The two goddesses simultaneously recognized each other.
– ······?!
– ······!!
Seeing the Goddess of Water Irmana, the Goddess of Light Areina looked extremely surprised.
It seemed that Irmana was equally astonished.
But their reactions were different.
– ······!!!
– ······.
Irmana’s reaction was far more intense and rough. Normally, she was calm to the point of being serene, but even then, there was a soft and warm aura about her. How could such a divine being be so excited?
It was absurd that I could even feel that.
“Hah?! Wh, what?! You!”
The one who seemed most surprised was probably that guy. The man, with a look of disbelief on his face, shook his head vigorously, shouting that this was impossible.
‘He’s panicking. Right now… wouldn’t the chance of him escaping be 0.1%?’
Of course, that was just my wishful thinking, as a primal instinct held me back, making me feel like I would lose my head if I moved even a bit.
“What the hell is going on?!”
The man, who clearly felt the faint energy of the Goddess of Light Areina connect to me, was behaving as if he couldn’t believe it.
‘What are you mumbling about alone…?’
It was as if he had a split personality, performing a one-man show. His bizarre appearance and crazed eyes sent chills down my spine.
“Ugh…”
The man who was in a frenzy suddenly lowered his head and lightly waved his hand, causing the boundary sanctuary I had secretly established to shatter and vanish.
“How disgusting! Where did you learn such crafty skills to throw me into confusion?!”
“······.”
With that level of damage to the sanctuary, it would take a considerable amount of time to return to its original state.
I was extremely pissed off. I wanted to kill him.
But I was powerless, so all I could do was think about it.
I was still so weak. How long would I remain in this subordinate position?
“You know it’s not some kind of crafty skill better than anyone, right? I’m the one who freed you from your constraints. Thanks to that, I even received an achievement.”
Areina was a being that had a significant impact on me.
I had no particular reason to speak ill of her.
“······.”
The man stared at me with a twisted expression.
“But what are you doing here? You don’t seem to be leveled to be here.”
I had no choice but to continue the conversation.
“······.”
Although I tried to drop hints, the mysterious man showed no reaction.
Slowly lifting his head, he opened his mouth.
“Kekekek… Areina, how could you bestow powers upon such a being…?”
In that instant, I sensed a line drawn by his waving arm.
This time, I tried to dodge somehow, but my body had already been restrained by solid golden ropes.
It was the same skill that had pulled me back when I was trying to leave through the gate.
Screech─!
“?!”
With the elegant movements of the man, one of my arms was severed.
My right arm landed on the ground with a dull thud, rolling a few times before finally settling.
“Damn…”
I had no information on what kind of bastard he was, so I bluffed without any purpose, wondering how he successfully called forth Areina, but ultimately it was a beautiful failure.
He didn’t seem to have any intention of sparing me.
‘This binding is too strong…’
Recently, I had fun using binding skills, but being on the receiving end felt unbelievably dirty.
Zzing──
Even though it was corrupted, the divine power still seemed alive, and the golden rope was rapidly gnawing at my body.
If only I had a moment to create an opportunity…
– ······!!
– ······.
Irmana was unleashing a fury I had never seen before on Areina, while Areina averted her gaze and simply looked at us.
‘I guess I can’t count on Irmana’s help.’
Since I didn’t expect much from Areina from the start, I wasn’t surprised that she wouldn’t help me. I was only grateful that she didn’t attempt to help that man, who had clearly received the blessings of light.
Even as I envisioned my future as ashes disappearing without a trace, I couldn’t stop.
“Before I die, I want to at least know your name.”
If I could know that, this death wouldn’t be meaningless.
“My name… here, I’m called ‘Evil’.”
“… Evil? How can a person’s name be Evil? If that’s how it is, just don’t answer.”
“Shut up!”
Screech─!
Thud-
Once again, my left arm was severed.
This time, it was too fast to react. I wondered if I had provokingly agitated him.
‘It seems like he aimed for my neck, but his accuracy seems to have dropped.’
Yet, he continued to efficiently diminish my combat power.
It reached a level where even the training with my Master and Pawilrun seemed worthless, and I couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.
“Your name!! You’ve taken my two arms, so at least tell me your name! Areina is here too, aren’t you going to do it? You plan to kill me anyway!”
I yelled out in frustration.
If he didn’t react even after I used Areina’s name, there was no option left but to use my last resort.
“Hmm—you’re quite the amusing fellow. Very well. For the sake of Areina, I’ll tell you.”
“Thanks a lot. Let’s hear how impressive this name is.”
‘So this is going to work…’
I thought the power of a name was significant, so I assumed he would be unlikely to share it.
“Dnarr Panijial. That is the name that will liberate you from this hell. Hold it dear and return to nothingness.”
“Dnarr Panijial… what a shitty name.”
“What did you say? You little punk! Huh?!”
At that moment, Irmana’s voice faintly echoed.
Anger.
An unfathomable anger emanated from Irmana.
I had no idea which point made the goddess lose her reason.
However, I distinctly remembered that even when I met the blue-eyed follower ‘Jiksructor’, it wasn’t this severe.
Kwahhhhh──!!
Water poured out of the well leading to the next hunting ground, flooding the area like a tsunami.
Simultaneously, all the energy I had been holding within burst forth.
“───?!!”
Dnarr Panijial.
The name sent a clear chill through him as he stepped back, his face twisting with horror.
He reacted as though he had seen something filthy, even lifting off the air in panic.
I didn’t miss the fact that fear was present in his actions.
‘Is he… afraid of water?’
Though it seemed extreme for him to be scared, the weight of his reaction indicated a more profound, primal fear lurking deep in him.
