CH 138

“Something interesting must have happened after that, did you notice?”

“Every day went back one day for a week.”

Near the end of the tutorial period, a disaster occurred that went against the providence of the world.

A weeklong loop.

In the 100th round, after relentlessly searching through the gaps in the dimension, Thesilid finds the time and space he is confident was before awakening his ability to regress.

Without looking back at anything else, he stormed right into the middle of the Vatican.

Coincidentally, a burnt offering to celebrate the New Year was in full swing there. He burned and killed his past self along with all the humans in the Vatican.

He offered burnt offerings with the utmost sincerity, even by killing countless human sacrifices.

In the middle of the burning Central Hall in the Vatican, Thesilid of the 100th round gave a last earnest prayer to God.

Please let the regression end.

He also killed himself before awakening his ability to regress. By intervening at the point before the timeline diverged, the seeds of regression were fundamentally cut off.

He hoped that the law of causality would work and his self of all timelines would disappear.

However, the regressive world did not allow this. Because the death of ‘Thesilid Argent, who did not become a regressor,’ was nullified.

Instead of disappearing, the day returned.

In the 100th play-through, Thesilid killed his past self again, thinking that there must have been a mistake.

But another day went back.

He killed his past self again, thinking that something lacked.

But another day turned around.

He killed again.

And went back again.

And again….

After repeating the same results a total of seven times, he suddenly realized. 

He was no different now from when he stupidly kept saving the world. He decided to put a stop to the clown play by finally bursting into madness.

If he couldn’t save the world, he choose to save himself. However, as not even that was possible, the 100th Thesilid stopped struggling.

After this gruesome recollection, he said.

“Yes, that’s right. The world deceived my last hope.”

A dry laugh rang out, but at some point, it suddenly stopped.

“I can’t save the world and I can’t save me either. What am I supposed to do?”

“……”

“Then I had a sudden thought.”

“……”

“My salvation is in finding true death. Then what about the salvation of the world?”

“……”

“Perhaps…Wouldn’t true destruction be salvation?”

Reed raised his left hand in front of my eyes.

Because of the sleeves that slid down, the stigmata engraved on the inside of his arm could be seen. What should have been originally white had turned black.

While I was distracted by the stigma of the Sinner, he slowly closed his five fingers.

“Yes, that was it. If the world is destroyed, then I who belong to the world will also be destroyed.”

The grip was held so strong that the bones on the back of his hand stood out white. It was as if he had a hallucination of something being shattered inside his palm.

“I was so happy when I realized it. I’ve hated this world for a long time.”

“……”

“To think of destroying with my own hands the world that I struggled so hard to save ten times, really…it was…very…”

“……”

“I was very much looking forward to it…”

Above his languidly curved lips, two red eyes radiated a subtle madness.

“Now that putting an end to regression is done, I think I can really enjoy living this last life.”

“……”

“I will destroy it properly, completely. I’m going to erase it from the dimensional system so that it can no longer create any timelines.”

He planned to die with the world. Could there be a more splendid and grandiose funeral arrangement than this?

“Ellet Rodellaine.”

A low voice focused all my nerves on him at once.

I turned my head in the direction where he was sitting. Before I knew it, he was smiling after completely reigning his madness. It was a solid reliable smile even if it was made up to seduce someone.

“You said you were on my side. So come to me.”

His hand reached out toward me. As if suggesting an escort.

This is a chapel lined with long wooden chairs. Between the chair I was sitting on and the chair he was sitting on, there was a distance like an aisle.

“Come over here and hold my hand. Join me.”

“……”

But the gap was like a river that could not be crossed. 

I turned away from his outstretched hand and directly met his gaze.

“Do you need a healer?”

“Well. It would be nice to have one, but I don’t really need it.”

“Then, why?”

“There are things in the world that I want to keep by my side, even if I don’t need them.”

He said again.

“I want you by my side, Ellet Rodellaine.”

“……”

I was suffocated by the sincerity that has collided with me. I opened my mouth and vomited the words that were blocking my throat.

“Thesilid Argent.”

Does my voice have the same effect on him that his voice had on me? His gaze was fixed on me to the point of persistence.

“I can’t stand by you who is trying to destroy the world. But.” 

I stretched out my hand so that it was symmetrical to him.

“If, if…”

“……”

“Even if it was a weak possibility, if there may be other ways to break the regression…would you like to try it with me?”

“……”

We reached out to each other, hoping to hold each other’s hands.

After a long time, what came back to me was the sound of cracking laughter.

“The effort to work together will include efforts to save the world, right?” 

“……”

“At the cost of a feeble possibility.”

I couldn’t deny it.

My words may have felt like deception to him, who had been tortured with false hope for a thousand years. 

The next moment I expected him to be angry.

