The man, drawing the darkness that enveloped him, could be seen rushing forward.
Gathering a tremendous force to crush the restrictions placed upon him by Erginus’s magic, the sight of him trying to silence me was as awe-inspiring as night itself advancing toward me.
However, night was merely spreading across the world, not deep nor thick. With my light, I could become the sun itself and turn the night into dawn.
“Haha!♡ Just like its master, a pitiful darkness!♡”
Even though the darkness recedes, facing the man is still a daunting task.
Even without his power, the presence standing before me is clearly divine.
It is no easy task for a mere human to inflict harm.
However, if it is about blocking his attack, hindering his movements, I can do that much.
Boom!
The punch the man threw with all his might was not a significant attack from the perspective of emptiness. However, with the overwhelming power of a god behind it, the story changes.
The shock from his punch, which landed directly on my shield, vibrated through my weary body.
“Heh♡ Is this all?♡”
Enduring the shock transmitted through my bones, I lifted my lips.
The man, his eyes wild, tried to attack again, but before that, the three knights waiting by my side reached for their swords.
The weapons they wielded carried the divine power of the Lord, which I had bestowed upon them! For a man restricted in his power, it was not an attack to be ignored.
“Tch!”
The man, retreating into the shadows to avoid the attack, attempted to reveal himself from behind me, but that was within the scope of my expectations.
Erginus’s divine magic, which I had prepared in advance, shot toward my shadow.
“I cannot understand. How can you, a mere child, predict my actions?”
“Why ask such an obvious question?♡ It’s because your intelligence is that of a beast. You fool♡”
Hmm. It seems he's somewhat immune to ordinary provocation. Perhaps he resists status effects with his divine powers.
Had I not known his weakness, this would have been a very troublesome situation. But now, knowing his weakness, it’s a different story.
“Why play with the others? Come play with us. Stay with us.”
“Damn.”
The man, who had been staring at me, hurriedly looked to the side.
I could see the fairy queen, along with her children, rushing toward him. The fairies, with five arms and three wings, each held a thorn in their hands. Although the thorns appeared insignificant, they were, in fact, highly threatening. The man's furrowed brow revealed his apprehension.
<A fairy's spear!>
‘I’ve never heard of it before.’
<Of course! It’s a weapon that vanished with the fairies!>
Fairies are beings who live in harmony with nature, helping it flourish and grow more beautiful.
In other words, to be hated by the fairies is to be hated by nature itself.
<That spear is a symbol of hatred! You must never be pierced by it!>
The thorns they wield are the fairies' anger, hatred, and resentment.
The weapon they wield, with their lives at stake, can even be a threat to a god.
Because fairies are conceptual beings.
...
Hmm?
‘That means they’ve drawn their thorns because they’ve become closer to the fairies?!’
As I mentioned earlier, fairies are conceptual beings. If they were still corrupted by the evil god’s power, they couldn’t draw the fairy’s weapon.
But now, they’ve drawn their thorns.
They’ve lifted the fairy’s weapon.
As Erginus swallowed the power of darkness, they’ve grown closer to being fairies once again.
“Hey, bugs♡”
Throwing away my heavy shield, shrinking the mace that once illuminated the world into a small size, hanging it from my necklace, shaking off the fear that clung to my shoulder, I stood before them with light, quick steps.
As if understanding what I was about to do, Joy quickly drew a small magic circle in front of me.
This was the same magic I had seen in Lina's forest. It was a spell that amplified sound.
I smiled slyly as a sign of approval, and Joy responded with a cautious smile, stepping back.
“I’ll play with you♡”
My voice, carried by Joy’s magic, spread through the twisted forest.
“I’ll give you a chance to match my dance, just for you♡”
Normally, the fairies would not listen to me.
Their true master is the fairy queen.
The pure and benevolent origin of the fairies.
She’s standing right beside them, so there’s no way they would listen to a child like me.
But now, it’s different.
The fairy queen, who has lost her purity, is no longer their origin.
If someone who is more beloved by the fairies than her were to appear, they would easily be swayed.
“Come dance with me, let’s mock that fool♡”
Just like now.
“It’ll definitely be fun♡”
Tap.
I step onto the blackened earth, pouring divinity into my steps.
I urge the Lord, who pushed me into this trap, to take responsibility as divine power spreads from each place I step, returning the earth to its original color.
To the light before it was tainted by darkness.
“A fool who thought he was the best, ended up becoming a pathetic wretch, there’s just too much to mock~♡”
Tap.
Stepping onto the earth now restored to its original color, greenery spreads from where I danced.
Knowing I didn’t do it, I turn my head slightly, and the gaze of Phaby, filled with the deepest trust, meets mine.
The eyes of a believer, who believes that miracles follow the path of the apostles.
I smile back, slightly overwhelmed by her gaze, and once again dance.
