The Meeting of Evil and Evil

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

When Megzam drifted hazily awake, the first thing he perceived was the sound of dripping water.

“Mm............”

Groaning in spite of himself at the pain all over his body, Megzam opened his eyes a crack and somehow sat up.

And what filled his whole field of vision...... was.

“B, Bo-o-o, Boooss!! You woke up, didn't yaaa!?”

Was the face of his long-faced underling Ander, who had flung himself at Megzam screaming that, bawling and spraying spit and tears and snot everywhere!

“......Hmph!”

“Aga!?”

For starters, not wanting snot on himself, Megzam punched Ander away with all his might to protect his body, then stood up and rolled his arms, legs and hips around to check how he was doing.

Everything moved, no problem.

Though his whole body was covered in wounds, it seemed he hadn't suffered any fractures.

“Now then...... where am I......?”

Having finished checking his physical state, Megzam next checked his surroundings.

Looking around, all that lay scattered everywhere was rubble, rubble and more rubble.

A magic lamp embedded in the wall flickered, barely illuminating the area.

Perhaps groundwater was seeping in, as he could see water droplets dripping from several cracks in the ceiling.

“We're probably even deeper underground in the ruins. Because that Ibrabarleg went on a rampage, the ruins collapsed, and we got caught up in it and fell down here, Boss.”

“......I see.”

Megzam gave a half-hearted response to the underling, who was explaining the situation while bleeding from his nose.

Then, he placed his hand on a large piece of rubble lying next to where he had been sleeping.

If this had fallen on top of him, his life would have been over.

As always, he was lucky.

Megzam curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.

“In that case, Ander. You, go find the exit, quickly.”

“Ehhh!? N, no can do, Boss! Everything's buried in rubble, there ain't no exit! We've gone and got ourselves trapped......”

Ander argued back against Megzam's order, his shoulders drooping.

He defied Megzam, his Boss!

This was unforgivable!

“Hmph!”

“Aga!?”

So Megzam punched Ander again and let out a roar!

“You idiot! We got lucky and survived, didn't we! Then that means we've still got luck left, don't it! Quit your bellyachin' and find the exit already, you moron!!”

“Y-yes sir......!”

Terrified by Megzam's shouting, Ander hurriedly ran off beyond the rubble.

Now, from here on, conserving his strength was the key.

He had to find the exit to the surface and escape using as little effort as possible.

Hence, Megzam sat down on the spot and reached for the jerky he had hidden in his pocket to get some nourishment...... But then, right here.

“Ah! Aaaaah! B, Boooss!”

From beyond the rubble came the scream of Ander, who seemed to have already found something.

“Tch.”

Irritated at wasting strength getting right back up after he'd only just sat down, Megzam stomped off toward the voice.

And what lay there.

A long, thin, eerie sword, its blood-red blade gleaming.

The demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’, the one Ibrabarleg had been swinging around, was lying on the floor amid the rubble.

“Look! Look, Boss! This is that ‘Soul-something’ that Ibrabarleg was using! The fact that it's here means that bastard must've kicked the bucket! Hehe, he got what he deserved for killing Tappa! Serves him ri—Aga!?”

Megzam punched Ander again as he spoke excitedly, pointing at the demon sword.

“Hey, you punk! I told you to ‘Find the exit’, didn't I!? Findin' one little stick like this ain't gonna do us a damn bit of good right now!? Makin' me waste my strength for nothin', I'll kill you!!”

And as he screamed that, Megzam picked up ‘Soul Devourer’ and swung it up high with all his might to intimidate Ander.

And then, at that very moment!

<Ihihi! Ihihihihi! Good, kill him! Go on, kill hiiiiim!>

That a high-pitched, grating man's voice like that rang through Megzam's head!

“Huh!?”

Taken aback by the sudden occurrence, Megzam looked around to find the source of the voice.

But the only ones here were himself and Ander, sprawled on the floor.

<Ihihihihi! No, no! I, the great me, am the sword! I'm the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’ that you're holding, y'know!>

“What!?”

Even Megzam was surprised by this confession, and he stared at ‘Soul Devourer’ with wide eyes.

<Whew, you bein' here really saved me! I finally woke up and all, and if things'd gone wrong, I might've stayed buried under the dirt like this forever! Ihihi, that sure gave me a chill!>

“............”

