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Countless blades surged forth.

As the force behind the blades intensified, almost as if mocking the previous attacks as mere child’s play, Lily gave up trying to block them among the relentless hail of blades.

Whoosh!

Instead, she readied her hammer, now the size of a hill.

Even as blood flowed from countless wounds inflicted by the blades, she resolved to focus solely on her initial target.

A vast, destructive holy power radiated from her, stained in blood.

—No!

Crash!!!

The Holy Temple crumbled under the might of the enormous hammer.

The temple, which rivaled the mountain in size, began to shatter and fall apart like fragments of glass.

The Celestial beings enveloped in mysterious clouds struggled to block it, but there was nothing they could do about the destruction of the temple itself.

Perhaps, given time, it could have been avoided, but the battle was far from over.

He glared at Lily with eyes filled with rage.

Her body was covered in wounds, but the holy power surged within her, healing all her injuries.

The being shrouded in mysterious clouds spoke.

—You crazy fool… daring to destroy the Holy Temple?

“Is it forbidden to break it?”

—You will regret this. I shall show you that there are worse pains than death!

Wooooooom…!

The mysterious clouds trembled.

The energy pouring from the clouds spread throughout the world.

It resembled a swirling mist, yet at the same time, it seemed like an eerie melody screaming with strange sounds.

The effect, unclear in nature, caused Sandalphon, who was struggling among the fragments of the temple, to roll his eyes back and faint.

The life forms on the ground beneath those clouds fared no differently.

Intelligent beings, and even those almost devoid of intelligence, succumbed to unconsciousness.

The only one left standing was Lily, who gazed down at the clouds still radiating tremendous power.

“What’s happening?”

—‘Heartbeat of Balance.’ It’s a technique that traps those who disrupt the balance in a deep abyss. It applies to anyone with a soul without exception.

“Hmm?”

—And this world is overflowing with those who do not belong to the balance. You are one of them.

“I’m doing just fine, though?”

—……

The Celestial being within the mysterious clouds pondered.

Lily appeared fine on the surface.

It seemed that, despite having crafted a convincing explanation of the technique, its effect was absolutely nonexistent. In contrast, it was the opposite.

‘If you lower your guard, it might actually work in my favor.’

The Heartbeat of Balance was a technique granted by ‘that person.’

Indeed, it was powerful enough to affect the ‘highest’ of Celestial and Demon races, so it would naturally apply to Lily as well.

It just took a bit longer to take effect against a stronger opponent.

Lily felt no need to remain cautious any longer, and as soon as she grasped the hammer again—

“…?”

Lily’s eyelids began to droop slowly.

The power within her hand started to wane, and the previously rampant holy energy began to diminish.

Overcome by fatigue, Lily swayed unsteadily, ultimately dropping the hammer with a thud.

The being hidden in the clouds summoned blades once more.

Initially aiming to send her flying to a place she could not reach after being put to sleep, the temple was already in ruins.

She couldn’t kill her, but she had to ensure that the cost of destruction was paid.

—When you wake up, a lot will have changed. Accept this as destiny…

Crack!

—Huh…?

“I can also sing lullabies, you know.”

A spear flew silently through the air.

The translucent spear pierced through the clouds and struck a distant Celestial being, rendering its mind hazy as it succumbed to the piercing force.

A technique created by one of the eight pillars of the Celestial race, incomparable to ‘that person.’

“Lance of Rest.”

The pale spear crafted by the angel of eternal sleep sent its soul sinking beneath the surface.

The mysterious clouds lost their connection and began to plummet, losing their light.

“…Sigh.”

Lily, now alone, glanced at Sandalphon and then closed her eyes.

The oncoming fatigue was real.

The effect of the heartbeat wasn’t nonexistent.

It was just that, with her abilities, she could have endured, and she could resist if she wanted to…

“…I’m tired.”

What she really needed was sleep.

.

.

.

—You must be pretty used to this by now.

■

In the past, Lily was weak.

And I don’t just mean her physical strength.

She had also been mentally weak and unable to make decisions easily when it came to judgment.

The clumsy, confused young saintess.

That was me.

“…This feels familiar.”

The creaky wooden ceiling welcomed me.

I instinctively got up, tidied the bedding, changed clothes, and fixed my outfit.

