Chapter 72: What the Hell Did You Do? (3)

They say humans are animals of adaptation.

No matter how dense Evan was, it was time to admit it.

That he was being misunderstood to an absurd degree.

Was it because of his looks?

His facial expressions didn’t change much, that was true.

A trait unchanged from the moment he possessed Evan Alkart’s body until now.

Perhaps because he slightly resembled Duke Cabaro, who looked cold-blooded at first glance?

Especially the frequent misunderstandings of him being a mastermind.

He was naturally aware of that much.

But……

‘This one really isn’t it.’

The Oracle caused a massive incident.

The Tower of Space-Time.

A place most people don’t even know the location of, and even if they did, couldn’t enter carelesslyan isolated stronghold.

The endless abyss underground.

In the distant past, Saint Trina.

A fragment abandoned by some god settled there…… and after countless modifications, it became a place where people could live.

It was half-twisted in space-time, existing yet not existing in that space.

Thus, not just anyone could enter.

People could live there.

But the entrance had its own will, rejecting those with ill intentions.

There was only one way for such people to enter.

The abyss underground.

Throwing oneself down there.

Even that was rigged with countless traps to eliminate those with changed hearts.

Probably…… one would need at least 8th circle to break through?

There were traps that twisted space-time itself.

If the tower had been greatly shaken, they probably couldn’t use those devices.

She must have entered by falling through the abyss.

Even though entering that way would consume enormous power, she single-handedly turned the Tower of Space-Time upside down.

Even half-crippling mages so powerful they were called ‘elders’.

An action that no longer suited the title Oracle of the Starry Sky.

It felt more natural to call her a <Witch>.

‘No, my favorite character……!’

My favorite character, the Oracle, did that?

Lies!

This is rigged!

He wanted to lie on the floor and deny reality.

But……

He knew.

Evan did.

He knew deep inside.

Before she finally left.

The eyes that gradually shone as if she had attained enlightenment.

The voice that had changed just a little, feeling somehow sticky.

He couldn’t know exactly.

But clearly, some change had occurred in the Oracle.

‘Still, this has nothing to do with me……’

No,

Wait.

‘……Or does it?’

Come to think of it, maybe it did.

At the very end, before leaving, the Oracle had expressed gratitude to Evan.

Not just on the surfaceit felt genuine.

Just what gave her such a drastic change.

What gave her that impression.

Honestly, he still didn’t know.

But one thing was certain.

‘I…… influenced the Oracle?’

Was it because she escaped the witch?

But I’m really innocent here.

Whether Evan genuinely thought that or not.

Ocera, who had been staring at Evan’s usual expressionless face through the crystal ball, opened her mouth.

Freedom.

Unbound.

..?”

A sudden combination of words.

Unfamiliar yet somehow familiar, Evan stared blankly at her.

Where had he heard this before?

Ah.

He remembered.

Back when this world was still just a game to Evan.

Events where one met powerhouses of the Tower of Space-Time like Ocera were surprisingly numerous.

They always said the same thing.

Fate.

Everyone has a fate.

Fate comes to all humans,

and we must follow it.

Unlike the Oracle who directly guided, what they could know was only that much.

So they often informed through actions or knowledge.

We are all trapped in the frame called fate. It ‘guides’ us where to go, and where we must go. Sis…… as the sole inheritor of celestial magic, she was the ‘guide’ who would lead by fate.

Ocera continued calmly.

Guide.

Like the Oracle, those who read the stars, divine, and lead to good or bad paths.

She was a guide born after decades, and when the previous generation passed early, the line almost broke. She accepted fate, and everything returned to normal. I knew it was hard, always worried, always thought she would collapse again……

Ocera’s voice trembled at the end.

She threw away fate herself. ……While overturning our tower. I…… truly can’t believe it. That kind sis……

”

Evan fell silent for a moment.

The Oracle overturning the tower, well.

He could imagine that.

Only in thought.

If the Oracle had really gone astray, in her witch state, she could overturn the tower.

Unlike Ocera who had lived only inside the tower, she who had seen much outside knew how malformed the tower’s structure was.

She just used a slightly extreme method; maybe she intended to overturn it.

All of it.

Throwing away fate?

That Oracle?

Evan couldn’t quite imagine it.

The current situation was already like that, but that was even more so.

Oracle.

There were many images that came to mind when thinking of her, but one keyword was ‘noble’.

She struggled in pain from the fate of being a witch, yet accepted it.

In the end, she walked the path of noble sacrifice and death, smiling at the very end.

Yet she personally threw fate away.

Saying she was sick of this wheel.

..Did that really make sense?

Wouldn’t it be better to think Ocera was lying?

Defier of Heaven.

Ocera opened her mouth.

Defier of Heaven.

He chewed over the word that somehow didn’t feel unfamiliar.

Something he remembered…… hmm.

‘Um.’

Nothing in particular?

Ocera continued.

The Oracle who threw it away became a Defier of Heaven. One who defies fate, rejects the will of the heavens…… But this is something one must be born with. Only those born without the attention of the gods, outside their gaze, can become it.

”

“I see.”

There are exactly two cases of acquired Defiers of Heaven. Realizing a fate one didn’t know, or……

Ocera’s eyes emitted a subtle light.

