Chapter 287 - Evil God

And so, the chaotic day passed.

By the time the Wolkwang Bridge Gate disaster was beginning to fade from memory.

News arrived that Kathedal would be gathering again after a long time.

"...The first time since the Wolkwang Bridge incident."

In the living room.

Looking at the letter that said we should meet first rather than exchange information, I muttered those words and fell into thought.

Kathedal. Among the numerous S-class villains around the world, this was where only the representatives of villain groups who had formed alliances gathered.

This Kathedal, founded by Celeste, the Light Saintess who is considered the overwhelming number one among world villains in both power and influence.

In the original story, it's about to begin its full-scale activities from now on.

Especially after the world was thrown into chaos because of Wolkwang Bridge, its influence grew stronger...

"I wonder what will happen now..."

I was pondering this with my chin resting on the desk.

First of all, I don't need to worry about my influence within Kathedal. I've already proven my abilities during the Wolkwang Bridge incident, and with Katana, Li Xiaopeng, and Atlas all on my side.

However, that doesn't mean there are no problems at all.

I've been acting too blatantly lately, so some might question whether I'm really a villain or not. I openly showed cooperation with Stardust on broadcast, and recent foreign news has been reporting favorably about me.

'...Well, that's not my business.'

Obviously, this wasn't really an issue.

I could say I manipulated the heroes, that it was a ploy to make people let their guard down, or ask them if they didn't also cooperate with heroes during the Wolkwang Bridge Gate incident... there are plenty of escape routes. Most importantly, I have friends who completely trust me at the Kathedal meeting, from Atlas to Katana.

The problem, however, is still Celeste...

"...I'll have to see when I face her."

With that thought, I prepared for the meeting.

***

And so, Kathedal finally arrived.

"Hello, Mr. Egostic."

As I entered the familiar white cathedral, I followed the priest through the long corridor toward the round table room.

And there were the familiar faces waiting for me.

"Hey, Egostic! Over here!"

"Ah, Egostic. You're here."

"Mr. Egostic!"

Since I arrived a bit late today, I could see Atlas, Li Xiaopeng, and Katana who had already taken their seats. Our red mohawk guy also nodded when he saw me. ...Looks like Mohawk also survived the Wolkwang Bridge disaster well. Good for him.

"My goodness, how have you all been?"

And as I approached everyone with a bright smile.

"".......""

The gazes of the villains seated at the round table mostly turned toward me.

And while I approached our colleagues with a smile, I was quickly scanning the atmosphere around the round table with my eyes hidden behind my mask.

I could feel various emotions in their gazes. Curiosity, puzzlement, admiration, suspicion, tension, even fear.

Yes.

I knew this reaction would come, so I deliberately arrived late.

The Wolkwang Bridge disaster might have seemed sudden to ordinary people, but it's different for these Kathedal members sitting here.

It's something I had predicted from the beginning.

For almost a year before the incident occurred, I had been gradually building this up with them. From stories about the existence of other worlds, predictions that the dimensional barriers were weakening, to direct warnings that monsters would soon invade.

While other heroes and associations couldn't even anticipate it, I had already shared this information with Kathedal.

At the time I mentioned it, there wasn't even a hint of such things happening, so it probably seemed like mere speculation.

But in the end, everything happened exactly as I said.

An unprecedented global disaster.

Monsters of enormous scale attacked Earth simultaneously across the world.

This was information that only Kathedal members knew, unlike heroes or other villains.

Because I told only them.

Exclusively.

In other words, to them, I'm one of two things.

First, a capable villain who accurately predicted a global disaster that others couldn't even foresee.

Or, since the Wolkwang Bridge incident happened in Korea, it was a self-orchestrated show.

'...Either way.'

What matters in the end is this: I know a lot about a catastrophic attack that no one else knew about. That I have such ability. This was already known from when I correctly identified a time traveler, but this opportunity firmly proved it.

And.

I didn't keep this to myself but shared it with Kathedal.

Because they were with me, the people here could have an information advantage over other ability users. Whether preparing for the Wolkwang Bridge incident or planning cooperation with heroes. All of this was possible because I warned them in advance.