Lily~ are you awake?

I could hear ‘Mother’s’ voice outside.

I hadn’t seen ‘Mother’ since that day, so this was the past, or rather a dream.

It seemed like I was having a dream, lulled to sleep by that strange cloud (though I didn’t resist and simply slumbered), dreaming of the past.

I often dreamt of the past in the early stages of my return, but at this point, dreams about the past had become quite rare.

Of course, this isn’t a normal dream.

‘Something feels off.’

My current body is too big.

Compared to the young girl that Lily once was, my present body is quite tall.

This kind of physique would likely emerge only after at least 15 years of being in a new body.

I bet among the villagers, I’d be one of the tallest, maybe two or three.

‘If you’re going to manipulate dreams, at least do it properly.’

I grumbled internally about the clouds while lightly sitting on the bed.

‘…For now.’

The broadcast was off.

No, was it even on to begin with?

I couldn’t remember.

In fact, I struggled to recall what I had been thinking throughout the past 40 days.

Meeting Celestials, helping Uriel, constantly traversing worlds to capture Celestials.

I felt like I’d been running compulsively, almost entranced by something.

At the time, I thought that was right, and I still somewhat agree, but… I felt that I needed to stop at some point.

It was certainly my will to act and think, but…

“40 days of continuous broadcasting seems a bit much.”

No matter how much this country loves broadcasting, this is overkill.

So I just went to sleep. Quite dramatically.

‘People need their rest.’

Even if it’s a dream of sorts, my mind is somewhat clear now.

“Temporary probability is high… I should log out as soon as I return.”

Even if I forcefully cut it off, if I keep progressing through quests, the odds of something strange happening again are high.

I did manage to sink down the Celestial under the clouds, but there was no guarantee it would remain that way.

Lily~ may I come in?

“……”

Mother.

Not actually my mother, but ‘Lily’s’ mother.

Of course, it is right to say she is my mother since I am Lily, but biologically speaking, she isn’t… or is she not?

If we are to consider the ‘biological’ aspect, you could say she is closer to being my actual mother…

“…Come in.”

I opened the door.

Standing at the door was my mother, smaller than I.

Even after almost 1.5 times my height grew overnight, she acted as if nothing was amiss.

It must be a dream for sure.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Sure. Did you sleep well, Lily?”

“Yes.”

My mother looked like me.

While she had none of my hair color or eyes, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say we looked almost identical in terms of ‘appearance.’

If someone replaced my hair and eye color with the brownish color of my mother’s, people would probably recognize us as mother and daughter.

…Seeing this, it’s clear that I did inherit human blood after all.

“Is being a saintess alright for you?”

“…Huh? Ah, yes. Of course.”

Right, this was the saintess period.

I was somewhat dazed, but the timeline was just too jumbled for me to get a firm grasp on it.

You could wonder why I was in the village when I was already a saintess, but even during her saintess days, she occasionally came to sleep in the village.

When I participated in the ‘pilgrimage’ events visiting nearby towns or villages, I went along with the villagers and the Village Chief.

My mother gazed at me with warm eyes.

“Is anyone troubling you in the Holy Kingdom?”

“Of course not. There’s no one at all.”

Well, technically, there were, but I had sent them flying with my hammer.

At the time, it seemed pretty serious, but looking back, it was quite a comical story.

‘A saintess wielding a hammer.’

Considering that a magic-only saintess was the norm, I reckon the Holy Palace was pretty shocked at that.

There was also another saintess who troubled me, but that was an issue for after I had ceased being a saintess, so it wasn’t pertinent to mention now.

“It’s manageable. Everyone is treating me well.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. You don’t have to worry.”

“I’m glad to hear that…”

My mother carefully took my hands in hers.

“If there’s something on your mind, please tell me.”

“…Yes.”

I wonder if there will be a day when I could speak about my worries.

Not now, at least; nothing significant comes to mind currently.

“Are you leaving soon?”

“No.”

I turned my head to look out the window.

The peaceful scenery of the small village was still present.

I had longed to see this scenery for so long, yet the outcome was always the same.

‘An unchanging future.’

Gazing blankly out the sunlit window, I smiled and replied.

“I’ll be going soon.”

I needed some time to sort my thoughts.

 

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