“Th-the Evil God…?”
“O-O-Orma! Ban, you’re Orma’s apostle!”
Winod, who shrieked as if screaming and was horrified, and Lady Lebesi, who for the first time revealed the emotion of deep fear on her face, looked back and forth between Ban and Orma.
However, Ban paid no attention to them and raised his head to look up at Orma, praying inwardly. Orma, who had coolly revealed his handsome face, answered with a wicked smile instead of words. Though he didn’t know the detailed reason, his apostle had requested him to reveal his existence. Orma gladly answered the prayer and manifested divine power in person so that no one could deny it.
The shadow that bloomed from his toes exponentially increased in size and covered everything visible. It avoided living things, climbed up buildings, and eventually began to reach the sky. At that bizarre and grotesque sight, people either screamed and ran away or their bodies froze in shock, trembling on the spot.
Soon, the sky, which had been blue enough to be worthy of the title of Azure City, began to be dyed with a black that permitted no impurities, and only when not a trace of blue could be found did people finally realize that night had arrived.
“…Ni-night… it’s night! Night has come!”
“The sunlight has disappeared… This is… th-this is a miracle…! We’ve witnessed divine power!”
There was a reason why the people of Gillia cried out that night had come.
The lighthouse transparent like a soap bubble was soon Gillia’s specialty and pride. They loved the city with that beautiful lighthouse, and whenever painters and musicians from around the world visited Gillia, they would fall for the lighthouse that shone brightly even at night, pour out all kinds of praise, and create masterpieces of the century. However, the disaster’s sunlight grew day by day, devouring the night, and as travelers, traders, and ships decreased, Gillia was gradually becoming lonely and desolate.
But the sky, which had been boasting brilliant and stinging sunlight just moments ago, turned pitch black in an instant as if someone had painted it over, and a pitch-dark night came where not even a ray of light could be seen. As the sky darkened, the lighthouse reflexively responded and sparkled, performing its role. With the lighthouse firmly holding its position in the dark sky where neither stars nor moon were visible, just that alone brought back the beautiful night scenery that the people of Gillia had longed for.
“…Why? Is it too dark?”
Even after dyeing the entire world in darkness, Orma busily examined only Ban’s expression with an indifferent face. Seeing him carefully checking if there was anything uncomfortable, Ban smiled brightly and shook his head. Nevertheless, Orma pondered and snapped his fingers to use divine power once more. Brilliant and dazzling golden waves bloomed and flew up to the sky, decorating the sky faintly but beautifully as if becoming golden shining stars.
Ban gazed at the scene in a daze. There was nothing that wasn’t beautiful. There was nothing scary, frightening, or hideous. The tranquil darkness gently caressed everything that was tired from the light pouring down so intensely it stung.
The meaning of the game’s title, <MOX NOX>, was ‘Night Will Soon Come’.
Night will soon come…
“Now it looks decent, right?”
Orma, looking at Ban with satisfaction. Right, as expected, Orma was both the final boss in the game and the protagonist of the game. Like the title ‘Night Will Soon Come,’ saving him meant saving the world.
This was… the correct answer the world desired.
* * *
“…We left Jaena-ssi behind, will that be okay?”
“That guy will manage fine on his own. Don’t worry about it.”
Jaena will manage fine on his own? It’s not that he’ll manage well on his own, but that you don’t care whether he manages well or not, right? Ban smiled awkwardly while looking at Orma, who responded with an indifferent face.
Well, if something had happened, Jaena would have noisily prayed asking to be saved and grated on Orma’s nerves. Of course Jaena would have witnessed the miracle of night falling, and would have realized it was Orma’s divine power. But well, since Ban and Orma disappeared without a trace after that, no immediate crisis would have befallen Jaena.
“Then you left that tiger kid in Gillia?”
“We were separated… so there was no choice.”
“Aha, he was a child I got along with pretty well, what a shame!”
