Orma had been confident from the start that such an attack would never reach Ban or himself. As he expected, Ban immediately swung his sword and slashed the mutated Vanellas.
Even knowing this, Orma scattered darkness as if to shield Ban, distorting Vanellas’s vision for a moment. And his apostle immediately turned his head back to check on Orma’s safety first.
“Are you alright?”
“……”
As he’d thought before, who was worrying about whom? Orma roughly set down Jaena, who had been screaming and struggling in his grasp as if throwing him to the ground, then looked at the flailing Vanellas.
Only the stagnant water from the waterway splashed here and there—inside the head of the Vanellas that had been simply split in half, there was no sign of blood, organs, or bones at all. Since it was fundamentally a plant, did it lack the characteristics of a fish?
In that case, no matter how much the calamity’s seeds contaminated the surrounding creatures, it seemed their essence couldn’t be distorted.
“Orma-nim.”
Ban called to him, glancing at the bird near Orma that didn’t know what to do.
As if in response, Orma sent the bird flying toward Banan. The bird respectfully set down the intact Vanellas it had been carrying in front of Banan, and the Vanellas, unaware of the situation, rubbed its head against her hand while acting affectionate toward its master.
“……”
Banan looked down at the Vanellas with vacant eyes, then slowly turned her head to look at Orma and the Vanellas at his feet that was still flailing even with its head severed. Was that somehow displeasing?
Banan frowned, carefully removed her hand from the core she had been caressing, then grabbed the intact Vanellas with one hand and made a fist with the other. Clear water dripped from her clenched fist and seeped into the gasping Vanellas’s mouth. The Vanellas that drank the water struggled, but soon stopped resisting as it began to change shape with an ominous crunching sound.
“……Gulp. B-Ban-gong… We’re okay, right?”
“Mm.”
Actually, they weren’t okay. But since he couldn’t honestly say ‘we’re fucked,’ Ban just rolled his eyes to look at Banan and Orma. Banan seemed to be subtly avoiding eye contact with Orma, while Orma stared at Banan without hiding his look that said ‘What a spectacle.’
Soon the sound of something swimming with a massive body could be heard again—splash, splash… He hadn’t thought the one that had just attacked them was all there was, but… the situation was truly bleak.
What should they do? Although he’d thought Banan couldn’t escape that influence either since the Blue Tears had tried to bewitch even Orma, this reaction was unexpected.
How do you subdue a god? Hadn’t it taken an enormous amount of time to defeat Orma, who appeared as the final boss in the game? Moreover, how could they handle a perfect, immortal god?
“Hyaaak! T-the fish!”
Jaena’s fuss wasn’t unusual, but this time it was warranted. A giant Vanellas targeting Jaena leapt out of the black water with a splash and attacked him.
Fortunately, even while screaming, Jaena frantically swung both his hands. There was no hesitation in his movements as he brought out the sharp claws he usually kept hidden and tore the Vanellas to shreds. Strange things that could be called either flesh or scales of the Vanellas fell from the sky with a patter, but Jaena still trembled with his eyes tightly shut.
“You’re noisy.”
“O-Orma-nim… Hng, O God, please save me! Your poor believer…”
“You’re already soaked with water.”
At Orma’s words spoken with a click of his tongue, Jaena froze like stone.
Well, it wasn’t wrong. Not just Jaena, but Ban too. Ban thought this as he lightly slashed the Vanellas flying at him to attack, transformed after receiving power directly from Banan. When he cut the Vanellas, clear water that had been stored inside spurted out like blood—wasn’t this already a big problem?
Being thoroughly soaked in water that obviously wasn’t good was already an issue, but then Banan began attacking directly. Out of nowhere in the calm underground waterway without a breeze, a sudden gust began blowing, and several waterspouts rose from the black water. The waterspouts, swaying precariously as if about to topple at any moment, began approaching at high speed, seemingly targeting Ban’s group in order.
“Ah… My dear…”
Your dear is right here though. Ban held back from saying that and looked at Orma, who alone showed a detached attitude in this calamitous situation. The moment his uniquely colored golden eyes sparkled, Ban took a step forward as if to hide Orma behind him.
The fierce water pressure kept hitting Ban, but he was only pushed back slightly—it didn’t seem like anything broke or got pierced anywhere. Of course, it did throb a bit, but it was something he did trusting in his increased faith. The earring he shared with Orma could use its power proportional to one’s faith, so he had momentarily bestowed the divine blessing of solidity upon his body to block it.
