Chapter 155
Chapter 155
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 155
Chapter Title: Adel ■ ■■■■
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“Ah—”
A space lined with countless doors.
I cautiously opened my mouth.
“Mm.”
As expected, nothing happened.
Of course, the Stigma didn't activate either.
Maybe because I'm in a soul state, there's no chest-bursting pain from just speaking.
“...”
I slowly raised my head.
Those doors stretching on endlessly.
Hundreds... no, there must be at least a thousand at a glance.
“...What the hell.”
Why are there so many doors?
What kind of standard could possibly justify creating that many?
I just couldn't understand why memories that were nothing more than the past were lined up like this.
For now, I headed toward the doors that were spaced out a bit, rather than the ones packed tightly together.
“...?”
Step, step. As I walked, familiar faces appeared here and there between them.
Ruphus, Erwin, Charlotte.
Class S students and even Student Council members.
...My companions were facing their individual trials within these 'doors' of memory.
“...What is this.”
Is this trial of the World Tree... structured so you can peek into others' ordeals?
Is this normal?
...No.
Arguing whether it's normal or not was pointless.
More than that, honestly—
I was intrigued.
I couldn't deny that fact.
“Hm.”
I quietly approached one door and peered through the square hole in its center.
Shadows moving inside.
Someone wrestling with their past, faintly visible—
“Hey.”
“?”
Swoosh—
A sudden voice from behind.
The timbre was so familiar that I sincerely wished it was a dream.
...I hoped and prayed, desperately turning my head.
“What're you doing.”
Veronica.
...That damn dragon was right there.
What the hell was going on? Even in this trial space, the wicked Veronica stood before me so naturally.
“...What is this, a dream?”
“Not a dream.”
What the actual fuck.
Why is this thing in front of me.
No... how is it in front of me?
“Why are you here.”
“And why are you here, Dean?”
“I'm here because I'm here.”
“I'm here because I'm here too.”
A conversation that seemed to make sense but didn't at all.
I instinctively realized.
...This conversation was parallel lines.
No convergence, even in death and rebirth.
“So what're you looking at.”
Veronica naturally sidled up next to me.
Then she started peering into the same door I'd been looking through.
And then—
“...Huh?”
“What's up.”
“There's nothing there?”
“Pardon?”
“I said nothing's there.”
Veronica rolled her eyes this way and that.
She adjusted the angle of the square hole, pressed her face almost flat against the door, even shoved my head aside to stick her own face in closer.
But... the result didn't change.
“Is there something here?”
“You can't see it?”
“I can't see shit.”
“Hm.”
“Don't 'hm' me, you little shit.”
I peered into the hole again.
My vision shook immediately.
——Boom!
Inside, intense movements continued.
The sound of air ripping, blades clashing—even through this narrow hole, the heat was vivid.
Overwhelmingly so.
“Klaus is in there.”
“Sparkly?”
“Yeah.”
Beyond that door was Klaus.
And whether it was good luck or bad...
Klaus was currently—
fighting the 'strongest' version of 'himself' from the 'previous playthrough'.
“Two Klauses fighting each other.”
“So... past Sparkly and present Sparkly fighting?”
“That's right.”
Whether to call it 'past', 'future', or even 'possibility' was ambiguous.
“Fascinating.”
“Isn't it.”
“The tree connecting worlds... can it even reverse the flow of time?”
“Spare me the fancy words.”
“It's just sounding complicated because you're dumb.”
She said that, but Veronica's words weren't particularly complex.
The World Tree connecting worlds.
A tree embracing countless timelines, possibilities, and 'mes' simultaneously.
Summoning a 'me' from a parallel timeline to clash... would be like a yawn for the World Tree.
“...”
I turned my head.
Hundreds of doors lined up far in the distance.
'Me's from countless timelines, possibilities branching endlessly, another 'me' born from choices I never knew.
All of that existed.
The fact sent a chill down my spine.
“But you entered the trial too, Dean.”
“Yeah.”
“Planning to get even stronger?”
