242 The Fool's Devotion

The place where I materialized was an immense space.

The ground beneath my feet glowed faintly, creating the illusion that the horizon merged with the sky and stretched endlessly.

Within this seemingly infinite expanse, massive magical sigils formed intricate geometric patterns.

And among them, countless tiny spiders nested—like threads in a web.

My avatars.

The avatars were performing system hacking here.

This location, the center of the world, the locus governing the system’s core, the site where the goddess was sealed.

At the heart of the sigil, the goddess stood.

Her body half-destroyed, partially dissolved into space.

From her mouth, system messages issued without pause—like curses.

‘Mastery level reached.’

‘Experience points reached threshold.’

‘Mastery level reached.’

………。

One mouth, yet the voice echoes in multiple layers.

A voice I’ve heard too often before I achieved godhood.

The voice I once called ‘Heaven’s Voice’ (temporary).

Given that the true source was the goddess’s voice, it wasn’t entirely incorrect.

I approach the goddess, her expression hollow, reading the messages aloud.

I drive my hand blade into her remaining upper body.

‘Gh—!’

The goddess grimaces in agony.

I ignore it. I twist the blade deeper, piercing through her body.

‘Error. Unanticipated external access detected. Proceeding to elimination.’

The agony vanishes from her expression. Pain flares in my hand.

I ignore it.

Without hesitation, I initiate the hack.

Her body convulses violently.

The goddess governs the central system rooted in this world.

Direct interference with that core.

Intervention occurs at the moment the dominant skill is activating.

The user and the target of the skill.

Both receive interference originating from the system itself.

The user is, of course, the master.

The target is Natsume.

The skill’s effect requires the surrender of nearly all soul-based power—skills, stats, and other skill points—to the system.

Yet this effect was never intended for use on others.

The master has forcibly altered it and applied it to another.

Such an action imposes severe strain on the user.

The activation of this skill is, by nature, nearly equivalent to suicide.

System-mediated suppression of the skill’s activation.

Even so, over half the activation has already occurred.

Natsume’s skill vanished, and his stats dropped significantly.

That was irrelevant.

The issue was the teacher.

The overextension of an impossible skill caused the teacher’s own skill to collapse.

Even worse, the teacher’s soul was on the brink of total disintegration, having been protecting Natsume’s soul.

No time for hesitation.

Stabilizing the teacher’s soul, reassembling it, and restoring it.

Managed to prevent total collapse.

Of course, it wasn’t without damage.

A single breath. Withdrawing hands from the goddess’s body.

The goddess erased the wound instantly, resumed system messaging as if nothing had happened.

Honestly.

What kind of reckless act was that.

If I hadn’t intervened—no, even worse, if I hadn’t intervened—her soul would have collapsed and died.

And soul collapse means no reincarnation.

Absolute death.

Really, reckless.

Through the fragmented view, observing the teachers’ expressions.

Natsuki-kun, disoriented, his skills erased.

Yamada-kun, stunned, unable to comprehend the situation.

And the teacher, battered, making one last effort, lecturing Natsuki-kun.

“This world is not yours. Take this as a lesson. I recommend you live as an ordinary person from now on. There is no benefit to acquiring skills and growing stronger…”

Huh?

Denying the act of acquiring skills?

Why?

A question forms, but no answer comes.

A prickling sensation, like a small bone lodged in the throat.

Well, whatever.

Teacher, regardless, your actions this time are futile.

Even if you strip Natsuki-kun of his skills, nothing changes.

Natsuki-kun won’t reflect. More importantly, your skills are incomplete.

No matter how many skills you erase, the outcome remains incomplete—due to misuse of their original purpose.

The spiritual energy once used by Natsume-kun's vanished skill, the majority of it still remains within Natsume-kun.

Skills are physical manifestations of spiritual energy, made usable through system-based customization.

Without such customization, raw spiritual energy cannot be directly employed.

Thus, as long as spiritual energy remains, acquiring new skills remains possible.

Skill points—clearly defined and quantifiable—are merely the publicly available surplus of that spiritual energy.

Natsume-kun has indeed lost his skills.

Yet most of the energy remains in his possession.

Therefore, reforming the form and restoring them is inevitable.

What the teacher did was nothing more than briefly hindering Natsume-kun’s progress.

Natsume-kun, mad as he is, should not be stopped by something like this. To reform him—impossible.

Humans are not such noble creatures.

Look upon the goddess.

Both teacher and goddess—why dedicate one’s life to such futile acts?

Scum is scum.

It will never be saved, no matter where it goes.

Why cannot you understand this?

Why sacrifice oneself to save such things?

I cannot comprehend it.

Ah—anger.

What do you think your life is?

Is it not correct for a living being to struggle desperately to survive?

Yet you deliberately throw your life away.

That is why I am even more furious—because those who act this way are precisely the ones I recognize.

So I will destroy everything.

The goddess’s devotion, the black’s torment, the demon king’s resolve, the teacher’s compassion.

I will break them all—entirely.

World?

I do not know.

If it is to perish, let it perish.

I will save those I recognize—nothing else matters.

The teacher activated a skill of offering.

Its effect, as the name implies.

Sacrificing one’s own soul power, the essence of a skill, to the world.

The teacher attempted to force that sacrifice onto Natsume, transferring the skill and status by force.

Result: partial success, partial failure.

Skills are composed of soul power.

What happens when soul power is lost abruptly?

Of course—the fundamental force sustaining the soul collapses.

The teacher, in preventing Natsume’s soul from collapsing, sacrificed their own soul to hold it together.

Now, I have held the teacher’s soul together.

Consequently, I have taken damage too.

Ah…

Preparing for the battle against the Black, I had wanted to minimize energy expenditure as much as possible.

Still, this situation was unavoidable.

But I must not allow the teacher to use that method again.

As a god, I can afford to waste a little energy without consequence. The teacher’s soul, however, has suffered severe damage.

If we repeat the same action, I have no confidence in preventing collapse this time.

I must also control Hayame’s movements.

Letting him act freely will only lead to disaster.

Very well.

Decided.

I had intended to monitor only, but I will intervene directly now.