Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

Ridha wasn't aware of the toll this would take on her body, she had just thought that it would be something related to skill or something like that.

How could she have known that her muscles would ache like they were beings crushed below a truck, and her mana pool would be almost emptied?

["Your body is still weak, and your mana is still just enough to take the oath. That is why you are experiencing this."]

Ridha soon heard her patron god's voice in her head, causing her to nod as she understood that much already.

It was her first time, and she was unaware of the consequences. It won't happen again.

As for the situation of her body right now, she was fine; she didn't have to worry about anything since she was in front of Alex.

Even if she was in this vulnerable situation where she could be killed anytime, it was only in front of Alex.

But just as she stared at Alex, trying to smile at him, as if happy that she could finally have his trust, Alex vanished from her sight.

*Boom*

All she could perceive was the sound of something breaking, and the moment she felt a wave of wind crash onto her body, it was already too late.

"Akh—Cough!"

She found herself smashed on a tree trunk with her windpipe clenched hard, making it impossible for her to breathe.

Her eyes then went wide as she saw Alex standing right in front of her.

"W-Why...?"

She didn't understand why Alex was still doing this. Didn't he already know that she couldn't do anything to him? There was never a condition saying that she could attack Alex if he started the fight.

All she could do was take Alex's attack without even being able to do anything.

She couldn't think of bringing harm to Alex as it would directly kill her. She was basically a slave for Alex, yet his doing this didn't make sense.

But soon, as she stared into the pair of cold golden eyes, her body loosened.

She couldn't do anything anyway, so all she could do was see it through.

She wouldn't even object if he decided to kill her right now. He was the one who saved her anyway, he could kill her as well.

It was unexpected and uncalled for, but now that she was bound by the oath, there was nothing she could do.

["…"]

Even her patron god didn't seem to have anything left to say.

She knew that there was no way to save her after all, but that was what Ridha thought, her patron god, the flame of wars, was thinking of something really out of her character.

She had been in a contract with many people; even in this world, three people were under contract with her. All of them were good, but for some reason, she found Ridha to be the best of them. Right now, when the same girl was about to lose her life, the flame of war could only think of doing one thing.

But given the situation, she waited. She hoped—really, really hoped—that Alex would just let go of Ridha, the girl who was ready to even die for him.

However, his grip on Ridha's neck only tightened. Tears started to pool in Ridha's eyes and her eyeball started to roll backward.

She was dying.

It was clear.

But even so, she tried to open her eyes, and smiled at Alex, causing Alex to frown.

["Let me—"]

The flame of wars, after seeing all this, knew that there was no other way and that Alex was going to kill Ridha, so she went ahead to use the last option she had but just then...

*Thud*

Ridha's body, which had been lifted up, fell to the ground with a thud.

*Gasp**Wheeze*...

As soon as that happened, Ridha involuntarily gasped for air, filling her lungs with it, wheezing as her throat seemed to be clamped, making it hard for air to pass through in one go.

Her hands moved to her neck, caressing her throbbing throat as her droopy eyes moved to look up at Alex, who was looking down at her with a cryptic expression.

She didn't know what was happening, nor did anyone else know it. Everyone was just as confused as she was; even the gods that usually support Alex didn't understand the motive behind his actions.

Some even tried to stop him, sending messages one after another, not wanting Alex to kill yet another great player, but that was all they could do—send messages. All of them knew that the end decision would be whatever Alex would want it to be.

["Are you satisfied now?"]

There was one being who could understand Alex's situation, though...

<The oath seemed to be working fine. I saw her expressions, and from what I read, I could tell that she believed herself to be dead already.>

Or maybe two beings.

Both the AI and the certain god were able to understand Alex's motive.

Well, the AI was something or someone that could understand Alex with some effort, and it could read Alex's mind, but the same couldn't be said for the Certain God.

How did she know why Alex did it? Only she would know an answer to that question.

Alex, on the other hand, didn't reply to the certain god's question; he just kept frowning as he stared at Ridha.

The second phase of Ridha's test was now over, and the result was positive, but for some reason, he didn't feel really good about how Ridha reacted to all of that.

He felt like he was doing the wrong thing for the first time—something he didn't feel even when he had slit the throats of children in the past.

This was something different, and Alex didn't like this different. For once, he even suspected that it was Ridha using some kind of skill on Alex, but he knew well that it wasn't the case. Ridha didn't have a single ability to affect one's mentality.

"A-Are you satisfied now, or do you want to inflict more pain and suffering on me...?"

It was then that Ridha, who was still trying to catch breath—her voice breaking as she coughed between her words—inquired. Her voice barely a whisper but enough for Alex to hear, causing his frown to deepen.

'Did she know what I was trying to do?'

Such a question appeared in his mind.

He was trying to test whether this oath thing was real or not. She did propose it, and he did take her proposal; even the certain god agreed to it, but he wanted to be sure about it, so he decided to see what she would do if faced with certain death.

All kinds of promises are broken in front of real death.

People break and forget what they said they would do; that was just how scary death was.

But if Ridha knew that it was a test, and Alex was doing that to check whether she was really being honest or not, then it was a different thing entirely.

If she knew about it, then she was probably sure that Alex wasn't going to kill her, which took away Alex's objective.

He gritted his teeth as he realized that the situation was trickier than he had thought.

But Ridha, whose eyes were feeling heavier than ever, continued as her head bowed down, unable to keep looking at Alex.

"Your fetish would stay hidden with me... don't worry. I can be a Masochist. Your masochist just because you are a sadist." Experience tales with m v|l e'm,p y r

Ridha muttered, and that was the last thing she could say before...

*Thud*

Her body fell to the ground face first, unable to keep her conscious anymore.

A strange silence enveloped the surroundings; even the plants and trees froze, as if something forbidden was revealed.

The gods were shocked by the words Ridha spoke, and their minds reeled, making things fit perfectly.

That's it!

Alex was a sadist!

That explains why he was being so hard on a girl who looked so pitiful! Maybe he couldn't control his true self from coming out the moment he saw the girl alone, with such a pitiful expression on her beautiful face.

That was what the gods thought, but none of them sent a single message to Alex related to this. They didn't send a single message even.

All of them thought that remaining silent was best for now, especially with the strange expression Alex was making.

["Oh~? I didn't know you had such a dark side of you. Not like I hate it~! I like this naughty side of you as well!"]

Alex wasn't sure what to feel as he saw the message of the certain god flash in front of his eyes.

He was sure that she knew that he was nothing like that and why he did what he did, but she was still doing this.

It was probably to get a reaction out of him or to annoy him, but he wouldn't give her a satisfactory response.

For now, he stared at the unconscious body in front of him, musing about what he should do with her.