"God in the Machine, Deus Ex Machina." When the Holy God spoke, His story was applied to reality.
In the furthest kingdom from Lust and most war torn part of Hell, there was a battle doll kept securely for glatotorial combat. Those enjoying the bloodshed in the arena were unaware of the changes taking place.
Blood and teeth had stained the sand. There was even bits of fleshy gum fallen off from contestants.
Under the heart of the Colosseum, there was an old room where an unused battle doll had been placed.
They had used many weapons of this kind for their entertainment, but this female figure was simply a broken golem. It wouldn't move at all, and the original buyer who took it as a sacrifice left it alone.
Despite being a God Rank sacrifice, it was nothing special if it was something left as decoration.
Only weapons had value in the Wrath Region.
Maybe the artists of the Pride Region or the wealth dressmakers of the Vanity Region would like it.
Little would anyone have expected that the manifestation of the Holy God would empower it.
After reaching out his hand, the conceptual powers and storylines naturally manifested into the world.
Just as the Holy God was about to use his powers to being the dead soul within the battle doll to life, He was suddenly interrupted by a crack of thunder. A hand reached out of the void and grasped his wrist.
"Give me that one. She's more suitable for me." An unusually serious voice came out the Evil God.
"Only if you assist me with my own." Almost as if this scenario was the plan, the Holy God spoke back.
"Alright..." The source of all evil energy could only agree. Arguing would only cause problems.
A surge of evil energy possessed the machine, and put the devil inside. Blessings had become a Curse.
After he awakened his apostle, the Evil God assisted the Holy God to create a second mechanical apostle.
A spliced creation made of two dead bodies and the technique a woman once used to become a mech.
They gave their apostles one goal for now.
To find the Life Apostle and assist him until they had become strong enough. That was all they had to do.
Their own goals came second.
As this was going on, 'Adam Graham' was already making plans to dominate the Lust Region himself.
Regardless of the methods he'd choose to use.
.....
....
...
..
.
I wouldn't call my feelings 'righteous fury'.
Being righteous meaning I had some sort of end goal which would be good, virtuous, or compassionate.
Really, I just felt thankful.
There wasn't even anger in my heart.
As the shadows were congealing and interweaving under the bed, I kept this disturbance hidden.
Making sure no one found it before it'd awoken.
['Life Companion' is being born...]
[Time until embro matures: Undertermined...]
This was basically what any author would use to make power up pop at the moment I'd least expect.
I didn't see any problem in this.
Moreover, it made me curious what would be born from what I'd lost. What does a voice turn into?
Probably exactly what I'd expect, but it was fun thinking that the result might betray expectations.
With that out of sight, I watched as Edith became more and more troubled by my disappearance.
She looked like she actually cared about me...
This must be what Lust Demons called 'Love'. To only show affection on the surface of their actions.
With the deeper layer being filled with violence.
Even with my Strength raised to A, which was considered at 'Heroic' Rank, I didn't feel confident.
Asmo was so strong that this was simply useless.
Even though we didn't have a fair fight and I knew her hesitation in using her Curse, it still wasn't as balanced as one would expect. Asmo was simply too strong. She couldn't be beaten with normal Skills.
I needed to sharpen myself.
What were my future plans and what Skills would be useful to my goal? I had to reevaluate my status.
[Name: Adam Graham
Race: Transcendentkin
Species: World Bound Perfect Mimic
Personal Skills: Mixed Martial Arts (Physical), Amalgamation Style (Uni), Willpower Enchantment (Uni), Status Scan (System), Magic Arrow (Uni)
Intrinsic Skills: Riot Hysteria (Passive Evil), Eldritch Horror (Passive Nihility), Enlightened Greyscale Third Eye (Innate), Transcendent Unholy Duality Tattoos (Innate), Skill Acquisition (Special), Evil Resistance (Mastered)
Life Gift: Psychogenic Self (Superego)
Innate Gift: Ink Musculature (Nihility)
Power: A (Heroic)
Agility: B (Rare)
Speed: D (Average)
Defence: E (Common)
Magic: — (Superego/Nihility//Pure)]
Mixed Martial Arts likely meant I could still fight like a human with this fleshy form I took under the bed.
I couldn't see it, but I could sense my organs had become mushy and my bones malleable in nature.
They weren't recorded as Skills, but that's likely because not everything was considered as such.
Just like how a human having fingers wasn't a Skill to learn, my twisting fleshy body was just nature.
It was simply how Mimics existed in the world.
As a 'Perfect Mimic', my body and the bed were completely separated. However, it was not severed.
If I wanted to, I could open the gap between the two cushions of the bed into a mouth running through it.
A sideways mouth opening from top to bottom.
Since the real me had no eyes to manifest, it seemed like even the bed I possessed couldn't gain eyes.
Nor the voice I'd lost.
From this day forth, I'd have to live with being unable to convey complex thoughts. Unable to see them.
Thus, I had to let go of such complexity.
'Ink Masculature' seemed to flow through my body as shadows, and conjured as them outside myself.
I could feel each freshly woven muscle fibre and nerve connected through it. Able to enhance me.
