Ch.139139. Chaos of Confusion

When Celia and Alkine each took two people with them, the person standing before me was a man with a monk-like aura.

Of course, he was someone I knew well.

The Agent of Will. Lugra.

Among the heretics, he was a relatively significant figure, and probably the most decent one among those gathered here.

The reason he became a heretic in the first place was because he believed praying to God was an impious act that denied fate… compared to the others, he was extremely wholesome.

He just didn’t pray himself and didn’t force it on others, so he didn’t cause any harm.

The worst thing he’d done was destroying everything when he first left the church… but even though he didn’t pray, they had severely bullied him, which was a fact.

It wasn’t right, but it was understandable to some extent. In the end, he hadn’t hurt anyone either.

The reason I was dealing with him was because I knew these facts. I didn’t want to pair him with Celia or Alkine because they might not even leave bones to pick up, so I decided to handle him myself.

And… above all, I was curious about why on earth he was here doing this.

Enera seemed firmly convinced that Lugra was under her brainwashing, but that was probably a misunderstanding.

Given his ability, he was immune to mental abnormalities. There’s no way he could be brainwashed.

From my perspective, I couldn’t help but wonder, “Why are you even here? Someone who doesn’t even fit in with these people…”

“Because this too is fate.”

When I asked him directly… that was the only answer I got.

Fate, huh… Enera must have persuaded him well without any brainwashing.

“Let me ask you something first. Did you also agree with that plan to sell out the Holy Maiden to the Demon King to restore peace?”

“I merely follow fate. I have no interest in such rituals.”

Then why are you even here?

As expected of a heretic. He might not be a bad person, but he’s so frustrating to talk to.

Thinking about it would only give me a headache, so I decided to move on. Lugra, who had been looking back and forth between me and Lilith standing behind me, asked:

“Since you seem to be in a position to protect the Holy Maiden, may I humbly request a match?”

“Go ahead.”

“It’s an honor. However, if I find you subpar, I will be disappointed.”

Who does he think he is to decide whether to be disappointed or not?

Of course, Lugra was considered a strong individual. Within this group, he was at a level where he had no match, even including Fanatic.

But that was just within this group.

From a gamer’s perspective, his attacks could obviously be avoided by dodging, and almost all his patterns could even be parried—he was a pushover.

And not just any pushover. Since each of his motions was so heavy, he was an easy-difficulty genuine pushover.

In the actual game, he was so easy that I naturally expected there to be a second phase, but I remember being dumbfounded when he just collapsed without one.

Still, his narrative was quite impressive, and in certain routes, he had a significant role later on, so some people liked him. Among the heretics, he wasn’t particularly bad either.

Me? Well… I wasn’t the type to have affection for male characters.

CLANG-

I deflected Lugra’s swinging fist with a shield I pulled from my inventory.

As the parry succeeded, Lugra’s body stiffened due to the enhanced effect, but I didn’t do anything more and just left him be.

Soon able to move again, Lugra checked his body condition in confusion for a moment, then slowly began to reveal his true abilities.

[Willpower]

[A strong mind shall no longer remain only within.]

The ability that earned him the title “Agent of Will.”

Basically, it made him immune to mental abnormalities… and at the same time, allowed him to use his will as energy like mana, but in truth, it wasn’t that overpowered.

Immunity to mental abnormalities was good, but there weren’t many techniques related to that in this world, so its utility was limited, and using will as energy… was just inefficient.

RUMBLE-

Someone of Lugra’s caliber could gather enough energy to make the ground shake, but ordinary people would only be able to fire a few small shots at most.

So… rather than saying his ability was overpowered, it would be more accurate to say the person was extraordinary.

If he had a better ability with that willpower, he would have been even stronger. What a shame.

Even if I told him that, he’d probably just say something like, “That too is my fate.”

As my thoughts lingered, time passed, and Lugra, who had been quietly gathering energy, began to move.

His fist, feeling much heavier and larger than before, rushed toward me… and I parried it again.

CLANG-

Just like before, Lugra’s body stiffened and then loosened.

CLANG-

CLANG-

CLANG-

Lugra’s body continued to stiffen and loosen as he kept charging at me… and as this repeated several times, I could feel the weight of Lugra’s punches gradually becoming lighter.

Even the Agent of Will seems to lose heart when all his full-power attacks are effortlessly blocked.

Thinking that, this time I dodged Lugra’s incoming attack instead of parrying it.

