“….never let you become like that. I will do that.”
Her empty murmurs scattered like crumbs in the quiet air.
Ellet Rodelline, who became completely defenseless because she defined him as a ‘trustworthy person’, was now in his arms.
Thesilid stared down at her with sunken eyes.
Until the end, Ellet was worried that his weak spirit would break down and become corrupt.
It was painful to see her worrying so much about unnecessary things. If so, should I tell her now?
That’s already too late for him.
“……”
Thesilid closed his eyelids deeply as if to shut out reality.
Kugugoogung.
The loud vibration of the demonic legions advancing to this place interrupted his thoughts.
For now, the priority was to get her out of this world filled with chaos and evil.
And then……
‘Should I start with Aura?’
There was a need to transform this frustratingly weak body into something more usable.
Only then will he be able to prevent himself from impulsively grabbing the Magic Sword which would lead to catastrophe.
His reasons for leaving the easy path and returning to the hard path were obvious.
Because she shouldn’t be the first to give up in a world with two Reeds.
“……Let’s go, Eli.”
Thesilid scooped Ellet into his arms.
Then they walked into another rift, one Reed hadn’t chosen.
It was time to wander through the abyss together.
“Are you awake?”
A deep, low-pitched voice.
It grabbed my dazed, drifting consciousness and lifted me to the surface of reality.
I raised my eyelids and focused. The first thing I saw was the profile of a handsome man sitting at an angle.
The shadows dappled by the flames made his delicate features stand out even more.
As always, Thesilid was by my side after Descent of Divinity.
“Here is…?”
Next, I looked around.
First of all, it didn’t seem like anywhere in the human world.
The low, slanted ceiling suggested an attic at the top of some building.
It was so shabby that even the slightest movement made the floor creak. The wooden planks that made up the walls were noteworthy.
<Unh……>
A grotesque piece of wood that seemed to have been modeled after the face of an old man opened its mouth and groaned slowly.
It was a human-faced wood.
The sky visible through the crack in the broken ceiling was a strange purple color. These were all characteristics of the Demon World.
I had a rough idea of what was going on.
I did not close the dungeon ‘The Land of Fairy Tales Where Heroes are Buried’.
The purpose was to force the Demon Kings to compete and reduce each other’s firepower.
If we had stayed in the closed boss room waiting for the exit gate to spawn, Thesilid and I would have been caught up in a massive war.
And just in time, there was a crack in the throne room that the three Demon Kings had opened for Reed.
It was like laying a safe path to their territory.
Thesilid must have taken me through one of those rifts.
Agnes confirmed my guess.
<We went into another rift that Reed didn’t choose and ended up in this strange attic.>
“I see.”
I looked at the ceiling. There was a moon wedged in a gap just big enough to see the sky.
A melted purple crescent moon.
In the demon world, the unique shape of the moon symbolizes a specific Demon King. The answer to who this land belonged to was now clear.
After coughing dry once, I came to a conclusion.
“This place looks like the Demon King Avikinis’s territory.”
The 1st ranked Demon King, Apocalypse of Chaos, Avikinis.
Avikinis had quite a bit of a bad taste.
This is because she calls herself an apostle of Chaos and Evil, and rules her demonic territory by imitating the Church of Elpenheim in the human world.
She’s said to be a demon who praises ‘Chaos and Evil’ and blasphemes ‘Order and Goodwill’ at the same time.
‘Then this must be one of her temples……’
I turned on the system map.
[<Area> ‘Temple of Chaos and Evil No. 18’
It is one of the temples of the Chaos Church located on the outskirts of the Demon King Territory of Avikinis. It is under the jurisdiction of Demon Archbishop Tezrihal.]
Fortunately, it was not the central main temple where the Demon King Avikinis resided.
At that time, light began to seep in from a gap in the floor. Just below the attic was a large hall.
Indistinguishable demons clad in black robes from head to toe came in, chanting unknown spells and circling a magic circle of the inverted pentagram.
It was an extraordinary ceremonial scene, that seemed to jump out of a painting.
As time passed, a pipe organ also began to play. The low, heavy scale, as if crawling on the floor, was familiar to my ears.
