69 Babysitting

"Echooo!!!"

Still inside the white void, Evlin was trying to do everything in her power to pass time while she waited for West to return or for her friends to free her.

"Echooooo!!"

Right now she was trying to find out how good was the acoustic inside the void, but the space was too wide and open for any sound to bounce back.

"This is so boring..."

She decided to lay down on the white ground with her arms and legs stretched as if she was a starfish.

As she kept wondering about what would she do when she finally returned to her friends' side while still curious about Ashley's weird behavior, she was greeted by another voice appearing out of nowhere.

"You seem very calm..."

"Eh...?"

She assumed it was West, returning after delivering the message to the south god, but the one present was a young blond boy wearing a white robe with blue eyes. He was looking like he would be around nine years old, and was staring at her with a defeated expression.

"... Let me guess... You are one of the four gods..."

"That would be the case, yes..."

"..."

Evlin had an expression that said "All right then, let's do this again..." and after releasing a small sigh, stood up to properly talk with the boy.

"So... What can I do for you?"

"...?"

"What? You're a god right? Isn't that what you guys do? Make offers so you can get something in return?"

"..."

"Come on, it's ok... I'm used to it by now... Just go ahead and tell me what you need so I can continue and ruin my view of you guys even further..."

"... I..."

"..."

"... I just wanted someone to talk to..."

"Eh...?"

"I've been stuck in this place alone for so long... Nobody prays to me anymore because nobody comes to this region afraid of the demons..."

"..."

"West told me you could help me... And she never lies to me... So I got really excited when I heard that you would free my country!"

"Is that so...?"

"She also told me you were a crybaby who would wet her pants if you were left alone for too long so she asked me to hang out with you..."

"... ... ... IS. THAT. SO?????"

Evlin immediately made a few changes on her imaginary "To-do List" and placed "Smack West on the face" on top of her list.

"So... Is that ok...?"

"Eh... Sure I guess... I'm Evlin, nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you Evlin! I'm ************!"

"... I'm sorry, what...?"

"Oh! That's right! Humans can't comprehend our true names... Huh... I'm South!"

"Eh... Nice to meet you South... You're probably the youngest of the gods so far appearance-wise..."

"Y- Yeah... I've only been a god for a few centuries... Compared t the others I'm still just a newbie..."

"Wait... A few centuries...? What were you before you were a god?"

"Oh! I was the champion of a god just like the living-weapon."

"What??"

"Y- You didn't know?? All the gods are just humans who turned into divine beings after spending such a long time being surrounded by blessed energy..."

"Is that so...? So you guys are not really brothers and sisters?"

"No, it's just that when you join our realm we simply accept each other as family! If the hero Marceus had continued his path as a champion he would probably become a god in a century or two and would be treated as our brother as well..."

Evlin was drenched with concern. Right now Marcus was the champion of the East. The idea of that kid becoming a god in the future smelled like nothing but trouble for everyone involved.

"This... Sounds like it could lead to a lot of unfortunate events..."

"... Is that so...?"

"It is so."

"Do you not want to be a god miss?"

"... I think my mother would slap me if I ever said something like that..."

"Why is that...?"

"My family comes from a very religious-heavy background... Our faith says that we should only believe in one true God and everything else is just an insult to his presence..."

"Wait... So you don't believe in me?"

"Well... How do I put it... I always just assumed that the "gods" in this world were just another race who just happened to be more powerful than the others... And because you guys are so powerful, people would pray for you every now and then... It's not that different from believing that a hero will save you when your kingdom is being attacked..."

"I see... Then... What about demons? Does your faith also don't believe in demons?"

"Eh... It does... But the demons we believe in don't have a physical form... They're kinda like... Invisible bad ideas that pop into our heads to make us distance ourselves from our beliefs..."

"Eh... Invisible ideas...?"

"How do I put it... Imagine a small voice inside your head screaming at you non-stop "Do bad things! Do bad things!!". That's how we see demons in my world."

"I see... Your world has it much easier then... Our demons can be much more aggressive..."

"It's not like your gods are that much better though... That East lady really needs some discipline..."

"Yeah... She wasn't very nice even when she was a champion... She's also not very popular among other gods, to be honest..."

"You don't say...? You mean the lady that keeps threatening people, enslaving innocents, and using them as tools to fulfill her goals... Might not be very nice?? This is so shocking that I might need to sit down for a moment."

Evlin proceeded to do just that and sit down on the white ground. South joined her and the two continued their little talk.

"Hey South... You have been observing our situation right...?"

"A little bit, yeah... I... Have a lot of free time..."

"... Anyway... Be honest with me... Can we win this fight?"

"..."

"I know we don't have the best odds... But we still have a chance right?"

"It's hard to say... The power balance keeps changing all the time..."

"Power balance...?"

"Yeah... All the things everyone keeps using to aid them during fights... The blessed energy of the East's silver metal, the levels of magic from the channeling tree, the strength of the power of curses... You all keep getting more and more power all the time... So much so that it's kinda hard to tell who has the advantage right now..."

"..."

