337 Chapter 319: Teamwork is a headache

(Perspective Seraph) (MEMORIZE)

I have to bear it, I have to bear this, I can bear this situation...

"How about we do an abyss invasion event? So we can show players how terrible Madness users are, we have some void aberrations and Hastur remnants that could be hunt targets"

"The fourth floor hasn't been cleared yet, if we add to the aberrations of a Great Old One, it's very possible that 80% of the players will be killed, we better send a divine sign to start a hunt against the witches who use demon magic"

"But some talented players have chosen the witch profession, doing that would waste a lot of talents…"

"It is their fault for choosing heresy, heretics and those who support them must burn in hell"

"Hey, Lady Auriel accepts witches! Do you want to fight, you fucking idiot?!"

"Come here you idiot, I'm not afraid of a woman!"

"Gluttony, say something to this fucking old man! We can't let him insult Lady Auriel!"

"Hey…. Sorry, you call can't connect"

"Damn idiot, you are in front of me!"

"I'm not listening, there must be a space storm"

"Even the useless glutton knows that it is useless to fight! You fucking demons are just trash!"

"That's life, at least I'm not a senile old man with erectile dysfunction"

"......"

"…. T-That's a lie! Everything this damn demon says is a lie!"

"….."

"Great Time Scribe, if you need it, I can get you some medicine…."

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

I covered my face with my hands to hide my frustration. It's horrible to work with these idiots.

Managing the Tower of Awakening requires a lot of effort, especially since we use fragments from multiple worlds to repair the damage caused by immortal cultivators.

This is one of the most important projects in Paradise, but it is a long-term project, and the relationship between the large organizations of the multiverse has deteriorated rapidly. Our leaders prefer to focus staff on projects with less potential, but that provide faster results.

The Tower of Awakening has a lot of potential as players completing the top floor should be around the strength of a low-rank Great Old One, but that's just an estimate and we don't know how many players will be able to complete the Tower, so this project has a 20% chance of being a failure.

It's all the fault of those immortal cultivators, if they hadn't stolen our resources then the Tower could function automatically with no room for error.

Because of this, none of the high-level Higher Entities is willing to waste time managing the Tower, so this job fell into the hands of second-grade assistants who don't have great responsibilities.

My current identity is that of a traitor, so I am a disposable pawn. On the other hand, most of my co-workers are problematic, disobedient, lazy, and even criminal people who received forgiveness.

Some of these people are as strong as a high-ranking general, but their personalities are so bad that no one wants to work with them.

Now this group of idiots is assembled to manage the most important project in Paradise.

Sometimes I think our leaders have lost all hope in mortals. It's like some of them only see mortals as cattle, so they just use them as disposable cannon fodder.

It seems that only Lady Auriel wants to protect the weakest and most unprotected people, but that has only brought her sadness and loneliness.

I am very worried about Lady Auriel, but I am also worried about the Hero of Harmony. We haven't talked much lately, and when we do he sounds very tired.

I think he is reaching the limit of his mental tolerance and that worries me too much.

I have seen many heroes succumb to stress and choose suicide. I don't want the Hero to go through the same thing, but I don't know how to help him either. Sending Daedalus to his side is close to the limit of my capabilities and resources.

At least I've managed to check that the Hero's mother is safe. It hurts a lot to feel like I'm useless, so it makes me happy to be able to help him.

"What if we ignore the untalented players and focus on the prodigies? Most of the players are completely useless and just waste resources"

Objectively that would be a good choice, but there are cases where a seemingly talentless person turns out to be a gem in the rough. It would be a waste to discard someone like that, besides, Lady Auriel will be very sad if she finds out.

The biggest problem with running the Tower is that the people I work with have their own ways of doing things.

Some insist that we should send powerful enemies regardless of the losses of weaker or unlucky players, so we focus on quality over quantity, but numbers are indispensable in a war.

Others say that we should give better weapons and skills in the early levels, so the chances of survival will increase, but there will be a greater reliance on external weapons instead of one's own skills.

Each level of the tower is supposed to teach one of the key steps to ascend to a Higher Entity, but if we're not careful, players won't be able to comprehend a Concept of their own and will never be able to finish the Tower.