Ban and Orma fled straight to the floating island after bringing night to the world. Though he hadn’t even thrown a spear, Gail, who had been wondering whether Orma was calling him after seeing him dye the world black, had eventually descended to the ground. Fortunately, thanks to Orma’s divine power covering the sky, no one could see Gail’s appearance, so no additional commotion arose.
Ban planned to first spend tonight on the floating island, then secretly descend to Gillia early tomorrow morning to pick up Jaena and board the ship heading to Yeru.
The only worry was what to do if Duke Lebesi closed the sea routes, but even if they continued to chase Ban, since he had disappeared so suddenly right before their eyes, they probably wouldn’t be able to track him further for now. Well, should I think about the remaining worries like the captain refusing boarding when I get on the ship tomorrow…
“Still, the plan to go back down to Gillia tomorrow and take a ship is curious.”
“Huh? Is that curious?”
“Of course. If it were the Orma of the past with his ruined personality, he would have treated me like an airship and arbitrarily climbed on my back to torment me, saying he didn’t want to mix with humans so you should somehow fly there!”
“…”
“Wait, don’t be tempted. Short flights are one thing, but from here to Yeru is out of the question!”
How unfortunate. As Ban clicked his tongue in regret, Orma, who had been quietly watching, flickered his eyes and grabbed Gail by the collar.
“Then you’re just lazily playing around and eating here without doing anything?”
“Hiik! Why, why are you doing this! I’m living so busily!”
“What do you have to be busy with. At most you’re doing things like polishing the gems on the island, changing display positions, collecting rare gems, what are you doing.”
“…You don’t know how important that work is.”
Gail, who had become gloomy, retorted, but it seemed he thought he couldn’t strongly deny that he was basically just playing around, eating, and lazing about. Orma snorted at this and lightly shook the collar he was holding.
“Then you come down too. Dive in the sea and help from below the ship I’m riding, okay?”
“A-aah! I’m dizzy! Let go! Are you treating a dragon like some boatman right now!”
“A boatman is better. At least they do helpful work, but you don’t do anything.”
“Tsk…”
What good does grumbling do? Ban blankly watched the two bicker while fiddling with the gem Gail had given him, saying it was treasure he’d newly obtained. He hadn’t even finished disposing of the treasures he’d taken before…
[Bear’s Moon, Day 21, 20:53 *You have a new notification!]
And at that moment, as if telling him to check system messages if he had nothing to do, a system window appeared before his eyes along with a clear notification sound. Come to think of it, could someone have become a believer after seeing the divine power Orma manifested, increasing his faith? Worry rushed in enough to make his vision dizzy, and Ban hurriedly opened the information window.
[Congratulations, your Faith Level has increased!
Current Status: Apostle of <Knight of the Black Wildwood> ‘Orma’ / Faith: 61
Faith Level: 3
Faith Gauge: 3/15
▷ Witnessed Divine Miracle +2
▷ Divine Affection +3]
His faith had increased by 5. Could some change have happened to Orma again…?
Ban narrowed his eyes and glanced at Orma, who was still tormenting Gail. There’s nothing immediately visible, but… since it happened before, he should keep an eye on Orma for a while.
Anyway, his Faith Level had increased. He was sure it had been 2, but now it was already level 3, and the Faith Gauge had already filled up to 3. Looking carefully, 3 had increased from ‘Divine Affection’.
What is Divine Affection? The first night Orma hugged him and slept, the gauge had increased by 1 under the name of ‘Divine Favor’…
‘…Wait, affection? Don’t tell me?’
No matter how much he wanted to deny it, this affection definitely referred to what happened yesterday. …Right, if you call that affection, I have no choice but to accept it. And the witnessing of divine miracle here would refer to Orma’s divine power that just brought forth night…
Anyway, since the Faith Level increased, it should give a reward, but would it be a random skill ticket? Or a special item? Since he was using the previous rewards more usefully than expected, Ban checked the reward window with anticipation this time as well.
[Congratulations on achieving Faith Level 3!
<Reward> Spell Steal (L-rank)
Would you like to check now?]
…What steal?
