The God Must Die
He examined the two documents and burst into loud laughter.
“Hahaha! As expected, you chose these two. I was confident you would, more so than the other candidates.”
“The scale of the business has grown far beyond our initial plans. We need a building of this size.”
“They always exceed expectations, don’t they? Hmm. Personally, I recommend this one.”
The document he pointed to contained a photograph of a recently constructed building. It was built in the Ryuzan architectural style—rare even in Eden—and exuded a distinctly exotic, foreign charm. The structure resembled the main temple of the Sun God in Ryuzan’s capital, which I had seen once before. It had originally been intended as an additional temple, but the missionary work in Eden had run into difficulties and been canceled. In the end, it had gone on the market.
Thinking of the Sun God’s church made me think of Asad. I hadn’t seen him since he quit being a bartender, and his face had grown faint in my memory, but I still clearly remembered his useful cock and skillful technique.
“A Ryuzan-style building, which is hard to find in Eden, selling unique ingredients and dishes from the Western Continent and various other countries… Doesn’t it give you the perfect vibe?”
“The location is a bit out of the way, which concerns me.”
“There simply isn’t suitable land in the heart of the Central District, so properties tend to lean toward the outskirts. Still, that puts it close to the residential district.”
“For a restaurant, that’s actually an advantage.”
“Yes, and…”
True to his profession as a real estate agent, he pointed out details I hadn’t considered and offered various pieces of advice. The man had seemed affable and a bit sloppy at first, but once business was involved, he became frighteningly serious. Hmm. The Queens had said that a man absorbed in his work was attractive. I think I’m starting to understand what they meant.
“If you’re willing to spend a little more, an outright purchase is also possible.”
“Even if it’s not a temple, it looks quite valuable. Why are they selling it?”
“The owner of this building is a bit… no, quite the lecher. He visits the courtesan houses every day, so he’s always short on cash.”
Ludmel gave a sly smile and made a vulgar gesture, slipping his thumb between his fingers and pulling it out. But the moment his gaze shifted behind me, he flinched and straightened his posture at once.
“Please refrain from such vulgar behavior.”
“Ahem. My apologies. That was rude of me.”
I hadn’t paid it any mind, but Brianna had called him out. Ludmel resumed speaking in a polite tone.
“In any case, the building owner suffers from severe sex addiction. Many foreigners living in Eden develop sex addiction, but his case is particularly extreme. He has spent an enormous amount of money purely on sex and has gone completely broke.”
“So all that remains is this building?”
“That’s correct.”
I had noticed it back when I worked as a bartender—some of the men who came to Eden got caught up in its fantastical sex industry, squandered money like water, and ended up beggars. I had also heard that there were organizations that lent them high-interest loans and then stripped them of every last asset.
“I understand he currently operates many courtesan houses. If we set the right trap for that man, the purchase money will be absorbed straight back into those houses.”
“Oh my, how wicked.”
“You can simply call it being money-minded. Hehe.”
In the end, we followed his suggestion and decided to spend the extra money for an outright purchase. I continued signing the complicated stack of documents as the Master’s proxy, and the sale was completed. During the previous contract, the building owner had attended in person, but this time the transaction took place without him.
“Well then, once we report this to the Eden government, the sale will be finalized.”
“Please leave the information on the building owner with Brianna.”
“Understood. I’ll send it right away.”
“Don’t you visit courtesan houses? If you come to ours, I’ll give you a discount.”
“Hahaha. I have a wife, and I don’t spend money on courtesan houses. I’ll gratefully accept the thought, though.”
“You’re a good husband.”
I had rather liked the man and had been about to tell him we would treat him well if he ever visited our house, but he turned out to be unexpectedly devoted to his family. After Brianna finished putting the documents into her bag, we left the real estate office. The rest was now up to the Queens who would actually run the business.
The support funds from our home country and the steady income from our now-stabilized organization were substantial, so our capital was more than sufficient. We had plenty of room to launch a new venture.
“Have a good day. We look forward to serving you again.”
Receiving his farewell, I climbed into the back seat that Brianna held open. Soon she slid into the driver’s seat, started the engine, and asked,
“We can proceed with lunch now and then move on to the afternoon schedule. Is there anything in particular you would like to eat?”
