Ch.63Celestine Incident – Preliminary Skirmish (3)

Seti’s neck twisted to the side as it was struck by the calipers.

Simultaneously, an indescribable powerful shock shook Populus’s black hole.

The outer god’s main body twisted violently.

[“Kuhack!”]

My consciousness grew faint.

How on earth?

There’s no rule that says the main body should take damage when the possessed body is hit.

I’ve never heard of such a case.

[“I, that I…”]

To allow a hit.

My joints twisted in anger.

But before I could think, the next strike followed.

Thwack!

[“Kuk!”]

A hot sensation was felt in the frontal lobe that governs thought.

As Seti’s temple was struck, something like muddy water burst from Populus’s head like an oil geyser.

Thwack!

The third strike.

Populus rolled around inside the black hole. His divine form flew to the boundary of the black hole and crashed.

It hurts.

But more than that, it feels disgusting.

That I, of all beings, would receive an effective hit from an inferior life form?

It was impossible.

Step.

[“…”]

Step, step.

The eerie footsteps felt through the possessed body’s ears.

The target that he had originally decided to hunt now looked down at him through the screen with a chilling gaze.

He opened his mouth.

“You bastard.”

A single word spat out.

Populus momentarily doubted his auditory organs.

“You keep interfering until the end.”

[“…!”]

“Just die.”

Eidel, holding the calipers with both hands, took a stance to strike down.

The momentary fear that followed.

Populus unconsciously rewound time.

***

Second attempt.

One try isn’t enough to know. I needed to try the same approach again.

1. I took over the girl’s body.

2. I moved to the narrow captain’s room to take advantage of the terrain.

At least up to here was the same as the first time.

I organized my thoughts until the two people appeared.

– Young master, this is the captain’s room.

They’ve already arrived.

Populus places the possessed body on standby under the same conditions and rechecks the order of the plan.

Bang!

The door opened and two people entered.

No, in addition to the two people, one robot entered as well.

“Miss Seti, are you alright?”

[“…”]

“…Oh my.”

The android with dark sea-blue hair frowned upon seeing the possessed body.

Everything else was the same.

Things just got more troublesome.

This time I need to attack more carefully—

Clang!

***

Third round.

The mood was fucking terrible.

First of all, the physical abilities of the possessed body, Seti von Rheinland, were too weak.

Her intelligence was excellent, especially with a brain suitable for handling wealth, but that was a useless discussion at the point of possession.

Anyway, it was disadvantageous for launching diverse attacks.

Therefore, I decided to ask my subordinate Oligos to find a new body.

The goal is to confuse Eidel, and by doing so, create a mental crack. If I can exploit that gap and take control of his body, I can win against the outer god that’s already stuck to him.

But after just two attempts, I realized that boy was no ordinary person.

He showed no mercy even to his own sister.

So who should I possess?

[“Hmm.”]

Before causing the incident, Populus pondered carefully, even swallowing his saliva.

The blonde ponytail girl was close to Eidel but had a constellation, so I couldn’t possess her.

The silver-eyed girl seemed to be in a hostile relationship, so there was no reason to possess her.

The person called teacher?

[“…He probably wouldn’t budge for someone like that either.”]

He beat his own flesh and blood mercilessly, let alone someone else.

No matter how I thought about it, following the original plan seemed to have the highest chance of success.

There seemed to be an android he was friendly with, perhaps that one—

***

So, which attempt is this now?

I must have passed 100 tries.

Going back to basics, I decided to focus solely on Eidel’s younger sister.

“You bastard.”

Up to here, the same future unfolded.

I’m familiar with it now.

Populus had already explored the depths of the sister’s mind.

Though they get along now, this possessed body was once bullied a lot.

Perhaps Eidel had been treating this girl well recently because he felt sorry for what he had done.

…Of course, seeing how he hit her without hesitation until now, that might not be the case, but there must be some conscience.

It was worth trying.

“Hic, sob, brother…”

The possessed body, having been hit once, fell down and landed on her bottom.

Good. That’s the state. That’s the state to back away in.

“It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…! Stop it!”

Begging. Pleading.

Step.

As Eidel approached, Seti began to wail even more desperately.

“Please, stop hitting me…! Brother, it hurts…! I don’t like pain! Stop it…”

This should make him waver at least a little.

Well, how about it? Isn’t it pitiful?

So show mercy. Show compassion. Hesitate.

And when your mind cracks, I’ll devour you.

Grab!

***

Was it 1,000 times, or 10,000 times?

I’ve had enough.

Even counting gets tiring.

I just silently overturn unsatisfactory results until a victorious future emerges.

“Student, she’s still your sister! What are you doing!”

And very occasionally, Naiere would try to stop Eidel.

I liked these irregular patterns.

Around the 2 millionth attempt, the jackpot hit.

That nuisance Sonia or whatever wasn’t there.

Naiere, who would cut off the possessed body’s tentacles with a single stroke, accidentally twisted her ankle on the way here.

She even actively restrained Eidel.

“Your sister can still speak. It means her will remains! I’ll subdue her myself, so student, don’t do anything strange and step back!”

“No.”

“Eidel!”

“This is our family matter. Please don’t interfere?”

“Listen to me! If the Pron value is below 800, we can take her to the Spirit Sol and save her!”

So internal conflict has finally broken out.

This is an excitingly welcome case.

I don’t know how I managed to catch this opportunity.

I absolutely, absolutely must not fail.

