Chapter 144
Chapter 144
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 144
Chapter Title: The Saint's Inner Thoughts Are Heard
Suddenly, a white wolf leaped out from behind. A beast with colors that seemed like an inverted Romulus was revealing hostility toward me and my companions, just like him.
Where on earth did something like that come from?
I thought the enemy was just Romulus. The unexpected appearance of this new entity was causing the battlefield situation to flow against us.
Crack-crack-crack—!
Idea was gradually shattering under the attacks of the two giant wolves, and we, suddenly trapped inside, had no choice but to make a decision.
"Get ready to escape when I give the signal! Fighting inside Idea is disadvantageous!"
Seeing Romulus's fangs already beginning to crash inward, I shouted to my companions.
p>My judgment was that if it were just Romulus alone, maybe, but the moment there were two of them, we'd be helplessly devoured.
"Huh?! But where to...?!"
Victoria, swinging her hammer inside Idea, cried out in a panicked voice.
The other companions were also using their weapons from inside to prevent the wolves' fangs from piercing the barrier, and there was a limit to responding within such a confined space.
"For now, targeting the black one whose abilities we know is the right move!"
Even in that tense moment, I spoke, aiming for the black-furred wolf whose abilities we fully understood.
The white wolf that suddenly appeared was the exact opposite of Romulus in appearance, but I couldn't hastily assume its abilities were similar.
"Understood!"
"We'll break through toward the black one."
"Understood."
One, two, three.
I used Sound Transmission Magic to send the signal, and instantly released Idea, creating an opening for my companions to escape.
At that moment,
As if it had read our signal, the white-furred wolf tore off my left arm.
"Lord Astal...!!"
A crimson spray of blood and one arm flew through the air before falling to the ground.
Victoria and the others cried out in shock, but I had no time to even groan in pain; I had no choice but to thrust Coresword into the beast's mouth.
If I had been even a little slower, I would have been hit by the wolf's time-devouring attack and turned to bleached bones.
'Thank goodness I brought extra potions just in case.'
To stop the bleeding that came with the searing, burning pain in my arm, I drank a potion to staunch the flow while preparing for the enemy's next attack.
Me, casting magic bare-handed without a staff, was now in a situation where my usable magic was effectively halved.
"...Did you think I wouldn't notice your Sound Transmission Magic?"
Romulus, perhaps satisfied with tearing off my arm, grinned widely, taunting me.
"Right, this is the Demon Realm. I should have known even these damn mutts would use magic."
Not rising to Romulus's provocation, I spoke up to figure out the other entity targeting my back.
Two wolves so similar in size and shape they could be mistaken for twins, except for being opposite in color.
They didn't answer my words, merely grinning widely and charging swiftly, jaws agape.
A vast void, so immense there seemed no gap whether I looked up or to the sides.
"What do we do? Should we try blocking with a holy sword or something like you did before?"
Kyle mentioned the method I used to plug Romulus's maw and drew his holy sword, but there was no guarantee that same stroke of luck would work again.
The beasts had already buried their huge maws deep into the ground below and spread them wide enough to reach the sun in the sky.
Then, there was only one way.
"Jump up!"
Using my remaining arm, I cast a Leap spell on the ground, causing my companions to rise upward.
Floating in the air like light feathers, we barely managed to escape the wolves' attack.
If we had been even a moment slower, we would have been swallowed by those wolves, turned to bleached bones, or become beings lost in an unknown timeline.
Crash-grind-grind-grind—!
The two wolves collided with an eerie sound that tore through ground and air, then noticed we had evaded their attack and waited below with jaws open.
"Damn it, what kind of wolf has a mouth that big...!!"
I couldn't help but curse, looking at the Romulus pair. The rumor that they swallowed an Imperial knight order whole apparently wasn't just a story.
This was like the legendary beasts Sköll and Hati, who devour the sun and moon.
"This time, I'll try blocking! If it's the Spirit Kings, they might buy us a little time!"
As she slowly descended toward the ground, Anima summoned Spirit Kings, hammering countless elemental forces into the void below.
But, futilely, the power of the Spirit Kings vanished into the mouths of the Romulus pair.
