Surviving without God

“Mmm... I should have left his face intact. What a pity.”

Revmael, the Hierarch of Justice, muttered this as she looked down at the heretic’s corpse from above. The one who defiles the Sanctuary.

She had known of his existence even before. He had behaved far too boldly and brazenly in Border City. But at some point... the number of revelations connected to him had begun increasing at a geometric rate.

As revelations always were, they had been vague and distant. But one of them—“Kill him”—had been terrifyingly clear, steeped in pure bloodlust.

“So I killed him.”

Tracking down his exact location had not been easy. It had felt as if someone was protecting him, concealing the traces. However, the moment she faced him in person, she instantly recognized his essence and eliminated the threat at once.

Originally, the Luthien punitive squad had infiltrated the royal capital of Zeros for another purpose, but their priorities were changed immediately. Revmael casually nudged the headless corpse with her foot.

“Hm, and that’s all?”

Not bad, of course, but only at the level of an ordinary bishop. It had not even taken thirty seconds to crush him. Revmael lifted her gaze and looked ahead.

“A-a-a-a-a-a!”

The first thing that entered her field of vision was a white-haired girl. She was charging forward with a shrill scream, a shield soaring through the air behind her. Following right after was Cheonmae, grinding her teeth as she gripped her bow and drew the string, while Levain had already taken up a sniper position. Parco showered the squad members with every kind of buff imaginable. And finally, Rietta and Yuria stood frozen in shock. At the sight of the two girls, the corners of Revmael’s lips twitched faintly.

“Defective products.”

Their momentum looked fierce, but slaughtering them all would take no more than ten minutes. There had been some annoying types among Valloren’s knights, but they had already scattered in every direction.

Sabotage. Pillars of flame were rising across the entire capital, and screams echoed everywhere. All of them would be shackled hand and foot by their chains called “knightly honor.”

“Well then, let’s begin!”

With a grin, Revmael raised her heavy hammer. Her target—Blanc, advancing at the vanguard.

Wooooonnn—

At the very moment Seren Gless began to vibrate low, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) as if sensing its fate...

“...”

Revmael froze. Even though Blanc’s wind blade had already cut through her clothes and skin, she only stared blankly up at the sky.

“...What did you say?”

GROOOOM—!

The sight surpassed all comprehension.

Sssssss—

From the very edge of the horizon, a bluish-black fog began to crawl forward, devouring reality itself. The northern sunset was erased without a trace, and in its place reigned a black void. And there, beyond that endless darkness...

Tiiick-taaaack—

A golden clock was turning in reverse. The second hand retreated backward, and the gears ground and groaned as they meshed into place.

And then. Nothing remained.

***

Tiling!

[You have died]

[Calculating death records...]

[25/99]

[Life cycle reset detected]

[The characteristic “Godslayer” and its unique skill “Deicide” are now available]

[The characteristic “???” and its unique skill “Reading” are now available]

Gunther forced out the breath he had been holding in his chest. A space where only cold and darkness reigned, stripped of direction and any sense of distance. After a long time, he had returned to the domain of Return After Death. ...And after being crushed with absolute superiority.

“I don’t think there’s been a gap in power this overwhelming since Act 1, Chapter 1.”

Gunther unconsciously touched the head that had just been missing and looked at the messages floating before his eyes.

[#25 The Life of Walking Karma]

[A true magnet for misfortune! A delightful assortment of karmic consequences!]

[There were so many epithets that suited you, I actually hesitated over which one to choose]

[Did you seriously think you’d get away unpunished after provoking the Seven Evil Gods so brazenly? You should have acted more carefully, far more thoroughly!]

[Try not to be so careless in your next life! Though I doubt one death will be enough to fix everything!]

...What’s with it? Is it that happy to see us again after so long? The tone of the messages feels unusually lively. Gunther let out another sigh.

“Yeah... the enemy is far too strong to handle in a single life.”

