Chapter 263

Chapter 263

As the evil god’s seal was completely undone, and while Aram and Ather busied their feet persuading the beasts, the evil god—who had looked as if it had even lost its reason—kidnapped the two of them. It was literally an act of kidnapping.

“It looked like I was kidnapped in reality, but I actually wasn’t...”

At Aram’s muttering, Ather nodded.

“But now you truly have been kidnapped. When you return home later, it will be hard to reassure them that nothing as serious as what you worried about actually happened.”

“Stop saying only the right thing.”

“Someone has to face reality.”

“How did you ever become a royal librarian with that personality?”

“I suppose it was possible because there was no librarian more capable than I was.”

“I see.”

It was easy to say, but in reality it likely wasn’t. A palace was bound to be a demon den in any dimension.

A world of monsters wearing human skin. If he became a royal librarian there by ability alone, then that ability must have been overwhelmingly great—something no one could deny.

And so Aram could smile.

“It really puts my heart at ease that someone so great is with me.”

“Suddenly speaking in a refined manner like the lofty ones...”

“And if you’re so confident in your ability, then you know a way to escape from the top room of this Demon King’s castle, right?”

“To be honest, I can’t give you a definite answer, but.”

Inside a room tightly wrapped with countless hands embedded with golden eyes, Ather stroked his chin.

“It doesn’t look impossible.”

Even if it was a hollow title, he was someone once called a hero.

“Since I have experience, I also know well how to respond to a Demon King. It was I who organized into books all those dog-like curses and non-everyday phenomena that break the world’s common sense and rules.”

“Then how do you think we can get out of here?”

“We have to make it close its eyes.”

“I’ve thought of something for that too.”

“I had no doubt you would.”

They had been caught by the Demon King, but the situation did not spiral into the worst. That was because the two who had been caught were Aram and Ather. The combination of a saintess who had mastered all kinds of mystique and theory, and a royal librarian who had experienced dealing with a Demon King until he was sick of it, was quite excellent.

“First, the most important point is that the evil god is also divinity, and divinity is fate and nature, and at the same time, mystique. And these mystical existences that possess reason all treat rules as important.”

“To be honest, I don’t know if the current Argio truly has proper reason, but I definitely agree with that part. Even if, by our judgment, he looks as though he has lost his rationality and gone mad, a god is still a god. No matter how far he falls, he’ll still be smarter than us.”

“More than anything, perhaps because of my teacher’s influence, this evil god clearly had a merciful side toward us. I don’t know whether that’s arrogance or affection, but I think it has value to use, at least. First, we should learn about the evil god’s behavioral patterns—do you have any information you’ve organized?”

“That is precisely my specialty. Of course, while I was sealed, it showed a form quite different from what I remembered of the past, but that doesn’t mean its essence would have changed.”

Ather rummaged through his clothes and soon pulled out a thick stack of documents.

“Here is material analyzing the research journals of the mages who sought to pull down the Creator.”

“Where did you get that?”

“In my era, another word for hero was either homeless man or wanderer. This much is basic aptitude for those called heroes. I apologize for not sharing it earlier since the situation was urgent.”

“So where did it come from—no, but this is extremely interesting. If the situation weren’t like this, I’d want to hold onto it and savor it for a month, but I’ll ask you later.”

Staring intently at the materials, Aram narrowed her eyes and spoke.

“Hmm, isn’t this part the most important part in this diagram? It looks like the mages wanted to use the evil god of rage’s anger toward the Creator, and this part seems to be the diagram that induced it.”

“As expected of the saintess. Yes, that’s right. The mages tried to use us as a power source and use the evil god of rage as a weapon. So an aggressive diagram like this was inevitable. If we start here and dig in...”

The two began to steadily strategize, like scholars opening a forum for debate. Their discussion went from “What kind of mechanism does the evil god of rage have?” all the way to “What must we do to avoid the evil god’s surveillance and the prison of hands?”

“...Then I think it might be good to put a diagram like this on this side. It would be even better if we adapted Number 31-4982. That way we can make use of Space 952, right?”

“But then the diagram in Space 952-21-424 will be affected.”

“Ah, you’re right. Then let’s change it a bit and make use of Space 933-4982-11 instead. This side should be fine, right? Hmm, then here...”

Aram and Ather’s knowledge used different languages. The two had to share wisdom using only numbers and diagrams—concepts they both knew. That made the work more complicated, but the speed never slowed.

“Good.”

“Let’s run.”

Thus, while the evil god watched, they made all of its eyes close, then fixed its hands in place so they could not move, and escaped from the top attic room by reversing the evil god’s mystique.

Of course, that didn’t mean the evil god would let them go quietly.

“—Aah, it’s chasing us! It’s chasing us! The hands are chasing us...!!”

“It’s what we expected, isn’t it. No matter what happens, I will escort you to at least the first floor.”

“There, left! Next right, then go straight 341 steps, then turn right!!”

“There’s no more seasoned forest guide than you.”

Even as he panicked, Ather marveled at Aram, who had grasped everything about the castle. She said she had wandered around the amusement park that much before entering the Black Forest and meeting Ather, and she had already grasped even the structure of this Demon King’s castle, which had mutated with the Demon King’s revival.

