t you please get lost somewhere else?”
[Do you think I can? I have to stay close to my contractor.]
“Can’t you please stay away? Can’t we use separate rooms?”
I was the kind of person who had not slept together with my grandfather even when I was little.
[Oh my. You want to use separate rooms already? How cold.]
“Your way of speaking is awful.”
I wanted to smack her. But that damned bitch was a ghost, so I could not even hit her.
[So, are you truly not going to make the contract?]
“What reason do I have to trust you?”
[I will stake my name on the River Styx.]
“Huh.”
Her name. The sacred name of a god was not something so light.
“You’re going to stake that?”
A god’s divine power came from the faith of humans. And the only landmark for that faith to reach a god was none other than their name.
No matter how much humans praised and prayed, causing divine power to flow out, if that god’s name had been stolen, that divine power would scatter into the void with nowhere to go.
“Where did the evil god who said a mere human could not call her name go?”
[......Ahem. And stop calling me an evil god. I am the Mother of All Things.]
“The Mother of All Things stabs her child in the back?”
[Parents are originally beings who always lie to their children.]
Oh, really?
“All this mother talk.”
[I am not your true mother, but you are also my child, you know?]
“What mother? I’ve never had one.”
[Is that so? Most humans usually do, do they not?]
I suppose I was not part of those “most humans.”
[The name of an evil god is enough to mean I am truly staking everything. You know that, yes?]
She was not wrong. In the end, a name was no different from the essence by which a god received praise.
‘There isn’t anything particularly suspicious in her words either.’
The last time, there had at least been a trap in “as long as you are alive,” but this time, there was none.
‘With her name staked, she won’t be lying.’
If a god’s name was stolen, their means of replenishing divine power was effectively cut off.
I had heard that ancient gods had other methods, but......
There was no way she was an ancient god, right?
One of the gods who had broken half the world? Someone this stupid?
“What kind of god are you?”
At most, she would be one of the Seven Sin Gods. If she was around that level, I was confident I could control her to some degree and keep her from gathering divine power.
[I can only tell you that after we make the contract.]
“......?”
[That is the principle. When Aria chooses the Saintess, what sort of contract do you think she offers her? She must hide who she is.]
“Why?”
[Because that makes faith feel stronger, does it not?]
Was that how it worked?
“Well, fine. Good.”
There was no way she would be at the level of an ancient god, right? There were countless evil gods sealed in this world. Moreover, the seals of ancient gods had never once been undone since the past, which meant they were sealed that well.
So, by probability, it should not even be 0.0001 percent.
“Fine, let’s give it a shot.”
[Good! Then hold me.]
?
“You don’t know you’re in a soul state?”
[You idiot. I mean hold the mace.]
Well, then she should have said that......
“I’m holding it.”
[Pour divine power into it.]
Hmm. There was a problem right from the start of the contract.
“Hey.”
[What?]
“I can’t put divine power into weapons.”
[What in the world does that mean?]
No, if a weapon crumbles like a cracker as soon as I put it in, how am I supposed to put divine power into it?
[No matter how strong your divine power is, there is no chance I will break.]
Oh, right. The reason I had been aiming for this mace was that it seemed like it would not break.
“Hoo......”
I exhaled and emitted divine power from my fingertips. That divine power began entering the mace.
[Find my core like that.]
Core? What core?
“Ah.”
Is that it?
In the middle of the path where the divine power moved, there was something with a strange, alien energy. It was something difficult to call a mineral.
My divine power lightly touched that alien something.
[Eek!]
Ah, damn it. I can’t focus.
[Touch the core more gently!]
Be quiet!
[Ow...... Honestly, as expected of an insect bastard.]
“Can’t you shut up?”
Something like this was supposed to be a god.
“......A little more divine power......”
Huh?
“Wait.”
How long has it been since I put divine power into the weapon?
[About one minute?]
“Damn......!”
One minute? It had endured my divine power for that long?
“That’s it!”
Yes. I had a good feeling from the moment I first saw this thing.
[How about you stop doing strange things and finish the contract?]
Ah, right.
“Hoo......”
Once again, I poured divine power into the mace. This time, since I knew the path, I was able to reach her core much faster.
“But what happens if this core is destroyed?”
[We vanish.]
What? If it meant destroying an evil god, that was pretty dec......
[Both you and I.]
Mm. I take that thought back.
[In any case, to approach that core, quite a long time is......]
