Surviving without God

Sunlight spilled into the room where the curtains had already been removed. Gunther looked at Brody. Her mouth half-open, her gaze unfocused. Blood that had not yet cooled had soaked into the floor, and the last spasms still ran through her neck.

[Alphonse of Red Street, not giving you time to recover, shouts that this person died very recently]

And. Before he could finish reading the message, a monstrous impact shook his body.

-----!

The strike was so fast and so ferocious that evading it was impossible. Yet something felt strange. There was no sound at all. As if he had been thrown into open space—even his own scream drowned in the void.

“!!!!”

And yet, paradoxically, it was precisely because of that forced silence that Gunther realized who stood before him.

“This is [Sound and Echo Devouring].”

The unique ability of the Youngest among the “Table Companions”—to “devour” every sound and sign of life. How they had reached this place was unknown, but the situation had already collapsed into the worst possible scenario.

Because the fact that they activated their unique abilities from /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the very beginning meant they were going all out.

“---!”

After flying quite a distance, Gunther rolled across the floor and spat out a clot of blood.

[Warning! Steel Myocardium is half destroyed]

...An ugly hole gaped in the new armor.

One round he had barely endured. Yet the situation did not improve. When Gunther raised his head, the shadows of the Youngest and the Eldest already loomed over the corridor. At that moment, the swallowed sounds returned.

“Oh? So you were hiding such a delicious little face?”

The tone was light and mocking, but the gaze was cold. Not a trace of carelessness remained in their eyes—they had already learned their lesson in the Labyrinth. In a situation where he had to face two Table Companions alone, it was the worst possible signal. No allies, and Karma at zero. ...In other words, there were no variables in this battle.

Slap—

The Eldest stepped forward. His flabby chest and belly produced a wet, slapping sound with every movement.

“Don’t kill him right away. Under no circumstances.”

“Of course. I’ll chew him piece by piece, and in the end I’ll feed him to the bugs.”

A situation that would drive anyone to despair. Yet Gunther’s gaze was not fixed on his enemies but deeper into the office. On the comrade who had died because of him.

“Hm, what a piercing look.”

The Youngest, fixing his rapier-like sword on Gunther, took a step forward. And suddenly he spat out Brody’s voice, which he had just “eaten” along with Sound and Echo Devouring.

“Don’t come any closer!!!”

At the familiar voice, Gunther’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth cracked. A smile spread across the Youngest’s vicious face.

“I thought you should hear your friend’s last words.”

“......”

“Now that you’ve listened, start thinking about your own. I’ll swallow them and then let your comrades hear them.”

It was a tactic meant to shake his composure, and it worked flawlessly. Feeling the heavy pain tearing through his insides, Gunther looked at the approaching Youngest and Eldest. A suffocating sense of powerlessness washed over him.

“...It’s all the same.”

No matter how many times he died and returned, in the end—Act 1, Scene 1, just like before. A comrade mercilessly defeated, and he would once again have to wait for the next life. What was even worse—even if he returned to overcome this crisis, he would still have to die several more times. Agonizing, nightmarish deaths awaited him ahead.

[Three gods are watching you]

But Gunther knew. Emotions were only emotions. He could not allow them to become the reason he abandoned what had to be done.

Brody died because of him. That meant he had to fix everything. That was his responsibility.

“Huu.”

Gunther took a deep breath, casting aside the guilt and despair that made the tips of his fingers tremble. Like a merchant crossing unnecessary items off a bill, he pushed fear and anger aside.

“...I am a Regressor. I must act not with emotion, but with calculation.”

A Regressor ends the moment he breaks. That meant he had to endure. Endure, try again, and inevitably achieve a complete victory.

“How... then?”

Gunther’s mind began to turn coldly. As Brody always said, everything ultimately rested on the balance between investment and profit. Then which path would make this death as valuable as possible?

[The Lord of the Oceans watches your decision with interest]

“...It seems so.”

And Gunther’s gaze changed. From the eyes of a defeated man it turned into the cold light of someone who had reached a decision after completing every calculation. What he needed to grasp now. What he needed to carry into the next life was obvious.

“Let’s go.”

Bam—!

Gunther pushed off the floor. The expressions of the Table Companions turned strange. They had expected him to flee, but instead Gunther charged at them fiercely.

“...Huh?” “No fear, I see.”

Of course, they were not terribly surprised. They had assumed he might recklessly rush into battle, blinded by anger.

Vuuuuun—

Shuuuu—

The butcher’s wide cleaver and the rapier-like sword flashed through the air at the same time.

But Gunther’s next movement completely exceeded their expectations again. Instead of taking the blows head-on, Gunther twisted and pressed himself against the wall.

“......Eh?”

In the instant when the Table Companions hesitated at the unexpected maneuver—

[Passive Skill “Vision of the Heavenly Mechanism” Lv.1 activated]

Gunther’s vision warped and expanded strangely.

Uuuuum—

The structure of the corridor. Overlaid upon it, faint outlines spread and hidden devices surfaced one after another, colored in different hues. All kinds of defensive artifacts, mechanisms, magical sigils, and formations.

[Alphonse of Red Street admires the dense construction]

Gunther was not merely “seeing” them. The structure of their connections, the operating principles, the methods of control—all of it pierced his mind as though he were stabbing straight through them.

“...Just as expected. Brody’s style.”

She had not been able to prevent the Table Companions from infiltrating, but the quantity and scale were impressive. Enough that they could be put to use.

