“Kyaak!”
Suddenly, along with the explosive roar crashing in, Hayun was slightly lifted into the air by the gale and flung backward, but the Grand Witch extended her staff toward her.
“Catch it!”
Barely managing to grab the Grand Witch’s staff, the shock of the backdraft she had just felt caused her dangling legs to hit the ground.
“Huu, isn’t this enough to be called a Grand Witch?”
Around her, it seemed as if a transparent barrier had been set up, providing a calm oasis amidst the chaotic backdraft. Of course, that was just talk. The Grand Witch was visibly struggling, her legs shaking as she tried to hold herself up.
“I’ll support you.”
“Thank you.”
“I should be the one thanking you.”
If things had gone wrong, she would have been wandering alone in the midst of the Forest of the Demon Realm, completely lost. Accompanying Daniel had made her well aware of how dangerous this place was, and the mere thought sent chills down her spine.
Hayun stood behind the Grand Witch, supporting her.
She, too, felt the fatigue still lingering throughout her body due to the Double Draw, but right now, no one was really at ease.
Though it was a brief connection, just having faced a formidable opponent formed a bond between them.
A situation where they supported each other.
The Priestess of Time was nowhere to be seen. She seemed to have disappeared in the midst of the explosion.
She didn’t run away. She must have been hit directly.
Of course, she had been a bit farther from the explosion, but still, the power was enough to take a direct hit. Even the Priestess of Time didn’t seem like she would escape unscathed.
Oddly enough, the last playful smile gave Hayun a strange sense of certainity that she was still alive inside.
But for now, there was no time to worry about the Priestess of Time. Hayun anxiously called out, her voice slightly raised.
“Daniel. Where is Daniel…?”
No matter how hard she looked around, there was no sign of Daniel. He seemed to be fighting the Ancient Beasts; what on earth had happened?
“Somehow…”
The Grand Witch’s voice lowered heavy.
Hayun felt as if she already knew what was coming, and wanted to tell her to say no more.
“It seems tough.”
The Grand Witch spoke to Hayun with a bittersweet tone.
*
“What in the world is this?”
Sharcarl’s self-destruction had hit directly. Once before, the explosion had been massive enough to encompass a third of the Forest of the Demon Realm, but this time, its strength was diminished.
When facing the Earliest Apocalypse, she had genuinely prepared for death, but this time, perhaps it was due to being unprepared?
However, that didn’t matter to her at all.
Be it big or small.
She had no way to survive the explosion from an Archmage. Naturally, she thought she was dead.
Yet, when she opened her eyes again from the blinding white light, she saw a world frozen in place.
What on earth was happening? She wondered, perhaps the Priestess of Time had intervened? But there was no sign of her, nor any presence.
What was going on?
Amidst her doubts, suddenly, a woman’s voice echoed from her head.
-Can you hear me?
“Eh?”
What’s going on?
It felt like her brain was being tickled. No matter how she looked around, no one was there. She had heard that mages could use telepathic magic without speaking, was this that?
-Can you hear me?
“Who are you?”
-If you can hear me, just say that you can hear me.
The voice sounded a bit sulky.
As if urging her to explain quickly, she clenched her fist, and the voice suddenly coughed a few times, clearing its throat, before saying in a different soft tone.
-Hello, I am the Goddess of Time.
“……”
Hearing such an abrupt statement made her feel completely stunned. She had experienced this kind of thing once before when Elise first called her “master.”
-You know, right? That I chose you.
“What do you mean you chose the Priestess?”
Thinking it was absurd, she received a sigh in response from the voice. If it had been in front of her, she probably would have been shaking her head vigorously.
-I had chosen that girl ‘back then’. In the previous world.
“What about now?”
-You were abandoned. Don’t you know well? You killed her yourself.
What was going on?
The voice’s tone was somewhat irritating. Though she had met many kinds of people, talking to a god was completely new, and it was confusing.
-But the Goddess of Death picked up that girl I abandoned. Well, the Priestess might think I teamed up with Death, but that’s impossible.
“How would I know that?”
-Is that so? Sorry. It’s been a while since I talked to someone, so I may have gotten a bit excited.
