Chapter 31: Regret.

The dust had not yet settled before the massive bronze doors.

“ROOOAR!!”

The rotting giant known as the Abyssal Butcher bellowed, the sound so powerful it pained the eardrums.

It paid no attention to Hill standing right beside it. Instead, dragging its rust-covered, blood-crusted executioner’s axe, it charged straight toward Marius—who was retreating in panic—like a rabid dog that had scented fresh meat.

The defensive enchantments on Marius’s robe might as well have been gossamer before this strength-type lord boss.

He had no time even to draw the mana-sealing cross hidden in his sleeve. All he could do was raise his staff in desperation.

“Earth Wall! Slow! Gravity Reversal!”

Several magical glows flared before him.

But the monster’s single eye saw only the human emitting that delicious aroma.

It barreled through the slowing magic; its massive, decaying bulk moved with unnatural speed, smashing the earth wall to rubble.

“Damn it! Why is it only chasing me?!”

Veins bulged on Marius’s forehead.

He kept retreating while desperately trying to shift its aggro, but the creature’s gaze remained fixed solely on him—completely ignoring Hill, who was attempting to pursue from behind.

At the edge of the battlefield.

“Hill… go save him… hurry…”

Phyllis remained collapsed on the ground.

Her face was paper-white; the injury to her ankle seemed severe. The earlier shockwave appeared to have caused internal damage as well—blood trickled from the corner of her mouth.

“I know!”

Hill’s heart burned with anxiety.

She wanted to charge.

But… the chain of light on her left hand acted like an inflexible leash.

With Phyllis immobilized on the ground, the two-meter tether rigidly locked Hill’s range of movement to the area immediately around her partner.

“Damn it!”

Hill stared at Marius—dodging for his life more than ten meters away—and a deep sense of powerlessness surged through her.

She could have cut down a dozen goblins at this distance, but rescuing someone while dragging an immobile injured teammate was simply impossible.

“Support with magic! Phyllis, can you still move?”

Hill shouted.

“I… I can…”

Phyllis struggled to sit upright; her hands trembled as they gripped her staff.

She looked toward the frantic, fleeing Marius; tears welled in her eyes.

Her expression was one of resolute, anguished determination—the very picture of a noble saint willing to overdraw herself to protect a comrade.

“Mr. Marius! Please hold on!”

Phyllis cried out with all her strength.

“Holy Aegis… Full Power!!”

Golden radiance erupted from the tip of her staff.

In this moment, her mana fluctuation was pure and immense—brighter even than usual.

Hill looked at her partner beside her; a wave of emotion rose in her chest.

Despite such serious injuries, Phyllis was still desperately trying to save the very man who had moments ago tried to cuff her…

Phyllis truly was too kind.

By now, Marius had been forced into a corner.

The Abyssal Butcher raised its ponderous beheading axe high overhead.

Black death-energy coiled along the blade; the strike was imminent.

No way to dodge.

“Even if I can just block it…”

Marius squeezed out his last reserves of mana, raising a frail magical shield.

He knew it wouldn’t hold. Death was certain.

At that moment…

“…Sanctuary Bastion!”

Phyllis’s clear chant rang out like heavenly music.

A thick, almost tangible golden wall of light materialized precisely in front of Marius.

The barrier was extraordinarily solid; complex sacred runes flowed across its surface—as though it could withstand even a dragon’s breath.

Marius was stunned.

He felt the immense defensive power.

He was saved!

Joy surged in his heart.

This nun’s strength was truly unfathomable!

With this shield, he could definitely survive that axe!

Clang!!!

The giant axe descended with earth-shattering force, crashing against the light wall.

Sparks flew.

The golden barrier groaned under the strain—but it held!

It did not shatter instantly like the earlier earth wall!

Hill also exhaled in relief.

Thank goodness—it blocked it!

If they could just survive this hit, she could find a way to sever the chain or carry Phyllis on her back to provide support.

However.

No one noticed… the subtle motion Phyllis made while casting this spell.

She was still weeping, her face filled with worry.

But the fingers gripping her staff trembled at a certain ancient, forbidden frequency.

Into that Sanctuary Bastion, she had quietly woven a negligible low-tier wind spell… Solidify.

Normally, Solidify reinforced structures or rooted enemies in place.

But now, it had been applied to Marius’s… armor joints and the boots beneath his feet.

