Ch.295Chapter 295: Sudden Change (3)

When I heard the sound of shattering glass…

Desire’s movement didn’t stop as she raised her hand to knock me unconscious.

Rather, her motion to strike the crown of my head with the edge of her hand to render me unconscious only accelerated.

Even when I saw that despite the sudden noise that should have made her turn her head, only determination to urgently complete this more important task reflected in her eyes…

I gritted my teeth, instinctively knowing that enduring the impact to my crown was my only chance for survival.

Fortunately, I didn’t have to find out whether my desperate defense would work or not.

“UWAAAAAHH!!”

With Imperfectio’s explosive battle cry as she reclaimed her time that had been frozen by Desire’s will…

“…What?”

Desire finally stopped swinging her hand down, letting out a startled exclamation.

I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief for having escaped such a dangerous moment, but…

“Hnnnngggh…!!!!”

Imperfectio’s long, drawn-out exhale after her roar—seemingly trying to calm her boiling emotions—burst forth as if taking the place of the sigh I was about to release.

“…”

I closed my mouth, carefully observing the current situation while preparing for any contingency.

The killing intent was palpable, almost boiling over.

Had it intensified just a bit more, a storm made purely of murderous intent would have shattered the silence of the hall where the three of us—myself, Desire, and Imperfectio—stood. The pressure emanating from her roar carried that much weight.

Of course, no matter how impressive her roar and aura might be, those who don’t understand the situation might not comprehend Desire’s reaction.

Even with such a sudden change in circumstances, a demon god who could manipulate this entire area with just her will should have been able to handle this situation with her power of will alone, and yet…

“…”

Judging by Desire’s frozen expression after her startled exclamation, it was clear this wasn’t something she could simply brush off.

At first glance, this might appear to be Desire overreacting to Imperfectio recovering from temporary paralysis and letting out a roar, but…

Considering that this wasn’t simple paralysis but rather a state where time itself—which flows equally for all sentient beings—had been stolen and stopped…

Desire’s shock wasn’t unreasonable.

Even I, who had been overwhelmed by pure physical force without any of Desire’s divinity involved and slammed into the cold obsidian floor, could barely muster the strength to try to get up on my own.

Her relatively mild reaction to Imperfectio’s roar—announcing her self-liberation from a state where time had been temporarily stolen through divine power—was actually quite restrained.

Moreover…

For Desire, who had been the one to steal Imperfectio’s time…

“How in the…”

It wasn’t surprising that she would mutter such dumbfounded words.

…The problem was that this scene appeared quite ridiculous not only to me but also to the beings of the demon realm who had sworn absolute loyalty and obedience to her, even though they weren’t present.

It was so comical that I couldn’t help wanting to continue observing Desire’s dumbfounded expression as if time had stopped, even in my immobilized state.

“Stop it…”

Imperfectio, who had prevented Desire’s hand strike against me with sharp words that lacked even the minimal courtesy of calling her “mother,”…

“This wasn’t… what we agreed on…”

Her brief, calm yet threatening words, spoken after instantly cooling the heat she had displayed moments ago, interrupted my idle thoughts.

Though less forceful than her roar that had embodied her boiling killing intent…

The sticky, subtle murderous aura in that ice-cold voice…

“…”

Was pressuring Desire to the point where she couldn’t respond to Imperfectio’s implicit accusation.

It was astonishing. This demon god who would only ever reign above others, who was sensitive about even having someone beside her as an equal, let alone beneath her…

“When you brought me here, I came because I accepted your proposal that you wouldn’t harm him in this way…”

As the Agent confronted her with a voice now filled with cold rationality…

“Ahem, well, you see…”

It was refreshingly novel to witness her clearing her throat, stumbling over her words, and even avoiding eye contact, unable to produce a plausible answer or lie.

Before my regression, when I was the Agent, Desire had always maintained her composure when dealing with me, despite my sharp attitude toward her for forcibly putting me in this state.

“O-Of course I wouldn’t break my promise to you, my precious child and future assistant!”

Desire’s attempt to use quick thinking to escape from Imperfectio’s ice-cold killing intent gave me a fresh sense of amusement.

