But What I Was Truly Curious About Was the Nature of That Being
That was the real question nagging at me—what exactly was that existence?
[Then we'll meet again.]
With that declarative farewell from the being, Count Maice, who had been prostrated on the ground, vanished. There was no detectable mana, but it had to be some kind of spatial translocation magic. Considering the distance we'd descended, even a Master-level warrior would struggle to climb back up on foot.
Once Count Maice disappeared, only I and that existence remained.
[So, uh, who exactly are you?]
I knew this was an overwhelmingly powerful being that could erase someone like me without lifting a finger, but I wasn't afraid of death. I'd already died once, and I had no regrets left in this world.
Surprisingly, though, it didn't lash out in anger.
[In your terms, I am called Kutula. An outer god.]
Outer god—I didn't know the precise meaning, but it was saying it was a god, at least.
[What's an "outer god" exactly?]
[A god from another world, not this one. I'm merely dipping in a tiny fragment of myself here for amusement.]
By size alone, it didn't look tiny at all, but more importantly—a god. I had no idea how different an otherworldly god was from one native to this world, but a god nonetheless. I was face-to-face with one.
[Then, Lord Kutula, do you happen to know what I am?]
[You appear to be something between a soul and a spirit. I've been wandering this world for a while now, but you're the first of your kind I've seen.]
Even a godlike being had never encountered someone like me before. So I wasn't some product of divine meddling?
[I have a question that's really been bothering me. Aren't aberrations that defy this world's natural order—like me—created by gods?]
[What do you think a god is?]
[I could go on at length, but in short: omnipotent, omniscient beings?]
Kutula wriggled its thousands of tentacles this way and that at my answer. I had no idea what that gesture meant, but it felt like it was pondering.
[No. Gods are not omnipotent or omniscient.]
I couldn't comprehend Kutula's response. If gods weren't all-powerful, then who created and governed this world? How and why had beings like me and the Beast King come into existence?
[Ants can't do what humans can do with ease. A human could effortlessly unleash a natural disaster on an ant colony. Pour a single bucket of water, and their home becomes a flooded wasteland. Toss in a single torch, and you could burn thousands of ants alive. From the ants' perspective, doesn't that make humans godlike? Does that make humans omnipotent?]
Kutula was saying that, from a god's vantage, all creatures—including humans—were like ants. That analogy made it easier to accept that gods weren't omnipotent.
[So I just came about naturally?]
[No, that's not it. You were undoubtedly infused with the power of this world's gods.]
[Infused?]
[Yes.]
Just infused by accident. Not intentionally created, but some overflowing power that luckily seeped in.
[Hahaha!]
A hollow laugh escaped me unbidden. I'd found the answer to my own existence. It didn't hold much meaning, of course, but it could be a profound secret of this world.
[A nameless thing, neither soul nor spirit.]
Kutula called out to me softly. I now owed this being a debt of gratitude. It had casually given me answers I might never have found even after centuries.
At some point, my strength returned, and I could fly again.
[Yes?]
[You've grasped the rough circumstances between me and the Ktolari family?]
[Yeah, something like that. The Ktolari family has served you for generations?]
[ "Serve" isn't the right word. We merely transact. I grant them power, and in exchange, they carry out my tasks.]
A deal they couldn't refuse, right? I wasn't sure how that differed from serving, but fine, whatever.
[I see.]
[Wouldn't you take on a task from me? The head of the Ktolari family will soon change, and humans have their limitations, but you could manage it.]
A mission from a god... Was this the kind of oracle saints and holy maidens received? I couldn't accept rashly. The weight of a request from a god was immense.
Per its ant analogy, what punishment would a human mete out to a failed ant? Even the lightest penalty would be horrific.
[Can I refuse?]
[Of course. We have no contract yet.]
So once contracted, refusal becomes impossible. That must be how the Ktolari heads operated.
[If you succeed, I'll give you a fine gift.]
[What kind?]
My interest piqued instantly. A gift from a god—had to be incredible, right?
[A name.]
Was this god messing with me? A name as a gift?
[The name I bestow is a true name. Not like the ones you mortals use. And don't you lack one already?]
[No, I have a name.]
[What is it, then?]
[My name is...]
Ether. I tried to say the name from my past life. But the words wouldn't come.
[Didn't you already give your name to someone else?]
Gods could know even that? No, more importantly, why couldn't I say my own name? I had no idea when this had started.
[Is a name really that important?]
After giving my name to Ether, I'd lived just fine... well, I couldn't eat, but no problems otherwise.
[Extremely so.]
If a god said it was vital, who was I to argue? Sounded like it couldn't hurt to accept.
[Alright, then. What's the mission?]
[Deal with Nergal's fragment.]
[What's that?]
[Nergal is another outer god. A tiny shard of it leaked into this world. Eliminate it.]
