The Sin Archbishop of Sloth… Petelgeuse's corpse… the Unseen Hands… possession…
Lillian's mind fell into brief paralysis. He could normally piece together the connections in an instant, but seeing the madness on Elsa's face stirred emotions within him that interfered with his rational judgment.
It seemed that Elsa had paid a tremendous price to strike Petelgeuse's vital point, causing that body to lose function and become unsustainable. But she had not known that he possessed the ability to possess others. Rather than transferring his consciousness to one of his other "fingers," Petelgeuse had instead taken over Elsa's body…
As Lillian stood up, he finally sorted out the logic. After launching that attack, Petelgeuse did not continue his assault. Instead, he shook his remaining left arm with some frustration.
"This body… is not very easy to use…"
Petelgeuse himself was not human but an "evil spirit." His ability to possess others came from forcibly forming a contract and seizing their bodies. Different bodies had different levels of compatibility with the "Witch Factor"—that is, the level of power its authority could exert.
The Witch of Sloth herself could manifest two thousand Unseen Hands of overwhelming strength. But because Petelgeuse's compatibility with the Witch Factor was poor, he could not even achieve one-tenth of the witch's power.
These Unseen Hands could be separated. He had implanted some of them into the bodies of followers capable of adapting to the Witch Factor. If his main body suffered a fatal blow, he could transfer his consciousness and spirit into them, achieving rebirth through possession. Those followers were known as his "Fingers."
Lillian had never expected Elsa to become one of them.
He realized this was his own oversight. At the time, he had not expected a battle to break out—even if one did, she should have fled immediately. In that case, simply knowing about the Unseen Hands would have been sufficient; there had been no need to explain the possession ability…
Yet now, it was precisely that lack of caution that had doomed her.
"Hard to use, hard to use, hard to use!" Elsa's voice now sounded extremely grating in Lillian's ears, and his grip on the sword in his hand tightened unconsciously.
"This body is far too difficult to use!!" Petelgeuse shouted through Elsa's voice. "I'll hurry up and kill you, then switch to a new one!"
Rumble—!
Before he even finished speaking, Lillian had already begun moving. Although he had just been struck earlier, it seemed that because Petelgeuse had only recently changed bodies, the power of the Unseen Hands was not as great as before. Lillian had suffered only minor injuries that did not affect his combat ability.
The spot where he had been standing was instantly smashed to pieces. Lillian gripped his sword hilt tightly—yet hesitated.
Possession was an active choice. If Petelgeuse chose to leave, Elsa could still be saved… but if he struck—
"Slothfull! Slothfull! Slothfull! Slothfull!" Petelgeuse launched continuous attacks. Within the narrow cavern, Lillian's movements were heavily restricted. However, the number of Unseen Hands did not seem large; otherwise, they could have completely sealed all space and left him no room to dodge.
Reaching a stone pillar, Lillian kicked it into powder. The shattered rocks and dust surged forward in a cloud, colliding with the Unseen Hands. Though blocked, they successfully outlined their shapes and positions.
If he could see them, he could cut them.
Slash—!
The advanced swordsmanship he had learned through countless battles came into play. With a horizontal sweeping strike, he severed seven or eight Unseen Hands at once. There were only that many in total… Was it because Elsa's body had extremely low compatibility with the Witch Factor, causing the authority's power to manifest so weakly?
"Impossible! You bastard—how can you see them?! My Unseen Hands, the Witch's blessing—ahhhhhhh!"
Lillian looked at Elsa, who was clutching her head with both hands. Her pale neck lay completely exposed. Petelgeuse was poor at hand-to-hand or close combat, so he had easily revealed such a vital weakness. One strike would end it.
His body paused midair.
He abandoned the attack.
"Sloth—shall we make a deal?" Lillian said as he landed. "If you leave that body, I can tell you something about Satella… and who she truly favors."
"Satella-sama's most beloved is naturally me! You bastard—become fragments!!"
The restored Unseen Hands attacked again. Lillian repeated his tactic—stomping the ground to send fragments of stone flying, using the disrupted trajectories to determine the exact locations of the invisible arms, then cutting them down one by one.
"Damn you—!"
As long as the authority could be countered, eliminating him was not difficult.
Once again, the weakness was exposed.
Lillian stared at Petelgeuse, whose vital points were left completely unguarded. He could kill him in less than a second. The latter had already fallen into total madness—rational negotiation was impossible.
Yet emotion and reason struggled for control over the hand gripping his sword.
Why must such a heavy decision fall to me?
