I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated

Chapter 1145: Contacting the Evil God Fragment

As I finished checking the cannibalization results, Avenger took a step forward.

「It appears my time is up! God, Priestess, please call for me again whenever you require my assistance!」

Avenger performed an exaggerated bow as his body began to fade away. Summoning Avenger is pretty costly, but it’s good to know that we can count on his support in the future.

Still, Fran already got some weird looks just for using evil energy. Seeing Avenger call her “priestess” all the time is bound to draw even more suspicion.

I’ll save summoning him for a last resort if there’s anyone watching.

Either way, there’s a certain someone who has been causing way more trouble than Avenger. I would even go as far as to call them the root cause.

『Is the seal on the Evil God Fragment even functioning anymore?』

Long ago, Fenrir-san devoured the fragments of the Evil God and sealed them within his body. Perhaps now that Fenrir-san was separated from those fragments, the seal also loosened up?

That said, it’s not like the Evil God Fragment is interfering with hostile intentions. Well, perhaps it’s more correct to say that it can’t mess with me. If I ever get destroyed, the fragment apparently disappears along with me.

On the contrary, I would say it’s trying to assist us.

Even so, we can’t continue letting the Evil God Fragment radiate evil energy, or turn fiends into followers whenever it pleases. Worst case scenario, Fran will really be branded as an Evil God worshiper.

We’re dealing with the Evil God here. It goes without saying that good intentions may not result in our benefit. Preferably, it would remain idle and only share its powers when I need it. That’s my ideal.

Would that count as abuse of a god’s powers? The line between fair use and abuse might be harder than I thought. Still, we can’t maintain the current status quo. I don’t know if it will help at all, but I should try contacting the Evil God Fragment.

I activated Evil Conquest and focused on my inner self, diving deep within my depths.

I stepped foot into the region the previous me would have been too terrified to enter, a space covered in an impermeable blackness.

My consciousness entered this space, the Evil God’s seal, and a powerful entity enveloped my mind.

There can be no doubt that this entity is the Evil God Fragment itself. It throbbed as it attempted to devour my consciousness whole. Or so I thought, but it seems it no longer had any malicious intent.

Rather, simply standing nearby brings you harm. Touching it corrupts you. Speaking to it drives you mad.

The Evil God was just that kind of existence.

The fragment suddenly throbbed again, more forcefully this time, as if it was jumping forward.

The power enveloping grew stronger too, but this didn’t feel anything like an attack. Maybe more like a giant pet rushing forward to greet its owner in joy?

I felt that way because the power also sent me a torrent of emotions. While impossible to read clearly, it seemed to be a rough mixture of joy, pleasure, and happiness.

Uhh, does it like me or something? No way. This is a fragment of the Evil God we’re talking about here.

As the questions flew through my mind, I continued receiving the torrent of positive emotions from the Evil God Fragment. It seems to really be fond of me for some reason.

But why? What have I ever done to earn that…?

Regardless, I activated Evil Conquest again to convey my intent to the Evil God Fragment.

『Evil God Fragment, listen to what I have to say!』

『…!』

I told the Evil God Fragment that I meant no harm. Then, I went on to explain that I wanted it to settle down, since careless actions will do more bad than good.

At first I was planning to give it a serious scolding, but that seemed a bit harsh after seeing those emotions. The Evil God Fragment started radiating an aura of sadness during my speech too, which didn’t help.

A bit weird to be feeling pity for a fragment of the Evil God, but I can’t help what I feel.

『A-Anyways, that’s all I wanted to say! You got it?』

『…』

The Evil God Fragment was clearly depressed. Come on, act more bold if you’re supposed to be the god of evil!

『Uh, well…』

Ugh! Why do I have to feel guilty for scolding a fragment of the Evil God!? Fine, it can’t be helped!

『Also, I know I told you to stop spraying evil energy, but I might borrow your power if we ever get into a pinch.』

I’m well aware that my demand was a little hypocritical, but the Evil God Fragment’s reaction was something completely unexpected.

『…!』

The moment I said I might borrow the fragment’s power, it practically jumped for joy. Then, it suddenly covered me in a powerful cloud of evil energy.

『Stop, no! I don’t need any evil energy right now! Settle down!』

At any rate, it seems I got approval to borrow evil energy.

『Everything turned out alright this time, but make sure stop acting on your own.』

『…!』

The fragment replied with a transmission of consent. I guess I don’t have much choice but to take that at face value. No clue how trustworthy the Evil God Fragment will be though.

（Master? You okay?）

『Y-Yeah. I was just talking to the Evil God Fragment for a bit.』

（…Did it work?）

Well, I can understand Fran’s worries. That said, we have no choice but to deal with the Evil God Fragment as there’s no way to separate it from us.

『We’ll be fine now… probably.』