A journey into an infinite dimension

Chapter 30: Angola Mainu

"This stuff is disgusting."

Looking at the amorphous substance that turned around and looked at them, Melusin, who had rushed over from the air holding Jiaye, couldn't help but have a trace of disgust on her face.

Girls always instinctively feel fear and disgust towards soft-bodied creatures. Although Melusine is a dragon, she is also a female. Moreover, the thing in front of her is not an ordinary soft-bodied creature, but a strange thing that makes people feel disgusted from head to toe.

"Master, can I reward that thing with a Noble Phantasm?"

"Before that, could you put me down first? This position is awkward."

Being held in Melusin's arms like a princess, Jiaye tried to shrink his body as much as possible to avoid touching certain parts that should not be touched, and he gave a bitter smile.

"For a hero, winning the hand of a beautiful woman is the best reward. Although I'm not a hero, I still hope to receive some rewards from the Master, given that I've won."

Gently hovering in mid-air, upon hearing this, Melusin not only did not let go of Jiaye, but instead tightened her arms around him, keeping him close to her, and expressed her opinions seriously.

"Yet your face is already as red as an apple."

A faint fragrance drifted quietly into his nose. Knowing that he could not break free from Melusin's "restraints" with his own strength, Jiaye had to use the method of complaining to distract himself as much as possible, so as to avoid paying attention to the true nature of the soft touch on his arm.

"Also, why do you have so few clothes? Can't Servants use magic to change clothes?"

"Master, shut up. This thing seems to be targeting us."

Selectively ignoring Jiaye's words, Melusin looked solemnly at the amorphous substance that was slowly wriggling towards them, with the wings on its back spread out, ready to take Jiaye away at any time.

"Hehehe, Jiaye is really happy."

Hong below looked at the two people's postures and couldn't help but laugh without any smile.

"Good news for people with trypophobia."

It seemed as if he had only noticed the existence of amorphous matter at this time, and Jiaye couldn't help but sigh.

"You'll be scared to death."

Melusin felt both admiration and helplessness for the fact that Jiaye would actually sigh about such a thing after seeing such a disgusting gesture.

"Um....Mellucin, put me down, I want to do an experiment."

Looking at the amorphous substance that was approaching them, Jiaye pondered for a moment, summoned Tianhuilong, and then said to Melusin.

"Master, please don't commit suicide so easily."

Although she was a little reluctant, Melusin could see that Jiaye was serious now, so she reluctantly put him on Tianhuilong's back.

"I don't have a hobby of courting death right now."

Controlling the Tianhuilong away from Melusin, and then seeing the amorphous substance immediately change direction with him, Jiaye finally confirmed his guess.

It seems the sight he felt wasn't an illusion; the Shoggoth's target was indeed him—no, Shoggoth? Its name?

Why do I know its name?

As if struck by a thunderbolt, Jia Ye could not help but stand there in a daze.

"Big brother, do you want to fight that annoying thing one-on-one?"

The beast 666 stopped halfway through its materialization process and looked a little aggrieved. Ai Ge looked at Jiaye in confusion as he stopped in mid-air and let the Shoggoth continue to approach him.

She also saw the scene where the Shoggoth was led away by him just now. Although she didn't know how he provoked this thing, it was not an opponent that he could deal with with his strength, right?

"Gaya..."

Hong's face tightened. Although she didn't know what Jiaye wanted to do, her idea was the same as Aige's. That was not something that Jiaye could deal with alone!

Leaving Dion behind, Hong's figure gradually approached the direction of Jiaye after flashing a few times - no, not only her, Aige, Mashu and Atalanta also immediately rushed in that direction, leaving Ritsuka standing on Leviathan without Jiaye's control, alone and disheveled in the wind.

"Well, please don't leave me. At least just pick me up from the ground."

Li Xiang stretched out his hand hesitantly in the direction where the few people left, feeling like crying but unable to do so.

"Master, what's wrong with you?"

Landing lightly on the back of the Tianhuilong and folding her wings, Melusin reached out and gently shook the stunned Jiaye, and asked worriedly.

Because he had his eyes closed, Jiaye looked dazed and looked like he was asleep or fainted. She couldn't help but worry.

"...Huh? What's wrong with me?"

