The Way the Seal Has Been Kept
A Calamity-class monster.
A creature that even two Level 9s banding together could barely hope to face.
The strongest card the Evil God could play.
And they had summoned that very existence into the heart of human territory.
Did I push too hard?
They must have decided they could no longer simply watch me maintain the seal—and grow stronger while doing it.
Even so, this was overkill.
The Evil God would lose a considerable amount of power over this, and they would walk away with nothing.
I was a little afraid, yes.
But if baiting something like me could yield results this good…
— KWA-RURURURURURU…!
The air twisted. The earth split open. The sky drowned in thick darkness.
And as if that were the signal of its arrival, the trees blackened and warped out of shape.
My body was at its limit.
My limbs trembled. I was soaked in blood from head to toe. Every step threatened to send me toppling.
I had to negotiate with that thing.
At the very least, so the villagers and Bella would be safe.
"…Senior."
Bella’s breathing was ragged.
She looked ready to collapse at any moment herself.
"One favor… just one…"
I slowly turned my back to her, offering her my spine.
"The regeneration circle… on my back… mana…"
Bella let out a hollow laugh.
"You’re not seriously thinking of fighting that monster, are you?"
Fear.
She was doing her best to look fine, but her hands trembled faintly.
I gently took her hand.
"It’s okay…"
Bella flinched.
I wrapped my fingers around her ice-cold hand and whispered softly.
"There’s… a way…"
Bella stared at me with wavering eyes.
Still gripping her hand, I forced a smile toward her.
"So… please…"
Bella clenched her teeth.
Grumbling under her breath, she still stretched out a shaking hand and pressed it to my back.
In that instant, the warm mana she wrung out with everything she had flowed along the magic circle.
— Srrrrrk.
Torn skin knit together. Shattered nerves and blood vessels returned to their proper places.
Even so, I was still short on mana.
I could finally stand on my own, but my legs still quivered.
There was no time to waste, though.
The black mass had begun to thrash.
I immediately drew a dagger and pressed its sharp tip against my own throat.
"……!"
Bella sucked in a breath and reached for my hand, but I firmly shook my head.
— Ssssss…
It began to take form.
Shoulders, arms and legs, waist, hair…
Standing before me was a being that looked exactly like me.
She tilted her body slightly, looking down at me with a seductive smile.
"Really… I truly wanted to meet you."
Envia of Envy.
A monster without a proper form of its own, forever envying other living things and living in their shapes.
"Ahh, such a cute body… This look isn’t bad at all."
She slowly traced her fingertips across her own face—no, across Yeon Bennet’s face.
Then, with a flowing, elegant motion, she took a step closer to me.
I immediately drove the dagger tip deeper.
"If you come any closer…"
I said coldly.
"You’ll have to start by reclaiming the seal from scratch."
Holding the blade to my throat, a brief mad thought flickered through my mind, but I crushed it.
No spare mana for regeneration. No extra lives left.
This isn’t the time to get swept up in simple temptation.
I eased the dagger a fraction away from my neck and steadied myself.
"Fufu. Our false little god is rather gentle, isn’t she?"
A sweet, languid voice that seemed to whisper right into my ear.
The corner of her lips slowly curled upward.
"I was quite surprised earlier. I thought you’d run, of course. But instead you pulled us in. Don’t tell me it was because of the people?"
She took another step forward.
I brought the dagger back to my throat.
"Truly… so foolish and disgusting."
In that instant—
KWAAAAAANG—!!!
An explosive surge of power shook everything around us.
Lightning splitting the sky.
The ground overturning, flames devouring the earth.
"That power isn’t something a pathetic bitch like you deserves to hold!!!"
"……!"
"I’ll give you a choice."
Envia flicked her fingertips as she spoke.
"If you make the wise decision, there won’t be any unnecessary sacrifices. I’ll spare that pitiful knight and those insect-like humans as well."
The moment the words left her mouth, she slowly raised her hand and began gathering power.
"If you don’t like that…"
Envia continued, sneering at me with Yeon’s face.
"I’ll leave you neither dead nor alive and keep you as a test subject. Watching the humans you tried to protect get torn apart one by one right in front of you sounds fun too."
I tightened my grip on the dagger.
Cold sweat slid down my spine.
"Test subject?"
"Yes. Dissecting you while you’re still alive should yield some interesting data."
Damn it.
"Everyone’s curious how a weakling like you can hold that great power and still be fine. Of course I won’t kill you. I want to keep you alive as long as possible for the experiments."
She laughed as if it were nothing.
Alive… experimented on for a long, long time…
I lowered my eyes.
Heat slowly rose inside my body.
My heart raced, and strange images bloomed in my mind.
Cold instruments. Skin being sliced open. Organs scattered everywhere. The emotionless voices of monsters above it all.
In the fantasy I lay on the operating table, gasping for breath with a blood-soaked body, waiting for the monsters’ touch.
