Chapter 5: Are You Even a Serious Demon God?

Beneath the night sky, the monastery lay quiet and serene, moonlight like gauze drifting down between the stars, sweeping away the last traces of daytime clamor.

Only solitude remained.

Silence and stillness were the norm for this ancient building.

Yet right now, in one of its rooms, a fierce exchange unfolded, utterly out of place with the surrounding atmosphere.

Click. Click. Click…

The room was so still a pin could be heard falling; the faint sounds of gears grinding, turning, and colliding inside the mechanical clock were crystal clear.

And the swift scratch of a pen across paper.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

“…”

Herbert stared blankly as his left hand gripped a feather pen, rapidly dancing across the page, leaving behind a string of ornate, sinister script.

When his left hand stopped, he flipped through the heavy dictionary beside him, laboriously translating the words he himself had written.

“What.”

“Afraid.”

“You… tch!”

【What are you afraid of?】

Seeing the translation he had painstakingly deciphered, Herbert felt the mocking tone in the words and couldn’t help but twitch his mouth, angrily scribbling a retort with his right hand.

“Afraid of what? Don’t you know? Don’t you bloody well know????”

Hmph.

The way you ask that—zero technical skill.

I’m up past midnight, wide awake, playing with a spirit board and a pen to chat with you.

You ask what I’m afraid of?

Obviously, I’m afraid of you!

After several rounds of testing, Herbert’s lingering hope finally died—he had to accept the reality: he wasn’t suffering from schizophrenia; he had genuinely encountered a ghost.

Fine, the elegant cursive from his left hand was odd enough, but he couldn’t possibly have spontaneously mastered six or seven alien languages.

Admit it!

I’m possessed by something unclean—I’m no longer pure, waaah…

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Once the writing reverted to the common tongue, it became even faster.

【You’re not afraid of me, are you?】

The other side not only ignored Herbert’s slightly provocative tone but seemed even more delighted, a palpable joy radiating from the words.

【No way? No way? No way?】

【You’re a Holy Knight! How could you possibly fear me?】

Damn, this ghost is a bratty little girl.

For several rounds, the two had passionately exchanged blows with the same pen, filling multiple sheets of paper with aggressive, artistic script.

Not long ago, when the Holy Mark warned Herbert that his thoughts were being silently influenced, he realized something terrible had happened—the sealed entity beneath the monastery had broken loose!

This world was not safe; demons, evil deities, malevolent entities, devils, and monstrous beings filled every corner with danger.

Every monastery was originally built to seal and suppress those special entities that could not be destroyed or killed.

Herbert did not know what lay sealed beneath the Misty Monastery, but he was certain it was far beyond his current capacity to handle.

There was no point in bravely facing it alone; with clear self-awareness, Herbert immediately sought to call for outside help.

Please.

This was the Misty Monastery, guarded by legendary powerful beings—even if the sealed entity escaped, it was not his place as a rookie Holy Knight to intervene.

With the big shots here, all evil shall be punished!

I’d be lucky to just get some XP.

Too bad, good intentions meant nothing.

He wanted to scream for help, but his throat produced no sound; even breathing became agonizingly difficult.

He tried to bang on the door to make noise, but his hand grew limp before it could even touch the wood, finally just flopping weakly against it.

After all attempts failed, Herbert’s “reckless left hand” led him to the desk, where he had been conversing with the unseen presence ever since.

Eventually, Herbert was the first to surrender, raising a white flag and writing wearily:

“So… what exactly do you want?”

After half a day of shouting back and forth, Herbert still knew nothing of the other’s identity—but he had learned one thing at least.

Judging from the tone in its words, while malice couldn’t be ruled out, the entity seemed to harbor no intent to kill him.

He couldn’t call for help.

He couldn’t beg to die.

Even begging for mercy was denied!

What the hell, you’re just forcing me to write back and forth with you?!

Are you insane?!

【Oh? You finally believe I’m not a figment of your mind?】

“Fine, fine, I believe you—now, great entity, what exactly do you want me to do?”

Herbert had seen too many tragedies in his past life caused by trusting others too easily.

He would never believe the excuse that this entity was merely “lonely at midnight and wanted to chat~”—that was clearly a five-star lie.

Aside from close kin, anyone who shows you unusual warmth must have an agenda—power, money, beauty… never any exception.

【What I want doesn’t matter—you’ll find out soon enough.】

【Heh, but you, young Holy Knight… have you truly considered the meaning of making a pact with a demon god?】

【Are you truly prepared?】

Demon god.

Upon seeing this jarring word, Herbert instinctively narrowed his eyes, his expression turning grave.

Demonic deities—the true enemies of justice—spread blood and fire across the mortal realm, bringing endless death and suffering; they were the very beings every Holy Knight would sacrifice everything to destroy.

After a long silence, he finally lifted his pen with solemn gravity and slowly wrote the question weighing heaviest on his mind—

“Are you… a serious demon god?”

Swish!

【?】

Seeing the half-page filled with a giant question mark, Herbert smirked.

See? You’re flustered again.

So unsteady.

You’re not some parody demon god, are you?

Forget everything else—tell me, which decent demon god stays up past midnight, dragging someone into a heated text battle?

Perhaps those words struck too hard—the demon god child fell silent for a full minute.

【I understand. You still don’t believe me.】

【Fine.】

It said:

【I’ll let you experience firsthand the terror of a demon god.】

Huh?

Huh??

A terrible premonition flashed through Herbert’s mind; he abandoned the pen and cried out:

“Wait! What are you going to do to me—”

Thud.

Before Herbert could finish, his consciousness abruptly cut off—he collapsed face-first onto the desk.

He fell asleep.

For the first time since arriving at the Misty Monastery, Herbert slept soundly that night.

And he dreamed.

A dream—wildly lewd and absurd.

In it, dozens of seductive maidens from various races surrounded and enveloped him, engaging in deep and thorough academic research.

But just as the discussion reached its peak, the monster girls suddenly transformed into something else!

“Wait, wait a minute!!?”

“No, no, no!”

“Don’t come near me—”

“Don’t you dare come closer!”

“At least… not a goblin!”

“Not even a female one!”

(End of Chapter)