That same comprehension, the next moment, gave birth to a question.

“Another” fragment of divinity? That is to say, it is not my first?

«You have obtained a fragment of divinity.»

«You have obtained a “fragment of earth-attribute divinity”.»

A peculiar feeling, as if I were being tickled, manifested itself on my left cheek and on the index finger of my left hand.

«You have gained the skill [Fragment of Earth-Attribute Divinity]. You have inherited the power of the earth-attribute. With just a speck of this power, the earth will bend according to your will and the forest will bow before you. As you are incomplete as a god, it will have no effect on beings with self-awareness, and attempts to use this power on such beings is likely to earn you their ire. The more people profess their faith in you, the stronger you will grow.»

This seemed like quite a useful ability. I could tell by feeling what kinds of passive effects it would give me—for example, for me and my entourage, it would be far easier to travel by land, and small hills would flatten for us and reemerge behind us.

«The skill [Fragment of ∎▲z] has transformed into the skill [Fragment of ∎▲z]. You have inherited the power of ∎▲z. With just a speck of this power, ∎▲z will ⬜89Q& according to ♕▲.»

I frowned and observed my company. Judging from Gnome’s face and Lady Entropy’s ears, they had heard GAME’s announcement, too.

My eyes met with Lady Entropy’s, and we looked at each other a few moments. Eventually, I broke the silence.

“How… Peculiar.”

“Mhm. I didn’t know you already had divinity.”

“I have not the slightest clue as to how I would have gotten my hands on this…”

“Mm. The mysteries are… deepening.”

“There is one more thing I am curious about,” I said, prompting Lady Entropy to adorably tilt her head. “Its name and description… Would you not say they are… ‘off’?”

“I,” she said after a moment of silence, “I couldn’t tell you.”

Although I found her phrasing more than a little odd, I decided not to say anything.

Lady Entropy produced an elaborate golden hand mirror—I could not quite tell where from—and handed it to me without a word.

I took the hint and accepted the mirror, and had a gander at my face. Much to no one’s surprise, on my cheek was the exact same symbol as on Gnome’s. On my left index finger, there was a ring, over my glove, golden with a single brown gemstone. Unlike a certain someone’s jewelry, it was far from gaudy, and had a simple sort of charm to it.

“How is it? Looks great, right?” Gnome asked, her eyes and voice overflowing with expectation.

I decided, for a plethora of reasons, not to give a direct answer. “Do they serve a purpose?” I asked, looking at the ring from a number of angles.

“Sure they do! Just put some mana in ‘em!”

I decided against that course of action, and instead appraised the ring.

Name

Earth-Attribute Ring of Gnome

Rank

Divine

Attribute

Earth*

Effect

When the user channels mana into this item, the user may use low-level earth-attribute spells without expending any mana or mental energy. (Chanting is still required.) If the user is willing to consume the mana, higher-level spells may be used. Beings related to Gnome, such as dwarves or cursed Monsters, will express a desire to assist the user if the user shows them the ring.

Description

A ring proving the user's strong bond with Goddess of Earth, Gnome. It allows free use of weak earth-attribute magic, and even lets the user use stronger earth-attribute magic.

* Because this is a ‘Divine’-rank artifact, its earth attribute will not interfere with the casting of spells of other attributes.

I nodded to myself as I confirmed the ring’s effects. “Certainly, very useful,” I said, “is it included in the reward?”

Gnome, in return, nodded to me. “Normally, if a mortal has a fragment, they’d get one of those, so I don’t know why your other one doesn’t give you one… well, it’s kind of weird anyway, so don’t worry about it.”

I thought I saw some beads of cold sweat appear on Gnome’s face after she finished her sentence, but soon decided it must have been my imagination.

“What of the marking?”

“You can appraise it, just like the ring.” Gnome pointed to the mirror in my hand.

Normally, one would only be able to appraise items and people in their direct line of sight. The mirror appeared to be an artifact, as well.

Name

Divine Marking of Gnome

Rank

Divine

Attribute

Earth*

Effect

By channelling mana into this tattoo, the user can give off the impression of an innocent child or a gentle authority figure. If the user's regular impression is too different, this effect will not work. People with the proper knowledge will recognise the tattoo as Gnome's divine symbol, and will spare no effort to help the user.

