Chapter 36

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Translator: ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠MadScientist

Chapter: 36

Chapter Title: 9. Companion

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The original plan had been a diversionary tactic.

My clone would draw the attention of the Saintess and the knight commanders, while I slipped through the barrier she had set up.

Breaking down a barrier laid by dozens of archmages wasn't all that difficult.

'Is it because the trend has shifted toward lowering the power of spells in favor of greater duration and versatility?'

Thanks to that, even humans with mediocre talent could use magic easily.

That was certainly an advantage, but in a situation like this, it was a disadvantage.

The capabilities of modern mages fell far short of the average mage from hundreds of years ago.

'Thanks to that, I could dismantle it easily, so it's a good thing for me.'

I looked up at Ersella.

Ersella was as youthful as ever. Unlike me, who had maintained immortality by swapping bodies.

"...You've been well, you say. Is that all I am to you?"

"What else is there? Did you gain some new ability? If so, congratulations. It's great that you've got a chance to live longer."

At those words, the confusion in Ersella's eyes sharpened back into focus.

The bewitchment faded, and the doubt vanished.

"...You've fallen."

"Yeah, well. As you can see."

I said that, but honestly, I couldn't understand it.

What was honorable, and what was fallen?

'The contents of who I am have always been the same. My soul hasn't changed, and I haven't been corrupted by evil or anything.'

I shrugged and asked Ersella,

"What cards do you have left? You couldn't have not anticipated a situation like this."

Ersella smiled and mimicked my line.

"Yeah, well. As you can see."

Rumble rumble rumble!!

Before she even finished speaking, the entire sub-dimension began to shake.

The precursor to dimensional collapse.

Even after I'd seized control of the barrier, it activated beyond my intentions.

'Did they design the barrier this way from the start?'

Anyone remaining here would be caught in the dimensional collapse.

'Annihilation on a dimensional scale. It's a trap.'

Ersella had set this place up intending to die from the beginning.

First attempting to eliminate me with the knight commanders and mages, and preparing for the failure of that attempt.

'Even Body Hijacking won't save me from this. The corpses around would vanish too.'

I let out a hollow laugh. It was more extreme than I had imagined.

"You planned to die, huh."

Ersella rose from her seat and picked up her armament.

A long curved sword that traced a crescent moon.

Ersella intended to buy time to keep me from escaping.

"Have you been honing your swordsmanship all this time?"

"Thanks to you, I had more than enough time."

Ersella stepped forward as if she would charge at me any moment.

The instant she did, mana began to surge around her.

"Even if my skills are mediocre since it's not my calling, I can at least hold you down until the end."

Ersella briefly stepped into the Domain and out again.

"Right?"

A hollow laugh escaped me.

'She planned to kill herself at every opportunity, huh. She's a real suicide enthusiast.'

Up until now, she had been ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bound by her duty and promise to humanity,

but once I broke the promise, Ersella had no reason to uphold hers either.

'So that's why she resorted to such extreme measures. It's not even funny.'

Rumble rumble rumble—!

Dimensional rifts were spreading in all directions.

'If I try to seal it with magic, Ersella will interfere.'

The best option would be to forcibly delay the collapse with mana—

At that moment, something flashed across Ersella's face and vanished.

'...Relief?'

A strong sense of incongruity invaded my mind.

I recalled the plan that had failed once before because of the Saintess.

'Why is she feeling relief here?'

Something was wrong.

My thoughts accelerated rapidly.

Why had the Saintess shown a feeling of relief at this point?

'Because we can die together? No, that's too subtle.'

I needed to approach this from a different angle.

'The timing of that relief is too early. Is the dimensional collapse really the trap?'

If she truly intended to kill me with the dimensional collapse,

Ersella would have just stalled silently without saying a word.

'Was all this up to now the trap? Or is it a bluff?'

There were no duplicates to nullify the foresight. I had to be even more cautious.

'One wrong move, and it'll end like last time.'

My judgment was swift.

'I'll act in the complete opposite of what the Saintess intends.'

I withdrew my mana. I stabbed my sword into the ground, signaling I had no intention to fight.

"...!"

