Taming The Villainesses novel Chapter 443

It was an overwhelming presence. Bigger and more grotesque than anything I had ever laid eyes on.

It floated in the air, like a Buddha statue seated in a lotus position, and it seemed to possess a total of eight arms.

Each of its countless fingers was bent in intricate seals, forming peculiar mudras. As someone who had reached a certain level as a mage, I could tell it was imbued with profound mysteries.

Magical Gnosticism, as claimed and venerated by secret orders.

A secret the world had hidden away.

Or perhaps it could be called truth. Or Logos.

Just by gazing at it, I could feel my magical knowledge and skill expanding.

Literally expanding.

Like a fairground balloon suddenly filled with air, I began to swell. But because I was constrained by the vessel of a “physical body,” I couldn’t withstand the sudden surge of mana, and nausea surged up inside me.

“Ugh.”

The concepts were far too large for the small brain of a half-fairy like me to contain. It felt as if my skull would split open like a watermelon smashed by a hammer.

━━Krrrng...!

If Bael, the paper spider within me, hadn’t bitten down hard on my consciousness, I might have collapsed to the ground unconscious right then and there.

Goooooo...

The massive head began to slowly lower toward me. Its radiant eyes blazed like two burning suns, so dazzling I couldn’t look directly at them.

『━Little━─res...』

It seemed to be speaking. But even with the power I had absorbed from Agares, I could barely understand a sliver of what it was saying.

They say humans unconsciously block out sounds that are too immense for them to process—like the sound of Earth’s rotation or its revolution.

If one could actually perceive those overwhelming sounds with their tiny ears, the human brain would explode like an egg in a microwave.

This felt like something similar.

My existence was far too insignificant and small to comprehend the words of that immense being.

Like the difference between an elephant and an ant. No—less than that. I was dust. Yes, my small, pathetic self was like mere dust.

Standing before this colossal existence, the proper response would’ve been to bow in submission... or simply close my eyes and pray for this trial to pass me by.

But.

I stubbornly clung to my body’s will. I braced my trembling knees, my sagging shoulders, my faltering eyes and lips—and shouted with all my strength:

“I am Teo Gospel of Angmar. I have traveled a long road to reach this place. O ancient sky, O light of the world—answer my question!”

All the countless question marks I had swallowed until now. The one who could answer all those doubts stood before me. I couldn’t let this chance slip away.

『━━is━─.』

Still, I couldn’t understand what it was saying.

Whether that was fortunate or unfortunate for me, I didn’t know—but for the young ladies trembling behind me, it was surely a blessing.

“What the hell is that...!?”

From beyond the doorway, I could feel Elga shouting, her voice quivering with fear.

Elga was not one to display panic easily. The very fact that she raised her voice like that said everything about the depth of her shock.

She deserved praise just for not fainting. Just looking at that blurry form was enough to drive most mages insane.

There was no telling what kind of effect simply seeing it might have on someone.

Realizing that, I began to question—and regret—whether it had truly been the right decision to bring my family beyond this gate. Countless warnings Saint Priga had given me flickered through my mind.

But it was already too late.

The door I had opened was gone without a trace, and the flower field and the worn temple we had just been chatting in had vanished. We were now floating in a space filled with nothing but radiant light.

There was no way to tell where the path back was.

Even if there were a way back, who was to say that the enormous being looming before us would allow us to take it?

“This is...”

Mirna stepped forward. Her foot stepped into the glowing light, sending out faint ripples. But she paid them no mind.

Tears streamed down both her cheeks.

“This is the god I believed in...?”

To Mirna, who had grown up a devout believer, the being before her seemed to strike a powerful emotional chord. She couldn’t speak, overcome with feeling.

But Narmee frowned.

“All I see is a blur, like a heat haze. I can tell it’s something huge and dangerous, but it doesn’t look like a god to me. It just feels... ominous.”

Did different people see it differently? Come to think of it, I had heard that those who had seen the Gate of Truth and what lay beyond it each described something different.

Some spoke of massive arms or legs. Others, of shadows. Still others, of radiant halos and burning eyes like the sun.

Maybe form wasn’t even important to that being.

“You’re not....”

At that moment, the nymph Trish looked up in shock. Reflected in her pale face was a blazing light.

“Ugh...”

A moan of pain echoed.

The small half-fairy child in Trish’s arms clutched his head, writhing in agony.

“His condition—!”

Trish paled. She clearly didn’t understand what was happening, but I did. The same magical expansion I had just experienced—this child was experiencing it too.

Even I, with a body somewhat hardened through growth, had felt like I was being torn apart by it.

For a child as delicate as a newly bloomed wildflower, the pain must have been unimaginably cruel.

As I watched the young half-fairy struggling to breathe and his mother panicking, I was reminded once more why I had opened the gate and come here.

To drag down the sky.

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