Chapter 92 - All the World’s Evil

Chapter 92: Chapter 92 - All the World’s Evil

Later, after another long day, Alear was sitting in his office at the Häangenti Mansion. The soft light of the lamps illuminated the wide wooden desk, on which were scattered several reports and documents related to the business of the ’Leaky Cauldron’.

The door opened with a light creak, and Ravel entered carrying a folder full of documents. Her long blonde hair was impeccably arranged, while the expression on her face mixed her usual composure with a certain fatigue—something for which no one could blame her, since she had helped him the entire day dealing with political matters....

"Alear-sama, I brought the updated reports on last week’s sales, as well as some contracts that still need your approval." She said, placing the folder on the desk.

Alear raised his gaze and offered a light smile.

"Thank you, Ravel..."

He observed the young woman for a few moments. The reason she had returned to the Phenex family residence and remained there for a few days, from what she had told him, was because of her brother Riser, who had thrown a true tantrum after Lord Phenex decided to annul the political engagement between him and the heiress of House Gremory. In the end, Rias Gremory had obtained the freedom she so greatly desired....

Still, he made no comment on the matter. Instead, he chatted casually with Ravel for a few minutes. When he noticed that she was tired, however, he asked her to go rest. Ravel nodded and left the office in silence, allowing Alear to be alone once more, surrounded by the documents scattered across the desk and by his own thoughts....

He set the paper down on the desk and raised his eyes to the ceiling, remaining motionless for a few moments. He thought about everything and, at the same time, about absolutely nothing. Various subjects arose in his mind, mixed with one another, and disappeared before he could delve deeper into any of them. In the end, no matter how many paths his thoughts traveled, they always ended up returning to the same place....

After becoming an undefined existence, he had had several days to try to understand exactly what he had transformed into. Still, whenever he was alone, that question inevitably returned to his mind. No matter how much he analyzed his own existence or tried to organize the information he had discovered, he simply could not reach a definitive conclusion....

From what he had managed to understand up to that point, he had become, at the same time, a kind of ’God’ and a ’True Daemon’—two natures that, in theory, were completely contradictory. Gods arose as manifestations of concepts and, over time, could become proper deities by being recognized and strengthened by the thoughts and faith of humanity. Although they were not necessarily controlled by humans, there still existed a connection between their existence and those who recognized them, since human concepts and beliefs served as a kind of foundation for their divinity. True Daemons, on the other hand, were the opposite: existences that had transcended any dependence on human thoughts and could exist on their own, without needing humanity as an origin, reference, or foundation for their existence. That completely differentiated them from ordinary Daemons and brought them closer to cosmic entities, similar to Lovecraftian deities—beings whose existence transcended human understanding and that could not be defined, limited, or conditioned by the concepts created by humanity itself....

In other words, he found himself in an intermediate state between an Outer God, whose existence transcended the universe itself, and what could be called a God of the Ordinary Universe—a deity whose existence was intrinsically linked to the laws and concepts of that world—although he did not even know whether that latter concept truly existed. His existence was drawing ever closer to what could be classified as a Cosmic Horror while, at the same time, preserving within him the essence of a divinity that was still in formation....

As a consequence of that transformation, he had acquired the so-called ’Alien Common Sense’, a characteristic that, under normal circumstances, should have manifested through a [Reality Marble], just as it did with other Daemons. In fact, considering that his existence had reached a level far superior to that of an ordinary Daemon, that phenomenon should have been even more evident in his case.

However, instead of awakening a [Reality Marble], something completely different happened.

He had obtained a [Marble Phantasm], an ability that, theoretically, should belong only to Nature Spirits directly connected to the world!

That simply made no sense.

The more he tried to define what he had become, the more he realized that his existence simply did not fit into any known classification....

He decided to call his current state ’Zero-Sum’. After all, by gathering such different and contradictory natures within a single existence, he had ceased to fit into any known definition. He was not completely one thing or the other. All those natures continued to exist within him, but none was capable of defining who he truly was. In a way, he had transformed into ’nothing’... An undefined existence, devoid of an absolute form and still trying to understand its own meaning....

The problem was that, because he did not fully understand the nature of his own evolution, he had no idea how to continue advancing or what conditions he still needed to fulfill in order to reach the next stage. Even if he continued receiving faith energy from some of the devils who had become his followers in recent days, that caused no change. He supposed that happened because of the characteristic independence of a ’True Daemon’, which made him incapable of depending on faith energy in order to exist as a God and continue strengthening himself....

Alear let out a long sigh, shifting his gaze to the empty space in front of his desk. After so many thoughts about his existence and about the path he should follow from then on, he decided it was time to use his daily chance on the [Fate Gacha].

"...Let’s see what comes out today."

He performed his daily roll without expecting much. The moment the reward appeared before his eyes, however, his first reaction was simply...

"...Huh?"

For a few seconds he remained completely still, staring at the reward he had just received: the source of [All the Evils of the World]!

The name itself was already sufficiently explanatory. It was the concept associated with Angra Mainyu, the man who had been turned into a scapegoat by his own villagers, upon whom all the evils they wished to attribute to someone had been placed. In his former universe, that conception had ended up becoming literally real after its incorporation into the Holy Grail, transforming the concept of "all the evils" into a concrete existence.....

