Taming The Villainesses

Chapter 443: God

It was an overwhelming presence. Bigger and more grotesque than anything I had ever laid eyes on.

It floated in the air, like a Buddha statue seated in a lotus position, and it seemed to possess a total of eight arms.

Each of its countless fingers was bent in intricate seals, forming peculiar mudras. As someone who had reached a certain level as a mage, I could tell it was imbued with profound mysteries.

Magical Gnosticism, as claimed and venerated by secret orders.

A secret the world had hidden away.

Or perhaps it could be called truth. Or Logos.

Just by gazing at it, I could feel my magical knowledge and skill expanding.

Literally expanding.

Like a fairground balloon suddenly filled with air, I began to swell. But because I was constrained by the vessel of a “physical body,” I couldn’t withstand the sudden surge of mana, and nausea surged up inside me.

“Ugh.”

The concepts were far too large for the small brain of a half-fairy like me to contain. It felt as if my skull would split open like a watermelon smashed by a hammer.

━━Krrrng...!

If Bael, the paper spider within me, hadn’t bitten down hard on my consciousness, I might have collapsed to the ground unconscious right then and there.

Goooooo...

The massive head began to slowly lower toward me. Its radiant eyes blazed like two burning suns, so dazzling I couldn’t look directly at them.

『━Little━─res...』

It seemed to be speaking. But even with the power I had absorbed from Agares, I could barely understand a sliver of what it was saying.

They say humans unconsciously block out sounds that are too immense for them to process—like the sound of Earth’s rotation or its revolution.

If one could actually perceive those overwhelming sounds with their tiny ears, the human brain would explode like an egg in a microwave.

This felt like something similar.

My existence was far too insignificant and small to comprehend the words of that immense being.

Like the difference between an elephant and an ant. No—less than that. I was dust. Yes, my small, pathetic self was like mere dust.

Standing before this colossal existence, the proper response would’ve been to bow in submission... or simply close my eyes and pray for this trial to pass me by.

But.

I stubbornly clung to my body’s will. I braced my trembling knees, my sagging shoulders, my faltering eyes and lips—and shouted with all my strength:

“I am Teo Gospel of Angmar. I have traveled a long road to reach this place. O ancient sky, O light of the world—answer my question!”

All the countless question marks I had swallowed until now. The one who could answer all those doubts stood before me. I couldn’t let this chance slip away.

『━━is━─.』

Still, I couldn’t understand what it was saying.

Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate for me, I didn’t know—but for the young ladies trembling behind me, it was surely a blessing.

“What the hell is that...!?”

From beyond the doorway, I could feel Elga shouting, her voice quivering with fear.

Elga was not one to display panic easily. The very fact that she raised her voice like that said everything about the depth of her shock.

She deserved praise just for not fainting. Just looking at that blurry form was enough to drive most mages insane.

There was no telling what kind of effect simply seeing it might have on someone.

Realizing that, I began to question—and regret—whether it had truly been the right decision to bring my family beyond this gate. Countless warnings Saint Priga had given me flickered through my mind.

But it was already too late.

The door I had opened was gone without a trace, and the flower field and the worn temple we had just been chatting in had vanished. We were now floating in a space filled with nothing but radiant light.

There was no way to tell where the path back was.

Even if there were a way back, who was to say that the enormous being looming before us would allow us to take it?

“This is...”

Mirna stepped forward. Her foot stepped into the glowing light, sending out faint ripples. But she paid them no mind.

Tears streamed down both her cheeks.

“This is the god I believed in...?”

To Mirna, who had grown up a devout believer, the being before her seemed to strike a powerful emotional chord. She couldn’t speak, overcome with feeling.

But Narmee frowned.

“All I see is a blur, like a heat haze. I can tell it’s something huge and dangerous, but it doesn’t look like a god to me. It just feels... ominous.”

Did different people see it differently? Come to think of it, I had heard that those who had seen the Gate of Truth and what lay beyond it each described something different.

Some spoke of massive arms or legs. Others, of shadows. Still others, of radiant halos and burning eyes like the sun.

Maybe form wasn’t even important to that being.

“You’re not....”

At that moment, the nymph Trish looked up in shock. Reflected in her pale face was a blazing light.

“Ugh...”

A moan of pain echoed.

The small half-fairy child in Trish’s arms clutched his head, writhing in agony.

“His condition—!”

Trish paled. She clearly didn’t understand what was happening, but I did. The same magical expansion I had just experienced—this child was experiencing it too.

Even I, with a body somewhat hardened through growth, had felt like I was being torn apart by it.