On the battlefield.

Though the axe had been blocked, it did not rebound.

The monster pressed down with terrifying brute strength, attempting to crush the shield through sheer force.

Cracks appeared across the light wall.

Marius seized the moment, preparing to roll sideways and escape from the axe’s blind spot.

This was basic survival instinct for a veteran adventurer.

Half a meter to the left in that instant, and he would live.

But…

“…Move, damn it!”

Marius’s pupils shrank to pinpricks.

He stared in horror as his feet felt rooted to the ground—heavy as though filled with lead.

The joints of his armor seemed rusted solid, creaking with despairing resistance; they refused to bend!

What was happening?!

Not poison. Not paralysis.

Then… what?

!

It was the binding force coming from the golden shield enveloping him!

He jerked his head up and looked toward the distant Phyllis.

The holy sister was crying, desperately pouring mana into maintaining the barrier, shouting for him to hold on.

What a perfect rescue scene.

But he saw…

Deep within those tear-filled azure eyes.

Not a shred of warmth.

Only the cold, malicious detachment of someone observing an insect struggling under a microscope.

…It was you!

You’re trying to kill me!

Crack!

The light wall finally shattered under the unbearable pressure.

It dissolved into countless golden motes.

At that moment, thanks to the Solidify effect, Marius remained frozen in that awkward defensive posture—unable to move.

The giant axe fell without obstruction.

“Hill… be careful of that…”

Those were Marius’s last words in this world.

They never finished.

Squelch!!

The massive beheading axe cleaved downward at a forty-five-degree angle.

Protective robe, flesh, bone…

Before absolute power, everything might as well have been paper.

Blood sprayed like a fountain, instantly dyeing the ruin floor crimson.

The erudite scholar—the enigmatic inquisitor—was reduced to a shapeless mass of gore.

“…Ah?”

Hill stared blankly at the scene.

One second it had been a perfect defense; the next, the shield shattered.

And why hadn’t Marius dodged?

“Nooooooo!!!!”

A heart-rending wail erupted beside her.

Phyllis collapsed against Hill as though her soul had been drained.

Her staff clattered to the ground with a clear ring.

Her face was deathly pale; her breathing ragged; her entire body shook violently—as though she had overdrawn her mana to the absolute limit.

“I couldn’t save him… I couldn’t save him…”

Phyllis clutched Hill’s collar, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe.

“I’m sorry… If only my shield had been stronger… If only I had more mana…”

“Uuu… that monster was too powerful… Mr. Marius, he…”

She cried so bitterly, so guilt-stricken.

Those tears looked utterly genuine.

The weakness from completely emptying her mana reserves was equally real.

Hill gazed at her near-fainting partner; at the blood seeping from the corner of her mouth from overexertion.

The last faint thread of dissonance and suspicion in Hill’s heart was completely drowned by heartache.

Phyllis had done everything she could.

Even while injured, she had risked her life to save the very man who had tried to cuff her moments earlier.

The enemy had simply been too strong.

And that scholar’s luck had simply run out.

No shield—no matter how sturdy—could withstand such relentless, consecutive blows. Combined with his feet apparently getting caught in a crack in the floor, the tragic outcome was inevitable.

“…It’s over now, Phyllis.”

Hill’s gaze gradually turned cold and sharp.

She wrapped her right arm tightly around Phyllis’s waist, holding her steady so she wouldn’t collapse onto the cold stone.

With her left hand, she drew her mithril shortsword.

“Leave the rest to me.”

Hill raised her head.

Crimson eyes burned with the flames of vengeance and survival as she stared directly at the Abyssal Butcher, which had just finished its kill and was now turning toward them.

“To think it killed my client…”

“And made my precious partner cry like this…”

“Unforgivable.”

At that moment.

The monster seemed satisfied after devouring fresh blood—or perhaps the shredded anti-demon sachet had dispersed the last traces of its lure.

Its movements slowed.

Phyllis leaned weakly against Hill, face buried in her shoulder.

Her eyes were closed; tears still streamed from the corners.

But in the angle Hill could not see—

Her lips moved faintly, forming a syllable only she could hear.

“Checkmate.”

Farewell, Inquisitor.

In your next life, remember: don’t ever covet what belongs to me.

As for that unfinished last word of yours…

Take it to hell and tell it to the devils.