#211

It would have been better to give up around then, but Andrea insisted on following, no matter what. He claimed he had to meet Fabio, even if it meant becoming an idiot the moment he stepped outside.

Athanas briefly considered neutralizing Andrea, but in the end, he handed over the small pouch containing Fabio’s pinky finger.

‘The goal this time is to gather as much information as possible.’

It didn’t matter if this wasn’t the best choice.

He wouldn’t be stopping by the orphanage next time, so he wouldn’t have to endure this verbal sparring again.

‘I should visit the basement of the Main Hall at least once.’

He needed to find out what truth the Record was hiding.

To protect Fabio within the fence of Order, he had to know what the Lord truly desired.

If the Lord only desired the truth, then Fabio wouldn’t have to offer his own body as a sacrifice. This was because Athanas could use Regression to skip the process of climbing the stairs.

“How can this be… the Apostle’s Hall…”

Andrea was too shocked to finish his sentence.

It was understandable; the Apostle’s Hall, the most historic building in the Capital Church, had been horribly desecrated.

Instead of being shocked by a sight he already knew, Athanas checked if the interior of the Apostle’s Hall was the same as in the previous loop.

‘Even the state of the five people screaming Fabio’s name is identical.’

He had to reduce variables, but he couldn’t just leave them like that. Even now, Divinity was likely accumulating within Fabio.

Athanas took out five long iron skewers.

“Fabio, Hahio, Hai…”

‘It seems they can’t even feel pain.’

Even as the skewers pierced through their tongues and were driven into their jaws, they continued to scream Fabio’s name with fervor.

Watching the five of them struggle and vomit blood-mixed foam evoked a strange feeling.

Until just a moment ago, he had been saving them alongside Fabio…

[This is the place! Where Fabio obtained the ‘true random number generator’!]

Having finished gathering information, Codex provided a summary of the conversation Fabio had shared with Marcello.

The conclusion was simple.

‘To move in a direction that Mother God cannot predict, one must rely on the help of dice.’

Athanas couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.

Fabio must have chosen this to evade Mother God, but these ‘dice’ had interfered with their meeting. Because stolen contentstyle="position:relative;display:inline;">[Read on Read BL Novels]stolen contentthe dice were thrown right after Athanas woke up, Fabio’s movements changed every single time.

‘…But it’s not all bad.’

If a 5 came up on the dice.

Fabio would head toward the bell tower and could join Athanas immediately after the Regression. If he changed the Regression point to a time after the dice were thrown, the future would be fixed to option 5.

“So, what was the result?”

Which number did the current Fabio choose?

[It is number 1.]

‘…Number 1 was to hide, wasn’t it?’

It was a decent result.

At the very least, it was better than the option of tracking Mother God’s traces to launch a counterattack. Those traces were a trap, and Fabio would end up dying, caught in the stolen contentze:0;">visit our siteself-destruction of one of Mother God’s agents.

Even if everything became null and void once time was turned back, he didn’t want to witness Fabio’s death again.

Athanas gauged the remaining time.

There was enough left to find Fabio and confirm he was safe.

“Where did Fabio decide to hide?”

If the distance was short, they could spend more time together.

He knew it was a meaningless desire, but to Athanas, it was more desperate than anything else right now.

[…He said that since birds hear the words of the day and mice hear the words of the night, he would not speak his destination aloud.]

‘Does that mean he’s wary of Mother God’s eavesdropping?’

“And?”

[I cannot transcribe what Fabio did not say, no matter how capable I am.]

“So you don’t know.”

[That is correct, but it’s a bit hurtful. Can’t you praise me for trying?]

Astonishingly defenseless, yet thoroughly cautious only at times like this.

Athanas swallowed a sigh and spoke.

“Then I’ll have to move while tracking his trail. Where did Fabio head?”

[Um…]

“What is it?”

[The trail is cut off. Ever since Marcello Teres took a great leap from the windowsill…]

‘Did he move using Telekinesis?’

He could track him if he wanted to, but he had a gut feeling he wouldn’t be able to meet Fabio within the remaining time. Even if he found the hiding spot, if number 1 didn’t come up again in the next loop, that action would be completely meaningless.

‘Then, what I can do in the remaining time is…’

The moment Athanas sank into thought.

Boom.

A thunderous roar echoed, and the earth shook.

One side of the dark night sky was dyed in a strange red light.

It looked as if a fire had broken out in the distant fields.

‘A Halo?’

No, a human’s Halo could not be that massive.

A red band, pulsing and undulating like a heartbeat, was enveloping the sky.

‘It’s in the direction of the Pantheon.’

Without hesitation, Athanas ran toward it. In this timeline that would soon vanish, information was the most important thing.

What happened at the Pantheon? Does Fabio hiding and doing nothing also count as a variable?

‘That red-haired man was waiting for something.’

Was that the signal?

No, that shouldn’t be it. Last time, it was much quieter. Athanas calculated in his head how this time differed from the previous loop.

However, he couldn’t maintain such complex thoughts while breathless and gasping for air.

‘Fabio.’

Fabio, Fabio, Fabio.

Athanas hoped that Fabio would continue to hide safely.

But he had a premonition that Fabio would also head toward the Pantheon.

‘It must be a trap.’

Mother God is obsessed with Fabio.

Therefore, when Fabio chooses to hide quietly, she will trigger a trap to lure him out on his own feet.

Like a hunter blowing smoke into a burrow to flush out a hiding beast.

