"Eh? Don't! Why you go off already, we still haven't..."
After gaining her trust through foresight, we only told Judith the basic information about this world and our past experiences of challenging it. We didn't get a chance to explain about the "Light's Judgement" situation! Now the "Shelter" doesn't even have any defensive preparations done, and she just walks out like that. What to do if the "Light's Judgement" erupts later?
"Nevermind, after all Judith is like the others, only willing to listen to our commands and eventually challenge the Light God when she feels her life is in danger. But now it's too late to go out and stop her, the two Star Glory knights will definitely die at the hands of the four-winged Apostles. Vivianne also cannot escape the judgement in the end..."
Seeing Judith has gone far, Adrian stops me and shakes his head. This time, we wasted too much time trying to understand why I was controlled. If the "Light's Judgement" appears, we have no way to defend against it.
"Why don't we just directly kill ourselves and restart again?"
"But can we really go back?"
Looking at the battle scene on the distant rooftops outside, Mike has already been struck down by a beam of light. But my heart doesn't stir at all. After all, with so many resets, I've seen the same scenes many times and feel completely numb. Suddenly I understand why Adrian couldn't even be bothered to explain to the others.
It's a feeling of despair.
Beluto's absolute mastery over light elements makes me feel true despair. Before this, I still harbored some hope when challenging, but the result was so devastating. If we cannot resolve this weakness of being controlled by the Light God, we can never achieve victory, and naturally cannot find a way to leave this place.
What's even more worrying is that the Saint Angel Cyra seems completely unaware of the time resets. This makes me doubt if even Beluto knows about it. If we cannot count on even the Light God for answers, then who else can provide them?
"How about...if I rest for a while..."
Facing Adrian's puzzled gaze, I hesitate for a long while before voicing my thoughts. During this period of constantly resetting to tackle Cyra, we haven't stopped at all. Suddenly I feel so weary - not just physically, but mentally as well.
"Of course, you can rest as long as you want! Let's go somewhere else..."
Upon hearing this, he freezes for a moment, then a slight smile appears on his face. Without saying much more, he leads me directly out of this village in an unusual direction.
The battle continues in the village center behind us. Although Mike is very powerful, without my and Adrian's interference, he has already fallen into a vegetative state. The remaining Ron and Vivianne definitely cannot achieve victory, and as long as the four-winged Apostles do not die, the "Light's Judgement" usually will not appear. Even if one is defeated, I have the "Light's Sanctuary".
It's just that apart from Adrian, I can't be bothered about the others anymore. This round, I have no mood to help them. In the end, everything can be reset, so whatever we do has no consequences!
We return to that original small forest, but do not stay, directly passing through to a lake area behind it.
"Is this the place? Didn't expect you to actually know such a nice spot!"
The surrounding scenery is excellent, very suitable for leisure and vacation. Looking around reinvigorates my spirits.
"How about building a small hut by the lakeside? Those Apostles haven't seen us before and don't know of our existence, so they shouldn't discover or pay attention to us."
Adrian surveys the surroundings, stretching his limbs as he proposes.
"Two! One for you, one for me!"
I glare at him and remind him unhappily.
"Haha, of course no problem!"
Adrian scratches his head a bit embarrassed before turning to gather wood from the forest.
If we don't die, time will not continue forever either. Adrian confidently tells me the limit is one month - if there is no death after one month, a forced time reset will occur.
This was something he accidentally discovered once.
When he didn't know initially, he didn't lay gravel on the second floor. As a result, under insufficient "Light's Judgement" exposure, Adrian was blasted into a delirious state between normal and vegetative, which only lifted after the forced reset one month later.
Incredibly, he even remembers the various embarrassing incidents that happened while in that delirious state. No wonder the first thing he does after each reset is to find Judith at the "Shelter" to prepare defenses against the "Light's Judgement".
"Is this really built by me?"
A few hours later, looking at the newly roofed lakeside cabin, it all feels rather unreal. For me, a major project I never dared imagine is so quickly completed.
But as my strength increased, doing such things became quite simple. The thick tree trunks can be easily lifted, the whole process like assembling building blocks. Plus Adrian has relevant construction experience, so by following his guidance I'm not worried about not knowing how to build it.
The only downside is the appearance looks a bit asymmetrical, slightly shabbier compared to the one Adrian built for himself. I can't help feeling it could collapse anytime.
