Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Zero - Volume 1 - Chapter 2

Chapter II: Reisen and Orcus

To Miledi Reisen, the world was full of absolutes.

The law was absolute. The country that decided the law was absolute. The Holy Church that controlled the country was absolute. The god they worshiped was absolute. His teachings and doctrines were absolute. The conventions of her house were absolute. Everything from the time she had to get up in the morning, to what her tutors told her, to what her father asked of her, to her role in the family, was absolute.

The Grandort Empire’s influence was vast. It stretched from the central part of the continent all the way to the east, and within it was the Reisen Gorge. It was the country most well-known for its magical prowess, and though most of its mages weren’t as strong as the demons, they were still the strongest the humans had.

As magic was the forte of most citizens, they all considered the Reisen Gorge, which dispersed mana inside of it, an execution ground. Without the aid of their spells, no Grandortian could hope to survive in a place like that, teeming with powerful monsters as it was.

Political prisoners, criminals, witnesses... Anyone who was sent into that hellish crack in the earth never returned. An execution ground was a fitting term for it.

As the gorge was known around the world, the noble family that managed the lands around it was, too.

That was the Reisen family.

They were also known as a family of executioners. The family ran and maintained the massive prison that was the Reisen Gorge. They handled not only criminals the empire sent them, but those from the Holy Church or other countries as well.

The family dated back so many generations that some scholars believed they’d existed since even before the founding of the Grandort Empire. No one was sure if the gorge got its name from the family that managed it, or if the family that managed it had taken on the name of the gorge.

Regardless, the family was known for being utterly ruthless. They were called a family of executioners not only because of the job they handled, but because of the fear their name struck in the hearts of others.

And Miledi was the daughter of that ruthless and terrifying earl.

Because she could use gravity magic, and control her mana directly without any need for a magic circle, she was hailed as a genius Atavist.

Normally, she would have been taken under the Holy Church’s protection and raised as one of Ehit’s descendants, but because of the influence the Reisen family held, she had been allowed to remain home. According to history, the very first Reisen had been able to use ancient magic as well. Records claimed that he’d used it to turn the gorge into a magic-sealing execution grounds. Because of that legend as well, Miledi was allowed to remain part of the family.

The only people Miledi had ever seen in her life were her grandfather, her parents, her uncle, her cousin, the doll-like servants, her tutors, her father’s soldiers, and the criminals that came to be executed.

She had been completely isolated from the outside world, and spent her days learning how to be an upstanding member of the Reisen family.

That was all that was expected of her, and all that was granted to her. Nothing more, nothing less.

To the outside world, Miledi’s family would have seemed cold and inhuman. Whether for good or ill, however, Miledi had nothing else to compare her own situation to, so she didn’t see it that way.

Once she turned eight, she began helping out with the family business.

Every time she sat down with a criminal, she was met with cursing, begging, and despair. Still, they were criminals. Someone had to take on the job of executing them. The law was absolute, and the law said that they were to be cast into the gorge.

And so, Miledi did her job. She read out the charges to the condemned, and watched as they were flung into the gorge.

Those that tried to flee died at her hands.

Those that tried to climb their way up were shoved back down.

Over the course of a year, Miledi’s face lost all emotion. Their despair, grudges, and lamentations no longer moved her. After all, what did it matter? They were here because they tried to go against an absolute. That they would face retribution for it was also an absolute. Their fates had already been decided.

It was all pointless in the end, so Miledi found it easier not to feel anything at all.

By the age of ten, Miledi had become the perfect Reisen daughter. She was taciturn, expressionless, and emotionless.

One day her father, Colt, summoned her to his office.

“Father, it’s Miledi.”

“Enter.” The same inorganic voice greeted her after she knocked on the door. But she didn’t seem to mind, and entered the room.

“This is the next person to be condemned.”

“Understood.” Miledi took the documents her father handed her.

Inwardly, she was a little confused. Though each criminal was given a chance to plead their defense or repent their sins, that was nothing more than a front the family put on to seem fair. In truth, all who passed through the estate’s gates were doomed to be executed, so why was her father bothering to give her the details of one of the condemned?

“Their punishment is death. The execution will proceed at the appointed time. But before it happens, I want you to ask them something.”

“What would that be?” Miledi looked down at the documents.

“The condemned is a heretic, but there is a strong possibility they weren’t working alone. There may be an organization that they belong to.”

“May?”

“It was the Holy Church who captured them. They tried to interrogate the heretic, but learned nothing. It was one of Ehit’s descendants who oversaw the interrogation, so there’s no reason to believe they were deceived by their interrogator. That’s why they are still unsure.”

“......” Miledi’s lips twitched at the mention of the word “interrogation.” She knew what the Holy Church conducted was no interrogation, but torture. She wondered what kind of state the criminal would come to her in. Colt had been in charge of this particular criminal, so Miledi hadn’t met him before. Chances were he’d be on death’s door already.

“How do you want me to phrase the question?” She didn’t ask why Colt wanted her to do it. An order from her father was absolute. Questioning it wasn’t allowed. She only needed to fulfill her duty as a Reisen.

“As if you were a child.”

Her father’s words were so surprising that Miledi almost laughed. She knew what the servants said about her. She was probably the most adult-like ten-year-old in existence.

All thanks to the Reisen upbringing. Though acting like a child would be... I suppose I do still look like one. There is certainly a possibility they may be more willing to open up to a child.

“I am not asking you to pull off a perfect act. Simply do what you can.”

“Yes, sir.” Miledi sharply bowed her head. Manners were also part of the Reisen upbringing.

As she left the room, she put the man she was to execute out of her mind and began thinking about how to act like a child.

That evening, Miledi stood before a man dressed in rags. He was flanked by two guards and standing on the execution platform that overlooked the gorge.

One push, and his fate would be sealed. Without magic, survival was nigh impossible. Even the man’s remains would be eaten by the monsters that lurked below. In practice, execution was simple.

The criminal was lying in a heap on the stand, not even twitching. He was already at death’s door. In fact, he was likely to die before Miledi got the chance to push him.

However, work was work. The rules were absolute. Whether the condemned was deceased or not, she would push him into the ravine.

“Davy Consman. You have been charged with heresy. Your crimes include denouncing Ehit’s doctrine and attacking a priest. You have rebelled against our lord, and thus will be executed.” Miledi spoke emotionlessly, reading from the document she’d been given.

There was no response. Normally, this was when they started hurling curses at Miledi.

She waited for a while, but when it was obvious he wasn’t going to say anything she signaled to the two guards.

“You two are dismissed. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Miledi-sama?”

“What’s this about?”

The two guards followed the script to the letter. Miledi curtly replied with “That’s an order,” and watched them shuffle away.

Then, after a moment of feigned hesitation, Miledi leaned closer to the man.

“Umm, can I ask you something?” Miledi did her best to sound like a child.

There still wasn’t much emotion in her voice, but it was a far cry from the inorganic way she’d read the charges.

Davy stirred. Miledi could see empty eyes staring at her from behind his dirty bangs.

“What?” To her surprise, he answered.

“Why did you attack that priest? You should have known what would happen if you did.”

What she really wanted to know was what organization he’d been a part of. However, she figured asking that right away would look suspicious, so she started with something more innocuous.

Davy stared at Miledi. His empty eyes began to glow with a fiery determination.

“How horrible.”

“Hm? You definitely did something horrible. But if you knew that, then why—”

“I can’t believe you’re like this already, at such a young age.”

“What?” Miledi’s surprise wasn’t feigned this time.

Davy smiled at Miledi. He struggled to his knees, coughing up blood.

“Why? It’s simple. Because you’re making a face like that, little girl.” Miledi had no idea what he was talking about. He’d done it because of her expression? That didn’t make any sense chronologically, let alone logically.

Was he messing with her? Or had the torture addled his wits?

Either way, it didn’t seem he was going to open up to her.

In that case, she’d just end it. Like she always did.

Her father had only told her to try it and see what happened, after all. She’d fulfilled those orders.

“What worth is there in a world where children can’t smile?”

“Ah...” He spoke again before Miledi could condemn him.

She didn’t have an answer for him. For once, she was dumbfounded. It felt as though something had stabbed her through the chest. By the time she returned to her senses, Davy had stood up and was standing at the edge of the platform.

How can he stand with wounds that bad?

“Sorry, but I can’t answer what you really want to know.” He tottered unsteadily. One more step and he’d fall into the abyss.

Yet Davy’s eyes burned with life.

“But I believe. One day, the world will be free.”

“Free?” She spoke it hesitantly, like she’d never heard it before. Davy’s words didn’t make sense to her.

Davy coughed up another mouthful of blood. He was practically dead. And yet... he smiled.

“Hey, little girl. Don’t you want to live your life smiling?”

“Ah—”

Davy leaned backward and fell into the gorge.

He put an end to his own life, as if denying the right to let Miledi execute him.

The wind blew across the empty platform. No one was standing on it now. For a while, Miledi just stood there.

From then on, Miledi often sunk deep into thought. She continued fulfilling her duty, but she would spend just a little more time talking to the condemned, asking questions her job didn’t require her to. She came to learn what kinds of people these criminals were.

Even she wasn’t sure why she did it. As she continued, though, something began building inside of her.

One of the criminals was a man who’d lived by the northern lake. He had loved that lake, and prayed to the creature living inside it every day. That was a sin.

Another criminal was a merchant. He had given medicine to a wounded demon. The demon had been grateful for his aid, and the two had formed a lasting friendship. That was a sin.

Yet another was a mother. She had begged the Holy Church not to take her gifted child, at least not until they’d grown into an adult. That was a sin.

Yet another had been a beastman youth. That was a sin.

Were they really sins, though? Some of the condemned were certainly criminals, and many of them deserved to be punished. But were their crimes truly deserving of death? Miledi couldn’t allow herself to ask such questions. One did not question absolutes. Especially not if they were a Reisen.

Though Miledi kept telling herself that, the doubt that had been planted in her mind that day continued to grow.

One day, a maid walked up to Miledi.

“From today onward, I will be your personal attendant. My name is Belle. It is a pleasure to serve you, Milady.” The maid’s curtsy was perfect. Her red hair was tied neatly behind her back with a ribbon. She was, without a doubt, beautiful.

When Miledi asked why she had been given a maid, Colt answered. According to him, by the age of ten she had acquired most of the knowledge necessary to be considered a full-fledged member of the Reisen family.

In a few years, he would no longer act as an intermediary for her duties. She would be expected to deal with the emperor and the Holy Church on her own.

Belle was the daughter of a nobleman’s mistress, but she had been brought up with a proper noble’s education, so she would act as both Miledi’s maid, and her tutor, filling in the last few remaining gaps in Miledi’s knowledge.

Miledi knew this day would come. She had no right to refuse, nor did she have any reason to. However, she wasn’t the same girl she had been. With all the thinking she’d been doing recently, she found having a maid teaching her proper grace and refinement distracting.

Still, after spending one month with Belle, Miledi had to admit she was an efficient teacher. No matter the situation, Belle never let her facade of elegance fade. Though it made her appear a bit stiff at times, it was still impressive.

In time, Miledi learned to conduct herself in the same manner.

Miledi was grateful for the fact that though Belle was with her at all times, she only spoke when necessary.

However, she could feel that Belle’s eyes were always on her... though maybe that was just because she wanted to do her job as a tutor properly. After all, it is a teacher’s duty to watch her pupil’s actions closely.

Though at times it felt like Belle’s gaze had some other meaning behind it. Miledi shook those thoughts off, deciding not to get in the way of Belle’s job. She had no interest in getting close to her, so there was no reason to think too deeply about Belle’s actions.

The day after Miledi came to that decision, something happened. For once, Belle hadn’t followed her around all day. After she finished her work, Miledi returned to her room. She casually opened the door to her bedroom and found—

“Oh, welcome back, Miledi-tan~ You sure work hard for someone so small~” Belle was waiting for her.

And she’d greeted Miledi in a ridiculously cutesy way. Belle was sitting on Miledi’s table eating some cake.

Did she just call me Miledi...tan?

“......”

“Oh? Oh my, what’s wrong, Miledi-tan? It looks like you’re wondering why your prim and proper tutor is acting like this.”

“......”

Belle grinned at Miledi. This was the first time she had seen her tutor smile. Belle looked satisfied, as if she’d pulled off the biggest prank.

Once the shock had worn off, Miledi found herself...

“Hello? Earth to Miledi-tan? Squishy-cheeked Miledi-tan~ If you’re in there, then say something~ You’re going to make me cry~”

Disgusted. She found herself disgusted.

Belle wrapped an arm around Miledi’s shoulder and pinched her cheeks.

Miledi had never been treated like this before. Though she was irritated, she was at a loss for how to react.

Belle was being exceedingly rude. She was the illegitimate daughter of a noble, while Miledi was a member of the powerful Reisen family.

Someone of Belle’s station could be executed for acting so casually, given the difference in status.

“Do you want to die?” It seemed Miledi had been even angrier than she’d realized. Normally, she would never have retaliated like that.

The threat had a different level of weight when it was muttered by an executioner.

However, Belle didn’t seem to mind.

“Come on, don’t be so glum. Are you this cranky because your boobs are small?”

“Shut up!” This was the first time Miledi had ever yelled at anyone, and it had been over a stupid jab at her chest size.

Though Belle’s breasts were certainly something to envy. They were two mountains of enormous proportions.

Miledi was still a child, so naturally hers hadn’t developed yet, but that didn’t make the insult sting any less. She was honestly surprised she cared that much about being feminine.

Belle shrank back and stared joyfully at Miledi.

“She got mad... Our Miledi-tan actually got mad!”

Miledi took a deep breath to calm herself down.

“Is this what you’re really like?”

“Yep!” Belle grinned mischievously. Miledi did her best to hold in her mounting anger.

“I have no idea what you hoped to achieve by doing this, but do you really think such rudeness will go unpunished?”

“I do!”

Miledi activated her gravity magic, and Belle sunk to the floor. Unfortunately, the floor in this instance was a very luxurious carpet. It probably felt good to lay on it.

“What were you thinking?” Exasperated, Miledi canceled her magic. Belle continued rolling contentedly on the floor, heedless of Miledi’s glare.

“I wanted to be your friend, Miledi-tan.”

“......” Miledi blinked in confusion.

“I’ve been watching you for this past month, and I’ve decided I like you quite a bit, so I figured we might as well be friends. What’s so weird about that?”

Am I supposed to laugh at that? I wasn’t taught how to deal with this situation. The teachings of the Reisen family had no wisdom to offer Miledi. Without them to fall back on, she found herself confused.

“Hey, Miledi-tan, say something. Come here. Come on, it feels good.” Belle spread herself out on the carpet and patted it invitingly.

Do you realize how unbecoming it would be for someone of my station to do something so ridiculous? Miledi knew she should report Belle for acting improperly and have her dismissed.

“Hehehe. Welcome, Miledi-tan.”

“Stop calling me that.”

But before she knew it, she’d walked up to Belle. She spread herself over the carpet, her instincts ignoring the voice of reason that was screaming at her to stop.

It was quite fluffy. This was the first time she’d ever lain on it. Sleeping on the floor was something a noble lady should never do, after all. However—

“Well? Comfy, right?” Miledi ignored Belle, who had ruined the moment. She could see Belle grinning again out of the corner of her eye. A strange, indescribable feeling welled up within Miledi.

Miledi pouted and turned away from Belle.

Still, she couldn’t deny what she’d discovered.

Being on the floor like this was exhilarating.

Despite Belle’s excessive rudeness, Miledi couldn’t bring herself to punish her. In fact, she couldn’t even bring herself to get her fired, or even report her. From then on, Miledi’s odd relationship with Belle continued.

Around her, Miledi couldn’t keep her composure. The emotions she’d locked away for so long escaped their cages when Belle was around.

However, the two only acted like that around each other. In the presence of anyone else, Belle was the perfect maid, while Miledi was the dutiful, obedient daughter.

Even then, though, hints of their true personalities shone through.

One time Colt had been distracted by something when he’d been giving Miledi her instructions for the day. Miledi had taken that opportunity to blow a silent raspberry at him. Belle had given her a thumbs-up for that. Miledi found herself addicted to the thrill of breaking rules and began to incorporate gravity magic into her pranks.

Another time Belle had brought sweets to Miledi’s room and they’d stuffed themselves silly. Belle had claimed she’d bought them from somewhere, but they had tasted distinctly like the desserts the Reisen chef made. Miledi had strung up Belle for lying while continuing to wolf down the stolen sweets. The despair on Belle’s face as Miledi had eaten through them all had made her week.

As payback, Belle had given Miledi a very special book. She’d told Miledi it was a popular romance novel. She’d kept pestering Miledi to read it until finally she caved in and opened it up... only to discover it was erotic fiction. Very explicit erotic fiction.

Belle had teased Miledi for days afterward about how red she’d gotten.

“Miledi-tan, what did you think of the book? How’d it make you feel? Hey, Miledi-tan, say something. It looked like you were really into it! So, what was it like? Come on, tell me!”

In the end Miledi had snapped and hung Belle from the ceiling for a day.

As those days continued, Miledi realized she was beginning to change. She couldn’t express it very well, but she felt herself growing, well, looser. Or perhaps softer was a more accurate term. She could feel it.

She became certain of her transformation one day around two months after learning of Belle’s true nature.

Belle was fixing her hair for her, and Miledi caught sight of her face in the mirror.

She had a relaxed expression on her face. That surprised her. Quite a bit, too.

That’s me? Since when did I start looking so lax? Miledi took her eyes off her own face and found Belle smiling at her.

Miledi blushed and looked away, but it had been nice, having someone smile at her.

That feeling would end up changing Miledi’s fate, though she didn’t know it at the time.

Today too, Miledi had been ordered by Colt to interview a criminal.

The condemned was a young man charged with the crime of falling in love with a beastman, which made him a heretic.

“You went against the teachings of Ehit. A crime deserving of death. Do you admit to your crime?” Miledi read out the charges and asked the usual question.

Regardless of his answer, his fate was sealed. As always, he didn’t seem to see the error of his ways and railed at Miledi.

“What do you mean a crime deserving of death? I did nothing wrong!”

“However, you did fall in love with—”

“Is love a sin!?”

“It...” Miledi stopped short. A few months ago, she would have said “it is” without hesitation. But now, after all she’d come to learn, she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.

“If you deny you ever loved that woman, even if that’s just a lie, it may prove your devotion to Ehit. Your life may yet be spared.”

“Huh?” Even the young man hadn’t been expecting that reply. He’d yelled at Miledi precisely because he’d known there was no saving him now.

However, the girl standing before him now had a troubled expression on her face. He stared at her in amazement.

