Thud! Pffft!
People burst out.
Yet what spilled out to soak the ground was not thick, vivid blood, but remnants of shadows.
They fell, only to rise again quickly, but that didn’t mean they had any significant influence.
– Yes! Go ahead!
“Yes, Goddess!”
The priestess smiled brightly and pushed forward.
I can hear it.
I can hear it.
The innocent cheer of the Goddess of Time echoes in my ears!
The fact that she, who is keeping herself alive by teaming up with the Goddess of Death, needs me so much excites her continuously.
So every time she swung the bone sword in her hand, she became fiercer.
Though the power to stop time could no longer be used, the goddess was still with me.
Just that alone was enough to endure my pitiful, broken self.
“Cough! Hehe!”
– You can do it! You can prevent the end of the continent.
The troops of Rin, who were still far from being called an army, were being crushed without resistance by the endless assaults of sword strikes.
Not only that, but Kurika as well.
Though her movements were rather awkward, she was destroying the indestructible army with equal or greater destructive power as the Priestess of Time.
Watching this scene, Rin could only feel overwhelming fear and frustration.
Diana, Sen, and Ares were trapped behind barriers of darkness, unable to move rashly.
‘If I rashly intervene, everyone will die in the blink of an eye.’
No matter how strong the three had become, they were still hopelessly inadequate to face those two monsters.
Could they escape from them?
Overwhelming, distant fear.
Even the thought that Daniel McLean might come to help felt too selfish a hope to cling to.
Rin steadied her heart once more.
Right next to her, the madame handling special butterfly familiars stepped forward. She was the strongest commander among Rin’s forces.
Rin sacrificed her own escort and sent out the madame, second-in-command of the Chokugen Faction.
At first, it seemed like they were holding their ground quite well.
The butterfly familiars the madame controlled were a type that neither the Priestess of Time nor Kurika had seen before.
But that was only a brief moment of respite.
Simply put, it was an illusion mixed with the bravado of a magician.
In the end, as if it were a joke, Rin clenched her fist while watching the madame being torn apart by the two.
A deeper darkness churned within her chest, whispering voices echoed in her mind.
– Isn’t it hard?
A warmth soothing her in a dire situation came forward, along with a tender mercy understanding her plight.
A soft voice that seemed to want to engulf Rin’s body made her feel as if she’d want to drop her guard and trust it.
– I will help you.
The voice resonated from the imprint engraved on her chest. It felt as if a hand was reaching out from the empty air.
Just a little loss of rationality, and she would be swept away by the impulse to grab that hand.
– Trust me.
In front of her were powerful foes, the Priestess of Time and Kurika charging at her. Especially the priestess, fervently calling upon the goddess, was gaining momentum.
“……”
In an instant, it flashed through her mind, the vision of a sword piercing her heart, her whole body being torn apart by sharp claws.
– Let’s save our friends, let’s save the villagers.
“……”
– Let’s kill them.
With overwhelming power, everything would be hers with just a slight stretch of her hand. She couldn’t envision it at all, yet she felt an unmatched confidence that even those monsters in front of her could be killed.
Is this what belief is?
Bowing her head at the sweetly whispering voice, Rin answered.
“Just enough of this… go away.”
-……
“I’m fully aware you are the Goddess of Death who has imprinted on me.”
With every word she spoke, she felt her mind clearing. Not an imprint, but a belief surging from her own heart strangely infused power into her body.
“I also understand that if I accept that power, I can save my friends and the villagers right this moment.”
Rin began to gather mana not from the goddess’s strength, but entirely from her own talents and efforts.
“But I made a promise.”
The face of the boy floated up.
Though it hadn’t been long since they parted, she missed her childhood friend terribly and wanted to see him right away.
She wanted to run to him.
To be in his embrace.
Even while smiling in difficulty, she wanted to beam brightly in the warmth of his arms.
“I will resist until the very end.”
She decided not to be swept away by this damnable power.
She resolved not to rampage beyond her will.
She promised not to become a calamity.
“That’s the promise I made.”
“Though I’ll make good use of the power forced upon me, I won’t be manipulated according to your intentions.”
A blue sphere made of mana rose above Rin’s outstretched palm. The darkness wrapped around it in a whirlwind, but.
Mana refused to mix with it, instead using it as armor to protect herself and as blade to slay her enemies.
With a single wish contained within, Rin held it out with a small smile.
“I miss Daniel.”
The sphere of mana flew away.
It flew past the soldiers of death and straight towards the Priestess of Time, but.
