Chapter 144: 3 Star (5)

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Laysis, you are a special being. You exist for the revival of the Alforam royal family……

Princess, I admire you. If it is for your sake, I can gladly stain my hands with blood.

Do not be insolent. Do you play the role of a princess with nothing but a drop of royal blood and no strength of your own? You only need to dedicate your body as a princess of Alforam for the future of the kingdom.

……My lady, you must remember. In the Alforam royal family, there is no one you can trust except yourself.

Voices of unknown origin whispered in his ear, and Carl came to his senses.

He shook his head, forcing focus into his unfocused eyes and clearing his dazed mind.

At the same time, he recalled the words he had just heard.

‘This is…….’

The words had been directed toward Laysis.

Why then were they echoing in his ears?

Carl slowly lifted his head.

All that lay before his eyes was a pure white world.

Soon, his eyes widened as he confirmed that the phenomenon he had hoped for was indeed happening.

“I did not think it would actually work.”

This space surrounding him was clearly not reality.

It must have been the act of placing his hand upon Laysis’s head that had triggered some kind of change.

Absorbing a divinity did not make one a true god.

The divinity of Kailos he had absorbed was only partial, and it was far too little to claim godhood with.

Still, he had harbored a small hope, following Gallon’s words.

He had failed with Queen, but perhaps things would be different with Laysis.

The bond and trust that connected him to her was deeper than with Queen.

Even so, the reason he had placed hope in Laysis was……

“As expected, it is Kailos’s influence.”

Both he and Laysis had been entered and influenced by Kailos in body and spirit.

Was forced infusion of divinity necessary for such a connection to form?

“Well, priests would be similar, after all.”

A god had to bestow divine power in order for it to be wielded.

He and Laysis must have become bound in a similar structure.

Step.

Carl took a step forward.

Escaping this white space and returning to reality did not seem difficult.

All he had to do was recall the divinity he had released.

But now that it had come to this, he decided to explore the surroundings for a while.

“Laysis?”

He called to her as he walked.

At the same time, he looked around for an altar or some similar structure, but regrettably, nothing of the sort seemed to exist in this white space.

Still, he was soon able to find Laysis’s presence.

In the distance, a figure was lying on the ground.

“……Damn.”

But her condition was strange.

Carl instantly stomped the ground and rushed to her side.

“……”

What he found before him was a young child, sleeping soundly with gentle breaths.

If he was correct, this was clearly Laysis’s younger self.

Carl cautiously approached and shook her shoulder to wake her.

“Laysis.”

Thankfully, she awoke not long after he called, rubbing her eyes slowly with a small groan.

She blinked blankly, looking around as if trying to grasp the situation, and then turned to Carl with a question.

“Who are you?”

“……Ah.”

Had not only her body but even her mind regressed?

Carl gave a bitter smile as he crouched down in front of Laysis.

“I am Carlos Leipzig.”

“……You are a noble of the Empire, then.”

Laysis nodded, then quickly stood and gave a formal bow before him.

“I am Laysis Alforam, princess of the Kingdom of Alforam.”

Her youthful voice and polite bow were endearing.

Perhaps due to strict education from an early age as befit a princess, she displayed not the slightest lapse in manners, even in such a situation.

“Was it Sir Carlos who brought me here?”

“You may call me Carl. And as for that question, no, it was not I. I too simply opened my eyes and found myself here.”

“Hmm.”

Laysis folded her arms with a troubled expression.

To awaken in a place like this, of course, she would be bewildered.

Yet, without showing much emotional turmoil, she cautiously observed her surroundings.

Carl, too, silently watched her intently.

‘A connection between god and follower… resonance, perhaps. Could it be that this is its purest form?’

The purest moment for a human would be during childhood.

That must be why Laysis appeared as a child.

Conversely, as one living a second life, had he become too tainted to return to such innocence?

After looking around for a while, Laysis turned to Carl and asked in a small voice.

“Is there no way to send word anywhere? If we contact the royal palace, they will come to meet me. Then you too, Sir Carl, could return.”

“Regrettably, it seems difficult to find such a place. For now, perhaps we should try moving…….”

Clank. Clank. Clank.

An unpleasant metallic noise cut through Carl’s words.

It was the creak and clash of rusted joints in full plate armor.

Glancing back, he saw, in the distance, a rusted knight making its way toward them.

‘A knight?’

Carl’s eyes narrowed at the inexplicable sight.

Why would a knight appear here?

“……Hiiik.”

Peering out from behind Carl to see, Laysis let out a terrified cry and curled her body up.

Her face turned pale, her hands trembled, and she seemed utterly frightened by the knight approaching them.

Her trembling hand pressed against the ground, and soon she clutched tightly at Carl’s clothing.

Clang.

The knight drew its sword as it neared.

The rusted blade screeched unnervingly as it slid free, and Carl could feel its murderous intent directed at them.

