How a Villain Defies Destiny Chapter 160

Intuitively, I understood.

 

The reason Kephri had put his hand into my mouth was to touch the divine crest located on the roof of my mouth.

 

However, when he had touched the goddess Astarte’s crest earlier, an enormous amount of divine power had burst out along with the unique light symbolizing the god. 

 

This time, the situation unfolded slightly differently.

 

No light leaked from me at all. Instead, I felt an indescribable energy enveloping me, something subtly lacking compared to divine power and clearly different from magic power.

 

Just as I was about to ask him to explain what on earth was happening,

 

My field of vision changed in an instant.

 

Darkness.

 

The surroundings were submerged in perfect darkness.

 

‘I can’t even tell if my eyes are open or closed.’

 

I couldn’t tell whether I was standing with my feet on the ground or lying down. The only thing I could perceive was the consciousness that continued to think.

 

[Oh dear…]

 

At that moment, at the edge of my consciousness, since my body and senses had disappeared, I couldn’t clearly distinguish where the unfamiliar voice reached me.

 

[Throwing someone’s soul away just because it’s annoying? That’s way too extreme!]

 

Unlike the gentle and soft voice of Astarte, the woman’s voice echoing in the darkness was extremely cheerful and lively.

 

“Who are you?”

 

And the thought I had unconsciously formed was converted into voice and flowed out without any filtering.

 

[You’ve completely become Laura now, haven’t you?]

 

I was puzzled about where the voice was coming from when I had no vocal cords, but I didn’t have time to think about it. The unfamiliar woman’s voice continued.

 

“What do you mean by that…?”

 

After having my thoughts read by Fenrir, I had often used polite speech even in my mind, so I was able to fix my tone quickly.

 

[Oh, controlling the unconscious is quite difficult, yet you adapted right away.]

 

On the other hand, she only said odd things.

 

[Have you grown used to handling consciousness in a soul state because you’ve experienced it multiple times already?]

 

“Um…”

 

[I’ll tell you everything you’re curious about, so don’t be too impatient.]

 

I tried to ask her to explain in detail so I could understand better, but she cut me off as if she already knew what I was going to say.

 

[First, to answer your earlier question—the voice that just came from you wasn’t your past-life self, but Laura’s.]

 

“How do you know about my previous life?”

 

[Wait, there’s still more, so listen until the end.]

 

It was a firm scolding, but her voice contained warmth, so it wasn’t frightening like Kephri’s.

 

Perhaps because of that, I was even able to apologize cheekily.

 

“I’m sorry. The moment a thought pops into my head, it jumps out before I can even decide whether to say it or not.”

 

Then, a pleasant laugh burst out from within the darkness.

 

[Well, right now the connection between your body and soul is completely severed, so it must be even harder to control.]

 

“What? Am I dead?”

 

[You’re alive, so don’t worry. But I’ll explain the details later. Shall we go back to the conversation?]

 

I had once again strayed from the point with a counter-question, but she understood my situation and let it slide without further comment.

 

[Anyway, because even your subconscious recognizes yourself as Laura, your voice in this space where only the soul exists came out as Laura’s. Got it?]

 

“I understand.”

 

[By the way, the reason I know about your previous life is that I was the one who brought you into this world.]

 

“Oh my god, you were the unidentified god who gave me the blessing?”

 

[I’m going to explain step by step what’s currently happening, including that……]

 

She had begun speaking seriously, but then trailed off as if hesitating.

 

[Laura is very curious by nature. When something piques her interest, she can’t hold back and asks questions right away, often breaking the flow of conversation. So I’ll temporarily block your voice.]

 

I had been inwardly nervous because she was setting the mood as if she were about to deliver heavy news.

 

‘That’s surprisingly anticlimactic.’

 

She was an unpredictable person in a completely different way from Kephri, whom I had been talking to just a few minutes ago.

 

[Oh, right. I know your previous life’s name, but since you’ll continue living as Laura from now on, is it okay if I just call you Laura?]

 

I wondered what her intention was in asking for my opinion after blocking my ability to answer, but she continued speaking without caring what I thought.

 

[Because you no longer exist in that world.]

 

It was something I already knew, but having it confirmed made me feel unexpectedly bitter.

