Chapter 175 Salvation Comes from Within
Piery trembled in her room in the manor.
She recalled the desperate time that was soon to come and was startled. It was something she never wanted to repeat.
"No, no...!"
No matter where she looked, she only recalled that she had returned to that desperate past.
If things continued like this, she would undoubtedly repeat that moment.
"This is absurd. How?"
It was hard to know why. But something felt suspicious.
She recalled what had just happened.
"Could it be because of my ability? I thought it was working properly, but maybe something went wrong?"
Perhaps it had gone out of control. Like a flower that had withered and fallen.
She got up from her seat and shook her head.
She needed to pull herself together now. She recalled what Lao had said earlier.
—You should comfort them.
She never wanted to do that again. It made her blood run cold.
First, she had to get out of the manor. As she went down to the first floor, the guards were firmly standing guard.
The entrance was practically sealed off. Unless she used her ability on the guards.
Piery raised her hand with an expressionless face. She had to eliminate two guards at once.
"Haa...."
She sighed and lowered her hand.
"They’re innocent people. They’re just being controlled. Can I... kill people like that?"
Piery, who had wandered from place to place as a war orphan. To her, the servants and guards were as close as family. Even if they were under mind control, she couldn’t kill them.
But if she didn’t, there was no way to escape. She had to get out of here right now, and if she couldn’t, she would have to repeat the nightmare. It was truly a dilemma.
"What should I do?"
Time passed, and she tried to come up with a plan. Hoping it would work, she went upstairs.
Deliberately making herself visible to the guards.
"Good, now!"
Piery, who had been waiting upstairs, hurriedly ran downstairs towards the guards.
"It’s an emergency! The young master is in critical condition! Huff...!"
"What? Suddenly?"
"I was checking on him, and he suddenly started foaming at the mouth... Ahh, it’s scary!"
She covered her face with both hands as if bursting into tears. The guards quickly went upstairs.
Piery pretended to go with them, then turned around.
This was her ploy. She opened the door and immediately started running.
"I’ll cast it on myself."
She didn’t like her running speed. She had never trained her body before.
In the end, she decided to use her ability.
[Time Manipulation - Acceleration]
Tick-tock!
Piery cast Acceleration on herself and escaped the manor incredibly fast.
After completely leaving the manor and reaching the street, she was finally able to deactivate it.
However, she couldn’t control her speed and crashed into a building wall. Her forehead was even torn, and it bled.
It hurt enough to bring tears to her eyes, but that wasn’t important.
"I need to get used to my ability, but it’s hard. It’s not easy!"
First, she was relieved to have escaped the manor. She had to leave Weaverpool and go to Ravenscoft.
Lucian would be there. She had to ask him for help.
She tried to leave, covering her face as much as possible, but the guards were already chasing Piery on horseback.
"Already? How?"
She was surrounded in an instant. As Piery panicked, one of the guards cast an ominous gaze.
"The Lord ordered us to bring you. Let’s go."
"Ah, no... Please!"
Piery struggled. She wanted to escape somehow.
But she couldn’t shake off the guards’ strength. She was brought back to the manor, her limbs restrained.
She collapsed in front of the fat pig who had already taken off his pants. Lao appeared and sighed.
"You managed to escape my mind control? Strange. That shouldn’t be possible."
Piery glared at him fiercely. Just looking at his face made her sick.
"Get lost, fake Lord! You’re a swindler, a cult leader!"
Lao just laughed. Everything was questionable.
"How does this bitch know me? Is there a traitor in the manor?"
"You even know my identity? I don’t know how you did it, but you’re our slave forever. Hehehe."
Piery, losing consciousness due to mind control. She crawled towards the fat pig’s, tears streaming down her face. The nightmare was about to unfold.
"No, please, no...!"
At that moment of despair.
Her surroundings faded out, and she found herself back in the dungeon.
In front of her, a slime was wiggling closer.
For Piery, it was a continuous series of bewildering moments.
"What? Am I back? I didn’t even use my ability this time?"
She looked around and desperately called out to Lucian.
"Lucian! Lord!"
As expected, there was no answer. Not even a trace of him was visible.
She went outside again this time. It was the same as before.
Before she knew it, the Weaverpool estate manor was spread out before her.
"This time...?"
She saw Lao appear and dismount his horse, just like before. Piery clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
"I won’t get caught this time!"
She ran away from the very beginning. As she desperately ran, trying to escape Weaverpool.
She encountered a familiar villager.
"Piery, what’s wrong? Why are you running so fast?"
"I’m in a bit of a hurry right now...."
