Chapter 90

With this, the preparation for feeding the egg was complete.

Pulling out a wide brush, Roan soaked it sufficiently with the solution and began to paint it carefully onto the divine beast’s egg.

‘If I convert even just a single drop of this into gold…….’

In fact, it was a tremendous item to the point where it was easier to exchange it with an item of similar value rather than money.

Roan possessed a mindset of not letting even a single drop go to waste.

Swish─ Swish─

The yellow solution was painted over the pitch-black divine beast’s egg.

Slowly……

Each time, the egg greedily absorbed the solution painted on its shell.

Since the size of the egg was not very large, Roan painted over the remaining solution each time.

Swish─ Swish……

Just how many times did he paint it?

The solution, which had vanished the moment it was applied at first, now took a considerable amount of time to be absorbed inside the egg.

……Since it had been made to absorb a solution several times the egg’s own volume, the egg would likely feel fit to burst.

To the ears of the watching false divinity and the administrator of the Forbidden Library, it felt as though they could hear the egg saying, ‘Stop…….’

However, Roan paid no heed and shook out every last remaining drop.

‘What do you mean you can’t eat it? If I give it to you, you must eat it all!’

Roan was thinking thoughts without a care that would easily cause problems on Earth!

In the end, the solution remained completely drenched on the eggshell, but Roan intended to leave the egg on a tripod overnight.

This was the first time Roan had ever given such luxurious treatment to a divine beast’s egg.

“?”

However, Roan, who was quietly examining the divine beast’s egg, tilted his head.

At first, he had thought he saw wrongly because of the yellow solution, but a golden aura had actually formed in the center of the black egg.

This was possible due to the mysterious characteristic of being the shell material while simultaneously being the attribute itself.

‘I’ve never seen anything like this before. What is it?’

……Did it get indigestion from eating too much?

It was a situation where such suspicion had to arise instantaneously.

Roan, who was examining the egg with narrowed eyes, decided not to pay much mind once the golden aura slowly faded.

‘It seems it really was indigestion!’

Then again, he did wonder if he had fed that tiny egg too much.

Still, since he hadn’t fed it junk food, nothing would go wrong.

Thinking so, Roan imagined the species of divine beast that would hatch from the egg.

‘What will hatch? If possible, a large species would be good.’

Since divine beasts themselves were so rare, their grades were not strictly divided, but they were definitely classified.

Usually, they became rarer from small to large species, and animals of uncommon shapes also rose in value.

‘First, the darkness attribute is guaranteed, and I couldn’t ask for more if it were a Pitch-Black Fang Tiger or an Absolute Deep Sea Whale.’

The Pitch-Black Fang Tiger was a tiger-like divine beast impressive for its sleek black fur covering its entire body and long silver fangs.

The Absolute Deep Sea Whale was a whale-like divine beast similarly characterized by black skin and a massive build.

Those two were the ultimate, legend-like divine beasts among darkness attribute divine beasts.

Regardless, no matter how much he fed it the Lightning Apple, the rarity of a divine beast at that level was literally atrocious, so it was closer to a wish.

The decisive difference between a divine beast and a spiritual beast was whether they could use holy power.

Of course, though it couldn’t cast holy arts like a human, Roan was sufficiently satisfied with just a rare darkness attribute holy power.

‘What do you mean satisfied? I should be grateful.’

Roan thus headed to bed contentedly, recalling various candidate divine beasts.

‘Hmm, still, since I fed it really luxuriously this time…… maybe?’

With that, as he lay down, he even secretly eyed a truly ridiculous divine beast.

‘……Maybe a dragon will hatch?’

But Roan smirked and shook his head.

No matter how rare divine beasts were, Roan had hatched over hundreds of divine beast eggs while playing God & Devil.

Although there were about a hundred eggs fed with Lightning Apples, not once did even a dragon-like divine beast appear.

In the first place, he had never even seen a dragon-shaped divine beast while playing.

Because of that, Roan had also regarded the dragon divine beast as merely a myth to stimulate the player’s interest.

“I got too excited. Anyway, I’ll know once I crack it open tomorrow…… Oops.”

Roan got back up while in the middle of lying down on the bed.

Then he checked the quantity of the curse-related reagents obtained from Tady in his pouch.

Although most of them had been used up attacking the seniors and Vulcan during the club promotion, a small amount of reagents that hadn’t been caught in his hands back then remained.

‘I ?’

The event that would occur in Professor Timothy’s class tomorrow.

Since it was an essential event to hatch the divine beast’s egg, he had to prepare for all variables.

Only after checking the reagents like that could Roan finally fall asleep.

A moment later.

Swish──

The golden aura of the egg, which Roan had brushed aside as minor, appeared again.

Not stopping there, the golden aura grew larger and larger, before long practically covering the entire egg.

Simultaneously, a massive amount of black mana billowed out from the sleeping Roan’s body and headed toward the egg.

Originally, a divine beast’s egg only absorbed the energy contained in the owner’s soul and deflected mana or holy power.

However, the solution mixed with the Lightning Apple, the sacred tree’s sap, and Harden’s tears had ended up reaching a singularity that even Roan had failed to imagine.

……And what’s more, how massive was the quantity?

In any case, due to the rapid rise of the growth limit, it had come to demand the owner’s mana to balance things out.

Hummm─

At that moment, the false divinity, which did not sleep because it was an authority, vibrated.

Since it’s the master’s divine beast, I’ll pay some attention to it!

Then, moving Roan’s mana at its own discretion, it began to process and emit the abyss instead of average black mana.

Rolling─

The divine beast’s egg, liking that, began to accept and eat it, even shaking its body slightly.

