Amidst a corrupted world overflowing with desires…
Amidst a vile society that worshipped corruption and despised righteousness…
A pure child lived…
A purity untouched by the world's corruption and society's desires…
The child grew, understood, and became aware…
Yet she did not hate the world, nor did she resent society. Instead, she believed…
That her purity had not appeared from nothing, and that repairing what had been ruined was a responsibility resting upon her frail body, one devastated by poverty and virtue.
She loved everyone and cherished those who fought corruption for the sake of her purity…
But such captivating purity would attract not only kind hearts, but also envy and greed.
Until she found herself as the sole purity amidst endless darkness.
And so, her wish was for a love great enough to devour that infinite darkness.
Thus, she became our pure love amidst our routine, bloody war.
"You whom I cherish more than my own purity, and you who granted me love without corrupt desires…
Must our wish be written upon a pure white page?!"
Even amidst the darkness she lived in, she still gave her love unconditionally…
"I wonder… will this love of yours remain when that white page is stained by our black desires?"
Indeed, I wonder who bears the greater responsibility...
Unconditional love…
Or forsaken despair…
...…
Regret…
For a Returner like me, who repeats events with different choices and bears responsibility for them…
Regret was a deadly poison, enough to make one desire despair more than death itself.
Then, I made a vow to myself...
the moment I ever regretted what I had done or what I would do, everything would end for me.
Such an excuse prevented me from blaming myself, no matter how terrible my actions were.
And unfortunately…
To feel regret and unbearable guilt toward something I had never done…
Toward something I had only met a few hours ago…
...…
After I finally calmed down…
I saw the infant sleeping peacefully in my arms.
"Free of worries, huh…"
I sat there, thinking about many things. Overthinking had long since become a habit of mine during times like these…
Until my mind became completely empty.
"What am I supposed to do with her now…"
The girls, who had been quietly waiting for me to calm down, finally moved after hearing my voice.
Kugssa, full of her usual energy and liveliness, asked with a sadness I had never expected from her.
"Master Tel… are you hurting?"
Hurting?
Could what I had just gone through even be called pain?
"I don't know…"
"Kugssa doesn't want Master Til to be sad!"
That little rascal…
"I wasn't, so don't worry."
Her ever-present smile immediately returned.
"Anyway, our destination hasn't changed. Fortunately, I've already sensed where that scum is, so we'll head there directly instead of wasting time flying."
Maria asked a question whose meaning was obvious.
"What about the baby?"
But I answered in my own way.
"Don't worry. I'll protect her during the transmission."
Because I knew nothing about this child to answer otherwise.
The girls gathered around me, holding hands, while I placed my hand upon Kugssa's slender shoulder.
〔Void Tear〕 + 〔Space-Time Coordinates〕 + 〔Nature's Protection〕
Using skills I had not employed for several lifetimes, and adding the formation I had recently learned from the Dragon Clan…
I created a safe spatial gate and entered it with them.
By our second step, we arrived at our destination without feeling anything at all.
It was the safest instant transportation in this world.
"Amazing! We didn't feel anything this time! It was like taking a single step!"
Maria's amazement was understandable. Such teleportation was impossible even for those monsters who cultivated entire worlds inside their bodies.
The idea for this gate came from the Martial World I had once lived in, from an immensely powerful man known as the "Void Shaker" and his technique, Void Step.
Of course, someone like me didn't require all these preparations, even if I transported thousands of people.
As soon as I emerged from my thoughts, I saw it.
A towering structure of thorns.
A tower that instinctively warned one not to approach, as though it itself cautioned against everything around it.
"He's here! He really came! Cough… cough…"
A hoarse, disgusting, mocking voice shattered our daze.
Lying upon the stairs before the tower entrance was a half-dead-looking old man with graying hair. His clothes were ragged, yet pulsed with the power of relics, and his emaciated body suggested months—perhaps years—of neglect.
"Master of the Towers!!!"