Tilting his head slightly, Carl wrapped Laysis in his arms and slowly rose to his feet.

‘So this too is a trial.’

It was not difficult to guess the nature of the situation.

Given Laysis’s excessive trembling, this must be a fear buried deep within her subconscious.

It was what people called trauma.

He had never heard that Laysis feared knights in her childhood, but fear was different for everyone.

‘So to accept Laysis as my follower, does this mean I must resolve it?’

Carl calmed the trembling Laysis by stroking her back and imbuing her with divinity, and then decided to leave the place.

Tak!

He lightly kicked off the ground, widening the distance between himself and the knight.

But it did not take long for him to realize that such an act was meaningless.

Clatter.

Knights sprang forth in the white space.

Not just one or two, but nearly a hundred of them.

Clench.

Laysis, who opened her eyes for a moment and witnessed the scene, panicked and burrowed even deeper into Carl’s embrace.

‘I cannot use mana here.’

Holding Laysis more tightly, Carl looked down at his hand.

Divinity and mana were opposites.

As proof of that, it seemed mana or internal energy could not be used in this divinity-formed space.

On the other hand, divinity could be wielded a little more freely than in reality.

Even if the energy was faint, it was better than nothing, so he slowly drew it up and wrapped it around his body.

“Laysis.”

“……Yes.”

“Close your eyes and cover your ears.”

“……”

Laysis obeyed those words.

She buried her face deeply into Carl’s chest and tightly covered her ears with her small hands.

So that she would not hear those terrifying knights calling her.

‘What I can use are one arm and two legs.’

One arm had to keep holding Laysis close.

So violent movement was difficult, and he had to be careful not to let her get hurt.

‘Simple enough.’

Of course, to Carl, that posed no hindrance, so he stomped off the ground without hesitation.

Thud!

His fist struck hard, shattering a rusted helmet.

Interestingly, there was nothing inside the armor.

He had expected at least a skull or bones.

But perhaps this divinity-forged space did not allow such blasphemous things, and the armor was simply empty.

Crack, boom.

Carl moved as gracefully as the wind, smashing through the knights.

If he moved too violently, Laysis might have suffered.

So he destroyed the knights with the least possible movement, short and precise.

After about five minutes had passed, Carl stopped and patted Laysis on the back.

Only then did she, who had been keeping her eyes shut and ears covered, slowly raise her head to look at him.

“See.”

Carl spoke while showing her the scene behind him.

“There is nothing left to torment you now.”

“……Ah.”

Dozens, even hundreds of shattered remains were strewn across the white space.

Seeing that, Laysis let out a quiet sigh before slowly lifting her gaze to Carl’s face.

Fwoosh.

In that very moment, a dazzling light swept over the surroundings.

Carl’s consciousness was swept away once more, and when he regained it, he was back in the training hall where he had originally been.

“……”

Only now, Laysis was clinging to him tightly in his arms.

Just as she had done as a child in that white space, she wrapped her arms around him and entrusted her body completely.

“Laysis.”

“……Mmm.”

When Carl called her as he had inside, her tightly shut eyes twitched and slowly opened.

A pair of bright, glowing eyes gazed at him.

Soon, Laysis tilted her head slightly and spoke in a soft voice.

“Sir Carl?”

“Laysis, this is reality.”

“……Ah.”

At those words, Laysis glanced to the side, and soon her eyes widened as she realized the situation.

At the same time, she leapt away from Carl’s arms, lips trembling as her face flushed crimson.

“No, I mean, should I even call it that? Just now, it felt like I was me, but not me, and though I spoke, I didn’t even know what I was saying, anyway, everything was just all sorts of strange…….”

Rational thought was impossible for her.

Her face, ears, neck, and even the backs of her hands turned bright red, and Carl let out a small laugh at the sight.

“More importantly, is there anything that has changed?”

“……Changed?”

Grabbing onto his words, Laysis eagerly used them to change the subject.

Though her body was still flushed red, she desperately diverted her gaze and examined herself.

“No? Nothing seems to have changed……”

“I see.”

Carl himself did not sense anything significant either.

That must mean, unfortunately, that he had failed the trial.

‘Difficult indeed.’

If it had been magic, he could have used formulas and calculations to verify the process and the result.

But with divinity being an unknown realm, he could only grope forward step by step.

“……Huh?”

Then, something caught Carl’s eyes.

It was a faint thread connecting him to Laysis.

Ting.

As he slowly raised his hand and plucked it, the thread quivered faintly, showing its distinct presence.

“Laysis, do you see this?”

“What are you talking about? There’s nothing there.”

He asked while holding onto the thread, but Laysis shook her head, saying she could see nothing.

There was no way someone of her skill would fail to notice such a thread.

‘In that case.’

Carl grasped the thread and lightly infused it with divinity.

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