Chapter 779: Initiate!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 779: Initiate!
"You don't know... the Love God?"
The confusion Muen felt was faint, as the entity he was communicating with was clearly just a lingering wisp of will. Before entering this tower, even the dreams involving the girl had been simple and rigid.
Yet, that small spark of doubt was enough to send waves of shock through Muen’s heart.
She didn't know the Love God.
This girl... no, though she appeared before him as a young girl now, she had led the people who would eventually become the Demon Race a thousand years ago. Given her role in qualifying for the Eternal Cycle, she must have been a top-tier powerhouse during her lifetime.
At her level, she would have certainly come into contact with matters regarding the divine. Moreover, the entire Demon Race had met their catastrophe precisely because they worshipped that Demon God.
And yet, she remained ignorant of the Love God—a deity whose prestige was significantly lower than that of the Demon God.
Is it because the Love God went by a different title a thousand years ago?
No, that didn't seem right either.
The Authority of Love was distinct, unlike the flashy and bizarre authorities of other Evil Gods. It was easily recognizable. Even if the Love God had been using a different persona back then, anyone who knew of Him would have made the connection upon hearing the name "Love God."
This meant the most likely scenario was...
A thousand years ago, the Love God didn't exist.
"That sounds a bit hard to believe..."
Even if He was the "Disgrace of Evil Gods," He was still a deity. Was He really less than a thousand years old?
Was He younger than even that damned Old Loli?
Did the Love God actually have a "little girl" attribute? No wonder He had such a foul temper... So what was He? Some kind of pathetic little small-fry who jumped out to mock everyone but was the first to burst into tears?
"I feel like the Love God is accumulating more and more weird traits..."
Muen rubbed his chin, his brow furrowing.
He pushed the matter of the Love God to the back of his mind. For the same reason as before, overthinking it was currently pointless. He’d be better off spending that energy figuring out how to pry the truth out of the Old Loli once he got back.
She definitely knew something; she just refused to talk. When it came to questions about the Evil Gods, even strawberry lollipops could hardly coax a straight answer out of her.
He really shouldn't have told the "Riddlers" to get out of Gotham back then; now the entire other world was crawling with them.
Of course, in practical terms, the Love God's age wasn't a pressing concern for Muen. Whether He was a cranky brat or a crybaby loser, the fact that the girl didn't recognize Him meant one thing...
"The shadow you mentioned hiding beside Divine Will... since it isn't the Love God, it can only be from 'Him,' right?" Muen looked at the girl with renewed gravity.
This "Him" was not the same as the other.
Having encountered a phantom of "Him" in this tower and witnessed the remnants of that great war from a millennium ago—especially after just experiencing a nightmare about the apocalypse—Muen didn't need to be a genius to figure out what kind of entity could influence Divine Will for a thousand years.
The Demon God.
Naturally, it wouldn't be the Demon God in His complete, world-ending state from a thousand years ago, but rather some remnant He had left behind.
Something extremely dangerous.
"..."
The girl didn't answer, but her silence was a tacit admission.
"It makes sense. If the true purpose of the Eternal Cycle is to purge the pollution from those who were once 'His' believers through reincarnation... the entire Demon Race has undergone countless cycles over these thousand years. Only Divine Will..."
Divine Will, which fanatically pursued the resurrection of the so-called "Demon King," had never undergone the cycle. Not once.
It was perfectly normal for them to have accidentally accumulated some form of "Immaculate" corruption over the millennium, or perhaps they had been tainted from the very beginning.
"I just wanted to save my little maid. How did this mess get so big?"
Muen let out a long sigh.
Heaven have mercy. Who could have known that his original goal in coming to Gutons Fortress was simply to be an inconspicuous infiltrator and dig up the Demon Race's secrets?
He had never planned on having a face-to-face showdown with a remnant of the Demon God...
"Are you afraid?"
Amidst Muen’s lament, the girl finally spoke again.
She was like a mechanical doll that only reacted to specific keywords. While most of her communication with Muen was stiff and wooden, she would occasionally drop a bombshell.
"Afraid? Heh, of course I am."
Muen looked at his hands.
It was the same with the Love God, the Withered King, the Silent Moon, and the Mother of Abundance... Perhaps it was because he, a Yellow-Haired Villain who should have died long ago, was loathed by Fate. Throughout his journey, he hadn't experienced much of the "face-slapping" satisfaction of a power fantasy, nor had there been any hot-blooded adventures.
Aside from a bit of luck with women that he’d literally staked his life for... he was constantly entangled with these bizarre entities.
Muen sometimes had the delusion that he was some world-class beauty; every Evil God that passed by felt the need to tilt his chin up and comment on how tender he looked before inviting him to "play."
