#170

“Callister….”

I was about to ask if he was okay, but I momentarily lost my words.

“…Why are you naked?”

“My clothes were stripped off while I was crawling here.”

Behind Callister, his clothes remained, looking as if the person inside had simply evaporated and vanished.

I wondered how one would have to strip to leave them behind exactly like that….

‘Let’s not imagine it.’

“First… put some clothes on.”

“I shall do so if you command it.”

‘…I think there was blood on the floor earlier.’

I felt around, but nothing came off on my hand.

Even his hands were clean.

‘Was the feeling that I almost slipped just an illusion?’

Or did Callister wipe it away?

I don’t know.

‘I don’t really want to know.’

Regardless of which was the truth, it meant I wasn’t in a good state.

I closed my eyes tightly and waited for Callister to finish dressing.

“I’m all dressed!”

“…Right.”

Athanas still hadn’t come down.

‘I felt like it took no time to go up.’

I waited for about ten more minutes.

Then, a small bell rang, signaling that fifteen minutes had passed since the hour.

‘…What is that?’

I doubted my ears.

Was someone up there ringing the bell continuously?

Why?

‘No, it must be automatic.’

The Astrolabe keeps spinning even though it has no gears or anything.

With the Power of Order, it would be possible to make the bell ring at the exact time without any external power source.

The large bell is rung by a person because the act of ringing it is itself a prayer and worship, but the small bells are likely all automatic.

There’s no way a person would have to ring a bell every fifteen minutes.

“…I’ll be back after going up for a moment.”

Callister tried to stop me, but I ordered him to wait quietly and grabbed the ladder.

Athanas had looked incredibly exhausted even before climbing the bell tower, so he might have fallen asleep while taking a short break.

‘I hope he’s just sleeping.’

Ominous possibilities kept popping up.

What if he was injured by a booby trap set by a player?

What if there was a trap that triggered immediately after ringing the bell?

‘No, more than that….’

He might be facing Loclem.

When one achieves a great feat, the god personally delivers a Revelation and praises the merit.

Especially in a situation like this, a controllable Unit would be very welcome.

‘…What does the God of Order think of me?’

Is it a good idea to step before the God of Order again?

What if he finds the System’s ‘Block’ unpleasant?

This time, he might order Athanas to kill me.

‘No, if he had malice toward me, he would have struck me with divine punishment long ago.’

If I didn’t die from that incident just now, I won’t die this time either.

Clinging to such complacent thoughts, I continued to climb the ladder.

“…Athanas.”

Since the top where the bell hung was open on all sides, the wind was no joke.

Fortunately, Athanas was standing there perfectly fine.

‘It’s freezing.’

“Athanas, what is left? What are you waiting for?”

Instead of answering, Athanas was standing dangerously close to the edge, looking down at the Capital Church.

“Athanas?”

There was no reaction at all, as if he couldn’t hear me.

‘Did his eardrums burst while ringing the bell?’

Or perhaps he had cast something like the Blessing of Soundproofing and forgot to deactivate it.

I slowly walked toward Athanas.

As I walked toward the edge, which had no railings at all, while the wind blew fiercely, cold sweat naturally poured down.

‘Why is he standing in such a dangerous spot?’

It was heart-stopping to watch.

I stretched my arm as far as possible and gave Athanas a nudge.

“Athanas!”

Only then did Athanas seem to notice my presence and turn his head.

Athanas was wearing an incredibly gentle smile.

I took a step back.

“Who…?”

Athanas—no, whoever was using Athanas’s body—moved his hands back and forth in motions like sign language.

[SYSTEM: Due to the effect of ‘Heaven Above, Earth Below, I Alone Reign Supreme,’ ‘understanding of divine sign language’ is nullified.]

‘……?’

When I shook my head to indicate that I still didn’t understand, the entity gave a slightly troubled smile with Athanas’s face, grabbed my hand, and began to write Sacred Script on it.

「I am the Bell ringer.」

‘Bell ringer?’

Which Bell ringer?

‘What is going on?’

Who is using Athanas’s body right now?

‘It’s definitely a Saint of Order….’

While Order strictly forbids resurrection, ‘descent’ is permitted.

If a Saint with a widely known epithet is descended, not only are the Unit’s stats temporarily inflated, but the buffs from the epithet are also automatically applied.

