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[Translator - Tangrine ]
[Proofreader - Seeker ]
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Chapter 28: Saintess Nova
After stopping the second destruction trigger, I had gained a decent amount of time.
Although the preparations via High Performance Telepathy had already been set up in advance, there was no need to immediately carry out the full-scale ‘Gigachad Plan.’
Acting on it now might cause more problems.
Because.
“Kanaria.”
“Yes.”
“Would you mind if I beat you like a dog on Boknal?”
Zara’s malice completely messed up my head.
“How much will you pay me?”
“One gold coin.”
“Please offer a bit more.”
“Forget it. I’m joking.”
“...Just this once, I’ll take the gold coin as payment.”
“I said I was joking.”
“Woof woof! Grrr, bark bark!”
“Shut up.”
“Yep.”
Zara’s innate malice—her hatred, resentment, sorrow, and every kind of negative emotion—had all been transmitted to me through telepathy.
Even if I told myself those weren’t my emotions…
I couldn’t help but be affected indirectly.
After all, the greatest weakness of a telepath is being exposed to intense, persistent, horrifying thoughts.
“By the way, what’s Boknal?”
“A holiday where people eat healthy foods to endure the summer heat and restore stamina.”
“Then why beat dogs?”
“To eat them.”
“Aha. Boiling dogs makes the meat tender and delicious.”
“What?”
“Back when I used to beg on the streets, I had to eat whatever I could get.”
As if it were nothing, Kanaria brought up her bleak past.
It hit me all over again—this world really is a hard place to live.
“I thought you liked dogs?”
“I do. They’re cute and loyal. But survival matters more than my personal likes and dislikes. It’s better than starving to death.”
“…Let’s eat something good today.”
“Yes.”
Thanks to Kanaria, it felt like some of the malice gnawing at my head had been washed away.
With a faint laugh, I created a hallucination.
This time it wasn't a Gigachad or a gold coin, but food.
French fries, cola, and a bulgogi burger appeared on the table.
"What… is this?"
"A hamburger."
"It looks like a round sandwich."
"Well, it’s sort of the same."
"But, since it's just a hallucination, isn't it meaningless?"
Kanaria tried to pick up the hamburger, but her hand passed through it in vain.
This was merely a projected image created via High Performance Telepathy.
Just like when I manipulated large-scale sensory disruption to threaten the Priestess of the Libra.
I could interfere with senses on a grand scale, but delicate and realistic interaction with objects was still impossible.
That’s because ‘High-Performance Telepathy’ isn’t the same as illusion magic.
"Well, I’m planning to practice more, including things like this. I’m still a bit shaky right now."
But it’s not like there’s no method at all.
You just have to hit the brain with such intense sensory input that it mistakes it for reality.
To the point where distinguishing between real sensation and telepathically projected sensation becomes impossible.
Texture, weight, mouthfeel… all of it must be reproduced.
In reality, the hand is simply clenching empty air but the sensation in the hand is manipulated to make it feel like it’s holding a hamburger.
"Want to try grabbing it again?"
"Huh?"
Kanaria grasped the fake hamburger.
Her hand closed around thin air.
In truth, it was no different from forming a fist.
But Kanaria’s senses perceived it differently.
"Ooh. I can feel the texture."
"Now try eating it."
"Yes, sir."
The bun squished down, crisp lettuce crunched apart, and the bulgogi patty was crushed.
It was Kanaria’s first taste of 21st-century fast food—her eyes went wide with wonder.
As she was eating a hamburger, she suddenly let out a groan.
"Hhng?! I—I bit my tongue…."
"Ah, sorry."
Seems like the movement of her real tongue and the one projected through telepathy didn’t align, and she ended up biting it mid-chew.
So this is my limit.
I can't control her body’s actual movements.
All I can do is implant the hallucination that she is moving.
"Don’t try to chew, just stay still. It’s the same either way."
"Yesh… understoosh…"
And so, using Kanaria as a test subject, I practiced crafting more delicate hallucinations.
The simplest method is to link Kanaria’s senses to someone who’s eating a sandwich, then just change the taste to a hamburger.
It was similar to when I projected Kanaria’s emotions and memories onto Priscilla.
"Your grace……"
"Yeah?"
"The taste was there, but… I feel strangely empty inside."
"Want me to add a sense of fullness?"
"Please give me a gold coin instead……"
"Ah, right."
When I pulled a gold coin from my pocket, Kanaria, who had been blankly staring into space, lit up.
Her eyes gleamed like gold coins.
"As expected, I prefer this over tasty food."
"I feel like all my dignity maintenance expenses are going straight to you."
"A true mark of dignity is not holding back money for your loyal subordinates."
"You speak well."