At that moment, as if sensing his hesitation, Lillian suddenly saw something impossible—amid the crazed expression on Elsa's face, a familiar teasing smile briefly appeared. Her lips seemed to form the words: Kill me.
"I'll kill you!!"
The illusory smile and lip movement vanished instantly, replaced once more by malice and madness. A surge of anger suddenly rose within Lillian. His body shot forward like a meteor, crossing the distance in a blink. In the next moment, he appeared behind her—only the hand gripping the sword remained where it had been—a hand holding the blade that had pierced through Elsa's throat.
"Stop desecrating this body."
"Ah… ahhh…"
The frenzied screams could no longer be produced. Elsa's body collapsed to the ground. She clutched her throat with one hand, gasping in broken fragments of speech:
"Body… destroyed… life… ended… my diligence… will not vanish… I… will return… sinner… die…"
Then there was silence.
After the body suffered a fatal wound, Petelgeuse's soul and consciousness had already departed. Just as he had abandoned his previous body, he discarded this one without hesitation once it lost its value. He had no intention of possessing Lillian—because from Lillian he sensed an aura resembling that of a spirit, yet far more terrifying. It gave him the feeling that possessing him would mean instant death.
Lillian neither knew nor cared about Petelgeuse's thoughts.
He stared at Elsa's neck, from which blood still flowed steadily. Setting his sword aside, he sat down and pressed his hand against the wound—but it was useless.
No breath. No heartbeat. Nothing.
Sitting amid the chaotic cavern littered with rubble, covered in dust and looking utterly disheveled, Lillian pressed a hand to his forehead. That sensation returned again—
Bang, bang, bang! The sound of flintlock gunfire echoed beside his ears, followed by a long ringing hum. Soldiers in uniform, roaring bullets, blooming sprays of blood—long-sealed memories surged back, as if refusing to release him no matter how much time had passed.
He took several deep breaths. Then he cleared away the rubble beside her and lifted Elsa's body, walking toward the exit while muttering:
"The save point… should be before this… If I don't waste time questioning them, it should be in time… It must be in time…"
He walked on.
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
As if realizing something, he lowered his head—
The wound in Elsa's neck, the one pierced by his sword, was healing.
He froze completely.
The blood that had flowed out seemed to return to her body, rapidly repairing the damage. Ruptured vessels reconnected, flesh restored itself, color returned to her pale face. Then her eyes slowly opened—
Her violet pupils reflected Lillian's somewhat disheveled face, along with the shock—and the faint, barely noticeable trace of joy—upon it.
"Where are you carrying me?" she asked.
"I…"
Lillian tried to answer, but upon regaining his senses he quickly set her down and stepped back, staring at her. Every wound on her body had healed completely. Even her previously severed right arm had returned—only the lost fabric could not be restored, leaving her smooth, pale arm exposed to the air.
Elsa chuckled softly, as if everything that had just happened meant nothing to her.
"Being possessed felt disgusting."
"…"
"Don't be afraid," she continued. "I never told you before—your big sister here has half a vampire constitution. Even fatal injuries… as long as there's time, I can recover." She licked her bloodless lips. "Though I don't drink blood."
A vampire constitution…
Lillian had known she possessed regenerative abilities, but he had not expected them to reach this extent. He had truly believed she had died. If even this level of injury could heal, then—
As if reading his thoughts, Elsa smiled slightly.
"Unless you reduce me to dust… or burn me to ashes, you can't kill me."
"…You're telling me your weakness so carelessly?" Lillian's voice sounded stiff.
"Yes. In return, why don't you tell me what that 'save point' you kept muttering about is? It sounded like something that could bring me back from death."
"You were aware even then…?"
"Not just 'then.' I was conscious the whole time." She walked over and raised a hand toward him. Lillian did not dodge. Her palm covered his neck, and a warm sensation spread through him. "I was already awake when you did this."
"…"
"Honestly," she said teasingly, "I thought you were trying to take advantage of me."
"I thought you were dead."
"If you hadn't 'killed' me, then I really would have died. Who knows how long that madman would've used my body otherwise?"
"…"
Lillian suddenly let out a long breath. The plan that had formed in his mind earlier was no longer necessary—and that was a relief. After all, he had no desire to kill without cause.
But once his nerves relaxed, reason regained control. He forced himself to speak in a stern tone:
"Why did you fight? The task I gave you was only to locate these people's base, wasn't it?"
"Now that you've confirmed your big sister isn't dead, you're being cold again. How boring."
Elsa picked up the short dagger from the ground and wiped the dust from its surface. "As for why I did something so unnecessary… I don't know either."