Clink—

Gunther raised the “Straight Line of Despair,” aiming precisely at a single point in the corridor. The Youngest rushing toward him stopped.

“...This lunatic.”

Before he could finish speaking, Gunther drove his sword into the floor.

Craaaack—

At that moment, blue light flared across the entire corridor like sparks. Mana flowed through the blade, forcibly activating the formations. It was not a sequential launch but a simultaneous detonation of everything at once.

[All security devices in Brody’s office activated simultaneously]

[Skill proficiency for “Vision of the Heavenly Mechanism” Lv.1 increases]

Barriers ignited, and the corridor was swallowed by blinding radiance.

Whirrr—

Crossbow installations embedded in the ceiling fired, spewing thick bolts. Magical sigils on the walls generated lightning, while the formations spread across the floor roared like thunder and scattered steel spheres everywhere. In an instant the corridor turned into a battlefield where every kind of projectile was mixed together.

“Back!”

The Eldest rushed forward at once, shielding the Youngest with his body. Of course, magical formations of this level were not fatal to them. But enduring them barehanded was impossible. If the Eldest, who functioned as the tank, could manage, the Youngest—an assassin—certainly could not. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“Thank you, Brody.”

Thanks to this, he had won a round and managed to move a little further ahead. Standing in the center of the corridor, Gunther raised the broad flat of the “Straight Line of Despair” like a shield and curled his body tightly.

Krrrakh—!

Jets of blood constantly split open his exposed shoulders and arms, yet he did not even feel the pain. Gunther protected only his tendons, waiting for the next moment.

Krrrakh—!

As the storm of fire rained down, the three of them were trapped. Concern flickered across the Eldest’s face. He was certain Gunther would use this moment to escape.

“What?!”

But Gunther once again violated their expectations.

Step—

Lowering his body, he shot forward like a bullet. As the distance suddenly shrank, the Eldest’s eyes narrowed.

“He chose to fight here...?”

Without memories of past lives, they did not know Gunther’s exact abilities. Just as Gunther expected, the Eldest tried to probe him with a light test strike. A quick thrust without a backswing, executed purely through monstrous arm strength. Gunther’s eyes flashed as he slightly twisted his torso.

Whoosh—!

At the moment the blade tip swept by as if slicing his crown. Gunther stepped half a pace back and crouched. The blade cut through the air, barely brushing the bridge of his nose—

Clang—

Following the same trajectory, the “Straight Line of Despair” elegantly turned and lifted upward. Instead of blocking head-on, he chose a refined angle to deflect the strike. Taking on the weight of the Eldest’s knife, he forced it to slide away as though wrenching the wrist. The Eldest’s balance faltered for a moment.

“Ha...!”

It was strange. This man’s reactions were not those of someone fighting him for the first time but smooth as if he had battled him dozens, hundreds of times.

“Brother, be careful!”

The counterattack followed without even a second to breathe. The “Straight Line of Despair” sliced through the air with a low arc, aiming precisely at the gap beneath the ribs. This was no mere probing strike. Every ounce of strength Gunther could squeeze from himself was poured into this blow. Mana boiling violently along the blade pulsed and spread like flame.

Thud—!

The sound of the sword plunging into flesh echoed dully.

“Brother!”

“......”

Silence fell over the corridor. It was the moment when the smell of blood and iron became suffocatingly heavy.

“Kh, khe-he.”

A smile slowly spread across the frozen Eldest’s lips.

Plop—

He pushed away the blade embedded in his side and laughed quietly. The sword, which had entered only a few centimeters, dropped powerlessly toward the floor.

“What’s this... you’re so weak?”

[Due to the colossal difference in attributes, damage is greatly reduced]

Yet despite the desperate message, Gunther’s expression did not change. He had already seen this message in a previous life. He knew it would happen. He had aimed for only one thing.

“Yes... these heretics are like rats. When they hide they squeak, but before the light of [Attention] they can’t even open their eyes.”

Uuum—

The strikes of the Youngest and the Eldest came at the same time. These were not killing blows. The blades were angled aside, the points of impact targeting the lower limbs—it was suppression.

That was exactly what Gunther had been waiting for.

[Passive Skill "Eyes of the Tyrant" Lv.1 activated]

Bam—!

A short, sharp impulse like lightning shot from his ankles to his waist, propelling his entire body. The “Eyes of the Tyrant” opened, and for a moment power and perception surpassing the Table Companions enveloped his body. Thanks to the infusion of mana, the duration extended to five seconds.

That was enough.

“What?!”

The Table Companions’ faces reflected confusion at the drastically changed movements. Even the aura emanating from him visibly differed from what it had been seconds earlier. Taking it as the revelation of a hidden skill, they reflexively lowered themselves into defensive stances.

“?!”

But the next moment, both of their pupils clouded with bewilderment.

Because Gunther, who had rushed at them fiercely—

simply passed them by.

Step—

The corridor was narrow, difficult to break through, but because both had simultaneously taken defensive positions, a gap opened. Gunther dashed straight toward the end of the corridor, deeper into the office.

“What? Why would he...?”

He was heading into a dead-end office? They swung their swords belatedly toward Gunther’s back, but cut only empty air. Gunther clenched his teeth.

“Faster!”

Swish—

Barely touching the wall, Gunther kicked off and changed his angle of movement. And then, inside the office. He arrived at the desk where Brody’s body lay collapsed.