93
Chapter 93
"So, you felt you'd regret it if you didn't do this...."
With those words, the man before her walked slowly toward Rubia.
"Foolish. From this moment on, you will spend the rest of your life in agonizing regret over the decision you've made."
At that sentence, her legs began to tremble instinctively.
Because she knew.
She knew those words were the truth.
She knew the future that awaited her.
Horrific torture.
Pain so intense she would beg for death.
It would continue until she spat out the information.
But she had no intention of revealing a thing. The torture would likely persist until her mind completely shattered.
'I... can't expect help, can I?'
Would the Leader come to save her?
Would he appear as always and resolve everything?
It would be a lie to say she hadn't thought of that even for a second.
But the Sword of Light did not fall from the sky to strike the man.
In a way, it was only natural.
No matter how powerful the Leader was, he couldn't use such power repeatedly.
Since it was a burden for a divine being to intervene in the mortal world, it was right to abandon any hope of help.
"I will ask you one last time. Are you truly confident that you won't regret your choice?"
A terrifying Bloodlust.
The man asked, unleashing an overwhelming aura upon Rubia.
Rubia hesitated for a moment... then answered.
"If you can guarantee my life, there is some room for negotiation."
A lie spoken with composure.
While pretending to take a step back, Rubia secretly prepared her final move.
He had brought this up because he clearly hated things becoming complicated. She believed he would react positively to some extent.
However... the expression on the man's face remained dark.
Without even looking back, he simply swung his sword.
The blade Rubia had secretly launched from behind him collided violently with his sword.
A ringing metallic clash echoed.
But the confrontation didn't even last a tenth of a second.
The object Rubia had thrown was an Artifact the Leader had given her during the Black Market incident. Despite being a mystical treasure that moved by her will.
It was utterly powerless against his blade.
The cut was more than clean; it was artistic.
The sword Rubia had been secretly controlling was sliced in two in an instant.
"It seems your decision is firm after all."
With those words, the man continued to approach her.
Whether he had seen through the lie, or sensed the energy of the Artifact and cut it down, or perhaps both.
That remained uncertain.
If there was one thing that was certain.......
"Since you've made your choice, you must also accept the consequences."
It was that the future awaiting her didn't seem very bright.
*****
Something was going very wrong.
The shattered gates of the mansion.
The moment I saw the completely destroyed security golems, I realized it.
The cuts were far too clean.
Just how many people out there could pull off something like this?
And out of those few, how many could illegally infiltrate this mansion?
......The Empire.
It had to be someone from the Empire.
And a formidable one at that.
'Balzac? Heinrich? Or Karl?'
I wasn't sure which of the three it was.
But judging by the overwhelming aura and the devastating scene before me, at least one thing was certain: the intruder was a superhuman who had reached the realm of a Sword Master.
A massive military asset of the Empire.
An irregular powerhouse deemed strong enough to take on an entire nation single-handedly.
And a monster like that had shown up now of all times, when no one else but Miss Rubia was in the mansion.
'......So that's why I had a feeling I should hurry back.'
My ominous hunches were never wrong.
My Earring, which usually led me to the wrong conclusions, and my intuition had chosen the worst possible time to be perfectly accurate.
A cold sweat naturally ran down my back.
It was almost certain that a Sword Master of the Empire had invaded the mansion.
Miss Rubia's life was in grave danger.
Unlike the others, she didn't possess any combat skills, so there was no way she could stand up against a fighter of the Sword Master caliber.
Escaping would be impossible for her.
...In this current situation.
There was only one thing for me to do.
I quickly masked my presence and stepped into the mansion.
An intense aura that could be felt even from this distance.
Perhaps because I was suppressing my Mana to avoid being detected, my body trembled involuntarily.
But I didn't have the time to worry about that.
Moving quickly toward the source of the aura, I made sure to remain undetected.
I arrived at Miss Rubia's office.
Judging by the energy in the air, it was likely where the intruder was.
