The village had been completely destroyed.

The houses had burned to ashes and the once peaceful streets were now littered with the bodies of the villagers.

They were still alive...

But black mana clung to their bodies, writhing like living parasites as they twitched in agony.

My eyes widened.

I recognized that black mana.

Before I could comprehend what it was doing inside this historical projection, Chiki, who had just arrived beside me, sprinted toward the center of the village, where the chief’s house...

And the house assigned to me stood.

I immediately followed after him but with every step I took, my expression grew darker.

That foul stench...

I would never mistake it. It was the unmistakable smell of that disgusting bastard’s mana. Chief Karil’s body lay in front of his house, twitching in agony. The moment Chiki saw him, he dropped to his knees beside the old Murgin.

"Chief! What happened?"

I listened as well, hoping his answer would also explain the question weighing on my own mind. The chief’s lips trembled as he barely managed to force out a few broken words before losing consciousness.

"Ahankara..."

"Took... the children..."

"Ritual..."

My gaze immediately snapped toward the house that had been assigned to me. Its door hung slightly ajar. Inside a wooden bowl lay overturned on the floor, its contents scattered everywhere.

Liran...

Was gone.

Chiki noticed it as well. The moment his eyes fell upon the empty house, he turned toward me and immediately dropped to his knees.

"Please... O Great Angel. I beg you. Please save the children. Please cure the villagers. Please... somehow lift this plague from them."

"You are the messenger of God. You must possess the power to undo such a mere curse... don’t you? Please. I am willing to pay any price. I will even become your slave."

As I looked at his desperate figure, for the first time since entering this damned trial, I hesitated. Not because I couldn’t continue the act but because...

He reminded me of myself.

Of kneeling beside someone I couldn’t save, of begging for a miracle that would never come, of watching black mana consume the person who had once seemed invincible.

My master.

It was the very same black mana that was now devouring the villagers. The mana of that bastard,

The God of Pride, Askruak.

"...Please," Chiki whispered again. "Save them."

I slowly shook my head.

"I can’t. The curse has already taken root into their very souls. Even if I could suppress it... I cannot remove it."

His pupils trembled.

"Then... they are..."

"They are not dead yet." I looked around at the writhing villagers. "...Which means there is still one way."

My gaze lingered on the black mana spreading beneath their skin.

This corruption was weaker than the one I remembered. Which meant, there was still time.

This was probably the time long before that bastard had become a God.

I slowly raised my head.

"So tell me, Chiki." My voice became frighteningly cold. "Where does he live?"

"I... I don’t know, my Lord." Chiki pointed toward the mountain with a trembling wing. "But whenever Ahankara appears... he always comes from that direction."

For the first time since entering this trial... completing it was no longer my highest priority because I had been handed something infinitely more valuable.

Another chance, a chance to kill the bastard I had failed to kill in my previous life.

"Stay here."

"Please let me accompany you—"

Before Chiki could finish, I reinforced every forward vector within my body. My muscles contracted all at once as the force driving my step multiplied severalfold. The ground shattered beneath my foot before my body shot forward.

Blue lightning cracked through the air an instant after I had already vanished. Trees became streaks of green as the mountain rushed toward me.

I laughed.

For once... My body wasn’t the thing holding me back. Within a mere few seconds, I was already standing atop the mountain but no matter how far my senses stretched, I couldn’t find that insufferable bastard.

So...

I targeted the one thing he valued above all else.

His pride.

"Where are you, you rat, Askruak? Has even the last shred of your pride abandoned you, that you have resorted to tormenting innocent people who don’t even possess the strength to defend themselves?"

I roared, reinforcing my voice with mana until it echoed across the entire mountain. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Chiki desperately making his way toward me.

I paid him no attention because every one of my senses was focused on a single thing, waiting for Askruak’s response.

And just as I expected...

It came.

"Who dares call me a rat?"

The voice echoed through the forest.

The instant I heard it, I pinpointed its location. Without the slightest hesitation, I jumped, letting the gravity pull me toward the source.

In a small clearing hidden deep within the forest, a lone figure stood waiting. His skin was as pale as fresh snow as long black hair framed a face twisted into a deep frown.

Beside him stood nine wooden stakes.

A young Murgin child was bound to each one as though they were nothing more than objects. Lirina was among them.

The moment I landed, Askruak released his aura as an immense pressure of a peak Exalted rank crashed down upon me. It was well above my current strength but I didn’t back down.

Ordinarily, there was no way I could have hoped to defeat someone like him with my own physique.

But with my body temporarily strengthened by the villagers’ faith... That was a different story altogether as I met his eyes without hesitation.

"Release those children and lift your curse from the villagers... And I shall grant you a less painful death, Askruak."

Even as rage coursed through my body, the last shred of rationality in my mind remained. Fighting him while protecting the children would be troublesome.

From the edge of the forest, I could sense Chiki already there somehow and watching us, too afraid to interfere.

Askruak finally spoke.

"How do you know my true name? And why is a human standing within my domain?"

Instinctively my [[Insight]] was activated as his status window appeared before me.