Chapter 92
Chapter 92
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 92
Chapter Title: 26-3. Christmas Carols Echoed
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Omniscient Demon King, Head Ek, was watching the situation from afar.
'...Something's off. Even with that one variable called the hero added in.'
It was taking far too long.
Dennis hadn't mastered the 3D Magic Circle yet, so he should be stuck in the central hall, unable to escape. Laplace and the sages' information networks should be blocked by the power of ignorance.
"This is the seventh loop already. I even confirmed it last time before coming here."
He muttered briefly while checking the bullet count in his revolver's cylinder. Only one round was missing.
Head Ek's mind grew complicated. Where had the discrepancy started? He pulled a book from his pocket and skimmed the notes he'd jotted down previously.
"...It's 11:15. Already fifteen minutes past."
By his calculations, the Apostle of Gluttony should have subdued all the academy students by now and then some.
"Telepathic magic is blocked too."
He shifted his gaze toward the sports field. Metus, who fed on others' traumas to fuel his own power, shouldn't be dragging this out.
There was a weakness—he could only affect those who inhaled his black mist through their respiratory systems—but the academy students wouldn't know that.
"This is too strange. I need to check it out myself..."
He sensed something had gone terribly wrong. Maybe someone who could neutralize his omniscience or ignorance was present, and he'd relied too much on the trauma weakness.
—Bang.
The brooding Demon King fired his revolver in the direction he'd been watching, and in an instant, his body teleported.
He felt sand under his feet. Having arrived at Grand Hearts Academy's sports field, Head Ek scanned his surroundings.
"...What in the world is going on here?"
The field was empty of fallen bodies—save for one person. None of the academy students appeared harmed in the slightest.
"Kekek...! Lord Demon King! Save me, pleeease!!"
The Apostle of Gluttony was already restrained, bound in chains made of water. And the hero Kainel and the Blazing Flame Mage Ariel weren't trapped in their traumas either.
"On top of that, the imperial princess is siding with that hero? What the hell...?!"
He felt a profound sense of wrongness watching the Glass Knight kneel beside the fallen man in the Black Knight helmet, clutching his hand in prayer with dignified poise.
Pine Granasia, famed for her cold demeanor and attitude, acting like this struck Head Ek as utterly bizarre.
She should have been locked in her trauma, reliving her past defeat at Magic Hat's hands. Everything was the polar opposite of his predictions.
"Curious about the reason, Head Ek?"
That was when it happened. As Head Ek stood there, unsure amid the scene, the world before his eyes shifted like a projector spinning.
"It's because the Demon King's schemes always fail."
Click, clack. The surrounding landscape changed with mechanical sounds. Soon, the Demon King found himself teleported to a corridor-like hall where golden figures sat in a row.
"It's been a while. Remember me?"
"...Dennis!!"
The pinnacle of water magic. The drunken mage who twisted elements to wield alcohol-based spells. Dennis stepped forward, blocking his path.
"You've even mastered the 3D Magic Circle?! No, that's impossible! It should take much longer..."
"You don't know about the bachelor's-master's bridge program, do you, Head Ek?"
He couldn't hide his shock at the sight of the 3D Magic Circle in the blue-haired man's hand. Mastering an ultimate technique like that should take at least a month.
Who the hell had twisted fate to make this possible?
"...Dennis, if you stay here, you won't be able to protect Sharutineth or Nex?"
Forcing his sluggish brain to turn, he tried to persuade Dennis. This place put him at a disadvantage.
"Wahahahaha!!"
"Drink up!! Get smashed!!"
A banquet hall glittering with golden light, where people sat shoulder-to-shoulder, downing booze.
These figures represented the barrier Dennis had created with his 3D Magic Circle.
"Blessings on this booze! Grace upon it!"
"Let's party hard tonight!!"
Once Dennis learned the ultimate 3D Magic Circle, he could teleport enemies to pre-set locations at any time.
"Weren't you a professor who cherished students' lives, just like me, Dennis?!"
Head Ek couldn't escape without using his holy sword. But responding with his revolver here might derail the prophecy.
This scenario was unaccounted for. He needed to steer things back to the future he knew as much as possible.
"You mean the second-years?"
"Yes! Even a heartless bastard like you would know that!"
To that end, he revealed his cards to pressure the opponent. Seeing this, Dennis paused.
"The Hero Cultists you brought this time are strong!! The students alone can't repel them..."
The Omniscient Demon King blustered, feigning composure. As far as he knew, Nex's Phoenix Cradle would activate when he destroyed the academy.
"The second-years are already safe. I saw Nex deploy the Phoenix Cradle and came here."
"...What? Not yet..."
"The absolute invincible barrier. You must've seen Asha use it during the war."
It was the final bastion to protect the students from harm.
"Haha, you're good at lying. Cancel that ultimate and go save the students!"
"Does this feel like a lie to you, Head Ek?"
"..."
"All the other students are safe too. I was on my way back after checking."
