Velosian flinched and looked at me.

“…! You are?”

“First time seeing me? Not that I’m glad.”

“Mide Mohan.”

His eyes darted restlessly.

Then they stopped.

No, not stopped.

They were trembling violently.

“And… Impelium.”

I spoke to Impelium.

‘Looks like you have been found out.’

[No.]

‘Huh? But he just said your name.’

[I don’t exist as a soul. He didn’t discover me and call my name.]

‘Then what?’

[Anyway, I will be leaving now. The rest is up to you.]

‘What? Just like that?’

[Even helping this much was pushing it. A warm cup of tea, the laughter of children, and my beloved wife are waiting for me.]

‘So you are married. That room you invited me to, that was your newlywed home, wasn’t it?’

[Hardly newlywed, it’s been a long time. But in my heart, it’s always the honeymoon.]

With that last line, which Serein would definitely have found irritating, he vanished.

I rested the blade on my shoulder and spoke to Velosian.

“Who is Impelium?”

“And you still pretend not to know?”

“Then let me rephrase. Why did you see Impelium in me?”

“Because that one also walked freely in the frozen world.”

Step. Step.

I walked toward him.

And he retreated exactly that much.

Clink.

I hid Trail and Adwin behind me and said,

“Tell me if my guess is right. From what I can see, you and Adin teamed up and fought Impelium.”

“…”

“And at the end of that fight, you killed him. Am I right?”

“Yes. More or less. Except for one thing.”

“And what’s that?”

“The word fight. We were simply beaten down one-sidedly.”

I let out an involuntary gasp.

Adin, that monster and Velosian, who was even stronger than him.

And yet Impelium fought them both and made it one-sided? What kind of being was he?

“But in the end, you killed him, didn’t you? If it was so one-sided, how?”

“I have no obligation to tell you that.”

“If you put it like that, you don’t exactly have an obligation to be here either.”

“True enough. So, what will you do?”

Clink.

I leveled my blade at him.

“Kill you. You have already burned through quite a bit, so it should be easy.”

“Keh-heh. Getting cocky with not even five hundred thousand fame.”

“…!”

“Fine. No matter how weakened I am now, I can at least smash that arrogant face of yours.”

“Try it.”

Swish…!

I dashed at him with Quick Step.

Quick Step in the frozen world was far, far faster than when I used it in normal world.

Velosian’s face was already right before me.

Whoosh.

I swung my sword.

“Hmph.”

But Velosian blocked it with his bare arm.

Ka-kang!

With the strange sound of metal clashing, my sword was slightly knocked aside.

He kicked at my abdomen.

I twisted my torso to evade and pressed the attack.

—KWHAAAAM. THUD.

Eardrum-tearing impacts rang out in succession.

Then Trail’s voice came.

[Time is really stopped, right?]

‘Trail. You have worked hard while I was gone.’

[What the hell did you do in the Underworld to end up with that body?]

‘Thanks for the compliment. And for protecting my companions.’

[Save the thanks for later after you beat him.]

‘Of course.’

The fight dragged on for about five minutes. Well, if such an expression made sense in the frozen world, it felt like five minutes.

Velosian was increasingly being pushed back.

According to Trail, the moment he passed twenty-five steps, his body began showing clear signs of strain.

For someone outside the “special room,” this frozen world must have been unbearable.

But me? I felt nothing.

The fact that he had lasted five minutes against me in such overwhelmingly unfavorable conditions was remarkable in its own way.

‘Which is why I need to kill him here. He is too strong to leave alive.’

Then Velosian failed to dodge my last strike, and I caught his side.

Slash!

Blood burst from his body, but froze in midair, never hitting the ground.

In this stopped world, even blood could not move.

“Ghhk.”

“Now your face shows some panic. Good to see.”

“…”

“You have been scampering around dodging all this time, but I will make sure you can’t anymore.”

I took a stance.

—Ridiculously Intense Slashing!

If I put it in Lepia’s terms, a curtain of blades spread out.

So dense he couldn’t move a muscle.

Velosian darted his eyes about, searching for an escape, but then closed them.

“This time, I have lost.”

And in the next instant.

My blade shredded his body to pieces.

From head to toe, reduced to minced flesh.

Because time was frozen, the meat did not collapse.

What remained was a grotesque figure like a pillar of raw meat standing upright.

[Did you kill him?]

‘Who knows. I don’t have the ability to see souls.’

[Hmm. Didn’t they say, if a soul doesn’t leave for the Underworld, it’s not dead? But no matter who it is, even Velosian, if the body dies, won’t the soul automatically go to the Underworld?]

‘Funny for you to say, when someone who just returned from the Underworld is standing right here.’

Trail fell silent.

The Underworld I had seen was not a single vast world.

It was as countless as the number of humans who had lived and died, an infinite collection of bubble-worlds.

I didn’t sense that Velosian was anywhere among them.

[By the way, did things work out? With Serein, I mean.]

‘That’s what I need to check. Release the Eye of Omniscience.’

[Oh, right.]

Trail cancelled the Eye.

Time returned to its normal flow.

I turned to head back toward the carriage.

But before I could, figures rushed out.

Neril, Xenia, Offense, and Lisel.

“Mide!”

“Mr. Mide! What happened to the fight?”

“When did you leave? Why didn’t we notice?”

They surrounded me.

Clack.

Neril grabbed my face with both hands, turning it side to side.

“You’re not hurt anywhere?”

“I’m fine. Let me go.”

“I kept ringing the bell until the end, right? But suddenly I snapped back to myself and everything was already over.”

Now that she mentioned it.

‘If time was stopped, Neril couldn’t have rung the bell! Come to think of it, I don’t recall hearing it near the end in the Underworld either…’

[…]

‘Say something.’

