-KUUUUUUGHHHH-!!!!!

A fierce, unrelenting wave of energy exploded across the battlefield.

In the slowed-down world Riley found himself in, his entire existence shivered—the pain from moments ago, the exhaustion in his limbs, all but erased in an instant.

The White Queen’s grip on him vanished.

She was blown away, her figure swallowed by the void as a dark sphere expanded outward, tearing through space itself.

For a brief moment, there was only silence—

And then, like frozen silk, something touched him.

Soft, smooth, yet unbearably cold, a chilling sensation trickled down his cheek. It ghosted over his lips, slithered down his neck—a sensation eerily similar to a person’s fingers trailing down his skin from behind.

Tendrils of pure darkness coiled around him, curling over his shoulders, his waist, his wrists—

[…..After ignoring me all this time… you have finally reached out for me….]

A voice.

Her voice.

The instant he heard it, Riley felt like his body was about to break.

It was the same overwhelming presence he had felt when confronting the Goddess of Light—that sheer, unrelenting weight pressing down on his soul, warning him that he should not be in her presence.

But unlike the Goddess of Light—

Unlike that warm, bright embrace, as comforting as a mother’s gentle touch—

This was different.

This presence was cold.

Not just in temperature—no, it was far worse than that.

It was a suffocating, absolute void. A deep, unfathomable abyss that threatened to swallow him whole.

The tendrils tightened around him, pulsing with an eerie, formless energy.

Even without seeing her—

Even without truly understanding what she was—

Riley knew.

This darkness had no form.

[Warning!!!!]

[User is under the presence of a divine being…]

[Your soul is under the influence of the divine being!]

[Precautionary actions initiated!]

[System is now bypassing system rules. Preserved divinity shall now be used to offset influence!]

[The rules of the world favor your situation.]

[DIVINITY +100,000 is now being gifted!]

[Note: Influence has been momentarily halted! User is advised to leave the area immediately!]

Seeing the flood of system warnings, Riley silently gulped.

But he forced himself to stay calm.

This much was to be expected.

After all, he was facing a being beyond comprehension—a presence that shouldn’t exist in this world.

A cold, whispering voice seeped into his mind, reverberating through his very soul.

[…For a mere human to ignore me all this time… I cannot express how extremely… vexed I am…]

Riley let out a breathless chuckle, exhaustion leaking into his voice.

“Haha…”

A tired laugh. A fleeting moment of disbelief.

He was already fully aware of how damning his situation was.

This was not part of the plan—

At least, not yet.

Riley had always known that this entity existed. He had even considered invoking her presence as a last resort—an emergency measure if things with the White Queen spiraled completely out of control.

But no amount of planning—

No amount of preparation—

Could have readied him for this.

He had assumed that, at most, she would react with mild amusement, perhaps even lightly teasing him like she always did—

But for her to descend like this…?

For her presence to manifest so overwhelmingly, so completely?

‘I guess she likes me more than expected…’

It was clear—the laws of causality were already at work.

Golden lightning crackled across the air, weaving through the dark tendrils as if the world itself was trying to reject her presence.

The very fabric of reality rebelled against her descent, pushing back, trying to prevent what should be impossible.

But—

It was pointless.

Like insects buzzing desperately against an unshakable monolith, the laws of the world held no true power over her.

“Erebil…”

Riley whispered her name.

The name of the darkness itself.

The Goddess of Evil.

If Eris was the light—the mother of creation, the one who gave life to the world—

Then Erebil was her perfect antithesis.

Not simply a goddess of evil and darkness, but the manifestation of the void itself.

The one who existed before creation.

The one who lurked in the spaces between reality.

The one who—no matter how much he tried to deny her, reject her, ignore her—would always be there.

Because she needed him—

Just as much as he needed her.

A low, amused chuckle slithered into his mind, dripping with satisfaction.

[You were given the chance to be blessed by a goddess… yet you chose the wrong one. Kukuku~]

Riley clenched his fists.

He had already expected this sort of reaction.

After all—

He had ignored her, all this time…

Riley was the only person in this entire world who truly understood what Erebil was.

To the world, she was nothing more than a terrifying myth—a whisper of the void that devoured everything in its path. The antithesis of light. A goddess of pure darkness.

But Riley knew better.

If this Erebil was anything like the one from the game, then her true goal was simple—

To take away the hero her sister had blessed.

Just as Riley had plans for Lucas, Erebil had plans for him.

And that—

Was something Riley could use to his advantage.

He took a deep breath, his golden eyes unwavering as they met the shapeless darkness before him.

“Erebil… lend me your power.”

Silence.

A deep, endless silence.

The darkness did not move.

For the first time, Erebil did not respond with amusement, nor with mockery or cruelty.

Instead, she simply observed.

She studied him.

The intriguing anomaly of a human.

