Thud!
From beneath the soil, a hand suddenly emerged, followed by a slight rustling.
"Guh—hah—!"
Laurent thrust out his other hand and slowly climbed from the coffin.
He was completely naked—no, rather, his clothes had long since turned to dust, leaving him looking utterly wretched.
After carefully extracting himself with the smallest movements possible, he turned back to glance at his own grave.
Beside it was Jeanne's.
His gaze softened briefly, but the sensation of cold quickly brought him back to reality.
First, I'd better find some clothes.
His current body now carried the attributes of The One and Only God. Frankly, Laurent preferred the power of Absolute Evil—at least with that, he could make clothes whenever he wanted.
Just as he was thinking about how to get some clothes, a voice suddenly came from behind.
"Who's there? This is a cemetery! If you're a grave robber—"
Laurent slowly turned his head, though not his body. A man in work attire stood there. At first, seeing Laurent's completely naked form, he thought he'd stumbled upon some kind of pervert—but when he clearly saw Laurent's face, he fell onto his backside in terror.
"H-how… How can it…be… Évigi—?!"
Laurent didn't respond. Instead, his previously indifferent gaze took on a different meaning.
Thus, a few minutes later, the cemetery was left with an unconscious man beaten senseless and stripped of his outer clothing, while Laurent walked away fully dressed.
His golden pupils now resembled those of the gods themselves.
Now suitably dressed, Laurent stood silently before Jeanne's grave. After staring for several minutes, he quietly departed.
This was just the first step. Those gods, those beings who guided you—Jeanne, they're only the beginning.
Leaving this place, Laurent carefully recalled his next goal.
He had no idea what era it was now. The system's prompts existed only in his divine sanctuary; once he entered this world, the system couldn't reach him anymore.
Absolute Evil could manifest anything he desired, but divinity apparently lacked that convenience.
What a useless god I've become.
After silently cursing those bastards again, Laurent finally observed the streets around him.
I'd better find someone to ask about the current year, then look into this whole magus business.
...
1700.
Nearly three centuries passed, and Laurent had wandered almost every corner of this world.
Everywhere he went, he asked people about magi, yet still learned very little.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, he concealed his divinity, appearing as an ordinary human. Occasionally, he found clues about magi, but they were nothing more than individuals with abilities akin to psychic powers—completely ignorant of true resurrection.
Yet Laurent never gave up.
He crossed deserts, climbed plateaus, trekked through wilderness. Everywhere that could be explored, he had explored.
Yet, ultimately, he found nothing.
This dealt a heavy blow to him, enough that he began doubting himself for a time.
Still, he didn't stop.
With the last shred of hope, he arrived in Germany's Black Forest.
Holding onto this final hope, he heard about an artificial workshop here, founded by disciples of a magician who had attempted to realize the Third Magic.
They seemed to call themselves the Einzberns.
Apparently, they were trying to recreate a miracle once achieved by their master. However, unable to replicate it themselves, their backup plan was creating a being identical to the magician, who could then recreate the magic in their stead.
The Third Magic, as Laurent understood it, was merely immortality—something he had long since achieved himself.
So, in theory, Laurent knew this magic was entirely possible.
Yet these people had struggled for over seven centuries without success.
Even with such slim hope, Laurent didn't waver.
After discovering their location, he went there directly.
Honestly, things weren't smooth initially. They were suspicious of him at first, but gradually accepted his presence. After all, another potential magus wouldn't hurt.
So Laurent began cooperating, helping them create homunculi, always searching for a way to resurrect Jeanne.
Or perhaps… recreate her through a homunculus.
He had absolutely no interest in this Third Magic; his actions were solely driven by personal goals.
During this time, Laurent finally grasped the nature of magic—it was merely another expression of power. But he soon realized his own divine power couldn't serve as a mana source for them; only beings with divinity could receive it.
These Einzbern magi seemed convinced infinite mana could achieve anything, even coming up with wild theories Laurent found absurd. Yet, despite his disdain, he still cooperated.
He had no choice. Resurrecting the dead was already a ridiculous idea. What difference did it make to humor their fantasies a little longer?
Thus, Laurent settled here, immersing himself in research—also taking the opportunity to finally understand what exactly magic was at its core.
As years passed, the people around him aged and passed away, leaving Laurent behind. Eventually, others began noticing Laurent's peculiar condition—he appeared to have achieved the Third Magic himself.
This immediately drew the attention of all magi, but Laurent threw cold water on their enthusiasm.
He explained bluntly: he wasn't human or even a magus—he was a god. Helping them had always been purely voluntary. Some initially tried causing trouble, but after Laurent disciplined them a few times, they quieted down.
To avoid further nuisance, Laurent declared this matter confidential—only the Einzbern family could know, as he'd originally come specifically to assist them.
Though it was a complete lie, they took him at face value, revering him almost as their own personal deity, showing ever greater respect.
Thus, time passed.
The research continued steadily. In the process, Laurent—originally just a participant—found he'd begun genuinely comprehending the true nature of magic.
Yet the biggest surprise was what came next.
Under Laurent's guidance, the Einzbern family finally achieved their first success in centuries: A homunculus named Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern was born.
"Did… did it succeed?"
"It succeeded!"
All were overcome with joy, celebrating. Laurent alone stared thoughtfully at the woman in the enormous tank.
It really worked?
Truthfully, he'd just been joking around, instructing them to try locking eternity into a single fixed point of time.
After all, attaining eternity with mortal flesh was impossible.
Who would have thought such a casual suggestion would actually succeed?
Ridiculous.