She began to spill what she knew, one fact at a time. Rian fired off questions, seeking to satisfy his curiosity.
To summarize their lengthy exchange:
Who are you?
- I am a faithful servant of His, and a god of another world.
Where is this?
- My mental space. A place where I can manifest my Authority strongly. Since I've only pulled your spirit here, it's similar to dreaming.
Why did you bring me here?
- ...A comrade disappeared, and the trail ended here, so I intended to investigate properly.
Which comrade?
- Hamulina. But I'm not curious anymore.
For what purpose did Hamulina approach me?
At the final question, the creature—no, the Otherworldly God—remained silent. Unable to withstand Rian's burning gaze, she broke into a cold sweat and began blurting out even unnecessary details.
"Otherworldly God" is a collective term for deities whose worlds have perished or who have been cast into the gaps between dimensions.
There are many kinds of Otherworldly Gods, and by human standards, there are good gods and evil gods.
She is an Otherworldly God of low rank. Thus, she serves "Him" and lives as a servant.
The god of this world made a blunder, weakening the dimensional walls. Since divine power only grows stronger by possessing a world, "He" decided to rule this one.
Other Otherworldly Gods exist, and they are locked in competition.
Therefore, as a servant of "His," she considers any Otherworldly God who does not follow "Him" an enemy.
There was a relationship even more hostile than those with other gods: the god of this Dark Fantasy world.
Even if the world was ruined, this was the Dark Fantasy God's domain; if he stepped in fully, things could get difficult.
Rian, having appeared in the midst of this, harbored the Dark Fantasy God's power, making him a target for every Otherworldly God invading this realm.
However, so far, she and Hamulina were the only Otherworldly Gods who had discovered Rian. Unless another found him, it wouldn't be a threat.
She hesitated, then admitted there was a real problem.
"The real problem?"
「Since Hamulina is a faithful servant of His, she surely passed information about you to Him.」
"What? That means..."
「It means He is going to make a move.」
She hadn't intended to reveal that "He" was a major power in the Demon King's army, but Rian had already deduced it.
It made sense; he knew Potencien, who had been with Hamulina, was one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
'At first, I didn't recognize him because he looked different from what I remembered...'
In the original work, Potencien resembled a fish-man more than a human. It was only later, when he had some breathing room, that he realized the weapon used and the unique way of speaking were identical to the Four Heavenly Kings in the original work.
'To summarize, the Demon King's army is targeting me?'
The situation was more serious than he thought. He wasn't afraid of the Demon King's army itself. Rian had already seen with his own eyes a region that had collapsed after opposing him.
His concern lay with the others.
'...The others might get dragged into this.'
No matter how much power Noah held within Kardishan, they were still in the Demon King's Land. It meant they didn't know when or where a threat might emerge.
'If I run away alone—...No, that's not it. I can't guarantee the Demon King's army will only chase me.'
€
Noah, Iris, and Jess—future members of the Hero's party—were all part of Nest. Even if their potential wasn't visible now, they would inevitably show their worth in time, like an awl in a pocket.
When that time came, they would eventually catch the eye of the Demon King's army, be corrupted, or be killed. Even if they were lucky enough to survive, they wouldn't be in one piece.
'I haven't found the Duke's knight yet, but...'
Rian made a firm resolution with a hardened face.
'I must escape Kardishan—no, the Demon King's Land—with everyone.'
Once his thoughts were organized, his narrowed vision widened again. The Otherworldly God, currently resembling a mascot, rolled her eyes, gauging Rian's reaction.
'Considering how she tried to target me and that she's an Otherworldly God, I should probably deal with her right here. But... there's no way.'
Setting aside whether he could deal with the entity before him, he didn't even know if he could escape this space.
Rian looked at the back of his hand. The seal was there, but calling for Gargandoa yielded nothing.
He guessed it was because this was a special space.
'Ugh, I need to get out of here and plan our departure from the Demon King's Land.'
Unable to find a better solution, Rian adopted a "to hell with it" attitude and spoke to the Otherworldly God.
"How do I get out of here?"
「If that's what you want, go over there.」
The Otherworldly God raised a stubby arm, pointing to a shimmering black mass. It looked like a portal.
