Ch.311Half-Baked (5)

A soft tongue intertwined with mine, stopping my thoughts. It took me a moment to understand what was happening.

Ireh, who had been clumsily kissing me, suddenly opened her eyes wide and pulled away.

“Ah….”

When she struggled and tried to fall backward, I wrapped my arm around her waist to prevent her from hitting her head.

It was truly an instinctive action I couldn’t help. However, it caused our faces to draw close once again.

An awkward silence fell between us. And then.

“Wh-what have I done….”

“…..”

“This isn’t… I didn’t mean to! My body moved on its own…!”

“I know. It must be because of that dessert.”

Ireh blinked her eyebrows and touched her lips. Why did she eat what she was told not to eat, causing this situation?

My head is a mess. Probably the same for Ireh.

The aphrodisiac effect seemed stronger than expected, making various parts of my body itch and tingle.

[“It seems the effect is about to intensify.”]

A voice resonating directly in my head.

It wasn’t Cartesia. The voice was at least three or four octaves deeper and lower than hers.

[“Hot breath, shaking vision.”]

Around that time, Joseph, who had been trembling face down, slowly began to rise. He muttered something with his eyes showing their whites.

“Pain and pleasure intertwine.”

Flash!

A navy blue asymmetrical polyhedron appeared, scattering a profound light.

Without question, it was possession. The unidentified outer god who instantly took over Joseph’s body continued speaking through human lips.

“Quite an enjoyable entertainment. Having enjoyed the play, it’s now time for a meal. I recite poetry, with stars as appetizers, and brew alcohol from your pupils to drink.”

Judging by the pedantic phrases, this was likely an outer god I knew.

Either the ‘Writhing Chaos’ or…

[— The Sky of Comfort has arrived.]

One of its subordinates.

My guess wasn’t wrong.

The Sky of Comfort, Powehi. An outer god who, like his master, enjoyed simple pleasures and a leisurely lifestyle.

Unlike Queen Aurore, he had no intention of growing his forces, nor did he have schemes like Iron Fortress Sturm. That made him all the more difficult to deal with.

Because he tormented people purely for amusement. Since you never knew how he would act, dealing with him required flexibility. He said:

“I want pron and useful energy. Preferably in coin form. What you possess is so tempting.”

Powehi controlled Joseph’s hand to point at me.

“All that pron, accumulated coins. Isn’t it too wasteful to keep it all to yourself? How about donating the full amount to me and my teacher, considering it as helping the less fortunate?”

“That’s absurd.”

“I’m sorry, but your opinion doesn’t matter.”

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ manifests its true form.]

“I’ll take it myself.”

Black smoke poured from Joseph’s mouth. The ink-colored threads flowing out like noodles tangled together to form a heavy spherical shape.

That is the default form of a Descartes-type outer god. With mental manipulation as their specialty, why would they need a physical body?

[— The effect of true form manifestation causes a gale to blow.]

Revealing himself without caution. Truly like an outer god who lives only for today.

“Young master!”

“Sonia, this is sudden, but can you stop that guy?”

“I’ll do my best even without you saying so. But there’s another problem.”

“What is it?”

“I can’t contact the outer god I contracted with.”

“…I understand for now.”

I tried contacting Cartesia repeatedly, but there was no response. She wasn’t simply sulking. Something must have happened to her.

“Sonia, stop that guy. Sister, please get up.”

I grabbed the staggering Ireh and helped her up.

She looked terrible. Without Cartesia, I could only assess her condition by eye, but it was clear she was struggling greatly.

“Lust becomes sorrow and turns into pain. If you leave your desires unresolved, you’ll both become slaves to sexual desire. Now, what will you do?”

“You seem to think of us as beasts, but we can endure this much. Isn’t that right, Sister?”

“Hnng.”

“Sister?”

Ireh’s condition was unusually poor. Her trembling breath and shaking pupils told everything. It had gotten worse than before.

“Still trying to resist? The longer you suppress your urges, the more painful it will become. Why not just do it here?”

“What nonsense.”

Even if we were to resolve it, it must be done properly.

The location is inappropriate, and above all, touching her when she’s not willingly consenting would be a crime. I finally made her my companion; how could I risk making things awkward or traumatizing her because of me?

Humans should be able to control their desires.

“Haa, haa.”

“Just hold on a little longer.”

Seeing that Ireh was having trouble maintaining her balance, I supported her. Just then, Sonia engaged in battle with Powehi.

That’s when the inspectors guarding the Spirit Chamber came running.

“What’s happening!”

“Don’t come here!”

“Aah…!”

The inspectors who saw Powehi’s true form instantly lost their senses. Ordinary humans lose chunks of their mental strength just by seeing an outer god’s true form.

The inspectors fell like autumn leaves. This happens to everyone not within the ‘Great Triangle’ domain.

It was a desperate situation, but even the outer god couldn’t maintain the advantage forever.

[— Time remaining until ‘Sky of Comfort’ manifestation ends: 2 minutes 58 seconds]

Outer gods from higher dimensions cannot stay in the human dimension for long. It’s like how humans cannot breathe underwater for extended periods.

I recall it had something to do with the vast difference between the gravity inside a black hole and on a planet. Anyway, if we could just hold out, we could avoid the crisis.