"Thank you for the compliment."
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My ‘High-Performance Telepathy’ isn’t all that useful in combat.
A true Hero can track evil even in pitch-black darkness.
And even someone like a Demon King, who can share senses with monsters, carries a ridiculous mental burden.
Take Zara, for example—her “Heavenly Body” gives her endgame-tier physical traits. She can control her body with absolute precision.
So, telepathy with ‘no range limits and no sensory restrictions’ might sound like a god-tier power—but…
This world runs on stupidly high power levels.
It’s packed with things that vastly exceed human limits.
And now—
"This time, the Destruction Trigger we’ll be facing… has all those traits."
"Sounds like a difficult opponent."
"Yeah. And from this point on, we’re entering the realm of the truly absurd."
"Wasn’t Zara’s fate already absurd enough?"
"No, I mean… It’s more like—whether you save or kill her, the world ends either way."
If Priscilla dies, the world ends.
If Zara finds happiness, the world ends.
That’s the rule of ‘Endless.’
In other words, if we don’t kill Priscilla and make Zara miserable, the world won’t end.
We’d have to take the ‘Hero Slayer’ route that’s already doomed to destruction, but at the very least, we could postpone the end.
"But Nova is different. Completely different. If left alone, she’ll destroy the world… but if you recklessly kill her, the world ends another way."
"Why is that?"
"Nova is loved by God. If Nova dies… then God descends—and brings about the end of the world."
Saintess Nova.
That was the name of the Destruction Trigger we’d be facing next.
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The Saintess is Zara’s antithesis.
This world is like a seesaw that swings side to side, where the most noble and the most vile exist side by side.
Just as the world is destroyed by a girl hated by all…
It can also be destroyed by a girl loved by God.
“She gives me a headache, but in a different way than Zara.”
“Shall I get you some painkillers?”
“No, I mean she’s the one who’s a headache.”
“Ah.”
If Zara carries malice within her…This girl holds benevolence.
“To think she’s the opposite of that kind-hearted girl… It’s hard to imagine. Does that make her the most wicked person in the world or something?”
“Not quite. It’s more of a difference in direction.”
Let’s say there’s a religion that teaches its people to…
‘Love one another.’
‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
‘Love your enemies.’
All beautiful words.
Teachings are so fragrant and noble that people are drawn to them as butterflies to flowers.
They nod in agreement, shouting loudly that these are righteous and proper truths.
Everyone wants to be good.
No one intentionally commits evil.
And so.
Those who want to be good step outside the temple walls, sword in hand, pressing it against the necks of their enemies, and shout.
Love your enemies.
“Forcing virtue on others is the bad habit of the blind. The intention is noble, but the result is rarely satisfying.”
“Sounds like you’ve had your fair share of trouble.”
Zara’s goodness exists solely for herself.
She performs good deeds to deny the malice within her.
She never forces that goodness onto others.
But the Saintess is different.
The innate benevolence the Saintess possesses is absolute.
It is something she received from God, something she believes must be shared with all people.
In the end, the Saintess’s goal is for everyone to be saved.
“Hmm, so she’s like a justice-driven hero? One of those who causes problems by forcing their idea of justice on others…”
“Similar but more relentless. More insidious.”
A hero doesn’t force others to be righteous.
They simply carry out punishment according to their own sense of justice.
That’s the concept of retribution.
But the Saintess is different.
The Saintess… contaminates others.
“Kanaria, what do you think happiness is?”
“Gold coins. Every time I see that golden color, I feel the heavy weight of a coin in my hand. Every time I count them, I feel happy.”
“I like spending money. I like having so much money that I couldn’t use it all even if I tried.”
“I like saving money, and I like spending it. Even blowing through a coin in a single day and regretting it afterward—that too, I like.”
“…Right. That’s… pretty clear. But do you think that kind of thing would make everyone happy?”
“Hmm…”
“No, right?”
“Yes.”
“Happiness is different for everyone. There’s no such thing as a way for all people to be happy—and there shouldn’t be. But the Saintess pursues happiness for everyone.”
The Saintess wishes for everyone to be saved.
She wishes for everyone to be happy.
But universal happiness doesn’t exist.
The happiness of the rich and the happiness of the poor aren’t the same.
Sometimes, their happiness even directly contradicts each other.
There are even people who feel happiness from the misfortune of others.
If that’s the case… Then the only way for everyone to truly be happy would be for everyone to lose their individuality.
And the Saintess possessed such a power.
The power to erase individuality from everyone.
“The moment the Saintess succeeds, the world will… Well, it’ll be no different from destruction. Because every person’s identity will be annihilated.”
This was the world’s absurdity.
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[Translator - Tangrine ]
[Proofreader - Seeker ]
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