Chapter: 186
The fight that could be dubbed “a battle of powers” was, in reality, a battle that shouldn’t exist at all.
The existence known as That One, who had neutralized the minds of the Gag Residents and capped their powers with just a fraction of his essence, was facing off against Lian, whose powers had weakened significantly after having his soul forcibly ripped from his body.
It was like an ant trying to take on a nuclear bomb. It was entirely absurd to even think about the outcome.
Kah-bang—!
That obvious truth crumbled with a cheerful sound. The powers rebounding off Lian’s wooden sword shot high into the sky and vanished.
“Huff, huff… Seriously… Stop attacking… huff!”
Whether it was due to his body being changed or if it was just his perception, he felt like he was choking, the heat of a burnout rising from within his throat.
‘At this point, isn’t it time to just give up?!’
Lian kept moving to escape the relentless gaze following him, mentally sobbing while running. He’d been dashing non-stop for over an hour, and it felt like his body was about to give out.
“I’ll keep running, so you just ride on my back—”
“Huff, huff… No…!”
It wasn’t pride that kept him stubborn. Deep down, he wanted nothing more than to hop on Jess’s back and slack off, but he couldn’t do that because of his ‘speed.’
Even though he was exhausted, Lian’s legs moved faster than the eye could follow, allowing him to sprint like a madman.
If the Outsider hadn’t been deliberately making him circle the Demon King’s Castle, he would have easily escaped by now.
‘If I slow down any more, all hell’s going to break loose.’
Attacks were still raining down crazily, but he was moving so quickly that there was a small gap where he passed, and only one attack fell behind him at a time. If he even slightly decreased his speed, dozens of attacks would rain down on him like chestnuts in autumn.
For that reason, he couldn’t even switch places with Jess. While inwardly shedding tears, he continued forward when suddenly—
KABOOM!
An attack from the Outsider rained down in their path. Lian darted out of the way like a nimble cat, smoothly avoiding the attack and finding a clear corridor.
‘This is hopeless. I need to come up with a way to break out of here.’
Just as he was struggling to catch his breath, a rock that hadn’t been visible a moment ago suddenly blocked his path with a dazzling move.
Thud!
“Ugh?!”
His foot snagged on the rock, and his body lurched forward. Jess immediately reached out and pulled Lian’s head close to her. The soft warmth she enveloped him in brought on a wave of dizziness as he nearly forgot about the marathon they were running.
“Ugh…?”
When Lian came to, he found himself on an unknown fluffy cushion. Jess, who was still half-hugging him like a protective dog, kept scanning the area around them.
As Lian attempted to reassure Jess with a “I’m fine,” suddenly—
KABOOM…!!
A thunderous sound like a storm-filled day echoed around them. Jess jumped, pressing her sensitive ears down with her hands. Her eyes narrowed as they looked up at the dark sky beyond the crumbled ceiling of the Demon King’s Castle.
Lian followed her gaze, sensing something ominous come through the dark clouds that swirled around, seemingly being sucked into one point.
‘This feels like a prelude to the summoning of a sealed demon…’ Lian trembled. Real fear, a feeling he hadn’t encountered before, began to wash over him.
‘I need to escape… right now.’
An endless dread flooded him, as if he had encountered the God of Gag World, narrowing his eyes mischievously and chuckling with a “Kyokyokyo” before pulling his next prank.
“Jess, we need to run—”
Before Lian could finish his sentence—
RUMBLE!
The dark clouds sped up, and tension filled the Demon King’s Castle. The center of the clouds that was getting sucked in suddenly burst open.
Pyeong!
“Pyo?!”
The unexpected cuteness of the sound startled Jess, who cocked her head in confusion. Lian’s face turned pale.
“It… is coming…”
“J-Jess?”
“No! This is a disaster…!”
Lian stared blankly at the being that appeared in blinding light, completely out of place next to those dark clouds. With cat ears in a maid outfit, a crescent-shaped face, and a sparkling magic wand, she wore a wide smile.
