I Became the Apostle of an Evil God Chapter 30

Orma had a firm certainty from the very beginning that an attack like that would never reach Van, let alone himself. Just as he expected, Van immediately swung his sword and slashed the mutated Vanellas.

Even knowing that, Orma scattered darkness as if shielding Van, instantly distorting the Vanellas’ line of sight. His apostle then immediately looked back to check on Orma’s safety first.

“Are you alright, sir?”

“….”

He had thought about this before, but seriously, who was worrying about whom? Orma carelessly dropped Jaena, who was screaming and wilding in his grip, onto the ground and stared at the flopping Vanellas.

Only the stagnant water of the waterway splashed around; within the head of the Vanellas that had been easily halved by Van, absolutely nothing like blood, entrails, or bones could be seen. Since its root was ultimately a plant, it possessed no characteristics of a fish, man?

If that was the case, it seemed that no matter how much the seeds of disaster contaminated the surrounding living things, they could not distort their true essence.

“Sir Orma.”

Van called out to him, glancing at the bird that was hovering at a total loss near Orma.

As if replying to him, Orma sent the bird flying toward Banan. The bird politely laid the perfectly fine Vanellas it was holding down in front of Banan, and the Vanellas, completely oblivious to the situation, acted cute to its master and rubbed its head against her hand.

“….”

Banan stared down at the Vanellas with blank eyes, then slowly turned her head to look at Orma and the other Vanellas that was still flopping at his feet despite its head being severed. Did she find that unpleasant?

Banan furrowed her brow, took her hands off the core she had been gently caressing, grabbed the intact Vanellas, and balled her other hand into a fist. Clear water streamed from her clenched hand, leaking into the gaping mouth of the gasping Vanellas. The Vanellas thrashed upon drinking that water, but soon, along with a gruesome cracking sound, its form began to alter and it stopped resisting.

“Gulp. M-Mr. Van… are we really alright?”

“Hmm.”

Actually, they weren’t alright. But since he couldn’t honestly tell her that they were completely screwed, Van just rolled his eyes back and forth, looking at Banan and Orma. Banan seemed subtly trying to avoid eye contact with Orma, and Orma stared intently at Banan, not hiding a gaze that practically said, ‘What a circus.’

Soon, splash, splash… the sound of something swimming with a massive body echoed again. He hadn’t thought that the single one that tried to attack them just now would be the only one… but it was true that the situation felt bleak.

What should they do about this? Though he had thought Banan wouldn’t be able to escape the influence since the Blue Tears had tried to bewitch Orma as well, this kind of reaction was unexpected.

How do you subdue a god? Didn’t it take an immense amount of time just to clear Orma when he appeared as the final boss in the game? Moreover, how do you handle an immortal, absolute god?

“Aaaack! Th-The fish!”

Jaena’s fussing was nothing new, but this time it was well-warranted. A massive Vanellas targeting Jaena had made a huge splash, leaping out from the black water to pounce on her.

Fortunately, even while screaming, Jaena swung her hands wildly. There was no hesitation in the way she pulled out her sharp claws—which she usually kept carefully hidden—and hacked the Vanellas to pieces. Bizarre bits that could be considered either the flesh or the scales of the Vanellas rained down from the air, but Jaena still kept her eyes tightly shut, trembling all over.

“Quiet.”

“O-Oh, Orma…. Sob, my god, please save me, man! Your poor believer….”

“You’re already completely drenched in water.”

At Orma’s words delivered with a click of his tongue, Jaena froze like a stone statue.

Well, it wasn’t a lie. It was true for Van as well, not just Jaena. Van thought to himself as he lightly slashed a Vanellas that flew at him, trying to attack after being mutated by receiving power directly from Banan. Once you cut a Vanellas down, the clear water pooling inside it erupted like blood, so hadn’t things already taken a turn for the worst?

Getting soaked in water that clearly looked bad was a problem in itself, but then Banan directly began to attack. In the quiet underground waterway where not a single breath of wind blew, a gale suddenly whipped up, and multiple waterspouts erupted from the black water. Swaying precariously as if they might collapse at any moment, the waterspouts began to approach at a rapid speed, seemingly targeting Van’s party one by one.

“My… child….”

Your child is right here, though. Van suppressed the urge to say that aloud and looked at Orma, who alone maintained a detached attitude in this disaster-like situation. The moment those brilliant golden eyes flashed with a peculiar light, Van took a step forward, hiding Orma behind his back.

The fierce water pressure slammed into Van repeatedly, but he was only pushed back slightly; it didn’t seem like anything was broken or pierced through. Of course, it throbbed quite a bit, but it was an action done solely by relying on his increased piety. Since it was said that the earrings he shared with Orma could utilize power in proportion to piety, he had instantly bestowed a divine blessing of fortitude upon his body to block it.