It was an unparriable pattern, so I jumped back to avoid it, but seeing me do that, Lugra let out an admiration.

“You are strong and fast. But… just dodging won’t protect the Holy Maiden.”

But admiration aside, he didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping his attacks.

I would have preferred to just observe, but the target of his attack was me, and judging by his momentum, he didn’t seem like he would stop… so I thought I should force him to stop.

‘I guess landing one light hit should be fine?’

If I just keep dodging, he’ll probably stick to me until the end.

Putting my judgment into action wasn’t difficult.

I parried the next incoming attack to stop Lugra’s movement, then pulled out a sword from my inventory.

Seeing the weapon I finally drew, Lugra visibly changed his will into a defensive form, but it was a meaningless act.

“…?!”

My attack essentially ignored defense.

The sword I swung barely grazed the barrier of will that Lugra had deployed, but that alone was enough to distort his expression.

It probably didn’t hurt, but he must have felt his life force being chipped away.

Now that I’ve given him a shock, he won’t charge recklessly like before.

With that thought, I looked at Lugra…

“Ah, Chaos, how dare you intervene in such a trivial fate…”

Suddenly, he knelt down and started saying strange things.

Chaos? The only chaos I know is Chaos the chaos.

Whatever it was, it was certainly something that confused me.

“What’s with you suddenly? Why are you acting like this?”

“If even this is fate, then what is the meaning of my will’s existence…”

I asked out of disbelief, but Lugra, whose condition had already deteriorated as much as possible, just kept muttering such things.

Having no choice but to leave the mentally broken Lugra alone, I decided to set the stage for the next act.

I approached Enera, who was standing in the corner with a blank expression.

Celia and Alkine, who had already dealt with the rest of them long ago, and Lilith, who had just been watching from behind me, followed.

As a result, we ended up surrounding Enera in the corner… which felt like a bullying formation, making me uncomfortable.

It felt even more so because Enera, left alone, was trembling in fear.

But what could I do? With all five heretics she had boasted about now incapacitated, there was nothing she could do.

At best, she might try brainwashing, but that would be useless as long as Lilith was here.

So, at this moment, Enera must have realized:

‘It’s over.’

That she had failed.

She might not want to admit it, but she had no choice.

If either Celia or Alkine made even the slightest move, she would be finished.

In the face of overwhelming force, madness, whether fake or real, has no choice but to subside.

And… I decided to add a spoonful of hope for Enera.

“Now, Lilith, it’s your turn.”

“…Do I really have to?”

“Hey now. Breaking promises makes you a bad person.”

“What am I, a child… Sigh, fine. I’ll do it.”

When Lilith started self-deprecating with that dawn-like sentiment.

-“When we capture Fanatic’s comrades this time, you’ll take one of them.”

-“If you can’t do it, we’ll talk about it again then. Okay?”

I had said this to Lilith.

To be honest, it was something I had casually thrown out to stop Lilith’s self-deprecation.

If the balance seemed off when we actually met Fanatic’s comrades, I was planning to quietly pretend it never happened.

But… the moment Enera popped up at Belmont’s restaurant, my thoughts completely changed.

‘I should have Lilith face her.’

I decided to be a man of my word by having Lilith capture one of Fanatic’s comrades.

To Enera, Lilith was beyond a perfect counter.

First of all, obviously, brainwashing doesn’t work on her. Even if there were beings who followed Enera due to brainwashing, Lilith could simply undo it.

That left only direct confrontation… but Enera’s mana, altered by the influence of brainwashing, would be completely purified by Lilith’s divine power.

Moreover, Enera was someone who valued God’s will.

How could she dare harm the Holy Maiden chosen by God?

Therefore, to Lilith, Enera was like a punching bag she could beat one-sidedly.

It’s no wonder she only appeared when Lilith wasn’t around in the original work.

This worked out well. I needed an opportunity to test Lilith’s newly acquired abilities.

Building her confidence and understanding her abilities. It was killing two birds with one stone.

Oh, of course! This is also an extremely generous service for Enera.

Instead of being beaten to a pulp by Celia and Alkine, her ending has changed to being “purified” by the person chosen by the God she so adores.

Wow. Beyond killing two birds with one stone, this is beneficial for everyone involved.

This is the perfect world where no one gets hurt, isn’t it?

“Why are you doing this to me?!”

…Or maybe not.