Published at 5th of December 2025 8:53 am

Chapter 109

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Ugh.

I looked down at him. He was still too overwhelmed by pain to respond.

Just then, I felt something warm trickling from inside my nose.

I instinctively grimaced for a moment, but I quickly realized what it was.

The curse magic is similar to before.

I wiped the blood off with the back of my hand and smiled.

If all I got was a nosebleed after using this much magic, it wasnt too bad.

I didnt know exactly how the curse caused the bleeding, but as long as it didnt rupture my brain or heart, I could keep pushing it further.

I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. His eyes, still unfocused from the pain, landed on the blood staining my hand.

For a moment, I considered that you might not be a Pleroma but youre clearly not human.

Strauch, who had remained completely unfazed despite seeing blood mixed with magic, seemed even more impressive now.

Regardless.

Its about time I started the interrogation.

From my earlier calculations, I should be able to use magic four more times.

Back then, I had condensed all my power into a single attack, but I couldnt afford to do that now.

Since I had already used magic once, that left me with four chances.

Two of those would have to be spent breaking apart his spatial magic.

But even those had to be conserved for now.

The upside was that if he didnt want his spatial magic to be destroyed, he wouldnt be able to attack me too aggressively either.

I hoisted him up and kicked the chair aside.

W-Wait!

Wait for what?

I channeled divine power into the hand gripping his collar, then slammed his head into the floor with all my weight.

Boom! Crash!

Gah!

When magic couldnt be used freely, I had to be efficient.

A blow like that should have severed his connection to the space he was in.

Enter through the narrow gate.

His pupils instantly dilated.

Success.

Since mind-altering magic had just triggered, it meant the spatial layering magic had been broken.

Spatial layering magicthe one you were using. Is that what you call it too?

He slowly nodded.

Right. Instead of wasting time coming up with a new name, you were busy figuring out how to exploit it further. How far has this technique spread?

He didnt answer.

It was a vague question, to be fair.

I exhaled lightly and rephrased it.

Is this technique confined within the Diocese of Osnabruck?

That seemed unlikely, but I had to confirm it step by step.

And then, I saw something that made me doubt my own eyes.

He nodded.

It hasnt spread beyond Osnabruck?

It had already been a week.

That meant either the bishop of Osnabruck was stalling to claim credit or he was betraying the organization.

The former was far more likely.

Can your master summon all the people under the Diocese of Osnabruck at once?

He nodded again.

His master would be the bishop, but for a bishops summons to gather an entire diocese in one place?

That was some serious hierarchy. A full-on cult, really.

I chuckled and tightened my grip on his collar.

This was likely my last question.

Whats your masters name?

Ain.

The full name.

I asked again, but he repeated the same word.

Ain was equivalent to the indefinite article A in English.

Since he kept giving the same answer, it seemed like that was his entire name.

At that moment, priests suddenly teleported into the room.

They wore cassocks, each with a cross and Pleromas emblem around their necks.

There was no point in resistingI wasnt going to waste resources on a fight right now.

Before I could even lift my head, my vision went black again.

***

How much time had passed?

Once more, I awoke to a soft sensation beneath me.

A figure stood in the distance with their back turned.

Eli?

No, that wasnt right.

They had the same stark white color as Elias, but even with their hair tied back, it still reached their waist.

As I blinked to adjust my focus, the figure suddenly turned around.

Ah, youre awake.

They smiled, their eyes curving gently.

I heard you were looking for me. So, what is it you wanted to say?

A face that was hard to forget.

Not because it was particularly attractivethat was too subjective a measurebut because it was simply unnatural.

There was nothing human about this persons presence.

I opened my status window.

Ainsidel

Favorability: -10

Title: A _

Health: +9.

Mental Power: +6

Magic Power: ?

Skills: +7

Impression: +1

Luck: +5

Traits: Charm (Lv.5), A _ (Lv.8), Permanence (Lv.10)

Ainsidel.

This was the master of the man I had just interrogated.

I had asked for someone with more authority, and the bishop himself had come.

What a stroke of luck.

And a favorability of -10?

Interesting.

Even through the status window, only his surname appearedno given name.

Ainsidel.

A noble surname from Prussia.

I sat up and spoke.

You must have seen everything through your subordinate.

Haha! Youre quite suspicious. GoodIm glad to see you living up to your name.

Ainsidel sat on the edge of the bed, continuing smoothly.

I didnt see it myself, but I did hear about it. So, what was it you wanted to tell me? You called for me, after all. I cleared my busy schedule and traveled all this way Id be quite disappointed if this turned out to be nothing.

What do you plan to do with me?

Ill make you what you said I would.

Well, there wasnt really a better option for them.

I studied his features one by one before asking.

How?

Didnt Bern tell you? That kid is smarthe must have tried to turn you already.

Bern?

Who the hell was Bern, for him to speak like this?

I stayed silent, and he shook his head lightly.

Then, in a flash, his hand was around my throat.

Boom!

This is the same thing you did to my subordinate.

His voice was languid, as if he were speaking about the weather.

But I had bigger concernsnamely, the back of my head slamming into the floor.

As expected, Pleroma pulled insane stunts without a second thought.

I met his gaze directly and spoke.

Whos Bern?

Hahahaha!

He laughed so hard his throat was fully exposed.

In that moment, I was certain.

I hadnt spoken to him properly yet, but I already knew.

This bastard was beyond reason.

Everyone I had faced so far had at least some grasp of common sense.

But this man? He was Pleroma itselfthe embodiment of everything people feared about it.

