episode_0244

A Reversed Situation

“Th-this… this can’t be… The method Cecilia and I struggled so much with… she did it so simply… over such a wide area…?!”

Merzel froze solid, seeing the ability Aria had used. Just moments ago, she and Cecilia had poured all their strength into using the powerful repulsion of magic and divine power to save Remie, and now Aria had saved so many people at once, so simply. She couldn’t help but be astonished. Next to her, Cecilia, who was equally dumbfounded, let out a hollow laugh and spoke.

“Hahaha… Aria is truly strong… If I were to challenge her again, I might really die this time….”

“H-how in the world… how can she spread such a powerful reaction appropriately to her surroundings…?”

While Cecilia and Remie were greatly astonished and admiring Aria’s power, Dio V Runner, who was fighting the cultists, was equally astonished by Aria’s power, letting out a hollow laugh as most of the cultists attacking him regained their senses.

“Aria Ritt… At this rate, she might even be able to defeat Kajju, whom I knew… How in the world did she obtain such power…? A woman barely 25 years old…”

“Haa… Haaah… Di… Dio V Runner… Are you alright…?!”

“Hmm…? Yuria…!!”

At that moment, while still greatly admiring and astonishing at Aria’s power, Dio V Runner heard Yuria’s voice from nearby and turned his head. He saw Yuria slowly approaching him, panting for breath, and Dio V Runner quickly caught the collapsing Yuria with both hands, saying:

“You’re seriously injured, don’t move so recklessly, Yuria…? Did your wounds… heal…?”

“I’m a snow woman, after all… If I gather enough cold air, I can heal my wounds myself… Of course, it still drains my strength… But… I saw you get thrown back by Camilla’s power earlier… so I was worried….”

“Ah… but there’s no need to worry anymore. It’s not as much as Camilla, but Aria has solved the most troublesome problem.”

Dio V Runner patted Yuria’s back, who was leaning on his arms, relieved that the troublesome problem was solved. Meanwhile, after Aria had used her ability, she looked at her hand, which I was holding, and smiled at me. I let out a hollow laugh, marveling at Aria’s immense power.

“Ha… hahaha… You’re really… amazing, Aria… But how in the world did you save the people?”

“Ah~! Earlier, I was subtly sensing the situation inside Cecilia’s barrier through divine power. Then, after the barrier was released, I saw Remie, who had been fighting Cecilia, regain her senses. I knew what they had done, so I tried to apply that method. The power of strong divine power and magic repelling each other… that is, if you properly utilize the opposing forces, Camilla’s divine power will be washed away along with the strong divine power.”

“What…? But my magic wasn’t as strong as yours…? How did you fix that… C-could it be… you…”

“Hehehe… Amplifying the love contained within Zeke-nim’s magic that entered my body is easy for me now.”

I, who had a hunch how Aria amplified my magic, was greatly flustered, but then saw Aria’s reaction and was convinced. Aria… she must have gained an indomitable will, which is a condition for using magic, and thus amplified her magic…!!! Th-then Aria can even use magic…!!

“Hwaaaah…”

“A-Aria!!”

The moment I was admiring Aria’s power, Aria suddenly slumped to the ground without letting go of my hand. I urgently held onto her hand, supporting her so she wouldn’t fall completely, and carefully helped her up. Aria… as expected, it’s not easy for Aria to handle magic either…

“Haa… Haaah… I’m sorry, Zeke-nim… Forcibly using an unfamiliar power… seems to be difficult even for me right now… Especially since I spread the ability so widely…”

“Aria… Don’t tell me… you forced yourself to use that power for me…? Because you wanted to resolve this situation I disliked, somehow….”

“Hahaha… It’s always been like that. Then I saw Cecilia and Merzel-nim and realized something good, so I tried applying it… Hehehe… It is a bit tiring, as expected… But with Zeke-nim holding my hand like this, my strength feels like it’s surging again…!!”

Realizing that Aria had overexerted herself using unfamiliar magic to save everyone for my sake, I felt immense apology towards her. So, I immediately pulled Aria’s hand towards me and, to her lips… I never thought I’d do something like this in my life, but anyway, to express my gratitude to Aria, I kissed her lips. And at that moment, Aria’s eyes widened in great surprise, and she began to emit tremendous black divine power from behind her back. After I pulled my lips away from hers, Aria, her face flushed red, smiled broadly and said:

“Zeke-nim… I… I truly… truly didn’t expect to receive such affection… Hehehehe… My… my strength is surging throughout my body…!! The divine power awakened by Zeke-nim’s love is flowing through my whole body again…!!!”

