episode_0013

— “I can finally talk to you.”

A voice that is clear and so vivid in my head.

The moment he listened to that voice, Lloyd’s vision shook.

— Kwung!

Lloyd fell over in his seat.

The sensation at the tips of my fingers is infinitely cold and damp.

The wooden furniture and neatly organized room were gone, and a cold, hard stone floor greeted him instead.

“Where is this?”

Lloyd looked around twice.

The light was dim and my vision was blurry.

Fuck.

I must have gotten into some trouble.

‘Did you get caught in a trap spell?’

The setting changed from a private room in the mansion to a dark cave. Lloyd considered the possible scenarios. And soon came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter what it was.

If it could change the surroundings without any sound like this, it meant that it was a more powerful and high-level magic than any magic Lloyd had ever experienced.

— Jeokbuk

He took a step forward. There was no need to be cautious. He was already involved in something. In such cases, confidence often helped. He dealt with the situation as it arose. Lloyd took a step forward without hesitation.

— Iron Puck

The further he walked, the more humid the surroundings became. Was there a river flowing inside the cave? He could hear the sound of water trickling. Using that as a guide, Lloyd moved.

While walking like that.

Burseok.

Something rustles underfoot.

Lloyd lowered his head.

“Bone?”

Two large holes in the bone.

It’s a skull.

Lloyd looked ahead, using his feet as a reference point.

Bones were piled up endlessly. Thousands, no, tens of thousands, they looked ridiculous.

and.

“……”

Lloyd slowly closed and opened his eyes.

There was a huge, yet familiar bug lying on the ground.

It was a loneliness that he had to swallow.

It was curled up in a huge, dried-out state, as if it were its original size.

…as if he had died writhing in fear.

I feel uneasy. Everything about this space, from the absurd size of loneliness to the strangeness of it all, feels alien. And yet familiar. Why on earth?

“Are you here?”

An eerily familiar voice is heard.

Not in your head, but behind your back.

That fact alone makes my hair stand on end.

Swallowing dry saliva, Lloyd slowly turned his head.

A chair comes into view.

Bright red blood filled the floor.

It’s a chair placed on an island that’s so flat that it’s filled with bones.

There was a man sitting there.

Faded golden hair.

Fiery red eyes.

A posture of half-leaning on the armrest as if annoyed, with legs roughly crossed.

An absolute being that lacks dignity at first glance, and is therefore all the more suffocating.

Eyes that seemed to look down on everything in the world swept over Lloyd.

“Hmm. It’s different from what I imagined. I thought you’d be a bit thinner.”

The man raises the corners of his mouth.

The boldness as if a painter had painted with a brush. But at the same time, the madness felt in the sparkling eyes. And the boredom felt in the carelessly placed fingertips, as if everything was endlessly boring.

Lloyd barely managed to move his stiff vocal cords to make a sound.

“… You?”

“Wow. Can you feel the dignity of the main deity? Clearly, all the signs have been suppressed.”

Only then did Lloyd notice the man’s strangeness.

His instincts were clearly warning him that he was strong.

But I couldn’t feel anything.

It is the unfiltered mana that a magician or knight should feel.

The man didn’t have that.

Nothing creepy at all.

“Even humans have different bodies. They are not lacking in the status of the main deity.”

“… What the heck?”

“Your body. It’s a vessel that can hold anything. It won’t break. It’s pretty usable for a mere human.”

The man laughed greedily.

Every time, the surrounding colors seemed to turn red. The air itself seemed to have a will and swayed along with him.

“Please reveal your identity.”

“Is it stagnant? ”

Tok, tok, tokdok.

The man, who had been tapping the armrest with his fingers a few times, opened his mouth.

“Ortega. That was the name of the main deity during the human era. You must have heard it. If you studied history diligently.”

I’ve heard of it.

The Britannian Empire, which rules over more than half of the continent.

If you look down the long, thousand-year-old imperial succession, there is one space left blank.

The only emperor in the empire to have been dethroned.

The only blemish on a thousand years of history.

The tyrant, Ortega.

— Jeokbuk

He stood up from his seat.

Skeletons crumble beneath my feet.

The fact that the emperor, who held absolute power in the empire, was usurped of the throne means that something significant has happened.

[ Rochester Incident ]

The great massacre committed by the Emperor Ortega in the capital of the empire.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians died in the massacre.

Ortega, the emperor, with only his hands.

He spreads out his hands.

“Ah. If history is different from the facts, the throne has never been usurped.”

The crown is summoned into Ortega’s hand. He throws it behind his back.

“It just didn’t feel worth ruling over humans anymore.”

— Jeokbuk

Before he knew it, he was standing right next to Lloyd.

Movements that are impossible to follow with human perception.

He opens his mouth.

“Little guy. I guess your situation and mine are similar.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’m asking if someone else’s body is of any use.”

The man nodded roughly.

Just that, the air became incredibly heavy. It wasn’t magic. It was just as if it were a natural phenomenon. My lungs felt stuffy, like I was breathing underwater.

