Faith
Thud—!
There was no sound.
My fist struck empty air, yet there was no impact, not even a vibration.
"......?"
I stared blankly at my hand.
I had clearly crossed the temple threshold and felt the sensation of space twisting.
But when I opened my eyes, I was not standing on the temple floor. I was floating in midair.
Trapped inside a transparent wall—a barrier—that overlooked the temple interior.
"Hey! Extra!"
I pounded on the glass-like membrane.
"Roy! Can't you hear me?"
No matter how loudly I shouted, my voice scattered against the transparent wall without crossing it.
It was as if this space itself had erased me from the world.
[Warning: Only permitted entities may interfere with the 'Sanctuary'.]
And down below.
At the center of the pristine white temple, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
"......Ah."
Roy was on his knees.
The same Roy who was always cocky, unpredictable, and acted like he knew everything.
He was sobbing like a child.
Before him stood a woman in a black dress.
The moment I saw her face, I stopped breathing.
"......It's me?"
The face was mine, but the atmosphere was different.
That pitch-black aura pouring from her entire body. Those lifeless eyes that held not a trace of vitality.
I knew it instinctively.
She was not someone else.
She was the future me—the me who had lost Roy.
Her lips moved.
Strangely, while the transparent wall blocked my voice, hers reached my ears with perfect clarity.
["So... I died in that flowerbed over five hundred times."]
["Every time I was dying, I wondered if you would come back and hold me again."]
"......!"
I clamped a hand over my mouth.
'I regressed 999 times...'
Five hundred.
She slit her own throat five hundred times while waiting for Roy?
Her voice was so calm that it made everything even more horrifying.
She continued recounting the records of hell in a dry, detached tone, as if telling someone else's story.
["That empty shell..."
["It wore your face... stole kisses from my lips by force... tried to touch my body."]
Crack.
Without realizing it, I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms and drew blood.
"What the hell are you saying......"
An empty shell.
Did that mean there was a fake wearing Roy's face, stripped of his memories?
That hollow body, its soul already gone, had dared to...?
"Kill it......"
The words slipped out on their own.
Now I understood why Roy below was wailing so desperately.
He had learned what kind of humiliation the me he left behind had suffered.
["So I killed them all."]
["I burned the entire capital to the ground... and cut off every single person's head to check."]
The confession of slaughter continued.
She had destroyed the kingdom, washed the world in blood, all in search of Roy.
I wanted to deny it.
I was not that kind of monster.
But my heart, my very soul, was screaming in affirmation.
'I would have done the same.'
If it were a world without Roy.
If it were a false world where that man had vanished forever.
I, too, would have burned everything without hesitation and slit my own throat.
That woman was not a monster.
She was the most honest, most broken version of myself.
"Roy......"
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
The shoulders of the Roy crying below looked so small.
That was when it happened.
The blackened Adelia raised her sword to kill Roy.
But Roy did not dodge.
He simply closed his eyes, crushed beneath guilt, as if accepting death.
"Dodge! You idiot! Move!!"
I slammed my fists against the glass wall like a madwoman.
No.
Don't die.
If you die, what am I supposed to do?
How am I supposed to stay sane in a world without you?
Thud! Thud!
My fists tore open, smearing blood across the barrier.
I was desperate.
I wanted to save that foolish man even if it cost me my life.
'Please... save him.'
'My Roy.'
In that moment of desperation, something boiled up from the depths of my soul.
It was not mere affection.
This was the reason for my existence—the only pillar that supported me.
[The target's (Roy) emotions have surpassed the critical threshold.]
[Faith increased: 30% ▶ 50%]
[Hidden condition met: Qualification for 'Fanaticism' granted.]
Shhhk.
The black slash fell.
"No!!!!"
* * *
KUOOOOOO—!!!
In that instant, a miracle occurred.
It was not my will.
My right hand shot upward on its own.
As if someone had forcibly grabbed my arm and yanked it up.
The Golden Lion King's Gauntlet roared madly.
['The King' does not acknowledge submission.]
[Master Protection: Automatic defense initiated.]
[Authority: 'Deletion' interference has been 'blocked'.]
KWAAAAANG—!!!
A massive explosion tore through my eardrums.
The 'black line (deletion)' swung by the blackened Adelia was halted by the 'golden wall (denial)' erupting from my gauntlet.
It was not simply being repelled.
The power trying to erase and the power refusing to be erased gnawed at each other, screaming in madness.
Was it the aftermath of the collision?
The blackened Adelia's movements, which had been crushing me with overwhelming force, came to an abrupt stop.
ZZZZT.
Her form flickered like a noisy video feed.
The system's forced command was clashing with my gauntlet's veto, causing an error.
["......Ugh...... Ah......"]
Her black eyes turned red.
For a brief moment, she regained her senses and looked at me with trembling eyes.
No—more precisely, she was looking at my tears.