“Hmm… I thought this might give you strength… Are you… energized, Aria?”

“I’m perfectly revitalized, Zeke-nim~! This divine power is just like the love Zeke-nim gave me~! Ehehehehe… I once secretly kissed Zeke-nim before… but for Zeke-nim to do it directly like this…!!”

“You did? Hahaha… You really are something…”

As Aria rubbed her cheeks with her hands and confessed that she had secretly kissed me in the night before, I wasn’t greatly surprised; rather, knowing Aria, I had half-expected it, so I let out a hollow laugh. At that moment, Aria let go of my hand, relaxed her entire body, and took her black staff with both hands, saying to me:

“Zeke-nim. Actually, I have fulfilled your wish, but… there is one problem.”

“Problem? What is i-”

“Kwahhhk!!!!”

As Aria looked ahead and said there was a problem, I was puzzled by her words. No… the people have returned to their senses, so what problem could there possibly be…? The moment I, unable to understand Aria’s words, was bewildered, a sudden scream was heard. I was startled and looked ahead with a flustered expression. Meanwhile, a beastman hugging his brainwashed younger sibling was speaking with great relief.

“Ah… Little brother, you foolish idiot… I’m so glad you came back to your senses… You dimwit…”

“B-brother…? Why… why am I here…? And where is this place…”

“Haaah… You troublesome brat… You really made things difficult…”

“Huh…? Wait… Did I attack you, brother…? Wait… huh…? I… I attacked people…”

“…? L-little brother…?! You… don’t tell me…!!”

Suddenly, his younger brother’s complexion turned poor, and it seemed the brother remembered past events. The beastman became greatly flustered and began to shake his brother’s shoulders. At that moment, just like on the other side, his brother began to scream. The beastman hurriedly lifted his brother onto his back and began to leave the spot. As I watched this with great confusion, Aria explained to me:

“It was good that we expelled Camilla’s divine power from their bodies using repulsion… but although they were brainwashed, their minds weren’t replaced by something else; they were almost in the same state as being fully conscious due to Camilla’s emotional manipulation. So… some of their memories will remain.”

“That couldn’t be helped then… If we had defeated Camilla directly…”

“All their memories would have remained intact… and that might have led to an even greater catastrophe.”

When Aria explained that if we had defeated Camilla and returned everyone to their senses, their memories would have remained even clearer, potentially leading to a greater catastrophe, I couldn’t bring myself to speak due to the truly regrettable truth. Furthermore, it was a wartime situation… Perhaps it was thanks to Aria returning those people to their senses that the situation could improve even a little, and their shock could be less severe… At that moment, as I felt a little mournful about this unfortunate truth, a sound of something exploding echoed from the battlefield again, and Aria began to explain to me once more.

“Moreover, those who willingly followed Camilla will be the same even if they return to their senses. So it’s not over yet, Zeke-nim.”

“…!! So there are still more mad people…!! And our dimension could collapse due to Camilla right now… This… it’s really not over yet…”

When Aria explained that there were still people who had willingly followed Camilla, I realized again the necessity of defeating Camilla quickly, as we would have to fight them again and prevent the dimensional collapse caused by Camilla. Just as the fighting began anew, Kelly flew through the sky, borrowing the power of the Melodian Fairy, and shouted to everyone:

“Everyone!!! First, evacuate all those who have regained their senses to a safe place!! And those who can still fight, please escort the others!!! If there are any sane individuals among those freed from brainwashing, please hurry and help evacuate the people!!”

“Wha… what…? Why is a fairy giving us orders now…? That damned fai-”

“You crazy fool, is this the time for racial discrimination!!! If we don’t move as one, we’ll all die, you idiot!!!”

When Kelly, the fairy, gave them a request that sounded like a command, some of the freed cultists became annoyed. The resistance fighters next to them punched them in the cheek to snap them out of it, emphasizing that they should no longer discriminate. Some agreed or empathized with this, but there were still others who stubbornly clung to their pride.

“What…?! Are you saying we have to listen to a fairy now…? No need!!!”

“If we hadn’t all fought as one, you’d already be dead now. Are you still being stubborn like that…? Then go on, attack those cultists over there and die.”

