After a brief moment had passed.
"Hah!"
Firvis opened her eyes again.
"W-What just... happened to my body...!?"
She hurriedly checked herself over, touching her own body in a panic the moment she woke.
But nowhere could she find the wounds from before.
Far from it—her body was completely intact, no different from how it had been before she lost consciousness in death.
Moreover, even the sticky pool of blood she had spilled when her body was split in two was nowhere to be seen on the floor.
"That can't be... but I was definitely...?"
That only made her confusion grow more and more terrifying.
The pain she had felt then was still vivid in her mind.
And yet her body remained whole, as if she were still alive.
It was nothing short of a nightmare from a bad one-night stand.
"What in the world is this...?"
Could it be that it had all been her imagination, just a dream?
Was it one of those convenient stories?
No, she could say with certainty that it was not.
She had just been unilaterally murdered.
And yet she was still alive, breathing normally.
Then what in the world was this impossible chain of cause and effect...?
"Did you sleep well?"
"Hah!?"
The voice of the man from her memory rang out above her head.
The man who called himself a Magus.
A human being so cursed and terrifying it was almost unbearable.
Hans Christian Andersen.
"Yes, that would be me."
The familiar flow of information settling in her mind, and the battle-ready breathing that followed.
Up to this point, everything was the same as before.
Her usual self, the proper stance of a veteran adventurer.
But why was that?
Why did she feel such emptiness in all of it?
Why was she so afraid of the man before her...?
"And once more."
Ah!
He drew a golden needle from his breast.
The instant she saw it, she lunged at him like a woman possessed.
His arm moved.
The needle's sharp tip came toward his throat.
Her legs, defiled by a monster and reborn, stronger and faster than anyone else's.
And yet why did they feel so unbearably slow today?
No.
This wouldn't do.
At this rate, it would be too late.
If she kept going like this, it would be far too late...
"Sleep well."
"No!"
Thud!
The golden needle, as if by habit, pierced into his throat.
And the moment it was withdrawn, soaked in his blood.
"[Crush]."
Crack!
With a weight and impact stronger than anything else crashing down on her head.
Her consciousness was severed once again there.
.
.
.
"Hah!"
Firvis opened her eyes once more.
But this time, she did not grope at her body to check it.
Instead, she wrapped both arms around herself and trembled in fear.
Just now, she had... she herself had clearly...!
"Hello, Miss Firvis?"
"Ghk, you...!"
The Magus greeted her with a gentle smile as she awoke.
Firvis glared at him and reached out a hand.
If she chanted now and counterattacked...!
"Too slow."
But his hand gave her no mercy and sentenced her to death without hesitation.
Thud!
"[Burning at the Stake]."
Whoooosh!
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
In an instant, black flames burst up from her body without any warning.
The black fire roared with overwhelming force, reducing Firvis's flesh to a handful of ash in the blink of an eye.
And naturally, the tremendous pain she should have felt in the process was burned to ash as well, scattering away on the wind.
Once again, her consciousness experienced death.
.
.
.
"Hah!"
At last, she opened her eyes again in shock.
And this time, without any questions or hesitation...
"[Explode]."
Boom!
The instant she woke, her consciousness exploded together with her body, scattering in all directions like minced flesh and vanishing.
.
.
.
Next came execution by firing squad.
"[Germany's scientific power is the world's greatest]!"
Tatatatatatatatat!
"Kh, heh...!"
In an instant, she was riddled by hundreds of magical bullets and crushed to death like a chunk of meat torn apart into a honeycomb.
.
.
.
And then strangulation.
"[Enkidu, Chains of Heaven]!"
Clatter-clatter-clatter!
"Kuh! Ghk...!"
Crack!
Her throat was caught by chains in midair, strangled, broken, and killed.
.
.
.
Devouring death.
"[Cromwell Alteration Ritual. Release, No. 3, No. 2, No. 1]."
-Kweeeeeek!
"W-What is this?! N-No! Get away! Don't come! Don't come near meeeee!"
Crunch!
The moment she woke, she desperately resisted by keeping her distance and using magic, only to be devoured to death by the "black dog."
.
.
.
She died from lightning.She died pierced by several spears.She died under a rain of arrows.She died trapped in a storm of blades, her body twisting apart.She died while being eaten alive by swarms of cannibal insects.She died with her neck torn off by a giant.She died while frozen in ice and shattered.She died turned to dust for no reason.She died sucked into a hole.She died with her heart ripped out by a demon's hand.She died melting away, covered in poison.She died like the others, devoured by monsters.She died after falling into a bottomless swamp.She died with a tiny hole drilled through her head.She died with her innards sucked out by a giant spider.She died exposed to the gaze of an evil curse.She died melting inside the body of a giant slime.She died from a giant's kick.She died petrified.She died with her body swelling like a balloon and being crushed by her own flesh.She died with all her blood drained in a leech swamp.She died dried out after every drop of moisture in her body was stolen.She died falling from the sky and smashing apart.She died clawing at her throat from maddening itchiness until she bled out.She died with her brain eaten by rotten corpses.She died being minced by hundreds of axe blows.Died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died died...
