Ch.196Salvation – 5

Olivia arrived right after.

She came right up to me, looked back and forth between the three with ecstatic expressions and me struggling to control the rebound of the soul binding, then spoke with a voice that sounded utterly devastated.

“Master… what, what have you done? Huh?”

“You already know what I did, don’t you?”

Her eyes were brimming with tears. Olivia was practically clinging to me. It was hard to believe this was the same person who had been radiating murderous intent just moments ago.

I slowly got to my feet. The rebound from the act of merging four souls into one was tremendously intense, but conversely, very brief. My heart, which had been pounding as if about to burst, gradually calmed down.

Using telekinetic magic, I moved Serena, Charlotte, and Christine far away. It was a distance where they wouldn’t be affected even if Olivia and I engaged in a life-or-death battle here.

The three of them yielded to my magic without resistance. More precisely, they were so lost in ecstasy that they had no capacity to pay attention to their surroundings. They didn’t even notice their bodies floating in the air.

At this point, they probably wouldn’t fight among themselves even if I focused solely on Olivia.

They were in a completely dazed state, experiencing both the joy of being reconnected with my soul and the warmth and fulfillment felt deep within their hearts.

Christine looked as if she was experiencing continuous climaxes, and even Serena and Charlotte had flushed faces and were trembling.

From what I’d casually asked before, they apparently felt a sense of fulfillment like I was embracing them tightly, pressing my entire body against theirs. I had just let it go at the time.

“No, right, Master? You’re just teasing me? There’s no way you would do this. There’s no way you would connect with those worms instead of me… right? Please tell me that’s the case, Master…”

Olivia reached out to me with a pitiful expression, then finally burst into tears. The transparent droplets that had been welling up in her eyes streamed down her cheeks.

After standing frozen in place for a while, sobbing heavily, she suddenly stopped crying, and her eyes filled with hatred as she looked behind me.

To where Serena, Charlotte, and Christine were.

“…Master. It’s okay. I understand. This happened because of those worms. You love me, but your vision has just been clouded because of those insects. You’ve been affected by magic. I’ll cure you. I can fix you. You can love me again. You’re suffering too, aren’t you? You’re in pain because you can’t love me? It’s okay. I’ll heal you.”

Her eyes filled with murderous intent. Black mana began to seep from her entire body. In response, I drew up my own mana.

“I’m perfectly normal, Olivia. You’re the one who isn’t.”

“You don’t need to lie, Master. I understand you’re trying to reassure me, but you don’t have to. I already know. What state you’re in, how to solve it. I know everything.”

Despite how far the situation had escalated, Olivia’s target was still not me but the three behind me.

Whether she had gone mad and developed such beliefs, or whether such beliefs had driven her mad—I had no way of knowing which was the cause and which was the effect.

“Olivia. Listen carefully, as this is the last time I’ll say it.”

Wings made of holy power emerged from my back, emitting white light. This time, without blue mana mixed in, it was pure white rather than a soft blue-tinged light.

“The way things turned out between us is entirely your fault.”

“…”

“I told you many times. I could have accepted your feelings. If you had just suggested that we live together in a cabin secluded in the mountains, I would have gladly done so. But that wasn’t it, was it? You were the one who rejected my goodwill, Olivia.”

That was true. The old me had been quite willing to accept Olivia’s love, even if it was a bit excessive. After all, I had a body that couldn’t die.

By that time, Olivia had already overcome the issue of lifespan through her research, so while not immortal, she had achieved something close to eternal youth.

In other words, she was virtually the only person who could live through the same time as me. Given that, there was absolutely nothing wrong with me accepting her love.

Olivia’s appearance and figure were exceptional by any standard. It was only natural to be tempted when such a beauty offered eternal love and suggested living together.

Even if that suggestion involved being secluded in a small cabin deep in the mountains for the rest of our lives.

Although Olivia had shown some obsession with me, I underestimated her madness. I thought she was just a bit jealous and a bit possessive.

