~Chapter 129~
…Why isn’t the meal starting?
When the meal starts, “God” makes the player explain the dishes.
The player recalls what they saw while climbing up from the lower floors and explains the ingredients, the cooking process, and so on.
The ingredients are things like human cries, memories, and screams.
The food looks like normal bread and meat, but if you look closely…
human hands, milky white eyeballs, and hardened droplets of sobbing are all mixed in.
But aside from saying, “Meals are supposed to be joyful,” the monster said nothing.
Truly nothing.
Strange.
Another minute or so passed.
…No way.
I began to understand the monster’s plan.
If it doesn’t create any task for me to serve, it can’t later say it “was pleased.”
Is it because once it starts asking questions, it gets bound by the safety rules too?
My guess seemed right. Even as time kept flowing, the monster only kept smiling as before.
In that gaze, I could even see the arrogance of, “Let’s see what you do now.”
“…Do you not need an explanation of the dishes?”
“No.”
It refused.
So it also knows the rule that if nothing is done within the time limit, we get trapped here.
A hollow laugh slipped out.
“Nemesia.”
“…Yes.”
“I’m required to ask questions in this place.”
The boy plainly explained the rules.
“If I break that rule, I’ll be damaged, but…”
Kan smiled like a painting. But the smile was no longer kind.
A chilling gaze—no longer human.
“You won’t be able to leave either.”
“……”
It was a sentence.
“We’ve only talked briefly, but I see why everyone is drawn to you. I like you.”
The further he spoke, the more eerie his voice split and warped.
Kan—no, the monster—no longer seemed intent on even pretending.
The whites of his eyes turned black.
“Let’s live here together. Forever.”
I clicked my tongue inwardly.
The Dog-Headed Judge, and now this thing—why am I so popular with these types?
“Eat.”
He speared a piece of food with his fork and held it out. Blood dripped from the steak.
“I refuse.”
The moment I refused, I instinctively pulled back.
Unconsciously, I spread holy power as well.
Bang!
The fork flew into the spot where I had been standing, stabbing deep into my holy barrier.
Insane.
You’re not a pre-emptive-attack mob—there isn’t even a fight in this phase!!
But what did that matter now?
If the monster itself was choosing to break the rules first!
Ridiculous. Did it think only it could use the rules?
“Hah… You’re breaking the rules made by God himself, refusing to eat and refusing to ask questions? That’s strange, isn’t it?”
While reinforcing the cracking holy barrier, I lifted one corner of my mouth.
“If so… I won’t be the one trapped. You will be erased, and I’ll be able to get out—won’t I?”
It was a taunt.
“Did you think it would end with ‘just getting damaged’? I don’t know the details, but at the temple we learned: all phenomena and monsters are ruled by laws linked to their essence.”
“…Hah. Clever.”
With the hand not holding the fork, Kan—no, the monster—ran a palm down his face, baring his teeth.
The side he wiped was no longer a human face.
A corpse’s flour-white pallor.
“You’re right. Which is why there’s no time. Before I break more rules… I think I’ll taste your eyes.”
Revealing its nature, the monster sprang up, grabbed another fork, and swung.
I narrowly dodged the sweeping strike—only because I had expected it!
Damn it, I’m not a combat class!
I missed Dad desperately, but—
[‘Dad’ cannot be summoned in this area! (Location: God’s Banquet Table – 5th-Floor Corridor)]
Regretfully, he was just out of reach.
Still—the 5th-floor corridor? That’s close…!
So I only had to hold out a little longer.
If I endured, the hero with the trump card would appear!
I rolled away head over heels.
Clatter!
Dishes toppled as I dodged; food crashed to the floor.
I hurriedly slipped under the tablecloth.
“Hm, Nemesia. It’s no use even if you hide like that. You still don’t get it, do you?”
Leisurely, in Kan’s still-imitated voice, the monster spoke.
It sounded like it already had the upper hand.
Like I’ll let you keep it!
With my current Purification level, I couldn’t cleanse that thing in one go, nor defeat it right now.
But that didn’t mean I had no plan.
Did you think I’d rush in alone without a single hidden move, and without Dad, after all my veteran hours?
There was a plate in my hand.
I had grabbed it in a hurry as I slid under the table.
I’d spilled some, but there was still food left…!
I gathered my power into the plate.
[A crisis has been detected!]
[Use the ‘Purification’ ability?]
Yes! Faster!
White light began to gather in a hurry.
But the situation wasn’t good.
“Nemesia! Nemesia! Nemesia! Let’s eat together! Eat and stay here forever! Be with me!”
Bang!
Something huge crashed and broke.
“Where are you—?!”
It was no longer Kan’s voice.
It sounded like it was smashing the large table from one end to the other.
Listening to the collapsing thuds, I grit my teeth.
Faster, faster…!!
Even if my Purification level had jumped by skipping six years, it was originally a late-game skill—its casting speed was still slow.
Thud!
With another crash, the table—and the darkness—vanished in an instant.
“Here you are.”
[Hidden Skill ‘Purification’ activates!]
[Active Skill ‘White Silence’ activates!]
The monster lifted the broken table.
Kan’s face was almost gone—only the hair color and eye color remained—
and with glossy, bulging eyes it looked at me.
At the same time, light burst—and the food in my hands vanished without a trace.
Cleansed.
“Hm?”
Behind the monster, the wall rippled.
The space couldn’t hold together—it was collapsing!
One rule of this place:
“God” eats and asks questions; the servant answers and explains.
Second rule of this place:
Every dish has a fixed portion. It must be neither too little nor too much.
By purifying, part of the food had disappeared.
We had broken not one, but two unbreakable rules.
And as its essence shook, the monster clutched its head.
“Aaaarrrgh!”
The space heaved; the table in the monster’s grip slid away and vanished.
Scarlet liquid began to pour down the walls.
The floor rocked like we were standing on waves.
This wasn’t the timing I’d planned to use this method, but it can’t be helped.
If I’d stayed passive, I might have fallen for the monster’s scheme and been trapped here without a chance to act.
Still, now that it’s come to this, I can confirm one thing. Maybe, here…
This crimson place—
the room that had looked aristocratic and elegant—was the true form of God’s chamber.
I started to lift my head—and froze.
My eyes flew wide, like they would tear.
That is…
I didn’t know whether to be glad or not. My face twisted with mixed feelings.
Up on the red, heartlike ceiling that throbbed and pulsed—
a boy was tightly bound by veinlike cords.
Black was mottled through it, but the hair was clearly a pure sky-blue.
Relief and shock hit me at once.
Because that was the real Kan.
“Kan!!”
The boy who had kept his eyes closed slowly opened them.