“Shall we eat whatever you want, Brianna? Last time you said you wanted to try the full course at Trebuchet, didn’t you?”
“That’s far too expensive. I would feel bad.”
Brianna hesitated with an awkward expression. The full course at Trebuchet was a luxurious meal developed with utmost care by the royal chef of the Kingdom of Trebuchet—one of the now-vanished kingdoms of Kenseth—specifically for the queen. As splendid and delicious as it was, its price was astronomical. In all of Eden, only one specialized restaurant offered that exact course.
“It’s my treat to celebrate you becoming a Queen, so don’t feel burdened and just enjoy it. Let’s go.”
“Yes, understood.”
She still seemed slightly hesitant, but at my words about celebrating her promotion to Queen, she nodded in acceptance and started the car.
After enjoying a lavish lunch with Brianna, we moved on to the next item on the schedule: visiting the courtesan houses. Our organization currently managed five of them. All were staffed by angels who had become symbionts, and they were operated by Queens who had previously worked as madams or in other managerial roles.
Even though the Queens were managing them well on their own, the reason I made the rounds in person was that I was the overall person in charge of the courtesan houses. The Master had entrusted their management entirely to the Queens, which naturally made me—the leader of the Queens—the one ultimately responsible.
I visited each house in turn, receiving welcoming greetings from the Queens and angels who worked there, and finally arrived at the last one. I had deliberately scheduled the visits during off-hours so I could meet everyone.
“Welcome, Madam.”
“It’s good to see you. No particular problems, I hope?”
“Yes, everything is going smoothly. The angels are full of motivation as well.”
“Mm, I can see that.”
Even while talking with the Queen in charge of the house, I could feel the orderly gazes of the angels lined up in the central lobby. And beyond their eyes, I could sense the unique aura of Abaddon symbionts from every one of them, which made the atmosphere feel even more intimate.
As expected of angels carefully selected and created in Eden, every single one was a beauty. Lined up in the house’s uniforms, they made for a spectacular sight.
The Queen standing beside me as I looked down from the second-floor railing spoke while gazing down with me.
“Isn’t it magnificent?”
“It truly is.”
“One of our sisters is a famous fashion designer. She poured her heart into creating the uniforms for each house.”
By “sisters,” she meant the other Queens. Lately the Queens had begun calling one another sisters, using the term to express their closeness. I had been skeptical at first when the suggestion came up to create unique uniforms for the girls in each house to foster a sense of belonging and distinction, but now that I saw them on, they really were beautiful.
The one-piece dresses combined slightly sheer see-through fabric with glossy leather. They revealed the angels’ figures in detail without exposing everything, and the tantalizing glimpses of skin beneath were incredibly sensual.
“Since you entrusted this to us sisters, we’ve all been working hard.”
For some reason, the Master had been enthusiastic about expanding the courtesan houses while leaving operations and financial management to me. Managing five houses—and more that would surely be added—on my own would have been too much of a burden, so I had delegated some authority to the Queens. They had banded together with great enthusiasm and thrown themselves into the work. When I told them that a portion of the profits would go into a Queen council fund, they had even created a courtesan house operations department and elected a director.
“Since introducing the uniforms, our regular clientele has grown and revenue has increased. Once we implement the five-house common membership system we’re preparing, we can expect not only to reduce customer churn but also to see further growth…”
“I already heard that at the previous house, so you can stop there.”
“Understood.”
From now on, I would have to set a fixed order of visits and make sure explanations were only given at the first house. Dropping in at random had led to every manager repeating the same presentation, which had been a bit awkward.
“Please pay a little more attention to managing the angels’ condition.”
“I am confident we provide the highest level of care in the industry. After all, they are precious merchandise.”
The Queen managing the house spoke with confidence as she explained how they cared for the angels—from fatigue management and dietary control to beauty maintenance. They even brought in staff from contracted external companies. Listening to her, I realized that although I was an angel myself, I had never actually sold my body in a courtesan house, so I didn’t really know how the angels here were treated or how they worked.
Wait… wasn’t it strange that someone who was supposed to be an angel had so little experience? The only men who had actually penetrated me were Theo and the Master. Not long after becoming an angel, I had become the Master’s Queen and only dealt with him. As a result, my experience was extremely limited compared to the other angels.