Description

A brown tattoo of Goddess of Earth, Gnome's holy symbol. It can change the possessor's aura, and proves they are incredibly favoured by Goddess of Earth, Gnome.

* Because this is a ‘Divine’-rank magical marking, its earth attribute will not interfere with the casting of spells of other attributes.

“... Is this one included with the fragment as well?”

I mentally added another sentence about the useless of the first effect, but decided against saying it out loud. Judging from Lady Entropy’s ears, she could still hear it, and found it amusing.

“Yup!” Gnome responded, nodding with cute enthusiasm. “It’s useful, right? Then, bye!”

She turned to leave, and immediately turned back to face us once more.

“Ah, if you get any more of the faker’s Aspects, tell me! I wanna know! Bye bye!”

Once more, she turned to leave. This time, she actually leapt through the crack in space, and the crack fell to the ground.

“... Gone like a storm.”

“Mhm.”

After standing around in silence for several times longer than was probably necessary, I cleared my throat to break the silence. “Then, perhaps it is about time we return to the mortal world.”

“Maybe.”

Soon after, I once more found myself on the bed.

Essentially the moment I found my bearings, the sound of knocking came from the door. A simple bit of mana probing revealed the identity of the person on the other side, so I opened the door using [No-Attribute Magic].

The shadow that walked in looked between me and Lady Entropy a few times.

“Welcome to the shrine, Evyna,” I said.

Lady Entropy followed suit, half a beat later.

“Ah, uh, yes, uhm, thank you,” Evyna responded, looking around with curiosity twinkling in her eyes. “It’s, um… a bit more like a, uh, regular girl’s room th, than I expected…”

Lady Entropy canted her head adorably to the side. “Really? I think it’s cute…”

“That’s, uh, what I meant…”

“I must concur,” I said, nodding to myself. “I cannot be sure what the monsters imagine, but I believe this kind of white, frilly room suits you much better than whatever may be in their thoughts.”

Evyna nodded. “Especially the, uh, stuffed animals,” she said, looking at them from probably closer than needed. “They’re v, very cute…”

I let my gaze wander to her hands, and found myself with a pleased smile on my face. “So, you have found your grimoire.”

“Yes! As I, uh, said, I'd, uhm, dropped it in the ritual room.”

“Do not drop it again, now. If someone were to take it, that would be a problem.”

“Yes! I’ll, uh, be more careful in the future,” she said, nodding furiously. “Ah, by the way, uh, mister Astaroth?”

“Speak.”

“I, uh, know that Miss, Miss Goddess of Darkness is, you know, very strong, but, uhm, how strong, is, uh, ‘very strong’, anyway? Have you ever, um, tried appraising her?”

“I tried once, a number of years ago. At the time, I was told I did not possess sufficient permissions… perhaps that has changed, now. Lady Entropy, would you mind if I tried?”

“Go ahead,” she said, shaking her head. “Actually, I’m curious, too. I can sort of ‘feel’ my own power, after all, but I haven’t looked at my status in a while…”

“ ‘A while’?”

“Mhm. A few thousand years.”

“... Right. Then, excuse me.”

I borrowed and used [Appraisal].

«This status has been restricted to beings of the ‘Administrator’ position and above. You tentatively possess the ‘Administrator’ position. As you have never used the privileges of this position before, viewing this status would lock you into this position unless you promote further upwards. Is this acceptable?»

A rather obvious question appeared in my thoughts before I had the chance to answer.

«You gained this position when Goddess of Darkness, Entropy recognised you as an equal. Viewing this status would lock you into the ‘Administrator’ position unless you promote further upwards. Is this acceptable?»

I accepted its terms, and thus it obeyed me.

Name

Entropy

Sex

None (Currently taking female form)

Race

███████ God

Grade

10 (Almighty)

Skills

Divine

[Divine Being] [Divine Aura] [Divine Punishment: Darkness] [Divinity of Darkness] [Blessing of Darkness]

Divine Being

You may change your physical appearance and apparent sex at any point in time, without restrictions. This will not affect your physical parameters. Believers who believe in you in a specific form or sex will lose the status of believer if you differ too much from their image.

Divine Aura

You may pressure any mortal being into immediate compliance with as much as a thought. This skill has no effect on beings who have strong loyalty to a different divine being.

