Chapter – 31
The rank-10 skill I could now use thanks to the increased Divine Descent Synchronization Rate — Severance of Evil.
A merciless execution skill that cuts away existence according to the total amount of evil the target possesses.
Following the trajectory traced by my finger, a white crack appeared across Rodrigo’s body. From that fracture, his body began to break apart into tiny mosaic-like fragments.
The target of Severance is evil.
And demons are evil itself.
Therefore, at this moment, the annihilation of Rodrigo Orshu was being carried out.
“My… my body…! N-no!”
“Yes.”
Rodrigo screamed toward the hole in the ceiling.
“You damned god! You abandoned this ugly world and told us to do whatever we wanted with it! So why now?! Why judge us now?! A-ah! Aaaaah…!”
His screams didn’t last long.
Realizing his destruction was inevitable, Rodrigo stopped wasting his strength and collapsed to his knees.
“Hah… haha… You have won, fiancée. This must be… the fate of a hopeless lover. To have even my heart and soul stolen…”
“Stop being pathetic and die.”
“Kyaak!”
Crackle!
His body shattered like crystal and scattered into the air.
His death sentence had been carried out.
[<System> Congratulations! You have defeated the dungeon master, Demon World Rank 778, ‘Rodrigo Orshu’.]
“Whew… it’s over.”
The gap between an A-rank boss and an S-rank boss was enormous.
If I had underestimated it as just a one-rank difference like with Ardimang and fought alone, I might have struggled. Thanks to Tesilid, it went relatively smoothly.
“Omnipotence. Healing Field.”
[<System> High-grade skill ‘Healing Field Lv.45 (+10)’ has been activated.]
Shimmering heat-haze light and firefly-like glows rose within a certain area.
Using a group heal, I treated Tesilid and the children’s injuries all at once.
Conveniently, the demonic corruption melted away on its own under the strong divine power.
After finishing everything, I released the Divine Descent.
“Good work, Terry.”
“……”
“Terry?”
I turned toward Tesilid, who wasn’t responding.
He was staring at me without moving.
“Excuse me, Mr. Tesilid Argent?”
“That just now… that was Divine Descent, right?”
His voice trembled slightly when he finally spoke.
[‘The Word that Builds the World’ snorts and tells you to apologize for saying a Saint shouldn’t act up.]
That’s a pretty malicious interpretation.
At this point there was no point denying it. I nodded.
“Yeah, it was. Divine Descent. I even shouted the skill name.”
“My god… then the person the Order is searching for…”
“Yeah. That’s me.”
“Then the Saint…”
“It’s an embarrassing title, but I’ll accept it. That’s me.”
“A-and without knowing that I earlier said…”
Tesilid’s face turned bright red as reality sank in.
He was probably remembering how he said I wasn’t even a Saint.
His flustered face was kind of cute. I’ll accept that as your apology.
“My identity was supposed to be secret, but you found out. Well, that doesn’t mean you have to reveal your secret too.”
I already know it anyway.
Tesilid didn’t seem like he intended to share it either. He looked mentally overwhelmed.
He seemed to have many questions.
“How can someone as young as you use Divine Descent?”
“You’re young too, you know.”
“Fine, forget the age. But even now… you have zero divine power. How is Divine Descent possible?”
“Thanks to the gracious love of God. Apparently I’m still far from awakening divine power, so they just let me use Divine Descent first.”
[‘The Sarcastic Arbiter of Balance’ is amazed how you’re romanticizing what was basically bug compensation.]
Then I heard Tesilid muttering.
“Order and Goodness did that? That doesn’t sound like them…”
It seemed he knew quite well how stingy his god usually was.
Since I didn’t have much time, I spoke quickly.
“Terry, I have a request.”
“What is it?”
“I know the Order is looking for me, but I don’t want to join them yet. And I don’t want to carry the Saint title and dedicate my talents. So I want you to keep my identity secret.”
“……”
Tesilid fell silent.
I felt slightly nervous. What if, like a typical responsible protagonist, he said ‘Since you’re a Saint, you must serve humanity!’?
After all, earlier he passionately told me not to sacrifice myself as a civilian when I tried negotiating with Rodrigo.
Maybe he would completely change his attitude now that he knew I had special power?
Just then, Tesilid answered seriously:
“Okay.”
“I figured you’d say… wait. What? Really? Okay?”
“Yeah. I won’t tell the Order. I swear in the name of ‘Strict Order and Goodness.’”
