I killed Verd with my own hand.
He was already in a near-death state due to Lasty, but I definitely ended his life, and now there’s no more ‘Verd’s Sealed Sword’ in this world.
“Ugh…”
“…?”
Only the memory-lost Sword Saint and Merini remain.
Since Verd became one with the Sword Saint, he retains some of Verd’s memories.
I’ve seen how I ended up like this and how Lasty used blood magic to flip the continent, but since the memories are erased, it shouldn’t be a problem.
The only thing he might remember is when Merini handed him the sword.
‘…That’s probably right.’
To be honest, if it were before, I would’ve smashed his limbs so he could never wield a sword again, but I just let it go.
That’s literally how it used to be.
From the Sword Saint’s perspective, Deoen is just a game.
The sealed sword is merely a weapon and a simple item.
Therefore, it’s not completely incomprehensible that such actions don’t make sense, but honestly, someone at the level of the Sword Saint should be able to pick up on it vaguely.
‘If this happens, I’m really screwed.’
It’s the same for Leo, Yena, Black, and Devil—rankers within the top 100, meaning talented individuals who could easily sense the danger.
I doubt the Sword Saint, who held the number one ranking for three years, wouldn’t notice what those in the top 100 could feel.
The reason being my shocking defeat.
And the ongoing erosion caused by magic probably led to this result.
Even the sealed sword drips with magic.
I might have had some part of the sword’s seal released by the Magic Lord, but after the Magic Lord lost his powers, control might’ve slipped away as well.
If during that process, the Sword Saint was harshly eroded beyond the system’s protections…
‘…I don’t know.’
Honestly, there are too many variables.
From ancient times, holiness and magic were unknown substances, capable of producing results beyond imagination.
Magic isn’t really my domain either.
“So let’s leave it at that.”
The Sword Saint now faces the experience points penalty from ‘death’ and the destruction of his primary weapon, ‘Verd’s Sealed Sword.’
And the purification of the magic inside him.
Let’s just wrap it up with this.
I decided on the fate of the Sword Saint and turned to look at the next one.
A platinum-haired woman staring blankly at me.
“…….”
“Merini Elposis. You seem to have a lot to say.”
Zzzzzzt…!
A blood-stained door opens in mid-air.
Now it’s the spiritual world belonging to Lasty.
After skimming through all the memories merged with Verd, I found that beyond this door lies a dungeon that’s about to collapse.
Merini and Asuka will return to the ‘present’ Deoen as the dungeon crumbles.
“First, let’s go outside and talk.”
“Let’s go out and talk.”
“…Who are you? Who on earth are you?”
Tight…
Her hand grips the worn bowstring as if it will break it.
“Who the hell are you to have this kind of strength…”
She lets out a hollow laugh and looks around.
She had run her whole life to be acknowledged by the World Tree.
Unable to accept that her position had been taken by her younger brother, she endured for hundreds of years, merging with the dungeon.
She had devised many ways to regain her position, even seeking the help of another demon in the end.
But then.
That ‘great’ World Tree had been corrupted by some strange demon race.
The demon that made the World Tree its own was neutralized with a cute girl’s simple gesture.
And now, even I, who am with such a girl.
“Not as impressive as I thought, huh?”
“……”
“That’s how it is. That’s what power is.”
Even positions and powers that seem tremendously impressive eventually lose their meaning when confronted with even greater ones.
Even 15-year-old Lily thought everything was amazing when she first stepped into the world.
She fell into self-doubt seeing my ‘seniors,’ the saintesses.
A mere Lower Celestial Race, not yet a castle, looked like a ‘god’ ready to topple the world.
As time passed, they became just average beings, yet I haven’t risen to the top either.
Even at my peak, there are endless walls I still can’t surpass.
Sometimes I wonder.
What if the war hadn’t ended?
Even if I became stronger wandering the battlefield for not just decades, but centuries.
Would I have been able to surpass the ‘Eight Seats’?
‘…Could I have surpassed him?’
I question myself.
“You… you…”
Merini ultimately couldn’t finish her sentence and looked down.
For her, the World Tree is the sole god.
And that god is something I, of all beings, cannot touch.
I placed my hand on her head.
Shining…
Pure white holy power envelops Merini.
Every last bit of magic left in her is purified.
As her purple-tinted eyes regain their complete green color, her eyes become moist.
I smiled compassionately, as if to say I understood everything.
“I will forgive your sins.”
“Ah…”
Merini weeps and collapses to the ground.
Hmm.
“…What are you doing, sister?”
“This is what I hoped for when I became a saintess.”
Sinning and receiving forgiveness.
Usually, forgiveness is something received from the victims, but these types think a bit differently.
They hope the ‘god’ will forgive them.
