Chapter 521

Staring blankly at Elpinel and the angels shimmering through my blurred vision, I wondered for a moment if I had died and been dragged into Elpinel’s heaven.

As my heavy eyelids blinked and focus returned, I realized the goddess before me was just a painting on the ceiling.

A familiar ceiling.

I was lying on a bed in St. Eluniel Cathedral.

“I thought I was dead….”

Like when I fought the beastmen who attacked the imperial capital… no, even worse, I had no strength left in my body. Right now, even a child could probably kill me.

[You wake up after a month of being dead, and that’s all you have to say?]

Hersela asked incredulously. Had it really been a month since I collapsed?

A month…

I guess I really almost died.

Well, I did sense it the moment I swung my sword. It felt like everything that made me was burning away as I unleashed power far beyond my limits.

When the blade that split the heavens pointed to the ground, my consciousness had already faded. When I woke up, I was lying here.

Since I’m still alive, I guess I managed to take down that demon with that strike.

Heaven-Splitting Slash.

How was that even possible? Even now, thinking back, it was an absurd sword strike. It was comparable to the strike of the Holy Sword in my memories. I couldn’t even begin to replicate it now.

‘You were awake, huh?’

[I woke up half a month ago. Lying here for half a month without being able to move a finger was no small ordeal.]

So, she regained consciousness but couldn’t move her body? Well, even now, it’s hard for me to turn my head, so it must have been worse half a month ago.

‘…What happened to the others?’

Cautiously, I voiced the question that came to mind as soon as I realized I was alive. My lips trembled slightly with anxiety.

I didn’t want to think they were dead… but the last time I saw them, they were all severely injured, to the point where they would have died from blood loss and shock in the normal world.

[Don’t worry. They’re all alive and well. The paladin was taken to their cathedral, and your subordinates are guarding outside the door. They’ll come in if you call.]

‘Good. They’re all alive….’

[Worry about yourself. Do you even realize? You really could have died.]

…Yeah, I guess so.

But, I protected them all.

‘…That’s a relief.’

I let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

—-

[By the way, that last technique… no, that slash that was closer to a miracle, what was it?]

Well, what was it?

‘Heaven-Splitting Slash? I don’t know either. It was a power I unleashed unconsciously. I think I combined a space-cutting technique with Reversed Heaven….’

The sensation I felt back then was still hazy, like trying to see through fog.

Maybe I’ll get a feel for it again if I swing my sword, but at least while lying here like this, it’s a distant dream.

Well… even if I do get the hang of it, I doubt I could achieve the same widespread destruction as before. Not unless I get stronger.

If used normally, the limit would probably be cutting through a few dozen meters, right?

Even that would be an absurd technique.

[Heaven-Splitting Slash, huh… If it’s a technique your Heroic Tale requires, then it’s beyond me. I thought if I could master it, I could cut down even Or-han in one strike.]

Even after witnessing the overwhelming sight of the heavens being split, her first thought was to use it to commit patricide.

Truly, it’s such a her-like thought that I could only laugh dryly without responding.

—-

After that, I had various conversations with Hersela. Stories we had left untold… like what happened when we fought Cardinal Rübitz and the events in Arad.

‘So, why did you hide the fact that you could move my body at will? And how is that even possible?’

[It’s my body, you thief.]

‘…Anyway.’

Hersela fell silent for a while, as if choosing her words, then began a lengthy explanation.

[I only realized it recently. Didn’t you find it strange? The Power of Feats you’ve accumulated can only be wielded by you, but the Life Force Technique can be shared between us.]

It was indeed strange. I could use her power, albeit not perfectly, but Hersela seemed completely unable to use the Power of Feats I had gained.

[I pondered the reason endlessly and finally came to an answer after several experiments. Feats accumulate in the body and soul. So, isn’t a person’s soul also bound by feats?]

Is that so…? I’d never thought of it that way.

‘So?’

[By connecting our souls, the force binding this body was none other than the Life Force Technique. The power of the Life Force Technique I’ve accumulated was sustaining the connection between my soul and body.]

