Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: The Way of the Spiral ☆ (4)
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Beneath the dark sky, the campus of Scarlet Academy was faintly visible between the countless walls of fire rising throughout the city. The buildings, revealed by the flickering crimson flames, looked rough and rugged.
The city, where the souls and flames of warriors blazed, lay behind us.
This was the city center, located in the middle of Scarlet Academy's grounds.
In the distance, the faint sounds of screams and battle cries could be heard.
“Wh-what is this…?!”
“Using a magic circle from an era before The Golden Witch…?!”
We were bewildered, having been suddenly summoned to this place.
Clatter—
The remnants of a cleared Erosion Dungeon Gate.
We stood amidst shards of black crystal, pulsing with immense ether.
…!
In this sudden situation, I felt as if my heart had frozen solid.
‘Sigrun and Gjallarhorn are nowhere to be seen. Does that mean this was triggered to specifically target only our party and Eir from the dungeon assault team?’
No way… It can't be…
I checked our surroundings for any other presence again, but…
There was no sign of anyone other than the captured Eir and our party.
A few Scarlet Academy students who had been patrolling the city center were collapsed, overcome by the black ether mist spreading around. And the source of that black ether was right in front of us.
I let out a low groan as I stared at ‘that thing’ which had appeared so suddenly.
The final boss of the main story, second only to The Dragon Crouching in the Abyss in terms of power. The Priest of Erosion was waiting for us in the middle of the northern slums.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
We froze upon seeing the Priest of Erosion.
The one held captive by the Priest of Erosion was the strongest in the north, The Crimson Trajectory. And the ominous aura emanating from the Priest was unlike anything we had ever seen.
‘Why did the Priest of Erosion appear here from the very beginning?’
The cause and effect just don't line up.
He should have only just awakened in this era.
The Priest of Erosion was not the type to act rashly out of ignorance.
‘He was a boss you could barely face even with a party of fully leveled characters, yet his lore also described him as cautious.’
Ratatoskr, recently awakened from a seal in the distant past.
I couldn't imagine why they would move so quickly.
‘At this point in time, they should have been in the middle of investigating the Fate of the Three Heroes…!’
But the Priest of Erosion had appeared before us, right here and now.
The black-robed fiend, the Priest of Erosion, held Eir in his rough, massive hand, which was brimming with black ether.
Vwoooom—!
Crack.
With a gruesome sound, black ether dug into Eir’s neck like a spider's web. Yet Eir’s eyes were wide open, blazing with fighting spirit.
Eir was trying to resist, erupting with vivid crimson ether flames from her entire body. But perhaps because she had cleared the event dungeon alone, she was too exhausted to produce any real power.
“Kuhk…! Grrrr—!!”
Rendering Eir's resistance futile.
The Priest of Erosion observed the color of her ether with his vertically slit yellow pupils and muttered in a cavernous voice.
“How astonishing. To think that an ether bearing the Fate of Purification would be born in the era of our awakening. Had we not known, it would have been a major setback. And for the Fate of the Three Heroes to gather as well.”
…!
The sense of being measured.
The Priest of Erosion was trying to ascertain something.
A sense of crisis made me reflexively deflect the Priest’s probe.
“Hmm…”
The Priest of Erosion tilted his head slightly and looked directly at us. His slit vertical pupils swept over Alvitt, Lotha, and Kara. Overwhelmed by the power in his gaze, they froze even more.
“…Females of an inferior species, with brown, orange, and blue hair. Truly astonishing. Was it really a prophecy, then.”
The Priest of Erosion nodded in satisfaction. Every gesture of the five-meter-tall, lizard-headed giant was steeped in malevolence.
“Just as ‘he’ said 1500 years ago… This is perfect. We won’t have to waste time identifying the Fates dwelling within the ether.”
Hearing that muttering, a chill ran down my spine.
‘How does Ratatoskr already know about the Fates held by Central Prism Academy and the Five Colors…?! Who in the world is this ‘he’…?!’
They already possessed ‘knowledge’ that was only revealed near the original story’s ending.
“Huu…!”
My breath grew ragged from the confusion.
A sickening cold sweat trickled down my back, spreading the scent of despair.
‘Someone from 1500 years ago… already told them the contents of the original story…?’
1500 years ago.
From a past in this world that my hands could not reach.
A distortion of the original story, one I knew nothing about, had already begun.
It was a distortion that began in the distant past, one that couldn't be fixed now, not even by wearing the mask of ‘Clara’ or chasing after the title of The Faded Spiral.
Ratatoskr was already acting with full knowledge of everything.
“…”
No matter what mask I wear.
The despair of things that cannot be undone.
I sensed it in that moment, and my mind went blank.
‘Then, what should I do for my seniors… what should I do for this world born from a game…’
From a corner of my mind.
I had the illusion of hearing the sneer of my past self, that selfish and sickly man.
-See? You could have lived however you wanted, and it wouldn't have been a problem.
‘No…!’
At that moment.
Eir struggled desperately, her crimson flames flaring.
Fwaaaah—!!
