For I Am A Side Character - 137 - The Red Factory Descends

Slowly but surely, my body was healing.

But it wasn’t enough.

A simple potion wasn’t going to be enough to heal the cracks in my body…

I know that…I know it to the simpleness of my will.

What I needed…

What I had to do…

Was simply found at the palm of my hand…

God’s Will…

“…” with my brother in front, carrying two swords at hand, I was left to watch and observe…

Brother Cecil asked me to observe…to simply rest and enjoy the show…

I felt relieved when he took on the burden of it all, but my own problems were yet to be answered.

“…” my eyes furrowed as the cracks continue to expand…little by little…

It became so painful that yet again, blood has began dripping from my eyes like tears and each heartbeat I made felt like daggers into my flesh…

I could barely move my body anymore…

“…God…it hurts so much.”

“Soril? Are you okay?” asked my brother as he was fighting the demon head on.

“I-I’m fine, just focus on your fight.”

With Cecil’s attention on me, I could see that the demon was taking that chance to kill him, but Cecil was on his top condition, the demon won’t have a chance against him in his current condition.

Slowly but surely, I tried manifesting the Will of God…

But for some reason, I could not manifest the strength to conjure his authority. I thought that after a bit of rest, I would regain enough strength to manifesst it, but I couldn’t…

In my first attempt, I gave the same thought I would always create when manifesting his will…but it didn’t work.

Thinking hard to my situation, I then realized what was wrong.

The injuries caused by the blades of the demon was causing my mind to rattle with negative emotions.

Thoughts I would never have made before were starting to erupt in my mind.

Thoughts of my failures…

Thoughts of my death…

Thoughts that would convert my will and faith to be seperated from God…

Demonic energy was converting my faith away from God…

“…”

Two internal enemies were simultaneously eating inside me like I was a full course meal.

The cracks…and the demonic influence.

‘I…I can see why demonic energy is this much of a threat. It’s literally pulling my faith away from God. I can’t manifest his will at this rate.’

It didn’t take long before I then fell back to the ground.

And like so, pain started errupting at me from both sides.

I tried restraining the pain with everything I had, I tried maintaining composure, all so that brother Cecil could focus on the fight, but it didn’t take long before I started vomiting out blood that was tainted with demonic energy.

“Ghk-blaaagh!! I couldn’t control it…

And soon enough, my head was starting to lighten.

‘F-fuck…I’m starting to lose myself.’

And just as things were getting worse on my end, it became more complicated when suddenly a man in a brown cloak appeared right next to me.

He appeared out of nowhere, and I could not sense how even with how sensitive I was to enemies in this area, he appeared before faster than light itself…

But he wasn’t watching me, instead…he looked to the sight of Cecil and the demon both fighting.

And he spoke to me as he did.

“…You’ve pushed him this far all to a point he had to us the king’s blade in sacrifice of his body.” said the man as he looked to the demon fighting Cecil.

“…This…this energy…you’re a fallen angel, aren’t you?” and from my question, the man in the black pulled down his hoodie, revealing his face to me as I lay on the floor.

“…” with hair as gold as the sun and a face as beautiful as that of a gem, the person who stood before me was literally the face of what reflected an angel’s nature. One that as crafted personally by God himself. A beauty that’s unlike any other.

“You and your interruptions have caused a great disturbance to my plans…” he said as he only looked to the fight in front of him.

It seemed as though that even with this Fallen Angel’s appearance, Cecil was on the fight with a focused mind. Almost as if he could not see the man standing beside me.

It made me curious as to how it was possible that brother Cecil could not notice this man when he could notice the pain I was enduring in my difficult time.

But it wwas no time to think of such thoughts…he was an enemy as clear as day.

“…I can feel it inside you. A similar presence of that of God’s authority.” he spoke with a stoic, unchanged face…

And from his words, it was as if he could not care for the idea of God’s Will inside a mortal like me.

“…Still, it wouldn’t matter in the hands of a mortal like you. You are not worthy…especially now with your condition.”

“…”

“Eating away at your spirit and will, the demonic energy is quickly climbing every inch of your body…it won’t be long before you die a miserable death fit for someone blindly chosen by God.” he said in a mocking tone.

“…Y-you must be the leader of the cult.” I said as I struggled to keep my mind in the sanity of it all.

“I am the Angel who has seen through God’s plan…Adziel.” he said with such a prideful tone.

I remember him from when I read the second volume of God’s book. From it, this man was the leader of the cult…the man who would release the world corrupting creation under the Demon King’s influence.

“Don’t praise your name like it matters…you betrayed God’s trust, he dropped you here as you are now…a fallen angel. A failure.” I said as I tried to provoke him.

“…Indeed, I did betray God. But in return, I have seen the truth…a truth that not even you can change.” he said as he turned to me finally with the uncommon eyes of a honest man despite being an angel.

“…Hahaha…so you’re in the same situation as Gypsy. You both saw his plans, yu both fell from grace and heaven…and yet here you are, revolting against your own creator…but his plans aren’t the truth…plans are nothing if it can’t be fulfilled…that’s why he brought me here…”

“I know…you’re a variable who is not of his creation. You created the disturbances in my plans…in the plans of God…in the path of truth…but look at you now, this is where you’re actions took you. On death’s door. It won’t be long before you will slowly lose your mind as will as your own faith in God.”

“…” I couldn’t deny his words.

From where I’m placed, there was no longer escaping the inevitable. I was going to die.

“And all my plans…all my work will return to it original state. Just as how God had originally made…”

“…you don’t seem to resent God.” I said as I looked to him with my own sense of honesty.