Megzam fell silent, fiddling with his shaggy beard as he tried to understand and digest this sudden turn of events.

And then.

“Hey, you.”

<Ihihi?>

He spoke to the demon sword.

“You said ‘you bein' here really saved me’, right? In other words, if I use you, I can get out of this place. There's good odds of that, is what you're sayin'?”

<Oooooo!? Ihihi, you're quick on the uptake despite how you look, aren't ya!? Ihihi, exactly right! I know a way to get out of here! After all, this is a secret base that I, the great me, built using a bunch of idiots! I've got an escape route properly prepared for this kind of situation, and I remember that route perfectly!>

“But you have no legs. So you need me, is that it?”

<Ihihihihi! That's right, that's riiiiight! Huh!? You're seriously pretty damn smart, ain'tcha! The great me's startin' to kinda like you!?>

“Shut up. Quit sayin' stuff that don't matter. Hurry up and tell me about this escape route of yours.”

Megzam muttered as he spoke to the demon sword.

Ander watched this scene with a blank expression.

<Alright, alright, I'll tell ya! But, there's a condition!>

“What?”

<I'm not gonna ask for anything impossible! But y'see, I, the great me, am currently out of gas!>

“Out of gas......?”

Megzam tilted his head at the term he had never heard before.

But without paying his reaction any mind, ‘Soul Devourer’ kept on talking.

<Basically, 'cause I went too wild earlier, I've got hardly any energy left! And here I went and used my puppets to kill a whole bunch before I went to sleep, and all those souls went right down the drain! So, y'know......>

Hearing the story so far, and recalling Ibrabarleg's actions from earlier.

Megzam could immediately understand what this demon sword wanted.

Hence.

“Here.”

“Eh!?”

Without a second thought, with the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’.

Right in the chest of his own underling, Ander, who had been gaping at him slack-faced.

He pierced him, sakuri.

“This'll do, right?”

<Nice, nice, you're seriously nice! Yes yes yes yes, just like that! 1 kon of soul, thanks for the meeeal!!>

Then, in the next moment!

The blade of ‘Soul Devourer’ flashed eerily for an instant, and the stabbed Ander...... began to let out a horrific scream!

“AH, GYA, WHA, GYAAAAAH!?”

Ander, wailing at the unbearable pain without the faintest idea why!

But still, Megzam didn't pay any mind to his underling's state!

“Ooooh......!? Oooooooh!?”

His mouth twisted wide, drooling...... yes, he let out a voice of ecstasy!

<Ihihihihi! How's that, the feeling of power pouring into your body? Feels good, don't iiiiit!? This is, the taste of a souuuuul!>

“This is, the taste of a soul......!”

<You wanna eat more, more, don't yaaaaa!?>

“I want to eat......! I want to eat more souls......!”

“AAAAAH, aah, agaaa......!”

......After a while, Ander's screams had completely vanished.

Noticing this, Megzam looked at the tip of his blade, and what was there was something brittle and blackened.

“Hmph.”

Megzam swung ‘Soul Devourer’ with a bun, shaking that thing off.

It struck the rubble and shattered, then turned to dust and vanished.

<Now then, partner!>

Before he could feel anything about that sight, the shrill, high-pitched voice of ‘Soul Devourer’ rang through Megzam's head.

At this point, ‘Soul Devourer’ called Megzam “partner.”

Megzam felt nothing odd about that.

Megzam and ‘Soul Devourer’ were partners.

Megzam had to feed ‘Soul Devourer’ more and more souls.

That was only natural.

<It's a promise! As thanks for feedin' me a tasty soul, I'll lead you to the escape route to the surface right now! It's probably buried in rubble here and there, but that won't matter to you now!>

“Yeah...... I guess so.”

Saying so, Megzam picked up a piece of rubble lying around, tried applying a bit of strength, and squeezed it.

Then that piece of rubble, which had surely been a hard chunk of stone, crumbled away like a clump of sand!

“Power...... is overflowing.”

<Right, right, ain't it amaziiiiing!? But this ain't the end of iiiiit!? Partner, the more and more you kill, the stronger and stronger you'll get! And there's no limit to it! You can transcend humans, y'know!? 'Cause that right there is the function of the great me's last work and one of my masterpieces, the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’, after aaaaall!!>

“............?”

