Chapter 18: The Hybrid
The transformation faded, and I returned to my red hair and male body.
'Strictly speaking, this isn't my original form either.'
It was hard to deny that "Eitnos's" handsome features were a major improvement over my original pale, weary face. Honestly, it was sad to think that I might never miss my original face. If I had any complaints about my current look, it would be the conspicuous red hair and my severed arm. And it seems I’ve grown taller than I originally was too.
'And now, I need to take care of this arm.'
This whole issue was like killing two birds with one stone. No, it was more like trying to catch I-don't-know-how-many rabbits with one stone; so much depended on this.
'Subduing dangerous enemies. Testing my acting skills. Testing the robe's performance. Claiming the regeneration of my arm from the amorphous byproduct. And obtaining a sacrifice through human offerings.'
Except for the part about sacrifice and killing people, everything was very profitable.
'Profitable to kill people and sacrifice them... there's a limit to how hard-hearted one can get.'
I sighed and organized my thoughts. Being cool-headed is good, but losing my humanity is unacceptable.
I hardened my heart and steadied my breath.
"I commit this corruption for you. Drowning in filth, I beseech you, let me hear the Great Voice. <Meeting in the Turbid Stream>. "
A strange silence fell.
The ground churned and turned into a foul liquid, and the bandits began to sink while they were still alive.
Even as I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the desperate screams and resistance, it felt as though the horrific sounds were leaving scars on my very soul.
'The psychological damage is...'
I looked at the back of my hand. I must have taken some psychological damage, but the die didn't appear.
'How random. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It would be good to know the exact criteria.'
I deliberately turned my attention away from the horrific ritual and thought about how I could control this die. But that thought was soon interrupted by a voice.
"Well, now."
'This isn't the amorphous byproduct, is it?'
When I turned my head, the place where the bandits were had turned into a black pool.
Twisted arms emerged, writhing strangely and dripping black liquid everywhere.
"......Who are you?"
A man was standing in the middle of the pool. But it wasn't clear if he was human.
His body was half-submerged in a black liquid the color of the reaches of space, and half of his face was melted by that same liquid.
"I am a representative. It seems... they considered me more suitable to converse with you."
The man spoke in a rather calm voice, but I was simply at a loss.
"But the miracle I used shouldn't produce a person?"
"The ritual you performed is, in essence, a call to communicate with the Outer God, my master."
As the man stood up, I noticed the strange nature of his body.
His skin had the texture of melted black rubber, exactly like my arm.
"Even when the call is heard, it is the lineage that responds, not the Master himself. Although I am not a complete one, I am also of the lineage and belong to the amorphous byproduct."
Hearing that, I was able to deduce what the man before me was.
'Doll told me about this. That there are hybrids, a mixture, born between Outer Gods and humans.'
"My mother was a staunch believer. Through a ritual that cannot be spoken in human society, she received his essence and conceived me."
The man revealed his identity with a sigh.
"I never thought a lowly hybrid like me would have to step forward as his representative... but it seems these unusual cases happen."
"Why are you the exception this time?"
"Because you are insane."
The man stated this coldly.
"Your way of thinking does not fall within the category of a normal human. And with his blood running through my veins, I am, in fact, closer to his side."
The man brushed his hair back and spoke.
"Being half-human, I can also understand the human side. And in my judgment, you cannot be considered sane from either perspective."
"What did you say?"
"I say that what you did is that insane. El-less."
This one also calls me El-less.
"What is this 'El-less' you keep calling me? And what was so insane about what I did?"
"How ignorant you are... I see now why they are so obsessed with you."
Bothersomely, instead of explaining about El-less, the man opened his mouth with a smirk.
"That arrow. Do you know how dangerous the master of the energy within it is?"
"I know the amorphous byproduct and 【The Sleeper of the Underworld】 are afraid of it."
When I answered him, the man nodded.
"【The Eternal Hunger for Predation】. That is the title used to refer to him."
'The hunger for predation...'
It was a fitting title, given the aspects the arrow showed. The fact that 【The Sleeper of the Underworld】 was afraid of him meant that he tried to prey on an Outer God. If that were the case, there was one being I could deduce from the information Doll gave me.
'There was definitely one related to cannibalizing his own kind...'
"Don't think."
The man warned me politely.
"Don't think, just let it pass through you. I am speaking cautiously for your sake."
"Let's just nod our heads now."
......What?
Why did my thought come out of my mouth?
"I feel something flowing from my eye. It’s a strange feeling, like blood."
"Dammit, you're still weaker than I thought. But you’ll calm down soon."
This strange phenomenon alarmed me, but at some point, my mouth stopped uttering my thoughts.
"......What was that just now?"
"Your mistake. To recklessly try to analyze the information given to you."
