Chapter 517 (2): Look at her, Wayne. She’s bullying me. - Ines

“Adventurer, you won’t betray the goddess’s trust, will you?”

“Of-of course,” Wayne said, raising his voice. “The crime of undermining love is unforgivable. They’re dead.”

“Wonderful. Let’s set out now!” Vichy turned to Briar and Kaya. “The Listener, the Avenger, you each have your own mission, too. You must assist Adventurer Wayne in saving the goddess. Please seize this chance. It may be your only hope for redemption.”

The two subordinate gods became eager. Whether the goddess was making empty promises, at least She had made them promises.

“Remember. The evil bosses undermining the goddess are incredibly powerful and will stop at nothing for their goals. Once they find out that they aren’t the adventurer’s match, they’ll resort to shameless tricks. Most likely, they’ll stop the adventurer with their beauty.”

Vichy stopped crying. Suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, she deadpanned, “That’s where you come in. Keep in mind that this is your only chance.”

“...” x3

When I’m confused, I’m not responsible. You are.

When I’m confused, I’m not responsible... Alright, I am responsible. x2

The two subordinate gods couldn’t express their frustration. Wayne rolled his eyes. What was Ines up to? Sending Her subordinates to tie him down further so that he wouldn’t be seduced? Since when had Ines become so generous? It didn’t make sense!

Soon, Wayne realized that Ines had simply found another way to torment Briar and Kaya. If they went for it, they would be courting death by seducing their master’s lover. If they didn’t, they would be dead for giving up their last chance at redemption.

No matter what they did, they were doomed.

As expected of you. You’ve always been good at pushing people to mental breakdown.

Wayne looked at the two subordinate gods with resignation, telling them to take the lead with a hand gesture.

Dazed, Briar and Kaya led the way to the direct path to the Abyss of Dark Stars. They couldn’t see anything but darkness in their future.

***

Except for the still-immature Hell, every Divine Realm was connected to a part of the Astral Plane, with the Heaven of Crystals of Heaven and the One Universe of the Underworld as good examples. The Divine Realm of Darkness was no exception. Ines called that patch of the Astral Plane the Abyss of Dark Stars.

She used the information of Darkness to draw the Darkness permeating the Astral Plane, then filtered the primitive, insane information with faith to make it easy to grasp, mitigating the side effects of corruption.

The Abyss of Dark Stars was a dim cosmos where the starry sky wasn’t a radiant scroll adorned with stars, but an ominous picture in which omnipresent darkness turned starlight into a bad omen.

It seemed aligned with the Goddess of Darkness’s old moniker, the Plague of Stars, but closer inspection would prove otherwise. The Plague of Stars represented Darkness. While it was named a plague, it actually represented a darkness that covered up the light of the sun, moon, and stars.

This view, on the other hand, was too insidious to be pure Darkness.

White miasma invisible to the naked eye permeated the cosmos, causing the stars’ mutation. Anyone exposed to it either fell into insanity or mutated into bizarre forms due to physical deterioration, their souls finding no peaceful rest.

It would seem to a normal person that the Divine Realm of Darkness was sick, cursed by chaos and catastrophe. The cancerous cells hid in the Astral Plane and brought despair and fear to the established order.

Briar and Kaya looked at the sickly stars around them with terror, keeping their distance.

“About half a year ago, the Abyss of Dark Stars suddenly started mutating,” Briar said gravely. “The goddess seems to be trying something. We don’t yet know how things will pan out, but given Her wisdom and foresight, things will surely change for the better.”

Wayne nodded, smelling his vassal in the air. Ines had brought corrupted thoughts back to the Divine Realm, securing a filter that was more robust than faith. That, placed in the Abyss of Dark Stars on the eleventh level, was what caused the cosmos to mutate into a chaotic universe.

To be more precise, Ines had never been Wayne’s vassal. Her main body was in the Divine Realm, and She had merely cut off the corrupted thoughts with Her Authority as a god. Wayne’s will had not influenced Her main body.

She could control the corrupted thoughts, so She had not allowed them to procreate and turn the entire Divine Realm into Wayne’s shape.

Vichy was one of those who knew the truth. She walked the Astral Plane, unconcerned about the corruption.

If Wayne was going to corrupt her, she would have long since turned into an Astral creature from all the seeds she had taken in. She knew Wayne. He had always been regretful about transforming Anastasia into a vassal. He would only corrupt a living being if he was left with no choice.

Her audacity caught the attention of Briar and Kaya. They hurriedly warned her that the abyss was no longer the representation of the goddess’s divine might that it had been. She had to exercise the utmost caution.

Vichy glanced at Wayne. When he said nothing, she heeded Briar’s advice and took detours carefully.

It’s too slow!

Wayne extended his thoughts to identify the patterns in this space. Cutting open a pale crack in front of him, he took Vichy, Briar, and Kaya on a spatial jump, reaching the depths of the Abyss of Dark Stars.

Briar and Kaya were terrified. The former blanched, while the latter trembled as she warned, “You’re being too reckless, Adventurer. Your thoughts will mutate after coming into contact with the cosmos. Examine yourself and make sure that your mind has not turned pale.”

She raised her hands to examine Wayne. After a moment of silence, he nodded and said, “Indeed, I was reckless. Please examine me closely. Be thorough.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Nodding, Kaya took his palm with both hands and extended her senses, her eyes closed.