At last.
I had found him.
The scum who helped the Emperor create Chimera...
The filth who sold Lady Anya...
The wretch who killed Resil!
"Wha-wait, wait… cough… no need for excessive anger, Supreme High Magi~"
Despite his irritating tone, strangely enough, I didn't lose my temper this time.
Was it because my emotions had cooled, as I'd expected?
Or because I held this infant in my arms?
"Hehehe… just as expected from the Church of Great Virtue. A simple provocation won't work on you. So, will you torture me first to learn why I killed your Saint? Or ask me to confess about my cooperation with the Union of Races and smuggling your talents to them? Cough… ack…"
Why did he think I was from the Continent of Great Virtue?
Especially when he knew I had registered myself as a Magi within one of his towers.
"I was eager to meet the insect responsible for enough tragedies in my life, only to find it in such a pitiful state…"
The Master of the Towers squirmed in pain and abandoned his attempt to stand.
With his exhausted yet crafty face, he replied:
"You're not the first to come seeking my death… but you're the first to do so while carrying a baby in your arms~"
I looked at him calmly, holding the child. Somehow, her peaceful breathing while she slept kept me from tearing him apart the moment I saw him.
"Hahahaha—cough cough… look at yourself, Supreme High Magi. A pure child in your arms, yet hell burns in your eyes, seeking to scorch the world for revenge. Don't you find that contradictory? What did this pitiful old man do to you, for you to appear before me with such eyes?"
At that moment, I didn't know whether he was pretending ignorance or whether his sins simply weren't enough to make him feel shame.
While I restrained myself and ignored his provocations, I had forgotten that one of his victims was here as well.
Maria, having fallen for his taunts, rushed toward him while chanting a Legendary Spell.
〔Primordial Meteor〕
After Maria learned to form mana circles around her heart to increase the amount of mana she controlled, I had taught her several Legendary Spells.
Among them was Primordial Meteor, a spell comparable to Eighth Circle Magic.
And Maria hadn't even formed her Sixth Circle yet.
Legendary Magic represented the peak of magic in this world, surpassed only by Sovereign Magic, which Half-Virtues and above could wield.
Even Mother, hailed as the genius of the Dryads, possessed only one Sovereign Spell.
Since Sovereign Magic was intricately connected to one's Path…
It was already too late to stop Maria once she began chanting.
To shield everyone from the aftermath, I formed a barrier of Chaos Mana around us.
〔Harmonized Barrier〕
Without realizing it, I had created yet another skill unique to myself.
As the colossal meteor descended from the heavens, engulfed in tremendous flames, accompanied by a deafening roar and pressure that shook space itself—
The Master of the Towers produced a relic resembling a teardrop and crushed it between his fingers while chanting a strange incantation.
And the giant meteor vanished.
As though it had never existed.
"Anti-Magic…"
So there truly were relics possessing such powers.
From what Mother and my old master had told me, relics were discovered within ancient ruins predating recorded history.
Some kingdoms and superior races even possessed older relics, secretly hoarded and passed down for ages known only to themselves.
The spear Father used had been a relic as well, but Mother had placed a seal upon it, preventing me from recognizing its true nature even after inheriting it.
…
In any case, relics held different powers governed by specific laws. Some could be used endlessly, while others only once or a handful of times.
The question now was:
What conditions had allowed him to use Anti-Magic?
Although the teardrop relic had shattered, that didn't necessarily mean it was a one-time artifact.
At that moment, the Master of the Towers pulled out another relic...
A cracked hourglass.
Suddenly, movement around us slowed, as though time itself had become viscous.
I tried to move...
Yet he was faster than expected.
In an instant, he appeared before Maria and reached toward her heart.
"Haaaah..."
It seemed I had no better choice than to use that incomplete thing.
I had intended to test it only after reaching the rank of Virtue, once it was perfected.
〔Path of Despair — Domain of Despair〕
A Domain possessed by none but the Virtues!