“I can put in a request for a retrial, but don’t expect too much. If it goes through, lie like your life depends on it. For her sake, too.”

“Huh? Ah, w-wait!”

Miledi walked away without responding. This was the first time she’d truly broken an absolute.

In the end, her request for a retrial was denied by Colt before it even made it to the Holy Church. She had been expecting that, of course.

The execution was moved up, and the man was dropped into the gorge the same day.

But things no longer continued as always.

Miledi had done something uncharacteristic in asking her father for a retrial.

She had been so efficient at her job that her father had been planning on making her the next head, yet she had covered for a criminal. That wasn’t something Colt could ignore.

Who is it? Who is it that corrupted the future head of the Reisen family? Who put these ideas into her head? Colt poured all of his family’s resources into finding the culprit.

As a result—

“Belle!”

“Miledi-sama...”

Miledi watched as Colt’s soldiers rushed into her room and arrested Belle.

Miledi rounded on Colt, who had followed in after his soldiers.

“Father, what is the meaning of this? She is my—”

“Your what, exactly?”

Miledi flinched. His voice was colder than ice. Colt threw a sheaf of documents at her. As she read their contents, Miledi’s eyes went wide.

“That woman is a member of an anti-church organization. We are currently conducting an investigation into the noble who vouched for her identity. She’s someone to be feared if she truly did manipulate a noble family... Take her away.” At Colt’s command, the soldiers roughly marched Belle away.

“B-Belle!”

“It’s all true, Miledi-tan.” Despite the situation, Belle smiled. Colt and the others assumed her words were a confession. They thought now that her secret had been revealed, she’d decided to admit her deception. However, Miledi knew. She knew what those words really meant.

Belle meant those days they’d spent together and the smiles they’d shared had all been real. They were no lie.

Miledi tried to chase after Belle, but Colt stopped her with a few harsh words.

“Letting yourself be fooled by a heretic was a serious blunder. Compose yourself, Miledi Reisen. This is your last chance. A Reisen who cannot perform their duty is of no value.” Miledi stopped in her tracks.

Colt harrumphed, and with one last disappointed look, he left the room.

An oppressive silence followed. Miledi simply stood there, staring at the door.

That night, Miledi slipped past the guards and headed to the prison. She was going to meet Belle.

“......” When she reached Belle’s cell, she was speechless. Belle had clearly been tortured. Deep cuts fresh enough to still be bleeding covered her from head to toe. She had been handcuffed to the wall, from which she hung limply.

“Oh? Miledi...tan? You... came?” She spoke slowly, pausing between words. The pain in her voice was evident. Still, Belle lifted her face and grinned at Miledi.

Tears formed in Miledi’s eyes. On her way here she’d agonized about what she wanted to say, what she wanted to ask. She hadn’t been able to figure it out. But now, with Belle in front of her, the words spilled out on their own.

“Belle... I’ll help you somehow, so tell me everything. I’ll beg the Holy Church. I’ll save your life, I promise!” Miledi figured she might be able to convince the Holy Church to use Belle’s knowledge to topple the rest of her organization.

She knew it was a long shot. It was a terrible plan, but it was the best she had. The absolutes she’d grown up with and her lack of knowledge about the outside world weighed her down. As she was, this was all she could come up with.

However, when Belle saw Miledi crying and clinging to the bars, she smiled. The happiness in that smile was genuine.

“No thanks~”

“Huh?” Miledi looked up in surprise. She couldn’t believe it.

“Bahaha... What’s with that look? You’re ruining your good looks with that expression. Well, I guess you always were a hopeless beauty. Hehehee...”

“B-Belle!” This wasn’t any time for jokes. Miledi grew angry and yelled at Belle.

Still, Belle just smiled kindly back. As Miledi had asked, she would tell her everything.

“Miledi, let me tell you my real name.”

“Belle’s not your real name?”

“Yep. My name is Belta Lievre. I was originally a member of the Lievre family. My family’s been archbishops of the Holy Church for generations. And I was the divine priestess who’d received Ehit’s blessing.”

“A divine priestess...” Miledi didn’t know what to say.

A divine priestess was someone who had received a revelation directly from Ehit. They were among the highest ranked members of the Holy Church. They held no direct political power, but their influence was as great as the pope’s.

“When I was around your age, I also spent my time fulfilling my appointed duty. I’m an Atavist too, so I can use special magic... Mine’s divination. It lets me see the possible paths a person’s future can go down.”

“The paths a person’s future can go down...”

Miledi absently repeated Belta’s words. For some reason, they left a deep impression on her.

“Every day, I saw tons of people who wanted to change their fate. There should have been ways for all of them to achieve happiness, but their fates had been distorted by the values, the doctrines, and the principles of the Holy Church. Whether it ended up good or bad for us, everything bent to His will.”

“His” will. Miledi could guess who Belta meant. Their lord and creator, Ehit.

“But I still believed. I thought Ehit’s design would surely lead most of us to happiness eventually. Even as I dealt with the grief and rage of the people, the bishops still told me ‘You did well leading the people today,’ every time.”

It must have felt awful. Belta smiled bitterly at Miledi. Ah, I understand now.

“Pretty similar to your own situation, wouldn’t you say?”

“Yes...”

“Thought so,” Belta said as Miledi nodded.

“Though to be honest, I didn’t expect the heir of the ruthless Reisen household to be so kind-hearted.”

I didn’t expect it either, Miledi thought with a smile.

“Just like with you, I needed to see something shocking before I realized.” Before she’d realized how twisted this world truly was.

“One day I saw a certain someone’s fate. No, that’s not quite right. Rather, I couldn’t see it. There was a girl whose future I couldn’t read. All I saw ahead of her was darkness. It was as if she was alive, and yet not. She was... She wasn’t human!” Belta practically screamed those last words. Miledi realized Belta was shivering, as if she was terrified of the past she was remembering.

“Belle... Belta!”

“Ah.” Belta took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Her eyes were focused on the present again, and she looked at Miledi. What could have terrified a cheerful girl like her so badly? “That... That thing wearing the Holy Church’s robes was unbelievably beautiful, but it was also not of this world. I was so scared when I saw it that I prayed.”

It was then that she received Ehit’s words.

“You see too much.” When she returned to her senses, there was a shortsword sticking out of her chest.

Still confused, she’d slumped to the ground. It felt like not just her blood, but the very source of her life was flowing out of her. She was almost certainly going to die.

Before she lost consciousness, she asked something in a hoarse voice.

“Lord Ehit, why?” The reply he’d given was beyond her expectations.

“We’re free to do what we want with our toys, no?”

“I definitely died that day. Yet for some reason, I awoke in one of Elbard’s back alleys, even though I should have been dead. All I was wearing was rags.”

“So then...”

“I didn’t know who brought me back or why, but I knew it hadn’t been Ehit’s mercy that saved me. He’s not that kind of god. When I awoke, I heard a kind man’s voice tell me to run.”

From then on Belta lived as an orphan, her only possessions her life, and the knowledge of what Ehit truly was. Her brush with death had divested her of her special magic, and had taken most of her regular magic skills as well. Still, Belta had tried to gather comrades to fight against this unfair world and its hateful gods. Eventually, she’d found enough people to form a proper organization.

“So when you came here...”

“In order to save my comrades, and any prisoners who might join hands with us, I infiltrated the mansion.”

Though, Belta hadn’t expected to meet a girl who reminded her of her old self here... She smiled at the thought.

“Miledi... I decided to fight back of my own free will. That’s something I’m never going to give up, even if it means my death.”

Miledi understood that Belta would never give in. Miledi’s words couldn’t dissuade her from her chosen path.

“I-I can definitely save you.” Miledi sounded like a spoiled child. She couldn’t even meet Belta’s eyes.

“Miledi-tan... Smile.” Instead of replying, that was what Belta said.

How can I smile?

Miledi just mumbled “I know I can save you,” one last time and walked away. She told herself over and over that there had to be a way. However, no solutions came to mind.

She sat on her bed and thought. The question of what to do swirled in her mind, but nothing she came up with seemed likely to work.

She didn’t know how long she sat there. Though eventually, with no other ideas available to her, Miledi decided to beg Colt to spare Belta. She tried not to think of her previous failure as she headed to his room.

My only purpose is to fulfill the duties of the Reisen family. I’m just a cog in the execution machine. That’s all. And that’s absolute. A cold, unfeeling part of her mind whispered that to her and she stopped in her tracks.

But she didn’t want to give up on the person who’d shown her how to feel. She started walking again and before she knew it she was in front of her father’s office. Miledi took a deep breath, her palms slick with nervous sweat.

She steeled her resolve and knocked on the door.

“Huh?” But there was no reply. Normally, her father would still be in his office.

“What’s wrong, Milady?” A passing servant called out to her.

“Where is my father?”

“Were you not informed? He left for the execution grounds just recently.”

Miledi’s veins turned to ice.

“Now?”

“Indeed, Milady. He claimed the heretic was dangerous and needed to be dealt with immediately. Not only did she serve as your maid for months, she was apparently the head of an anti-church organization...”

Miledi dashed off without listening to the rest. The servant yelled after her, but Miledi was long gone.

Cold sweat poured down her back. Sheer desperation lent strength to her legs.

This was too soon. Far too soon. Her father’s interrogation of Belta shouldn’t have finished yet. So why is he doing this already...

She finally arrived at the execution platform.

A crescent moon hung in the night sky.

Colt was standing before the platform, together with his soldiers.

Belta was nowhere to be seen. The execution platform was empty.

“Haaah... Haaah... Father. Wh-What happened to Belta?”

Please let me be in time—

“The execution has been completed.” Miledi’s world went silent. Everything grew blurry.

Colt continued talking. Something about how the noble backing Belta had confessed everything, which was why he’d executed her immediately. He hadn’t wanted to give her a chance to negatively influence the Reisen family any further. Miledi started running.

“Miledi! What do you think you’re doing!?” She jumped off the execution platform without hesitation.

The wind whistled past her ears. Casting oneself into this gorge that silenced all magic would normally be suicide, but Miledi had so much mana that she could cast spells dense enough that the gorge couldn’t disperse them.

“Obsidian Vortex.” This was the most basic of gravity spells. It allowed the caster to create a localized gravitational field and thus adjust their weight.

Miledi decelerated rapidly and landed lightly at the bottom of the ravine.

The moon’s light only faintly reached the depths. This dark gorge was where countless sinners had met their end. Miledi found it disconcerting.

She made a ball of light with light magic and examined her surroundings.

“She’s not here...” Miledi had prepared herself to see Belta’s broken body lying at the bottom of the gorge, but there was nothing there. Don’t tell me monsters already ate her... Just then, she heard a monster’s roar a short distance away.

“It can’t be.” Miledi dashed off toward the sound.

After rounding a corner, Miledi saw her.

A girl slumped with her back to the wall. It seemed she’d somehow managed to survive the fall and had tried to escape, but now she was surrounded by a few dozen wolf-like monsters. She must have been chased from the very moment she fell.

“Bel!”

“Hm? Mi...ledi...tan?” Her voice was weak. Miledi sent the ball of light ahead of her, illuminating the area around Belta. It was then that she noticed... Belta was sitting in a pool of her own blood. Miledi could tell with a single glance. She’d lost too much.

“Graaaaaah!” The wolves were overjoyed to have more meat to feast on. Their claws and fangs were dripping blood. Belta’s blood.

Miledi felt something inside her snap.

“Die.” She said that single word in a voice colder than ice.

A second later, the wolves had been crushed flat. The ground underneath them was sunken. They hadn’t even had time to scream.

“Ahahaha. You’re... amazing, Miledi-tan.”

“Bel! Bel, keep it together!” Miledi rushed over to Belta.

When Miledi saw her up close, she grew certain. Belta’s wounds were fatal. Still, she cast healing magic on her anyway. She picked the strongest spell she could cast instantly and used it. However, because of the gorge’s special properties, her magic was greatly weakened.

“Shit, shit, shit!” That was the first time in her life she had ever cursed.

Tears in her eyes, Miledi poured even more mana into her healing. She’d burn through it all if she had to. Belta raised a blood-soaked hand and raised it to Miledi’s cheek.

“Hey, Miledi. Is working together... a sin?”

“Huh?”

“What about... opening your heart? Or... laughing together? Or... telling the person you love... that you love... them?”

“It’s not a sin.”

Miledi took Belta’s hand into her own.

“Exactly. These aren’t... things you can make fun of... and trample over... We are... humans are... not their... toys.” Miledi watched as the light slowly dwindled in Belta’s eyes.

No matter how much she cried, no matter how much she screamed, she couldn’t change fate.

Miledi saw her own tear-stained face reflected in Belta’s jade eyes.

“You were like... a little sister to me.”

“I thought of you like my big sister, too.”

Belta smiled.

“I pray... the time comes... that humans can live... freely. I pray for a world where you can... smile...”

Belta’s hand went limp.

A young girl’s cries echoed throughout the gorge.

Miledi took Belta’s body into her arms and used gravity magic to fly back to the execution stand.

Colt was waiting for her. Not just him, either. Her mother, her grandfather, her uncle, and her cousin were there too, along with a contingent of soldiers. Behind them was a row of people shackled together.

Colt stared icily at her. He had never really treated Miledi like his daughter, but he had never looked at her like she was trash before, either.

“Do you realize what you’re doing?” Miledi ignored him and looked over the row of prisoners behind him.

They were all disheveled and were watching Miledi in awe. No one had ever come back up out of the gorge. However, what surprised them even more was that the daughter of Earl Reisen had leaped into the gorge to save someone.

When she didn’t reply, Colt threw up his hands and gave Miledi her final warning.

“Dispose of that trash.” Miledi turned back to her father upon hearing his words.

“Trash?” she muttered.

Colt didn’t hear her, and continued.

“This is my final warning. Fulfill your duty as a Reisen. Pass judgment on that heretic’s comrades with your own hands.” To him, that was the only value her life had. Miledi hung her head.

She looked down at Belta’s face, and came to a decision.

“I’m sick of this.”

“Excuse me?” Colt’s eyes twitched, and he pointed a finger at her. The Reisen soldiers unsheathed their weapons. They were planning on fighting her, but Miledi wasn’t fazed at all. She looked up at Colt and declared her new beliefs.

“I am Miledi Reisen. I am my own person. The only one who decides my life’s purpose is me.” Those were words of rebellion. Miledi had just declared she would no longer follow the Reisen family’s orders. After all, to live as an individual meant discarding the family’s ideals.

Colt sighed, then his soldiers began chanting.

“It’s a shame to lose the power your ancient magic offered us, but a rotten branch must be cut off lest it infect the whole tree. Eliminate her.” Up until the very end, Colt had never treated Miledi like his daughter.

Miledi hugged Belta’s corpse and steeled her resolve. Remembering how her friend had always smiled, she grinned at Colt.

It was a forced, misshapen grin, but Colt and the others had never once seen her so much as smile before, and they hesitated.

Miledi looked down and spoke in a tone laden with emotion.

“Eliminate me? I’d like to see you try.” There was no turning back after this.

The sun had long since set, and night blanketed the sky.

After she finished her tale, Miledi fell silent.

“After that, I destroyed the Reisen family and freed Bel’s comrades, the Liberators. They’re the same organization I belong to now. A lot happened, honestly. I had a run-in with a silver-haired nun while trying to find out if the gods really were evil. I barely escaped that encounter with my life. Then, I spent a long time training so I could get my revenge the next time I see her, saved a lot of other Liberators, protected people who came to us, scouted others with the same ideals as us... until at some point I became the leader.”

Miledi laughed and Oscar gave her a sidelong glance. Though she was always acting cheerful, he could tell her resolve was unbreakable. She wouldn’t falter, even if she had to fight Ehit himself. The events that had built up her resolve were so heavy that Oscar didn’t know what to say.

She looked at him, her eyes clear as a mountain spring.

“Bel was telling the truth, so I’ve been searching all this time for comrades who will help me fight against the world. Comrades strong enough to fight on even terms with me.” She repeated the same words she’d said when she first met him.

“And now I’ve finally found you.” Silence. Miledi had laid everything out for him. All that was left was to wait for Oscar’s reply.

Oscar pushed up his glasses, hiding his expression.

“Miledi.”

“That’s me.”

Oscar refused to meet her gaze, as if doing so would weaken his resolve.

He paused for a second.

“I... can’t go with you.”

“Ah...” He noticed Miledi tightly grip her hands.

“Just like that girl was important to you, my family is important to me. Even if what you say is true, I can’t afford to get them wrapped up in this.” Oscar stood up, which made Miledi gasp.

“I don’t want to be seen with you anymore. Please, try and understand.”

Oscar turned his back to Miledi and walked away. A clear rejection.

“Th-Then, can I come see you when there isn’t anyone around tomorrow?”

Oscar stopped. He struggled to rein in his emotions and glumly replied to her.

“Please don’t come near me ever again.” He resumed walking.

He didn’t hear footsteps chasing after him, which he’d grown rather used to over the past few days.

Oscar was silent for the remainder of the trip. His footsteps were heavy, and he took a long detour on his way to the orphanage.

Honestly, he just wanted to be alone. He told himself over and over that he’d made the right decision, that keeping his family safe was what mattered most. However, he couldn’t banish the voice in his head that kept telling him “You actually wanted to help her, didn’t you?”

Don’t you actually want to use your powers to the fullest? Don’t you really want to help the people who need you with your abilities? Why were you born with this power? So you could live your life hiding it? Can you really bring yourself to abandon her?

“Shut up.” Oscar yelled at the voice in his head.

He continued agonizing over his decision, and before he knew it he was on the same street as his orphanage. He knew he must’ve looked suspicious, mumbling to himself in the dark.

“This was for the best.” Even if the gods were evil, even if humans were just pawns in their twisted board game, it was better to live out his life as an average person than to effectively become a terrorist and fight against them.

If his family was put in harm’s way because of him, he knew he’d regret it forever.

That was why he’d made this choice.

He repeated that to himself over and over, trying to calm himself down.

Starting tomorrow, he’d be back to his usual lifestyle.

He walked up to the orphanage, his stride confident, without knowing that the unfairness of this world had already caught up to him.

After a few more seconds of walking, Oscar found himself in front of the orphanage. Something was off, though. It was long past dinnertime, but there was someone standing in front of the orphanage. It was Moorin. She was looking around uneasily.

The moment she spotted him she dashed over.

“Oscar!”

“H-Hey, Mom. I’m back.”

Oscar felt a rising sense of dread as he watched Moorin run over to him.

“Mom, what’s wrong? Why do you look so panicked?” He suddenly had a very bad premonition.

