CHAPTER 120
“Ganibal?”
Inferno, who had just been catching his breath in the lieutenant general’s office, was startled by our sudden entrance, but his expression soon turned dumbfounded. It meant that even while Asheria Eve was attacking, Lululio had managed to grab a finger.
“Ha, well I’ll be.”
Inferno let out a dry laugh and ruffled Lululio’s hair.
“Uwaah, old man, you’re gonna kill me-ssumda!”
“It’s a compliment, so take it.”
Lululio collapsed to the ground, her hair a mess.
A satisfied smile spread across Inferno’s face.
“Sir Rapha Hastel is going to be thrilled when he hears about this.”
It seemed Rapha Hastel really did see Lululio more as a granddaughter than a disciple.
“So, you’re planning to resurrect him right away?”
“Yes. Will that be alright?”
“There’s a delay while he’s reviving. We just need to smash him before that.”
“But the Sin of Gluttony seemed to have a self-healing ability.”
“Hmm, alright. It’s always good to have more safety measures. It was that Anastasia woman who took down Ganibal, right? I’ll call her over.”
“No. There’s something we need to do before that.”
The main reason I had stopped Inferno.
For that reason, I slowly turned to Lululio.
“Lululio.”
“Ah, yes?”
“Given the circumstances, you probably don’t know the current situation.”
Lululio didn’t know what had happened inside the shadow. Thus, she wouldn’t know what had happened to us.
“Horizon was the Sin of Wrath, Asheria Eve.”
Lululio’s eyes gradually widened. She realized where Asheria Eve had appeared from.
Inferno’s gaze flickered toward me. His face showed that he understood why I was saying this now.
“I’m sorry to do this to you after you risked your life to come back, but we need a confirmation process. I don’t want to see the people around me, including myself, put in danger anymore.”
Lululio had been separated from us for too long. If Asheria Eve had changed her appearance again and infiltrated our ranks during that time, it would be truly irreversible this time.
I know it’s paranoid. But the world had become a place where I had to doubt everything.
“…”

Lululio was silent for a moment.
But soon, the corners of her mouth lifted as she looked up at me.
“Sir Harua, I think this is a necessary procedure, too.”
She then confidently thumped her chest.
“I will prove it.”
To be honest, I didn’t feel good about doing this either. But Lululio’s attitude put me at ease, if only a little.
“Lieutenant General Inferno, what happened with that magic tool I mentioned earlier?”
“Sorry. It’s still in the preparation stage.”
It hadn’t been long since I’d first mentioned it. A magic tool couldn’t be created overnight.
“Lululio, I have the fastest way to prove who you are.”
I couldn’t just lock her up until then. It would be better for her to prove herself quickly as well.
“I’m going to use Resurrection magic on the finger you entrusted to me before.”
Lululio understood the meaning of those words. She took a short breath and then nodded.
“I’m in your hands.”
If Lululio was revived from the finger through this death, she could prove herself.
I apologized to her for accepting it so readily.
“I’m sorry. Let’s get this over with quickly so you can rest.”
A bitter taste filled my mouth.
This wretched reality, where I had to ask someone who had fought desperately to return through enemy lines to prove herself.
I truly hated it.

Lululio was successfully revived from the finger.
To lighten the heavy atmosphere, she acted excited, saying it was her first time experiencing resurrection. We played along, and thankfully, the mood somehow returned to normal.
Babiyen came up beside me and nudged my shoulder as she passed, saying it wasn't the wrong choice. That small gesture helped to soothe my heart.
“Now it’s time to check on Ganibal. Let’s go.”
Following Inferno’s lead, we moved to the same interrogation room where I had revived the No-Named murderer before.
And there, we encountered an unexpected person.
The No-Named murderer, Velmora.
She was acting as a gatekeeper there.
Velmora flinched in surprise as soon as she saw me. Then she quickly bowed her head, not knowing what to do.
So this is where Inferno put her to use.
I decided not to give her any more attention. Seeing her state, I understood why they were just using her here.

Velmora was broken from the repeated resurrection and torture. A normal life was no longer possible for her.
I walked past Velmora and entered.
“…”
Lululio, who had followed us, was unusually quiet. Normally, she would be fooling around, but now she was holding her tongue. I could also sense her watching us cautiously.
Is it because she heard about the Asheria Eve incident?
I had a rough idea why she was acting this way.
“Lululio, if you’re feeling guilty for not being able to protect us, don’t worry about it.”