"East's group has possession of tons of silver metal, much more than your group, but your group has a lot of different powers thanks to West's blessing, your magic power and even now your friends are trying to obtain the power of cursed energy."

"..."

"I guess it will come down to which is the best strategy... Mixing a lot of small powers together or using a whole lot of one single power."

"I see..."

"..."

"So basically you have no idea..."

"Ugh!! ... Yes... Sorry..."

"Nah, it's fine... That just means we still have a chance..."

"... I guess..."

Evlin laid down on the floor and used her arms as pillows to rest her head while South stared at her with his legs crossed.

"That means, in the end it will all come down to who can use the power better..."

"That's one way to put it..."

"Mmmm... Ah... I want to go out there so bad!!! I want to join the fight!!"

"Don't worry... Your friends are approaching my church... Soon I'll be able to talk to them and can explain how they can save you."

"Thanks South! Oh! By the way..."

"...!?"

"This is your kingdom right? Do you know where I can get a cursed weapon to fuse with my crossbow?"

"A cursed weapon... Mmmm..."

"..."

"There is a weapon called "the devour of whispers". It's a sword owned by the leader of the demons that has the power to steal the life-force of the enemies it slays."

"Oh, that sounds cool..."

"But in exchange, all of the souls get stuck inside the sword and you will keep hearing their voices inside your head screaming in agony every time you touch it..."

"... Oh... That sounds like a nightmare..."

Evlin started to shiver with the idea of hearing voices in her head in the middle of a fight as if she was being haunted by a pack of ghosts.

"Why would anyone want that...?"

"Oh, demons love that... They feed on the agony and suffering from humans... A weapon that can keep sending that agony into their heads is like the best thing they could ask for..."

"I see... Demons really are the worst..."

"Indeed... I guess the ones in your world that are just invisible voices telling you to do bad things don't sound so bad right now huh...?"

"Eh... Guess not... "

Then suddenly, Evlin was hit by a small realization.

"Wait... Voices inside your head... Telling you to do bad things... Demons that feed on suffering..."

"Huh...?"

South didn't know what Evlin was murmuring about but she seemed to have had some kind of epiphany.

"The dryad!!!"

"Eh...?"

South was surprised when Evlin suddenly stood up in a jump.

"My sister!! She has a demon inside her mind!! That's why she was acting so weird!!"

"Oh! Oh, yeah... The plant girl... I was wondering why you just let her fuse with a dryad like that... That was probably the worst thing you could have done to her."

"I- I didn't know it would be so dangerous! I thought demons were just monsters that could talk!!"

"Wow... That's... That's kind of a huge oversimplification..."

"Well, how would I know??"

"Demons enjoy the suffering of others more than anything in this world. Right now she is probably feeding on your sister's pain to gain more power and take control over her body."

"Take control over Ashley?? She can do that?"

"If she has enough suffering... Yes, probably..."

"But... It should be ok right...? Ashley is not a girl with a lot of pain inside of her..."

"All humans have pain inside of them... The pain might get smaller as time goes on and you might learn to live with it... But it's never truly gone..."

"!!!"

"You used to have a caretaker right? An old lady named Dalla?"

"Y- Yeah..."

"Did the pain of losing her after she died was ever truly gone?"

"... No... Even today... Just thinking about the day she asked me to let her go still stings a lot..."

"But you moved on right? You managed to learn how to deal with this pain and accept it."

"Y- Yeah..."

"But the pain is still in there... You are strong enough to live with it, but this pain will never leave you... Now imagine if your sister had someone removing all of her strength and making it impossible for her to tolerate her pain... ALL of her pain. Every single moment of suffering since the day she was born."

Evlin's heart seemed like it was about to jump out of her chest from beating so fast. The idea of every single moment of suffering from Ashley's entire life falling on her head at once with nothing to protect her made her realize in how grave of a danger she really was.

"She... She would break..."

"Correct..."

"I... I can't let this happen... I need to get out of here and see her!!"

"..."

"South!! South you gotta warn them!! You gotta let my friends know that Ashley is in danger!!!"

"But nothing can be done about it! Only you can separate her with your magic."

"Ugh!!!! You are a god arent you?? Can't you use your divine powers to make her normal again??"

"I'm sorry... I can't... I don't have enough people praying in my name..."

"Then... What's going to happen to her?"

"... Ah!!"

"Huh...? What? What happened?"

"Your friends arrived at the church and are calling me..."

"Wait, South..."

"I have to go... I'll do my best to save your sister..."

And as he said that, South vanished into thin air and once again Evlin was left alone in the void.

"Ash..."

Evlin was about to fall on her knees and start crying thinking about the possibility of her sister being taken over by a demon. A demon that she placed inside her head.

"What did I do...? What did I do!!???"

She started to hold her head as if trying to think of a way to get out of this situation when suddenly another figure appeared in front of her.

"South!!?? West!!?? Is that you???"

But the figure in front of her was neither South, West, or even East. It was a tall muscular man with long blond hair wearing a white robe similar to that of South's.

Evlin stared at the man who held a cold expression towards her. She never met him before but she knew exactly who he was.

"North..."