CHAPTER 114
Asheria Eve stared at me quietly.
After a long moment of observation, she tilted her head this way and that before raising a finger.
A thin nail grew from her fingertip.
It was unnaturally longer than her other nails.
“You see, I have a peculiar Ability.”
She began to tap my forehead with that nail.
“If I stick this nail into someone’s brain, I can read their memories. And what’s more, memories are the key to understanding and using abilities.”
How on earth had she used the powers of the Amyeong Tribe?
The answer was now coming from her own lips.
“...You can use their Abilities, too?”
If she could steal and use even Abilities, then hers was absurdly overpowered.
But she smiled, as if in disappointment.
“No, that’s impossible. I can’t use the Abilities of a No-Named, because the part where their name was is empty.”
That meant as long as the person wasn't a No-Named, she could use their Ability.
She couldn’t take my Resurrection magic.
That alone gave me an advantage.
Asheria Eve couldn't kill me.
But as I mulled over her next words, my eyes began to widen.
She can read memories.
My face turned deathly pale as I realized what that meant.
No.
Anything but that.
But as if to mock my denial, she grinned at me.
“Now then, here’s the important part.”
Asheria Eve looked as though she was thoroughly enjoying our conversation.
“The Apostle’s Disease that spread through Monghwagol… you think that was a coincidence?”
My body began to tremble at her next words.
After we left the spider cave, we went to Monghwagol on her recommendation.
There, I used my Resurrection magic.
What did that whole series of events point to?
It was to confirm whether I truly possessed Resurrection.
In other words, Asheria Eve…
…had been Horizon ever since Monghwagol.
Every story that had revolved around Horizon flashed through my mind.
Her inscrutable and somewhat violent side.
Madame Karuang of Monghwagol commenting that Horizon had changed.
The way she watched us, as if observing.
The times she would frequently disappear.
Everything connected in a chain reaction, and the memories I had of her began to crumble.
Monghwagol.
If she hadn't been the real Horizon since then...
...what happened to the real one?
I didn’t even have to think about it to know the answer.
For a fake to exist, the real one must be gone.
Horizon was dead.
This was the one outcome I had hoped to avoid most.
My last means of reviving Horizon…
…that means was now completely gone.
The finger of Horizon’s that Ririran was holding…
…even that finger must belong not to Horizon, but to Asheria Eve.
Following Shishiroka, I had once again lost the chance to save someone.
I had no idea where Horizon’s body could be in this vast 1st World.
She had her memories and abilities stolen before being unceremoniously killed and discarded.
An image of Horizon appeared before my eyes.
All the time I had spent with her flashed by.
But the fact that most of those conversations were not with the real Horizon, but with this woman, was sickening.
Asheria Eve had always been by our side, mocking us, toying with the deaths of others.
The abyss had been right beside us.
All for this day, this moment.
For the moment I would be separated from everyone and trapped in this shadow.
“Is this fun for you?”
I asked the woman who had been smiling the entire time.
“I’m asking if this kind of shit is fun.”
My limbs were severed, and my body was paralyzed by whatever she had injected into me.
My brain, the only part still functioning, was barely being preserved by holy magic and was heading towards death.
To die here would be the end.
I would become an eternal Resurrection machine for Asheria Eve.
Even knowing that, my rage burned hotter than my fear.
I felt a venomous fury towards this monster that had lost all humanity.
“Not particularly,” Asheria Eve answered with a smile.
“It was simply necessary. As it happened, I needed a quiet place to stay and a target to plan for the future.”
My Resurrection magic was just a bonus.
Asheria Eve had a separate reason for needing to hide.
I couldn’t know that reason.
I couldn’t fathom what kind of picture this woman was painting.
She could hide her body and snatch Resurrection magic at the same time.
To her, Horizon was the perfect person to use.

