Isn’t this supposed to be time stop? Everyone else’s time is supposed to freeze, and I should be able to move freely!

This isn’t the time stop I know!

I groaned and tried to move, but my body felt frozen solid, as if it had no intention of obeying me.

Did I struggle to move for about 30 minutes in this frozen time?

Eventually, I managed to take a single step forward.

How? By doing something utterly exhausting, both mentally and physically. I selectively lifted the time freeze in a small space around myself and my path forward. After taking a step, I re-applied the time freeze to the area I’d just left.

Why is this skill so complicated?!

The controls are insanely difficult!

It became clear that handling time stop at the level I had seen on certain questionable sites would require intense practice.

All I wanted was to step out for a quick break, but no, apparently even that was too much to ask.

Life sucks. This sucks.

With a deep sigh, I canceled the time stop.

“Saint! Saint!!”

“My son is ill! Saint, please, I beg you!”

The cries of the sick and the poor rang out like a chorus.

These people are going to kill me at this rate!

Can’t I rest for a moment?

I considered shouting to scatter the crowd, but before I could, a thunderous voice boomed.

“Out of the way! Out of the way, you filthy wretches!”

A group of people pushed through the crowd that had swarmed around me, shoving the desperate away.

Their chests bore the unmistakable emblem of a blazing sun—the mark of the Solar Order, followers of the sun god Rophus.

I had heard of the Solar Order before.

They believed that social status and wealth were gifts from their god, while poverty and suffering were curses.

Like the Lilia Order, they performed healing services, but only for the wealthy elite. They were, in essence, the equivalent of running a VVIP-exclusive hospital.

Clad in plated armor and armed with longswords, the paladins accompanied by police officers equipped with batons and firearms entered the scene, causing the crowd of beggars to part like Moses splitting the sea.

At the front of the group was a hulking man whose sheer size made it hard to tell if he was a priest or a bear. He stomped toward me.

“So, you’re the Saint of Healing, supposedly sent by the goddess Lilia?”

Oh crap.

Oh crap oh crap oh crap!

I had never uttered the name “Lilia” in my life! So how had I suddenly become a supposed saint of her order?!

What a damn setup.

I had no choice. It was time to lean into the character I’d been dealt.

Straightening my back, I met the muscleman’s gaze with as much composure as I could muster.

“I belong to no order.”

Claiming to be a saint from a specific order could lead to being burned at the stake. However, being an unregistered and illegal mage would still result in hanging.

But my answer only seemed to make things worse.

“So, you don’t serve any god? Then where does your power come from? Are you a mage?”

At the word “mage,” the paladins and police behind him subtly placed their hands on their weapons.

Unregistered mages were sentenced to death by hanging.

Despite the sheer terror threatening to overwhelm me, I feigned calm.

Vague words. Say something saint-like and ambiguous. Don’t say anything incriminating.

“I’m simply someone who serves the lowly.”

There! Ambiguously vague and appropriately saint-like.

The surrounding crowd, who had been watching me intently, began murmuring.

“He healed us!”

“Unlike those dirty businessmen who only chase after the rich, he helped us!”

“Get lost! My son is sick and needs healing!”

The Solar Order priest let out a booming roar.

“Silence, you filthy scum!”

His voice resonated with divine energy.

It wasn’t the kind of sound a normal human could produce; it was clear he’d used some kind of magic or miracle.

Having heard that voice at such close range, I froze, unable to move.

But the priest seemed to interpret my reaction differently.

“Bold, aren’t you? You’re either an extraordinary fraud or truly a saint, standing so still.”

Still frozen, I couldn’t respond.

The priest laughed and turned to address the crowd.

“And you’re all the same! Swarming like locusts and cockroaches at the mention of a saint, begging for help without offering a single coin. How are you any different from beasts? The Solar Order has always been open to you! We only ask for a modest fee!”

“That fee is outrageously expensive!”

“If you want to live, can’t you earn even that much money? Is your desire to live so cheap? You are shadows! Beings who are unworthy of receiving the blessings of the sun! There is a reason the great Rophus has abandoned you!”

The priest’s tirade was harsh, but the beggars, intimidated by the knights’ swords and the police’s guns, didn’t dare to rise up.

All that grandstanding, but isn’t the gist of his speech just that he’s upset I’m stealing potential customers from his territory?

It was obvious that this muscle-bound priest from the Solar Order would do whatever it took to crush me. After all, you’re supposed to stomp out competition while it’s still a sapling.

What to do? Should I grovel now and confess it was all a sham? That I’d been putting on a show to prevent the end of the world?

No.

That would lead straight to the gallows.

If groveling wouldn’t solve this, then the only answer was to double down and be even more shameless.

