Chapter 57
I really was an unlucky guy.
Just when happiness seemed to be approaching, it quickly ran away.
Just when the situation seemed to be getting a little better, it quickly worsened again.
My life had always been like this.
So now I didn't even have the energy to get angry.
I just... resigned myself.
When the goddess said she would throw me into hell.
When she said she would destroy my soul along with the power inside it.
I first thought, "Here it comes."
Yeah.
What isekai harem king am I?
No talent, slow-witted, foolishly ignorant of the ways of the world, always getting the short end of the stick—how could there be a happy ending for someone like me?
Moreover, thinking about the actions the previous owner of the power inside me performed with those powers, as shown by the goddess...
Wouldn't it be much better for this world.
For Erpha.
For Iomene.
For Almene.
If I just disappeared?
It was a short life as a harem king.
I was satisfied enough with just that.
When would a guy like me ever get to live such a luxurious life with three women again?
Being happy for a few days was enough.
"Please destroy my soul quickly before my resolve changes!!"
Still, what was unfair was unfair.
Damn, how can you give something and then take it away?
It was just starting to get better, why suddenly here…?
So tears came out without me realizing.
Crying my eyes out, I asked for my soul to be destroyed.
Soul destruction?
I'm not scared.
People belonging to this world might be scared, but soul destruction for me?
That's just a ticket back to Korea.
So this is right.
Rather than everyone becoming unhappy because of my power, it was better if I alone become unhappy and it ended there.
Iomene and Almene.
Erpha.
They had all been through so much.
I didn't want this world to change into those terrible scenes I saw because my power sucked up faith and went berserk.
Let's just go back to Korea.
Some would call it short, others long, regardless, my 20 years of isekai reincarnation ended like this in such a futile, boring ending.
It was frustrating and infuriating, but this was for the best.
"Now! Destroy me now! Right now!!"
When I shouted like that while crying my eyes out, the goddess didn't answer for a long time.
What's this?
Didn't you say you'd throw me into hell? Didn't you say you'd destroy my soul along with my abilities?
Then do it right now.
[I can't do that now, Amael.]
At those words, I opened my mouth in bewilderment.
"Are you telling me to live my whole life trembling in fear, not knowing when I'll fall into hell?! That's too much!! Wouldn't it be better for you to deal with me right now too!! So please deal with me now!"
At my shout, the goddess heaved a deep sigh.
[I'm too injured to do that, Amael.]
"What?"
[300 years ago. As you just saw, heaven and hell, and the Evil God of the abyss all fought together in the celestial war. The wounds from that time haven't healed yet. Because of that, it's impossible to destroy your soul right now.]
Wow...
Then what are you saying?
Because it's impossible to kill me right now.
You're saying I should live my whole life trembling in anxiety and fear on earth and then be thrown into hell after I die?
Are you a demon?
You call yourself a goddess but your actions are no different from a demon!!
"I really... really hate you. I resent you!! It's not even an ability I wanted to get!! I don't even know why it's in my soul!! Because of that, people... damn..."
After sobbing for a while in sorrow, I stood up.
"If you can't do it, I'll destroy my soul myself."
Yeah.
If you can't do it, I'll do it myself.
High-level curses.
Didn't they say that if you get hit by those, your soul can be shattered?
I'll get hit by that and destroy my soul myself.
"Even though I really, really hate you and resent you… for you. For the gods of the Pantheon. And for the humans of the world and the women I love."
I clenched my fist tightly.
I really wished for a different ending.
But now that I knew the true nature of my ability.
Now that I knew that this ability could grow stronger by sucking up faith directed at me.
I had no choice but to destroy my soul and leave this world now.
I was planning to destroy my soul and go back to Korea, anyway.
Only the reason had changed a little.
No longer just for myself alone.
For the women I love.
For the many humans who were sick, struggling, and suffering.
To not cause even greater suffering to all those many sick, struggling, and suffering humans I had treated.
"I'll be martyred. If I'm martyred, it'll all be over, right? Right?" I muttered that with a self-deprecating smile.
The Evil God felt like he was going to die of anger.
This isn't right?
He'll be martyred?
Is that the right answer to come out?
