I Became the Servant of the Blind Wicked Woman

To read over 260 fully translated episodes, patreon.com/Denji02

"What… What have you done?!"

…?

I couldn't help but be taken aback at the sight of the priestess of Pluton suddenly erupting in anger. Surely, she's not about to claim that golem as temple property and demand compensation.

"Please calm down, Priestess. I haven't done anything."

I clasped my hands together and spread them wide to the sides—a traditional gesture showing I am unarmed. I added a peaceful smile, trying to give off a harmless impression.

"As you saw, I merely defeated the intruder."

"Intruder, you say…?"

The priestess of Pluton murmured in a daze. I had no idea what had shocked her so deeply.

Could she have seen the origin of my soul with her Holy Incantation? Did she glimpse Earth and this world's original novel, and that's why she's so stunned?

"Priestess. Did you see something?"

"What?"

"Inside my soul. What did you see?"

As expected, an expert is an expert. She succeeded in tracing my soul's origin, something I couldn't achieve even after years of grueling effort.

Now I understood her previous prickly and aggressive reaction.

It's only natural to feel despair if you discover your fate has been entirely foretold in some internet novel—an "Ether Net" novel, in this world's terms.

But that's not the case. The original story has already twisted beyond recognition. It's more accurate to say that the novel was based on this world rather than this world being based on the novel.

I was ready to offer some comforting words based on that—something like, "Prophecies don't decide everything. Our lives are more than just records"—when a thunderous revelation struck.

"No. I wasn't talking about your soul."

"…What?"

A deeper frustration than mere disappointment.

Swelling hope, and the void left behind as it deflated. A bitter feeling filled the space that hope had occupied.

I thought I had resigned myself to never returning home after years of rolling around in this world, but it seems I still had some lingering expectations I hadn't let go of.

I have a warm home, food for today, and enough money to sustain myself.

But at the same time, there's the looming pressure of this world, always on the verge of apocalypse, and the heavy burden of these damned eyes.

I suddenly wanted to stretch out and lie down in my bed in the room next to Carisia's.

I quickly adjusted my expression. Just because my personal goal had been thwarted, I couldn't afford to lose my temper with a business partner. That wouldn't be professional.

My smile may have faded for two or three seconds, but let's hope she couldn't see it clearly in the darkness.

"Then what did you mean by your previous words?"

"Argyrion has arrived."

"What?"

Ah. Is it because that golem, Adoosiam, is silver in color?

When you think of silver, Argyrion's Silver Thread comes to mind. Did she mistake Adoosiam for a high-end version of the Silver Thread? Did Adoosiam fail to neutralize it fast enough, and it somehow sent a distress signal to Argyrion, revealing the temple's location?

It was a situation ripe for misunderstanding. Why did it have to be silver, of all things? I could only feel wronged.

If Adoosiam had been about to send a signal, I would have dealt with it faster. Or used a ritual overlay to block it preemptively.

It was quite a troublesome misunderstanding. This needed to be cleared up immediately.

"I have no idea why Argyrion arrived here, but I assure you, it has nothing to do with—"

"And a mage from the Ten Towers."

"What?"

***

"Judging by the size of the extraordinary field, it's at least elder level. Good! It takes one of the Divine Cult's representatives to create a mutually assured destruction scenario!"

Kore shouted wildly. With an elder of the Ten Towers here, a retreat without casualties was impossible.

Kore, the only one among the Divine Cult's temple reclaimers who could detect intruders in advance, had been completely drawn in by Utis until now, stalling for time.

This was a well-crafted trap. Both Argyrion and the Ten Towers saw the Divine Cult as a target for eradication.

If Utis was indeed who Kore thought he was, this was an intricately calculated operation.

The strategy Utis proposed to the Divine Cult was twofold: "Weaken Argyrion through the Divine Cult," and "Leave Argyrion's elimination to the Ten Towers."

He even promised other cults that he would give them "the relics he had collected." This might seem like he was strengthening the Divine Cult, but the key point was that Utis was the one who had gathered those relics.

This meant he had control over the relics that the Divine Cult would receive.

However, the recapture of Pluton's Temple must have been an unforeseen action for Utis.

The Divine Cult's remaining power exceeded Utis's expectations. Thus, to balance the power dynamics as he envisioned, a proper pruning was necessary.

By exposing the Divine Cult's key representative to a pincer attack by the Ten Towers elder and Argyrion, he created a situation where one of them would inevitably have to sacrifice themselves.

"The overly strengthened Divine Cult will be sufficiently suppressed, and the Ten Towers will think Argyrion has allied with heretics. So cunning…!"

Kore shouted out, venting her anger in a mix of deliberate provocation and frustration.

If the goal was to minimize sacrifices here, it was right for her to die. Though she wouldn't remain long in this world as a spirit, she could still buy time against the external enemies and inform other cult members of the truth.