They believe their sins occurred because the god didn’t take care of them, and therefore, they wish for forgiveness from the god.
The gods didn’t watch over me, and because of that, I committed sins, hoping that they would forgive me.
But since the gods were too far removed from themselves, I sought forgiveness from the Agent instead.
That’s why every time I set out on a pilgrimage as a Saintess, the sinners came to beg me.
I raised Merini.
“Wake up.”
“Ah… God.”
“Bite this tightly.”
“…What?”
Puck!
The dull hammer struck Merini on the head.
Merini flew away and crashed through the door opened by Lasty.
Whew. As I retrieved the hammer, I placed one hand on my left eyelid, like in a home run pose.
She flew well.
“You should ask for forgiveness from the person involved.”
“…Did you do this before, sister?”
“Yeah. And I got scolded a lot by His Holiness the Pope.”
The priests from the Holy Palace were in shock, and the saintesses called me crazy.
This was a year before I quit being a saintess.
There were so many people making a fuss that I did that, and they were so happy about it.
Thanks to that, whenever my pilgrimage was announced, the crime rate in that area dramatically dropped.
“This is what a virtuous cycle looks like.”
“……”
■
After saying goodbye to Lasty, I returned to the dungeon through the door.
The first thing I saw was the crumbling Black Roots and a multitude of people on top of them.
– Starlight Baptism!
– Ice Tornado!
– Hey! I was holding that!
– Baekseol! Get out of the way!
– Yeah, whatever~ If you’re upset, go call Lady Lily and argue with her!
– Looks like I’m lucky today.
Swish! The trump cards flew past my eyes.
The cards sliced through the air and struck the roots, exploding.
In addition to that, there was a distant ‘Ice Storm’ and starlight attacks. I could see attacks using swords as well.
[Another player has entered.]
[Currently, there are 8 players.]
It seems like the rankers showed up because a World Boss appeared.
Even though I entered way too late to get much reward, it’d be better to make some contributions, even just a little, rather than just taking down a few specialized dungeons like I did with Sugarado.
[Oh]
[Lily has returned]
[???????????]
[Wow]
[Lily!!!]
[Return after 1 day 5 hours 27 minutes and 12 seconds, lol]
[I missed you!!]
[Lily! Lily! Lily!]
[???]
[What? Where did you go?]
[Wow]
[A bunch of hyenas are gathered]
[Really, I was worried]
[Did you catch them?]
“Looks like everyone is here?”
I thought you all logged off since the broadcast cut out. But seeing hundreds of thousands of viewers, it seems everyone was waiting for me.
Moreover, unlike before when I zoned out and went to the Spiritual World, this time I moved my whole body, so there must be nothing interesting to see.
[I thought I was going to die waiting, lol…]
[For real, haha]
[If it’s Lily, I could wait a year]
[The camera automatically switched around, so I wasn’t bored, haha]
[Did that demon lady kidnap Lily???]
[Is Lily okay?]
[What about the demon?]
[What happened?]
“Using her teleportation magic, the demon grabbed me from that space.”
I couldn’t exactly say I went full power and took care of things with Lasty after completely suppressing them in the Spiritual World, so I just gave a vague but plausible explanation.
The battle was fierce, and we exchanged dozens of blows, taking a whole day and five hours (actually, it didn’t take even five minutes to fight, but who’s counting?). In the process, I mentioned that the Sword of the Sword Saint was destroyed.
“That’s too bad. It must have been an important sword for the Lord Sword Saint.”
I made a sad face.
What a shame indeed.
[?]
[Destroyed?]
[Huh?]
[LMAO]
[You don’t look too sad, Lily?]
[So sad, lol]
[When the Sword Saint resurrects and sees that, it’s going to be a meltdown, haha]
[Wow, it was mythical level, and it got destroyed?]
[Damn]
[Sword Saint’s tears of blood]
[Karma]
[That’s some karma, haha]
“It’s unfortunate, but I can’t lose.”
This was a legitimate match.
Anyway, that’s how it went down.
[I agree]
[That’s right]
[Legitimate]
[Who dares touch Lily, haha]
So, that’s where we are, and now I just need to wrap things up nicely.
I dealt with Verd, and now I just have to take care of the remaining minions.
Originally, I was going to finish them off myself, but now that the Rankers have joined in, I decided to leave it to them.
I found a suitable spot to sit and watched the Rankers show off their skills.
The one who stood out the most was definitely Leo.
Wearing emerald winds, Leo disappeared like the wind, smashing the Black Roots one by one.
I had left it to Yul and Myul, and thankfully, they brought him along.
And then…
“It feels like it’s been ages since I last saw you.”
A woman was running from far away.
“Lady Lilyyyyy!!!”
It’s Yena.
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