"Lillian, you're heading to the village? Then I'll drop you off at the village entrance later," Kaitu said as the dragon carriage rolled forward, speaking to Lillian inside the vehicle. "But be careful. I heard things have been pretty chaotic there lately. Villagers keep gathering and causing trouble."
"…Because of the royal selection, right?"
"Exactly. The notices have been posted all over the country. The people of the Mathers domain now know their border lord is supporting that person's rise to the throne—they're furious. I've heard they were even planning to protest against him. But it seems the border lord found the situation troublesome and left early for somewhere unknown."
"I see."
Lillian understood that this was inevitable. People's resistance to Emilia would not improve in the short term. Even someone as open-minded as Kaitu referred to her as "that person" rather than respectfully calling her "Lady," as he did with the other candidates. As for the long-term outcome… that would depend on future developments.
The dragon carriage sped across the plains. Saying nothing more, Lillian gazed into the endless darkness ahead and slowly raised his hand.
Whoosh.
A golden flame ignited silently in his palm. It was dazzling to behold, but it existed for only an instant before Lillian clenched his hand, and the golden fire vanished.
Just as Priscilla had said, his magical attribute was "none (nothingness)." When the mana in the atmosphere was absorbed into his body and released again, it manifested in a golden form. After this "golden transformation," the speed and power of the mana increased dramatically, but the cost was a heavy drain on mental strength—something that could not be used recklessly. According to Priscilla, excessive use could even reduce him to a fool or drive him mad.
During this period, he had also tried researching mental power, hoping to find methods to train or restore it, but he had found nothing. In this world, mental energy seemed even more mysterious than magic itself. Moreover, it was distinct from Od—life force. The only similarity between the two appeared to be that both were finite, and exhausting either would lead to serious consequences.
"Perhaps Betty might have a solution…"
Someone like the twin-tailed girl might know something about such knowledge. Of course, if he could directly consult her creator—the Witch of Greed Echidna, who had created the Book of Wisdom and seemed to know everything—that would be even better. But her current whereabouts… were troublesome.
Now was not the time to think about that.
"Stop!!"
A sudden shout came from outside, followed by the abrupt halt of the ground dragon. Lillian immediately rushed out of the carriage and saw that the caravan had been intercepted by a group of figures.
They were all shrouded in black robes, ghostlike in appearance.
"Y-you… who are you people…?"
Kaitu's teeth chattered, his eyes filled with fear. Clearly, merchants who traveled frequently like them knew exactly what these people were.
"The Witch Cult," Lillian answered calmly, his sword at his waist sliding silently from its sheath. "Don't be afraid. I was looking for them anyway."
Intercepting them at this time meant their target was likely Emilia. She had said yesterday that she would return the day after tomorrow—in other words, tomorrow. These people had arrived too early.
"Everyone, fall back," Lillian instructed the other merchants.
Kaitu grabbed his arm and stepped forward instead, calling out to the Witch Cult members, "Brothers, if it's money you want, we have money. There's no need to resort to violence, right?"
His hope of buying safety failed.
The Witch Cult members had been ordered to intercept Emilia and conceal their identities. Since they had stopped the wrong people, letting them go would expose them—only the dead could keep their secret.
Watching the black-robed figures draw daggers, Kaitu gritted his teeth and roared, "Fight them!"
A group of merchants and more than ten hired mercenaries now faced twenty or thirty Witch Cultists. No one had any confidence. Several mercenaries exchanged glances and immediately turned to flee, abandoning their mission entirely. To them, their lives were more important than any contract. Bandits might have been one thing, but facing the terrifying Witch Cult was another matter entirely.
"You bastards!!"
"Get behind me." Lillian shook off Kaitu's grip. His figure suddenly vanished from where he stood, and what followed was a storm of blood and slaughter. Whether merchants or mercenaries, all they could see was Witch Cult members constantly being beheaded one after another. The one responsible for it all was Lillian—yet they could only glimpse a blurred shadow of him moving.
"Who… is he?"
An ordinary mercenary could never achieve such a feat. Moments later, dozens of Witch Cult members lay dead. Lillian stood there without a single drop of blood on him, one hand gripping the throat of a captured cultist.
"This is where we part," Lillian said, turning his head. "Thank you, Kaitu, for bringing me here."
After speaking, he left without giving the man time to respond, dragging the captured cultist with him. The others watched as he sped away and quickly disappeared into the distance, exchanging bewildered looks.
"Old Kaitu, you actually know such a powerful mercenary?"
"I… I don't understand either." Kaitu himself was at a loss. To him, Lillian had seemed like nothing more than an inexperienced youth—but clearly that was far from the truth.
