I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 28

There was no way a disaster could have been resolved in just a single day. The moment his ominous foreboding turned into reality, Van immediately ran outside the inn to face the truth. The people of Siol, completely unaware of the seeds of disaster blooming in dense clusters near the core of the underground waterway, were simply rejoicing over the waterways being filled with water, painting a hopeful future.

“Ms. Banan must have completely recovered her strength! The well we used for drinking water had almost completely dried up, but looking at it today, it’s totally full.”

“Mom, the water is so clear. Can I dip my feet in it?”

“It looks like boats will be running starting today! I saw that fellow Liddon running past earlier, looking thrilled. Since the boatman hadn’t been able to steer his boat all this time, how frustrating and difficult it must have been for him?”

As if they were no longer afraid of the harsh sunlight, the people of Siol, who had been hiding inside buildings all this time, bustled about with bright faces. Van alone, with a face that turned pale in stark contrast, looked down at the waterway near the inn.

Even just yesterday, it had revealed its bottom, and not a single drop of moisture could be seen. Though the game hadn’t detailed the tragedy that befell Siol in depth, there was an incident one could deduce. In the first place, it was strange for a city nestled under a god’s blessing to become so bizarrely ruined….

‘What if Banan has fallen?’

The terror exuded by the Blue Tears was even more frightening because its symptoms didn’t manifest immediately upon contact. Of course, the water near those bizarre flowers of disaster had a high probability of being contaminated, but even so, it wouldn’t be a destructive reaction visible to the naked eye right away; rather, as time passed, little by little, bit by bit… the flesh would melt and the body would deform. Therefore, even if Van stepped forward right now and told everyone in the city not to go anywhere near the water, it wouldn’t even register with them.

Furthermore, if Banan had been bewitched by the Blue Tears and perpetrated this, it was glaringly obvious whose words the people of Siol would trust and accept between a god and a human.

As Van stood dumbfounded, merely staring at the waterway, Orma finally let out a faint sigh and snatched Van’s wrist. Van, who hadn’t offered a single reaction when the tiger brat was distractingly pestering him with questions like “What do we do? Is it really okay to leave it like this?”, raised his head at his god’s touch as if snapping out of his thoughts.

“Let’s go.”

“…Pardon?”

“Whether the disaster has been resolved or not, with things looking like this, it’s only right to leave this city.”

It might sound cold-hearted, but from Orma’s perspective, it was entirely reasonable. In less than a day, the entire city was filled with water. Whether it was something done by Banan after being bewitched by the seeds of disaster, or whether she had resolved the disaster through some miraculous method… there was nothing a mere human like Van could do.

This time, Orma was firmly resolved that he would absolutely not give in even if Van blinked his pretty face and begged, but Van actually stared at him for a long time with blank eyes before speaking.

“…I believe we must see the god Banan.”

“I told you to just leave, so why Banan again?”

“Since when do you think the city has been filled with water?”

“What?”

“It must have taken some time for the entire city to be filled with water. If so, was it right after we visited the sanctuary? Or during the night after the sun had completely set? Or perhaps this morning?”

“Why does that even matter—”

“I also drank water before going to bed. Last night, I even took a bath…. Can you truly declare for certain that those waters have absolutely nothing to do with Siol’s current situation?”

At the calmly delivered words, Orma blinked dumbly, then soon gritted his teeth. …So he was saying that he himself might be infected by that seed of disaster or whatever right now. Orma was huffing, utterly flabbergasted by his apostle’s novel yet blatant blackmail, and when even Jaena chimed in, stamping her feet at a total loss, saying, “I-I drank it too! I also took a bath this morning!”, he ultimately let out a shout.

“Arghhhhh! Fine! Let’s go right now! Banan, Banan, that damn Banan!”

You were going to go anyway, so why shout like that, sir…? People are staring because you’re casually shouting a god’s name, you know. Van let out an awkward smile, then belatedly reached his hands out as if to embrace his god, patting his back to soothe him.

‘Sir Orma is the best… you know how I feel… the merciful Sir Orma who even worries about his apostle….’ 

Only after the words he threw out off the top of his head made Orma’s gaze turn dangerously ominous did Van meekly shut his mouth.

“The deity has forbidden the entry and exit of anyone whosoever.”

The priest, who had permitted entry yesterday without much fuss, firmly shook his head even at Van today. Because of the mask covering the part of the face, it was difficult to read their expression, making it hard to pierce through and see what the situation inside the sanctuary was like. Without even being able to ask whether they knew about the city’s situation or if this was indeed Banan’s doing, Van tamely nodded his head and backed away, saying he understood.

Orma, who had been watching that sight from behind in disbelief, tried to step forward instead, only to be stopped by Van.

“Wait a moment, Sir Orma.”

“If you’re going to turn back this tamely, why did we even come here?”

“Hmm…. Just now, the priest said this. They forbidden the ‘entry and exit’ of anyone.”

“And?”

“Isn’t it strange that they used the phrasing ‘entry and exit’ rather than a visit?”