“I didn't come here to get stronger or anything.”
“Oh, right.”
“Aren't you gonna ask why?”
“Why.”
Veronica made a V-sign with her fingers and propped it under her chin.
Her expression screamed, 'Should I spill? It'll be boring if I don't.'
“I just wanted to see the past.”
“Okay.”
“I miss my little sibling.”
“You have a sibling?”
“Yeah. Had one.”
'Had one'—past tense.
That single phrase let me intuit immediately.
“You can stop talking now.”
“Yeah. Fucking hell.”
Seeing her curse and shut her mouth right away... actually made me glad I'd stopped her.
Veronica seemed to raise her head, but slowly wiggled her fingers toward me.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“That pointy-eared bastard said the winds aren't good today.”
“What's that mean.”
“Means the beasts are gonna swarm like crazy.”
“Suddenly?”
“Yeah, suddenly.”
“So what am I supposed to do about it.”
“...Fair point, but why are you such a rude little shit?”
Honestly, let's be real.
Even if beasts suddenly swarmed today, right now in this soul-trial mess, what the hell did they expect me to do?
Veronica shrugged as if it was absurd.
“That pointy-eared prick said he's leaving it to you.”
“Why me of all people.”
“Guess he trusts you.”
“Trusts what about me.”
“You.”
What the hell did that even mean.
It made no sense contextually or humanly.
“You know it already, Dean.”
I chose my words carefully.
“That Caden is a disaster.”
“...I know.”
“So why trust that thing.”
My fingertips brushed the mask.
Maybe because of the soul state, the sensation didn't feel cold.
“It's a disaster.”
“...”
“Called that because it's an incomprehensible enigma.”
“Right.”
“So... why trust Caden, knowing that.”
Veronica didn't answer.
Instead of words, she stepped forward to the door.
“...Disaster or whatever, doesn't matter to me.”
“...What're you saying.”
“Evil or good, justice or ruin... none of that shit matters to me.”
Veronica turned to look at me.
“Even a disaster can act like a person.”
“...”
“And plenty of people do worse than disasters.”
“So—”
“And... the reason I trust that kid is simple.”
No.
It shouldn't be simple.
It's a disaster. It'll upend the world someday.
Simple is irresponsible.
“He looks after you.”
“...”
“You wouldn't get it yet. To you, he's just a 'monster'.”
“...Then what do you see.”
“Eyes that cherish you. Eyes that cherish my students... and eyes that cherish this world.”
Clang—
Suddenly, the sound from Klaus's door stopped.
Probably decided the winner.
But I didn't turn.
Neither did Veronica's gaze shift to the door.
“Alright. Enough sappy bullshit.”
Swoosh——
The scattered doors around me all blurred, vanishing like mist.
And what remained...
Were the hundreds of doors stretching densely from afar to the edge of my vision.
Doors where countless 'me's existed.
Doors tangled with countless possibilities and timelines.
“Your turn now.”
The doors silently stared at me.
...What I had to face was waiting.
「999」.
That's what was written above the door.
But peering inside... nothing was there.
To be precise, it was a 'landscape where nothing remained'.
Just traces of someone having stood there.
A single footprint sharply imprinted on the barren soil.
I started walking again.
「887」.
Inside was... the cradle.
But utterly unlike the one I knew.
The tended gardens were burned to black ash, buildings that once took in light all collapsed.
And atop those ruins—
One footprint.
I couldn't tell who had stood there.
Or why they'd left only that one step before vanishing.
「666」.
This time, radiant light and profound darkness spread simultaneously.
Exploding white beams and scattering shadows.
A space where two incompatible forces coexisted.
And at its center, another lone footprint.
「544」.
A forest.
Not lush or vibrant.
Just a forest sunk in thick darkness.
No sunlight, no wind.
But on that dark soil, yet another footprint remained.
「431」.
Beyond the door was 'day'.
The sun hung in the sky, clouds purely white.
Yet... in its midst, moonlight.