"Hah! I-I said stop already...!"
Crack!
Firvis kept dying.
And at the same time.
"Please... stop already... please, just stop..."
She was brought back to life again and again.
Crunch!
And then died again.
It was a true endless loop.
Literally a hell of endless suffering.
When would the end ever come?
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
At last, after being revived once more, she screamed like a madwoman until her throat tore.
True to the cursed epithet by which everyone called her, her screams carried the thick scent of death.
But the Magus even enjoyed that with a smiling face.
"Not yet."
[La ~ ♪]
He answered her with the song of a true "Banshee" as a curse.
Her eardrums burst, her brain turned to mush, and she died again from that dreadful voice.
"Ah..."
And when consciousness finally returned once more, Firvis's eyes stared into the void, utterly drained of life compared to before.
How many times had she died?
How many times had she been murdered?
Within those countless deaths, none of them repeating, her will to resist had not merely been broken—it felt as if even her soul had been burned away by pain.
That was how vivid, how vile, how terrifying the countless deaths she had experienced were, driving her nearly mad.
Her power as a monsterized being meant nothing here, at least in this space.
"Your eyes are completely dead now."
Only when she had reached that state did the Magus nod in satisfaction.
With this, the troublesome work was over.
As an aside, this sort of tormenting—this sort of play—was not his preference.
But to handle her, overflowing with negativity to the point of spilling over, in a way that suited his taste, this was a necessary measure.
So the Magus convinced himself that it could not be helped.
Well, he had enjoyed a bit of long-lost omnipotence in the middle of it.
"This should do."
Step, step
He descended from the pure white throne and walked toward Firvis.
In the near-silent background, his footsteps rang out clearly.
Hearing those distinct steps and realizing he was approaching, she looked up at him.
On her face, already worn down to the point that even emptiness could be seen, an inescapable fear once again settled in and tightened around her mind.
Dozens, hundreds of times—she had been unable to resist no matter what she did, only to be murdered over and over again.
It was only natural that her body, exhausted beyond belief, would reflexively struggle to retreat even a little.
"Miss Firvis."
"Ah, ah... no. Please... no more..."
And then, once he stood right before her.
Hug
"Ah?"
"You've worked hard. It must have hurt terribly. You endured well."
He gently, softly, warmly embraced her.
Holding her, he spoke words of comfort in a soft, warm voice.
"W-Why...? Why...?"
Firvis was confused, unable to accept what was happening.
But the Magus ignored her and continued speaking only what he had to say.
"From the moment you stepped into this place, I could know everything. Your past, your pain, your worries, even your fear."
Inside this place, this [Timeless Temple], all information was under the Magus's control.
If he were a Magus of greater power or some great being beyond him, he might be able to ignore such a rule, but at least for Firvis, that was impossible.
That was why the Magus could know everything.
Everything that had happened in the "Nightmare of the 27th Floor," the beginning of all misfortune.
The misfortune Firvis had been forced to endure because of it.
Enyo... no, the twisted love and affection of her only sanctuary and refuge, the god Dionysus.
And his mad plan.
Yet even knowing all of that, she had had nowhere else to go and no other choice.
Even the karmic burden of sins she had piled up because of it.
"The number of adventurers and civilians you directly or indirectly killed for the sake of your god, Dionysus, adds up to 28 in total."
And I arbitrarily multiplied that by ten as your punishment.
At my words, her confusion only deepened.
Really, why in the world...?
"Of course, this can't possibly take the place of your sins completely. I won't say anything so foolish or arrogant. However."
At the very least, the right to stand before them.
I think that much value was certainly there.
Only then did Firvis begin to understand what the Magus before her was trying to say.
But naturally, her questions remained.
"Why would you... do that?"
"Because 'for the sinner, fitting punishment and suffering' is only natural, isn't it? I think that's obvious."
"So why would someone like you, a monster... why would someone like you...?"
"Ah, Firvis. Poor, pitiful woman."
To her, the Magus spoke without restraint, voicing the "truth" she had been desperately denying.
"You are lazy."
"W-What...?"
He forced her to face the reality before her.
Telling her not to keep running away with those flimsy, pathetic excuses.