“Hic, brother, brother…”

The possessed body began to stagger, wailing more desperately than in any other attempt.

After shedding fake tears until the tear ducts dried up, she said to the approaching Eidel:

“Don’t, hit me.”

“…”

“It hurts when you hit me.”

“…”

“…Are you going to hit me?”

“Yeah.”

Clang!

***

100 million times.

[“Let’s give up.”]

Despite all these attempts, Eidel’s attitude remained consistent.

No matter when I possessed.

No matter whom I possessed.

No matter where I possessed.

No matter how I acted.

He tried to eliminate the possessed body without mercy.

Once Eidel showed no wavering, that attempt became useless.

[“…Things aren’t going as planned.”]

But the entire plan hasn’t gone awry.

Once we move to the next timeline, it would be difficult to go back due to causality, but at this point, it’s right to let go.

[“Can’t be helped.”]

If I don’t like it, I can just kill everyone in a short engagement.

In simple terms, a declaration of all-out war against the outer god ruling this galaxy.

It needs to end quickly if possible. I also had to pay attention to hostile outer gods around my base.

And that’s why I dispatched avatar bodies here in advance.

“Children, move.”

As Populus’s command fell, time began to move forward.

***

[— You have escaped from the hostile outer god’s ‘Interval Repetition’.]

[— ‘Orchestra of Mud and Flesh’ has abandoned the possessed body and fled the scene.]

[— You have acquired 10000 Pron as a reward for defeating it!]

Bella held the unconscious Seti who was foaming at the mouth.

“Sob, hic… I’m sorry, miss… I’m really sorry…”

The outer god had possessed her and then left.

It seems it tried to take a hostage, but after seeing me hit her a few times, it quickly fled.

But this isn’t the end.

A preliminary skirmish.

In other words, it was just testing the waters.

Since the best plan didn’t work, it will now bring out the medium plan.

While I was thinking about what that might be, Naiere and Sonia approached.

Sonia spoke first.

“The evacuation of all students except the young master has been completed.”

“Casualties?”

“12 seriously injured, 38 minor injuries, no deaths.”

“Good.”

So far, it’s okay.

So far.

After briefly finishing the conversation with Sonia, I met eyes with Instructor Naiere.

She seemed to be demanding an explanation for the outrageous behavior I had just committed.

There was no time for lengthy words.

“…The outer god.”

I conveyed only the essentials concisely.

“When it encounters a pattern it cannot understand, it gets confused.”

“…”

“Strike at that confusion and you can defeat it without much difficulty.”

“Why on earth?”

Naiere asked with a frown.

A look demanding further explanation.

A face asking how I know such things.

“The only way to repel an outer god is to sear it with Aether while under the protection of stars…”

“…is what’s commonly known, but that’s not the only way.”

“That explanation is insufficient?”

“For now, just know this. Outer gods are, after all, living beings.”

Naiere laughed dryly.

“You mean cancer cells are also life, that sort of thing?”

I nonchalantly checked Seti’s pulse as Bella held her.

[Seti von Rheinland: 990/1000]

[Psychological state: — (Cannot confirm psychology due to critical condition and unconsciousness.)]

Pron value 990.

This is close to death.

When a possessed body dies, the possession is automatically released. The outer god won’t try to possess her again since it would mean certain death.

“…Eidel, it would be best to take your sister to the Spirit Sol.”

“You mean the place where one formally receives the blessing from a constellation?”

“Yes.”

Naiere continued calmly.

“If the Pron received from the outer god stopped at a certain level, recovery is possible just by contracting with a constellation. Of course, it will cost a fortune, and if madness sets in, there will be restrictions on employment and such…”

I sighed upon hearing those words.

According to the novel, that threshold was around 800.

In other words, at values around 900, even the help of a constellation is meaningless.

The silver lining, if any, is that there’s no change in Pron value during unconsciousness. As long as she doesn’t wake up, Seti will remain in a state neither alive nor dead.

Anyway, a problem has occurred.

How can the Pron value be lowered?

“Bella.”

I gave an order.

“Take my sister to a hospital in the Rheinland territory. Preferably the one closest to the Spirit Sol.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Be sure to contact father and mother.”

First, we need to move her to a safe place.

What remains is to read ahead and respond to the next card the outer god will play.

Just as I thought that, the mission window updated before my eyes.

[— ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is angry because her plan was disrupted.]

[— As an apostle of the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’, you must accomplish the following:]

[Ship 1 – Defeat avatar body ‘Lüzlaktia’ (0/1)]

[Ship 2 – Defeat avatar body ‘Yoodl’ (0/1)]

[Ship 3 – Defeat avatar body ‘Meirem’ (0/1)]

[Ship 4 – Defeat avatar body ‘Oligos’ (0/1)]

A new task given by Cartesia.

As someone who clearly uses both carrot and stick, she had provided clear rewards for success and failure.

[Success: Gravity package filled with Cartesia’s love (>∇<)]

[Failure: You’d better look forward to it :)]

“What is this.”

[— Notice: Detected a rapid change in Pron value!]

“And what’s this now.”

“Young master, anyway, you should come with me to a safe place…”

Boom!

The ship began to shake.

Before Sonia could finish speaking, my body floated up.

“What, what is this?”

“Damn, it’s the outer god’s doing.”

The ship was advancing without any particular operation.

Moving away from the gravitational domain held by the mother planet, into the free space of zero gravity.

[“Strike, Oligos.”]

Crash!

The window of the captain’s room shattered.