Chapter 70: Apostle of the White God

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Translator: Soafp

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Memories belonging to someone I don't know begin flowing into my head.

No—this isn't “someone else.”

These are undeniably my own memories, my own recollections.

And precisely because of that, I cannot accept them.

Normally, the personality of the body receiving the transferred memories is overwritten by the personality formed from those vast memories.

That's only natural. The one who has lived longer takes control of the body.

And yet…

[I want to heal]

An urge stronger than libido, hunger, even the need for sleep—something beyond instinct itself.

The owner of this body possesses an unbelievably strong will, and instead is trying to swallow me whole.

If I am swallowed, then my memories—my thoughts, my heart—will all be taken away.

Even if we share the same soul, I refuse to give them to someone who is not me. That is something I can never, ever accept.

“Rose!! Kill me!!”

I shout the name of the aide who once betrayed me.

In a corner of the underground space, the eyes of the mechanical doll—silent, its lower body destroyed—glow red, and its shoulder parts open with a sharp click.

From its shoulders, machine guns emerge, countless magic circles deploying—

Dadadadad!!!!

A moment later, a storm of bullets riddles my entire body.

“I am already dead. I will return your body to you.”

My consciousness sinks into darkness.

Ah, right. I should make sure Kokonoha can't play around with my creations again.

Something… oh, this will do nicely.

I hurl the great scythe in my hand with all my strength, impaling the stone slab at the center of the underground space and completely destroying it.

That should do it.

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Kokonoha was confused.

She couldn't understand what had just happened and could only stand there in a daze.

She had brainwashed the citizens of Zotas and made them offer up enormous amounts of magical power.

It was unexpected that the residents, trying to replenish their drained magic like undead, began attacking the living—but…

If it meant regaining her most beloved one, she considered it a trivial matter and continued gathering magic.

And at last, the reincarnation magic was activated.

Using a device that transferred the preserved memories and personality into a target, she intended to revive the one she loved most.

However, the instant the reincarnation magic activated—

That beloved one did not even look at Kokonoha, instead calling the name of the subordinate who had betrayed them, and without the slightest hesitation had themselves killed.

And then, throwing the great scythe in their hand, they destroyed the control device of the ritual site.

“Why… why…!! Why would you… call not my name… but the name of a traitor…?”

“K-Kokonoha-san?”

Kokonoha collapsed to the ground, sobbing like a child, and Belchika was left speechless.

The Kokonoha who always remained composed, who always carried herself as someone above Belchika, was now shedding tears freely.

Belchika's confusion only grew.

“N-no, right now we need to treat No-Face-san!!”

Belchika rushed over to No-Face in a panic.

But No-Face, who should have been on the brink of death after being riddled with bullets, looked perfectly calm, his wounds already healed as if nothing had happened.

“No-Face-san!! Are you okay!?”

“Hm? Ah, yes. I healed myself right away, so no problem. My memories are a bit hazy, though. For just a moment, it felt like someone who wasn't me was inside my head… sorry, I can't explain it well. And also… no, never mind. I might just be tired.”

“I-I'm just glad you're safe!!”

Relieved at her ally's safety, Belchika turned back toward Kokonoha.

Then she drew the holy sword at her waist.

“I don't know what exactly happened, but… Kokonoha-san, your plan ends here. Release the brainwashing on the citizens of Zotas immediately.”

“I only… wanted… to see you again…”

“Kokonoha-san? Um—”

“…A world without that person… has no meaning… a world where that person does not return… has no value… let everything… be erased…”

“Kokonoha-san!! Please don't ignore me!!”

At that moment, a voice like unpleasant noise echoed throughout the underground space.

[I shall convey your wish to the great lord]

“!?”

Belchika flinched.

Before she knew it, standing right beside Kokonoha was a tentacled monster in the shape of a human, draped in a pure white robe.

It even had wings like an angel, giving off a strangely divine presence.

“Why is a messenger of the White God here!?”

“…Messenger of the White God? That's a painfully cringey name. More importantly, Belchika, you can see that thing too?”

“Huh? N-no, more importantly, No-Face-san, please get away from here immediately!! I'll annihilate it with the holy sword's full release!!”

“Blowing someone up the moment you meet them isn't very nice.”

“That's not a person!!”

Belchika shouted at No-Face with an intensity she'd never shown before.

“That's a messenger to the White God!! Any wish spoken to it will be granted by the White God!! Just now, Kokonoha-san said—”

“‘Let everything be erased,' right?”

“Your impression is way too good!?”

“Well, there's no need to worry.”

No-Face remained calm, in stark contrast to Belchika's panic.

To Belchika, it looked as though No-Face didn't grasp how serious the situation was.

No-Face simply stared absentmindedly at the stone slab pierced by the great scythe.

He didn't try to move at all.

When Belchika finally lost patience and tried to forcibly drag No-Face out of the underground space—

[Eh]

“Eh”

It happened in an instant.

The great scythe lodged in the stone slab floated into the air as if it had a will of its own, skewering the tentacled monster in the white robe.

The creature immediately turned to ash and vanished.

“Eh!? W-wait, what!? No-Face-san!? What did you just do!?”

“No, the one who did it was that silver-haired beautiful girl over there—”

“Huh? What are you talking about? There's no one like that here!!”

“…So you really can't see her.”

No-Face alone continued to stare into the empty void.