Chapter 34 - Absolution!? Why the Hell Has That Bastard Grown So Damn Huge?
Why the hell had that thing gotten so big? The black smoke-like aura billowing from its body felt even more massive too, making the title Bringer of Ruin fit its hulking frame perfectly.
It stood atop what looked like a towering altar about three stories high at the far end of a wide clearing in the middle of the forest, glaring down at us. When the guild master leading the front lines shouted something, the adventurers around us quickly spread out into a formation across the open space. At the same time, the three guys whom Lizbet and Als had called heroes charged forward, drawing their weapons.
The four of us, including Klea, moved to the very back as instructed by the adventurers assigned to protect us. In front of us stood over a hundred adventurers facing off against Erebos, a monster about five meters tall. It felt like I was watching a massive raid from some game.
Soon enough, spells of fire, ice, water, lightning, and all sorts started flying from the rear mages... but...
"...Huh?"
The Hero Eater perched on the altar. Before the spells could even reach it, they slammed into an invisible wall and vanished.
"...What? How...?"
Lizbet, the mage herself, stared in stunned disbelief, her face pale with confusion. What the hell? Even to my eyes, the magic had dissipated in some weird way, like it was being sucked into the space right in front of the altar.
"KyaAAAAAHHH!!!"
Erebos let out a deafening roar as it turned toward us, and dozens of black orbs—compressed chunks of its own energy—materialized around it. The priests gathered and began chanting prayers or something, erecting a massive transparent barrier in front of the adventurers. The black orbs crashed into it and fizzled out, but the priests didn't look too happy about it.
After the attack was blocked, the heroes and melee adventurers charged up the altar... only to hit that same invisible wall and grind to a halt. They were still moving, but not advancing an inch. Then the black orbs came flying back. The ground shattered with thunderous booms as the heroes and adventurers dodged and blocked, but a few took direct hits and went tumbling across the dirt. Being high-level, they got right back up, but...
I watched the scene gravely at first, but as it dragged on, the tension started to fade. A few people were getting tagged by those orbs here and there, but they seemed to be holding. What the...? And was that guy in the back casually snapping photos with what looked like a boxy camera stuck to his face? Cameras existed here? More importantly, wasn't he way too chill?
As we exchanged occasional chit-chat while eyeing the relaxed adventurers, I started sensing the mood shift. Had it been thirty minutes already? Their expressions were changing. A few up front investigating around the altar while dodging orbs looked grim, and some in the rear were huddling to discuss strategy.
"...Should we bolt?"
"No way. Not yet... Besides, if we just bail, those people..."
Wait, Klea, you're saying that now? If you won't run, I'm grabbing Lizbet and going. Als can fuck off.
As I shot Klea an incredulous look, blue auras flared from the heroes, while the other warriors glowed red, yellow, and various other colors. Looked like they were going all-in with fighting spirit. But even that couldn't pierce the barrier; they still couldn't reach Erebos. The rear adventurers' attacks weren't landing either, and they were taking hits from the orbs nonstop. Things were looking bad. The priests had put up the shield two or three times and were now drenched in sweat, exhausted. The rear mages had cut back on offense to counter the orbs but were tiring out fast.
As I kept watching, the fighting spirits flickering around the heroes and adventurers began to fade one by one. The adventurers looked ready to withdraw, grouping up and angling toward the exit. Yeah, time to bail. I crouched to let the three of them on... but then that bastard moved!
"KyaAAAAAHHH!!!"
We couldn't cross that barrier-like space, but Erebos leaped over it like it was nothing. It blasted the frontline heroes—the same breath attack it'd used on Als—with a vengeance.
"Ngh!"
"Gahk!"
The heroes flew backward from the impact and crashed to the ground. That cheating fucker—soloing with nukes from afar this whole time, and now it comes down dirty?
"Everyone, quick, on my back... Huh!?"
I turned to let the three climb on, but Klea bolted past me in a panicked stagger toward the fallen heroes. That crazy bitch, for real!?
"Th-this...! O benevolent Goddess, please grant this man..."
Klea muttered prayers over a hero wreathed in black smoke, unleashing a glow of light. But Erebos was staring right at her.
"Goddamn it...!"
I spat curses and charged after her. That fucking bitch. If I have to drag her ass out, I'm slapping those tits or kicking her fat rump with my hind leg.
"Klea, what the hell?! We agreed to run if it got dangerous!"
"Even so, I can't just abandon them...!"
"These guys have way more experience and power than us! Run, now!"
I dropped the formalities, bit her nun's habit, and yanked her to her feet. Fuck my life. Erebos was charging right at us!
"Shit...! Als! Lizbet!"
I hurled Klea toward the two following behind like a sack. Lizbet caught the stumbling Klea. I whipped around, and there was Erebos rearing its leg...
"Fuck!"
I soccer-kicked its leg with my hind hoof, but this time it wasn't just heavy—it sent me skidding across the dirt straight into a tree. The impact splintered the trunk.
"Guh...!"
This thing wasn't just bigger; it felt way stronger. What the hell happened in the meantime to power it up like this? I staggered to my feet, and there—Als and Lizbet holding Klea, with Erebos looming right in front of them. Adventurers were rushing in, but Erebos was closer.
"Hraaaagh!"
Not Lizbet, you fucker! I poured every ounce of strength into my legs and body-slammed the bastard. It reared up its foreleg but staggered back a bit from the full-force hit.
"Sema!"
Lizbet called my name in a frantic voice, her face etched with worry and fear.
"Quick, on my back...!"
As adventurers swarmed Erebos, I tried to get the three aboard... but the fatigued ones got swatted away like flies. This was bad...!