「I have received an order from the Lord to keep the ‘time’.」

‘Why?’

The bell tower is an important place.

But now?

Why bother?

‘Once the Sanctuary Declaration disappears, ringing the bell won’t have that much of an effect.’

The next time the Bell of Worship rings is in three hours.

Wouldn’t it be better to do something else until then?

Do they really have to ring the 15-minute or 1-hour bells?

I wrote letters on Athanas’s palm.

「Until when?」

Athanas’s dark blue eyes sparkled.

It was a strangely unpleasant and unfamiliar gaze.

「Until the next order.」

‘…And when is that?’

I gnashed my teeth.

If you’re going to give an order, shouldn’t it be specific?

At least decide how long to wait for the next order.

If you tell a Unit with high Faith to ‘Wait’ and then forget about them, they will just wait for decades.

‘What is Loclem thinking?’

「If I bring a replacement body, can you return Athanas?」

「No, it is impossible. I merely follow the Lord’s command.」

‘Fuck.’

Now the cursing started.

What the hell is that idiot Loclem trying to do?

Using descent in this situation just to tie Athanas down here?

Why on earth?

‘This is why he always loses even when starting in a situation that’s practically cheating!’

Gritting my teeth, I wrote Sacred Script on Athanas’s hand.

「Please tell me the reason why the bell tower must be guarded.」

「I merely follow the Lord’s command.」

‘No, if someone tells you to do something, at least know the reason why you’re doing it.’

They’re like people who have entrusted their entire ego to a god.

I bit my lip.

‘…Did he just station Athanas here because he’s in a situation where he can use other Units?’

Even so, it didn’t make sense.

Why go through the trouble of using descent?

It must consume a massive amount of points.

‘I have no idea what Loclem’s intention is.’

「…What should I do?」

「I am the Bell ringer, and I ring the bell according to the time.」

「Not you, me.」

「I merely follow the Lord’s command. You follow the Lord’s command given to you.」

‘…….’

I felt a wall.

As I stared at him without a word, Athanas let go of my hand, turned around, and walked toward the edge.

It was the exact same position as before.

‘…He’s so fucking like an NPC.’

As the wind blew, the top of the bell tower became cold enough to make my bones shiver.

I clung tightly to the pillar to avoid the wind, but Athanas just took it all.

Standing still like that, he rang the small bell again to signal that another 15 minutes had passed.

And then he returned to his original position.

‘No, NPCs these days have more diverse movements than that.’

They use motion capture now.

Compared to that, the ‘Bell ringer’ felt more like an automaton in a cuckoo clock.

A while later, Athanas rang the bell for 45 minutes.

And returned to his original position.

‘It’s almost the hour.’

By now, the divine power of the Astrolabe must have been completely depleted.

I covered both my ears tightly before Athanas rang the bell for the hour.

Dong—.

‘So fucking loud.’

My ears felt incredibly muffled, but I didn’t feel like vomiting like I did before.

It seems it’s not that destructive unless it’s the largest bell.

Athanas returned to his original position.

‘…Does the role of the Bell ringer not end even after the Sanctuary Declaration effect ends?’

As I let out a sigh, my breath froze white and scattered.

In that case, it’s right to give up on acting together with Athanas.

‘Even if I wait here, it won’t be of any help to either of us.’

It’s more beneficial to gather even one more clue in that time.

I have to resolve this chaos quickly so that Athanas can receive the ‘next order’….

“Athanas.”

I hesitated, then placed a hat on Athanas’s head.

Athanas looked back at me.

「It is cold.」

After hesitating, I wrote one more phrase.

「Take care of your body.」

‘Because it’s not yours.’

Athanas’s dark blue pupils curved gently.

At that moment.

Deong—.

I reflexively covered both my ears.

It was a vibration so large that my whole body trembled.

The Bell of Worship was swinging back and forth.

‘What is this?’

Someone pulled the rope?

It was clearly severed?

‘If the bell rings at the wrong time….’

Is that the Bell ringer’s responsibility?

Turning my gaze, I saw Athanas jumping off the outside of the bell tower.

“Athanas!”

A scream escaped me.

Clinging to the pillar, I barely peeked my head out and saw Athanas hooking his foot on a protruding window decoration, as if performing acrobatics, and entering inside.

‘…That’s not even possible in Die Heretic!’

