The Rival Doesn't Die Easily

'Damn it...'

Anna, lying flat on the floor, glanced at Michael’s corpse. 'Nick died without a chance to do anything, and Michael committed suicide... Ha, I’m really the only one left. Ah, Killian, Roy, and Dante... they must have survived. Alex seems to be dead. And Aran... that damn lizard bastard.'

She hadn't yet withdrawn the 'Veil' she had cast over herself. She didn't think the enemy leader would kill ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her right away, but she still needed to observe the situation a bit longer. 'What will happen to me now... I know a little Korean, but... will he actually accept me?'

The Saintess was lost in thought. She wanted to live a little longer.

Her name was Anna Green. Born to a Jewish family in a small town in the eastern United States, Anna, who was non-religious, was rumored to be the prettiest girl in town. Because of that, she had been endlessly pursued by various men since childhood, and petty scandals, incidents, and rumors never ceased. That annoyed the hell out of Anna. She knew better than anyone that her looks were top-tier. Therefore, she had no intention of wasting such a beautiful appearance on some trivial country bumpkins.

Eventually, Anna ran away from the shameless men in reality who wanted to exploit her looks and body without even paying, and she started internet broadcasting. Even without finding a boyfriend who would look only at her, she fell into the world of the internet, where tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of people could watch her. There, Anna communicated with people from various countries. Her native language, English, was a given, and due to the nature of internet broadcasting, which is full of anime and otaku elements, she became as proficient in Japanese as if it were her second language. Also, for some reason, Korean viewers accounted for about 18 percent of her total audience, so she was able to learn some Korean because of the occasional Super Chats that came in.

Anna, who had become a famous internet broadcaster—incomparable to Han Aram, who hadn't even reached 2,000 viewers—earned a massive income, left that shitty country town, and moved to New York. New York, where she had gone with such high hopes.

"Ughhhhh!!!!"

A horde of zombies appeared. They even spouted nonsense about how some things, whether they were gods or whatever, were downloading the DLC: Eternal Night as a thank you for enjoying the Earth. Anna couldn't understand this at all. Was this world a game? Even in an era where the metaverse was popular...

"What is this..."

However, she couldn't let zombies take the house she had just moved into today, so amidst the situation where zombies were pounding on the front door, Anna decided to accept reality quickly. As an internet broadcaster, she was already familiar with this kind of repertoire. Sudden destruction, a mysterious virus, zombies and survivors, struggles between survivors, and so on.

Quickly grasping the situation, Anna picked up the baseball bat she had brought from her hometown for self-defense.

"Mom, Dad, you must be dead already! Damn it!"

-CRACK!!

Smashing a zombie's head, Anna prayed for her parents' souls. And then, she awakened as a Saintess.

After becoming a Saintess, she struggled to escape New York, which was swarming with zombies. Then, she happened to meet a group of survivors made up entirely of Awakened...

"Let go!! You sons of bitches!!!"

"Hehe... Hold her tight. This girl used to be a famous internet broadcaster. When else would we get to fuck someone like this?"

"Hey, hey. If you keep resisting, we won't go easy on you."

"Slurp... Ah... even her tears are sweet. It'll be worth the effort."

"Huuu... you fucking bastards..."

She was on the verge of being raped. Anna, who hadn't trusted them from the start, had intended to use them and discard them, but the survivors, who had planned to rape her one step ahead of her, had drugged her so she couldn't move and tore her clothes to shreds.

"Wow... those tits are..."

"Gulp..."

"M-me first... I’m the one who brought her!"

"This bastard... I’m the leader of this team..."

And finally, in front of her naked body, the men, their crotches bulging as if they were about to burst, began to argue over who would fuck Anna first. At that moment, someone appeared behind them. He was talking to the empty air. As if he were talking to a god.

"Hmm. You want me to save that woman? Yeah. Well, sure."

"Huh? Who are you..."

-SHWACK!!!

The head of the man who had been pinning Anna down was severed. Blood sprayed like a fountain, and the men, flustered, tried to draw their guns all at once. Since it was the early days of the disaster and gun use wasn't restricted, most survivors carried guns.

-SLASH.

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

However, they couldn't fire their guns. Because the hands they were holding the guns with had all fallen to the ground.

"AAAAHH!!! My hand!!!"

"FUUUUCK!!!"

"It hurts!! It hurts!!!"

The man spoke to the rapists howling in pain.

"Zombies will come if you scream!"

The man beheaded the rapists. Anna looked up at the man approaching her, avoiding the rapists who were collapsing and dying one by one. The man looked like he would be strikingly handsome... but he was a madman.

'Why... is he wearing a mask like that...'

Anna looked at the fish mask the man was wearing with a puzzled expression.

"Wear this. It's cold."

The man took off the coat he was wearing and handed it to Anna, and Anna took it and put it on in a daze. That was the first meeting between the Saintess Anna and Nicholas.

