Evil God

Arja was furious. Anyone could see that. His veins were bulging, while his hands were barely keeping his sword in place. However, the others didn’t seem to share the same sentiment: Hava was stunned in place, while the rest of the soldiers all had an air of fear and worry on their faces.

But who could blame them? All of them were very human emotions. Different humans had different ways to react to the kind of scene that was before them. Anger, fear, surprise, … those were only some of the many faces that humans were able to portray.

However, it wasn’t what I was seeking.

I knew that they were more capable than this. If the populace was such an easy tool to control and discard however you want, then how would they be able to fend off the invasion from Drizzle for generations? Or was this their best performance, as their kingdom was marching to ruin?

I wouldn’t have any of that. If these people couldn’t stand up and fight…

“... Then you’re not worth my time.”

I threw the heads to the side. Drawing out my bow, I arched my arm back, conjuring three torrents of water arrows aimed straight at the army before me. One shot would be enough to blast through a hundred men at least, so if anyone wanted to survive, they’d best grit their teeth right now.

“Ren, stop this! We can still talk things out!” Arja shouted.

“Too late.”

The water arrows left their mark, instantly turning into three great serpents charging straight at the army.

“Shit…! Unleashed!”

“Unleashed!”

Both Arja and Hava only had enough time to say a single word. I knew they had it in them — they were already versed enough with their transformations to use them without undergoing a full chant in the first place. With their enhanced armors, they could easily survive a blast of my arrows, even if they would also be knocked away in the process.

And the results showed. As the tidal waves swept through the field before me, the only two standing were the two of them. They might have been soaked from top to bottom, and their legs might still be shaking from the sheer pressure that my arrows had caused them, but both Arja and Hava were standing. And for the rest… it went about as well as I expected.

Arja and Hava turned their heads around, and they too had seen the expected.

There was no one in sight. Or rather, there was no one intact in sight. I could see littered all over the rock formations and floating about on the water below — bits and pieces of armor, weapon and flesh, all mixed together in a chaotic display of carnage.

It was to be expected. If someone was already afraid of me at that scene, then they only amounted to that much anyway.

“Kid… Why?” Hava asked, his voice shaking in rage. “I thought you were a good person! You went through our ridiculous requests without batting an eye, and you even enjoyed keeping our people company!”

“Ah, yes, company… I appreciated the thought, at least.”

“Then…”

“But isn’t that just common courtesy?” I asked in return. “After all, humans are social creatures, Hava. You form communities. You express kindness and gratitude. Or on the other side of the spectrum, you hate others, scheme against others, and betray one another for your own good. That’s just what humans do.”

“Don’t tell me, you…” Arja stuttered. I knew what he was referring to, even if I didn’t realize it when I was still in Drought.

“Don’t get me wrong, Arja,” I shook my head. “I’m not mad. After all, like I told you before; it’s just a human thing to do.”

“You said it like you’re above us,” Hava spat. “Does having a little power now make you believe that you’re a god?”

“Oh, I’m no god of course. But I’m not exactly human, either — I’m a being outside of your realm. Not necessarily above it, but it’s clear that I don’t belong with the rest of you.”

“And that gives you a reason to indiscriminately kill like that?” Arja clutched his fists in rage.

“Even if it doesn’t, why shouldn’t I? You told me yourself, didn’t you, Arja? A Stigma runs on the wielder’s desire. All I ever did was find out what exactly my desire was.”

“What about your sister? How did you change so much?”

“I never did. I merely remembered. And as for Reiko…”

Tapping my head, I continued.

“She’s already here. Melded together with me, as one.”

“... Huh?”

“Hmmm… I guess it’s hard to put into words, huh? Well, maybe looking at this would solve things for you.”

I raised my hand forward. Using this newfound strength had become second nature to me — I could wield it with ease like I was breathing.

From the tips of my fingers, crackles of electricity danced and sang. At the same time, rain poured from above, amplifying them by many folds. A spark became a surge. A little flash became a giant bang. The lightning in my hand grew and grew both in size and length, rumbling and moving as if it was a living creature. Until in the end, the lightning also turned into a serpent, coiling itself around my arm and hissing at the people facing me, ready to vanquish my enemies. Not that I had any, of course.

But for the rest of them, the mere symbol of lightning was all the answer they needed.

“You… stole Indra’s power?”

“Not ‘stole’, I would never do that,” I shook my head in response. “What you called ‘Indra’ was actually catalyzed from Reiko’s soul. When she was transported to this world, she was used as a sacrifice, and thus the Stigma was awakened. Then she made herself at home in Kana’s mind — by the way, did you know that the latter was fighting for control over her body with Reiko? It gave me quite the trouble.”

“Then…”

“In a way, I did Kana a favor, you know. Always suffering from a vengeful ghost in her head, if it was me… well, I’d still be fine, to be honest — like now. But she was suffering a lot, you know? Her limit was only that much, so I figured it’s better to just end her suffering…”

“You bastard!”

Immediately, the young man in red rushed at me with his dragon head gauntlet. But he had forgotten one thing — that little trinket of his was only a threat in a long-range fight.

Splitting my bow into dual swords once more, it was easy for me to stop his charge. I swung my left sword upward to block the incoming strike, while my right sword had plenty of space to deliver a horizontal slash over Arja’s stomach. Sparks flew in the air — and not just due to metal clashing, as I had already transferred a small amount of electricity into my blade — shocking Arja all over his body. As his muscles loosened because of the sudden hit, it gave me the perfect chance to continue my attack.

I plunged my left sword from above, striking his shoulder with a clean hit. For this one, I borrowed an extra boost of water, making the hit similar to a crashing waterfall in strength. Arja was pushed down to his knees, his pose as if begging for mercy before the unstoppable force that was his opponent.

“Well, this was disappointing,” I feigned a yawn. “I thought if it was you, I’d have a tougher fight. But it seems like that’s all you have anyway.”

“Don’t forget about me, jerk!” A shout coming from outside our fighting range echoed in the pouring rain.

“And who said I did? Your opponent is them, Hava.”

Before the man in green could even get close to my spot, he had already been hit by a familiar steel staff. While I couldn’t observe his face, the jolt in his body was all the proof I needed to confirm his sheer terror at the opponents I had prepared for him.

It turned out, you could do a lot of things with water. And aside from this perpetual rain, there was also another thing that was filled with water. Many things, in fact.

All I needed to do was to cut open a wound. Then, following the rain, I could reanimate any corpse I could get my hands on.

They were only hastily stitched with strings made from raindrops, so they looked like broken marionettes. It reduced their movements by a lot, but gave them the advantage of never backing down or dying from simple mutilation. And those were perfect punching bags for a warrior whose power involved slicing wind.

“Now, show me your strength, Arja, Hava! If you can best your sorry corpses of old teammates, as well as my own powers, then humanity will have won this battle!”