["Don't...... cry......"]
She bit her lips until they bled, desperately trying to lower her sword.
But this world would not release her arm.
To stop the sword by her own will, she was gripping the blade with her other hand.
Black blood dripped down.
"Adelia......!"
I could not hold back any longer.
Death be damned—I could not just stand by while the woman before me bled.
I staggered forward and pulled her trembling body into a tight embrace.
Thud.
She was cold.
Not the warmth of a living person.
An ice block whose soul had frozen over after dying tens of thousands of times.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry......"
I sobbed, stroking her cold back.
If only I had been stronger.
If only I had not left you behind and died.
Sssss...
Then I felt a strange sensation at my fingertips.
Behind her back, where my arms touched, tiny black particles were crumbling away like sand.
As if her very existence had reached its limit and was slowly collapsing.
Her body, held in my arms, trembled.
["Ah...... It's warm."]
She buried her face against my chest.
["My Roy......"]
At that moment, a status window appeared before my eyes.
[The target's emotions are in turmoil.]
Jealousy.
Jealousy toward her past self, who had forgotten everything and found happiness.
Resignation.
A sorrowful resignation that she could no longer turn back.
Will.
Even so, the will to save the man she loved.
All these emotions mixed together, pushing the halted numbers upward.
[Faith increased: 50% ▶ 100% (Sealed)]
[Condition met: Activation conditions for 'King's Mercy' unlocked.]
[Condition met: Activation conditions for 'King's Repose' unlocked.]
["There's...... no time."]
She pushed me away.
Her eyes were rapidly turning black again.
["Listen carefully, my god... Roy."]
She urgently pointed toward the air.
Toward the transparent barrier where Adelia (the present one) was trapped.
["I am a puppet of this world. I cannot fight according to my own will."]
["The world's coercion will control me and attempt the most efficient slaughter."]
Her voice trembled.
["So I...... will use Form 2."]
"Form 2......?"
["Yes. Forms 3 through 6 are techniques mixed with my will, so the system cannot perfectly control them. Form 2 is...... the simplest slaughter technique."]
'Form 3? Form 6? What are those...?'
My mind was in chaos.
In the original novel, Adelia had used Form 3 against the Demon King and perished.
I had thought that was the limit a human could reach, but Form 6?
She gave a bitter, self-deprecating laugh.
["So if you want to stop me...... you must use Form 3."]
["When I create an opening with Form 2, drive Form 3 into that gap."]
That was the strategy she had given me.
The saddest strategy in the world—to kill herself.
["Now, I'll show you. This is...... the completed form."]
She raised the black holy sword.
["Holy Sword — Full Power Release"]
["Third Form Secret Art, Meteor of the Firmament — Comet."]
Piiiiing—!
Light came before sound.
From the tip of the black holy sword, a single point that devoured all light and darkness shot forth.
CRACK—!!!
The sound of the world shattering rang out.
A transparent glass-like wall appeared in the air, then was pierced through like paper.
CRASH—!
Amidst the rain of glass shards.
A single white figure fell to the floor.
Thud.
The person who fell was Adelia.
The present Adelia, identical in appearance to the blackened Adelia standing before me, but holding a white holy sword.
"Adelia?"
Without even catching her breath, she stepped in front of me.
"Extra. Stay back."
"But... you..."
"I said stay back!"
She shouted.
"That is my future. So... I have to deal with it."
At those words, the blackened Adelia standing opposite gave a bitter smile.
The error was being corrected, and the world's coercion was once again consuming her.
["......I'm jealous."]
["My Roy... stayed by your side until the very end."]
["Please...... stop me. Don't let me kill my god."]
The blackened Adelia spoke as if pleading.
Then the Adelia in front of me gave a small laugh and adjusted her grip on the holy sword.
"What's with the formal speech?"
["......What?"]
"You're me. And I'm you."
"Drop the honorifics. We're... friends who know each other best, aren't we?"
At Adelia's bold words, the blackened Adelia's red eyes widened.
Soon, a faint smile spread across her lips.
The most human, most Adelia-like smile.
["......Heh."]
["Yeah, I guess I made a friend who's not really a friend."]
["Don't forget the Third Form of the Holy Sword Secret Arts I taught you..."]
Adelia nodded heavily.
That was the end.
ZZZT—!
[System recovery complete.]
[Forced command reactivated: Eliminate obstacles and 'delete' Roy.]
Her head twisted at an unnatural angle.
Her red eyes were instantly swallowed by pitch-black abysses.
Sssss.
The blackened Adelia raised her sword.
There was no killing intent, no battle cry.
Her movements were chillingly quiet, like a doll being pulled by strings.
BOOM!
She kicked off the floor.
She vanished.
No—she moved so fast she disappeared from sight.
'Fast!'
The Adelia in front of me reflexively raised her sword.
I could not see it, but my instincts screamed 'above'.
CLANG—!!!
