I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 25

Unlike Banan, who had a delighted look on her face as she introduced various parts of the sanctuary, Orma had a gloomy expression as he was practically dragged along by Van, lightly scanning the inside of the sanctuary’s buildings while murmuring.

“It reeks of water fishiness….”

“A fishy smell? I don’t smell anything at all.”

“It’s wafting up from below, you can’t sense it? It’s downright disgusting.”

Was it? Van sniffed hard a few times and casually asked Jaena if she smelled anything either. Since Jaena was a beastman, he figured her sense of smell would be better than an ordinary human’s, but Jaena merely shook her head with a completely clueless face.

“I only smell fragrant flowers, so why are you acting like that, man?”

“…It’s a scent so thick it gives me a headache, but just as Jaena says, it does seem like flowers too.”

That was somewhat bizarre. A fishy water smell and a thick floral scent at the same time? As Van tilted his head in confusion, Banan, who was guiding them through the sanctuary, said with a faint smile:

“There is no way humans would be able to catch that scent.”

“….”

“It is the scent of the disaster. After all, this was the final place I intended to show you, so it will be troublesome if you are already this repulsed.”

It seemed there was some kind of smell associated with the disaster that only gods could detect. Van stole a glance at Banan, and upon seeing her head toward a staircase leading underground, scenes from the game flashed through his mind.

Siol was also one of the regions a player had to pass through in the game, but the Siol of that time had already met its ruin, leaving everything dead or corrupted. In particular, the further down you went into the sanctuary’s basement, the more a horrific sight unfolded, teeming with creatures ‘corrupted’ by the disaster—a sight so gruesome it made even Van, who usually had a strong stomach, frown deeply. Thus, even though he knew things should be fine right now, he couldn’t help but feel an eerie chill.

“Gasp…. This place is completely filled with water. Is this the smell you caught, Sir Orma?”

“Well, probably not.”

The moment they stepped into the pitch-black basement, a dismal energy and a freezing temperature welcomed Van’s party. Next to the path stretching straight down the middle, stagnant water as black as ink filled the space. The completely motionless water was so dark it looked as if black ink had been poured into it, but the faint light flickering at the end of the path reflected off the surface, barely allowing them to discern the ground and walk forward.

“W-Whoa… Mr. Van, take my hand! It will be a disaster if you fall!”

“It sounds less like Van and more like you’re the one begging him to hold your hand, mate.”

Jaena extended a trembling hand toward Van, but Orma snatched it first, gripping it tightly and shaking it savagely as if performing a rough handshake. Because of that, Jaena’s fragile body fluttered up and down like a fallen leaf alongside noises like “Ugh!” and “Ack!”, but unfortunately, Van’s attention, which would normally be focused on breaking them apart, was directed elsewhere.

“S-Save me! I’m falling! Mr. Van! Mr. Van!”

“That… doesn’t look like a Vanellas, so what is it?”

“It is the seed of the disaster.”

Bluish-shaped flowers were blooming in a repulsive, dense cluster around the massive, round core that protected the temple and Siol at the end of the underground waterway path. They were slightly translucent and luminescent just like the Vanellas, but that was where the similarities ended; their natures were as different as heaven and earth. Although they had abundant, multiple petals like a chrysanthemum, the way their flower buds drooped heavily downward made them look like bizarre creatures at a glance. Smelling it up close, it emitted a very peculiar fragrance that was sour yet dizzyingly sweet, making it likely that this was the true identity of the fishy water smell and floral scent Orma had mentioned.

“The humans call them ‘Blue Tears.'”

The evidence that the world was going to ruin wasn’t just the sunlight. This strange flower blooming simultaneously was another testament to the disaster. Just like in Siol and Banan’s sanctuary, it bloomed without fail in places with plenty of water and thriving plants, destroying the surrounding environment.

It didn’t just destroy the ecosystem simply by having a large population; it thoroughly ‘corrupted’ the surrounding living organisms. It altered them into bizarre forms where their original nature became unrecognizable, causing them to produce a powerful acid that melted even bone along with a foul stench. The corrupted beings made pliable like that would often take on grotesque and horrific appearances, such as sprouting an extra limb.

One might wonder why they couldn’t just pluck them out and burn them before that happened, but it was as if they had spores; they would reappear in the plucked spots not long after, and they even contained an addictive, hallucinogenic component.

“Is it because of this that Ms. Banan deliberately dried up the water in the waterways?”

“Yes. If anyone were to happen to drink the water, or if it were to even splash onto their skin, it would infect that human or animal as well.”

I didn’t expect it to be this type of disaster. Van gazed at the flowers lining the waterway’s core with a somewhat bleak expression. If it were something related to sunlight, that would be one thing, but how was Orma supposed to solve this?

