The First Ticking — Five Ticks
The pocket watch, which should have been broken and frozen in time, was ticking steadily. It wasn’t a single accidental twitch either. The second hand, minute hand, and hour hand moved in perfect harmony. Even its color had returned to its original brilliant hue.
“……”
I stood there in a daze, eyes darting back and forth between the pocket watch in my hand and the room around me. The moment I’d taken hold of the watch, the bone-chilling cold that had sealed it away vanished completely. The chamber, once encased in ice, had reverted to its original stone architecture, and the temperature was steadily returning to normal.
“…What in the world is this?”
But none of that mattered to me right now. What consumed my thoughts was the vast cosmos that had unfolded before my eyes moments ago. The single star that had approached me without hesitation and spoken directly to me. The goddess, Astria. Committing every detail about her to memory was the most critical thing.
‘The goddess intervened directly?’
In the world of Divia, the gods were very real. It wasn’t just because I had met one face-to-face. The artifact now resting in my palm was proof enough. Ever since the mythic era was established as historical fact, the existence of transcendent beings known as gods had been confirmed long ago.
Yet while the gods existed, they had never intervened in the game’s story. They maintained strict neutrality, refusing to involve themselves no matter what happened. Whether that was by their own choice or due to some binding restriction, I couldn’t say. In any case, I had never once seen a god step into the narrative.
Until now.
“As the god of those children, I shall grant you a reward…?”
Her words were a complete enigma. What did it mean to prove my arrogance by finding the child? And what did she mean by rewarding me as their god? Was Astria even a deity who spoke on behalf of others? Hadn’t she simply been the goddess who read the stars and observed fate?
I didn’t know. The more I thought about it, the more my head spun. Nothing became any clearer.
“So she was telling me not to think about it any further.”
The faint twinkle of the star just before she departed had seemed to say that understanding wasn’t necessary. That I would come to understand on my own eventually.
“For now, the important thing is that I received the reward.”
The golden pocket watch in my grasp continued its steady ticking. The fact that a watch that should have been cracked and dull gray was now gleaming cleanly meant this was no longer a mere fragment of a myth-grade artifact. In other words, what I held was the fully restored myth-grade artifact created by the goddess Astria herself.
“Still… isn’t this something that shouldn’t appear at this point in the story?”
Fragments of myth-grade artifacts typically started appearing around the mid-game at the earliest. Even those fragments only became available halfway through the story, yet here I was with the complete myth-grade artifact itself.
“Well, it’s not like I’m going to complain about it.”
If the game’s balance was breaking in my favor, that was nothing but good news. With that thought, I slowly stepped out of the passage.
To be honest, there were plenty of suspicious elements to all this, but there was nothing I could do about them right now. Besides, I had gained far more than I had lost.
“…How much time has passed? What about Beatrice?”
From my perspective, it didn’t feel like much time had gone by, but in these kinds of situations time usually slipped away without notice. I hurried out of the passage and headed toward the front of the Altar of Blood where Beatrice should be waiting.
“Now that I think about it, I’ve barely ever gone to the front area.”
Although the place had become famous for hiding a fragment of a myth-grade artifact, the Altar of Blood was originally nothing more than a forgotten temple with nothing of value. Even I, who prided myself on having played Divia at an expert level, had only barely uncovered the connection between Beatrice and this altar. There was no way most players would know about it.
True to its open-world nature, most people would enter once, take a quick look around, and leave. After all, it was a location deliberately tucked away in a corner of the map with a “don’t bother looking for me” vibe, and there weren’t even any monsters to fight since it was a sacred altar.
Thud. Thud.
Krr… Krrraaah….
A gruesome scene of blood and flesh strewn everywhere. The altar that had been spotlessly clean without even a single insect was now drenched in crimson. I couldn’t help but freeze in shock.
Countless monster corpses lay scattered about, though I had no idea where they had come from. The sheer number of monsters that had swarmed into the altar was astonishing enough, but the fact that every last one of them was dead was even more bewildering.
“What the hell is going on…?”
Thinking that, I broke into a run toward the front of the altar. If this many monsters had suddenly rushed in, it could only mean something had happened to Beatrice.