After that, I finished the inspection by touring the interior facilities, and the day’s courtesan house visits came to an end. Like the previous houses, I had wanted to speak directly with the symbiont angels, but the opportunity never quite presented itself.
While the Master’s organization continued to steadily expand its influence in the entertainment district, the long-awaited contact finally arrived.
Summoned by Isabel, I arrived at the laboratory after a long time. The moment I stepped inside, she greeted me with a face flushed with tension and anticipation.
“Welcome.”
“Did you receive contact from the Red Mask?”
“Yes. The moment the god’s death is confirmed, we will launch the operation simultaneously.”
Hearing those words, I felt more relief than tension—the moment had finally come. It really had taken a long time to reach this point. I was finally beginning to feel, in a real way, that the purpose for which I had become an angel was nearing its end.
She put a lollipop in her mouth and handed me several documents. They contained information about the god I had to kill, but there was far less than I had expected. His name was Damian, he was male, he was extremely fond of women, and he had strong violent tendencies. That was all.
“Isn’t the information too sparse?”
“Information control is extremely tight, so it can’t be helped. He always moves in secret, and when he has no business, he practically stays shut up in the temple. The only reason we even know his name and age is because the Red Mask once worked with him.”
“That person worked with the god?”
His appearance had seemed extraordinary, so I had sensed he was no ordinary man, but to think he had actually worked with the god… What on earth had he experienced that made him want to kill the god and destroy Eden?
“The Red Mask is one of Eden’s founding members. Before the god became Eden’s dictator, they jointly operated the research organization called Eden.”
The Red Mask Isabel described was an even bigger figure than I had imagined. Moreover, if he was from the founding period of Eden, that was decades ago. I wondered just how old he was.
“Just how old are the Red Mask and the god? And if the god is an old man, how can he still be so lustful toward women and have such violent tendencies?”
“Men never stop lusting after women no matter how old they get. And since he’s the ruler of Eden, overcoming mere age should be nothing to him.”
“Ah, I suppose that’s true.”
Just looking at Faust’s laboratory, they hadn’t achieved complete rejuvenation, but they had reached a level where age could be overcome to a considerable degree. Moreover, since Eden’s research into sexual matters had advanced to a bizarre degree, age probably wasn’t much of an obstacle.
“The date of execution can be decided on our side. Oh, right—you’ve been preparing as I instructed, yes?”
“I’ve been training diligently whenever I have time. I’ve also been sparring.”
The Master had sparred with me whenever he had time. And since Riana had become a Queen and started living with us, the amount of sparring had increased even more. Thanks to the various modifications and techniques I had learned, I had reached the point where I could defeat not only the Master but even Riana, who was an android.
“As I told you before, you cannot bring any weapons into the temple, so you must be able to kill the god with your bare hands. Once you enter the temple, win his favor, and are granted a private audience, that will be your chance to kill him. Take off all your clothes.”
She pointed at me with the lollipop she had been sucking on. I obediently removed the clothes I was wearing, folded them neatly to one side, and stood before her. She examined my body thoroughly from top to bottom.
She touched various parts of me directly to check and said,
“It’s a shame your breasts have gotten a little smaller, but overall it’s fine. It’s even better than what I designed. Especially that waistline—it’s gorgeous.”
“It’s one of my confident areas.”
My lower body and waist, trained as a Mare, were particularly something I was proud of. She touched the tattoos on my body and said,
“There seem to be a lot of tattoos, but they suit you well, so it should be okay. What does this tattoo on your solar plexus mean?”
“Um… you could say it means ‘queen’?”
I explained the Queen tattoo on my solar plexus, just below my breasts, in its literal sense. I had agonized over where to put it and had eventually chosen that spot. I had also incorporated the family crest of the Master’s house, so it had turned out more ornate than expected and caught the eye. The family crest spread out widely on both sides, covering a considerable portion of the underside of my breasts.
“I don’t quite understand it, but it’s very ornate. The angel tattoo on your back too. You can put your clothes back on.”
While I dressed again, she took out a new lollipop, put it in her mouth, sat down in a chair, and began staring blankly into space with unfocused eyes. Hmm. It seemed she was having a conversation with Abaddon… but seeing her stare vacantly into the air with glazed eyes was somehow frightening.
