Chapter 285: God and Believer (4): "Respected God, Do I Have a Chance of Becoming Pregnant with an Egg?"

A believer who didn't disdain you for being weak and insignificant, but continued to believe in you unwaveringly...

An Ruo was so moved that his eyes filled with tears, his psychic form actually crying.

He desperately wanted to give Ulysses something in return.

He wanted to present everything best that he possessed to Ulysses.

But now that only his consciousness remained, what did he even have?

Ulysses also seemed to understand his eagerness and made a request of him during their break.

An Ruo's consciousness turned pink once again.

Ulysses wanted to feed him. It wasn't an unreasonable request, nor was it difficult to fulfill. An Ruo only needed to materialize part of his psychic form.

An Ruo stared at his transparent psychic tentacles, so nervous that he wanted to swallow. He didn't know what Ulysses intended to do, yet he seemed able to guess a little.

After all, Ulysses was currently sitting on the bed with the curtains drawn. The way he looked at An Ruo in the dim room was different from usual. An Ruo couldn't quite say what was different, but there seemed to be a hook in his gaze.

Materializing just one part shouldn't cause any problems, right?

An Ruo tried concentrating and materialized a single tentacle. It remained transparent, psychic threads flowing through it and motes of psychic light flickering across its surface like his thoughts made visible, but now it possessed a tangible physical form.

The tentacle An Ruo had condensed in his nervousness was incredibly powerful, especially after Ulysses took hold of it.

[Don't you think it's frightening?]

An Ruo asked timidly.

[Like a monster.]

Ulysses's response was...

He kissed it.

He kissed it!

An Ruo experienced a psychic earthquake.

"Very cute."

Ulysses pressed the side of his face against An Ruo's "hand" and raised his eyes slightly. His gaze held a smile and unmistakable affection as he said,

"No matter what form you take, you are incomparably beautiful and mysterious, irresistibly attractive. You fascinate me."

An Ruo thought he was going insane. He felt as though he were about to swell into a balloon and float away.

How could a newborn evil god possibly withstand such high-level coaxing?

His believer was going to coax him all the way back into an embryo.

Embryo.

Ulysses caught several keywords from the Psychic Power leaking from his god.

His gaze settled on the mysterious, beautiful, irresistibly attractive transparent object in his hand. His Adam's apple bobbed, his eyes darkening.

Perhaps he should try even harder. Perhaps his god would be willing to give him an embryo.

Maybe even more than one.

Things began sliding in an irreversible direction.

An Ruo could never have imagined that the service Ulysses wanted from him would turn out to be this.

His Psychic Power was nearly driven to the point of exploding.

Perhaps he actually had imagined it, but simply hadn't wanted to refuse. His feelings for Ulysses went far beyond what he himself realized.

Ulysses wanted it, so An Ruo gave it to him.

There was nothing he could do about it. Ulysses was the one insisting.

His believer insisted on offering his own flesh as a sacrifice to help his god grow stronger.

An Ruo couldn't refuse. His Psychic Power became extraordinarily active, penetrating him under Ulysses's guidance.

He secretly glanced downward. It really was penetrating him. His hand was transparent, so he could see through it.

In fact, he didn't even need to look. It had been condensed from his consciousness itself and was an extension of his awareness. He could clearly perceive every bit of feedback, far more effectively than he ever could with his human eyes.

Ulysses had so many pheromones.

A consciousness shouldn't even have possessed a sense of smell, yet An Ruo felt as though he could smell the cool, dark fragrance filling the entire room, as if that scent had already been carved into his soul, impossible to dispel, impossible to forget.

During the process, wanting to feel more of Ulysses's muscles and the rest of his body, An Ruo materialized several more tentacles.

He tentatively touched Ulysses and caressed him, was held in his arms and taken into his mouth. He tried winding around Ulysses's body and lifting him up, experimenting with many different things inside the small lounge.

By the time they finally rested, An Ruo had completely materialized.