The final test of the Tower is to face a Great Old One that one of our leaders captured long ago. If players don't have an understanding of a Concept by reaching the top floor, they won't be able to beat that creature.

Every day, we meet for two hours to decide on Tower upgrades, but most of the time is wasted in pointless discussions, especially over racial conflicts.

Lady Auriel has welcomed many races, including demons. Some of my co-workers are demons who left Hell after a war with the current Lucifer, so they are deeply grateful to Lady Auriel for giving them a home, but they are troublesome people.

To begin with, they have a bad temper and selfish attitude, they will only obey Lady Auriel and despise the servants of the Absolute Paradise faction. On the other hand, they hate me and want to kill me since they think I betrayed Lady Auriel.

I'm used to the scornful looks and endless insults, but it is a nuisance for them to cause trouble during business hours.

Even though everything is so annoying, I must be strong. I need to exert myself for the sake of Lady Auriel, the Hero, and my only two friends.

After many meaningless discussions, the meeting finally ended and we each went back to our jobs.

Players haven't cleared the fifth floor yet, so phase 2 hasn't started.

I have some free time so I took advantage of it to relax in my office.

Carefully, I took out a glass box specially designed by Eriko.

(Author's Note: Eriko Takeda from YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world)

This box is for storing high-level elixirs so that their effects don't wear off no matter how much time passes, but it's also very useful for storing food.

I opened the box and took out a cup of tea and a plate of biscuits. It smells like everything has been freshly made...

I settled into my chair and enjoyed my meal.

The Hero has many talents and his culinary skills never cease to amaze me.

I was relaxing, but I felt the Hero trying to connect with me.

It wasn't just a telepathic call, he was using the communication device I gave him for video calls.

Although we have never met in person, it makes me happy to see his face when we talk, although, in recent days, he has not wanted to have video calls and speaks very little, which has made me feel worried.

I quickly put the food away, wiped the crumbs off my face and fixed my hair, then accepted the video call.

I usually show a calm and professional attitude since I don't want the Hero to discover my loving feelings, but my body froze upon seeing the Hero.

I convinced Lady Auriel to make the Hero her honorary knight, so he has the highest level blessing Lady Auriel can offer. Because of this, any physical wounds will heal instantly, and even his spiritual wounds will heal so the Devourers will have a hard time destroying him.

Still, the Hero's injuries are not something a human could bear...

The flesh on his arms has disappeared below the elbows, and half of his face is just a skull. The parts of her body that showed her bones seemed to have been covered in a strong corrosive poison, as the bones looked decayed and full of cracks.

"Seraph…" – The Hero sighed. - "We need to talk"

My body was totally frozen.

My words couldn't get out.

I could only stare in horror at the situation the Hero found himself in.

It's the first time I've seen that kind of injury, but I've seen something similar, I saw it a long time ago.

When Azathoth attacked Paradise, we lost many powerful warriors, but we managed to drive the creature away thanks to Lady Auriel's sacrifice.

In that time, she absorbed all the pain, suffering, and injuries of the people who were hurt by Azathoth, but that came at a great cost.

Lady Auriel was left in a coma while much of her body had turned to rotting meat.

Although Lady Auriel has already recovered from all her injuries, back then Lady Auriel's situation was similar to the Hero's.

A deteriorated and decomposed body that is falling apart. The only reason Lady Auriel survived was that her Concept of Hope allows her to overcome despair, even if that despair is greater than her own power.

I'm not an expert in healing techniques and abilities, but I can see that the Hero's injuries are not physical problems, but spiritual and mental injuries that damage his Core of Existence.

I don't know what kind of situation the Hero faced, but there is one thing that is clear to me. Lady Auriel's distant blessing cannot heal those wounds, only Lady Auriel herself could heal those wounds.

My fists clenched unconsciously. – "Hero, I will make it possible for you to see Lady Auriel immediately, get ready for a dimensional trip"

This will be very dangerous.

Lady Auriel has little authority, but her prestige is the highest in Paradise, so it will be very conspicuous to have her meet with a Rookie Hero.

This will draw harmful attention to the Hero, but there is a solution. If I sacrifice my own identity as a spy, it will be possible to arrange a meeting between Lady Auriel and the Hero.