So, thanks to the Life Force Technique, she was able to hold on without flying off to the afterlife. Does that mean if all the Life Force Technique is used up, Hersela will achieve enlightenment…?

No, maybe she’ll just fall into a long sleep like last time.

[Because we share a body, that connection extended to you as well. That’s why we can share each other’s Life Force Technique, and why the control of the body returned to me when I received all of it.]

‘…I see. I understand up to that point.’

So… Hersela is like a spirit of the Life Force Technique now.

If I hand over all the Life Force Technique, she’ll take control of the body, and if I use it all up, she’ll either sleep or disappear.

‘So, why didn’t you tell me about this?’

Did she think that if I knew, I’d make her sleep forever or destroy her?

…Maybe in the past, but not now.

[Well… that’s…]

Hersela hesitated uncharacteristically, then answered in a quiet, reluctant voice.

[If you knew I could regain control of the body, wouldn’t you start being wary of me like before?]

“What…?”

The reason was so absurd that I couldn’t help but let out a voice.

Hiding it because she didn’t want to be hated? That’s so unlike her.

She’s not some high school girl confessing her promiscuous past, and she really hid it for that reason…?

[That is, well… if my War Chief were to be wary of me and keep me at a distance, wouldn’t that be unpleasant for a lord? That’s why. I was planning to keep it hidden until the war with Ai-shan.]

…Well, I wasn’t planning to be wary of her.

Maybe because we’ve shared a body for over half a year, but I’ve long since developed a certain trust or affection for her.

Even if Hersela temporarily took control of my body, I don’t think she’d go on a rampage or commit unforgivable atrocities now.

Frankly, I’m starting to doubt if this woman is even the same Hersela of madness from the game.

There’s too big a gap between the boastful woman who called herself the Heavenly Demon and the slaughterer who killed tens, hundreds of thousands.

—-

The reason she hid the World of Mortality was even more ridiculous.

She wanted to unveil it in front of her enemies first, since it was a technique created to kill them. I couldn’t understand that sentiment.

Anyway, after Hersela’s absurd explanations, the interrogation turned to me.

Hersela persistently asked what had happened while she was asleep, and I told her about the events in Arad.

Like how the Holy Mark descended, or my relationship with Seilon. Things like that.

[Are you insane?]

After listening silently, Hersela exploded in anger and launched into a lecture on chastity. Even if it was a disguise, there are things you can and can’t do.

A chastity lecture from a woman with the infamous reputation of being a prostitute of Ka`har. It was ironic in many ways.

—-

Right after waking up, I couldn’t feel my body, but Rana was clinging to me, asleep. She was holding my left hand, which had lost its frost, and using my chest as a pillow, half lying on me.

She must have been exhausted from nursing me and fell asleep.

…Should I wake her?

Seeing her sleeping so soundly made me hesitate, but lying here motionless was also incredibly uncomfortable.

“Sister… you’re bad… I should tie you up….”

I should wake her.

What kind of dream is she having? Did Menes’ pranks transfer to Rana?

“Rana…? Hey, Rana, can you wake up?”

“Mmm… Sister…?”

Rana, groggily lifting her eyelids, stared blankly at me for a moment, then jolted up in shock.

“Sister…?!”

“Yeah, I’m awake. Have you been well…?”

I smiled awkwardly. I didn’t know what to say. I had promised not to get hurt, yet here I was, lying in a near-death state for a month.

“Uuu.”

Instead of answering, Rana groaned as she touched my face with both hands. Tears welled up in her half-closed eyes and streamed down.

“Sniff, sniff, snif… Waaah!”

“There, there. Don’t cry. It’s all good now. I won, didn’t I?”

Rana hugged me tightly and started crying. My chest was soaked in an instant. I wanted to pat her back, but my arms wouldn’t move, so I could only comfort her with words.

“Sniff…! Liar! You said you wouldn’t get hurt…!”

“Uh… well… but I’m fine now, right?”

It must have been the wrong answer because Rana’s grip tightened even more.

I felt a fierce muscle ache coming on and had to endure Rana’s embrace until Nigel and Leonor, hearing the commotion, rushed into the room.