Utis stroked his chin, contemplating.

'Was my provocation too obvious…?'

He must have fought more priests than anyone else during the Mythical Era. Knowing that a priestess of Pluton could leave a spirit behind was only natural.

"Hm. I admit that, given the circumstances, I might seem like a spy for Blasphemia."

"What?"

'Did he come all this way just to say that?'

Kore wasn't just suspecting Utis of being some lowly heretic hunter for Blasphemia.

She suspected something far more enormous and unspeakable.

A fragment of the "Vanished Mage."

The remnants of the flesh left behind as the Vanished Mage ascended—like a husk of his fallen soul.

'If it were the Vanished Mage's full power, he wouldn't need to resort to such schemes.'

"But priestess, I'd be in serious trouble if the Ten Towers caught me. Please believe me."

"What do you mean—?"

"As proof of my sincerity, I will reveal my name to the cult. You said that the more clues there are, the more precise the soul-seeing Holy Incantation becomes, right? My name is Orthes. Judge for yourself if my soul's color aligns more closely with yours or with the Ten Towers."

Kore reflexively activated the Holy Incantation, but all she saw remained the same.

A blue glow.

'No. It seems even brighter…?'

She tried to speak, but Orthes's resolute pace pushed her back.

"Ah. Before you head up, take the relic in the center of the room. It will be of use to you."

Orthes continued speaking rapidly and then turned his back. After slicing Adoosiam a few more times until only the core remained, Orthes quickly collected it and dashed off.

'What the hell?'

It was an utterly incomprehensible situation. Why would he leave without neutralizing her?

There was undoubtedly a purpose behind his actions. A grand plan she could not yet fathom.

After deliberating dozens of times in that brief moment, Kore decided to follow Orthes's instructions. Even though the trap was clear, to understand his intentions, she had to step into it.

In the deepest darkness of Pluton's Temple lay a shattered blade.

Kore instantly recognized its identity. Though damaged and broken, the divine power that lingered within was unmistakably Pluton's.

The symbol of the temple, Pluton's Great Scythe.

"Why is this here?"

There was no sense of a curse.

The power lingering in the shattered symbol was but a speck compared to its original state, but even so, it could still serve as a conduit to access the temple's core authority. Kore now held the power to change the current situation.

More than just escaping the Ten Towers' pursuers…

Kore suppressed her increasingly complex thoughts. The immediate priority was the survival of the Divine Cult.

Even if Orthes had some hidden motive, she had to use the symbol now.

The broken blade of the scythe. Kore slit her palm with it. The divine energy within the blackened blade resonated with Kore's own divine power.

She began to see all the temple's levels simultaneously.

***

Thalo, the elder of the Silver Iron Magic Tower, launched his limbs. The 360-degree cameras attached to his limbs transmitted thermal infrared and multiple layers of sensory images directly to Thalo's brain.

His backup enchantware, which had been floating nearby, filled the empty slots on his body. These were different from the reconnaissance enchantware he had just deployed—these were combat-oriented.

Thalo recalled the urgent message he had just received.

"The old king's legacy has summoned us… Ha."

It was laughable. That a relic of the Mage King still existed. That it sought the aid of the Mage King's murderers.

"But how intriguing. So the Mage King left behind something other than the Commandments."

Thalo's left arm, autonomously exploring the temple, detected a life form. His arm, transformed

into something resembling a gauntlet, stealthily approached and attached itself to the unfortunate person's hand.

The liquid intelligent spirit metal embedded within was then injected. Spreading rapidly through the bloodstream, the liquid metal took control of the victim's entire body, allowing Thalo to manipulate the victim's flesh.

That was when Thalo sensed the anomaly.

The liquid metal triggered a counterattack—the "brain" began to fight back.

The cerebral cortex rose like a flesh golem, attempting to crush the liquid metal.

But it was a futile effort. Why else would it be called "liquid"? The liquid metal flowed effortlessly through the brain's squeezing assault, reshaping itself into a sharp, drill-like spike.

Under the relentless advance of Thalo's intelligent spirit metal, the brain was swiftly torn apart. Thalo couldn't contain his laughter.

"Haha! Eroders, are they? How amusing!"

Human in shape but with an anatomy that clearly defied humanity. Eroders steeped in extradimensional influence. Eroders excavating ruins in secret instead of engaging in spontaneous destruction?

It had to be Argyrion, Blasphemia's notorious troublemaker.

"So those poor bastards have made it all the way here… Argyrion, already at a disadvantage, doesn't have the resources to waste on petty relic digs. Do they think there's some game-changing secret weapon hidden in these ruins?"

It was a pitiful thing.

Whatever relics might lie within these ruins, they would soon fall into his hands.

To read over 260 fully translated episodes, patreon.com/Denji02