My execution will be inevitable, but they will both be fine. I just hope Eriko and Sword Maiden don't do something impulsive that puts them in danger...

"Seraph" – The Hero's voice made me stand still, I don't know why, but his voice sounds a bit intimidating. – "Don't do something stupid… I need to talk to you in person, now"

Despite his injuries, it seems that the Hero's strength has not diminished but quite the opposite. The strength in his gaze makes me feel like I'm looking at one of the leaders of Absolute Paradise. A power that makes me feel as small as an ant.

The Hero sighed and closed his eyes. – "Seraph, please, I want to talk to you and apologize… I have not been honest with you, so we need to talk"

The Hero's attitude is worrying me too much. At this rate, it will be very difficult to accept my own death and that will be a problem.

I am beginning to regret my decision to sacrifice my life for the sake of Lady Auriel...

I sighed. – "Hero, that is…"

"Seraph" – The Hero extended his hand and a black mist covered the bones of his hand. – "I want to be honest with you"

….

Madness….

The Hero has a close relationship with Daoloth and Nyarlathotep, but that Madness does not seem external to the Hero. It's like that energy is part of the Hero.

Could be…

He was corrupted?

"My mind has not fallen under the control of BB and Nyaruko, this Madness is my own path" – The Hero sighed.

…..

I do not know what to think.

"Seraph, I want to talk to you in a place where you feel safe, I will tell you the whole truth and you can choose what to do after listening to me, whether you hate me and want to kill me, or forgive me and accept me as I am… I will respect your choice and I'll let you do what you want with me" – The Hero sighed heavily as he kept his eyes closed. – "Seraph, I need your help, you are the only one who can help me"

…..

I knew it, I always knew that the Hero has hidden things from me, but it is normal for a warrior to hide his best cards, especially someone with the mentality of a murderer.

Ever since the Hero introduced me to Daoloth, I knew that he was neither normal nor good, I even had reason to suspect him, but still, I decided to trust him.

Knowing that the Harem King was actually Nyarlathotep only increased my worries. The Hero was related to too dangerous and chaotic entities that would endanger the stability of Paradise and the multiverse.

My chest hurts a lot.

The Hero's words and attitude make me see that he has lied to me since we met, he used me for some plan and most likely he only needs me to get closer to Lady Auriel and thus heal his wounds.

Still, even if I know all this, what hurts me the most is that he only told me this when his injuries are so severe.

I would have liked to know about this earlier. If possible, I would like to have been more helpful…

"Seraph, you're not an object" – The Hero's voice was strange, it was as if he couldn't control his own emotions. – "Your thoughts are seen in your face and I must say that you are right, at least at first… Well, yes, I thought about using you to get closer to Auriel, but now it is different… You are my wife and that is why I no longer want to lie to you"

…..

I don't remember when was the last time he wanted to cry like this.

I don't know if I feel happy or hurt, I just know that I want to cry.

I took a deep breath and wiped the corner of my eyes. – "I understand, it will be better if you request medical support so that you can be summoned to the temple of Maiden of the Sword, I will see you there"

The Hero has hidden his Madness for a long time, he must know how to bypass the security measures of Paradise so that he can enter without problems.

The Hero nodded and I ended the call. I don't want to hear his words over a phone call, I want to see him in person to hear what he has to say.

I thought my first meeting with the Hero would be something touching, but now I can't identify my own feelings.

In case the Hero is an enemy, it would be better if I bring high-ranking bodyguards... But... I can't do it, I can't ambush him even if he's an enemy.

I've fallen so deeply in love with him that I can't even imagine facing him.

If he is really dangerous to Lady Auriel, I can only face my sins.

I sighed and took out a special necklace.

With a thought, this artifact can destroy an enemy's soul at the cost of sacrificing my own soul.

It is an artifact that violates all of Lady Auriel's ideas and rules, but it is necessary.

I looked at the necklace and then at the wedding ring in my hand.

…..

I am so stupid…

I sighed and put the secret compartment back away. I can not use it.

I'm too stupid.

I'm putting my personal feelings above my loyalty.

I am not worthy of Lady Auriel's kindness.

I sighed and headed for the Sword Maiden temple.

With all my heart I hope the Hero won't be hostile towards Lady Auriel, I really hope so.