Chapter 73: Whispers of the Love God (Part 12)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 73: Whispers of the Love God (Part 12)
Eluka opened her eyes. There were no whites, no pupils—only a deep, abyssal darkness.
Her head slowly drifted upward, and then she opened her mouth.
In an instant, the monster’s massive body collapsed, dissolving into a river of blood choked with white bone and severed limbs.
Under the influence of some eerie power, the flowing river of blood began to shrink, narrowing into a thin stream that was sucked into that small, cherry-like mouth.
Gulp. Gulp. It sounded as if she were swallowing a delicious beverage.
As the river of blood was consumed, a terrifying aura began to brew atop that floating head.
"Take this!"
Muen reacted instantly. Without a moment’s hesitation, he whipped out his short blade and slashed downward.
Whatever the hell you are, I’m cutting you first!
I’m not giving you any time for a magical girl transformation sequence.
Clang!
The crisp sound of metal striking metal rang out, and Muen’s expression froze.
A feather.
A single, pure white feather drifted in front of him, blocking his path.
It was a light, airy thing, swaying in the breeze as if it had no weight at all. Yet, when Muen’s blade struck it, sparks flew as if he had hit solid steel.
How can a feather be this hard?!
In that case...
"An!"
If I can’t cut through, I’m calling for backup!
Steel Screech!
A thicket of metal thorns bypassed Muen, lunging at Eluka’s head from every other direction.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
But in the next heartbeat, only more sounds of impact echoed.
The steel could not get near Eluka.
A pair of pristine white wings had suddenly unfurled from behind her head, batting away every metallic blade.
The wings were holy and untainted by dust. They looked like an angel descending to the mortal realm, radiating a golden holy light so brilliant it nearly blinded anyone looking on.
But...
Seeing a pair of majestic wings growing out of a severed head was just too damn creepy!
Where’s the body? At least manifest a body!
You look powerful, sure, but no one’s going to feel any reverence looking at this!
Give me back my little monster; after looking at you for a while, it was actually kind of cute!
"What the hell is this thing..."
Muen complained even as he racked his brain, trying to recall the descriptions from the original novel. He needed to know what he was up against.
An angel?
No, the angels of the Life Church didn't look this bizarre.
A retainer?
But given how Evil Gods tended to slaughter their own followers when they went mad, there weren't many retainers left aside from a few crazed cultists.
Besides, the fact that it needed to borrow Eluka’s head suggested it didn't have a physical form of its own.
As he puzzled over it, the river of blood finally ran dry. Suddenly, Muen felt a gaze.
A gaze from those pitch-black eyes.
In an instant, a bone-chilling cold washed over him.
His body felt as though it had been frozen in ice; even breathing became difficult. It was as if an ant crawling on the ground had been noticed by a great existence from the high heavens.
He couldn't help but tremble at his own insignificance.
"No way..."
The most terrifying thought possible began to surface in Muen’s mind.
"You’ve got to be kidding me..."
"I only called you a bastard once. Is there really any need to get this worked up?"
"You’re actually... descending in person?"
Even if it was only a thousandth or a ten-thousandth of its will seeping through, that gaze undoubtedly belonged to a higher plane of existence. It was absolutely not something he could handle.
Thus, Muen unhesitatingly revealed the ultimate trump card he had been hiding for so long.
—"Black Book, save me!"
He didn't know if it would work, but shouting it was the right move!
【■■】
At that moment, as the last of the blood vanished, Eluka’s head—or rather, the Evil God—parted its lips slightly. Ancient, cryptic syllables leaked out.
It was an incomprehensible language, yet when it descended upon the world, it felt like a command issued to the entire universe.
In an instant, everything went still.
Not just Muen, but the lunging metal spikes and even An in the distance were frozen in mid-air, unable to move.
His consciousness remained clear.
It was as if he had been turned into a doll.
Muen could only stare in horror.
Then, he saw the Evil God’s malicious, suffocating gaze sweep past him like he was a speck of insignificant dust, shifting its focus onto An.
Joy.
Then, greed.
Such human emotions flowed from those pitch-black eyes.
"Could it be..."
"The Evil God’s target..."
"...is An?"
In a flash, Muen understood why the Evil God would pay such a high price to personally send a sliver of its will down.
A Divine Blessing holder.
She possessed the blessing of a god.
And those blessings were, in a sense, partial manifestations of a god’s Authority.
To an Evil God, the Authority of other gods was the most delicious, gluttonous feast in the world!
"How could I have forgotten?"
"In the original novel, the protagonist attracted the attention of Evil Gods daily because she had too many divine blessings. Evil Gods basically popped up wherever she went."
"If that’s the case, then An, as a fellow Divine Blessing holder..."
"That’s why Eluka was so obsessed with her."
"Dammit, I knew I shouldn't have let An get involved in this!"
Muen’s eyes bulged with rage, his pupils nearly splitting as he watched the Evil God slowly drift toward An.
A look of terror appeared on An’s face, but she could do nothing. Under the suppression of the Evil God’s descended will, she had become like a little white rabbit waiting for the slaughter. She couldn't even use her abilities.
She was utterly powerless.
She was going to be eaten by the Evil God!
Dammit.
I have to find a way.
I have to move.
I have to stop that goddamn bastard Evil God.
How dare He touch my maid!!
...
【Sigh.】
...
Like a sudden breeze passing by, a faint, ghostly sigh echoed in Muen’s ear.
Muen’s vision went black.
But he didn't lose consciousness.
"This is... the Black Book space?"
Muen looked around. This pitch-black environment was undoubtedly the familiar space within the Black Book.
But he hadn't entered this place voluntarily this time.
"Which means... you pulled me in?"
Muen looked at the Black Book floating in front of him. He didn't have time for anything else and asked directly:
"Do you have a way to save An?"
The Black Book swayed slightly, its pages beginning to flip.
The pages turned like flickering shadows, finally stopping on a blank sheet.
Before Muen could ask anything, flames suddenly erupted from the blank page.
Crimson flames.
They looked somewhat familiar.
Before he could think further, the crimson flames suddenly formed a bizarre pattern.
A... hideous, burning eye.
"This is..."
Muen frowned slightly. Even though the light of the flames wasn't particularly bright, looking at that hideous eye made his own eyes sting with pain.
He got the feeling this wasn't anything good.
But...
He had no other choice.
"Using this can save An, right?"
Muen reached out and grabbed the eerie pattern.
"Then there’s nothing to hesitate about."