Just as a Hero must defeat countless minions before facing the Demon King, Greg had assumed he wouldn't encounter any of these Outer Gods before clearing his way to the bottommost layer, but he never expected to run into one right now!
Although he didn't know Her exact strength, Nightmare had already mentioned that facing these entities, the Demon King was no better than a stray dog on the side of the road. That proved They were far more powerful than the final boss, the Demon King, in the original game!
"I am completely irreconcilable with Nightmare, the Goddess of Night!"
Greg immediately declared, his survival instinct cranked to the absolute max.
Last time, Hajimi even told me that seeing this vision was no big deal, but things have clearly turned into a huge mess now, alright?!
He stared intently at the red-haired girl's back, his heart pounding wildly in his chest as he waited for Her reaction—perhaps a single glance would crush him to dust, or a mere thought would sink him to the bottom of the lake.
However, nothing happened.
The red-haired girl still stood there quietly, Her silhouette appearing lonely and desolate.
Only the blood-red lake water continued to surge unhurriedly.
"She didn't attack right away... Does that mean we can still talk?"
Greg suppressed his pounding heart, swallowed hard, and cautiously spoke up again:
"Um... great, noble, supreme Mother of Fragmentation? Look, I'm just a little human who strayed into this place by mistake, and I absolutely, definitely had no intention of offending you! Me and that stinky cat... ah no, me and that evil Goddess of Night, Nightmare, we are incompatible as fire and water! We're fundamentally opposed! Even though I might have a bit of Her aura on me, if you're settling scores, you wouldn't settle them on my head, right?"
He paused for a moment and continued:
"So... see, could you do me a favor, spare me a thought... ah no, use your supreme divine power to pull little old me out of this lake? Soaking in this water for too long is a bit chilly, and it smells a bit fishy too, so it's not very comfortable..."
The red-haired girl didn't turn around; She merely shook Her head slowly.
The fake smile on Greg's face froze instantly, the corners of his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
As expected, it wasn't going to be that easy.
Is She planning to trap me here until I die?
Or is soaking in this blood lake itself some kind of punishment or execution method?
Greg tried to channel his mana once again. However, the mana within his body still seemed to have completely vanished, preventing him from offering any effective resistance.
A feeling of absolute helplessness wrapped around him like the ice-cold lake water.
Greg let out a deep sigh. The feigned deference and flattery gradually faded from his face, replaced by a calm that bordered on numbness.
He lifted his head, looked at the back of that dark red hair, and said in a tone that sounded like he had given up all struggle:
"Alright, I'll lay my cards on the table. In truth, I'm just a buffoon sent by that stinky cat. Give me a quick death; I'm ready."
With that, he even closed his eyes, adopting a posture of waiting for the ax to fall.
In reality, every inch of muscle in his body was tense, ready to seize any possible opportunity to resist.
After all, before living a life of debauchery and excess, he didn't want to kick the bucket so easily!
However, after waiting a few seconds, he only felt the movement of the breeze sweeping across the lake with a sickly sweet stench, but the entity made no move whatsoever.
Greg opened his eyes in confusion.
Ahead of him, the silhouette of the red-haired girl slowly shook Her head once again.
Greg: "...?"
She won't pull me out, nor will She kill me?
What's wrong with this Outer God? Soaking me here just to look at the scenery?
Or... is there some other intention?
An absurd thought flashed through his mind.
"It couldn't be... She's too lonely and wants someone to talk to, right?"
The thought was utterly ridiculous, but combined with Her previous responses to his off-the-wall babbling, as well as Her current eerie attitude of neither saving nor killing him... it seemed it wasn't entirely impossible?
Desperate times called for desperate measures.
Greg composed himself and decided to probe along this line of thinking.
He cleared his throat, trying his best to make his voice sound less tense, adopting a casual, conversational tone:
"Uh... um, staying in a place like this by yourself... well, by your godhood, do you... occasionally feel a bit bored?"
Having said that, he waited nervously.
One second, two seconds.
With Her back to him, the red-haired girl gently nodded Her head.
Greg's heart leaped violently!
I actually guessed right?!
But in the next second, a deeper chill surged into his heart.
Lonely... so keeping me here means She wants me to... accompany Her forever?!
"How could I let that happen?!"
Greg's scalp instantly went numb.
He immediately changed the subject by force, not daring to dig any deeper in the dangerous direction of companionship:
"Ah haha... well, the weather today is really nice, huh? The sky is red, the lake is red... the color is quite unique..."
The red-haired girl neither nodded nor shook Her head; She just stood there quietly.
"That outfit of yours looks really nice. It has a lot of... classic beauty. You must really like it, right?"
A nod.
"You've been standing here this whole time... are you looking at the scenery? Or waiting for someone?"
A nod.
Greg's mind was in total chaos, but his mouth didn't stop.
Since the entity was willing to communicate, he had to seize this opportunity to gather more information and search for a potential turning point.
He began rambling about anything and everything under the sun, keeping all the topics centered on the red-haired girl before him and this blood-red space, not daring to mention leaving or matters of life and death again.
"Is this lake... real? Or is it a projection of your consciousness?"
A shake of the head first, followed by a nod.
"Are you... trapped here? Or do you just not want to leave?"
First a nod, then a slow shake of the head.
"Do you know how to leave this place? I mean, leaving this... space?"
No response.
"Then... is there any way to get me out of this lake water? Or at least let me move a little? Soaking for so long feels like kneeling on a washboard, my legs are getting a bit numb..."
No response.
Between questions and answers, time slipped by quietly.
From his initial probing, Greg later realized that the entity truly didn't seem to have any intention of wiping him out immediately, and was even willing to engage in this extremely crude form of communication. His mindset gradually underwent a subtle shift.
He began babbling more relaxedly, from complaining about the aesthetic of this space to guessing the preferences of the Mother of Fragmentation.
He even joked:
"You maintain your hair so well. Do you have any tips you could share? I actually know a girl whose hair color is pretty similar to yours."
Right after saying it, Greg felt that his words sounded a bit flippant again, and he might get slammed by another wave.
Yet this time, the lake surface remained quiet.
After this allowed Greg to breathe a sigh of relief, he thought to himself:
"Looks like because I've talked so much with Her, we've gotten a bit familiar, so She can't bear to punish me over trivial things anymore."
"Looking at it this way, Outer Gods aren't all that bad!"
Rate on N.U.
