The Filthy and Grotesque Evil God
Isabella slowly surveyed her surroundings.
The moment she crossed through the gate, the landscape transformed.
A solitary island adrift upon a vast, wave-tossed ocean. A stretch of sand, an endless forest, and a massive mountain thrusting bluntly toward the sky. Beyond that…
"What, you came too?"
"So the apprentice who I thought had run off is right here."
…the knights of the Palga.
It seemed she was not the only one who had stepped through the gate. Beyond the original participants, these men had come as well — warriors who followed Knight Commander Raiga with absolute devotion. True monsters whose minds had long since frayed from countless descents into the Abyss.
"By the way, what was that shadow creature?"
"Something of the Abyss. An intermediary that can open and close the gate, from the look of it."
"Like a Golden Goblin?"
"Ah. If I'd known it was a Golden Goblin, I would have killed it first and asked questions later."
They had seen the shadow too. And the words that followed struck her as unnervingly familiar.
"The shadow said, 'If your king is to claim victory, he needs you.'"
"Our only king is Commander Raiga."
"Obviously."
"We will never tolerate anyone else becoming king."
…They had crossed the gate to make Raiga their king.
These men followed Knight Commander Raiga alone. Even if the other party were the Emperor himself, a single word from Raiga took precedence. The Emperor's direct knight order — once loyal to the Empire — had long since been corrupted. The Palga Knights had already become Raiga's personal army.
"Then we simply kill the rest of them."
"Let's see. The 'Goat' will be among them, I expect?"
"That damned goat. How dare he try to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Commander."
"Mm. He dies first."
Isabella held her breath.
There was only one person they would call the Goat.
Randolph.
From the moment that executive of the Death God Religion had joined their ranks, the Palga Knights had regarded him with quiet hostility. Raiga had never explained why Randolph was participating in the "Fragment Hunt" — and what better pretext could they ask for? The chance to eliminate both a Death God Religion officer and a rival must have felt like pure fortune to the Palga Knights.
"But apprentice — didn't you speak up for the Goat?"
"…That's right. You said Wilhelm was stronger than Commander Raiga."
"Tsk. Disloyalty of this magnitude is rare."
Their gazes locked onto Isabella. Murderous intent thickened in their eyes.
This was the Abyss. A place where no death was strange.
…Dangerous.
If they charged her, she was already dead. To men who followed Raiga with absolute faith, her words that day had been the most treasonous utterance imaginable.
—Then answer me. Between Wilhelm and myself — who is stronger?
She had answered Raiga's question without a moment's hesitation.
—Wilhelm.
She would never forget that instant. The atmosphere had turned frigid in a heartbeat. The knights' killing intent had been as terrifying as the look on Raiga's face.
……And yet, even if she could turn back time, she would give the same answer. A hundred times, a thousand times — she would never regret it. She had simply spoken a truth so obvious it needed no defense.
But these men were different. They were certain she had spoken up to protect the "Goat."
"Come to think of it, when we entered the Abyss, only you and the Goat vanished."
"Were the two of you colluding from the start?"
"A Death God Religion plant after all."
They ranted on, inventing whatever suited them. Protest would be useless. Even if she called it nonsense, even if she denied everything — they would not listen.
Shing. Shing.
They drew their swords and slowly closed in around her. Isabella drew her own blade in answer.
I have to get out somehow.
If she faced them head-on, her odds of victory were zero. These were genuine monsters who hunted even the Dominators of the Abyss. There was no path of escape. The only slim possibility was to slip through a gap and break free.
Strike out before they finish tightening the noose.
In an instant the knights sealed every route of flight. If they closed in any further, the situation would be hopeless. Isabella swallowed hard, tension coiling through her body — and just as she prepared to break out—
Sss. Sssss. Ssssss.
…A strange sound rose from behind her at the same moment. Something was dragging itself across the ground, crawling closer.
…What is that?
A chill ran through her — a kind of dread she had never experienced before. Her entire body locked as if paralyzed.
"Huh?"
"What the hell is that— Aagh!"
"Danger— Ghk!"
…What?
What on earth was happening?
Screams erupted behind her. When she looked ahead, the knights' eyes were filled with pure horror.
"Ah…"
"Don't look at it…!"
"The— the 'Unborn Existence'…!!!"
They seemed to recognize the "something" that had attacked from behind. Knights who had slain countless Dominators of the Abyss — and even they could not resist this colossal presence.
"…"
Isabella brought a trembling hand to her mouth, sealing it so that not even a breath could escape. Then she shut her eyes and forcibly cut off every sense.
She could not hear.
She could not see.
She could not feel.
How much time passed like that?
"…"
Isabella lifted her head and opened her eyes.
…The sky had already grown dark. Countless stars, and the moon.
She understood the moment she saw them. Those stars were all "continents floating in the firmament." She learned for the first time that in the Abyss, the continents of the heavens appeared as stars.
But none of that mattered now.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Her heart hammered as if it would burst. Drawing a deep breath, Isabella slowly — very slowly — lowered her gaze.
And then.
…All of them.
Isabella could not speak. She was incapable of it. The scene before her eyes was simply too unbelievable.
…They're all dead.
Every last one of them. Dead.
The knights of the Palga. Who were these men? The Empire's strongest military force. They might not match Knight Commander Raiga, but each of them was a warrior who would be called "the strongest" wherever they went.
And yet the spectacle before her had no sense of reality at all.
They couldn't even resist.
A scene of pure slaughter. They had not merely failed to fight back — they had not even managed a proper escape. Chunks of flesh littered the ground. Corpses so mangled their forms were unrecognizable lay scattered everywhere, as if something had crushed and torn them apart. Proof that it had all happened in the blink of an eye.
