Ch.266266. Evil God Conference – Intermission

Somewhere in the Divine Realm, the conference hall of the Evil Gods’ Council.

The meetings that had begun to be held regularly since that incident a few years ago would normally be considered well-attended if even half the seats were filled, but today was different.

For some reason, the majority of evil gods, with a few exceptions due to special circumstances, had actually bothered to attend the meeting.

Anyone would have ample reason to question such an anomaly, but not at this moment.

So while the evil gods were creating a commotion, chatting among their acquaintances, they finally began to reveal themselves to the world one by one.

‘Misfortune,’ whose presence seemed to have grown even fainter recently; ‘Despair’ with his crow-like head, openly appearing to expect something; ‘Conspiracy’ with a tired face that somehow seemed to have aged decades in an instant; ‘Pleasure,’ appearing half-naked as usual; and ‘Plague,’ who entered with a mocking, boisterous laugh.

And then───

The first to appear was ‘Fear,’ who could be called the main culprit of this situation.

He appeared wrapped in a form resembling a mass of black tentacles wearing a pure white mask, and the mask on what could be presumed to be his face was cracked as if it had been struck by something.

The next to appear was the most powerful evil god who had stepped forward as the real power behind all these events—’Vengeance.’

With a deep red cloak, armor the color of dark blood, and a helmet engraved with a crown symbolizing royal authority, he appeared.

He looked at ‘Fear’ with obvious contempt and stood proudly on the highest pillar where he was positioned.

《’Fear’! What in the world were you thinking, trying to thrust your hideous body into reality?!》

Without any restraint, ‘Vengeance’ began criticizing the current incident—Horus’s attempt to descend into the material world—by delivering a direct, straight verbal blow.

In the society of evil gods, where politics resembling imperial-era diplomacy was the mainstream, it would normally be a definite misstep for ‘Vengeance,’ who held equal nominal status, to criticize ‘Fear’ so publicly.

The highly emotional and impulsive evil gods would outwardly appear to submit to such excessive, oppressive behavior, but internally they would harbor resentment, unite with each other, and attempt to ostracize that god.

But this time was an exception to such cases.

If an evil god of superior rank were to formally descend into reality through proper procedures, the day of apocalypse would unfold, with the dimensional fabric of this fantasy world collapsing.

This material world, more fragile than one might think, would either collapse under the direct descent of a god or be completely eroded by ‘Fear’s’ divine domain—a catastrophe of immense proportions.

Therefore, not only is the process difficult, but the moment one attempts it, it draws enormous attention, which is why such attempts are generally avoided as a rule….

Since ‘Fear’s’ plan had been discovered during the preparation stage, none of the evil gods gathered in the council chamber would look kindly upon him.

《…therefore, I propose we make an ‘example’ of this one. What do you think?》

《I agree!》

《I-I agree too!》

《I’m in favor~♡》

《……..Agreed.》

Most of the evil gods, desperately hoping for the elimination of a competitor, supported ‘Vengeance’s’ proposal, but they couldn’t help but question his following statement.

《Ah, but I’ll let him live for now.》

Letting someone who had caused such a major incident live instead of killing him?

The gods expressed their bewilderment at ‘Vengeance’s’ seemingly insane words, but his subsequent explanation had a certain persuasiveness.

The demons will invade again soon. At that time, it would be convenient if this one could at least cling to ‘Envy’s’ coattails from the sea.

‘Vengeance’s’ argument, which began with these words, was as follows:

Now that the demons’ renewed invasion had become virtually certain, infighting among the evil gods would not be positive for anyone.

Of course, the price for getting caught making such a foolish move must be paid, but completely annihilating him at this point would carry too much risk.

This logic would never work in the pantheon of good gods and neutral gods, but this was the Evil Gods’ Council, as wild as a jungle.

The fact that none of the notable evil gods here had never planned to descend into reality was just one of the many things that all evil gods in the council knew well.

