Part 5
THE SUDDEN APPEARANCE of the physical embodiment of the Divine Voice put everyone present on high alert.
Not even Umukahime seemed like she’d expected the Divine Voice to show up in person. She glared daggers at it, her teeth gritted in a snarl. But even so, her nervousness was clear.
“There’s no need to be so alarmed,” the Divine Voice said. “No matter what any of you do, I won’t be hurt or offended. Besides, do you really think that just by putting yourselves on guard, you could stand a chance against me if I wanted to fight?” The Divine Voice lazily raised its distorted and blurred left arm. “Or perhaps…our conversation would proceed more smoothly if I eliminated two or three of you to set the stage? I know you’re all shortsighted fools, but surely you wouldn’t choose to be wiped out over nothing?”
I doubted it was bluffing. There was no way the Divine Voice was weaker than me. I was sure it could wipe us all out here, not to mention the entire island, if it wanted to.
I looked around at Allo and the others and signaled them to stand down.
‹Okay, okay, we get it. If you have something to say, then I’m willing to listen. As far as I know, you’ve been manipulating me from the very beginning. Surely you can forgive a little disrespect.›
“Ahh, I’m glad you’re so easy to control. You care about others so much; you always back down so quickly when their lives are at stake.” The Divine Voice gave a cold, obviously fake smile, and crossed its legs on top of the stone slab.
‹Are you…really the Divine Voice? Not some fake, or avatar, or something?›
Naturally. The only ones capable of doing something like this…
“Are Laplace and I,” the Divine Voice finished out loud. “So yes, it really is me. But I can’t prove to you this isn’t an avatar; you know nothing about me, after all. I have no proof. But what’s the harm in using an avatar body instead?” The Divine Voice’s mouth spread into a wide grin. “Are you implying that if you were certain this were my real body, you’d try to kill me?”
‹N-no… I wouldn’t.›
I was lying, of course. I’d love to kill the Divine Voice where it stood. Nothing good would come from its continued existence. Sure, I didn’t know anything about who it really was, but I knew all too well how dangerous, selfish, and cruel it could be. Even so, I knew I was powerless to go up against it right now.
“Good!” The Divine Voice clapped its hands as it brought the conversation back on track. “Now then. I’ll keep the taunting to a minimum so we can get down to business. I’d rather not make you despise me too much, after all. We’ll both come out with losses if you keep on being stubborn.”
Were those threats meant as a joke…? Having completely lost my edge in the conversation, all I could do now was sit quietly and let the Divine Voice lead the discussion.
“You’ve already heard much about my aims from Lilyxila, yes? I don’t exactly try to keep it a secret. My goal,” said the Divine Voice, without a trace of hesitation, “is to create an ultimate being with the highest possible Laplace Authority Interference in order to set free the creature Laplace sealed away: Fallen.”
Fallen. A mysterious, monstrous, spherical creature I’d only ever encountered in name, rumored to be sealed away long ago. People called it an evil god, but the Divine Voice’s explanation assured me that it was, in fact, a monster.
‹But if you free Fallen, then this world will…›
“Yep, it’ll be destroyed,” it said nonchalantly, as if that didn’t concern it in the least. “The moment Fallen returns, the world will come to an end.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. Despite only hearing half of the conversation, Allo and the others looked horrified.
“But for you, that wouldn’t be a purely bad thing at all. I can guarantee you that. We both stand to gain by cooperating with each other. That’s why I’m coming to meet you in peace instead of resorting to any sort of shady tactics.”
‹Wh-what?! What the heck are you talking about?! There’s no way I’d…›
“You want to be a human again, don’t you?” The Divine Voice pointed at me with its distorted left arm. “If you max out your Laplace Authority Interference level, you may even be able to get your missing memories back. It’s a little complicated to pull off, so you won’t be able to do it on your own, but I’d be happy to lend a hand.”
The Divine Voice prattled on, oozing confidence. “It’s rather strange that you retained any memories from your previous existence in the first place. Laplace wouldn’t usually allow such a serious glitch to slip through. But I can’t create someone capable of reaching their max level of Laplace Authority Interference without exploiting a few of Laplace’s weaknesses myself. That’s why I’ve been meddling in the fringes of the Hero and Demon King war, and gave the Skill Steal skill to the slime so he had a direct connection between the world and his system. Your spotty memories were likely caused by the slime stealing the Demi-God Realm Path I planted in you while you were still an egg. Neither Sacred Skills nor skills that allow their user to interfere with the world’s system are supposed to exist in this world, so Laplace couldn’t squash them like the usual bugs. I doubt the same trick will work a second time, though.”
I couldn’t quite catch up to the stream of new info the Divine Voice was feeding me. Where the heck was it going with all this?
“I know you better than you know yourself, you know. So rest assured: Even if Fallen is freed and the world as we know it disappears, you will be able to return to your original world. And then you can live out your days in peace as a human. That’s what you’ve wanted all this time, right?”
I…I can go back to my original world? I didn’t think that would ever be possible.
Heh heh. It’s only natural for you to be suspicious. But I came from the same world you did. You and me, we have a right to let this world come to an end and return to our own world.
The Divine Voice suddenly switched back to mental messages, preventing Allo and the others from listening in.
You were just a data sample at the beginning, but now I see you are far more valuable than I assumed. You and I together can snuff this world out like a light. What do you say? Will you level up and evolve under my tutelage to put an end to this world and go back to where you truly belong?
My mind spun; I couldn’t wrap my head around anything the Divine Voice was saying. Go back to my original world? The Divine Voice is from the same world as me? And it wants me to destroy this one? The utter scale of the task laid out before me left me completely stunned.
How about it? If you accept my proposal, then show me your will and determination. Turn everyone here into experience points. They’ll all become fodder for Fallen anyway. Go on, kill them all with one fell swoop. No need to make them suffer.
But no matter how large the scale seemed, there was still no way I’d accept such a ridiculous proposal.
There were still many things in this world that I didn’t know much about. But no matter what I learned, I knew I’d never even consider sacrificing all of the friends and companions I’d met so far in this world to go back to a life I barely remembered.
I swung my paw at the Divine Voice, tearing deep gouges into the stone tablet beneath it with Dimension Claws.
‹The answer’s no! As if that’s even a question! Don’t you ever say that disgusting crap to me again!›
Mia’s monument crumbled, sending the Divine Voice cascading to the ground.
“Do you have any idea who you’re choosing to make an enemy? Not even I thought you’d be this dense.” My claw attack should’ve been a direct hit, but the Divine Voice didn’t have so much as a scratch. “Very well. I figured I’d have to give you a taste of what happens when you oppose me. Now, which one of your friends’ lives should I take?” The Divine Voice raised its distorted arm again and pointed at Allo, then Treant.
‹Go ahead, take one out! Because the moment you do, I’m never listening to another word you say. My goal in life will be to separate your head from your neck or die trying.› I bared my fangs and gave a low growl. ‹That’d be an awful big pain for you, wouldn’t it? I mean, you’ve spent a lot of time and energy on rearing me this far. It’d be a waste if I died now.›
The Divine Voice’s finger stopped moving, and it furrowed its brow, that carefree expression finally slipping from its face. It was clearly losing patience with me.