I play with the flowers above the flowers.
Now.
Come here.
Let’s dance together.
Let’s all play together.
Isn’t it the spring that has come after such a long time?
A fairy flew to my side as I danced.
With four arms and a single finger on each, they held a thorn. They might have looked like bugs, but strangely, I saw a pure smile on the fairy’s face that seemed like it wouldn’t turn black.
“I’m going to tell all about that fool’s failures♡ Watching him twitch and scream♡ Doesn’t that sound fun?♡”
“Pffhah♡ Don’t fight, little bugs♡ No matter how much you gather, you won’t be able to fill the stage♡”
Tap. I create a stage between the flowers.
It’s not the stage of darkness that has existed in the fairy forest for centuries. It’s a stage of light. A stage of the sun.
“Do you think I’ll leave you be?”
“Yeah. You should.”
“At least we’ll shake it off and go.”
“We cannot send her off!”
Three knights’ swords block the man.
The man, gritting his teeth and trying to slip into the darkness, is blocked by Joy faster than he can act.
Joy. She was afraid that her magic might fail, but in the end, she did it.
“Listen up♡ That fool is an old man, almost as useless as the evil god♡”
The phrase “almost” is an understatement. The evil god of darkness has lived as long as the Lord.
Where there is light, darkness naturally exists. Since the Lord began to spread warmth to the world, the evil god of darkness has always been lurking beneath the shadows.
“But do you know why he ended up serving another loser?♡”
So, if everything flowed according to the world’s course, the evil god of darkness should have stood opposite the Lord.
But the reality is different.
The one who became the center of the evil god is Agra. The perverted bastard obsessed with tormenting little girls.
Not the idiot who’s flailing in front of me now.
“He got beaten♡”
The evil god of darkness lost to Agra.
“Again and again♡ Over and over♡ Keep going♡”
He lost his authority.
He lost his power.
He lost his faith.
Even so, he kept charging in, but all that remained for the evil god of darkness was the word “defeat.”
“Pffhah♡ Isn’t it so stupid?♡ He wouldn’t have ended up like this if he’d just given up a little pride♡”
Thus, the evil god of darkness became one of Agra’s followers.
“Did he really think he could win?♡”
“Shut up.”
“Maybe at some point, he enjoyed being beaten by a loser so much he couldn’t resist anymore?♡”
“Shut up!”
“Maybe he just wanted to be the dog of a loser?♡”
“Shut up, you damn brat!”
The man, in a night without a single star, shakes off the three knights and rushes toward me.
“Pffhah♡ Look!♡ The dog is barking and running at me♡ Isn’t it hilarious?♡”
Tap.
You foolish evil god.
Did you forget something?
This is still in the fairy’s dream.
No matter how much you flail, you’ll just become the fairy’s toy.
“Shut up! You bug!”
“Masochist♡”
My voice echoes throughout the fairy forest.
The voices of the fairies imitating me shoot toward the man.
The laughter of a mischievous brat fills the forest.
“Shut up!”
“Shut up!”
“Don’t arbitrarily judge my past! You bugs! Know your place and shut up!”
“Kihah♡ Is that all you can say?♡ You’re such a parrot♡”
The man’s eyes lock onto me. His dark, wave-like eyes try to swallow me whole.
“No♡ No♡ That’s an insult to parrots♡ They have beautiful voices, unlike you♡”
The man’s voice stops.
His movements freeze.
Some of the fairies, seeing this, rush forward with their spears, but the man does not respond.
As if those petty things weren’t even worth reacting to.
“Why?♡ Want to violate me?♡ Try it♡ If you’ve got the courage to face a loser like me♡”
Through the dispersing fairies, I see the man opening his mouth.
Follow curr𝒆nt nov𝒆ls on fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com.
His voice escapes and blends into the darkness.
The darkness immediately responds to his command.
The darkness gathers.
It closes in around the man, now surrounded by night.
It captures everything, leaving no room for light.
The darkness on the earth.
The darkness clinging to the trees.
The darkness that had seeped into the fairies.
The darkness that had obscured the sky.
All of it returns to its original form, united.
“Lady!”
“You don’t need to scream like a pig. Useless virgin.”
This moment, when darkness is returning to its primal state, is the end of our, Erginus’s, and my plan.
I take a glass bottle from my cloak and break it.
The dirt remaining from the battle between the Lord and the evil god. The sacred relic, like the sea that encompasses everything. I raise it to the sky in prayer.
To bring the miracle of purification to those who should have been abandoned.
“Let’s dance again.”
As the darkness ends.
“Leaning against the flowers of spring.”
The greenness of spring touches the forest once more.
“Let’s laugh like we did back then.”
Salvation will come even to the fairy who has lost everything.
“What are you doing? Get to work, you useless god.”
It’s time to perform the miracle.