A monster that had rendered the continent's finest knights incapable of even the slightest resistance.
The only survivor was Isabella.
A monster you must never turn your back to look at.
Because she had not turned around — because she had closed her eyes — she had survived.
Isabella drew a long breath. How many such monsters existed on this island?
……That was when it happened.
Congratulations! Based on survival results, you have been selected as a Night Spirit.
A message appeared without warning. A Night Spirit?
As if sensing her confusion, the text continued.
There are a total of four Night Spirits.
When night falls, a Night Spirit gains 500 Attack and 500 HP.
When night falls, a Night Spirit must seek out escaped "Prisoners" and transfer them to the Star's Prison.
A Night Spirit may examine a specific memory of any Prisoner they transfer, and when morning comes, may disguise themselves as any one of the Prisoners.
While disguised, they may freely use that Prisoner's Starlight.
A Night Spirit is destroyed if they lose an "Expedition Duel" while the sun is up, or if their disguise as a Prisoner is exposed.
Night Spirits cannot identify one another; however, if one destroys another through an Expedition Duel while the sun is up, they absorb a portion of that Spirit's Attack and HP.
However, Night Spirits do not destroy each other merely by exposing one another's disguises.
When only the "Final Prisoner" and the "Final Night Spirit" remain, the Night Spirit may claim or seize everything the Prisoner possesses and achieve victory.
But if morning arrives while two Prisoners still remain, all Night Spirits are destroyed.
Examine memories. Perform. Deceive. And claim victory.
After reading every line, Isabella's expression hardened completely.
"…Lord Randolph."
…Because if the text was accurate, no happy ending existed in which both she and Randolph could survive.
The filthy and grotesque Evil God.
Winter's description had been exact. The "thing" dwelling within the Cheonmado was truly, utterly repulsive.
—Devour humans.
—Blood, flesh, hearts, entrails!
—Parents, children, friends!
—Eat them. Consume them all and become an Asura.
—Child of the Heavenly Killing Star! That is your destiny!
The Cheonmado's memories began with the image of a child.
The star that kills the heavens. A child born to that fate. The very creator of Cheonma Shingong — the Evil God dwelling within the Cheonmado!
The mother who bore him died at once. The father was eaten alive by the child. Once the child of the Killing Star had grown even a little, he slaughtered every soul in his village and tore into their flesh and hearts. Even that was not enough — he went on to destroy several nations.
…Pure evil. A monster born for no purpose but to be evil.
When that pure evil entered Cheonsan, he was soon exalted and came to be called the Heavenly Demon.
—Do you desire my power?
—Do you wish to inherit my strength?
—Then abandon it. Only those who forsake their humanity can succeed Cheonma Shingong.
Countless disciples of Cheonsan venerated his power. But because he was so overwhelmingly strong, so pure, and so evil, no successor capable of inheriting his strength ever appeared. A human cannot abandon being human. No human as purely evil as he existed.
—Can you abandon your humanity?
—Can you devour everything?
And so the First Heavenly Demon — the Evil God — was asking me. Could I become pure evil that consumes all things, just as he had?
The Heavenly Demon currently transferred to the Star's Prison had become a being of the Abyss and abandoned his humanity. Without at least that level of resolve, his power could not be inherited.
Indeed.
I listened to the creature's words and nodded.
"…What a pitiful bastard."
The filthy and grotesque Evil God. This thing was truly pitiful.
—Pitiful? Me?
The Evil God sneered as if the idea were absurd. A supreme being who looked down upon all creation. The strongest existence beneath the heavens, said to have no equal! How many would dare pity such a being? Fear him, hate him — those were possible. But pity?
"Yes. Filthily pitiful."
But I answered without hesitation.
He had never once in his life known genuine warmth, so this was the only way he knew how to express himself. A mother dead at the moment of birth. A father whose heart had sickened from the loss, who raised the child like a beast — locked in a pigsty, denied all affection. In the end, the child raised as an animal killed his father without hesitation and massacred the village.
He was later exalted, but the child possessed none of the compassion that humans share. The pity every human is supposed to carry — he simply did not have it. Lacking what a human ought to possess, he was deemed not human at all.
And so he was called a god.
Because he was too terrifying.
Born a beast. Died a god. From birth to death, the Evil God was never once treated as a human being.
How pitiful was that?
—…You're not afraid of me. You pity me?
Even the Evil God seemed stunned by this treatment — the first of its kind. But I meant every word. His threats held no pressure over me whatsoever.
—Fine. Let's see if you can keep thinking that way to the end.
The evil swelled further. It bulked itself up, projected illusions, and tried to drive me to despair. Countless horrors no human mind could endure! He projected every "evil" he himself had suffered onto me.
—Abandon humanity. Crave only power.
Even if the opponent were a god, his evil was unbearable. From the moment one awakened the being sleeping in the Cheonmado, the outcome was decided. Cling to humanity and the only path left was mental corruption and self-destruction. Abandoning humanity and accepting evil was the sole way to survive.
Moreover, in the Evil God's judgment, this one's talent was considerable. So accept it. Accept him. Accept evil.
……And yet.
—…Why aren't you being tainted?
This human was not being stained by his evil. He still looked upon him with eyes full of compassion. And so the Evil God could not understand. It was impossible.
This was his domain. All things, every form and phenomenon, lay within his grasp. And the color that stained everything black — that was the Evil God himself.
And yet he was not stained.
There was only one color that black could not taint.
……A black deeper still than his own.