Thud.
Lillian dragged the man into the forest and casually threw him onto the ground. He tore off the man's hood, revealing an utterly ordinary face twisted with hatred as it glared at him.
"Where exactly is your headquarters?" Lillian asked.
"Finger-sama will tear you to pieces!"
"…"
"Finger" was what the followers of the Sin Archbishop of Sloth, Petelgeuse, called him. The nickname came from his habit of biting his own fingers in self-torment—though it was also related to one of his abilities.
"Looks like you don't intend to talk properly," Lillian said. He planted his sword in the ground beside him and flexed his fingers, recalling certain interrogation methods he had seen in the world of the AOT. "No matter. We have time."
---
Boom—!
Elsa's body slammed violently into a wall. The next moment, she forced herself to dodge aside, and the section of wall behind her was instantly blasted open by several holes, as if struck by an invisible force.
"Ahhhh! Why won't you die?! I truly am slothful—my brain trembles, trembles!"
"Maniac."
Elsa wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and glanced down at her left leg. The flesh below her calf was mangled beyond recognition, with stark white bone visible beneath the torn muscle. Her mobility had been greatly reduced.
Yet that was not the real problem.
The real issue… was this man.
She stared at the green-haired figure writhing in madness. His attacks were invisible—that was what made this battle so difficult. Several times her dagger had already slashed toward his chest, abdomen, and throat, yet each strike had been blocked by that unseen force. She was beginning to lose strength.
Before coming here, Lillian had told her that this man possessed an ability called the "Unseen Hands." She had assumed it merely meant the hands were invisible—but in truth, they made no sound either. They could not be detected through any of the five senses.
"Coldly, chaotically, meaninglessly, die at random!"
As he screamed in frenzy, Elsa drew a deep breath and charged forward instead of retreating. Her body erupted with extreme speed, and in the blink of an eye she closed the distance, thrusting her dagger toward his forehead.
Thud—
The blade struck something soft, like piercing gelatin, and was inevitably blocked. At point-blank range, the Sin Archbishop of Sloth—Petelgeuse—looked at her.
"You really are slothful."
Rip—!
Her arm holding the dagger was torn off from the shoulder. An invisible hand carried away Elsa's right arm as a rain of blood scattered through the air, splashing across the smile on her face.
"Now… I can see them."
Petelgeuse froze for a moment, suddenly feeling a chill in his chest. Looking down, he saw a dagger had somehow pierced into him from a tricky angle—perfectly bypassing the Unseen Hand guarding his chest. No—now it was visible, because the rain of blood had revealed its form.
"Who said I only have one dagger?" Elsa said with a smile.
There was a hint of nostalgia in her expression. She seemed to recall having said the same words to someone in the past—or perhaps not. It felt like nothing more than an illusion, like that strange sense of déjà vu people often experience when doing something they feel they have done before.
In any case, this meant her mission had been completed beyond expectations… though she probably would not be able to collect the reward.
"Ahhhhh! Damn you!"
The massive blood loss and destruction of his vital organs drove Petelgeuse into complete madness. In the next instant, several giant invisible hands seized Elsa's body simultaneously.
"Become fragments!!"
Boom—!
A deafening explosion suddenly sounded from outside. The noise caused the frenzied Petelgeuse to pause, regaining a trace of clarity as he turned toward the passage.
Lillian had kicked the stone gate to pieces. After using numerous methods on the captured cultist to extract information, he had rushed here immediately.
He cut down every Witch Cultist who blocked his path with a single strike, charging recklessly through the complex cavern. After three minutes, he finally reached the vast chamber at its deepest point and found what he had been searching for.
The first thing he saw was the ground covered with the corpses of Witch Cult members. Then he saw Elsa standing with her back to him. Before her lay the body of Petelgeuse, his chest soaked in blood.
The sight shocked him greatly.
"You actually killed the Sin Archbishop of Sloth?" Lillian said. He had originally believed Elsa would not be his opponent, but it seemed he had underestimated her. However, when he noticed her missing right arm, the corner of his eye twitched. He tried to soften his voice.
"Your injuries… come back to the royal capital with me immediately. I'll find a water-element mage to help you—"
He walked toward her as he spoke. After taking a few steps, Elsa said, "My arm…" Her tone was strange.
Before Lillian could react, an invisible and overwhelming force suddenly struck his chest, blasting him backward into the cavern wall. Broken stones rained down as he climbed to his feet in shock and looked up.
Elsa had already turned around.
On her originally mature and seductive face now rested a crazed smile. From her crimson lips came words that caused Lillian's mind to shake violently.
"Do you know her? You came too late… "
"You truly are... slothful."