After being dazed for a moment, I snapped back to my senses.

‘An intruder!’

If it were a person from the Order side, they would never ring the bell at a time other than the hour.

The one who rang the bell is a player.

‘…Is it the guy who had placed his own Units in the bell tower?’

Did he realize something was wrong and send more Units?

There’s no need to go as far as ringing the bell.

Why did he do that?

Aggro?

‘To draw aggro in a place where someone who wiped out all his Units is located….’

I continued my thoughts while slumped on the floor, my legs having lost their strength.

‘…Should I stay here until the Bell ringer wins and comes back up?’

It seemed there was nothing I could do right now.

Going down would only be a hindrance.

I am a piece of trash Unit with a fragile durability of 25 who could die from a glancing attack.

‘If the Bell ringer using Athanas’s body loses….’

I’ll just die while cursing Loclem as a moron.

What else can I do.

At that moment, something suddenly popped out of the window Athanas had entered.

‘That is?’

A man with light blue hair was leaning his upper body halfway out of the window.

“…Pandemonium?”

[SYSTEM: Pandemonium is online.]

The man’s head tilted back, and he looked upward.

Our eyes met for a moment.

‘Dangerous!’

Pandemonium grabbed a sword that was stabbing into his chest, twisted it, and snatched it away to throw it back.

The sword hit the outer wall of the bell tower with a sharp metallic sound and disappeared below.

‘Fuck.’

Now was not the time to worry about that bastard.

Just as I was about to send a chat terror telling him to stop immediately.

Pandemonium performed a backflip right out of the window and leaped high, stepping on the air.

‘What the?’

Die Heretic isn’t a Musou game.

Even an apostle can’t do void walking.

“Brother!”

‘No, he used Telekinesis.’

Looking at the parts of his clothes that were unnaturally pressed, I could roughly figure out how he did it.

He must have attached an invisible string to the top of the bell tower and pulled himself up.

Like a stage device.

‘No wonder the way he flew looked like a low-budget tokusatsu.’

“I wondered where you went after leaving the Apostle’s Hall, and it’s the bell tower? You really pick the toughest places.”

“…Marcello Teres.”

“That’s right. Why is that thing doing that? He said he’d listen to you. Doesn’t look like it, though.”

“You….”

I had a lot to say, but I didn’t know where to start.

“…Why didn’t you contact me?”

“Huh? Were you waiting for my contact? Really?”

“Do you think I wasn’t?”

“No, but you didn’t either, Brother.”

“I didn’t because I thought I might be a hindrance if you were in a dangerous situation.”

There was a lot of blood on Pandemonium’s clothes.

‘…Let’s just assume it got on him while hunting creatures.’

“You don’t have to worry about that. Getting a contact while fighting isn’t particularly hindering….”

“Hey! Behind you!”

Before I knew it, Athanas was climbing up, gripping the floor.

I hurriedly blocked the way in front of Pandemonium.

“Athanas! No, O Bell ringer!”

I pulled out the Saintess’s Sacred Relic from my chest and held it out.

It worked on Oblivion….

Please!

“What are you doing, Brother? Are you trying to protect me right now? Your durability is 25.”

‘This moron!’

Can’t you grasp the situation?

Not anywhere else, but right next to the most powerful Sacred Relic of the Church of Order!

‘You’re going to get struck by lightning, you son of a bitch!’

The Bell ringer picked up the Divine Hammer that had been standing upside down and walked over slowly.

A chill ran down my spine.

“Athanas….”

Athanas stared at me blankly, then struck the small bell once with that hammer and returned to his original position.

In the meantime, 15 minutes had passed.

“What is that.”

“…….”

“Is it broken? No, I guess not.”

I heard a snickering laugh from behind me.

‘He’s laughing?’

“Brother, you lost the Heretic Butcher to Order, huh? What now?”

As soon as I heard those words, it felt like my blood ran cold.

‘This bastard….’

“Ah, I shouldn’t say you lost him, right? Since you were keeping him by your side using brainwashing. Technically, Order just got him back, right?”

“What the fuck do you want, you son of a bitch.”

“No, it’s just funny because you have a look on your face like you’ve lost your country.”

“Is that funny?”

“Isn’t it? Ah, was that your entire fortune, Brother? Well, there was another bug-like thing, but I think we can just act like that one doesn’t exist.”

