"Hmm... thou truly art special."
As he walked, Nightmare's ethereal voice suddenly sounded in Greg's mind, carrying a hint of curiosity and confusion.
It was the first time she had spoken since Greg woke up.
"Thou forcibly devoured the power of the Outer Gods. Though it was but an insignificant trace, the corruption and mental erosion within it were no small matter. Yet after sleeping for only a day and a night, thy sea of consciousness returned to tranquility, with scarcely any sign of backlash... Such resistance truly astonishes me."
Nightmare paused, an unmistakable question in her tone:
"Could it be... that before meeting me, thou hadst already come into contact with them in some form, and thus developed a certain... adaptability?"
Greg continued keeping a wary eye on the people around him while responding irritably in his mind:
Contact, my ass! If I'd encountered that sanity-draining crap before, would I have been so resistant and clueless the first time you mentioned the term 'Outer Gods'?
He paused, then threw the question back at her:
I'd like to ask you something, Hachimi. Why are you so obsessed with killing them? Don't feed me some pretty line about saving the world. From what I know of you, you're not some righteous goddess devoted to selfless sacrifice.
"Heh."
Nightmare chuckled softly:
"It seems thou art indeed growing ever more familiar with how I conduct myself. Correct. My desire to erase those Outer Gods stems not from some noble wish to save the world, but because-"
Nightmare abruptly fell silent, suddenly realizing that she herself did not seem to know why she wanted to kill them so badly.
Thinking it over, she realized that ever since awakening not long ago, she had acted simply because she wanted to kill them, without ever considering