Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

["It is as she said, the oath of existence forbids one from lying. If you lie, you die—that's the kind of thing it is.

But it's only applicable to those who matter even a bit in the grand scheme of things, something that humans are not. So, they need to be contacted by a god to have some value in the universe."]

Alex, who had been waiting for the certain god's words for a while, nodded inwardly the moment he received that message.

Things seemed a bit clearer to him now.

Maybe it was because he was used to listening to the certain god's direct messages telling him what to do and what was happening that he didn't understand things completely by the small messages anymore.

Her words, however, made Alex frown as well.

'Humans are that insignificant?'

Such a thought popped up in his head.

Maybe humans weren't as insignificant as it appeared in his head, but that was what the certain god's words made it look like.

["I should tell you this, though: the humans can become significant to the universe if they grow stronger; they are just too weak to be noticed by the universe right now."]

But as if she knew exactly what Alex would think of her words, the certain god added, clarifying why humans couldn't take an oath of existence without being in contact with the gods.

["Being contracted makes humans—even the weaker ones—get noticed by the universe. But let's leave it at that since I would be breaking a rule if I were to give you any more information about this topic."]

With those words, she went silent, as if she were done, and Alex finally noticed that her words were not as playful as they used to be.

She sounded relaxed and unbothered, but it was not like always. It was the tone one would use when they were, for some reason, doing something they didn't want to.

But Alex, after thinking about it for a second, let it go.

He didn't really have time to focus on what she was upset about or what she wanted him to do. It was probably something related to the censorship of the images or something silly like that.

His focus right now was on the words she had spoken and on Ridha, who was waiting for his reply patiently; there was a hint of tension and panic in her eyes, but that was something he would move on to next.

'Humans are weak, huh...'

He muttered inwardly as he finally let go of the thought that he would've to form a contract with a god to survive.

If something like an oath of existence was only available for the people who had formed a contract with some god, then there were probably many other things like that as well.

What if there was something like only the people with contracts could move forward after a certain point?

That doubt, however, was now out of his head.

It was probably not compulsory to form a contract with the gods, or the gods wouldn't be sending contract applications to the players they like; it would've happened the other way around.

Right now, as it was, with gods selecting humans, it was as if the gods needed them.

That was why the gods would try to tempt the humans with good abilities they could provide the humans with.

"D-Did you talk to them?"

Ridha, on the other hand, after observing several changes in Alex's expression, couldn't stop herself from asking that question. All of this was just that important for her.

Alex, on the other hand, finally turned toward Ridha and nodded his head, but just then...

["Oh, and before she swears an oath of existence, you should be the one to prepare the oath, as smart people know how to use the loopholes in an oath~"]

The certain god's voice echoed in his head, alerting him about the thing that many people usually do.

The oath of existence was, is, and always will be the only thing that could work on anyone no matter what kind of protection skill they had, but there were ways to even fool the oath.

"I won't lie to you."

A simple set of words that are spoken as an oath makes one unable to lie to the other person, but even in this oath, the only thing that the oath-taker can't do is lie; they can still remain silent.

That was the kind of loophole used by most of the people. No one would want to be completely bound after all.

"Yes."

Alex squinted his eyes as he heard the certain god's words, but he still nodded his head at Ridha, causing her eyes to brighten in hope.

"S-So, do you agree? Should I take an oath??"

She questioned in a hurry as soon as she heard Alex's words and saw him nod. The tension she felt was increasing as time went by, and soon, it would be so much that she wouldn't be able to take it, so she wanted this to end fast.

"I will provide you with the oath; say those exact words."

Alex, ignoring her first question, answered the second one, his eyes sharp, staring at Ridha as if telling her that he wouldn't take a no for an answer, and Ridha, who clearly noticed him not answering her first question, still nodded.

"A-Alright."

She stuttered again, unable to let out straight words.

She knew that Alex was intentionally ignoring the first question, and maybe he still wasn't going to agree to her request; he might even be using this chance to bind her, but she didn't protest.

She had already decided that she would use all of her will and body for Alex and Alex only, no matter what he did. This was something she had told her patron god as well.

She had told her god that even no matter how much she worshiped or sent her faith to the god, her loyalty would lie on Alex's side, and she would serve Alex only.

If there were ever to be an instance that he wanted her to move against her own patron god, she would do it without a doubt.

The flame of wars, her patron god, had agreed to her words at that time, thinking that it was just wishful thinking of a girl in love that she would always remain the same.

The flame of wars had seen many lovers break apart and turn on each other in the apocalypse, much less a one-sided love. Discover hidden tales at m v l'e|m,p y r

So, she had accepted those terms, only to regret those now.

But there was nothing that could be done now.

Even though the flame of wars knew that Ridha might be soon eternally bound to Alex if he wanted to, she didn't say anything, as she knew that Ridha wouldn't budge.

"Swear that you won't ever lie to me, won't ever think of harming me, won't ever scheme against me, won't ever reveal any information you know about me to anyone else, and won't ever hide things from me."

Alex spoke, sending a series of 'won't ever' for Ridha to swear, and Ridha, who heard those words, after pausing for a second, nodded her head with a bitter smile.

It was not that she objected to any of these. She would've been more than happy to add some more conditions, but for some reason, she felt like she wasn't going to get what she wanted even after all this.

"I, Ridha Negi, solemnly swear upon my very existence that, should I ever lie to, contemplate harm against, conspire against, disclose any information about, or conceal anything from Alex Matthew—the one standing before me now—let my life serve as recompense."

Ridha, listening to her patron god's words, started swearing an oath with every point that Alex wanted to be included, and as she did it, her body started to get covered with strange golden inscriptions, until finally, when her oath was over...

*Boom*

They blasted off, breaking into particles and merging into nature; it was as if Ridha's words were now intermixed with the world, which was actually true since her words really did get integrated with the world's will, making them absolute.

If she were to break her oath now, she would die.

["Welp, I guess she was really serious about it~"]

Alex, however, didn't relax until he heard the certain god's voice in his head, confirming that everything was good to go.

<I can feel mana from the surroundings entering her in a way that she would never notice, and that mana is going straight for her vitals, binding them within invisible mana chains.>

The AI's words only made him surer, causing him to finally turn to look at Ridha, who was staring at him as she rested her body on the support of her knees.

It looked like she had used all of her power and was now exhausted, and Alex knew exactly what it was as he could see that her mana pool was almost completely empty.

It looked like she was really having a hard time breathing; it was clear from the way droll dripped from the corner of her lips and how her eyes had tears pooling up in them.

But this is exactly what Alex wanted, more like he was waiting for this.

It was finally time for the next step.