And just then.

Something about “the way” the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’ put that suddenly struck Megzam as odd.

“‘Soul Devourer’ is a masterpiece? You ain't ‘Soul Devourer’, then? You...... who are you?”

<......Ihihi, I talked too much! ......Well, whatever!>

‘Soul Devourer’ made a sound like a smug little snort in Megzam's head, then went on chattering in a haughty voice.

<Partner! I like you a whooole lot! So, as a special treat! I'll tell ya the great me's real naaaaame!>

“Your real, name.”

<That's right, my real naaaaame! But the great me's too great, see, so I've got lots of names! For example, ‘Great Inventor of the Century’! For example, ‘Discoverer of the Divine Realm’! But right now, in this place, I'll introduce myself like so!>

With Megzam waiting and fiddling with his beard, ‘Soul Devourer’ milked the moment for all it was worth, then finally announced its true name!

<The great me's name is “Great Evil Spirit Engee Albitt”! ‘The Weakest in History’...... and yet ‘the only one in history to escape the gods’, one of the Calamities of this wooooorld!!>

A Calamity of this world!

Hearing those words, Megzam's hand stopped fiddling with his beard, and his eyes flew open in shock!

But, still!

“......Sorry, but I don't know any Calamity called a ‘Great Evil Spirit’.”

Yes, Megzam didn't know.

But this did not mean he was uneducated.

Whether it was the Black Dragon or Odokato Se Kenu, the names of the powerful beings called Calamities were widely known throughout the world.

But “Great Evil Spirit Engee Albitt” was different.

Because.

<Ihihi...... well, that's only natural! 'Cause the great me's been runnin' and hidin' this whole time, reincarnatin' over and over. No wonder nobody's heard of me! Though I'm pretty sure I made it into a fairy tale at least?>

“......I don't really get it, but that's probably not something you can say with pride, is it?”

<Ihihihihi! It can't be helped, right? The great me was originally just a technician, after all! ......But, the sneaking around is over now!>

......Perhaps expressing Engee's excitement.

The red blade of the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’ flickered eerily, chika, chika.

<Listen, partner! Once you escape this secret base, head straight west!>

“West?”

<That's right! Over there too, see, a weapon made by the great me is sleepin'! The gods probably mistake it for just some broken ancient weapon! But, still, the truth of it! Is that it's an external device for this demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’, that's whaaaat!!>

“External device......?”

Another unfamiliar term popped out, and Megzam tilted his head.

<And after that, we go raid Sardisann! I take back my other masterpiece that damn moron Evil God seized, and then, the great me! At long, long, long last, will become, the strongeeeest!!>

“............”

Letting Engee's voice, rattling on and screaming inside his head, go in one ear and out the other, Megzam came to one conclusion.

In other words, he settled on his course from here on.

“Well, anyway.”

Judging his moment when Engee's yelling died down, he summed things up.

“I just have to head west, right?”

<Yes!>

“While killing plenty of people.”

<Yes, yes!>

“While devouring souls left and right.”

<Yes, yes, riiiiight!>

“That's, really, well......”

With that, Megzam broke off, then put his strength into one sideways sweep of ‘Soul Devourer’.

Red light burst from the blade and became a slash, and the rubble blocking the passage was smashed to pieces and blown away!

“Looks like it'll make for, a fun trip.”

And with an evil grin, Megzam began to make his way forward, forward, down the underground passage that had opened before him.

“............Ihihi”

Letting an eerie laugh slip out.

Arc 15 concludes with this episode.

There were a few gaps in between, but for me, this was the fastest posting pace I've ever had.

I'll praise myself for managing to do it without any stock.

Arc 15 was an arc where all sorts of elements from earlier arcs came back, wasn't it.

And in the end, a villain met a Great Evil Spirit.

Ah, come to think of it, ‘The Omake Reincarnator’ celebrated its 3rd anniversary a little while ago.

The fact that I can continue like this is thanks to everyone reading this work.

Thank you, as always.

The arc after next is planned to be the last arc of Part 1.

I would be happy if you continue to enjoy ‘The Omake Reincarnator’.

Well then, I'll see you again in Arc 16.