[24 years and 6 months will be extracted as the price.]
"..."
Lucia's mind was reeling from the last simulation. This Outer God that she knew nothing about… the inhuman torture… And Ashen in the midst of it all.
How he resisted such atrocities with a stone-faced look… The voice that sounded like it came from the depths of hell when he talked to her in the end…
"No… did he even talk to me?"
While Lucia had instinctively answered, she knew for a fact that her skill allowed no communication whatsoever with reality.
The thought that he'd become delirious or was hallucinating never crossed her mind… not with that deathgaze that sent shivers down her spine, even though she wasn't its recipient.
"He didn't seem to be talking to that thing either…" Lucia muttered thoughtfully.
That only left one option. He refused to acknowledge that turn of events as reality, and deduced that he was in some kind of false time…
"But for the deduction to hold ground, he has to somehow know the existence of Life Stake or a skill similar to it…"
She was so absorbed in her thoughts about him that she barely glanced at the message indicating the new loss of lifespan.
It wasn't as if she hadn't been keeping count. On the contrary, after the last simulation, the price she'd paid stood at exactly 106 years, 9 months, and 22 days.
If it wasn't for the additional lifespan she'd acquired as a fifth-step pathwalker, she'd be a pile of bones by now.
"...At least, now, I have a plan, no matter how unreliable." She breathed a sigh of relief at last.
…But her relief was short-lived. Because the moment she thought about the information that made this plan possible, He knew.
"Oho~ what do we have here?! Someone trying to glean into the secrets of the Keeper of What Should Not Be Known… hehehe… I guess you didn't catch the second half of my title… huhuhu… well then let me enlighten you…
"It's… the Whisperer of Truths That Unmake."
Lucia's whole body started violently trembling the moment she heard the voice echo in her head. Having someone suddenly speak directly in your thoughts was indeed terrifying… but she was more terrified because she recognized the speaker from just its voice.
"Now… let's Unmake… hihihihi~"
How could she not know… when she'd been forced to constantly hear this grotesquely perfect tone over and over again as he tortured her Irreplaceable.
Unfortunately for her, right now, Secrets was browsing through all of her being, looking for the most "irreplaceable" things to unmake. She'd heard his secret, after all. And no matter how indirectly it happened, she still had to pay the price.
The Keeper of What Should Not Be Known demanded it to be so.
"Hum, hum, hum~ what to take what to take… too bad I can't take your life with only this…"
Lucia was only hearing static sounds by now, but the dread only intensified; she instinctively knew that a calamity was upon her.
Suddenly, the static noises got a lot louder.
"...Aha! Found it! Life Stake? Scaaaarrry stuff!! No! No! Confiscated! Confiscated!! This is too scary… You humans are too scary!"
"Indeed, I wasn't wrong! This race is crazy!!! Using some paltry envy concepts to come up with something like this… Ah, what irony that no one but me knows your true potential… hehehehe…"
Cough—splat!
Blood involuntarily escaped her lips, dying them red, and right after, the system announced the cause.
[Path skill "Life Stake" Lost.]
[Attempting to regrant the skill…]
[Conceptual Information related to the skill is missing.]
[Attempt failed.]
"Ohoho there's still some price left to pay? Good! Little girl, you're too scary, don't blame this crow, but it's better for the world that you do not advance any further."
The Outer God wanted to erase her capacity to envy, to cut off her path, but he had little to work with after his stunt of erasing such a precious skill.
It didn't mean that there was no alternative however.
From now on… The depth of your envy measures the height of your submission.
This command wouldn't tamper with her perception or decision-making, nor would it implant any foreign emotions. For that, she would have to indulge in a slightly more… exciting secrets. This one merely seeded an instinct into her body.
…But that was enough. Secrets had long known from observing those humans who took envy as their path, that sooner or later, they'd have to harm their targets of envy to advance further.
This one was the same… Even her current skills were geared toward erasing the lifespan of her targets.
But how could she harm them if she got the urge to submit to them whenever she saw them now?
Even if she learned to overcome and resist the instinct, harming might still be beyond her… and even if she surpassed his expectations and somehow did just that… her path would still be thousands of times more arduous.
…And for Secrets, that was as good as actually crippling her envy.
"...Maybe even better? Hyuhyuhyu…"
The last static sound seemed to announce the end of the terror as Lucia didn't hear it again, even after minutes passed.
"...Haah… haah… haah…"
"...Hah… Status…"
==============================
Name/Connection Date: Lucia Evernight - 2015/06/16
Sex/Age: Female/27
Height/Weight: 173cm/59kg
Current condition: Healthy
Pathway: Step IV: Usurer of Tomorrows.
Thema: Prognōsis
Affiliation: Atlas Defense/Recruitment Department/Wrath Domain.
Title: None.