As if waking up from a dream, Jiaye's reaction was a little slow.

"I don't know. Let's not worry about that for now. Let's stay away from it."

Melusine caught a glimpse of the Shoggoth getting closer and closer, and extending a tentacle towards them. She said to Jiaye without hiding her disgust.

“Tekeli—li”

“Tekeli—li”

Perhaps reacting to Melusine's words, the speed of the Shoggoth suddenly increased to a level even faster than before. The tentacles that were originally more than ten meters away came within a two-meter radius in front of the Tianhui Dragon in an instant. It was about to touch it, but at this moment, a scorching white light with an energy and temperature that was difficult to estimate suddenly fell from the sky and swallowed up the huge figure of the Shoggoth in an instant.

Gazing blankly at the tentacles whose broken sections were neatly falling straight down, Jia Ye could even "see" the emotions in those wide-open eyes.

The sudden attack made Melusin's pupils shrink suddenly as he almost didn't react. He didn't care about anything else and immediately hugged Jiaye, who was in a bad state, in his arms, then spread his wings and quickly left the back of Tianhuilong.

A hideous shadow quietly enveloped the Tianhui Dragon, which was still in place, and the Shoggoth below, which was slowly wriggling to repair its body in a nearly twenty-meter-wide charred pit.

Hong, Ai Ge and others who arrived one after another saw the figure with his back to the sun. A familiar aura made them look at each other, and then they all focused their eyes on someone present.

"They are of the same kind."

Ai Ge smiled softly without changing her expression.

[Another "beast"?!]

Roman was on the verge of collapse.

What the hell is that immortal slime? And what the hell is this Beast that suddenly appears in front of me?

When did monsters like "Human Evil," which require the combined might of seven Grand Servants to defeat, become so rampant? Could it be that every singularity will have at least one Beast in charge? !!

They just want to repair a singularity and save humanity at the same time. Why are there so many obstacles and difficulties? Does humanity really have to perish?

"The road ahead is so difficult that even a genius like me can't help but feel that humanity is beyond salvation."

Da Vinci, who had come behind Roman at some point, stared at the pale three-headed dragon displayed on the screen in amazement. The gloom in her eyes was in stark contrast to the expression on her face.

"The good news is that we have Miss Aige, who also possesses exceptional combat power, so the situation isn't hopeless... Leonardo, aren't you researching the Holy Grail that can transform into crystal? How did you find the time to come here?"

Scratching his messy hair randomly, Roman forced himself to cheer up and asked.

He is now the commander of those children. If even he loses his fighting spirit, then humanity will be truly hopeless.

"It said it wanted to talk to the highest official in Chaldea, otherwise it wouldn't let me do my research."

Taking out the Holy Grail crystal and placing it on the table, Da Vinci shrugged helplessly.

"??"

Roman, with a puzzled look on his face, looked at the crystal on the table dejectedly. Can this thing talk?

[Hey, don’t think I can’t hear you calling me a non-human! !]

"Speak!!"

Startled by the sudden sound, Roman couldn't help but let out an embarrassing whine.

Fortunately, the control desk and the outside world are soundproofed from each other. This function was originally designed to prevent the outside sounds from interfering with the commander's thoughts. At this moment, it saved Roman from the embarrassment of losing the prestige he had just established in the hearts of other people in the control room.

[Hey, nerdy geek, is it surprising that I can talk?]

A gruff voice emanated from the crystal once again, carrying a strong sense of dissatisfaction.

"Soft, soft otaku..."

Roman was deeply shocked, but he also knew that now was not the time to be depressed, nor was it the time to pay attention to this unknown thing.

"Let's talk about it later. I don't have time to care about you now——"

[Hey, isn't this Az?]

The words stopped abruptly, and Roman and Da Vinci both stared at the crystal with wide eyes.

"What did you say?"

[I said, that, the three-headed dragon on the screen, is an acquaintance of mine named 'Angora Mainyu', so I can kind of say I know him.]

Looking at the three-headed dragon on the screen that was confronting Jiaye and the others as well as the Shoggoth, Angra Mainyu said in a tone that seemed complicated and helpless.

Although he is essentially just an ordinary person who was forced to bear this name and a big blame, the name is a concept. Thanks to this, after becoming a Heroic Spirit, he also possesses some of the concepts and characteristics of the real evil god recorded in the mythology of Zoroastrianism, 'Angora-Manu (Ahriman)'.

