Ch.146146. Oath

Yuno-Shala’s head, her severed head, falls to the ground.

Though she is supposedly the goddess who protects all households and the wife of the supreme god, death came to her with equal indifference.

Blood gushes from her severed neck, and her corpse sprawls on the ground, covered in dust.

After briefly watching her beautiful green hair become no better than a filthy rag, I soon opened my mouth with a broad smile.

《Well then, don’t we have something to exchange?》

《…Indeed.》

In response to my words—spoken while taking the form of a red monster with a wolf’s head on a humanoid body—Magica, similarly in the form of a blue monster with a bird’s head, replied in an incongruously normal voice.

As previously agreed, we both brought out the divine attributes we had easily obtained thanks to our cooperation.

Magica held the golden divine attribute of judgment, and I held the blue divine attribute of ‘magic.’

《Let’s handle the contract first.》

The moment I said that, the two divine attributes in our hands crossed paths and moved.

The blue-glowing attribute of magic was absorbed by Magica as planned, and likewise, the golden attribute of judgment was absorbed into my soul.

Ma-Duk

Race :: God

Type :: Personality-based Thought Complex

Occupation :: Evil God (High)

Attributes

Divinity :: High

Divine Rank :: High

Faith :: High

Interference Level :: High

Believers :: 51,047

Souls (Believers) :: 79,123

Souls (Sinners) :: 47,407

Divine Attributes

Vengeance: 100% (High) Vampire: 100% (High) Blood: 87.1% (High) Violence: 78.5% (Mid) Rage: 76.9% (Mid) Judgment: 20.0% (Mid) Wolf: 41.7% (Mid) Bear: 11.3% (Low) War: 10.9% (Mid) Bull: 6.6% (Low) Boar: 1.2% (Low)

Skills

Divine Eye (High), Bestow Blessing (High), Grant Divine Magic (High), Divine Punishment (High), Grant Miracle (High), Create Exclusive Class (High), Craft Divine Artifact (2/4), Designate Apostle (2/4)

‘…Good.’

I could finally feel the predetermined power of judgment seeping into my soul.

Now that it would be less difficult to ‘judge’ the legitimacy of vengeance or discern the truthfulness of believers, I smiled with satisfaction—and it seemed Magica was equally pleased.

Rolling magical power over his hand, forming magical circles so complex that even I couldn’t properly perceive them.

So delighted was he that Magica used magic excitedly without even minding my presence. Then suddenly, Magica, the Evil God of Conspiracy, stopped his movements and said to me:

《Red-Robed King, what exactly are you scheming?》

《Scheming? What do you mean?》

I tried to play dumb with a shameless and arrogant attitude, but Magica spoke without the slightest change in his expression.

《Drop that typical evil god act. Bleeding King, everyone knows how devoted you are to your children.》

《….Oh?》

‘Sigh… he’s bringing that up?’

Outwardly, I maintained a composed appearance, but inwardly, I was quite uncomfortable with what Magica had suddenly brought up.

I never intended to play the villain, nor did I plan to go around playing dark hero. I was simply taking responsibility for what I had received from my believers. But having him confront me like this… it’s rather troublesome.

Scheming, scheming… This must be about the gods I’ve killed on my own initiative.

I’ve been secretly extracting divine attributes from the gods I killed while possessing Bjorn, and Magica, true to his nature as the Evil God of Conspiracy with his exceptional divine eye, seemed to have noticed.

Even though the barrier turned the entire holy city into a different world, interference within it isn’t completely impossible.

The barrier is merely meant to prevent gods from escaping. If there’s a normal way to interfere with another world, it’s entirely possible.

And since I’ve come this far without discussing it with anyone…

To that needlessly suspicious patient of paranoia—Magica—I must appear to be plotting something that even I couldn’t predict.

…In fact, I am plotting a conspiracy… that much is true.

Anyway, while contemplating how to respond to him, I pretended to be distracted and watched Bjorn, who was in the middle of a dismemberment show with his “eye.”