Even as that happened, the hands kept chasing them.

“Hold on,”

Kaaang—!!!

“Excuse me.”

“Ugh, I’ll go ahead first.”

“I’ll follow.”

Using arms he had obtained in advance, Ather fended them off. It was a little awkward since it wasn’t the greatsword he had used before, but he was still someone once called a hero. He was used to blocking a Demon King’s attacks under unfavorable conditions.

“There’s a trap 813 steps ahead!!”

“Noted!!”

Aram led the way and guided them through the maze-like paths. Ather knocked away every hand that approached them. Again, Aram moved quickly while weakening the evil god’s power so that Ather could keep batting the hands away.

“Since you’re weakening it anyway, could you make it so it can’t even approach at all?!”

“If I could do that, do you think we’d be doing this right now?! I don’t even have enough holy power to spare—carry me and run! From here on, I need to guide you while figuring it out step by step!!”

“I never thought I’d be this grateful that the saintess is small...!!”

Ather lifted the small, light saintess in one hand. Fortunately, Ather usually wielded weapons with one hand, and to him, Aram was practically weightless.

“Am I not getting in the way?”

“Other than the fact that I’ve lost one of the hands I could’ve used, we’re fine.”

“If that hand gets cut off, I’ll reattach it, so don’t worry—just block them!”

“This is why people called saints...!!”

Ather grumbled at the lofty one’s orders, yet obediently followed them, and Aram used her freed body to weave even more complex diagrams. Holy power so heavy it was burdensome to Aram rose until her eyes became bloodshot.

“...Right from here!!”

“...?!”

When she guided him toward a place blocked by a wall, Ather was dumbfounded—yet separately from that, his body was already moving. And the moment Ather moved, the wall of the Demon King’s castle began to retreat as if it were alive.

“Insane.”

“Follow my guidance.”

“Of course.”

With both hands free, Aram had dug into the authority of the Demon King’s castle.

A path formed in the direction she guided. Ather moved his feet as fast as he could, and Aram continued finding routes. Ather asked, seeing Aram start to shed tears of blood from abusing too much authority.

“Is it really okay to keep going like this?”

“If we get caught by the evil god’s hands again, that’ll be worse.”

“That’s true.”

“Now down to the left.”

“Yes.”

The hands’ pursuit grew even fiercer. Their nails sharpened further, and before long they even grew red fur. They resembled a dragon’s hands more than human hands.

If it had reached that point, they might not be able to guarantee survival if they were caught. The mercy they remembered from the evil god had been in human form, so not even one mistake could be allowed.

It was when they neared the exit on the first floor.

“...!!”

Bang, kugugugung—!!!

“This is...!”

“Looks like the main body noticed.”

“I thought it would be slower than this...!”

“An evil god is still an evil god, isn’t it.”

Space warped, and the passages began to block and tangle.

“If we delay any longer, we truly won’t be able to get out.”

“Put me down now—it’s time.”

“I pray for your good fortune.”

Ather set Aram down, and Aram ran between the warped spaces without even turning back to look at him. In the footprints she left as she ran, diagrams made with the Moon’s holy power blossomed like a nebula.

Aram found a path using her teacher’s power. Her small body and vast holy power made it possible, but she could not include Ather within it.

The two had to take different paths.

“...”

It wasn’t something they had agreed on, but both of them realized it quickly.

Soon, vision was blocked on all sides.

“...Haa...”

Ather wiped his face with hands drenched in blood.

“...I finally found a comrade, and now I’m alone again.”

“Oh dear, how pitiful.”

“I didn’t want you to come, either.”

A small prison blocked on all sides by the evil god’s hands. Into it, the evil god—now in a familiar form—approached with a smile. It was the form of the last saint that Ather knew well.

A man with long braided red hair reaching the floor, adorned in all manner of gold and jewels. Barefoot, he walked through the prison of hands and approached, and soon stood before Ather, looking up at him.

“Why didn’t you call me this time?”

“Why would I call you when I’m about to stir up even more trouble?”

“You truly dislike places like this, don’t you.”

“...That’s right...”

His stomach churned.

“It’s terrible.”

The prison of hands with writhing flesh reminded him of the thorn prison. Hallucinations sounded from every side, and curses rotted the soul.

Whose it was, exactly. Ather wanted to go mad as he was.

“Yes, then how comfortable would it be?”

“...”

“You’d only have to howl like a beast and thrash in pain. That’s right—that’s the privilege of beasts. Not having to think deeply. Not needing conviction, not needing malice, just groaning while being faithful to instinct... that is the convenient advantage of beasts.”

“...Who are you?”

Even so, Ather agonized, endured, and held malice.

“The one I know treats me more politely.”

“I am that one.”

“You’re a bit different, aren’t you.”

“A bit different.”

A large, cold hand reached out and gently held Ather’s face.

“You called me.”

“...”

“That’s right, my friend.”

It was miserable.

“...Yes.”

Because the hero could not endure eternity and called the evil god, this situation had come to pass.

(Continued in the next part)