“Guh! Haha!”
With a derisive smile, the priestess tried to raise her bone sword to block it.
If it weren’t for the madame’s familiars, which had once again regenerated and were desperately wrapping around the sword.
“……!”
Rin’s magic struck true.
The priestess’s robe was ripped apart, and an unearthly dark blood spilled out, something that couldn’t be seen as belonging to a living being.
Though the priestess was a bit flustered at how powerful the magic was, she still endured.
The upper half of her body bore hideous, torn skin, and repugnant, rotting black blood clumped together and dripped down, yet.
The light of madness still sparkled in the priestess’s eyes.
– Go, kill them.
“Understood, Goddess!”
They had to be killed.
The Goddess of Time wanted it of her.
That alone became her only driving force, and even with severe injuries, the priestess kept moving forward.
It felt like witnessing a zombie discarded after a black mage’s experiment had ended in failure. Rin shouted harshly.
“The voice you hear right now is not your goddess! It’s not the Goddess of Time!”
Knowing they shared the same goddess’s imprint, she recognized it.
“She’s just mimicking the Goddess of Time! Snap out of it and look at reality straight!”
“Shut up! How dare you doubt the goddess’s voice!”
– Kill them.
“Yes! Goddess!”
– Kill them.
“Kurika! Take out the Sealing Dagger and follow me! We are going to slay the end that will engulf the continent!”
– Kill them.
“Oh, Goddess! This filthy and wretched paper! I am grateful to be able to follow your will!”
– Kill them.
“Understood! Understood!”
– Die.
“Yes! Goddess…! Goddess?”
In that instant, the priestess’s movements halted.
Her eyes widened, looking up at the sky unintentionally, but.
The goddess’s command continued to gnaw at her brain like a worm, crawling through her ear.
– Die.
“Wha, wait a moment…”
– Die.
“N-no, what is this?”
– Die.
“Guh! Ugh! Enough…”
– Die.
“Enough! Enough! What on earth do you mean?!”
Kneeling, head bowed, the imprint appeared on the forehead of the Priestess of Time. Likewise, the priestess’s imprint on Kurika began to shine as well.
‘This is dangerous.’
Rin felt for certain that this situation was exceedingly dangerous.
Through miraculous recovery, Kurika had been gradually healing during the battle. Even Kurika, who seemed to be slowly breaking free from her restraints, felt the power of the imprint surge stronger.
“AAAAAAH!”
The shattered glass-like scream of the priestess pierced her ears.
“GRAAAAH!”
Kurika’s roar enveloped the entire village.
Thus, the two once again charged at Rin with all their might, and just as Rin was about to draw up her mana once more.
‘……Huh?’
Even though she tried lowering her voice, no sound came out.
It wasn’t just Rin; the priestess and Kurika, too, seemed to share the same bewilderment, yet their bodies wouldn’t move.
In this situation, which could be described as mystical or bizarre, the one who first reached the answer was none other than the priestess.
She couldn’t help but know.
Because this was the technique she used.
The unique power lent by the Goddess of Time.
‘Time has frozen!’
But why suddenly?
She couldn’t use it herself.
For some unknown reason, the Goddess of Time had withdrawn this power from her.
– I won’t grant you the imprint. My imprint is very special! But that doesn’t mean you can’t use my power.
A cheerful, bouncy voice.
Just hearing it would bring a smile to her face.
From that voice, the priestess felt an intense dissonance.
The voice of the Goddess of Time that had just resonated in her head. Though the voice itself was the same, hearing what had just spoken made everything that had commanded her feel like a ‘fake’.
Something that was similar but could never be mirrored.
“Right, thinking it over, the priestess was able to use her power without your imprint.”
– But don’t get it twisted! You can’t mistake me for a goddess who just lets everything out! And of course, I wasn’t persuaded by you!
“I know, you’ve said that already for the fifth time.”
– Just think of it as mercy. Ah! I’m truly a merciful goddess!
If time hadn’t stopped, the priestess’s eyes would have widened in shock, and she might have screamed until her guts exploded.
Why does she get to use that power?
Why is she with my goddess?
– By the way, you just received a power boost and you’re using it pretty well!
“I did my homework thanks to the mysterious girl who forcibly shoved her memories into my head.”
But she couldn’t say it.
She couldn’t make any retaliation.
In this miraculous time that felt like everything had stopped.
Apart from the sight of Daniel McLean calmly walking towards her, there was nothing else she could do.
