My Two Status Windows-Chapter 163

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Chapter 163: Sky Garden of the False God (2)

“It looks like a garden.”

A garden floating absurdly in the night sky.

There was a small fence around it, and the soil that made up the ground was clumped together, suspended in the air.

On top of it, colorful flowers were in full bloom.

“He definitely ran this way.”

Following the trail of the black energy led me into this strange garden.

It wasn’t a particularly large garden.

As I walked among the blooming flowers, the beautiful scenery began to change.

“Aren’t these... nymphs?”

The garden that had been blooming with beautiful flowers suddenly changed completely.

Instead of flowers, there were nymphs' body parts grotesquely embedded in the ground.

A beautiful scene had suddenly turned into an execution ground.

As I walked between the scattered nymph limbs, a black portal at the center of the garden came into view.

“Hmm...”

It was clearly suspicious.

Even when I analyzed it with Soul Disassembly, all I could see was a high density of SP.

Other than that, it just looked like a portal for transportation.

Didn’t seem to be any traps... but the real problem was where it would take me.

I looked around once more.

The center was filled with nymph corpses, while the outer edge bloomed with beautiful flowers — a bizarrely shaped garden.

There didn’t seem to be any hidden powers or traps in the garden itself.

“Soul Disassembly.”

I scouted while using Soul Disassembly, but no anomalies stood out.

The only thing I could confirm was the source of the floating garden’s energy.

The central black portal.

A tremendous amount of SP was being emitted from there, powering the garden.

“So in the end, I need to check inside the portal.”

Now that I knew there was nothing much to the garden itself, I stepped into the portal.

Even if it was a trap, I could always escape via soul mediation.

As I stepped through the portal, I entered a world of total darkness.

There was no ground to stand on, so I floated.

Was this what the night sky without even moonlight looked like?

Not a single speck of light.

[Soul God. You've entered our garden.]

[You’re fearless, aren’t you.]

Flash. Flash.

A bizarre language automatically translated in my head.

At the same time, five green lights flickered around me.

As the lights faded, what appeared were eyes.

Each about the size of my body.

In the center of the white sclera, green glowing pupils gleamed eerily.

Around the eyes were countless tentacles, and just by a glance, their size easily exceeded ten meters.

A giant eyeball monster?

A lower god—or perhaps slightly stronger than that.

The eye monsters extended their tentacles and surrounded me.

It looked like they could attack at any moment.

“Soul Barrier.”

I cast a barrier for now, and then the eyeball monster directly in front of me shouted.

[Wait! Here, I can repay the humiliation I suffered from that bastard... You all stay out of it!]

The monster was radiating intense hostility toward me.

Hmm.

That voice… sounds familiar?

“Artemis? No, the shell that possessed Artemis.”

[Screeech! Shell, you say!? I’ll kill you right here and now!]

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It got easily agitated at my guess—seems I was right.

This was the thing that had been controlling Artemis.

The one that took over Artemis’s body and, for some reason, rolled around with men.

When Artemis's body was destroyed, a green jewel had emerged.

Back then, just seeing it made my body freeze up completely...

But now, even though the eyeballs glow green like that jewel, I don’t feel the same paralysis.

Maybe it’s because my rank has gone up?

Anyway...

“Soul Energy Emission.”

[I’ll kill you right here and now!]

I drew my soul sword and emitted energy.

At the same time, the tentacles surrounding the green eyes all shot toward me.

The world lit up from the released energy.

Tentacles of a dark gray color flew at me in uncountable numbers.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

I spun my blade like a windmill.

It left behind a pure white afterimage that looked like a disc in front of me.

The tentacles tried to push through that barrier.

Fwoooosh.

But not a single one made it past my soul sword—they were all set ablaze.

The tentacles were definitely not weak.

But the power of the soul sword with soul energy emission was on a level even a deity couldn’t ignore.

No way these lesser monsters’ tentacles could break through.

[Screeech…!]

The eyeball let out a pained screech.

Where was the sound even coming from, anyway?

As that one faltered, I charged in to finish it off, but the remaining eyes began to act.

[Foolish wench.]

[Still, you are one of our kind.]

[We can’t just let you die.]

Eyes above, behind, to the right, and to the left of me.

They all extended their tentacles toward me at once.

Far more intense than the ones attached to the first eyeball.

It wasn’t infused with soul energy like those Olympus guys’ attacks, but still not something I could ignore.

While approaching the eyeball that had once been Artemis’s shell, I swung my soul sword in every direction.

Slash.

[Khh…!]

Slice.

[What is this power…!]

Fwoosh.

Another cut, another burst of flame.

[We can’t pierce that sword…!]

[Was the Soul God once a famed swordsman?]

Swordsman?

Nah.

It’s just that my chaotic battle experience from Asura’s Path is coming in handy.

[Ki… Kiiiek…]

I raced through the air and closed in on the eye in an instant.

Its tentacles already burnt away and shriveled.

As I approached, its eye suddenly began to glow.

[Ki… Kiiek… Become mine.]

A flash of light from its eye.

My body suddenly felt weak and relaxed.

Was this that charm ability it used back when it had Artemis's shell?

Why does this grotesque eyeball monster suddenly look… attractive…?

“Yo. If you're gonna seduce me, at least wear a prettier shell. Gross.”

Stab.

Come on.

No way I’d fall for an eyeball.

If I actually got charmed by this tentacled freak, I’d be unfit to be a god.

I drove my soul sword straight into the eye and intensified my energy release.