Moorin glanced about to make sure no one was listening in before leaning close to Oscar.

“Oscar, you wouldn’t happen to know where Dylan is, would you? He and a few of the other kids haven’t come back yet.”

“Dylan? No, I haven’t seen him...”

It seemed that Dylan, Ruth, Corrin, and Katy hadn’t returned yet.

Once they were old enough, the orphans started taking on odd jobs at nearby restaurants and workshops. That way, they could support the orphanage and make money to spend on themselves.

Dylan and the others worked relatively close to the orphanage, and they usually returned home together.

As such, they were normally back long before the sun set. If they were going to be late, at least one of them would come back to tell Moorin.

However, none of them had returned. Something suspicious was going on.

Oscar was acutely aware of his heart pounding in his chest. He pushed his glasses up and tried to remain calm.

“Have you told the town guard yet?”

“Of course. But they didn’t care. They told me they don’t have the soldiers to spare to go looking for a few mangy orphans...”

Moorin bit her lip. Her frustration was evident.

“But, Oscar. They were acting even stranger than normal when I went to them.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean... it was almost as if they knew what was going on and didn’t want to get involved. Like this is part of something way bigger than just a few orphans going missing. It was obvious they were turning a blind eye to something.”

Moorin was exceptionally perceptive when it came to people. Oscar was inclined to believe her assessment of the guards. There was something bigger going on here.

He thought back to the disappearances that had been plaguing the city recently. The guard must have heard about them as well. And yet they chose not to get involved? This isn’t good... Does that mean someone with enough authority to silence the guards is involved here? Panic gripped his chest.

This wasn’t the time to be worrying about keeping secrets. He pulled a metal sheet out of his pocket.

It was silver, and about the size of his palm. At a glance it seemed no different from a regular Status Plate, but its function was completely different.

“Activate protocol one. Trace targets Dylan, Ruth, Corrin, and Katy.” Oscar’s activation chant sounded extremely mechanical, completely unlike most spell chants.

The plate began to glow with a faint light. The light coalesced into four distinct points.

This was one of his artifacts, the Silver Slate. It was linked to the coins he’d given all the kids.

Those coins had been crafted with ore he’d enchanted with the light magic “Tracking.” He’d then linked those beacons to his Silver Slate, so he could always know where they were.

Tracking was good for tailing targets or keeping track of one’s allies in situations where visibility was poor. However, in both cases, it required the user to mark their targets beforehand.

Furthermore, if the caster’s mana ran out the spell faded. In other words, the caster was forced to continually maintain their concentration to keep the spell up. Despite its convenience, the spell was difficult to use.

Ore already enchanted with the spell didn’t exist outside of the things Oscar had created, which was why an artifact like his that allowed him to instantly pinpoint someone’s location was so impressive. Though its effects seemed plain, it was a high-class artifact and easily worth a fortune.

“The four of them are all together... and judging from the distance and the direction they’re... in the mine shafts?”

“Oscar?”

Oscar turned toward Moorin. She gasped, surprised by how serious his gaze was.

“Mom, I’ll bring Dylan and the others back. Do you remember how to activate the orphanage’s defenses?”

“Y-Yes. I’ll be fine.”

Oscar nodded and continued.

“Don’t step foot out of the orphanage tonight. I don’t care who comes, don’t answer the door unless it’s someone you absolutely trust. Even if it’s soldiers who show up, chase them away with the defense system. Take care of the other kids for me, too.”

“Okay, I will. But, Oscar... you be careful out there, you hear? I know you’d do anything to protect your family, but take care of yourself, too...”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine, Mom.” Oscar smiled reassuringly, but it had no effect on Moorin. She smiled sadly back at him. I guess I should have expected that. Moorin knew her children better than they knew themselves. She even knew Oscar had hid his abnormal talents to protect his family.

Long ago he’d been a much more cheerful child, always smiling when the things he’d created made other people happy. But as time went on he’d gotten so accustomed to keeping that false smile plastered on his face that it had become the norm. Moorin watched as the eldest of her children dashed off into the night. He’d grown into a fine young man, but she worried he was sacrificing too much of himself for others.

After leaving the orphanage, Oscar made a quick stop at his house. He wanted to stock up on equipment.

Once he’d grabbed everything, he dressed himself in all black. Black pants, black shirt, black boots, black coat. And, for some reason, a black umbrella. His hair was black as well, so it really looked like every inch of him was covered in darkness.

He blended perfectly into the night. Though with his stylish glasses and umbrella, he looked more like a gentleman out for a stroll than an assassin or a burglar.

“They’re not moving...” Oscar kneeled down. A second later, he leaped a dozen meters into the air and landed atop the roof of a nearby building. After that superhuman jump, he ran across the rooftops with unbelievable speed.

This was another one of his artifacts, Onyx Boots. They increased his leg strength exponentially, and were enchanted with wind magic to aid in his leaps. He could also create mini-barriers beneath his soles, giving him platforms to leap off of in the air.

Oscar dashed through Velnika’s rooftops with the speed of a gale. Before long, he’d reached the entrance to the Greenway.

The Greenway was the backbone of Velnika’s economy, and many merchants, craftsmen, and even adventurers made their livelihood from it. Because of that, there were restrictions on who could enter, and when.

There weren’t many people near the entrance this late at night, though.

No one took any notice of Oscar as he passed through the entrance gates.

He sped through the mine shafts, following the guidance of his Silver Slate. He’d been in here before, but tonight the light of the green glowstone felt eerier than usual.

He reached the end of the first floor. His beacon was nearly overlapping with that of Dylan and the others.

“Shit. I should have designed it to detect elevation as well.” At this distance he should have been able to see the kids, but the only thing in front of him was the tunnel wall, which of course meant that Dylan and the others were further below.

The problem was, he didn’t know how far below. He hadn’t equipped his Silver Slate with the ability to gauge vertical distances.

“Wait, now that I think about it...” Oscar recalled something an adventurer had once told him. Apparently a lot of templar knights had been spotted in the middle floors of the Greenway. What was colloquially referred to as the middle floors was the set of floors from the 50th to the 70th.

Do they have something to do with the kids’ disappearance?

“Guess I’ll head there first... There’s no time to waste, so we’ll do things the fast way. Nothing matters more than their safety. Even if someone spots me, it’s worth the risk.” Oscar concentrated.

A second later, he was surrounded by a swirling halo of mana. It was so bright that it lit the floor up like a sun.

Around the same time, children’s sobs echoed throughout the 65th floor.

Inside the complex network of passages that made up the floor was a prison. The jail cells had been carved directly out of the bedrock, with iron bars to cover the front. The children crying inside one of the cells had been given only a single flimsy blanket to ward off the cold. They huddled together, hugging their knees.

Among them, only one boy wasn’t crying. Tears welled in his eyes, but he stubbornly refused to let them fall. It was Ruth.

As Oscar had feared, Ruth and the others had been kidnapped on their way home. They’d all been given some kind of magical inspection, and Ruth alone had been separated from the others.

What did they do to everyone else? Why’d they take only me? What’s going to happen to me? Those worries swirled around inside Ruth’s head, paralyzing him with fear. However...

Ruth looked at all the children crying around him. They were all around the same age as him. When he saw them, he was reminded of his own siblings from the orphanage.

“It’s the eldest’s job to protect his younger siblings.” The words of the guy who he’d used to look up to, the guy who’d betrayed him flashed through his mind.

“I’m nothing like that smiling idiot!” Ruth used his anger to beat back the fear. He made up his mind and walked up to the iron bars.

He made sure there weren’t any guards posted outside. After he was sure only the other kids were watching him, he bent down and picked up a stone. He started scratching the ground next to the bars.

He was drawing a simple magic circle. The guy he no longer respected had taught it to him long ago.

“You’re just like me, Ruth.” Like Oscar, Ruth was a Synergist. Oscar’s voice echoed in Ruth’s mind once again. He’d taught Ruth the basics of transmutation long ago.

Back then, Ruth had truly respected him. Oscar was kind, talented, and always worked hard. He could make anything he dreamed of a reality, and had even been scouted by the head of one the city’s best workshops. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Ruth had worshiped Oscar.

He’d been prouder than anyone of him.

His dream had always been to one day be as good as Oscar, and have his name known across the world.

“I’m not gonna give up! I’m not a loser like you! I’m gonna be the greatest Synergist ever, just you watch! Transmute!” Blood dripping from his fingers, Ruth placed his hands on the ground and breathed life into the magic circle. Bright orange mana illuminated his corner of the cell.

The other kids watched in astonishment. They’d realized Ruth was trying to escape. They watched, glimmers of hope in their eyes. However...

“No... How come?” Ruth’s magic had activated, but neither the iron bars nor the ground had changed. Ruth chanted the spell again. He kept going until he was nearly out of mana. Sweat beaded down his forehead, and his body was shivering.

Unfortunately, reality didn’t care about how much effort you put into something.

“Why!?” Ruth’s mana dissipated. He slumped to his knees and banged his forehead against the bars.

Despite squeezing out enough courage to fight back, he’d been unable to do anything in the end.

“Are we ever going home?” One of the girls whispered. The children’s despair had multiplied after they watched their last glimmer of hope get snuffed out. They’d resigned themselves to their fate.

“Don’t worry, I’m here for you.” If it had been the old Oscar, Ruth might have even believed those words. If it had been the Oscar who hadn’t laughed insults off with that creepy smile of his, he might have believed those words. He would have continued to hope, and maybe share that hope with the other children.

But as it was, he couldn’t. All that came to mind when he thought of Oscar was the boy who’d accepted being called a loser. And so, he didn’t say anything. Ruth himself was about to give into despair.

Just then, though—

“Hey. What was that?” A suspicious voice called out to him. It didn’t sound angry, but the children still shrank back in fear.

One of the guards on patrol had noticed the light from Ruth’s transmutation and had come to investigate. The guard was actually a knight. He wore gleaming plate armor, and bore an insignia on his chest. He seemed conspicuously out of place in the Greenway.

The children didn’t recognize the insignia, but most adults in the city would have. It was the emblem of the templar knights, the elite group of soldiers who swore loyalty to the Holy Church.

The knight didn’t have his helmet on, but he still cut quite the imposing figure in full plate. Little wonder the children were scared of him. His intimidating presence left them all speechless, including Ruth.

He scrambled away from the bars, tripped, and fell on his back.

The knight’s gaze fell on Ruth, then from there to what was in front of him... The transmutation circle Ruth had drawn.

“You brat... Were you trying to escape?”

“Hiii...”

A dangerous edge crept into the knight’s voice. Ruth trembled, unable to do anything but scream.

“I guess I should have expected as much from one of the Incompatible. You don’t even realize what an honor it is to be chosen as one of Ehit’s servants... I was told to keep you lot alive, but no one said I couldn’t rough you up a bit. Bad kids need to be punished, after all.” The knight raised his hand. The magic circle engraved on his gauntlet began to glow.

Those well-versed in magic would have recognized it as the magic circle for the Fireball spell.

The knight looked down at Ruth’s legs, his thoughts written all over his face.

There was nothing Ruth could do to resist. He was so terrified he couldn’t even move. And so, he squeezed his eyes shut.

The other children, no doubt aware of what was about to happen, shrieked and backed away.

“I’ll burn the greatness of Ehit into your flesh!”

“I think not.” A cool voice interjected. A second later, the knight groaned in pain.

Ruth timidly cracked open an eye. The knight was on the ground, and Oscar stood before him. For some reason, he was holding out a black umbrella.

“Huh? Ani...ki?”

“I haven’t heard you call me that in a long time. I’m here to take you home, Ruth.” Oscar smiled gently.

For a moment, Ruth’s brain couldn’t grasp that the man standing before him was Oscar.

His confusion was understandable. He was wearing strange clothes and carrying around a black umbrella. More than anything though, he didn’t seem like his usual lazy, carefree self. No, this Oscar had a sharp glint in his eyes and looked dangerous. With his graceful features and fashionable glasses, he looked more like the accomplished son of a noble than a man who’d come out of an orphanage.

Oscar looked down at the floor in front of Ruth. When he spotted the magic circle, he stretched his hand out toward it.

“Oh, the transmutation didn’t work...”

“Yep. That’s because of what the bars are made of. Here, let me show you.”

Golden yellow mana swirled around Oscar. He hadn’t spoken a chant, or used a magic circle, but he still achieved what Ruth hadn’t been able to.

“The bars are made of sealstone. They dissolve mana. Most prisons use it, but even sealstone has its limits. If you put more mana into your transmutation than the ore can handle, you’ll be able to reforge it like everything else.” Oscar easily transmuted the bars, turning them into ingots of lead.

Then, he kneeled down and looked Ruth in the eye.

“You did good, Ruth. It’s because you used transmutation magic that I could find you so quickly.”

“Aniki... I...” Oscar ruffled Ruth’s hair. Ruth’s face scrunched up. His efforts hadn’t been for nothing after all.

Oscar really had come to save them. When he’d reached the 65th floor, Oscar had found the kids’ clothes, along with their coins stored in a safe.

They’d been stripped of all their possessions when they’d been kidnapped. This had effectively nullified Oscar’s tracking. He’d decided to search the rest of the floor before doing anything else, and had found multiple templar knights on patrol. He’d been growing more suspicious by the minute when he’d sensed someone using transmutation magic. One of the knights had noticed too, and had gone to investigate. Oscar had stealthily followed after him.

Had it not been for Ruth, Oscar would still be searching aimlessly through this maze of a floor.

“I don’t see Dylan and the others anywhere. Do you know where they are?” Ruth wiped away the tears that had finally fallen and shook his head.

“No. They brought all of us to this big building in the mines. There were these guys in white, and they made us all stand on this magic circle.” There weren’t many buildings inside the Greenway. And if they were all wearing white, it’s obvious they’re part of the same organization. Something very suspicious was going on, especially considering the templar knights had gotten involved. Oscar narrowed his eyes.

“I don’t know what they were doing, but they said I wasn’t compatible. They took Dylan and the others further inside the building, but they brought me here...”

“I see... I get it now. Thanks, Ruth. I’m glad you’re safe. I guess I should get you guys out of here first. Come on, everyone. It’s time to go home.” Oscar looked behind Ruth at the other children. They were staring at him in awe. His gentle tone helped ease their nervousness and they began shuffling out.

“We’re going home?”

“I can see Mommy and Daddy again?”

The children looked hopefully up at him.

“Yeah, don’t worry. You’ll get to go home and see your parents again. Just be quiet so the scary knights don’t find you.”

Ruth looked over at the knight Oscar had knocked out. Though he’d gotten the knight with a surprise attack, he’d still downed him in a single blow. Templar knights were known to be strong enough to take on five regular soldiers at once. No normal craftsman should have been able to take one out so easily.

“......” Oscar didn’t look anything like the loser Ruth was accustomed to seeing, either. He’d transmuted the bars with such ease, and there was a sharpness to him that he didn’t recognize.

“What’s wrong, Ruth? We don’t have much time. We need to hurry.”

“I-I know that!” Ruth snapped back, irked at being interrupted in the middle of thinking, but Oscar didn’t respond at all. Instead, he just smiled.

That was how he always was. Whenever he was faced with something unpleasant, he just laughed it off. And yet, the smile Oscar gave Ruth this time somehow felt different.

Questions whirled around in Ruth’s head.

Oscar led the children through the cavern. Ruth trailed at the end of the line, carefully scrutinizing his brother’s back. He was torn between believing in Oscar again and the voice in his mind that told him he’d only be disappointed once more if he hoped.

Oscar felt Ruth’s burning gaze, but he didn’t address it. He focused on avoiding the patrols of knights and led the children to where he’d initially come down from.

Next to the safe that had stored their clothes and Ruth’s coin. Though safe was perhaps too grand a word for what was really just a hollow indent covered with bars. There were spare workers clothes and a few other miscellaneous tools stored inside it as well. It was obviously not meant to hold anything important.

Oscar transmuted the bars and walked through them.

He put his hand to the wall in the back, and mana the color of sunlight enveloped him. There was a warmth to his mana that made it feel like actual sunlight.

“Wow, it’s so pretty!”

“Amazing.”

The children watched in amazement. For some reason this made Ruth, not Oscar, blush. He kept stealing glances at Oscar’s work, but tried to make it look like he wasn’t interested.

Oscar’s spell only took a few seconds. The wall had been transformed into a staircase leading upward.

“Alright everyone, listen up. There’s still other kids out there. I need to go save them. This staircase will take you all the way back to the first floor. Can you guys go up it without me?”

Was there a staircase like that on this floor? Ruth puzzled over that while the other kids exchanged nervous glances. They’d been hoping Oscar would take them all the way home. They were scared of going without him.

“Don’t worry. Ruth here’s my little brother. He’s a brave guy. He’ll lead you guys out of the Greenway.”

“Huh!?“ Ruth exclaimed in surprise. The children all turned to him.

He certainly had been the only one to try and use magic to escape, so the children were willing to trust him a little.

Since he couldn’t follow them out, Oscar transmuted a few maps for the children. He carved out disk-shaped slabs of rock from the wall and engraved a map of the first floor onto them.

“Ah, that’s the map of the first floor! My dad sells that to tourists!” One of the children recognized it.

The others crowded around, eager to get a glimpse of the maps.

Oscar’s maps were so detailed that they looked like they had been drawn by a master artist. Oscar’s golden mana faded away as he finished working.

“Take these. I’ve marked the shortest route to the exit. Follow that and you’ll be able to get out. Can I count on you to guide my brother if he gets lost?”

“I-I’m not a kid! I wouldn’t get lost on the first floor!” Ruth protested hotly. However, Oscar’s words had reassured the other boy. He was less nervous now that he had a role to play as well.

“I have one last request for you guys. See how there’s another map on the back of these disks? That’s the map to the Orcus Workshop. I know you all want to go home, but I need you guys to go there first and tell a man named Karg what’s going on. I need his help to save all the other kids.” In truth, Oscar just wanted Karg to look after them. If the templar knights were involved, then he couldn’t trust any public institution to keep them safe.

If the kids went back to their families, it was likely their parents would inform the guard. That was the last thing Oscar wanted. It was obvious the guard would report his actions to the Holy Church.

He couldn’t exactly tell the children not to trust the town guard, either. Because they’d assume if they couldn’t trust the guard, they could still trust the Holy Church.

And they wouldn’t believe him if he told them not to trust the Holy Church, either. If anything, that would make them more suspicious of him.

And so, he’d decided to send them to the one person with authority in this city that Oscar knew he could trust. He knew Karg would handle things discreetly.

