Ch.289The Switch (9)

How many times must this be repeated?

A thousand times, two thousand times.

Perhaps it’s gone beyond ten thousand. I gave up counting somewhere in the middle.

“Br-brothers and sisters.”

The Saint spoke with a trembling voice.

“I think something has gone terribly wrong.”

“That’s what I’ve been saying, Saint! Something’s been off from the middle!”

Despite countless regressions, the Saint’s group could not achieve their goal of eliminating Eidel. Rather, they were now in the position of running away.

“So this is where you all were?”

“AAAAHHHH!”

That voice again. The believers screamed in learned fear.

“Where do you think you’re going after what you did to my accelerator?”

Tap, tap.

Eidel approached, tapping his calipers. The Saint and her group were once again cornered.

The maid android and the black-haired woman were with him. Those two never left Eidel’s side in any timeline.

Though the women’s strength was formidable, they weren’t what frightened them. If they had feared strong opponents, they wouldn’t have started a holy war in the first place.

The terror lay elsewhere.

That no matter how many times they rewound time, the conclusion remained the same.

The Saint’s group would be caught by Eidel’s pursuit.

They would fight.

And ultimately be defeated, returning to the same loop.

“Gack!”

“AAAAHHHH!”

“Grrrrrk!”

The priests and monsters fell one after another. The Saint struggled valiantly with her whip but was ultimately defeated.

Eidel always left the Saint for last. He would always approach slowly and place something large and cold on her shoulder.

His calipers.

“If you break experimental equipment, you should compensate for it. Right?”

The Saint’s face was painted with shock. She couldn’t remember how many times she had heard this line.

The endless repetition made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

[─ Rewinding time to the beginning of the holy war.]

The world shifted. Eidel disappeared.

“Uweeeeek.”

The priests who had experienced death retched.

Even the monsters who had initially tried to maul Eidel at first sight no longer roared aggressively. They lowered their breathing and whimpered.

“This isn’t working. Let’s go back and regroup.”

“Are you going back to before the operation?”

“We have no other choice now. We need to go back at least one day. Regrettably, we’ll have to postpone the holy war.”

“But Saint, if we postpone the holy war here, ‘the End’ will…”

“Getting out of this loop takes priority. It’s alright. The Outer God will understand.”

Most of the priests agreed with the Saint’s words.

“Everyone is exhausted. I don’t even want to hear that man’s voice anymore…”

Before the male priest could finish speaking, footsteps were heard. The believers’ shoulders trembled like waves.

– Who broke our accelerator? The detector isn’t working. Huh? Who the hell did this?

Thud, thud.

A vibration now all too familiar.

A voice now all too familiar.

“I-it’s him.”

Just hearing the footsteps was enough to drain their fighting spirit. Learned helplessness. They gave up before even trying anything.

And the same was true for the Saint.

She wanted nothing more than to escape this repeating hell.

[─ Returning to 24 hours before the holy war begins.]

[─ Warning: Abandoning the holy war may cause serious side effects. Do you still wish to proceed?]

Serious side effects.

Even the Saint would face consequences for abandoning the Outer God’s quest. She had experienced it before—it was an incredibly terrible and humiliating punishment.

Her cheeks burned at the memory of that punishment, but now there was no other way.

[─ I accept the penalty and abandon the Jihad.]

The Saint shouted her acceptance without hesitation.

However.

[─ Error. Cannot return to before the holy war began.]

[─ Causality has been fixed.]

“Wh-what is this…”

“What’s wrong, Saint?”

“We can’t go back to before the holy war!”

“What do you mean! We can’t go back?!”

The priests’ panic spread to the lay believers.

“This hell will continue?”

“I-I want to run away! I don’t want to be trapped here like this!”

“AAAAHHHH!”

The believers scattered in panic, moving far away from the Saint. But they didn’t get far before collapsing like anemic patients.

“Wh-what?”

“We’ve been shot! It’s that woman’s doing!”

There were faint scratch marks on the wall. It was the shooting pattern often used by the android that accompanied Eidel. A high-difficulty technique that subdued targets with bullets that had lost half their power after ricocheting.

“Saint, this way!”

The devout priests tried to protect the Saint and escape as quickly as possible.

“Damn it, why is it another dead end?!”

Though they knew the layout by heart now, focusing on avoiding Eidel inevitably led them into corners.

There was no doubt.

He was herding them like sheep.

– What’s their purpose anyway? Let me see their faces.

The voice drew closer.

Finally, their eyes met.

Those chilling golden eyes pierced through the Saint.

It felt like her breath had stopped.

“Found you.”

“Ah, aah.”

She couldn’t continue speaking. Her legs gave out from fear.

Thud.

The Saint collapsed.

“Damn it, we can’t give up! Let’s fight back!”

“For the Saint!”

“For Idea!”

What followed was the same scene as always. Monsters and incarnate bodies were pierced by holy bullets and died, while priests fell as their heads were struck by calipers.

It was like ants fighting an elephant.

“So you’re the mastermind behind this terrorism. I can tell just by your outfit.”

