"Isnât that right?" Reiger mercilessly mocked, "To say youâre sentimental is a compliment. To label you as pretentious isnât extreme enough. Saying youâre indulging in self-delusion is the most fitting, isnât it?"
"What? Did that hit a nerve?"
"Iâm so sorry about that, but youâre the one who disgusted me."
"Iâve met plenty of disgusting people, but among them, you stand as the most repulsive."
"In all your actions, I see neither dignity nor respectâonly your personal indulgent delusion."
"I suppose thatâs why Charity despises you so much, isnât it?"
Reigerâs words pierced through Kiloâs fragile heart like daggers.
He wasnât someone easily provoked, but when it involved Charity, he would become impulsive, reckless.
And Reiger wasnât just touching on Charity; he was trampling Kiloâs feelings for Charity, stomping them into the ground.
Had he ever faced such provocation?
Had he ever been insulted like this?
Even when Charity gazed at him with disdainful eyes, even when others told him that the Martial Goddess never even considered him, he would always greet with a smile after disappointment, believing she would need him.
But now, this man told him with bloody words that his thoughts and actions were nothing more than self-touching, self-delusion...
"!!!"
Kiloâs eyes were instantly bloodshot.
"Iâm going to kill you!"
Kilo roared with unprecedented hatred, disregarding his bruised and battered body, he forcefully pulled out a box from his chest.
It was an iron box carved with mysterious runes and sealed as if imprisoning something.
Bloodshot-eyed Kilo raised the iron box with all his might, about to smash it to the ground.
However...
"[Come forth.]"
The words, carrying power, traveled with the wind, causing the box to suddenly escape Kiloâs hand and fly towards Reiger.
"What?!"
Kilo was shocked.
Reiger had already reached out and caught the flying box.
"Is this your final trick, your last card?"
Reiger glanced at the box in his hand. Instant magic identification activated without incantation, letting him discern the boxâs essence.
"I see, a secret artifact sealing a beastâs fierce soul?"
Reiger sneered.
"You think you can tackle me with this?"
"Seems Iâve overestimated you so-called saints."
"Ultimately, youâre just a bunch of second-rate characters."
With that, Reiger, in front of Kilo, activated the magic without incantation again.
Only this time, he didnât activate identification magic but [High-level Item Destruction], a magic specifically for destroying magical items.
"Bang!"
The box shattered in Reigerâs hand, and the beast phantom emerging from it dissipated with a miserable howl into nothingness.
"You... you..."
Kilo opened his eyes wide, trembling, refusing to accept the reality before him.
Only then did Reiger rough-handedly toss aside Charity, carelessly, with nary a hint of pity, igniting rage in Kiloâs eyes.
It couldnât be helped; the woman he esteemed as a treasure was thrown like garbage by another man, which was another kind of intense stimulus.
"Now that this woman is no longer a hindrance, let me get back to business."
Reiger stepped forward, moving towards Kilo, step by step.
"Why did you appear here and what do you intend, let me find out."
Reiger extended his hand towards Kilo.
Seeing this, Kilo, lying on the ground, had lost all strength to resist, glaring at Reiger with hatred, seemingly trying to memorize his face to seek revenge in the next life, his expression vile.
In response, Reiger naturally ignored it all.
Just as Reigerâs hand was about to touch Kiloâs head, preparing to use [Memory Manipulation] to explore his brain region, a voice softly arose.
"...Our purpose here is to destroy the magic array used for teleporting to the outside world in the Hidden Land and search for something."
When the entire voice resounded and reached the ears of Reiger and "Gigabyte", Reiger was indifferent, while the grotesque "Gigabyte" suddenly showed joy.
"Ice Maiden sister...!"
The owner of the voice was none other than Charity.
Charity awoke without anyone knowing.
However, she did not rise, but lay there, gazing at the night sky, her eyes reverting to an icy blue.
Upon closer inspection, that pair of icy blue eyes were dull, completely devoid of any brilliance they held in the past.
The rare female Martial God seemed to have lost the meaning of life, slightly parted her red lips, and spoke indifferently.
"To achieve these two aims, the emissaries from the Temple dispatched a total of five, excluding âSky Hunterâ and âTitanâ.
"Though I left the group without permission, the annoying fellow over there followed along, but given the abilities of the other three, itâs absolutely not difficult to infiltrate the temple and achieve their goals now that the priests are all drawn away by the Abyssal Aura."
"Perhaps, they might have already achieved their goals by now."
Upon hearing this, Reigerâs brows furrowed tightly.
"[Portal]."
Without hesitation, Reiger opened the portal that had no range limit, allowing the semicircular dark gate to unfold before him.
Passing through the [Portal], Reiger immediately returned to the temple.
On the scene, only Charity and "Gigabyte" remained.
"Ice..."
"Gigabyte" tried to call out to Charity again, even wanting to crawl towards Charity.
Charity seemed to sense "Gigabyteâs" movements, although her eyes remained dull, she still moved slightly, swaying as she stood up.
She wasnât injured, but due to [Boundless Void], her brainâs control over her body was still lagging.
Therefore, she could only crawl up with difficulty, looking not at all like her previous aloof self, but rather somewhat bleak and pitiful.
Without saying a word, Charity held the only remaining Inheritance Sword and slowly left the place.
"Wait for me... wait for me...!"
"Gigabyte" struggled to call out, trying to get up, trying to crawl forward, but his injuries kept hindering him, causing him to fail again and again.
To "Gigabyteâs" surprise, Charity actually stopped her stride.
However, the words the other spoke in the next second drove "Gigabyte" into an ice cave.
"Thereâs one thing Reiger Brillhaut didnât miss."
Without turning around, Charity said those words facing away from "Gigabyte".
"You are indeed quite disgusting."
Upon finishing her sentence, Charity left without looking back.
Leaving "Gigabyte" alone, staring in shock at Charityâs gradually receding figure, his eyes widened to the limit.
In a daze, he recalled his own life.
"Gigabyte", the reason this man persevered with that icy woman was actually very simple.
He once dwelled in hell.
It was a hell that devoured people without leaving bones.
Once, there was an organization specializing in abducting children from various nations, training them into toys for noblesâ entertainment, providing nobles with unspeakable services.
"Gigabyte" was once part of that place, a child abducted from another country.
And just as he was about to be sold to nobles, becoming a plaything for their perverse indulgence, a female Martial God charged in with the Queenâs Knights, ruthlessly dismantling the organizationâs base.
"Gigabyte" at that time witnessed the female Martial Godâs silhouette amidst the frozen desolate ruins.
From then on, he decided to live for her.
For this, he joined the sanctuary.
Itâs a pity though, the icy Martial God never remembered him, never remembered she saved such a person.
She merely waved her sword routinely, fulfilling her duties as a member of the Queenâs Knights.
Thus, he continued to do only this, watching her back.
"Haha... hahahaha...!"
"Gigabyte" laughed lying in the pool of blood.
Laughed loudly and particularly bleakly.
His laughter, naturally, did not stop the Martial Godâs steps.
The Martial God walked further in the icy world, against the laughter resembling sorrowful cries, and marched alone towards the unknown...