In Zoroastrianism, whose core is the dualism of good and evil, the counterpart to the source of good, the supreme good god Ahura Mazda, is the source of evil, the ultimate evil god Angra Mainyu.
Of course, the "All the World's Evils" before them was not that evil god himself. A god could not be summoned by such a ritual.
For a god to manifest, they must either downgrade their Spirit Origin to the level of a Heroic Spirit or, at best, summon another individual who shares the same name and a connection.
The "All the World's Evils" before them was a case of the latter.
In life, he was originally an ordinary villager in the Persian region. Simply because his fellow villagers chose him as a scapegoat for the evil god Angra Mainyu, he was tortured and killed as an incarnation of All the World's Evils, eventually becoming a vengeful spirit.
Finally, during the Third Holy Grail War, he was summoned irregularly by the Einzbern family.
Because his essence as a Heroic Spirit was the collective wish of the people for him to bear all evil, the Great Holy Grail, which had a mechanism for accepting wishes, was contaminated by this collective desire, becoming a Black Grail that could only twist wishes.
If Su Mo hadn't come to investigate, likely no one would have known that the current Great Holy Grail had already been defiled.
Now, looking at the black mud crawling and writhing inside the Great Holy Grail, how could Artoria not know that Su Mo was telling the truth?
And hearing Su Mo speak the name of a god, she was even more astonished, her eyes widening as she went on high alert.
Even with the heart of a red dragon and a holy sword forged by the planets, she dared not even imagine the possibility of opposing a god.
What's more, the name Su Mo had called was not an ordinary god, but a supreme evil god.
"..."
After Su Mo's words fell, accompanied by a squelching sound, the black mud in the distance began to writhe continuously, finally forming a humanoid shape.
"Who... are you?"
As if it hadn't spoken in a very long time, the humanoid figure made of black mud split open an organ resembling a mouth and stared intently at Su Mo.
"Do you recognize this flame?"
Su Mo didn't answer directly, but instead tossed a small wisp of fire toward it.
Faced with the dazzling flame, All the World's Evils, or rather, Angra Mainyu, did not dodge, allowing it to land on him.
Sizzle!
Like dry wood meeting a raging fire, the body of black mud was instantly burned through, creating a huge hole that grew wider and wider, threatening to spread completely.
The original black mud, after being burned, returned to its formless, colorless state as pure magical energy.
Faced with such a flame, all the black mud in the Great Holy Grail grew agitated, and began to charge toward the flame's location one after another. A single wisp of fire took All the World's Evils several tens of seconds to extinguish.
While putting out the fire, Angra Mainyu paid no mind to the burns on his body. Instead, he stared at Su Mo with an expression of utter shock.
"A purifying flame of the sun attribute... Are you Mithra, the god of light and contracts?"
Though he was an ordinary villager before his death, after becoming a Heroic Spirit and absorbing All the World's Evils, he had gained a considerable amount of miscellaneous knowledge.
Though it wasn't systematic, he still recognized the source of this flame. It had to come from a good god of Zoroastrianism.
"No. While it is indeed Mithra's flame, I am not him. I merely hold the Divinity of Verethragna," Su Mo shook his head and said without concealment. "You can think of me as an imitation, just like you."
The White Stallion incarnation from Verethragna's Authority carried the power of the sun's fire. And this fire was, in fact, a boon from Verethragna's superior, Mithra. It wasn't strange to be mistaken.
"Holding Divinity?"
Upon hearing this, All the World's Evils completely boiled over, utterly ignoring the subsequent word "imitation." In the perception of most, holding a Divinity was equivalent to admitting one was the god themselves, wasn't it?
It wasn't just All the World's Evils; even Artoria had the same reaction upon hearing those words.
In her shock, she instantly understood why her own magical energy was so abundant, even several times more plentiful than in her prime. If the one providing her with magical support was a god, then it wasn't strange at all.
It was worth mentioning that, after hearing this, besides Rin who already knew the truth, Sakura wasn't too surprised either.
Perhaps it was because in her eyes, Su Mo, who had descended from the heavens and saved her from a tragic fate, was already no different from a god.