“For Goddess Camilla!!!”

“…We will obey.”

However, when fanatical cultists who strongly worshipped Camilla threatened them, their pride immediately vanished. Furthermore, when other races risked their lives to save them midway, the freed people eventually understood and accepted most of the current situation, and thus, people began to flee together to survive. I, greatly relieved that thankfully, no conflict had arisen because of the fanatics, said to Aria:

“Hooo… Then how about we focus on Camilla for now, Aria?”

“Of course we should~! I want to defeat Camilla quickly and go on an exciting journey with Zeke-nim~! Besides, thanks to Zeke-nim’s affection just now, my strength has revived, so there’s no problem!”

“My magic also seems to have recovered to some extent thanks to you buying us time. Hooo… Now I can properly use the remaining powers of the items in my backpack…”

“Then… shall we go? Leave all the cultists to me, Zeke-nim!”

“No…!! I’ll join you too!!! Rascal-ssi!! Lend me your strength!!”

Aria began to emit divine power even from her staff, saying she would handle the cultists. I, hoping Aria wouldn’t struggle by taking everything upon herself as before, declared I would fight with her and threw a black arrow towards the cultists charging at us. Aria giggled and began to rush towards the cultists at an incredible speed. Transformed by the arrow’s teleportation, Aria and I, wielding Trahan and the black staff respectively, began to smash through the cultists.

“Get out of the way!! This unpleasant cult obstructing Zeke-nim and my journey…!!!”

“Hwaaaap!! Frozen Breath!!!”

While Aria was striking the cultists with black divine power and I was freezing them with Bibi’s cold breath from my mouth, Uncle Gid, who was protecting Bibi, sliced down the last cultist charging at him with two swords and said to Protega:

“Protega, thanks to Aria’s ability, the cultists who persistently bothered us are gone. So hurry and take Bibi-nim away from here!!”

“Is this our chance… Yes. There’s still too much danger to return to my large true form… Wife, for a moment like this…”

“Oh… Oh my…!!”

Realizing that there were still many crazed cultists to return to his true dragon form, Protega scooped her up with both hands. Bibi was startled and her face flushed. Protega also blushed, seemingly embarrassed to be holding Bibi with both hands. Bibi, seeing Protega’s face, smiled brightly and said:

“Pffft… To feel such embarrassment even in a situation like this… Don’t you think both of us are quite unusual, darling?”

“As you say, wife, it is strange to feel such emotions in a situation where the world is about to collapse. But… somehow, I feel like the world won’t collapse after all.”

“Hmm… you’re right. I somehow feel that way too… especially looking at those two running over there right now…”

When Protega said he felt the world wouldn’t end, Bibi, too, seeing Aria and me rushing over, agreed that she felt the same way. As Protega spread his wings and flew into the sky with Bibi in his arms, Uncle Gid grinned and said:

“Alright… then now I’ll truly help my nephew…”

“Kraa… Kahahahahaha…!! There he is… The enemy of Saintess Tesia-nim…!!”

“Hmm…?!”

The moment Uncle Gid was about to move to help us, Rikarin, who was somehow still alive with burn marks all over her body, ran past Uncle Gid and headed towards us. Instinctively, Uncle Gid drew his two swords and blocked Rikarin. Seeing this from a distance, I recognized Rikarin at a glance and was greatly astonished.

“Th-that Saintess… how is she alive…?! I clearly burned her with Trahan, which had become a demonic sword…!?”

“That Saintess? Are you talking about the brown-haired, bob-cut Saintess that Gid-nim is blocking over there right now?”

“Th-that’s right. While you were kidnapped by another Saintess before, I was fighting that Saintess… Because she hit me with a hammer several times, I couldn’t properly save you…”

“…!!! She hit Zeke-nim…?! How dare she commit such an atrocity while I was gone….!! Unforgivable…!”

“Aria!!! Stop!!!”

“…!!”

The moment Aria, having heard my story about Rikarin, became greatly enraged and was about to charge at Rikarin, Uncle Gid, who was blocking Rikarin’s path, must have heard Aria’s shout and loudly told her to stop. Aria, who was hitting a fanatic next to her with her staff to knock him down, flinched at the shout, and Uncle Gid continued to shout at Aria:

“Aria!! Don’t you have something to do with Zeke right now!! I’ll take care of this hindrance, so you can do what you need to do with Zeke without worries!!”