“I don’t. I never said I did. I simply came to this world…I fell from my position all to follow his plans. I…I was in his plans. Don’t you think that, that in of itself is grander than my own worth?! I…I…Adziel, is made for his plans.”

“…but what do you think about the fact that I’ve been sent by him to change his intended plan? What do you think about that?” I asked.

“I say this now…you are a variable. An uncertain element that he chose blindly…you are not apart of his plan…you are not worth shit to anything worthy of his name.”

“…Adziel…he chose me personally.” I said with a smirk on my face.

And all but suddenly, he stomped on my face at a speed faster than light.

“!!?”

I could not react in time…

*Boom!*

His actions were fast enough to even delay the sound of his actions.

“…Enough.” he said in a calm manner, but I could see it in his face…he was envious of my position.

This angel…

Despite how it may seem…despite how proud he is…

He is a creation with the same emotion as man…

A creation to feel…

“I won’t kill you…it doesn’t matter if I take action or not…you will die today.”

“…”

“This is not God’s plan…this is mine…I, Adziel, shall rain down on you pain unlike any other. And to put you away for good, I shall have the factory taste you and create armies out of your flesh!”

“!?” his words…something ominous as behin his words…

A factory that create armies out of flesh…

“N-no, you can’t!” I screamed out of desperation, but seeing me so desperate, he smiled eagerly and called to his weapon.

“I will…come to me, Red call…Red Factory!”

And from his words alone, out appeared in the sky, a large red hole which was oozing with demonic energy matching at the level of the demonic sword.

And from that hole, appeared a ginormous child’s face. A child-like expression which was then consumed by its demonic nature and function.

“…” Adziel’s smile was clearly seen…but at the same time, he was just as nervous as I was at the witness of it all…

The Red Factory…

Created by the Demon King himself, the Red Factory is one of his creations which spreads his influence in a literal sense. By taking away the essence of God’s authority, the Life essence of every living being, it converts it into a fuel which expands the influence of the Red Factory, which in turn expands the Demonic invasion.

It was the main culprit which was responsible of devouring the very world of the elves themselves, corrupting it over the years. From its influence, it turns God’s creations into demon…from animals and even those with a higher mind, the red factory does not chose…it devours everything.

And for it to appear here of all places…

It loomed over the battlefield like a grotesque effigy of corruption, its size dwarfing castles and shrouding the land in an oppressive crimson light. From the yawning red hole in the sky, it descended, its form a macabre mockery of life itself.

The figure resembled a newborn child, its swollen, malformed torso pulsating like a diseased heart. Its flesh was a patchwork of raw, glistening sinew and twisted veins that throbbed with unnatural energy. The skin—what little of it remained intact—was pallid, almost translucent, revealing the black sludge coursing beneath.

Its limbs were missing, severed at grotesquely uneven stumps that oozed a dark, viscous liquid. In their place were jagged constructions of demonic machinery—rusted pipes and gnashing gears that hissed and spat smoke. The mechanical appendages churned with a life of their own, exhaling the screams of a thousand tortured souls with every movement. From the tips of these crude limbs, torrents of molten metal and blood cascaded down, sizzling as they met the ground.

The head was the most horrific part—a bloated, featureless visage save for its mouth. It was far too wide, stretching unnaturally from ear to ear, filled with rows of jagged, needle-like teeth that rotated like saw blades. The mouth exhaled a sickening, sulfurous breath, and with every exhalation, whispers of despair seeped into the air, clawing at my sanity.

Eyes—if they could even be called that—were not present in the traditional sense. Instead, the sockets were hollow voids, pouring streams of molten, blood-red energy that seemed to seek out and consume any semblance of purity in their path. The energy twisted and danced as if alive, leaving trails of corruption wherever it touched.

All around its body, malformed arms and legs protruded at odd angles, not as extensions of its own form but as grotesque trophies grafted onto its surface. These limbs twitched and spasmed, some appearing human, others more bestial, all writhing in eternal agony. The sight alone was enough to turn my stomach, but the sound—the sound was unbearable.

It groaned and clanked as it moved, each motion accompanied by the screech of grinding metal and the wailing cries of something far beyond human. The stench of burning flesh and sulfur filled the air, a choking, oppressive miasma that threatened to suffocate me where I stood.

This abomination was not merely a machine, nor simply a creature. It was a living nightmare, a factory of corruption that churned out despair and devoured hope. The ground beneath it withered and cracked, blackened veins spreading outward like a disease.

“God… no…” I whispered, my voice trembling as my eyes remained locked on the monstrosity.

The Red Factory’s “arms” extended into the earth like parasitic roots, burrowing deep to feed on life itself. The land quaked, and with every shudder, I could feel the world screaming in pain. From its maw, an unholy chorus erupted—a symphony of despair that resonated deep within my very soul.

And yet, there was an intelligence behind its grotesque form, a malevolence that transcended mortal comprehension. It wasn’t just a tool of destruction; it was an avatar of malice, crafted to desecrate and consume everything God had ever touched.

My vision blurred as I struggled to keep my faith, my sanity, my very sense of self intact. The cracks in my body deepened, and I felt the pull of its corruption, beckoning me to succumb.

I could see Adziel’s twisted smile reflected in the blood pooling around me. “This is the truth of your God’s plan,” he said softly, his voice echoing through the cacophony of horror.

But I couldn’t look away from the monstrosity before me. It was more than an enemy. It was despair incarnate, a harbinger of the end.

And for the first time, I truly doubted if I could do anything against it.