Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Urgh... Hnng...

Lloyd continuously channeled his Spiritual Power, using his Twisted Realm’s ability to Twist the effects of the Veto Declaration that clung to him.

It was working. He could feel Wald’s ability gradually weakening, and his mobility was returning bit by bit.

’Isn’t this a little too slow?’

He felt as if he’d been hog-tied, only able to loosen the bonds by rubbing against a corner. At this rate, it would take at least half an hour to get free.

In that much time, there was no telling what might happen in the evidence room.

’Is this Wald really that ruthless to his own people?’

Just then, his inspiration and Intuition warned him that something was happening in the direction of the evidence room...

It wasn’t a warning of danger, just an alert.

It was exactly the same as the alert he’d felt when entering Jelas’s cell.

This meant the power of Forgetfulness was spreading.

A wave of anxiety washed over Lloyd. He desperately poured more Spiritual Power into his Twisted Realm, hoping it would quickly free him from his restraints.

At this critical moment, his hand in his pocket finally loosened, barely breaking free from the Veto’s restriction. His fingers twitched and touched a smooth, delicate surface, like the back of a girl’s hand.

It was the Saint Statue he always kept in his pocket.

The next second, he felt a gentle power surge from his fingers and through his entire body, instantly dissolving his restraints. He was finally free.

"I’ll be sure to light some incense for you when I get home,"

Lloyd murmured meaningfully, then scrambled up from the ground and sprinted toward the evidence room.

But before he could even go inside, just as he neared the area, he suddenly felt a strange atmosphere in the air.

It wasn’t a dangerous or unsettling feeling, and his inspiration and Intuition weren’t sounding any alarms. On the contrary, his entire body felt comfortable and at ease, his taut nerves rapidly loosening in this atmosphere.

It was as if he’d forgotten to be vigilant...

Then, Lloyd saw that the nearby Hunters were all standing around in a daze. With slumped shoulders and hunched backs, they were either wandering about aimlessly or lying on the ground sunbathing, looking like a bunch of bored, idle loafers.

It was as if they’d forgotten what they were supposed to be doing...

Before Lloyd could even register that something was wrong, he felt his own thoughts slowing down. His mind went blank, and he had no idea what he should do next.

’Maybe... I should find a spot to lie down and sunbathe too?’

This slacker-like thought lasted only three seconds before he suddenly shivered and snapped back to his senses.

’I... Was I just affected by Forgetfulness?’

Then, he heard a voice whispering incessantly in his ear:

"Forget your tension, forget your worries, forget your goals..."

The voice repeated this in his ear like a broken record, endlessly annoying him.

Meanwhile, deep in his memory, the Book of Truth began to slowly emit a faint light, its rotation speed slightly faster than usual.

It was the power of the Book of Truth that had allowed him to snap out of the influence of Forgetfulness.

Lloyd glanced down, taking note of his position. He was standing on the outskirts of the Saint’s Grace Court’s stronghold.

This meant that the power of Forgetfulness was spilling out and spreading!

This couldn’t continue. Otherwise, in another ten minutes or so, this power would absolutely engulf the entire camp, which housed several thousand people.

And at that point, everyone would likely die...

Lloyd couldn’t worry about that now. Tightly gripping the Saint Statue in his hand, he sprinted and charged headfirst into the temporary evidence room.

A dozen or so people were lying scattered about inside. Fortunately, their lives weren’t in danger. They were just like salted fish who had lost every gacha pull, stripped of all dreams and ambition. They lay paralyzed on the ground, motionless, not even batting an eye when Lloyd entered.

They looked like this:

(:3_ヽ)_

The voice in his ear had now grown clearer and louder, as if it were roaring right next to him:

"Forget your tension, forget your worries, forget your goals..."

"Fuck you!"

Lloyd cursed, leaping over the scattered salted fish on the floor and charging directly toward the source of the voice.

It was a safe used to store various pieces of evidence, and it had already been opened.

But the frog-faced Chief Judge who had opened it was now lying limply to the side, devoid of dreams and with nothing left to live for.

Lloyd had no time for them. He risked it all, using his inspiration to lock onto the curvaceous Saint Statue and activating the third effect of his Twisted Realm.

He felt his inspiration brush against something...

Rough, ancient, mysterious, unsettling, unknown... It felt as if it contained infinite knowledge, yet it was impossible to comprehend, impossible to touch...

It must be a book, one as ancient as the Book of Truth.

I want it...

I want it!

I want it!!

I WANT IT!!!

I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it! I want it!

