The inside of the ga room was a haven of comfort compared to the tempestuous Nolan City outside. Yet, at the sound of the Corpse Gentleman's voice, the other four couldn't stop themselves from trembling.
"Ten thousand years of struggle have left increasingly weak, but they have also granted the chance to break free from the gods' seal. Decades ago, I created a psionic device, allowing my consciousness to leave this land for the first ti. I sched for many years, took control of an Enchanter who happened upon this place, and used his identity to guide the construction of the hospital and lead people to discover the mines. I steadily increased the number of people under my thrall, constantly weakening the seal. As for the hospital's curse, it was rely an unintentional consequence of my power."
"And what happened today..."
"My attempt over a decade ago failed. I drew the attention of the Orthodox Churches far too soon. Even after that, when I began gathering Enchanters under the guise of the Corpse Gentleman and seizing their bodies, I still couldn't amass the manpower and resources needed for a ritual powerful enough to shatter the seal. But this city was chosen for the end of the epoch. With the right opportunity, I don't need to confront the seal directly. I can simply wait for a miracle."
"The miracle I chose is this very ga. Your explorers will serve as the sacrifice to begin the ritual that will free . Many of the formal conditions haven't been t, but this is a ga of dice. It's a contest of luck, not logic."
"Roll the dice. Decide whether or not your minds fall under my control."
"We can't roll! If that ritual starts, we'll be traitors to Nolan!"
Mr. Hood exclaid, grabbing the ga's rulebook.
"I'm calling for an intermission! This ga is too exhausting. We need a break."
"Request denied!"
The Corpse Gentleman thrust a hand forward, as if colliding with an invisible force. Black, viscous liquid oozed from his ears, mouth, and nose, but he didn't seem seriously hard. After all, this wasn't the Titan's true body.
"I cannot arbitrarily alter what you call a B-class event, but my role as narrator is a core rule. Rest is not. I can prevent it. My current vessel is a level-eight human demigod. How do you propose to fight ?"
A ceaseless torrent of black ooze poured from his cuffs onto the floor. Like a living monster, the sludge slithered outward in every direction. Magic Miss, standing beside him, let out a sharp cry and tried to back away, only to find her body completely unresponsive.
"That roar you heard contained a subliminal command. Combined with the abilities of this body, I no longer need the psionic device to control you. Now, roll the dice."
At his command, the four of them were forced back into their seats. Their faces were contorted in grimaces of resistance, but their bodies refused to obey.
The dice were right beside Hathaway, so she was the first to take hold of the two heavy cubes.
"Briny~"
The red-haired young woman cried out in her mind, using her will—her love—to fight against her body's forced movents. She succeeded for a fleeting second, her hand visibly hesitating, but the mont was gone as quickly as it ca.
That single second stretched into an eternity. For Hathaway, the simple act of reaching for the dice was the most agonizing mont of her life. The sound of the storm outside swelled to a deafening roar in her ears, and she felt the tremor of every aftershock with painful clarity.
In that instant, her focus was so absolute that she broke through her own limits. Her very soul seed to elevate, brushing against the edge of the sixth level.
But she would have rather died in that mont. At least then, she could have saved Briny Mikhail.
"Oh, gods, if you can hear ..."
"ow~"
For a single mont, the cat's cry drowned out the thunder and the rain. It was an ordinary sound, yet its effect was more terrifying than the Titan's roar. The windowpane shattered with a sharp crack. Fortunately, this space was separate from the material world, so no wind rushed in. Faint cracks, however, appeared across the ga board's scenery. The Corpse Gentleman coughed up another mouthful of black sli, his hands flying to his own throat as he made a strangled, gasping sound.
The four Enchanters imdiately regained control of their bodies. Hathaway shrieked and scrambled to her feet, joining the others as they took cover behind the white cat, Vanilla.
"This cat..."
It was difficult to say whether the Corpse Gentleman was truly alive or dead, so Vanilla's cry hadn't killed him. He stared at the cat perched on the table, black fluid dribbling from his mouth. He was the only one in the room still seated.
"Excellent," he rasped. "I didn't expect that Mr. Candle would leave such a trick behind."
He spoke while continuing to spit the fluid. The dripping, sloshing sound, combined with the squirm of the viscous liquid, sent a wave of goosebumps over the four people huddled behind the cat.
Another flash of lightning lit the room, casting the Corpse Gentleman's face in a ghastly white pallor. The stark light also revealed the black halos swirling within his pupils.
"No matter how powerful this cat is, once my true form breaks free from its earthly prison, none of this will matter. The story goes on. The ancient, fallen Titan has crawled from the depths of the earth and now stands fully upon the surface. The explorers are paralyzed by terror, unable to act for three turns... You're all dood. Even without the explorers' ritual, all I need are their souls—temporarily specialized by this 'story within a story.' With those, the Titan can use the power of a B-class phenonon to beco a character in this narrative. And then, I will be the one to roll the dice and set him free."
The Titan figurine on the ga board was imnse, towering over even the tallest building of the miniature hospital complex. Next to it, the wooden figures representing the explorers were no bigger than ants. The difference in power was far beyond anything normal.
The wooden figurines on the board were silent, but the enraged roar of the giant Titan could be heard through the window. At last, the Titan moved. It bent down, its massive hand reaching for the four figures on the ground.
A flash of white light, and the gleam of a sword shot upward from the ground. The Titan instantly raised its arm to block. The holy blade struck its gray skin, leaving only a white scar. A mont later, however, the additional damage from [The Stranger] ability took effect, and a thin crack appeared in its flesh. The sa viscous black fluid began to drip from the wound.
"I'm afraid this Titan is the kind of monster you can only seal, not defeat."
Magic Miss remarked, her expression grim as she stared at the ga board.
"Doesn't that an Mr. Candle is in terrible danger?"
Mr. White Cat asked, his voice laced with worry.
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