He adjusted himself to just the right size and curled up in Ulysses's arms to keep him company. Ulysses held him, and An Ruo held Ulysses in return, enjoying the tranquil closeness after their intimacy, as though even their hearts were pressed together.

As they lay tightly against each other, An Ruo suddenly wondered whether he should mold himself into a humanoid form.

Or rather, the form of a Male Zerg?

After all, Ulysses was so handsome and good-looking, while An Ruo himself looked bizarre and distinctly Lovecraftian, without any concrete shape.

The clash between their completely different aesthetics was rather jarring.

Like Beauty and the Beast.

No, he was even less presentable than a beast. He was a tentacled monster. Putting him together with a cool, handsome guy like Ulysses made them look like something straight out of an erotic comic or a questionable game CG.

And what they'd just done didn't seem much different from that either.

An Ruo's transparent body turned pink again, and he squeezed farther into Ulysses's arms in embarrassment.

Ulysses gave a low hum and glanced down at him, indulgently and tolerantly accepting him.

As an aggregate consciousness and tentacled evil god, An Ruo naturally possessed the ability to freely alter his form. Creating an attractive humanoid appearance wouldn't be difficult either.

It was like an innate skill. He could instinctively understand how to use it without needing to learn.

But now that the moment had actually come, he hesitated instead.

What if... Ulysses liked the strange way he looked now?

An Ruo agonized over it.

Judging from Ulysses's fanatical attitude toward his evil god, it was obvious that he liked An Ruo this way and had no trouble accepting a form that had absolutely nothing in common with a Zerg.

And that indirectly reflected another possibility: perhaps Ulysses simply didn't like Male Zergs, or creatures resembling Male Zergs.

A human form was far too similar to a Male Zerg. Perhaps Ulysses would dislike it.

After thinking for a while, An Ruo ultimately decided not to change anything. He was perfectly comfortable with his current form anyway.

And so he continued maintaining his Lovecraftian tentacled appearance, straight out of an erotic comic, winding himself around Ulysses's exposed, powerful body.

Ulysses truly adapted remarkably well to interacting with such a radically different form. Although he was still somewhat unfamiliar with certain kinds of contact, he was trying hard to accept and familiarize himself with An Ruo.

They lay together for a long time, lingering in the afterglow of their intimacy, until Ulysses finally had no choice but to return to work.

Watching Ulysses throw on some clothes, get up, and go wash himself, An Ruo thought he really was an evil god.

What proper god would leave his believer dripping wet like this?

Everything was hardest the first time. Once there had been a first, everything afterward became much easier.

From then on, An Ruo lost the option of sleeping in his incorporeal state. Every night, he had to materialize and accompany Ulysses to sleep.

Ulysses was also terribly afraid that he might go hungry and frequently made offerings to him, presenting himself for An Ruo to partake of.

An Ruo felt himself straying farther and farther down the path of becoming an indescribable evil god.

This wasn't good.

An Ruo reflected deeply on himself.

Then Ulysses grabbed his tentacle and pulled him closer.

There was nothing An Ruo could do. How could a mere evil god possibly resist an SSS-rank Female Zerg? An Ruo symbolically struggled for one second before throwing himself into Ulysses's arms.

"Helios has been captured and brought back."

Ulysses calmly dropped a bombshell on him.

[Huh???]

An Ruo stared blankly.

Wait, what?

Protagonist, what the hell happened to you? You could escape when you were constantly on the brink of death, but somehow you got caught when the danger level of the pursuit was lowered?

"Would you like to go see him?"

Ulysses was displeased that his god had become distracted because of Helios, so he kissed the tip of An Ruo's tentacle to draw his attention back.

Of course An Ruo wanted to go. Actually, whether he personally saw Helios wasn't important. What mattered was finding out what Ulysses intended to do with the protagonist.

As though seeing through his thoughts, Ulysses volunteered,

"The one I've summoned back can either be Helios, former member of the Marshal's personal guard, or 'Solaris,' the rebel forces' second-in-command. It all depends on what he chooses."

