Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Roze and Lirian (3)
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“Predictable. If it were your problem, you’d be out there acting instead of agonizing over it. So this must be my problem—one you can’t solve by charging in.”
Spot on.
Cecilia was a variable beyond my control.
That was when Cecilia added,
“You know what I decided when we first entered that dungeon together? I resolved to figure out what you like.”
“What I like?”
“I found it.”
She gave a soft smile.
“What you love is making plans. And watching everything fall perfectly into place just like you planned.”
Suddenly, memories of wandering Neivil with Cecilia flashed through my mind.
Whenever I mapped out our entire route and showed her, she’d whimsically ignore it.
“But here’s the funny part. You don’t actually hate it when plans go awry.”
“...”
“What you really hate is when plans fall apart... and people get hurt because of it. That’s why you always scramble to adapt to those variables.”
A playful glint appeared in her eyes.
“But you know what? You’re so clumsy at it.”
“Clumsy?”
“Yeah. Trying to counter every single variable—it’s just foolish and clumsy.”
My face naturally soured. She had no idea how hard I tried.
Then, out of nowhere, she brought up something unexpected.
“Café de Amant. That cake we had there—it was delicious, right?”
“...Out of the blue?”
Neivil’s heart. A café she’d barged into on a whim, nowhere in my plans.
That was Café de Amant.
The cheesecake there was the best I’d ever had—in this world or the last—so good it nearly made me curse under my breath.
“I’m telling you variables don’t always disadvantage you.”
I was speechless.
Variables aren’t always a loss. She was right.
But not this time.
“This time’s different. It’s a problem that can’t be solved.”
“Then leave it to luck.”
“...What?”
“You told me yourself. I’m your luck totem.”
‘No, that was a joke.’
Cecilia was dead serious.
Her blue eyes reflected my image.
“So tell me. Don’t just stew in your head. All the variables you’ve thought of. Every single one.”
Her words felt like my own reflection speaking to me.
At that, the chaotic thoughts tormenting my mind halted as if by magic.
Two failures.
Two deaths.
And beyond them, Cecilia’s charred, lifeless form.
Maybe that had become some kind of trauma for me.
‘Was I the one avoiding it?’
Cecilia had lost to Lirian once, sure.
So I’d arbitrarily decided she couldn’t win.
I’d deemed her an uncontrollable variable and sealed her away.
But before that, had I ever properly told her the truth?
‘...No.’
Right. I hadn’t.
I looked straight into her eyes and said,
“Lirian uses black flame.”
In that instant, the color drained from Cecilia’s face, her body trembling faintly.
After a long silence, her voice came out hoarse.
“...I see. I get the picture.”
“Yeah. That’s why you can’t beat Lirian.”
“No. That’s not what I mean.”
Her gaze had darkened.
She was angry at me.
“I mean I get it now—you didn’t trust me.”
It wasn’t about trust.
I’d seen her get crushed by Lirian firsthand.
As I said nothing, Cecilia closed her eyes.
“Yeah. My fault. I didn’t earn enough of your trust.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Let’s stick to the original plan.”
“Cecilia.”
“I’ll take Lirian. Just like you told me—the most efficient way, highest win rate.”
Her trembling hand gripped her sword hilt.
“...You know?”
She flashed a resolute smile.
“Wrong. I’m not your luck totem—you’re mine. Every moment since I met you has been pure luck. And I want that to continue.”
With that, she seized the latch.
“I’ll prove it.”
Before I could stop her, she held out her palm.
“So hand over all the Azure Haze Grass you’ve got.”
“Azure Haze Grass has side effects. Taking too many at once can cause hallucinations.”
“...Whatever. Hurry up. I’m not banking on willpower alone.”
She snatched the five roots from my pocket and shoved them into her mouth, chewing vigorously.
She stuck out her tongue and dry-heaved a few times, then her eyes glazed over languidly.
“There... that’ll do it.”
Do what?
Become a junkie?
Her reckless display drew a sigh from me.
But at the same time, it overlapped with my own past self, charging blindly at Barhatan.
I’d found my answer back then. If extra like me could do it, surely the heroine could.
This was a gamble.
The most reckless, clumsy bet—wagering everything on her will overcoming the trauma.
‘Clumsy, huh...’
But when had I ever chased perfection?
It’d work out somehow.
Like always.
I finally nodded.