 

While I was feeling gloomy recalling my previous life that had ended without achieving anything, the story continued.

 

[I’ve been watching you ever since you arrived in this world. As you probably heard from Huluppu, because I was connected to you through the divine crest, I could even know all your thoughts.]

 

She first told me that most of my guesses had been correct.

 

That <Please Take Care of the Saintess!> was Selene’s life itself, and the reason she had possessed me into Laura was to interfere with Nanna’s plan.

 

[But actually, even I don’t know exactly what Nanna is plotting.]

 

‘…!’

 

I couldn’t hide my shock at her bombshell statement.

 

‘If I had a physical body, I would have widened my eyes and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her violently while telling her not to make unfunny jokes.’

 

Of course, both the unidentified god and I were currently formless, existing only in darkness.

 

[You seem quite startled. But I have my own unavoidable circumstances.]

 

Even though she couldn’t see my expression, she spoke as if she could sense my emotions.

 

[It’s also related to the reason Astarte is trapped here.]

 

‘Here? The place where the goddess Astarte is… didn’t you say it was the underworld?’

 

That meant I was currently in the underworld as well.

 

A place no different from the realm of the dead in this world, the resting place of deceased souls…

 

[I told you you’re not dead.]

 

There shouldn’t have been any sound, yet she seemed to have noticed I was lost in thought and cut off my wandering mind.

 

[Can you stop with the unnecessary worries and focus on the main topic?]

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

I apologized out of habit. I didn’t know if it had reached her, but the paused explanation resumed shortly after.

 

[Anyway, the three dimensions existing in this world are each composed of different properties. The heavenly realm has divine power, the surface has magic power, and holy power. And the underworld…]

 

She had been explaining in a lively tone when she suddenly dragged out the end of her sentence.

 

The timing was incomprehensible, but I assumed it wasn’t a big deal like before and waited for her to continue.

 

[It has a single property with no name.]

 

Hearing the following sentence only made it even more confusing.

 

[Yes. Yes. You must be thinking, ‘What nonsense is this all of a sudden,’ but you can combine the information Fenrir and Kephri gave you.]

 

My mind was filled with question marks, but I first calmed myself and followed her advice.

 

‘Originally, gods could freely travel between the three dimensions, but a new ruler appeared in the underworld, and Astarte became trapped.’

 

Adding the information she had just mentioned, a hypothesis suddenly flashed through my mind.

 

Perhaps the dimension had been severed because the property of the god who came to rule the underworld was different from that of the gods in the heavenly realm.

 

[Correct. In the past, the underworld, where only souls existed, had properties similar to the surface.]

 

‘No. But if you’re going to read all my thoughts anyway, wasn’t there any need to block my voice?’

 

I pointed it out because the situation I had just realized was absurd, but she continued speaking as if she hadn’t heard anything.

 

[However, when I took charge of the underworld, the property of the dimension unexpectedly changed.]

 

According to her claim, divine power was a higher-dimensional energy than magic power or holy power.

 

That was why gods with superior power could be absolute, unbound by time and space.

 

Then one day, the unidentified god who was currently conversing with me here had appeared. The existing gods, wary of her, assigned her to the underworld.

 

Because, unlike the heavenly realm, the paradise of the gods, or the surface overflowing with life force, the underworld consisted only of souls and darkness.

 

Originally, they had intended to isolate her by giving her the insignificant underworld so she could not interfere with the heavenly realm or the surface.

 

[But that ended up being poison instead. Their divine power could not embrace my power.]

 

Because of that, the underworld, whose property had changed, became completely separated from the heavenly realm.

 

Still, the exchange between dimensions hadn’t been completely cut off.

 

Although it had changed, magic power and holy power were able to be accepted thanks to the underworld’s property.

 

‘So the heavenly realm is connected to the surface, the surface is connected to the underworld, but only the heavenly realm and the underworld are severed?’

 

[That’s right. When you hear it like this, it might sound like I’m greater than the existing gods, but the reality is the opposite. I am a half-baked god with no name.]

 

‘…!’

 

It was a statement just as shocking as her earlier claim that she didn’t know Nanna’s purpose.

 

‘No wonder! No matter how much I searched through the ancient documents of the Holy Kingdom, there wasn’t even the slightest record!’

 

It seemed it was because she had no name to begin with.