Chapter 1030

What the hell is Trismegistus doing here?

At any rate, we’ve gotta run!

I reflexively cast Short Jump in an attempt to make some distance, but…

「There is no need for haste. Cease.」

『What!?』

Immediately after my teleport, Trismegistus was already waiting right in front of me. It seems he instantly sensed my destination and moved ahead of me.

After realizing I was trapped, I tried a longer ranged teleport. However, the mana I was putting into the spell dissipated the moment Trismegistus turned his eyes on me. Does he have the ability to cancel my magic? Is that another feature of his eyes?

But wait, how did he get here in the first place? Wasn’t Trismegistus supposedly unable to leave the barrier surrounding the castle?

Various theories went through my head in an instant, but now wasn’t the time. I need to somehow take Izario and escape to somewhere safe.

If teleportation won’t work, then how about telekinesis?

However, it all proved futile in front of Trismegistus. He somehow interfered with my mana, preventing the usage of any magic or skills.

Dammit! Izario is dying! I don’t have time for this shit!

「I said cease.」

『Grh!』

My body stopped moving for a split second. What the hell is happening?

「Cease your movements.」

『!』

His words……? Did they contain some kind of power too? The restraints only affected me momentarily, but this made me completely helpless when combined with his ability to cancel magic.

His goal was me, and he’s already got me cornered.

I didn’t sense any killing intent coming from Trismegistus, but he wouldn’t show any even when trying to kill someone.

「I have no intention of harming either of you.」

『?』

「As I still require Izario’s assistance in eradicating the antidemons. Sword, do not move. Original Sin Envy.」

『Hah? W-What are you……!?』

Trismegistus shot out a number of black hands at Izario. Original Sin Envy, the same ability we saw earlier.

Unable to do anything, I could only watch as the black hands sunk into Izario’s body. What was his goal? Maybe he wanted to steal the Divine Sword Release skill?

But then, a startling change occurred right before my eyes. Izario’s condition suddenly stabilized. Color returned to his face, and his wounds healed completely. Above all, his life force and mana had been restored to reasonable levels.

What just happened?

「Cough… I have forcibly stolen the time from Izario’s body……」

Trismegistus, on the other hand, had lost a ton of mana and started coughing up blood.

『You stole… ‘time’?』

「Everything his body has experienced over the past few hours. In exchange, I have given him a portion of my mana, life force, and experience.」

The past few hours……? So he took on all the damage and fatigue from Izario from the past few hours? That’s why he suddenly started looking so ill!

Maybe even the price of divine sword usage had transferred over to Trismegistus too.

And in return, Trismegistus traded Izario life force and mana.

Trismegistus was clearly losing in this so-called “equivalent exchange”, but the fact that it worked meant the skill determined it was a fair trade.

「Time is a precious thing that cannot be replaced, for better or worse. And it has value too. So much, in fact, that a great deal of my experience has been taken away.」

His expression remained the same as usual, as if he didn’t feel any pain. But the damage was noticeable even to me. His voice was trembling.

At any rate, I never imagined Original Sin Envy could be used like this. He could heal someone by stealing their damage.

While I was still struggling, I noticed someone drawing closer to us: Fran.

She was barely able to move, but she must have sensed the danger I was in and gathered all her remaining strength. However, she tripped a few meters away, and was unable to get back up.

『Fran! Maximum Heal!』

（Master…… Is this…?）

『I just learned it. Don’t push yourself too hard. Your body’s at its limit, you know?』

（But……）

「Girl and Sword, you may rest at ease. I no longer intend to destroy or steal your sword.」

Woops, I just remembered this guy could eavesdrop on our telepathic conversations!

「Fran and Master. You have displayed your worth.」

『In other words, we’re strong enough to be useful to you for eliminating the antidemons?』

「Correct.」

Such a disgusting decision making criteria. If you serve his purpose, he’ll heal you and let you go. If you aren’t strong enough, he’ll kill you and steal your powers.

If I asked him that, Trismegistus would simply nod his head without any hesitation.

At least we know that he won’t target us anymore. However, there were still unsolved mysteries.

『What did you even want out of this?』

「A brilliant question. My goal was to create and destroy the giant antidemon.」

『Huh?』

「And as a result, heavily weaken the Abyss Eater. This is a great step forward in accomplishing my mission.」

Seriously? It’s true that the Abyss Eater needs to put a lot of energy into creating such a powerful antidemon. And if this hand-crafted antidemon gets easily taken out, all of that energy goes to waste.

「The key to my strategy was the wielder of the failed divine swords. With sufficient forces assembled to challenge the mighty antidemon, I determined that now was the best timing. Everything went according to plan.」

『And that’s why you teamed up with Meltritte and Georg?』

「Indeed. They performed their roles splendidly.」

Trismegistus’ face showed not a single emotion. No joy, no apology, no anger, nothing.

After seeing that, I realized it. This man was nothing more than a puppet moving mechanically to accomplish his god-given mission. He would do whatever it takes to accomplish that, and cares nothing about taking advantage of others or what the world thinks of him.

Just as he said, all of his actions led to weakening the Abyss Eater. Then, he gives empty praise to his collaborators because the plan was a success. There were no ulterior motives.

I assume Fannabelta was in the charge of the actual plotting, so maybe Trismegistus really was just doing as he was told?

Still, I couldn’t help but ask the question.

『You know a lot of people died, right?』

「Such was also one my goals.」

『Slaughtering people was your goal……!?』

I know how bad making enemies with him would be, yet I found myself absolutely furious at his words.

「I ordered them to evacuate several times, but they remained. It became necessary.」

Trismegistus simply nodded curtly. The complete absence of insanity or hostility showed just how truly monstrous he was.

Now I understand what Izario meant when he called Trismegistus a monster.