Oscar hid his true intentions behind an explanation that was easier for the children to swallow. Ruth stared at Oscar suspiciously, but the kids were all eager to get going. They all puffed out their chests and said things like “Leave it to us!” or “We’ll do it!”

“Thanks. You’re all really brave.”

The kids blushed in embarrassment. Oscar ushered them forward, and they began climbing the steps.

As always, Ruth took the position of rearguard. Though this time he’d done so because he wanted to hang back and talk to Oscar before leaving. Once they were alone, though, he found himself at a loss for words.

“Go on, Ruth. We don’t have much time. You know the first floor better than anyone, and you’ve met the old geezer before too.”

“I-I know. But... Aniki, you really weren’t—” Oscar knew what Ruth was trying to say, but he interrupted him before Ruth could finish.

“Ruth, get down!”

“Ah!?”

Oscar pulled Ruth close and buried him underneath his coat. A gust of hot wind blew past Ruth’s head and there was a loud boom behind him.

Oscar’s black coat had deflected the attack, but Ruth paled when he turned to look at what had happened.

“Wh-What the?”

“I know I had to make sure the kids were safe, but it looks like I wasted too much time here...”

The bottom part of the staircase was a smoldering mess.

Ruth realized what must have happened, and his heart sank.

“Stealing an offering to Ehit is an offense punishable by death.” Ten templar knights rounded the corner, their armor clanking as they walked. One of them had their arm outstretched.

He was the one who’d shot those flames at them. Thankfully, the children had already started climbing, so they hadn’t been hit by the spell.

The knights formed a semi-circle around the cavity. Since it had just been an indent that was transformed into a storage area, it was effectively a dead-end. The knights were blocking the only way out.

Oscar glanced back. In order to let Ruth escape he’d first need to douse the flames and retransmute the stairs. Then, he’d have to create a wall around them using the sealstone he’d transmuted to keep the knights from chasing after the kids.

“Trying to run away, are we? Let’s see you try, you little heretic. We’ll end you the moment you turn your back to us.” Oscar would have to deal with the knights first.

He prepared to fight.

He’d brought this upon himself. From a purely logical standpoint, it would have been better to let Ruth get burned. He wouldn’t have died, and Oscar could have healed him later. Then, he would have been able to go to Dylan and the others right away, and they would have escaped.

Though I probably couldn’t ever forgive myself for doing that... Oscar smiled bitterly to himself.

The knights drew their swords. One of them was glowing with mana and stuck a hand out toward him. Judging by the force of the previous spell, Oscar guessed it had been the intermediate-rank Crimson Spear.

Strong enough to melt even their bones if it hit.

“A-Aniki, don’t! I-If you apologize I’m sure—”

Ruth pulled on Oscar’s coat. He still thought they could get out of this by apologizing. If only you knew.

Ruth didn’t think they could win a fight. After all, Oscar was up against templar knights. The best of the best, strong enough to kick about normal soldiers with ease. Even if Oscar had been hiding his talents, he was still just a Synergist. A blacksmith, not a warrior.

Still, Oscar was determined.

“Don’t worry. I won’t let them hurt you.” He turned to face the knights. There wasn’t even a hint of fear in his expression.

Looking at him, Ruth was reassured. He stared at the back of the man who he’d thought of as a loser.

“You won’t let us hurt him, huh? Looks like someone needs to be taught their place.” The knights were irritated.

One of them scratched his chin thoughtfully. It seemed he was considering something.

He came to some kind of conclusion and addressed Oscar, his voice dripping with casual malice.

“Here, I’ll give you a choice.”

“What do you mean?”

Oscar asked suspiciously.

“You raised a hand against a templar knight. On top of that, you stole Ehit’s offerings. A heretic like you deserves to be cut down on the spot.”

“Your point?”

“Abandon the brat.”

Oscar raised an eyebrow. He could see exactly where the knight was going with this. He didn’t like it one bit.

“He’s family, right? Well, dump him and beg for your life. Pray for Ehit’s forgiveness. If you do, I’ll consider letting you live. So, what’s it gonna be? Throw away your life, or throw away your pride?”

The knights’ shoulders shook from barely suppressed laughter. They weren’t mad at their comrade for saying something so insulting.

No, they were enjoying it. They thought they had an overwhelming advantage, and they were using it to try and torment Oscar.

They wanted to see him weigh Ruth’s life against his own. They wanted to know what kind of person he really was.

“Sheesh... I never realized you knights were so rotten.”

“What was that? Bastard, I dare you to say that again!”

Oscar just shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t look conflicted at all. He’d spoken relatively softly, but his voice had carried far thanks to the cavern’s acoustics. The knights hadn’t expected this response.

In fact, they were a little shaken by Oscar’s unwavering confidence. He gave the knights a thumbs-up.

“The Holy Church, you templar knights, all of the priests, and even Ehit can suck my dick.” He turned his hand so his thumb was facing down.

“Wh-Wh-What was that!? You damned heretic! Die! Be executed! Receive divine punishment!” The knights’ anger was unbelievable. They were so furious that they could barely form proper sentences. The lead knight unleashed his Crimson Javelin.

“Aniki!” Ruth’s scream bounced across the walls.

The flaming spear hurtled toward Oscar. He could feel the heat coming off it as it closed in on him.

“I wish you’d just done this from the start instead of trying that disgusting Q&A on me,” he said, his voice completely calm.

“No way...” The knights staggered backward.

The javelin scattered, blown away by a glowing object in Oscar’s hands.

It was his umbrella.

The black umbrella he’d taken from his house. He’d held it in front of him like a shield, and it had completely blocked an intermediate-rank fire spell.

“I’ll start with you.” An umbrella had blocked magic. The knights were still struggling to comprehend that fact, but Oscar wasn’t going to give them time to get their bearings. There was a soft whoosh, and something shot out of his umbrella.

“Guoh!? Was that an arrow!?” Indeed, Oscar’s umbrella had fired a small metal arrow. It slammed into the breastplate of the knight who’d fired the Crimson Javelin.

“But something like this won’t even pierce... Ah!?” The arrow had possessed quite a bit of force, but nowhere near enough to punch through the knight’s armor. That was why he’d thought there was nothing to worry about. How wrong he was.

The arrow started emitting sparks, and a powerful electric current flowed down it and into the knight.

He was struck directly by an intermediate-class lightning spell. Even someone as strong as him couldn’t take that head on.

“Gah...” He slumped to the ground, white smoke rising from his armor.

Oscar folded his umbrella. In that state, it looked more like a cane.

There was a moment of silence.

“You bastaaaaaard!”

“Curse you, heretic!”

After which the knights all charged at once.

Despite being in full plate, they were fast. One of them was mere feet from Oscar now.

Oscar flung the hem of his coat backward, revealing a holster strapped to his thigh. He pulled out the throwing knives stored within and flung them at the knights.

They struck the ground inches in front of the knights.

“Hah, fool. You miss—” The knives exploded, interrupting the knight’s taunt and sending them all careening backward.

This was another one of his artifacts, Combustion Blades. He’d made his own miniaturized enchanted weapons. Enchanted weapons were, as their name suggested, magically enhanced weapons. Most were rare and valuable enough to be a national treasure.

Oscar had just thrown a few out like they were nothing. Anyone who knew their worth would have fainted at how casually Oscar wasted such valuable weapons, but for him, this was nothing. He made objects of that level in his spare time for fun.

The explosions had thrown the knights’ formation into disarray. Oscar nimbly sidestepped around them.

“You really should pay more attention to your feet.” He hooked his umbrella around the feet of a knight and tripped him.

“Whoa!?” The knight fell flat on his face.

The other knights quickly reformed their ranks and charged.

Oscar turned to the knights and trained his glasses on them. They emitted a blinding flash of light. These were yet another one of his artifacts, Obsidian Spectacles. He’d packed a multitude of features into the frame and lenses. A person like him wouldn’t wear just any old spectacles.

“My eyeeeeees!” As the knights stumbled around, Oscar pulled out more throwing knives and lobbed them. These ones didn’t explode. In fact, a single glance was enough to tell that they were different from the previous ones. As they flew through the air, the knives began to glow red hot.

These were yet another one of his enchanted weapons, Heater Knives. They sliced through the knights’ armor like, well, a hot knife through butter. The heat melted any flesh it came into contact with.

It looked like their armor had just gone through a blast furnace. The heat was great enough that it melted the knives too, and the knights screamed in agony as the molten metal burned them to death.

The remaining knights backed away in fear, but Oscar wasn’t even looking at them. His focus was on the knight in the very back. The one who was chanting a spell.

“Die, you monster!” The knight Oscar had tripped earlier got to his knees and sliced at Oscar’s feet.

Oscar stretched his left hand out toward the chanting knight while expertly blocking the knight’s blow with his umbrella.

There was an unexpected metallic clang as the sword slammed into Oscar’s umbrella.

“What kind of umbrella is that!?” It was, of course, another artifact. It had been enchanted with body strengthening, and made from an alloy of the hardest metals in existence.

Naturally, he didn’t tell the knight that. It wasn’t just the handle that was super-hard, either. The part that was supposed to keep off water and normally made of cloth was actually composed of metal mesh as well. The whole thing weighed a solid eight kilograms.

It made for a great blunt weapon. Oscar didn’t feel its weight since he was using body strengthening, but the knight definitely did.

Oscar snapped his wrist, flipping the umbrella around in his hand. Then, he slammed the handle into the knight’s neck.

“Uwah, what the!?”

“Guaaah!?”

The blow sent the knight careening into the path of a different knight, who’d just been about to stab Oscar. Instead, he ended up stabbing his comrade. Unfortunately, the knight had strengthened his sword with light magic, hoping to finish off Oscar in one blow. His strengthened sword punched through his comrades armor, killing him instantly.

The knight in the back screamed at the same time.

The few remaining knights turned around to see that he’d been stripped naked and bound head to toe in slender chains.

There was an ingot of some kind of metal at his feet, and white smoke rose from his body.

Upon closer inspection, the knights noticed electric sparks running down the chains.

The chains had been sent by Oscar, of course. When he’d pointed his left arm at the knight, the chains had flown out of his sleeve.

Yet another one of his artifacts, Metamorph Chains. Normally, Synergists could only transmute things they were touching directly, or things that were a short distance away from whatever they were touching directly. The chains helped overcome that restriction. They were made out of spirit stone, so he could control them remotely, and they allowed Oscar to accurately transmute anything they were touching.

Such a godlike feat was only possible through the combination of Oscar’s outstanding transmutation abilities and the artifacts he’d created.

Without an incantation, Oscar had transmuted the knight’s armor into ingots of metal, then activated the lightning magic he’d enchanted his chains with.

“Take him down with magic!” They realized now that he had a myriad of weapons. Four of their number had already been killed. This was no longer the time to be acting cocky. They needed to take this threat seriously.

They fell into a proper formation. The vanguard would hold him at bay while the rearguard prepared their spells.

In the time it took for them to get into formation, Oscar pulled out another three throwing knives and hurled them at the backline.

“Don’t think that’ll work on us again!”

The vanguard batted away his knives. Since these knives hadn’t started heating up the knights had assumed they were the exploding type. They’d figured they could withstand the blast and had risked hitting them.

Their instantaneous judgment was truly praiseworthy. If this really had been one of the same knives that Oscar had thrown before, it might even have been a good plan.

“The forecast for today is localized showers with a chance of hail. Do be careful when heading underground.” Oscar raised his umbrella over his head. It glowed golden with his mana, and a second later water started spraying from the umbrella’s canopy.

It was a strange sight, seeing an umbrella create rain rather than ward against it. The knights paid it no mind though, and charged forward after judging the water not a threat.

“Watch your step.”

“Ice magic!? When did he cast that!?”

“The knives! They were enchanted!”

Bingo. The knives he’d thrown that time were the enchanted weapons, Ice Daggers. They froze the area around whatever they struck. The water Oscar had drenched them all in had amplified their effect.

The three knights in the vanguard had their legs frozen, and couldn’t move.

“But now you’re finished!” The rearguard had finished chanting their spells.

They held their swords aloft, their bodies surrounded by a radiant halo of mana. Their target wasn’t Oscar, but Ruth. That way, Oscar wouldn’t be able to dodge.

“Take this, heretic! Tremble before the might of the templar knights’ ultimate technique!” Oscar kneeled in front of Ruth and stuck out his umbrella. It was time to see if his shield could withstand the templar knights’ strongest attack.

“Celestial Flash!” This was the technique the knights were known best for. Three shockwaves clad in Ehit’s fury hurtled toward Oscar. Being able to use this skill was the requirement to become a templar knight.

Celestial Flash was an advance-rank light spell. It was so powerful that it could shatter through barriers of similar rank.

And Oscar was facing down three at once. Everyone expected him to die.

“Aniki!”

“It’s fine.”

Ruth was scared out of his wits, but Oscar was as calm as always.

Booooooooom... The shockwaves of light smashed into his umbrella. There were furrows in the ground where they’d passed through.

“That spell can take down even advance-rank barriers. I don’t care if you made that umbrella out of Azantium. There’s no way you can take three of those at... once?” The knight lowered his sword as he spoke. At the end, his voice trembled.

“This is the first time I’ve tested this against a Templar Knight’s Celestial Flash, but I should have known Hallowed Ground could take it. It was worth spending three whole days crafting this.” Oscar was completely unscathed. His umbrella wasn’t even scratched. In fact, it was shining brighter than the Celestial Flashes had been.

He’d enchanted it with the strongest barrier spell known to man, Hallowed Ground. It had taken him three whole days to enchant his azantium umbrella with it. He had no aptitude for light magic or defensive magic, so it had taken him much longer than anything else, but the result was the strongest shield ever seen.

The umbrella wasn’t just made of azantium, either. It was a compound alloy that included sealstone in it as well. The alloy alone was nearly indestructible. Combined with a barrier spell, it became truly invincible.

“Impossible... There’s no way! What in Ehit’s name are you!?” The ice holding the vanguard in place had melted, and in their panic, the knights prepared to charge again. They’d lost their ability to think straight after seeing Oscar casually shrug off their strongest attack.

Oscar calmly snapped his umbrella shut and stood up. Then, he held the handle in both hands and slowly lowered the tip.

“I’m just your average Synergist.” He said, as he tapped the umbrella’s ferrule to the stone floor.

Huge cracks spread out from the point of impact.

“R-Retreat! Retreaaa—” The lead knight had a very bad feeling about those fissures and called out the order to retreat, but it was too late. As he’d moved around the battlefield, Oscar had transmuted certain points in the floor. Underneath a thin surface layer of rock, the ground below had been transformed into coarse grains even finer than sand.

That thin layer of rock wasn’t able to bear the knights’ weight, and it crumbled underneath them. They all fell into the sandpit trap Oscar had set up around them. It was actually shallow enough for them to stand in, but they were so panicked that they looked like drowning sailors.

“Cough... You bastard! Don’t think you’ll cough... be able to cough... get away this this!”

“Transmute.” Oscar’s voice was pitiless. The sand pit was surrounded in golden light. It slowly began to coalesce back into hard stone.

Realizing what was happening to them, the knights reached out desperately toward Oscar.

“N-No please, forgive—”

“Will you value human life more than Ehit’s will? I might consider letting you live if you do.” It was hard to tell if he was trying to get back at the knights for giving him two unreasonable choices, or if he truly wished for them to realize the error of their ways.

It didn’t matter though, as the knights were too stubborn to change their ways.

“Nothing is more important than Ehit’s will! Cough... How can you not realize that!? If you repent your sins now, you might still be—” Oscar had thought they’d been begging for forgiveness at first, but it seemed they’d actually been trying to say “forgiveness is still within reach for you.”

“Didn’t even want to consider it, huh?” Oscar muttered quietly to himself as he sealed the knights into their stone tomb.

Once the deed was done, he breathed a tired sigh. It had been his first time facing templar knights, and he’d actually been rather nervous.

He relaxed now though, and because of that he didn’t notice the figure that had been hiding further down the passage, nor did he notice when it dashed off.

Ruth watched in amazement as Oscar buried the templar knights alive.

He wasn’t confused by Oscar’s unbelievable strength. No, in fact, a sense of happiness he couldn’t quite describe welled up within him.

The brother he’d admired for so long really wasn’t a loser. He’d had the courage to come down here alone, just to rescue his family. And his Synergist skills were even greater than Ruth had initially thought.

He was so strong that even templar knights couldn’t beat him. Ruth was a fledgling Synergist himself, which was why he could tell Oscar’s abilities far surpassed that of any normal Synergist.

No, surpassed wasn’t quite the right term. He’d been able to transmute sealstone, an ore that was supposed to resist magic. He realized now that that staircase heading straight to the first floor had been made by Oscar too. It must have been how he’d reached Ruth so quickly. How good do you have to be to make a 65 floor staircase in a few seconds?

This was what it meant to be a master. All of the various tools Oscar had used to defeat the templar knights were artifact-level masterpieces; and he’d made them all himself.

Ruth didn’t know why Oscar had been hiding his talent all this time, but that didn’t really matter. Aniki’s even greater than I thought he was! That was what was important.

“Ruth, are you alright?”

“Y-Yeah! Aniki, I’m sorry I misunderstood you all this time...” Oscar gently patted Ruth’s head.

“It’s fine, Ruth. It was my fault to begin with. Anyway—” Oscar fixed up the staircase heading to the first floor.

“I’m sure the kids who went on ahead are worried about you. Go look after them for me.”

“But... I want to help you... You’re going to save Dylan and the others...” He couldn’t just leave his siblings behind. But more than that, he wanted to help his brother, to make up for being mean to him all this time. He wanted to chase after him like he had in the past. Oscar could tell from Ruth’s gaze.

Just then, the pair heard the familiar clanking of plate armor. The knights had been overconfident, and hadn’t bothered to request backup when they’d engaged Oscar. That had been a real help while he’d been fighting, but of course other squads must have heard the commotion.

“Hurry up and go, Ruth.”

“But—” Ruth glanced back and forth between Oscar and the staircase. Oscar smiled fearlessly, something Ruth had never seen him do.

“I’ll take care of Dylan and the others, but you need to look after these kids. You’re my little brother, Ruth. I know you can do this.” Ruth could tell Oscar was just trying to give him a way to make it look like he wasn’t running, but after being told all that, there was no way he could say no. He bounded up the first few stairs and turned back to Oscar.

“Aniki. Take a right at the fork we passed through. From there, follow the path with the low ceiling made of flamrock. Then, go right where the walls are made of stratified shtar. After that, follow the taur and blastrock tunnel. Then, take a turn at the corner where the green glowstone is chipped! That’s where the building they took us to is! Keep Dylan and the others safe!” With that, he turned back around and dashed up the stairs.

