Lazy Salvation

'One more step…'

'Another step…'

'One more…'

'Just one more…'

'Please…'

He didn't know how much time had passed anymore, nor did he bother asking.

All he knew was that he had to take one more step, kill one more enemy, and look onward in the faint hope that someone might come save him.

Or maybe, someday, he'd just look up and see Ashbastion's silhouette on the horizon.

None of that happened, but for Ashen, this was one of the few things he still used to trick his body into believing the end was near, to keep it pushing forward.

And maybe the end really was near. Just not the one he was hoping for.

.

.

.

'Help…'

'Please… somebody… anybody.'

Ashen didn't know when, but he found himself pathetically asking for help in his mind, even though he knew no one was coming for him.

…even though he knew no one was hearing him.

'Save me…'

There was, in fact, someone who heard him: his other self.

{Help…}

{Sometimes you really can't help yourself from calling out. I guess this isn't one of those times.}

'...'

{How nice it would be to be the one protected for once, instead of the other way around.}

{How soothing it would be to leave everything to someone else and just give up right now.}

{You want to sit down and forget everything. I get it.}

{But it isn't in our blood.}

{Our will is all the help we need. So go.}

{Keep going…}

***

The atmosphere between the Outer Gods had shifted considerably since they first conceived this plan.

At first, they'd been comfortable in their roles, waiting for the human to finally drop dead from fatigue. But that comfort had been tested again and again as he refused to stop, no matter how tired or hurt he became.

For the first four months, they were still smiling, even lavishing praise as they watched him from above like an interesting show.

By the time another four months passed and nothing had changed, the smiles slowly turned expressionless.

Now, a year and a half in, he was still going.

Worse, they could feel the call of Sovereignty through their link. Their own time was running out.

So no one dared joke or laugh anymore, no matter how mad it all was. This had long passed the point of being funny.

"Should we finish it now? We could do it with one casualty at most. An acceptable price, considering we'd be killing… that."

Love asked the group thoughtfully.

"True. Look at him. He's been unconscious for days. That body is moving on its own." Self-Consumption, in one of his rare moments without something in his mouth, spoke plainly. "I'm in favor too."

"Wait." Mandate's exclamation pulled their attention. "Look closer. He's on the verge of another evolution. If we attack now, won't we just push him to evolve more explosively? I say we hold off again."

They'd already done exactly that a dozen times over the past year and a half, and the trick had always worked. Mandate's reasoning was sound.

"No. We attack now." False Mercy, surprisingly, was the one to object, despite being the plan's own architect.

"Huh? Really?"

"Indeed. This isn't something we can stop by breaking his flow. His concepts are metamorphosing. Nothing stops that."

Every face went rigid.

"How can Sloth evolve under these conditions? Humans are truly incomprehensible…" Mandate grumbled, but stood and braced himself for the inevitable fight anyway.

"We move fast. No telling what kind of trick this stubborn man will pull if we give him the slightest chance."

With those words, they vanished.

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***

[It is detected that the host has fully embodied his current step. Proceed to ascend to the next step?]

The system, in an uncharacteristic move, proactively asked for its host's input.

Alas, there was no one to answer. Ashen was so lost in the eternal purgatory of killing that his conscious mind had practically shut down.

[...]

[Detected an emergency situation. Proceeding with ascension.]

[Step advancement initiated: Bearer of Stillness (Step IV → Step III)]

The system's usual feminine monotone carried an inexplicable urgency as it pushed things along on its own. But there was one thing it couldn't force.

[Warning: Soul Resonance Required. Domain Knowledge 'Sloth' Will Be Imprinted.]

[Personal Interpretation: Requested.]

"..."

[...Personal Interpretation: Requested.]

In the dreamscape, a pair of ancient golden eyes opened. Their owner let out a weary sigh.

"I guess there's no choice. Don't die on me now."

He reached out with his own concepts. Slowly, ever so slowly, so carefully, as if trying to nudge a snowman with the sun without melting it.

{Hey... Wake up.}

The body trembled violently, black blood leaking from every pore.

…But it held.

Ashen opened his eyes to the back of a candlebearer walking steadily forward. The candle's flame burned pale white, completely at odds with the surrounding darkness.

'White? Why does it feel like it's supposed to be gold?'

'Ah.'

His mind jolted awake at the question. He finally understood what he was seeing.

'I'm ready to advance…?'

[Personal Interpretation: Requested.]

He didn't get to digest the thought before the system window blinked into view again, even here, in the inner sanctum of his own soul.

'Interpretation? This again…'

Ashen strained to make his mind work, but the rest of his body protested. It had no resources to spare on a function it didn't need for survival right now.

And so, running on nothing but unconscious instinct, he kept surviving anyway.

But something in his intuition pushed him further, urgent and insistent.

'My current step… a bearer of Stillness.'

'A bearer of Stillness.'

'Stillness...'

Reciting his epithet over and over let him center his thoughts on the task, but not enough to carry it out.

As he drowned in his own confusion, scenes began to surface. A man staying silent no matter how many begged him for help. A king choosing inaction as his kingdom fell to invaders. A leader hiding in fear as his own tribe was slaughtered.