“Fine. Do it your way. But...”
I placed my hand over hers on the latch.
“...win, okay?”
Cecilia answered by blushing.
Our last chance.
With grim expressions, we unlatched the door and flung open the creaking wooden portal.
⁎⁎⁎
Cecilia had lived apart from the main Ren family home since childhood, bound by the family’s strict rules.
To her, her mother wasn’t the one who bore her, Seidin Ren.
The only motherly figure in her life was her nursemaid, Rene—just one person.
A plain woman with brown hair and a warm face, the kind you’d see anywhere.
She loved Cecilia devotedly.
But around age seven, the perceptive girl first doubted her own origins.
Silver hair and blue eyes—an appearance so alien compared to the village children.
Especially since she shared not a single trait with her mother, Rene.
‘Mom... am I not your real daughter?’
She confronted Rene, but got only a tight embrace in response.
‘Cecilia, it doesn’t matter.’
‘What doesn’t matter?! What?!’
‘What matters is you’re the most precious person in my life.’
Rene placed her Abyss Core in Cecilia’s hand.
‘Someday, someone like that will come into your life too. Give this to the one you cherish most.’
Cecilia couldn’t understand. Rene was already that person for her.
She shook off the hand and fled the house.
When hunger and nightfall finally drove her back, the home was a slaughterhouse—dozens of knights and black-robed Evil God cultists strewn about dead.
What caught her eye was her and Rene’s nest engulfed in black flames.
Ignoring the silver-haired, blue-eyed middle-aged man visible amid it all, Cecilia charged straight into the blaze.
Inside, she found the blackened corpse of her most precious person.
And beside it, a quietly placed Abyss Core.
‘Mom... Mommy...?’
That memory lingered as a nightmare even after her birth father, Duke Ren, brought her to the main house to meet Senia.
And it haunted her to this day.
Yes.
Cecilia’s greatest regret in life was parting from her most cherished person in an argument.
‘What happened...?’
Cecilia came to and looked up to see Lirian smirking coldly.
‘Right. I... passed out.’
Unextinguished black embers littered the surroundings.
She’d charged at Lirian as planned, but the black flame triggered her trauma, leaving her helpless.
[Pathetic. Is that all?]
She desperately tried to rise, but her muscles screamed in protest.
[Time to confirm your regret, then.]
Lirian gathered black flame at her fingertips again.
But this flame differed from before.
One of Lirian’s patterns Halibal had warned about.
Embers of Regret.
The black flames soon formed a human shape.
She knew instinctively what it was.
‘......Mom.’
Her most precious person.
Rene’s form materialized, blending trauma and Azure Haze Grass hallucinations.
[Poor thing. So that’s your greatest regret. No worries. I’ll send you peacefully to her side soon.]
The black-flame Rene reached for Cecilia.
Not with the warm touch of life, but as devouring flames hurtling toward her.
Cecilia froze.
Images flashed: the burning house, her mother’s cold corpse amid the ashes.
That was when.
Right before opening the door, the firm grip enveloping her hand resurfaced.
‘...win, okay?’
Along with Halibal’s voice.
“...Got it. I’ll win.”
The most precious person Rene had spoken of—hers had already come.
The one who trusted her, guided her, risked his life to protect her.
She didn’t want to lose him.
She didn’t want to end their future, all the luck he’d brought her, here.
Kwaaang!!
Immediately after, Cecilia hurled herself at the oncoming black flames.
Lirian’s eyes filled with confusion.
[......?]
Not dodging, fleeing, or freezing—but charging head-on?
The outcome would be the same: agonizing death in the flames.
“It hurts...”
Cecilia’s low voice echoed from within the black flames.
“It hurts... but... not enough...!”
Black flames clung harder than ordinary fire, resisting extinction.
They coiled around her arm, charring skin bit by bit.
Yet the light in Cecilia’s eyes showed no sign of fading.
“Halibal. The pain you gave me at our first meeting was more than this.”
Her hand swept her side, solar plexus, face in turn.
Amid it, a new vision arose.
An ashen-haired boy boldly swinging a fist at her.
The Azure Haze Grass hallucination erased her deepest trauma, resurfacing the vivid memory of their first encounter.
[Cecilia Ren’s Affection Level has increased.]
[Affection Level: 5 (Max)]
Cecilia’s longsword gleamed with inky blackness.