That was my mistake. Underestimating Olivia’s emotions. She was not at all satisfied with me simply nodding and saying I understood.

She didn’t just suggest that we live secluded in the mountains together; she wanted us to kill everyone we knew and live in a world cut off from everything else, just the two of us.

And she didn’t stop at suggesting.

“If you hadn’t cut off Helena’s head and brought it as a wedding gift, if you hadn’t massacred the fellow mages at the tower, if you hadn’t tried to exterminate all other humans to leave just you and me in this world… we could have been good together. Definitely.”

As soon as I rejected her suggestion, Olivia went berserk, slaughtered all the mages in the tower, and then brought Helena’s head to me.

Beside it was Helena, floating and screaming in agony as her entrails were being torn out. Or perhaps it was Helena floating and screaming in agony as her skin was being flayed alive.

“That was all because I love you, Master. You said you loved me too. You said you could love me forever. But you didn’t follow my suggestion. If you love me but wouldn’t listen to me, the answer is obvious, isn’t it? The people around you were influencing you. Telling you not to come with me. You wanted to follow me because you love me, but those despicable creatures who deserve to be torn apart interfered with you. So of course they had to die. For your sake, and for mine. You understand, don’t you? Right?”

All I heard were self-justifications disguised as pleas. Though her voice was desperate, it didn’t move my heart.

“It was my will, Olivia. Not because of other people, but my own will.”

“No. It’s not your fault, Master. I know everything. Because you and I are in love! You should care for me as much as I care for you, but you didn’t. Even though you deeply love me in your heart. That means those trash around you are the problem! Master, come with me, okay? Just kill those things and live with me.”

Olivia’s mind was still extremely twisted. All her words and actions flowed from the premise that I naturally loved her.

That I loved Olivia as much as she loved me. In her mind, this premise wasn’t just a belief but an absolute truth. A truth beyond any shadow of doubt.

No matter what I said or did, it was twisted and interpreted as love.

“…Alright. Then there’s no choice.”

I sighed deeply. I never expected Olivia to come to her senses with just a few words. If that were possible, she would have returned to sanity long ago.

The pure white wings on my back flapped powerfully. Feathers made of holy power fluttered. Pointing my greatsword, I spoke to Olivia calmly.

“Remember when we did that philosophical research together at the magic tower, Olivia?”

“The research on continuity of memory? Of course I remember. How could I forget anything I did with you, Master?”

“What was the conclusion we reached?”

“That if the continuity of memory is maintained and there is no other duplicated entity, there is no reason not to treat it as the same person.”

“Right. You remember well.”

I wrapped mana around my body and used physical enhancement. Blue mana fluttered along the blade. The flow of wind gradually began to slow.

“So, I’m going to kill you.”

At my words, Olivia blinked for a moment. Her expression showed she didn’t understand what I had just said.

The confusion didn’t last long. Olivia soon made eye contact with me, smiling as brightly as a blooming flower.

“Kill me? Master, is that true? You’re really going to kill me? You’re finally confessing your love for me, aren’t you? Right? Kyaa, what should I do!”

Olivia grinned broadly and spread her arms wide toward me.

“I knew you would. You’ve broken free, haven’t you? Now you love me too, right? You can finally express that enormous love? I believed you could do it. I believed that no matter what those insects did, you would overcome it with your love for me!”

“No, you said it yourself. If the continuity of memory is maintained, there’s no reason not to treat it as the same person.”

It was only a theoretical study, but it had value to adopt in a situation like this.

In this situation where all Olivias from other timelines had died, making the Olivia before my eyes the only Olivia.

And in a situation where there was exactly one more Olivia who could maintain the continuity of memory, which even the Olivia before me couldn’t touch.

“Ah, I should correct one thing. Thinking about it, what I’m about to do seems far from killing you.”

My goal wasn’t to solve our relationship by killing Olivia.

“Let’s call it ‘overwriting’ instead.”