A pitch-black Target Hole appears in the air. An ominous-looking hole. It looks as if the sky has shattered and the universe beyond is visible, but─ those who know what it is, know.
The Evil God that had invaded the Empire a while ago. It was the scene that appeared whenever that Evil God showed up.
In other words, the meaning of this pitch-black hole signifies the appearance of a divine being─ and beyond it lies a divine being that will have a significant impact on the World, for better or worse.
Beyond the hole, Mercurius began to speak.
[Abide by the contract.]
“I haven’t graduated yet.”
[Diaros Academy has been shut down. As a result, all enrolled students have been <expelled> with priority.]
“What’s this nonsense…… Aren’t you just going to let me enroll in the new Academy anyway!? This is absurd!”
[Yes, that might be true. But what can you do? The contract was until you graduate from <Diaros Academy>. Now that Diaros Academy has been shut down, whether it’s considered the de facto successor school or whatever─ it’s none of my concern.]
The pitch-black hole widened dramatically, and the demon wearing a fedora hat peered out from within, overseeing the ground.
Mercurius extended his hand towards Sera, as if a toy machine was pulling out a doll.
Sera, who had resisted endlessly, saw the large finger approaching her and dropped her shoulders in resignation, as if giving up on everything.
Thus, Kail moved in her stead.
“─Such absurdity won’t be allowed.”
Snap-! Mercurius’s finger fell to the ground with a thud. However, his finger never touched the ground. Before it could, the scattered pieces returned to reform his finger.
Mercurius smirked amusingly at the defiant Kail.
[Follow the rules. That’s all I have to say.]
“Shut up! Hey! System or whatever! Can’t you see this bastard trying to kidnap Sera! Aren’t you going to intervene!?”
Kail shouted furiously at the empty air. But there was no response from the System. When did it ever stop the Sovereign God from acting……!
This damned strong-weak system. Strict with those who follow the rules well, and lenient with those who ignore them.
Seeing Kail yelling pointlessly into the air, Mercurius chuckled softly.
[It’s useless. This is a contract established before she came to this world. The System cannot interfere.]
“What kind of crap is that? Isn’t the System just there to prevent demons like you from interfering with people? Didn’t the Sovereign God say so?”
[Do you trust the Sovereign God? She is a small and fragile being. A being worried about her world crumbling. She wouldn’t fight me just to save one person. And neither would the System.]
The purpose of the Evil God that appeared in the past was to rescue the souls trapped in this model garden and scatter them across a wider world—the greater universe.
It was similar to what self-proclaimed animal protection groups do. Claiming animals have rights akin to human rights, they steal animals from farms and release them into the wild—without caring whether those released animals live or die, patting themselves on the back for their moral superiority.
Naturally, the Sovereign God, who must protect her model garden, had no choice but to oppose the Evil God. But Mercurius was different.
Mercurius only wanted the soul of Sera, and this was the result of a contract made before she entered this world.
The Sovereign God wasn’t altruistic enough to oppose a god-level entity just to save one Human. What mattered most to her wasn’t individuals but humanity as a whole. This entire model garden.
Sera was an existence unwelcome to anyone.
“How does that make any sense? Don’t you know about unfair contracts? And in modern times, there are laws stating that unfair contracts are nullified?”
Kail, arguing for the invalidation of the contract while flipping off the air, once again severed the hand of Mercurius, who ignored him and reached for Sera.
But as before, even Superior Blade, which had cut through Evil Gods, managed to sever Mercurius’s hand but couldn’t inflict permanent damage.
Mercurius restored his hand to its original state, chuckling as he rolled his eyes toward Kail and Sera.
[Does this look like Earth to you? And─ there was no unfair clause in the contract between her and me. She simply failed to understand the value of her soul.]
“That’s exactly what an unfair contract is!”
[No, no. An unfair contract is when I covet her soul but offer something far less valuable in return─ and I expended things as valuable as her soul to transfer her to this world. It’s absolutely fair.]
Demons deceive others and reap unjust profits from it.
However, Mercurius, who had once been a God, didn’t resort to such petty methods. Gods don’t act that way.
Honorably. Though he couldn’t give more than he received as he did in the past, for every 1 received, he paid a cost very close to 1.
[Did you think transferring a person to another world would be so easy?]
Thus, Mercurius was confident. What problem could arise from taking something for which he had paid a fair price? With these words, he extended his hand, and Kail once again severed it.
The third resistance. Seeing this, Mercurius smirked and spoke.
[Three times. Now it’s self-defense.]
“What?”
Kail thought divine beings couldn’t interfere recklessly on Earth. Indeed, the Sovereign God hadn’t punished the followers of the Evil God Cult wandering the land or the most heinous criminals, and the Evil God required vast amounts of offerings to possess directly.
But that didn’t mean divine beings couldn’t interfere on Earth at all. Just as divine punishment falls immediately if you blaspheme against the Sovereign God in a holy site─ divine beings can wield their power under certain procedures.
Self-defense was one of the simplest means among them.
[How pitiful.]
“Guh……!?”
[Do you really think defeating an Evil God with the help of the Sovereign God was all your own doing?]
Kail’s body was crushed under overwhelming mass. In the face of absolute power, everything was meaningless. Kail struggled, swinging his Superior Blade and drawing his Aura Blade, but nothing worked against Mercurius.
Just as a small cat or dog can injure a human, but if a human truly decides to kill them, they can do so effortlessly─ Kail injuring Mercurius didn’t mean he could defeat him.
[It’s meaningless. How many humans would truly fear a bug with a sharp sting? Even those who fear it would easily crush it without hesitation if their livelihood depended on it.]
Imagine a single hornet with a sharp stinger. Many people fear hornets. They’d scream and run at the sight of one flying in front of them.
But what if that hornet blocked the path to an important business meeting or interview? Or if it flew away with a winning lottery ticket? The same humans trembling in fear moments ago would crush it without a second thought.
[You’re just such an existence. A bug-like being.]
“Grrr-!”
[This is my contract. My right. Do not interfere.]
Crush-! Mercurius’s power flowed over the finger pressing heavily on Kail.
Absorbing that power, Kail felt his body slowly turning to dust. The energy Mercurius had used earlier to regenerate his severed hand.
The energy used to regenerate a god’s body was more than enough to kill a human. Though Kail tried to endure with his Aura, it was futile. Sensing death, Kail’s eyes sparkled─.
“Stop─! Please, stop!”
And then, Sera shouted furiously. Mercurius, who had been crushing Kail, turned his head slightly.
[Why should I?]
“……If you don’t listen, I’ll trust the Sovereign God and become a martyr right now. My soul will return to the Sovereign God, not you. If you want it back, you’ll have to go through a very troublesome process.”
[Hmm…… Seems like you’ve heard some strange tales.]
“Let him go quickly. If Kail dies because of this, I’ll really do it.”
After hearing Sera’s words, Mercurius smiled bitterly for a moment, then cautiously released his finger and extended his hand toward Sera.
Watching Sera, Kail, who tried to get up, realized his limbs were utterly shattered and couldn’t move at all, and roared.
“……Sera, don’t do this.”
“─Sorry, Kail. I can’t keep that promise.”
Sera, caught by the pitch-black finger, gazed at Kail with eyes on the verge of tears.
“It was nice seeing you again.”
─Zap-!
The next moment, the finger completely disappeared beyond the hole. Only the footprints she left on the pristine snow-covered mountain remained.
