Chap 13-The Way the Seal Has Been Maintained

 

Calamity-Class Monster.

A monster that would barely be manageable with two level 9 individuals working together.

The Evil God’s strongest card.

And they had summoned such a being into the heart of human territory.

‘Did I push too hard?’

It must be that they couldn’t just sit back and watch me grow beyond maintaining the seal.

Even so, this was too much.

The Evil God would lose a significant amount of power because of this, and they wouldn’t gain anything.

I was a little scared, though.

Still, if this level of achievement could be made with someone like me as bait…

— Kwarururururu…!

The air twisted, the earth cracked, and the sky was dyed a deep darkness.

And as if signaling its arrival, the trees turned black and distorted their shapes.

My body was at its limit.

My limbs were trembling, my whole body was soaked in sweat, and I felt like I would lose my balance with every step I took.

I had to negotiate with that thing.

At least to ensure the safety of the villagers and Bella.

“…Senior.”

Bella’s breathing was ragged.

She looked like she was about to collapse as well.

“Just… one favor…”

I slowly turned my back to her.

“Regeneration magic circle… on my back… Mana…”

Bella let out a hollow laugh.

“You’re not thinking of fighting that monster, are you?”

Terror.

She was trying her best to appear calm, but her hands were trembling slightly.

I slowly took her hand.

“It’s okay…”

Bella flinched.

I held her ice-cold hand and whispered softly.

“There’s a way…”

Bella looked at me with wavering eyes.

Holding her hand tightly, I gave her a strained smile.

“So… please…”

Bella gritted her teeth.

Even as she grumbled, she reached out with a trembling hand and touched my back.

At that moment, the warm Mana that Bella had squeezed out with all her might flowed into the magic circle.

— Srrrreuk.

Torn skin healed, and broken nerves and blood vessels returned to normal.

Still, Mana was lacking.

I was barely able to stand on my own, but my legs were still shaking.

But there was no time to delay.

The black form began to writhe.

I immediately took out my dagger and pressed its sharp tip against my neck.

“…!”

Bella gasped and tried to grab my hand, but I shook my head firmly.

— Sssseuuu…

It began to take shape.

Shoulders, arms, legs, waist, hair…

Before me stood a being that looked exactly like me.

The being tilted its head slightly, gave me a captivating smile, and looked down at me.

“I’ve really… really wanted to meet you.”

Envy of Envia.

A monster that constantly envies other creatures because it doesn’t have a proper form and lives by taking their appearances.

“Ah, such a cute body… This form isn’t bad either.”

She slowly ran her fingertips over her face, or rather, Yeon Bennet’s face.

And with a flowing, graceful movement, she took a step towards me.

I immediately pressed the blade deeper into my neck.

“If you come any closer…”

I said coldly.

“You’ll have to find the seal again from the beginning.”

With the knife to my throat, I briefly had a crazy thought, but I stopped myself.

I didn’t have enough Mana to regenerate, nor did I have any spare lives left.

‘Now is not the time to be swayed by simple temptations.’

I steadied myself, moving the dagger just a little away from my neck.

“Hehe, our false god is so kind.”

A sweet, languid voice echoed as if whispering in my ear.

The corners of her lips slowly turned up.

“I was quite surprised earlier. I thought you would run away, of course. But instead, you drew us in. Could it be because of the people?”

She took another step closer.

I put the dagger back to my neck.

“Really… foolish and disgusting.”

At that moment,

Kwaaaang—!!!

An explosive energy shook everything around us.

Lightning split the sky.

The earth was overturned, and flames engulfed the land.

“That power is not something a pathetic bitch like you should have!!!”

“……!”

“I’ll give you a choice.”

Envia flicked her fingertips and said.

“If you make a wise choice, there will be no unnecessary sacrifices. I’ll spare that pitiful knight and those insect-like humans.”

Before she could finish speaking, she slowly raised her hand and began to gather power.

“If you don’t like that…”

Envia continued, mocking me with Yeon’s face.

“I’ll make you live as a test subject, neither dead nor alive. It would be fun to watch the humans you tried to protect get torn apart one by one before your eyes.”

I tightened my grip on the dagger.

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

“Test subject?”

“Yes. I think there will be interesting data if I dissect you alive.”

Damn it.

“Everyone is curious about how a weakling like you can contain that great power and still be intact. Of course, I won’t kill you. I want to keep you alive as long as possible and experiment on you.”

She smiled nonchalantly.

‘Alive… for a long, long time… experiment…’

I lowered my eyes.

The inside of my body slowly heated up.

My heart was beating fast, and strange images were popping up in my head.

Cold tools. Skin being cut open, organs scattered everywhere, and the emotionless voices of the monsters above them.

In my imagination, I was lying on a laboratory table, gasping for breath with a blood-soaked body, waiting for the touch of the monsters.

‘Heeuk! Haaht!’

I bit my lip to come to my senses.