It was a requiem I had heard before when I went to meet a certain someone at the Vatican’s chapel.
‘Reed.’
As soon as I thought of him, the events that occurred in the throne room rushed into my mind at once, almost too much to remember.
I decided I could plan our escape step by step later. There was something else that was important right now.
“……Terry.”
My voice calling his name was raspy and low even to my own ears, it seemed that my throat which had been sleeping for a long time had not yet relaxed.
Thesilid, who was sitting away from me, responded to my call.
But it was only a slight movement of his head, his gaze fixed on the floor, not meeting mine.
“……”
“……”
What followed was an awkward silence.
It was understandable.
The two days of penalty from Descent is the same as frozen time for me and him.
So right now, it was like right after we had gone through a terrible situation in the throne room because of Reed.
In the heavy atmosphere, Agnes was silent and quiet. Now that I think about it, the Gods didn’t say anything either.
Only a dark hymn pierced a gap in the silence. It seemed like if things continued like this, it would bring about gloomy thoughts.
How should I start talking?
The first words I chose and uttered were insignificant.
“Are you okay?”
“……”
His sea-green eyes seemed to flicker as they gazed into the air.
I waited impatiently, I could have waited for hours.
Finally, he completely turned to me and spoke up.
“I thought about it for a while…… I don’t know how to answer.”
“……”
It was unexpected.
Contrary to my assumptions, his tone and expression seemed calm.
Really, he looked better than I thought.
You never know. Could he be pretending to be okay? Because he is used to enduring everything on his own.
I was at a loss for words, unable to let go of my worry.
Thesilid spoke again.
“You said you wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Huh?”
“Because you won’t let me become like that.”
“……”
“I’m fine when you’re here.”
“……”
He spoke again, looking directly into my bulging eyes.
“It’s really okay. As long as I have you.”
“……”
His words about relying on me dug directly into my heart, not my ears.
“……Terry.”
It felt as if my throat, which had been locked, would now close for good. It was a little overwhelming.
As we made eye contact, a thought suddenly occurred to me. What are my feelings towards him?
Reed said it was compassion. It wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
I am a transmigrator.
The world, characters, and tragedies that were originally written in print became reality. Accordingly, the feelings I had as a reader even before I was transmigrated also changed.
I feel my flat compassion and attachment swelling more and more.
Now I am no longer spying on you from a high place outside the world.
I’m here in this world, eye to eye with you.
So, I want to prevent the misfortune of Thesilid Argent, who exists before my eyes.
Saying that I wouldn’t let him become like Reed was like promising that I would save this person’s fate.
In fact, when I was assigned an episode of the original story right after transmigrating, I had hoped to get caught on a high episode as much as possible.
I had a shallow idea of being carried by a strong protagonist who could easily save the world on his own.
However, now, I feel fortunate that this is episode 17th. Sincerely.
Because, if I try hard enough, I can save Thesilid Argent in Episode 17.
It didn’t matter if it was arrogant goodwill, petty narcissism, or a complacent sense of responsibility. Even if I can’t stop his regression, I can at least shorten the dozens of cycles of hardships he will have to go through in the future.
I can give him a relatively easy path to seal ‘Chaos and Evil’ without having to suffer betrayal and loss.
Then, even if this timeline fails and everyone dies, there will be at least a next time for him……
“Eli.”
Thesilid’s call came into the cracks of my thoughts.
Before I knew it, my downward gaze suddenly lifted up. Thesilid looked at me with eyes that looked like water mirrors.
“So, you stay in this timeline too.”
“……”
“Stay with me.”
“……”
I got back exactly what I said.
My mind, which was almost saturated with weak thoughts, was immediately refreshed.
It’s strangely fulfilling that he and I want the same thing in this timeline.
Thesilid nailed it with a look in his eyes that said this was not a concession.
“Don’t try to die leaving me behind. Without you, I…I might give up.”
“……”
He wasn’t the type of person to give up so easily, but it seemed like Reed’s presence had made him weak.
Regardless, I knew what I had to say to him now.
“Yes. I will.”
His mouth gently drew a curve upward, as I spoke with determination as if making a promise.
The faintness of that smile washed over me, and it didn’t seem to leave for a long time.
