Chapter 87
A dark night.
A woman was running through the night.
The woman who had ran and ran until she was out of breath finally seemed to reach her limit, approaching a nearby tree and collapsing.
[You can't stop yet. They'll chase after you.]
"It's too hard."
The woman sobbed.
She looked down at her body.
Arms and legs withered to an extreme degree. Hideously twisted skin.
And even a hump protruding upwards on her back.
It was almost fortunate that it was a dark night so she couldn't see her ugly body.
"My body... Why hasn't it returned to normal yet? Why?"
[My power is lacking. I undid the subjugation spell cast on your body and soul, but that was my limit. The power to heal your body is not yet granted to me.]
"My body hurts, Goddess. I can't run properly. It's too hard."
The woman collapsed and started crying.
[You must move. Child. You can't collapse already.]
"Why me…? Why am I like this…? I didn't do anything wrong."
At the child's sobbing, the being called Goddess was silent for a moment.
The meaning contained in the silence was clear sorrow.
[I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Kanya. I ended up placing a burden on you that I shouldn't have. But unlike the hopeless past days, now there is hope. There is now a way to heal your body and recover my divinity. There are still those who believe in me.]
The woman.
Kanya stopped crying at those words.
"Really...?"
[My altar that I secretly built 300 years ago remains in the rocky mountains of Talaheim. I sealed part of my divinity there. I was a being who fought on the front lines during the celestial war, so there was always a possibility my divinity would be destroyed and fall to earth like now. It's insurance I put in place in preparation for such a situation. Kanya.]
"If you regain your divinity. Can you heal my body?"
[I'll speak honestly. My power exists more for the destruction of evil things than healing. So healing your body that has been twisted by black magic and sorcery for 20 years won't be easy.]
At those words, despair settled in Kanya's eyes, but the goddess immediately continued.
[But I swear on my existence. I will never forget the pain and sorrow you and your ancestors have suffered because of me. I will surely repay the sacrifices of you who have suffered in hell's grasp for 300 years. Kanya. If necessary, I will beg other gods to heal you and bless you and your family.]
Kanya bgean to cry again at those words.
"Can I... become pretty too?"
[You can become more beautiful than anyone.]
Kanya's tears increased at the goddess' comforting voice.
She covered her face with her withered, twisted arms.
The goddess comforted her once again.
[Let's just muster a little strength to go to the rocky mountains of Talaheim. We just need to go there and recover my divinity. It will be a painful and difficult journey, but once we arrive there and recover my divinity, I swear on my divinity I will repay you.]
Kanya wiped her tears at those words.
After taking a deep breath, she stood up.
She painfully trudged forward on her withered legs.
"Can't we ask the Pantheon for help? Wouldn't it be easier to go to the rocky mountains of Talaheim if we ask other gods for help instead?"
[Your soul and body will be destroyed, Kanya. Look at the magic circle engraved on your belly.]
At the goddess' words, Kanya silently lifted her clothes and touched the magic circle drawn on her belly.
Thanks to the goddess undoing the subjugation spell the Demon King had personally cast on Kanya's soul and body, she had barely regained her freedom, but the black magic cast on her body was not just that one.
[If a being with divine power is near you, the black magic will activate and your soul and body will disappear. Forever. And my divinity tied to your soul will disappear along with it. We can't receive help from the Pantheon.]
"Then... then if we receive help from the Magic Tower or. Even from other forces..."
[Have you forgotten what kind of power the Demon King of Sloth possesses?]
At those words, Kanya trembled without realizing.
[If it's an ordinary person not protected by a god, whether they're a mage or knight. There's always a possibility they could become Belphegor's toy. Paradoxically, you'll be much safer when alone.]
"So you're saying I have to go to the rocky mountains of Talaheim with this body? While evading the Demon King's pursuit?"
[Yes. We have to. Regrettably, that is the only way.]
Kanya felt darkness fall before her eyes.
If it was a healthy body, it might be different.
How could she travel such a long distance with this body twisted from suffering for over 20 years?
It was hopeless.
A journey with not a single positive element.
But nevertheless, Kanya clenched her fist.
After wiping her tears, Kanya broke off a fallen branch nearby to make a cane, then leaned on it and stood up with difficulty.
"Crying won't change anything. We have hope now, even if it's faint, right? Shouldn't we be grateful for just that? It's 100 times better than the times when we only suffered without any hope. Isn't that right? Goddess?"
When Kanya said that with swollen eyes, the sound of the goddess laughing resonated in her head.
[That's right, Kanya. Now there is hope. Let's go. My child. I'll go with you. I'll suffer with you and rejoice with you.]
Kanya began to move forward holding the cane.
Fear and despair.
And terror were clear in her eyes, but an even more vivid desperate will to survive was burning more intensely than that.
***
It was a completely unexpected companion.
In fact, it was an unwanted companion.
But surprisingly, the unicorn guy got along well with me.
[Hey human. What's your name?]
"Amael. Jericho Amael. You?"
[My male comrades called me <Fucking Long Brilliant Mane> with disgust, and the mares I mated with called me that with love. The humans called me <Horny Fucking Unicorn Bastard> before I died. Call me whichever you prefer!!]
"One is too long to call, and the other is too vulgar. Since you're a unicorn, I'll just shorten it to Corn."
[Your naming sense is like that of a dog's.]
"Why? It's easy to call and good, Corn."
[Fine, fuck it. Do as you please.]