The question why? must have been obvious on my face, because he explained.
“You have a family. Go home to them.”
“……”
What the heck. That actually moved me.
Tesilid continued:
“No one can force you to become a hero. Even if you’re a Saint, even if you’re special, if you don’t want it, you don’t have to.”
“……”
My character analysis was wrong.
There was no Tesilid forcing me to serve humanity.
“Thanks. You’re more flexible than you look.”
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment or an insult…”
I assured him it was a compliment. Then I remembered something important.
“Oh right— loot! No time. We need to loot!”
I approached Rodrigo’s remains, now just scattered glass fragments.
Two skill books had dropped.
One for a tank, one for a healer. They formed a set but couldn’t be learned by one person.
Since detailed info wasn’t visible, it seemed we had to learn them first.
“We can take one each. Here, Terry.”
“We should discuss the loot with the others—”
“You’re the only tank here. Don’t act like a slow potato and hurry.”
“Slow… potato?”
“It’s an expression. Anyway, I think these skills affect each other. Learn it and tell me what it does.”
“Okay.”
We counted to three and learned them at the same time.
Only then did the detailed descriptions appear.
And then—
What the hell is this?!
**[<Skill> ‘Bonded Healing (Passive)’
Part of the ‘Bonded Lovers’ package. Ultimate healer skill. Healing effects increase 5× when used on your partner (the tank skill holder).
Note: Count Orshu saved this to give to his future fiancée. Also shows meaningful stamina recovery effects, making it useful in bed…]**
…let’s stop reading there.
Holding my burning forehead, I just explained the important part.
“It says my healing effects are five times stronger on you specifically.”
“Five times…?”
I saw conflict flash in Tesilid’s eyes.
Like he was tempted to drag me to the Holy See.
Before he could act, I redirected the conversation.
“What skill did you get?”
“It’s called Bonded Protection…”
Unlike me, Tesilid didn’t have a system window.
But he probably instinctively understood it.
“If you get hurt, I can redirect the injury to myself. We split the pain in half.”
“You’d get hurt instead of me?”
Seriously, why does he only get these self-sacrificial ultimate skills?!
“The tank skill isn’t great. You shouldn’t use it carelessly—”
I couldn’t finish.
“Ailet?”
“Ah… time’s up…”
“Time for what?”
Actually, I’d been running a fever for a while.
I thought I could last longer with the higher synchronization rate, but this was my limit.
To avoid collapsing badly and hitting my head, I lay down properly on the floor first.
Looking up at Tesilid, I spoke quickly through heated breaths:
“Terry, Divine Descent has serious aftereffects. So please handle the aftermath. And… I was really glad to meet you. Goodbye.”
“What? Wait! Ailet—!”
[<System> Due to excessive use of divine authority, you have contracted aftereffect ‘Divine Fever’. Sleep is recommended for recovery. Remaining time: 1 day 23 hours 59 minutes.]
My consciousness sank.
An unfortunate but inevitable farewell.
✠
“Hmm… Count Orshu has been annihilated?”
Golden sand stretched to the horizon, with dry tidal waves swallowing life whole.
Sanarak — the desert hell ruled by Carpheios, Demon World Rank 2 and one of the Three Great Demon Kings.
He leaned deeply into a throne that looked carved from sun-shaped molten rock.
His castle, built atop jagged cliffs, was raw and brutal.
The view stretched endlessly in all directions. A bleeding full moon hung beside him like a masterpiece, while a thousand-meter abyss spread below.
Along the long winding stairway like a pilgrim’s path, lesser demons bowed their heads.
“Y-yes! Lord of Sanarak! One of the three great Demon Kings!”
Carpheios brushed back his blond hair that turned red toward the ends.
“First Ardimang Remble, now Rodrigo Orshu… and Rodrigo was completely annihilated?”
“Yes! The ‘Executor’ has appeared! This is no ordinary matter!”
True annihilation was far more terrifying than death.
The demons trembled, but Carpheios seemed indifferent.
“Honestly, annihilation might be better. Otherwise you’d reincarnate starting as slime or cockroaches a million times. Who could endure that humiliation? Lucky guy.”
“B-but after a million cycles they might be reborn as livestock! Even a cat would be a decent life…!”
“That’s not the point.”
With a single sentence, the atmosphere froze.
The Demon King’s authority filled the chamber.
“What I care about… is why ‘Strict Order and Goodness’ is suddenly acting.”
Carpheios gave his command:
“Find out who the Executor of Severance is.”
