"...Agh…!"
The moment the battle with Belia ended, my entire body burned with heat as unbearable agony assaulted me.
I let out a silent scream and immediately released Magic Sword Unity, Alteration before activating Time Regression.
"…Kh! Haah… haah… haah… I don't think I'll ever get used to this pain…"
Once the collapse of my body had stopped, I caught my breath and checked the surroundings.
Even though I had fought Belia with everything I had, the royal capital had been completely unaffected by the aftermath thanks to the ice Shion had created.
Belia had also collapsed onto the ice as if exhausted, but he was not dead.
"I don't have time to rest. This is where the real show begins…"
I wanted nothing more than to collapse and sleep right then, but I forced myself to keep going.
I headed to the front of the royal castle and began manipulating the surrounding magical power while extending my hand, melting the massive ice block that had enveloped the entire capital.
In less than five minutes, the gigantic ice vanished, and the royal capital returned to its original appearance.
(Now then… Where is Princess Lucilla…?)
After confirming there were no problems with the capital's condition, I searched for Princess Lucilla. As I did, the residents began gathering around me, surrounding me.
Their eyes looked hollow, almost devoid of life.
"What have you done…!"
An angry voice laced with rage flew at me from one of the residents.
The others also wore expressions filled with fury.
"Why don't you say something!"
"You're supposed to be the kingdom's hero, right!? Why would you do something like this!"
The rest of them vented their emotions by hurling abuse at me one after another.
(What is this…?)
This outcome itself was what I had wanted.
But—
(It looks almost as if someone is inciting them—! No way!)
Having reached a single conclusion, I immediately used Aerial Perspective to check the spot where Belia had been lying.
Belia's body was gone.
I had dealt him damage so severe that he should not have been able to stand on his own.
Yet he had disappeared.
That could only mean one thing…
Next, I combined Aerial Perspective with Time Regression to create Past Sight and fast-rewound the scene at that location.
Just before Belia vanished, I saw two women.
I switched to normal playback right before they appeared to see what had happened.
The two who had appeared beside the exhausted Belia were Philly Carpenter and a red-haired girl dragging the unconscious Felix.
At that moment, Philly seemed to notice something and looked up at the sky.
It felt as though she was looking straight at the current me.
As proof, our eyes met across space and time.
Knowing that I was watching, Philly gave a bold smile, then pulled down her lower eyelid with her index finger and stuck out her tongue.
"—!!"
(Philly outmaneuvered me…! Even though I knew there was a possibility she was nearby during the fight with Belia, I didn't have the leeway to stay on guard for the surroundings at the very end… Damn it!)
I stopped Past Sight and returned my consciousness to the present, gritting my teeth in frustration.
"Answer me already…! Why would you do something like this, Orun…!"
A woman's furious voice reached my ears.
When I turned toward the source, Princess Lucilla was there, covering her left eye with her left hand while showing a sorrowful expression.
That was the sign we had secretly agreed upon back in Daruane.
In other words, she was still on my side.
There had been a real possibility she would switch sides due to Philly's intervention with Recognition Alteration.
I was glad the safeguard had worked properly.
"Why would you lay your hands on the guild's Grand Master!? What madness drove you to such an act!?"
Princess Lucilla raised her voice angrily as she pressed me for answers.
Her acting was incredibly convincing.
With this, no third party would suspect that she and I were working together.
(So that's how it is…)
Everyone surrounding me had most likely been subjected to Recognition Alteration.
And they now believed that I had killed Belia.
There had been quite a few unexpected developments.
But this situation was close to the result I had hoped for.
"Why? Isn't it obvious? Because the Grand Master was in my way."
While running my fingers through my hair as a gesture, I covered my left eye with my left hand and answered without using polite speech toward Princess Lucilla.
Having understood the situation, I continued playing the villain to further stoke everyone's anger.
"…In your way?"
Princess Lucilla played along with my act.
It was staged, but right now I needed the fact that I had said it myself.
"Yeah. It would be inconvenient if the explorers' guild dealt with the released magic beasts too quickly."
"Released the magic beasts…? Don't tell me the labyrinth overflows happening right now are…"
"Yeah, I caused them…"
"No way…"
Princess Lucilla reacted as if she were truly shocked.
This person really is talented at acting too.
She's quite versatile.
