Chapter 322: Meeting with the Devotion of Light

Since the beginning of Cataclysm the Villain’s Council has been as peaceful as ever. In fact, it’s a very strange sight. All of the world’s top S-class villains are gathered together, but they don’t fight or argue with each other, and things go smoothly? It’s a mysterious story just thinking about it.

In fact, there was a reason for that.

First, the villains gathered here are not just S-class villains, but bosses of villain organizations with other subordinates under them, which means they are socialized to a certain extent.

Second and the biggest reason.

“….”

Right there, a silver-haired woman sitting in a somewhat distant and mysterious manner, as  if she can see everything with her eyes closed.

That’s because she’s Celeste, the most powerful of all villains.

Testeus, who has built an underground kingdom beneath the Americas and plans to bring about the collapse of the Earth and Atlas, who controls all sea creatures and rules the entire North Atlantic Ocean. When asked to name the most powerful villains, these two are usually in the top three….And it was Celeste who was said that even  if they attacked together, they could not defeat her.

She is the one who wrote a new myth in the history of villains, and is considered to be stronger than anyone else at the moment.

“…Hmmm.”

And there she was, blatantly staring at me throughout the meeting.

Over and over again.

“…..”

She’s so blatant that even the other villains are taking notice.

“…Egostic, is this okay…?”

I could feel her gaze, so much so that Katana, sitting next to me, whispered in a cold sweat as she tugged at my clothes.

And I turned to her.

“…Don’t worry. It’s no big deal.”

I just gave her a reassuring, calm smile.

…Actually, I was nervous, too, but  if I showed it out loud, I’d be treated like an idiot. I smiled calmly, as  if I was used to it. Whenever I made eye contact with Celeste, who was staring at me like that, I would smile broadly. Of course, she didn’t react.

Anyway, the meeting ended with that uneasy feeling.

“…And, Egostic. Why don’t you stay and talk to me for a bit?”

Finally the words came out of Celeste’s mouth as she stood up.

When she said it, the other villains looked at me and her, as expected. They all looked curious because they didn’t know what she was doing today. Only my companions looked at me with concern.

“Don’t worry, you should go ahead.”

With that, they all turned and walked away, uneasy. …Even  if they were there, they wouldn’t be able to stop Celeste  if she wanted to do something.

Anyway, with all the villains gone, the two of us are alone in the Cathedral.

At the front of the room where the round table sits, illuminated through colorful stained glass.

Leaning back slightly in the  chair next to me, she smiles at me, waiting.

Coldly, she opened her mouth.

“…Egotistic, what do you want?”

She asked me with a sharpness in her voice that she had never shown me before.

I smirked at her as if to say, “What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Of course you don’t.”

She replied, as  if she was full of energy.

Then Celeste turned to me and said coldly.

“I’m asking you why you harmed Influx. I don’t think you’re going to pretend you don’t know. You got put there on purpose.”

She’s very outspoken.

That’s why she’s calling me. Why would I hurt Wish Granter, a creature of the Sun God? As a devotee of the Sun God, it would be unforgivable to her….More than that, I’ve always been concerned about the Sun God.

As I was thinking about that, Celeste spoke up, her eyes still closed, her fingers gently touching the top of the back of the antique chair she was sitting in.

“He was a loyal messenger of our god, conserving his power in the safety of East Carqueas.  It was a fortress for him, in the first place.”

“And yet, Egostic, you crawled in and murdered him in a horrible way, as if you had a grudge against him.”

“So, Egostic. I’ll ask you right here and now.”

“Are you, my enemy?”

And as she said it.

For the first time, her eyes lit up.

Just like that.

“…..”

I met her blazing golden eyes like few people in this world have ever seen.

And then, in an instant, I felt an intense fear of life and death as the room freezes.

…This atmosphere of fear was exactly the same as the last time, but the difference was that the pressure was much tighter than before, a do-or-die atmosphere. Considering the difference in strength between Celeste and me, I could die at the snap of her fingers.