Bam bam!
The moment the Goddess of Gag World fully revealed herself, upbeat music, seemingly out of nowhere, began to play. The Goddess struck an odd pose and exclaimed.
“From somewhere—!”
As she began to deliver a line that seemed copyrighted, she twirled her magic wand in an animated style.
Pyo-ron!
A cute sound accompanied her movement, and—
“Nyaaang~!”
As her nonsensical words trailed off, a loud KA-BLAM echoed. Blinding lightning crackled behind her, announcing her arrival.
‘So, that’s why the Outsider weakened suddenly… a disaster showed up!!’
Lian’s strong aversion was entirely justified. The Goddess in the heavens and the one who descended to the Earth were fundamentally different entities.
In the celestial realm, the Goddess was a whimsical, chaotic otaku; but down here, she was truly the ‘incarnation of Gag.’
Every single ridiculous gag he had experienced so far now seemed like mere child’s play in comparison to the impending ‘calamity’ about to unfold.
Incomprehensible gags too ahead of their time to fathom; such bizarre occurrences swirled around the Goddess as naturally as breathing. Having been wrapped in her gags a few times already, Lian immediately sprang to his feet and lifted Jess into a princess-carry.
“Whaaa?!”
Jess let out an adorable sound, her ears and tail sticking up like a startled cat. Reflexively, her hands shot out to grasp Lian’s clothes tightly.
‘Run, we need to escape! As far from this calamity as possible!’
His mind was filled with the single thought of ‘escape,’ leaving no room to enjoy Jess’s cute reactions.
Tadah-tadah!
Without a second thought, Lian bolted away.
“Nya-hah! Now it’s your turn, nya!”
From behind, he heard the voice of the Goddess of Gag World as she addressed the Outsider, referred to as That One. A fleeting thought popped into his mind: ‘If they were to fight, who would win? What if the Goddess of Gag World lost?’ But he quickly pushed the thought away.
He wasn’t keen on getting caught in a whale fight as a shrimp.
*
Striking a grand pose while looking at the Outsider, the Goddess suddenly put her hands on her hips and said.
“If your opponent shows up in style and introduces themselves, you should have the courtesy to introduce yourself as well!”
At her words, the Outsider, momentarily taken aback, almost stumbled over his own reaction. Given his high rank, his essence had become something akin to ‘nature,’ and he didn’t feel emotions or ‘speak’ in the usual sense.
It wasn’t that he was incapable of feeling; it was more akin to searching for anger amidst a raging storm. He didn’t see any need to lower himself to converse using voice when he could transmit his thoughts directly.
Yet, in that moment, he spoke as if his status had been lowered, feeling delicate and vibrant emotions. For this to happen, the Goddess standing before him had to be an equivalent—or stronger—deity.
‘…Is it really possible for an entity of this caliber to descend without any kind of offering or price?’
Typically, Outsiders crossing dimensions to devour dark fantasy worlds only send a fragment of their true forms and can’t fully materialize.
The reason the dimension can’t bear the Outsider’s essence is twofold: the spirit’s weight and how narrow the dimensional gap is. To completely ‘descend,’ an astronomical number of sacrifices, causality, and preparation is necessary.
Preparing sacrifices by slaughtering numerous living beings would undoubtedly attract the notice of other Outsiders. Sure, sneaking in a few kills might work, but they’d still need the lives of hundreds of thousands. It would be nearly impossible to eliminate that many creatures without being detected.
Even if a sacrifice was somehow ready, the problem remained. Absorbing a lot of causality at once would naturally affect the true body resting beyond dimensions.
Even if a fragment or a duplicate were here, the true form existed beyond the dimension. Thus, if a specific Outsider consumed too much causality, it would be caught.
Ultimately, preparing for a ‘descent’ covertly is impossible. It’s inconceivable that ‘That One,’ the being with the highest rank and keenest senses in this world, wouldn’t know.
‘How could this happen?’
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