「If you go in there, you'll be able to wake up.」
"...Why are you telling me so easily?"
「Ugh! Isn't it because of you that I ended up in this state! If I hadn't been reduced to this form, I would have banished you myself...!」
As the Otherworldly God huffed in renewed anger, Rian reflexively shook her. Because of the rough handling, the Otherworldly God's eyes began to spin.
Rian released the dizzy creature and moved toward the portal. As he focused on the exit, his body moved forward on its own.
「Huuu...」
"Well, I'll be going now. If possible, try living a good life from now on."
After saying that, Rian hurriedly threw himself into the portal. Usually, in these mental worlds, the flow of time differs from reality, so he was in a rush.
Rian vanished into the portal. The Otherworldly God, floating in the dark space, suddenly burst into laughter.
「Keheheh! Keheheh! You stupid human!」
As Rian disappeared, the Otherworldly God began to return to her original form. She assumed a form so far beyond dimensions that any human who looked upon her would gouge their own eyes out.
The cute voice of a young child changed into a bizarre sound, a mixture of a woman's, a man's, a child's, and an old person's voice.
The Otherworldly God watched the portal, feeling her body returning to its original state.
「Kuhehe, I will eat you deliciously.」
The portal Rian had jumped into was not a gateway to reality. In fact, no such portal existed. The only way for Rian to return to reality was to kill the Otherworldly God. That was the nature of this space.
The Otherworldly God waved her hand, and the portal vanished. Rian, who had entered her body, could no longer escape.
「Despair in the infinite darkness and break. Thus, become my nourishment.」
The interior of the Otherworldly God was an endless void; one would wander forever until their mind fractured and their soul shattered.
An ordinary human couldn't last a second, yet Rian held on; the Otherworldly God could clearly feel him inside her.
「Now, what kind of despair will you feed me?」
The Otherworldly God drooled, smiling at the feast that awaited her.
Stab!
「Huh?」
Her belly tore open, and something erupted from within. She looked down at her midsection—or what passed for one. A part of ▉ was there.
The part of ▉ began to move.
The part of ▉ sliced open her belly.
The part of ▉ began to tear her to shreds.
Gulp.
▉ swallowed her whole.
***
"Hung-nyang-nyang, it's a nyang-nyang punch..."
The fluffy bed was crowded with 170cm-tall Dakikumaras. In the middle of them, the god of the Gag World, wearing pajamas and an eye mask with rabbit ears, was sleep-talking.
"Ang-nyang-nyang... delicious... *hic*.."
She sleep-talked and let out a small burp again. But since she was asleep, she didn't notice.
***
Chirp, chirp.
"Ah."
Rian's eyes snapped open. As he sat up, he saw the scenery outside where the sun was just beginning to rise.
"I... *ahem*, *ahem*. How long did I sleep?"
His head felt groggy, but unlike the time he had slept for a week, he felt energetic. It didn't seem like he had slept that long this time. That was a relief.
He stared out the window, dazed, then shook his head vigorously, like a dog shaking off water.
'This is no time for this. I must prepare to leave this land.'
Rian, more motivated than ever, jumped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. After washing up, he went straight to the study desk in the corner of the room, spread out some paper, and picked up a pen.
'Considering it's already been 3 years since I stayed here... it wouldn't be strange if the knight had already arrived in Kardishan.'
Rian had been asking Noah to check for the knight's presence periodically. Since he knew the name and face they used while operating here, it wasn't difficult to ask for an investigation.
The investigation results were always the same: 'Cannot be found.'
Fearing that reckless searching might cause him to miss them, he drew on his knowledge of the original work to infer the knight's arrival. That time was this year.
'Since it's about time for the knight to arrive, I need to investigate whether they have reached Kardishan, select the people to leave with, and prepare food and supplies accordingly.'
Rian did not intend to drag every organization member into his escape from the Demon King's Land. Even if the executives were fine, quite a few of the regular members thought nothing of crime.
Born and raised in a land devoid of morality, such traits were common. It was necessary to filter those people out and select only those who wanted to leave the Demon King's Land.
'And...'
Rian organized his plans step by step, as if the world itself were cheering him on.
"Hyung! Noah-hyung is back!"
With perfect timing, Noah returned from the trial.