Oscar was a little surprised at how detailed Ruth’s description was. Still, he quickly closed up the entrance to the staircase, transmuting it to look exactly like the wall around it.

“He really is my younger brother. He’ll grow up to be a fine Synergist.” Oscar twirled his umbrella. He smiled, proud at how much his brother had grown, and dashed off down the corridor, following Ruth’s directions.

He came across a number of templar knights on his way. Some he defeated with his artifacts, others he buried in walls, and yet others he fled from by transmuting himself through the walls.

Finally, he spotted a glow in the distance. Not the natural glow of green glowstone, but the soft light of lanterns.

“Ah!” Oscar quickly hid himself behind a nearby boulder.

The reason why was simple. The passage opened out into a dome-shaped room with a ceiling that was twenty meters high. There was an ornate building in the center, and a veritable army of templar knights guarding it.

There were at least thirty of them. Judging by the building’s size, the number of storage sheds scattered around it, and the fence surrounding the compound, Oscar guessed that it was no ordinary facility.

Makes sense most of them would be here if they’ve gotten reports that there’s an intruder on the loose. I don’t regret doing what I did, but I really should have been faster about it... Now then, how to handle this? Should I just transmute an underground tunnel leading directly into the building?

Before he could put his plan into action, however, he was spotted.

“Get out here, heretic. We know you’re hiding.” An old, grizzled voice echoed through the room.

Guess they found me.

Of course, he had no reason to actually show himself. He could hear men closing in from behind as well. It was time to make himself scarce. He put his hands on the ground, preparing to transmute himself a new hiding place.

Sadly, things didn’t go as planned. In fact, the worst possible thing happened...

“You came to steal this kid from us, didn’t you?”

“Ah!” Chills ran down Oscar’s spine. He timidly poked his head out.

“Oh no—” One of the men had Corrin by the scruff of her collar.

Why? How? Had they known Corrin was one of his sisters? But when did they find out? And who told them? Those questions whirled around in his mind.

His confusion was understandable. His enemies shouldn’t have known who he was. Had they assumed he was here to take all the children back, and had picked a hostage at random? No. They wouldn’t have said “this kid” if that was true.

Not only did they know who Oscar was, they knew who he was close to.

Where did I slip up? He had either defeated every knight he’d come across, or fled from them before they got a good look at his face. Or at least, he thought he had. It seemed his countermeasures hadn’t been perfect.

He clicked his tongue impatiently and stepped out behind the boulder. Corrin smiled when she saw Oscar.

“Ah, Onii— Ow!” Before she could finish her sentence, the man holding her tightened his grip on her neck. Her face twisted in pain.

“Stop tormenting little kids. Don’t you have even a shred of humanity left in you?”

“What would a heretic like you know about humanity? Know your place, you Orcus Workshop dropout.”

They exchanged insults. Oscar was surprised how much information they’d gathered on him. He adjusted his glasses to hide his shock. And, at the same time, he examined the man.

His face had more wrinkles than he could count. It was obvious he was old. However, the flames of ambition still burned brightly in his eyes. Old though he was, it seemed his hunger for power hadn’t faded in the slightest.

His clothes, too, stood out. They were made of high-quality fabric, and were ornately decorated. It was clearly a priest’s garment. No low-ranking deacon or curate’s habit, either.

These were the robes of a bishop... The bishop of Velka to be exact.

“Those clothes, and that face... I remember who you are now. So you were the one behind the kidnappings, Forneus Abyssion.” Though he hadn’t believed, Oscar had still joined the Holy Church to avoid raising suspicion. But he hadn’t been able to stomach their doctrine, and had rarely shown his face. Still, he had a vague recollection of the bishop from the few times he’d gone.

Forneus’ eyes narrowed in anger. He couldn’t believe it had taken that long for Oscar to remember his own bishop.

“You thrice-damned heretic. How dare you forget the face of your exalted bishop? Such a heinous crime is deserving of death!”

There sure are a lot of crimes punishable by death according to the Holy Church... The bishop went on to talk about how dangerous heretics were, how wonderful the Holy Church was, and how he’d been ordained by Ehit himself for this holy mission. Oscar ignored him completely.

He’d provoked the bishop in the first place in order to buy himself some time. During the bishop’s rant, he’d transmuted the ground underneath them, turning the terrain to his advantage. Then, he quietly sent out his Metamorph Chains, setting up traps in various locations.

Oscar held his umbrella in both hands like a sword, tip pointed at the ground. His pose looked regal, like a knight standing before a challenger. He kept his gaze focused on Corrin all the while.

Don’t worry, Corrin, I’ll save you.

Okay, Onii-chan! They didn’t need words to communicate with each other. Corrin was scared out of her wits, but she had absolute faith that Oscar would save her. She managed a weak smile.

A panicked, familiar voice interrupted the bishop’s speech.

“L-Lord Bishop! Your glorious sermon is wasted on this worthless plebeian! Kill him and be done with it! So long as you hold the child, he cannot fight back!” They were trying to cut the time Oscar had bought short.

However, hearing that voice had finally made Oscar understand the truth of the situation. He realized why Forneus had known so much about him, and also why Forneus had taken Corrin hostage. Plus, most importantly of all, he finally knew exactly why his brothers and sisters had been captured in the first place.

It’s them. People had told Oscar they’d spotted them wandering around the residential district.

“You’re the only reason I can think of for them to come down here.” Oscar remembered the words the adventurer had told him.

So that’s how it is. Golden-yellow mana swirled around Oscar.

“So you’re the one responsible for hurting my family.”

“Hiii!?”

“Uwaaah...”

“N-No, we’re...” Ping, Torpa, and Raul all took an involuntary step backward.

Oscar’s eyes burned with anger as the light wrapped itself around him. His anger hit them like a physical force. Even some of the templar knights balked.

He had far more mana than any human they’d seen before.

Oscar hadn’t finished all of his preparations yet, but he couldn’t hold back his anger any longer. He’d appeared calm, but when he’d first seen Corrin taken hostage he’d already been furious. And then, when Forneus had started talking he’d barely held himself in check, but the appearance of Ping and his cronies had tipped him over the edge. What made it worse was that they’d done this all because of a petty grudge.

Because of these three dumb bullies, Oscar’s family had been put in danger. It seemed his loser act had made them think they could walk all over him. And so, he was furious not only at them, but at himself for letting this happen.

“How are you using your mana like that!? Don’t tell me you’re— Ngh, you blasted heretic! Don’t you care about what happens to her!?”

Corrin screamed as Forneus dragged her closer. He pulled out a magic stone the size of his pinky finger and held it to Corrin’s mouth.

Oscar had no idea what it was, but that didn’t matter.

He stuck out his black umbrella. Forneus and the knights were still stunned by the monstrous amount of mana coming out of him, so they were slow to react. The umbrella absorbed all of his mana and unleashed an unbelievably powerful gale.

His Black Umbrella artifact had multiple abilities. This was the sixth of them— Godstorm.

“Nuwaaaaaah!?”

“Kyaaa!?”

The windstorm was powerful enough to send even the templar knights flying. There was no way Ping, Corrin, and the bishop would be able to withstand it. However, Corrin remained where she was. Oscar’s chains had snaked out of the ground and kept her from being blown away. Still, the wind had swept her off her feet, and she screamed as the gale lifted her into the air.

The chains clanked against each other as they wound their way back to Oscar’s hand.

“It’s... Well, it’s not alright, but you’re safe now, Corrin.”

“Waaaaaah, O-Onii-chan!”

Oscar retrieved Corrin and hugged her tight. She hugged him back, her eyes still spinning.

Once the dizziness faded, she looked up at Oscar and smiled. She had no doubt that his arms were the safest place in the world.

“Kill him! I want his head on a pike right this instant! Punish that heretic!”

The bishop and his knights had been knocked around quite a bit by Oscar’s Godstorm. The bishop’s once-fine clothes were smeared with mud and debris.

The knights charged at Oscar.

He stomped on the ground in front of him, Corrin held in one arm. The ground glowed with light, and in seconds it had been transmuted into a thick stone wall.

“You’re just delaying the inevitable!” One of the knights raised his sword and began chanting. He could shatter a barrier like that in an instant. Judging from the light running down his sword, Oscar assumed he was casting Celestial Flash. So he’ll just cut right through it.

“Sorry, but this isn’t actually a barrier,” Oscar muttered, then thrust his umbrella into the wall.

There was a thunderous roar.

A second later—

“Gwaaah!?”

“Fuck, how did he cast something so powerful in an instant!?”

“Ngh... What in Ehit’s name is that umbrella!?” The knights screamed in pain and confusion.

When he’d stuck his umbrella into the wall, he’d created a shockwave that had shattered the wall and sent chunks of stone hurtling toward the knights.

This was his umbrella’s second ability— Wall Blast. It utilized a fusion of wind and fire magic to create an explosive blast. Normally, that blast was meant to knock down enemy attacks, but Oscar had combined it with his transmutation to make it into an offensive spell as well. It had taken him nearly half a month to enchant his umbrella with the spell.

The fiery shockwave and the barrage of rocks that accompanied it destroyed the knights’ formation.

“Corrin, hang on tight!”

“O-Okay!” Corrin clung to Oscar’s neck as he stabbed his umbrella into the ground in front of him.

The ground a few meters in front of him froze over.

This was the fourth of his Black Umbrella’s abilities— Flash Freeze. This was just a straight port of the intermediate ice spell, Flash Freeze. So long as he maintained the spell, it would freeze all of a set area in front of the direction he was facing.

“Not this time!” The knights didn’t know what Oscar was up to, but they weren’t waiting to find out. Those still standing launched Crimson Javelins at him. Oscar found himself facing a crossfire of magical lances.

Using his Onyx Boots to enhance his leg strength, Oscar leaped forward. The javelins crashed into the wall behind him, exploding in a torrent of flames.

The knights fired another barrage at him, and this time Oscar bent his back right before the javelins struck, making them pass harmlessly over his head.

Normally bending so far backward would have caused him to fall, or at least made him stop to regain his balance. Instead, the ground he’d frozen over allowed him to keep sliding.

“Curses, someone stop him!” The knights watched as Oscar slid his way across the ice field he’d made for himself. He moved at an alarmingly fast pace. Any time he seemed about to run out of ice to slide on, his umbrella made more for him.

The knights pelted him with spells, but he proved difficult to hit. His speed and unorthodox posture helped him avoid every spell thrown his way.

Eventually, his wild slide took him right to Forneus.

“Hiii! Get away from me! You fools, do something about him!” Forneus legs gave out under him, and he fell backward.

“I won’t let you— Celestial Flash!” A shockwave of light split the ground between Oscar and Forneus. It left deep furrows in the ground.

However, Oscar got back to his feet and leaped into the air.

“Fool, you’re finished now!”

“You can’t dodge midair!”

Two more knights unleashed their Celestial Flashes. They came at Oscar from both sides, catching him in a pincer attack.

“Actually, I can.” Oscar didn’t seem worried at all.

He leaped up a second time, propelling himself even higher into the sky.

This was another feature of his Onyx Boots, Footholds of Light. He’d enchanted the boots with one of the most basic light spells, Holy Shield. Except he’d reversed the effect, allowing his boots to create platforms made of light to jump off of, even in midair.

“What the!?”

“Impossible!”

The Celestial Flashes crossed paths underneath him and slammed into opposing walls.

Oscar swung his umbrella down at one of the knights, making blades of wind shoot out from it. The knight’s armor saved him from instant death, but the wind blades were still powerful enough to slice through the metal and leave him bleeding.

Then, Oscar landed right next to Forneus.

“Don’t move. You move even a finger, and I cut your head off.”

“B-Bastard, who do you think— Hiii!” Forneus tried to protest, but quickly fell silent as Oscar transformed the tips of his umbrella into blades and rested them against his neck.

“You knights don’t want your bishop to die, right? Then you better not move. Ping, you too.” The knights froze in place. Ping and his cronies had been trying to sneak away in the confusion. However, they froze in terror when Oscar’s chains burst out of the ground in front of them.

After seeing Oscar beat down an entire squad of knights with a little girl in his arms, they were absolutely terrified of him.

“Now then, Bishop Forneus... Tell me.”

“T-Tell you what?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Where Dylan and Katy are. The other two kids you stole from the orphanage. Actually, if you’ve got any other kids in there too, free them as well.”

“Free them?” Forneus had been trembling in fear thus far, but an edge of anger creeped into his voice.

“Yeah, you heard me. I have no idea what you’re planning on doing with them, but whatever it is, it can’t be good. Return the city’s children to their parents.”

Forneus made to protest, but then he hesitated. After a second of deliberation, a hateful smile split his face and he nodded.

“Very well. These children were chosen for this duty by Ehit himself. There is nothing to “free” them from... Still, if you really want to see them that badly, I’ll bring them out. Enjoy your little reunion!”

“What are you scheming?”

“I’m just here to watch your touching reunion. See how your family has been transformed into part of Ehit’s loyal army!” Forneus’ eyes opened wide. His gaze was directed not at Oscar, but at one of the knights.

“Don’t move!” Oscar’s warning was unnecessary. The knight wasn’t trying to move. Though, his mouth had been moving this entire time. As his helmet covered his face however, Oscar hadn’t noticed. Nor had he noticed the magic circle engraved on the inside of the knight’s helmet glowing.

He’d been using Telepathy to communicate with the people inside the building.

Unbeknownst to Oscar, they’d already unleashed the ultimate weapon. And so, his warning came too late.

The knight didn’t move, but the building’s door did. It creaked open.

“Grooooooooorrr!” And, from behind it, a beast’s voice echoed through the room.

“What the!?” Oscar turned to the source of the noise, but a giant clod of metal filled his vision.

“Ah!?” Fortunately, he managed to get his umbrella up to defend him just in time.

The lump of metal crashed into his umbrella with a loud thud, and the shock of the impact traveled down his arm. The force of it sent him flying backward.

Had he not strengthened his umbrella, and had it not weighed eight kilograms, Oscar doubted it would have been able to block the lump at all. Even if he might have come out of the impact alive, it could have killed Corrin.

Corrin screamed, and Oscar sent his chains running across the ground.

He remotely transmuted the ground below them to cushion their fall. Then, using his boots’ Footholds of Light and Updraft spells he’d enchanted them with to adjust his position in midair, he landed on his back, protecting Corrin. His coat further cushioned the impact, making the landing perfectly smooth.

Eventually, he rolled backward and got to his feet, sticking the tip of his umbrella into the ground to grind him to a halt.

“Raaaaaaaaah!” He heard another roar, this one much closer.

“Huh!? Ability ten, Hallowed Ground! Activate!” Normally, Oscar didn’t need to call out the name of his abilities to activate them, since he could control mana directly and all. However, he was so flustered that he forgot all that and called it out anyway.

Whatever it was they’d brought out was incredibly fast. It had managed to keep up with Oscar after blowing him away. Then, it mercilessly followed up with another attack.

Golden light surrounded his umbrella, and a dome-shaped barrier surrounded him.

Blows so powerful enough to shake the earth slammed into it. Three of them in total.

It seemed there was more than one of whatever Oscar was facing. Swords and maces slammed into his barrier, and small cracks formed at the points of impact.

“Ngh! So strong... Who on earth are you people!?” On the other side of the barrier, Oscar finally got a good look at his opponents.

They looked human, but unlike any humans he’d seen before. Their muscles bulged, they exhaled plumes of white smoke, and their eyes were bloodshot.

The one directly in front of Oscar was the one who’d sent him flying at the start. He was wielding a giant warhammer, which Oscar recognized as the lump of metal that had tried to kill him.

Their blows were fast, powerful, and well-coordinated. Frankly, they surpassed the templar knights in every way. They were even masters of their chosen weapons. Oscar guessed they were the elite guards Forneus had brought with him.

Oddly, he couldn’t shake this strange feeling he had upon seeing them. For one thing, they all looked too young to be soldiers. They all look no older than teenagers. Actually, no, they barely look over fifteen. They were practically boys.

Moreover, everything aside from their weapons looked to be crudely made. Forget leather armor, they seemed to be dressed practically in rags. The same kind of rags that Corrin and Ruth were wearing...

“Onii-chan!” Corrin’s shout snapped Oscar out of his musings. He looked around and realized the knights were all chanting powerful spells. It looked like they were determined to bring him down right then and there.

Stop spacing out! Don’t forget you’re protecting Corrin right now too! Oscar mentally berated himself.

It didn’t matter who he was fighting, he would eliminate anyone threatening his little sister.

“Don’t blame me for this!” A wave of light pulsed out of Oscar’s umbrella. He’d activated Wall Burst. The three boys trying to break his Hallowed Ground stumbled backward.

After they did, Oscar held his umbrella high, dispelled his barrier, and began twirling the umbrella. White smoke poured out of its tips.

This was the seventh of his umbrella’s abilities— White Prison. The smoke was actually the high level earth spell, Petrification.

“Raaaaaah!” The three boys’ legs were petrified, and they roared in frustration.

Oscar nimbly leaped over them. A second later, a barrage of magic spells smashed into the ground he’d been standing on.

The entire tunnel shook from the force of the ensuing blast. Cold sweat poured down Oscar’s back as he realized the knights were willing to harm their own allies to get to him. The three kids were close enough to be affected by the blast’s shockwave.

Oscar landed a ways away. Two shadows burst out of the dust cloud the knights’ spells had raised and dashed toward him.

Though these boys were extremely powerful and more skilled than he’d expected, Oscar could still deal with them as long as he handled things calmly. At that point, Oscar’s only option was to go all out and crush Forneus’ spirit so he’d be willing to spit out Dylan and Katy’s location.

“Wh-What are you doing?” Oscar didn’t even try and hide his surprise this time. He’d instantly put up another Hallowed Ground when he’d sensed the two new assailants coming, but when he saw who they were, his mind went blank.

Shaken, Oscar shouted again.

“What are you doing, Dylan, Katy!?” The two people attacking his barrier right now were indeed Dylan and Katy. Dylan was holding a knife, while Katy wore clawed gauntlets.

“Dylan! Katy! What’s wrong!? It’s me, Corrin! Don’t you recognize me!” Corrin was just as shocked as Oscar.

However, neither Dylan nor Katy responded. Instead, they simply stared at Oscar with blank eyes, bloodlust oozing from every pore.

The knights hurled another barrage of Gale Claws, Crimson Javelins, and Celestial Flashes at Oscar.

“Shit!” He cursed aloud. Oscar thought back to what had happened seconds ago. The knights hadn’t hesitated to kill those boys along with him.