Ulysses said that everything depended on Helios's choice, yet his eyes were fixed directly on An Ruo.

Clearly, he wanted to see what An Ruo would choose.

An Ruo also noticed Ulysses's wording.

He had said "summoned back."

That might simply have been in reference to Helios's former position as a personal guard, but it could also mean...

Ulysses had tricked him into coming back.

An Ruo secretly glanced at Ulysses, who had him completely bundled up in his arms, his tentacles obediently curling inward.

Once Ulysses knew Helios's identity, dealing with him really was far too easy. He had countless ways to lure the snake... lure the rat out of its hole and arrest him on the spot.

Seeing no reaction from him, Ulysses continued, "I can also release him."

An Ruo's tentacles jolted as he looked at him in surprise.

But then Ulysses changed direction.

"Or I can capture him and release him, release him and capture him again, then release him and capture him again."

An Ruo: [...]

Are you reenacting the Seven Captures of the Little Rat over here?

An Ruo could tell now. Ulysses apparently wanted to use Helios to exchange for something from him.

But... why did Ulysses think An Ruo cared about Helios enough to offer something in exchange?

Was this really a competition between believers for their god's favor and affection?

What was there to compete over when he was merely the God of Rushing Deadlines?

Confused, An Ruo asked,

[What do you want?]

Even without the protagonist being involved, if Ulysses wanted something, An Ruo would give it to him.

Even if An Ruo didn't possess it, he would find some way to get it for him.

Instead, Ulysses pursed his lips and refused to say.

Helios wasn't worthy of being used to make his god promise him anything.

But there really was something he desperately wanted...

Even if it was nothing more than an illusion, he wanted to possess it just once.

After considering it, Ulysses said,

"Helios is a member of the rebel forces, after all. Even though we have a history together, I can't simply order his release. The others wouldn't accept it. Unless... he can be of use to me."

The tip of An Ruo's tentacle bobbed gently in agreement. He thought that made perfect sense.

At the same time, he thought that if this were Ulysses from the original novel, Helios, as the protagonist, definitely could never walk the same path as him again.

But the Ulysses of the present...

There might still be room for reconciliation.

[You could meet him and talk to him face-to-face,] An Ruo said.

Helios had once believed in and followed Marshal Ulysses. As long as Ulysses didn't go to extremes, Helios would certainly be willing to negotiate and cooperate. More than anyone else, he wanted to drag the Marshal back from that dead-end path.

An Ruo himself could mediate between them and help resolve their conflicts. Even if they couldn't reach complete agreement, they could at least negotiate some sort of accord so that neither the rebels nor the Federation would have to shed any more blood.

"That's precisely where the problem lies."

Ulysses lowered his eyes and stroked An Ruo's tentacle.

[Hm?]

An Ruo didn't understand. What problem could there be with meeting and negotiating?

Ulysses said calmly, "Helios has a Male Zerg. Their relationship is very good. Perhaps they'll have an egg soon."

An Ruo still didn't understand.

What did that have to do with anything?

Besides, the protagonists wouldn't have an egg that quickly. At the very least, they didn't have one before the end of the main story.

They already had enough trouble hiding from pursuit every day and struggling through one danger after another. Add an egg to that and they genuinely wouldn't survive.

Such a dangerous period was no time to have an egg.

Of course, there was no way An Ruo could tell Ulysses these "spoilers."

Nor could he understand why Ulysses cared whether Helios had an egg.

Ulysses said, "Helios is my junior, yet he's about to have an egg while I still don't have one. That would put me beneath him. I can't meet him like that."

[?]

Was there some necessary connection between those things?

Before An Ruo's brain could catch up, Ulysses continued,

"I need to become pregnant with an egg first. Only then can I meet him and deal with him and the rebel forces."

Ulysses lowered his eyes and gazed intently at him, taking hold of his tentacle before asking with complete devotion,

"Respected God, may I ask whether I have a chance of becoming pregnant with an egg before then?"