My Evil System

"No."

"No?" I repeated Megu\'s answer with an unfazed expression.

Megu tilted her head and sweetly smiled at me. "No. Angelica and I will not go with you to confront this God that might possibly kill us in the process."

BaAmM!

Florin\'s hands smacked right against the table, and she shot to her feet while jabbing a finger at Megu. "What?! How dare you say NO to my Lord? Don\'t you know that you can\'t say no to our Lord!? We\'re but a mere servant to him, and we don\'t have the right to say no."

I ignored Florin\'s outburst and stared seriously at Megu. I expected her to say \'No,\' so I came prepared.

"I can assure you that you and Angelica will be safe. I don\'t want to die, either. That should be enough to let you know that we will return safe and sound here."

Megu\'s smile was still on her face, but she looked even scarier now. "By using Angelica?"

I nodded seriously since there was no way to put it simply. "With Angelica\'s LCK, even a God wouldn\'t be able to touch us."

Megu\'s eyes turned sharp and crescent. "N.O."

Florin\'s foot stomped on the ground, and she yelled. "How dare you! Don\'t you still know your role here? You can never say no to my Lord!"

"Florin," I called.

Florin\'s crumpled face with a dirty stare abruptly changed to one of an infatuated expression with a sweet smile on her face.

"Yes, my Lord?" she sweetly asked in a sing-song voice.

"Sit down."

"Yes, my Lord." Florin planted her butt almost immediately.

"Eat your breakfast, and don\'t talk while I speak with Megu."

"Yes. My Lord." Florin saluted before shooting Megu a glare and ate her food.

I went back to Megu and tried to convince her. "I will not force you if you really don\'t want to. But Megu . . . having another God as my minion would greatly guarantee our survival in the future. Don\'t you want that? For Angelica\'s safety as well?

"If we want to stay alive in this dangerous place, then we must grab every opportunity to protect ourselves from danger. Another apocalyptic event will soon come. It\'s only a matter of time."

". . ." Megu\'s expression slightly cracked, and I could see that she was beginning to hesitate.

Good.

A little push and everything would go as planned.

I saw the reflection of my serious face in her eyes.

Megu took a deep breath and looked at the ceiling.

"Fine," she said with a heavy sigh.

She had finally agreed!

"But only because it\'s for Angelica. If anything happens to her . . ."

Megu\'s smile fell, and her pupils constricted into a dot. "I will cut your **** and feed it to the pigs and **** your **** and ****!"

I gave her a nod while I cleared my throat and shifted uncomfortably in my seat.

She then looked at me with a serious expression. "Cross . . ."

"Don\'t worry," I assured her, "You won\'t be alone. You and Angelica will have me by your side always. I promise."

My words seemed to have given her comfort, at least.

She nodded, and her face finally broke into a small smile. "Alright . . .

Megu gave me an uneasy smile in return before looking away.

It seemed like she didn\'t want to look at me anymore.

I couldn\'t blame her. I knew that she was mad at me for even suggesting to use Angelica against a God.

She was angry, worried, and scared all at once. I could feel it radiating from her though she tried to hide it behind her calm façade.

I squeezed her hand on the table and rubbed my thumb against her tight knuckles. That seemed to work as I saw her tense expression loosened a bit.

I smiled at her, and she returned the gesture.

Then we turned our gaze towards Angelica, who was still eating in gusto.

Just as everything seemed peaceful, we were both startled by the loud, gritting sound of the knife that was forcefully cutting the meat on a plate.

"How nice!" Florin said, teeth grinding together. "It seemed like every time that there\'s a new cow, my Lord forgets all about Florin. Florin wonders why. Is it because of her small breasts?"

Her eyes then widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand as she faked her surprise. "Oh, my? Did Florin say that out loud?"

She then beamed. "But seriously, my Lord. Can Florin come? I don\'t like to remain here alone with only Athena and some Tokens as companions," she whined.

I looked at her seriously. "You remain here. You\'re the co-leader of HAVEN, and while I\'m away, you must watch the place and tend to the crops. Only I can trust you with this task and no one else."

