Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son-Chapter 538: A Hopeless World [9] [Blasphemer]

[Lower District, Orth Kingdom.]

A burning feeling across my entire back made me gasp in pain.

My fingers dug into the dirty stone beneath me as my breath came out uneven.

The ground was cold, rough, and damp, but the fire under my skin made it feel like I was lying on hot iron.

"...Damn it," I muttered through clenched teeth.

I slowly looked down at Epione who was curled against my chest.

Half her dress was burned, but she was mostly unharmed.

Tweet!

I looked down and found Liraz chirping gently.

’....I guess you are fine.’

I thought, separating myself from her, but I couldn’t move much because of the glaring pain in my back.

But as if it wasn’t enough, my legs began to sting as well.

"..."

When I looked down, most of my calf was burned to the bone.

Liraz fluttered down, landing near my shoulder.

His tiny body was tense, eyes glowing faintly as he looked down.

"I am fine." I mumbled, sitting up while ignoring the pain.

The next moment, I felt someone holding my body.

"My Lord." Arawn whispered softly, concern clear in his voice. "...A-are you alright?"

"....What happened?" I asked, letting Ruah roam freely all over my body.

That helped in minimizing the pain and healing the threatening wounds.

"It was a trap." Arawn said, clenching his jaw. "The Outer Goddess was aware of your presence, she planned to kill you there."

"...."

I rubbed my face as I looked at my legs getting healed.

Had I not been cautious and used fate to increase my defense, I would have died.

I let out a slow breath and leaned my head back against the broken wall behind me.

Ruah moved under my skin like cool water, stitching muscle, sealing nerves, numbing what it could.

Arawn kept staring at me, the look of guilt clear on his face.

Slowly, he looked back at Epione who was still unconscious.

"Nothing like this would have happened if you had just left her—."

"Arawn." I cut him off. "Don’t question my decision."

"...."

He lowered his gaze, though he didn’t move away from supporting my body.

Though, he wasn’t wrong. If I had used all my defense on myself instead of saving Epione, nothing would have happened to me.

"I understand," he said after a moment, though his voice was quiet. "I only meant—"

"I know what you meant," I replied, eyes still on my healing leg.

Fresh skin spread slowly over bone, pale and new. "And you’re right."

That made him look at me.

"I made the choice," I continued. "So the consequences are mine too."

Liraz hopped closer to my shoulder and nudged my cheek gently.

I flexed my leg again. Pain shot up, but the limb obeyed.

Most of my back was now numb and healed, so I finally looked up.

"...."

For a moment, I thought my vision was still blurred from the pain, but it wasn’t.

Countless white shapes drifted across the dark sky like falling snow, going in every direction.

A significant number of them roamed the sky while a part of them moved toward Akasha.

"...No," I muttered under my breath.

This was much worse than I had previously expected.

An infiltration of an Outer God in plain sight.

Epione stirred weakly in my arms.

"...It’s cold," she murmured.

I shifted her closer, keeping my voice steady. "Just rest."

Epione shivered again.

"Ruah," I whispered.

Warmth spread from my chest, flowing into her body.

Her shaking eased, her breathing steadied.

I slowly stood up, seeing if my legs could handle my weight.

’Good enough.’

I picked Epione up in my arms as I looked at Arawn.

"Don’t do anything unless I say so." I said, walking away. "For now, let’s go home."

---

[Head Base of the Three Gods Church]

[Kandam Continent]

"How did this happen?"

Leila’s voice echoed through the hologram placed in front of me.

I sat on the edge of my bed as I looked down at the princess.

"You tell me." I spoke, keeping my voice steady. "How did you guys get to know about the whole ’kidnapping’ of Asuras?"

Leila went quiet on the other side of the projection.

The blue light of the hologram flickered across her face, making her look more tired than usual.

I had already explained the whole thing to her and what had happened.

"We received a report," she said at last. "It was an anonymous tip."

Made sense. Even though the whole thing was big, it would have taken a lot more time for them to notice the vanishing of people.