"Objectively speaking, you are pitiful. What happened in your past was truly an unfortunate accident. Because of it, you were driven all the way to the edge of a cliff, with no time to catch your breath, and the only place you could rely on was a twisted love that had become a mess. Every single day was nothing but a tightrope walk down a one-way road, with no other choices ever given to you."
The Magus, who had long since thrown etiquette far away where it belonged.
From his perspective, she was undeniably a victim.
From the beginning of the incident to its end, he clearly understood and agreed that she too was a victim.
And yet, even so.
"But that is not a pardon for the blood of others on your hands."
If it were merely an excuse, that would be one thing.
But it remained true that it was far too slight, far too insufficient to serve as the full price of atonement for the sins she had committed.
In other words, that is one thing, and this is another.
"All of that was, in the end, your own surrender, your own chosen refuge, and the result of what you yourself carried out."
"Ah, ah..."
"Even if you had no choice, the accumulated karma does not simply go somewhere else. You must bear all of it. You must accept it willingly and shoulder it all. It is a debt you must pay in full."
The Magus told her the truth without mercy.
He spoke of the reality and the principles she had been desperately denying.
He told her the facts she had been pretending not to see, closing her eyes and turning away from.
Yes.
She had known, and yet not acted.
She had looked back, and yet pretended not to see.
She had regretted it, and yet had not tried to stop or stand in the way.
"That is why I call you lazy. You were lazy toward your own sins, so I punished you in your place after learning all of it. I made you pay some of it in my own way."
"That... ah, so that's why... but... but still... why? Why you? Who are you to do that on your own...!"
Firvis, despairing at the exposure of the truth she had been pretending not to know, tried to direct a small burst of anger at the Magus once more.
"Ah, foolish Firvis. Do you still not understand?"
By now, you have gained the minimum right to face your own sins, the weight of that karma, even if only a little.
At those words, Firvis's eyes widened.
But soon she shook her head and denied his words.
What filled her eyes was the despair of surrender.
"Th-That's... strange. It's strange. There's no way such an absurd, unreasonable thing could be forgiven..."
Yet at the same time, a thread of hope remained.
Maybe... just maybe... at the end of that suffering, she could...
"Of course. Naturally, it can't."
But the Magus cut off that hope in advance, telling her not to mistake it for anything else.
Of course it couldn't. From the very beginning, it was nothing but absurd nonsense.
To take it seriously would be cowardly—just a one-sidedly convenient excuse.
"Th-Then! The pain I went through means nothing...!"
"However, I acknowledge it."
"... What?"
And yet, at the same time, the Magus acknowledged that cowardly excuse.
He nodded and accepted the nonsense that no one else would understand or agree with.
"As the only one who knows the full truth, as the one who arbitrarily made you pay a price for your sins, as one who understood, pitied, and accepted you as a sinner."
I acknowledge, in part, your atonement.
Saying that, the Magus let go of Firvis, whom he had been holding in his arms.
Then he looked at her with playful eyes and asked.
What would she do now?
"Now then, I've created the trigger. And yet if you insist on staying that way... then I suppose a lazy one must be given a fitting punishment."
"... I can't."
But having once fallen so miserably all the way to the bottom of despair, she could not so easily raise her head.
Would it have been different if she had been sly and cowardly like those filthy thieves?
No matter how much she tried to force herself upright in her mind, her heart... her soul could not agree, and so she simply could not stand.
The pride and conviction she had once broken and lost were no longer with her.
Above all, fundamentally.
"If you saw everything, then you should know. I... with this cursed body, I can't even kill myself however I want. What am I supposed to do...?"
Her soul, and even her body, were unlike those of others—she was not free.
Her body, warped into a monster, seemed fine for now, but she was a pitiful thing, never knowing when or how she might suddenly become a threat to others.
In other words, she herself was the unbreakable shackle binding her.
"Even now, that damned voice is whispering to me. It says it wants to see the sky. It says to take it out to the surface. It tells me not to forgive adventurers... filthy humanity... those cursed gods...! It whispers to me every day to burn the surface cities down as quickly as possible!"
At last, as if screaming, she lamented her own helpless plight.
The curse-like restraint that completely imprisoned her from within.
That utterly vile thing she had endured until now through loyalty and reverence for her god, through twisted love.
But now... now that she had faced the truth of her sins, she had no way to endure such a restraint any longer.
She could no longer pretend not to know and look away.
Then, if it had to be that way, she might as well stay here forever and...
"Hmph, how foolish."
The Magus laughed at her as she tried to steel herself in secret.
He forcibly stopped her from fleeing her own sins again and urged her to stand up anyway.