Even so, Orma called out Ban’s name in alarm.
“Ban!”
“…Yes? Are you alright?”
“You……”
When Ban roughly pushed back his thoroughly soaked hair and gave him a look as if asking what was wrong, Orma stared at him blankly as if at a loss for words.
Ah, it seemed his god was worried about his apostle being soaked in that contaminated water. Ban shrugged toward his increasingly affectionate god and said:
“What can be done? This body is already ruined. When I grow three legs and four arms, I’ll live a new life then.”
He thought he’d responded quite bravely, but Orma let out a long sigh. And whether or not he knew about his apostle’s efforts to not let a single drop of water splash on him, he grabbed the damp Ban’s arm without hesitation and pulled him close. Before Ban, now half-embraced in Orma’s arms, could open his mouth to say anything, Orma spoke to Banan first in a tired voice.
“Why don’t you stop now.”
“……”
That pathetic state is enough. Was she putting on some kind of show of regret? Orma pulled up the corners of his mouth in a smirk as if finding it absurd, then let his divine power flow around them.
The spreading golden ripples flowed into the waterspouts that were trying to shake violently and attack again, causing them all to freeze. As if time had stopped completely, even Jaena as well as Ban widened their eyes at the waterspouts that showed no movement whatsoever.
‘This is… my first time seeing this.’
Ban had originally thought that the source of Orma’s divine power was darkness. For example, in the game, just touching the darkness Orma emitted meant instant death, or all the floor attack patterns were pitch black things.
The reason he’d thought Orma was the only hope who could stop the calamities born from the world being filled with light was also because of this, but these Blue Tears, which could be seen as another calamity, were a type completely unrelated to sunlight.
So as Orma had said, he’d thought the normal method was to contain the sunlight with darkness and destroy the Blue Tears that bloomed in dark, damp places. But was Orma’s power not simply just darkness?
When Ban looked up at Orma with sparkling eyes at this new possibility, he soon responded by tilting his head askew and opening his mouth.
“Why.”
“You can do something like this?”
“Like what.”
“Stopping those waterspouts.”
“……If I put my mind to it, I could make you, Ban.”
“Yes?”
“Preserve you forever in your appearance at this very moment.”
The meaning behind his sarcastic words spoken in a fierce voice was asking whether Ban wasn’t being too fearless of him who had such power. Yet Ban’s sky-blue eyes sparkled with delight.
“Then doesn’t that mean Jaena-nim and I won’t have our bodies mutated even if contaminated by the Blue Tears? No, wait—with Orma-nim’s blessing, other people could do that too, right?”
“Gasp! Could we perhaps live forever? In this form! Ah, O-Orma-nim! Please give me a little more time. When I grow a bit taller, I’ll ask for that form then!”
“These guys, really.”
“Could you explain to what extent this is possible? Is it possible with living creatures too? As Jaena-nim said, making humans live forever?”
“Ha, if that were possible?”
“If it’s possible…!”
“Would you live forever by my side with such a weak mind and body?”
At his mocking words, Ban momentarily froze. Yet Orma brought his face close enough to kiss him and spoke. It sounded like he was grinding his teeth.
“You envy that? It seems like a blessing?”
“Uh…”
“Even if the humans around you finish their lives one by one, you’d seem like a monster with your unchanging appearance. Don’t wish for something you can’t handle.”
As if he’d been hiding and suppressing it for a long time, his true feelings briefly revealed themselves. Looking at his surging golden eyes, it seemed that if Ban affirmed even one more word, Orma would gladly make him live forever by his side.
The reason he didn’t sounded both like his mercy and like words of resolve as he recalled his own past days living as a human. No… perhaps they were words meant for someone who had arbitrarily made him this way.
Because Banan, who had been standing there blankly at Orma’s words, flinched at that moment.
“Ever since I drank the divine liquor, I’ve regretted that day’s choice every single day—unless you don’t know that. ……At least you know, Ban.”
Orma tightened his grip on Ban’s waist with a voice that sounded somewhat desperate, pulling him even closer as he spoke.
“And Banan too, even knowing for whom the liquor was brewed, you made it anyway… so how ridiculous you look now.”
Looking as if you’re regretting it now of all times.