The image before death remained vivid. The first thing burned into his memory was the bluish-black hammer that had filled his entire field of vision.

It had been of ordinary size. But its mass had been unnatural, distorted somehow. Judging by the feeling of impact—at least several tons.

The moment it swung, the air tore apart, and space itself seemed to crumple. Violence of such magnitude that even trying to calculate the strike became meaningless. At the very first collision with my Two-Handed Sword of Despair, every bone from wrist to shoulder shattered in an instant.

If Parco had not taken those injuries onto himself, I would have died on the spot. Even so, despite doing everything I could afterward, I did not last even a minute.

“...As expected, canon really did make her the worst enemy.”

The Cult of Justice. The military stronghold of the Luthien Theocracy. It would have been stranger if the Hierarch of that cult had been weak.

In truth, the original storyline had not even included a proper boss battle with Revmael. When encountering her in the kingdom of Nereus, she could only be defeated through a specific mechanic.

“Without using the Sea Dragon, it’s impossible to deal with her.”

That was exactly why the Grand Admiral was so important—the sole key to awakening the dragon. If Revmael was not removed, then with her iron grip on the Northern Sea, half of the trade routes and supply lines across the northern half of the continent would be cut off.

And now a monster like that, because of the consequences of the Reality Rewrite, had appeared not in Nereus but in Valloren.

“...I got complacent.”

In Grand Crow’s records, her activity had been noticeably reduced compared to the original history. Gunther had assumed that with Luthien’s influence weakened, Revmael’s power had faded as well. But that had been a mistake. On the contrary, her strength had not merely remained intact—it had seemed to grow even greater.

“They kept her as a secret weapon, saving her for the decisive moment.”

Which meant that right now, only one thing mattered.

The save point.

What if the save point had been set at a terrible moment? For example, during the Holy Sword Festival trial. Or after we had already entered the capital. Then a clash with her would be unavoidable.

He needed to return to a moment before entering the capital. Somewhere there was still time to choose and room to maneuver. A moment where there was at least a ghost of a chance to expose Luthien’s conspiracy. That would be the best possible outcome.

“Please...!”

[Calculating Karma...]

Autosave was a cruel thing. In the end, all that remained was to rely on luck. Gunther prayed fervently while simultaneously calculating the worst-case scenarios in his mind. Meanwhile, the regression procedure continued without emotion.

Tiling!

[Karma of 25th life: 2111]

[Current Karma: 2861]

[Accumulated Karma: 10705]

[Accumulated Karma has exceeded 10,000, therefore the existing bonus “Compass” is strengthened]

[The force guiding you increases thanks to the colossal volume of Karma]

[Minor fortunes will guide you, creating an effect of evasion from misfortune]

...Fortunately, enough Karma had piled up. At the very least, enough for an emergency.

“...For example, for Condescension.”

Of course, it would probably not be enough to defeat the Hierarch of Justice, but for a brief instant it would allow him to fight on equal footing. And the previously useless bonus had been strengthened too. Well, better than nothing.

Now only one thing remained...

[Returning to Save Point No.13]

Regression.

No.13. He had never seen this number before. Previous save points had always led to specific places, so this time he could not even guess where he would land.

“Please!”

Caaaaaa—!

The black space began filling with white radiance from the edges inward. Gritting his teeth, Gunther threw himself into the light.

Gunther opened his eyes. A familiar scene unfolded before him.

“Here are the trophies I prepared.”

“...Oh, damn.”

Seril’s face, which had been glowing with pride just moments ago, instantly froze, then twisted into a wounded pout.

“S-Sir Gan! Even if you don’t like them, you can’t be so openly disappointed...”

Gunther let out a quiet sigh.

“No, not at all. The souvenirs... I mean, the trophies, I really like them.”

“...Really?”

Gunther took one sweet, and only then did Seril’s face brighten again.

“Hehe... Then I’m glad. See, Servan! I told you he’d like them!”

