Chương 31: The First Reset

A deathly silence fell over the room as the cleric reached his chilling conclusion.

"I've never heard of such an ability."

"Could it be because of that fake mark on his hand?"

"The power to devour another's mana? That cannot be a gift from the gods. It's heresy!"

"What should we do with him?"

"... There is no benefit in letting a creature like this live. Kill him." Even though I had died once before, and even though I knew I'd have a chance to redo this, my body's primal instinct was still terror. Adrenaline surged through my veins, screaming at me to run. But I had lost far too much blood. My body was devoid of strength; my limbs trembled uncontrollably.

"Don't get close to him! He might drain your mana if he touches you!" I struggled to roll over and stand, but it was too late. Several Church soldiers lunged forward, their spears driving into my chest without a moment's hesitation. A harrowing pain flooded my body, followed immediately by a profound, consuming darkness.

I lay curled on the floor, clutching my chest in front of Halunar for nearly half an hour. It wasn't physical pain—I assumed I couldn't meet a Goddess in my mortal flesh—but the phantom memory of that agony lingered in my mind long after. Finally, I looked up at the golden-haired Goddess sitting before me, resting her chin on her hand.

"Couldn't you have stopped time before I got stabbed?" Halunar offered a smile as gentle as a spring breeze.

"I have to be certain you're going to die before I turn back time, don't I? What if you had managed to turn the tables at the last second?"

"There was no 'turning the tables' in that situation," I grumbled irritably, scrambling to my feet. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"Well then, shall we set a keyword? Whenever you need a reset, how about you shout:'O All-Powerful and Beautiful Goddess Halunar, please grant me salvation'?"

"... I'll take that into consideration."

"So, when do you want to return to? The very first day, or this morning?" I sat cross-legged, deep in thought. Based on what I had just endured, I could logically piece together several facts. The Church had been rounding up individuals capable of using mana from the lower classes, or even unlucky nobles, and imprisoning them as mana slaves. These slaves were kept alive under the most basic conditions to allow their mana to recover naturally, only to be harvested repeatedly.

The extraction method involved saturating hollow mana stones with the slaves' blood. But it couldn't be just any blood; it had to be blood surging with mana. That glass orb appeared to be a tool for hypnosis. It forced victims to witness scenes of intense stress and death, triggering their fear and combat instincts. That was the moment they would unconsciously activate their mana flow in an act of self-defense. In that state, their blood acted as a conduit, carrying mana out of the body and into the hollow stones.

Once the stones were fully charged, they were sold or traded at exorbitant prices.

"You have some truly disgusting followers, Goddess," I couldn't help but curse. Halunar didn't take offense.

"It's not as if I commanded them to do that."

"Isn't it a deity's responsibility to bless the righteous and punish the wicked?"

"Ha ha ha! That is merely a human delusion. What is right? What is wrong? Gods do not abide by such concepts. As long as they continue to worship me, that is enough." I had to grit my teeth to keep a string of profanities from escaping my lips. I still had a few more questions for this cold-hearted deity.

"Hey, what exactly is your eye capable of? I've already managed to see through fabric and in the dark. Can it see through thick walls, or perhaps see things far beyond the horizon?" Halunar furrowed her brows.

"You're asking a difficult question. It's like trying to describe colors to a blind man."... That was a fair point.

"However," she continued, "everything you mentioned is possible. If you can't do it, it's likely due to a lack of mana, or simply because you haven't thought of it yet." I understood. I needed to investigate exactly what capabilities this eye possessed and what mana thresholds were required to trigger them.

"Then, I'll trouble the Goddess to send me back to this morning."

"Very well. Good luck." With a snap of Halunar's fingers, I found myself lying once again on the hard, freezing ground. Gone was the confusion of the first time. This time, I lay in silence, calculating my next moves. Alan, in the neighboring cell, tried to start a conversation after lunch as before, but I only gave half-hearted responses. Based on the observed distance to the surface, I estimated this place was roughly ten meters underground.

When we were led to the extraction room earlier, we climbed a long flight of stairs, approximately five meters in height. The church bells sounded very close, suggesting this facility was either directly beneath the Cathedral or not far from it. Whether I was planning an escape or searching for someone, mastering the layout of this place was mandatory. Now was the time to test the untapped potential of the Goddess's eye.