[2. Traits]
—Self-Deceiving Architect
—Detached Observer
—Flawed Con Artist
[3. Physical Level]
Strength: F+ | Endurance: F | Agility: E
Perception: E+ | Stamina: F+ | Mana: C-
[4. Abilities]
4.1 Innate Powers:
—None
4.2 Path Skills:
—Envy Detection (Skilled+)
—Rival's Path (Skilled+)
—Net (Skilled+)
—Mindshield (Skilled-)
—Ward (Skilled+)
—Mark (Skilled+)
—Future echo (Entry-)
4.3 Other skills:
—Basic mana Cycle (Skilled+)
—Euphonious voice (Basic+)
—Clean (Skilled+)
—Physiognomic Assessment (Basic)
[5. Cognitive Depth (Thoughts, Mindset, Disposition)]
— Ecstatic / Reciprocalist / Lovelorn Miser
==============================
"..."
"Ha…"
"Hahahahahahaha…. It's still there… I still have a chance after all…!!"
Lucia didn't even care about the missing Life Stake, or the new curse binding her body… Only one thought echoed in her mind.
"So… Even Gods are plagued by arrogance… I see…"
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Wrath Domain, The Ashbastion Chapel, May 3, 2026
.
.
"In the name of the Eternal, the Kindly Sovereign, the Mercy-Warden,
All hymns rise to the Eternal, High Ruler of realms unseen and known,
The Kindly Sovereign, the Mercy-Warden,
Lord of the Twilight Reckoning's throne…"
The saintess candidate knelt at the front of the praying devotees as she recited the opening chapter of the Eternal's holy book.
It wasn't only the nuns that were present behind her, but men and women of every class and station: Soldiers, workers, kids, and the elderly… everyone had to cling to something during those times to not go insane.
And the saintess was here to deliver it: Hope and faith.
"To Thee alone we kneel, Thy aid we seek in whispered plea,
Steer us through the shadowed vale, to the path of destiny,
The trail of the blessed, Thy chosen kin, not the lost who stray,
Nor the cursed who flee."
With the last passage, Seraphine paused for a heartbeat and then uttered in a higher tone, "All-Great is God."
"""All-Great is God!!"""
And those words were echoed in perfect synchronization by all in the chapel.
Ashen, who stood under the shade of a tree not too far from the building, heard the words reverberate even to his position.
"Seems like it's over…" He muttered.
As if to confirm his words, not long after, a blonde woman with pink streaks adorning the ends of her hair showed up, adjusted her coat, and happily ran straight to him.
"Heya! Thanks for waiting, honey!"
'Honey?' Ashen smirked. 'She only dares say this when Alice is not around. How cute.'
Ashen found himself leaning in for a kiss before his thoughts caught up.
Kiss~
"Hello to you, too, bunny." With that, he reached out his hand, and she naturally looped hers around it and hugged it between her breasts.
As they started making their way to the usual spot where Alice would surely be waiting, Seraphine started, "So, was standing outside like a wooden scarecrow exciting?"
Ashen rolled his eyes. "It was not, and I was waiting for you, lady."
"But you could've come inside with meee~" She whined.
"And why would I come if I don't care for praying, pray tell?"
"It doesn't matter! Caring can come later… taking the first step is more important."
Ashen sounded almost exasperated now. "Nah… I'd rather not. Some things, I feel, require sincerity; otherwise, doing them or not doesn't make a difference… religion is one in my book."
Seraphine was stumped upon hearing his words… so she resorted to women's universal weapon. Shedding tears. It was, coincidentally, also children's weapon. But Seraphine still shamelessly used it.
Ashen looked sideways and found her biting her lips with eyes brimming with those droplets. "Aight aight, fuck it, stop whining…"
"...You'll do it?"
"Tell me why you want me to do it first." Ashen didn't think she was being this pushy because his irreligion bothered her. Something was amiss here.
Finding no other choice, Seraphine muttered under her breath, "…It's for marriage."
Despite her voice coming in a murmur, Ashen heard her perfectly. "Marriage? How did we get here so suddenly?"
"Well… unlike men, women who follow the Eternal may only marry men of the same faith," she said, forcing a smile. "And this saintess is about to commit her first transgression. Please be a good man and help her, Ashen~"
"Wait—wait—are we getting married? When did this happen?" Ashen felt the conversation slipping past him.
"Well, eventually we will, no? …Or what? You don't want to marry me?" Her voice tilted hopeful, almost pleading.
"Uh… No, I don't have a problem with marriage." 'As long as I get to marry both of you, of course,' he added silently and kept the last thought to himself.
"There you have it." Seraphine sighed as if surrender were inevitable.
Ashen gave a bitter smile at her optimism. He spent most of his waking moments planning how to survive; Seraphine was taking survival for granted and already thinking of marriage.
