Although the dungeon continuously spawned new magical beasts, there was a time interval to the process.
Greg had casually cleared out the monsters along the way as he was exiting the dungeon earlier, which gave him the free time to converse with Nightmare in his mind right now.
“You seem to have misunderstood again.”
Nightmare’s voice sounded unhurried as she corrected Greg’s prior impression:
“The scent of a bitch I referred to does not originate from the girl herself, but from the smell of the goddess behind her, which clings to her body.”
Greg paused for a moment before catching on. “You mean... the Goddess of Light?”
“Indeed.”
Nightmare’s tone carried an undisguised disgust.
“Despite having a figure as barren as a desert, she always disguises herself as a bountiful land whenever she manifests. I still remember that creature arrogantly declaring: ‘Those are merely two useless lumps of burdensome fat; what is there to envy?’ And the result? Now she has turned herself into the very image she once despised most. Heh, truly bitchy and hypocritical to the extreme.”
This sudden, earth-shattering secret nearly made Greg stumble:
“Wait! What did you say?! The Goddess of Light’s giant treasure chests are fake?!”
In the original game, Greg had indeed seen the image of the Goddess of Light through Silvia’s perspective.
Holy, noble, radiant, and filled with an inviolable divinity.
Yet it had to be admitted that what left the deepest impression on players was indeed the goddess’s astounding, treasure-class scale.
Even now, he could still clearly recall that visually breathtaking magnificence.
If that turned out to be fake...
Greg felt a small piece of his fantasy regarding certain wonderful aspects of this world instantly collapse.
He originally wanted to ask, “How do you know about something like this?”
But he swallowed the words back down.
Although the original game’s lore didn't state it outright, the background material had subtly mentioned that the Goddess of Night, Nightmare, and the Goddess of Light, Serafina, seemed to share an origin as sister goddesses in an exceedingly ancient era.
If that was truly the case, it made sense for Nightmare to know certain hidden secrets about the other.
So, he switched to a more practical question: “For real? Do you have proof?”
“Proof?” Nightmare sneered. “I have no need for the proof mortals require, but I possess a method to prove it.”
“What method?”
“It is quite simple.”
A trace of mischievous delight bled into Nightmare’s voice:
“You need only shout at the top of your lungs to the little girl ahead of you—‘Serafina is a big-busted fake bitch!’ Then, regardless of where she is or what she is doing at this moment, she will surely descend with a strand of her divine will using her most compatible vessel to come here and settle accounts with you. How about it? Care to give it a try?”
Greg didn't answer right away.
He was rapidly weighing the pros and cons.
The Goddess of Light, Serafina, possessed the largest and most devout follower base in the human world today. The power of faith she could mobilize was as vast as the ocean, completely incomparable to the down-and-out Hajimi cowering in his shadow before him.
If he could really summon Serafina through this method and somehow convince her to grant him some powerful Divine Protection or blessings...
Forget clearing the first layer of this dungeon, even the subsequent layers would probably become a whole lot easier.
Facing such a massive temptation, Greg asked cautiously, “What’s... your relationship with her like right now?”
Nightmare answered crisp and clear, without a shred of hesitation: “Sworn enemies until death.”
Greg: “...Next time you want me dead, you can just say it outright. No need to be so roundabout.”
He felt a deep wave of helplessness.
He had thought he was about to cling to a massive powerhouse's leg, only to realize he nearly drew the ire of a terrifying enemy who could crush him to death countless times over.
Disappointment aside, his curiosity still won out in the end.
“Aren't you two... sister goddesses? Logically, you should be close. How did things get to the point of being sworn enemies?”
Nightmare seemed to ponder for a moment before speaking in a somewhat uncertain tone:
“Mm... as for the specific reason, the endless passage of time has eroded my memories, so I cannot recall clearly. Perhaps... it has something to do with how I used to mock her for being a ‘washboard flat enough to race horses on’?”
Greg almost choked on his own saliva. “Don't you remember the reason perfectly fine?!”
He now strongly suspected that the Holy Church of Light’s historical efforts to suppress faith and traces related to the night were driven not only by doctrinal conflicts, but very likely hid Goddess Serafina’s personal grudge as well.
For instance, ensuring that no one ever learned the earth-shattering secret that her impressive figure was actually fake.
“Hey.”
Nightmare’s dissatisfied voice interrupted his thoughts:
“Why do I feel like you have been complaining in your head this whole time? As my other half, shouldn't you share my enmity and ponder together how to take revenge on that hypocritical bitch?”
Greg sighed helplessly:
“Please wake up to reality. I'm only LV17 right now. What do you expect me to use to take revenge on a Goddess of Light who has hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of fanatical believers, and whose regional bishops could easily crush me in level? Love? Or my ‘Whimpering’ skill that I just leveled up to LV4?”
“That is simple.”
Nightmare’s tone was as casual as discussing what to eat for dinner:
“You need only find a way to make the little girl up ahead fall in love with you. Then, when your souls and flesh merge—at that very moment when her consciousness is hazy and her connection with the goddess is at its most intimate yet vulnerable—suddenly whisper in her ear: ‘Serafina is a big-busted fake bitch!’ and that will suffice.”
“I am already starting to wonder what kind of amusing expression that high-and-mighty, pretentious bitch will make, and what delightful gasps she will emit under you.”
Greg remained silent for several seconds.
“...I am now completely certain that you aren't a goddess at all. You're a devil to your very core, aren't you?!”
Rate on N.U.
