Ch.194Collapse – 1

“Ah, you scared me!”

Leona sighed in relief, clutching her startled chest. Latina stood beside her, wearing an immaculately clean nun’s habit while maintaining her characteristic expression.

—Is it okay now?

—Has everything been resolved?

The voices of the Demon God and Goddess came harmoniously from the holy sword. Having sensed the strange atmosphere earlier and stepped back, they seemed quite curious about how things had concluded.

Well, I’d be curious too. Aria, who we thought was dead, appeared in a completely different form, and that form seemed connected to me. Anyone would wonder what was going on.

“Yes. It’s fine now. Everything’s been resolved. Explaining what happened would be a bit complicated though.”

“Incorrect, Savior. It will be very complicated.”

“That’s basically the same thing, isn’t it?”

—They’re definitely different.

—They’re definitely different.

The Demon God and Goddess affirmed with interested tones. Leona was looking at Latina with slightly wary eyes, as if she might have heard something about what had transpired.

That wariness was mixed with lingering attachment and tenderness, which made it clear.

“Mira. What happened to Aria who was inside the… I mean, inside the nun? Is she dead?”

“No. She’s not dead. She said that wasn’t her job to do.”

“That’s right. I persuaded her well.”

Latina made a V-sign with both hands as if saying “ta-da!” The way she kept making casual remarks to me seemed odd. Wasn’t her personality originally more calm and composed?

Perhaps due to what happened in the first world, and everything that occurred after her death, plus all the complications here, her emotions seemed to have become more abundant.

‘Or maybe with Aria… no, let’s not think such horrible thoughts.’

I briefly imagined that her personality might have mixed with Aria’s, but quickly dismissed the thought. I don’t want to entertain such disturbing ideas unnecessarily.

“What were you trying to say earlier? You came rushing in so frantically, it must have been something really important.”

“Huh? Oh, right.”

When I glanced at the holy spear, Leona nodded in agreement. While the Goddess and Demon God were saying something to Leona as they looked at the spear, I called out to Latina who was about to return through the dimensional gate and gave her a subtle hint.

“You can tell them everything over there.”

Her gray eyes looked in the direction I pointed. Beyond the dimensional gate, Priscilla, Rosaria, Laura, Elysier, Nika, and even Chairwoman Erestica were peeking their heads out, looking in our direction.

The Chairwoman and Nika weren’t exactly “peeking” due to their enormous certain body parts—they were quite obviously visible. It’s amazing how their chests could make their heads look so insignificant by comparison.

Elysier and Rosaria weren’t small either, which made it even more apparent.

“To what extent do you mean I can tell them everything?”

“Including who you are.”

“Understood.”

Latina nodded and was about to enter the dimensional gate when she looked back and forth between the Chairwoman and Nika, then stepped back with a groan. She then gave me a look that seemed to ask, “Is this right?”

Well, I understand. Even Nika, who’s a bit shorter than me, has an unimaginably large size, and the Chairwoman stands well over two meters tall, making her presence overwhelming just by standing there.

Especially when she’s standing normally, you have to look up slightly, which makes her seem psychologically even larger.

“Then I’ll see you later, Savior.”

Latina clenched her fist with determination and entered through the dimensional gate. The blue mana that had expanded into a circle narrowed back into a line and disappeared. Leona also opened her eyes, apparently having finished her conversation at just the right time.

“Can I get straight to the point, Mira?”

“Of course. I was just about to head back to the club room because I had something to ask too.”

“Judging by how you fixed time with the holy spear, you probably already guessed that the world is in an extremely unstable state. Time is being severely distorted.”

“I tried to fix it, but couldn’t. Do the Goddess and Demon God know how to solve it?”

“They do know a method… but I’m not sure how you’ll take it…”

Leona trailed off hesitantly. As I was wondering why she was acting that way, a much stiffer and colder voice spoke up.

—I will explain instead, special human.

It was the Demon God.

—The world has entered a highly unstable state. At this rate, time itself will collapse before long. When that happens, even with our power and authority, we can only watch as everything crumbles.

“I had guessed that much. Latina told me. Can’t you fix it before then?”