“Ah.”
Lululio flinched as if I had hit the mark. She scratched the back of her head and averted her eyes.
No one could have predicted the Sin of Wrath, Asheria Eve.
“...I’m sorry. You both died, didn’t you?”
“It would have been a bigger disaster if you had died there too. There was no reason for more people to die. And despite that situation, you managed to bring back the finger.”
“That was thanks to Lieutenant General Anastasia buying time. She deliberately made Asheria Eve fall.”
That woman is something else.
Even though I had told her I would revive her, she had resolutely sacrificed herself in a situation where she couldn't know what would happen. She was an amazing person, especially since she had never experienced resurrection before.
“Don’t worry about it. It’s not like we feel anything about it now. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve died,” Babiyen said, shaking her head as if she were fed up. It was a natural reaction, as she had died quite a few times herself, though not as many as me.
“In fact, if you stick by my side, there’s a high chance you’ll experience death even more in the future, you know?”
“Hahaha… I’ll try to live if I can.”
Lululio forced a laugh. She had probably lived in this world for quite some time, but it must be hard to get used to the death of an acquaintance.
“Try your best to live. There’s nothing good about dying.”
There’s a reason they say it’s better to be alive, even if you’re rolling in a dog turd.
“...Yes. Still, I’ll do my duty.”
To protect me.
Lululio declared that she would accomplish that much next time.
Just then, footsteps sounded from outside, and Inferno and Anastasia appeared.
“We meet again soon.”
“Indeed we do.”
Anastasia greeted me with a faint smile. Since we had gone through hardship together, I returned her smile.
“So, you’re reviving Ganibal.”
“Yes. Could you make sure he can’t move?”
“Of course. Leave it to me.”
Anastasia declared, lightly swinging her completely healed arm.
She was incredibly reassuring. With her here, there was nothing to worry about.
“Then, I’ll begin the resurrection right away.”
I already had Ganibal’s finger in my hand, so I immediately activated the Resurrection magic.
A bright light began to seep into Ganibal’s finger.
Just as I expected Ganibal to be revived…
“Huh?”
A sound of bewilderment escaped my lips.
Inferno and Anastasia looked at me with puzzled expressions.
But my eyes were narrowed more than ever.
The Resurrection magic isn’t working.
What did that mean?
“...Don’t tell me, is that bastard still alive?” Anastasia asked, and everyone’s faces hardened.
But I shook my head.
“No. He’s definitely dead.”
There’s a certain feeling to a No-Named’s Ability. The Resurrection magic itself had certainly permeated the finger. This meant that Ganibal’s death was confirmed.
But Ganibal was not reviving.
What was the reason for this?
“This means… someone has revived Ganibal’s body as an Apostle.”
And I had experienced something similar to this before.
Bulldog’s wife.
Her body had undergone Apostle transformation when her soul was extracted. At that time, the magic had only managed to heal her body.
But this time, not even Ganibal’s body was fully restored.
“No way.”
Inferno’s brow furrowed as well.
“Yes. It must be the work of that bastard, Bloody Crown, the Archbishop of the Radiance Faith.”
So, you’re the one who had to go and ruin things.
I ground my teeth.
“Did those Radiance Faith bastards join hands with Black Dawn again?” Anastasia gritted her teeth, as if she knew something.
But I had a different opinion.
“During the No-Named murderer incident, Bloody Crown decided to oppose Black Dawn. Black Dawn took similar measures.”
Black Dawn and the Radiance Faith did not view each other favorably. If anything, they were sworn enemies; I couldn't imagine them cooperating.
“Bloody Crown did not approve of the Artificial Transcendent. The same goes for Black Dawn, who are creating it. I don’t think they would join hands now.”
“I agree with that,” Inferno concurred. He was the one who had personally raided the Radiance Faith’s headquarters. If he agreed, it was certain.
“Then this means it was an independent action by the Radiance Faith,” Babiyen also agreed.
“But how did they do it? Was there an opportunity to take Ganibal’s corpse?”
Seeing her completely baffled expression, I mentioned one possibility.
“It wasn’t just Black Dawn that was following us.”
The existence of Resurrection magic had spread to a level where anyone, not just Black Dawn, could surmise it. Therefore, not only Black Dawn but also the Radiance Faith had been after my magic. However, Black Dawn made the first move, leaving the Radiance Faith no room to intervene. They must have shown up after the battle, once Asheria Eve and Morbid had left, and collected the remaining scraps of the corpse.
