Chapter 216
Chapter 216
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 213
Chapter Title: Audience - 2
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"Yes, well... I figured you'd have one or two secrets, naturally."
I replied calmly. The luminous figure seemed to smile faintly in response.
"Did you suspect as much?"
"It'd be foolish not to. You've got some kind of binding restriction preventing you from speaking certain truths, and you've confirmed the one who placed it is the Saint Kingdom's god. Brushing that off would mean living in too simple a world."
The fact that they'd gone so far as to impose restrictions to keep secrets meant there had to be something massive hidden. All that remained was when it would come to light.
And now, at last, I'd seized the chance.
"In that case, this will be straightforward. Since you're ready to approach the secret."
"I've been ready for ages. I just couldn't hear it because of fools muttering to themselves like that one, or because it wasn't time yet, like you goddesses always say."
It was still just a figure of light, so I wondered if it really was the goddess, but the popes had said the Sun and Moon took female forms, and the voice was feminine, so probably.
The luminous figure just laughed at my words. It seemed intent on glossing over what it'd said.
"The little witch's true nature is probably just as you suspected."
"...What did you just say?"
I asked again, thinking I'd misheard. But the response confirmed I hadn't.
"Just as you suspected."
"How do you know what I suspected?"
My retort came sharp, but the luminous figure laughed it off as if it understood everything.
Of course, with no visible expression, I couldn't tell if it really laughed. It just felt that way.
"Think about who I am. You couldn't have failed to notice even that, right?"
To speak with such confidence, when it couldn't even properly catch a single dragon and had to let that one mock it...
I stared hard at the goddess. It felt like she was subtly avoiding my gaze.
"The abilities I possess and the ability to wield them are entirely separate. Just as humans can't smell with their eyes or taste with their ears, so it is with me. It can't be helped. It's not that my power is lacking—it's the nature of the power I have."
The luminous figure hurriedly made excuses. It was an explanation that seemed incomprehensible yet somehow made sense. In short, it wasn't a matter of power, but compatibility.
"I've prattled on too long with trivialities. Back to the main point—what you truly desire."
It felt like she was trying to change the subject, but I didn't want to press further here. My curiosity about Nix's identity outweighed it.
"As you suspected, the little witch is indeed a human from another world."
'As expected.'
I was surprised at how calm I remained upon hearing it.
The reason was unclear. Maybe because I'd long anticipated it, or assumed it was obvious. Or perhaps the goddess had done something to keep me from collapsing in shock.
"More precisely, she once was. Her identity as someone from that world has now completely vanished. But I won't delve deeply into that. You don't want to debate philosophy with me here, do you?"
I nodded. I had no desire to argue what defines a person at this point. That was for philosophers to handle someday, not me.
'Another world... probably...'
Brightest Darkness 3.
And even further back, BD1.
From what players had pieced together from item lists and descriptions in the game, BD1 through 3 shared the same worldview, differing only in timelines.
Putting together the goddess's words, Nix seemed to be an NPC from BD3. Or rather, not quite an NPC anymore, since she'd crossed worlds.
My head throbbed with the complexity. I'd only played BD3 for about 200 hours, so my memory was fuzzy, but there were no NPCs called witches that I recalled.
So who the hell was Nix?
Setting aside my questions, the goddess continued.
"The child's personality splitting in two is a side effect of crossing worlds and partially accepting my power."
"...Accepting your power?"
"Yes. That's right."
"But I didn't sense any divine power from Nix—"
"Because it was fundamentally different from such gentle power."
The luminous figure let out a small sigh. Or seemed to.
"What did the little witch confess she'd done to you?"
"She said she cast two spells on me."
"Neither is a power usable by a human soul. One misstep, and your mind would have collapsed."
"Huh?"
"That's why her personality split in two—to share the burden."
I'd never imagined such a backstory.
In the game, it was just testing new spells on random passersby, but here the process was entirely different magic yielding the same result.
How could I have figured it out without any info?
'...Wait. Then why cast the spells at all?'
From her tone and actions, the Saint Kingdom's god seemed to hold me in high regard. If she was dragging me here anyway, why not shower me with support from the start?
Imposing penalties with those spells was worse than going all-in from the beginning. That would have grown me much faster.
Especially considering the hardships I'd endured early on.
"Wait a moment. Then why cast those spells on me? Without them, I would have—"
"Already been killed in its attack."
