Death, in this world, had always been something ordinary.
Only when it happened to oneself or to those nearby did its impact become vividly real. Compared to the agony of torn flesh, the anguish of the heart was far more unbearable… something pitiful beings like you would never understand.
Al sheathed his blade. Dozens of Witch Cult members' corpses had already piled up before him. As for that hysterical woman—she must be the Archbishop of Sloth that Lillian had mentioned. What a nuisance. And the princess too—why had she agreed to something that would put him in such danger? Honestly…
"Damn it, damn it—what kind of ridiculous outfit is that? That helmeted bastard actually dares to obstruct me… has he lived too long and grown tired of life?" The crazed woman gnawed at her own fingers. "How slothful you are."
"You all go protect the villagers. I'll handle this one," Al told the knights under his command. No one said anything like "We'll stay and assist Al-sama." The knights departed quickly.
Invisible hands, was it… Having learned of the Archbishop of Sloth's abilities from Lillian, Al shook his only remaining arm.
"Seems my half-baked earth magic might finally come in handy."
---
A body split clean in two—there was no need to describe the torrent of blood. To Lillian, it seemed as though all that blood had surged into his eyes. Words like rage-filled fury were no longer enough to describe his state; flames seemed to blaze within his chest.
"Ah… what's this? You can actually recover? How interesting. Are you immortal?"
Regulus looked down at the body at his feet as it gradually rejoined itself, finding the sight fascinating. "If that's the case, I wonder whether you can still regenerate if I cut you apart a few more times—until you're reduced to pieces. Shall we treat it as an experiment?"
"I told you… stop."
"Hm…?"
Regulus suddenly sensed the surrounding air distort. The intense fluctuation caused even Lye—who had been about to devour Rem—to halt his movements. He looked up, his eyes widening to their absolute limit.
"Delicious…"
Ram's eyes were half-open. Gravely wounded and unable to move, she could only watch as the intruder from two days ago now possessed two burning arms of golden flame. Like miniature suns, they were blazing masses of golden mana—dangerous, unstable, and violently turbulent. A suffocating pressure spread across the battlefield, weighing down on everyone's nerves.
"Golden mana? How interesting."
Regulus seemed genuinely surprised. Having lived for four hundred years, he had never witnessed mana in such a form. Meanwhile, Lye dropped Rem's hand, saliva dripping from his mouth onto her face.
"The best… what is that…? Just one look and I can't hold myself back! Come! Come on! Let me devour you! Let me have you!"
Barely able to restrain himself, he lunged toward Lillian. The latter merely lifted his gaze and glanced at him. In the next instant, his figure flashed forward—his fist wreathed in golden flames smashing directly into Lye's face.
"It's burning—ahhhhhhh!!"
A scorching smell rose from Lye's entire face. Without giving him any chance to retaliate, Lillian kicked him away, then charged toward Regulus like a rabid beast, intending to reduce him to ashes with fists blazing with fire.
Buzz—!
The golden fist halted before Regulus. He had stopped time. Gazing at the fist hovering inches from him, he sneered.
"Just you—"
Crack! Crack!
Something seemed to tear apart. Regulus stared in shock as the flames, which should have been frozen in time, began burning again.
They burned within the time he had stopped.
"Impossible!"
Bang!
The punch struck him directly. Time resumed, and Regulus's body was sent flying backward, his face still frozen in astonishment.
Hiss—
The golden flames on one of Lillian's arms faded. Using the arm that had just regenerated, he gathered Elsa's shattered body from the ground into his embrace. She had been split apart by Regulus's strike earlier and had only just rejoined. Covering her face with one hand, she could not conceal the blood seeping through her fingers.
Run.
Lillian turned and retreated at full speed. Yet a figure suddenly lunged forward and grabbed his leg. Looking down, he saw the blue-haired girl struggling to speak:
"Please… save my sister…"
"…!"
Lillian glanced at Ram. Having lost too much blood, she was already at death's door. Gritting his teeth, he leapt over and pressed his golden arm onto the top of her head—onto the source of her magical power, her broken horn.
Golden mana surged into her instantly. This was all he could do. But escaping while carrying two people… that was impossible.
"You think you can escape?! My food!!"
Despite having been burned, Lye recovered within mere seconds. He dashed forward, blocking their path, his eyes filled with madness and savagery.
"Lunar Eclipse!!"
Splurt—!
The unavoidable Authority severed Lillian's right leg, deliberately avoiding the vital artery. Lye did not wish to kill him—he wanted to devour him. To do so, he first had to capture him and learn his name.
"Still thinking of escaping? How insulting. That truly troubles me. In hundreds of years, I've never been treated with such contempt. Although your mana is quite fascinating, the fact that you must die is something that still needs to be confirmed."
