“Uhhh…sniff…”
I felt her warmth and heartbeat as she pressed her cheek against the flat of my blade. I felt her shiver and sigh. I wanted to cry too, despite not having eyes. Jet drew closer, and even his eyes welled up with tears.
“Arf…”
“Sniff…waaah…”
Ten minutes later, Fran stopped crying and stood up, rubbing her eyes. She smiled and fluffed Jet’s head, trying to hide her embarrassment. “Sorry about that.”
No need. That was a very big deal.
“Thanks.”
Let’s check it again just to be sure.
“Hm!” Fran gave a small jump of excitement. She closed and opened her left hand to assess the difference.
Well?
“Hmm…I’m stronger now.”
You don’t look too different, so let’s check your stats… What the heck?!
The boost she’d gained was quite a shock. Her Agility and Magic were up by three hundred points and her health and mana were completely topped up. She’d also acquired the Class Skill Flashing Thunderclap.
All this from Awaken? Was she evolved now? I thought Awaken was something you got after Evolution, not before.
This Evolution thing is potent stuff…hm?
I looked at Fran’s stats again. Lumina was a Black Tiger, if memory served, so I thought Fran would follow in her footsteps…
Fran…you’re a Black Sky Tiger for some reason.
That made her a member of one of the Ten Tribes—a race as legendary as the Beast King.
How’d that happen…?
“…”
Fran?
“…”
Uhh, Fran? Jet?
“…”
“…”
The two of them had stopped moving completely. What was going on? It looked like someone had stopped time.
What’s going on here?
Darkness came over me, only adding to my confusion. The complete blackout had no shape I could make out. Did something happen to my vision? What was happening? Were Fran and Jet alright?
“Don’t worry. I merely manipulated the flow of time and stopped everything aside from you.”
A woman’s voice, neither Fran’s nor Lumina’s. It was loud—not because of its volume, but because of its proximity. It sounded like she was talking right in my ear…
What? Who’s there?
“I didn’t think she could evolve that way… That was some stunt you pulled.”
Excuse me?
Who was she? What was she? More importantly, had I angered her?
“You meeting the Black Cat girl was nothing short of a miracle. I didn’t expect the two of you to come this far…” the voice said.
A bright light shone in the pitch-black darkness, and a woman emerged from the shaft of radiance. She was heartbreakingly beautiful. Her silver hair glistened with a mysterious opalescence. Her brown skin radiated purity and health. She was well-endowed and her robes flowed elegantly, complimenting her curves, but the effect wasn’t sexual or voluptuous. She glowed with divine light.
And you are…?
“I am she who maintains the order of the world. You may know me as the Goddess of Chaos.”
Come again?
I stared at the self-proclaimed Goddess of Chaos. How was I supposed to take her seriously? The Goddess of Chaos was one of the Ten Gods, the creator of dungeons. Powerful, if not almighty.
Then again, she was stopping time. Only a god could pull that off.
The woman smiled, though it did nothing to reassure me. She reeked of trouble!
“How rude. I certainly do not reek, thank you very much.”
What? D-did she just read my thoughts?
“Yes.”
I-I’m so sorry.
Oh no! The last thing I wanted to do was piss off a god! No, sorry! I respect you, I really do! I’m just overwhelmed by your beauty, dear goddess, that’s all! Please, have mercy on me! If I had a body, I would fall on my face right now!
“Ha ha ha. We gods have no need for vain words. I can see right into your soul.”
Uhhh, I…
“Your lack of respect for the gods makes you a rare creature, indeed.”
I-I respect you. Honest!
“Oh, I don’t mind. I am not so petty as to let such a small slight wound me.”
S-so are you going to punish me for being disrespectful, or…
“Perish the thought.”
Th-thank god! I’d been terrified since I found out about the punishment the gods gave the Black Cat tribe!
“I have taken on a more frightening form in the past. But this form is more palatable to your kind. I’m not even used to speaking in such a loose manner. Apologies if I don’t look or sound more divine.”
Was the woman standing in front of me only a part of the goddess? I’d heard of divine encounters back on Earth. At best, they blinded you. At worst, they drove you insane. Thank you so much for making yourself look like something I can bear!
“Enough of that. We have no need for the faith of an outsider.”
What? So you know that I came from another world?
“Of course. But let’s set that aside for now. We have more pressing matters.” The smile disappeared from the goddess’ face, heightening my tension. I think I knew the reason she was here.
It’s about Fran’s Evolution, isn’t it?
“Yes.”
The presence of the goddess settled any doubt about the origin of the Black Cat’s curse. The gods had indeed punished them.
“Precisely. The Black Cat tribe committed a grave sin. One so grave as to earn a heavy penance.”
And I helped Fran get around that restriction…
“You get right to the point. Honestly, I didn’t expect anyone to evolve in that manner. And now, we move on to the problem.”
I knew we hadn’t exactly gone through the proper channels, but the gods didn’t have to come down on us! Was she going to—
“Rest easy. I am not going to do anything to the girl. I will not nullify her act of Evolution.”
I heaved a sigh of relief. I was still in the thick of it, but at least the worst wouldn’t happen.
“Do you know the trouble you’ve caused?”
I helped Fran evolve in an improper way?
“That isn’t the only problem.”
Wait, really?
“Yes. I wouldn’t have needed to come down here myself for that.”
Well, what was the problem then?
“Your roundabout way of Evolution is not without consequence. You ignored the logic of this world.”
The logic of the world?
“Yes. Think of it like the systems and programs you had back on Earth.”
Did that mean the Goddess of Chaos was a system administrator, in a