“Oh, done.”
So this was how I approached it.
“Ah, but what were you trying to say just now?”
[......Just that you should approach the core and make the contract with me.]
I had approached it, but how was I supposed to make the contract......
“Huh?”
The mace that had been perfectly visible before my eyes vanished and turned into a dark-red energy.
“No, hey, wait!”
And that energy naturally shot straight toward my heart.
‘Evil god, O evil god.’
[Hmm?]
‘Have you deceived me again?’
Perhaps she had read my thoughts, for the evil god before me narrowed her eyes.
[What nonsense.]
Of course, even after the energy entered my heart, nothing much changed.
“What was that?”
[Now you can summon the mace on your own.]
“What about reviving someone?”
[I still lack divine power, so I cannot do it yet.]
This bastard.
“Do you want me to break the core so we die together?”
[That is why you must help me recover my power. That is the contract.]
The evil god in spirit form before me grinned.
[For my complete resurrection.]
“Hoo...... Fine, for now. Let’s call it that.”
[By the way, what are you?]
She was suddenly checking my background?
“What do you mean?”
[I tried to dominate you, but that did not work, your divine power is enormous, and yet you are an apprentice holy knight.]
Did she think I was some kind of mutant?
[Am I wrong?]
“You are.”
Even at my words, she kept staring at me with narrowed eyes.
[You are not even like a human. Just how much does Aria love you?]
“Look at me. I’m handsome.”
That was why even the Chief God had no choice but to love me.
[I shall return the words you said before. Bullshit has its limits.]
No, what was wrong with me?
[Hmm? Then does that mean the child favored by Aria has now become my apostle?]
She laughed as though she were in a good mood.
“Haa......”
In contrast, my mood soured.
“I’m really the apostle of an evil god?”
I could not understand it. No, perhaps I did not want to understand it.
[Ah, right. Do you need an Authority?]
“......What kind of god are you?”
As far as I knew, there was no god called the Mother of All Things.
[Blood Flame.]
“......Blood Flame?”
The Evil God of Blood Flame?
“......A lie.”
Among the evil gods I knew, there was only one Blood Flame.
“Ah, are you perhaps the Evil God of Incitement?”
[What?]
Had I already been incited? Yes. There was no way this thing could be the Evil God of Blood Flame.
[Should I show you?]
“Ah. Sure. I should see your ability once......”
My words had not even ended, but the evil god before my eyes created a blood-colored spear in her hand.
“Uh.”
BOOM! A moment later, that spear struck the wall, half-destroying it, and flames flickered from the blood splattered across the wall.
“Seriously? Blood Flame?”
In other words.
[That is right.]
“......”
What did I just hear?
“There must be another god of blood I don’t know.”
Had a new evil god been born in the middle of the battle of the Twelve Evil Gods?
[Excuse me? I told you I am the Evil God of Blood Flame.]
“No...... That can’t be.”
So she was an ancient god? One of only four ancient gods in total, including Chief God Aria?
[Hey? Apostle?]
“......The Evil God of Blood, Kalla?”
[Yes. Do you now recognize my majesty?]
‘Congratulations! You have beaten the 0.0001 percent odds!’
Her words seemed to say exactly that to me.
[Yes, child.]
The bewitching smile on her face made my mood even fouler.
“Why, of all things......”
One of the ancient gods was my god now?
“Hey.”
[What?]
“Bring your core back. I’m going to tear up the contract.”
This was a fraudulent contract! I had no idea she was an evil god on the level of an ancient god!
[You know that is impossible, do you not?]
I knew. Knowing it only pissed me off more.
“What am I supposed to do?”
[Kikik!]
Wow! I had become the apostle of an evil god at the Order’s headquarters in the capital of the Holy Kingdom, where the apostles of the Chief God were most numerous! And not just any evil god, but one of the ancient three gods who had been destined to ruin the world!
“Wow.”
I was perfectly positioned to have my head cut off. Or to burn to death.
“Hey.”
[What?]
Learning how to revive someone or how to refine the key was not the issue right now.
“How do I detach you?”
I had to shake this bastard off if I wanted to survive. I needed to save myself first.
[Hmm?]
And I had to avoid clashing with the higher-ups as much as possible.
[Do you want to fulfill the contract?]
There was only one conclusion.
“Yes.”
Run.
If I stayed here, I would die miserably the moment the Saintess came by.