[Unique Ability unlock conditions met.]
[Party Member Bonus with Cecilia Ren formally activated.]
It wasn’t magic.
[Party Member Bonus: Goddess of Luck]
[When partying with Cecilia Ren, the user receives powerful positive corrections to all probabilistic elements.]
Purer than any darkness, black mana painted new hues across Lumen’s surface.
[Abyss Core - Lumen grows.]
Cecilia’s longsword elongated unnaturally, its segments splitting and writhing like a living thing.
“Now I’ll teach you. What true pain is.”
Chwaaak!
With those words, black lightning exploded, cleaving the black flames in two.
Shatter Light.
Emerging unscathed were Cecilia wielding her slender sword like a whip.
Black flames still burned on her arm, yet a cool, refreshed smile played on her lips.
[Abyss Core - Lumen & Kalligo]
Black mana dripped like blood from the Serpent Belly Sword form of her blade.
Lirian cried out in disbelief.
[What... how...? How could you dare... cleave the flames of a god?]
“Oh.”
Cecilia calmly tapped her cheek with a finger.
Then smirked mockingly.
“Guess I got lucky.”
[......This is...?]
By then, the extended Serpent Belly Sword from her right hand coiled around her like a serpent.
“Black Grace Chain Dance.”
Kwaaaak—!
The blade segments constricting Lirian whirled in unison, shredding her flesh.
[Kyaaaah!]
Lirian’s agonized scream echoed under the moonlight.
Cecilia’s eyes gleamed fiercely as she flashed a cruelly beautiful smile.
“...Does it hurt?”
She tilted her head, genuinely curious.
“...That all?”
Forgetting the pain scorching her arm, she focused solely on her enemy’s suffering.
“...Weird. For a true servant of a god, that scream’s too pathetic.”
Her smile deepened.
A voice laced with pure disappointment, like a toy failing to meet expectations.
Kkuduk...!
With a flick of her wrist, the Serpent Belly Sword dug deeper.
“Come on, let me hear more. Your pain.”
⁎⁎⁎
‘Situation’s better than before, at least.’
I glanced at Roze amid the ashen storm.
Unlike the first attempt, my arms bore no wounds. No blood orbs either.
I’d erased the patterns from my mind, focusing purely on Roze’s movements as a living being.
Even without turns, I was a decent enough swordsman now.
Cecilia was the concern.
‘Please. I’m begging you.’
The curtain began to lift, a red gem catching my eye first from afar.
Lirian.
I prayed inwardly.
Please, let me see the blue one.
Did my prayer work? Beyond the barrier, a blue gem gleamed very close to Lirian.
‘Yes!’
Alive, at least.
I cheered silently, but ominous thoughts surfaced.
‘...Too close.’
If Lirian was dragging Cecilia around like last time, barely clinging to life.
No turning back now.
The moment the curtain fully lifted, I shouted.
“Cecilia...!!”
But the shout died midway.
‘......?’
What I saw: Cecilia elegantly perched on rubble, legs crossed.
At her feet, Lirian lay bound tight by the Serpent Belly Sword.
Cecilia, nudging Lirian with her foot, spotted me and waved happily, approaching.
“How’d I do? Praise me if I was good?”
With an innocent face, she grabbed my hand, pressing it to her cheek and flicking her tongue across it.
‘What? Character shift?’
Then, messages flooded in.
Affection MAX and Lumen’s awakening.
Even a first-time Party Member Bonus.
“Uh... um... good job?”
“Heehee, so happy.”
Praising her as wanted, her face lit with ecstasy.
Well.
Win’s a win.
Right? Probably.
Meanwhile, the wind died, the sword’s bonds loosened, and Lirian fled into Roze’s arms.
[Li, Lirian...?!]
[Ro... Roze...!! He, help me...!! That woman’s crazy...!!]
[You two...!! How dare you to my sister...!!]
Roze’s face twisted demonically.
Instantly, the sun-and-moon divided space collapsed, revealing a new one.
A lavish ballroom.
Roze and Lirian stood at its center, supporting each other, glaring at us.
Two red gems floated above their heads.
I snapped the still-blissed Cecilia back to reality and readied myself.
Once she was set, two blue gems appeared above us.
[I’ll never forgive you!]
[I’ll grant you absolute death...!!]
Tit for tat.
The awaited Phase 2 began.