Side Story 3: Visiting a Remote Island 13

「Let’s go.」

「Indeed.」

The hole Fran had created was over thirty meters deep, and both of them jumped in it without hesitation. I know Fran will be fine because of Aerial Hop, but what about Ouna?

The woman plunged at a tremendous speed, even faster than us, without any signs of slowing down. Was she really tough enough to come out of such a fall unharmed? Just as I started to worry, she finally slowed herself right before hitting the ground.

「Hah!」

Releasing mana from the soles of her feet instantly killed her downward momentum. Then, she absorbed the remaining force with her knees and landed successfully with almost no impact. Even the ground beneath her feet was barely affected.

The toughness of this old lady never fails to impress.

「The cavern is fairly spacious, but I can’t sense any living creature due to the evil energy…」

「This way.」

Within such a dense cloud of evil energy, even we had trouble sensing presences. However, we could still distinguish between different concentrations of evil energy. There was clearly an especially dense mass gathered in one place.

We headed in that direction, before finding ourselves under attack by a hostile creature. An Evil Energy Slime had dropped from the ceiling in a surprise attack.

Well, then Fran instantly sliced it apart and it got absorbed by the Evil God’s Innocence.

『I guess that Evil Energy Slime really did come from here.』

「So their scheme was to transport the black slimes from here into the haunt? Strange. I was able to sense their evil energy, but I never saw any slimes…」

『They probably need evil energy to survive. After getting released into the haunt, they’ll dissipate quickly, leaving only a pool of evil energy seeping into the land. Or maybe they just got eaten by large magical beasts.』

The Evil Energy Slimes showed the ability to merge with and manipulate humans, but I doubt they had enough power to completely control high-ranking monsters. Even so, any monster unlucky enough to eat one was sure to go berserk from the highly concentrated evil energy contained within.

As we walked through the underground cavern while absorbing Evil Energy Slimes, the evil energy grew even denser. It had become so thick that it was visible as a black haze even without using any skills.

Ouna seemed to be capable of enduring it, but I put up a purification barrier around her just in case.

「…Much appreciated.」

She made a brief frown, probably due to being helped by one of the divine swords she hated so much. She must have complicated feelings about the matter.

「Found something!」

「It looks like nothing more than a mass of evil energy to me…」

Deep within the underground cavern, at the center of a depression that had likely been dug out, stood a giant crystal. Something black was trapped inside it.

『That’s a sealed familiar of the Evil God. The evil energy leaking from it probably took the form of those slime-like creatures.』

And there was also someone standing in front of the crystal. A tall, thin man dressed in what appeared to be finely tailored noble attire.

Evil energy radiated from his entire body, so he was clearly performing some sort of ritual directed at the crystal. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be anything good.

The man turned around to look up at us and cast a suspicious gaze our way.

「…Who are you people?」

「That’s our line. Though if you can control this much evil energy, I am sure you are no respectable person.」

「Hmph. Don’t make assumptions.」

Ouna’s argument would probably make me and Fran villains too, but I held my tongue. It’s true that hardly any decent people could use evil energy.

Besides, we literally caught him in the act, so there was clear evidence.

「Assumptions? Then what are doing to the people lying over there? Infusing evil energy into them? Surely you’re not going to claim that this wicked ritual is some sort of medical treatment?」

The man wasn’t the only one present. Several magic circles had been drawn around the crystal, and about ten men and women were lying atop them.

Just as Ouna said, evil energy appeared to be flowing into them through the magic circles.

「Are you connected to the Evil Extermination Society?」

Fran asked the main question and the man responded by bursting into laughter.

「Kuhahahaha! If you know that name, then surely you’ve already figured everything out? That’s right! I am the head of the Evil Extermination Society!」

As I suspected, the Evil Extermination Society was being secretly controlled by Evil God worshipers. I didn’t expect this guy to be its leader though.