Handling a greatsword nearly as long as his body like a hunting knife, he was skillfully “processing” the corpse of Yuno-Shala who had insulted him.

After watching this for a moment, I pondered how to respond to Magica, and then…

‘…Come to think of it, there’s no problem with just telling him, is there?’

The thought suddenly occurred to me.

Upon reflection, Magica is essentially an invincible cheat key in information warfare, despite being the weakest of the 7 Evil Gods in direct combat.

Perhaps because he’s the Evil God of Conspiracy, while vulnerable in direct confrontation, he excels at seeing through hidden moves and gathering information through various methods.

He could determine a mortal’s underwear color just by observing a few minutes of conversation, and even among gods, with some preparation, he could overwhelm anyone with his cunning.

Since I’d surely lose in a battle of wits against him, I might as well choose a direct confrontation where everything is laid bare.

Well, he’s probably predicted even this much. But changing the situation might be more advantageous for me.

So, after observing Yuno-Shala’s body slowly returning to its original form, I quietly addressed him—the Evil God of Conspiracy, Magica.

《A war between good and evil.》

《…What?》

Magica was momentarily puzzled by my words.

But after some time, having apparently understood their meaning, he stared at me, completely frozen as if in shock.

However, seeing no reason to be considerate in this situation, I decided to reveal my ‘plan’—which, if successful, would grant me endless power.

《The world will be ruled by evil, and an Age of Darkness will follow. But for darkness to exist, light is necessary. Therefore, good gods will emerge in the world, and the conflict will begin anew.》

《…》

《And the new era that will dawn… what if it were an Age of War? The world would be divided between good and evil, endlessly opposing each other—》

《…You would promote an endless cycle of vengeance blooming from that conflict.》

《Correct! You truly are a brilliant god.》

This time, deliberately speaking in a voice that sounded like multiple voices overlapping, I simply revealed my plan for an eternal cycle of vengeance.

Even with multiple divine attributes, I am still the God of Vengeance.

Rather than a world dominated solely by Evil Gods… a world where good and evil oppose each other would be more productive.

Personally, I was beginning to think this plan was somewhat absurd, so I could roughly predict how it would sound to Magica.

To Magica, as one of the Evil Gods, my plan essentially meant that I would nurture enemies (good gods) with my own hands, simply because I believed it would cause more vengeance in the world.

And to do so, I would recklessly use the sacrifices (divine attributes) I had obtained.

《You madman…!!》

So in response to him sweating profusely while reacting that way, I smiled broadly and asked:

《So? Would you like to join me? You know this is the best option, don’t you? Don’t try to deceive yourself with words you don’t mean.》

《…I suppose that’s true.》

Hearing my words, Magica couldn’t refute them.

He, too, understood.

Evil Gods are fundamentally paradoxical beings who gather strength more easily when there are opposing counterparts—Good Gods.

The God of Vengeance is meaningful when people want revenge but cannot achieve it, and conspiracy doesn’t wield much power when Evil Gods are engaged in all-out war against each other.

Hope must exist for despair to assert its presence, and the concepts of unhappiness and fear exist because happiness exists.

If everyone were plagued, all life would eventually be exterminated by the plague, and any pleasure will eventually succumb to time.

Evil and good ultimately coexist in a relationship of mutual necessity, whether they like it or not.

Anyway, having sympathized with my words, Magica ultimately entered into another contract, the content of which was extremely simple.

To actively cooperate in the opening of the ‘Age of War,’ and as a down payment for this—to exchange divine attributes we possessed.

I would give 10% each of the divine attributes of wisdom and knowledge obtained from Anat, and Magica would give 10% each of the divine attributes of revolution and punishment.

And so, while the contract proceeded in a solemn atmosphere.

Finding this atmosphere boring, I suddenly turned my gaze toward Bjorn.

Clang!! Clang!!

[Hnngh!!]

CLAAANG!!!

Currently, he was crossing swords with Makius, the War God of the pantheon.