A bishop of this level must be part of Pleromas leadership. I guess you have to be this insane to reach that position.

Still laughing maniacally, he suddenly locked eyes with me and spoke.

We havent properly introduced ourselves, have we? Im Ain.

In all my life, Ive never met someone who asks to be called by a shortened version of their surname.

I scoffed, and Ainsidel tilted his head, as if he didnt understand.

Your surname is Ainsidel.

Well, well. How did you figure that out?

He stroked his chin, intrigued, then pressed down harder on my throat.

As expected. The one who killed Bern has to be this exceptional.

I understood now.

Without breaking eye contact, I processed what he had just said.

He was talking about Berner Strauch.

I didnt kill him.

No, you did.

Well, I suppose it wouldnt be wrong to see it that way.

I had driven him to the brink of death.

Even after I admitted that, Ainsidels grin didnt falter.

To him, my guilt was a foregone conclusion.

He was already looking beyond it.

That was the only way he could be this unfazed.

What now? he mused. I guess it never occurred to you that even Pleromas might have family and friends, did it?

And you? Have you never considered that the people Berner Strauch tried to kill were someones family and friends, too?

He didnt respond.

He only smiled.

That boy could have lived forever. What should I do? Hm? Should I turn you into Bern instead?

Yeah. He was insane.

Abandoning our conversation midway to ramble about his own thoughts? There was no saving this one.

As I stared at him with disdain, he suddenly grinned and patted my shoulder.

Im joking.

Then, in one swift motion, he stood up and muttered,

We have plenty of time Lets get to know each other slowly.

Must we?

Well be seeing a lot of each other. I like you.

A favorability of -10 was as bad as it got. And yet, this lunatic still managed to frame it as affection.

But he wouldnt get to know me.

I already knew what I had to do.

I summoned the Retry Window.

As I fixed my gaze on Ainsidel, I whispered,

Rewind.

***

Strauchs faction was based in Osnabruck, wasnt it? The contract was made with Pleromas bishop there.

Everhardt was looking at me as he spoke.

I clutched my throat and took a deep breath.

Haa.

At that moment, both Leo and Richthofen turned to stare at me.

Whats wrong?

Nothing.

I brushed it off.

The dried blood that had crusted on my face was gone.

My vision was still hazy from the aftereffects of my ability, but the headache from the impact had vanished completely.

Everything had returned to its original state.

Taking a deep breath, I looked at Leo and said,

You can return to your true form now.

What?

Leo narrowed his eyes.

That was fair. It wasnt like I had suddenly stumbled upon useful information, yet I was acting as if I had.

Return to your true formin other words, break the illusion cloaking you.

That was our signal to summon Narce.

The magic surrounding Leo was Narces. If the illusion was broken, Narce would assume we were in danger and come to us immediately.

Theres one variable.

Before coming here, we had explained everything to Marianne Baum.

We had also asked her to bring anyone resembling Michael Schulz to the Catacomb if they ever appeared.

She hadnt given an answer.

Understandable. We had used her.

Even if she refused to help, we couldnt blame her.

But first, I had to break Leos illusion and find out if she had decided to keep her promise.

Leo stared at me, then snapped his fingers.

The illusion magic surrounding him dissipated, revealing his true form.

Everhardt and Richthofen werent surprisedthey must have expected it.

I turned to Everhardt and said,

Ill go.

Hm?

Ill cross over. But on one condition.

Everhardt tilted his head.

Everyone hereexcept for youmust come as well. Is that possible?

The Pleromas are guarding the place. Thats impossible.

Hmm.

I expected that answer.

I pointed my wand at his heart and said,

Then make it possible.

I could feel Leos incredulous stare, but he didnt need to overthink this.

This wasnt my problem to solveit was theirs.

I continued,

Im going there to retrieve the technique your side handed over. You dont need me to explain how dangerous it would be if they grew stronger using your own methods.

Retrieve it?

Richthofen looked dumbfounded.

Everhardt stared at me for a moment before saying,

If we stagger the timing, it should be fine. You cross over first. Well arrive an hour later.

Well, that wouldve been a nice answer earlier.

I turned to Leo.

Tell Narce to grab whatever random person she can, steal their clothes, and come to where I am. Also, have her locate the cathedral and archives of the Osnabruck Diocese.

Got it.

Fortunately, Leo didnt hesitate despite the morally questionable request. He simply nodded.

Without any more hesitation, I drank the drug.

***

Once again, I woke up in the same room.

The strong drugs from the Catacomb must have upset your stomach. Starting with the next meal, we will prepare a proper course.

Alright. Leave.

I quickly dismissed the attendant.

Then, I unfolded the piece of paper that had been in my hand since I woke up.

It was Narces handwriting.

Fast.

She had written down the illusion spell formula used on Leo.

I had no idea when she had figured out what I needed, but it was perfect.

I memorized the spells structure and visualized the form I had seen earlier.

Long, unbound white hair cascaded into my field of vision.

The illusion alone was enough to alter my perception of myself.

Carefully, I raised a hand and touched my face.

The bone structure was different from the Luca I knew.

It was my first time using this magic, but it seemed I had cast it correctlyeven my voice had changed.

It felt disgusting, but this was the best approach.

I wiped away the lingering nosebleed and stood up.

Boom!

The same attendant as before burst into the room, his face filled with confusion. He looked at me, then at the empty bed.

My lord? Where is Lord Nicolaus?

Fast.

He must have sensed the magic surge from my core.

I recalled the bishops relaxed tone and spoke.

I sent him away.

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