This part of the trait reflects that when he sees those "familiar" people and things, he will naturally acquire memories and knowledge related to them.

Although these memories and knowledge are not his personal experiences, they are the real Ahriman's.

Chapter 31: Human Evil Revealed

"Angora Mainyu, Zoroastrianism, three-headed dragon... That Beast's real name is Aziz Dahaka?!"

Roman slammed his head on the table. Being knowledgeable, he only needed to hear a few key clues to deduce the Beast's real name. However, it was precisely because of this that he felt frustrated.

"Isn't he one of the most powerful gods? Although Aziz Dahaka is indeed the Pillar of Evil in Zoroastrianism according to legend, why is he considered evil in the human sense? Why do humans deserve his love?!"

The so-called human evil, as the literal meaning is, is the stain of mankind, referring to various disasters that will destroy mankind. The more humans develop, the stronger they will become, just like cancer that eats away at the body from the inside of society. In other words, it is the silt deposited in human history.

However, human evil is not evil that is based on hostility and wants to destroy humanity, but evil that is destroyed by humans.

The essence of human evil is actually human love itself. The desire to destroy humanity is not based on malice towards humanity, because malice is only temporary and becomes weaker the more it is used. Therefore, the real threat to humanity is the desire to protect human nature.

Because of the spirit of wanting a better future, the current peace is bared.

Therefore, although there are many legends and gods related to "evil", not every existence can become a "Beast".

[Because Aziz is one of the seven evil gods, representing "evil thoughts," he is absolutely evil. The Zoroastrian worldview is based on the dualism of good and evil, where the opposite of evil is only good. Therefore, no matter how evil a human being is, as long as they can defeat Aziz, they are absolutely good.]

Angora Mainyu explained in a somewhat complicated voice.

How similar this is to his experience, except that he was forced to become evil and then conquered to make others become good, while Aziz Dahaka did it voluntarily.

Hey, nerd, let's make a deal.

Coming back from his thoughts, Angra Mainyu said to Roman.

[I can join you, but in return, you must give me a body that allows me to move freely.]

"No, speaking of you, you are obviously a god, so why did you appear in the Holy Grail? And isn't it easy for you to create a body?"

[Because I'm just an ordinary person named 'Angora Mainyu'. Before becoming a Heroic Spirit, I didn't even know anything about magic or the Holy Grail.]

Although Angora Mainu's tone was still as rough as ever, Roman could hear his melancholy.

"Do you have a solution for Aziz Dahaka?"

[I don’t know, but He will probably show some mercy to you for my name’s sake.]

......Then what use are you?

Roman's lips trembled slightly, and it took him a long time to swallow back these extremely offensive words.

"Yes, we happen to have a Grand Puppeteer here who should be able to create the body you want. However, he is facing Aziz Dahaka now, so we can only ask you to fulfill your agreement first."

Although Jiaye's opinion has not been asked about this matter, Roman believes that he will agree.

After all, he is a guy who is extremely protective of his people and doesn't like to owe favors to others. If Angra Mainyu can really get Aziz Dahaka not to kill them, then he will definitely help.

Even if he refused to agree, there was still the omnipotent Leonardo da Vinci, who would always find a way to provide a body that would satisfy Angola Mainu.

﹝no problem.﹞

"...I say, aren't you a little too pessimistic to be prepared for defeat so early?"

On the side, Da Vinci, who had been watching the entire transaction, said helplessly with his hands on his hips.

"You're being disrespectful to those children who are still fighting."

"Ahahahaha, I'm just worried about unexpected events, so I'm making extra preparations."

Scratching his head and giving a dry laugh, Roman turned back to look at the screen, his expression gradually becoming serious.

"Leonardo, please use the spirit particle transfer to take Angra Mainyu to find Mash and the others right now, and then tell them the information about Azi Dahaka. I will try my best to maintain other matters during this time."

"Yes, yes, my acting director."

Shrugging his shoulders, Da Vinci picked up the crystal and ignored Angora Mainu's curses of "Be gentle, bitch" and "I'm going to faint", then turned and walked towards the basket, leaving Roman sitting on the chair and letting out a faint sigh.