Ch.186Chapter 186. I’m the Only Totem in Another World (5)

Chapter 186. I’m the Only Totem in Another World (5)

Evil God Shamishur. A female giant with three pairs of wings on her back.

If there’s anything unusual, it’s that she’s floating in zero gravity without moving her wings even once? Unlike me who soared with divine power surrounding me, she seemed to be using her authority.

I glared at the evil god to gauge her strength.

She didn’t have the strong desire to reveal herself like the Seven-Headed Dragon demon, so I couldn’t read everything. Still, I could definitely feel her energy.

She was certainly more powerful than the Dark Cloud demon. However, she didn’t match up to the Seven-Headed Dragon demon. She felt somewhere in between.

Good. Should I strike first? Just as I was about to charge at the evil god with all my might—

Whoong-!

With a strange sound, a massive dimensional gate appeared behind the evil god’s back.

– …!

I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to chase after her. Of course, it could be a trap.

But what if it wasn’t? What if Charon was gauging my strength and thinking, “Hmm. Not now! I need to grow stronger and come back later!” while escaping?

What if he hadn’t set any traps on the way to the capital because he wanted to leave room for escape?

He would continue to secretly increase his zombies while honing the evil god’s powers to become stronger, and then reappear when he was confident he could defeat me.

And I’d have to remain in a state of high tension, shadow boxing until that day came.

I should follow. This needs to end today.

Besides, I’ve already built up momentum and it’s hard to stop now. I increased my speed and entered the dimensional gate.

I hope this isn’t going to send just me and Lakye to some strange space, right?

Whoong!

That was an unnecessary worry. After passing through a black space for a moment, my head emerged from the exit. The evil god and Charon were right in front of me.

– Charon. How long do you plan to run? Didn’t you say we’d settle this?

I chased after the evil god who was retreating while floating.

“Malak, do you know where this is?”

Charon asked.

I rolled my eyes to look around. It was a barren wasteland with nothing.

“This is the world once ruled by fallen gods. They called it the ‘Abyss.'”

The world where demons came from. I had heard explanations from the Pope and the Saint. They said it was a world that had perished due to the demons’ long rule and conflicts.

“I read their memories and watched this world’s destruction process. It was truly horrific.”

Charon continued.

“The demons waged wars to gather more believers, to gain more divine power. The landscape you see is the result.”

I glanced at the world where not even traces of civilization remained.

– What are you trying to say?

“What if there comes a time when divine power becomes scarce? What if a situation arises where you can’t maintain your authority and have no choice but to exploit your believers?

Malak, if you truly are a god who cares for humanity, you should leave their side. You should give humanity freedom.”

So, you’re telling me to commit suicide?

It’s not completely incomprehensible. There’s no guarantee that I or the real Malak won’t suddenly snap and do such things someday.

But still, but still.

– The world needs me now.

Freedom, huh? Freedom is good. If this were Earth in the 21st century, I would have agreed. But this isn’t Earth, and it’s not the 21st century.

As someone who’s been possessing this body for two years, I can proudly assert: to rebuild this ruined world, divine help is absolutely necessary.

Just by using my “Weather God’s Authority” to grow crops, I can solve food problems. What would require countless sacrifices, I can accomplish with my small sacrifice.

And you’re asking me to give that up? Because of an uncertain future?

Forget about “someday.” The present is what matters most.

And.

– At this moment, the greatest threat to the world is not me, but you.

Only one deranged madman needs to die.

Whoong!

A new dimensional gate was created. As I was about to pass through the gate to chase after the evil god who had entered it—

“Close!”

Charon waved his hand, instantly narrowing the dimensional gate.

Ah, was this his plan? To sever my body as I passed through the dimensional gate?

– Hmph.

Not a chance. I drew out divine power and surrounded my entire body with it.

Whoo-whoong…!

The narrowing dimensional gate stuttered and stopped functioning as soon as it wrapped around my body. Thanks to that, I safely exited the gate and returned to the capital.

– How foolish.

Even a dimensional gate is ultimately a divine authority that consumes divine power. To close the gate and sever my body, he would need to consume an equivalent amount of divine power.

Even if he did consume it, if I, his opponent, surrounded my body with more divine power, it would be in vain. Thanks to my diligent work gathering believers, I have an abundance of divine power. I cannot lose in a battle of divine power.

“As expected, it was too much.”

Kid, did you really expect it to work?

– It was a pointless act.

I took the opportunity to scratch Charon for the first time in a while and continued my attack.