I needed to push back, hard.

“You tell people born with disabilities, beaten down by the world, to earn money? That’s like asking someone who can’t walk to run!”

I shouted, and the Solar Order priest looked genuinely surprised.

Good. It’s working. Time to press on. I couldn’t let myself be executed.

“And who are you to demean their will to live? These people are not cheap! I have merely returned those robbed of even a starting point to where they belong!”

I had no idea what I was saying.

Words just tumbled out of my mouth unconsciously.

Internally, I was so terrified that I felt like I might wet myself. Tears even welled up in my eyes at the thought of that hulking priest hitting me.

“No matter what you or those knights and police do to me, I will not stop bringing the wounded and broken back to the starting line! It is the mission I have been given!”

Tears streaming down my face, I finished my speech without even realizing what I’d said.

The atmosphere shifted.

Behind me, I could feel the weight of the beggars’ collective gaze as they glared at the priest.

“Don’t harm the Saint!”

“He performs miracles!”

“He’s not a fraud!”

The first beggar I healed stepped forward, adding fuel to the fire.

“Look at me! This man healed me! By the grace of the gods, he laid hands on me! The boils that covered my body are gone, and my twisted legs are straightened! If this isn’t a Saint, what is he?”

“Exactly!”

The crowd erupted in cheers, and even the knights and police faltered under the intensity of their cries.

The muscle-bound Solar Order priest seemed equally taken aback.

“Silence! I said, silence!”

He roared again, his voice infused with divine energy, loud enough to make my ears ring.

The beggars hesitated and stepped back, but their gazes remained fierce.

The priest realized his yelling wasn’t working and decided to change tactics.

“Fine. Since you all revere this man as a Saint, let us conduct a test.”

The priest spread his arms wide and tapped his chest with a mocking grin.

“Do you know how to distinguish a fraud from a true Saint? A true Saint can perform multiple miracles. Frauds, who rely on simple tricks, can only replicate one or two.”

He looked at me with a predatory smile, like a snake eyeing its prey.

“If you are truly a Saint, show us a miracle other than healing. Perform a miracle that all can believe!”

His gaze was cold and calculating—a trap.

Damn it.

I knew if I repeated the healing trick, he’d just declare, “See? He’s a fraud who can only perform one trick!” Then I’d be swinging from the gallows.

What about... hypnosis?

No, that’d also lead straight to the gallows.

Time stop was my only option.

No choice. Time for some bluffing!

“You do not believe that I have come to serve the lowly?” I said.

“Do you know how many frauds there are?”

“You’re not worried about fraud. You’re just a merchant, afraid of losing your potential customers to someone else.”

“Are you insulting the Solar Order?”

The paladins drew their swords, furious.

Quickly, I added, “I am not insulting the Solar Order or the great Rophus. I’m merely pointing out the corruption of the man before me.”

The priest burst into laughter.

“Enough words. They are as hollow as air. If you are truly a Saint, prove it with a miracle!”

Raising my hand, I executed my plan.

I would cast time stop around the priest’s legs, immobilizing him. Then, I’d declare, “See? You doubted me, and now you are punished with divine retribution!”

This’ll work. Right?

Focusing on his legs, I cast the time stop.

...Wait.

Did I just mess up the aim?!

Shit, this is out of control!

The priest clutched his chest and began trembling violently.

“Guh! Guhhhh!”

He collapsed, his body convulsing.

The paladins rushed to his side, shouting, “Father Barduk! Father Barduk!”

I panicked, frantically trying to undo the time stop, but my nerves made it impossible to focus.

Thirty seconds later, I finally managed to lift the time stop.

“Guh! Cough!”

The priest gasped for air, alive but pale.

The paladins drew their swords, white auras blazing along the blades.

“This heretical fraud dares to impersonate a Saint and harm a priest of the Solar Order?”

“You’ll burn for this!”

I’m screwed.

Frozen with fear, I thought I’d collapse into a sobbing mess if they took one more step.

But the paladins didn’t advance.

Instead, they froze, staring at the priest.

Everyone—beggars, police, and paladins alike—had their eyes fixed on him.

Why?

Because Barduk’s  body had changed.

The massive, muscular man was gone, replaced by a slender, snake-like figure.

On his forehead was a reversed pentagram.

The man touched his forehead and went pale.

“A dark god worshiper!”

A beggar screamed.

“He was disguising himself as a priest of the Solar Order!”

A police officer shouted, followed by the paladins.

“The inverted pentagram!”

“The symbol of a dark god!”

“Arrest him!”

Chaos erupted as the disguised dark god worshiper was dragged away.

I stood there, wide-eyed, unable to process what had just happened.

It... worked, right?