'But marriage, huh…' he thought.
He hadn't truly lied to her when he said that he had no problem with it. To him, the essence of marriage could be reduced to two questions: is a man worth submitting to, and is a woman worth dying for? If both answers were yes, he would marry.
'A genuine yes is too rare, though,' he admitted inwardly.
"So…?" Seraphine's eager voice tugged him back.
"So your concern is marriage, not my religion?" Ashen asked to be certain.
"Duh."
"...But why does that rule exist anyway?" He asked, not understanding.
Seraphine considered for a moment. "It's simple: our marriages are traditional. A wife is expected to obey her husband..."
Ashen cut in. "---But isn't the Eternal supposed to be the only one you bow to?"
"I was getting to that." Seraphine's tone turned patient as she explained, proving that her saintess title wasn't just for looks. "We pledge ourselves to the Eternal first. Still, marriage binds a woman to her husband. If the husband himself bows to the Eternal—if he lives by the Eternal's commands to honor and protect—then when the wife obeys her husband she is, in effect, obeying the Eternal indirectly. The husband's obedience to the Eternal makes the wife's obedience acceptable to our faith."
"Also, it's the Eternal Himself who commands the husband to be obeyed," Seraphine finished.
"Oh… So the husband can marry anyone he likes because he doesn't have to obey his wife anyway…?" Ashen asked doubtfully.
"Yep! But don't think it's disadvantageous to the woman since the man has his own duties."
"Oh yeah, and what are those?"
"Protecting the wife and kids above even his own safety, providing food and shelter for both, and upholding his woman's honor among other things!" Seraphine started listing off duties while eagerly sending him enthusiastic looks, as if she expected him to start his "duties" right away.
"...That's a lot of duties." He felt his lips twitching.
"Well, if someone is going to obey you, that's the least you can do." She shrugged unconcernedly. She wasn't a man, so she didn't have to overthink that part.
"Well, true." Ashen also answered in the same unconcerned tone. It wasn't as if he wasn't going to do those things for his future wife and kids anyway. Religion or not.
"So, will you join or not?"
"Lemme think about it."
Honestly, to him, ever since the first timeline's nightmares started appearing, and his encounter with Cassius, he'd started unconsciously developing a dislike for anything godly, even if it was seemingly harmless.
That's why he was procrastinating here.
"Oh, there's this rule where, as long as the wife agrees and the man proves that he can support more than one woman, he can marry more than one."
"..."
Seraphine slyly looked up to him, and as she expected, the lackluster look was gone. "Oh yeah? I'm in. Where do I sign?"
"...Where's the sincerity you preached about earlier?"
"Hey! This is my most sincere face, I'll have you know!"
"Pfft."
.
.
.
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Wrath Domain, The Ashbastion wall, May 10, 2026
The Narkals' attempts to climb over the walls never ceased for the entire night, but the soldiers weren't deterred.
The fear of death was also mostly absent from their faces. They looked more like they were doing a chore than defending a deadly siege. If one looked closer, the more deadly ambushes and sneak attacks were always stopped by an abrupt halt of the monsters that ended in their deaths.
All of this was thanks to the armored man who stood behind them with arms crossed.
The man appeared to be in utter concentration from the intensity of his golden eyes alone. Even the occasional orders he relayed to his aides did nothing to break it.
This man was the division's Major General. The man who never faltered, never showed exhaustion, but most importantly, their guardian, who never let them bleed more than they had to.
So even though he recently only stayed on the backlines, no one lost faith, and they still happily threw themselves forward according to his orders.
But what they didn't know was that their general bled more than anyone else behind closed doors.
Just like now.
As dawn arrived, and the Narkals predictably retreated, Ashen didn't waste time and went back to his temporary room in the tower attached to the wall.
The moment he arrived, the white point of mana started traveling through every inch of his body, from his skin to flesh and bones, breaking and tearing apart so that his body could regrow stronger.
When the destruction ceased, it was time for regrowth to take hold, and after hours of regeneration, Ashen finally let out a sigh of relief. "Finally done."
One of the reasons why he'd been eager to ascend was the increased potential ceiling of his body. And in the last days, he, of course, hadn't wasted this potential and pushed his body by constantly tempering it using the Riven State.
…And today, he finally felt he'd reached the ceiling anew. It looked easy at first glance, but Ashen had a feeling that it wouldn't stay this simple for long.
But that didn't matter for now; what truly mattered were the tangible results he was currently feeling.
"Status."
[3. Physical Level]
Strength: C | Endurance: C+ | Agility: C
Perception: C+ | Stamina: C | Mana: E
Of course, he'd also used SA to adjust his nerves and organs to be able to resist the force that could be generated from such power and the control it would require.