Thud!

Briar hit Kaya on the shoulder, pulling a long face. “Get your dirty hands off the adventurer. Don’t you know what you’re doing? This is a grave desecration.”

“But I’m sav—”

Oh, right.

Kaya shot Wayne an accusing glance. She had been so focused on saving him that she forgot he was the goddess’s lover. Anyone could be corrupted, but not Wayne.

Once again, he kept quiet and set her up even though he knew everything.

Do you know? You’re truly a perfect match with the goddess! You’re meant for each other!

“What’s that eye roll for?” Wayne arched an eyebrow and raised his voice. “Do you have any complaints for me?”

“I wouldn’t dare. I’ve made a mistake.” Kaya quickly asked for forgiveness, so readily that she seemed pitiful.

“Hmph, you’re done. I’m a petty man. I’ll be telling Ines about how you’re a little pervert who covets me, that you groped my hand under the guise of saving me.”

Wayne succeeded in making Kaya cry with his huffing. He had already made three ladies cry numerous times today, collecting countless pearls of tears. That gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

“Oh, isn’t that black palace the Heart of Supreme Darkness, the twelfth level?”

He pointed at the palace of darkness in the distance. Built in a Gothic style, the architecture was tall, grim, eerie, mysterious, and terrifying, with a strong element of faith. Darkness and desolation were the key components. The powerful visual fit Wayne’s impression of the wicked woman perfectly.

The Goddess of Darkness should live in a creepy house like this.

“That’s not it,” Briar said. “That’s supposed to be the residence of the two bosses.”

“That so...” Wayne blinked and changed his tune. “What a grand palace. The tall dome seems to connect to the dark universe beyond the stars, with countless fine light particles flickering in the air. Under the dome, complex runes ringed the intangible throne, whispering the ancient taboo knowledge. The two bosses are so strong.”

What? Which side are you on? x2

Briar and Kaya didn’t understand what Wayne was up to. It felt like... he was appealing to the two bosses.

Rumble!!!

While you gaze at the abyss, the abyss is gazing back. The two bosses had been waiting for a long time. Wreathed in Darkness energy, they descended upon the four adventurers.

Their obscured forms appeared to be an amalgamation of fear, despair, and malice, sometimes manifesting as humans and other times as intangible mist. Their forms were impossible to pin down.

Spectres and wraths roamed around them, shrieking and sneering intermittently. The sounds echoed in the void, maximizing the evil effect.

When the two figures appeared, time seemed to lose its meaning, and space became distorted. Decay and death permeated the air, as if every breath was defiling the pure world of Darkness.

“They are the purest evil in the world, representing temptation and confusion. They are the end of Darkness and the greatest sin.” Vichy continued the cutscene.

Unlike the two subordinate gods, who were on high alert, Wayne the adventurer felt numb.

（─。─||）

So it is the two of you!

The two figures were blurred, but the silhouettes were still recognizable to him. He readily identified the two bosses—Anastasia, the Holy Maiden of Darkness, and Aztimor, the Goddess of Death. They were the two women whom Ines hated the most.

Wayne had nothing to say about Ines’s hate for Anastasia. In fact, he believed it was entirely Ines’s fault.

What? The Holy Maiden had been making her goddess eat scraps? That wasn’t accurate. The Holy Maiden, out of loyalty, couldn’t stand seeing her goddess humiliated, so she fed herself to the tiger instead.

His white moonlight was the best. She could do no wrong.

Even so, Wayne knew that Anastasia was just a mere Holy Maiden to Ines, akin to a maid and part of the dowry, just like Vichy. They would never be Her rivals, much less Her equals.

That was at odds with the reality, though. Maid Anastasia held an unchallenged place in Wayne’s heart, and Ines could not reach the same status no matter how hard She tried. Every time She complained, Wayne would humor Her. Never had he even attempted to treat them fairly.

Look at her, Wayne. She’s bullying me.

Really? I don’t see that. You must have seen it wrong. Ana just made a careless mistake.

After a few times, the Holy Maiden of Darkness became the woman the Goddess of Darkness most despised. To prevent her from getting any, Ines pushed Vichy to get some and more.

The reason Ines hated Aztimor was even simpler: the wench couldn’t be forgiven for seducing Her bestie’s boyfriend.

The two unforgivable sinners stood in the way of Darkness’s love. They were enemies who had to be eliminated!

(ノへ￣、)

Wayne was speechless. Ana was one thing. His white moonlight was mild-tempered. She never fought and could not resist Ines even if she wanted to. It made sense that she would accept the role of an antagonist in the way of Darkness’s love.

But what about Aztimor? Since when had She become so obedient? Was the Goddess of Death unable to resist just because this was the Divine Realm of Darkness?

It couldn’t be!

On paper, Aztimor had long since secured three subordinate gods, and Death was a rival of Nature. Darkness’s rivals were Sun and Moonlight. Aztimor should be stronger than Ines. She couldn’t have been so helpless even though She was away from Her home ground.

To have Aztimor play the role of a villain destined to fail, forced to watch Her master embraced by a wicked woman... It would be no different from killing Aztimor, carving Her heart out, and mincing it to make a stew.

Aztimor wouldn’t have accepted such an absurd script.

Something was amiss!