Even so, Orma gasped in surprise and called out Van’s name.

“Van!”

“…Yes, sir? Are you alright?”

“You….”

When Van casually pushed his soaking wet hair back and gave him a look that asked what was wrong, Orma stared at Van blankly, looking utterly lost for words.

Ah, it seemed his god was worried about his apostle getting thoroughly drenched in that contaminated water. Van shrugged toward his god, who was becoming sweeter by the day, and said:

“What choice do I have, mate? This body is already ruined. If I end up with three feet and four arms, I’ll just try living a new life then.”

He thought he had replied cheerfully enough, but Orma let out a long sigh. Then, whether he knew of his apostle’s efforts to prevent a single drop of water from splashing onto his body or not, Orma grabbed Van’s damp arm and pulled him toward himself without hesitation. Before Van, who ended up half-buried in Orma’s embrace, could even open his mouth, Orma spoke to Banan first in a voice laced with exhaustion.

“Why don’t you stop now?”

“….”

That’s enough of this pathetic display. Are you putting on a show of regret for someone? Orma let out a smirk as if finding it utterly ridiculous, and unleashed his divine power around them.

The golden ripples that surged outward flowed into the waterspouts that were violently swaying to attack again, causing them all to freeze solid. At the sight of the waterspouts showing absolutely no movement as if time itself had stopped, not only Jaena but Van too widened his eyes.

‘This is… my first time seeing this.’

Van had originally believed that the source of the divine power Orma possessed was darkness. For example, just touching the darkness emitted by Orma in the game meant instant death, or the area-of-effect attacks covering the floor were entirely pitch black.

That was also the reason he considered Orma the sole hope to stop the disasters caused by the world being filled with light, but these Blue Tears, which could be seen as another disaster, were a type that had absolutely nothing to do with sunlight.

That was why he thought it was the proper method to use darkness to harvest sunlight and burn away the Blue Tears blooming in dark, damp places, just as Orma had suggested last night. Does this mean Orma’s power wasn’t simply just darkness?

When Van looked up at Orma with sparkling eyes at this new possibility, Orma tilted his head sideways as if responding, and spoke.

“What.”

“Are you capable of this sort of thing too, sir?”

“What do you mean by ‘this sort of thing’?”

“Making those waterspouts stop like that.”

“…If I put my mind to it, Van, I could.”

“Pardon?”

“I could preserve you forever in your current form right this instant.”

The underlying meaning of the words spoken with a harsh sneer was a complaint about whether Van wasn’t fearing him a bit too little, considering he possessed the power to do such a thing. Despite that, Van’s sky-blue eyes sparkled with delight.

“Then doesn’t that mean even if Ms. Jaena and I get contaminated by the Blue Tears, our bodies won’t deform? No, wait, if we just have your blessing, Sir Orma, it would be possible for other people too.”

“Heck! Does that mean we could perhaps live forever, man? In this form! Ah, oh, Orma! Please give me just a little more time. Once I grow a bit taller, please do it to that version of me!”

“Are you two seriously out of your minds?”

“Could you explain what kind of scope is possible, sir? Is it possible for living creatures too? Is making humans live forever possible, just like Ms. Jaena said?”

“Ha, what if it is?”

“If it is…!”

“Are you planning to live forever by my side with that kind of fragile mind and body?”

Van momentarily faltered at the mocking words. Even so, Orma leaned his face in so close that he could have kissed him, and spoke. It even sounded like he was grinding his teeth.

“Are you envious of that? Does it look like a blessing?”

“Uh….”

“When the humans by your side pass away one by one, your unchanging appearance will only make you feel like a monster. Do not wish for something you cannot handle.”

A long-buried and suppressed inner thought momentarily bared itself, as if it had been festering for ages. Judging by those swirling golden eyes, it felt as though if Van agreed even a single bit more, Orma would gladly make him live forever by his side.

The fact that he hadn’t done so was solely his mercy, and at the same time, it sounded like a vow he made while recalling his own past when he lived as a human. No… perhaps it was directed at the person who had turned him into this according to their own whim.

Because Banan, who had been standing blankly at Orma’s words, flinched for a moment.

“Ever since I drank the divine wine, it’s not as if you don’t know that I regret that day’s choice every single day. …At least you know, Van.”

Orma spoke in a voice that sounded slightly desperate, tightening his grip on Van’s waist to pull him even closer.

“And Banan brewed it while knowing full well who that wine was for… so look how ridiculous that state of yours is right now.”

Looking like you’re only regretting it now, to anyone watching.