The time that began to reverse slowly went back to a certain point in the past and then stopped.

The moment Jerome asked me, “Baron, would you lead the way?”

“All right, but for the second achievement gained, give me priority on up to four.”

“Four, huh… understood. For the baron, that’s not too much to ask.”

After a brief negotiation, I started slipping under the tree where the chief had disappeared.

It was a scene I couldn’t understand at all.

Going down there so thoughtlessly in this situation?

[That’s the destiny I showed the child. In this timeline, there was no oracle. So you go down without any suspicion.]

‘Ah…’

That explanation made sense.

The unease I felt from Jerome was mostly because of the presence or absence of an “oracle.” Knowing something was about to happen, he had become hypersensitive to everything around him.

Whoosh!

Anyway, the moment I went down under the tree–

Suddenly, the world darkened, and as if blinking, the scene changed.

[There’s no time, so I’ll point out only what matters.]

The place: a cave.

At the center stood a portal stele, and I was unconscious, lying next to it. The chief approached me and began some unknown ritual.

[It’s a hidden space beneath the basement you went to before. After you descended to the village, you fought hundreds of enemies for a long time, waiting for reinforcements that never came. Exhausted, you were finally captured and brought here.]

A hidden space beneath a basement full of corpses.

‘…I never imagined such a place could be hidden.’

The situation had been so urgent at the time that there was no chance to look around.

‘So what happens to me now?’

[Watch. It will be over soon.]

2x, 3x, 4x.

Time flowed rapidly like a sped-up video.

Soon, when time returned to normal speed, black smoke was billowing from the chief’s body.

Ssshhh!

The smoke flowing from the chief seeped slowly into my body, and soon the chief collapsed.

Then…

Swish.

I awoke from unconsciousness and stood.

‘Me’ stood up, opened and closed my hand absently, then spoke in an unfamiliar voice.

“Finally…”

At that moment, the scene shifted once more.

The place was no longer the village but the island’s center, darkened by the depths of the labyrinth. There, ‘I’ was talking with Jerome Saintred.

“Now, as promised, give me ‘that.'”

“……”

“Have you developed regrets now? If so, I hope you abandon those thoughts quickly. If you don’t give it up, you won’t be able to live properly with that body outside.”

“Surely… the royal family must have that kind of power.”

“If you know that, then hurry–”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you simply didn’t know at all?”

“What? You don’t mean…!”

“The dead don’t speak.”

The conversation ended there.

When the scene changed again, blood droplets splattered before my eyes.

“Aaaagh!”

The battlefield unfolded everywhere I looked.

Hundreds of monsters surrounded us, and the expedition fought hard but was gradually pushed back.

It was all because of the chief who had taken over my body.

“I-I didn’t expect him to be this strong…”

“Baron…! Kill Baron Yandel!”

The chief who had taken my body had nothing to protect.

He didn’t care if a few monsters died, and the barbarian character he had carefully raised to protect his comrades rampaged like a war machine.

And how long had that been?

By the time anyone could say the tide had completely turned…

“…Ugh!”

I suddenly stopped moving while slaughtering expedition members.

I was about to strike down a mage’s head as I broke through the rear mage squad.

“Re-Even…”

A comrade who had barely escaped looked at me fearfully and scrambled away.

Seeing this,

Boom.

‘Me’ threw the hammer far away with jerky motions.

I discarded the shield and loosened the armor covering my upper body.

A nearby comrade watching this raised a weapon toward me with wary eyes.

“You’re… back?”

Amelia, who had been imprisoned during the battle but had escaped with comrades, asked.

My answer was very short.

“Emily… kill me…”

The comrade who heard that couldn’t answer or act. The blade that was usually steady trembled greatly today.

Then–

“If you can’t do it, get out of the way!”

Jerome, realizing the situation, drew his sword and approached. I glared at him for a long time then smirked.

I had no idea what he was thinking.

‘Me’ closed my eyes and lowered my head.

And…

“No…!”

“…It’s his will…!”

While Amelia bit her lip to restrain Elwen,

Shing!

An aura-enshrouded blade struck my neck.

However, it didn’t pierce deeply at once, so it was repeated many times.

Shing! Shing! Shing! Shing!

A sword striking countless times as if chopping wood.

For some reason, a scream echoed across the suddenly silent clearing.

“No, no, no, no…”

Someone among my comrades shouted and ran over, pouring potions on me.

Of course, there was no response.

Potions don’t revive dead characters, after all.

“You…! If only it weren’t you…!”

“Calm down, Tersia.”

“Y-You’re just going to let this pass even after seeing this–!”

“Can you kill the enemy properly if you’re that agitated?”

“……”

“Calm down and focus only on avenging Yandel.”

Clan Anabada gathered and pointed weapons at the expedition, which had suffered fatal damage.

“Think rationally. Without us, do you think you could handle those monsters?”

Jerome tried hard to persuade, but it was futile.

Meanwhile, many within the expedition deserted their positions.

“The baron was… a hero. Even at the end, he tried to save us…!”

“To abandon such a person like garbage, and end up like this… how is this serving the royal family?”

“I, Meland Kaislan, draw my sword for the justice I believe in! Those who share my will, stand behind me!”

“Traitor! Kill the traitors…!”

At the climax of the situation,

[Not that way. Look over there.]

Following the goddess’s guidance, I shifted my gaze.

There was a figure moving quietly alone, paying no attention to the chaotic scene.

‘Misha…?’

Misha approached my corpse and pulled something from her bosom.

Swoosh!

It was the first time I’d seen the real thing, but as soon as she brought it to my body, the distinctive effect erupted, making it instantly recognizable.

Why it was in Misha’s hands, I didn’t know.

‘That is…’

A Resurrection Stone.

Resurrection Stone.