While the squad members laughed and chatted as they examined the souvenirs Seril had brought, Gunther silently swept his gaze across the surroundings. Save Point No.13. The day of arrival in the capital. Good that it wasn’t the day of the Holy Sword Festival itself, but it still wasn’t the ideal moment. Gunther’s eyes frantically searched the crowd for someone.

“...They’ve probably already noticed me.”

No way to know. It was possible surveillance had already been placed on him.

“There’s too little information on the enemy.”

Only a few things were clear. The Hierarch of Justice was already operating here in the capital. And near her, for some unknown reason, was an individual presumed to be “Audrey.”

“This is an extremely carefully planned operation, but this time it can’t be helped.”

“How could they possibly pass up the chance to ‘punish’ the one who defiles the Sanctuary?”

“Masiu can go to hell with his requests.”

They had come here for some purpose, most likely at Masiu’s request. And in the process, they had discovered Gunther.

“...”

Gunther looked at the road they had just walked. The first thought that came to mind was immediate retreat.

The Hierarch of Justice was lethally dangerous. If he chose to fight her, it was impossible to imagine how many lives would be burned through. Probably dozens, just like in Chapter 1.

But...

Then Gunther turned his head the other way. His blue eyes captured the festive streets.

Merchants with warm smiles. Children laughing as they ran through the streets holding their parents’ hands. Guards patrolling the city with a reassuring presence. Local girls blushing as they pushed treats into his hands before running away, scattering bright laughter behind them.

And over all of that... another image overlaid itself. The black hammer running wild. The dark magic of Luthien descending upon the city.

“...”

If he did not know, it would have been different. But now he simply could not turn a blind eye. And most importantly...

“Wait.”

To keep the promise he had made to Dominic, the Holy Sword was necessary. He had to disperse the clouds of Luthien over the capital of Zeros and reach his objective. There was no other path for Gunther.

“Gunther? What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly go quiet?”

Rietta looked up at him with concern.

“...?”

At that exact moment, something flashed through Gunther’s mind.

“Ah?”

Memories from the previous iteration surfaced. At exactly this time. Rietta had met someone and begun showing signs of distress. Then, after seeing that same person again in the festival stands, she had fallen into full panic.

But now there was not even a trace of fear on Rietta’s face. Only joyful anticipation for the festival and sincere concern for Gunther. Which meant...

“They haven’t met yet.”

Then the conclusion was obvious. If he carefully watched Rietta now, he could find “Audrey.” There was no need to wait until tomorrow for them to begin moving—he could launch a preemptive strike.

This was a factor capable of completely overturning the game board. Gunther’s thoughts began racing at a furious speed.

“No, it’s nothing. Just got a little sleepy. Alright, let’s go.”

He could not create any differences from the previous iteration. Gunther moved forward, pretending nothing had happened, while not letting Rietta out of his sight for even a moment.

“By the way, it’s surprising that foreigners are also allowed to participate in the Holy Sword Festival.”

Rietta and Servan began talking. The exact same conversation he had already heard once before.

“That’s because the Holy Sword cannot make a mistake in its choice.”

“You mean the Holy Sword chooses on its own...?” 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

“Yes, in fact, even the third king, Cedric, was also a foreigner. When the kingdom was in danger during the Great Dead Invasion from the Northern Sea...”

Yes. Exactly at this moment.

Rustle—

A figure flickered at the edge of Gunther’s vision. There were too many people around to make out the face. However...

—!

He clearly saw the expression on Rietta’s face beside him.

Confusion. Shock. Doubt. Then fear and anxiety replaced each other so quickly there was no time even to breathe.

“Bingo.”

[The skill “Serpent’s Nest” (Lv. 2) activates]

Sssss—

The shadow serpent slipped into the shadow of that silhouette. Gunther silently waited until that person had moved a sufficient distance away. Only then did he turn to his companions and say:

“I’ll be away for a moment.”