NOVEL WEB Chapter 29: The Evil God’s Wish
This is bad...
To think I would fall for such a trick so easily. To think I would be sealed again.
"How are you doing in there, Dionix?"
I looked up, seeing the large face of a warbeast woman looking down at me.
She is a foxkin with bright, golden eyes and long, silver-white hair. Her name is Akagi, and she is a God like me.
As for the reason to why her face is so big, it's because she isn't the one who is huge, for I am the one who is small.
During the battle against her to retrieve the undergarments for Hoshimiya, I got careless and ended up falling to one of her traps. Resulting in me getting sealed inside of a crystal ball.
"I feel ashamed. To think that I, of all people, would get sealed by you. Not just once, nor twice, but thrice."
"Oh, don't flatter yourself. This is the fourth time I had you sealed. Fourth, I say! You really never learn, do you!? Or rather, why are you so surprised? I'm the one who should be surprised! Who would've thought that stealing some underwear would be enough to draw you to me! Argh! And I thought I had to take the extra length before you would come to me!"
"Are you done... Akagi?"
"No, I'm not! In the first place, why are you attempting to get Sheila-chan's body out of there again!? This time, you went so far as to put a compatible soul of another into her body, just for the small chance that she would get her out."
"..."
"What's more, you even offered to risk your life to pull her out of that dungeon. Seriously Dionix, did you ever think for a second what would happen if you were to die!? We would lose this war almost immediately. Undermining everything we've done so far!"
"...Akagi. Enough. I get it already."
I have made a terrible mistake. A mistake which I have failed to realise until too late. As by the time then, there was no undoing it.
I forced Hoshimiya into her situation. No one made me do it, except for myself. And I didn't stop to think about what would happen to her if I were to do so. Because of me, I made Hoshimiya suffer and cry. Even now, the guilt of that weighs on my shoulders.
"Dionix... I understand your pain. I know what you're feeling right now. I've been there.... But you're not the one who killed Sheila-chan. The other Gods did. So stop hating yourself. It's not your fault."
Not my fault...?
I chuckled at the statement which Akagi just made; I laughed at the foolish claim she created.
"Not my fault, you say?" I looked up at Akagi, seething with anger.
"I abandoned her, Akagi! I swore an oath to keep her safe! And yet, I chose not to save her! I chose to let her die, when she needed me the most! How is it not my fault, when it was my decision that killed her!?"
"And from that decision of yours, you saved thirty million lives of others. You brought them peace and prosperity, from the sacrifice of one."
"And that 'sacrifice' you're talking about is my own daughter! My own flesh and blood! The life which I helped to create, before becoming a God! The life which you grew attached to, Akagi!"
"I know, Dionix... I know. I too was devastated, when I heard news of her death. But that's all in the past now. You need to let go, Dionix. You need to stop hating yourself over it."
"Then help me. Help Hoshimiya. Let me fix the wrong I've done to her. Let me atone for my sins, just this once."
"I can't do that." Akagi shook her head. "As of right now, your idea of atonement is self-sacrifice. You are so broken, you believe that as long as Rei Hoshimiya makes it out safe and alive, your life would be a small price to pay. That is something I cannot allow. Because just as how you value her life over yours, I value your life over hers. Therefore, I have chosen to seal you once again. Even if you're the strongest God among the six of us, it will still take a lot of time for you to break free. Unless I remove the seal myself, that is..."
...I know. Akagi's seal is incredibly powerful. Even for me, it would take a hundred years at least before I could escape from it. And by then, Hoshimiya would either have already escaped the dungeon, or died in it.
Curses! Is there nothing I can do!?
"I'll send the underwear to her and that's it. If Rei Hoshimiya dies then she dies. Even if she is a [Key of the World], I will not save her, nor will I aid her in any way. That child and her fox spirit are now on their own. And I will only watch over her progress and just that."
Akagi then placed the crystal ball down and walked off. But before she went out of my sight, I called out to her.
"Wait, Akagi."
She stopped, turned around, and looked back down at me. "What is it?" she asked.
Convincing her to release me is impossible, and so is asking her to help Hoshimiya. That's why, all I can do is to ask her a small favour.
"If you're going to send the undergarments to Hoshimiya, send her some other clothes as well please. The clothes I gave were from Sheila's wardrobe. All of which only had mini skirts as lower garments."
And at this point, I'm sure Hoshimiya is bound to misunderstand something about me.
"So if you could, send her some other types of clothes for her to wear. At least do that for me, will you?"
"Sure. That I can do for you, Dionix Frontier."
"Thank you..."
And with that, Akagi walked off. Leaving me all alone in the crystal ball seal with nothing but a void around me.
Now, all I can do is basically nothing...
I can't even pray. I mean, who do I even pray to? I'm a God, for fuck's sake. The Evil God!
"...Ahhh..... I'm tired......"
At this point, I don't even know what I'm doing...
My decisions have caused me to suffer. My actions have caused other pain. My existence alone caused many lives to die.
Wouldn't it be better if I die? Wouldn't it be better if I go away? I asked myself that every time, to which I answer that I can't. Because that would mean leaving the fate of Ibyss into their hands. A fate, which no one in world would want.
That is why I am still here. That is why I am still alive. But even so, somewhere within me just wants to die.
"I'm sorry... Hoshimiya. I truly am."
I caused you suffering. I caused you pain. Therefore, you have every right to hate me.
But please... I beg of you... Bring Sheila back to me. Bring my daughter back to me. I wish to give her a proper burial. I wish to embrace her for one last time.
I have a new body prepared for you. One which is fully compatible with your soul, just like my daughter's.
So please survive, Hoshimiya. Live through the end... for me.