Head Ek's face twisted in confusion at the steadfast mage. Dennis wielding the 3D Magic Circle he shouldn't have access to yet.
"Impossible. Did I get everything wrong?"
The subdued Apostle of Gluttony, Pine Granasia's altered behavior, Nex's prematurely deployed Phoenix Cradle. He pieced it all together.
"Who... Who could fool omniscience this badly?"
Something that shouldn't be in use now. Why had his calculations gone so awry?
"...I wasn't fooled. The future changed...?"
If Magic Hat had covered it with lies, the intel would be entirely false. But the prophecy had seemed to progress smoothly.
"Licht!! That hero Licht!!"
It couldn't be the Truth Demon King. Then the flash of insight hit: the hero Licht's ability.
"Even the Omniscient Demon King doesn't know everything, huh."
The blue-haired man flashed white eyes, unmoving as ever.
"No! This wasn't the future I saw!!"
Head Ek tore at his hair, howling.
'As expected, thanks to our dear Licht. He might be an Omniscient Hero too.'
Dennis had suspected it was due to the summoned hero student Licht but saw no need to mention it.
'But I can't say that.'
Voicing it could let Head Ek exploit the info.
"Brothers!!"
Seizing the opening, he began chanting swiftly.
"Today, we reclaim the spring they stole from us!"
A beer mug formed of water appeared in the blue-haired mage's hand.
"For the Granasia Empire!!"
"For the Empire!!"
"Let's wipe out that Demon King Head Ek's very 'concept'! Cheers!!"
"Cheers!!"
He raised his mug high and shouted. The golden-glowing people clinked beer mugs with him.
Beer foam sprayed with a whoosh. Golden beer magically filled every mug in their hands.
"Uhahahahaha!!"
"Drink! Get drunk!"
"Wahahahaha!"
"Cheers! Cheers!!"
They drank with glee, ate meat, and chatted boisterously. Lively and chaotic—everyone except the Demon King.
"This barrier, an application of the ultimate and Beer Gold... It must still be weak... If I cancel it...!"
Head Ek drew his red revolver from his pocket, aiming at Dennis.
"What are you doing now, Omniscient Demon King?"
His vision spun like a drunkard's. Balance shattered, he couldn't aim. Sensing victory, Dennis smirked at the failed shot,
"This... can't... happen...!!"
Head Ek resisted the surging drunkenness and the ear-splitting laughter threatening to burst his eardrums.
"My perfect prophecy... couldn't possibly be wrong—!!"
He thrust his arm toward the hall's ceiling and pulled the trigger.
A hospital amid a blizzard.
"See? Santa Claus is real!"
"You're right, Young-min."
"Hehe, Soo-hyun bro won't get a gift 'cause he cried today~!"
The little boy in the red beanie laughed innocently, oblivious to what was coming.
"Ho ho ho. Merry~ Christmas!"
"Thank you, Santa Grandpa!"
He beamed, receiving gifts wrapped in colorful paper. Watching him, I racked my brain for a plan.
"Whoa, a combiner robot! I've wanted this so bad...!!"
A robot formed from cars and dinosaurs—the epitome of boyhood dreams. No wonder he was thrilled.
'...Fate can't be changed, huh.'
The Apostle of Gluttony, Metus's attack. My trauma. In the end, Young-min's death here was inevitable.
'What do I do? How...'
I wanted to squeeze my eyes shut. Less than three hours left. Soon, as people slept, the fire would start.
An inescapable fate. Was there no hope to defy it anywhere?
I'd tried grabbing extinguishers and warning about fire, rushing the stage to shout— all failures.
"Ho ho, Merry Christmas, Lee Soo-hyun."
Lost in thought, it was suddenly my turn.
"Soo-hyun bro got a gift too? Santa must've pitied you!"
"...A snow globe?"
The gift from the red-suited Santa (a pseudonym for the adult) was a snow globe.
Snowflakes drifted slowly inside the glass orb. A trinket with decorations or miniatures, tricked to mimic snowfall.
'Wait, mimic snowfall?'
A snow globe didn't actually snow. Shaking it made snow 'appear' to fall.
If I couldn't change the past, I could recreate it similarly.
"...Young-min."
"Yeah, Soo-hyun bro?"
"They say Santa's Rudolph appears behind that Christmas tree every night."
I pointed to the massive tree in the distance. As expected, this worked. An action that never happened in the original past.
"Don't you wanna see Rudolph?"
"Of course! But they don't let us out at night in the ward..."
"...I'll sneak out and bring Rudolph to you."
For some reason, during the fire, he'd been found right here. So...
"You stay put in your room tonight."
I'd sacrifice myself in his place. The past burns wouldn't change,
"Really?! Promise?"
"Yeah, our little secret promise."
Nor the fact that 'one boy' lost his 'life' tonight.
"So don't tell anyone."
Too late for atonement, and the Apostle's attack might affect reality, but.
The Black Knight sacrifices for others.