The man said, clicking his tongue.
"You may be able to nullify it with your exceptional talent, but you will reach a limit one day. Listen to what I have to say as if you are taking a deep breath and letting it go in through one ear and out the other."
At the man's words, I wiped the blood from my eye and began taking deep breaths.
"Yes, listen slowly. You can forget most of it. First, 【The Eternal Hunger for Predation】 is one of the Outer Gods whose desire to devour their own kind exceeds the limit."
The man's calm explanation continued.
"He sires offspring only to eat them. The danger he poses, by consuming other Outer Gods, is truly indescribable."
As he said this, the man coughed for a moment and spat out bloody foam. It seemed that it had a serious effect even on him, who is half-monster.
"【The Sleeper of the Underworld】, in particular, once fled to escape him. So what you felt was accurate."
The man sighed.
"He has little interest in this star. And he rarely responds to any rituals."
A different case from Dionysus then.
"However, a certain priest once tried to summon an Outer God named 'Shavis-Ka'. Coincidentally, the Shavis-Ka he was trying to summon was being devoured by him at that very moment."
I was startled by the sudden mention of an Outer God's true name, but I soon confirmed that nothing happened. Was it because the Outer God was already dead?
"So, instead of summoning Shavis-Ka, a little of his energy leaked out."
"And that energy inhabited the arrow?"
"Yes, which happened to be nearby."
The man, who was breathing heavily, corrected his posture and looked at me.
"Things imbued with the energy or miracles of an Outer God are, without exception, alive. They possess self-awareness."
Both the arrow and the cloak already possessed awareness.
"Moreover, you took your arm and blood, which gained self-awareness through a blessing, and mated them with that arrow."
"Mating? That was just—"
"It was mating. A child born from parents who devour and kill each other, and you, as a third parent, wear it."
The man stared at me as if to say, And you still think you're not insane?
"Not only did you use a blessing in this way to commit desecration, but you almost attracted his attention."
As the man shuddered, the black liquid around him shook and writhed.
"That's why I was ordered to come out as a representative."
The man sighed again.
"As a scapegoat to face a dangerous being like you instead of them, and as someone who can use his humanity to communicate with you."
"Does this mean... even after what I did, the amorphous byproduct and its master wish to negotiate?"
"It’s a warning. Simply accept the grace granted by 【The Sleeper of the Underworld】 and stop your foolishness. Otherwise—"
"Otherwise what? Will you abandon me?"
A smile crept onto my lips.
"I must be a very desirable prize, right? So much so that you are trying to recruit me under the guise of a warning, despite the danger of my actions."
I shook my head.
"I cannot be recruited that easily. I’ll need to see more sincerity."
"You are truly utterly insane. You're as insane as the disgusting insects of Shaggai!"
The man, who was seething with rage, sighed and nodded his head as if he had received some kind of revelation or message.
"He says to state what you desire."
"First, I want the price for the offerings I’ve presented."
The man nodded.
"I knew you would say that. Next?"
"I wish to restore my arm. But as a normal, non-mutated human arm."
"Your foolishness in rejecting a blessing is regrettable, but it is not a request that cannot be granted."
The man nodded, then extended a hand toward me.
"Come here."
As I approached hesitantly, the man poured the black liquid onto my severed and bandaged arm.
"Kgh......!"
It was painful. I had to grit my teeth to resist the pain, which felt as if a broken bone were digging into my muscles. The seething and boiling blood and flesh gradually took shape, and the bones of my arm and hand were forced to grow.
"......Whew."
My arm returned to normal. And upon that hand rested a heavy bag.
"This is the price you requested. Think carefully from now on. You can no longer walk any other path than the path of filth."
With these words, the man disappeared beneath the black pool. At the same time, the black liquid seeped into the ground and vanished, leaving not a single trace of the bandits.
"Whew... I succeeded."
And I gained a lot of unexpected information.
After I caught my breath, I drank a psychiatric sedative.
'He doesn't impose his control. If he coveted me this much, he could have simply tried to control me without any regard for my will.'
In that thought lay the answer to how I could overcome this.
'Am I really... a being only coveted by 【The Sleeper of the Underworld】?'
The thought suddenly struck me, and I delved deeper into the possibility.
'I am the Apostle of the Malign Star. A priest specialized not just for 【The Sleeper of the Underworld】, but for all Outer Gods. Which means......'
He is cautious.
He moves quietly, so that other Outer Gods don't notice.
"So this is it. He was trying to devour me carefully, so as not to be discovered by other Outer Gods by his reckless action."
I looked at the ground. It was just ordinary soil, but I felt a chill, as if a massive monster beneath it was about to devour me.
"I won't allow it."
I muttered, looking at my regenerated arm and the bag of money it held.
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