…Though I said that, his clever move wasn’t entirely in vain.

I just consumed quite a bit of divine power. If this fight becomes prolonged, there’s a slight possibility that I might be at a disadvantage.

Thinking that I should move more cautiously, I struck the evil god with lightning. It was a probing jab.

The evil god stretched out both hands and created an opaque barrier. It was a large spherical barrier that completely covered the evil god’s body.

Zzzzt-!

The lightning scorched the surface of the barrier. Sparks flew in all directions before being absorbed into the barrier and disappearing.

No, just as I thought they had disappeared, the lightning shot out from the barrier towards me.

A reflective barrier? It absorbed and released the attack. I twisted my body to avoid it.

Immediately, a follow-up attack came. The evil god had condensed divine power into arrow shapes and fired them.

Pop pop pop!

Having just made a large movement, I couldn’t avoid this too. I took the hit while advancing.

It stings a bit, but it’s not unbearably painful. I can still endure it.

The battle continued.

I wanted to see if the others were fighting well, if they were still alive, but I didn’t have that luxury.

The evil god would unleash tremendous firepower whenever I tried to get close, maintaining distance between us.

It’s almost like the final boss of a bullet hell shooting game. Just when you think they’ve run out of ammo, they unleash more.

Ah, how annoying. This is my first time facing this type of enemy, so I’m not handling it well.

If I’m in the damage-tank position, absorbing attacks while approaching to beat the enemy to death, then the evil god is in the mage position, pressuring with various skills to prevent approach and slowly killing the enemy.

Regardless of strength, our compatibility is poor. And this is his territory, which doesn’t help.

Is there no clever solution?

As I was exchanging blows with the evil god and looking for a breakthrough—

“Lord Malak.”

Lakye, who had somehow climbed onto my head, whispered. She had been lower down until just now, but must have moved to speak to me.

“Once. Just once is enough. Please get as close as possible to the evil god. I’ll climb onto the evil god’s body and deal with Charon.”

It reminds me of when we fought the Tunnel demon. Back then, Lakye also climbed onto the Tunnel demon’s body to fight.

– Do you think it’s possible?

“Just because one handles a fallen god doesn’t mean they become a god. He’s merely at the stage of just beginning to handle divine power. If I can just get close, I can kill him.”

Well, that makes sense. What makes him dangerous is his soul manipulation ability and necromancy, not his exceptional combat prowess.

With the guardian buff, Lakye might be able to defeat Charon in a one-on-one fight.

– Understood.

I charged towards the evil god again.

Once again, she unleashed tremendous attacks, but I didn’t stop and continued advancing.

Ah, it’s starting to hurt. No, it fucking hurts. Being hit repeatedly in the same spots makes my whole body ache.

Just a little more. Let’s endure a little more. As I was gritting my teeth and flying—

“Ha!”

When I had closed the distance somewhat, Lakye shot up like a rocket.

No, she was fired like a meteor. For a moment, her speed exceeded mine.

“Hmm?!”

Charon controlled the evil god to put up a reflective barrier, but Lakye was faster.

Thud!

Lakye, who had successfully landed by embedding her meteor sword into the evil god’s body, began moving towards Charon along the evil god’s body.

“Half-god, half-human…!”

Charon’s attention was completely focused on Lakye. This is my opportunity too.

Bang!

I rammed into the reflective barrier with my body.

***

“I don’t understand. With such power, why do you choose to be a slave to Roa?”

Charon clicked his tongue as he saw Lakye climbing up the evil god’s body.

“I don’t serve Roa. I only serve the one I love.”

Lakye, who heard his words with her superhuman hearing, replied.

Charon frowned. Lakye’s movement speed was much faster than he had anticipated.

The evil god was dealing with Malak who was trying to break the barrier, so she couldn’t avoid a direct confrontation with Lakye.

“Don’t you want freedom? The freedom to choose what you want, the freedom to be unbound.”

Charon asked a question to buy time while rapidly drawing up divine power.

“You mean the freedom you’re trying to force upon me?”

Lakye snorted as she deflected the red energy Charon shot from his fingertips with her meteor sword.

“If it’s not the freedom I choose, what meaning does it have? Such a thing has no value.”

“How foolish…”

Charon, with red divine power surrounding his entire body, faced Lakye. Behind his back, the ominous forms Lakye had seen before were writhing.

“I agree. You phantom trapped in the past.”

Lakye mocked the man who, despite preaching about freedom, was more bound than anyone else.

On top of the evil god’s body.

The woman born as a half-god and the man who became a half-god collided.