Heuk! Hah…!
I bit my lip hard to snap myself out of it.
Clutching the dagger even tighter, I glared at Envia.
That was close…
As expected of a Calamity-class monster that had corrupted countless humans—her skill at seducing people was considerable.
If she hadn’t mentioned harming the people behind me, I might have fallen for it.
"Well? What will you do now?"
I exhaled briefly.
The ending that had been decided from the start had simply arrived a little early.
"Fine. I’ll go with you. In exchange, promise you won’t lay a finger on anyone around here. The moment you try anything funny, I’ll kill myself on the spot."
She slowly nodded, smiling.
This should be enough.
I had been lying to myself that Masochist made everything fine, but now…
I just wanted to rest a little.
Still holding the blade to my throat, I took a step.
— Thud.
One step.
— Thud.
Two steps.
I advanced slowly, like a death-row inmate walking toward the gallows.
"No."
A faint force caught my arm.
"Don’t go."
I slowly turned my head.
Bella was clutching the hem of my clothes.
Her hands trembled, her eyes full of fear and confusion.
I looked at her and spoke in the brightest voice I could manage.
"It’s okay, Senior."
I smiled lightly.
Then, quietly, I moved my lips.
‘Pact.’
In that instant, Bella’s expression froze.
She released my clothes with limp fingers and stared at me, face full of shock.
She understood, right?
If that monster took me away from here and the people became safe, the pact I made with Bella would let me screw them over.
By then we would already be deep in monster territory, so there would be no one left for them to take their anger out on.
A self without ego, programmed solely to gather faith of malice.
That was the true identity of Yeon Bennet.
What happens to a street kid with no backing who also has a rotten personality?
Obviously she doesn’t live long and dies.
To prevent being targeted by monsters, she receives hatred and malice from people, maintains the seal, and dies on her own at the right time.
This sacred relic called Ether creates another seal and settles into a new host.
That was the way the seal had been kept.
If I fell completely into their hands, all of humanity would be in danger.
Better to birth a new seal and maintain the status quo.
It would be hard for a new seal to grow the way I had and start devouring the Evil God’s power in reverse…
I felt a little sorry for my kind senior, but I absolutely had to die.
I sent her one last look, then faced forward again.
Envia watched me with a leisurely smile.
"Good. If you come along quietly, I’ll spare them all."
I walked on in silence, offering no reply.
"But something feels a little off."
"…What?"
"You’re giving up far too easily."
KWAJIK!
"No matter how I look at it, it seems better to just get rid of that knight."
In that instant, Envia’s hand sliced through the air and black lightning erupted.
"Senior—!"
I shouted on pure instinct.
But Bella’s body had locked up; she couldn’t react at all.
No!!! It’s too fast!!!
Should I abandon her?
I need to die right now too…
But then the others…
…
…
…
…What?
The ground, the sky, the air—
the world.
Stopped.
As if a giant hand had clenched everything, the entire scene froze in place.
Then the destroyed earth and the trees swallowed by flames began to move in reverse.
Collapsed boulders returned to their original positions. The burning forest restored itself at high speed.
"This!?!!!"
The composure vanished from Envia’s face.
She turned her head to look behind her.
And standing there was…
One of the three Transcendents remaining in Tera.
Dorothy Lightsheld.
The Witch of Protection.
Ignoring Envia completely, she strode forward with her white robe fluttering, staring straight at me with a hard expression.
"Long time no see, my disaster of a disciple."
Ah… she’s mad…
Hoping she would cool down, I offered her an awkward smile.
Thank goodness.
I had already been so exhausted I could barely move a finger; the moment the tension left me, I felt like I would collapse on the spot.
"We’ll talk later."
She immediately turned her gaze toward the trembling Envia.
"Caught a big one. That cowardly bastard never even thought of leaving its cozy little nest, so what wind blew you all the way out here…?"
"You crazy bitch… You… you broke your Geas and came all the way here just for one weak little girl like that?"
She still seemed unable to recover from the shock, stumbling over her words.
"None of your business."
Dorothy raised one hand, and the air began to reverse.
— KWAJIK!
"And… that child… is far stronger than the likes of you could ever compare to."
In an instant, something shattered with a sharp crack, and Envia’s power collapsed.
"…!"
Envia’s eyes wavered.
She immediately stepped back, trying to put distance between them.
But…
"You’d better not even think about running."
The Headmistress slowly raised one hand high.
And then…
— KUGUGUGUGUGUGUGUGUGU!!!
No matter how many times I saw it, it was a brutishly crude spell.
Could you even call that magic?
A rampaging mass of mana so vast it defied imagination erupted from her entire body, then—still not satisfied—began sucking in every scrap of ambient mana around her.
The witch who had sealed away all her own offensive magic.
The single attack spell such a woman was still able to use.