“Don’t turn away. The main deity sees everything. It must have been about a year. I thought the main deity was taking over this body, but a stone rolled in.”

A chill ran down my spine.

This guy knows that he himself is not ‘Lloyd’. Are there two souls intertwined in one body? The voice that was heard occasionally was Ortega’s whisper.

Lloyd met the man’s eyes.

His eyes, which had become languid, were surging with anger. The kind of anger that made him want to crush the person who had taken what was his right now.

Lloyd clenched his fist.

It was a sense of caution.

Ortega.

To Lloyd, he was no longer human. He was something far beyond human standards. The worst thing was that he didn’t seem to have any feelings of restraint or self-control.

If you don’t like him, you die.

Such fear instinctively arose.

“Oh, don’t be so nervous.”

Ortega’s eyes soften. Then he raises both hands exaggeratedly.

“The main deity wants to ask for your cooperation.”

cooperation?

Lloyd kept his poker face straight, but he thought about it. Ortega. This guy has a personality that looks down on others. He wants to ask for my cooperation?

‘You can’t kill me.’

There was a reason why he couldn’t kill Lloyd himself. If possible, he wanted to figure out why, but for now, just knowing that much was enough.

“There is nothing much that the main deity asks of you. Just give up control of your body once in a while.”

“… Control?”

“Yeah. I’ll admit this one thing. Your mental strength is really unbelievable. Sometimes, when your mind wavers, you can’t control it. ”

Suddenly one thing comes to mind.

It was clearly when Ortega’s voice was heard that he was suffering from the applause.

“How about it? Why not join hands with the main deity?”

He held out his hand with a smiling face.

It was a smile that made you believe it right away.

“Then I will destroy the world instead.”

Lloyd didn’t move.

His words and actions were clearly suspicious.

I am not the type of person to make demands like this.

So instead of holding hands, I decided to dig up information.

“You.”

Lloyd took a deep breath and continued.

“Are you saying you’re that strong? For example, stronger than the Demon King?”

Shrug. Ortega shrugs.

“Demon King? Are you talking about the leader of the demon world?”

“Yes.”

“The Demon World is just a part of chaos. The true being came from chaos, so he is not comparable to the king of the Demon World. Look.”

suddenly.

Ortega’s hand popped out in front of Lloyd’s arm.

It wasn’t magic.

It’s just a strange, natural movement that seems to distort space.

“How about it? Won’t you hold my hand?”

Another outstretched hand.

Lloyd swallowed hard.

And then he looked straight into Ortega’s red eyes.

“I don’t like it.”

“… What?”

“I refuse.”

At the same time, I distanced myself from him.

I’m not trying to run away.

But it felt certain.

Ortega has an ulterior motive.

It was clear that if I took that hand, I would be giving up some control of my body.

It would be a ‘contractual’ action, close to a kind of sorcery.

“Do you think you can escape from the main deity?”

“No. Just.”

“Just?”

“This is my imagination. To be exact, it’s Lloyd’s imagination.”

… oh my.

Ortega’s steps following Lloyd stopped.

“For a human, your head is spinning.”

“Your power is limited to this place. You have never taken any action other than whispering in my head.”

“Ha.”

“I have no intention of giving my body to you.”

“Don’t you want revenge?”

“That’s my problem to take care of.”

Ortega’s smile crumples.

The evil aura that ripples behind it.

That was his essence.

“Kuuu… Okay. Okay.”

Ortega raises both hands.

Lloyd immediately took up his position.

Whatever it is, fight it.

I just tried to circulate mana once, and the mana circuit here was fine.

But Ortega simply clapped his hands together calmly.

— Clap, clap, clap, clap.

The sound of applause fills the empty cave.

He chuckles.

“Yes. It would be of no use to me to cause physical harm to you. Instead, your mental shock would be beneficial to me. Since you seem to have already noticed, I will give you this as a gift.”

“… Stop.”

“Why are you like that? Where did that smart, smart girl go? Why are you shaking so much?”

“… … Stop it.”

— Clap, clap, clap, clap.

The sound of ceaseless applause echoes.

Lloyd’s reason breaks down.

— Crunch.

The applause stops with a sharp scraping sound.

Ortega lowered his head as if in amazement.

Black blood was dripping from the severed hand.

“…Huh?”

He examines his severed arm as if it were a wonder.

“Pheuheuph. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this kind of cutting sensation.”

The corners of his lips slowly rising.

Soon his laughter fills the cave.

“Khahahahahahahahaha… ha… hot!”

Dduk.

Suddenly, there was complete silence.

Lloyd reflexively took a step back.

“Dare.”

Ortega’s voice gets stuck in my head.

At the same time, everything freezes.

Is time stopped?

Lloyd stared blankly at the blood floating in the air, unable to move his eyes.

— Thud, thud.

Only the sole ruler of this space steps forward.

Lloyd could only listen to the sound of footsteps growing louder.

It was my first time experiencing magic.

Even the Demon King couldn’t use something like this.

“Die.”

spurt.

Numerous blood vessels were drawn diagonally across the field of vision.