"That's why I said let me do it, yours...is all crooked. But the issue shouldn't be too big hopefully!"
Adrian stands beside me, glancing over from afar before commenting.
"But since we won't be staying long anyway, even if it really collapses it won't hurt you."
"The way you say that...makes it sound like you can't bear to look at it?"
I purse my lips, not wanting to argue further. After all, I insisted on doing it myself. For a first time building a house, achieving this level is already pretty good. Besides, I didn't study civil engineering before, so expectations can't be too high.
Like this door, at least it can open. Though with forceful pulling it almost broke, but in the end it opened right?
"Then maybe don't close it again later. Otherwise if we repeat this a few more times, I'm afraid..."
Seeing this situation, Adrian's mouth twitches, holding back from saying more.
"Can't you give me some confidence?"
I glance back at him and remind him helplessly. Just now I did feel the house shake a little, but it's also because the force I used was too great. Maybe if I'm more gentle next time there won't be an issue.
Inside the house is of course completely empty for now. But with the storage ring carrying all sorts of living necessities, everything can be set up properly in no time.
"You're right, at least you're way better than me when I first did this kind of work!"
Hearing this, he immediately nods in praise. But his two legs remain planted at the doorway, unwilling to enter, eyes occasionally glancing up at the ceiling.
What's that supposed to mean? You think I can't see it?
"Don't worry, after all I built it myself! Though the quality may not be that good, under normal circumstances it shouldn't collapse!"
Seeing this, I can only gently reassure him. Him not even willing to enter after I built it really hurts my pride. To put his mind at ease, I even demonstratively gave the walls a few light kicks.
With some creaking sounds, the wooden hut swayed for a while before indeed not having any other issues, further proving my point.
"Perhaps I'm just being too cautious..."
Wiping the sweat from his brow, Adrian has no choice but to enter and help me set up the wooden beds. We had casually made these simple pieces of furniture outside earlier, now just need to retrieve them from storage ring.
"By the way, have you done construction work before?"
I always thought Adrian was a full-time adventurer, at most occasionally partiming as a mercenary. Never expected him to be so skilled at woodworking too, leaving me rather perplexed.
We're around the same age, so why is there such a big gap?
"No, just exposed to it from young."
He shakes his head, helping me adjust the various furniture pieces while casually recounting his background.
Adrian's homeland is located in the forests southeast of the Astralrealm Kingdom, very close to the Ilandra Dominion border - an obscure small frontier town.
Supposedly his father fled there many years ago to escape political persecution abroad, their family holding some renown locally.
It's precisely because he grew up in such an environment that Adrian learned many livelihood skills from the local natives, including how to build houses and utilize bows for hunting.
Funnily enough, Vivianne is actually from the same hometown as him, the two were childhood friends! But ultimately Vivianne developed feelings for Brennan, a guy from the neighboring town who went to the capital Norvale with her to make a living. The entanglements between them are really quite fascinating to imagine...
"No way, so the two of you never had anything going on?"
Hearing this, I couldn't help but voice my doubts. Childhood friends? Even if the trend now is to prefer a love later in life, either way the two must have very likely harbored feelings for each other before!
"What nonsense, don't go guessing blindly!"
Adrian immediately refuted vehemently upon hearing this.
"Vivianne has been outgoing since young, the fire element inclined type like Brennan has always been her preferred kind of guy. As for me, after an elemental affinity assessment I was confirmed to have zero elemental affinities, so how could she possibly take an interest in me?"
"But what about you, didn't you have any thoughts about her at all?"
I deliberately probed further, this was the crux of the matter. Vivianne isn't even here, why would I care about her thoughts?
"How could that be possible, we're just ordinary friends!"
Unexpectedly, he reacted even more flustered, hurriedly clarifying his stance. Seeing I didn't really believe him, he paused for a moment before continuing to explain.
"It's true! Believe me, if I really have to give a reason...I can only say I don't really like her blazing, reckless personality! Though being outgoing can bring better interpersonal relations for our adventuring party, it also gets us into plenty of trouble many times!"
"Like that previous time in Elara Woodlands, she ignored our dissuasion and insisted on approaching you. In that unknown wilderness environment, it was an extremely dangerous thing to do! Luckily you meant no ill intent, otherwise the consequences would have been unimaginable!"
Isn't this referring to the scene of our first encounter?