「What are you plotting?」

「Plotting? What a rude way to put it! I am merely trying to break the seal on the Great Envoy! For that, those fools who prattled on about exterminating evil were the perfect puppets!」

「Great Envoy?」

「My ancestors were foolish enough to seal away an honorable servant of the Evil God! A curse upon their boundless incompetence! I simply wish to atone for their sins by setting the envoy free!」

Apparently, he came from the family responsible for guarding the seal, but they somehow went completely off the rails in his generation.

Either way, I still don’t understand why they wanted to spread evil energy into a haunt. What did that have to do with reviving a servant of the Evil God?

「Why did you involve the Cradle of the Earth Dragon? Was that a step to revive the Evil God’s servant?」

「No, that had nothing to do with it.」

「Eh?」

「The thought came to me one day. Perhaps the Evil Slimes produced here could be used to cause a stampede. I gave it a try, as it would allow me to rid the world of many fools who refuse to acknowledge the Evil God! Since you’ve managed to reach me, I suppose my experiment was a failure. What a shame.」

「You little…」

The instant the man said that, Ouna ground her teeth and unleashed her killing intent. She moved her hand to the sword at her waist and assumed a battle stance.

「People like you are the type I hate most.」

「It would seem you are yet another who refuses to acknowledge the Evil God’s greatness!」

「What does the Evil God have to do with anything? You can go after whatever grand objective you want. But don’t drag other people into your selfish desires! It’s just a nuisance!」

Despite taking Ouna’s killing intent head-on, the man never lost his composed expression.

「You intend to cut me down? But it is already too late! Now then, devour the sacrifices and return to life! O Great Envoy, return to us!」

「Tch!」

The crystal shined black and released a surge of evil energy. Ouna quickly swung her sword and launched a flying slash, but she was unable to stop it. Only the crystal shattered. Her attack failed to reach the mass of evil energy sealed inside.

The evil energy swelled up into a giant Evil Energy Slime, growing large enough to cover the entire depression. Fran and Ouna leapt back instinctively, so they were unharmed, but the man and the people lying there were swallowed by the giant Evil Energy Slime.

We could only watch as it morphed before our eyes.

「Hahahaha! Wonderful! Evil energy truly is wonderful!」

The surface of the slime began bubbling violently, and the man was expelled from within as if getting pushed out.

His body was still covered in a layer of slime, so he probably couldn’t even breathe. Yet he seemed to have retained his sanity. Perhaps he no longer possessed a body that required breathing in the first place.

「Fran, can you take care of the slime? I’ll cut that bastard down.」

「Nn. Leave it to me.」

「I’m counting on you.」

At the sight of Fran nodding and readying me, the man let out a mocking laugh.

「Hahaha! You are so foolish as to think a mere child can challenge the Great Envoy? She won’t even last ten seconds! This is disrespect, plain and simple! You must be punished!」

「That’s our line. Fran is strong, you know.」

「Heheh.」

Apparently pleased by Ouna calling her strong, Fran put on a smug expression completely inappropriate for someone standing before a servant of the Evil God.

「It seems the brain of a beastkin brat cannot comprehend the terror of the Great Envoy! You shall learn in death!」

「Oroooogh…!」

「…Great Envoy?」

「Orooooh…」

The giant slime did not budge. It simply remained in one place and started writhing. The man turned toward it, panic appearing on his face for the first time.

「W-What is the meaning of this? Was the unsealing incomplete?」

「Hah! Maybe it just didn’t like being ordered around by you.」

「I-I am not giving any orders! Great Envoy! Please, I beg you to show these fools your power!」

「Oroooogh…」

Well, of course it wasn’t going to attack us.

After all, the Evil God’s Innocence was threatening it to stop.

While this giant slime did not directly serve the Evil God’s Innocence, it was still a fragment of the same god. It could never go against an existence equal to its creator.

「Fine! You are not worthy to die at the Great Envoy’s hands! Now that I have received this divine power, I alone am more than enough!」

「Hah! Then try me!」

「Die…!!」

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