1000: Evil God Fragment Within

Right beside the violent clash between transcendents, Fran was quietly concentrated her powers, repeatedly breathing in and out.

Motion and stillness.

It’s strange how these two entirely different worlds could exist right next to each other.

「Pheeeew……」

『……』

It wasn’t only Fran, I was building up my strength as well. The moment Fran goes on the offensive, I’ll make sure to maximize my output too.

After focusing on Divine Dragon Form, I imbued all my mana with the divine attribute. Though my entire blade was already cloaked in it, this wasn’t enough.

I needed more power to deal a significant blow to the monster known as the Dragon King.

Even after activating my skills at full power, I still needed more.

While gathering every scrap of power within myself, I noticed many things that I had never realized before. The various divine blessings within me were emanating a slight divine attribute.

I also felt a stronger connection with my special skills, such as the Evil Domination and Golden Formula.

I guess this was all because of Divine Dragon Form sharpening my senses. I even managed to understand a little about Fenrir and Announcer-san, which was impossible before.

The two were definitely inside me, in a deep sleep. I recognized the extent of the damage they took, and the process of healing they were in.

And then, I dove deeper within myself. Though my sight showed nothing different, I felt the sensation of being enveloped in darkness. A jet-black darkness that seemed to cling to my soul.

I know this darkness.

The deepest depths of my being, the region where the Evil God Fragment was sealed. The darkness covered not only the fragment itself, but also the entire domain surrounding it.

Maybe this would have frightened the previous me, but I felt nothing now. Maybe because I’ve realized that this darkness was no enemy to me.

And at the very center of that darkness, we met.

A repulsive existence bearing tremendous power. Simply looking at it covered me in a dense cloak of evil energy, which started to caress my soul. Then, it whispered to me.

「CONSUME ALL! CONSUME ALL! CON――」

『Oh. Yeah, please stop that.』

The Evil God Fragment. Everything about its existence was simply disgusting. If I could breathe here, I’m sure the only thing entering my mouth would be a dense miasma. Yeah, I can see why the people of this world call this guy evil.

However, it gave me a slightly different impression.

This existence radiated an aura that was very unsettling, but I wouldn’t go as far as to call it pure evil.

I waded through the sea of evil in search of my target. A chorus of voices chanted “consume all” right into my ears, and the tentacles of evil tried to constrict my soul.

But I ignored all of that. I can ignore it. I’m sure the residents of this world would have fallen under the Evil God’s control by now.

Not me though, because I’m from Earth.

And just when I thought I broke through the immense layer of evil energy, I only found an even denser evil. But this time, it wasn’t simply evil energy.

Was this somewhat similar to the divine attribute? Kinda like evil energy imbued with divine power.

Strangely enough, the wickedness of the aura seemed to be lessened. Only a tiny bit, of course.

Emitting this so-called “evil divinity” was a tiny mass in front of me. Though small, it had a tremendous amount of power. The being seemed pitiful even, chained down by some kind of mysterious force.

It was obvious now that I’ve come this close.

『Urghhh……』

『……Are you a fragment of the Evil God?』

『……Uuuuuurghhh……』

『Oi.』

『Urgh…… Uuuuuuurh.』

No response? I sensed the existence to be a dense cluster of evil divinity, though restrained by an unknown power. This must be the Evil God Fragment sealed inside me.

I called out to the fragment, remembering the time I had been able to talk with the Chaos Goddess before. However, the Evil God Fragment only continued grunting and moaning.

Wait, why did I try to speak with it? Even if conversation was possible, did I even have anything to say?

No, that’s because I couldn’t help but call out to it. The moaning of the Evil God Fragment sounded to me like a little girl crying.

But how could such an eerie, repulsive voice sound like a little girl……?

『Uuuuuuuuuuurghh!』

『Damn that’s loud!』

The crying only got louder as I drew closer. Yeah, it still sounded like a young child bawling their eyes out.

『Hmm.』

『……Uhrh… Ugh…』

Kinda weird, but whatever. We may not be able to communicate, but I can still draw some power out. If I use Evil Domination to draw out this raw evil divinity……

『No, hold on.』

This thing was obviously a fragment of the Evil God. If I took full possession for myself, wouldn’t that count as abusing a god’s power? Wait, shit. Didn’t I use the evil energy coming out of here a while back……? Huh? Did I screw up big time without realizing?

No wait, the evil energy I used last time was pretty much the leftover stuff that leaked out on its own. That should be fair game…… Right? But how bad would it be to get power from the Evil God Fragment directly? I’m sure this evil divinity stuff would really help out Fran……

「I wouldn’t do that if I was you.」

『Whoa! W-Who’s there?』

「Nn? Master?」

『Huh? Fran? Why are you here……? No, more importantly, who’s the guy next to you?』

This place should be like an area in my subconscious mind, rather than a physical location. I’m literally focusing on my inner self right now.

So how did Fran get in here? This was no hallucination, the person in front of me was clearly the real Fran. And next to her, was some giant something radiating an extremely powerful aura.

The existence appeared to be a mass of pure divinity. At first glance, he looked kinda like a beastman.

His entire body was covered in fur, with a strange face that appeared to be a fusion between a wolf, lion, and bear. However, he had long beetle-like antennae growing out of his head. All four of his eyes were compound eyes, and a pair of dragonfly wings extended from his back.

「I’ve simply come to give my blessing to the newly qualified, but to think I would find an apostle of the Chaos Goddess here……」

『You know the Chaos Goddess?』

C-Could it be? A mass of divine energy. A mix of features from both beasts and insects. Finally, familiarity with the Chaos Goddess. No, no. There’s no way. You couldn’t possibly be him, right?

「I am indeed the one you are imagining.」

『S-Seriously? The Beast-Bug God?』

「Yes.」

『Waaah!?』