“...When did you find out about my Resurrection magic?”
“Around the time the Red Flame Lord failed at the Star Cluster meeting. I was in the Regular Army back then.”
She answered with surprising frankness.
And with that answer, it became clear when Horizon had been replaced.
Babiyen’s rampage while she was with the Regular Army.
Who was the person hiding in the Regular Army that made her go berserk?
It was Asheria Eve.
It was her.
She used Babiyen’s rampage to dispose of the husk she was using at the time.
Then, she discarded that husk and chose her next one.
That was Horizon, who was being interrogated by the Regular Army.
Everything clicked into place.
And that realization created an even deeper despair.
Every piece of evidence confirmed Horizon’s death.
But there was one thing I now knew.
I knew where Horizon was likely killed.
The Regular Army.
The Regular Army security branch.
A tiny sliver of hope sparked that Horizon’s body might still be there, where Inferno worked.
A very small hope.
Someone’s life hung on that small hope.
I might be able to save her.
I clutched at that possibility.
Only by clinging to even the smallest chance can things begin to change.
“Alright, I’ve heard enough.”
The conversation was over.
There was only one thing I needed to find out from her.
Whether Horizon was alive or dead.
I had a clue.
Now, it was my job to follow that clue to the end.
There was only one thing left to say to the woman before me.
A grim smile spread across my lips.
My vision was blurring as my brain neared death, but I burned her face into my memory.
It was a face I would hunt down and destroy for the rest of my life.
“I will kill you, no matter what. You fucking bitch.”
I, who possessed Resurrection magic, sentenced her to an eternal death.
Whether she understood the meaning of that or not, Asheria Eve merely smiled sweetly.
Puk!
In that instant, her long nail pierced my forehead.
I could feel the nail trying to burrow deep inside my brain.
It seemed she was trying to sever my control over my holy magic and seize control.
I would never cooperate with her.
Asheria Eve knew that full well.
So she planned to take control of my body and force me to be her Resurrection shuttle.
But I had anticipated that long ago.
That’s why I had tenaciously dragged out the conversation to buy time.
She might be able to take control of my holy magic, but not my divine power.
This was a power bestowed by a Transcendent.
Therefore, with my divine power…

Puk!
In that moment, her other hand moved once more. The place her hand pierced was right where my heart should have been.
Blood instantly surged up my throat, choking me as my breath was cut short. The blood flowing down her hand stained the inside of the shadow.
“Trying to kill yourself, are you? You must have left a part of your body with Ririran. And since your divine power can’t be controlled, you were planning to blow up your whole body with it, weren't you?”
This rotten bitch.
From being the first to notice my Resurrection magic…
…to successfully impersonating Horizon…
She was too damn perceptive.
I could see why even Soun had been so wary of her.
Her strength wasn't the only thing that made this woman dangerous.
Her natural eye for detail and her unhesitating, inhuman actions.
Everything that made up this woman was a threat.
“Divine power also gathers around the heart, you know. Like this, you can’t even commit suicide.”
She said it in such a cheerful tone.
Don’t act so innocent, you old hag who’s lived well over sixty years.
“All that’s left is to take control of your brain, Harua. Don’t worry. I’m good at this. I’ll make sure you feel nothing but happiness for the rest of your life.”
But in that moment, a light gleamed in my eyes.
Just one thing.
With this, I knew there was one fact she was unaware of.
This woman… she didn’t know I don’t have a heart.
I had never told anyone that I was missing my heart.
I never knew when the fact that I had no heart might become a useful tool.
So, I had recently been continuously circulating my holy magic to mimic a heartbeat.
It was a habitual action, born from my tendency to try and use anything as a tool.
And now, that troublesome personality of mine was proving useful.
A faint smile formed on my lips.
The strength drained from my body, and my consciousness began to fade.
Death was at my doorstep.
This woman knew that I would be resurrected.
And resurrection naturally occurs from the largest remaining part of my body.

Back when the Radiance Faith fanatics cut off my head, arms, and legs…
…my body resurrected from my torso.
So this woman must have realized that and was planning to kill me to take my torso.
What I left with Ririran was just one of my wrists.
I had left a relatively large piece, but it was nothing compared to my torso.
If I was taken like this, I would, in all likelihood, become her Resurrection slave.
That’s why…
Black divine power began to spread throughout my entire body.
It wasn't on my skin, but was being carved into every single one of my blood vessels.
This was not the divine power I normally used.
It was the destructive divine power I received from Noir Nox, the Owner of the Lazy Throne.
Dark clouds surged through my veins.
It was a power that would completely obliterate my body.
“Huh?”
Asheria Eve finally noticed my condition.
Her eyes widened.
For the first time, a look of bewilderment spread across the face of the ever-composed woman.
“How…”
How, you ask?
Did you really think a guy with no heart can’t use divine power just because he has no heart?
I can use it just fine.
You moron.
“Remember what I said.”

I coughed up a mouthful of blood that had risen to my lips and managed a difficult smile.
My entire body was being dyed black, and my vision had already turned dark.
But even in that darkness, I could clearly see Asheria Eve’s red eyes.
“You… I will kill you. Without fail.”
I don’t have fingers to point, but you’d better remember this.
The Sin of Wrath.
You’re not the one who’s full of wrath. I am.
So long.
And I’ll be seeing you again.
You’re the worst fucking bitch of my life.

With that, a black light flashed within the shadow.
KWAAAAAAAANG!
And then, my body was annihilated without a single trace left behind.