Chapter 404: The Evil God’s Conditions
Despite the immense shock she felt, Director Yashi maintained her composure, not revealing anything to Adele. Instead, she calmly said, “The task of interrogating the Evil God Ain falls to you, Adele.”
“We haven’t been able to get any useful information from her; she refuses to communicate.”
“But if you, as the ‘Chosen Girl,’ were to try…”
A smile played on the woman’s lips. “Perhaps you’ll succeed?”
Adele gave a helpless look. “Director Yashi… please don’t tease me.”
“You know exactly what’s going on with the ‘Chosen Girl’ title…”
“But since it’s your order, Director, I’ll do my best.”
“As it happens, I have many questions I want answered.”
Adele recalled her final battle with the Evil God Ain. If her memory served correctly, if it hadn’t been altered… she hadn’t actually defeated the Evil God Ain at all!
She remembered being careless! She hadn’t dodged! And then, she was ambushed by the soul of the Evil God Ain, residing within Teacher Victoria’s body! Causing Adele to lose consciousness.
Damn… she was indeed too inexperienced, she hadn’t anticipated the enemy using a feigned weakness to lure her in for a final, decisive blow.
But logically, the Evil God Ain should have succeeded. So why did she wake up later to find the Evil God Ain transformed into a dazed, unconscious slime?
Could it be that her ambush… hadn’t worked? Or was it like the last time, against True Ancestor Ron? Had a mysterious entity helped her?
The image of the Hell Queen, Jormungandr, flashed through Adele’s mind. That mature woman with the most alluring demonic body… if it was her, Adele wouldn’t know how to repay her. A life debt wasn’t easily repaid.
It seemed Adele hadn’t considered the possibility that she might possess the ability to counter the Evil God Ain.
Director Yashi nodded slightly in affirmation, hearing the girl’s words. Then, she left the depths of the containment center. However, surveillance cameras would continuously record Adele’s interaction with the Evil God Ain, ensuring her safety.
Thus, only Adele and the Evil God Ain’s slime remained in the deepest part of the containment facility. In actuality, there was another containment cell, but it was empty. It seemed designed to contain a legendary angel.
However, Seraph had remained well-hidden, evading the Enforcement Bureau’s detection and containment. Or perhaps, because of Adele, the Enforcement Bureau had lowered the priority of containing the angel?
After all, Director Yashi had personally witnessed the battle against the True Ancestor and the angel’s fall. She naturally understood there must be some indescribable, deep connection between Seraph and Adele.
Compared to containing an angel that hadn’t shown any signs of danger, Adele was clearly the higher priority. In fact, Adele was being treated and nurtured as the true “Chosen Girl.” It wasn’t merely to conceal the source of her power, although that was one of the Enforcement Bureau’s objectives.
True deception often involved presenting the truth, allowing others to overthink and speculate whether Adele was just a decoy, and the real “Chosen Girl” was someone else.
………………
Director Yashi deactivated the electrical grid, allowing Adele to observe the Evil God Ain up close and communicate with her. The containment cell was highly secure. There were very few instances of containment breaches.
Moreover, the Evil God Ain was currently in a “slime” state, arguably her weakest form. After research and discussion, the Enforcement Bureau had even formed a bold hypothesis: Could this be the Evil God Ain’s original form?
A weak creature existing as a slime in that unknown world. But because she possessed mimicry and other unknown abilities, she could gradually take over and devour new bodies, enhancing her power. In the end, she devoured that unknown world piece by piece. Her soul was nourished and strengthened by constantly absorbing new knowledge.
Based on the precious images recorded by the Magical World back then, the Human Race had roughly simulated the Evil God Ain’s complete form: a mass possessing physical volume, yet capable of phasing through objects like a ghost, a “Schrödinger’s slime” existing in both real and ethereal states.
Yes, Schrödinger and his unfortunate cat existed in this world too. And this slime could merge into shadows, becoming a ghost in the darkness, extending countless shadowy tentacles to attack.
Essentially, knowledge was a product of the mental power of various races. Therefore, the Evil God Ain, as a special “soul,” needed knowledge, or the products of mental power, to nourish and strengthen herself. Of course, she was now back to her original form.
To put it simply, while the Evil God Ain’s levels gained from devouring knowledge wouldn’t decrease, her HP and MP were critically low.
As for Adele, although her level was lower than the Evil God Ain’s, her HP and MP were nearly overflowing! Thanks to absorbing the blood of many girls last night and replenishing her magic power in her Witch Form.
The saying “the more you do it, the more energetic you become” perfectly described Adele’s situation. And only she could embody the phrase, “There’s only exhausted fields, no exhausted oxen.”
