Chapter 169

I have a type of villain that I really despise.

Those sorts of villains who claim to be gods themselves. They think because they can do something, they’re greater than all living beings and therefore believe they’ve risen to the position of a deity. Honestly, it’s just hard to tolerate.

I’m an atheist.

And atheists don’t believe in gods, demons, or even ghosts.

What’s right in front of me? Just a being that has massacred countless people and is drunk on its own ego.

*Crack, crack.*

What I hold in my hand screams and gets dragged out. Even with a dizzy head, I’m trying to keep my sanity.

I hear voices saying things like “just a moment, think about this.” They’re trying to convince me that I might end up losing an arm, or even dying.

But I wonder, doesn’t that persuasion require at least a minimum level of trust between us?

Even if they promise to save me and send me back to the original world the moment I let go, it’s obvious that I would die then, and my friends would too.

In reality, the opponent was mercilessly whipping my body.

I know it’s not aimed directly at me. That would be equally painful for them.

Those weak beings, who slaughter others with ease, would find it hard to bear any pain they felt themselves.

“…Every time in moments like this, trying to dig into my mind is just ugly.”

I grit my teeth and say that.

It was the same last time.

Since I couldn’t directly harm myself, I tried to sever my own mind somehow.

And I hated that.

I glared at the thing biting my hand.

Rationally, logically, it can’t bite me like that. The saint power flowing from the wounds on my body isn’t something those demons can just gobble up.

Thinking that way, light flowed from the demon’s mouth.

“————!”

A monstrous scream. It’s a scream born out of fear of dying.

And then that scream—suddenly stopped.

My vision came back. I realized what position I was in.

I seemed to have plunged my hand inside the demon’s injured body. My arm, which simply delved into magic power, was stinging.

Deep inside the head of the demon I had pulled out, a sword was deeply embedded. A sword shimmering white.

The holy sword I had blessed and created.

The one holding that sword was a red-haired paladin. Ria was looking at me with a painful expression. Ria’s body was a mess too. Blood was flowing here and there, and her armor was slightly crumpled. No matter how much saint power surrounded us, the struggling demons had still managed to reach us.

“…Davi!”

I shouted while looking at Davi.

“Please gather your magic…!”

At those words, Davi unfolded a magic circle in her hands. Glaria held Davi’s hand—and at the same time, a large magic circle rose up around us. I could see the magic power gathering, forming into a single point.

—Do you think you can survive!

The demon screeched, as if in agony. That cry this time reached not just my head but also seemed to jab at Davi and Glaria’s shoulders too.

—If I disappear—!

“Right. The magic will fall on us.”

Even if they respond quickly from that side of the world, it’ll take time for a reaction to reach this side. I heard Emeli’s magic still needed adjustments.

And it wouldn’t take even ten seconds for those things hovering above our heads to drop down. Even if the flow of time between this world and the original world I lived in weren’t different, “a quick response” would take at least several minutes to several hours.

To summarize, it’s that.

Anyway, if we survive here, it’ll be over. Once the signal is sent, they should be able to find the answer. Emeli would surely figure out how to utilize that massive amount of magic.

As long as there aren’t those trying to kill us, surviving for a few days or even weeks is possible.

“Do you really think I wouldn’t think about that?”

Then, the conclusion is simple. Just blow away everything that’s floating up there.

I have power.

“Anna…!”

Ria shouted like that.

It seems the clever Ria quickly grasped the meaning behind my words.

I have no intention of sacrificing myself.

But here, I’m the only one who can do such a thing.

Then, there’s nothing else I can do.

Ria let go of the sword embedded in the demon and reached her hand out toward me. At that moment, I was already reaching my hand up towards the sky.

From my hand, white light—

At the same time it blossomed, a light even brighter appeared.

“…Huh?”

That light was a soft, silvery glow.

Both Ria and I, and Davi and Glaria too, turned our heads toward where Anna of this world was.

There, stood a saintess glowing with silver saint power.

A paladin with red hair raised her sword high towards the sky, looking up at the heavens. Dressed in the same kind of attire as Ria, she bore a striking resemblance to her but looked somewhat different in some ways, and blood was trickling from her hands as if she had just been wounded.

None of us could say a word.

Was this how those who looked upon me using saint power felt? The power that washes the evil tainting the world as if it had never existed from the very beginning.

…That power surely comes with a cost.

The last bit of saint power sustaining Anna’s body. The power that somehow kept a person who should have died alive in this world.

Mari had decided to use that power.

I saw Ria grab the sword.

And then she wrapped her arm around my waist.

“Ria!?”

“I… thought about it,” Ria said.

“I’ve never directly met a god. I’ve only heard a few words. So I can’t really call myself a saintess either… Still, I haven’t lost you yet, nor have you ever been in such a state. So I’ve never lived even a few years without someone to talk to.”

Ria locked eyes with me.

“So, I can’t fully understand either your thoughts or those of that guy’s thoughts. But to me, ultimately, being alive is the best… Right. My power was lacking. I know that. I just had to watch you try to sacrifice yourself.”

Ria gritted her teeth.

I couldn’t say anything then.

“But still, it feels bad. I hate losing someone. Especially if that someone is you.”

“…”

“So let’s do what we can do.”

Ria said as she ran.

*

My head spun as I fell back, and the sky was clear.

Now, it’s almost like the sun doesn’t rise, an intensely blue sky.

It seemed like it wasn’t summer, judging by how the sky, clear without a single cloud, also didn’t feel hot, Mari thought.

She slowly reached out her bloodied hand. After a long time, she lay side by side and held Anna’s hand.

That hand was still warm.

Maybe that warmth won’t last long? It surely wouldn’t.

Mari was scared to look to her side. Afraid that the breaths that had just been laboring would stop.

“…”

But I couldn’t help but look away.

If it’s the final moment, wouldn’t she open her eyes and look this way? Wouldn’t it be possible to exchange even a word?

That hope was there.

What entered Mari’s eyes as she looked back was the girl she had gazed upon for years.

Blood was seeping out from her throat.

The miracle was about to end.

She still couldn’t open her eyes or show a bright smile.

Ah, I see.

That was just pausing a moment of regret. That pause had just now lowered its curtain.

My vision blurred. Was it because I was sad, or had that miracle also begun affecting Mari, and now, with that end, she too couldn’t help but collapse?

It could be that I felt that way due to the lack of strength in my body. After all, the water of the divine in the past few years was influenced by that miracle.

I had eaten food that was high in calories but low in nutrients, but was that due to that influence?

…In the end, she had said she wanted to protect. Anna.

“Were you really protecting…?”

I heard a voice calling Mari’s name. Siyoon and Yuri were running towards Mari.

And behind them, the sounds of footsteps could be heard too.

…

It’s a shame.

That was all the sentiment I had left.

If only I could have seen her smile one last time—

*

I knelt beside Mari and Anna immediately.

Anna was pale, bleeding from her neck, while Mari lay there with a strangely satisfied smile.

No, I thought it was only Anna who was like this, but why is Mari also on the verge of death!?

…

Ah. My hand was also dripping with blood like it was mine.

A miraculous sight that looked like a normal person’s body. Even though I’m not someone directly sent by that higher existence.

Well, my condition couldn’t be that great either.

I closed my eyes and opened them again.

Right.

Let me do what I originally did.

I won’t give up on the person who collapsed before me.

I’ll do what I can do.

That is my belief.

“…”

Ria knelt beside me, placing her hand over mine.

Just that made my swirling head settle a little.

I don’t know what principle that was, but it would help now.

I placed my hand on Anna’s body, pouring all my strength into her.