Published at 22nd of January 2024 12:05 pm

Chapter 283: Clarity in the Current Situation: A Path Forward Revealed

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

I left the Hero Party and headed to the plains just before the demon lands. There’s nothing unusual about the place… but when I get to a rock that feels like fate to me, I sit on it and let out a light breath.

“Phew… First of all, it’s a success.”

I went back in time, twisted fate, and defeated the Demon King. Although there were some shaky spots, it was all according to plan. What I was most concerned about was whether I could stay in this world. The trump card I would get would probably be lost if I returned using the normal method intended by The God.

And I won that gamble. Since I initiated the farewell, the voice of heaven had not yet resonated within me. I’ve traveled here from the Demon King’s castle using [Hermes Dash] for several hours…it would take about a month on foot… Since I can be calm like this, it should be fine until Alexis and the others return to the country and declare the disbandment of the party.

No, is it okay even if we are this far apart? I still don’t understand the fine details, but that’s fine.

“Alright, alright, alright. First, the current situation. Let’s organize the current situation properly.”

I deliberately muttered that, and started thinking about what happened since the day I witnessed the party’s total annihilation.

First of all, why didn’t I die? It’s not that the Demon King made a mistake. Normally, I would have vanished on the spot after all my power had been drained.

By the way, if that had happened, probably the Demon King would have become the new vessel… or rather the origin point, and this world would have looped again. As he gained power and tried to get out, everything would have been reset to the beginning. Well, that’s just my guess.

So why didn’t that happen? The answer is… here.

“It’s nostalgic… but maybe that’s not quite right.”

The end of the first loop… although it’s not exactly that, let’s make it simple… I witnessed Tia’s end here. And right after that, I chose to do it all over again by using [Unlimited] to carry over all my memories and power.

What happened then was a communion of souls. Tia, of course, and I myself at that moment, became souls and left this world together. And souls can only be interfered with by souls. Dying at almost the same time in the same place, my soul and Tia’s touched and mingled just a little.

But that’s not unusual. Dying with a comrade on the same battlefield was quite common, especially in large-scale wars where souls mixed freely. But normally it’s not a problem. After all, dead souls become one in a distant place, are purified, and reborn as new lives.

But I’m different. I’m treated as a completely independent being, so even if my superficial memories were erased, my soul was not purified… or rather, it cannot be done even by a god. And at that time, I retained everything that was supposed to be lost and took residence in the new me.

So a tiny bit of Tia’s soul mixed in with mine… and since it wasn’t the Demon King’s power, the Demon King couldn’t absorb it.

“You helped me again this time, huh? Damn, I’m always being saved.”

With a bitter smile mixed with joy and shame, I looked up at the sky. Incidentally, Tia’s ability to use a tiny part of my power was because, just like me, a little bit of my soul mixed with Tia’s.

Well, that’s just this time, so if Tia died now and entered another loop, my mixed-in soul probably won’t be inherited.

Next, about the [Silver Wing Sword] that stood here. The reason it was here is, of course, because Tia came to me using it as a catalyst… or rather, “crossed the walls of the world.”

That’s normal, of course, but ordinary people can’t “cross the walls of the world.” If they could, there would be no way to split and seal my power.

But Tia accomplished that feat. It’s something that should not exist, just like the Demon King’s existence, and was rejected by the world. But since it was a concept born in this world, it couldn’t be completely eradicated, and as a result, it was left to drift in a state where it was half outside the world.

It was perhaps a sword that, while existing in this world, seemed to leap out of the world just as much and could only be seen by Tia, who was out of sync with the world. The reason I was able to see it and pick it up was for the same reason I survived. More than ninety percent of my soul was someone else’s… or rather, Tia’s, so of course the world would recognize me as Tia.

As a result, I was able to touch the sword. And the moment I took the sword in hand, our souls connected to resolve the contradiction that the same soul existed in two different places at the same time, and the part of my soul that was housed in Tia, because I was empty, was suddenly pushed back to me, the original owner… that’s how things turned out.

“Ah, that was dangerous…”

The connection was cut off in an instant, probably because the world is far away, but if it wasn’t, even Tia’s soul might have come into me. If that had happened… what would have happened? More than half of my soul belonging to someone else is unimaginable. God might have been ecstatic, but it doesn’t seem to be a good thing for me or Tia, so I’m really glad. I’ve regained my strength, so I’m fine now.

“Hmm, so that’s about it for now, huh?”

Although it happened to me, it’s too unreal. Well, most of what I thought was speculation with no way to confirm, and I can’t argue if I’m told it’s at the level of delusion, but as long as I’m satisfied with it, I don’t care.

Rather, worrying about it won’t help. Rather than endlessly thinking about things I don’t understand, there are things to prioritize now. I’ve been thinking so hard that the sun was starting to set… hmm, should I finish before it gets dark?

“Well then, the last and biggest problem, I guess.”

I took out the silver-winged sword from the [Stranger Box] and held it up. It looked exactly like the sword I made and left behind, but its essence was completely different, and even if I activated [Master Smith] I can’t change its shape.

In other words, this has completely become a concept or magical tool to “cross the wall of the world.” When I used it earlier, one of the feathers on the back of the blade decreased, so I can probably use it five more times.

“Five times… that’s a tough call.”

Going back to the past was easy. Originally, this world was in a state of loop,, so the “record of the past” was firmly left behind, and since it was just a one-month time travel in the same world, and I used it in a place where many causalities were gathered, it’s only natural that I could. If I couldn’t use it here, I definitely couldn’t use it anywhere else.

But returning to Tia’s place across several world walls was a different story. The reason Tia was able to jump to me back then was because there were still remnants of the route that God had connected between here and the <White World> just after I was expelled from this world, and there was a clear transfer target in me, as well as conditions such as this sword as a catalyst and Tia’s consumption of a tremendous amount of mana/

On the other hand, I can’t use magic, and what I’m trying to return to was the previous loop… the 44th world. Since I was trying to cross not only the wall of the world but also the wall of the loop, the difficulty was easy to understand. So what should I do…

“I need power. Power that I can use.”

A power that I, who cannot use magic, can master, a power stronger than magic. Such a convenient thing is not just lying around… but it is.

“Flap your wings, Silver Winged Sword!”

By swinging the five-feathered sword, one of the feathers traded to tear apart the space right before you. Beyond that lay the world I surely desired.

“Now, let the Demon King Hunt begin!”

In the darkness that led to Tia, I danced with delight.

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