In short... my influence in Kathedal has grown much stronger than before. I even officially reached S-class, though it doesn't mean much now.

And as my influence grows, there's the downside that enemies appear too. That's why I deliberately arrived late to draw attention, then went to my colleagues to reaffirm my connections, so that potential enemies wouldn't even think of messing with me.

This is how the weak survive. Use every card you can. If I'm weak, shouldn't I have strong friends?

...Anyway, with those thoughts, I took my seat.

"Have you all been well?"

"Hahaha! Of course. Why worry when you warned us in advance? These days I'm having fun researching the monsters piled up in the deep sea. There are tons at the bottom of the ocean!"

"....Haha."

I couldn't help but feel a bit guilty at Atlas's laughing words. Since I changed the gates to appear only in uninhabited areas, all the monsters fell into the sea... Although I did get Atlas's understanding beforehand, it was fortunate that the gates eventually closed.

Afterward, I briefly chatted with Li Xiaopeng and Katana. Thanks to my accurate warnings about the Wolkwang Bridge incident, both their countries suffered the least damage.

"Hahaha! Thanks to you, Mr. Egostic, I'll soon have the continent in the palm of my hand. I don't know how to thank you enough!"

Li Xiaopeng was especially excited.

It seems the Chinese government suffered great damage from this disaster and is now struggling.

He's apparently taking this opportunity to greatly expand his influence. Well, he eventually takes over China in the original story, so it seems that will happen soon.

As for Katana, while Japan didn't suffer much damage, they weren't completely unscathed and are busy with recovery efforts. Everyone had been busy, so this was the first time we met in person since Wolkwang Bridge. Of course, we had plenty of personal contact and diplomatic exchanges through Lee Seol-ah. We are the East Asian Villain Alliance after all.

Anyway, while we were catching up.

Celeste arrived relatively early.

"I hope you all have been well."

Dressed in white saintess robes, with her head covered by a white veil and her eyes closed, she appeared.

Wearing pure white clothes embroidered with gold, she exuded her usual mysterious aura.

And after her arrival, the meeting finally began.

"...I see some of you are missing."

After briefly looking around the round table, she said.

...How does she know with her eyes closed? Can she sense some kind of energy?

While I was thinking that, Celeste continued speaking in her clear, mysterious voice.

"I heard that some of our colleagues have passed away. I express my condolences for them. May God watch over them."

So some did die in the end.

...More interestingly, she mentioned God watching over them in her eulogy. What an interesting thing to say. A God who watches over villains... well, that's not entirely wrong.

"That's why I called you today, now that the situation has settled, to confirm everyone's survival. I said you could come without sharing any information because of that. ...Because I have information to share with you."

And so, the time for information sharing naturally arrived.

And Celeste began to speak.

What followed was extremely shocking information.

Something I never expected her to share with them today.

"Everyone. As you know from this incident... God exists in this world."

Information about the gods of this world.

Until this point, I was nodding along as I listened. Ah, is she going to share information about the gods on this occasion?

...Until I heard what came next.

"And the god who caused this disaster is an evil god."

"...?"

At her sudden statement, I froze for a moment.

Eun-wol's father diligently protecting the dimension in that white space that looked like it could drive you insane, mysterious evil god behavior...

Regardless, she continued.

It was a long speech, but in the end:

"...It was because the Sun God looked down upon us that this disaster could be stopped."

It ended with praise for the sun.

...Hey, I stopped that gate with Eun-wol. The Moon God closed the gate.

Of course, I didn't argue. ...I don't know what her intentions are either.

Anyway, after exchanging a few more words, the Kathedal meeting ended quickly. So quickly it made me wonder why she called it.

...Well, at least my name didn't come up, so less attention was drawn to me. I thought there would be mention of Wolkwang Bridge, but fortunately there wasn't.

"Well then, shall we go now?"

As everyone was getting ready to leave, and I was about to go too.

"Ah. And Egostic."

"Could you spare a moment to see me?"

From the far end of the round table where Celeste was sitting, a delicate voice called out to me.

"...Yes?"

Frozen for a moment, I had to turn my head.

There, I could only see Celeste, quietly smiling with her eyes closed.

...What's this? Why is she calling me?