"Kugh...!"
An immense weight crushed my entire body.
Adelia's knees buckled halfway, and the temple floor cracked like a spiderweb.
The blackened Adelia was swinging her sword with one hand.
Her expression unchanged. Not a single breath escaping.
Even though Adelia blocked with both hands, she looked dangerously close to having her bones crushed.
SCREEEEE—
The white holy sword screamed as it was pushed back.
Black aura eroded the white aura, devouring it.
"Shut up...!"
Adelia gritted her teeth and knocked the sword away.
Then she unleashed a relentless barrage of attacks without giving any opening.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
Sparks flew.
But none of her attacks even grazed the hem of the blackened Adelia's black dress.
The other side deflected every strike with minimal movement, as if swatting away an annoying fly.
An overwhelming gap in skill.
The difference between a monster who had endured tens of thousands of regressions and a hero who had only just begun to grow after 999 regressions.
'No... At this rate...'
Adelia's breathing grew ragged.
She was barely defending, let alone counterattacking, and was being pushed back.
I could see cold sweat running down her back as she was driven right in front of me.
That was when it happened.
The blackened Adelia rose into the air.
["......Purification."]
A mechanical voice.
Just as she said.
Under the system's control, she was preparing the most efficient slaughter technique.
A black night sky spread out behind her.
Hundreds, thousands of black stars formed.
[...Holy Sword Second Form Secret Art, Star That Slices the Galaxy — Corruption.]
RUMBLE—!
The black stars rained down like a downpour.
Absolute spatial domination.
There was nowhere to run.
"Shit, damn it......!"
Adelia gripped the holy sword with both hands and gathered every last bit of her mana.
A fierce resolve filled her eyes.
"Hraaaah!"
"Holy Sword Second Form Secret Art, Star That Slices the Galaxy!!!"
FWOOOOOSH—!
White stars surged upward and collided with the falling black stars.
KWAAAAAANG—!!!
Light and darkness mixed and exploded.
But it was not enough.
The white stars were devoured one by one, unable to withstand the black stars.
"Kugh...!"
Her pained groan sounded like it was fading.
Blood poured from Adelia's nose and mouth as her veins burst.
Her legs trembled, and her knees were about to touch the ground.
If this continued, we would die.
I instinctively reached out.
And tightly grasped her trembling shoulder with my hand.
"Adelia!!"
At that moment.
VMMMM—!
The lion king's crest on my right hand glowed and vibrated madly.
The emotions she had felt toward me inside the glass wall.
That desperate faith at 50% had become the trigger.
['King's Mark' reacts to the target's high 'Faith (50%)'.]
[Condition met: 'King's Mercy' granted.]
FWOOOOOSH—!
Golden particles erupting from the gauntlet flowed through my hand and into Adelia's body.
King's Mercy
- Effect: Massively increases all of the target's stats.
- Effect: Temporarily ignores mana circuit overload.
- Duration: 3 minutes.
"......Ah?"
Adelia's eyes widened.
Her crumbling aura, now infused with golden light, expanded explosively.
The dying candle began to burn like the sun.
"Haa......!"
She stood up again.
My power, my support, was flowing through her veins.
"Thanks, Extra."
She smiled and began deflecting the falling black stars.
It was different from before.
Her sword strikes, now mixed with golden light, shattered the black stars and pushed all the way to the blackened Adelia's face.
'Now.'
The moment the blackened Adelia created an opening while pouring out Form 2.
The timing she had mentioned.
The smoke cleared.
The blackened Adelia floating in the air moved her eyes mechanically.
When Form 2 was blocked, she hesitated as if flustered.
Seizing that opening, Adelia readjusted her grip on her sword.
VMMMM—!
At the tip of her sword, that same 'single point' the blackened Adelia had shown earlier began to form.
[Holy Sword Secret Art — Third Form.]
I swallowed hard.
Even with the buff,
Using Form 3 with Adelia's body was still dangerous.
Both in the original novel and in the blackened Adelia's teachings, it was a technique of mutual destruction.
"No...... Adelia!"
I shouted.
But she did not stop.
Her left arm twisted with a sickening crack.
Even as the pain of her mana circuits burning coursed through her, she was smiling.
"Pfft, you stupid Extra."
She turned her head to look at me.
Within the golden aura, she smiled more beautifully and desperately than ever.
"I told you I'd protect you."
Her red eyes curved gently.
Just like that time during the rest period, when she had knelt before me after safely passing the first day.
"My body... I can give it for you."
"Adelia......!"
She turned to face forward again.
Behind her, the light of the white holy sword erupted like an explosion.
"Come, future me!!"
She shouted, coughing up blood.
"With the technique you taught me... I'll stop you!!"
FWOOOOOSH—!
Her precarious yet radiant light shot straight toward the black comet falling from the sky.
Along with the deafening roar of the world breaking apart,
she was swallowed into the white light.