I wondered if I could communicate with this guy of a different species who wasn't even alive in the first place, but after introducing ourselves.
I realized I could surprisingly communicate well with this guy.
[I have two questions. First. Where are we going now?]
"We're going to a place called the rocky mountains of Talaheim. They say it's the empire's most treacherous terrain so no one goes there. There are no people living there either."
[Why are you going to such a treacherous place with no comrades?]
"To live in seclusion and not meet anyone."
[Without females?]
"Yeah. Without females."
[Are you crazy!? You're not going to find human virgin women to fuck?!]
"I don't do that kind of thing. Those 3 women I saw on the way are enough for me."
[I don't know why you do such an extremely unhygienic crazy thing as fucking non-virgins, but well... I can understand and overlook that since we're different species. My second question is, is time stopped around us right now? I hadn't noticed until now because objects have been so naturally stopped.]
"Oh. That's right. It's stopped."
[You stopped time?]
"Yeah. I stopped it."
At my words, Corn let out a hollow laugh as if dumbfounded.
[No!! What are you? How on earth do you do such a crazy thing as casting time stop over the whole world?!]
"It's complicated to explain. I just became able to use it one day. I can't explain it any better than that either."
[This... such an absurd ability...]
Perhaps the first being I've revealed my ability to.
I was inwardly worried about what the reaction would be...
[That means you can fuck mares that can't resist at all unlimited times!! What a crazy power!!]
The conclusion was that Corn was just a unicorn crazy about mating.
[This is amazing!! Just thinking about it, there are over dozens of plays that come to mind!! I'm really envious! How many females have you mated with using this ability... You must have done over hundreds, right?]
"...I've only done it with those 3 you saw."
[Those 3 non-virgins in the bed?]
"Yeah."
[Are you crazy? This is a mating ability!! You can mate with any female and even escape after mating with such an ability, but you've only done it with 3 non-virgins? What kind of intelligence and taste is that!? I absolutely can't do that!! This ability can be used in so many diverse ways!!]
After shouting like that, Corn began to ramble at length about how my time stop ability could be utilized.
But really.
His way of speaking was just too funny.
[Four mares in the stable are stopped and can't move, right? Then you just release the time stop only in the space behind, where the mares' things are! Then bam bam bam bam!! You mount four times!!]
No joke, this guy.
If I took him to Korea and made him a BJ, he would have done very well with personal broadcasting.
Listening to him continue to ramble about plans to utilize my time stop ability with a speech somewhere between extreme vulgarity and tremendous humor, well.
It seemed like worries about Asmodeus and the celestial realm were momentarily forgotten.
This bastard.
He really has a loose mouth.
In the time-stopped world.
While demonstrating an ability essentially no different from qinggong by strengthening my body's muscles and leaping over 10 meters at once, I was never bored thanks to Corn the whole time I moved.
[From what I see, you. You're borrowing my psychic power to use the ability because it's difficult with just your mental power, right?]
"Yeah. That's correct."
[This is making my head turn? Hey. Instead of just investing my psychic power in ability use duration, why don't you invest in precision and detailed control too? Then you'll be able to use it much more diversely than now.]
"How?"
[You could wrap the time-stopped space around your body and use it like a kind of armor, right? If you make stopped time into a sword and swing it, that becomes a sword that doesn't break or have its blade wear down. Or you could cast time stop on a specific space and move it at tremendous high speed. Then you could use it like a ranged weapon too.]
"Those are all for fighting."
[I can make you fight well!! You might think I'm just crazy about mating, but I have some skill in fighting too? I'm a veteran of reversals who's lived in the wild and fought and won against all kinds of monsters and human extermination teams!! I'm confident in fighting at least!]
"That's nice, but where would I need to fight? I'm just planning to live quietly in a place with no people. Sorry, but I don't know if I'll ever need to use Time Stop to fight."
Although I could maintain Time Stop for a very long time thanks to psychic amplification making mental power use much more efficient, I was getting a bit tired now after using it for almost a whole day.
It was late at night too.
I needed to sleep for a while.
On a quiet country road far from the capital Mars City.
Thanks to casting Time Stop over the whole world, time still hadn't flowed much from when I left Iomene, Almene, and Erpha in the bedroom.
I saw a tree growing like a picture on a plain and approached it, lying down using a rock as a pillow underneath.
Since I changed my appearance with Body Modification, no one should recognize me.
Let's just sleep until my mental power recovers and then get up right away to go to the rocky mountains of Talaheim.
[Is something wrong with you? Why do you want to be alone so much? Weren't humans animals that live in groups?]
"I'm a being that makes the whole group unhappy if I live in a group. So that's why. I'm tired, Corn. See you tomorrow. You should get some sleep too."
[How can I sleep when I'm just a soul with no body... Fine. Sleep. I'll keep watch. If there's any bad guy, I'll let you know.]
At those words, I smiled faintly.
Right.
I'm planning to live alone from now on.
But having someone to talk to like this makes it a bit less lonely.
I closed my eyes.
I tried not to think as much as possible because if I thought, it would lead from negative thoughts to worries and concerns.
Maybe thanks to that.
With the fresh smell of grass and the sound of insects as a lullaby, I was able to fall asleep.
And a little while later.
I woke up from sleep.
No.
It wasn't waking up.
A chilling sensation like my skin was being flayed.
And a burning world.
They were all familiar things.
A revelation.
The third revelation began to appear before my eyes.