"
At the same time, the robot that had been attacking so fiercely finally stopped moving.
"I wouldn't even know where to start. What specifically are you referring to? I can't understand without a concrete description."
I deliberately hunched my shoulders in an exaggerated shrug and shook my head with a show of exasperation, as if mocking him.
Normally he would have brushed off my attitude without a second thought, but it seemed he was really on the verge of panic. Even through the speaker, I could hear the grating sound of teeth being clenched hard.
"That white thing! What is it?!"
Ah, yes.
Yeah, I knew.
I said I didn't know what he meant, but of course I knew.
Nothing else could possibly have Potimas this flustered. The white-chan had to be behind it.
And wow, was Potimas panicking. This was probably the first time I'd ever heard his voice show this much raw emotion.
Potimas normally looked down on everyone and never showed any real feelings. No matter what someone beneath him did, there was never any reason to hold back — he simply didn't care enough.
He considered it shameful to let people he viewed as inferior rattle him emotionally.
So even when shaken, he never let it show.
And yet, look at him now. Complete and total bewilderment.
Something far beyond anything Potimas had anticipated must have occurred.
Yeah, white-chan was certainly capable of something like that.
"What is it? What did white-chan do?"
I didn't expect an answer, but my curiosity got the better of me.
"I'm the one asking the questions! Answer me — what is that thing?!"
His shout was practically a scream.
Hm.
Somehow...
If I was going to hear a voice like that, I would have preferred to be the one to produce it myself.
White-chan had stolen that from me, huh.
"I don't know exactly what happened, but it sure sounds like white-chan got the better of you? My condolences. Serves you right."
The moment I let out a jeering laugh, the robot — which had frozen in place until now — lunged at me without warning.
I dodged the rage-fueled wide swing with a backstep.
"Oh? Are you angry? You're mad, aren't you? So short-tempered. Probably calcium deficiency. This is exactly why shut-in man-children never amount to anything."
A taunt was all it took for the robot to charge straight at me.
"Damn! Damn! DAMN! Where did the calculations go wrong?! That's impossible — it doesn't make any sense!"
His muttered curses echoed hollowly through the air.
Pathetic.
I already knew, of course, but this man was weak.
Potimas had only ever seemed strong because he'd never faced anyone more powerful than himself.
It wasn't that Potimas was strong. His opponents had simply been weaker.
That was how he'd stayed on top.
That was how he'd been able to flaunt his composure.
But I knew the truth.
This man was, deep down, weaker than anyone.
And precisely because he was weaker than anyone, he had pursued power more desperately than anyone.
The result of that lifelong obsession was the Potimas standing before me now.
A man who'd mistaken himself for being strong, when he was still the same weakling he'd always been.
Faced with white-chan — someone truly stronger than him — his facade had crumbled, revealing the weakness underneath.
"You're really weak, you know."
"What did you say?"
Potimas caught my muttered words with sharp ears and shot back in a low voice.
"Potimas, you're weak."
It wasn't a whisper I'd meant for him to hear, but since he'd asked, I might as well say it plainly.
"I hardly need to hear that from someone who's satisfied with the hollow power the System provides."
That's not what I meant by strong and weak, though.
Even if I told him, he'd never understand.
"Speaking of the System — what was all that about reaching godhood? You never became a god, did you?! But what about her? Then why?! Dammit! Damn it all!"
Potimas was ranting incoherently now, his words a rambling string of curses that no longer even made sense.
Maybe it was his agitation, but the robot's movements had become erratic too.
A drill came thrusting toward my face.
I caught it in my teeth.
A horrible grinding noise rang out, but I ignored it and clamped my jaw shut, ripping the drill apart.
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait! That's it — why? Why are you still alive?!"
Oh?
You finally noticed?
"Why are your wounds healing? Inside a magic-interference barrier, how are you fighting Gloria Omega on equal terms?! How is that possible?!"
A little late to the party, don't you think.
The robot had already torn my body apart with that drill. My gut had been gouged open, my chest pierced, my arm blown off, my leg shredded.
But all those wounds had already healed.
"Could it be — could it be you too?! Are you telling me you've become a god as well?!" Potimas shrieked.
The person he'd spent his entire life looking down upon had gone further up the staircase to godhood — the very staircase he himself had been desperately trying to climb.
That had to be the greatest humiliation Potimas had ever experienced.
"No."
But unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
I hadn't become a god.
I couldn't become a god.
If becoming a god were that easy, Potimas would have done so long ago.
"I haven't become a god. But I can temporarily draw out enough power to rival one. You know this method yourself, don't you?"
The robot stepped back.
It looked for all the world like Potimas was flinching.
"You're not serious..."
"I'm perfectly serious."
"Are you insane?"
What a way to put it.
Well, I supposed from Potimas's perspective it was insane. That was exactly why you were weak, I wanted to tell him.
I wasn't exactly the strongest either, but I liked to think I had the courage to risk my life for my goals.
"Modesty."
The newly acquired Seven Virtue Skill.
Thanks to its effect, I could temporarily gain abilities on par with a god.
When white-chan's soul fragment — the former administrator — had merged with my soul, the capacity of my soul had expanded to accommodate it.
My soul had already been packed to the brim, like a cracked vessel on the verge of shattering from the sheer volume inside.
As if sealing those cracks, white-chan's soul had seeped through.
Thanks to that, I'd been able to acquire new Skills that I previously couldn't have held. Skills like Thought Communication, and others I'd never needed when I was alone. The last one I picked up was this Skill: Modesty.
A Skill I'd kept secret from everyone except white-chan — my trump card.
And I had no hesitation in playing it.
Even if it meant burning my soul to nothing.
"Modesty: A power that approaches godhood by n percent. By consuming one's own soul, one can temporarily obtain power rivaling a god. Additionally, it transcends the W System, granting the right to interfere with the MA Realm."