Moreover, as time passed, the waterway’s core was also in danger. Though it was called the waterway’s core, it was essentially Banan’s power that sustained Siol, no different from a sacred artifact. The core, which was several times larger than a person and round, exuded a mystical and grand feeling, as if the moon had been shrunk down. But if things continued like this, even the core would become corrupted, creating a situation no different from the scenes Van had witnessed in the game.

It would have been much easier if a monster popping out were the sign of ruin, since he would only have to use his body and wouldn’t need to use his brain….

“It seems like a good idea to just set it on fire completely. Why didn’t you try calling Muhwi or someone?”

Orma, who had been watching silently, spoke mockingly with a fierce smile.

Muhwi, the god of fire and war. Although he was a deity who also governed death and destruction, unlike the fierce or hot-tempered war gods found in other mythologies, he was unexpectedly more serious and reticent… right, he was closer to a god of martial arts.

However, at Orma’s words, Banan scowled deeply for the first time. At the sight of her turning her head away without a response, as if she didn’t even want to be associated with him, Orma clicked his tongue and stepped closer to Van.

“I don’t know what she expects me to do about this. Is there even anything I can do?”

“Hmm…. The situation does look very difficult. For today, I think it would be best to head back for now and think about a method a bit more.”

Finally, the exact answer Orma wanted to hear—proposing they withdraw for now—came out of Van’s mouth. With a satisfied face, Orma ignored Jaena, who was clinging tightly to his leg out of fear, and led Van outside while holding his hand firmly.

Because Orma was striding away without saying a single word to Banan, Van hurriedly turned his head back to try and offer a parting greeting. However, the last thing he saw was Banan bending down and reaching her hand out close to the Blue Tears. Was it alright for a god to touch the seed of a disaster?

“Um, just a moment….”

“What. You shouldn’t be worrying about a god.”

Even so, Van’s primary worry was occupied by his own god, Orma. When he looked at Orma in disbelief, Orma merely tilted his head as if wondering what the problem was.

“T-Take me with you too! Argh!”

As Jaena’s scream echoed loudly, Van became thoroughly distracted, ultimately leaving Banan behind. He scooped up Jaena, who was scrambling up and tangling herself around his legs, and barely managed to exit the underground waterway. Orma scowled deeply beside him, but Van lightly ignored it. Van’s mind was complicated, filled with a lingering, uncomfortable thought of whether this was truly okay, balanced against the thought that she was a god after all, so surely nothing would happen just because she touched the seed of a disaster a little.

It should be fine. Seeing how it was completely filled up like that in the first place, it couldn’t have happened in just a day or two, and she was well aware of the severity of the corruption….

“Phew, the sanctuary is very beautiful, but at the same time, it was a terrifying place.”

“Because of you, his clothes are wrinkled and show no signs of smoothing out, man.”

“…Ahem, I’m sorry, Mr. Van.”

It was understandable to be afraid if one thought about potentially falling into a waterway corrupted by the seed of a disaster. Van shook his head as if to say it was fine. Then, lifting his utensils, he extended food as if to block the mouth of Orma, who was staring at him with a sullen face from his side. Van still hadn’t given up on reviving Orma’s appetite, which was one of the projects in their ‘let’s make an effort together’ campaign.

“…You eat it.”

“Hurry up.”

“I told you I’m fine? What are you suddenly… oomph!”

Like a parent of a throwing-a-tantrum child who refused to eat from a parenting program he had once seen on TV, Van held a finely cut piece of bread and flew it spectacularly through the air as if making an airplane before stuffing it into Orma’s mouth. Thanks to that, Orma, who had been narrowing his eyes while wondering what this guy was suddenly doing instead of just eating, was instantly caught off guard.

Whether he noticed the god’s gaze turning increasingly ominous or not, Van expressionlessly skewered another piece of bread with his fork and began to fly it like an airplane again. He debated whether he should make a “Whoosh” sound with his mouth, but at the sight of an aura that looked ready to flip the table at any moment, he lowered his plate in utter disappointment and murmured while looking down at the dish.

“It’s delicious, though….”

“Then eat a lot of it yourself, mate. Stop pushing my buttons.”

Is appetite still a failure…? While Van was moving his food around with a look of regret, only Jaena, who had been watching this ridiculous spectacle from the side, snickered and spoke.

“Just now, Mr. Van looked like Sir Orma’s father.”

“I’ve come to understand a little bit of the feelings of a parent raising a child who refuses to eat well.”

“Keep dreaming.”

“Hmm…. Come to think of it, what kind of person was Sir Orma’s father?”

Jaena, who knew absolutely nothing about Orma’s situation, asked with innocent eyes. Van flinched, but Orma gave a casual reply with an indifferent face.

“He’s dead, so why.”

“Well, since he must have been human, he would have passed away after all this time, but a certain story about Sir Orma has been passed down in our tribe.”

“What story.”

“The story that Sir Orma is actually the son of the god Muhwi!”

“….”

Whether he noticed Orma’s face turning instantly cold or not, Jaena began to chatter away, bringing up the story passed down in her tribe.