For a child as delicate as a newly bloomed wildflower, the pain must have been unimaginably cruel.

As I watched the young half-fairy struggling to breathe and his mother panicking, I was reminded once more why I had opened the gate and come here.

To drag down the sky.

But—

How?

Would any of my attacks even work?

I had burned with determination when I opened the gate, but now—immersed in this blinding light—the very idea of fighting that being began to fade from our minds.

Even if we squeezed out our last drop of courage and bared our fangs, the only future we could picture was being crushed beneath its massive hand.

“As I thought.”

That was when Stella spoke.

“I don’t see anything. I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Are you all referring to that? That weird door over there?”

Shhk.

Stella pointed into the distance.

Beyond the vast mass of the being, something like a flickering mirage shimmered.

It was hard to see clearly due to the intense light, but when I focused my attention, I did see something peculiar beyond it—a strange door. One that resembled the door I had forced open.

I had been so fixated on the colossal being that I hadn’t noticed it. Without Stella, I might never have noticed it in my entire life.

“Most likely.”

Ayra spoke.

“What we see depends on our sensitivity to mana. Stella’s mana perception is the lowest among us after Elga—so she likely can’t see that being.”

She then raised her head.

“But I see it clearly. The form of that immense being. The immense malice lurking in its radiant light. That is a demon wearing Solomon’s vessel inside out.”

Her words jolted me to my senses.

“A demon?”

“Excessive brightness only blinds and deceives. If something bewilders people, breaks their will—what difference is there between that and a demon?”

That was when—

Laughter rang out.

What began like a faint whistle from a grass flute swelled until it echoed like a resounding guffaw throughout the area.

Ayra frowned and asked,

“What’s so funny, Priga?”

The one laughing was Saint Priga. No—rather, it would be more accurate to say that it was Saint Priga, and also wasn’t. Her eyes shone like the cosmos as she spoke:

『Demon. God. Absolute. Over the long years, I’ve been called by many names, granddaughter of Isabel, Ayra. But I am a being unconstrained by name or vessel....』

Her voice echoed like thunder in a cave. Though it sounded like Saint Priga’s manner of speech, the overlapping voices clearly surpassed any human vocal range.

Perhaps that’s why Narmee’s face went pale as she recoiled in horror.

“Saint Priga is pulling some weird trick again!”

『I am no saint. I simply borrowed the vessel. Otherwise, you feeble beings would neither understand nor even hear me.』

Priga examined her body, as though admiring a new outfit in front of a mirror.

『This body is quite nice. Must be because it was crafted from the blood of Angmar’s lineage. They were originally created to be my loyal vessels, after all.』

I realized then—that the will inside her belonged to the colossal being.

And Ayra must have realized it too.

“Vessel... Don’t tell me, was the Demon King Solomon also your vessel?”

『I have had many vessels. Solomon was a loyal servant. A foolish human who gave everything for a life doomed to die. He tried to rebel in the end—but even his final fragment came to me─.』

Shhk.

With a gesture from Priga, my body was suddenly pulled into the air like a piece of metal drawn to a magnet. I was sucked into her grasp, and she seized me by the collar.

“Guh!”

『O little half-fairy. Become my vessel and grant me a new millennium. The pain will be brief. Eternity is eternal.』

Aah—Saint Priga opened her mouth wide.

『Like your father and forebears before you. Become one with me and drift through eternity.』

From her mouth, eyes, and nose, a bizarre light burst forth, pouring onto my face.

“Urgh...!”

It felt like trying to cram more food into a belly already about to burst.

Something was forcing its way into my already-full body—filling me with the terror that I might truly explode.

Just when I was certain I was about to lose my body completely—

“Don’t you dare pull that crap!”

Srrrrk, SPLASH—!

With a splitting sound, blood sprayed across my face. As I lay on the ground regaining my senses and looked up, I saw Elga, wielding her massive battle-axe, growling with fury.

“Vessel or whatever—I don’t give a damn! Whatever that thing is, let’s just get the hell out of this shitty place!”

Elga’s shout snapped everyone back to their senses. The fallen Priga’s face began to melt into blood on the floor.

『Daughter of Reinhardt, Erganes. A relic of the old world... This is why I wanted to erase you all in advan—』

CRACK.

The butt of Elga’s axe smashed the saint’s skull to pieces. The false body of the saint, made of blood and earth, returned to dirt, just as it had always been.

But—

We couldn’t relax yet.

This was only the beginning.

Goooooooo...

The massive figure, seated in lotus posture, began to move.