It wanted me to take on a god? This sounded like a life-or-death job.
[Don't worry. Nergal is the god of disease and healing. You're immune to illness, aren't you? And it's just a tiny fragment—lacking the power to harm you.]
[Is this some rivalry between gods?]
[Something like that. This world isn't mine, so I don't care what Nergal does here. But I owe it a minor debt from another realm, so I'm settling it. Besides, an outer god's fragment roaming free benefits nothing in this world.]
I pondered long and hard. No matter how I looked at it, there seemed to be no downside for me.
[Alright, I'll do it.]
No sooner had the words left me than a massive tentacle shot out with terrifying speed, brushing my soul ever so delicately at its tip.
[I've granted you the power to locate the fragment. No deadline on the task, but hurry. An outer god's power is lethal to this world.]
It was an outer god itself, but if living in a deep underground lair was the reason, that made sense.
[Understood.]
[Go.]
With Kutula's command, my vision shifted. Suddenly, I was back in Count Maice's bedroom.
It wasn't hard to figure out the power Kutula had given me. Like a compass, it pointed the way forward.
I still had tons of questions for Kutula. I wanted to wrap this up quick and return.
Shelving the Dragon Mountains expedition for now, I flew in the direction Kutula's power indicated.
Thus began a brand-new journey.
But how far away was it? Over a month of nonstop flight, and Nergal's fragment was still nowhere in sight.
Come to think of it, I hadn't even asked what form the fragment took.
Crossing the Great Ocean, I finally reached the Eastern Continent for the first time.
Not sure it'd be useful, but I'd learned the Eastern Continent's language back at the academy—lucky break.
Separated by the ocean, the Eastern and Western Continents had vast cultural differences.
From what I'd studied, the East was far harsher than the West. Lower soil fertility, far more monster outbreaks. Tough enough for common folk even without that.
Some technologies had developed abnormally, but magic lagged far behind—because it was an expensive pursuit.
Traversing the East at top speed, everything looked inferior to the West in nearly every way.
Public order was notably worse. Low productivity bred hunger, hunger spawned bandits, and without military force to curb it, the vicious cycle repeated.
Only upon reaching the vicinity of Baikal Kingdom's capital in the northwest of the Eastern Continent did I finally spot what I presumed was Nergal's fragment—a person.
Long before locating it, I'd learned the impact of the outer god's power Kutula mentioned.
It was plague.
Days before sighting the fragment, every place I passed was ravaged by all manner of infectious diseases.
I wasn't well-versed in medicine, but even I could tell from the symptoms it wasn't just one disease.
Villages overflowed with patients; corpses piled like mountains and burned where they lay.
One mid-sized city I'd stopped in was all but wiped out. How many had lived there? A fairly large place—over 100,000, easily.
Not just people. Livestock, insects, plants—everything was dying.
Kutula had called Nergal the god of disease and healing. And this was just a fragment, a sliver of it. If it kept roaming unchecked, how many more would die? Without intervention, it could wipe out the continent's life entirely.
Having found Nergal's fragment at last, I observed it first.
It was a girl who hadn't reached adulthood yet. Small and emaciated, she staggered along as if she might collapse any moment.
Her face plainly told a tale of hardship. The scars of suffering were etched deep, her eyes brimming with resentment toward the world.
I knew nothing of her life—where she came from, how she'd survived, her backstory.
But I felt like I understood. Her expression mirrored mine just before my execution.
Yet her soul shone a bright ashen gray—not black. And it was impressively large. In a nurturing environment, her talent could have made her a legend on the continent.
Embedded in the center of that soul was a tiny crimson shard.
[So that's Nergal's fragment.]
At first, I approached intending to deal with just the fragment, even attempting to absorb it. But it didn't work.
The girl drew nearer to the next city.
I knew what that meant. I'd seen every living thing around her withering away as she walked.
[Sorry.]
A pang of pity stirred in me at her face—so like my own from life. But it had to be done. Kutula's mission, and before she claimed more lives.
Pfshk!
Her heart burst, and she crumpled lifelessly. I caught her body gently and laid it on the ground.
Then I absorbed her soul—and Nergal's fragment.
[Rooooaaarrr!]
I'd half-expected this. Even a shard, it was divine power. The immense force surging from Nergal's fragment drew an involuntary roar from me.
It felt like dozens—no, hundreds of times—the euphoria of absorbing a large soul.
When I came to, a good deal of time had passed. The girl's corpse, abandoned on the roadside, was already well into decay.
I dug a grave and buried her.
But something felt off since regaining my senses. Kutula's power hadn't ended.
It meant more Nergal fragments remained.
Figures a god's mission wouldn't wrap up so easily.
[Not just the one, huh?]
I set off once more in the direction Kutula's power indicated.