He's definitely someone with intelligence issues.
Otherwise, there's no way the words "I'll be martyred" could come out here.
No matter how you think about it, isn't this the moment he should resent the goddess?
He just got women he loved and was about to become happy for a moment when the goddess cursed him saying he could never be happy.
It was normal to resent and curse her, becoming twisted and corrupted.
That was normal, but…
What is this guy? What's wrong with his head?!
It was such an unexpected situation that wasn't in the scenario at all that even the Evil God was momentarily speechless.
He desperately racked his brains.
Think. My goal is to make the good gods of the Pantheon who cherish this guy and the demons of hell collide with each other. This low-intelligence guy is saying he'll sacrifice himself. Then how can I use this to cause a collision?
The Evil God, who was desperately thinking, finally came up with a good idea.
[If that's your opinion, I'll help you.]
The Evil God lowered his voice and imitated the goddess' voice once again.
[The power of the Evil God will never be able to destroy your soul. You should know from experiencing it once already.]
Amael nodded gloomily.
"When the Evil God's fragment entered my body, it just got destroyed and disappeared."
[That's because the power of hell in your body is much stronger. But there is a way to destroy it. Anything can be destroyed where it was created.]
"That means…?"
[Not the Evil God's curse, but the power of hell. Powerful black magic and sorcery should be able to destroy both the power inside you and your soul together. So if you really want to be martyred for everyone's sake, there are two things you need to do from now on.]
The Evil God held up two fingers.
[You must prevent the power inside your body from growing any larger. Stay away from those who worship you. Whether it's hell, the abyss, or the Pantheon. Divine ranks grow stronger by eating faith and worship. Your power is the same. So you must avoid that.]
It was true that power grew by eating faith. The Evil God needed to prevent Asmodeus' power from becoming unnecessarily strong.
Moreover, he couldn't let this low-intelligence, overly kind guy do things that would explosively increase faith for the gods of the Pantheon.
And he needed to be away from the Pantheon's influence to make it easier to deal with him if necessary.
That was why he said this.
[Second. Find demon followers powerful enough to destroy your soul and the power within it. Try to have your soul destroyed by their black magic and sorcery. And thus, be martyred for all of humanity. For me and the gods of the Pantheon.]
He was asking him to die for humans and gods he had never even met before.
Normally, if such words came out, one should be angry and hate...
"I was already preparing to leave, but I guess I'll end up leaving after all. I understand. I'll leave those who worship me. And I'll try to have my soul destroyed by black magic and sorcery."
But this stupid guy was saying he'd willingly die with a sorrowful face.
It was so bewildering that a bitter laugh escaped.
How can there be such a guy?
No matter how diverse humans are, isn't this too beyond common sense to be noble?
Was it that his stupidity had reached its peak and appeared noble?
Or was he really so good and kind that he was like this? Even the Evil God couldn't tell anymore.
While the Evil God was bewildered like that.
He felt a rough attempt to break into his domain from outside.
It must be the good gods of the Pantheon.
They were trying to interfere by consuming power even though they knew the celestial realm was in a mess.
The Evil God felt irritated by that action.
The aftermath of the celestial war still remained heavily on him as well.
He was in a state where he couldn't wield the power of his prime.
If it were his prime, he might have been able to forcibly brainwash Amael or directly look into his soul, but now all he could do was just meet and talk like this.
Of course, he couldn't hold out long against the interference of the good gods, either.
The conversation was over, anyway.
Just as he was about to leave.
"Goddess, is it really impossible for you to destroy my soul right now? No matter how I think about it, it seems like it would be faster for you to deal with it now rather than waiting for me to be martyred on my own."
The low-intelligence guy threw out one more line that made the Evil God feel like he was going to die of anger.
The Evil God also wanted to just kill this guy.
He only had value if he moved according to the original plan to pit the Pantheon and the Demon Kings of hell against each other. It was unpredictable what kind of variable a guy who was so overly gentle and stupidly talked about being martyred would create.
It wouldn't be bad to take this opportunity to permanently extinguish one of hell's powers, but...
Damn those Pantheon bastards!!
As mentioned, his powers weren't intact due to the aftermath of the celestial war either.