Florin\'s eyes shone in delight. "Egh? C-co-leader?!"

She then palmed her hands over her cheeks and giggled.

"Teeheehee. If my Lord says so, then Florin will watch the house while you\'re away just like a good, caring, and responsible wife."

I nodded. "I\'m counting on you."

With that out of the way, and while Florin was distracted with her pretend role, I addressed Megu again.

"We\'ll be leaving as soon as we finish breakfast."

"So soon?"

"The God is dying. We can\'t risk delaying this matter for another day, or it would be a waste if she breathed her last."

Megu\'s brows twitched when she realized that I wouldn\'t budge from this. She could only sigh her frustration out and hugged Angelica closer to her.

After breakfast, we set out to Rocky Mountains. The sun was up, and there was a bit of a haze that covered the horizon, blocking the direct light that would otherwise roast us from the heat.

The cold wind from the continuous rain from that past days still blew, so the journey was a pleasant one as we sat on top of Little Piggy\'s wide back.

It could\'ve been better if the Piglet could cooperate and didn\'t rant so much.

"I-I\'m just going to drop you off and nothing more, alright? O-once you\'re there, y-you\'re on your own. B-but don\'t think that I\'m scared of facing Yuko, okay? I just felt bad that she\'s dying and doesn\'t want to beat someone that\'s already down."

I rolled my eyes. Its voice almost sounded like it was crying, and they were still a good kilometers away from the Rocky Mountains.

"Are you sure that he is a God?" Megu whispered near my ears. In her arms, Angelica was hopping up and down while shouting, clearly enjoying the view, unaware of the dangers that we would soon face.

"Unfortunately, yes," I answered her. "That\'s why we need another God. Someone that\'s more reliable than it."

"Da! Da!" Angelica cooed at me and jabbed a finger into the mist that splashed through our faces.

"Ah. It\'s called clouds," I said without thought. That little girl had me trained already. Even without understanding her, I couldn\'t help but answer.

There was something about Angelica\'s innocent smile that calmed the heart. It even helped Megu calm down, at least, as we neared the Rocky Hills. I squeezed her shoulder tight while she leaned closer to me.

Climbing the altitude, Little Piggy began to shake uncontrollably.

"Stop shaking. It\'s like there\'s an earthquake in here," I mocked, and it did little to help.

Megu was too worried to even marvel at what we saw, while I was calm about the whole situation. I knew that it was risky, but I believed in Angelica\'s ability.

Besides, without taking risks, there would be no progress.

<That\'s the spirit, Host! You should be calm and keep doing evil deeds!>

I didn\'t comment and focused my attention on the scenery instead.

There were levitating rocks that weren\'t visible below and only appeared past the clouds.

There were also hills that formed into a ladder shape around the main Rocky Mountain.

The good news was that on top of these rocks was vegetation and even waterfalls that came falling from the very top, creating a mini waterfall as it fell on the smaller rocky hills below.

It was like paradise here. One that I\'d only see in fantasy, inhabited by sprites, fairies, and other deities, even mermaids from the lakes, waterfalls, and rivers.

I could imagine them playing by the river, with fairies flying all around and their giggles filling the place.

Unfortunately . . . it was not that kind of story.

The gorgeous scenery on the very peak was laid bare in our eyes. The waterfall that came from a giant cloud of aqua freely fell to the landscape below, creating a path of river on the side, as well as a pool of water scattered everywhere. Many vegetation and flowers were growing on its soil . . . but none of that mattered.

The Tyrant that claimed its land, occupying the whole area of the Rocky Mountain peak, was looking at us with curious bloodshot eyes.

A thousand-year-old nine-tailed fox was standing on its four legs with a gruesome hole in its stomach. Its white mane looked soft to the touch, but it was dyed in blood.

Its beautiful appearance was the stuff of legends.

But we knew that behind its soft furs and beauty laid a sinister lady that loved to toy with its prey before torturing it for all eternity.

( . . . continuation on NOTES)