"But compared to this, I’d much rather be back there, fighting a tough opponent like Zagu with Ariel’s perfect support..."
However...
Muen’s tone shifted as he abruptly clenched his fist.
"You can mess with me, but you can't mess with my girls. The last one who tried that has grass growing half a meter high on his grave!"
Muen stood tall, the fire in his eyes burning bright. It had been nearly a year since the Moon was almost screwed to death; why should he be intimidated by a mere remnant of the Demon God? At worst, he’d just use his ultimate move—
Begging the Black Book to save him...
He didn't believe that even the Black Book could withstand his "seventeen saves per second" barrage.
"Take this."
Suddenly, just as Muen was contemplating the best way to grovel for the Black Book's help, the girl reached out, offering him something.
It was the circle she had condensed earlier—the miniature version of the Eternal Cycle.
"This is..."
Muen didn't think this was the actual Eternal Cycle. If the girl’s will could still control the real thing, matters wouldn't have escalated to this point.
"A key," the girl said.
"A key?"
Muen looked up at her, puzzled.
The hazy mist still obscured his vision and stifled his urge to ask more questions.
A distinct sense of rejection began to manifest. The entire room began to shake, the wind chimes rattled, and even the ethereal shouting from outside drifted away.
A thought flashed through Muen’s mind... the dream was ending.
"Fine, it looks like I don't have time for a deep dive. I’ll ask one last question—the one I want to know the answer to most."
Muen stared intensely, as if trying to pierce through the mist to look directly into the girl's eyes. He snatched the ring and asked, "Why... me?"
Why was he, Muen Campbell, guided here? Why was he the one she chose?
"Because you came, didn't you?" the girl said softly.
"..."
Muen was stunned. It wasn't because the sentence contained some profound information, but because the girl's tone was suddenly filled with a vibrancy it had lacked before.
It was as if she were no longer a doll responding to keywords, but a real person who had crossed a thousand years of time to stand before him.
But before Muen could say anything else, the dream space distorted completely. Countless lights and shadows swirled, swallowing him whole.
Muen vanished.
Yet, the dream space remained, defying logic.
The mist on the girl's face had disappeared. She stood there quietly, watching—perhaps the spot where Muen had vanished, or perhaps reminiscing about this once-familiar room.
After a long time, she let out a sigh filled with profound emotion.
"To be honest, I’m quite surprised myself."
A trace of confusion appeared on her face, followed by a complex sense of relief.
She smiled.
"But if this is Your arrangement, then I suppose this time... there won't be such a tragic ending."
At the edge of the dream space, the faint sound of pages turning echoed, as if in response.
*
"Sss—damn, that hurts."
Muen regained consciousness. Before he even opened his eyes, a sense of familiarity washed over him.
It seemed that ever since he arrived at Gutons Fortress, every time he woke up... it was because of pain.
However, there was a slight difference in the details this time. For instance, it wasn't his body that hurt, but... his face.
Yes, his face.
It felt as if something very hard had slammed directly into it.
"Dammit, did the ceiling cave in?"
Muen raised his hand, pushing hard against the object pressing down on his face. As light returned to his vision, he noted that the object didn't feel quite as hard as he had imagined.
To describe it, it felt like exquisite leather wrapped around a rigid steel plate...
Wait, a steel plate?
"..."
Muen’s expression froze. He slowly shifted his gaze, looking past the hand he was using to push...
Though he had prayed fervently in his heart, as his vision moved past the "steel plate" and up the slightly disheveled clothing, he saw a beautiful, expressionless face.
Indeed, neither a ceiling nor a steel plate would have such a striking face.
So...
"Does it feel good?"
The beautiful face stared at him. Though she showed no outward emotion, a massive wave seemed to surge within her deep pupils, enough to swallow reefs whole.
That wasn't a wave; it was pure killing intent.
"Ha... haha..."
Muen squeezed out a smile.
"It’s... it’s quite comfortable. At least, it’s a bit... bigger than I expected..."
"I’ll kill you! You bastard!"
The Soaring Phoenix, who had been molested the moment she woke up, instantly flew into a rage, pouncing on Muen like a starving wolf.
Muen scrambled to dodge, explaining frantically:
"Wait! Listen to me, this is all a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding! Why were you lying on top of me..."
"Shut up! You jumped first, I jumped second! If I didn't land on you, were you going to land on me?"
"That was just an accident... Believe me, I have absolutely no interest in that area. I’m a Big Breast partisan!"
"Just die!"
"Why are you even angrier now?!"
Muen shifted his body, only to realize that the space he and Ariel occupied was extremely narrow. Not only did he fail to dodge her assault, but the frantic struggle led to even more accidental contact.