—It’s possible before the collapse. Once it’s collapsing or after, it would be impossible. If the current world is like paper being torn into pieces, when the collapse progresses further, it would be no different from being burned to ashes and scattered by the wind.

“Is the damage that serious?”

—The act of turning back time, or what humans call regression, already puts tremendous strain on the world. And this has been repeated thousands of times. How could it not be serious? If that were all, the world might have endured somehow, but the recent collision of divine powers was the decisive factor.

The collision of divine powers must refer to when I fought Aria. I tried to prevent any impact, but I couldn’t completely block the shockwaves. Latina said something similar too.

‘By the way…’

I wonder how Latina realized that regression puts strain on time. It’s not like she would have that kind of knowledge.

Did she peek into memories when her soul merged with Aria’s?

“So what should we do?”

—If possible, destroying this world and creating a new one would be best. With your power combined with our authority, it would be quite simple. However, you know what that would mean.

“It’s exactly what Aria was trying to do.”

Aria’s goal was to destroy this “fake” world and create a “real” one. We’ve been fighting to prevent that all this time, and now they’re telling us to do the same thing—it’s completely backward.

—Therefore, another method is…

—To repair time itself.

A voice completely different from the Demon God’s stiff and cold one suddenly interrupted. The Demon God grumbled with displeasure.

—Why do you keep interrupting?

—I interrupted because it’s frustrating to hear you rambling while time is breaking apart even at this moment. Special human, to prevent the collapse, time itself must be repaired.

—I was just about to say that, you wretched sibling! For a god, why do you have so little patience?

The Goddess ignored the growling Demon God and continued.

—With your power and our authority, creating a world wouldn’t be too difficult, but repair requires less effort than recreation. It’s merely a matter of fixing, though it will need consistent management until stability is achieved.

—We will handle that. If we were to leave even the management to humans, we would lose face as gods.

“Did you ever have any? I thought you didn’t care about dignity anymore, considering you didn’t have any from our first meeting.”

—Eeek…!

The Demon God trembled but couldn’t offer any rebuttal. It was the truth, after all.

Our first meeting began with me as a corpse with my chest pierced through, and the next time we met, only their thoughts remained, yet they still bickered with the Goddess, their sibling.

Even inside the holy sword, they were just voices arguing with the Goddess about making room for each other. My honest opinion was that it seemed too late to start caring about dignity now.

—…Anyway, repairing time itself will solve the issue. The obstacle is that the current time axis is incredibly unstable, and there are two problems derived from that.

“Only two? That’s a relief. What are they?”

—While repairing time, we don’t know what might emerge. Past and present are mixed together, meaning any being that has ever set foot in this world, even briefly, could appear. To devour healthy living beings.

“Did you say devour?”

—They instinctively seek completeness. They are fundamentally incomplete beings that emerged from incomplete time, so they instinctively pursue completeness.

“I understand. If that’s the first problem, what’s the second?”

The two gods were silent for a long time. Then, they finally spoke.

—…A sacrifice is needed.

“So you’re the nun who gave Mira the holy spear…”

“Yes. You may call me Latina.”

The nun who introduced herself as Latina greeted them with a calm demeanor. It was a brief bow, but one filled with dignity. Even that seemed strange. She had appeared ordinary when with Mira.

Which one was an act? This dignified appearance? Or the casual demeanor when she was with Mira?

“What did you want to tell us?”

“Aria. Do you remember that woman?”

At those words, all six people except Latina flinched collectively. It seemed like a mocking question. There was no way anyone gathered here could forget Aria.

“…Why are you suddenly asking that? What are you planning?”

“Just earlier, I had the opportunity to permanently eliminate that woman. But I chose not to.”

Just as their gazes were about to sharpen, the words that followed immediately dissolved that tension.

“That’s because it’s not a decision for an outsider like me to make. That’s why I’ve come here.”

Latina closed her eyes. Her lips moved slightly as she murmured in a low voice.

“It’s time for truth, Aria.”

Her eyelids lifted. The eyes that appeared were no longer gray but shining blue.

The six people’s expressions hardened as they realized what this meant. Elysier subtly released killing intent. None of them looked pleased.

“Ah, hello…”

Aria, who had once again taken over Latina’s body, greeted them timidly.

It was their first face-to-face encounter since she had revealed her true colors.