This time-transcending attack had to hit on the first attempt. If it missed, Bercouli would have to wait another six hundred seconds before using it again.
Of course, he could theoretically memorize where his opponent would move in the following second and strike that position next. But for that to work, his opponent would have to give him enough time to prepare without interfering.
In truth, this was probably Bercouli's final opportunity.
Throughout their battle, his opponent had already learned nearly all his techniques and could now see through the paths of his attacks.
With Deusolbert no longer able to support him and the only other conscious Integrity Knight incapable of helping, Bercouli would not get another chance to counterattack. He would be forced to defend until he was ultimately overwhelmed.
"Time Piercing Sword—Ura Sword!"
A cold gleam flashed through the air.
The slash transcended time, cutting through the position where his target had stood ten minutes ago—passing directly through where the man's neck had been.
At the same moment, his opponent emerged from the flames.
Bercouli's gaze locked firmly onto him.
The time-transcending slash would manifest on the man's body.
He would see it—
A bitter smile.
Bercouli saw a bitter smile reflected in the surface of his own sword.
His opponent continued walking toward him without the slightest sign of injury.
It was as if Bercouli's Time Piercing Sword had no effect on him.
"Are you wondering why your slash into the past didn't hit me? Do you think it was ineffective?"
The man's words left Bercouli stunned.
He knew the secret behind the technique.
"It wasn't ineffective. But are you certain you measured the distance correctly?"
Bercouli's pupils contracted.
Only then did he notice that something about his surroundings was wrong.
"This is... ice?"
He stared blankly at the transparent sheet of ice cracking apart in front of him.
The ice was almost perfectly clear, and its angle made it practically impossible to notice. He had been looking through it without realizing it was there.
The ice had distorted the scene before his eyes, causing him to misjudge the distance. As a result, his slash had missed the place where his opponent had stood ten minutes earlier.
But when had the ice appeared?
Thinking back carefully, Bercouli remembered the moment his opponent had been blasted away by the arrow. At the time, he had noticed a faint distortion in the air.
He had assumed it was caused by the heat from Deusolbert's fire arrow.
In reality, the distortion had come from the ice his opponent created with a Sacred Art.
A chill ran down Bercouli's spine.
The man had created that sheet of ice specifically to deceive his Time Piercing Sword.
He had even known the exact moment Bercouli would unleash the technique.
It was almost as though he had read Bercouli's mind.
Bercouli smiled bitterly again.
His opponent had seen through everything.
There would be no second chance, and the man would never give him one.
Bercouli surrendered.
Perhaps the outcome would not be as terrible as he had imagined.
After all, not a single Integrity Knight had been killed.
"Then tell me, King of the Dark Territory. What exactly are you trying to accomplish?"
"Do you want to know the truth about this world?"
The man answered with a question of his own.
It was a fascinating question.
"Do you want to know the truth behind the seal in your right eye?"
That was an answer Bercouli had long sought.
"What is the truth?"
The moment he asked, the seal reacted.
The King had violated one of the Axiom Church's forbidden taboos!
No one was permitted to investigate the secret of the seal in the right eye.
Bercouli had always suspected that the seal prevented him from seeing the world as it truly was. It forced him to obey the rules and function as one small part of a stagnant world.
...
Meanwhile, at Rulid Village, the settlement closest to the Northern Mountain Range...
Alice should have warned the village chief to evacuate everyone immediately.
Instead, she remained in the village, crippled by excruciating pain in her right eye.
The pain had gradually intensified after she entered the village. At the same time, an inexplicable sense of familiarity had settled over her.
She should have left immediately after warning the village chief.
However, a girl several years younger than her suddenly called out to her.
"Big Sister Alice!"
The instant Alice heard those words, a tremendous shock tore through her mind.
At the same time, the pain in her right eye surged to an unprecedented level. It felt as though her eyeball were about to burst.
Even more astonishingly, Alice responded instinctively by calling out a name.
"Selka..."
That was the girl's name.
Alice had never met her before. She had no memories of the girl, yet Selka felt incredibly familiar—and somehow, Alice had known her name.
When Alice called her by name, Selka became even more excited and repeatedly called her "Big Sister."
The surrounding villagers began talking over one another in astonishment.
According to them, Alice was the girl who had disappeared nearly seven years ago.
She was Selka's older sister and the village chief's daughter.
But that was impossible.
Alice had been summoned from the Divine Realm by the Highest Minister. How could she possibly have been a human born in the mortal world?
Alice denied their claims, but Selka immediately asked how she had known her name.
Alice could not answer.
She had no idea how to explain it.
Selka, who claimed to be her younger sister, continued telling Alice stories about the sister she remembered.
Alice had no memories of those stories, but every one of them stirred a strange sense of familiarity within her.
The villagers also told Alice something else.
According to the common understanding throughout the Human Empire, Integrity Knights were not divine beings summoned from the heavens.
Becoming an Integrity Knight was the greatest honor a human could earn.
Those who passed the trials of the Four Empires Unity Tournament and won its championship would be granted the right to become Integrity Knights.