So since their reason for going after ‘Fear’ was entirely criticism for getting caught stupidly, with such a clear justification, they couldn’t simply push for ‘Fear’s’ punishment without reason.

Therefore, ‘Fear’ secretly smiled with joy at escaping the crisis of possible annihilation, but this was merely him indulging in wishful thinking.

《Now then… shall we discuss the level of punishment together?》

In any case, the fact that ‘Fear’ would receive appropriate punishment for his actions would not change.

※ ※ ※

“M-Master?”

How many months had passed since defeating the manticore?

“W-what’s with those bandages?!”

Peter, who was visiting the baron’s territory with Laila for the first time in months since the manticore subjugation, was shocked to see his master Beartello with bandages tightly wrapped around his left arm.

Beartello looked at Peter for a moment, then sighed and spoke.

“Peter, don’t make a fuss like a child. It’s just… well, some skin trouble. I ate something bad. It’ll heal soon.”

Peter thought he saw something like jade-colored, glistening scales between the bandages….

But he quickly convinced himself that it must have been just an illusion.

“Yes, Master.”

And afterward, thinking that it was common sense that scales wouldn’t suddenly grow on a normal person’s skin, Peter obediently answered his master while carefully taking out an item from his bag that he had wanted to give to Beartello.

“….Hmm? What’s that, Peter?”

“I wanted to give this to you, Master. Well, for everything you’ve done for me so far.”

The item Peter pulled out from his breast pocket was alcohol, specifically a bottle of distilled spirits that was something of a specialty from the Empire of Dawn.

Knowing that his master particularly enjoyed strong liquor, Peter had specially prepared it, and Master Beartello received it with a broad smile as if he had seen something truly delightful.

“This is a rare treat! I like it, but I couldn’t afford to buy it.”

Seeing his usually strict and serious master openly expressing joy for once, Peter also smiled, feeling somehow pleased───

“───?!!”

And right at that moment, as the pleasant atmosphere continued, both Peter and Beartello sensed that something strange was happening in this city—the baron’s territory.

The smell of something burning and the pungent scent of blood, faint screams and the sound of something burning in their ears, maniacal laughter, and decisively—the lingering sensation of demonic energy felt through their skin.

“───Peter!!”

“Yes, I’ll go right away!!!”

So Peter and Beartello hurriedly put on the surcoats they had placed nearby, pressed on only their helmets, then drew their swords from the scabbards leaning against the table and quickly rushed out of Beartello’s residence.

“……..Good heavens.”

What they saw were mobs of rioters rampaging mindlessly and attempting to attack citizens.

“””Ha, hahaha!!! Slaughter!! Slaughter!! Blood! Blood! Kill! Die!!”””

“”””Tear! Kill! Tear! Crush!!””””

The most noticeable characteristic of these rioters, filled with joy for slaughter as they attacked citizens, was their vagrant-like ragged clothing and their appalling hygiene.

More than half of them were either barely covering their lower bodies or wearing clothes that were half in tatters, and their skin condition was so filthy that they looked like they hadn’t bathed for weeks or months.

But the biggest problem now was that these vagrants were wearing shabby but lethal enough equipment and trying to kill citizens.

The weapons in their hands were mostly crude blades, everyday tools, or improvised weapons.

Makeshift spears made by attaching sharp metal fragments to the ends of poles, wooden clubs studded with nails, or sharpened work shovels and similar tools.

The armor they wore was nothing more than pieces of tough leather or metal fragments roughly sewn together with durable cloth, and on top of these shoddy improvised defenses, they had attached spiky thorns or hung recently severed skulls.

“───!!”

Slash!!

In his anger, Peter reflexively cut down several of the rioters closest to him, and after briefly watching Beartello similarly beheading nearby rioters….

Suddenly, Peter noticed that the bodies or equipment of the rioters attacking people here had certain symbols drawn on them or tattooed into their skin.

A circle containing an inverted pentagram—the symbol of the demons from the Demon Realm.