Ever since she first noticed him, she had been drawn to him—an irresistible pull, an unexplainable fascination.

She had always wanted to embrace him like this.

That soft yet powerful light, eerily similar to her sister’s yet completely different at the same time.

She wanted to snuff it out.

Wrap around it. Drown it in her darkness.

Just as she had done to all the heroes before him.

Just as she had done to her sister’s chosen ones.

But—

Riley was different.

He was not just another hero to be corrupted.

He was a being who did not belong to this world.

And that made him special.

She wanted to talk to him.

She wanted to touch him.

She wanted to hear him.

She wanted to smell him.

She wanted to look at him.

She wanted to taste him.

Every part of him.

From the nectar of his physical form to the very essence of his soul.

She wanted him.

All of him.

And not in this incarnated, fleeting form.

No—

She wanted him completely.

In her truest, most absolute form—

She wanted to see his face.

The raw, twisted expression of despair.

The moment when all hope shattered, when he was left with nothing but anguish.

She wanted to see it.

Feel it.

Devour it.

And once he was broken—once there was nothing left of him but despair and darkness—

She would consume him whole.

But—

He wasn’t ripe yet.

This wasn’t enough.

Not yet.

The sweetest despair was one that had been cultivated over time, nurtured, refined—until it reached the peak of perfection.

And Riley Hell—

Was not ready.

Not yet.

But soon.

The ripples in the darkness stirred at her unspoken will, responding to her growing, insatiable hunger.

From the depths of the abyss, billions of creatures—shadowy horrors beyond mortal comprehension—turned their attention to her.

Their Mother.

And to the mortal who had drawn such a reaction from her.

Then—

Laughter.

A chorus of twisted, inhuman voices—grinning from the depths of the void, reveling in her amusement.

Her obsession.

Her desire.

She finally understood.

Why her damned golden sister had taken an interest in him.

Why the Chaos Dragon had been obsessed enough to curse him to madness.

She could see it.

She could feel it.

Deep inside his soul—

A power far greater than what any mere human should possess.

Something deeper.

Something vast.

Something that should not belong to him.

And yet—he had it.

Why?

That answer would come in time.

Because soon—

She would make him hers.

‘Haah… not yet…’

Her internal voice dripped with longing; a whisper carried on the void itself.

And the darkness reacted.

It trembled with anticipation.

It surged with hunger.

The countless entities of shadow watched, waiting, whispering among themselves as the Goddess of Darkness lusted after a mortal.

A human.

Him.

Riley Hell.

She shivered with excitement.

‘I need you to be more than this…’

‘…. Much~ Much~ more powerful~’

Her laughter was a soft, dangerous purr.

‘This human… Riley Hell… you need to become akin to me~’

Only then would he become worthy of her lips~

And with that—

The darkness surged.

A flood of shadows, like liquid night, slithered toward Riley—slow, creeping, inevitable.

She touched him.

Despite the laws of causality screaming against it, despite the world’s very foundation rejecting her presence, she touched him.

A presence—cold, absolute, suffocating—wrapped around Riley like a second skin.

She had gotten behind him.

Pressing her newly formed human form against his back.

But—

She wasn’t human.

Not even close.

Her form was nothing but a silhouette, an outline of a body mimicked from her understanding of what a woman should be.

Yet—

She felt real.

The way her fingers ghosted from the top of his head, trailing down the side of his face, over his chest—

It was real.

A soft laughter escaped her lips, an intimate whisper laced with amusement.

[… Are you ready to accept my blessing now…?]

She spoke with a teasing gentleness, her voice curling around him like silk-wrapped chains.

Riley didn’t answer immediately.

He simply nodded.

A cold, unshaken resolve burned in his chest.

This was a gamble.

A bet placed on himself.

On her.

On everything he knew about Erebil.

He was fully aware of the risks.

Fully aware that forming a connection with her—a being like this—would never be a simple exchange.

Yet, in the grand scheme of things—

Having this Goddess of Darkness by his side…

For now—

Was the best possible outcome.

[Which of my authority are you going to take…?]

Her voice was laced with satisfaction.

She had him.

Bound in her dark embrace, tangled in the web of her influence.

Riley exhaled, his gaze shifting toward the distance—

Toward her.

The White Queen.

A being who once stood untouchable.

But now—

Now she stood at a distance, forced back by Erebil’s arrival.

And she was furious.

The space around her distorted.

Everything in her vicinity—consumed in blinding, pure white.

An overwhelming, godly presence that stood equal to Erebil’s.

Perhaps, if Erebil had descended in her full form, this would have been different.

But even in this imperfect state—even while being forced to the very limits of her influence—

It was clear.

The White Queen was in pain.

She had been fighting through agony.

From the very beginning.

That meant—

There was a way.

A way to end this.

And so, Riley made his decision.

“Something that will help me rid of her…painlessly.”