Adele stopped pondering who had helped her deal with the Evil God Ain and walked towards the strange slime that still vaguely resembled a chibi human figure. Like a melting blob cowering in the corner, reminiscent of Bocchi during her socially anxious moments!
Wherever Adele moved, the Evil God Ain would shrink away in the opposite direction. But the containment cell was square, with only eight corners. Adele followed her every move.
Finally, after trying all eight corners, Adele pouted, pressing her cheek against the transparent material of the containment cell, making a “ding—” sound that suffocated the Evil God. The Evil God Ain was sweating profusely from fear, looking like melting ice cream!
“Am I that scary…” Adele muttered to herself, unsure if the Evil God inside could hear. But since Director Yashi had instructed her to interrogate her, it was obvious she could hear.
So, Adele cleared her throat and put on a fierce expression, threatening, “Evil God Ain! Confess and be lenient, resist and be strict!”
“Confess how you turned Teacher Victoria into this state!”
“Don’t think we can’t do anything to you just because you’re a slime now!”
“Believe it or not, I have nine ways to make you suffer, nine!”
If anyone else were subjected to Adele’s interrogation, they’d only find this little girl boisterous, more adorable than intimidating. But in the eyes of the Evil God Ain, this girl was no ordinary human.
She was a “Soul Emperor” with an incredibly powerful soul capable of devouring stars and covering the moon! So, what was the Evil God Ain? Probably equivalent to a self-proclaimed otherworldly overlord in some trashy dimension who could use Blue Silver Grass Binding… Could the “Soul Emperor” be afraid of Blue Silver Grass Binding?!
The Evil God Ain’s experience within Adele’s spiritual world, being flicked out by the “Adele soul,” had left her with severe psychological trauma. Now, whenever she saw Adele, she recalled being crushed like an ant, despite being an Evil God.
Thus, Ain would instantly enter a state of distress, just like now. So, she might not fear threats from others, but threats from Adele… the Evil God Ain would likely submit unconditionally…
“Hey! Didn’t you hear me?!” Adele sounded impatient. She was worried the Evil God Ain would see through her bluster. However, the girl had no idea that regardless of her outward appearance, she was definitely not weak inside.
Not just not weak, the “Adele” in the spiritual world was like Saitama from One Punch Man, capable of crushing any spiritual being.
“￥%￥#%#” In the monitoring room, Director Yashi’s eyes widened in shock, hearing the incomprehensible whispers of the Evil God. She hadn’t held much hope for Adele’s interrogation, let alone expect Adele to actually elicit a response from the Evil God Ain!
Unfortunately, it was in “Evil God language,” the language used by their kind in the other world, which hadn’t been deciphered yet. Still, Adele’s achievement was commendable.
Wait—the girl seemed dissatisfied with the Evil God Ain’s answer.
“What gibberish are you speaking?!”
“I want you to tell me in human language how to wake Teacher Victoria up!”
“Speak Common Tongue, do you hear me?!”
“If you don’t, I’ll turn you into a slime flying O-cup…!”
Adele’s threat on the monitor was quite savage. Even Yashi couldn’t help but be taken aback. How could such a strange threat be effective…?
Wait, holy… it actually worked?!
Adele’s surprises were endless, even shocking Director Yashi to the point of nearly uttering a curse. On the monitor, in the Evil God’s containment area, the Evil God in front of Adele was rapidly switching between her human and slime forms.
She seemed too terrified of Adele to maintain a stable form, melting into slime mid-sentence.
“No, don’t #%# Victoria #￥#4…”
This way, no useful information could be gleaned. Adele thought for a moment and stepped back, to a position where the Evil God Ain could see her but not be overwhelmed.
The girl’s tactic worked. The Evil God Ain gradually solidified from slime, transforming back into the black-haired, pale-skinned girl version of Teacher Victoria. And she regained the ability to speak in this world’s language.
“To… save Victoria…”
“Only I can do it…”
“I can… he-help you.”
“But on one condition…”
Chapter 405: The Unreadable Girl
“A condition?” Adele murmured, curious about what Ain’s condition would be.
However, the Evil God Ain seemed to interpret this as a threat, as if Adele was saying, “A condition!? Hmm? You dare to have conditions!?”
The once-hateful, now seemingly pathetic Evil God Ain, immediately melted, softening into a slime barely resembling “girl version Victoria,” with discernible eyes and a nose. Or perhaps, a “Shimokitazawa wild hammerhead snake.”
Adele was taken aback for a moment, then seemed to realize her mistake and quickly waved her hands, saying, “Ah, um, please continue!”
“As long as it’s not too excessive, the Enforcement Bureau and I can consider your request after discussion!”
After Adele’s reassurance, the Evil God Ain gradually reformed her human body, simulated human vocal cords, and continued, “I… I don’t want to devour this world anymore.”