But before he could even organize his own thoughts...

A black mass appeared before him.

"—?!"

The mud advanced like a living creature and swallowed his entire body. He fell violently to the floor while that black substance penetrated his body, passing through his flesh, his soul, and his energy before fusing directly into the core of his existence. The first thing he felt was the weight of countless curses gathered into a single concept—that which humans had called ’All the Evils of the World’. But when he thought that was already strange enough, his [Divinity] reacted. It began to devour everything...

Alear felt a wave of pain course through his existence.

"...What the fuck...? Ahhhhh..."

A hoarse scream escaped his throat before he could contain it, but it was quickly muffled by the black mud itself that enveloped his body, preventing the sound from drawing anyone’s attention.

The ’black mud’ continued enveloping Alear for several minutes while his [Divinity] consumed that mass of curses without stopping. When it finally finished and the substance disappeared completely, his figure reappeared... and something was different. The color of his hair had taken on a more muted tone, while his eyes had transformed into an unusual mixture of blood-red and magenta-pink. His skin was paler, his body seemed slightly taller and more mature, and above all, his appearance had acquired a simultaneously malignant and enchanting charm, easily comparable to that of the true devil—the one who had fallen into damnation after being deposed from the heavens, once known as the most beautiful angel of all creation...

Alear stood up and fell to his knees on the office floor for a few seconds, breathing heavily. His hands trembled slightly as he observed them, noticing the subtle change in the tone of his skin and the strange sensation that now ran through his entire body.

"What happened to me...?" he murmured, his voice sounding a little rougher than usual.

He rose slowly, using the edge of the desk for support. His body still tingled, as if the newly absorbed energy continued settling into every cell. With a simple gesture he materialized a mirror in front of himself and remained silent as he stared at his own reflection, carefully analyzing the changes in his appearance. After a few seconds he dismissed the mirror and sat back down in the chair, letting out a long sigh while trying to get used to that completely strange sensation.

Well... he had just absorbed the source of [All the Evils of the World]. Considering that, perhaps it was perfectly normal for his body and existence to have undergone some changes...

But he had not become directly stronger. His quantity of mana had increased by a small margin and, as a consequence, his body had also strengthened considerably, yet his transformation still remained in the [Zero-Sum] state. He could feel, however, that that would probably change at some point in the future, because his [Divinity] was still absorbing and assimilating that thing little by little. As long as the assimilation was not completed, any definitive change in his existence would still be impossible to determine.....

Speaking of which, there was something else that bothered him.

He could feel that ’thing’ trying to influence his thoughts. It was an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible sensation, as if countless negative impulses were trying to infiltrate his mind, distorting emotions, thoughts, and instincts. If he did not possess that pragmatic nature inherited from [Mu], he would probably already have begun to lose his own identity. He might have ended up becoming a completely different version of himself... shaped by the influence of [All the Evils of the World].

Fortunately, his mind remained as cold and pragmatic as before. He was able to recognize those impulses without confusing them with his own thoughts, maintaining a clear separation between what belonged to him and what was trying to invade him....

"What a shitty reward..." Alear smiled ironically before his attention was drawn by a familiar magic circle that appeared in the middle of his office.

Huh...?

In the next instant the light of the circle intensified, and an elegant figure materialized in the center of the room. It was none other than Grayfia. She wore her usual maid uniform, maintaining an upright posture and a cold, almost completely expressionless face. Her eyes settled on Alear, analyzing him in silence.

Alear raised an eyebrow, still seated in the chair, and commented in a dry tone:

"...I believe this is an invasion of privacy."

Silence settled over the office for a few moments while the two continued staring at each other.

Grayfia, for the first time in a long while, felt genuinely surprised. The change in the man before her was impossible to ignore. The more muted color of his hair, the blood-red gleam mixed with magenta-pink in his eyes, the paler skin, and above all that appearance... perfect. Since when had he become so handsome and charming? Merely looking at that face made a strange sensation arise in her stomach, as if a swarm of butterflies were fluttering their wings inside it. And then there was his voice. When Alear spoke, the sound seemed as sweet as honey, soft enough to reach the depths of her heart and envelop her in a kind of enchantment. She suppressed those thoughts almost immediately, forcefully stifling them. What was she thinking!

She bowed briefly, recovering her impeccable posture as if nothing had happened.

"I apologize for the intrusion, Archduke Häangenti. I took the liberty of coming directly because there is a serious matter I need to discuss with you..." ℯℯ𝘭.

Alear raised an eyebrow, still seated, observing her with interest. He could already imagine the reason for that visit. In fact, he already knew exactly why she was there.....

"A serious matter... at this hour of the night?" His voice remained calm, almost casual. "What kind of matter would make the queen of the current Lucifer appear in my office without any prior notice?"

Grayfia maintained her cold expression, suppressing any trace of the internal confusion that still echoed in her chest. When she spoke again, her voice was firm and professional:

"It concerns the proposal you made earlier... during the meeting."

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