After that, the other companions each launched their own attacks, but the result remained unchanged.
I, with one arm gone, couldn't use other magic.
"...What should we do? It even absorbs the holy sword's power, and even Taryon's arrows don't work."
"......"
I pondered a way to escape our situation, where we would crash into the ground and be swallowed into the wolves' mouths in mere seconds.
If my guess was correct, that white wolf was likely a clone created by Romulus devouring himself.
I had seen a similar theory before when I tried to touch the River of Heaven to resurrect my parents.
If that was the case,
If Romulus sends you to the future enough to turn you to bleached bones, then the opposite ability of that white one would be...
To send you to the past.
"The only way is to enter the white wolf's mouth and return to this moment. It probably leads to the past."
I told my companions the plan in a resolute voice.
If successful, I could go back a few minutes before this situation unfolded and take measures before the two Romulus wolves appeared.
"Are you insane? What are you relying on to try that?!"
"You can't. No matter how dire the situation, that's too dangerous."
"Then how do we escape here? Shall we just get swallowed and all turn to bleached bones?"
To persuade my companions, I waved my one remaining arm, the other already lost.
Victoria's miracle could fix it, but I didn't want her to suffer the pain of her body turning to flowers again.
Escape using the Wind Spirit King, or teleportation using magic—Romulus was blocking even those by distorting space itself with his devouring.
"...Do you have a method in mind?"
"I'll have to use Idea to try and minimize the time flow gnawing at my body."
I spoke, taking a deep sigh.
Honestly, the possibility of turning the enemy's ability against them was extremely low.
Reversing the flow of time itself was taboo even among mages, with little research conducted.
Just seeing the two wolves below, listening to our conversation, not closing their mouths and continually enlarging them said it all.
I wanted to say that time travel was impossible, and that if we let one of us get swallowed first, it would create an opening against them, but...
"If that's the case, I'm going with you. Where is there a lover who would just watch when the person they love says they'll sacrifice themselves?"
"......"
Faced with Victoria's expression, looking like she might burst into tears any second, I couldn't tell her the truth.
In fact, Victoria insisted that if I was going to be devoured by Romulus and use his ability in reverse, I should take her with me.
"Do you think I could live in a world without you? Even if I die, I'll die with you."
Victoria's inner thoughts carried a more somber, sorrowful tone than ever, and I could only nod in the end.
"Wait, take us too! Why are you two trying to do something so reckless alone?!"
"That's right. Whether we live or die, we're together, aren't we?"
"Yeah, if you're going to strike back at those wolf bastards, let's do it together."
Seeing my actions, the other companions voiced their opinions to fight together, but...
This was too dangerous.
As I had resolved during the Demon King subjugation, if someone had to be sacrificed, it had to be me.
"I'm sorry. I can't take you with me."
I deliberately smiled at my companions, then used Idea with my one remaining arm and fell into the white wolf's mouth.
"...You crazy bastard!"
Hearing what sounded like the first time Victoria used profanity toward me, I entrusted my body to the black darkness.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The moment Victoria saw Astal use Idea and fall into the mouth of the white wolf—Remus—she rushed toward him.
He was always someone who wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice himself to save comrades or civilians.
He could have just asked her to heal an arm, but he chose such a mad action based on the mere possibility of traveling to the past.
How long had it been since she entrusted her body to the dark void, so pitch-black she couldn't see an inch ahead?
"......?"
Victoria realized something was wrong the moment she saw the scene unfolding before her eyes.
The cool breeze brushing her cheek, the warm heat felt on her skin, the sight of children playing in the blue-tinted wheat fields...
It looked exactly like the hometown of Astal she had seen in Bellamora's Illusionary Dream and inside the Corrupted Holy Sword.
And then,
"Ah, you're awake. I thought you were dead for sure! Good thing you're alive!"
Poke, poke.
A blue-haired boy who had been lightly poking Victoria's side with a twig.
"You are, perhaps..."
"Me? My name is Astal Caeseros! I live in that village over there!"
A boy who looked exactly like Astal stood before Victoria's eyes.