The Evil God Beyond the Smartphone

< 27 : The Corrupted Sword (5) >

“Haa, ha…!”

Evan looked around, breathing heavily.

He had felt a sense of dread after facing the minion of the evil god and ran away for hours.

The sky had darkened and the sunset was casting its glow.

The horse he had been riding was swept away by the evil god’s magic long ago.

Evan couldn’t help but feel a great loss for losing his horse.

He had grown fond of the horse while traveling through the empire’s territory.

And what was more inconvenient was the fact that he had to walk on his own legs across the vast land of the empire.

“Phew, maybe I’ve finally gotten away…”

Evan gently rubbed his chest, which was starting to ache.

Maybe it was because he had run too hard to survive.

His lungs were in pain from breathing roughly.

The evil god’s magic that had been chasing him also seemed to have disappeared at some point.

Maybe he could take a rest now.

He calmed his breath and looked for a suitable place to rest.

That was when he heard a stern voice in his ear.

-“Accept your fate.”

It was the mysterious voice that had been echoing repeatedly since he met the apostle of the evil god.

The unidentified voice kept throwing meaningful words at Evan.

But even though the voice echoed, there was no magic falling from the sky toward Evan.

There was no response when he tried to talk to it.

It just repeated the same words to Evan periodically.

Evan realized that it was nothing but a trick of the evil god after hearing it over and over again.

“…Shut up.”

He snapped at the unknown voice and walked forward, looking ahead.

He felt a bitter taste in his mouth after walking on the mountain road for a long time.

Gulp.

He swallowed his saliva and moved his creaking legs.

His eyes caught something far away as he walked silently.

A little ahead of the rugged mountain road.

There was a small village there.

“A village?”

Evan’s face brightened when he saw the village.

He was feeling a severe thirst after running for so long.

If there was a village, he could get some water to drink.

If he was lucky, he might be able to solve his lodging problem as well.

He hoped that the villagers would be friendly to outsiders and moved toward the village.

He had served the god and sacrificed himself for the people all his life, so he thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask for some luck.

“…”

Thud. Thud.

His footsteps echoed on the dense mountain road.

How many more steps did he force himself to take?

He kept moving forward and soon reached the entrance of the village.

The village in the valley was much smaller than he had expected.

There were wooden houses built crudely, and not many of them either.

As he approached the village, a villager who was standing at the entrance asked him:

“Who are you? I’ve never seen you before.”

“…Evan Allemier. I’m a pilgrim who left the holy land and wandered around the empire. Can I get some water if it’s not too much trouble?”

The villager tilted his head after hearing Evan’s story.

Was there something wrong with his identity that he made up?

Evan looked at him nervously with his eyes.

The villager hesitated for a moment and then nodded at Evan.

“Water? I can spare you some water.”

“I’m sorry to ask for your help.”

“You seem to be a follower of the god, so I understand. I have no reason not to give you such a simple help.”

It seemed that he could get some water from the villager fortunately.

The villager left his spot and soon came back with a bowl in his hand.

There was water filled in the bowl that he brought to Evan.

It was the first cool water he had seen in hours.

The water was a bit dirty, but it was drinkable enough.

He was about to drink the water by bringing the bowl to his mouth when he felt something.

-“Accept your fate.”

He instinctively threw away the bowl that he was holding as he felt something.

It was an action that stemmed from his intuition.

The water barely touched his lips before he dropped it.

Swoosh.

He quickly drew his sword and looked behind him.

There was a sharp spear of lightning that appeared in the sky out of nowhere.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

“Oh God–!”

Evan ignored the villager’s panicked scream and infused his sword with holy power.

His sword glowed with faith and vibrated once.

The evil god who had been chasing him had somehow found him again.

This meant that hiding in the village was no longer possible.

Crackle. Crackle.

The spear of lightning from the sky aimed at Evan and shot at him.

He took a deep breath and swung his sword to deflect the evil god’s attack.

“Th-thunder…?”

Boom!

The lightning spear that bounced off Evan’s sword hit the ground and exploded.

The explosion was so loud that it made the ears of the villagers who were watching numb. They flinched at the sight.

Evan, who had deflected the attack that was flying towards him, took a deep breath and looked at the villager.

He wanted to check if he was safe from the god’s attack.

“Are you okay? Be careful not to get hurt…”

“Aaah! More, more are coming!”

“What…?”

As Evan turned his head, a rain of lightning began to pour down from the sky.