Ashen stared at the numbers, and for the first time in a while, he allowed himself a moment of satisfaction.
Strength, Agility, and stamina at rank. C, endurance, and perception at C+
These letters represented a fundamental transformation in what his body was capable of.
"Let's see what I'm actually working with here…"
He flexed his hand, watching the muscles coil beneath his skin with perfect control.
"Fifteen times stronger than peak human…" he muttered, remembering the benchmark. "Back in Esperra, the strongest men could deadlift maybe four, five hundred kilograms at most for World-record holders. Now I could…"
He glanced at the reinforced stone wall of his room. With proper leverage, he could probably lift a small car overhead and not even struggle with it. The compact military transports that hauled supplies to the wall? He could flip one if he needed to.
More practically, his strikes now crumpled metal. He'd tested it yesterday on a discarded Narkal weapon—a crude iron blade thick as his wrist. One punch, and it bent like tin.
"Against a human opponent…" The thought was sobering. "One punch would cave in their chest. Not even an armor plate would matter."
Even stone wasn't safe. He'd accidentally cracked a section of wall when he'd braced against it too hard during a Riven State session.
That was strength, for stamina though… it was a bit harder to actually gauge, but he'd still felt the difference acutely.
"If Peak human stamina is being able to run a marathon in two hours. Then he probably could do fifteen times that and still not be able to out of breath."
"If I fought seriously, I could probably keep the same pace for days," he realized. "Maybe a week of continuous combat before I'd need real rest."
Back in his lazy Esperra days, he'd have killed for this. Now it was just… baseline.
Agility was where things got interesting.
Ashen stood, then moved.
He crossed the five-meter room in less than a second in just a quick step. His body responded with a fluidity that looked inhuman.
He closed his eyes for a second, measuring exactly where he was on the scale he always used to gauge himself.
"World-class sprinters hit maybe ten meters per second at top speed. I'm doing… what, twenty? Thirty?"
More than raw speed, though, was the control. He could change direction mid-movement without losing momentum. He even felt that he could land from a three-story drop and immediately spring into a sprint.
"Dodging arrows at close range is trivial now. Gunfire…" He paused. "From Esperrian firearms, probably. The bullets aren't that fast. From Seravelle's mana-enhanced weapons… That's trickier."
But the real advantage was in combat. Against a normal human, he was effectively teleporting. They'd see him five meters away, blink, and he'd be inside their guard with a spear through their throat.
For durability, Ashen felt that C+ was around twenty times peak human durability.
He had tested this one the hard way… repeatedly slamming his body against the limits of what it could handle during Riven State training.
He looked at his hands, remembering yesterday's session. He'd shattered his own forearm bones during tempering, causing multiple fractures. It was the kind of injury that would sideline a soldier for months.
He'd healed it in hours with Vital Drift.
"Blunt trauma that would kill a normal person just… doesn't anymore. Not unless it's catastrophic."
He could probably take a direct hit from a Gorefiend's club, the kind that turned regular soldiers into red paste, and get back up. It would hurt, sure. And might even crack some ribs, rupture an organ or two... But he wouldn't die. And within hours, he'd be functional again.
"Slashing damage is trickier to measure... But I must keep in mind that I'm not invincible even though what used to be lethal is now just… inconvenient."
Finally and lastly, for the purely physical stats: Perception. This was his highest stat, and the one he relied on most.
It also followed the same formula of twenty times peak human perception at C+.
"An elite marksman can process fast-moving objects, and probably spot and react in microseconds to targets a kilometer away."
Ashen could do that across an entire battlefield.
When he activated the Interpreter, he could track dozens of individual Narkals simultaneously. See the micro-movements in their muscles that telegraphed their attacks. Spot the concealed archer three hundred meters away on a rooftop based on the faint shadow of their bow.
"I can read a person's face from across a crowded plaza and know if they're lying. Hear conversations through walls. Track a thrown knife in mid-flight and calculate its trajectory before it's traveled a meter…"
When he said it out loud like that… Ashen almost stopped recognizing himself for a second.
"...Is this really me?"
Will his family even recognize him if he ever came back?
"...I should stop depressing myself with my thoughts… I have a lot on my plate as it is." He eventually shook his head and glanced at his last, most hated stat.
Mana, the outlier.
"Only twice the best Esperian human's capacity…" He grimaced. "My circuits are still damaged. This is the real bottleneck."
Peak human mana capacity was pitifully small compared to pathwalkers. Most fifth-step fighters had D rank mana pools by default.
His E-rank meant he could use a seventh-step path skill maybe twenty times before running dry. For comparison, Alice with her E+ could probably manage thirty.
"It's enough for now. Barely. But if I need to find a solution for my circuits…"
He'd need to fix them eventually. But that was a problem for another day.
"...Another mission for future me. Haah, poor him."
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