Fortunately, the only upside to the cramped space was that Ariel couldn't draw her Heavenly Fire Greatsword. Otherwise, he probably would have met his end right then and there.
"Wait, wait a minute! This is no time to get angry over such trivial things! Business first! Business first!"
Muen looked sincere. After much earnest persuasion, he finally got Ariel to release her grip on his throat.
"For the sake of that hundred million, I’ll spare your life for now!" Ariel said viciously.
"Cough, cough... Th-thank you."
Muen was deeply moved.
By a rough estimate, that hundred million had already saved his life three times. It was truly a bargain. He believed that even if he had to sell his father's manor again, the old man wouldn't have any complaints.
"Wait, that's not the point..."
Muen propped himself up. "Where are we?"
"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
Ariel rolled her eyes. "Isn't this the place you were guiding us to?"
"I was guiding... Oh, right."
Muen blinked, finally remembering what had happened before the dream.
He and Ariel had jumped from the top of the tower following the branch of the Eternal Cycle, and then... they ended up here.
Muen looked around. The space was just as narrow as he had felt. Even though Ariel was trying her best to stay away from him, half her body was still pressed against his.
This look of utter disgust combined with the forced physical contact was fantastic; it made him want to give a subconscious thumbs-up.
However, the narrowness wasn't because the room itself was small, but because the area around Muen and Ariel was filled with a massive amount of precision cabling and various instruments he couldn't identify.
A faint magical glow pulsed through the cables with a rhythmic, breath-like cadence. Muen’s gaze followed the lines, eventually landing directly in front of him.
It was a square platform.
Flat and simple, yet it felt like the core of this place, possessing a powerful sense of presence.
Most importantly, at the very center of the square platform, there was a circular indentation.
"This is..."
Muen looked down at his left hand.
The branch of the Eternal Cycle on his wrist had vanished at some point, replaced by the perfect ring held in his palm.
"What is that?"
Ariel leaned in. "The Eternal Cycle? It's so small?"
"This... is probably a gift from a thousand years ago."
Muen suddenly understood something and couldn't help but smile.
He knew it. How could they send a small fry like him to face a remnant of the Demon God empty-handed?
Just like how every final boss has a specific counter-item hidden nearby, he had to be given a "handy" weapon of his own.
"I hope this thing works."
Muen pressed the miniature Eternal Cycle into the indentation. It fit perfectly, as if it had been carved from the platform itself.
Vrrr—
The moment the "key" was inserted, a grand sound echoed from far away. Even after a thousand years, the startup sound was still powerful and majestic, like the heartbeat of a giant.
The platform split open, and a device resembling a control lever popped out. The magical glow flowing over it possessed a profound beauty, as if tempting Muen to grab it.
"Here goes!"
Muen grabbed it immediately.
Pfft—
But in the next second, Muen was blasted back even more violently than before. He sprayed a large mouthful of blood, leaving Ariel, who was just watching, completely stunned.
"Are you... binding it with blood? Is the activation process for this thing that ancient?"
"Binding with blood? Does this look like a drop to you? I’m practically a fountain."
Muen stood up, grimacing in pain.
"Give me a hand."
"Eh? Help you? How?" Ariel had a bad feeling, but there was nowhere to run in this godforsaken place.
"It seems like operating this thing requires a significant amount of spiritual power. I overextended mine earlier; I don't think I can do it alone."
Muen grabbed the lever again and turned to her earnestly.
"But with two people, I think it should be enough."
"Why should I—"
"One hundred million."
"...Tch."
Ariel clicked her tongue. Though reluctant, she realized that if Muen Campbell died of blood loss here and she didn't get her money, it would be a real shame.
And so, she reached out, placing her hand over the back of Muen’s, gripping the lever with him.
"The last time." A familiar warmth spread through her, and Ariel’s face once again filled with disdain.
"You got it."
Muen laughed and pushed the lever forward. "The last time!"
Without a prior agreement or a countdown, their spiritual powers surged into the platform simultaneously, with a synchronicity they hadn't even realized they possessed.
A brilliant light reflected in Muen’s eyes.
In that brief instant, a massive amount of information, accompanied by the roar of ancient machinery, began to pour into the depths of his consciousness.
[Identity information confirmed... Identity verification complete...]
[Authority information confirmed... Authority verification complete...]
[Coordinate information confirmed... Coordinate verification complete...]
[Structural information confirmed... Structural verification complete... Integrity: 33%... Residual Energy: 19%...]
[Minimum design startup threshold reached... Ready for activation...]
[God-Slaying Mechanism: Spear of Calodis... Commencing charge!]