In an instant, Lloyd felt an almost manic possessiveness surge through him, like a player seeing a new waifu in a Krypton Gold Mobile Game. He wanted to make that book his own.

He frantically poured more Spiritual Power into his Twisted Realm, trying to wrench the book over to him.

But the power of the Twisted Realm seemed to be blocked, resisted by something. It felt like it couldn’t get a purchase on its target, like trying to turn a cross-threaded screw.

His opponent seemed to sense his intentions, and the voice repeating in his ear gradually changed its refrain:

"Forget your goal, forget your thoughts, forget your self..."

Clearly, this was far more lethal than the previous refrain.

Soon, he would probably start to forget how to breathe, how to make his heart beat...

The Book of Truth in Lloyd’s mind glowed even brighter and spun even faster, as if in direct opposition, tenaciously shielding Lloyd’s Thoughts and consciousness.

Lloyd knew he couldn’t let this drag on.

With his free hand, he decisively grabbed the pendant on his chest—the Holy Artifact codenamed 5-782, Desperate Counterattack.

He activated the Holy Artifact’s effect.

Instantly, the Spiritual Power in his body was sucked dry by the pendant. A tidal wave of weakness washed over him, nearly causing him to pass out.

Fortunately, his level-five Dizziness Resistance proved its worth at the critical moment, allowing Lloyd to remain conscious and continue using his inspiration to guide the pendant’s impending Spiritual Bombardment.

Drip.

Lloyd thought he heard the faint sound of a water drop hitting the ground.

The power within the pendant surged forth, blasting toward the targeted Greatly Disrespectful Saint Statue.

There were no flashy visual effects or light pollution. The so-called Spiritual Bombardment was simply a blast of Spiritual Power, like a high-pressure water cannon.

And under the influence of the Twist system, this Spiritual Power also possessed a Twist effect. Mid-flight, it coiled and contorted itself into a spiraling spear that crashed into the power emanating from the Saint Statue.

KZZT— KZZT—

Lloyd seemed to hear a strange grinding sound, an auditory hallucination caused by the clash between the two powers.

Then, he thought he heard the sharp crack of shattering glass.

The spiraling spear of Spiritual Bombardment had won the collision. It broke through the barrier of Forgetfulness and plunged into the Saint Statue.

The Saint Statue, which looked like some kind of lewd figurine, instantly began to twist and deform. First, it contorted like a pretzel, then, like a wax figure tossed into a fire, it began to melt rapidly.

After three seconds, it had completely melted into a puddle of wax, which then gradually solidified into a mass of brown, waxy residue that looked like melted and cooled wood.

As the Saint Statue melted, the manic possessiveness in Lloyd’s heart gradually faded, and his mind slowly calmed.

Then, the string of annoying repetitions in his ear turned into a final curse:

"Eske Mir, you damn lunatic!"

And then the voice vanished completely.

HUFF... HUFF...

Lloyd gasped for breath, steadying himself on a low cabinet before slumping down onto it, still panting heavily.

’The feeling of having your Spiritual Power drained in an instant is awful,’ he thought. ’My body still has strength, I can still move, but I feel completely hollowed out, just... empty.’

Fortunately, the passive effect of Desperate Counterattack was already at work, beginning to restore his Spiritual Power.

After resting for about two minutes, Lloyd felt much better.

’If this Holy Artifact didn’t have that passive effect, using it would be a death sentence...’

Lloyd grumbled internally, then looked down at the salted fish scattered on the floor, using [Probe] on them one by one.

Thankfully, they hadn’t become dead fish—they’d only passed out.

They also hadn’t suffered any Spiritual Contamination; they were all basically in a state of ’Mild Madness’ or ’Normal’.

"Whew... I guess that’s one way to handle it, huh?"

Lloyd murmured to himself, getting to his feet again and approaching the safe that had held the Saint Statue.

The layer of wood-colored wax congealed on it was emitting a very unique kind of Spiritual Energy.

’This must be a very unique, high-grade material, right?’

Lloyd quickly drew the Short Sword at his waist, fished a sheet of oil paper out of his Storage Bag, and carefully scraped off every last bit of the wood-colored wax. He then wrapped it carefully in the oil paper and placed it back in his Storage Bag to preserve its Spiritual Energy.

He retreated to a corner, slid down the wall to sit on the floor, and continued to rest, waiting for his Spiritual Power to recover.

His mind couldn’t help but replay the curse he had heard.

’Eske Mir... That’s the name of the Advisor, isn’t it?’