The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 391: The Origin of the Evil God

The Head Balloons had invaded the second floor of the café.

JoJo and Frank snapped their heads up, their eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Can they be destroyed?" Lu Li asked, turning to Frank.

Frank stumbled back toward Lu Li and JoJo. "I don't know."

The image of the floating heads brought the sound of an explosion to Lu Li's mind. He had a feeling that trying to destroy them like the Faceless Shadows would be a terrible mistake.

Lu Li strode to a side window and pushed it open. "Anna, barricade the stairs to the second floor. Everyone else, out the window. We're moving to the building next door."

The moment he finished speaking, a window in the building opposite swung open.

"What about you?" JoJo asked, moving to the window and getting ready to climb out.

"Anna and I will follow. We'll catch up."

"Be careful," JoJo nodded. She turned and called to the petrified Frank. Hoisting herself onto the sill, she leaped into the dark alley below, then scrambled through the open window of the adjacent building.Frank tumbled awkwardly over the sill, landing with a thud in the alley. Lu Li glanced back at the stairs. Anna had already blocked them with furniture, but he could see pale faces peering through the gaps.

"Let's go."

Lu Li swung himself over the windowsill and dropped into the alley.

He had barely landed, not yet even straightened up, when a Faceless Shadow in a white dress materialized beside him, its face a complete blank.

Lu Li ignored it, sprinting for the opposite window. A wave of bone-chilling cold radiated from him, striking the Faceless Shadow and tearing it to shreds.

JoJo, waiting for him at the window, quickly slammed it shut and yanked the curtains closed.

The outside world vanished.

"Did we lose them?" JoJo asked.

Lu Li scanned the room. They were in the kitchen of someone's home.

"Maybe," Lu Li replied. "But let's keep moving, just in case."

Lu Li moved into the living room and peered through the window. Several of the Six-limbed creatures were shambling down the street they had just been on.

Giving up on the idea of using Trio Street, Lu Li crossed to another window, scanned the area outside, and opened it. "We'll have to keep moving from building to building."

The advantage of this method was avoiding the horrors on the street. The disadvantage was equally obvious: if an anomaly was lurking inside one of the buildings, they'd walk right into it.

Still, if they ran into trouble, the vengeful spirit Anna would take care of it.

Lu Li, JoJo, and Frank moved quickly from building to building, slipping in and out of windows as they made their way toward the church.

The route was far from safe. As they burst into a post office, they spotted a Shadow Person hiding behind a pillar. Before Lu Li or Anna could react, it vanished like a shadow dissolved by light.

"That's a Shadow Person, from the legends of Tenebrae! And the things crawling around outside are the Six-limbed creatures," Frank exclaimed, the recognition dawning on him.

Suddenly, all the pieces clicked into place in his mind. "The Shadow Swamp... these monsters are from the Shadow Swamp! They're fighting against the things that were summoned!"

"You're only figuring that out now?" JoJo asked, surprised.

Frank coughed in embarrassment. "Ahem... I found a place to hide, and the next thing I knew, I was knocked out..."

He never got a close look at any of the minions.

Or, more accurately, he had survived precisely because he hadn't gotten close to them.

"I have a few questions for you," Lu Li said as he scanned the alley and pushed open another window.

The exorcists outside Tenebrae didn't know the full story. All they knew was that an unknown Evil God was battling the Mother of the Swamp. The aura of their conflict had enveloped the entire town and the southern part of the Shadow Swamp, and their respective minions were now at war with one another.

Lu Li helped JoJo and Frank into the next building, then followed them through the window.

After quietly shutting the window, Lu Li took a look around. Anna was already barricading the stairs with furniture. He crossed to a window on the opposite side of the room.

"What do you know about the Mother of the Swamp?" he asked Frank, his back still to them.

"Um... it's a tradition that the first settlers of Tenebrae brought with them. A lot of people used to worship the Mother of the Swamp, believing she was the protector of the Shadow Swamp. But over time, her followers and the church dwindled. Now, there are probably only ten or twenty of them left in the whole town."

As Frank tried to recall everything he knew, a horrifying thought struck him.

"The Mother of the Swamp... she's real?!"

"What's happening in Tenebrae is the result of a bloody war between the Mother of the Swamp and another, unknown Evil God," Lu Li replied, his eyes still fixed on the street below.

Frank was stunned, his entire worldview collapsing. JoJo, however, had a different question. "Did the Mother of the Swamp exist from the beginning, or was she created by people's belief?"

"An Evil God can be born from belief."

JoJo grew thoughtful. "Does that mean the Mother of the Swamp could be... good?"

"She isn't. Benevolent beings aren't called Evil Gods," Lu Li answered calmly. "An Evil God's disposition has little to do with the beliefs of its followers. It may be born from belief, but it doesn't draw its power from it."

"Their nature is chaos. So from the perspective of humans, whose nature is order, acts like sacrifice and transforming people into minions are unequivocally evil."

"The eternal dark, from time immemorial to the present day, remains unchanged..." Frank muttered suddenly.

JoJo glanced at him. "Is that the fourteenth verse from 'Gothic Verses'?"

"What's that?" Lu Li asked, unfamiliar with the literature of this world.

"The author is Goethe Madkin. That line is part of his theory on human nature. He believed that darkness is eternal, while light eventually fades. You know... like lighting a lamp in a dark room. When the oil runs out, the flame dies, and only the darkness remains."

That same theory could be applied to Evil Gods.

Evil Gods don't draw sustenance from their followers' faith. Therefore, no matter how pure or righteous the original belief, it can't sustain an Evil God forever. Once an Evil God's power is depleted, it simply vanishes.

Perhaps benevolent Evil Gods once existed, but their very nature doomed them to extinction. As soon as their power was exhausted, they would flicker out, just like a lamp burning in the darkness.

They violated the most fundamental law of survival.

That which is barren cannot create. Only that which can propagate itself will endure.

"It's clear. Let's keep moving."

After checking the alley, Lu Li opened the window. A Faceless Shadow instantly materialized beside him, and Anna crushed it as effortlessly as swatting a fly.

The three of them slipped into the next building in silence. As Anna barricaded the stairs to the second floor, Lu Li moved to a window to keep watch, continuing his questioning. "What do you know about this unknown Evil God? Have there been any other strange occurrences in town recently?"