"Are you trying to tell me that your own death is atonement, in front of this body that has killed you dozens, hundreds of times?"
"Then...! If not that, what else am I supposed to do...!"
"Obvious enough. Live."
"What?!"
Firvis flailed helplessly in despair.
She looked at the Magus with the most shocked expression she had shown yet.
What?
He was telling her, this filthy, sinful monster, to live?
That was it?
To her silent question, the Magus nodded firmly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
That was his answer.
"Live. Live and keep atoning without rest until the day you die and rot away in the future. Your cursed body. Your hated existence. The danger that may become irreversible at any moment, and all the sins you have piled up beyond counting."
It was an utterly natural answer.
At the same time, it was a brutally cold one.
"It will be hard. It will be painful. It will be frightening. And yet, even so, if you are a person... if you are human, you must somehow push forward."
"I can't. I...! As disgusting as I am...!"
Again she lost heart and tried to sink back down.
But there was no way the Magus would let her do that.
"Do you think you're in a pitch-black darkness? So you'll just keep making lazy excuses that you don't know the path forward? Foolish! Then it should be even easier to find! Precious things shine brightest when they are lost, and light is most visible when it is darkest, you idiot elf!"
Where do you think you're running off to now?
The Magus's merciless scolding continued after that.
"I'm not asking you to show grit. I'm not telling you to work miracles. Forget conviction, pride, all of it! But at the very least... at the very least, show a little sincerity for the people you killed over such pathetic reasons! Even if you look ugly, ridiculous, and foolish, struggle however you can! Make yourself an excuse that says you at least tried, even a little!"
It was nothing but the truth.
Literally the answer.
And because of that, it was something anyone could say.
Yet it was also something no one had ever said to her before.
"B-But..."
"Hmph! Naturally, there's no way your sins will be fully repaid by something so small. You'll probably get a harsh lecture from the goddess of the underworld after death. As the price, you'll have to stuff yourself with the mud pasta and cake she makes in her prison cage, and listen to her boring underworld loner chatter all day long. This is certain. There are no exceptions anywhere."
"... What is that? What kind of underworld goddess is that?"
"You'd better take that back now. From what I know, she's surprisingly the type to hold a grudge for a very long time, just like her half-sister. Though at heart, she's a diligent and kind woman."
"What is that supposed to mean... Then what about you?"
"Me? For me, that would be a luxury. I'd welcome it with both arms open! Welcome to Babylonia!"
"... You really are a strange one. A completely insane strange one."
But that small, obvious story was important.
For her to once again hold even one ten-thousandth of the courage she had before in her heart, she needed that little push.
That was the salvation... no, the hope she had so desperately wanted.
"Hoo... hngh!"
And so, she who had only been crouched there could rise again.
The Magus smiled in satisfaction at that.
"Hmph. So you've finally managed to stand? That was quite a slow step."
"I don't know. I still... honestly, I'm not confident."
"Nonsense, of course you aren't. If you did, that would be an even worse lie. And if you stay like that, I'll restart your punishment. I still have countless deaths left to show you."
"... An impossible person."
Of course, not everything had been perfectly resolved yet.
She had not shaken everything off, not even with the weight she now felt lighter by.
Surely, without a doubt.
The road ahead of her would be full of hardship and pain.
But.
"Take me... outside."
"What, are you planning to run away?"
"That... I don't know either. I just... I think I need a little more time."
"Hmm. Not the best answer, but well, that much is fine."
After a brief moment of thought, the Magus readily pulled her out of the [Timeless Temple].
At the same time, he stepped outside as well.
Now it was time for them to go their separate ways again.
"Now then, go on. I should return to my companions as well."
"You'd better not go. There..."
Firvis tried to stop him, offering advice in case he might still reconsider.
But something like that was not enough to stop him.
"No. I'm going even if I have to die."
"For your comrades? Or for that... great severing, the Amazon?"
"What nonsense are you suddenly spouting? Of course it's to satisfy my intellectual curiosity."
The Nightmare of the 27th Floor, the [Aria] of Loki Familia, the identity of "her" who had come up from the deep floors, the remnants of the Evils, Enyo (Dionysus), his plan to destroy the city, the monsterized beings like her who were fused with monsters, and more.
Inside the [Timeless Temple], he had been able to obtain a great deal of information through Firvis.
But it was still not enough.
He still lacked the pieces he could actually use.
He still had not seen its true form with his own eyes.
Perhaps that would be the greatest harvest of this expedition.
So he ignored her attempts to dissuade him and turned away first instead.
"... Do as you please. I won't care even if you die."
"Well, we'll see about that."
Firvis sent him off with a slightly sulky tone.