Forlorn moonlight... trembling under the sun.
And that moonlight illuminated only one footprint.
As if proving that in a world split by dual lights of contradiction, only one person had existed.
「213」.
Here, space itself was twisted.
A landscape where sky and earth were inverted.
Rivers flowed upward, tree shadows moved against the wind.
A world boiling with rage... that vibe.
And amid all that chaos... one footprint, a single step.
That unknown step was the only 'normal' thing in this bizarre space.
Step.
The numbers dwindled gradually.
Doors passed one by one.
And... I finally arrived at the last one.
“...”
It was ironic.
Doors from 1 to 999.
Countless possibilities and timelines, remnants of pasts, fragments of futures.
Amid that overwhelming number... the final number wasn't 「1000」.
As if marking the end, the terminus.
「0」.
The beginning of all, the end of all.
A void where nothing and everything intertwined.
“Haa...”
I knew instantly.
No one told me, but I had no choice but to know.
This door was 'my' past.
Creeak——
The door opened.
A chilling sound grazed my ear, and I... crossed the threshold.
“...What.”
Before my eyes unfolded the day I'd defeated the field boss 「Persia of the Dirge」.
But it was off.
Unlike my memory of losing consciousness... 'I' moved perfectly fine.
A sense of dissonance crawled up my spine.
“...”
The scene slid by.
The day I'd attended the banquet with Carnel.
My scowling face as I crammed into the uncomfortable uniform.
“...Tch.”
The next scene hurt a bit.
The day I'd beaten Delphin but ultimately lost.
The feeling of my pride and stubbornness being torn apart revived.
“...Moonlight.”
The scene flowed.
The moment under faint moonlight, facing 「Bellamir Ru Elody, Witch of the Fallen Kingdom」.
That strangely beautiful moonlight.
The witch's silhouette standing beneath it.
Even the cold touch of that moonlight illuminating me was perfectly recreated.
The day Neru ran away flashed by.
That sense of emptiness back then.
Irritation, worry, disbelief all mixed, tickling my chest again.
—“…Guide me.”
During break, when I'd gone to Carnel's house.
And for some reason... the moment I'd ended up fighting Duke Delbar.
That pressure briefly swept past.
—“…Event Horizon.”
Damn protagonist.
The past where I'd nearly lost to Klaus.
But also the day I'd given my absolute best so far.
Even the thrill at my fingertips faintly stirred.
—【I shall remember every step.】
「Arbel, Mage of Space」.
The scene where I'd first confronted the 'disaster' flowed by.
That suffocation gripped my hand again.
“...”
Deeper past, in distant darkness.
The day I'd entered the cradle, forcibly dubbed 'top freshman' by Veronica.
The day I'd been caught stealing Carnel's money.
And even deeper into the darkness.
“...Fuck.”
The era when I couldn't even communicate properly.
Times starving to death without uttering a plea for help.
Lonely struggles just to survive.
And in that time, Uncle Beru's hand reaching out first.
All those scenes flowed like waves—
Then suddenly, cut off sharp.
“...”
No more past.
Truly, nothing.
Only the word 'nothingness ()' blocking the way.
“...No.”
Wrong.
Not nothing.
One thing—existed.
Not 'my' past, not 'Adel's' past...
“...A door.”
A single door at the very end.
After passing hundreds of doors, countless timelines and possibilities, the final destination.
A number was engraved above it.
「1000」.
“...”
I slowly approached the door.
My fingertips touched the handle.
Neither cold nor warm—an indescribable sensation.
And—
“You've come.”
A familiar voice.
So familiar it felt unnaturally so.
I reflexively pulled my hand from the handle and turned.
“My future and my past.”
There stood.
'Me'.
A being that was 'me', 'Adel'.
In a form absent from any memory, any past—
Undoubtedly 'me'.
Resembling my current self, yet different.
Resembling Adel, yet not.
Encompassing all contradictions, simply 'me' and nothing else.
“...”
I—
Stood there.
[ Adel ■ ■■■■ ]