"Get off her!"
I lunged to crouch but spotted it leaping toward Lizbet. I aimed another soccer kick, but it was faster this time. The foreleg targeting the three smashed my side instead.
"Gahk...!"
Bone-deep agony, just like the stories. My body felt weirdly light as I sailed through the air, wind rushing past. First time feeling airborne since becoming this horse body.
"Guhk, kuh...!"
I slammed into the ground, rolled, and everything throbbed. My legs... no sensation? This was near the altar? I saw adventurers still piling onto Erebos and Lizbet running toward me.
"Sema! Sema! Are you oka—Huh!?"
Lizbet's face drained of color mid-sprint. What? I tried to stand and go to her...
"...Fuck."
Both my thick forelegs were bent at unnatural angles. Yeah... we're fucked.
"S-Sema! Your legs! N-No, why can't you cross!?"
Lizbet kept running but stayed in place, like a treadmill. Same as those adventurers earlier. Als and Klea rushed over too, but couldn't cross either.
"This... the space...! Skills won't...!"
"Sema! Your legs...!"
Als gaped in horror; Klea groped at the invisible wall with her blind eyes sensing something.
"Als, Lizbet—take Klea and run!"
"B-But Sema, you—!"
"I can't move like this! While the others hold it, go!"
The adventurers were tiring, starting to retreat, and the bastard had come down. Even high-level ones wouldn't last long exhausted.
"B-But Sema, you're...!"
"I'm fine—go!"
The three hesitated, then slowly backed toward the entrance. But then black orbs scattered around Erebos like shotgun pellets. They sprayed everywhere, kicking up dust that blinded me. One sliced through the haze straight at me.
"Fuck..."
Not a direct hit, but it exploded nearby, shoving me into the altar. Sensation was fading from my body bit by bit.
...Am I dying?
...Shit. The curse slipped out. I'd barely figured things out, hadn't fully claimed Lizbet as my bitch yet. That fucking Klea. If I survive, she's getting turned into my mare too, goddamn it. No holding back— that bitch needs discipline. Saintess my ass—what the hell was she thinking?
...I'd only been in this world four months or so? One of that lost in the Cursed Mountains... Ha... So fucking unfair...
...I'd just discovered my true desires...
"...Huh?"
Suddenly, light leaked from the altar behind me...
...What the hell is this?
My vision shifted. Before me stretched a planet—like something from photos—and the cosmos.
...Am I dead? What...?
I could see, but not my body. That continent on the planet... it wasn't quite Earth. Was this the isekai world? As I puzzled over it, a bizarre sensation swept me, vision zooming in rapidly. Info on the flashing scenes flooded my mind.
...What... is this... the universe...?
The fragmented info revealed the altar's owner: Essentia’s creator, the goddess worshipped by the faith. A remnant of her power and memories. And those memories forcibly imprinted the truth—why this universe was doomed.
If true... I got royally screwed.
This universe had less than ten years left.
Ha... and the reason that Homeless God sent me here...
Spotty info, but piecing it together: Heroes' infinite power was a bug, drawing energy beyond physical limits from the universe itself, accelerating doom. The bug persisted as long as the hero's will endured. The goddess couldn't stop the heroes' apocalypse, vanished with grudges. Her scattered power and hate birthed Hero Eaters like Erebos—bringers of ruin absorbing heroes' bugs, consuming cosmic energy faster than the heroes themselves due to physical limits.
Doom had begun, unstoppable, but delayable in two ways:
1. Break heroes' wills with mental shocks, nullifying their power and bugs.
2. Kill bringers of ruin before they absorb too many bugs and grow too strong.
Mental shocks... heroes... Als and Lizbet's faces flashed by. Nothing hits harder than a lover's betrayal, right?
This universe's doom felt like it was telling me: Steal the heroes' women, indulge your desires, and it'll slow naturally.
Did that Earth bum god plan this? Saw through my hidden urges before I did? Felt dirty, but a twisted thrill rose too.
Doom was inevitable anyway. Over ten thousand heroes on this planet alone. Impossible to neuter them all. Cosmic energy already tainted, more Hero Eaters spawning from goddess shards. But targeting heroes' women with my NTR kink, culling bringers before they powered up... could push doom back centuries.
Whatever the Homeless God wanted, probably this. My isekai life scripted by divine design. Like getting absolution to unleash on heroes guilt-free. Torment a few, save most of the universe temporarily.
Knowing this, my reason—once drawing lines against suppressing desire—now whispered: Heroes' lovers? Steal as many as you want.
This body was perfect for conquering isekai bitches—Lizbet proved it. Sent me with "live free," gave this form... expected me to go wild? Felt manipulative, but suited me fine. Hell, exhilarating even. Old moral lines faded far off.
I was always this unrestrained? Old me would faint.
Rediscovering myself. Victims suffer regardless, but now: Can't be helped. Sacrifice for the greater good.
Got it, old man Homeless God. Live my way, right?
Yeah. He scammed me first with the doom deadline. Can't complain if I go full throttle.
Heroes'll hate my guts. Might band together for a purge later?
Imagined claiming a few mares. No worries.
Fuck it, Divine Beast title. I'll just get stronger. Powerless limp-dick cucks.
By then, they can call me Maou—wait, Mawang, Horse King?
Emotions surged; silly thoughts matched. Nice. Hero-exclusive demon king? Hell yeah. First... that cat bastard Erebos in front of me. Stomp it. Make Lizbet my mare fully. Klea who blue-balled me? You're next on the list.
Thoughts sorted, inner evil leaped in joy. Embracing it, I accepted my reborn self—like when I first awoke.