---||---
On the other side, after "confirming" Su Mo was a god, all the black mud erupted at the same moment.
The black mud, carrying sixty years of accumulated magical energy from the Great Holy Grail, all fused together under the control of All the World's Evils, forming a black giant tens of meters tall in the dark cavern.
The giant, as large as a mountain range, exuded an astonishing malice and curse. Its immense magical energy was so vast that even Artoria felt somewhat powerless against it.
The firepower of the Sword of Promised Victory was strong, but it couldn't cope with this sea of magical energy that was comparable to a god's. But the conditions for using the Sword of the planet were not met either.
Just as she was worrying, the black giant made of mud suddenly burst into crazed laughter, shaking the entire cavern.
"Hoh hoh ha ha ha! HAHAHAHA! O divine body whom we mortals worship, we have finally seen you!"
"O great god Bahram, who governs victory, kingship, and divine aura, who is sung of by the Yashts! Please, hear our prayer."
"I ask—"
Verethragna's name in Persian is Bahram. To All the World's Evils, this was the divine name he was more familiar with.
After a brief pause, the black giant let out a roar-like inquiry at Su Mo.
"Who acknowledges?"
"Who permits?"
"Who bears the sin?"
For an incarnation of the source of evil to ask such a question, his awareness as a god was clearly lacking. But then again, he was just an imitation.
Though he had a great deal of magical energy now, his Spirit Origin was only at the level of a mere demon. Considering his past, it was normal for him to have such pain and questions.
And to this question, Su Mo gave an answer that was decidedly not god-like.
"Man acknowledges. Man permits. Man bears the sin."
The other clearly couldn't understand Su Mo's meaning. Not only that, but he was also deeply provoked by Su Mo's words.
"Man bears the sin? Hahaha, indeed! In the eyes of the great god Bahram, we are also unforgivable incarnations of evil, demons who should bear all sins, are we not?"
Recalling his own experience, he found it nothing but ironic. He was the one deemed evil by humanity, the one sent to the execution ground by humanity. If even a god held the same attitude...
The black giant clenched its fist, preparing to deliver a rebellious blow against the god.
But just as he was about to act, a golden greatsword tens of meters long pierced through the body of All the World's Evils, pinning the black mud to the ground.
As he prepared to struggle, the black-haired, black-eyed man had, at some unknown point, flown up to face the giant's head.
A dazzling halo of sunlight appeared behind him. The supreme divinity directly suppressed the curse within All the World's Evils and quelled any possible resistance.
Staring directly into the eyes of the incarnation of All the World's Evils, Su Mo, after completing the subjugation, finally spoke slowly.
"You are not."
"What?"
All the World's Evils froze for a moment, unable to react.
"I said, you are not Angra Mainyu, nor are you a pure incarnation of sin."
Faced with the most degenerate black mud, the most terrifying curse, the young man before him spoke thus.
"In the name of the good god of Zoroastrianism, Bahram, I acknowledge that your true nature contains sufficient goodness. The curse you bear is not your own sin, but the manifestation of the sins of others."
"..."
The black giant stood still. All the World's Evils trembled. The will of the ordinary Persian youth deep within its soul finally emerged.
As a victim of Zoroastrianism, he was also a believer. He just never knew why he had suffered such a fate, why he had to bear so many sins, to the point where he began to doubt himself.
And now, the great good god Bahram himself had manifested, acknowledging that all these sins did not originate from him, that he was innocent, that the villagers were the incarnations of evil, that they were All the World's Evils!
No other boon was needed.
For a believer who had suffered endless injustice, the acknowledgment and recognition from a god was more precious than any gift, more moving than anything else.
"Ah!"
The black giant's gaze toward Su Mo instantly transformed from hatred to an incredible fervor.
Noticing this change, Su Mo opened his right hand.
"This good thought, good word, and good deed, is scorching as the sun, thin as a razor's edge."
Driven by the sacred divine words, a sword of light burning with golden flames appeared in Su Mo's palm.
"Your suffering can end now."
The moment his voice fell, golden sunlight tore through the darkness, severing all the malice completely.