In the game, I had triggered the event of taking the watch many times, but a large-scale monster wave like this had never occurred. Of course, there was the difference that I had obtained the complete myth-grade artifact instead of just a fragment, but still.
The biggest deviation from the game right now was that Beatrice had entered the Altar of Blood alone and was undergoing some kind of trial. And that trial was something whose nature I couldn’t even begin to guess.
Just the thought that this unknown trial might ruin Beatrice sent chills racing across my entire body.
“…Beatrice!”
With that thought burning in my mind, I reached the center of the altar.
BAAAAAANG—!
And there, I witnessed it firsthand.
Where the pillars supporting the temple, the statues honoring the gods, and the altar for offerings should have been, something else entirely now stood.
Vrrrrrm.Crack!
Muscular statues with glowing red eyes, cloaked in magical energy, were swinging massive pillars like weapons. They attacked Beatrice with what seemed like deep-seated resentment, striking with all their might.
Boom!BAAAAANG!
“Ugh…”
Beatrice couldn’t block the devastating blows and was forced to dodge desperately. Seeing her like that, I furrowed my brow deeply.
It was only natural. The statues attacking her were a type of golem I knew all too well.
“Great Vampire Execution Golem.”
Golems created specifically to execute vampires—bloodsuckers who fed on human blood. They were forged by grinding up the vengeful souls of victims who harbored deep grudges against vampires. Ordinary vampires could never hope to stand against them.
“But why are they here?”
No, more importantly, why was Beatrice being pushed back by them?
Great Vampire Execution Golems were objects that regular vampires could never defeat. Vampires who manipulated blood were naturally at a disadvantage against golems that had neither blood nor flesh, and these particular golems also possessed resistance to blood magic.
But that only applied to ordinary vampires.
To Beatrice, who was destined to evolve into the owner of Noble Blood, they should have meant nothing. Her attacks could pierce through most blood magic resistance and strike the target directly. Even if she hadn’t fully matured yet, that characteristic shouldn’t have disappeared.
The fact that she was still being overwhelmed meant…
“…There must be a reason.”
And I immediately understood that reason. I saw it in the way Beatrice’s eyes trembled as she looked at the golems. I understood the heart of a girl who couldn’t bring herself to fight back and was helplessly pushed back.
“Guilt.”
Even though the golems were trying to kill her, the souls fused into their cores were victims who held grudges against vampires. For a young girl like Beatrice, who hadn’t yet been hardened by society, feeling guilty toward those victims wasn’t strange at all. Children tended to empathize deeply with others’ emotions. That was also why they were so easily swayed.
“She’s still too soft.”
If this had been the Beatrice who had already fallen, disappointed in both humanity and the world, the one whose light had faded—she would have cleared this altar’s trial with ease. By then, the resentment of victims would have meant nothing to her.
But the current Beatrice was different. She hadn’t been worn down yet, so she felt guilt. Even though she hadn’t actually committed those sins.
It was irrational. It wasn’t a logical course of action.
However.
“That side of her is what I like more.”
From the moment I decided to save her from falling, I had preferred this version of her. Besides, shouldn’t a child still have some childlike qualities?
“So.”
It was time for me to step in.
With that thought, I looked down at the pocket watch clutched in my hand. My finger moved swiftly to the rapidly ticking second hand.
The second hand trembled for a moment, then began moving noticeably slower than before.
Grrrrrrrrrrrr—
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG—!
At the same time, everything in my field of vision began to slow down. Beatrice’s breathing, the blood spraying from her wounds, the golem’s powerfully swinging arm, even the fragments scattering across the floor as they struck the ground. Everything moved in slow motion.
This was the power of the myth-grade artifact, Astria’s Clock. It allowed its user to manipulate time, even if only briefly. A literal divine authority.
“Cough…”
Of course, wielding such authority with a human body came at a cost. The blood that burst from my mouth the moment it activated was proof of that.
“Right now, it’s only three seconds…”
I could slow it down even further if I pushed myself, but anything more would put my life at risk. I could feel it instinctively. Even this was a significantly enhanced version thanks to Astria’s reward.
‘Long live the goddess.’
I offered a silent thank-you to Astria for her gift and slowly stepped forward. To save my very first child, who was still so painfully young.