The images passed by, each one a portrait of stillness, but none of them overwhelmed him. Slowly, Ashen realized this was the system offering him a way out.

Stillness was common ground in Sloth; there was no shortage of concepts to draw from. All he had to do was let go and accept it.

But the longer he looked, the more certain he became: none of it was him; none of it ever would be.

His Sloth was unique. And paradoxically, it had little to do with Sloth at all.

'Stillness isn't… isn't this.'

His eyes stayed unfocused, but his lips began moving on their own, even in his half-conscious state.

'Stillness isn't merely staying still. It's the act of never being pushed around, no matter what.'

'No matter how many waves come my way, I will stand still.'

'If a rock wants to crush me for a hundred years, I will stay still.'

'If millions of demons want to pulverize my body, I will stay still.'

'If innumerable gods want to grind my soul down, I will stay still.'

'No matter what, I will never fall.'

'I am a bearer of Stillness.'

[Personal Interpretation: Accepted!]

[Soul Resistance Check: Passed!]

[...]

[The host's Sloth Concepts are moved by the interpretation! A Path Skill is attempting to evolve…]

The system felt unusually alive, and even in his current state, Ashen wondered if what lay beneath that robotic voice was more than a mere engine.

[You have taken another Step toward Ascension. Congratulations!]

[You are now Step III, Harbor of Peace.]

The moment he heard the words, his body jolted again, this time not from pain but from unprecedented joy, and it began healing and mending rapidly.

His eyes recovered their focus. Life flooded back into his movements, and his steps regained their explosiveness.

[Please Select a New Thema.]

Ashen barely had time to glance at the notice before his attention was seized by five enormous waves of mana rushing toward him.

'You finally lost your cool, you miserable wretches.'

[Please Select a New Thema!]

'Alright, alright. Show me my choices.'

He almost regretted asking. A list so long it completely blanked his vision appeared.

He pushed it aside and braced for the inevitable collision, gripping his spear tight.

'System, I don't know if you can hear me, but I don't have time to choose leisurely. I'll trust you. Choose for me.'

Even as he said it, memories rolled back through him as he braced himself.

Memories of defending his home. His continent. His planet. His lovers. His family.

As they rolled back like images of an old film, he suddenly understood…

'System… I am… a protector.'

As if hearing him, the system answered.

[Acknowledged.]

[...]

[Thema Selection Complete: You have chosen Palladion.]

Ashen smirked faintly. 'Hey. I chose nothing.'

'But a sacred protector, huh. I'll gladly take it.'

The system ignored his retort and kept running its calculations, not quite finished.

[Bellator and Palladion will be fused to create a more suitable Thema.]

.

.

[New Thema Acquired: Promachos.]

'And now I'm a champion. What an honor. Thank you, Miss System. As always, you never disappoint.'

Ashen smiled broadly, feeling his concepts churn inside his soul, molding two new Path Skills. But the newly crowned champion didn't get to keep his smile for long.

'Ah.'

One moment he was standing ready. The next, he was gone.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!

A giant pillar of flesh descended where he'd been standing. Fused with five vile mana signatures, it erased the earth across a hundred kilometers and destroyed the land far beyond it.

The man was gone, and in his place, a fracture so deep that lava erupted from its cracks.

Fire and sulfur crackled in the air, and beneath them, a faint hum lingered.

It felt like the rudimentary domain of a human pathwalker. But the human was dead, and his domain would be snuffed out shortly after.

If not for his last thought before complete eradication.

The mana inside that small domain wasn't ownerless anymore. From the moment he touched it, Mana Emperium had touched it too.

So the mana used the last lingering intent infused within it to carry out its emperor's final will.

Because mana recognized no master but its emperor, and death did not revoke that authority.

Time Reversal.

Zzzzzttt—

The earth knit itself back together. The pillar receded, flying back to where it came from, and in its place, a human figure reassembled.

“huuup—!”

Ashen had to suppress whatever might have surfaced from dying and reviving in such a fashion, bracing himself instead for what came next.

But something else inside him didn't share the sentiment. His Sloth concepts raged, mirroring his feelings, and ultimately, something that had long been brewing deep within was allowed to surface.

[Path Skill Lucid Dreamweaving Evolved: Dream Manifest.]

The moment he heard the announcement, his instincts stirred. Instead of switching with his Twin Soul as planned, he followed his own gut and flooded the evolved skill with as much mana as the Hourvault would give him.

The pillar bore down on him again, but this time a hand seized him and hauled him clear.

The explosion sounded a second time, but this time Ashen caught only the remnants.

'Who was that…?'

Thud.

He landed in a flip and heard another set of footsteps land just after him.

When he turned to look, his eyes widened.

'No… way.'

Before him, shrouded completely in white mana, stood Shun Morikawa.

Thud—thud—thud—

More footsteps followed, and when Ashen turned again, his mouth fell open further.

Rowan Vance stared back at him, expression serious. Behind him, more figures took shape out of manifesting mana.

They were...

'The Pride army.'