In Zoroastrianism, which has dualism of good and evil as its core, corresponding to Ahura Mazda, the supreme good god and source of good, is Angra Mainyu, the supreme evil god and source of evil.
Of course, the All the Evil of This World before him was not that evil god himself.
It was impossible for a deity to be summoned by this kind of ritual.
For deities to manifest, they either had to downgrade their spiritual foundation to the level of Heroic Spirits, or they could only summon other related individuals of the same name.
The Evil of This World before him was precisely this situation.
In life, he had originally been just an ordinary villager in the Persian region, only because the villagers treated him as a substitute for the evil god Angra Mainyu, he was tortured and killed as the embodiment of all evil in this world, eventually becoming an undead.
Finally, in the Third Holy Grail War, he was irregularly summoned by the Einzbern family.
Due to his essence as a Heroic Spirit being the collective wish of the people—hoping he could bear all evil.
Thus, the Greater Grail, which possessed the mechanism to accept wishes, was contaminated by this collective wish, becoming a Black Grail that could only twist wishes.
If Ryuga hadn't come to investigate, probably no one would know that the current Greater Grail had been contaminated.
Now, seeing the black mud crawling and writhing inside the Greater Grail, how could Artoria not know that Ryuga was telling the truth?
And hearing Ryuga speak the name of a deity, she was even more shocked, opening her eyes wide, then becoming fully alert and defensive.
Even though she possessed a Red Dragon's heart and held a planet-made holy sword, she dared not imagine the possibility of being enemies with a deity.
Not to mention, the name Ryuga called was not an ordinary deity, but the supreme evil god.
"..."
After Ryuga's words fell, accompanied by rustling sounds, the black mud in the distance began to writhe continuously, finally forming a humanoid shape.
"You... who are you?"
As if he hadn't spoken for a long time, the being made entirely of black mud opened what resembled a mouth, staring fixedly at Ryuga.
"Do you recognize this flame?"
Ryuga didn't directly answer the other's question, but threw a small flame over.
Facing this blazing flame, All the Evil of This World, or rather Angra Mainyu, did not dodge, allowing it to land on himself.
"Sizzle!"
Like dry kindling meeting fierce fire, the black mud body was instantly burned through with a huge hole by the flames, which then burned more and more fiercely, as if about to spread completely.
The original black mud, after being burned, returned to colorless, formless magical energy.
Facing such flames, all the black mud in the Greater Grail became restless, beginning to surge forward one after another toward the flame's position.
A mere strand of flame took All the Evil of This World dozens of seconds to extinguish.
During the time spent extinguishing the flames, Angra Mainyu paid no attention to the burn marks on his body, instead staring at Ryuga with incredibly shocked eyes.
"Solar purification flames... are you Mithra, god of light and contracts?"
Although he had been just an ordinary villager before death, after becoming a Heroic Spirit and absorbing All the Evil of This World, he had gained quite complex knowledge.
Although not systematic, he still recognized the source of these flames, which must come from a good god of Zoroastrianism.
"No. While these are indeed flames of Mithra, I am not his true form, merely one who holds Verethragna's divine authority."
Ryuga shook his head, speaking without concealment.
"You can understand it as a counterfeit, like yourself."
The flames from Verethragna's White Steed incarnation carried the power of solar fire.
And these flames actually came from the blessing of Mithra, Verethragna's superior god, so being mistaken was not strange.
"Holding divine authority?"
Hearing this, All the Evil of This World completely boiled over, completely ignoring the later word "counterfeit."
In most people's understanding, holding divine authority was equivalent to acknowledging oneself as the deity itself.
Not just All the Evil of This World, even Artoria had this reaction upon hearing this.
In her shock, she instantly understood why the magical energy within her body was so abundant, even several times more plentiful than in her prime.
If the one providing her magical energy support was a deity, then it wouldn't be strange.
Worth mentioning, after hearing this, apart from Rin who already knew the truth, Sakura also wasn't too surprised.