However.

“Ellet Rodellaine. You should have appeared to me sooner in order to placate me with such a thing. At least before the 94th round was over.”

“……”

“What do we do? All the me who would be willing to trade your existence for the salvation of the world are dead.”

“……”

“So, why did you show up only now?”

He pulled out his hand first.

“I’m sorry, Ellet Rodellaine.”

“……”

As expected.

This was the 100th Thesilid whose only purpose was the destruction of the world. There was no appeasement or compromise with him.

Nonetheless, I.

“Think again, Thesilid.”

“……”

“Hold my hand.”

“……”

I spoke with emphasis. 

“It’s not too late.”

I saw his eyes widen a little. A bright light appeared above his smooth eyes.

“That’s interesting. I’ve already killed more than a thousand people and is not too late?”

The meaning of that appearance was madness.

“Ah, come to think of it, there was nothing you didn’t know. Seeing that you’re trying to embrace such a corrupt apostate like myself, the future of this timeline must be great.”

It’s true.

The timeline of the 17th episode is where the protagonist of the 100th episode started to intervene.

The number of people he will kill by the time the end comes here is truly astronomical. I was not embarrassed that he had pleasingly uttered something cruel.

Instead, I delved further into his interest.

“Are you curious about the future?”

I know.

The future of the world and your future.

[‘The World-building God’ is startled.]

[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ is surprised.]

[‘The Spoiler Inspector’ opens his eyes wide.]

Thesilid’s eyes got a little bigger. That was the definitive answer.

I decided to live up to expectations.

“In this episode.”

I had to spit out a word and had to shut up. I did everything in my power not to let out a groan of pain through my tightly clenched teeth.

[‘The World-building God’ says not to do it.]

[‘The Spoiler Inspector’ warns you not to do anything stupid.]

“You.”

You will destroy the world and you will pay the price.

With no dedicated prizes for having saved the world ten times, you will be held accountable for one destruction in a terribly, crueler and miserable form.

You will become the enemy of the world, be declared a subjugation target, and will make five humans become legendary heroes.

With a body that can neither die nor live, you will fall into the abyss and be sentenced to life imprisonment.

This was the finale of the damn original, where you would have to wait for the 101st round helplessly.

How should I define the end of you I saw there?

That you failed?

No, simple words like that are not enough.

“You…”

My jaw naturally tightened.

[‘The Spoiler Inspector’ strongly warns you to stop immediately!]

[‘The World-building God’ cries out to stop!]

[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ shouts you to shut up!]

“You will be ruined. Horribly so.”

Immediately after spitting out a prophecy that was no different from a curse.

“Hup!”

A huge divinity squeezed my lungs as if it would crush them. In an instant, a concussion to my intestines made me regurgitate blood.

Cough. 

Bright red blood gushed out from the cracks of my fingers that covered my mouth.

[‘The Spoiler Inspector’ is angry and knocks on his chest with angst.]

[‘The World-building God’ lets out a heavy and long sigh.]

[‘The Scales that Judges the Soul’ makes a sad expression.]

I hurriedly put on a heal. However, my divine power did not react at all.

[<System> You will be penalized for a ‘Heavenly Leakage’.]

[<System> Your 3 major powers are sealed. Time remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes.]

[<System> Transcendence skill ‘Descent of Divinity’ is sealed. Time remaining: 23 hours 59 minutes.]

I’ve lost all my strength. 

“Oh my gosh, Ellet Rodellaine.”

A friendly voice rang in my ears.

“That’s very kind of you to personally foretell the future with a heavenly ban at stake.” 

“……”

“Thank you. As expected, you are on my side.”

With a soft smile, I unknowingly looked at him with hopeful eyes.

It was foolish, of course.

“It helped me a lot. I will work hard to destroy the world more thoroughly.”

“……Ha.”

I pressed my eyelids with my hands in a terrible sense of despondency.

Yes, I knew. As expected, conciliation was a futile attempt.

The thirst of the 100th  Thesilid cannot be soothed without destroying the world.

Even if there is no salvation on the road he is going down now, he will throw me away for the destruction of this world. This was also the karma accumulated by the world that deceived, betrayed, and used him.

It’s a fair and just revenge play.

Yes, honestly, when I was a reader, I affirmed your choice and cheered for you in the 100th round. But, why am I apart from this world, on this exact episode, standing at opposite sides of you?

His voice rang in my confused ears.

“I must kill tens, hundreds of thousands, and millions of people and come back to see you again. Even then, I can’t wait to see if you will extend the same hand to me or look at me with different eyes.”

He raised himself up. 

“Let’s see what you can do next to the bug from the 17th episode.”

“……”

“It was a pleasure talking to you, Ellet Rodellaine. It’s late at night, so sleep well.”