I carefully peeked inside through the open door.
And what entered my field of vision was.......
Miss Rubia, an absolute mess.
She was tied up.
Her face was haggard, and I could see a blue liquid flowing into her veins.
I remembered seeing that.
It was a torture drug used by the Empire in my past life.
The most malicious type among the drugs used to extract confessions from criminals. A substance that thoroughly violates the human mind.
The man was injecting it into Miss Rubia.
"......."
Miss Rubia's eyes met mine for a brief moment.
As soon as my face entered her field of vision, a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes.
But that was only for a fleeting moment.
She didn't say a word. She didn't scream for help or beg me to save her.
Even though she was usually so timid.
Forcing an expression that feigned nonchalance.
Miss Rubia simply closed her eyes.
Even knowing I had come for her, she closed her eyes and shook her head.
What did that mean?
It was painfully obvious.
She was telling me to look away.
She was conveying that abandoning her was the right call.
She had always shown a clumsy and carefree side, but she was fundamentally an outstanding Entrepreneur.
The kind of person who could calmly calculate the pros and cons in any situation and make a rational decision.
And she had made that decision.
Naturally, it was a highly logical conclusion.
'If I step in here....'
Could I win?
I couldn't even guarantee that.
But the problem didn't end there.
What if the enemy used Image Transmission Magic during the fight to report me to their superiors?
What if someone witnessed the battle and the Empire figured out my true identity?
The massive enemy that was the Empire would mobilize all their forces to kill me. Forget preventing the apocalypse; just preserving my own life would become difficult.
In all likelihood, ruin would arrive right on schedule.
Therefore, Miss Rubia's judgment was correct.
If I wanted to live, running away now was the right choice.
Thinking of the future, giving up on Miss Rubia and fleeing was the logical thing to do.
The weight of one person's life could never equal the weight of an entire world.
However.
Even so.
I didn't want to.
I refused to accept that.
I didn't want to make that choice solely because it was the right thing to do.
......A resonance traveled through the hand gripping my sword.
The Holy Sword was asking me.
Asking what I would swear to it.
Asking what conviction I would use as my guide to move forward.
My Predecessor had sworn to the Holy Sword that he would never break.
But for some reason, that vow was broken. And because of it, the Holy Sword—that which should have never shattered—was broken in half.
Then what should I swear?
That... was decided without even needing to think.
I stood up.
At that very moment, a message popped up before my eyes.
[Flee.]
Unlike usual, the letters were unbroken and perfectly intact.
Flickering as if overwhelmed, it seemed to be desperately advising me with all its might.
But even so.
I ignored the message and stepped forward.
Without even bothering to hide my presence.
Naturally, there was no way the man before me would not notice. A horrifying Bloodlust washed over me.
An overwhelming aura.
The Sword Master of the Empire was staring me down.
[It is not too late if you leave now. Saving everyone is impossible. For the sake of survival, you have no choice but to give something up. Please, flee.]
I immediately dismissed the message that had appeared again from my vision.
'So it is impossible to lose nothing....'
Certainly.
The words conveyed by the message might be the absolute truth.
This is an inefficient choice.
One wrong move, and everything I have built could go up in smoke.
A classic blunder of losing everything because I refused to throw anything away.
'But so what?'
Betraying, using, and discarding others.
If I abandoned even the people dear to me and lived solely for myself, my chances of survival would undoubtedly soar.
But would that kind of life hold any value?
If I survived like that, would I really be able to take pride in it?
Could I genuinely smile and rejoice in the fact that I survived?
No.
Absolutely not.
Therefore, what I had to do was clear.
"I swear to the Holy Sword."
Even knowing it is a treacherous path.
Even knowing it is a foolish choice.
"I will abandon nothing."
I will not abandon anyone.
I will save everyone I can save, and keep alive everyone I can keep alive.
"I will reach the ending without losing a single thing."
...And before long, a pure white light engulfed the world.