Oscar dispelled his Hallowed Ground and activated his glasses’ blinding flash. While they were still disoriented, he used his Metamorph Chains to grab Dylan and Katy and fling them away. At the same time, he leaped in the opposite direction.

He barely managed to get everyone out of the way in time. However, now Dylan and Katy were charging him again.

Their eyesight recovered way too fast! Things weren’t looking good. Dylan and Katy closed in on him with polished movements. They definitely hadn’t been like that before. Their proficiency with their weapons was unbelievable, given their utter lack of training.

“Gwah!?”

“Onii-chan!”

He obviously couldn’t fight back, but he knew dodging would be hard from his position. On top of that, he needed to keep Corrin safe as well. In the end, he was forced to take the blows.

Katy’s clawed gauntlets scraped his neck, while Dylan’s knife plunged into his side, and then his thigh. It was only because his Metamorph Chains fouled their aim that he was even alive. Still, his wounds were serious. He was bleeding profusely.

“Dylan, Katy, come back to your senses! It’s me, Oscar!” Oscar leaped backward with an Onyx Boots-enhanced jump and tried to communicate with Dylan and Katy.

However, the two of them didn’t stop. Ignoring his words, they cut off Oscar’s chains. Then, with unbelievable speed and coordination, they chased him down.

It was almost as if they were different people. In Oscar’s eyes, there was no way they should have been able to move with such practiced ease.

But still... Dammit, those two are definitely Dylan and Katy! He’d watched over them their whole lives. There was no way Oscar would mistake them.

It was then that Oscar noticed something. Both Dylan and Katy’s faces were oddly flushed. Not only that, but their eyes were bloodshot and their breathing was rougher than before.

Whatever they were doing to power themselves up was taking its toll on their body, but they still didn’t stop.

“Gah! Dylan, Katy, I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt a little!” Oscar stuck his umbrella into the ground. It unfurled beneath him, and electricity began running along its surface.

This was the ninth of his umbrella’s abilities— Spark Plasma. Spark Plasma was one of the strongest lightning spells. Normally it shot bolts of electricity at enemies, but by combining the spell with a metal surface, Oscar had transformed it into an electric barrier. And, by adjusting the amount of mana put into the spell, he could also control the voltage to only stun instead of kill.

Dylan and Katy reacted instantly, however, and leaped out of the barrier’s effective range. The toll of pushing their bodies so far was beginning to show, though. They stumbled as they landed, falling to one knee. Worse, blood dripped from their nose and mouth.

“Dylan! Katy!” Oscar cried out again. He instinctively tried to run toward them, but the blood loss had taken its toll on him as well. His legs gave out and he sunk to his knees. The lack of blood left him dizzy. Moving around like he had only made him lose blood faster, too.

He didn’t even have the strength to hold Corrin anymore, so he dropped her. She tried to help him up with tears in her eyes.

“Well, are you enjoying your reunion?” Oscar turned to Forneus, who was smiling sadistically.

“What did you do to them, Forneus?” His tone was surprisingly flat. Corrin shivered. She’d never seen Oscar like this before.

“This was all thanks to His guidance. These children were chosen. They have become a core part of Ehit’s flock. You see, they are the very foundation of what will soon be Ehit’s Legion.”

“Ehit’s... Legion?”

Oscar took stock of the situation while he talked. He was surrounded by templar knights, and while Dylan and Katy were no longer bleeding, their faces were still flushed. As much as he hated talking to that fanatical windbag, he needed to squeeze as much information out of Forneus as he possibly could. He’d take any hint that would help him cure his family.

However, Forneus had caught on to Oscar’s plan. And so, he didn’t bother answering further questions. Instead, he smiled and switched to a different topic.

“You’ve surprised me, Oscar. I thought you were just another heretic, but after looking at all those magic items of yours, I’ve changed my mind! They’re all artifact-level! I didn’t believe Ping at first when he told me you’d beaten down my knights. I thought those were just the words of a coward... But you’ve proven me wrong! You made all of those items, didn’t you Oscar? I can’t possibly imagine you being a loser, or a failure!” Forneus spread his arms wide, carried away by the fervor of his own speech.

Ping, who had hidden behind the building, poked his head out and glared hatefully at Oscar.

“What’re you getting at?”

“Work for me, Oscar. Kneel before me, and profess your faith in Ehit. Devote yourself, body and soul, to the service of our great lord!”

“And if I refuse?” Oscar glanced back at Dylan and Katy. Ever since Forneus had starting talking, they hadn’t moved. Their loyalty to him made Oscar sick to his stomach. At the same time though, he knew what his answer would have to be.

“Can you really bring yourself to?” Though it irked Forneus how little Oscar thought of working for Ehit, it did little to temper his joy at having him dancing in the palm of his hands. And so, he continued, making sure Oscar had no escape.

“If you show your sincerity to Ehit, I am sure he’ll be willing to grant numbers 44 and 45 his protection. Though, if you refuse, it’s possible they will join him in heaven very shortly.”

In other words, either I join and he brings them back to normal, or he keeps pushing Dylan and Katy until they die.

Oscar ground his teeth. The word “fury” didn’t do the wrath in his gaze justice.

Still, there was nothing he could do. After all, there was no telling what Forneus would do to Dylan and Katy if he attacked.

He could kill all the knights and then threaten to kill Forneus if he didn’t turn Dylan and Katy back. However, there was no guarantee that would work. Forneus was a zealot through and through. Oscar doubted threatening his life would be enough to make him do something he’d see as a betrayal to his god. It was a risky gamble.

Besides, can I even beat the knights with my current injuries? His black umbrella had a healing spell built into it, but even if he could activate the spell instantly, the healing itself would take time.

He doubted his enemies would wait patiently for him to recover. More importantly, the blood he’d lost wouldn’t come back.

But more than anything, he couldn’t risk their lives.

“Dylan, Katy...” They didn’t react to his voice. He wasn’t confident he could disable them without doing any harm.

He closed his eyes and considered his options. Then, with a dark look in his eyes, he glared at Forneus.

“You have to promise not to hurt Corrin... and the rest of my family at the orphanage. Also, you have to turn Dylan and Katy back to normal and send them back home. Those are my conditions.”

“Whether I do that or not depends on the depth of your faith.”

Oscar gave in. Forneus’ lips curled up into a sneer.

“If you don’t promise me at least that, I’ll kill you all, even if I have to give my life to do it. At least that way, all the other families will be safe. Don’t think I’ve shown you everything I can do yet.” That was a bluff. Oscar was out of trump cards. Still, he was serious about giving his life to kill them all if he had to. One look at the resolve in his eyes was enough to tell Forneus that.

Forneus frowned unhappily.

“Hmph. Very well, I won’t touch the kids at the orphanage. But 44 and 45 stay with me. Who knows what kind of dangerous items you might make. If I turn these two back to normal, what guarantee do I have that you won’t turn against me? You can transmute sealstone without any trouble, so even a slave collar won’t be able to contain you. Until you’ve proven your faith, those two will stay with me. Don’t worry, I promise to keep them alive until then at least.”

“Urgh...” Oscar ground his teeth, but in the end he nodded. He knew there was no way Forneus would agree without some guarantee. And like he’d said, methods of restraining Oscar wouldn’t work.

He swore he’d get his revenge once Dylan and Katy were free.

Forneus called Dylan and Katy back to his side. Then, he ordered Oscar to kneel before him.

“Onii-chan...” Corrin clung to Oscar’s sleeve as he stumbled over to Forneus. She knew. She knew he was swearing himself to a life of servitude, just to save them.

Oscar patted his clever little sister’s head for what might be the last time.

“Don’t worry. I promise Dylan and Katy will come back one day. You just wait at home with Mom like a good girl, okay?”

But what’s going to happen to you? Corrin couldn’t bring herself to say those words aloud.

He’d made his decision, so nothing she said would be able to change that. Still, she clung to his sleeve, hoping to convince him not to go.

Oscar gently shook her off. It seemed Corrin didn’t have the strength to stop him. Throughout the entire fight, Corrin hadn’t cried even once. But now, big fat tears rolled down her cheeks. It pained Oscar to see her like this, but still he turned around and faced Forneus. Then, he walked the last few steps toward him.

“Hehe, don’t worry. So long as you serve Ehit, these two test subjects won’t die. I won’t do anything to the rest of your family, either.”

“You had better not. For your sake as well.” Oscar kneeled before Forneus.

His grin grew wider, and he nodded.

“Now, swear your eternal loyalty to Ehit. We mustn’t forget the formalities.”

You just want to gloat, you old sleazebag. Still, Oscar’s expression remained blank. He had never once sworn his loyalty to Ehit, but he would have to now.

“Almighty, all-knowing lord of creation, Ehit. I hereby swear my fealty to you. I, Oscar, dedicate my life, and my soul—” At that point all was left was for him to say “to you,” but he never got those last words out.

A loud rumbling interrupted him. The tunnel shook so violently that chunks of the ceiling crashed broke off and crashed to the ground.

“Wh-What’s happening!? Is this an earthquake!? What is this!?” Forneus yelled out in confusion. However, no one answered.

The knights looked around, clearly surprised by the turn of events. This was unexpected even to them.

Naturally, this wasn’t Oscar’s doing either. Unlike Forneus though, Oscar realized something. Because he was a Synergist, he was more in tune with the stone all around them than the others.

“It’s coming from inside the building? Shit, don’t tell me we’ve got to deal with another crazy monster.” The earthquake originated from the building. In a sense, it was true that they were about to have another “crazy monster” on their hands. However, it was not of the sort Oscar was expecting.

The vibrations stopped. Silence filled the room. A second later, the building’s roof popped off. And from within came...

“Hiyaaah! Everyone’s favorite gal, Miledi Reisen, is here to save the day!” The building’s roof remained floating in the air. There was no visible air magic holding it in place, either. Miledi stood on top of it, striking a heroic pose. She made a peace sign in front of her face and winked at Oscar. He could have sworn he saw stars floating in the background behind her.

“Wh-What on earth are you—!” Forneus, Ping, and the templar knights all exclaimed in surprise. They were surprisingly in sync, and their eyes all looked ready to pop out of their sockets.

As always, Miledi did as she pleased, heedless of their shock.

“Mwahahaha! You, the disgusting old man over there! Too bad, but O-kun’s already promised himself to me~ Did you think you’d won? Did you really think you beat him? Hehehehehehe!” Forneus’ veins bulged as he looked up at Miledi. Never before had anyone dared to call him a “disgusting old man.” What infuriated him even more though was Miledi’s playful grin. It aggravated him more than words could express.

Moreover, she’d arrived at the absolute perfect time to save the day. It was almost as if she’d been listening in on their conversation and had planned her entrance. Oh, also, she’d blown the roof off of Forneus’ precious building. He had plenty reason to be angry.

He opened his mouth to yell at her, but before he could say anything, Oscar looked up at her and voiced his thoughts. “M-Miledi? Wh-Why are you here?”

Miledi looked down and grinned at Oscar.

“O-kun, I can’t believe you. If you’d just asked me for help, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt like that, and you wouldn’t have made Corrin-chan cry! How pathetic can you get? You even made a little girl cry!”

“That’s not true! Okay, well, maybe it is! But still, I thought really hard about what you said and... Wait, this isn’t the time!”

Even when she’d just saved his life, she managed to be annoying about it. The shouting exacerbated his injuries, and Oscar doubled over in pain. Miledi’s expression grew serious, and she continued.

“O-kun, I can’t believe you. You should know he’d never keep his promise. As long as it’s in the name of their god, they think anything’s justified. Even he doesn’t know how to turn Dylan-kun and Katy-chan back to normal.”

“What?” Oscar’s eyes went wide in surprise.

Forneus flushed with anger and he screamed at Miledi.

“You bitch, I made that monument for Lord Ehit! How dare you destroy it! Oscar, is she one of your allies!? If that building is completely destroyed these test subjects will never return to normal! Are you fine with that!?”

“Ah—” Oscar felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. Forneus glared at him, silently imploring him to call Miledi off.

Oscar gripped his umbrella. However, Miledi continued cheerfully, as if unaware of the turmoil in Oscar’s heart.

“Hm? Could it be you’re worried about me destroying... this?” She snapped her fingers, and a large object floated out of the roofless building.

“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh—” Forneus couldn’t even articulate properly anymore. His surprise was understandable.

Floating in the air, with chunks of it crumbling away and falling to the ground, was a section of the ground nearly six meters in diameter. A complex magic circle had been engraved onto the surface of the earth, with an altar of sorts resting above it. The altar was held up by a rectangular pillar in the magic circle’s center, and an eye had been engraved into its center.

“O-kun! This is what transformed Dylan-kun and the others into mindless fighters. It’s an artifact that holds the memories of ancient masters. Not only that, it can transfer those fighting skills into other people. But this stupid bishop doesn’t actually know how to use it right!” According to Miledi, the sheer amount of information transferred into the people who inherited these skills was too much for the hosts to handle. Because of that, it suppressed their original personalities. At first, the subjects he’d tested on had gone berserk, but after a while the bishop had figured out how to at least control his super soldiers. However, he still didn’t know how to turn them back.

Moreover, in order to execute the kind of moves master fighters had been able to, the hosts had to push their bodies far past their limits. Of course they couldn’t last long in that state, and quickly destroyed themselves. But because their healing abilities had been forcibly increased as well, their bodies regenerated over and over. Still, there was a physical limit to how long they could keep doing that. Even with such powerful healing magic, a few battles would leave them dead and broken.

Dylan and Katy had started coughing up blood just from moving around a little. It was obvious fighting for even thirty minutes would be enough to kill them. So the skills of the best warriors from the past were forcibly implanted into their bodies.

“I crushed those knights’ bones with gravity magic until they talked, so I’m sure of it.”

“No... then that means Dylan and Katy won’t...” A despair-filled wail interrupted Oscar’s trembling voice.

“My... My artifaaaaaaact... You have Ehit’s Eyes! Aaaaaah, how could you!? You accursed, wretched, harlot!” Forneus tore at his hair. He looked completely deranged.

His artifact was known as Ehit’s Eyes. As Miledi had explained, it allowed its user to transcribe ancient skills into new hosts. It seemed templar knights had stumbled across it by accident when exploring the sixty-fifth floor.

Forneus received a report on what they’d found and he’d quickly formulated a plan to create Ehit’s Legion, an army of super soldiers dedicated to their god. The floor had also made for the perfect location to conduct his experiments out in secret. His knights weren’t skilled enough to carry the altar back out with them completely unscathed, so it was practical as well. He’d excavated one of the larger rooms on the floor and built the building Miledi had destroyed to serve as a base of operations.

“This was meant to be my greatest offering to Ehit! I would have created for him a legion of worthy soldiers, loyal to his every command! My achievements would have elevated me to the position of archbishop, no, even to the papacy! Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

That’s what he sacrificed Dylan and Katy for? Darkness wormed its way into Oscar’s heart. He could feel flames of black hatred raging within him. He felt like he was the one about to go mad, not Forneus. Oscar gripped his umbrella tight and pointed it at Forneus. He wasn’t thinking rationally anymore.

“Don’t cross that line, O-kun.”

“Mi...ledi...”

Miledi floated down and put her hands over Oscar’s. He was gripping his umbrella so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

For some reason, Miledi’s touch soothed him. The haze of hate that had been clouding his thoughts dispersed.

Forneus turned to Oscar.

“Oscar, kill that wretch! Don’t forget, I hold those miserable childrens’ lives in my hands!” At Forneus’ command, Dylan and Katy pointed their weapons at their own necks. With a single word from him, they would kill themselves.

Oscar ground his teeth in frustration at that. However, he was no longer fighting alone.

Miledi looked directly into Oscar’s eyes. There was no cheerful frivolity in her gaze anymore.

“O-kun. Even if you join him, you won’t be able to protect anyone.” She snapped her fingers again.

At her signal, Dylan and Katy lowered their weapons. Seeing how they were struggling desperately to raise them back up, Oscar guessed that they hadn’t lowered them voluntarily.

It was as if their weapons suddenly weighed too much to lift. Forneus watched in dumbfounded amazement.

“It’s time for you two to rest.” Her voice was tinged with kindness. Dylan and Katy rose up into the air and floated over to Miledi. They tried to break out of her spell, but there wasn’t much they could do midair. She tapped both of them with a light electric shock, making them lose consciousness. She then lowered them gently to the floor. Next, she lifted Corrin up and flew her over to Oscar. Corrin gasped in surprise as she flew through the air.

She was still a little confused, but she hugged Oscar tight. There were still tears in her eyes.

“You weren’t born into this world so you could suffer like this.”

“Miledi?”

Miledi stroked Dylan and Katy’s hair.

“You focus on healing yourself, O-kun. Those injuries are pretty serious. I’ll handle these fools. Okay?” She stood up and turned to face Forneus and his knights.

“The artifact’s in my hands. I’ve rescued all the other children that were in the building. The ones you’d already transformed are unconscious and restrained. O-kun’s a master of using artifacts, so I’m sure he can use it to turn everyone back to normal. Do you get what this means, you crazy monster?” Miledi’s voice was so cold that Oscar could hardly believe she was the same person.

The knights began chanting their spells. Forneus grasped the crystal hanging around his neck and glared daggers at Miledi. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Miledi interrupted him.

“You face Miledi Reisen. This is checkmate.” Sky blue mana erupted all around her. It twisted into a spiral, its radiance illuminating the dark room. She floated up into the sky, as if the laws of gravity had no effect on her. Her blonde ponytail fluttered back and forth, and her blue eyes sparkled as she gazed down at her foes.

A swirling black sphere appeared in between her hands. She set it to orbit around her.

Her mana capacity surpassed even Oscar’s.

The knights were stunned speechless. It felt as if time slowed to a crawl.

Hovering over them like that, Miledi looked almost divine. Everyone was left awestruck.

Forneus was the first to return to his senses.

“Wh-What are you fools doing!? Shoot that woman down!”

The knights returned to their senses and unleashed their spells. Oscar made to shout out a warning, but it proved unnecessary.

“Wh-What is that!?”

“My magic just... disappeared!?”

The knights’ spells were sucked into the sphere orbiting Miledi and vanished.

This was one of her gravity spells, Spatial Severance. She’d created a black hole that absorbed all spells, regardless of their element. Even the knights’ Celestial Flashes couldn’t escape the dark star’s singularity. An unbreakable barrier made of gravity protected her.

“If I can just take control of her consciousness!” Forneus yelled and held up his crystal. It seemed his crystal was imbued with some kind of mind manipulation magic.

The knights began chanting again, hoping to supplement Forneus’ attack with their own.

“Too late— Heavensfall.” Countless tiny black spheres popped up around her. They gathered above Forneus and the knights.