Could the villagers simply have misunderstood because they knew so little about the outside world?
However, villagers who had traveled beyond Rulid confirmed that people in other settlements believed the same thing.
Surely every one of them could not be lying.
Alice then remembered something concerning Deusolbert Synthesis Seven.
Deusolbert was the captain leading this rotation of knights to the Northern Mountain Range.
According to the villagers, he was the one who had descended upon the village seven years ago and taken Alice away after she violated an Axiom Church taboo.
Yet when their group had passed near Rulid on their way to the Northern Mountain Range, Deusolbert had asked whether any of the knights had visited the village before.
Everyone, including Deusolbert himself, had answered no.
Either Deusolbert had lied or he had forgotten.
But if he had personally taken Alice from the village and brought her away to become an Integrity Knight, how could he possibly have forgotten something so significant?
Then there was her uncle—the Knight Commander.
According to the villagers, Bercouli had also been born in Rulid Village.
How could that be possible?
Alice desperately wanted to reject their claims.
Yet if there was no connection, why had the Knight Commander specifically told her to return to Rulid Village when he ordered her back to the Central Capital?
The detour would clearly cost her additional time.
Something was wrong.
There was something deeply wrong with this world!
Then Alice encountered another situation that made her question everything she believed.
A child had been badly injured. Without treatment, his Life would soon be exhausted.
There was someone in the village capable of using Sacred Arts to heal him.
That person was Selka.
However, Selka could not heal the child again.
She had already reached the number of healing attempts permitted by the Axiom Church. Using another healing art would violate its taboos.
Healing him one more time would not harm Selka.
It would simply give the child a chance to survive.
Yet because of the Axiom Church's laws, they were expected to stand by and watch him die.
Alice personally cast a healing art and saved the child.
"If you truly are my younger sister, then tell me this! Would my sister really stand aside and watch a child die without doing anything?!"
Alice's sharp accusation drained the color from Selka's face.
Seeing Selka so devastated caused an inexplicable ache in Alice's heart.
"I-I'm not like that. I..."
"Alice, how can you say that to Selka?!"
Another voice rang out, trembling with barely restrained anger.
It belonged to a village boy who claimed to have been friends with the old Alice.
He stepped closer.
"Selka secretly healed that child several times already. She was nearly discovered. Do you know what would happen if the Axiom Church found out?"
He lowered his voice until only Alice and Selka could hear him.
"They would take her away, just like they took you. You disappeared, and when you finally came back, you were... different."
The boy glared at Alice.
"What are you Integrity Knights actually protecting? Humanity? Or are you nothing more than the nobles' enforcers?"
Alice wanted to deny his accusation immediately.
Then she remembered all the cruelties committed by nobles that the Axiom Church deliberately ignored.
No answer came.
What were the Integrity Knights?
Had they truly been summoned to protect the Human Empire?
Or had they once been ordinary humans?
If so, why had they lost their memories?
Who had stolen those memories from them?
Countless doubts—questions that had troubled her for years—erupted all at once.
Alice's mind resisted them.
Agony tore through her head.
No.
The pain was coming from her right eye.
As the pain intensified, a powerful conviction began growing inside her mind.
The Axiom Church was absolutely righteous.
These villagers were lying.
They all had to be executed.
The impulse grew stronger and stronger.
Alice's hand closed around her sword—
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
Alice's furious scream rang through the village.
A violent force struck the hand covering her right eye. She felt something warm and wet, and her vision abruptly changed.
"Big Sister!"
Selka's terrified scream reached her through the haze.
Someone caught Alice as her consciousness faded. She vaguely sensed that person attempting to heal her right eye.
When her thoughts finally began to clear, Alice reached out and caught Selka's hand.
"Stop. Don't heal it anymore."
She stopped the girl who might truly be her younger sister from continuing.
Selka had been desperately casting healing arts, pushing herself so hard that she was nearly collapsing from exhaustion.
"Please bring me paper and a pen!"
While waiting, Alice looked up at the sky through her remaining eye.
Several dragons were circling overhead, but there were no Integrity Knights riding on their backs.
Alice's heart sank.
The dragons had abruptly gathered above the village because they had sensed Amayori's presence and followed her here.
"O-Okay!"
Once the paper and pen arrived, Alice quickly wrote a message. She fastened the note to one of the dragons, then drove them away and ordered them to fly toward the Central Capital.
"Selka, evacuate everyone immediately. The Dark Territory's army may cross the Northern Mountain Range and pass through this village!"
After giving her younger sister one final, grave warning, Alice mounted Amayori and returned to the Northern Mountain Range.
She had to save her uncle.
She also had to learn the truth from him.
Had the Axiom Church deceived everyone?
If it had, then Alice would no longer protect such an institution.
She would destroy it.
The thought no longer brought pain.
The voice that should have been whispering inside her mind, attempting to confuse her and force her to continue believing in the Axiom Church, had disappeared.
For the first time in her life, Alice's mind felt completely clear.
Her entire body felt lighter than ever before.
(End of Chapter)
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