But what I was really curious about was what that being really was.
[Then see you next time]
Count Mays, who had been lying on his face at the words of the declaration of that existence, disappeared. I couldn’t feel the magic, but it must have been a technique similar to teleportation. Considering the distance it came down, it would be difficult even for a master-class unmanned person to walk up again.
That’s how Count Mays disappeared, and only me and his existence remained.
[Hey, what are you doing?]
I knew that I was a powerful being that could be destroyed without lifting a finger, but I wasn’t afraid of death. He has already died once, and there is no such thing as regret. However, the existence was unexpectedly not angry.
[I am called Cthullah in your style. foreign press]
Foreign press, I don’t know exactly what it is, but it means that it is a god.
[What exactly does foreign media mean?]
[It means that he is not the god of this world, but the god of another world. Only a very small part is here for entertainment.]
No, I think he’s big enough in terms of size, but more than that, he’s a god. I don’t know exactly how different the god of this world is from the god of another world, but what the difference is, but it’s a god. I’ve been face to face with God
[Then Ctula-sama, do you know what I am?]
[You seem to be halfway between a soul and a spirit. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this world, but I’ve never seen a being like you.]
It’s the first time I’ve ever seen a god-level existence like me. Then I am not a being created by God’s intervention?
[I’m really curious about something, but isn’t it possible that the gods create an existence that goes against the good of the world like me?]
[What do you think of God?]
[I could say it long, but to shorten it, I think they are omnipotent people.]
At my reply, Ctula wriggled its thousands of tentacles around. I don’t know what that expression is, but I thought it might be a rough idea.
From noble mtl dot com.
[no. God is not omnipotent.]
Cthula’s answer was incomprehensible. If God is not all-knowing and omnipotent, who creates and how this world is operated, and how and why are beings like the Demon Beast King created?
[What ants can’t, humans can do very easily. It could very simply cause a natural disaster in the ant’s world. If you pour in a bucket of water, the ant nest will become a sea of water. A single torch can burn thousands of ants to death, so isn’t man like a god in the eyes of an ant? So, are humans omnipotent beings?]
Ctula’s words were that in the eyes of God, all creatures, including humans, were like ants. If you think so, it makes sense that God is not omnipotent.
[Then am I just naturally made?]
[It is not. You are definitely a being with the power of the gods of this world.]
[Did it flow in?]
[Yes.]
it just flowed in It was not intentionally created, but just an overflowing power that luckily flowed into it.
[ha ha ha!]
Without knowing it, I let out a slightly dejected laugh. I found the answer to my existence. Of course, that doesn’t mean much. But it may be the world’s most important secret.
[A nameless existence that is neither a soul nor a spirit]
Ctullah called me quietly. Ctula is now a thank you to me. Perhaps, even if I lived for hundreds of years, I simply gave you an answer that I would not be able to get. At some point, his strength returned and he was able to fly again.
[yes]
[Did you know about the circumstances of me and the Ctolari family?]
[Yes, I think so. Will the Ctulari family serve Ctulla-sama for generations?]
[The expression of waiting is not correct. just make a deal I give them strength and in exchange I give them missions]
Isn’t that a deal you can’t refuse? I don’t know what’s different about it from the market, but let’s say it is.
[okay.]
[Wouldn’t you like to try one of the missions I give you? The head of Ctolari will be replaced this time, and it won’t be easy as there are many limitations as a human, but you can do it.]
It’s a mission given by the gods… is this an oracle that the saints and saints receive? I couldn’t be quick to accept it. The weight given by the existence of God was that heavy. In the metaphor of Ctula, what will be the punishment given by humans when the ants fail the mission given by humans? No matter how light the punishment, it would not be a terrible result.
[Can I refuse?]
[possible. You and I have not signed any contract yet.]
If you sign a contract, you can’t refuse. Then, the Ctolari family heads must be making a contract.
[If you succeed in this mission, I’ll give you a pretty nice gift]
[What kind of gift is this?]
Eyes flashed open. A gift from God, isn’t it amazing just thinking about it?
[Give me your name]
Is this God playing with me? What kind of gift do you think a name can be?
[The name I give is Jinmyeong. The name is different from what you think it is. And don’t you already have a name?]
[No, I have a name too.]
[What’s your name?]
[My name is···.]
Ether, I tried to say my name, which I had used before. But I couldn’t speak.
[Didn’t you already give your name to someone else?]
Can God even know such a thing? No more than that, why can’t you say my name? I don’t know when this happened.
[Is a name that important?]
After giving the name to Aether, I ate… no, I didn’t eat well, but I lived without problems.
[very important.]
Since God is important, there is nothing to say. It seems that there is nothing wrong with accepting it.
[Then what is my mission?]
[You can deal with the fragments of Nergal.]
[What is it?]
[Nergal is also a foreigner. Tiny fragments of it flowed into this world. to deal with it]
Are you asking me to deal with God now? Is this a life-threatening mission?
[Don’t worry, Nergal is the god of sickness and healing. Are you not affected by the disease? And it’s a very small fragment of it, and it doesn’t have enough power to harm you.]
[Is this like a competition between gods?]