“Ganibal was constantly regenerating his body. Even if the two Sins took the main corpse, there must have been pieces left scattered around.”
As soon as he heard the news, Rapha Hastel’s side had immediately pursued Asheria Eve. Knowing this, Asheria Eve’s group would have left the scene right away.
Anastasia clicked her tongue, seeming to understand the situation.
The Radiance Faith had been targeting me, but failed because of Black Dawn, and so they took Ganibal’s corpse instead. And they revived Ganibal as an Apostle before we could. In essence, Ganibal had become Bloody Crown’s puppet.
These rotten bastards. They really try everything.
Ganibal was a crucial key to extracting information about Black Dawn. They had snatched him away first.
“...Is this my fault for being too late?”
Lululio’s face immediately fell. It was understandable, as the finger she had gone through so much trouble to bring back had become useless.
“No, we had already given up on this, so you can’t call it a problem.”
This couldn’t be blamed on Lululio.
Separately from that, there was a question.
For what purpose did the Radiance Faith revive Ganibal as an Apostle?
The answer came quickly.
They’re also targeting Black Dawn.
Bloody Crown.
I didn’t know what his goal was, but it was certain that he was targeting Black Dawn. He probably intended to turn Ganibal into an Apostle to extract information. This could potentially lead to a three-way conflict between us, Black Dawn, and the Radiance Faith.
Unforeseen variables needed to be minimized as much as possible.
“We can’t let this go,” Inferno said, cracking his neck. I could feel his determination to uproot the Radiance Faith once and for all this time.
“I’ll join in. It feels like my spoils of war were stolen,” Anastasia also decided to participate in the annihilation of the Radiance Faith.
It should be fine to leave this to these two.
“We’ll contact you as soon as we’ve dealt with the Radiance Faith.”
“Bloody Crown. That man is the most dangerous. Be careful.”
“Right. I’ll be sure to remember him as the one we need to crush the most.”
After hearing Inferno’s reassuring reply, we left. On the way out, my eyes met Velmora’s, but we didn’t exchange any words.
As we stepped outside the Regular Army base for the first time in a while, the streets of the capital were no different than usual.
Various incidents were occurring all over the world, but for the citizens living their daily lives, it was a distant story. No one truly feels it until they are directly affected. Just look at the Great Depression in America, the bubble economy in Japan, or the IMF crisis in Korea. Right up until the moment it happened, most ordinary people had no idea what kind of disaster was about to strike. But by the time the damage finally hits, it’s irreversible.
The calm before the storm.
The tides of the era had already begun to turn.
“First, we’re going to the Holy Church, right?” Babiyen asked, falling into step beside me.
“That’s right. The Holy Church will assign guards too.”
“...Is it another woman?”
What a misleading thing to say, Babiyen.
“Babiyen, are you itching to pair me up with a woman or something?”
She did this with Aranseol, and now she’s far too interested in my relationships.
“Wh-what? It’s a fact that you’re surrounded by women. Just look at our team.”

“That’s for you two’s sake. If a man joined our team, who knows what would happen once feelings got involved?”
Don’t underestimate Aranseol’s looks. Do you think it’s common for men and women, young and old, to turn their heads wherever she goes? Men don’t just drool; their eyes practically pop out of their heads.
“...Isn’t it the same for you, Harua?”
You, with your rose-tinted view of the world.
“Babiyen, I think the time has come to tell you an important fact.”
I hadn’t told anyone around me until now, but I discreetly shared a secret.
The confidential matter that, because I have no heart, I can’t get an erection.
“What?”
Babiyen turned to me with trembling eyes.
“...Really?”
“For real.”
She stared at me with a blank expression. Was she pitying me?
“...So, it’s not that there was no chance, then.”
“What did you say?”
“N-nothing.”
Babiyen feigned ignorance and avoided my gaze.
“You look so pitiful. I’ll learn a magic to fix it for you later.”
“Well, if you do that, it wouldn’t be bad for me.”
I don’t really mind being impotent, but there’s a strange pang of sadness to it.
“Heehee.”
Babiyen hummed a tune and walked ahead. For some reason, she looked to be in a good mood.
“...Sir Harua, are you trying to experience a catastrophe?”
At the same time, Lululio stared at me from behind with a look of horror.
What did I do?
A catastrophe just for revealing that I’m impotent?
“Later on, death might not be your biggest problem-ssumda.”
Lululio shook her head and walked on.
I still had no idea what she was talking about.