Gripping the dagger even tighter, I glared at Envia.

‘That was close…’

As expected of a Calamity-Class Monster who had corrupted countless humans, she was quite skilled at seducing people.

If she hadn’t threatened to harm the people behind me, I might have fallen for it.

“So, what are you going to do now?”

I took a short breath.

The ending that was decided from the beginning had just come a little sooner.

“Okay. I’ll go with you. But promise me you’ll never touch the people around here. If you do anything even slightly suspicious, I’ll kill myself immediately.”

She slowly nodded and smiled.

‘This is enough.’

I had been deceiving myself that I was okay because of the ‘Masochist’ trait, but now…

I wanted to rest a little.

I took a step, still holding the knife to my neck.

— Thuk.

One step.

— Thuk.

Two steps.

I moved forward slowly, like a condemned prisoner walking towards death.

“No.”

A faint force grabbing my arm.

“Don’t go.”

I slowly turned my head.

Bella was clutching at my sleeve.

Her hand was trembling, and her eyes were filled with fear and confusion.

I looked at her and opened my mouth in as bright a voice as possible.

“It’s okay, Senior.”

I smiled lightly.

And quietly, I moved my lips.

‘Oath.’

Instantly, Bella’s expression hardened.

She released my arm powerlessly and looked at me with a shocked face.

‘She understood, right?’

If that monster took me away from here and the people were safe, I could screw them over with the oath I made with Bella.

By then, I would have already arrived in the monsters’ territory, so there would be no one to vent their anger on.

A soulless doll programmed to gather faith in evil.

That was the true identity of Yeon Bennet.

What would happen if a street child with no backing was even ill-tempered?

It was obvious that they wouldn’t live long and would die.

To prevent being targeted by monsters, I had to maintain the seal by receiving hatred and malice from people and die at the appropriate time.

This sacred object called Aether would create another seal and reside there again.

That was how the seal had been maintained.

If I fell completely into their hands, all of humanity would be in danger.

It was better to create a new seal and maintain the status quo.

It would be difficult for the seal to grow and devour the Evil God’s power, like I had done…

I was a little sorry to my kind senior, but I had to die.

I gave her one last look and turned back forward.

Envia smiled at me with a relaxed expression.

“Good. If you come with me willingly, I’ll spare everyone.”

I walked on quietly without answering.

“But something’s a little strange, isn’t it?”

“…What?”

“It seems like you’re giving up too easily.”

Kwajik!

“No matter how I think about it, it seems better to get rid of that knight.”

In an instant, Envia’s hand cut through the air, and black lightning burst out.

“Senior—!”

I shouted instinctively.

But Bella was frozen in place and couldn’t react.

‘No!!! Too fast!!!’

Did I have to give up on her?

Should I just die right now…?

But then what about the others…

…

…

…

…What?

The ground, the sky, the air

The world.

Stopped.

As if gripped by a giant hand, everything was frozen in place.

And the destroyed earth and the trees engulfed in flames began to move in reverse.

The collapsed rocks returned to their original positions, and the burning forest was quickly restored.

“This is!?!!!”

The relaxed expression disappeared from Envia’s face.

She turned her head and looked behind her.

And there…

One of the three Transcendents remaining in Terra.

Dorothy Lightshield.

Guardian Witch.

She ignored Envia and glared at me with a stern expression, her white robe fluttering.

“Long time no see, my troublemaking disciple.”

‘Ah… she’s angry…’

I gave her an awkward smile, hoping she would calm down.

‘Thank goodness.’

I was already so exhausted that I couldn’t even lift a finger, and as the tension was released, I felt like I was about to collapse.

“I’ll talk to you later.”

She immediately turned her gaze to Envia, who was trembling with fear.

“What a catch. You were hiding in that coward’s arms, not even thinking of coming out. What wind blew you all the way here…?”

“Crazy bitch… you… you broke your Geass and came all the way here for such a weakling?”

She stuttered, still not recovered from the shock.

“That’s none of your business.”

As Dorothy raised one hand, the air began to change.

—Kwajik!

“And… that child… is stronger than you can even compare to.”

In an instant, there was a sound like something breaking, and Envia’s energy collapsed.

“…!”

Envia’s eyes wavered.

She immediately took a step back, trying to create distance.

But…

“You shouldn’t even think about running away.”

The Witch slowly raised one hand.

And…

— Kugugugugugugugu!!!

It was truly a barbaric magic, no matter how many times I saw it.

No, could you even call that magic?

A rampaging mass of enormous Mana.

An unimaginably huge amount of magic power erupted from her entire body, and as if that wasn’t enough, it began to suck in all the surrounding Mana.

The witch who sealed away offensive magic herself.

The only offensive magic she could use.

Mythic-grade Unique Magic Aegis Witch

-Overflow-

Author’s Note

I was supposed to upload it tomorrow, but somehow I ended up writing it…

Thank you for reading!