[Something similar to that. This world is not mine, so it doesn’t matter what Nergal does here, but I owe Nergal a small debt in another world, so I want to pay it back. And fragments of foreign media going around will never benefit the things of this world.]
I struggled for quite some time. Thinking about it in many ways, it didn’t seem like a big loss to me.
[Then let’s do it.]
As soon as my words fell, a gigantic tentacle came out terribly and with an exquisite movement touched my soul lightly with the tip of the gigantic tentacle.
[Gives strength to find the fragments. The mission has no deadlines, but we must hurry. The power of foreign media is fatal to this world.]
I wonder if the person who says that is a foreign press, but if that’s the reason for living in such a deep underground cave, I could understand it.
[All right.]
[go away]
The view changed along with Ctula’s words. Before I knew it, I was back in Count Mays’s bedroom.
It was not difficult to see what power Ctula had given him. Like a compass, it pointed me in the direction I needed to go.
There were still many things I wanted to ask Cthullah. I wanted to quickly solve the mission and come back to ask. The exploration of the Dragon Mountains was postponed for now, and they began to move in the direction indicated by Ctula’s authority.
So, a fairly new journey began. However, no matter how far away they were, even though they had been moving non-stop for over a month, the fragments of Nergal were not visible. Come to think of it, I hadn’t even heard of the shape of the fragments of Nergal.
Crossing the Great Sea and leaving the West Continent, they arrived at the East Continent for the first time. I wondered what use it would be, but it was fortunate that I had learned the language of the Eastern Continent during my academy days.
There are some that have the Great Sea in between, but there is a big cultural difference between the East and West continents. I learned at the academy that the East Continent is fundamentally much more barren than the West Continent.
The productivity of the land decreased, and demonic beasts appeared much more. This alone is not a good place for ordinary people to live. Although some science and technology are abnormally developed, they are also very far behind, especially when it comes to magic. There was no other reason why magic was inferior. Magic is a science that requires a lot of money.
The sights seen while crossing the East Continent at high speed were certainly far apart in almost every way compared to the West Continent. First of all, security is generally worse than that of the western continent.
Low productivity leads to starvation, and hunger breeds thieves. If there is no military power to contain it, the vicious cycle will only repeat itself.
It was only when I crossed the eastern continent and reached the capital of the Baikal Kingdom located in the northwestern part of the eastern continent that I finally found a person who was believed to be a fragment of Nergal.
Long before I discovered the fragments of Nergal, I knew about the influence Cthullah spoke of of the foreign powers on the world.
It was an epidemic. A few days before the discovery of Nergal’s fragments, all sorts of contagious diseases had spread everywhere. I hadn’t studied much about medicine, but I could tell by looking at the symptoms that it wasn’t just one infectious disease.
Everywhere they went was full of patients, and they piled up bodies like mountains and set them on fire. A city that stopped in the middle was already in a state of annihilation. How many people were living there? It was a fairly large city, so more than 100,000 people must have lived there. It wasn’t just people. Everything was dying, even insects and plants, not to mention livestock.
Cthullah spoke of Nergal as the god of disease and healing. Even though only fragments, which are a very small part of Nergal, are wandering around, this is enough. How long will you die if you keep walking? Without the intervention of some other force, all life on the continent might disappear.
Having finally found the fragment of Nergal, I observed it for now. It was a girl who did not seem to have reached adulthood yet.
The short, skinny girl was staggering as if she were going to collapse at any moment. Even at a glance, the girl’s face showed that she had lived through this difficult life. The traces of hardships remained so clearly, and both eyes were full of resentment towards the world.
I don’t know much about girls. I don’t know where he lived and what his story was. But it seemed to know. The girl had the same face as before I was beheaded.
Even so, the girl’s soul was light gray. It wasn’t black. The size of the soul was also great. If he had grown up in a good environment, he had such a soul that he would have made his name on the continent with his outstanding talent. There was a very small red piece embedded in the center of such a soul.
[Is that a fragment of Nergal?]
At first, I just tried to absorb Nergal fragments by getting closer. But it didn’t work. The girl and the next city are getting closer. I knew very well what the outcome would be. Because I’m watching all the creatures around the girl walking now die.
[sorry.]
I felt a bit of sympathy in the face of the girl who looked as if she were seeing me in her lifetime. But you have to. It is also a mission given by Ctula, and it must be done before the girl harms more lives.
Fuhak!
The girl’s heart burst and she collapsed helplessly. I carefully picked up the girl’s body and laid it on the ground. He absorbed the girl’s soul and Nergal’s fragments.
[Ooh oh oh!]
I kind of expected this to happen. No matter how fragmented it is, it is the power of God. Unknowingly, I roared at the tremendous power absorbed from the fragments of Nergal. Dozens of times the exhilaration I felt when absorbing a large soul? No, I felt like it would be hundreds of times.
When I woke up, it seemed like a long time had passed. The body of the girl left on the road was already quite decomposed. They dug the ground and buried the girl’s body.
However, there was something that bothered me from the moment I came to my senses. The authority given by Ctula has not yet ended. It was that fragments of Nergal still remained. He also said that God-given missions end too easily.
[Wasn’t it one?]
I started moving again in the direction indicated by Ctullah’s authority.