Chapter 168

If I were to draw a line in the sky with a white light, would it look something like this?

Until now, the Saint Power I have seen erased Magic Power like an eraser. It was like pouring white paint over a black canvas.

But, right now, it was a little different.

It was burning.

Lines were being drawn, and along those lines, white flames spread as if Magic Power shouldn’t exist there, burning everything away.

Surely, that power must also be a force that cannot exist in this world. It seemed a bit different from the ‘Saint Power’ I had been using until now, a force that seemed a bit closer to… ‘essence’.

Ria’s mouth opened and then closed. Soon, she clenched her teeth. Her gaze was not even directed at me. Just looking at me seemed to be a tremendous pain for her.

That hurt my heart.

Perhaps, as I continued to fight like this in the future, I would inflict even greater wounds on Ria’s heart.

Power drained from my left hand. Pain like flames spread through my entire arm. Thankfully, it seemed like just a side effect, and I didn’t think I couldn’t use my arm. At least I hadn’t completely burned or broken it.

However, I could feel blood trickling down my fingertips. All over the back and palm of my hand.

There was a gaping hole in my hand. Would it heal again? I wasn’t so sure. The small wounds I had before hadn’t healed.

It was a pretty big injury, but the size of the wound itself wasn’t much different from before. It had just gotten a bit bigger, that was all.

Was I really being punished for using true divine power?

No, I thought that with that existence, it wouldn’t be like that. Rather, it would probably feel sorry for me. For the fact that I could only get hurt while fighting. For the fact that I couldn’t help but feel pain.

…What a strange existence. Couldn’t it just issue commands and send me down? It could have set conditions or threatened me.

And I, who listened to that existence. Well, it must be because I was who I was. Perhaps my complaints about that novel back then didn’t hold any weight at all.

Slowly, the white light that adorned the sky disappeared. My field of vision slowly narrowed. I could see the white light of the sword Ria wielded. I could also see Ria’s red hair.

…

No.

Not yet. I couldn’t fall. I clenched my teeth. It was a relief that my arm hurt. It helped me stay conscious a little.

Right. I couldn’t collapse. At least I had to remain awake until the end.

I raised my hand again.

Perhaps due to the big hole, I could still use power as usual — that is, the same kind of power I used in my original world.

Gulp. I felt something rise up inside me, and I tasted iron in my throat. If I spat it out, Ria would definitely worry, so I forcefully swallowed it again.

The laughter I had been hearing vanished. Only the sounds of distant pain and wails echoed.

Why?

When people were dying like that, they had surely laughed joyfully. What were they doing now, feeling pain?

I looked straight ahead. Once again, light surrounded us. The black branches couldn’t easily reach us.

That was about all I could do.

I could only hope that Ria could take me down there safely.

*

In this situation, Ria couldn’t think of what to do at all.

If it were Anna, she would definitely think this situation was because of her. Because the Demon Race had dug a trap because of her, and therefore all of her comrades had ended up being captured here.

But Ria didn’t think that way.

Rather, if Anna hadn’t been there, many more people would have died. Gnomes and Dwarves would have been eaten by that giant disaster if it hadn’t been for Ria. The same went for the Beastmen. Their entire nation would have fallen to the Demon Race.

Not only had she simply saved people, but she had also eliminated future dangers.

Even now, that was the case.

If the Demon Race had been able to dig traps and wait like that, they would surely have reached out to Ria’s world as well.

So then, this was unavoidable. If they could delay the downfall, or even completely erase it, it could be called the ‘right thing.’

Right, the right thing.

Anna sacrificing herself was the right thing.

Ria bit her lip. She swung her sword. The Demon Race was avoiding Ria’s sword, as if they were so afraid, moving back, back away. Their faces drew a little closer.

Magic power poured down over her head. At some point, only black magic was visible around her party. It was like they had once again entered a storm.

Maybe the storm had really started to move. But Ria thought it didn’t matter.

—I will let you be together.

That voice echoed. It felt like the power itself was trembling as it spoke.

Could it be that the Demon Race that had read Ria’s desires had passed some information? Well, maybe they had something similar to Anna, connected to the Divine via Saint Power. That Demon had died, but there might have been some way to share information somehow.

—I can’t give up on one world… to allow you to live peacefully…

It seemed Anna couldn’t hear that voice. Neither could Glaria or Davi. I didn’t know if some magic law was being applied here.

But still.

There was no way I could believe that those words would be fulfilled.

That was because that guy was trying to kill Anna and Ria even at this very moment. Greedy beings that wanted to devour the entire world wouldn’t give a ‘complete world.’

Perhaps they would create a situation similar to Mari and that Saintess, leaving only two to live and constantly taunt them.

Moreover—

Moreover, Anna was someone I didn’t think would want that kind of life.

Yeah.

Anna was the kind of person who, as long as she had the power to reach out, tried to save the people in front of her. There was nothing divine about her; she was simply… too kind, the type to jump in front of a truck to save someone.

She only received that ‘power to save.’

Ria was moved by Anna like that.

No, she had fallen for her.

That was something Ria herself found surprising.

She had just unconsciously become that way. There was no logical reason; it was just the thought of wanting to protect her, and now it had turned into a desire to see the end together.

What that end was, Ria herself didn’t know well.

So.

“I can only trust the being I can trust.”

Ria couldn’t fully believe in a god she had never seen. The reason for her mother’s death and the reason Anna was in so much pain all came down to that god in the end.

But she could believe in Anna.

Light ignited from the sword.

That was the trust Ria was sending to Anna.

The light of faith.

That light pierced straight ahead as it was—clearing the path to the Demon Race’s face.

“I’m running, Anna.”

“I’ve been hoping for it since earlier!”

Hearing Anna’s shout, Ria planted her feet on the ground.

*

—How.

—How.

“How, right.”

Mari was entirely covered in black. It was the mark of having cut down monstrosities again and again.

Around where Mari had cut, the monsters couldn’t easily approach.

The moment they entered the white line surrounding them, the monsters began to burn. Even if they tried to gnaw at their enemies in that short time remaining, they would merely get cut by Mari’s shining sword.

“Don’t you know?”

Mari spoke with a slightly sad expression.

“Anna was the god of this world.”

That was true.