“I, I…”

“Let’s have a chat, shall we?”

Eidel approached. A dark shadow covered the Saint’s face. The calipers rested on her shoulder.

“Why did you commit this act of terrorism?”

“…”

“Answer me.”

The Saint’s entire body froze like stone. She brought her trembling hands together in a prayer position.

“Almighty God of Steel. Please grant this humble servant salvation to Idea…”

“Stop praying. Just answer me.”

“Eek!”

The Saint involuntarily cried out in surprise. Just hearing Eidel’s voice made her heart feel like it would burst.

Yet Eidel hadn’t done anything. He continued with irritation in his voice.

“My patience is reaching its limit. My anger is rising to the top of my head. Tell me. Why did you do this, and who’s behind it?”

“That, that is…”

At that moment, a divine oracle descended.

[“Regress.”]

The Outer God of Steel was speaking.

Continue the holy war.

The Saint, whimpering, moved on to the next iteration.

***

The Saint first reviewed her status window again.

She hadn’t noticed earlier, but the message about causality being fixed caught her eye.

“We can’t go back to before the holy war because of that Laplace bastard?”

“Y-yes. ‘The End’ has placed restrictions on us.”

“That’s impossible.”

Causality being fixed means the outcome is predetermined. If the outcome is fixed, then according to the correlation between cause and effect, the cause must also be fixed.

The degree might vary, but in any timeline, the particle accelerator would certainly be destroyed.

From the moment Eidel learned the accelerator was destroyed, he would come after her.

It was the moment all serenity vanished from the Saint’s face.

“Saint, what should we do now?!”

“At this rate, we’ll all be trapped in this research facility!”

“No matter how much we run, he keeps chasing us to the end…!”

“Everyone!”

The Saint shouted.

“Everyone… listen carefully.”

She continued speaking calmly, her expression hardening.

“If anyone has spare disguise clothes, please give me one.”

“H-here you are.”

The Saint stripped off her holy robes right there and changed into the ordinary clothes the priest provided.

“Listen carefully, everyone. From now on, I’ll stay here disguised as a victim.”

“What?”

“I’ll look for an opportunity to assassinate Eidel Rheinland. The rest of you should damage this facility appropriately and then return to Manus.”

“But what about you, Saint! Who will lead our order if you’re not there?!”

“Theresa, you will lead the order in my absence.”

“Saint Julia, I…”

“There’s no time. Go now! Quickly!”

Theresa and the other priests wiped away tears as they ran. The incarnate bodies and monsters scattered according to orders.

Meanwhile, the Saint dirtied her clothes with dust and made wounds on her face with her whip to disguise herself as a victim. As she lay collapsed in the corridor, Eidel and the inspectors appeared as if by magic.

“Who is this person?”

“Seems like someone caught up in the terrorism.”

“Help her up.”

The two women lifted the Saint, who was disguised as an ordinary person. The Saint groaned, “Ungh,” and glanced around.

“Are you alright?”

“The order… the order invaded…”

“We should get her to a hospital quickly.”

When she regained consciousness, the Saint found herself on a stretcher at the hospital.

After a few hours, the tremors outside stopped. The holy war had ended. The Saint had no way of knowing if the priests had retreated safely.

A few more hours passed, and then Eidel came.

Was it a coincidence?

“Zernya, how is this person?”

“She doesn’t seem badly injured.”

“That’s good.”

Eidel approached. The Saint felt fear inside but maintained her composure outwardly, bowing her head slightly.

“Thank you for saving me. I thought I was going to die.”

“No, I just did what needed to be done. I’m Eidel Rheinland. If I may ask, your name is…?”

“Kaylee. Kaylee McCarthy.”

“I see. Understood.”

“Eidel Rheinland… you’re that person, right? The hero of humanity.”

Eidel smiled awkwardly.

They say men are weak to compliments. The Saint secretly raised the corners of her mouth and continued her work. Soon, she seemed to have succeeded in gaining Eidel’s favor.

“Thank you again for saving me. If there’s anything I can do to help you…”

“No, that’s not necessary.”

“I’m serious. I want to repay your kindness!”

The Saint emphasized her face and chest as much as possible while appealing to Eidel.

If things continued this way, she could make Eidel fall for her. Just as she had enchanted other men with her outstanding beauty and made them believers.

She planned to assassinate him when they were alone.

“Then may I ask for one favor?”

“Yes, anything I can do.”

“Could I borrow your ear for a moment?”

“That’s fine, but… why?”

Though puzzled, she lent her ear. Could it be that he was already enchanted by her beauty?

Come to think of it, she had read articles about Eidel having issues with women. Though he appeared noble on the outside, he might actually be a person with lustful thoughts.

The Saint smiled and lent her ear.

Eidel whispered softly near her ear.

“…Compensate for my accelerator.”

The Saint pulled away in shock.

“P-pardon?”

“I said compensate.”

“I don’t understand what you’re suddenly talking about…”

“And your name isn’t Kaylee.”

Eidel brought his face closer.

“Why are you lying? Julia?”

Her heart felt like it would burst.