# Chapter Translation

"...Oh."

Hidden behind a tree, I observed the rapidly unfolding battle.

To the east, I watched Mikhail's fight.

"Huff... huff..."

"You ruined everything."

"..."

"Because of you, that child got hurt."

To the north of the forest, I watched Yuria desperately trying to escape.

"Why can't you remember?"

"I... I!"

"You stabbed them. You stabbed them with your own hands and said you hated them!"

"Shut up...!!!"

"Why? You weren't hurt, so it's all fine?"

To the west, I witnessed Ruin's defeat.

"Useless bastard."

"Damn it!!!"

"Opportunist and hypocrite."

"I know already, so stop following me!"

"Why? You said you'd look inside. You should look at your inner self too."

They were fighting quite well.

The Crown Prince had won his battle.

Mikhail was struggling.

Yuria was slowly overcoming her challenge.

Although they looked different from the doppelgangers described in the novel, they were all handling it well. Except for Ruin.

"Hmm..."

The problem seems to be at the center.

I gently descended to the ground and nodded as I moved the unconscious Student Council members to a safe place.

"This should be far enough to keep them from getting caught in the crossfire."

At this distance, they shouldn't get caught in the conflict between Rowen and Elysia. After all, you can never predict a battle between monsters.

More importantly, right now... the center.

"This is difficult."

I was worried about Hannah who was facing the Messenger of God. Since she wasn't a character in the original novel, I couldn't predict what would happen.

I was both excited and afraid to see how a character saved by the whim of a possessor would handle the situation.

I feared she might get swept up in the Messenger's capriciousness.

But she was doing well.

Originally, the story involved Shartia overcoming her fear and breaking the jewel in the ring, but in that process, Shartia had taken significant damage.

"Ah... ah... ah..."

"I... I can't do anything..."

"I'm scared... I don't want to do anything...!"

I was glad we could avoid that tragedy.

"That's fortunate."

Thanks to Hannah, the episode where Shartia falls for Mikhail would also disappear. Ah, that's an unnecessary worry.

She's a woman.

'Damn it.'

Anyway...

"Slash!!!"

"Ugh..!"

Hannah seemed to be struggling a lot.

She was putting up a good fight against the Messenger, but strictly speaking, Elysia was just toying with her. Looking closely, Hannah wasn't actually winning.

She had been lucky with her surprise attack, but perhaps even that had happened within the Messenger's expectations.

After all, the Messenger was a monster.

Elysia was overwhelming Hannah. She transformed the surrounding trees into thin branches to shoot at Hannah and softened the ground to restrict her movement. She was playing with Hannah.

Out of curiosity to see how long this girl could withstand her attacks.

"Senior...! How much longer?!"

"The signal has been sent, the knights will be here soon!"

"I'm really struggling here...!"

"Crash!!!"

Seeing Hannah increasingly struggling, I began gathering magic at my fingertips. I couldn't just rush in recklessly. I needed to time it right.

'Not yet.'

The story was still flowing well, too early for me to intervene. Elysia hadn't revealed her true power, and Shartia could still join the battle.

I held my breath and waited for the right moment.

If Hannah could hold out for just three more minutes until the knights arrived, there would be no disruption to the story or character development.

Nevertheless, red electricity was rising from my fingertips. I was gathering magic, ready to fire at any moment if something unexpected happened. No matter how important growth was, Hannah was precious to me.

I wanted to protect someone precious to me, even if it was burdensome.

"I should moderate this behavior."

I can't help her forever.

"..."

But what can I do when I'm concerned about her?

It seems to be an unavoidable instinct of a possessor. Or perhaps it's the pride of a man faced with a beautiful woman.

I smiled awkwardly and focused all my attention on Hannah.

Elysia was looking at Hannah with an interested smile.

"The Histania family is indeed different."

"Huff..."

"Is it because of your chosen bloodline?"

Elysia easily dodged Hannah's swift sword strike and gave a relaxed smile.

Then she began to change the flow of the battlefield.

"I should show proper respect then."

"Here it comes..."

"Respect for the Empire's hero."

Elysia didn't make any special movement. She just made a small gesture in the air and extended her tool.

"Rumble..."

The heavens began to roar.

Dark clouds formed in the sky.

A massive thundercloud began swirling above Hannah's head, waiting for its master's command.

"What the...?"