A culprit like that would run away crying, and even the bravest of men would tremble and open their mouths.

I acted as if I felt no such pressure at all.

I shifted casually, nodded my shoulders, and smiled sheepishly.

“How could that be?”

With that, I walked over to her, still smiling broadly, as if to say that I wasn’t nervous at all.

“On the contrary, like I said the last time, I’d be your colleague.”

“Hmm. So, because you were my associate, you’re telling me you killed the Sun God’s messenger?”

As if to tell me not to bullshit, she says that while staring straight at me with eyes that are burning with gold.

I met her mysterious eyes head-on.

Calmly, I opened my mouth again.

“…That, too, was God’s will.”

“Now. Are you saying that you know God’s thoughts better than I do?”

…Now her patience was wearing thin, and she spoke even colder.

No, literally, when I looked again, the round table was freezing. It’s actually getting colder. Maybe she’s intentionally creating an atmosphere of fear… Or she’s really pissed off and can’t control her power. The problem was, it was more likely the latter…

Given the circumstances that led to my life ending, I clapped lightly, breaking the ice, and then spoke.

“Celeste, here’s what we’re going to do.”

“Do what?”

“Let’s make a bet on who has more faith.”

When she rolls her eyes as if I’m talking about something stupid, I smile wryly and open my mouth.

“Until the next Cathedral opens I’ll prove I’m closer to God than you are, and if I can’t, well, kill me, torture me, whatever. I’m confident. If you aren’t, well. Kill me right here and now.”

Me saying that with my arms wide open.

Celeste stares at me with her beautiful golden eyes, not sure what I’m thinking.

Fuck it. Kill me. If you want to kill me, kill me.

…Actually, I had a contingency plan that would kick in if she really tried. One should always be prepared for anything but knowing her character, I was confident that she wouldn’t do that to me now.

She was silent for a moment.

Then she spoke, quietly, in a low voice.

“…Very well, very well, I’ll do it.”

“Okay.”

And with that, I nodded my head coldly in response to her next words.

This boldness, this smirk, this unflinching acceptance, even with the number one ranked villain trying to tear me apart. It’s things like this that make me seem like there’s something more, like I have a secret because even the strongest Celeste can’t read minds.

“I’m busy, then, so I’ll leave you to it.”

Before she could change her mind, I decided to hit the hollandaise line. Busy, busy.

Just like that.

“….”

Celeste watched me leave, silently, as I walked away.

Good, I survived another day.

Yay.

***

After Egostic’s departure, the Cathedral Roundtable was empty.

Celeste stood there still for a moment, and then, without batting an eye toward the aisle where Egostic had gone, she opened her mouth and spoke quietly.

“Arthur, are you there?”

“Yes. Celeste.”

As she spoke, a knightly man in armor quietly stepped out from behind the curtain.

Without meeting his eyes, she asked softly.

“…So. What did you think of him today? Did he still seem dangerous?”

Such was her question.

After a moment of silence, Arthur spoke again.

“…Yes. He still seemed more dangerous than any other figure I’ve ever seen, Celeste.”

“Ha… Alright, you should go.”

With that, Celeste disappeared back behind the curtain like a shadow.

Once again alone at the empty round table, she stared silently at the reflection of her silver hair in the stained glass and muttered to herself.

“…I suppose I’ll have to find out more.”

Egotistic acted as if he knew the future, thwarted the plans of the followers of the Moon God, and was unusually obsessed with one hero.

Despite this, he is close to Atlas, who is the second strongest of the group, and has directly eliminated one of the god’s creatures.

In other words, he is a strange figure who knows as much about the gods as she does.

‘…Perhaps, I should go find her.’

Celeste thought quietly, and left the round table.

For today, she let him go. You never know what he might do, what tricks he might be hiding behind that regal demeanor. …And then, after he shows something off she’ll kill him.

But

Now, she thought quietly, she must prepare herself to face him head-on.

Crushing those no bigger than insects was something she was used to.