Probably because in her eyes, Ryuga, who descended from heaven and saved her from her tragic fate, was already no different from a deity.
On the other side, after "confirming" Ryuga was a deity, all the black mud rioted at the same moment.
The black mud carrying sixty years of accumulated magical energy from the Greater Grail, under All the Evil of This World's control, all fused together, forming a black giant dozens of meters tall in the pitch-black cavern.
A giant as massive as a mountain range, emanating terrifying malice and curses.
That incomparably vast magical energy made even Artoria feel somewhat overwhelmed.
No matter how strong Excalibur's firepower, it couldn't handle this god-level amount of magical energy.
But if she used the Star Holy Sword, many conditions weren't met either.
Just as she worried in her heart, this black giant made of black mud suddenly let out an incredibly crazed laugh, making the entire cavern shake.
"Heh heh ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! We mortals have finally met the divine body we worship!"
"Bahram, great god who governs victory, kingship and divine glory, praised in the Yasht! Please listen to our prayers."
"I ask—"
Verethragna's Persian name was indeed Bahram, and for All the Evil of This World, this name was the divine name he was more familiar with.
After a brief pause, the black giant roared questions at Ryuga.
"Who acknowledges?"
"Who permits?"
"Who bears sin?"
As the embodiment of the source of evil asking such questions, his awareness as a deity was clearly insufficient.
However, he was originally just a counterfeit. Though he had much magical energy now, his spiritual rank was only at the level of a mere demon. Combined with his experiences, having such pain and questions was normal.
And to this question, Ryuga gave an answer completely unlike a deity's style.
"Humans acknowledge, humans permit, humans bear sin."
The other clearly couldn't understand Ryuga's meaning, and was deeply stimulated by Ryuga's words.
"Humans bear sin? Ha ha ha, indeed, in the great god Bahram's eyes, we too are irredeemably evil incarnations, demons who should bear all sin?"
Recalling his own experiences, he found it ironic.
He was the one designated by humans as the embodiment of evil, sent to the execution ground by humans.
If even gods held the same attitude—
The black giant clenched his fists, preparing to strike a rebellious blow against the deity.
Just as he was about to move, a golden greatsword dozens of meters long pierced through All the Evil of This World's body, pinning the black mud to the ground.
As he prepared to struggle, that black-haired, black-eyed man had somehow already flown before the giant's head.
A blazing solar wheel appeared behind him, and supreme divinity directly suppressed the curses in All the Evil of This World, also suppressing any possible resistance.
Looking directly into the eyes of All the Evil of This World's incarnation, Ryuga only spoke slowly after completing the subjugation.
"No."
"What?"
All the Evil of This World was slightly stunned, unable to react.
"I said, you are not Angra Mainyu, nor are you purely an incarnation of sin."
Facing the most fallen black mud, the most terrifying curses, the young man before him said this.
"In the name of Bahram, the good god of Zoroastrianism, I acknowledge that your true nature contains sufficient goodness. The curses you bear are not your own sins, but manifestations of others' sins."
"..."
The black giant fell still, All the Evil of This World trembled, and the will of that ordinary Persian youth finally emerged from the depths of his soul.
As both a victim and believer of Zoroastrianism, he had never understood why he suffered such treatment, why he had to bear so much sin, even beginning to doubt himself.
But now, with the good god Bahram personally manifesting and acknowledging that all these sins did not originate from him, that he was innocent, that those villagers were the true embodiments of evil, they were All the Evil of This World!
No other blessing was needed. For a believer who had suffered injustice, acknowledgment and recognition from a deity were more precious and moving than any blessing.
"Ah!"
The black giant's gaze toward Ryuga instantly changed from hatred to incredible fervor.
Noticing this transformation, Ryuga opened his right hand.
"These good thoughts, good words, good deeds, blazing as sunlight, thin as a blade."
Under the divine word-spirit's drive, a sword of light burning with golden flames appeared in Ryuga's palm.
"Your suffering can end now."
The moment his words fell, golden sunlight tore through the darkness, severing all malice completely.
To be continued…