The End of Defiance

'Who... the hell are you?'

"I see..."

I glared at Catherine approaching me.

"You fucking bastards."

"...Your grudge against us... it will fade soon enough once we erase your consciousness."

One thing was clear: I had no intention of letting her take me without a fight.

I can't just sit here like this.

I forced my collapsed body to stand once more.

Yeah... let's do what I can until I can't anymore...

But no matter how I looked at her, she wasn't an opponent I could take lightly.

Damn...

I could vaguely sense it. She was on a whole different level—a true powerhouse.

She's not someone I can even scratch. No point in getting clever; I need to focus everything on escaping.

The moment that thought hit me, I spun around and bolted with everything I had.

"Not a chance."

"!?"

Whoosh—

But in that instant... a blue flame erupted from the direction I was fleeing, spreading in a flash to encircle the entire area, blocking any escape.

The weird part was, as the flames spread and I got closer, the temperature didn't rise—instead, it felt colder, like my body was freezing solid. A chill hung in the air.

I reached out toward the flame, and frost actually settled on my fingertips, freezing my fingers stiff.

If I try to pass through here, my whole body would freeze...

Even for me, breaking through those flames seemed impossible.

"Did you think I'd let you run away so easily?"

I whipped around to glare at her, and there she was, looking down at me with an arrogant expression and a leisurely smile.

Can I really escape this?

Did I have no choice but to buy time? But how?

If only I could check how much time had passed...

As I scanned the surroundings, trying to gauge how long I'd been out, it suddenly hit me: the buff showed its remaining duration.

Ah!

I quickly opened my status window to check the blessing's timer.

When I parted from Marie... the blessing had 1 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hour and 40 minutes left.

Now it's 1 hour 18 minutes... so about 22 minutes have passed?

I had only 8 minutes left until our promised time, but considering it took around 10 minutes to run from the monastery here... even at top speed, it would take at least 15 minutes.

Did I give myself too much buffer time?

I let out a short sigh, swallowing a mix of regret and disappointment.

If I'd known, I wouldn't have brushed Marie off with 'I'll send a signal'—I should've prepared fireworks or something...

15 minutes meant it was unrealistic to expect help from anyone.

What do I do?

I slowly turned my gaze back to Catherine. Her expression made it clear: no mercy, no time for me.

Fight her?

Before I could settle on that, a black mass shot from her fingertip straight at me.

Shoo—

I reflexively twisted my body aside, and the attack narrowly grazed past my right arm.

"...!"

It felt like a massive cannonball had whistled by—air tore apart, rushing in and deafening my ears.

She's definitely not someone I can handle...

A chill ran down my spine.

Isn't there some way out?

Fighting head-on, running, stalling... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if none of that worked, what the hell could I do?

Think...

What could I do? Was I overlooking something?

...Ah?

Suddenly, Vivian's amulet popped into my mind—the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one I'd forgotten about briefly.

Is that my only option?

But why hadn't it activated yet?

I've been in danger plenty of times...

The trigger was a fatal attack that would kill the owner.

Come to think of it... she hasn't tried to kill me even once so far...

That last attack hadn't aimed for my torso or head—it targeted my right arm.

If it had, I couldn't have dodged...

Was she holding back just enough so I wouldn't die?

I get it... she can't kill me, the vessel of the evil god?

That confirmed she didn't know about my immortality.

But what now?

If she wouldn't try to kill me, the amulet wouldn't trigger.

Do I have to deliberately take her attacks?

But if she kept pulling her punches... I might just end up half-assed injured without triggering it.

Wait...?

Something clicked, and I quickly scanned around. Near Margaret's corpse, I spotted the fruit knife I'd dropped earlier.

Right... instead of taking her attack, what if I attack myself?

I launched toward the knife. At the same moment, Catherine's attack flew at me.

"Where do you think you're going!"

Her strike was sharp and fast, but if she was holding back to not kill me, it wasn't unavoidable.

"!"

Sure enough, it aimed for my leg.

Shoo—

Without slowing, I timed my leap perfectly, rolling forward in a somersault to recover, then sprinted full-tilt for the knife again.

"Insolent."

Her voice dripped with irritation... and then not one, but dozens of black masses rained down on me at once.

"Tch!"

I instinctively knew: I can't dodge them all.

Grinding my teeth, I ran solely for the knife.

Shoo! Shooosh—

I twisted away from the first few.

Shoo-shoo-shoo... Shooosh—

But the sixth grazed my shoulder, throwing off my balance badly.

"Ugh!"

I staggered but forced myself upright—only for the next to slam straight into my right arm.

Splurch—

Blood exploded out, my arm half-torn off.

"Aaaargh...!"

Agonizing pain stabbed my brain, darkness closing in.

"Kuh!"

But I couldn't stop. Gulping air, crushing the pain, I hurled myself forward.

The knife was within reach now.

Catherine's attacks kept coming endlessly, shredding flesh and rattling bones with every hit.

Stumbling, dragging my blood-soaked body... I finally clutched the fallen knife.

Got it!

Without hesitation, I slashed it across my throat.

"!?"

But that instant—

Ding—

Black iron chains burst from everywhere, binding me mercilessly.

"...Damn it!!"

My hand froze mid-slash... blood trickled from my throat, but it wasn't fatal.

"Your movements have been... off for a while now. But I never imagined you'd actually try suicide. I can't let you die, can I?"

"Guh! ...Y-You... fucking bitch!"

Catherine approached slowly, savoring the moment.

"Heh heh heh heh..."

Her face twisted into a creepy smile, like everything so far had been mere child's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠play.

"You won't even let me die!?"

"Of course not. You're the precious vessel of the evil god. I can't let you die carelessly."

Her hand, now inches from my face, caressed my cheek.

"...What are you planning to do with me?!"

"First, we need to get back and erase your consciousness. Can't have the vessel this rebellious—who knows what you'd do next."

Purple haze rose from her fingertips, flowing over my face.

"...Y-You... fucking... bitch!!"

"See you back at the cult. Our new master."

My heart grew languid, eyelids heavy. Exhaustion washed over me.

"...F-Fuck... you."

My eyes began to close.

So it didn't work after all...

Through my blurring vision, I glared at the system window.

Do what? It didn't work.

I did my best...

What? Can't you see this hopeless situation?!

It's all over!

...

...

'Numbers?'

Flash—

The moment the countdown hit zero... light exploded before me.

What?

Ding—

Even through the blinding light, the system window appeared in my vision.

What?

Suddenly, something yanked me into a tight embrace.

"Teresa!"

A familiar voice, a warm embrace.