[Root Chain]
First, using the roots of my bones, I retrieved the fallen arm from the ground and placed it in the space.
Then, I activated ‘Telekinesis’ with [Window of Darkness] and brought the arm to where the cut had been made.
Clash-
I spread the water that burst from the well over the cross-section like glue to hold it together. Though it was an instinctive movement, a mystery unfolded before me as the arm reattached itself as if it were melting into place.
‘Did I not even need a potion…? Has this water already absorbed the energy of Irmana?’
The miracle sparked by the water’s ability to merge and cleanse everything.
“Haah───”
Dnarr Panijial gazed at me in awe as I healed my injuries in an instant.
“How…?! How can you mend a divine severance with divine power?!”
“What’s with this punk? You’re dead.”
My magic power exploded.
It felt like it wouldn’t diminish no matter how much I used it.
I had to quickly release this boiling power.
[Water Ball]
I conjured thousands of water balls above my head simultaneously.
Now that was a spectacular display, wasn’t it?
──?!!
I unleashed them all towards him.
It was an astonishing performance that would typically be impossible.
A sensation washed over me like the Goddess Irmana was embracing me from behind.
It was so incredibly real that I felt the softness of her chest.
‘This is the power of a god…’
“Ughhh! Hiiik! Damn it!!”
Pipipipipip──!!
Dnarr was continuously evading and deflecting the thousands of water balls.
His movements were so graceful it resembled a well-choreographed dance.
‘Hmph!’
Yet he couldn’t avoid the water balls I had created around him.
Boom boom boom—
“Kraaaaaaaah!!”
Zzing──
Vapor soared high enough to form clouds in the sky.
It was all emanating from him.
Though it was just plain water drawn from the well, it reacted as if it were a strong acid.
‘I don’t know why, but this works!’
I didn’t have time to consider other options. If his torment was genuine—
[Water Ball]
I squeezed out all the remaining magic power and even the newly replenished magic to conjure a thousand water balls.
I shaped them into a massive cube surrounding him like a sanctuary.
“······!!!”
The Corrupted Knight Dnarr Panijial was trapped in water, desperately shouting something at me.
Even as his face and body melted, he couldn’t conceal the malice directed towards me.
‘Die, you punk!’
I concentrated the widely spread cubic mass into a single point.
Concentration and amplification of magic.
This was a technique I favored.
He struggled to push back the water closing in on him as he tried to make himself the center.
After being so afraid, he was putting up quite a fight.
But the consumption of my magic was enormous.
Every moment, thousands of magic power vanished and reappeared. Even with the support of Irmana, maintaining this was becoming difficult.
I swapped the ‘Water Rune’ I had equipped with the one I had prepared to amplify its power to maximum.
‘Explosion──!’
Boom────!!
I triggered a large-scale magical explosion centered around the confined watery space.
Incredible volumes of water erupted like it was reaching the clouds.
The power was truly terrifying, akin to a nuclear bomb going off.
The area was so wide that even the space where the boss battle was occurring could feel its influence.
‘… Did I just do that?’
I could barely believe it.
The very act of conjuring thousands of water balls at once was beyond reason.
It was a feat that even a Great Sorcerer might struggle to achieve.
– ······!!
A gentle touch wrapped around my shoulder.
‘Irmana…’
The goddess’s touch glided from my shoulder down to my chest.
The touch continued to descend. Whoa… if it goes down any further…
Without realizing, my body jerked.
– Hehe…
The goddess chuckled cheerfully.
A flood of exhilarating emotions surged within me, to the point that my heart felt like it was beating for the first time.
What did that smile mean? It surely wasn’t only to put me in a dilemma.
There was a sensation of satisfaction, as if I had struck back against Dnarr and whoever was within him.
But at the same time, it seemed like she was smiling while trying to disguise her sadness.
– The Goddess of Water Irmana has regained her power, albeit slightly!
I thought the goddess took on the appearance of a body to grant me power, yet it seemed Irmana was regaining her strength instead.
– ······ Ah.
It seemed like a surprise for the goddess as well, as a short gasp hinted at that.
– Water affinity has drastically increased!
– Water affinity has drastically increased!
– Water affinity has drastically increased!
And my head was filled with such messages.
– Here… until… escape… no more…
With a sweet but urgent whisper, the goddess’s warmth suddenly vanished.
The gaze that always watched over me was also gone.
Even Areina was no longer there.
Could it be that an existence with a massive power that could fend off the gazes of the two goddesses had appeared?
If there were to be such a being to exercise power within the dungeon, it would only be one.
‘The Manager of Balance…’
Saharanak──
As the goddess’s touch vanished, I instinctively sprang into action.
[Lightning Armor Combat Type]
[Blink]
Without looking back, I teleported towards the exit.
‘That guy isn’t someone I can kill! I need to escape quickly.’
The dimensional gate leading to the outside world.
In that moment of throwing my body through, it felt eternal.
Then,
Like in slow motion, breaking through the surging water, the Corrupted Knight appeared.
Black smoke spiraled, rapidly engulfing the golden light surrounding him.
──────
‘What?!’
[Weasel Step]
The moment he flicked his finger, I felt something slice by my neck.
Chills ran down my spine──
Had I died like the Rabbit Beastman Arang?
I caught a glimpse of him melting away through the vanishing dimensional gate.
Seeing my vision activate, I knew I wasn’t dead yet.
A melting body.
It was the phenomenon I had previously encountered in the ‘Golden Pastiche’ dungeon.
– Kraaah!! How could I lose to something like this!! To a bastard like you!!
He was clearly being excluded from the dungeon. The Manager of Balance was finally making a move.
As I observed that, I slipped into the familiar intuitive sensation.
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