Immediately, the eyeball monster was engulfed in white flames.

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[Th-this can’t be…]

It vanished, leaving that as its final words.

[No way…!]

[How could it go down in just one strike?!]

The other eyeball monsters quickly flew away and retreated.

Rather than avenging their comrade, they were more eager to run.

Hmm...

I still don’t know where this is or who they are, but they’re enemies either way—so maybe I should beat some answers out of them?

“You first.”

I flew toward the eyeball that had been raining tentacles from above.

[Y-you wretch!]

The eye panicked as I approached.

It flailed its tentacles desperately, trying to flee, but I was faster.

Eventually, it gave up on running and counterattacked.

[Death Ray.]

A green light gathered at the eye and shot toward me.

A beam imbued with the power of death.

But in my current state, it's no threat.

“Soul Disassembly.”

I dismantled the incoming death ray.

It vanished into thin air before it could even reach me.

The shocked eye extended its tentacles again—but to no avail.

[Kieeeek!]

“Now there’s just two.”

Leaving the burning eyeball monster behind, I searched for the next target.

After I killed the second one, the remaining eyeballs were already vanishing into the distance.

Hmm.

Maybe I shouldn’t kill them outright next time—at least ask where I am first.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Three slow claps echoed through the darkness.

Then, light began to enter the dark space.

It started above my head and gradually brightened.

I looked up...

“A crescent moon?”

A curved yellow shape, just like a crescent moon.

A soft yellow light spread out and illuminated the dark space.

The entire area became visible.

“Ugh, what kind of place is this?”

The space was vast.

Even as a mid-tier god, I couldn’t take it all in at once.

I had to use divine speech to magnify my vision to see its end.

Looking closely at the distant edges of this vast place—

They were covered in dark gray tentacles.

Just like the ones dangling from the eyeball monsters, but much larger and covering the entire perimeter of the space.

Where am I?

[Soul God.]

A voice echoed from above the crescent moon.

A figure descended toward me.

A humanoid form cloaked in darkness.

Its face shimmered like a swirling vortex, with a green gem at the center glowing with a sinister light.

That look... it's familiar.

Wasn’t that the figure I saw when I slashed Artemis’s body?

I was wary, wondering if I’d freeze up again the moment I saw the gem like last time—but I didn’t.

There was pressure, sure, but it was bearable.

“Are you the one who’s taken over Artemis?”

[Yes. You can withstand my presence now, can you? Soul God. You’ve become a radiant being.]

The shadowy figure placed a hand over its chest and bowed politely.

There wasn’t any real hostility in that gesture.

“Who are you?”

[I am… a being that does not truly exist. I drift through dreams, dwelling in fiction.]

The shadowy figure was spouting nonsense.

“What are you talking about? You’re right in front of me.”

[And what do I look like to you?]

“A black human. A shadow person? Your face is swirling, and there’s a glowing green gem.”

[So that’s how we appear to gods.]

The shadowy figure shook its head slowly.

With a wave of his hand, a small crescent moon formed behind him.

Just the right size for someone to sit.

He casually sat down on it, crossing his legs and gazing at me.

[I am an evil god who has existed since before humanity appeared.]

Guh-oh-oh-oh.

The tentacles at the edge of the world began to stir.

The vortex surrounding the gem expanded, swallowing moonlight.

An evil god?

The corpses of the nymphs I saw in the garden came to mind.

Eyeball monsters, and those disgusting tentacles.

Definitely seems more evil than good…

[…A god defined by humanity. A fabricated god. A false god.]

“A false god? What are you talking about?”

[A god born from human tales. Fiction. That is what we are.]

A god made up for storytelling…?

This guy?

[Our concept only emerged about 100 years ago. And we are not objects of worship, but of fear. We are imagined beings, created to express cosmic horror.]

“Wait, hold on. If you’re just an imagined being, how are you this strong?”

He feels as powerful as a high-tier god.

Maybe not as flashy as Apollo at full power, but comparable to regular Apollo.

And this tentacle space.

If he’s controlling it…

That’s easily SSS-tier power.

SSS-tier gods are the central figures of major mythologies.

The gods I know of are pretty legendary in their own right.

And yet this guy—he’s imagined, and still puts out SSS-level output?

Makes no sense.

He’d need serious SP income to pull that off.

“Anyway… what’s your name?”

[I have no true name. I’m merely a fabricated being from a mythology that only emerged a century ago.]

“So what are you called in that myth?”

[K'aai.]

K'aai?

Is that even a god?

[You clearly don’t know me.]

“Of course not. I only really know the famous ones. But seriously, you’re just a made-up mythological being—how are you this strong?”

[Heh. Many things have happened. I’ve told you my name, but I can’t reveal any more to an enemy Soul God.]

“Oh, really? Then I guess we’re fighting.”

He clearly wasn’t going to say anything more, and those tentacles were starting to close in…

I prepared for battle again.

K'aai?

I’ll have to look that up later…

For now, I have to take out the enemy.

As I drew my soul sword and got ready to fight, K'aai held out both hands to stop me.

[So hasty. At least hear me out.]

“Your tentacles are approaching—I can’t just sit here.”

Clap. Clap.

At my words, K'aai clapped twice.

[The tentacles will stop. Can we talk a bit longer?]

Hmm…

They really did stop.

What the hell does he want to talk about?

“What kind of talk?”

[Let’s make a deal.]

“You want to make a deal?”

[Yes. Make us into true gods. And in return, we will aid you in place of Zeus.]

[A quest has been offered by K'aai.]

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