"It’s alright, child. Do you want to hide in our house for now?"
"Huh? Oh, yes...!"
She was exhausted from running frantically. No matter how fast she ran, it was only possible if she had the stamina.
She tried to go inside the house to hide, but there were already guests.
They were guards on patrol. The villager smiled with a blank expression.
"This maid tried to escape, so we caught her."
"Ah, no...!"
In the end, Piery was caught and dragged before Lao. No matter how much she tried to escape, she couldn’t.
Lao clicked his tongue.
"You managed to escape my mind control? Strange. That shouldn’t...."
"Shut up, you cultist! Let us go right now!"
At Piery’s sharp attitude, Lao bared his pearly white teeth and gleamed.
"Enough of that. Lemme savour this delicay I saved for so long...!"
Lao cast mind control and tore Piery’s clothes to shreds. Piery shed tears.
"No, I can’t escape. Is it repeating? Infinitely?"
Just as Lao’s finger reached Piery’s pussy.
Piery regained consciousness in the dungeon again. The slime was still wiggling closer.
"Ugh...!"
Piery choked back a sob and sank to the ground. She was gradually getting exhausted.
"Just how long do I have to keep repeating this? Please, please... I want to get out of here!"
She cried out desperately. The approaching slime was so startled that it turned and went the other way.
Then, a thought came to her. There were definitely all sorts of books in the manor’s underground library.
"If this is happening because my ability went out of control, there must be a way to fix it. Let’s go. I can loop again, right...?"
She decided to be brave. Lucian’s words came to mind.
—Salvation comes from within.
If salvation was needed in a desperate situation, she had to achieve it herself.
Because she had the talent and strength to do so.
She left the dungeon, entered the manor, and headed straight for the underground library.
She rummaged through the books. She heard a commotion from upstairs.
"Looks like Lao has arrived."
She didn’t go out to check. She just desperately searched for books.
Then, one book caught her eye.
"Event Horizon?"
First, she opened the pages and read. There, she discovered important information.
"If a spatiotemporal ability has gone out of control and you’re stuck in an infinite loop, find and resolve what is considered the medium of that event! Everything is a realm of possibility that can change into a tiny singularity."
She was even more confused. A medium?
"What kind of medium? Wasn’t it myself?"
As she questioned herself internally, a deep, heavy sound was heard, and Lao came down to the underground library with the guards.
Lao spoke in a dignified voice.
"Head Maid, what are you doing here?"
Piery just stared at Lao.
"Maybe I see the answer. If it’s the medium of this event, then it’s that. I have to eliminate it, back to its original state! Directly, with my own power."
Piery sighed and sneered.
"Head Maid, my ass. You bastard. Do you like acting like a Lord when you haven’t accomplished anything in your life?"
"You managed to escape my mind control? Strange...."
"Shut up, you idiot!"
Piery tried to throw the book she was holding. But she couldn’t throw it.
She was immediately caught by mind control and losing consciousness.
She even smiled. And then.
"It’s here!"
Back inside the dungeon.
Piery nodded, watching the wiggling slime approach.
"This is the last time."
She deliberately cast Time Acceleration on the slime.
Then, just like before, the slime evolved and went berserk. It was like a storm raging on barren land.
Before, it was scary, but now it just looked like an enemy she had to defeat. Piery decided to be brave.
"I can do it, I can do it, Piery!"
Encouraging herself, she gripped a stone in each hand. They were stones as large as her fists.
As the slime surged towards her like a wave, Piery shouted with determination.
"I’ll solve what I started myself! Because the only one who can save me is myself!"
[Time Manipulation - Acceleration]
She cast Acceleration on both stones and threw them with all her might simultaneously.
One stone burrowed halfway into the slime’s body and stopped. It was a moment of frustration.
Whoooosh!
Soon after, the other one flew in, pushing the stopped stone, making it reach and pierce the core.
The slime, which was just about to engulf Piery, writhed violently, then instantly turned into a puddle of water and evaporated.
"I did it...!"
Following that, hour and minute hands overlapped and began to spin backward everywhere. As if the entire domain itself was trying to return to the past.
Then it shattered like a mirror.
"Is it done...?"
All visible scenery cracked like a spiderweb. A space shattering with a tremor in an instant.
And then, Lucian appeared.
"Piery, are you alright?"
Lucian, who appeared like a prince from a fairy tale. Piery choked back a sob and nodded.
She had finally returned properly.
"Yes... I’m alright...Huu."
Holding the precious lesson close to her heart, Piery finally smiled, clutching Lucian tightly without even realizing it.