Confusing.
Why did it feel like talking to a little child? Thinking that, the voice strangely sounded a bit childish.
-Anyways, the Goddess of Death is using that girl I abandoned.
Well, that worked out nicely.
With so much to ask, she wanted to know more.
“Why did the Goddess of Death resurrect the Priestess?”
-What? Ah… you don’t know, do you? Well, to put it simply…
The Goddess of Time answered lazily, as if explaining was a bother.
-The one who awakened the Earliest Apocalypse in the last world was the Priestess. I tried to stop her, but in the end, she found Rin, and that girl killed.
“……!”
The Priestess of Time killed Rin in her past life.
Just learning that fact opened so many doors. If she could just keep the Priestess of Time from doing anything, Rin wouldn’t meet her end for another ten years.
Moreover, if she died, it confirmed the theory that she would awaken the apocalypse.
-So it seems Death intends to use the Priestess in this world for something, but no way. Because you’re here.
“I haven’t received anything from you.”
-What? You were resurrected! Do you think reincarnating with memories is easy? I struggled quite a bit for my first time.
That was a bit odd.
“The Priestess of Time said I was an aberration upon seeing I was reborn. That it was absolutely the secret of a god that couldn’t fail.”
-Isn’t that funny? That girl thinks gods are omnipotent. Because of her, I had quite the misadventures. She built up her own image in her head and believed it.
“……”
-I directly reincarnated you, and yet, while I was trying to kill you, she utterly gave up.
The Goddess was continuously emphasizing that she had no relationship with the Priestess of Time.
“Why did you choose me?”
-You’re going to keep asking questions? It’s quite exhausting having the time stopped, you know.
“Just answer this one.”
Why did she choose her, who had lived in the Forest of the Demon Realm? That was puzzling, but the Goddess of Time simply answered effortlessly.
-Actually, I didn’t specifically choose a being named Daniel McLean. I chose the ‘last survivor’ who remained alive when the end of the world arrived, and it just happened to be you.
That wasn’t overly surprising.
It was one of the answers she had anticipated.
Then, if I had died first, Eris would…
A futile imagination rose, but she shook her head to erase it. It was already in the past.
-The reason I came here is simple. You can’t die here.
“……”
-When this world ends, I was planning to send back the next last survivor again. But seeing you, my mind changed. If it’s you, you can do it. Let’s finish this in the first round!
“Why do gods bring the apocalypse to the continent?”
-Hah, you just said that was the last question.
The Goddess grumbled. She was probably shrugging her shoulders. If she were in front of her, she would’ve smashed her head already.
-Recreation. Isn’t that obvious? Haven’t you felt it while looking around the world? It’s so evil. So dirty. Instead of cleaning it, they thought about just moving.
Could easily describe the deaths of the people on the continent like that?
-If the Goddess of Death were to organize things here? Then the cornerstone of the next world would be death.
“And you?”
-What?
“Are you also trying to exterminate us?”
I had the strange feeling that the Goddess of Time was grinning at my question.
-If that were the case, I wouldn’t have brought you back to reincarnate, would I?
That made sense.
If she had desired the destruction of the continent, she could have just left things as they were. There would have been no need to rewind time and start over.
-I like this world. There are many things I don’t like, but I just don’t believe that a world with other gods as the cornerstone would be better than this one.
Was that so?
There was a glimmer of relief in that thought.
At least among the absolute beings, there was someone who still hoped for their survival. Even if the intention itself was unsatisfactory, the outcome was on their side.
-Ah, I’ve completely run out of time chatting with you. This will be the last time I save you. The Goddess of Death is constantly bending the rules by using the Priestess, so I was able to intervene just once.
“Understood. But don’t I get something like an imprint?”
Seeing how Rin and Ares could showcase their powers through imprints, she wondered why she wasn’t receiving anything even though she was chosen.
-No, if you’ve reincarnated, isn’t that enough? What more could you want?
“……Huh?”
-How audacious! You’re demanding that after being saved! How rude!
The goddess, pouting like a child, whispered her goodbye to me.
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