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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Are you listening?”
While Adriana prepared the warp, I sat cross-legged and cautiously spoke into the air.
“Hmm? Did you call me?”
Hayun, who was resting nearby, turned her head slightly, but I waved her off and continued.
“I know you can hear me.”
Hayun looked at me curiously, and even Adriana glanced in our direction.
Shouldn’t she be focusing on the warp?
Ignoring their questioning gazes, I kept talking.
“Answer me. I know you’re listening.”
“Are you really going to do this?”
“Come on, let’s just talk.”
After a while, I was so used to talking to the air that I no longer felt embarrassed, even with Hayun and Adriana watching me.
– Ugh, stop talking!
Finally, the Goddess of Time answered.
Her voice was so hysterical that I wondered if the others could hear her too, but they seemed oblivious, continuing with their tasks.
“You finally answered.”
– I’m busy, you know? You’re mumbling so much, it’s making my ears itch.
So gods have ears too.
Well, I guess they must look somewhat similar to us.
“This is serious. I need your help.”
– Huh? Do you think I’m your friend, that I can just drop everything and come running whenever you call?
“If it was just the Priestess of Time, I could handle it myself. Especially now that she can’t use your power.”
– So?
Her innocent question made my blood boil. Was this how she always talked, or was she just trying to annoy me?
“Kurika’s on her side. I can’t fight him alone.”
– You have the witch and the swordswoman. They seemed to get along pretty well.
“You were watching?”
……
So she had been watching all along and deliberately ignored me?
I was starting to really want to meet this goddess in person. I couldn’t hit her, but I could at least give her a good flick on the forehead.
“You know how strong Kurika is, right?”
– Of course. There’s no one on the continent who can defeat him in a one-on-one fight. Well, it depends on the circumstances.
I was glad she was aware of his strength.
“So please help me. Give me some of your power.”
– You’ve never relied on such things before, have you?
“……”
I was speechless.
She had hit a nerve.
I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t.
– Are you angry about what happened with Sharcal? That you couldn’t defeat him without Kurika’s help? That even if you had won, you wouldn’t have escaped death without my intervention?
“That’s a bit harsh.”
She was right.
As the one who had saved me, the Goddess of Time must have witnessed my emotions firsthand.
I had reached my limit.
I needed to become stronger.
Even if it meant relying on the power of a god, I needed it.
– Hmm…
She seemed to be considering it. Anxiety and impatience coiled within me, but…
– Fine. I took back the power I gave the Priestess, so I can spare some for you.
“Really?!”
– You’re way too excited. It’s making me regret this.
I wanted to jump up and thank her, but Adriana’s voice stopped me.
“Daniel! I’m ready!”
Hayun also stood up, dusting off her clothes and joining Adriana.
– Go now.
The Goddess of Time urged me with a smile.
I felt a bit uneasy, but I stepped into the magic circle Adriana had drawn.
“It’s my first time, so the circle is a bit complicated and large. But don’t worry, the Grand Witch helped me.”
The Grand Witch was leaning against a corner of the collapsed house, sound asleep. I had thought she was dying, but her life force was surprisingly strong.
She was stable now.
Well, she had lived for centuries. She must be tough.
“I can’t go with you. I can’t leave the Grand Witch alone.”
“It’s okay, this is enough.”
“Thank you, Adriana.”
As Hayun and I expressed our gratitude, Adriana’s eyes welled up with tears. She slowly handed me a wooden ring made of roots.
“This is…”
“Mine was used up in the beast-kin territory, so this is the Grand Witch’s. You know how to use it, right?”
“……Yes.”
It was a precious ring, one that allowed them to return to the witches’ village.
“Take it, just in case. You need to escape if things get dangerous.”
Adriana’s eyes were filled with worry and concern. She had experienced firsthand the terror of facing the Priestess of Time and Kurika.
“You might not be happy about this, but… please avenge our village.”
“I’m not exactly thrilled about it, but…”
Honestly, I didn’t care about the witches. They weren’t much better than the Priestess of Time, but…
“For you, I’ll consider it.”
Adriana was still young, and she had left the academy early because of her gift of prophecy.
For her sake, I would avenge the witches.
“Hey, what about me?”