"No need to buy time. I'm not thinking of running away at all anyway."

'Excluding the dimensional collapse, control of the barrier is in my hands.'

Any potential reinforcements were already blocked off.

So, time wasn't pressing right now.

'Find the cause of that relief. Gather information.'

I tossed the words at Ersella.

"If I'd purely wanted to kill you, I would've used a more refined method. You know that, right?"

This was a lie.

I had considered other plans, but discarded most because they weren't efficient relative to the scale.

A more refined method probably wouldn't work on Ersella anyway.

"Ersella, I wanted to talk with you. I thought that for you—who indulged my stubbornness—I should at least be sincere."

This was half-true.

It was true that I intended to kill her, but also true that I wanted to talk first.

'Though I only planned to chat briefly right before killing her.'

"...!"

Ersella's face filled with bewilderment.

'...Is she acting?'

I couldn't tell if her reaction was genuine.

If I had honed Oscar-worthy acting skills, then so had Ersella.

'Maybe that earlier reaction was to lead me into a specific future.'

And in fact, it was.

I had changed my plan based on Ersella's reaction.

'To uncover Ersella's true intentions, I have to suspect every action and word.'

It was utterly grating.

There was nothing more headache-inducing than conversing with someone who preempted the future.

"Don't you have anything you wanted to say to me all this time? No, you must have something. I'll answer anything."

At that moment, blood trickled from Ersella's nose.

She had seen the future.

Drip! Drip drip drip!

Amid the flowing blood, Ersella's face rapidly aged.

'What foresight did she see?'

I couldn't know.

'What is Ersella aiming for?'

That too, I couldn't know.

'No. From the moment she sacrificed the duplicate, this was inevitable.'

Whatever it was, I'd figure it out.

Ersella, who had stood dazed for a while, suddenly burst into laughter.

"Ah, so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that's how it is."

"...?"

'What did she see? Why the hell is she laughing?'

Rumble rumble rumble!!

The Saintess spread the mana accumulated in her body throughout the entire space.

She was filling the dimensional rifts tearing apart with mana, slowing the collapse.

Pre-prepared artifacts assisted her actions.

'...The collapse is slowing. What foresight did she see to change her mind like this?'

"Have you lost your marbles? What the hell did you see to keep flipping your actions like the back of your hand—"

Ersella shook her head.

As if she would ask the questions herself, she looked at me and spoke.

"...What made you like this?"

By what. For what reason.

Not even a speck would believe I'd reformed on my own—

"—Of course you'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠think that. Anyone who knew the old you would think the same."

'...She read my mind. Did it show on my face?'

No, that wasn't it. I had perfect control over my muscles.

My thoughts pointed in one direction.

I peered into the Saintess's face, which was gradually aging.

'She's using foresight. How?'

I formed a hypothesis.

The hypothesis that the Saintess was repeatedly using future foresight, choosing only the optimal actions to guide my behavior.

All I could do was let out a hollow laugh. She was utterly insane.

"...Scheming until the very end."

Ersella looked at me.

My vision shook, and a memory from some time ago overlapped with reality.

"Because that's the kind of person you were. The kind of human who never yielded to any external pressure or storm."

She appeared to double. Ersella on one side, the Saintess on the other.

Both began speaking to me from either side.

"Because you had an unshakeable sense of justice. At one time, even I..."

Ersella trailed off.

"Just like you pushed your abilities to the limit to evolve them, I did the same."

"Do whatever you want. Most people would want to stay young."

"I'm already old. You and I both. The body follows the mind, after all."

I projected a cube into my hand.

"That's pathetic."

What had made me like this?

Now that I said it aloud, it was quite a laughable sentence.

Exactly the kind of thing a criminal wouldn't say.

'It's the world's fault I turned out like this! Or, you're the ones who are wrong!'

Of course, I was neither of those.

I had no intention of shifting blame for my sins onto others.

'I bear my own sins myself.'

I wouldn't pass them to anyone else, nor beg for forgiveness.

It was the way of life I had chosen.

"You asked why I ended up like this. Fine, I'll tell you."

The cube in my hand expanded, turning into a massive screen crossing in front of the Saintess.

I projected my memories onto it.