It was intense enough that even Evan in front of the crystal ball, across space, could feel it.

Being enveloped in that distortion.

“I……?”

Evan paused for a moment.

Why tell me that?

But that was only for a second; he quickly grasped the meaning.

‘Wait, she thinks I’m a Defier of Heaven?’

No way.

That’s a bit much?

Evan knew his own fate well.

More precisely, the fate that would have flowed originally.

But that was for the original ‘Evan Alkart’.

The soul was different to begin with, so naturally the fate would be different too.

And Evan didn’t know that.

‘How many people in the world know where their fate is heading?’

If everyone knew everything, would people still make effort?

It would flow on its own even if they stayed still.

At least Evan wouldn’t.

Because they don’t know, they strive to move forward.

If they knew the end, why endlessly strive toward it?

“I am not a Defier of Heaven or anything.”

..Sis said she is now free.

Despite Evan’s strong denial, as if still shocked that the Oracle had twisted, Ocera trembled slightly and clutched her necklace tightly.

That she is no longer bound by fate…… She looked so relieved, but…… her eyes somehow seemed twisted.

Now almost pleading, Ocera looked at Evan and said.

Evan. Tell me.

As calmly as possible.

But with a trembling voice.

Just what happened?

Evan did not answer.

No, he had no answer.

Because.

‘…… I don’t know!’

I don’t know why she’s like that!

Just as Evan was inwardly screaming.

“Mmm.”

Rustle.

Sloth, Royan, who until now might as well not have existed, moved.

He had been curled up in the corner, sleeping.

“Haaam.”

Letting out a big yawn, Royan stretched with an expression slightly less lazy than usual.

……

So annoying…… tired……

“Shut up and eat!”

Lapis, appearing from who-knows-where, shoved vegetables into Royan’s mouth.

Royan chewed a few times, then ptooey! spat it out, looking dissatisfied.

“Umm…… ptooey.”

“You, you?! How dare you spit out my favorite food!”

“You…… like all green food, right…… I hate it……”

Royan answered listlessly.

Evan reflexively opened his mouth to say something but closed it.

The conversation wasn’t over yet.

It wouldn’t help if these two butted in now.

Sin.

Those born to commit great sins in the future according to their innate fate.

Better not let Ocera, who was sensitive right now, get involved in the conversation……

“Mmm…… what? Something urgent?”

At that moment, Royan moved to Evan’s side with movement unbelievable for Sloth.

Evan had no time to say anything.

Ocera beyond the crystal ball.

Her eyes met Royan’s half-lidded, languid ones.

The instant their gazes connected……

Spark!

A very small spark flew.

No, it didn’t actually fly.

It just felt that way?

As Evan scratched his neck, feeling oddly strange, Ocera spoke.

……Never mind. You don’t have to answer.

Unlike before.

A very calm voice.

..?”

.I suddenly feel a bit annoyed.

It almost seemed like even opening her mouth was troublesome, consumed by annoyance.

Sorry, Evan. I tired you out for no reason.

“Huh?”

I’ll hang up now.

The now-calm Ocera ended the communication.

Evan momentarily dumbfounded.

No.

She was the one who wanted an answer.

Suddenly hanging up?

Even Evan, dense as he was, wasn’t that dense.

The reason she suddenly changed.

It was clearly……

“Haaam..”

Probably because Royan had just made eye contact with Ocera.

Royan.

The Sin of Sloth.

Did he use his power?

‘It works this way too?’

He never thought it would actually work……

Should he be glad about this?

The immediate problem was solved, after all.

As Evan hesitated.

“Evan! Evan!”

Lapis bounced over and approached Evan.

……Not just approached, but grabbed his arm too.

“It’s been a while, but Frey says she’ll stop by the mansion briefly!”

“Yes!”

.Frey, you say?”

Lapis, hanging on Evan’s arm, shouted energetically.

“To welcome a new friend!”

Lapis smiled brightly.

To a degree that felt subtly off.

Very widely.

Broadly.

Glory.

A noble name carrying the meaning of ‘glory.’

A name too grand for a very small village.

An orphanage.

A place where nameless abandoned children or those who lost parents grow up.

Lately, if anything, sinister rumors had been circulating.

The owner of such an orphanage.

Frey unfolded a letter after a long time.

She had just sent one to Evan, so now she was writing letters in advance to inform him of her whereabouts as she passed by.

‘Hehe. I hope He likes it.’

Evan Alkart.

Her master.

Her savior.

A god existing solely for Frey.

To finish preparations to return to Evan, this much was natural.

And to not get a stomachache from the gift he prepared, it was even more natural.

The gift Evan had prepared.

It was.

Someone born with the same fate as Frey and Lapis.

One destined to commit a great sin in the future.

The Sin of Sloth.

To bring the new Sin that Evan had found here.

‘I didn’t expect Him to find a new Sin so quickly.’

Frey smiled sweetly.

‘As expected, just as I predicted.’

The recruitment of a new Sin.

Thanks to that, she could tell.

‘Evan is.’

The plan she had been guessing was starting to feel like the truth.

‘Escaping from all fates of this world. In other words, He intends to mass-produce Defiers of Heaven.’