“….never let you become like that. I will do that.”
Her empty murmurs scattered like crumbs in the quiet air.
Ellet Rodelline, who became completely defenseless because she defined him as a ‘trustworthy person’, was now in his arms.
Thesilid stared down at her with sunken eyes.
Until the end, Ellet was worried that his weak spirit would break down and become corrupt.
It was painful to see her worrying so much about unnecessary things. If so, should I tell her now?
That’s already too late for him.
“……”
Thesilid closed his eyelids deeply as if to shut out reality.
Kugugoogung.
The loud vibration of the demonic legions advancing to this place interrupted his thoughts.
For now, the priority was to get her out of this world filled with chaos and evil.
And then……
‘Should I start with Aura?’
There was a need to transform this frustratingly weak body into something more usable.
Only then will he be able to prevent himself from impulsively grabbing the Magic Sword which would lead to catastrophe.
His reasons for leaving the easy path and returning to the hard path were obvious.
Because she shouldn’t be the first to give up in a world with two Reeds.
“……Let’s go, Eli.”
Thesilid scooped Ellet into his arms.
Then they walked into another rift, one Reed hadn’t chosen.
It was time to wander through the abyss together.
“Are you awake?”
A deep, low-pitched voice.
It grabbed my dazed, drifting consciousness and lifted me to the surface of reality.
I raised my eyelids and focused. The first thing I saw was the profile of a handsome man sitting at an angle.
The shadows dappled by the flames made his delicate features stand out even more.
As always, Thesilid was by my side after Descent of Divinity.
“Here is…?”
Next, I looked around.
First of all, it didn’t seem like anywhere in the human world.
The low, slanted ceiling suggested an attic at the top of some building.
It was so shabby that even the slightest movement made the floor creak. The wooden planks that made up the walls were noteworthy.
<Unh……>
A grotesque piece of wood that seemed to have been modeled after the face of an old man opened its mouth and groaned slowly.
It was a human-faced wood.
The sky visible through the crack in the broken ceiling was a strange purple color. These were all characteristics of the Demon World.
I had a rough idea of what was going on.
I did not close the dungeon ‘The Land of Fairy Tales Where Heroes are Buried’.
The purpose was to force the Demon Kings to compete and reduce each other’s firepower.
If we had stayed in the closed boss room waiting for the exit gate to spawn, Thesilid and I would have been caught up in a massive war.
And just in time, there was a crack in the throne room that the three Demon Kings had opened for Reed.
It was like laying a safe path to their territory.
Thesilid must have taken me through one of those rifts.
Agnes confirmed my guess.
<We went into another rift that Reed didn’t choose and ended up in this strange attic.>
“I see.”
I looked at the ceiling. There was a moon wedged in a gap just big enough to see the sky.
A melted purple crescent moon.
In the demon world, the unique shape of the moon symbolizes a specific Demon King. The answer to who this land belonged to was now clear.
After coughing dry once, I came to a conclusion.
“This place looks like the Demon King Avikinis’s territory.”
The 1st ranked Demon King, Apocalypse of Chaos, Avikinis.
Avikinis had quite a bit of a bad taste.
This is because she calls herself an apostle of Chaos and Evil, and rules her demonic territory by imitating the Church of Elpenheim in the human world.
She’s said to be a demon who praises ‘Chaos and Evil’ and blasphemes ‘Order and Goodwill’ at the same time.
‘Then this must be one of her temples……’
I turned on the system map.
[<Area> ‘Temple of Chaos and Evil No. 18’
It is one of the temples of the Chaos Church located on the outskirts of the Demon King Territory of Avikinis. It is under the jurisdiction of Demon Archbishop Tezrihal.]
Fortunately, it was not the central main temple where the Demon King Avikinis resided.
At that time, light began to seep in from a gap in the floor. Just below the attic was a large hall.
Indistinguishable demons clad in black robes from head to toe came in, chanting unknown spells and circling a magic circle of the inverted pentagram.
It was an extraordinary ceremonial scene, that seemed to jump out of a painting.
As time passed, a pipe organ also began to play. The low, heavy scale, as if crawling on the floor, was familiar to my ears.
It was a requiem I had heard before when I went to meet a certain someone at the Vatican’s chapel.
