"I've got you! You wretched Loser-skill awakened one! Before—"
"God, repent for your deeds!"
"...Wha—? Impossible!?"
There lay one corpse — a man who might well have been appointed Archbishop someday — and one human being, completely unharmed and alive.
"I haven't exactly lived a life that needs repenting. Besides, expecting that under that goddess would be way too much to ask."
She's the kind of goddess who'd give [Hero] to someone like Achilles and send them off to be reincarnated, after all.
You really shouldn't expect her to have anything resembling human ethics.
"You... Divine Judgment hit you dead-on — so how are you still alive!?"
"The [Ninja Master] skill has this thing called 'Substitution Jutsu' — lets you push damage onto someone else."
The appraiser who ended up taking the damage I was supposed to receive died, but since I'm still alive, he's probably not getting that two-rank special promotion.
Well, the dead can't exactly speak up for themselves anyway.
"Well then, my turn. [Reverse] — reverse the effects of all magic items in this area! My abilities are enhanced, and yours are weakened."
I could probably win without this, but let me crush any chance of losing just to be safe.
"What!? That's impossible...! 'Divine Judgment'! Damn it — it won't activate! You damned awakened skill user, how many more tricks do you have!?"
"None. Your own preparations worked against you. So — 'Permanent Frost'."
A pale, beautiful cold coiled around the Pope, restraining him in place.
Then ice began to spread from beneath his feet, gradually freezing his body solid.
"Th-This is a forbidden spell of [Frozen Ice Magic]! You sold your soul to the devil, you heretic!"
"You're the ones selling your souls to the devil. You curse nobles who speak against you to death, steal their positions as Electors, and then go after their children with slow-acting curses on top of that. Don't call me a heretic when you're the ones doing that."
Doing something like that to innocent little Grow — that's absolutely unforgivable.
Don't you people have any hearts?
"What do you know! Defying the Church — do you have any idea what that means? Women, children, all of them must be made to understand their place under God equally!"
Ah, this is definitely the speech of someone who genuinely believes it could never happen to them. No question.
"Yeah, right. Talking's pointless. Well, just stay in place and freeze. Oh, and thanks to this room's effect, 'Permanent Frost' has been powered up, so it probably won't thaw for about a thousand years."
Incidentally, this magic works the same as resurrection magic — as long as you have enough magic power and skill level, you don't have to sacrifice lives or lifespan or anything like that.
Nonsense.
Even as those idle words left his mouth, the ice creeping up from below gradually enveloped Pope Mackain's body.
Perhaps finally realizing things had gone too far, he resorted to begging for his life.
"W-Wait! You said you wanted to know about the Failure Skill, didn't you? If this keeps up, I won't be able to talk anymore! Only the Popes throughout the ages have known the truth!"
"Oh sure~ Lying because you want to save your own skin. You're the kind who'd mercilessly drag your subordinates into it too, so even if I saved you, you'd just feed me some convenient lie. Just stay frozen."
"Damn you, Awakener! Thwarting our ambitions yet again! It can't end like this! Nooooooo……"
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I've posted the first book illustration in my update notes!
A cool illustration by Kousa-sama!
Skills: [Reverse] [Divine Eye] [Sword God] [Fist God] [Spear God] [Scorching Magic] [Frozen Ice Magic] [Clear Storm Magic] [Rock Iron Magic] [Divine Magic] [Dark Magic] [Space-Time Magic] [Thunder God Sword] [Phantom Thief Gentleman] [Ninja Master] [Seeker of Truth] [Supernatural Powers] [Pain Reduction] [Complete Status Ailment Resistance] [Dark Spirit's Protection] [Super Intuition] [Heaven's Gate] [Contractor of the Abyss] [Magic Hand] [Treasure Search] [Seduction] [Eloquence] [Great Luck] [10× Growth Speed]
Rank: Orichalcum
Thank you for reading!