From the Evil God's position, who had to struggle even against the interference of the Pantheon gods, there was no way he could extinguish a Demon King's power.
[As I said, I'm injured right now. So it's impossible for me to extinguish your soul and power. After recovering over time. I was planning to put you in hell, but if you say you'll martyr yourself, you're lightening my burden a lot. Die for me.]
The Evil God provoked the saint one last time.
It was no exaggeration to say this was the epitome of selfish statements.
Asking someone to die for you.
If other saints, holy women, or heroes had heard such words, it would have been enough for them to curse Lilia and fall into corruption and darkness.
The Evil God prayed and prayed that Amael would fall in the same way, but this stupid, brainless bastard ultimately betrayed the Evil God's expectations.
"Yes. I'll do that," he answered with a bitter and self-deprecating smile.
The Evil God sincerely wanted to rip open that human's head and look inside.
But he had to give up because there was a possibility that he would be defeated by the Demon King's power if he did so.
[Be martyred. For all of humanity and all the gods of the Pantheon.]
With those words as his last, the Evil God left Amael.
Bursting with anger, saying he had never seen such an ignorant and stupid bastard in all his life.
As he left like that, the Evil God saw the gods of the Pantheon looking down at him from far up in the sky.
[You son of a bitch I'll tear to pieces!! What the hell did you say to our treasure who increases our faith!! If only the state of the celestial realm was fine so we could communicate more smoothly with the human realm, I would have torn you apart myself and licked your blood and entrails!! You worm crawling in the abyss!!]
Dullaneer, who was relatively the most intact among the gods of the Pantheon and recently even gave out a Chosen One generously, roared like a barbarian as always, cursing the Evil God.
[Someday the hammer of justice will fall upon your head, worm of the abyss.]
Rophus, the God of Justice, declared in a low and cold voice towards the Evil God, surrounded by a halo like the sun.
All the other gods, too.
Each threw curses and imprecations at the Evil God.
It was such a familiar scene to the Evil God that there wasn't much to be surprised about.
[You fools.]
Do they know that the being amplifying their faith was none other than the one who possessed the power of the Demon King of Lust?
They probably didn't know.
Even the Evil God only realized after a part of himself was annihilated inside Amael.
It was obvious that they wouldn't have noticed the true nature of the power inside Amael at all due to the overly powerful nature of Lust and Amael's foolishly good nature.
But there was a possibility that only two beings among the gods of the Pantheon might have noticed what it really was.
The Evil God looked at those two gods.
A goddess covered in blood, injured to the point where it wouldn't be strange if her divine rank disappeared right away.
Lilia of Grace and another god quietly supporting Lilia by her side.
Rupiel, the God of the Future.
Especially Rupiel.
That guy is dangerous.
If it was Rupiel, there was a possibility he had noticed what power was inside the saint.
[Amael will die before long. That means the being amplifying your faith will disappear. How nice for you. You whores and male prostitutes. I blatantly made a move, but you're in such a state that you can't even properly interfere with the human realm because the celestial realm is broken!!]
[I'll skin that son of a bitch's head and eat it!! I'll rip out his liver and lick it!!]
Dullaneer roared loudly, but the Evil God just giggled and mocked them all.
[God of the Future. It's thanks to the prophecy you gave. That Amael guy. He was afraid. I just touched that fear a little. He will die before long. You will never benefit from anything in the future. You've made quite a spectacular blunder! Haha!!]
At those words, Rupiel, who was supporting Lilia, quietly stepped forward.
As he always did.
He looked at the Evil God with a subtle smile that was hard to notice.
[Is that so?]
A low and calm voice.
But because of that, an even more terrifying voice.
Rupiel, God of the Future.
He was always a god whose thoughts were hard to discern.
[Just wait and see. You disgusting and filthy bastards playing in the sky. You too. And you filthy demons of hell. Someday you will all disappear. And I!! Only I will remain and devour everything. The abyss is always waiting for you.]
The Evil God giggled and disappeared into his domain.
The gods of the Pantheon also returned to their domains after seeing the Evil God disappear.
Only one.
Only Rupiel continued to smile strangely while watching the Evil God's back.