The Archbishop of Greed, Regulus, delivered his declaration of death. He appeared before Lillian, a gold coin held in his hand.
"How about using this to pierce your brain?"
"No!!" Lye shouted in protest. "He's my food!"
Damn it… how can I escape?!
Lillian felt the world spinning around him. The blazing golden flames corresponded to his rapidly draining mental strength. The only reason he had not yet collapsed was sheer willpower and a single stubborn breath… but how much longer could he endure?
Both Archbishops were virtually unharmed. A path of escape? Where was there any path at all?
"Lillian."
The person in his arms suddenly spoke. Looking down, he saw Elsa still covering her face, the wounds across her body grotesque and horrifying.
"Don't look at me. I'm not very pretty right now."
"…"
"My sudden appearance earlier… startled you, didn't it? Actually… I've been following you since last night."
Lillian could not respond. He feared that the moment he opened his mouth, the fragile breath sustaining him would break.
"But you were with those people, so I didn't dare show myself… If they found out we were connected, it would surely bring you trouble."
Why talk about such trivial things at a time like this?
Lillian watched as Lye and Regulus argued among themselves, not even sparing them a glance. They had already decided he had no chance of escape.
"Let me tell you a story. Would you like to hear it?"
He wanted to say no, but he could not speak.
"There was a girl… born in the northern country of Gusteko, a place of extreme cold. The gap between rich and poor there was vast. It was common for the poor to abandon their children—and that girl was one of them."
"The girl survived by drinking muddy water… stealing and robbing, living day by day just to stay alive. People around her came and went, faces constantly changing. There was no one familiar, no understanding of happiness or joy, no idea what any of it meant."
Lillian wanted to say he didn't want to hear this. He had no interest… in other people's pasts.
"That day was especially cold. Winds blowing down from the mountains froze the entire town. In that extreme chill, where even one's breath seemed to freeze instantly, I was caught stealing by a shop owner."
"In a place like Gusteko, even if someone were killed under such circumstances, no one would investigate. But because the thief was a girl, she would suffer humiliation far worse than death… The girl still remembers that man's vile smile. She also remembers picking up a shard of broken glass and driving it into his abdomen before he could do anything to her… Whether it was his screams or the act of killing him, she felt nothing at all. She only thought—within that frozen hell, how warm blood and entrails could be."
"If there is such a thing as happiness in this world, then it must be the kind of warmth that makes one forget the cold… right? For a girl who had nothing since birth, the first time she confirmed that happiness truly existed—can you understand that feeling?"
Lillian remained silent.
"Do you think I'm annoying?"
Why would you say that?
"After that, the girl slowly grew up. She encountered many men—some ragged and destitute, others elegantly dressed… Yet no matter how well they tried to hide it, the way they looked at her was the same as that man on that freezing night. It was the gaze of someone who 'wanted to strip the girl of her clothes.'"
"'Killing them should be fine, right?' the girl thought. And so, the number of people she killed grew. She became stronger and stronger. She no longer feared the cold—but her understanding of happiness and joy became blurred once again… And then, one day, something quite laughable happened. A young boy—barely more than a teenager—appeared. For the first time, a man looked at her without that kind of gaze. And for the first time, a man threw his coat over her shoulders instead of trying to remove her clothes. How could she ever casually forget that warmth, right? He was such a young child… she didn't want him to grow into someone like those adults. So even though he was strong, she still wanted to look after him—like an older sister would."
What was this… was something so trivial really worth mentioning?
"Can you understand how an older sister feels…?"
Elsa suddenly lowered the hand covering her face. The wounds upon it were horrifying, twisted and gruesome—indeed, difficult to look at. Yet her eyes were still beautiful, fixed on Lillian's arm blazing with golden flame.
"Those who come from such cold places… always yearn for the warmth of the sun. Because they have never possessed it, they cling to it all the more tightly…"
As she spoke, she somehow found the strength to push Lillian away, forcing him back a step. With her broken body, she charged toward the two Sin Archbishops.
From the very beginning, she must have understood—there was no escape if they carried others with them. Even if all she had left were her bones, buying even a single second would be enough.
Her running figure froze in place under a casual glance from Regulus. Time, in his hands, was like a puppet on strings—and the string he now pulled was called death.
Her torn body filled his vision. No matter how great her resolve, she could not gain even a single second. Within that absolute stillness of time, nothing happened—nothing at all—except the tragic remains scattered across the ground.
Like a river beneath the setting sun, a taut string in Lillian's heart suddenly snapped. Boundless golden flames ignited his body. That dazzling fire seemed intent on burning his very soul—the fuel itself—into nothing.