"Stop beating around the bush," Greg asked urgently in his mind. "What on earth is this damn thing?"
Nightmare's voice grew calm, carrying the ethereal tone of a deity speaking of ancient secrets:
"These were drawn or engraved by the believers of those Outer Gods with madness and obsession after listening to unnamable whispers. They contain extremely faint yet fundamentally exalted fragments of power belonging to the corresponding Outer God."
She paused, as if carefully sensing the subtle fluctuations emanating from the stone tablets.
"Judging from the rhythm and tendencies contained in these patterns... they likely originate from that being deep within the dungeon at the northernmost edge of the continent—the Mother of Depravity. The Authority she holds is closely tied to twisted desires, spiritual corruption, and pleasures sunk in primal instincts."
"Mother of Depravity?"
Greg's heart chilled.
Nightmare had indeed mentioned before that besides ancient gods like them, Outer Gods also existed in this world.
However, he had not expected to come into direct contact with something related to them here, in such a manner.
Besides, wasn't the northernmost dungeon none other than the Demon Realm Dungeon, one of the Five Great Dungeons?
Did this matter... actually involve the Demons too?
But didn't all Demons worship the Demon King?
Why would anyone go and worship this Mother of Depravity?
Wait—!
A cold flash of lightning seemed to strike Greg's mind, and a silhouette suddenly surfaced.
N-No way... Although she truly gave off a sense of mystery from start to finish, and her style of acting often hovered on the edge of a gray area...
But she was the Primary Heroine designated by the original work!
No matter how wild the dev team went, they wouldn't make her background so... dark and complex, right?
A chill crept silently up Greg's spine.
He shook his head hard, temporarily pushing this overly terrifying suspicion back down into his heart.
Now was not the time to delve deeply into this.
He turned his gaze instead toward the magic circle beneath Silvia's feet.
"Then what about this magic circle? What does it do?" Greg pressed Nightmare in his mind.
"This circle is a medium for performing spiritual interference in conjunction with the Outer God's power within the stone tablets."
Nightmare explained:
"Its primary function is to plant a seed of the Outer God's power deep within the target's soul. This seed quietly absorbs the target's negative emotions—such as desire, fear, and obsession—as nourishment, slowly sprouting and growing. If no one intervenes, or if the target's mind is not resolute enough, the seed will eventually mature, causing the target to undergo an aberration at the soul level and become a dangerous Apostle."
As if afraid Greg would worry, Nightmare added:
"However, this circle has no effect on you as you are now. Although our Authority remains shattered and our Godhood incomplete, your true essence is no longer that of a mortal. Such crude erosion by an Outer God's power cannot shake the foundation of your soul."
Greg breathed a quiet sigh of relief, but immediately caught a key word.
"Apostle? Is there a difference between that and a Messenger?"
"Messengers and Apostles, though both connected to deities, are fundamentally distinct."
Nightmare's voice carried a subtle trace of indifference:
"A Messenger is a spokesperson or agent chosen independently by a deity and granted a mission. A Messenger possesses independent will and personality, and the deity usually communicates with them through revelations, blessings, or contracts. A Messenger can use the power granted by the deity, but cannot directly wield the deity's own Authority. Thus, the relationship between a Messenger and a deity can be considered a subordinate one."
"As for Apostles..."
Nightmare paused, her voice turning even colder:
"...they are the aberrant products resulting from an Outer God's power forcibly eroding, corrupting, and twisting a mortal soul. The Apostle usually loses most of their independent will and personality, their core of existence replaced by the Outer God's whispers and power fragments. They can no longer be called complete living beings. Correspondingly, however, an Apostle can use themselves as a medium to directly employ a small portion of the corresponding Outer God's Authority traits—even if just a fraction, it is extremely perilous. For this reason, Apostles are viewed as dangerous entities."
"...I see."
Understanding dawned on Greg, as many incomprehensible settings from the original work suddenly became clear.
No wonder... in certain routes, once Silvia turned dark, her strength would skyrocket to such an absurd degree.
Turns out it wasn't just the dev team pulling the classic 'darkened form is ten times stronger, redeemed form is three times weaker' trope, but rather backed by the concept of an Apostle!
Small wonder... in the original game, when players arrived on time, they saw Professor Audrey already completely driven mad, while Silvia had fallen unconscious.
The truth was likely that during the blank period of game time while the player was rushing over, Audrey had already activated the magic circle to perform spiritual interference on Silvia.
This process caused massive mental trauma to Silvia, causing her to lose consciousness once more, while Professor Audrey herself was completely corrupted by excessive contact with and stimulation of the Outer God's power in the stone tablets, plunging into irreversible madness.
"Looking at it this way, isn't the darkness hidden behind this game a little too cruel?"
Greg couldn't help feeling.
Because this meant that no matter how hard players tried during this event, they could never truly save Silvia, because by the time they found her, the seed had already been planted within her!
Yet even so, this work still had good endings regarding Silvia's route.
For instance:
Walking with the Holy Light Ending: The protagonist and Silvia jointly purify the corrupted sacred ground. She becomes a highly revered Saintess, while the protagonist serves as her guardian knight by her side, the two uniting in marriage under the blessings of the Holy Church of Light.
Pastoral Idyll Ending: After experiencing hardship, the protagonist chooses to abandon academy life and goes to an unknown village together with Silvia, living a plain yet peaceful, warm life far from conflict in the quiet countryside.
Academy Twin Stars Ending: The two stay at Glory Cael Magic Academy. Silvia becomes a young instructor in the field of light magic, while the protagonist achieves accomplishments in other fields, teaching side by side as a respected couple.
On the surface, all of these endings were completions harvested after going through trials: love finding its harbor, characters experiencing growth, and the future filled with hope.
However, as Greg carefully recalled the detailed descriptions of these endings, he gradually felt a chill, several previously overlooked details surfacing in his mind:
In the Walking with the Holy Light ending, the daily descriptions of Silvia always carried a hint of "perfect exhaustion," and she never used any light-attribute magic again, as though she were completely bound by some entity.
In the Pastoral Idyll ending, the protagonist would occasionally wake with a start from dreams, while Silvia was always at the window staring into the distance, her gaze blank as if looking at something that didn't exist.
The late-stage records of the Academy Twin Stars ending mentioned that Silvia began frequently visiting the academy library to look up taboo ancient tomes that even high professors needed special permission to access, giving vague reasons.
Viewed individually, these details might have seemed like mere atmospheric strokes, but connected together now, they outlined a terrifying possibility upon deeper thought:
Were the so-called good endings merely wrapping those dark, hidden dangers gently beneath an illusion of happiness?
Had Silvia truly escaped the influence of the Mother of Depravity or similar entities?
Or had that influence merely changed forms, lurking even deeper beneath a happy life?
Greg couldn't help taking a sharp intake of cold air, a thought surfacing uncontrollably:
Holy crap, could this be a trash game that superficially focuses on wholesome romance, but is actually grimdark to its core!?
Rate on N.U.
