Ailuka opened her eyes—eyes with no whites, no pupils—only a deep blackness, like the abyss itself.

Her head began to float slowly upward. Then, she opened her mouth.

The monster’s massive body collapsed in an instant, breaking down into a river of blood churning with bones and limbs.

The river flowed, and under the influence of some strange force, began to shrink—until it transformed into a narrow stream that was sucked into her cherry-red mouth.

Gulp. Gulp. Like sipping some delicious drink.

And as the river of blood was swallowed, a terrifying aura began to gather above that floating head.

“Eat my blade!”

Muen snapped out of it and moved without hesitation. He snatched up his short blade and slashed down with all his strength.

He didn’t care what the hell this thing was—he was going to cut first and ask questions never.

No way was he letting it do some kind of magical girl transformation. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Ding!

A crisp metallic clang rang out—and Muen’s face froze.

A feather.

A pure white feather had blocked his blade.

The feather drifted gently on the breeze, as if it weighed nothing.

But when Muen’s short blade struck it, a burst of fierce sparks erupted.

What the hell kind of feather was this hard?!

Well, fine then—

“Anne!”

If I can’t break through, I’m calling in support!

Screech of Steel!

A forest of metal thorns twisted around Muen and lunged from another angle, stabbing straight at Ailuka’s head.

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

Ding.

But a moment later, it was just more sounds of impact.

The steel couldn’t get near Ailuka.

Because from behind her head, a pair of gleaming white wings suddenly spread open, batting aside all the metal blades.

The wings were immaculate—unblemished by a single speck of dust.

Like an angel descending into the mortal world. That golden holy light... it was almost too blinding to look at.

But—

Those magnificent wings growing out of a floating severed head? That’s just goddamn cursed!

Where’s the body? ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Can you at least pretend to have a torso?

It looked powerful, sure—but there was absolutely nothing reverent about it.

Give me my little meat-monster back. At least that one was kinda cute after a while!

“What the hell even is this thing...”

Muen muttered as he tried to remember how it was described in the original novel. He had to at least figure out what kind of enemy this was.

An angel?

No. The angels of the Church of Life didn’t look this deranged.

A familiar?

But with how the Evil Gods devoured their own, there weren’t really any proper familiars—only some crazed cultists at best.

And the fact that it needed Ailuka’s head as a medium... meant it didn’t have a physical body of its own.

Just as he was puzzling over it, the last of the blood river disappeared—and Muen felt it.

A gaze.

A gaze from those pitch-black eyes.

A chill shot down his spine.

His body felt like it was being frozen solid. Even breathing became difficult.

It was like a bug crawling on the ground, being stared at by some vast being from the heavens above.

He couldn’t help but tremble at the sheer smallness of his existence.

“No way...”

The most terrifying thought began to surface in Muen’s mind.

“You’ve gotta be kidding...”

“All I did was call you a damn bastard—are you really this thin-skinned?”

“You actually... descended in person?”

Even if it was only a thousandth, a ten-thousandth of its will leaking through—

That gaze, without question, came from a higher-order lifeform. Something utterly beyond what he could handle.

So Muen didn’t hesitate to activate his long-hidden ultimate move.

“Black Book, save me!!”

He didn’t know if it would work, but yelling it was better than nothing!

【■■】

At that moment, as the blood river dried up, Ailuka’s head—no, the Evil God—opened her mouth slightly.

Ancient syllables spilled forth.

It was a language beyond comprehension. But the moment it descended into the world, it was as if it had issued a command to reality itself.

In an instant—everything stopped.

Not just Muen. Even the hurtling blades of metal, even Anne in the distance—suspended in midair. Frozen in place.

Their minds remained conscious.

But it was like becoming a puppet.

Muen’s face was locked in a stunned grimace.

And then, he saw it.

The Evil God’s gaze—dripping with malice, so suffocating it felt like drowning—brushed past him as if he were insignificant dust, and landed squarely on Anne.

Joy.

Then greed.

So distinctly human—these emotions poured from those endless black eyes.

“Don’t tell me...”

“The Evil God’s target...”

“Is Anne?”

In an instant, Muen understood why the Evil God had been willing to descend a sliver of its will at such a great cost.

A God-Favored.

One blessed by a god.

Those blessings... were, in a sense, fragments of divine authority.

And to an Evil God, nothing was more delicious—nothing more irresistible—than the power of another god’s domain.

“How the hell did I forget?”

“In the original novel, the protagonist constantly drew Evil God attention because she had too many divine blessings. Every damn place she went, some freaky corruption would pop out.”

“And Anne—she’s a God-Favored too...”

“That’s why Ailuka was so obsessed with her.”

“Goddamn it. I knew I shouldn’t have let Anne get involved in this!”

Muen’s eyes went wide, blood vessels nearly bursting as he watched the Evil God begin to float toward Anne.

A flicker of fear appeared in Anne’s expression—but she couldn’t do a thing.

Under the pressure of the Evil God’s direct will, she was like a helpless little rabbit, unable to even use her abilities.

So powerless.

She was going to be devoured.

Shit.

He had to do something.

Had to move—now.

Had to stop that damn bastard Evil God.

There’s no way in hell he’d let it touch his maid!!

...

【...Sigh.】

...

It was like a breeze blew through his consciousness.

Muen heard the softest sigh brush past his ear.

Darkness fell before his eyes.

But it wasn’t unconsciousness.

“This is... the Black Book’s space?”

Muen looked around. This pitch-black void—it was unmistakably the space inside the Black Book.

Only this time, he hadn’t entered it voluntarily.

“So that means... you pulled me in?”

Muen looked at the floating Black Book before him. Without wasting time, he got straight to the point.

“Do you have a way to save Anne?”

The book gave a faint tremble. Then, its pages began to flip.

The flipping moved like streaks of light.

At last, it stopped—on a blank page.

But before Muen could ask, flames burst across that empty sheet.

Crimson flames.

Familiar flames.

There was no time to process—those red flames quickly twisted into a strange sigil.

A burning, monstrous eye.

“...What the hell is this?”

Muen frowned. The glow wasn’t especially bright, but staring at that grotesque pupil made his eyes sting.

It didn’t feel like a good thing.

But—

He had no other options.

“This thing can save Anne, right?”

Muen reached out and grabbed the bizarre sigil.

“Then there’s nothing left to hesitate about.”