“Bu… but Gid-nim…!! The opponent is…”

“Aria, Uncle Gid is also a strong individual who participated in the festival held in Ruam. So let’s trust Uncle Gid. He’ll definitely defeat that Saintess.”

“Ugh… If it’s Zeke-nim’s words, then I suppose there’s no choice… Understood…!!”

As Aria listened to my words and finally decided to trust Uncle Gid, I once again started running past the cultists with Aria, heading towards Camilla. As we passed by her, Rikarin raised the hammer held in both her hands towards Uncle Gid and said:

“It seems you’re closely associated with those two… Good then…!! It’ll be fun to turn you into a pulp and show it to them, won’t it…?”

“Turn me into a pulp? You’re saying something remarkably chilling. Alright… how about we… warm up a bit first…?”

*As the water splashed noisily, Inju’s heart pounded. “Oppa, the ginseng chicken soup is ready!” she called out.*

1. What if Zeke still held a grudge against Eli in Chapter 211?

But I could recognize who she was at a glance. Because she had fairy wings on her back, and I only knew one yellow-haired fairy…

“E… Eli…?”

I was greatly astonished that the person in front of me was none other than Eli. And soon, I remembered the humiliation I had suffered at the hands of Eli before, and as anger began to build up, I summoned Trahan and shouted at Eli.

“Eli…!! You’re still not giving up and targeting me…!!”

“….”

When I held Trahan and threatened her, Eli just looked at me with a meaningful smile, as if she wanted to say that I was right. Damn…!! I’m already in a bad mood because of what happened with Aria, and now Eli appears…!! Moreover, she still hasn’t given up on me…!! At the moment when I was greatly enraged by Eli’s sudden appearance, Eli grabbed the rope next to her and approached me, and I immediately got up to rush at Eli. But because the wounds I had suffered from Aria hadn’t healed yet, I tried to stand up but fell down again.

“Damn…!! Damn….??”

“….”

I thought that Eli would bind me with a rope and do strange things, but I was taken aback when Eli, unlike what I thought, started acupressing my wounds with the tree stick next to her. What… what is it…? I thought Eli would definitely bind me…? After summoning my backpack and giving a book and pen to Eli, I apologized to Eli, greatly embarrassed, as she explained that she didn’t save me to do strange things to me.

[Zeke, who couldn’t move anyway]

2. What if Zeke didn’t realize his feelings in Chapter 219?

“For a moment, you want me to abandon my faith…? And if you tell me to think about the person who has always been by my side… By my side… Aria has always been with me…. Wait… Could it be… The feelings I felt were…”

“Pfft… That was my reaction at first too. But it’s not comfortable when you know…”

“Yes…? Ah… No, is… could it be that Miss Bivi also feels fear towards Protega…? The only feeling I felt for Aria was fear….”

“….?”

The only feeling I had felt for Aria until now was fear, and after hearing Bivi’s words, I was bewildered, asking Bivi if she was also afraid of Protega like me. Then, Bivi looked bewildered and scratched her head, and when I saw Bivi’s expression, I was also bewildered.

“Uh… Ah… Isn’t it…? That was the only feeling I had for Aria…”

“Think carefully, Mr. Zeke…!! Not that…!! The fun things you did with Miss Aria while you were on your journey…”

“Um… The feelings I felt for Aria… Ah…!! You mean confusion…”

“Didn’t you even love her, you exasperating human!!!”

I was thinking about what other feelings I might have for Aria, and while thinking if it might be confusion, Bivi, looking exasperated, hit me in the face with her fist.

[This might be the correct answer]

3. What if Dio V Runner and Aria’s Ritt’s powers were equal in Chapter 225?

“You look so pitiful that I can’t bear to watch. I took the orb out of the flamethrower. Seeing you like that now, I’m sure I can beat you even without flames… Aren’t you coming soon?”

“This filthy heretic dares to provoke me with such a crude provocation!!”

When Dio V Runner looked down on Aria, saying that he wouldn’t even use flames because she looked so pitiful, Aria was stimulated and immediately grabbed her staff and rushed at Dio V Runner. But at that moment, Dio V Runner swung his fist to match Aria coming at him, and hit Aria in the cheek. However, Aria also endured Dio V Runner’s fist hitting her face, and swung her staff to attack Dio V Runner. Then Dio V Runner and Aria were simultaneously bounced back.

