After several trials, Herbert confird one thing.
Divine spirits are not omnipotent.
According to his understanding, the deities of this world are not the supre embodint of the world’s rules.
They rely grasp the laws of a specific domain, possessing imnse power.
Gods can also fall, and can be sealed and suppressed by others.
They are not invincible.
Not...undesecrateable.
Theory exists, practice begins!
The buzzing sound in his ears had long disappeared, and the furious great being did not send down a divine punishnt to turn him into ash.
"Besides, have you thought well about how you plan to tempt before you answer?"
"Wealth? Status? Strength?"
"Let help you calculate, status is unnecessary to ntion. Even if I leave this monastery, I am the Duke’s son, and likely to beco the next Duke in the future."
"Wealth is the sa, I certainly won’t lack money. Even if I can’t beco a Duke, at worst I could be a lord and leisurely retire in a manor."
"The only thing sowhat tempting to is strength, but I am already a paladin recognized by the monastery, entitled to access full inheritance."
"Calculating this way, do you realize that to ...you’re actually not as important as you think, right?"
"No."
Herbert smiled aningfully.
"Perhaps exactly because you are clearer about this than anyone else, you’ve always avoided talking, pretending indifference, waiting for to desperately plead with you out of fear, then manipulate at that point..."
"Friend, I advise you to save yourself the effort, don’t wait."
The Evil God remained silent, offering no response.
Yet silence itself is, indeed, a response.
Both the Evil God and mortals understand this.
"Of course, I’ve said all this, not to threaten you, I have this self-awareness."
Herbert did not continue to press, his deanor leisurely reverting to his previous relaxed state, speaking casually:
"My demand, as I said before—be more honest, let’s talk openly."
"How about it?"
We’re all smart people, let’s not waste effort.
More sincerity, less trickery.
The deity offered no response, nor did the mortal urge, and the room fell into silence.
Tick, tick, tick.
Accompanied by the soft ticking of the clock, ti flowed by second by second.
[You...surprised greatly.]
After a long while, words finally appeared on the paper.
[Perhaps I really shouldn’t have treated you as an ordinary paladin...]
The Evil God expressed generosity, but Herbert rudely interrupted with a voice.
"See, still acting."
"You really don’t need to put on this ’I’ve seen through you, and now you change your attitude in surprise’ performance, it’s aningless."
"Please stop acting."
Still pretending!
Finally, after repeatedly being exposed, the Evil God could no longer continue acting, drawing a large simple sketch of an angry face on the paper.
[...Tsk, you paladin, you’re really boring!]
"Well, thanks for the complint?"
A certain Harmonious God complained discontentedly about the mortal’s lack of appreciation.
[Don’t you know doing this loses a lot of fun?]
"Rather than respecting your strange tastes, I feel it’s more important now to clarify our relationship quickly."
"Stop wasting words, what exactly do you want to help you do? What will you give ?"
After Herbert pressed once more, the Evil God finally stopped dragging and honestly removed the disguise.
[Well then, mortal, I admit...you indeed surprised .]
[This ti, you have won; you indeed have the qualifications to negotiate with .]
[However, before speaking of those, there’s still one thing I don’t understand...I am the Evil God, aren’t you worried at all?]
The Evil God found it incomprehensible.
If this mortal understood everything, saw everything through, then why did he not choose to seek help from others but take risks trading with her?
Madman?
But not quite, there was no self-destructive impulse sensed in his spirit.
"Worried? Is worrying useful? Not to ntion, do I really have a choice?"
Herbert rolled his eyes, feeling exasperated: "After you actively bestowed blessings upon , I already had no choice."
"Since I have no choice, then you...shouldn’t expect to have one either!"
Why should I be at your rcy?
No way.
I refuse to let you easily gain everything you desire.
"Double loss is better than single win! If we die, we’ll die together!"
Herbert sneered, uttering blasphemous words that would drive outsiders mad upon hearing:
"I don’t care what you want, I can help you, but the condition is that you beco my slave."
Faced with such unrealistic demands, of course the deity would not agree, indifferently asked:
[Are you...joking?]
"A joke? Wasn’t it your original plan all along? To brand with your mark, make a disgraceful Fallen, and finally desperately seek your help to beco your enslaved puppet."
Herbert scoffed, faintly retorted:
"Why when it cos to you, you’re unwilling?"
rely having negotiation qualifications?
Insufficient.
Far from enough!!!
Herbert refused to be just the Evil God’s retinue, he wanted much more than that.
After a while, the Evil God finally responded.
[Mortal, I sll the scent of ambition on your soul.]
"Ha, stop the nonsense, just ask if you’ll agree or not."
Having stated his demands, Herbert ceased to perform, shrugging his shoulders:
"Don’t be quick to refuse. If you don’t agree, at worst I’ll go confess to the Archbishop tomorrow morning. He wouldn’t execute on the spot, would he?"
Could he kill !!?
[Are you certain?]
"Naturally I’m not certain, so I won’t try."
"Let remind you, perhaps I’m not the only one blessed by you, and in the future others like may arise, but I should be the most suitable candidate you can find."
[Why so confident?]
"Because I’m not a devout follower, not influenced by dogma."
[No, actually you are.]
"Hmm?"
Contrary to Herbert’s expectations, after being coerced into breaking face, the Evil God did not anger, instead seed...pleased?
[Haha, you’re not a lamb of the gods, you’re your own believer, you only believe in yourself.]
"Oh, nonsense, I’m trying to believe in you here."
[Mortal, I won’t underestimate you again. You need not continue acting...I won’t disguise anymore either.]
Just as Herbert wondered how she would remove her disguise, a soft voice full of joy gently echoed in Herbert’s heart.
["Haha."]
!!?
She could always directly communicate with him!
["Mortal...no, Herbert Albert, young paladin, I acknowledge your qualifications."]
Appearing accommodating, yet actually disdainful to converse with mortals, the Evil God finally withdrew her condescension.
["Sufficiently greedy, sufficiently cautious, sufficiently crazy...you truly are a worthy collaborator."]
She extended an invitation to the mortal herself.
["In the na of the divine spirit, I invite you; beco my Contractor, help break free from the shackles, and I will provide you equal return."]
"...Collaborator?"
Herbert squinted his eyes, not giving an imdiate answer.
Is this proposal difficult to accept?
Of course not!
Rather, this was actually Herbert’s true goal behind all the acting for so long.
He had considerable awareness of the current situation; rely not being passive was already tough, aiming to take the upper hand was sheer nonsense.
Being able to temporarily gain the upper hand relied on the Evil God’s underestimation of him, a surprise move barely capable of contending against her, fundantally unable to last.
Proposing the slave demand that was bound to fail was rely a tactic using the "breaking the villa effect" to achieve his actual aim.
Negotiation, in essence, is "asking sky-high prices" and "settling on the ground."
"Well then..."
Herbert didn’t give a clear reply but tested speaking directly in his heart:
"Since we’re about to beco close partners, you should let know your na, right?"
["Haha, that’s naturally no problem, but I can’t ntion my na now, lest I attract attention from certain entities."]
"Great! Then I’ll call you Nyuhulu Evil God Sauce, abbreviated..."
Evil God Sauce completely ignored Herbert’s generous naming, softly murmuring with a reminiscent tone deep in his heart:
["But you may call ..."]
["Nenasha."]
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