Hayun frowned, annoyed that Adriana had only given me a ring. She looked at Adriana, expecting an explanation, but Adriana avoided her gaze.
“Ahem, I’ll come visit you in your village once the Grand Witch recovers. So wait for me.”
“……Fine.”
“Hey, I said, what about me?”
This time, Adriana completely ignored Hayun. She focused her mana on the Grand Witch’s staff.
“Good luck.”
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It was a strange sensation, moving freely while the world was frozen.
But it couldn’t last forever.
I stepped in front of Rin, shielding her, and released the flow of time.
Protecting her was my priority.
“Daniel!”
Rin called out to me, ready to embrace me, but she stopped herself. This wasn’t the time for a joyous reunion.
“Why are youuuu!”
The moment time resumed, the Priestess charged at me, her eyes blazing with fury, her face contorted with a rage unbecoming of a servant of the gods.
Clang!
Our swords clashed.
The Priestess was skilled in close combat, but she couldn’t stop time anymore, and she couldn’t fight me properly with only one arm.
I twisted my sword, deflecting her attack downwards. She gritted her teeth, forced to adjust her stance.
“Raaaaargh!”
Kurika, now completely under the control of the Goddess of Death, lunged at me, his fangs bared, his claws outstretched.
He was a true predator, ready to tear me to shreds.
But Kurika’s time froze mid-air.
“Youuu! How dare you use that power! Why do you have that powerrr!”
The Priestess shrieked, dropping her sword and charging at me. I sidestepped and landed a precise kick to her abdomen.
“Ugh!”
She doubled over, coughing up black blood. I ignored her and approached the frozen Kurika, striking the back of his head with the pommel of my sword.
Thud!
Time resumed.
Kurika, who had been charging with unstoppable momentum, stumbled and crashed to the ground, stunned by the unexpected blow.
“I don’t know if it’s because of his injuries or the mind control, but you’re not using Kurika’s full potential at all, are you?”
It was true.
Kurika was fighting at a fraction of his true strength. He was like a puppet, his movements stiff and awkward.
The Goddess of Death, despite controlling such a powerful being, couldn’t utilize his full potential.
“Why! Why! Why! Whyyy! Why do you have the Goddess’s powerrr!”
The Priestess kept repeating the same phrase as she attacked me. She had gotten back on her feet after my attack, as if it had been nothing.
‘She really does come back to life even after dying.’
As Hayun had said, she was immortal.
I stomped on Kurika’s head, then reached out towards the Priestess.
She froze mid-swing.
Using this new power so frequently was taking a toll on me.
I felt a sharp pain in my head, my body swaying, but I didn’t stop.
I charged forward, my sword flashing, and decapitated the Priestess.
Then, I released my power.
Thud!
Her head and body rolled across the ground. The mark on her forehead glowed, and her body reassembled itself.
“Damn it.”
“Ugh! Daniel McLean! Heretic! Infidel! I will… I will kill you and offer your soul to the Goddess…!”
“……”
“I will kill you! I will kill you! That power is mine!”
Her words, once fueled by rage, now seemed tinged with desperation. I wanted to kill her, to unleash my fury on the woman who had tormented Rin, exploited Hayun’s trauma, and committed atrocities while hiding behind the will of her god.
But…
“How pathetic.”
She had been abandoned by the Goddess of Time she worshipped, turned into a puppet of the Goddess of Death, deceiving herself to cope with her own brokenness.
She wasn’t even worth my anger.
So I simply cut her down again.
“I’ll kill you as many times as you want.”
What followed was a cycle of death.
I didn’t give her a chance to get close, and I killed her over and over again.
“S-stop…”
Her voice was a broken whisper, begging for death. But the mark on her forehead, now a curse instead of a blessing, kept bringing her back.
‘This is getting tricky.’
She was immortal.
I couldn’t stay here forever, killing her endlessly.
But then…
“Daniel, I’ll take care of it.”
Rin, who had been watching silently, stepped past me. She approached the remains of the Priestess, which no longer resembled a human being.
Rin gently reached out…
And her darkness began to devour the Priestess.
“Rest now.”
“Ugh…”
With a final, pained moan, the Priestess of Time was consumed by the darkness, finally finding eternal peace.
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[Your Text Here]
Oh lord let her be dead for real this time