“Kuh…!!!”

“Ugh…. Still, you still have good strength, Aria…”

“Ha…! So it would be better to use flames, Dio V Runner…!! Because I won’t just stand still either!!!”

When Dio V Runner realized that his strength was still strong, Aria fired rays from her staff to threaten Dio V Runner. Then, Dio V Runner decided that it would be better to use flames as Aria said, and quickly equipped the orbs to the two flamethrowers and spewed flames from the flamethrowers. Then Aria’s rays and Dio V Runner’s flames began to collide, and shock waves began to occur around them.

“Uaaaaah!!! Crazy!! Crazy!!! Everyone, run away!!!”

“That crazy…!!!”

Then, the believers and the resistance army began to be swept away by the shock waves one by one, and everyone was greatly bewildered to see it and began to run away quickly. Whether they ran away or not, Dio V Runner and Aria were pouring their strength into each other, and Yuria, who was watching it nearby, was greatly astonished and thought.

‘When strong people clash, that’s what happens… Should I even be nearby….’

[Neither of them would have died… But Aria after that… Hmm.]

4. What if Viola didn’t awaken a new power in Chapter 228?

Viola began to slowly realize something as she watched the young herself and the illusions gradually disappear. And meanwhile, Adoleth, who had injected all the divine power into Viola in reality, extinguished her own light spear that had pierced Viola. Then Viola slowly got up from her seat, and Adoleth opened her arms to welcome Viola.

“Ah… Finally, it is fortunate that you have returned to our arms, Viola the Saintess… No… A new Saintess, different from before, has been reborn…!!”

“…..”

“Let us fight the heretics together and spread the will of Goddess Camilla…!! The will of Her to make this world completely clean…!!”

“Let’s do that…”

Perhaps because Camilla’s divine power was infused into her body again, Viola shone with yellow eyes and agreed with Adoleth’s words. And so, Adoleth began to come out of the Temple of the Pioneers with Viola to fight the resistance army again. Then, Adoleth, remembering Viola’s ability to regenerate that she had shown in the fight with him just now, began to smile.

“Hahaha…. Hahahaha…!!! With this, we can end the battle with the heretics…!! The beings that are only heretics cannot defeat our church….?!”

“The beings that are only heretics? Aren’t you talking about yourselves, Adoleth…”

Adoleth, who was sure of victory, was greatly bewildered when Viola stabbed his back with a spear behind him. Viola was about to be captured by Camilla’s divine power, but thankfully, she was able to prevent herself from being completely consumed by Camilla’s divine power due to the speck of divine power that still contained her guilt and sense of sin. And so Adoleth was defeated by Viola in vain.

[It was impossible anyway…]

5. What if Aria awakened even more in Chapter 233?

‘I’m glad I could… tell you… at the end… I could tell you…?’

At the moment when I was glad that I could convey my love to Aria even at the end, Aria’s tears and bright smile came into my eyes. And at that moment, black energy burst out from Aria’s entire body, and it began to envelop Aria and me…? Uh… Eh?!

“Wha… What is this…?! Ah… Aria…?!”

“Aaaaah… Mr. Zeke… How can you say such wonderful words… I… I am now… at my limit!!!”

“Eh… Eeeeh?!”

Aria, who heard my confession, suddenly said that she was at her limit and began to emit black energy even more strongly from her entire body. Then, the black energy became three pairs of wings and attached to Aria’s back, and Aria, with wings on her back, grabbed my arm and began to fly into the sky.

“Wha… What’s going on, Aria?! Wha… Wait, are you… back…?!”

“Yes, Mr. Zeke…!! After a long journey… This foolish Aria… was able to return to Mr. Zeke again…!! If Mr. Zeke hadn’t made that beacon-like confession… I would have been wandering forever… But let’s talk about it later… let’s finish the fight now!!!”

“….?! What is that…?! Could that be… Aria and Zeke…?! Anyway, what is that energy…?!”

Dio V Runner was greatly astonished to see Aria with black wings suddenly grabbing my arm and flying up into the sky from below the canyon. As Aria continued to fly up, she rushed at Camilla. Aria, rushing at Camilla so fast that it seemed like a black arrow was flying, cut Camilla’s abdomen in two with her staff. And everyone who saw this was greatly astonished, and I, who was held by Aria’s hand, was also greatly astonished.

[We won!! Black Saintess!! Wan!!]