“Amaterasu!”
Greg gave a low shout, using his free hand to quickly cover one eye. At the same time, his body became translucent like a phantom fading into the air, allowing a sharp wind blade to graze past his insubstantial form with perfect timing.
Immediately after, his figure—which should have remained in place—shattered into pieces like crumpled paper before completely dissipating.
In the exact opposite direction, his body re-formed. His hands quickly formed a simple hand sign, and a burst of blazing fire surged out of thin air, instantly engulfing the monster that had just attacked.
The poor Horned Rabbit didn't even have the chance to scream before it was reduced to charcoal within the flames.
[Killed Horned Rabbit. Skill dropped: Whimpering.]
[Whimpering proficiency increased to LV5.]
“Heh...”
Greg slowly eased out of his stance and turned around. With his back to the tiny patch of scorched earth on the ground, he stood with his hands folded behind his back, raising his chin slightly.
“As expected, current me... is horrifyingly strong.”
“Thou art truly... flexing far too lavishly for me.”
An ethereal voice with a clearly speechless tone sounded.
Nightmare, in the form of a black cat, had appeared at some point on a slightly elevated rock nearby. Her eerie green eyes looked sideways at Greg while the tip of her tail flicked impatiently.
“What Jiahao? Where's Jiahao?!”
Greg shot back instantly as if triggered.
“I call this... appropriately releasing stress and satisfying my innocent inner child! Do you even get it, Hajimi?!”
Nightmare tilted her head, her green cat eyes filled with confusion.
“What art thou talking about? I meant that using so many special methods and giving such grand treatment to such a weak creature is far too extravagant.”
Greg blinked, only now realizing that when Nightmare said "extravagant," she meant lavish overuse, not some trending meme he had in mind.
He coughed dryly and waved a hand, trying to act less embarrassed.
“Oh, you meant that... Well, it doesn't matter. I'm recovering at camp these few days anyway and not exploring the deep area, so my mana would just go to waste. Besides, with skills, the sooner you use them, the sooner they come off cooldown, get it?”
Nightmare flicked her tail, her tone filled with helplessness. “Why dost thou always love to speak words that sound half-understandable to me?”
“Are you kidding me, Hajimi? You only 'half-understand' internet memes?”
Greg folded his arms and gave the black cat a side-eye. “I bet you don't understand at all, but to maintain your style as a goddess, you're forcing yourself to act like, 'I pretty much get what you're talking about,' right?”
“...Heh, perhaps. After all, even I am doubting my own perception lately.”
Uncharacteristically, Nightmare didn't refute him right away, a faint glint of self-deprecation flashing in her eerie green eyes.
She then gently shook her head, as if tossing aside a thought, before bringing up another matter.
“By the way, there is something I feel I should inform thee. That maid thou sent into the city earlier... seems to indeed be doing something. I can feel that recently, the power of faith related to me within this city has been rapidly growing.”
She paused, her tone carrying a hint of inquiry and uncertainty.
“At this rate, it might not be long before the small bit of power I've recovered reaches the threshold to barely grant thee a basic Divine Protection.”
“For real?!”
Greg's eyes instantly lit up, all his previous posturing vanishing as genuine delight broke across his face.
“Am I finally gonna make it through the dark times and get a Divine Protection of my own?!”
A Divine Protection was essentially a permanent passive effect, much like Victoria's three Divine Protections.
Unlike Greg's talent, which only worked inside the dungeon, a Divine Protection's effect had no geographical restrictions and would remain active no matter where he was.
For Greg, this was of monumental significance.
It meant that once he stepped out of his home turf in the dungeon, he would no longer just be an unlucky bastard lugging around a -10 Luck stat debuff!
Even if the Divine Protection Nightmare could grant right now might be basic and far inferior in strength to the talent he relied on in the dungeon, this was indisputably breaking through from zero—a qualitative change!
Seeing Greg's excitement, Nightmare poured cold water on it:
“Do not celebrate too early. I merely said I have recovered a little and sensed a growing trend. There is still some distance before I truly recover enough to stably grant a Divine Protection. As for how fast this process goes... that depends entirely on the efficiency of thy maid's actions.”
“Alright then...” Greg's excitement waned a bit.
Immediately after, he recalled a critical question and frowned slightly. “Still, Nightmare, are you sure... the growth of this power of faith really has to do with my maid Allie? Can she... actually pull off something to this extent?”
Nightmare nodded. “Because the growth of faith began shortly after thou parted ways with that maid, it is bound to be related to her.”
“Holy crap, for real?”
Greg suddenly grew a little worried.
It wasn't that he doubted Allie's loyalty or effort, but because he knew Allie was an idiot-archetype character who was useless at everything except swordsmanship.
When he originally assigned her this task, he had mainly just wanted to find something for her to pass the time.
Yet now, such an idiot maid was spreading faith in the Goddess of Night with extreme efficiency...
Greg couldn't help but suspect: could Allie be using her sword to threaten the city's residents one by one into converting to the Goddess of Night?
A terrifying image suddenly surfaced in Greg's mind:
An expressionless Allie, holding a sharp sword, knocking on a commoner's door, and saying in a completely flat tone: “Hello. Please convert to the Goddess of Night Nightmare, or it will be considered disrespect toward Young Master Greg.”
If the other party dared to refuse or run away, she would use her formidable swordsmanship to corner them against the wall and continue proselytizing until they actually changed their faith...
“Then I'm finished! If this gets exposed, won't I, the mastermind, have to cosplay Louis XIV in minutes?!”
Within a few short seconds, cold sweat broke out on Greg's forehead.
He quickly mapped out a contingency plan in his mind:
“No way. Looks like I really have to find time to check on Allie and confirm her situation over there! I hope she hasn't turned into such a bad girl... But in case things have already gotten completely out of hand...”
Greg gritted his teeth, a flicker of resolve flashing across his eyes.
“Then I'll just have to... completely sell myself out to that thrill-seeker Headmistress and figure out a way to get Allie into the Academy Dungeon to take refuge too.”
Although he was a scumbag, he was definitely not a monster.
Allie was his maid. If something really went wrong, there was no way he could stand by and watch her fall into a desperate situation because of his careless order, only to kick her aside.
So no matter what, he would find a way to protect Allie. That was beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Rate on N.U.