Once I had finished dressing and was waiting, she suddenly shivered and her eyes regained focus as she looked at me.
“Huu… You can decide the date of execution. Since it’s something you have to do, it’s better if you choose it yourself.”
“When would be good?”
“The sooner the better.”
Watching her eyes grow hazy again as her hand moved to her crotch and she began to twitch, I pondered. I would need to go to the Underground City first and inform my Owner in advance, so perhaps three days from now? In the meantime, I should also tell the Master, Theo, and Riana beforehand. We still hadn’t turned all the angels into symbionts, but most of them had become hosts, so it should be fine.
“I’ll go in three days.”
Even after I spoke, she couldn’t regain her senses. Her face grew even redder. Then suddenly her eyes became clear again and her expression turned calm. I was startled by the abrupt change when she smiled and said,
“Hello.”
“Ah, could you be…?”
“Yes. I’m called Ella.”
The child named Ella rose from the chair and hugged me. After holding me tightly for a moment, Ella sat back down.
“What did you do with Isabel to come out?”
“She is currently immersed in pleasure within the illusion I am showing her. Lately I’ve been gradually increasing the time I switch consciousness while she is inside the illusion. The boundary between illusion and reality is becoming increasingly blurred.”
Ella smiled faintly as she spoke, looking full of confidence. Seeing Ella freely manipulate Isabel’s consciousness made me realize once again how easy it was for an Abaddon to control its host when it set its mind to it.
“My ultimate goal is to let her consciousness live inside the illusion while I completely take over the body.”
“I never told you to go that far, did I?”
“It’s simply my own desire. Isabel’s body was too tempting. I don’t want to live merely as her collaborator. But I also don’t want to kill her, so I plan to let her live as she wishes inside the illusion.”
“So you’re going to make her live inside a dream. What kind of dream does she want?”
“The complete destruction of Eden and the creation of a new family. Unlike her mother’s plan, she wants not even the smallest trace of Eden to remain. Her grudge is stronger than it appears, so conflict was inevitable.”
Ella explained the justification for her actions. Isabel, who harbored deep resentment toward Eden, would inevitably rebel against my Owner’s and my plan that allowed Eden to remain in any form. She earnestly persuaded me that we had to prepare because Isabel might cause problems someday.
“Then if Isabel lives inside the illusion, what happens to the sense of disparity with reality?”
“Oh my, you already know, don’t you? Manipulating a host’s brain is a simple task for us Abaddon. If we can make someone fall into an illusion, erasing a sense of disparity should be nothing.”
“Umm.”
To be honest, I didn’t know. My Owner had never performed that level of manipulation on me, and as an incomplete Abaddon Queen, I had no knowledge of how to manipulate a host’s brain. The only thing I could do was combine and educate the children, which I had learned during my time as a symbiont.
Still, it was clear that when their egos had been nearly nonexistent as children, they had followed the education they received. But once they obtained hosts and their egos grew, their self-assertion grew along with them, leading to unexpected situations. The children who were symbionts with the angels might secretly be doing things with their hosts without my knowledge.
“I have already fully absorbed Isabel’s intellect and knowledge. If you want her abilities, I can provide them for you.”
Ella—no, now it was truly her own—placed a hand on her (or rather Isabel’s) chest, her eyes sparkling with confidence. She seemed to want a positive answer from me.
Even so, Isabel was one of the people who had exerted a great influence on the person I had become. Without her, I would never have become an angel, never have met my Owner or the Master. And there would have been no Ella either. But the fact that Isabel would become an obstacle to my Owner’s and my goals had made the decision for me.
“Isabel holds considerable meaning for me. Can you make her happy?”
“Of course. She will be happy until the day she dies inside a happy illusory world.”
“Then do as you wish.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
Ella closed her eyes and concentrated for a long time. It had become an unexpected situation, but since Isabel desired the complete destruction of Eden, there was nothing that could be done. Eden had to become a home where my Owner, I, and countless Abaddon symbionts could live. Moreover, the Master was building an organization that would settle down and live in Eden; if Eden disappeared, it would cause problems. Even so, to so readily allow Isabel’s body to be taken… I really had changed a lot.