While thinking that in the back of my mind, I continued speaking in a way that would make everyone listening believe I had caused the labyrinth overflows.
"This world does not belong to humans alone. And yet humans have locked the magic beasts away in prisons called labyrinths and enjoyed the blessings of the world by themselves. That's unfair! So I made the world fair. The weak are culled. That's the law of nature, isn't it?"
"For such a reason…? I believed in you…"
"…You were just placing too much expectation on me. Don't push your ideals onto me."
"I see… Then, Orun Dura, I will have you restrained here and now!"
The moment Princess Lucilla spoke, Lauretta took the lead and charged at me with sword in hand.
When our eyes met, Lauretta gave me a tiny nod that no one around us would notice.
(I'm sorry, Lauretta.)
I apologized to her in my heart as I swung Schwarzheze, which I had cast Sharpness Zero on, at her.
At the same time, I used Recognition Alteration on the people around us.
With this, they should see Lauretta bleeding after being cut by me.
Lauretta collapsed on the spot.
"How dare you do that to Lauretta!"
Other soldiers followed after her and rushed toward me.
"Now that I've achieved my goal of killing the Grand Master, there's no reason for me to stay here any longer."
While deliberately saying something provocative, I lightly blew away the charging soldiers with wind magic and shifted my gaze toward Princess Lucilla.
"Well, do your best. Try not to let my pawns—the magic beasts—destroy the kingdom."
"You have no right to say that to me. I will not forgive you. I will absolutely not forgive you for doing this to the world!"
Princess Lucilla glared at me as if trying to pierce through me while raising her voice.
While listening to her words, I activated Shift Teleportation and left the royal capital.
◇ ◇ ◇
Meanwhile, at that same time—
"How is it, Ruari?"
After teleporting to a deserted area away from the capital, Philly called out to the red-haired girl, Ruari.
Ruari crouched down, closed her eyes, and placed her hand on the chest of Belia, who was lying on the ground.
"…Yeah. It's gotten quite small, but I can still feel Oberon's magical power."
"I see. Then that's fine."
"…Ugh… Philly…?"
Belia, who had regained consciousness, let out a weak voice.
"Oh my, you're still alive. How tenacious."
Philly spoke to Belia in an ice-cold voice that could not have been colder.
"Wh-what… are you saying…?"
Belia sounded confused by Philly's words.
"What am I saying? The Cyclamen Church has always disposed of humans once they became unnecessary. This time, you simply became the target of disposal."
"You're… disposing of me…!? Don't joke around…!"
"I'm not joking. We no longer have any use for the personality known as Belia Sans. What we need is only your body. Ruari, begin."
"Understood."
Upon receiving Philly's instruction, the red-haired girl—Incinerator Ruari Vert—nodded. A crimson magical power began leaking from her right hand, which was placed on Belia.
"Wh-what… are you planning to do!? S-stop…!"
Belia tried to resist, but his body, exhausted from the battle with Orun, could not move properly.
"—Guaaaah!?"
A painful scream escaped Belia.
Pitch-black evil god magical power began leaking from his body.
"Fufu… Even on the verge of death, you have to divert your special ability's power there or you'll die, right? Do you still have any strength left to resist my ability? But rejoice. From now on, you will become the vessel for our king. You wanted to become the 'King of the World,' didn't you? How wonderful. Your dream is about to come true."
"Philly!! You… betrayed me!?"
The evil god's magical power began to swallow Belia.
"How rude. There was never a single moment when I was on your side. Didn't I tell you one day? Humans are nothing more than convenient puppets that work as my hands and feet. Fufu… Why did you conveniently assume you were any different?"
Philly wore a dark smile.
"Puppet… Recognition Alteration… Don't tell me I was…"
"Yes. Ever since we created the Cyclamen Church, you were nothing but a hardworking puppet. Thank you for your long service. —You may die now."
"Damn youuuuu!!"
With a roar of rage, Belia's entire body was swallowed by the pitch-black magical power.
The pitch-black magical power took the shape of an egg about two meters tall.
"…It's finally happening, Philly."
Ruari, who usually looked sleepy, now had shining eyes as she looked up at the pitch-black egg.
"Yes. It will still take some time, but with this, the evil god Lord Oberon will be able to operate in this world by using Belia's body as a vessel."
Through the machinations of Philly and the others, the world was steadily moving toward collapse.
And that was synonymous with the extinction of humanity.