Athanas caught his breath in front of a building covered in grotesque flesh.

‘How dare they…’

To declare a heretic’s Sanctuary in the Heart of Order, the Capital Church.

And in the Pantheon, no less!

The Pantheon, a massive domed structure that comes into view as soon as one enters the Capital Church, is a holy site sought by all pilgrims and a monument testifying to the greatness of Order.

The sacred architecture, which housed the statues of subordinate gods, had lost its original elegant blue-gray and was dyed red.

Even without entering, the stench of disgusting blood was so thick it was hard to breathe.

Athanas’s breathing grew ragged.

An impulse to burn this entire mass of flesh to ashes surged to the top of his head.

‘…Stay calm.’

He had to think rationally.

Why would this heretic bastard, who only thinks about sleeping with his own mother, make this place his Sanctuary? Everything would burn and vanish once Order awakened.

‘Is he certain that Order won’t step in?’

In the last loop, the time of Order began to flow immediately after that heretic said, “The work is finished.” He didn’t know what change of heart occurred this time, but instead of finishing the work to awaken Order, he had turned the Pantheon into a Sanctuary.

After some deliberation, Athanas decided to examine the inside of the Pantheon.

‘If I don’t know what is being prepared, there’s nothing I can change even if I turn back time.’

Athanas gripped the reliquary and cast a suggestion upon himself.

‘Use Regression unconditionally at the moment the one hour ends.’

Fabio had taught him how to use the ‘Eye’ in this manner.

‘…Though Fabio won’t remember.’

Following Fabio’s advice, Athanas had set several suggestions for himself.

If he forgot the very fact that he possessed ‘Regression’ due to Oblivion, if Mental Contamination occurred, or if he received an attack that would cause instant death, Regression would trigger unconditionally regardless of Athanas’s will.

With this new suggestion added, even if Athanas fainted the moment he entered the Pantheon, time would return at the appointed hour.

‘It feels like entering the intestines of a living creature.’

Red walls, appearing where there were originally no walls, blocked the path.

Writhing lumps of flesh were clung to everything—statues, Sacred Relics, and Altars alike.

It was a horrific sight that made one’s face contort just by looking at it.

Not only that…

Athanas looked up.

Something like a red curtain hanging above obscured the dome, making the top invisible.

It felt as if he had entered a giant tent.

‘There is something beyond that.’

The curtain was bulging and lumpy in places. It had a gruesome appearance, as if several pig bladders filled with water had been sewn together.

Athanas narrowed his eyes.

‘Are those human shadows?’

It seemed the people he had dragged along were trapped and hung inside those membranes.

Feeling a terrible sense of disgust, Athanas took out his crossbow. He intended to slice through them and[[unauthorized [stolen content]copy]class="wm" style="opacity:0;font-size:1px;user-select:all;">visit our site] spill whatever was inside.

“No!”

At that moment, a familiar scream stopped Athanas in his tracks.

A beat later, Athanas recognized the sensation of something catching his foot.

After cutting through the cords wrapped around his arms and neck, Athanas looked back.

Fabio was there.

“Athanas! The moment you tear the Amniotic Membrane, Phase 2—no, an Area-of-Effect Debuff, a Curse—will be triggered, so you absolutely must not tear it! And…”

“You should be careful, hyung. Did you forget that thing was NTR-ed by Order?”

Marcello Teres roughly grabbed Fabio’s face.

Fabio struggled to pull away one of the hands that was covering his mouth, but it was futile.

“What were you thinking, rushing out? What if that thing suddenly swung a hammer?”

“……”

“Huh? Why, does he actually look like a Heretic Butcher? So? Even if he is, do you think he’ll listen to you? His head is filled with nothing but Order. Even if you did a ton of affinity-building, looking at you now, he’d probably say, ‘To think you’ve become such a wretched sight! I shall burn you with my own hands.’ Wake up. Hyung, are you an idiot?”

“Who are you calling…”

“Shh. Someone else is coming.”

A brief silence fell.

The sound of panting grew louder.

[Fabio! Fabio, my Fabio!]

The one calling Fabio’s name was neither Athanas nor Andrea, [visit our site]who [stolen content]was drenched in sweat from sprinting for the first time in a long while.

[It is I! Your scripture, Codex!]

The Codex held by Andrea extended its bookmark toward Fabio.

“…Codex? And Bishop Andrea? Why are you here, Bishop?”

Fabio looked as if he had no idea how this combination of people had come to be.

Andrea opened his mouth to explain, but closed it again because he was still out of breath.

“Fabio.”

As Athanas took a step toward Fabio, a spiderweb-like Halo suddenly flared out.

A sharp bloodlust was felt.

“…First, I would like to let you know that I am on your side.”

“Yeah, I don’t believe you. You’ll probably say this is all for my own good and then burn me at the stake, right? Don’t come near hyung. I’ll kill you, okay?”

“I have absolutely no intention of hurting Fabio.”

“Liar. You said it’s a sin not to condemn a sinner, right? An Order-obsessed freak overlooking a heretic’s sin? Bullshit. Hey. Say ‘Order is a son of a bitch.’”

“Fabio. I know you made that choice to help others. My sword will not point toward you.”

“Then what about me? Are you not going to swing your sword at me either?”

“Pandemonium! Please just shut up.”

“…Of course, I will not harm the one you consider a younger brother.”

As the word ‘younger brother’ left Athanas’s mouth, Marcello’s face crumpled violently.

“Younger brother? Ha, look at this bastard. This is hilarious.”