Without even looking back, the Magus left her behind.
And then she was left alone.
"I..."
She looked away from him, whose back was already no longer visible, and lowered her head to glare at the floor.
No, more precisely, she glared at the cursed jet-black magic stone embedded in her chest.
For some reason.
It felt as if something inside her was boiling up.
At the same time, as if something had been washed away.
For the first time in a while, her mind felt clearer, a little more lucid.
As if she no longer needed to divide herself so extremely, as she had before.
And at the same time, it felt as if something inside her had been filled to the brim, making her feel stifled.
As if she had once again been pushed forward by him just now.
So.
She chose again.
Maybe this time, at last.
"I..."
If not for this... if this weren't here...
If only this were gone, then she too...!
Just like that man or Lefiya, once again...!
The pride she had lost...! The light...!
Even this foolish sinner might be given another chance at atonement—hope...!
"Iiiiiii..."
She took a deep breath.
And steeled her resolve once more.
Then, with all her strength, faster than ever before, she reached toward the magic stone at the center of her chest.
But.
"Ghk! Damn it... damn it...!"
The distance ended in failure again, with only 1 mm left.
As if time had stopped only for her, the body that had been free until a moment ago came to a halt on its own.
Along with it came the voice of the curse echoing in her mind, as if issuing a warning.
A song more beautiful than anything, and at the same time a nightmare more dreadful than anything.
That evil poison, together with a splitting headache, spoke to her from within—"she."
- My, my? What are you doing?
- Oh dear. Are you trying to make yourself comfortable again all by yourself?
- That won't do. You have to take me with you.
- Ahhh, I want to see the sky so badly.
- I want to go out to the surface as soon as possible.
- You'll do that for me, won't you? Little fairy.
- Kya-hahahahahaha!
"Ugh...! Nngh...!"
Tears welled up.
Tears spilled down.
She bit her lip so hard her teeth nearly broke.
Red blood ran down her chin.
She strained every muscle in her body until the veins stood out as if they might burst, but... her body still did not respond.
It gave no answer at all, like a puppet's.
Sorrow and resentment once again tightened around her heart.
The despair washed away amid countless deaths once again clung to her ankles and dragged at her.
Ah, Firvis.
Firvis, more unfortunate and pitiful than anything in the world.
And therefore the most foolish and pathetic fairy of all.
"Ugh, I...! How can I be so useless...! Uuugh...!"
In the end, defeated by the shackles, she collapsed.
Kneeling there, she burst into childlike sobs, crying her heart out in sorrow and despair.
Was there truly no hope at all?
Watching her misery, "she" comforted her carelessly inside her mind.
With a laugh that sounded as if it would tear apart, "she" sympathized with her foolishness, remembered her sorrow, and pitied her weakness.
She was nothing but a clown.
A small, foolish, pathetic, unfortunate, and weak fairy clown.
Only "her" ridiculous doll.
- Yes. Just like that, you can keep struggling forever for me...
Therefore, it was judged.
This was unmistakable evil.
Then...
Whoosh!
Inside the dark passage.
There would be more than enough here for the "blue flame" of faith to burn.
Startled!
- W-What?! What in the world is...?!
Firvis, and even "she" far away, sensed something.
Something terrifyingly, chillingly dreadful.
Something with the presence of that which all living beings of this world instinctively shun!
"Ah."
Then, beneath the blue light, a single "shadow" flickered.
The "death" of a greatsword lingered behind her.
Shhk!
Thud
At last, a mercilessly cold diagonal line of death.
She collapsed limply like a puppet with its strings cut.
And yet nowhere could one find any escaping life, any pool of red blood, no matter how hard one looked.
Not even a single cold corpse remained here.
Instead.
The shrill laughter of the monstrous woman that had just been ringing painfully in her head could no longer be heard in her mind.
And in its place came the voice of a man.
- Little fairy.
- Sinner who has piled up a deep and heavy karma.
- By rights, I would not forgive one as lazy as you.
- But the one in danger has, for once, shown mercy.
- Though his method was violent and his motive not pure.
- Even so, I find myself hoping.
- As the deprived one changed you, so too may the younger one be so through his bond with you.
- And still, the bell of death has not yet tolled for you.
- Though it is but a trifle, with my shameful skill I have broken your only refuge.
- Nowhere remains for you to flee.
- Foolish and lazy one.
- Rise upon your own two feet and prove the soul you possess.
It was a voice that was terribly cruel.
Also terribly strict.
And yet terribly kind.
A voice like that of an old man.
"Ah... so this is what it feels like now..."
Firvis, in the darkening depths of consciousness, could fall asleep while feeling that same reassuring warmth and solidity together.