Erebil turned her gaze toward the White Queen.

And smiled.

A simple request.

That’s what Riley had given her.

Yet—

There were thousands of ways she could grant the White Queen death.

Reality manipulation?

A game of authority?

It was laughable to think someone could match her in that.

She was the primordial darkness of the world.

Fighting off the Chaos Dragon would have been far more difficult than this.

The White Queen, despite her formidable nature, was just another piece on the board.

And perhaps—

Perhaps Riley already knew exactly what she would give him.

A ripple of amusement spread through her presence.

And then—

[…But do tell…]

Her voice curled around his mind, soft yet insidious.

[If you receive my blessing now~ what will I get in return…?]

The embrace around him tightened.

The darkness that formed her body pressed closer, molding against him as if trying to merge their very existence.

[Is it your presence… your promise… your body… your soul?]

[…Or is it your… entirety?]

Riley’s jaw clenched.

‘Aren’t those all basically the same thing when it comes to you?’

The thought nearly slipped out.

He clicked his tongue inwardly, biting back any retort.

Arguing with her would be pointless.

Instead—

He forced his hazy thoughts to clear, tightening his grip on the gamble he was about to take.

“I’ll accept your blessing and I already have a payment in mind, but—”

[…BUT?????]

Her voice dripped with interest.

She loved this game.

This back-and-forth.

This moment of hesitation before submission.

Riley inhaled deeply, locking his gaze forward.

“Promise me…”

“…You’ll take away your blessing after this fight.”

Silence.

And then—

[Kukuku~]

A sultry laugh, filled with mockery.

[You really are amusing, human.]

[You wish to bargain… with a goddess?]

Riley’s gaze remained steady, unwavering despite the suffocating presence pressing against him.

“The price I’m about to pay is more than enough for you to accept such conditions…”

Erebil’s form coiled around him like a whisper of night, her tone thick with skepticism.

[And what sort of repayment will it be…?]

[Your entirety is bound to be lacking.]

Riley’s lips curled into a smirk.

“It’s a secret.”

A flicker of amusement passed through the goddess’s presence, but it was quickly replaced with something darker.

[Secret?]

Her voice sharpened.

[Are you playing with me now?]

“It’s a secret about your sister.”

Erebil’s ethereal form stiffened.

“I’ll tell you about it. A secret about the great Goddess of Light—one that only she and I know of.”

Silence.

A deep, unnatural silence.

Even the darkness itself seemed to still.

Erebil didn’t respond immediately.

She didn’t need to—Riley already knew.

She was hooked.

Her twin sister—the luminous Goddess of Light—held no secrets from her.

That was impossible.

They were opposites yet one and the same.

And yet—

He knew something she didn’t.

Something about her.

The weight of that revelation sent an unfamiliar sensation curling through the goddess’s being.

‘Haah… Truly, you are amusing, oh great anomaly~’

She liked him.

Even more than before.

A mere secret shouldn’t have meant much in the grand scheme of things.

But when it came to her sister…?

That was another story entirely.

Her lips curled into a slow, wicked smile.

And then—

The suffocating darkness vanished.

So did her embrace.

For a moment, Riley wondered if she had simply left.

And then—

[Note: The Evil Goddess Erebil has blessed your soul!]

A cold shock ran through his veins.

But before he could fully register it—

[Note: System Interference—another great being is interfering with the blessing process…]

A voice.

A soft, pleading voice.

[My child, please… no…]

The voice of the Goddess of Light.

A desperate, aching sorrow wrapped around him, a contrast to Erebil’s intoxicating darkness.

Riley clenched his fists.

Closed his eyes.

And ignored her.

‘I’m sorry, dear goddess… I’ll be sure to explain when the time comes…’

And then—

[Note: Interference has been offset by the user’s will.]

His vision blurred as an overwhelming force surged through him.

Power.

A power unlike anything he had felt before—something far deeper, far darker, far more absolute.

[Note: Blessing [Essence of Death] has been acquired!]

[A deep-rooted darkness has swelled within you!]

[The Core of Evil and Darkness has been acquired!]

[Note: Bonus points shall be awarded +20!]

Riley exhaled slowly.

A dark smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

And when he opened his eyes—

They gleamed with something new.

[Blessed Skill: Essence of Death]

[Description: A harbinger of absolute demise, the user exudes a Miasmic Aura, an oppressive shroud of pure death energy that saps vitality and hope from all who stand within its reach.]

[Effects: Under this grim influence, foes are marked by the [Seal of Oblivion], rendering them unable to resist the inevitable.]

[Those struck by the user’s attacks while enveloped in this aura suffer [True Death], erasing their existence beyond resurrection, regeneration, or divine intervention.]

[Note: The closer an enemy stands to the user, the deeper the chill of death seeps into their very soul, accelerating their demise.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep