Chapter 89
The world frozen in time was silent.
Maybe that’s why—
My ragged breathing and Kon’s nagging felt even louder than usual.
[It’s already been over six hours! Six hours!!
We’ve passed by 315 mares so far—315!—and 89 of them were even purebred! Do you have any idea how heartbreaking it is to just pass them by because I don’t have a body to impregnate them with?!]
“It hasn’t really been six hours. It just feels that way to us. In this world, not even a second has passed.”
[And you think that makes it better?! I’m exhausted. Who knows when that scrawny hunchback woman will show up? We’re just wandering around aimlessly!!]
Instead of getting angry at Kon’s constant complaints, I found myself… agreeing with him.
Maybe I was being reckless, just wandering like this.
But then again…
Compared to the divine revelations I’ve received, this is mild.
At least I’m not pulling an Erfa—rushing into the capital and pretending to be some holy saint. This is nothing compared to that.
“Just hang in there a little longer, Kon. We have to find that woman. No matter what. I’ve explained it to you so many times on the way here.”
[Yeah, yeah. I know. Damn it. If you don’t die in her place, the world’ll never know peace. What a grand way to commit suicide... You know what? Screw it. Why don’t we just do this instead?]
“How?”
[I’ll use every bit of psychic energy I’ve got in one go. I’ll be out of commission until it recharges, but in exchange, I can scan a massive area all at once. How long are we going to keep stumbling around blind? Isn’t a large-scale search better than this aimless wandering?]
Kon was actually making sense.
He had a point.
This random searching was draining both of us.
“Alright. Let’s do it your way.”
[You’re agreeing to it?]
“Yeah. Let’s try it. It’s better than wandering around with no plan.”
[Good.]
The locket around my neck started to tremble violently.
It hummed with intense vibrations, then released a shockwave so powerful it made my skin crawl.
“How is it, Kon? Did you find anyone? A woman with thin limbs and a hump—just like I described?”
[......Yeah.]
That was the first time I’d ever heard Kon’s voice sound… tired.
“You found her? For real?”
[She’s in that direction. Run straight to your right. But… we’ll need to hurry.]
The vibrations from the psychic amplifier were already dying out.
[That woman... she’s dying... so... sleepy...]
“What? Dying?! What do you mean she’s dying?! Explain it properly!”
The psychic amplifier powered down completely.
And with it, a crushing mental weight hit me like a freight train.
“Ah, damn it.”
The world’s time hadn’t moved even a second, but I had been moving through this frozen world for over six hours.
There’s no way my mental stamina wouldn’t be affected.
With the psychic amplifier gone, I couldn’t maintain time-stop any longer.
If a man—not a mage, not a knight—suddenly started leaping ten meters in a single stride using lightfoot technique, it’d be like putting up a flashing neon sign saying
“Hey, the Saint is right here!”
That’s why, whenever time resumed, I always moved as quietly as possible.
But not this time.
Not when someone’s dying.
“Why does she have to be dying?! Why now?!”
I couldn’t afford caution anymore.
As time resumed, I urgently scanned my surroundings.
It was late evening.
This was the outskirts of the Empire’s northern edge—a secluded region.
Not a soul in sight.
Even if someone did spot me, it’s not like they’d go shouting “The Saint is here!”
With a crack, my genetically-enhanced leg slammed against the ground, launching me forward with terrifying force.
Moving during time-stop was easy—no wind to resist, no drag.
But now that time had resumed, the air was screaming in my ears with every stride.
“Damn it! Don’t die! You can’t!!”
Please…
Don’t die.
“I’ll die in your place!!”
This was a once-in-a-lifetime shot to destroy a cursed soul.
I couldn’t let it slip away.
***
A narrow space confined by a magic circle.
The nature of weapons—spears and daggers.
And a body that hadn’t properly eaten or drunk in days.
To make things worse, one side was a divine being from Pandemonium who had profited the most from the Heavenly War…
…while the other was a god so shattered they’d be completely extinguished if not for clinging to a human soul.
This fight was never going to last long.
“Gghk!!”
The follower of Sloth easily deflected the incoming spear with a flick of his dagger, then slammed his foot into Kanya’s stomach.
Her body staggered backward, coughing up a thick splash of blood as if her organs had been crushed.
“Aaah, you’re so damn annoying! Why’d you have to run away and make all of this so much harder?”
Dark energy began to gather in the follower’s hand—and the next moment, it materialized and shot toward Kanya.
[Kanya!]
A radiant red divine aura—symbol of the goddess of war—wrapped around her body.
The black and red energies clashed midair with a sharp, ear-piercing screech.
Kanya was protected, yes, but her fragile body couldn’t withstand even the shockwave of the collision.
She collapsed.
Even as her body hit the ground, she refused to drop her staff—though it trembled violently in her weakening grip.
“Let’s finish this already.”
The follower charged again.
Kanya tried to summon her divine power—but it was a pitiful amount.
[Damn it! Kanya!!]
Of course it was weak. The divine power flowed through her body, and her body was critically injured.
The diluted energy couldn’t counter the dark magic. Her staff was sliced cleanly in two by the dagger.
And then, without hesitation, the follower plunged the blade into Kanya’s heart.
“Kyaaaaaah!! AaAAAhhh!!”
“Shh… shhh… Just bear with it a little longer.
You’ll soon belong to Lord Belphegor again, Miss Kanya.”
“No! NO!!”
“Accept the Words of Subjugation once more. Your soul, your body—everything will be His.”
Dark energy began to snake down from the dagger, slithering over Kanya’s body like a serpent.
It moved slowly.
Then, it began carving glowing magical runes into her skin.
It was a spell from the highest tier of black magic—
An incantation directly bestowed by the Demon King.
[You bastard! You think I’ll just let you do this?!]
The goddess dwelling in Kanya’s soul screamed in fury, raising divine energy to resist.
But the resistance was effortlessly snuffed out.
The follower glanced down at her rebellion, almost amused.
“A defeated god, clinging to a mortal soul like a parasite. What do you think you can even do? Still, consider it an honor. Lord Belphegor personally granted this spell out of respect for your legacy as the goddess of war—300 years ago.”
[No! Kanya!!]
At her goddess’s cry, Kanya reached up with her trembling hands and gripped the follower’s wrist.
Desperately, she tried to push the dagger out of her chest.
“I curse you! I curse all of you in Hell! For what you’ve done to my body! For what you stole from me—my everything! For making me live a life without a single moment of happiness! I’ll curse you forever! I won’t give in!! I’d rather die than go back to that place again!!”
“Aaah… such a bother.”
With a flick of his hand, the follower grabbed Kanya’s thin arm and casually twisted.
A loud crack—her bones snapped. Her arm bent at a grotesque angle.
Before she could even scream, his fist smashed into her face.
Her teeth shattered. Her nose exploded. Her skull crumpled.
Her hideously broken body collapsed into unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, the black energy from the dagger spread hungrily across her body, devouring her entirely.
“Fucking bitch. Causing trouble to the bitter end.”
He spat on the ground, annoyed.
[Kanya!! …Ka!...]
The demon king’s high-purity hell energy engulfed her completely.
Even the goddess could no longer speak.
The follower wiped the blood and tooth fragments from his hand and stood up.
“In about three minutes, this little ritual will be complete.
O Great Goddess of War—no, that’s not right.
Maybe ‘Lord Belphegor’s Toy #3’ fits better?”
He stretched leisurely.
Now all that was left was to wait for the Subjugation Spell to fully engrave itself on her body and soul.
A divine being, even broken, was still divine.
Belphegor loved collecting such gods, saving them for later use.
She hated going to the frontlines herself.
She preferred to command others.
To control them.
To move them exactly how she wanted.
That was the Demon King of Sloth.
If this so-called goddess of war was dragged back now, she’d no doubt be thrown into some even more horrifying tasks in Hell as punishment for escaping.
Her divinity would be endlessly ground down, forced to work for Belphegor without end.
But what did that matter to him?
“O Belphegor, receive my offering and grant me your reward. Hehehe.”
As far as the follower was concerned, what happened to the goddess was none of his concern.
He just wanted his reward.
“Now then, should I ask for a woman or for mo—”
He trailed off, eyes narrowing.
Despite the setting sun, it wasn’t quite dark yet—an eerie twilight still lingered.
And far off on the horizon… something bounced up, then dropped back down.
The follower craned his neck, peering into the distance.
Up, then down.
Up, then down.
Eventually—
“...A person?”
He realized it was a human.
And in the next instant—
His gut clenched with dread.
“What kind of human jumps that high?”
Even from this distance, he could estimate the jump. Ten, maybe twenty meters per leap.
Insane.
Not even paladins or elite knights moved like that.
They used such explosive speed only in emergencies—not like this. Not as their default movement.
“Who the hell…?”
And then—
Another wave of cold dread washed over him.
“That bastard…”
Whoever it was—they were headed straight for him.
“That bastard’s coming here?!”
He quickly looked down at the ground.
The deception barrier spell was still active.
Anyone outside the barrier couldn’t see what was going on inside, and no one inside could leave without permission.
“Unless it’s a high bishop or a Chosen…
there’s no way anyone should be able to see th—”
The moment he lifted his head again, two sensations hit him.
First: the sight of a furious young man raising something in his hand—ready to strike.
Second:
SMACK!
The raw, stinging feeling of a belt whipping across his cheek.
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