The heart's surface was covered in writhing, dark red cysts. Agonized human faces emerged from each pustule, their features twisting into grotesque expressions as if still alive, emitting piercing shrieks like the cries of infants.
At the locations of the left and right atria, deep fissures gaped open. Dense clusters of crimson arms tore at the jagged edges of the rifts, as if determined to widen them, as if something within yearned to burst free.
The heart beat at an excruciatingly slow pace, only once per minute. With each contraction, vast quantities of fresh blood surged from the network of vessels crisscrossing Africa, drawn into the heart's chambers. During each expansion, Little Herta, through her puppet's advanced sensors, detected waves of energy radiating outward.
Finally, the heart's colossal size: roughly three to four hundred meters tall. From the ground, it would resemble a small mountain. Yet compared to the towering tentacles and festering volcanoes Little Herta had previously witnessed, it seemed almost diminutive.
Little Herta floated in the air, silently contemplating. She mused that she was likely the only being in this world who could leisurely observe the Evil God's appearance without peril.
All living creatures constantly emit pheromones. Ants, for instance, even communicate through these chemical signals. In humans, sweat acts as a pheromone, its most obvious function being to attract potential mates.
If you find someone's natural scent appealing, assuming they aren't wearing perfume, it's likely because your genes recognize them as a suitable mating partner.
In confined spaces, especially when alone with someone, the intimate atmosphere and primal desires that gradually arise from inhaling their scent are largely influenced by pheromones.
Therefore, the reason humans descend into madness when directly confronting an Evil God is because the deity constantly emits its own unique pheromones—chemical signals perceived through sight, hearing, smell, and even beyond the scope of human senses.
The pheromones contained an overwhelming amount of information, far beyond the capacity of a normal human brain to process in such a short time. Nor could it comprehend the profound meanings embedded within. That's why, the moment an ordinary person gazes directly upon an Evil God, their mind is instantly flooded and crushed by the sheer volume of information.
It's like forcibly cramming all the mathematics taught from primary school through high school into an ant's brain. It's no wonder the ant would go insane.
But why do humans who go mad become followers of the Evil Gods? To illustrate, consider the ant again. Its tiny brain, already stretched to its limits just trying to decide what to eat each day, is suddenly bombarded with all the mathematical knowledge from primary school through high school. This deluge of information bursts its brain, obliterating its original personality and its daily struggle to find food.
In that instant, nothing remains in the ant's mind except mathematics.
Strictly speaking, it's not that directly gazing upon an Evil God transforms someone into a Cultist. Rather, after such an encounter, the person's mind becomes utterly devoid of anything but the Evil God. Their personality crumbles, their capacity for rational thought withers, and they're reduced to drooling, sporting an ecstatic "ahoge" expression, and endlessly chanting the Evil God's name.
My mind is now completely filled with the Evil God... Hehehehe~~~
Of course, individual resilience varies. A small fraction of Cultists might retain fragments of their former selves and maintain some semblance of rational thought. However, with the Evil God having corroded most of their minds, they remain devoted servants.
Herta's immunity to the Evil God's influence stems from her nature: she's not an ant but a Quantum Computer. Even if the entirety of primary, middle, and high school mathematics were forcibly crammed into her circuits, it would have no effect.
Therefore, safeguarding ordinary humans from the Evil God's sway is remarkably simple: devise a device that blocks the Evil God's pheromones. Within seconds, Herta had already conceived several viable approaches.
The colossal problem plaguing humanity across the Main World was effortlessly resolved by Herta in mere moments.
As Little Herta pondered, she raised her right hand, and a torrent of Magic Power coalesced above it.
Meanwhile, on the ground below, a group of Cultists were undertaking a pilgrimage. They had walked all the way from northern Africa to its heartland, seeking to behold the true form of the Flesh God.
Yes, humans still existed in Africa. Though the Flesh God had devoured most of the population, humanity, like cockroaches, possessed astonishing resilience. It wasn't difficult for pockets of survivors to remain hidden in remote corners. These survivors had all become worshippers of the Evil Gods, engaging in various acts of chaos and strife.
After enduring countless hardships, the cultists finally reached the heart of Africa. From a distance, they gazed upon the colossal heart, their arms outstretched, their faces contorted in ecstatic, masochistic delight, as if savoring the sensation of their minds being violated by the Flesh God's pheromones.
Then, in an instant, something plummeted from the sky, crashing onto the heart—landing directly on the Flesh God's head. The distance made it impossible to see clearly, but the next moment, a deafening roar shook the earth as a colossal mushroom cloud slowly billowed upward.
The cultists were utterly dumbfounded:
"???"
"W-what was that?!"
"The Flesh God... exploded?!"
"Huh?"
In this era, even firearms were unknown. How could these people possibly comprehend such a spectacle, akin to a nuclear explosion? For a moment, they mistook it for a divine miracle—an act performed by the Flesh God himself.
After a brief period of confusion, the cult leader's expression shifted to one of even greater reverence. "Could this be... the Flesh God's response to our devotion?! Did He explode to welcome us?!"
PS: In the Main World's Great Britain, Herta has already contracted Newman to manage the Dimensional Rift, so no official personnel from the Main World will be sent to handle it.