‘…Bug?’

Suddenly, it felt like my heart sank.

Pandemonium must have pulled the severed rope with Telekinesis from below.

He must have encountered Callister, who was waiting quietly because of my order.

‘What did you do to Callister?’

“Brother.”

Regardless of my will, my body spun around violently, putting me in a position facing Pandemonium.

I tried to pull my arms back, but I couldn’t budge an inch.

‘Fuck.’

Soon, as if I were being punished, my two hands were suspended upward.

“What are you doing!”

“Stay still. Your durability is only 25, Brother.”

I could see invisible strings digging into my clothes.

My chest tightened to the point where I could barely breathe.

“Safety measures must be thorough.”

“…What safety measures?”

“What else could it be.”

My hands, which had been hanging in the air, moved on their own and suddenly hugged Pandemonium’s neck tightly.

Pandemonium looked down at me and grinned.

“I really wanted to do this with you, Brother.”

A sense of foreboding washed over me.

“Wait, no. Don’t! I won’t do it! I don’t want to!”

“Here we go! The first in the Dark Realm! Rope-less bungee jumping!”

“I SAID NOOOO!!”

You fucking crazy psycho if the rope has no elasticity the impact won’t be absorbed and I’ll just die instantly!!

You son of a bitch trying to kill me, who only has 25 durability, without even testing it once!

“You son of a bitch-aaaaah!”

“Hahahahahahahahaha-!!”

‘I’m going to kill him.’

As soon as the strings were released, I slumped to the floor.

“Ah, that was fun.”

“…You son of a bitch.”

“Why, we came down quickly. If we had walked all that way, ugh.”

“There are stairs, why….”

“Going down stairs is bad for the knees. Besides, your durability is only 25, Brother. If you went down those, it would’ve dropped to 20.”

“…And bungee jumping is good for your health?”

“Hmm. Wouldn’t it be? It’s incredibly refreshing.”

‘Bullshit….’

And fuck, Callister is up there.

To bring him back, I’d have to climb 600 stairs again.

‘…Is he trying to separate us on purpose?’

To isolate me?

Why?

‘I have to escape….’

I felt so nauseous that it was hard even to stand up.

Pandemonium put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

‘…Is he calling a horse?’

There’s no way a horse would come….

‘Fuck.’

“Look at this. Cool, right?”

A black horse, looking considerably rougher than what one would call a horse, looked down at me with glowing red eyes.

Its appearance looked as if it had just climbed up from hell.

“…Is this by any chance a Kin of the God of War?”

“You recognize it?”

“Yeah.”

‘Only the War God would create such a moronic creature.’

Fuck, it’s way too conspicuous.

Did he really ride that around and people didn’t say anything?

If someone said an evil thing entered the stable, everyone would point to that guy.

‘If I carry something like that around, rumors would spread that I’m an evil heretic even if I do nothing.’

Pandemonium lifted me, who was sprawled on the floor, like a rag doll and sat me on the horse.

“…What. Where are we going?”

“To my estate.”

“What? The Capital Church is in this state!”

“That’s why I’m going, because it’s in this state.”

Dozens of questions popped up in my head simultaneously.

Escaping? Why? Wasn’t creating this mess the players’ strategy?

Did you really not know it would turn out like this? Really?

What have you been doing all this time?

And what is that blood.

What did you do to Callister?

Do you have any idea what the apostles are doing right now?

What the hell happened at the Council?

More importantly, do you know how fucking far the estate is? You’re saying you’ll go without packing any luggage?

Are you insane?

No, before that.

‘I never said I was going with him.’

“Let me off—”

“Now, let’s go! Armageddon!”

‘Is it not blasphemy to name something like that, for fuck’s sake?’

I was so triggered by the name that I missed my timing to ask to get off.

‘If he intends to go all the way to the estate, he’ll have to pack his things first, right?’

If he stops for a moment then…

‘…What can I even do?’

In this situation, even if I called for the Saintess, she wouldn’t come.

Then is it better to just stay still?

With my stats, I’d just get caught even if I tried to run…

“Now, we’ve arrived.”

“…What?”

“I’ll let you off.”

‘This place is…’

“It’s your first time visiting my mansion, right?”

“What are you talking about?”

I gulped.

I should have realized sooner that this bastard isn’t normal…

“…It’s the Main Hall.”