A second later, they all sunk to the ground. The knights hadn’t even had time to scream. They were flat on the ground in the crater Miledi had created, not moving an inch. Forneus was barely conscious, but he still managed to spit out an insult.

“Gah! Y-You harlot, what did you do!?” Blood dripped from his mouth.

Miledi didn’t answer, and instead shifted her attention to the knights struggling to their feet. It seemed they’d survived by casting multiple body strengthenings at once.

Miledi silently swung her hand down.

“Gwaaaaaah!”

“Uwooooooh!”

They’d been using their swords as crutches, but Miledi’s new spell drove them back to their knees. They screamed in pain as they were forced to the ground.

“Something’s pushing down on—” The knight didn’t get to finish. With a thud, the crater underneath him grew larger. All of the knights collapsed.

They couldn’t even croak out an incantation.

“You accursed heretic! You may break my bones, but you shall never break my faith!” Though his robes were tattered, the man wearing them was anything but. Oscar fully believed Forneus would take death over renouncing his faith. The faint light surrounding him led Oscar to guess that he’d used some kind of magical barrier, or a spell that absorbed mana to defend himself. Whatever it was, it just barely let Forneus withstand the weight.

“The heavens belong to the gods! I shall smite you down— Earth Blast!” Having a large amount of mana was a prerequisite to becoming a bishop. A high-rank earth spell like Earth Blast was well within Forneus’ capabilities.

The spell shattered the ground around the caster, and allowed them to use the resulting rubble as ammunition to shoot down their enemies.

A hundred boulders of various sizes all hurtled toward Miledi.

“Miledi!” Oscar shouted a warning. He was worried the sheer number of projectiles would overwhelm Miledi. Fortunately, he was mistaken.

“Unbelievable, even mass attacks like that don’t work...” Forneus’ voice trembled in fear.

To be honest, even Oscar sympathized. Miledi had stopped all of the boulders in midair, but they hadn’t fallen to the ground. Now they too were orbiting around her.

“How is this possible! First, we have to fight a monster who can make artifacts left and right, and now you!? Why do heretics like you possess such power!? You disgusting, worthless, wretched, deplorable, bitch!” Forneus cursed Miledi out with unbridled rage.

Miledi didn’t even dignify that with a response. Instead, she raised one of her hands. The boulders stopped circling around her. She brought her hand down and they all moved in accordance with her will.

She’d shaped the hundred boulders into a guillotine made of rock. If that fell on Forneus, he would surely die. There was no dodging it. All he could choose was whether he’d be crushed to death, or have his head cut off.

This was the most bizarre execution Oscar had ever witnessed.

“I remember now. Reisen... Miledi Reisen. You were the daughter of Count Reisen. You’re from that family of imperial executioners! Wait, your entire family was supposed to have died a few years ago. Why are you still—” Miledi wasn’t interested in entertaining his questions.

“Don’t waste your breath. Like I said, this is checkmate.” Before he could finish, Miledi buried him under a ton of rock.

The floor reverberated with the sound of a hundred boulders slamming into the ground. For a second, Oscar was worried Miledi would bring the whole cavern collapsing down on them.

Miledi protected Oscar and the kids from the shockwaves with a gravity barrier, but he deployed his own Hallowed Ground just in case, then stood protectively over Dylan, Katy, and Corrin.

Eventually, the noise subsided and the dust cleared away. Miledi walked down a flight of imaginary stairs and stopped next to Oscar.

“Phew. That’s the end of Miledi-chan’s one-sided slaughter. Did you see me, O-kun? I was amazing, right? I was like, super cool out there, right?” She was back to talking in that same cheerful tone Oscar knew so well.

He could hardly believe she’d been mercilessly slaughtering people mere seconds ago.

Oscar smiled at Miledi. It was an awkward smile, but this time it was one hundred percent genuine.

“You’re... one hell of a woman, you know that?” He said the first thing that came to mind.

Once the battle was over, Miledi patiently waited for Oscar to heal himself.

“But you know, that’s a pretty neat trick. You hold up your umbrella and it rains healing light down on you. Is this supposed to be a joke because of how normally umbrellas keep rain off you?”

“I just figured the stretcher was the best place to enchant with healing magic. The ore’s best suited for the purpose. It’s not really a joke or anything.” The healing light of the high-ranked spell Benison Aura poured down Oscar as he spoke. Though, now that I think about it, it does make for a pretty good joke. I’m holding up an umbrella that’s raining on me.

His wounds had mostly closed up, and he looked far less pale. Corrin snickered at him as he looked away from Miledi, embarrassed by his unintentional bad pun.

“Anyway, Miledi. How long were you inside that building? And how’d you get inside in the first place?” He decided now was a good time to change the topic.

Miledi’s grin faded and she shrugged.

“While you were fighting, I punched my way up through the sixty-sixth floor and snuck into the building from below. I lowered the kidnapped children down to the floor below. My comrades led them to your staircase from there, O-kun. I imagine they must have led the kids to the surface by now.”

“By punched your way up... you mean you used that black sphere of yours?”

“Correeect~”

“Since you know about my staircase, that means you were following me, right?”

“Yep. I know you told me to leave, but I wanted to say my goodbyes to the kids first. Though, when I got to the orphanage Moorin-san looked almost hysterical. When she told me what happened, I thought I had to chase after you, so I asked my comrades to guard the orphanage. When I found you, you were just leaving your house. You had an umbrella even though it wasn’t raining, and you jumped way higher than anyone should be able to.”

So she went to the orphanage right after I did, then caught up in the time I was getting my equipment.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” Even if halfway through Oscar’s invasion she’d decided it was smarter for her to head to the building straight away, she’d had plenty of opportunities to talk to him before that. Considering her personality, he’d expected her to show herself right away, honestly.

Miledi looked around uncomfortably.

“Well... I thought you wouldn’t want to see me, O-kun.”

“......” In other words, you’re telling me that arrogant, straightforward girl got cold feet at the last minute? Wait. I’m the one who rejected her. No matter how outgoing and cheerful she is, that had to have hurt. Oscar thought back to the sad smile she’d given him at the end.

She’d been afraid of being rejected by him again, yet she’d still plunged into danger to help him. Oscar couldn’t even think of what to say to her. His musings were interrupted by someone tugging on his collar. He looked down to see Corrin staring angrily at him.

“Onii-chan, did you bully Onee-chan?”

“Huh? Uh, no I...” Does that count as bullying? I guess it does. Oscar trailed off guiltily, unable to fully deny Corrin’s words. Corrin looked from Oscar to Miledi, who was smiling awkwardly. That settled it.

“Onii-chan, when you do something bad, what are you supposed to say?”

“Huh?”

“Onii-chan!”

“Oh, uh, s-sorry?”

“Not to me, to Onee-chan!”

“Oh, yeah.”

Eighteen-year-old Oscar had just been scolded by a seven year old.

Miledi burst into laughter. It seemed she’d been trying to hold it in this whole time. She laughed so hard that she had to hold her stomach and pause for breath.

“Haaah... Haaah... Oh man, my stomach hurts! O-kun, you just got lectured by a little girl! Ahahahahah!”

“Sh-Shut up! Besides, you’re the—”

“Onii-chan!”

“Guh.” Oscar groaned. Tears leaked out of the corner of Miledi’s eyes.

Oscar adjusted his glasses and got to his feet. He had fully recovered. He snapped his umbrella shut, then turned to Miledi, who was still laughing.

“Miledi.”

“Ahahahaha. C-Corrin-chan, you’re the best! You guessed it! O-Oh man, it hurts to breathe.”

“Miledi.”

She stopped snickering when she heard the seriousness in Oscar’s voice. With tears still in her eyes, she looked up at him.

“Miledi, I don’t think the decision I made back then was wrong. You asked me a serious question, and I wanted to give you a serious answer.”

“O-kun.”

“That’s why I won’t apologize. Still, something I need to say.”

Miledi tilted her head in confusion.

“Thank you.” Her eyes opened wide.

“Thank you for saving us. Thank you for lending me your strength. I owe you a debt. Truly, thank you.”

“O-Oh... Y-You’re welcome?”

Miledi hadn’t been expecting that. She blushed a little, unused to such straightforward gratitude. The tips of her ears were red.

Corrin glanced between the two of them, her eyes brimming with the kind of curiosity only a young child could possess.

Oscar and Miledi stared awkwardly at each other for a few seconds.

“Ahem, anyway. I’ve recovered now, so we should head back to the surface. You said that artifact was called Ehit’s Eyes, right? I need to start analyzing it to figure out how to turn Dylan and Katy back.”

“Y-Yeah. Let’s do that.”

They looked away, both painfully aware of Corrin’s gaze. Just then, they heard something.

“Gyaaah... Gaaah...” It sounded like a pained groan.

Oscar and Miledi exchanged disbelieving glances. Miledi cleared a few of the boulders with a wave of her hand, and they found Forneus lying underneath them. By some miracle, he was still alive.

“Y-Y-Y-You bastards... Face E-Ehit’s wrath!” He coughed up blood with every word.

Oscar couldn’t believe he was still alive.

“How... How on earth did you survive that?” He muttered. Miledi just stared in slack-jawed disbelief, while Corrin let out a small scream.

His body from the neck down had been crushed, and his head hadn’t come out unscathed, either. Plus, his skull had caved in, and his eyes were nearly falling out of their sockets. Yet, despite all of that, he still drew breath. He glared at Oscar with a look of pure hatred.

“Our lives belongs to Ehit... We live for him... and we die for him! That is the only meaning to our existence! How can you not realize that!” Faint tendrils of mana began swirling around him.

Was it his fanatical faith that kept him alive? Regardless of how he’d survived, the fact was that he looked terrifying.

“Die, die, die! Heretics, enemies of Ehit... You don’t deserve life!” He was no longer sane. Though he was on the verge of death, his expression was ecstatic.

Is he even human anymore?

“Oh Lord Ehiiiiiiiiiiiit, my exalted god! Watch my final moments! Know that until the last, I, Forneus Abyssion, was your loyal servant!”

“This isn’t good. Miledi!”

“Die already!”

Oscar had a really bad feeling about the whole situation. Trusting in his instincts, Oscar raised his umbrella and fired a needle at Forneus. At the same time, Miledi cast a gravity spell.

The needle pierced Forneus’ head with a wet thud. Miledi drove the point in even further with her magic, to ensure the blow was fatal.

No human should have been able to survive that. Granted, no human should have been able to survive Miledi’s first attack, either. However, Forneus’ intense hatred kept him bound to mortality for a few seconds longer.

“Glory to Lord Ehit!” There was a needle stuck through his head, and yet he was still able to talk.

Oscar and Miledi watched as his mana dispersed into mist.

A second later, a massive explosion rocked the ceiling. Or rather, the roof. From what Oscar could tell, the explosion had come from the floor above. The tunnel shook from the force of the explosion.

More explosions shook the demolished building. They were smaller than the one above the room’s roof, but they still blew out the building’s walls.

“Ability ten, Hallowed Ground, activate!” Stones rained down from the ceiling. Oscar immediately deployed a barrier to protect him and Corrin.

Miledi’s face twisted into a grimace as she saw the cracks growing in the ceiling.

“O-Oh no, the ceiling’s going to collapse!” Miledi took to the skies. Surrounded by a whirling tornado of blue mana, she attempted to reverse gravity for the floor above.

“Gaaah... Th-There’s too much to hold!” It seemed the previous explosion had destroyed the foundations of the entire floor.

Miledi’s mana drained away at a prodigious rate as she held five hundred square meters of floor together.

“O-kun, I won’t be able to hold it for long! You have to hurry and get Dylan and the others out of here!”

“But what about Ehit’s Eyes!?”

“Why do you think I’m trying to hold up the ceiling!? We don’t have time to carry that thing out, so you’ll have to strengthen it enough that it won’t break!”

Miledi could have easily evacuated everyone before the ceiling collapsed, but she’d tried to hold it up instead to buy enough time for Oscar to get the artifact out safely.

Considering how large it was though, it would be hard for Oscar to carry it through the passage he’d come in. And it definitely wouldn’t fit in the impromptu staircase he’d made. Plus, there wasn’t any time to transmute a larger passage.

He knew he wouldn’t be able to use the passage Miledi had made to the sixty-sixth floor either. The floor above collapsing wouldn’t affect just this floor, but likely the one below it as well.

In other words, the only way for Oscar to protect Ehit’s Eyes was to transmute a box around it that was strong enough to withstand the impact. They’d be able to come back for it later that way.

“Got it. Just give me twenty seconds!”

“Nnnnnngh. I’ll try!” Miledi lowered Ehit’s Eyes next to Oscar.

He put his hands on the ground in front of it and began transmuting.

He regretted not being able to take it back and save Dylan and Katy right away, but he shook off those thoughts.

“I’ll make it harder than anything on Tortus.” Oscar’s umbrella was crafted from the most resilient alloy on the planet. He’d mixed azantium with sealstone and a few other essential metals. And now he was going to melt it down to coat the rock tomb he’d raised around Ehit’s Eyes. That, combined with the activation of Hallowed Ground, would definitely be enough to ward off the ceiling’s collapse.

Damn you for making me do this, Forneus. Oscar really didn’t want to part with his prized umbrella, but he had no choice.

“Graaaaaaaaah!” Just before he could transmute it though, Oscar heard a peculiar scream.

“What was that!?” The room shook as something banged against the walls of the building.

A second later, an entire wall was sent flying.

A three-headed earth dragon emerged from the rubble. It was only four meters long, but the danger it posed was immense.

“Wait, what on earth is that monster doing here!?”

The dragon looked up at Miledi, reacting to her voice. She groaned in a very manly fashion.

“Graaaaaaaaaaaah!” One of the heads’ eyes glowed bright red and it spewed fire at her. Even Oscar could feel the flames’ heat.

“W-W-Wait, time out! Spatial Severance!” Miledi’s gravity sphere swallowed up the flames. She had to divert some of her power to do that though, so the cracks in the ceiling deepened.

“Miledi! Damn dragon, stop that!” Oscar pointed his umbrella at the dragon and cast Spark Plasma. Oscar’s bolts of lightning hit the dragon dead-on. However, it barely made the monster stagger. Spark Plasma was Oscar’s strongest instantaneous spell, and the dragon just shrugged it off like it was nothing.

“This isn’t good...” The dragon turned to Oscar. He’d succeeded in grabbing its attention, but he hadn’t expected it to do no damage to it.

However, for reasons Oscar couldn’t fathom, the dragon didn’t fire its breath at him. It simply glared at Oscar with its three heads for a while... before looking away.

“Huh?” Oscar followed its gaze. It was staring at Ehit’s Eyes.

Why’s it so focused on that? Either way, Oscar wasn’t about to let this opportunity go. He quickly stooped down, and told Corrin to get on his back. He belted his umbrella and scooped Dylan and Katy into his arms.

A second later, the dragon roared again.

“Graaaaaaaaah!” This time it did charge. Oscar could feel his heart thumping loudly in his chest.

He activated his Onyx Boots and sped away. He was worried about what might happen to Ehit’s Eyes, but there was no time to fortify it now.

The dragon reached Oscar’s old location a second after he leaped ten meters away.

“Gaaaaaaaaah!”

“Ngh... Hallowed Ground, partial activation!” Oscar dropped Dylan and Katy and pulled his umbrella out. He barely got his barrier up in time to deflect the dragon’s breath. However, a second later the breath’s strength doubled.

“Nnnnnngh!” Oscar was slowly pushed back by the force of the dragon’s breath.

He wasn’t able to see it through his umbrella, but the dragon’s second head had added its wind breath to the other head’s fire.

If he was pushed back any further, Dylan and Katy would no longer be inside the barrier.

Miledi’s strained voice reached Oscar’s panicked ears.

“You little! Take this— Heavensfall!” A massive wall of gravity pressed down on the dragon.

The breath attack stopped, and Oscar fell to his knees. Plumes of white smoke rose up from the molten ground around him. The heat was so intense that he broke out into a sweat. Though part of that might have just been because of how panicked he was.

He looked over at the dragon.

“So it can even take Miledi’s magic...” She’d succeeded in pushing it down. However, its legs were still planted firmly on the ground, and it glared fiercely at Miledi, even through the pressure of her spell. Heavensfall hadn’t been able to defeat it.

However, Oscar noticed something.

“I knew it, it’s protecting the artifact.” Despite the pressure Miledi was placing on it, the dragon didn’t thrash around. It kept a careful eye on Ehit’s Eyes and kept its distance to ensure Miledi and Oscar’s attacks didn’t accidentally hit it.

Oscar suddenly remembered an old tale he’d heard as a kid. Supposedly there was a treasure buried deep inside one of the labyrinth-like floors of the Greenway. The adventurer who defeated the dragon guarding said treasure would have their name go down in history.

Forneus had given his life to create that explosion above them. However, there’d also been an explosion inside the building.

There was only one theory that made sense to Oscar. This dragon had been the original guardian of Ehit’s Eyes.

He guessed Forneus and his knights hadn’t been able to kill it, and had therefore settled on sealing it inside that building. With his dying breath, Forneus had undone that seal.

“O-kun, I’m sorry... I can’t hold it much longer.” Miledi’s strained voice broke Oscar out of his musings.

He looked up, and saw her grimacing from the effort of holding up the ceiling. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and sweat poured down her forehead. Even he could tell she was using every last ounce of strength to hold it together.

She had her back against the ceiling and was somehow keeping it afloat while also putting pressure on the dragon.

She wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long, though.

Suddenly, she smiled.

“Run away, O-kun. I’ll keep the dragon and the ceiling at bay until then.”

Oscar gasped. She was planning on sacrificing herself for him.

“I’ll protect Ehit’s Eyes somehow, too. Leave it all to the invincible... Miledi-chan! But even if I’m invincible... I can’t hold this any longer, so run!” How would she protect Ehit’s Eyes while avoiding the dragon, all while the room was collapsing around her to boot? Would she give up her life just to protect it with gravity magic? Even though she was almost completely out of mana? In all honesty, it was unlikely she’d be able to do it, but Oscar believed her. He knew she’d fulfill her promises no matter what.

She sounded as frivolously cheery as always, but Oscar knew she was just trying to act tough for them. Even now, she still hadn’t broken. She would save Oscar and his family, even if it cost her life to do it. Her will was iron.

Oscar glanced back at Dylan and Ehit’s Eyes before making his decision.

“Miledi, could you kill that dragon with your remaining mana!?”

“Huh!? If I used it all on my strongest attack, I-I think I could do it.” Miledi answered the unexpected question almost reflexively.