If Desire were to detect these thoughts of mine, she would undoubtedly be unable to hide her displeasure.

But how could I lie and say I wasn’t enjoying seeing this side of Desire that I had never witnessed before my regression?

The only disappointing aspect was that, upon seeing Desire clearly unable to engage her normal decision-making faculties in this unexpected situation…

I judged that I might finally be able to lift my body from the cold obsidian floor and hurriedly tried to get up, but…

“…Tch.”

The physical force binding me to that spot had still not been released.

While she might be flustered, I could confirm that her will to keep me bound there and do something to me remained undiminished.

This was clearly important to her and undoubtedly not good for me, so the continuation of this situation was unwelcome.

Of course, despite the discomfort I felt in this body, my face—particularly my mouth—was the only part I could move freely.

“Kuhp…”

It was some consolation that I had to bite my tongue to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst out at the sight of Desire’s flustered appearance.

Perhaps she heard the laughter that almost escaped my lips despite the tense atmosphere as thin as ice.

“…”

Desire briefly turned her head toward me without saying anything.

In such situations, one would normally display a variety of emotions, including sullenness, yet Desire’s face showed only her struggle to escape this unexpected predicament.

If I had laughed a bit more, I might have elicited a more proper reaction from Desire, but…

“Is that so? Then don’t approach Kal and return to your throne.”

Imperfectio’s voice, immediately demanding something after hearing Desire’s response that she had barely managed to produce in her flustered state, gave neither me nor Desire time to spare for each other.

“…”

Desire, turning her gaze back to Imperfectio, gave no answer to the recent request.

I lifted my head slightly with difficulty and observed Desire’s current state as she shifted her attention from me to Imperfectio.

Although she had quickly composed her flustered expression as time passed…

She seemed unable to properly calm her agitated physical state.

I witnessed a physiological response from Desire that I had never observed in the time before my regression.

Cold sweat. Sweat flowing to cool the sympathetic nervous system stimulated by excessive tension.

To see such cold sweat on the forehead of this demon god who had performed feats that even I had to acknowledge as divine without so much as disturbing her breathing or shedding a single drop of sweat…

Well, you really do live and learn.

Thus, this unexpected confrontation between Desire and Imperfectio that began with the sound of shattering glass was providing me with a fresh spectacle.

[You know, trying to appreciate this with such an awkward posture doesn’t look impressive at all. Maybe you should just stay quiet?]

‘…I’m well aware, so please don’t make me feel any more pathetic.’

If only my posture for appreciating all this wasn’t still face-down on the cold obsidian floor.

Anyway, despite my predicament, time continued to flow.

“…Why? Can’t you return to your throne?”

Seeing Desire maintain a distance just a few steps away from me while pretending not to have heard her demand, Imperfectio…

*thud*

Finally left her position beside the throne that she had maintained even while roaring, and…

“In that case…”

As she moved with clear intent to not end this with mere words…

“W-Wait!!”

Desire tried to stop Imperfectio with a panicked voice and gesture, but…

Imperfectio seemed to take just one step, yet suddenly appeared right in front of Desire.

It was a gap closed with movement too fast to be called a single step.

This was the result of movement at a level that even Desire, the master of this area, couldn’t counter.

The already heavy and gloomy atmosphere of the hall intensified further due to the subtle fighting spirit emanating from Imperfectio’s body as she approached Desire.

Imperfectio’s appearance, with her entire body covered in black iron armor, seemed threatening even to Desire in her relatively light attire.

“Ah… hahaha.”

Desire let out a laugh revealing her usual frivolity, clearly trying to defuse the tense atmosphere, but…

This laughter didn’t seem to please Imperfectio.

“Instead of that hollow laughter, you could just take a few steps back…”

With a somewhat cold voice mocking her laughter, Imperfectio’s right hand was suddenly raised, and…

“And as for that hand strike…”

With an attitude that seemed to mock the hand strike that Desire had been about to use to knock me unconscious moments ago…

“This is how you do it…”

As if demonstrating…

*WHOOSH-!!*

She swung down her hand from above.