’...It was like someone planned the whole thing.’

"It was bait," I said. "And you took it."

She didn’t argue.

"What should we do now?" She asked, looking at me for solutions.

"Calm your citizens first." I said. "We will talk later."

I didn’t wait for her response as I severed the connection.

"It was unnecessary." A voice spoke from behind. "Throwing yourself like that in danger."

I didn’t look back as I felt a water-soaked cloth clean the blood and dead skin from my back.

Nymeria’s hair peeked over my shoulder as she grew quiet.

The cloth moved lower along my back, where the burns had been worst.

Ruah had already healed the flesh, but the memory of pain still lingered in my nerves.

"You saw them too?" I asked.

"The sky?" she said softly. "Yes."

Her hand paused for a second. "It wasn’t your fault."

Nymeria wrung the cloth in a small bowl of water.

The water had already turned pink.

She got up from the bed along with the bowl.

"I know you won’t listen but..." She kissed my cheek. "Please just rest for a while."

I nodded my head as she walked out of the room.

It didn’t take long before two young men walked inside.

Aimar threw himself on the bed while Elijah looked over my body.

"So," Aimar said, voice muffled, "I heard you almost died for like the nth time."

"I hope you get molested by a sea monster."

"Tentacle one?"

"What a nice fetish, Aimar."

He let out a fake laugh and slapped my back. "You are funny."

I winced in pain, rubbing away the sting on my newly formed skin.

"What is the thing in the sky, Himmel?" Elijah asked with a serious look. "What are they?"

"Offsprings of an Outer Goddess." I replied with a sigh. "They are like seeds—."

"Wait, wait. What’s an Outer Goddess?" Elijah cut me off, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Well, think of her as the Creator God’s sister." I dumbed down the complex relationship of gods. "And she wants to take away the world of her brother."

"Why?"

"I have no idea."

"How is she going to do that?"

"Again, no clue."

Elijah let out a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his temples. "Fuck me."

"Is this why the Three God Church did that?" Aimar mumbled, gaining my attention.

"They did what?" I asked.

"This morning, they issued a message for everyone." He said, as he rolled onto his side, propping his head on his hand.

"Anyone who is worshipping Gods except the Primordial Ones will be classified as blasphemer and will be killed on the spot."

Elijah stopped rubbing his temples.

"...They said that?" he asked slowly.

Aimar nodded. "Priests in every major city repeating it."

I leaned back in the chair, staring at the ceiling. "So they’re panicking."

Guess the Primordial Gods didn’t want people to worship the Outer Gods.

’...My guess would be because they would dig their roots deeper if the people began to worship them.’

Liraz fluttered from the window to the bedpost, feathers puffed.

He quickly moved up and sat on my head like a crown.

I ignored him as I thought about my next course of action.

’....I first need to identify who laid the trap for me.’

It would be impossible for the Outer Goddess to do it all by herself.

’Someone is definitely helping her.’

I let out a sigh as I stood up and walked toward the door.

The other two also followed behind me, though they were more serious now.

"You guys should get stronger." I said, without looking at them. "I need you guys more than ever."

"No matter how much we train." Aimar groaned. "We can’t help you fight gods."

"Of course you can." I said, smiling. "You just don’t know it yet."

"You speak like someone who uses other humans like bait."

"Shut up, fuck face."

I let out a sigh as I looked up at the sky once again.

It was close to afternoon, yet Akasha was clearly visible.

High above, the white shapes were no longer drifting randomly.

They were gathering, arranging themselves in a slow, turning ring around Akasha like moths around a silent, silver flame.

Aimar shoved his hands into his pockets. "That can’t be good."

"No," I agreed. "It’s not."

The Mother of Endless Dreams....

....What do you plan to do with Akasha?

But as I kept staring at the sky, something clicked within my mind.

....The creature that the Saint Cathedral Church of the Moon Goddess’ priest said was under Akasha.

’....Is she after that?’