The man bound by the magic circle furrowed his brow, trying to shake off the magical power clinging to him, but the great mage Erginus’s magic never let go of its target.
I know. The hundreds of years Erginus spent creating that magic. His passion, unyielding over such a long time, never once waned.
Even in the face of countless temptations, he did not falter. That pure heart of his. That’s why I believe. His magic will surely reach the evil god of darkness.
“Heh. How surprising.”
Eventually, Erginus’s magic fully clung to the man’s body.
“Has that bastard Erginus’s obsession reached me?”
Hearing the man muttering, I forced my broken body to rise.
Restored by divine magic, my flesh recovered, and again, waves of sharp pain flooded my head, but strangely, that pain was something I could endure.
Was it because I almost died a moment ago? Maybe my senses are still numb. After barely recovering my body, I looked around, and I saw the darkness slowly receding.
Erginus’s magic had stripped the man of his control.
But it’s still not enough. This won’t do. To achieve our plan, I need to make the evil god exert more power!
“How does it feel to be beaten by the human you so despised?♡ Hmm?♡ Hmm?♡”
“No need to be coy. I already figured out why Erginus put this magic on me. He probably wants me to consume all the darkness inside this place.”
...He’s already figured it out!?
This is too much! If you're that strong, at least be a little dumb to keep the balance! If both are brilliant, what are we supposed to do?
“I won’t do anything. After all, just being freed from the seal has already brought change to this world.”
The man spread his hands wide and grinned smugly.
As he said, there was no need for him to exert effort to shake off the magic right now.
With the resurrection of the evil god, darkness would spread across the world, and soon, that magic would be unable to withstand the evil god’s growing power.
But...
“Maybe it's because you're an idiot, but your memory's terrible♡”
There’s one thing the man has missed.
“It’s pointless to provoke me. Even if I can’t use my power, you won’t lay a single scratch on me.”
“Right♡ I’m a small, cute, and weak little girl♡ I’m so scared of a pervert like you that I can’t even move♡”
But here...
“That’s different for the rotting old hag, right?♡”
The fairy queen’s dream, that is.
“I found it.”
With a voice that turned the world into winter, the fairy queen appeared, her eyes devoid of reason, charging toward the man.
“You crazy bitch!”
The man’s face wavered for the first time. The fairy queen’s power was a threat significant enough to shake him.
“Do you think someone like you can handle my darkness?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes! Of course! This is my dream! In a dream, anything is possible!”
“Don’t interfere and get lost! If you’ve lost your mind, go become fertilizer beneath the earth!”
The fairy queen, aiming to take the power of darkness, did not even spare a glance at anything other than the man. Did she have a moment of relief?
Before letting out a sigh of relief, I turned my head to check on my friends’ condition.
“They’re all fine. Lucy. Don’t worry.”
The faces of those gathered around Joy were pale, but it seemed that they hadn’t sustained any significant physical or mental damage.
“While you bought time, I managed to diminish the evil god’s power.”
I see. The man’s goal is always to torment me. While my attention was on him, did you manage to save my friends?
My provocation didn’t work, and I was desperate, but in the end, I ended up doing the job of a tank well.
“...I’m sorry, Lucy.”
Huh? Why are you apologizing? That was the best you could do at that time, right?
“I said I’d try, but I almost killed everyone by failing.”
This too. If I hadn’t broken the evil god’s seal, the fairy queen would have taken the seal, and it would have been a bad ending.
Joy, it was thanks to you confidently speaking that I was able to make that decision.
“While you screamed in pain, you couldn’t do anything.”
Couldn’t do anything? You saved everyone, didn’t you? If you hadn’t taken away the evil god’s power, who knows what would have happened by now.
“I...”
Aah! Seriously! I hate how weak I feel! At this rate, I’ll end up being a fool both inside and out!
Ignoring the endless noise coming from behind, I pressed Joy’s cheeks firmly.
“Nn. Nn.”
“Fool. Are your eyes just for decoration? We’re still in danger, you know?”
“I know.”
“Complain once those crazy bastards are gone. I’ll laugh my head off then.”
“...Okay.”
“And by the way, if you’re such a useless idiot, what does that make the others? Worthless microorganisms? A bunch of bugs hiding behind the girls?”
Hmm? Weird. Normally, Arthur or Freya would be complaining by now.
Huh? Why are they all so gloomy this time?
Ah! This is so annoying!
“Everyone.”
Before I could say anything, Kal spoke up as he stood.
“There’s a use for even a bug. Feeling self-loathing can wait until later.”
“...I guess you’re right. My neck is still here, after all.”
“That’s right. There are still fun things left.”