[Hypothetically… what if I said I just forgot?]

‘….’

[No. I didn’t forget. I believed in you.]

Whatever.

At least I made it back in one piece.

Neril let go of my cheek and turned toward Adwin.

Trail was still within Adwin’s body.

“Ah, um. Mr. Trail.”

“Yes!”

“Thank you so much for helping us.”

“Oh no, please. Such words are too much for the likes of me.”

Neril glanced at me with a slightly bewildered look.

I gave a wry smile and said,

“What? Not what you expected?”

“A bit. I thought he would be more like… Grade.”

“I told you countless times he’s the shy type.”

“I thought you were joking.”

“Anyway, Trail? It’s about time you came out of Adwin.”

Trail nodded, then turned to Xenia.

“Before that, please heal this body. As you can see, it’s a wreck… once I leave, he will faint from the pain.”

“Ah, right. Hey, Adin!”

A short prayer was uttered, and golden light gently wrapped around Adwin’s body.

The wounds were serious, but before long, they closed as if they had never been there.

Trail bid farewell to everyone.

“Then, I wish you all happiness.”

“Why do you sound like we will never see you again?”

“Pardon?”

“From what I saw today, it seems you can inhabit Adwin’s body to some extent… so why don’t you check in once a day and say hello?”

At Xenia’s words, Trail’s face turned red.

Neril whispered to me.

“He’s really different from you.” Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

“What do you mean?”

“Just what I said. But don’t worry. I actually like your shameless, arrogant side better.”

“……”

“Hehe. Just keep that in mind.”

I felt my face heating up for no reason and fanned it with my hand a few times.

Meanwhile, Adwin’s healing finished completely, and Trail returned to me.

Adwin, panting heavily, spoke.

“Hah… hah… I just saw the Redby River.”

“That river doesn’t exist.”

“Well, since the guy who literally went to the underworld says so, I can’t really argue.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. Mr. Trail made it so I couldn’t feel the pain. I should have thanked him too.”

Trail said,

[Tell him it was nothing.]

“He says to thank him plenty.”

[That’s not what I said!]

Adwin chuckled.

“That doesn’t sound like something he would say.”

…Busted.

Anyway, it looked like things were mostly settled.

Now, the only thing left was.

Lisel spoke up.

“Mr. Mide. What happened in the underworld?”

“I managed to get it done somehow.”

“Then let’s hurry and go to Serein.”

But for some reason, Neril interjected in a slightly gloomy tone.

“Lisel, you’re really something.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Mime is dead.”

“……?”

“And yet you’re calmly thinking of Serein first. That’s admirable… and I’m thankful.”

“He’s not dead, though?”

Of course not. Spirits don’t just die.

Has she never read any of the Magna Nero’s records?

“He just changed into a form of wind for a while. Call him again in a day or two and he will come.”

“……”

“I think I mentioned this back when we fought Helnaim, too.”

“……”

“Oh. Your face turned red.”

“No it hasn’t!”

Totally red.

Anyway, we turned toward the carriage.

Then Adwin suddenly shouted in alarm.

“Wha..! Wh-what is that?!”

He pointed behind me.

Even though time had resumed, Velosian’s minced flesh still stood upright like a pillar.

“That’s Velosian.”

Xenia tilted her head.

“Huh? But… it’s just meat.”

“Yeah. Don’t eat it.”

“Hahaha, Mr. Mide, you’re funny.”

“He ended up like that from my last technique. Now we need to clean it up.”

At that moment.

Pop.

A screen appeared.

A crimson screen.

[Idria is watching. She is probably deciding the next destination for Kaeld.]

‘…….’

[First, let me connect you with Adwin through soul-talk.]

‘Wait.’

I had another idea.

I took a deep breath and shouted,

“Idria! I know you’re watching right now.”

Flinch.

Our companions froze.

I gave them a quick wink and continued.

“No need to show yourself. Just listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“Mide, what the hell are you doing…”

“We fought Velosian. I will tell you why. You should hear what kind of being you’re cooperating with.”

I then explained why we were in the capital, what Velosian had done to Serein… no, to Pirensha.

And about our battle with him.

Neril nodded as if she understood.

“Smart move.”

The next moment.

Crackle.

Space split open.

Idria extended one arm through.

Thanks to Trail, that arm already bore wounds.

But her voice trembled not with pain, but with anger and sorrow.

“Say that again. What did Velosian do to my child?”

“Not did, he is doing it even now. Velosian erased half of Pirensha’s soul. That’s how he hurt my party member, Serein, whose soul was linked to hers.”

“……”

“But I… well, somehow, I managed to separate Pirensha’s and Serein’s souls. Now the world will see them as two distinct entities. The only one suffering now is your daughter.”

Idria’s arm trembled.

I spoke in a steady tone.

“So, do you still think you should keep working with Velosian?”

“Kh… Don’t lie to me. Pirensha has never told me such a thing.”

“Maybe it was her hidden wish… to help her mother in secret.”

“That’s impossible…”

“Here, take this.”

I turned and pointed to the pile of minced flesh that used to be Velosian.

“We need to clean it up anyway, so I might as well give it to you.”

“Mide.”

“Take it and analyze it. You won’t be able to defeat Velosian, but at least you will know whether that corpse is really his or not.”

“……”

“If it is, then you will have proof I’m telling the truth.”

Idria stayed silent for a long time.

I added,

“Don’t worry. I won’t be cutting your wrist off this time.”

“……”

Finally, she opened a rift beside the flesh.

I watched silently as she swept up the minced meat.

Before vanishing completely, Idria asked,

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Because Velosian seems eager to help you. He is strong. If you had his support, it would be troublesome for me.”

“And?”

What do you mean, and?

“I’m openly trying to drive a wedge between you.”

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