Like a candle about to be extinguished, she burned brightly, struggling to break free from the massive grip. She moved her arm with great effort, trying to grasp the sword she had dropped on the ground.
“Keuk…!! Haaaah—!!”
Shwooo—
But her crimson flames were slowly being extinguished by the binding.
The hand she reached out to grab the sword only clawed pitifully at the empty air.
“Grrr…! Krk…!”
“…”
Eir’s voice was a low growl, like that of a wounded beast.
Though it was barely a whisper leaking from her crushed throat, she still stared directly into the eyes of her captor.
“I’ll… kill… you…!”
The Priest of Erosion let out a dry laugh and said,
“Heh, what a joke. You might be able to defeat my apostles, but defeating me is impossible. However, had a little more time passed, it might have been possible.”
Fwaaaaaah—!!
Black mist billowed from the four dragon wings extending from his back. That alone made the surrounding air tremble, draining the ether from those standing nearby.
Gwoooooo—!!
The black mist spread in all directions, slowly creating distorted cracks in the air. From within the cracks, which split apart like a honeycomb, came a familiar cry.
Kwooooaaar—!!
Kwooooaaar—!!
The bosses we had so desperately defeated in the dungeon—several adult Chaos Beetles—were descending from the sky. They roared as their massive bodies crushed numerous buildings.
The city center, which had fallen silent with the collapse of the Erosion Dungeon, was plunged into chaos once more.
Kuuuung—!!
The chaos began with a colossal landing.
Kwooooaaar—!!
Kwooooaaar—!!
-Stop them from rampaging—!!
-Evacuate the people—!!
-Burn your lives to the very end—!!
The sounds of countless buildings collapsing echoed all around.
The cries of students desperately trying to fight the adult Chaos Beetles.
And standing in the middle of it all was a colossal despair.
The mist born from the wings of that colossal despair extinguished the hope in everyone's hearts. It stole the ether of countless people, simultaneously strengthening its own power.
The black wings…
even blocked out the moonlight.
Gwoooooo—
Within the black mist.
Vel, having exhausted all her strength, collapsed to the ground, her face pale.
“This is… impossible…”
Thud—
Alvitt and Kara had been sitting on the ground for a while now, just trembling.
“Ugh…! We have to… fight…!”
“It’s impossible… That thing is…”
Lotha, carried on my back, clung to my neck with cold hands. Her slender fingers trembled ceaselessly, exuding despair.
Chatter… chatter…
I could hear Lotha’s teeth chattering in fear. It seemed she was certain that her precious dreams, her life, her time… all of it would vanish right here, right now.
“…”
It feels like we’re 100% going to die.
In this hopeless despair.
I looked up at the sky, feeling empty.
A situation where the original story was not even a speck of help.
‘I can’t… win against that alone.’
If I charge in like this, I’ll just die.
Even if I use 100% of the power of The Pink Spiral…
‘In the first place, I wore those masks and tried to follow the original story’s flow to prepare for the latter half of the game, where I become powerless…’
Because ‘I’ alone lack the strength to face the enemies of the latter half.
Because of ‘my’ terrible constitution, which receives no late-game weapon proficiency benefits.
Because ‘I,’ who cannot follow a story-given Fate, cannot defeat The Dragon Crouching in the Abyss.
That’s why I tried to raise my juniors according to the original story.
Because these kids had a Fate that would allow them to go much further than me, who gained power through shortcuts.
‘But for a late-game boss to appear so suddenly, before I even had the chance to raise my juniors…?’
How futile…
And the things that flash through my mind.
How did they fight him in the original story?
What were his attack patterns in the original story?
Is there any useful knowledge from the original story?
“…”
It's useless.
Everything has already changed.
My mind goes blank.
‘In the first place… why did I even try to follow the original story?’
My very first resolve.
The last smile of Frida, my senior, comes to mind.
The day I truly realized this world originated from a game.
『It’s not your fault, Clara.』
‘Frida…’
To solve the secrets of this world.
To protect this city that I love.
To see the seniors who loved me once again.
To do that, I had to follow this world’s answer key…!
“…”
Another question flashes through my mind.
What is the right answer?
The original story, so twisted and broken?
…No, it wasn't.
But there was definitely a path I wanted to follow.
『Become the kind of senior who can leave behind beautiful memories and teachings for someone.』
Not a straight line, but a spiral.
Not an arrival, but a continuation.
The connected and continuing line is infinite.
Thump—!!
Looking back now.
There was no right answer in this world.
But that didn’t mean I was lost.
There was always a heart that showed me where the path was headed.
[I was not the game character ‘Clara’.]
…!
[I am a girl who loves the Academy City.]
[I was a wanderer who chased after battles.]
[I am a stranger changed by the love of my seniors.]
[I am a man who, chasing a non-existent answer key, strayed from the path of my heart.]
And what do I want to become?
Thump—!!
‘The path of the spiral… it circles back. But eventually, it converges to a single point.’
As I became conscious of that, my heart began to pound.
‘What’s important… is not the right answer, but the sincere desire to reach the destination.’
I can see the path of my heart.