Kwang! Bang! Kwaang!

The lightning spears that rained from the sky swept away everything in the village.

Evan felt his head go blank as he saw the lightning storm in front of him.

It was an absurd number of magic spells.

It was a scene that could be called a natural disaster.

Evan couldn’t stop it alone.

It was beyond his range of ability.

“Sa-save me…”

The villager who was in front of Evan clung to his feet and begged him.

Evan, who saw that, felt his hand holding the sword tremble.

He was weak.

He couldn’t even save the person who was suffering in front of him.

He became a paladin to save people.

But he couldn’t even properly save the people who were dying in front of him.

“It’s because I came here…”

The god was only after Evan.

The reason why the god attacked this place was because Evan had come to this village.

He couldn’t save the people who were dying because he was weak.

It was all because of Evan.

It was because Evan was weak.

If only he had a little more power.

If he had the power to save people from the god’s attack, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.

“Pilgrim!”

He needed power.

But even so, the goddess of honor didn’t look at him.

She didn’t answer his prayers that called out to her.

The only one who looked at Evan was the god from beyond the dimension.

Crack.

Evan, who clenched his teeth at his pitiful situation, pushed away the villager who clung to his feet.

And then he warned him with a cold voice.

“I’ll draw his attention. If you don’t want to die, run away somewhere.”

“Huh…?”

“If you understand, move quickly.”

“…Yes, yes!”

The villager who understood Evan’s words started to run away hesitantly.

Kang! Kank!

Evan deflected a few more lightning bolts that fell from the sky, and then ran in the opposite direction of where the villager was moving.

His goal was the deep mountain range where no one lived.

If Evan didn’t go to the village himself, there would be no chance for other villagers to be swept away by the god’s attack.

-“Accept your fate.”

He ignored the voice that echoed in his head, and kept running towards the mountain.

He had to get away.

From the village where people lived.

And from the god who looked at him.

That was the only way for Evan Allemier to keep his faith.

*****

Two days had passed in game time since I used <Apostle Selection> on Evan Allemier.

During that time, I had been busy following Evan around and tormenting him.

I didn’t do anything too serious to bother Evan though.

I just turned on the game whenever I was bored and threw <Lightning Arrow> around him.

Of course, I was careful not to hit Evan directly if possible.

It would be troublesome for me if Evan died and [Divine Skill: Astraphe] got locked up again.

Sometimes I also spammed <Lightning> skill next to Evan when he was sleeping.

I couldn’t stand seeing him sleep peacefully after he swallowed my 400 karma.

-“Oh goddess.”

Every time I did something radical to annoy Evan, he clasped his hands and prayed to his goddess.

He seemed to be a devout paladin.

He showed that he didn’t lose his faith in his goddess even in difficult situations.

How pure must a character be to pray even when he was suffering from extreme pain?

If it were me, I would have cursed at the goddess who didn’t help me long ago.

I admired him as I watched him from my perspective.

“You’re amazing. You’re the best.”

I gave him a sound of applause instead of <Lightning> skill.

Kwaring! Bang! Kwarrung!

Every time a cheerful thunder sound echoed, Evan got up with his sword and started spinning around.

He seemed to be dancing along with my applause.

When Evan started moving like that, I matched him with a catchy beat made of <Lightning>.

Kwaring! Kwaring! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

As he heard the beat made of <Lightning>, Evan spun around faster.

Of course, he kept looking around cautiously, but he never stopped praying to his goddess.

-“Oh goddess of honor.”

I wondered how great the goddess was that I wanted to see her face at this point.

Evan Allemier.

He was a very faithful character.

Unless I broke his will properly, there would be no chance for Evan to accept <Apostle Selection>.

And a simple whip was not enough to do that. That was the conclusion I came to after a few days.

Eventually, Eutenia’s intervention was inevitable.

“It’s about time for Eutenia to step in.”

I had to use another character to persuade Evan directly.

And if I knew Eutenia well, she would be able to convince Evan.

No, she had to.

There was 400 karma at stake for Evan.

That’s when I was about to send a message to Eutenia.

-“Oh goddess of honor, goddess of abundance, goddess of knowledge, goddess of hunting, goddess of order… Please help me, anyone.”

Evan, who had been wandering around for a while, finally stuck his sword into the ground and started praying.

But the target of his prayer was different from before.

He started spitting out the names of other goddesses along with the goddess of honor.

He had been calling out to his goddess all day long.

But it seemed like he served more than one god.