An item with the fraudulent ability to revive the dead.

With absurdly strict acquisition conditions, even I had only ever used it once in nine years.

‘Why… does she have it…?’

At first, I was dumbfounded, but the answer about its source came quickly.

‘…Ibaekho.’

It’s fairly well known that Ibaekho owned the Resurrection Stone.

I didn’t know how he got it, though.

Anyway, in the frozen time as I was resurrected, I opened my mouth.

“So, I don’t actually die.”

[Yes, you do not.]

Why Ibaekho gave the Resurrection Stone to Misha…

There was some vague idea about its purpose.

But the goddess coiled in my mind was different.

“Reatlas… why do you want to help me?”

The goddess answered briefly.

[…Because that ending is not right.]

I wondered what ending this goddess, who sees fate, had seen to say such a thing.

Curious, but I left the question there.

This wasn’t a situation where I could threaten to force answers, and many more problems awaited.

For example, like this very situation.

Suddenly–

The world blackened and brightened again.

And I was unconscious again inside that cave I saw earlier.

“What else do you want to show me?”

[It’s not something to show. This is your present.]

…What?

Frowning as if to say “Explain quickly,” a small voice replied in my mind.

[I… do not have the power to stop time…]

Ah, so that was it.

Even while watching like a video, real time had been steadily moving forward.

[But all your comrades are safe. Though detained…]

Still wanting to cover post-events, the goddess gave me a rough report.

It was a very simple situation.

After I fainted emitting light, my comrades were greatly panicked and were then ambushed and subdued.

Then I was led to the chief by Jerome.

“Then hurry and send me back! I have to escape before that ritual ends!”

[Sending you back is not difficult… but in this state, even if you open your eyes, all your abilities will be sealed.]

“…What?”

I was dumbfounded.

In other words, escape by force was impossible.

“What am I supposed to do in this state?”

Grateful for the goddess’s help, I still thought this might be the worst possible.

Despite that, I dared to hope.

After all, she was a goddess.

Surely she had a plan.

“Tell me. What should I do from now on?”

Trying to keep my faith, I spoke politely.

But…

[…I can show you the way, but I cannot create the path.]

“So… you mean you have no advice to give me?”

The answer came after a long pause.

[…I’ve watched your journey all along. So I know. Your greatest asset is not your cold judgment, nor your knowledge, nor your courage facing any enemy.]

“……”

[Your true power is your ‘words.’]

As someone who woke in a barbarian’s body and had more often solved problems with brute force than words, I had trouble accepting that analysis.

But apparently the goddess thought differently.

[A skilled explorer was destined to die with a noble mage in that labyrinth that day. But in the end, they survived. Because you bought time with your ‘words.’]

She seemed to refer to when I swallowed the ‘Controlled Wish’ in Larkaz’s labyrinth and negotiated with the Dragon Slayer…

[Your words have power. You already slightly changed someone’s fate once. So…]

The goddess ended her long preamble and gave me a tip.

[Why not try to resolve this well with words again?]

For some reason, it was phrased as a question.

Thump, thump–!

A resonance rising from within.

Feeling alive anew, I steadied my breathing.

“You’re awake.”

Damn, that eyesight is annoyingly sharp.

Well, I guess it makes sense with such big eyes.

I opened my eyes and sat up.

“It would have been better if I’d stayed unconscious. For both me and you.”

“The least I can do is struggle.”

The goddess irresponsibly told me to try resolving things with ‘words.’

So what could I do?

I had to follow her advice and try to get through this somehow.

In fact, I had an idea the moment she said that.

“…You’re remarkably calm. You don’t even know what’s going on.”

“Well, it looks to me like you’re the one completely lost here.”

Thinking my actions and reactions were abnormal, the chief pursed his lips and stared at me.

He too, being sharp, realized something was amiss.

So, around this point, I played my trump card.

“Chief, stop now. Even if you take my body, returning to the city is impossible anyway.”

“I thought you wanted to curse me, but–”

“It’s not a curse, it’s the truth. I actually saw that scene.”

It was time to play my second card.

“Reatlas showed me the future.”

The chief seemed to think about it for a moment, then surprisingly believed me.

“You passed out emitting light… so she intervened…”

Apparently, after various circumstances, he found this more convincing.

Okay, then less time wasted.

“Tell me. If you want to stop me, what did she show you?”

I revised my scenario slightly for better negotiation.

“You take my body and get attacked by Jerome. Then you lose.”

“My calculations are Novelight (Read the full story) perfect. There’s no way I lose.”

“Then your calculation is wrong. Or you didn’t expect to be ambushed by them.”

“He ambushed us?”

The chief’s eyes gleamed in the dark cave.

It seemed he had not accounted for the possibility of an ambush.

That was good news for me.

So I hurriedly continued.

“Chief, I understand why you want to take my body. But does it have to be mine?”

“That’s the surest path. You will eventually succeed in escaping this layer and returning to the city.”

“Have you seen a record stone about that?”

“…I didn’t expect you to know about ‘record stones.'”

An answer that practically meant yes.

The sudden bait gave me much to think about, but I decided to focus on resolving the present.

“If that’s the case, it doesn’t have to be me.”

“But there’s no reason to take the risk. Since you know the outcome is defeat, you can change the plan now–”

Change? What change?

Cutting him off, I got to the point.

“Jerome Saintred.”

Commander of this expedition, nicknamed the Knight of Light.

“How’s his body? He’s a bit old, but a count, and can use aura well. You’re a knight too, aren’t you?”

But that’s not all his strengths.

His greatest advantage is something else.

“Most of all, if you take his body, you can escape this damned place immediately.”

The bait that was most tempting from the chief’s perspective.

“Because he has the essence of ‘Eblus.'”

My trump card.