Having been thoroughly defeated, the Evil God Ain realized that with her abilities, she could never reach the level of that being… Or rather, if she ever had such aspirations, someone would surely stop her. And then, Ain would likely face utter destruction, losing everything.
This was a corner of the “world’s truth” the Evil God Ain had deduced. It was also one of the reasons why she was so terrified of Adele.
“I know… you might not believe me.”
“And you’re not likely to let me go…”
“Si-Since that’s the case… why don’t we change the terms.”
“I don’t expect you to release me. I’ll do my best to awaken Victoria’s soul…”
Only the Evil God Ain, also a soul, could enter that place – a person’s “spiritual world.”
In most cases, a person’s “spiritual world” manifested as a house, where their soul resided. In fact, the previous struggle between the Evil God Ain and Victoria was like someone outside trying to enter a house, while the person inside desperately resisted.
Victoria’s soul had been resolute, preventing the Evil God Ain from invading her spiritual world and controlling her body. Until the battle with True Ancestor Ron.
To save Adele, Victoria had relinquished her spiritual world’s protection through a contract, giving up her soul’s dwelling.
Adele listened attentively, and Ain continued, “In exchange, I only need a quiet place to read…”
At first glance, the Evil God Ain’s request seemed harmless, even admirable, since few people these days could settle down to read. But one mustn’t forget that books, or “knowledge” as products of human spirit, could be consumed by the Evil God Ain as nourishment.
So, in other words, the Evil God Ain might be thinking, “I just need a quiet place to eat and slowly regain my strength.” And this was obviously unacceptable to the Enforcement Bureau. They wouldn’t allow the Evil God Ain any chance to recover her power. This was their responsibility to the entire Human Race, to the whole world.
Seeing Adele frown, the Evil God Ain hurriedly waved her hands, adding, “I’m not, not trying to recover my strength…”
“I’ve just realized some things. If this world has no place for me, then let me immerse myself in the world of books.”
“My past method of devouring was just savage consumption, forcefully stuffing knowledge into my soul. It certainly enlarged my form, but the more I devoured, the emptier I felt inside.”
“I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve calmly sat down to read a book, to feel the thoughts of another soul, to create resonance between our souls…”
“In the beginning, I just wanted to understand that world…”
“But why, in the end… did I completely lose myself?”
The Evil God Ain’s tone became sorrowful, even touching Adele slightly. If this was a disguise, Adele would accept it. But it likely wasn’t.
In reality, the Evil God Ain was currently experiencing a “shattered Dao heart.” As a natural soul, her Dao heart had been shattered by “Adele’s soul.” Having let go of her obsession with power, she began to reflect on her past, realizing the terrible things she had done out of greed. She realized that her initial wish was simply to enjoy the resonance of souls.
In fact, the Evil God Ain’s true form was a tiny bookworm in the other world. You could often find their slimy trails, like water, within the pages of library books. Those were marks of their diligent reading, often bringing a knowing smile to the faces of those who encountered them.
Now, Ain wanted to rediscover the joy and satisfaction she felt as a “little bookworm.” So, her request was simple: a slightly larger containment cell and a new book delivered regularly, according to human reading speed. She would read slowly, without using any savage devouring abilities.
In this way, the entire cultural crystallization of the Human Race might be enough for the Evil God Ain to read until the end of time. Even until the end of the world, she might not be able to consume even a fraction of it.
Adele sensed sincerity in the Evil God Ain’s words. And she believed these conditions were completely acceptable. If Teacher Victoria… could truly be saved because of this.
After pondering for a moment, she looked up at the “girl Victoria version” of the Evil God Ain. “I’ll explain your conditions to my superiors.”
“I think they won’t refuse your request.”
And what Adele left unsaid was: She definitely wouldn’t.
In the monitoring room, Director Yashi, arms crossed, had a profound look in her eyes. She had witnessed the entire exchange between Adele and the Evil God Ain, listening to their conversation.
This wasn’t a violation of the girl’s privacy, but a security measure, an unspoken rule accepted by everyone within the Enforcement Bureau, under the watchful eye of authority. Adele should have anticipated this and wouldn’t feel any resentment.
Yashi wasn’t sure about the opinions of the other council members. But she would definitely approve the Evil God Ain’s request. It was the cheapest way to contain the Evil God and ensure her emotional stability.
But she was still curious about the Evil God Ain’s “unexplained fear” of Adele. Whether it was herself or True Ancestor Lislotte, the Evil God Ain had at most only looked them in the eye, implying she considered them equals, not worthy of her subservience. So why did Ain feel Adele was worthy?
“…”
Compared to the Evil God from another world, Adele was becoming increasingly unreadable to Yashi.