Divine Punishment: Darkness

You may use any darkness-attribute spell. No matter the situation, there is no chance of failure.

Divinity of Darkness

You lord over this world’s darkness, and it will follow your every command and wish. The more people profess their faith in you, the stronger you will grow.

Blessing of Darkness

Grant a living being the skill [Divine Protection: Entropy]. The stronger the target and the stronger the blessing, the more of your power will be consumed. If the target is a monster, there is a chance its core will be dyed in your colour; This chance will grow the weaker the target is. If the target’s soul disappears for any reason, the divine power will return to you.

Aspect of Concealment

[Fool] [Hide]

Fool

Convince a being of anything, logical or not. The target will delude itself into believing this, seeing delusions and hearing phantom sounds as needed. If you establish a constant mana link with the target, they will also feel non-existent touches and pain as needed.

Hide

Hide a physical area or a logical inconsistency. If you hide a physical area, there will appear to be a solid black wall to anyone except you. This wall can be passed through with no resistance. If you hide a logical inconsistency, then the targets you specify will simply make the choice not to think about the inconsistency and gloss over it.

Afflictions

[Fragmented] [Incomplete Divinity] [Missing Aspects] [Lent Blessings]

Fragmented

You are not complete.

Incomplete Divinity

Part of your divinity is not with you. You cannot use the parts you do not possess.

Missing Aspects

You are not in possession of all of your Aspects. You will thus not be able to use their powers.

Lent Blessings

You have blessed between 2 and 10 creatures. Your divine power has decreased accordingly.

* This is the status of a godly being. Although the being’s power has been quantified to the best of my abilities, I cannot guarantee that all of its powers are properly reflected in this status.

Lady Entropy’s status, somehow shorter than my own, caused me to frown.

After a few moments, I noticed a number of problems with it, which only deepened my frown.

“How is it?” Lady Entropy asked, some amount of uncertainty in her eyes.

“How do I say this… No, I shall just show you, instead.”

I used our newly-gained telepathic connection to send her an image of the status. Her ears drooped as she read.

«Most of this makes sense, but why…?» her thoughts resounded in my mind. I assumed she did not intend for this, so I did not respond.

“This is… odd, yes,” she said, nodding.

“Regardless of what happened in the past and what your status looks like,” I said, “there is something else I am much more curious about.”

She tilted her head to the side.

“GAME.”

«Please specify your command.»

“Use the function ‘Calculation’.”

«Data known by the user will be supplemented with data from the Akashic Records, where necessary. Is this acceptable?»

“Yes. Calculate the odds of Lady Entropy defeating Lady Luciel with and without my assistance.”

«Command accepted.

Fetching status of Goddess of Darkness, Entropy… Done.

Fetching status of Goddess of Light, Luciel… Done.

Fetching status of Overlord Astaroth… Done.

Beginning calculations…

Chances of Goddess of Darkness, Entropy defeating Goddess of Light, Luciel, without outside assistance and accounting for believers are approximately 7%.

Beginning calculations…

Chances of Goddess of Darkness, Entropy defeating Goddess of Light, Luciel, with the assistance of Overlord Astaroth and accounting for believers, morale and cooperation are approximately 13%.»

These odds were so low that we were left without words, but they did confirm that I could leave a certain something alone without issue.

Evyna, unable to hear GAME’s voice unless it was directed at her, simply tilted her head, confused.

I cleared my throat.

“In any case,” I said, “I have obtained a fragment of divinity, Lady Entropy obtained a reward of her own, and the expedition came with its own ‘rewards’... To put it simply, I believe this mission has been a great success.”

Lady Entropy nodded without a word.

“Ah, uhm, on that, uh, subject,” Evyna said, “miss Charlotte asked me to, uh, pass you, um, a message.”

“A message from Charlotte? Very well. Out with it, then.”

“Yes! She, uh, said that she’d, uhm, host a, a party, you know, to celebrate your, um, evolution. And also that, if you evolved again, she’d, uhm, host a, a bigger one.”

“A party, is it.”

“Yes. From what she said, it, uh, sounds like, it’ll just be the Demon Generals and, uhm, a few of the higher-ups.”

It was hard not to notice the expectation ‘hidden’ in Lady Entropy’s gaze—and her ears, of course.