‘Reed.’
As soon as I thought of him, the events that occurred in the throne room rushed into my mind at once, almost too much to remember.
I decided I could plan our escape step by step later. There was something else that was important right now.
“……Terry.”
My voice calling his name was raspy and low even to my own ears, it seemed that my throat which had been sleeping for a long time had not yet relaxed.
Thesilid, who was sitting away from me, responded to my call.
But it was only a slight movement of his head, his gaze fixed on the floor, not meeting mine.
“……”
“……”
What followed was an awkward silence.
It was understandable.
The two days of penalty from Descent is the same as frozen time for me and him.
So right now, it was like right after we had gone through a terrible situation in the throne room because of Reed.
In the heavy atmosphere, Agnes was silent and quiet. Now that I think about it, the Gods didn’t say anything either.
Only a dark hymn pierced a gap in the silence. It seemed like if things continued like this, it would bring about gloomy thoughts.
How should I start talking?
The first words I chose and uttered were insignificant.
“Are you okay?”
“……”
His sea-green eyes seemed to flicker as they gazed into the air.
I waited impatiently, I could have waited for hours.
Finally, he completely turned to me and spoke up.
“I thought about it for a while…… I don’t know how to answer.”
“……”
It was unexpected.
Contrary to my assumptions, his tone and expression seemed calm.
Really, he looked better than I thought.
You never know. Could he be pretending to be okay? Because he is used to enduring everything on his own.
I was at a loss for words, unable to let go of my worry.
Thesilid spoke again.
“You said you wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Huh?”
“Because you won’t let me become like that.”
“……”
“I’m fine when you’re here.”
“……”
He spoke again, looking directly into my bulging eyes.
“It’s really okay. As long as I have you.”
“……”
His words about relying on me dug directly into my heart, not my ears.
“……Terry.”
It felt as if my throat, which had been locked, would now close for good. It was a little overwhelming.
As we made eye contact, a thought suddenly occurred to me. What are my feelings towards him?
Reed said it was compassion. It wouldn’t be entirely wrong.
I am a transmigrator.
The world, characters, and tragedies that were originally written in print became reality. Accordingly, the feelings I had as a reader even before I was transmigrated also changed.
I feel my flat compassion and attachment swelling more and more.
Now I am no longer spying on you from a high place outside the world.
I’m here in this world, eye to eye with you.
So, I want to prevent the misfortune of Thesilid Argent, who exists before my eyes.
Saying that I wouldn’t let him become like Reed was like promising that I would save this person’s fate.
In fact, when I was assigned an episode of the original story right after transmigrating, I had hoped to get caught on a high episode as much as possible.
I had a shallow idea of being carried by a strong protagonist who could easily save the world on his own.
However, now, I feel fortunate that this is episode 17th. Sincerely.
Because, if I try hard enough, I can save Thesilid Argent in Episode 17.
It didn’t matter if it was arrogant goodwill, petty narcissism, or a complacent sense of responsibility. Even if I can’t stop his regression, I can at least shorten the dozens of cycles of hardships he will have to go through in the future.
I can give him a relatively easy path to seal ‘Chaos and Evil’ without having to suffer betrayal and loss.
Then, even if this timeline fails and everyone dies, there will be at least a next time for him……
“Eli.”
Thesilid’s call came into the cracks of my thoughts.
Before I knew it, my downward gaze suddenly lifted up. Thesilid looked at me with eyes that looked like water mirrors.
“So, you stay in this timeline too.”
“……”
“Stay with me.”
“……”
I got back exactly what I said.
My mind, which was almost saturated with weak thoughts, was immediately refreshed.
It’s strangely fulfilling that he and I want the same thing in this timeline.
Thesilid nailed it with a look in his eyes that said this was not a concession.
“Don’t try to die leaving me behind. Without you, I…I might give up.”
“……”
He wasn’t the type of person to give up so easily, but it seemed like Reed’s presence had made him weak.
Regardless, I knew what I had to say to him now.
“Yes. I will.”
His mouth gently drew a curve upward, as I spoke with determination as if making a promise.
The faintness of that smile washed over me, and it didn’t seem to leave for a long time.