And act as my replacement.
It was only unfortunate that I could tell that this monstrosity was unable to take on my looks.
At least not the one I came here with.
The inky muscle puppet could only mimic muscle fibres. That's it. Unfortunate, but it was not useless.
There would be a use for it later.
I didn't have a chance to try out 'Psychogenic Self' yet, so I'll skip that and go straight to the Skills.
'Riot Hysteria' had yet to undergo a change under the influence of my Affinity, but it was useful.
Similar to my yet to evolve 'Willpower Enchantment' that did much more than apply Mana on objects.
I didn't think much and fused them together.
['Willpower Enchantment' and 'Riot Hysteria' are fusing... Intrinsic Skill formation is set as priority...]
I didn't question that since any fusions using an Intrinsic Skill will result in another Intrinsic Skill.
It was the rule I had set for this system.
['Expansion of the Self' has been created.]
[Description: Anything enchanted with this Skill will become an extension of the user and Mimic. When the user's health is low, it is possible to generate Mana in order to transfer oneself into a new main body. Sub bodies made with this will be spawns.]
I tried to understand that explanation, but wasn't able to figure it out. I had to experiment with this.
There was a pink vibrator toy shaped like a penis on the floor near the bed. Close enough to grab onto.
While Edith was away, I reached out to snatch it up.
When it fell into my hands, I used 'Expansion of the Self' on the sex toy. Infusing my willpower into it.
A fraction of my body flowed into the sex toy.
Veins and arteries connected to me appeared inside the sex toy. It had become a Mimic part of my body.
Similar to the bed.
The only difference was that I could clearly feel that I wouldn't be able to stray too far from the bed itself.
I let the sex toy roll away from me. Finding that the same rule didn't apply to the Mimic I'd created.
It was more like a finger. The bed more like a heart.
This... quite suited my methodology.
I was a former hitman and gangster in my prime. A simple ability to extend surveillance was useful.
Then what about my other abilities here?
'Eldritch Horror'... Hmmm, it looked like this Skill made my first impression on anyone to be scary.
Good at catching my targets by surprise.
I tried to use 'Enlightened Greyscale Third Eye' and my 'Transcendent Unholy Duality Tattoos', but it looked like my understanding of my body was too low to use them. Time was needed for application.
I needed time to test their abilities.
Even though they weren't usable right now, I felt like they weren't useless compared to the last ones.
'Skill Acquisition' and 'Magic Arrow'.
The first one required me to kill people in order to gain a Skill. The latter just needed Mana to be used.
Theoretically, they were good Skills.
But were they useful to the current me?
I started to imagine what it would be like if I used these Skills. If I killed Edith to steal her Skill.
The beauty of this Skill could only show itself in mass slaughters. Regardless of weak or strong.
If I was in an environment where I could squish a lot of weak enemies, I could steal many Skills at once.
But there were no 'mobs' here to cultivate myself.
Only what I'd call 'Elites' among monsters.
Moreover, I could only hunt people who would sleep on my bed. Similar to what Edith had been doing.
I had all the chances in the world to attack, but I ended up not doing so. It was a strange situation.
She would masturbate on my body regularly using that pink vibrator. Shoving inside her longingly.
Crying like she missed me.
I was almost tempted to take a bite out of her several times, but I knew what would happen next.
Her sister, Maple, would come to kill me.
I believed I could probably fight just fine, but there was a stupid thing that popped up after thinking.
Would I be able to travel around like this?
I might be able to move the bed part of my body out the door, but then I'd be found and hunted to death.
It wasn't a suitable choice.
The only option I had right now was to gamble while adjusting the settings for a new Skill Fusion.
I set it so the 'upon killing' condition of Skill Acquisition would be gone, because I wasn't an assassin or hitman anymore. The current me had to adopt the methods of a Demon. Not a mere man.
A part of me prayed this would be a success.
[The user's Patron God, 'Aphrodite', has answered your prayer. The current Skill Fusion will be blessed.]
My new Skill would be blessed by Aphrodite...?
I had a bad feeling about this.
Regardless, I'd take anything shiver at this point.
[Success!]
[You have obtained 'Cauldron Acquisition Cultivation Method' Intrinsic Skill. Blessed by love's wrath.]
I read the description for this Skill and realised what the Goddess had planned for me at this point.
There were two choices.
Either continue down the path that got me here in the first place, or become even worse as a villain.
Lose my conscience entirely.
There were no caveats here. No tragic binding forcing me to use this Skill, nor was there force.
If I didn't want to do it, there was no one who would force me to do the unspeakable acts I'd commit.
But... would I ever see George again if I didn't?
Would I ever escape Hell?
My eyes had lost their light long ago, and now my voice would never reach him even if I saw him.
He might end up killing me by accident.
'George...' However, being far and being separated from someone were two distinct feelings to have.
I couldn't ignore my longing.
Even if I ended up becoming something even my sworn brother wouldn't recognise anymore, I still wanted to see him. No matter how long that would take or how dirty my soul would get on the way.
I looked at my new Skill intently before deciding. It wasn't long before my target came back again.
Leaving herself vulnerable to true evil like myself.