Van interpreted the priest’s words to mean that it was closer to forbidding the ‘entry and exit’ of everyone, including the priests themselves, rather than just visitors to the sanctuary. Considering Banan’s intentions and the circumstances, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t harbor a positive or optimistic thought, so an even more grave future unfolded in his mind.

But… Banan was a god, wasn’t she? He had seen Banan touching the Blue Tears yesterday, but even so, would a god really be bewitched by that disaster? Moreover, it wasn’t as if she didn’t know the danger of it….

“So what are you going to do now? Are you giving up?”

Thinking back on it, although his apostle had made a massive fuss using his own body as a hostage, couldn’t he resurrect anyway? The thought belatedly crossed Orma’s mind that if Van were to be corrupted by the disaster, he could just die and come back to life with a healthy body.

Well, as for the noisy tiger brat, she could do whatever she wanted. As long as Van was perfectly fine, everything was alright with Orma, so he wanted to leave this place immediately. However, as expected… his pointlessly upright and steadfast apostle shook his head.

“We’ll have to use another method.”

“Another method?”

“I know a place where a priest isn’t guarding the door. We can sneak in secretly through there.”

Setting aside the question of how on earth Van knew a way to sneak into the sanctuary, Orma let out a long sigh at the freezing energy radiating around the sanctuary.

This was exactly why he hadn’t wanted to get involved with Banan. Like falling into a quagmire, like rolling around in the mud, a chilling and sticky sensation seemed to continuously hold his ankles fast. A scent so dizzying it threatened to pierce his head kept stimulating his mind, repeating a voice that remained faint like an echo.

“…I’ll be the seeker, so run far away while I count.”

“It’s alright, child. It will only take a very brief moment. It will be over soon.”

“Child, meeting you was the most precious and happiest gift in my life….”

Damn it, memories of things from God knows when kept flashing back to him.

The fact that his mother, whom he had left behind in the castle that burned to ruin, had weighed so heavily on his heart that he kept looking back even while inhaling the acrid smoke. This gloomy sensation right now bore a goosebump-inducing resemblance to the day he returned to that place after the rain had poured and everything was over, standing blankly as he stared at the corpse burned beyond recognition.

Back then, when he hadn’t wanted to know the truth, nor had he wanted to see it with his own eyes. As if to confirm the kill, a ring he had received upon accepting a certain wandering knight’s proposal was slipped onto the finger of the corpse whose body and head had been severed. Orma had merely carefully retrieved the ring embedded with a peridot that resembled the eyes of the beautiful princess, and left that place without a word.

The mother he had cherished so dearly had died just like that. The body that used to embrace him warmly and call him tenderly, ‘child…’ had long since rotted away and scattered into the dirt. Therefore, there was no need to feel this garbage mood while thinking of a god who shared absolutely no relation to him….

Only after Orma had walked with Van to the very back of the sanctuary, to the edge of a secluded space connecting to the forest, did he barely manage to exhale a breath.

“…Are you alright, Sir Orma?”

“This place is strange.”

Yes, it was strange. It felt as though this uncomfortable smell, a mixture of water fishiness and floral scent, was continuously provoking him. It induced a bizarre sensation that made his head ache, dragging out and reminding him of memories he had buried away a long time ago.

Could Banan have been in this kind of state too? Was this what it meant to bewitch even a god? Orma stared blankly at Van, who had approached close to him with a worried gaze.

“Ms. Banan said that the scent exuded by the Blue Tears is a scent of disaster that only a god can smell. It seems that has begun to affect you as well, Sir Orma…. This won’t do, Ms. Jaena. Take Sir Orma and return to the inn first for now.”

“No.”

What was a mere thing like this anyway? What were trifles like these? Ever since coming to Siol, Orma had been helplessly swept away. Now, he was too annoyed to take it anymore. Whether it was the disaster or Banan, it was pathetic that they kept daring to try and sway him, and he couldn’t stand it. Taking things lying down didn’t suit his disposition at all.

Orma, who had been scowling, slowly raised his head and looked at the sky dominated by the blazing sunlight. Pure blackness, spreading out from beneath the feet of Orma who had made his decision, began to blanket the world.

Whoosh… A gust of wind that blew in from somewhere violently shook the forest as if foretelling the future. Whether it was the harshly beating sunlight, or the flower of disaster trying to beguile him with a bizarre fragrance like rolling waves. The darkness showed no mercy to anything as it spread far and wide, placing everything beneath its feet just like its master.

Following that, a truly horrifyingly brilliant power mixed into the darkness and slowly floated. The mystical authority, a blend of black and gold, expanded all the way to the sky, gradually pushing away the sun that had drawn excessively close.

And finally, the black birds that flew near the sun, harboring golden eyes, were summoned one by one and arrived to completely blanket the sky in pitch black. As the supreme power added to it forced a solar eclipse to occur, a bizarre and magnificent atmosphere was created—one that Van had only barely witnessed inside the game.

The faint sound of a bell announcing the hour echoed from afar amidst the silence, and Orma, with a smirk, spoke toward Van and Jaena, who were holding their breath as they stared blankly at the divine authority.

“Let’s go.”