“After seeing that scene, you still think it’s fun?”
I can roughly imagine what kind of scene they’ve faced.
The sight the evil god’s power shows is nothing but the darkness in the heart.
Normally, after facing him, one’s spirit would be broken, yet my friends showed no sign of faltering.
“Anyway, it seems to have gone according to plan. Joy, isn’t it still lacking? That bastard’s darkness isn’t all that great, is it?”
“The problem is that old hag’s mind has gone. She’s just charging forward like an idiot, so it’s easy to counter.”
“Even if she regains her mind, it’s still difficult. We can’t deal with it at our level.”
“Then what if we help the queen and attack the evil god? Joy, what about interfering with his power?”
“It’s possible, but in that case, we don’t know how the magic inscribed on the evil god’s body will change.”
My friends were thinking of getting involved in their fight. Despite almost dying several times just now, they weren’t afraid, and they were ready to move forward.
<You’re like them.>
‘Ugh!? Why are you suddenly speaking?! You scared me!’
<Apologies for that. But I’ve brought some interesting news.>
‘...Interesting news?’
<It’s information from Ganshu. Even darkness has a history it doesn’t want to be found out about.>
Hearing Ganshu’s name, my frustration flared up, but the following words made my anger subside.
Ha. Hahaha! That old, cranky guy!
I never thought he would have grabbed the enemy’s weakness too!
Alright! I had a lot I wanted to say to you, but I’ll forgive you for this!
Because of you, I’m going to see something fun!
“Hey, losers. Don’t you want to see that bastard struggle and cry in shame?”
“Huh? Strange. It’s my dream, but why isn’t everything going according to my wishes? Why? Why?”
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“Stop whining and think for yourself.”
The fairy queen, who leapt through space to reach me, was dodged by a simple bow of my waist. When I planted my feet on the ground, I saw a huge hole where the ground had been just moments before. I clicked my tongue and used the darkness to create a stepping stone.
“Annoying.”
If it were the old me, dealing with a fairy queen would have been easy.
With just a gesture, I could erase her from this world.
But right now, there’s a restriction: I must not gather the darkness.
Even if I don’t like it, I must endure.
Until the darkness completely blankets the world, and no human can ever stop me.
“Accept it!”
“I refuse.”
And when that time comes, I’ll play with the toy that the god treasures.
Ah. I can’t wait to hear those screams.
I want to laugh, imagining Aramadi despairing at the cries of his child.
But I must hold back. The reason I lost to a mere human last time was because I let my guard down.
I have no intention of repeating the same mistake, especially if that opponent has caused miracles countless times.
“Wow♡ You’re popular?♡ Someone actually needs a loser like you?♡ How curious♡”
Turning my gaze in the direction of the voice, I see the god’s apostles and various pests.
The noble apostle, that’s one thing, but I thought the others would have fled. Why are they crawling into danger?
They were always like this. Those around the hero never seem to value their lives. It makes them even more fun to crush.
“Judging by the fact that they’ve come here, it looks like they’re quite anxious. Did that crazy queen turn out to be more useless than you thought?”
“Pfft♡ What nonsense♡ There’s no way I’d expect anything from that rotten old hag, right?♡ Once she touches that hag, her hopes will decay too~♡”
“Oh? Then do you have any way to do something? Try. Otherwise, I’ll start singing again.”
Her screams were quite pleasant.
It truly was a voice fitting for one chosen by the god.
Perhaps after she breaks completely, I’ll use her as an instrument.
Not bad.
“Hey♡ Do you see this?♡ Hmm?♡”
“...Ganshu’s symbol? How did the god’s apostle get that?”
“You know♡ That stinky old man, he’s a piece of garbage, right?♡ I bet he’s got mold growing in his heart from being stuck in the library all this time♡”
No. This is arrogance. There’s no way that nasty guy would reveal his secrets to mere humans.
“Isn’t it just awful how it can’t be figured out?♡ He’s been recording things from ancient times that no one can even count!♡”
There’s no way that a piece of garbage like him would tell anyone, especially a girl, something so valuable.
“Do you think I’m being arrogant?♡ Pfft!♡ Yeah!♡ You’re probably right!♡ Keep denying reality!♡ It won’t make your dark past disappear!♡”
...
“Pff♡ Look at how pale your face has gone♡”
“Your bitch.”
“Why?♡ Do you want to shut me up now?♡”
“That’s enough. If you don’t...”
“If I don’t?♡ What are you going to do?♡ Are you going to make me cry like you did before?♡ Hmm?♡ Hmm?”
“...I’ll kill you.”
“Wow~♡ You’re so scary♡ You really are pathetic!♡”