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ uses <Touch of Doom> on you.]

[— Unauthorized access.]

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ uses <Dejection> on you.]

[— Unauthorized access.]

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ uses <Mental Reabsorption> on you.]

[— Unauthorized access.]

“Well, well.”

I wondered if Cartesia was secretly helping me. Powehi couldn’t push me back at all.

“The compatibility is poor. Unexpected and non-standard. Has there ever been a living being so resistant to my techniques?”

Joseph expressed Powehi’s feelings with a smirk. Sonia seized that opening to pressure Powehi.

Click.

Ireh, breathing heavily with excitement, drew her spirit gun. Without looking at Powehi, she aimed the muzzle precisely at him.

Bang!

Powehi deflected Sonia’s attack but couldn’t avoid Ireh’s spirit bullet. The outer god, pushed back by the ‘Penetrating Bullet,’ let out a shallow groan.

“That hurts.”

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ uses <Unholy Amplification>.]

Hiss.

Powehi’s body spread like fog.

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’s’ physical attacks are ignored.]

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ receives physical attack debuff (-100%).]

We couldn’t hit the opponent, but the opponent couldn’t hit us either. The outer god’s intention was obvious. He wanted to summon a monster while remaining hidden.

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ summons ‘Observer (A)’.]

A monster shaped like a light bulb appeared in midair. It was a deformed creature with eyeballs floating where the filament should be. It looked at me and Ireh, then widened its pupils.

[— ‘Observer’ uses <Observation>.]

[— You have been marked!]

This is dangerous. The Observer is just an A-rank monster, but that skill is extremely troublesome. While under observation, mental attacks gain penetration and area effect properties.

Sonia and I might be fine, but Ireh could be in danger.

“Sonia! That one first!”

[— ‘Sky of Comfort’ uses <Sky-Reaching Heat>.]

Crash!

Sonia struck the Observer’s head. But it was a split second too late. The skill had already activated, and due to the penetration and area effects, the attack hit Ireh, who had relatively no mental immunity.

“Ugh!”

Ireh dropped the spirit gun she was holding. Her eyes rolled back. Her shoulders were hunched and trembling, and saliva dripped down her lower lip.

This isn’t normal.

“Like a bitch with rabies.”

“Get a hold of yourself, Sister! Ireh! You bastard! What the hell did you do to Ireh!”

“I stimulated her sexual desire.”

“Why?!”

“Looking through her mind, I found trauma related to men. Well, she has different feelings for you, which is contradictory. Anyway, I was curious what would happen if I gave lust to a woman like that.”

“I’m asking why you’re doing this!”

“…Do I really need a reason?”

“What?”

“It’s fun, isn’t it?”

Damn it. These guys were always like this.

“I’ll be honest. You’re not an ordinary being since my techniques don’t work on you. That was my mistake. How dare I pick a fight impulsively without preparation. But what can I do? This is my nature. Besides, I’ll have fun with that woman, so it’s not all loss.”

Powehi’s invisibility wore off. He gradually evaporated like morning dew as he concluded:

“After a time of recharging, I will appear before you again. Let’s see what happens then.”

“Please wait a moment.”

“Hmm?”

Sonia questioned Powehi as he was about to disappear.

“You looked into my mind and my young master’s too, right? You must know that I’m an avatar.”

“Hmm, yes. I was a bit surprised, but not enough to be hysterical. The teacher told me that child would struggle somehow.”

“Teacher?”

“Ah, yes. Someone I respect. Right now, he’s stirring black holes to taste this galaxy. He said the pron and coins coming from there are the most delicious.”

“So it was… you people?”

“Time’s up. That’s all I can tell you. Sorry, but I’ll see you again next time.”

Whoosh.

The outer god vanished. He returned to recharge the energy used to manifest his true form. We wouldn’t be bothered by him for at least a few days.

However, he left behind a question.

“He knew about Cartesia.”

“Something’s wrong, young master. I can’t contact the outer god who shared power with me at all. It must be the doing of that ‘teacher’ Powehi mentioned.”

My mind momentarily froze.

The “teacher” Powehi mentioned refers to the “Writhing Chaos,” or Renatus. In gaming terms, he would be the boss of this chapter.

Not much is known about Renatus. But I did know that Cartesia disappeared around the time he appeared.

“Could there be a special relationship between this ‘teacher’ outer god and the one I contracted with?”

“Whatever the relationship, it doesn’t matter. I need Cartesia.”

I needed to discuss this issue with Sonia.

But first, we had to deal with the chaos in the Spirit Chamber.

“I’ll call someone to help. Young master, please wake up the fallen people and look after Miss Ireh.”

We divided our roles.

I checked each of the scattered inspectors. Having fainted, they would need more time to wake up. Waking them suddenly might actually damage their minds.

I quickly contacted the hospital and then checked on Ireh.

“B-brother.”

“Sister?”

“I, I can’t hold back anymore…”

The next moment, Ireh, who had been crouching and trembling violently, pounced on me, and I couldn’t offer even the slightest resistance as she mounted me.

[— ‘Ireh Hazlen’ uses <Binding Bullet>.]

“I’m sorry, brother, I’m sorry…”

Her face, having lost all reason, cast a shadow over mine.