After following Nick to his base, Anna met various survivors and became a member of the survivor camp. As she leveled up, she acquired a skill called 'Veil of Mysticism', and ever since she obtained it, she had kept her face hidden behind the veil. In a world where law and morality had disappeared, a beautiful appearance was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no different from poison. Anyway, Anna was able to survive Michael this time by using the veil she always used to hide her face. She showed Michael an illusion of herself being stabbed to death, and Michael thought he was killing her while stabbing the bare ground next to her head with his knife. Anna, who used the veil like a kind of illusion, was able to survive.

'Should I get up now...'

And it seemed the skill would be deactivated soon. She was truly running low on mana. Moreover, since Jojun was looking down at the dead Anna with pity, Anna thought the opponent wouldn't try to kill her immediately.

"E-excuse me."

"Huh? W-what!! You were alive!!!"

Anna, who had been reading the room, eventually got up stealthily. Anna felt a little relieved at the sight of Jojun, who was happier than she expected.

"Hello. Nice to meet you. I'm Anna. I like Korea. Kimchi is delicious. BTS is the best!"

Knowing that Koreans generally like it when foreigners use Korean, she greeted him in Korean, pretending to be friendly for no reason, and praised Korea as much as she could. Then...

"Whoa!!! You even speak Korean!! Awesome!!!"

Anna thought it had worked well this time too. 'I don't think he'll try to kill me...'

Anna smiled and gave a sweet look to Jojun, who was looking down at her. Then...

-STAB.

"Huh? Uh... KYAAAAA!!!!!"

A dagger dug deep into her shoulder. Anna screamed in bewilderment and pain.

"If you were alive, you should have gotten up quickly!!! Submit!! Submit!!!"

"AAAAHH!!! Help!! Help me please!!!"

Jojun roughly pulled out the dagger stuck in Anna's shoulder and used 'Flesh Regeneration', and Anna, thinking she might really die, begged him to spare her.

"Good. Put your forehead here."

Thus, a slave brand was imprinted on Anna's forehead, and she fell into being Jojun's sex slave.

The Good Gods gathered in one place. They vaguely confirmed the situation from Nick's perspective. Even his death.

[It was a mistake to accept that troublemaker Aran as a team member in the first place.]

[It’s already done... so don't get too worked up. We need to plan our next move right away...]

[More importantly, where is the Savior’s soul?]

At the question of Keponus, who governs order, the God of Wisdom took out a round sphere.

[We have recovered it.]

[It’s fortunate that he died at Michael’s hands, at least.]

Thanks to Michael killing Nick at the right time, his soul could return to the Pantheon intact. If Michael hadn't killed him, it would have been more troublesome than imagined. If he had become Jojun's slave, Nick's soul would have been bound, and the class of 'Savior' wouldn't have become vacant, which would have been problematic. Also, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if Jojun had killed Nick and offered him to the Evil Gods, the class would have become vacant, but the soul of 'Luck 777' would have been lost, so it would have been a loss in the end. Michael killing Nick ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a godsend.

[Creating a new 777 is too costly.]

[It would be better to put him into a suitable body and resurrect him.]

[There are a few candidates...]

The Good Gods intended to put Nick's soul into a new body. That way, the consumption of causality would be less. Moreover, Nick had already saved thousands of lives, maximizing the power of the Holy Sword, and although it wasn't his will, he had mastered the 'Language of the Ten Thousand Demons' by reading the 'Book of Manti', and he had awakened some of the memories of the previous heroes contained in the Holy Sword by drinking from the 'Fountain of Wisdom', even though only dregs remained. He had come too far to be discarded just because he didn't listen.

From the beginning, they had planned to find a new body and resurrect him if Nick died. As long as he didn't fall into the hands of the Cultists, it was fine. At least once. In reality, this resurrection was Nick's first and last chance.

[The amount of elixir we fed him... he shouldn't die this soon.]

[We were too lenient with him from the start.]

[Certainly... there were many problems. But still, resurrecting someone who has died once...]

[Causality. That’s always the problem.]

[The Manma-jeon will not let this slide.]

[There is nothing to give up. We will return what was taken.]

[In a way... one might say the balance has finally been struck.]

In exchange for Nick's resurrection, they would unseal Botamilli. That was the Good Gods' proposal, and since the atmosphere in the Manma-jeon was already heated by Jojun's victory, they readily accepted the offer. Indikron and Kashnakas eased their burden with Botamilli's resurrection and could plan for the future. Also, even if Nick were resurrected, they didn't doubt Jojun's victory because her trust in him was already immense.

[Anyway... I should have a talk with the old men of the Man-gwi-jeon.]

[That’s right. There were too many classes belonging to the Man-gwi-jeon as the Cultist's minions.]

[Since it’s come to this, how about we demand the Archmage and the Trickster?]

[That sounds good. The World Tree and I will contact them separately. She seems to be quite angry as well.]

[Then, lastly... what about the Saintess?]

[Leave her be. For now.]

Soon, the Good Gods dispersed. They began to make their moves again for final victory.