“Perfect. I’ll handle the ceiling. You get that dragon! As long as Ehit’s Eyes are here, he won’t move!”

“Huh? What? Wait! You can’t do that! I swore I’d defend Ehit’s Eyes with my life—”

“As long as they’re alive, I’ll find a way to save them. Just you watch!”

“B-But!”

“Saving them would mean nothing if you die! If we do this, everyone will be saved! Please, Miledi! Trust in me!”

“Ah!” Miledi gasped, then after a second she nodded.

“Make your move at the count of ten!” Oscar carried Dylan and Katy to the relative safety of the passage outside the room. Then, he shot the ferrule of his umbrella at the stone ceiling. It lodged itself into the cracks, Oscar remotely transmuted barbs on it to keep it in place, and thin wires shot out of the ferrule’s tip.

“Corrin, I know this is scary, but Miledi and I will get you all out safely, so just hang in there, alright?”

“Okay. I’ll be fine, Onii-chan.”

Oscar detached the wires from the umbrella and tied them to boulders he’d transmuted. After a second, he’d completed a makeshift gondola. He then put Corrin and the others inside it. This way they’d be fine even if the ground collapsed.

He patted his brave little sister’s head and returned to the battlefield.

As he made his way back to Miledi, he activated another one of his black umbrella’s skills.

“Activate skill six— Godstorm, wide area variant! Transmute!” A violent gale began to blow through the battlefield.

He’d transmuted the cloth of the umbrella off its frame and turned into a multitude of metal strings, which flew up to the ceiling. Then, he used remote transmutation to made sure they stuck to the ceiling where they landed.

It looked like he’d spread a spider’s web across the ceiling.

“Miledi, now’s your chance! Send that oversized lizard to hell!”

“Sheesh, you’re such a slave driver!” Though she was complaining, it looked like Miledi was enjoying herself.

The ceiling rumbled as Miledi dispelled the magic holding it up. The dragon made its move as well. It opened all three of its maws, determined to exterminate the thieves who had dared defile the treasure it was protecting.

“Let me show you my final trump card.” Oscar threw his umbrella, which at this point had been stripped down to only the frame, at the three-headed dragon.

When it was directly above the dragon’s heads, it exploded in a shower of sparks.

This was his umbrella’s final trick, a self-destruct.

He doubted it would kill it, but it would definitely buy Miledi some time.

Miledi rushed down toward the dragon, while Oscar leaped up to the ceiling. The two of them crossed paths in midair.

As they passed each other, Oscar gave Miledi the jewel that had been embedded into the umbrella’s handle. He’d taken it out before throwing it.

Miledi gasped when she felt the vast amount of mana stored inside it. She glanced at Oscar and smiled triumphantly.

Then, with their backs to each other, the two of them used their most practiced skills.

“Transmute!”

“Nether Burst!”

Golden mana ran across the cracks in the ceiling. At the same time, a pitch black nova descended upon the ancient dragon, emitting sky blue sparks from its surface.

There was no loud bang, and vibrations from the impact could be felt. Miledi’s deadliest attack was also her most silent.

At the same time, the ceiling repaired itself in the blink of an eye. When Oscar looked down though, he found the ground had vanished.

“......” The two of them gazed silently at each other.

Oscar hesitantly opened his mouth.

“I know I told you to send it to hell, but I never said anything about making a hell...”

“Ugh...”

“What the hell are we supposed to do now? This is way worse than a floor collapsing, you know that, right? There’s no way I can fix that even with my Transmutation.”

“Y-You don’t have to yell at me! Even I know I overdid it a little! Besides, this is all your fault, O-kun!”

“M-My fault? You’re the one who made a giant abyss! Quit trying to push responsibility for that on me!”

“No, it’s totaaaaaally your fault! What the heck was in that jewel!? I thought it was some kind of artifact that stored mana, so I drew it all out, but there was way more than I thought there’d be! Like, tons more! Not even the rarest of artifacts even come close to that!”

“Uhh, well, it’s, uh... A Divinity Stone I made, I guess?”

“Excuse me, I have no idea what you just said.” Or rather, I wish I had no idea.

Divinity Stone— It was a legendary crystal that very rarely showed up in nature. It was pure, crystallized mana. Usually Divinity Stones took thousands of years to form. They could store more mana than anything else. It took another couple of centuries for a newly formed Divinity Stone to become fully saturated with mana. Once it was though, it secreted a liquid known as Ambrosia. Ambrosia was a miracle drug that could heal any wounds and cure any disease.

And Oscar had just said he’d “made” one. As it was just a crystallization of highly concentrated mana, it could in theory be created.

“When I learned about Divinity Stones, I figured maybe I might be able to make one, so I tried it. Of course, this one doesn’t secrete Ambrosia. All it’s capable of is storing mana. I thought if I kept pouring mana into it it’d eventually start making Ambrosia on its own, so I’ve been pouring some of my mana into it every day since I was twelve. I put it into my umbrella because it was capable of absorbing a percentage of the mana used in spells directed against me, too.”

“I see. I don’t get it at all.”

Indeed, Miledi’s brain failed to comprehend how Oscar had managed to make a mythical crystal at the age of twelve. She smiled, a look of pure confusion on her face.

“I can’t believe you used six years worth of mana in one spell, though... Haaah... Well, I guess we didn’t really have time to discuss this, and it’s my fault for not warning you, but... Ugh, I can’t believe I helped you make a giant hole in the Greenway... I think I’m going to be sick.”

Though I guess killing a bishop and his templar knights is an even bigger crime. It’s a bit late to be worried about being arrested for vandalizing the Greenway. Oscar shook his head and shifted gears.

“Anyway, let’s get out of here. Could you give me my Divinity Stone back, Miledi?”

“Uh, I still don’t really get what you’re saying.” Miledi repeated, that blank smile still on her face. Except now there was cold sweat pouring down her back.

It seemed there was more than just confusion and surprise stopping Miledi from giving it back.

“Miledi, give me back my Divinity Stone.”

“O-kun, I’m the kind of woman that never looks back on the past.”

“Didn’t you tell me your entire life story a few hours ago? Anyway, where’s the jewel?”

“D-Down there, I think.” Miledi pointed down at the bottom of the abyss, averting her eyes all the while.

“Explain yourself. No excuses.”

“I was so surprised at how strong my magic was that I accidentally dropped what I was holding. I was holding your Divinity Stone. The end.”

Oscar stared at Miledi with dead eyes. Miledi refused to meet his gaze, as buckets of sweat continued to pour down her forehead.

Oscar glared at her for a few more minutes before finally sighing and shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, at least we’re all safe. One Divinity Stone isn’t a big deal.”

“You’re such a nice guy, O-kun!” Miledi grinned, and Oscar smiled back. Then, they noticed Corrin standing in Oscar’s makeshift gondola and waving frantically at the two of them.

“Guess we should go,” Oscar said lightly, and gave Miledi a high-five.

Two days after the incident in the Greenway.

It was still early enough that the sun had yet to rise. Velnika, the capital, still slumbered. Oscar walked down one of the city’s deserted streets.

He had a black coat on, was carrying a large bag, and had an umbrella belted to his waist even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It looked as if he was about to set out on a long journey.

And indeed, he was. Today would be the day he left Velnika.

There were a number of reasons for his departure. The first was obvious. He couldn’t remain here after rebelling against the Holy Church and killing Bishop Forneus. Of course, the evidence of his death and the surrounding circumstances had all vanished into the bottom of the abyss Miledi had created. However, he couldn’t be certain all of it had been buried.

Moreover, he had a lot of acquaintances in this city. If someone went after him again, it was possible they’d target those friends of his first, just like how Dylan and the others had been kidnapped.

The second reason he was leaving was to find a cure.

They’d ended up destroying Ehit’s Eyes. As they no longer had anyone to command them, Dylan and Katy weren’t trying to kill him anymore, but they’d become empty husks instead. He’d tried all sorts of healing magic and even enlisted Miledi’s help, but both Dylan and Katy remained in a coma.

Normal magic had no effect on them, so he needed to search for something new, which was another reason why he was setting off.

Before he’d left, he’d convinced Moorin to take the kids out of the capital.

They’d be moving to the hidden village Miledi’s organization used as its base of operations.

Miledi had promised to protect Moorin and the kids. Even if she hadn’t been Oscar’s friend, she still would have taken the kids there. Dylan and Katy were important witnesses, and Corrin and Ruth now knew the truth about the Holy Church.

It was possible the Holy Church wouldn’t care as everything they did was sanctioned by the populace at large, but it was also possible they’d try and kill the kids to hide the evidence of their deeds. In which case, an anti-church organization’s hideout was about the safest place in the world for them.

The kids had cried when Oscar told them of his plans to leave, but Ruth had stepped up to comfort them. With Dylan in a coma, it had become his turn to take charge. Ruth had looked quite manly when he’d told Oscar to leave the kids to him.

Furthermore, Oscar had seen the kind of comrades Miledi had with her. They were all highly skilled warriors, so he was sure that they’d be able to safely guide Moorin and the children to their village on their own.

Miledi herself had vouched for them, which had been more than enough for Oscar.

As she’d had a lot to take care of after the battle, they’d parted ways for the night.

Oscar had then spent an entire day replenishing his stock of equipment and setting his affairs in order. He’d set out early in the morning to avoid being spotted by anyone he might know.

Despite the early hour, he avoided the main street and stuck to the back alleys.

“I wanna say my goodbyes to Gramps,” Oscar muttered to himself.

Oscar had already talked to Karg before when he’d gone to pick up the kids he’d sent to the Orcus workshop.

He’d explained what had happened and the reasons why he couldn’t stay, but he hadn’t really said goodbye. It was true that he was in a rush, but he’d also felt ashamed, as if he was letting Karg down by leaving.

However, what would really be shameful would be not saying goodbye to the man who’d done so much for him.

And so, Oscar found himself heading to the Orcus Workshop on the morning of his departure.

Normally, Karg wouldn’t even be in the workshop this early.

Oscar needed to leave soon, though. If Karg didn’t show up after a while he’d leave his farewell letter and be on his way.

He continued walking for a while longer.

“Ah...” As he approached the workshop’s gates, he spotted a man leaning against them with his arms folded across his chest.

It was a man he’d recognize anywhere.

“So you came after all, Oscar.” Karg spoke as if he’d expected Oscar to come from the beginning, and scoffed.

“How did you...”

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to leave without saying anything.” He’d been Oscar’s surrogate father for years now, so Oscar’s thought patterns were as clear as day to him.

Oscar smiled awkwardly.

“You’re going, then?”

“Yeah. I need to find a way to cure Dylan and Katy.”

“Will you be coming back?”

“I’m not sure. Not for a while, at least. It’s going to be a long journey.”

“I see...”

The silence stretched on. Karg could tell at a glance that Oscar’s black boots, black coat, and black umbrella were no simple traveler’s garb. He knew they were all powerful artifacts. That brought a smile to his face.

“Damn boy, you’re good.” He praised Oscar in his customarily coarse fashion.

Oscar blushed and smiled.

“I guess.” He was unable to hide the joy he felt at being praised by Karg, and nodded.

Karg closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them and walked up to Oscar. His expression was dead serious, and his eyes were filled with all sorts of conflicting feelings.

“Oscar. It’s not really much of a parting gift, but will you take what this old man has to offer?”

“What is it?” Oscar tilted his head in confusion, and Karg nodded.

He spoke solemnly.

“I want you to inherit the name Orcus.”

“Gramps... I’m quitting the workshop, so—”

“I know, but I still want you to take it. I told you before, you’re the only one fit to be this generation’s Orcus. You’re the best damn Synergist I know. I refuse to pass the name down to anyone else.”

“But then...” Who’s going to be the next head of the workshop? Besides, I might become a wanted man soon. Worse, the Holy Church’ll probably brand me a heretic. What’ll happen to the workshop if I inherit its name?

Oscar tried to say as much, but Karg cut him off. Karg was prepared for the consequences. He had been since the moment he made his decision.

He continued his speech.

“Us craftsmen are a stubborn, peculiar lot. Sure, we get jealous of each other’s skills and are always trying to one-up each other, but any craftsman worth his salt also knows shame, boy. None of them will ever be the next Orcus, and not just cause I won’t give them the title. They all know you deserve it, and they’d be ashamed to take it from you.”

Oscar’s eyes went wide with surprise. He’d been convinced all of the craftsmen thought he was a loser. However, the truly skilled members of the workshop had always known. Even if it had grated them to admit it, they knew how good Oscar was.

Sure, Oscar never made any weapons, but the Orcus craftsmen were professionals. They could tell how good he was from the quality of his household products alone.

I really do have a lot to learn... Not just in terms of my transmuting skill, but as a person too.

Though he’d worked alongside them for years, Oscar hadn’t understood one thing about them. Not their pride, not their feelings, not their love for their craft. He hadn’t understood a craftsman’s soul at all. Oscar closed his eyes when he realized that, sinking into deep thought.

They understood how much trouble this would bring the workshop. Despite that, they’d still chosen him to be the next Orcus. At that point, he wouldn’t be a man if he didn’t take up mantle offered to him.

He opened his eyes, and stared back determinedly at Karg.

“I’ll do it, then. From today onward, I’m the new Orcus, Oscar Orcus.” Karg’s face lit up in a beaming smile.

Oscar walked to the capital’s main gate with a new spring in his step.

Worry colored his face again when the gate guard began to scrutinize him, though. Fortunately, he was waved through without incident.

Forneus’ disappearance had become public knowledge at this point, and the city was conducting a full-scale search. The guards were simply on high alert because of that, so they weren’t especially suspicious of Oscar or anything. Plus, it had only been a day since Forneus’ disappearance. It was entirely possible Forneus had left on some secret mission with his templar knights. A man in his position wasn’t required to report his comings and goings to anyone.

Only Oscar and Miledi knew he was resting at the bottom of the abyss, so a single craftsman heading out on a journey, likely to the next town over, didn’t seem suspicious at all to the guards.

Oscar walked silently down the main road for a while. Before long, Velnika was no more than a dot on the horizon. Just as he was thinking he was far enough away that he could activate his Onyx Boots’ powers without attracting suspicion, he spotted a familiar figure sitting on a boulder up ahead.

Her blonde ponytail fluttered in the chill morning breeze. She swung her legs back and forth, as if bored.

Oscar adjusted his glasses. Then, with hurried steps, he walked up to her.

“Morning, O-kun. It’s nice out today.”

“Yeah, though you still look pretty bored.”

Once Oscar drew close enough for them to be able to hear each other, Miledi hopped off the boulder.

“I’m not really the waiting type. I prefer action.”

“Then why didn’t you act? Don’t you think it’s kinda late to ambush me here? I was expecting to see you crawl out of somewhere ages ago.”

“Hey, that’s rude!” Miledi puffed out her cheeks and Oscar smiled.

The two casually talked about what they’d done since parting two nights ago.

Miledi updated Oscar on Moorin and the children’s travels, while Oscar told Miledi he’d closed off the entrance and the exit to the staircase he’d made. Miledi also explained that thanks to the false rumors her comrades had spread, the search for Forneus was headed in the completely wrong direction. Oscar also told Miledi that he’d inherited the Orcus name.

Upon hearing that, Miledi congratulated him. Oscar blushed and adjusted his glasses to hide his embarrassment. Miledi saw right through him and grinned. She’d been around him enough to know his mannerisms now.

Oscar cleared his throat loudly and changed the subject. His expression was serious.

“You’ve helped my family so much. Thank you. I owe you a debt bigger than I can ever hope to repay. If you still want me to, I’ll join your—”

“What’s important isn’t what I want, but what you want, O-kun.” Miledi cut him off with a smile.

“Forget all that crap about debts. Your future is for you to decide. You have to choose what you want to do. If the path you want to walk is different from mine, then that’s fine. I won’t abandon your family just because you won’t join me. Don’t you dare think I’d ever try and blackmail you like that!”

“Miledi...” He didn’t doubt her words. She wouldn’t abandon his family over something so petty. Of that, he was certain.

The sun crested the horizon, and the world grew lighter. Miledi’s hair sparkled in sunrise’s first light.

“But my wish is still the same...” Miledi whispered, and looked into Oscar’s eyes. Her sky blue eyes perfectly matched the color of her mana. And right now, the only thing reflected in them was him.

“This will be the last time I ever ask you this.” Miledi sucked in a huge breath and held a hand out to him.

“You’re an exceptional Synergist, Oscar Orcus. Don’t you wish to see a world where people can live freely? A world where anyone can decry any ideology, where no one set of values reigns supreme, where those who call out oppression are not punished for it? Would you like to come with me and change the world?” Oscar held his breath. Her words pierced right through him, and he could feel their weight. He thought back to the day they’d first met. She’d captivated him right from the start, that night in the orphanage’s backyard.

Oscar already knew the answer to the question he was about to ask, but he had to bring it up anyway. Something inside him compelled him to.

“Who... are you?”

The sun continued its slow rise.

Miledi could guess why Oscar had asked. She smiled, exuding a radiance brighter than the sun itself, and puffed out her chest proudly.

“I’m Miledi Reisen the Liberator. One who fights against this world’s gods.”

I knew it. This is what it means to be captivated by someone.

He couldn’t make this decision halfheartedly. The world wasn’t so nice a place that resolve alone could change it.

Fighting the gods was paramount to suicide. Even a cat didn’t have enough lives to survive that encounter. If he followed her, he’d surely see hell.

But if it’s with her, I don’t think I’d mind fighting in hell.

That was what he truly thought, from the bottom of his heart.

Oscar adjusted his glasses to hide his expression. He didn’t want to let Miledi see him like this, but for a completely different reason than when he’d first refused her.

He poured all of his feelings into his voice and gave Miledi his reply.

“I’ll follow you for life, even if the path you walk takes us to hell and back.” He’d walk forward together with this unbelievably reckless girl.

Miledi’s response was completely unexpected.

“Uh, well, hell and back is kinda... creepy, you know? I know you’ve fallen head over heels for me, but I’m not really into yanderes. Sorry, O-kun!” Birds chirped nearby as the morning sun blazed down on them.

Aside from the birds, there was silence.

Oscar’s glasses began to glow, and his face turned beet red. He started trembling, then pulled out his umbrella.

“Milediiiiiiiii! I’m going to kill you, you biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!”

“Kyaaaaaa, O-kun’s snaaaaaaaaapped!”

Miledi turned tail and ran.

Oscar chased after her, fueled by anger and embarrassment in equal measure. Lightning, flames, and blades of wind shot out of his umbrella.

Miledi dodged each of them, screaming all the while. There wasn’t even a hint of fear on her face, though. In fact, she was blushing slightly and smiling.