The goddess's voice sank low. I halted mid-sentence.
"Do you know why it turned away when you first encountered it?"
I retraced my thoughts. The World Devourer had come straight to the palace and then just left after some words.
"...Because I seemed insignificant on the surface?"
"You hit it exactly. As you complained, I could have granted what you wanted. I could have. But if I had, it would have eliminated you."
The luminous figure sighed again.
"Pretending to take no interest in you at all was the best I could do. That way, it wouldn't try to kill you."
"If I'd had all my power without it being stripped, that's when it would have killed me?"
"Precisely."
Hearing that made some sense.
Honestly, right after possession or when the World Devourer appeared at the palace, could I have beaten it? The answer was a firm no.
I hadn't obtained the spirit word needed to fight it yet. The moment it flew up and unleashed breaths, I'd be helpless. It knew that, so it wouldn't come down to the ground.
But doubts lingered.
"Then why am I still alive now? It must have realized our connection the moment you descended here. Why try to recruit me instead of killing me?"
"Because I've lost endlessly. Remember I told you it's arrogant to the extreme?"
The worry in her voice deepened.
"When you first met it, the battle's outcome was uncertain, but now it's different. It's devouring worlds faster and faster, leaving just one as you've heard. So it mocked me by making you that offer."
Her explanation continued for a while longer, but the core summary was this:
It—the forsaken creation of the gods—had rushed to me thinking the goddess birthed a being who could kill it upon my death after being abandoned by the gods. But I was too weak.
Aside from minor divine power, I was barely stronger than an average human, so it chalked up its loss to me as a compatibility issue and left.
After all, the World Devourer itself was dominating the goddess in their war due to that very compatibility gap, so it made sense.
Calling it a 'compatibility gap' felt oddly off, but anyway. In short, it saw me as the goddess's futile struggle.
Now, it knew better but ignored it. Losing from here would be the weird part.
'No wonder it came all the way to the palace and just left.'
On top of that, she added that she couldn't grant powers now like before—even hindering the Devourer's absorption of swallowed worlds as long as possible was overwhelming.
Was it okay to tell me even this? But I held back and listened quietly. If it risked me, she'd have held back herself.
"Any more questions? If it won't strain your stature, I'll answer anything."
The luminous figure seemed to smile faintly. As I stood sorting my thoughts, a sudden curiosity prompted me to speak.
"If what you say is true, what was the game I played? And what made you so certain I'd reach this point, enough to cast those spells?"
With specs so frail a stray mob could kill me, one slip early on could have meant life or death.
What massive conviction, what firm belief, made her risk those spells? I still didn't get it.
"..."
The goddess fell silent for a moment.
Then came a very familiar reply.
"That time has not yet come."
"Yes, yes. Of course."
I'd half-expected it. I brushed it off.
The luminous figure receded. As the blinding light filled my vision faded, I saw Lucifer still writhing in the distance.
Come to think of it, that thing hadn't died yet. The shocking revelations had made me forget momentarily.
The goddess whispered softly.
"What will you do with it?"
"What else? Kill it."
"I thought as much."
The luminous figure overlapped a hand toward me.
"Not as much as you want, but the most I can... I'll give."
"...So yeah, that's roughly what happened."
I summarized just the encounter with Lucifer, omitting the world's truths from my talk with the goddess and the fact that the World Devourer was far stronger than any god.
'Though skipping those two leaves not much...'
It turned into the goddess appearing to catch Lucifer herself, bruising her pride a bit. But it was dead anyway, so no issue.
The five gathered around me were still reeling from the shock that I'd spoken directly with a god.
"Th-then... Delta. Does that power the god gave you still remain?"
Aurora snapped out of it first and asked urgently.
"Probably?"
"'Probably'?"
"Haven't tested it since coming back. From what you said, it seems it'll stick around, but who knows."
Starting with Aurora's question, the knight commanders were about to join the barrage when a knock sounded—regular, five steady beats.
That meant something related to Kaikilia. The knight commanders leaped from the bed at invisible speeds. Aurora lingered till the end before returning to the sofa.
Erika opened the door. In walked the maid from the palace, expressionless as a robot—that polite one.
"His Majesty the Emperor summons you."
"Got it. I'll prepare immedia—"
"Not you all. The Silver Dawn Knight Commanders."
Her black pupils fixed directly on me.
"Black Night Knight Commander. Only you alone."