An authority and a divine beast that drained power as they pleased while the master had no idea!

Shuuuk─!

The divine beast’s egg, which had absorbed Roan’s abyss for a long time like that, returned to its pitch-black state and grew quiet as if it had never done so.

***

And the next day.

“……Why does my body feel so empty?”

Roan woke up from sleep, feeling unusually sluggish.

Despite having slept deeply rather than failing to sleep through the night, this sensation was a bit strange.

‘Did his black mage talent actually make his condition drop when he slept deeply?’

Roan suspected his false divinity as naturally as breathing.

Woo─ Woo─ Wooong─

B-B-Bullshit!

The false divinity refuted immediately.

But its behavior was somehow a bit suspicious.

‘Why does it seem to feel guilty?’

Wooong─ Woooong─

Seriously, no. I always act solely for the master.

It was indeed a fair statement.

If he fed it the Lightning Apple solution like that and the divine beast hatched wrong due to lack of balance, Roan would be the saddest.

Furthermore, how well had it treated him normally?

Even when he couldn’t sleep, it improved his complexion to some extent and kept his condition decent, so this was a classic case of thief crying thief.

‘Well, whatever, suspicious thing.’

Woooooong───

The false divinity put on a highly aggrieved display.

Thinking that once Roan learned the truth of the incident, he would also thank it.

In any case, apart from that, Roan’s way of speaking seemed to grow gradually more annoying.

“……But it’s somehow quiet.”

However, there was one more strange thing this morning.

Why was it so quiet?

Normally, though he didn’t know why, it should be noisy due to Demona and Hector, who always woke up early.

To think it could be this quiet even though presence could clearly be felt in the living room.

‘Did the two of them reconcile by any chance?’

Perhaps because he was still half-asleep in the morning, such an absurd question crossed his mind.

Rather, it would be more realistic for the Holy Emperor’s Palace and the Holy See to simultaneously issue a grand amnesty for black mages and a decree legalizing black magic.

Click─

Roan adjusted his attire and opened the door.

Outside, there was the back of Hector sitting on the sofa, and Demona, who was looking at Hector as if he were disgusting.

“Did a Thousand-Eyed Pit Viper hatch or something?”

Roan, seeing the two, asked.

Otherwise, it was hard for such an expression to appear on Demona.

“Roan. You come look at the fanatic’s face too.”

Demona called Roan, then shuddered and distanced herself from Hector.

The moment Roan stood in front of Hector, wondering what on earth was going on.

Shiver─

A sudden chill washed over Roan’s body as well.

Indeed, Hector, with his bear-like build and rock-like face, was wearing a goofy grin, looking as if he had just taken a dose of restorative medicine.

It was like looking at granite half-melted in lava.

“Hector, I understand academic stress, but where did you obtain banned substances?”

Hector looked up at Roan and said.

“It’s not that, Roan.”

Then he entered his own world with a goofy grin once again.

Beanin, who happened to come out of his private room, also ran over in shock upon seeing Hector.

“Meeeh! Hector! Did you inhale Elphamin leaf powder or something?”

Elphamin leaves were usually used as medicine, but they could transform into a banned drug through a simple process.

It was also the most common drug one could encounter in Akerandir, where the mountains and fields were covered in medicinal herbs.

“……It’s not that, Senior.”

Hector seemed to gather his senses slightly only then, returning his melted face somewhat back to normal.

Demona clicked her tongue and spoke to Hector.

“Tsk, tsk, Hector. I’m sorry to say this to a friend, but quickly ask your family to look for an arranged marriage partner for you.”

“……I will let it slide since I am in a good mood right now.”

“Seeing that happy face of yours, even if the bride liked you, she would run away.”

“You heretic baaastaaard!”

“See~ I told you this expression suits you well?”

Hector looked ready to pounce on Demona at any second, but soon calmed down and sat back in his seat.

Only then did the others also feel an unusual vibe.

There was no way he would stop like this?

Demona asked suspiciously.

“……Did you really get an arranged marriage partner?”

‘For once, I have no choice but to think that way.’

Roan also had no other clues, so he nodded in agreement.

Beanin looked ready to cast a congratulatory cannon fire holy art already.

Right then, Hector revealed the reason for his strange high spirits.

“Fine, think whatever you want. I am going to ask the Headmaster for a divine beast’s egg.”

“Hmm?”

Roan twitched one of his eyebrows.

It seemed Hector intended to ask Harden for a divine beast’s egg as the reward for driving away the black mages—just like Roan had done.

“I don’t recommend that. You should reconsider. Definitely.”

Roan patted Hector’s shoulder and dissuaded him.

Although Harden’s rewards usually consisted of end-game class items, the divine beast’s egg was something that definitely had to be avoided.

Because the divine beast’s egg given by Harden was slightly different from average ones.

“Why?”

“That…… is hard to explain.”

“Is it because the Headmaster doesn’t have a divine beast’s egg?”

“Then he would get it even if he had to ask Senior Richmond. It’s because he has one that it’s a problem.”

“““???”””

The three tilted their heads at Roan’s puzzling explanation.

Because even to them, receiving a divine beast’s egg seemed like a sufficiently good option for Hector.

Just then, Demona clapped her hands as if she understood.

And with an insidious expression, she said to Roan.

“I know! Roan, you~”

Just looking at her face made Roan feel like any good luck would fly away, so he scowled deeply.

“What are you thinking, Demona?”

“You’re just jealous because the fanatic is getting a divine beast’s egg too, aren’t you?”

“……”

Roan seriously pondered whether he should just give up on these two.