Hannah looked up at the thundercloud above her head with a dejected expression. She let out a hollow laugh, unable to believe that such an enormous thundercloud could be created by a person.

"Hahaha... damn it."

The thundercloud, ready to strike at any moment, began pouring down toward Hannah with Elysia's slight gesture.

"Crack!!!"

The ground trembled.

Taking Elysia's attack head-on, Hannah grimaced and staggered. After all, "lightning" was an attack that couldn't be avoided.

I shook my tingling hand and smiled bitterly. I had managed to reduce the impact with magic, but there was a limit to how much I could help without being noticed.

"This won't do."

As the situation turned dangerous, I placed my hand on my sword and loosened up. I needed to intervene before someone got hurt.

I pulled up my aura and glared at Elysia's neck.

[Limit Break is...]

"Oh?"

After gathering my aura, I released the sword handle as I sensed a violent energy approaching from the base of the mountain. A monster was coming.

"So they've arrived."

I thought they'd be late, but they came faster than expected.

Fortunately, it seemed I wouldn't need to step in for this episode. Reliable reinforcements would soon arrive.

"Phew..."

With the tension released, I smiled with satisfaction and let out a sigh of relief. Occasional outings like this were part of fulfilling my duty as a possessor.

The end was now in sight. Or at least it should have been. Elysia should leave after sensing Rowen's energy.

"How interesting."

Elysia smiled and spoke to Hannah.

"Sister Hannah Histania."

"..."

"I like you."

"Bullshit."

"I like how you've struggled so hard despite not being acknowledged by your family."

Elysia approached Hannah with a smiling eyes.

"I wonder why. You have a strange scent. The very strong scent of someone who should be dead."

"...What are you talking about?"

"I've never died before, but I wonder. Why do you have such a scent?"

"...Are you insane?"

"Hehe... Perhaps."

Elysia took another step toward Hannah and expressed what she felt.

"I see potential in you, Hannah. If you serve our god, I can clearly see your potential to grow into a Messenger like me."

"Stop talking nonsense and get lost."

"Haha... That makes you even more tempting."

Elysia smiled and said:

"Have you ever lost someone precious to you?"

"What?"

"Someone you wish you could bring back to life, even if you died, even if your existence disappeared from this world."

"..."

"You must have lost someone. Otherwise, this smell wouldn't make sense. The terrible smell of regret emanating from you. I haven't mentioned it, but several others give off the same scent as you."

"Some worse, some less so."

Elysia glanced at where the council members had gone and sighed with disappointment.

"But your talent as a Messenger seems to be the greatest."

"..."

"Do you have someone precious to you?"

"What are you trying to say?"

"If you do, I'll kill them for you so you can turn to our side."

"Shut up."

"Hahaha...!"

Elysia laughed like a madwoman. Then suddenly, she stopped laughing and glared at Hannah.

"Tell me."

"..."

"Become broken like me, who lost my son at their hands."

"Huh?"

'Oh no. This is bad.'

I was startled by Elysia's words and gathered magic in my hands. The moment Elysia spoke about her past was when she would lose control.

That was the sign she would start using her full power as a Messenger.

"This won't do."

Rowen seemed to have already joined up with some of the others. He appeared to be blocking Elysia's attacks while quickly approaching our direction.

But.

Hannah didn't have enough time to block Elysia's attack. Elysia's power could move this entire mountain.

I gritted my teeth and moved toward Hannah.

[Limit Break tests the limits of 'Agility'.]

As Elysia's magic enveloped Hannah's body and Elysia's hand reached for Hannah, I dashed forward like lightning.

Red lightning poured down from the sky.

Lightning that couldn't be blocked rushed down at high speed, blocking Elysia's movements.

My figure appeared beneath the rising cloud of dust.

And.

When Elysia saw my face.

"Who are you... huh?"

She began vomiting her contents.

"Uweeeeek!!!"

Looking at me with disbelieving eyes.

"Wh-what are you...!"

She shouted at me.

"You..."

She said with terrified eyes.

"How many times have you died...?"

To Elysia's eyes, Ricardo looked like a demon.

Regret, anger, jealousy, hatred, sacrifice.

All emotions appeared mixed in black.

Elysia sees people's sorrows.

A part of their lives.

But Ricardo's life was.

Tangled like a spider web, like someone who had experienced countless deaths.

Grotesquely so.